Chapter 2: Bartender Therapist.

He sighed. It was a long day. A long and tiring day at Hope's Peak Academy Through out the years, he miraculously was selected as a student of the best school for nourishing talents with nothing but his sheer luck. Yes, he was the Ultimate Lucky Student of Class 78.

It has been 10 years since his father's death, and today was the anniversary.

His family wasn't exactly what you would call a rich one; in fact, it was short on money.

Makoto, as a man of his family, decided to work. He has understood the value of money since childhood. His mother worked days and nights at her job, and it was barely enough to feed them. That's why Makoto decided to secretly work behind his mother's back. He knew that his mom would probably disagree with the idea of a 16-year-old kid working instead of studying. Obviously, his classmates and friends didn't know about it either.

But Makoto couldn't let himself slack off. He had a little sister to take care of, and although she was just a year younger than him, he was still a man of his family. If there was anything that Makoto was special at, it was his optimism. He is a talkative boy who finds it easy to find friends. He is a social butterfly in a way, and many, if not all, students of Hope's Peak do like that part of him. In a way, he was able to befriend his own class along with his upper class 77. Many students in Hope's Peak were strange, especially Nagito Komaeda, who would always stalk him, saying some weird stuff about 'Ultimate Hope' and how amazing Makoto was. Poor Naegi always managed to somehow avoid the white-haired kid. It was hard since his senpai was also the Ultimate Luckster.

Than there was Junko Enoshima. At first, she was indeed a despair-full girl, though she managed to hide this fact in her facade as a Beauty Fashionista. It took some hard work to befriend her...but in the end he even managed to fill her heart with the thing called 'Hope'...she also would always stalk him... though not as much as Ultimate Luckster from class 77.

He didn't know it himself, but he was pretty popular in his school. There were always tons of fights just for his attention, mainly between classes 77 and 78. Don't let me get started on the amount of chaos it always caused.

His optimism and kindness were two of the reasons his boss let him work at his age.

Speaking of his work Makoto worked as a bartender at a nearby pub. Surely it wasn't really his dream job, but the pay was good, and he was able to save his family from poverty.

"Working hard today, Makoto-kun?"

A smoke coming out of her cigar, his boss and owner of this pub, Miyako, said, sitting facing him.

"Good afternoon, Miyako-san!" Makoto bows down, greeting her, much to Miyako's amusement.

"Ara~? Why so Formal?"

"It is usual for employees to respect their boss." Makoto stuttered.

Miyako laughed at this.

"C'mon~! You act like I am a stranger to you."

Makoto scratched the back of his head.

"R-Really? Sorry, I didn't know." He sheepishly looked down. "I didn't want to hurt you."

Miyako laughed again. His reaction was always cute, especially when he was teased.

"Nope, I wasn't hurt. I am just adored by how cute you are when you are sad."

Makoto's face reddened.

"C-Cute?"

"Exactly! Fufu~! Look at you, all flustered. Bet your girlfriend is really happy with you, ain't she?"

"A-Actually...." Makoto scratched his cheek and said, "I don't have one."

"Oh? Than...."

She got closer to Makoto, her lips millimeters away from touching his lips.

"Maybe I can teach you some ways?"

If words can finely describe his redness at the moment, it will be something similar to bloody red. He backed down, tripping on an empty bottle of vodka that had fallen down a second ago.

Crash.

He butted the floor.

"My bad luck again. I am sorry."

Miyako's sweat dropped. She lost count of the times his bad luck affected his life. The boy near her wasn't really clumsy, but somehow he managed to trip on the thin air all the time. It was already a surprise that even though his bad luck was intense, he never broke a single glass of alcohol which would most likely affect his payment.

Yet his bad luck sometimes came in handy—once there was a drunk customer who was eager to fight. Makoto tried to calm him down, but the drunk man that off instead, wanting to punch the boy,who happened to miraclausly trip, falling down and making the man hit the tall shelf with empty bottles, which in response shattered. Making one of the empty bottles fall on the man's head, making him unconscious.

"Aren't you a ladybug at this point?"

"Huh?"

"You never heard of them? Ladybugs, the red bugs with seven black stripes on their wings

"No, I heard about them just...why Ladybug?"

Miyako lowered herself, giving Makoto a helping hand.

"There is a legend about them, and it is said that Ladybugs are lucky insects."

Makoto looks around for a moment.

"Haha, I doubt that I can be called lucky...if all I am pretty much unlucky than lucky."

"Well, ladybugs aren't exactly lucky insects. The legend says that the reason behind those seven stripes are the seven sins of the people. Ladybugs are not lucky. They hold all the unluckiness and misfortune of people near them, preventing the world from chaos. In a way, you can pretty much call them hope bagels,haha."

