Chapter 294 - Interlude 4 - Kaori, The Actress, Part 11

The half-demon remained silent for a few seconds. Kaori wondered if she'd heard her or not, but Ash's late response answered that question for her. 

"What?" Ash asked, sounding so confused that Kaori nearly laughed. Instead, she smiled and reiterated: 

"Do you want to go out with me? Tonight." 

For the purposes of this moment, Kaori turned her charm up to a hundred. At least, she hoped she was doing so. The look on Ash's face, an expression of hesitance, made Kaori worry, though. 

"..." Ash opened her mouth, as if she was going to say something, but then closed it again. 

I... I guess I'm pushing it. 

Realizing that, Kaori went to give the woman an out. 

"If you want to," she quickly added. "I know this is sudden, and all, I just... You seem really cool. I figured maybe it would be fun, you know? But if you don't want to, it's alright." 

"I just..." Ash replied, and her voice was a little soft. "I don't get it." 

"What do you mean?" 

"... Nothing," she suddenly replied, shaking her head. "Sure. Where do you want to go?" 

As she heard that, Kaori grinned widely. 

"Well, I don't know," she said with a giggle. "I just got here. Don't you know more about this place than I do?" 

"Mostly, I just stay indoors, training," Ash shrugged. "Though, I guess I can ask Kasumi." 

"Okay! Well, we're pretty close by. How about I go and get dressed, you do the same, not that you look bad or anything, and I come back here in a few minutes?"

"Sure," Ash nodded. 

"See you later, then." 

"Yeah," Ash replied, looking away. "Bye." 

Somewhat curtly, Ash closed the door then. That did nothing to prevent a smile from blooming on Kaori's face, though, as she walked away feeling much happier than when she'd arrived. 

She actually said "yes",  Kaori thought.  I... Gotta be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far. Did I even bring anything good enough to go on a date in? Although...  She paused, standing still in the street as locals passed her by and the twin moons bathed her in their light.  This isn't really a date, she added in her mind.  Eh, maybe it is. It's up to Ash. I'd love to have a date right now.

The blonde returned to the inn a short while later and went to race up the stairs, before halting mid-sprint as she realized that her friends were all having dinner downstairs. 

I may as well let them know. I might not be out too late, I don't think I'll be getting lucky, after all, but eh, stuff could happen. Maybe. 

"Hey!" Kaori greeted them as she waved at the table. "I'm gonna go out for a bit, I'll be back later!" 

"Don't come back too late," Yumi told her. "We're gonna do a lot of practice tomorrow." 

"Noted!" Kaori quickly replied before resuming her charge up the stairs. 

Barging into her and the others' room, Kaori quickly went through all of her things, trying to search for something decent.  Hm... No. Too flowery,  she thought, throwing a skirt aside.  Too revealing... Not revealing enough... Aha! 

She grinned, pulling up a crop top white shirt and some slightly baggy silk pants of the same color. 

This looks alright! But... Is there anything else that I could add to this? It's a bit plain otherwise. 

The answer to that question came just a few minutes later, not as she searched through her own things, but as she searched through some of the props Sinneah had bought. One of them was a thin crown of flowers, probably intended for Kaori herself to wear during the play. 

"... Perfect," Kaori stated with a smile, having decided on everything she'd wear. 

---

The look on Ash's face was all Kaori needed to see to know she'd made the right choice, as she walked up to Kasumi's house and found the Savior standing outside. She'd been leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, sporting a contemplative expression right up until she saw Kaori get there. Then, her eyes widened and Kaori saw her take a sharp breath. She stared at Kaori for a while, and then, as Kaori waved at her when she got closer, Ash looked away quickly, as if realizing she'd been caught. 

Seeing that, Kaori held a smirk on her face as she walked up to the Savior. One that turned into a full look of awe when she saw the woman wearing some sort of sleeveless black tunic-type thing and black leather pants. 

"Hey there, Savior," Kaori said, putting her hands behind her back. "Did Kasumi suggest anywhere fun?" 

"... She said we could go to some tavern down the street," Ash muttered in response. 

"Okay, I like the sound of that." 

Kaori got even closer then, as Ash looked away. It seemed like Ash was trying her hardest not to stare at her, but Kaori, who very much wanted to be stared at right now, disagreed with that notion. So, she walked up as close as she could without looking like she was going in for a kiss or something, and smiled. 

