Mendax Virtus

Alternate Take 1

A branching path off of the main one, a 'what if' based on what might have happened. Not part of the Mendax Virtus Main Story.

Over the next few hours I wasn't able to approach my pupil as I had to handle the paperwork of an entirely new class and help ensure that the right kids got in.

Yes, the points spoke loudly, but…

So did the instincts of heroes.

"Principal Nezu." I spoke and drew the attention of the entire room.

"Hm? What is it All Might?" He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, his tiny paws supporting his head.

"There are three students I'd like to point out." I gestured to Bakugou's profile first.

"I'm concerned about him. He has a sparkling record, true, but look at his aggression and anger. He's violent and that makes me wonder about his record. Not enough to act obviously. But enough to to at least bring it up." Snipe frowned before hesitantly disagreeing.

"Despite his ferocity, he does have a clean record. I'm sure he just went full throttle because we're all watchin'."

Ectoplasm nodded in agreement.

"Look, I know you've got the best intentions at heart but you've never taught and every hero coming in from off the street is gonna see things in a more negative light than it is. He's still just a kid that's had the first chance to really cut loose."

I frowned and moved to protest but Nezu shook his head.

I was outvoted and my experience teaching, or rather lack of, was coming back to haunt me now.

"I'll put this concern into his notes for his teachers but that's all." Nezu promised, his ears flicking faintly.

Which considering that Bakugou was being put in 1A meant Eraserhead. Good hero, but had no patience for heroes that he deemed 'without potential'.

Not good. But perhaps I was wrong about the young man and my over protectiveness was setting in…. And I couldn't convince myself of that even though I was trying to…

So I decided to try again but with my next point.

"Next, I'd like to point out young Uraraka." Nezu pulled up her footage and the determination she showed.

"She scored lowly, but she showed kindness to her fellow students and a basic understanding of what to do. We can train someone how to fight. But…" I pulled up the front gate camera where Uraraka saved Midorya from going face first into the concrete by practically leaping over to save him.

"That can't be taught so easily. She has the character to go far and she's not far from the cutoff with points as it stands." Nezu nodded thoughtfully at my observation.

Eraserhead sighed at this and shook his head.

"She's not ready, you saw that in the exam. Place her in gen education and if she somehow manages to climb up to the heroics course she's earned it. That's how it's done for a reason." I… Couldn't even argue that and with being so shut down before…

I wasn't so sure if I was making the right calls here. These were experienced educators after all.

"You said you had three students." Cementoss observed, his tone almost as hard as the concrete he manipulated freely.

"That's right. Midorya Izuku." A screen showed him saving Uraraka from the zero pointer.

"Your boy right?" Nezu asked, causing me to cough a little more blood up and Midnight blanched before I waved her off.

"I'm not going to hide the fact that I'm currently mentoring him, but look at his heart. This is what he always does."

Nezu looked at me intently.

"You really believe in a quirkless child that much?" A firm, single nod was my confident response.

Aizawa scowled coldly at me and I knew that I'd lost them. Vlad, the other potential teacher for Midorya would follow Eraserhead's lead.

"You expect a boy without a quirk to become a great hero? You're sentencing him to an early grave!" Aizawa slammed his palms on the table, genuinely angry and he glared at me.

"You've lost it if you think someone without a quirk can make it through here!"

"He passed the test just like everyone else! He earned his spot!" I snapped back sharply.

"And what's the first test in classes? The quirk aptitude test. I'll fail him for now showing his aptitude with his quirk and it'd only drag Vlad's class down if he took him. Last time I checked Vlad wants to show me up. Right?" The other man was abashed and gave a small nod.

"So you'll discard a boy with the score to make it just because he was born without a quirk?! Do the rest of you agree with this bigotry?!" I formed tight fists and not for the first time I wished I had my full strength back.

Anger coursed through me and I pushed the broken body I inhabited up, blood dripping from the side of pale lips.

"All Might!" Midnight protested, but I ignored her.

"You're willing to ignore the concerns about young Bakugou but as soon as a boy without a quirk shows up it's too much?! How is that-!" I started to cough violently, blood splattering over my fist.

Aizawa glared hotly at me and snapped.

"You're too invested in the boy. You can't be objective and that's not the right attitude of a teacher at UA." The room fell silent beyond my agonized coughs.

"That's out of line." Midnight spoke softly, an edge to her voice.

Despite that, Nezu shook his head.

"Out of line or not, I saw something far more concerning All Might. Your health. You're not in any sort of state to teach while you're coughing up blood."

"I'm fine. And we both agreed since-"

"That was before I knew just how badly your health was deteriorating. Even so… An agreement is an agreement. If you're willing to undergo extensive monitoring by Recovery Girl, and she gives you a clean bill of health I will drop it."

I looked at him, vision blurry from the coughing fit. Nezu's fur was twitching near where his eyebrows would have been if he was human.

I felt a wave of dizziness hit me and I forced my vision to fade with a simple close of the eyelids.

