Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The day started off like any other, with Rody bidding farewell to his siblings and going to Stanleyk’s Bar. But that’s everything changed. Rody approached the counter like usual, sat down at the bar counter and pulled three hundred eurus out of his pocket. He pushed the crumpled bills over to Stanleyk, who was busy cleaning glasses. He eyed the money for a brief moment, drifting his gaze over to Rody who just smiled. The man let out a sigh and pushed the eurus right back at him. 

“Hey, are you refusing service to a paying customer?” Rody questioned, leaning in more toward the counter. “Take it or leave it, viejo.”

“Niños…” Stanleyk let out an exaggerated sigh, placing the glass down behind the bar. “Just listen before you get upset. This job’s a big one.”

“Aw, you’re worried about me? I’m flattered, but I got this.” Pino puffed out her chest in agreement, popping out of Rody’s hair with a triumphant chirp.

“Uh-huh. Well then, genio, listen well. This is an undercover job, a big time gig. I’d have one of my more reliable clients handle it, but this job’s got specific requirements. Ones that you, unfortunately, fit.” Stanleyk pulled out a package and slid it across the counter. As Rody’s fingers went to undo the twine thread, Stanleyk interrupted. “I wouldn’t open that here if I were you.”

“You’re being really weird about this. Just tell me what kinda job this is!”

“Alright, you asked for it. It’s an undercover job overseas. You’d be impersonating a student in Japan. A U.A. hero course student to be exact.” 

Rody stood up so fast, the stool he had been sitting on fell to the floor. He slammed his hands on the bar counter in disbelief. 

“This isn’t funny old man. This has to be a joke!”

“Wish I was. Do this job, I’ll start paying you for your work. You just started so you haven’t proven that you’re worthy of getting paid. I know you’re strapped for cash.”

“Sure, but this is ridiculous! I could get caught and deported back here! And how the fuck am I supposed to afford anything?” He didn’t even want to be a hero in the first place, let alone get caught by one.

“That’s not my problem, kid. Everything you need’s in here. Now get going, I’ve got clients coming in soon.”

As much as Rody wanted to complain more, he knew he needed this job. He could not believe he was doing this. He took the package off the counter, propped the stool back up, and slammed the door behind him. Now to figure out what was inside this box.

When Rody got home, he briefly greeted his siblings and went into their shared room. He placed the box on the desk, staring at it intently. Pino stood atop it, tugging on the twine with her beak. Rody sighed, swatting her away. She landed back on the box with a loud chirp.

“Okay, fine. Open it.” Rody crossed his arms, sitting down. He might as well see what was inside. According to Stanleyk, everything he needed for this job was inside the box. It could be a bold-faced lie, but it didn’t hurt to check. Pino huffed and pulled the twine away while Rody delicately unwrapped the paper covering the box. 

Inside were four passports, a thick white envelope, a manila folder with some papers sticking out of it, and two letters. They were both written in English, the first one was from U.A.’s principle welcoming someone named Sora Tamashii into the school. Sora Tamashii. The sky’s soul. What a coincidence. The second letter was handwritten with the writing toward the end becoming illegible. 

To whomever receives this,

Your job is to impersonate potential U.A. High student, Sora Tamashii. I do not have much information to give as all of these instructions came from my boss. Tamashii’s father is an Otheon researcher and his mother hails from somewhere in Japan working on heroic support gear. Recently, they all disappeared without a trace. We believe it to be the work of Humarise. In any case, under the guise of Tamashii, you need to report back with any interesting findings. The longer you stay the better. Do not fail~~~~

The rest was scribbled out, including any semblance of a signature or phone number. Humarise? Damn bastards were always finding ways to make his life more difficult. And it seems they were somehow involved in making the real Sora Tamashii disappear off the face of Otheon. It wasn’t like Rody cared that much about some kid going missing. No, what bothered him the most was having to deal with the heroes. Heroes who had abandoned him and his family, only helping areas with money and power. And he’d have to pretend to be invested in heroics? He’d pass if he could, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.

The passports were next on his list of things to look at. They looked the same on the outside and felt the same in his hands. Upon opening them, Rody could see the difference. One of them was Sora Tamshii’s actual passport, while the other had Rody’s information in it under Tamashii’s name. Why would they give him both though? To hide the evidence of another person? Oh well, it saved Rody the hassle of getting a passport in the first place. It seemed there were also two other passports with his siblings' information. Well that worked out nicely.

He grabbed the white envelope next, wondering what could be inside. Was it more instructions? Information? Turns out, it was none of those things. Inside were stacks upon stacks of Japanese yen bills, organized by value from least to greatest. These people were loaded! If he wanted he could just take the money and convert it! Then he wouldn’t even have to leave home! But if he did take the money and bail, would villains hunt him and his family down? Rody shuddered at the thought and put the money envelope in his pocket. They really made sure he would be stuck with the job, huh?

Lastly, was the file folder. Upon further inspection, the file was quite thick and filled to the brim with papers. Inside was just about everything on Sora Tamashii. It was definitely stalker material. Him and Rody were both 16 with similar heights and builds. However, there was nothing on Sora’s Quirk. Like absolutely nothing. Either this kid was Quirkless, or he forgot to list his Quirk on his U.A. application. Which was strange considering the emphasis put on heroes and their damn flashy Quirks. He still needed to submit his hero costume and clothing allowance. Behind those forms were three airplane tickets to someplace in Japan and a list of instructions written in Japanese which were completely illegible to him. There was also a business card taped to the back for someone by the name of Nedzu. Great, now he’d need to go find a payphone. 

“Roro, Lala, I’m going back out.” Rody announced, leaving their room. Lala ran over and hugged his leg as Roro looked up from his schoolwork. “I’ve gotta make a phone call.”

“Can you pick up lunch?” Roro asked. 

“Sure thing. When I get back, I’ve got a surprise for you two!” Rody grinned. He picked up Lala and danced around the room with her. “ATC has given us the all clear. Gear Down One.” Rody brought her over to the couch making airplane noises. “On Ground Slope. And Cessna has made contact with the ground.” He placed her on the couch next to Roro and ruffled her hair. “ I’ll be back in a bit.”

By the time Rody had swiped a few wallets for some cash and purchased lunch, he figured he should call this Nedzu person. He stopped at the closest pay phone, shoved a few euru coins inside the machine, and dialed the number on the card. 

One ring. 

Two rings. Okay, maybe they’re heading over to their phone.

Three rings. Rody began to tap his foot impatiently.

Four rings. Dang, they’re really taking their time. 

Five rings. Finally, he heard static.

“Caramba, ¿por qué tardaste tanto?” Rody complained loudly. (Geez, what took you so long?)

“Mis disculpas, estaba bastante ocupado con el papeleo. ¿Sabes inglés?” The voice on the other end wondered. He could only assume it was Nedzu. (My apologies, I was working on paperwork. Do you know English?)

“Uh, yeah.” Rody agreed, caught off guard. How many people in Japan would know Spanish?

“Thank you. Now, assuming you were able to reach this number, I assume you are the new exchange student? Sora Tamashii, correct?”

“Yeah that’s right.” Rody slid into a casual tone, hiding any signs of lingering irritation. “Saw the flight information and everything, but was a little confused about the arrangements for when I’m at school.”

“I see. I should’ve made them clearer. At that time, none of the staff had shown an interest in hosting an exchange student, but I’m pleased to tell you that you’ll be in excellent hands. Recently the third-year teacher, Snipe, has agreed to host you in his home.”

“Well that’s great and all, but I can’t just leave my siblings home alone.”

“Not to worry. I accounted for your siblings when I sent over the tickets. Snipe has agreed to host all three of you.”

“Damn, that’s generous.”

“Indeed. Now, the departure is sometime soon with your flight leaving at 6 a.m. your time and you’d get here at 9 p.m. our time. Once you’ve settled, you’ll need to turn in your Quirk registration forms and clothing allowance form. I can also swap your English class for a Japanese class in your schedule if that sounds agreeable to you?”

“Sounds great. Uh, when does school start again?”

“The beginning of April. I recommend taking the time to practice your Japanese before classes begin.”

“No mierda.”(No shit.) Rody grumbled. “Um, yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Excellent. I’m so glad you agreed to be part of our exchange program here at U.A. We’re excited to have you.” Nedzu’s voice cut out as Rody’s time on the payphone ended. He was not about to shove more coins in there just to keep talking to some guy on a business card. 

“¿Qué demonios acaba de pasar?” (What the hell just happened?)

When Rody got home, he passed out lunch to everyone before plopping down on the couch with an exaggerated sigh. The day wasn’t even halfway done and he was already exhausted. How was the correct number of airplane tickets there in the first place? Did this kid also have two siblings he planned on taking with him? What if this was a setup designed to catch criminals?

“Surprise! What’s the surprise!” Lala asked, dragging Rody out of his thoughts. 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Rody got to his feet and in a loud voice declared, “We’re going to Japan!”

“Really?” Roro exclaimed. “When?”

“Uh, let me check.” Rody dug the tickets out of his pocket, ignoring the Japanese written on it. His eyes drifted toward the departure date and Pino just about screamed. “Tomorrow!”

“Are we going on vacation?” Roro wondered.

“How long?” Lala added.

“Probably for a while, this is for work.” Rody admitted. “Think of it like a game. We’re gonna go under fake names and get to experience super cool things. The longer we play the game, the longer we can stay. Make sense?”

After lunch, Rody used some of the money from earlier to buy them each a bag for the airport. He made sure to pack snacks and bring empty water bottles to fill up later. Overall there wasn’t much to pack, save for a change of clothes. But at the airport, he did buy them something to color and a puzzle book or two. Thankfully, there weren’t too many people on the flight and even better, they were put in business class. Rody was definitely going to take the complementary stuff. Slippers, a pillow, blanket, sleep mask, toothbrush, earphones. The airline’s loaded! Even with all of this stuff and a paid trip to Japan, there was still one problem Rody had not accounted for. In fact, it didn’t cross his mind until they were seven hours into their flight. 

“¡NO SÉ JAPONÉS!” (I don’t know Japanese)

Upon arriving in Japan, Rody ended up carrying both Roro and Lala around the airport as he tried to find his way out of the terminal. Not knowing Japanese was probably something Rody should’ve thought about ahead of time. Thankfully, there were some pretty nice strangers that were able to point him in the right direction. He did a lot of exaggerated bowing and poorly pronounced ‘thank yous’ which earned him some strange looks from other travelers. He eventually stumbled out to the lobby where a guy in a cowboy hat was holding a sign with his fake name on it in English. 

“Are you Sora Tamashii?” The man questioned. 

“Maybe. What’s it to you?” Rody remarked. He hoped this was the guy he was looking for or he might just stay the night at the airport.

“Principal Nedzu sent me. I’m the pro-hero Snipe, but you can call me by my real name, Iru Shinji outside of school.” Principal Nedzu? The guy he was on the phone with was the principal?! “Do you want me to carry one of your siblings or your bags?”

“Nah, I got it. Lead the way.”

Snipe’s house was not as extravagant as Rody expected. Don’t get him wrong, it was still a pretty fancy place, but wasn’t filled to the brim with luxury items. Other than the size of the house itself, the place was pretty normal. 

The next morning while Roro and Lala explored the house and played, Rody filled out his uniform measurements on his school forms, his Quirk registration, and gave a rough sketch of what he would want his hero costume to be. He just pictured a pilot’s uniform. If he was going to play hero, he might as well add his own touch. 

In the days leading up to the start of school in April, Snipe had taken them shopping for supplies, gotten Rody a phone, enrolled Roro and Lala into schools that started the same day as U.A., and started teaching Rody Japanese. Rody’s English classes would be replaced with Japanese since he already knows English. It was pretty much a whole bunch of mundane things and getting adjusted. Roro and Lala seemed to like living with Snipe, calling him Tio Iru. As a person, Rody was fine with him, but he didn’t approve of him as a hero. But he’d have to get used to being surrounded by them since he’d be attending a school for heroes. 

The first day of school rolled around before he knew it, and Rody was mentally preparing himself for a very long, very draining day. He dropped Roro and Lala off at school, met their teachers, and made his way to U.A. High. The school was absolutely ginormous. Sure it looked big in pictures, but it was downright intimidating in person. The security wall scared the shit out of him, but once he passed through his sense of dread only intensified. He’s about to enter a class full of fledgling heroes with pros being there for the sole purpose of training the next generation. Not to mention there was the ever apparent language barrier Rody was struggling with. And now he was standing in front of the front doors of the high school.

“Vale, Rody, tienes esto.”(Okay, Rody you got this.) And with a resigned sigh, Rody entered his personal hell.

Chapter Text

No one told Rody that U.A. was a fucking maze. The hallways twisted and turned like a life-sized puzzle and everything looked identical . He would’ve been on time to class had this been a reasonably sized school, but no, it was the most complicated place he’d had to navigate. 

When he finally found Class 1-A, there was a man in a yellow sleeping bag just lying on the floor. Rody was just going to slip past the two students in the doorway but the human caterpillar locked eyes with him. It was unnerving. Pino, who had been on his head, buried herself in his hair as the strange man made a shushing motion with his finger. 

“¡Qué Carajo!” (What the fuck!) Rody swiftly turned around and walked down the hall to put a little distance between himself and the strange man. “¿Qué clase de escuela es esta? ¿Qué clase de pelota rara se queda en el pasillo sin decir nada? ¿En qué me metí? ¿Es demasiado tarde para volver a casa?” (What kind of school is this? What kind of creep just lays in the hallway without saying anything? What did I get myself into? Is it too late to go home?) Rody shook his head. “Respira, Rody, todo está bien. Tienes que hacer esto. Hazlo por Roro y Lala.” (Breathe, Rody, everything’s fine. You have to do this. Do it for Roro and Lala.)

After taking another deep breath, Rody walked back to the doorway. He’d have to enter the classroom at some point. The caterpillar man spoke up as he was opening the door.

“If you’re just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now.” The man stated, in what was probably a response to something the brown-haired girl said. Rody hurried to his desk as the man kept talking. “Welcome to U.A.’s hero course.” The man unzipped his sleeping bag, finished a juice packet, and stood up. “It took eight seconds before you all shut up and only one person noticed me. That’s not gonna work. Time is precious. If you are going to be my students, you will need to understand that.” He surveyed the room, observing the other students who were in their seats. “Hello, I’m Shota Aizawa. Your teacher.”

“There’s no way.” Rody mumbled under his breath. This guy was most likely a pro judging solely on his attitude. Another hero who thinks he’s better than everyone.

“Right, let’s get to it.” Aizawa pulled out a gym uniform from his sleeping bag. “Put these on and head outside.”

“Now that you’re all ready, you’ll be having a Quirk assessment test.”

“What? A Quirk assessment test?” All the students exclaimed. On the outside, Rody seemed calm and collected, but Pino was shaking like a leaf. Calm down, Rody. It’s an assessment, it’s not like anybody’s getting expelled.

“But orientation! We’re gonna miss it!” The girl from earlier whined. Rody was kind of looking forward to orientation. He could just doze off instead of worrying about class. And now he’d be missing it for a test. Who tests kids on their first day of school?

