Helloooo there, dear Fanfiction! I'm your host, Pupla, and-

Well, technically, the term host is not really the most appropriated word but you get my idea.

Anyway, this chapter will focus on our dear Luckster with another of his classmate, the Ultimate Clairvoyant, Yasuhiro Hagakure! As I've explained last chapter, it will be one of those chapters that will mainly involve the relationship between Makoto and said person. Not only that, but this chapter shall be also shorter than usual.

What? I can't just make a long chapter every time. I would die of exhaustion otherwise.

So, I also said I would analyze the character in question, and give you all what I think of them after the chapter, so you can have an idea about how I apply what I think is the most… correct personality, if I were to be accurate.

Perhaps I should make a list about who I like and dislike the most? Tell me in the reviews.

Once again, thanks to my friends (that I won't mention anymore, since I figure you all probably know who I'm talking about now) for supporting and helping me, and of course, thank you guys for your appreciated comments!

And thus, here we go!

CONQUERING HOPE CHAPTER 7.5:

A CRYSTAL CLEAR PROJECTION

"Well… hopefully, everything will work out."

That was the statement that Makoto thought as for now.

After all, any other person who would be in his situation would think so… at least he thought.

"Why wouldn't it work out, Naegi-chi? I've got you by my side, so there's no way anything could go wrong, right?"

"I-I wish it was as simple as that, Hagakure-kun…"

Yes, the Ultimate Clairvoyant seemed to be overconfident. Joyful may be the second word to describe him now, but careless would be definitely the first.

The older boy was the one who brought him on this bus as well. And he was lucky that they weren't a lot of people in this one. That way, they could talk about how to proceed once they had reached the older boy's destination.

Which was why Makoto was so nervous now.

Even Yasuhiro noticed this and passed an arm around his classmate's shoulder. "Oh, come on, buddy! We're just going for a visit is all! That's why-"

"That's why you brought me with you, yes." Makoto interrupted him, knowing what he was going to say. "But you can understand that I'm not too fond of that little plan of yours. After all, this is a place where I've never been before, so don't ask me not to be a little wary of it, okay?"

"I know, I know! But as long as you stay with me, then nothing bad should happen!" Yasuhiro said, trying to sound reassuring. "Besides, you do need to go in there the first time to see for yourself if this is a good place or not!"

That was actually a… decent argument, for the Luckster's standards. "I… can't really argue with that."

"See?"

"But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy this, you know." Makoto was quick to look at Yasuhiro with a serious look on his face. "I had to warn my siblings that I would leave sooner because I had something important to do with you. I had to promise Masaru that I'll see him tomorrow, when I said I would do this today." He looked a little sad at the mention of his siblings. "I really hope nothing bad will happen to them…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry for this, buddy, but I needed to have a second opinion! Just for today, and after that, I'll manage to do it on my own!" The Clairvoyant said, trying to comfort his friend. "Besides, they should be with the others! As long as they are with them, you can relax, man! Plus, you've got more time tomorrow, right?"

"It still bugs me. And let's not forget about Sensei."

"Yeah, you said you had to text her. So, what did she say?"

"To behave and to phone her when we'll be finished. Looks like she entrusted me with your care."

"Welp, that Ochitsuite-sensei for ya, buddy!" Hiro laughed happily. "She's worried about us, just like you! Except that she's doing her job!"

"Yeah, well, I think it would have been nice to see her in person instead of just, you know, texting her." Makoto argued back, looking a little worried about his teacher. "You know that she doesn't like it when we disappear like that."

"Yeah, but as long as you are the one who sends the mail, it's okay! You're our class rep, remember?"

"T-that's a… good reason, but still-"

"Not to mention, you're her favorite."

Now that made Makoto blush in embarrassment.

And Hiro's smirk was certainly not helping his case.

Nor were the odd looks that some people in the bus were giving him as he almost shouted in surprise and embarrassment.

Or the amused look on the Clairvoyant's face when he tried to calm him down.

"H-Hagakure-kun! D-don't say that so loud! People are watching us!"

"Oh, come on, man! You know it's true!"

"It isn't! What would make you think-"

"Why are you the only one having her number? Even Taka-chi don't have that on his phone."

"K-Kirigiri-san has hers too!"

"Only for school stuff. You? You're probably the one who communicates the most with Sensei. Heck, not just with the phone, but in person as well. I think you eat with her times to times, too…"

"W-well, who said I couldn't befriend my own teacher?"

"Meh, I guess you're right on that part."

Thank God, Hiro lowered the tone of his voice, otherwise people would have got the wrong idea of all of it.

And considering the Luckster's face, their theories might have been confirmed, which wouldn't have ended well with him at all.

He didn't want to risk his social life because of a simple assumption.

"I mean, it would also explain how you also befriended Kizakura-chi and Yukizome-chi too-"

"Hey! Isn't that our stop?"

"Uh?"

Hiro's clumsiness was probably tougher to handle than some other students physical actions.

Mentioning befriending a female teacher could be heard as something really odd, if you put it out of its context.

But doing the same with another one? Now it would just be plain suspicious.

One of the three was a male, yes, but still! If he wasn't careful, people could have the wrong idea!

Thankfully, something came to save his skin in time.

"Oh! You're right, buddy! Lucky us, you guessed it correctly! I'll explain once we get out of here."

And thank God, Hiro confirmed it. Let's just hope that he was not mistaken…

Once they both went out of the bus, they saw the place they were in front of.

And honestly, Makoto was surprised.

This was not what he was expecting.

"You… you're sure this is the right place?"

"Yup! Definitely! I came here myself alone just to make sure of that! Right in front of the bus stop, how cool is that?" Hiro said with a grin on his face, before calming down a bit. "Though I have to admit, I was kind of surprised when I first saw this, too. I mean, the place does look a little small…"

"That is an understatement…"

Indeed, it was.

What Makoto saw was… a little shop, actually. Or at least, what looked like a little shop. In fact, it was quite similar to the music shop he visited along with his friends from the Reserve Course Saturday, and if he was not mistaken, the shop belonged to Sousuke Ichino's relatives. Really, this shop and the one he was looking at were almost identical in aspect. The only differences were the fact that the shop front was not a big, thus not giving the students a clear vision of what was inside or how the insides looked like. The second thing was, of course, the name of the shop, who had really… nothing outstanding, he supposed.

He was pretty sure he saw the name 'Village Psychic' a few times on the Internet.

In fact, he was pretty sure he saw that shop once or twice.

Something that he did not hesitate to say. "This name looks familiar to me…"

"Yeah, I've looked up too. Apparently, it's a shop coming from the other side of the sea who decided to open up some kind of overseas business."

"Okay, so that explains why I've seen this before, but… about that overseas business… you mean it functions just like Hope's Peak Academy?"

"Yeah, sort of. Without the whole… educative system, I guess…"

"That would be weird otherwise…"

"Yeah…" Hiro scratched the back of his head. "But… you know, it's kind of weird…"

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm almost sure I've seen this name elsewhere too… on other shops, I mean. And maybe even… a musical group? I-I'm not if I remember correctly to be honest. I just… I think I just saw it like that."

"Oh. I see…"

Makoto couldn't help but think a little about that. After all, that would explain why he saw that name often on the Internet. It was an easy name to choose to him, because he's seen some shops asides from this one with the same name many times before.

But what was also intrigued him was the fact that some people would use such a name for music.

Or rather, the fact that music had been involved in this… again.

Guess he'll see other references in the future.

But Makoto snapped out of his thoughts when Hiro did the same. "A-anyway, dude, I know this looks like a small place, but when you'll step inside, I tell you, you'll have some big surprise, buddy!"

"I-I'm so looking for this…"

The Luckster couldn't help but chuckle nervously as he sweatdropped, not even bothering to hide his irony in his tone.

