Notes: Happy US release day for World Heroes' Mission! And happy middle birthday for Rodydeku!

Say My Name

"Oh! It's Mr. Deku!"

"Good morning, Mr. Deku!"

It was barely two minutes after Izuku had called that Roro and Lala both emerged from the bedroom, bookbags slung over their shoulders, and their faces immediately brightened to see the Japanese hero on a video call with their brother.

"Hi there, Roro-kun, Lala-chan!" Izuku greeted with a kind smile. "All ready to go to school?"

"Yup!" Roro answered for them both. "I've got a science test today."

"I'm sure you'll do great!"

"Mr. Deku, Mr. Deku!" Lala said cheerfully, hopping up and down to see over the edge of the kitchen counter Rody's phone was propped upon. "Do you wanna see the picture I drew last night? I have it here in my bookbag..."

"I think that can wait for later," Rody said, turning away from washing the breakfast dishes to address both his siblings. He placed soapy hands atop their heads, prompting them both to scramble backwards and away from his grasp, squealing. "Okay, you two," he said with a snicker, "off to school now. You can talk with Deku some other time."

"Fine, fine!" Roro raised a hand in a casual wave. "See you after school, Rody! Talk to you later, Mr. Deku!"

"Bye-bye Rody, Mr. Deku!"

Izuku watched with muted affection as Rody ushered the two children out the door, Pino placing a kiss on each of their cheeks before they disappeared into the morning sunlight.

"There," Rody said as he returned to the kitchenette and picked up the phone. "Now that the kids are out of our hair, we're free to talk about anything we want." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Knowing that he was mostly joking, Izuku laughed even as his face went a bit warm. "Oh, come on. But actually, about that..."

Rody's image shifted slightly as he navigated to the living room and sat down on the couch. "Hmm?"

"Have you told Roro-kun and Lala-chan that we're dating?"

"Ah, that?" Rody chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. "Sure have. No secrets in this household." Suddenly his face turned serious. "Did you not want me to? Sorry for not discussing it first, I just kind of—"

"No no no, it's fine!" Izuku cut in. "That's not the problem, don't worry!"

Rody's frown didn't ease, his brow only creasing further. "But there is a problem."

"Not... a problem, really... It's seriously not a big deal at all, just..."

"Yeah?"

Izuku laughed hollowly, feeling a little silly even as he gathered the resolve to bring it up. "It's just... a little weird to be called 'mister' by my boyfriend's siblings."

Rody was silent a moment, staring at the screen with a blank expression, before he gave an aborted snort in amusement. "Oh, that?"

"Yeah, that." Izuku fiddled with his pencil and stared down at his homework that was, admittedly, getting second billing at the moment. "It was one thing when I was just some foreign hero their brother knew, but now..."

"I get it, don't worry," Rody assured him, and Izuku looked back at the screen in relief. "I'll talk to them about it tonight."

Izuku gave a warm smile. "Thanks. But now, I want to hear what you've been up to since the last time we talked..."

The next time Izuku called was a few days later, during another afternoon homework break.

"Oh, hey!" Rody said when he answered the video call. "Caught me while we're clearing up breakfast again. Let me just—"

"Oh! He called!" came Roro's voice from out of frame. "Rody, let me see, I wanna say hi to him!"

For some reason, Rody looked a bit hesitant, almost suspicious. "I'm not sure—"

"Aww, don't hog me to yourself," Izuku said with a laugh. "Let me say hello to Roro-kun too!"

Reluctantly, Rody handed the phone over, and Roro's face appeared in his place.

"Good morning, Roro-kun!" Izuku greeted.

The eleven-year-old grinned. "Good morning," and he paused for half a second to drop his voice an octave before appending, "Deku."

Izuku blinked, a little taken aback by the change in pitch, but also by some added quality to Roro's tone that he couldn't quite put his finger on. "What...?"

"That's what I was afraid of," Rody mumbled, taking the phone back from his cackling brother, and Izuku was even more puzzled to see that his boyfriend's cheeks had turned pink. "Sorry, he's being a brat—"

"Me too, me too!" came Lala's bubbly voice. "I wanna try too!"

"No," Rody said firmly, indignant pout in place, but then his arm jostled as Lala hopped up and grabbed onto his elbow like a particularly bouncy koala.

She managed to crane her neck enough to get her forehead into frame and said, "Good morning... Deku."

Again, the pitch and intonation had been changed for his name.

"All right, that's enough," Rody growled as Lala dropped off his arm in a fit of giggles. "You're both being rude, you know that?"

