Chapter Text
He won.
Against all the odds, he won.
Of course he did. Rody never had a lick of doubt. He ignored Pino sagging in relief on his shoulder, tears pooling in her tiny eyes. His siblings screamed in victory, rushing to hug Rody, which he reciprocated with enthusiasm.
Soon came their relieved hiccups.
“He’s fine, guys, he’s fine…”
Deku won the war in Japan.
And just like that, Rody had no idea what happened to his friend later.
The next day, after his siblings went to school, he went to the library to check his email. No new messages.
Life went on.
The next day, after school he took his siblings to do groceries. While his siblings walked around the aisles (always in his field of view), his mind went to his email box.
And the next day after that, telling Roro they were going to the library, he checked his email on the library’s computer. Nothing.
“Rody, Pino looks upset!” Lala’s voice broke through the soft noise of oil sizzling, bringing Rody’s mind back to the present.
He looked over his shoulder. Pino was sagged, looking as lifeless as an old, ripping-at-the-seams plush toy on top of their little table, just beside Lala’s drawings.
“Is she okay?” Lala hand moved to pet Pino’s head.
Roro glanced up from his book at the couch, then quickly redirected his eyes when he saw Rody still looking.
Rody turned his attention back to the frying pan. “She’s just hungry,” he dismissed. “I’m almost finishing dinner, so no worries.”
And life went on. In the next few days, the sky was brighter than the weeks before – and that wasn’t Rody’s inexistent poetic skills finally kicking in, the weather forecast confirmed it. A powerful burst of wind coming from Japan cleared the weather in all of the western world.
Rody felt breathless. He had no new messages in his inbox.
Until he had.
hey hero
Rodrigo S. Soul <[email protected]>
Para midoriyaaiizuku
hey hero, its been a while, missed me much? ill forgive you for having forgotten to reply my previous email since i know some.. bad things happened in japan, i saw on tv that you won, i knew you would! but are you okay? pino and my siblings are worried
緑谷 出久 <[email protected]>
para rodyssoul
Rody!!! It is great to hear from you!! I apologize for not answering you before, you’re right that some bad things happened in Japan. I did not have much time before, but I will answer now. I am sorry for worrying you, Pino and your siblings! Everyone is okay here! What have you guys been up to?
I have been doing physical therapy, and it is going well. I will soon go back to classes. Soon to be a second year student! Exciting! (laugh)! How are your studies going? You mentioned it in your last email. I hope the future looks bright for you, Rody. I missed talking to you.
Your friend, Izuku Midoriya.
In the upcoming mornings, Pino sang along with the birds.
緑谷 出久 <[email protected]>
para rodyssoul
I am glad to know you and your family are doing okay!! Please tell your siblings I said hi! I really want to see Lala’s newest drawings, and tell Roro I congratulate him for his math test! I’m proud of him! And you as well, Rody! I’m very happy that your studies are going well, you will be a great pilot, I just know it!
I am recovering well, I promise, please don’t worry about me. Classes have started. Everything is going well. One of Aizawa-sensei's earlier students came to talk to us. It made me very thoughtful about the future. I am hopeful. Actually, hey! On the day that I first saw your email I dreamt of you! We were sitting in a field at night, eating gas station food and talking. I think it was the countryside of Otheon. The stars looked beautiful, I couldn’t really see them, but somehow I knew it was true. It made me think of you the whole day after I woke up. I hope this is not a weird thing to say.
Your friend, Izuku Midoriya
Rody shot a glare at Pino, who didn’t bother not even with sending him a glance, way too busy happily bouncing on his shoulder. If Lala saw her, she would be gushing about how she looks like “a pretty fluffy ball”. Which should be bad news to Rody. It should be.
Why wasn't it?
“Rody,” Roro drawled, spoon spinning in the bowl of caldo verde, as if he would cast a spell that would prevent Rody from noticing it was still half full. “Did something good happen?”
Pino peeked up from her spot at Rody’s bowl with a small potato piece on her beak, then she tilted her head in confusion.
Rody raised one eyebrow, unimpressed.
“First of all, finish your food, little lad,” he admonished, eating a full spoon out of his own bowl while Roro huffed and thrust a slightly less full spoon into his mouth. Both Pino and Rody chuckled; he feels like he should feel upset at the little act, but it actually felt nice to see his little brother behaving like he himself did as a child. The little ones deserved it after everything they went through, after needing to see their older brother hunt food from trash bins…
“I don’t like wet food…” Roro’s grumble interrupted Rody’s train of thought, broth spilled through the corner of his little brother’s mouth.
