Kamen Rider is a Villain in Pretty Cure Chapter 23

"Saya, you haven't rested since finishing the last film, have you? You immediately took on new work... Are you still so bothered by this matter with your mother?"

"Yes..."

After hearing Hana's words, Saya, following a period of silence, finally let down her guard. Her polite smile instantly vanished, revealing a cold and undeniably weary demeanor.

Seeing Saya's expression change in an instant, Ash raised an eyebrow. He marveled, She truly is a star actress. Compared to the dissonance he felt from her smile earlier, her current, genuine, and less-than-pleasant side actually held a certain charm for him.

"Saya, you've always wanted to surpass your mother's achievements, so you've been working tirelessly to prove yourself," Hana said, glancing back at Ash. Seeing he wasn't displeased, she continued her earnest persuasion. "But to achieve such efforts, is it really okay to keep pushing yourself like this?"

"No!" Saya, usually gentle and refined, suddenly erupted, startling Hana. "Everyone, when they talk about me, they always talk about my mother. Even though she's not here, they always bring her up!"

As her facade crumbled, the weariness that erupted from the depths of her heart enveloped Saya entirely. Some familiar energy flowed into Ash, while the rest drifted towards the sky.

Is this the unique "Rage Energy" of this world? Ash seemed to understand why Cure Yell had to fight alone for eight years, facing an endless stream of enemies.

Because everyone in this world is a source of Rage Energy, it's endless.

"They always talk about her right in front of me, but they're not talking about me, they're talking about her! It's as if all my achievements so far were naturally gifted to me through my genes by her. Don't you think this is too much, Hana?"

At this moment, Saya cast aside all her burdens, hysterically pouring out her heart to Hana, confessing everything that had turned dark within her.

I am an independent being, myself, not a sequel to Yakushiji Reiro! I—I don't want to live in her shadow forever!

"I have my own goals. You, who always cheer others on and are content to be their supporting leaf, wouldn't understand!" As she spoke, perhaps the constant fatigue stole her gentleness, and her increasingly aggressive words turned even on her friend, Hana.

"Sa—Saya?" Hana was stunned into silence. She probably never expected her companion to say such harsh words.

Those words... they're so hurtful!

"Oh, hey, what's this about bringing others into it?"

Gently pulling the slightly wronged Hana back, Ash leaned in as she slumped onto the nearby sofa. With narrowed eyes, he moved to block her path as she instinctively started to rise.

His dark pupils instantly focused, and he leaned in unconsciously towards her hesitant blue eyes. After maintaining eye contact with her confused, retreating gaze for half a minute, Ash finally pulled back, reaching a conclusion on the spot.

"You can't do it like this."

Ash's sudden words caused Saya to frown involuntarily. She immediately shifted her full attention to him, waiting to hear his opinion.

"Let me ask you. Is your goal to become someone everyone praises, or do you want to surpass your mother?"

"This... aren't those two things the same?" Saya was momentarily speechless, completely unable to grasp the meaning of his words.

"Of course, they're different. The reason you keep emphasizing surpassing her is because, deep down, you believe you're not as good as your mother, right?"

Ash's unreserved statement froze the atmosphere. Saya's lips trembled as she parted them, but no words came out.

This person said the same thing as that Time Fire back then!

Time Fire was an annoying guy, but what about Mr. Ash, whom Hana trusts so much?

Am... am I really not good enough?

[Extra]Case File 49 Where Will This Hazy Heart Lead Me

Seeing Saya's trembling expression, on the verge of breaking down, Ash shook his head. Her reaction was exactly as he'd imagined. A few words about her inner thoughts, and she began to waver. No matter what such a person said, how could they achieve anything significant?

"You're a smart person, aren't you?" Although he said this, there was no praise in Ash's tone.

In fact, precisely because they are smart, they tend to overcomplicate simple matters. This is the classic case of "the clever are often mistaken for the wise"—making trouble for themselves is a typical pattern for them.

Therefore, rather than dealing with such smart people, he preferred the straightforward, hot-blooded, idiotic protagonists. After all, when they can't figure things out, they aren't bound by difficulty and will always act first with their bodies. And this passionate drive is precisely the key to breaking through such dilemmas.

With that thought, Ash couldn't help but glance at Nono Hana beside him. He was confident that if he said such things to her, she wouldn't easily get lost. It's probably because her brain doesn't have the necessary hardware to run the "confusion" program.

"?"

Nono Hana tilted her head, feeling inexplicably annoyed. She instinctively felt she had been subtly dissed by someone somewhere.

"That's why I say you're no good."

"People who believe they can't do it are the ones who keep emphasizing the same thing, as if saying it enough times will make it happen."

"But that's not how it works. If you yourself believe you can't do it, then even if you actually achieve it, becoming the star of stars of stars you wish to be."

