Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
"Why~~~~~~~~~!" Mai cried while pounding her fist on the floor of the living room. "Why did Tatsu-Kun leave me behind? Why is he being so cruel?" {Pic}
"There were probably a few reasons for that." Sumire replied after taking a sip of tea.
Although she already had an idea of what Sumire would say, Mai could not help but turn to look in her direction.
"First, Mai-Chan, you are aware that there are more girls that like Tatsu-Chan in the world he headed to with Kasumi-Chan, Ayane-Chan, and Tio-Chan, right?" Sumire asked calmly.
"Yes, it's a world with more thieving cats." Mai replied while gritting her teeth.
"You're also aware that every one of those women you refer to as thieving cats is stronger than you, right?" Sumire asked.
This time, Mai did not respond. But she did clench her fist tightly, which served as her response.
"And that's the first reason." Sumire said. "If Tatsu-Chan took you with him, you would probably not be able to control yourself and end up attacking one of them. And if you did that, if Tatsu-Chan was not fast enough, you would either get yourself hurt or killed."
The sound of Mai's teeth grinding together was rather loud in the silence following Sumire's words. But she did not say anything to refute.
"Second." Sumire said after a few seconds. "Tomorrow is the housewarming party, isn't it?"
"Yes." Mai replied in a huff.
"Tatsu-Chan did not want to leave me alone to prepare for it." Sumire continued. "And because you are my assistant, you were the best person to help me."
"*Sigh* I can't deny that, either." Mai said in a depressed tone.
"And lastly." Sumire said.
"There's more?" Mai asked as she looked at Sumire with her eyes wide open in surprise.
"Of course." Sumire said with an earnest nod. "In fact, this was probably the most important reason in Tatsu-Chan's eyes."
Hearing that, Mai's eyes lit up, thinking there was an important reason that she was left behind. Unfortunately, Sumire's following words made her sink back into depression.
"You're still on punishment, remember?" Sumire asked while smiling innocently. "And if my memory serves me correctly, you're not allowed to touch Tatsu-Chan or sleep in his bed for a month. Though, more than a week has passed since the punishment started."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Mai asked, clearly not understanding Sumire's point.
"Don't you remember, Mai-Chan?" Sumire asked, her innocent smile still plastered on her face. "When they left, Kasumi-Chan, Ayane-Chan, and Tio-Chan each held on to Tatsu-Chan. But since you're not allowed to touch him, how could you have gone with them?"
"Ah!" Mai exclaimed with her mouth and eyes wide open.
Mai, still kneeling on the floor, went completely rigid when she processed what Sumire said. And for the next few minutes, she was frozen in that position with the whites of her eyes showing while Sumire continued to drink her tea. Then, when Sumire finally emptied her cup, she put the teacup down, stood up, and turned to exit the living room.
"Alright, let's go, Mai-Chan!" Sumire said energetically as she raised her right hand into the air. "We've got a lot of work to do. We need to put up the decorations, buy the groceries on Tatsu-Chan's list, and prepare the guest rooms for the people who will be spending the night. So much to do and so little time."
Meanwhile, Mai, seemingly without conscious thought, stood up, turned in the same direction as Sumire, and followed behind her with mechanical movements. The years spent as Sumire's assistant conditioning her to follow reasonable orders without any thought of her own. {Pic}
Scattered Cherry Blossoms Universe, Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
At the same time, Tatsuo, while rubbing the space between his eyebrows in exasperation, looked to either side. On his left, Ayane held his arm while staring at the 100" TV hanging on the wall in James' living room with an expression of disbelief. And on his right, Kasumi was wearing a nearly identical expression while holding on tightly to his jacket.
"Yeah, there's no way James didn't do this on purpose." Tatsuo muttered.
*Click!* *Click!* *Click!* *Click!* *Click!*
"Damn right I did!" James exclaimed while completely abandoning his match with Genkai to snap a multitude of pictures of Kasumi's and Ayane's faces. "And these pictures are totally worth it!"
"Nice!" Leona exclaimed shortly afterwards while giving James a thumbs up. "In fact, it was so good that I won't punish you for swearing this time."
A moment later, Leona's happy smile disappeared and she put on a stern expression.
"But if you ever cuss in front of my Baby, Aaliyah, you'll have hell to pay, Young Man." Leona added while planting her fists on her hips.
