Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

42. Window to the Soul

"Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack."

― Brandon Sanderson

The bright flash of the cameras made Izuku squint slightly, and he resisted the urge to rub at his face, the makeup feeling odd especially in the bright light. Unlike the last time, the reporters didn't ask any questions, instead silently snapping pictures or monitoring their equipment.

For this interview, Izuku wasn't dressed in his hero costume, but rather in a formal suit and tie. Mei, to her irritation, was once again in a skirt and blouse, though she had been allowed to wear her goggles. Hari was with them as well, in her "monkey suit" as she put it, which was a twin to Mei's own formal wear, save that she wore heels while Mei had on flat sandals. Apparently, as Hari put it, "No known force on earth can get my sister to walk a straight line in a pair of heels."

"Before we take any questions," Mr. Aizawa said, looking far from his usual self with his hair in a neat ponytail and freshly shaven, "Class 1A has something to say to all of you."

As one, the students stood, then bowed formally. "We sincerely apologize for our conduct," they said together. "We hope to live up to your expectations of us in the future."

"Unless they're dumb," Mei added.

"Mei!" Hari hissed.

"Even if they're dumb," Mei amended, then stuck her tongue out her sister which made Hari groan softly as they stood back up.

Aizawa waited as they were seated, and seemed to be waiting for something. Several reporters raised their hands, and Mei immediately popped up and pointed to one of them. "Yes, you."

To Izuku's surprise, Mr. Aizawa gave a smug, satisfied smirk as the reporter dutifully stepped forward to ask her question. Apparently, he approved of how Mei treated the press. Izuku got the impression that Mr. Aizawa considered press conferences to be an onerous chore, unlike Mr. Yamada who seemed to view them as a perk of the job.

"What led you to resort to such violent means against the other test takers?" the reporter asked. "Some people believe your methods to be overly extreme."

"They only told us we had to win, not how," Mei lectured. "Izuku was very smart and figured out the best way to make sure all our friends pass. The other people were not our friends, and it was not our job to make sure they passed. Maybe if they hadn't designed such a dumb test, that wouldn't have been a problem."

Mr. Aizawa let out a cough. "Mei, perhaps now isn't the time to blame the test. Why don't we just accept that you apologized, and move on."

"Fine, we said we are sorry and we won't do it again," Mei said with a nod. She turned back to the reporter. "Your question is answered. Go sit down."

The reporter bobbed her head, and hurried back to her seat. Mei pointed to another reporter.

"Well, I suppose this one's for you, Miss Hatsume, I-"

"Mei. My name is Mei! She is also Miss Hatsume," Mei said, pointing to her sister. "It is very confusing if you call me that! So call me Mei so I know who you are talking about, especially when Hari is here."

"Um, very well, that does seem a bit informal, but, ah, very well. Mei, what inspired you to join the hero course? Previously you seemed dead set on joining the Support Class, to make your, um, babies, as you call them."

"I am now only making super cute babies for my friends, who are all in Class 1A. Therefore, I am also in Class 1A. Having friends at school is very nice, you should try it! Except you don't go to school, because you are an adult. Ha! But I am not going to do any fighting: that is Izuku and everyone else's job. I am very bad at it. Did you see me fight Bakugo? He really beat me up! But that is OK, because now we are friends, and he only beats up bad guys now. Next!"

"What is your first objective now that you all have your hero licenses?"

"Izuku! What is our objective?" Mei demanded.

Izuku paled, looking around frantically. "Um, I-iida, m-maybe you should answer that question," Izuku stammered. He hadn't stuttered much in the past few months, but just the thought of standing in front of all those cameras and talking made him so nervous he had a hard time speaking.

"Our objective is simple," Iida stated as he stood, his voice firm and clear as he looked out at the cameras. "We shall work with our seniors among the pro heroes to continue to learn how to be better heroes, and aid them in any way we can. Mr. Aizawa, is this the time to announce our plans for next week?"

"I suppose now is as good a time as any," Aizawa said with a shrug.

Iida bowed, then looked to Todoroki. "Would you like to explain? I feel this is your news to share."

Slowly, Todoroki stood, his face blank and his tone neutral. "We shall be going to intern with my father at his agency in Jianosi. We look forward to learning from him."

That got the reporters to jump to their feet and start asking questions, until a moment later when Mei's piercing whistle cut through the air.

"Minus 10 points!" she barked. "I am very disappointed in all of you! You need to make better choices if you want to get to ask more questions or have another press conference! Now listen when others are talking!"

