Chapter Text
The day started off like any other, with Rody bidding farewell to his siblings and going to Stanleyk’s Bar. But that’s everything changed. Rody approached the counter like usual, sat down at the bar counter and pulled three hundred eurus out of his pocket. He pushed the crumpled bills over to Stanleyk, who was busy cleaning glasses. He eyed the money for a brief moment, drifting his gaze over to Rody who just smiled. The man let out a sigh and pushed the eurus right back at him.
“Hey, are you refusing service to a paying customer?” Rody questioned, leaning in more toward the counter. “Take it or leave it, viejo.”
“Niños…” Stanleyk let out an exaggerated sigh, placing the glass down behind the bar. “Just listen before you get upset. This job’s a big one.”
“Aw, you’re worried about me? I’m flattered, but I got this.” Pino puffed out her chest in agreement, popping out of Rody’s hair with a triumphant chirp.
“Uh-huh. Well then, genio, listen well. This is an undercover job, a big time gig. I’d have one of my more reliable clients handle it, but this job’s got specific requirements. Ones that you, unfortunately, fit.” Stanleyk pulled out a package and slid it across the counter. As Rody’s fingers went to undo the twine thread, Stanleyk interrupted. “I wouldn’t open that here if I were you.”
“You’re being really weird about this. Just tell me what kinda job this is!”
“Alright, you asked for it. It’s an undercover job overseas. You’d be impersonating a student in Japan. A U.A. hero course student to be exact.”
Rody stood up so fast, the stool he had been sitting on fell to the floor. He slammed his hands on the bar counter in disbelief.
“This isn’t funny old man. This has to be a joke!”
“Wish I was. Do this job, I’ll start paying you for your work. You just started so you haven’t proven that you’re worthy of getting paid. I know you’re strapped for cash.”
“Sure, but this is ridiculous! I could get caught and deported back here! And how the fuck am I supposed to afford anything?” He didn’t even want to be a hero in the first place, let alone get caught by one.
“That’s not my problem, kid. Everything you need’s in here. Now get going, I’ve got clients coming in soon.”
As much as Rody wanted to complain more, he knew he needed this job. He could not believe he was doing this. He took the package off the counter, propped the stool back up, and slammed the door behind him. Now to figure out what was inside this box.
When Rody got home, he briefly greeted his siblings and went into their shared room. He placed the box on the desk, staring at it intently. Pino stood atop it, tugging on the twine with her beak. Rody sighed, swatting her away. She landed back on the box with a loud chirp.
“Okay, fine. Open it.” Rody crossed his arms, sitting down. He might as well see what was inside. According to Stanleyk, everything he needed for this job was inside the box. It could be a bold-faced lie, but it didn’t hurt to check. Pino huffed and pulled the twine away while Rody delicately unwrapped the paper covering the box.
Inside were four passports, a thick white envelope, a manila folder with some papers sticking out of it, and two letters. They were both written in English, the first one was from U.A.’s principle welcoming someone named Sora Tamashii into the school. Sora Tamashii. The sky’s soul. What a coincidence. The second letter was handwritten with the writing toward the end becoming illegible.
To whomever receives this,
Your job is to impersonate potential U.A. High student, Sora Tamashii. I do not have much information to give as all of these instructions came from my boss. Tamashii’s father is an Otheon researcher and his mother hails from somewhere in Japan working on heroic support gear. Recently, they all disappeared without a trace. We believe it to be the work of Humarise. In any case, under the guise of Tamashii, you need to report back with any interesting findings. The longer you stay the better. Do not fail~~~~
The rest was scribbled out, including any semblance of a signature or phone number. Humarise? Damn bastards were always finding ways to make his life more difficult. And it seems they were somehow involved in making the real Sora Tamashii disappear off the face of Otheon. It wasn’t like Rody cared that much about some kid going missing. No, what bothered him the most was having to deal with the heroes. Heroes who had abandoned him and his family, only helping areas with money and power. And he’d have to pretend to be invested in heroics? He’d pass if he could, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
The passports were next on his list of things to look at. They looked the same on the outside and felt the same in his hands. Upon opening them, Rody could see the difference. One of them was Sora Tamshii’s actual passport, while the other had Rody’s information in it under Tamashii’s name. Why would they give him both though? To hide the evidence of another person? Oh well, it saved Rody the hassle of getting a passport in the first place. It seemed there were also two other passports with his siblings' information. Well that worked out nicely.
