Moonlight Demon

As Ash and Eliza returned to the Grey Chamber's main hall, Keiko, Satsuhiro, and Kaori were waiting. Ash kept her eyes low as Eliza put her hands on her hips and walked towards them. 

"I assume you were informed, right?" Eliza asked and Satsuhiro raised a brow.

"The portal? Yes, we literally discussed it," Satsuhiro confirmed. 

"Not just one. Three in total," Eliza clarified.

Satsuhiro sighed.

"That's... Concerning."

"From what I've seen of the reports of the other two attacks, the strategy the demon army used in both instances was a simple front-to-back siege. Now, it appears they've changed their mind. For now, though, some more basic preparations will need to be made. Of course, you are free to continue training during this time. Take care." 

"Wait," Keiko walked up. Eliza raised a brow, crossing her arms. "Y-You said you aren't a Zayama... What do you mean by that?" 

"Ah, right," Eliza nodded. "Well, the truth of the matter is fairly simple. Over the years, not every Zayama has been appreciative of the clan's unique culture. Due to this, some individuals here and there have left the Compound and went on to build lives of their own across the world. I believe your clan refers to these people by the same name they do those who fail to activate their Spirit Eye..."

"Zayo?" Keiko asked. 

"Right. Zayo. One of my ancestors was this type of rogue. Thanks to that, I have these eyes," she pointed out. "My children, however may or may not have them. The same goes for my grandchildren. Because the origin of this ability is so far down the family line, it is a matter of chance whether anyone else in my family receives this." 

Ash noticed a confused expression appearing on Keiko's face. She didn't get that, to her, this had been relatively straightforward. 

"Very well, I must continue to see to our preparation. Until next time, Saviors." 

And with that, Eliza retreated back into those other rooms. Ash walked up to Keiko. 

"Are you good?" Ash asked. 

"Y-Yes, I just... I suppose I should have assumed that could have happened," Keiko explained, "but the thought of Zayamas leaving the Compound or disassociating with the clan in general, it never really came to my mind that people could do that." 

"You may as well get some training in," Satsuhiro stated and the girls looked over at him. "There were a lot of factors that came into play in Sapphire that led to their victory. The harsh terrain, the bridge, Vermia's presence. Onyx itself has some advantages, the technology mainly, but not the same, which means you'll likely need to be better than you were back then if you want to win here." 

Keiko and Kaori nodded. Ash sighed. 

"Yay, more training. Wonderful," Ash blankly said and Satsuhiro gestured at the entrance. 

"I'll leave you to it," Satsuhiro said. "You remember the way back to the inn by now, right?" 

"Yes," Keiko nodded. 

"Good. Oh, and... I wanted to say," Satsuhiro took a subtle deep breath. "I noticed you three were a lot more assertive with regards to what you know, back at that meeting earlier. It's good to see. I'm proud." 

Kaori smiled at that. Hearing Satsuhiro say that made Ash feel... strange. 

"Anyway, yeah. Have fun," and with that, Satsuhiro turned away, tapping his crutch against the ground as he left the Grey Chamber. 

---

Keiko

The three of them went back to that open spot. The sun poured in from outside and as the girls entered the training area, Keiko saw Yumi sitting by the table to the right, one leg crossed over the other with her hands held together, looking out towards the distant lands. 

They walked up to her and upon seeing them, Yumi stood up. 

"Greetings," Yumi bowed. "How have you been?" 

"Good," Keiko answered. A question bubbled up in her mind and, before they would start training, Keiko felt like getting it out there. "I... excuse me, could I ask you something?" 

"Of course," Yumi nodded. 

"Did you know about the rogue Zayamas?" 

"Hm?" 

"Um, people who choose to live outside of the Compound."

Yumi tilted her head. 

"I suppose you could call me one, is that what you're trying to do?" 

"Oh, uh, no, not like that, I mean, um, like, people who don't like the clan." 