“If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here at U.A., we’re not tethered to traditions. That means that I am able to run my class however I see fit.” Aizawa explained, catching everyone off guard. He was unlike any teacher Rody had ever had before. “You’ve been taking standardized tests most of your lives. But you never got to use your Quirks in physical exams before. The country’s still trying to pretend we’re all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It’s not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn. Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in Junior High?”

“About sixty-seven meters.” The boy with the pomeranian haircut replied. 

“Right. Try doing it with your Quirk.” Aizawa told him. Bakugo got in the pitching circle as the teacher finished giving his instructions. “Anything goes, just stay in the circle. Go on. You’re wasting our time.” He clicked his tongue in annoyance, tapping his foot impatiently. 

“All right, man. You asked for it.” Bakugo stretched his arms a bit before throwing the ball with explosive force. 

“All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It’s the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero.” Aizawa told the class, showing Bakugo’s results. 705.2 meters. Rody was way out of his element here. If everyone else had such powerful Quirks, he was doomed. 

Other classmates gawked at the results, excited to use their Quirks. It was fun for them. Rody couldn’t help but scoff. This was the hero course. It’s not supposed to be fun. 

“So this looks fun, huh? You have three years here to become a hero. You think it’s all gonna be games and play time? Idiots.” Aizawa scolded. You know what, maybe this guy was alright. “Today you’ll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately.” Nope, nevermind. He’s clearly a demon from hell.

“Dios mio.” (Oh my god) Rody grumbled. Expulsion!? Already!? Not good, this is not good at all! His Quirk is a literal baseball sized bird! Pino can’t help him in fitness tests! His greatest strength is his parkour skills!

“Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand? If that’s a problem, you can head home right now.” Aizawa declared. And as much as Rody wanted to call it quits, he had to stick it out.

“You can’t send one of us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn’t the first day, that isn’t fair!” The brown-haired girl protested.

“Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry villains? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No, the world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try and combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you’re gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So, go beyond. Plus Ultra-style. Show me it’s no mistake that you’re here.”

The first test was the 50m dash, which was simple enough. A robot would record each runner’s time once they crossed the white line. Rody ended up racing against a girl with long black hair. His end result: 6.25 seconds. 

The second test had to do with grip strength, which Rody didn’t have a lot of, but he had enough to pull himself onto buildings and the like. Pino pushed herself against his hand when he pulled, getting a result of 48kg. Not bad, but it was nothing compared to Six Arms on the other side of the gym. He then passed the third test with ease, jumping over the sandpit by giving himself a running start.  The repeated side steps were easy too since Rody was pretty agile and only stopped when he was sure he had the highest record.

On the ball throw, one girl got infinity as a score, which was crazy to think about. That ball will keep circling the earth forever. The green-haired boy was up next. Rody couldn’t recall him using his Quirk on any of the tests. Did he have a Quirk unsuited for this type of thing?

“If Midoriya doesn’t shape up soon, he’s the one going home.” A guy with glasses remarked.

“Huh? Of course he is. He’s a Quirkless loser.” Bakugo growled, clearly enraged by the previous statement. Why the hell would he be so worked up about whether someone was Quirkless or not? Another byproduct of a Quirkist society. Someone needs to check their privilege and biases.

“Uh, he has a Quirk. Did you not hear about what he did in the entrance exam?”

Rody stopped listening after that, instead focusing his attention on Midoriya. The boy seemed to be lost in thought, just staring at the ball in his hand. Maybe the kid already knew he’d be going home and was about to attempt some last-ditch effort. But the smart thing to do would be to just quit now. It seemed Midoriya had other ideas and threw the ball with all his strength, getting a result of…46 meters?

“Uh…what gives? Why didn’t my Quirk activate?” Midoriya stated, confused. Rody would have been just as confused as the rest of his classmates, had he not noticed Aizawa’s floating hair and scarf. It must have been his power.

“I erased your Quirk. The judges for this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you with such little control should never have been allowed to enroll at this school.” Aizawa told him. Pino shot the teacher a nasty glare upon hearing him. Geez, harsh words from a guy who’s supposed to be their teacher. 

“Wait, you did what to my–Those goggles. I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. You’re The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!”

Their conversation went on for longer than Rody anticipated, and he tuned out the rest of the conversation. He was busy thinking about how he was going to go about the ball throw. Showings of physical strength are not his forte. He might be able to run and jump, but that was about it. He could use Pino to fly the ball away from him until she gets tired, but the weight might be too much. Oh well, even if he bombed this test all his other results would keep him from falling into last place. 

Rody’s thoughts were interrupted by a strong gust of wind that almost sent Pino flying. Seems that Midoriya guy’s pretty strong. But his finger’s broken? How odd. The Pomeranian boy didn’t seem to like Midoriya’s results and Aizawa had to step in to keep things from getting out of hand. 

Finally, it was Rody’s turn for the ball throw. He tossed the ball around in his hand to get a feel for the weight before having Pino get on it. He mouthed ‘sorry’ to Pino before chucking the ball with all of the little strength he possessed. Pino screamed at first, but once she stopped spinning, she flew the ball as far as she possibly could. But before Rody could even hear his result, Pino came flying toward him so fast he couldn’t even react. She ran straight into his forehead before angrily pecking at his cheeks.

“Ow! Ow! Pino! Okay, okay, sorry. I’m sorry.” Rody grabbed her and tapped her head with his finger. “I won’t do that again.” Pino let out an exaggerated huff as Rody rejoined his classmates, ignoring their amused laughs. 

The rest of the tests went by pretty quickly. The long-distance run was one of his better scores, but then again, he had lots of experience running away from both the cops and heroes back home.

“All right, time to give you your results. I’ve ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I’ll just pull up the whole list. It’s not worth going over each individual’s score.” Aizawa announced. Rody knew he wouldn’t be last but still found himself worrying over his placement. He needed to stay.

Rody glanced at the leaderboard, searching for his name. He scanned the list once, then again when he didn’t see his name. Oh, right, he was undercover. Of course, his real name wouldn’t show up, idiot. Pino facepalmed with her wing as Rody did another read-through. Sora Tamashii…Sora Tamashii…ah, there! He ended up in 13th place. Not bad at all, almost directly in the middle. Perfect. Now he just had to stay in the middle of the class for three years, graduate, and somehow become a pilot, easy peasy.

“You all show potential to be pro-heroes and gave your all in each of the tests. Therefore, no one’s getting expelled.” Aizawa told them with a smile on his face.

“I’m surprised the rest of you didn’t figure that out.” A girl remarked. Rody remembered racing her in the 50-meter test. Her name was Yaoyo-something or other. “I’m sorry, I guess I probably should have said something.”

“Oh, por favor, tú tampoco sabías la verdad.” (Oh, please, you didn’t know the truth either). Rody sighed, shaking his head.

“Either way, that was pretty nerve-wracking, huh?” The boy with a tape Quirk, Sero, interrupted. He gave Rody a knowing look and grinned. 

“I suppose.” Rody agreed. He didn’t think someone else at the school would know Spanish besides the principal. 

“That’s it. We’re done for the day. Pick up a syllabus from the classroom on your way out and read it over for tomorrow morning.” Rody heard Aizawa tell the class. Yippie.. He survived his first day at U.A. Now to do this again every day for the next three years! Oh who was he kidding? He was absolutely fucked. 

After grabbing a syllabus and shoving it at the bottom of his bag, Rody made his way out of U.A. and started walking toward the station. Snipe was going to be in teacher meetings for a few hours, so he was going to pick up Roro and Lala from school. He hoped they had a better day at school than he did. 

“Hey! Bird Boy!” A girl’s voice yelled. Rody looked over to see the Infinity Girl from class walking with Midoriya and the guy with the Engine Quirk. “Over here!”

“¿Chico Pájaro? Eso es lo que se le ocurrió? (Bird Boy? That’s what she could come up with?) Rody sighed, stopping Pino with his hand before she could chirp angrily in the girl’s face. Seeing her waving him over, he begrudgingly walked over to the group. “What’s up?”

“You’re heading to the station, right? Wanna join us?” She asked. Midoriya and the Engine Guy seemed okay with it, and Rody doesn’t necessarily want to be rude. 

“Sure, if that’s chill with the rest of you.” The others nodded and they resumed walking. “Name’s Sora Tamashii. And this is Pino.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Ochaco Uraraka. This is Tenya Iida, and his name is Deku, right? Midoriya?” The girl spoke.

“Deku?” Midoriya seemed taken aback by the name.

“Uh, yeah, isn’t that what Bakugo called you?” Uraraka recalled, quoting the pomeranian looking boy. 

“Suena como una perra quejumbrosa.” (He sounds like a whiny little bitch). Rody muttered, thinking back to Bakugo’s behavior.

“Oh, well, my name’s actually Izuku. Deku’s what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me.” Midoriya explained.

“That’s unsportsmanlike,” Iida commented, looking a little affronted. 

“Oh, I didn’t realize that! I’m sorry. But, you know what? I like “Deku”. It could make a great hero name! Plus, I think it sounds kinda cute.” Uraraka told him.

“Deku it is!” Midoriya blurted out, his face turning a bright shade of pink.

“Seriously?” Rody exclaimed. This conversation was already giving him a headache. At least they seemed like good people.

Rody let his new…friends? Acquaintances? He didn’t know what to call them, but regardless, he let them do most of the talking. No one pressured him into speaking so at least they could respect boundaries. The train ride was relatively quiet as well, and he was at Roro and Lala’s school before he knew it. He got Lala from kindergarten first, talking to her teacher a bit to hear how she was doing. Then, they went to pick up Roro and Lala told Rody everything she learned in class on the way.

“Roro, you ready?” He asked, entering the room. His brother smiled wide upon seeing him and hurriedly packed his bag. 

“Big bro!” Roro ran over and hugged him. “School is so much fun!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! Ms. Todoroki’s super nice and she’s a great teacher!”

“You’ve been here for one day and you think she’s a good teacher already, huh? I’ll take your word for it.” Rody was glad to see his siblings so excited about school. He should probably talk to Roro’s teacher just to check in. 

“Excuse me, you’re Roro’s teacher right?” Rody asked, noticing the teacher at her desk. Her hair reminded him of one of his classmates. 

“You must be Roro’s older brother. He speaks very highly of you. I’m his teacher, Fuyumi Todoroki.” She introduced herself with a kind smile.

“Sora Tamashii. Just wanted to get your opinion on how my brother’s doing.”

“He’s doing very well and gets along with his classmates. It’s the first day but so it may be early to tell, but he may need to be placed in our excelled learning program. He’s very smart for his age.”

“Must be from all the studying at home. Well, thanks for letting me know. We’ll have to give it some serious thought.”

“You go to U.A.? My little brother Shoto goes there! Do you know him?”

“He’s got the…what’s it called? The bastón de caramelo (candy cane) colored hair, right? He’s in my class. He got second on our test day if I remember correctly.”

“I’ll ask him about it when I get home. Have a good afternoon!”

By the time Rody and his siblings got back to Snipe’s, he was absolutely exhausted. He kicked off his shoes and beelined for the couch. Why was this job so tiring? He buried his face in a nearby pillow, letting out a loud groan. 

“Are you okay, big brother?” Lala wondered.

“I’ll be fine. Just tired is all.” Rody dismissed the subject with a wave of his hand and a well-placed smile as he lifted his head up from the pillow. Shortly after that, Rody fell asleep and took a three-and-a-half-hour nap. When he woke up, it was about time for an early dinner. But before he could even open the fridge, Snipe walked through the front door with fast food and some bags.

“Tío Iru!” Roro and Lala yelled excitedly, running over. 

“Hiyah, kiddos. Can you place this on the counter for me? Thanks.” He handed them the food and followed after them. “Sora, how was school?” Rody turned his head and glared, giving the hero the look of ‘don’t you dare ask again’ before speaking.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” 

Bonus Scene

Aizawa dismissed the class, handed Midoriya a slip to the nurse’s office, and began to go get ready for a series of teacher meetings. The whole purpose was to go over the basic curriculum for the first half of the school year. The usual stuff that happens every year.

“Aizawa, that was a rotten move.” He paused upon hearing All Might’s voice. 

“All Might. So, you were watching.” Aizawa noted. He thought he had seen him earlier spying on Midoriya but ignored him to focus on teaching. “No talk shows today?”

“No one’s getting expelled? You’re not exactly known for being lighthearted. I read your file. Last year you expelled an entire class of freshmen students. You have no problem kicking students out. Anyone you deem unworthy. You were planning to send last place home. So that can only mean you see the same kind of potential in Young Midoriya that I do.”

“What is this about? It almost sounds like you’ve been in his corner the whole time.” Aizawa smirked, knowing he had hit the nail on the head. “Isn’t it a little early for you to be playing favorites? He doesn’t have zero potential, I admit. If that were the case, I would have sent him straight home after class without hesitation. It’s cruel to let a kid keep dreaming of something that will never come true. Besides, there’s someone else I’ve got my eye on.”

And Aizawa walked away, leaving a very confused and puzzled All Might behind. Sora Tamashii. The exchange student with a Quirk most would deem useless. He more than makes up for it with his physical abilities, even though his strength is lacking compared to some of his other classmates. There’s something in that boy that stands out compared to the rest of the students. A kind of experience that’s different from the students who got in on recommendations. Sora Tamashii, you’ll be a fine hero.

Chapter Text

U.A.’s Hero Course curriculum was like every other school’s, well, at least before lunch. It had the normal core classes like math, science, English, or in Rody’s case, Japanese. He had been stuck with a few other students from abroad, which helped Rody feel less insecure about not knowing the country’s native language. He found out he couldn’t write for shit, but he was pretty good at recognizing all the different characters when reading. When the bell rang to dismiss the classes for lunch, Rody was the first one out the door. 

Normally, students eat in the main cafeteria, but Rody didn’t feel like such a big social scene. He had packed his own food so he wouldn’t have to waste what little money he had on school lunches. He wandered the halls for a bit, looking for a quiet spot, but the classrooms had some students eating inside, and he wasn’t about to go out of his way to make new friends. So he wandered up a few flights of stairs to the roof, where there wasn’t a soul in sight. 

Finally, he was alone. It was just him and Pino. Sitting down, Rody began eating his lunch. He had been especially careful to avoid foods that would require chopsticks. He still couldn’t use them very well and didn’t feel like embarrassing himself. 

“This job sucks.” Rody groaned. “This may be the only time I have to be myself at this damn school.” Pino let out a chirp in agreement before stealing some of his lunch. Before he could tell her to stop, the sound of the roof entrance door startled him. Standing there was a boy around his age with messy indigo hair that flared out a bit. The boy looked surprised to see Rody, and they both just stared at each other, waiting to see what the other would do. 

“Relax. I don’t bite.” Rody said at last, waving the boy over with a grin on his face. The boy hesitantly stepped away from the door and came closer, still keeping distance from Rody with a weary look. 

Well…this just got awkward. Hopefully this kid wouldn’t want to talk. While Rody didn’t want to scare him away, he still wasn’t looking for a conversation. And so, he turned back to his food and continued eating. He shooed Pino away from his food, sighing upon seeing that she had eaten all his chips. Oh well, there was more at Snipe’s. 

“You’re not going to ask me about my Quirk?” The boy asked. Rody noticed there was a hint of contempt in his voice. 

