Tenth
Ai Aida’s Determination, a Declaration of Friendship That Will Definitely Succeed!
In her dream, a demonic shadow of pitch-black stepped towards Rikka. Under the mesh mask, his eyes seemed to blur into a horrifying color, and his lips curled into an evil smile.
Taking steps that instilled fear, the “demon” kept advancing on Rikka. Rikka wanted to scream but couldn’t produce any sound; she wanted to escape but ended up collapsing on the floor with her trembling knees locked together.
“Hehehe, I love eating clean white children best~”
The demon easily grabbed hold of Rikka and looked at her terrified face, making his expression more twisted. Opening a mouth like an iron cage, he was about to devour Rikka.
Waking up suddenly from her nightmare in bed, tears glistening at the corner of her eyes, Rikka instinctively shouted out someone’s name.
“Mana, save me—what, what?”
The smell of disinfectant slightly calmed her. After haphazardly patting herself down in alarm to make sure she wasn’t eaten, she finally released a breath of relief.
She remembered fighting against Ash who had become a Kamen Rider, and losing consciousness after being immobilized due to a stomach ache.
Wait, where’s Mana?! Raquel?! Arisu?! And Makoto?!
Thinking of all her companions, Rikka immediately became restless and hurriedly got up to look for them.
“Why aren’t you going back to sleep, Rikka?”
“Ai!”
Her partner spirit, Raquel, called out. This snapped Rikka’s nearly evaporated sanity back to reality. A sense of regaining something she’d lost made her embrace Raquel, resembling a fluffy bear toy closely.
“You’re safe, thank goodness… By the way, where are everyone else?”
“Rikka, you’re awake now?!”
A new voice suddenly sounded within the room, prompting Rikka to immediately place Raquel beside her as if it were just a normal stuffed toy.
“Mama?” The doctor-mother Ryoko, who entered the room, only then realized Rikka had been in hospital pajamas on the bed.
“I was really surprised when I heard you and your friends were admitted, but nothing serious, just heatstroke from overexertion.”
Heatstroke? Rikka was puzzled. She distinctly recalled being attacked by someone and not overheating.
“So Mama, how did we get here?”
“Have you forgotten? We went out to watch outdoor sumo wrestling, and ended up with heatstroke from overexertion. Mana and Mr. Ash brought you here.”
Huh? Wait, Mama, who is this person you mentioned last?
“Mr. Ash truly is nice; not only did he drive you here, but also settled everything. You should thank him, Rikka.”
At hearing her mother’s straightforward words, a subtle twitch formed at the corners of Rikka’s lips.
It was Ash who put her in this situation; was she supposed to thank him instead?
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ash was confronted by a serious-faced blonde man.
“Why did you target Ms. Cure and her friends?!”
Being one who had given the Pretty Cure transformation accessories and secretly cared for them, Joe Okada rushed to the hospital the moment he heard of the “annihilation” report. Upon understanding that they were merely exhausted and lightly injured, he relaxed slightly.
He originally thought they might have met an extremely fierce Selfish Beast or even an attack by the Selfish King himself, but never expected this black-haired man in a vest?
Moreover, the reasons behind his actions were even more implausible.
Listening to his tone, you must be some sort of supporter of Pretty Cure, right?
Seeing the change in expression on the other side, Ash confirmed his guess was correct.
“You’re human, yet not part of the Selfish Organization. Why would you attack pretty cures?”
“Perhaps, I have already joined the Selfish Organization?” Ash feigned such a statement, observing Joe’s expression closely.
“Do you even know what you’re saying? The Selfish Organization would never trust someone like you!”
“And the Selfish King took years to be sealed by Princess An… If you disrupt that seal, the world could fall under the Selfish King’s control!”
“If the Selfish King wants to destroy the world, why should I care?”
Though he spoke indifferently, in his heart, Ash recorded these details.
So he sealed the Selfish King, huh? The boss enemy holds most of that “negative energy”?
Seeing Ash deep in thought, Joe couldn’t fathom what he was pondering.
“You are —”
Before Joe finished speaking, Ash pushed him aside, causing Joe to try and pull away, only to feel Ash’s grip like a heavy clamp that hurt his shoulder immensely.
How much strength does this guy actually have?!
“Do you want a reason? Sure. Because I can, so I will.”
“You are so utterly self-centered—!”
“Now, move aside.”
Ash pushed Joe aside again, meeting the disbelief in his eyes as he walked toward the hospital exit.
“I wonder how you used sumo as an excuse… Not a rikishi at all, you really can say anything.”
