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Every day Izuku wakes up at six to go work out. He's done this since meeting All Might. Since then he's only grown more dedicated to the routine. Sometimes, his friends will join him. Iida and Todoroki especially are common companions. (Uraraka is not a morning person and Tsuyu is actually nocturnal thanks to her quirk. It's rare either of them feel up to it). Sometimes, he'll bump into Kacchan and Kirishima on their way to do their morning run.
Izuku works out every day, first thing in the morning. Every day, that is, except on Mondays. On Mondays, he spends his time holed up in the dorm lounge, watching the windows. His stomach will twist itself into knots and he'll have to rock back and forth just to burn the excess energy. He'll mumble to himself or pace but his eyes will never pull away from the window. He is waiting. It is the only thing worth halting everything for.
At first, his classmates had been worried about his sudden shift. While most of them hadn't been there during the incident in Otheon they'd all at least heard pieces of it. Izuku hadn't told anyone the gritty details (he hadn't wanted to worry them, he knew he did that enough, more than he ever wanted to) but Kacchan's teasing (if you were generous with the term) had told them enough. They all knew Izuku had left something behind in Otheon. Someone. When he began racing to the mailbox every Monday morning it wasn't hard for them to put things together.
Today is a Monday and so Izuku is sitting in the lounge again. It is already well past eight and the mailman is late. He wonders if maybe the mail isn't coming at all today. Maybe the post office got disturbed during some villain attack. Or maybe the mailman got attacked on his way to UA. Maybe there just wasn't any mail to deliver today, even though that's never happened before. Maybe he should check the news?
He reaches down to grab the TV remote only to find another hand beating him to it. Kacchan glares down at him, a hapless Kirishima standing behind him. “Would you relax, Deku? I can hear you vibrating from across the damn room.”
“I am relaxed,” Izuku grumbles, though he knows there's no real point. He's rocking in his seat hard enough for the couch to squeak beneath him. When he tries to will himself to stop he finds he can't. It's the only way to lessen the anxiety and anticipation buzzing beneath his skin. “Just give me the remote, Kacchan. I want to see something.”
“Nothing happened to the damn mailman. You're being ridiculous.” Kacchan hands the remote over to Kirishima. “Go hide this, Shitty Hair.”
“Seriously?”
“Go!”
Snorting, Kirishima heads off to do as he was told. Once he's gone, Kacchan turns back to Izuku and rubs a tired hand over his face. “I don't know what you're so worked up about. Bird Brain will write you back at some point. He always does.”
“I know.” Rody always responds eventually but the amount of time it takes for him to do so is inconsistent. Sometimes, Izuku gets a letter back within a week. Other times, he's left with nearly a month of radio silence. Between issues with mail carriers, Rody's small income, and the screening process all mail coming into UA has to undergo, it takes ages for them to send even one correspondence. The letters are better than nothing but the silence makes the distance between Japan and Otheon feel even wider. It makes him miss sitting in that beat up truck with Rody even more.
“Sitting here won't make the mail arrive any faster, Deku.”
“I know, Kacchan.” His rocking finally slows, hands clenching and unclenching restlessly. “I know he'll write back. I know whether I read it now or later doesn't matter. I know I can't make the letters arrive faster by sitting here. You don't have to tell me that, I know!”
Kacchan stares at him, stunned enough for his scowl to fade. Heaving from the sudden outburst, Izuku feels his face begin to redden as he realizes he was nearly shouting. His muscles clench, ready to jump away if he has to. Though he knows Kacchan and him have remedied their relationship enough by now that he doesn't need to be afraid. When nothing happens, he forces himself to relax and looks away.
“I'm sorry, Kacchan. I shouldn't have yelled.” He sighs, edges of his smile wavering. “I just... miss him. That's all. It's nothing to worry about.”
“I'm not fucking worried.” Clicking his teeth, Kacchan crosses his arms and glances away. Watching the doorway Kirishima had disappeared behind. “I... get it. It can be difficult, being away from them.”
Izuku hums. He won't say it, because he knows Kacchan is trying to be helpful, but he doesn't think their situations are the same. Kamino had been difficult for Kacchan and Kirishima in different ways, and he knows Kacchan was distraught when Kirishima was in the hospital after their work studies, but at the end of the day they'd been able to be there for each other. Kirishima could sneak over to Kacchan's room every night and soothe his nightmares. Kacchan could go see Kirishima in the hospital and distract him from the pain. They could go on runs together every morning and go to sleep in the same room every night.
Izuku couldn't do that.
Every day, he had to continue on with the knowledge that Rody was in Otheon struggling. Working day in and day out just to get food on the table and keep the lights on. Every free second going to teaching his siblings or studying for a pilot school exam he might not even be allowed to take. When the exhaustion and the pressure weighed on him, Izuku couldn't be there to help ease those pains. He couldn't even know about them until weeks after the fact. And there were times where he wanted Rody's comfort too. When his nerves were on fire, or he woke up from another nightmare, or the mounting pressure of having to eventually face All For One caught up to him. In those moments all he wanted was Rody. Was to hear Rody call him “hero” and tell him stupid jokes Izuku could only half-understand and distract him from whatever was hurting him. And he couldn't have that, not even a little bit. The letters were all he got.
