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Chapter Text

It all started… 

With the magic. 

With the glowing doors leading to rooms made just for them. 

With the gift bestowed to them by the miracle. 

Bruno was five when he received his gift along with his sisters. They were the first generation to get them so when the doors appeared and the house beckoned for them to approach the family looked on in wonder. Then wonder turned into awe. 

Pepa could control the weather. She discovered that the day after their birthday when Bruno hid her favorite toy. The thunderstorm only stopped when she found it. 

Julieta could heal any injury with the food she cooked. Three days after their birthday she discovered it when she handed mama one of the arepas she made, the small blisters she got from hard work vanished in a painless instant. 

Bruno could… Well, they weren't sure what Bruno could do yet. But being the little brother they weren't surprised that he was taking a little longer to figure it out. Though with his sisters’ gifts already revealed it was a tough act to follow. Luckily, or unluckily as he’d think later in life, he didn’t have to wait much longer. 

A week after their birthday they found out what Bruno’s gift was. 

He was playing pretend in the streets, his stick was a sword and he valiantly fought off the bad guys who threatened the village. He ran down the cobble roads as he slashed his stick through the air, cutting down the enemy's ranks, when suddenly the view of the street disappeared. His vision was filled with green figures. Diego the carpenter stepped out from behind a house’s corner, Bruno ran into him then stumbled back and knocked a flowerpot over causing it to shatter.

As quickly as it came the green faded and the street came back into view. He looked around, finding it empty and no sign of Diego or the broken flowerpot.  

Shrugging Bruno continued on with his game. 

It wasn’t until the next day that he was rushing down to the river to play with the other kids that Diego stepped out from behind the corner of Miss Mari’s house. Bruno ended up running into him and his only thought was ‘Miss Mari’s not going to like this. ’

Bruno had a strange sense of deja vu while Miss Mari yelled at him for knocking over her flowerpot. 

This was only the first instance. Many more started to follow and Bruno and his family quickly figured out what it meant, especially when Pepa saw his eyes glow green during one of his ‘visions.’ 

Bruno could see the future. 

Flashes of the events he’d experienced that day would flow through his eyes, it was hard to control at first, eventually he figured out how to suppress them so he could do his daily chores uninterrupted. Looking at the future made it hard to see the present and mama didn’t like how he was slacking with his work. 

He overheard one of the women of the village talk about meditation, how it clears the mind and helps focus one's thoughts. Maybe that could help him control his vision, he hated to disappoint mama.

That evening Bruno hurried up to his room after the chores were done and they finished super. The door sat in between his sisters’ with Casita’s normal walls surrounding it, other than the door’s glow seemed normal. It was when you opened it that you found the extraordinary. It was filled with sandstone cliffs that reached up forever . Water poured down from one side and filled a small pond with little fish and frogs, green foliage poked out of the sand, and palm trees blocked the sun from above. It was a little oasis in the desert as his mama called it. 

He walked down the stone paths and past the sandstone rocks that hid a cave entrance tucked away at the far side of the room. The cave looked like one of those ancient temples from storybooks, but it didn’t lead to any treasure. Instead it led to his bedroom, but further back was another dome shaped area filled with sand and funny carvings. He didn’t know what to do with that part, usually he just napped in the middle. You could shape the sand and make a comfortable spot to sleep in. It was cool, quiet, and the perfect place for an afternoon siesta… though now he was wondering if Casita made that on purpose. That it knew he would need a place to focus his thoughts. 

To focus his visions . 

He found that he could see the events far past just what would happen that day. The meditation developed into a ritual, one that produced a glowing green tablet of one of the images he’d seen. He called it a looking glass. They showed events in the unknown future. It was hard to decipher and never clear when they would happen, but one thing for sure was that those futures would happen.

Mostly, there were very few small instances where things ended up slightly different.

But no one focused on that. 

They only focused on the omens the looking glasses brought. 

That Bruno brought. 

Going to see Bruno was a dangerous game, but seeing your future was too enticing for the villagers. Especially when Mama started encouraging them to visit. 

Not everyone regretted seeing their future, but those who did were loud. 

“ Bruno’s bad news!”

“If Bruno didn’t see it, none of this would happen.”

“Why’d didn’t Bruno warn me about this?

Every complaint started with 

               Bruno.

                            Bruno

                                        Bruno 

                                                    Bruno

Everyone was talking about Bruno.

 “Why did Bruno even tell me my future!”

“ Because you asked me!”

At least that's what he wanted to say, but he knew Mama didn’t like them to complain. They were helping the village after all, even if he wasn’t sure how he was helping. 

He noticed one morning that his cave had a few steps leading down to the stone path, and over the years as more appeared he stopped counting. Eventually he thought that it stopped with so many steps winding around the upward expanse but by that point it was hard to notice when one more was added. He ignored how each trip up seemed a little more exhausting. 

At one point the waterfall stopped, but he couldn’t remember when exactly. Unlike the stairs, the development was so gradual that Bruno didn’t even notice it was gone until brown dead leaves started falling from the palm trees. Everything was so quiet without the trickling of water or the ribbits of frogs.  

Bruno couldn't think much about it, mama had called him away for another fortune telling. He had four that day, each was so incredibly exhausting. 

Bruno was caught between the villagers' contradictions of wanting to avoid him and asking for his help. They claimed he was bad luck, so much so that even Bruno started to believe it. He began to carry around salt to throw over his shoulder and he knocked on wood whenever a negative thought passed through his head. The villagers did little to hide their suspicions but still insisted on seeing for visions, yet no one saw him for his just company anymore. 

Even his sisters started to avoid him. Julieta, of course, was too sweet to do it on purpose. With her powers she was constantly cooking and helping the villagers. Pepa on the other hand actively avoided him, believing some of the rumors of bad luck she didn't want his presence accidentally causing her to lose control of the weather. 

Bruno grew lonely. 

Especially in the nights when he was too exhausted to sleep. He often laid in the ritual chamber trying to catch some kind of rest on the cool sand. 

The only time he ever felt lucky was when a curious little rat scurried over to sniff at the old cheese he was snacking on earlier that day. 

Ricotta became his first friend. She led the way for more to follow.

He talked to rats more than people nowadays, but that was only because the rat actually seemed interested in Bruno for something other than the future. Some even stuck around when didn’t have cheese. 

Years passed and he and his sisters grew up. 

Agustin and Felix joined their family. 

They were friendly enough, but Bruno couldn't help but feel a little awkward around them. At least they didn’t mind his company, even if it took a few years to shake some of the ever growing stigma gained from living in the village. 

Eventually he used his vision to foretell the arrival of two healthy baby girls, one from each of his sisters. He crossed his fingers and held his breath before both rituals. It seemed to work since the relief and joy from his sisters was well worth the dread Bruno had of seeing a potential tragedy.

Their family quickly grew.

Isabela and Dolores were followed by Luisa who was then followed by Camilo then last Mirabel.  

Villagers didn’t see him as often anymore, their disdain for him grew large enough to outweigh their curiosity for the future. He was just glad to be left alone… even if that meant Abuela grew more disappointed with his role in the family. 

Still trying to make her proud and now that his energy didn’t exhaust so easily, he used his rituals to check the wellbeing of his family. He found that he’d have another nephew, from the looks of the vision Mirabel was much older so it would be awhile till he arrived. He saw Isabela happy with her powers flourishing with beautiful creations. He saw Dolores… who would be pining after a man who was already betrothed. 

The heartbreak on her face after he told her that… he decided to stop looking so much afterwards. 

But it seems that his visions weren’t done with him. 

It happened one restless night when he slept in the ritual room because his bed didn’t feel comfortable enough. His rats curled around him and tucked into every pocket or fold of fabric they could find. Everything was normal until his shapeless dreams were pledged by green nightmares. 

A man, if you could call it that, greedy and powerful had a grotesquely scared face with no features except a mouth that held a wicked smile. He had the world in his palm, fingers curling around them to squeeze until cracks shattered over the earth and fire blazed across the surface. Nothing but chaos and destruction.

Death, suffering, it was everywhere, even Encanto burned . 

Bruno startled awake. Sand fell around him and he would have thought it all just a horrible nightmare if it weren't for the looking glass that landed in his lap. 

The looking glass only showed the lower part of the man as he smiled. He wore a suit and a strange village full of tall structures lay behind him. It had no tell of the destruction Bruno saw. As much as he tried he could never recreate that vision… it felt… too far away. 

Abuela didn’t believe him when he urged her about it’s seriousness, and that went doubly when he mentioned that Encanto couldn't protect them from the outside world forever. That made her shut down any mention of his prophecy. 

“All you saw was a man in a village so far away it doesn't matter! Focus on your family, stop talking about these dreadful fairytales. We are protected by the miracle, no one should have any need to leave Encanto!” 

Abuela smashed the looking glass during their last augment. It seemed to only make things worse since the rats had an odd interest in broken visions. He didn’t think anyone actually realized how many rats Bruno befriended, but when a swarm of fifteen scurried out from under his ruana the whole family was shocked. Ricotta was the only one to stay on his shoulder. 

Little Camilo, who was listening in, ran away crying at the sight of them. 

His only saving grace was that he had command over the swarm, so he quickly asked them to go to his room. Like a coward he followed instead of facing his family. His heart ached with guilt and despair as he tried to pretend those looks were only shock… and not disgust. He especially felt bad for Camilio. 

The last thing he ever wanted to do was scare the children. But he did, and now things in the house grew a little more tense when he was around. 

The rats did what they could to apologize, it seems they understood their mistake and Ricotta was especially keen on ensuring that as she scolded the other rats. Bruno begged the swarm not to do anything like that again without his order. After that, he kept better control over them. Especially when Camilio started acting skittish around him.

They were ordered to stay out of sight and if they were hiding on him they couldn’t make a sound when there were others around. 

Bruno refused to think of the world ending vision, and any thought about it was quickly waved away as he knocked on wood. He tapped his own head for good measure.

Thankfully, now that Bruno wasn’t bringing it up anymore, things were calm for a while. Camilo got his gifting ceremony and Mirabel’s was quickly approaching. 

Everything was fine, knock on wood.  

That was until Mirabel didn’t get a gift. 

It had been years since Abuela actually asked anything important of him. 

So even though he’d slowly stopped using his gift purposefully, the moment she came to him he accepted immediately. 

Maybe he should have been more hesitant. 

The uncertainty of the vision was one thing, but seeing how one option meant that Mirabel would lead to Casita’s distribution wasn’t something he wanted to risk getting out. Mirabel was just a little girl. One who was already going to have issues in the family without her powers. 

The last thing he wanted to do was add to her burden. 

He broke the looking glass, and obediently the rats didn’t go after it. Not that he was in the mind to tell them too. He really should have. But currently only one thought flooded his head: He had to leave .

Maybe it was time that he took charge of his life. That he followed the warnings of his visions and actively tried to stop them. At the very least he wanted to prove that he could. 

For Mirabel’s sake. 

Bruno packed a rucksack with some clothes but mostly food and water. He had no idea how far Encanto was from any other civilization, or if he’d even survive the surrounding jungle to get to it. All he knew was he had to try. 

