Dragon's Heart, Hero's Will

Chapter 57: Wings of Guidance

Kirishima stood before the towering figure of Ryukyu, the Pro Hero’s golden eyes studying him with a mixture of curiosity and quiet approval.

The Hero Commission had arranged this meeting, but from the way Ryukyu had crossed her arms and dismissed the officials with a single glance, it was clear she had her own thoughts about it.

“I heard what you did,” she said at last, her voice calm but firm. “Fought with everything you had. Nearly lost yourself to it.”

Kirishima swallowed hard. He knew she was referring to the battle, to the moment where his dragon instincts had taken over, nearly consuming him in the heat of battle.

He still had nightmares about it—about the hunger, the fury, the overwhelming need to protect and destroy all at once.

“I did,” he admitted, voice rough. “But I pulled back. For Bakugo.”

Ryukyu nodded as if she had expected that answer. “Good. But restraint alone won’t be enough. You’re walking a fine line, Kirishima. You can’t afford to just hold back—you need to master it.”

Kirishima exhaled slowly. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

Ryukyu turned, motioning for him to follow. They stepped out onto a training field behind her agency, where the wind swept across the open space, carrying the faint scent of the sea.

“Your Quirk isn’t just about strength,” she continued. “It’s instinct, it’s transformation, it’s power. And if you don’t learn to work with it, rather than against it, it’ll tear you apart.”

Kirishima clenched his fists. He had felt that, deep in his bones. The pull of something deeper, something ancient, urging him to let go and become the dragon completely. But that wasn’t who he was. He wasn’t just a creature of destruction.

“I don’t want to lose myself,” he said quietly.
Ryukyu turned to him, her expression softening just slightly. “Then let’s make sure you don’t.”

For the next few hours, she pushed him through exercises meant to draw out his dragon side in a controlled manner—channeling his instincts rather than suppressing them. When his claws extended involuntarily, she taught him how to retract them at will. When his senses sharpened to the point of overwhelming him, she guided him through meditation techniques to ground himself.

And when his wings unfurled—still unstable, still foreign to him—she stepped forward, shifting into her own dragon form, and showed him what it meant to fly.

“Instinct isn’t your enemy,” she told him as she hovered in the air, waiting for him to take his first real leap. “It’s part of you. Embrace it—but don’t let it define you.”

Kirishima took a deep breath, feeling the wind beneath him, the tension in his muscles as he crouched. He thought of Bakugo, of his friends, of everything he wanted to protect. And then, with a determined growl, he jumped.

For a moment, he faltered, his wings awkward, untrained. But Ryukyu was there in an instant, guiding him, steadying him.

And then—

He soared.

A wild, exhilarated laugh burst from his chest as the world opened up beneath him. He wasn’t falling into his instincts—he was riding them, controlling them. For the first time since the battle, he felt truly free.

Ryukyu flew beside him, her dragon form sleek and powerful, a steady presence in the sky. “You’re not alone in this,” she told him. “Remember that.”

As they flew together, Kirishima felt something settle in his chest—a sense of belonging, of understanding. He wasn’t just fighting his dragon side anymore.
He was embracing it.

And for the first time, that didn’t scare him at all.