"You'll still be inferior, you'll still be no good."

"After all, you chose this path yourself~"

The blue-haired woman's raised hand fell powerlessly. The expression on her face was completely hidden by the shadow cast by her bowed head. Yakushiji Saya fell into complete silence.

Ash, who had reduced Saya to silence with just a few words, ignored the subtle glances from the side. He leisurely lay back on the sofa, vanishing his deeds and merits, and downed the remaining iced tea.

As for Nono Hana? She had watched the entire scene unfold but didn't know how to interject. She could only express her emotions with a dissatisfied pout. After all, unlike Cure Yell, who could do anything, Nono Hana without a transformation was just an ordinary girl who couldn't do anything.

But this guy... why does he have such ill will towards my friends?!

"I'm so sorry to have bothered you," Saya said, picking up her handbag and quickly bowing to the two of them before fleeing the stifling little world she found herself in with unsteady steps.

"Wait, wait—Saya!" Hana instinctively wanted to hold back her friend. With a pleading look, she only managed to reach out her hand, but she couldn't catch Saya's figure, which had already disappeared through the doorway.

"Dr. Ash..."

"Oh, hey, she left on her own. I didn't chase her away, did I?" Ash said without a trace of guilt, placing the glass on the table. His peripheral vision caught the name "Nono Hana" written on the cup. A slightly guilty conscience made him pretend to ignore what happened and push the cup back. "I just gave her a little nudge. She couldn't handle it herself, so don't blame me."

Ash's shamelessness made even Hana, who usually smiled a lot, unable to maintain her composure. Her stiff expression went through a series of comical transformations before finally settling into a dead-eyed stare.

"Why are Dr. Ash's viewpoints always so extreme..."

"Sometimes, being overly gentle is useless, understand?" The man's finger, laden with wisdom, tapped the forehead revealed between Hana's curly hair. "Besides, didn't you see last time? My methods worked quite well, didn't they?"

But what Homare went through last time was too dangerous, wasn't it?!

"Even so… I don't think hurting people is the way… There must be a way to embrace the future for everyone!"

"Is that so? Then drown in that future yourself~" With a flick of his index finger, he gave Hana a sharp rap on the head. Watching her clutch her head in pain and collapse onto the sofa, Ash burst into laughter and stood up, walking towards other parts of the room.

"Hey, what's this?"

"Ah— wait, that's a photo of me when I was little!"

The photo in the frame in Ash's hand showed a younger Hana, a size smaller than Ash remembered, still wearing her middle school uniform. She was crouching on the ground, her slightly curly pink hair obscuring half of her sad expression, leaving only endless tears of grievance streaming down.

This was a photo Hana had kept, one she didn't want anyone else to see, and had kept it until she herself forgot about it. Now, for some reason, Ash had found it.

Seeing Ash's questioning gaze, Hana, after hesitating for a long time, finally told him about how in middle school, she had stood up for a bullied classmate, only to be ostracized and given the cold shoulder by all her classmates, spending her entire middle school years alone.

This experience had dealt an unimaginable blow to Hana at the time and had completely changed her life.

But at the same time, she had gained Precure powers then. Fighting desperately by herself, perhaps she also had a reason to forget the loneliness of that sadness.

At least, when I was protecting everyone, I wasn't alone.

But at this moment, another question puzzled Hana. Why could she so easily tell Ash something she didn't want anyone else to know...?

"Oh, so it's school bullying." His finger gently brushed over the heartbreaking, tear-streaked part of the photo, also wiping away a layer of forgotten dust on the glass surface. "Just like me."

"Eh, Mr. Ash was also…?" Hearing the casual topic he brought up, Hana's heart skipped a beat.

"Ah, because I used to be someone who disliked talking and didn't care about others. I had the persona of an aloof genius, you see. So, some commoners, wanting to boast about their own strength, with their underdeveloped brains, would corner me in the restroom, wanting to teach a lesson to this guy who seemed so arrogant."

Ash spoke of this story in a calm tone, as if it were no big deal. Just as Hana was about to dread hearing the rest, Ash let out a couple of light chuckles without any psychological burden.

"Then, I shoved them all into the toilets, one by one, and only released the flush button when they begged for mercy. Haha, Hana, you really should have seen the fearful eyes of those who wanted to bully others but were bullied themselves. It was too amusing~"

Hana's feelings trembled once more. Although she didn't know why the bullying Ash described was more terrifying than she had imagined, Hana knew what the consequences of such actions would be.

"But if you do that, everyone will be afraid, and Dr. Ash will be all alone…"

If that were the case, wouldn't my past self and Mr. Ash have had the same lonely lives?

Wouldn't that be too sad?

