With her luggage in on hand and the passport in the other, Mukuro Ikusaba hurried down the escalator with a child-like excitement. However, once she reached the end of the escalator, her view was blocked by the swarm of travelers in the airport. Some were businessmen trying to get their luggage, others were tourists looking for a taxi. All of that matter not to Mukuro, as to her, these people were all one thing: nuisances, obstacles between her and her beloved sister. She pushes and squeezes through the swarm until she finally arrives to the spot where she saw Junko and Matsuda...before realizing that only the Ultimate Neurologist was present. Before she could ask the boy about the location of the Fashion model, she felt a presence behind her. He quickly turned around and saw a blurry figure pouncing on her. In an instance, her soldier reflexes took over to dodge the incoming assailant…before realizing the figure, now on the ground, was none other than Junko.

"Ouchy, Jeez Mukuro, you live away from civilization for a few years and you already forgot our sisterly love?" said Junko, on the ground, with mushrooms growing out of her hair, rubbing the sore spot on her hip due to her violent collision with the floor. "Sniff, I'm so hurt by your coldness."

"Oh My God, I am So Sorry Junko-chan", apologized Mukuro, crouching down as she said this, helping her sister up. "I thought you were… My reflexes… IM SOO SORRY."

"Don't worry about it Mukuro, she's faking it."

The mercenary, with Junko in her arms, turned her head around to see another flash from the past, Yasuke Matsuda, her childhood friend and her sister's, as she puts it, SUPER DUPER LOVER DUBBY SOULMATES, leaning against the wall. After so long, the young man barely changed, with his constant bedhead and his eyes glued to a manga. The only visible change is his clothing. Instead of the dress shirt, black pants and loose tie that Mukuro remembered him by, Yasuke was wearing a pair of skinny ripped jeans, a flannel shirt and a fedora.

"Urg, you ruined it! Whose side are you even on!" cried Junko, now standing and patting her own clothing to remove any dust or dirt from the ground.

"Hi Yasuke-kun, long time no see."

"Yeah, no shit. It's been what, 3 years? And not a single letter of call. Not even a warning. You just hopped on a plane and joined a fucking mercenary group."

"I'm….sorry."

After a loud sigh, the ultimate neurologist closed his book and stared at the raven-haired girl. He rose and lazily walked up to her, before closing his eyes, sighing once again while ruffling his hair.

"Anyways, what happened happened", he said, before opening an eye and putting on a semi-smile. "It's good to have you back Mukuro."

"GASP. What's this, Yasuke showing EMOTIONS!? OMG! What kind of sorcery is this?"

"Shaddup Junko, replied the boyfriend with a visible irritation in his voice."

"Oh sure, smile to my sister, but all I get is a glare and an insult? How can this get any worse?", replied Junko, putting her arm over her head, as if she was a character on a soap opera, fainting from the betrayal of a loved one.

Seeing the couple argue, Mukuro couldn't help but to smile. She missed this. She missed Junko's personality swap. She missed Yasuke's loud sighing. In a weird way, she even missed her sister's insults. Although she did enjoy her time with her Fenrir comrades, she was never close with any of them. Even though they fought side by side in active warzone, she never became friends with anyone. Her undefeated record and young age earned her enormous respect and fear from the other soldiers, despite her gender, but never friendship. However, seeing the familiar scene of the couple bickering back and forth reminded her of some the few good memories she had before she abandoned Junko to pursue a military life and make her feel glad that despite the years, these two are still the same as before.

Realizing her sister's smile, Junko stopped her dramatic pose and smiled back at her sister…before perceiving the current time on the flight arrival projector.

-12:23?! CRAP! Yasuke,Mukuro, Grab you shits, we need to GOOOOOO.

Startled by her sister sudden exclamation, Mukuro barely had the time to grab her luggage before she was dragged ferociously by her sister toward the exit…leaving the poor Yasuke behind.

"Shit, Wait Junko", exclaimed the boy, desperately trying to catch up to the twins.

" HA! This is what you get for being an unfit NEET. We don't have time to wait so hurry up or I am telling the limo to leave you here."

