Chapter 153: The Method to Heal Ingenium
Tensei Iida knew perfectly well that Stain was in the special ward on the top floor of the hospital. The police had specifically come to him, hoping he would meet with Stain and perhaps get some information out of him.
But he had refused.
He had seen the footage of Stain's capture on TV. His own little brother had been there, right in front of him. He had called Tenya and gotten the full story—how he had acted on his own without reporting to his superior, how Stain had intended to kill him as a sacrifice, and how he had lain on the ground in a fit of powerless rage. Tensei had listened to it all.
He didn't know why, but after hearing the story, he didn't feel hatred for Stain's cruelty. Instead, he felt a sense of shame, and even admiration. His feelings toward the Hero Killer were complex.
"You don't hate him? Even though he... your legs..."
"I was standing in opposition to him. He had no reason to hold back," Tensei said, interrupting Kira with a smile. "Besides, who said my legs can't be healed?"
Yoshikage Kira looked at him, confused. According to what Tenya had said, the doctors had determined that all the nerves in Ingenium's legs were necrotic. He should never be able to use them again...
"For this, I have to thank your school, U.A. High," Tensei explained. "I was originally prepared to give up the title of Pro Hero. But All Might came to me personally and said he could have my injuries cured. That's why I came to this hospital..."
Necrotic nerves in his legs, spinal shock, and a pre-existing spinal injury... the doctors had diagnosed his condition as nearly impossible to recover from, though there was a slim chance of recovery after extensive, long-term rehabilitation. But in any case, there was no way he could stand up and be a hero again in the short term.
Unless... he had a super-regeneration Quirk, like a Nomu. Don't tell me... this hospital has mastered Quirk-grafting!? But even if the transplant was successful, there was a high probability he would turn into a monster like a Nomu. Was this hospital planning to use Tensei Iida as a guinea pig for their experiments?
A conspiracy theory instantly formed in Kira's mind. When he tactfully voiced his concerns to Tensei, the man just smiled. "I originally thought the same thing. Even if it meant being a test subject, if it allowed me to walk again and return to being a Pro Hero, I was willing..."
"But that's not what's happening. I've been here for three or four days now. I'm certain this hospital can truly restore my ability to walk."
If it were just temporary spinal shock, Kira could try to use Hamon to stimulate and reawaken the nerves. But his nerves were completely dead. Only something like Gold Experience or Crazy Diamond could fix that. The technology of this world hadn't yet reached the point of being able to replace nerves with such delicate precision. If it were an American-made exoskeleton, that might be a possibility...
"The potion is ready. In your current condition, you should only need four or five more treatments to be able to stand again..." Suddenly, a female voice, tinged with fatigue, came from the doorway. She stopped mid-sentence. "...Kira-kun? What are you doing here?"
Kira turned his head and saw Ryanne Barniel, Recovery Girl's granddaughter, dressed in a lab coat and wearing a pair of rimless glasses.
"...I was about to ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?"
He didn't know why, but while Kira was polite to most women, he always felt a strange awkwardness when talking to Ryanne. He couldn't see her as a normal girl.
Before Ryanne could answer, Tensei smiled. "Miss Ryanne! You're here."
"Unlike you Hero Course students, I don't get things like 'work-study internships.' While you were all away, we still had to attend classes," Ryanne said. Though surprised, she didn't seem to mind Kira's rude question-for-a-question. "A few days ago, All Might came to me and asked me to treat this person. I accepted. It's as simple as that."
"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Ryanne. Coming here every day after school to help me," Tensei said with a grateful smile.
"It's nothing. It's just my duty," Ryanne said, putting down her clipboard. She took out a test tube filled with a purplish-black liquid, glanced at Kira, and said coolly, "...Well, I couldn't find one of the ingredients today, so I had to catch something fresh from the hospital garden downstairs. That's why I'm a little late."
Kira looked at the liquid, which was still bubbling and churning in the test tube, and silently took a step back.
If there was anything in this world that Kira could not accept, Ryanne's potions were definitely on the list. Her Quirk was "Synthesis." It allowed her to extract the parts she needed from different substances and then mix them with others to create a potion with unknown effects.
But... her method of preparation was completely unscientific. She just stirred them in a certain order. In Kira's eyes, it was a carbon copy of a medieval witch brewing a potion.
Seeing the concoction, Tensei's face went pale. He forced a smile. "Miss Ryanne... do I have to drink it this time?"
He had clearly heard her just now. One of the ingredients was a creature she had just caught from the garden. It definitely wasn't a flower...
"No. This time, it will be injected directly into your legs," Ryanne said, taking a syringe from a sealed bag and drawing the liquid from the test tube. "The things you drank before should have moved to the damaged areas by now. This time, with the addition of pufferfish venom and a lizard's tail, it should be able to stimulate some of your nerve regeneration."
She paused, then added, "Although I've removed most of the toxins that are harmful to humans, you might still feel a little numb afterward. And it's normal for your lips to turn purple."
...Is this a case of fighting poison with poison? Kira gave Tensei, who had just swallowed nervously, a quick nod. "Ingenium. I won't disturb your treatment."
When Ryanne casually glanced behind her, Kira was already gone.
He's that disgusted with me...? Ryanne sighed softly, then refocused her attention on the potion in her hand.
Kira gently closed the door and leaned against the wall, letting out a long breath.
If Ryanne was the one treating Tensei, while the quality of the treatment couldn't be guaranteed, at the very least, he would be able to move his legs again. No, perhaps it wouldn't just be his two legs that would be moving.
Although it was a bit subjective, in Kira's eyes, it seemed that in Ryanne's world, everything was just another ingredient, divided only into "usable" and "unusable."
This might be one of the reasons why Kira instinctively disliked her. Her worldview was strikingly similar to his own.
Of course, there was another important reason: when Kira looked at Ryanne's hands, he felt absolutely no desire.
Ryanne was exceptionally beautiful and had a large following at school. Even the connoisseurs of beauty, Mineta and Kaminari, couldn't help but praise her appearance when they saw her.
But he didn't know why. Every time Kira saw Ryanne, a sense of alarm would rise in his heart. A physiological aversion, an discomfort that he couldn't control.
At that moment, Yoshikage Kira did not know that this was the uncanny valley effect.
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