#he’ll start from blaming izuku then starting to blame himself after the arrow incident

[red-n-ded]

Stowaway AU

For @numberoneredriotfan

In Stowaway AU, Lala and Roro join Rody and Deku in their road trip running away from the cops. The entire Soul family get to bond and heal with Deku, who inspires, not just Rody, but all of them to chase after their dreams.

Fic ramble below ⬇️

Lala and Roro forgot to give Rody his tie before he left so they run after him to give it to him. Unfortunately, they get lost and Lala spots Deku, Shoto and Bakugou doing errands. She splits away from Roro to ask the heroes-in-training for help. Roro panics when he sees that his little sister is gone.

Deku offers to walks around with her, calming down the scared girl by asking her about herself and her brother as they call out for Rody’s name. He protects her during the bank robbery and chases after Rody for the case of jewelry. However, Lala recognizes Rody and when Deku attempts to jump onto the roof to continue the chase after Pino flew into his face, Lala grabs onto Izuku’s leg begging to be brought along (deja vu?). At first, Izuku is hesitant to bring a child with him but at Lala’s insistence, he ends up carrying her on his back, careful to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. Roro spots the chase from below and runs after them.

When Izuku crashes into the train, Rody is horrified to see his sister happily waving at him from the hero’s back. At the station, Rody worriedly checks Lala if she's hurt. She assures him that she had fun riding on Izuku’s back and explains that she came to give his tie. (she doesn’t tell rody how she was screaming into Izuku ear the first few jumps. she apologizes to izuku about it later)

Rody immediately starts scolding her and the hero but gets caught in the middle when Izuku asks for the case and Lala asks what Rody’s job actually is. Izuku and Rody still fight over the briefcase (with Rody trying to make a run for with it while carrying Lala under his arm) and Izuku still apologizes to him when the case opens. To make it up to both of them, he helps Rody and Lala to go find Roro. (Lala instantly feels guilty for leaving him behind) They do find him in the crowd before getting cornered by the police.

Rody is ordered to hold onto his back and the kids while Izuku escapes the police and Humanrise. Rody doesn’t pass out, focused on holding onto his siblings (all of them screaming in fear), but the added weight does makes Izuku fall from the bridge. After escaping from the water, they find out that Izuku is accused of child kidnapping and mass murder. Lala advocates for Izuku since she’s the one “kidnapped”.

Once Izuku suggests they run, Roro and Rody are eager to leave him behind. Lala doesn’t want to, trusting Izuku, but she reluctantly agrees when her brothers remind her of the many heroes who never came to help them. Rody calls the police and all Souls go to trade in the case for their normal live again but it’s revealed to be a trick. Izuku is woken up by Pino and Izuku saves the Souls from the arrow. Lala starts crying about Izuku dying and Roro desperately looking for a doctor or a hospital (cry-yelling at Izuku to not pull out the arrow). Rody tries to calm them down as they look for a place to hide.

Roro instructs Rody how to properly heal him, telling him how to support the arrow and bandage it (note: do not remove arrows if you’re pierced by them. Clean then cut the arrow and bandage over the head. Only remove when completely necessary and it’s obstructing movement.)

They hide in a cave to properly get rid of the arrow and properly bandage his wound. Izuku is in awe of Roro’s skill, who reveals that he wants to be a doctor and reads medical textbooks for fun. Izuku encourages him to pursue that dream but Roro gets upset and offended, thinking that Izuku is only optimistic because he has everything. Roro accidentally reveals that he’s quirkless. It makes all Souls panic, especially when Izuku looked like he saw ghost. Roro starts to cry and in his silent break down, Rody pulls him into a hug. Lala joins in.

