Chapter 288

Chapter Seventeen The Real Story After the Miracle Fades

Severely wounded and utterly defeated, Tsukikage Lily faded from her Pretty Cure form, struggling to stand up. With her fragile and genuine appearance revealed, she faced two terrifying enemies, her resolute face showing no fear.

“Why don’t you wither after all the flowers have fallen.”

The masked white-haired enemy seemed to question the Heart Tree as a collective representation of human hearts, or perhaps the undefeated girl who refused to fall despite her defeat.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t fulfill your wish.”

As if devoid of fear, that’s how she responded. Having lost another important person, Tsukikage Lily was no longer afraid even of death.

“Even if I fall, the Pretty Cure who protects the Heart Tree will definitely stand before you again!”

“Then, die! Goodbye, CureMoonlight!”

The one-eyed Dark Pretty Cure fired a fatal lethal energy at her. Having entrusted her transformation device to the other two spirits, Lily used her Heart Seed to desperately block the enemy’s attack.

Until the end, even her Heart Seed shattered into two halves, and Tsukikage Lily vanished in the pitch-black light.

“!”

Tsukikage Lily woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. Her eyes, wide open with fright, mirrored the fear within.

Another one of this same dream?

Today is a Saturday off, but Tsukikage Lily can’t rest yet. Besides after-school hours, she needs to work at the Nasta Café to help support her family.

Nasta Café occupies most of her personal time.

“Good morning, Mom.”

“Good morning, Lily.”

The family photo of three sitting in the center of the living room shows such an exuberant smile, yet in this rather empty house, only two people appear regardless of where you look.

“I’m starting.”

Today’s breakfast is a simple dish and rice. Lily usually eats little. She knows that if she arrives early, the boss, who likes to sleep in, would be just starting his breakfast. She could ask him for some cake.

“Lily, how is your job at the café?” Seeing Lily’s appearance, her mother, Tsukikage Haruna, asks the question she cares about most.

“I heard the café’s owner is also a young person. Has he not troubled you too much recently?”

“Rest assured, Mom.” Lily reveals a rare, relaxed smile. “The shop manager, Ash, may have odd preferences, but he is kind and always takes good care of me.”

Lily knows that finding another café like this—one offering high pay with flexible working hours—would be impossible. Considering the café’s popularity plummeted due to someone’s peculiar interests, she hardly needed to put in excessive effort to receive this compensation.

At first, she refused this payment, but he justified it: “A hero saving the world should receive such rewards as an honor; otherwise, destruction would be better than this world.” She thus found herself unable to refuse.

Moreover, now, or indeed with the Tsukikage family, they truly need this money…

“If it’s like that, I feel relieved, Mom.” Seeing her daughter’s genuine smile, Tsukikage Haruna also laid down her worrying heart.

“It’s so hard on you! Such a young age when you should be focused on your studies yet you must do this…” Emotionally moved, this strong woman wiped away a tear. “If only I could try harder too…”

“Mom, it’s not your fault.”

The Tsukikages were just another ordinary family in Hopesborough until three years ago, when the family’s pillar, their father, suddenly vanished while out on assignment, crushing their little world. Just doing odd jobs near the station, Tsukikage Haruna’s meager salary barely supported her and her daughter. Tsukikage Lily, who was once the athletic club captain poised for greatness, had to quit, giving up everything she strived toward.

Therefore, Mom, it’s not your fault, It’s because…

Whose fault is it…

Her peripheral vision caught sight of the familiar but unfamiliar couple of chopsticks placed on the table, eliciting an expression of extreme sadness on her face.

“Mom, stop setting out Dad’s utensils.”

Otherwise, I really might start hating him…

“Three years have passed, how could such a gentle father go completely silent? Maybe he…”

“He’s still alive, I know as his mother.”

Her母亲的充满信心的微笑似乎冲淡了百合的悲伤。看着这样保持乐观的母亲，重新露出笑容的百合也笑了回应道。

“既然妈妈都这么说了，那我也只能相信了。”

气氛稍显沉重的早餐终于在母女互勉的话语中以微笑结束。

“路上小心。”

百合告别母亲，那只举到半空挥动的手最终无力地放下。

“又说多余的话了。”

店长，我晚点到也可以吧？

————————

“啊嚏！”

亚修突然大声打出喷嚏，让一旁保持着距离的暗之美少女都好奇地看向他。

“呀，一定是有人在背后念叨着想我吧。”

“毕竟是这样了不起的人呢~”

毫不在意的亚修身子揉了揉痒鼻子，让那暗之美少女不得不退远些。

这个人…其实是个笨蛋吧？

“不过，穿这件衣服还挺好的。”

暗之美少女的黑色连体战斗服对普通市民来说太过显眼了，为了避免引来路人注目而愤怒进而大开杀戒，亚修带着她费了好大劲才换上校服。

上下打量一番，亚修忍不住点头。

“很像啊！”

套上校服之后，尽管发色不同，模样却跟双胞胎一样相似，简直像极了。

暗之美少女想问他像的是什么意思，转念一想也知道很难得到严肃回答，于是作罢。

“提蒙斯，这就是人类世界吗？”

“是的，这就是人类的世界，也就是沙漠使徒、我们要全力破坏的世界呢~”

“破坏完成之后，什么都不会剩下。”

“但在那一刻之前，美丽的事物依旧存在。”

他们就这样一言一语地聊着，不知不觉中话题就变得僵硬。

“提蒙斯。”

喊出这个名字，暗之美少女停住了脚步。

“你说要我用自己的眼睛去寻找CureMoonlight的存在，所以带我去人类世界，为什么说是约会呢？”

“因为约会什么的，不是很愉快吗？”

曾经，自己应该是对此不感兴趣的，但现在倒是觉得有点开心，毕竟一起出来到处瞎玩什么的…下次用亚修的身份约莉出来吧！

不过，自己好像还约别人来着…不是蕾和这个蓝孩子，是谁呢？

亚修想了半天，一时又记不起自己想要寻找的人。

忘了就罢了。

因为会忘记的话，就说明不是什么重要的东西。