HOHOHO! Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas to you all from your dear Pupla!

I hope everything is okay on your side and that you have good holidays!

Now, I think that you all know that this is your gift for Christmas! I hope you will enjoy it!

There will be some surprise guests for this chapter, and also some original characters as well!

Thank again to KingKimi, doomqwer and wesst1 for the support! Also, the latter's story is pretty good! So keep up the good work!

Anyway, enjoy!

CONQUERING HOPE CHAPTER 5:

A RESERVED PREMISE

"Aaaaw, come on, Nii-san! I wanted to play with you today!"

"Sorry about that, Masaru. But I promised I would be there for my friends today."

"Yeah, you perverted idiot! Didn't you hear what he told us yesterday?!"

"Precisely. And even though his friends can be questionable, I don't see anything wrong with having some time with his friends."

"B-but… I-I know that was decided already, b-but-"

"Don't worry, Jataro-kun! I'm sure Naegi-onii will manage to find time for us tomorrow! Right?"

"Of course I will. Don't worry about anything."

"Yaaay!"

The cheers of joy that followed next made the Luckster smile. As he looked at the five children whose faces were illuminated with happiness, he couldn't help but feel his heart melt…

"Ooooow, Onii-chan is such a cutie when he's like that! You know, you're so easy to compliment!" Komaru teased him with a grin on her face.

"H-hey!"

"Now now, both of you. Don't argue in front of the children. We don't want to show them show the bad example, do we?" the father figure said in an amused way.

"Besides, don't you have your friends coming today, dear?" his mother reminded him.

"Yeah, I was just about to go right now, in fact," Makoto explained, as he was dressing up for their meeting. It was near afternoon, and as the time was approaching, he wanted to make sure not to be late… after all, one of his friends was the Ultimate Gangster's sister. And even though he doubted she would do something to him, knowing her temper… perhaps an accident could happen.

"Hey, don't forget about us, okay?" Masaru pouted in an annoyed way. "We want to spend time with you too, you know!"

"Didn't you hear what he just told us, you idiot?!" Kotoko yelled at her brother in a reprimanding way. "Makoto-nii will not forget about us! Besides, Komaru-nee is taking care of us today! Why would anything go wrong?!"

"Y-yeah! Like she said!" Komaru pouted as well. "Just because I'm not Onii-chan doesn't mean I'm that bad! I don't need him to take care of you well! Girls are better at taking care of kids anyway!"

"Well said!" Monaca supported her. "Don't let Masaru-kun's bad habits get to you!"

"Hey!"

"You asked for this one, Masaru." Nagisa scolded him. "Honestly, I know I keep repeating myself, but you're not making any kind of effort on this. I'm really beginning to think that you love being punished by either Kotoko or Komaru."

"I-I don't! I just do it on purpose just to get on your nerves!" Masaru blushed at the accusation. He then turned towards Jataro. "Come on, tell them Jataro!"

"Uuuum, I-I don't know… you do like you enjoy being grounded-"

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BACK ME UP, TRAITOR!"

"No quarreling in our house, children." Makoto's dad objected, feeling amused at the scene. "Just because we told Makoto and Komaru to behave doesn't mean you have the right to go wild."

"Precisely. Bad behavior will not be welcomed here." his mother scolded them, but with a nice tone. "Makoto will have all the time for you tomorrow." She eyed her son in search of the approval she knew he was about to give her. "Isn't that right?"

"Of course, Okaa-san." Makoto smiled at her. "I wouldn't forget about you guys. And I have nothing to do tomorrow." He then turned towards Komaru and the Warriors of Hope while keeping his smile. "So, how about we spend tomorrow together? We'll go to the city to see if you'd like to buy something, if you'd like."

"YAAAY!"

Most of the kids were overjoyed by hearing this, except Nagisa who simply smiled and Monaca who giggled. "Okay, Naegi-onii! Seems like a nice deal to all of us!"

"And don't think about backing on your promise either!" Komaru chirped in, looking in a determined way at her brother. "I'm going to take care of them like a big sister should, so I expect you to remember what you said, because if you don't I sure will!"

"You won't have to worry about that, Komaru." Makoto laughed at her attitude. "But I have faith in you. Everything is going to be fine with you, I know it." He then smiled like he knew how to do. "You're my sister, after all."

That, of course, made her blush, although everyone here thought it was out of embarrassment. She looked away in an effort to hide it and mumbled. "W-what's the big idea, teasing me like that?! Onii-chan, you big meanie!"

"HA! Revenge, sweet revenge! Nice shot, Nii-san!"

"U-umm, I-I don't think Onii-san meant to do that…"

"Yeah! It's just a compliment! There was nothing behind that comment, pervert!"

"Do you guys even know what this words even mean?"

"None of us really know, Nagisa-kun. And something is telling me that it's better this way."

"Well said, Monaca." His mother joined in. "You're way too young to know that kind of word."

"Besides," the father figure added, "we expect you to be respectable adults in the future, just like your brother and sister. Therefore, we will not tolerate any kind of behavioral gap. Were we clear on that point?"

"YES, OTOU-SAN!"

Makoto only smiled as the kids cheered in their own way, as he took his hoodie and advanced towards the door, before taking a look at his family and saying, "Well, off I go. Have a nice day, everyone!"

"Bye, dear! Have a nice day too!"

"And don't forget to watch your

"Bye, Onii-chan!"

"BYE!"

And after those words, he opened the door-

"Ah, you're here. We were about to ring to your door, Naegi-kun."

And what greeted him were his three friends from the Reserve Course, Hajime, Natsumi and Mikasa Satou, with the tall boy who was smiling down at him. If his usual clothes seemed pretty average, the two girls, on the other hand, were wearing a different type of clothes.

Natsumi was wearing a black and white checked vest, with a black line forming white squares. Under that vest looked like a white shirt, very similar to the one she wears when she attends classes. She also had a dark blue jean with a white belt.

Mikasa, on the other hand, was less intimidating, or at least, that's apparently how her… classmate wanted to look like. Her skirt looked like Natsumi, except that for one, it had three colors - dark blue, white and red - and for two, the dark blue lines also had the white between them, meaning that the squares were smaller. Finally, she had a green khaki skirt.

The first thing Makoto did was of course to greet them. "Ah, hey guys!"

But not everyone decided to follow that kind of logic, as Natsumi smirked. "A respectable adult, uh? Should have expected this kind of comment."

"U-uh?"

"Hey! That's the first time you see him in the day, and you tell him that?!" Mikasa was very quick to react. "The least you could have done was simply greet him back!"

"Oi, give me a break already!" Natsumi answered with a defensive tone. "It's not like I insulted him or any shit like that! What, since when joking around is forbidden, uh?!"

"Here we go again…" Hajime sighed in defeat.

"I-I suppose we can't help it…" Makoto sweatdropped at the scene, closing the door behind him. Luckily for them, none of the girls could hear them as they were too focused on each other. It seemed like despite things being a little smoother between the two, some hostility was still present, even if it's nothing compared to the past.

Then, he realized something. "Hey, Hinata-kun…"

"Yeah?"

"Kuzuryu-san and Sato-san mentioned that you've heard what happened at my house," he explained with a nervous smile. "…for how long were you here?"

That comment made the two girls stop in their argument, as they watch Hajime with a cautious eye, who also started to sweat a little. "U-ummm, I'd say around two minutes… I think? I-I wanted to knock right away, but the girls wouldn't want to enter because-"

"H-HEY!"

"Hinata, you fucking traitor!"

The two girls shouting at the taller boy made them flinch, as the concerned boy has to defend himself. "What?! I haven't said anything yet!"

"But you were about to!" Mikasa reprimanded him. "I can't believe you would actually do that!"

"You just wouldn't make a move!" Hajime seemed annoyed at the situation. "Seriously, I don't why you're harassing me for something that you wouldn't want to do!?"

Mikasa only pouted and turned away. "W-well, we just wanted to prepare ourselves, that's all!"

"You seemed to enjoy listening through the walls."

She looked red with embarrassment and anger as she turned towards the one who said that. "KUZURYUU!"

"What? I'm just stating facts here." The Gangster's little sister gave her a smug look. "Come on, Satou. There's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Everyone can be curious at times."

"Uuum, yeah, there's no big dea-"

"Oh yeah?!" Mikasa completely ignored Makoto's comment, and decided to give her classmate a taste of her own medicine and smirked. "Aren't you the one who said that he looked cu-"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUUP!" Now it was Natsumi's turn to be embarrassed, and she was not pleased. "Who the fuck do you think you are, claiming some stupid bullshit like that?!"

"Uh? I don't understand." Mikasa faked to be surprised, and gave her an amused look. "What happened to the 'don't be ashamed' thing?"

"I'm really going to kill you one day, you bi-"

"GUYS!"

The two girls looked at the two boys and shouted, "WHAT?!"

"You're beginning to draw attention to yourselves, girls." Hajime told them, looking amused by their behavior. And sure, when they looked around, one or two people were giving them an odd look.

Natsumi was the first one to react, by grumbling, "N-not our fault, damn it…"

"And Naegi-kun also had an idea about where to hang out, too."

That seemed to relieve the tension a little as both girls stared at Makoto and Mikasa asked, "Uh? What is it?"

"W-well, I thought about a room that I saw yesterday," Makoto began to explain. "Ichino-kun showed me a room that was made not too long ago in the Main Building, and it's an orchestra!" He was smiling happily at the memory. "The room was amazing… I'm telling you, Ichino-kun's family made a really good job there."

Everyone listened closely and smiled at his attitude, but Natsumi was not really sharing their emotions. "So? What's your point?"

"Well, I was thinking about going to some sort of musical shop, so you would have an idea of what I'm talking about!" Makoto beamed. "Besides, we don't have any idea about where to go, right?"

The group looked at each other, then Hajime decided to speak for the group. "Well, okay then! Doesn't seems like a bad idea."

"Yeah! I mean, it does make us see some things!" Mikasa was quick to follow. "Besides, Mioda-san did mention that she was a musician, so why not?"

Natsumi was the last one to answer, with a simple, "…fine. As long as we're moving, I'm not against it."

"Well, here we go then!" Makoto cheered. "And that's good! Mioda-senpai did mention a street that is dedicated to music!"

"Really? Well, let's go!"

And with that, the group left the place, leaving the house behind… ignoring that the door was slightly open the whole time. And of course, those inside have heard everything.

"Aaaah… Makoto sure has noisy friends…"

"I guess there is nothing we can do about it. And I don't think there' anything to worry about, either."

"I sure hope so, Otoo-san… Onii-chan just keeps being in trouble despite him not wanting to. I hope everything will be okay with them…"

"Wow… just look at this place!"

"You said it, Naegi-kun. It's pretty impressive!"

"There so many things to see in this parc!"

"I've gotta hand it to you, it really is a sight… I guess."

The four young people descended from the bus which guided them to their destination: a park that was entirely dedicated to music itself. Really. Every place was a reference to a musician, a singer or a composer, of every kind… even there were mostly classical music references. It did not seem to perturb its popularity, however, as many people were actually going to their own things. And it formed a crow impressive enough, to say the least. Well, not as impressive as in a real crossroads, but there was still enough large amount of people.

Makoto examined the park, looking for what he wanted to show them, then spotted a particular shop. "Ah! There it is!"

"Uh?" Hajime was the first one to react. "You already found it?"

"I saw the name on many of the instruments in the room," Makoto explained to his friends. "See the shop at the opposite side of our pavement?"

His friends paid attention were they were supposed to, and Mikasa was the one who spoke first. "'Alpha-Bet Store'? Is that another reference?"

"Probably. I wanted to check on that store, since it was probably when did all of the instruments came from. So I've made some research, and… well, I think you figured out!"

"So you want us to go in there to check it out?" Natsumi concluded. She then eyed the store with a neutral look. "Hmpf. Since we're here, might as well try to enjoy it."

So they waited for the traffic light to go in their favor, and once it did, it was just a matter of seconds before they were before the door. The shop did seem pretty big, in fact, it was probably one of the biggest building in the whole park. Fortunately, there were only a few people just in front of it, observing the instruments, and the group joined the people. Through the entrance window, they could see many instruments, and mostly rock-relied instruments. Guitar, bass, drums… the selection was large. And that is only what they could see outside.

"Just look at all of those instruments!" Makoto beamed. "No wonder how Ichino-kun managed to find all of these!"

Hajime could not help but chuckle at his friend's amazement. "What, you mean to tell me there's that many?"

"Yeah! I can't wait for you guys to see it!" The Luckster continued in his joy. "He really put a lot of effort in this, you know!"

"You're talking as if he was the only one who made the room." Natsumi commented.

"Uh? R-really?"

The comment was enough to disturb Makoto in his confidence, and of course, to make Mikasa reprimand her yet again. "Come on, Natsumi! Don't be like that!"

"Relax, I was only messing with him." The Gangster's little sister reassured with a little smile. "I got what he was trying to say, Satou. You should know that I'm not that cruel."

That seemed to reassure Makoto. "O-oh, of course not! Hehe…"

"But I would like to enter. You know, to have a closer and better look." Natsumi continued, looking at him, still in a neutral way. "Besides, that's why we're here, right?"

"O-oh, right!" That made him stop his awkward laugh. "Let's enter!" And so, the Luckster took the handle, and opened the store along with his friends.

CLINGING!

They were greeted by the bell's sound, and one heck of a sigh, as Makoto let out a sigh of amazement. "Wow…"

Now he could understand why the shop was so huge. It didn't look like a shop at all, it seemed like… a library. A library of music. With many themes of music. Just by the looks of it, the small group of friends could feel that the owners had a very deep knowledge in this field, and they could easily imagine that if someone was to doubt it, they would have plenty of proof to dissuade all of them… and they did not examine the 'store' yet.

Hajime was quick to follow Makoto's simple statement. "You said it. Man, and they call this a store?!"

"This place is so huge!" Mikasa could only be amazed at the sight in front of her. "And just… look at everything they have here! Is there even an end?!"

Even Natsumi could not hide her true feelings. "Well, this is one heck of a building, that for sure." She then regained her usual composure. "But hey, it's pretty normal when you're an Ultimate, ya know? I mean, this Ichino dude is an Ultimate Musician, or something like that, right?"

Makoto looked at her a little surprised, for he was not expecting that kind of answer. Then, he told her, "W-well, yeah… he's the Ultimate Rock Star, so-"

"There. It's not really surprising anymore."