“I do!” Lala piped up, spilling broth and broa crumbles on the table amidst her enthusiasm, like the announcement would help her brother somehow.
(It would. Rody was sure if he wasn’t here Roro would just spill his soup into her bowl as soon as she said that. That is, if Lala didn’t just eat from two bowls at the same time.)
Rody’s eyes jumped between his siblings for a second.
“Will you finish eating it if you get more broa?”
The way Roro’s eyes shone was enough for Rody to decide it was okay to hand what would be his next morning’s breakfast to his baby brother. More than okay, in fact. What better way of starting his day if not drinking a lone mug of coffee?
Satisfied with having accompaniment to his “wet food” – the only way it was bearable to eat it happily, his brother would say –, the younger boy gladly feasted his simple dinner
“Okay, now, why did you ask me if something good happened?” he returned to the topic before shuffling more broth on his mouth.
“You’ve been happier recently, especially after our trips to the library.” Rody didn’t choke on his food, but Pino choked on a startled peep. Gray irises glimpsed at her before aiming at Rody’s again. “Are you chatting with Deku?”
Rody couldn’t hide his surprise, his quirk, on the other side, attempted to hide her embarrassment under her wings.
“Also,” he tilted his head to the side, musing, “you used to go to the library to talk to him on the computer a while ago, and now you mostly stay on the computer when we go to the library.”
“Rody, Rody!” his sister shot up excitedly. “Can we talk to him too?” Seeing her excitement, Roro smiled wide, contagiated by it. “Can we, can we?!” She rocked back and forth on her chair.
“Don’t do that,” he firmly but not unkindly, worried for both her safety and the chair’s safety – he would prefer if they didn’t eat on the floor again. Nor on the couch, he could still vividly remember the weeks of finding an art randomly crawling on his body and biting him when he last expected it. It was a pain to deal with, especially with a small kid who turned very whiny when upset and a less-smaller kid who had an allergy to ants and would be full of red skin bumps on her body, which would require Rody going for a quick trip to the drugstore.
She stopped the movement, deciding to instead rest her head on her hands. “...But can we?” She laid it thick with a bright, silly smile.
“Rody,” Roro pulled his sleeve, “you didn’t answer me! It is Deku, isn’t it?”
Rody shook his head, a small smile at the corner of his lips. “You’re both handfuls, did’ja know that?” He ruffled both their hairs, Pino chuckled at the following complaints. “Yeah, I’ve been talking to Deku. Sorry I didn’t tell you before.” He turned to his little sister. “And yeah, you guys can talk to him.”
Both children cheered like there was any real possibility of Rody saying “no”. He couldn’t help staring at them like they were his whole world.
They were, after all.
“Rody, can I eat more?”
His whole world would make him have to add more water into their caldo verde so there would be enough leftovers for all three of them (plus Pino) for the side dish of tomorrow's lunch.
And he would do it with a big smile on his face.
This is a co-written letter
Rodrigo S. Soul <[email protected]>
para midoriyaaiizuku
Hey hero, make sure to sit down when you read this email. The news are very exciting: this email is a true Soul Family Production, I have two little globins (who opposed and giggled at such a title) on my shoulders helping me write this. Lala is my co-author, while Roro is basically our editor, with how he’s correcting my grammar every other second.
My siblings are happy to know you’re doing okay. Lala wants you to know that she and her friend Glorinha (nickname for Glória, her bestest friend in the whole world (Pino gasps in offense!)) are taking care of a little flower bed in their school. The flowers are very beautiful, she picked one for me and for Roro, we both attest they're very beautiful. She promises that she would give one to you too, if she could. She said she would give you a green or a yellow one. She says the green one is for obvious reasons, and the yellow one is because her teacher said yellow means happiness, and you were always smiling every time she saw you in Otheon. She told me to tell you to place the yellow flowers in your hair, because she thinks it would look very cute.
