She did not continue answering Ash. Instead, with sweet purity tinged by a hint of innocent seduction, she revealed her utterly undisguised self before him in a meaningful gesture.
"Ash, I'm an adult now. I've officially debuted as Cure Echo. I'm no longer the half-clueless girl you knew."
Her watery eyes blinked, carrying an unmistakably moist allure.
"So now, Ash, I want you to hold me."
"Mhm~ just like that."
That was right—not a response, but simply my demand.
"Hold me even tighter, okay?"
With enough strength that I would not forget, that I would not be left behind in the past... hold me tight!
It made no sense...
The bizarre, even contradictory principles Ayumi spoke of were the sort of maidenly feelings that even the brightest genius could never understand. The only thing he could sense was that the emotions she had kept suppressed in her heart all this time must have been painful.
So, as a man, he did everything he could to make her happy.
Look, that night. It had not been some ordinary night they passed every day, but a midsummer dream night made "beautiful" by the feelings entrusted from the past!
After that night, no one but the two of them knew...
"Pong~"
A slightly cool sensation from above his head made Ash open his eyes.
He had actually dreamed of what happened that night before he left...
At the same time, Ash noticed something else. While asleep, he had become increasingly sluggish to react to any movement outside. Yet he did not feel that was a bad thing.
When he opened his eyes, sure enough, he saw their ever-sparkling eyes.
"Or rather, it was reassuring."
"What was reassuring?"
"Nothing."
"Look at that grin on your face!"
Just seeing his expression somehow irritated Regina, so