"Actually, I can do it alone without Mana's help."
"..."
"And Mana, it must have been very troublesome for me to always compete with everyone for Ash. It's obviously our turn to comfort Ash's heart."
However, while Rikka was still chattering, Mana had already walked into her side.
"So how is Rikka's relationship with Ash recently?"
"Nothing, compared to this, we... ah!"
The sudden feeling of weightlessness reversed the scene in front of him as Rikka screamed.
Everything in his sight was completely occupied by the other party, and in the blink of an eye, Rikka was pushed to the bed.
"Lying."
The words suddenly uttered by her best friend in her ear made Rikka feel a tingling sensation of goosebumps all over her body.
"Obviously, you're someone who cares enough to clean someone else's room when you have nothing to do, but why do you always deny it?"
Even in our world, Rikka is like this, right?
"Am I right, Rikka?"
117
Chapter 117: Rotten Love.
"Why are you telling me this?"
The word 'lying' spoken by the other party before was now like a thorn piercing Rikka's heart.
Rikka really wanted to refute, and wanted to say something to Mana.
"Rikka has always liked Ash, right?"
But all the words that followed were melted into Mana's smile that was so close at hand.
"I understand, because I like the same person, so I understand how Rikka feels."
I don't know how to refute it, or rather, I can't refute it... Since you understand everything, why are you still asking me.
"Don't look away at a time like this."
"Uh...!"
The eyes that gradually moved away were brought back to the correct gaze by her best friend with gentleness.
"If you don't face up to things like your own love, I will really look down on Rikka."
Anyone can see that this blue-haired girl who is so smart that she needs to wear glasses always carries a heavy heart emotionally, especially when she is in front of Ash.
And it just so happens that I, Mana, have the same thing about hiding my feelings. What's more, since recently, this feeling has become stronger and stronger, to the point of bursting out. Unlike Rikka, I'm a little bit... I don't want to endure it anymore.
"How do you feel about your recent days with Ash?"
"Happy."
Rikka still wanted to look away, but she was pinned down by those burgundy eyes and couldn't pull away even if her pupils were trembling.
"However, there are many other children here who like Ash. They are smart and beautiful, and they are better to Ash than me."
"Including Ash also likes them very much, so I think as long as I can be a friend and help Ash to pay off the part I owe him in the past..."
"Liar."
The same words, the same eyes, and once again being speechless.
"Ash clearly invited you, right?"
After recalling what Mana said, Rikka had to admit that what Mana said was completely correct.
When I was shopping for clothes last time, Ash actually found mine before looking for Miss Tsukikage and asked if we wanted to go together.
Before the date with Miss Starry Sky, he also asked me if I had any souvenirs...
Including that time, he took the initiative to care about the vision problem and even wanted to use his power to make me take off my glasses.
"I had other things to do at that time..."
"Is this also an excuse?"
Since the last time the other party took the initiative to draw him to his side as an acknowledgment, Rikka found that he could not be generous enough to accept the other party's frankness. Even though she knew that Ash had changed and that the other party was completely kind to her, she still thought about retreating. She always felt a little... scared when standing in front of Ash.
It's not the fear of Ash hurting me when I was an enemy in the past, it's more like the fear... of other negative emotions.
"Ash has admitted several times that he likes everyone, and one of these people is you - Rikka!"
As he spoke, the gaze Mana had been looking at became more serious.
"And more importantly, you owe him nothing."
"... I was just thinking that I shouldn't interrupt his time with other people."
Ash How does it feel to deal with so many things alone? Rikka I don't know, but to be honest, she feels tired just by looking at her, so isn't it good to try to be well-behaved alone so that he can bear less pressure?
"Don't you understand yet, Rikka?"
Taking a deep breath, Mana told what he had learned.
"Ash is atonement. He is atonement for the sins he has committed by hurting us in the past. He uses his love to protect us to satisfy our desires as atonement."
Of course, all this is based on the fact that he likes us. So this can be considered... mutual benefit, right? Don't you think it's just right? Rikka? Two people who like each other maintain such a relationship~ Even if it is out of desire, there is no problem, right?
"Obviously, isn't liking something so simple?"
"Ma...Mana?"
For the first time, Rikka, who had been suppressed below and in a state of low pressure, began to tremble in her words. She began to instinctively feel that something was wrong and strange.
Mana What you said is just like saying that Ash is the bad guy, deliberately tempting you to break some restriction!
