A Second Life

Sumire took a deep breath and started speaking.

"Yaoyorozu-san, was it? I have some corrections to make in your prior statements.

Foremost, none of us overlooked the core."

"What?" Asui asked curiously.

"Yes. Think about it. What was the condition for the battle to end?"

"Hero team should either capture the villains or touch the core, and villains should stop that from happening until the time is up or capture the heroes…" Iida explained.

"Then as a villain what would be our utmost priority?" Sumire asked in return.

"To detonate the nuclear weapon you have." Asui said frankly.

"And to do that, who would hinder us?"

"The heroes."

"Correct. So letting heroes anywhere near the weapon was risky. So we decided to ambush them."

"And that was purely by luck-"

Sumire interrupted Yaoyorozu who butted in between her and Asui. She looked at her and scoffed.

"Luck? Honestly, you still think we won by luck?"

"...Yeah, I mean, you left the core without defending it and anything could've happened…"

"Who said I left the core?" Sumire asked incredulously.

"...Huh?" everyone were stunned at that statement.

They stared at her in confusion.

"Uh… then how were you able to capture me?" Uraraka asked.

"You think I was the one who knocked you out?" Sumire asked the gravity girl.

"...Um, yes."

"Sigh… Uraraka-san, you stepped into the trap we set up-"

"A TRAP?!!!" many of them were agitated.

"Yes. We set up some traps. You didn't think I'd let Bakugou-kun blindly ambush you, did you?"

"..." No reply.

"...tch. Useless idiots." Bakugou muttered under his breath.

[I couldn't agree more.]

"Sigh… how about you all listen to me first? No questions till the end."

"..."

"I'll take it as yes. So, I'll say it from the start.

As you all know, we need to either capture the heroes or fend them off till the time's up. And we decided to do the former. The latter was a backup plan.

Now, if you observe carefully, where did Bakugou ambush Midoriya-kun and Uraraka-san? Right outside the room we were in."

Sumire showed the footage. Indeed, Bakugou assaulted them when they were adjacent to the core room and no one noticed it.

"While Bakugou-kun and Midoriya-kun were fighting, Uraraka-san entered the room and fell to the traps we set. And that's it. When I thought the fight between the boys was over, I asked Bakugou-kun for conformation through the earpiece. I then walked out with Uraraka-san, after restraining her of course. The rest, you all know.

It would be clear if you all follow the recording once again."

She played the recording once again, and they watched what villains did this time, instead of ignoring them.

In the video, Bakugou and Sumire were talking to each other. After some time, they both got up. Bakugou made a blast through the walls. Sumire subsequently disconnected all the wires inside them and started setting some traps. And when they noticed the heroes nearing them, they both nodded to each other and Bakugou left the room to ambush them.

After the initial skirmish, they saw Uraraka get close to the room. Then abruptly, she was knocked out.

Sumire paused it and replayed it again. This time, they were clearly able to identify a piece of debris hit Uraraka on the back of her neck when she stepped on the trap as Sumire pointed it out.

Like she said, Sumire never left the room, at least not until the fight was over.

"That's it. We didn't rely on our luck. Everything was perfectly planned out. Midoriya-kun and Bakugou-kun might cause some destruction, but that's the nature of their quirks. Uraraka-san might have been a little careless, but even if one was wary, they would definitely be unable to come out of the traps unscathed."

Nothing else was needed. Everything was clear and even more shocking.

'I never saw them set these many traps… It must be when I was grading the heroes… In such a short time… I underestimated them completely. Every move they made was calculated. Even Bakugou's feint from earlier was to lure and separate…' All Might thought.

He had to admit he never expected such intricate and elaborate planning from them.

He was also misled like everyone else. He thought they both got into an argument, and Bakugou blasted the wall out of anger. Never had he thought the boy did it in on orders, heck, he never thought the boy would listen to anybody at all.

And the traps set up by Sumire would place professionals to shame. She did it so discreetly and quickly. It was so easy to overlook.

'How did she do that?'

He would think about it later. He needed to continue the assessment.

***

Before long, everyone finished their battles and attained their grades. The rankings were declared yet again.

1-Azumi Sumire

2-Yaoyorozu Momo

3-Todoroki Shouto

4-Bakugou Katsuki

5- Iida Tenya

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14- Midoriya Izuku

15- Uraraka Ochako

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Unsurprisingly, there was someone who performed worse than Midoriya and Uraraka.

Throughout the battles, Sumire 'slept' once again. And no one dared to get near her as Bakugou sat beside her. He was murderous by default, and it might be his fault.

He once more took the responsibility of waking her up.

"We need to leave." that was enough for her to get up.

.

.

.

They both changed back to their uniforms and started walking home.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya came running towards Bakugou. He clearly wanted to talk.

"I'll go first." Sumire said this and went ahead.

