Chapter Text
Rody Soul wasn’t a good guy. Not exactly hard to believe given his line of work, but it’s the truth. He was a petty criminal, but only because he had to. Did he want this life? God no, but it was the life he was given. It wasn’t always like this, before he turned thirteen his life could almost be described as perfect; granted his mother died shortly after his sister was born, but it was still a nice life. He loved his siblings, Roro who was now six and Lala who was now four. Then along came a little cult named Humarise.
Humarise was nothing short of a terrorist group harming those who didn’t believe in their views and something about them caused his father to abandon Rody and siblings so he could be with his ‘real’ family. Because of this, Rody and his siblings were ostracized from their community, they were called every horrible name under the sun, the school kicked them out, and they were given to CPS.
Them being given to CPS did not last long. All it took was one foster parent raising his hand to Rody’s little brother, Roro, and it was over. Rody decided he’d rather be homeless than potentially get separated from his siblings, he’d rather be homeless than have some random adult threaten to beat them for stepping out of line. So, that’s what they were. For a year, they lived on the streets like rats. Then, Rody learned he had a gift.
He was fast . Not just fast, but he was agile as well, and the rest was honestly ancient history.
It took a lot of saving, but Rody was able to get him and his siblings a tiny little bullet trailer to live in after doing some odd jobs for a local bar owner named Stanley. It wasn’t the mansion he once lived in, but it was home nonetheless. Home that was threatening to have the power shut off if Rody didn’t take a job soon that was.
“Alright, I’m leaving now!” Rody called to his siblings as he finished putting his jacket on. It only took .5 seconds before two little arms wrapped around his neck. Lala, who was standing on a chair, had jumped onto his back with lightning fast speed.
“Rar!” Lala roared in his ears as she tried to stop him from leaving.
Rody laughed loudly as he caught her with his hands from behind her knees, this was to stop her from falling and harming herself.
“Get him!” Lala yelled and then Roro came around and tackled Rody from around the middle.
Rody laughed loudly at this as he was now being faced in a two on one. Pino, his quirk, let out several happy trilling noises as she flapped her wings and flew around the children.
“Okay, okay, big brother has to go to work now!” Rody gently put Lala down and pulled Roro away from him.
“Oh…” Lala whined as she looked at Rody with big eyes. “Do you have to?”
“I do.” He ran his fingers through her hair that was starting to feel greasy. “Don’t worry, I’ll be home tonight and who knows, if all goes well maybe I’ll have a little surprise for you guys.”
Both children perked at this and that just melted Rody’s heart. “Yeah, we’ll see, it’s no promise as you guys know, but hopefully!” he told them and then got down on one knee. “Okay, now give me a hug.”
And that they did. The children rushed to hug their brother. Rody kissed each child on the cheek before pulling away. “Behave and keep the blinds drawn and the door locked,” he ordered as he walked towards the door.
“Goodbye!” Roro and Lala both yelled before giggling as Pino gave them both a kiss on the cheek and fluttering back to Rody.
Rody walked out the door and gently shut it behind him. He wouldn’t leave until he heard the click of the lock.
“Okay…” Rody sighed as he looked at the pretty blue sky before he started walking the long trek to Stanley’s bar. The only good thing about the trek was the sights Otheon had to offer, that's for sure. Something Rody will never get tired of. Pino nuzzled in Rody’s hair as Rody put his hands in his pockets. “I wonder what Stanley has in store for me today? Hopefully nothing too bad, just a simple run.”
Finally, one long walk later, Rody arrived at the bar. “Heya, old man.” He greeted Stanley with a wink.
Stanley huffed at him and started to wipe down a glass with a dry cloth.
“Look, my power is about to get shut off, I need a job.”
Stanley gave yet another scoff at Rody. “Not my fault you’re bad at money, kid.”
“You hardly gave me any money last time, I swear you're skimping on me just so I’ll come running back to you.”