Roro says he doesn’t have much to say (he looks shy about it.) Just that he’s happy you’re okay after fighting that big villain (Lala said the same, and they started bickering about it being Roro’s turn to talk haha! No worries, I set them on track again! Captain Rody doesn’t play at service). Roro says he has been reading lots of books about astronomy, he asked if you know that it takes 8 minutes for the sun’s light to reach us on earth? Sorry, Mr. Booksmart says it’s 8 minutes and 20 seconds actually and that I should relay information correctly (as if I ever lie! haha!). So if you go outside under the sunlight, it isn’t “now” sunlight, but the sunlight of 8 minutes and 20 seconds ago. He also said (disturbing fact ahead) that if the sun exploded it would take 8 minutes for us to feel it. Me and Lala don’t like this fact very much! She tried to revoke his speaking rights, which made me have to cut out their bickering again haha! Roro said he’d like to show you the books he got from the library, and Lala says she would like to show you her drawings of flowers. They make me wanna invest on a phone just to take pictures and send them to you. Hey, that’s an idea, ain’t it? Let’s see how things go hehe…
緑谷 出久 <[email protected]>
para rodyssoul
Rody!!!! And Lala and Roro!!! 😄
You can’t imagine how surprised I was at such a big email, but when I realized it was about your siblings it made sense. I remember how you got when you talked about them when we were running away to Klayd, I mean this in the best possible way.
Please, tell Lala I would gladly accept and wear how many flowers she picks up for me, and that I am taking notes on which colors go along with me!! 🧐 I’m glad that she found herself a good friend who shares her interests! It can be hard being a young child with no friends, it makes me happy to know she won’t go through that.
To Roro! I did not know it takes this whole time for the sunlight to reach us! This is fascinating!! Glad to know that if the sun explodes we will have a few minutes of mercy (laugh). He reminds me of myself when I was younger, I too liked to read science books, but mostly about Quirk Science! I would love to sit down and listen to him talk about astronomy fun facts! After reading that one, I went to bask in the sunlight for exactly 8 minutes and 20 seconds (laugh), so I could experience the sunlight of the exact moment I stepped under the sun, even if belatedly.
Tell your siblings I’m really glad to know how they are doing, and tell them that I am also fine, there’s no need to worry about me 😁. What about you, Rody? Have you made new friends? Reading any cool books? How is work going? I’m interested in you buying a phone, I would love to see your siblings' drawings, and chat more regularly with you, if it was okay with you.
Take care, Rody (and Roro and Lala!)
Your friend, Izuku Midoriya
Most people would hate the job of cleaning; most would call it boring, tiring, repetitive, whatever.
Rody agreed somewhat. It was tedious, and when you worked the whole day cleaning at the end of it was undeniably tiring, still he didn’t hate the job. Not only because it was way safer and more stable than his previous jobs so he couldn’t say he hated it – it made it easier to raise his siblings, he couldn’t hate that –, but also because there was something so soothing about the repetitive movements that he could never explain properly.
Anyone would look at him weirdly if he tried to put into words cleaning is not that bad, actually. The feeling was kind of similar, although a lessened version, of when he ran laps around his old house
Closing the bar meant he enjoyed a few minutes of wiping tables in the silence before finally going home and resting his tired muscles. No amount of finding the cleaning soothing would help the tiredness of being on the move the whole day, especially when the evening arrived and he had to be on the move and deal with drunk people too.
“I finished washing the dishes.” He heard his coworker, Tom, announce as he left the kitchen. He had been hired a few weeks after Rody, which relieved a little of his workload. A little. “I’ll be going off now.”
“Sure thing,” Rody replied, not bothering to look up. He heard the door chime its bell, signaling Tom’s exit. He moved to another (the last!) table before hearing firm footsteps.
“Tom left already?”
“You just missed him, old man.”
He gruffed in that way that showed he wasn’t really interested.
“Your bird looks tired,” Stanleyk pointed out, so helpfully. What would Rody do without him.
“Aren’t we all,” he answered, devoid of emotion. The old geezer huffed, though this one sounded more like a laughter huff than a get-out-of-my-bar huff.
Nonchalantly, as if the topic was the weather or how long the municipal market’s line is, he asked, “so, old man, ya know anyone selling a cheap phone around here?”
“Hã?”
“Know anyone selling a cheap phone? I’ve been wanting to buy one.”
The ensuing silence made Rody feel watched. Pino hid against his collar, something Rody would do too if he could.
“I know, but that depends on the means you’re up to buying.” Apparently unable to resist the habit, he got a clean glass and started wiping it. “Someone selling an old phone they just got rid of? Nah, if you were one day earlier I’d have someone for ya. Now,” he set the glass on the counter firmly – how that shit never broke when he did that was beyond Rody –, eyebrow tight, “if you’re up to buying one from the guys, I guarantee they have plenty.”
