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Okay. Calm down.  Ash told herself, taking a deep breath. Kairo waited for her response. She looked away from him and sighed. 

"Why didn\'t you tell me before?"

"The healing process hadn\'t started," Kairo responded. "If I had, what do you think your reaction would have been? Certainly not a positive one." 

... He\'s right about that,  Ash acknowledged.  I probably would have just told him to fuck off. 

"But, now... I feel you might be in a more open space, mentally. I saw fit to let you know." 

"But, what\'s your point?" Ash asked. "Why are you even telling me this?" 

"Because, Ash," Kairo continued, "the healing process will never conclude for you until you address the core of the issue. You\'re trying to grow, extend your branches, but your roots are still poisoned. Until the roots are cleansed, you will not see true growth." 

Ash breathed steadily, trying to hold back the questions bubbling in her mind from throwing her into a fit. She stopped, kept looking down at the ground, and responded:

"So... What are you saying?" Ash asked. "What should I do?" 

"That\'s for you to decide. But, the resentment you still hold in your heart. Eventually, you\'ll have to do something about it. Whether it\'s to accept it as a part of yourself that will never fade away, or let go of it, something needs to be done." 

"... Alone?" Ash asked. 

"Not necessarily, but I do have one option to present to you. Last I heard, your parents left the city shortly after you were abandoned. Where exactly they went, I am not certain, but with Pearl\'s destruction and the battle of Sapphire causing many to flee, I would guess that there are two possibilities." 

"Onyx or Amber?" 

"Precisely. You decide what to do with that information." 

---

Shortly after that, the two of them parted ways. All in all, Ash was glad to have seen Kairo after such a long time and hoped they\'d meet again soon, but the monk had brought a question to her mind that she wasn\'t sure she was ready to handle. 

Her family. Specifically, the hate that she still felt for them for abandoning her the way that they did. What was she supposed to do about it? In all honesty, she wasn\'t sure she wanted to do something about it. She couldn\'t quite remember what her parents looked like, but any time their vague faces appeared in her mind, all she wanted to do was slap them. 

Ah... This sucks. 

Ash thought as she walked back to the Spirit Gardens District. She reached the Savior House and found that someone was here who she hadn\'t seen in about a week. 

Kasumi was sitting awkwardly on a couch in the living room. To her left, Metsumi spoke to her and the two women looked at Ash when she entered. 

... Fuck it,  Ash told herself,  I\'ll talk to Metsumi about this later. 

"Oh, Ash, hello," Metsumi smiled and waved at her. Ash walked up, looking around. 

"Hm. Are Keiko and Kaori out?" Ash asked. 

"Yes, they left shortly after you did. I believe Kaori wanted to take Keiko to see her old school." 

"Oh, shit," Ash noted with raised brows.  I think I would have liked to join them. Hope they have fun though. 

"Got anything to drink?" Ash asked. 

"I thought you couldn\'t get drunk," Metsumi asked, crossing her arms. 

"I can\'t, but... Sometimes that burning feeling from the alcohol going down your throat can be distracting. Which is sort of what I need right now." 

"Oh. Well, we don\'t have anything but I\'ll go buy a bit." 

"I mean, shit, if there\'s nothing here, it\'s fine, just..." 

"Nonsense," Metsumi walked up and put her hands on Ash\'s shoulders. "It\'s no trouble. There\'s a shop pretty close. Just sit tight till I come back." 

"... Thank you." 

"You\'re welcome. Oh, sorry, Kasumi. We can keep talking once I come back if you still feel like it."

The crimson-haired Savior shrugged. Nodding, Metsumi walked out of the house, leaving Kasumi and Ash in the living room, alone. 

Ash sat down next to her and crossed her legs. 

"So, how have you been doing?" Ash asked. After that heart-to-heart, she and the Savior had, Kasumi had spent quite a bit of time outside of the house. Ash only really saw her whenever the woman went to take a bath or as she came back to the house in the middle of the night. 

"Well, now that I\'ve renounced sleeping as a pastime, I\'ve suddenly discovered something," Kasumi said, her eyes a little tired. "This city is exhausting." 

"I can agree with that," Ash replied, remembering her time here. 

"Hmph. But, I\'ve been thinking of things I could do to... well, be more of a normal person. Still, whatever I do, I think I\'ll probably go back to sleeping my days away at some point." 

Ash nodded, taking her words in before asking:

"... Will you come with us to Onyx?"

"Hm?" Kasumi raised a brow. "What do you mean?" 

"We heard there were some demons there. The council wants me and Kaori to go fight them." 

"Another portal?" Kasumi asked, paling a little, but Ash quickly shook her head. 