Stanley snorted and then looked around. Of course it was only noon so there was nobody at the bar. “Give me a little something and I’ll give you a little somethin’, Kid. Trust me, you want in on this one before it gets snatched by someone else. They’re paying big .”
“How big we talkin’?” Rody demanded and Stanley made a motion by rubbing his index and thumb together to show his want. Rody would be lying if he said his interest wasn’t piqued at least a little. He fished into his pocket and pulled out a nice and healthy bribe for Stanely. Stanley grinned as he checked the bill real quick, once determined it wasn’t a fake—rude—he spoke:
“There’s a guy looking for a delivery from the markets. He’s in an abandoned building west of the farmers market. He won’t say what it is, he just said that it needs to be at the warehouse south of the slums tonight . He’s paying big money. I don’t know the exact amount, but from what I managed to squeeze outta him it’s enough to make a poor man dance. You, my slippery friend, are a poor man if I remember correctly.”
“I am a poor man. What am I delivering? And why won’t he do it?”
Stanley gave a shrug. “Wouldn’t say. All he said was that it’s ‘valuable and a real game-changer.’ But don’t go getting wise, it’s not jewels, or cash. But he made it clear it has to be delivered tonight .”
“South of the slums, huh? Warehouses on the docks, I assume?” Rody grabbed a handful of peanuts that were sitting on the bar and started to snack on them. “Which one am I delivering to?”
“Old bottling plant.”
“The one that went out of business?”
“Right through the front door should be fine. Just drop the package off and come back.”
Rody chewed on the salty peanut before swallowing. “Alright,” he clapped his hands to get rid of any peanut dust or salt. “I’m sold, it seems simple enough. Just wish I knew what I was delivering, but if the pay is as good as you say then it should be a piece of cake, if not one hell of a walk.”
“You got this kid, if you didn’t then I wouldn’t have told you about this. I’ll call the guy up,” Stanley said as he picked up another glass to clean. “Now scram, you’re bad for business!”
Rody grinned and sauntered out of the bar, giving Stanely a little wave as he did so. “See ya, or not, who knows this might be the game changer I needed!” Then he was gone.
‘While not knowing the pay isn’t ideal…Stanley never lies. This could be what I need to get out of that busted trailer and into somewhere nice like an apartment. Maybe even a two bedroom apartment. That would be amazing .’ The idea of having something so basic as a two bedroom apartment with running water filled Rody with so much happiness. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would at least be comfortable, more comfortable than the tiny trailer with no running water.
Pino gave several happy chirps with Rody as she flew next to him. “A clean job, just deliver the package to the warehouse and wash our hands of this.” He told her and she nodded in agreement. So, first thing first, getting to the airport. The markets were far and then he’d have to turn around the opposite way. It was gonna be a long trip for sure. Well, it was a good thing there was a perfectly good bike just sitting there waiting for him right outside of the bar, and it wasn’t chained up to boot!
Rody hopped on the bike and started to peddle away.
“Hey, you punk!” Stanley yelled out his window. “That’s my bike!”
“I’ll return it when I’m done! It’s gonna be a long trip!” Rody grinned at him and just kept on peddling away without waiting for Stanley’s response.
The trip to the airport was no joke as it really was on the other side of Otheon, away from the seedier bits and in the more lavish part of the city. ‘The part of the city you used to live in,’ he thought almost bitterly as he watched the houses go from slums, to middle class, and finally to the mansions. The snooty upper class that will turn their backs on you because of your father’s misdeeds. Rody only pushed his feelings of anger down. It was the past, and all he could do now was just look at the here and now. His father made his choice, and that was perfectly fine by Rody. Though, if the man ever showed his stupid face to Rody and his siblings again, Rody was going to let him have it. He will never forgive his father. Never.
“Looks like rain.” Rody broke away from his bubbling anger as he noted the dark clouds off in the distance.
He stopped the bike once at a crossway of the bustling street as he was reaching the markets. In fact he could see the farmers market from where he was waiting for the signal to cross. He knocked his shoes together as he watched the busy traffic.
