A Second Life

It was a brand-new day in the town of Musutafu. The town was peaceful. It had 'the' number one hero school in the nation after all and its kind of gave everyone some sort of relief, like someone had their backs. All Might was staying there. Why should anyone worry?

But alas, most of the people are not ready for the updates. Like just a few days ago, the seemingly unbreachable security of UA High School was made a huge joke of. The authorities, like usual, used All Might's name to cover up their mistakes and the masses, being the lovely gullible sheep, they were, brought it with no problem whatsoever.

It's funny how the USJ incident created different reactions. The league of villains was not mentioned anywhere, it somehow became another propaganda for All Might and Shigaraki didn't like it one bit. He had grand plans, ambitions even to spread the reign of 'terror' (Sorry, this guy didn't attend high school to learn about the French revolution, otherwise he would be wise with the words. And we don't want wise villains with the words anyway, they tend to create a lot more mess than the ordinary ones.).

The point is, Shigaraki was angry and he wanted to vent it. Thus, he called his 'mentor' with whom Shigaraki would b**** and m.o.a.n about how the world might be a better place and all that stuff.

Habitually, Shigaraki called his mentor, none other the All for One. It's a miracle how this socially incompetent fella learned how to use FaceChat. Maybe he might've asked Kurogiri (Who has Hands?!) or whatever, he called All for One and the man picked up.

In the screen, All for One, connected with all the tubes and stuff looked like a villain who walked straight out of a third-rate horror movie with aliens and banshees. Looking at the unstable state of his protégé, All for One had mixed feelings. A part of him was happy about the destruction he could cause, and the other part of him was vexed about the failure brought by this instability. It doesn't matter. With the passage of time, All for One gained the ability to mask his emotions and intentions completely (maybe he was born with it.). But it won't be necessary. With his face mutilated horribly, people couldn't make out the emotions in his face. With an internal sigh, All for One listened to Shigaraki Tomura's bem.o.a.ning.

"They shot at both of my legs… We were completely defeated… even the nomu was done in instantly! It couldn't even break a measly barrier, and Kurogiri was blocked by some stupid bindings…"

'Oh. Now's that's interesting. Something can stop Kurogiri… Interesting indeed.' All for One thought while listening to his 'successor's' complaints.

"Even the kids were strong… And the symbol of peace was none the worse for wear…! You were totally wrong Sensei…!"

"No. I wasn't. I was simply overly optimistic. Hmm… But you know, it seems they underestimated us. I'm glad that the Villain Alliance's name is so cheap."

Just then, also intrigued by the happenings… another voice spoke. It was Dr. Ujiko Daruma's.

"Incidentally… what has become of that joint work of Sensei's and mine? Has nomu's body been retrieved?" he asked.

To this, Kurogiri answered. "I'm afraid he was sent flying. And if we don't know the precise coordinates of his position, I would be unable to search for him no matter how many times I warped. We just don't have that kind of time." He finished, but with an edge in his tone. His 'containment' traumatized him.

The villains 'chatted' for a bit more before All for One closed the call.

…

Sumire watched the entire thing in her phone. And shared the file to 'Teresa' and immediately, she got a reply.

Teresa: Whoa! So, this stuff really worked, huh?

Sumire's mouth twitched at the id name. She replied anyway.

Reaper: Yeah. The video was a live feed from the so called 'Villains' Alliance' and as we suspected, All for One is indeed involved. So is Ujiko Daruma.

Teresa: Hmm… So that bastard is indeed alive. Don't worry, I'll try to track him down, and my dear Reaper, for the sake of our brother-sister bond, please do not do anything reckless. I beg you.

Reaper: You make me sound suicidal.

Teresa: Aren't you? No, you are one. Your previous actions back me up.

Sumire rolled her eyes. Then she began texting.

Reaper: Fine, whatever. Just keep me updated and don't you dare hide anything from me. If you do, I'll show you what a real stunt is.

Teresa: Oh, so you are threatening me now. I'm hurt.

Reappear: bye.

Teresa: hey, wait!

Sumire logged out of the secured line. The police officers who wanted to monitor can eat dirt now. They would get absolutely nothing from her. She was, after all, Sumire had every bit of Nemu's memories and experiences within her. It's like a walk in the park, dealing with tech stuff, that is.

Sumire laid down on her bed and thought about the conversation in the video. The bug she planted on Shigaraki must be destroyed by now. A new one must be replaced and she was sure Terry would take care of it, now that they knew the location of their base.

It has been three days since All for One contacted Shigaraki. If Sumire and Terry wanted to track down this supervillain, they need to work really hard.

But dealing with her classmates was more taxing to Sumire. The girl was, a little socially awkward. Yeah, she can pretend that she is fine and all, but how can a girl experimented by her own father be fine at all? Her family was wrecked, she got a freakish quirk and some really dangerous and well-hidden enemies who are hell bent on making her life all the more miserable.

