A Bet and a Misunderstanding

Human World, Hanging Neck Island.

The evening of the same day that the first round of the tournament ended, Team Urameshi and the rest of the people associated with them, minus Koenma and Ogre, were relaxing in the suite assigned to them.

Around the time the sun fell below the horizon, there was a knock on the door of Team Urameshi's suite. Sitting the closest to the door, Keiko stood up to answer the door. However, remembering the story Kurama told him about Team Rokuyukai trying to sneak into their room, Yusuke spoke up.

"Hey, Keiko." Yusuke called out, getting Keiko's attention before she could answer the door. "Why don't you just relax. Treat this trip as a vacation. I'll get the door."

"Huh? Okay..." Keiko replied in a confused tone.

Before Keiko could question his actions, Yusuke stood up and rushed to the door. Then, after making sure Keiko was a safe distance from the door, he opened it cautiously.

"Good evening, sir." a man wearing a black tuxedo with a pair of sunglasses said as the door was opened fully.

"What's up?" Yusuke asked in a wary tone. "Can I help you with something?"

"No, not at all, sir." the man said with a professional smile. "I have come to deliver a copy of the tournament bracket to Team Urameshi."

Then, the man reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo, causing Yusuke to go on high alert. However, nothing dangerous, like what Yusuke was expecting, happened. Instead, the man pulled out a sealed envelope with the symbol of the Dark Martial Arts Tournament printed on the front.

"With this, my task is completed." The man said with that same professional smile as he handed the envelope to Yusuke. Then, he pulled out a tablet from the other inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket. "Now, if you would sign here, please."

Taking the presented tablet, Yusuke signed the received receipt and handed the tablet back to the man. Wasting no time, the man nodded then left without another word.

"Who was at the door?" James asked, snapping Yusuke out of his daze.

"Someone delivering the tournament bracket." Yusuke replied before shutting the suite's door.

Yusuke then returned to the living room, opening the envelope along the way. When he arrived in the living room, he had already read the bracket. However, he wore a frown after doing so.

"Is something wrong, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked curiously. "Do we have to fight Toguro in the next round, or something?"

"See for yourself." Yusuke said, tossing the paper with the bracket printed on it onto the table in the middle of the room. Quickly, the rest of the people in the room rushed to see the bracketing for themselves. Then, like Yusuke several of them frowned.

"What the hell is this?" Kuwabara asked in an agitated tone. "Why are we the only team that has to fight in four matches to win the tournament?"

"That's an arrogant statement, Kuwabara." James said with a smile. "You've already assumed victory in tomorrow's match, huh?"

With that, Kuwabara blushed in embarrassment. He did not mean to sound arrogant. But he did not think they would lose either.

However, Kuwabara's attitude caused Shizuru to glare at him intensely.

"Kazuma, are you underestimating your opponents?" Shizuru asked in an ice-cold tone. "What did I tell you about that?"

Shizuru then began to beat Kuwabara mercilessly while explaining the proper way to carry himself when going into a fight.

"She truly is gallant." Erza said, approving of Shizuru's take on fight preparation.

"Indeed." Irene agreed. "She could probably be trained into a fine warrior."

"You're too naïve thinking that will be the only trick those corrupt humans will use to see us dead." Hiei said harshly, lowering the mood of the room.

"Hiei, do you really care so much about everyone?" James asked while dabbing away a fake tear. "I knew it, you really are just a tsundere with a super strong tsun side."

Immediately after James finished speaking, the sound of Hiei's teeth grinding together in anger could be heard and Hiei's demonic energy began to leak.

"Take this as a promise, I will kill you after this tournament ends." Hiei said with the Jagan under his headband glowing brightly.

"Oh yea." James said with an excited light in his eyes. "Wanna put your money where your mouth is, then?"

Although Hiei did not answer, he maintained eye contact, letting James know that he should continue speaking.

"After the tournament, you and I will fight." James said with a smile. "The win condition for you is to kill me. If you do, Irene here will tell you about my true identity with nothing hidden."

Glancing at Irene, Hiei saw that she nodded with no sense of worry in her expression. He then snorted, thinking that she was looking down on him.

"And what is your win condition and what will I have to do if I lose?" Hiei asked, not for a moment thinking that he would lose.

His smile widening, James extended his right hand toward Hiei. Then, a [Knight Piece] and three [Pawn Pieces] appeared floating over his outstretched palm.

"My win condition is to defeat you without killing you." James said, exuding confidence from every pore. "And when I win, you'll join my peerage. Naturally, you'll learn all about me after that, as well."

Once again, Hiei began grinding his teeth. At the same time, the tension in the room had risen to supernatural levels. In fact, the tension was so high that Shizuru even stopped beating up the nearly unconscious Kuwabara.

"Fine, I accept." Hiei said, feeling that his pride had been challenged when he saw James' smile.

Nodding in response, James allowed the [Evil Pieces] to vanish. Then, he returned to the sofa he was sitting on previously.