Pino gave a little tweet as she tucked herself away in his jacket. The air was becoming cooler as the clouds swept in and a breeze swept by.
“Oh, geez. I hope my clothes don’t get wet. They already tear too easily.”
The signal changed and Rody was able to cross with ease, with a whistle he peddled down the sidewalk, past the farmers market and went to the west. It was pretty easy to find the abandoned building, despite the building being tucked away down a lone dark street away from the bustling market. Why? The building was covered in graffiti and had several broken windows. ‘This used to be an office building and the owner went to Humarise and the whole place was gutted and abandoned,’ Rody remembered as he tucked Stanley’s bike against a wall. Rody silently stepped to the door of the building and looked around. Everything was clear, so he just let himself in.
The door creaked ominously and the whole inside of the building was desolate and filled with a thick layer of dust. Rody stepped and his shoes scraped against the floor. This made him look down in alarm where he saw broken glass, no doubt from one of the many busted windows.
“Hello?” he called into the darkness and he cautiously shut the door behind him. Rody grabbed Pino as the bird was starting to shake a little from the tension and fear and he put her in his coat. Some of the dust started to stir as Rody walked further into the building and this made him cough a little.
“Hello? Is there anyone here? I’m here for a delivery!” he called into the darkness of the building.
“Oi!”
Rody jumped when a man made himself known by rounding the corner, this startled Rody but thankfully he managed to keep himself from jumping and he whipped towards his left where the man had come from.
This man… he looked like a normal man. He clearly had some form of asian in him, not one that Rody could really pick out though. He had short and neatly cut black hair and was wearing round glasses. The man was dressed in a collared shirt and khakis. He just looked like some guy. “You trying to alert the cops?” he hissed at Rody.
“No, sir,” Rody told the man and the guy looked around quickly.
He then looked at Rody. “You’re rather…smaller than what I was expecting,” the man said and grabbed Rody’s bicep.
Rody jerked his arm away from the man and narrowed his storm gray eyes.
“Follow me,” he then turned and hurried down the main room of the abandoned building. Rody kept in step with the man and didn’t ask any questions.
There was an eerie vibe to the whole building that left Rody’s spine tingling and Pino shaking as a whole. There was no life, no hum of machinery, just a gray darkness and the sound of their footsteps reverberating around a desolate concrete building. The man turned towards the stairs and opened the squeaky door, the squeaking sound echoed around them and made Pino shake even harder. Rody was glad she was hidden away for the time being.
“After you.” The man grinned as he made way for Rody.
Rody shrugged and put his hands in his pockets before starting down the steps. Their footfalls were all that could be heard as they hurried down the steps all the way to the bottom floor.
The air became colder when Rody opened the door to the basement. The basement was also barren, save for three packages. “I thought I was delivering one package, not three?”
“You are. Take your pick.”
“...Would I get more money if I delivered all three?” was his first question of a million he asked.
The man only chuckled as he leaned against a wall. “Be my guest, if you think you can.”
That didn’t sound too promising. Still, if it meant more money for three packages then Rody was game . Now, the first thing he noticed was that each package was a wooden crate with round three holes on each side. Each crate was a different size with one being drastically smaller than the first two. Rody walked to the smaller box and went to grab it. Now, Rody wasn’t sure what he was expecting, twenty pounds? Maybe fifty? But sure as hell not whatever the weight actually was. It was so heavy that Rody could hardly hold it.
“Jesus!” He gasped as his knees nearly buckled. “What is in here?” Rody demanded as he put the crate down, Rody then tried to peek through the holes.
“Hm? Don’t worry about it.” The man grabbed Rody’s cheeks with one hand and forced Rody to look at him. “Do you want the money, or not?” The man gave Rody’s face a little squeeze.
Rody felt uncomfortable looking into this man’s eyes all of a sudden. Then, he reached up and knocked the man’s hands away from him. Rody then took a step back to create space.
