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The least Rody was expecting that night was for someone to be knocking at the door of his home at approximately two am in the morning.
He shuffles out of bed and grabs the nearest sharp object in sight— a shitty little pocket knife he kept on him whenever he had late shifts at Stanley’s bar, a courtesy gift from one of Deku’s friends, Bakugo Katsuki.
(“Keep it on you, just so Deku will stop fucking crying and whining to me about how worried he is over you.” The boy’s letter had said, written in fancy handwriting. The package he’d sent came in with that letter, the pocket knife which was wrapped in a silky and expensive tissue, and a few polaroid pictures of Izuku with his classmates.
All things which Rody kept safe and sound inside his closet.)
If anything, after they were all investigated, interrogated and checked at the hospital, Izuku returned back home with his friends to Japan. And meanwhile both Rody and Deku had shared a lot of memories and formed quite a strange but yet close bond—
—Rody still hadn’t expected to hear from him ever again; just like everything, he guessed their friendship would turn into just a pleasant memory that he’d mourn every once in a while, which was an honest mistake on his part because just a week later after his departure, Deku started sending letters.
Letters telling him how he was doing.
(“Hi Rody! Sorry this letter took so long to get back to you, Aizawa sensei grounded me again, but I insist it was an honest mistake! I didn’t plan to fall asleep at the training arena! I’ll never lay down in the grass after a training session ever again.
Anyways, in your last letter you said about looking for a new place! How is that going?”)
Letters asking things about Rody and his family.
(“How are you doing, Rody? Is Stanley still making you cover all those closing shifts for him? I hope not, you need your sleep! Also, how are Roro and Lala doing? I still can’t believe Lala wants to be a hero! And how is Roro doing at school? It’s amazing to hear he’s the best student in his grade!”)
Letters that expressed everything Rody wanted to hear.
(“I miss you, Rody.”
“Take care, Rody. And say hi to Pino for me! I miss you both."
"I can’t wait to see you again, Rody. Maybe next time I go to Otheon we can actually explore the city without the whole ‘fugitives’ issue.")
Letters, that eventually, after Rody saved up enough money to buy himself a phone, turned into daily texts.
(Hero, u can’t fool me! it is 8am around here so Ik it is past midnight there, go to bed!
but I wanna keep talking :(
Later, when u wake up text me and I’ll take a break alr?
Yay! Okay! Gn Rody <3)
Daily texts, that eventually turned into daily phone calls—
(“Good morning!” Izuku’s raspy voice could even be picked up by the shitty quality of his phone.
Rody had never been more grateful that Izuku couldn’t hear or see Pino through the phone, or he would’ve seen the way her feathers ruffled up and how she chirped in a way that was too embarrassing to even describe.)
—that later turned into daily video calls.
(Rody’s hair was a mess when he picked up the phone, but he was far too asleep to even bring himself to think or worry about it.
“Aw! You have your hair down Rody!” Deku’s voice boomed through the speakers and Rody struggled to open his eyes, but eventually he managed to look at the screen.
Izuku was on display, eating dinner at what looked to be the common room, Uraraka and Todoroki peeking at the screen from behind him. “It looks very pretty!”
Rody proceeded to fall out of his bed.)
And eventually, in the matter of just a few months, Rody found himself unable to live without their routine.
He hated to admit how the mornings when he didn’t wake up to Izuku’s ‘Good night <3’ text definitely made his day far more shitty than it should, or that the weeks when Deku was so busy with exams and internships that they didn’t have time to video call made him feel more miserable and clingy than he would ever admit to himself.
Yet, after almost a whole year of following that routine, Rody found himself not relying on it anymore, as Deku took the decision to intern at Otheon the moment the applications for the summer intern programs were released.
Nothing will ever compare to the rush of raw happiness Rody felt when Deku came rushing out of the doors of the gate, dropping all his luggage behind him to jump into Rody’s arms and meet in a tight embrace.
Hugging Deku after almost a whole year apart felt like finally breathing. Like drinking water after being stuck in the desert for months. It felt like joy and love.
And so with this came a new routine Rody found himself loving even more than the one from the past.
(“What in the world are you doing here, hero?” Rody asked as soon as he got out of his bedroom, sleep still clinging to his skin as he rubbed his eyes and made his way towards the small kitchen extension of the apartment.