"You're looking great, by the way," Kaori stated. "I'll be honest, I'd been pretty curious to see what you looked like outside of your armor, back when we were on the road. You didn't disappoint." 

With every word she said, she hoped she wasn't coming on too strongly, but Ash just looked back at her and her eyes flickered up and down Kaori's body. 

"Thanks," she said, so quietly that Kaori almost didn't hear her. "Are we going?" 

"I'm good to go if you are," Kaori shrugged. 

"Okay. Let's go then." 

Doing just that, they made their way down to the tavern. It was so close that the walk took a little over five minutes before soon, they were walking into a place that was buzzing with activity. Some bard was singing in the middle of the building. There were many wooden tables spread out across the room with groups of people sitting around and laughing as they drank. And, finally, there were workers moving hurriedly from one part of the tavern to another, delivering mugs of ale to different customers. 

"Looks like we picked a good time!" Kaori said, wrapping her hands around Ash's left arm. "Things are so lively!" 

"Loud is more like it," Ash muttered, but Kaori just dragged her over to the bar, sitting on a stool and putting up two fingers to the person behind the counter. 

"Whatever your strongest liquor is, I'll take two cups." 

The man raised his brows subtly, before nodding and pouring some black liquid out from a random bottle into two glass cups. 

"How much?" Kaori asked as Ash sat down on the stool next to hers. 

"Five crowns." 

"Here," Kaori said, before paying up and taking her cups with a grin.

---

Ash

When Ash had heard the woman ask for the strongest liquor at this tavern, she'd guessed that it was because she was able to hold her own liquor well. 

That was disproved fairly soon, as Kaori's cheeks became flushed and she wouldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. 

"You know," Kaori said, shifting her stool closer to Ash's. "I asked you out because I wanted to get to know you a little, why don't you talk to me a bit?" 

"..." Ash had no idea how she was supposed to handle this. "I don't have much to say." 

"Really?" Kaori rested her head on the palm of her right hand, planting her elbow on the counter. "I doubt that. You look like you've seen a bunch of stuff." 

"... Sure," Ash replied, "but not much of it good, though." 

"Eh, I don't mind hearing a sad story or two," Kaori shrugged. 

"Is that how you're supposed to make friends nowadays?" Ash raised a brow. 

"If you want them to be good friends, maybe," Kaori countered. "I can tell you one if you want." 

"... Okay, whatever, sure." 

"As soon as we arrived here," Kaori began a short tale, "I ran into an ex-girlfriend." 

"Uh... Uh, alright?" Ash asked. "How's that a sad story?" 

"Because I... never mind," Kaori waved a hand. "Point is, yeah, I was sad. But, then, I saw you, when you showed me those places to put the fliers in, and those hot violet eyes of yours, and I felt a little better." 

See? Shit like this, Ash thought. What am I supposed to say to that? 

"Thanks, I guess," Ash replied. 

"... By the way," Kaori suddenly added, "are you into girls?" 

The question came so abruptly that Ash nearly fell off her stool. 

"I don't remember if you gave me a solid answer on that. Or, if I even asked." 

"... Yeah," Ash answered then, looking away. "I am. Not that anything's ever come of it." 

"Why not?" 

All Ash did to respond to that was quickly point to the horns on her head. 

Kaori shook her head. 

"Do you want something to come of it?" 

"... What?" Ash asked. 

Then, Kaori shrugged. 

"I asked, do you want anything to come of it?" 

"What does that mean?" Ash asked. 

"Heh, I'll clarify," Kaori replied, leaning in closer. "If I said that I wanted to kiss you right now, what would you say?" 

"..." At that, Ash felt her heart begin to beat a lot faster. "I'd say that I don't want my first kiss to be in a tavern full of drunks. You being one of them, no offense."

"Oh, sorry," Kaori pulled back so fast that Ash knew she should clear up what she meant. 

"If you asked me outside of here, though..." She added, after a pause. "Then... Maybe." 

The shift from random lust to embarrassment and then to hope on Kaori's face was definitely a sight Ash felt she'd remember for a while. It was pretty funny to see. 

"... Can we compromise?" 

"Hm?" Ash raised a brow at her. 

"I don't think I can get un-drunk anytime soon.... But, we can step outside and I can ask you out in the street. How does that sound?"