“Okay! Okay, I get it. Uh, yeah, I’ll take one, but I want to be paid upfront. This thing is heavy .”
“You’ll get paid upon delivery, now beat it, Take one and go.”
Rody snarled. “I’ll take half now.”
The man scoffed. “Half? Please, how do I even know you can carry it to the warehouse? I’ll give you twenty percent.”
“Forty.”
“Twenty-five.”
“Thirty.”
There was a silence as the man narrowed his eyes and then smiled. “Deal.”
Rody beamed as he watched the man take out his wallet and count out fat stacks of bills.
“Here, enjoy it while it lasts,” the man said as he finally handed Rody a wad.
Rody immediately started to count out the money. The more he counted the wider his eyes became. There was four thousand eurus! Four thousand and that was just thirty percent. ‘If this is thirty percent, then that means fourteen thousand is the whole profit. Oh, that’s more than enough to get an apartment and move out of the slums!’ Rody felt Pino grow excited, the bird threatening to break free.
Rody pocketed the bills as he looked at the box. This one was the smallest, therefore it was the lightest out of the three. “Fine, I’ll have this at the warehouse before midnight.”
“Be careful with it, I can’t stress that enough.”
“Don’t worry, it’s in good hands. Whatever it is.”
“Good luck, don’t worry about the other two, I already have people coming to pick them up.”
Rody grunted as he hoisted the package up and started to painstakingly walk. He understood why the guy couldn’t take it himself now that’s for sure. This was beyond heavy, so heavy that Rody could hardly walk without the risk of his arms feeling like they were going to fall off or pop out of socket.
“Jesus Christ.” He started to waddle each step up the stairs . Each stair was like climbing a mountain, but Rody was persistent. Fourteen thousand dollars was no joke, he’d crawl to the warehouse if he had to.
His legs shook the farther up the steps he went as he kept his arms wrapped tightly around the crate that was almost too long to fit through the doorway. ‘Don’t fall, don’t fall,’ he pleaded as sweat started to gleam down his neck and the crown of his head.
He didn’t fall, thank god, upon getting up the stairs Rody let out a sigh and placed the wooden crate down to stretch his arms. “Geez.”
“Sure you can handle this?” the man inquired and Rody could just hear the smug smile in his voice.
Rody turned and raised an eyebrow down at the man who was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the steps and had his arms crossed. He was smiling at Rody, but it wasn’t a kindly smile, it was a smug smile that made Rody roll his eyes.
“Yes, I have this. Don’t worry…” Something caught Rody’s eye from the threshold and it made him smirk. “In fact, I already see something to help me out big time!” Stepping over the crate Rody hurried to the corner of the room where he saw his salvation, a dolly cart! It had long since abandoned as it was coated with a thick layer of dust that immediately rubbed off on Rody’s glove when he grabbed it and wheeled it towards the crate that was laying on the ground. With each turn of the wheels the dolly would squeak . It was a horrible and high-pitched squeak that made Rody inwardly flinch, and Pino outwardly flinch.
Rody hummed as he parked the dolly in front of the crate and then walked over to the other side to grab the crate. Rody debated on how he wanted to do this, if he wanted to lay the crate down flat or have it upwards long ways. Well, the man must have sensed this because he quickly chimed in. “It’s fragile, I’d have down flat. If this gets damaged it’s coming out of your pay.”
Rody huffed but obeyed and hooked his fingers under the crate. With a loud grunt Rody painstakingly moved the heavy crate over the flat edge of the dolly. He then had to hurry to the other side to move that side on to the dolly as well. With a satisfied sigh he moved behind the dolly and pushed his foot against the bar to get the dolly on its wheels. With a loud squeak the dolly went back on its wheels. Rody’s heart sank when he watched in horror as the flat part of the dolly shook and bent, it was clearly weak and looked ready to snap in two, but thankfully it didn’t break and Rody let out a loud and satisfied sigh.