The Luckster was even more shocked at her quick answer… mostly because of the tone. She seemed more… frustrated. "K-Kuzuryu-san?"

"Hey, is everything okay?" Hajime decided to land him some help and approached the Gangster's little sister. "You don't seem to-"

"I'm fine." Natsumi was quick to answer again, before turning her back on them and going in on of the shelves of the store. "I'm gonna see if something interest me here. You know, for passing time and shit like that."

And with that, she left the three of them, who were pretty surprised to see her like that. Makoto was the first one to react. "What… what happened?"

"I honestly have no idea." Hajime was the first to talk. "She wasn't like that yesterday... heck, she wasn't like that the whole week!" He sweatdropped a little. "W-well, she was a little on the edge, maybe, but not like that!"

"Uh? Really?" Makoto was surprised. She was on the edge? Well, Natsumi was the type of girl that could explode at any moment or bad comment, that, he saw more than once, but… was something bothering her this whole time?

"Don't worry, I'm gonna see if she's alright." Hajime tried to reassure them. "I'll call you if I need help, okay?"

"A-alright, Hinata-kun." Makoto was quick to answer in a worried way. "J-just be careful, okay?"

"Right." Hajime then decided to follow her steps, leaving the Luckster and Mikasa alone… with the latter a little sadder about what happened.

She sighed at seeing this. "Is she… still sad about this?"

"Uh?"

"You know, I didn't want to talk about this at first, because I thought I wouldn't have to, and I didn't want to ruin the mood, but…" she explained while keeping her sad face and showing it to the Luckster. "I think she still feels insecure about entering the school."

That of course saddened him. "O-oh…"

"I-I don't mean anything by it!" she was quick to say. "B-but… it's not like I blame her either. I mean, it's the third year that we're in the school, you know." She looked to the side. "If you exclude what's going to happen next week, well… there was no real sign of the school considering our existence… o-or at least, that's how some of us feel."

Makoto looked at her in a sympathetic way. "So… are you feeling insecure about your… lack of talent as well?"

The girl looked at her in surprise. Then, she spoke again. "W-well, I don't know if you remember, but… I've been practicing for archery since… one year, if I'm not mistaken. You know, in order to… release pressure and stress…"

"Y-yeah…" Makoto sweatdropped. "Koizumi-san and Gekkogahara-senpai told me about that…"

"A-and, well, it's not like I want to stop immediately! I-it would be disrespectful not only to myself, but also to all of the people who supported me and who still do!" She tries to look determined, but it didn't last long. "I-it's just… what if despite all of those efforts, I can't get… closer to Mahiru and the others?"

That shocked Makoto greatly. "You mean… as in physically?"

"I want to be here to support her when she needs it the most. Well, as much as I can anyway. Imagine all the things that could happen if I'm not present…" She explained, before eyeing him in a reassuring way. "N-not like you're not helping things out, I swear! Y-you even watched over here when I couldn't, and I'm still grateful to that! Honestly!"

"I-it's fine, Satou-san!" The Luckster tried to reassure her. "I-I mean, I consider myself as a friend of her, so it's normal for me to lend a hand when she's not okay!"

"And I'm still very grateful for that, Naegi-kun." Misaki forgot her sadness for a little moment to smile at him. "Mahiru told me what you did for her last year… and it's something that I would have loved to see myself. You're important for her, you know? And… I guess that you are also important to me too."

Makoto only stared at her. "S-Satou-san…"

"A-and I guess… that's also why I want to be with her."

"Uh?"

"I-I mean, like you said! Physically here!" Misaki corrected herself quickly, looking embarrassed at what she just confessed. "The barriers within the schools are… a nuisance, if I were to be honest with you…"

"YeahI can understand." Makoto told her. "Kuzuryu-san has the same problem with her brother."

"I-I guess… that make us another common point." Mikasa looked away. "Both of us are really determined to join those we care about… even if it means… hurting… someone…"

She slowly stopped herself, making the room completely silent, as Makoto only coughed because of the awkwardness of the moment. He didn't need to speak to understand what she was thinking. Clearly, the memories of what happened last year were coming back in her head… and it wasn't good memories for her.

Makoto couldn't blame her. He still remembered it as well.

Being hurt by one of his senior's friends wasn't something he wanted to tell Mahiru for sure.

She seemed like a nice girl too, after all, although she seemed very protective of her… perhaps even a little too much.

Which means he should have known an argument between her and Natsumi would go too far one day.

Even though the two didn't like each other, and even if Natsumi didn't like Mahiru… that was no reason for Mikasa to try to attack her.

Thankfully for everyone, they were both saved. And he was glad to try to listen to them with the assistance of Miaya.

The recovery road was a little rough, though. Both girls wouldn't talk to each other for a while… and they were also avoiding their loved one.

But thankfully, the two managed to bring them on their feet yet again. All thanks to him. Something she was grateful for.

Though, the scar it left was still heavily present in their minds…

And Mikasa's next words affirmed that. "I-I'm sorry… I guess I'm being… weird again… aren't I?"

"S-Satou-san…"

"Aaaaw, way to ruin the mood, you two! I thought this was going to be a little more intimate than that!"

The two blinked in surprise, before Mikasa reacted violently and turned over the new and unfamiliar voice. "KYAAAA?! W-who are you?! A-and what do you think you're doing here?!"

"Well, I'm spying on you, of course! But then you had of course to bring some depressive stuff! How am I going to impress him if I talk like a little girl who've lost her dog?!"

Makoto widened his eyes in shock, for he recognized the voice AND the girl who was in front of him. She had shoulder length chestnut brown hair, part of which is held up by a black ribbon with white lace. Her eyes are a pale shade of yellow. She was wearing what seems to be a high school girls' sailor uniform.

Mikasa who didn't know about her was almost shouting at this point. "Y-you mean to tell me you don't care about our PRIVACY?! We were talking about something important here!"

"N-Nakajima-san?"

That got everyone's attention. "Uh? Naegi-kun, you know her?!"

"Ooooh? I didn't think you would recognize me, you know!" The girl said, looking intrigued. "I mean, we haven't met much, so I guess you've got a good memory here!"

"T-thanks, I guess..." Makoto sweatdropped at her remark, then turned towards his friend. "Satou-san, this is a cousin of one of my classmate. She's-"

"HEY! I can introduce myself, no need to do that for me!"

"S-sorry, hehe…" Makoto apologized at the girl's antics, but couldn't help but laugh at her pouting face. He then regained some of his composure and said, "There, go on."

"Right!" She then faced Misaki with a confident look, and said proudly, "My name is Nakajima Kanon, the Ultimate Baseball Team Manager! Nice to meet you!"

That shocked the green-haired girl greatly. "Uh? You mean to tell me you're attending Hope's Peak Academy?! As in, inside of the Main Course!"

"Nope!"

"…uh?"

"Got you here!" Kanon smiled at her childishly. "That's just a title I came up with some time ago!"

Instantly, the amazement disappeared in Sato's eyes. "…oh. I-I see…"

"My Leon-chan was selected to be the Ultimate Baseball Star, and I wanted to be on the same level as him to impress him…" Kanon explained, completely ignoring the other girl's reaction. "So, I had the brilliant idea of sharing an Ultimate title, just like him!"

Mikasa eyed her with an odd look. "Uh? You mean you wanted to be closer to your… cousin, if I'm not mistaken?"

"She is quite skilled about establishing a strategy for her team, you know," Makoto explained to her. "She can lead analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the other team, and use that to her advantage by using her best teammates." He then offered a friendly smile to her. "You're a good leader. At least, that's what Kuwata-kun told me."

That was true, Kanon was a very good asset to Leon's team.

What he didn't say however, was the fact that she was a very… bizarre person. A little pervert, to be honest.

And he didn't dare to mention the extent of the relationship she had with Leon.

Damn, that would be so awkward…

That made the girl blush. Mikasa eyed him in a suspicious way, "Uuum, Naegi-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you just-"

"KYAAAA!" a scream of happiness erupted suddenly in the room. "Leon-chan said something good about me!"

That was not what expected Misaki. "W-what?!"

"Aaaah, I feel like I'm closer to my goal!" the Baseball Manager mused to herself. "And I think that going here was a perfect idea too! I can't wait to show my Leon-chan those photos about the gift I'll give him! He'll fall for me for sure!"

Mikasa did not understand what was going on. "Uh?!"

But Makoto did. "Uuuum, I think he already-"

"Pff, I can't help but think that would have been so much better if he was with me!" she suddenly pouted quickly, as if she wasn't happy at all. "I thought that the dude who was playing was him, but it was just another punk moron! Those two newcomers won't understand what will hit them!"

That got Makoto's attention. "Uh? Are you talking about our friends? A blonde girl and a tall boy with an ahoge?"

"Yeah! The girl looked pretty upset, by the way." Kanon added with a neutral tone. "The other dude seemed pretty scared about his own skin right now."

"T-thank you for telling us! W-we'll go check on them right now!" Mikasa told her, then eyed Makoto, "Where is the room?"

"At the bottom of the corridor at your left, just at the end of the store." Kanon pointed out the direction they had to take. "But let me warn you, the dude who is already playing are, like, super loud! He plays the guitar as if… as if he was possessed! And the one who's with him doesn't seem to be worried!"

That startled Makoto. "P-possessed?"

Just when he said that word, the sound of an electric guitar could be heard. It wasn't that loud, it was still impressive enough.

"Ah! Speak of the devil…"

"T-thanks, Nakajima-san! W-we should get going now!" He bowed slightly and said, "I hope everything will be okay on your side!", before turning towards his other friend and told her, "Let's go then!"

"R-right!"

The two then followed the instructions which were given to them, leaving the Baseball Manager to her own things.

"Man, that girl sure is impolite! She didn't even tell me who she was!" she pouted, before shrugging. "Oh well. At least that guy was nice enough… nothing compared to my Leon-chan, of course!" she squealed. "So, now with the plan…"

"Ah! Naegi-kun! Satou-san! There you two are!"

"Is everything okay with you two? We were starting to get worried."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, whatever…"

"…she doesn't look okay to me…"

Thankfully, only the two boys have heard this statement. The loud music that was played right now was more than enough to cover up their conversation.

They decided to take a look at who was playing, and averted their gazes towards the stage. Four players could be seen, one with the electric guitar, one with the bass, one with the drums, and a final one who was playing the synthesizer.

And that was a young girl who was occupying the post, and who looked pretty cute, if Makoto were to be honest. Perhaps she was the youngest of the group, he wondered. She had average, light-blue hair, with them long enough to hide one of her purple eyes. She was wearing a black wrap around and a dark-blue jean. Around her neck was hanging a Christian cross, and her shoes were red spike heels.

The second one, the one who was playing bass, seemed to be the oldest of the bunch. He had light-green hair, which almost looked like vines, if it wasn't for the shortness. He also had yellow eyes, and some beard around his neck and mouth and on his chin. He was wearing light-blue jeans, brown shoes and a dark-blue hoodie with a logo which was representing a snake coiling to a tree and devouring an apple. Beneath that tree was written 'Make a choice, and assume the consequences'. Quite a message…

The third one was a boy which seemed to be at least as old as Natsumi. He was a blonde with very short, spiky blond hair that went towards his back. He was wearing a pair of round black glasses which were representing his green eyes, a brown skirt and a black jean and shoes. He also had a piercing over the left side of his mouth.

The one who was holding the electric guitar was… very eccentric to say the least. Of all of those on the stage, he was even the wildest, both in appearance and behavior, for he was probably the one who was more in the "trance" than the others. He had short, dark-blue, spiky but wrapped hair, which appearance was close to those of Mondo… except that the spikes were showing up on the sides of the 'drill looking' style. Not to mention, only the hair of the center were forming that style, the hair on the sides was much longer. He had purple eyes, with grey stars around them. He was wearing a dark-blue jacket which showed his white skirt at the level of his torso, and he also had two spiked shoulder armors. His blue jean was reaped at some parts, letting some parts of his hairy legs, and he was also wearing blue sneakers.

All of them combined were playing a song that was probably original, since nor Makoto or his friends recognized it… and it was pretty hard too, considering the guitar player who slowly seemed to do his own thing, leaving the group behind… something that Makoto decided to take advantage of to approach Natsumi. "Uuum, that's a pretty wild guy right there…"

"He did this the whole time." She simply said, not looking at him. "But yeah, he's going even wilder. Another freak show, I tell ya."

"Oh…" Makoto simply said. "B-but-"

"HELL YEEEAAAAAHHH!"

Makoto could not even finish his sentence, as he almost jumped from his position, as everyone else did. The guitarist was now playing what was apparently the last notes of the song like a madman, much to everyone's surprise. Even the other players had to stop what they were doing… especially the green-haired guy.

"Oi, cut it out! You're doing everything wrong now!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, MAN! I CAN FEEL IT, SO DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE STOP ME NOW!"

"Is he… is he always like that?!"

"*sigh* Yeah, he is. Hold on, I'll be right back."

Makoto was the first one to react to those words, as he said, "I-I think I'm going to help them."

"I-I'll go with you! This guy seems completely insane!" Mikasa was quick to follow him towards the scene.

Hajime eyed Natsumi and asked, "You wanna go with us?"

"…fine. Might as well see what the fuck is going on with the freak." She finally said with a grumpy voice, joining the three others towards the stage… were the argument escalated quickly, as the shoutings suggested.

"There's no way I'm letting you wreck my family's store!" the green hair guy said, irritated by the guitarist's behavior. "Really, what's wrong with you?!"

"EVERYTHING IS FUCKING WRONG!" he kept shouting in the same wild way. "AND THAT'S HOW THE FUCK IT SHOU-"

GULP!

The blue haired buy stopped right in his tracks, as the blonde guy shoved something in his mouth, to which the guitarist was responding by more grumblings… which slowly became quieter.

"Theeere, ya big beast." the blonde guy mused. "Now keep quiet for a fuckin minute, will ya?"

RUUUF!

The snore that followed after was enough of an answer for him. "Good."

"Uh?" The girl was probably the most shocked of all. "W-what happened?"

The older boy was also surprised. "Ya gave him some drug or some shit like that? Not like I blame you or anything, the dude was starting to get on my nerves. But-"

"Uuum, hello? Is everything okay over there?"

