Kamen Rider as the Villain in Pretty Cure Chapter 21

It's quite déjà vu, you know? I did watch Osamu Tezuka's works before, they were quite interesting, weren't they?

"Mmm." Thinking about his current situation, Ash, stroking his chin, began to reminisce like an old man. "I can kind of understand Taiga's feelings now. If you can enjoy this kind of vibe properly, it really is an extremely interesting thing."

"What, what's wrong?"

Facing Nono Hana, who leaned in like a curious child, Ash was about to brush her off with "It's something you wouldn't know," but seeing her still looking a bit concerned, he thought, "It doesn't matter, I already know what she likes better."

For instance, right now, he took out some high-end sweets from the cabinet behind him that Nono Hana clearly couldn't usually afford. Her slightly curled bangs, covering one eye, swayed the moment they appeared. Her other exposed eye stared intently, and the sound of her swallowing drool was clearly audible.

As for why Ash's collection included snacks, it had to be mentioned that whenever the villains' banquets were held, they would always end in disarray halfway through, or the heroes would descend from the sky and start fighting, rendering the chefs' hard work in vain.

And in adherence to the good principle of not wasting food, Ash would unhesitatingly accept the clean food into his system inventory, which had no time flow.

"A-Ash-san?" Smelling the sweet aroma wafting out, Hana, who was too tempted, stammered slightly. "Are these for...?"

For example, these peculiar little collections of Ash's were leftovers from the Giangra Family's banquet. At that time, the phantom thieves had suddenly burst in, targeting the Lupin Collection. While they were opening treasure chests, Ash casually took some small gifts, and now he was preparing to feed them to "Patient Number One" in front of him.

"They're just insignificant things," Ash said, acting completely indifferent, and pushed the desserts in front of Hana. "But they're quite effective. For the Giangra from another world, they're just snacks, but for humans, they have the effect of strengthening the body."

"Dr. Ash is saying strange things again... but, delicious!"

Although Ash said strange things, Nono Hana naturally didn't suspect Ash.

Watching Nono Hana, who was stuffing her face with "This is delicious!" and "This is delicious too!", her cheeks puffed up like a hamster's as she chewed, Ash felt a subtle sense of joy and satisfaction.

I can kind of understand the thoughts of people who adopt pets... Should I adopt one too?

No, it's better to just think about it. After all, I already have "one," and adopting a second one would leave me with too little time.

V-REX, disguised as a DX toy on his head, saw his master below feeding her with great interest. He tilted his little mechanical dinosaur head silently.

After finishing today's feeding and preparing for the usual check-up, he saw Nono Hana suddenly remember something and take out a package from her bag.

"Oh, right. It's always Ash-san helping me, so I feel really bad. So!" Hana said with an embarrassed smile, bringing the package to the table. Ash saw the appearance of a mandarin orange from the edge of the tilted bag. "These are gifts from my mom for Mr. Ash, and also..."

"Mr. Ash, would you like to come visit my house?"

Ash stopped tapping the table corner with his finger and tilted his head, confused.

————— A dividing line about Ash's incomprehensible thought process —————

"Um, um... Dr. Ash!"

Facing the deeply purple medicinal soup that emitted an incredibly strange smell, so potent that flies would die and fish would sink upon smelling it, Nono Hana displayed a look of fear that she hadn't even shown when fighting powerful enemies like the Doomsday Monster.

At this moment, Nono Hana's inner self was like Jerry seeing his big cousin, a Gotham thug seeing a giant bat flying overhead, or the second son of the Jitou Four facing them directly – silently screaming "Waaaaah!"

This—this thing called "Kusunoha Juice"—is it really something humans drink?!

This medicinal soup, which couldn't be described as merely "unpalatable," left an unspeakable psychological shadow on Nono Hana, who already disliked bitterness. Yet, Ash always managed to come up with reasons she couldn't refuse for her to drink it, and he really enjoyed watching her swallow it mouthful by mouthful with a strange smile.

So, what kind of hellish scene is this... I've had enough, please take it away. (Sigh)

"I am a doctor, and this is medicine." As for Ash, he maintained his usual righteous and natural expression, crossing his arms and looking at Nono Hana, who had a face like a crying kitten, showing an unyielding and impartial demeanor.

After all, his taste buds were different from ordinary people, and he didn't find it unpleasant at all, so why should her discomfort concern him?

"In that case, sugar..."

Under Nono Hana's expectant gaze, Ash took out a sugar packet.

Under Nono Hana's intensely desirous gaze, Ash cut open the sugar packet.

Under Nono Hana's utterly desperate gaze, Ash threw the sugar packet into the trash can.

"I think you should get used to this taste by now, and besides..." The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, just enough for the other party to see without being too arrogant. "Aren't you already 22? You're not a child who only likes sweets anymore. It's time to mature a bit, isn't it?"

