Chapter Text
Oh god, this is really happening.
He's actually here.
Looking up at the towering building before him, Rody tried to remember that nervous little teenager he met all those years ago. The awkward hero in training who single-handedly fought off two villains, used his own body to shield Rody from an arrow, and then had the balls to say that he was just some loser.
"If he still thinks he's a loser, I'm gonna punch him," Rody chuckled under his breath, the bright pink bird on his shoulder chirping in agreement before doing little fake-out punches with her wings.
His gaze finally lowers, right as the front door opens to reveal a lithe woman in a crisp white suit, a green 'x' embroidered on the front pocket. As their eyes met, it was hard not to notice that instead of a normal pair of circular irises, her eyes were a solid black with a green x in the center. "Mr. Soul, correct?"
"Oh, yes," Rody replied, Pino doing a little thumbs up. "I take it this really is Deku's agency?"
The black-haired woman gave a slight nod, gesturing for him to follow her. "I'm Miss X, Deku's secretary. I humbly welcome you into Beyond Seven."
As she turned around to lead him inside, the European man noticed that she had a thin black tail snaking out from under the hem of her jacket, swishing from side to side with a little x being formed at the tip. Rody glanced around the high-end-looking building as heroes of all types bolted around the office, each one mumbling about the various tasks that need to be done. "Something big happening?"
"Some big names are meeting up and our agency was hired to help with security," Miss X explained. "That's part of the reason you were brought in. They want us to have some heroes on stand-by in the air."
"That's definitely something I can help with," Rody responded confidently, Pino looking around nervously. "When do I start?"
"That will be up to Deku," she replied as she scanned her fingerprint to open up the elevator doors. "His office is on the top floor, which is only accessible by fingerprint."
Rody blinked, almost forgetting to follow her in. "Top security for the top hero, I guess."
"Oh, far from it," Miss X chuckled. "I believe he just wanted a place to be himself."
The brunette raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant, until the elevator doors opened again to reveal a hallway that was so packed full of various posters and memorabilia of All Might that you could barely see the walls. Rody briefly recalled Deku mentioning that he admired All Might, but this is...
As they made their way down the hallway, there were various rooms they passed along the way that had no doors, so you could clearly peer inside and see that each one was dedicated to a different hero. A couple he recognized, such as Shoto and Dynamight, but most were of heroes he never heard of. Though, he wasn't super familiar with Japanese heros.
As they made their way to the end of the hallway, Miss X knocked twice before cracking open the door just wide enough to slide her slim body through. "Deku, the pilot that Shoto recommended to you is here."
"Ah, I told him he didn't have to worry," a familiar voice rang out from the other side of the door, although a bit deeper than he last remembered. "I was just going to ask for some assistance from Tsukoyomi and--"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Pino shot forward like a bullet, much to Rody's horror, and flew through the small gap in the doorframe while chirping excitedly.
"Eh, how did a bird--wait, this is..."
Miss X tossed the door open, fully revealing Rody with his hand stretched out, about to push the door open himself to try and stop Pino from doing exactly what she was already doing.
It had only been a few years since they last saw each other at Deku's graduation, which he had invited Rody and his siblings to and even paid for their flights and hotel room, but the hero already had quite a few new scars. While he was sporting an undercut now, it's easy to tell the haircut wasn't entirely his choice as a rather thick scar ran from his left temple to just a little past his ear. Though of course, the most obvious difference was...
Pino stopped aggressively rubbing against Deku's cheek, glancing down at the place where his right arm was supposed to be. Rody remembered when the news broke, but there was a strong difference between seeing it on a screen and seeing it in person. He could feel his stomach twisting in knots.
"Rody!" Deku called out, smiling just as cheerfully as he did when they were kids, as he stretched out his left arm and stepped towards his old friend. "So this is why Shoto was so insistent!"
Rody did his best to mirror his smile as Pino buried her face into his neck. Pulling him into a hug, he tried to ignore the empty feeling of only being embraced by one arm. "I was wondering why you didn't greet me yourself. I thought maybe being the number one hero had gotten to your head."
"I would have greeted you at the airport if I knew," Deku insisted as he pulled away, turning to look at Miss X with a shake of his head.
She popped the top button of her blouse, pulling the collar to the side to reveal a small green x on her neck, which faded away almost as soon as Rody put his eyes on it. "Shoto had me promise to keep it a secret."
"Her quirk is really cool," Deku told the foreigner with excitement, a child-like glint in his eyes, as Miss X buttoned her shirt back up. "It's called Cross My Heart. Every time she makes a promise, a green x will appear somewhere on her body and she's completely unable to break the promise. The mark doesn't fade away until she fulfills her promise and the bigger the promise, the larger the mark."
'I think your quirk is cool!'
Rody ruffled the shorter man's hair with a grin. "Glad to see that you haven't changed, Deku."
"Oh, wait!" Deku suddenly blurted out, looking up at Rody. "Where's Roro and Lala?"
Rody smiled smugly as Pino chirped with excitement. "I thought you would never ask."
Deku tilted his head as the brunette reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope, handing it over to the green-haired man. Black tendrils seeped out from his knuckles, carefully opening the envelope and pulling out a letter that made his eyes shoot wide open. " 'Dear Roro Soul, we're happy to welcome you to the UA Support Department'?!"
"He studied his hardest to get into the same school as you and managed to score the highest out of all other applicants," Rody said proudly. "Roro said he wants to dedicate himself to help the heroes that keep everyone safe."
"Congratulations!" Deku cheered. "I should introduce him to my friend Mei! She was in the support department while I was UA and now she works with all kinds of heroes. She even made my arm!"
The hero shot some black tendrils across the room, bringing over a black and green mechanical arm that quickly attached to his shoulder (magnets?) before seeming to boot up with power, five small lights along the knuckles shining a bright green.
"She's just a genius," Deku said cheerfully as he showed off how easily he was able to control the mechanical arm. "She managed to create a tiny electric wiring system inside that is so similar to the human nervous system that it actually syncs up almost perfectly with my own. And she not only did this once, but several times! She made many different versions that work better with different temperatures and battle needs. She even made one that looks almost identical to a real arm in case I'm ever on a stealth mission and..."
Deku's rambling slowly came to a stop as he looked over at Rody and Pino. "Oh, sorry. Did talking about it make you uncomfortable?"
"No!" Rody unintentionally shouted, before clearing his throat. "No, it's just... I was surprised at how normal it seems to be for you already."
"Six months is a long time," Deku said softly, looking down at the metallic fingers as they curled into a fist. "When you're a hero, you have to keep moving and never give up. Support is what helps make sure we keep fighting." Deku looked back up with his bright smile. "I can't wait to see where Roro's passion takes him!"
Pino immediately broke into tears, flying back over to Deku to hug him as best as she could with such a small body. Rody struggled to reflect Deku's smile. "Yeah. I can't wait to see what amazing things he will create, either."