The 157th Part: Has Ash Died?
“Ash!”
After exiting the Mirror World, Ash walked straight in the opposite direction until Makoto’s voice behind him shouted to stop.
His eyes still red from crying, true to his feelings, Makoto asked loudly what everyone was most concerned about.
“After all you’ve done, where are you going now? What about that Selfish Ancestor inside you?”
Facing away from everybody, Ash replied without turning around.
“Thanks to Toma, that guy has already escaped.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces lit up with relief, but Ash’s next words broke their joy.
“I have fought this far through my own will, so I won’t blame everything on it.”
“The selfish desires are also mine alone. You can think of it that way.”
Should you continue to be enemies with me, that too is correct.
Feeling this guy’s quirkiness once again, Rikka stepped forward with another question.
“What are you planning to do now?”
“The next opponents are not you guys, Heartcatch Pretty Cure. You win this time.”
“You beat me, Ash! Be proud of that!”
Next opponents… Hmph, thinking you can get away with doing things like this, don’t think I’m some kind-hearted person.
“Next target… Hmph!”
With a hand slowly gripping his chest, as he intended to go back home, a smiling pink figure appeared before him just in time.
“Mr. Ash~”
Ash turned his head silently, while Ai circled around like a butterfly, also smiling, coming in front of him.
“What do you want now?”
“After going through so much, Mr. Ash, you’re being too cold!”
Right now, Ash didn’t particularly want to see her. Not out of fear, but perhaps simply… not wanting to.
“Ash, you’re no longer alone.”
Ai pulled her friends over to stand by Ash.
“Don’t you think we feel the same?”
“I never hated Ash.” The elegant girl speaking is Yotsuba Arisue. “But I can’t accept you paying your debts with death; I would look down on you from heart.”
Isn’t this too worrying?
“The Five Vows of Pretty Cure!” Akuri opened her palms, reciting seriously. “Secondly, love is for giving! Thirdly, love is for protecting each other!”
“If you can do it, I’ll recognize you.”
As well, I suppose I kept my promise to you earlier.
“You silent and stubborn guy, because of you, our—especially with Mana’s—relationships are in a mess.” The glasses-pushing secretary Rikka said with exasperation, but then smiled. “But because of you, Mana understood the problem and grew, so I forgive you for now, but if you keep taking liberties with me, I’ll be really angry!”
“Ah~ Rikka, don’t be so strict in front of everyone, show some respect!”
Shamed, Ai turned to Rikka for help, but this plea didn’t work on her as usual.
“No, after all, Mana won’t be earnest without me being earnest first!”
“Why so strict, Rikka…”
The comrades were joking around while Makoto remained speechless.
“I won’t forgive you.” She faced Ash earnestly, her tone slightly icy. “I can’t forget the crap you’ve done, and how you treated me…” As her cheeks flushed with anger, it looked almost cute.
“Unless you apologize, I won’t forgive you!”
“Oh—” Ash let out a long sigh.
You’ve said everything you could say; what is there left to say?
“Sorry.”
Huh?
Makoto stood dumbfounded, not quite believing her ears.
Did this guy really apologize so decisively? Has he truly changed, or did I misread him…
“Sorry, yes, I’m at fault, but I’m still your father, don’t forget.”
“ASH!”
“Mommy, calm down, calm down!”
Ai quickly wrapped her arms around the out-of-control Makoto, who was ready to strike with the Heart Bow and Arrow, and managed placate her gently before smiling and extending her hand to Ash for the third time.
“Ash, once more, be friends with me!”
“Now that you’ve experienced yourself firsthand, are you still planning to be friends with me?”
“I know,” she shook her head, “like Makoto, I cannot forgive such an Ash-san either.” But she still didn’t waver. “However, precisely because of that, I must become your friend. To embrace even those twisted aspects of yours—that is the true sense of friendship.”
“Hmph.” Ash laughed derisively and extended his hand as well.
You heroes are always alike in some ways.
“It’s if you’re not afraid…”
Just when their hands were about to meet, Ash’s hand suddenly slid past Mana and fell downward.
In turn, Ash collapsed heavily onto the ground, lifeless.
“ASH… Ash!”
The crowd rushed over frantically, hoisting him up hurriedly, only to receive an even more shocking piece of news.
Ash… is dead!?
“Who died?!”
In a dream, Ash said goodbye to his friend and gazed at the screen on his face as he kicked off his blanket to sit upright.
[Because of the miracle that occurred within you, I restarted you to run tests.]
“What the hell is a restart?” Ash couldn’t help but blurt out at this.
[You’re not a cyborg or a machine; you’re pure human.]
“Haa, you even make jokes?”
Ash suddenly felt that this old friend might be even more interesting than he had known.
Truly worthy of my complete trust.
“So, what’s the result?”
[The hyper-active dark reverberation that was originally active within you has been driven back into its depths, reducing its influence on you to a minimum.]
“What does that mean?”
Ash had a feeling something incredible just happened.
[Even though it doesn’t affect the essence, but your body has been healed.]
[This might be due to the unique characteristic of the legendary warrior known as the Precure.]
[Similar to the ‘Full Moon Lumina Waves,’ nothing else can do such a thing.]
[Usually by this time, you wouldn’t have survived. So now is undoubtedly a miracle.]
{Precure’s world, making such a choice, truly came to the right place!}
[Precure, best ever!]
Ash could even sense the emotional changes conveyed through the letters on the screen.
“Meaning that.”
I can live in this world. I won’t die?
Ash looked at his own palms, stretching them open and then clenched them tightly; the action seemed most powerful but felt strangely unreal.
But is it alright? Shouldn’t I be doing…
[What kind of action you want to take, Ash decides it himself.]
[to live truly is maybe what you should truly choose.]
“I…”
“I…”
Ash clenched his palm forcefully.
“I want… to live.”