“See ya!” he grinned to the man a smug grin and gave him a two finger salute before taking off. It was much easier to carry this thing as he wheeled the dolly right in front of him.
It didn’t take long for Rody to leave the abandoned building and soon he was walking down the street and whistling a merry little tune to himself. Once he was far enough down the road he let Pino go from his coat.
“This’ll be a breeze,” he told Pino and the bird happily tweeted and sang as she flew around his head with joy, he couldn’t blame her. Fourteen thousand eurus just to deliver…whatever this is! Of course he was curious, of course Rody wanted to peek inside the heavy ass crate to see just what he was hauling. ‘And risk damaging it? No way!’ he had to remind himself what the guy just told him no more than five minutes ago. If it got damaged it was coming out of his potential pay. So, he set his curiosity aside and just kept on walking.
He walked past the farmers market with a hand in his pocket and pushed the dolly with one hand. Rody’s eyes went down to the dolly, to the shaky and thin bottom that looked ready to snap at any second. “I should probably see about getting something else to carry this heavy ass box. “Hey, Pino, isn’t there a grocery store somewhere along the way?” Rody asked his quirk and Pino had to think about it before nodding. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Maybe I’ll see about snagging a cart. It’ll be able to carry this thing better than this .” Rody pointed to the wobbly and shaky dolly cart. Pino nodded, completely agreeing with Rody on this. “Good. Then we’re on the same page. Let’s see if I remember where the grocery store is…”
The dolly was doing great so far as he continued to walk down the sidewalk. Some people gave him looks as he passed but mostly kept to themselves and just kept walking. Rody looked around, looking for the grocery store that he knew was around here somewhere. He would find out that it was roughly five or so blocks up the road and he got lucky because it wasn’t on the main road, it was actually off on the road behind the main road, he only saw it because he saw the parking lot. “Jackpot.” Rody nearly took off for the store but realized the workers may not like him just taking one of their carts to put his crate in and take off. No, it would garner attention without a doubt and someone may even try and stop him.
He looked at the crate and then at Pino. “Okay, I’m gonna run for it,” he told his quirk. “Stay here and watch the crate for me?” he asked of Pino. His quirk squawked an affirmative and Rody turned and high-tailed it.
First, he crossed the street, which wasn’t that hard as he knew when to stop during the heavy traffic, then he had to jog down to the grocery store. Rody knew his poor-ass looked so out of place. Here he was in what could be considered rags on a good day walking up to a grocery store in the richest part of Otheon. Still, Rody just shoved his hands into his pockets as he acted like he belonged. He just hoped nobody would recognize him from when he was younger.
Well, luck was just on Rody’s side on this day as a woman was finishing up with her own groceries by putting the last of her bags into her car. The cart was completely empty and Rody walked right on up.
“I’ll take this from you, ma’am!” he chirped. “No need for you to return it to the cart corral!” he told her.
“Oh!” She gasped, fully startled and put her hand on her chest. “Oh-okay, well…thank you.” She eyed Rody up and down before she shut the trunk of her car and then hurried to get into her car.
Rody whistled as he turned the cart around and just walked out of the parking lot with ease. He continued his little whistle as he crossed the street and made his way back to the crate that was untouched as Pino sat vigilant on the handle of the dolly.
Now came the hard part, the crate was too big to put on the bottom of the dolly, it would scrape on the ground and potentially break. So, Rody knew he would have to shove the crate into the cart itself. “Okay…” Rody moved the cart up to get it on the sidewalk and then placed it next to the crate. “This isn’t going to be easy…let’s pray I don’t break it.”
Rody bent down and braced himself. “Left with your—” He paused, bent his knees, and grabbed the bottom of the crate. “ Knees!” he roared as he lifted his knees up and picked the heavy as fuck crate off of the ground. Rody squat walked awkwardly to the shopping cart and here came the real hard part, lifting the crate into the cart on wheels at hip level.
