Notes: Welp, here I am, jumping off the multichapter deep end with this ship. I have no idea what the update schedule will be for this one, I still want to prioritize the various multichapter WIPs I have in Danganronpa fandom, but I guess if I have something to update then I will.

I have very, very little planned for this, but I do know it will venture into manga spoiler territory eventually. I'm not exactly sure when! There'll probably be at least five? chapters of 1-A shenanigans and stuff first, but when I do start getting into spoiler territory I'll be sure to add warnings.

Also, while I'm planning to focus primarily on Rodydeku here, there might also be Kiribaku and/or Shinkami at some point just because I like them hehe. Only if they end up fitting into the story, though. No promises, just a warning in case anyone REALLY doesn't like those ships and wants to avoid any possibility of them at all costs.

(Jeez, I haven't started posting a multichapter fic without knowing exactly where it was going since... 2004ish? Hope I don't crash and burn!)

Because I continue to be as predictable as ever, the title comes from a BUMP OF CHICKEN song (Acacia).

Soooo with all that out of the way... I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

This is Where I Belong
Chapter 1

"Now boarding NNY flight 224, boarding group A..."

Pulling out of the embrace with Rody was difficult; Izuku didn't want to leave his friend, especially if it meant soon having nearly half the Earth's circumference between them. They couldn't stay in that departures lobby forever, though. They both had their places they needed to be.

With effort equivalent to wearing shoes weighed down by tungsten soles, Izuku took a step back and smiled up at the brunet. "I'll see you later, then," he promised, unsure of when that time would be.

"Yeah, whatever," Rody scoffed, though there was a light pink hue high on his cheekbones.

With one last wave, Izuku turned towards the escalator, only to be stopped short when he felt a light tugging on the back of his uniform jacket.

"Aww, Pino!" Izuku turned and gently took the tearful bird in his hands, releasing the hem of his jacket from Pino's beak. "I really do have to go now, but I promise I'll be back someday!"

He made the decision to spare Rody the embarrassment of pointing out the connection to Pino's clinginess; he entirely expected the other boy to still be playing aloof and staring out the window. However, when he looked back to return Pino to his master, Rody was instead studying the interaction carefully, his brows furrowed, before meeting Izuku's gaze directly.

Having dropped his crutch, Rody was a bit shaky on his feet, but his slate gray eyes were as steady and certain as Izuku had ever seen them.

"Deku," he said, confident and clear. "Will you go out with me?"

Silence. Izuku blinked up at him, struggling to comprehend. Go... out with him? Who would be going out with whom? Rody with Izuku? As in dating? Or was this a language barrier thing? Maybe he was misunderstanding the English phrase... Then did Rody want him to literally go outside of the airport with him? He couldn't do that, not right now, he had a plane to catch, and Rody obviously knew that, but then what else could he possibly—

"Hey, hey, wait!" Rody raised a hand to stop his train of thought, chuckling nervously. "I can hear your inner monologuing."

"Ah, sorry!" Izuku let go of Pino to slap his hands over his mouth, though it was obviously too late to prevent the muttering that had already occurred. "I didn't mean to say all that out loud..."

"I figured. And yeah, I meant dating." Rody scratched the back of his head casually as Pino flitted over to perch on his shoulder, looking confident but a bit embarrassed. He paused as an announcement for boarding group B echoed through the lobby before continuing. "You don't hafta answer me right now, I know you have to go. But, well, I've decided I want to pursue everything I want now, so..."

Izuku flushed at the implication that he was included among those things that he wanted. "Rody... I—"

"What the FUCK is taking you so long, you damn nerd?!"

"Get a move on, Deku!"

Jumping at the sound of Bakugo and Endeavor yelling from the boarding gate, Izuku hurriedly grabbed a notebook out of his bag, tearing out two sheets of paper and handing one to Rody along with a pen. "H-here, contact info!"

Even in the absence of verbs, Rody seemed to fully grasp the demand. "Put down your phone number, too," he urged as he jotted down his home address. "I'll buy a phone soon."

Izuku nodded, adding that to the end of his dorm address, then turned to Rody when he was done. "Do you mean buy or steal?"

