As she said that word, the table went silent. Metsumi's eyes widened, Kaori's lips parted with surprise, Keiko looked back and forth between the woman at the end of the table and Ash. For several seconds after speaking that word, Ash couldn't move.
For years, her parents' faces, their names, their lives as far as she had seen them, were all blurry. But now, with Ayami in front of her, all of that came back, flooding her thoughts. It was so much that she simply couldn't operate.
Her mother was sitting there, a stunned look on her face as she and Ash locked eyes.
The half-demon had spent so many sleepless nights imagining what she'd say to her parents if she saw them again. She'd rehearsed many different curses and outbursts, all in case a moment like this ever happened, and yet, with her mother here, now, she forgot it all.
Instead, all she could think of was what she was feeling. And what she felt went from confusion to pure rage..
She stomped forwards, walking past the others and towards Ayami, then, she picked her up by her shoulders effortlessly, yanking her out of the chair, and pinned her to the nearest wall. Ash's shocked expression changed to one of fury, and she pulled a clenched fist back.
"Stop!" Metsumi said as she had stood up and held Ash's arm back.
Ash was shaking with anger. The others in the building were so busy partying that barely any of them noticed. Only a few workers, Caroline included, saw what was happening. Caroline marched towards them.
"Hey, what's going on here?" She asked, concerned.
Ash didn't respond.
"Nothing," Metsumi told her. "Ash, calm down."
"Bullshit..." Ash muttered when she heard that. Every fiber of her being was telling her to wrap her hands around her mother's throat and-
"Ash," Metsumi entered her field of view. She loosened her grip on Ash's arm and instead, turned it into a soothing gesture. Ash's violet eyes went from Ayami to Metsumi, who looked almost scared. "Please, take a second."
Seeing Metsumi look at her like that almost made Ash want to cry. She looked away, gritted her teeth, and reluctantly let go. Ayami fell to the ground, coughing. Ash hadn't realized it, but she had actually held her by her neck.
She took a step back and did the first thing she could think of. She ran out of the inn.
"Wait!" Metsumi called out, but Ash didn't stop. She emerged out in the street, drawing the eyes of many citizens as they saw a pissed-off half-demon marching down the sidewalk. She could hear someone following her, most likely Metsumi, but she didn't turn around to check. She was too angry.
She walked for a while. Her body was hot with rage as she kept going, only slowing down once she reached a part of the city she didn't recognize. One with far fewer people. There were some homeless citizens laying in alleys and a horse or two carrying stoic guards, but nothing more than empty-looking buildings.
As she finally stopped and sat down, she realized Metsumi was still there. Just a bit behind her was Keiko as well. Kaori and Satsuhiro had both stayed back at the inn.
Ash put her hands on her head and sighed.
"What... the fuck?" She mumbled.
Wordlessly, Metsumi sat down next to her. Keiko remained standing, just a few feet away, looking at Ash with compassionate, clear eyes.
Metsumi didn't say anything. She just looked up at the sky as Ash instead looked down at the road.
"Sorry," Ash said, just to break the silence.
"What are you apologizing for?" Metsumi asked.
At that, Ash sighed again.
"For freaking out, I don't know."
"I think that's justified, given your situation," Metsumi replied. "But... Maybe beating her up is a bit..."
Ash closed her eyes.
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay, just... Try to calm down."
"Yeah," Ash nodded. "I'm good. I was just... Surprised is all."
She said that, but a bit of that fire was still in her chest. Just thinking about her mother's face made her angry again.
"That's okay," Metsumi scooted closer and threw an arm over Ash's back, pulling her in. Ash let herself fall into the embrace. "That's fine. Take your time."
"So, well, I suppose this is obvious but..." Keiko said. "That was your mother?"
"... Yeah," Ash answered as Metsumi ran her hand up and down Ash's right shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"I see..." Keiko responded.
"At least," Metsumi said, "you handled it... a little better than some would have expected."
You mean to say you're surprised I didn't literally kill her? I guess that's good.
"I knew she was either here or in Amber," Ash muttered, "but I didn't think I'd actually run into her. I don't know, I guess it just felt like it wouldn't happen. Now," she sighed, "I'm just... What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
"Ash," Metsumi said with a soft tone, "we talked about this, didn't we?"
