Author's note : the UA exam, finally. For those wondering why Toru is present, I like the butterfly effect and randomized a few things about what happened.

Chapter 5 : To bluff or not to bluff. That is the question.

Izuku knew he got the written test rather nicely. Most questions had tricks, sure, but nothing he couldn't do. Honestly, he knew most people would have trouble, but it was a good way to make people remember that UA was not only a hero school… But also a prestigious school, with a business course and a support course.

Even if you did not get into one of the two heroics classes, you could always be in Gen Ed or something. After his talk with Katsuki, Green bean actually contemplated going into the Support Course, as an analyst. However, he discovered it was an option for business or in second year in heroic. Not everyone had an analytical mind after all.

Still, it had been a wonderful exercise and an excellent reminder that brain and brawn were required for a wonderful hero. Sure, a good quirk was important and often more useful, but as some international teams proved, having an analyst and a strategist was even more important. Everyone could remember the disaster that happened when the Russian team tried to apprehend the SS-rank villain that conquered the North pole. It had not been pretty. So many candy canes in so many heads.

Brrr. Let's think about something else.

So… they were all sitting in an immense amphitheater, where Present Mic presented the practical exam.

Trying to relax himself a bit, Izuku took out his tarot deck and shuffled it. One year of daily and intensive practice made him very good at different card tricks. He also discovered that doing them calmed him a lot. Playing with coins, too. Truth be told, as long as they were sleight of hand, it calmed him down.

Sure, sometimes it looked like he was a show-off, Katsuki told him that a lot. However, it worked well, so why stop?

Therefore, cards seemed to fly from one hand to another. There was a reason Tenko made sure someone else shuffled Izuku's deck every game or two. He couldn't prove it, but certain combos Izuku pulled were way too perfect.

Nonetheless, Present Mic's presentation was quite interesting. 1, 2, 3 points robots. There was a fourth kind of robot but if he was right, Present Mic was going to present it when some tall idiot stood up and berated Present Mic.

"Excuse me? On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a top-tier national academy of U.A. 's caliber! The reason we're here today is that we seek guidance on the path to becoming model heroes!"

Then, to Izuku's surprise, he then turned toward him. What did that guy was looking at him with such an intense look?

"Moreover, can't you sit still for a second? You're distracting the surrounding people! If you think U.A. is a school for silly tricks, you can go somewhere else!"

Izuku stayed silent for a second… Before the result of rekindling his friendship with Bakugou and some training with Mr Compress kicked him. Daily banter trained him with Katsuki who had a tongue as wild and dangerous as his explosion and someone who cracked a bunny joke to Miruko and made her smile before she tried to decapitate him.

"Well, at least we know what you can do if your quirk has problems." Izuku shot back quietly, as all cards seemingly magically came back in his hand. He was perfectly calm as he looked back at Iida. Present Mic did nothing because he was a showman at heart and recognized a good roasting when it was coming.

"What?" The tall glassy examinee was clearly not expecting Izuku to retort… Then again, what did he expect? Someone who was taking the U.A. 's Hero Course exam and doesn't have any self esteem? Izuku had little of it, but he was a master at faking it until he made it.

"Well, you can pull out the stick shoved up your ass and use it as a weapon against the different robots!" Said the green bean with a smile so pure and innocent, that it made what he said even more effective than it should've been.

Katsuki laughed at Izuku, who snapped. It was rare, but it was always funny. Thank god Atsuhiro taught him a few liners to improve his sass. Even Present Mic snorted a bit. However, Izuku was not done.

"Also, if you were kind enough to let the TEACHER who is a PRO HERO finish, that would allow you to still appear smarter. Since the speed of light is faster than sound, you seemed intelligent before opening your mouth." Once again, with that big sunshine smile of his, Izuku finished his attack, leaving a thunderstruck Iida looking like an idiot in front of everyone. Though, to be fair, he brought it upon himself.