The four persons turned to see four young people advancing towards them, with Makoto leading them. The girl was the first one to react by smiling awkwardly at them. "O-oh! Hello there! Sorry if we couldn't be here at the main entrance, but we were requested to… assist those two here." she finished by showing them the blonde and blue-haired guy.

"Yeah, we've seen that," Hajime replied with the same tone. "That was some… show you gave us."

"Well, I'm just happy that didn't end up in some kind of demolition session, ya know." The older guy scoffed and turned over the blonde guy. "Seriously, your brother is really a wild card. What did you give him?"

"Oh, nothin' much!" he answered, giving him his hand and opening it. "Take a look."

The persons around him looked at his palm, and saw… honey candies.

Mikasa was the first one to react, and she could not believe it. "Wha… you gave him those?!"

"He always calms down for a bit when I give him one," he said while adjusting his glasses. "It's basically the only way to stop him without punching him, and he's got a heck of a tendency about bursting out his fury every fuckin' time, so I always have some in my jacket."

Natsumi was almost amused by this. "Tch! Was his mom a bear or somethin'?"

The others looked at her in a surprised way, with Misaki scolding her first. "Natsumi!"

But the blonde boy was very calm when he answered back. "First off, fuck you."

"What?!"

"And second, everyone has their methods about calming down," he added while turning his back to her, joining his brother, "so I don't see why the hell you would have the right to open your mouth like that, girly."

This time, the Yakuza's little sister reacted in a very violent way. "The fuck you said?! Do you know who I am?! I could kill you right here, and right now, you little SHIT!"

And she was really ready to throw herself if it wasn't for Hajime and Mikasa restraining her. "K-Kuzuryu-san! Please calm down!"

"We-we don't want any trouble!"

"Oi, back off, you idiots!" she was yelling at this point. "Why won't you let me kick his ass?!"

As he watched his friends struggling, Makoto was approached by the two owners. The boy asked him in a suspicious way. "Hey, those three are your friends? If so, I'll ask you not to let them causing any ruckus in our shop, 'kay? We've got enough trouble with those two already."

"Y-yeah, b-but it's not like you seems to be a troublemaker or anything! Heck, you look pretty nice!" the girl tried to reassure him, before explaining herself. "It's just that… we're taking care of the store since there's nobody left. Sousuke-nii had to attend school, so-"

Now Makoto decided to react. "Ooooh, so you two are Ichino-kun's siblings, right?"

That surprised them greatly, as they widened their eyes in shock. "Uh? You know our brother?"

"Well, I attend the same school as him, so we encountered some time," Makoto explained to them. "We're not one the same class, though."

"Oh! Okay then!" the girl cheered. "So you are one of his friends?"

"I-I guess so," Makoto answered, getting a little overwhelmed by her aura. "W-we're not in the same class, though. We've just met when I was working with the school's Therapist."

The older boy looked at him in an odd way. "The school's Therapist, you say? Wait a minute…" Then, the older boy widened his eyes in shock. "Hey! You mean you're that little guy he talked about!"

"Uh?"

"Oooooh yeah! He did mention you once or twice!" The girl beamed with happiness, suddenly getting what her sibling was saying. "He was talking about a short, average looking, ahoge guy who was nice to everyone in the school. That must be you!"

"Eeeerm, sure, I guess you're right, hehe…" Makoto laughed nervously again as he heard the description.

"OI! What about us, uh?!"

The three turned to see Natsumi who was still restrained by the two others, but was eyeing the owners with an irritated expression. "You really think you can ignore us like that, uh?! The least you could do is to introduce yourselves, you assholes!"

"Natsumi, please don't be like that!"

"You're overreacting, Kuzuryu-san! Don't do anything reckless in the store, please!"

The two friends behind her were obviously scared about the situation, and fearing that letting her go would only make things worse. Makoto tried to rectify things. "Uuuurm, don't worry. She-she doesn't mean what she just said."

"YES I FUCKING DO!"

"What you were saying?" The older boy said with a face which said 'What the fuck is wrong with this chick?!'

But the young girl tried at least to be polite and turned over her brother. "W-well, she's right, you know, so… yeah! Let's just do that!" She then turned over the three others and smiled at them. "My name is Ichino Oharu, and I'm one of the workers of the Alpha-Bet's Store! A pleasure to meet you all!"

Everyone was a little stunned by her happy demeanor. Even Natsumi calmed down after the introduction, if only a little. Mikasa was the one who voiced their thoughts. "Wow… you really look full of… I don't know, positive energy!"

"Hehe, thanks!"

"It's my sister you're talking about. One of the happiest goofball you'll ever come across."

"Y-YOSHIDA-NII!"

"That's my name indeed. Ichino Yoshida, another worker here." The boy winked at his embarrassed sister with a grin while she was pouting at him. "You didn't need to introduce me, ya know. I could have done that on my own."

"WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME?!"

Everyone sweatdropped at the scene, and this time, Hajime was the one who spoke for them, except that this time, he looked at Makoto. "Wow. Is that sibling's love?"

"I-I guess…" he answered, sweat dropping again at the scene. "M-my sister and I have some quarreling too, so…"

"Tch! I would have killed my brother if he had tried something like that." Natsumi said, a little calmer now, but who still looked mad.

"Wow. And they say we hate each other's guts."

"HELL YEAH! This chick right there is completely nuts!"

Everyone turned towards the two boys, with the blonde boy who had put his cloth, with beige fur at the level of his hood, and who had a tiger stripes pattern. "The name's Monzaemon Sasuke! Ya could say that I'm the businessman in my group, the Monzaemon Kids! I would say it's good to see ya all, but then I might regret sayin' that later!"

Everyone was silent at his introduction. Hajime was the one who speaks first again. "…wow. You guys even have a group name? Way to have a good impression."

"What can I say?" He gave them a smug look. "I always like to leave a mark on losers that I meet for the first time."

Natsumi was of course not pleased. "The fuck you said again?! You really want me to kill you that much?!"

But thankfully, Hajime and Mikasa were still here to stop her in case. "D-don't fall into his trap, Natsumi! He's only provocating you!"

"And she's fallin' for it pretty easily! BAH! Way too easy, man!" The rocker joined his brother. "Are all chicks are like-"

"More introducing, less barking, man." Sasuke said in an annoyed voice. "I've got enough headaches from all of that shouting today. And that girl seems pissed enough. Don't overdo it again."

"Party pooper!" He barked, then turned his attention towards the group. "Fine then! The name's Monzaemon Kitahachi, but I prefer to be called by my surname, Monokid!" He exclaimed, posing wildly in the process. "I'm a messenger from hell, from the depths of hell, here to drag you all to hell, with my hellish ROCK!"

This time, he left an impressive first impression, and Mikasa was the one who voiced everyone's thoughts. "Wow. You really are the wild one of the group, aren't you?"

"That's for sure. I think you all noticed that." Yoshida added. "That kid is probably taking on drugs or something."

Makoto was not that impressed, on the other hand… considering his past experience, so he turned towards Yoshida and said, "W-well, I think that's to be expected… but aren't you exaggerating a little?"

That got Kitahachi's attention, much to his anger. "Uuurm?! What da ya mean by that, little freak, uh?! Ya mean ta tell me ya're not impressed?! Uh?! Is that fucking it?!"

"W-what? I-I wasn't even-"

"And who do you think you are to talk to me like that, uh?!" Monokid barked even more, interrupting the Luckster. "Tell me ya're name already, ya bastard!"

That tone of course only contributed to the Gangster's little sister's anger, who barked even more. "OI! Leave him the fuck alone, jackass!"

But only this time, only Hajime was holding her, since Mikasa also decided to join her, though she had enough control not to launch herself at him. "Who do you think you are, trying to intimidate our friend like that, uh?!"

"Y-you two, please control yourself a little-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned towards the little shouting voice, who belonged to a fuming Oharu. "We already had a session with mister Rockstar over here, and we won't stand any other sign of violence in our shop! Was I clear to everyone?!"

Her personality shift as very impressive, to say the least. She was able to switch from an upbeat attitude to a fuming one within seconds, and that was enough to make everyone stop.

Yoshida was the first one to react. "He. You all really pushed her buttons this time. She's a happy-go-lucky most of the time, but when triggered… you better scram the fuck away from her."

"AND DON'T START WITH YOUR REMARKS!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." He shrugged her anger off, turning his attention to the group of newcomers and asking them, "So, who are you guys? I think it's your turn to introduce yourselves."

Makoto was the first one to react. "O-oh right! As you probably already know, my name is Naegi Makoto. I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student of class 78-B."

"Yeah, Sousuke told us about that." the older boy said. "Well, at least I think so."

"I thought you weren't even listening!" the girl reprimanded him. "You're always in your own little world when we talk!"

"Then that means I'm more attentive than you are, considering that you didn't recognize him either."

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH IT?!"

"Nothing." He teased, before turning towards the four, completely ignoring his pouting sister. "So, we know about the lucky guy. How about you three?"

"O-oh! R-right, please forgive us!" Mikasa was the first one to speak."My name is Satou Mikasa. A pleasure to meet you all!"

"Satou, you say?" Oharu said, tilting her head to the left side. "That's a pretty popular name, you know?"

"Y-yes, I suppose…" she giggled awkwardly. "B-but that's not that important, really!" She then turned towards her other friends and told them, "Come on, guys! Introduce yourselves already!"

"Y-you don't need to tell us that…" Hajime sweatdropped at her, before presenting himself to everyone. "I'm Hinata Hajime. It's nice to meet you all… I think."

Again, the girl tilted her head, this time on the right side. "Uuum? You think?"

"Probably referring to our two players here." Yoshida added, smirking at the taller ahoge boy. "Not gonna blame you, though."

"We're used to it anyway." Sasuke shrugged. "Heck, we've been expecting that reaction."

"We love to be on everyone's spines!" Kitahachi yelled with pride! "That's what we are! The meanest, nastiest, cruelest guys around!"

"Really? Then you wanna know who you're talking too?" Natsumi approached them with a smug look "I'm Kuzuryu Natsumi. The Ultimate Little Sister."

That got everyone's attention, with Yoshida speaking first. "Kuzuryu? As in, the Kuzuryuu Clan?"

"Yup."

That impressed Oharu, but in a good way. "Oooooh! A yakuza relative is here!"

"Wait a minute…" Yoshida started to realize. "So that's why your friend called you with this name earlier!"

"Right! I remember her saying her name! But that's so cool!"

She seemed prideful at this. "Eh! I know, right?"

"So? What's the deal?"

That pride was short-lived, as the blonde girl stared at Sasuke, in an annoyed way. "Uh? What do you mean by that?"

"So the reason why you're so proud of yourself is that because you're a part of a family of big, bad guys?" he was beginning to mock her. "Well, it takes little to be happy for you, uh?"

That answer really angered her. "What?!"

"What's yar purpose in it, uh?!" Kitahachi joined his brother. "Don't tell me ya're just a blonde chick who only barks to impress others, 'cause it ain't workin' on any of us!"

"So fucking what, uh?!" She yelled in anger. "Who do you think you are, morons?!"

"K-Kuzuryu-san, please calm down!" Makoto joined Hajime in calming her down, with little to no success. "We-we don't want any trouble!"

"Y-yeah! Don't give in, that's what they want!"

"Then makes them fuckin' stop!" she yelled back. "Why the hell should I shut up when they can bark whatever shit they want?!"

"Y-you are not really listening…" Mikasa said with a sigh, then turned over the two boys with a serious and unhappy face. "But she's right. Why are you telling us all of that? Don't you know how to say things by any other way than by provocation?!"

"He, it's what we do best, ya know?" The guitarist mocked again. "To mess with everyone that we consider lower than us 'cause-"

"So that's fucking it, uh?"

Everyone stayed silent at Natsumi's comment, who was now looking at them furiously. "Because you have some kind of talent, you've got the right to look down on us, uh?!"

Makoto then widened his eyes in shock. So Misaki's theory was right after all. "K-Kuzuryuu-san…"

"What do you think we've been trying to do since we've entered the Reserve Course, uh?! Twiddle our thumbs, maybe?" she continued her lash out, this time in a more calm way. "Those other students are maybe doing so, and you've got the right to fuck with them if you want." She then laughed sarcastically. "But me? ME?! You don't have a fucking idea about what I've been doing for months now, just to try to get closer to my brother. Fuck, even that bitch behind me tried to do something to get closer to her friend!"

Mikasa herself couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards her rival, and turned at her with a sad face. The two owners of the store were also giving her the same kind of look, and Hajime's restraints were far less strong, as her words were also affecting him…

The only ones who were not apparently moved by her speech were the concerned boys. The troublemakers were only looking at her with a 'Are you kidding me right now?' look.

And those face only contributed to her anger. "But of course, for a bunch of fuckers like you, who just have to sit there and enjoy their talents as if the world belonged to you, those things are fucking meaningless, uh?!" She then fried herself off Hajime's grip. "Should have known this was a bad idea o come."

She then turned their back to all of them starting to take her leave. Makoto asked in a panicked way. "K-Kuzuryuu-san? W-where are you going?!"

"Sorry, Naegi, but I ain't in the fucking mood right now." Natsumi said in an angered, but calm way. "I don't want to deal with shitty Ultimates today."

"We're in the Reserve Course too, dumbass."

Sasuke's words echoed in the entire room, and it took everyone seconds to look at him, completely dumbfounded as what he just said. Natsumi stopped dead in her track, but did not say anything nor moved for a minute. Then…

"What the fuck did you just say."

"You've heard me, pretty bad girl." The blonde guy scoffed, adjusting his glasses. "We're just like you, you know. Us, the Monzaemon Kids, are a part of the Reserve Course. And we're not alone. There are three other members of our group, ya know."

Hajime was the next one to speak. "W-what? Seriously?! B-but-"

"But what? What did you expect of us, honestly?" he continued with the same tone. "You actually thought that we were some kind of celebrities or some shit like that?! If that was the case, we wouldn't even be here!"

"But…" Mikasa spoke, sharing the same feeling as Hajime's. "W-what about that performance?!"

"We did it because we enjoy doing so." he explained, not being pleased by doing so. "Well, that guitar freak does anyway. Talent has nothing to do with this."

"Are you fucking mocking me right now?"

Everyone turned to see Natsumi, who was now looking at them, with a smile on her face… but it was one of anger.

