Underworld, Gremory Territory, Alaverus Estate.
Today, to celebrate James' fourteenth birthday and the completion of his training under Scathach, all his friends and family have gathered in the living room of the Alaverus estate. Seated around the table Sona and Rias usually use to play chess, are Sona, Tsubaki, Akeno, and Mizore, Sona telling stories about James when they were younger. For example, that James is the creator of the energy control training method they all use. While Tsubaki, Akeno, and Mizore were all shocked by Sona's story, Mizore's shock stemmed from the fact that she never believed James when he told her the same thing. Especially since he was only six when he created it.
Leona, Venelana, Rhea, and Grayfia are also seated together, chatting and gossiping. Quiet giggles can be heard from their direction, from time to time. Every so often, Leona and Grayfia will make their way to the kitchen, making sure the feast planned for James' return is perfect. The thing that Venelana and Rhea find miraculous, however, is the way Leona is always able to get Grayfia to let her hair down, so to speak. Grayfia's professionalism while on duty is a trait known to most of the Underworld's upper echelons. But when she visits Leona, that demeanor melts away and she just enjoys the girl talk with the rest of them.
At another table, the three families' men, Zeoticus, Sirzechs, Dante, and Cassiel, are playing cards. Hardy laughter, loud complaints, and other sounds associated with merry making can be heard. Not to mention, all the bragging about their children, or younger sister in Sirzechs' case.
Serafall ,Millicas, the son of Sirzechs and Grayfia, and a pretty, petite, young girl with white hair styled in a bob cut with loose bangs covering her forehead, long side bangs that reach past her shoulders, golden eyes with cat-like pupils, and a taciturn expression, are sitting together on a sofa watching the anime adaptation of James' manga, Bleach, on TV. By the way, Serafall is the one who spearheaded the project to have Bleach adapted into an anime.
Millicas is a cute seven-year-old with short crimson red hair and red eyes, traits he inherited from his father and mother, respectively. Although he has not spent much time with James, Millicas has come to absolutely adore him. Especially since he has been hearing stories about him for as long as he can remember.
On the other hand, the white-haired girl sitting next to Serafall and Millicas is Rias' newest potential peerage member, Koneko Toujou. This is not her original name, but as she was in a catatonic state when she was brought to Rias and would not respond to her original name, Rias renamed her, Koneko. Had James been around at the time, he would have had a field day. What was Rias thinking renaming what appears to be a nekomata Koneko or Little Cat.
There is one person missing from this lively atmosphere, though. Although Rias is in the house, right now she does not have the heart to enjoy the current joyous mood.
Having just returned from checking the preparations for the feast, Leona and Grayfia took their seats next to Venelana and Rhea.
Noticing Venelana staring absent mindedly toward the top of the staircase that leads to the second floor, Leona asked, "Lana, is something wrong?"
Hearing Leona's question, Venelana snapped out of her daze. And with a wry smile, she replied. "I have the feeling my daughter is going to do something to ruin the mood." She then sighed upon completing her statement.
Not knowing how to refute, the three other women remained silent.
The one to break the silence was, surprisingly, Grayfia.
"More than likely, Rias will storm off in a rage shortly after James returns." She said, pausing briefly before continuing. "What he says to her will most definitely not be pleasant to hear, but it will be what she needs to hear."
"*Sigh* My baby." Leona sighed wistfully, before glaring at Zeoticus and Sirzechs. "Why does my baby have to clean up the mess a couple of grown men made?"
Meanwhile, at the card table, Zeoticus and Sirzechs felt a chill. However, they wisely chose not to look for the source of discomfort, as they would have seen one of history's scariest glares had they found it.
"Well, I'm sure everything will..." Rhea began consoling Leona, before she was interrupted by the appearance of a teleportation magic circle bearing James' spiritual mark.
