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If there was one thing Izuku loved about owning a library, it was seeing passionate book lovers such as himself gather together in one place.
Groups of people from different ages and backgrounds would flock to the tiny building—usually after school hours—and take the time to relax by happily chatting amongst themselves, with the occasional book in their hands for either an academic project or simply the fun of it. There were even quiet introverts who had become regulars, and were recognized and greeted by the owner and others alike.
It was all such a small welcoming community, yet it always brought a smile to the man's lips.
If there was one thing Izuku didn't love about owning a library however, it was the unwanted visitors. Well, ‘troublesome visitors’ was the most appropriate term.
As he was handing a bag full of tomes to a young girl to read over the weekend, Izuku's mind almost instantly sharpened, his senses going on high alert at the presence of something not quite good, but that he recognized quite well. He didn't even have time to sigh before a brunet male appeared almost out of thin air, leaning against Izuku's desk with a smug smile across his lips.
“Hey there, angel~ How's it going?” The man's voice was like melted butter, soft and smooth as he eyed the other with curiosity. Izuku however, was caught off-guard by something else entirely.
“R-Rody! You can't just—!” He angrily whispered in the man's direction, before remembering he still had a customer in front of him. He turned to her with a nervous smile and wave of his hand. “Sorry about that! I hope those can help you with your homework! We're closing now, so you should head back.”
It was in fact, nowhere near time for the building to be closing. But almost as if everyone inside had heard Izuku's comment, one by one they all bid their farewells and started to leave, much to the owner's appreciation.
As soon as the final person closed the door behind them, Izuku instantly locked it with a flick of his wrist. He let out a sigh of relief, while the brunet next to him whistled as if he were impressed, not having moved an inch from his position since he arrived. “Miracling people away just cause you're tired and wanna close early? Not really good for business, angel.”
Izuku's frustration returned full-force as he remembered he was indeed not alone. With a huff and turn of his heel, he turned to the other with a pout as he jabbed a finger into his chest. “You can't just call me that out in the open! You could blow our cover, Rody!”
Rody didn't seem the slightest bit phased at the other man's display, instead opting to let out a chuckle as he rolled his eyes. “Aw come on, I've been calling you that for eons! It's not my fault the humans started using it as a pet name. Heck, that actually makes it less suspicious…”
Izuku rubbed his temples in slight annoyance at the comeback. There was another thing he loved about owning a library: it served as a distraction from his angelic duties.
Izuku wasn't actually human, but an Angel—a Seraphim, if you wanted to get technical—and he had been living on planet Earth to watch over humanity for thousands of years at this point. And he wasn't the only one, either.
Rody was a Demon, sent by Lucifer himself to watch over the humans and make sure to bring out the worst in them, securing more souls for their army in Hell.
So one could say that they were a sort of Ying-Yang situation, balancing each other out and always finding ways to mess with the other's plans unintentionally. And despite it being annoying for the first couple of centuries, the duo realized soon enough that there truly couldn't be a ‘Good’ without an ‘Evil’, and vice versa.
As such, they formed a truce, and even an odd form of friendship that no one in either Heaven or Hell knew about. It was sort of comforting in a weird way for the Angel, as he now had someone he could confide in when it came to things he found fascinating about humans and how much they'd advanced from their forefathers.
And yet, Rody was still a Demon, and as such would sometimes push the limits of Izuku's kindness. Such as right now.
“Just... Tell me what you want. I'd rather get home as soon as I can without any more inconveniences.” Izuku lifted his gaze to meet Rody's, who for a moment seemed to freeze in place, before shoving his hands into the pockets of his long coat.
“Now I can't come visit a friend without having some ulterior motive? Ouch. You wound me ‘Zuku, truly.” Almost to emphasize this point the brunet placed a hand over his chest as he leaned back with a wince. The Angel was not impressed.
“Of course you can visit! But forgive me if I'm a little weary since every time you do, I've had to either miracle something away or lend you stuff.” Izuku could already recall the times he got Rody out of sticky situations—getting rid of angelic injuries, letting him spend the night at the library, buying him groceries whenever he claimed to be hungry even though their bodies didn't require food—the list was extensive.
The Demon chuckled as he finally moved from his space at the desk, this time walking towards Izuku and slouching his shoulders backwards. “Okay, okay! You got me! Let's get something to eat and we can talk about it there, whaddaya say?”
Another sigh. “I already told you I wanna go home. Might be surprising to you, but I'm actually tired from all the miracles I had to pull off today. If it's not that important, then we can talk about it tomo—”
“NO!”