"You know why I'm here Nezu. It's because of declining health. If I leave UA I'm going to return to regular hero work and we both know it." To Aizawa, he likely saw it as a form of blackmail, but to Nezu, he would understand.

I was coming her to pass off One-For-All.

"I believe Sir Nighteye has already resolved your reason for coming here All Might. You've met the solution. Now, all you have to do is take it." Fingers curled into fists as I realized what he was saying.

Choose Lemillion.

Nezu of all people was taking my choice away from me. For my own good of course.

Looking at him intently, I allowed a small shake of the head.

"I thought you of all people would respect free will and choice more." I forced the bloody corpse up to its feet.

"Fine. I won't teach here. You've made up your minds. Therefore, I'll be informing young Uraraka and Young Midorya of your decisions and departing."

If UA wouldn't serve future heroes, then I would.

I'd mentor both of them.

Even as I withered away.

Was I a good teacher? No. But I'd be damned if I let their dreams end.

"Then I think that finalizes our class rosters. Uraraka-chan will be allowed into the general course. She'll need to show she has the drive to be a hero and the growth to back it if she wants to get into the heroic course."

After a bit, the tiny principle spoke again, taking a sip of tea (somehow at the same time, I had long since learned not to question the insanity of Nezu).

"Goodbye All Might. I hope you don't look back at this too bitterly. I'm doing what's necessary. Surely you understand that."

"I understand that you lack conviction." I replied coolly before walking out of the meeting.

The two recordings I still did were hard but I had to do this.

Midorya…

"Good Morning, afternoon, evening, or night young man!" I tried to keep my voice warm and upbeat.

"As you're aware, you scored twenty five villain points. Unfortunately, that alone isn't enough." I bowed All Might's head.

"While you didn't make it into UA, that doesn't mean I've given up on you. I tried to appeal the decision but I failed to do so." I tilted All Might's head to look up at him again.

"So instead, I'll train you. Or, we can see about getting you into another school my boy."

A small smile formed.

"You're still going to be a hero. The world might try to kick you down but as long as you keep getting up, you're going to make it."

Of course, I'd be calling him soon but until then….

Uraraka-chan next. I would keep it as short ss I could, just like I had with this one but…

"Hello young Uraraka! I am here to tell you your test results!" A beaming All Might smile, but it faded almost as soon as it formed.

I bowed All Might's head forward.

"Unfortunately, while you were close to the cutoff point, you didn't quite manage enough points. So, UA has decided to extend you an offer to the general course instead!" I looked back at the camera before pulling up a clip and prepared to play it.

"However, this isn't necessarily the end of your dream to become a hero young lady. Today wasn't just about the exam." I hit play and let the video from the front gate security cam start to roll.

How she saved Midorya and a genuine smile lit up All Might's face.

"The fact you jumped in to help someone so quickly without regard to yourself, jumping in despite knowing that you would gain nothing and place some strain on yourself at the same time when you had to conserve your strength is in my opinion, the mark of a true hero. So instead of one offer, I come bearing a second. I don't know if you caught my announcement a few months back about planning something big, but… I've started mentoring a young man with great potential, potential that I see within you as well. If you want, I would be honored to teach you everything I know and help you become a hero. It would be hard, arguably infinitely more difficult than even hero schools due to the pressure that would be on your shoulders, but… If you accept, I will pay for your education in full while you train under me."

Cementoss spoke up at that.

"Don't poach students from UA."

I ignored him beyond a brief quip.

"UA has already decided to place her in general studies. I'm giving Uraraka-chan a second option." I focused on the camera.

"I'll leave the choice to you young Uraraka. Make the choice you feel is right. I won't hold it against you no matter what you decide."

After the videos were recorded I picked up the discs and elected to carry them personally.

Thankfully, the secretary at UA had a major obsession with me so getting the address for Uraraka-chan proved easy enough. (It wasn't like I couldn't have found it another way but this worked perfectly.)

First stop: Izuku's.

An hour after I'd left, the truck I was borrowing rolled to a stop in front of his apartment and I carefully extracted my frail, aching body out and walked up to the Midorya's door.

After a brief knock, they let me in and played the message as I waited.

As I expected, Midorya; both of them began to sob, clinging to each other. I tried to give them whatever privacy I could.

After a time though they finally stopped crying and Inko looked at me, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"And you still want to teach my son?" I allowed knees to buckle and bowed a battered body towards her.

"I do. Your son has incredible potential and I want to support him no matter what. Even if it means giving up teaching at UA."

A tiny bullet (carefully) slammed into me, tiny shoulders shaking as Izuku cried.

"You were going to teach at UA?" He asked as weathered hands wrapped around his back gently.

"I was, but if UA is going to turn you away I don't want to teach there anyway." I replied simply.

"B-but the other hero students! T-they could learn so much from you…" I couldn't deny that but in this case…

"They could, but they're not you. You're the one I wanted to teach. You have the right heart for it. And…" I paused before giving his back a gentle squeeze.

