Archive of Our Own

“...Midoriya? ... Midoriya? ”

When Aizawa-sensei couldn’t seem to catch Izuku’s attention, even after calling his name several times, Bakugo decided to take matters into his own hands—literally. He turned around in his seat and snapped his fingers in front of Izuku’s face, setting off a small chain reaction of sparks that was loud enough to startle Izuku back to consciousness from whatever daydream he’d been stuck in. Izuku jumped in his seat and instinctively covered his face with his hands to protect himself from the heat.

“Whoa—Kacchan, be careful!! You can’t just set off your Quirk in the classroom like that!” Izuku shouted, glaring at the other boy once the sparks faded away.

“Like you have any right to scold me! If you’re not gonna pay attention to Aizawa-sensei, then you’ll pay attention to me instead, dammit!” Bakugo shot back. 

Not that Bakugo had any intention of shooting off more explosions, but he sensed the distinct feeling of his sweat glands being blocked up, only to turn around and see that Aizawa-sensei was, in fact, using Erasure on him. With a low growl, Bakugo stuck his hand in his lap and sat forward-facing in his chair again, muttering under his breath about how much of an inconvenience Deku was being. 

“Bakugo, I don’t need your help keeping track of the other students in this class. Don’t try to take matters into your own hands again,” Aizawa-sensei said sternly, staring at Bakugo for a moment before his eyes darted to Izuku. “Midoriya, is something wrong? Do you need to excuse yourself from the classroom?”

It wasn’t abnormal for Izuku to be caught up in his own thoughts. It wasn’t abnormal for him to be doodling or writing away in his notebook or muttering to himself, completely oblivious to what was going on around him. What was abnormal was for Izuku to be unfocused during class. Izuku was always so dedicated to learning everything he could while he was in the classroom, and even when he was caught up in whatever he had going on either in or out of school, it was never so much that he couldn’t pay attention when Aizawa-sensei was talking to him. For him to not even acknowledge Aizawa-sensei when he was called on meant that something was wrong.

At least, that’s what Aizawa-sensei and the other students thought.

But the truth was that Izuku really didn’t know what was going on, and he certainly didn’t have words to express how he was feeling. He’d never felt more distracted in his whole life. No matter where he was, what he was doing, or what he was trying to focus on, there seemed to be just one thing on his mind lately and he couldn’t get it to quiet down or go away.

No matter how hard he tried, lately Izuku just couldn’t stop thinking about Rody Soul.

It had been that way ever since he had returned to Japan from Otheon. He thought it only natural, since he and Rody had been through something particularly exciting—albeit traumatic—together, and then he’d had to leave right afterwards. Rody was still recovering from his injuries when Izuku left, not to mention the fact that he still had to take care of and provide for his siblings all by himself. Izuku knew there had been some talk of the Hero Commission finding a way to compensate Rody for the work he’d done in the Humarise incident, but as far as Izuku knew, the jury was still out on how exactly that would be done.

Lately, though, Izuku’s worry about his friend had been even more constant than usual.

He wanted to chalk that up to the fact that he just hadn’t heard from Rody in a little while. The two corresponded mainly by physical mail, with the occasional email here and there. Rody and his siblings had all gone back to school so he was able to use library computers every once in a while, but the family still didn’t have internet access in their home. Phone calls were also out of the question since Rody didn’t own a cellphone and regardless, overseas calls and text messages were more expensive than even Izuku’s mom wanted to deal with. Mail was the cheapest and most universally available option for communication, but it was also the slowest. 

It had been a couple of weeks since Izuku had sent his most recent letter to Rody and he still hadn’t gotten a response. He already had so much more than he wanted to tell Rody, and that wasn’t even including how much he would have to say about whatever Rody ended up sending him. He would have pages and pages to write. He might even have to send two letters. But that was assuming that he even got another letter back from Rody at all. Had it gotten lost in the mail, or had Rody simply not had time to write to him yet? How would Izuku ever find out which it was? 

“Midoriya! ”

Izuku jumped again, hearing Aizawa-sensei yell his name. Dammit, he’d done it again. He wondered how many times Aizawa-sensei had said his name this time before he’d finally noticed. 

“I-I’m sorry, sensei!! I don’t mean to be rude!! I’m really, really sorry!!” Izuku shouted, putting his head face-down on the desk and clapping his hands together over his head. “I just haven’t been getting very much sleep lately, is all…”

Aizawa-sensei raised an eyebrow. He didn’t take any pleasure in publicly humiliating his students, especially not when it came to issues they may have going on behind the scenes. Izuku was a bad liar, and he knew that Aizawa-sensei probably saw right through him. But since Aizawa-sensei didn’t know what was really wrong, he wasn’t going to make a judgement about it while class was still in session.

“I see. Then, how about we have a chat together after class?” Aizawa-sensei finally said, which, honestly, was worse than him just sentencing Izuku to detention of finding some other punishment to give him in front of the whole class. Unbothered, Aizawa turned his attention back to the rest of the class. “Kirishima, how about you try to answer this one instead, then?”

