Chapter 49: A Gift from the Dead
Yoshikage Kira pulled his hand out from under the covers and placed his left hand flat in front of him. Naturally, there was nothing in his palm.
"...Was it just my imagination?"
He had taken the handkerchief from Yoshikage Kira, and the hand that had fallen from Tomura Shigaraki had turned into a toy tank. If he wasn't mistaken, that should have been his Stand's second ability—Sheer Heart Attack.
An infinitely tracking, explosive bomb tank.
Although Kira had named his Quirk "Killer Queen," it actually only had one ability: the power to turn any substance he touched with his finger into a bomb. There were two ways to detonate the bomb. One was for the object itself to explode. The result of the explosion could be either the bomb remaining intact or being destroyed, and he could also make it so that part of it was destroyed and part remained intact. The applications were quite broad.
There were two forms of manifestation. One was for the object-turned-bomb to explode internally, without affecting the outside world. The other was for it to detonate like a normal bomb, affecting the outside world. There were also two methods of detonation. One was a remote bomb, with Kira's hand as the detonator, which could be detonated regardless of distance. The other was a contact bomb; as soon as someone from the outside touched the object-turned-bomb, it would explode instantly, like a landmine being stepped on.
Based on the combination of methods, there were four types of bombs: "automatic-detonation," "automatic-implosion," "manual-detonation," and "manual-implosion." Although this Quirk was powerful, it also had significant limitations. Only one bomb could exist at a time. Only after one bomb exploded could another be set.
The one Kira used most often was the manual-detonation type: turning an object into a bomb, launching it, and then detonating it upon reaching its destination. He knew how to use the other methods, but he rarely did.
For a single object like a bottle or a cup, as long as he touched it, he could turn the entire thing into a bomb. But for large objects like a door or a wall, which he couldn't possibly hold in one hand, he could only turn the part he touched into a bomb. However, for a connecting part like a doorknob, he could still turn the entire thing into a bomb.
For living beings, i.e., people, if they didn't have a Quirk, or a Quirk that altered their body structure like Ojiro's tail, Kira could turn them into a human bomb just by touching them.
But for Quirks that affected the outside world, like Todoroki's or Yaoyorozu's, a simple touch couldn't turn them into a bomb. He could only use it on people who were not conscious of resisting, such as those who were unconscious or asleep.
In the original story, Killer Queen had another form of detonation: the object-turned-bomb wouldn't explode, but the person who touched it would. But perhaps because of being in a different world, he didn't have this ability. As for "Sheer Heart Attack" and "Bites the Dust," he hadn't received those abilities at all and had no idea how to use them.
Kira had thought that he had only obtained a "nerfed" version of the ability, so he hadn't paid much attention to this Quirk before. After all, he had no need to use it in his daily life. But now, he had a feeling that he had somehow grasped the ability known as Sheer Heart Attack.
Perhaps Kira's movements were a bit too large, and he woke up Tsuyu Asui, who was in a light sleep. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and, seeing that Kira was awake, said with delight:
"Kira-kun, you're awake!"
"Uh... yeah." His train of thought on his abilities was interrupted, and for a rare moment, Kira was flustered, his mind racing to figure out what to do in this situation.
Seeing Kira's vague response, Asui naturally assumed he hadn't fully recovered and said with self-reproach, "If Kira-chan hadn't saved me, his brain wouldn't have turned to mush..."
Asui seemed to have made up her mind. She took Kira's hand and looked up at him sincerely. "Even if you lose your memory, become braindead, or paralyzed, I'll take responsibility for you!"
??? Wait, how did things get to this point? What did Asui misunderstand?
"Ahem... Asui-san, I'm fine."
Seeing the tears glistening in Asui's eyes, Kira faked a cough to break the awkwardness. "I just woke up and don't know what's going on."
"Eh... ah!" Asui blinked, seeming to understand the situation a little better. It was clear she had made a mistake. She quickly let go of his hand and said calmly, "The enemies who invaded the school have been driven off. All the students in our class are safe. To prevent any retaliation from the enemy, the police, after cleaning up, are escorting the other students home."
She paused and continued, "Midoriya-chan's injuries have been healed by Recovery Girl. He was also escorted home by the police this afternoon."
"Then why didn't you go home?"
In the faint starlight, in a place where Kira couldn't see clearly, Asui's face quickly turned red, but she still said in a calm voice, "Recovery Girl has already checked you and said you have no injuries, but it's already night and you were still unconscious. Someone had to stay in the infirmary to take care of you, so I stayed."
Is that so... After talking with Yoshikage Kira, I lost consciousness. I don't know what happened after All Might sent Nomu flying. I can't believe I slept until night.
"What time is it now? Aren't your parents worried if you don't go home at night, Tsuyu-chan?" Kira remembered that Asui had told him to call her Tsuyu-chan. The other students in the class also called her that, so the name came out naturally.
"Tsuyu...!" Asui's body shuddered, then she replied calmly, "Don't worry, I already called home and told them I'm not coming back tonight. And because of what happened, the school has given all students a day off tomorrow."
That made sense. After such a major incident, both the news media and government agencies would definitely be reporting on it extensively. Parents would surely be worried about their children's safety... But fortunately, not a single student was harmed this time, so the parents probably wouldn't be too worried.
If he wasn't mistaken, the school would probably even hide the fact that their homeroom teacher, Aizawa, and the substitute teacher, Thirteen, were injured. At most, they would let the public know that "a group of villains broke into U.A. High but were driven off with their tails between their legs."
Besides, the police had caught a large number of criminals this time. With such a solid achievement, the media would at most criticize the school's security system for being inadequate, but they wouldn't question the school's strength. After all, they had All Might.
"Kira-kun, your watch." Asui took a watch from her school uniform pocket and handed it to Kira with both hands. "It's two-thirty in the morning."
"Thanks." After taking it reflexively, Kira realized something was wrong—Do I own a watch?
Kira usually used his phone to check the time, but after class, he had left his uniform, phone, student ID, and other things in the changing room. As for a watch, he had never owned one.
Kira held the skull-shaped watch in his hand, trying to keep it steady. He forced himself to ask calmly, "Is this my watch?"
"That's right. The medical staff took it off your wrist so they could examine you better," Asui said, staring at the somewhat rugged and ferocious design of the watch. "So you're into this kind of punk design, Kira-kun..."
My watch? Don't be ridiculous. This is clearly a gift from the dead...
Seeing Kira's somber expression, Asui said with some unease, "Kira-kun, did I break the watch? I'm sorry, I really couldn't figure out how to operate it..."
"Ah, it has nothing to do with you. The watch is fine," Kira said, lifting the covers and sitting up. He smiled at Asui. "I just need to go to the bathroom."
"I'll get your shoes." Hearing this, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly brought him the disposable slippers that the infirmary provided.
Kira put on the shoes and stood up. He suddenly placed his hands on Asui's shoulders and said seriously, "You must be tired. You should get some sleep on the bed."
Asui nodded dumbly but didn't move. So, Kira forcefully pulled her up from the chair and made her sit on the bed.
Asui had showered in the locker room earlier and was also wearing disposable slippers. Kira told her to lie down, gently took off her shoes, and covered her with a corner of the blanket.
"Good night."
Asui didn't answer, just silently pulled the blanket up, covering her face.
Kira had been smiling warmly at Asui, but when he turned around, his expression had become uncertain. With a somber face, he walked out of the infirmary, clutching the skull watch in his hand.