By that point the table was completely forgotten. Rody stared at the old man, all contemplative eyes. He knew what that was.
A test.
(A quite stupid one, at that.)
Rody changed after meeting Deku. Deku changed him, no matter if he admitted it out loud or not. The first step was deciding to stop stealing, delivering robberies and anything of the sort. The second step was to get a respectable job. Whenever the patrons, or Stanleyk himself, would inform him they knew of a criminal activity happening that might interest Rody, he would just shrug his shoulders and say something stupid:
“At that time? Can’t, they’re showing Rabo de Peixe on TV at that time and I gotta watch.”
“Can’t do, promised my baby sister I’d take us to watch the city’s band pass by. She’d be devastated if I canceled.”
“You guys gonna do it on my laundry day? Ha, choosing exactly the cleanup day at my house, at this point you’re doing this to exclude me on purpose!”
It was all bullshit. His shit-eating grin said that loud and clear.
They knew it was bullshit. Their raised eyebrows, unimpressed looks or barked laughs, slapping him on the shoulder said that loud and clear.
This was Stanleyk’s way of asking: Are you with us or with them? Did befriending a hero change you that much?
Like Rody said, a stupid test.
Deciding to do things the safer, more honest way for his siblings’ future, for his future, didn’t turn Rody into a saint. He was no cape-licker.
Rody may now know good heroes exist, but he’s deeply aware not all of them are. He’s deeply aware most people aren’t good, and if he can take anything from them, he will. Call it reparations.
The extra change he got at the grocery shop just last week? Reparations, he saw how the shop owner talked about homeless people – that was him and his siblings just a few fucking years ago…
If one of the slum’s locals stole stuff from downtown’s people like that and sold it for a far cheaper price, why wouldn’t he buy it?
Having to fend off for his siblings – the most precious people in his life, everything he had left – in hostile alleys turned him into a street rat. If society was going to treat him like a pest, then he’d give them a reason to, and then one more just to be sure of it.
That would never change.
He didn’t think it could, even if he wanted anyway.
Shrugging, Rody aimed an aloof smile at Stanleyk.
“What, helping local businesses and getting cheap goods? ‘Course I’m in, old man.” On his shoulder, Pino nodded while Rody pretended to keep wiping the table for a little while. “My favorite hobby is getting cheap stuff, second only to getting free stuff.” He occasionally still borrowed-without-intentions-to-give-back stolen stuff from his coworker and patrons (but only from the ones who called him Rodyzinho or Dynho, as there were near-zero chances of him losing a tooth over it).
Stanleyk huffed, in a very Stanleyk-ly way.
“Is Johnny still selling on the beco do mestre on Sunday?”
“You bet. The cops gave him a scare that one time, but of course that shit wouldn’t last.”
“Don’t know why they still try, we won’t lay down for them.”
“The bastards need to pretend they’re useful or else…” Rody huffed, untying his apron. “You leaving already?”
“The hell you mean by already? I’m running late.”
“Yea, yea, hold your horses.” He waved lazily for him to stay in place..
Pino peeped in annoyance while Rody smirked. “I know you’ll miss me so, but I have places to be.”
“Don’t make me regret this, brat!” he barked, extending a hand. A hand that held a note of 50 euros. “Use this to add on the money for your cellphone, before I rethink all of this.”
Rody picked the note carefully, as if taking it from the mouth of a snake that, under the wrong movement, would bite his hand and snatch the note back. He could hear Pino cooing in anticipation on his shoulder, but paid her no mind.
When the money was safely pocked in his pants, he sent a wolfish grin Stanleyk’s way.
“Aww, old man, don’t you worry about how jealous Tom and Linho will get when they hear about this?” It was delightful to hear the ensuing groan.
“Get out of my bar before I discount it on your wage.”
“You wouldn’t do that to your favorite employee,” he slurred mockingly, with one foot out of the door just in case.
“Out!”
By Sunday, Rody had a brand “new” phone (definitely used before, but modern) for a little less than half its price.
He tried to work it out, but he had no idea how phones worked. Back when he had Dad, he wasn’t allowed screens. No way in hell he’d ask help from anyone at the bar though. This left him with just one option:
“Roro, can you help me with my phone?”
