Chapter 160 - Vol. 3 - 33

A Few Hours Later

Ash

How exactly is someone supposed to react to life-changing news?

Ash had her fair share of moments like these in the past few months, between being chosen to be a Savior, to meeting a literal goddess for the first time, among others, one might think that Ash would be used to such instances by now. 

She wasn't. 

This particular moment was indicative of that. After the conversation with Ayami ended abruptly with Keiko vomiting some violet liquid, Ash's mother had made that reality-shaking declaration in front of the entire group and a few customers who would go back home with a crazy story to tell their loved ones. 

Keiko was pregnant. The Zayama who had trained Ash and Kaori, become their lover, their girlfriend, had helped them take down many demons and who had become a vital piece of Ash's heart, was pregnant. 

Of course, this fact distracted Ash a little from the conversation she'd been having. Just a bit, of course.. She and Ayami agreed though to try to speak to each other again tomorrow, with a similar amount of tension as though they'd agreed to a duel. Right now, Ash was sitting with Kaori and Keiko alone, in their room, as the night had come and the festivities were getting started on the first floor. 

"... What the fuck?" Ash muttered into her hands, for what had to be the seventh time. "What the fuck?" 

Make that eight. 

"..." Keiko remained silent. She had been alternating between staring down at the ground and looking at her own body. Kaori had her arms wrapped around Keiko, trying to comfort her. 

"But like, how?" Ash said, mostly to herself. "I mean, I'm a girl, even if I can turn into a demon too... It's not like I became a guy or some shit, I..." Ash sighed. 

"Well, evidently," Keiko said, her voice monotone and deadpan, "your sex is not an issue when it comes to reproduction." 

"I... I'll talk to Magia about this," Ash decided, "I mean, this has to be, like, some weird status effect, I mean, you can't actually just be..." 

"Ash," Keiko looked over at her, a tired expression in her eyes, "I understand the denial but I believe we should cut that short." She looked away. "We have too much to do. Too much that needs our attention to spend time  not  figuring out ways to handle this." 

Ash took a second, regained her composure, and nodded. 

"Okay, okay... So," she took a deep breath, "what's on your mind?" 

"... I did not say I had answers," Keiko said and some worry showed on her face, her uncaring expression shaking for a second, "I am simply saying we should funnel our energy into coming up with solutions, instead of coping mechanisms." 

Her voice sounded much more forceful than usual. Gone, at least temporarily, was the meek, soft-voiced Keiko that Ash knew. Right now, she sounded like one wrong word would get her to start yelling. 

"... Okay," Ash nodded again. "So, uh, Kaori," she looked over at her, "can you help us out here?"

"Yeah," Kaori said gently. "I took a parenting class in school." Ash raised a brow and Kaori quickly elaborated. "They're mandatory." 

"Oh. What do you think then?" 

"Well," Kaori stretched, taking her arms off of Keiko. "Uh, shoot, what was it again? Right, so, pregnancies are divided into three stages," Kaori began to explain as she looked away like she was recalling her classes then and there. "The first one lasts twelve weeks, and uh, around the eighth one is when the baby gets, like, formed, if I remember it right, you can go through a bunch of symptoms and... Honestly," Kaori stopped. "It... It might be better to ask Ayami about this." 

Ash looked away as soon as she heard that, cursing. Rubbing her forehead, she glared at the air, as though her mother was standing there.  Of course. 

"Shit. I was afraid you were gonna say that," Ash replied. 

"It's probably the best choice," Kaori responded. "I mean, I took a class, she lived it. So did Metsumi too, you could ask her, but Ayami specifically, well, she had you. So, if there are any differences between having a human kid and a demon kid, she'd know." 

"... I guess." 

Admittedly, going to her mother for help was the last thing she wanted to do. In all honesty, what she wanted out of her future conversation with her was nothing more than the satisfaction of letting Ayami see how she'd persevered through everything that her mother had caused her. 

Instead, there was a chance she'd have to go to her for tips. She hated that. 

"I... This could not have happened at a worse time," Keiko muttered and that might have been the most defeated she'd sounded yet. 

They remained in silence for a second after hearing that. 

"... Yeah," Kaori said, throwing her metal arm over Keiko's back. "I get where you're coming from..." 

Ash understood as well. Simply put, this was beyond inconvenient. They were in the middle of a bloody war. One which Keiko had proven to be a valuable piece, and one that Ash would need by her side if she was to have a better chance at coming out of this alive. Ash didn't know much about pregnancy, really, she'd never been taught about it, but she knew from seeing those ladies out on the streets with a baby growing in their bellies that Keiko would be in no condition to fight. Keiko would be rendered completely ineffective by this. 

"Um, maybe," Kaori added, "there could be something that helps. Maybe something to make the process more, like, bearable? We'd probably be best off talking to a healer and visiting a clinic... Or talking to Vyl," Kaori speculated. "We don't really know what alchemy can do. Maybe there's some pregnancy-related potion or something that could help us out." 

"... This is so fucked," Ash said, chuckling lowly. 

"Yeah," Kaori agreed. Keiko remained silent. 

"... Maybe it is best that we hold this off for now, and focus on the coming fight," Keiko finally spoke up again. "You said it takes around eight weeks for the baby to be made, right? The battle will arrive long before that. I will be able to participate in that, at least. I will be ready." 

Ah. Of course, Keiko would be thinking about her role as a combatant. It wasn't just Ash thinking about that. In fact, if she knew anything about Keiko, her diligent, loyal trainer, she was probably specifically worried, on top of the fact that she was going to have a demon child, that this would somehow cause her to miss an important fight or two. 

The fact that this was evidently on her mind, made Ash shake her head. She felt like she had to say the words that came out of her mouth next. Like Keiko deserved to hear it at least. 

"Uh, shit," Ash sighed. "I'm sorry." 

At that, Keiko turned towards her. She carried a look on her face that seemed almost insulted. Ash worried she'd messed up somehow. Well, beyond the way she messed up that she was thinking about right now, anyway. 

"Hm?" 

"I'm sorry," Ash reiterated. "I, I mean, this is happening because we fucked right?" Ash chuckled humorlessly. "And we wouldn't do that if I weren't... You know," she tapped one of her horns. "So, sorry." 

"Ash," Keiko said, narrowing her eyes at her. "Stop it. You know how attracted I am to you, it's not your fault. If anything, it's my fault. I should have tried to remain professional before we... Got involved. I failed at that." 

"Shut up," Kaori suddenly said, "both of you. It's neither of your faults," Kaori stated firmly. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "We couldn't have predicted that this would have happened. How the heck were we supposed to know that Ash's tail in that Demon Form functions like a, well, you know," she said, turning around. "I'm gonna go get you both some water. I'll be back in a second. But, seriously, stop blaming yourselves. It's not going to help." 

And with that, Kaori walked out of the room. Ash hunched over while Keiko remained upright, frozen. 

"... Look," Ash said, and Keiko turned towards her. "We'll deal with this together. Whatever happens, happens. Okay?" 

At that, Keiko nodded. Then, Ash felt her hand grasp one of Ash's own. 

"Yes," Keiko took a shaky breath. "I... I'm only just barely holding it together, but, yes. We'll deal with this. It'll be fine." 

Even to Ash's ears, it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that, but Ash understood, so, she let it go. 

And, that was it. The rest of the day was spent with the both of them mostly in silence, but with either their hands clutched together or their hands holding each other up, supporting the other. 

Tomorrow, they would need to figure out how to proceed from here.