Chapter 153 - Vol. 3 - 26

Kaori

As the others had all gone to sleep upstairs, Kaori had been left to enjoy the festivities happening around her by herself. She had briefly gone up, changed out of her armor as Keiko and Ash slept in their room's bed, and came back down wearing a brown dress she thought went well with her hair. Now, she was ready to relax for a little. 

Still, she planned to drink in moderation though. She understood that things were tense at the moment, with so many different things to keep in mind. 

Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't sip a little wine for now. She went to the bar where a girl wearing a black corset, black panties, and nothing else, an outfit that showed off her legs and hips wonderfully, was serving up drinks. Wait, isn't this Keiko's friend?  Kaori thought. Something that was confirmed when she saw a glint of recognition in the green-haired woman's eyes. 

"Hello there, love," the woman greeted her with a smile. "You're Keiko's friend, right?" 

"I was about to ask the same thing," Kaori told her with an easygoing expression of her own. "Yeah. Kaori." 

"Caroline," the woman said, briefly letting go of some plate she'd been cleaning so she could shake Kaori's hand. "A pleasure to meet you. I didn't know Saviors take time off."

"We have to rest sometimes," Kaori replied.

"You're the only one I've seen come around here though. Honestly feels pretty special," Caroline chuckled. "What'll it be?" 

"Um," she'd intended to ask for some wine, but now that she was here... "What do you recommend?" 

"Oh, well," she grinned as she placed an elbow on the bar's counter and put a hand under her chin, "for someone as lovely as you, I'd say the dragon grape wine is the best choice~" She told her with an innocently kind expression.

Kaori blinked. Then, she giggled a little as she slid onto a wooden stool in front of her. 

Oh, so she's a flirt? Kaori cleared her throat.  Well, even if this won't be going anywhere, she's cute enough. I'll entertain her, she thought. 

"Why's that?" Kaori asked. 

"It's got just the right amount of sting paired with a sweet aftertaste that leaves pretty much everyone wanting more. Try it, words cannot do it justice." She had an interesting accent, one Kaori hadn't heard before. The blonde shrugged.

"If you believe in it that much then sure, but I'll hold you to that," Kaori replied. 

"Heh, you'll see." Caroline turned around and bent down to search one of the drawers for the wine she'd mentioned.

As in, she popped her ass out directly towards Kaori instead of crouching or squatting. Kaori raised a brow at that. I guess subtlety isn't something she values,  Kaori thought, holding back a chuckle. 

Caroline came back up with a grey bottle and placed it on the counter. After a bit of dextrous serving, a glass cup was placed in front of Kaori filled with a purple-ish liquid. 

"Go ahead, love."

Kaori nodded and closed her eyes, trying to focus on the incoming taste. She picked it up and placed it against her lips, leaning back. As the fiery liquid slid down her throat, she opened her eyes with some surprise. 

"Mm, this is good!" She stated and Caroline held a prideful smirk. 

"Told ya."

Kaori put the glass back down and was about to ask for more. Caroline cut her off. 

"No need, no need, like I said," she poured more of that wine in quickly, "everyone asks for more." 

One glass turned to two, which turned to three. Eventually, though, Kaori was more focused on talking to Caroline than drinking. She felt herself getting tipsy and decided now might be time to stop. So, she crossed her legs and she and the bartender settled into a conversation. 

Every now and then, some other customer would come and Caroline would absent-mindedly serve them before they'd keep talking. 

"Wait, so you own this place?" 

"Co-own it, actually," Caroline responded proudly. "My friend over there, giving that married couple the time of their lives, is the other owner." Kaori turned to where she found a boy dressed like a sexy butler with his arms wrapped around a middle-aged man and woman. "We started a bit ago, but... I think we've done a good enough job with this place." 

"I agree," Kaori smiled as she looked around. She had one leg crossed over the other and her hands on the counter. "Honestly, it's... It's like a separate world compared to the rest of the city." 

