Now, when she closed her eyes, pain and nightmares no longer came for her... No, the nightmares would not let her go so quickly, but as long as he was by her side, she could endure them.
Because she knew that she was no longer alone, desperately forcing herself to hold on as she had in the past. Whether happiness or suffering, joy or sorrow, there was now someone beside her to share it all.
What she felt was an infinite sense of security and happiness.
But that happiness also stirred another part of her heart—one that was gentler, more fragile, and full of self-reproach.
"But, Ash? Is it really okay for me to be this happy now?" Calling her beloved's name, the woman's voice was once again tinged with sorrow as she softly blamed herself. "Do I... really deserve it?"
After all, Hana herself had broken down after suffering alone, bringing about this world-ending crisis. A former hero had become the most evil enemy. After causing pain to so many people, did she really have the right to enjoy this happiness?
"I..."
"You don't need to say it. Haven't we already moved past that?"
This was not the first time Ash had heard her say such things. The energetic, strong Precure... no, Nono Hana, was simply too kind. Of course she could not simply brush aside what she had done, even if she herself had been the greatest victim.
"Listen, Hana."
Since falling in love, Ash had become countless times gentler and more patient than before. He quietly swept aside the hair by her ear and brought his warm breath close.
"If you don't deserve it, then neither do I."
After all, this was my problem too, wasn't it?
As for her self-blame, all Ash could do was deny those thoughts again and again. If she had to suffer a thousand times, then he had to affirm her a thousand and one times.
"But..."
"No one is an undefeated hero. Failing, and even causing harm because of that failure, is of course something sad. But don't deny your past because of it. Before I came along, hadn't you protected this world wonderfully?"
"If you don't deserve it, then no one does."
"Or..." Thinking of something, Ash smiled mischievously and leaned even closer. Just as he was about to kiss her burning-red earlobe, he suddenly blew into it, drawing a shy cry from Hana.
As their relationship had rapidly heated up these past few days, Ash had also learned quite a few of her weaknesses—such as her overly sensitive ears.
"Do you really need me to tell you I love you three thousand times? Hah~ What a greedy woman."
"Th-That's not it!"
Finally covering her ears and jumping off him, Nono Hana ran to the side with her whole face flushed red. Ash laughed and followed after her.
Was liking someone really such a happy thing?
Then I really had to thank you properly.
After returning home, Ash received attentive hospitality from the Nono family.
Though this was not his first time visiting her home, now that everyone understood what was going on, the other family members treated them as though they were seeing them together for the first time.
"It's good that you're back."
That was all the gentle mother, Nono Sumire, said to them. A moving reunion did not necessarily need a moving scene. At the dinner table, she merely gave them an encouraging look, as gentle as ever.
Then Nono Kotori, who looked as though she had expected this all along, temporarily borrowed Hana away. After Hana returned, whenever Ash looked over, he could see her blushing furiously. Who knew what her younger sister had said to her?
Then there was her father, Nono Moritaro, who had taken a trip through death's door. He chatted happily with Ash, first thanking him for helping both Hana and himself. Then, after learning about the twisted and deeply harmful relationship between Time Fire and Cure Yell, he did not hesitate to throw a punch on his daughter's behalf.
"Still, you're a patient, so I won't hold it against you... Ow, that hurt a little."
Sitting by the bed in Nono Hana's room and holding one side of his face, Ash was rather confused. She had clearly invited him to her room earlier with a bright-red face, so why was he the one waiting for her now?
"I'm coming in."
You can do it, Nono Hana! You can't back down here!
The girl encouraged herself in her heart.
"This is your room. You don't need to be so polite, do you?"
The door, lit only by dim light, slowly opened. When Ash saw Cure Yell enter with awkward, restrained movements, he raised an eyebrow.
The sound of the door closing lingered in the quiet, dim room. In the vast darkness, there were only the two of them.
Without a word, the distance between them rapidly shrank. Before they knew it, Hana was sitting on Ash's lap. Her hands reached beneath his arms and pressed against the bed, and they could both hear the intimate sound of each other's breathing.
"You've had a hard day, Ash. You must be tired too, right?" Hana deliberately used a casual tone, though Ash could hear the forced maturity in it. "In that case, let Hana help you relax today. Ah—"
Even transformed, Hana was still caught by the wrist and pressed beneath him onto the bed.
"This isn't relaxation. You just want me to work even harder, don't you?"
Nono Hana lifted her face and stared deeply into Ash's dark eyes. In the depths of that gaze, they both saw the same feelings reflected in one another.
"I thought you were jealous of Cure Yell?"
"But... I don't know what counts as pretty." Looking at the face so close to hers, Hana was no longer embarrassed. "This is the prettiest outfit I could think of..."
"Hana, the fact that you are the most beautiful right now needs no further explanation."
As the faint glow faded, she remained in Yell's outfit, but her hair and face had returned to Nono Hana's appearance. Her wine-red hair spread naturally across the soft bed, while the bangs covering one eye gave her an unusual charm.
"I truly love you now, Hana."
With a wicked smile, Ash lifted the chin of the helpless, pitiful-looking Hana toward himself. Their faces drew closer and closer.
"Ash... Do you think I can be this happy?"
Once again, she asked herself that question.
"Who knows? But..."
After a soft moan, two warm, moist sensations overlapped.
Tender love slipped in, licking at everything around it.
Entwined love reached its peak at that moment. Drunk and delirious, beneath the gaps of the dim, trailing lamplight, their overlapping figures danced gracefully.
"Um, Ash-sensei..."
Nono Hana's voice came softly, impossibly gentle.
"Could you... turn off the light?"
"Oh my, how terribly sorry. I nearly let a lady be embarrassed."
And so, even the last trace of dimness disappeared.
