Although Ash, the center of attention, quickly lost interest and kept shaking his leg to express his impatience, the girls' eyes shone with curiosity so intensely that they nearly seemed capable of killing with a look, enough to pierce through Ash's disguise and expose every corner of the young doctor's inner world.
"That's all I can tell you. Aside from things involving my own little secrets, that's all there is to the story between Nono Hana and me."
Stare------
"Believe me, we just have an ordinary doctor-patient relationship. At most, because her family entrusted her to me, I have a little more authority. You can put away your curiosity. And by the way, my own little secrets have nothing to do with Nono Hana either. No matter how much you ask, I won't tell you any more about my personal privacy."
Faced with Emiru, whose interest had risen especially high, Ash rapidly delivered the explanation prepared by the system at a speed so fast that it did not even include punctuation.
Well, although it couldn't flirt with the protagonist and make its presence known like other systems usually did, it was still pretty useful when it really mattered!
Despite Ash's many explanations and all the breath he had wasted, the curiosity and thirst for knowledge in Emiru's eyes had not diminished in the slightest. She leaned forward until she was practically pressed against the table, the words "I'm curious" practically written in her eyes.
"But I still feel like there's something else, isn't there?"
Ash curled his fingers and rubbed his temple. What was that saying again? I hate kids with sharp instincts.
"Emiru, Ash-sensei clearly doesn't intend to say anything more. If you keep pressing him, it'll be disrespectful to both him and Hana." As an actress who had struggled through the entertainment industry and become far more worldly than everyone present, Yakushiji Saaya had already noticed Ash's growing impatience. She spoke up to stop Emiru, then reached out, patted her on the head, and pressed her back into place.
"Ah... r-right, I'm sorry!" Only after being reminded did Emiru snap out of her excitement. Seeing Ash's face darken like that of a powerful figure, she realized she had been skipping rope at the edge of his limits and sincerely apologized. It looked like if she kept asking, everyone would end up unhappy.
"I'm sorry, Ash-sensei. Emiru was a little too excited today." Saya, the working adult among them, stood up along with the college girl and properly expressed an apology on behalf of her companion. After glancing at Nono Hana, whose eyes were darting everywhere beside her, she bowed again.
"And thank you for taking care of Kotori. She's an important friend to us. Thank you very much."
"It's fine. I won't hold a small thing like this against you."
Seeing the beautiful blue-haired woman apologize and thank him, more than half the anger in Ash's heart faded away.
Of course, mighty Time Fire wouldn't care about something like this... that was probably the setting, anyway. Yeah, probably.
However, when his gaze passed over Saya and landed on Emiru, who was repeatedly bowing in embarrassment, Ash caught a whiff of something unusual from the rigid, rule-bound air in her every movement.
Had she been repressed for too long, and now that she had found a rare opportunity, she was venting as hard as she could?
Feeling utterly exhausted, Ash slumped weakly into the soft sofa chair. Dealing with girls' questions, which were almost like an interrogation, was truly troublesome beyond belief. He would rather assassinate the Cruel Emperor and then pick a fight with some hot-blooded Red Ranger from a sentai team. At least those guys, whose eyes turned redder than their suits whenever they saw him, had never made him feel this helpless and stifled.
Oh, strictly speaking, he was a Red Ranger himself now.
Emiru's questions had nearly set him off. He really wanted to blow up. If someone had bothered him like this normally, he would have flipped the table and shoved a gun into their mouth. And if the other party did not count as human by either biological or moral standards, then there was a good chance he would pull the trigger while they were still stubbornly refusing to talk. That was exactly what he had done to that bastard Banno back then. There had been nothing to hesitate over.
But there was no helping it. If he wanted to enjoy the interesting parts of this identity, he also had to follow its rules. Otherwise, even more troublesome matters would come knocking.
Well, thinking about it that way, time really had smoothed down my edges.
Before the "balance" Nono Hana had earned by saving his life ran out, Ash's principles would not allow him to embarrass his savior. Besides, I'm a good doctor.
He picked up his orange juice—Saya had helped order it—and drained it in one gulp, then asked the waiter for another.
