Chapter 18 - It's Your Fault for Making Me Angry
"Abah—"
With a peculiar trailing tone, Bel received a simultaneous pummeling to his face from the united attacks of Precure and Kamen Rider. He flew into the sky like a firework with a series of sparkling trails behind him, only to crash into the river with a splash.
"As expected, it's you."
Observing Bel plummeting from the sky and landing in the water with a cry of agony, Ash, beneath his Kamen Rider mask, revealed an expression of "just as I thought."
"How did you discover me?!"
Emerging from the water like a wet dog, Bel climbed up the dock in a sorry state, shaking off seaweed from his head and pointing at Ash in disbelief as he questioned him.
"Don't ask such obvious questions, okay?" Ash lightly scraped his finger against the blade of his Dragon Military Sword, producing a crisp "clang" sound. He disdainfully pointed the sword's edge at Bel.
"But considering your stupidity, I'll explain it specially for you." He gestured towards Ai, who was still looking at her fist in disbelief. "When she blurted out that I had kidnapped Aii-chan for no reason, the answer became obvious—someone wanted to use her as a pawn."
"In addition, your deliberate phone call earlier. Even a fool could guess who it was, right?"
"I figured you wouldn't be too far away. So, I had my Contract Monsters search for other people through mirrors." As he mentioned it, Dragblacker swam to his side and rested on a reflective surface, emitting a couple of roars to highlight its role.
After all, when the Contract Monsters gets hungry, it comes out from the mirror world and targets life energy. It has a keen sense of the existence of life energy, so even if Bel tried to conceal his presence, he couldn't deceive it.
"So, the previous battle was just a show put on for me?!" Bel's defenses instantly crumbled. He never expected that the clown was himself.
Didn't he agree that if he wanted to fight them, he wouldn't mind such "trivial matters"?
What he didn't realize was that Ash did enjoy fighting, but he wasn't willing to be used as a tool when there was no benefit. He wasn't that kind-hearted.
"I've already said it, don't ask such obvious questions."
Resting the back of the blade against his shoulder armor, Ash turned his gaze back to Ai.
"But I am curious, Heart. How did you figure it out?"
"No." Meeting Ash's eyes behind the grid of her face mask, Ai shook her head. "I didn't actually figure it out."
Now it was Ash's turn to be filled with question marks. She didn't figure it out? Then how did she coordinate with him so well?
Seemingly sensing Ash's perplexity through his mask, Ai began to reveal her discovery.
As it turned out, this all traced back to yesterday. Upon learning that her childhood friend Rikka had friends she didn't know about, Ai secretly took note of it. She embarked on a mission, driven by her social curiosity, asking people if they had seen Rikka with anyone. Finally, she managed to ask about the incident where Rikka and Ash had saved a baby together.
"So, after learning about that, I was certain that Ash-san, who would save a baby, would never harm Aii-chan!"
It seemed that based solely on this point, Ai believed in Ash. She observed his actions and cooperated with him, leading to the exposure of Bel.
"You..." Upon hearing Ai's account, even the experienced Ash was surprised by her determination.
She truly deserves to be a woman who can become a Precure.
"Ash-san, you really aren't a bad person!" Ai approached Ash with bright eyes that sparkled like stars, carrying an indescribable admiration. "If you can become friends with Rikka, then you can surely become friends with the Precure too!"
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"But Rikka is my closest friend, and I won't just give her away to Ash!" Unaccustomed to this level of enthusiasm, Ash quickly pushed her away. "First, I only said to leave me alone if she doesn't bother me. I never said I wanted to be friends with her."
"And second, don't talk about Hishikawa Rikka as if she's some object of yours."
"It's not a big deal." Ai spoke with a matter-of-fact tone. "Isn't Rikka my possession?"
"Stop with the flirting here!" An angry Bel, appearing out of nowhere, held Aii-chan, who had just regained consciousness, with a frightened expression. "Don't move. If you don't want her to get hurt, get out of my way!"
"Aii-chan! Bel, you're despicable!" Seeing the threat to Aii-chan, Ai became nervous.
"Waaah!" Aii-chan, filled with fear, wore a face on the verge of tears. Witnessing Ai's hesitation, Bel revealed a cunning smile.