Rody’s arms shook as did his knees as he forced the crate up to his torso level. His teeth gritted and his breathing became heavy and ragged. He took one step, two, felt his toe hit a wheel and did a leap of faith with the crate as he dropped it right into the basket. The whole shopping cart tipped forward at the weight of the crate as it leaned too heavily against the back of the cart. Rody was quick as he grabbed the handle of the cart and yanked it back down to the ground. This caused the crate to lean and fall against the toddler seat of the shopping cart. There was then silence as Rody could only hear his beating heart. Nothing happened. He didn’t hear a crash from inside the crate nor did he hear the crate itself break.
“Awesome!” he cheered as did Pino as his bird landed on his head. Then, he was off again and it was even easier to walk off with the shopping cart than it was with the old dolly.
“I totally got this.” Rody hummed confidently to himself. He then put one foot on the bar of the shopping cart and pushed off with a cheer.
Down the sidewalk he breezed by, people were really staring now, but let them stare. Soon, he and his siblings were going to get out of the old trailer and into a nice and cozy apartment! And that’s all that matters to him as he used the cart as a skateboard and rolled down the sidewalk without a care in the world. The faster he transported this thing to the warehouse the faster he’d get paid.
Rody laughed a little as the wind whipped on by and the air became even cooler than before as clouds covered the sun. He knew he should pick up the speed if he wanted to beat the rain. Soon he put the wealthier side of Otheon behind him as he rolled into the middle class and then to poorer areas. He had just crossed the giant bridge separating the neighborhoods when he felt the first drop of rain hit his head. Rody, not really wanting to potentially get the goods wet, decided to halt for just a moment. He was making good time as it was with his new set of wheels. He could afford to pause his journey.
It was because of this that set everything into motion afterwards. If Rody hadn't decided to get off the sidewalk because he saw a park with a pavilion then maybe things would have turned out differently, but as it stands, this one decision changed everything.
Rody had gone to get the shopping cart off of the sidewalk and to do this he had to lift the first two wheels up and off and then lift the second two wheels up and off. Well, the problem came with lifting the second wheels. The rain was starting to pour at this point, soaking Rody and the crate by proxy and making it hard for Rody to see. When he lifted the back wheels up it had caused the cart to tip downwards ever so slightly, and that had caused the heavy crate to tip back down against the back of the cart. The fact that two wheels were off the ground, combined with the heavy crate and the downward-tipping crate is what caused the crate, and shopping cart to fall. The cart was jerked out of Rody’s grasp, but because of the rain it caused the handle to slip right out of his palms and the crate smacked right onto the asphalt with a resounding CRACK! Echoing all around them as a giant crack formed along the top of the crate.
“Shit!” Rody knew he was just too lucky these last few hours, of course, his luck would come crashing down and breaking. Rody hurried and pulled the cart out from under the crate and moved that to the side. He then had to inspect the crate to the best of his abilities in the downpour. A foreboding lighting cracked along the sky and soon a thunderous boom followed.
Rody had no choice, he had to make sure the goods, whatever they were, were okay. So, he got on top of the large crate, cupped his hands around his face and peered into the large crack that had formed.
At first, Rody saw nothing . Nothing but an inky blackness to greet him. Then, he saw red . Something red was there and it took Rody a painfully long time to realize just what he was looking at.
An eyeball . Someone or something was staring right back at him. Their eyes were actually glowing a deep shade of ruby red in the inky darkness of the crate.
Rody jumped back in alarm as he scrambled off of the crate and it was honestly none too soon. The crate jumped as a force banged against it from the inside. ‘Wait…was I…transferring a person ?!’ Rody watched there was another forceful bang that caused the entire crate to leap off of the ground.
Rody is a bad guy, there’s no doubt about that. He knew this, everyone but his siblings knew this, but he wasn’t a bad guy. If he had known —He draws the line at human trafficking, dammit!
