A/N: Hey all, For the past day and a half, my internet has been down, so I haven't been able to publish this. Sorry for the delay. Expect the Prologue Soon™.
The Soldier Of Fortune: Reloaded
Act 0, Chapter 1
"Introduction"
The Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, Jin Kirigiri, was an incredibly odd man.
So odd in fact, that for whatever reason, he believed deeply that luck was indeed a skill.
When pressed for an answer as to why he believed as such, he would likely point to many of the cases of his previous Ultimate Lucksters, one in particular would come to mind, but that's beside the point.
The point being, that he had just drawn the name of this year's Ultimate Luckster, and that very person happened to be a young man by the name of Makoto Naegi.
...The very same Makoto Naegi that was currently being scouted as the Ultimate Soldier of the soon-to-be 78th Class.
His title status had yet to be confirmed of course, as his potential talent was currently being investigated by one of the school's best talent scouts, Koichi Kizakura.
The same man that helped the Headmaster build a profile on the young man, not that he needed very much help, considering the training he had gone through as a young man wasn't completely forgotten.
Regardless, the results of their initial profile building on the boy were...barebones, suspiciously so, as if someone was going out of their way to conceal any extra details.
The only information they could currently gleam of the boy came from governmental databases, of which he was granted access to because of his authority as Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy.
Thus, the aforementioned 'odd man', the Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, was at an impasse.
He could confirm the young man's status as the Ultimate Luckster now, all but disregarding his potential talents in the art of warfare, which would possibly wound the boy's pride, causing him to reject the scholarship offer, or he could wait for Koichi to return after his investigation, of which could either take mere hours...or days like this case.
Jin ultimately decided he would wait for the drunkard- Koichi to return. No need to risk offending potential alumni. Not when, not only he and Kizakura, but even the whole of the Steering Committee struggled to find students for the incoming 78th class. Whilst the entirety of the 76th and 77th classes had at the very least 32 students, There were only Sixteen in the 78th class! Only one classroom will be full of students from the incoming 78th year of students!
So, the Headmaster decided to review some of the Sixteen profiles he had compiled. Several had drawn his attention quite quickly, but three of them had stood out amongst the rest.
One of the names amongst those three profiles belonging to...
Makoto Naegi.
Mainly because his profile was one of the hardest to compile, as well as the most recent one he had.
The most that could currently be gleaned as of now was the current Highschool the boy was attending, the occupations of his parents, and the vague presence of a younger sister.
The school the boy attended wasn't particularly impressive, nor was it a bad one.
The boy's father is a half-Japanese-half-American "ex-military" man, who is currently married to a Japanese woman, now working as a security consultant with dual citizenship to both the U.S and Japan.
The vagueness of the term "ex-military" was used purposefully, as many of the records Jin did have access to were heavily expunged, or completely blank, the only truth that could currently be gleaned from such heavily censored documentation was that the man had served in both the JSDF and U.S Marines before- "DATA EXPUNGED".
Yes, the documents were cut off just like that. Aggravating.
The boy's mother was in the practice of medicine, to be specific, a senior nurse working at the hospital nearest to their home.
Ironic considering her husband's background, but that's irrelevant.
By all appearances, the boy's mother is a normal, albeit charming woman with a gift in the field of medicine.
...It goes without being said that the boy's maternal family was more open to investigation than his paternal family.
Hell, they couldn't even find any real indications as to the personality of the boy's father, unlike his mother!
Although, the almost complete lack of information spoke volumes.
In other words, he was a terribly private man.
Seemingly in complete comparison to the mother of his children, regardless of whether his want for privacy was compulsory, or intentional.
Speaking of children, (plural) the boy has a sister.
Not much can be indicated of the girl, other than her being in her second to last year of middle school, and the fact that she seemingly takes after her mother more than her father, aside from hair color of course, which happens to be a muted, dark green bordering on black, the same as her father's, unlike her brother, who is largely the opposite appearance-wise, taking more after their father, and having their mother's hair-color instead, a light vibrant brown.
Then there's the boy himself.
School medical records indicate he often visits the nurse's office from injuries sustained by accidents, he's either a clumsy boy, or often puts himself in situations that result in such.
The same records also indicate he is of average height for a boy his age, as well as average weight.
Yet, records from his current high school nurse describe him as: "Average in appearance for his age, but was found to be surprisingly lean and muscular upon further inspection, similar to, if not bypassing some of his more athletic peers."
Again, in fewer words, Makoto Naegi wasn't outwardly fit, but physically fit nonetheless.
His grades weren't anything all that special, aside from the fact that in documentation assumedly provided for the parents of the boy, one of his teachers noted:
"I believe if Naegi-kun put more effort into his studies rather than extra-circular activities such as martial arts training, as he has mentioned to me before, he could easily bring his grades up, as his test scores would suggest."