He stood at the edge of Encanto, and looked up at the towering mountains. What were once seen as protective barriers now only filled Bruno with dread at the thought of crossing them. 

He pushed down his fear with a deep breath. He held it as he crossed his fingers and took the first step forward. 

A squeak behind him had him letting out a rather undignified yelp and he jolted around to see a herd of rats approach. 

Ricotta led the swarm, Burrata at her side. 

“No, I told you, you can’t come with me,” Bruno whispered loudly, a part of him feared that Dolores was listening. “You stay at la casita where it’s safe . ” 

Burrata chattered definitely as she hurried over the grass towards Bruno, the rest quickly followed. He tried to run, though doing that backwards was not the greatest idea as it had him stumbling. The swarm took their chance and scurried into his ruana. They hid in his pockets and clung to any place that they knew wouldn’t be disturbed by his natural movements. 

“No! Hey get off me!” He said quickly, trying to grab any rat he could. All of them were slippery little pests. He even felt a bite somewhere on the back of his neck, “Ouch! Who did that! Stilton, you little-” 

He paused when one of the rats jumped onto his chest and stared him down. 

“Ricotta,” Bruno blinked. He stopped his struggle as he looked at the little brown furred, green eyed rat. 

He couldn't remember if her eyes had always been that color. 

Ricotta crawled forward, and with one little paw she touched his nose. 

Bruno let out a small sigh. 

“I guess… I could use the company,” he finally said. 

If a rat could smile Ricotta did just that. She squeaked happily then nuzzled his cheek before curling up against his neck. 

“But you guys have to listen to every word I say. It's really dangerous out there,” Bruno said as he got up. He heard a number of rats chirp in agreement. “That means you too, Burrata,” Bruno said sternly. There was a little scoff somewhere in his rucksack. She was one of the most mischievous rats he’d come across, she seemed to only listen to him when it suited her. Or when Ricotta threatened her. 

“I guess that’ll just have to do,” Bruno sighed. 

He turned to take one last look at Encanto. “Goodbye, and sorry for… everything,” He whispered quietly. 

He closed his eyes as he turned.

Bruno didn’t let himself look back. 

Chapter Text

Bruno was absolutely terrified when he climbed up the Encanto mountains and crossed over them. His nerves were only added too when he looked back from the peak to see that Encanto was gone , but, well, that was probably something to do with the magic. 

It did make him wonder how he’d get back home once he finished with his quest. 

Guess that was just a problem for later. 

Because his biggest issue now was traveling across countless miles of jungle. 

Encanto didn’t have maps, it wasn’t something they needed since everyone knew the layout of the town and no one went past the mountains. Bruno was the first person to ever leave since the miracle was given to them. 

This did not bode well for his survival. 

He tried walking in a straight line, the rats helped keep him on course and avoided predators they'd run across when scouting ahead. Bruno was glad they were so insistent on going with him, he had no idea what he’d do if he accidentally ran into a jaguar.

It was a few days into his journey, and Bruno decided that he really needed to figure out a better way of navigating the jungle than just following the rats. His nervousness over the past few days made him lose focus on the presents at times, having his eyes accidentally gaze into the short futures which currently just consisted of walking through more jungle.

Over the years of these accidental visions he noticed that they were clearer and much less cryptic than anything he'd see using his sand ritual. He never tried to explore his abilities further after discovering the sand ritual… but seeing as he had a very limited amount of food and water he decided it was probably time to see what more his gift could do in at least helping him through the jungle. 

Sitting on the ground, he crossed his legs and relaxed his body, some of the rats posted themselves around the area to keep watch while the others huddled close to Bruno. Ricotta, as always, perched on his shoulder and gave him a supportive chirp. 

With a deep breath in, and out… he let his practiced grip on the presence fade. Green figured filled his visions as he saw glimpses of himself still sitting in the same position. 

That was… somewhat anticlimactic… Bruno thought it made sense though. He had planned to sit there all day so he could figure out his powers more. You didn’t need future sight to see that. 

At the very least he could practice control. Watching the shadows and sunbeams in the vision was the only indicator of time passing, but it was small and distinct enough that it was noticeable but not overwhelming enough to get lost in. 

So he settled in. He watched the sunbeams’ movement move across the ground in his vision. At first it was choppy, it would jump from hours ahead at a time as the shadows jerked across the ground in the vision. He’d have to refocus on the present before diving back in and watching from the beginning. 

He tried to slow it down, and well… It was somewhat successful. It wasn’t perfect but instead of getting glimpses from what felt like hours worth of gabs he was able to increase the number of scenes he saw.

But even with present hours worth of practices he could feel his hunger grow and his tiredness weigh heavy. As he glanced into the future again, he decided now was probably a good time to eat and take a nap. 

But it was at that thought that something strange happened. 

Almost in an instant, as if two pictures overlapped. The vision of him sitting cross legged in the same position with a sunbeam shining through the shadows of the leaves onto his right toes. Suddenly it changed to him eating while talking with his rats. He would have thought it was a scene that his choppy visions overlapped but no… the shadows he'd been so focused on were in the exact same poisons. 

He fell back into the presence. His eyes blinked as he tried to decipher this strange instance. 

Ricotta had scurried out from under his collar as she crawled down his arm and rested on his knee. She squealed curiously as if asking a question. 

“I.. don’t know, it was a vision I hadn’t seen before,” Bruno spoke, “But everything else showed me sitting here all day… but the shadows were the same.” 

Ricotta squeaked, then she hopped down onto the ground, sniffing around before standing in the patch of sun that would eventually crawl over the ground to shine over his right foot. 

“Should- Should I wait to see what happens?” He asked hesitantly. 

Ricotta just shrugged before scurrying back under his ruana and up to his shoulder. 

Bruno decided that maybe now was a good time to stop, but his mind was still on that vision. So instead of resting, eating, or practicing more, he just watched the sunlight through the shadows as he crept across the ground towards his foot.

And then past his foot.

And he did nothing that his vision predicted. Even going so far as to move out of the clearing where he'd been watching his future self practice all day. But now his present self did none of what was predicted. 

“So… I can change my future… but does that mean I can change someone else's?” He looked down at the rat he was petting. Edam didn’t respond as he hung boneless in Bruno’s hand, enjoying every pet and ear scratch Bruno gave him. “I guess I need to get out of this jungle and find that out.” Bruno decided. 

Two more weeks passed and Bruno concluded that traveling the rainforest was harsh. His saving grace was the rats who ate all the pesky bugs who tried to attack him and lead him to safe plants to eat. They eventually found a river, with a combination of the rat's help and his new ‘foresight’ that he was still getting the hang of. 

It seemed that the river was the key to finding civilization. 

Though, Bruno did slightly panic when seeing someone canoeing. He jumped into the closest bush he could find and waited for them to pass. 

It seems Abuela’s stories of the outside words still affected him and that was the first new person he’d seen who wasn’t a baby. 

The rats helped calm him enough to knock on wood and cross his fingers before he used his foresight.

He assured himself that he could navigate this world even though he had no idea what he was doing. 

So… was anyone going to tell Encanto that everyone else got gifts too? 

Apparently gifts were called quirks, but they weren't magic. They were ‘A biological manifestation stemming from the next step in humans' natural evolution.’ … what? There was a lot of vocabulary being thrown at Bruno that he had no hope of comprehending yet. But as he wandered through the world, he and his swarm of rats learned a lot about the new society that was developed around these ‘quirks.’

Heroes and villains were not something from stories but were professions. Well, not the villains, those were just criminals who unlawfully used their quirk and wanted to actively hurt people? 

That was the most baffling part of the outside world, how people could just casually hurt someone else. Sure the people of Encanto could be a bit superstitious and treated Bruno like he invented bad luck but he was the exception and they never once physically tried to hurt him. He’s pretty sure no one in the village had a… 'villainous bone’ in their body.

But outside? 

He’s pretty sure almost anyone could turn on him in an instant. The only thing he could rely on was his rats and his gift. He’d never been thankful for it but now he relied on it every day to avoid random muggings and stumbling on villain fights. 

On the bright side it was great practice for seeing the short term future.

The only shame was the lack of audio in his vision. Otherwise he could ask questions to people in the future and get information on the ‘common sense’ knowledge that he missed out on when living in Encanto. He was just glad to find a really nice old lady who didn’t mind talking with him. 

Apparently her gift was the ability to grow her hair longer at will.

Bruno wasn't sure what practical use that gift could be used for, but apparently the outside gift- quirks didn’t have any rhyme or reason for existing. They just simply did, and rarely did he see anyone using them to help their communities. The only one who did were those ‘Heroes’ who only used their gifts to fight off those misusing them. Even if it led to a lot of property damage, but that seemed to be the norm around here. 

Though even with all of those downsides the one thing that the outside world provided that Encanto never could was the unhindered ability to practice his gift on his own. Especially without such the harsh judgment of Abuela. And if worse came to worse and the locals started to get superstitious or resent him as he practiced on them, he could just leave.

He’d move onto the next town or a separate part of a city (Because those were so massive that just moving a few miles over was enough distance to not be known by the locals). He’d find an abandoned spot to sleep at night, scavenge for food with his rats, and make some money with his fortune telling as he used his ability to predict locals futures. 

With all this quirk business it was easy to convince people that he could do so. Oddly enough, it also allowed him to use his beloved acting skills. Although it just started out as playing pretend when he was young, he eventually started imagining himself on stages during plays. 

Hernando and Jorge were common names he’d used when pretending to be someone else. 

It was… almost fun.

Though even if he was enjoying the freedom that he never imagined having back in Encanto he constantly missed his family. 

Even with his rats, there was a loneliness in his heart that couldn't be filled. But he was doing this for them. He was going to save Encanto from burning and he was going to save Mirabel from her fate. 

He’d already proven, on one or two successful occasions out of dozens of attempts, that he could change other people's futures. It's just that oftentimes people didn’t want to change enough to alter the future. And some events were fixed, no matter how much you tried to change them they would always happen. That was the most frustrating part, but it felt like he was still just scratching the surface of his powers.

He traveled for a while, never staying in one place as he practiced his abilities and grew his knowledge of the world. He moved from country to country but never strayed outside of the Americas. Who knew the world was so vast, and there were still more to discover, just across the oceans were more continents and countries. 

Bruno learned English when he had started moving up towards the United States, getting past the border was complicated and just as terrifying as his first journey through the jungle. 

The only difference was his foresight, and what made things so much worse was how easy it was to make one bad move and get yourself killed . 

Bruno had never seen himself die in a vision before, but the empty blackness of the usual lively green sight had him running away and taking a few weeks to reconsider if he really wanted to cross.

He decided to stay in Mexico a little longer after that, there were enough English speakers to keep himself fluent enough, but more importantly there were lively cities with plenty of resources to live off of.

Though one memorable night he found himself sleeping in an abandoned barn just outside the city. The floor was made of sand and if he closed his eyes he could pretend he was back in his ritual room at casita. He fell asleep with his rats curled around him with the pleasant illusion. That was until his shapeless dreams were pledged by green nightmares.