As Ash thought about Ai, the class president who concocted a reason for the receptionist doctor, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
But whatever she said, it had no real connection to him…
“Mr. Ash —”
Hearing the energetic voice of a teenage girl from behind, Ash sighed audibly before turning around.
With bandages on her face, the young girl dashed towards Ash as if nothing had happened.
“Are you okay already?”
He hadn’t held back, and Ai’s attitude made Ash start to suspect whether she was an alien orphan from a doomed planet.
“I’m Ai Aida, first middle school’s student council president. It’s no big deal at all!”
“I don’t think it has anything to do with being the class president.”
Ash stepped back, preparing to see what earnestly-expressed Ai would say.
Did she feel anger? Fear? Confusion? Or complaint?
Instead, seeing Ai take a step back and bow deeply,
“Thank you very much for bringing Makoto and the others to the hospital!”
Now all of Ash’s prepared responses went unused. He looked at Ai’s bowed head, momentarily speechless.
“I really don’t understand you anymore.”
I’m the one who put things this way, and you’re thanking me just because I showed a little kindness at the end.
“Everyone’s gratitude is justified because I helped you and our friends. What you do is what you’ve done. The truth remains!”
Ai still vividly remembered Ash protecting her by shooting his contract beast at himself to shield her.
Never forgetting any goodness shown to her, Ai was the kind of girl.
“However, Mr. Ash, what you’ve done is excessive!”
Raising her head, Ai faced Ash squarely.
“Please apologize to Shalulu and Rikka for your misconduct!”
Silence.
Hearing Ai speak without a hint of confusion, Ash felt inexplicably irritable and annoyed.
What, so certain, looking so righteous… Do I need to listen to your version of rightness?
I’m different, I didn’t live my life relying on just being “right.”
“The responsibility is entirely on me… But I won’t apologize.”
To apologize is to accept defeat?
I won’t accept defeat!
Just not sure…
Upon hearing Ash’s response, Mana pouted her lips with dissatisfaction, cheeks puffing up. Her round face was quite cute.
“Stare! —”
Eyes like pink diamonds fixated their gaze straight on Ash’s face until the direct stare made him look away.
“I will go now.”
“Hold it there, Mr. Ash!”
Ai stopped Ash once again.
“What? Have you found some counterargument?”
“I can’t come up with it. At least right now, I can’t find a solid reason to refute you, and besides… I do believe what you said isn’t entirely wrong.” The young girl continued to look Ash directly in the eyes. “But, even so, your ideology centered so heavily on yourself is incomprehensible to me! There must be something inaccurate in what you said.”
Without speaking, Ash understood perfectly well that comprehension and agreement were two separate matters.
“If you still stand by your beliefs, then disregard everything I’ve just said,” Ash waved dismissively. “If reason alone could persuade others, the world wouldn’t have so many conflicts and wars.”
“I will always strive to defeat the selfish beast as a pretty cure and assist others. My intentions will not change!”
“And, I also want to become a true friend with Mr. Ash and deliver this ‘love’ to you.”
What kind of figure did Ash present in Ai’s mind?
Self-focused, with quirky preferences, seemingly bad but not entirely so—such contradictory personality traits made her baffled.
Ai silently resolved to understand him thoroughly and be his true friend, correct his twisted concepts, and change his ways!
Among those aiming to help others as a Pretty Cure, Ai naturally included Ash.
After listening to what Ai had to say, Ash finally walked out the door resolutely.
“Dreams are meant to be told in dreams.”
“It’s not just a dream. If you don’t try, how would you know what’s possible? Yeah… You have to try!”
Shaking her head, Ai pointed her finger directly towards Ash in front of the astonished onlookers and made her declaration.
“I will definitely correct Mr. Ash, and have him comprehend the beauty of ‘love’!”
Together, they will join forces to defeat the Selfish Organization and rescue the Poker Kingdom!
Despite the arduous path ahead, the shining Spirit Heart emanating from Ai symbolized her unwavering determination.
Ai had a determined resolve.
“That girl, who looks younger, said the exact same thing,”
A familiar feeling surfaced, making him reminisce about others from the past. He could call out their names but couldn’t recall their appearances—faces of people he used to befriend were now blurred.
It felt like his memories became foggy every time he died…. Whatever.
[System]
Without thinking much about it, he began to check the system for their previous battle results. But as he glanced at the panel showing the collected items, Ash’s expression became rather peculiar.
“There aren’t many Dark Echoes left on you Pretty Cures…”