Jin, in his many years as a teacher in Hope's Peak Academy before becoming Headmaster, had wroten nearly those same words more times than he could count. After all, Highschoolers, much less ultimates, often took their grades for granted, and only came to regret it after trying to get into colleges.
Yet, what caught Jin's eye initially when reading the teacher's note wasn't the teacher's attempted encouragement, but the comment about Makoto's "Martial arts training".
What martial arts was the boy training in exactly? How proficient had he proven to be in them?
The answer to those questions could potentially seal the deal on his scouting.
Speaking of his potential scouting-
"Jin!" The laid-back voice of a familiar drunkard sounded from the doorway across from the Headmaster's desk.
The aforementioned drunkard relaxedly approached the Headmaster seated at his desk.
"...Kizakura-san, I do believe I asked you to refer to me as either 'Headmaster' or 'Kirigiri-san' during work hours." The cold, reproachful voice of Jin sounded back at the tuxedo-clad man, giving him a slight glare as he walked up to his desk.
"Ah C'mon it's just the two of us! 'Sides, I've got a present for ya!" Koichi responded, clearly not minding the signature glare he received, as he placed a wide folder filled with papers on the Headmaster's desk.
"...Is this-" Jin started, swiftly being interrupted.
"Naegi-kun's updated profile? Sure is, 'Kirigiri-san'!" Koichi cut in, a grin present on his handsome features, a grin that would easily have been misinterpreted as smug, had the men not known each other for some time.
"Good work. I almost expected you to take another day or two." Jin cut back at Koichi, letting a light smile reach his face. He meant what he said, even if he had slipped in a verbal jab.
"How you wound me, old friend...!" Koichi squeezed out dramatically, pushing the folder closer to Jin.
"...I sincerely apologize." Jin responded with a deadpan expression, opening the folder and inspecting the contents.
Jin wasn't exactly sure how Koichi had done it, but the man had not only compiled more information on Makoto, but even his mysterious father.
In startling detail mind you. Koichi Kizakura was very good at his job and had many connections, despite what his day-drinking habits may suggest.
Compiling both witness accounts, and his own experience with the boy, Koichi had described Makoto's personality as:
"Kind, a little shy, and optimistic as I observed, and mostly the same; but assertive when necessary as described by witnesses below."
Moving past the meshed, and short personality summary, as well as the surprisingly detailed compilement of witness accounts, Jin's eyes began to widen slightly with interest, a detail his friend didn't fail to miss.
"Almost complete mastery of eight different martial arts, a 'tactical weapons expert'...and showed proficiency in piloting during VR training..." Jin stared blankly at the documents, repeating his findings unknowingly.
"Impressed? I was, didn't expect to find what I did considering the way he looks, or acts." Koichi spoke with a familiar grin.
"...This surely would make him eligible for the title of Ultimate Soldier," Jin spoke composedly, closing the folder again.
"...But there's an issue...?" Koichi questioned, picking up on the slight hesitation in Jin's voice.
"Yes. Take a look at this would you?" Jin's expression was slightly tense, as he handed Koichi something.
"...Wow. I knew the kid had some odd luck, but this is pretty surprising." Koichi stated as he looked at what Jin had handed him, a look of genuine surprise had corrupted his normally laid-back expression.
Makoto Naegi's name had been pulled in the raffle to decide this year's Ultimate Luckster, the same boy Koichi had just scouted to be the Ultimate Soldier.
The issue had been made very evident to Koichi Kizakura.
Ultimate Students can only bare one, "Main" title, Unless of course, the Steering Committee allows it.
The case of a certain fashionista came to mind when thinking of this rule, as not only was she given the title of Ultimate Fashionista, but granted the title of Ultimate Analyst by the Steering Committee following her forced admittance, much to Jin's evident displeasure.
Given Jin's...History with the Steering Committee, he likely wouldn't want to appear before them again if possible. Not after he had practically forced the Committee to accept having an Ultimate Lucky Student, or else he would completely deny the entry of a previously mentioned Ultimate Fashionista.
So he'd either have to give the young man only one of the talents or...
"Jin, I just got an idea," Koichi announced, grinning at Jin.
"...Yes?" Jin asked with evident trepidation.
"What if we gave him a different title? No, what if we joined the titles?" Koichi's grin only seemed to be getting wider.
"...That would certainly circumvent another visit to...well, them." Slight hostility was present in his tone, as Jin responded.
Jin had several ideas as to what the new title could be for the young man, but still wanted to hear the input of his old friend.
"And what title would you have him receive?" Jin asked pensively.
"What about..." Koichi started, the gears in his head were turning quite fast, trying to find a good answer.
Suddenly it came to him. It was succinct, simple, and wasn't too long.
...
The Ultimate Lucky Soldier!
A/N: During the part where it talks about the number of students, the math is right, it's talking about how there are multiple classes within the years, class 77 having a 77-A, and 77-B class being the best example, sorry for any confusion the way I worded it may cause, I'm really tired at the time of editing this.