Chapter 149: Negotiation Tactics
"Don't worry. I'll be fine."
With that, Yoshikage Kira closed the heavy protective door. He pulled a stool over from the entrance and sat down, a full two meters away from the single hospital bed.
The room had no windows and no flowers. The bed, the medical equipment, and even the walls were all made of metal, giving the room an incredibly cold feel. If it weren't for the nutrient solution steadily dripping into Stain's body, Kira would have suspected that time in this room had stopped completely.
Without his blindfold and red scarf, the Hero Killer, Stain, looked like an ordinary patient. His face was pale, his lips were white, and countless scars, large and small, were visible on his exposed skin. He lay on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, as if he were still asleep.
If Kira hadn't seen his eyelids twitch a moment ago, he might have believed he was really unconscious.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm a student from the U.A. High Hero Course, a classmate of Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and Tenya Iida, whom you've met." Kira glanced at the brainwave monitor, which hadn't changed much, and continued, "You may not know me, but I am very familiar with your name. From the internet, from the mouths of others, and from what I've seen with my own eyes... I've been very much looking forward to having a chat with you."
"Oh, I forgot to mention. Because the police are worried I might get hurt, they've asked me to stay two meters away from you and to have no physical contact. They're watching us right now through the small window on the door. In exchange, however, I've asked them to turn off the audio surveillance in the room. I've already checked; they've kept their promise."
At this, Kira gave a dry laugh. "Even though you're all tied up, they're still so afraid you'll hurt me. You must feel very proud, don't you?"
"Kid, they're protecting you," Stain said, his eyes still closed. He had finally spoken. "If I were you, I'd get out of here right now. I'm not going to tell you anything. I don't have anything to tell you."
"Are you waiting for All Might?" Kira said suddenly. "All Might isn't coming. You can stop waiting."
"What did you say!?" Stain's eyes shot open. An aura of pure malice erupted from his body, so intense that even Detective Tsukauchi, who was watching from outside, felt a shiver run down his spine.
Kira spoke in a calm tone, as if he were discussing something trivial. "I said, All Might isn't coming. You can put away your desire for martyrdom."
Stain whipped his head around, but his neck was also secured by the restraints. He couldn't lift his head, only stare at Kira with bloodshot eyes. "What did you say!?"
"It seems I guessed right. You were planning to kill yourself when All Might came to talk to you," Kira said, scratching his head with a feigned look of embarrassment. "I just told Detective Tsukauchi my theory. Isn't that right... little superhero fan?"
Hearing this, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, Stain suddenly regained his composure. "You will all regret this."
"Speaking of regrets, I'm not sure if you regret saving Midoriya and saying what you did afterward." Yoshikage Kira took out his phone and played the video he had saved. "I imagine the police wouldn't let you see this, but I believe you have a right to know. If you could, please keep this a secret for me if the police ask later."
From Tsukauchi's perspective, he could only see Kira showing his phone, but he couldn't see what was playing on it.
"I think we should stop this immediately and get that student out of there," Shosei Meisei said decisively. "I don't know what he's showing Stain, but if he gets provoked and breaks his restraints, we won't have time to rescue him!"
"Do you not trust my capture weapon, or do you not trust Kira?" Aizawa silently looked away and closed his eyes. "Since he's already made his decision, we shouldn't interfere."
"You're his teacher! You're just going to let this happen!?" Shosei punched the wall in frustration. He had been against Kira going in from the start. This was a matter for adults. Even he couldn't stop trembling when facing Stain, and they were letting a student go in? It was too irresponsible.
"Wait. It seems things have taken a turn," Tsukauchi said suddenly, a smile on his face. "Look. Stain is lying back down."
The video ended. The last frame was the one where the Hero Killer had shouted at the Pro Heroes: "The only one who can kill me is a true hero! Only All Might!"
"What are you trying to say?" the Hero Killer asked, lying back down and staring blankly at the cold, metallic ceiling.
"As you can see, this video of yours has spread all over the internet. Your ideology has been widely disseminated. Many copycats of yours have appeared. I don't know if you're happy about that or not." Kira tapped his palm as if he had just remembered something. "Oh! Right! Just yesterday, I stopped someone dressed just like you at the subway station. According to the Pro Hero who arrived, it seems he was about to kill someone after a robbery when a certain explosion-head found him."
Kira then put on an exaggerated look of surprise. "Tell me, are they your apprentices? Following in their master's footsteps, learning his philosophy by committing crimes..."
"You don't need to provoke me. I will not say anything about my teacher. You can give up on that," Stain said, closing his eyes. "Besides, I didn't sense any civilians at the scene."
So he's basically admitting it was filmed by someone who was there. As I thought, it must have been Kurogiri.
"I have already been captured. I cannot control the actions of these copycats. It is no longer possible for me to take up my sword and purge these people."
This was both a denial of responsibility and a confirmation that Stain considered these people targets for his purge.
Kira saw Stain's trembling hands and his smile widened. "If these people are your enemies, then that's terrible. Because... there might be a lot of them who have infiltrated the organization you're in."
Stain suddenly roared, "How many times do I have to tell you!? The League of Villains has nothing to do with me! I cannot stop what they do!"
"...Cannot stop? Does that mean you believe you are no match for the great figure behind Tomura Shigaraki?" Kira said suddenly.
Stain's pupils contracted. He fell back onto his pillow.
"It seems... that's what you wanted to tell All Might," Kira said, now completely understanding Stain's motives, a victorious smile on his face. "Who would have thought that the infamous Hero Killer was actually thinking about fighting against other criminals?"
After a long pause, Stain said slowly, "What do you know?"
"You may not know this, but on that night, in that alley... I was there too." The moment Kira spoke, he dropped a bombshell that left Stain completely stunned.
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