However, in order to avoid the situation where the Riddler's tragedy was caused by a missed sentence, Ash quickly added a sentence. "I'm sorry Homi. Anyway, a lot of things happened. That guy who looks just like my father and looks a little older is lying to you. He is not a kind person!"
"Yeah, I know."
Great - upon hearing this promise, Ash finally let go of the last stone from his chest, and immediately prepared for the next step of the plan.
"Don't worry, your father and I know this place very well. I'll find a way to get the two of us out right away?"
"No, why are you going out?"
"... huh?"
The right hand on the driver was frozen there, and he still didn't take off the belt.
"Of course I know that the man named Kale lied to me, but the world he created is real, the people in it are real, and the relationship we have is also real."
"I originally had nothing, but now I can recreate everything with my own hands! Where is the so-called falsehood?"
"Okay~Okay~!" Ash, who quickly interrupted, stretched out his open hand to her again. "I can tell you about the definition and difference between truth and falsehood all night, from physics to chemistry to philosophy."
"But now is not the time to talk about this, Homi! Give your hand to daddy, and I will take you to see the real——"
"Why don't you just want to believe me!" The outstretched palm was slapped away. Homi was completely irritated by Ash's attitude. "I'm not a child! I know what I'm doing, and I can give our family everything we want! I can also save everything for everyone!"
"What I decided."
Very close at hand, the light aimed at Ash completely illuminated his face.
"Even dad can't stop it!"
Chapter 257 A dream that anyone can long for
Judging from this degree of stubbornness, even if she didn't say it directly, Ash herself would definitely feel that there was some kind of blood relationship between the two.
She is indeed my daughter... I really want to say this, but now is obviously not a good time to feel proud.
"..."
When the light dragged him into another world, there seemed to be a force that wanted to make him admit it and make him feel at ease.
But there was still unfinished business Ash chose to resist the temptation, and then opened his eyes as usual.
"Ash~Ash~"
A familiar voice came from my ears, and it was so familiar that Ash knew that the owner of this voice would never call him in such a tone.
Facing his parents with incomparable tenderness and smile, he is like a good parent who only exists in the story, holding his favorite food in his hand and about to bring it to him. Well, this is indeed one of the images I have longed to see the most.
"What's wrong~Ash? Come here quickly, we made your favorite - Ash? Ash!"
And precisely because we know that this is impossible to achieve, it is what we desire most in our hearts.
Because this picture was too fake and too classic, Ash chose to ignore the shouts from behind and walked outside.
From walking to running, Ash, who started marathon racing at a sprint speed of 100 meters, ran wildly in a certain fixed direction in his city, until a translucent stand like a border wall in the game blocked his way forward.
"Is this the limit?"
The Mask of the Flame Rider had been put on at some point. Ash, who clenched the Burning Flame Fist, punched it with enough strength to smash it into pieces and then poked his head out of the hole. When he turned around, he saw that there were many places around him that were similar to where he was now. These places belonged to the dreams of Hui and Haruka who were still addicted to them.
Judging from the actual pictures inside, the collection inside is nothing more than all kinds of "final fantasies" about a happy life with oneself, well... although since I don't have parallel individuals, their objects are basically non-physical performances, which seems a bit embarrassing.
"It is indeed not difficult for Kaler, who has the power of the entire team, to create so many parallel worlds. But being able to penetrate people's hearts to find the most perfect dreams like this... is this actually the ability of Homi?"
Ash, who Mana said before, was connected to Homi's ability, also felt it. The memory that flowed over allowed him to see some pictures that answered his past doubts. It turns out that she had never intervened in anything along the way and was only observing, all to find out which Pretty Cure best suited her mother's positioning.
Even the things he encountered in the world of Heartbeat Team were plots specially designed by Kaller so that they and he, whom they had not seen for a long time, could bridge the gap caused by time and open their hearts to spiritual dialogue again.
"Then, when the last persistence in Haruka and the others' hearts is consumed by beauty and they choose to completely accept the beautiful dream, they will gradually appear in the world where they love her and truly come back to me, right?"
