Chapter 293 - Interlude 4 - Kaori, The Actress, Part 10

"Just a few more," Yumi said, spurring Kaori to continue. 

How did we make so many of these?  Kaori asked herself, as she pasted another flier up onto the front of a random post in the middle of Pearl. It was several hours after her talk with Ash, late into the evening as the two of them tried to get this done. 

Some people watched them with weird looks, but Kaori didn't care too much. She just wanted to get through this. Making these things had been fairly entertaining, but actually putting the things up was a little boring. Even though she was out and surrounded by the beautiful architecture, she didn't get to see it since all she was doing was getting a faceful of building walls. 

"How. Many. More!?" Kaori asked, putting on a dramatic tone. Yumi laughed, walking up to her side and leaning her head against the wall as she passed Yumi another flier. 

"Just a couple," she held them out in front of Kaori, and the blonde got a sudden boost of energy. 

YES! 

Applying the glue to them before pasting them wildly onto the same building, she stretched her arms out and said:

"Victory!" 

Yumi grinned at her, rolling her eyes light-heartedly before they finally walked away. 

"Well, we're done. Now what?" Yumi asked. 

"You're asking me? You're usually the planner." 

"I wasn't expecting we'd be done so soon. Eh, maybe I'll take Vermia out on a walk." 

"You say that like she's a dog. Though, I guess she is kind of a-" 

"Stop," Yumi said. "And, yes, she is, which is why this is the perfect opportunity to get her to stretch her legs a little so she does not vent any of that negative energy onto us." 

"Awesome." 

"What will you do?" Yumi asked. 

"Hm... I don't know, actually," Kaori replied, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll come up with something, though." 

After that, the two of them returned to the inn, where they hurriedly walked up the stairs to let the other girls know they were done. Sinneah, surprisingly, wasn't around, as she apparently had gone out to look at the town on her own earlier. So, Yumi just relayed the information to Vermia before the two of them then walked out of the building, together, while Kaori remained back in the room. 

She laid down on the bed, letting out a deep sigh as she stared up at the ceiling, feeling like all of the day's activities had suddenly started weighing on her body. 

Holy... She thought. Too much walking for one evening. But, she smiled, at least we got stuff done! Ah, I can't wait for the play to get here already!

She rested for a few minutes until someone knocked on the door. 

Oh? Did Yumi forget something?  She wondered, standing up, pulling her hair back, and walking up to it. 

Instead of Yumi, though, when she opened the door, there was a short, black-haired girl with big silver eyes looking back at her.

"Hello," Keiko said, waving one hand as she held out a plate full of cookies with her other one. "Would you like a peace offering?" 

"... What?" Kaori asked, baffled. She chuckled, then, looking down at the cookies. "Peace of- what do you mean?" 

"I, ehm," Keiko looked away, "I'm sorry if I assumed incorrectly, but I thought learning about my current relationship status had, you know, been a bit troubling. So, I made these," she said, holding the plate up. 

"You made them?" 

"Yes, myself," Keiko smiled. "For you." 

"... Why?" 

"I just said why," Keiko raised a brow. 

"N-No, I mean, why, as in... why do you feel the need?" 

"Uhm, I'm not sure I understand, but, I guess the answer is because I'd very much like us to be friends," Keiko shrugged. "We might not be together anymore, but you are still very important to me. I wouldn't want to lose you just because I have a girlfriend." 

Hearing that was surprising, but not as surprising as the sweet scent that lifted itself to her nostrils when she inhaled. 

"Gosh," Kaori whispered. 

"I'm quite proud of this batch," Keiko said, smiling. "I suppose that's another reason I'd be sad if you turned them down." 

"..." Hearing that Kaori's answer was already determined as Keiko tugged on the strings of her heart. "Sure." 

"Great, thank you," Keiko gave a little bow. "Come down, we'll eat at a proper table." 

"Okay." 

A while later, the two of them were doing just that. Around them, other customers of the inn, maybe some folks who were renting the other rooms out, maybe some who had just come for a quick meal, were having dinner as Kaori took small bites out of the chocolate cookies she held. 