"I'm not alone." Looking at the tearful, wronged expression of Hana in the photo, Ash thought of himself, of his own perpetually lonely self, and couldn't help but smile.

"Because, don't I have a 'companion' with the same experience right in front of me now?"

"How could I possibly be lonely then?"

Ash's devilish smile was perfectly etched in Hana's mind at that moment.

[Extra Chapter]Case File 50: Wishing You Were Here

"I'm not alone. Don't I have a 'companion' with the same experience right in front of me now? How could I possibly be lonely then?"

These weren't lines Ash had prepared; he had spoken them with deep meaning to Hana entirely from his heart, clearly not noticing the "flower" on Nono Hana's face that was truly beginning to "bloom brilliantly."

After speaking and laughing, Ash felt a certain burden hidden deep within his heart instantly lighten.

'Wait, I think I might have accidentally said a lot of significant things along with the mood?' When this thought crossed Ash's mind, he finally realized what he had said.

He had initially approached it with curiosity and amusement, but upon seeing the tearful photo of a young Nono Hana, coupled with her mention of spending her entire repressed childhood being isolated and bullied, a rare emotion for Ash – empathy – was successfully evoked by her pitiable appearance.

Thinking about what had happened to Nono Hana made Ash very annoyed… no, extremely annoyed!

Even though it was someone else's business, he, who prided himself on being a "lone wolf" and never empathized with common people, felt angry for her just by listening to Hana recount her experiences.

What kind of situation was it where standing up for the bullied resulted in being ostracized along with the bullies and all the classmates by the very person she protected?

If it were me, I would definitely shove those who betrayed me, those who didn't realize their own strength when acting, and even those who just watched, into the toilets! Until they cried and begged me to surrender before I released the waterproof button! XBZZ really hasn't seen what a mastermind is, have they!? — Hiss, why am I getting worked up again?

It was this "empathy" that Ash couldn't clearly articulate even to himself, that caused him to, without even realizing it, pour out his own similar experiences, even the matter of his parents' divorce, as if finding some kind of outlet.

Isn't this too strange? These were things I didn't want to mention easily when I was little!

But I actually told this woman… our relationship, it was supposed to be just to repay a favor, and because she was my patient, right? Although teasing her cute appearance was quite amusing… When did our relationship become so good?

"Ah, this." Ash, preparing to explain, felt a sense of shame creep up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making him so awkward he could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes. Ash, unexpectedly shy, felt a little embarrassed to look at Hana's expression. "Anyway, I said some strange things. Just treat it as a joke and forget about it."

Well, I don't really care… probably.

"No, how could that be!" Ash vaguely sensed that Hana's subdued voice didn't carry its usual listless, low-energy tone, but rather seemed to carry a very heavy weight… What could it be?

"Ash… Dr. Ash."

"Ah— hmm?"

With an intensity that even Ash didn't quite react to, Hana proactively and forcefully intertwined her fingers with Ash's, refusing to let go. Warmth was transmitted through their touching bodies.

"Thank you! For being able to say something like that to me, Ash, I really, really!" Leaning closer, looking into those dark eyes, the feelings in her chest seemed to come alive, beating more and more intensely, as if about to leap out of her chest!

"I'm so happy."

If, if at that time, if someone like Ash had been by my side, helping me…

In a daze, she seemed to return to that elementary school classroom. The wronged, lonely self was weeping uncontrollably under their indifferent gazes when a little boy with a dark silhouette rushed forward, swinging his fists.

'You—what did you do, apologize to her!' That boy stood in front of her younger self, shouting loudly at everyone, swinging his fists.

If only someone like Ash had been there back then... would the Pretty Cure part of me have been flawed?

"I..." Staring into those eyes that held something, the hand hovering stiffly behind Hana's back clenched one last time, pulling the pink-haired beauty before him into an embrace.

"If anyone bullies you again, tell me, and I'll beat them up for you!"

At least this much, I can promise you without using the power of Time Fire.

You are, perhaps, truly special to me.

As Ash moved, the curled pink bangs that covered Hana's right eye were tossed up. Those cherry-pink eyes, which had unintentionally captivated Ash, were now captured by the "love" overflowing in his heart.

Hana had blushed and felt her heart race many times from Ash's careless actions, but never before had her face flushed not with embarrassed annoyance, but with the radiant glow of spring.

"Mhm!" Tears welled from the corners of her eyes, carrying the colors of all the grievances and heartaches she had held in her chest, finally able to release them today.

"Ash, we are not alone."

Hana wore the same smile as Ash on her face.

If you don't hold on tight, someone else will snatch them away.

Kotori's words seemed to still echo in her ears, making her clench her fist.

Dr. Ash...

You said we were comrades... perhaps. I have a strange premonition that even someone like you, carrying a double identity, might not be able to catch up to my sorrow, compared to you who always hides something.