Though still confused, Izuku couldn't help but find the whole thing amusing. "Why are they saying my name like that, anyway? And why is it so funny?"

"They're just—"

"Rody told us to call you the same way he does!" Roro piped up, poking his head back into frame.

"Yeah?"

"So that's what we're doing!" Lala added, only the topmost tip of her ponytail visible. "Deku."

The two younger Soul siblings devolved into giggles again, and Rody's pout—and his flush—intensified. "Seriously, stop that. I don't say his name like that."

"But you do!" Lala countered.

"Yeah!" Roro agreed. "You say it all like... Deku. Or, no, more like... Dekuuu."

"He sounds like Dekuu."

"No, not like that, it's like... De-kuuu."

With the added element of laughter as contrast, Izuku finally came to realize what he hadn't been able to place about how they said his name: each time, they dropped all pretense of amusement to inject a certain degree of warmth. "That's... what Rody sounds like when he says my name?"

"Yeah!" both children chorused, even as Rody answered with a contrary "NO!"

"It sounds like, what was that phrase I saw in a book the other day..." Roro paused to rack his memory. "Like... like you hung the moon in the sky."

"Roro—!"

"Like the way a princess talks about her prince!" Lala added helpfully.

"I do not—!"

Izuku cleared his throat, trying to fight back his own blush. "Well, there's a simple solution to this." He turned his eyes squarely on his boyfriend. "Rody, could you say my name, please?"

Rody frowned, glancing askance at his two siblings before settling his gaze on Izuku. "Fine, then," he mumbled. He set his jaw, took a deep breath, and, stone-faced and completely devoid of intonation, he said, "Deku."

"Noooo!" both younger Soul children objected, barely waiting for both syllables to leave Rody's mouth before rejecting the attempt. "Wrong!"

"You're not proving anything by manufacturing a lack of emotion," Izuku pointed out, amused.

Rody reddened further. "I'm not even aware of doing it, how am I supposed to say your name like I usually do when I'm being forced?"

"Just act natural!"

"Yeah? How?"

"Let's try this." Izuku leaned towards his phone slightly, letting a gentle smile spread across his face. "Good morning, Rody."

The brunet hesitated for just a moment, clearly conscious of the two little spectators watching with rapt attention, but he took a steadying breath and let himself answer the greeting as usual. "Morning, Deku."

"See!" Lala's ponytail began bobbing again as she jumped up and down. "Like that, like that!"

"Shush, Lala!" Only the upper half of Roro's face was visible, but from the set of his brow Izuku guessed that the preteen had enough situational awareness to be feeling some second-hand embarrassment.

Which was understandable. When Rody had said his name, just the sheer amount of affection, adoration, and love that Izuku heard in Rody's voice, now that he knew to listen for it... A paradoxical calm had settled in his chest as his heart threatened to beat out of his ribcage, and he was sure that he had gone the reddest shade imaginable. From the expression Rody was wearing, it seemed he was feeling the same.

"Ahh... okay, I see," Izuku said, pushing through his own embarrassment to try and advance the discussion. "So how about we agree to this, then?"

Rody's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Agree to what?"

"Roro, Lala," Izuku indicated the two children in turn, "please do call me 'Deku.' But you have to promise one thing."

"Yeah?" they chorused.

Despite addressing Roro and Lala, it was Rody whom Izuku turned his gaze towards, and he only hoped that his eyes could convey even half the emotions he had heard from his boyfriend's voice. "From now on, only Rody is allowed to say 'Deku' like that."

On that point, at least, everyone could agree.

Notes: As of posting of this fic, I have officially claimed the majority of the AO3 Rodydeku tag (I've written 15 of the 29 fics in the tag). Just a pointless little challenge that a friend suggested early on in my Rodydeku writing spree, and I figured, hey, it'll result in more fics waiting for English-language fans after they get to see the movie, so why not?

Unfortunately, this resulted in me burning through every possible Rodydeku fic idea I could think of, and now, for the moment, I have nothing left to write. I'll still be updating This is Where I Belong, but aside from that I think Danganronpa fandom needs me back, and I should be giving my original novel some attention too. But at least for the next couple of days until NaNoWriMo begins I think I'm going to sit back from the keyboard and give my tired fingers a rest.

But don't worry! WHM is releasing in North America today, and I think it dropped in a bunch of other countries yesterday-ish?, so I expect we'll be seeing some new faces contributing to this ship very soon! For now, my job is done.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is...

It's your turn.