The Otheonian snorted. "I plan to buy one, Hero." He returned the pen and paper to Izuku, who handed over his own paper in return. "I'll be in touch when I do."

"Right." Fingers trembling, Izuku carefully folded up the paper and tucked it in his breast pocket, but after ensuring it was safe he couldn't bring himself to lift his eyes again, lest his heart burst right out of his ribcage. "Um... so—"

"Now boarding group C for NNY flight 224..."

Izuku could swear he was starting to hear explosions up near the gate. "I— I've gotta go," he breathed, dashing for the escalator and chancing one last look at Rody before he left. "Bye, Rody! I'll write you!"

He watched Rody return the wave, not taking his eyes off the brunet boy until the escalator had forcibly brought him out of view. Once that last thread of contact had been broken, Izuku turned on his heel and bolted up the rest of the way, speeding through the security check and then drawing on One For All just enough to get him to the gate right as the final boarding call was made.

"Hi, sorry, I'm here!" Izuku gasped as he stopped on a dime and bent over to catch his breath. "I just had, you know... something really important to do!"

Endeavor said nothing in the way of reprimand, simply glaring and expelling a short burst of flames to show his dissatisfaction. "Well, come on then, get on the plane!" he demanded, then turned and stomped down the boarding ramp.

Sparing his childhood friend the barest of glances, Bakugo clicked his tongue in irritation before following after Endeavor.

"You got here just in time," Todoroki said, staying behind to wait for Izuku to gather himself. "My old man was just about to switch seats with you if you didn't— Midoriya, are you feeling all right?"

"Huh?" Caught off-guard by the abrupt change in topic, Izuku blinked. "Y-yeah, I feel just fine! Why?"

"Your face is all red..."

"Red?" Izuku put his hands to his cheeks; they did feel a bit warm. "O-oh, no, I'm fine! I just... you know, had to rush to get here before the plane left and all, haha!"

Todoroki seemed to accept that explanation and shrugged before turning to the ramp. "All right. We should hurry up and board, then."

The two of them were the last to board the plane, the flight attendants pulling the fuselage door closed behind them, and as a result it wasn't long after they were seated that they were taxiing down the runway.

Izuku leaned his head against the window next to him, eyes directed towards the engines roaring to life but not really seeing them. There was so much running through his head that it seemed like all his senses had dulled.

Rody had asked him out. Rody wanted to date him. Did that mean that Rody liked him? That's what it had to mean, right? That had been... a confession. Right?

And at that very moment, Rody was patiently waiting for an answer.

Izuku didn't know why that had only just occurred to him; he hadn't given Rody an answer, and now he couldn't help but fret. Wasn't it rude—or at least unfair—to leave him hanging? Now Rody would have to wait fourteen hours for Izuku to come off the flight—no, they couldn't communicate by phone yet, so it was fourteen hours plus however long it took for airmail letters to arrive in Otheon. And that was only if Izuku already knew what answer he would give.

But he didn't.

Why couldn't Izuku turn him down immediately?

He really liked Rody—he liked all his friends—but it wasn't that kind of like... right?

He didn't want to say yes... did he?

He placed his hand above the breast pocket where he had put Rody's address, and he could feel his heart pounding underneath. There had to be some reason that he was so flustered if he already knew he wanted to turn him down. Was it just that he didn't want to hurt his friend?

He sighed, taking out the paper from his pocket and unfolding it carefully. He ran his eyes over the short block of text written in a hasty scrawl, and the thought that a single, flimsy piece of paper was the only connection he still had to that place—that person—made him unbearably anxious.

Even if he looked out the airplane window, now that they were at cruising altitude, all he could see was an endless carpet of cloud—Otheon wasn't anywhere within his sights anymore. He was, ostensibly, back to how things had been before their mission—but that wasn't true, actually. Not at all. He had changed in Otheon, and the yearning ache in his chest was evidence of that.

"What's that?" Todoroki said softly next to him, peering over his shoulder at the paper. "Rody's address?"

