I've Been Patient and Steadfast and Steady

Hi everyone! Here's the first real chapter. I'm usually terrible at naming these, so I'm going with song lyrics. I'm warning you now: it ranges from Disney to Taylor Swift to Imagine Dragons

Song of the Chapter: "Wating On A Miracle" performed by Stephanie Beatriz from Encanto.

Thank you to my beta reader, S!

TW: bullying, ablism, and The Sludge Villian Incident

Chapter Word Count: 2,417


Izuku grinned as he ran down the street, dragging a reluctant and protesting Kacchan behind him. He could feel Glasses running next to them, trying to push him in the other direction. He ignored both of his Soulmates.

"Damnit, Zuku, come on! We're gonna be late for school again. I'm not explaining to our parents if we get in trouble."

"We still have half an hour before the bell rings. Just for a little while, Kacchan! Please? This is Kamui Woods's patrol route. He might be there! I haven't been able to see him fight in person before. Please?"

His Soulmate stared at him for a moment before sighing and moving to run alongside him. Izuku grinned, knowing he'd won. Against Kacchan at least: Glasses was still trying to push him toward school.

"Ok, fine! But only for five minutes. And the second it looks like it's gonna get ugly, we're going to class." Izuku nodded quickly, agreeing to Kacchan's usual rules for watching hero fights in person. He felt a nonexistent breeze hit him, the sign that Glasses was chopping the air with their arm again. They were probably scolding both Izuku and Kacchan.

The two boys ran down the street, moving much faster now that Kacchan wasn't fighting Izuku. By the time they had made it to Tatooin Station, a large crowd had gathered, though it was being held back by Backdraft. As the two teens wove their way to the front of the crowd, Kamui Woods appeared to confront the villain.

"See Kaccan! I told you this was Kamui's patrol route!" Izuku turned to get his analysis notebook out of his backpack, but the blond teen was already waving it and a pencil in front of his face.

"Here, you damn nerd. Start taking those notes of yours. And remember, you've got 5 minutes before I'm dragging your ass to school." At Kacchan's loud voice, the man standing next to them looked over and saw Izuku's note-taking.

"Oh, you're a fanboy aren't ya? Are you boys aiming to be heroes yourselves?" Izuku nodded eagerly while Kacchan scoffed.

"Yeah! We plan on being a hero duo."

"Tch. Of course we are. Why else would I be following this damn nerd around while he's chasing hero fights?"

"Kacchan! Don't be rude"

Izuku saw the man's eyes flick down, and at the sight of their Marks, he smiled.

"Well, good luck to the both of you." He might have said more, but Izuku wasn't paying attention anymore. Kamui had just gone into a battle stance, one that Izuku recognized.

"Kacchan, look! He's about to perform his special move!"

Before Lacquered Chain Prison hit, however, someone with a gigantification Quirk appeared, slamming the villain to the ground. Izuku gasped. A new hero! It wasn't every day that you got to see a pro's debut, though he couldn't help but feel bad for Kamui Woods, who was standing in shock at the interruption. A hero's debut would far outshine his own appearance in terms of the headlines.

As the new hero, Mt. Lady, introduced herself (and her rear) to the cameras, Izuku started taking notes.

"Mt. Lady looks like she'd be great in a brawl against a large group of villains. I wonder what her hand-to-hand combat skills are like. You can't really get a good idea based on just one kick. But her size means she can't really work well in a congested area like the city. Rural or even suburban areas would be a much better patrol route for her.

"I wonder if she's able to control how big she gets, or if she's only able to be one of two sizes. If she can, that would make it easier and less destructive for her to work in more urban areas. I wonder if that's something she might be able to train herself to do if she can't do that already." Izuku's rambling was cut short by Kacchan, who nudged his ribs.

"Slow down, nerd. Come on, we gotta get to class. You can finish your notes later. I know you're gonna find some video online to rewatch the fight."

