If you were to ask Fukawa Touko what was the worst year of her life, she would probably say this one. It was a living hell. It was already July and there had been no sign of that person. She stared down at her wrist, outlining the red number on it with her finger. Eighteen. That was the age she turned in March. Everyone was born with a number on their wrist. The colors differed depending on the relationships they would have. Red stood for your romantic soulmate, blue stood for something more platonic. There were other colors but Fukawa never found enough interest to look into it. She was focused on her number. She didn't know when she would meet her soulmate, but apparently when she did her chest would glow.

"Fukawa-san, is everything alright?" The voice of Naegi snapped her out of her trance.

"Ah, yeah. I'm fine." She responded.

She suddenly remembered where she was. She was at a cafe with a few of her classmates. Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, Byakuya Togami, Aoi Asahina and Yasuhiro Hagakure were all sitting at the table with her, chatting away mindlessly. She looked over at Naegi and Kirigiri, slightly jealous but who wouldn't be? They were each others soulmates. They found each other when entering Hope's Peak Academy. Many people would consider them very lucky. Of course they weren't the only ones who had found their soulmates. That girl in the next class, Fukawa recalled her name being Mikan, her chest had glowed when meeting Junko Enoshima, however, Fukawa had heard Junko's chest hadn't glowed in return. How unfortunate to have a one-sided soulmate. It was rare for such a thing to happen but Fukawa pitied those who had such a thing and secretly hoped she wouldn't have a one-sided soulmate.

She originally had hoped that Togami would have been her soulmate. In fact, when she turned eighteen she ran straight to him. She was utterly disappointed to discover she wasn't his soulmate or maybe she should have seen it coming.

Fukawa was once again lost in her own thoughts when something Naegi said caught her attention.

"My sister recently turned the age on her wrist." Naegi mentioned.

Asahina perked up, "How old is your sister?"

"She turned seventeen in May. She goes to St. Tomoe Girls' Academy."

"Really?! My little brother goes to the school across the street from that!" Asahina chirped.

"Really? Maybe they know each other." Naegi added.

"Oi! Naegi-chan!" Yuta called out to the girl walking out of school. She departed from her friends after an exchange of good-byes and joined him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Asahina-kun." She said, slightly out of breath.

"There's a new cafe my sister told me about. Wanna check it out?" He asked.

"Sure!"

They began to walk from the school towards the town. For awhile they talked about casual things like how school was, teachers, how much they hated homework. They talked about normal high school things until Yuta addressed something that interested him ever since Komaru told him about it.

"You're seventeen, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?" She responded.

"Shouldn't you be finding your soulmate soon?" He pointed to the number on her wrist.

"I should be." She laughed nervously and held onto her wrist.

She was scared. She's heard stories of people who found their soulmates on the day they turned of age. It's been only a few months since she turned seventeen but she was scared she'd end up alone. Like those heartbroken people that somehow missed their soulmate and never found them. She was scared she'd never find her soulmate. It could also be one-sided. There were so many things she was scared of but her brother had reassured her that she would find her soulmate soon enough. Her brother found his soulmate a couple years ago when he enter Hope's Peak Academy. She thought the title of Ultimate Luck really suited him. She was really happy that her brother had found his soulmate, but she was also undeniably jealous though she tried to suppress it. Though she supposed she should feel lucky too. There were some people that had to wait for fifty years to pass until they found their soulmate. She was supposed to find her's at a young age.

"Naegi-chan, are you okay? You went really quiet." Yuta asked with a concerned look.

"Um, yeah! I'm just thinking, you know?" She hurriedly answered to show she was okay.

"What were you thinking about?" Yuta questioned.

"Ah, well, I'm kind of worried about my soulmate." She informed.

"Why?"

"What if I don't find them?"

"Naegi, I'm sure you'll find them and whoever they are is going to treat you right. If they don't I'm gonna beat them up." He reassured while imitating some martial arts moves he saw on TV.

Komaru laughed at his silliness but also felt a little better. She was glad to have such a good friend like Yuta that was there for her.

Dropping the topic of soulmates, they continued talking about ordinary things as they walked to the cafe.

They entered the cafe, not noticing their siblings due to how absorbed they were in their own conversation. They waited patiently on line.

"I got my teacher so pissed that he ended up chasing me around the track field, but, of course, I out ran him." Yuta said with a cheeky smile.

Komaru gave a fake laugh, feeling bad for the poor teacher.

They continued conversing until their conversation was interrupted.

"Excuse me," A female voice spoke, "Could you hand me those napkins?"

Komaru thought she had recognized the girl from somewhere but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"Sure." She reached for the napkins behind her and turned to the girl to give them to her.

She handed the girl the napkins and for a quick second their hands touched. They stared at each other, a small blush forming on each of their faces. The girl grabbed the napkins and quickly turned her head to the side but didn't walk away.

"Ah, I'm Komaru Naegi." Komaru blurted out. She was just as surprised as the girl was. She had no idea why she suddenly decided to introduce herself but she did.

"Naegi? Must be a coincidence." She muttered under her breath. "I'm Touko Fukawa. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Fukawa-san!" She smiled.

Komaru could see a light shining in the corner of her eyes so she looked down to see if she had gotten a text from one of her friends. She opened the compartment in the bag and tapped the home button of her phone. She had gotten no text messages or any notifications at all. So where is the light coming from?

"Naegi-chan..." Yuta gasped.

She looked down to see it was not her phone, but her chest was glowing. She looked back at the girl she just met a few moments ago. She was staring down at her own chest that was glowing brightly.

"Fukawaaa! What's taking so long to get the napkins?" Asahina called out. She stopped just a few steps away from Fukawa, staring at Komaru who's chest was glowing.

She stood there speechless just like the rest of them. A smile grew on her face and in a seconds notice, she grabbed both Fukawa's and Komaru's wrists. Yuta followed after.

"Guuuyyyyysssss! Guess who found her soulmate!" Asahina announced as she dragged them towards the table.

"Who?" Hagakure asked.

She stopped and pushed the two girls in front of her to show the group sitting at the table.

"It's none other than Fukawa!" She motioned towards them.

Naegi began to choke on his food when looking their way. Kirigiri gave him her water and gently patted his back.

Once able to speak he revealed that Fukawa's soulmate was no stranger. "Komaru?!"

"Big brother?!" She gawked.

Everyone at the table, even Fukawa, simultaneously repeated Komaru.

For a few seconds, everyone was silent.

Naegi spoke up, "See, I told you, you would find your soulmate." He nervously chuckled.

Komaru and Fukawa stared at each other, both dumbfounded by the recent events.

"Ahem," Hagakure began, "I think we should leave Fukawa-chi and Komaru-chi alone for a little."

"I agree." Asahina nodded.

They all got up from the table and grabbed their things. One by one they left the cafe, including Yuta.

Fukawa and Komaru were left alone to their own devices in the cafe. A waitress approached them.

"Sit down, you two. We have a special for newly found soulmates." She led them to a small table by the window for two people.

"Congratulations, you two. Please take as much time as you need to decide what you would like to order and get to know each other." She took a small bow and walked away.