"One more time, I'm bound to find the king at some point," Makoto mumbled to no one, shuffling the 52 deck of cards in his hands. He had been sitting in his black office, his chair, elbows on his wooden desk, staring intently at the cards as his fingers shuffled them. Back to front, front to back.

He had been doing this same routine for 15 minutes, testing his luck each time. Shuffle the deck, take a random card, look at said card, drop the card, loudly groan into hands, pick up the card, and repeat the steps until he luckily chose the king. How was he going to pass midterms if his luck was being flushed down the toilet in front of his very eyes?

Taking a card from the middle, he flipped it over to reveal a black four of clubs. Damnit. Tossing the card back in the deck, Makoto swiveled his chair around to face his room. Instead of seeing the bareness of his Hope's Peak Academy dorm room, he found the comfort of returning to his parent's humble abode. He'd been coming home every Sunday afternoon to do his laundry, which consisted of 6 pairs of the same outfit, and two pairs of leisure wear when not attending school. The outfits were courtesy of the student council taking the funds from the reserve course's tuition fees.

Hope's Peak, for some ungodly reason, didn't have a laundry room built within the building, so most opted to use the laundromat down the road. Others, like Makoto, went home on Saturdays or Sundays to do their clothes there.

While Makoto's dorm room was much larger with the proper necessities for living, the room he grew up in had many fond memories. If you could count wetting the bed until you were 10 years old fond… but still, he had his little league baseball trophies, his stuffed penguin he had been given for his fourth birthday by his uncle Kontsu, and photos of him and his friends during their freshman year. No matter how small his room is, he would still feel like home.

Taking a deep breath, he swiveled back to face his desk again, determined to turn his luck around. Surprise, surprise, it didn't

Picking up the four of clubs, he slid it back into his deck. Shutting his eyes, he shuffled them once again. The sound of cards slipping and sliding filled the room. Makoto's only focus was finding that damn King of hea-

"MAKOTO!"

"UWAHHHHHHHH!"

"U-Uh…, 'The girl stammered, looking at the ground near Makoto's feet, 'Any chance you wanna play 52 pick up?"

There were so many words to describe Komaru Naegi. Honest, kind, your typical young teen school girl. Some would say she was a chip of the old block from her older brother Makoto. Maybe she was even born with the 'luck' gene as well.

To her brother, she was reckless, naïve, adolescent, and definitely someone you would want as a friend. Although her habit of forgetting to knock on the door was a nuisance, and *Cough* caught him once or twice with the only thing covering his body was his underwear, he wouldn't change her for the world.

Makoto lifted his comforter in the air, and slid into his sheets. Warmth immediately showered over his body. His room was pitch black with his breathing the only noise. The evening was filled with conversation between him and his parents, Komaru opting to stay quiet and listen, an uncharacteristic trait for her. She was rather the talkative one in the family, always itching to ask questions.

He talked about his classes, his friends, and what his daily life was. When they asked him about his love life, he naturally turned a dark shade of red, answering the question with a question about what his parents were up to.

Finishing off his spinach ohitashi and miyabi soup, he excused himself from the table to put away his clothes from his backpack. Now here he was, slowly dozing off until he heard a soft knock on his door.

Grumbling about the sudden intrusion, Makoto stumbled out of the comforts of his bed and onto the cold hardwood floor. 12:12. Just. Perfect.

"Komaru? Why are you here at this hour?" He asked, squinting his eyes to see the figure standing before him. She had changed into a comfy white long sleeve shirt and grey sweatpants.

"C-Can we talk?" She talked softly, opting to look away.

"Yeah, sure, come in," Makoto opened the door wider, soft light from the moon entered the once pitch black room.

He sat cross legged on the bed, Komaru had her legs dangle off at the foot of the bed.

"So, is there something on your mind?" He asked.

"...What would you do if you knew someone felt...different. Un-normal?" She replied, looking down at her feet.