"You would come up with such a pathetic lie, just to be right, uh?!" Natsumi almost yelled, letting her emotions go wild. "You're even more shitty than I first thought, you assholes!"

"Ooooh, because you really think ya're better, shit-for-brains?!"

This time, the voice was coming from Kitahachi, and he seemed as pissed as Natsumi… but the thing was, he was approaching her, slowly, but surely. "Ya really think ya can stick a fuckin' label on our forehead, like we were some kind of fuckin' object, uh?! Is that fucking it?!"

Natsumi was really unimpressed by this, and continued. "Uh?! What, you mean to tell me that your guitar and other shitty stuff ain't enough?! You have to fuckin' humiliate a usele-"

POW!

And she shouldn't have, because next thing she knew, a punch was led on her face, making her fall on her right side.

Everyone gasped as this happened, as Makoto was the first one to react and ran towards her. "K-Kuzuryuu-san! Are you alright?!"

Hajime and Mikasa were quick to follow him, with the latter shouting, "HEY! Are you out of your mind?!"

"I told you, we won't accept any kind of violence here!" the older boy said, as he prevented his sister to go towards them with his hand on her shoulder. "If you want to fight, it's outside!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. But before that…" the guitarist growled, before kneeling down to Natsumi's face, looking at her face to face, furiously. "Let me tell ya somethi', girly. I could be intimidated by your family title, or by your attitude… but here's the thing…"

He inhaled deeply, and then…

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN FUCK ABOUT WHO YOU ARE, BRAT!"

The shout was extremely loud, and was enough to surprise everyone. Makoto, Misaki and Oharu jumped from their position, while Hajime and Yoshida widened his eyes in shock. Even Natsumi, who was now covering her left bloody cheek did not expect this. Only Sasuke seemed to be normal, as he watched his brother begin his reasoning.

"What, ya think that we're all mighty just because we know ta do somethin'?! Ya really think that makes me happy to ear?! Well, guess what?! That shit means abolu-fuckin'-nothing to us!" he barked at her. "'cause for yar information, I've been playing electric guitar since I'm ten, and guess what? I've only been able to play correctly for two fuckin' years! That means that no-fuckin'-body ever wanted me in their band, 'cause I was nothin' more but a shitty beginner! And even now, people stay away from me because of my style! But do you see me cryin' over it like a littl' bitch?! NO! Because I decided to make my own style instead!"

That sentence surprised everyone, especially Natsumi. And seeing that she would not answer, he continued. "So don't gimme that 'I've got no talent' BULLSHIT with me! 'cause it ain't because of that that I look down on you! It's because you behave like a bunch of DUMBASS who can't even try to man up and pull her SHIT together! And by your reaction, ya just PROVED IT!"

With this, Monokid walked out of the room, leaving all of them looking at him, in an astonished way. No one expected that kind of speech coming from him…

Well, almost nobody.

"Great. Ya really pissed him off this time."

Everyone turned towards Sasuke, who only looked at Natsumi as if he was scolding her… which was totally the case here. "Now I'll have to bring his stuff. That only happens when someone really gets on his nerves." He said, as he turned back and went towards the guitar that Kitahachi left behind.

"Wha…" the blonde girl stared at him in shock, then yelled back. "What the fuck?! He literally punched me in the face, and this should be MY fault?!"

"You asked for it, honestly." he sighed, not bothering to look back. "What, you honestly thought we were Ultimates? Our names are written on the papers in the corridor meant for that purpose. But because you're so proud of yourself, ya didn't even bother to check on it. Are you that prideful to the point of you assuming that you've got the right to look down on everyone?"

Natsumi growled at this. "Coming from you, that's almost funny."

"Well, the feeling ain't shared for sure." he continued. "And for my defense, we didn't mock you because you were talentless… but because you behaved like a dumbass. I thought that Kitahachi made it clear, girly."

Mikasa then took her defense. "Did he really needed to punch my friend like that?!"

"Maybe not, but at least, it was more legit than what the chick came up with for us." he snarled. "Seriously, what the fuck was this bullshit about talent, uh?"

"W-well," Hajime tried to answer, "Y-you guys seemed really good at playing-"

"So what?"

"U-uh?"

"You really think that just because we know to do something, we're all mighty and shit?" He looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Wow, then that means you understand nothing about how life works."

"W-what?!"

"There are tons of talented people out there, and yet they are overshadowed by those selected by the school." He explained. "Yet, those people are still happy because their life is fine that way. Heck, while those chosen are going there, some people are discovering their own talent… and that's what happened to us. While those 'Ultimates' were going to school, we worked our talent out, but life continued as if nothing happened. It's as if we were a part of the masses anyway… which is totally the case."

Everyone was stunned by this statement, but then, Makoto who was still checking on Natsumi, decided to speak. "What do you mean by 'working our talent out'? Was that what your brother meant back there?"

Sasuke looked at him in an interesting way. "Well, look at that. At least, someone here was paying attention. You're not as dumb as I thought."

The Luckster sweatdropped at this. "Uuum, thank you, I guess?"

"HEY! Don't insult him like that!" Mikasa reprimanded… only to be completely ignored.

"To answer your question, yes, it's what he meant," he said, before sighing. "I only play with him to have peace, though. Honestly, the dude's a douchebag when he's frustrated… and that happens almost all the time."

"R-really?" Oharu said. "Then, what do you specialize yourself into?"

"You said you were the businessman of the bunch." Yoshida added. "What does that meant?"

Sasuke adjusted his glasses, before saying, "Well, since my family is a wild one - and I'm not kidding, by the way - someone had to check how much their habits cost… so I took the role."

That impressed the others, minus Natsumi who was still being checked by. Hajime then asked, "You mean… you're the one who manages the expenses of your family?"

"Most of them, yeah. The boss doesn't want to be included in this mess, so…"

"Uh?" Mikasa asked, curious. "The boss?"

"Yeah. He's not a part of our group, but… let's say that he's the founder."

Natsumi laughed a little at that, with a taunting tone. "So, you're under someone else's will? Doesn't that make you a pawn?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." He said, not affected. He then turned himself towards her. "But tell me something…"

"Uh?"

"Ya said you were working on something, right? Ya said you were trying to find a talent of your own?" He then began to approach her. "Fine. I'm not stopping ya. But just to tell ya…" he then kneels to her level, and said…

"The only things that matter to us are the people who are trying to get stronger on their own. Talentless or not, it ain't matter to us." He explained to her, in a calm way. "So if you find it, then good for you. But it will take more than that to us, for starting to have just an inch of respect for you. Chew on that before doing something stupid."

And with that, he left the room as well, letting the six others contemplate what happened… or at least, five of them.

"Tch! That fucking asshole's gonna pay for that!" Natsumi snarled in frustration. "Who the hell does he think he is, punching me like that, uh?!"

"K-Kuzuryu-san, please don't move!" Makoto asked. "Y-you're still injured!"

"T-those guys sure aren't afraid of anything," Hajime added. "He didn't miss you."

"HEY! Will you stop with your remarks?!" Mikasa grounded him. "Help her instead!"

"Alright, alright! No need to get on your horses, geez!" he said as the two went by Natsumi's sides.

Said girl still was not in a good mood. "Hey, you don't need to do anything, you idiots! I can get up on my own!"

"We-we know, Kuzuryu-san." Makoto answered. "We're just worried about you, that's all."

"Yeah, well, I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not in the mood right now." she simply said, a little calmed down, but still mad. "I'll get him for this…"

"Well, I did understand what he meant."

Yoshida's voice made everyone's gaze turn towards him, with the Gangster's little sister which was not one of happiness. "What?!"

"Well, I mean, what he did was obviously wrong, but… I don't think he's wrong in what he wanted to tell you guys."

"I agree… even though I think he shouldn't have done that."

The next voice who belonged to Oharu made everyone even more shocked, as the blonde girl was even more shocked. "WHAT?!"

"Talent is not everything, as they said," Oharu explained her point of view. "Well, it helps you having a better life, but… when you think about it, what else does it do for us?"

Hajime was the first one to react at this. "Well, it can open many ways to you, right? It can also give you attention and-"

"Unwanted attention."

"W-what?"

Yoshida sighed as explained. "Our family is pretty popular in the music domain, yes. We were all fascinated at first, but… as soon as we tried to do the same as our parents, two things could happen."

"Two things?" Mikasa asked. "What kind of thing?"

"Either we were overshadowed by our ancestors, or people would automatically call us brilliant… all of that, because of our family's name."

Everyone was saddened by this answer… except for Natsumi who looked at them in a skeptical way. "What, so you decided to own a shop to get away from it?"

"At first, it was limit it, yes." he answered, and looked at her with a serious face. "But soon, we decided to help people developing their skills."

"Uh?"

"With our knowledge about music and our own talents, we decided to take some people under our wings," he said. "And those people were our friends, those who looked at us for who we really were. Soon, some people who were also their friends and joined in… so yeah, some people were like those businessmen from before, but the stress was way easier to deal with than before… so we decided to stay." He then smirked a little. "Besides, we're now paid for that, so… everyone wins in the end!"

Unlike everyone else who were pretty inspired by this little speech, Natsumi was not fully convinced. "What about your brother? Don't you want to be closer to him? And what happened with him, uh?! Did he wanted to prove those guys that he was worth the attention or something like that?!"

"He always loved music."

Oharu's voice made the blonde girl looking at her direction, not understanding. "Uh?!"

"I don't know all of the details, but since he was little, he always enjoyed music." She explained. "But unlike all of us… well, he didn't back down. He decided to play because he loved it, and he never let those other people's opinion of him or our family's name stop him."

"Heck, that even encouraged him to get better." her brother commented.

"Exactly! Sosuke is the kind of guy that would never give up, no matter what the situation is! That and his quick adaptation on the instruments allowed him to be chosen to Hope's Peak!"

Makoto could not help but smile. This description was a very positive one… Sosuke was very lucky to have a family so supportive… just like his own.

"As for being closer to him, well… don't you think that we're already very close?"

"Uh?"

"By keeping everyone's spirit up, we're already close to him, because that's what he would want us to do! To be ourselves and to help each other!" She beamed with happiness. "Isn't that what family is supposed to be about?"

That made Natsumi's eyes widen in shock, as the other girl approached her and kneeled to her, before smiling. "Hey… I don't why you want a talent this badly, but… is your brother so uncaring that you have to prove to deserve of being with him?"

Of course, she did not take it lightly. "Of fucking course not! My brother's amazing! Why would you ever-"

She was stopped by two hands on her cheeks. "Then that settles it."

"Wha-"

"Would your brother like to know that you view yourself as nothing more but trash on the way? I don't think so." She reasoned. "I can feel that your bonding with your brother is genuine… and I have a high feeling that he shares them too."

Natsumi pouted lightly. "Y-you don't know him…"

"But you do know him, right? Then you should know that whatever you have a talent or not… he'll always love you." She continued with the same smile on her face. "You are his sister after all. No family members should be considered as a burden towards each other… no matter what background this family has." She then pressed her forehead on the other girl's own. "If you want to support him by gaining a talent, that's fine, but… you should know that a brother would never abandon his sister… right?"

Natsumi was silent for a few moments. But even if she lowered her head… everyone saw that Oharu's words had a good impact on her. Especially Makoto, who couldn't help but smile at this scene. For it was very familiar.

"He… you talk… just like him…"

"Uh?" Makoto then blinked in surprise to note that the blonde girl was staring secretly at him… and also smiling. It was little, but it was there.

"Ouch!" A smile that quickly disappeared when she felt a sting of pain on her cheek. "Damn it…"

"K-Kuzuryu-san!" He went towards her again. "I-I know you said you're going to be fine, but I think that you need to be taken care of right now!"

"He's right!" Mikasa assisted them and took the right side while the Luckster took care of the left side. "We need to get you to the hospital quick!"

"Y-you don't need to go that far, damn it…"

"You're injured, so we'll bring you where we can." Hajime went towards his friends, then turned towards the two owners to ask, "Where is there any kind of health establishment?"

"There's a pharmacy right on the other side of the shop. You can't miss it." Yoshida told them. "I think it also belongs to another friend of Sosuke's family."

"R-really?"

"You'll find who I'm talking about when you'll enter." he said and smirked. "Now go. The princess is waiting."

"THE FUCK YOU SAID?! YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU TOO?!"

"W-we'll go right now then!" Mikasa told them, before bowing to them. "T-thank you for your time a-and sorry for what happened!"

"Y-yeah! H-have a good day!" Hajime and Makoto followed quickly, before the group left the room… leaving an interesting conversation to occur.

"Man, that was a very special session, right, bro?" Oharu said, looking at her brother.

"Ya said it. Not every people who come by are that… eccentric, to say." Yoshida answered. "But that was an… interesting topic, at least."

"Hmm! Those four looked nice! Especially… Naegi? I think that was his name."

"Yeah, it was… though I have to admit…"

"Uh?"

"I'm pretty sure the blonde see something in him. And the other girl too."

"Wha- How can you know?"

"I just have that feeling. That's all."

"*sigh* Well, I sure hope everything is going to be okay with them…"

"OUCH!"

"I'm sorry, young lady. I know that it hurts, but it will be over soon."

"Th-that's something odd to say…"

"I-I agree…"

"Hehe, perhaps that wasn't the right thing to say… but I have to admit, the way you busted up into my pharmacy calling for help, it made me panic for a moment… I am just glad that it is only a basic injury. It could have been worse!"

"Yeah. We thank you again for your services, ma'am."

"You are most welcome, young man. Even if that disturbs my classes, I'm more than happy to help."

"R-right. Thank you again."

Makoto's voice was directed towards a doctor, a rather old one, who was probably at his fourteen. Her hair was light-red, and there were average, because of the small buns she had. Her eyes were violet, and she was wearing your casual doctor clothes.

At the moment, the trio was in a room where the doctor was taking care of Natsumi, who was grumping from the ministrations.

"Can't you like, make it less painful?! Damn it, that stinks - OUCH!"

"I'm truly sorry, but this is how a disinfectant works," she said apologetically, before the woman put her hands of the injured cheek, revealing the piece of cotton that the doctor had put on her. "There. Hold it until at least Monday."

Natsumi was only looking away, holding the piece of cotton. "T-thanks, I guess…"

"Now then… do you think you can pay?"

Natsumi turned over the doctor in shock. "Wait, what?"