"Working with my father is an excellent opportunity to learn from the current Number 1 Hero," Todoroki said, his voice still toneless. "We saw during our exam that he is far above us in many ways."

That got reporters tapping away furiously on their tablets and smartphones as the one asking the question bowed and retired. Mei pointed to the next one, who stepped forward. "Is it true that you have Autism?"

"Duh," Mei answered. "That is a stupid question. Next?"

It was over and done with so fast, Izuku barely even realized the question had been asked and answered. He found himself glaring at the reporter, his fist clenched at his side. To Izuku's surprise, the reporter flushed and ducked to the back of the room. Taking a deep breath, Izuku tried to calm down.

"Bakugo, even if he was very rude, you shouldn't have smiled at him like that," Uraraka whispered behind him.

"Yeah, well, he was an asshole to Mei. If Midoriya doesn't kill him I will," Bakugo muttered.

Izuku glanced behind him, and Bakugo gave him a manic grin. "Anyone else asks a rude question and I'm the one who gets to answer!" Bakugo said loudly.

Mei turned to glare at Bakugo, being in the middle of fielding another question. However, she caught Izuku's look of frustration and concern, and frowned, turning back to the reporters. "Bakugo will answer anyone who is rude! I would not be rude, he can be very scary! Anyway next question!"

The questions ranged from insightful queries about how Class 1A had developed their strategy during the license test to tabloid style questions about who was dating whom. Mei answered most of them with her typical bluntness, and fielded ones she didn't know the answer for back to the rest of the class. Izuku managed to avoid having to step up to the microphone, dodging the few questions Mei gave him or stammering out a quick reply. The whole thing seemed to take hours and felt like pure torture to Izuku, but at last it came to an end.

As soon as they left the press room, Izuku let out a deep sigh and sagged in relief.

"Izuku! Are you OK? You look sick!" Mei said, hurrying over and putting her hand on his forehead.

"I just don't like being in front of so many people," Izuku admitted. "When they're all looking at me, I get nervous."

"You get nervous in front of a bunch of harmless reporters, but you jump into battle with dangerous villains without a second thought?" Shinso asked, looking amused.

"I don't know, it's different. I don't have to talk to the villains," Izuku said with a shrug. "I just start thinking about everything I need to say and I worry so much about messing up that I start to stutter and mumble. But when I'm out fighting I don't have time to think so I don't mess up when I'm talking so much."

"I have noticed you've done a lot less mumbling and stuttering lately," Shinso said with a shrug. "I just figured Hatsume was being a good influence."

"Yes! I am a very good influence," Mei agreed. "Izuku is very amazing and needs to be able to tell people about it!"

"I think that can be your job," Izuku said, smiling at Mei. "You always have so much confidence, you're never afraid to speak your mind. Even when those reporters try and sabotage you." Izuku thought back to the question about Mei being autistic, and found himself scowling before he could stop himself.

"Ha! Now you look like Bakugo! You should do the scary face more often, then people would be scared of you instead of you being scared of them!" Mei laughed.

Izuku blushed and looked down, unable to think of a good response. He suddenly brightened looking up. "Oh! Our Ultra Armor is ready for field testing now!"

"Ultra Armor?" Shinso asked, his brow wrinkling.

Mei nodded eagerly. "Yes, the small Power Suit will be the base model, we're still rebuilding it from the Entrance Exam. But we rebuilt the larger Power Suit, which is now the Ultra model, is finished and ready! And it has a flamethrower!"

"Well, it has a flamethrower module," Izuku clarified. "We won't use it for every mission."

"Hey, hear that Todoroki?" Shinso called. "Izuku's replacing you with his giant robot."

"He's welcome to it," Todoroki muttered. "Maybe then I won't have to work with my father."

"Yes, your dad is very mean!" Mei agreed. "He burned you and he burned Yaoyorozu!"

Todoroki hesitated, then shook his head. "No. My burns...they're not from my father. Not directly anyway."

"Oh, I am sorry, I thought because you didn't like him, he must have been mean to you too," Mei said, looking a bit concerned. "Was I being rude?"

"No. I tend to give people the impression my father burned me, and not bother to correct them," Todoroki told her quietly. "The truth is, it was my mother who dumped boiling water on my face. She had a mental break. I used to blame my father for it entirely, but now I know she was always in a delicate mental state. The truth is...I've always resented my father. My family's history is complicated."