Makoto smiled.

"They are giving hope, huh? I think I love ladybugs now."

"You bet!"

With that said, Makoto's working time started.

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'Daily Drink was the name of the pub that Miyako was running.

It wasn't really extraordinary, but it was somewhat popular among the people. Well, mainly, its popularity was because of Makoto. Whenever someone was drunk, they would start to complain about their lives, and of course, Makoto, being an optimist, would start to confront them and calm them down.

He gained the nickname 'Bartender Therapist' for his actions.

"Makotooooo~! Why my life is so shitty!" One of the customers exclaimed, laying his head on the bar table.

Makoto patted Customer's back.

"Everything will be alright, Mister! I believe in you."

The man looked at him through his sobs.

"You are right! I better sobber up and tell that bitch that I am a man!"

"That's not what I meant, but good luck..." Makoto's sweat dropped.

The man literally burst out of the pub, but before he left, he left money for his drinks and some extra tips for Makoto, which obviously was to Luckster's liking, as money isn't important but is needed anyway.

"Ah, usual Hope filling from our lovely bartender!" A blonde-haired girl in waitress uniform with blue eyes said while at the same time she was giggling at Luckster and his 'therapy' sessions with clients.

Her name is Anya Wolchenko. A Russian girl who works at Daily Drink. Strange, isn't it? a Russian girl in Japan? But still, she was pretty knowledgeable about alcohol, especially vodka.

"Oh, Anya-san, I didn't see you coming today."

"Привет~! Ну да...были неотложные дела поэтому и опоздала,Хаха." The blonde said it in Russian, which earned a confused look from Luckster.

"I don't speak Russian."

"Ох черт! Я забыла... I mean, hehe, I forgot."

It was usual. She often lost herself and spoke in Russian, but still, her Japanese was good. She had no accent at all, which was surprising.

It's been a year since he started working, and work was going well. Well, Miyako teasing him and Anya constantly pressing his face into her boobs was somewhat tolerable, but barely.

The working day ended with Makoto confronting many people and getting a lot of tips. It was time to go home, however.

"Naegichi!!!"

Suddenly, someone burst into the pub. A tall boy with afro hair and a clumsy uniform. It was Hagakure, one of Makoto's classmates and friends.

"H-Hagakure-kun!? How did you find me?" The Hopeful boy exclaimed, confused and, well, a bit nervous, because if someone finds out, his work and the money it provides he is doomed.

"There is no time! We need to hurry!"

The boy was sweating as he grabbed Makoto by the wrist and started to pull him... Hagakure was lucky because Miyako and Anya weren't inside at the moment.

Dragging the boy all the way towards an unknown black car, Hagakure sat inside along with Makoto.

"What's going on, Hagakure? Why am I in this car?"

Hagakure scratched the back of his head as he looked towards Makoto sheepishly.

"I pissed off a mafia family and used your name as mine."

"...WHAT!?"

"Sorry man! I had no choice, and I was short on time, so I yelled the first name that was in my mind, alright?"

Makoto palmed his face. What the fuck was inside Hagakure's brain? It was a mystery.

"Agh...let me out, Hagakure-kun. We will just explain the misunderstanding."

"Huh!? No! Then they will be after my ass!"

Makoto's eyes widened at the hypocrisy of his supposed 'friend'.

"You are telling me that I should be chased instead!? Aren't you the one at fault, and how the heck did you find me?"

Hagakure took out a glass sphere and rubbed it for some time.

"I am the Ultimate Clairvoyant! Did you forget, dude?"

Makoto looked at him with a stern look.

"....right."

With that said, Hagakure turned on the engine of the car and started to ride somewhere.

"Wh-Where are we going to? And why don't you just let me out!?"

"Chill,Naegichi! We are just going to Mafia meet up in order to talk things out.

"WHAT!?" Makoto was now in a rage. How the hell does he plan to talk things out anyway? "Agh! Just tell me what the hell you did."

"I sold your organs... J- Just a liver, ok? You have two anyway, haha."

"Again...WHAT!? How could you sell my organs without my permission? I really thought you were my friend!"

Makoto was shocked to think that this guy did this kind of sh*t. It was, damn, more than that he believed Hagakure was capable.

"Wait! Wait! Hold your horses! I did say that I sold your liver, but there is a way to get out of this situation."

"Huh?"

"Just wait, and you will see!"

He said increasing the speed.

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"So basically, you shit face dared to sell Makoto's organs to us!?" Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, the Ultimate Mafia clan heir, roared towards Hagakure. "Agh, I can't believe that you are such a dick."

