"This was just a dream..."
"A dream..."
Hana repeated the same words over and over, but the pain troubling her heart did not lessen much.
She thought again of that day, when she had accidentally followed Ash into the basement he later shut down. When he was alone, the always-confident Ash had worn such a desolate expression after his helpless rage that it made her heart ache as well.
Back then, she had hugged him from behind to comfort him, but the expression on Ash's face had not relaxed.
Had he noticed something too?
"This was just a dream, right... Ash?"
Hana subconsciously asked the empty space beside her, but received no answer. Only then did she remember that Ash had been incredibly busy ever since the clinic opened and business had taken off, so he had not been staying at her house these past few days. He was temporarily sleeping at the clinic instead.
Dr. Ash, who had always been indifferent toward other patients, seemed to have completely opened up his clinic now so that Dad, Mom, and the others could rest easy. That was why he had become so busy...
"No, that isn't what matters right now."
He had only left temporarily. The old Hana had never been so weak, so afraid of being alone.
They had clearly spent such wonderful times together in this room, but...
There was no trace of his scent here.
"Ash."
Yet Hana still lowered her head and buried her face in the quilt before her.
"I miss you so much..."
The raised bedding concealed the girl's intermittent sobs in the night of her dream.
Case File 92: Please Break Me.
"Who is it?"
Ash, startled awake by the knock at the door, could not help sighing that his vigilance had really deteriorated.
Normally, he should have noticed the moment someone entered this building. Otherwise, if it had been an enemy, he would already be a corpse.
Had my fighting instincts dulled because of Hana? Was this what they meant by... even a hero could not resist a beauty?
"But what's so bad about that? I'm happy to indulge in women~"
Wondering who would come disturb him so early in the morning, Ash was still slightly stunned when he opened the door.
"Hana?"
The Hana before him felt familiar, yet he had almost failed to recognize her.
Her formerly smooth pink hair had returned to its greasy, messy state. Her gloomy expression and awful complexion made her look as though she had stayed up all night until dawn.
Nono Hana looked utterly exhausted and haggard, reminding him of the inexplicable feeling he had experienced when he first met her.
Mm, I kind of want to bully her mercilessly, then hold her in my arms and comfort her properly when she cries.
What a downright vulgar and strange thought.
"What's wrong? You came so early in the morning because you wanted my comfort?"
"Mm..."
Faced with Ash's joke meant to lighten the mood, the girl, who kept her head lowered and showed little enthusiasm, directly admitted it.
Ash closed the door and locked it behind him, then invited Hana to sit by his bed. The two of them, seemingly returning to their doctor-and-patient relationship, began another "systematic" conversation.
"Open your mouth and show me your teeth."
"Ah—"
"No wounds or abnormalities. There clearly isn't anything wrong... Is some part of your body uncomfortable?"
"No... It just feels like... every part of me feels strange..."
"So everywhere feels uncomfortable?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Sorry..." Hana said, sounding slightly embarrassed amid her dejection. "It's just that whenever I think about not being able to see Ash, it hurts so much."
Hm? Miss Nono Hana, are you trying to—
"Are you acting spoiled?"
Everyone had a vulnerable side, and since confirming her relationship with him, she had become increasingly clingy. But as Ash observed her now, he felt that Miss Nono Hana did not seem to be like that at all.
Nono Hana merely lowered her head, pouted, and said nothing. Occasionally, she would raise her head and sneak a few glances at Ash.
Ash also used his powers of observation to look Hana over from head to toe. She had run here wearing only pajamas, and there was no need to mention how her once-delicate features had become disheveled beneath that awful expression and hairstyle. Holding her hand atop her thigh, Ash could feel her subtle trembling. The girl seemed to be desperately holding something back beside him, yet the more she endured it, the worse she looked.
"Ugh..." Only when his excessively intense gaze made her cover her face in genuine embarrassment did Ash close his eyes and begin to think.
If it had been the Hana of the past, Ash would have long since impatiently left her behind for making him "guess" what she was thinking... But now...
I'd rather wrestle a Barbalien than deal with this. You're making this way too hard for me!
"So, Hana, how do you think I should treat you?" With no other option, Ash tossed the question back to her. "Do you want me to hold you, kiss you, and pat your head?"
