Chapter 111 - Vol. 2 - Epilogue

Kasumi

Following the battle of Sapphire, Kasumi departed from the cold city as soon as she could. She found no reason to stick around, after all. However, that quickly presented her with a problem. 

Simply put, now what? 

Without a battle to focus on, her mind went right back to thinking about what she usually pondered. Her daughter's fate.

But that wasn't something she was interested in doing. So, when Kasumi returned to Jade, she decided that until the next fight came, she'd do what she knew worked best to distract her. 

Drink her ass off. 

"... Are you sure?" A bartender asked. "This is your eighth drink, I..." 

"Did I stutter?" Kasumi asked, glaring at him as he shrugged and poured more into her cup. Around her, other strangers laughed and celebrated amongst each other. Drinking, after all, was one of those magical activities that could be enjoyed in a wide range of contexts. As for the Savior, she couldn't remember the last time she drank for any other reason than to escape for a few seconds. 

Hm. Okay... This might be enough.  Kasumi said, crossing her arms and resting her head on the counter. 

Actually... This might have been a bit more than enough. Shit. 

As she sulked, a few people started dancing around her and Kasumi groaned, standing up to walk away from that unpleasant situation. She took three steps before the world started to twist and she found herself falling to the side. 

Ugh... 

A few people went to help her out, but by now, Kasumi was blacking out. Every couple of seconds, the world would go dark, and then she'd come back, seeing herself in a completely different place, before the world went dark again. She understood that she was walking towards somewhere, but had no idea where she was going. 

Eventually, she realized she had ended up in someone's house. 

Wait, where am I? 

Recognizing that this could potentially be a pretty bad situation, Kasumi made an effort to take stock of where she was and what was happening.  Okay... I'm in a house that looks a little familiar... Someone is holding me up, who is it?  She asked herself. 

Her right arm was wrapped around a woman's upper back, a white-haired girl with two horns on her head. 

Huh? Who the... Wait... 

Kasumi drew as close as she could to get a good look at the woman's face. That, apparently, was too close because the white-haired woman recoiled and said, "what the hell?" 

Oh.  She nodded to herself.  That's Ash... 

"Hm? What about me?" Ash asked. 

Did I say that out loud?  Kasumi thought. 

"Yes. You did." 

She blacked out again and all of a sudden, she was in a bed. A sheet was thrown over her and to her right were two girls now. Ash and someone else. 

"Are you feeling alright?" The new girl, some blonde with one arm, asked. 

"No," Kasumi replied. That said, now that she was on a bed, the world stopped spinning just a little. 

"Uhm... Okay..." 

As the blonde responded, Kasumi closed her eyes, and the world blacked out for the last time that night. 

---

When she next opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the intense headache she had.  Oh, fuck, this feels awful. What happened to me? Kasumi asked herself.  Did I seriously drink that much last night? 

She tried to sit up, but her head completely disagreed with that decision and Kasumi let herself fall back on the bed.  Oh... This is terrible. She stayed like that for a while, taking deep breaths and trying her hardest to wait the headache out, until someone opened the door. 

Kasumi turned to look and found someone she knew walking in. 

"Wait... Kaori, right?" Kasumi asked.

The blonde was carrying a plate of eggs and bacon while hugging a glass cup filled with icy water. She didn't respond, focused entirely on delivering the breakfast. 

"Here you go... hope I don't drop anything...~" Kaori sang as she awkwardly placed everything on the bed. Kasumi, with great effort, sat up and reached for the water immediately. 

"Thanks." 

"You're welcome!" Kaori replied with a bright smile. Then, she sat down by the bed as Kasumi picked up the plate, the fork, and the knife and started eating. 

Between bites, Kasumi said:

"How did you find me?" 

"Oh, uh, we were sort of notified by some guards," Kaori explained as Kasumi savored the eggs. This dish was excellently made. "They recognized you as a Savior and saw you, like, stumbling through the streets... One of them came here and told us to come to get you. Said that 'it wasn't a good look for us'. So, we did." 

Nodding, Kasumi sighed. 

"So, where are we?" 

"The Savior House," Kaori responded with a little flourish of her hand. "Technically, this place belongs to you too, so feel free to stay until you feel better." 

"... Okay." 

Another person entered the room then and both girls turned to see them. It was Ash. 

"Oh, she's up." 

"Yeah," Kaori replied and Kasumi didn't miss the way her face naturally brightened just at the sight of the half-demon. She nearly rolled her eyes.  Could you be a little less obvious?  She thought as Ash walked towards the bed. 

"Everything alright?" Ash asked, her arms crossed. 

Kasumi stopped herself from countering with a "why do you care?", and instead, nodded. 

"We let the Royal Council know that we're all taking some time off," Ash informed her, "you may as well do the same." 

