Chapter 315

Platitudes is the three hundred and fifteenth chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

Summary
Before going after Deku, Kai Chisaki tells Lady Nagant that he knows the identity of her target, citing him as the one who ruined his organization while saying he has a severe case of “Hero Syndrome”. She is surprised by this, considering it like fate, asking for him to come along so he can identify him for her, which he agrees on one condition. She says she's not going to take up any of his old grudges, but he quickly denies this, saying he just wants her to deliver him to his Boss, as he no longer cares for anything else.

In the present, Kai yells to Lady Nagant that he kept his part of the deal and wants to see the Boss now as she keeps her Rifle trained on him. Amplifying her arm as much as possible, she says to Deku that due to his Hero education, no matter who Kai is, anyone dying on his watch would weigh heavily on his conscience, firing the bullet. Her aim is to make him to over-think his judgement, causing him to hesitate and give her the opening to defeat him.

To her complete surprise, he immediately uses Blackwhip to swing over to him while using a combination of Fa Jin and 45% of One For All to create a Faux 100% of One For All, allowing him to temporarily become faster than the bullet, which he uses to save Kai, leaving Lady Nagant in complete disbelief. She quickly realizes that Deku had already started changing directions as she was about to shoot. Deku tells Kai that they aren’t done as he pulls himself back with Blackwhip.

He thinks about how since he's been using One For All 45%, Danger Sense, Smokescreen, Blackwhip, Fa Jin, and Float in rapid succession, his body couldn’t keep up. However, he learned from this and narrows it down to only using One For All, Blackwhip, and Fa Jin. With another leg’s worth of Fa Jin, Deku uses Faux 100% Manchester Smash to break Lady Nagant's rifle arm as she was falling back, as he yells that it is over for her. Lady Nagant takes note of how Deku didn’t hesitate to save Kai even though they were enemies, as if it was the most natural thing to do. As her Air Walk gives in and she starts to fall, she wonders about when the Hero Public Safety Commission’s “platitudes” started to make her feel sick.

To her surprise, Deku catches her and says that the trajectory for the bullet she fired at Kai was off, indicating she wasn’t serious about killing him. Furthermore, he says that if she was truly on All For One’s side, she would have just shot him with the very first bullet rather than give him a chance to surrender. He tells her that because she has seen the dark side, she should also know how to bring back the light, and he asks her to join his side as he still sees the soul of a Hero within her.

Deku’s words cause Lady Nagant to smile and just as she is about to call him a true Hero, an explosion goes off within her body, leaving it charred and burned while Deku screams in horror. As it turns out, All For One suspected Lady Nagant could be swayed by Deku so he rigged her body to explode in case she failed her mission. He also calls her nothing but a convenient tool for others to use and she should blame her Quirk for it.

Thankfully, Hawks flies in on the scene and catches Lady Nagant, asking his senior not to die on him.

Chapter Notes

 * Deku saves Kai utilizing a combination of One For All at 45% and Fa Jin to create a "Faux 100% One For All", becoming as fast as a bullet.
 * He proceeds to use his remaining power to defeat Lady Nagant in battle.
 * Deku also rescues Lady Nagant, telling her she still has the soul of a Hero, with her recognizing him as a true Hero.
 * All For One executes a fail safe in his "contract" with Lady Nagant, causing her to explode from within.
 * Hawks arrives to try and save her.

Characters In Order of Appearance

 * Kai Chisaki
 * Lady Nagant
 * Deku
 * All Might
 * Public Safety Commission President
 * All For One
 * Hawks

Trivia

 * Izuku describing All Might's speed as "faster than a speeding bullet" is the same phrase used to describe Superman's speed.
 * Lady Nagant's panels where she expands her Rifle's structure resembles Tetsuo Shima's mutant arm from the AKIRA franchise.