Deku was by the counter, dressed in his usual hero costume and smiling at Rody with a look in his face that was so domestic and soft that Pino squealed and hid behind Rody’s hair, blushing so hard she might as well be red and not pink.
“Miss Voyance gave me the morning off so I thought I'd make breakfast!” He beamed, passing Rody a cup of freshly brewed coffee as Roro and Lala dug into the plate of pancakes piled in front of them.
Rody hated how much he wanted that moment to never end.)
If anything, Deku’s visits at his apartment became more and more frequent as the days passed by.
At first it was clear the hero looked for excuses to stop by (“Some lady at the bakery shop gave me extra muffins so I thought I'd share them!” or “I was given too much ramen at the restaurant so I bought some!”) but soon enough, having Deku inside his home felt like a norm.
Rody would casually find Deku inside his apartment after a long shift with dinner ready for him and his siblings, or he’d stop by in the mornings before his internship to bring coffee and treats, or he would stop by the weekends and bring his laptop to watch a cool movie with all three of them.
A routine that eventually turned into Rody’s lifestyle.
A life he couldn't love more than he already does.
Which brings him to the present, a month and a half into Deku’s internship Rody opens the door of his tiny apartment complex, eyes squinting at the lights emitting from the hallway while clutching the pocket knife behind his back.
The knife drops to the floor in a quiet thud the moment he sees who’s behind the door.
“Hey Rody,” Of course Deku is behind the door, but this time he’s not bringing coffee for Rody, or an interesting book he’d like to read with Roro, or a movie to watch with Lala.
No, this time he stands in front of Rody with his hands empty and his hero costume ripped in various different places. He’s covered in dust and blood that Rody really hopes is not his own.
The hero looks like he just went through hell and came back, his left cheek and eye are covered in blooming bruises and his bottom lip is split, dried blood smeared across his chin. “Sorry, I know it's late and you have work but—”
“Nonsense!” Rody snaps, and out of pure instinct he steps closer to embrace Deku and bring him inside, but his arms hover in the air as he suddenly hesitates.
He has no idea what more injuries the other could have, so grabbing him anywhere is not an option right now. “Are you okay? What the hell happened to you?!”
“I’m fine,” Izuku waves it off, but like hell Rody will let him off that easily. “We just had a little problem back in the agency with a gang, we ended up getting cornered in what should have been a peaceful negotiation.” The young hero winces a bit at the memory, and Rody can’t help but notice how there’s a wet spot of blood blooming from his waist.
Rody steps aside in a second, opening the door wide enough for Deku to go inside. “Give me a second, I’m just going to go get something out. Don’t go anywhere!”
With that, Rody makes his way through the hallway, practically running, scrambling to open the door of the bathroom to find the first aids kit he’d bought just a few months back when Roro and Lala started attending school again. After a few seconds he manages to find it and returns back to the living room.
Instead of sitting on the perfectly available sofa, Deku is on the ground, cradling a very worried and chirping Pino inside his hands.
“There’s literally a couch behind you, hero.” Rody says, and Deku looks up at that, eyes slightly wide and illuminated by the dim street light coming through the window.
He ignores his gaze as his heart starts pounding inside his chest, going wild, just like a bird trapped in a cage with a tiger.
“Don’t wanna get it stained with blood.” Is all Rody gets in response, but he decides against responding out of fear, cause he’s sure that if he responds to that he’ll start crying and cradling Izuku inside his arms.
“Who did this to you?” Rody wants to ask, he wants to get whatever little info Deku can give him and go out for bloody murder.
He wants to get his hands on whoever the fuck made his hero bleed. He wants to scream until his vocal cords snap at the universe for allowing this to happen.
He wants to wrap Izuku up in a blanket and never let him go again.
But he doesn't, instead, Rody sits in front of the hero, opening the first aid kit and putting on a pair of plastic gloves. “Where does it hurt? And don’t lie, or I'll just undress you otherwise aight?”
Izuku’s face turns pink at the comment, and he laughs softly but immediately regrets it, as he winces and his hands hover over his stomach. “Well— It is not that bad-”
“Your stomach, got it.” Rody looks up at him, meeting the green glimmering emerald of Deku’s eyes as he challenges him to speak back or deny it. His eyes are shimmering a bit, and his cheeks are burning the same tone of pink as Pino’s feathers.