It was just the same as the one he had years ago. The grotesque man with missing features and a wicked smile. Encanto burning. The world cracking under his hold. 

But unlike last time, Bruno had been studying his powers. With his newly developed abilities he latched onto the vision. It thrashed in his mind like a wild boar, but Bruno pinned it down and forced it to tell him it’s secrets.

He didn’t get much, from the feel of it the vision was distant. It was the furthest prediction he’d ever seen and it felt heavy with decades worth of time weighing it down. But as he squeezed it trying to ring out any additional information he got a new flash of images. 

It was himself… hooded and eyes glowing as he stood next to an unknown hero with a distorted city in the background. They talked, and Bruno handed the hero a piece of paper, before walking away. The last glimpse he got was the grotesque man’s smile falter and a single crack on the world he crushed healed. 

It felt like the wild boar he wrangled kicked him hard in the head, he was knocked out of the vision and into the present as sand fell around him. 

His rats squealed wildly as they were disturbed by the commotion. There was a clank on the ground next to him as the looking glass fell with sand. 

Bruno groaned as his headache pounded, but he managed to drag himself up and reach for the looking glass. Blinking the blurriness out of his eyes… he saw himself, and he was handing that piece of paper to an undefined hero. 

He got the feeling that right now didn’t particularly matter who that hero was… only that he was helping heroes. 

When he left Encanto he didn’t know where he was going.

But now it seems he has a direction.

Surely being a vigilante informant wasn’t too difficult, right? 

Chapter Text

Aizawa Shouta, an underground hero known as Eraserhead, had been working on his own for many years now. 

He was a loner, he rarely teamed up on cases, and even then it was only when it was completely necessary. Sure he had friends, two if he were being exact, and they knew this of him. 

So it didn’t make much sense when they recommended him for a teaching position at UA. He stopped accepting calls after the third time his friend tried to convince him to reconsider. He had crimes to solve, and he couldn’t do that if he had to babysit a bunch of kids all day. 

Shouta sat in his small, empty apartment. Case flies scattered across the floor and pictures of evidence laied out.

Over the past two months three people with mutant type quirks were abducted from the slums. Paralleling that, four people with emitter type quirks that had various strength augmenting effects were abducted from the different nearby prefectures. Three of the four emitter quirk users were found dead. Their bodies were dumped into various rivers that should have taken them out to sea unnoticed. 

By all logic those bodies shouldn’t have been found. 

Those particular rivers has harsh undercurrents that would have swept away any evidence of those murders. 

But they were found, and it was all thanks to a tip given to the coast guard by, and here’s the crazy part, a vigilante known as Rato. The information was time sensitive and they only had five hours to decide if the tip was worth listening to. If they missed their window and the tip was true then the bodies would be lost to sea after the rivers met the ocean. 

After some discussion between the coast guard, hero commissions, and involved heroes, they decided to take the tip seriously. Especially since the locations of the river mouths were not on the heroes' patrol routes that week, making them the perfect place for a villain to dispose of those bodies. 

Three teams were dispatched. Three bodies were found.

But of course it doesn't end there, Shouta himself wouldn’t be looking into those bodies if it wasn’t for the fact that Rato went so far as to contact him . 

It was nothing flashy, he didn’t even see the vigilante in person. All that he got was a simple letter laying on the rooftop on his patrol containing the rough simplistic kanji saying ‘Connected’ with newspaper clippings of both Shouta’s current case and the mention of the river bodies.

And that was what got Shouta falling down the rabbit hole that was the informant Rato . 

Because technically, Shouta only started his current case two days ago and he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone yet. The most he’d done was request the paperwork of the missing persons. All of them were requested separately and none of it was officially connected. 

So how in the hell did Rato know about this. 

It seems that Shouta wasn’t the only one to ask this question.

As an underground hero your best friend was information. So gathering a network of individuals that could get you what you needed to know was imperative for your success. Working as a hero that often meant lives were on the line, so that didn’t just include locals. In a world growing ever smaller with the use of technology, international connection was necessary. 

Rato turned out to be as much of an enigma to the rest of the world as he was to Shouta. He simply appeared out of thin air somewhere in Monterrey Mexico. One day he contacted a hero named Senor Tortuga and from there his name grew. 

At first he didn’t go by any one name, he’d call himself all sorts of things from Hernando to Ernesto then as he crossed borders he moved to more locally common names like Arthur, Amari, or Ivan. The only constant, which was a name given to him by the villain he inconvenienced, was Rato . He earned it because it was widely believed that he infiltrated the villains’ ranks to get his information. Due to his many aliases it was a commonly accepted theory. 

But that made any knowledge beyond yet another alias complete speculation and rumors. Including his quirk. Some said his eyes glowed, others said he manifested rats, and one instinct even claimed that he was made of rats. Everything was mentioned from shapeshifter, teleported, mind reader, with each guess was more convoluted than the last. 

Although Shouta never fully approved of vigilantism, it seems that Rato wasn’t like the others. Out of everything said about him, he was never mentioned in combat or conflicts. 

It seems… he was just the messenger.

But seems was the key word there. There was no telling what kind of person this man really was until Shouta met him for himself. Although from everything he’s heard it seems Rato was on the heroes’ side, Shouta didn’t leave out the possibility that there were ulterior motives.

Shouta had closed the case file as his thoughts wandered. He looked back at the note Rato left him. It was written like the scrawl of a grade schooler, but maybe that wasn’t so surprising seeing as Japanese wouldn't be the vigilante's first language. Maybe not even his fourth. Who knew how many languages the man knew. From all the sightings he was clearly well traveled. 

But now wasn’t the time for only more speculation. 

The sun was setting and he had work to be done. 

-

Searching an entire prefecture of Japan for one underground hero was no easy task. But the ability to see the future and a swarm of rats at your command, then the task wasn’t nearly as impossible.

In fact, with that little ability to see the future and change your fate, you could get information without even talking to the individuals. It made it that much easier to conceal his presence since it let ask around without catching anyone’s notice. 

Bruno Madrigal discovered during his time in India, that AFO was working on creating an army of monstrosity. It was another nightmarish vision. He still had no idea what triggered them, though he suspected it was the protective magic of the Madrigal miracle. He got the feeling that this was the last one he’d ever see. 

There was a sense of… finality too. As if he only had one more thing he needed to do before he could go home. His heart ached from the physical distance there was between him and his family, so the fact that he was finally finished with this quest was welcomed. 

The vision showed All For One’s grotesque figure once again, but this time, his smile was gone. It was replaced with an angered scowl, the world still in the palm of his hand but as he tried to crush it the cracks healed. The chaos he’d seen before faded and the fires of Encanto lessened until they were nonexistent. Oddly this time Bruno didn’t have to hold onto the vision so tightly to gain anymore images from it. Perhaps it was from years of growing to understand his magic, or maybe it was because he stopped trying to control the visions and let them simply flow like they were meant to be. 

As the view of Encanto faded, he saw All for One looking over monsters before seeming pleased . People died… and the monstrosities were born. But there was a hero who disrupted the process and Bruno stood with him handing him a note. 

Just like before, when Bruno awoke he had a looking glass in hand. One that clearly depicted the hero and Bruno standing next to each other, in the background was a cityscape with street signs written in what he recognized to be Japanese. On further research he was able to get it translated and figure out where exactly that vision took place. 

Crossing borders wasn’t easy but at this point it was manageable. He was lucky enough, knock on wood, to find himself a ‘carrier pigeon’ as they were sometimes called. A person with some sort of flying quirk that allowed them to carry people across borders and rough terrain. Illegal and expensive, but Bruno had ways of gathering money needed for such a service. 

People always loved to have their fortune told, especially since he could use his foresight to save time in finding out who’d be willing to have their fortune told for decent money. If it were bad, Bruno left instructions with the client that would give them a good chance at changing their fate. But it was entirely up to them if they followed it. Usually Bruno never stayed long enough to find out if they ever took his advice.

He wasn’t responsible for everyone’s future. That was one of the things he slowly learned over the years, at some point peoples fate are entirely up to them. Even without knowing what lies ahead that still remains true. Everyone has more control over their lives then they initially think, it’s just a matter of taking that control and not letting ‘fate’ control you.

Bruno’s visions have always been a map. 

A simple road map that helped you navigate the future. 

Sometimes you had to navigate over rivers and mountain, formations that were the work of nature. Fixed points in the terrain. Such as natural disasters, life cycles, and one's own genetics. Those are as inevitable as the stars in the sky. You don’t curse the sun for setting, it’s only following the natural order.

But what you can change is the path you take. How you get to where you want to go all while avoiding dangerous paths.

The Madrigal magic was designed to protect them. 

Why would it ever give Bruno the sight of the future without the ability to change it?

-

Aizawa Shouta walked through the rough, unclean streets of the slums. The cramped housing and struggling shops were all squished together, all forced to lean on each other while fighting for their own survival.

This was where the mutant types were taken from. Police didn’t bother to watch such districts and daytime heroes wouldn’t sully their boots in such ‘boring’ neighborhoods. They couldn't exactly climb the leaderboard with petty crime.

Shouta scoffed at the thought, don’t they realize this was where the real villains are born? In the gutters of suffering where society sweeps them under the rug to maintain their perfect image. If the hero commission was more about solving the problem and less about public image, then places like this would have more regular petrol and those struggling in life would feel just as safe in their cheap homes than those up in their ivory towers. 

But that all was too big of a problem for him to solve, and realistically one that would never go away. It was a facet of life at this point. 

Shouta pushed through the door of one of the apartment buildings. As he walked through the camped halls with flickering yellow lights, he walked up a few stories of stairs before knocking on the door marked with a tilted twelve.

There was a moment of shuffling behind the thin walls, before a small boy with a bat mutation poked his head out. He had mostly a human face, but his nose was scrunched up, his eyes were squinty and solid black, and large ears poked out his hair.

He didn’t say anything, but looked up at Shouta cautiously. 

“Is this the Sano residence?”

The boy nodded slowly, his ears bobbed slightly. 

“I’m the hero Eraserhead,” Shouta said as he took his license out to show the boy. 

Young Sano’s eyes widened drastically as he took the license and looked at it. “A hero!” he squeaked. “A-Are you here to find my brother?”

“I’m investigating his disappearance,” Shouta said, he tried to blunt his usual gruff tone to sound a little more friendly for the kid. “I’m here to ask you some questions about him. Do you think you can answer them for me?” 

There was no telling where the kid's parents were, or if the kid was even properly going to school, but kids like this were usually a little tougher and a little smarter than most give them credit for. They also ended up catching information that adults normally wouldn't have. 

Since who’d bother worrying about ‘some kid from the slums’?

Young Sano nodded slowly as he handed Shouta’s license back to him, but still kept the door only open enough to look though. Shouta didn’t mind doing the interview there. 

He crouched down so he was more eye level with the boy and started to ask his questions, and write the responses.

‘ When was the last time you saw your brother?’

• Three weeks ago, after his shift at a construction site. He checked on young Sano before going grocery shopping. He didn’t return.

‘ Was there anyone who might wish your brother harm?’