"... While his language is quite foul, the green bean is right, examinee 7111. I was going to address that point. The arena traps, also known as the zero pointer. They don't bring points and you should run away from them. We made them to study your situational awareness." Which was something Iida seemingly did not have, as he was redder than a tomato. Maybe his outburst was not his best idea, as he quietly sat back down and avoided eye contact.

Nonetheless, all students went to the exam arena. An immense fake city. Well, cities to be fair, and Izuku sighed as they separated him and Kacchan. Not of sadness to not be with his friend, but of happiness. He knew Katsuki's competitive streak, and Izuku knew that he would doubtless destroy pretty much every robot in his arena. Therefore, being not with him increased his odds significantly.

Not that he was weak either, as he took two 10 from his deck. Yes, his shuffling from earlier was not for nothing, either. Knowing where his cards where was essential for the exam.

Still, our young magician saw "Round face", as Kacchan called her. Sure, he could have actually flipped on his feet, but it had been nice that she helped him. He was about to approach her to wish her good luck, but then…

"I see, you're here to test this girl's concentration power…" Oh goddamnit.

"... No, I just wanted to wish her good luck since she helped me earlier. Dude, I know we're all stressed out, but, stop thinking everyone is out for you. Otherwise, they will be." deadpanned a way too done with him Izuku. Iida did not know what to do or how to answer, since it was that particular moment that Present Mic announced the start of the examination.

The first to bolt was an Izuku who trained for one year with the painball training. Atsuhiro did not give a countdown either for the same reason Present Mic did. Life did not have one.

Still, people were quite surprised by the speed Izuku showed. Once again, painball training. It gave Izuku quite the speed to run away from his bloodthirsty mentor. Yes, he loved his (soon to be) step-father. However, both agreed that during training, they wouldn't let love interfere.

Some people might have wondered why Izuku threw the cards in his hand. Some were expecting an explosion. They definitely did not expect two pillar men rising up in front of Izuku and dismembering three one-pointers in front of him as if they were sheets of papers in a few seconds, and in perfect sync no less.

"WHAT KIND OF RANDOM BULLSHIT QUIRK IS THAT?!"

"NO, THAT IS MY DAD'S QUIRK!"

Answered an Izuku who did not stop running, as others passed in front of him, such as the tall guy. Well, his motor legs were indeed quite useful for that, and Izuku knew he better start hunting down more robots.

A smile appeared on his face. Izuku then ordered his card men to search and destroy robots.

"GO MY PRETTIES. DESTROY THEM ALL!" Uh. Maybe Kacchan was rubbing off him after all. Still, it was going to be fun!

—-

Shinso was not having fun. Robots. Freaking. Robots. How was he supposed to use his quirk to fight for ROBOTS?

Then he saw a burly monster, white as the milk except for the heart on his face with a white ten on it, who just ripped apart a one pointer in front of him.

"HEY THAT WAS MY PREY!"

"Do not care. All for the master…"

Wait. Did that thing/monster answer him? Was it sentient to a small degree?

A smile creeped on Purple hair's face. He reached and used his quirk. The strange monster stood still for a second and Shinso ordered him, with a loud voice so the examiners could hear him.

"DESTROY ALL THE ROBOTS!"

And the thing moved. Sweet. Shindo smiled, and he looked for the green-haired teen. Yes, they split students from the same school so they couldn't work together. However, it was possible for him to hijack a few summons of his, no?

—-

Izuku groaned. He felt when his card men disappeared. Other students destroyed some, making him summon a few others in replacement. He had lost one of the ten and all cards from 2 to 6. What was strange was that one of his cards was still there. He could feel the (small) strain. Moreover, he could feel it working differently from what he ordered. A hijacking quirk? That… was very interesting and Izuku hoped he would meet the guy who did that. However, it was still a strain for him.

So, while Green boi accepted to let the ten alive to help the hijacker… Hey, he could easily understand if the power did not work on robots and with the "no attacking fellow examinees" rule, then that examinee was in trouble… So while he accepted that, he would not sabotage himself for this mysterious student.

All hijacked cards except one disappeared.

