High School DxD: Scattered Cherry Blossoms

A month has passed since the devils of the Alaverus, Gremory, and Sitri groups settled down in the Human world. The high school entrance exams have passed and as planned, James, Rias, Sona, Akeno, and Tsubaki have taken them. Based on the expressions they all had when they came out of the exam venue, there should be no problem with any of them gaining entry to Kuoh Academy. On a side note, Sona used an alias while living in the Human World. Instead of Sona Sitri, she will be known as Shitori Sona. With her black hair, dark colored eyes, delicate facial features, and slim figure passing as Japanese does not pose much issue.

In another half month, the results from the entrance exams will be made public. So, in the meantime, as the overseers of Kuoh, Rias and Sona have made their rounds, meeting all the registered supernatural beings in the town. And as their assigned guard, James went along with them. While his peerage was on surveillance duty.

With Dante's shop on the southern outskirts of the city, he oversaw the illegal entry of any supernatural beings from the south. Mizore, was tasked with observing the north. With a thin sheet of her ice spread under the ground, she would be alerted to any intruders through her connection with her ice. Cu Chulainn had the hardest time with his assigned area. Although he could extend his sense to cover more area, he could not cover the entirety of the western perimeter of the town. Moka had a comparatively easier time than Cu Chulainn. As a vampire, she could communicate with and command nearby bats to scout the area then report back to her about any intruders.

Today, like many others since moving to Kuoh, James found himself with free time. And today he was out with Moka. One of the things he made sure to check when the group decided they would be attending Kuoh Academy was to see if the school had an MMA club. The fact of the matter is, they do not. Which means James would have to create one himself.

Lucky for James, he's filthy rich. He had already donated the money to create an MMA training hall on school grounds. And with a little of that good old devil magic, it would be operational by the beginning of the new school year. Because of that, James and Moka are out shopping for the necessary furnishings for the training hall.

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

In the town's largest sports goods store, James and Moka are browsing the available combat sports training equipment.

"So, what all do you think we'd need?" James asked with his hand on his chin.

"Hmmm..." Moka mused, then she asked a question in return. "What will the construction company be installing as part of the building."

"Uhm... the fenced in octagon, the padded flooring for take down, ground game, and submission training, all the locker room stuff, uh... I can't remember everything."

"Well, just based on that." Moka responded after a moment. "We'll need a few heavy bags. A few speed bags. Some spare pairs of gloves, some weight training equipment... I'm not sure about that last one, though."

"No, that's a great idea." James said agreeing with Moka's assessment. "Even though we won't need much in terms of weights, it's good to have some on hand. Strengthening the body will make most techniques more effective."

After finishing, James smiled and patted Moka's head. Moka smiled brightly in return.

Seeing Moka's smile, James reminisced. "I remember the first time I patted your head; you smacked my hand away so hard that my whole wrist swelled."

"Do you have to bring that up?" Moka asked with a blush.

"I was just saying, a lot has changed in the last year and a half." James said with a chuckle. "I've grown. I'm 6'2" (approx. 1,88 m) tall now. I'm even taller than Lancer, now."

"Yeah, it feels like he stopped growing already." Moka said with a giggle.

"You've grown, too." James said measuring Moka's height with his hand. "You're what? 5'5" (1.65 m) now, right?"

"Uh huh." Moka nodded in reply. "I'm just glad I'm not a munchkin like Mizore."

"Haha... well, yea, she's a bit vertically challenged."

While chatting and enjoying each other's company, they had unknowingly made their way from all the goods that would be useful in the training hall. As James was ready to leave, he began making his way to the store's entrance. There was no reason to buy the equipment this early. But before he could take more than a couple steps outside of the section, his hand was grabbed by one much smaller than his own. He then looked at the owner of that hand.

"What's up, Moka." James asked with a slight blush from the unexpected handholding.

Since we're here, you should get some equipment for yourself." Moka said with a smile. "We never used protective gloves and safety gear when we were in the Underworld. But it would be weird if we didn't use it here."

Stopping to think over Moka's words, James agreed.

"You're right, I should get some equipment for myself." James said with a nod, completely unaware of what he had done to himself.

"Great!" Moka exclaimed excitedly, surprising James with her fervor. "I'll help you pick out the perfect set of gear, and a couple of spares."

At that moment, James realized what he had done.