"... I'm afraid I don't really understand what you're getting at, I apologize," Yumi responded and Keiko sighed. 

"It's fine..." She said.  But... How common of an occurrence is this? Keiko asked herself as Yumi went to grab her naginata. 

"Are you prepared?" She asked the group. 

"Yes," Keiko nodded. 

"Alright, then let's get started." 

What followed was the usual, but now, of course, their clashes were laced with the extra determination brought by the fact that a large-scale battle was officially on the horizon. Kaori was up first. Keiko and Ash watched from the side while she tried her best to defend herself from Yumi's naginata. To Keiko's eyes, she looked a little more comfortable. Her metallic arm would still move awkwardly on occasion, but generally, her motions would look slightly more natural. 

At one point though, Yumi's weapon slipped past Kaori's shield, and the blonde was nearly hurt. Both Keiko and Ash took a step forward when this happened, but Yumi stopped herself before Kaori could actually be injured. 

"Hm..." Yumi hummed as they briefly paused. "It might honestly be worth it for you to put a few points into your Dexterity." 

"Why?" Kaori asked. 

"That shield is terribly small," Yumi pointed out. "The strength of the material means that you will be able to block the same kinds of powerful strikes as other shields, but your blocks need to be far more precise than that of a regular shield user. If they aren't, that could happen again," she informed Kaori. "And an enemy wouldn't stop like I did, would they?" 

"Right, thanks," Kaori nodded. 

"No problem." 

Next, was Ash. 

The half-demon put those gauntlets on and stood opposite Yumi, with her weapons by her waist. She took a deep breath, nodded, and got into a fighting stance. Then, Ash ran forwards. She took a few lunging swipes at Yumi and to Keiko's eyes, they looked wild. Yumi had no trouble at all blocking and dodging the half-demon's attacks. 

Ash went for an overhead strike and Yumi ducked. She extended a leg and tripped Ash, making her fall on her face. 

"There is a lot of power behind your strikes," Yumi said. "But they aren't precise. Against mindless demons, I assume you've had much success, but..." Yumi lowered her head. Her volume lowered a little, and Keiko sensed that she had reminded herself of something scary. "Against an enemy of a higher caliber, you would die in the first exchange." 

"... I can't really work on my Dex though," Ash replied. "It's not really my style." 

"You don't need to," Yumi quickly replied. "How do I say this? The reason your movements are not precise is not because of your body, but rather, your attacks are not planned. Does that make sense? You are essentially fighting one attack at a time, when a true combatant must, at the very least, know what their body will be doing three moves after the next. Your current approach is making you slower than you should be. Here, try this," Yumi said. "Attack me exactly as you were doing before, two times." 

"Uh," Ash nodded awkwardly. Then, she threw two punches with her gauntlets, one aimed at Yumi's abs and another aimed at her chest. The masked woman dodged both easily. 

"Now," she said. "I want you to pick out two areas of my body before you strike, think about it, think about how you will transition between hits, and try again." 

Nodding again, Ash stopped for a moment. Keiko saw her eyes go to Yumi's thighs, and then to her head. Then, she hunched over. 

"Ready," Ash said. 

"Go." 

And then, Ash charged forwards. She threw a left jab at Yumi's left thigh, and when that failed, she went up to Yumi's head. 

The masked woman dodged both attacks easily, but Keiko saw the improvement. She was just a split second faster. 

"Holy shit," Ash muttered.

"See?" Yumi asked. "The ability to improvise is a good thing to have, but when it's not refined, it leads to clumsiness. And clumsiness in the middle of a fight is just going to lead to defeat." 

With Ash's session out of the way, now, about an hour and a half after they'd started, it was Keiko's turn. Ash, who was sweating like crazy, walked away and sat down on the floor, putting her knees up to her chest. Kaori sat next to her. 

Keiko unsheathed her sword and Yumi stood ahead of her, waiting. She wasn't even breathing heavy, which was impressive to see. 

