Chapter Text
The noises of the airport around him drown out the rhythmic nervous tapping of his foot as he waits. Midoriya is standing at the arrival gate holding a piece of paper with a name written on it, patiently waiting for his guest to arrive.
The constant static of people's voices works to help him stay calm. In the three years since he graduated from UA he's learned that hearing too many people talking at once is better than not hearing any people at all. His nerves are eating away at him, and the tapping of his foot starts to speed up when he sees the first few people start to come out of the gate.
The direct flight from Otheon is a very unique one, since it consists entirely of people coming to Japan for the upcoming HeroCon, Japan's biggest hero centric convention. That means that for 4 days, every single passenger is going to be staying at the same hotel, going to the same place, and leaving on the same flight with the same crew, including the pilots.
Midoriya is practically bouncing on his feet as the last few passengers come through the arrival gate, followed by the pilots. He opens his mouth to call to them when he realizes...neither of them are him. His heart drops into his chest as anxiety starts to take over. He was supposed to be on the flight. Did something happen? He's about to turn around and head home when he overhears one of the passengers talking with someone.
"Oh Sweetheart, Honolulu was incredible, so beautiful!"
Honolulu? But there isn't a city named Honolulu in Oth… just then Midoriya notices the passenger's deep tans and annoyingly bright Hawaiian shirts. He's in front of the wrong gate. Before he can turn around to look for the correct arrival gate, he hears a bag hitting the tile floor and a loud, but familiar voice.
"Deku!"
Green lightning pulses over his body for a brief moment as he immediately turns around, being met by an incredible sight. The pilot walks with a barely noticeable limp in his leg, stirring up old memories and wounds alike. The deep blue pilot's uniform is perfectly fitted, and he looks like he was born to wear it. He's gotten taller with age, and put on a bit more muscle than Midoriya remembers. The locket around his neck has been kept in perfect condition. The only thing missing from his uniform is the hat, seemingly discarded in favor of keeping his hair in the same style Midoriya remembers from all those years ago.
"Rody!"
He drops the piece of paper and rushes forward, wrapping Rody up into a massive bear hug despite him being a couple inches taller than Midoriya. The hug is strong and filled with unsaid emotions, and Rody is only released when Midoriya hears a few pops coming from his back.
"Oops. Sorry!"
He feels a blush creep up on his face as he sets Rody down, staying within arms reach as they both giggle.
"No worries man. I gotta say though, I expected you to show up dressed in your hero gear."
"O-oh! Well I d-didn't have patrol today because I kinda...took today off so I could pick you up."
"Aww, you took time off important hero work just so you could spend more time with me?"
Midoriya's face turns a deeper shade of red as Rody takes another step towards him, their chests practically pressing against each other. He rubs the back of his neck and chuckles shyly.
"Umm...m-maybe...yeah."
"Well I'm flattered, but I have to admit, I was looking forward to seeing you in that cute little costume of yours."
"Oh! Well I mean..if you wanted to we could stop by the agency and I could change if you wanted to, and I could show you around if you wanted. A-also I did bring my spare suit for the convention, but it's the older version from high school and I don't know if you wanted to see all the improvements I've made to my costume since we last met...w-wait, did you just call me cute!?"
"Actually, I called your costume cute, and I can't wait to see you in it again. Old or new."
"Y-yeah okay!"
They both take a half step away from each other, and Midoriya tells himself that he's just inspecting Rody's uniform as he looks his body up and down again.
"Wow, you've gotten taller since we last met!"
"Yeah, five years can change a lot, but you don't look like you've grown an inch!"
Midoriya winces slightly, his lack of additional growth spurt in high school a lingering source of frustration for him and point of interest for tabloids declaring him an "adorable shortstack".
"Yeah… I haven't. Thanks for noticing."
Rody lets out a small chuckle as his hand ribs the back of his neck. It's then that Midoriya finally notices what's missing.
"Oh hey, where's Pino?"
It's Rody's turn to blush as he chuckles again, softer this time. He averts his eyes, instead focusing on the suitcase at his side.
"Oh! Uh… She's fine, I just have her put up at the moment. She can be kinda distracting while I'm flying, you know."
"Oh yeah, that makes sense! By 'put up' do you mean…."
Midoriya's eyes drift to Rody's luggage, eyeing the zipper intently. It takes a few seconds for Rody to realize what he's insinuating, but he's quick to respond once he understands.
"Oh no! I didn't put her in my suitcase!!! I just learned how to summon and unsummon her when I needed to."
Midoriya's eyes widen as his mind starts to form all kinds of different questions, but before he can voice any of them, Rody's hand covers his mouth. It's warm and soft, with the barest hint of calluses starting to form on his fingertips.