He grabbed the white envelope next, wondering what could be inside. Was it more instructions? Information? Turns out, it was none of those things. Inside were stacks upon stacks of Japanese yen bills, organized by value from least to greatest. These people were loaded! If he wanted he could just take the money and convert it! Then he wouldn’t even have to leave home! But if he did take the money and bail, would villains hunt him and his family down? Rody shuddered at the thought and put the money envelope in his pocket. They really made sure he would be stuck with the job, huh?
Lastly, was the file folder. Upon further inspection, the file was quite thick and filled to the brim with papers. Inside was just about everything on Sora Tamashii. It was definitely stalker material. Him and Rody were both 16 with similar heights and builds. However, there was nothing on Sora’s Quirk. Like absolutely nothing. Either this kid was Quirkless, or he forgot to list his Quirk on his U.A. application. Which was strange considering the emphasis put on heroes and their damn flashy Quirks. He still needed to submit his hero costume and clothing allowance. Behind those forms were three airplane tickets to someplace in Japan and a list of instructions written in Japanese which were completely illegible to him. There was also a business card taped to the back for someone by the name of Nedzu. Great, now he’d need to go find a payphone.
“Roro, Lala, I’m going back out.” Rody announced, leaving their room. Lala ran over and hugged his leg as Roro looked up from his schoolwork. “I’ve gotta make a phone call.”
“Can you pick up lunch?” Roro asked.
“Sure thing. When I get back, I’ve got a surprise for you two!” Rody grinned. He picked up Lala and danced around the room with her. “ATC has given us the all clear. Gear Down One.” Rody brought her over to the couch making airplane noises. “On Ground Slope. And Cessna has made contact with the ground.” He placed her on the couch next to Roro and ruffled her hair. “ I’ll be back in a bit.”
By the time Rody had swiped a few wallets for some cash and purchased lunch, he figured he should call this Nedzu person. He stopped at the closest pay phone, shoved a few euru coins inside the machine, and dialed the number on the card.
One ring.
Two rings. Okay, maybe they’re heading over to their phone.
Three rings. Rody began to tap his foot impatiently.
Four rings. Dang, they’re really taking their time.
Five rings. Finally, he heard static.
“Caramba, ¿por qué tardaste tanto?” Rody complained loudly. (Geez, what took you so long?)
“Mis disculpas, estaba bastante ocupado con el papeleo. ¿Sabes inglés?” The voice on the other end wondered. He could only assume it was Nedzu. (My apologies, I was working on paperwork. Do you know English?)
“Uh, yeah.” Rody agreed, caught off guard. How many people in Japan would know Spanish?
“Thank you. Now, assuming you were able to reach this number, I assume you are the new exchange student? Sora Tamashii, correct?”
“Yeah that’s right.” Rody slid into a casual tone, hiding any signs of lingering irritation. “Saw the flight information and everything, but was a little confused about the arrangements for when I’m at school.”
“I see. I should’ve made them clearer. At that time, none of the staff had shown an interest in hosting an exchange student, but I’m pleased to tell you that you’ll be in excellent hands. Recently the third-year teacher, Snipe, has agreed to host you in his home.”
“Well that’s great and all, but I can’t just leave my siblings home alone.”
“Not to worry. I accounted for your siblings when I sent over the tickets. Snipe has agreed to host all three of you.”
“Damn, that’s generous.”
“Indeed. Now, the departure is sometime soon with your flight leaving at 6 a.m. your time and you’d get here at 9 p.m. our time. Once you’ve settled, you’ll need to turn in your Quirk registration forms and clothing allowance form. I can also swap your English class for a Japanese class in your schedule if that sounds agreeable to you?”
“Sounds great. Uh, when does school start again?”
“The beginning of April. I recommend taking the time to practice your Japanese before classes begin.”
“No mierda.”(No shit.) Rody grumbled. “Um, yeah, I’ll do that.”
“Excellent. I’m so glad you agreed to be part of our exchange program here at U.A. We’re excited to have you.” Nedzu’s voice cut out as Rody’s time on the payphone ended. He was not about to shove more coins in there just to keep talking to some guy on a business card.
“¿Qué demonios acaba de pasar?” (What the hell just happened?)
