Kamen Rider is playing the villain in Pretty Cure

"Saiya, you haven't rested since finishing your last film, right? You immediately took on a new job... Are you still so concerned about this matter with your mother?"

"Yes...."

After hearing what Hua said, Sa Ling finally took off her disguise after a moment of silence. Her decent smile disappeared in an instant, revealing a cold and unconcealable tired look.

Ash couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he saw her expression change in an instant, and sighed in his heart that she was indeed a star actress. Compared to the awkward feeling she brought to him when she smiled before, her real and ugly side now made him feel somewhat charming.

"Saiya, you've always wanted to surpass your mother's achievements, so you've been working hard to prove yourself." Hua glanced back at Ash, and seeing that he didn't look displeased, she continued to advise him earnestly. "But is it really okay for you to constantly push yourself to achieve such a great achievement?"

"No!" She was startled by the usually gentle and polite Saaya's sudden outburst. "Everyone, everyone always talks about my mother when they talk about me. She's not here, but they keep talking about her!"

As the disguise was removed, the darkness brought by the fatigue that erupted from the depths of her soul also enveloped Sa Ling's entire body. Some of the energy that seemed familiar to Ash floated into her body and sank into the sky.

Is this the "violent energy" unique to this world? Ash seemed to understand why Cure Yell had fought alone for eight years but could never defeat all the enemies.

Because everyone in this world is a source of violent energy, so it is endless.

"They always talk about it right in front of me, but they're not talking about me, they're talking about her! It's as if everything I've achieved so far was gifted to me by her genes. Don't you think this is too much for me?"

At this moment, Sa Ling threw away all her burdens, and poured out her grievances to Hana in a somewhat hysterical manner, confessing everything in her heart that had long since turned dark.

I am my own independent existence, not a sequel to Yakushiji Reira! I don't want to live in her shadow forever!

"I have my own goals. I encourage others and am willing to serve as a supporting role for others. You won't understand me, the flowers!" As she spoke, perhaps the fatigue from daily work also took away her gentleness. Her words gradually became aggressive and she even became unkind to her friend's flowers.

"Sa-Saiya?" Hana was stunned for a moment. Perhaps even she didn't expect that her companion would say such excessive words to her.

That's... too much!

"Oh, why are you talking about someone else?"

With a gentle tug, Hua, who looked a little aggrieved, fell backwards onto the sofa beside him. With his eyes narrowed, Yaxiu came over and stood in front of her as she was about to stand up subconsciously.

The black pupils instantly solidified, and he unconsciously moved closer to the hesitant blue eyes. After staring into the doubtful and retreating eyes for half a minute, Ash finally distanced himself and came to a conclusion on the spot.

"No, you can't do this."

Ash's sudden words made Sa Ling frown for a moment. She immediately shifted all her attention to him and waited to see what advice he had.

"Let me ask you, is your goal to become a powerful person praised by everyone, or to surpass your mother?"

"Aren't these two things the same?" Sa Ling was speechless for a moment, completely unable to understand the meaning of the other party's words.

"Of course it's different. The reason you keep emphasizing the need to surpass this is because you believe deep down that you're not as good as your mother, right?"

As soon as Ash said this without any scruples, the scene froze instantly. Sa Ling opened her lips with trembling lips, but she couldn't say anything.

This person said the same words as the flame of that time!

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

I...is it really not possible?

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【Bonus】Case File 49 Where will the hazy mind lead me?

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Seeing Saya's trembling expression that was about to break down, Ash shook his head, because her behavior was just as he imagined. Her thoughts began to waver after he said a few words to her. No matter what such a person said, how could she do good things?

"You, are a smart person, right?" Although he said so, there was no praise in Ash's words.

In fact, it is precisely because they are smart that they often complicate simple things. The so-called cleverness backfires, and causing trouble and frustration to themselves is the common development of this type of people.

So instead of dealing with such smart people, I still prefer the usual hot-blooded and foolish protagonists. After all, they will not be bound by difficulties. When they can't think clearly, they will always let their bodies move first. And this hot-blooded action is precisely the key to breaking this dilemma.

Thinking of this, Ash couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Nonoka beside him. He believed that if he said this to her, this girl would definitely not be easily confused. Because she probably didn't have the hardware requirements to run the program of confusion in her head~

"?"

Nonoka tilted her head inexplicably with some displeasure. She instinctively felt that she seemed to have been dissed by someone somewhere.

"That's why I said you can't do it."

“People who think they can’t do something will keep emphasizing the same thing, as if they can do it if they keep saying it more.”

"But that's not how things actually work. If you think that way, that you can't do it, then even if you do succeed and become the star among stars that you want to be, you won't be able to do it."

"Then you are still destined to be weaker than others. That's not possible."