"That was the point," Caroline nodded. "Everything's so drab and hopeless around here... We wanted to have the sort of place where people could go, let loose," and then, she took Kaori's right, non-metallic hand in hers, "forget everything for a bit," she said with an enticing smile. 

Wow,  Kaori thought. She's pretty direct. I can't say I dislike that in someone though... Kaori noted.

A few months ago, I'd probably end up waking up next to her in the morning. But...  She smiled nervously as Caroline borderline licked her lips at her.  How far should I let this go before I give her the bad news? 

Before she could come up with an answer, someone called out to her. 

"Kaori?" 

The blonde turned around and saw Metsumi looking over at her. Beside her was someone else, a smaller, dark-haired woman that Kaori hadn't seen before. She had tired eyes and ruffled hair, wearing a simple white outfit. 

"Metsumi," Kaori turned towards her, as Caroline let go quickly. "Hi!" 

"Hey," Metsumi smiled warmly at her, taking a seat next to her. "Oh, is that dragon grape?" She asked as she looked down at the cup in front of Kaori. 

"Yeah, have you tried it?" 

"It's great, my friend over here recommended it to me," Metsumi said, gesturing at the brunette. "Kaori, Ayami. Ayami, Kaori." 

"Hello," the woman said with a smile that matched her tired eyes. She looked like she was a couple of steps away from falling asleep on the spot. "Is she another daughter of yours?" She asked Metsumi. The dark-skinned woman shook her head. 

"My husband is, uh, tutoring her," Metsumi replied. 

"Oh, I see. What are you studying?" Ayami asked. 

"Uh, zoology?" Kaori almost asked as her answer and Ayami tilted her head. 

"I don't think I've met such a scholar before. How interesting." 

Yeah I haven't either. Do they even exist? 

"So, uh, Keiko and Ash, where are they?" Metsumi asked. 

"Oh, they're upstairs," Kaori casually answered. "They were a little more tired than I was so they called it a day early." 

She'd responded to that normally, or at least she'd felt like she had, but Ayami paled when she heard that. Her lips parted with surprise and Kaori raised a brow quizzically at her. 

"Are you okay?" Kaori asked. 

"I-It couldn't be..." Ayami looked away as she muttered. "Oh, sorry, no, I... You reminded me of someone, is all," she forced out a laugh, taking a step back. "Um, anyway, I think I'm going to go to sleep for now. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked Metsumi. 

"Sure," Metsumi smiled and waved as Ayami bowed. 

"Nice to meet you, scholar," she told Kaori and then, stiffly, the woman turned around and walked away. 

Metsumi yawned, stretching. She flexed the muscles on her impressive arms before looking over at Kaori. 

"It's getting a bit late, I think I'll do the same... Don't stay up too late," Metsumi said, sneaking a glance at Caroline. "You've got stuff to do." 

"Heh, I know, I know," Kaori responded. "Don't worry. Have a good night." 

"You too, Kaori." 

With that, Metsumi stood up and left as well. 

"Damn," Caroline said as soon as the woman was gone. "I have to say, love. You do hang around with some pretty hot people." 

Kaori laughed at that. 

"I know, it's one of the perks of my job, I guess." 

"Maybe I chose the wrong career then," Caroline said. "So, done with the drinks or what?" 

"Hm..." Kaori thought about it. She certainly wasn't drunk yet, and she was sure she wasn't tipsy either. So, she nodded. "Sure." 

Caroline obliged and went to serve the same drink for her. Kaori casually threw it back. And that was her mistake. The drink ended up pushing her over the tipsy line, and now, the room was half-spinning. 

Shit.  Kaori thought, scolding herself. 

"Actually, could I get some water too? Right, gosh," Kaori shook her head, reaching into her pockets. She snagged a few crowns and tossed them onto the counter. "I forgot, I haven't paid." 

"Hm... Here," Caroline slid back one of those coins to Kaori's side of the counter, "a discount. Since you're so cute and all." 

Blushing, Kaori chuckled. 

"Thank you." 