“The villain we were after had claws, erm, and he injected himself with trigger before I could stop him,” Rody uses a small disinfected razor inside the kit to cut through the already ripped costume.
The cut is about the length of Rody’s forearm, much larger than he’d previously thought, but it is not deep, which is a relief because Rody’s sure he’d throw up if he needed to suture on Izuku’s skin. “He tried to impale me with them, but I got away before he could.”
“He tried to do what?!”
Rody looks up at him, but the words are stuck inside his throat. Izuku would’ve most likely died if he got impaled like that. He wouldn't be in front of him, Rody’s throat closes up, he would be dead on a random street of Otheon.
Izuku could’ve died.
If things had gone any different, the next morning Rody would’ve woken up in a world where Deku wouldn't be in his kitchen with freshly made coffee ever again.
A world where Rody wouldn't be able to call Izuku after a shitty shift and make all his problems go away with just a laugh.
A world where he wouldn't get to see him play with his little siblings and make them feel like they can do whatever their little hearts desire.
A world where he wouldn't get flustered whenever Izuku would tell him his hair looks pretty when it is down.
Rody feels like crying at the mere thought. The severity of what could have happened makes his chest lock up, squeezing his heart painfully.
A hand suddenly lands on his shoulder, patting softly. “I’m here, Rody. I’m okay.”
Rody shrugs off Deku’s hand— he doesn’t cry, he doesn’t allow himself to do so, but Pino does, bitter tears rolling down her ginormous eyes as she stands on her owner’s shoulder.
“Oh Rody,” Izuku’s voice sounds like something straight out of Rody’s nightmares. Weak and raspy and hurt. He hates it so much. “I’m s—”
“If you apologize I'll straight up stab you myself.” He snaps before Deku can even utter the word, anger replaces his fear for a second, but it doesn’t help, Rody still mourns at the image of his Izuku impaled, dead and alone.
Izuku’s eyes are wide. Too wide. “Alright, I won’t.”
Rody stays silent as he soaks the corner of a cotton towel with cleanser to gently remove the dirt and debris on the cut that goes from Deku’s navel down to his left hip bone, before fumbling to grab the alcohol to disinfect it, letting his fingers work through the routine with ease.
It is honestly terrifying how Deku doesn’t even wince at the alcohol on his open wound.
“How the hell did the heroes even let you go home like this anyways?” Rody asks through the silence, trying to distract himself from the horrifying implications behind the lack of reaction from Izuku. “Don’t you guys have like, healers or something?”
Deku blushes like a tomato, but manages to nod along. “We do but, erm, I didn’t notice the cut until I was walking back to the apartment the agency gave me—I think the adrenaline numbed the pain for a while, they had a victim kidnapped so I guess I was too focused on that to notice I was bleeding.”
“You and your stupid reckless self.” Rody mutters to himself, focusing back on cleaning the wound with the disinfected towel before applying the first aid cream.
“I’m sorry Rody.” Izuku says, a bit too quiet, a bit too sad. “I didn’t want to bother you with this, it is so late, I just—” The last part comes out more like a whisper. “I didn't know where to go, i’m sor—”
“Don’t.” His voice is soft, betraying the stern look on his face.
His gloves are covered in blood— Izuku’s blood.
Rody feels sick.
“Don’t apologize, I’m glad you came here when you needed help.” He looks up at Deku’s face, but he can see something else— Izuku’s open expression. He’s hurt, and he’s tired, he carries a look that no seventeen year old should.
“I just wish you’d take better care of yourself.” Rody frowns, opening a bag of bandages and tape. “You always prioritize everyone’s safety over yourself, and as much as that makes you an amazing hero, and the kindest person I’ve ever gotten the luck to meet—”
He swallows the knot inside his throat “—What if you had never noticed? What if you had gone home and bled to death, alone?”
“Rody—”
“No.” Rody’s voice is louder this time, but it trembles and his hands shake when he applies the clean bandage over the wound, taping it down softly. “You don’t get to do that, alright? Not anymore at least—”
Rody imagines himself standing in front of yet another grave.
His heart drops.