Silence ensues on the table. Pino squawked. That never meant a good thing…
“What is a phone?” Lala tilted her head like a confused puppy.
“Since when do you have a phone?!” Roro shouted, making everyone else flinch.
“Roro–...”
“Rody!” He got up suddenly, knocking his spoon and dropping oatmeal on the table. “This is important, when did you get a phone?! Why didn’t you tell me before?!”
“What. Is. A. PHONE?!”
“Sush, you both!” he hissed, not really meaning to. Both kids stopped, staring at him with angelic looks. Rody sighed while Pino shrunk into herself in embarrassment. “A phone is,” he glanced at Roro, looking for help, but his beloved little brother was obediently silent, “A phone is an electric device–...”
“Electronic.”
He glanced at Roro in appreciation, thankfully his brother's smarty pants-ness always ended up kicking in. “A phone is an electronic device, you know, like a TV is. But different, it is smaller and you can carry it around.” He hoped his dogshit reply would be enough for his sister.
“Oh.” It wasn’t. “Can we watch Bluey on it?”
Rody frowned, confused. “Uhh…”
“Yes!” Roro saved his skin once more, since he had no idea. “You can also play games on it! The boys in school showed me so! And,” his excitement dimmed a bit, ceasing his frenetic movements, “I remember dad had a phone…”
At the mention, Lala leaned forward in barely hidden interest – but her eyes jumping to Rody every fraction of seconds showed she knew she shouldn’t be that interested.
Rody’s throat felt clogged up with sand. Pino tweeted anxiously, flapping her wings and then eating out of Rody’s bowl of oatmeal with more vigor.
“Oh,” it almost felt like spitting the word out, “yeah, I remember that…”
The admittance made Lala’s focus dart to him instead, he felt trapped in place. Roro awakened a memory he didn’t know he had. It was somewhere in the back of his mind, the memory so old and left behind it was covered in dust, making it hard for Rody to properly reminisce on it.
“I remember I asked him once if it had puzzle games on it, like the one he used to hand you. He said yes, but he never let me play them,” he croaked, a tiredness that no child should bear coated his voice. “He said I could use the phone and computer when I turned twelve.”
Twelve. That was the age Rody had when everything went to shit. Every single thing. He lost his home, his father, Roro’s friends since he was never big in making friends himself. He had to adapt to a life in the streets, taking care of his siblings, dealing with a body painfully turning into something he didn’t recognize as the true him. Uncomfortable.
Absolute hell.
Pino beaked at and pulled his ear.
…A hell that he no longer lived in. He had a job that got him to put food constantly on his siblings’ mouths, more often than not he was able to get them a little treat.
It was all he ever wished for.
It was time to change the subject.
He ignored Lala’s gloomy look, the look of a child that had all the questions in the world, forever unanswered because she knew she would be scolded if asked. Rody coughed, beyond embarrassed, “I bought one yesterday, but I have no idea how to use it.” He ruffled Roro’s hair, in a rough way that he knew would annoy his brother.
“Rody! Stop that!”
“Get him!” Lala giggled.
“Ya think your little genius brain can help me out?” He took mercy on Roro, leaving his hair a mess that Roro desperately tried to fix.
“Rody, I’ll have to go to class soon and you’re ruining my hair!” He combed his hair with his finger, making Rody chuckle. Lala got back to eating oatmeal happily, no longer interested in the display. “I’ll forgive you just because you’ll let me use your phone. Where is it?”
Pino giggled as Rody raised one eyebrow, mischief dancing in his eyes. “I thought you had school in thirty minutes.”
“But Rody…!”
“Finish your breakfast before you go, I’ll leave the phone on the couch. When you come home it’s all yours, can I trust this mission to captain Roro?”
“Yes!”
“Behave in school, and don’t forget to get Lala from school.”
“Yes!”
“I can go home on my own, Rody!”
“You’d prefer for Roro to go home alone? He’ll be sad if he goes home without listening to you talk about your day.”
She looked at Roro, who nodded somberly. Rody felt like crying. It wasn’t true. Roro would rather walk in silence, lost in his thoughts, but he was such a good kid. He knew it was necessary to avoid a small crisis. Lala was still way too young to go home on her own, the streets were more dangerous to a little girl. Rody knew very well the daylight wouldn’t protect her from everything.
He was such a good kid.
“Oh, okay! Finish your food, Roro, Rody can help us with our hair when we finish eating.” She filled her mouth with oatmeal. “He’s the best big brother ever!”