"Got it!" James replied, already knowing what kind of crisis swearing in front of Aaliyah would bring down on him.
The conversation between James and Leona gave Kasumi and Ayane the time they needed to regain their senses. And when they did, they acted in completely opposite ways.
First, Kasumi, embarrassed by the way she reacted, clung to Tatsuo, burying her head in his jacket. Meanwhile, Ayane, also embarrassed, immediately flung herself towards James, her intent obvious.
"Give me that phone!" Ayane shouted as she leapt over the couch, her right leg extended for a flying kick.
"Not a chance." James replied with a chuckle as he spun to avoid Ayan's flying kick. "These are going right along with the video I made when I threw out all of Mom's chocolate."
"Wait! What did you just say?" Leona asked in an irritated tone. "You! Delete that right now. Just knowing that video exists gives me PTSD."
And just like that, the number of women chasing after James increased from one to two. Yet, thanks to his vastly superior level of power, James, almost as if he was dancing, evaded their attempts to steal his smartphone with, for Leona and Ayane, frustrating ease.
Meanwhile, both Lilith and Venelana approached Tatsuo, who was still standing behind the couch and watching the chase.
"Hello, Tatsuo." Lilith said with her hips swaying seductively. "Oh, and it would seem you've become a man. Does that mean you've finally come to claim me as yours?"
"Or maybe you've come to accept my offer." Venelana said with a pleasant smile. "I'm willing to give you just about anything to sweeten the deal."
Venelana's interruption caused Lilith to glare at her. However, her glare did not last for long, as her expression morphed into a radiant, yet seductive, smile when she saw that Tatsuo was practically undressing her with his eyes.
'Good. Look all you like.' Lilith thought to herself while making subtle adjustments to her posture to emphasize the areas where Tatsuo's eyes passed. 'With a dragon's lust, there is no way you'll be able to resist my charm now that you've experienced the pleasures of the flesh.'
"Nah, not really." Tatsuo said, replying to both women's questions. "I only came because James has been pestering me about coming to see Aislynn... I mean Great Red."
Seeing how easily Tatsuo disregarded her subtle seduction, Lilith's eyes widened slightly before narrowing. Meanwhile, Venelana only shrugged her shoulders, not expecting Tatsuo to actually accept her offer to join her Peerage in the first place.
"Aislynn?" Kasumi asked with a contemplative expression. "That's the giant red dragon you told us about, isn't she?"
"She's the True Dragon of Dreams." "One of the two Dragon Gods of this world."
"She is amazingly beautiful in her human form, too." Tio added with a smile. "On top of that, she seems to be interested in Tatsuo-Sama... As a man."
Hearing that, Kasumi's eyes widened in surprise once again. She then looked at Tatsuo with a questioning gaze.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Tatsuo asked while scratching his head awkwardly.
"Yes. Yes, you did." Kasumi replied with a nod.
"Weird." Tatsuo muttered while continuing to scratch his head. "Then, why did Mom know about it?" {Pic}
As Tatsuo said, while Mai, Kasumi, and Ayane were getting cleaned up after their spar with Sumire, Sumire spoke with Tatsuo. And at the end of that conversation, just as Mai, Kasumi, Tio, and Ayane returned to the training room where Tatsuo left the Hub World from, she whispered into his ear.
"Tell my new daughter-in-law, Aislynn, that I said hi."
"What was that, Tatsuo-Kun?" Kasumi asked, having not heard Tatsuo clearly.
"Don't worry about it."" Tatsuo replied nonchalantly. "I was just thinking out loud."
Meanwhile, the chase continued. However, before long, Leona and Ayane were breathing hard while James continued to look at the pictures he snapped. Yet, out of nowhere, he found that his smartphone had disappeared.
"Huh? What the hell just happened?" James asked dumbfoundedly.
"Oh, these are some nice pictures." Tatsuo said with a smile while holding James' smartphone. "James, you definitely gotta send these to me later."
"Damn it, Tatsuo." James muttered. "How fast are you with your [Blinks] now?" James asked. "I didn't even see you when you took the phone and went back."
"Oh, I'm faster than I was before." Tatsuo replied while waving off James' question and evading Kasumi, who was trying to snatch the smartphone, simultaneously. "I just distorted space a little bit, so you didn't notice I was there."