The end of the class period came, and instead of going off to lunch with his friends, Izuku stayed behind to talk to Aizawa-sensei. Aizawa-sensei met him at his seat, sitting backwards in the one that Bakugo usually sat in so that they could talk while facing each other on equal ground. “So, do you mind telling me what is really going on today, Midoriya?”

His words weren’t said in a threatening or accusing manner at all, but nevertheless, Izuku still felt incredibly guilty about it. He hopped out of his chair and bowed low to Aizawa-sensei in deep apology. “I’m sorry, Aizawa-sensei!! I was so disrespectful today!! I promise I won’t make that mistake again in the future. I appreciate your class and all I have to learn from it! I’ll do whatever you want me to do to make up for it! I won’t let it happen again!”

Aizawa-sensei reached out and put a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “I appreciate and accept your apology, Midoriya. However, I still want to know what’s going on. It isn’t like you to totally zone out in class like that. If something’s wrong, then as your teacher and guardian, it’s my job to help you take care of it.”

Izuku stood up straight and waved his hands dismissively in front of him. “There’s really nothing wrong, sensei! I just haven’t been getting enough sleep lately. I guess between class, homework, training, and my work study, I’ve been falling a little behind.” He rubbed the back of his neck, averting his gaze. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but he felt like telling the full truth would sound pretty stupid. 

Aizawa-sensei stared long and hard at Izuku, almost as if he were trying to force the truth to come out of him. It made Izuku nervous, but he didn’t volunteer any more information. After a minute, Aizawa-sensei gave up and stood from the chair that he had been sitting in. “Fine. If you’re sure that’s all it is. But maybe you should think about going to sleep a little earlier tonight. If you keep dosing off in class you’re going to fall even more behind. If you need some help coming up with a plan or a schedule, you can come talk to me, alright?”

“Yes sensei, of course. I really appreciate all that you do for me. I’ll definitely let you know if I need help,” Izuku promised. 

“Good. Now you better go catch up with the others. I don’t want you to miss lunch time,” Aizawa-sensei said and waved Izuku off with a very faint smile. 

Izuku nodded and quickly got up from his desk, booking it out of the classroom as fast as possible. He rushed to the cafeteria to grab his lunch and then looked around to see if he could find where his friends were sitting. To his great surprise, about half of his class were sitting together, when normally they would break up into smaller groups to eat lunch together. Taking his tray, he headed over to the table only to end up hearing part of the conversation that was no doubt the reason everyone was huddled together that afternoon.

“Hasn’t he been acting a little like this ever since the three of you got back from Otheon? Do you have any idea what might have happened there that might’ve messed with him, Bakugo?” Uraraka asked, tilting her head quizically at Bakugo, who was sitting at the farthest end of the table and just barely listening to the conversation.

“Why are you asking me like it’s my responsibility to keep an eye on him!? How the hell would I know why he’s acting like more of an idiot than usual!? I had my own crap to focus on in Otheon, whatever Deku was doing doesn’t matter to me at all,” he shouted before angrily wolfing down his rice. 

“What about you then, Todoroki?” Iida asked, trying to direct attention away from Bakugo before the whole cafeteria started looking over at them.

“Well, we did go through a lot with the Humarise mission. I know the rest of you did as well, but Midoriya was the one who actually took down Flect Turn, so it’s probably been weighing on him a little more than it’s been weighing on us,” Todoroki reasoned. 

“Wait—didn’t the three of you meet some kid in Otheon? Didn’t he end up helping you guys deliver the disarming— whoa, hey there, M-Midoriya!!” Kaminari started and then stopped as soon as he saw that Midoirya had arrived at their table.

Izuku smiled awkwardly and cocked his head to the side. “Hey guys! Mind if I sit with you today?” he asked.

“Of course not, Deku! We were wondering if you’d make it back in time to eat lunch with us,” Uraraka said, beaming at Izuku as she pointed to the seat that they had all apparently saved for him. As he sat down, her smile softened and she spoke in a much more soothing voice. “How did your talk with Aizawa-sensei go? Was he upset?”

Izuku shook his head. “No, not at all. Actually, he offered me some help with coming up with a new schedule to keep me on top of my workload. I think I’ll probably take him up on it,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Well, is there anything the rest of us can do to help you out? We’re all pretty worried about you, Deku… None of us want you biting off more than you can chew, you know, and we’re all here to help!” Uraraka said, clenching her fist with determination.

“Thank you, Uraraka,” Izuku said, smiling at her. “And thank you to everyone else, too. But I don’t think I’ll need a lot of help. I really think I just need to catch up on my sleep. That’s all.”

“Alright, if you’re sure. But—” Uraraka began, but was suddenly cut off by Sero.

“Wait a second! Midoriya, you were doodling in that notebook of yours again when sensei called on you in class today! I looked over your shoulder to see what you were writing down that was so important you had to ignore sensei for, just in case it was for a test or something. But now that I think about it, you were writing an entry about that kid from Otheon, weren’t you!?” 

