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He just never thought that a silly dream of becoming a pilot would get him here, of all places, after everything he's been through.
He couldn't help but slightly reminisce on the memories he had last summer, even if the circumstances weren't the most ideal.
He missed those green eyes that would watch him so carefully. He missed those long talks they would have together. He just missed Deku altogether.
Luckily, he wouldn't miss him for long.
He made his way towards the entrance, trying not to forget anything as he knocked on the door of what he assumed to be the principal's office. Maybe.
The door creaked open, revealing a very exhausted looking teacher with...were those bandages around his neck?
"Ah, you're that one kid. Visiting Midoriya, correct?"
"Yes, sir," Rody replied, bowing slightly before quickly straightening, not knowing what to do now.
The teacher simply rolled his eyes and handed him a dorm key. "You're a rare exception, but since you're gonna be a transfer student next semester, you might as well get used to the dorm system. Don't cause trouble. All of the kids should be down that hall," he said with a grumble as he closed the door in Rody's face.
Well, he guessed that was all.
He quickly made his way down the hall, stopping short before he walked into the doorway. The room was filled with people that he barely recognized, and he wasn't sure if he was in the right place. His eyes scanned for that familar head of green hair, but he was nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, he did notice the other two heroes he recognized, Todoroki and Bakugo. He was a little hesitant to just go walking in there and asking for Deku, but did he have any other choice if he wanted it to be a surprise?
As he was thinking over his dilemma from the corner next to the stairwell, Pino pecked at his pocket, trying to get his phone out. Well, he didn't want to do that necessarily. He wanted to see Deku standing in that room, bright-eyed and laughing as he walked up behind him, just to see how he reacted. Alas, the cards did not flip in his favor, so he grabbed his phone and tried to text him quickly. Deku gave him his number on that last day when he was in the airport, right before he left, and Rody held onto it until he was able to buy a phone if his own. They weren't as close as he would like them to be, but they texted every so often.
[Rody:] hey deku havent heard from you in a while. you up?
He wasn't expecting a response so fast, honestly.
[Deku:] Yeah, I'm up. Just hanging out with my class right now. What about you?
[Rody:] nothing much, just missing you a little. are you doing anything important with them?
So he was in there, he just didn't see him. Well, the suprise will reveal itself soon enough.
[Deku:] Oh, that's fine! Sorry we can't talk as much anymore. But no, not really, we're just sitting around and talking for the most part. Wish you were here too :<
God, he was so cute. He honestly just wanted to barge in there and tackle him as soon as he saw him, but he wanted to mess around a little bit longer. Pino was already getting restless, trying to escape his pocket as he typed.
[Rody:] maybe i am, who knows?
[Deku:] Oh yeah? Well if you are, then why haven't you come out here yet?
[Rody:] just not a big fan of gatherings. why don't you come out here and get me?
He let out an amused chuckle as he looked into the room again. He could finally see Deku as he stood up to talk to some blue haired guy. Maybe now was a good time...
Rody pulled himself a little bit taller and started to walk towards the room, although he was a little scared. What if he just got blasted out of the building if they thought he was a villian? Nah, he was sure Deku could talk them out of it. As soon as he got close enough to the door to be seen, that same blue haired guy (no longer talking to Deku, sadly) walked over and stopped him where he was.
"Hold it! Who are you? This area is off-limits to outsiders, unless you are a visitor! And I see no visitor tag on you anywhere!"
Oh god, not one of these guys. He rolled his eyes and showed him his keys.
"I am a visitor, that guy in the office just didn't care enough to give me a tag. He did give me a dorm key though," apparently, the other guy's shouting got the attention of some of the other classmates, and he could see Deku trying to peak around everyone.
"I'm here to visit Deku. He's right there. Just let him see me, and he'll understand."
The blue haired guy moved with a huff, taking a step sideways and letting Rody be seen by the rest of the class that was nosy enough to care. His eyes immediately locked onto Deku's, and he felt like he could collapse on the spot.
Before he knew it, he felt sturdy arms wrap around him so tightly that he almost couldn't breathe, but he didn't mind. Because it was Deku.
"Oh my gosh, Rody?! Wha- why... you weren't joking!"
"Yeah, yeah. I just developed some teleportation quirk, trust me."
He couldn't shake the smile off of his face as Deku hugged him again, a little looser this time. Rody could still feel the oncoming stares from the rest of the class, but he couldn't care less right now.
"Sorry to, uhm, ruin the moment here but..." a yellow haired guy spoke up, pointing at Rody.
Deku leaned back, but kept his one of his hands on Rody's shoulder as he talked.