No wonder the explanation was that everyone was out for business and would not be back for a few days. That was indeed correct.
Whether he actively cooperated with Kahler's actions or used inducement to "annihilate" all Pretty Cure in his dream, Homi can be said to have "betrayed" them. And all this is to create the most perfect home with Mirai... Well, anyone can really blame her now, but she, as the all-round beneficiary, is the least qualified.
"But, that's why." Putting his hand on the edge of his explosion, Ash leaned out and pushed it out, then turned out towards the light group surrounded by those dream worlds in the center. "I have to stop you before you make a truly irreparable mistake!"
When a child makes a mistake, a parent must be responsible for correcting it, right? But just when he was about to take action, the heavy pressure that erupted from the light group directly pressed Ash, the Flame Cavalry, to the ground!
"Is it an automatic defense mechanism?" In this case, the main body of this light group is undoubtedly the dream of Homi!
"Uhhhhhhh!!" The goal is right in front of us, there is no reason to give up halfway! Clenching his fist and slamming it on the ground, Ash actually stood up despite the heavy pressure of countless times his own weight. Even though even the Flame Cavalry armor on his body was shattered and turned into powder under the pressure, Ash still walked towards that side step by step despite the heavy pressure on his body with numerous wounds.
"I can still save her—"
Under the heavy pressure, Ash almost turned into a bloody man. The pain on his body seemed to be nothing, and he raised his right hand against his bloodshot eyes, just to get closer to the light!
"How could you fall down here!?"
"[Ash!]"
"Is it——?" Ash, who instantly realized that he had made a mistake, immediately called out the real owner of this name. "Mana? Where are you!"
"[We can still save her, you can still save her!]"
Following the voice, Ash squinted his eyes, which were already filled with blood, and it seemed that the pink love heart from the light ball was faintly flashing towards him!
"[You are almost successful Ash! Concentrate, Haiyu - don't let go of my hand!]"
Ash At the last moment, when he wanted to grab the hand that seemed to be stretched out, his raised fingers happened to penetrate into the light group, and his whole body was immediately sucked into it.
"Dad..."
Ash I felt like I was having a very short, small dream.
"Dad~!"
"Um, what? What's wrong...Homi? - Homi!"
Ash, who woke up and propped himself up from the table, saw this. He was about to wake himself up from his sleep, but was frightened by the sudden reaction. It was none other than his precious daughter Homi.
The first thing Ash did when she woke up was to grab her shoulders. "He is completely lying to you, because I have deceived many people in the past using similar methods of showing kindness, so - everything will never be what you think!"
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
Homi, who was about to teach him to sleep well in bed, looked confused. Dad... what are you talking about? What does it mean to be deceived? Today is the wedding anniversary of mom and dad. Can anyone still lie to me?
"Homi Please wake up and don't do those things that others make you think you are doing is right!"
As for Ash's excitement, the girl's only reaction was to tilt her head in confusion.
"Dad is so weird today."
Could it be that... in order to prepare a gift for my mother today, did you specially prepare some new program that I can't understand?
"Well~ Dad, it's up to you and your wife to prepare whatever you want to have fun~" The girl who felt that she had found the reason smiled and pushed away Ash's hand. "But don't let mom be shocked when the time comes."
"Homi!"
"Wow~! Don't call me in such a stern voice. Of course I remember it. Today we have to prepare everything before mom comes back. I won't forget this kind of thing!"
Chapter 258 Destroyed by Ash!
"Gifts! Decorations! We have to get everything done including the table settings!"
Ash Now it's no wonder why the room is arranged according to his own wishes, because all of this is indeed done to satisfy him.
"Anyway, that's it, we have to hurry up and prepare everything before mom comes back!"
The situation in the living room outside is still a mess now. We can't let my mother come back and see it like this, right? How disappointed must she be?
"And daddy, don't let the other mothers catch you!"
Ash wanted to hold Homi, who was in a hurry to leave, to talk, but his hand slipped directly away from her body like a driftwood in running water.
This is not wrong, after all, this is her dream, a world dominated by her will, and she who wants to unilaterally stop her is just talking nonsense.