Pino tweeted happily, landing on Lala’s shoulder as she clumsily hugged her. Lala happily exclaimed Pino’s name.
Rody felt his face blush with contentment. “Don’t speak with a full mouth, you could've choked.”
When he got home that day, the sky was dark, not horribly so. He walked uncarefully through dimly lit streets until he reached the shanty town, only illuminated by individual houses and the light pollution from the airport.
While Lala played outside with her friends, Roro had spent most of the day inside on Rody’s new phone, working it out. He was sprawled on the floor, circled by books that had nothing to do with phones (since no book they got from the library last time was about technology). He figured his little brother was alternating between reading something and then using the phone. He was glad his little brother was having fun.
Lala sat down on the couch as Roro picked up his books. Rody sat besides and soon enough Roro followed, ready to unleash a wave of information at him.
“I think I got it…”
“Oh! I also connected it to the airport’s Wi-Fi, but it is really bad here. You’d need to be closer to it for it to work better, near the river it also works better but I dunno why. And even there it’s a little faulty, lots of people use it! I think I can connect it to the library’s Wi-Fi, and the Wi-Fi of that one Café near the Second Commerce Square we went to last year. Stanleyk’s has Wi-Fi? You could try to connect there too.”
“Pretty sure they have,” he murmured as he idly braided Lala’s hair and she carefully tried to do the same on her doll.
“I think those will work better than the one from the airport,” he said slowly, handing the phone to Rody like it was a newborn. “You got how to use it?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Can I play games on it?”
Pino tweeted happily, taking flight to their little brother’s shoulder.
“Yeah sure, you little rascal,” he ruffled his hair gently, “you deserve it.” It and much more than he could ever imagine.
Rody’s eyes shone in a way Rody had never seen before. Suddenly, he felt happier to have bought a phone.
緑谷 出久 <[email protected]>
para rodyssoul
Hello, Rody!! I’m really happy for your new phone, have you been enjoying having a phone? Tell me everything!! I can’t wait to have more contact with you! I hope this doesn’t sound weird 😅
About chatting APPs for us to talk, because they are more convenient than emails, we use LINE often here in Japan. Maybe you could give it a try? You’ll need a phone number to register, and my own to add me to your friend list. I’ll put my phone number at a sole line at the end of the email, so it’s easier for you to copy and paste it.
Pino stopped her happy chirping, Rody blinked in panic.
A phone number?
He spent the whole night thinking about it (lie, he slept at some point). Did all phones come with a number registered? No, he could remember hearing people talking about buying a card with a phone number, so clearly it was something sold apart. Figures!
Fucking scammers!
His ire only was fully settled the next day after mentioning it to his Roro, who decided to take matters into his own hands; he looked it up, and a few minutes later (due to how bad the internet connection was inside their home) he found out he already had a phone number. Johnny didn’t mention a phone number card (when he did mention buying a charger and earphones as well) because it already included one.
Well, that’s nice.
Rody Soul:
Hey hero
It was a piece of work tô understand how this thing works and contact you
You owe me 100 euros
Midoriya Izuku:
Rody!!! There you are!
You don’t know how happy I feel right now
[Sticker of a cartoonish rabbit jumping happily.]
I’ll ignore the euros part
Rody Soul:
You’re ignoring the most important part and you’ll suffer the consequences
It was really annoying to work this out, the closest I did to this type of stuff was creating an email account, and this App has no support to Portuguese, which made everything even more annoying
Midoriya Izuku:
Sorry for the late reply! I heard the word Portuguese in passing before but forgot what it was so I looked it up… And ended on a rabbit hole of searching stuff…
So Portuguese is the main language of your country?
Rody Soul:
You came to my country without knowing what was his first official language?
Midoriya Izuku:
I had a mission!! They told me I would be fine if I spoke English, so I didn’t think much of it! I was nervous as it is!
But if you really are offended, then I’m sorry!! 🥺
Rody Soul:
Nada, I don’t care
Midoriya Izuku:
Show me Pino
Rody Soul:
Okayyyyyy number one this is invasive
Midoriya Izuku:
And number two? 🤔
Rody Soul:
Number two hypothetically who would I do that?
I meant how, and my messages are taking a bit of time to send because the internet connection isn’t the greatest here at home
Midoriya Izuku:
It’s okay (laugh) and sorry! To send a picture you click the little camera image on the bottom, next to the space where you text
Rody Soul:
[A picture of pure darkness.]