... This is bad.  She thought.  I might have an orgasm. These are too good. This is really bad. 

As she bit down on one, she had to keep herself from moaning as the flavor proceeded to fill her mouth. 

"I... Are they alright?" Keiko asked, worried. "You keep making this troubled face." 

"Y-Yeah..." Kaori nodded. "They're good." 

"Oh, thank you. Anyway, is it true, by the way? What I heard." 

"What did you hear?"

"The... very large woman in your group told me that you were all escorted here by Saviors. Is that true?" Keiko asked, and on her face, Kaori could see great interest. 

Maybe this was petty of her, but she felt like this was a good opportunity to brag a little. And, well, given the circumstances, maybe a little bragging could do her some good. 

"Yep," she said, popping out the "p" in that response. "They were kind of amazing." 

"Did you see them fight?" Keiko asked, leaning a little closer. "All those years ago, when my family and I still lived at the Compound, I'd heard stories about them." 

"I don't know what sort of stories you heard, but yeah, they're no joke," Kaori replied. "In the middle of our trip here, actually, we were attacked by demons." 

Keiko gasped. 

"No way! Did everyone make it out alright?" Keiko asked. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" 

"No, no," Kaori waved her hands back and forth. "We were fine. A few guards got... taken out, shall we say, but yeah. The Saviors got us out. One of them..." Kaori paused, as the half-demon's face flickered past her mind. "One of them saved us directly, actually. A demon was going to attack us and she nailed it with an arrow."

"Wow... I guess those stories weren't lying," Keiko replied, smiling. "I'm a little jealous. I would have loved to see them in action." 

Really?  Kaori thought.  I don't know. I think I was too busy being scared out of my mind at the moment to really appreciate the handiwork. But, that's just me. 

"You haven't had any of the cookies in a while, by the way. Eat 'em while they're fresh!" Keiko said with a smile. 

"Right, sorry." 

She picked one up and put it in her mouth. 

MMMH! 

---

The meal with Keiko lasted just an hour longer after that. All in all, she was glad she'd agreed to it. The two of them caught up with each other, properly, going through everything that had happened while they'd been away. Kaori learned of how Keiko's family had come across this building and how the plan to turn it into an inn had really begun, and Keiko told her about how she'd met Caroline. 

Thankfully, it didn't make her heart sting as much anymore, which meant that Kaori was able to respond with her own little details as she explained how she met Yumi, and how they'd built up the troupe after that. Keiko seemed so curious to know about everything that had happened to Kaori that the blonde almost felt bad for even considering avoiding her earlier. 

The conversation hadn't removed all of the jealousy in Kaori's heart, but it had helped. Now, though, she felt like it was on her to work on it herself. So, she quickly started trying to think of how she could do that. 

And, she could really only think of one way to do so. 

I need to get laid.  She stated firmly in her mind, as she laid back down in her bedroom.  Yeah, that would help. 

As she came up with that plan on the spot, though, she promptly realized something. 

She wasn't really interested in sleeping with any random people right now. She sat up, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she realized this. This wasn't normal for her.  Why...?  She asked herself before the answer appeared rather quickly. 

It came as she tried to envision someone hot. She tried to come up with a random image of an attractive person, literally just to get her body in the mood to try to go out and find someone that fit the bill. 

However, all she could think of was a woman with clear white hair, violet eyes, and a strong body. 

Oh...  Kaori sighed.  Well, that's probably never gonna happen, so it's better to get it out of my mind now. 

... 

She paused. 

...

Or... Maybe...? 

A few minutes later, she was walking out of the inn with a determined stride. She kept her head up the whole way, committing to what she was doing.

That was how she ended up knocking on Kasumi's door, feeling nervous, and a little excited. 

Kasumi opened the door, looking at her curiously. 

"Oh, Kaori, what can I do for you?" 

"Hi, uh, could I talk to Ash for a second?" 

"Yeah." 

Kasumi half-closed the door then and walked back in. She called Ash, and when the door opened it was the half-demon who was looking back at her. 

"Kaori?" Ash asked. 

"Hey!" Kaori said. "Wanna go out?"