As the magic circle rose then faded away, in its place stood two young men, one tall and one short. The taller of the two young men is James' newest potential member of his peerage, Cu Chulainn, formerly known as Setanta, the reincarnation of Ireland's Son of Light. And the shorter of the two young men is none other than the birthday boy himself, James Alaverus.
Seeing her baby boy had returned, Leona was the first to move. Madly dashing in the new arrival's direction, Leona embraced James in a tight hug.
"Happy Birthday, James!" Leona said excitedly.
"Happy Birthday, James!" A beat later, everyone else chimed in.
Standing next to James and Leona, Cu Chulainn remarked, "Man, these people sure are lively."
Finally noticing that James was not alone, Leona asked James, "Oh, you brought someone with you? Would you mind making introductions?"
Freeing himself from Leona's embrace, James began his introduction in a theatrical manner.
"Allow me to introduce to you, he is the newest potential member of my peerage, my senior apprentice brother, also trained by Master Scathach, a great spearman, and the man whose bad luck has no equal! Now, why don't you give it up for Cu Chulainn! Reincarnation of Ireland's Son of Light!" By the end James was roaring like the announcer at a professional wrestling match.
Dragged into James pace, everyone in the room began to applaud.
"Hey, James!" Cu Chulainn shouted. "What the hell do you mean 'a man whose bad luck knows no equal'?"
"Do you really want me to explain?" James asked with a deadpan.
Seeing James expression and hearing his tone when he asked the question, Cu Chulainn wisely dropped the subject.
After that, James began introducing everyone to the newcomer. Much like he did when he brought Mizore home, James got carried away and had not realized he had never met Koneko until it was too late.
This of course led to everyone laughing uproariously at James' expense. With Cu Chulainn laughing the hardest. Even the taciturn Koneko cracked a small smile.
After everyone was able to calm down, Akeno took on the role of introducing Koneko.
Looking at Koneko, James thought to himself. 'Her aura is that of a youkai. A nekomata, I think. No, it's slightly different could she be one of the legendary nekoshou? But I thought they were extinct.'
James did not slip into thought for too long. Scathach made sure to cure him of that idiosyncrasy, in a very Scathach way.
Making his way in front of her, Koneko looked up at James with curiosity. To her surprise, James then began patting her head, which made her flinch. The comfortable feeling that came afterward, however, left her with no desire to extricate herself.
"It's nice to meet you Kitty, I'm James Alaverus." James said in a gentle tone. "I hope we can get along in the future."
Koneko only nodded in response, with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Tch!"
James heard the sound of several clicked tongues, but wisely chose to avoid opening that can of worms.
"So, James, how are the results of your training?" Asked Sirzechs.
"Well..." James stopped to think, then answered with a bit of uncertainty in his tone. "I could probably give a low-level, ultimate rank being a good fight... I would still lose though. I think..."
At James' response, the room fell silent. Everyone, except Cu Chulainn, was dumbfounded.
"That's fucking nuts." Someone whispered from the card table.
*Clap!*
James clapped and everyone was pulled from their thoughts. All their attention was once again gathered on himself.
"Haha! Now I see why Auntie Venelana does that so often." James exclaimed excitedly. "Grabbing everyone's attention with a clap feels great."
At that, everyone familiar with Venelana giggled and gazed at her with a teasing smile.
"This Kid..." Venelana muttered to herself, then asked Rhea in a whisper, "Do I really do that so often?"
This led to another round of laughter.
"Anyway," James said, gathering the attention on himself once again. "When I came back, I had two pieces of good news to share with everyone. The first has already been introduced."
Pointing his finger at Cu Chulainn as he finished his statement, Cu Chulainn put on a proud smile.
"Though I don't know how long that will be the case, once his bad luck kicks me in the ass, that is." James said, causing Cu Chulainn to deflate immediately.
*Smack!*
"Watch your language, young man." Leona growled after swatting James in the back of the head.
Without even wincing, James replied. "Yes ma'am, understood." while saluting.
