Hmm, probably the difference between a Lagrange point and the Mariana Trench?
"Really? That did seem to be the case." Ash asked himself and answered himself, because when he looked back over what he remembered, it really did seem that way. "It really seemed like no girl had ever been willing to respond to an invitation like that from me. The only ones willing to go on dates with me were men."
Why was it that only men understood at times like this, then fought me... Was I still not sincere enough?
"So I thought, maybe you could change my current situation?"
"You're waiting for my answer...?" As she dealt with Ash's words, Hana's gaze shifted toward the figure slowly emerging behind him.
That figure was so familiar. Staggering along, that familiar person was slowly approaching with something equally familiar in hand.
The newcomer was Kagayaki Homare. She was dragging the sword Cure Yell had lost, slowly yet resolutely making her way over. Supporting her trembling legs as they gradually gave out, she stepped across the cement rubble shattered by the battle and walked forward step by step.
Homare was terribly worried about Hana, who had vanished without a trace. But she also knew full well that a half-crippled person could not possibly find whoever she was looking for. Fortunately, she happened to know where nearby there was a kindhearted person willing to help her find someone—though that kindhearted person might need a little help too.
So she wanted to lend Cure Yell, who was in trouble, a hand first. But her wheelchair had been stuck in place, and lying on the ground, she could not reach the sword she needed.
If this had only been about herself, Homare might still have missed her chance because of endless hesitation and retreat. But her desperate urge to save someone allowed her to focus on only one goal. So she made a decision that was simple for ordinary people, yet terribly difficult for her.
It had nothing to do with courage. It was simply for one goal.
She was going to stand up.
"Pretty Cure!"
The call from behind also drew Ash's attention away from Hana. He had been so completely absorbed in asking Yell out that he had not even noticed when Homare, her legs streaked with blood, had gotten so close.
"Please, save this world!" Homare hoisted the sword hilt with both hands and flung it with all her strength, sending the blade flying toward the two of them tangled together. "And please, help that foolish girl who only ever thinks of others!"
"Don't make such unreasonable demands!" Ash realized in shock that a miracle had truly happened, and immediately turned to grab the sword first. But he forgot just what kind of tenacious lady he had pinned beneath his knee. As his body swayed, his hand missed. Their elbows crossed, and the owner of the smaller hand caught the flying holy sword first.
Cure Yell caught her sword.
"Homare..."
You said that calling me a fool who only thinks of others was wrong, because I have all of you. I have family, and people like Dr. Ash who have helped me in this world. Of course I have to save the world for them!
And besides, I, Cure Yell, am no fool!
Then Hana turned her gaze toward the red warrior now within arm's reach. The gentleness in her eyes immediately became incomparably stern and serious.
"You asked for my response? Then my answer is, of course—"
A sword blazing with the dazzling light of Tomorrow Energy slashed heavily across Time Fire's chest.
"No!"
Case File 41: Rejected
"No!"
This time, the person sent flying backward was someone else. Time Fire flew away as his chest armor continuously burst apart and scattered, trailing sparks and lightning. He brushed past Homare, who instinctively raised an arm before her face, and shot far into the distance.
Hana had given Ash exactly the hard hit he wanted.
The man lying on the ground suddenly raised a hand, proving that he was not dead yet.
He ran his hand over the scorch-like mark on his chest. A deep black slash, charred around the edges, now ran through the center of his battle suit. Thick smoke and electrical sparks continuously spilled from the liquid armor and energy cable layers beneath the cut. The Melody Holy Sword had truly sliced open his suit. If it had gone a little deeper, this Pretty Cure would have gutted him, leaving his intestines spilled all over the ground.
But she had not done that. He merely had a long, deep bloody wound across his body. Clearly, she had held back at the last moment.
Lying amid the ruins and gazing up at the pale sky, what was Ash—the man who had played a hero yesterday and a villain today—thinking?
"Oh, she was so beautiful, wasn't she—?"
"Alright, lady—" The man lying on the ground waved an arm toward her. Ash completely ignored wounds that would have left an ordinary person groaning in bed for weeks, then sprang back to his feet. "Let's begin the third round—hmm, what are you doing?"
The holy sword that had struck him had been planted beside her, while she herself crouched before Homare, comforting her with words that were not particularly eloquent but were extremely gentle.
"It's alright, miss." The pink-haired warrior patted the person who had found the courage to stand. Only she knew how much courage it had taken Homare to do something that ordinary people found effortless. "Your friend will definitely be alright. I'll find her too, I promise."
Just as Batman was to Gotham City, Kamen Rider W was to Futo, and the Ultra Guard was to M78, words spoken by this Pretty Cure—like a guardian deity of humanity on Earth—naturally inspired trust.
"R-Really? Hana is a good person. I believe she's alright too... Will she really be okay?"
"She'll be alright. I promise!"
"Hey—" Seeing that his call had been completely ignored, Ash turned up the volume of his helmet's built-in loudspeaker and shouted, "Did you hear me? Come fight me again!"