Midoriya Izuku:
Did you mean to do that?
Rody Soul:
Yeah, it wasn’t even worth it, the picture took the longest time t o send, if my messages already take some time to send then the picture takes the cake
Midoriya Izuku:
It’s fine! Talking to you is great so I don’t mind waiting 😄
What does “takes the cake” mean in this context?
Rody Soul:
Good to see you’re as insufferable as always hero
Midoriya Izuku:
And you didn’t change a thing Rody (laugh)
It makes me really happy
If Rody’s phone wasn’t “brand new”, he’d toss it against the wall.
Rody Soul:
I’m at work, the internet here is so much better than at my house it’s not even funny, just wanted to say that, my coworker Tom just helped me settle the Wi-Fi, I’m a big fan of how the phone automatically corrects stuff by the way, it helps a lot, but sometimes it is a pain and I need to insist how to spell a word against it, it'd be nice if it understood the difference between tô and to
Now I gotta go, have a long day of honest work to do
Midoriya Izuku:
Hey Rody! Good to talk to you! I’m sorry for the delay. I was in class, I hope you had a good day!
Also I'm happy the honest work is going well to you!
Rody Soul:
No prob hero
On read.
Rody Soul:
[Two pictures of childish drawings sent.]
Behold drawings of Lala!
Midoriya Izuku:
[Audio message: It are so cute! Please tell Lala that she is a great artist. Can she gift one to me?]
[Audio message: I hope you don't mind the audio messages. My hands are a little hurt, it's a little difficult to type but I still want to reply you.]
Rody Soul:
No problema hero, she said those are for me and Roro, but she will make one for you
Midoriya Izuku:
💕
Two hearts, one for you and one for Lala 😄
On read.
Rody Soul:
Opa, something came up, why were your hands hurting? You should take it easy with your training hero, or you’ve been saving too many handsome boys? Can’t complain about that since I was one of those
Midoriya Izuku:
No (laugh)
I have been helping with the restoration of houses and buildings destroyed.
Rody Soul:
Right right, things must be rough out there
Midoriya Izuku:
Kind of
But we have been managing
I guess things are headed in a good direction! I am optimistic
Rody Soul:
That’s good, good luck out there hero
Midoriya Izuku:
Thank you Rody! 😄
On read.
Midoriya Izuku:
Are you aware if Otheon has a higher percentage of sentient quirk havers?
I looked into it but couldn’t find any source or paper about it, but I’m very interested
If you know any university around there that studies quirk science, I’d like to look into it!
Rody Soul:
Number one, hello tô you too hero, number two what is the meaning of this hero? You wanna attend a university here? Sorry to tell this isn't my field of knowledge
Midoriya Izuku:
Oh no! I’m not thinking of attending any university, I don’t need to, but I am thinking about it… That's not important now!!
I just saw that one of Otheon’s top 5 heroes is a man with a sentient quirk!! Maybe you know about him? His name is “Pica-osso”, I saw it means “bone pick”! But it’s also the name of the species his bird quirk, a black vulture!!
It got me very curious! The only people I’ve ever met with sentient quirks are you and my classmate and friend Tokoyami-san!!
Papers on sentient quirks are few and between for a number of reasons. Two of them being because those quirks are, as documented so far, kind of rare, and also for agreement reasons!
Some people with sentient quirks deny being subjects of quirk science!
I respect them! I mean, I get really sad about that, but I once saw someone mention in a Reddit forum that it is like putting a beloved pet, a family member or even an extension of yourself at the mercy of scientists, so no matter how safe the experiments may be, they’re still scary!
I understand that totally, I had a hamster when I was younger, once I had to take him to the vet and I felt nervous even letting the vet pick him up because he looked scared. I suppose it’s something similar or worse with another being that just so happens to be your quirk?
So anyway, despite being something that brings me great fascination, I do understand. Whenever I see a case of someone with a sentient quirk it’s in different parts of the world in different decades, but there’s you with Pino and Pica-osso with his quirk, in the same decade and country! What a coincidence!!
