Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

41. Rectitude

"You are remembered for the rules you break."

― Douglas MacArthur

"I'm going to go ahead and tell you that originally, this wasn't going to be a logical deception," Mr. Aizawa informed them at the start of class the next day. "But things have changed."

"I should have known you saying we weren't going to get in trouble last night was another deception," Kaminari groaned. "What are you going to do to us?"

"Probably make us do English," Mei muttered darkly.

"Actually, quite the opposite," Mr. Aizawa said with a shake of his head. "Normal classes are again canceled for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't celebrate just yet, because I haven't told you why."

"Is it because we had too much ice cream and pizza?" Ashido groaned. "I took one lactaid but I think it wasn't enough, my stomach feels like it's made out of liquid."

"No. You're going to have to have another press conference. Normally I'd be opposed to such a thing, but your performance during the license exam is going to force our hand. This one will be longer and far more grueling, it's scheduled for Friday to air during prime time television."

"Well today is Wednesday so that gives us a couple days," Iida said. "Why are you so worried?"

Aizawa sighed heavily. "Because I haven't been entirely honest with you. We've been withholding information from all of you."

"Gee, that's a shock, you, lying to us," Sato said, rolling his eyes. "Next you'll tell us that we could get hurt in this line of work."

Aizawa shook his head. "It's my attempts to keep you from getting hurt that have led to those deceptions. But I'm afraid now nothing but the truth will do. Iida, turn off the lights. You need to watch this."

After the lights went off, Aizawa turned on the projector and clicked a video on his computer.

"You all know who this is, right?" Aizawa asked as a silent video started to play. A man was standing on a stage giving an impassioned speech. He was tall, with long blond hair in a ponytail, and a domino mask on his face that Izuku couldn't quite tell was part of a quirk or a wardrobe choice.

"That's Destro, the leader of the old Meta Liberation Army," Yaoyorozu said, sitting up in her seat. "He's one of the villains that toppled the old Japanese Government. He was one of the warlords that the current government put down to restore order to Japan."

"That's what the history books say," Aizawa agreed. "But that's not what happened." He paused the video. "I'm bringing in an expert to fill you in, I wasn't around then."

"In all fairness, neither was I," the voice of All Might said. Izuku looked around, but didn't see the retired hero. Instead, Aizawa clicked another window on his computer, and the worn and wasted face of All Might appeared. "Hello, Class 1A. I must say, your performance on your License Exam was most unconventional. But you did good, kids. I'm sorry I can't be with you today, but…"

Izuku gasped, noticing the IV in All Might's arm, the oxygen tubes up his nose, and his hospital gown. "All Might, are you alright? Did you get hurt again?"

All Might grimaced and shook his head. "No, I didn't, that was Midoriya, right? Sorry, the sound on this isn't the best. But no, I've not been hurt again. I just won't ever recover fully from my injuries."

"Are you...dying?" Shinso asked, his voice cracking.

Grimacing, All Might nodded. "Yeah. It's not public knowledge, but with my old wounds and that last fight with All For One...I am dying. Slowly, but I am. The doctors give me no more than a year or two to live. I'll try to defy that, to stick with all of you as long as I can. But it's coming."

"Take a good look, class," Aizawa said, tone and expression grim. "That's what could easily happen to you. Nearly happened to a few of you during the test even, and that was supposed to be a controlled environment. I'm not going to sugar coat things for you: this is a dangerous job."

"We know that," Bakugo growled. "Obviously. Now what does All Might have to say about Destro?"

"Call me Mr. Yagi, I'm not All Might anymore," the old hero said with a pained smile.

"No, sir, I'm sorry," Kirishima said with a shake of his head. "We can't do that."

"You'll always be All Might to us, ribbit," Tsu agreed.

"How can you not be All Might?" Mei demanded. "Are you secretly his twin brother or something? You look just like you always did."

That got a laugh out of All Might, but that turned into a wet and bloody cough. A nurse wiped at his mouth, and he sighed. "Thanks, Hatsume."

"Mei! I'm Mei! Why is this so hard?" Mei complained, but fell silent when Izuku gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know. Well, let's see, Destro. The truth is, it wasn't the government who defeated him," All Might explained. "And before you ask, it wasn't me, either. That was before my time. No, it was All For One."

"Wait, why would a villain defeat another villain?" Hagakure asked.