"It's alright." Hana did not even glance at the noisy man behind her. She merely continued comforting Homare, then pointed her in a direction. "It isn't safe here. Go stay with everyone over there first. Your friend will be back soon."
"With your legs, can you do it?"
"Of course. I did it just now, so of course I can do it now!"
Watching her friend, who did not know her true identity, disappear into the distance, Hana finally turned her head around. When the target before her changed from Homare to Time Fire, the warm, sunny smile on her face visibly faded away.
It was no simple thing to make a Pretty Cure, who always treated others with kindness, wear such a somewhat frightening expression.
"Ha—finally." Seeing the Pretty Cure opposite her pull her sword from the ground, Ash shook out his hand, showing that a mere fatal wound to the chest did not affect his ability to go another round. "Have you finally brought out your fighting spirit? Wait—what are you doing?"
Right before Ash's eyes, Hana held the Melody Holy Sword horizontally before herself, spread her upright left palm toward the blade's tip, then brought both hands together. Her weapon vanished into her hand.
"I won't fight you."
Without the slightest hesitation, her gaze drifted into the distance as she said it.
"Wait, what do you mean by that—"
The moment the words left his mouth, Ash saw the firmness in her eyes and understood that she was serious. At the same time, he vaguely understood something else.
"Do you know why I threw down the gauntlet at you like a knight demanding a duel? Why I invited you like some idiot bushido fanatic? Like how Western cowboys, when they wanted to shoot someone, would deliberately make sure the other person had a gun and bullets, then agree to a duel where both sides—and an audience—waited for the whistle at noon?"
As he spoke, Ash, driven by his own intense subjective feelings, became agitated without realizing it. He raised his voice and began his "speech."
"Because if all you wanted was victory, then any despicable method would be allowed. But then it would not be 'beautiful' for you, and it would not be what I wanted! I would never allow such impurities in our duel!"
"You are this world's hero, and you have tirelessly protected it for eight whole years. I can see that crystal-like, dazzlingly beautiful heart of yours. It attracts someone like me so deeply. It satisfies me!"
My battles were only for my pleasure and enjoyment, and dueling you made me utterly happy!
"You are a legendary warrior, but your opponents are nothing more than mindless monsters that endlessly respawn. Day after day, year after year, they only drain your life force, trying to wear you to death!"
"They can't even talk, damn it! So I will not acknowledge them, because they are completely unworthy of being called your opponents!"
Before Hana's increasingly focused, clear-eyed gaze, Ash once more slapped his chest hard, striking the flame symbol bearing the wound.
"I've recognized it already, and after fighting them for eight years, there's no way you haven't recognized it too. They are born from the negative emotions in human hearts—beings that are almost impossible to destroy."
"Your meaningless struggle will ultimately end with your fall, and nothing will be born from a world like that. So—stop doing such boring things for such a boring existence!"
"A fighting stance without an enemy worthy of it cannot reveal your beauty, Cure Yell."
Time Fire approached her and, amid the terrified gazes of every onlooker, extended his hand.
"You don't need to say anything. You know you need me, an opponent worthy of you. And I need you too, because this world is an endless ball, and you are the reason I keep going. You are the one I perform for."
She said nothing. The incomparably beautiful female warrior merely glanced at the hand extended before her, then at the spectators surrounding them, and finally at him.
"No."
That was what she said.
"This is not for you to decide. To me, what you do is what has no meaning."
I understood everything, but—so what?
She gazed toward the sky, gathered a little strength beneath her feet, and soared straight into that azure world.
"Wait, where are you going?!"
"I have no interest in playing your game. I have more meaningful things to do."
For example, helping my friend find where I was sleeping.
Gazing at the safety shorts beneath her skirt overhead, then at the sky where she had vanished, Ash sighed after a long while, then gave a soft laugh.
"Of course you would say that, because you are—"
"Pretty Cure."
Case File 42: An Interesting Diversion
This was TOMORROW RESEARCH, whose business was exceptionally bleak because its sole attending physician had too strange a personality and terrible manners toward customers. Ash, dressed in a white coat, sat before his computer in an extremely unprofessional posture, scrolling his mouse through the hottest current topic on the internet's largest discussion forum—the latest reports about the two of them.
What had happened between Time Fire and Cure Yell had once again reached the top of the trending list. After all, as the only two heroes capable of fighting the world's incomprehensible Doomsday Monsters, every move they made drew the attention of people across the globe.
Unlike ordinary celebrity publicity stunts, it was never that they chased popularity. Popularity chased them. Especially now, following what had happened not long ago, the internet was filled with overwhelming abuse toward the Time Fire Ash portrayed. It was worse than the treatment given to manga artists who wrote terrible endings, webnovel authors who constantly abandoned updates, or idols who toyed with people's feelings.