"You're getting pretty scary, Kid." James muttered. "Anyway, we should head to the DxD base before too long. I'm sure Aislynn knows you're here already. And I don't wanna know how she'll act if we keep her waiting too long."
"Sure." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. Then, he tossed James' smartphone back to him. "Then, let's go."
With that, Tatsuo approached James, and Kasumi, Tio, and Ayane followed closely.
"Sorry, girls." James said, holding a hand up to stop Kasumi, Tio, and Ayane. "She said she wanted to see him alone."
Hearing that, Kasumi simply stopped. Ayane, on the other hand, showed an expression of displeasure. As for Tio, having already met Aislynn, she did not react much. Instead, she just continued to smile in the same manner she had been since Tatsuo's group arrived.
A moment later, with Tatsuo standing next to him, James snapped his fingers, unfolding a [Teleportation Circle] beneath them. Then, the [Teleportation Circle] began to rise. And as it passed over Tatsuo's and James' bodies, they vanished from sight. And when it reached its highest point, Tatsuo and James were nowhere to be seen. Then, the [Teleportation Circle] disappeared, as well.
Scattered Cherry Blossoms Universe, Dimensional Gap, Team DxD Base.
A moment later, the same [Teleportation Circle] appeared in front of a large, six-story building about six and a half feet off the ground before lowering itself towards the ground. And as it got closer to the ground, Tatsuo and James were slowly revealed until the [Teleportation Circle] touched the ground and vanished.
"We're here again." Tatsuo muttered while looking around the artificial space. "So, where's---"
"You're finally here." A female voice said from behind Tatsuo and James.
Looking back, Tatsuo and James saw Aislynn, dressed in a red gown and golden high heels with straps that curled up her calves walking towards them.
"Yo, Aislynn." James said with a smile. "Your delivery is here. I got one Soramoto Tatsuo. Please sign here."
Aislynn's only response was a smirk. Meanwhile, Tatsuo rolled his eyes at James' playfulness.
"Hey, Aislynn-San." Tatsuo said with a smile. "Long time, no see. I heard you wanted to see me?"
"No." Aislynn said without losing her smile.
"No?" Tatsuo asked while slightly furrowing his brow.
"It's Aislynn." Aislynn said, answering Tatsuo's question. "Not Aislynn-SAN. You're going to be my mate, after all. So, there is no need for honorifics."
"Right~." Tatsuo muttered with a hint of confusion on his face. "I don't even know why you would want someone so much weaker than you to be your mate."
"You'll understand in due time." Aislynn said in a certain tone. "Besides, I doubt it will be too long before you reach my level. Then, I have no doubt that you will surpass it."
"Oh, neither do I." Tatsuo said with a confident smile. "But I don't know what the time frame looks like to someone with a long---"
Before Tatsuo could finish, he felt a slight threat to his life. Then, he realized what he was about to say. And when he did, he started to drip cold sweat down his back.
'Was I really about to say something about a lady's age?' Tatsuo asked himself. 'And to someone who could probably will me out of existence if she wanted to? Just what the hell was I thinking?'
"*Cough* Anyway, what did you wanna talk to me about?" Tatsuo asked while trying to breeze past his near mistake.
Aislynn's smirk let Tatsuo know the only reason he hadn't been turned into blood mist was because she chose to overlook his near slip of the tongue. A moment later, she waved at James without taking her eyes off Tatsuo.
"Okay, I can tell when I'm not wanted." James said while shaking his head. He then turned to Tatsuo. "Just hit me on the [Chat] when you need me to pick you up."
"No need." Tatsuo replied with a wave of his own. "Before we left, I put down a [Return Marker]. So, I can get back on my own."
"If you say so." James replied with a shrug. "Well then, I'll head back and let anyone who wants to, catch these hands in DOA. Though, it would probably be fun to get Kasumi and Ayane playing as themselves in the game."
"Ha!" Tatsuo barked a short laugh. "Yeah, it would be pretty funny."
"Anyway, I'm out." James said as he was once again enveloped by his [Teleportation Circle].
A moment later, James was gone, leaving Tatsuo alone with Aislynn.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Tatsuo asked with a smile.
This time, Aislynn did not avoid the question. Instead, she stepped forward, placed her right hand on Tatsuo's left cheek, and said what she wanted to say. {Pic}
"I want you to invite me to the [Dimensional Chat]." Aislynn said, her smile widening as an expression of shock appeared on Tatsuo's face.