• No. He kept to himself and was kind to those he met.

‘ Was there anyone suspicious hanging around the area before his disappearance?’

Young Sano paused at that question. 

“T-there were these men… they wore face masks and stuck to the allies . M-my quirk, it lets me hear things,” Sano finally said. “Sometimes I’d hear them call someone, and they would describe what people would look like. I don't know what the other person said to them…”

Shouta jotted that down.

So they were profiling people beforehand… he’ll have to check for any CCTV in the area. If he could get a visual on them, then that might be a lead. 

“Thank you for answering my questions,” Shouta finally said. “That’s all I have for now, unless you can think of anything else?”

Young Sano shook his head, “Sorry…”

“No worries,” Shouta replied as he stood. He pulled out his business card. It wasn’t anything fancy and only had his hero name and a phone number. “If you think of anything more, or see those men again, I want you to call me immediately.” 

Young Sano nodded as he took the business card. “Please bring him back,” the boy said quietly. 

“I’ll… do what I can,” Shouta replied.

He might have said something more reassuring before, but with the bodies in the river and Rato’s message, Shouta wasn’t about to lie to the kid. 

“He’s said that too…” The boy said quietly. There was another pause as the kid seemed to consider something. “Wait a moment,” Young Sano suddenly disappeared behind the door. There was a shuffling around in the apartment before he returned holding out a bracelet with some kind of fang hanging from it. “It’s my lucky charm… when you find him can you give it to him?” The boy squeaked quietly. “Please?” 

Shouta hesitantly reached out for the charm, then nodded, “Alright.” He agreed. Shouta only hoped he could fulfill that request. 

Shouta started to ask around the area about the men in masks. Predictably some people didn’t want to talk to Shouta because he was a hero, but that didn’t hinder him too much since those who did have information were scared about being taken as well. 

“They were lookin’ at me funny when I passed, not that I wasn’t used to it… mutants always get funny looks. But this time it was like they were assessing me.” 

“Do you remember where you saw them?” 

“A few blocks over, in the alley by Riki’s store.”

“I saw a few men like that talking to a girl with a hedgehog quirk… come to think of it I haven't seen her since. She was a regular at the ramen shop.” 

“And where was this?” 

“Just north, past the shrine over there.” 

“I don’t know about guys in masks… but just today there was a suspicious man digging through the trash. I was about to chase them off but he asked if I’d seens someone who… well, who kinda looks like you.” 

“Me?”

“Yeah, actually, yeah! I was you. He showed me this green tablet with a picture of you two. 

“Did he give you a name?” 

“Ummm yeah… I think it was… Rah-Tah-Oh? It sounded foreign.” 

“Did he say anything else?” 

“Hm, He wanted me to tell you to ‘Go back to the first message?’ It was really cryptic, I’d watch out if I were you.” 

Shouta had no idea what to think about that last interview. 

If Rato wanted to talk with him why didn’t he do so when he left that first message? He clearly knew how to find him… which Shouta didn’t appreciate. He’d been trying to keep his movements more erratic and unpredictable as he patrolled. Not to mention he usually made an effort to keep himself hidden. 

Yet somehow Rato found him twice. 

And now he was expecting to see him. 

Normally, Shouta would have walked away. Someone as strange and unpredictable as Rato was a threat. He would wait until he had more confirmed information about him before he even considered accepting contact.

But that ‘lucky charm’ young Sano gave him… he could feel it weigh heavy in his pocket.

His brother was likely the only one who took care of him. And with a missing persons case,  especially  ones with confirmed murders, time was of the essence. 

So he made the rational choice to forgo his own safety for the sake of saving time. 

It wasn’t difficult to remember where he found that first note. 

Chapter Text

Shouta wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he made it to the rooftop, especially since he had no physical description of Rato . But finding the man on the rooftop where the letter was first left, oddly enough he was left underwhelmed. 

“ Rato, I presume?” Shouta asked cautiously. He kept his distance and remained watchful.

Rato had a hood pulled over his head and a long tattered trench coat hanging off him. He seemed to be mumbling to himself, and Shouta thought he might have heard some odd squeaks. But as he turned to reveal glowing eyes the initial peculiarities ended there. 

Shouta really hadn’t expected the man to look so plain. 

He was a short man, but not notably so. He was still well within the range of normal human height in a world where people could naturally grow a foot short or ten feet tall. And although he had the obvious feature of a westerner they were still unnotable. 

Shouta’s gut instinct had him suspecting the man was quirkless because of all the subtle normalities that only the subconscious picked up on. 

But it was the rare occasion that his instincts were wrong. Clearly his eyes were glowing a rather ominous green, and Shouta could have sworn he saw more pinpricks of light looking out from under his coat. 

“Eraserhead!” Rato suddenly stood from the ledge he sat on in a smooth motion and walked towards Shoua. He pulled his hood back and gave a friendly smile. 

Shouta narrowed his eyes and took a step back, “You contacted me?” 

“Of course,” Rato stopped his advance forward, and stood there looking pleased as he put his hands on his hips. “I’ve heard that you're the hero for the job and I wanted to help you with the kidnappings.”

“Why?” Shouta asked bluntly. 

Rato paused for a moment, his glowed green before blinking them clear. ‘He’s very stubborn…’ he mumbled.

 “It seems that…” he began slowly. “You only appreciate the truth.” The man’s smile faded into a more contemplative look. “But I can’t tell you the truth right now.” 

“And that’s because?” Shouta asked, and he considered using erasure on him. But if he tried to block Rato’s powers it would be very obvious, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to start a fight right now.

“Secrets protected, it’s not always beneficial for everyone to know everything… I believe you know that better than most. Especially as an underground hero,” Rato replied. “Just know that I can help you solve this case… but there’s much more to it than you think. You’re going to need all the help you can get.” 

“Then tell me what you know, I can’t just let anyone on an official hero investigation,” Shouta said.

Rato ’s eyes flashed green again. ‘That’s… uncommon,’ he muttered. This time Shouta knows he heard a few squeaks. 

“You’re very good at your job… so you’ve heard of the name All For One.”

“Most think he’s just a fairytale, some boogeyman of the underground,” Shouta replied. 

“But not you,” Rato was smiling again. 

“I believe that there’s some truth in all rumors. Especially those that are recurring. I don't know if I believe that’s all by one man, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of organization pulling strings from the shadows.” Shouta stated. “Are you suggesting that this… entity is involved?” 

“It’s not a suggestion,” Rato said quickly.

“What proof do you have?” 

His eyes glowed green again, but this time it was much longer as he looked at Shouta curiously. ‘ Very stubborn. This’ll be complicated .’ he muttered. Suddenly he turned his back to Shouta. He continued to mutter something but Shouta couldn't make it out this time. 

“If this is as dangerous as you suggest it to be I’m not trusting someone I’ve just met without reason,” Shouta added. 

“Yes, yes, I’m aware… knock knock knock…” Rato ’s muttering trailed off. “Fingers crossed,” he sighed. “Ricotta, Aaruul, Edam, Blue…” The man turned back to face Shouta, and suddenly four rats scurried out from under his coat and sat along his shoulders. “The name was a coincidence, but it’s more accurate than people think,” Rato said. 

“Your quirk lets you talk to rats?” 

There was a long pause before Rato answered, “They assist me in getting information.” He said, then moved on suspiciously quick.  “You have the charm Habiki Sano gave you?- Eh I mean Sano Habiki? I always forget about the switching of the… you know,” he gave a nervous laugh. “Anyways…” his eyes glowed then one of the rats moved from his shoulder and hurried down his body before scurrying over to Shouta. He’s pretty sure the rat’s eyes were glowing too… but with the neon lights from the signs it was hard to confirm. “I’m going to need that.” 

“Why?” Shouta asked as he looked at the waiting rat suspiciously. 

“To follow the… scent. I can’t find where his brother is without it.” 

“And what will you do after that?” 

“Give you the information,” Rato said with a sigh. “Look… I don’t do the whole hero thing. I hate fighting people, but I know that someone has to. I’m simply the messenger who can get information and wants to help.” 

Shouta just stared at him with narrowed eyes. It was hard to get a read on this guy, but oddly enough his instinct was to trust him. Even with all the secrecy.

“I-I’ll give the charm back, I promise, nothing will happen to it so you can still give it to his brother when you find him,” He said quickly. 

… and wasn’t that interesting? 

Was he watching Shouta this whole time? 

He shouldn't have known that information unless he was listening to Shouta’s interview with the Sano boy. But someone like Shouta doesn't survive in the underground with such a blind sense of his surroundings. He could have had his rats listening in but… when the way he hesitated earlier Shouta didn’t think that was entirely the case. 

He devised his own plans at that moment. 

“Alright,” Shouta said. He dug the good luck charm out of his pocket and dropped it for the rat to catch. It quickly put it in it’s mouth as it ran back to it’s master. 

“I’ll contact you when I have answers,” Rato said with a small node. He quickly turned as headed towards the roof’s exit door… like an ordinary person would. 

Shouta just watched the man as his rats scurried back under his coat. He stayed on the roof until he heard the ground floor door open. Then waited just a moment longer before peaking over the roof's ledge. He watched Rato as he continued down for a few blocks. 

He wasn’t sure how well a rat could hear or the extent of it’s senses, so he kept his maximum distance as he followed the vigilante. He stayed above ground on the rooftops and was thankful that there wasn’t a breeze that night. If he had to stay down wind it would only make following him more complicated. 

Rato twisted through the streets, following one of the rivers for a while, until he reached the warehouse districts near the docs. On this side of town those warehouses were usually abandoned. 

While perched on a streetlamp, Shouta watched as a swarm of rats, many more than four, poured out from under Rato’s coat. They scattered every which way while Rato stood there as his creatures seemed to survey the area. Eventually some returned to him, then led them off towards the shoreline. 

On the way he picked up a rusted metal bucket the rats found, and when he reached the coast he started scooping up a bunch of sand. 

“What are you up to?” Shouta said quietly to himself as he followed Rato into one of the warehouses. 

Shouta was thankful for one of the large holes in the upper roof of the structure. Sneaking in, he hid himself in the rafters while Rato found a way to turn on some of the lights. He hid above one of the fixtures and used the light’s glare as cover. He watched all of the rats return to their master. 

The odd man took the bucket of sand and started to pour it in a circle before spiraling a line of sand towards the center in a simple design. 

“Not too bad… what do you guys think?” Rato said aloud. There were squeaks. “Me too, but I couldn't find new matches.”

Shouta wasn’t sure what to think when the man started stretching. He started reaching his arms out with his hands clasped together, then rolled his shoulder, and finally reached down to his toes. He pulled out… more sand(?) from his coat before throwing a handful over his shoulder. 

“Let's hope we’re not too late,” Rato mumbled as he pulled out the good luck charm. He held the bracelet in his palm before picking it up by the tooth charm and kneeling down in the center of the sand design. “Buckle down everyone… you know the drill.” 

After taking a breath, Rato closed his eyes. 

Then Shouta felt it. 

The wind started to shift and the lights flicker. 

