"You know I can eat it myself, right?"

In a private wing of one of Earth's most exclusive hospitals, a middle-aged man was being systematically overwhelmed by apple slices.

Picollo leaned back against the propped-up pillows, his voice muffled by the fruit.

Next to him, Yelina sat on the edge of her chair. Her expressions were filled with stubbornness as she kept peeling and cutting apples.

For every piece she peeled, she immediately pressed another into the patient's mouth, leaving him no room for protest.

"Hmph. Can you?" she countered, her eyes dropping to his scarred hands. "You have heavy burns, Picollo. The doctors said that even if you regain movement, your precision might never be the same. Don't strain them."

Picollo looked down at his fingers. A constant tingling could be felt beneath the skin. Every time he tried to make a fist, his hands betrayed him with a light tremor.

They didn't feel painful, not anymore, but they felt weak, as if the connection between his mind and his muscles had been strained like an old wire.

"The surgeon said they'd be healed in six months," Picollo muttered.

Another apple slice was shoved home, forcing him to chew.

"Did you miss the part where he said 'if you're lucky'?" Yelina asked, her voice heavy. "He said if the nerves don't heal after six months, you're looking at a full nerve replacement surgery."

"You were lucky the Heroes arrived when they did, or you wouldn't even be here to complain about the fruit."

She paused, her hand hovering over the bowl. "How can you be so relaxed? We still don't know who attacked us. We don't know anything."

"Will panicking help?" Picollo asked, his voice lacking its usual confidence. It sounded hollow as if it was completely drained of its vitality.

He let out a heavy sigh and looked toward the ceiling. "To be honest, Yelina… I would have felt less guilty if I hadn't made it. It's a strange thing, being the only survivor while so many of our friends are gone."

He closed his eyes, the memory of the sirens echoing in his mind. "Do you think they would have blamed me? For not protecting them? For not being brave enough?"

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Yelina snapped, jamming a final piece of apple into his mouth to silence him. "It wasn't your fault. You were a victim, just like them. There was nothing you could have done!"

Picollo didn't answer. He turned his head toward the window, watching the city skyline.

He still saw it when he closed his eyes. The flashing red alerts, the grainy security footage of masked intruders moving through the corridors of Alpha Labs.

His body had frozen. While his people were dying, he had stayed locked in his room, paralyzed by a cowardice he hadn't known he possessed.

He didn't deserve this extra life. He felt like a thief who had stolen time from better men.

Behind the tinted glass of the hospital door, a figure watched them in silence.

"Aren't you going to go in?" Blaze asked, leaning against the hallway wall.

Leo didn't answer immediately. He took a deep breath before adjusting his coat, and pushed the door open.

The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Yelina stood up, her posture stiffening. She recognized him. It was the genius inventor, the man they all worked for.

Once, she had looked at him with something bordering on worship. Now, her gaze was cold.

Since the attack, Leo hadn't visited even once. He had sent checks to the victims' families, like it was merely a transaction for him. There was no empathy. He didn't even attend the funeral that was held for them by their families.

Picollo, however, tried to struggle out of bed, his face lighting up with a flicker of his old respect.

"Boss...."

"Stay in bed," Leo commanded, his voice slicing through the air. "That's an order."

Picollo slumped back, though he straightened his spine as best he could. Leo stepped to the bedside, his eyes trailing over the red burn marks peeking out from Picollo's sleeves.

"Why haven't the doctors healed the scarring?" Leo asked, looking back at Blaze.

"Don't blame them," Picollo intervened quickly. "I didn't allow it. These scars... I want to keep them. After all, they are the only reminder I have. I don't ever want to forget what happened."

Leo's gaze returned to Picollo. He really felt like he was out of place. After all, he was never good at expressing sympathy. Even expressing his true thoughts was hard in itself, which made him maintain a calm exterior.

"When can you be discharged?" Leo asked.

Yelina's pupils trembled with disbelief.

'That's it?' she thought. 'Not even asking about his experience, and simply asking him when he can get to work?'

"I can return to work right now," Picollo said, his voice regaining a bit of strength. "I'm wasting my time here anyway."

Leo looked at Blaze, who gave a slight nod.

"Good. Then get your things. We're going back to work." Leo reached out, offering a hand to Picollo.

Yelina took a step forward, her face flushed with anger. She couldn't believe it. This man came to a hospital bed after a tragedy just to demand his lead researcher get back to making him money?

Even Blaze looked surprised, though he remained quiet, sensing a current beneath the surface that the others were missing.

"I thought I was going to die of boredom," Picollo said, ignoring the tension as he gripped Leo's hand and pulled himself up. "The lab repairs should be nearly done. I kept the delivery contracts safe, we can start those immediately-"

"We aren't going to the lab," Leo interrupted. He waited until Picollo was steady on his feet, ensuring the man wasn't going to collapse. "We're going somewhere else."

Leo turned to Yelina, his expression still frozen. "Yelina... I need you to handle the lab. Hire whoever you need to fill the gaps. I'll send Picollo back to you when I'm finished."

"Where are you taking him?" Yelina whispered, her voice trembling.

Picollo followed Leo toward the door, still clad in his thin hospital robe. "Boss? If not the lab, then where?"

Leo stopped at the threshold, looking back over his shoulder. The calm before the storm in his eyes hadn't vanished. It was impossible to guess what he was truly thinking.

"To settle the score with the people who attacked you," Leo said. "Where else?"

Only silence followed his response. Blaze was the first to break it, stepping forward with wide eyes. "You... you actually found them?"

Blaze had used every contact in the space sector and every authority on his payroll, and he had come up with nothing but a few vague suspicions about Fiona.

Leo didn't answer, but his silence was enough for Blaze to guess that he really did know something.

"You know I can help you? I also hate those intruders! If you know about them, we can take them down together!" Blaze exclaimed.

It was partially because he really wanted to bring those people to justice. But also because he was worried about Leo and Picollo, none of whom had any special abilities.

"Sorry, this is for Alpha Corp. We will handle it ourselves," Leo answered as he left the room with Picollo.

In the back, Yelina was left in silence. Her eyes teared up as she realised a few things.

Leo hadn't just run away from responsibility. He was trying to find the culprit, and he had done something that even the Hero Guild couldn't.

That man... He wasn't a coward. Perhaps, he was someone that had been burning in the flames of revenge more than anything.

She quickly picked up the last piece of apple from the table and rushed out of the room to get back to work as instructed.

Along the way, she didn't forget to toss that last piece of apple in Blaze's mouth who had just opened it to call out to Leo.

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