"After all, you chose this path yourself~"

The blue-haired woman's raised hand fell down powerlessly, and the expression on her face was completely obscured by the shadow cast by her lowered head. Yakushiji Saaya was completely silent.

After talking to Sa Ling to the point of autism in just a few words, Ash ignored the subtle looks from the side, and lay leisurely on the sofa behind him, hiding his achievements and fame, and drank the remaining iced black tea in one gulp.

As for Nonoka? She watched the entire thing but didn't know how to interrupt, so she could only express her emotions with a dissatisfied pout. After all, unlike Cure Yell, who can do anything, Nonoka without her transformation is just an ordinary girl who can do nothing.

But this guy...why is he so malicious towards my friends?!

"Really... I'm so sorry to disturb you." Picking up the handbag beside her, Sa Ling quickly bowed to the two of them, and fled from this little world that made her feel depressed with unsteady steps.

"Wait, wait - Sa Ling!" Instinctively wanting to keep her friend, Hua, who had a face like Erkang behind her, only had time to stretch out her hand, but was completely unable to catch the other person's back who had already disappeared at the door.

"Doctor Ash..."

"Oh, she left on her own. I didn't chase her away, did I?" Ash, completely guilt-free, placed the glass on the table. He caught sight of "Nonohana" written on it from the corner of his eye, and a slight pang of guilt made him pretend to ignore it as he pushed the glass back. "I just gave her a little wake-up call. She couldn't handle it, so don't blame me."

Ash's shamelessness made Hana, who loved smiling, unable to hold back. After a series of funny changes, her stiff expression finally turned into dead fish eyes.

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

"Sometimes, being gentle all the time is useless, understand?" The man pointed a finger at Hua's forehead, which was exposed between her curls, with a sense of righteousness. "And didn't you see last time that my method works very well?"

But what happened to Yu last time was too dangerous, wasn't it?!

"Even so... I still think this method of hurting people is wrong... There must be a way to help everyone embrace the future!"

"Really? Then just drown yourself holding this future~" He mercilessly bent and flicked his index finger, giving Hua a blow on the head. Seeing her falling on the sofa with her hands covering her head and screaming in pain, Ash stood up with a laugh and walked to another place in the room.

"Hey~ What is this?"

"Ah—wait, that's a picture of me as a kid!"

In the photo in the frame in Ash's hand, Hua, who was a size smaller than what Ash remembered, was squatting on the ground in her junior high school uniform. Her slightly curly pink hair covered half of her sad expression, leaving only tears of infinite grievance flowing down.

This is a photo that Hua had kept and didn't want anyone else to see. She kept it until she had almost forgotten about it, but now, somehow, Ash found it.

Seeing Ash's inquiring look, Hua, who had hesitated for a long time, finally told Ash about the time when she stood up for a classmate who was bullied in junior high school, but was alienated and treated coldly by all the classmates. She had to spend the entire junior high school alone.

This experience dealt an unimaginable blow to Hua at that time, and completely changed her life.

But at the same time, I also gained the ability to precure at that time. I fought desperately alone, probably because I wanted to forget this sad loneliness.

At least, I won’t be alone when I’m protecting everyone.

But there was still one question that puzzled Hana. It was something she didn't want others to know, so why was she able to tell Ash so easily now...?

"Oh, it's just school bullying." His fingers gently brushed over the heartbreaking teardrops on the photo, scraping off the forgotten layer of dust on the glass surface. "Just like me back then."

"Hey, Mr. Ash was also..." Hua's heart paused when she heard the topic casually revealed by the other party.

"Ah, because I used to be a guy who didn't like to talk or pay attention to others. I was kind of a loner genius. So, some vulgar people wanted to boast about their own strength, so they used their underdeveloped brains to block me in the bathroom and teach me a lesson."

Ash told this story in a calm tone, as if it was not a big deal. Just when Hana was about to be afraid to listen to what was going to happen next, Ash chuckled twice without any psychological burden.

"Then, I pushed them all into the toilet one by one, and didn't release the flush button until they begged for mercy. Ha, you really should see the fear in the eyes of those guys who wanted to bully others when they were bullied by others. It's so funny~"

Hua's heart trembled again. Although she didn't know why the bullying that Ash mentioned was more terrifying than she had imagined, Hua still knew what the consequences would be if she did this.

"But if that happens, everyone will be scared, and Dr. Ash will be alone..."

If that's the case, then wouldn't Mr. Ash and I have the same lonely life at that time?

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be too sad?

"I'm not alone." Looking at the photo of Hua crying with an extremely aggrieved expression, Ash thought of himself, and thought of himself who was always alone, and couldn't help laughing.

"Because, isn't there a 'companion' in front of me who has experienced the same thing as me?"

"How can I be lonely in this case?"

