The Worst Day in the Life of Makoto Neagi

Section One

This story takes place before everything began⁠—before the students who would be made to participate in the academic coliseum had even enrolled in Kibougamine Academy. It's a tale of something that happened before anything had happened yet.

"Before we dismiss," the headmaster said, "I have one final announcement to make."
He was seated at a large, round, wooden table in the center of a special conference room at Kibougamine Academy. Red carpet covered the entire floor, and the windows were adorned with thick curtains. The room had a solemnity to it⁠—it felt more like something out of a historic hotel than a school.
"What, we're not done yet?"
The four members of the Kibougamine Academy Board of Directors⁠—who had assumed the meeting to be over and begun to rise from their seats⁠—sat back down, making no effort to conceal their exasperation.
"So, what is this 'announcement' you have to make?"
"The Seventy-eighth Class's Super Duper High School Luckster has been selected," the headmaster responded confidently. Almost immediately, he was met with a chorus of disappointed sighs.
"Oh," one of the old men said, "the loser's throne has been filled, has it?"
The Super Duper High School Luckster was a title given to a single high-school student selected in a lottery held by Kibougamine Academy each year. The chosen student was unconditionally invited to enroll in the academy, and the Board of Directors referred to that slot as the "loser's throne." All four of them believed fortune to be no talent.
"What a waste of a seat," one muttered.
"Are there no other talents out there more suitable to be researched?" complained another.
The Board of Directors had ultimate control over Kibougamine Academy⁠—including the appointment of the headmaster⁠—which meant that even he had to choose his words carefully, no matter how far off the mark the Board's opinions were.
"With all due respect," the headmaster said, peacefully voicing his objection, "I do believe fortune is a kind of talent." On the inside, he was frustrated with how hard-headed they could be, but he made every effort not to let that come to the surface.
The headmaster had ambitions⁠—he was working to accomplish a certain goal, and if he wanted any chance of achieving it, he could not allow himself to get on the Board of Directors' bad side. On the other hand, he also had to be careful not to focus too much on trying to appease them and risk veering off track. So he decided he would elaborate on his beliefs in more detail than usual.
"At times, luck is capable of overshadowing even the most outstanding of talents and any degree of diligence, and for this reason, we, mankind, celebrate it⁠—live in awe of it. It's easy to dismiss luck as mere chance or happenstance, but I, personally, cannot ignore its effect. In order to determine for sure whether fortune is simply an unknowable variable or an actual talent, we need samples⁠—"
"As we've been saying time and time again," interrupted one of the old men, "fortune is no talent. Luck is nothing more than an impression⁠—a label applied after the fact when an event with a low probability of occurring takes place. The people who observed the event perceived it as luck, so they called it luck⁠—simple as that. The fact of the matter is, the event took place because the natural order of things demanded it take place. No matter how improbable it may be, if something has a chance of occurring, it will occur."
The headmaster gave a slight nod, then slowly made his response: "Are you sure that's all there is to it, though?"
"What are you saying?"
"Remember last year's Super Duper High School Luckster?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Board members' expressions all shifted in unison⁠—like he had just mentioned something taboo.
"If everything occurs because the natural order of things demands it so," the headmaster continued, "then why do things always seem to happen that benefit him? I cannot look at that boy and tell myself that fortune is nothing more than how we perceive the outcome of an event."
"But when it results in something like that..." one of the old men spat. All four members of the Board of Directors looked like they were sucking on lemons, as they had since the second the headmaster mentioned the previous year's Super Duper High School Luckster.
He was, unquestionably, a very problematic student, constantly stirring up trouble and causing problems among his fellow students. The worst part of all was that he never had ill intentions. His presence in the school was a cause of great concern for the headmaster, but⁠—
"Regardless," he said, "we have no choice but to admit that his fortune is genuine⁠—that it is worthy of being referred to as a 'talent,' do we not?"
The entire Board sat in silence, lacking the words to retort.
Eventually, one of them ran out of patience and said, leaning back in his chair as he did, "It seems you have no intention of changing your mind. Do as you please."
The headmaster immediately bowed his head, as though he had been waiting for exactly those words.
"Thank you very much," he said, slowly lifting his head, then reached down and picked up a sheet of paper sitting atop the wooden table. On it was printed the profile of the student who had been selected as the Seventy-eighth Class's Super Duper High School Luckster. It contained detailed information even the subject themselves had long since forgotten.
And how, exactly, was Kibougamine Academy able to acquire this information?
That went without saying.
It wouldn't be Kibougamine Academy if it couldn't.
It was a school that only admitted students with special talents, grooming them to shoulder the country's hope for the future. Its alumni held vital posts in every field, and it had special government backing. Trying to think of the academy like any ordinary organization was an exercise in futility.
Profile in-hand, the headmaster resumed his announcement.
"This year, Kibougamine Academy has selected a single name, by fair and unbiased lottery, from all currently enrolled high-school students nationwide, to invite to attend the school as the Super Duper High School Luckster." The Board of Directors had long since lost interest, but the headmaster continued anyway. "The name we have drawn⁠—"
The headmaster dropped his gaze to the sheet of paper in his hand, and read for the Board the name written there⁠—the name of a certain high-school girl.