Chapter 258 - Vol. 4 - 57

Kaori

Sometime Ago

Upon waking again, Kaori was unsure of what to do. A couple of weeks had passed since she had checked in on her parents, and currently, the blonde was standing in the middle of the sky, with Yx still sitting next to her. She'd kept her eyes mostly on her family and her old group, though, on occasion she did wonder about a few other individuals from her past, long before she'd met Ash and Keiko. 

She looked in on an old girlfriend of hers, finding that the girl was studying overnight for what looked like a test of some sort at one of Jade's few universities. One of her old classmates had traveled north to Sapphire and had enlisted for the city's army, as she could tell by the fact that he was training with their soldiers. A lot of the individuals she looked at, however, looked like they couldn't care less about everything demon-related that was happening outside of Jade's walls. 

On one hand, she felt like at least, she'd tried to make a difference for some people. On the other, the more she checked in on people, the more lonely she felt. Sure, she had Yx here, but the man apparently wasn't fond of simple conversations. Not that she even knew what they'd talk about if he was. 

"Can you show me what my friends are doing?" Kaori asked. 

"Which ones?" 

"Uh, Ash and Keiko." 

"Right away," Yx replied with that polite smile on his face, and, in the blink of an eye, Kaori was now sitting in the middle of a desert. 

Huh?  She looked around, seeing nothing but dirt and rocks for a while.  Where...? 

"Yeah?" She heard, up ahead. She tried to find the source of the sound and saw Keiko and Ash sitting together atop a giant rock. Seeing them together like this made Kaori's heart melt, but at the same time, she instantly felt jealous. 

"..." Kaori looked down sadly, walking closer to them. 

"Nothing," Keiko waved a hand in the air. "I was just thinking out loud." 

Kaori stood by their side. She tried to sit down with them, but she fell straight through the rock, landing on her butt, and she let out a disappointed sigh. 

"My apologies, would you like to feel collision?" Yx walked up to her and asked. 

"Collision?" 

"Be able to feel things," Yx explained. "You wouldn't be able to move anything, however. Only feel their texture, and use them as regular surfaces." 

"Oh... Uh, sure," Kaori shrugged. 

"Done," Yx replied. 

Already? Uh, okay,  Kaori thought as she then reached down and touched the boulder her friends were sitting on. She nearly gasped when she found that she could actually touch it now, along with the dirt under her feet as well. Feeling some excitement bubbling up inside of her, she sat down next to Keiko. 

Just this was enough to make Kaori feel a little better after multiple weeks of being little more than a ghost. She looked over at them, though she wasn't really listening to what they were saying, and Kaori sighed. 

"... If you two could hear me right now," suddenly, she said, "what would I tell you?"

Then, before she could come up with an answer, she heard this: 

"We could fuck right here and I could try my hardest not to get sand on your

clit." 

Huh? Kaori looked over at her friends and found Keiko blushing intensely. Ash, what the heck?  Kaori thought, giggling as she watched them interact in front of her. 

"ASH!?" Keiko yelled out and, at that, Kaori burst out laughing. 

You can't just say it like that! Kaori thought, shaking her head. Apparently, Ash knew how sudden that was, as she too was chuckling a little. 

Kaori looked away, feeling a little happier instantly. 

It's almost... It's almost like I'm here. She thought, however, she knew she was just trying to convince herself of that. 

"Could we?" Keiko asked, and Kaori looked over at them. 

"Hm?" 

"Uh... Could you try that? Um, not getting sand on my..." Keiko said, and Kaori blinked. 

What the...? 

"Yeah, I could give it a shot," Ash replied, and Keiko nodded. The Zayama began taking her pants off then, as Kaori gulped and Ash went and knelt down between her legs. 

Uh, should I be seeing this? Is this okay?  She wondered. 

...

But she didn't look away. 

---

A while after that, it was nighttime, and Ash was coming back to the camp after having fought some monsters, covered in blood. Everyone was asleep except for Yumi, who was keeping watch for the night.

She hated this, but, in all honesty, Kaori almost resented Yumi's presence there, as it almost felt like she'd been replaced. She knew that hadn't been the intention behind the Zayama's addition to their "team", but, still. She felt that way. 

"... You certainly had an exciting time," Yumi said. Ash wiped some blood off of her face. 

"Kinda."

Then, Ash went and took off her clothes, and walked away from the camp, naked, carrying nothing but her Savior's Weapon. 

Confused, Kaori went and followed her. Eventually, they both arrived at a small pond, and here, Ash dipped into the water. 

Kaori did the same, as Yx had allowed her to feel these things around her. She felt the chill in the air, and the cold water on her skin, just like Ash was. 

The entire time, however, she couldn't keep her eyes off the half-demon. 

Ugh, I wish I could tell you how beautiful you look right now. Even with all the blood on you, screw it, you're stunning, Kaori thought, chuckling to herself. 

But, soon, Ash began doing something under the surface of the water. 

Hm? 

What she was doing didn't quite sink in until Kaori saw her playing with her breasts with one hand and sinking the other between her legs. 

Oh. 

"O-Oh, my gosh, Ash..." She couldn't help but mutter out loud. 

The half-demon stopped. 

She stood up in a hurry, looking around, the water dripping from her body. Her eyes looked panicked, and then, confused. Kaori was frozen, as she sat just a short distance away. 

"I... What?" Ash scratched her head. "I swear..." 

"A-Ash!?" Kaori asked, standing up and facing her, but the woman didn't respond this time. 

... Did she notice me?  Kaori asked herself.  Did something happen? 

