Kamen Rider Plays the Villain Among Pretty Cure

When you appeared, I thought I'd finally found someone I could confide in under another identity, at least a partner I could trust...

But after everything that's happened, were you only playing with all this to satisfy your own selfish desires?

"That's too much..."

So it seemed you weren't... my friend after all?

In truth, even Homare knew that escaping this terror was simple. All she had to do was overcome her fear, gather the courage to stand up, and take a huge step away from this out-of-control wheelchair. For a woman as excessively healthy as her, it should have been the easiest thing in the world.

All she needed to do was break the restraints in her heart and create a miracle.

But...

It sounded nice when put into words, but facing her fear—facing the fear of having broken her legs twice, facing the courage to watch her dream shatter before everyone's eyes—

If all of that were so simple, how could she have kept living in such a terrible future?

I can't do it. I can't do it. I just can't do it!

"Ahh~" Time Fire looked at Homare as she rolled farther and farther away, shaking his head with an irritatingly casual tone.

"Looks like she can't do it."

Honestly... as expected, placing hopes of brilliance upon ordinary humans was simply too much of a burden for them, wasn't it?

Well then, let's look at the Pretty Cure in the distance, everyone.

Come to think of it, Cure Yell hadn't shown up at all this time. Did she stay away because I stole her job? Well, considering her condition, that was a wise choice.

"Ah—!" With a scream, Homare fell out of the wheelchair.

The wheelchair toppled onto the roadside, its already bent wheel making one final powerless spin in midair.

The blonde girl who had once been sitting in it lay beside a tree, while her helmet rolled away with a clatter.

"Homare—!"

Ash, who had been shaking his head in disappointment, did not stop them this time. But the other three women had no time to pick a fight with him either, rushing toward the collapsed Homare one after another.

"It hurts..."

The yellow cross-marked helmet, now dented, rolled past her hand. Her once-neat casual clothes had been torn from scraping against the ground. Homare, clutching her head as she lay there, slowly pushed herself up through the pain.

My head doesn't hurt, but I'm so dizzy... Blood? Is that my blood? Did I scrape my hand? And my legs...

My legs still won't stand, even after that bastard did this to me.

Am I really... this useless?

"That's right. You really are that useless."

With a casual leap, Ash flew over everyone's heads and landed beside Homare. Though he had set off later than Hana and the others, he was the first to stand at her side. His emotionless black visor and unmoving steel lips faced her silently as he looked down at Homare sitting on the ground, like a statue passing judgment upon all living things.

"I tried so hard... I really tried so hard..."

Homare's beautiful blonde ponytail had come undone. Her brilliant hair, now stained with dust, spilled across the ground behind her like a ruined sunset. Facing this miserable beauty bracing herself on the pavement, her shoulders trembling slightly, even the most hard-hearted person should have felt something stir at the sight of such broken desolation. Yet Ash remained unmoved.

"No." Ash's words contained nothing but coldness. "No matter how hard you try, effort without results is nothing more than self-satisfaction. So no!"

"But I—!"

"No, no, no! No means no!"

Ash rebutted her without mercy. He simply had no concept of cherishing a beautiful woman.

Still, seeing her look so pathetic, aside from a little helpless disappointment, Ash somehow found himself expecting something from her. That was why he had specifically said all this nonsense to her.

Could it be that she had what it took to become a hero too?

"Before this, when you were running for your life, you were undeniably a burden to your friends. Even if she didn't blame you, the outcome was still caused by you!"

Hearing Ash ruthlessly tear open her wound, Homare could not help gripping the base of her leg tightly, leaving red finger-shaped marks behind.

"And even after I did all this, you still can't stand. So does that mean..."

Ash moved to her ear like a ghost, and the voice of a demon that toyed with people from within the flames flowed into it.

"Could it be that even a crisis like this, even the fear that your companions' lives might vanish because of you...

"Is still less frightening to you than standing up itself?"

"!"

Biting her lower lip hard, Homare raised her head and clearly saw her own reflection in Time Fire's burning visor.

"No."

In the black visor, she saw a pitiful version of herself, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes yet held back with all her strength. Aside from genuine anger, her face showed even more unwillingness.

