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It has been around six months since the last time he saw Izuku. That day at the airport has been playing in his head over and over again.
There's nothing else he could have done, Izuku had to come back home, and Rody had his brother and sister to take care of.
He wishes he had said more, but at the time his feelings were still growing, slow and steady. It's no use getting attached if you're never gonna see them again.
That's what he thought, that once Izuku wasn't in sight, that his feelings would go away, but oh, was he wrong.
Running away from the police and from a criminal organization sure creates bonds that wouldn't have existed otherwise.
Seeing Izuku give his all fighting Flect, getting hit and not backing out felt surreal to him. Why would someone go so far and get so hurt. In any other occasion, Rody would have run away, getting rid of the responsibility.
But in the moment where everything seemed to be lost, all Rody could think was that he wanted to hear Izuku call his name one more time. Softly, has he had done when they were camping at the cave.
He tried to sit in a more comfortable way, but plane seats are really tiny and stiff. He plugs his earphones and plays an album he had made right after their departure. It had some songs Izuku had shown him, some that they had listened when driving across country. It helps with the anxiety of what he is doing.
Pino comes out of his jacket and pokes him on the head, as a way of telling him to calm down, Pino wants to sleep! Rody quickly grabs his bird, who squeaks from being shoved back into his pocket.
Let's just say that he never explained his quirk when he bought the ticket, so he didn.t have to leave Pino with the other pets in some cold chamber on the plane. Wouldn't be good to be caught now!
Pino gives him a glare but goes back sleep, and Rody remembers the days before Izuku left. They had both ended up in the hospital, in the same room.
When Izuku woke up, his friends had barged in and made a ruckus inside the hospital, they ended up being dragged out of the room by the nurses, not before lecturing the green haired teen about being hurt. Not that they were any better!
Later it was Rody's turn to be lectured by his siblings, who cried in his lap. Izuku had come around and rubbed circles on their backs, soothing the kids until they were napping in his bed.
Rody isn't sure how it happened, but next thing he knew they were laying in Izuku's bed, side by side talking about all they had seen, hands brushing one another. They laughed over every stupid thing they had gone through, "borrowing" a van, driving it through a river and Izuku slipping on one of the rocks, "borrowing" a plane as well, which earned him a shove from Izuku, and even more laughing.
It was seeing Izuku laugh at that moment that made him think 'I wanna hear you laugh more'.
So he took a chance and held their hands together, Izuku stuttered for a moment with what he was saying and Rody noticed a faint blush spreading in his cheeks. After a few seconds Izuku went into a muttering spree and Rody felt him squeeze his hand, squeezing back.
One other memory he cherishes is the hug they shared at the airport. He wasn't expecting Izuku to leap into his arms when he was about to turn around to leave.
He froze for a moment, but then relaxed and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his head on top of Izuku's hair and closing his eyes. After a couple minutes, Izuku had taken a step back and looked at Rody, eyes searching for a moment. It looked like he was trying to find the words, to say what Rody doesn't know. He likes to think that maybe Izuku felt the same as him, maybe it was growing the same way his feelings were. But nothing came out.
Was he also thinking that once they stopped being around each other, that it would fade?
They bid their goodbyes to each other, when they separated, Izuku waved walking backwards to his friends, eyes almost tearing up but smile never faltering.
Rody had found himself craving for Izuku's company a couple weeks after that, but they didn't even exchange phone numbers.
By the end of that week, he had gotten an email from one of the heroes that apparently was involved in their rescue. They wanted to follow up with him, make sure he was all right. Rody didn't really think about it much, it was only after some time that they said they were a teacher at UA, more specifically class-1A homeroom teacher.
The hero had explained that his student kept asking him to contact Rody and know how he was doing. Rody had replied with a sassy comment about heroes abusing their resources, and the hero had said something about problem children.
In the end Aizawa sent him proof of his hero and teacher license, and Rody sent him his phone number. They had agreed that the teacher, now known as Aizawa Shouta, and Izuku would be the only ones getting his number. Why the teacher needed it, he didn't know, but it was probably some precaution measure.
Since then they have been talking daily, Izuku would gush about someone's quirk, analyse new fighting techniques and asking for his opinion, and in turn Rody would tell him about his studies and siblings.
Izuku told him how he had been adopted by his two dads before UA and how much happier and safer he felt with them. He had an adoptive brother and recently they adopted a little girl Izuku had saved months prior.
At the three month mark they started sharing random pictures with each other. Izuku was the first, sending a picture of the sunset during his run. Izuku had captioned it, 'It reminds me of when we got lost that time and had to look at the map. The sky was so much more beautiful that time. The company was better too.'
Rody was so flustered that he took an hour to reply. He sent a selfie, 'There, now you have my company again.'