“Huh? Why would I? I’m just trying to eat lunch.” Rody told him. 

“Seriously? Do all people in the hero course think they’re better than everyone?” Rody was bewildered as the boy continued talking. “You didn’t ask about my Quirk ‘cause you think you’re better, is that it?”

“What the hell, dude. I didn’t ask ‘cause I genuinely don’t care.” Rody was starting to get a little irritated now. Where was all this hostility coming from? “I came up here for some peace and quiet. Oh Dios mío. (oh my god).” Rody took a deep breath before continuing, “How’d ya know I’m in the hero course?”

“You’re a U.A. student and don’t know?” Rody shook his head as the boy sighed. “The buttons on the uniforms are different.”

“Huh, I never noticed.” Rody hummed, just now noticing how the boy’s school jacket had two buttons with a gap between them. “So…what’s your deal with the hero course? Don’t like one of my classmates or somethin’?”

“All those aspiring heroes have such an inflated sense of self, all because of their Quirks. Their powerful abilities make them think they’re invincible. That those with weaker, less flashy Quirks can’t hold a candle compared to them. So I’m going to get myself transferred into the hero course to prove all of you wrong.” 

“I see…” Rody couldn’t think of a single part of that statement to argue with. This kid was like him, a discarded byproduct of this messed-up hero society. All while there were people like Bakugo that definitely fit into that ‘better than you mentality. “Well, I should get going.” Rody stood up and started making his way to the door. 

“Running away?” 

“Hardly. You said you’ll get yourself transferred into the hero course, right? To do that, you’d have to take an existing seat. And I’m not letting you take mine.” Rody declared. He couldn’t afford to lose this job. He had to stay. “Good luck, hero.” 

Rody was almost late to class after he left that boy on the roof. It wasn’t because he could barely hear the bells on his way down the stairs. No, he had gotten lost and ended up running through the halls like a headless chicken. Thankfully, he had managed to slip into his seat seconds before class started. This class was called Hero Basic Training. Rody could only assume the course was exactly as it sounded. He had originally thought Aizawa would be teaching the class, but boy was he wrong. 

“I am here!” A very loud voice shouted from behind the classroom door. Rody felt the life drain from his body as he recognized the voice as All Might’s. He had obviously heard of Japan’s number one hero, but he wasn’t a fan by any means. He was the perfect example of a showy, powerful hero who only cared about upholding society’s twisted sense of justice. “Coming through the door like a hero!” The hero burst through the door and dramatically marched his way to the front of the room.

“Every day, I want to go home even more…” Rody grumbled under his breath as Pino let out a sigh. His classmates were way too excited, talking amongst themselves. 

“Welcome to the most important class at U.A. High. Think of it as “Hero-ing 101”. Here, you will learn the basics of being a pro. And what it means to fight in the name of good! Let’s get right into it. Today’s lesson will pull no punches!” All Might shouted, showing the class a card with the word ‘Battle’ on it in a bold red. 

“Fuck.” Rody cursed. This was getting worse by the second. He wasn’t any good at direct confrontation! 

“But before that, one of the key parts of being a hero is…looking good!” All Might pointed to the wall as shelves holding their hero suits popped out. “These were designed for you based on your Quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started. Get ourselves suited up and then meet me at Training Ground Beta!”

Rody actually quite liked his hero costume; it was one of, if not the only thing he could control about his schooling. He modeled his outfit after a pilot’s by getting a bomber jacket and a pair of baggy flight pants. He had also managed to get his hands on some steel-toed boots so if he really had to engage in combat, his kicks would do some extra damage. He decided not to ask for some gloves or goggles since they wouldn’t do much for him. Some of the costumes his classmates wore were pretty cool. Iida’s armor was certainly impressive. Rody’s costume was simplistic compared to some of the other costumes, which only made him feel more out of place. Well, until he saw Midoriya’s and then he felt a little better. What was he even going for, deranged rabbit? He certainly had the ears for it.

“Now that you’re ready, it’s time for combat training.” All Might asked once they were all gathered at the training grounds.

“Sir!” Iida spoke up, raising his hand like they were in the classroom. “This is the fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean that we’ll be conducting urban battles again?”

“Not quite! I’m going to move you two steps ahead. Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evildoers occur indoors. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows.” All Might explained. Rody could find himself agreeing with the hero for once. 

Organizations like Humarise were well-known, but their leaders never went out in public. And then there were brokers like Stanleyk who sold information to villains. Since he was just working for him on the side, Rody never got up close and personal with any of the major villains Stanleyk met up with. 

“For this training exercise, you’ll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two-on-two indoor battles.” All Might continued.

“Isn’t this a little advanced?” The frog girl wondered.

“The best training is what you get on the battlefield! But remember, you can’t just punch a robot this time. You’re dealing with actual people now.” All Might responded, pulling out a script. “The situation is this. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the heroes have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the villains succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes. Time’s limited, and we’ll choose teams by drawing lots!”

Random teams huh? Probably for the best, so they didn’t waste time trying to pick their own teams. Rody ended up on Team C with Yaoyo-whatever her name is. Midoriya and Uraraka were up first in the exercise going against Bakugo and Iida. While everyone else was watching them through the monitors, Rody was busy strategizing, seeing as he had no idea what this girl’s Quirk was, and Pino wasn’t necessarily good for anything. Plus, he wouldn’t know his opponents until it was his team’s turn. How annoying. 

Midoriya’s match ended in his victory, but he was heavily injured. The second match ended just as quickly as it had started, with Todoroki doing all the work. The third match wasn’t anything extraordinary, and finally it was Rody’s turn. He was on the villain team, going up against Team G. Just by looking, Rody could figure out at least one Quirk on the opposing team. Jiro had earphone jacks, meaning her Quirk was most likely sound-related. The other guy was Kaminari, but Rody couldn’t figure out if the lightning bolts in his hair and costume alluded to his Quirk or was just for design’s sake.

“So, Yaoyo…” Rody mumbled the rest of the girl’s name, unable to remember the other half of it. 

“Yaoyorozu.” She told him. 

“Right. Yaoyorozu.” Rody repeated, knocking on the fake bomb. It was too big to move, especially since they’re on the fourth floor. “What’s your Quirk?”

“My Quirk, Creation, allows me to create any object I know the molecular structure of. I was thinking we could block the door with steel plates so it’ll be near impossible for them to get to us.”

“So, we’re just stalling?” Rody questioned. It wasn’t a bad plan since they didn’t know much about their opponents, but that was such a boring way to win. 

“Precisely. Without knowing the Quirks of our opponents, it is best to play it safe. We must treat this exercise as if it were real, and the bomb cannot be damaged. Therefore, I believe that my plan is the best course of action.”

“I gotcha. In that case…” Rody turned around, looking over at the bomb. “Pino, I want you to do some recon for us.” The bird flew onto his hand with a curious chirp. “As soon as the exercise starts, I want you to fly out this open window. Fly down to the first floor and watch the enemy from a distance. Then report back to me once you’ve seen how their Quirks work.” 

“Are you sure that’s wise, Tamashii? Will your bird give away our position?” Yaoyorozu asked. 

“Geez, lady, relax.” Rody sighed, turning back around as he heard the metal clanging on the floor. “Pino’s got this.” 

“If you say so.” Rody let out an irritated huff but went over to help barricade the door. Pino let out a series of angry chirps at Yaoyorozu, who just kept ignoring her. 

The barricade was completed as soon as All Might signaled the start of the exercise. Pino flew out the window as Rody waited for her return. Jiro would probably use her Quirk to find their location, which means their opponents would be upon them rather quickly. If this Kaminari guy has a strong offensive Quirk, their barricade might not hold. And Pino could only do so much if he ordered her to distract them.

“I’m going out.” Rody declared after a few minutes. Pino still wasn’t back yet and he was getting worried. 

“Tamashii, our best bet is staying put. What are you doing?” Yaoyorozu asked, watching him getting ready to jump out the window. She yanked him back, much to his annoyance. 

“Damn, you’re a real buzzkill.” Rody sighed. “I was gonna use the windowsills to gradually make my way down. No puedo creer que esté atrapado contigo. (I can’t believe I’m stuck with you).” Well, there goes his idea to lure one of their opponents away to try and win faster. 

“I have no intention of failing this exercise. Your little stunt could have cost us the match had you gone through with it. We need to stick with the plan with the highest success rate.” Rody rolled his eyes at her, but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t worth picking a fight over. 

The rest of the exercise was fairly uneventful. Kaminari and Jiro weren’t able to break into the room, and Pino had been gone for so long because she had gotten carried away with distracting them. The last group went shortly after they all got back, and the class was over before he knew it. 

“That’s a wrap! Super work. You really stepped up to the plate. And we didn’t have any major injuries, except for Midoriya. You should be proud. Excellent first day of training, all around! That’s all for now folks. I should go and check on Young Midoriya’s progress. Now, watch how a pro exits. Like he’s got somewhere to be!” All Might’s end-of-class speech was short, ending with his speedy exit.

Rody couldn’t help but wonder if there was something going on with All Might and Midoriya. Midoriya’s costume was very obviously based on All Might, but that wasn’t the suspicious part. Lots of people in the world were fans of the number one hero. No, it was how All Might reacted. He noticed that All Might was super tense during Midoriya’s battle against Bakugo but seemed more relaxed during the other matches. That fight should have been stopped before it had escalated to such a degree. Was All Might favoring him? Of course, Rody didn’t have any evidence to back up his claims, but he’d have to keep an eye out. This may be something Stanleyk might want to hear. 

Once he got home, Rody dialed Stanleyk’s number to give him an update. He didn’t have any way of contacting the one who had written that note in the package. What a pain in the ass. He finally heard a click as the old man’s voice rang out.

“Who the hell is this?” 

“It’s Rody, old man. Did ya forget about me or somethin’?” 

“Rody! Why are you calling me? Don’t tell me you need to be pulled out already?”

“Huh? No, it’s nothing that serious. Just thought I’d update you.”

“Are you an idiot!!!” Rody pulled the phone away from his ear from how loud the man was being. “If you get caught, the heroes could trace back the phone records!”

“They’ll just see I called a random number. You worry too much.”

“Stupid kid! Don’t call me again unless you need to get back to Otheon, got it?”

“Okay, okay, but–”

“But what?”

“How am I supposed to give you updates? I thought you’d be telling me what to do.”

“That package I gave you should have instructions on who to talk to. I’m just the middleman.”

“Well, it didn’t so–” Rody stopped talking as Stanleyk hung up on him. “Damn it! What the hell am I supposed to be doing?!”

“You alright, Tamashii? I heard yelling.” Snipe’s voice called out from behind Rody’s closed door. Shit. He had been too loud.

“Uh, yeah. Homework’s got me frustrated is all.” The lie slipped out of Rody’s lips faster than his brain could process. He had always been good at creating cover stories. 

“If you need any help just let me know.” Rody listened as Snipe walked away from his room and to another part of the house. He flopped onto his bed with an exaggerated sigh. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.

Rody wasn’t prepared for what was to come. He had always been warned about villains, even though society could classify him one as well. But he always made sure to avoid the truly evil ones, the villains that worked for organizations like Humarise. Soon, Rody would learn firsthand how terrifying real villains could actually be.

Chapter Text

U.A. was already popular enough as far as hero schools go. Now with All Might on the staff, its popularity had skyrocketed. Reporters had crowded the front gate, making it near impossible to get inside. Rody had to force his way past them just to get onto school grounds. Some random reporter lady had gotten too close at one point that Pino had gone after her and broke her camera lens. Rody couldn’t understand why people liked All Might anyway. Couldn’t they see the problems he had created in society? God, hero fanatics were idiots. 

Class started off simply enough. Attendance was taken, Aizawa reviewed each person’s individual performance in yesterday’s exercise going over what each person needed to work on for next time. After that, they began elections for class representative. Everyone was vying for that position, even if they weren’t suited for it. Rody didn’t bother nominating himself though, he wasn’t cut out to lead the class. And did he really want to? Absolutely not.

Iida calmed the pandemonium in the classroom and suggested that everyone vote for class rep since that would be more organized than shouting. Though it was quite clear he wanted to be elected. Unfortunately for him, Midoriya was elected as class rep with Yaoyorozu as deputy. Rody had put his vote toward Iida. Yaoyorozu was a good candidate, but Rody didn’t vote for her due to her being a stubborn pain in the ass. And he didn’t vote for Midoriya since the guy looked way too skittish, and didn’t seem to be the leader type at all.

With that out of the way, they went off to lunch. Rody tried slipping away to the roof again but ended up getting dragged to Midoriya’s table by Uraraka. The cafeteria was so loud, he was starting to get a headache. 

“It’s always so crowded in here!” Uraraka pointed out, as they sat down. 

“Ugh, tell me about it.” Rody sighed, unsure if she could hear him or not from all the clamor. 

“That’s because students in the support, management, and hero courses all share the same cafeteria.” Iida explained. 

“That explains so much…” Rody groaned, trying to tune out all the noise. 

“Guys, I’m kinda worried about the class rep thing, I don’t think I’m qualified.” Midoriya sighed. 

“Cause you’re not.” Rody told him, ignoring the looks he was getting from his friends. “That’s why I didn’t vote for you.”

“Don’t listen to him, Deku! You’ve got this!” Uraraka said. 

“You’ll be great. Your courage and quick thinking under stress will help make you a worthy leader. Not to mention the strength you’ve demonstrated. Those are the reasons I voted for you, at least.” Iida spoke.

“You were one of the three?” Midoriya exclaimed, surprised. 

“Didn’t you wanna be rep really badly? I mean, you do look the part. ‘Cause of the glasses!” Uraraka wondered.

“Wanting a job and being suited to it are quite different things.” Iida pointed out. Rody couldn’t help but agree with him. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is essential in any job. “Observing the Iida family’s hero agency has taught me that much.”

“Hero agency? Your parents are heroes?” Rody asked, masking the contempt in his voice with curiosity. 

“Indeed. The Iidas have been pro heroes for generations. It runs in our blood.” Iida explained, impressing Midoriya and Uraraka. “Are you three familiar with the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?”

“Ingenium?” Rody repeated the name under his breath while Midoriya blabbed on. Japan sure had a lot of heroes. Where he lived in Otheon the number of heroes was so small he knew them all by name, what they looked like, and their patrol schedules since he had to know how to avoid them. This country was infested with heroes.

By the time Rody had tuned back in to the conversation, Midoriya was talking about the practical exam. As the green-haired boy was speaking, alarm bells rang effectively cutting him off. 

“Warning. Level Three security breach. All students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion.”

“What’s a Level Three security breach?” Iida asked the person next to him as students rushed out of the cafeteria. 

“It means that someone’s managed to get past the school’s barriers!”

Fuck. A security breach?! Now?! Just great. Rody watched all the students start heading for the main hallway and opted to take a different one. If everyone crowded into one area, escape would be slower. A side passage would be best if he wanted to get away unseen by the intruder. As he was about to go down a side staircase, Rody paused. Wait. That kid from yesterday might be up on the roof. And if he’s up there, he wouldn’t have heard the alarm. Well, shit! 

After sending a quick text to Snipe about what he was planning to do, Rody sprinted up to the roof as quick as he could. When he arrived, that boy had a confused, panicked look on his face as he just stood in the middle of the rooftop like an idiot. 