“Wh-what!?” Izuku shouted, almost choking on the food he had just swallowed down. His face turned hot pink and he deflected immediately. “You can’t just look over people’s shoulders like that, Sero! If Aizawa-sensei caught you doing that, he would punish you for cheating!”

Sero shrugged. “But I’m right, aren’t I? You were writing about that kid!” He chuckled mischievously, like he was making fun of Izuku, or of Rody, or both. “I recognized him from the hair. Even Eri could draw a pretty lifelike rendition of that guy. What’s his name again, anyways?”

“His name is Rody, ” Izuku snapped, a bit more defensively than he intended to. Realizing his mistake, he shrunk in on himself and stared down at his tray of food. “And yeah I—I guess I was adding some stuff to the pages I made for him while I was zoning out, I don’t really remember.” 

In reality, Izuku was fully aware of every single word he’d put in that entry and every detail he’d drawn in the portrait. As a rule, he tried to keep everything in his notebook just down to the facts. It was meant to be objective analyses of heroes, their Quirks, their strengths, and their weaknesses. He had other outlets for fanboying or otherwise sharing his opinion on certain heroes. But with Rody… somehow, it was different. Whenever he wrote about Rody’s skills and talents, it was like he couldn’t contain how cool he thought Rody was. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Rody’s Quirk wasn’t much use in a fight, so Izuku had to write about other things in his entry for Rody, but… No, that was definitely the reason, because admitting anything else just wasn’t something that Izuku was ready to do. 

“That’s so sweet of you to make an entry of him in your notebook, Deku,” Uraraka said softly, trying to make Izuku feel better. “I bet if he ever saw it, he’d think it was super cool.”

“Wh-why would you say sweet, Uraraka…!?” Izuku asked, sounding almost upset. “I have entries for all of you. It’s not a big deal or anything. And they’re not really meant for other people to see. They’re my own personal notes to help me become a better hero. I write down every bit of information I can get my hands on.”

“Oh, I know that. I just think it’s sweet that you admire him so much,” Uraraka explained, tilting her head and smiling. “Yeah, you write about all of the heroes you learn about, and you write about all of us because you believe we’ll become heroes someday, but you really admire all heroes, and you admire us too. So if Rody’s in your book even though he’s not a hero, it’s because you admire him, isn’t it?” 

Izuku’s face turned beet-red once again, but this was one question that he couldn’t dance around or shy away from. He didn’t want to. Many of the classmates who were gathered around the table had helped to take Humarise down, but Izuku, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Rody were the ones to infiltrate the base of Flect Turn and take him down. In the end, it was Rody who ended up saving the day for everyone.

“Of course I admire him. He may not be going to a hero school like us, and he doesn’t have a flashy Quirk or a provisional license, but honestly, he’s already more of a Pro than any of us. No matter how tough things got he found a way to push through. He had the option to let the world burn so that his family would be safe, and instead, he took the risk that came with facing Flect Turn alongside me, not knowing whether we would make it out alive or not. Even when he was barely hanging on by a thread, he didn’t stop fighting until he couldn’t move anymore. He’s the one who disarmed the Trigger bombs. He saved everyone. He’s the kind of hero I want to be like the most.”

“You know, Deku, you talk about Rody the same way you talk about All Might,” Uraraka said with a laugh, but it slowly faded as a look of knowing washed over her face, like she just realized the trick to a difficult puzzle.

Izuku looked away from her and stared at his food, refusing to look at anyone anymore, lest he give more of himself away. “Oh, really? I hadn’t even noticed…”

The way the conversation fizzled out left no room for doubt, though.

“Oh! Speaking of All Might, did you guys hear that he’s going to be helping Aizawa-sensei with our training exercises more often now? I guess Aizawa-sensei finally warmed up to him, huh?” Uraraka said, somehow always knowing how and when to switch the topic of conversation.

Izuku held back a sigh of relief, grateful for the distraction, though he hadn’t noticed that Uraraka was secretly typing on her phone under the table.

A group text message was sent out to everyone who was at the table at the time: Iida, Bakugo, Todoroki, Sero, Asui, Kaminari, and Kirishima.

[Uravity]: Guys, don’t you think that Deku has a crush on Rody!?

There was a swift response.

[GEMGDynamight]: It took you assholes /this long/ to figure that out?

~*~

When Izuku checked the mailbox he’d been assigned in the dormitory that evening, it was more out of habit than out of expectation. Rody’s letter was already so late that Izuku had to wonder if it had gotten lost—though, maybe Rody had just been too busy to send one, or… maybe he hadn’t wanted to send one. So when Izuku found that there actually was a letter in his mailbox that night, it came as such a surprise to him that he wondered if there was some sort of mistake. But no, he checked the envelope over and over again and there was no mistaking that it had been addressed to Midoriya Izuku, sent from one Rody Soul.

Izuku slammed his mailbox shut and ran as fast as he could towards the stairs so that he could get to his room and read it. Though of course, he was so distracted by the letter that he didn’t even think about the scolding he would get from Iida if he was seen running through the halls like that. As soon as he entered the common room, all heads turned towards him. Quick as lightning, Iida sprinted across the room to stand in front of him. 

