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Chapter 290 – Interlude 4 – Kaori, The Actress, Part 7

Note: Just in case you\'re wondering, this interlude is only going to go on for about another five parts. We\'ll get back to the main story soon!

—

Ash

"Ah, here we are. It\'s been a while, hasn\'t it?" Kasumi asked Ash as the two of them arrived at her house. With some of the locals passing by and gawking at them, in their golden attire, Ash couldn\'t help but think about that woman again. They had just separated, a few minutes ago, and yet Ash\'s mind instantly went back to her. Short blonde hair, bright green eyes, a smile worth all the crowns in the world. 

To the half-demon, it felt like she wasn\'t real. 

"Ash?" Kasumi asked, and the Savior snapped out of it. 

"Yeah?" 

"Come in," Kasumi gestured at the open door, leading into her home. "Let\'s get settled before those actresses come knocking." 

Ash raised a brow when she heard that. 

"What makes you think they will?" 

"Oh, they absolutely will, if this is their first time visiting Pearl. This city can be hard to navigate on your own. If they don\'t come here, I\'d be very surprised." 

As soon as the two of them walked inside, Ash saw a couple of people in the living room, both of which she hadn\'t seen in a bit. One was the maid that Kasumi had hired to watch over her home while she was away, the other was the little girl who hopped off the couch and ran straight into Kasumi\'s arms. 

"Mom!" Nozomi said, hugging the woman tightly. 

"Hi! How have you been sweetie?" Kasumi kissed her daughter on the cheek and grinned down at her. "You didn\'t give Marie too much trouble?" 

"She\'s wonderful," the maid quickly answered. "No trouble at all." 

"Good to hear," Kasumi replied. 

"How was the trip?" Marie asked as Ash walked in and went straight to the kitchen. She found a pitcher full of water and poured some of it into a glass cup, lifting it to her lips as she watched the conversation unfold nearby. 

"Jade is the same it\'s always been," Kasumi replied as she sat down on the couch. "Tall buildings, elegant outfits, cold gazes over happy smiles, the usual." 

"Hm. You make it sound so dreary." 

"At times, it can be like that. Every place has its bright spots though," Kasumi replied as Marie sat next to her. "Did my brother come asking for me?" 

"Of course," Marie replied. "You know he worries for you." 

"Unfortunately." 

As the two of them talked, Ash tried to make a subtle escape. She headed for the nearby hall and went to what had basically been declared as "her room", at this point. Here, she stepped inside and quickly threw off her armor, feeling refreshed as its weight was taken off her body. 

Standing there, with only the wrappings around her body covering her, she took a deep breath. Again, those bright green eyes made their way into her mind, and Ash sighed. Laying down on the bed, she put her hands behind her head and remembered that one moment after the battle had happened. 

That soft kiss that Kaori had planted on her cheek. One so warm that it made Ash feel like she was burning up when it happened. 

… Fuck me,  she thought.  What was all of that even about? 

Thus, closing her eyes, she tried her hardest not to think about it anymore. 

And she failed miserably. 

—

Kaori

This can\'t be real,  Kaori thought, as she sat down across from the black-haired girl from her past. The one that had appeared in front of her so suddenly.  This… How?  She wondered. 

"How have you been?" Keiko asked, with a smile. If she was as nervous or as shocked as Kaori was right now, she was hiding it exceptionally well. 

"I-I, I mean," Kaori laughed incredulously. "Good! Good, but… Keiko, I haven\'t seen you in so long, how have YOU been?" Kaori asked. 

Her ex-girlfriend gave her a smile then, which made a dozen memories flash in front of Kaori\'s eyes. She honestly looked almost the exact same. She\'d gotten a couple of inches taller and, her body had certainly grown in a few areas, as a brief glance down to the girl\'s chest let Kaori know, but in every other way, this was still the same woman she\'d loved so passionately. 

"I\'ve been fine," Keiko replied. 

As she said that, a silence was cast over the table as both of them just looked at each other for a bit before a grin broke out on Kaori\'s face. 

"Ahhh, I can\'t believe this!" Kaori squeaked. "This is so crazy! You never told me your family owned an inn!" 

