Hello and welcome back to Season Two! :) We'll be starting this season off with 86 followers, 61 favourite, and 53 reviews which is just fricking crazypants to me, so I just want to say how much I appreciate every single one of you. I've been reading fanfiction since I was a kid (I cringed realizing my age when I saw just how old this account is) and I've posted a few things here and there, but Wannabe Heroes is really my first baby. It makes me feel all gooey inside when I see how many people I've tricked into enjoying my gushy writing.

Here's a look inside Koharu's brain.

Chapter Eighteen: Power Surge

Eijirou Kirishima! v4

Quirk: Hardening (O)

Self-application: skin hardens, becomes jagged and rock-like [Fig 2, 4]. Capable of withstanding tremendous force without breaking, stamina unknown. Skin seems normal without use of Quirk [Fig. 1].

Offense: inhabitable Quirk; causes blistering [Fig. 3]. Severity unknown.

Defense: Ill-advised, unless maybe there's a building about to fall on someone? :o

Katsuki Bakugou v3

Quirk: Explosion

Self-Application: can create explosions from the palms of his hands. [Fig. 1] Instantaneous. Capable of altering the ferocity of the blast, maximum capability unknown. Extremely strong. [Fig. 2]

Offense: Likely detonation of target, but would require impeccable timing. Would also likely piss him off. Seems bitey.

Defense: Ill-advised.

Shouto Todoroki v3

Quirk: Freeze ? Sus

Self-Application: can create rapid ice from parts of his body— seems to have a preference for using his feet. [Fig. 1] The ice he creates is incredibly durable and fast-acting— lethal. [Fig. 3]

Offense: based on the ice covering half of his body, switches may result in the target becoming encased in ice? [Fig. 2]

Defense: Ill-advised.

Izuku Midoriya v3

Quirk: Power Surge

Self-Application: exerts tremendous force from point of contact. [Fig. 1] Point of contact will be ravaged upon use. [Fig.2]

Offense: Morally questionable. Possibly impossible?

Koharu's pencil tapped over her page to the soft beat of the song playing through her phone. Hizashi was snoring on the futon in the other room, and the sound wafted through her open door as bass. Shouta had ordered Koharu home to sleep in her own bed on account of it being a school night, and Hizashi had bribed her away with the promise of take-out and a hot bath. They ate fried chicken and Hizashi fell asleep halfway through an episode of Hero Wars.

But while sleep came easily to Hizashi, Koharu couldn't escape her thoughts. She had retreated to her bedroom to update her information on her classmates' Quirks, but when she got to Midoriya… the way she understood his Quirk couldn't be put into words.

Koharu saw red as she Switched their Quirks. Pain blossomed through her legs, and the sound of a gun-shot pierced through the air. She wondered if she had been hit.

Her eyes trailed down to her legs, bared by her sleep-shorts. Aside from a few bruises, there was nothing to explain the pain she felt in her legs when she switched Midoriya and Shigaraki's Quirks.

"Get away from All Might!" Midoriya cried, soaring through the air with an arm reared back. His legs flailed limply behind him, and Koharu knew he had broken them.

"Gah!" Koharu shoved her hands into her hair and tugged at her roots. "Just—"

She had felt the strain behind her eyes that came with the use of her Quirk, and the fatigue that came afterwards was unmistakable. But now that she thought about it, it was… less. Somehow easier in a way that she couldn't understand.

What was it about Midoriya's Quirk that affected her own?

And what was his relationship with All Might?

And just what the fuck was up with All Might?!

Koharu had said that she didn't care for his explanations, and at the time, that had been absolutely true. All she had cared about was finding Shouta and making sure someone was taking care of him. But now, hours later, Koharu was so curious that she thought she might die.

Bzzt, bzzt.

Nearly jumping out of her skin at the unexpected addition to the melody of the apartment, Koharu's head whipped towards the cell phone lying face-down on her desk. She flipped it over to reveal the screen lit up with a new text message, obscuring her lock-screen of Nekozawa Jr.'s sleeping face.

Mi-Mi-Midoriya (00:42):

Can we meet tomorrow before school?

Bzzt, bzzt. Another text came in quickly, landing atop the other in her notifications.

Mi-Mi-Midoriya (00:42):

〣( ºΔº )〣

I didn't realize what time it was! I'm sorry!

Koharu rubbed at her eyes, but the messages were still there. She squinted at the device with suspicion: was Midoriya spying on her, or were her thoughts just so damn loud that he heard them in another neighbourhood?