“The hell are you still doing up here?” Rody yelled, rushing over. He grabbed the collar of his shirt and forced him into a crouching position. “Do you want people outside to see you?”

“What’s going on? My phone went off saying there was an intruder or something.” The kid told him. “Is that true?”

“Seems like it. It’s a total mess inside. If you got an alert, why didn’t you come inside and try to evacuate? Did you even stop to think that there could be intruders outside? What if someone had spotted you and they had a long-ranged Quirk or a gun?”

“I panicked, okay? I’ve never been in a situation like this!” Great. Rody was stuck with some panicked student he didn’t know and there could be any number of intruders in and around the school. He needed a plan and he needed one fast.

“Name and Quirk.” Rody stated, trying to think. 

“What?”

“Name and Quirk. Hurry up, we don’t have all day, idiota (idiot).”

“Hitoshi Shinso.” The boy responded, swallowing hard before continuing. “Brainwashing.” 

“Gimme specifics. Limitations, activation requirements, literally anything.”

“I have to intentionally want to use it. It’s not always active. Someone has to verbally respond to something I say in order for my power to work. I can’t force people to speak either. I can only control their basic movements. What about you, mister hero course student?”

“Sora Tamashii. I’ve got a bird.” Rody gestured to Pino who was busy freaking out with semi-quiet chirps and frantic wing flapping. “She’s…something.” He shook his head with a sigh, finally letting go of Shinso. 

“My Quirk…you’re not disgusted by it?”

“Why the hell would I be? I don’t care about Quirks being villainous or whatever. A Quirk is only as good or as bad as the person who wields it. Your power’s pretty sick! Mine’s a literal bird! It’s a fucking puffball that flys around sometimes!”

“Well, putting it like that…I guess you would have no reason to judge.”

“Exactly. Now, I’m going to look over the edge and see what’s going on. Then, we’re going inside and finding a way out of this maze of a school, got it?” Shinso nodded, too stunned to speak any further.

Rody crept toward the edge carefully, trying to stay low to avoid being seen. Looking down, Aizawa and Present Mic were standing in front of the school doors, blocking off the giant crowd of reporters from this morning. The press, huh? They shouldn’t have been able to get past the U.A. barrier. It doesn’t let anyone in that doesn’t have a student or staff ID or special pass. Something’s going on. Pino let out a chirp, pointing a wing at the entrance where the barrier was supposed to be. 

“¿Qué intentas mostrarme, Pino? (What are you trying to show me?)” Rody squinted his eyes, doing his best to see what the bird wanted him to look at. For a brief second, he could see the U.A. barrier in clear detail like if he was standing in front of it. And in the barrier’s place, was a pile of ash. And just as suddenly as he noticed it, his sight was back to normal. “Ugh, what the hell?”

“How’s it look?” Shinso asked.

“The press got in.” Rody sighed, ignoring the slight pain in his eyes and the incoming headache. “Let’s go downstairs. But we should still be careful. Someone could have gotten in with all the chaos.”

The two boys made their way inside with Shinso leading in front so they wouldn’t get lost. On their way through the halls, police showed up outside and escorted all of the press away. The one time Rody was glad to see the cops. Never thought he’d be grateful for them in his life. 

“Well, it seems like everything’s fine.” Shinso remarked. “I’m going to head to my classroom now.”

“Suit yourself, hero.” Rody shrugged. The immediate danger had passed after all. No point in sticking together if the kid wanted to go off by himself now that the press was gone. He should probably head to his own classroom anyways. 

On his way back to 1-A, he swore he saw some sort of dark purple swirl when he was heading over, but figured it was his eyes playing tricks on him from all the stress. He also ran into Midoriya and company which was good, because U.A. is too damn big. 

Once class started back up again, Midoriya stepped down as class president, giving the position to Iida. Then, Aizawa took over for afternoon classes. 

“Today’s training will be a little different. You’ll have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you.” Aizawa told them all. Rody wondered if this was due to the break-in earlier or if that was always the plan. 

“Sir! What kinda training is this?” The kid from the first day, the guy who spoke to Rody in Spanish, had posed the question. If he remembered correctly, the kid’s name was Sero.

“Rescue. You’ll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that.” Aizawa explained. “What you wear in this exchange is up to you. I know you’re excited about costumes but keep in mind that you haven’t gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This special training’s at an off-campus facility, so we’ll be taking a bus to get there. That’s all. Start getting ready.

Rody got into his hero costume and waited outside the bus as Iida attempted to sort them into a seating chart. He wasn’t really listening as he boarded and ended up next to Todoroki. Rody put in an earbud, listening to music while also trying to gather information from his classmates. Rescue missions might be better for Rody since he was good at acting in a crisis. Tsuyu Asui, a girl with a frog themed outfit, asked Midoriya a very interesting question that made Rody pay attention.

“That power of yours. Isn’t it a lot like All Might’s?” She asked. 

“What? Really?” Midoriya exclaimed nervously, leaning away from her. The tone of his voice fluctuated considerably, only adding to Rody’s theory about him and the number one hero. “You think so, huh? I never really thought about that. I guess it’s kinda similar…”

“Wait, hold on, Tsu. You’re forgetting All Might doesn’t hurt himself. That makes a huge difference.” Kirishima, the guy with red spiky hair, pointed out. Midoriya let out a huge sigh of relief upon hearing this, making him even more suspicious. Well, suspicious to Rody at least. “Still, I bet it’s cool to have a simple augmenting-type Quirk. You can do lots of flashy stuff with it. My hardening’s super strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it doesn’t look all that impressive.”

While Midoriya praised Kirishima’s Quirk, Rody made a mental note to actually learn what all of his classmates’ Quirks were and how they worked. He could probably get that information from Midoriya if he became better friends with him. That info would be good to know in case his cover ever got blown and he had to fight his way out.

“Well, if any of our classmates have pro Quirks, it's Todoroki and Bakugo.” Kirishima continued, as Rody dialed back in to the conversation. Bakugo’s explosive power was powerful and destructive, while Todoroki’s seemed to be lacking. It was as if he held back during the last training exercise.

“Sure, but Bakugo’s always angry, so he’ll never be that popular.” Tsu stated. Rody couldn’t help but agree. That boy had some serious anger issues he needed to work through if he was ever going to go pro. 

“What’d you say?” Bakugo stood up angrily from his seat, yelling at full volume. “I’ll kick your ass!”

“You know, we basically just met you. So it’s kinda telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage.” Kaminari added.

“You’re gonna regret the day you applied to this school, you loser!” Bakugo just about lunged at Kaminari, barely keeping himself close to his seat. 

“Calm down. You know it’s true.” Rody mumbled under his breath, earning himself a nasty glare from his angry classmate. 

“Hey, we’re here. Stop messing around.” Aizawa interrupted, getting everyone to settle down and return to their seats.

The building they arrived at was shaped like a huge dome, which reminded Rody of the giant fútbol stadiums he’d seen on the TV in Stanleyk’s. Once he had gotten off the bus, he could see the other hero that would be helping teach the class. She looked like an astronaut of some sort.

“Hello, everyone. I’ve been waiting for you! I am the Space Hero, Thirteen. I can’t wait to show you what’s inside!” The hero announced, leading everyone indoors. Inside the dome were about six different rescue settings: collapsed buildings, a landslide, mountains, fire rescue, a storm, and a forest. In the center was a fountain that served as the connection between the various zones.

“Dios mío. (My God).” Rody breathed. Heroes spared no expenses, did they? 

“I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. But you can call it USJ!” Thirteen exclaimed excitedly. Well, at least the heroes were properly training them in rescue missions. People’s lives are no joke.

“Hey, shouldn’t All Might be here already?” Aizawa questioned, walking over to the space hero. “Let me guess, he booked an interview instead.” The rest of the conversation was hushed so Rody couldn’t hear anymore, but he did see Thirteen hold up three fingers. Three huh? Wonder what that has to do with All Might? A time limit perhaps? It would make sense as to why the hero had left class so suddenly yesterday.

“Before we begin, let me just say one thing. Well, maybe two things. Possibly three, four or five. Listen carefully. I’m sure you’re aware that I have a powerful Quirk. It’s called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust.” Thirteen explained.

“Yeah, you’ve used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven’t you?” Midoriya recalled.

“That’s true, but my Quirk could also very easily be used to kill. Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all Quirks are certified and stringent regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. Please don’t forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly. Even if you’re trying to do something virtuous like rescue someone.” Thirteen declared. It seemed like Japan was a lot more strict with enforcing Quirk laws compared to Otheon. 

“Thanks to Aizawa’s fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your Quirk’s potential. And because of All Might’s combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people. Carry those lessons over to this class. Today, you’re going to learn how to use your Quirks to save people’s lives. You won’t be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that’s what being a hero is all about. Ensuring the safety of others. That’s all I have to say.” Thirteen finished her speech with a bow as Aizawa spoke.

“Right. Now that that’s over–” Their teacher started to say, but stopped as a surge of electricity danced across the dome lights. The fountain sputtered as a dark purple-black void appeared in front of it. A hand pulled it open, revealing a plethora of villains. 

“No way…” Rody breathed, his blood running cold. Villains. Like actual villains. That void was definitely the one he saw at school earlier. Shit! This is bad! Like really bad! The most notable and most likely most dangerous of the villains was the one creating the warp, the man that opened the portal with hand all over his body, and a strange black creature with a beaked mouth.

“Stay together and don’t move! Thirteen, protect the students!” Aizawa commanded putting on his goggles, before turning his attention to the students. “Stay back! This is real. Those are villains.” 

Rody thought they were going to be practicing rescue missions. He definitely didn’t think he’d be busy saving his own life. He figured he would be in danger eventually, just not so soon.

Chapter Text

Villains had infiltrated a school facility and to make matters worse, there were only two heroes present. Rody’s legs were shaking so bad he thought he was going to collapse. He couldn’t fight real villains! He needed to move! Run! Do something, damnit!

“The only real heroes I see are Thirteen and Eraser Head,” The warp villain told their companions. “Perplexing. According to the schedule we retrieved from U.A., All Might should be here as well.”

“So you scumbags used the press as a cover and snuck onto campus.” Aizawa realized.

“Where is he? I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends who’re eager to meet him. They want All Might. The great Symbol of Peace. I can’t believe he’s not here. Maybe if I kill a few kids, he’ll come out to play.” The villain covered in hands thought aloud. His scratchy voice sent shivers down Rody’s spine. 

Rody thought he knew about villains. But it was getting abundantly clear that the villains he had worked for were nothing compared to these guys. This group was just a sample of the evil plaguing this world. If he ever got the chance to encounter Humarise, would they be even scarier?

“What? Real villains? No way. How could so many of ‘em get into a U.A. facility this secure?” Kirishima wondered.

“Yeah, Thirteen. Why aren’t the alarms going off?” Yaoyorozu asked frantically. 

“Good question. I’m not sure.” Thirteen admitted. 

“Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target? Either way, if the alarm sensors aren’t being triggered, then one of these villains must have a Quirk that’s masking their presence here. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught. They’re fools for trespassing here, but they’ve thought this out. Whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind. But what is it?” Todoroki said. 

“Thirteen, get them out of here and alert the main campus. Actually, if they’ve got the ability to block our sensors, then they might be jamming our regular communications, too.” Aizawa stated. “Kaminari, try using your Quirk to contact the school.” As Kaminari tried to get in contact with U.A., Rody went to send a text to Snipe to let him know about the situation…but the message wouldn’t send. He hoped that it would go through eventually. 

“What’re you gonna do? You can’t fight them on your own! There’s too many of ‘em. Even if you can nullify their Quirks, your fighting style’s not suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights. That’s not gonna help with a group.” Midoriya shouted to their teacher.

“You can’t be a pro if you only have one trick. I’ll leave it to you, Thirteen.” Aizawa declared, jumping down from the top of the staircase. He immediately engaged in combat with the villains as Rody and the rest of his class took off running toward the doors.

“Midoriya!” Rody yelled, seeing how his classmate was standing in place, watching their teacher in awe. “¡Muévelo (Move it)!” He grabbed the boy’s hand, and scrambled to follow the rest of his classmates.

“There is no escape for you.” The warp villain’s voice announced as they appeared right in front of Thirteen and the rest of the class. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains. I know it’s impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves in to this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn’t this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath? I believe he was supposed to be here today, and yet I see no sign of him. There must’ve been some sort of change in plans we could not have foreseen. Ah, well, in the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I still have a role to play.”

Just as Thirteen was about to activate her Quirk, Kirishima and Bakugo ran to attack the warp villain. Why would they attack an enemy they know nothing about? If it was up to Rody, he would’ve observed the enemy first and then thought of a way to escape.

“Did ya think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds?” Kirishima wondered as the smoke cleared from Bakugo’s explosion.

“You live up to your school’s reputation. But you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone might get hurt.” The villain warned, as his mist-like body reformed. Rody suspected the mist was hiding his physical form since he caught a glimpse of some kind of neck brace before it got covered.

“You two, get out of the way now!” Thirteen commanded.

“I’ll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades, and your deaths!” And with the villain’s words, the mist enveloped everyone in darkness. 

Rody could feel his footing slip as the mist pushed him into a warp hole. Inky blackness covered his eyes for a brief moment before he was plunged headfirst into water. He immediately began swimming to the surface, keeping Pino secure in a pocket of his pilot’s jacket. Water meant he was probably in the shipwreck zone. Rody hadn’t gone swimming for a long time since he lost his house, but he was glad he remembered how. Seeing movement in the corner of his eye, Rody sped up determined not to die. He had a mission to complete and he was not about to let some nameless villains kill him. There was a rush of bubbles and suddenly he was being carried. Just as he was about to start flailing around, he realized it was Tsu carrying him. Right. Her Quirk was best suited for the water. On the way up, they grabbed Midoriya and ended up on a boat. 

“Thanks for the save, Tsu.” Rody breathed, coughing up some water. Pino was soaking wet, spitting out water like a fountain. 

“You saved my life, Asui.” Midoriya said.

“I told you to call me Tsu.” She replied, climbing up the boat. “Anyways, this is turning out to be a terrible day of class.”

“Oh yeah. Worst day so far.” Rody agreed, taking his jacket off and putting it around his waist. He ruffled Pino’s feathers in an attempt to dry her off as Midoriya spoke.

“Yeah, I keep thinking about what that villain said. They knew our whole schedule and who would be here. They must’ve gotten into school files while we were all stuck in the cafeteria. The teachers were busy trying to get the media off school grounds. That means they’ve been waiting for the perfect time to attack. Just like Todoroki said they were.” Midoriya explained.

“You would think ordinary villains wouldn’t be able to kill someone as strong as All Might.” Rody thought aloud. “But their confidence makes me think they might actually know how. And based on what that warp villain said, we should probably be worrying about ourselves. 

“Look down there.” Tsu pointed down at the water where multiple villains had gathered. It seems that the villains in the water all had Quirks suited for the environment. But it seems that they ignored the Quirks of the students. Interesting.

“If they can beat him, then we have to stop whatever it is these bad guys are planning. We have to work together and keep All Might safe. No one at U.A. knows what’s happening. This is up to us. Let’s be heroes.” Midoriya declared.

