Kamen Rider is a Villain in Pretty Cure Chapter 32

Ash and Nono Hana sat back-to-back, separated by a thin wooden door.

Ash put a rolled cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and took a deep drag. He almost coughed his lungs out. Even after experiencing multiple worlds, he still couldn't understand how heavy smokers managed to relieve their worries with cigarettes.

Hana, listening to his coughing with some concern, felt something tickle her hand, which was placed on the door crack.

"Cough, cough, cough—Want some? Chocolate, it's really good, my treat."

His ear pressed against the door, Ash listened intently. After a long silence from the other side, he finally heard chewing sounds, growing faster like a little hamster's. Ash shook his head and tossed the half-lit cigarette into a distant trash can.

"What, you still hate me? Haha, you've penetrated me, and I've penetrated you. I thought that made us even?"

"..."

"Alright, alright, I apologize." Ash raised both hands in surrender. "It's not the right occasion for me to tell bad jokes."

"Pfft."

She laughed. That was a good sign.

Ash's current problem was how to get her to open the door herself. This door was like Hana's heart; if he could just pry it open a little, he had ways to open it all the way.

But what was most needed was for her to open that heart herself, even just a little.

"Dr. Ash..."

"Do you hate Nono Hana?"

Not Cure Yell, but Nono Hana?

Was this such a heavy question right from the start?

"I don't hate her."

"Then do you like me?"

Ash opened his mouth, then slowly closed it.

[Extra] Case File 67: What He Couldn't Say Was Love.

"Then do you like me?"

Nono Hana asked again.

"..."

Ash couldn't give an answer.

An answer that Ash couldn't give.

I'm slow to pick up on these things because I have no interest in thinking about them, but I'm not an idiot either.

What he was unwilling to admit, but now had to, was that he had indeed been moved by "Nono Hana," whom he had thought was just an ordinary person.

To like someone, to love someone, if she also chooses to give you an equal amount of love and life, it means you have to bear an equal weight of "responsibility" with her.

That was why he could freely make "confessions" like a pervert when he was Cure Yell.

But no matter what, he couldn't easily make a promise to Nono Hana.

For that very reason, he had rejected her confession back then.

Because...

System, can I stay in this world?

A virtual projection panel appeared before Ash, its square, soulless font lacking the most basic human touch.

[You know what you are doing.]

System, can I stay in this world until Nono Hana dies of old age, and then start over?

[You know what you are doing?]

"I know."

I can feel it.

She is seeking peace.

She is longing for happiness.

But I cannot fulfill her wish.

If what she seeks is on the other shore.

Ultimately, Ash did not give his answer.

After a long period of silent back-to-back sitting, Ash finally heard Hana's voice, which had become gloomy and dejected.

"Ash, I can't transform anymore..."

"That doesn't matter anymore."

"You should go..." As she spoke, her voice gradually became choked with sobs. "The Cure Yell you're looking for isn't anywhere..."

"The person I'm looking for is you, the one talking to me," Ash sighed.

Idiot.

Honestly, Ash himself found it hard to believe he could produce such a gentle yet deep voice.

He was utterly—terrible at comforting people.

"Nono Hana, I can't meet your expectations... nor do I have the right to bear your feelings..."

"Idiot!" Hearing the other side remain so stubborn, Ash finally got agitated and cursed heavily. "What does 'right' have to do with anything! If that's the case, then who was that silly girl always running to me? Who is the eldest daughter of the couple who owns this house? And who is the sister who made Nono Kotori cry and worry?!"

"That, that is..."

"Hana, you think that way, don't you!" Ash's voice lost its gentleness with his impatience, but it revealed a sincerity rarer than gentleness. "You think you disgraced the existence of Precure by going berserk, almost killed your friend, nearly caused a major disaster, and in the end, you did the wrong thing—falling in love with someone you shouldn't have!"

"I know it must be unbearable for you, unable to maintain yourself as all the pain accumulated over the years erupts at once! But let me tell you, who doesn't make mistakes—I've seen so many heroes, and there are no heroes who don't make mistakes or fail! I dare say that in the same situation, they wouldn't necessarily do as well as you!"

Despite hearing such encouraging words, Hana trembled even more, burying herself deeper into her knees.

Ash... thank you, thank you for being so much stronger than me and still coming to comfort me—but, but!

I've reached my limit, and no matter what, I can't be as strong as you right now.

"Do you want my answer? Then I'll tell you, I don't care! You don't need to care what others say, just be yourself—"

"But I do care—"

Leaning against the doorway, Nono Hana's voice, choked with tears and almost a roar, interrupted Ash. Then, her intermittent, tearful words reached an increasingly astonished Ash.

"I care about Precure, I care about Saya, I care about everyone—and I didn't fall in love with the wrong person!"

"Hana...?"

"It's just, it's just that I no longer have the right, I can no longer love anyone!"

"Goodbye, Ash."