Because of Time Fire's earlier aggressive provocation, as well as his twisted and extreme remarks about everyone's beloved Cure Yell that sounded like those of an obsessive stalker, this "antihero," whose alignment had once been unclear, now had a reputation like a sewer rat everyone wanted to beat. Even many people who had originally been drawn to his capable style had gone from fans to indifferent observers, and from indifferent observers to haters.
The mysterious red warrior's popularity now survived only through a few diehard fans with unusual tastes stubbornly holding the line. Whenever they occasionally spoke up for him on the forum, they would be drowned beneath the overwhelming condemnation of countless Cure Yell fans within half a minute.
But they probably did not know that the real person behind Time Fire was currently reading compilations of internet trolls' comments. From time to time, he took a sip of the steaming coffee before him, smiling as he upvoted those who said good things about him and downvoted every person who said bad things.
Was Ash angry? Of course not. If he took online verbal wars that had absolutely no effect on his real life that seriously, he would have died of anger several times over in worlds he had visited before.
Ash had always been indifferent to such things.
"Alright, let's put these boring diversions aside..."
He drained the coffee he had specially mixed to contain a lethal concentration of sugar, then focused his remaining attention on the system's virtual panel that had appeared beside him.
As he examined the text information displayed on the panel, Ash's brows, which had relaxed from the sweetness on his tongue, knitted together once again.
"So you're finally willing to tell me? Hmm, so this world you mentioned isn't something like the main universe?"
About half a month ago, Ash had nearly drowned the moment he arrived in this world. Drawing on his countless experiences of traveling between worlds, he had sharply sensed that something was off. Although Cure Yell, the protagonist, was a dazzling character worth exploring, the enemy side consisted entirely of brainless monsters. There was not even a single executive-level character capable of speaking, which made Ash smell something abnormal.
If this world were a "story," it would be completely incapable of supporting a normal amount of plot. At most, it was on the level of a prequel serving as a briefly mentioned background setting.
[That's right. The world you are currently in is like the relationship between the movie "Paradise Lost" and the original Kamen Rider Faiz TV series.] [So for that reason, my recommendation is—]
"Don't say that." Ash reached out first and grabbed the latter half of the virtual screen. His forceful thumb sank into the screen, cracks spreading outward and preventing it from displaying the remaining words. "Otherwise, I'll get angry with you too."
[Why?]
Seeing the system ask such a question, Ash smiled faintly.
"It's simple. Because that person is suppressing herself, and I want to see more of her."
The masked ball with her was truly interesting.
"She is my Cure Yell. It has nothing to do with whether this is the official story or the main world. That's all there is to it."
The jingling bell carried by the breeze when the door opened brought Ash out of his self-indulgence. He clasped both hands together with the system panel between them, storing the virtual panel in his palms.
Honestly, it was pretty fun.
"Dr. Ash, I'm here!"
The newcomer was naturally Nono Hana, who had become Ash's patient. After Ash's treatment, the color in her face and the condition of her whole body had visibly improved.
And as Nono Hana's slightly clumsy yet energetic greeting drew closer, the corners of Ash's mouth unconsciously curled into a smile.
"Oh."
"Wait, what do you mean, 'oh'?" Still dissatisfied with Ash's consistently curt and cold attitude, Hana puffed up her cheeks like a pufferfish with its spines removed. "I greet you enthusiastically every time I come here, Dr. Ash. You're way too cold!"
"Got it." Ash reached toward the head of the sulking Nono Hana sitting opposite him and stroked that soft, silky clump of pink hair. Watching her make the comfortable expression of a cat having its chin scratched, he said, "Good job. Really, good job."
I remembered someone telling me before that you should not casually touch someone's head. Apparently that wasn't true. Wasn't she quite happy to be petted like this?
She was easy to placate, wasn't she?
"Purr..." It took Nono Hana, who had made a comfortable sound, half a minute to realize she had been taken advantage of. Her face instantly turned red, and she kicked against the floor, scooting rapidly backward. "N-No, Dr. Ash! You can't casually touch a girl's head! That's against the rules, against the rules!"
Watching Hana flusteredly use both hands to arrange the long hair that had slipped down to cover her right eye, Ash finally could not hold back and burst out laughing.
As time passed, Ash increasingly felt that this patient of his was becoming more and more interesting. It was not just that she responded so positively; she also had certain shining traits rarely seen in ordinary people. Though she herself always believed she was nothing more than an utterly ordinary girl, Ash did not see her that way.
Without realizing it, he had shifted part of his attention from Pretty Cure onto her, and he had become a little addicted to it...
But what did that matter? In other worlds, I had switched sides, stabbed people in the kidneys, stolen things, and played the villain for so long. What was wrong with getting a little enjoyment from someone who made me happy?
After all, this was quite a nice diversion, wasn't it?
Case File 43: Meeting the Parents
Being an unlicensed doctor, able to treat any illness, charging outrageous prices, and having an exclusive patient of his own...
Before you continue