“ Midoriya! What on Earth has gotten into you, I know that you know better than to run through the halls like this! Please explain yourself!”

The two of them would have collided if Iida’s voice wasn’t so jarring that it snapped Izuku out of his daze. He abruptly stopped in front of his class president, clutching the letter at his side and bowing apologetically. “I’m sorry, Iida! I’m just in a hurry to get back to my room tonight! I promise I’ll be more careful next time…”

Iida, wondering what could possibly be so important or time-sensitive that Izuku felt the need to put the safety of himself and others at risk, scanned Izuku up and down until he spotted the piece of paper that Izuku was holding in a death grip. He raised an eyebrow, pushing his glasses up. “What is that you have in your hand, Midoriya?” he asked.

“What… this?” Izuku asked, holding up the letter and looking at it, but then quickly hiding it behind his back. “It’s nothing!!” he shouted, then cringed immediately. What was he trying to hide it for!? There was absolutely no reason on Earth that he should be embarrassed about this letter, but for some reason, his cheeks had started burning when Iida asked about it. Still, he stared at the ground, holding the letter tightly behind himself. “It’s just… a letter from Rody… I was just excited to read it, that’s all…”

“Oh,” Iida said, himself also going red in the face, remembering the text that Uraraka had sent to him and the others earlier. He quickly cleared his throat and added, “Well—I’m sorry to have interrupted you. Next time just… try to be a little more aware of your surroundings.” 

Izuku nodded, laughing awkwardly. “Right. Sorry again, Iida.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Iida said dismissively, then dashed back to whatever he had been doing before. 

Jeez, what’s up with him…? Izuku thought to himself, as the pot calling the kettle. 

He shook his head and continued on towards his room. Once he’d gotten inside, he flipped the light switch and practically threw himself into his desk chair, tearing the envelope open and carefully removing the letter from inside of it. He unfolded it and spread it flat on his desk, anxious to start reading.

Deku, 

Sorry for such a late response! I wish it was easier to tell you when I get busy. It’s just that I’ve been busting my ass with all of this studying. Roro and Lala are doing great in school, but I feel like I’m so far behind my classmates since going back, especially since I’m still working all the time, too. I know you’ve got it hard too, what with your work-study and all. Maybe you can give me some pointers on how to keep my grades up. 

When I’ve saved up a little more, I’m gonna buy a cellphone. I hear they’ve got all sorts of apps for texting and video chatting, so I guess the only thing we’ll have to worry about is the time difference. But Hell, I wouldn’t mind staying up late if it was to talk to you. Not that I want you to stop sending letters or anything, but I’ve just been thinking it would be nice to get to hear your voice sometimes, you know? Or see your face. It’s been so long, I feel like my memory is starting to get fuzzy!

That was a joke. Mostly. But just for good measure, I sent a picture of me, Pino, Roro, and Lala with this letter, so you don’t forget what I look like. You should send me a picture back! Maybe one of you and your mom, or one with you and your friends together. I hope I get to meet them someday. One day, when I’m a pilot, I’ll fly over to Japan all the time. You should teach me some Japanese before then. I feel kinda bad that you have to write me in English all the time. 

You’d better come visit me again in Otheon before that, though. I’ve already got ideas about our next road trip! One where we’ll have time to stop and smell the roses along the way. Maybe we can take some pictures together, too. Now that I think about it, it really sucks that we didn’t get just one picture together before you left. We should definitely take one together next time so I can put it in the empty side of my locket.  

Anyways, I guess I’d better get back to studying. If I ever want to have a chance at going to flight school I gotta make sure I graduate high school first. I hope you’re doing well, Izuku. I know I took forever writing you back this time around but please, write me back soon. I really do miss you, hero!

Bye for now,

Rody

Taped to the back of the last page of the letter, there was indeed a picture of Rody and his family. With his heart pounding for some reason (that definitely didn’t start after reading that Rody had called him by his actual name), Izuku carefully peeled the picture off of the paper. It looked like a candid photo taken of all of them, though Izuku didn’t know who had taken it. The three of them were playing together, with Rody and Pino chasing the children around, both of them pretending to look menacing. Roro and Lala were clearly laughing as they ran away from Rody. 

Izuku laughed softly to himself. “Man, what a cute picture…” 

He blushed at what he had said, then groaned loudly and planted his face on the desk. Why do I keep thinking things like that lately…? It’s not like I think Togata is particularly cute when he plays with Eri or anything like that…

Izuku’s chest tightened with a sudden realization. Come to think of it, when I think about Rody, it’s kinda like how I used to think about Uraraka… they’re cute in the same ways…

Izuku’s head shot up and he stared ahead at the wall, his brow furrowed and teeth grit. Don’t tell me… it can’t be that I have a crush on Rody!?

~*~

“Man, he really does have it bad, huh?” Kirishima commented, glancing at the door that Midoriya had just disappeared through and blinking slowly before turning to look at the rest of his friends, who were all sitting on the couches. 

“God, and I didn’t think the rest of you could get any stupider,” Bakugo growled, rolling his eyes. 