Izuku watches helplessly and pinned against protective glares. Rody shares Roro's sentiment, quietly revealing he wants to be a pilot but cannot due to their situation. Lala remains silent and hugs Rody’s arm. They all brace for pity but Izuku just smiles and stage whispers to Roro and Lala, asking if they can keep a secret. Lala excitedly says yes while Roro nods as he wipes his tears, confused but earnest in his promise. Izuku reveals that he was once quirkless too and his quirk came in extremely late. He has struggled and had to work twice as hard but is willing to work for his dream and catch up to his classmates. This surprises all the Souls and with their perspectives changed, they all properly introduce themselves.

On the road trip, Izuku bonds with the Souls as the kids are eager to learn about Izuku’s stories and with every story, they (including Rody) see the hero in a new light. (After the whole mission, they beg Rody to search up Izuku’s sport festival fight just so they see the real thing)

At the gas station, Lala and Izuku cannot be seen so Roro and Rody work together to distract the cashier.

At the mountain, Roro and Lala loudly cheer on Izuku as he pulls up the truck. (They get to the other side within a few hours)

When they stop at a flower field to review the directions, Izuku notices Lala's habit of talking to plants and flowers, often believing that they understand her. She gives Izuku and Rody matching flowers for luck (making both boys blush), finds special herbs that the flowers told her can help with the pain and thanks a plum tree for providing four ripe plums that suddenly appeared on a low hanging branch. Izuku is curious and suspicious but Roro and Rody are used to it, allowing Lala keep her innocence and play pretend.

They stop so Roro can check on Izuku’s wounds and take out the arrowhead. Izuku continues to tell Roro and Lala about his time in UA and his experiences and friends while Rody fixes his bandages. Lala is most excited about the fighting parts, eyes shining as Izuku recalls his fight with Muscular.

“Actually Kota is about your age. He’s kinda grumpy but has this cool water quirk that lets his shoot water out of his hands.”

“He sounds fun! I wanna be his friend! He can water all my other friends.”

Izuku explains to Roro about Recovery Girl and the existence of scholarships and internships. Roro gets excited and despite Rody insistence to not worry, Roro admits that he knows about his struggles and is willing to do anything to help Rody gives him a tight hug and is willing to support him all the way, making him promise to be the best doctor Otheon could offer.

Unable to resist, Izuku then asks for their quirks. Lala’s quirk hasn’t come in despite her 6th birthday coming up in a few months so she’s expected to be quirkless. After seeing Izuku so accepting to Roro, Rody carefully introduces Pino.

They arrive at Klayd and prepare to split up but Humanrise attacks and Rody nearly falls to his death while izuku grabs the kids and the briefcase. Lala cries out for someone to save him and before Todoroki arrives, the trees reach out to grab him from mid-air.

Apparently Lala was telling the truth (sort of). While she cannot understand plants and they can’t talk to her, she can project her pure emotions and thoughts to the plants around her, similar to how Rody is soul-bonded with Pino. (Izuku theorizes that the stronger her emotions, the greater the radius of her quirk) Lala immediately gets excited by her quirk, especially since it resembles Rody’s so much.

Izuku and Lala ramble about her quirk before they’re interrupted by Bakugou and Shoto. While Rody, Shoto and Izuku try to solve the puzzle, Roro and Lala sit awkwardly with Bakugou. Lala then gets the courage to ask about UA. Bakugou brags about his experience as a student and banters with Roro, who claims Deku is the best hero. Bakugou assumes Lala’s interest means that she wants to be a hero but Lala instantly becomes insecure, not really responding yes or no (her eyes darting to Roro and Rody). Bakugou notices and awkwardly tries (in his own way) give her encouragement, recalling how she saved her brother. He then asks Roro if he wants to be a hero. The boy is quiet at first but remembers Izuku’s words and admits his dream with pride, barking out a threat if Bakugou dares to tease him. Bakugou is stunned but laughs, impressed by his guts and orders him to not let any stupid people get in his way.