"Hey now, I was a victim of the situation!"

Kuzuryu frowned at the sight while Pekoyama Peko, the Ultimate Swordswoman, was staring at Makoto. Her cheeks were red; she was happy to see him, though not in this kind of situation.

"Young master, can I chop down this abomination of a clairvoyant?" Peko said taking her sword out of its sheath. They were lucky that Hagakure sold Makoto's organs to Fuyuhiko's clan. God knows what might have happened if it weren't for this.

"Yes."

She took a position while Hagakure backed down.

"H-Hey now! L-Let's think logically, okay?" He started to wave his hands.

"Silence you, deep shit. Peko, deal with him."

"Gladly."

She was ready to chop Hagakure to pieces, but Makoto stood before Hagakure.

"Let's forgive him, Kuzuryu-senpai and Pekoyama-senpai!" He said this with a cold bucket of sweat running down his forehead.

Kuzuryu and even the always monotone Peko looked at him with disbelief.

"Makoto, look at that shit in your back. He fucking sold you to the Mafia, ya know?"

Peko nodded.

Makoto, however, scratched the back of his head.

"I... I Know just...It feels wrong to me...

Peko cut him off. "You are too kind, not for your own good."

This time it was Kuzuryu who nodded in agreement.

"Peko is right, Makoto; you can't just casually forgive anyone."

Makoto smiled.

"I know, but everyone at least needs a chance."

Hagakure's eyes teared up.

"Naegichi...damn, you are a true one for real!" The clairvoyant took the poor brown-haired kid into a strong embrace.

"Anyway, we should get going quickly, as I heard that a police raid is going on in this area." Fuyuhiko said, putting on his fedora.

"The young master is right. Makoto, it will be good if we—"

Not long after, they heard a police sergeant near the door of the garage they were in.

"Whoever is inside, you better get out!" One of the police officers yelled.

Teenagers shared a calm look at each other.

"Speak of the devil. Haha. Ah, we are fucked, actually."

Kuzuryu face-palmed. Did he jinx them all?

"We should somehow escape from here. Well, you know that since I am a mafia heir, we are pretty much fucked up."

"Agh! Fuck! I am not ready for jail! I am clumsy! What if I suddenly drop the soap!?"

"I will pretend that I didn't fucking heard it."

While the commotion was going on, Makoto was silent. There was no way to escape right now; there were no doors, and...wait..Doors?

"Guys..." He called out for his friends as they all turned towards him.

"What is that, Makoto?" Peko asked.

Luckster coughed,clearing his throat.

"I have a plan. I will take the policeman's attention while you all escape."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"No way!"

The trio exclaimed in unison to what Makoto sighed. He was grateful to have these kinds of friends, despite one of them being a fraud clairvoyant, a mafia heir, or even a Kuudere Swordswoman.

"I know that you think it might be a plain stupid plan, but I think I will be the best option for a decoy... Fuyuhiko-senpai is a Mafia heir along with Pekoyama-senpai, who is the Mafia heir's bodyguard, and Hagakure is...well, he is a fraud who was caught by police several times.

"Hey!"

"So that's why I, the person with no criminal record, might be the best option."

Pekoyama was obviously against it—and not only her. But considering the situation...

"Fine! You are fucking stubborn as hell, ya know?"

"Please be careful, Naegi-kun."

"Naegichi! I was right! You are the true one, for real!"

With that said, Makoto opened the door wide open, meeting a policeman who was holding a gun.

"Hands up, young man!"

"A-Alright...." Makoto said standing near the policeman's eyes, covering his background and giving the trio a chance to escape.

The policeman observed Makoto for a while.

"Tch. I heard that those Kuzuryu deep shits were here running a business. Turns out I was wrong...for my own good." He then returned his gaze to Makoto. "Though...what were you doing this late at night?"

"...I-I...umm...haha you see...umm f-friend..."

"Friend?" The policeman narrowed his eyes.

"Y-Yes! I had a meeting with my friend! Haha..."

"You are lying, aren't you?"

"N...No...?"

Even a blind person could see through Makoto's lies. The boy was too pure and innocent to lie; he was too naive and dense yet; he somehow pulls bitches and you don't.

"Yeh...you are coming with me to police office.

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Finally finished! Damn, it took me a while to come up with a plot. So yep. I made a certain plot for this fic. It won't be some kind of lame shit where MC is too op... I want to bring back this seinen feeling where MC gets stronger with every battle, and I know it might sound fancy coming from my mouth, but I want this fic to hold a meaning, to teach something to the reader. Damn, I feel embarrassed saying that.

Anyway, in the next chapter, the canon events will finally start!