South City Hospital.
Several people stood around a hospital bed.
Hirono lay quietly under the blanket while the adults talked nearby.
Omura scratched the back of his head.
"Honestly… letting him stay at my place would be tough. I live alone, and half the time I'm barely covering my own food."
Takeshi sighed.
"My house already has my little brother. I don't think we can take another kid."
He rubbed his forehead.
"But we can't just leave Hirono living at the club either…"
A cheerful voice suddenly cut in.
Standing beside Commander Dan,
Suzuki raised his hand.
"Why don't he stay with me?"
Everyone looked at him.
Suzuki grinned.
"It's just my wife and me at home. No kids. If Hirono came with us, she'd be thrilled."
Ryan glanced toward the hospital bed.
Hirono stayed quiet.
Ryan spoke carefully.
"Wouldn't that be a lot to ask of you, Suzuki-san?"
Suzuki laughed.
"I trust the kid."
Then he looked directly at Hirono.
"What do you say?"
Before the boy could answer, another voice spoke up.
Toru Umeda stepped forward.
"Come live with us instead."
He smiled brightly.
"That way I'll have another little brother."
The room burst into laughter.
"Mr. Umeda would definitely be happy about that!"
Beside him,
Kaori Umeda puffed out her cheeks and looked at Hirono seriously.
"Then you'll be my big brother!"
Toru groaned.
"Hey! Am I that bad of a brother?"
Kaori nodded without hesitation.
"Yep."
Everyone laughed again.
Ryan watched the scene from his wheelchair.
A small smile appeared on his face.
Somewhere along the way…
He had changed a lot of lives.
Quietly, he rolled himself out of the hospital room.
The hallway window overlooked the city.
In the distance, a bell rang somewhere.
Soft.
Peaceful.
Cherry blossom petals drifted in the evening light.
Ryan leaned back and watched them fall.
"Beautiful…"
A voice spoke behind him.
"Ryu."
Ryan turned.
Commander
Moroboshi Dan stood in the hallway.
Dan looked out the window.
"Their happiness today came from you."
Ryan blinked.
"Commander…"
Dan pointed toward the setting sun.
"If that sunset is me…"
"Then you are tomorrow's sun."
He glanced at Ryan.
"Keep going, Ryu."
Ryan nodded firmly.
"I will."
The words felt familiar.
He suddenly realized something.
Dan had once said those same words to another man.
Now they were meant for him.
The thought filled him with both pride and pressure.
Ryan clenched his fists.
"Commander… you once said you could train me into a real fighter."
"Does that offer still stand?"
"I want to get stronger."
Dan smiled.
"Of course it does."
"But before that, there's something you should know."
Ryan tilted his head.
"What is it?"
For a moment he hesitated.
Then he asked carefully.
"…Seven?"
Dan raised an eyebrow.
"You knew?"
Ryan nodded.
"I figured it out back on Black Tide Island."
"You saved me that day."
He definitely wasn't about to explain he knew from watching TV in another life.
Dan studied him for a moment.
Then he chuckled.
"You really are unusual."
"Your sensitivity to light is strong. That must be why Leo chose you."
Ryan scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Maybe…"
"Anyway, can we talk about the training part?"
Dan nodded.
"There are two ways an Ultraman becomes stronger."
"First is the will of light."
Ryan listened closely.
"You already carry that will," Dan continued.
"But something about your situation is strange."
"It feels incomplete. Like there's more power inside you that hasn't awakened yet."
Ryan smiled bitterly.
That probably had something to do with his unusual transformation method.
His body wasn't a natural Ultraman vessel.
He shook off the thought.
"What's the second way?"
"Training."
Dan tapped his cane against the floor and stepped closer.
"The will of light increases your power."
"But training teaches you how to use it."
He placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder.
"I don't know where Leo came from."
"But I can tell he has a deep connection with Earth."
"That part… only you can understand."
Ryan nodded quietly.
"As for training," Dan continued, "once you recover, I'll personally put you through special training."
Ryan's eyes lit up.
Special training.
He had heard about this.
The infamous training that turned Leo into a master fighter.
If Dan trained him the same way…
Ryan actually felt excited.
This was something he had to face sooner or later.
Dan looked at him seriously.
"But Ryu… your body is still that of a normal human."
"I can improve your skill."
"But most of the real fighting will still happen through Leo."
Ryan frowned.
"Commander, that sounds like a polite way of calling me weak."
Dan laughed.
"Did I say that?"
Watching the energetic young man in front of him, the heavy weight in Dan's heart eased a little.
"Leo's power is incredible," Dan said.
"I want you to fully inherit the will of his light."
"Don't let the peace of this planet disappear."
Ryan nodded silently.
Even with hope for the future, reality didn't change.
Ryan was still a patient.
Hirono's injuries were minor.
Ryan's condition was worse.
His body had completely collapsed from exhaustion.
On top of that, strange blade wounds covered his arms and back.
The hospital originally wanted to keep him for several days.
Ryan refused immediately.
No chance he was letting doctors start asking strange questions.
In the end, Dan guaranteed his safety and the hospital relented.
Their only condition was simple.
"No intense activity for one month."
On the way back to the sports club, Omura and the others walked ahead while chatting with Dan.
Every few seconds someone gasped in amazement at one of Dan's stories.
Ryan followed behind in his wheelchair.
Momoko pushed him along the sidewalk.
After a moment, she spoke.
"Ryu."
Ryan blinked.
"Yeah?"
His palms suddenly got sweaty.
Wait.
Is she about to confess or something?
He definitely wasn't ready for that.
Momoko smiled.
"Hirono said he's really grateful to you."
Ryan's face turned red.
Oh.
Wrong idea.
"W-Why?"
"I didn't really do anything…"
Momoko shook her head.
"You were brave."
"Looks like Ayumi misunderstood you before."
"You're not a coward at all."
Ryan laughed awkwardly.
Ayumi hadn't misunderstood.
She had just been unreasonable.
"Speaking of her… where is she today?"
Momoko tilted her head.
"She left earlier."
"She looked pretty angry."
Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"Ah."
Maybe it was better that way.
If she saw him like this, she'd probably start yelling again.
Momoko hesitated.
"Actually… Ayumi is a good person."
Ryan snorted.
"Sure she is."
Later that evening.
The sports club lawn glowed under the sunset.
Kaori and Momoko stood together releasing balloons into the sky.
Kaori cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at the balloon.
"I hope nothing sad ever happens again!"
Ryan watched from his wheelchair and chuckled softly.
Who wouldn't want that?
But a world without sadness was impossible.
Still…
It was those painful moments that made peace feel valuable.
Ryan looked up at the red sky.
For a moment, he imagined another man standing there.
A man who once protected this planet.
Gen Ohtori
That was why Ultraman existed.
To protect this fragile world.
Ryan picked up the guitar resting beside his chair.
He tested the strings.
Then he began to play.
His voice was quiet but clear.
"Sitting by an open window…"
"Looking up at the stars…"
"The home I long to return to…"
"Is already gone…"
"But the memories remain…"
"Still alive deep in my heart…"
The melody drifted gently across the lawn.
It was a song once associated with Leo.
A story told beneath the stars.
Momoko's cheerful voice interrupted from across the grass.
"Ryu! Come make a wish with us!"
Ryan laughed.
"Alright!"
As the balloons floated higher into the evening sky, Ryan watched them go.
Then he whispered quietly.
"Leo."
"I'll protect the Earth you loved… just like you did."