"O-oh, I'm sorry to confuse you," she giggled awkwardly. "B-but you wanted my services, so I thought you would pay… u-unless you can't-"

"W-we do, of course!" Makoto was quick to defend her. "I-I can pay if that's what you want. I don't want us to have problems with anyone, so… I'll just do that."

Everyone was shocked by this decision, but the doctor ended up looking at him in an apologetic way, and said, "Very well, then. Let's go that way."

"R-right!"

"OI! Wait a minute!"

Makoto turned to see Natsumi who was looking at him, in a surprised and angry way. "What do you think you're doing, uh?!"

Makoto only answered, "W-well, I was simply going to pay, Kuzu-"

"Don't. I'm the one at fault there, so I'm the one who should do it." She interrupted him, getting up from the bed sheet that she was on. "There. Let's do it already."

That surprised her three other friends. Hajime then asked, "A-are you sure about this?"

"Y-you are serious about this, aren't you?" Mikasa then questioned,

Natsumi looked at her with a neutral face and answered, "Do I look like I'm kidding right now?"

"...no."

"There. You have your answer." She then turned towards the doctor and said, "There, I'm ready."

"V-very well then." The doctor then returned to the main entrance of her shop-

"Ah, there you are, Nishizawa-chi!"

"Nishizawa-sensei! Sorry for being late!"

"[...]"

And were greeted by three figures. The first one being a very weird person, to say the least. He was a medium fat, light-green haired boy with red eyes. He was wearing some kind of breathing tubes in both of his nostrils, and he was wearing a green t-shirt with "I Love Robots", light-blue jeans and white shoes… but what was outstanding about him that he was in a big wheelchair. Very similar to Miaya's, except without the computer screen.

The girl looked like Angie, except her beige skin, and the fact that she was wearing a light-pink skirt, with the form of flower petals at the end. She had light-pink hair, with some of them being tied at her right side with a hair ornament in a shape of a flower at the level of her right ear. She was also wearing a necklace with a yellow pacifier in form of a yellow sunflower. She was wearing a light-pink, transparent blouse which revealed a brown bikini top with a sakura flower printed on both sides. As for her shoes, she simply had white slip-ons with dark soles.

There was one last person, an adult. A woman, to be precise… and Makoto knew that person. "H-Hagakure-san?"

"Oh?" Hiroko Hagakure, the mother of Yasuhiro, blinked a few times at his direction, then smiled faintly. "Oh. Hey there Ma-kun. Got yourself injured or something?"

"N-not really…" Makoto laughed awkwardly, sweatdropping at the nickname.

Everyone else was confused by their little exchange, with Natsumi being the first one to react. "Uh? Naegi, you know her?"

"She's the mother of one of my classmates, Kuzuryuu-san," the Luckster answered. "We did meet a few times, thanks to him."

"He. And I see that you've brought some friends too." She said, before turning towards the doctor. "So, Kaka, I see that you had some clients today. Good to see."

"I-I think I told you not to call me like that." the woman said, quite embarrassed by the nickname. "I-I'm supposed to be teaching the others members of the clubs right now."

"I-I'm still confused by all of this class stuff…" Hajime admitted.

"You don't know?! Nishizawa-sensei is teaching for us at weekends!" The other girl said, looking seriously at him. "We're supposed to be her assistants, but something happened with our brothers!" She then pouted. "Coming from them, they must have run into trouble as always!"

"[...]"

Then, Makoto realized something. "Wait a minute… Nishizawa-sensei? You mean…"

"Uh?"

He turned towards the doctor who was looking at him in a curious way. "By any chance… are you Nishizawa-san's mother?"

The older woman was surprised by this, before smiling lightly. "Oh! It appears that you know my daughter! Are you… a friend of her?"

"Well, I guess, yeah." Makoto answered. "We don't hang out a lot, but we sure get along well, or at least, I think so."

"As modest as ever, uh Ma-kun?" The Clairvoyant's mother smirked at him, before turning herself towards the doctor. "This is a good kid, Kaka. If he says that he guesses that he is a friend of your daughter, then he definitely is."

"O-oh, well, I'm happy to hear that!" She then widened her eyes in surprise and looked up at the ceiling, suddenly remembering something. "Come to think of it, I think she did mention you."

That surprised Makoto again. "R-really?"

"I believe she said she was calm around you." She looked and smiled at him. "She mentioned your calm aura. That must be why you're on good terms."

That comment of course made him blush. "I-I think you are exaggerating things, miss..."

"Well, I'm just glad you are supportive of my daughter!" She smiled genuinely this time, before. "I mean, she did mention another boy that she described as too forceful in their relationship, so I was a little afraid for a moment."

"I-is that so…"

"AHEM!"

Everyone looked over Natsumi, who was only glaring at the doctor. Instead of lashing out, this time, she took a deep breath, then said, "Far from me the idea of being impolite, ma'am, but… we still don't know who you are."

The doctor blinked, before widening her eyes in shock "O-oh! Y-you're right! P-please forgive my clumsiness!" She bowed, before saying, "My name is Nishizawa Kaneko, and I'm the one who holds this pharmacy!" She turned towards the four friends and bowed to them. A pleasure to meet you!"

"There! You're becoming more open to others!" Hiriko teased. "That's very good to see!"

"S-stop saying so much embarrassing things!" Kaneko shouted, again embarrassed. "I-I'm not that awkward!"

"We never said that, Nishizawa-sensei! She was just teasing you, silly!" the girl said, before saying. "Well, since I talked, I guess I need to introduce myself, uh? Well, my name is Monzaemon Fumie, a future strong doctor, and I'm an apprentice here! Nice to meet you all!"

That surprised Makoto and his friends. "M-Monzaemon?! B-but-"

"That means you're a part of the Monzaemon Kids!" Hajime finished for him.

"Uh?" she tilted her head to the side. "Yes, I am. Why? You know my brothers?"

"W-well, we did encounter two of them…" Mikasa started, getting a little nervous.

"That guitar freak is the one who gave me this." Natsumi narrowed her eyes and pointed her piece of cotton she was holding.

"Y-you mean that…" Fumie widened her eyes in shock, before yelling in anger, "KITAHACHI! So that's what happened! He lashed out at you for fun, didn't he?! Ooooh, I'm going to correct that bastard once I got my hand on him!"

That outburst made everyone flinch, with Hajime saying, "…wow. She didn't look so… virulent at all."

"A-as far as I know, they have a pretty… odd relationship." Kaneko said while Fumie continued her lashing out at nobody in particular. "Even if they are siblings, they don't really seem to be on good terms…"

"And that's an understatement." Hiriko added, narrowing her eyes. "Bullying is simply wrong, no matter how you look at it."

"[MY-BROTHER-DO-NOT-KNOW-HOW-TO-COMMUNICATE-BY-ANY-OTHER-WAY.]"

"HIAAA!?" Mikasa was the first one to react violently, as she looked abruptly towards the boy in the wheelchair, who was staring at her.

"[PLEASE-FORGIVE-ME. BUT-THIS-IS-MY-ONLY-WAY-TO-TALK-TO-YOU.]" The green boy tapped on his keyboard.

"Uuum, why is he talking like this?" Hajime asked.

"My brother has a… motor disability." Fumie who have heard her brother talk, calmed herself down, then explained, looking sad. "He-he can't talk normally, and he can't walk, either. He can hear us, but… he doesn't talk much either."

"[...]"

Everyone looked at him, with a strange and embarrassed look, not knowing how to approach him… until Makoto decided to go in front of him and to smile to him. "Hey there. Sorry about what happened, but we were simply not expecting this."

The boy looked at him, but remained silent.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything." he continued. "My name is Naegi Makoto. I hope that we will be able to get along."

"[GET-ALONG?]"

"Yeah." He answered immediately, not surprised by the voice anymore. "Get along, despite our differences."

"[IT-IS-GOOD-TO-GET-ALONG-WITH-EACH-OTHER.]" The boy answered, before continuing by tapping, "[MY-NAME-IS-MONZAEMON-DANJURO. I-AM-PRESENTED-AS-THE-ENGINEER-OF-THE-GROUP. AND-I-ALSO-WORK-HERE. PLEASE-TO-MEET-YOU-AS-WELL.]"

"…wow. It must be… sad to live like this." Mikasa said, looking down at him, sadly.

"[...]"

"He-he doesn't like to talk all of the time," Fumie explained, "So it's safe to assume that he won't talk much from now on."

"I-I see…" Hajime said, before presenting himself. "I'm Hinata Hajime. Please to meet you all… I think."

"A-and I'm Satou Mikasa." the green-haired girl followed next. "I-I just you are not as violent as your brothers…"

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Fumi fumed in rage again. "That guy won't try to hurt you or your friends again! He's way too scared of me to lash out at me, even when he tried to bark!"

"Good to know. Can't wait to see his face." Natsumi smirked. "The name's Kuzuryuu Natsumi. The little sister of the Ultimate Yakuza."

That made everyone who did not know her gasp in shock, notably Kaneko. "K-Kuzuryuu? T-then…"

"You're a part of the Kuzuryuu family?!" The pink-haired finished her thoughts, then beamed with happiness. "AWESOME!"

"He. I know." She smirked out of pride again. "My family is pretty awesome, if you ask me."

"[I-SIMPLY-HOPE-THAT-YOU-ARE-NOT-AS-VIOLENT-AS-MY-BROTHER.]"

Natsumi only looked at him with a neutral face, then said, "Just don't mess with me, and we're all good. Got it?"

Silent ensued next for some seconds, then Danjuro answered. "[…YES.]"

"Good." She then turned towards the older woman. "And what about you? You're the last one."

"Uh? Oh yeah, right." Hiroko realized with her usual tone before proceeding. "The name is Hagakure Hiroko. I'm once-divorced and currently single. My age is a secret."

"Y-you didn't have to tell them that…" the doctor said, before smelling something. "And did you just smoke? I told you, you can't smoke inside!" she reprimanded her.

"Alright, alright," the older woman said, taking the door. "I'll wait outside for a moment to make it go away if you want. Think of it as a protection for the shop."

"I-I don't think I need protection…" her friend answered, not that Hiroko focused on that anyway, since she went out. Sighing, she then turned towards Natsumi with a pleasant smile and said, "Now then, young lady, for the payment…"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." She simply answered... but her mind was focused on something else.

'Hagakure… why does it make me even madder?! Do I… know someone with this name?'

"Hey… she said it was going to get better on Monday… but the mark is already gone! It's pretty amazing!"

"Of course it's amazing! You are talking about Nishizawa-sensei after all! The strong woman who can heal each of your injuries!"

"I-I'm not that amazing. I simply applied the usual methods. There s nothing extraordinary here."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just… thanks, okay?"

"You are welcome." the woman simply said, before going back to the main entrance. "Monzaemon-san, please take care of them while I take cure of the other members, okay?"

"Sure, Sensei!"

"Uuurm…"

The Yakuza's little sister's answer was another growl, but not because she was mad against Kaneko… well, maybe a little, but the anger was more directed towards Fumie. The reason? The three people were still in the same room that Natsumi was healed. Since they were here, they wanted to explore the shop a little, because they discovered that, like Alpha-Bet's Store, it was actually more than a pharmacy. The establishment was in fact proposing some classes during weekends to the members of a club created for that purpose, and some rooms in the shop were full of lessons about medicine… again, it was just like Alpha-Bet's Store, only the theme was different… and those classes were interesting for Hajime and Mikasa.

So Kaneko proposed them to assist to a lesson for free, to which they have accepted with glee, while Makoto designed himself to have an eye on Natsumi, even if she did not really agree at first… but with some thought, she accepted his company. Mikasa assured her she would take notes for her if she wanted, to which the blonde girl only nodded as thanks. It wasn't much, but… it was a moment alone with Makoto…

"Aaaah, Sensei is really the best! She really knows how to take cares of people!"

If only that brat was not here.

"She sure does," Makoto answered. "You seems to be proud of being her student."

"Of course I am! Nishizawa-sensei is an amazing person!" She said with glee, with stars in her eyes. "I bet that her daughter will be as good as her! She has to!"

"She will be, don't worry." Makoto smiled, before sweatdropping. "Just let her prepare herself, okay? She needs time before being like her mother."

"She better be!" she exclaimed with determination. "I will make sure that she won't put any dirt on her name! She will become worthy of-"

DINGLING!

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Ah! A client!" she exclaimed, before turning herself towards the two. "I'll take care of the pharmacy from now on. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry." Makoto reassured her. "I can take care of her on my own. Go look for your client."

"Right! Thank you!" Fumie said, before going to the main entrance and said, "Hello! Is there anything I can do for you?"

And she decided to close the door, leaving the two alone in the room. Makoto did not notice it, but… Natsumi was smirking to herself. Finally, she was gone.

Finally, she had a true moment alone with Makoto.

The Luckster turned himself, and thankfully Natsumi was quick to dismiss the smile on her face. The ahoge boy asked her, "Are you alright?"

"Of course I am." She smirked at him. "Hey, don't tell me you're worried about me for that little punch?"

"Well, it did scare me when he… did that to you, I must admit." he admits with a sweat, before smiling at her. "I'm just glad that your cheek is okay."

The Yakuza's little sister blushed a little and looked on the side. "D-don't say things like that…"

"But… that was not really what I was talking about."

"Uh?"

She then looked at him to see that… he was looking sadly at her. "I was talking about back then… when you were upset about the Ultimate thing."

Natsumi widened her eyes in shock. So, that was it. He wanted to know.

"I know that you're not alright, Kuzuryuu-san." he insisted with a soft voice. "I know you may not want to talk about this, but...please. I want to help you. That's what friends are for… right?"

She looked at him surprised for a while, then stared down at the floor. "What do you think… is the problem, Naegi?"

He was a little surprised at this question, but then he thought for a while, before answering, "You said you were working on something for a while now… but, what is it?"

"Remember what that girl told us back then?"

He thought again, and then widened his eyes. "She said that… they were close… to their…"

He did not finish his sentence, but he didn't need to. Natsumi was still looking down on the left side of the bed she was on. She then asked, "See the link now?"

The voice was grumpy as usual, but… it contained sadness as well. And Makoto noticed it. So he sat next to her, on the left side, where she was looking at. She noticed it, and looked up at him, when she noticed that he smiled at her, trying to comfort her. "It's okay. I'm all ears. What happened exactly?"

