Luck of the Draw

"Well, this should be a most interesting interaction," Nagito said glibly, leaning back in his chair and inspecting his nails. There were two other seats at the table. One was for Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student of another class. The third was for Miyu Sakurada, a student in the newest, youngest class of Hope's Peak Academy. She transferred in from Arisugawa Academy, where she'd stayed up until the end of middle school. Her story regarding how she'd come to Hope's Peak was a very interesting one indeed.

ULSs were always chosen via raffle, and Miyu managed to both win and lose. It was befitting of someone who might've been an ULS herself. Both she and someone else were somehow chose in the raffle, because of that, the board needed to decide who between them would win the honor of being accepted into Hope's Peak.

"You should've been chosen right away," Haruna, the Ultimate Chairman, said grimly, shaking her head, hands on her hips. She was another transfer from Arisugawa Academy, along with two others.

"Well, isn't that just how luck works?" Miyu gave her a knowing smile, tilting her head. "It was literally luck of the draw because it was a raffle."

"But you still won!" Kurumi, the Ultimate Prankster, pointed out. If anything, the fact that it was a draw should've pointed to Miyu's immense luck. Even if the luck itself felt neutral, the odds of hitting a tie in the Hope's Peak raffle were so astronomical that only an ULS could've done it, even if it wasn't done intentional by either of the two would-be ULSs.

"Yeah, Miiko thinks you should play cards against them and show them just how lucky you are!" The Ultimate Horror Enthusiast cried.

Hmm... Now there was an idea... Even though, to some extent, luck was a force beyond anyone's control, sometimes it could be influenced, and cards had always been Miyu's forte. It didn't matter what she played, or who against, she always won every single game. And even the one time she lost, she'd actually wanted to lose, so it seemed as if she really did have some subconscious control over her luck, even if she hadn't realized it then.

"Yeah, you could always apply at the Ultimate Lucky Cardplayer if ULS doesn't work!" Kurumi snickered. "Besides, if you do manage to do this, it will definitely cement your title as ULS since you'll be getting in even after almost being rejected!"

"I'm sure Kurumi and Miiko can also just prank the board if you need extra help!" Miiko offered brightly.

"But then I'd be using Kurumi's Talent rather than mine," Miyu smiled and shook her head.

"Besides, that's dishonorable!" Haruna waggled her finger. "Miyu would never cheat like that! She wins on her own merit because she's a hard, fair, and honest worker!" she cried. This was true, but Miyu looked away, blushing, flattered by Haruna's high opinion of her.

"Jeez, Chairman, you've only gotten worse ever since discovering your Talent," Kurumi shook her head and sighed.

"Who are you calling Chairman?!" Haruna shot back. "It may be my Talent, but it is not my name or my role!"

With a plan in motion, when her day of reckoning finally came, Miyu faced off against the entire board of Hope's Peak Academy in any and every card game they wanted, and she won every single time. She finally went against the boy who had also won the raffle. She won against him just as easily as she won against all of the board.

"I'm sorry!" Miyu cried as she showed her winning hand.

"Eh, just luck of the draw, I guess," the boy said, but it was clear he was devastated and furious at missing his chance to attend Hope's Peak. "Maybe next year," he sighed, although he didn't sound too certain.