“Hey, man, if we were supposed to figure it out just from the fact that he talks about how cool Rody is all the time, then the way you talk about Kirishima is pretty sus too,” Kaminari said, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at Bakugo with an arched eyebrow.

“Wait, what?” Kirishima asked.

Bakugo shoved Kaminari so hard he fell off the couch. “Can it, Dunce Face, or I’ll knock your lights out!”

“There’s absolutely no need to be resorting to violence over this!” Iida scolded, glaring at Bakugo.

“That’s rich coming from you, four-eyes!” Bakugo shot back.

“Bakugo is kind of right, though. Looking back on it, it’s pretty obvious that it’s not just that Midoriya thinks he’s cool. His face gets all red whenever he talks about Rody and he’s been getting really defensive whenever one of us brings Rody up,” Asui said, putting her finger to her chin, practically ignoring the fact that Bakugo looked like he was going to explode any second now. 

“Guys, this isn’t the time to be arguing over whether or not we should have guessed it by now,” Uraraka said, taking a sharp breath out through her nose. “What’s important now is figuring out how to get the two of them together!”

“You’re oddly invested in this turn of events, Uraraka. Why does it matter to you if Midoriya gets with some guy or not? Actually, shouldn’t you be having the opposite reaction?” Sero asked, eyeing Uraraka with a great deal of suspicion.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Sero? Why wouldn’t I want Deku to be with the guy he has a crush on?” Uraraka asked, furrowing her brow.

“Well don’t you have a thing for Midoriya?” Sero asked.

“Oh, for the love of—where are you getting that from?? I seriously keep telling you guys that it’s not like that!! No wonder none of you can get a date! You can’t even take a girl seriously when she tells you a thousand times that she’s not into a guy!”

Seriously, if Uraraka had to tell these people one more time that she was not in love with Deku (...at least not anymore ), she was going to blow up worse than Bakugo ever could. 

“Even so, Ochako, don’t you think it’s a bad idea for us to go messing around in Midoriya’s business like that? You don’t like it very much when people assume they know how you feel about someone else, so don’t you think Midoriya feels the same way?” Asui asked. 

“Okay… you might be right about that…” Uraraka admitted. “But even if that’s the case, I mean, just look at how upset Deku’s been lately since he hasn’t heard from Rody in a while. And look at how excited he was to go and read Rody’s letter now that it finally got here! They live an entire ocean away from each other and it’s clear that Deku is missing Rody more and more every day. Besides, you heard what Deku said earlier. We all know that Rody’s the one responsible for saving us all from Humarise. There has to be something we can do to help him so that he can communicate with Deku better than what they have going on right now.” 

“Hmm… it does seem wrong that the Hero Commission hasn’t done anything to compensate him for his work during the Humarise mission. Even if he isn’t a lisenced hero, he was instrumental in helping me, Bakugo, and Midoriya stop the Trigger bombs,” Todoroki commented, holding his chin in his hand. “Especially considering that his father died while trying to ensure that the disarming key got into the right hands. Midoriya told me and Bakugo that Rody and his siblings were kicked out onto the streets because everyone believed that their father joined Humarise of his own volition. Now that that’s been proved not to be the case, the Hero Commission definitely should have helped them get their old home back.” 

Everyone was silent for a moment, trying to process what Todoroki had said to them. None of them except for Bakugo knew the full extent of Rody’s living situation. It was dawning on all of them for the first time just how awful it was that the Hero Commission hadn’t seemed to pay any attention to Rody at all. No wonder Rody and Deku had only been communicating by letters so far. Rody was probably struggling to make ends meet for him and his siblings without the added expenses of a phone or internet bill. How was it even legal for the Hero Commission to just leave them to fend for themselves like that?

The situation hit Uraraka especially close to home. But even when things were rough for her, she at the very least had her parents to support her. Their family might not have been well off but at least they were together. For Rody to be even less well off and for him to have to play Dad to his younger siblings to boot, it filled Uraraka with a silent rage. She was more determined now than ever before. There had to be a way to get Rody back on his feet, and to make things easier for him and Deku. 

“But what are we supposed to do about it…? I mean, we’re just a bunch of kids, too. It’s not like we have any influence over what the Commission does. Especially not for some kid who lives in Europe!” Sero said, obviously feeling dejected already.

“We as students may not have an influence when it comes to matters of the Hero Commission, but we do have plenty of adults who can argue on our behalf. All we would have to do would be to convince Aizawa-sensei and All Might. Surely they can do something to help,” Iida suggested.

“You’re right, Tenya! Then we have no time to lose!” Uraraka said, suddenly standing up from the couch. “Come on, gang! Let’s go find Aizawa-sensei!” 

~*~

Izuku had decided to put his mind at rest with an early bedtime that night. Or at least, that had been the idea. But though he’d pinned Rody’s picture to the wall above his desk and curled up in bed, body turned completely away from said wall, it wasn’t long before he had jumped out of bed to snatch the picture off of the wall again. With a sigh, he trudged back to his bed and flopped down on it, holding the picture to his chest but being careful not to fold or crush it. He felt his heartbeat speed up again. Seriously, what was wrong with him!?