Izuku nodded, folding it up again, but he didn't put it away just yet, gripping it within between scarred fingertips like a lifeline. "Yeah. We exchanged contact information before I left."

"Ah. That's good."

"Mm." Izuku nodded again, then paused. He glanced around them—Endeavor had fallen asleep in the seat behind Todoroki's, and he couldn't really see Bakugo directly behind him, but Izuku doubted he would care to listen in, anyway. "Um... Todoroki-kun? Can I tell you something?"

"What is it?"

Izuku could feel his cheeks going warm again, and he leaned on the armrest between them and lowered his voice, hoping that the flight attendant coming down the aisle wouldn't overhear. "Um... Rody. He asked me out."

Todoroki's face betrayed only the slightest hint of bemusement. "As in... to date?"

"Yeah."

"Just now?"

"At the airport, yeah."

"And what did you say?"

"I couldn't answer, that's the problem," Izuku groaned, slouching back in his seat. "He said I didn't have to give an answer right away, but, I dunno... I don't even know what I'd say."

Todoroki placed a hand to his chin in thought. "You don't know... Midoriya, have you ever considered dating someone before?"

"Not really. I'm so busy with training and everything... What about you?"

"I'm the same. I've never even thought about it." Todoroki paused. "But if you know that you don't want a relationship, shouldn't you have been able to tell him that?"

Izuku groaned again, sinking deeper into his seat. "That's exactly what I thought too, but—"

A sudden impact at his back had Izuku lurching forward painfully.

"Hey! Half-and-Half!" Bakugo shouted, kicking the back of Izuku's seat. "Your old man snores like a goddamn freight train, you know that?!"

"Ow! Kacchan!" Izuku sat up properly again, massaging his neck. "Why are you kicking my seat, then?!"

"'Cause I'd even prefer listening to Number One's snoring instead of all that lovesick moaning you're doing right now!"

Silence fell over the boys, disturbed only by the low rumble of the airplane engines and Endeavor snorting in his sleep.

"I wouldn't... say that I'm lovesick, really..."

"Also, freight trains don't snore."

"Just both of you shut up!" The blond landed one last kick to Izuku's seat for good measure. "Seriously pissing me off..."

Izuku craned his neck to peek over the back of his seat; while it was nowhere near the same galaxy as the angriest he had ever seen his childhood friend, Bakugo did indeed seem a bit annoyed, slouched with his arms crossed and glaring out the window. "Why are you mad, Kacchan?"

"I said shut up, Deku."

"But why are you so mad? This has nothing to do with you."

"Shut up. I don't care about you and Birdbrain, so why should I waste any brain cells on your problem?" He turned his piercing glare to Izuku. "Why? Do you really waste time thinking about shit you don't care about? I don't."

Izuku flushed to the tips of his ears.

"Don't be so rude, Bakugo. It's obvious that Midoriya is really—"

"No, no, it's fine!" Izuku quickly cut off Todoroki's reprimand before Bakugo could be needled any further. "It's... actually, that was pretty helpful. Thanks, Kacchan."

Bakugo gave a loud, exaggerated sneer, but otherwise said nothing more.

Todoroki didn't seem to completely follow. "Are you sure you're okay?" he whispered.

Laughing nervously, Izuku waved him off. "Yeah, more or less! So let's forget about it and get some sleep so we're not too jetlagged when we get back, okay?"

"All right..." Todoroki leaned back into his own seat, giving Izuku his own space to get comfortable for their long flight.

Sighing, Izuku leaned his head against the window again. Bakugo was right: he wouldn't be worrying about this so much if he didn't care for Rody to some degree. At least he thought that's what Bakugo had tried to say; it was probably just as likely that Izuku was simply projecting. After all, he already knew that he cared for Rody. He just didn't know if he cared about him... like that.

He looked down at the folded paper in his hands once more before tucking it back in his pocket. He supposed he'd take his own advice and sleep on it.

And when he closed his eyes, all he saw were vivid, sprawling fields of flowers and a brunet boy with sun-kissed skin laughing by his side.

Notes: This entire chapter absolutely happened off-screen in the movie for real and you can't convince me otherwise.