Even if he said he made some progress – and he did seem to improve, Makoto had to admit – he couldn't help but feel a little nervous about what would happen next.

After all, it was Yasuhiro he was talking about no.

And while he usually hated not to trust his friends… he knew he had to be cautious about some of their… attitude.

Otherwise, he would probably end up being physically threatened by another yakuza gang.

And he was pretty sure he would need all of his organs if he wanted to have a wealthy life.

Hiro assuring him that it was a joke did not persuade him very well.

"Don't worry, I already told the owner that we would check this place out, so he should expect us by now!"

Makoto sighed in relief. "Oh, that's a relief…"

But it was a short-lived relief as he picked up something. "Wait, didn't you say you would wait for me to check out the place before we go?"

"I said I would need your help for the merchandise, yeah. But… let's say I needed to… you know, check the place before doing something. And when I looked on their website, it looked pretty clean!"

"Wait, what?!" The Luckster looked at him completely dumbfounded. "So you mean to tell me that you would go to an impostor's shop anyway?!"

"Hey, I needed to see this for myself, dude!" Hiro defended himself. "Besides, I know that it really is the big deal now!"

"That's not the point! Hagakure-kun, that was just careless! I know you said you made your research, but you need to do it properly! Otherwise, people might want to take advantage of that!"

"I know, you told me that before! But I just thought that I could, you know, handle this kind of thing on my own!"

"I've heard you the first time, but-"

"Ah! I knew I've heard this voice before! Right on time!"

The two teenagers stopped their argument to look at an old man with average height and weight, round glasses and a white mustache and short beard. He was half bald, with some hair standing like a bowl at the sides of his head. He was wearing a checkered, blue and white shirt, with blue pants and simple brown shoes. He was looking at them, looking rather kind… but also a little suspicious.

And what was more surprising was that the suspicion was directed t Makoto and not at Hiro.

Who greeted him with a big grin on his face as he came in front of him to shake his hand. "Ah, hey there, sir! I told you I would bring someone with me just in case!"

"I can see this. And I suppose you did the right thing, Hagakure-san." The old man looked at Makoto with the same look, trying to analyze him. "Although, forgive my rudeness, but I… don't see why you would bring someone like him around."

"Uh?"

Should he take offense of that comment?

"Don't worry, sir! This guy is my best bud!" Hiro declared as he hugged the Luckster at the level of the shoulder. "Plus, he's my class rep, so he knows how to be serious!"

"H-Hagakure-kun, not in front of everyone…"

But unfortunately, Makoto's embarrassed whispered went unnoticed by his friend.

But the old man did seem to see that the situation was rather uncomfortable for the younger boy and approached him. "I see. So you naturally accepted to go with him here today to make sure everything would be alright, isn't that right, young man?"

Makoto looked at him sheepishly. "Y-yeah, that's right, sir. He told me it was important for him, so…"

"That's fair. Since you are your class representative, I suppose I can see now why he decided to ask you to join him." He then got a pen and a little sheet out of his chest pocket. "I will simply ask you your name. Don't worry, it's a mere formality I always respect."

"A-alright, then…" Seeing that his classmate already gave him unnecessary information, Makoto felt like it wouldn't hurt to comply. "My name is Naegi Makoto, sir. Please to meet you."

"Pleasure returned." The old man smiled at him. "Do not worry, I engage myself not to use this kind of personal information against you boys. I will simply ask you not to do anything… drastic during your visit, alright?"

Makoto sighed in relief. "Understood, sir. Thanks."

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine with my buddy here!" The Clairvoyant laughed it off as he followed. "So, can we enter?"

"Of course. You are right on time today. You may proceed."

"Sweet! Come, man, you've gotta see this!"

Makoto looked a little hesitant at first, but the old man held the door for him. "After you, young man."

"T-thanks…" The Luckster muttered a little awkwardly, before entering, not expecting anything spectacular.

Well, crap.

He may not have any expectations to begin with, but he would be damned if he would lie about not being surprised.

"So, what do ya think, Naegi-chi? Pretty cool, uh?"

Makoto had a hard time to find his words. "W… wow. I-I have to admit… you were right."

That answer pleased Hiro very well as he started laughing. "See? I told you you would be surprised! Man, just look at your face! You look like you're going to swallow a fly with your mouth wide-opened like that! And your eyes! They look like they're gonna pop out! That's priceless!"

And it also seemed to make the old owner chuckle. "I take it that you like what you are seeing, young boy?"

"I-I… I'm not gonna lie. I'm really impressed. This is definitely some good stuff here."

Indeed, it was.

Looks could be deceiving. And what he saw when he turned his eyes to the side of the old man's desk was a proof of this.

Because this place was the definition of Ali Baba's cave!

No kidding, this little place was some kind of library – or better yet, a museum - but with various objects of all forms! One place was dedicated to one precise type of object! One was for different out-of-place artifacts, another for rituals, and so went on…

And it's not like anyone could steal any of this. The protection glass seemed to be resistant enough to endure bullets. Probably armored windows by the look of it…

Truly, Hiro seemed to do a fantastic job on this one. Better than anyone could have predicted. Something that Makoto voiced, looking at him with a proud and relieved sigh. "Well, Hagakure-kun… I've got to admit, you did a very good job on this one."

"YES! I knew I would hit the jackpot! Thanks so much, man!" Hiro clapped his hands in victory, before rubbing them together. "Now then…"

"H-Hagakure-kun? I-I'm pretty sure he said not to make any trouble here…"

"Come on there, babies… hehehehe…"

Whatever advice he said felt on deaf ear. That, Makoto felt immediately after speaking.

After all, he knew the look on his classmate's friend.

That was the look of a hungry predator who was looking for a delicious pray. The chuckling also added some creepiness to it.

And the Luckster knew that he would have to take the matters in his hands if things were about to get out of hands.

"I see now why he wanted to bring you along."

"Uh?" Makoto turned towards the old man who had put a hand on his left shoulder. "What do you mean by that, sir?"

"When he arrived here, your friend also looked skeptical about my shop when he was in front of it," he began to explain, "so I decided to step outside just like I did today with you two."

"A-and I suppose he was conquered immediately?"

"You suppose well, young one." The owner said with a chuckle. "In fact, I am pretty sure he wanted to grab every item he could. But he managed to get a hold on himself, fortunately."

Makoto looked at his friend in an amused way. "Compared to now, that is…"

"I suppose he wanted someone to watch over him just in case." The old man followed, while approaching himself towards his ear, speaking less loudly. "And I think this is quite a good reflex, because… if I were to be honest, your friend here seems to be… careless, might I say."

Makoto laughed nervously at this. "You, sir, just made one good realization…"

"That must be some task to look after him, I suppose." He sighed, before looking at Makoto. "Though, to be fair, even if I am glad he brought someone with him… I can't help but feel a little surprised at the choice of his friend. I expected someone that would have some knowledge about business and all, and you… just look average to me." He then smiled awkwardly. "No offense, young man."

"None taken, sir." Makoto returned the gesture. "I'm conscious about my looks. And, to be honest, compared to my other classmates, I'm just… you know, average. A little optimistic, too, I guess. But that's not really that amazing when you compare that to the rest of Hope's Peak Academy's students. Because I suppose he already told you about that?"

"He did say that, yes. And he also mentioned that you were the Ultimate… Lucky Student of your year, if I recall correctly?"

"That's right, sir. Compared to the others, I'm just with my friends because of… luck. Pure, dumb, random luck. It would have been anyone, really." He then sighed. "To be honest, I still wonder why I've been chosen as their class representative. Not that I complain, of course, but… you know, I felt like they could have chosen someone else, better suited for the job."