"Yeah, but, I didn't really think I'd run into her. Keeping shit together when she's right in front of me... it's easier said than done."
"I think..." Keiko said, walking up. "Sometimes we need to get things off our chest like that. Last time I was in the Compound, I punched my grandmother in the face," she chuckled. Ash raised her brows at that. "I hadn't realized how much I needed that."
"So, you're saying I should just deck my mom?" Ash asked with a smirk.
"Um, perhaps I'm a bad example?" Keiko said and Ash chuckled a little.
She shook her head and rested it on Metsumi's shoulder. Crossing her legs, Ash took a deep breath.
"Give me a sec, I'm fine."
---
Kaori
The last few minutes were so surprising that Kaori was still trying to piece them together in her thoughts. Ash had come in, seen Ayami, declared that she was her mother, and nearly assaulted her. Then, she left without a word, and now, Ayami was curled up, crying.
"What the hell happened here?" Caroline asked her.
"Uh, nothing, nothing," Kaori replied. I should probably get her out of this room, just to prevent the customers from spreading rumors.
Kaori walked over to Ayami and put a hand on her shoulder. The woman looked up. Looking at her like this, Kaori realized just how much she actually looked like Ash. Save for the violet eyes, horns, and white hair, they were quite a bit alike.
"Uh, hey, it's okay, come on," Kaori extended a hand to help her up. "Let's uh, get you some privacy."
Ayami sniffled and nodded, taking Kaori's hand. With that, she helped her upstairs and took Ayami to her room. Ayami just followed absent-mindedly, and the two of them sat down on Kaori's bed.
"Do you want some water?" Kaori asked.
"... Please," Ayami nodded.
"Got it, be right back."
Kaori gently closed the door behind her as she walked out into the hall and sighed. This... feels like a pretty messy situation, but, she smiled, Ash'll work it out. I trust her.
She walked back downstairs and asked Caroline for some water. The owner of the inn seemed on edge still, but she gave Kaori a cold glass. Kaori was heading back to the second floor, but Satsuhiro spoke to her before she could.
"Are you going to try talking to her?" Satsuhiro asked.
"Uh, yeah."
"Don't overload her," Satsuhiro warned. "She just saw her kid for the first time in six years. She's not exactly in a stable spot. If she wants to talk, good, if she doesn't, don't make her."
"Alright," Kaori nodded and she turned, walking back up.
She could hear Ayami's sniffling coming from her room. Kaori walked in with the glass of water and handed it to her, sitting down next to the middle-aged woman. For a while, she didn't know what to say.
According to what Ash had told her, this woman and her husband had outright abandoned her for no reason. Thanks to that, Ash grew up with worse conditions than most other people, and she never even got an answer as to why that happened.
Even Kaori's kindness had limits. But, she was still willing to give Ayami the benefit of the doubt. Not even Ash knew why they did that, after all.
"So... You're Ash's mom?" Kaori asked, already knowing the answer but she hoped it would start a conversation between them.
At that, Ayami looked over at her.
"... Yes," she nodded. "And, ehm, you are her girlfriend?" Ayami asked.
Honestly, Kaori was slightly flustered to hear that. She looked away, a little embarrassed.
"... How do you know?"
"I could tell by how you looked at her when she came in," she smiled a little sadly. "Your face brightened up so much. I... I thought to myself, oh, this must be her... And, that was when I saw Ash."
Nodding, Kaori adjusted a little in her seat.
"So... Can I ask you something?" Kaori started.
"... I imagine there are many things you want to ask me," Ayami chuckled. "Go ahead."
"Okay... So, why did..."
Then, someone knocked on the door.
"Ayami, are you in there?" It was a man.
"Oh, that's my husband," Ayami muttered. "Yes, I'm here. Could... Could you open the door for him? I just want him to see that I'm alright."
"Sure," Kaori nodded. She went to do so and what she found was a man with bright blue eyes and a scraggly beard. He was thin and slightly short, wearing long-sleeved white robes and golden shoes.
Kaori's eyes widened. She knew this outfit, she'd seen it a few times in Jade. Simply put, this man was a noble of some sort.
"Ayami," he basically pushed Kaori out of the way and went to console his wife.
Kaori sighed. Guess those answers will have to wait.
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