Conversation Strategy

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jilan Jiyu closed the heavy protective door, pulled a stool from the doorway, and sat down a good two meters away from the only hospital bed.

The room had no windows, no bouquets of flowers, and everything—the bed, the medical equipment, and the walls—was made of metal, making the room feel incredibly cold. If it weren't for the nutrient solution dripping into Stain's body, Jilan Jiyu would have even doubted that time had ever passed in this room.

After removing his blindfold and red scarf, the Hero Killer Stain looked just like an ordinary patient. His face was pale, his lips were white, and countless large and small wounds were visible on his exposed skin. He lay on the hospital bed with his eyes tightly closed, seemingly still asleep.

If Jilan hadn't just seen his eyelids twitch, she might have thought he really hadn't woken up yet.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm a student in the Hero Course at U.A. High School, and I'm in the same class as Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, Tenya Iida, whom you met." Jilan glanced at the brainwaves that hadn't changed much and continued, "You may not know me, but I'm very familiar with your name. From the internet, from what others have said, and from seeing you in person, I'd really like to have a chat with you."

"Oh, I forgot to mention, because the police were worried I might be harmed by you, they asked me to stay two meters away from you and not have any physical contact with you. They're watching us through the small window in the door right now. However, in return, I asked them to turn off the recording and surveillance cameras in the room, and I've checked, they've indeed kept their promise."

Jilan suddenly chuckled dryly, "Even though you're tied up like this, they're still terrified you'll hurt me. Aren't you incredibly proud of that?"

"Kid, they're protecting you." Stain, though his eyes were closed, finally spoke. "If I were you, you'd better get back now. I won't tell you anything, and I have nothing to tell you."

"Are you waiting for All Might?" Jilan suddenly asked. "All Might isn't coming. You don't need to wait anymore."

"What did you say!?" Stain suddenly opened his eyes, and something that seemed to be resentment rose up from his body. Even Inspector Tsukauchi, who was looking inside through the small window, felt his body tremble!

Jilan spoke calmly, as if discussing something trivial. "I'm saying, All Might isn't coming. You should probably give up your martyrdom a thought."

Stain jerked his head around, his neck restrained by the slings, unable to tilt his head back. He could only stare intently at Jilan with bloodshot eyes. "What did you say!?"

"Looks like I was right. You wanted to commit suicide when All Might came to talk to you." Jilan chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head. "I was just telling Inspector Tsukauchi what I thought, right, you little superhero fan?"

Upon Stain seemed to have been doused with cold water, suddenly regaining his composure. "You will regret this."

"Speaking of regret, I'm not sure if you regret saving Midoriya and saying those things." Jilan Jiyu took out her phone and showed Hero Killer a video stored on it. "I think the police probably won't let you see this, but I believe you have the right to know. If possible, please keep it a secret when the police come to question you later."

From Inspector Tsukauchi's perspective, he could only see Jilan showing him his phone, but he couldn't see what was playing on it.

"I think we should stop immediately and let that kid out," Hizashi Yamada said decisively. "Although we don't know what he's playing on Stain gets enraged and breaks free, we won't have time to rescue him!"

"Do you not trust the elasticity of my restraint cloth, or do you not trust Jilan?" Shota Aizawa silently withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes. "Since he has made his decision, we shouldn't interfere."

"You're his teacher, how can you just ignore this?" Hizashi Yamada angrily punched the wall. He had disagreed with Jilan entering from the beginning. After all, this was an adult matter. Even he couldn't help but tremble when facing Stain. To let a student in was just too irresponsible!

"Wait, things seem to have taken a turn for the better." Inspector Tsukauchi suddenly smiled. "Look, Stain gone back to his original position."

The video finished playing, and the last scene showed the Hero Killer shouting to the Pro Hero in his final moments, "Only a true hero can kill me, only All Might!"

"What do you want to say?" The Hero Killer lay back down, his gaze unfocused as he stared at the cold, metallic ceiling.

"As you can see, your video has gone viral online, your ideas have been widely disseminated, and now many imitators of yours have emerged. I wonder if you're happy about that." Jilan clapped her hands as if she had just remembered something. "Oh, right! Just yesterday, I stopped someone dressed similarly to you at the subway entrance. According to the Pro Hero who arrived, he seemed to have been about to kill someone after a robbery when he was spotted by someone with an afro."

Jilan then feigned surprise and said, "Tell me, are they your fellow disciples, committing crimes to follow in their senior's footsteps and learn his ideas...?"

"Don't try to provoke me. I won't reveal anything about my teacher; don't even think about it." Stain closed his eyes. "Also, I didn't sense any civilian presence at the scene."

In other words, does this mean it was taken by someone present at the scene? Indeed, it must have been taken by the Kurogiri.

"I've already been arrested. I can't control the behavior of these copycats, and it's impossible for me to pick up a knife and eliminate them again."

This statement not only distances him from the situation but also indicates that Stain had already identified these individuals as targets for elimination.

Looking at Stain's trembling hands, Jilan's smile widened. He continued, "If these people are your enemies, that's bad, because perhaps many of them have infiltrated your organization."

Stain suddenly roared, "Do I have to say it again? The League of Villains has nothing to do with me! I can't stop what they're doing!"

"... Unable to stop it? That means you think you're no match for the big shot behind Tomura Shigaraki, right?" Jilan Jiyu suddenly said.

Stain's pupils contracted, and he slumped back onto the pillow.

"It seems this is what you wanted to tell All Might." Jilan Jiyu had completely figured out Stain's thoughts and said with a confident smile, "Who would have thought that the infamous Hero Killer would be so preoccupied with fighting criminals?"

After a long pause, Stain slowly asked, "What exactly do you know?"

"You may not know this, but I was also there in the alley that night." Jilan dropped a bombshell that Stain right from the start.