"...Mm!"
Ash received Hana's solemn affirmation, and only one thought entered his mind.
She wants to take advantage of me?
Then again, with a man and a woman alone in a room, it would be stranger if nothing happened, wouldn't it?
It wasn't as if a boy and a girl would each pull out a deck of cards and start playing poker.
"Ash... I..."
"I don't want you to die."
Why was she bringing that up? Could it be...
"I—"
Ash, who had been utterly baffled, finally showed a look of realization as he understood why the girl had come.
"I'm happy."
Had she already learned something?
Was she also so afraid of being abandoned?
Originally, Ash naturally had not wanted Hana to learn about his "little secret." It would only give her unnecessary worries and serve no other purpose.
So the girl had chosen to understand in her own way. Even if she had only caught a few vague hints, she still wanted to do something for him in her own way.
Hana rose from the bedside and walked before Ash. The Hana who usually did not overthink things now had a rare depth in her eyes.
She had noticed it too. Ash had no intention of telling her the truth... Even knowing that he meant well, Hana still felt terribly stifled inside.
"Whenever my heart thinks about not being able to see Ash..."
I don't want Ash to leave. I want to be with you.
"It hurts so, so much."
I want Ash to stay.
Forever...
Forever—
"So please."
Forever and ever, until we become an old man and an old woman, we should still sit together, lean against each other, and doze off.
"Please make this hurting me..."
After the white cotton pajamas with cute flower patterns were placed on the bed, a layer of pure white gauze that made even Ash's eyes light up drifted down along her smooth skin as lightly as a feather.
With nothing left to cover her, she no longer felt embarrassed.
It would probably be hard to get used to... but.
In front of the person I love, there is not a single part of my body that is shameful!
"Feel better now?"
At the very least, if I can make you a little happier...
"Crash!"
This time, Hana took the initiative. She pushed the silent Ash back onto the bed and climbed on top of him.
"Mm... As I thought..."
Her cheeks flushed prettily as Hana looked at the still-silent Ash beneath her and cautiously asked,
"As I thought, is Ash angry at me for being like this?"
"Angry would be going too far." Looking at Hana's expression, as though she were drunk, Ash placed his broad palm against her face and stroked downward along her pink-and-white skin. "I'm just a little stunned."
As expected, you're "drunk."
"But you know, I don't consider myself the kind of person ruled by lust. Once you start this, though, it won't be something you can end afterward, understand?"
"Mm, I know!" Hana, her hands braced against Ash's firm chest, revealed a genuinely happy smile.
At least, if I can make Ash a little happier...
"I'll take responsibility for Ash."
As the girl's breathing gradually became hurried, the subtle air around them truly began to grow sweet.
"You really dare to say that, Miss Hana."
"Mm... Please..."
Hana leaned close to the man's ear and breathed out in a seductive tone she had never imagined using in her life.
"Break me~?"
Afterward, Nono Hana learned.
"Eek~ Ahh~ You can't be so rough—?"
"That cute voice suits you better."
His evaluation of her "first time" before.
"You can't just use your mouth either~?"
Had been a little too conservative.
Case File 93: Nono Kotori's One-Day "Dog Food" Tour
"Ding-dong~"
"Kotori! Come on in, come in and sit."
The fashionable girl Ash warmly welcomed inside removed the sunglasses from the bridge of her nose and rubbed her aching brow. Then, after taking another careful look at the man before her and figuring out why the flower-patterned pajamas he wore looked so familiar, her expression immediately turned from annoyance to contempt.
If I remember correctly, those have always been my sister's pajamas, right?
Like lightning splitting across the back of her mind, Nono Kotori recalled having witnessed a similar scene. Her brain cells instantly began boiling as the images in her memory connected into one complete "storyline."
"Cough, cough..."
The girl wanted to greet the man who was most likely now that person to her with a polite smile, but the twitching corners of her mouth only allowed her to produce a few symbolic noises. They were truly not pleasant to hear.
But Ash did not mind. He even poured her a cup of barley tea.
Not bad, right, Hana? It doesn't fit my usual image of you, but overall, you've become pretty good now, haven't you?
[Perhaps this is what you truly feel inside.]
Before you continue