Chapter 26: The Infirmary
Hearing that the match was over, Toru Hagakure dropped the tape in her hands and immediately ran over to Yoshikage Kira.
Kira's plan had been for her to hide on top of the nuclear weapon, which had been moved to a corner. Even if he was injured, she wasn't to come out; she had to be the final, secret weapon to guard it. And she had perfectly fulfilled her duty...
But looking at Kira's trembling form, Toru felt a pang of worry. Even though they had won, she couldn't feel happy at all.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Kira said, coughing up blood as he spoke.
"..." That wasn't reassuring at all!
All Might soon arrived with the rescue robots, laughing heartily. "Everyone's performance was spectacular! Young Kira and Young Todoroki, off to the infirmary with you!"
Kira didn't refuse this kind offer. Although his injuries were already improving, the cuts on his body wouldn't just disappear. He still needed Recovery Girl's treatment.
Kira walked up to Shoto Todoroki and extended his hand. "Sorry, I might have been a little too rough."
Todoroki looked at him in surprise, then silently took his hand and let Kira pull him up.
Kira could still feel the Hamon on Toru's body. He said to her, "Hagakure-san, you and Shoji-san should go to the monitoring room. We'll be back in a bit. And... remember to put on some clothes."
"Hey!"
"I lost." Midoriya's injuries were quite severe, and after more than ten minutes, his treatment still wasn't finished. Shoto Todoroki and Yoshikage Kira were sitting outside the infirmary when Todoroki suddenly spoke.
"You didn't really lose, though..." Kira actually held him in high regard. He said honestly, "If you hadn't put up that wall of ice by the nuclear weapon, we would have both been taken out."
"...So you're saying I still couldn't have won?"
"Not necessarily," Kira said, leaning his head against the cold wall. "Your biggest mistake was underestimating Toru Hagakure's abilities. And... you didn't trust your teammate."
"My teammate..."
"It's good to be confident in your own abilities, but you can't forget about teamwork... Even All Might has a reliable partner supporting him from behind the scenes."
Click. The door opened, and Izuku Midoriya walked out. He looked surprised to see the two of them sitting on either side of the infirmary door like a pair of guardian deities.
"Eh, eh?!" Midoriya jumped. "You're both badly hurt! Hurry up and get treated!"
Badly hurt? Kira and Todoroki glanced at themselves, then at each other, and finally, their gazes settled on Midoriya.
Midoriya's arm, the one he had used his Quirk with, was wrapped in bandages, with another strap going around his neck to hold it in place. Though he was smiling brightly, it couldn't hide the fact that he was seriously injured.
Even after being treated, Midoriya's injuries still looked worse than theirs...
Perhaps noticing their gazes, Midoriya rubbed his head with his other hand and laughed sheepishly. "Um... Recovery Girl said it's best not to heal my injuries all at once. It would put too much strain on my body right now. She told me to rest a lot and then come back for another treatment."
"That's right," Kira nodded in agreement. "After your fight with Bakugo, your body was already exhausted. Recovery Girl's Quirk activates the body's cells. In your condition, healing you completely could have been too much for you to handle, and you could have died from the shock."
Midoriya's face turned pale. "Is it really that serious?!"
"What the Kira kid said is right. So you'd better stop using your Quirk so recklessly. I can't guarantee what will happen next time," the short, elderly woman in a white coat said as she came out. She glared at Midoriya, then went back inside. "You two, come in."
Kira patted Midoriya's shoulder sympathetically and went into the infirmary first. Todoroki followed silently behind him.
Walking over to her desk, Recovery Girl turned to look at the two of them. The left sleeve of Todoroki's costume was gone, and his exposed skin was covered in cuts of various sizes. These were just from his own ice storm and weren't serious. If he had been hit directly by Kira's Hamon, he would probably be unconscious right now. He also felt like he had a slight concussion, but it was only to the point of seeing stars.
Kira's injuries were relatively minor. His costume had provided good protection, only showing slight dents. He had a few scrapes on his face and a burn on the hand he had used Scarlet Overdrive with. And because he had been in such an icy environment, he had already given himself an ice pack, so it was only slightly swollen and not very noticeable.
"You two... seem to have protected yourselves well."
Kira smiled. "Of course. Getting hurt for no reason is the height of irresponsibility."
"Hmph."
Recovery Girl ignored him and walked over to Todoroki. She puckered her lips, making them long, and kissed his wound. Soon, the long cuts on his arm shrank at a visible rate and then gradually disappeared.
Recovery Girl might have been a beauty in her youth, but now, even after seeing it several times in the past few days, Kira still felt he couldn't quite handle such a "blessing"...
Despite this thought, Kira still said to Recovery Girl, who had finished treating Todoroki, "Is it my turn?"
"You..." Recovery Girl stood on a chair, took a tube of ointment from the top shelf of a cabinet, and tossed it to Kira without looking back. "This is for burns. Apply it yourself."
Is the difference in treatment for the two of us really that big? Damn it!
Kira looked at Todoroki, hoping for some comfort, but was surprised to see a rare look of trouble on his usually stoic face. He even felt a little envious of Kira...
If I could, I wouldn't want to be treated like this either, his eyes seemed to say.
Kira's mood instantly brightened. He smiled and said goodbye to Recovery Girl, who was slowly getting down from her chair, and then pulled Todoroki out of the room by his shirt.
"I'm going to the monitoring room now. Do you want to come?"
When they had arrived, All Might had told them that after their treatment, they could choose to watch the other matches or go back and rest. Kira's injuries had mostly healed thanks to his Hamon, and he had recovered about 70% of his stamina. He wanted to see how the others fought and if there would be any other surprising matchups like Midoriya's.
Todoroki shook his head. "I'm going back. I'm a little tired."
Kira understood instantly. Recovery Girl's treatment consumed the patient's stamina. After being healed, the body would naturally feel tired and want to sleep.
After parting with Todoroki, Kira went to the monitoring room. The others, who had been intently watching the large screen, suddenly crowded around him.
Denki Kaminari seemed to have already finished his match. He said excitedly, "Kira-kun, that vertical attack of yours was so cool! Even that monster was taken down by your sneak attack!"
"Monster? Are you talking about Todoroki?"
Perhaps because Todoroki wasn't there, Kaminari didn't hold back. "That's right, the ice man! You probably don't know, but he created ice from the first floor and instantly froze the entire building! A Quirk that crazy, what else would you call it but a monster?!"
No wonder I felt that with his reaction speed, he could have created more ice when I attacked him. So he had no intention of fighting me head-on. He had already used up half his energy by the time he reached the stronghold, and he was just trying to freeze us to end the fight... How arrogant.
But even though he was strong, Kira wasn't afraid. After all, he had also used up most of his energy to save Toru. If they had fought at full strength, it would be hard to say who would win. Speaking of which... where is Toru?
He asked Kaminari, who shook his head. "She's invisible! How would I know where she is? She could be right in front of me, and I wouldn't know."
Suddenly, his expression turned perverted, and he hooked his arm around Kira's head. "Kira-kun, be honest, what happened between you and Toru? On the monitor, all I could see was you talking to the air. We don't know what you said... but I know she was naked, right? Did you get to touch anything? Heh heh heh..."