“How?” Ash asked.

“Ugh, please…” Satsuhiro rolled his eyes.

“Hehe, I happen to be a pretty good singer,” Metsumi stated. “Follow me!”

The large woman basically started skipping back inside. Keiko heard her and stood to go back in. Kaori, who had been spaced out, shook her head and did the same. Ash was about to go with them, but Satsuhiro put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey,” he said, “I just wanted to let you know, you probably won’t be staying here for much longer.”

“What?” Ash asked. “Why?”

“Don’t get alarmed.” He told her. “I’m not kicking you out or anything. I mean that, well, I’m no expert on Light or Dark. It’s a waste to keep you here learning magic from me. I’ll teach you what I know, but after that, we’ll have to get you to the actual experts in those specific fields.”

Ash felt conflicted, though she didn’t really understand why. What he said made sense, but she still felt… disappointed.

“For now though, come on. My wife seems to want to make your ears bleed.”

Ash chuckled.

“… Okay.”

—

Kaori

A few minutes later, the group was gathered in the living room. Metsumi held a Pearl-made chordophone instrument called a “sirva”. It had three strings and was large enough to nearly cover the table they all sat around. Kaori was briefly alone, at the end of the couch with her knees up to her chest, until Keiko sat down next to her.

“Ahem,” Metsumi cleared her throat, “this is a little song I learned when Satsu and I visited Pearl. Bought this thing back then too!”

“When?” Opah asked.

“Hm… Little around nine years ago?” Metsumi aimed a smile at Satsuhiro. “It was about a month after we got married. A few months before I had you.” She said and Opah’s eyes gleamed cutely. Satsuhiro sighed and leaned back.

Kaori kept her eyes low as the woman did a few vocal warm-up exercises. Then, she started.

“Flower so bright in a vast sea of darkness,

make us turn to light in our fated moments.

May Magia lead us,

Flower so bright in a world of reluctance,

make us face the dawn with Lumina’s fortune,

And grant us the morning…”

Kaori wasn’t listening closely enough to hear all of the words, but as far as she could tell, Metsumi had a very good voice. A bit on the deeper side, but still enjoyable to listen to. For some reason, she felt Ash’s eyes on her but when she looked up, the half-demon averted her gaze.

Then, someone knocked on the front door. Metsumi lowered her volume but kept singing as Satsuhiro got up to go answer it. Kaori didn’t turn. She didn’t really care who had come.

“Hello?” Satsuhiro asked. “What can I do for you?”

“Uh, is Kaori here?”

The instant she heard that voice, her eyes bulged out of their sockets and she turned so quickly, her hair flipped to her front. Her lips parted of their own accord as, past Satsuhiro, she saw who had arrived. Her parents were standing there, bathed in sunlight as Kaori nearly gasped. She got off the chair she was sitting at and sprinted to the front of the house.

Shoving Satsuhiro aside, she nearly tackled her father, who returned her hug as soon as he realized it was her.

“DAD!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re here.” Her father told her and Kaori sank her face deeper into his shirt. Her mother joined the embrace and Kaori felt a surge of happiness flow through her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“We… We heard about what happened. That man or, vessel, whatever, Talo, told us.” Her mother stated.

“They said someone from here suggested for us to come.” Her father elaborated. “Someone called uh, ‘Ash’ or something?”

Kaori’s jaw dropped.

As she heard that sentence, she turned around, searching for the half-demon. When she found her, the girl Kaori had known to be so confrontational before had a little smile on her face. Ash shrugged and mouthed the words “you’re welcome”.

She did this? Kaori thought as she turned back to face her parents. For me?

—

A few hours later, as the day was starting to fade, Satsuhiro was helping Metsumi make dinner for everyone while Kaori spoke to her parents outside. Ash was training with Keiko just up ahead.

“I’m so sorry sweetie.” Her father wrapped a strong arm around her and Kaori rested her head on his right shoulder. Her mother drew soothing circles on her back.

“No… I…” Kaori sighed. “It was the right thing.” At least, that’s what everyone keeps saying. She thought.

Her mother lightly grasped her right hand.

“You couldn’t have known what that man was really like.” She told Kaori, who nodded.

“We didn’t either.” Her father added. “No one did.”

“It’s fine,” Kaori reassured them. “Really, I’m over it.”

Her parents glanced at one another. Her father nodded and her mother looked away. He said:

“Uh, just so you know, despite all of this… we are so proud of you, Kaori.”

“Proud of what?” She asked with a chuckle. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

“Nah, but you will!” Her father replied. “You remember that time you lost to Suyi from across the street in a race?”

Kaori rolled her eyes.

“I’ll never forget.”

“You trained the whole day after that. You wouldn’t stop talking about how you’d come out on top,” he said as Kaori shook her head with a smile. “When, ah, when you got the call, we went all across the neighborhood bragging about you. You know?” Her father told her. “Told everyone you were going to be the next big thing. And, you know what? We still believe that.”