He heard sleeping birds startle awake and looking down he spotted the sand begin to swirl. Trash and other debris has already lifted off the ground outside the sand and particles whipped past Shouta’s face. 

He quickly clamped down on rafters as the wind went from a breeze into a gale in almost an instant. 

Shouta goggles protect his eyes as he manages to look back towards Rato despite the debris .

The sand around him turned from a swirling vortex into a closed dome. His eyes were glowing brighter then he’d seen them so far, but what was more strange were the images glowing in the sand. They shifted and changed. Shouta could see glass vessels full of creatures, operating tables dripping with blood, and a dark cell where the older Sano brother laid. 

The sand was mesmerizing, yet Shouta tried to figure out the meaning of it all. He leaned closer trying to get a better look of an image depicting a cityscape through a cell window. 

Unfortunately that left him distracted enough not to notice the bolts holding the rafter loosen. The compromised fastening shattered as the next strong gust of wind tried to knock Shouta off. The beam fell and Shouta’s fingers slipped as he was caught up in the whirlwind of sand. 

He was left tumbling through the air completely disoriented. 

That was until someone grabbed his arm. 

Shotua took hold of the life line and looked up to meet the bright, glowing eyes of the source of the sandstorm. His immediate instinct was to stop the chaos. Activating his own quirk, Shouta stared at the man. 

But nothing stopped. 

The sand scraped painfully against Shouta’s skin before he was yanked into the dome of sand. The wind still raged but his feet were stable and the sand didn’t enter the boundary. 

Though, now something new caught his eyes. The images of the older Santo brother were quickly dissolved as were replaced by those of himself.  

Scenes of a creature with a sharp beak and it’s brain exposed beat him mercilessly. It was swept away by the sand as another unknown conflict took its place. Shouta’s right eye was badly damaged, then the scene showed him… cutting off his own leg. 

“Stop! Stop! We’re not supposed to see this!” Rato yelled loudly. 

Shouta tore his eyes away from the vision and looked back at Rato. He looked pained, like touching Shouta burned, but his grip was iron and Shouta wasn’t even sure if he could yank out of it. 

Then, as if the entire storm collapsed. The air slammed down knocking them both apart. There was a sharp clatter and the shatter of glass. 

Shouta was quickly to his feet as he faced Rato. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but training had him prepare for an attack. Yet what he was met with was not a man ready to strike. 

Rato laid crumpled on the ground, his breath heavy as he clutched his head. 

“That’s never… That never happened before,” He gasped out.

“What just happened? What was that? What did I just see?” Shouta asked quickly. He felt unnerved, like a piece of himself was ripped into and exposed by the sands. He stepped forward, but his foot crunched against a glowing piece of broken glass. 

“Don’t!” Rato shouted. Then suddenly the swarm of rats he’d seem from a distance flooded out from under that tattered coat. Shouta jumped back, still not entirely sure if it was an attack. 

But the rats just seemed interested in the glowing glass as they gathered them for their master. 

“ Rato, I need answers now,” Shouta threatened. He needed to know what that was, why was he cutting off his own leg ?

“I can’t… I…” The man tried to get up, but he seemed to stumble to the ground again. His body swayed and his face looked pale. “I can’t read two futures at once,” Rato muttered out before completely collapsing to the ground. 

“Futures?” Shouta said aloud, “Futures? What do you mean future?” He said quickly as he hurried towards the man. But he was met with that swarm of angry, hissing rats who bared their teeth ready to fight.  

Shouta halted.

And just stood there blinking as he processed everything. 

“Was that my future?” he asked no one. 

Chapter Text

Bruno had never felt such a skull cracking headache in his entire life. 

Even when he was pushing the limits of his gift he never felt like this. 

Granted he’s never actually tried to read two futures within one ritual… but that happened and now he’s trying to pull himself awake from passing out on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. At least… that’s what he hoped. Things will get complicated if he wakes up in the hospital. Not just paperwork wise but also because of his rats. They wouldn't leave him alone in such a vulnerable state.

Even if they’re extremely clean compared to common rats he doubts that the hospitals will see it that way. 

As he slowly came too he could feel one of the rats groom the short hairs behind his ear. It was probably Ricotta. 

He tried to reassure them that he was awake but his limbs felt heavy and his head felt like it was the leading drum in a marching band. He decided it was probably better for him to fully wake up before trying anything. He took notice of the rest of his body as he thought it better to at least figure out where he was. He’d slept on enough concrete floors to recognize the feeling so that was a good sign. 

He changed his breathing as a way to tell the rest of his body that he was awake and soon the fuzziness of his mind and heavy limbs started to clear. His first move was to reach his hand towards the worrying rat on his neck and when his hand touched it’s fur it only confirmed that it was Ricotta. She was the softest of all of them, and was especially keen on keeping a clean coat. 

There were a lot of startled and excited squeaks after he moved. 

“..-m alright,” He managed to mutter. “Just… mark that on the… never do again columns. Yeah, right next to meeting a polar bear.” He managed to sit up and open his eyes enough to count the rats. 

Good, fifteen.

They all huddled up in his lap as much as they could, all of them squeaking in concern. Many of them were holding shards of broken looking glass… which was odd because there was a perfectly intact looking glass of the older Sano brother laying just next to him. 

“What’s that?” he asked as he reached out to grab a shard. 

“I was hoping you could tell me,” A low gruff tone said from across the room. 

Bruno yelped in surprise and all his rats looked towards the source hissing. 

Eraserhead sat leaning against one of the support pillars of the warehouse, Bruno had only now noticed that sun was shining through the cracked windows above. 

“Uh… hi?” Bruno said after pathetically trying to clear his voice into a lower tone. 

“Hi,” Eraserhead said dryly. 

“Sooooo, um, how much of that did you see last night?” Bruno asked hesitantly. 

“All of it.”

“Crap.”

“Care to explain?” 

Bruno swallowed heavily. He tried to activate his foresight to see what direction he could take the conversation for the best outcome but his headache spiked the moment his eyes glowed. It was like a nail was driven through his skull and Stilton quickly bit him to protest against his foolishness. He hissed in pain from both the headache and the rat bite. “Right, right, sorry. Bad idea.” Bruno muttered. 

“You shouldn’t strain yourself,” Eraserhead said plainly.

“I’m already going to get an earful from the swarm, not you too,” Bruno groaned. 

“So you can speak to the rats?” Eraserhead said he raised an eyebrow. 

“No, of course not, but like anyone you've been around all your life you can understand them in a way. These are smarter than normal rats especially because… well, that's not really important,”  He couldn’t exactly say ‘because of magic.’ Even in a world of fantastic quirk, magic was entirely off the table. 

“I beg to differ,” Eraserhead said coldly. “Because I get the feeling that it’s all connected to the fact that you can see the future, that you have that connection to rats, and that your quirk… isn’t actually a quirk. I demand answers.” 

Bruno winced, “Oh, why did he have to be so clever,” he complained to the rats. 

“It’s part of the job description,” Eraser said bluntly. 

“Ok so um, I don’t need a vision to see that things are going to get really complicated if I don’t just tell you everything now,” Bruno groaned as he rubbed both hands down his face. “Right, here it goes… I’ve never really um, heh, explained this to anyone so… This is going to sound insane.” he sighed. 

“Anyways, I’m from a secluded town in Columbia that hasn’t been connected to the outside world since the beginning of quirks and my family was given a magic we call a miracle. Now, everyone in my family on their filth birthday gets a gift from the magic candle that my mother has. Even though they sound like quirks and looks like quirks they are not quirks. Trust me I looked into it. It’s definitely magic, even though you might not believe me. So like a decade ago I got a vision of All for One destroying the world so eventually I left the village to stop him because I wanted to protect my home and my family and you know, my home and my family exist in the world so they would have been hurt too. I’ve been helping heroes with hero stuff while using my gift and I can see the future but I can also change the future with that information and now I’m on my last mission before I can go home. And I really want to go home so I have to help you solve this case otherwise it won’t be enough to completely stop All for One.” Bruno said in one breath. 

“So … um yeah,” he gulped. “I can see the future. I got a bad vision. I’m saving the world to save my family. I have to help you for my last quest. Please just cooperate. I wanna go home,” Bruno blurted out. 

“... Magic,” Eraserhead said skeptical. 

“I lived in a house that’s alive.” 

Eraserhead just blinked. 

“Subject change! You have questions about your future I’m assuming?” Bruno said, trying to move back to a more familiar conversation topic. 

“Yes,” Eraserhead seemed to accept the idea. 

“Alright, let's see what we got here then,” Bruno said, taking the broken shard of the looking glass and putting it down on the floor. “Piece it together guys.” 

The rats happily took the pieces they had and placed them around the shard that Bruno put down.

“Oh… yikes,” Bruno cringed as he glanced up at Eraserhead. 

The hero had gotten up and was walking over to Bruno where he could see the image in the looking glass. 

In the image, Eraserhead stood defiantly with his right eye completely obscured by what Bruno could only assume was blood, as he held a dripping knife in his hand that was aimed towards his severed leg. There the remnants of a battle field around him, and even though he stood, he’s figure swayed slightly in the image. 

“What does it mean?” Eraserhead asked. 

“Well, this one's pretty self explanatory,” Bruno said nervously. “So, you're going to… um.. Maybe lose your eyes, and then… you're going to cut off your own leg. Most likely during a battle… probably?” 

“Probably?” 

“I can’t tell you exactly what happened or how to navigate it. I’d have to see the vision! I have no idea what was being projected when you joined the ritual. Your presence completely scrambled everything!” Bruno said defensively as he stood up, he grabbed Sano’s looking glass in the process. He looked down at the image. It was a bat-like man sitting in some cell. There was a barred window looking out into the street with identifiable signs. The image was slightly fuzzy indicating it wasn’t a literal representation. He’s just glad he was able to set the image he wanted to be imprinted on the glass before Eraserhead barged in. 

“Look,” Bruno finally said, he looked over to find Eraser studying his own broken image. “After this case… I’ll help you with your future. That’s some, really bad stuff, and I’d hate that to happen to anyone but you’re noticeably older so there’s time.” 

Eraserhead took a moment as he knelt there, before nodding and getting up. 

“Here,” Bruno handed the Sano looking glass to the hero. “I don’t know the area so you’ll have to identify it yourself, but you should be able to find him and hopefully the rest of the missing people with this.” Bruno was starting to feel a little lightheaded. He’d have to find a good place to sleep after this. 

“I can get this examined,” Eraserhead replied. “What about you? Are you going to be alright? I’m familiar with quirk exhaustion but is there such a thing as… magic exhaustion?”

“This particular feeling is very new to me,” Bruno admitted. “But with rest and food I should be fine.” 

Eraserhead seemed to look at him for a moment. “You’re here illegally aren't you.” 

“Um… heh, yeah,” Bruno laughed nervously. 

“Do you even have money?”

“I usually get some when I give people fortune tellings…”

“Which you can’t do right now.”

“Which I can’t do right now.”

Eraserhead sighed with slight annoyance, “I’ll be busy anyway, you can just rest at my apartment. Plus I want to keep an eye on you, if this doesn't pan out I’ll need your help again.”

