Villainous Kamen Rider in Pretty Cure

, Denial

Sayaka Yakushiji had a dream… or rather, she once had a dream.

Even before she was born, her mother “Lira Yakushiji” was already an actress, so dedicated that she would often go to filming locations while heavily pregnant.

Naturally, Sayaka admired her famous mother from a young age and wished to become an actor like her, one day performing on stage with her mother.

Thus, while studying her regular school subjects, Sayaka began earnestly learning everything an actor needed to know from a young age, far surpassing her peers. While her growth at this age was terrifying, to Sayaka, who aimed to surpass her mother, this was all just natural effort.

As time passed, Sayaka entered the entertainment industry and gradually gained fame, becoming a globally renowned actress… If the story stopped here, this would be a child-oriented fairy tale about hard work paying off and dreams coming true.

However, Sayaka’s story did not have such a happy ending.

While she was working hard, others were not simply standing still. Her mother, for example, had already become a legendary figure in her field by the time Sayaka became a big star herself.

No matter how much she personally strived to improve her acting, take on classic roles, people always referred to her as “Oh, that’s Teacher Lira’s daughter! No surprise, Teacher Lira taught her well!”

She had been chasing her mother all along, yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch up to the overly distant back of her mother’s silhouette.

For her, this never-realized dream, which had lost its direction, eventually turned into something akin to a curse.

With a change in mindset and the decline of her dreams, Sayaka could no longer find the reason to strive, and even the originally close relationship between mother and daughter had become strained, turning into a cold war of familial affection.

Ash’s words, “always just being a background player,” hit exactly on Sayaka’s pain point, causing her to start waver uncontrollably.

Thinking about how she might never escape her mother’s shadow, making all her efforts seem futile, was more painful than death itself.

“I’m shaken,”

Facing Sayaka’s intense doubt, Ash’s gaze remained cold under his visor.

“What’s going on? Why do you all look like you’re hiding some hidden pain? Weren’t we supposed to be gathering friends of Hana? Why does it feel like a gathering of losers?”

After much thought, he decided not to think about it further. Just as Sayaka was lost in thought, Ash reached out and grabbed her trembling hand, while bringing his V-Commander closer to his lips.

“What do you intend to do?” TIMEFIRE’s action caused Sayaka, who was already nervous, to try to resist, only to realize she couldn’t resist this power.

The nearby TIMEFIRE, raising his hand, left firework-like traces in Sayaka’s eyes.

“Sayaka!” This action alerted others nearby, but it was obvious they didn’t stop Ash or Lira.

The man raised his hand open, allowing something black and needle-like to fly towards him from a distance, just as Ash was about to catch it.

“Haaahh—”

Sayaka saw it.

It was Hana.

A person as beautiful as flowers, with pink curled bangs shielding her right eye, while a white ribbon fluttered behind her, leaving petals flying past.

Dressed in a cute, cheerleading outfit, she complemented the woman’s somewhat average figure beautifully. Soaring in the air, the girl swung her long sword, dividing the needle approaching her into two parts.

“CureYell!”

The three present immediately identified who she was, their trusted light guardian, any time, anywhere!

“Hey, CureYell, you’re here?” Ash showed no surprise at the arrival of Precure, rather a hint of anticipation. “Sorry, the Final Monster is finished, there’s nothing for you here, go back home and sleep.”

“Oh?”

Ash paused his mocking gesture and stepped back, as CureYell’s Melody Holy Sword was pointing right at his neck.

“Oh, that’s your introduction?”

“I know…. I’m grateful that you saved them from the Final Monster, thank you.” CureYell, aka Sayaka, genuinely thanked her, though with a complex expression on her face, a mix of hostility and hope, like waiting for something, yet disappointed.

“But, I can’t agree with what you did!”

“Doing what?”

“Don’t play dumb!” CureYell sheathed the sword but kept it ready. “What you did to Yu, no matter how nicely you put it, just means hurting with self-righteous methods—no matter if it’s good intentions, it’s too much!”

“I don’t mind…. Maybe you’re right,” Ash didn’t deny, but his right hand slowly moved toward his holster. “But I have the power and the will to do so, so…”

“I can do this!”

Like a Western gunslinger, at the decisive moment, he fired three beams from the Fire God Gun mode, leaving Yell no room to move. However, when Ash thought he had secured victory, he widened his eyes.

YELL’s hands emitted dazzling “energy of tomorrow,” lifting her arms, she knocked away the beams with a simple swing.

Hana, regaining her physical strength, gradually displayed immense power able to protect the entire world alone.

Bullets from Ash’s gun missed completely as YELL jumped above him, prepared.

“If you think that power is everything, then I’ll deny what you do no matter what you try!”

In the sharp cry of the woman, the Melody Holy Sword flashed, aiming for the red warrior’s head, while the warrior spun his gun around in his hand. The blade stabbed out from the side of the gun, glowing hot, toward the sword above.

The intersecting rays of the two swords lit up both faces instantly.