Side Story Case File 80: Hana: Newborn!
After one night, both of them had grown quite a bit.
One of them had grown far more noticeably than the other.
Likewise, Nono Kotori had not slept all night. As for why, her room and her sister's room were separated by only one wall.
Now she finally understood why their father and mother had suddenly said they were visiting friends and even staying overnight so late at night. She hated it so much now. Forget hearing through the wall—she had wrapped herself completely in her blanket and trembled, but even though she had absolutely not intended to eavesdrop, she had still heard everything she should and should not have heard.
Her brother-in-law had clearly been so gentle during the first half, but judging by the sounds, he had completely turned into a demon in the latter half. Just hearing her poor sister making "music" had sounded... Kotori only hated that her imagination was so good.
"They should have stopped by now... right?"
Although the sounds next door had stopped for a while after the sun rose, Kotori still could not be completely certain.
Even if my sister is useless, she's still my sister. I should check on her, right?
Standing outside the door, Kotori hesitated. Just as she raised her hand and struggled over whether to knock, the door opened. A living hormone dispenser like a city wall stood there, completely blocking the doorway.
Ash, bare from the waist up, gulped down the bottled water in his hand. The man perfectly demonstrated what it meant to have muscles beneath his clothes. His fit, lean body was like a Greek sculpture, displaying flawless lines. Sweat streamed down his flexing muscles, reflecting the sunlight behind him.
But the more imposing his body was, the more Kotori worried about her useless sister... Could her sister's practically malnourished, "barren" body really have survived being "ravaged" by this guy?
"My sister... is she okay?"
"I told you, that wasn't relaxation. She was asking me to keep working." The man crushed the water bottle into a flat disk with one hand, then flicked it into the trash can in the downstairs living room with simple geometry. He then casually headed toward the kitchen downstairs. "But your sister isn't as delicate as you think. Let her rest a little longer."
But the more he said that, the more uneasy Kotori became. Gathering her courage, she opened the bedroom door that seemed to lead into a "demon's den." Yet before half a second had passed, the girl slammed it shut again, her face flushing so red it looked ready to explode.
"Cr... cream puff!"
After taking several dramatically exaggerated deep breaths to calm herself, the girl pinched her nose and opened the door again, calling inside in a muffled voice.
"Sis, are you still alive?"
"..."
"Sis?"
"Still alive... Let me lie down a little longer..." Only upon hearing that slurred, weak voice from inside did Kotori finally relax. "I almost died..."
"Then... brother-in-law last night..."
"He's not human!"
Fine, don't ask. It would be impolite to ask any more.
"Surprise, the whole world is Drive~" Wearing an apron and dressed like a domestic husband, Ash flipped a sunny-side-up egg in the frying pan while humming. He curiously glanced at Hana, who was being supported toward the bathroom, then smugly bragged to the virtual panel beside him.
"Is your brother Ash amazing or what?"
[If Pretty Cure's Tomorrow Energy had not gradually strengthened her body over the past eight years, you would be calling an ambulance right now.]
After exposing Ash's dirty secret, the system screen went silent for a moment before displaying a somewhat heavy line.
[Are you going to keep going like this?]
"Why not? It's probably because of that previous Tomorrow Energy outbreak, but I feel completely unburdened now."
[But you know that darkness will not disappear for no reason. One day, your past will still catch up to you.]
As he turned the spatula, hot oil sizzled while frying the egg golden brown on both sides.
"If it's a fate I can't escape, then I'll face it." Ash's expression did not change in the slightest. Rather, he had already prepared himself from the moment he made that decision. "Before then, I want to make her happy. She's been waiting for me all this time. I can't let her down, can I?"
[Because you love her?]
"Because I love her."
[I'm sorry.]
After leaving those final three words, the system panel vanished as Ash placed the sunny-side-up egg on a plate.
"Don't worry about it. People like us, once we took that step with you, there was no turning back... Didn't we agree on that long ago?"
Hana, you asked me whether you were someone who deserved happiness. For me... it was the same question.
"Whew... I survived."
Steaming from the bathroom, Hana came out while rubbing her fluffy, damp hair. The moment her eyes caught Ash's back, she frowned deeply.
Pouting, Hana wore Ash's discarded green shirt and dragged her aching ankle behind him. Taking a deep breath, she extended her slender fingers and launched a vicious surprise attack at the back of his waist.
"Hiss—" Ash sucked in a breath from the sudden pain. "What was that for?"
"Newborn!"
"?"
"Ha ha."
Sitting at the other end of the table and having no idea what to say, Kotori could only give two emotionless laughs, treating them as accompaniment for the flashbang before her.
Hana circled around to her seat and collapsed limply onto the table. She weakly poked at the sunny-side-up egg in front of her, but could not manage to move it no matter how hard she tried. After watching her struggle for a while, Ash finally grabbed her by the collar and sat her upright, then used his fork to feed her half an egg yolk.
"Mmm, delicious!" Tasting that indescribable flavor, Hana's eyes lit up and she immediately perked up. Puffing out her cheeks, she began battling the sunny-side-up egg in front of her.
"Hah, who do you think taught me? I wouldn't dare claim I'm the best cook in the universe, but second best is absolutely no problem!"
"Anything Ash makes is delicious! Nom nom—"
How nice...
Watching the two of them from across the table, Kotori rarely got to see her sister smiling so freely. The ordinary yet warm sight before her made her smile like a sister-in-law.
If things were like this, then she could finally stop worrying about her useless sister, right?
She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the two of them as Ash continued feeding Hana sunny-side-up egg. Just as she was about to put it away, a news notification appeared before her eyes. Her eyes widened, and she nearly spat out the delicious food in her mouth.
"Sis, brother-in-law, this is bad! Something huge happened—you're on the news!"
Before you continue