“I’d never reject free food and a bed,” Bruno grinned. 

“I have protein pouches and an extra sleeping bag,” Eraser said bluntly. 

“Oh…”

“Um, what about my… vision?” Eraserhead asked hesitantly motioning towards the pieces together looking glass on the ground. 

“Ah right, I’ll just let the rats eat it?” 

“What?” 

At the mention of that the swarm of rats living under Bruno’s coat scurried out toward the pieced together looking glass. Each of them quickly started nibbling on the glass like it was as soft as cheese. 

At first Bruno thought the glow was what attracted the rats to the visions. Eventually he found out that they were actually eating them. Over the years it connected them with his gift, going so far as to let them see the visions that he saw when activating his gift. Their eyes would glow dually with his but other than that there were no physical effects. 

Bruno never had the need to question it since it was an effective way to dispose of looking glasses over the years he had to hide his abilities. 

“Ok…” Eraserhead finally said. “Let's just… go.” He suddenly turned.

-

Shouta couldn't exactly show the ‘looking glass,’ as Rato ended up calling it, to anyone without there being some questions. So he took a picture of it and simply turned it into a black and white photo with just the window in view. It was a lot easier to claim it was from a CCTV still that he obtained as opposed to the truth. 

He sent the image off to his contacts in the police as well as a few others that he knew were good at solving those types of obscure clues. He ignored more messages from his friends and tried not to think too much of his own future as he did basic necessities like eat, sleep, and shower as he waited for the images results. 

Rato had passed out immediately after eating four protein pouches and was well into his thirteenth hour of sleeping. Shouta was glad he had the extra sleeping bag, and was also thankful that the rats didn’t feel the need to venture away from their master. He had enough to deal with as it was. 

By hour fourteen Shouta had received a location on the photo, and by fourteen and a half, Rato woke up. 

Shouta directed him to the bathroom and showed him how to use the shower (It had a problem turning cold if you twisted it too far hot). Apparently the guy sings… loudly. It reminded him of Hizashi. But of course that didn’t distract him from the biggest question: Did he shower with the rats? They definitely went into the bathroom with him. 

“And now it’s your turn!… I don’t know about this soap, so you're just going to have to use water.”

Guess that answered it. 

As normal as he looked, this man acted bizarre. 

Shouta didn’t remember owning a hair dryer, but Rato seemed to have found one. It was probably a gift from Nemuri.

Finally, Rato exited the bathroom. 

“It’s been ages since we’ve had a good shower!” He said happily as he strolled into the main area. “But I’ll tell ya, nothing beats a good bath at the end of the day. So! Eraserhead, did you find anything on the vision?” 

“I did, and it’s not far from here… unfortunately your vision wasn’t exactly proof enough for the police to warrant an investigation on the building. And I’d rather not involve other heroes in this since no one who has the stealth is available. So that just leaves us,” Shouta said bluntly. 

It wasn’t ideal but Shouta just needed to get solid evidence that there was foul play in the building. 

“W-Wait, us?” Rato stuttered out. “I told you before I don’t do the hero stuff. I just get the info, do some investigation. I’m really good at running away but that’s only with my power . And right now it's…” his eyes glowed for a moment and he winced harshly. “Still out of commission.”

There was an angry squeak from somewhere in Rato’s coat. 

“Ouch! Hey, Stilton! What did I say about biting!”

“Did you name all your rats after cheese?” Shouta asked with a raised eyebrow.

“They picked their own names and they all picked types of cheese,” Rato shrugged. “But you're distracting me from the real problem. I’m literally the least qualified person in all of Japan for this job.”

“You won’t be doing much, all you have to do is stay on the outside. If things go wrong you’ll notify the police..” Shouta said as he looked through the missing persons files again. He was making sure he had their appearance down to memory so he could identify them when he saw them. 

“Oh… ok, I- I guess I can do that… Knock knock knock… ,” Rato started to mumble a little toon as he knocked on the wooden door frame before knocking his own head. 

“Let's go then,” Shouta said as he stood up. 

“Ok… Ok, this is fine… this’ll be fine…” Rato said, clearly nervous. “ Maybe just some salt first. ” he muttered, then Shouta heard a suspicious sound of sand hitting his floor. 

“What was that?” Shouta scowled. 

“What was what?” Rato startled. 

“Did you just throw salt onto my floor?” 

“What!? No! Of course not…” 

Shouta looked over at his scowling, then immediately looked down at the incriminating salt scattered on the floor. 

“Um… yes I did,” Rato said defeated. He looked more like a scolded child than a mysterious vigilante.

“Closet. Broom,” Shouta pointed before he went to look back at the files.

“Right… sorry.” 

If he does that one more time Shouta’s not letting him back into his apartment. 

-

Shouta and Rato were approaching the building suspected of holding the victims. 

From the outside it looked like a normal office building. Shouta didn’t exactly expect there to be any outward sign of the horrors that might lay inside. He remembered the lab-like environment from Rato’s vision . Yet for it to be something so normal as an office building was rather chilling. 

They stopped a few blocks away. 

Rato would stay in a nearby alley with a communicator connected to Shouta. The man was still pretty nervous about everything and Shouta had to scold him multiple times about throwing salt and sugar in the streets. 

He suspected most of those nervous ticks were from Rato's ability being out of commission. 

Shouta took to the rooftops once everything was settled. He surveyed the area for cameras first, before trying his luck at finding an open window. He’d resort to breaking in if he had to but that could potentially trip alarms. He was thankful when he found a ledge on a stairwell window marked by a number of cigarette butts, he tried the window and found that the smokers forgot to latch it. 

They probably didn’t expect anyone to enter from the fourth floor. 

From there he crept through the halls towards the elevator. Rato said that from interpretations of the looking glass the victims were on a sub level. The building itself was only reported to have one basement floor, but as Shouta lowered himself down the elevator shaft he found two more unaccounted for. 

He started with floor -B2. 

He pried the doors open and was met with a normal looking hallway. Though the design was very plain with minimal effort put into aesthetics. Typical of office basement floors.

What wasn’t typical were the windows along the walls looking into various rooms and the ominous green light shining dully through them. 

Sticking to the wall, Shouta slowly peaked around to get a look at the room's contents. 

Wide eyed, Shouta looked on in horror at the grotesque creatures floating in large vats of solution. 

He was no stranger to seeing mutant type, but something about these things were so inherently wrong that they couldn’t be human. Some bodies were overly bloated that it looked like one wrong move would cause their flesh to burst, others were just skin clinging to crooked skeletal structure with hallowed stomachs suggesting that their internal organs were removed. 

All of them were clearly human at one point they still had the general shapes with augments of mutation quirks, but some of their limbs were distorted, and with bulging eyes and pale waxy skin they were desecrated corpses. Some sick scientists had fun stitching these monstrosities together. 

As he looked from one vat to another one of the monsters caught his eye. Even with the skin pressed tightly into the skull, he could see recognizable features. The small rodent nose and striped quirks that filled their head like hair and ran down their distorted spine covering the rest of the body. 

Matsubara Gina, she was one of the kidnapping victims with a hedgehog mutation quirk. 

At that realization Shouta quickly looked around at the other… calling them ‘monsters’ felt too disrespectful but these things were far from human now. He wasn’t sure if it was fortunate that he couldn’t recognize any more victims. At the very least it meant that the others were possibly alive. 

That thought forces him to tear his eyes away as he pushes forward through the halls. The smells of antiseptic made him want to gag after seeing that. 

He passed file rooms, sterile labs, even a damn break room . At the end of the hall he found a set of stairs that lead to the lower basement. He didn’t let himself dread what he might find next but was still relieved to find what looked like storage through most of the next floor. And although it was better for his soul he wasn’t here for his sake. He needed to find the kidnapping victims. 

This floor didn’t have the glass windows like the ones before. So he had to look through each door individually. Most were unlocked but the one that refused to open gave Shouta pause. 

He lifted himself up to look through the small window in the door to find rows of cages. Many of which had slumped over figures. 

This was promising. 

Shouta was just about to reach for his communicator to send Rato the signal, but just as he did the lights of the facility turned on. The bright fluorescent chased away his cover of darkness, though now he suspects that his cover had been blown long before he entered the basement. 

“Eraserhead, kind of you to deliver yourself to us,” A voice said over the intercom. “Unfortunately, due to your companion notifying the authorities it would be too complicated to capture you… tisk… such a shame. What a fascinating quirk you had.” 

Shouta heard a shatter of glass in the distance and a screech echo down the hall.

Suddenly the roof above him collapsed, Shouta was only just barely able to leap out of the way of the rubble. 

“At least I get to test this one's programming,” the man over the intercom almost sounded giddy. 

The dust hadn’t even settled before a gangly arm full of quills hit Shouta in the side. Immediate he felt the piercing pain as he was flung down the hallway. He let out a choking gasp as the landing made it obvious that a few quills stuck in his skin. 

Shouta quickly scrambled to his feet as he ran towards the stairwell. 

He didn’t hear the creature running after him but he didn’t let himself hesitate. 

“Go after him… Follow?… hm, those might be too complicated,” the man said over the intercom. “Eh, oh well… Attack.” 

The monstrosity roared then sounds of destruction quickly filled the space. 

He’d made it to the second floor and noticed the creature had wandered away from the hole it made. Luckily that meant it was away from the prisoners. 

Shouta used this opportunity to run towards the labs where the other vats of monstrosities were held. They were all mutant times, and with their distorted bodies would most likely be much stronger than a normal human. It was a perfect counter for his own fighting style. 

Things would only get more complicated if more of them woke up and by the looks of the draining vats, that’d be soon. 

Shouta pulled out his knife. 

Then he’d just have to kill the monsters in their cradles. 

-

Bruno hadn’t heard from Eraserhead in a while, and the hero wasn’t responding when he tried to contact him with the device he was given. 

So despite the strain, he forced himself to look into the near future. 

He was met with the shocking image of the office building on fire, but that was quickly disrupted by an intense wave of nausea and a thundering headache. 

He couldn’t tell when that vision was, but the skies were still dark meaning it was soon. He quickly contacted the police in the way that Eraserhead explained. Even saying the designated call sign signifying a hero's distress signal with the additional information of a fire. 

Bruno could do nothing but wait as he swallowed down the urge to vomit from the vision. 

He hated his helplessness, and that feeling only increased as he saw smoke billowing out some of the windows on the upper floor. He quickly tried contacting Eraser again but was only met with silence. 

“What do I do… what do I do,” Bruno muttered quickly. He started pacing despite his stomach's protests. 

“Eraser?” He tried the communicator again. 

Silence. 

“Ok, this’ll be this stupidest thing I’ve done since leaving… any objections to going in and saving our… um, friend?” He asked the swarm. 

Ricotta was the one to respond with a determined squeak. 

Bruno held his breath and crossed his fingers. He swallowed down his queasiness as he ran toward the spoking building. There were sirens in the far distance.

-

Shouta sliced through the spinal cord of the last monstrosity. The thing was awake enough to scream, but it’s fumbling limbs didn’t get enough time to react. 