"I understand. Being in that position is not an easy task for anyone." The old man acknowledged. "I too was a little surprised that they would choose someone with such a title to represent them, if I were to be bluntly honest with you. I would think that someone with a more… suitable title would be a better choice. That's why I was looking at you this way."

"My thoughts on this…"

"But… I don't really think they did a bad choice."

"Uh?"

"Well, I believe there must be an explanation to this action. If your classmates decided to choose you to represent them, then it must mean you must be competent enough to lead them." He couldn't help but smile a little. "And frankly, I'm happy to see that Lucky Students are being recognized by their classmates for what they do. Even Hagakure-san kept talking about how effective you were."

That got Makoto to blush slightly. "I-I just did what I believe was right…"

"I can't help but feel a little… proud about that. I mean, just because your title is the Ultimate Lucky Student doesn't mean you only rely on luck. After all, you've been picked by a lottery, so it doesn't mean really anything. Everyone has their own potential." He kept his smile as he kept talking to the Luckster. "I would also like to apology to make you uncomfortable earlier. I just have this habit to look on newcomers for the first time. But… you seem okay to me now."

Makoto couldn't help but smile a little. "N-no problem with this. And thanks for the words, sir…"

"You're welcome, Naegi-san." The owner chuckled, before realizing something. "Oh! And with all of this, I still haven't introduced myself, didn't I? Well, let's correct this mistake right now. My name is Christopher Bevins. I was in America before I decided to expand my business here."

"I see… Well, I thought you didn't look Japanese to me…"

"Indeed. I wouldn't have thought that students from Hope's Peak Academy would come here, though. Or at the very least, not so quickly. I just opened last month. And usually, people are more looking for a library of a kind. I suppose it's because of the title. Although I do have some books in store…"

"I-is that so? Well, I can't honestly blame them for-"

That's when Makoto remembered.

What he had to do with Hiro.

"Uum?" Christopher looked at him in slight worry. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no no, sir! I just remembered I had to explain something to my friend over here!" Makoto explained. "Let's say he did… something reckless some time ago, and I wanted to talk to him about it."

"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps now would be a good time. Otherwise, he might be tempted to get everything out of their places."

And indeed, when Makoto looked back at his friend, Hiro was very tempted to do so. Just the look on his face could tell this much.

How much a man could drool, he had no idea.

Was he rather a puppy instead of a human? Because the way he was staring at the different items would totally suggest so.

"I guess I will have to clean the glass cases again…"

And one pitiful look for Christopher, one.

"I-I'll go check on him now…" Makoto said, as he approached a very enthusiastic Clairvoyant. "Hagakure-kun-"

"Check all of this out, man! Those things are so cool! One-hundred percent legit, on top of that!"

"Yes, they are indeed. But I don't sell to anyone the first time. Sorry, it's another code of mine."

The owner's declaration was clear. But it didn't matter to him. "You heard that, Naegi-chi?! This kind of business is real this time! Finally, after so long!"

"G-good for you, Hagakure-kun." Makoto laughed awkwardly. "Now, can I-"

"Check this out! A human skull made out of crystal! And pure crystal this time! Oh, and look at that! A golden airplane! I think this one was found in Columbia!"

"H-Hagakure-kun-"

"And what's that? An arrowhead?! Hey, wasn't that featured in this weird manga of Yamada-chi?!"

"T-that's not his manga, but rather something he's been reading for some time ago, I believe. B-but, Hagakure-kun, can we please-

"Wow! And they've got some Sakaki tree branch! I've been looking for this for some time ago now! And look! They say I can buy an exemplary!"

"AHEM!"

"Yikes!" That cough made Yasuhiro stop in his babbling, looking at Makoto in a slightly frightened way. "Y-yeah, dude? Something's wrong?"

"A little, yes." Makoto looked at him seriously. "I' going to go straight to the point here. Do you remember about Saihara-kun's birthday some time ago?"

"W-well, yeah, dude. You were looking for some gift for the little detective wannabe, so you came to me and asked for a gift, right?"

"Yes. And do you remember what you gave me?"

"Yeah, of course! It's an old book that I borrowed for… someone… else…"

Yasuhiro's demeanor showed that he understood where he was getting at. And it was making him nervous. "You… you found out, didn't you?"

"Saihara confirmed it when I gave it to him. And he was as astonished as I when I put the two and two together." Makoto continued to look at him, but with a more severe look. "Hagakure-kun… care to explain?"

The Clairvoyant began to sweat, and spoke as quiet as possible so the old man wouldn't hear him. "O-okay, look. First off, I didn't want to steal this from him. I just, you know, panicked and all! I took it with me by instinct, I swear! And I didn't even know he was a detective!"

"Does it excuse what you did? You could have just given him back! But I suppose you were also trying to 'make the most of your customer's presence', as you like to put it, again? That would explain why he refused to pay for whatever you tried to do to him, and that you ran off with one of his belongings."

The nervous answer the Clairvoyant seemed to be enough for an answer. "U-uuurm…"

"And why did you made me pay for that? Seriously, you stole someone three years ago, and you just stole me along the way!"

"Sssh! Not so loud, buddy! And yeah, it was dumb, but I was really on the red!"

Makoto sighed in defeat at this. "Well, I'm just glad you don't need to do this anymore." He then looked at Hiro again. "But I expect you to pay me back one day, alright? I promised Saihara-kun and Akamatsu-san to talk to you about it, and I don't want them to worry about this anymore, okay?"

"Sure, sure, buddy! I'll do what I can, I promise!" Hiro relaxed slightly, before looking at him pitifully. "Just don't tell my mom about this, please!"

"Well… she might know that you've goofed off. But you're lucky that I haven't told her what it was about."

"Phew…"

"And you're also lucky that Saihara's uncle hasn't done anything. Who knows what could have happened?"

"I know, I know, okay?!" Hiro suddenly yelled out of frustration. "It's been three years already, cut me some slack!"

And of course, the owner heard this communion and looked at them surprised. "Is there a problem?"

"N-no, sir, we're just… making things clear, that's all!" Makoto tried to reassure him, but his friend's nervous face was making it hard to be convincing.

Thankfully, Christopher only stared at them while narrowing very slightly his eyes. "You're lucky that there are no other customers inside, thanks to my rules. Otherwise, we might have ended up with a problem to deal with."

Yes, it was odd. No one except them was inside for the moment.

But they were indeed lucky. At least, no one except the old man had been disturbed by what happened.

Makoto then turned towards his friend again. "But seriously, Hagakure-kun, you need to think before acting. I know I said this a good number of times before, but now that you've decided to step up your game, if I trust your words, then you need to do it right."

"Yup. I know, I know…" Hiro sighed slightly, before chuckling. "Ya know, Naegi-chi…"

"Yes?"

"Doesn't that remind you of the old times together?"

"The… old times?"

"You know, during last year, when we used to spend time together… well, we still are, but I don't know man, I feel a little nostalgic." He turned towards the Luckster with a smile on his face. "You remember it too, right?"

Makoto was a little surprised by this question, but answered with a small smile anyway. "Of course I do. You guys are my classmates, after all."

"Well, yeah, sure, but it was also the beginning of this, you know? All of those moments shared together, it was pretty cool… for the most part, anyway."

"You're talking about Togami-kun now, aren't you?"

"Him and some others. Like Fukawa-chi or Enoshima-chi, for instance."

"I… get why you would feel like this about them. But they changed now."

"Well, Fukawa-chi is still… Fukawa-chi, I guess. And Enoshima-chi is still a little… well, Enoshima-chi. But yeah, they are a little bit more… nicer. I think."

"Glad to hear that."

"But you know what I appreciated the more? Our time together, buddy."

That surprised Makoto a little. "Uh? Really?"