Within a few second the trio reached the parking area of the airport, with Yasuke panting and wheezing, where a middle age man dressed in a driver's uniform was waiting for them next to the limousine.

"Good afternoon, Miss Enoshima. I see that your sister have arrived safe…"

"Save the pleasantries you f%$king extra. We need to to drive to my photoshoot and arrive before 1"

"Um, ma'am, with all due respect, the photoshoot site is more than 40 minutes away. And we are in peak traffic time right now. I don't think I can…"

"Can't or won't?", interrupted Junko, starring the driver down with a death glare.

"P-Pardon me?" replied the driver, slightly intimidated.

"Lemme paint a picture for you. You, a nameless driver who no one gives half a sh*t about, were hired by one of the top modelling agency to escort their primary Model to the scene of a 1pm photoshoot. However, once the time rolls around, the model is nowhere to be seen, causing delays in production and wasting everyone's time. Of course, this will not reflect on the modeling agency and they will need to hold someone responsible, which is bad for both of us… except I am their number 1 model so I am basically in the clear. You, on the other hand, you are, as I said before, a nameless, replaceable, disposable extra. SO. Here are your choices. You can either drive like a model citizen, arriving late and getting potentially fired for your incompetence. OR, you can get me to my destination in time."

The poor driver, now drenched in a cold sweat, muttered a timid "Yes ma'am" and hurried to his seat.

Meanwhile, the three teenager quickly settled into the back. Once the car was on the road, Junko mysteriously pulled out three champagne glass out of seemingly nowhere, surprising even Mukuro, who prides herself in her observational skills. She then pressed a button on her armrest and a bottle of champagne resting in a bucket of ice appeared from a hidden compartment.

"Now, to celebrate my dear sister's return to civilization. Let's toast!" she said, as she tried to open the bottle.

Suddenly, the car, going 20 mph over the speed limit, hits a pothole on the road and the entire vehicle went up and down. The bump destabilizes Junko, which cause her to pop open the cork...which is now flying directly in the direction of Mukuro's face.

"Oh shi….

" ..it, sorry sonny, was this drink your's ?"

Makoto, now beside the elderly gentleman, let out an audible sigh. He approached the old man, hoping that, against all odds, the can he saw rolling toward the old guy did not originate from his ripped bags. That, by some miracle, the can of black coffee that was drank actually belong to the senior citizen and he just dropped it by accident. Alas, reality was not so kind.

"Yeah...yeah, it was", responded Makoto, discouraged. Today is just the worst, why do bad stuff keep happening to me

"Haha, I thought so", said the old man, now laughing out loud, his face free from any guilt. "Sorry about that. How should I put this? It just, y'know, found its way to me, like it was always meant to be. I couldn't help myself."

"But you could have!", replied Makoto, instinctively objecting to the illogical argument "You just had to not drink it. It's..".

Suddenly, Makoto stopped himself. He saw the smile of the old man's face and it was clear that he had no chance of winning this argument, so he dropped his shoulders and gave up.

"Nevermind, it's fine"

Looking at the teenager's dejected face, the old man asked, with a hint of sympathy in his voice "Hm, well sonny, you seem to be quite agitated for this one can of coffee. Is everything okay?"

"It's just that, everything today has been terrible", admitted Makoto, semi-relieved that he gets to vent. "Especially in the last half-hour. It's just been one unlucky incident after another. I wonder what have I done to have the universe hate me this much today. Is it karma?"

After hearing the boy's rant, the man did something unexpected: he chuckled.

"Karma's got nothing to do with it, sonny. Believing that good things will happen to you just because you're a good person is stupid."

"B-But.."

"Look, here's the thing", continued the man, interrupting Makoto. "This whole karma business, I don't buy it. Not even for half a second. You get a reward if you're good and you're punished if you're bad? That's a load of crap. It's just a lie people made up to try to bring vain hope their life, trying to control destiny. In reality, all that stuff doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you're a Saint or the anti-Christ, if you're lucky, you're lucky, that's all there is to it. Trust me, I seen enough in life to know what I'm talking about."

