She's the Man

First Round Frustration

“Even though he’s done well, what’s with that face!” Present Mic shouted out to the arena, commenting on Izuku’s nervous face on his tournament photo.  “From the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!”

Izuku swallowed hard as he walked across the field to the fighting stage. Behind him Izumi made a face and sighed heavily. 

“He’s never liked getting his picture taken.” 

“Except as kids, your mom sent me dozens of them… but they did change over the years.” All Might nodded recalling as the kids got older, Izuku got more nervous in front of a camera while Izumi got more brazen. 

“Versus… The beautiful assassin from Class 1B, even beautiful flowers have thorns. From the Hero course, Shiozaki Ibara.” 

“Shiozaki, huh…” All Might clasped his chin in his hands. “She was on your team, what do you think?” 

“Izuku’s gonna have his work cut out for him… Shiozaki’s talented with her quirk, and from what i’ve seen pretty strong for a girl.” Izumi played with the end of her braid nervously. 

 “Her quirk allows for long range attacks. He’s gonna have to figure out a way to take away her leverage by getting in close.” Izumi explained, working the details of the fight in her head. She thought of how she would do it, and frowned. “She’s pretty athletic, so he’s gonna have to do some real fancy dancing...” 

“START!” 

“Sorry about this…” Izuku brought up his fist, “SMASH!!!”  He let loose a powerful blast of wind. Shiozaki squealed and tried to use her hair to  anchor herself but the distraction allowed Izuku to get in close. His hands glowed as he reached out to shove her back, but she squeaked and immediately backed away instinctively, stepping completely out of bounds. 

“Shi-shiozaki is out! Midoriya-kun advances!” 

Izumi’s face went blue and she smacked a hand to her forehead.

“Ooooor he could just completely overpower her.”

~Up in the Stands~

“Yeah! Way to go, Deku-kun!” Uraraka giggled and clapped her hands. 

“That was some attack. I’ve seen Midoriya use his blast before but never at that high volume. He really kicked things up a notch.” Ojiro nodded in approval. 

“He wasn’t taking any chances,” Tokoyami observed. “Shiozaki came in fifth in the obstacle course, and from what I hear she was one of the top students in the entrance exam. He didn’t want to give her the opportunity for attack and made the first move.” 

“Smarter than you look, aren’t you Deku?” Bakugo murmured into his hand, his eyes focused on his lover. 

~Back in the tunnel~

“I didn’t think I was using that much force…” Izuku commented looking at his hand and flexing it. He walked in between his sister and father making his way up the steps to the stands so they could watch the next fights. “She must have scared me more than I thought.” 

“She scared you?” Izumi’s eyebrow twitched. “Zuku you completely petrified her. Shiozaki’s not the kind of girl to run away frightened, but you thoroughly intimidated her.” 

“Gomen…” Izuku lowered his head groaning. “I thought I had it under control.” 

“It’s not completely your fault, son. It just shows that you’re starting to grasp the means of intimidation. Used correctly it’s a very powerful weapon.” All Might gave a thumbs up. “Your sister doesn’t approve but I do. She was a strong opponent and you managed to get her out quick, without laying a hand on her.”