"Yeah, duh! I told you, man, you're the only one I can talk to! The other would just shrug it off or be annoyed by whatever I say!"

"W-well, some things you say can be quite… surprising, honestly. And not in a good way."

"Hey, I just like to share my thoughts with you guys! And especially with you, man! We've been friends from the very beginning!"

"Didn't you call me bad luck on the first day?"

"…okay, I may have done it, but I managed to see past that!"

"You mean I had to convince you that I was not like that."

"Come on, you know what I mean! It's not like I wanted all of this to happen!"

"That's not really helping your case considering what happened." Makoto then sighed. "But… I've got to admit, there were some good times with you, too."

"Ah! Finally, we're coming to the good part!" Hiro laughed happily. "You mean the predictions, correct?"

Which earned a sweat on the Luckster's front head. "I-I wasn't really thinking of that, to be honest…"

"What?! Hey, you've forgotten, my predictions are now right 40% most of the time! It's still thanks to that accuracy that I'm still here!"

"I still don't like that prediction of us forming a family with the same woman, you know…"

"Oh come on, it's not so bad!"

"I'd like to believe that…" Makoto muttered before turning to Hiro with a smile. "I was more thinking about that time when you showed me your tarot set. That was pretty interesting to listen to you about the meaning of the cards, you know."

Hiro seemed to beam in joy at the memory. "Oh! Oh yeah, dude, that time was so cool! You really looked so interested when I explained! Although I still don't think you needed me to do so for you buddy."

"Oh, sometimes… a reminder can be handy." Makoto laughed lightly, before looking at him with a sweat on his front. "Though I've got to admit, it also showed me how careless you were with money and forgeries."

That made Hiro smiled a little. "Oh yeah, you're talking about that time, aren't you? That wasn't so bad! I mean, yeah, I did something dumb again, but hey, I wouldn't trade my cards for anything! And I still owe that to you, man!"

"I-I didn't do much…"

And true, he didn't do much that day… not in his memory, at the very least.

"Hey, dude! I didn't think you would know a lot about that stuff!"

"I-it's nothing much, really. I-I just happened to study this kind of thing back in my former school with some friend, so…"

"Well, it gives me less explaining to do! You're a quick learner, Naegi-chi! That's good to know!"

"T-thanks…"

Well, at least, the Clairvoyant was happy right now.

Someone was finally paying attention to him after one whole month. During the first month of school, nobody wanted him around, not until Makoto decided to go talk to him.

Well, to be fair, some of Hiro's thoughts were… stupid. Plainly and simply stupid. Even Makoto had to admit it.

A guardian angel with a crazy perm? Chasing after Bigfoot? Running off with a sky fish in its mouth? And this is supposed to be his guardian angel?!

Yeah, no thanks. He as fine without a guardian angel.

And even if that was true, then it would do a terrible job!

To think it was the first thing he heard from Hiro's mouth during his introduction… yeah, that definitely gave him an impression. And not a good one.

Still, seeing one of his classmates all alone during so much time… the Luckster couldn't help but feel a little pitiful for the Clairvoyant.

Even he was dumb (even though he would not say that in front of him for now), some people would definitely take the occasion to make him feel unwanted and miserable.

That was so not a shot at Byakuya, Junko and Touko.

And the others were not really helping either.

So, being the helper he is, he decided to go talk to Hiro to see if there was anything interesting to share. After all, in all of this… strange nonsense, perhaps there was a glint of things interesting to learn from him.

Which led the two boys in the recreation room, discussing some things that Hiro liked. And the tarot game was one of them.

"Seriously, man, I didn't think you would know about this kind of thing, man!" Hiro exclaimed with glee. "No one even tries to understand that kind of stuff in the class, so I'm glad someone has an open mind!"

"G-glad to hear that…" Makoto sweatdropped at this, before asking. "Say, that card set sounds pretty cool."

"I know, right?" The Clairvoyant laughed about it. "When I saw this some time ago, they seemed so neat and… I don't know, perfect, dude! And guess what? The dude who sold me those cards told me that that deck was the original one!"

That surprised Makoto as he looked at Hiro with big eyes. "Uh? Really?"

"Yeah! I couldn't believe it either! They said they've been conserving those for a good customer, and they said I had to perfect profile! So cool, right?"

"I-I guess…"

Makoto muttered this loudly enough so the Clairvoyant could hear it. But in his mind, some alarms went on. Something about that was wrong…

"And guess what? It only cost me 2000 yens! Talk about luck, right?"

"2000 yens?!"

Okay, something was definitely wrong with this! On so many levels!

And Makoto decided to see if his theory was right. "Uh, Hagakure-kun? Can I check your cards for a minute?"

"Uh? What for?" Hiro asked, curious, before yelping in horror. "Wait, are you gonna stole them from me?!"

"What?! No, I don't want your cards! I just-"

"No! Nu-uh! No way I'm gonna let you do that!" Hiro interrupted him by placing his cards in his hands, snatching it from the table. Judging by his angry stare, he was not happy with Makoto's intentions. "It still money I spend on this, dude! No way I'm gonna toss it away because of you!"

"I don't want to steal your cards, Hagakure-kun! I know you treasure them!" The Luckster tried to explain. "I just want to see if they are really clean!"

"Uh?"

"I saw some kind of dirt on some of them. You wouldn't like to make your belongings dirty, right?"

"Ah! You should have said so earlier, dude! I was scared for a moment there! Sure, take a look!"

That reaction was one of the reasons why he didn't understand the Clairvoyant at all.

One minute, he snatches away his belongings and looks at him with an enraged look, as he was a murderer or something like that. Then, one moment later, he returns to his happy, cool self and hand over his deck when he's given a reason.

Something doesn't stick well there.

But that didn't faze Makoto much as he took the deck in his hands, and decided to look at the cards.

And then he noticed. "Uh, Hagakure-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not an expert, but… I'm pretty sure this is not how the original tarot cards were drawn."

That startled Hiro as he looked at him, a little dumbfounded. "Uh? What do you mean?"

"Take a look at the drawings."

"Uh? What about it?" Hiro was curious about it, but he complied. He starred at the drawings, but looked back at Makoto. "I don't see anything."

"Look a little closer."

He did as such. Only this time, he seemed to notice. "Uh? Those lines look more… rushed than the others."

"Yeah. I didn't notice too, but some lines aren't as clear as others." The Luckster explained. "And the colors are a little off, too. As if someone tried to erase it a little. Just look. Some of the colors exceed some lines as well."

"Maybe it's just some kind of style."

"I doubt it, honestly. And…"

Makoto stopped in his tracks, which did not go unnoticed. "Uh? Something's wrong, Naegi-chi?"

"Take a look at this. On the bottom right corner."

"Uh?" Hiro did as said, and then saw it. "Oh! You mean the words 'made in… China…'"

Makoto sighed of tiredness. "Looks like I was right."

Hiro didn't stop looking at the cards, sweating a little. "Oh crap… aw, that sucks…"

"I thought it was a little strange. The way you said it… why would they say that kind of thing?"

"Meh! At least I've got those cool cards with those drawings on it."

"Uh?" Makoto turned at him surprised. "A-aren't you mad… at being played like that?"

That earned a sigh from Hiro. "Well, a little, yeah. I mean, they did steal some money from me…" Hiro then smiled again. "But I had those for a while, ya know? I used them a lot during my consultations, and of all of my stuff, this deck is probably the thing I have the longest. So I'm not going to throw it away when I've got all of the good memories of it!"

Makoto stared a little surprised at the older teenager as he laughed. That was… not he had expected at all. He thought he was going to be angry or depressed, but he just shrugged it off. That… was some kind of thing he thought it was cool.