“All Might can take care of himself. We’re kids. It’s not our job to fight the battles meant for adults.” Rody protested, his voice a little harsher than intended. “Our best chance for survival is to wait for a hero. But that’s after we get to safety.”

“Think about it. Those villains down there clearly have an advantage in the water, and assume that’s where we’ll fight.” Midoriya muttered, ignoring Rody completely. 

“If that’s the case, they must’ve known what was inside the USJ before they warped in.” Tsu realized.

“Yeah. But for a group with such careful planning, there’s one thing that really sticks out to me, something that just doesn’t add up. They sent you here, Asui–Um, whoops, I meant Tsu! Yeah, they warped you to the shipwreck zone.” Midoriya spoke.

“Right. The villains don’t know what our Quirks are. Their plan was simply to scatter us and overwhelm us with sheer numbers.” Rody shared, finally getting the attention of his classmates again. “They’re staying in the water since they don’t know our powers or how strong we are.”

“So, let’s talk Quirks. I’ll go first if you want.” Tsu suggested. “Obviously, I can jump high and cling to pretty much any wall. And, of course, there’s my tongue. I can stick it out about 20 meters. Oh yeah, and I can spit out my stomach so I can clean it. That’s not really useful. Finally, I also secrete a toxic mucus. It just stings a bit. We can probably only use my jumping and my tongue here. Forget about the last things.”

“I figured you were powerful, but that’s crazy.” Midoriya commented. “I am strong but it comes at a price. Once I use my power, I’m pretty much out of commission. It’s a double-edged sword until I can control it.”

“I’ve got Pino.” Rody sighed, holding up the small pink bird in his hand. “She shows my true emotions, making it virtually impossible to lie. She can act independently from me and her physical state is affected by my health.” His classmates gave him a blank look making him frown, and Pino hid her face behind her wings. “Don’t give me that look.”

“Your power’s incredible, Tamashii! Really! We just have to figure out how to use it!” Midoriya told him hurriedly. Before anything else could happen, a giant claw of water slashed the boat in half. They’d have no choice. They’d have to engage the villains or risk drowning.

“Great. Just great. Pez estúpido cabron. (Stupid fish bastard).” Rody growled under his breath. “Pino, go distract them to buy us some time.” The pink bird chirped loudly in agreement, swooping down to the villains in the water. She fluttered between each villain for a few seconds, chirping at each one as they shooed her away cautiously. 

“For someone who doesn’t want to fight, you’re pretty good at taking charge, Tamashii.” Tsu pointed out.

“Yeah well, I’m an older brother. I’m used to taking charge.” Rody stated. “Besides, I can fight, I just value my own life.” 

“Listen up. An enemy that’s certain of their victory is bound to make a mistake. All Might said something along those lines in a TV interview a while back. Now’s our chance. We can beat them!” Midoriya declared. He looked down at the villains for a split second before jumping off the edge of the boat. “Now die!”

“Midoriya!” Rody called out, watching him recklessly endanger himself. If only he could do something useful! “Pino! Get back here!” 

Pino let out a loud, determined chirp and made her way to Rody as Midoriya activated his Quirk. A powerful gust of wind emitted from the boy’s fingertips, creating a whirlpool that was sucking in the villains. Tsu grabbed Rody and jumped off the boat, grabbing Midoriya with her tongue. Pino followed closely from behind, and Rody watched as the shipwreck zone villains disappeared beneath the waves. 

“Seems like the force from your power knocked those villains out. By the time they wake up, we’ll be long gone.” Rody sighed in relief as they landed toward the edge of the shipwreck zone. “And we couldn’t have done without you Pino. Such a good bird.” He rubbed her head playfully, turning his attention to his classmates.

“Can’t believe we managed to get all of ‘em at once. It took everything I had to keep my composure. It was such a gamble, what if they’d had reserves underwater that we didn’t know about?” Midoriya mumbled. He was putting way too much thought into this. 

“You’re creeping me out. Stop it, please,” Tsu spoke. “Instead of second-guessing what we did, shouldn’t we think about our next move?”

“Yeah. You’re totally right.” Midoriya agreed, wincing in pain. 

“That looks bad. You alright?” Rody asked. “Here. I’ve got just the thing.” He pulled a roll of bandages out from his pocket, wrapping Midoriya’s fingers carefully. “They’re soaked, but should help a little until you can get to a doctor.” 

“Uh, thank you. There’s no need to worry.” The boy told him. “We should make getting help our top priority. If we follow the shore to the exit, then we can avoid the central plaza entirely.”

“Good idea. That way, we don’t run into the villains Mr. Aizawa’s facing off with there.” Tsu agreed.

“If he doesn’t get some backup, then he’s just going to overexert himself. He’ll end up defeated by those villains ‘cause he was trying to keep us safe.” Midoriya stated.

“Are you a fucking idiot!?” Rody shouted, grabbing Midoriya’s shoulder. “We need to get out of here! Aizawa’s job is to keep us safe. You heard him earlier, he’s got tricks up his sleeve so he can fight a large group. We need to leave!”

“I’m not saying that we should jump into the middle of a battle. But…maybe we can find a way to take a few of those guys out and lighten his load.” Midoriya’s face said it all. He wasn’t going to budge on this.

“Fine.” Rody sighed, letting go. “We observe first. If Aizawa’s got it covered, we leave. That’s the only way I’m allowing this.”

“Deal. We’ll get outta here the second it seems dangerous.” He promised as they snuck over to the central courtyard.

The courtyard was littered with villains with varying degrees of injuries. Some were unconscious, while others were barely standing. Aizawa was erasing their Quirks left and right, dealing with them with relative ease. The only problem Rody could see was that Aizawa’s Quirk was starting to reach its limit. The hand villain made his move, and Aizawa was quick to react. He nullified the villain’s Quirk, landing an elbow blow to his stomach. It landed, but not without cost. The villain had gotten hold of Aizawa’s elbow just as his Quirk wore off. 

“It was hard to see when you were jumping around, but I’ve found your tell. It’s your hair. When it drops, it means you’ve stopped using your Quirk. You’re having to blink more often. Don’t push yourself too hard, now. You might just fall apart. Wouldn’t that be a shame?” The villain taunted. Aizawa’s elbow started to crack, then chip off like pieces of stone. His skin was decaying. The hero pushed the villain away, trying to create some distance.

“Holy shit,” Rody whispered, absolutely terrified. His heart was racing so fast he thought it was going to burst out of his chest. His stomach was in knots, and his knees were shaking so bad he thought the villain would hear the water around him rippling. 

“That annoying Quirk of yours isn’t suited for drawn-out fights against big groups, is it? Don’t you think you’re a little out of your element here, Eraser Head? You’re much better at working stealthily. You’re known for surprise attacks, not fighting head-to-head. But despite knowing that, you didn’t hesitate to jump into the middle of this fight. To put your students at ease. And look at you. You’re still standing! You really are so cool! Oh, and by the way, hero. I am not the final boss here.”

All of a sudden, that bird monstrosity was behind Aizawa. And before Rody could blink, Aizawa was getting his head bashed in. Blood was everywhere, the smell of which made Rody sick. The sound of breaking bones filled his ears. Fear kept him from looking away. All he could do was watch.

“What do you think of him, Eraser Head? He’s the bio-engineered, anti-Symbol of Peace. But you can call him Nomu.” The hand guy declared, watching as this Nomu thing snapped Aizawa’s elbow like a twig. “You can erase people’s powers. That’s irritating, but it’s nothing impressive. When faced with true, devastating power, you might as well be a Quirkless child.”

“Tomura Shigaraki.” The warp villain called out, appearing next to him.

“Kurogiri, did you manage to kill Thirteen?” Shigaraki asked curiously, not even bothering to pay attention to Aizawa.

“The rescue hero is out of commission. But there were students I was unable to disperse, and one of them got outside of the facility.” This news seemed to really upset Shigaraki as he began scratching his neck vigorously. It was almost like he was throwing a tantrum. Meanwhile, Rody was glad to hear someone had escaped. It was most likely Iida since he was the fastest. Help was on the way, all he had to do was wait.

“Kurogiri…you fool. If you weren’t our warp gate, I’d tear apart every last atom in your body.” Shigaraki growled. “There’s no way we can win if dozens of pros show up to stop us. It’s game over, back to the title screen. And I was looking forward to finishing this today. Damn it. Let’s go home.”

“They’re leaving?” Rody breathed. There’s no way they’d leave after going through so much trouble.

“That’s what it sounded like to me. But I have real bad feeling about this.” Tsu added.

“It seems weird that they’d retreat at this point, even if help is on the way.” Midoriya agreed. 

“Oh, before we leave, let’s make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken.” Shigaraki turned to look at the three children. Shit! He knew they had been there the whole time! “Let’s wreck his pride. Let’s make this hurt.”

In an instant, Shigaraki was right in front of them with his hand outstretched. Before Midoriya or Rody could act, the villain’s hand was on Tsu’s face. They expected the worst to happen, but nothing did. Aizawa had somehow managed to lift his head and cancel out Shigaraki’s Quirk! Thinking quickly, Rody shoved Tsu back as Aizawa’s head hit the ground. Midoriya sprang out of the water, his fist glowing with energy. With a battlecry, Midoriya swung, creating a huge shockwave. But when the dust cleared, Midoriya hadn’t hit Shigaraki at all. No, he hit Nomu.

“You’re pretty powerful. This ‘Smash’ of yours…are you one of All Might’s disciples? Doesn’t matter. I’m done with you now.” Shigaraki decided. Nomu grabbed the boy’s hand, preparing to strike as Tsu launched her tongue to try and get him out of the way. Shigaraki lunged for Rody, and Pino moved in front of him to block the villain’s hand. His hand latched onto Pino as the doors of the USJ burst open.

“Have no fear, students. I am here!” All Might’s voice rang out loud and clear, stopping Nomu in its tracks. Pino wriggled out of Shigaraki’s grasp unscathed before flying back to Rody. In the blink of an eye, Rody found himself in All Might’s arms with his classmates and teacher. “Everybody, back to the entrance. And take Aizawa with you. He doesn’t have much time.”

“Got it.” Rody and Tsu grabbed their teacher, and Midoriya stood nearby.

“All Might, you can’t! That brain villain took One For–” Midoriya cut himself off suddenly, correcting himself, “I…I smashed him and didn’t break my arm this time, but he wasn’t fazed at all. He’s too strong!” Rody’s eyes narrowed, listening carefully to his classmate’s words. Was he referring to his Quirk? If so, why would he cut himself off? Whatever this One For something was, it was a secret between the two.

“Young Midoriya! I got this.” All Might declared, giving him a smile. Then, the three students were off toward the entrance. 

Midoriya and Rody carried Aizawa as Tsu led them to the others at the top of the staircase. They paused briefly to see how All Might was doing, only to see that Nomu had dug his claws into him and Kurogiri had created a warp gate to trap All Might.

“Asui.” Midoriya spoke up at last.

“Yeah, what is it, Midoriya?” Tsu asked.

“Will you carry Mr. Aizawa for me?”

“Sure, but what’re you gonna do?” Tsu took Midoriya’s spot as the boy raced off toward All Might.

“¿Estás loco? (Are you crazy?)” Rody called after him. “¡Pino, vigilarlo! (Keep an eye on him)” 

The bird followed from a distance as Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima showed up to help rescue All Might and subsequently, save Midoriya from Kurogiri. All Might was able to get out of Nomu’s grip with their help. Now, Shigaraki was alone, facing off against the strongest pro hero, four students, and a tiny bird.

“Hey! We’re all up here!” Uraraka’s voice rang out as they got closer. 

“Hey! Come help us out! Aizawa’s not looking too good!” Rody yelled. Uraraka and the guy with the sugar Quirk, Sato, rushed over to help. Once they got Aizawa to safety, Rody tried to help by using his bandages to try and slow down the bleeding. It wasn’t much, but it was still something. Once he had done all he could, Rody turned his attention to the central courtyard.

The fighting sounded fierce, gusts of wind blew all around the USJ, all of which came from All Might. Rody wanted to go down there and help. He really did. However, he couldn’t just risk his life like that. Roro and Lala need him. He’s the only family they’ve got. But even so, he wants to be useful. If he could just see what was going on…

And suddenly there was an intense warmth in his chest, almost like his very soul was on fire. The nervous pattering of his heart faded until he could no longer hear it. Something wet rolled down his cheeks, but Rody’s hands didn’t move to wipe it away. His vision blurred for a second before refocusing, and he was seeing the battlefield at close range. All Might and the Nomu were throwing punches left and right until the hero was able to get the upper hand. Then, Nomu was flung out of the building and through the air until even Rody couldn’t see it anymore. 

“Um, did a villain just fly by?” Sero’s voice rang out, startling Rody. He felt his enhanced vision start to slip, but managed to maintain focus. 

“Yeah…All Might sent that Nomu packing.” He replied, barely able to get the words out. What the hell? Why was talking an issue now? Was this some kind of drawback? It wasn’t just talking, no, Rody’s whole body felt heavy. And something was pushing against him, like they didn’t want him using his new power this much. But Rody pushed back against whatever was trying to make him stop and was able to keep watching. 

The villains were at a loss now without their strongest member. All Might was saying something, but Rody couldn’t make out what. Then Shigaraki and Kurogiri moved in to attack in what was most likely a last ditch effort. He felt a gust of wind hit his face and somehow he now had an aerial view of the battlefield. He was flying? No, he wasn’t flying. It was Pino. He had sent Pino after Midoriya to keep an eye on him. Which means he was seeing through Pino’s eyes! But why the hell would Pino try to keep him from using this newfound skill? 

BAM! The doors to the USJ burst open as the heroes from U.A. arrived. The loud sound dragged Rody out from his concentrated state, returning his vision to normal. He heard Snipe’s gun go off three times as his vision blurred. He rubbed his eyes aggressively as the man put a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“You’re safe now,” Snipe told him. “I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah. I was doing just fine without you.” Rody pushed his hand away, trying to use his enhanced sight again. Pino blocked him out time and time again as the two main villains got away. The teachers secured the building and gathered all the students at the entrance. 

It wasn’t until Rody’s last attempt did Pino finally acquiesce. The change was even harder this time as his eyes burned and something started running down his face again. But he was not expecting what he saw through Pino’s eyes. Midoriya and All Might were talking, and once again, he couldn’t make out the words. What mattered was All Might’s form. He was not the muscled super hero everyone thought he was. Well, not fully. Half of his body was skinny and frail. Was that the true All Might?

“...shii…mashii…Tamashii!” Snipe’s frantic yelling made Rody blink and he was thrown out of Pino’s vision. Everything he saw was red as he hurriedly rubbed his eyes. 

“¡Qué carajo! (What the fuck!)” Rody cursed, unable to see no matter how hard he tried. 

“Tamashii.” Snipe grabbed his hand. “Everything’s going to be okay. Tell me what’s wrong. Have you always had eye problems?”

“¡No! ¡Nunca he tenido este problema hasta ahora! ¡No puedo ver! (No! I’ve never had this problem ‘til now! I can’t see!)” 

“Vamos a Recovery Girl. Descubrimos qué pasó. Luego iremos a casa, te acomodaré y luego conseguiré Roro y Lala. Vale? (Let’s go to Recovery Girl. We’ll find out what happened. Then we’ll go home, I’ll get you settled, and then get Roro and Lala. Okay?)”