"Just telling the truth," Caroline's eyes then turned half-lidded as she leaned forwards a little. Kaori absent-mindedly did the same, resting her elbows on the counter. "In all honesty, I see a pretty face walk in all the time. But, you... I don't know," Caroline told her with a soft tone. "There's something special about you. As in, there's gorgeous, beautiful, and then there are girls like you who need a whole new word to be invented for them. It's troubling, truly." 

Shaking her head, Kaori laughed. She had to admit, it was strange hearing someone compliment her like this after so long. With Keiko and Ash, their expressions of endearment towards Kaori were a lot more physical. Understandably so, after all, neither Ash nor Keiko had ever been with anyone before, to Kaori's knowledge, so they still hadn't quite figured out how to talk a girl up. 

It made her feel a little guilty, but she had missed being on the receiving end of this sort of thing. 

What made her feel even guiltier though was what Caroline did next. 

She leaned forwards like she was going to tell Kaori a secret. So, instinctively, Kaori did the same. Only, the only thing her lips did was meet Kaori's own above the counter, giving her a light kiss. 

Kaori froze. Her entire body tensed up as she felt the woman's lips on hers. I... What? She finally realized what was happening when Caroline slipped her tongue into her mouth, and she quickly leaned back, ending it wide-eyed, a thin strand of saliva still connecting them. 

... Crap.  Kaori thought, reaching up and putting her fingers to her lips.  I messed up. I messed up, I messed up. 

Caroline just chuckled. 

"Did you like that?" She asked. 

"Um..." Kaori took a deep breath. A million thoughts went through her mind in the span of two seconds, but this was what she came up with:

She felt like it had been her mistake that she'd let Caroline's advances go this far. She didn't want to make the woman feel bad for something she'd been responsible for, so now, she was in the process of figuring out a way to run away without making it seem like she was, well, running away.

"Yeah," Kaori replied. "You... You have soft lips..."

"Hahaha, thank you. So," she leaned forwards again. "Care to join me for a bit? We have another room you might be interested in, I think. Especially if you've had a long day with all that Savior work you do."

"Uh," Kaori cringed, "No. No, I think... I'm sorry, but I, uh, have a lot to do tomorrow and I can't skip out on it. Sorry, maybe we can hang out a little though, some other time." She tried to give a polite smile. It must have worked, either that or Caroline was so dense a knife couldn't penetrate her head, that she nodded.

"Alright," Caroline shrugged. "Have a wonderful night, love. But," she winked. "I'll hold you to that." 

"Yeah, right," Kaori responded, and then, she left. 

Upstairs, the door to her room was left slightly open. Kaori gently pushed it in and she saw Keiko, turned away from Ash, with the half-demon's closed eyes pointed up at the ceiling. Instantly, as she saw the half-demon and the Zayama, a wave of guilt came and battered Kaori's mind. She sighed, and took her shoes off, walking towards the bed. 

With saddened eyes, she hopped in next to Ash, and for a moment, she just watched her. 

... I'm sorry,  Kaori thought.  Ugh, I should have said something sooner. So dumb! Kaori punched the bed with her right hand. 

And that made Ash's eyes slowly open. The half-demon yawned and blinked twice, as Kaori watched her, worried that she'd see the guilt on her face. 

"Kaori?" Ash asked, with that tired, gravelly voice she usually had in the mornings. "Are you okay?" 

That was the first question to come out of her. The same girl who Kaori had, against her will, nearly fought to the death when they first met. The same woman who would sooner kick a cat than hug it, the same woman who would curse out anyone and everyone who got on her nerves, regardless of their social standing or power, or money. 

Her first question to Kaori was,  "are you okay?" 

Kaori let her head fall against the pillow as Ash brushed away some hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. 

"... Yeah," Kaori nodded. "I'm good." 

"Good," Ash pulled her in then, embracing her as she closed her eyes.. Kaori did the same and tried her hardest to calm her heart down, which she swore Ash had to have felt pounding against her chest.