"I!"

I'm not... I'm not that useless person!

She grabbed her ankle, trembling as she pulled it before her as though forcing herself to stand.

More than anything, I didn't want to be looked down on by something so unreasonable!

"You bastard, stay away from Homare!"

Even without properly planting his feet, Ash was still somewhat surprised that he had actually been shoved away with such force.

After all, he had killed the Doomsday Monster right in front of them only moments ago. Yet for their friend's sake, they still resolutely chose to stand against him.

"You all..."

Slap!

A loud slap rang out across Ash's face.

Amid everyone's stunned gazes, Saya's raised hand trembled slightly against the side of her helmet, while Ash's head tilted in the same direction.

The slap had landed on his face. With his helmet on, Ash was naturally completely unharmed; instead, Saya's palm had gone numb and turned bright red.

Yet the blue-haired woman still stood in front of her friend, her trembling lips pressed tight as she glared furiously at the figure slowly turning his head back toward her.

"Apologize to Homare!"

Case File 21: Saya's Hesitation

The modern-day popular actress Yakushiji Saaya confronted the current trending figure, the red warrior of uncertain allegiance, Time Fire. She had even angrily slapped that arrogant man to vent the "unfair treatment" her friend had suffered, while also giving the countless hundreds of millions of Cure Yell fans worldwide a satisfying outlet for their anger.

Just look at that—a headline so topical, so irresistible that people would have to click on it. If a photographer nearby had happened to capture this "moment of the century," it might even have had a shot at a Pulitzer Prize.

Unfortunately, because the Doomsday Monster had rampaged nearby, aside from the four who had failed to evacuate in time because of their companion Homare, no one else had witnessed the scene.

But in reality, Saya was not as brave inside as she appeared to be. A closer look would reveal her reddened palm trembling faintly. As the burning visor gradually turned toward her, the turmoil in her heart, concealed beneath anger and strength, was plain to imagine.

At the very least, the pain in her palm could not be ignored.

As the leader-like figure among them, Saya secretly shot Emiru several meaningful looks. Though unwilling, Emiru understood that the situation mattered more. She helped Homare, who was slumped on the ground, to her feet and quietly led her away, leaving Saya and Ash alone here.

"Huh?"

Emiru looked around in surprise, but she could not find the person she was looking for.

That's strange. Where did Hana go? I can't find her anywhere. Did she run away early? But Hana wouldn't do something like that!

But when did she disappear?

The body of an ordinary human woman was incomparably fragile compared to Time Fire's powerful combat suit, designed specifically for battling time criminals. The pain Ash could not feel inside his suit was fully displayed on Yakushiji Saaya's body.

"Woman, you dared to slap my face..."

Ash was a little angry. Although she could not even break through the outer defense of his suit, he had been slapped across the face without mercy by an ordinary person and then told to apologize for what he had done. Ash had never believed he had done anything wrong, and his pride had been subtly wounded. Calling it another form of having his defenses broken would not have been inaccurate.

The last person who dared to slap my face... I think I got slapped in the previous world too. That was just last time.

"You think I was wrong?"

"Do you seriously think what you did was right?!"

Ash released a little of his presence, and the blue-haired woman indeed began backing away with fear in her expression. Then he noticed her swollen, reddened palm. Less than a minute had passed, yet even the slightest movement probably caused piercing pain.

"Was it worth it?"

Ash's tone shifted, becoming extremely indifferent. His voice lost all vitality. Or rather, toward these people whom he had judged as "valuing friendship more than life itself," he was beginning to feel more... helplessness.

They can't even transform... Fine, I'll acknowledge you for now.

"That blow just now did not hurt me at all. As for you, roughly a third of your palm bones have cracked, and the bones in your middle and index fingers are broken."

Rather than pursue responsibility for her slap, he began recounting the injuries to her hand.

Adopting an extremely "serious" tone, Ash put on a solemn expression and deliberately described the severity of her injuries as if it were all perfectly true.

"Your actions only made you suffer. That's all."