Mi-Mi-Midoriya (00:43):

OMG and now I'm making it worse by texting you so much… you're probably sleeping… I'm so sorry. (╯︵╰,)

A laugh huffed from Koharu's nose. Apparently, when Midoriya was quite the speedy texter when he actually wanted to be. She suddenly felt worse by his lack of response to her the other day. Her thumb slid across her screen, unlocking it quickly to call Midoriya before he could die from embarrassment. He picked it up on the first ring, no doubt already composing another apology text.

She was met with a high, squeaky voice. "K—Koharu!"

Koharu's lips curled into a smile as she leaned back in her chair. "Sorry, is this Midoriya or his hamster?"

"I-I don't have a hamster…" Midoriya meekly responded. Koharu cringed and rubbed a palm against her eye, a low guilt in her stomach.

"Sorry, I guess that was a bad joke. What's up, Midoriya?"

"I— I'm sorry for messaging you so late! I didn't really realize what time it was until after I had already texted you, and then it was too late, a-and uh, I really hope that I didn't wake you up—"

With an amused grin, Koharu kicked her feet up onto her desk. As Midoriya's voice began to fade into a mumble, Koharu took pity and spoke over him, "I wasn't sleeping, so you can relax. That's kinda why I called— why are you still up right now?"

"Oh! Sorry. Uh. Well…" there was a short silence on the other line. She heard him take a deep, steadying breath. "A-actually, Koharu… I wanted to say thank you."

Eh?

"I should have said it earlier, but you were gone so quickly... a-and it doesn't feel right to put it off! So…thank you for risking your life for me, Koharu. I'm really grateful."

Running. Crouching over Midoriya as he crashed to the ground, legs broken and body prone. Her head on his shoulder, tears running down her face and body shaking.

Oh fuck. Koharu was mortified. Heat crept up her neck as everything else flooded back to her. She had been so caught up in thinking about Quirks that she had almost forgotten to think about anything else.

"Izuku Midoriya! Tell me their Quirks!"

A high-pitched laugh burst past her lips. Koharu raised a hand to try to catch it before she woke Hizashi, her fingertips pressing against her lips. Her shoulders shook with the force of holding back her embarrassed giggling. She had been a bit of a dork, hadn't she? Crap, she wasn't cool at all…

"Koharu?"

"S-sorry!"

"Wh… why are you laughing?"

"I'm not," she lied poorly between fading laughter. "I'm sorry, I r-really am! It's just…well, I wasn't tryna be a hero or anything, y'know? And I didn't really do much, anyway..."

"That's not true! All Might said—"

"Midoriya," she quickly interrupted. "I don't pretend to know what the relationship between you and Small Might is—" there was a distinctive choking sound on the other line, but Koharu plowed on. "—but you risked your life for him first, right? He said that you've saved him before. So I know that you get it. We're friends. Of course I'm gonna help you, even if I can't do much."

"That's…" was he sniffling? She was sure it must be a trick of the receiver. "Thank you... that's pretty cool of you."

He didn't know how wrong he was. Koharu laughed lightly and waved the compliment away, knowing Midoriya wouldn't be able to see her fanning hand. "Story of my life, Midoriya. But as a friend, if you really wanna show you appreciate me for 'risking my life' or whatever..."

"I do!"

"I want to talk to you about your Quirk."

On the other end of the line, Midoriya began to stutter nonsense before finally managing words. "...s-sorry? My— my Quirk? What about my Quirk?"

Koharu's eyes drifted towards her notebook, still open to Midoriya's Quirk Analysis. After the physical assessment, she had drawn Midoriya's broken hand from memory. She didn't need Fig. 2 to remember the shade of angry purple that had discoloured his skin, bones inside shattered. She thought of his fight against Bakugou. He had sacrificed both arms for a training exercise, and so it shouldn't have surprised her to see him break both his legs at U.S.J.. Her muscles ached with the memory of it.

Koharu dropped her head back over her chair with a huff. "I know Recovery Girl fixed your legs, but you really shouldn't treat yourself like you're disposable, Midoriya. You use your Quirk way too irrationally for someone who faces such serious drawbacks, and you think it's okay because you're the only one it hurts. And for you to still be puttering around at nearly one in the morning after Recovery Girl used so much stamina to heal you? Ridiculous. You seriously have to take better fucking care of yourself if you're gonna be a hero, idiot!"

Oof. Wait, waitwaitwait—

Koharu winced, and drew in a sharp breath. Her eyes squeezed shut so she wouldn't have to face her embarrassment. "Sorry, that was way too familiar and really rude and not totally what I meant, and I honestly don't think you're an idiot—"

"Thank you!"