"If he really just followed his own preferences, he might not choose any of us at all. So Rikka's argument that he should let go before is simply untenable."
After listening to Hui's story about "him", Mana was just moved by the relationship between him and Ash at first, but probably from the recent period, he didn't feel that much.
At least, now it was becoming more and more obvious that her heart was urging her to do something.
"I am the first Pretty Cure that Ash fell in love with."
This is my advantage and my confidence...!
"So I decided to take action. I haven't figured out how to do it yet, but I have to do it first before others do it."
Love is an emotion that cannot be quantified, but everyone hopes to have more.
"!?"
Why can you say something so confident?
"Maybe this kind of thing seems mean to other people, but..."
Mana couldn't help but laugh when he thought of his past self, which was always selfless in order to help others.
"This time, I have to act in accordance with my inner thoughts."
From this point of view, I haven't changed at all?
He released his hand and let go of Rikka who was shrunk to the head of the bed. Mana, who was wearing the same maid outfit as Ash, calmly took care of the mess that Ash had just made on the bed.
"Rikka is my first and best friend."
Suddenly, Mana changed his tone when talking to her.
"So even if it's Ash I'm willing to share it with you."
"Huh?"
She was indeed completely unaware of this matter.
"But you did nothing."
In an instant, Mana's eyes turned cold, and they were no longer looking at a good friend.
"If you just want to be a good person and think about the other person's happiness, then you will be self-satisfied."
"You have clearly planted the seeds of love, but you don't have the courage to let them sprout. You can only bear the pain of gradual decay. Can you really bear it?"
That's very excessive for both you and Ash, isn't it?
"So I can't stand it anymore. It's okay if you still don't plan to move."
Mana, who was standing at the door, was about to close the door.
"It doesn't matter if I take away the love that originally belonged to you from him."
"No-"
"What exactly is going on, Rikka."
As long as you look at the other person's happiness, everything will be fine, no matter how much your love for Ash is crushed.
Or do you also want to show a side to the boy you like that you rarely see in daily life?
"You decide for yourself."
118
Chapter 118: Fallen leaves bring a message, this is an era of "emotion".
"It's really fast this time."
I thought it was like experiencing other worlds, climbing the tower to find my companions again, and then searching for dozens of episodes on each floor of the tower. It didn't take long for the separated Pretty Cures to return to him, and the news they got along with them was not unimportant.
"Ash, what's in that box? Let me see it!"
Snow White, who was still very concerned about the mysterious courier, volunteered to unpack the box with his bare hands, but was punished by Ash with a knife at the last moment.
"You can't just touch this!"
After all, it was something sent inexplicably by the enemy "Kaller". Although Ash didn't think the other party would be that boring, what if there was some kind of space-destroying bomb inside? Wait until he checks it carefully with various devices through the box.
"Ah sneeze!!"
The sudden sneezing sound startled Snow White who was playing tricks. It turned out that it was Aino Megumi who sneezed several times loudly from behind. It was obvious that she was really, really uncomfortable.
"Are you okay, Megumi?"
Concerned Miyuki rummaged around for a while and handed over a tissue.
"Could it be that you are allergic to pollen?"
"Pollen?"
As a little doctor of plants, Lei heard the words and immediately began to look for the culprits within sight, and then suddenly realized that something was wrong. The current season in this world is not the time for flowers to bloom?
"I no longer have allergies."
She gratefully took the tissue and pinched her nose. Even Hui herself felt strange.
"I just don't know what happened. When I came back, I suddenly felt that the air around me smelled so bad that I sneezed several times in a row."
The most important thing is that an uncomfortable feeling that I am ashamed to mention suddenly emerged.
"Bad smell? Could it be that someone has a stomachache?"
"It's too exaggerated! And this place is all for girls. Ash, you should also pay attention to the influence——"
Faced with the scolding from Reika behind his back, Ash, who was about to leave through the scheduled exit, suddenly covered the eyes of the girl next to him and went back to where he was under the incomprehensible looks of others.
"What's wrong Ash, is there something outside?"
"No, nothing, that's why we go out somewhere else."
What did he see? He saw someone just outside on the street openly starting to pout, and looking at this posture, he was about to go to the woods to one side...
Didn't he remember that everyone in his world was so enthusiastic? What about the police? You guys have been caught smelting copper so many times and you should take care of it!
So what is it, spring is here?