'I revived one of the shopping demons. Damnit."

But when James saw the smile on her face, he thought to himself.

'If she's gonna be smiling like that, shopping with her every once in a while, may not be so bad.'

===Two hours later===

With two shopping bags in his right hand, James was now questioning that train of thought.

'The apparel and gear sections weren't even that big. How the hell did we spend an hour and a half picking out stuff for me, alone?'

Just as he had that thought, James and Moka arrived at their house. And James just had a realization.

'I'm carrying two bags. Why am I carrying both in my right hand.'

He then looked down at his left hand.

It was wrapped firmly around Moka's much smaller right hand.

'Huh, how long have I been holding her hand?' James thought to himself. 'Not that I'm complaining, I like the feeling of holding it.'

As James was thinking to himself, he and Moka made it just outside the front door. As they arrived, Moka used her left hand to unlock the door, she then turned to James.

"I had a lot of fun today." Moka said with a radiant smile.

"That's good, I had fun, too." James replied with an equally radiant smile.

Then, before he could react, Moka stood on the tips of her toes and stole James' second kiss. At that moment, James' mind crashed. While it was rebooting, Moka smiled and removed her hand from James' grasp then opened the front door. After stepping past the threshold, she turned to James.

"We should go on another date sometime soon." Moka said with a smile before turning on her heels and running off into the house.

In a daze, James raised his fingers to his lips and felt the lingering warmth from Moka's lips.

'That felt different from the one Mizore stole.' James thought to himself.

It makes sense that the two kisses would feel different. Aside from the fact that they came from two different girls, Mizore's kiss was done completely instinctively after her emotions spiked. Moka was in complete control of her emotions from the start, and she had the intention of sharing her feelings with James through that kiss.

James then felt a chill down his spine. When he turned around, from the front windows of the Shitori mansion, he could see two pairs of violet eyes and a pair of blue eyes staring at him with jealousy. Turning back to the front as he was about to step through the door, he saw his mother's grinning face.

'Shit!' James exclaimed internally. 'I can deal with Rias, Sona, and Akeno as long as I give them some alone time, they'll calm down eventually. But Mom is gonna hound me about this for a long time. I gotta try to redirect her attention, somehow.'

"Hey Mom, I'm back" James said with a smile while raising the bags in his right hand. "Moka helped me pick out some MMA gear for when I start the MMA club at school."

"Oh, why don't you come in and show it to me." Leona said with apparent interest.

'Yes! Mission accomplished.' James cheered in his mind.

"While you show off your new gear, you can tell me how Moka's kiss made you feel." Leona said with a wide, face splitting smile.

'Damn it. I guess... I celebrated too early.' James said as his shoulders slumped.

"I know you didn't think that would work, right?" Leona asked as she noticed James' body language.

Regaining his vigor, James shrugged his shoulders and replied. "Nope. But I had to try."

"Well, I guess I can't blame you for trying." Leona said with a giggle. "Now come in we have to talk. I need to know what you were thinking at that moment."

Meanwhile, a madly blushing Moka was walking quickly through the house. She just wanted to get to her bedroom and scream into a pillow.

'I did it! I really did it!' Moka thought to herself. 'On top of that, I know someone was watching from across the street. I just don't know who. I'm glad Mizore was refreshing her ice on the outskirts of the town, otherwise I would never hear the end of this.'

Mizore, who was on her way back to the house after refreshing the ice she used to sense those who enter and exit the town from the north, suddenly sneezed.

Rubbing her nose, Mizore asked to nobody in particular. I wonder who's thinking about me."

At the same time at Dante's shop, which has yet to open officially, Dante was putting the finishing touches on the interior decoration.

Once everything was set up the way he wanted it, Dante took a seat and picked up a slice of the pizza he had ordered not long ago. Not long after, A middle-aged man entered the shop. After a short conversation, the man goaded Dante into an obvious trap. Claiming his brother, Virgil was the one who sent him. Even so, Dante was ready to turn down the man's invitation. Until a hoard of low-level undead burst through the walls and windows of the shop. After taking care of the nuisances, Dante decided to find out what the middle-aged man, or rather his brother was planning, when he found a map that pointed to Virgil's location. Before he left, however.

"I better let James know about this." Dante said to himself while looking over the wreckage of his shop. "Or He may make me pay for the repairs myself."