Makoto had to process her words carefully. If someone felt un-normal to society? Makoto sucked in a breath of air before releasing it back. Being as truthful as he could to give a straight answer, he replied, "I would tell them to embrace it. If they felt like they didn't belong, then feel that way. Life is about making decisions based on how we feel, not about how society tells them to feel,' Another breath of air, 'They shouldn't feel bad about themselves, they should feel bad for others for being just like each other. Just look at me, I'm average on the outside, but no one knows how different I am in here." He pointed to his heart.

A few seconds passed and Makoto was getting anxious. Anxiously tired that is. Knowing he would have a full day at the local mall finding gifts for his close friends and family. That would be fun.

"Do you mean what you said about embracing it?" She asked, her gaze now pierced through her brother's looking for any hint of taking back what he said.

"I stand by what I said. I don't care if the world falls in despair, I will nev-"

"I'm homosexual," She stated, weakly. She was back to looking at the floor, eyes shut tight, hands gripping the bed.

An eerie silence wafted through the air. No one moved an inch. The moon was still high up in the night, shining down into Makoto's previously closed curtains.

Komaru was enveloped in darkness with her eyes shut tightly, waiting for whatever would happen next. She came here looking for closure on what she was feeling for the past months. Those feelings were for her own gender.

She felt the bed shift, as Makoto stood up. His soft footsteps padded on the floor, when they stopped in front of her.

That's when she felt it. Two clothed arms wrapped around her back, his chest pushed against hers as she was wrapped in her brother's warm embrace. She wrapped her arms around him as well, completing the sibling hug.

"I'm so lucky to have a sister like you, Komaru," He whispered into her shoulder, not taking his arms off.

Komaru replied by taking his hoodie's hood and blowing her nose into it. "T-Thank you Onii-chan."

"How about I take you to your room so you can get some sleep huh? It's not healthy to be awake at this hour," He suggested. Komaru silently nodded her head.

Walking out to Komaru's door after tucking her into bed, he gave her one last smile before closing her door,

"Wait!" She whisper-shouted, sitting up from her bed. Makoto popped his head back into the room. "Promise me this. Promise me that you'll find a girl that'll take care of you. If anyone deserves true love, it's gonna be you mister Ultimate."

"I promise Komaru, now get some sleep," Makoto whispered back, shutting the door and returning back into his room, closing the curtains to regain blackness.

Slipping back into his bed, he changed his alarm from 8:15 to 9:15. He was definitely going to need that extra hour of sleep.

The words "true love" still rattled around in his brain. That was just a myth, right? . No one could achieve it, but the ultimate lucky student could.

"Sorry about the cards by the way, I've tried to force myself to knock on the doors but,' Komaru rubbed the back of her neck, looking at the road in front of her, 'As you saw, it's not working out very well."

They were in Makoto's rogue, driving south towards the mall in Towa city. Komaru had begged her brother to take her shopping for new clothes, of course, after they finished their 52-pick up game. After he caved, he told her to get ready and meet him by the front door in 10, so he could change out of his casual wear and into his blazer and school clothes

"It's really no problem. I guess a change of scenery would most likely help me out. Besides, it's been awhile since we bonded alone, right?" He replied, flicking his blinker on to merge right.

"Your right, this would be time to talk about how your luck is doing and how I'm faring as well, ' Komaru suggested, 'You could also tell me some of your Uber stories as well."

Makoto was taken aback. How did she know about that? "Who told you?"

"...Have you been living under a rock? Almost everyone knows it y'know," She replied, folding her arms over her chest.

"Okay, but who told you?"

"That freshmen...What's his name... Ko-Keki-K-"

"Kokichi?"

"Yeah that's his name!" Komaru perked up, "He bought billboards around Towa City issuing an apology to you. He said-Wait, there's one up here." She pointed to the large sign.

It's background was black with large white text. A picture of Oma was on the left, wearing his school uniform, tears sliding down his face while he hugged a brown teddy bear.