"I planned to," Kasumi replied. 

Kaori then noticed that the glass cup was empty and grabbed it. 

"Let me fill this up for you again." 

The blonde then left the two of them alone. Ash's eyes looked down at Kasumi with a mix between concern and curiosity. 

"So... What had you drinking yourself to death last night?" 

Kasumi glared at her. 

"That's a heavy question, don't you think?" 

"I mean... I kind of feel like I already know the answer," As responded. 

"Then why ask?" 

"Because," Ash sighed, and then she sat down next to her. "I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it." 

At that, Kasumi raised a brow. 

"That's... strangely thoughtful of you." 

The door was wide open, and Kasumi could hear that Kaori had started talking to someone else outside. Ash shrugged. 

"What you said before... Okay, listen," Ash cleared her throat and stood back up. "I've always operated under the assumption that everyone was always going to hate me, but... lately, I've understood that with some people, it doesn't have to be that way. And, with what happened to your daughter, I get that. It's tough," Ash stated. 

"Tough" is certainly one way to put it... Kasumi thought.

"And I can understand how that could get you to distrust me and all that shit. The same way that the shit I've been through has gotten me to distrust everyone around me too. I understand. Now," Ash said, looking into her eyes, "I'm just wondering if it has to be that way. I mean, I don't think you want to be like this for the rest of your life, right?"

"What are you getting at?" Kasumi asked.

"I'm just saying that maybe, I don't know, maybe there's something here we can work on," Ash said. "I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I'm really, really tired of having to deal with people's bullshit. And, considering how you ended up here, I'm guessing you're tired of your own shit too. I..." 

Ash paused, her eyes going half-lidded for a moment. 

"I talked to someone a bit ago and she said that I had to start talking to people. Maybe you should start doing that too." 

There was no kindness in her tone. She was simply speaking with a direct honesty that Kasumi thought was rare to see. 

"... This sounds so fucking stupid," Ash muttered, "but maybe we could start doing that together." 

"... It's too late," Kasumi responded. "I'm in too deep." 

"We wouldn't know for sure unless we tried, right?" Ash asked. 

Kasumi heard those words and leaned back against her pillow. She stared up at the ceiling. Her daughter's face ran in front of her eyes but this time, she didn't fight it off. She simply took a deep breath and when she exhaled, she realized how right Ash was. 

Kasumi truly was tired. The grief, the self-hatred, the depression. She'd had enough of it. 

She doubted she would ever truly forget what happened to Nozomi, but Ash had let the crimson-haired woman know something about herself that only just realized. Kasumi was emotionally exhausted. 

"You're right," Kasumi said softly. 

"Yeah?" 

Kasumi nodded. 

"... As shitty as it feels to get lectured by someone like, eight years younger than me or whatever, you're right. I need help," Kasumi muttered. 

Just saying those words felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest. 

"... Maybe the first step is to take a bath," Ash said. "You smell like shit." 

At that, Kasumi laughed. It was the first time she laughed in who knows how long. 

"Yeah. Maybe so. Fuck, I'm sweaty." 

Kasumi stood up, getting off the bed. She looked to her left and saw some drawers.  I can probably change clothes at least for a little bit before I go take that bath.  Kasumi thought and, right then, with Ash behind her, she lifted her shirt up and took it off. 

"Ohhh~ That feels good..." Kasumi sighed with relief, as the cold morning air kissed her skin. She felt Ash staring at her and looked at the half-demon. 

Then, Kasumi saw something strange and raised a brow. 

Ash's pupils turned heart-shaped for a moment, before going back to their normal violet. 

What?  Kasumi thought but didn't say anything. I don't know, maybe that's just a demon thing. 

---

Ash

After the talk with Kasumi, the morning went on normally. Kasumi remained holed up in her room, but the half-demon left feeling just a little bit hopeful that things between them would work out for the better. 

And, she had one person to thank for that. 

She walked to the living room and saw Metsumi sitting next to Satsuhiro, her hand on Satsuhiro's right thigh, just above where his leg had been torn off. The Savior had a depressed look while Metsumi whispered things to him with a soft tone. 

Ash walked up. 

"Metsumi," she said. "Can... Can I talk to you?" 

"Hm? Of course," Metsumi smiled and stood up. 

Ash walked over to a nearby hallway where the two of them would be unseen. 

"What's up?" Metsumi asked, putting her hands on her hips. 

Then, Ash took a deep breath, walked up, and wrapped her arms around the larger woman, her throat suddenly feeling tighter. 

"Hahaha, Ash?" Metsumi asked, chuckling as she returned the hybrid's clumsy hug. 

"Thanks... Just... Just wanted to say that." 

"... I don't know what I did, but no problem, Ash. I'll always be here if you need me."