"Eh?" Koharu cracked one eye open. "Sorry, what?"

Midoriya's laugh jingled on the other line. "I said thank you! Not for saying I'm not an idiot, but…" he paused, and for once Koharu didn't rush to fill it. "Actually, thanks for calling me an idiot, I guess! I— I'm just really glad we're friends. I'll try my best to not to worry you again!"

Koharu's lips pulled into a smile. "Yeah, yeah. Who's worried, dummy? I know you've got this. Just go to bed, Midoriya."

"I will if you will, Koharu."

"Pfft," Koharu shot a finger-gun that her audience couldn't see. "You got me there. If that's all it takes, then sure. I'll go to sleep too."

"Do you promise?"

"What?" Koharu laughed quietly, surprised by Midoriya's response. "You don't trust me?"

"That's a weird way to say that you promise."

"Of course I'm going to go to sleep, I just told you I would."

"That's still not a promise!"

A laugh bubbled from Koharu's chest. Midoriya argued like a child; it made her feel like a kid too. "Fine, whatever. I promise I'll go to sleep. I'm holding out my pinky and everything."

"Are you really?"

Well, now she was. Her hand was up before she even realized it, slim pinky extended. "Duh. Pinky promises are solemn, my man."

"O-okay! Then I am too!" He hadn't had to say it, Koharu thought— Midoriya was such a wholesome guy that she hadn't had a doubt he would put his pinky up if she said she had done the same. "Good night, Koharu."

"Good night, Midoriya."

There was a silence for a beat. She hung up first.

She dropped her phone to her lap as her music resumed playing through its meager speakers. Anticipating keeping her promise to Midoriya, Koharu's thumb slid across her screen to pause the song.

The warmth in her chest faded as the cold silence met her again. Hizashi was still snoring in the other room— he was there because her brother was not. Her brother was not because they had gotten their asses handed to them somewhere they were supposed to be safe, and Koharu had been useless. Her classmates had been amazing.

And for just a little while, talking to Midoriya, she had forgotten about all of that. And maybe in all her worrying, she had forgotten what she had really thought the first time she saw Midoriya's broken hand and winning smile— she had thought he was cool. She still did.

Maybe shoulda told him that instead of just calling him an idiot and shit. Her role models had ruined her.

She released a breath as she pressed play on her music again, volume at its maximum. She would text Midoriya before she could talk herself out of it.

To: Mi-Mi-Midoriya (00:50)

I'm glad we're friends, too.

( ´ ∀ `)ノ～

Mi-Mi-Midoriya (00:53)

( ˙︶˙ )

He was warm, she thought. He would forgive her if she stayed up to draw one last Figure.

chapter end

I borrowed "Small Might" from Bonestealer's comment on AO3 because it made me laugh :)

Since I wasn't super explicit about it, all of Koharu's [Fig.]s refer to sticky notes that she's doodled on and placed on each person's page. If you're interested, here's what I imagine them to be:

Kirishima:

1: Kirishima's arm, without Quirk.
2/4: Kirishima's arm, with Quirk.
3: arm with jagged skin/blistering.

Bakugou:

1: Bakugou's hand, upturned, blastin'
2: side-profile of Bakugou's arm, bent 90 degrees and flexing while he's blastin'

Todoroki:

1: Todoroki's boot casting an ice blast
2: Mineta encased in a block of ice
3: Nomu's arm and leg stubs after he broke his body to free himself, encased in ice

Midoriya:

1: Midoriya's back and arm as he throws the baseball during the fitness test
2: Midoriya's hand immediately after

What do you think Koharu's last Figure is? :)

oLainao — Welcome back! I'm really glad you liked that line, because I laughed writing it. I have so much fun writing Hizashi and Shouta. AND OMG MORE FANFIC? I'm swooning. I love that you zeroed in on that scene, and "Koko dumbass"? Love it. Expect it to make an appearance in the story someday.

Otakugirl1996 — Welcome back! You reviewed twice! Is that because you saw that my reviews weren't appearing on the site? You're a total sweetheart either way. I'm really glad you liked the ending!

Aqua Salmon — Welcome back! Your review made me really happy, it's a true mark of an author when you make people cry. I really love your all-caps style of reviewing.

M — Welcome back! Thanks for making it through an entire season with me, M! I'm happy you enjoyed getting a look into Shouta's head because I love writing his POV. I know he's probably OOC from canon, but it's really fun either way.