Notes: I'm challenging myself to post a new fic each day for the next few days until the movie is out in English! They're probably gonna be shorter, one-scene things like this one, but hey, more fodder for plumping up this pairing tag!

This one takes place during the spring break after Deku's first year at UA and is thus very obviously non-compliant with manga canon. I won't specify why it's non-compliant with manga canon. If you read the manga you should know why, if you don't then it doesn't matter lmao.

But I just really really wanted to write a this kind of rodydeku scene without worrying about what is SUPPOSED to be happening at this point in time pls forgive me this transgression dear canon gods

Also there are slight spoilers for the end of the movie.

I hope you enjoy!

Beyond the Counter

Izuku was tempted.

He was so tempted to walk through the door before him and shout, "I am here!"

But no, he couldn't do that. He still hadn't really earned the right to use that phrase—he hadn't even started his second year at UA yet!—and besides, it would only be a disturbance to the patrons inside. But then how best to go about it? He wanted his arrival to be a surprise, but he couldn't think of any way of making it, well, surprise-like, without bothering others.

At this rate, though, Izuku would just be standing in the way of the door for hours as he tried to think of something, and that in itself was sure to cause problems. So, with a shrug, he made the decision to walk into Stan Leyk's Bar quietly and casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Hey, welcome! Feel free to sit down wherev—..."

Somehow, Izuku hadn't expected that familiar voice to be the very first thing he heard upon entering the tiny pub, but there, right across the bar counter, stood Rody Soul. He was clad in a pink bib apron, lifting a tray of drinks, and looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Uh, hi," Izuku said with a small wave.

The very next instant there was a loud crashing noise, and suddenly the glasses that had been on the tray in Rody's hands instead lay in a thousand pieces on the floor.

"Rody!" came a rough, angry-sounding voice as a rotund man with dark, curly hair stepped out of the back room, but Rody paid him no heed.

"D— Deku?!" he shouted, clearly disbelieving of the sight in front of him. Pino was happily jumping up and down on his shoulder, but Rody seemed almost afraid to let himself react similarly. "Wait, am I hallucinating?" He turned towards the other patrons in the pub. "I'm hallucinating, right? Are you seeing this too?!"

"Of course we see him."

"That Japanese hero from the hoax about killing twelve people, right?"

"Wait, so then that's the hero kid who helped bring down Humarise?"

"Rody!" the older man yelled again over the din of patrons' chatter. "Clean up those drinks you spilled, and the glasses are coming out of your paycheck!"

"Oh, wait, wait," Izuku said, running up to the counter hurriedly, only vaguely noting how Rody backed away from him as if he were a vengeful ghost. "Don't dock his pay, please, it was my fault for surprising him! I'll pay you back for the glasses, here..."

"Deku, what are you even doing here?!" Rody seemed to have finally accepted that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and as Pino flew over to pepper Izuku's cheeks with friendly pecks and nips, he grabbed another tray and held it in front of himself. Apparently it didn't provide enough coverage for his liking, as he then ducked behind the bar completely, only barely peeking over the counter edge. "A-and just so you know, this isn't the apron I usually wear! I'm only wearing it because my normal one is in the wash!"

Izuku glanced at Pino, who was shaking his head, and then at the two other employees he could see in the cramped pub, both wearing identical pink aprons. "Oh... really?" Izuku tried not to laugh. "That's too bad. I think the pink looks good on you."

Rody's eyebrows, one of the only features still in view, drew together suspiciously. "You're making fun of me, Hero."

"Of course not!" Izuku took Pino off of his own shoulder, cupping the tiny bird in his hands. "See, Pino's pink too! It's a color that suits you."

Izuku couldn't be entirely sure due to half of Rody's face being hidden, but it almost looked like the brunet's cheeks might be turning pink, too.

"Will you stop fooling around?" The curly-haired man finally made his way to Rody and bopped him atop the head with a tray.

"Ow!" Rody stood up straight again, rubbing his head. "What the hell, old man?!"

"You're being rude to our customer, and you still haven't cleaned up this mess I had to tiptoe around!" The man turned to Izuku. "Sorry, he still hasn't quite got the hang of customer service."

Izuku stifled a laugh and let Pino flit back over to his partner. "Well, I think he's doing great."

"Don't let him hear you say that." The man reached a burly hand over the counter towards Izuku. "The name's Stan Leyk. I'm the owner of this bar."

He accepted the man's hand, shaking it firmly. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"The Japanese hero Rody won't stop talking about, right?" Stan glanced over his shoulder at Rody, who was bringing out a mop with a sour pout firmly locked on his still slightly-flushed face, before turning back to Izuku. "We don't look too kindly on heroes 'round here."

"Ah..." Izuku's smile faltered slightly as he politely took his hand back. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"But..." Stan huffed. "This whole area would have been destroyed if it hadn't been for you and Rody, so I'll acknowledge you're not too bad, at least."

"I'm just happy nothing serious happened!"

Stan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, this place got plenty banged up in the panic to evacuate. Vandalism, looting... It was more destructive chaos than anything productive. No heroes bothered to come around here to keep the evacuation orderly, of course."

