Konata Doesn't Want To Be The Female Lead

[Security Barrier Level 3 has been breached. All students, please evacuate immediately.]

The sharp blare of a siren was quickly followed by a woman's voice echoing across the loudspeakers.

"Security Barrier... Three?"

Tilting her head, Konata looked genuinely puzzled.

"What?! U.A. was breached?!"

Among the group, Tenya Iida was the first to leap to his feet, his expression darkening in an instant.

The alarm, rather than calming anyone, had the opposite effect—it triggered an explosion of panic across the cafeteria. This being the most crowded area during lunch, chaos quickly spread. Screams rang out, and students scrambled toward the exits, abandoning their trays without a second thought.

Humans are herd animals. All it takes is one person to bolt, and everyone else follows suit. Within thirty seconds, the cafeteria was almost completely deserted.

"Everyone, we should leave too!" Iida barked, whirling around to face Izuku and the others.

"This is the first time in three years that U.A. has ever been breached! Staying here could be dangerous!"

"Eh… you guys go ahead. I haven't even started eating yet," Konata replied, pointing lazily at her untouched tray.

"Now's not the ti—"

"What's more dangerous is a stampede caused by panic, don't you think? People are easy to influence. If we blindly follow them, we might actually make things worse. Even if enemies did breach U.A., wouldn't gathering in a crowd just make us sitting ducks?"

She picked up her chopsticks and began eating, ignoring the urgency around her.

Are you kidding me? I scrimped and saved just to enjoy a proper meal in the U.A. cafeteria—and right before my first bite, someone pulls the 'terrorist attack' card? Gimme a break.

Konata also had her suspicions. After three quiet years, U.A. gets attacked right after the protagonist enrolls? She wasn't buying the "coincidence" excuse. Odds were, the intruders were targeting Izuku. And while he might have a protagonist's plot armor, she sure didn't. Following him was just asking for trouble.

Still, saying all that out loud would be tactless. If there's one thing Konata was good at, it was spinning the perfect excuse—morally righteous, logically sound, and just a touch dramatic.

Without waiting for anyone to interrupt, she continued between bites:

"We entered this school for a reason. Anyone who chose the Hero Course must have a dream of becoming a hero, right? But tell me—would a hero run from danger? Would a hero panic just because of a warning? Would a hero blindly follow the crowd without thinking? The most important trait of a true hero… is staying calm, no matter what."

Having dropped that bombshell with a completely flat tone, Konata gave herself an internal thumbs-up. Nailed it.

"It's just a bunch of reporters who broke in. No need to panic."

A voice came from behind them.

As if on cue, Shoto Todoroki walked past with his own tray of food, speaking casually like none of this involved him.

"...Reporters?" Iida blinked, then snapped to attention. "Of course! If that's true, the other students could get hurt in the panic!"

Turning quickly, he shouted over his shoulder at Izuku, "I'll go calm them down! Stay alert!"

"W-Wait up! I'm coming too!" Izuku replied, hesitating only a moment to glance back at Konata still calmly munching her food.

"I'll help too!" Ochako added, giving Konata a quick wave before chasing after the boys.

Konata: "…"

She lifted her head slowly to glare at Todoroki sitting just a few seats away, face blank but inner fury brewing.

'That was my dramatic moment, dammit!

Where the hell did you come from?! Don't you know what 'first come, first served' means?! Why did you even butt in just to steal my damn scene, you spotlight-hogging bastard!?"

Because of Todoroki's well-timed (and entirely uninvited) commentary, Konata was left stewing in silence while finishing her meal—which now tasted way less satisfying.

---

Not long after lunch ended, the piercing wails of police sirens echoed from outside the school. Authorities finally arrived, and the persistent wave of journalists was forcibly pushed back from the U.A. campus.

Both Present Mic and Aizawa looked ready to collapse from stress. Handling this many reporters was no easier than fighting villains. Actually, it was worse.

In a world where information spreads like wildfire, even heroes had to be careful. If they so much as shoved a reporter, they'd be branded as villains by the next day's headlines. No matter how annoying these journalists were, the faculty had no choice but to bear it.

When the last reporter finally left, both teachers visibly relaxed, as if facing a horde of criminals had been less exhausting than this media storm.

---

Standing before the mangled remains of U.A.'s giant steel gate, Aizawa frowned deeply.

"The school barrier isn't something just anyone can break. Mic… got any theories?"

Present Mic crouched down, picking up a twisted chunk of metal from the rubble.

"Either some scumbag slipped in during the chaos… or someone just declared war on us."