Moonlight Demon (GL LITRPG)

It had been a while now since Kaori had explained everything to Ash. 

Whereas before, Ash had done everything in her power to ignore Kaori, now, it felt like she couldn't take her eyes away for a second, otherwise, she'd fade away into nothing. 

"And, yeah," Kaori explained. "He said that all I could do was wait until this thing gets resolved." 

"... One month," Ash said in a low voice. "That's how long Lumina said I had before we do the whole trial stuff." 

"Heh," Kaori chuckled a little next to her, "I guess waiting one more month isn't so bad." Then, she looked down, and her smile turned slightly sadder. "I was scared I'd never come back. I really thought I had died, when I woke up in that place. That the last thing you'd see of me was me being an absolute failure." 

"What?" Ash asked. She shook her head. "Kaori, everything that happened with us, it was my fault," she stated. "I noticed you weren't feeling alright but I just... ignored you. I should have talked to you, and maybe..." 

"No," Kaori replied. "I should have spoken with you. It was my issues, and I needed to air them out, but I never did." 

"We didn't give you a chance to," Ash said. "With everything that was happening, you..." 

"Okay, it was both our faults then," Kaori interrupted her and, at that, Ash chuckled. 

I was scared I wouldn't get the chance to rescue you,  Ash added in her thoughts. She didn't know what would have happened to her mind if Lumina had outright told her that Kaori had been lost. 

She might have actually thrown down her Savior gear and spent the rest of her life in the woods if she'd heard that. Thankfully, however, there was a chance, and this moment right now was serving to motivate Ash even more than she already was. 

"..." Kaori looked like she was hesitating to ask about something. Ash stopped to look at her. 

"Yeah?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip. "If there's anything you want to know, feel free to ask. I mean, we don't know how long you..." 

It hurt to even allude to it, but, of course, eventually, whether it was because Ash was going to leave the Mist Realm or because whatever spell or effect that was causing this to happen is going to run out, they would be separated once again, inevitably. 

"So..." Kaori trialed off. "You and Yumi, huh?" 

"Uh..." Ash blinked. "We haven't really done anything yet." 

"Yet," Kaori highlighted with a chuckle and Ash scoffed. 

"It's just a Lust thing." 

"Yeah, I bet it is." 

"Pfft, fuck you," Ash laughed a little, and Kaori did the same.

As the two continued to move forward, the half-demon felt sorry for whatever monster was going to come out of the bushes to attack her next. Quick, and cleanly, was how she planned to deal with it, as it would hopefully mean she would get a little more time with the blonde. 

"Do you know what this reminds me of?" Kaori asked, looking up at the sky. 

"Yeah? What?" 

"... The first time," Kaori said, keeping her eyes on the twin moons bathing them in their light. Her eyes were glinting as the two of them stopped briefly. "Remember? After we went to the ruins. When we fought that Nightmare, and Satsuhiro and Keiko had to come running over to help us?" She said, smiling widely at her. Ash was absolutely entranced. "We made it back, and we got right back to work, but, in the middle of it..." 

She walked a couple of steps closer. 

"And, yeah, you pinned me to the side of that farm and you showed me that tail, and what it could do, didn't you? That was... Yeah, that was special." 

"It was my first time," Ash mumbled. "I know it wasn't yours, but..." 

"It may as well have been," Kaori replied. "No one ever made me feel quite like that." 

"Oh, come, on that's a damn lie," Ash replied, feeling a little embarrassed. 

"No, seriously. I was equal parts horny and scared. That was crazy!" Kaori stated, and Ash rolled her eyes light-heartedly.

For a second, neither of them said anything.

"... I really wish I could touch you right now," Ash said and Kaori giggled at that. 

"One month, right?" She asked. 

"Right," Ash confirmed.

I'm going to get my shit together,  Ash resolved in her mind then.  Handle this thing with Keiko, go deal with the portal over at Pearl, and, after that... I don't know. 

This moment brought something to her mind that she hadn't considered. 

How exactly was this war with Niven supposed to end? Neither side had infinite numbers, of course. All of the demons in the world could be rendered extinct, as could humanity. However, the likelihood of that was low on both sides, if things stayed the way they were. Niven's goal wasn't really to take over or annex any of humanity's territories either. He just wanted to spread death. That was it. 

