It was eleven at night. After eating a late dinner at the museum restaurant, we went back to the room where the Red-Hot Crown was on display and got into our sleeping bags.
It didn’t take long before I heard the loudest snoring on the planet coming from Daiki. Kento was asleep, too, as far as I could tell.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to fall asleep right away. Though in a bit of a tired daze, I stared up at the museum ceiling, slowly nodding off, until I eventually did fall asleep.
I suddenly woke up again, though, to utter silence. I looked at my wristwatch, and it was two in the morning. The night watch was still on guard, making their rounds.
Huh?
I turned to my side to find an empty sleeping bag. It was the one Rio had been using.
Maybe she went to the bathroom?
Curious, I slowly slipped out of my own sleeping bag to go check.
Daiki and Kento were completely still; they were both fast asleep. I was almost worried if they would be able to wake up in the event something actually happened…
I left the room, giving a small wave to the security guard before going down the hallway. There were security guards out there as well.
They were looking around the building, periodically contacting one another over their walkie-talkies. This would allow them to know something was happening if they didn’t receive a response back.
I heard that Rio got the best of the best for her security team, and I could tell this was the case.
The front door was sealed tight with a shutter, so we needed to take a separate entrance that only approved personnel could use. This door was the same as the accommodation facility—it required fingerprints to access.
The security here is pretty much perfect. I bet even Kei would have a hard time finding a route in.
The issue was, what would the fake Red do?
We were dealing with the thieves who stole the Blue Star, so we couldn’t let our guard down.
On top of this, due to the security presence, I couldn’t contact Kei so easily. The only reason I’d pretended to use the bathroom before was so I could leave the room and contact Kei, but he said I should just stay on watch for now. Though, it sounded like he had a plan of his own up his sleeve.
Huh…?
At the end of the hall, I could see Rio sitting on one of the lounge chairs. She was alone, staring outside a window.
There was a different air about her. It was like there was something heavy on her mind.
Before I could muster up the courage to talk to her, she realized I was there first.
“Is that Asuka? What’s up?” she said to me.
“Oh, no. I just couldn’t sleep, is all… What about you?”
“I’m way too excited to sleep right now,” she said quietly, but there was a keen look in her eyes—even more than there usually was.
“Would you like to have a little chat over there, maybe?” Rio pointed outside the window.
There was a small courtyard around there, I think.
“Why not? I don’t think I’m gonna be falling asleep anytime soon either way.”
Rio and I both went down the hall toward the courtyard. The exit here also required fingerprint verification, of course.
“Wow… This is so pretty.”
The courtyard was lit up with blue, red, and white colors. The garden was thoroughly maintained, and the stone tiles gave off a royal feel. I walked toward the edge of the garden to get an close-up look, when…
“Stop right there, Asuka.”
Huh?! What?!
Rio grabbed my shoulder from behind as I took my first step forward.
“Watch out. There’s an alarm with an infrared sensor and security cameras set up just beyond here.”
No way… That was close.
I slowly pulled my foot back.
“We should be okay here.” Rio sat down on a nearby bench, and I sat next to her. “Why would Red change like that?!” she suddenly blurted, like it had been eating away at her this entire time. “Red was supposed to be heroic. There were so many people who believed in him, and then he just changed his mind out of nowhere!”
Rio punched her leg.
✦ ✦ ✦
That’s not true at all. They aren’t the real Red! They’re two phonies!
Not that I could say that to her…
“Stealing for selfish reasons makes him just like any old crook you find on the streets!”
I bit down on my lip.
Don’t say anything!
“I just can’t stand it!”
No, Asuka… No…
“Red is despicable!”
…
Darn it! I just can’t take it anymore!!
I stood up from the bench before I could stop myself.
“Red would never do something like that!”
“What…?” Rio eyes opened wide.
“Red would never, ever do this. It’s got to be someone else! It’s a fake! A phony!”
Ah… Whoops… I said the thing…
What would I do if she pressed me on this? What would I say? Would I have to tell her that I’m Red? I could never, not even to Rio.
I squeezed my eyes shut—
“Oh… So you figured it out, too…”
“Huh?”
—and then opened them to find Rio smiling.
“Looks like you’re a true Red fan yourself, eh?”
Uh…? What…?!
“I feel the same way. I know Red would never do that. A lot of these heists lately just don’t seem like Red’s work. Or at least, that’s what I think.”
“Whaaat?! B-but—! You were the one who insisted that Red wasn’t a fake!”
“I thought so because of the card at first, but forging a card isn’t impossible. It’s even easy if the thief sneaks into where the police kept it safeguarded. The police just don’t want to admit that, so they’re insisting it’s real. But I know it isn’t true! It’s so dumb and not fair for everyone to lose faith in Red over this!”
“B-but then why have you been saying Red is bad this entire time…?”
“I just wanted to see whether or not you felt the same way about it as I do. Sorry for testing.”
Oh, so Rio’s believed in Red this entire time…
Wow, what a relief.
But there still is one question I need to ask.
“Why do you believe in Red so much?”
The way Rio was acting, fan wasn’t a strong enough word.
“It’s kind of a long story, but would you like to hear it?”
I nodded, and Rio looked up at the sky and began to share her story.