So no, he didn't think Kacchan 'got it.' Maybe he understood what it was like to feel helpless while the person you cared about was injured. That, they had in common. But he didn't know the constant ache of having them out of reach. Of having to wonder how they were day in and day out for months on end. None of his classmates could understand that. It was just another weight that Izuku had to work through on his own.
Fed up with the silence, Kacchan clicked his teeth again and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Don't just sit here all day, Shitty Deku. I don't want you falling behind because you're here pining like an idiot.”
Izuku huffed, “I'll surpass you, Kacchan. You don't have to worry about that.”
“I said I wasn't worried!”
There are footsteps and then Kirishima is back, looking between the two of them warily. It makes Izuku feel a little guilty. He knows Kirishima has had to play peacekeeper between the two of them more times than any of them can count. It hadn't been fair to him. Kacchan was probably the one most at fault for it, but it's not as though Izuku had even stopped Kirishima from stepping in. He'd appreciated it, even. As taxing as it must have been on Kirishima, Izuku isn't sure Kacchan and him could have ever made up without that outside influence. Kirishima had truly changed Kacchan for the better.
“I hid the remote,” Kirishima says.
“Good.” Looking Izuku over, Kacchan rolls his eyes, giving up on his rare moment of care. He waves a hand at Kirishima and makes for the door. “Come on. We're already behind.”
Kirishima waves at Izuku as he follows. “Bye Midoriya! Hope you get your letter today.”
Izuku hoped so too.
-
The mailman arrives that evening.
An hour after Kacchan and Kirishima had left he’d finally given up on waiting. He hadn’t wanted to, but he knew there would be hell to pay if Kacchan came back and saw him in the same place as before. The fact of the matter was Izuku had a life to live and he couldn’t put it on hold for Rody. That was the reason they were stuck being long distance in the first place.
He’d eaten breakfast and gone to classes and sparred with Uraraka for a little in the training room. Kept his mind full of facts and conversation so it couldn’t draw his attention back to the window. Distraction, he’d found, was the best way to cope with the aching. If he was distracted he couldn’t remember to miss Rody. Couldn’t focus on the disappointment of another day of radio silence.
Except, during dinner, Yaomomo walks in with a bundle of letters in her arms. “The mail has arrived, everyone! The carrier apologized for the delay.”
Izuku nearly drops the bowl he’s holding, whisk stilling in his hand. With a huff, Kacchan snatches both away from him and sends him off with a sharp jut of the chin. “Go, dumbass. I have enough extras in here as it is.” He goes to say more, maybe something snarky about Izuku’s obvious desperation, but is cut off but a crash. “Dunce face, you idiot! We just fucking replaced that!”
Excused, Izuku hurries over to the pile of letters now left on the coffee table in front of the TV. He sits on the floor and sifts through, handing letters off to the others if they come by looking. With each letter he feels the sinking sensation in his stomach grow. The frustration broiling beneath his skin rise. It has been three weeks since he heard from Rody and he doesn’t think he can wait any longer. He’s finally reached the end of his rope.
Then, finally, at the very bottom of the pile he finds it. A thick white envelope with his name written on the front in crude Kanji. The strokes are thick and stiff, as if each one had been done with utmost care. There is a stamp in the corner with the Otheon skyline on it. Finally!
Snatching up the envelope, Izuku hurries off to his room. When the door safely clicks shut behind him he practically rips the paper in half with his urgency. The envelope is thicker than it usually is and he can faintly hear something rattling inside of it. Izuku has sent Rody and his siblings little gifts before. Photos or bracelets or other trinkets. He’s never received one back before. Valentine’s is right around the corner… He hadn’t anticipated receiving anything, since he knew the Holiday to be for girls giving gifts to boys. I forgot it’s different in Europe.
Oh no. His fingers froze where they had begun to pull out the letter, stomach churning. Will he be upset I didn’t send him anything? Why didn’t I think about that sooner? Sitting down heavily in his desk chair, Izuku tried to push the sudden anxiety from his mind. Rody had never been the type to cling to tradition. If Izuku sent him something for White Day, and explained the Holiday to him, that would probably be just as good. Maybe better, even. But I’ve never bought someone a White Day gift before…
“It’s fine,” he muttered. “I can find something for him later.” It’s possible he was overthinking this whole thing. Maybe Rody had just wanted to return the favor for all the times Izuku had sent gifts. Maybe it wasn’t a gift at all and something just got stuck in the envelope without Rody noticing. I’ll never know if I don’t read it.