Izuku inhaled some fresh air, as a blonde guy winked at him before firing his laser at a robot who was going to attack on Izuku's blind side. Izuku answered by summoning a Knight right behind and smashing a robot, who was silently creeping behind the twinkling student. Both gauged each other… Before nodding and saying nothing else as they went in different directions.

Hum… Izuku racked his brain as he hopped behind his Knight. Yes, he was not summoning anyone else for now, as he rode on the large back of his summon who suspiciously looked like an armored knight from manga, closer to a mech than a human.

Was there more to the exam than just points?

—-

Accidentally, Izuku did''t see it, but Shinsho clearly used the summon he had left to destroy as many robots as he could. More often than not, he naturally did the smart thing, to not let his "slave" get destroyed: he picked almost destroyed or trapped robots. One kid with purple balls on his head was actually yelling, as Shinsho destroyed the fifth robot he had trapped.

—-

In the control room, teachers were looking happily at the situation. Eraserhead was the one to point out Shinso's hijacking. He knew firsthand how the exam was discriminatory against people like them so that the kid turned backed the situation was something he wouldn't let ignored. It was rational to reward being smart.

However, it was time to spice the game.

They let the zero-pointers out. Bets switched between hands. It was time for fun.

And before people asked: They actually unleashed them because they had on hand a janitor with the particular quirk of warping everyone on the verge of being hit by a very tall robot to safety. It was an incredibly specific quirk and Nedzu actually had to find it in Poland. With over 5 billion people, yes, you were bound to find incredibly specific quirks. Still. They were not irresponsible.

The loser would also have to write the name of the janitor: Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz

Well. At least not too much, as the rat god took the bets like the impartial god he was.

—-

"Oh. So this is a zero pointer." Said an Izuku who was way too close to be actually safe from the death robot of doom in front of him. Seriously, where did the U.A. found the budget for those?

—-

Nedzu was meanwhile looking at his benefits from owning part in different stock companies, including some owned by the sentient animals of the Amazonian fauna. Yep, still rich.

—-

Still, Izuku was counting on his hand his points as his knight yeeted him outside of the zero-pointer trajectory. It was time to fold it and stay back and relax.

With an uncanny grace, Izuku landed on his feet. He was right; he was at roughly forty points. It was quite nice. With his written test, Izuku was clearly in the good place to be put in heroics.

Still, he was happy to see he was not the only one out of the way of the robots. He actually landed near an exhausted "Round face".

"Hey! Hello there! Happy to see you! Everything went well on your side?" He asked, this time way chillier than at the entrance. Mainly because he was quite sure to get into U.A.

The girl answered by rising a thumb toward him, still too tired to do anything else. She almost went under some rocks, but a purple-haired dude got her out before anything dangerous happened or she hurt herself. So all in all, she was fine.

"PLEASE SOMEONE! HELP!"

Izuku stopped everything that he was doing, to see who asked for help… While running, without even thinking about it while his Knight just valiantly died to slow less than a second the zero-pointer.

It took ten seconds to see who asked for help. He would have missed the girl who yelled for help if she did not yell again.

Why? Simply because she was invisible. Well, she had a uniform, and it was funny to see a floating uniform who clearly had nice curbs… But it was not the time to think about that.

Also, Izuku groaned when he saw the zero-pointer going toward them. Because, of course, the thing targeted students. Of course.

He ran even faster.

—-

Meanwhile, a young Toru was not believing her eyes. She did great on the exam. Written test? It went as well as she hoped. Good, but not enough. She could completely rely on it.

At first the practical exam looked like it would be her death, but she found a weak point in the robot's armor. So, she took her courage and a heavy lead pipe and ambushed as many robots as she could, especially if other students were in danger. It was an exam, but still! People could get hurt! And it was her time to shine!

Except it went all sideways when the giant robot appeared. At first, she thought she was safe… unless she tripped. Yes. She tripped and then some rubble almost crushed her leg. Almost. Still, she was trapped and all she could do was yell for help…

Except she knew she wouldn't get it. Toru was invisible. Even if someone heard her, who would see the invisible girl?