The voice from the overhead had long since disappeared, but the sounds of the roaming monster could still be heard. At some point it found its way up a floor as Shouta took care of the other creatures. 

It’s senses were sharp, but it’s intelligence was something a rock wouldn’t even be proud of. It attacked anything that moved, that included its own shadow as it tore into the ground and walls. Shouta’s only known exit was the elevator shaft, but that would be a slow ascent with his injury and his attempt to open the doors would no doubt cause the monster to notice him. 

He considered fighting it, but with its body nearly covered in spines close combat in the tight hallways was out of the question. His best option was to lead it somewhere more open to fight it or avoid it until backup arrived. The man from before did mention that Rato made the calls. He must have noticed that Shouta’s communicator was blocked. 

It was then that he heard the elevator door ding , 

The monster roared as it barreled down the hall and crashed into what Shouta could only assume was the opening doors. 

For a heart stopping moment he thought Rato was the one on that elevator. 

But then there was a squeak from above him. 

A rat was waving it’s little paws through the grate, four more were undoing the screws on the sides. Glancing towards the door he heard metal and sheetrock get torn apart as the monster went wild. It was distracted enough it seemed, and if the rats were here then the elevator must have been on purpose. 

He quickly grabbed a chair from one of the desks as he used to to get the height he needed to silently catch the grate as the rats pushed it open. He quietly lifted himself up and into the ventilation. It was only then that he noticed the smell of smoke. 

He had little choice but to trust the rats knew where they were going. Unless you had a map, specialized quirk, or were familiar with the ventilation system, usually they were the last place you’d want to escape too. In multi story structures there are plenty of places for even the most experienced stealth hero to get stuck with no hope of being found years after.

The commission kept it quiet, but sometimes when a building did renovations, they’d find the remnants of heroes or villains who got stuck. 

Shouta pulled out his flashlight and followed the rats as they led him to a drop off. 

“I can’t climb that,” Shouta whispered. 

The walls were nothing but sheet metal with no decent place to grip. 

One of the rats with him chirped. 

“Oh, sorry, Ricotta!” Rato called down from the top of the ventilation shaft. “Here..” 

The rat named Ricotta looked back at Shouta and he could have sworn that the little rat shrugged it’s shoulders and rolled its eyes as if to say ‘what can you do?’ 

Only a moment passed and an emergency fire hose was lowered down into sight. The five rats that had been guiding Shouta hopped over to the hose before climbing up. Ricotta was the last to jump and nodded for Shouta to follow as it squeaked. 

After the rats were far enough up the firehose, Shouta reached out to grab it. The pain in his side was sharp, and although he tried to get most of the quills out he’s pretty sure a few of the deep ones remained. He hissed as he tried to pull himself up the firehose. 

“Eraser? What happened?” Rato asked, worried. 

“It’s just an injury, I’m fine,” Shouta gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up the hose. 

When he got to the top, Rato pulled him through the open vent and into the building’s lobby. “I won't consider any kind of injury fine, ” Rato huffed. “It’s times like now that I miss my sister's cooking…” He muttered as he caught his breath. 

“How's that relevant?” Shouta questioned. 

“She can heal anything with her food… and I mean anything. No side effects either,” Rato said proudly

“That sounds… useful.” 

“Extremely, but what’s better is she’s an amazing cook…” Rato trailed off as he looked at Shouta's injury “You’re bleeding quite a lot, are you sure you’re ok?” 

“Yeah, I was just blindsided by that monster down there. Good thinking with the elevator,” Shouta said as he started to stand. 

“Huh? I didn't do anything with the elevators, they weren’t responding when I tried to go down there. That's why we used the vents,” Rato responded .

That sent a heavy chill down his spine. Shouta’s head sharply turned towards the lobby elevators just across the hall.

Ding!

“Get out of here!” Shouta ordered as he pushed Rato towards the exit. He gripped his capture weapon using it to grab a nearby trashcan and fling it at the opening elevator doors. 

It hit the monster square in the head. 

But that was simply just a distraction and it recovered quickly. It screeched at Shouta before charging towards him. With it’s attention caught, he immediately tried to lead it away from Rato as the other went towards the exit. 

Shouta jumped out of the way of its charge, the slick floor caused it to crash into the wall. It’s quills stuck into the decorative wood and the wall cracked and splintered as it yanked itself free. It’s elongated hands scratched at the wood and swiped angrily at Shouta. 

“It’s locked!” Rato yelled. “Why’s it locked!? It wasn't locked before!”

The creature quickly looked towards the vigilante. It’s bulging dead eyes sharpened into slits as it charged towards the man. 

“Watch out!” Shouta yelled. He flung his capture weapon out wrapping it around one of the monster's slender legs, he yanked it back to pull the thing back towards him. “You’re fighting me, remember!” Shouta growled. 

He noticed the smell of smoke was getting stronger. He pulled up a face mask he wore around his neck as he ducked the monster's claws. Shouta responded by sliding between its legs. He dodged another swipe from its arm then jumped up using both feet to kick it further away from Rato when it fully faced him.

The only place he could hit without injuring himself was it’s stomach and face but if he wasn’t careful he could easily get caught by its overly long limbs. 

Burning debris crashed down through the elevator shaft, Shouta used his capture weapon to grab one of the burning pieces to throw it towards the monster. It hissed as the fire touched it’s skin.

Shouta heard coughing behind him as the smoke started to affect Rato, then there was the sound of something metal being bashed against the office's glass window. Visibility slowly getting worse and the fire would soon reach the ground floor. 

They were running out of time. And that wasn’t even mentioning the people in the sub basement.

Shouta weaved through a flurry of attacks by the monster before he was able to get a punch in. 

“I can't- Cough! Cough! -   I can’t get it open!” Rato yelled. 

“Stand back, let's see if we can use this thing as a battering ram,” Shouta said as he quickly started backing away from the monster. As he predicted, the thing started charging again, and Shouta led it straight for the glass before quickly diving away. 

The monster couldn't stop itself on the slip floors as it crashed into the glass, the doors crumpled and creaked, but they didn’t shatter. Shouta cursed as he quickly got back on his feet to get the things attention again. 

“That should loosen it,” Shouta said, “See if you can get it open now.”

Rato coughed loudly as he tried to cover his face as best he can with the odd green hoodie he wore under his coat. Shouta made sure to punch the monster in the jaw to remind it who it’s real opponent was as he led it back into the thicker parts of the smoke. 

As he dodged and attacked where he could, he heard Rato try to break through the door again. 

From the sounds of it he was unsuccessful, though Shouta thought the door was weak enough to bash through it… not that Rato had any sort of strength training. 

Shouta had to incapacitate the monster if he were to be able to get to the door. 

He noticed some parts of the ceiling were catching fire, one of the first spots to burn was already hanging low ready to collapse. He yelled at the monster to keep its attention as he slowly led it over to the spot. When the monster was positioned under the compromised structure, he used his captor weapon to grab one of the exposed burning supports then yanked. 

Burning pieces of the ceiling and the floor above fell onto the monster. It screeched an ear splitting howl as it struggled under the fire and weight. Shouta navigated around the new obstacle before rushing towards the entrance. He could barely see a few feet in front of him and his mask wasn’t meant for long term exposure. But at least he still had his goggles protecting his eyes. 

He could only imagine what Rato was fairing. 

Getting to the door, he found Rato still trying to bash through. “I got it,” Shouta said. The vigilante stumbled back to make room and Shouta put all his strength into three solid kicks to where he judged was the weakest part of the doors. It took a final fourth kick to get the exit to burst open. 

Smoak poured into the streets, Shouta and Rato with it as they both gasped for fresh air. 

They could hear the building creak, and Shouta could see the flashing lights of the police and firefighters down the streets. Something collapsed inside and he turned to face Rato who held his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath.

But then his eyes flashed green, and suddenly he was shoving Shouta to the ground as a gangly clawed hand swiped out from the smoke. The monster had broken free. Rato’s push shoved him out of the way of the attack, but left himself open to the monster’s other hand.

It grabbed him by the shoulder, it’s claws digging into his flesh as Rato let out a pained scream. 

But as suddenly as he was grabbed he was dropped and his screams were drowned out by the monster’s howls. 

“Ricotta, no!” Rato yelled. 

The named rat was on the creature's face. Like a rabid animal fighting for survival, it tore into the creature's face with the fury that Shouta recognized. 

Getting to his feet, he quickly ran over to Rato as he dragged the vigilante away from the smoking door. 

“She can’t- Let me go! Ricotta, regrésame! ” Rato cried out.

“She’s saving your life!” Shouta yelled. 

The monster wailed as the rat forced its way into the creature's eye. The monster scratched at it’s own face as it stumbled back into the growing flames. 

“ Ricotta!! ” He screamed. 

Shouta did what he could to drag the struggling man away from the building. Rato’s soot-covered face streaked with tears, and his eyes glowed a frantic green despite the obvious pain. 

Whatever future he saw furthered his grief. 

Police cars and firetrucks pulled on scene. The paramedics weren't far behind. 

The monster's claws cut deep but Shouta wasn’t sure if it was that, the excessive gift use, smoke inhalation, or a combination of the three that had Rato collapsing. 

Shouta was just thankful that the rats were disoriented enough from the smoke for them to safely get Rato into the ambulance. He made sure the fourteen others were safely contained before he allowed the paramedics to look at his own wounds. Even then he didn’t let the rats out of his sight. 

Things were about to get complicated .   

Chapter Text

Bruno felt comfortable. 

Which was the first sign that something was wrong. 

He was warm, laying on a soft bed, and the air didn’t smell damp or dusty. 

And worse of all, his body felt light. 

There were no little warm bundles of fur curled in every fold and pocket they could find. 

It was this fact that had him jolting awake. 

He jumped out of the clean sheets and stumbled onto the cold floor hard. He hissed at the pain in his shoulder but ignored that as he quickly yanked out the needle they stuck in his arm as well as a bunch of other things tacked onto his skin. 

“Guys? Where’d you go? Where are you? Come back,” Bruno muttered out quickly as he looked around the room. 

Where were his rats? Did they take his rats? What did they do to his rats?

Memories came back quickly, and that only made him more frantic as tears poured out his eyes and blurred his vision. “I can’t lose anymore. I can’t- I can’t- Knock on- No wood. No salt. No sugar.” Bruno sucked in quickly as he crossed his fingers and held his breath. He needed to find his rats. 

There was movement down the hall and Bruno immediately glanced into the future no longer was he pained by the ability. 

Doctors ran in. 

They refused to let Bruno escape. 

Security would follow. 

They’d restrain him. 

That wouldn't do. 

He’s leaving and he will find his rats. 

Bruno blinked back into the present. He flustered his eyes as he stabilized his sight into the next few seconds all while remaining aware of the present. 

-

Shouta had warned them that things wouldn’t go well if Rato didn’t wake up with his rats. 

Unfortunately he couldn’t keep Rato’s secret. He had to explain why exactly he and an unidentifiable person were at the sight of an entire office building going up in flames. The commission and police wanted exact details because apparently that particular building had been under surveillance for several years now. 