"Turf war," Bakugo growled. "They both wanted to be the top dog. So one wasted the other."

"That's essentially correct. All For One took Destro's quirk and imprisoned him," All Might explained. "You see, All For One and Destro had diametrically opposed philosophies. Destro wanted everyone to use their quirks freely. It was a mad dream of a utopia that could never be, where everyone would use their quirks without regulation for the benefit of society. We tried that, and it led only to chaos. Some regulation is needed."

"That's quirk civics 101," Ashido agreed. "I mean, all mutant types like me know we have to be careful how much we use our quirks, or people can get hurt or scared. I don't always like that I can't use my acid to skate home, but I'd damage the sidewalk, and someone could get splashed or hurt. So I understand why I can't just use it as much as I want."

"Exactly," All Might agreed. "All For One founded the current government on that principle."

"What?!" the class cried in shock.

"You mean to tell us that bastard is the founder of our society?!" Iida cried in surprise. He blushed immediately. "Er, excuse my language."

All Might smiled. "I've called him a lot worse, and he deserves it. Understand, he founded our government in secret to control and exploit it. He's always worked within systems, manipulating people. He would identify powerful quirk users and seize their quirks. It made him powerful, but it also brought trust from a large portion of the populace since he was careful to only publically take the quirks of those who were dangerous or disruptive to society."

"How do we not know all this?" Uraraka asked. "Shouldn't this be in our history books?"

"It was in the Time of Change," Aizawa explained. "There aren't many accurate records. What you're being told is known only to a select few, and the only reason All Might knows is he's the heir to a long line of heroes who opposed All For One."

"You see, All for One wanted to make the entire world serve him, and only him," All Might continued. "He wanted a stable society not for the benefit of others, but because it made it easier for him to exert his control. He murdered and stole and did all sorts of horrific things, but because he controlled the government, he could get away with it. Even most of the early heroes turned a blind eye to him because he slaughtered anyone who dared voice criticisms of him. He was a brutal dictator."

"Wait, so what happened to him?" Izuku asked. "How did he lose control?"

All Might blushed, and Aizawa spoke. "All Might. All Might took down All For One as soon as he came back from America. Along with a select group of a few pros. Once All For One was out of the picture, a stable government was able to form."

"So that's why you spent your early years in America!" Izuku gasped. "You were training until you were strong enough to take on All For One!"

"Yes," All Might agreed. "And I did do that. My first fight with All For One happened 22 years ago. That was when things started to change. All For One had never ruled openly, he'd been a shadow dictator, and having me stand up to him publicly gave people heart. Over the next twenty years, we fought time and again, until our last battle five years ago. We thought he was dead for years, but there were always rumors."

"Rumors that proved to be entirely accurate," Aizawa agreed. "Most pro heroes know of the Legend of All For One, the Shadow Despot. Any hero from before All Might who knew of All For One either kept well out of his way or was killed for trying to stand up to him. To have his heir running lose is a serious threat."

"But not as serious as the Meta Liberation Army?" Izuku asked.

"Perhaps. But right now, what you need to know is that the Meta Liberation Army, the League of Villains, and the Yakuza are all fighting one another," Aizawa told them. "Endeavor is currently working on just keeping the surface level peace, all the pros are swamped right now. But with your help, he wants to focus on taking down the Meta Liberation Army."

"My two former sidekicks, Sir Nighteye and Lemillion, are both working on stopping the League of Villains," All Might told them. "Shigaraki is the heir apparent to All For One's throne. He has to be stopped before he can gain a major following."

"The problem is that if we cut off only one head of the snake, the others will grow stronger as they gain new members and territory," Aizawa explained. "So, you'll all be working with Endeavor to stop the MLA."

Kaminari scratched his head. "How can we stop both at once? Do we know where they are or something?"

"Not really. Currently information gathering is our major goal, along with suppressing street level crimes," Mr. Aizawa explained. "I won't insult your intelligence by asking if you want to back out again. You all know what the price of continuing on this path is. Now you'll know what the price of failure is as well."

All Might nodded. "The Meta Liberation Army would have a world of chaos, where human advancement was halted completely. While the League of Villains would destroy the current order and replace it with one where the strong exploit the weak. The Yakuza would have us descend into greed and hedonism to maximise their own profits and power. None of those options are acceptable."