This altercation, if it could be called that, naturally put a damper on the atmosphere in the suite. So, after discussing the tournament for a little while, they all decided to call it a night early. That way, they would be full of energy for the upcoming match.

However, after James returned to his bedroom, he was surprised to see Erza standing in his doorway when he tried to close the door. James was not the only one surprised by Erza's appearance, either. Irene, whose room was next door to James' also saw her daughter trying to enter James' room.

"Erza, what are you doing?" James asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"I'm going to sleep with you tonight." Erza said in a matter of fact tone.

"*Sigh* Now that you mention it, why were you in my room when I woke up this morning?" James asked in an exasperated tone. Then, he turned to Irene who was watching the event unfold with a bewildered and conflicted expression on her face. "Irene, I want to ask you the same question, too."

Blushing slightly, Irene began poking her index fingers together with a shy smile on her face.

'Damn, the gap-moe is so cute.' James thought to himself as he watched his usually serious [Queen] make such a cute gesture.

"Do you think we could have this conversation in a more private place?" Irene asked, looking up and down the hall to make sure that no one was listening.

"Sure." James said, opening his door wide. "Come on in."

Irene and Erza naturally accepted the invitation to enter James' room. Then, he gestured for the mother-daughter pair to sit on the bed while he stood in front of them.

"Okay, so I can kinda understand why Irene would sneak into my room." James said once both women were comfortable. "I mean, we both know that you've developed feelings for me over the past few months. So, I won't go into detail about that. But what about you, Erza?"

"I had gone to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Then, I saw Mother entering your room." Erza said in a serious tone. "Then, I just followed her in to see if there was something important to discuss."

Irene could only sigh in response to Erza's statement. At times, Erza's common sense was nonexistent. But this time, her thought process almost made sense.

"Then, when she noticed I had followed her, she sighed and just laid down next to you." Erza continued. "And when I saw that, since I was still sleepy, I laid down next to you, too."

"Night crawling, huh, Irene?" James asked with a smile while waggling his eyebrows. "How bold."

Although she did not speak, Irene's blush made it quite clear what she thought of James' teasing.

"But that doesn't explain why you're here tonight, Erza." James said, returning to the original point.

"Oh, that's actually quite simple to explain." Erza replied nonchalantly. "Last night, as I hugged you, I slept better than I have in years. So, I wanted to experience it again."

"That does explain it quite well." James replied with a nod. "But didn't it occur to you to ask me if it was okay first?"

"Hmm... I guess it didn't." Erza admitted after thinking for a brief while. "Then, would it be alright if I slept while hugging you again?"

Simultaneously,James and Irene sighed. Not only at Erza's bluntness, but also at her choice of wrds. Then, James shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

Fine." James said in an uncaring tone. "It's not like it bothers me. I'm used to sleeping with someone holding on to me, anyway."

"Good." Erza said before she was covered in a bright light.

In the next instant, after using her [Requip Magic] Erza had changed out of her usual clothes and armor into a lavender, lace bra/tank top, that showed off quite a bit of cleavage, and matching boyshorts that wrapped her ass quite nicely.

As a reaction to Erza's wardrobe change, James gasped in admiration. As Irene saw that reaction, resolve burned in her eyes.

"May I sleep here, as well?" Irene asked with a serious expression on her face that was covered in blush.

"Sure." James replied casually. Though his feelings were anything but casual at the moment.

'They're asking me to fuck them, aren't they?' James asked himself. 'NO, calm down, James. Irene might be fine with it, but Erza definitely isn't ready for anything like that. I mean, she's shown absolutely no romantic or sexual interst in me before.'

While James was arguing with himself internally, Irene began stripping out of her clothing. As she took off each article, she folded it neatly and set them all on the night stand next to the bed. By the end, she was only wearing a lace, black bra and a black t-back thong.

Seeing Irene wearing even less than Erza, James opted to turn his mind off. With his body now on auto-pilot, he simply stripped down to his boxers and climbed into his bed. Then, he closed his eyes and tried his best to fall asleep immediately.

Watching James actions, Irene felt proud and conflicted at the same time. She was proud that her appearance affected James so much. But at the same time, she was conflicted that Erza was in the room as well.

'If it were just James and I, I could take things to the next level.' Irene thought. 'But I know that Erza is not ready for anything of that nature.'

Erza, on the other hand, was confused by James' actions. After seeing how she and her mother were dressed, she expected James to pounce on them. Over the last two months or so, she had heard a lot of stories about James' prowess in the bedroom. And as a nineteen year old young woman, she would be lying if she said she was not curious. So, she thought tonight would be the perfect opportunity to see how sex felt.

If James and Irene knew what Erza was thinking, they would be completely dumbfounded. Then, they would be thoroughly exasperated that she neglected to mention that part during the conversation, instead of making it seem like she just wanted a good night's sleep next to James.