Sighing in irritation, Leona asked and what's the other piece of good news?"
"Well, that would be this." James replied while raising his left hand to eye level.
Then, a red glow covered his arm. Only to be replaced by a red armored tekkou with gold accents and a green jewel embedded in the center of the armor plate covering his hand.
"I awakened my [Sacred Gear], the [Boosted Gear] to be exact."
Once again, the room fell silent.
And once again, a whisper was heard from the card table.
"This kid is rebelling against fate, isn't he?"
Before things could get roudy again, James finally noticed someone was missing.
"Uh... Before we continue..." James said apprehensively. "Is Riri avoiding me again?"
Hearing James' abrupt question, everyone except Cu Chulainn began to giggle. Some laughing wryly, which James did not notice.
Eventually, Venelana pointed up the stairs and answered James question.
"She said she had something important she wanted to talk about with you, alone."
Cutting off the rest of the conversation, James said, "Alright, let me go see what she wants to tell me." He then made his way upstairs.
Once James was out of sight, Venelana whispered, to no one in particular. "I get the feeling this isn't going to end well."
Reaching the top of the stairs, James saw Rias sitting in front of his bedroom door with her head buried in her knees, quietly sobbing.
"Riri? What's wrong?" Asked James while walking in Rias' direction, surprised to see her like this.
Hearing James' voice, Rias raised her head and vigorously wiped her eyes. However, with her puffy red eyes and dried tear stains, it was still obvious that she had been crying.
Seeing Rias like this, James let out a sigh and said, "If you want to talk, I am willing to listen. Let's go inside first, though."
Rias nodded at his suggestion, visibly calming down.
"Fine, let's go inside."
James opened the door and ushered Rias inside. Rias entered, then unceremoniously flopped down on James' bed, causing his eyebrow to twitch and awkwardly look away. The reason? When Rias flopped down, her dress fluttered high enough to make her panties visible.
Seeing James' reaction, Rias grinned and said, "Oh, James? Is something the matter? Why does your face look like that?"
"Damn precocious little devil girl." muttered James under his breath, before changing the subject. "Anyway, what has you so upset?"
"Tch!" Rias clicked her tongue hard at James' change of subject, before putting on a solemn expression and answering James' question, "James, I need help thinking of a way to get out of this. My parents arranged a marriage for me, and they will not listen to my objections."
"Damn, that sucks." Replied James. "Arranged marriages are, like, so last century."
Rias giggled at James' little joke, before quickly remembering why she was here. "Is that all you have to say?" She asked with a frown.
"And what do you want me to say?" Answered James with a question of his own.
"I want you to think of a way out of this." Replied Rias as if the answer had been obvious.
Frowning slightly because of Rias' attitude, James continued, "Well... First, you should give me all the details, shouldn't you?" James asked while rolling his eyes.
"Details? Like what?" Asked Rias with some confusion.
James could only shake his head at the girl.
"Why are you shaking your head?" Asked Rias with a pout.
James sighed while massaging his temples. "Alright, let me ask you some questions about the situation. He said in exasperation. "If I know what's going on, I can come up with a way to help, if that's even possible."
Rias nodded in excitement and replied, "Ask away."
"Alright," began James as he pulled out the chair from his desk and placed it in front of Rias before sitting down, "First question: Who have you been betrothed to?"
"The Third son of the Phenex Family, one of the 72 Pillar Houses., Riser Phenex." Said Rias with a frown.
"Second question: When is the marriage supposed to take place?" Asked James once again.
"I am not going to marry him." Shouted Rias indignantly.
James sighed once again and coaxed Rias, "Just humor me, we need a timeframe to make plans, right?"
"Yes, you are correct." Replied Rias before taking a deep breath to calm down. "They decided it would happen after I've reached maturity."
James stroked his chin in thought, "Hmm, so that would be some time shortly after your eighteenth birthday, right? By your twentieth, at the latest."