"That means you are going to have to help prop up society, and rebuild it," Aizawa told them. "It's not enough to have just one Symbol of Peace anymore. Eventually, you should seek to add more heroes to your ranks. Not just a select group, but an organization full of heroes who are committed to peace and stability."

"Which is another reason I'm here. Well, figuratively speaking," All Might chuckled, which turned into another wet cough. He sighed, wiping blood from his lips. "Sorry. Anyway, we need to talk about your little habit of rule breaking."

"We only break rules that are stupid anyway," Mei explained. "Like not saving your friends or that you can't have ice cream after bedtime."

"Um, I'm not really sure about that last one," All Might said, looking a bit confused. "I was more referring to your willingness to bend and break the rules of the License Exam, especially using those radios and your rescuing of Mei. Don't worry, I'm not going to lecture you about how wrong it was. You were trying to do the right thing by rescuing Mei, that's commendable. And in the License Exam, well, you've all proven that your primary goal is keeping each other safe, and I know you couldn't stand the thought of having even a single member of your class fail. It was wrong, but again, I understand."

All Might took a deep breath, clearly winded already. "But please, hear me when I say this: As heroes, you have to be willing to follow the rules, even the ones you don't understand."

"You're supposed to hold up society, not cause chaos," Mr. Aizawa continued. "By breaking at least the spirit of the rules of the exam, by showing that you were willing to do anything to succeed, you showed that you're not quite ready to be full heroes yet. You should have found a way to succeed that didn't involve putting the structure of society as a whole in danger."

"People need to look to you and see more than just a heroic figure. They need to look at you and see an example they can follow," All Might said. "Additionally, you were rather violent and reckless in how you faced the exam. A lot of other potential heroes were hurt and disqualified because of your actions."

"I guess it wasn't very heroic of us to bend the rules, even if it did help us in the short term," Izuku admitted.

"And what if the rules need to be broken to save lives, or if the rules are evil?" Bakugo demanded. "I ain't gonna sit around and twiddle my thumbs because the law says I have to when somebody needs help. You can't tell me that neither of you ever broke any rules in your time as pros."

Aizawa shook his head. "I can't, because I did. It's one reason I went to bat for you during the License Exam: Having someone coordinate you and run surveillance during a mission is a fantastic idea, rules or no. More hero agencies should do the same thing. "

"And the test makers agreed, and didn't fail you," All Might added. "But please understand: There are consequences."

"Um, this might be a bad time to mention it, but there is some chatter online about how we're not real heroes because the test was rigged in our favor," Shinso put in. "Some people, especially those who failed the test themselves, are angry. For now it's not many, but it's something to think about."

"Well that's just because they're mad we're better than they are," Mei huffed.

"Perhaps, but the willingness to bend the rules and resort to violence is a serious problem," Mr. Aizawa told them. "Which is why we have a press conference on Friday, where you will all publicly apologize for betraying the trust of the people, and promise to not engage in such behavior again."

"When you make a mistake as a hero, own it," All Might told them. "I was always sure to let people know when I'd done something wrong and to apologize for it. It's one reason I had the public's trust so completely: they knew I would never try to hide something from them."

"We'll do our best to live up to that, sir," Izuku said, forcing himself to meet All Might's eyes. "And...and I want to apologize to you. For the way I acted towards you, how I resented your advice. It turns out...you were right."

All Might started, clearly taken aback. "Young Midoriya, I don't know what to say. I was wrong to discourage you, I thought I had made that clear."

"No, sir, you weren't." Izuku held up the stump of his arm. "You were right to tell me not to try. It was going to cost me, and if I hadn't been willing to push through that, I didn't deserve to be a hero. You were trying to protect me, and that's what a hero should do. Plus, I couldn't be a hero, not on my own. It was thanks to Mei that I was able to fulfill my dream. I don't regret that I lost the arm, or blame you; it was worth it. But I was too blind to realize just what you were trying to save me from."

"I think you could have been a hero anyway," Mei stated matter of factly. "Even if our babies are amazing, I don't think you'd ever sit by and not help someone Izuku."

"Well, I think it's safe to say you are all now starting to understand what the cost of your actions at Kamino are going to be," Aizawa said. "I honestly wish I could have protected you, but even if I could go back in time and prevent you from behaving so recklessly, I wouldn't do it. We're going to need you."