"I, of course I'm mature!" Hana, whose sensitive spot had been hit, predictably took the bait. She looked down at the still bubbling medicinal soup, then closed her eyes, hardened her heart, and decided that a short pain was better than a long one. She opened her mouth and poured it in, and sure enough—

It really was awful! My tongue, my tongue is completely numb, it can't taste anything, ptooey—!

Seeing Nono Hana's unsightly appearance, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue in pain, Ash's smile couldn't help but become "perverted."

Nono Hana, as an object to provide me with entertainment, you are truly qualified!

"So," he said, tapping the table to bring back Hana's soul, which was on the verge of fainting from the horrible taste. "You said you wanted me to come to your house, but what's the reason, why?"

Well, it's not like I haven't been invited before. Let me think about the last time. The last time was...

Recalling that the last time he was invited, he was tricked into a base by a righteous group's banquet and beaten up, Ash's expression immediately darkened.

I feel like I should still be cautious.

[Extra Chapter]Case File 44 A Cute Fellow

What Ash found strange was that precisely when he asked about this important matter, Nono Hana seemed uncharacteristically cheerful and clumsy. Instead, she became shy, her face slightly flushed, and she kept looking down at her fingers, appearing quite preoccupied.

"Hmm? Uh, hahaha." From Ash's perspective, Nono Hana, for some reason, acted as if she had just woken up from a dream and started laughing it off.

"You're asking about this? Hahaha, this, the reason for this is this."

"This is what?" Ash continued to press with a calm expression, not at all deterred by Hana's words.

"This is this, and what is what!"

Ash narrowed his eyes slightly. He wasn't trying to pry into her girlish thoughts, but rather because all of this was suspicious, too suspicious...

If it were another scheme against him... that wouldn't be right either. Her whole family were ordinary people, how could they possibly scheme against him? Even if it were a scheme, the motive and timing wouldn't match at all, so what was the point? Why act so embarrassed and try to hide it?

Ash understood many things, but he generally didn't notice, or more accurately, ignored, certain awkward little thoughts that people didn't want to reveal.

"So, Miss Nono Hana," Ash sighed softly, tapping the table to get her attention. "Aside from certain things I can't talk about, I've been plenty honest with you. I just hope you can be a bit more honest with me, that's all."

"And the most important thing is, if you don't explain it clearly, no one will understand."

"Pugugu..." Nono Hana's jaw went slack as she slumped onto the table, completely drained. It looked like Ash's logic had defeated her.

But Dr. Ash always fools me with his strange talk... and now he's not letting me do it? That's so unfair.

Not intending to argue, knowing she couldn't talk her way out of it, Hana raised her hands in surrender.

"I know, I'll tell you..."

Honestly... men who dig too deep into women's little secrets are so unlikeable~ Although I don't really dislike Dr. Ash.

The reason for all this was that she had accidentally let slip at home about the series of "gradually warming" events (her subjective impression) that had recently occurred with Ash. This led to a series of "interrogations" from her family, where she honestly recounted some of their "dating" process. Finally, after discussion, they unanimously demanded that Nono Hana quickly bring Ash over, saying they were volunteering to give her some advice.

Honestly, I just accidentally praised Ash in front of them, do they really need to be this impatient?

And I'm not a child anymore. I know exactly what Mom and Dad and Kotori mean with those suppressed, mischievous looks when they stare at me!

How could I possibly say that reason out loud!

"An-anyway, my parents and my sister wanted to see what kind of person Dr. Ash is, the one who's always helping and supporting me, so they wanted to invite Ash over to our house."

She said it! Even though the meaning was completely different, she managed to convey the general idea!

"That's it?" Ash blinked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that her half-chapter-long internal struggle was about something so trivial. He had thought he was still being kept in the dark.

"Of course, that's it. What else did you expect?"

"Alright."

Now it was Ash's turn to be confused.

"So, Dr. Ash?" Hana's eyes darted around, looking expectant.

"The answer..." After a full half-second of deep thought, Ash leaned back, resting his hands behind his head, and declared lazily, "Of course I'm not going."

"Why not?!" This time, it was Nono Hana's turn to blink in confusion. She had overcome her internal struggles to tell him the answer, only to be so decisively rejected. She suddenly felt like her good intentions had been thrown to the dogs.

Why are you like this...? Well, considering his usual behavior, this is completely within expectations.

'Oh my~ So cute~'

Seeing Hana's eyes widen for a moment, Ash smiled with great amusement.

"No reason." He even more brazenly crossed his legs over the table, casually pulled out eye drops from a nearby drawer, put two drops in his eyes, and then closed them to rest.

"Because it's troublesome, right? See, see." Ash then pointed to himself. "When I'm visiting someone's house, I'm not this free, am I?"

I remember when I was little, before I started this journey, I hated visiting relatives with my parents. Not only did it completely steal and waste my free time, but what made me even more nauseous was the interpersonal relationships they called 'putting on a brave face'.