Makoto blinked, completely lost. He had no idea why the old man is telling him all of this and was not following anything he was saying. The senior, seeing the look of confusion of the boy's face, addressed him with a grin on his face.

"So sonny, Don't agree?"

"I mean… it's not that I disagree… but…", he said, with hesitating. "A-Are you, um, trying to convert me to a cult?"

For once, the old man seemed to be the one who is caught off- guard.

"I guess, this was a bit too complicated for a child to understand", said the man

Makoto was about to object, wanting to say that he was not a child. He was, however, interrupter by the sound of a bus stopping near them.

"Ah, looks like my ride's here. Well, this has been a pleasant talk sonny. See you around", exclaimed the man as he walk toward the bus, before stopping in his tracks. "Oh,almost forgot", he said, before placing the half-empty of black coffee in Makoto's hands. "Here, this was your's"

"Oh, thanks", Makoto replied by , why am I thanking him. What am I supposed to do with this?

Instead of protesting though, Naegi decided to hurry back to his friends. He was in the middle of an errand after all, which meant he needed to go back to the store and grab a few bags that, hopefully, will actually hold the drinks without ripping. Now that he knew what he needed to do, Makoto decided to first toss the coffee can in the nearby trash can beside the bench first… before he saw something on that bench: a smartphone. He assumed it belonged to the elderly gentlemen from before, so he turned around, catching the particular individual in his line of sight, entering the bus.

"Hey! Mister! Your phone!" Makoto cried out, trying to catching the man's attention, who, once again, ignored him and went on the bus.

Makoto was faced with a dilemma. Should he go after the old man? Or should he let him be and finish his own errand?

He looked down at the phone in his hand, then over to the pile of drinks sitting on the sidewalk. Phone, sidewalk, phone, sidewalk.

"Oh, fine!" he muttered, then started to run. Makoto always the kind of person who always does the right thing if he had the chance. "Hold on, mister!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Makoto sprinted as fast as he could. He could see the doors of the bus slowly closing.C'mon, please make it. Please do not close. In the final meters, the boy jumped and managed to land in the bus. Leaning himself on a supporting metal bar in the bus, Makoto tried to catch his breath, exhausted by the amount of exercise he was forced to do. He then looked around, searching for the old gentlemen from earlier. He found him sitting in the back, with a surprised look on his face.

"Thank goodness." sighed Makoto, in relief. "Hey mister, you forgot this"

As he made to take the first step toward the old man's seat, he managed tripped over his own foot. The excessive amount of exercise made him a bit light headed and made him extremely clumsy. Oh no he thought, as he started to fall. In order to not fall down face first, Naegi tried desperately to grab onto something to stop his fall. He grabbed the first thing within his reach. The next second he heard a sharp tear, and then he was on the floor. Whatever he had grabbed lessened the impact of his fall considerably—a small stroke of luck in an otherwise unfortunate situation.

However, he hadn't been completely saved from the impact. His right shoulder and side stung, and he must have hit his head, because he was seeing stars through his barely open eyes.

Or, at least, that's what Makoto thought, but he was wrong. The glimmering he saw was not an illusion, but real, physical light shining through the bus's windows and refracting through the jewels scattered across the floor.

"What?" Makoto mumbled, unable to comprehend what he was seeing, incapable of making even the slightest amount of sense out of the scene before him.

Why are there jewels on the floor of the bus?

And then, a shadow appeared beside Makoto, who was still lying, confused, on the hard ground. The shadow belonged to a diligent-looking businessman at the front of the bus who had just stood up. In a calm, professional tone of voice, the man said, "Don't move. Stay right where you are, everyone." He set his torn bag on the seat, reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out an army knife.

Oh noooo.

A/N:

Sorry for ending on a cliff hanger here. I'm originally wanted to finish the "The soldier and the Luckster" this chapter, but it turns out the whole bus incident is a lot longer to write than I thought. I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can, but with this chapter published, I no longer have any more chapters in my backlog and considering that exams are coming up, the updates probably won't be extremely frequent.

PS: Thank you 1995hzqfor your reviews on Ch1 and Ch2. I appreciate the encouragement :D