Chapter Text
To anybody walking around the forest area, they would be able to see a small orange glow coming from a cave at the base of the mountain. Upon closer inspection, they would be able to slightly make out two boys and what looks like a bird sitting in the cave. One boy - Rody Soul, a brown haired boy with alluring ash coloured eyes - looked quite contemplative for his age (as if he was searching for the meaning of life). The boy next to him - Izuku Midoriya, quite pale compared to Rody - had obnoxiously large eyes ('it's as if they're trying to stare into your soul' was a common thought amongst those who had just met him) that were sacramento green and shone like an emerald in the light. He was bandaged up across his chest and had multiple scars running across his upper body - the most noticeable one was the one on his right arm, a pink monstrosity that ran all the way from his shoulder to the middle of his forearm.
Izuku was calmly looking at the map of Otheon, making silent plans about how to get to the border and into the neighbouring country, Klayd. After more moments of uncomfortable silence for Rody, he spoke up. "Why did you protect me?" Is what he asked, looking away from Izuku's face. 'The injury was my fault,' was all he could think. Because of that guilt and shame, he couldn't bear to even glance at the boy he hurt.
"Why?" Izuku asked back, as if the question was new to him (and frankly, it was. Nobody had ever asked why he had saved them).
Rody stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave, trying to keep physical and emotional distance between the two; Rody did not want or need any attachments right now - especially to somebody who he's on the run for mass murder with. Izuku, however, placed his gaze on Rody's back, ignorant of how he was making his 'accomplice' feel. "I took the case. I betrayed you." 'I hurt you.' But that wasn't a thought to be broadcasted to the world outside Rody's head. "Instead of protecting me, you could've taken the case back and ran away."
Izuku, now slightly confused by the suggestion, closed the map and tilted his head. "I couldn't do that."
Rody began to feel irritated. 'Of course you could. That's what everyone else would do.' "I was carrying the jewellery the villains stole this afternoon." He began waving his hands around, trying to articulate his points through hand signs that truly had no meaning to anyone other than himself. "I'm one of those criminals you heroes hate!"
"I can't leave someone who's in trouble alone." Izuku's voice was soft and quiet, almost so quiet Rody didn't hear it. Rody couldn't help but turn around to look at this ridiculous Japanese hero. "I can't help but feel like I want to help them," the fool continued.
Rody turned around so that he was fully facing Izuku now. "It's not worth getting hurt over that," he muttered, unable to keep in the thought no longer.
Izuku's face was always very expressive. No matter how much he tried to hide it, whatever he was feeling was on his face. That may be one of the things Rody found so interesting about him, because his heart was always on his sleeve, just like himself (well, not literally, but most of the time without others knowing, yes). Izuku looked at Rody a bit shocked, then smiled a sweet, soothing smile. Rody mentally took a picture of it, keeping it in the memory palace just for him and his siblings (he didn't want to admit it yet but he was in love and wanted to savour every moment with this annoyingly heroic foreigner). "It's enough if I'm able to help that person."
Rody had never seen or heard of someone so kind and caring since his mother and father. Izuku reminded him of how pleasant the world was, before his father ran off to Humarise. Izuku's compassion made Rody feel warm inside, made him feel whole and complete...but no. This wasn't the time for a romance. He was on the run and he needed to get back to his siblings, to take care of them and help them grow up alright (but this Japanese boy was making it pretty difficult).
"I don't get it," he said, sitting down on the closest rock that he could.
"It's what I've always admired," Izuku said, looking down at the ground. "I want to be a hero who can save people with a smile. I want to be like All Might."
"By All Might," Rody couldn't help but interrupt, "do you mean that hero who's famous worldwide?"
"Yeah, he's my teacher."
"Seriously?"
Rody couldn't help but stare at Izuku (more specifically at his smile) and be inspired. He looked to the ground, a small smile on his own face. "You wanted to be like All Might, so you chased that dream and became a hero." Izuku looked up from the ground when Rody laughed a bit. "You're completely different from me."
Rody looked out of the cave, and into the starry night sky, where he spent most of his nights looking at after his siblings had gone to sleep. Almost every night he waited for a shooting star so he could make one silly wish - to be able to provide a better life for his siblings. It was a stupid, wishing on something in outer space, but he did it anyways.
"I can't think about the future," he looked at the constellations, the little patches of the sky that were darker or lighter than the other parts. "I don't have the leeway to say nonsense like 'I want to be a pilot''."
Izuku couldn't help but look at him with eyes filled to the brim with sympathy.
"It's all I can do to provide for my younger siblings."
"I-"
"Don't say anything!" Rody interrupted Izuku, turning to meet those ever-so-obviously pity filled eyes with ones full of anger. "I don't want your pity."
Izuku kept his mouth shut, waiting silently to see if Rody wanted to continue.
"Heroes..." Rody began, but trailed off. He hung his head, staring intently at the ground - he couldn't look at Izuku's face, he wouldn't. After a moment of silence, he continued. "I used to think they were all just people who wanted attention and wanted to make money under the guise of helping people. In reality, heroes didn't come to the town I live in; they wouldn't make any money there." A small pause, and Rody looked up to cast his gaze on Izuku. "But I guess there are heroes like you around, too."
Izuku's face changed from sympathetic to shocked.
"The more you help me, the more I wonder about what I'm doing with my life...I'm so lame."