At the end, she is an orphan, though her family is alive. On any day, she can't call her brothers as 'brothers.'

She can deal with all of this. But cheating on her classmates was something that left a bad taste in her mouth. When she thought of the earnest expressions on their faces, she felt even more revolted. She, after all, put their lives at risk for her personal reasons, good or bad aside.

To make things worse, whatever Bakugou said to be true. She was cold, heatless, manipulative and a b****. Though she never wanted to be any of it. Thinking about the boy, she realized she hurt him. She really wanted tell him the truth, she was tempted too. He looked like a guy who can keep a secret.

For crying things loud, Sumire was just a 15-year-old high schooler forced to someone she isn't. She wanted none of it. She wanted to be like normal teenagers, who'd hang out with their friends and have 'fun', not scheme about screwing with supervillains. And friends, she had none. Kiyoko and her brothers were family.

No matter how bad it is, Sumire knew. She was better off without friends. She would just bring harm to them. And that's why, she is this way. Pushing everyone else away. That's what she always did and maybe she should do it.

After some more self-loathing, Sumire got to work. All the residual effects from the self-induced coma were gone, and she can start her training right away. With this, she snuck into her usual training ground. Mrs. Sakaki knew about it so, there was no trouble for her.

She entered the bas.e.m.e.nt which was actually a large bunker, military grade and well equipped. It also had a little medical facility, shower room, heck, there's even a kitchen in there. One might as well call it an underground 'villa.'

She did some stretching, though she doesn't need it at this point. Due to various exercise her mother made her do since she was young, Sumire's body was very flexible. It allowed her learn all kinds of martial arts and combine them, hence enabling her to practice the Hado – the deadly Shinigami hand to hand combat method.

That is to say, Sumire has every Shinigami skill except for a Zanpakuto, which was bother Nemu's and her regret. Neither of them had Zanpakuto. Sumire would wonder what kind of Zanpakuto she might have. According to what she knew, a Zanpakuto would be a reflection of Shinigami's soul. There's nothing she could do other than to long for it.

Shaking her head clear of these thoughts, Sumire moved to the next phase of her training – kido spells.

After being utterly exhausted, Sumire went back to her room, took a shower and laid down on her bed. She wanted to sleep and embrace the peaceful darkness, but she knew she was too scared to do that.

Thus, she meditated. That was the only best alternative her body can get, other than the sleep. Like usual, she felt calm. And soon, she found herself in void. It was dark and null. But this was Sumire's safe heaven. This was where she would do all the things she wants. Stay quietly and watch the happiest of her memories in her mind. This was one of the perks she found out. It might be related to her quirk. She wasn't sure, but Sumire could literally play her entire life inside her head. This was the sole thing that allowed her to not to succ.u.mb to depression and trauma, despite all the monstrosities she had to face at a tender age.

But that was not all. Sumire could, well do anything she wants here. She could conjure things, make them move, practice those forbidden kido spells without a care and do whatever she wants. She was like the god here. What she wants, would happen. This was her mind – soulscape, as she likes calling it. The reason behind her alarming growth and adaptability. But also, an escape from reality.

…

The next day was nothing special. The students of class 1-A all sat in their seats without having to remind them. The entire class was stood on the same word, to not to trouble their class rep who is a little shy. Well, at least the girls thought this way and all the boys had no choice but to follow. There's a saying that hell hath no fury like a woman and the male population in UA high school knew that it was true beyond words.

Today too, there weren't any 'serious' classes. With the investigation going on, half, if not the entire freshmen teachers were involved. And conducting classes during this time was not possible, with many sustaining some critical wounds, like All Might.

But actually, it was only class 1-A who had this 'free' time. And as to not waste it, the class was asked to do some group exercises in teams.

Thus, here we are, in three groups, two with seven members and the other with six. Coincidentally, Sumire was among the six. She felt happy that she gets to deal with one less person. But she was being too optimistic with life.

Sumire's team was a strange combination of nerves (Midoriya), calm (Asui), indifference (Todoroki), cheer (Hagakure) and earnest (Kirishima).

Any hopes that her high school life would be easy were crashed. Team dynamics. Sumire's sore spot, Achilles' heel, etc.

Honestly, Sumire felt that she could handle boredom and super villains better than team spirit.

...

Elsewhere, Daruma looked at the man and spoke. "It's truly fascinating. According to Shigaraki Tomura's report, someone can block the attacks of Nomu and can stop Kurogiri from warping. It's truly amusing, won't you agree?"

"It is so. Let's see if it's true, shall we?" All for One replied.

And without asking for it, Sumire gained the attention of the one and only All for One.