Chapter Text
Aizawa couldn’t just have one normal field trip with Class 1-A, could he? They had gone to Miruko’s agency for a tour. Eri had begged to come along and eventually he had given in. Even he couldn’t resist her puppy eyes.
Aizawa lingered behind his class as Miruko herself gave the tour. Eri was happily skipping along with Midoriya and his group, pointing at things. Everytime she pointed at something, problem child beamed at her. Shinsou was hanging out with the Bakusquad. Aizawa watched as his adopted purple-haired child held hands with Denki. He suppressed a groan, he was not looking forward to having the shovel talk with Denki. Mirabel was at the front of the group, carefully listening to Miruko’s words.
Mirabel Madrigal was the last of his and Mic’s children. About 10 months before the Entrance Exam, an unknown quirk had brought her to Japan. She had come from Columbia and the HPSC had planned on sending her back but they didn’t. When he inquired as to why the Columbian girl was being placed in his care instead of being sent back to her home, Nezu had simply grinned and said that he couldn’t.
For a stranger, new to Japan, she picked up on Japanese very quickly and was already fluent in English. Apparently, she had a lot of free time when she was 11.
The girl quickly made herself a place in the Aizawa-Yamada household. At least one of the household cats, Bastard and Stinky, could be found following her around the apartment and rubbing against her legs as she did her chores. Both of her new parents spent most of the summer teaching her self-defense. Mirabel had a heart of gold. Aizawa knew she would make a great hero one day.
That’s another thing. Chores. Aizawa thought teenagers were supposed to hate them. When he was a teenager, he hated them and as an adult he still hates them. Mic didn’t care for them that much either, but he had no complaints about doing them . Mirabel, though, would wake up at the ass-crack of dawn and start sweeping the floors, doing the laundry, dusting the counters, and setting the table for breakfast all while softly singing songs underneath her breath. Mic had put her on the sport one time, asking at dinner what the song she had been singing that morning was called. Mirabel had smiled nervously and said that it was her Abuela’s and Abuelo’s song, Dos Oruguitas.
Shinsou joined their family five months later. He was a kid who ran away from a shitty quirkist foster home. He was withdrawn and indifferent towards all members of the family (except Stinky), but he was especially cold towards Mirabel. One morning though, the two were found at the dining room table, cats curled at their feet, hovering over a notebook. Something had obviously happened the night before, but neither of them would say a word. And no one said anything if they saw Mirabel teaching Shinsou spanish. No one said anything if they saw Shinsou comforting the sobbing latina in the early hours of the morning. No one said anything.
Of course, they both got into U.A (no Hizashi, he wasn’t crying), that rat bastard though had the gall to put them both in his class, but even, unlike All Might, he didn’t show favoritism (there was a rumor going around that Midoriya was All Mights child, but Mirabel said it was a pile of bs.) By internships, he wished that the two had been put in 1-B because 1-A was a fucking nightmare (no, one of your friends is a attempted murderer and Midoriya is a walking disaster.)
But no matter how reckless Midoriya was, he did save Eri, the little girl who completed the family. 10 months ago, Aizawa and Yamada hadn’t even thought about adopting children and now they have three.
Aizawa was broken out of his thoughts by the loud wailing of alarms.
***
The tour was very interesting, in Mirabel’s opinion. But then she heard glass shatter and everything became a blur. She covered her ears as the alarm wailed through the building, flashing red lights.
She looked around at her class. Most of them were just as confused as her but held defensive stances. Eri was shielded by Midoriya. Bakugo let out little explosions out of his palm.
Footsteps came running down the hall. Shigaraki and the league appeared with a few new faces. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Todoroki tense at the sight of Dabi.
“Well, well. If it isn’t class 1-A” Shigarki drawled. He strutted forward with a smirk on his face. “Unfortunately, this is the last time-”
Miruko kicked him in the face. Mirabel took this as a que to judo-flip the nearest villain, a small-time one with a bat-mutation quirk. Pretty soon it was a full-blown fight.
Toga avoided her punches and hurled a sharp glinting knife toward her. Pain shot through Mirabel, as it hit her abdomen and another hit her leg. Warm blood trickled down. Toga threw another knife. As it whizzed through the air, Mirabel kicked it out of the way.
Toga bared her teeth. Mirabel punched her in the gut and used her own knives to pin her down.
Blood was all over her hero costume, which was a white jumpsuit embroidered with mariposas and jaguares dancing around open flames. Her vision swam in and out of focus.
“Mirabel.” Sero yelled.
She turned, clutching her wound, just in time to see a man in a simple suit emit a blinding light.
Mirabel screamed and covered her eyes. She dropped to the floor.
A few seconds later the light disappeared but Mirbel kept her eyes covered. The floor felt grassy beneath her and the air hung hot with humidity. Something was familiar about it. The chirping of birds and humming insects blurred into the background with the sound of talking people. All she could hear were snippets between the pounding in her head.
“Villain's quirk-”
“childhood home-”
“Mirabel”
Home. No, anywhere but here. They couldn’t know. Would they leave her? They already knew she was quir- giftless, but what if that changed?
I don’t know why you weren’t given a gift, but it's no excuse to hurt this family.
If you left, Mamá would be happier. Tío Bruno might even come back.
Bebé, you should let someone else help.
Mirabel, stop bothering Camilio, unlike you he is helping the family.
If..if I get a gift …I won’t be allowed to see you anymore, will I?
Tears began to slip from her eyes and her body was wracked with pain as she sobbed. Stop. Stop. Mirabel tried to scream.
Someone tried to hold her down, probably to assess the wounds. A small hand grabbed her own. What was Antonio and Fuega doing here?
“Mirachan, please stop crying” The voice pleaded. She blacked out before she could say anything.
***
The breakfast table still felt empty without Mirabel, even though Abuela had tried to fill that hole by inviting Mariano every week. She still held out hope Isabel would fall in love with him.
As if reading Dolores' mind, Antonio said “I wish Mira was still here.” He fixed a glare on Abuela.
“We don’t talk about Mirabel,” Pepa said.
“Well, that’s just stupid!” Feuga said. Her hair burst into flame.
Abuela came into the dining room with a scowl. “Feuga, no fire.”
Feuga wilted as Abuela said this. Her fire flickered. Out of all the Madrigal’s Feuga and Antonio were the most affected by their cousin's disappearance. Mirabel practically raised them. They had watched Abuela’s and Mirabel’s argument. The two twins had watched as the casita cracked and Mirabel walked out without a word, just a cold-stone stare. They had heard her scream and they had been there when the villagers had found the blood. There was no funeral and a new rule had been imposed. We don’t talk about Mirabel. Julieta and Agustín had fought Abuela on this but gave up after a while.
While the family shifted from the forbidden topic to the day’s work, Dolores stared intently outside.
From the edge of the Encanto, she could hear sobbing. And the familiar beat of a heart.
Mirabel was back.