"Being strong alone is meaningless. Never forget kindness..."
"Eh...?"
The siblings turned their startled gazes toward Fee after his sudden, quiet murmur.
Under the weight of their scrutiny, Fee began to explain himself.
"It’s one of the Hero’s Conditions my brother taught me," he said. "It might sound presumptuous, but I think I finally understand what those words really mean."
"What they... really mean?"
Yui looked at him, her expression clouded with confusion.
Before her and Ryuga, Fee continued, his eyes fixed on his own small hands.
"Until now, I thought it just meant using your power for the right reasons. I thought that no matter how strong you are, if you misuse that power, you'll end up like Zaraki or a Magic Armor Beast. That's why he said never to forget kindness... I thought that was the end of it. But—"
"—But what?"
"—there’s another layer to it. I think it means: 'Don't forget the strength required for the sake of kindness.'"
Fee finally raised his head, looking directly at Ryuga.
Meeting the gaze of the boy who stared back with such fragile yet unwavering intensity, Ryuga listened.
"In your heart, Ryuga-san, the desire to save Raiha-san and the thirst for revenge are at war. Your kindness and your spirit of revenge are locked in a struggle, and choosing either one is agonizing. Between your own feelings and Yui's, I know there's no easy answer. But... I don't want you to let go of your kindness, Ryuga-san."
"......"
"If you were a cold man who cared only for vengeance, you never would have come back here. You wouldn't be lost, and you wouldn't be agonizing over the right path. I think you're struggling right now precisely because... you are a kind person."
Fee insisted that the hesitation and suffering within Ryuga were born from the very core of his humanity.
To the man who stood in silent attention, Fee poured out his feelings, his voice trembling with emotion.
"To carry through with kindness, you have to be strong. I think my brother knew you would hesitate, Ryuga-san. But even so, he believed in you. He believed that you are someone strong enough to see your own kindness through to the end!"
"Strength to carry through kindness, huh..."
Ryuga muttered the words as his gaze drifted between the boy—who spoke through brimming tears while pressing his white-knuckled fists to his chest—and the still-unconscious Yugo.
His partner believed that such strength resided within him. He believed that Ryuga possessed the power to break the chains of the past that bound him.
That was why Yugo had entrusted everything to him. That was why he could keep smiling.
'I believe in you'... as Ryuga closed his eyes, those words echoed in his mind again and again. Suddenly, the frantic shouts of nurses erupted from the hallway outside.
"Hurry and prepare for treatment! More wounded are coming in!"
"To think that even the Security Force and the Magic Knights together are no match for him...!!"
"Will we be all right? If that monster returns to attack the city, the casualties will be catastrophic..."
The devastation caused by Zaraki was still spreading. The Security Force was being systematically dismantled, and the number of injured grew by the minute.
As Fee and Yui’s faces clouded with dread—imagining that Marcos and the others might have already fallen—a large, steady hand settled on their shoulders.
"Yui, Fee... don't worry about a thing."
"...!!"
Fee's eyes widened. He felt something hauntingly similar to his own brother in that encouraging voice and the firm, reassuring weight on his shoulder.
Slipping past them, Ryuga placed his hand on the door to the hospital room. Yui called out to his back.
"You're going, aren't you, Brother?"
"Yeah... The Hero Is Not Only One Person in this city. I'm going to prove that."
Without turning back, Ryuga gave his answer.
Leaving behind a final, quiet "thank you," he opened the door and stepped out into the night.
"...Thank you, Fee."
"I didn't do anything to be thanked for, Yui. It’s just like my brother believed—Ryuga-san is a strong, kind person."
Left behind in the quiet room, the two children spoke softly.
The anxiety that had gripped them only moments ago had completely vanished from their hearts.