Under a wave of heat brought by the midday sun, Ash and Kaori trained with Keiko. Because of the new mission, the Zayama pressed them to improve. First, she and Ash rehearsed the defensive techniques they'd been refining since arriving at the farm. Then, Kaori and Keiko sparred for a little bit, each session ending with Keiko finding some opening that would consistently leave Kaori gasping in astonishment.
Things were going smoothly. In all honesty, Ash was just glad to seemingly finally have her lust under control, at least, for the moment. I don't want my lust to increase like that again for a while. She thought. It's fucking painful.
Ash watched Kaori carefully. Ever since she'd told her about her trait, Kaori had been... Different. It wasn't quite enough to be concerned, she figured, but whenever Kaori looked at her, there was something in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Warmth? Curiosity? Something Ash couldn't quite decipher.