Chapter 72 - Vol. 2 - 37

Kasumi

Upon returning to Jade, after witnessing that... curious moment between Kaori and the half-demon, Kasumi decided that she needed a nap. That was an unfortunate choice because as she sank into the realm of dreams, she found herself on the same mountain she'd been at before. 

Fuck.  She thought.  So, it wasn't enough to take Nozomi from me, now you have to take my favorite pastime too? 

She waited then, for Alkoth to show up, as she guessed that he would. Sure enough, he arrived with a chorus of lightning, appearing before her as large as a pillar. And yet, in Kasumi's eyes, neither the lightning nor its size did anything to make her any less resentful. 

What the hell do you want?  She asked in her mind. 

Alkoth did not respond, instead, the god simply narrowed his eyes at her, drawing closer. Kasumi tried to glare, though she did not possess a physical body. Eventually, Alkoth stood so close that Kasumi nearly had to tilt her head all the way up to look at his face. 

However, then, he got on one knee. He placed a hand on Kasumi's shoulder, and her eyes widened. 

She could feel a sense of peace entering her body. 

One she did not agree with. 

So, she stepped back. The god's hand almost flinched, like it hadn't expected such a response. Kasumi wanted to curl her lips with disgust. 

How dare you?  She thought.  Coming to me like this just because it's convenient for you. Cause you need me? Fuck that. If you cared, you would have talked to me when I left on that mission all those years ago. You would have told me to stay home so I could protect my daughter, instead of letting her get eaten alive by some fucking demons! No, you were pretty fucking silent back then, right? Now, NOW, you're here, and, well, you know what? No. You and the rest of the world can fuck off for all I care. Like I told the blonde, you're better off finding someone else. You're wasting your time with me.

Alkoth looked down for a moment, then his eyes met hers, and he nodded. 

Just like that, Kasumi was waking up again. 

---

It was still nighttime. Reaching up to touch her forehead, she noticed she was sweating. She sat up, coughing twice before groaning.  Just leave me alone. Everyone. She thought.  I'm so done. 

The last thing she wanted to do was go back to sleep. So, she stood up and put on a nightgown. Walking outside in the dead of the night felt slightly strange. She could faintly hear snores coming from some of the rooms downstairs because everything was so quiet. 

Making her way to the front door, she kept her eyes low, trying to rub her eyes and wake herself up some more. What she saw when she walked out served that purpose well enough though. 

The half-demon was sitting at a bench, wearing white shorts and a longsleeved shirt, her legs crossed as she looked up at the night sky. As Kasumi stood there, she watched the demon hunch over and sigh, shaking her head as she rubbed her temples.

Kasumi started to walk the street, heading the opposite direction from where the half-demon was. However, it seemed she had other ideas because she called out to Kasumi before she could take two steps. 

"Hey," the half-demon said. Kasumi turned towards her with a bored look. Then, she walked just a bit closer. 

"What?" Kasumi asked. 

"... Walking around at this hour is just looking for trouble," the girl muttered. "Even if you're a Savior, you'd probably want to avoid bullshit, right?" 

"And you know this because...?" 

"Because I got shit on plenty of times at this hour," she responded. "You don't have to listen to me, by all means, go ahead if you want to. Don't say I didn't warn you though." 

"... A demon giving tips to people? How kind..." Kasumi glared at her. 

"Oh my... Fine, fuck off. Go ahead. Why do I even...?" 

However, preferring not to deal with any reckless idiots that might come out at this time, Kasumi took her advice. She turned around, went back inside, and started to walk back to her bedroom. 

Whatever, I'll just... 

However, as she moved through the hallway, one door opened, someone came out, and she crashed into them. They nearly fell, but Kasumi was fast enough to hold the person by the back and steady both herself and them. 

It was Kaori. The blonde yelped, then she stepped back. 

"What the...?" Kasumi asked as she saw the girl look up at her and blush. 

"I-I-I wasn't, I mean, I just, it's not like I was going anywhere or..." Then, the blonde retreated into her room. 

Kasumi put two and two together and rolled her eyes. Wordlessly, she walked back upstairs. All the while, her thoughts remained on the half-demon, whose violet eyes challenged her own so intensely.

---

Ash

Earlier, thanks to some impromptu hand training, she got her Lust back down to 2. That said, she didn't feel any better. The reason she was even out here was because tonight, it was particularly hard for her to go to sleep. 

So, she sat outside, feeling the cold air hug her skin as time passed. Eventually, she decided she had to try again if anything so she wouldn't be too miserable by the time the next day came. So, she walked back into the house. 

As she returned to the room she, Kaori, and Keiko shared, she found the blonde awake, sitting up. She looked up at her as she arrived and Kaori smiled shyly. 

Ash felt her heart start pounding as her Lust took hold of her mind, but at the same time, she was immensely tired, which served to distract her a little.

"Uh, I... noticed you weren't here so..." 

Ash nodded. 

The hybrid walked over to the bed and gestured for some space. Kaori scooted to the left, while Ash laid down on the right. She looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Kaori was laying on her side. She wore a loose pink shirt and soft-looking pants that reached just below her knees. Ash could feel her eyes on her. 

"I was having trouble sleeping," Ash said, putting her hands behind her head. 

Kaori got closer and put her right hand on top of Ash's abs. 

"You okay?" Kaori asked. 

"Mhm," Ash breathed in. "Just... Yeah." 

Kaori nodded. 

"You know," she suddenly said, "I... I was thinking of going to visit my parents tomorrow... I'd like it if you came with me." 

Ash raised a brow. 

"You sure?" She asked. "Sounds a little, uh, private."

