Chapter 16: Alarm, Stampede, and the Human Exit Sign
The voting was over. The results were scrawled in bold chalk on the blackboard, sealing the fate of the class leadership.
Class Representative: Izuku Midoriya (3 Votes).
Deputy Representative: Momo Yaoyorozu (2 Votes).
Midoriya stood at the podium, trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. "I-I-I... I will d-do my... b-best!"
Momo sighed with a hint of disappointment, adjusting her posture. Meanwhile, in the back row, Natsu was fast asleep, snoring softly, completely unaware that he had received exactly one vote (courtesy of Happy, who had scribbled "NATSU" on a piece of paper and stuffed it in the box, despite not technically being a student).
The Cafeteria ("Lunch Rush").
The cafeteria was alive with the roar of hungry teenagers. The air was thick with the mouth-watering scents of savory broth, deep-fried pork cutlets, and freshly steamed rice. The clatter of trays and the hum of conversation created a warm, energetic atmosphere.
Natsu sat at a long table with the "Deku Squad"—Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida.
Natsu's tray looked less like a meal and more like a hazard zone. He had ordered the large curry rice, but he had emptied an entire bottle of "Ultra-Spicy Magma Sauce" over it. The food was glowing a vibrant, dangerous red.
"Itadakimasu!" Natsu cheered, digging in with terrifying speed.
"Whoa..." Uraraka watched him with wide, shocked eyes. "Natsu-kun! Are you actually going to eat all that?! It looks like lava!"
"Fire needs fuel!" Natsu declared with a mouth full of red rice. He swallowed, and a literal puff of steam shot out of his nostrils with a sharp hiss. "Otherwise, my fire will go out!"
"By the way, Midoriya-kun," Iida said seriously, cutting his meat into mathematically perfect cubes. "Congratulations on becoming the Class Rep. It is a grave responsibility, but I believe you are suited for it."
"I'm not so sure..." Midoriya sighed, looking at his trembling hand. "I feel like you would have been better, Iida-kun. The way you organize things, and your glasses... you look like a leader."
"Glasses don't make a leader!" Happy chimed in, floating above the table as he gnawed on a whole grilled fish.
"Iida, you're too stiff," Natsu said, swiping a piece of beef from Iida's plate with lightning speed. "People only follow you because they're scared you'll yell at them."
"Natsu-kun! Return that beef immediately! That is improper conduct!" Iida scolded, chopping the air with his robot-like arm movements.
Suddenly.
WIIIIIIIIIN— WIIIIIIIIIN— WIIIIIIIIIN!!
A jarring, high-pitched siren tore through the cafeteria, drowning out the laughter and chatter. It was a heavy, oppressive sound that vibrated in the chest.
Natsu froze, the spoon halfway to his mouth. His eyes lit up with a spark of excitement.
"Villains?" Natsu grinned, dropping his spoon. "Is it fighting time?! YEAH!"
A robotic voice echoed over the intercom:
"Security Level 3 Breach. All students, please evacuate immediately and in an orderly fashion."
"Level 3?!" A second-year student nearby went pale, dropping his tray. "That means someone has infiltrated the school grounds! This has never happened before!"
In an instant, the pleasant cafeteria transformed into a chaotic sea of panic.
Hundreds of students surged toward the single, narrow exit. Screams, shoving, and blind fear took over.
"Hey! Don't push!" Natsu shouted. He found himself trapped in the crushing wave of bodies. But unlike the others, Natsu had a priority.
He was holding his tray of spicy curry high above his head with one hand, balancing it like a waiter in a war zone.
"Watch the food! Watch the food!" Natsu yelled, using his free arm and hip to stiff-arm a panicking student away. "Where is the enemy?! Let me fight them! Just don't spill my curry!"
"Natsu! It's a stampede!" Happy cried out. He was flying just above the heads of the crowd, looking down at the squirming mass of students. "They look like sardines in a tin can! It's total chaos down there!"
The corridor was a nightmare of compression. Everyone ran blindly. Natsu, despite his immense physical strength, was being swept along by the sheer volume of the human tide, struggling to keep his feet—and his lunch—steady.
"This is worse than the train!" Natsu complained, grinding his teeth as an elbow caught him in the ribs. "Why is everyone so scared?!"
Beside him, Iida was trying to maintain order, but he was shoved violently against the glass window overlooking the front grounds. Iida's face was pressed flat against the pane.
"Gah!" Iida groaned.
But from his position plastered against the glass, Iida saw something outside. There was no army of villains. There were no monsters.