The more he thought about it, this really wasn’t the same feeling as when he’d been crushing on Uraraka at all. Sure, he used to blush and lose his train of thought when Uraraka would praise him or get too close to him, but he couldn’t really remember a time when he’d been distracted just by thinking about her. Or when his stomach tied itself in knots over a text message from her. Or when he’d fantasized about what kind of things they would do together the next time they hung out together. Izuku had only ever really had Uraraka on his mind when she was right next to him, which happened a lot of the time, but it was still a very noticeable difference. 

That had to be because of how far away Rody was from him, right? Izuku got to spend time with Uraraka and the others almost every single day. There wasn’t much time in-between for him to have any of them stuck on his mind. But Rody lived on an entirely different continent and only talked to each other by sending letters back and forth. Izuku had to think about Rody all the time because it was the only semblance of connection he had with Rody right now.

But that still didn’t explain why he felt so… so… he didn’t even know how he was feeling. It hadn’t been that long since he’d been in Otheon. But still, every time Izuku thought about Rody, he missed him more and more. It was almost like… it felt a lot like homesickness, in a way. Was it even possible to be homesick for a person!? And why was it that Rody was the person who felt like home? 

Izuku groaned again and shoved the picture under his pillow, then buried his face into said pillow. Again, he tried to push Rody out of his mind, but all his brain wanted to think about at the moment was the few almost-blissful days they had been on the road together. Sure, they’d had a few hiccups in the beginning, but once Rody had made up his mind to help, it had actually been a rather pleasant road trip. When they had been driving together back then, the world had seemed to slow down for them. The danger of the situation they were in let up for just a few shining moments, and Izuku found that he really got to know the truth about Rody’s heart.

“I never really cared for heroes, but the more time I spend around you… the more it makes me wonder what I’m doing with my life.” 

The way he said it made it seem like he was looking down on himself. Like he thought Izuku was a better person than him, and meeting Izuku made him want to do better. Be better.

“But I don’t have the luxury of dreaming like you do. I can’t say things like ‘I want to be a pilot.’ I have to focus on the here and now and not get caught up in the future. That’s the only way I can take care of my siblings.” 

I should have said something to you in that moment… Izuku thought to himself, wrapping his arms around himself. I know exactly what it’s like to say something like that, hoping someone will tell you what you really need to hear in return…

“Rody… next time I see you, I’ll definitely tell you…”

~*~

Under normal circumstances, Aizawa was not typically a very social person. Whether he had free time or assignments to grade, he preferred to do it alone in his room. But for better or worse, a lot of things had changed for Aizawa in the last few months which had begrudgingly convinced him to spend more time in the common area of the teacher dormitory. For one thing, Yamada was always ragging on him about how he needed to make more friends, and how spending down time in the common area was the best way to do that. For another, All Might had really needed the company lately, and though he would never admit it, Aizawa did kinda feel bad for the guy. The oaf had grown on him since the beginning of the school year. But thirdly, he now had Eri to look after as well, so time that she wanted to spend around the other teachers was time that Aizawa would spend with them as well.

It had been a quiet evening so far. The rest of the teachers had retired for the night, but Eri was sitting with Miss Midnight and All Might, the three of them coloring together while Aizawa put on a pot of coffee and Yamada sat on the couch. However, the peaceful atmosphere was immediately interrupted upon the ominous appearance of eight of the class 1-A students, all of whom have off an aura like they were ready to negotiate their way into the business deal of the century. 

Eri’s face lit up when she saw them, blissfully unaware of how quickly the energy in the room had soured. 

All Might, too, hadn’t quite learned how to read the emotions of his students at a mere glance. “Oh, a visit from the students? How delightful!” he exclaimed, matching Eri’s giddiness. 

“We’ll see about that,” Aizawa said with a sigh, turning to face the onslaught of teenagers.

“Aizawa-sensei!!” the children shouted in unison.

“What are you kids doing here? You know the rules. Unless it’s an emergency, you’re supposed to make an appointment before coming to visit the teachers,” Aizawa said sternly, glaring at the students as if daring them to tell him that they were here for an emergency, only for it to be something stupid and easily resolvable.

“This is an emergency, Aizawa-sensei!” Uraraka declared. Aizawa was still skeptical, though the fact that it was Uraraka who had said it made Aizawa a little bit more inclined to listen. “There’s someone who needs our help!”

Aizawa’s eyebrow twitched. If this was a joke, he was going to be upset. But he wanted to believe that his kids knew better than to play around with something like that. “Go on, then,” he urged.

“Todoroki, present the argument!” Iida ordered, then stepped aside so that Todoroki could walk out from behind him.

“During the Humarise mission, Bakugo, Midoriya, and myself were helped by a kid our age named Rody Soul. He was the person responsible for obtaining the disarming key for the Trigger bombs, flying us to the island which housed the hidden Humarise base, and ultimately was the one who ended up using the disarming key in time to stop the bombs. His father, Eddie Soul, was the person who devised the disarming key in the first place. He was killed by Humarise for his betrayal. Rody and his younger siblings, Roro and Lala, were kicked out of their home due to their father’s supposed connection with the terrorist organization. However, even now that the truth has come to light and Rody helped save the world, to our knowledge, the Hero Commission hasn’t done anything to compensate Rody for his hard work and bravery.” 