"This is a little surprising. Dr. Ash has a side that can't handle other people, too."
"A genius isn't good at everything. Unless I plan to stop being human, I have limits too... One orange juice, please. Also, thank you for the treat. I'll pay this time." Spouting words of unclear meaning, Ash raised his hand and ordered a third glass of orange juice, then asked the server bringing over drinks and desserts for the bill.
"Ah, how can we let you do that, Dr. Ash? Let me!" Emiru reached out to stop him, took the bill the waiter had handed over, and signed her name.
"This was our little gathering in the first place. How could we let you pay, Ash-sensei?"
"Then I'll gladly accept." Without protesting, Ash stood up with a clear conscience, patted the increasingly wrinkled white coat on his body, and picked up his phone.
"I have some things to take care of, so I'll head back first. As for Nono Hana, if you want candy, come to the clinic yourself. If you forget the way, ask your sister."
"And..." Ash stopped with both hands in his pockets, then turned back to Hana. "You have some great friends."
"Okay... Ah, um! Ash-sensei—bye—"
Hana came back to her senses at Ash's words and was just about to raise her hand in farewell when Ash's fluttering coat had already vanished around the corner like the wind.
"Ah, he left."
Side Story Case File 16: Broken Legs
Feeling strangely empty inside, Nono Hana listlessly lowered her hand. After watching Ash disappear, she turned back and found Saya reaching over with a gentle hand to press down her head. The other two followed suit, and the four girls formed a little chat circle like children.
"Hey, hey, what's going on, everyone?" Nono Hana was completely confused. She looked left and right, but everyone wore expressions she could not quite understand, as if they were hiding some shameful secret.
Why did this feel so, so tense?
"Hana, tell me, what do you think of Dr. Ash?" Saya spoke first. Her whisper near Nono Hana's ear made Hana's ear itch.
"Ah, Dr. Ash? He's a good person. What's wrong?" She blurted it out without thinking. Looking at Nono Hana, who practically had the words innocent and naive written across her face, the other three exchanged looks as if they were communicating in code. Their mysterious expressions made Nono Hana's head feel three times bigger.
"Hana-senpai is still the same. She really has no clue at all." Emiru could not help shaking her head. "It was back in college, right? That research student came with roses and scattered them all outside Hana-senpai's door. Hana-senpai thought someone had dropped them, so when she checked the surveillance footage and went to return them... I remember that guy's face turned green."
"True, and it feels like that Ash who calls himself a doctor treats Hana differently from everyone else... Do you think it could be some kind of honey trap?"
"Probably not, right? There's no need for it at all." Saya rested her fingers against her chin, unable to figure out what the two were up to. "This may sound harsh, but if he really is a doctor, how could he possibly be interested in Kotori's family circumstances?"
Outside the conversation, Nono Hana inexplicably felt as though a knife had been stabbed into her chest.
"Could there be another reason? Like maybe he thinks Hana is cute or something?"
"But he said himself that he seems to be younger than Kotori."
"Then, it's probably..."
It seemed their coded discussion had reached a conclusion. The three nodded to one another, and Homare looked at Nono Hana.
"Hana~ Do you have any other feelings? For example, something you find strange but can't quite put into words. Do you have anything like that?"
"A strange feeling?" Nono Hana thought about what that meant. Riddles like this were really asking too much of her.
But since everyone was saying so, she would try to feel it.
Feelings, feelings... a little happy, and a little disappointed... and there was movement. No, that did not seem like a feeling in her heart. It was actual movement.
Nono Hana closed her eyes, as if that could strengthen her perception. Huh, perception? What were Homare and the others asking her to feel?
Her thoughts gradually sank into silence. Watching Nono Hana's increasingly serene expression, Saya and the others exchanged looks that said, "Just as expected." Unconsciously, knowing auntie smiles blossomed across their faces.
Nono Hana was still feeling things out. She really had noticed something strange. Strange, dark... She seemed to encounter this sort of feeling often.