She could almost cry as she knew her rescues were probably not seen by anyone. She cried when she knew that maybe the teachers would miss her being crushed. She did not want to go out like this! She was still young, she still had so much to do, like hang out with friends and meet with cute boys!

Maybe… Just maybe, the teachers would save her?

—-

"So! Everyone! Time to bet! Will the boy try to save the girl? Run away? Destroy the zero-pointer? TIME TO PLACE YOUR BET!"

Let it be known that Nemuri Kayama put her bet in half as a joke and half because she was a romantic on the last option. She was the only one, as all the other teachers grinned. Aizawa put his bet on running away, as the boy seemed smart and would know when to run. All Might of course put him on trying to save the girl, but the green kid did not have the firepower to destroy a zero-pointer.

—-

"DON'T WORRY. I AM HERE!"

Said an Izuku with his best impersonation of All Might. Which was actually really uncanny and over one teacher looked at All Might with suspicion in their eyes, wondering if that was his love child. All Might quickly denied the possibility, as he never had the time for that.

Still, the girl looked at the boy who was quickly surrounded by three minions who lifted out all the rubble trapping her, as the Zero pointer was raising its foot about them… And her savior (well, he was trying at least) smiled at her.

"Hey, can you grab me before I fall and take me to safety?"

"Uh?"

Then Toru saw Izuku take a card from a deck and yeeting it just below the robot before yelling…

"SIXTEENTH ARCANA!"

The earth started to rumble.

Izuku felt the pressure on his brain, as all the cards he summoned before vanished. He summoned only one arcana before now and it left him pretty sluggish for a few days. He also knew that the exam took a lot of his energy earlier, especially with maintaining the 10 he lent to an unknown student.

Still, the green bean was determined. There was someone behind him. Someone to protect. So, he did the only thing he could as he mustered every ounce of strength he had; the air sparking madly around him.

Toru could even see some blood dripping from his nose.

"PLUUUUS… ULTRA!"

Then, the light went out, and he only sensed something soft catching him instead of the ground.

—-

"The fuck?"

All the teachers were looking at the same screen, not believing their eyes. A Zero-pointer, a machine capable of taking down villains and no student before the second year were supposed to take down as a team and individually in the third, was currently impaled in front of them by what looked like a small Babylonian tower.

The only one not freaking out was Nedzu, sipping his tea as he held out a sheet. Izuku Midoriya. Extremely late-bloomer. Despite his relationship with Atsuhiro Sako, this one assured him the kid was not his biological son. However, he firmly recommended him to Nedzu, promising the boy was fun, despite what his school might say.

The rat was elated. Sure, the boy came recommended, but he wanted to see for himself what he was made of. Smart but heroic. Smiling in front of adversity and… Powerful enough to prove he could own up to his choice. Therefore, Nedzu thoroughly ignored every piece of slander Aldera wrote about Izuku as a scary student capable of blackmailing everyone, including the teachers. Or rather… He read them. He read the incident report and cackled madly.

Oh yes. He was going to have so much fun with this boy.

—-

Then suddenly, All Might. Uh… She did a double check. The one with her was a boy with bushy green hair (she wanted, instinctively, to fluff it) who did an uncanny impersonation of All Might, which stopped her cries.

One moment later, as she also saw the legs falling toward them, the boy seemed confident and asked her to… catch him?

Before she could ask for details, he acted. If she didn't have a front-row seat to this spectacle, she wouldn't have believed it. At first, she had thought her savior could summon beings to help him. Then he just summoned a spike that pierced through and destroyed the robot, saving both of them in the process whilst yelling "PLUS ULTRA".

She had to admit; it was more than impressive, especially as he smiled toward her… Just before falling unconscious. Uh…

At least, her hero of the day was safe in her arms as she began to take him away safety. Hey, he was kind of cute and saved. He deserved a little rest in her arms.

—-

Meanwhile, a certain glasses-wearing student who was seriously thinking that Izuku was crazy or someone who had no place in the U.A.