Uraraka nodded as in corroboration with Todoroki’s story. “Rody needs help raising his siblings and getting his life back on the right track. We came here to ask if there was something you could do for him, Aizawa-sensei. Something that would convince the Hero Commission to help him.” 

Aizawa was taken aback by the story that the children had brought forth. He hadn’t been very involved in the Humarise mission and thus knew very little detail about what had happened that hadn’t already been released to the public. There hadn’t been anything in the news about this boy named Rody or his ties to the organization. But all of the children here save for Iida had been directly involved in the mission, and Todoroki and Bakugo had been the ones to help take down Flect Turn. This definitely wasn’t a lie, but Aizawa wasn’t sure if he had the power to do what the students were asking of him.

All Might, on the other hand, was invited by the Hero Commission to work in strategy and communication on the Humarise mission. He had been in charge of helping oversee the teams that had been deployed all over the world. If anyone could help the kids out with this, it would be him.

“All Might, do you know anything about this?” Aizawa asked, turning back to look at All Might, narrowing his eyes.

All Might narrowed his right back, slowly standing up from the table. “Young Todoroki is correct about Eddie Soul. On the files recovered from the thumb drive on how to use the disarming key, it was discovered that he and another man, Alan Kay, had worked in secret to make sure that Humarise could be stopped. It’s also true that young Rody Soul helped our boys stop the Trigger bombs. But I had no idea that the Hero Commission had decided not to help him after all.” He walked towards the students to stand next to Aizawa. “Young Todoroki, how can you be sure that they decided not to help him?”

If looks could kill, All Might would have been absolutely eviscerated by Bakugo in that moment. Bakugo didn’t have to say anything out loud, but All Might instantly caught his meaning. You really don’t pay attention to anything, do you, old man!?

“Deku and that dumb kid from Otheon have been talking to each other ever since we got back from that mission, but only by sending each other letters like some damn old-fashioned trash novel! And the only way that makes any sense is if Kia Soul or whatever his name is still lives in a trailer and can’t afford a cellphone,” Bakugo said, deciding to explain the situation to his teachers despite Todoroki’s repeated attempts to cut him off and tell a nicer version of the story. 

Again, if looks could kill, All Might would have been double-murdered by the scowl that Aizawa gave him. All Might shivered and put his hands up defensively, like he was afraid someone was just going to lunge for him. “H-hey, now, what are you looking at me like that for…!?”

“Having three young children on the streets like that is an absolutely unacceptable and totally irrational outcome, especially considering the oldest of those children is responsible for saving all of our lives. If you knew about him and his situation, why didn’t you follow up with the Hero Commission about him?”

“I just never expected the Hero Commission to act so shamefully! I didn’t think there was a reason to follow up…!” All Might protested.

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “ Regardless, the situation needs to be dealt with ASAP. We need to go talk to the principal about what can be done.”

If there was one thing that Aizawa would always stand against no matter what, it was children being neglected, abandoned, or led astray. Even if it wasn’t within his power to force the Hero Commission’s hand, he knew that it was within Nezu’s. He would just have to convince Nezu to use that power on his behalf. And if that didn’t work, he’d at least have All Might as a backup. 

“Go back to your dorm, kids. Thank you for the information. All Might and I will get this resolved as soon as we can,” Aizawa said, looking at the children again and softening his expression, if only slightly.

Uraraka nodded, and the others copied her.

~*~

It took Izuku a few days to decide what he wanted to write back to Rody. The main holdup was trying to decide what picture to send to him. If he tried to take one of himself with his whole class now, he was sure he would get made fun of if they knew that it was for Rody, so it had to be one that he already had. It was just so hard to decide which of his favorite memories he wanted to share with Rody. In the end, he ended up picking the picture he had of classes 1-A and 1-B cooking together at their summer training camp this year. He thought that one was perfect. 

Dear Rody,

I’m so glad I got your letter. For a minute, I was worried it might have gotten lost. I know how it feels to be behind all your classmates. It’s like that for me here at UA. I got my Quirk at such a late age that it feels like I’ll have to practice for years before I can hold even a candle to any of my classmates. But even though I think that, they all think that I’m the same as them. You should try making friends with your classmates, Rody. They’ll probably be able to help you keep up with your grades, because that’s what happens with me. 

I’d love to help you learn Japanese. I can’t promise you I’ll be the best teacher out there, but I’ll write up a little lesson for you and send it with this letter. Next time we get to see each other, we can practice talking together. If you send me a map of Otheon and the name of the place you want to roadtrip to, I can help you plan for next time I visit you. In the meantime, I’ll start telling you about each of my classmates so that you’ll know what you’re getting into when you come to visit me one day. 