Soon, the two boys were left standing.

"What is it, Deku?" Bakugou demanded the boy, he was in a rare, good mood.

But what the boy declared next completely ruined his mood completely.

He absolutely disregarded him and went out. He started running as he saw Sumire walking far ahead of him.

"Hey! Freak! Wait up for me!"

"Huh?" Sumire turned back to see a spiky explosive blonde running towards her. She stopped walking and waited for him to catch up.

"Why the heck did you leave?" He urged the girl.

"I never said I'd wait for you. You could've asked for me to wait." She said innocently.

"Tsk." he let out an annoyed grunt. What she said was true. He never asked her to wait for him.

"...So why are you angry again?" she asked him, as he was clearly happy a moment ago.

"Nothing much." He wasn't going to say that Deku got under his skin.

"Fine. Don't say it. But you and Midoriya… what's it between you two? How does he get under your skin so easily?"

A vein popped on his face, clearly enraged.

"There's nothing and he is nothing!!!"

"Wow… Was that angst?"

"Shut up, you freak!"

"Hehe, no need to be so shy about it, Kacchan~"

"...call me that one more time and-"

"What will you do~?" She smirked at him.

"...." He couldn't do anything to her.

For the first time, Bakugou Katsuki felt what it means to be bullied. And it barely started.

***

In UA, Nezu's office.

"All Might-san, is there anything you need me for?" Nezu asked the man who entered his office along with Aizawa.

"Hai. there is something I would like to know about."

"Oh, what might it be?" Nezu asked, 'innocently.'

"...It's about a student. Azumi Sumire."

"Ah, Azumi-san. I know her. She is a good seedling, isn't she?"

"She is… but there's something about her that I don't understand."

"And that is?"

"She displayed unusual skills…" All Might was unsure about how he should proceed.

"Like?"

"She displayed high insight, analysis, manipulation and critical thinking. Her fighting skills are unmatched in the entire student body save for few like Mirio and others. She also showed some skills which are not common, suspicious even, for a student to have. All of this, without using her quirk." Aizawa stated everything in a breath.

"Haha, she did all of this? When?"

"In the battle trials this afternoon. Here is the video of it."

Aizawa handed him the copy of the video. Nezu scrutinized everything. His eyes shone calculatingly as he thought about it. He picked his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, can you please send me the recordings of the XXXXX? Thank you very much."

He took his mobile out and opened an attachment he requested for.

"This is the recording of the trial. It contains what Azumi-san and her teammate spoke throughout the trial clearly. It's from their transmitters."

Both the teachers were interested in it and examined the video all over again.

After it had ended, both of them were silent while Nezu barely manage to control the craziness leaking from his eyes.

All Might was worrying about his secret being known.

Aizawa was suspicious about her... very much. Though he had a fairly good impression on her, he wanted reasons. Not some mysteries about his student.

Nezu suppressed the urge to cackle and called someone.

"Hello?" The person answered.

"Hello. Azumi-san?"

"Hai. It is me. Who are you?"

"Principal Nezu."

"What do you want with me, sir?"

"Nothing much, I wanted to confirm something."

"Sure."

"Did you threaten or fight Mr.Bakugou?"

"...Well, not exactly a fight because it was one sided."

"Please elaborate."

"He started a little skirmish, and I settled it."

"When?"

"Yesterday, on our way back home. We both stay in the same locality."

"Okay then. Thanks for your time."

"Bye."

He placed his phone on the desk.

The two teachers were speechless once again.

"As you heard, there's nothing much to look into. A fight between two of them which ended in friendship. No manipulation or threats involved. Bakugou complied willingly." Nezu said coolly.

"...But it still doesn't explain how a teenage orphan managed to acquire some dangerous skills." Aizawa stated dryly.

All Might was startled when he heard that. He didn't know she was an orphan. This explains why she had a scholarship.

Nezu, for the first time today, had a genuinely rueful smile. He sighed, feeling complicated.

"She is indeed an orphan, but not a simple one." He finally spoke to them.

"What do you mean by that?"

"She is an orphan from the Eichen House."

"Eichen house… you don't mean that one?!" Aizawa asked, utterly shocked.

"Yes, The Eichen House. The one which has the orphans from hero and the villain families…"

"..." They both stayed silent. The suspicion on the girl just grew more.

"No need to worry. I have checked everything about her."

"...Alright then. But I think Eichen House never taught the kids to this standard…"

"You are right. Azumi-san, is a special case… even there."

"How?"

"...Did you hear about the survivors from Holland incident 10 years ago?"

"!...No way! You mean-"

"Yes. Azumi-san is one of the very few who came out, sane."

"..." if they felt doubtful about Sumire before, then now they only feel terribly sorry for the kid.

'She must've been less than five years old when she had to…' they didn't dare to think further.