"That's all I have for now," All Might said with a wave. "Hopefully I can visit in person soon. Listen to Aizawa, and to Endeavor. He was hard on you, yes, perhaps more than he needed to be. But he did it to make sure that you all were willing to be the sorts of heroes the world needs right now. And to teach you an important lesson, one I learned all too late myself: Every hero loses sometimes."

Mr. Aizawa turned the projector off. "Right. Mr. Yamada will be here shortly for your next lesson."

"I thought you said no English!" Mei wailed.

Ashido sighed and patted Mei's arm. "Sorry, Mei. He does these logical deceptions sometimes."

"Not anymore," Mr. Aizawa said with a shake of his head. "You're no longer just my students: You're my colleagues; my fellow pro heroes. I'll have to treat you as such. Mr. Yamada is coming to teach you how to behave during a press conference."

"Oh," Mei said, looking extremely relieved. "Well, we already know that. They just have to raise their hands."

Aizawa let out a small cough, and appeared to have to smother a smile. "Your methods were most...unique, Mei. They will not always suffice in the future however."

The door opened and Present Mic strode in, smiling brightly. "Goooood morning class!"

"Good morning Mr. Yamada," they chorused.

"Alright alright alright. Well, hopefully Eraserhead here hasn't been boring you all to tears!" Mr. Yamada laughed. "But it's time to learn about how to give a proper press conference!"

Mr. Yamada set down a large case, and popped it open. "And we're going to start with one of the most important parts, make-up!"

"WHAT!?" Bakugo snarled. "You expect me to get dolled up like some-" he shot a sudden glance at Uraraka, who always wore at least a little tasteful makeup, and promptly shut his mouth.

"Yep!" Mr. Yamada said with a wide grin. "To look good on TV, you gotta give yourself a little something extra! Now, who already knows how to apply makeup?"

All of the girls, beside Mei, and Aoyama, raised their hands. The french student smiled and fluttered his eyelashes. "Evén a mastairpiece such as myself réquiyaires a lit-téll paint to breng oot la trué innair sparkle."

"It's true. And before you say anything, even All Might had a makeup artist for important interviews," Mr. Yamada explained. "I don't expect you to carry a kit on your toolbelt or something, but for big affairs it's always wise to do a few touch ups. Now, who will volunteer for me to do a demonstration on?"

"Me, sir," Iida said, raising his hand and standing. "I confess I know nothing about cosmetics, and am eager to learn."

To Izuku's surprise, no one sniggered at Iida's attitude. He had to confess, he wasn't exactly eager to put on makeup, but if it was part of being a pro, he was willing to learn.

They spent a full double period going over how to apply basic makeup for a big interview. Yaoyorozu was hesitant at first, especially about covering up her scar, but Mr. Yamada assured her a little touching up would be fine.

"People expect heroes to have heroic scars, but I'm afraid a lot of heroes are also held to a different standard of beauty, especially a young woman like you. We're not going to hide it completely, especially not since it's so big, but we'll soften the edges."

"What about me?" Todoroki demanded.

Mr. Yamada frowned, examining his eye closely. "Yes, I think you'll need an extra touch up as well. The cameras are harsh enough without a little extra help."

"What, are you going to make Izuku hide that he lost his damn arm?" Bakugo demanded.

"He should wear a prosthetic," Present Mic informed them. "Look, I get this isn't fair and all. But this is about looking good for the public, and putting people at ease. It's good for them to see a few battle scars, but they don't want to see the ugly reality and when you want to make your best impression you've got to put a little paint on your cracks."

"I guess I really am hideous now," Yaoyorozu said, hanging her head in shame.

"Sweetheart, that's not it at all," Mr. Yamada told her gently. "Look, hold on a second." Taking off his ever present amplifier that he wore around his collar, Mr. Yamada undid the top buttons on his jacket, exposing his neck. Circling around it was a dark scar that looked like nothing so much as the mark a rope left on someone who had escaped from a hanging.

Yaoyorozu gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. "Oh my God, what happened?"

"Got in a fight with someone who could manipulate their hair. They had me by the neck, and tried to hang me," Mr. Yamada told them quietly. "Mr. Aizawa saved my life by canceling their quirk, but I'll have this scar for the rest of my life. Price of doing business. In fact, this injury led me to retire into teaching, but that's a story for another time. We all have scars. But if it is going to be an issue for you, talk to Hatsume. She can probably whip you up a mask and get-up that hides your burn marks, maybe even while not interfering with your quirk.