If Rody had the option, he would never go to Recovery Girl ever again. Getting kissed by your abuela at a family dinner is one thing, but having a random elderly woman give you a healing kiss is entirely different. His sight did return to him, but the rest of his body felt entirely drained. He was exhausted before but this was on a whole other level. She said he overused his Quirk which caused the tiny blood vessels in his eyes to break. Then she gave him some antibiotics, a gummy candy, and sent him home. 

Roro and Lala were terribly worried about him, refusing to let him go anywhere in the house without them. He couldn’t even leave the couch without them tagging along. Pino was very angry at him, ignoring every apology attempt. Instead, she turned her head away and pecked his hand every time she sensed him getting close. 

“Lo siento, Pino. Debería haberte escuchado. (I’m sorry Pino. I should have listened to you.” Rody sighed as the bird continued to ignore him. “¿Qué quieres de mí? ¿Una disculpa pública? A quien le concierna, yo, Rody Soul, ¡soy una idiota! (What do you want from me? A public apology? To whoever this concerns, I’m an idiot!)”

Rody’s phone buzzed as he finished his anger-driven rant, preventing him from seeing Pino’s reaction as he pulled the device out of his pocket. It was from an unknown Japanese number, so he knew for a fact it wasn’t Stanleyk’s personal cell. 

“Greetings, Rody Soul. Congratulations on surviving thus far. Keep up the good work. Contact me with any updates.” Rody looked at the message on screen for a moment, re-reading it over and over again before replying. He wanted to look into All Might more before reporting anything. That way he could get all the necessary information. 

“Took you long enough to reach out. Will let you know any new developments. What should I call you?”

“Beros.”

Bonus Scene:

Shigaraki was beyond pissed. His whole plan had gone to shit. His Nomu was with the heroes, and his intel was entirely wrong. All Might hadn’t gotten weaker! Not one bit! Plus that green-haired brat got in the way! And then, he was shot five fucking times! What kind of hero does something like that?

“We failed. Those kids were so strong. And the Symbol of Peace wasn’t weakened at all.” Shigaraki growled, looking up at the screen in front of him. “You were wrong, Master. So wrong!”

“No, I wasn’t. We just weren’t as prepared as we should’ve been.” His master’s voice rang out, calm as always. 

“I agree. We underestimated them. Thankfully, we failed under that cheap “League of Villains” name and not our own.” Another man’s voice spoke from the TV. “And what about the creature the Master and I created? Where is Nomu?”

“Yes, why is he not with you?”

“He was blown away. It was All Might’s doing. Without coordinates to his precise location, I couldn’t use my warp to bring him with us. We didn’t have any time to search for him.” Kurogiri explained.

“This is a travesty. And after all we did to make him as powerful as All Might.” The second voice exclaimed.

“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. Unfortunately.” His Master sighed.

“Power. That reminds me. There was a kid there who tried to protect All Might. He was just as fast as him. If he hadn’t gotten in our way, we might have killed the Symbol of Peace. That brat…that brat!” Shigaraki repeated angrily, scratching his nails across the floor.

“Stop throwing a tantrum. You’re acting like a little kid.” A girl in a green cloak stepped out from the shadows of the bar with her arms folded in front of her. 

“Why the hell are you making snide remarks? You’re just some unnecessary outside help. A useless NPC.” Shigaraki stated. 

“My apologies, Miss Beros.” Master spoke.

“It’s fine. I’ll continue to play babysitter just as long as you hold up your end of the deal.”

“Of course.” The master turned his attention back to Tomura in an attempt to calm him down. “Naturally you’re upset. However, this was not a futile mission. We’ve learned many things. Gather the villainous elite. Take all the time you need. I must remain hidden in the shadows, which is why I need you to be my face. A symbol of your own. Tomura Shigaraki, next time you will show the world that it should be afraid of you.”

“Master, there was someone else. He had a small pink bird. I grabbed it with all five fingers and the bird didn’t disintegrate.” Shigaraki complained. “What the hell is up with that?”

“I’m taking care of it.” Beros spoke up. “That bird and its owner won’t be a problem. In fact, I’ve got him right where I want him.”

Chapter Text

U.A. gave the class a day off as a sort of compensation for the villain attack. Rody stayed home all day while his siblings went off to school. He tried to go with Snipe to his teacher meeting, but was told he couldn’t because it was ‘adult stuff’ or something. Pino was still upset with him, but it was more like an aggressive ‘you better relax’ glare rather than the ‘I hate you’ look. Oh well. At least being home alone would give him the time to mull over what happened at the USJ. 

He read the message from Beros for what felt like the millionth time. She had known he would be there at the USJ which meant she was in the League of Villains or at least associated with them. Rody couldn’t recall if there was anyone named Beros during the attack, but the villain could’ve been anywhere or going under a codename. Was he supposed to help the villains? No, he had explicit instructions to not blow his cover. A heads up about the attack would’ve been nice if Beros knew he was going to be there. Ugh, no, cause phone records and–

“I give up!” Rody exclaimed, dropping his phone on the kitchen table. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “How am I supposed to do my job if no one tells me shit!” He rubbed his eyes in annoyance as Pino pecked his hand away. “At least you’re honest with me.” Pino gave him a look as if to say, ‘well duh,’ before perching on his head with a chirp. Realizing he wasn’t going to be able to make any decisive leads on his U.A. investigation, Rody decided his day would be better spent conserving what little energy he had left. Snipe would be picking up his siblings from school so he was free to go sleep the day away. 

The next day of school was…hectic to say the least. All the news outlets were talking about the USJ attack, highlighting All Might’s heroics. They were glorifying a traumatic event that could have killed twenty 15-16 year olds because it made the number one hero look good. There were no student interviews, and no feedback from Thirteen or Aizawa, who were there fighting the whole time. It didn’t help that Rody’s whole class wouldn’t shut up about the incident. Most were thrilled about the publicity. However there were a few exceptions: Midoriya seemed more jittery than normal, playing with his fingers and mumbling. Iida was more rigid, as if trying to regain a sense of control. Uraraka was talking with her classmates, but her smile didn’t sit right on her face. Todoroki was doing something similar to Rody, sitting back and scanning the room for danger.

“Morning, class.” The door slid open to reveal Mr. Aizawa covered head to toe in bandages much to the surprise of everyone present. Shouldn’t he be resting? His injuries were quite severe after all. “Listen up, your fight isn’t over yet.” Those words sent shivers down Rody’s spine as Pino flew up into the air to survey the scene. His leg bounced up and down as his eyes darted back and forth from his desk to the door. More villains? “The U.A. Sports Festival is about to start.”

“Gracias a Dios (thank God).” Rody breathed, leaning his head on his desk. A sports festival sounded pretty relaxing. Finally something normal. His classmates seemed pretty excited too, until Jiro said something that made them all quiet down.

“Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?” She asked.

“They could attack once we’re all in the same place.” Another classmate, Ojiro, added. 

“Apparently, the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever. Plus, they’re beefing up security compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all students at U.A. It’s not something we can cancel because of a few villains.” Aizawa explained.

“Isn’t it just a sports festival?” Rody wondered aloud, “Can’t they just reschedule?”

“Oh that’s right! Tamashii, you don’t know how important this competition is, do you?” Midoriya questioned, looking back at him. 

“Nope. And judging by the fact our teacher keeps talking about it, I assume it’s not like a fútbol game.” He replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Why couldn’t this school host a normal event for once?

“Our sports festival is one of the most-watched events in the entire world. In the past, everyone obsessed over the Olympic games, but then Quirks started appearing. Now, the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition, there’s only one tournament that matters. The U.A. Sports Festival.” Aizawa continued.

“That’s right. And the top heroes everywhere will be watching. This is where you get scouted.” Yaoyorozu declared. 

“Great.” Rody groaned as Pino dramatically fell over on his desk. Of course, the school he is forced to attend hosts an event that surpassed the fucking Olympics. But that wasn't the only problem. It’s a televised event. Rody would be on TV, in front of the whole world. So much for laying low. He could just lose on purpose, but if he didn’t do well he wouldn’t be able to get information on the top heroes…

“Joining a famous hero agency can garner you greater experience and popularity. That’s why the festival matters. If you wanna go pro one day, then this event could open the path for you. One chance a year, three chances in a lifetime. No aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival.” Aizawa announced before dismissing class.

After that, everyone gathered into their own groups, excitedly chatting about the upcoming festival. Rody found himself with Midoriya and company as they were the only people he felt comfortable with. He leaned on Iida’s desk, ignoring the look he was getting and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He thought his brain was gonna explode. 

“This is nuts! Everyone’s so excited.” Midoriya observed.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Rody grumbled.

“Of course we’re excited. We enrolled at this school with the sole aim to become heroes. So naturally, we’re all getting fired up.” Iida stood up from his desk enthusiastically, “You two have to be excited as well, right?”

“Well, yeah, of course I am! And also nervous.” Midoriya admitted, like that wasn’t already obvious. 

“I’m…just nervous.” Rody sighed. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m not sure what to expect.”

“Deku! Iida! Tamashii!” Uraraka’s voice interrupted the conversation, drawing their attention. She had a very serious look on her face, a mix of nerves and determination. “Let’s do our best in the sports festival.”

Once homeroom and morning classes were over, Rody met up with his friends on his way to lunch. He was going to have lunch with Shinso, but the boy had texted him saying he wanted to be left alone. 

“Hey, Uraraka?” Midoriya spoke as the group made their way to the cafeteria. “Why did you decide to come to U.A.? What made you wanna be a pro hero?”

“Oh…Well..Because…” Uraraka stuttered, clearly caught off guard by the question. “Um…for the money.” She stated, her voice near silent as finished speaking. 

“Uh…For the money? You wanna be a hero so you can get rich?” Midoriya exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. Pino was about to let out a loud chirp, but Rody covered her mouth quickly. Money, huh? He didn’t think she’d be one of those money-chasing heroes. 

“If we’re cutting to the chase, then, yeah.” Uraraka said, embarrassed. “I’m sorry if it sounds greedy. You two have such admirable motivations. We don’t know Tamashii’s reasoning, but I’m sure it’s better than mine. I hope you guys don’t think less of me now.” 

“Not at all! Your goal is to support your wellbeing which is a perfectly admirable ambition to have.” Iida told her. 

“Mmm-hmm. It’s just kinda surprising.” Midoriya added. Rody could only nod. He found himself judging her, but wasn’t money the whole reason he was here?

“Well, you see, my family owns a construction company, but we haven’t gotten any work lately, so we’re flat broke. Anyway, this isn’t really something I usually tell other people, but…” Uraraka trailed off, not even making eye contact with them.

“If she got licensed, I bet she could use her Quirk to bring costs down a lot.” Midoriya commented.

“And they could sell their heavy-lifting equipment. She could float everything!” Iida realized.

“I know, right? I’ve been telling Dad that since I was a kid! But…he wants me to focus on my dreams instead. So I’m gonna become a pro. I’ll sign with a good agency and make plenty of money. Then I’ll be able to let my parents have an easy life!” Uraraka declared. 

“I understand.” Rody said at last. She wasn’t money hungry by any means, she just wants to help her family, like how he’s doing everything he can to provide for Roro and Lala. “You can do it.”

“Thanks, Tamashii!” Uraraka smiled, encouraged by his words. “So, why do you wanna be a hero?”

“I was wondering about that as well. You traveled overseas after all. That couldn’t have been easy.” Iida spoke. 

“Why I wanna be a hero?” Rody got quiet as Pino hid herself in his uniform jacket. He hadn’t thought of a cover story for this question. He should have, but there are so many other things on his list of priorities. He doesn’t even want to be a hero! He wants to be a pilot! But he can’t tell them that he impersonated a potential student just so he can prove himself for his less-than-legal work. 

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to!” Midoriya cut in frantically. “We were just curious.”

“Well…my reasoning’s not that impressive. The hero schools back home are pretty crappy. Plus they're in the cities so it's really difficult for regular people to get in. So, I figured my chances were better abroad.” Rody told them, trying to think of something. “And–”

“Young Midoriya is here!” All Might burst onto the scene, loudly interrupting the conversation. Rody stumbled back from his loud voice as Pino shot up from his jacket in alarm. 

“Whoa, All Might! What are you doing here?” Midoriya asked.

“Lunch! You wanna eat with me?”

Midoriya and All Might wandered off together, and Iida and Uraraka went to the cafeteria. Rody made an excuse about accidentally leaving his lunch in his bag so he could get away. It wasn’t too hard to find the teacher’s lounge since he ended up running into a third-year who managed to point him in the right direction. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hear much of All Might’s conversation with Midoriya. He caught a few snippets, piecing together a few things. Midoriya seemed to be a successor of some kind and All Might had a time limit to his hero form. And Midoriya’s Quirk was passed on somehow. 

Rody’s hand hovered over the pocket holding his phone, but he couldn’t bring himself to relay this information to Beros. It felt…wrong. This was clearly a secret and it wasn’t like it was hurting anyone. Midoriya could barely even control this power and All Might would stop being a hero eventually. He could afford to keep this secret.

“Tamashii, what are you doing in front of the teacher’s lounge?” Aizawa’s tired voice dragged Rody out of his thoughts. He spun around, a nervous smile already forming on his face.

“Mr. Aizawa, there you are! I was just looking for you!”

“Really?” 

“Mhm. I was just wondering…” Rody thought for a moment before continuing, “If you could give me some advice.”

“What kind of advice?” The teacher still sounded skeptical, and Rody knew he had to sprinkle in some truth to make his lie sound believable. 

“It’s about your eyes. The side effect of your Quirk to be more specific.” Rody blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “See, I recently discovered a new part of my Quirk and it took quite a toll on my vision. Recovery Girl gave me some antibiotics, but now whenever I’m stressed I rub my eyes and irritate them. So I was wondering how you manage.”

“So that’s what this is about. Snipe told me you might want to talk, but he didn’t go into detail about it. My eyes get tired because they dry out, hence the eyedrops. Tell me more about your side-effects.”

“Well, it’s hard to activate and takes a lot of concentration. At first, my eyes just watered and my vision got blurry from that. But then I burst some blood vessels or something and they started bleeding. And before I knew it, I couldn’t see. I think I just pushed too hard, but I wanted to get your opinion.”

“It sounds like a simple case of Quirk overuse. Happens a lot with students who discover new abilities from training. With time and effort these drawbacks should become less severe. Just in case, I would head to the support department after school today. You should put in an order for gear to help take off some of the strain on your eyes should it become unbearable. However, don’t become dependent on it.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Afternoon classes resumed as per usual, with the main focus being hero work. The course seemed a lot easier after the USJ incident, but Aizawa would probably increase the difficulty after the Sports Festival. The difficult thing at the moment was leaving the classroom. There was a mob of students in front of the door, blocking the way out. 

“Um, why the heck are you all here?” Uraraka exclaimed.

“Do you have some business with our class?” Iida wondered, trying to understand the situation.

“I feel like blocking the doorway is a bit much.” Rody sighed as Pino anxiously looked for a way around the giant group. 