The sudden shout brought the Angel out of whatever sleep his body was about to pull him into, making him turn to his companion in surprise. Rody never shouted like that. He also sounded… nervous?
It must have been an instinctive thing, since the brunet's eyes were as wide as saucers as well. He tried regaining his composure, but the damage was done. Izuku has spent thousands of years with this being to know all of his ticks. “What I meant to say was that your house isn't the best setting for this! How ‘bout somewhere more open like say… The Ritz? My treat!”
“Rody…” Izuku approached with caution, eyes expressing concern but also seriousness. What had the Demon so on edge? “What's wrong? Why can't we just talk here?”
“Because here isn't—!” The words got caught in his throat as both males flinched at once, as their senses quickly picked up something… supernatural. It took Izuku a millisecond to know what it was, but as soon as he did, his blood ran cold for a slight moment.
“The Council…”
“Fuck, they're here already…” Rody mumbled under his breath, coming to the same conclusion that Izuku had. He turned to his companion with worry lacing his eyebrows. “Listen Izuku, just tell them I came in to cause some havoc and you tried to stop me but I got away. I'll sneak through the back and hopefully lead them away—”
“No.”
“Huh?”
Izuku held his gaze firmly on the main entrance's locked door. “Go to the kids section and hide your aura as best as you can. I'll cast a barrier and get them out as soon as I can.”
The Demon could only stare flabbergasted as he let his mouth run wild. “Are you crazy?! If they find out you were covering for me, you'll—!”
“Let me worry about that! Just hide!” Izuku turned back at him and practically hissed out the words in command. Rody stood still for a moment, before quickly nodding and running to the designated area.
As soon as Izuku felt his presence arrive, he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, focusing his energy on that particular spot and covering it with Holy Magic. That should buy them some time while the Angel had a conversation with his superiors.
The Council rarely set foot on Earth themselves, since they sent Angels such as Izuku to be their eyes and ears everywhere. Which was why them being here, outside his library, was nerve wracking to say the very least. Still, knowing Rody, he couldn't have done anything that bad. He just messed with the wrong crowd this time.
Using his powers to unlock the door, Izuku stood in front of his desk, wearing his best smile as he called out. “Come in!”
The doors flung open, with a pure white light emanating from them, before two figures made their way inside.
Both were female—one with long jet-black hair held in a ponytail that carried herself with grace, while the other had short black hair and a more casual yet powerful aura surrounding her. Izuku recognized them instantly and greeted them accordingly. “Yaoyorozu! Jirou! What a pleasant surprise!”
Yaoyorozu—the woman with the black ponytail—returned the smile with one of her own. “Greetings, Midoriya. We apologize for the intrusion.”
Hearing his true angelic name was almost nostalgic for the man, but he was quick to continue the conversation. “It's no problem at all! If anything I'm honored to get a visit from The Council; well, at least half of it, hehe!”
There were indeed two other members missing, but it made sense for the ones to be here to be Yaoyorozu and Jirou. You would rarely see them separated even in Heaven, so if one came, the other was sure to follow.
Speaking of Jirou, she took a look around the shelves full of books absentmindedly. “We're looking for a Demon who was seen coming in here. Might know anything about that?”
“Ahhh a straight shooter like always…” Izuku gulped while looking at the women in front of him. Yaoyorozu usually took a more mellow and kinder approach to things, while Jirou was as blunt as ever when it came to a job getting done.
“Now now Jirou, let's explain first.” Yaoyorozu giggled at her companion's rash behavior, but then turned to Izuku with an ice cold stare, hidden behind the facade of a warm smile. “We're looking for the Demon known as ‘Rody’. He's stolen something of value and our informants told us he seemed to come into your library. You also might know him better than any of us, considering you've both spent practically the same amount of time down here.”
“Not to mention how this place reeks of hellspawn…” Jirou reaffirmed her statement with a wiggle of her nose, still standing her ground next to the other woman.
Izuku reflected feign confusion at their inquiries, now grateful he'd taken Shakespeare up on his offer of drama lessons back in the 1500’s. “I do indeed know the Demon Rody, but no one has come to the library today other than humans. I always make sure to place a barrier spell to prevent that kind of intrusion in the first place.”
Turning to Jirou this time, the Angel scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “As for the smell, unfortunately I had a shipment of tampered fictional novels arrive. I was planning to get rid of them tomorrow since I'm honestly quite tired from all the work from today.”
The women stared at him, most definitely trying to dissect him for any lies or inconsistencies. All Izuku could do was hold his breath and pray, which was very ironic in a situation like this.