Kaori looked at him with sadness in her eyes. She had thought the same thing, but now she wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t know how to be a hero.” She admitted. “I kind of just thought it would all happen on its own. That all I’d need to do was show up and listen to what Varcon said, and I’d help make the world better.”

“You can still do that.” Her mother stated. “You just… you just need to find something you can trust in. Something else, something you know means well. Whether that’s Lumina or your new friends, or yourself. That’s all.”

Kaori looked up as she heard Ash’s blade clang against Keiko’s. She was getting better so fast, even she could tell.

“Something I trust?” She asked lowly.

She remembered how Ash had said those words to her after the fight.

I trust you.

“To trust is to love…” Her mother started an old saying Lumina’s followers would often share.

“And to love is to believe.” Kaori finished it. “And belief is how we persevere.”

Then, ahead, Keiko pushed Ash to the ground and the half-demon let out a curse that made Kaori chuckle.

“Maybe.” She said as the hybrid got up and sprinted at Keiko, only to get tripped and fall on her face.

—

When the night came, everyone enjoyed a feast Metsumi and Satsuhiro had made. It was a strange kind of salad using ingredients from the nearby forest, but it didn’t taste bad at all. Her parents got up after they finished and Kaori walked with them to the door.

“It was so good seeing you again, sweetie.” Her mother kissed her forehead and Kaori hugged them. “We’ll be back again soon, promise.”

“Have a safe trip,” Kaori told them, and then, with a few goodbyes, they left. The first thing Kaori did was turn to search for Ash.

The half-demon had also finished her food and was about to walk outside, to the fields she would usually train at. Kaori followed her. It didn’t seem like Ash noticed she was trailing behind. The half-demon put her hands on her hips and looked up at the twin moons.

In that space, her bright white hair seemed almost ethereal as the moonlight bathed her. Kaori walked up and said:

“Hey.”

Ash turned around.

“Oh, what’s up?” The hybrid looked at her and Kaori couldn’t come up with words to respond with. Instead, she hugged her.

“Thank you,” Kaori muttered. Ash was hesitant to return the hug, but with strangely trembling arms, she did.

“No problem.”

“Why did you have them sent here?” Kaori asked.

“I… I figured you’d appreciate it. Plus, uh, despite how absolutely annoying you were when you first got here,” Ash continued, “I definitely prefer that version of you to this one. It’s pretty distracting seeing you like this.” Ash sighed. “So, I told Talo to reach out to them, tell them where we are, and have them come to see you.”

Kaori’s eyes were watering at that point. She was nearly about to start crying again. Instead, with her arms still wrapped around Ash, she looked into the half-demon’s own eyes. Firm, sharp and determined. Her eyes spoke of her entire being to Kaori.

Kaori looked down for a moment, then back up at her.

“Uh, Ash?”

“Yeah?” Ash asked.

“So, um…” She felt like the ‘thank you’ she’d given wasn’t quite enough. She wanted to show Ash just how grateful she was that the half-demon was even thinking about her at this time. Though, she couldn’t think of many ways to express it. Eventually, she did find one.

Kaori breathed in and nodded to herself.

Then, she leaned in and pressed her lips against Ash’s. The half-demon’s eyes widened but Kaori didn’t back off. She didn’t mean for it to be anything more than an innocent peck, so she felt this much was fine. When she was done, she took a step back.

“Again,” Kaori said. “Thanks. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Seriously. That was… really cool of you to do.”

When she looked up at the half-demon, she saw something she’d seen when she first stayed over at this house. Ash’s eyes held heart-shaped figures that disappeared as quickly as they came.

Ash walked away.

Oh. Kaori watched her go. She was walking back into the house with a quick intensity Kaori hadn’t expected. Did I mess up somehow?

—

Ash

Why did she do that? Why did she do that? Why did she do that? Holy fuck, why did she do that?

That kiss sparked a burning desire in the half-demon as strong as any she’d ever felt. If she hadn’t turned away, she knew she would have pushed Kaori down then and there. It took such a strong hold over her mind that she found herself making a beeline for the bathroom with the intent of doing something. She didn’t even know what, just something.

However, when she got in, she found that the bathroom wasn’t empty. Keiko was standing naked, about to hop into the bath.

“Huh?” Keiko turned, holding her towel up.

“Um…” Ash’s eyes roamed over her body.

“Ash?” Keiko asked. “Is that you?”

“Mhm.” Her lust-ridden mind didn’t even allow her to form proper sentences.

“Oh, thank goodness. For a second, I thought Satsuhiro had come in.” Keiko said, letting her towel go carelessly. Ash could feel blood rushing up to her face. “Could you close the door? It’s a bit cold.”

Ash, reluctantly, did so without a word.

She went into the bedroom she called her own, well, hers and Keiko’s, and threw a sheet over her body, immediately dipping a hand into her shorts.

Yeah, I have to tell them. She realized as her hands went to work, easing the flame between her legs. Tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow. But, for now…

Her mind played back an image of Keiko’s naked body, and Ash nearly let out a loud moan as she touched herself.

Tomorrow!