Kamen Rider is playing the villain in Pretty Cure

Ash and Nonoka sat together, back to back, separated by a thin wooden door.

Putting a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it and taking a deep breath, Ash almost coughed out his lungs. No matter how many worlds later, he still couldn't understand how those old smokers could use cigarettes to relieve their boredom.

Hua, who was listening to the coughing sound with some worry, also felt a prickly touch next to her hand that was placed on the crack of the door.

"Ahem... want some? Chocolate, it's delicious. I'll treat you."

He put his ear to the door and listened attentively. After a long silence, he finally heard the sound of chewing like a hamster, which became faster and faster. Ash shook his head and threw the half-burned cigarette into the trash can in the distance.

"What? Do you still hate me? Haha, you fucked me and I fucked you, and I thought we were even."

"..."

"Okay, okay, I apologize." Ash said, holding his head high and surrendering. "Even in this situation, I won't tell lame jokes."

"puff."

Smiling, that's a good sign.

Ash's problem now is how to get her to open the door herself. This door is like the heart of a flower. As long as it is opened even a little, he has a way to pry it open for her.

But what she needs most is for her to open her heart, even if only a little bit.

"Dr. Ash..."

"Do you hate Nonoka?"

Isn't it Nonoka instead of Cure Yell?

Is it such a heavyweight question right at the start?

"it's OK."

"Do you like me?"

Ash opened his mouth and slowly closed it.

【Extra】Case File 67 The only thing I can’t express is love.

"Do you like me?"

Nonoka asked again.

"..."

Ash couldn't come up with an answer.

Ash couldn't come up with an answer to that question.

I'm not very sensitive to this because I'm not interested in thinking about it, but I'm not a fool.

What he didn't want to admit but had to admit now was that he had indeed been attracted to "Nonoka", who he thought was just an ordinary person.

If you like someone and love someone, and she also chooses to give you the same amount of love and life, it means that you must bear the same weight of "responsibility" as her.

So he could make those perverted "confessions" to Cure Yell at will.

But no matter what, I can't make a promise to Nonoka easily.

Because of this, he rejected her confession at that time.

because.....

System, can I stay in this world?

A virtual projection panel appeared in front of Ash. The square and lifeless generated fonts lacked the most basic human touch.

[You know what you are doing.]

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

[Do you know what you are doing?]

"I know."

I can feel it.

She is seeking peace.

She is looking forward to happiness.

But I couldn't fulfill her wish.

If what you are pursuing is on the other side of the world.

In the end, Ash didn't give his answer.

After a long period of silence, Ash finally heard Hana's voice become gloomy and decadent.

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

"This kind of thing doesn't matter anymore."

"Go away..." Her voice gradually took on a thick, nasal tone as she spoke. "The Cure Yell you're looking for isn't even here anymore..."

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

Fool.

To be honest, even Ash himself couldn't believe that he could make such a gentle and low voice.

He was really bad at comforting people.

"Nonoka, I can't meet your expectations... and I'm not qualified to bear your feelings..."

"Idiot!" Ash finally cursed, his temper rising. "What does qualifications have to do with it? If that's the case, then who was that silly girl who always ran to me? Who was the eldest daughter of the couple who owns this house? And who was the sister that made Nono Kotori cry and worry?!"

“Um, that is…”

"Hana, that's what you think, right?" Ash's voice lost its gentleness as he grew impatient, yet revealed a sincerity even rarer than gentleness. "You feel like your rampage insulted the existence of Precure, and you nearly killed your friend, nearly causing a terrible mistake. And finally, you did something wrong—you fell in love with someone you shouldn't have!"

"I know it must be hard for you to sustain this. The pain accumulated over the years is unleashed all at once, making it hard to sustain this! But let me tell you, everyone makes mistakes. I've seen so many heroes, and there's no such thing as a hero who never makes mistakes or fails! I daresay, given the same circumstances, they wouldn't necessarily do as well as you!"

Even though she was listening to these words of encouragement, Hua trembled even more and buried herself deeper into her knees.

Ash... Thank you, thank you for being so much stronger than me and for still being able to comfort me - but, but!

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

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

"But I care—"

With her back against the door, Nonoka's voice, full of tears and almost a roar, interrupted Ash's words. Then her voice, while crying, was intermittently heard by the increasingly shocked Ash.

"I care about Precure, I care about Saaya, I care about everyone—and I don't love the wrong person!"

"flower...?"

"It's just that I'm no longer qualified and can no longer love anyone!"

"Goodbye, Ash."

"flower-!"

Ash heard a rustling sound behind the door and stood up again, feeling something was wrong.

Well, since I can't break the door, I'll just break the wall!