Wait, feeling, feeling, this feeling was—
"Crap—Doomsday Monster!" Nono Hana abruptly stood up. The others were startled by her sudden movement, and just as questions rose to their lips, a violent tremor followed. Glass shattered, furniture and porcelain crashed to the floor, and a beastlike roar assaulted everyone's ears.
"Doomsday Monster!"
The wind pressure shattered through the glass and swept toward everyone in the café. Saya, the fastest to react, moved first. She threw herself over Homare, whose mobility was limited, using her body to shield the girl nearest the window from the incoming shards and gale. With her free hand, she grabbed Nono Hana and dragged her behind herself. Rumi E immediately threw herself over Saya as well to reduce Saya's exposed area, snatching up the expensive leather jacket she had taken off and set aside earlier and using it to cover herself and the others for added protection. Homare and Nono Hana bent down with all their strength, and the four girls clung tightly together against the impact until the initial chaos gradually subsided.
"What happened?" Kagayaki Homare panted heavily as she looked outside. Hunching down earlier had compressed her internal organs, and her face was flushed red as she clutched her aching stomach.
"It's a Doomsday Monster, and it's nearby. Emiru, carry Homare. Hana, stop spacing out. Let's move quickly and get away before the Doomsday Monster comes over here!" Quick to react, Saya calmly directed the four-person team's retreat.
During the years since the Doomsday Monsters appeared, it was not as though no courageous people had tried to resist. But human strength and weapons had proven completely incapable of effectively harming these monsters born from Rampage Energy. The only one who could fight them was that one girl... and now, perhaps that guy had to be included as well.
Emiru draped the coat over Homare and carried her on her back, following behind Saya. Nono Hana brought up the rear. The group kept their bodies as low as possible and quickly moved through the streets, passing beneath the feet of the rampaging Doomsday Monster.
"What do we do... what do we do, what do we do, what do we do?!" The Mirai Crystal and Light Heart in her pocket radiated scorching heat, urging Nono Hana to fulfill Pretty Cure's duty and defeat the Doomsday Monster. But the companions before her were people Nono Hana could never abandon, and they would never simply watch her suddenly leave.
Biting her lip tightly, Nono Hana still made her decision. She would first get Homare and the others to a shelter and ensure her friends' safety, then immediately run back out to transform and fight.
Hopefully, it would not delay her for too long...
However, things did not go as hoped. As the four continued hiding along the Doomsday Monster's blind spots, an alarm from the ruins of a nearby shop was accidentally triggered. The Doomsday Monster's attention was naturally drawn over, and it spotted the four girls moving through the street.
"Run! Run faster! Don't stop for even a second!" Saya shouted, and everyone immediately picked up speed and began sprinting.
"Doomsday Monster!"
The Doomsday Monster's massive body crushed and destroyed the buildings on both sides as it broke into a rapid pursuit of the four girls.
Emiru, carrying Homare, was naturally the slowest. Their overlapping forms also made them the most conspicuous targets in the Doomsday Monster's eyes. As Emiru's stamina drained away, the pair gradually fell to the back of the group.
"Emiru—no, put me down—!"
"Don't say it. Don't say anything. Pretty Cure will come! We'll definitely be safe, so don't say stupid things!" As her longtime friend, Emiru naturally knew what Homare was about to say, but she would never do it. They would escape together. They had to escape together!
She would never abandon a friend to save herself. The thought had never even crossed her mind!
Their feelings were fierce and profound, but the Doomsday Monster's increasingly close footsteps and their increasingly slow pace were realities they could not ignore.
The feelings in their hearts could not so easily change reality in the end.
"Damn it!" Kagayaki Homare gritted her teeth, her face full of unwillingness.
If she had not been in that car accident not long ago, if her legs could still move... My legs—move, damn it! Why? They should have been healed already, so why are they only trembling and refusing to move?!
She tried to command her paralyzed lower body into action, but the deathly stillness of sensation remained untouched by her will.
She thought of her former self. Back in middle school, she had been a dazzling skating star, and everyone believed her future career was limitless. But after one failure, she had completely lost the courage to jump, and even now...
When she thought of the past, tears could not help streaming down her face.