"Keiko, with you," Yumi started, "there's really only one thing to train." 

"Thinking outside the box?" Keiko asked. 

"Precisely," Yumi nodded. "You have the exact opposite problem that Ash has. You need to try to focus more on capitalizing on the openings I present. If I show you something that doesn't align with your plan, your plan needs to change. Understood?" 

"Yes," Keiko replied.  I think. 

"Start." 

And with that, they began to trade blows. Keiko tried her hardest to attack from different angles. She never got close to landing a hit onto Yumi, but the two of them did move around the room wildly as a result of this new approach. At a point, Yumi lifted her naginata just a bit too high.  Attack low,  Keiko told herself. She tried that and Yumi used the shaft of her naginata to block. 

"Good!" She pointed out, sounding pleased. Keiko nearly stopped fighting as a smile came to her face. 

Yumi spun in place and swung her blade. Keiko stepped back, dodging, and saw that Yumi's left side was vulnerable. She did a spin of her own and closed the gap. Yumi blocked with her shaft again, and the two of them ended up face to face, just a few inches separating them. 

"You're getting better," Yumi highlighted. As Keiko took a step back, she took a deep breath. Bowing, she said:

"T-Thank you..." 

"You're welcome." 

---

Ash

After a while, finally, they left. Yumi walked with them to the entrance of the Grey Chamber and stood by as the group walked out the building. 

"We'll come back tomorrow," Keiko promised. Ash looked down at her own hands as the two Zayamas talked.  Hm. I can't really see myself fighting in a "controlled" way though. Even with that stuff we did, it's one thing to do that in training, but... With a demon staring at me, will I be able to remember those lessons? 

"I look forward to it," Yumi replied. 

"Hey, weren't we going to try to see what happened to her superiors or something?" Kaori asked. 

"Right! We need to do that too," Keiko told Yumi. 

"I..." Yumi started. "As much as I appreciate the thought, I believe it might be better to focus on getting used to this new world," Yumi stated. "This castle alone has been so strange to be in. I still have a ways to go before I can worry about anything other than adjusting. But, again, thank you." 

And with that, the group departed. 

As Keiko had pointed out, she remembered the way back to the inn. They spoke a little about their training as they walked. 

"How did it feel?" Keiko asked. "When you changed strategies." 

"I guess I performed better, but..." Ash looked down. "I don't know. It feels so weird." 

"You'll get used to it," Kaori optimistically said. 

"I hope." 

"If not, you do have your Demon Form to rely on," Keiko added. 

"I'd rather not have to depend on that for too much... Outside of the bedroom anyway," Ash said with a smirk. Kaori laughed and Keiko blushed. 

Finally, they reached the inn and walked inside. Immediately, Metsumi, who was sitting at the table in front of the door greeted them. Beside her was Satsuhiro, Opah and... 

Ash froze. 

It took her a second to recognize her, but when her mind saw that face, memories long-buried resurfaced. 

"Hey, how'd the training go?" Metsumi asked. 

"Went well," Keiko replied as she nonchalantly sat down across the woman Ash was staring at right now. Kaori sat next to Keiko, but Ash just stood there. 

She couldn't move. Her heart had turned cold and her eyes widened. The woman she was looking at, in turn, was also staring at her, and it felt like Ash was almost looking into a mirror. She was giving her the same exact expression she had on right now. 

"We were just about to order some dinner," Metsumi said. "What do you want?" 

"Um, I'll have..." Kaori responded and finally, Ash's legs willed her to move up. 

She took a shaky breath, chills crawling up her spine as every sound in the inn faded away. The only one who noticed Ash's behavior was Satsuhiro. The older Savior raised a brow. 

"Ash? Are you okay?" He asked. 

Ash ignored him. She took one step closer, staring at the brunette woman with bags under her eyes and a shocked, stunned look on her face, who had been sitting casually next to Metsumi when Ash had arrived. 

And, as the woman's surprised look turned scared, Ash said:

"Mom?"