No matter what they thought of the other person in their hearts, the moment they opened the door, they had to greet them with a smile. If their hearts were so complicated, why maintain such a hypocritical relationship?

When I bluntly pointed out the truth, I got an angry slap from my dad. From then on, I hated such practically 'troublesome' things.

Compared to this excessive, true hypocrisy, I prefer the straightforwardness of a villain who declares, 'I want to destroy the world'.

"In short, I have no interest in visiting people's homes."

"At le-least!" Hana hadn't expected Ash to refuse so decisively and tried to salvage the situation. "Even if you don't stay for dinner or anything, just coming to my house to meet them, to see them, that would be nice too?"

"No thank you." Ash pouted. If I have free time, wouldn't it be better to build models at home or read discussions from experts about Cure Yell fan art?

"My parents are really looking forward to it..."

"That's their fault for looking forward to it on their own. It has nothing to do with me."

Hearing Ash's resolute words, Hana puffed out her cheeks again in dissatisfaction. But she also knew that no amount of reasoning could convince the person in front of her. Through their time together, not only had Ash been observing her, but Hana herself had also gained considerable insight into Ash.

This person, when he's serious, he's like an adult. But deep down, he's like a child, and even a sulky child. The more you say things that go against him, the more he'll stubbornly ignore you. That's the first law I figured out.

Fortunately, she was prepared for the "childish" Ash.

"What a shame. I actually have some special 'favors' from Cure Yell-san that I wanted to show Dr. Ash..."

"When do we leave?"

Seeing Ash sit up straight with a serious expression, Hana couldn't help but reveal a smile that was brighter than usual, casting a slight, dark shadow.

Oh my~ What a cute child~

[Extra]Case File 45 The Nono Household's Hospitality

"It's so hot..." Under the scorching sun, Nono Hana, whose physical stamina was draining ten, even nine times faster than usual, trudged along the street with her increasingly heavy body, her tongue practically lolling out to cool herself.

"I told you, going out today wasn't a good idea."

A cool breeze brushed past his cheek as Ash waved his hand. He showed no signs of discomfort. Given his past experiences, which included entering the surface of the sun with his physical body, this temperature was nothing. Of course, it was still very hot.

"Honestly, isn't it just because Dr. Ash is too lazy and doesn't want to move?"

"What? Of course, my energy has to be applied to more important matters."

Naturally, Miss Hana's huffy admonishments were completely useless to Ash.

For some reason, the sun today seemed more scorching than yesterday. The hot weather overhead caused sweat to pour from Nono Hana's forehead, ruining the light makeup she had specifically woken up half an hour early to apply.

Sweat mixed with the powder on her face, rolling down her cheeks in several incredibly awkward, soaked streaks. The extremely obvious path and the occasional glances from her male companion made her wish she could just jump into a ditch right then and there.

So embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing...

Ash, however, didn't seem to notice at all. He was just puzzled by her changing expressions – one moment dejected, the next listless, and then suddenly like Batman. He also commented on the awful weather, feeling fortunate he'd had the foresight to leave his jacket at home.

Of course, if Ash's father knew his son was just wearing a white t-shirt and heading over to a female friend's house, he'd surely kick him in the behind out of disappointment. But this seemingly endless journey had only him and the system from start to finish, so... he was naturally free to do as he pleased.

From above, they could vaguely see two figures exhaling mist as they walked down the sloping street. Nono Hana, whose tongue had lolled out at some point and felt like she was about to evaporate, brightened up upon seeing the incredibly familiar building before her, which seemed to re-energize her.

"Dr. Ash, it's riiiiiight heeeeeere!"

"Mhm..."

He glanced up at the... small house of Nono Hana's family. After all, having failed in her business, she still lived in her parents' old home. There was no way she'd have a luxurious mansion or anything like that; this wasn't some fairytale for little girls that could provide her with such things.

"Hurry up, Ash."

"Right."

Naturally skipping the Japanese custom of saying "thank you" when entering a home, Ash changed into the house slippers. As he looked inside, he saw the few people who had already prepared to welcome him.

Ash released a bit of his aura, trying to sense their presence. As for danger or killing intent... there was none at all?

"?"

Only Hana inexplicably glanced at Ash. For some reason, she felt a very dangerous aura emanating from him for a moment, though she didn't doubt him at all.

Hmm... was that just my imagination? I've probably been really stressed lately. It must be that time fire guy's nonsense messing with my head. I really should listen to Ash and get some rest.

"You must be the Dr. Ash that Hana was talking about? Oh my, thank you so much for taking care of this little scatterbrain of mine."

With a face full of gentle smiles, the middle-aged man with graying temples, without waiting for Ash, who had no experience with such social pleasantries, to say something awkward, immediately took the initiative to welcome him inside.

A potential "firefight" was thus extinguished before it could even start, dissolved by this natural warmth.