On the third bang there was a gust . A gust of wind from the inside that completely shattered the wood crate into nothing but splintered. There a boy stood from the remains. His head was down and not facing Rody, so Rody couldn’t see his face just yet. What he could see was that this boy had white hair cut into an undercut that was currently pulled back into a ponytail being held together by a red ribbon.
Rody saw that this boy was dressed in blue jeans, and a T-shirt that looked to be too big for him as it hung down to his knees. What Rody noticed was that it was a band T-shirt. A Japanese band from what he noticed. The boy also had these big red shoes on his feet that reminded Rody of clown shoes, but he realized these weren’t any shoes. These were clearly shoes meant for quirkless kids. Which was wild because this kid very clearly had a quirk.
The kid looked up at him and Rody saw two glowing intense red eyes that meant danger and made Rody scramble back out of reflex. The kid had a big metal muzzle wrapped around his mouth and his face was scrunched into a snarl behind the muzzle. Then, the boy grabbed the muzzle in one of his strong hands and squeezed . The muzzle was crushed as bits of metal flew and the muzzle itself fell from his mouth. The area around his mouth was rubbed completely raw and scratched. The boy took the muzzle and threw it. To prove he did in fact have a quirk he used the wind or power quirk to toss the muzzle as far as he could and boy did it go flying .
Then those red eyes were trained solely on Rody. The boy, whom Rody could now see was jacked, balled one of his hands into a fist and yelled. He yelled at Rody but Rody quickly realized that the boy was yelling in another language and at the very top of his lungs.
Rody, and Pino, both had a shocked face as they stared at this boy. The boy pointed at Rody and yelled again. Rody shook his head. “I don’t…I don’t know what you’re saying,” he told the boy and there was a moment when his eyes flashed.
“Who are you!?” the boy then demanded in perfect English, as he snarled right at Rody.
Rody, under normal circumstances, would have fled. Yet, something kept him there on the soggy ground as the rain continued to pour all around them.
“Where am I?!” The boy then looked around, his white hair nearly falling out of his ribbon as he glanced wildly around. The scrapes and rawness from the muzzle was starting to heal completely on their own as they got closer to Rody.
“What happened to my family?! Where am I?!” he repeated his previous question so loudly that his voice echoed around and made Rody wince.
Rody swallowed hard as he started to scamper back away from the irate teen. The boy then rubbed his own shoulders before reaching up and touching his face.
He whispered something softly to himself as he gently scratched at his cheeks. “...Wake up…” Rody for sure heard the boy whisper. “Wake up, dammit…”
‘He must think he’s dreaming?’ Rody thought as he watched shallow cuts form along those chubby freckled cheeks before healing completely on their own. Then those murderous red eyes trained right on Rody and the boy walked up to him. His posture was ridged, shoulders squared, this was a boy on the warpath. A boy whose world turned completely on its head and he was about to take all his anger and frustration out on the person who was nearest to him, Which just so happened to be Rody . Rody couldn’t help as he scrambled back on his hands and knees.
“W-wait! I’m—I’m just a delivery boy! I didn’t know! If I would have known-”
The boy then squatted down so they were eye level. “I will not repeat myself… Who are you, and where am I?” The boy hissed between tightly clenched teeth. They were so tightly pressed that Rody was afraid they’d break .
Rody was usually calm and collected. Yet, there was something about this boy, something that shook Rody to his core . Something that told Rody that if he didn’t comply he may as well sign his own death certificate. He didn’t know this boy, but the air about him told Rody to be very careful.
“I… I’m just a delivery boy. I was told to send you from point A to point B—but if I would have known ! I didn’t! You have to understand! I just do runs for thieves, I swear! I crossed the line at human trafficking, I had no idea there was a human in that box!”
‘Though…that does explain the weight now…’ Rody scratched at his head.