"Yx!" She quickly called out to him, but, this time, the man did not appear before her, and those questions remained on her mind as eventually, Ash left.

---

After that, Kaori decided she'd spend more time with her group. She could, of course, let Yx put her to sleep until whatever struggle was happening between the gods was settled, but Kaori wanted to know what was happening to those she cared about. The thought of waking up and hearing, "by the way, someone you love died while you were asleep," was not exactly appealing to her. 

So, while Ash, Keiko, and the others all moved into the city, later on, Kaori moved in right alongside them. 

At one point, as Metsumi took the group out while Ash was looking for something outside the city, Kaori went with them and scanned the city with great curiosity.

Wow, the books didn't do this place justice,  Kaori thought as she looked around at the dirt-covered wooden buildings, and the ominous guards standing around the corners and sitting on the rooftops. Kaori wondered about a few different things. What was a party here like? What kind of alcohol could she get her hands on? What sort of music did they like here?

Another question popped up in her head, but this was one she figured she could get an answer on. 

"Yx," Kaori called out, and the man appeared next to her. 

"Yes?" 

"How has Amber dealt with the demons so far?" 

"Ah, well, although Niven's opened up a few portals nearby, he's yet to attack Amber recently, as he has with the other cities. His activity in this region has been restricted largely to assaulting various travelers as they make the journey from this region to another." 

"Why?" Kaori asked. 

"Ah," Yx said, "forgive me, but I cannot disclose Niven's motivations." 

"What? How come?" 

"Because," Yx smiled, "doing so could potentially influence the outcome of the ongoing struggles in Nova." 

"How? I'm a ghost, or whatever," Kaori argued. 

"For now, you are," Yx answered. "However, your fate is still being decided, remember? If you were to be brought back to the land of the living, on Lumina's side, too much information learned from me would result in direct manipulation of the odds of victory. Something the Higher Powers are mostly against." 

"... Mostly?" 

"Yes," Yx answered. "There are exceptions to every rule, after all. Nothing is certain in this existence of ours."

As Kaori heard that, she nodded. 

"Take me over to Ash," she all but ordered and Yx did just that. 

---

Ash

Now

She was here, on her knees in front of Kaori, with the blonde looking right back at her as tears rolled down both their cheeks and yet, she couldn't believe this. 

"I-I... How...?" Ash asked herself, and she could feel her skull spinning in circles over this. 

"I don't know," Kaori replied. "I tried to ask... someone, but he won't answer. I just... You can see me," Kaori said, and Ash could hear her voice break. "You can actually see me!"

Even now, after she'd confirmed that this was no illusion thanks to that dumb little test they'd done, she still felt like any second now, this image of Kaori would lift her middle fingers up and fade away right before her eyes. 

But, no. Instead, a pair of loving, sympathetic eyes remained fixed on her. 

"..." Ash tried to calm herself down. "W-Where have you been? What have you been doing?" 

"I, it's a bit of a tough thing to answer, but... I've been around you, mostly," Kaori said, looking down. "You, Keiko, everyone. I've been trying to keep up with what you're doing here and... Holy f..." Kaori said. "I miss being with you all so much." 

Ash hesitantly tried to reach for her, but she couldn't feel Kaori's body. Her hand passed right through Kaori's shoulder, which sucked because all she wanted was to give her the tightest hug possible right now. 

"... How long do we have together?" Ash asked. 

"I don't know," Kaori shrugged. "This wasn't arranged or anything. It just... happened." 

Nodding, Ash tried to take that information in. So many things were running through her thoughts, and she had no clue how long she had till she could say them to her. 

"O-Oh, wait!" Kaori said. "I think I can help you, uh, you're trying to get back to the city, right?" 

"Yeah," Ash answered. 

"Alright, give me a moment." 

One second passed. Ash watched Kaori close her eyes, and then, she opened them again and pointed to Ash's left. 

"That way!" Kaori let her know, and Ash stood up. She wiped her tears away and picked her things back up. 

Then, Ash thought back to what she had just heard.

"... You've been around me?"

"Most of the last few weeks," Kaori said, as her shoulders dropped a little. "I saw you and Keiko discussing her whole pregnancy. I saw all that awkward sexual tension between you and Yumi. The fight with Sinneah. All of it. All of it, wishing I could help just once. Even if it was just to offer advice or whatever, cause, gosh, seeing you get so close to losing your mind broke my heart." 

Again, her voice broke and Ash took that information in. This entire time, she thought the woman was just a husk laying in the same bed as her every night. Hearing this damn near broke her. 

"... But, can I ask you for something?" Kaori asked. "I-I wish we could make this moment count a little more, but..."

"Yeah, of course," Ash said, walking up to her. "What is it?" 

"... Maybe, later, when you get back to the Manor..." 

Ash heard her request carefully, nodding slowly. It didn't make too much sense to her, but Kaori wanted that, so, she accepted. 

"Okay, you've got it," Ash replied. 

I just hope Keiko doesn't freak out if she catches me doing this,  Ash thought. 

"Thank you," Kaori smiled widely. "I-It's funny, I spent all this time wishing I could say some stuff to you, but, now, it's hard to get the words out. And it sucks because I don't know how long I have before this whole thing just... poofs away, you know?" 

"I-If it's the Mist Realm that's doing this, maybe we have until I leave this place?" Ash asked.

"Maybe," Kaori replied with a smile. "Well, come on, Savior, you have a girl to save with that flower," Kaori told her, and Ash looked down at her bag. 

"... Right," she nodded. "Right." 

With that, the two of them began walking away from that body of water, side-by-side.