"Yes! I can definitely do that!" Mei agreed eagerly. Izuku was having a hard time not staring at Mei at the moment, as Jiro had done an excellent job helping Mei with some makeup that really enhanced her natural good looks, though it was a little heavy due to being designed to be seen on television.

"OK, I'd appreciate that," Yaoyorozu said, letting out a sigh. She smiled weakly, wiping away a tear. "You must think me terribly vain."

"No, your costume was dumb before. Now it can give you better protection and have extra space for more snacks!" Mei declared. Then she frowned. "Wait, or did you mean that we didn't think you're pretty anymore? I am not very good at knowing if someone is pretty, but all the boys still look at you when you go by so I think they probably still think you are. Izuku, is she still pretty?"

That question made Izuku go beat red. He swallowed, and forced a smile. He knew Mei wasn't the jealous type, and that she honestly sought his opinion on something like this. "Honestly Yaoyorozu, if I wasn't already dating Mei and pretty biased, I'd say you were the most beautiful girl in this class, even now. The burn scars are bad, yeah, but you're still really attractive."

"I'd totally date you," Kaminari put in, leaning back in his seat to look at Yaoyorozu upside down. "Just saying. If you were interested. 'Course we can't go anywhere and Hari would probably watch us like a hawk, but you're still hot. Um, no offense, not trying to be dumb or anything."

Kirishima gave a thumbs up, unable to move as Ashido worked on his make up."Eh for once I agree with fried brain. You're still smokin', and that's a man's opinion!"

"Thank you all," Yaoyorozu said, now looking very flustered. "That...that means a lot. But you're all my friends, so I-"

"I wouldn't kick you out of bed in the morning," Bakugo opinined. "You're the closest thing this class has to sex icon."

Yaoyorozu paused, then burst out in giggles. "Well, maybe I can believe you, Bakugo. You almost sounded like Mineta there."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Bakugo roared, jumping up and ruining Uraraka's efforts at his own cosmetic transformation.

"God damn it, Bakugo! You sit your ass right back down and don't move, or so help me I'll float you into the stratosphere if you mess me up like that again!" she swore.

"Sheesh, OK. I think you're sexy too if that makes you feel better," Bakugo grumbled.

"Yes it does. Now open your mouth again and I'll make you eat this lipstick," Uraraka told him sweetly.

"Jeez Uraraka, when did you start swearing like a sailor?" Jiro teased.

Uraraka smiled at her. "My dad runs a construction company. If construction workers don't swear more than sailors, I don't know who does! Normally I try not to be so vulgar, but, well, sometimes you have to lower yourself to the level of those you wish to communicate with. Some people just don't have a wide enough vocabulary to understand anything else."

The sound of Bakugo grinding his teeth was audible, though he did manage not to move or speak again until Uraraka had finished her efforts.

As for Izuku, he needed as much help as Mei did. She watched the others putting on makeup, but when it was her turn to try she was utterly hopeless at the task. Mr. Yamada gave her a kit to practice with, but Izuku saw Mei stuff it in Jiro's backpack when the teacher wasn't looking. Izuku himself wasn't too bad at applying makeup, but Aoyama informed him that he was no "artees."

"Not bad people. Mei, you work on that costume for Yaoyorozu. And don't forget to wear your goggles to the interview, they're your own signature look," Present Mic said.

Izuku and Mei were sent down to the workshop to once more remake the Power Suit.

"We're going to just have to build extras since our babies keep getting wrecked," Mei sighed as they looked over the burned out remains of their creation. "We can make some improvements but I guess if we're fighting really dangerous bad guys some of our babies will get hurt."

"Sorry," Izuku said, wincing. "I'll try to take better care of them."

Mei smiled and leaned over to kiss Izuku on the cheek. "At least you didn't get hurt! The Power Suit is much easier to fix!"

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, wishing silently that they could fix Mei's quirk. Soon, he was absorbed in examining the damage and thinking of ways to make the next model more resilient. If he had, he might have remembered a certain device in Mei's old bedroom, which had long ago finished its work.

Authors Note:

Wooooo, we're halfway there, woooo, living on a prayer!

This chapter really does mark the halfway point in the story by chapter count. Hard to believe it. Thanks for sticking with me this long, and here's to the next half being even better than the first. If you like what you've read, let me know what I'm doing right, or if you don't, tell me what hasn't worked for you. Things like that help me improve as a writer.