"That is because we didn\'t," Keiko replied. "My parents bought this place a few years ago, about a year after I left Jade. My dad said it had always been a dream of his to own a nice little place like this and settle down here. So, yes," Keiko shrugged. "They did that, and I\'ve been helping out around here ever since." 

"Gosh, that\'s awesome!" Kaori replied. "I\'m so happy for you." 

"Thank you," Keiko bowed. "And, you? What have you been doing?" 

When she heard that question, Kaori honestly felt a tad bit nervous. It wasn\'t that she was ashamed of her troupe or anything, but acting wasn\'t really considered a viable career path unless you were famous back in Jade. In art forms in general, anyone could say they were something, but how many people actually made those things work? 

Still, she swallowed that bit of nervousness down and said: 

"I… You remember those plays we used to watch? At the Moonlight Theatre?" Kaori asked. 

Keiko tilted her head, looking slightly confused. 

"Yes." 

"Well, I was in a couple of them, recently," Kaori shrugged with a cautious smile. "I\'ve been acting." 

The look on Keiko\'s face certainly proved that was the last thing she expected to hear. Kaori was almost proud that she\'d managed to produce that effect on her. 

"Really!?" Keiko asked, leaning forward on the table. 

"Yeah," Kaori nodded eagerly. "Those women you saw me with, they\'re part of my group. We\'re going to be performing here, actually," she added. "That\'s why we came to Pearl. Why we\'re staying here for a few days." 

"Oh my goodness!" Keiko sounded so impressed, it nearly made Kaori tear up. That\'s amazing, I didn\'t know you had that in you! I-I mean," Keiko quickly corrected, "not to say I didn\'t think you were talented or anything but, well, acting is very specific and you never expressed an interest in it like that. Not to say that you should have or that I couldn\'t have asked, but I just thought that… maybe… I\'ll… just… stop. Sorry." 

… She\'s still just as cute as she was before,  Kaori smiled widely at her.  Wow. I… This had to have been fate, Lumina herself must have-

A woman then appeared. 

She had silky green hair, tied into a ponytail. Her face was slender and she had a pair of thin eyes, which looked down at Keiko as she walked up to her. 

"Hey, I\'m done with my shift, are we leaving soon?" 

"Oh, right," Keiko turned her eyes up to her, as Kaori watched, confused. "Yeah, we\'ll go in a bit." 

… What? Kaori blinked, as she saw this.  Where did she come from? 

Then, the woman turned her eyes to Kaori. 

"Oh? Who\'s this?" She asked. 

I could ask the same thing. 

"Ah, this is Kaori," Keiko said, with a smile. "She\'s… an old friend. Kaori," she said, "this is Caroline. My girlfriend." 

"…" Kaori blinked again. 

Oh. 

"Hey," Caroline greeted her. "Wow. You\'re really hot." 

"Thank you," Kaori replied, blankly. 

"Anyway, yeah, let me know when we\'re headed out," Caroline said to Keiko, leaving like a passing storm that had come in and wrecked whatever hopes Kaori had been building up over the last couple of minutes. 

Keiko turned toward Kaori, and, from the saddened smile she had on her face, Kaori could tell that she knew exactly what she\'d been thinking. 

"Uh… Sorry," Keiko said. 

"No, no, no no no no," Kaori quickly waved her hands. "It\'s okay! I mean, we broke up when you moved away, and all. You can date whoever you want to." 

"… Well," Keiko said, "this feels slightly awkward now. However, um, I really would like to catch up. I hope this doesn\'t mean we can\'t do that, can we?" 

The way she asked that, with those big silver eyes looking back at her, Kaori couldn\'t say "no" even if she wanted to. 

"Of course, it doesn\'t," Kaori told her. "Let\'s talk later. Whenever you have the chance."

"Thank you." 

As Keiko replied, Kaori turned around to see if she could catch another glimpse of that woman. She\'d come in and had left so quickly, that Kaori hadn\'t gotten the opportunity to get a good look at her. 

"How did you two meet?" Kaori asked as she was turned away. 

"It\'s a bit of a long story," Keiko replied.. "Maybe, later, I can tell you all about it."