[To that gullible Uber driver, Makoto Naegi; After the events that passed last Saturday morning, I can only weep here, begging for your forgiveness. I was never going to try to stab you to your death, I just wanted to stab your heart with my friendliness. I cry for your forgiveness or my organization will find you and hunt you down.]

How-What-Why-Where did he get the funds to do this?

Even in an apology he still sounded like a psychopath. "He sounds like a good person. He looks so innocent too," Komaru stared at her brother.

"Sure...innocent. Anyway, let's go," Makoto mumbled, parking his car in the relatively packed parking lot.

"I want to hit Nordstrom first, my old jacket is wearing out," She said with a huff of cold air as she closed the door.

Towa mall was on the small side of things. Of course, the abundance of shoe stores and jewelry shops were still there, but it didn't even compare to the other malls in southern Japan. The large building was given a fresh coat of white paint. Large plastic candy canes lined the sidewalks and green wreaths hung up over the windows, showing the almost christmas spirit.

Makoto stepped through the glass doors and was blasted with the heat from inside. Racks were filled with perfume, blouses, dresses, purses, essentially a women's paradise. The white floors sparkled in his eyes, hearing a voice behind him.

It was a brunette woman, dressed in an elf costume. She handed Komaru a red and white slip of paper.

[ALL ORDERS ABOVE ¥8,380 ARE 20% OFF]

He heard a thank you from Komaru as she grabbed his arm and made him follow her towards the winter section. Naturally, blank mannequins lined the aisles, wearing red blouses, to pink ruffle dresses, to dark blue skin tight jeans.

Soft Christmas music played from the exit that led into the main area of the mall. Voices were almost non-existent since they were so deep into the department store.

Makoto was humming the tune to "Silver Bells" as he watched Komaru flip through hangers of clothes. Nothing jumping out at her yet. Instead, Makoto shifted his gaze to the home and decor section. He did need to get a new lightbulb for his lamp next to the bed. Maybe a fun painting to cover the bare wall next to his window. Just...average things. He guessed.

Suddenly, he heard Komaru squeal in ecstasy. He quickly spun around to see her tackle another girl. The girl in question had circular glasses perched high upon her nose. Her brown hair was put into two braids hung below her shoulders. She donned a dark purple sailor girl suit with a matching long skirt.

"Toki!" She screeched.

Ah, Makoto's classmate, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, and Komaru's lover. While Toko Fukawa was in a relationship, that didn't stop her from protecting her master Byakuya.

"Uwah!" Fukawa yelled, being engulfed in a hug by Komaru. "What h-happened to n-notifying me first K-Komaru before you jump i-in like that. N-Not that I-I mind of course."

"Sorry about that. I guess today's just not my day,' Komaru scratched her cheek, 'Whatever! I'm so glad that you're here! C'mon let's go to Foot Locker!"

"H-Huh?" Fukawa squeezed out.

And just like that, Makoto watched as the Writing Prodigy's hand was yanked by her sisters as they swam through the racks and out of the store into the sea of people. He was alone. This trip was supposed to be just him and Komaru, bonding and having normal sibling fun, but luck had different plans.

Suddenly, he realized that he was holding on tightly to a puffy white jacket to the right of him. Had Komaru's squeal really scared him that much to latch onto it? The jacket was nice, he admitted that. It would definitely reach the middle thighs of a girl around his age. The hood had white fur around the rim, white diamonds filled the empty space, and metal buttons where the zipper was. It would go nice with soft lavender.

He relinquished control over the jacket as he stared at where his sister had run off with Fukawa. They were long gone at this point.

Sighing and shoulders sagging, he spoke to himself, "I guess I'll just drown myself with those mini-pretzels."

He stuck his hands into his pants pockets, and left the store to sit down, relax, and fill his stomach with his comfort food.

After all, who said we have to be normal at all?