"That's ok, we can be your family now," Mei said happily. "That's what friends are for!"

Todoroki missed half a step, nearly stumbling. When he looked at Mei again, Izuku saw his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Thank you, Mei. That means a lot. And please. Call me Shoto. My father is Todoroki as well. I wouldn't want to confuse you."

"Thank you! I may forget a few times, but I will try to remember to call you Shoto! Izuku, remind me to call him Shoto."

"I will," Izuku promised. "I guess I never imagined we'd grow so close with our classmates, not after what happened in Class 1H."

"I'm starting to think this whole class is a collection of misfits," Shinzo chuckled. "Next we'll hear that you have some deep, dark secret Kirishima."

"I was a loser nobody in middle school who everyone figured would end up as a dead end," Kirishima said without breaking stride. "It wasn't until I saw Ashido stand up to one hell of a scary villain when we were in Junior High that I realized that the difference between me and her wasn't how good our quirks were, but our attitudes. Made me decide to become a man, and a hero."

"Are you serious?" Shinso said, clearly taken aback. "You had the second highest score after Bakugo on the entrance exam! You mean to tell me people thought you couldn't become a hero?"

"It's true," Ashido put in. "But that was before he started dying his hair! He's a totally different person now."

"Ah come on, you gonna give away all my secrets? I was saving that for later!" Kirishima laughed.

Izuku took another look at the other boy, and upon close inspection he could sort of tell that Kirishima did dye his hair. A couple of hundred years ago, back in the Before Times, seeing someone with crimson hair, especially in Japan, would have definitely been a sign the color came out of a bottle. But now, people had hair and skin colors all across the rainbow, from green hair like Tsu and Izuku, to pink like Ashido and Mei. Quirks, even for those who had none, had drastically altered the human genome.

After a quick change, they all returned to class, where Mr. Aizawa had somehow managed to regain his disheveled appearance simply by letting his hair down and changing his clothes. Izuku wondered if it was deliberate, or if Mr. Aizawa just generally didn't care about how he looked or others perceived him.

"That went well," Aizawa told the class. "It's too soon to see exactly how the public will react, but Mr. Yamada tells me the early signs indicate that people are pleased with both your apology and how you responded to questions. You seem to be gaining quite the following, Mei. It's a good thing you're dating Midoriya, or things might start to get awkward for you."

"I think things are usually pretty awkward anyway but that's mostly because I don't have good social skills," Mei said with a shrug.

Aizawa sighed. "Speaking of awkward, I'm afraid it's time for literally my least favorite part of this job. I've brought in an expert to help, because this is honestly something I've always avoided."

"And you've never been terribly popular in the first place, love," Ms. Kayama, also known as Ms. Midnight said as she walked into the room. She smiled at the students. "That was an excellent job today. You made yourselves seem contrite, but also approachable. Yet you didn't make yourselves seem weak or vulnerable either. Top marks!"

"What, is this more lectures on how to do interviews?" Kaminari asked, looking bored.

"Not at all! It's about a vital part of being a hero! Oh Azara! Be a dear and bring it in, won't you!"

"Of course ma'am!" a familiar voice said.

Izuku shot bolt upright, his jaw dropping. "Mr. Azara?!"

"Heya kid!" Mr. Azara said, grinning and winking at Izuku as he walked into the room carrying several boxes under his arms. "Don't forget to tell everybody I knew you before you got so famous!"

"Of course sir!" Izuku said, blushing. "I mean, you helped me out a lot too, especially when I was feeling down. If there's anything I can do…"

"Glad you asked! I brought this whole case for you. Sign them, would you? Marker's on the top." Mr. Azara dumped a box onto Izuku's desk with a thump. "Don't worry, I got some for the rest of you too!"

Izuku carefully opened the box to find inside a dozen figurines, of himself no less, piloting the Power Armor as it had appeared at the UA Sports Festival. Fumbling with the box, Izuku managed to get one out one handed, and held in his palm his own miniature version. It was a chibi figurine, meant to be more cute than anything else, with wide eyes and a huge head, and a helmet that he could take on and off. He stared at the little figurine in shock.

"This is very wrong!" Mei said loudly, causing Izuku to jump and look up. Mei was holding up her own figurine, which also had her piloting the Power Armor. "I do not use our baby, that's Izuku's job!"