"Ahh, I'm... sorry about that, too..."

"Heyyy," Rody said suddenly, sidling up to Stan with a sly grin plastered on his face. "Is that any way to treat a customer, old man? Deku here's our hero, you know?"

With another huff, Stan grabbed the mop from Rody's hands and put it aside. "If you're done with this, hurry and sweep up the glass so you can get back to serving customers!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Pout back in place, Rody dook out a dustpan and brush before stopping to sweep all the glass shards from the floor. Izuku watched as the brunet kept his eye on Stan, continuing to sweep as the older man refilled the spilled drinks and brought them out to the other customers, but as soon as he disappeared into the back room, Rody stood up, disposed of the glass in his dustpan, and turned to Izuku. "So, let's try this again. What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Did you get all that glass off the floor...?"

"It's good enough for this dump, answer the question."

Izuku grinned sheepishly. "I mean, I did promise to come back..."

"And I told you not to bother."

"True," Izuku laughed, "but I wanted to anyway."

Rody's frown deepened. "It hasn't even been two months."

"I'm on spring break, so it was just good timing."

"And you didn't even tell me you were coming!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise?" Izuku scratched his head bashfully. "I, uh... didn't mean to surprise you to the extent of causing property damage, though..."

Rody rolled his eyes and turned to get back to work. "Well, go ahead, sit wherever you want and I'll be right with you."

"Oh! Right, of course." Izuku had almost forgotten that he was still standing. He looked around briefly before pointing to the barstool right next to him. "Can I just sit here, then?"

Rody glanced at him, his cheeks turning a reddish shade again. "Why the hell would you want to sit at the bar...?" he muttered.

"Because it's where you are."

Rody scoffed and turned around, but Pino was clearly bright red beneath his feathers. "I said you can sit wherever you like, Hero."

"Right!" Izuku settled himself on the barstool, watching Rody as he did some general cleanup around the bar, piling dirty glasses in the sink and tossing out old tickets.

"Did you want something to drink, Deku?" Rody finally turned around to face him again, face back to its normal color and an amused smirk in place. "I can't serve alcohol, but I don't think you can drink it, anyway. If you want to break liquor laws, though, the old man usually doesn't mind turning a blind eye..."

"Ah, no, that's not—!" Izuku waved his hands frantically. "Just water is fine!"

Rody chuckled and pulled down a glass, turning the tap to fill it up. "Typical straight-edge Deku, huh." He placed the water before Izuku with an inquisitive tilt to his eyebrow. "How did you find this place, anyway? I don't think I told you where it is."

"Ah, no, you didn't," Izuku said, feeling his own cheeks growing warm as he pulled his water closer. "I, uh, asked around town about where you work. You're pretty well-known around here, huh?"

Rody averted his gaze. "Definitely not for any good reasons."

Izuku stared at his friend, wide-eyed. "What are you talking about? Rody, you saved the world!"

"S-sure, I guess..." Rody rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, though Izuku was relieved to see that Pino looked quite proud to be reminded of their accomplishment. "It's not like just that one thing's gonna make up for years of being a good-for-nothing street brat..."

"I'd say it is."

Rody seemed unable to meet Izuku's gaze, unsure of where he should be looking in general, but finally he sighed and gave an exaggerated shrug. "You're unbelievable, you know that? And here I was trying to keep my own ego in check."

"Is that what you call it?" Izuku quipped back with a grin.

"Sure do. Now are you going to actually order something, or are you just gonna freeload for tap water all afternoon?"

"Ah, right." Izuku considered the greasy menu before him a moment, but without even bothering to open it up he faced Rody again, smiling. "What do you recommend?"

"Me?" Rody rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well you see, the old man won't let yours truly near the stove yet, so it all kind of tastes like crap. The rib sandwich is pretty popular though."

Izuku laughed. "Okay, then I'll have one of those."

Rody pulled out a notepad to jot the order down. "Gotcha. Side of chips?"

"Do you mean fries or potato chips?"

"Chips it is."

That hadn't really answered what Izuku was getting as his side, but he didn't really mind either way. Truthfully, he wasn't at the bar for there for the food in the first place; the entire reason he had shown up unannounced, the reason he hadn't given Rody the opportunity to hide or prepare a carefully crafted façade, was because he wanted to see what his friend was like, working hard at his first good, honest job. And he had gotten precisely that.

But if he could have something beyond that...

"Hey Rody?"

The brunet turned to him after passing off the ticket. "Yeah?"

Izuku smiled. "I'm only here for a few days, so when your shift is done, do you want to hang out or something?"

There was clearly a matching smile trying to creep its way onto Rody's face, but he stubbornly kept his expression neutral and aloof. "Y-yeah, well... I guess if you want to, then I could make time for that."

Izuku's smile widened, satisfied with Pino's string of happy chirps. "Great! I can't wait."

Notes: At my dumbass American college whenever the cafeteria had fish and chips they served potato chips (crisps) instead of fries it was hilarious.