"Hana—!"

Hearing the rustling sound behind the door, Ash felt a sense of dread and stood up again.

Fine, if I can't break down the door, then I'll break down the wall!

"Please, don't come looking for me anymore."

The conversation upstairs abruptly stopped. After the thunderous explosion, Nono Kotori and Nono Hana's parents heard the sound of a window shattering, followed by something falling onto the lawn outside, and finally...

"Get out of the way—!"

Ash, who had been talking with Hana upstairs just moments ago, was now rushing down the stairs at breakneck speed. His recently healed body made ominous sounds with the strenuous movement, but he couldn't care less.

After a swift departure, all that remained was the Nono family staring blankly at the distinctly green-skinned electric wheelchair Ash had left behind.

"What happened?"

Ignoring the Nono family who were puzzling over Ash's whereabouts, Ash was now focused on chasing Nono Hana, who was running rapidly ahead.

Saying she can't transform anymore, this is—

"Stop, Hana! Don't go!"

Regardless of whether the wind pressure beside him could carry his words, Ash tried to stop the woman running ahead with all his might.

Ash's words behind her did nothing to halt Nono Hana's steps. On the contrary, Nono Hana further squeezed out the little Tomorrow Energy within her and her nearly exhausted stamina.

The chains were precariously loose, the prison was dilapidated, and the materials that should have been used to repair the prison were misappropriated, causing the situation to worsen.

It was laughing.

Nono Hana in front continued to sprint, her engorged lungs and aching legs screaming but unable to slow her down. Ash, chasing behind her, felt his ankle bones beginning to shatter.

This blood-spitting marathon, which began with a slip of the tongue and a broken heart, continued, prolonging its duration in a body-destroying manner. Any conscientious Olympic committee judge would angrily stop such behavior, curse loudly, and send both individuals to the hospital, but there were no such heroes here, only passersby dazed by the wind pressure, two lost runners, and an urban legend on the verge of formation.

After running for an unknown duration, until neither of them could see any more tall buildings in their sight, this desperate chase finally came to an end.

Nono Hana could no longer run. Her faint "Tomorrow Energy" had long been depleted. Her heart, filled with gloom, could no longer produce new Tomorrow Energy. Her lungs, aching as if scorched, refused to support her body any further.

Nono Hana coughed up blood with extreme fragility from her slightly parted lips, her unfocused pupils empty.

There was no longer any possibility. The possibility of running further was gone. In fact, if her body, repeatedly ravaged, wasn't treated immediately, it might lose the possibility of continuing to live. But—

What had sustained her until now had quietly transformed into something else, other than "Tomorrow Energy."

Nono Hana's body stiffened, and then, as if in slow motion, she slowly collapsed.

[Extra] Case File 68: The Girl Who Leapt into Absolute Despair

The bandages beneath his clothes were becoming increasingly stained with crimson as they were soaked with more blood due to the violent movements, but Ash no longer had the presence of mind to care about such things.

She stopped!

In the worst possible way!

"Hana!!" Ash, arriving late, watched the woman about to collapse. His past medical knowledge told him that without comprehensive, multi-level medical intervention, this might be Nono Hana's last fall.

He rushed forward without thinking.

He believed he could create another miracle.

However, compared to the physical body, the scarred heart and spirit were perhaps the parts that truly needed "healing"... no.

It might already be beyond saving.

Just as Ash was about to rush forward to catch her as she fell, Hana lost her strength, knelt down, and then helplessly collapsed backward—but this movement was as if a pause button had been pressed! She was forcefully stopped in that very moment!

Her waist was bent backward, twisted at a 90° angle in mid-air, her hands limply splayed on the ground, as if her bones had been removed. Yet, she was like a puppet suspended by invisible strings. Hana maintained this almost bizarre posture, and little by little, she turned her gaze toward Ash with a smile that was more unsightly than crying, devoid of even the last trace of warmth.

Now.

Even Ash, who feared smiles and mocked killing intent and darkness with impunity.

Felt a part of the emotions he had long forgotten stirring in his heart, and that was… discomfort.

Facing such a surreal scene, Ash felt no fear in his heart. Instead, he was filled with a sadness directed at Hana.

Why, you aren't even afraid of death, yet tears are falling? Why?

As if a rewind button had been pressed, her body stood up again like a marionette, her hands spread and raised to her sides, as if imitating Hana nailed to a cross. Ash's heart echoed with that incredibly real heartbeat, a heartbeat so strong it was almost as if he could hear it himself.

[I will save her]

At this moment, his cynical mood, his unrestrained desires, and the unfillable void were all cast aside by Ash.

Now, in his heart, there was only one voice, one thought.

[I will save her]

Knowing what he had to do was enough.

Ash took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his dark pupils, which had begun to contract, seemed to burn with flames, incinerating something completely. Ash, looking like a completely different person, stood before her.

She was smiling, but Ash could hear her cries with perfect clarity.