"James, please stop doing that," said Rias, referring to the way James stroked his chin, "it makes you look like an old man."
James ignored Rias' jab and moved on to his next question.
"Third question: Why are the elders so dead set on this marriage? Did they give you a reason?" Asked James.
Rias nodded her head.
"They said it was to keep the pure-blooded devils from dying out." Said Rias, while tapping her chin with her right index finger. "Oh, and Lord Phenex said something about keeping the reincarnated devils in their place."
"Bigoted high-born fossil." Muttered James under his breath.
"Huh, what did you say?" Asked Rias in response to James' muttering.
"Waving his hand dismissively, James said, "Don't worry about it, Let's keep going."
Rias pouted at James again, for not answering her question. "Fine."
"*chuckle* You know, your pouting face is cute." Teased James.
Rias flushed red and turned her head away. "Just ask your next question."
"Alright, alright, don't get angry." Said James, raising his hands disarmingly.
"Was Young Master Riser---"
"Do not refer to him so respectfully, not while we are alone." Interrupted Rias.
"Fine, fine, was Riser there for this meeting? If so, what did he think of this arranged marriage?"
Hearing James latest question, Rias jumped up like a cat who had its tail stepped on and shouted. "Yes, he was there! And he said he would be overjoyed to go through with the marriage to the heiress of the Gremory Family." Rias audibly gritted her teeth after finishing.
James sighed yet again, before asking, "This will probably answer my next question as well, but why does that make you so angry?"
"Because!" Rias shouted, working herself up even more. "He only sees me as the 'Heiress to the Gremory Family.' He does not see 'Rias' at all. And that look in his eyes, I can tell he thinks I would make a great trophy wife."
"Yup." James nodded his head at Rias' response. "That explains why you're so against this marriage."
"Exactly! Now help---"
"Hold your horses," interrupted James. "Let me ask my final question."
"Ask." ordered Rias in annoyance.
Hearing her tone, James could feel his irritation rising. Taking a deep breath to calm down, he prepared himself for the outrage his next question will undoubtedly usher in.
"Why should he know you as anything other than the 'Heiress of the Gremory Family'?"
Hearing James question, Rias' eyes widened in shock. James could see the anger filling her eyes in real time.
"What do you mean by that?" Questioned Rias in an overbearing tone.
Hearing Rias' tone, James own irritation from being talked down to repeatedly began to boil over.
"I meant exactly what I said, Rias." James replied calmly, yet with an angry undertone. "Think about it, what have you done to distinguish yourself from your family name? Have you made any achievements of your own? Have you contributed to devil society? You haven't, have you?"
"I am a high-Class devil of one of the 72 Pillar Houses, is that not enough?" Asked Rias in rage.
"And what did you do to earn that title, Princess?" Asked James condescendingly, as he is starting to lose control of his irritation, due to Rias' unfounded pride. "Let me answer that for you. You have done nothing to earn that title. Nothing other than being born to a good family."
Rias began shaking in rage, tears pooling in her eyes, but James continued.
"All you do is enjoy the blessings you've been given, at your leisure. You don't use those blessings to better yourself, in any way. Hell, you wouldn't train at all if I didn't disguise it as a game. Yet, you still have the nerve to complain when your family---"
*Smack!!!*
In the middle of James' rant Rias stood abruptly and slapped him, silencing him immediately. After a moment of silence James spoke, in an eerily calm tone.
"That's it, I'm done."
James' expressionless face shocked Rias to her core. And she finally felt some remorse from her actions.
However, before Rias could react, James stood from his seat and walked to the door. Without even looking back, he opened the door and left, walking past all the eavesdropping adults gathered outside the door. Without saying a word to any of them, he walked into his art studio, closed the door, then locked it.
The silence in the hallway was deafening.
Until it was broken by Rias' angry bellow.
"James, I hate you."
Her regret had turned into anger when James did not return.
Meanwhile, Venelana was the first of the adults to regain their senses.
"I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well."