"I can see you thinking a mile a minute, Hero. In order to save us time though, I'll only allow you to ask three questions."
Midoriya lets out a disapproving grumble through his hand, and Rody moves it to let him speak.
"But-"
"No buts! You get three questions or none at all."
"Fine… When did you learn to do it?"
"About two years ago, right before I started being able to fly without an instructor."
"Are there any side effects to keeping her put up for long periods of time?"
"Yes."
"...aren't you going to tell me what they are?"
"That wasn't the question you asked now, was it?"
"Hmph fine...can I see her at least?"
"That's technically four questions, but I'll allow it."
Rody snaps his fingers and a pink and white ball of feathers appears out of the air and onto his shoulder. Pino looks exactly the same as she did 5 years ago, just a little bit bigger. It takes her a second to get adjusted to her new surroundings, but once she lands eyes on Midoriya her eyes focus.
One second she's perched on Rody's shoulder, and the next she's flying directly into Midoriya's face, leaving multiple tiny pecks on his cheeks and face. He starts to giggle uncontrollably when Pino starts rubbing her wings against his cheek, and he manages to get a look at Rody. His face is a bright red all the way down to his neck, and his hand has moved down to hold onto his opposite arm. He almost looks... embarrassed. It's cute.
"Oh wow, she must have really missed me!"
"Y-yeah, five years apart does that to people. I can't blame her. So, are you ready to get out of here?"
"What? Oh yeah, let's go!"
—
The walk to the car is mostly silent, save for the sweet little chirps coming from Pino as she perches herself on Midoriya's shoulder and continues rubbing herself on his neck. As they approach his car he uses his keys to remote start it. Rody lets out a wolf whistle as the engine roars to life, it's sleek black body rumbling softly.
"Wow. Nice ride, Deku."
"T-thanks, it was a graduation gift."
"Well you've clearly taken good care of it since then, does it have a name?"
"Y-yeah, it's...Hercules."
"Hercules. Really?"
"Well I didn't name it! All Might did!"
Rody bellows out another strong laugh as they both slide into their seats.
"Yeah, All Might gave you a car as a graduation present. Very believable, fanboy."
Deciding not to prolong the conversation, Midoriya instead decides to focus on driving them out of the multi-level parking garage. As they hit the streets and start heading towards the hotel the convention is being held at, Midoriya notices that Pino has stopped nuzzling him. At the next red light he manages to take a peek at the bird and her owner.
Pino is resting on his shoulder, a soft look on her face as she observes the passing buildings and slowly emerging skyscrapers. Rody's foot is gently but nervously tapping against the floor of the car, his head in his hand and leaning against the window. Midoriya wonders what he's thinking about. Did he say something wrong earlier? Or is he waiting for him to respond to his earlier comment? Either way the silence is making him anxious, and in order to try and fill the air with anything else, he says the first thing on his mind.
"H-hey, I was wondering what you wanted to do at the convention tomorrow. No offense, but you don't really seem like the 'convention' type, ya' know? I've been trying to think of things we could do together that we'd both enjoy, but you never really talk about hero stuff or who your favorite is. I know I'm looking forward to watching the All Might trivia game and going to Kamui wood's 'Heroes in Agriculture' panel. I know Kirishima and TetsuTetsu will be on the 'Crimson Riot' panel, but I won't be able to see it because Kacchan and I have our 'All Might: Student, Hero, Teacher' panel at the same time. At least my other panels don't happen at the same time as—"
"You."
Midoriya winces as he realizes just how much he'd been muttering. It's a bad habit that he's still not been able to break all these years later. His hands grip the steering wheel harder, and he's about to apologize when he finally realizes what Rody said.
"What did you say?"
Rody keeps his eyes facing out the window, watching buildings pass by more frequently as they approach the heart of the city.
"You said you didn't know who my favorite hero was. It's you."
"Oh."
The only thing keeping Rody from witnessing Midoriya's entire face turn a deep shade of red is the fact that his eyes are still focused out the window of the car. Midoriya opens his mouth to try and form a response, but he chokes on his own spit and starts coughing and sputtering. He's finally able to gather himself after taking a sip of water.
"Sorry. I wasn't e-expecting that."
"You weren't? Midoriya, you saved not only me and my siblings, but the whole world too."
Midoriya's blush intensifies, but before he can respond all the air is forced from his lungs when Rody faces him for the first time since they got into the car. His eyes are a deep grey, like a sea of slate leftover after a volcano erupts, and filled with awe, admiration, and something else that Midoriya can't quite describe.
"After what we've been through, how could you not be my favorite?"