"Homi."
"Hurry, we must be there before mother comes back -"
Whenever I wanted to say something to stop her, I could only get a fixed flow of sentences from the smiling girl. It was like communicating with a machine.
"Can't you start from the front?"
Ash, who came to the living room again, once again saw the traces of love, first of all, the intimate photos of himself and his lover, the best day of the wedding, and then the expressions of complete happiness on both sides when they became mothers and fathers. At any time, "I" had an expression of happiness that was far beyond what I can now.
"No wonder she doesn't want to face it. We are so happy here."
I have to admit that everything is so good that I would never dare to imagine using my imagination. It is a "Mirai" that people cannot easily refuse.
Ash picked up the broom for the second time and was cleaning the living room aimlessly. At the same time, he was communicating with the girl in the kitchen on the other side. "If this keeps going on, Homi, won't you get bored?"
If Homi can't stop on his own, it might turn into a plot like "never-ending wedding anniversary", which is not good for Ash who still has people waiting for him outside.
"No, how could it be boring?" As if she didn't hear what Ash meant at all, the girl who was busy cooking and preparing responded as usual. "With such a funny and powerful father, and a gentle and loving mother, I never feel bored no matter what day it is!"
"Really, Homi this is what you have been longing for." Combined with my guess about Mirai's possible bad end... I can only say that it seems to be getting more and more accurate now. "Are you willing to keep going like this?"
"Of course~ There is nothing happier than this! A father who can be loved forever by his lover would also think so, right? Ah... Although it is strange that there are too many mothers."
"The last sentence is unnecessary." Ash, who was already accustomed to being dissed, waved his hand casually, shoveled the garbage on the ground into the bucket, and then asked the key. "What about yourself?"
"Me? Homi I just want to be my parents' precious daughter~!"
"No, I mean." Ash asked sternly, placing the finished broom in place. "Where is your own Mirai?"
"I..." The girl who seemed to have paused for a moment responded with her usual smile from the direction of the kitchen. "I will choose whatever my parents think is better!"
"I'm asking Homi who wants to be when he grows up, and what does Mirai want to be?"
"I won't talk about this kind of thing until I grow up."
No, Homi, that's not what you really mean.
In such a world, as long as you are willing, you can really remain as you are now. As you said yourself, you will just be a precious daughter who is loved and cared for by your parents, forever and ever.
Then, Mirai will cease to exist, and the so-called tomorrow will also come to nothing. Nothing can be done, nothing can become... Such an ending is not good even for a novelist who cannot write the ending of The Eunuch.
"So if I can finally let go of the past and reach the present, I will never do it."
"Knock, knock—knock!"
When Homi finished the carefully cooked last dish and put it on the plate, almost as if it was planned, there was a knock on the door.
"Oops, mom must have come back early!" The expression on the girl's face was completely opposite to what she said.
Great, let's start our happiest day! This is a perfect day for the crystallization of the union of your two loving hearts Ling Shen Xin! Could there be a better day than this?
Homi I don't think there will be, nor do I think there will be.
"Dad, the gifts are ready over there -" But when Homi, who was about to ask, turned around, he found an expressionless man standing behind him. "Dad? You scared me."
"Can you hear me, Homi? This is your world. I know you know everything, but you just don't want to face it."
"Dad, what are you talking about?" The girl with a strange face looked at the man looking up at the ceiling with a strange face. "Homi I'm here, dad, who are you talking to?"
"Still don't want to face it?"
He recalled everything that had happened to them so far, from the empty and empty fighting maniacs pursuing shining to the guardians who were now fighting for love with the same shining.
Why would he take this step?
Because you are lonely, you will fall in love with someone.
Dust said I have become timid now and started to feel fear.
Fear means that you care, and loss of fighting spirit means that there is no one for me to protect, even those who don't have face, it doesn't matter.
So now no matter who I am for, I have to succeed.
"In this regard, the same goes for you, Homi."
After finally possessing it, even if I know that it is false and deceptive, I still don't want to give up. I just want to pretend that nothing exists...
But is this enough?