Natsumi was a little surprised about this, but then explained, "Remember what you told me last year? You know… during that…"

Makoto flinched a the memories flew back in his mind, but dismissed it and answered, "I told you that you didn't need to automatically have a talent to be with your brother… but I also told you that if you really wanted to support him, then you may help him with your family, so he would not forget about you."

"Yeah. You said something very similar," she told him. "And that's what I did. Or at least, I tried."

"Really?"

"You can say that I've been trying to… you know, help the clan." she explained. "After all, I was chosen at first to lead it. I think I told you that."

"Yeah. You did." Makoto said, still looking amazed at that fact. "You said you decided to leave your place for your brother."

"Yeah, simply because…" she hesitated for a while, before admitting, "you know… leading a whole clan… it can scary sometimes."

"Yeah. I can imagine." Makoto said in an understanding way. "It's your family we're talking about."

"We never let anyone stand in our way, I'm pretty sure you know that. But… I think that leading is simply not my thing." She said, before eyeing him in a suspicious way. "That conversation will not leave this room. And you better not tell my brother what happened. Got it?"

The words were harsh, but the way she was asking it was more like a request instead of a direct order. That's why Makoto was not scared when he answered back. "Of course. You know you can count on me."

"Thanks." she smiled lightly, before continuing. "Anyway, I wanted to help my brother about directing the clan, since he's going to lead it someday… and I wanted to make sure that he would be alright… so…"

"So?"

"I decided to be his secretary. Or at least, I tried."

That surprised Makoto greatly. "R-really?"

"I tried to… you know, understand better the kind of world adults yakuzas are in. You know, because I have contacts and all." she said. "But all that stuff is really complicated. Even now, after weeks - no, months… I have big trouble understanding everything. And I'm not ashamed of admitting it."

The Luckster looked at her with a smile. "Well, this is normal, I think. There's nothing wrong with not understanding something right away. As long as you take time to think about it, it's okay. Because like this, you will be able to find your own answer."

"I wish my family said that."

"Uh?"

"I really hate my old man." she said while clenching her fists. "My mom's nothing more but a violent old hag who barks at everything that she doesn't like. And my dad… don't get me started with that. You know what he told me when I explained?"

Makoto shook his head, fearing what would have been his words. And when Natsumi opened her mouth…

"Don't force yourself on something that you won't understand. You'll only slow everyone down."

It only confirmed his fears. Makoto looked at her in an apologetic way and put a hand on her shoulder. "Kuzuryuu-san… I'm sorry to hear that. I wouldn't have thought that you would be-"

"Thankfully, the gramps is not like that."

The Luckster was surprised by this outcome. "Uh?"

"He may be just an old man, but he's awesome," she said with a small smile. "He can be a grumpy pain in the ass, but… he's calm and collected most of the time. It's probably the only sane person in this family. He was… very understanding when I explained... and he said he was proud."

Makoto could not help but smile at this. "Is that so?"

"He said that… I was beginning to take conscious of things… and that it was a good start…" she continued. "He was always like that you know? Even back then, when we were little, me Fuyu, even Pekoyama for sometimes… we loved to pass time listening to him. Heck, he was one of the only persons who believed in Fuyu as for leading the clan. I guess I'm happy he's still the head of the Clan… at least, for now. Even if it's not for long…"

"At least someone is here for you inside of your family." Makoto said with a smile. "After all, this is what it should all be about… at least, I think so."

"He has that… kind of soothing aura around him." she followed. "I don't know how he does it, but… when he speaks, it's like every conflict stops. He was… one of the main reason why the family still stick together now. Wonder why I stopped listening to him. The Kuzuryuu clan has always been violent over time, but he was always here to make any quarrel stop… honestly, I don't know how we would do without him."

He couldn't help but chuckle a little. "That's good to hear. I'm happy for you."

"And I guess… you remind me of him in some way."

Now Makoto was surprised by this. "Uh?"

"I-I don't know how to explain it, but… you make me feel the same." She lifted up her head and smiled at him a little. "Even though you're different from him… you have that same aura around you… at least, I think so. I guess… that's why I… and Satou are still here today…"

Her face saddened as her head lowered a bit, while Makoto watched with the same look. "K-Kuzuryuu-san…"

But she looked back at him, in a sad, but determined way. "I'm sorry. I ruined the mood earlier because I just couldn't get done with it like a dumbass… But that won't happen again."

"I-It's alright. I-I'm just glad you could talk things out to me." Makoto said in a calm but happy way. He then asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"A little, yeah. Just letting it out… I guess it did some good to me…" she then looked at him and smiled a little, genuinely. "Thanks, buddy."

"W-well, you're welcome." Makoto said, before adding, "I-I haven't doe this much, though…"

"You offered an ear. Every yakuza need someone with that." she affirmed with the same tone. "That's what makes you special."

"I-I guess, but… I'm not that special." he answered, getting a little nervous, but in a good way. "I-I'm just an average boy who listened to his friend. Anyone can do that. I mean, even the Reserve Cou-"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Uh?"

He froze instantly as he heard those words, before turning towards the Gangster's little sister, who was now glaring at him in an annoyed way. "You're an idiot, you know that? You're nothing like those other losers. You're you." she then poked his nose. "Forget that and I'll kill you myself. Got that?"

Makoto could not help but chuckle at this. Despite the harsh and cruel words, he knew that they were no malice hidden. She was simply caring about him… in her own way. "Alright, alright. I got it."

She was not fully convinced. "I'm serious here."

"I know, Kuzuryuu-san." He stopped laughing, then gave him his trademark smile. "I'm just happy that you're happy."

That made her blush, as she simply looked away, pouted and said, "Y-you really are an idiot…"

Makoto could not help but smile at her, even though she was not seeing it.

Natsumi really did change for the better. She was still a little arrogant and vulgar, but… at least she was not being mean when it wasn't necessary.

Makoto just thought it was too bad she had to be involved with a grave problem to realize that.

Still, her insecurities were still here. She would still not like to be compared with those 'talentless losers' as she called them… but compared to who she was before, it was a big improvement.

Fuyuhiko did say her sister was more violent than him. And Makoto believed it when he saw her for the first time. Guess it was a yakuza thing…

But he didn't expect her and Mikasa to form some kind of… good relationship, to put it kindly. But even if the two of them still argued very often… it was nothing compared to before.

He was glad that the two managed to bury the hatchet… sort of, at least.

And Natsumi, despite her attitude, was really glad that her friend, possibly her best friend, was here for her…

Even if he was an idiot and a pushover… he was still better than those punks form her class.

She had one more reason to get in the Main Course. Even if the little dork tried to tell her she didn't have to do that.

The two people she considered the closest to her were there, after all.

Guess she understood better what Mikasa felt about Mahiru, and she could relate a little… not that she would tell her like this.

"[I-SEE-THAT-YOU-TWO-ARE-GETTING-ALONG-VERY-WELL. THAT-IS-GOOD-TO-SEE.]"

"KIAAA?!" Natsumi yelled in shock, as Makoto also almost jumped out of his position out of surprise. The girl turned her head towards Danjuro who was now entering the room almost silently, and growled at him before yelling, "WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU COME FROM?!"

"[I-APOLOGY-FOR-THE-SURPRISE.]" He tapped. "[BUT-I-WAS-ASKED-BY-FUMIE-TO-COME-AND-ASSIST-HER."]

"W-well, it can't be helped, I suppose…" Makoto sweatdropped. "Do you want me to open the door for you?"

"[I-WOULD-LIKE-THAT-BEARY-MUCH.]"

'Beary much?' Makoto thought. 'Did he just…'

"Really? A pun?" Natsumi growled, staring at him.

"[...]"

Nevertheless, Makoto got up, went towards the door, and opened it for the wheelchair boy. "There."

"[THANK-YOU. I-WILL-LIVE-YOU-ALONE-FROM-NOW-ON.]" He said, before going to the opposite side…

"Ah. Guess I'm the one who will keep you company now."

"H-Hagakure-san?" Makoto was surprised when he turned his head to see the Clairvoyant's mother come up in the room, much to Natumi's irritation. He heard Fumie said, "Please don't do anything reckless, Hagakure-san!"

"You know I'm not like that." She said before closing the door, eyeing the Luckster with a little smile. "So, Ma-kun, how things are going now, uh? Watching over the little princess?"

"E-errm-"

"The little princess is fine, thank you very much!" Natsumi said for him, with an annoyed voice. "I can take care of my own."

Hiroko turned over her to say with a neutral voice, "I don't doubt it. You are a member of the Kuzuryuu clan, after all."

The Gangster's little sister smirked at that. "You're goddamn right about that."

"But I would not use this as an excuse for everything."

That made Natsumi turned over her with a 'What the fuck?!' face. "Wait, what?!"

"Ya see, I've been a delinquent in the past, and I've crossed punches with much bigger threats than you, and guess what? I think some of them still has to be re-educated today." the adult said, narrowing her eyes in her direction. "So, I'm being quite honest when I tell you that your position doesn't scare me at all, young girl."

That of course did not please Natsumi. "Ooooh, is that fucking so?"

"Yeah, it's like so. And let me tell you something else…" she continued with the same expression. "I hate killing. And I hate it more when it's useless. Therefore, I won't allow you to hurt someone that I care about… especially if it's my son."

The stare she gave her was quite scary, even for Natsumi who widened her eyes in shock, before recoiling a bit. "Tch! It ain't like I'm gonna hurt a nobody or whatever."

"I-I'm just glad that he got himself in less trouble than in the past," Makoto tried to change the subject, before sighing. "But I will have to talk to him, though."

That got Hiroko's attention as she eyed the Luckster in a worried way. "Uuum? You mean my son got himself in trouble again?"

"Weeell, yeah. Kind of." He explained. "Nothing too bad, but it still matters."

Hiroko sighed. "I figured. Even if my son is amazing, he does have a problem with money… and he is terrible with women." She then smiled. "Then again, it's part of his charm."

Makoto sweatdropped again. "I-I guess…"

Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Uh?" He lifted up to see Hiroko smiling at him. "H-Hagakure-san?"

"I'm just glad that you keep an eye on him when I can't," Hiroko said. "Yasuhiro is very lucky to have you by his side."

Makoto blinked a few times before blushing a little and scratched the back of his head. "W-well, that's what friends are for! I'm just making sure he won't run into some trouble again!"

"That's good. Just tell me if anything goes out of control," she said with a serious gaze. "I'll make sure that anyone who tried to hurt my son or you will live in a world of pain."

That, of course, made Makoto slightly gulp in fear, imagining what kind of thing she would do to whoever was the poor, unfortunate soul that would even try.

Hiro did tell him that his mom was a delinquent before, and he didn't wish to see what would happen if she decided to… get serious.

Fortunately, that didn't happen, as far as he's seen. She seemed to be relaxed when Hiro or Makoto was near her.

Hiro he could understand why. He as her son, after all.

And he supposed that any friend of her son was her friend as well…

At least, that's what he thought.

"O… okay then…"

"He. I'm actually starting to like you, woman." Natsumi smirked a little. "You could make a good member of the family… maybe."

"Tempting offer, but I'll pass." Hiroko eyed her with a neutral face. "I've messed up once because of my behavior, and a second time is not really appealing."

"He. Too bad. You would have liked it." the Gangster's little sister answered. Then, some students passed by the room and took their leave.

"And don't forget to bring your own tasks!" Kaneko's voice could be heard from one of the room, before Hajime and Mikasa appeared and turned towards the others, with the taller boy waving at them. "Hey guys."

"Natsumi!" Mikasa then approached with some notes in her hands, as she smiled lightly. "There. This is what I was able to take. I'll send you a copy this evening."

"Thanks." she simply said, before eyeing the two, "Hey, before we go… I'm sorry."

Clearly, the two did not expect this. "Uh?"

"I ruined the mood earlier because I was being stupid." she said, very slightly bowing. "I'm sorry. I won't let this happen again… at least for today."

The other two seemed to appreciate the gesture, with Mikasa answering with a reassuring smile. "I-it's okay. What's important is that you're fine now."

The smile that Natsumi gave her was faint, but genuine. It was the proof that compared to the past, and despite their arguments, the two were on a much more stable relationship… of course, it took some time and the help of the Luckster and the Therapist, alongside with their family and friends respectively to pass that trial…

Well, to be honest, the rivalry was still very present, not only for entering the Main Course, and getting closer to those they care about… but also trying to get closer to one particular boy. And if you've followed the story since the beginning… well, it shouldn't be able to guess who the young boy was.

"Ah, you still are here?" Kaneko said, entering the room as the last students took their leave. "I suppose that you wanted to wait for your other friends." She then turned towards Hajime and Mikasa. "I hope you enjoyed the lesson. It would be nice if you could come another day."

"I-It was very cool, I think." Hajime answered. "I-I'll see if I can be available at those hours."

"I'll definitely come back!" Mikasa exclaimed with. "I thought this was very fascinating!"

"I would like to come back too." Makoto said with a smile. "That seems very interesting."

"…well, since everyone seems convinced, this does not seem like a bad idea." Natsumi admitted. "I'll see with my schedule."

"He. Seems like you gave some more admirers." Hiroko said, smirking. "Told you, you're popular, Kaka."

"S-stop calling me that!"

"Well, we'll leave you alone now. Thank you for your services, Nishizawa-san." Makoto said, smiling nervously because of the situation. "Goodbye. And also, goodbye to you too, Hagakure-san."

"Hey there, kids. Have a good day." the older woman told them, waving them goodbye.

"Goodbye to you as well. I hope we can meet again." Kaneko smiled at them kindly.

"Right." Makoto smiled back, before opening the door, and getting in the shop again, which got the attention of Dnjuro and Fumie who said, "Oh! It's you guys! Did you enjoyed the lesson?"

"Yes, we did." Hajime said. "It was interesting."

"Indeed! I will come back for sure!" Mikasa told her with joy.

Which of course pleased Fumie. "I'm so glad! Another fan of Nishizawa-sensei!"

"It does seem interesting," Makoto said. "I will try to assist to one of her classes one day." He then took the door. "Well, until then, we're going to go. Have a nice day!"

"Have a nice day, too!" Fumie said with joy. "I will look towards to see you again!"

"[I-TOO-WILL-LOOK-TOWARDS-OUR-NEXT-MEETING.]" Danjuro tapped. "[HAVE-A-NICE-DAY-AS-WELL.]"