"Don't like that one?" Mr. Azara said with a frown. "Well, I thought it would be cool. Never mind, here, try this one." Mr. Azara handed Mei a different chibi, this one with her in overalls and trademark goggles, holding a wrench, which Mei seemed to find fascinating. "Oh, what do you think, Midoriya? I confess, I already put yours into production, people are going nuts to buy it, especially from the shop where you used to come all the time!"

"I...I'm an action figure?" Izuku asked, feeling as though he were somehow hovering about his own body, viewing it from afar just as he did the figurine, it was so surreal.

"Yep! Went into production a week after the Sports Festival!" Mr. Azara said with a huge grin. "I got a hold of Ms. Kayama the day after you won at the Sports Festival, as she's in charge of merchandising for your school. When I told her you frequented my comic store and my patrons were clamoring for your figure, she let me put a bunch into production! I even made models for Mei and your other future classmates, just for my own personal collection, mind you. But then Kamino happened, and well, I was able to be the first to bring in models for production!"

"This is so cool!" Hagaure laughed, holding up her model. It was made of see through plastic, and had little gloves and boots on. "I want one!"

"Those are yours to keep," Ms. Kayama told them. "Midoriya, you'll be getting a royalties check in the next few weeks. The standard contract you signed when you joined the school applies: we get half the profits for any models depicting you during your school years, and you get 25% up front, the other quarter in trust fund held until your graduation."

"Um, I don't remember signing any contract," Izuku said, looking confused.

"He actually didn't," Mr. Aizawa said, walking over and setting a piece of paper on Izuku's desk. "Best sign now. We'll send another copy to your mother. Shinso and Mei will need to do the same."

"Oh, right, because you weren't in the Hero Course to begin with," Ms. Kayama said with a shake of her head. "We'll have to start getting contracts like that from all our students in the other courses considering the precedent the three of you have set."

Mei peaked under chibi's goggles, then suddenly dropped it and started to cry.

"What's wrong?" Mr. Azara, asked, hurrying over, his face a picture of concern.

Izuku slid out of his desk to press himself up against Mei, picking up the figure as she gripped his shirt and wept. He looked down, and saw what he'd expected: yellow eyes, with crosshair pupils.

"The chibi still has her quirk," Izuku said quietly. He looked to Ms. Kayama, who went pale.

"Mr. Azara, please wait outside," she said, ushering him out the door. A moment later, Ms. Kayama returned, picking up the collectable and frowning. "How did he know? I can't recall there being any public footage of Mei without her goggles? Ah. He must have seen Mei without them."

"We went to his comic store a few times, and Mei had her goggles off once or twice," Izuku explained. "He would have known what her eyes looked like before. Why? Is there a problem?"

"Officially, the public doesn't know that All For One took Mei's quirk," Mr. Aizawa explained. "In fact, the knowledge that All For One was anything more than a reclusive mastermind behind the League of Villains is a state secret. His entire history is classified, as are his abilities."

"We'll just have to make sure the production run ones have her proper eye color and shape," Ms. Kayama said, looking shaken.

Mei nodded, her eyes still downcast. "Izuku...you like me this way, right?"

"Mei, I love you, just the way you are," Izuku told her, heedless of their classmates and teachers. "Your eyes look beautiful to me."

Mei seemed to relax slightly. "Ok. But he can't make the toy look like that. I don't like it."

"We'll make sure it's fixed in the production model," Ms. Kayama said, smiling. She took a deep breath. "Right. Well, today's lesson is on merchandising. And we're going over financial planning as well. Initial sales projections estimate you'll each earn at least 1,000,000 yen quarterly from figure sales alone."

Uraraka started hyperventilating, and Bakugo had to pull out a paper bag for her to breathe into. Mei, thankfully, seemed thrilled with the idea that she and Izuku were going to be making money off toy sales, eagerly asking how soon they could use it to open their own workshop.

"Don't worry about it. Your development costs will continue to be covered by UA," Mr. Aizawa informed her. "And as you know the patent rights will default to you upon graduation with only a 5% subsidiary."

"No! Our babies belong to me and Izuku!" Mei declared. "You can't take them!"

"We're not going to take them Mei, we just have to recoup the cost of materials. And the times Maijima informs me the two of you tried to burn down his lab."

"If I were actually trying to burn down the lab it would have worked," Mei muttered darkly.

After the lesson on merchandising rights, class was finally dismissed to field training and testing. Izuku was so eager to get out to the field and try out the Ultra Armor, he missed Mei sneaking her rejected chibi into her bag, or the guilty look she gave him.