He pulled the letter the rest of the way out, surprised to find more than one page. Izuku often rambled on for pages but Rody had always been concise. He never said more than he felt he needed to and every word seemed curated and edited down. Rody’s letters weren’t dishonest but Izuku had the feeling they never involved the whole story. It made him miss being able to use Pino as a window into Rody’s feelings. Invasive as it may be, it would make Izuku feel more secure. He wasn’t sure he could trust Rody to tell him if something was truly wrong.
Folding open the letter he found two pages, one in English and one in an attempt at Japanese. The characters were in that same over-stiff nature. The grammar short and sometimes misplaced. He was only skimming it but he knew already that most of it was illegible. Izuku loved it. He had to blink the tears out of his eyes as he turned to the letter in English and began to read.
Hey Hero,
I know I say this every time but I’m sorry it took me a while to write back. I don’t have a good excuse this time. I just wanted to make sure I had the perfect gift to send you before I wrote anything. Valentine’s is a scam but… You deserved something. You’ve already given me more than I can ever repay.
“You don’t have to repay me for anything,” Izuku huffed wetly. He scrubbed at his face, determined to stop the tears before they could land on the letter.
I know what you’re going to say: ‘You don’t have to repay me for anything, Rody. You’re so cool and awesome and I want to give you all this nice stuff because I’m just that good of a person.’ Trust me, I know you’re good, Hero. You don’t gotta tell me. I just don’t want this relationship to end up one-sided. I can’t offer you much but I’ll give you what I can. I want to look out for you too.
I found these charms at a small business craft store a couple streets down from where I work. I go there sometimes to buy gifts for Lala, the old lady who owns it likes me for some reason. Guess she doesn’t know about my whole situation–or maybe she just doesn’t care.
Anyways, I bought these two charms and a pair of chains to hang them from. I figured I’d give one to you as a reminder of me and I’d keep one to match. A necklace seemed better for hero work than a bracelet or something, since you can hide it under your costume. If you decide to wear it, that is. You don't have to. It's not like I'll know the difference.
I have a couple other things in here too. There’s a polaroid of me (I figured I owed you this one, after all the pictures you sent me. A kid was offering to take them for cheap so I took the chance. Don’t expect any more though! I’m not a pictures kind of guy). Plus I’m going to do my best to try and translate this letter into Japanese. I’ve been grabbing books to learn from at the library. No idea if I’m making any progress but… I thought I’d try. It doesn’t seem fair that we’re always talking in English.
Finally, there’s one more surprise on a slip of paper. Make sure you look at it last though, okay? I want that one to be a real surprise.
I hope you aren’t crying too hard about all this, though knowing you this page is already soaked. Don’t feel like you have to give me anything back. I did this because I wanted to. You’ll never hear me say it again but I miss you, Izuku. I care about you and every day I wish you were here with me. I know I’m slow to write back sometimes but don’t worry about me forgetting you because I couldn’t if I tried. Just try not to forget about me either, okay?
Hope to hear from you soon,
Rody
Sniffling, Izuku carefully folded up the letter and set it down on his desk. As if I could forget about you, Rody. He dipped his hand back into the envelope, ignoring the folded scrap of paper, and instead pulled out a silver chain with an airplane charm hanging from the end of it. He thumbed at the plane for a moment, thinking of the way Rody’s eyes lit up every time a plane had flown overhead during their trip. Fiddling with the clasp, nerve-damaged fingers struggling to pry it open, he lets out a triumphant hum when he finally managed to snag it around his neck. The chain hangs low, reaching down to his sternum. Easy to hide. Easy to protect.
The next thing he pulls out is the polaroid. In it, Rody is looking just left of the camera and holding up his own necklace. Hanging from the silver chain around his neck, Izuku saw a bunny charm. Snorting, he thumbed at the ridges of his own necklace. It was probably only in his imagination but he swore he felt the bond between them even stronger now. Like he finally had a piece of Rody to hold close. In the picture, Rody is giving his usual lazy smirk. It’s only Pino on his shoulder, staring at the camera wide-eyed, that gives away his discomfort. Izuku makes a mental note: Rody is camera-shy.
He sets the polaroid on the desk as well and then pulls out the little slip of paper. It’s roughly the length of his finger, clearly torn out of a notebook. The outer side is blank and Izuku can’t help but hold his breath as he unfolds it. Then, he nearly drops the slip out of sheer shock.
It’s a number. A phone number. Rody has sent him a phone number.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Izuku scrambles to pull his phone out, hands shaking as he plugs the number in and presses it to his ear. It rings for a while, long enough for Izuku to be half-afraid he’ll get sent to voicemail, and then he hears a faint click!
“Hello?”
“Rody?” Izuku can’t help but whisper. His stomach is doing flips, and he finds himself pacing, overcome with energy. His voice rises as he becomes more certain. “Rody, is that you?”
“Hey, Hero. I see you got my letter.”