When Rody got home, he passed out lunch to everyone before plopping down on the couch with an exaggerated sigh. The day wasn’t even halfway done and he was already exhausted. How was the correct number of airplane tickets there in the first place? Did this kid also have two siblings he planned on taking with him? What if this was a setup designed to catch criminals?
“Surprise! What’s the surprise!” Lala asked, dragging Rody out of his thoughts.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Rody got to his feet and in a loud voice declared, “We’re going to Japan!”
“Really?” Roro exclaimed. “When?”
“Uh, let me check.” Rody dug the tickets out of his pocket, ignoring the Japanese written on it. His eyes drifted toward the departure date and Pino just about screamed. “Tomorrow!”
“Are we going on vacation?” Roro wondered.
“How long?” Lala added.
“Probably for a while, this is for work.” Rody admitted. “Think of it like a game. We’re gonna go under fake names and get to experience super cool things. The longer we play the game, the longer we can stay. Make sense?”
After lunch, Rody used some of the money from earlier to buy them each a bag for the airport. He made sure to pack snacks and bring empty water bottles to fill up later. Overall there wasn’t much to pack, save for a change of clothes. But at the airport, he did buy them something to color and a puzzle book or two. Thankfully, there weren’t too many people on the flight and even better, they were put in business class. Rody was definitely going to take the complementary stuff. Slippers, a pillow, blanket, sleep mask, toothbrush, earphones. The airline’s loaded! Even with all of this stuff and a paid trip to Japan, there was still one problem Rody had not accounted for. In fact, it didn’t cross his mind until they were seven hours into their flight.
“¡NO SÉ JAPONÉS!” (I don’t know Japanese)
Upon arriving in Japan, Rody ended up carrying both Roro and Lala around the airport as he tried to find his way out of the terminal. Not knowing Japanese was probably something Rody should’ve thought about ahead of time. Thankfully, there were some pretty nice strangers that were able to point him in the right direction. He did a lot of exaggerated bowing and poorly pronounced ‘thank yous’ which earned him some strange looks from other travelers. He eventually stumbled out to the lobby where a guy in a cowboy hat was holding a sign with his fake name on it in English.
“Are you Sora Tamashii?” The man questioned.
“Maybe. What’s it to you?” Rody remarked. He hoped this was the guy he was looking for or he might just stay the night at the airport.
“Principal Nedzu sent me. I’m the pro-hero Snipe, but you can call me by my real name, Iru Shinji outside of school.” Principal Nedzu? The guy he was on the phone with was the principal?! “Do you want me to carry one of your siblings or your bags?”
“Nah, I got it. Lead the way.”
Snipe’s house was not as extravagant as Rody expected. Don’t get him wrong, it was still a pretty fancy place, but wasn’t filled to the brim with luxury items. Other than the size of the house itself, the place was pretty normal.
The next morning while Roro and Lala explored the house and played, Rody filled out his uniform measurements on his school forms, his Quirk registration, and gave a rough sketch of what he would want his hero costume to be. He just pictured a pilot’s uniform. If he was going to play hero, he might as well add his own touch.
In the days leading up to the start of school in April, Snipe had taken them shopping for supplies, gotten Rody a phone, enrolled Roro and Lala into schools that started the same day as U.A., and started teaching Rody Japanese. Rody’s English classes would be replaced with Japanese since he already knows English. It was pretty much a whole bunch of mundane things and getting adjusted. Roro and Lala seemed to like living with Snipe, calling him Tio Iru. As a person, Rody was fine with him, but he didn’t approve of him as a hero. But he’d have to get used to being surrounded by them since he’d be attending a school for heroes.
The first day of school rolled around before he knew it, and Rody was mentally preparing himself for a very long, very draining day. He dropped Roro and Lala off at school, met their teachers, and made his way to U.A. High. The school was absolutely ginormous. Sure it looked big in pictures, but it was downright intimidating in person. The security wall scared the shit out of him, but once he passed through his sense of dread only intensified. He’s about to enter a class full of fledgling heroes with pros being there for the sole purpose of training the next generation. Not to mention there was the ever apparent language barrier Rody was struggling with. And now he was standing in front of the front doors of the high school.
“Vale, Rody, tienes esto.”(Okay, Rody you got this.) And with a resigned sigh, Rody entered his personal hell.