“—You don’t get to do these types of things, when I'm here, waiting for you, okay? If you don’t want to take care of yourself, then do it for me.”
Deku's split lip wobbles.
“I- Okay, I’ll- I’ll be more careful.” He mutters, and it’s like that single sentence soothes Rody's heart, cracks it open and pours all the love it has for Izuku through it.
“Good.” Rody simply responds before getting on his knees in front of Izuku, grabbing a clean piece of cotton out of the kit and soaking it with alcohol. “Now let me deal with your face, alright? You look like someone used you as a punching bag.”
He cups Deku’s face with one hand and runs the cotton along every bruise and cut, and despite the fact it is supposed to burn a little, Izuku relaxes into the touch, closing his eyes as Rody goes through the process of cleaning, disinfecting and patching up every single injury on sight.
It is almost four am in the morning when Rody finally backs away and closes the first aid kit.
“Alright hero.” He sighs, suddenly feeling the exhaustion catching up to him. “I think that is just about all I'm capable of tonight, you’ve got to go to bed… you need rest, and to get out of that costume."
"Right, right, It is so late, gosh, I’m so sorry, I'll go home now,"
Before Rody could even reply, the hero tried to get up from the floor.
Key word: tried.
Because Deku winced and weakly pushed himself up, but before he could even attempt to get on his feet by himself, Rody already got him by the arms, pulling him up with a bit of effort.
Deku’s face goes pink once he’s back on his feet. "Thank you, and sorry, I'll get out of your hair now."
"You must be crazy, or concussed if you think I'm letting you go out like that, hero." Rody responds immediately, furrowing his eyebrows at the hero. “No way you’re going out to the streets at 4am in the morning looking like this.”
Rody’s hold on him turns more gentle, arms wrapped around his back. He can see Deku trying to come up with another excuse, but Pino chirps angrily at him before he can even attempt to fight. “Cmon, let me get a bath running for you and get you some clean clothes so you can rest.”
“Let me take care of you, please. You’ve been neglecting yourself for far too long, let me do this for you.” Is left unsaid, the words get stuck inside Rody’s throat like a knot, unable to fly out.
And despite the fact Rody doesn’t say them, it almost feels like Deku can see straight through him, because when he looks up and their noses brush together, his eyes soften and any tension is evaporated in thin air.
He looks so soft. So tired. “Okay.”
And with that, in the matter of minutes, Rody finds himself in a world where Izuku Midoriya is alive and safe under the covers of his bed.
Rody is in a world where he loves having Izuku Midoriya inside his bed, safe and close.
And nothing is different—
—But it is very, very different, at the same time.
Deku is lying on his side, facing away from him, Rody finds comfort in the way he can hear his slow and quiet breathing, inhales and exhales full of life; a constant reminder that he is actually here, and not stuck back on the streets of Otheon, hurt and bleeding.
Everything feels warmer than it has for a long time. It feels like Rody finally finished a puzzle that had always been missing a piece.
Feels like pieces falling together perfectly. Feels like filling a space Rody didn’t know was empty.
“R’dy?” A whisper laced with exhaustion and sleep breaks through the comfortable silence and Rody’s internal revelation. “You're still awake?”
Pino chirps before Rody can reply, but it's fine because Deku seems to deem it as a good response, since he turns around a few moments later, his body facing them now.
(It’s embarrassing how much it takes Rody off guard, since he lets out a squeak when the hero turns around and Pino hides under the covers immediately.)
“Can’t sleep?” Deku asks, and his green, breathtakingly beautiful emerald eyes are gazing right into Rody’s boring gray eyes.
And suddenly, looking into Izuku’s eyes feels as if a secret that Rody had been carrying with him for way too long had just been released.
It feels like butterflies and fireworks.
It feels as if Rody had always been lost somewhere and just found home.
The realization hits like a balloon being popped, like a cold shower, and it feels like a mistake.
But it also feels like everything.
“I think i'm in love with you,” Comes out of his mouth like a whisper, a revelation, a confession.
And before Rody knows it, Midoriya goes from staring at him with sleep laced emerald eyes to gazing at him with surprise and shock, and then, finally, his previous actions catch up to Rody’s brain.