“They’re scouting out the competition, idiots.” Bakugo stated, making his way to the front. “We’re the class that survived a real villain attack.” He turned his attention to the group of students, glaring. “At least you know what a future pro looks like. Now move it, extras.”

“A little harsh, dontcha think?” Rody mumbled. 

“So this is Class 1-A.” Shinso’s voice rang out as the boy made himself visible amidst the crowd. “I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass. Is everyone in the hero course delusional, or just you? How sad to come here and find a bunch of ego maniacs.” He locked eyes with Rody before continuing, “I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here, I was forced to choose a different track. Such is life. I didn’t cut it the first time around, but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us to the hero course. And they’ll have to transfer people out to make room.”

“So you came to threaten us, is that it?” Rody spoke up, walking up to Shinso. “You’re saying that if we don’t do our best, you’ll take someone’s place, right hero?”

“That’s right. It’s a declaration of war.” 

“I accept. You better do your best, hero. Cause if you don’t, I’ll end up crushing those dreams of yours.”

Rody was quite busy leading up to the Sports Festival. He had to keep his grades up which was the easiest part. He had to fully make amends with Pino so he could get used to switching between her sight and his. And of course, he needed to make more connections with his classmates. He was able to get closer to Midoriya and gain access to some of his hero notes, including the ones on his classmates. Then on top of in-class training, Rody did lots and lots of independent work. He managed to get in a few training sessions with Ojiro, Shoji, and Sato to work on his fighting skills. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were helpful for working with Pino, and despite not getting along with her, worked with Yaoyorozu who helped him think of a few strategies he could use. And before he knew it, it was the day of the festival.

The school grounds were packed even before students arrived. There was a huge line that gathered around the main entrance full of news reporters, spectators, and pro heroes. Rody was able to take a side entrance with the rest of his class to avoid everyone. Roro and Lala would be in the stands with the Principal Nedzu, since Snipe would be with his third year students. While waiting for the festival to start, Todoroki made his own declaration of war to Midoriya, saying how he’d surpass him or something. Rody wasn’t sure why Todoroki did this, but he would figure that out before the festival ended. Then a few minutes later, it was time for the festival to begin.

“Welcome back to the U.A. Sports Festival where up-and-coming heroes give everything on the field as they fight for the chance to achieve worldwide fame and celebrity! This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them from withstanding a villain attack. They’re the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid gold skills. That’s right! It’s the hero course students of Class 1-A!”

Chapter Text

After Present Mic’s introduction, Rody and the rest of his class stepped out into the stadium as the crowd cheered loudly. All the attention made Rody’s heart pound. He wasn’t used to so much publicity. Rody tried to calm himself, taking slow, deep breaths as Pino chirped and shook anxiously. The rest of the first-year classes were introduced, and they gathered in front of Midnight, who was in charge of running the first-year events.

“For the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!” She announced, much to everyone’s dismay. He was first in the hero-course entrance exams sure, but was he really fit for something like this? Bakugo made his way to the stage as silence fell over the crowd in anticipation.

“I just wanna say…I’m gonna win.” The boy declared, causing a major uproar amongst the students. Rody sighed as Iida went to scold him, trying to salvage what little good graces they had left with the other classes.

“Why would you be so disrespectful? You represent us all.”

“Not my fault the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory.” Bakugo stated, walking away. Of course he’d say something like that. Now Class 1-A had a huge target on its back. But Rody could work with this. He had to find his own way to stand out after all so if he could surpass these other kids with arguably better than Quirks, then he’d get noticed by the pros. And if he did that, he could get invaluable information to Beros. 

“Without further ado, it’s time for us to get started!” Midnight took the stage again as a beep went off, quieting everyone down. The first fateful game of the festival: The Obstacle Race! All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium. As long as you don’t leave the course, you’re free to do whatever your heart desires.”

With that, everyone lined up in front of the exit of the stadium. While the green lights counted down, Rody was already thinking. The hallway looked too narrow for all the students to pass through without squashing each other, which means he’d need to go up. Just as he was about to start go over other potential obstacles, the race began.

It was just like Rody thought, students were trying to shove past each other to no avail. He hung back for a bit so he wouldn’t get caught up in the mob and began climbing onto people’s shoulders. Then he ran across them like he would rooftops back home. He received a couple of shouts of annoyance from the people below him, the others were so focused on those around them, they barely noticed Rody. As he made his way closer to the end of the tunnel, he felt a chill run down his spine as ice covered the whole tunnel. Thankfully, Rody was fine since he wasn’t touching the walls or floor and exited right behind Todoroki. He hit the ground running, the ice barely affecting him. The streets of Otheon were pretty slippery after it rained, and it wasn’t too different from sliding down a metal banister on the street.

“Thanks for making it easier for me.” Rody teased with a grin on his face. Some other kids from his class dodged the ice attack, and quite a few students from other classes managed to avoid it as well. Rody continued following Todoroki, staying in second place. This was just the first activity planned for the Sports Festival, and there would be other events he would need to focus on. Knowing U.A., first place was probably akin to a death sentence. 

As they both entered a large clearing, Rody narrowly avoided a green blur that attempted to run into him. He stopped, wanting to see what the hazard was. A horde of green robots, each with different numbers painted on them in white. And looking in the direction he was supposed to be going, a bunch of ginormous robots were blocking the path ahead. 

“It’s those robots from the entrance exam!” Rody heard Midoriya’s voice call out, as Pino let out a screech of alarm. Kids had to fight robots? For an entrance exam?! What kind of school is this?!

“So this is what the students faced in their exams.” Todoroki thought aloud, “They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they’d prepared something a little more difficult. Especially since my dear old dad is watching.” Ice erupted out from underneath him, trailing behind his right hand. It spiked upward, freezing the robots in place precariously. Rody took off like a shot, pulling ahead. The ice didn’t look strong enough to hold something as big as those robots. He’d have time to back off later, but he had to make sure he wouldn’t get crushed by debris or caught in a fight.

And sure enough, the next obstacle definitely slowed Rody down. It was a giant pit with large stony pillars connected only by some kind of tightrope. He crouched down, plucking the material with his finger. Sturdy, but definitely not safe to walk across. Jumping from platform to platform wouldn’t work since the gaps were too wide. He could wait for Todoroki and use his ice, but he had no idea if the ice would hold over the open space. Ugh, he’d actually have to do this on his own. With an exaggerated sigh, Rody began his slow crawl over the obstacle. 

Unfortunately, this had slowed him down quite a bit, putting him way behind those in the top ten. However, the next obstacle was a joke. It was an open field littered with buried mine fields or what were supposed to be mine fields. And thanks to years of experience running in far worse conditions, Rody caught up in no time. Todoroki and Bakugo were fighting each other while they ran, trying to take that coveted first-place position. Rody trailed behind them, keeping away from any stray blasts or ice shards. His distance came in handy as Midoriya made a huge explosion and took the lead. Rody ended up giving chase, slowing down just a tad and he ended up in second. 

“The contestants are pouring in one after the other! Let’s hear some applause for all our competitors as we prepare the results.” Present Mic’s voice boomed over the speakers, barely audible over the cheering crowd. Rody looked over at where the teachers were sitting, smiling as he saw Roro and Lala jumping up and down excitedly. He sent Pino over to see them as he caught his breath. God, he was so tired already. 

“Midoriya, congrats on first place.” Rody told the green-haired boy who was busy wiping away tears.

“It was nothing.” Midoriya replied modestly. “I honestly got really lucky. You barely slowed down at all, Tamashii. It was really impressive.”

“Eh, not really, but I appreciate the compliment.” Rody shrugged his shoulders, about to speak more, when Midnight started talking.

“The first game for the first years is finally over, and what a game it was! Now, let’s take a look at the standings, shall we?” Midnight gestured to the monitors where Rody found himself in second, which he already knew, with Todoroki in third and Bakugo in fourth. “Only the top 42 will advance to the next round. But don’t be too let down if you didn’t make the cut! We’ve prepared other opportunities for you to shine.”

“No me gusta cómo lo dijo. (I don’t like how she said that)” Rody mumbled, despite knowing that the statement was not directed at him. 

“Now the real fun is about to begin. The chance to fully move yourselves into the limelight! Give it your best! Prepare yourselves for this!” Midnight announced as the words ‘Cavalry Battle’ appeared on screen. “The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit. In theory, it’s basically the same as a regular playground game. But there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course. The point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the bottom. And the point value assigned to the first place contestant is…ten million! It’s survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!”

“Ten million…” Midoriya squeaked out, frozen like a statue. Pino, who had just gotten back from the stands, sat on top of his head as if comforting him.

“Here are the rules you’ll abide by. The game itself will last 15 minutes. Individual point values will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you’re worth thanks to your headbands. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team’s score. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder it’ll be to manage them. And another thing. Even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls down, you can keep playing until time’s up.”

Then everyone split up to create teams, leaving Rody with his thoughts. He had basically declared war on Todoroki and Bakugo, so he knew for a fact they wouldn’t want to team up with him. He couldn’t go with Shinso since they were competing against each other as well. Rody couldn’t really show off Pino, so no one from the other classes knew what he was capable of. And now that he was thinking about it, no one besides Tsu and Midoriya knew what his Quirk actually did. 

“Tamashii, want to join us?” Uraraka’s voice rang out, dragging Rody out of his thoughts. She was with Midoriya and some girl from the support course.

“Why should I?” Rody asked. He did not like the spotlight on him, and he definitely didn’t want the attention that came with having ten million points. 

“Please, Tamashii. I think Pino will be able to help us out defensively. Besides, we need a strong front horse. Your agility makes you perfect for the job.” Midoriya chimed in.

“I don’t know. It’s a huge risk for me. I expect some form of compensation.”

“Compensation? Like money?” 

“Money, a favor…doesn’t matter.”

“Alright. A favor then in exchange for your help.”

“Pleasure doing business with you. So, what’s the strategy?”

Turns out, their strategy was one that Rody was good at: running away. The gear from the support course girl gave them good aerial mobility and Uraraka’s Quirk made it easier to move around. Pino ran good interference against the others since she couldn’t get hurt by anything. She would just pop back up good as new. The group had a close call against Todoroki’s team, but with Pino managing to snag a headband at the last minute, they were able to make it to the next round.

Before the individual matches, there was a one-hour lunch break, which Rody spent with Roro and Lala. They talked over each other excitedly, asking questions Rody didn’t have all the answers to, but did his best to reply anyway. Roro showed Rody some pictures he had taken on his camera, while Lala drew a couple of pictures. Everything was going well until Midoriya came over to the table with a serious look on his face. He looked as if he wanted to speak, but couldn’t bear to ruin the family moment.

“Roro, Lala, you guys see anything you like at the merch stands outside?” Rody asked. Roro’s eyes widened in surprise, looking between Midoriya and his brother. It wasn’t every day that they had the money to go buy things that weren’t necessities. 

“Yeah. Is it really okay though?” Roro asked, the question breaking Rody’s heart. 

“Of course. Snipe said you guys could get whatever you wanted.” Rody lied, pressing the hero’s credit card into his brother’s hands. “Just stay close to each other. And call Snipe if you’re in trouble.” 

“We will!” Lala chimed in excitedly, grabbing Roro’s hand. Rody watched them go until they were out of sight before focusing on Midoriya.

“So…what’s going on?” 

“Well, it’s hard to explain,” Midoriya mumbled, sitting down. “Sorry for cutting your family time short.”

“You can make it up to me by telling me whatever’s making you so mopey.” Rody leaned back in his chair, even more interested in what was bothering his classmate. 

“Right. Um, Tamashii, do they have Quirk marriages in Otheon?” Midoriya’s leg bounced as he voiced the question. He clutched his pant leg tightly, staring at the floor.

“They’re not uncommon, especially if someone needs the money and is marrying a rich person. It happens a lot with younger women.” Of course Rody knew of Quirk marriages. They were terrible, terrible things. It only added to the protectiveness he felt for his siblings, especially Lala.

“I see. Todoroki…told me some things about his family and why he was born. It just doesn’t sit right with me. How can something like this happen? How can a hero like Endeavor, a person who is supposed to embody justice, be someone so horrible?” 

“There are people out there, Midoriya, that put on this facade for the rest of the world. To make them think they’re this stand-up person. But behind closed doors, they’re nothing more than a monster. It’s the way of the world. Wherever there’s good, evil surely follows.”

“How am I supposed to be a good friend to Todoroki? I want to help him, but…I don’t know how to.”

“Just pester him ‘til he gives in to the inevitabilities of friendship.” 

“Huh?” Midoriya looked at him with wide eyes, clearly not expecting that kind of response.

“You did that to me, didn’t you? Uraraka invited me to join you guys on the first day, remember? Now we walk to the train station together every day, and you drag me over to eat lunch with you at least once a week. I’d say we’re friends at this point, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah, but–”

“Just be yourself, Midoriya. Show Todoroki that he’s more than what he thinks he is.”

“I will. Thank you, Tamashii.” Midoriya smiled at him, returning to his usual demeanor. Rody couldn’t help but smile back, happy he was back to normal. “I suppose I owe you another favor.”

“Mmmm…nah. I’ll let this one slide.” Rody got up from his seat. “I’ve gotta go prepare for my match. See ya later.”

Rody hoped his advice helped. Honestly, he had no idea what he was talking about; he was just trying to sound comforting while mixing in some advice he had heard on a radio station once. But now he needed to focus on the task at hand. He needed to get as close to victory as possible. The more sponsorships, the better. After all, this was still a job, and Rody needed to get paid.

Chapter Text

The matches before Rody’s went by fairly quickly. He didn’t pay too much attention to them, instead, trying to relax and strategize before his own fight. He would be facing Yaoyorozu, so he definitely needed a plan if he was going to outsmart her. 

“Let’s not let this hot streak cool! Time to move on to the sixth match!” Present Mic’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers as Rody entered the stadium. He looked straight ahead, ignoring the crowd’s cheers while Pino perched stiffly on his shoulder.

“Big bro!” He heard Roro and Lala’s voices from behind him. He turned his head slightly to see Lala halfway over the railing with Roro trying to pull her back into the stands. Nedzu was standing nearby, trying to calm his overexcited little sister.

“He’s sped past every challenger in his way! Coming here all the way from Otheon! From the hero course, it’s Sora Tamashii! And his opponent: the great creator. She was admitted because of recommendations, and I think we can all see why. Also from Class 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu!”

Rody watched his classmate closely, seeing how she was spacing out while Present Mic finished introductions. She was a good strategist, but she tended to overthink and doubt herself. But if she summoned something with a lot of offensive power, Rody was screwed. But if she made something more on the defensive side, he might be able to find a way around it; however, Pino wouldn’t be able to help as much. In any case, he’d have to strike first to distract her. 

A horn blared, and the sixth match officially began. Pino flew at Yaoyorozu, Rody following close behind. She created a shield as Pino got closer, the bird’s body making an audible bang as she hit the metal surface. The bird slid down to the ground as Yaoyorozu began to create a weapon for her to retaliate. Unfortunately for her, Rody was already in front of her. He grabbed the shield, forcing it aside. She stumbled back to catch her footing, giving Rody the perfect opening, as he landed a punch on her stomach. She let go of her shield in the process, backing away to gain some distance. 