I... how can I be this useless?!
"Seriously, you people are always causing me trouble..."
The figure standing atop a tall tower and looking down at the disaster below quietly rolled up his sleeve, revealing the V-Commander hidden beneath.
"Seriously, I wasn't even planning to go too wild from the start. This is all your fault."
Complaining as he brought the commander to his lips, Ash issued, word by word, the command that would set the world ablaze and transform it.
"Time Fire."
Side Story Case File 17: V
The Doomsday Monster's shadow drew closer and closer until it completely covered the four girls.
Nono Hana knew she could not keep going like this. She had to transform, or everyone would surely be in danger.
She cast aside the identity she could not reveal and forgot her fear of whether others would accept her. If transforming could save her friends, then any price was acceptable.
She turned, ready to take out the Light Heart, but saw the Doomsday Monster's right foot about to stomp down on Homare and Emiru. There was no longer enough time to transform and rush over.
It was over, unless a miracle happened, unless a miracle saved everything.
Miracle—miracle, miracle! A miracle, pleaseee—!
As the little girl inside Nono Hana's heart, the one with her eyes hidden behind her hair, cried out in desperate pleading, a miracle... no, tiny sparks responded to her and set the world ablaze.
No one knew what had happened. In a mere thousandth of a second, the Doomsday Monster's body was blasted away by tremendous force. The wind and dust it kicked up blinded everyone, but when they settled, they saw...
"Tap, tap, tap—"
The first sight to enter the eyes of the disheveled women was a figure wreathed in flames slowly approaching his opponent, a figure that had overpowered a far larger enemy despite being so much smaller.
Crisp footsteps shattered fear.
Crimson flames illuminated the shadows.
A body of silver and red steel roared into existence, descending here, poised and ready.
"Have you forgotten Time Fire?"
As if to remind them, Ash lightly brushed his fingers across his smooth helmet and added another line.
Red flames wrapped around and burned everything, and from that blazing heat emerged Ash in crimson battle armor.
"V-rex! Ram that bastard Doomsday Monster away!"
He raised the V-Commander on his wrist and gave the voice command.
"Roar!!!" The mechanical dinosaur V-rex, which had somehow already returned to its gigantic form, answered Ash's command with a roar. As if the world had returned to the Jurassic era, the enormous dinosaur moved its massive, heavy steel body and accelerated straight toward the Doomsday Monster.
Clang----!
The sound of steel colliding spread like a shockwave, making Saya and Nono Hana instinctively cover their ears.
The Doomsday Monster, which had been lifting its foot to take another step, was caught completely off guard by the heavy impact and lost its balance. Its entire body flew backward, and amid explosions, building after building became sacrifices beneath its massive form. Fortunately, after eight years, although people could not harm the Doomsday Monsters, their honed survival instincts had long taught them to flee into the nearest underground shelters the instant one appeared.
"Well, their evacuation skills are comparable to the people over at TPC."
"Doomsday Monster!" Grabbing the rubble with both hands, the Doomsday Monster stood up and roared furiously back at V-rex. At opposite ends of the "corridor" created by the impact, the steel beast and the dark monster faced each other, flexing their muscles and preparing to strike.
"Doomsday Monster!"
The Doomsday Monster charged at V-rex. Its equally heavy body made the earth tremble, leaving a trail of dust behind as its feet shattered the road. V-rex lowered its head, its huge claws leaving equally deep dents in the asphalt. Every step it took sent countless fragments of dirt, debris, cars, and other objects flying beneath the impact of its massive body.
Both sides charged at once, clearly intending to meet head-on. The two giants drew closer and closer. The Doomsday Monster swung its arm, its extended reach allowing it to strike V-rex first and stop its charge. But V-rex was more than just a mechanical dinosaur. It was a product of advanced future technology. As a mobile arsenal, the missile bays across its body opened at that moment, and missiles screamed through the air toward the Doomsday Monster. A series of booming explosions erupted across its body, the massive impact directly knocking it to the ground. Then came V-rex, already upon the Doomsday Monster, opening its enormous jaws toward the monster's left leg.
Before you continue