♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 (𝔸𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘) ♛

Chapter 54: The Orange League Begins!

"Talk," she commanded with hidden fury behind her soft voice.

"…It's nice to see you?" Ash sweated hard as he was scrambling for keywords to melt the cold stare directed at him.

From behind Serena, his two childhood friends slapped their foreheads at his stupid answer.

"Oi."

"I'm sorry," the raven-haired boy whimpered while Pikachu was rolling on the floor in laughter, happy that his Trainer was finally getting reprimanded.

Gary and Blue were safe since they were not at the receiving end of the honey blonde's wrath, except for the former but his had already passed. They had never seen Ash this terrified before and were slightly amused at his prostrating figure.

"Haaah… Honestly…" Serena sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to appease her growing migraine.

"Do you even understand how worried I am about you right now, Red?"

Serena's features softened as they switched into one of sadness towards the boy.

"Helping others is a good thing that I can never fault you for…"

"So, since we're clear on that, you'll let it go just this onc—Hiek?!... Sorry."

The raven-haired boy immediately withered as he watched the honey blonde's glare pierce his audacious self, prompting him to stay silent unless he wanted a cold-blooded Serena after him. His two friends groaned at their pitiful friend's equally pitiful attempt to escape his current predicament by carelessly pushing his non-existent luck.

"…But where I draw the line is when you disregard your own life at the expense of others," she continued with a cross-popping vein on her forehead.

"But I can't just sit by while others get hurt…" Ash weakly rebutted before getting swiftly cut off by the honey blonde.

"Then, are you going to leave me behind?"

The raven-haired boy finally looked at the girl in the eyes, noticing pockets of tears in the corner of the eyes he loved so much. Shame began filling into his heart as it sank into a pit of guilt.

'It's not fair if you look at me like that…' Ash bit his lips, angry at himself that he made Serena sad.

"…I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you," the raven-haired boy hung his head in shame.

"Good. *sniff* As long as you understand…" Serena sniffled as she wiped the tears from his eyes before continuing.

The honey blonde knew Ash all too well that he would not learn from this small intervention and would continue again and again. So, she pulled out all the stops to control the raven-haired boy's impulse to put himself in danger.

"I already know I can't stop you from helping others and forcing you to do otherwise would be despicable of me," she continued.

"But I want you to promise me this, Red."

"Even when others need help, you have to do your best to protect yourself as well."

Ash was stunned at the girl behind the screen. Though she was close to tears a moment ago, the honey blonde before him initiated a promise with a serious gaze, making him realize this was Serena's main goal all along:

To make him promise. An oath that he would never break intentionally and the core of his character. Ash had already sworn to himself to never make Serena sad, so rejecting her is a dead end. And among the list of problems in his repertoire, he was incapable of lying, meaning if he promised, there was no going back.