Shouta kept quiet about what he could. He only explained that the individual was an informant by the name of Rato and that they gave him the information leading there, but then that led to the questions how Shouta got that claimed ‘CCTV still’ that he investigated. Sir Nighteye was the one to ask that question. 

With a big name like that, there was nothing Shouta could do without facing severe consequences from the commission. He couldn’t let himself be suspended from a time sensitive case. 

That was when Shouta finally mentioned that Rato, who Sir had also been trying to track since those first bodies were found, had the ‘quirk’ soothsayer . This was… oddly what pushed Sir Nighteye into authorizing Rato to be given hero grade treatment while in the hospital. 

But that didn’t mean anyone was actually listening when Shouta again mentioned that things wouldn't go well if Rato didn’t wake up with his rats. 

And now… they were here. 

The hospital blared on high alert, guards raced towards the hero wing, and Shouta walked through the panic calmly with a carrier of rat in one hand.  

He didn’t pay any attention to where people thought the escaped vigilante had gone, and was instead following the direction that the rats collectively pointed. Their eyes were glowing and they seemed hyper focused on wherever they wanted to go.

“Hero Eraserhead, stop!” Sir Nighteye order.

Shouta reluctantly did so, otherwise All Might’s rejected sidekick would try to pull his weight. That kind of pompous display was annoying and Shouta hadn’t had enough sleep to deal with that. 

“Do you know what's going on?” The tall man asked as he steadily approached Shouta. 

“I mentioned that things wouldn’t go well if he woke up without his rats,” Shouta said plainly. “These are his family. One was just killed and now the others are missing, what do you think’s going on?” 

Sir Nighteye seemed to understand something of what Shouta had said. “How do we return his rats?” 

“They're looking for him too,” Shouta said as he motioned to the carrier. 

Sir no doubt noticed the faint glowing green eyes of the rat swarm. Shouta didn’t see the necessity of explaining anymore as he continued to follow the rats' directions. They twisted through the halls, even doubling back at points. 

“I suggest you call off the search, otherwise we’ll be chasing him in circles,” Shouta finally said. 

Sir did just that, he said something to his communicator and the rats started leading them in less convoluted directions. Eventually they started to squeak excitedly and shook the carrier. With the amount of them Shouta had to grip with both hands so they didn’t fall out of his grasp. 

It was only then that Rato came barreling around the corner. He nearly slipped on the slick floors and just about tackled Shouta when he got closer as he embraced Shouta in a hug. Shouta just sort of… let it happen. Rato was mumbling all sorts of things in Spanish and Japanese, none of it made sense to him except the expression ‘thank you.’

-

Bruno didn’t care about anything except for his rats and making sure Eraserhead knew how thankful he was that they were safe. 

He opened the case as fast as he could and the excited rats swarmed as they did their own litter version of hugs and kisses. 

Then he felt a harsh bite. 

“Stilton, you little-!” Bruno grabbed the mischievous rat and tried to express his disapproval. But his eyes were too full of tears and he couldn’t school his smile long enough for there to be any sort of effect. Stilton just licked his nose then chirped, before scurrying out of his grasp and into the doctor's coat that he borrowed. The other rats quickly found comfortable places in the pockets and folds of the scrubs under it. “I missed you guys…” Bruno muttered. 

But as one part of himself was returned… there was still a little hole that couldn’t be filled. “Ricotta, she’s…” 

“I’m sorry for your loss, Rato, ” Eraserhead said sincerely. 

‘It’s… Bruno… My name is Bruno Madrigal,” He said looking up at the hero. “Uh, I mean, Madrigal Bruno? You know because the names and… yeah but just call me Bruno.” It was only then that he noticed there was another man standing in the halls with them. Which he really should have noticed because he was over a foot taller than Bruno. “Um, hi?” 

Bruno’s eyes flashed green as he tried to assess him. In his vision he poked and prodded at the man and said both cruel and rude things in some scenarios but also kind and charismatic ones in others. Each instance was built on the last with information gained to further his knowledge of the individual. 

Although he collected hours worth of information only seconds passed. 

“Huh,” Bruno let out. This man was no nonsense but he really loved jokes, he was a good hero but was a man plagued with anxieties of futures he saw but could never change. “I used to be like that,” He muttered to his rats. 

“Excuse me?” the man, hero name: Sir Nighteyes and real name: Sasaki Mirai, said.

“[ Where does a cat go when it dies? ]” Bruno asked in English. 

Sir just blinked for a moment. “[ Purrrr-gatory ]” he answered, if not slightly confused. 

“Did you know that pun also works in Spanish too?” Bruno grinned. 

Sir steamed to take a moment as he thought, then said “ Pur-gato-rio ,” with a laugh. 

“Bruno Madrigal, it’s good to meet you, Sasaki Mirai,” Bruno said, holding out his hand. 

Once again Sir seemed surprised, as he took his hand. He opened his mouth to speak, but Bruno still had a glance towards the future. 

“Yes I did learn that from my quirk. No, my sight is not subjected to a fixed timeline. Yes, I can help you with All Might, but you need to talk with him first. Um.. ok I wouldn't consider it stealing , I didn’t know where they put my clothes.” Bruno frowned as he let go of the other man’s hands and looked down at his borrowed clothes.

Sir Nighteye just stood there blinking with such a flabbergasted expression that you’d forget his previously serious one. He eventually regained some composing and Bruno thought that was enough with his foresight as he blinked away the green in his visions. That particular party trick was only possible because he found a pen and notepad in the coat pocket of the doctor's coat. Seeing what his future self would write down was much easier than reading lips.  

“If you two are done we should get… Madrigal, discharged,” Eraserhead said. “We still have a missing person’s case to solve.” 

“You didn’t find them at the office building?” Bruno asked worriedly. There was no way his vision was wrong… unless the fire affected things. 

“No, they were there, but when we excavated the underground lab everything was destroyed. Luckily there were no cells or bodies in the area that Eraserhead reported them to be. We believe they’ve been relocated, but we must move fast if we want to save those who are still alive,” Sir Nighteye reported. 

“Eraser… do you still have the Sano brother’s charm?” Bruno asked. 

“I do.” 

“Ok, if he’s still alive I should be able to find him with that.” 

“If they’re on the move we have an advantage,” Sir added. “If they’re still in Japan we’ll get them.”

-

Sir Nighteye was very interested in how Bruno performed his ritual. It was… very strange to have someone who actually related to Bruno and his abilities on some level. 

But unlike Bruno, Nighteye didn’t get a road map, he was given an itinerary when looking to the future. One that had to be followed exactly with no exceptions or choice. Bruno knows that feeling all too well. So even though it was a little risky now that his secret was out, and it would prolong his trip home, Bruno was serious when he said he’d help Nighteye change his future. 

Bruno knows that the presence of his looking glasses often causes discrepancies in his own visions when they influence people. So perhaps they could do something with that? 

Nighteye mentioned that was one of the things they could test later. 

For now they still had to focus on the current case. 

Bruno did the ritual in a very large training gym. Eraserhead and Nighteye were the only ones allowed in at the time and they stayed on the observation platform that was behind tempered glass. Not that his rituals were that powerful but it was nice to know someone wouldn't be falling in on his visions again. 

Nighteye took furious notes and said that there were cameras that would capture the images that the sands produced so he told him not to worry too much about the contents of the looking glass. Bruno quietly decided not to listen to that, and it was a good thing too, it turns out that the sandstorm prevented the cameras from picking up anything useful, but the looking glass had an image of a boat on the docs in the next prefecture. 

Bruno was able to knock on wood and was especially thankful because he didn’t have to leave Nighteye’s agency while the raid took place. 

He and the rats slept, because they were absolutely exhausted and Bruno’s shoulder was still healing. Despite a nice old lady coming in to kiss it better causing his healing to accelerate, it still ached. They said there might be pain for a while, but Bruno didn’t worry too much, he’d have his sisters cooking when he got home. Her gift could heal even though most stubborn scars and pains. 

All in all three of the known missing people were rescued, and that included the Sano brother, and then another thirteen more unconnected missing people were rescued. 

Bruno was happy to wake up from a vision depicting a very unhappy All for One, especially since that vision showed Bruno going home.

Chapter Text

“Cannot thank you enough, Mr. Madrigal,” Sir Nighteye said as he enthusiastically shook Bruno’s hand goodbye. 

“Really, you can just call me Bruno,” he laughed. 

“Bruno, right,” Night eye laughed. “Just know that if you ever return, my door is always open. And if you need any help All Might, his future successor, and myself will do everything we can to assist. The world owes you so much and doesn't even know it.” 

“I just gave some advice about the future… Everything is still up to you guys,” Bruno said sheepishly. “Fighting is all that…”

“A lot of battles are determined before they’ve been fought, it all depends on how prepared you are,” Eraserhead said. “I extend the same courtesy. I wasn’t too concerned about myself, but I’m thankful we looked into it. You’ll be saving my friend's life.”

“It’s… just some advice,” Bruno said nervously. 

“It’s good advice, and we won’t waste it,” Eraserhead said firmly.

Bruno said his final goodbyes to the first two human friends he’s made. It was bittersweet. He’d probably never see them again, but at the very least if things did go horribly wrong on either end he did take a very simplistic communicator. Eraserhead assured him that it could be tracked. It was a small little brick with a solar panel. It would beep if he needed to go back to Japan, or he could press a hidden little button if he were in trouble which would then send a signal out that would only let the sister device track it. 

He’s pretty sure the tracking would only work outside of Encanto, but he took it more for the peace of mind of the others than himself. Especially since after his quest to indirectly defeat All for One, he had no worries for the threats of the outside world. 

At least… he will once he's back home. He still had to navigate his way through the world. 

He crossed countries, snuck past borders, and piggybacked on smuggling routes. If he saw anything particularly immoral he’d send tips to the local heroes but other than that he focused purely on getting back to Columbia. 

Bruno and his rats' last boat ride across the oceans landed them in Brazil. Although he may have taken the long way around the world to get home, it was easier to stowaway on a boat over the Atlantic than it was the Pacific. 

The trip from Brazil to Peru was surreal. Seeing so many aspects of home so close to him. He was speaking his native tongue constantly. 

The closer he got to Columbia the louder his call to home was. 

Even the rats could feel it as they entered the jungle from the same obscure little town they first discovered quirks in. 

He took plenty of water in his backpack, but didn’t bother with food. The rats helped him forage as they zigged and zagged through the rainforest. Sometimes they had to double back but it was all still technically moving forward. 

Encanto didn’t like to be found, but it knew that one of it’s own was looking so it wasn’t impossible. 

It was when he was climbing that final mountain that Bruno felt a little click in his soul as he got to the peak. He watched with tears in his eyes as the valley below changed from unsuspecting forest to the red familiar roofs.

Casita sat on the hill just as proud as always and his family called him even though they didn’t know it. Mirabel still needed to navigate her own fate, and Bruno felt that he shouldn’t fully reveal his return until that was resolved so not all was perfect yet.

But he was still home .

It’s been a very long nine years… and as interesting as it was, Bruno was ready to never leave Encanto again.  

The End