"It's alright," Kaori replied. "If you don't want to come though, that's fine, I was just..." 

"I'll go," Ash responded. "I'm just saying." 

"Awesome," Kaori smiled. "I'm glad." 

Then, she felt a pair of delicate lips press against her forehead, just under one of her horns. She turned to the right and saw Kaori just inches apart. Her heart sped up, a slight degree of... something, be it nervousness or excitement, bubbling inside of her. But, she couldn't turn away. 

Well, here was one way to get her mind off of what had happened earlier.

Even now, I'm kind of not used to this.  Ash thought. Well, honestly, we started doing this not too long ago... And now,  she thought as Kaori smiled,  I just wonder what this even means.

"At first," Ash suddenly said, "we started doing this because of my Lust." There was a timid edge to her voice that surprised even herself. "Is that still true?" 

"What do you mean?" Kaori asked. 

"I... What are we doing?" Ash asked. "I don't know, I just... Ignore me, I'm fucking sleepy and..." 

She started to turn away, but Kaori lightly placed her hand on Ash's cheek. Then, she pulled her face towards her. Kaori leaned in and gave Ash a lasting kiss on the lips. 

"I think I get what you're saying," Kaori replied, "and... I mean, well, I... I think..." Kaori sighed. "There's a lot going on, you know? I can definitely say this, at least. That, if we weren't Saviors and we'd met on the street or back at school, at the very least you'd probably be my favorite FWB." 

"Uh... FWB?" Ash asked. 

"You know, friends with benefits?" Kaori replied. 

"I... Nah, I haven't heard about that," Ash said. 

"Uh, friends who have sex, pretty much." 

"Is that a thing?" 

"Yeah, I've had a few." Kaori nodded. 

"Oh... So," Ash felt a little braver, "how do I stack up?" 

"Well, none of them did anything to me with a tail, so..." Kaori blushed but she still got the line out. Ash chuckled. Then, she leaned in and kissed Kaori herself. 

"... I wish I weren't as tired as I am," Ash stated. "If I weren't I'd definitely be willing to try more tail action." 

Kaori laughed. 

"It's fine, you need the rest. Goodnight," Kaori said, putting her head on Ash's chest. Ash wrapped an arm around her and closed her eyes. 

"Goodnight." 

Her night would be a little bit longer though than she thought it would be. Only, in a different way. 

She ended up in that dark room once more, one that she was familiar with at this point.  Hm?  She wondered.  What now?  Of course, as she'd recognized the situation when Magia began to materialize in front of her, she wasn't too shocked. 

Her expression did surprise Ash though. She seemed strangely displeased, a far cry from the usual, sultry half-lidded eyes and plump lips smirking at her. A part of her wanted to ask about what she'd seen in that vision before, but since Magia couldn't speak in this location, that conversation wouldn't go anywhere. 

What do you want?  She asked. 

A map of the world appeared behind her and Ash waited. 

Another site of power? 

At that, Magia nodded. 

However, she didn't point at one location, but at three. 

Above her, words appeared and Ash read them out. 

"As soon as you wake up, look for a real map to mark these locations. So you don't forget."

And then, she showed her the places. Each one was far away from the other, with one location being close to the northern city of Sapphire, one being by Onyx, and finally, one just a ways south of Jade. 

Hm. I can probably get the Jade one soon. The others will have to wait though. 

Magia nodded and then the map faded, as Ash tried to memorize the places she'd pointed out. The goddess took a few steps closer to Ash and looked into her eyes. 

Not in a seductive way like she usually did, but with something Ash could only call contemplation. 

The last thing Ash saw before she woke up were these words, appearing above Magia. 

"I hope you'll appreciate what I'm going to do for you." 

Ash didn't get to ask what she meant by that. Instead, she woke up after that, the sun coming in through a window to her right. 

Kaori was still asleep, her head on Ash's chest.  Okay, not that comfortable,  she noted as she gently took Kaori off her body. 

Shit. Three sites of power?  Ash thought. Well, okay.

Then, the blonde next to her woke up. She yawned cutely, then sat up and stretched. Ash saw her, feeling like she didn't sleep enough.  I might just go back to sleep, shit. 

"Hey," Kaori said, tiredness lacing her tone. "Uh, I had another Lumina dream." 

"Hm?" Ash raised a brow. "What did she say?" 

"Uh, she told me to find these sites of power. We can handle that later though."

"Oh? How many?" Ash asked. 

"Three." 

When the half-demon heard that, she froze. 

"What?" 

"Yeah, these three sites. Uh, one was by Sapphire," with her right hand, Kaori listed them with her fingers, "one was by Onyx and another was south." 

Ash gawked at her. 

... What? 

---

Satsuhiro

It had been an early start to the day for the Savior. At around 6am, he was called to the Palace. 

Admittedly, the girls weren't the only ones who needed a break. Satsuhiro had just started to enjoy being back at Jade when a courier had come with the annoying news. Now, he was sitting in the Royal Council's usual meeting room, waiting to be told what was up. 

Soon, Talo walked into the room, their hands behind their back as they moved up to Satsuhiro with a casual smile. 

"Greetings," Talo said. "How goes your morning?" 

"Shitty, what's happening?" Satsuhiro asked. Talo laughed. 

"Ah. Well then, in that case, we suppose it would be good to get to the point. We will make this short then. Here." 

"Thanks," Satsuhiro said as Talo passed him a paper. 

Hm?  News?  Why... 

And then, his eyes fell on the article on the paper that was likely why he'd been called. 

Oh. Shit. 

On the paper, the following article was displayed on the front page. 

"PORTAL APPEARS JUST OUTSIDE OF SAPPHIRE!"