Or perhaps he was not conscious about everything it would imply. That was also a possibility.

Still, Makoto could not help but smile a little bit. In the end, even though he learned that he had been tricked, Hiro seemed to have a great time.

And that's all that mattered for Makoto.

"But you pointed out something that I haven't probably for years, so thanks for that, Naegi-chi!" Hiro interrupted the Luckster's thoughts by putting an arm on his shoulders. "Looks like we're going to be great buddies, man!"

"R-really?" The Luckster said, a little distraught by the gesture, but still smiling. "I-I'm glad…"

"Hey, too bad you're too young. Otherwise, I would have it some brewskies with you right now."

"O-oh… y-yeah, I forgot you were 20… b-but even still, we're in a school environment, Hagakure-kun. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't allow us to drink that kind of stuff."

"You sound just like Ishimaru-kun right now!" Hiro laughed a little, only to widen his eyes in realization. "Ah! I know!"

"W-what?"

"I'm going to read your future for you in order to celebrate this! It's a gift from the house this time! Don't thank me, buddy!"

Makoto freaked out a little when he heard this. "Uuuh… a-are you sure about that?"

"Come on, man! They don't call me the Ultimate Clairvoyant for nothing! And besides, I was called Supernova back in the days! Trust me, this is gonna be good!"

"I-I hope so…" Makoto whispered.

Why did he felt like he was going to hear something too bizarre for his tastes?!

"And that was how we became best buddies, man!" Hiro laughed happily. "Man, when I think about it, it was maybe a good thing that I brought those!"

"M-maybe you're overreacting a little, Hagakure-kun…" Makoto smiled nervously. "I mean, you said you had them since you were 15, right?"

"Yup! My first own purchase ever, man! Even though it turned out to be a bad idea, in the end…" The clairvoyant scratched the back of his head nervously, before smirking. "But hey, look at the bright side! At least, it allowed me to have you as my sidekick!"

"I-I'm glad you think that highly of me…" The Luckster laughed lightly, before continuing. "And I'm also glad you're starting to have better plans to go with. I mean, with everything that happened last year…"

"Come on, dude, I told you not to talk about that Kuzuryu clan anymore! You know it gives the creeps when you just mention that time!"

"I-I wasn't really talking specifically about them… but I didn't forget what you suggested either."

"Look, I said I was sorry, Naegi-chi! No need to twist the knife in the wound already!"

"If you say so…"

"Oh, I see that you are back again, sir."

"You're damn right I am. I wouldn't forget a debt in a thousand years."

"S-sir, perhaps we shouldn't-"

"Don't get involved into this, girly. I'm the one in charge here, so zip it."

The two teenagers turned towards the owner who looked at two new customers. And for some reasons, the old man was a little sad and nervous. And when they looked at one of the customers, it was easy to see why.

The first one was a man as tall as Hajime at least, but who looked perhaps as old as Sonosuke. He had medium length light colored hair that parted two ways, with one hair streak going in the middle of his face as well as light eyes. He was wearing a working suit consisting of a white dress shirt, black jacket, red tie, black trousers and shoes, which was quite similar to the Reserve Course students who spoke to Juzo or people like Takumi. But what really was pretty intimidating about him was his sharp gaze directed at Christopher, and his blue eyes showed that he was not here to make friends.

The other one was a girl around Makoto's age, he assumed. A rather petite woman with a similar height to the Luckster, and who had a troubled expression as she watched the other man and obeyed him, as if he was her boss or something similar. She had blonde hair styled held back by a black headband with a red streak going through it and large gray eyes, sometimes drawn as light blue. She was also wearing a suit quite similar to the other one.

Christopher then asked them, "Well, then… how can I help you then, Tsuruhashi-san?"

"You know why I'm here, so cut the crap with me, old man." The man answered sharply. "So let's get straight to the point. I've got business to do."

"I-I see. Well, then, follow me, sir."

Christopher seemed really anxious now. The old man's kindness was replaced by fear the moment the man entered. That, Makoto and even Hiro could tell easily.

The atmosphere alone changed when they both entered.

"Right." The man named Tsuruhashi turned towards his employee and said, "You stay and wait here, and you better not do anything dumb, pipsqueak."

"R-right, sir…"

The response was short and the girl looked really nervous. But the guy did not seem to care as he simply left, following the owner, probably towards the storage room to discuss privately. As a result, it left the girl alone with Makoto and Hiro.

Who didn't hesitate to speak up his mind. "Jeez, what's with this guy? He looks like some kind of jerkass boss, seriously."

"W-well, it's not really that, but…"

The boys turned towards the girl, who was looking a little nervous as she explained. "Y-you see, this guy is an administrator for the agency I work for. That means I have to follow his orders, since I'm in his section."

"Oh, man, that must totally suck!" Hiro commented. "What's this guy name?"

Makoto tried to dissuade him. "H-Hagakure-kun, you shouldn't ask things like that…"

But the girl complied anyway. "W-well, his name is Tsuruhashi Kenji. I-I shouldn't really say this, but you've heard his name, so I guess it's a given…"

"Eh, must be hard to work for that kind of guy! Fortunately, we don't have that kind of thing!" Hiro laughed, before introducing himself. "Oh! The name's Hagakure Yasuhiro, by the way! Stay cool, okay? 'cause I know I will!"

"As relaxed as always, aren't you?" Makoto looked at him with a soft gaze, before turning to the woman with a friendly smile. "And my name is Naegi Makoto. I hope we can get along."

"W-well, I-I hope so, too…" The girl muttered, before coughing lightly and showing her card which was on her breast pocket. "A-anyway, my name is Asano Misaki, and I'm a member of Hairpin's Special Bureau Case!"

The name confused the Clairvoyant. "Uh? Hairpin what?"

But it caught on Makoto's ears immediately. "Oh! Y-you mean you're a member of that detective agency, right?"

"Uh? You've heard about us?" Misaki turned towards the Luckster in surprise. "Though it's not really just for detectives, you know. It's more an office job most of the time if you ask me…"

"Yeah, I know," Makoto said, before explaining. "Long story short, I planned to propose a position in the agency to one of my friends as a birthday gift. Though he had to decline for personal reasons…"

"Oh… I see…" Misaki looked at him with an awkward smile. "That's nice of you… he must have appreciated it for sure…"

"Y-yeah… he told me too…"

"Are you done yet?"

Everyone turned towards the man named Kenji, who had his wallet in his right hand, and who was followed by a sad-looking Christopher, who was looking on the floor in regret. And Kenji's stare made everyone flinch, especially Hiro, who slowly backed away behind Makoto for protection.

"You know we could hear you from where we were, don't you?" Kenji asked rhetorically, glaring at the Clairvoyant and indirectly at the Luckster. "If you want to speak dirt about me, at least have the guts to do it on my face."

Hiro gulped his saliva nervously, in fear of what would happen next.

Makoto was a little more confidence and answered with a sheepish smile. "S-sorry about that, sir…"

Kenji only scoffed in annoyance, before turning towards Misaki. "Let's go, girly. We're done here."

"O-okay…" The girl nervously nodded, before turning towards the boys. "G-goodbye…"

And with that, the two investigators left the shop, leaving the two teenagers alone with their thoughts, staring at the door to contemplate at what happened…

That is, until they heard a tired and defeated sigh coming from Christopher's mouth, which made the Luckster turn and comes towards him. "Bevins-san? Are you okay?"

"Yes, don't worry." The old man said as he smiled at him tiredly. "It is just… a simple matter of mine. You do not need to have any concern towards me."

"A-are you sure?"

"I will be fine, but thank you for your concern, young man." Christopher tried to regain his past composure. "So, did you found what you were looking for, Hagakure-san?"

