The words from Ash hit the girls like a powerful thunderbolt.
The tension grew ten times more stronger than before. The raven haired boy hung his head low in shame, not even daring to look them in their eyes. The girls were just silent as they stared distantly at Ash, not being able to comprehend what he just said.
Ash knew they weren't going to say anything so, he mustered all the courage he could gather and spoke.
"I-I know this is shocking, b-but th-that's the truth," he said. The girls were staring at him with expressionless faces.
"It was very stupid and pathetic of me. I got caught up in those moments and did it, not even thinking once about how will you feel," he said with guilt in his voice.
"You guys, along with all the people I've met in my life are truly amazing. They had a big impact on my career and I am always grateful for it. But I-I.. failed as a person today. I will never be able to forgive myself for doing something so selfish. I toyed with your emotions, turned myself into a bad influence for others, specially doing something so unpleasant to some of my closest dear friends."
"If you want to be friends with me anymore that is," Ash corrected himself with a hollow laugh.
The quartet haven't spoken a word the whole time. It was so sudden, who could blame them? To think that the matter had reached upto this extent. And here was Ash, apologising for something they couldn't understand at first, but figured out quickly when he mentioned about kissing them.
Them?!
Each one of them understood now that they have made out with the same person they all loved. Surely, their heart was shattered from the information, but more importantly, Ash realised his mistake and was really expressing his regret about it. That's why they loved him much. He wasn't a bad person at all. Surely he could be sometimes rash, stupid and dense, but this incident isn't entirely his fault.
The girls started to recall the times they were alone with Ash individually. They now realised he never had any sort of romantic or perverted intend all those times. He was just being a good friend to them.
Serena remembered the day she hanged out with Ash before his battle with Tobias. They had lots of fun and she had one of her best moments in her life, which ended up eventually kissing the boy. She knew it better than to think Ash was a bad minded person. There was no way he could be.
Dawn remembers how helpful he was when she lost her necklace in that dark forest. He stayed with her until she found it and also escorted her to the academy safely. She smiled at the memory, at how perfect he was as a person to her. He never had any selfish reasons behind those helps and supports, it was just because he cared for her and her friends.
May recalled all those times she was with him. Many boys including Drew himself had asked her out before, but she never really were comfortable around them like she was around Ash. He always was a helpful big brother character to her. He agreed to go with her to a dance party even though it was very sudden, only so she could be happy. And May thought it was because he had a thing for her, how stupid she was. He never turned down any of her requests for the exact same reason.
Anabel reminisced how injured she was when they had confronted the hunters who were smuggling pokemons. If it wasn't for Ash, she would've been good as gone. He took care of and checked on her until she got better. She could now understand that he didn't have other intentions behind treating her to that ice cream parlor. And notably how he risked himself and protected her from getting crushed by that huge tree branch during the storm.
And what did they do?
They took advantage of their times with Ash and made their move on him. All he was trying to do was spending time with his dear friends and helping them out, but they crossed that limit of friendship and toped off their desires by osculating him. Now that they thought about it, they felt guilty. They made Ash question himself about his character. They never thought about how he would feel about it, but yet he was apologising like the entire thing was his fault alone.
Now the girls were suffused with sympathy and guilt in their eyes as they looked at Ash, who still had his head hung, looking at the floor.
"I will understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore. I don't deser-" he said raising his head a little only to be slapped across his face by Serena, who was now on the verge of tears.
Ash expected a reaction like this so, he was mentally prepared. But what happened next was totally unexpected.
The honey blonde girl who slapped him immediately engulfed in a hug, burying her face in his chest, sobbing lightly.
"I am so sorry," she muttered quietly leaving Ash surprised. She pulled back as Dawn hugged him next, patting him gently on the back.
"I-It's not your fault. Please don't be like this," she whispered shakily.
"Stop blaming yourself," May said tearily as she joined the hug too.
They broke the hug as Anabel gently placed her head on his chest, as if trying to calm his increasing heat beat.
"It's our fault too," she said, pulling back.
The raven haired trainer was left dumbfounded. He expected lots of insults and beatings from the girls. He had prepared himself both mentally and physically for it. He was anticipating anything but sympathy.
"W-what?" he asked.
The young and pretty teenagers looked at each other. They nodded with their eye contact as if having a mental conversation.
"We are sorry Ash. Please forgive us," they said in unison and bowed down a little.
'I might start to believe that Pikachu was right about plot conveniences,' Ash thought. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and looked again to see if he was imagining things.
"Look, I am already very ashamed for my deeds, but if this is some sort of mockery or sarcasm, I am totally lost," he said with sheer obliviousness in his voice.
The girls stood straight and gave each other a look with a defeated sigh.
"You are really dumb," said May, shaking her head.
"Dense, but sweet," stated Anabel.
"Lovable," added Dawn.
"And cute," finished Serena as the girls bursted into a fit of giggles.
'They call me dense, but has anyone told them how complex they are?' thought Ash as he saw the girls whispering with each other about something.
'At least they are smiling,' he thought, smiling himself.
Serena approached Ash and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, startling the trainer.
"Sorry for not understanding your feelings Ash. Don't blame yourself for what happened," she said.
"No matter what happens, you will always be my dear friend and nothing will change that," Dawn said as she gave him a peck too.
"We are just as much to blame as you Ash. Sorry," May apologised as she kissed him softly on his neck.
"We will respect your emotions too Ash, just like you did to ours," Anabel said as she put her hand on his cheek and kissed him very close to his lips.
Four super effective moves in a row.