"I saw one other potential hero that had her path cut short despite her having the right heart for it. If you're willing, I'd like to teach her alongside you. It'd be good to have someone your age while learning. Hopefully you two could be friends." Izuku looked up, his eyes widening.

"You showed me to look for people's potential in the places no one else would look. If you're okay with it, I want to teach the two of you. If not, I'll totally understand." ...If he said no I'd have to fill her in with the offer from UA but I doubted he'd say no to a potential friend that had caught his mentor's attention.

"If you're sure…" Izuku said hesitantly and the hug around him tightened briefly.

"You're my successor young man. That won't change. If we have her join, I'll do my best to teach her too, but it won't make me care about you less." Izuku's eyes widened in amazement and I mentally cringed.

I had let my mouth get ahead of myself. But I could manage this. And it was true.

"B-but I'm quirkless."

A soft hair ruffle.

"That doesn't matter to me my… Young Midorya. Your heart is everything I could have hoped for in the next person to carry the torch. And you're so much more."

Nearby Inko looked at me intently, as if a piece of the puzzle was falling into place. No I didn't want that to fully form and so, I stood and after another brief hair ruffle, laid aged hands on his shoulders.

"So young man, should I offer her a spot to train with you and under me? It's your call."

Izuku nodded, his doubts being cleared and I let him have one more hair ruffle before chuckling.

"I'll meet you by the gate of your school on graduation day if you and your mother are okay with that. Think it over. In the meantime, I better let young Uraraka know about my offer."

A few hours later, the truck rolled to a stop in front of a small house in the countryside and I felt a smile form at the sheer rustic charm.

Stepping out, I let All Might appear once more. As the giant grin formed I coughed and had to wipe away the blood.

Shaking it off the back of the hand I made my way to the door and knocked a few times.

"I'll get it moma!" Uraraka-chan called out and the smile I wore grew a bit more genuine.

"Good- Oh my goodness All Might!?" The young teen gasped, her eyes wide with awe and a small chuckle echoed from deep within.

"That's right, I am here! With your UA results!" I handed her the recording.

"The results are pretty simple, and I can break them down instead of having you watch that if you like. If I do, you may want your parents with me." She nodded, her expression still one of awe at my presence.

It took only a few minutes for a burly but short man and a lithe woman that was around Uraraka-chan's height.

The man settled on the chair nearest to his daughter and stared at me in awe. In response I let him have a brief All Might wave and smile.

His wife wasn't much better and so to keep things rolling I went ahead and began to speak.

"So, the results for UA are currently being mailed out but because of the unique situation with Uraraka-chan, I felt it best to approach her, and you, directly. Young Uraraka, while you did reasonably well, you didn't quite make the cutoff and so UA is offering you a place in general studies. However… I saw what you did for that young man that saved you." A soft smile formed and I focused on the young teen whose face was slowly reddening.

"And considering that young man didn't make it either, despite having passed the exam, I figured I'd take things into my hands." The trio blinked at me in confusion.

"Take into your own hands…? What do you mean?" A booming but low volume laugh echoed from deep within me.

"I've decided to offer to mentor that young man and he's accepted but I wanted to offer mentorship to one other young person that showed the heart of what it means to be a hero. You young Uraraka. You and young Midorya did something I'll admit I was worried was fading from the hearts of heroes. And while you'll have to work incredibly hard and the world is trying to kick you down, if you're willing to keep getting back up, then there's nothing that can stop you from being a hero."

Uraraka's eyes watered a little but she didn't say anything and instead hugged All Might's side tightly causing a faint grunt of pain before I let large hands rest on her shoulder.

Today had really pushed me to the limits and that hold… Thankfully, Uraraka realized the noise and pulled back her eyes wide in worry and I let one of the hands on her shoulder move to her head.

"It's a minor injury. Pulled something while working out." I was not prepared to let a young girl and her family that I'd traded a few words with know if I had any chance.

Izuku was an exception as I hadn't planned for him to learn.

Uraraka didn't look like she quite believed me but I let a small smile form and ruffled her hair a little.

"You care deeply and that's a great strength young lady. At any rate, if you accept, I'll be covering your expenses as I'll be mentoring you. Be it from your hero outfit to your educational expenses and any potential surprise expenses. I'll also be putting together a tough training program for your body and mind to push you to your absolute limits. It's going to be extremely hard but if you manage it, you'll grow by leaps and bounds in no time."

Uraraka looked at her parents and then back to me, her eyes as bright as the stars in the sky.

"I'll do it! If this is my path to being a hero I'll take it! No matter how hard it is!" A smile formed on her lips, echoing All Might's.

The next generation was going to be amazing. And while Izuku inspired him, the fact that there was another brought him hope.

Sometimes, branching ideas are fun. This was one of the ones I thought had real potential but didn't fit the themes I plan on running with with the main story entirely. Although Uraraka getting the 'get back up again' message isn't bad... Hmmm. Might continue this alternate take here and there.