"Sure I did! That's really Heaven here!" Hiro explained happily, forgetting momentarily his earlier encounter. "I'll come back to you when I'll have time! I've already spotted some good stuff there!"

"I'm glad you found what you were looking for." Christopher laughed lightly, before handing him his card. "Just call me when you wish to have an appointment, alright? My schedule and my cards are written on my card, so make sure not to lose it."

"No problem, sir! Well then, see ya!" Hiro laughed, before turning towards the exit. "Hey, Naegi-chi! You're comin'?"

"Uh? A-alright!" Makoto answered, before turning towards Christopher. "G-good evening then, Bevins-san! A-and good luck, too!"

"And good luck to you two as well." The old man smiled warmly as he watched the two teenagers leaving his shop, leaving him all alone with his thoughts.

As Makoto excited the shop, he couldn't help but worry about Christopher. What was that about? Why would this guy be so harsh? There was something behind all of this, and Makoto was not liking this in the slightest.

"Hey, Naegi-chi…"

"Uh?" Makoto's train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by his friend's voice… who seemed shaky. "What is it, Hagakure-kun?"

"Did you say those guys were detectives?!" Hiro almost cried out. "Oh man, they've heard of me for sure! I'm so in trouble now!"

"H-Hagakure-kun?!"

"That must have been Kirigiri-chi for sure! Oh man, I knew she would use her contacts to trap me!"

"C-calm down, please! You know it's not like that!"

Makoto sweatdropped nervously at his classmate's panicked trance. When he was like this, it took some time to make him stop. More than when he was mad, oddly enough.

With time and experience with him, he knew how often it would happen. And how hard it would be to make him stop his tragic, imaginary premonitions.

And to think the next bus was only in 20 minutes…

"And you are sure that nothing bad happened?"

"Y-yeah, don't worry, Sensei! Everything went fine in the end!"

"Oh, thank God… look, I'm sorry if I sound stressed, but I just wanted to make sure that you two wouldn't be in trouble. You know how Hagakure-kun has a tendency about getting himself in trouble and bringing people along with it…"

Yes, Makoto knew that.

And so did his teacher.

After all, even though Katana was Hiro's teacher as well, she did not trust most of his decisions, because of how poor there were in the past…

And how they were during the first year.

That's why she asked him to contact her after their little affair, which he did after he separated himself from Hiro as the Luckster had to change buses at one point, since they did not leave in the same block. And once he was in his bus, he did as he was asked to, only to meet the worried voice of his teacher, which he had to calm down during the whole trip.

And that's still what he was doing now.

"I know, but this time, he made a good decision. I'm… actually proud of him for that, I must say." Makoto sighed happily. "I mean, there is still room for improvement, but that was a step in the right direction this time."

"I hope you're right, Naegi-kun…" Katana said on the other side of the line, sounding tired. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't trust you, but…"

"I understand, don't worry. I didn't believe Hagakure-kun either at first, but he did think his plans through this time. It really seemed legit."

"If you say so…" The woman sighed again. "Look, Naegi-kun, I know you wanted to help your friend, but please, tell me when you'll leave sooner, alright? I don't want to worry about you all the time."

"Don't worry, I'll think of that next time." Makoto chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry for worrying you, sensei."

"It's fine. The important thing is that you're both alright." Katana said, with some worry in her voice. "But I prefer to warn you: one of the Steering Committee members noticed this, and he did not appreciate it."

Makoto frowned a little at hearing this. "Oh… you're talking about Ichikagi-san, aren't you? I saw him earlier too, and he didn't really like to see us…"

"Yeah, I've heard from Matsuda-kun. He saw you, too, and when the old man showed up, he clearly did not let himself get stomped on…" She then let a chuckle escape her lips. "You should have seen the look on his face. I think he was ready to piss himself."

"I-is that so?"

"Yeah, that was hilarious. Too bad I had to restrain myself from bursting out of laughter then…" She then stopped and cough a little. "Anyway, what I was going to say is, try not to do that kind of thing again, at least for the rest of the week, okay? I think the other members will agree on him on that point, and I don't want you to get in trouble with them."

"You got it, sensei. I'll make sure of that."

"Thank you. Now, I'll leave you alone. You siblings must be waiting for you now." The teacher's voice was now way sweatier. "Good evening, and see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, and good evening to you too!" Makoto responded as he ended the call and put his phone back in his pants pocket. That left him walking on the street, towards his home.

He couldn't help but think of what happened in the shop. And most accurately, of what happened when the two members of Hairpin Special Case Bureau arrived.

Why was the owner so sad when Kenji arrived? Why did he have his wallet out? Was Christopher in debt or something? If so, that would make sense, but… was this even legal? The girl said he was an administrator here, so he couldn't be the boss. In fact, Makoto knew that the responsible of this agency was Ikue Dougami, a woman he's met just yesterday. So… did she know about this?

And speaking of Misaki, something was a little odd, too. She seemed really nervous around Kenji. Not that he would blame her, considering the kind of attitude he revealed to have. Still, he thought that she was a little careless to reveal things like his identity to strangers like that. Makoto knew that someone who has a job like this would not make this kind of thing.

Then, he remembered something. Something that Momiji Harue, the other woman he met yesterday told him something about the recruits? But what was it again? Makoto didn't remember quite right…

"Nii-san! You're here!"

"Wha- oof!"

And he didn't have time to think more about it, as he was tackled to the ground by a very familiar face of his.

"We've been waiting for you, slowpoke! You said you wouldn't be too late!"

Yup. Definitely familiar.

Masaru was a physical person, after all.

And apparently, Makoto was so deep in his thoughts, he didn't notice was already near his home.

As soon as Masaru spoke, he heard other voices.

"Hey! Masaru, you know you can't tackle him like that!"

"A-are you alright, Onii-san?"

"Masaru, I know you are a little upset, but did you really need to go that far?"

"Well, I suppose it was to be expected. Naegi-onii had been taken away so suddenly, after all."

Very familiar voices as well.

After all, Makoto knew that wherever Masaru was, his friends, the other Warriors of Hope, would show up behind him right away too.

Makoto looked at them and smiled nervously at them. "H-hey everyone. So, how went your days?"

"We've been waiting for you, you know…"

"Uh?"

Makoto looked at Masaru, who was still on his chest… and who looked a little sad as he looked at the ground sadly. "You said you would be here for us. But… one of your friends asked you to help him… a-and I was looking for that, you know, even if this is just training…"

Makoto looked shocked at this. And when he looked at the others kids, he saw that the same expression was on everyone else's face.

And that was enough to make Makoto feel really guilty.

He knew Hiro asked him to accompany him because of an important project. But he also promised to be here for them when they needed him.

But he couldn't even keep that promise.

"I… I'm sorry."

Everyone looked at Makoto, a little surprised at his sad tone.

"I know I said I would be here when you would need my support… but I managed to screw that promise on the first day…" The Luckster sighed sadly. "I guess… I've got a long way to go, uh?"

Masaru was the first one to react, seeming a little regretful about speaking. "Nii-san…"

But Jataro was the first one to speak, trying to reassure. "I-it's not that bad, Onii-san. I-it happened, that's all! That's not your fault!"

'He's right! You weren't prepared for that either!" Kotoko was quick to follow him. "We know you wouldn't have let us down like that!"

"I know… and I won't do that anymore."

"Uh?"

Makoto looked at them with a determined smile. "I said I would be here to watch you guys, and I'm not going to screw up more than I did. That, you can be sure of!" He then turned over Masaru and announced. "You said you prepared yourself for your entrance tomorrow, right? I can't wait to see you stand up, Masaru."

Masaru widened his eyes in shock. "Y-you mean it?!"

"Of course I do."

"Yeah!"

The answer seemed to feel Masaru with joy, as he lifted his arms up in victory.