Ash was at lost of words. He feared the worst that would happen, but this was better by a thousand million folds.
"I-I don't know what to say," the boy spoke truthfully. His face was totally red from the contact of their lips on his skin. The girls were inwardly enjoying at how they made the poor boy so embarrassed.
"Just do what your heart says Ash," Anabel said putting her hand on his chest.
"It will be tough for us, but we will move on, don't worry," May said, smiling forcefully.
"What are you girls talking about?" Ash asked, not understanding.
"You will end up with only one of us right? That's what we are talking about," Dawn explained.
"One of... you?" Ash muttered to himself as he looked at them.
"Take your time. No rush," said May.
"Yeah. We are just glad that you were honest with us. She will be one lucky girl who will get together with a guy like you," Serena said smiling weakly, hoping Ash likes her back too.
"I hate to admit it, but not every guy are the same," said Dawn with a laugh.
"Yeah. If Ash was like Gary, then he would've surely played with us," May said as the girls laughed.
***
"Aaaaa-choo."
A familiar spiky brown haired guy sneezed as he rubbed his nose.
"Are you feeling alright?" asked Brock consciously.
"It's nothing. Feels like someone is talking bad behind my back," said Gary frowning.
"In that case, you should've been sneezing every minute," said Barry with a sneer.
"Damn, that was a good one," Brock said laughing.
"At least people talk about me, unlike you Mr. Nobody," Gary countered.
"Why you-"
***
"Please May, don't spoil the mood with that simp's name," Dawn said irritatedly.
"My bad," May said sticking out her tongue.
In other times, Ash would have been laughing his ass off about how the girls were roasting his childhood friend, but something else was in his mind.
"I think we should go now, it's pretty late," Anabel said glancing at the clock.
"Yeah, we have our academic session tomorrow so-," Serena started to say when Ash interrupted her.
"Girls?" he asked unsurely as they looked at him.
"Yes?" they said together. They have gotten used to this coincidence by now.
"Be honest with me," he said with a bit seriousness. "Do you truly like me? I mean....more than....a friend?" he asked in a low tone, but enough loud for them to hear.
Each of them blushed from the question.
They started fidgeting around nervously and smiled sheepishly.
"I guess... it's safe to say, we all do huh?" said Serena twirling her hair.
"Y-yeah. Guess its a fact now," May said twirling her fingers and looking away.
"We were so close, it's quite obvious," said Dawn with a tint of red.
Anabel didn't say anything as she just looked away hiding her face with her long amethyst hair, blushing furiously. But it was obvious her answer was the same.
Ash finally understood something.
"So if I choose just one among all of you, will the rest of you really be happy about it?"
That question hit like a rock. He was right. Even if the girls would smile from the outside, they will definitely be suffering from the pain of losing their first love. Moving on from something like this wasn't easy. And Ash was unique. To find a person in your life who truly cares about you and loves you the way you are, is exceptionally difficult.
Ash was answered with complete silence as there was a visible sadness on them. He sighed, knowing only one thing left to do.
"To see my friends smiling and happy is what makes me feel the same too," he started as the girls looked at him.
"I want to give us a chance, all of us," he said as the girls looked at each other in confusion.
"Ash, what are you trying to say?" Serena asked.
"Is it fine, if I choose all of you?"
The girls were taken back with shock and surprise from the unexpected proposal. It took some time for them to process what he said.
"You mean like us," Dawn said gesturing her hand towards them. "Sharing you?" she said now pointing her finger at Ash.
Ash simply nodded, biting his lips nervously.
The girls had a moment to themselves. They thought about it deeply. This was a one time chance. Either to stay heartbroken forever or sharing Ash with the others. The answer was surprisingly easy as there was now a smile on their face.
"If that means I get to stay with you, its a yes from me," Serena smiled, placing her hand on her beating heart.
"This won't change anything. Its a yes from me too," Dawn said tilting her head with a cute smile.
"You are right Ash. I won't be able to move on from someone amazing like you. Its a thousand times yes," May said cheerfully.
"I always want to be with you Ash. And I will respect your every decision. So, yes," Anabel confirmed too, smiling at her lover.
"Well, that went better than I expected," Ash muttered to himself before he was suddenly engulfed in a group hug by the females.
"I love you Ash," they said in a soft voice, closing upto the boy. There aura was flowing with much more energy and spirit than before.
Ash closed his eyes and smiled in relief.
"Me too," he said and put an arm around them, returning the hug.
Meanwhile, a certain rodent in the room twitched in its sleep. It slowly opened one of its eyes and looked at the scene before it, smiling in relief.
'It's about damn time.'
With that thought, Pikachu again drifted off to its sleep.
"Not gonna lie, you girls tasted really good."
The girls broke the hug instantly and looked back at Ash incredulously, blushing like a tomato from the sudden bold statement.
"What?" he asked.
Serena and Anabel looked away while May and Dawn gave him a frowning look.
"Please tell me I didn't say that aloud," Ash said fearfully, realising what might have happened.
The girls looked at each other before grinning sinisterly causing Ash to flinch.
"So....you are not so innocent after all," May said softly, yet terrifyingly as she approached Ash and pushed him to the couch.
"Wait I can-"
"I think you really need a piece of our minds, what do you say girls?" asked Dawn slyly.
Serena and Anabel giggled, as all of them surrounded the poor defenseless boy on the couch.
'I hope it wasn't a mistake,' Ash thought with a gulp.
And just like that, a new beginning started for the Champion with his newly formed harem.
The en..
Oops I mean,
To be continued...