Heartbreak comes in many forms. Loss, leaving, unrequited love. In Rody’s case, it seems he’s experienced all three.

His father left him to care for his two very young siblings when he was still just a child himself. Rody was suddenly a parent, having to change diapers, walk them to school, console Lala when she had nightmares. Only years later did he find that his dad had left to protect them from Humarise’s wrath.

Still, Rody had never really gotten to be a kid. Forced maturity had robbed him of the experiences Roro and Lala were having now. Of course, he could never blame them; he loves those two kids more than life itself. They weren’t at fault for having to leave the comfortable life they once had. It was all Humarise.

The closure gives him a bit of a reprieve, but he’d wait a while to tell the kids that Dad wasn’t coming back. He was mature enough to know that he’d have to process his grief first before being able to handle theirs.

Rody grieved more than just the heartbreaking loss of his parents. He grieved over the loss of his childhood.

Today, Rody experiences the two latter forms upon seeing Deku leave his arms in the airport terminal.

It starts out slowly, like flowing water trickling into the little cracks in his heart. The water then freezes over, expands those cracks. The sound of his flight leaving Otheon makes it look akin to the Grand Canyon.

This is new to him. It’s a fresh, open wound that feels as if it’ll never stop bleeding. Rody is simply beside himself at the thought of never getting to see Izuku Midoriya again.

Pino gives it away. She’s crying and chirping sadly into the neck of his blue dress shirt. Rody bundles her up into the jacket, pulling the tannish-green folds over her trembling body. He hurries home, trying to stop the tears from escaping his own eyes.

He has to be strong. He has to be resilient. He has to turn everything off for Roro and Lala. What he feels doesn’t matter when those kids have no other family left.

Still, every time he blinks he sees Izuku’s face. Feels Izuku’s hair pressed up against his cheeks. Hears Izuku’s soft, sad sigh in his ears.

Rody breaks out into a run, letting the shooting pain in his leg distract from the hero who saved the world with him. It hurts like a bitch, but at least it gives his mind something else to focus on.

When the house finally comes into sight, Rody can play his tears off as happiness as his siblings rush out to hug him. He is happy to see them, eternally glad that they’re okay and have been taking care of one another. Roro nearly knocks him off his feet in a hug while Lala scolds her brother for being too rough with Rody’s injury.

Eventually, when their tear-filled group hug concludes, they rush him inside and sit him down to a bowl of canned chicken noodle soup.

“You guys are the best. You’ll never believe what I’ve just gone through.”

-

Thousands of miles and several hours apart, Izuku Midoriya lands in Musutafu.

His work study has unofficially come to a close, but there’s no time to rest in his eyes. Plus, he’s antsy from the flight. He has to get some energy out before he’ll be able to sleep tonight.

Bakugou and Todoroki have already gotten their things and have loaded up into the car headed back to the Yuuei dorms. Much to the former’s dismay, Deku hangs back for a moment to talk with Endeavor.

He thanks the top hero for the opportunity to work abroad with him and his classmates and apologizes for the umpteenth time about running off and causing trouble. There will be a mountain of paperwork and responsibility that Endeavor will have to take on concerning the legality of the students’ actions, and Izuku is well-aware of that. He offers to help in any way that he can.

Endeavor reassures him (in his own roundabout way) that he’ll take care of everything, and for the three of them to just go get some sleep for now.

Bakugou is conked out almost as soon as the car pulls away from the terminal, and Todoroki isn’t far behind him. Midoriya, however, is still wide awake. He can’t seem to get his mind off of Otheon and Flect.

…and Rody.

When they arrive at the dorms, the three fledgling heroes are met with chaos. Iida is trying his best to keep order. Uraraka and Asui are flooding Midoriya with questions, exchanging short tales of their time in France that would be expanded upon later. Aoyama is listening to them with rapt attention. Kirishima and Kaminari nearly tackle Bakugou, which almost ends up in a one-sided fight. Tokoyami and Sero greet Todoroki and offer to help him with his bags.

Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu and Sato are busy in the kitchen, enlisting the help of Koda, Shouji, and Jirou to make tea and lunch for everyone. Mina and Hagakure are bouncing between groups while Ojirou and Mineta are sitting on the couches, watching.

The three arriving today are the last to return to the dorms, given the medical attention they needed and finishing up their work in Otheon. Everyone else had returned sometime during the week prior.

After eating and catching up with everyone, Izuku finally heads to his room to unpack. His body is tired, but his mind is running miles in minutes.

He separates the dirty clothes from clean ones with ease, tossing them in a laundry hamper for later. He meticulously puts back all of his toiletries, starting with the All-Might branded shampoo and conditioner.

The last thing he goes to put away is his hero costume and case. There’s something poking out of it, so Izuku opens the case to make sure everything is in order.

Laying gently next to his mask is a feather. A pink feather striped with yellow and purple.

Izuku’s heart nearly flips over in his chest when he realizes, immediately fishing his phone from the pocket of his sweats. “Pino!”

Damn near frantically, he swipes through his contacts until he gets to the one labeled “Rody Soul,” and types out a quick text.

deku: hey rody!!! it’s izuku midoriya!!!

There’s no response for the first few minutes, so Izuku continues unpacking. However, the worried voice in his head gets louder, and he sends another without thinking twice.

deku: sorry, you probably don’t remember my full name. this is deku!!

Rody doesn’t respond that time, either.

deku: you remember me, right?? we saved the world together!!

Izuku waits for an entire hour, holed up in his room, glued to his phone. Complete radio silence isn’t something he’s used to.

