Chapter 152: Passing the Buck
Kira forcefully suppressed his own shock. "Stain," he said calmly, "do you have a message for All Might? Do you want him to go and deal with DIO?"
Stain was too tired to correct Kira's pronunciation. He just assumed that, like a common wizard who dared not speak Voldemort's name, Kira was using a codename for All For One out of fear.
"If there is still one person in this world who can defeat him, it must be All Might," Stain said, staring blankly at the ceiling. "I had originally planned for All Might to meet with me. I would tell him about All For One, and then... I would die before his very eyes."
"...To let one evil wash away another. Should we feel sorrow, or relief?" Yoshikage Kira stood up and bowed formally to Stain. "If I get the chance, I will pass this message on to All Might."
Stain suddenly asked, "Wait. You're not going to tell those people behind you about All For One, are you?"
"Just as you don't trust them, I don't either," Kira replied.
"Heh. That's good."
In Stain's heart, only All Might was worthy of trust. This was one of the reasons he had remained silent in front of the other Pro Heroes and the police.
As Kira stood up to open the door, Stain spoke again. "Your name is Yoshikage Kira, right? I've seen your picture in Shigaraki's hands. Although you are the same kind of person as us, I hope you do not end up like us."
"A drug addict isn't unaware that drugs will ruin their life. They just no longer care, because their life has already been ruined," Stain said, turning his head to stare intently at Kira's back. "But you... you can still be saved. You still have the right to choose to be good or evil. You still have... the potential to be a hero!"
"...Stain, Detective Tsukauchi was right about you. You really are an ideologue," Kira said with a dry laugh, then fell silent. "Even at the end, you're still thinking about reducing the number of 'fakes' you'll have to kill in the future... I'll remember that."
Yoshikage Kira turned the handle and opened the heavy door. Under Stain's watchful gaze, he walked out.
...Why do I see the same light in this guy as I see in All Might? Stain mocked himself. It must be an illusion. But... I hope it's real. This world needs more heroes.
The moment Kira opened the door, the others, who had been sitting in chairs, stood up and walked toward him. "Are you alright?" Shosei Meisei asked anxiously. "Did Stain tell you anything?"
After seeing Stain begin to talk calmly with Kira, Tsukauchi had relaxed. But since they could only see the back of Kira's head and Stain's face, and no one could read lips, at the detective's suggestion, Aizawa and Shosei had sat down to wait, giving Kira and Stain a completely private space.
"Stain has no connection to the League of Villains. He's just killing based on his own will," Kira said, looking up at Tsukauchi. "However, he was indeed contacted by the League."
"Did he tell you the location of their hideout?" Aizawa asked calmly.
"He said he was taken there by Kurogiri. It was a building that looked like a small bar, but he doesn't know the specific location," Kira paused, then continued. "But he did tell me the name of the middleman who contacted him."
Detective Tsukauchi spoke up. "His name is..."
Kira was silent for a moment. "Giran. He's a professional broker who often appears in the Shinjuku district. He was the one who found Stain. In the League, he's responsible for gathering intelligence and contacting the outside world. If you can catch him, it would be like blinding the League of Villains."
Eighty percent of what he said was true, twenty percent was a lie. The name "Giran" had been given to him by Kurogiri. Seeing how Kurogiri had half-treated him as one of their own, it was unlikely he was lying. Since he had now determined that the true master of the League was DIO, he couldn't rashly get involved with any information related to him.
According to Stain, Kurogiri had appeared behind him suddenly, just as he had in Oma City. Kurogiri's Quirk was only teleportation, which meant DIO must have acquired a Quirk that could track locations. However, the restrictions must be quite severe; otherwise, he could have set a trap for All Might long ago. But even so, Kira couldn't afford to act alone so carelessly.
Giving Giran's name to the police would allow them to scout the path for him, and at the same time, it would allow him to hide what Stain had really told him. If this Giran was part of DIO's outer circle, then arresting him early would be a good thing. If he was a trusted confidant, then... he would see how DIO reacted.
"Giran... I understand," Tsukauchi nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, Kira-kun. If you don't mind, could you come with us to the police station? We have professional masseurs who can help you recover, and of course, I'm sure you wouldn't mind answering a few small questions."
He says he doesn't mind, but what he really wants is to have someone check my psychological state, to see if I've been infected by Stain's ideology... Just as Stain didn't trust the police, the police didn't trust him. If Kira had really revealed the information about DIO, he would have likely been subjected to a battery of tests, not just a "small debriefing."
Kira nodded. "I'd be happy to."
Aizawa had no objections. He waved a hand at Tsukauchi. "In that case, I'll leave Kira to you. I'm leaving now."
With that, he gave Kira one last, deep look and turned to leave.
Aizawa didn't believe that in all that time, the only thing Kira and Stain had talked about was a middleman. But since Kira was intentionally hiding something, he must have his reasons.
"Then, Kira-kun, shall we head to the station now?" Tsukauchi asked with a smile, putting on his hat.
"Can we wait a moment? There's someone I'd like to see," Kira said suddenly.
Room 302.
Kira pushed open the door. The red light of the setting sun painted the hospital room in the colors of an oil painting. A man in a hospital gown was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head turned to look at the sunset, as if reminiscing, or perhaps thinking.
"Excuse me."
"You're..." The man turned his head at the sound of the voice. He was surprised to see Kira in his U.A. uniform, then he smiled. "You must be Tenya's classmate. Please, have a seat."
The person sitting on the hospital bed was Tensei Iida, Tenya's older brother, the Pro Hero Ingenium, and also one of Stain's victims.
"My name is Yoshikage Kira. I'm the president of Tenya's class," Kira said, sitting down on the stool beside the bed at Tensei's gesture.
"I know you. I watched the recording of the Sports Festival these past few days. Your performance was very good," Tensei said with a cheerful smile. "It's a shame my Tenya couldn't fight you because of what happened to me. I'm quite sorry about that. But... even if he had fought you, he probably would have lost."
"Tenya-kun is very strong," Kira said, then after a moment of silence, he asked, "...I know this might be sudden, but... do you still hate the Hero Killer?"
"Hate?" Tensei smiled. "Even if I am angry, I wanted to arrest him because it was my duty, not because of a personal grudge."
Tensei looked up at the ceiling, as if he could see through it to the hospital room above his own. He muttered, "Besides... what right do I have to hate a man who has his own convictions?"
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