"Yeah, I should probably introduce him. This is Rody Soul, my friend from Otheon! We met last year, but I had no idea he was showing up," Deku admitted nervously. He had to admit, it was kinda cute, how Deku was acting. He could get used to this.
As if on cue, Pino escaped the tiny fabric dugeon of the pocket and immediately started pecking at Deku, chirping happily. Deku giggled and held out his hand for Pino to sit, and she happily obliged. Rody tried to ignore the look that he was getting from Deku at that, but he felt like he was intruding something by being here.
Almost as if Deku noticed his hesitation, he leaned over a fraction of an inch. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything."
Now, Rody wasn't a coward. Not in the slightest. He could talk down the people that beat him up in the back alleyway, hell, he could even talk down the biggest threat to the world in the heat of the moment, but something about Deku's class just made him very uneasy. But, nevertheless, Deku explained everything that the class needed to know, and nothing more. As soon as he was finished, he dragged Rody up to his dorm and locked the door behind them.
"I'm still in such a shock, but you gotta explain. Why are you even here? Where's your siblings?"
"Hold it, hero. Just give me a moment to explain. Please?" Rody efficiently got the other to shut up for a few moments at least.
"So, it's kinda a long story, but I guess we have time. Basically, I enrolled in a flight school down in Otheon, and since I'm apparently really good at engineering and stuff, they sent me over here for the next semester to join the support class and to help build stuff. Sadly, only for a semester, but hey, better than nothing? But, I'll admit, I did fly over here early, just because I had the extra money saved up. Roro and Lala are perfectly fine right now, and I'm bringing them back with me when I come back for my actual classes. I just got special permission to see you for Christmas."
He watched Deku's expression carefully, trying to see his reaction. Once he seemed to understand, he nodded and looked up at Rody with such an awestruck look, it almost made him faint on the spot.
"So you're staying? For a couple days, at least? Then you're leaving and coming back?" Deku asked, most likely just trying to grasp the idea of his friend being back like this.
"Well, yeah. Didn't know I had to spell it out for you," Rody chuckled, ruffling the other's hair and earning a very flustered Deku in return.
"I-I'm just surprised! That's all!" He shoved the hand off of his head, huffing in fake annoyance.
"I really am glad you're here though, Rody. I missed you a lot."
And there goes his heart again. Speeding up to such an unreasonably fast pace just because of one little comment. He quickly hid Pino in the hood of his jacket.
"Such a sap. Yeah, I missed you too, hero," he hoped his face wasn't giving away what he was feeling, but he was certain it wasn't.
Once he actually got a chance to take a look around, since Deku insisted on giving him a tour, the place wasn't that bad. The whole facility for one, and even Deku's room. Too bad he had to leave so early, he really wanted to stay and admire everything for what it was worth.
Rody cleared his throat, wanting to break the silence that fell over the two of them as they walked back to the dorms. "Hey, Deku-"
"Izuku. You can call me Izuku, now."
Oh. Right. Deku was his hero name, not his actual name. But, wasn't it a big respect thing in Japan to not use someone's first name unless you were very close with said person? He tried not to think about it too much right now.
"Ah, sorry, Izuku. What are your plans for tonight? Everyone looked really...festive when I came in."
De- Izuku smiled at that, eyes lightening up for some reason.
"Oh, yeah. Our class was setting up for a little Christmas party, since we aren't able to leave the dorms unless it's absolutely necessary this year. Just something to remind us all of home, I guess?"
That made sense, but it just made Rody feel like he wasn't welcome. He simply nodded, avoiding Izuku's eyes the rest of the way back.
"Hey, since you're leaving tomorrow morning, I asked Iida if we could make a few arrangements," Izuku started mumbling after that, and Rody couldn't make out what he was saying when he was all the way across the room.
"Hey, hero, stop rambling. I can't tell what you're trying to say," he let out a light chuckle from the greenette's bed as the other tried to start apologizing.
"Calm down, ok? Just get over here and actually talk," he patted the space in bed next to him and Izuku walked over immediately, like a dog being trained.
Kinda cute, Rody thought before immediately pushing that to the back of his mind.
"Ok, so, like I was saying. I made arrangements with Iida, since they're basically finished decorating and all of that, and he agreed that they would move back the party to today. Just for you," he finished talking as a light blush crept into his cheeks.
Izuku got the whole class to change their plans just for him? The concept just didn't make sense in Rody's head, but apparently it made since in his heart, because it sped up immediately.
"You didn't have to do that, really. I would've been just fine hanging around here with you for another day, but thanks."