“I’m sorry." He says quietly, his voice sounding like a very rusty nail rubbing against a cement wall. "I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn't have said that. I didn’t mean to—"
“No no, Rody—”
“Fuck,” He’s sitting up from the bed, tugging at his hair in despair as tears start to well up in his eyes. “Fuck, fuck! I didn’t- Shit! I’ll get out don’t wor—”
Before Rody can even attempt to get off the bed and continue his freak out, two strong arms wrap around his waist making the world stop.
“Rody, no—” The arms don’t budge even as Rody struggles against them, traitorous tears starting to fill his eyes and threatening to spill out. “Come back to bed, please, lay down with me.”
It’s embarrassing, but Rody folds immediately, warm and comforted in familiar arms, he gets back to bed and lets Deku pull him close, his face resting in the crook of the other's neck.
Deku always smells like cinnamon and ashes, but right now he smells like disinfectant and Rody's cheap shampoo.
“I’m sorry,” Izuku whispers against his hair. And Rody shuts his eyes close as hard as he can to stop the tears from spilling. He hates it. He hates how he knows what comes next.
He's not enough, Rody knows that. He could never, in one hundred years, get close to being enough for Izuku. Rody's everything that Deku would never look for in a partner; a commoner at most with a questionable background, no heroic ambition or quirk, someone who's always been seen as an outcast.
But, Rody still wants to be the one Izuku smiles at.
He wants to be the one Izuku forgets his worries for. He wants to be the one Izuku turns to after a hard day. He wants to be the one that Izuku looks at with those bright and gorgeous eyes of his.
But, again. Rody could never come close to being deserving of that. Not even in another life.
So he waits for the ball to drop. For the words "I don't feel the same way" to be uttered out. He waits for the heartbreak, for the rejection, for the pain.
“I'm sorry if I gave you the idea that I didn't like you back, Rody. Because I like you, a lot.”
Rody doesn’t know what he expected for Deku to say, but it wasn’t this. Not this.
There’s a pause where Rody hears the rapid-fire patter of Izuku’s heartbeat in his ears.
"You- What?!" He's detangling himself from Deku in the matter of seconds, a blush racing up his cheeks to rival a sunset. Izuku looks up at him with surprise, even with the moonlight shining through the window, Rody can still clearly see the embarrassment flushing Deku's face red.
"If you want I’ll repeat it again, I’m in love with you too, Rody."
Rody doesn't think he'll ever get used to how earnest and how kind Izuku is. He doesn't think he'll ever get used to how sweet and thoughtful he is.
For the first time in his life, Rody is sure that— He doesn't want to get used to that.
He doesn't think he wants to get used to Izuku's gentle smiles.
“Fuck, I really want to kiss you,” Rody says before he can have a chance to back down, like the coward he is. “But your lip is split and—”
“I don’t care.” Izuku responds with no hesitation, his small smile growing just a little bit wider. His eyes meet Rody’s, and it feels as if he’s looking into Rody’s soul. “You can kiss me all you want, Rody.”
And then Rody doesn’t think anymore.
The kiss tastes like copper.
But Rody doesn't find the time or space to care about that because Izuku's mouth is warm, and the warmth only spreads when his hands come up to Rody's hair, pulling him closer.
It makes Rody feel delirious.
He doesn’t want to stop, ever.
“When did this happen?!”
When Rody turns around he can't help but laugh at Lala’s and Roro’s shocked little faces, their eyes are not on him though, but on Izuku, who coincidentally has his arms wrapped around Rody's waist, head resting upon the crook of his neck.
Rody was supposed to get up early to make breakfast, but clearly the hero had other plans in mind because as soon as the other tried to get off bed, he refused to let go.
It took a lot of going back and forth but eventually Izuku agreed on letting Rody make food as long as he gets to stay close.
And he meant close, close. Given the fact he hasn't let go of Rody the whole time he's been cooking.
"Oh, you mean this?" Rody muses, pointing his spatula at the arms wrapped around him, as if they weren't constricting at all. "Ah, that's just Deku, silly."
"We know who Mr. Deku is!" Roro exclaims, Lala nodding along.
Pino snickers. Rody merely tilts his head to the side. "Then why did you ask?"
Izuku laughs against his neck when the two little kids grumble in response, giving up.
Rody couldn't be happier.