“¿Cómo se usa esto? (How do you use this?)” Rody held the shield up, trying to get a feel for its weight. It was a bit too heavy for his liking, which would definitely slow him down. 

So, Rody did the one thing he could think of: he threw it. His newfound weapon made contact with Yaoyorozu’s new shield, making her slide back. She created a quarterstaff to keep Pino away as the bird rejoined the fight. With Yaoyorozu distracted, Rody grabbed his shield and rammed into her with as much strength as he could muster. She fell to the ground as Midnight spoke up. 

“Yaoyorozu! You’re out!” The hero announced, making the girl look down to find that over half her body was now out of bounds. “This match goes to Tamashii!”

Rody couldn’t help smiling; the nervousness he was feeling earlier leaving his body. He was relieved his strategy worked out so well. Pino let out a happy sounding chirp and landed on his head with her chest puffed out proudly. Rody set the shield down, helping Yaoyorozu up. He gave her a small nod and walked off, his brain already thinking of strategies for his round 2 matchup. 

Roro and Lala went to congratulate their brother on his victory, but ended up getting lost in the maze of stadium halls. They all looked the same, and the signs were difficult to read. Lala hadn’t noticed, playing with her new plushie she had gotten while Roro had bought a zip-up jacket of a cool looking ninja hero. Lala’s plush was of this hero with red wings, and she claimed it reminded her of Rody. They had bought a couple of other things, and some stuff for Rody to congratulate him after the festival.

“Lala, slow down.” Roro called after her, hearing an angry man’s voice from up ahead. He couldn't see who was yelling and didn’t want to see something he shouldn’t. Besides, they had been away from Nedzu long enough; he was probably worried about them. As they got closer, Roro and Lala noticed one of their brother’s classmates walking away from a tall, scary looking man with a fire Quirk. Roro recognized the boy as Shoto, his teacher’s little brother. Sometimes Roro would see him waiting for Ms. Fuyumi when Rody or Snipe picked them up from school.

“Shoto, get back here! I’m not done talking!” The man shouted as Shoto walked away, not even bothering to look at him. Lala tried to stop upon hearing his voice, but wasn’t able to slow down in time and ran into the scary man’s leg. 

“Lo siento...” Lala whispered, backing away hurriedly. She clutched her plush tightly, holding it against her body. Roro ran over, checking to see if she was alright as Shoto stopped and turned around.

“Are you okay?” Shoto asked Lala, concerned. Lala nodded, sniffling as she held back tears. 

“Watch where you’re going, damn brat.” The man growled. “Well, aren’t you going to apologize?” He glared at her expectantly, while Lala froze, trying to remember the word for ‘sorry’ in Japanese. 

“She already apologized.” Roro spoke, his voice trembling. Just be brave. Be like Rody. You can do this.

“Excuse me?” The flames on his costume flared up as Shoto moved right up to the man.

“You heard him. His sister already apologized.” Shoto stated. 

“You’d believe some kid that easily? I’m disappointed in you, Shoto.” The man pushed past the boy, stopping in front of Lala, whose body was shaking. “Kids her age should be respectful to their elders. Seems she’ll have to learn that the hard way.” His hand reached over in Lala’s direction, making her scream as loud as she could.

“Father, stop!” 

“Don’t touch her!” Roro brought Lala close to him, extending the palm of his left hand outward. A barrier projected outward, wrapping around them like a protective bubble. It was purple with small red smudges scattered throughout. Sparks of lightning danced along the outside, accompanied by tiny embers. The man retracted his hand, surprise written all over his features.

Roro glared at the man defiantly, doing his best to stop his body from shaking. This man reminded him of the time he had manifested his Quirk. They didn’t have their trailer house yet, and they got jumped by three guys in an alleyway. Roro didn’t remember why, but they were probably looking for money. Either way, Roro remembers making his first ward, protecting himself and Lala, but it didn’t cover Rody. His brother got hurt badly, and Roro hadn’t used his Quirk since.

“What the hell are you doing, Dad?” Shoto questioned, his voice low. Ice was already crawling up his arm, ready to attack if necessary. “This is between you and me. Don’t involve these kids.” 

“Roro! Lala!” Roro perked up upon hearing his brother’s voice, making ripples of yellow flutter through his barrier. “¿Estás bien? No estás herido, ¿verdad? (Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?)”

“No.” Lala sniffed loudly as Roro shook his head. He lowered his hand, deactivating his Quirk, knowing that they’d be safe with their brother there. The siblings hugged Rody tightly, feeling his hands rub their heads affectionately. 

“What were you gonna do to my siblings, you bastard?” Rody wondered, getting ready to fight the man in front of him. Based on Midoriya’s description from earlier, this man was Endeavor, Todoroki’s father. “Get the fuck away from them or else.” Endeavor looked between all of them, opening his mouth to shout more when another voice chimed in.

“Enji.” It was Nedzu, and the principal did not sound happy in the slightest. “I think it’s time you return to the stands.” The hero looked at them all one by one as if assessing the situation. Then, he scoffed and stomped away in a huff. 

“Sorry.” Roro apologized, letting go of his brother. He wiped his tears away with the sleeve of his new jacket, afraid the scary man would turn around and yell.

“No hay nada por lo que ustedes deban disculparse. Solo me alegra que ambos estén bien. (There’s nothing you guys need to apologize for. I’m just glad you’re both okay.)” Rody told him. Pino rubbed against the boy’s cheek, doing the same for Lala a few seconds after. “With all due respect, principal, I don’t want that so-called hero near my siblings ever again.”

“Of course. I understand completely. My apologies, I should’ve been watching them more closely.” Nedzu said, with a bow.

“Good.” Rody turned his attention to his siblings, who were beginning to calm down. “As much as I want to stay with you, you need to go back with Nedzu, okay?”

“Okay.” They replied with as much enthusiasm as they could muster. 

“And stay out of trouble, ya hear?”

“We will.” They declared, running over to the principal. Rody watched them leave as the adrenaline slowly left his body. They were safe now. Nothing happened. Everything’s okay.

“Tamashii…” Todoroki’s voice interrupted his train of thought. “Don’t you have a match to prepare for?” 

“Oh, ah, not yet. The arena’s getting repaired from your fight with Midoriya. I tried to go see him, but he was unconscious. That’s when I heard Roro’s voice and…” Rody trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. If he hadn’t gotten there in time, what would’ve happened? 

“I’m sorry. He was worked up from an argument we were having. I didn’t expect him to–” Shoto started to speak, but Rody cut him off.

“Todoroki, it’s not your fault. Don’t apologize for something he did. You tried to protect my siblings. Thank you very much.” 

“It’s time to get this party started! The second round matches are about to resume!” Present Mic’s voice boomed from the loudspeakers, cutting off any words that were about to be exchanged. Rody gave Todoroki a quick bow and ran off. He had little time to mentally reset, but regardless, he needed to keep going. He needed to get as close to victory as possible for the mission.

Rody’s match against Mina did not go as he expected. Did he have a plan? Of course he did. But then he forgot it. So he went into that fight with absolutely nothing. Mina was fast, and she had ranged attacks that Rody did not. She threw her acid faster than Pino could recover, so Rody had to rely on his own wits for this one. Using a couple of pebbles that broke off the stadium from her acid, he was able to distract her. This way, he pulled off a narrow victory, managing to land a kick that pushed her out of bounds. But he walked away with multiple holes in his clothes, a few small acid burns, and a bloody nose from a well-timed punch. Rody probably should’ve seen Recovery Girl, but he was not about to get a healing kiss from her, so he took care of himself. Then, after waiting a bit, it was time for the semi-finals. 

Rody tuned out Present Mic’s introduction, trying to focus on the fight ahead. Earlier events were still at the forefront of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to push them away. He almost lost to Mina because he was so distracted. He couldn’t afford to lose his concentration against Bakugo. Bakugo had all the abilities Rody struggled against: range, power, combat experience…everything. Rody’s options were slim to none. He’d be relying on Pino again, but she could only do so much. He could just step out of bounds when things got out of hand, but he would have to fight back a little first. Maybe he could make Bakugo angry and get him to mess up…

The sound of an explosion ended Rody’s train of thought as he narrowly avoided a blow to the head. He was so busy thinking that he hadn’t realized the match had started. Rody backed up quickly to create some space, trying to focus on what was going on. He had Pino and a few rocks in his pocket from earlier. That was it. So Rody did what he knew best: dodging. 

“Stop running and fight me, bird brain!” Bakugo yelled, chasing after him. Rody tossed Pino a rock, and she took off like a rocket. As expected, Pino got blasted away, but she managed to throw the stone, hitting his classmate in the head. It didn’t do anything, but it sure as hell annoyed him.

Bakugo took to the sky, barraging Rody with aerial attacks. He weaved around most of them, finding the opening he was looking for. Remembering what Midoriya did during their first training exercise, Rody grabbed Bakugo’s arm and yanked him down. But as he was throwing him, Bakugo grabbed onto the back of Rody’s uniform, making him let go so he wouldn’t fall over. There was an explosion, causing intense heat to erupt between his shoulder blades as Rody felt Bakugo’s other hand shove his head onto the concrete floor of the arena. 

“Speed is all you’ve got going for ya. Once I was able to figure out your movements, you were easy to defeat.” Bakugo told him, his voice oozing with confidence. Rody wasn’t focused on his words, nor was he focused on the searing pain he was feeling. No, what had his attention was the lack of a certain piece of jewelry against his chest. His locket was gone. Nononononono, he had to find it! He had to! 

Rody launched his elbow back, hitting Bakugo’s throat, making the boy let go as he stumbled away in a coughing fit. Rody wasted no time in getting up and running out of bounds, looking around for that precious object. He shifted into Pino’s vision, getting increasingly desperate with every passing second. Until at last he found it, hidden in the grass. The golden chain was snapped in half, with the outer casing heavily dented. Inside the glass was completely shattered, but the picture was barely damaged. He closed it carefully, putting it in his pocket. He ran his thumb over the engraved ‘E’ over and over again, ignoring Bakugo’s shouts and Midnight’s announcement of his loss. Rody almost lost one of his greatest treasures. 

Rody didn’t watch, but Bakugo ended up getting first place in the Sports Festival with Todoroki in second. Rody tied with Iida for third, but didn’t see him anywhere as he was ushered over to the winners' podiums.

“The first-year students have completed all of the events for the U.A. Sports Festival. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the awards ceremony.” Midnight announced as the podiums rose up from the ground to show off the top three. Rody stood with his hands in pockets, keeping a neutral expression on his face. He could hear Roro and Lala yelling his name so he sent Pino over. He would rather die than be seen smiling on national television at a hero event. “Tenya Iida actually shares the third place award with Sora Tamashii. But, unfortunately, he had to leave for family reasons. Now, let's distribute the awards!”

“Oh boy. I just wanna go home.” Rody mumbled under his breath.

“Of course, there’s only one person worthy of distributing the awards. All Might, the number one hero!” Midnight declared as the hero plunged down from the stadium’s roof. Midnight handed him the medals, and All Might walked right in front of Rody.

“Young Tamashii, congratulations!” All Might told him, waiting for Rody to bend down a little so he could receive the medal. Rody didn’t budge, keeping his gaze fixed on the hero. He outstretched his palm, making All Might hand it over. “You were quite clever out there. However, you’ve got more training to do if you’re going to be able to fight against different kinds of villains. You’re not going to be able to rely on speed in every battle.” All Might tried to hug him, but Rody stepped out of the way. It clearly caught the hero off guard, but he moved on to Todoroki.

“I…earned this?” Rody questioned, keeping his voice quiet. The first thing he got from his own efforts. Third place at an event designed for future heroes. He stared at the bronze medal for a moment longer before putting it on, feeling pride swell through his chest. 

Once the festival was over and everyone was dismissed, the Soul family met up with Snipe. Nedzu walked with them to explain what happened with Endeavor while Rody kept his siblings distracted by seeing what they had bought. It was about what he expected from a second grader and a kindergartner: some clothes, a poster each, and Lala’s plush. Not counting the gifts they had gotten him. Lala bought him a red feather key chain for his backpack, while Roro had gotten him a U.A. colored scarf. 

“Hey kids, ready to go?” Snipe asked, done talking to the principal. The trio nodded as the hero walked over. “How about we get some ice cream to celebrate Sora’s third place finish?”

“Ice cream!” Lala shouted excitedly, running ahead of them. “Let’s go, hurry up!”

“We’re coming, Lala. Settle down.” Rody called out after her. Roro ran after her, leaving Rody with Snipe. 

“¿Cómo estás? (How are you doing?)” Snipe asked. “Lo que sucedió no fue tu culpa.” (What happened wasn’t your fault)”

“Se siente así. (Feels like it)” Rody grumbled, kicking a rock with his shoe, “¿Qué pasaría si se lastimaran? ¿Qué pasaría si no hubiera llegado a tiempo? (What if they got hurt? What if I hadn’t made it in time?)”

“Sora.” Snipe placed a gentle hand on the boy’s head, stopping him from spiraling. “Mira a ellos. (look at them)” Rody looked up from the ground, watching his siblings play happily. “Están a salvo. Hiciste bien. (They’re safe. You did good.)” 

“Big brother! Tío Iru! Hurry up!” Roro yelled, waving them over.

“Okay, okay, we’re coming.” Rody smiled at them, slipping away from Snipe and running over to his family. 

Snipe stayed back a little, keeping a close eye on the three of them. He could only imagine how scary that situation was. It clearly rattled Sora, and Roro still seemed a little on edge. He could only assume Lala had blocked out the incident by now, judging by her carefree expression. The three of them had clearly been through a lot in Otheon. He just wanted these kids to enjoy being kids. That’s why he left out his credit card for Sora to take. He wanted them to settle in at their own pace and confide in him when they were ready.

Bonus Scene:

“Beros, how’s the mission?” The villain’s boss asked, his face appearing on her phone screen. She traced the rim of a beer glass with her finger, looking around to see if anyone was listening. Kurogiri was going to recruit the Hero Killer, and Shigaraki was in his room. Good.

“It’s progressing as expected, sir. The target has infiltrated the school, as planned.” Beros reported. 

“Does the League suspect anything?”

“No. All For One is none the wiser. He still thinks we’re supporting him in full.”

“Good. Normally, I wouldn’t work with someone like him, but he has access to far more materials than we do at the moment. Once this house of cards is about to topple, I’ll pull you out of Japan.”

“I understand, sir.” 

“One more thing, Beros. Sidero will be joining you. With the Hero Killer filling the news lately, it’s time to enact our first operation. For humanity’s salvation.”

“For humanity’s salvation.” Beros echoed as the call ended. She’d have to contact Rody soon for the next part of their plan, but she could afford to wait a little while longer. She had all the time in the world.

Extra Info:

Roro’s Quirk is an emitter type called Ward, which is a variation of the Soul Quirk. It allows him to emit a shield of energy from the palm of his left hand. Anyone his right hand makes contact with is protected inside his ward. The color and effect of his ward depends on his mood (like a mood ring). He has four colors: yellow, red, purple, and blue. Yellow emits light where if concentrated can stun someone, red makes fire, purple creates electricity, and blue absorbs and redirects projectiles. The strength of the ward and its effects depends on the emotion’s intensity. So far, Roro is only aware of the effects of purple and red.