Then, with everyone else, he saw Izuku rush toward someone crying for help. Cries that were supposedly around the zero pointer. It was probably a trap! After all, Present Mic said it was to evaluate their situational awareness. Therefore, Izuku was definitely going to get him eliminated.

Then he saw a girl with plug-like earphone jacks hanging from each of her earlobes at the end of two thin cords running after him.

"There is actually someone there!"

Iida took a second… And decided to not move. After all, the rules never said they got points for saving people.

… Wait. The rules… Why did he feel like he missed something important?

Then, Present Mic yelled the end of the examination. Oh well. All was going to be well. After all, he did not even need Recovery Girl.

—-

"Uuuuurgh…"

Izuku had the biggest headache he's ever had. It was as if Mr Compress played the saxophone in his brain. Before you asked how Izuku knew how that sounded, Mr Compress described himself as a man of many talents and the saxophone was an excellent way to troll opponents. Also, a very good improvised weapon.

"So, sleeping beauty finally woke up?"

Nice. Izuku knew exactly who was that sarcastic and only could flip him the finger. Once again, Katsuki's laughter resonated in his head.

"Seriously Kacchan. My head hurts a lot." Our hero pleaded meekly to his friend.

"Serve you right, trying to play the hero." Katsuki replied, looking more like a villain than a hero at that moment..

"And what are we going to be?" snapped an Izuku who was still in pain and not opening his eyes.

"Never said you were wrong." Approved Kacchan, but once again without saying the truth. "Though, did you do it because the girl was cute?"

"Don't know. She was invisible but needed help." Said an Izuku who was still collecting everything he could remember… Oh. Right. The robot. "Did I get the robot?"

"... I didn't even try to do something that crazy. And I'm me." Said Katsuki proudly, who prepared a glass of water for his friend. "I'm still going to beat your score. It was still worth 0 points."

"Sure, but we will both know I beat the giant robot~." This once again managed to make Katsuki chuckle.

"Uh… Sorry. Is the green guy awake?" said a girly voice as the door opened to reveal a floating uniform. Katsuki looked at that and made a gesture.

"Hey, guess what Izuku? Apparently, the girl you saved is here." Yes. Katsuki said the name of his friend on purpose in front of the girl.

Toru studied both boys as she advanced in the room and both boys continued to banter.

"Hmm? You sure?"

"Unless they have another girl as invisible as you're dumb, yes." It made the girl laugh bitterly. Yes, she was invisible but saving her was not dumb but incredibly brave.

That is why she stuck her tongue at Katsuki, happy for her quirk. Hey. She was invisible. What was there to lose? It wasn't dangerous after all, and Katsuki seemed like the friendly kind of jerk toward Izuku.

Izuku grumbled as he opened his eyes and just smiled at the girl he managed to help.

"Hi there. I hope everything's alright?"

"Yes. Thank you. I just wanted to say… Hmmm… My name is Toru Hagakure. I wanted to thank you and give you… hmm... my number. You know, so we could tell each other when we get our admission to U.A.? Also, to thank you for saving me when it got dangerous?"

Izuku was at that moment too tired to properly register what happened and he simply nodded before the girl wrote a number on a sheet of paper and then promptly left.

"Don't forget to send a message with your name!"

Katsuki did what every friend should do in such a situation, knowing how Izuku would react if he let him process what happened. He took Izuku's phone and sent the message from it, registering the number under "Toru the cutie". All the while cackling madly. Izuku's face was going to be priceless. Hey, Katsuki was excellent at making things explode and he was proud to include Izuku on the list.

Oh god. He never hoped for everyone to get in the U.A. Not even himself (he knew he would get there). Not even Izuku (that would insult his training). But this girl? If she was there too, as apparently she hoped? Katsuki would have unlimited material for teasing Izuku. So many possibilities…

"Now, you know what is going to be fun?" said a little troll with blond hair. "You're going to have to explain to your mom how you got sent to the infirmary."

Izuku paled significantly as Kacchan helped him to his feet. Was it still too late to get killed by the zero-pointer?