I. Am. SO. Excited.

Long story short, I had no laptop December through January so all my writing is suuper behind, but I've been writing so much for this and I it's been so difficult keeping myself from sharing it.

If you're new, this is a sequel for The Worth of a Quirk, though you can -technically- just read this one first if you want. It's the second part of a non-chronological trilogy, and this is TWAQ's prequel.

This is what you can expect:

- Grace is divided in 3 parts: childhood, UA pre-dating and UA post-dating.

- All of part 1 is written, by that point, it can go in two ways: I'll take a pause, write all of part 2 and come back or I might have all of part 2 and continue posting.

- I'll keep you informed of the progress, but so far, you are looking at 10 chapters that are mostly done!

- I'll be posting once a week, probably on Thursdays.

Another thing that I'm considering is: would you rather just have the parts separate? I think each can definitely stand on their own. That would make TWAQ a five part short story series... which kind of makes more sense to me because TWAQ has 30k but part 1 of Grace has 20k... Well, I'll ponder on it but I'd be grateful for your opinion. Anywayssss, on we go :)

I know it's been a minute, but I hope you enjoy it and that it's worth the wait!

Inko Midoriya is washing dishes after dinner when her only son bursts in. Once, the sight of Izuku's tears, copious and clear as they rolled down his cheeks squeezed Inko's heart into tiny little pieces, but now, it only pounds a little faster with curious concern. What is it now? She's quick about turning off the tap and drying her hands before turning around and kneeling, coming closer to Izuku's height. He's ten already but still so small compared to the children his age.

"Mom!" he wails. Inko takes the time to hug him, meeting the unforgiving grip he wraps around her as he sobs. She shushes him, rubbing soothing circles onto his back. It's a little late, Izuku is already dressed in his pajamas. She gives him a minute before thumbing at his tears and offering a reassuring smile.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"I can't find my notebook!"

Inko sighs and promises they can look for it together. Her Izuku is a disorganized child still, it's not unlike him to misplace something, but he takes such good care of his Hero Notebooks… Inko thinks it's strange. Inko's not a big fan of her son's dream, but she also thinks he'll grow out of it eventually and isn't above spoiling him from time to time.

What child doesn't dream of being a hero? Even… even quirkless ones.

Thankfully, the notebook pops up a few days later, and Inko is none the wiser of how much her son's life has changed.

Katsuki Bakugou is used to being noticed. It doesn't start with Izuku Midoriya, but it also does, a little.

Behind Katsuki, there had always been Izuku, always.

Whether they went deep into the forest for summer beetles or just around the corners for meat buns, even if it was just to Katsuki's rooms so that Katsuki could lord his superior Mario Kart prowess. He would've been hard-pressed to admit it, constipated little shit that he'd always been, but he'd liked Izuku. He'd like having someone who always, always said yes to him and to whatever he wanted.

Then, Katsuki developed his quirk and for a moment, when all it was was fireworks from the palms of his hands, everyone loved him while Izuku faded back. The thing is, Katsuki's quirk isn't firelights and fireworks, but curdling destruction at the grasp of his fingers... and people noticed. There are a very small number of people Katsuki's hurt on accident, his father is one of them.

Katsuki hadn't meant to; he'd just been upset, just antsy. Whenever he got particularly irritable, his father would poke his stomach and smile. I think someone's getting sleepy, huh? Six-year-old Katsuki didn't get it. Wasn't his dad listening? Katsuki wasn't sleepy, he was angry. He didn't like being talked down to. He didn't. The heat in his palms answered his indignation. Every day it'd been burning a little bit hotter, his palms a little more dangerous without anyone really noticing -until it was too late.

Katsuki roars.

His palms sweat.

The room explodes as his already-calloused hand slaps the poking limb away.

Katsuki is never going to forget the scream. He had never heard his dad even raise his voice in his life. The sound of all the windows in the house breaking wouldn't have compared.

Deku's tiny burn was nothing in that afternoon-filled forest; his dad on the other hand needed skin grafts on his arm.

His father bit his lip, gently trying to calm Katsuki down even through his own tears. He'd gone deadly pale and he clutched desperately at his ruined forearm. His mother came in at the sound, shrieking like the hurricane she was.

What the fuck did you do, you fuckin brat?! I've been telling you to be fucking careful! (She had, over and over and over again, but Katsuki couldn't hear her.)

His dad yelled again, strained but absolutely furious.

Mitsuki! (His dad was angry. He was hurt.)

Katsuki looked at his hands, warm and unharmed. They couldn't possibly belong to him. His fireworks earn themselves a new name: explosions. At the hospital, there were a lot of questions. Nothing was the same. His teacher didn't allow demonstrations at recess. The other kids didn't want to play with him. From wonderful and beautiful, Katsuki's quirk became dangerous, deadly even. (He doesn't think his parents meant for him to grow up as fast as he did, they probably would've liked him to be a child longer, innocent and unafraid instead of ceaselessly working towards a dream that would most likely get him killed one day. But Katsuki was literally a weapon of destruction, what choice did they have?)