"I'm lame too," Izuku looked at his right hand, full of scars. "I've been wanting to be a hero since I was a kid, but people kept telling me that I couldn't do it, that I couldn't become a hero."
Rody looked at Izuku, now it was his turn to be sympathetic.
"I couldn't use my Quirk properly, and I was at the bottom of my class. I'm always being propped up by my classmates. I'm still lame."
And that's when Rody noticed it. The fire behind the greenette's eyes that burned day and night, when he was sitting down trying to relax or in the middle of saving someone. The fire attracted people towards him; it kept Rody there all this time. The fire was a mix of passion and determination - and it was fucking beautiful.
Rody couldn't hear what the young hero was saying, because all that he was focusing on was said person's face. His face was round and he had chubby cheeks by the looks of it ('cute,' was all that Rody could think). His obnoxiously big eyes, maybe not so annoying because he got to look at them and the fire behind them whenever he wanted to, that displayed all his emotions, regardless of whether he wanted them broadcasted to the world or not. He had four distinct freckles on each cheek - like a compass - but upon further inspection, there seemed to be many more littered across his face like the stars in the night sky (they were much lighter of course, so Rody would have to get really close if he wanted to clearly see them). A small button nose situated perfectly on his face, and fuck, his lips.
His lips seemed perfect. They looked so soft and smooth, 'so kissable', but Rody quickly shoved that thought and the rest of them away. 'I can't be thinking these things. I can't...I shouldn't.'
When he realised Izuku had finished, he smiled, sincerely.
A small bird - a bright colour scheme of pink, yellow and purple with a white chest - settled itself into the birds nest that Izuku Midoriya calls his hair. Izuku looked up at the bird (or at least tried to) atop his head as it nestled itself comfortably into the spot where Izuku's hair was longest.
"That's Pino," Rody introduced her.
"Pino?" Izuku asked.
Pino flew up an down a little bit, making chirping noises that sounded like 'I am Pino.'
Rody walked to where Izuku was sitting with a smile on his face. "I'm Rody. Rody Soul," he introduced himself. "What's your name?"
Izuku stood up, smiling back at Rody. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. My hero name's Deku."
"'Deku'," Rody repeated. "That's easier to remember."
"Yeah, I like it."
Pino fluttered, a smile appearing (or the best smile a bird could do) on her face.
"Let's get some sleep, Rody."
"Yeah, let's, Deku."
***
When Izuku woke up to the sound of a car pulling up near the cave, he found that he had underarmour and a shirt on. Thinking about how he got those on wasn't on the top of his list right now though, because he had more pressing matters to attend to - for example who on earth was in the car near the cave.
He got up quickly, but his chest kindly reminded him of the injury he attained last night, and sent pain coursing through his body. He winced and clutched his chest for a few moments, then his body relaxed.
Holding tightly onto the case, he peeked outside just a bit from the cave and relaxed when he saw Rody. "Rody?"
"Oh, did I wake you?" Rody asked, turning away from a beaten up truck.
"Where'd you get the car?" Izuku asked, walking down a small hill to get to Rody.
"I borrowed it. It's too hard to walk."
Izuku slightly squinted his eyes at Rody, indicating a look of questioning.
"Don't worry," Rody said, "I even wrote an IOU saying I'd pay later."
Izuku relaxed his eyes, showing that he wasn't as sceptical as before.
"If I could've borrowed a Cessna, we could have gone straight to Klayd, though." Rody opened the driver's seat to get in, but stopped when Izuku spoke.
"A Cessna...Rody, you can fly one?" He asked.
"Just kidding, get in."
***
As they passed the tall hills and mountains of the Otheon countryside, Rody asked a question that had been burning inside of him since nearly the beginning of when they ran away. "Hey, Deku. Once we figure out the case's secret, I can go home, right?"
"Of course," Izuku said. "You have a younger brother, right?" Izuku asked.
"And sister," Rody added.
"What about your parents?"
"My mom died right after she had my sister, the youngest. That's why my dad did his best to raise us. But then he disappeared suddenly."
"Disappeared?"
"Do you know about Humarise?"
"The terrorist organisation?"
"Yeah. After people found out my dad was a member, things got bad. Our friends stayed away, we were kicked out of school and our house, and I couldn't even get an honest job."
"I see..."
Rody looked at Izuku with a sort of blank expression. "I resented my dad. I resented him so much, then I stopped caring." He looked back at the road. "Now, my little sister and brother are more important. I want to let them live an honest life." He took one hand off of the steering wheel to remove a locket from underneath his hoodie and gave it to Izuku.
Inside was a picture of the three holding chicken with a 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' poster in the background. Next to Rody were two children, much younger by the looks of it. One boy, with dark brown hair and a sort of bowl cut look and a young girl with hair just like Rody's but much shorter, and put into a ponytail. Pino sat on the boy's head, and they were all smiling. 'He's so cute,' Izuku thought (you take a guess on who that was about).
"Oh, they're so cute," Izuku said.
"My little brother's so smart! And my little sister's really cute."
"Yeah," Izuku said, turning back to Rody give him the locket.
When he realised that Rody was completely focused on the locket picture and not at all on the road, his faced turned to one of fear and shock. "She'll definitely be a beauty when she grows up!" Rody said.
The truck began to sway left and right on the road, and Izuku panicked. "Front! Face front! Rody!"