A few minutes before.
"Two UA students are walking right toward Trap A, Ms. Sai," a pink-haired girl reported, serving tea.
At a table, Saiko Intelli of Seiai Academy sat, her eyes closed.
Not much time had passed since the beginning of the first stage.
However, unlike most of the other schools, instead of going after UA students, Sai had brought her schoolmates in the opposite direction.
Seiai Academy was different, especially under her leadership.
They had not come here to participate in some useless tradition.
They had come here to pass the Exam and get their Provisional Hero Licenses.
She had come here to get her Provisional License, even if others from her school might not be able to get theirs.
The moment the buzzer had gone off, Sai had brought the girls to a location with many buildings, executing her plan.
Saiko Intelli had the Quirk IQ.
After she consumed the tea and closed her eyes, her Quirk enabled her to amplify her already high IQ, which stood at a remarkable 150, transforming her into a super genius.
This meant not only could Sai think of complex plans, but she could also execute those plans in a timely, sophisticated manner.
Sai had known that once things settled down in the first few minutes, most of the students would give up on hunting UA and begin focusing on the first stage itself. It was natural for the passing rate of students to shoot up in that scenario. As such, the best method to secure places for Seiai Academy among the passing students was to set traps and wait for the prey to come to her.
But IQ alone wasn't enough to perfectly implement her schemes.
For that, Sai had learned to use the people around her and their Quirks.
Just like the pink-haired girl, who not only could make excellent tea for her, but could also keep an eye on the people coming to this location using her Hologram Quirk.
"Show me," Sai said, opening her eyes.
The pink-haired girl nodded, putting the tray on the table.
Then, she faced away from Sai, her right pupil suddenly glowing pink, shooting pink rays, and projecting the distant scene right in the middle of the room.
The other Seiai girls, standing around Sai, all dressed in the Academy's white, militaristic uniform, stepped closer to have a look as well.
The hologram showed two boys.
Sai recognized them instantly.
"Oh?" She let out a sadistic smile. "If it isn't the explosive menace from UA, Katsuki Bakugo. The other one is… Eijiro Kirishima with the Hardening Quirk. Hmmm… Things will become messy if these two are involved. Luckily, Trap A will suit them just well."
The pink-haired girl blinked, and the hologram vanished.
Sai took a longer sip of the tea and closed her eyes once again, falling into her Quirky contemplation.
Only a few moments later, she opened her eyes with another, broader smile on her lips.
Sai looked over her shoulder, her eyes reflecting the girl with a metallic mask on her face.
"There are times when being subtle isn't optimal," she said, struggling to contain her laugh as the corners of her lips twitched. "Especially when by being… bombastic, we can let the enemies dig their own graves… Haha!"
…
Presently,
Just as Bakugo lifted his hands to destroy the loudmouth on the other end of the corridor, a loud snapping sound entered his ears.
"Oi!" Kirishima shouted, pointing toward the glass-walled balcony. "Look!"
Steel shutters were falling, sealing the entire corridor.
Bakugo looked toward the girl again, grinning. "That's your trap?!" he asked sarcastically. "To… keep me in?"
"I am here, too!" Kirishima shouted from behind.
It indeed looked silly, no matter from which angle one looked at it.
Sealing Bakugo and Kirishima in a corridor, using shutters made of steel or otherwise, was only a delaying tactic, given the nature of their Quirks.
It was more so with one of the attackers getting sealed in the corridor with them…
Wait.
Bakugo, who was about to show these idiots that they had messed with the wrong man, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
The thick, cold air had already filled the corridor, making their vision blurry.
Such coldness didn't bother Bakugo, as he knew he would leave this place soon enough. Kirishima, with his skin hardened, had even less to worry about.
So, no matter how much cold air the girl let out, Bakugo hadn't bothered to stop her.
However, now that he properly looked at it, the cold air wasn't coming out of the girl. Not anymore. But… it was coming from an opening in the ceiling. In fact, it was coming out so fast that it felt like the entire building, above this floor, was packed with cold air… sealed cold air.
But that wasn't the weirdest thing, though.
There was a smell to the cold air.
A smell like…
Bakugo's eyes widened.
"Have you gone crazy?!" he roared, looking at the blurry girl. "I will…"
Bakugo couldn't finish his sentence.
Kirishima, who was about to ask what was going on upon noticing the smell in the air, also couldn't voice it.
In front of them, the girl who had been mocking them only moments ago, who had become blurry but was still visible, suddenly… disappeared.
Silence.
Then, not even thinking anymore, Bakugo turned around, Kirishima already storming toward the exit, raising his fist.
In the next moment, from outside, a brown-haired girl from Seiai used her Aim Quirk to fire right into the tiny opening in the sealed building, her slingshot glove adding an electric touch to the metallic ball.
And the moment that ball entered the building, it lit up the flammable gas mixed with cold air… which became hot and expanded, resulting in a phreatic eruption.
The steel shutters came blasting off as the BOOM made the entire building rattle, with steam, fire, and stones shooting in all directions, raising humongous clouds of dust.
Standing far from this mighty explosion was Saiko Intelli… drinking her tea leisurely.