"No, no. Just a few demons." 

"Oh," at that, Kasumi turned away. "I don\'t know. Do you need me?" Kasumi asked. 

"I wouldn\'t say so, but," she leaned against the couch\'s back, "it might be good. You know, a little more stress relief is never a bad thing and all that." 

"I\'d say anything involving demons is less of a stress reliever and more of a stress amplifier." 

"Maybe," Ash shrugged. "Still, you could use it to stretch your legs a little. Plus, uh, there\'s a place we need you to check out." 

Ash said this, remembering that Kasumi was one of the three the gods wanted for the Sites of Power. 

"Hm. Why\'s that?" Kasumi asked. 

"We found out a way to earn buffs, long story short, it\'ll make you stronger. And, if anything serious happens with the demons, maybe you\'ll want that." 

"..." Kasumi stared at her for a moment. "To be honest, if I lived the rest of my life without ever fighting again, I\'d be happy with that." 

Ash couldn\'t say she didn\'t understand, because she did. All too well. 

"I was thinking of letting the Council know, actually, that I was done. And that if they didn\'t like that, I\'d sooner get tossed into a dungeon than go fight those rabid beasts again," Kasumi said. "I had a whole speech planned out too. Something something, daughter, something something, dangerous, something something, fuck you." 

Ash chuckled and Kasumi smirked a little. 

"So... I\'ll be honest, I don\'t really want to go with you, but," Kasumi took a deep breath, "I will if you think it\'s serious enough. Is it?" 

"I\'d say so," Ash replied. "I mean, I\'m not asking you to come to fight anything with us. You go, get the buff, and then you can come back and tell the Council all of that shit. I just think you should have it." 

Kasumi nodded slowly. 

"This is embarrassing," she suddenly said. 

"Hm? Why?" 

"Between this and the talk we had a few weeks ago, having someone so much younger be the one to guide me, it feels strange." 

"I wouldn\'t say I\'m guiding you," Ash smirked. "We\'re just talking, aren\'t we?" 

"Just talking can be enlightening enough, don\'t sell yourself short," Kasumi replied. "Anyway," Kasumi stood up, "I do feel like I need to catch up on my naps." 

"Oh. \'Night." 

"Goodnight, Ash," Kasumi looked at her, and Ash could almost see warmth in her eyes, "and thanks again." 

With that, Kasumi walked away, and almost as soon as she did, Metsumi entered the house. She was holding a few bottles of wine.

"Got you some stuff."

"And the timing couldn\'t be better," Ash said, walking over to her. "Thanks." 

"Don\'t worry about it. So," Metsumi placed the bottles on the nearby kitchen table, pulled a seat back, and sat down. "Anything on your mind?" 

---

Kaori

"So, this is where you used to study?" Keiko asked. 

Currently, the two of them were walking through the grounds of the university that Kaori used to go to. It was so surreal to see this place again, that every now and then, Kaori would space out and accidentally miss something Keiko said. 

But, she couldn\'t help it. Just two months ago, she had been coming here regularly, with the hopes of meeting people and making something out of herself. Now, she was here as a tourist. 

Maybe when all of this is over, I could... No, that wouldn\'t work.  She thought. Besides... She glanced around, seeing many dirty looks being thrown her way.  People here still think of me as a killer. 

"Kaori?" 

"Huh, what?" Kaori shook her head. 

"I asked what you were studying," Keiko said, not angrily or anything, but firmly enough so that Kaori heard her properly. 

"Oh. Honestly, I hadn\'t really figured out what I wanted to be, but I had a few things in mind," Kaori replied. "Being a teacher, an assistant, a secretary, a guard even."

"Really?" 

"Yeah!" Kaori grinned. "I mean, really, I just wanted to help people. Anything that put me in a position to do that, that\'s what I would have gone with." 

"That is very admirable," Keiko smiled a little. Keiko\'s genuine smiles were rare enough to where Kaori made sure to treasure each one that she saw. 

However, at that moment, there was a sound to her left. A large banging sound, followed by a few more. Kaori froze. Briefly, the image of Ren fighting off a demon as it banged clawed hands against his shield flashed through her mind. Kaori turned and saw that some construction workers were taking down a small building. 

Kaori felt so much colder all of a sudden. 

"Kaori?" Keiko asked. 

She shook her head. 

"Huh?" 

"Are you alright?" Keiko walked up to her. "You got pale all of a sudden." 

Seeing the Zayama in front of her, Kaori grounded herself, using the image of her concerned face to do so. 

Kaori nodded, forcing a smile. 

"I\'m alright."