Chapter 57: Rescue

"What should we do now?!" Tetsutetsu asked anxiously, looking at the chaos unfolding in front of him as the crowd at the exit grew more and more frantic.

No one immediately answered his question. Kaminari, Momo, and Kyoka were all thinking deeply. In an emergency like this, it was important to stay calm and find a quick solution.

"I've got it!" Kaminari exclaimed after a moment, clapping his hands together as an idea struck him.

The sound drew the attention of the group, and he turned to Kyoka. "Do you have a music player on you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do." Kyoka nodded and pulled out her small MP3 player.

Kaminari then shifted his gaze to Momo. "Can you create a boombox?"

Momo's eyes lit up as she understood his plan instantly. "You want to calm everyone down by playing loud music?"

"Exactly!" Kaminari confirmed with a grin. "The crowd is in complete chaos. We need something to snap them out of it and help them regain their composure!"

"Great idea! I'll get started right away!" Momo said enthusiastically.

Without hesitation, Momo began to roll up the sleeve of her uniform, revealing the spot on her arm where she could generate objects. Kaminari and Tetsutetsu immediately turned away, their faces flushing with embarrassment at the sudden movement—though, in the end, they realized they'd misunderstood her actions.

"Pfft—" Momo smirked at their reaction as she used her Quirk. A small tent-like structure emerged, covering her while she worked. A few moments later, she emerged from the tent with a sleek, white boombox in hand. It had a modern design, simple but stylish.

"Alright, let's go!" Kaminari urged as he handed the MP3 player to Kyoka, who quickly plugged it into the boombox.

"What song should we play?" Kyoka asked, looking up.

"Obviously, my song—'Hero'!" Kaminari replied without hesitation. "It's got a fast beat, perfect for the situation!"

Kyoka connected the player, and soon, the powerful melody of electric guitars and drums filled the air, booming from the speakers at full volume.

As Kaminari's song started playing, it seemed like they had grabbed some attention but not quite enough. Everyone's focus quickly shifted elsewhere.

It wasn't the music that caught their attention.

It was Iida.

In a surprising move, Iida had leapt into the air above the frantic crowd, his legs lifting as the exhaust pipes on the back of his calves began to release jets of air.

"Engine! Propulsion!!" Iida shouted, his body moving with precision as he soared over the crowd.

Kaminari's song suddenly became Iida's heroic background music, as all eyes turned to him.

"Seriously…?" Kaminari muttered, watching as Iida became the unintentional star of the show. "Wasn't the music supposed to be what grabbed everyone's attention?"

Iida, oblivious to the music, was in the zone. He felt like he was embodying everything his older brother, the hero Ingenium, would do in this situation.

"Be calm, be concise, be bold!" Iida reminded himself as he flipped mid-air, landing dramatically against the wall above the exit.

Coincidentally or perhaps fatefully his legs had landed right in front of the emergency exit sign. The green glow of the 'EXIT' symbol beneath him made it look like Iida was part of the sign itself, perfectly mimicking the little green figure pointing the way.

"What… is going on?" Kaminari said, utterly speechless. This was supposed to be his moment!

But Iida wasn't finished. Despite the awkward landing, he raised his voice above the noise of the crowd and even above Kaminari's song shouting with all his might.

"Everyone! Calm down!!"

Iida's voice boomed through the cafeteria, even overpowering the music for a moment. His commanding tone, paired with his bold actions, silenced the panic-stricken students. The once chaotic atmosphere shifted as everyone turned to listen.

"It's just the media! There's no need to panic!" Iida declared, standing tall. "We're students of U.A.—the top hero school! We need to act like it!"

As if on cue, the sound of approaching police sirens filled the air. The reassurance of the police's arrival, combined with Iida's words, helped restore order. The students began to relax, some even laughing in relief.

Kaminari, seeing the situation under control, nodded to Kyoka, and she turned off the music.

"Do you think playing the music actually helped?" Kaminari asked, scratching his head.

Kyoka, Momo, and Tetsutetsu shared a glance before looking back at Kaminari. It was clear from their expressions that the music had simply become Iida's dramatic background track.

"Well… maybe not in the way we expected," Momo said, trying to be diplomatic.

Kaminari sighed. "Yeah, I guess we just gave Iida his theme music…"

In the end, the situation almost turning into a dangerous stampede due to the reporters breaching U.A.'s security was handled thanks to Iida's quick thinking and... well, Kaminari's music, in a roundabout way.

Afterwards, U.A.'s administration took the incident very seriously. They began discussing ways to improve student safety and security, and decided to expand the number of entrances and exits to avoid such situations in the future.

However, Principal Nezu seemed more concerned with the damage done to the school's supposedly impenetrable 'Hero Gate.'

A gate that was meant to withstand the force of a tank had been easily breached by a group of overeager reporters.

"If they were villains, this would have been a declaration of war against us heroes," Nezu said ominously, staring at the shattered remains of the once-mighty gate. He knew a storm was brewing.

---

Back in Class 1-A, the students resumed their afternoon lessons, seemingly unfazed by the earlier chaos.

Interestingly, Midoriya, who had been elected class president, had a change of heart. Standing nervously in front of the class with Momo by his side, Midoriya insisted on stepping down and handing the position to Iida. Though his decision surprised many, it was quickly accepted.

With Iida officially promising to dedicate himself to the role of class president, Class 1-A's brief leadership crisis came to a close.

"Today's Hero Basic Training will be overseen by me, All Might, and one other teacher," Aizawa announced from the podium after class.

Sero raised his hand, asking curiously, "What's the training about?"

Aizawa wasted no time. He pulled out a small blue card with the word 'RESCUE' written on it in bold letters and held it up for the class to see.

"Today's training will focus on rescue operations, responding to natural disasters, floods, and other emergency situations."

"Rescue training, huh?" Kaminari's interest was piqued. It sounded far more engaging than the usual classroom lectures.

The rest of the class also perked up, clearly excited by the prospect of real hero training. After all, this was what they had come to U.A. for, not just the boring theory lessons of the morning!

Aizawa pressed a button, and the walls of the classroom shifted. From hidden compartments, the students' Hero Costumes appeared, lined up neatly for each one of them.

"The training ground is a bit far from here, so we'll be taking a bus," Aizawa informed them. "Prepare yourselves. It's time to begin!"