It was Jirou who ended up breaking the silence, finally smiling for the first time during their arrival as she placed both of her arms behind her head. “Well, guess that settles it then! Must've been our bad! We should probably get going to that restaurant you wanted to check out, right Momo?”
Yaoyorozu's face gave a hint of red due to the comment. “M-Momo?”
“If we're down here and checking things out, we need human names, remember? I'm Kyouka and you're Momo!” The short haired woman replied with nonchalance as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It honestly made Izuku feel like a third wheel for a moment.
“Ah yes, you're right! I'd nearly forgotten!” Yaoyorozu clasped her hands together and gave a smile at her companion, before turning back to Izuku. “We'll be on our way then! Good work so far, Midoriya! Those human souls are bound to obtain redemption as long as they keep coming here under your watchful eye.”
Izuku blinked twice, before returning the smile and letting out an airy chuckle. “M-My pleasure! I hope you'll enjoy yourselves!”
And just like that, the duo of powerful Angels left the building, leaving Izuku frozen in place for a few extra minutes, just to be absolutely certain they were out of reach. Once their auras were no longer detected by him, he let out a sigh of relief, which in turn removed the protective barrier around Rody's area of the library. “They're gone…”
Just like Izuku, Rody was cautious as he peeked his head into the main room, turning back and forth before finally walking beside him. “Holy shit, we're still alive…”
“You can say that again…” The Angel was still coming to terms with the fact that he had lied to his bosses’ faces. “Are you alright?”
“I should be the one asking that, angel.” Rody's eyebrows furrowed with concern, but then a small smile that made Izuku's heart skip a beat placed itself on the Demon’s face. “But yeah I'm good… thanks to you.”
That made Izuku smile in return. Good. As long as Rody was okay.
… Wait a minute.
“Rody?”
“Hmm?”
Izuku placed both hands on the brunet's shoulders, before instantly shaking them back and forth in frustration. “What on earth were you thinking?! Stealing from Heaven?! You can't be that stupid, can you?!”
As Rody was being pulled back and forth like a ragdoll, he quickly pressed his hands on top of Izuku's to try and stop the Angel's movements, which was only semi-successful at best. “I-I can explain, alright? Just gimme a sec!”
And so, once Izuku came to a stop, Rody used his own demonic power to summon something out of thin air.
A book.
“Here.” Rody handed it over, a blush covering his cheeks slightly. “For the record, I didn't steal it! I made a copy of it and the real one is still upstairs, but I got caught before I got the chance to leave…”
Izuku raised an eyebrow as he accepted the tome in his hands. What could possibly be so important to risk his life over?
As he turned to look however, the answer became clear.
In his hands, Izuku was holding the ‘Book of Prophecies’. It was a forbidden volume that was said to have been created by the Almighty, which described in great detail future events that were meant to happen—be it on Earth, Heaven or anywhere, really.
The Angel had always been extremely curious to see what it was about, him being a bookworm not being helpful in the slightest. Yet he knew he'd never be able to since no one except The Council was allowed to see it.
And yet here it was. Resting in his palms.
Izuku turned upwards with a look of pure confusion, not even being able to find words to communicate properly. “Wha—? Why—?”
Rody chuckled softly at the reaction, scratching the back of his neck once again. “You kept babbling about how much you wanted to see it, and well, I've… I've been meaning to ask you to have dinner with me anyway, so I figured I just needed a good excuse.”
Izuku stared, mouth agape like a fish out of water as he kept looking from the book to Rody and back.
He thought he needed an excuse to ask him out?
And this is what he came up with?
Honestly, he shouldn't even be surprised at this point. Rody was a mischievous soul with a hidden heart of gold, which was honestly one of the many reasons he loved him so much, despite how annoying he could be at times. This gift was something he would definitely do, and that made it even more special.
Izuku could only smile as he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the side of the brunet's cheek. Seeing the adorable shade of pink spread where his lips had touched, the Angel giggled. “Well, I believe someone suggested The Ritz? I hear it's lovely this time of year.”
Rody had to reboot for a few seconds, before a smile of his own spread across his face, leaving the Angel absolutely starstruck. “Y-Yeah! I'm sure there'll be a spot for a pair of misfits.”
Once they left the building under lock and key, the Angel and Demon walked side by side, fingers barely touching as they made their way towards their destination.
Izuku couldn't help but wonder if a relationship between them was something the ‘Book of Prophecies’ would've foretold. Well, even if it hadn't, he was more than happy with the results.
It just gave him an excuse to get to reading it as soon as he got home.
But that could wait.
Reservations didn't miracle themselves, after all.