"Goodbye!" Makoto waved them back, before getting out of the pharmacy. Once they all went outside, they realized that some time has passed, since they had no watches and that they had not thought about checking their phones. He asked his two friends, "So, what happened?"

"You mean how the class was?" Hajime asked.

Mikasa tried to talk. "Oh! I can tell you if you want! Well-"

"Wait a fucking minute…"

Everyone turned towards Natsumi, who frowned her eyes. Makoto asked, "K-Kuzuryu-san?"

"Hagakure… I remember now!"

The yelling served as an alarm for everyone, and that made Hajime and Mikasa got first. "Uh-oh."

"This is going to-"

"THAT FUCKING BASTARD!"

"I can't believe you would protect that moron, Naegi!"

"Kuzuryu, please calm down! I-I'm sure that Naegi-kun has a good reason!"

"He-he's dumb for sure, but he's not a bad guy! He just needs some help!"

"Well, he sure does seem like an idiot. No offense…"

"None taken." Makoto assured him, while he put his hand on the nearest table, eyeing if anyone near were listening to them. Right now, they were at a restaurant near both former establishments, and they decided to take a table outside, in order not to disturb the people inside. And they did good, because Natsumi was still mad.

"Well, it doesn't fucking matter!" Natsumi yelled, before turning herself towards Makoto. "You better have a very good talk with that moron, or else I won't be able to contain myself when I will meet him next time. And pray your god in order for me not encountering him, or else I might - no, I WILL burst a vein for sure!"

"I-I will, don't worry!" Makoto was quick to say. "I-I already planned to talk to him, so you don't have to do anything!"

"Good." she said, before getting up, raising everyone's curiosity. The Luckster asked, "Uh? Where are you going?"

"I'll use the toilets. I need to check on my cheek." she said, before adding, " Also, I don't want you to see me losing my temper again."

And with that, she went inside, which of course made Mikasa act. "I-I'll go with her to make sure everything is okay!"

"R-right!" Makoto assured her, before she followed her rival inside, which left the two boys alone. The Luckster said, "So… it's just the two of us, Hinata-kun…"

"Yeah… seems so…" the taller boy said, not sure of what else to say.

"So, are you feeling the same?"

That picked up Hajime's interest. "Uh?"

"I mean, do you feel the same way as Satou-san and Kuzuryuu-san?" Makoto looked at him with a sad face. "Are you… feeling insecure about your lack of talent?"

Hajime widened his eyes in shock, before looking down at the table. "Well… the feeling is here for sure, yes. It's no big deal, but-"

"It is for me, you know."

Hajime lifted up his head up surprised to see Makoto looked at him sadly, but determined. "You're my friend, Hinata-kun. If you're not feeling okay, then how can I be? If you are feeling insecure, you can just tell me… you know that, right?"

Hajime blinked a little, before laughing lightly. "O-of course I know that, Naegi-kun. I-I feel the same way about you, you know that." He then stopped. "It's just that…"

"Yes?"

He went silent for a little moment, before saying, "Say… have you ever had the impression of… not going anywhere?"

Makoto was surprised at this question, as he blinked his eyes rapidly before saying, "You mean… as not progressing?"

"Yeah. Did you ever felt like that in the past?"

Makoto thought for a little while, before answering, "…yes. Actually, I did."

Hajime lifted up his head in a curious way. "When exactly?"

"Well, almost every time my bad luck comes out." the Luckster explained, laughing nervously, before saying, "For instance, do you know how I was selected to enter Hope's Peak Academy?"

"Well, by the lottery of the school." the taller boy answered, looking at him and frowning lightly. "It's quite obvious. You are the Lucky Student of your class, after all."

"That's the official reason, yes. But do you know exactly what happened?"

Hajime shook his head, to which Makoto answered, "I was taken hostage by a robber."

The Reserve Course student widened his eyes in shock. "What?! Really?! That's so… unreal!"

"I know! That's what I thought when it happened!" Makoto explained while he was laughing awkwardly. "And to think that all of this happened because of my luck…"

"Uh?" Hajime looked at him, not believing what he heard. "What do you mean?"

"Well…"

And so, he explained everything. What happened that day, what unfortunate events happened because of his luck, his encounters with both the old kendo master and the robber - Jutaro Akafuku, if he was correct - and what happened in the bus. The older boy began to laugh at hearing that.

"Oh my God, are you even serious?" Hajime asked. "You mean to tell me that all that happened because of your luck?!"

"T-that's not something that I'm proud of, you know…" Makoto sweatdropped at this attitude, then coughed before continuing. "Anyway, the man was about to get away. He stole the postman's motorcycle, and he was already beginning to accelerate… and I just stood there."

"Really?" Hajime asked. "Why? I mean, sure, this is pretty pointless running after an accelerating motorcycle, but… this isn't like you. I would have expected you to do so."

"Well, that's not what I did. Because in all honesty… I was tired of it." Makoto sighed. "I was tired of those unfortunate events happening to me, and I just wanted to have my normal life back… so I gave up."

Haime was surprised at those words, coming from his usual optimistic friend. "Naegi-kun…"

"And then the motorcycle tipped over, and the robber was sent flying across the street. And I've never seen that guy again after that."

The taller boy blinked a few times, before saying, "Wait… what?"

"And the motorcycle crashed on a streetlamp and it exploded!" Makoo was almost laughing at this point. "I swear, I'm not kidding!"

"Holy crap!" Hajime joined him. "This is so… random!"

"That's what I thought… until I went to the accident site, and guess what?" Makoto asked. "The reason why it tipped over… was because of one of the cans I accidentally spilled over earlier!"

Hajime then could not contain his laughter anymore. He didn't care if anyone heard him… this was way too much. "PFAHAHAHAHA! Are you even serious right now?!

"Somehow, it happened." Makoto laughed. "And guess what? It was the day I received my letter for Hope's Peak Academy!"

"R-really?!" Hajime was still laughing, but he calmed down a bit. "So you really are the Lucky Student after all!"

"But I wasn't supposed to be."

That made the taller boy stop laughing, as he looked at his friend, not understanding. "Wha… what?"

"When I told the Headmaster what happened, he told me something that I wasn't prepared for." Makoto looked at him seriously. "I wasn't supposed to be at the school."

"B-but…" The other ahoge-boy tried to say. "But you said that-"

"The letter wasn't supposed to be addressed towards me. It was supposed to be destined for one of my childhood friend's sister." Makoto explained. "Except that, the original letter was burned, because it was in the motorcycle's bag when it exploded… so they to do another lottery… and…" Makoto then pointed himself. "Well, I guess you know the rest." Makoto then scratched the back of his head in awkwardness. "Speaking of childhood friend, I wonder how things are going with them. I feel bad about not being able to contact any of them since I was ten."

"Uh?" Hajime said, curious. "Couldn't you message them?"

"Someone stole my phone at the time. And I did not have their email address or anything like that to contact them since then." He said. "Besides, I'm sure that they have gone by their own paths by now."

Hajime blinked in surprise, before laughing a little. "you really had a phone back then?"

"It was a gift that I received for some contest. I don't remember fully the details. I probably won because of my luck." the Luckster explained, before smiling sadly. "For one, it was good luck… but, since you know how my luck runs out easily… well, you can only imagine how things went. And we never found who did it."

"Wow… that must have sucked for sure…" Hajime said, finishing his chuckling, before eyeing his friend with a curious eye. "So, back on topic… how did you feel about it?"

"Honestly? I felt a little bad." Makoto answered, frowning sadly. "I mean, I thought that I did not belong in the school anymore. I knew I was not special, but knowing this… that saddened me. I'm not ashamed of recognizing it."

Hajime stared at him in a sad way. "Naegi-kun…"

"But… the Headmaster asked me… if I was happy with my friends." He then followed. "He asked me if I had created good memories with them… and I answered that I did." Makoto then smiled. "He explained that it was the point of friends. To create memories with them… and I remember everything I did last year. It helped me become a better person. I can feel it." He looked at Hajime with a sincere smile. "So, to answer your question… yes, I know that feeling. But in the end, I was able to overcome it. Because I know that I'm not alone."

Hajime stared at him with at first hopeful gaze… but it soon dissipated. "Well, you are pretty lucky. I mean, I know that I'm not alone… but it doesn't really help my case."

"Uh?" Makoto stared at him. "How come?"

"You see, I've been trying to train with many things," Hajime began, before looking away sadly. "I've tried many aspects. Athletic, music, science… but honestly… yeah, I don't have the feeling of progress at all."

Makoto stared at him in sadness as well. "Hinata-kun…"

"And it doesn't help that… I won't be able to pay the fee anymore…" the other ahoge boy continued. "I was very lucky that my parents had a promotion on both of their job, but… my luck will run out eventually…" he stopped himself for a moment, before saying…

"Which means that I won't be able to stand with you guys anymore."

That sentence surprised Makoto greatly, but it saddened him more. So he decided to talk. "H-Hinata-kun! P-please don't say that! Just because you won't be in the academy anymore doesn't mean we won't be able to see each other! There will be many other occasions!"

"Sorry, Naegi-kun, but I honestly doubt it."

"Uh?" Makoto was not ready for that answer. "W-what do you mean by that?"

"Just think about it for a moment. If I'm expelled, or if I decide to quit the school, it will be shown on my profile." Hajime explained with somehow, an annoyed expression. "And considering that Hope's Peak Academy is considered to be the best school, it will be quite difficult to be in another school, you know." He then finished by turning his head to the side. "And… I doubt that I will be able to see you guys. The school doesn't usually want the Ultimates to hang out with anyone else. Well, except for certain occasions, but, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you right now…" he hesitated one moment, before turning his attention back to Makoto and saying…

"I doubt that this event will be serving the purpose you wanted. I'm sorry, but I'm being realistic."

Makoto could not believe it. One of his friends from the Reserve Course, was not supporting him for the project. Granted, he had reasons, but it still hurt that one of those you were working for in hopes of making something happen in his favor was thinking so little of it… so much for hoping. "B-but…"

"HEY! It's Naegi!"

"You know the little guy?"

Makoto recognized one the voice and turned to see another familiar face. "Ah, Asahina-kun!"

"Hey there, Naegi!" the figure of Yuta Asahina cheered happily, hugging the Luckster. "It's good to see you here!"

"Hahaha, it's good to see you too!" Makoto cheered too, returning the hug, even if Yuta's was tight. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I was doing my jogging, you know!" The Swimmer's brother exclaimed with a determined face. "If I want to be just like Aoi-nee, I have to work hard! And not just on swimming!"

Hajime stood up as well. "T-this seems to be important for you…"

"Of course! My big sis is the best swimmer out there! She's my idol!" He turned towards Hajime. "And you should do anything to achieve your dreams too… urm… what's your name again?"

"Y-you never asked my name…" Hajime sweatdropped, but answered. "My name is Hinata Hajime. Pleased to meet you."

"Alright! Got it!" He then repeated, "Hinata Hajime… Hinata Hajime… Hinata Hajime..."

The boy looked at him in an odd way. "Uh? What are you doing?"

"Uh? Don't you know?" Yuta looked at him. "If you write someone's name five times, then you will remember!" He then scratched the back of his head. "But I don't have any pen, so I'm repeating it not to forget!"

Yes. Yuta was exactly like his sister.

Not that Makoto minded. Quite the opposite, it was good to see that Aoi had a good sibling like his.

Even if his clumsiness could be in the way times to times.

The Reserve Course student sweatdropped at this comment. "I-is that so…"

"Not like I blame him, you know. My memory is not the best either."

Everyone turned towards the voice to see one guy with red hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a gray scarf, and also a grey jacket which covered a white t-shirt with a grey throwing star logo. He was also wearing black jeans with blue and white sneakers.

"Hey. Hello there." Makoto was the first one to talk to him. "Are you a friend of Asahina-kun?"

"No, we just met two minutes ago." The guy answered. "But the guy is pretty funny. Right… uuum… what as your name again?"

"It's Asahina Yuta!" he cheered happily. "It's nice to meet you people! Now, I've got to go!" He then ran again. "Bye, Naegi! I'll tell Aoi-nee you said hello! Have a nice evening!"

"Thanks! You too!" Makoto cheered back, before turning his attention towards the newcomer. "And you? Who are you?"

"Oh? Oh yeah, forgot about that." the guy said, before smiling. "My name is Monzaemon Taicho, the most athletic of the Monzaemon Kids, and also their official leader! Nice to meet you all… I think."

"Monzaemon?" Hajime asked. "Then you are also their brother, uh? And their official leader, on top of that?"

"Uh?" Taicho tilted his head to the left side. "You mean you know my siblings?"

"We've encountered them today, yes." Makoto told him. "Some of them are… nicer than others."

"Everyone of us has different personalities, you know." Taicho told them. "It's just like you two, uuurm… sorry, what are your names?"

"O-oh, right!" Makoto realized, before introducing. "My name is Naegi Makoto. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Hinata Hajime." Hajime followed quickly. "I hope we will be able to get along."

"And I hope I will be able to remember your names." The other boy declared. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we are waiting for some friends." Hajime answered. "They are inside the restaurant as we speak."

"What about you?" Makoto asked. "I know I'm being indiscreet here, but… shouldn't you perhaps be with your siblings?"

Taicho blinked a few times, before putting his hand on his chin. "Uuuuum… come to think of it…"

"Uh?"

"I think I forgot."

The two other boys looked at him with surprise, as Hajime voiced their thoughts. "Wait, seriously?"

"Let me think for a second… oh, right!" The red-haired boy thought, then snapped his fingers. "I received a message from Sasuke. He told me that the whole gang had to meet here after their activities. He also told me that he and Kitahachi were already here."

Hajime looked at him incredulously. "Wait, what?"

Makoto blinked a few times, slowly understanding what he meant. "But, that would mean that-"

"WHAT?! YOU FUCKERS ARE HERE?!"

"Oh no, not you fucking chicks again…"

"What?! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that we didn't want to see you girls ever again. Especially not on the same day."

"Hey, no fight in my establishment, kiddos!"

Everyone turned their attention to hear the four people's shouting that was coming from inside of the restaurant. Taicho then said, "Ah. Seems like they are here."

"Fine! We were not going to stay here anyway." Natsumi barked, before getting out of the restaurant. "Honestly, the nerve of those fuckers…"

"Hey, are you talking about them, or us?" Sasuke was the next one who got out, with the same mocking tone as earlier in the day. "Wait, doesn't matter anyway. Because nobody cares."