As Izuku put away his notebook and pencil, he felt Gear pat his back. They must be a hero nerd too: Gear was always encouraging Izuku to analyze Quirks and come up with creative ways for them to be used.

~~~SMYC~~~

Katsuki and Zuku got to class just before the bell rang. The damn nerd was going to get them in trouble someday. It was a miracle they'd only been late a few times, mostly thanks to Katsuki's interventions. Zuku could get so lost in his note-taking that he'd miss the entire school day.

Their stupid teacher brought up high school and career choices today. He then proceeded to ignore his job completely in favor of letting the class run wild. And he wondered why he couldn't get the extras under control. It was no wonder he was stuck teaching at a shitty school like this.

When classes were finally over, Katsuki gathered his things and stood to go to Zuku's desk. Before he could get there, though, his Soulmate's desk was surrounded by some of their classmates. Namely Eyeball Extra, Fire Fucker, and Rocks for Brains. At least, that's what Katsuki called them. It wasn't worth his time to learn their actual names.

Rocks for Brains grabbed Katsuki and held his arms behind him. The kid with the stupid eyeball Quirk (seriously, how did that guy think he'd ever be a hero?) snatched Zuku's analysis notebook from his hand.

"Oi, back off you damn extras! That isn't for you, you fuckers!"

Eyeball Extra scoffed when he looked at the notebook. "'Hero Analysis for the Future?' What, does the useless Quirkless Deku think he has what it takes to be a hero?"

Rocks for Brains laughed. "As if! There's no way he could get in. Not even with dumb deaf Bakugou holding his hand."

"Kacchan is hard of hearing, not mute! And he can still hear you!" Damnit, Zuku! Stop defending others. It only causes more trouble for you, especially when you try to call them out for ableism.

"As if that makes a difference," Fire Fucker mocked. "But it's so cute that Little Deku stands up for his friend. Too bad he can't do anything but cry and complain."

Faster than either of them could move, Fire Fucker grabbed the notebook from Eyeball Extra. The green-haired teen cried out when she held the notebook between her hands and burned it. Soon, both covers were practically ash. Miraculously, the rest of the notebook seemed to be intact, if a bit singed.

Katsuki gritted his teeth but said nothing. He hated himself for it, but anytime he tried to stick up for Zuku it only seemed to make things worse. Rocks for Brains burst out in laughter, which was his first and last mistake. Katsuki broke free of his hold and grabbed the charred analysis notebook with one hand and Zuku's hand with the other before bolting, pulling Zuku with him.

Katsuki growled as he and Zuku left school. He couldn't wait until they got out of this shithole. Their parents had tried to send them to a better school during their first year, but not many places would take Zuku, Quirkist bastards, and there's no way in hell Katsuki would leave the nerd to fend for himself.

The two teens walked off campus in silence, Zuku clutching the notebook Katsuki gave back to him. It wasn't until they were about to go their separate ways that Zuku spoke up.

"Hey, Kacchan, you ok?" Katsuki scoffed. Typical Zuku. Caring about everyone but himself.

"I should be asking you that, nerd. You're the one whose stuff those assholes burned." Katsuki couldn't help but blame himself a little. If only he'd acted faster, then those fuckers wouldn't have gotten the chance to burn Zuku's analysis notebook. At least the covers were the only parts actually damaged.

"It's not like I'm not used to it," Zuku said. And boy did Katsuki hate that sentence. "But they usually leave you alone. At least they did until your hearing started going bad."

Katsuki stayed quiet for a moment. Though he'd never say it out loud, a part of him was ok with being the subject of their classmates' ire. At least it took some of the heat off of Zuku. But that didn't keep it from stinging.

"I'm fine, nerd." Katsuki felt Boombox flick him between the eyes, something they did whenever they thought the blond was lying to save face. They were usually right, but it was the principle of it!

Judging by the look his Soulmate gave him, Zuku didn't believe him either. Damn.

"If you say so, Kacchan. But don't worry about me. I'm gonna head home now. Let me know how your audiologist appointment goes."

With that, Zuku turned and headed toward home, leaving Katsuki alone on the street.

~~~SMYC~~~

Toshinori cursed quietly to himself. He was nearing the end of his time for the day, but he'd encountered a store robber on his way home. Mirai was going to have his head for this one. His Soulmate and former sidekick worried too much about him.

Toshinori tracked the thief through the sewers, just barely managing to keep up. While he had more power and therefore more speed, the villain had much more mobility thanks to his Quirk.

Just when he thought he'd lost the thief, Toshinori heard the villain's voice from above him. Of course! Sewers meant manhole covers.