After his dad's accident but before Izuku grew too annoying for him, they stopped in the street with ice cream in their hands. They couldn't ignore it, and All Might rerun was on the windowfront's TV. Katsuki feels exposed, he's been staying home a lot nowadays because things are different now and he doesn't like it. Deku had knocked on his door every single day since his father's accident and it had gotten on his mother's last nerve. She kicked him out and threw loose change on the way out. His father would be coming home the next day and she needed the time to fix everything, or so she said.

People noticed the change. Other kids did too. They whispered about it, about the ambulance and the blood and the screams. His dad didn't make it home from the hospital for Christmas. Katsuki's stupid mistake, his stupid, stupid… had spread like wildfire, burning bridges and reputations as it went. Extinguishing any popularity his rare quirk had granted him. Katsuki side-eyes Deku, Green eyes glued to an All Might cartoon episode Katsuki knows they've watched together four times, and even if he didn't, he can see Izuku mouthing the words, freaky nerd that he is.

Deku's been… the same. Even now, he turns to Katsuki and goes:

"All Might really is the coolest, Kacchan! I can't wait to be a hero just like him!" Deku is as excited and ridiculous as ever. They're almost seven, and Deku still doesn't even have his quirk, but the retort dies halfway past Katsuki's lips. The bang. His dad's scream. The smell.

Katsuki drops his ice cream. An earthquake?! Surely, the ground is moving as it comes up to greet him. The pain on his bum startles him and suddenly he's looking into Deku's face, so close he notices that some of his freckles blend into each other. That's dumb, flies in and out of the spiral his thoughts have gone into. It doesn't dislodge the raw pain that Katsuki's been carrying.

Katsuki… a hero?

"I…" he doesn't quite meet Deku's eyes. He feels naked and alone even though he's in the middle of the street and his thick winter coat is making him sweat. Sweat. There was no earthquake, he can tell in Deku's frown. Katsuki just... fell. "Heroes…" The crowd cheers All Might on almost muted in the background, the last scene before they roll the credits. Deku, patient or maybe just confused, doesn't prompt him. He doesn't offer his hand or asks if Katsuki's okay, he knows better now, and maybe that's why Katsuki looks down into his mitten-clad hands, eyes burning as he whispers: "I can't be a hero."

It's the perfect opportunity to ask. Katsuki's classmates had badgered him plenty about the accident only to recoil in fear at his anger. No one knew, but at the same time, everyone knew. Deku's eyes go wide in alarm, pout at maximum capacity and guts present as he grabs Katsuki by the shoulders.

"But Kacchan is amazing! Kacchan is going to be a great hero!" Deku is so earnest as he says it, touching Katsuki carelessly in a way that exposes just how calculated all the touches he's been receiving have been. (His mother tried to hide it, but she also heard the scream, treated the burns.) He doesn't know, Katsuki surmises, but Deku proves him wrong. "It doesn't matter what… what happened before or what anyone says. Kacchan is… Kacchan is the strongest!"

Maybe not everything had changed. Katsuki wipes furiously at his eyes, before smirking wobbly

"O-of course I am, nerd!"

Another thing that didn't change, though, was Katsuki's pride. He wasn't going to let anyone say shit behind his back. He was going to be a hero, yeah, but that did not make him a pushover. If these little shits thought his quirk was scary, Katsuki was going to give them something to be scared about. (With control and deep breaths first like the dojo sensei taught him because it wouldn't do to actually hurt anybody.) He tolerates Deku's meddling in his shenanigans, barely.

Kacchan! You shouldn't be mean!

Protecting the little shits. Underestimating Katsuki. Acting like he was so much better.

Maybe, deep down, it's a little that he likes that Deku stands up to him, that someone does. Deku's frightened of Katsuki, the blonde can see that much in his teary eyes and trembling knees, but he doesn't think Katsuki will hurt him. In a world that has gone wary of him, this is priceless. Katsuki has been working on his quirk really hard, and when a spark barely chafes on Deku's wrist on that afternoon and the little fucker cries about it. Katsuki sees red. Deku's really... Deku, he'd thought, useless and weak, crying about nothing.

(It tasted like betrayal, like wrong. Like the rug being pulled under him all over again. Deku was supposed to be the one that wasn't afraid.)

How was Deku ever going to be a hero?!

Deku tells his mom about his burn, who tells Katsuki's dad, which leads to… that conversation.

Six-year-old Katsuki hadn't known how to cuss yet, but the sentiment he had for Deku is crystal clear even when he's not sure what pushed him over the edge:

Fuck him.

Katsuki spends a bunch of time alone because it is better than that traitor Deku or the stupid neighborhood kids. He doesn't want company, he doesn't need it -even when some losers (Deku especially) insist on hanging around his vicinity. (Whatever.)

Maybe, this is partly why the first real friend Katsuki ever makes after his quirk is Kirishima. Someone who can take it -the possibility for violence, someone who can take Katsuki. Kirishima has a long way to go before putting Katsuki down in a fight, but he can neutralize him well enough. Some days, Katsuki still sees his father's slow-healing arm in the back of his lids, Deku's crying face, and maybe he's a little glad that someone like Eijirou Kirishima exists.

(Even if he's got shitty hair.)

There are many things about Izuku's first encounter with Tomura Shigaraki that spell the road Izuku will walk down on.

Perhaps, the saddest, most pathetic one is that Tomura, with his violent quirk and stunted social skills, reminded Izuku so painfully of Kacchan.

So, thoughts?