They find out about Eddie and the Soul family cry together, Lala being reassured by Shoto that her father is a good man and a hero. Izuku encourages the family to leave to safety but Rody hesitates. Usually he’s happy to have the world burn as long as he’s with his siblings but Rody isn’t so eager to leave Izuku behind now, especially after the entire Soul family bonded with him. Luckily, Roro and Lala becomes the last push to convince Rody to help them. They hijack a plane and Roro and Lala hug Izuku good luck, giving him the flower that dropped during the fight. (Izuku tucks the wilted flower in his pocket)

Rody plans to fly all of them to safety just in case it doesn’t work but they crash land and get captured. Roro and Lala are held hostage while Rody gives the key but at the swap, Lala and Roro uses it as a distraction to escape. Rody still gets shot and Roro and Lala get separated across the room. Izuku fights Flecturn while Lala hides. Lala watches the fight from her hiding place. She has full confidence in Izuku but is desperate to help. She starts to panic and looks away, angry at herself for being unable to do anything. Unknown to her, her anger and determination causes her quirk to make the flower in Izuku’s pocket to overgrow. Izuku notices this and throws it at Flecturn, encasing and choking the villain with the petals and vines. It holds him down long enough to give Izuku a breather and defeat him sooner. Izuku searches for Lala, who is overjoyed that Izuku won but Izuku retorts that it was Lala who defeated him. Izuku shows Lala the overgrown flower and explains how it saved her and her family. (“You’re our hero, Lala.”)

Lala and Izuku hear the countdown stop and rush to where Rody and Roro are. They find the key plugged in (thanks to Pino) and Roro is cradling a tired Rody, who’s lying on the ground, while trying to stop the bleeding. Izuku tells Roro that he’s doing great and removes the weight from him by cradling Rody himself. Rody weakly asks if he was a hero like his father and Izuku happily replies that they all were. They all laugh-crying together

When Izuku wakes up and learns that he’s assigned a hospital room with the Souls, who all insisted that Izuku is family. He cries when the doctors tell him this and sits next to Rody on his bed when he wakes up, to thank him. Roro and Lala wake up and light up when they see Rody and Izuku awake, escaping from their beds to tackle the two teens in relief.

Shoto and Bakugou finds them all asleep on Rody’s bed. Realizing how much they mean to Izuku, they get a working phone for Rody.

All the Souls are there when they say bye at the airport. Roro promises to get a scholarship and get into the best doctor school possible. Izuku says that Recovery Girl is willing to accept apprenticeships at UA and Roro says he wants to be worthy of it, shyly admitting wanting to see Izuku again. This realization makes the kids cry, afraid that they won’t see him again for a while, and unlike in the movie, Rody doesn’t have the heart to tell him to not come back. He stays quiet and comforts his siblings while hiding his own tears. (“Come on guys. Don’t cry. We’re in public.”) Izuku notices that Pino is at the verge of tears and initates the hug, promising to come back. The kids join in when Rody hugs back.

Izuku is about to leave but when he’s a couple feet away, Lala, who was looking nervous before, yells out to Izuku.

“Is it possible that I can become a hero even with this quirk?”

This comes to a shock to everyone. This is the first time Lala ever voiced her dream out loud. Lala has always admired the idea of helping people and especially people who don’t often get help from heroes. Roro and Rody always said that they don’t like heroes so she never said anything and brushed it off as a pipe dream. But after seeing Izuku and how he isn’t like the heroes that pass by her area, how her brothers can actually trust him, she is now definite that being a hero is all she wants to be.

“I always dreamed of a being hero for my community, one that can defend my home. Could I ever hope to become someone like you?”

Izuku recalls a similar memory and nervousness on the rooftop with All Might. The bittersweet feeling nearly makes Izuku cry but at the memory of tears and sunset in alleyway comes racing back, a wave of pride takes over. He gives Lala a genuine smile and say the words he wished and did hear that day.

“Lala Soul, you too can become a hero.”

Such simple words but Lala lets out a sob as her dreams are validated. Izuku waves goodbye to his family in Otheon, excited to visit again and see the kind of hero the youngest Soul will grow up to be one day.