"Sasuke, please don't be like that..." Taicho tried to say, but to no avail.

"Don't listen to them, Natsumi!" Mikasa quickly went out to join her friend. "Y-you know they are trying to provoke you with their language!"

"And it's fuckin' working again, despite her efforts not to give in!" Kitahachi was the last one to manifest his presence outside, with an angry tone. "What, she didn't learn any shit or somethin'?!"

"Hmph! I'm not a dumbass like you guys!" Natsumi yelled. "But like hell I'm going to prove anything to you fuckers!"

"HA! That's so pathetic!" the guitarist yelled again. "Ya really we're gonna-"

"KITAHACHIIIII!"

POW!

The poor fella could not even finish his sentence, as he was quickly punched in the right cheek, putting him K.O. instantly, under Makoto and company's surprised look… and Sasuke and Taicho's terrified ones. Because the one who did it was none other than an enraged Fumie, who looked down at her brother in a very, very angry way.

"I was heading towards our meeting in order to teach you a lesson…" she started, before slowly raising her voice. "And here you are, bullying some girls again! Which happens to be my friends, and the very same girl you punched earlier! DO YOU WANT ME TO GET MAD?!"

"[YOU-NEED-TO-CALM-DOWN. YOU-WILL-DRAW-ATTENTION-TO-US.]"

"Ah! Danjuro!" Taicho looked at his wheelchair brother before going towards him. "Are you alright?"

"[I-AM. THANK-YOU.]" He tapped, before eyeing Makoto. "[HELLO-AGAIN. NAEGI-KUN.]"

"H-hi-"

"HEY! What's going on here?!"

Everyone looked at an adult man, who was apparently the owner of the restaurant, and who did not look pleased by what was going on. "You are all disturbing my customers by your shootings! So either you calm down and stop what you are doing, or you go somewhere else. Got it?!"

"Y-yes, sir! We-we're sorry for whatever mess we created!" Makoto was quick to answer. "W-we won't bother anyone anymore! Promise!"

"Good."

The owner then went back outside, not fully satisfied, but enough to let them be. Taicho then profited of the situation to turn over Makoto and say, "Thanks, man! You really saved our skins right now."

"N-no problem, Monzaemon-kun." Makoto answered. "I-I'm just glad that everything went without problems."

"[INDEED. IT-WOULD-HAVE-BEEN-A-SHAME-IF-ANYONE-COULD-NOT-GET-ALONG-WITH-EACH-OTHER.]" Danjuro tapped on his keyboard.

"Y-yeah, sure, *cough* whatever." Kitahachi said, slowly recovering from the punch. "What's the fuckin' matter with you wanting to get along with-"

He stopped dead in his tracks and began to sweat, as he felt a strong hand grabbing his hair. And he didn't need to turn back to see that Fumie was the one who was threatening him with a dangerous voice. "If you value your life, I suggest you stop talking. Now."

"Woah, things are beginning to get high up here!" Sasuke exclaimed, beginning to sweat in fear. "The boss is not going to be happy when he'll learn about what happened!"

"You described my feelings pretty right, Sasuke."

Everyone froze and turned towards the owner of the voice to see… the Reserve Course student that Makoto saw yesterday. He was wearing a green and brown sweater which was covering what was probably a white t-shirt, but he still had that suitcase with him. And right now, he was focusing on the five other people… and he was staring at them with a serious, reprimanding way. "I demand to reunite on a public place to discuss important things, and here you are, behaving like a bunch of kids with a bunch of kids. I should have known that this was a bad idea from the start."

"H-hey, wait up, boss!" Taicho tried to explain. "We were just-"

"Making fools of yourselves. Yes, I saw this perfectly." the boy answered with the same tone.

"Wait…" Sasuke realized in terror. "So you saw the whole thing?!"

"I wanted to trust you guys to see how you would handle the situation. But you had to use a stranger's help instead of resolving the problem instead… as I should have expected." He then eyed Makoto and his friends with a neutral look. "Hey guys, by the way."

"H-Hi." Makoto waved back.

"S-so… what are you doing here?" Hajime asked.

"Simply taking my idiots of adoptive siblings back home." He told them before focusing his attention on the Monzaemon kids. "And once we're home, we're going to talk… again."

"A-adopted?" Mikasa was surprised at the outcome, as much as everyone else. But she was being ignored again.

"Hey! Ya really think this is only our fault?!" Kitahachi exclaimed, in a scandalized way, then pointed his finger at Natsumi. "It's that blondie's goddamn fault in the first place!"

"What?!"

"I don't want to hear any excuses." The other boy simply said. "No matter what the situation, you should have remained calm. That's what I've been trying to teach for some time now."

Fumie was silent for a moment, before saying, "…we're sorry, boss."

"I'll hear your excuses when we'll get back home." he simply answered, before eyeing Makoto. "Hey, Naegi…"

Makoto lifted up his head towards him. "Y-yes?"

"If your friends did cause some ruckus, can you please call them out for me?" he asked. "I would have done it for sure, but not only I wasn't there to see what happened-"

"OI! Who the hell do you think you are?!" Natsumi barked.

"Why would you ask him to do that?!" Mikasa argued also argued back.

"Because, as I was going to say before being rudely interrupted," he said while eyeing the two girls who stared at him in disbelief, "this isn't my role to boss them around."

"Y-you did say you would have done it…" Hajime sweatdropped.

"Which is why I prefer to leave this job to your friend." he answered, before eyeing Makoto. "So? Can trust you?"

"Y-yes…" Makoto simply said. "I-I'll talk to them."

"Good. Now, if you would excuse me, we have to go back home. Follow me, guys."

"O-okay…" And with that, the five Monzaemon Kids followed their boss who was now taking his leave.

Danjuro simply turned himself back to say, "[GOODBYE-NOW. IT-WAS-NICE-TO-SEE-YOU-AGAIN.]"

"G-goodbye…" Makoto said, before the other boy took his leave as well, leaving the four students to themselves.

Hajime was the first one who breaks the silence. "So… what do we do now?"

"Sorry again for what happened, guys. Guess I do need to check my temper…"

"A-at least you had a good reason this time. Those two guys were jerks!"

"A-at least we didn't have any problems with the owner…"

"He's right. That's the most important thing right now. Besides, it was not a bad day overall, right?"

They were discussing at the bus, in order to return to their respective home. Apparently, the encounter of the different members of the Monzaemon Kids, including their leaders, has shaken them up very much. And so, as the light of the setting sun illuminated their face, they were discussing what happened, with Makoto trying to be optimistic as usual.

"Y-yeah, he's right, you know." Hajime supported him. "We did saw some pretty good things."

"Y-yes… we sure did." Mikasa followed and put a face of glee. "Like Nishizawa-san's lesson, for instance! It was really interesting!"

"Not like I don't want to burst your bubble, but at least you could actually go to the class." Natsumi commented, before smiling a little and giving a quick glance towards the Luckster. "But… yeah, I've gotta admit… despite being punched by an asshole… things were not so badly."

"We won't say anything about that, Kuzuryuu-san." Makoto assured her again. "You don't have to worry about that."

"T-thanks. My brother can be paranoid at times." she then sighed in an annoyed way. "Like I can't take care of myself."

"Well, that's what makes you siblings, I guess." Mikasa said. "I think that it's his way to care about you."

"She's right." Hajime followed her. "It's only natural for him to feel that way."

"Well, I would like it if he gave me some space." she answered, and then the bus stopped slowly, before opening its doors. "Well, this is where I've got to leave you guys. Until Monday, then."

"I've got to go too." Mikasa smiled at the boys before joining the blonde girl outside. She then waved them goodbye. "Have a nice evening!"

"You too, girls! Until Monday!" Makoto waved back.

"Bye, girls!" Hajime joined him, before the doors closed themselves. And thus, the bus regained some speed. He waited a moment before saying, "So this is only the two of us again, uh…"

"S-seems like it…" Makoto answered, feeling uneasy… and for good reasons. The previous discussion between him and the other ahoge boy was still on his mind… or rather, the impact it had on the Luckster. He couldn't help but feel… very nervous after the confession he has heard. He knew that Hajime was more realistic than others, but… this seemed more like… depressive. The opposite of what he was supposed to be.

"L-look, I know you're still thinking about what I've said… and I'm sorry if I had offended you."

Makoto looked a little surprised about Hajime just said, and looked towards him. "Uh?"

"I mean, that doesn't really change what I think about the problem…" Hajime said, looking awkwardly at his shorter friend. "But you wanted this event to happen. Because you wanted to make us feel a little happier. And I think that I spat on that."

"O-oh, it's okay, Hinata-kun!" Makoto quickly reassured with his hands weaving in denial. "I-I know that you have your own reasons to think like this!"

"And you had your own reasons to make this happen." Hajime quickly answered, before smiling. "I just wanted to make one thing clear: just because we think differently doesn't mean we can't be friends anymore."

Makoto stared at him in amazement, before returning the smile. "T-thank you Hinata-kun. But you know, I've always considered you as a friend of mine!"

"I know. So do I." Hajime reassured. "I mean, you are one of the main reason why I'm still here with the others… at least, I think so."

Makoto smiled a little at him. "H-Hinata-kun…"

"I think that this is going to be your stop."

"Uh?"

And indeed, the bus was slowing down. And considering the ride they've done, it was going to be Makoto's stop. One it stopped, the door opened.

"Well, seems like it's time to say goodbye then." Makoto said, eyeing Hajime with a friendly gaze. He then went out of the bus and turned back to wave goodbye. "Bye! Until Monday!"

"Yeah! Bye!" Hajime waved back before the doors closed themselves.

As the bus began to slowly accelerate, Makoto stared at it in glee, thinking about everything that happened today. The meeting with the Monzaemon Kids, the encounter with the different relatives of some of his friends… and the confession that his friends told him.

Well, some moments were more enjoyable for sure, but… overall, it was a good day, at least for him. And he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen on Monday, despite his previous talk with Hajime who did have some negative impact on his thought, but he dismissed it after Hajime decided to talk things out with him. After all, he cared about him. And that was more than enough for him to make his optimistic nature go back on track.

Even if he understood Hajime's fears, he still had hopes for this events.

All he wanted was that both of them were treated as equals, something that he already knew… but he was a little sad to see that not everyone thought like that.

That was why he wanted this to happen in the first place. To show everyone his point of view.

And to prove to Hajime that he was still his friend, no matter his status.

He didn't need any talent for that.

And he hoped it would make him understand that. Even after some time together… he could see that it was still present.

And the fact that he was less present with them only proved that further.

But what Makoto failed to realize was that, he was so focused on his thoughts-

BUMP!

"Oumph!"

"Aaah!"

That he ended up bumping into someone. Or rather, in this case, someone dumped on him.

The Luckster fell right on his back as he felt a rather heavy weight on his stomach. "Aaah! I-I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't looking!"

Makoto lifted up his gaze to see a girl as tall as Ruruka, with grey hair and red-cardinal eyes. Not only the girl had an ahoge, but she also had two pigtails on both sides, which were tied up by two black and grey ribbons, located just above her shoulders. She was wearing some kind of prussian-blue school uniform, with a small coin-shaped, golden brooch on the shirt collar, a black and grey tie, on which colors were separated so that both shared each half of it. She had four black buttons at the level of her stomach, and she also had black cuffs. She was also wearing a skirt with black and white waves on it, prussian blue tights, and grey shoes.

"I-It's okay, I-I wasn't paying attention either!" Makoto quickly said to the girl on top of him who quickly got of him in n embarrassed way. "So, both fault resides on us."

"I-I really doubt it, you know." the girl chuckled awkwardly, watching the young man she collided with getting up slowly; "I-I'm quite known for being the one who brings… you know, mischief for many of my friends."

"H-hey, don't say that." Makoto chuckled back, getting up and looking at the girl in n amused way. "I'm sure that you're-"

And then, silence ensued. Both persons just stared at each other, slowly widening their eyes in shock… then…

"A-are you…"

"N-Naegi-san?!"

DRING!

"Everyone! I'm home!"

The ring of the house combined with Makoto's voice was enough for everyone that the Luckster had arrived. And as soon as he said those words, he was greeted by his parents smiling at him.

"Hello, son. How was your day today?" His dad asked in a curious way.

"Oh, it was pretty fine, Otou-san!" Makoto answered with glee. "That was eventful, to say the least, but not in a bad way!"

"What do you mean by that, dear, dear?" his mom asked in a curious way. "You came back sooner than I would have expected. Did something happen?"

"Nothing too bad, Okaa-san!" the Luckster answered quickly. "Just some meetings of old and new friends, that's all!"

"What kind of friends, Onii-chan?"

As soon as his sister's voice was heard, Makoto turned over her-

"NII-SAN! You're back!"

"H-hey there, Onii-san? H-how was your day with your friends?"

"Makoto-onii! What are we going to do tomorrow?!"

"Kotoko, please don't harass Aniki with your questions already. Nothing has been planned yet."

"Besides, we've got a lot of time to figure it out! Right, Naegi-onii?"

Only to be hugged by most of his siblings and assaulted with questions from them, to which he could only try to answer, "W-wait up! O-of course I can-"

DRRRR!

And then, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He could only pick it up and watched the screen to see-

{1 New Message from Fuyuhiko:}

{Natsumi came back home with a cotton on her cheek! What the hell happened, Naegi?!}

Makoto only gulped in fear. This was going to be a long evening...

Well, there was a bright side.

He was able to meet one of his old friends.

HOHOHO! I hope that you enjoyed it!

Did I say that I would not make a chapter so long last time?

...oh well.

So, I think you all guessed that Satou was Mikasa. But just for reminders, I will call her Mikasa for now on. Just so you guys won't be confused.

Also, what do you think about the freedom I took with the Monokubs? Or Monokuma Kids?

And in order to find out who is the girl... just tap "Danganronpa Unlucky Student" on Google. If you see a girl with the same physical description... jackpot. You'll find the original source.

I've heard that the original creator of the character doesn't want any attention... so instead, I'm letting you go look for it.

Now then, I have a question... in all kind of media (game, anime, ect. )...who do you think is the least developed character in each support? And who is the better developed? Please tell me in the comments why do you think so.

Next chapter will be focused on the Warriors of Hope... as well as some other characters. Who were mentioned in one of the previous chapters.

Anyway, Happy Holidays to you all once again!

Pupla out.