But Makoto was not done yet. The fact that he turned towards another of his siblings was a proof of that. "Hey, Kotoko."

"Y-yeah?"

The same smile and determination were on his face. "Your presentation is tomorrow, right? I wonder what you prepared. But I know it's going to be good."

Sparks of excitement appeared in Kotoko's eyes, as she hugged her brother tightly. "YAY!"

Then, the Luckster turned towards the others with the same expression. "And that goes for all of you. I'm not going to mess up anymore. If you want me to be here, then you can bet that I will be there for you."

Jataro slowly smiled at this and muttered an embarrassed, "T-thank you…"

Nagisa only looked away, but smiled a little. "Y-you didn't need to say that, Aniki…"

But Monaca only laughed at this. "We know that, you little dummy! You are Naegi-onii, so it is to be expected!"

"M-Monaca…"

"But I'm warning you, that won't save you from Komaru-nee! She was not really happy when she came to pick us up!"

O-oh… yeah, that's right…"

He still remembered the tone she used to him when he phoned her about his situation.

Even though he explained, she was still not pleased in the slightest about him 'giving up on his duties as a big brother', quoting her.

"Ah! There you are, you idiot of a big brother!"

And judging by her voice, she still wasn't.

That, Makoto could also tell by her frowning face…

And was that a coiled newspaper in her right hand? Oh, man…

Makoto only smiled at her sheepishly at her. "H-hey, Komaru. T-thanks for bringing everyone-"

PTACH!

"Ow!"

"Don't thank me for something like that, you dingus!"

No, she wasn't really in the best of moods right now.

The fact that she used the object in her hands to hit Makoto on his head was another proof of that.

"You know I don't like it when you leave the kids all alone by themselves like that!" She reprimanded him while being tempted of repeating what she did. "I know you like to help your friends, but you need to focus on who needs you the most! You should have seen them when I picked them up! They looked so sad about not having their brother by their sides!"

Makoto was of course affected by this. "S-sorry…"

But again, the kids defended him, Nagisa being the first. "Onee-san, Aniki said he was sorry about this, and it wasn't really his fault to begin with."

"Yeah! Naegi-onii warned Monaca before going, so that means he cares about us!" Monaca followed him quickly. "If that wasn't the case, he wouldn't have done that! And I think he was sincere when he apologized!"

"Not to mention, he's going to watch me and Kotoko!" Masaru chirped in all excited, while turning towards Makoto. "It's a promise he's gonna keep, right Nii-san?"

The Luckster watched surprised as the kids all switched their attention towards him, but couldn't help but smile proudly. "Of course I will. I did say I would have time to support all of you, and I think it's time for me to prove it."

The kids cheered happily at Makoto's resolve, which made Komaru sigh in defeat before smiling again. "I guess it can't be helped… but what I said still implies, you know, Onii-chan. You need to make sure you can hold on your promises before making any."

"I know, I know, I said I was sorry…" Makoto sighed, before smiling at his sister. "But I'll make it up to everyone. That's something I know I can hold on."

Komaru blushed very lightly, before turning away. "W-well, if you're sorry, then you're going to their respective events and that's final! I want photos or even videos of it, got it?"

Makoto couldn't help but feel laugh a little.

She was just so cute when she was trying to be in charge.

"You didn't have to tell me this to begin with, Komaru. Of course I was going to record this."

"YAY! Makoto-nii is going to record me!" Kotoko was in joy when she heard this.

BRRRR!

"Uh? What is it?" Komaru asked, as everyone heard the vibrating noise coming from Makoto's pocket. "I think you have a call, Onii-san…"

"Y-yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now…" Makoto got up and searched in his pocket to get his phone.

And he was rather surprised at who was calling him now. "H-Hagakure-kun?"

Indeed, his name was on the screen right now. What could he possibly want? Did he forget to tell him something?

"D-do you want us to leave you with your call, Onii-san?" Jataro asked nervously. "I-it seems rather important."

"D-don't worry, it's probably nothing major…" Makoto laughed nervously before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Hey there, Ma-kun."

Makoto was really surprised now. Because this voice, although familiar, was not who he was expecting.

The voice was definitely too feminine to be Hiro. "H-Hagakure-san?"

"Didn't expect me to be on the other side of the line, did ya now?"The Luckster heard Hiroko's voice chuckle lightly. "My phone is almost out of battery, so I asked my son to pass me his own so I could talk to you. Nice to hear from you, kid."

"I-it's good to hear you too, Hagakure-san…" Makoto laughed nervously, not aware that his siblings could also hear what was going on.

"Uh, who is this? I-I think it's a girl Onii-san is talking too…" Jataro said nervously.

"I think so too! Is she a friend?" Kotoko asked, looking happy as the thought entered her mind.

"I doubt that's the case. He said 'Hagakure-san', so it could be a girl, of course." Nagisa theorized. "However, the suffix 'san' can also be heard when you are addressing a woman, so…"

"Kids, let's go home now."

"Uh?" The kids turned towards Komaru, who was beginning to go back home. Masaru then asked. "B-but… aren't we going to wait for Nii-san?"

"He'll join us when he will finish his call." She simply answered without looking back. "Come on, you must be hungry."

Everyone was a little stunned by her reaction, which was a little cold. Monaca was however the first to snap out of it to help her friends. "E-everyone, we should go. Naegi-onii is near our home, so he'll just have to finish his call and he'll join us! Plus, we don't want to disturb him, right?"

"R-right." Nagisa answered at first, going behind Monaca to push her wheelchair, followed by the others, who looked at Makoto one more time before joining Komaru at the door of their home…

Komaru who was currently feeling a very negative emotion at the moment, but who did her best to hide it from the others.

And this sentiment was very close to jealousy.

'Damn it, Onii-chan! Why do you have so many women close to you?!'

Her thoughts, as well as her blush and small tears at the corner of her eyes, went unnoticed to the others as she entered her home.

But somehow, her brother noticed that something was wrong with her when he couldn't see her anymore. He will have to talk to her about it…

Or maybe not. He didn't want to receive another hit from her.

He had to hand it to her, she knew how to use the newspaper pretty well. Much to his head's dismay…

"You okay, little guy? You've gotten silent for a minute there."

"Uh? Oh, s-sorry Hagakure-san!" Makoto snapped out of his thoughts to focus on the call. "I was just watching over my family. I… wondered about some things."

"Making sure that they won't do something nuts, are ya?" Hiroko laughed at the other side of the line. "I hear ya, some kids can be troublesome. I've got some experience with that myself, trust me."

"That… wasn't totally what I was talking about. I'm just glad to have a good sister to back me up."

"Ah, I see. Yeah, that's quite the luck you have, ya know. I mean, with someone like you as her big brother, Koko's gonna grown as a beautiful woman one day. I just know it."

Makoto couldn't help but chuckle in answer. "W-well, I'm just doing my job, I guess…"

"And a good one if you ask me."

Makoto smiled at the compliment while beginning to blush. "T-thank you for your words, Hagakure-san."

"Nah, I'm the one who should thank you." Hiroko answered with a grateful tone. "Yasuhiro told me what you did for him today. Even if it's nothing much for you, I thought it was worth the shot to at least say thank you."

That made Makoto slightly laugh. "Don't worry about it too much, Hagakure-san…"

"But ya know, it's a shame ya couldn't come at home. Any friend of my son is welcome under my roof, Ma-kun. Perhaps we could even drink a little between us, ya know?"

This, however, made him a little nervous. "T-thanks, but I don't think I've got the right to do that kind of stuff yet…"

"I wouldn't have told your parents, ya know. I know you ain't a troublemaker."

"I-I don't think that's the issue here…" Makoto sweatdropped at this statement, before saying. "Anyway, we had a good time together. In the end, that's all that matters to me."

