Kamen Rider Is Playing the Villain in Pretty Cure

"..."

Was it really my fault?

"Come to think of it, why had everyone suddenly gone full-on aggressive and come after me lately?"

I thought they had naturally accepted the Crystal Palace... No, was it precisely because they had accepted it that this was happening?

"Still, Rikka had seemed a little strange lately... Hmm, Kirara?"

Standing alone on the nighttime balcony, leaning into the cold wind as her two ponytails fluttered behind her—if that beautiful figure was not Kirara, who else could it be?

"You're in quite the mood, Kirara. But standing alone in the cold wind to look cool is a privilege reserved for real men, you know~"

"..."

How strange. She had not retorted to something that chauvinistic. That was not like the usual Kirara.

"What's wrong?"

Leaning against the railing beside her, the boy stopped fooling around and asked calmly.

"In a bad mood? Did I do something uncool to upset you again?"

"..."

"They always said child characters had special privileges in tokusatsu shows. Even heroes would risk their lives to save them. So if I did anything wrong, please forgive me for the child's sake, Kirara~"

"It has nothing to do with Ash."

At the sound of his voice, Kirara instead averted her gaze.

"Not at all."

If she said that, then it definitely had something to do with him.

I had already apologized, yet she still was not cheered up. Apparently, this was not something that could be solved so easily.

"Kirara, I thought the relationship between us was pretty good, wasn't it?"

He moved a little closer to her, and the girl did not seem inclined to avoid him.

"Didn't we work together back then? In the end, Kirara's light bloomed on the stage and blinded all those ordinary people."

"They were my