Chapter 125: The Stain Incident Fallout
Over the next two days, the news of the Hero Killer's capture shocked the entire nation.
According to the official statement, the Hero Killer and the three enemies who had attacked Hosu City had been subdued by a team of Pro Heroes led by Endeavor and Eye of the Dawn, with the assistance of several students. A reporter in a helicopter had accidentally captured an image of Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri. After confirming with U.A. High, they were identified as the same members of the League of Villains who had attacked the school. Therefore, the official theory was that the Hero Killer was a member of the League of Villains.
The Hero Killer was the most prolific serial killer since All Might's debut, and his targets were specific: he only killed Pro Heroes. This behavior was reminiscent of that London murderer from two centuries ago, Jack the Ripper. The Hero Killer, Stain, was destined to leave his mark on this hero society.
With Stain's capture, his history was dug up by curious individuals. His real name was Chizome Akaguro. Inspired by the deeds of All Might, he had aspired to become a hero and had enrolled in a private hero high school. However, he had become disillusioned after "seeing the fundamental corruption of the hero ideal within the educational system" and had dropped out in the summer of his first year.
On the verge of turning twenty, he had begun to advocate for a "Return to True Heroes," giving speeches on the street. But he later came to believe that words were powerless and abandoned this path. For the next ten years, he had taught himself the art of killing, honing his skills to fulfill his new "duty."
"Heroes should not seek reward. Only through self-sacrifice can one earn the title of 'hero.' The heroes of today are all fakes, unworthy of the name. He would, through a continuous purge, make society recognize this fact." This was his "Return to True Heroes" manifesto.
Yoshikage Kira closed the video biography of the Hero Killer and opened another, one with an unknown uploader. The video was short, only a few seconds long.
"Someone must be drenched in blood! Someone must awaken the true heroes!
"Come on! Bring it on, you fakes!
"The only one who can kill me... is a true hero! Only All Might!"
In the video, besides the Hero Killer, was a dead Nomu and a green-haired boy lying on the ground. Opposite him, the figures of several Pro Heroes standing side-by-side flashed past. The scene was reminiscent of a cornered gangster boss making his last stand.
Watching this video might fill one with fear at the madness in his words. However, one of the people present at the scene had posted a vivid, detailed account of what had happened.
According to the post, the Hero Killer had already been captured and bound. But when one of the students present was snatched away by a flying enemy that had appeared from nowhere, he had, without hesitation, killed his own "comrade" and saved the student. Even then, he had not run. He had faced down several Pro Heroes alone and had roared those words before finally collapsing from his injuries.
The spirit of the Hero Killer—choosing to be captured rather than let a child be taken by his accomplice—had earned him the admiration of some, who began to post messages online agreeing with Stain's ideology.
This video was quickly deleted after it was uploaded, but it was just as quickly re-uploaded by others. A tug-of-war of deleting and uploading played out across the internet, only stopping after the websites had blocked the relevant keywords.
Kira was a little surprised that all this had happened after he had left. He had called Midoriya after returning to the zoo, but had only gotten his voicemail. The next morning, Midoriya had called him back, thanking him and telling him he was safe, but he had not mentioned anything about the Hero Killer.
The official reports hadn't identified Midoriya and the others, just referring to them as "several students." But Kira knew that, aside from Shosei Meisei, the other named Pro Heroes had contributed nothing to the fight with Stain.
Kira had asked Midoriya about this, but he had cited a confidentiality agreement and had not revealed any specific details. Iida and Todoroki had also remained silent.
So, the government is covering up the story? Kira could understand why. Midoriya and the others didn't have hero licenses. If it was revealed that they had seriously injured the Hero Killer, many people would praise their outstanding performance, but at the same time, they would also be punished by the government.
It was just like the night after the Sports Festival. Although the mugger's actions against Satomi Ishihara had constituted a crime, Kira, as an unlicensed student, was not qualified to use his Quirk to take him down, which is why he had only used Hamon for defense. (Although, in the end, he had still killed him with Killer Queen, but no one knew that, so no rules had been broken.)
And just like Bakugo, who had become famous in middle school because of the Sludge Villain incident. Although he had used his Quirk against the enemy, he had only done so in self-defense, which also did not constitute a rule violation.
But to be honest, the line between self-defense and assault was very difficult to define. If the government were to punish Midoriya and the others for their actions, they would surely face a public backlash—
Being punished for saving people? What kind of sense does that make? Does that mean that if I see someone in danger and I have the ability to help, I shouldn't, and should just call the police and let the Pro Heroes handle it, even if it means watching the person die?
Perhaps the police were also having a headache over this situation, and were also worried that the students might face retaliation from the enemy. That's why, just as they had made Kira keep his incident a secret, they had made Midoriya and the others do the same, planning to make it public only after they had become Pro Heroes or after the statute of limitations had passed.
But what they hadn't expected was for this video to spread so virally online. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the person standing behind Stain was Izuku Midoriya from the U.A. Hero Course. Still, it was probably fine. From the perspective of one of Stain's admirers, Kira could draw a conclusion—since Stain hadn't harmed Midoriya, and had even turned his back to him, didn't that mean that Midoriya was not a target of his purge? In other words, was he a hero that the great Stain acknowledged?
Based on the environment Kira had seen from the rooftop, he could confirm that there was no way a civilian could have been at the location where the video was filmed. Therefore, Kira concluded, this video must have been filmed by Kurogiri, under the orders of his "Master," and then leaked onto the internet.
What they wanted was the same thing the Director wanted: fame. The League of Villains wanted to create a savior for the villains, Stain, to counter the hero society represented by All Might. And the League of Villains... would be the U.A. High for villains.
This was the most logical conclusion Kira could draw based on the information he had.
Kira sighed as he watched the extremist comments constantly appearing in the comments section. It seemed their plan was succeeding.
At the League of Villains' hideout.
Tomura Shigaraki was also watching the video. But before he could finish, it became a 404 error.
He turned to the television, annoyed. "Teacher, why are we doing this? What's the point of uploading this video? Stain is getting all the attention! The Nomu didn't even become a topic of conversation!"
"Is the Nomu what's important?" his teacher said calmly. "Do you remember the purpose you stated to Stain?"
"To destroy this society... to destroy All Might..." Shigaraki muttered a few times, then suddenly looked up. "Teacher, do you mean this is our chance!?"
Kurogiri interjected, "In the eyes of the public, the Hero Killer's organization is our League of Villains. As the saviors of villainy, there will surely be people who, out of admiration for him, will want to join us. And then..."
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