Just like before, heroes always had to face enemies they had almost no chance of defeating. Even if they could not last half a minute after stepping forward, they would still risk their lives to save their companions.

Ash, a complete hero fanatic, naturally admired and praised such conduct and character immensely, and longed to witness more of it.

But even after traveling through countless worlds and meeting and speaking with innumerable heroes, Ash still could not properly understand some of the ways they thought.

"So what?"

Saya's expression did not change, and she showed no intention of retreating. Still, she quietly drew her injured hand back, hiding it behind her other arm.

This guy... he explained it so clearly. Could Time Fire be a doctor too?

Ignoring Saya's small movement, Ash spread his index finger and thumb before her like he was framing a photograph.

"Judging by your appearance, you should be an actress or something similar. With the current level of technology, even if the damage to your hand is treated, it will still affect its range of motion."

"Wh-why can you tell?!"

This time, Saya was visibly shocked. If he could accurately judge her injuries and Homare's injuries because he might be a doctor, then why did he know so much about her too? Could it be...

In her panic, Saya did not think of any other possibility. If Ash had known what confusion was running through her mind, he would probably have complained viciously: I saw posters advertising a movie you starred in when I arrived. How could I not know what you do?

Of course, none of that affected what Ash intended to say next.

"In the future, you probably won't be able to take roles that require much physical movement. Among them may be works that could have made you even more famous and influential."

"Because of that, you might end up with an insurmountable gap between yourself and actors more famous than you. You might spend your entire life as their backdrop."

As Ash's words fell, Saya, who had been maintaining her determined expression of resistance, froze in place. It was as though his words had struck some painful place deep inside her heart. For a single moment, the face of that carefully groomed superstar twisted into something so savage that it became visibly ugly.

"Was it worth it?"

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere and realizing that something he had said had likely triggered a key point and shaken her resolve, Ash pressed his advantage and threw the question back at her again.

"I... I think it was worth it! You bastard, what do you take our friendship for?!"

"Was it worth it? But you answered a few seconds later than you did before."

Ash's words choked back everything Saya had been about to say. A chill spread from the soles of her feet to the top of her head in an instant.

Case File 22: A Dream, Denied

Yakushiji Saaya had a dream... or rather, she once had a dream.

When she was still in her mother's womb, her mother, Yakushiji Reiro, was already an actress. She had even been so dedicated that she often rushed between film sets with a heavily pregnant belly.

Naturally, Saya had admired her celebrity mother since childhood and wanted to become an actress like her, hoping that one day she could perform onstage alongside her mother.

Thus, aside from her regular studies, Saya had begun diligently learning everything an actress needed from a young age. She had left her peers far behind early on. Though her growth was terrifyingly impressive for someone her age, to Saya, whose goal was her mother, it was merely the effort she was supposed to make.

As time passed, Yakushiji Saaya entered the entertainment industry and gradually made a name for herself, eventually becoming a globally famous actress as well... If the story had ended there, it would have been a children's fairy tale about hard work finally being rewarded and dreams coming true.

But Saya's story did not have such a beautiful ending.

While she was working hard, others were not standing still. For example, by the time Saya had become a major star through her own effort, her mother had already become a legendary figure in the field, someone worthy of being written into textbooks.

No matter how hard she worked on her acting, improved her skills, or took on more classic roles, whenever people mentioned her, they would always say, "Oh, Teacher Reiro's daughter! Just as expected of Teacher Reiro—she taught her so well!"

She had always chased after her mother as her goal, but no matter how hard she tried, she could never catch that overwhelmingly towering back.

To her, that dream she could never achieve gradually lost its direction and became something like a curse.

As her mindset changed and her dream faded, Saya could no longer find the reason that had once driven her to work so hard. Even her relationship with her once-incomparably-close mother had, through deliberate and unconscious distancing, become a familial bond trapped in an awkward cold war.

Ash's words, "You might spend your entire life as their backdrop," had struck Saya's indescribable sore spot with perfect precision, making her inevitably begin to waver violently.

The thought that she might never escape her mother's shadow for her entire life felt like a complete denial of all the effort she had poured into the entertainment industry. It hurt even more than being killed.