Here’s a picture of me and them, and my friends from the other Hero Course class, too. I really think it captures their personalities better than anything else. When I think about cooking, it reminds me of you, since you like to do it with your siblings so much. We do it a lot together here at UA, so I think you’d fit right in.

I’m sending this letter out a little bit later than I wanted to. I hope it doesn’t take too long to get to you. But if you can’t write me back again for a while because of school, don’t feel bad. I’ll just be waiting for you when you have time. I miss you too, Rody. But maybe soon you’ll be able to come visit whenever you want!

See you soon,

Izuku

True to form, Izuku spent pages writing a multi-sectional lesson about the Japanese alphabets, extensive explanations of everything that was happening in the picture he’d decided to send, and a list of places in Otheon or the surrounding countries he thought would be fun to drive to. And once he was absolutely certain he had nothing more to write about, he finally packaged the letter up and stuffed it into the mail pickup box. 

He was glad to see that all of his classmates were sitting together in the common area when he returned to it. It felt like the last couple of days all or most of them had been off doing their own things around this hour of the day. Izuku had felt a little lonely without them, but he was glad to see that everyone seemed to have a break again. 

“What were you guys thinking of making for dinner tonight?” Izuku asked as he approached his friends.

“Bakugo has been wanting to try out my sister’s spicy Mapo tofu recently, so I think he said he was going to cook tonight,” Todoroki answered, then pointed towards the kitchen, where Izuku could see that Bakugo was hard at work. 

“The least you ungrateful assholes could do for the meal is come in here and help chop this tofu!” Bakugo called to them.

Izuku laughed. “He’s right, you guys. Let’s go help.”

With all of his classmates helping him, Bakugo was able to finish cooking dinner in no time. Just as Izuku was finishing up his share of the helping, though, his phone started ringing. When he pulled out his phone, the number calling him was one he didn’t recognize. It didn’t even look like the number was from Japan. In fact, Izuku noticed that the caller ID said the call was from Otheon. 

“Wait… no way…” Izuku murmured.

“What is it, Deku?” Uraraka asked, but Izuku unwittingly ignored her by answering the phone before she had finished helping.

“Moshimoshi,” he answered in Japanese. 

“ Moshimoshi? ” a very familiar voice repeated back. “Is that how you say ‘hello’ in Japanese?”

Izuku gasped in shock, smiling broadly. “Rody!? Is that really you!?”

Rody laughed on the other side of the speaker. “Sure is, Hero!”

“H-how are you calling me!? I thought calling me from overseas would be pretty much impossible…!” Izuku said, confusion riddling his face, but not to the detriment of his excitement. 

“Well, funny thing about that,” Rody began, “I guess the Hero Commission didn’t consider us even by taking whatever money they were gonna give me as their ‘IOU’ for me borrowing that car, after all. Some guy from the Hero Commission came down here this morning and told me they were gonna help me and my siblings move into an apartment. Then he gave me this cellphone! Pretty neat, huh?”

Izuku gasped again. “You mean they’re helping you out after all!?”

“You betcha!” Rody answered. “It’ll be a lot easier for me to talk to you now, because I won’t have to work as much. And, oh, I haven’t even gotten to the best part. Guess what, Deku?”

“What is it, Rody…?” Izuku asked, intrigued by the way Rody had said that. Like a giddy little kid about to burst with excitement. Like this was the most important thing he’d ever say in his life.

“I guess your Principal really has his eye on my flying skills or something, because he wants me to apply for the support course at your school! Can you believe that?”

Izuku’s eyes went wide and he went silent for a while, causing Rody to call out “Hello…?? Deku??”

“S-Sorry!” Izuku said quickly, snapping out of his daze. “Th-that’s insane!? Are you going to apply…!?”

“Well, if I get in, then I wouldn’t have to worry about where I was going to work or where I was going to live. Principal Nezu said that I could live in the dorms until I graduated, and he said that Roro and Lala would be looked after on campus whenever I was in class. And the Hero Commission is giving me a scholarship to stay in Japan while I apply. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be joining your school as a class 2 student in the spring semester! And even if I don’t get in, it’ll be a chance to come visit you!”

“Rody! That’s awesome! I know you’ll be able to pass this test and get in. You’re gonna love it here! I can’t wait for you to get here!”

Slowly, each of Izuku’s classmates stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. As the realization of what was going on hit each of them, they each smiled and started laughing in excitement with one another.

“When are you supposed to be coming?” Izuku asked.

“In two weeks, I think. They said that would be enough time for me to study the materials I’d need for the entrance exam and get used to my temporary living space in Japan before the test. Maybe I can even learn some amount of Japanese before then!”

“Oh, that’ll be right before our spring break ends! I’ll be able to make some time to see you before we all start school again!” Izuku said delightedly. 

“Great, It’s a date, then!”

Oh great, Izuku felt himself blushing again. But when he looked around at his friends, he saw they were all smiling at him encouragingly. Knowingly. Like they had planned for this to happen all along.

Izuku would have to ask them about that later.

For now, he was going to enjoy this time that he was able to talk to Rody for.

“Yeah, Rody,” he said with a soft chuckle, “it’s a date.”