He tried his best to sound grateful, because he really was, but it just wasn't getting across right. Stupid embarrassment stopping him from saying what he wants.
"I wanted to. I wanted you to have a good experience your first time here. It was the least I could do," Izuku smiled up at him as he adjusted a little on the bed, now making their legs touch.
Oh, it was bad how much he craved to kiss Izuku in that moment. If he wasn't fucking scared of scaring him, then he probably would've. Not the time for that, anyways.
"Ok, whatever. I'll just be in your debt or something. Is that what you want?" he scoffed as he poked Izuku's thigh, as if to punctuate his words. All he got was a little laugh in return as Izuku placed his hand over Rody's.
Well, of course he didn't mean anything by it. He was just stopping him from poking him...so why hasn't he moved away yet? Why hasn't Rody moved away yet? Why does he not want to move away yet?
They stayed like that for a while, holding hands peacefully as they talked about random things. Rody wouldn't trade it for the world. Yes, it was probably stupid that he appreciated it so much, but he would take any affection that Izuku was willing to give.
A while later, just after the sun offically set for the evening, Izuku interlocked their fingers and pulled Rody off of the bed.
"C'mon, they might be starting soon," was all he said as they walked to the common room.
Rody smiled as he followed behind, looking down at their interlocked hands and not fighting the heat he felt in his face.
He was even more surprised when Izuku never pulled away, even as they sat down next to his classmates. Some were giving questioning glances, but they mostly kept to themselves. Soon enough, though, Rody was getting questioned by some of the girls. He tried his best to be as friendly as possible, smiling and nodding and answering any question that he could. The slight squeeze he felt when they finally settled was totally worth stepping out of his comfort zone.
He was in deep, wasn't he?
No going back now, he thought.
It wasn't much of a party, per say, it was mostly just the class talking, exchanging gifts here and there, and watching cheesy movies that Rody paid no attention to.
He wasn't expecting Izuku to have a gift for him, too.
"Don't even think that you need to repay me. It's barely anything, and it probably doesn't even amount to what you deserve after everything but-" Izuku cut himself off and just handed over the carefully wrapped box.
Rody almost didn't notice when Izuku starting talking, too busy focusing on how pretty he looked in the lights. That was a normal thought to have about your friend, right? Nah, fuck it, he knew he was gay for this boy, through and through.
He looked down at the gift, trying not to tear up. Why didn't he think of getting Izuku something too? Fuck, he was so stupid.
"I can't take this, Izuku. I didn't get you anything and I-"
"Just open it, Rody. You being here is enough of a gift for me anyways."
He tried his best to calm his breathing but still opened the gift with shaking hands.
Where did his usual confidence go? He was usually full of remarks and comebacks to brush off these kinds of feelings, but now he couldn't think of a single one.
He carefully opened the box, seeing a simple gold wristband. He looked at Izuku and raised an eyebrow.
"Trying to marry me or something?"
"It's not even a ring-"
"Calm down, hero. I was joking. Is this real gold?"
"...Yes?"
"Oh my god, Izuku."
Izuku simply gave him a guilty smile, as if he didn't just gift him the most expensive thing Rody has probably ever owned.
"Look on the inside."
Rody picked up the band carefully, as if it wasn't even real, and read the engravement.
It was their initials and the date of when they met.
It would be silly to anyone else, since they met when Izuku was chasing him for some stupid suitcase.
But, it brought them this close in the end, and Rody couldn't stop the tears that broke through.
"God, Izuku, now you got me all sappy. Cut it out."
Izuku wrapped his arms around him again as soon as Rody put on the wristband.
Was this real? Did he just confess his love, or was this just a really deep-rooted friendship? Now he was all confused.
He cleared his throat. Izuku leaned back to look at him again.
"What does this mean?"
"What do you want it to mean?"
Everything, he thought. You mean so much to me now, I don't wanna mess this up and lose you.
Rody was left speechless for a few minutes. He was just glad that Pino stayed hidden this whole time, because if she didn't then she would surely be flying around this whole room.
"Izuku."
"Rody?"
"Can I kiss you?"
"I-I...yeah, you can."
Rody leaned forward slowly, letting one hand wrap around the back of Izuku's neck as his breath caught.
He was really doing this. In the middle of a public space.
He closed his eyes and pulled Izuku into him before he had a chance to overthink it more.
The kiss was soft. Sweet. Full of words that Rody could never get off of his chest. He wishes he had the guts to say them.
I love you, Izuku.
Izuku leaned into him more, placing a hand on his cheek as cheers from Izuku's classmates filled the room.
Rody couldn't care less about what the others thought.
I need you, Izuku.
Thank you for giving me a chance.