Silence stretches between them for a few minutes after that. Midoriya wants to speak up, wants to say that Rody's the one that actually saved the world, not him, but it feels like there's something suspended in the air and the very act of speaking would break it. The heavy, ethereal tension makes his throat dry, and he grabs his water to take another sip at the same moment that a car swerves out in front of them.
Without thinking, Midoriya slams on the brakes, one hand holding the steering wheel steady while the other darts over to brace Rody's chest as both of their body's jerk forward in their seats. Water sloshes out of the bottle and all over Rody's shirt immediately and Pino flies forward and lands on the front dash. Everything goes silent for a moment before Booming laughter breaks the silence in the car. When Midoriya looks over, he sees Rody doubled over with a massive smile on his face, laughing his heart out.
"W-whats so funny?"
There are tears at the corners of his eyes as he tries to catch his breath for a moment before speaking.
"Why is it that Everytime we drive together, it ends with one of us getting our clothes soaked?"
With that, he immediately doubles over laughing again. Midoriya looks at him for another moment before he joins in and starts giggling uncontrollably.
Their time together so far has felt strange, like there's some sort of expectation after being apart for so long, but this moment feels familiar, almost nostalgic, and Midoriya could bask in the comfort of it for a while. Unfortunately their laughter is cut short as a loud honking from the car behind them makes them realize that they've been stopped in the middle of the road for a few minutes. With a quick apology that the driver behind him definitely doesn't hear, Midoriya quickly starts driving again.
The last few minutes of the drive are spent in comfortable silence, their giggle fit having softened some of the tension between them. Pino is sitting contently on the dash, occasionally drawing her gaze from Midoriya to Rody. When they arrive at the hotel, the valet opens the door for Midoriya and offers to have their bags sent up to their rooms for them. He's about to accept the offer when he sees Rody walk around the side of the car with a very visible wet patch on his uniform shirt.
"Oh! no thank you, we can carry our own bags up."
With a nod from the valet, he quickly opens the trunk and grabs both his and Rody's suitcase before summoning black whip to close the trunk for him.
"I can carry my own bag, you know."
Rody is standing next to the car with his arms crossed and Pino perched on his shoulder. Midoriya gives his signature smile with a small shake of his head.
"It's ok, I got it!"
"Suit yourself, Hero."
As they enter the main lobby and walk towards the front desk, Midoriya notices that Rody is walking stiffly. His limp seems more pronounced than it did when he first got off the plane. He's about to call out and ask if he accidentally hit his leg when the car pulled out in front of them, but stops himself when he realizes what caused it. Otheon, 5 years ago. When he was injured trying to save the world. Midoriya remembers that day in vivid detail, every single moment forever ingrained in his memory, but he can't recall the days after. Everything that happened after hugging Rody is a complete blur, including recovering from his injuries. One for All has made him extremely durable, more durable than most. Sometimes he forgets that while he's able to bounce back from most injuries now, others aren't so lucky. Rody isn't so lucky.
He regains focus and quickly realizes that he's no longer standing in the front lobby and that Rody is speaking to him.
"—ame floor."
"S-sorry, what was that?"
"I was just saying how it's cool that we're both on the same floor. See?"
Midoriya turns in the direction that Rody is pointing and sees a door labeled '907'. Looking down he sees the keycard in his hand with the same number on it.
"I'm 907."
"Yeah, and I'm 910. We're diagonal neighbors!"
"Oh, that's a nice coincidence. They must have put the pilots and crew on the same floors as the panel guests."
"Yeah, makes you wonder who our other neighbors are gonna be."
Midoriya nods and hands Rody his suitcase, watching as Pino chirps softly in what he can only assume is a yawn.
"You're probably feeling pretty tired with jet lag, so I'm gonna let you go ahead and get some rest. I'll see you in the morning for breakfast and to get checked in for the con?"
"Sounds like a plan, Deku. Can't wait to see you do your hero thing up on stage."
Midoriya blushes and quickly turns around to open his door. As soon as it swings open he hears a small series of chirps as Pino flies past his face and into his room. He starts giggling as he hears Rody choke behind him.
"P-pino! You can't sleep wit—you can't sleep in Midoriya's room! You have to stay with me."
"He's right, Pino, you have to stay with your owner."
There's a sad chirp as Pino flies back out into the hallway, briefly stopping to peck Midoriya's cheek, and onto Rody's shoulder. Rody's face is a bright red, mirroring Midoriya's blush.
"S-so...see you tomorrow?"
"Y-yeah...tomorrow. goodnight."
"Night!"
With that, Midoriya enters his room, and promptly screams into a pillow. It's going to be a long weekend.