So I wondered if sentient quirks were more common in Otheon, I didn’t find much on the subject online, but I thought maybe you could know more since you speak the country's language
Rody Soul:
You make my head fucking hurt hero 😵💫, I should send you the bill for the headaches pills I’ll have to buy, I think I’ve heard of the guy, I didn’t know pica osso was another name for the vulture, where I'm from we usually call it just abutre preto, that's português for black vulture, I guess this sort of explains it, always thought the name was weird, what type of hero calls himself basically bone beaker? Weird as fuck
Ah also he moved to Portugal a while ago, fucking traitor, he got big and our country’s wage is not enough for him so he drops all the “I’m here to help Otheonians” bullshit 😒 but I’m curious why are you looking up heroes from Otheon hero? ❓
Midoriya Izuku:
Oh I didn’t know that part! 🙁 Sorry, Rody! I didn’t mean to upset you
I’m a little nervous for the exam I have coming up, so I went to search things on the internet. I thought of you and ended up searching things about your country
I looked up foods and then heroes
I wanted to look up Heroes Agencies too but I got so surprised to see a hero with a sentient quirk I wanted to talk about it with you!
Rody Soul:
Don’t be stupid hero, you’ll do great at your exam, don’t heat your head about it
Midoriya Izuku:
Huh? What do you mean by “don’t heat your head about it”?
Rody Soul:
It means to not stress yourself about it, you’ll do great, I forgot to ask what is your exam about? Know that I ask knowing very well I’ll receive an essay again 👍
Midoriya Izuku:
😂😁
You’re amazing, Rody. Get ready!!
Rody Soul:
[One picture of a simple, small cake sent.]
Taught my little sister how to make cake 🍰, with my supervision of course, Glorinha is coming over so we prepared this snack
Midoriya Izuku:
Wow!! 😋
It looks good! Please ask Lala if she can send some in the mail for me!!
Rody Soul:
I’ll bring it on plane 🧑✈️
Midoriya Izuku:
Don’t say that, I’ll excitedly run to my window every time I hear a plane!
On read.
Midoriya Izuku:
I don’t cook very often lately, but I had to make something to share too!
[One picture of a pie sent]
Rody Soul:
You know how tô cook! I’m surprised! Wait a minute I’m picking up my cessna for a quick trip to Japan, definitely not for food reasons ✈️🍛 I like those little pictures they’re cute
Midoriya Izuku:
Unamused laugh. You’re so funny. You should know that I was raised by a single mother, I was taught how to cook! I didn’t want to bring more trouble to my mom. It was nice to cook again despite my hands, it reminded me when I was younger there was a time I liked trying new recipes I saw on the internet, both to pass the time I had alone and also to surprise my mom when she got home from work
And I could notice (laugh), you’ve been using them randomly lately
Rody Soul:
That's nice of you for your mom, it's exactly what I would expect of you, not related but I need to say, 🦸🫵😜😝 and 🧑✈️🤳😎✨
Midoriya Izuku:
Heroes are dumb and pilots are cool? 🤔
The first part is false but I can’t deny the truth in the second part
Because yes, you’re cool Rody
Rody Soul:
Yeah, I know 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Midoriya Izuku:
😁👍✨
Rody Soul:
Anyway what other recipes you liked to cook? 🍱🍣🍙🍜 Was any of them one of those? They showed up when I wrote japanese food
Midoriya Izuku:
I mean, yes ☺️
Let me see if I have any old picture of something I cooked, my mom used to take pictures of them sometimes
Midoriya Izuku:
Hello Rody, how well do you know the hotels in your city?
Last time I went to your country all of this stuff was covered by Endeavor's agency, so I'm really clueless. That's the Pro Hero I interned under, by the way. I mean he is not a Pro Hero anymore, but that is not important.
All the times I have traveled I had those things taken care of by an adult, and now that I'm on my own I'm panicking a little bit 😅 I did lots of research! Including your language before you have anything to say about it again (laugh). But still I wanted a closer opinion…
Rody Soul:
Deku, breath, I got out of breath just by reading your text, what do you mean with how well do I know the hotels in my city? Why do you wanna know? What are you planning hero?
Midoriya Izuku:
The summer break of UA is coming soon, and since we had… a lot at the beginning of this year, our school didn’t plan any summer camp or anything. We were free to spend it as we wanted. It wasn’t easy but I managed to convince my mom to let me travel to Otheon for one week. Since this time I’m alone I’m very nervous, but I'm excited too!
On read.
Rody Soul:
Hello again work got me busy, anyway you are coming to Otheon? Why???
Midoriya Izuku:
I said I would come back to visit, didn’t I?