After a while, Izuku had drifted off to sleep and Senji had closed her eyes. Rody added a few more scraps to the fire, then snuck toward the cave entrance. He slid down the embankment, and felt a tap on his shoulder. He yelped and spun around, making Senji cover his mouth with her hand.
"Shhh, you'll wake him up!," she whispered, then released the boy.
"Weren't you asleep?," he asked, while the bird in his hood nearly fainted from shock.
"Shouldn't you be?," she retorted, and Rody went silent. He could smell a faint hint of cider on her breath, and noticed her left arm now had a sparkling hand attached.
"What's that?," he pointed to it, but she didn't answer him.
"Where're you sneakin' off to?," she instead gave him another question. She stood up straight, flexing the fingers on her left arm and silently affirming something to herself.
"Uh..."
"I'm not here to judge, but I gotta make sure that idiot doesn't get hurt. Worse anyway. And that means I gotta make sure you don't do something stupid," she explained her position again, and Rody sighed with resignation.
"Fine, walk and talk. We're looking for a vehicle. Walking to the border's gonna be a pain, and we gotta move faster," He slid further down the embankment while talking, Senji following at a slower pace at first. Once she reached the bottom, wincing a little, they continued through the field.
"How'd you find us?," Rody asked. He scanned the area, and spotted a structure in the distance. His bird, Pino, perched on the end of Senji's tail.
"That takes a bit of explaining," Senji tried to hold her tail up, and keep it steady. "Saw you get dragged into that bar the other night, and we're here lookin' into...some big shady stuff. Was looking for leads, and um."
"You're training to be a pro, like Deku?"
"Yeah. Why do you look so shocked by that again? Anyway," Senji continued her explanation, making note of Rody's reaction for later. She held up her left arm, dissolving and recreating her hand. "My quirk works mostly like scales, but I can control what they do, and where they go. I had some stuck to you so I could ask you stuff later. Happened to work out differently, but whatever."
"That's...weird," Rody shivered a little, at the thought of a piece of someone else being used to track him down. The sky was starting to lighten up when they reached an old barn. Rody peeked inside, then nodded and pushed open the large door. He pulled out a piece of paper, and a pen, scribbling something down and sticking it to the door. Senji squinted up at it, taken aback.
"Ain't no way that's gonna work," she stifled a groan and looked over at Rody. The boy had opened the door a good ways, and there were several vehicles parked inside. He shuffled around inside a couple of them, finally finding a set of keys in the rusted out old pick up. Senji let out her groan, then checked around before climbing into the passenger seat beside Rody. He started up the truck, which was uncomfortably loud given the situation, and pulled slowly out of the barn and back toward their hideaway. The sun was pulling up over the horizon when they arrived, with a startled Izuku peeking out of the cave.
"Load up, I guess," Senji hopped out and made her way into the cave. Izuku had several questions, but decided to accept the fortune he'd been given and helped her retrieve their belongings. Senji put the case up front, and tossed the other packs into the back before climbing in herself.
"Aren't you sitting up front?," Izuku asked. Rody looked at her with the same kind of puzzled expression.
"It'll be cramped as hell. 'Sides, it's just as loud from in there," the girl laid down, using the packs as pillows, and waved them off like flies.
Pino sat on her chest, looking extremely worried, while the two boys shrugged and climbed into their seats. They drove along largely empty country roads for quite a while, finally stopping for gas around mid-afternoon. Senji swiped the sunglasses from Rody's head when he stepped out, receiving some harsh words and protests. She stuck her tongue out at him, flopping back down and shielding her eyes from the sun with them. He gave up for now and headed inside to pay for gas and stock up, with some borrowed cash from her and Izuku. Pino flitted over to Izuku, who was fiddling with the gas pump and something else. Several minutes passed, and Senji rolled over to the side of the truck bed, slumping over it and looking down at her classmate.
"Whatcha doin?," she asked, only half-interested. Her stomach growled a little, and she sank down further. Pino glared at her from her perch on Izuku's hat, before looking toward the store window with a fearful expression.
"I don't know a lot about cars," Izuku admitted, looking up at her. The way she lazily hung over the truck bed, with her borrowed sunglasses hanging somewhat sideways, was truly a sight to behold.
"Checking tire pressure? Guess it would suck to get a flat, but it's not like it's our problem long-term," Senji gave a tired commentary and flipped back onto her back in the truck bed. A snack bar landed right on her face, followed by a bottle of soda and a bag of jerky that landed next to her.
"Gotta head out," Rody's voice cracked a little, and he rushed Izuku back into the cab before pulling out in a hurry. The gravel parking lot made the exit rough, and Senji tapped angrily on the back window of the cab.
They drove on through the night like that. Senji napped a little bit, but the bumpy ride wasn't doing her back any favors. So she eventually sat up, sliding open the back window and hanging into the cab so she could at least talk to the other two. Toward evening, Rody produced a small locket and handed it to Izuku to examine. Senji glanced at it, too, while Rody talked happily about his younger siblings. He was so excited about the subject, in fact, that he was no longer watching the road and lurching side to side. Senji, tossed around and bumping the frame of the window, smacked him while Izuku panicked.
He pulled over for a moment to compose himself, while a deep rumble echoed in the distance. Senji, recognizing the distant thunder, suddenly pulled the briefcase aside and rolled into the cab through the window.
"Hey! What're you doing?"
"Senji-woah!"
The two boys protested loudly, but were shoved to the side while the much taller girl folded herself into the middle of the seat between them. A bright flash illuminated the road, and Izuku understood. Pino, agitated, chirped in her face from her knees.
"Thunderstorm rolling in. Don't wanna get rained on," Senji muttered, while Izuku pulled the bags in and closed the back window. Rody gave her one more incredulous stare, before starting the truck back up and pulling onto the road.
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Strays (WHM)
الأكشن"Hey lovebirds, hate to interrupt but-Oh shit." Senji had let go of the cave mouth and fell forward into the dirt, coughing up a little bit of blood and clutching her side. Izuku, half-dressed, rushed to help her but tripped over his loose pants and...