“I see… and your name?” The boy looked at his palm. He opened and closed it a few times
“You don’t need to know that. Look, how about we just forget this whole ordeal happened? Yeah? I go about my business you go about yours—”
Tendrils thick and black wrapped tightly around Rody’s upper body and he was suddenly dragged up to his feet and towards the boy in question as the boy also stood. There was a red mist that surrounded Rody and made him gasp in alarm.
Then the boy smiled . It was a smile that chilled Rody to his core. “Rody Soul, age: Seventeen, quirk: Pino, oh and she’s sentient. How cute .” Rody and Pino both had shared horrifying looks as they stared at the boy that had him in his grasp. “Guess what, Soul? You are my business now.” The boy scrunched his nose in a way that could be described as cute if it wasn’t for the terrifying smile on his face. “ You woke me up and now you’re stuck with me until I figure out what the fuck is going on here. Or until a certain someone —” The boy hissed as he looked behind himself briefly. “Wakes up.”
“I’m not helping you.” Rody dug his heels in at this. The last thing he wanted to be involved with was human trafficking ! And the last person he wanted to work with was this freak !
“I’m not giving you the choice!” The boy yanked on the tendrils and pulled Rody in so they were nose to nose. “Listen to me, and listen to me now. You’re involved because I’m involved. Because whoever did this wanted me . Why? I don’t know. I…” There was a look in the boy’s eyes as he looked at the dirt. “...I didn’t wake up fast enough…” he whispered and rubbed at his neck. Then he hardened himself. “Meaning whoever wanted me is going to be gunning it for you because you took the job to transport me, no doubt! You want to be safe? Then your best bet is with me . Or—” The tendrils slipped away from Rody and he was promptly let go. “Risk it all and try to flee. I guess I don’t really care. I’m not as friendly as Izuku, so do what you want.” The boy grunted as he inspected the splinters of the crate.
“Fine, you're in Otheon by the way, good luck.” Rody was ready to wash his hands of this kid as he turned his heel and stalked away. Yet, there was just something nagging at him as he slowed his walking down and then stopped altogether. ‘Don’t…’ he told himself. ‘Don’t turn around.’
He didn’t listen and he turned to look back at the boy. “Who is ‘they’ anyways? Who would want to kidnap you and why?”
“...Why? Don’t know.” The boy stood fully as he looked at Rody. “Just know they called themselves ‘Humarise’ some cult from what I gathered.”
Rody’s eyes went wide as horror etched into his face. “You were kidnapped by Humarise?” Then the anger came fast and hard. “Why!? Huh?!”
“Did you not hear me, Dipshit!” the boy hissed. “I don’t know ! My best guess is that I was gonna find out when you delivered me to wherever!”
Rody squatted down as he pressed both of his hands to his nose and just stared at the ground. “This is not good, not at all… Humarise has connections everywhere and I just did business with them! Fuck!” Rody felt absolutely screwed. Screwed this way to next Sunday. “Shit, shit, shit. Not Humarise…” He pressed his hands to his face as he thought about his siblings and the predicament they were in all because of Humarise.
Then, a hand was in front of him. The boy was offering him a hand up. Those red eyes were intense as he stared Rody dead in the eyes. Yet, Rody saw no malicious intent behind those eyes. “Then, you should do what I suggested. Stick with me, you’re better off.” The boy grunted.
“I don’t even know you.” Rody whispered.
“Cujo Aizawa.” The boy introduced himself with a chirp.
“...” There was a silence as they stared at each other. Rody waited for the ‘just kidding!’ but it never came. “Oh god, is that actually your name?”
“Hey, I’m not making fun of your name, Dick.” Cujo grunted as he put both of his hands on hips and stared at Rody.
Rody snorted. “Your parents must have hated you.” He then took the boy’s hand and Rody was yanked up.
“My dad loves me, he thought of the name himself,” Cujo told Rody as he walked past the boy and shoved his hands into his pockets. Rody snorted at this.
“Cute…Okay, Cujo…it’s you and me, I guess. I—I don’t know what to do next.”
“...Neither do I, Soul, neither do I.”