The devilish smile on Ash's face was perfectly frozen in Hua's heart at this moment.

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【Bonus】Case File 50 I Hope You Are Here

"I'm not alone. I have a 'companion' in front of me who's going through the same thing as me. How can I be lonely?"

These were not specially prepared lines. Ash spoke these meaningful words to Hana completely from his heart, and he obviously did not notice that the "flower" on Nonohana's face had truly begun to "bloom brilliantly".

After he finished talking and laughing, Ash felt that a certain burden that had been hidden deep in his heart was suddenly relieved.

'Wait, I think I accidentally said a lot of outrageous things just because of the atmosphere?' When this thought appeared in Ash's mind, he realized what he had said.

Originally, he was just curious and interested, but when he saw the photo of Nonoka staggering with tears in her eyes as a child, and added to what she said about her entire repressed elementary school childhood spent in isolation and bullying, a certain emotion that rarely appeared in Ash - empathy was successfully aroused by her pitiful appearance.

When Ash thought about what happened to Nonoka, he felt very unhappy... No, he was extremely unhappy!

It was clearly someone else's business, but he, who called himself a "lone wolf" and never empathized with ordinary people, felt angry for Nonoka just by listening to her retelling of her experience.

What does it mean to stand up for someone who is being bullied, only to end up isolating the person you are protecting, the bully, and all your classmates?

If it were me, I'd absolutely shove everyone who betrayed me, anyone who didn't realize their own strength and took action, and even anyone who just watched into the toilet! I wouldn't release the waterproof button until they cried and begged me to surrender! XBZZ, you really haven't seen what a black hand is, right?! — Ugh, why am I losing my mind again?

It was this kind of "empathy" that even he himself couldn't explain that made Ash, without even realizing it, talk about his own similar experiences, even his parents' divorce, as if he had found some kind of outlet, and he told everything in one breath.

Isn't this bizarre? This is something I didn't want to talk about as a kid!

But I actually have a relationship with this woman...my relationship with her, when it's clearly just to repay a favor and because she's my patient, right? Although teasing her cute side is fun...when did our relationship become so good?

"Ah, about that." Ash was about to explain when he felt a wave of shame rising from his feet to his head. He was so embarrassed that he could have dug a three-bedroom, one-living-room street out of his toes. Unexpectedly shy, Ash was too embarrassed to even look at Hua's face. "Anyway, he said some weird things, just treat it as a joke."

Well, I don't really care... probably.

"No, how could it be!" Ash vaguely noticed that Nonoka's low voice did not seem to be caused by the usual half-dead low pressure, but it seemed as if the voice was pressed by something very heavy... What was it?

"A...Ash...Doctor Ash."

"Ah—hmm?"

With such momentum that even Ash was unable to react, Hua actively interlocked her fingers with Ash's hand, unwilling to let go, and the warmth was transmitted through the touching bodies.

"Thank you! I really, really appreciate it for Ash to say such words to me!" He moved closer and looked into those dark eyes. The thing in his heart seemed to come alive at this moment, and the beating became stronger and stronger, as if it was about to jump out of his chest!

"Very happy."

If, if at that time, at that time, there was someone like Ash by my side, helping me...

In a trance, I seemed to be back in that elementary school classroom. When I was feeling wronged and crying alone under their indifferent gaze, a little boy with a dark back rushed up with his fists raised.

"What did you do? Apologize to her!" The boy stood in front of the girl, waving his fists loudly and shouting at everyone.

If there was someone like Ash at that time... then my role as a Pretty Cure wouldn't be flawed, right?

"I..." Staring at the eyes that contained something, his right hand, which was hanging stiffly behind the flower, finally clenched tightly and hugged the pink-haired beauty in front of him into his arms.

"If someone bullies you again, just tell me and I'll help you beat him up!"

At least with this level of commitment, I can help you without the power of the Time Flame.

Maybe you are really special to me.

As Ash moved, the curly pink bangs that covered his right eye on his forehead were thrown up. The cherry-pink eyes that had inadvertently charmed Ash were now captured by the "love" that overflowed in his heart.

Hua had blushed and her heart skipped a beat many times because of Ash's careless actions, but never like today. The red on her face was no longer due to shame, but the brilliance of spring.

"Yeah!" Tears seeped out from the corners of her eyes. They were the color of all the grievances and sadness that had been accumulated in her heart until today.

"Ash, we are not alone."

On Hana's face was the same smile as Ash's.

"If you don't hurry, someone else will snatch it away."

Xiaoniao's words seemed to still echo in her ears, making her clench her fists.

Dr. Ash....

You said we were companions... Maybe. I have a strange feeling that compared to you, who have always hidden something, even someone like me, who now carries a dual identity, may not be as sad as you.