So, how exactly could either side win? If it was about killing off every demon in the world, then, simply put, Ash was sure she wouldn't see the end of this war in her lifetime. Even if she was level 100 and could kill any demon with a flick of her wrist, there were simply too many of them, and Niven could keep them all in his pocket realms, away from the Savior, until she either died or stopped fighting for whatever reason. 

Maybe this was just going to keep going, and everything that was happening to Ash and her friends was just one moment in a long series of disconnected events. If that was the case, however, all she hoped was that her part would end with her and the others, living on their own, in peace. 

"Just a few minutes," Kaori said. "Yx told me." 

"... Fuck." 

Ash wasn't ready. The two had barely just started talking, and already, Ash was about to make her leave. If she could, she'd rip Kaori away from this place and carry her all the way back to Amber. Instead, her mind ran frantically, trying to think of whatever she could. 

There was something, she felt. Something she wanted to get off her chest and let Kaori know, but there were so many different things she'd never to say before Kaori had gone unconscious. 

"Ash," Kaori said. 

"Uh, hold on," the half-demon raised a hand, "I..." 

"... Ash?" Kaori walked up to her. 

"Wait, wait, I'm just trying to think..." 

Come on, what do I say?  Ash pressed herself.

This woman, who had been with her through some of the strangest, worst, and greatest, moments of her entire life so far, Ash wanted to show her appreciation for, but she didn't know how to put it into words. She'd never had to, before. She'd taught herself how to curse people out many times, but, this? Some things were still new to her. 

"I wanna tell you something, could you tell it to Keiko too?" Kaori asked. 

"Huh?" Ash finally looked up at her. "Yeah. Yeah, what is it?" 

"I love you." 

...

...

Ash blinked. 

"I-..." Ash choked up. "What?" 

"Yeah," Kaori shrugged, with a satisfied smile on her face. "Both of you. I realized," she explained, "even though I felt that way for a while, I never got to really... You know, put it out there? Uh, so, yeah. I love you." 

Ash just stared at her for a while. 

Her body wouldn't move. Her eyes wouldn't move. Her bottom lip quivered as her lungs took in air through a tightened throat. It was a set of words that Ash, outright, had never heard before. 

Well, she'd never heard them said to her. She'd read them in books, she'd heard people say it to each other in Jade's streets as she sat down in a dirty alley, but those words had never been directed at her, personally. 

And, she had no idea how to respond. 

She looked down, took a deep breath, and said: 

"Y-Yeah, I..."

But, when she looked back up, she couldn't see Kaori anymore. 

Ash went silent. 

Due to what she'd been told by Kaori herself, she was still here, just... Invisible. So, Ash took a deep breath as she took that in, and nodded. 

"Yeah. I'll tell her..." She whispered, hoping Kaori could hear her as she turned around and walked away. 

---

Keiko

The sound of her door opening made the Zayama's eyes open, and she inhaled sharply. Judging by how cold it was, she could quickly guess that it was morning as she looked in front of her, and saw someone walking into her room. 

Rubbing her eyes, she realized it was Ash. 

Oh, she's back,  Keiko thought, and the girl sighed with relief. 

When she looked up at the woman's face, it was clear to tell, from how the hallway's lighting was hitting her face, that she'd been crying. 

"Good morning. Sun's out already," Ash stated.

"A-Are you okay?" Keiko asked, quickly sitting up. Ash sat down next to her. 

Wordlessly, Ash reached into her bag and pulled out a black flower. When Keiko saw it, she nearly gasped. As soon as she showed it to her though, Ash put it back in the bag and gently pushed it away. 

"You did it," Keiko stated. 

"Well, you needed me to," Ash shrugged, speaking with a strangely quiet voice. "That made it easy." 

"..." Keiko nodded, smiling a little when she heard that. "Just one more thing to go, huh?" 

"Mhm," Ash nodded. "Uh... Keiko," she said, suddenly, turning toward her. 

Everything about this felt strange. Ash looked like she had a lot on her mind right now. 

"Yes?" 

However, Ash still took a while to speak up. She looked back at Kaori's body, briefly, for just a moment, before turning back toward Keiko. 

"... Something happened. While I was over there, I mean." 

She said, and Keiko prepared herself.