Punching through the thick circle of metal, Toshinori quickly assessed the situation. The villain had taken a hostage! They were almost completely engulfed by the villain, with only a pair of eyes and a streak of green hair visible. Moving quickly, the Number One Pro Hero punched the air in front of him while shouting, "Texas… SMASH!"

With the sludge dissipated, the hostage, a teenage boy, began to fall toward the ground. Luckily, One for All allowed Toshinori to move fast enough to catch the boy before he got injured. Or, well, more injured. Now that he could properly see his uniform, Toshinori realized the boy must be in middle school. It wasn't a uniform he recognized, though.

Toshinori quickly but gently set the boy down on the ground. Before he could check him for injuries, however, the blond hero felt a prickling on his arm. A prickling he'd only ever felt five times before. Fast as lightning, he pushed back the right sleeve of his hero uniform. The lion that had been just an outline for almost five decades now stared back at him with a dark flowing mane and piercing golden eyes.

This boy was his last Soulmate.

And if the pattern of One for All were to continue, he would be The Ninth Holder as well.

As Toshinori went to pull his sleeve down once more, the boy began to stir. Toshinori leaned back so that he wouldn't crowd the teen and waited for him to get his bearings. This was probably a smart move since as soon as he came to the greenette scrambled backward.

"AHHH!" He was a Pro Hero with almost 30 years of experience, yet Toshinori still jumped at the shout.

"Oh Kami, you're ALL MIGHT!" The teen scrambled to his feet before bowing at a perfect 90-degree angle. "It's such an honor to meet you, sir! Thank you so much for saving me, All Might-sama!"

Toshinori couldn't help but laugh a little. He got similar reactions all the time from people he saved, but it felt odd coming from his Soulmate.

Then again, he'd met all the others before he became famous. Other than Naomasa, but the detective wasn't the type to gush over people.

"No worries, my boy! I'm just glad that you're alright." Toshinori reached down to help the poor kid up. As he reached to grab the Hero's hand, the student (wow he really needed to learn his Soulmate's name) looked at Toshinori's wrist. After gaping for a moment, the boy grabbed his own sleeve and pushed it up.

He was expecting it, but that didn't stop the sight of his eagle on another person's wrist from moving Toshinori's heart.

The greenette was worse off. The poor boy was standing there staring at his wrist, his eyes so wide Toshinori wondered if it was part of his Quirk.

"All Might is my Soulmate," he whispered. Before Toshinori could say something to console the poor kid, he started coughing. Shit! He thought he had more time, but meeting the boy must've made him lose track of it. Luckily, he was able to keep the blood out of the kid's sight.

"Ahhh! Are you ok? Did the villain hurt you?" And of course, that's when Toshinori's time finally ran out and he lost the ability to be in his muscle form.

"Wha … What? A—All Might-sama?" Well, the poor kid was going to find out about this one way or another. Might as well get it over with.

So, Toshinori explained.

To his credit, the boy took it all in stride. He asked the right questions and even knew about his fight with Toxic Chainsaw. As Toshinori finished his explanation, his Soulmate looked at him in awe.

"Wow, it's amazing that you're able to do all that while still injured! I get why you wouldn't tell anyone, people would panic if it was revealed that you were injured. You're seen as this unstoppable unbreakable force." Jeez, this kid was good.

"Exactly. That's why I'm trusting you to keep this secret. Please don't tell anyone." Toshiniori then realized he STILL hadn't gotten the kid's name. "By the way, you never mentioned your name."

"Oh, right! Sorry, my name is Midoriya Izuku!" The teen, Izuku, gave Tohsinori another bow.

"None of that, my boy. And no need for honorifics either. After all, we're Soulmates. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other." That seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

The poor kid didn't know what to do with this information. After floundering for a bit, he picked up a notebook (Were those burn marks? What the hell had happened to that thing?) and put it in his bright yellow backpack.

Then Izuku looked around before asking a question Tohisnori could've kicked himself for.

"Um, All Might? What happened to the villain?" In the distance, a loud explosion went off.

Fuck.


I'm still working on getting a posting schedule situated. But hopefully, I'll be able to post at least twice a month.

Also, if anyone is interested in being a beta reader for this story, please let me know!