It was the morning of the next day. I turned on the TV, and the news was talking about what had happened the previous day. On the upper right-hand corner of the screen, there was a headline that said The Fake Red, Caught Red-Handed! in big letters.
“Last night, police released a statement confirming that the recently stolen paintings and the gemstone known as the Blue Star, initially believed to have been taken by Phantom Thief Red, were in fact stolen by a pair of impostors. The motive behind the impostor’s use of Phantom Thief Red’s identity remains unclear and is currently under investigation.”
The screen then changed to show Rio, wearing our school’s uniform.
“I knew it was a fake all along. That was why I wanted to set a trap in such a public way.”
There were reporters and journalists holding out microphones and recorders for Rio to speak into.
“But there was no reason to doubt that the thief was real at the time.”
Rio glared at the reporter, who flinched in response and backed up a bit.
“Do you honestly think Phantom Thief Red would do something like this? I have a harder time believing everyone would be so convinced that it wasn’t an impostor. There was almost no evidence.”
None of the reporters could say anything in response. They were the ones who’d reported that Phantom Thief Red had a change of heart and started to steal for their own personal gain, after all.
“Although, it appears that I wasn’t the only one who thought that.”
“Detective Hibiki Shirasato was convinced it was a fake as well. When I reached out to him about capturing the impostors, he just said that Red could take care of it.”
The reporters started murmuring among themselves. I heard someone say, “Can someone go confirm that?” before I turned off the TV.
Mm-hmm. Everything’s back to normal now. Welp! Time for school!
It was lunchtime. I was eating with Misaki and Yuzuki, when the hallway, which was bustling with students, suddenly grew quiet.
Hmm? This feels familiar…
“Is Asuka here?”
It was Rio, Daiki, and Kento. Everyone made some space, particularly for Daiki because he was so big.
“Yeah! I’ll be right back…”
I let Misaki and Yuzuki know I was going to go really quick.
“Yup. Tell us more about yesterday when you return.”
“Of course!” I said, before heading over to Rio and the others. They were waiting at the door, but we decided to move into the hallway so we didn’t block it.
“I saw you on the news this morning! You were answering all the questions.”
“Yeah…”
Oh?
Rio seemed a bit down.
“Is something the matter?”
“…………”
Rio didn’t say anything.
“Oh, you know. She’s upset because she was so close to Phantom Thief Red yet so far away,” Daiki said, answering for her with a bit of a wry smile.
Ah, yeah. That makes sense for Rio.
“We were in the same darn building…,” Rio said, her shoulders slumped. She was a shadow of her usual energetic self.
It’s almost like she’s sick or something…
“We’ve already explained to her that it isn’t as if Red will show himself in the first place,” Kento said with a troubled look.
Mmmm. I want to help cheer her up.
Kei said this, too, but it was thanks to her that we even had a chance to catch the fake Red in the first place. If she hadn’t sent out that public challenge, then those two may very well still be on the loose.
So the last thing I want to do is let Rio be down in the dumps about it.
“B-but I’m sure the real Red is really grateful that the phony was finally caught…”
I tried planting the idea in her head, but Rio’s eyes stayed fixed to the ground as she sulked. My suggestion must’ve had no effect—or so I thought, until…
“You really think so…?” She perked up.
“Y-yeah!” I nodded vigorously. “I’m sure they are! You helped out so much!”
I tried to be really emphatic about it.
“It was thanks to the public challenge that the fake Red came out from hiding in the first place. I bet— No, I’m sure they’re thankful for it!”
I watched her usually happy expression slowly return to her face.
“You know what—you’re right! You could say, it was my way of paying him back!” she said with her usual energy.
You did, Rio. More than you’ll ever know. I just wish I could tell you that.
“It isn’t enough, though. I still owe him so much!” she said, holding a clenched fist out.
Oh…?
““Sounds about right,”” Daiki and Kento said a little wryly, though you could clearly tell they were glad to see her back to her normal self.
“We’re gonna keep following Red’s activity!”
Ha-ha-ha…
Looks like the Phantom Thief Club will live on. She really did more than she ever could to repay us, though…
Honestly, the fact that our work is making people happy is reward enough.
Hmm…?
I realized that Kei was nearby. When I glanced over at him, his eyes squinted as he smiled slightly. He was looking at Rio and the others.
He probably feels the same way. No matter what the danger is, if we can make people this happy, it’s worth it.