Chapter 54

Extra Case File 54 Twisted Love and Love’s Twisting

Ash’s anger was escalating, the tailor-made suit’s fabric began to tear as his muscles expanded, causing spectators to have an illusion that they were seeing an angry whale charging towards them in reverse. They naturally started to step aside.

At this moment, Ash was vexed and enraged, just like the feeling you get when you’ve reserved your last piece of roast pork for later but the guy beside you eats it without a second thought. That was how Ash reacted now.

Hana is my patient, I can say whatever I want about her, but anyone else daring to comment on her… Who are you to tell me what to do? Who are you to judge? Besides, this guy chose the perfect timing for mischief.

“Is it you?”

Originally, he had no special thoughts, he just wanted to watch the movie quickly.

Now, his mentality was slightly different; his heart guided him towards another action.

Somewhat, that makes me angry.

“Hold it! Where are you going?”

He burst through the人流 making way for him, shaking off Himizuki and the others calling out from behind, as Ash’s eyes only had one goal. He advanced straight in that direction. Sure enough, he caught the disheveled man engrossed in a book, wearing white T-shirt, blocking his path in a hallway.

“In full bloom, even the most beautiful flowers will eventually wither and fall. The only way to eternalize beauty is to halt all those beautiful moments.”

Ash did not respond. His hands were in his pockets, his gaze, akin to an awakened lion’s, marched step by step towards him.

“If we stop progressing into the future, tragedy can be prevented.”

“Ash, you’re wrong, and I’m in the right.”

Still silent, Ash had come closer now, the disheveled man remained confidently smug.

“What you did means nothing. I mistakenly believed that like a blazing fire, you would ignite yourself, rescue a pitiable girl, bring new possibilities to the future. But I was wrong.”

Ash did not speak. He pulled out his right hand from his pocket, planting his legs firmly, his waist as the axis. All muscles tensed like tightly coiled ropes at the end of his arm upon lifting, thunderously and explosively as if struck by furious lightning.

“All you’ve done is burn and pierce her outstretched hand with a poisonous flame. Even if she survives beyond her fate, she will repeatedly suffer burns from these flames.”

“Your outcome is decided. Stay away from her from now on. Regrettably, this world abandons her. Only in another world can I save her—Ikawa!!!”

A sound could be heard, crisp, of something breaking.

The torn book clutched in the man’s hand, his bulging veins visibly showing in rage, face imprinted with fist-shaped marks. Blood and saliva poured from his mouth, his teeth standing out, and the man flew headfirst through the glass and into the grass outside.

“My hand is burning red and hot!”

Before him, Ash clenched his fist in a ‘Fierce Tiger Fist’ stance, his enraged face highlighted his knuckles radiating heat.

“It howls, demanding I beat you hard!!!”

Leaping from ten meters high, Ash ignored the injuries from the glass, striking the repulsive face again.

“Guh… ugh… worst…”

The girl’s teardrops splashed onto the red rose decoration on her chest.

She stared at the stains on her dress caused by her spit, with unbearable pressure, the mature and graceful woman Hana aspired to become, fell apart once more in disillusionment.

Indeed, why am I drifting so far from who I imagined myself to be since childhood… Maybe, these past eight years spent almost exclusively as ‘Cure Yell’, I never had time or energy to nurture the existence of ‘Hana’.

“This isn’t a toilet, Hana.” Without turning back, she knew, that distinctive tone of playful defiance belonged to her doctor’s voice.

“Ash Doctor, am I…” When Ash approached, hunched up like a frightened bird beside the car, Hana mocked herself, exhausted and powerless. “Very ugly? Haha…”

“Like a hideous duckling among swans, even in the same pond, I’ll never turn into the pure white feathers I desire.”

Those words of self-abandon, she wouldn’t have uttered before, came out of Hana’s own mouth now.

She remembered it again.

‘In fact, I am that Cure Yell, Precure!’

‘A nice joke, keep going.’

How cruel…

I gathered the courage to give you everything, to have someone to rely on, to protect you, and for you to protect me too.

It’s the first time I told someone this… Why… why did you say it like that!

Even if it’s Ash, it’s still too much!

Recalling how her budding hope was suddenly dashed upon hearing it treated as a joke, Hana felt more aggrieved than ever.

“This surely is very ugly.” Wiping blood from his fists, Ash, oblivious to her true feelings due to her playful self-loathing, added fuel to the fire. “But why tell me this? You always knew I don’t care about such things.”

“But I do care!” Kneeling down, hiding her expression from the man but letting the sound of Hana’s sobbing reach his ears, “I care! I care that you, the person I care about, sees me like this!”

Does my only meaning exist as Cure Yell?!

“I really do… I want an ordinary life like other girls…”

Pearls of light fell and shattered on the ground, her back trembling slightly from being turned to Akash.

What did I do? I just took down a stalker, what did I say wrong? Why cry all of a sudden?

Gazing with a blank expression, unable to react, reaching out helplessly, he put his hand back, restless, refusing to acknowledge the obviously troubled Hana.

“Ash.”

Hana, no longer trembling, stood up, her makeup smeared from tears, facing him. Her hair, which had apparently been untied by the wind, framed her face in a sorrowful yet beautiful manner.

“I like you.”

Ash shifted his feet, pausing their relentless tapping.

Due to the light’s angle, Hana couldn’t see Ash’s expression covered in darkness. She yearned for his embrace, enduring the meaningless wait that seemed agonizingly long.

Maybe it was only a second, or perhaps half an hour, but any duration felt equally painful to her.

“Hana.” Ash spoke emphatically. “I already like someone.”

The heartbeat, stopped for a moment.

“Oh, who is she?” Despite her pained smile, Hana pinched the back of her other hand, placing both on the front of her dress, which appeared pale and devoid of color. “Is it Yu, or Saori? Himizuki-sensei is also good~”

“The name of that woman.” Ash shook his head at her, but a smile crept across his face just thinking of the name. “It’s Cure Yell.”

“Is…?”

“You are quite similar.” The man’s statement made her tremble, then plummeted her mood. “But you’re not her.”

Hana’s pained smile grew even more radiant.

She gripped the other hand tighter, nearly forcing bruises into her pale skin.

“Is…”

Is that so… So Hana is just a subsidiary item for Cure Yell?

“That’s it.”

Then, who am I?

For Hana, the only thing left now is this.

Biting her lips fiercely to avoid crying too loudly.

And smiling.