There was a mob of reporters, cameramen, and microphones. They had breached the main gate and were swarming the entrance.
"Reporters?" Iida realized, his eyes widening. "It's just the media!"
Iida tried to turn around to shout at the students, but his voice was drowned out by the roar of panic. "Everyone! Stop! It's just the press!"
No one heard him. The pushing intensified. Students were tripping. Someone was going to get crushed.
"Damn it!" Iida grit his teeth. "If this continues, people will get hurt! I need to get their attention!"
Iida looked around frantically. His eyes landed on the EXIT sign hanging above the wide doorframe—high up and visible to everyone.
"Uraraka-kun!" Iida shouted, waving to the girl who was being buffeted by the crowd nearby.
Uraraka understood the signal instantly. She slapped her own chest to lighten herself, then reached out and slapped Iida's armor.
"Make me float!"
At that moment, Natsu felt a metal hand grip his shoulder.
"Dragneel-kun!" Iida yelled over the noise. "I need a boost! Throw me upward!"
Natsu grinned. No explanation was needed.
"Hang on tight, Engine-Boy!"
Natsu grabbed Iida's legs (which were now weightless thanks to Uraraka). With pure muscular force, Natsu launched Iida toward the ceiling as if he were taking a jump shot in basketball.
"FLY!!"
However, Natsu miscalculated the force needed for a zero-gravity object.
THWACK!
Iida flew up with the speed of a rocket and slammed his head violently into the concrete ceiling before spinning in the air.
"Pfft—!" Happy covered his mouth with both paws to stifle a laugh as he hovered nearby.
"Ouch..." Midoriya and Uraraka winced in sympathy, feeling the phantom pain.
"Oops! My bad!" Natsu shouted shamelessly.
Despite the concussion, Iida recovered in mid-air. He spun and landed perfectly, slamming his feet against the wall above the doorframe and grabbing the pipe of the Exit sign.
He stood there, suspended horizontally above the crowd, looking exactly like the green stick figure on the sign.
"EVERYONEEEEEEEEE!!"
Iida screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice booming like a foghorn through the corridor.
The movement stopped. The students froze. Hundreds of heads turned upward to look at the source of the noise.
"Everything is fine!" Iida shouted, pointing toward the window with absolute authority. "It is just the media! There are no villains! Behave yourselves! You are students of U.A. High! Act in a way that befits the best hero academy in the world!"
Silence descended. The students looked at each other, then looked out the windows and confirmed his words.
Calm began to return. Breathing slowed. The pushing stopped.
Down in the crowd, Natsu looked up at Iida hanging on the wall. He took a bite of his curry, which he had successfully saved.
"I've never seen Glasses act so loud before," Natsu said with a mouth full of rice. "Not bad."
Back in Class 1-A.
After the chaos had subsided and everyone returned to the classroom, Midoriya stood at the podium again. But this time, he wasn't trembling.
"I..." Midoriya started, then looked at Iida, who was sitting stiffly in his seat. "After what happened today... I realized I'm not ready yet."
Midoriya turned to the class.
"Iida-kun was the one who restored order in that chaos. He leaped into action to save everyone from the stampede. I think... Tenya Iida is the one who should be Class Rep!"
"I agree!" Kirishima raised his hand. "That pose on the exit sign was super manly!"
"He was like a human traffic light!" Kaminari laughed. "But he saved us."
"Even I agree," Natsu said. He was leaning back in his chair with his feet resting comfortably on top of his desk. "He's loud, and he's good at yelling at people to make them listen. That's what a leader does, right?"
Iida stood up, his face shining with pride and a deep sense of responsibility.
"Since Class Rep Midoriya has nominated me... and since the class agrees..." Iida adjusted his glasses, which glinted in the light. "I accept the position! I will do my absolute best to lead you!"
Immediately after finishing his sentence, Iida marched over to Natsu's desk. His expression shifted instantly from grateful to stern.
"Dragneel-kun!" Iida barked, pointing at Natsu's feet. "Remove your feet from the desk immediately! This is an insult to the upperclassmen who used this desk before you!"
Natsu frowned, crossing his arms behind his head. "Hah? What's your problem? You wanna fight, Glasses?"
"This is an insult to my authority as Class Representative!" Iida shouted, chopping the air.
"Enough," Aizawa's dry voice cut through the bickering.
The teacher stood at the door, looking ready to go home.
"Whatever you decided, just don't waste time," Aizawa said. "We're done for today."
The class sighed in relief, unaware that the peace was merely a calm before a storm. The "Rescue Training" was coming, and with it, a darkness they weren't prepared for.
.
.