It begins to weigh on the hero. Thoughts that Rody doesn’t remember him, or, god forbid, doesn’t want to talk to him, race through his mind.

Eventually, Izuku decides it’s time to get up and do something productive. He grabs the hamper and treks down to the laundry room in the basement.

The room is huge, with enough combination washer/dryers to accommodate every student in the dorm. There’s an unwritten claim on each one, agreed upon the second day in Heights Alliance. Deku heads over to his, noting the one other machine set that’s running.

As he loads the clothes into the washer, the machines on the other side of the room stop. He can’t remember off the top of his head whose it is, and he chastises himself for not being able to inform its user.

He should be paying more attention. Doing more for his classmates. Doing his part in keeping the dorms running smoothly-

“I thought I told you to quit that damn muttering. It’s fucking creepy to come down to the basement and hearing someone just talk to themselves.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku whips his head around, startled. He notices streaks of green electricity flicker around him, much to his embarrassment.

He’s so anxious that he’s accidentally activated One For All, noticeably amusing the blond at the door.

“Heh, guess I’m not the only one freaked out about this stupid basement. Calm down, I’m just getting my shit.” Bakugou snaps, retrieving his clothes from the machine.

“Right. Sorry.”

Bakugou does as he says, tossing his clean clothes in a basket and leaving soon after.

Izuku’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He hastily shoves the rest of his laundry inside the machine, slams the door, and yanks his phone out.

It isn’t Rody. It’s a reminder from Duolingo to practice his English. “Stupid green bird.” He whispers, setting his phone down on the folding counter.

There’s footsteps in the hallway, and then there’s Uraraka at the door. “Oh, hey, Deku! You’re certainly not taking any time off, are you?” She asks, hefting her own hamper into the room and by the washing machine not far from his.

Izuku smiles at her and half-heartedly laughs. “Yeah. Not really all that tired anyway. I’ll probably go run later.”

“You certainly sound tired.” She teases.

He shoots the girl a look, to which she giggles, gaze lingering on him for a bit. “That’s not it, though, is it? Penny for your thoughts?”

Izuku sighs. “You know me too well, Uraraka. You sure your Quirk isn’t mind-reading?”

She laughs, loading her clothes in. “Nah, I’ve just gotten too used to reading people. It’s not that great of a habit, actually. Anyway, spill.”

“It’s really nothing. Just reflecting.” He hates lying to her, but how embarrassing would it be to admit he’s triple-texted a guy she’s not met and is anxiously awaiting his response?

Something clicks in his mind, and he grabs his phone again. The time reads 12:42. Izuku smacks himself on the forehead at the realization, much to Uraraka’s shock.

“Deku! Are you okay—“

“The time zones! I’m so stupid, I’m so stupid! I had to have texted him at like-“ Izuku takes a moment to Google Otheon’s current time and nearly facepalms again after doing the math. “2 o’clock in the morning!” He runs his hands through his hair, letting them cup his face.

Uraraka is baffled. “What? Who are you talking about?”

“Rody Soul! I met him in Otheon! He’s the one who saved the world!”

She doesn’t get to ask him what he means when he’s already out of the room, sprinting up the stairs, hamper forgotten.

There’s still a few of his classmates hanging around in the common room. “Heyo, Midoriya! Where you going in such a rush?” Kaminari calls out to him.

“A run! Be back soon!” Izuku shouts back, putting his shoes on, opening the giant door, and slipping outside.

He’s not exactly in his training clothes, but he figures the white hoodie and dark sweats are good enough for a run. Winter is definitely still here; the tiniest flakes of snow drift down into his hair.

Izuku can blame the redness in his cheeks on the freezing air, and not the burning embarrassment he feels. He tries to physically get it off, shaking his head and flapping his arms a few times to get blood pumping down to his extremities.

A little too late he realizes he should’ve brought gloves, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket and slowing to a walk. The cold has almost made his hands numb, to the point where he almost doesn’t feel the vibration of his phone.

Sighing, he takes it out to turn off the reminder, and stops dead in his tracks.

rody: jeez deku I was asleep. ofc I remember you. hard to forget that green mess on top of your head you call hair.

Izuku responds immediately, albeit clumsily since he’s losing feeling in his fingers.

deku: I’m so sorry!!!! I forgot what time it was there. I’m really sorry if I woke you up!! It’s almost 4am there isn’t it??

rody: you didn’t wake me up. lala had a nightmare. I just happened to check my phone you’re good

deku: oh no, is she okay??

rody: yeah she’s fine. gets em from time to time. surprised it didn’t wake up roro. they’re both snoring again so all’s well for now

deku: that’s good. you should get some rest too!!!

rody: yes mother. will do. talk to you soon, mass murderer

Izuku can almost see the smirk on his face through the screen.

deku: I thought we were past that. you know I would never!!!

rody: you sure beat the shit out of flect tho. you’re definitely capable.

deku: >:(

rody: gnight >:)

Izuku takes off back to the dorms, letting Rody sleep. His laundry ought to be done soon, and he doesn’t want to let it sit.

What surprises him, though, is that even after he’s back in the warm laundry room and out of the cold, his whole face still seems to be burning red. There’s a strange feeling inside him, akin to anxiousness.

Is he getting a fever? No, he can’t be. He wasn’t even out in the cold that long. Not that cold weather gives you fevers but there’s something about this feeling that feels like sickness but at the same time it’s not and-

Oh.

The realization hits him like a bullet train. He’s blushing.