And so it went on, Izuku would send him pics of whatever he found cute or a video of a new fighting move he was training. What Rody loved was when the boy sent pictures of himself, always smiling, eyes scrunching and freckles dusting his cheeks.
It was all playful banter and light flirting, they were both new at this, it seemed. On the rare occasion that they would both be free at the same time, they called. As soon as Rody heard Izuku's voice, he couldn't stop smiling. By the end his face was hurting from grinning so much.
That's how he got here, a 10+ hour flight to Japan to surprise him. He is on break from school and it lasts a month, as soon as he knew about it he booked the flight. Only hours later did he think how crazy that was, where would he stay?
He asked Aizawa for help, told him he had bought the flight and it was non-refundable (little lie never hurt anyone). Aizawa agreed to keep it from Izuku and offered stay in his apartment on campus. The hero would also be picking him up from he airport, he was told to look for an all black man, white scarf.
With some hours to kill still, Rody leans against the window and falls asleep.
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The arrivals is packed with people, all he wants is to leave and breath some fresh hair. He stops at the doors and looks around, from the description that the hero gave him, it won't be too hard to find.
He catches sight of said man against one of the pillars and rolls around with his suitcase towards him. Aizawa looks up and nods at him.
"Problem child."
"Is that your automatic response whenever you see a child?” Rody says, cocking his brow and a fake innocent smile.
"It is when said child was hunted with my other problem child." He says, smirking and leading a pouting Rody to his car.
"When we get there, his class will be leaving for the dorms, do you wanna rest first?" Aizawa asks as they settle, and starts driving.
"Nope, I'll just meet him as soon as we get there." Rody could barely contain himself, he checks his texts, replies to Izuku as if nothing's happening and looks at the outside, admiring the view.
Pino wakes up from his nap as well and peeks out of the pocket, immediately flying and sitting up top Rody's head, as if it's a nest. Aizawa doesn't even question it, throwing a look at the bird and focusing on the road again.
An hour later they find themselves parking at UA. Rody waits for the hero to lead the way, but he can barely contain his excitement, Pino is the same, tweeting and flapping his wings.
They follow Aizawa through the gate and they walk beside the main building, towards what Rody assumes is the dorms.
In a flurry of movements he sees Pino leave his head and fly at top speed to a group of students. When Rody recognizes who he is flying to, he bolts in a sprint leaving Aizawa and his bags behind.
Izuku hears more than he feels when a tiny weight crashes against his back. Immediately turning around he sees Pino excitedly chirping and poking him. Izuku giggles, confused at how the bird is here, when someone else crashes into him, hugging him tight.
He manages to stay upright and only gets seconds to recognize who is hugging him before soft lips are on his. Rody holds his hand, while another snakes around his waist.
Izuku's eyes widen and then flutter close, kissing back and holding Rody closer to him. Pino has settled on top of Izuku's head, and he can hear his classmates screeches and shouts.
They come up for air and they're both blushing. "Rody, you're here." Izuku says just above a whisper and Rody nods.
"I’m here." Whispering back and dipping for a second kiss.
They barely brush lips when suddenly Rody finds himself yanked in the air by something, and Izuku squeaks against him. He looks around and sees that Aizawa and a purple haired kid are both holding this white thing that is holding him hostage.
"Dad, Toshi, let go!" Izuku cries, glaring at the hero and his brother. Rody thinks it’s a glare, but it just looks like a puffing chipmunk, cute!
"Wait, dad?” Several people shout around them, including Rody. That's his dad? The man he told his plan to, who gave him a way to contact Izuku and who he just kissed his son in front of??
Izuku grabs the capture weapon and tugs at the ends of it, making Rody twirl and free him, making him dizzy. But Izuku is there in an instant, arm wrapped around his waist and blushing while speaking to Aizawa again. "You're both embarrassing me, stoooop!"
Aizawa gives Rody a glare and he is quick to push Izuku away, who squawks and falls to the floor. "I’m sorry, but he is terrifying!" He says after realizing what he just did.
This sends the entire class into laughter, and Izuku yanks Rody to the floor by his arms, flopping like a fish out of water.
Aizawa sighs and Hitoshi snickers beside him. They stare at both teenagers on the ground bickering and laughing, while the rest of the class comes to help them.
Izuku introduces Rody to his friends and they're all quick to warm up to him. The whole time they hold hands and light pink dusts their cheeks.
"You know you won't be able to separate them for long now?" Hitoshi says smirking at his dad.
Aizawa sighs once more. "Yeh, but at least now we won't have to hear him talk about him all the time."
"How did you even know he was coming?" Hitoshi asks, Aizawa simply grins back at him mischievously and walks to the dorms.
"Oh my god, was this your idea? Or pops?"
Aizawa hums non-committing, leaving his problem children behind and texting his husband. They now had a month of hell to give to Izuku and Rody. Soft hell, teasing and such.