The other person turned their head and looked at Dragblacker behind Bel, confirming that it was in standby mode in the mirror behind him. Ash approached Bel with an arrogantly confident stride.
"Taking hostages, huh? That's a typical villainous move."
Feeling the pressure mounting, Bel immediately used Aii-chan as a shield. "What are you planning? Aren't you afraid of what I might do to her?!"
"You're the one who captured her. Why should I step aside?"
"Are you... are you serious?!"
Bel suddenly realized it. Yeah, this little baby is important to the Precure, but Ash doesn't care about her at all. In other words, this hostage is useless to him!
"If you can do it, then go ahead. But I guarantee that before anything happens, you'll meet your end."
Pointing the Dragon Arm Sword directly at Bel, Ash closed the distance between them with each step, while a terrified Bel tightened his grip on Aii-chan's hand.
"Waaah..."
Just as Aii-chan was about to burst into tears, Ai jumped in and grabbed Ash's arm to stop him. "Stop it! Ash, you'll hurt Aii-chan if you do this."
"Let go, you're in the way."
Well done, Cure Heart! Bel, feeling triumphant seeing Ai stopping Ash, seized the opportunity and launched a powerful energy ball towards them.
"Kamen Rider and Precure, you'll both go to hell together!"
"Danger! Ash-san!" Faced with the incoming energy ball, Ai closed her eyes and embraced Ash, using herself as a shield in front of him.
"Hey, move aside, I don't need—!"
The deafening explosion drowned out his voice, and the smoke engulfed the two figures. When the smoke cleared, Ash emerged unharmed, while Ai, who had previously had flawless skin, now had severe injuries and revealed horrifying scars.
"Why..."
Instinctively holding the injured and anguished Ai in his arms, Ash, hidden behind Ryuga's mask that concealed his expression, asked in a slightly puzzled voice.
I never intended for you to play the role of the defender. Even if you're well-meaning, there should be limits!
"Are all Precure idiots..."
Indeed, deep down, Ash considered her foolish. Even with the sudden surprise attack, he, who had been vigilant about the enemy's movements, had confidence in evading it. Her act of protecting him with her own body was utterly useless, and she deserved the injuries.
But as he looked at Ai in his embrace, he couldn't convince himself with that reasoning. The fact that he had been saved by a little girl kept revolving in his mind. Due to this inexplicable reason, his perspective began to change.
"I believe Ash-san will find a way, but I can't just ignore the possibility of Aii-chan getting hurt!"
"Because... whether it's Aii-chan, everyone else, including Ash-san..."
"I want to protect them all..."
Bel, who was about to launch another attack, saw Ash lift his head and meet the gaze of the Kamen Rider with eyes that dragged behind them like ghostly flames. Instantly, he was overwhelmed by the killing intent in those eyes.
W-What's happening? I'm a high-ranking member of the selfish organization! How can I, how can I be scared by a human!
Supporting Ai's limp body, Ash gently leaned her against the wall and helped her sit on the ground. He took out a card from the card case without even looking at it and casually threw it into the Visor.
Although Bel had manipulated him, Ash hadn't originally planned to kill him directly. After all, he was quickly exposed. His intention was more to use it as leverage to extract more "Dark Heartbeat" from the selfish organization and fill his own "Dark Echoes."
But now, Ash had changed his mind.
To dissipate this anger, someone had to suffer.
"You've really made me furious."
[Advent]
Dragblacker, who had been waiting impatiently, burst out from the mirror and let out its signature roar as it bit an unguarded Bel from behind, ignoring his screams as it shook him back and forth in its mouth.
[Accele Vent]
Another card consumed, Ash transformed into his high-speed form and caught the falling Aii-chan, swiftly returning to Ai's side. He gently patted Aii-chan's little head and placed her in Ai's arms.
"It won't be long."
Aii-chan's small eyes shimmered with teary light as she looked up at Ash, who turned to leave, and then turned to the weakened Ai.
Although she was still a baby and didn't understand many things, she understood what she should do now with her magical powers to help Ai.
"~kyupirapa!"
The burst of light from behind made Ash turn his head, and he saw the golden light enveloping the heart symbol on Aii-chan's chest and Aida Mana.
"Not bad."
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