"Yeah, he told me that too. Glad to hear you think the same." Hiroko chucked, before saying, "Alright, Ma-kun. I've bothered ya enough. Go join your family. You wouldn't want your house burned to the ground, would ya now?"

"T-they aren't that bad…" Makoto laughed awkwardly, before answering, "Well, I'll just do that. Go evening, Hagkure-san! I hope we'll see each other again!"

"I know we will! Bye, little guy!"

"Bye!"

And with that, the conversation ended. Makoto then decided to enter his home-

DRRRR!

"Uh?"

Only for his phone to vibrate again, but this time, indicating that he had received a message, which made him stop in his tracks.

Makoto was a little surprised, considering he had his phone in his hand this time, but decided to check it out. Perhaps it was a friend who decided to catch up on his news. So he opened the message.

And then, he widened his eyes in shock.

"Oh… oh yeah, I almost forgot with all of that…"

Only to smile at his phone's screen.

But the smile was a little different from usual.

For it was a smile… filled with nostalgia.

"Yeah… I guess it's only fair for me to catch up with them too."

He then resumed his walk to his home's front door, the smile never leaving his side. And as he grabbed the door handle…

"I owe them that much, after all this time, after all."

Here we go. One interlude chapter, done. This is where the chapter officially ends.

So, in this chapter, I decided to go for Hiro's interest in the antics in general. You know, since the wikia said that he liked presents like this in the game.

Yeah, I never played the game, I only watched playthroughs, so the only things which interested me were the free-time events and the trial but aside from that… yeah.

Also, the flashback concerned the tarot game, since one of his free-time events talked about, and I decided to mix it up with Hiro's credulity to make this original content. Yup. You won't find this anywhere else.

Anyway, I also decided to introduce the two remaining characters from Killer Killer, a.k.a. the less needed spin-off manga ever. But… we'll discuss this another time.

Oh yeah, and another O.C. too. With the name of one of the voice actor. I'm pretty happy about what I did, personally. What do you think? Should I create more O.C. in the future? Tell me in the reviews, please.

Now then, I shall give you my thoughts about the character.

Perhaps I should tell you how I am going to proceed, so you can have a better idea of what I'm preparing.

First off, I will try to see what his design looks like. Then, I will give what I think of his character in depth. Finally, I see what he did in the story in order to see his development.

Now then, I prefer to say this right now: I don't own the whole truth. I don't have any analysis diploma, or anything of the sort. This is my opinion, and mine alone. If you don't agree, that's fine. I respect that. If you agree, that's cool. I also respect that.

Just to clarify, I won't take in account the abilities you get by befriending him, because 1) I didn't play the game, and 2) we are talking about character analysis, so I think this is irrelevant here.

Oh, and it will have spoilers from the franchise. Just saying in case it wasn't that obvious enough.

So, without any further wait, here it goes. My first analysis of an official character. Here we go.

YASUHIRO HAGAKURE

Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc had a good staff of characters overall, for being the first game of the franchise. Some of them managed to stand out pretty well if you ask me. And Hiro is easily one of them, but not always for the best reasons.

DESIGN:

Alright, so this guy's is pretty good, to be honest. I personally like the thing they did with the jacket and the hair, because it makes him more unique among the cast. Well, it's more obvious with him than with others. Plus, the way he wears his clothes, his hair, his facial hair, his sandals and even the way he wears his jackets, shows his laidback side, both in the game and in the anime.

It also amplifies the fact that he's older than the rest of his classmates, so it's a plus. You can tell right away that this dude is the 'cool' type, the one that lives by their own rhythm.

Finally, it is very close to the beta designs he had in Distrust, the demo of the first Danganronpa, and his second beta design being even closer to his anime appearance. Although it reinforces his talent a little more, I think. His kimono showed that he was in the supernatural thing for me.

PERSONALITY:

Does it match up with who is? Pretty much, yes, but there's a little more than this. Hiro is a friendly fella, but the thing is… he's an idiot. Like, a real idiot. First off, his main subjects are… really centered. Conspiracies, aliens, ghosts… I don't know about you, but I would grow tired of this real quick.

That doesn't stop there, though. He is also described as being lazy and cowardly, which we can see easily in the game, but we will come to that later.

Also, another thing I think is interesting is that although he is a Clairvoyant, he hates occult, but don't think fortune-telling is... well, sorry, buddy, but no amount of your instinctive numerology will make me believe that.

The most outstanding point, however, is the fact that he is extremely gullible. Like, buying a crystal ball because it was owned by Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan and George Washington? Who would fall for something like that?! Well… here's your answer. Ah, and he also tried to sell off Makoto's organs in order to pay his debts, instead of selling his own stuff or use his fees… dumbass.

But, to be fair, his good side is more evident in DR and most of all in DRH, the spin-off which is dedicated to him, but really, we could have seen that more in the game. The anime did not change him too much, aside from that.

DEVELOPMENT:

Okay, so this guy… stay the same all the way. No, seriously, there isn't much development attributed to this guy, at least in the game and anime. He has no big involvement in the game until Chapter 3, and when he is under the spotlight, there isn't much to see, honestly.

Besides, he's one of the two characters in the entire franchise who's been suspected of being a killer. Twice. IN A ROW. The other one being Kokichi Ouma from DRV3. But in Hiro's case, he has either being trapped or let his emotions get the best of him. And unlike other characters, he can't really defend himself really properly. Even after Chapter 4, I didn't see much improvement on his part.

And he was not that useful either. His talent was not really of any use, aside from comedy most of the time. Okay, except for that time when he dismantled a Monokuma in Chapter 5 in order to rewire an antenna so he could contact the outside world, but that's pretty much it. I would have liked it if there were more scenes like this.

Especially when you know his past. Being pursued by the mafia for three years is not fun. One thing that they did right with DR3 was to let us see his surviving skills… and also that pretty funny scene when he managed to avoid being shot down by a helicopter. But aside from that, again, he was not really useful. Maybe that was made on purpose, I on' know, but I'm conflicted about this, to be honest.

OVERALL:

…you know, there is a reason why this guy was supposed to be the first victim in the game. And why he was indeed the first victim in both versions he was in… and the only one to have this fate, by the way.

This guy is a complete comic relief guy who would be played by other conmen all day. His physical appearance sticks with his personality: he is a character who is completely inadapted. Both to the place he is imprisoned in and among his classmates. His clumsiness, his dumb nature and his superstitions can easily get on the nerves of his friends and other players, and I wouldn't blame you if you shared that feeling. That being said, he manages to do his job pretty well… even if I think there is another person in the same game that does this job better.

But what I think is truly a shame is that, aside from that role of the funny dumb guy, there wasn't really anything interesting with him at all, despite the good backstory. I think it would have been interesting for him to display his skills so he could be of any use, and he would have become more useful for everyone else, and ended up in the case where his reliability would be variable in a funny way considering his personality, but no. And for me, even his soft side in DR3 and DRH are baby steps, but hey, that's just me. That's why I decided to go for Hiro 'trying to step up his game', as Kyosukue said. To try to make him more responsible and mature in a cruel world full of conmen.

Overall, I think Yasuhiro Hagakure is a good funny character, but who could have ended up being more.

Alright, so, what do you guys think? Should I do more like this? Don't hesitate to tell me.

Alright, so next chapter will be, as many of you guessed, the second day of the Week of Adaptation. Which means a new set of characters, a new set of events… and new characters that will appear for the first time.

It may take time for me to write this, though. Just warning you.

Yeah, you can guess that trying to find a job is not really easy for me now. But hey, a guy gotta do what it takes to survive, right?

Alright, so I think I shall leave there. See ya later!

Pupla out!