"Please, don't come to me again."

The conversation upstairs came to an abrupt end. After the loud explosion, Nono Kotori and Nonoka's parents heard the sound of windows breaking and things falling on the lawn outside the house, and finally...

"Step aside--!"

Ash, who had just been chatting with Hana upstairs, was now rushing down the stairs at a very fast speed. His newly recovered body made some bad sounds due to the intense exercise, but he could no longer care about that.

After he rode away, only the Nono family was left looking at each other in bewilderment at the obviously green electric wheelchair left behind by Ash.

"What happened?"

Ignoring the Nono family who were worrying about Ash's address in the wheelchair, Ash was now concentrating on catching up with Nonoka who was running fast in front of him.

What do you mean by not being able to transform? This is——

"Stop, Hana! Don't move!"

Regardless of whether the wind pressure beside him could convey his words, Ash just tried to stop the woman who was running in front of him with his head down, using his loudest voice.

Ash's words behind him did not stop Nonoka from moving forward. On the contrary, Nonoka squeezed out even more of the little energy she had left in her body and her physical strength that was almost at its limit.

The chains were crumbling, the cells were decaying, and the diversion of materials meant for repairing them only worsened the situation.

It's laughing.

Nonoka in front continued to run wildly, and her congested alveoli and aching legs screamed but she couldn't slow down. Ash, who was chasing Nonoka from behind, could already feel his ankle breaking.

This blood-vomiting marathon that began because of a slip of the tongue and a dead heart is still going on, and the time is forcibly extended in a way that destroys the body. Any conscientious Olympic referee would angrily stop this behavior, cursing and sending the two people to the hospital. But there are no such heroes here, only passers-by who are dazed by the wind pressure, two confused runners and an urban legend that is about to take shape.

I don’t know how long they ran, until the two of them could no longer see the tall buildings, and this desperate chase came to an end.

Nonoka could no longer run. Her weak "tomorrow's energy" had long been drained. Her gloomy heart was unable to produce new tomorrow's energy. Her lungs, which were as painful as if they were burned by fire, refused to continue supporting her body.

Nonoka coughed up blood from her slightly opened mouth, and there was nothing in her dilated pupils.

It was no longer possible. There was no chance of running away. Even if he didn't receive immediate medical treatment, this repeatedly battered body would lose the possibility of continuing to live. But—

What has sustained her until now has quietly become something other than the "energy of tomorrow".

Nonoka's body paused, and then slowly fell down as if in slow motion.

【Bonus】Case File 68 Absolute Despair Girl

The bandage he had pressed under his clothes became increasingly stained with blood as his movements became more intense, but Ash didn't care about these things anymore.

Stop!

In the worst way!

"Hana!!" Ash, who arrived late, looked at the woman who was about to collapse. His previous medical knowledge told him that if he did not receive comprehensive and multi-level medical treatment as soon as possible, this might be the last time Nonoka collapsed in her life.

He rushed over without thinking.

He believed he could create miracles again.

However, compared to the body, the scarred heart and spirit are the parts that need to be "healed" more... No.

Maybe it's already beyond cure.

Just as Ash was about to rush over to catch her, Hana lost her strength, fell backwards, and finally collapsed to the ground. It was as if the pause button had been pressed! It stopped abruptly at this moment!

Her waist was tilted back and twisted in the air at 90 degrees, her hands limp on the ground, like a puppet with its skeleton removed but still hanging by invisible threads. Hua maintained this bizarre performance, and bit by bit, the last bit of warmth disappeared, and she looked at Ash with a smile uglier than crying.

just now.

Even Ash, who smiled fearfully, and Ash, who laughed at murderous intent and darkness.

He also found some feelings in his heart that he had long forgotten, that is...uncomfortable.

Faced with such a mysterious scene, Ash did not feel any fear in his heart, but only felt sadness towards the flowers.

Why, I am not afraid of death, but tears are falling, why?

As if after pressing the replay button, his figure stood up again like a puppet, with his hands opened and raised on both sides, as if imitating Nonoka nailed to the cross. Ash's heart was echoing with that extremely real heartbeat, a heartbeat that he could almost hear himself.

I want to save her

At this moment, Ash completely put aside his cynical mood, the desire to do whatever he wanted, and the unfillable emptiness.

Now there is only one voice and one thought in my heart.

I want to save her

If you know what you want to do, that's enough.

Ash took a deep breath, and when he opened his dark pupils that were beginning to shrink again, it was as if something was completely burned out in his eyes that seemed to be burning with flames, and Ash, like a completely different person, stood in front of her.

She was laughing, but Ash could hear her crying very clearly.