Tokyo's Phantom Thief

"—So scary, so scary, so scary! What the heck is going on!?"

Still in her pajamas, Yoshizawa Sumire had no shoes on and could only walk barefoot across the icy stone floor.

The moment she activated that strange app, before she had time to mentally prepare, she'd been whisked away to some strange, unknown place.

It looked like the inside of a real castle—she seemed to be in one of its smaller rooms.

Everything was so sudden, and for some reason her phone screen had gone black. Nervous and afraid, she crept outside.

As she wandered aimlessly through the sprawling, boundless castle, she ran into a few armored guards—or, something that looked like guards?

They had human-like outlines, but everything about them felt off—like they were clumsy mannequins cobbled together by an unskilled hand.

Those suits of armor turned their heads and fixed their blank, masked faces on her…

Then suddenly, the alarms blared and they began chasing her!

Sumire let out a terrified scream and ran for her life.

Thankfully, her athleticism was no joke—she ran faster than the guards.

But the hard, frigid stone under her bare feet hurt terribly. She was on the verge of tears.

She could still hear the voices of the armored puppets echoing beyond the doors:

"Find the intruder! Alert the others!"

"Capture her! The castle's about to open its gates to the slaves—we can't let an enemy disrupt His Majesty Kamoshida!"

…His Majesty Kamoshida? Are they serious?

Even in the chaos, Sumire realized something: Is this the inside of that guy Kamoshida's heart?

Because he thinks he's a king, he actually became one in here?

Rinto had never explained to them how the other world actually worked—he probably didn't think it was necessary.

But curiosity is a hard thing to suppress, especially for young people.

Now that the adrenaline rush had worn off, all that was left was aching limbs and trembling legs—Sumire couldn't even stand anymore.

She curled up in a corner of the room, hugging her knees, desperately praying that the man she admired would come save her.

Just like the miracle from three months ago… her very own angel…

—Creak!

When the heavy wooden door of the castle groaned open, Sumire's heart leapt with joy.

Eyes brimming with tears, she looked up and instinctively cried out:

"Rinto-senpai! Thank goo—kyah!?"

But it wasn't the savior she'd longed for who appeared—it was more of the armored puppets pouring into the room.

They quickly surrounded her, their featureless masks echoing with sharp, mechanical laughter:

"Found her! The intruder's here!"

"Lock her up! Let His Majesty Kamoshida decide her fate!"

"Present her to His Majesty! Long live the king!"

"No… No, don't touch me!!"

Sumire scrambled away, twisting and dodging with all her might in the cramped space.

But more and more of the things kept coming in—there was nowhere left to run.

In that final moment, all she could do was sob and whisper:

"Save me… Senpai—"

This time, her prayer was heard.

With her eyes squeezed shut, Sumire suddenly felt a wave of heat rush past her.

Brilliant light bled through her eyelids, striking her retinas without blinding pain.

The light never harmed those it sought to protect—just like always.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the gloomy castle pierced by a column of divine light that shot straight up into the sky.

The ceiling of the room was gone, exposing a strange, oppressive sky overhead.

And standing there, at the end of that fading light, was a radiant hero shielding her.

Asakura Rinto stood in front of her, clad in silver-white armor composed of layered, feather-like metal. His cape of blade-shaped wings fluttered in the air, singing softly with the wind.

He looked like an angel of steel draped in glory… her guardian angel.

It was a scene more vivid than any shoujo manga—a fantasy so real that Sumire was completely spellbound.

Her mind went blank. Her entire body and soul were consumed by the dazzling sight of the phantom thief who'd stolen her heart.

"Intruder alert! Attack!!"

More of the armored puppets came rushing in, and black, twisted mud began bubbling up from the floor beneath their feet.

The entire castle was seething, reacting violently to Rinto's intrusion.

Even the air stung—it felt like the space itself rejected them both.

"..."

Rinto inhaled slowly.

He pulled Sumire into his arms with one hand, shielding her eyes with the other.

And in that instant, his pupils—bathed in light—briefly turned an inhuman gold.

"Burn them to ash, [Eros]."

At his command, a shapeless ball of light burst forth and gently exhaled toward the shadowy horde ahead.

The wave of light surged again—this time, carrying pure annihilation.

As soon as the shadows were touched by it, they melted away like butter under a flame. Cries and shrieks echoed across the castle, fading into silence.

To shield his kouhai's ears from that grotesque noise, Rinto turned and lifted Sumire into his arms.

He stepped onto the crumbling edge of the castle wall and soared skyward as if gravity had lost its grip—becoming the only light in that desolate world.

"Senpai…?"

Sumire gazed at him in a daze.

His face was hidden behind a sharp-edged mask reminiscent of a swan's beak, giving his form an even more princely air.

Three months ago, he'd rescued her the same way—carrying her like a princess after she'd nearly been hit by a truck.

This is amazing… Sumire was completely swept away.

She clung to Rinto, her heart full, lost in a dream fit for a fairytale.

Rinto carried Sumire quickly out of the castle's territory.

Once outside, she pressed down her windswept hair and peeked over his shoulder.

When she realized the castle's exact location, her eyes widened in shock:

"Ah—this is Shujin Academy! That castle was the school! …But the outside still looks kind of normal… Just, like, the colors are off…"

"This is the other world—or, you could say, the cognitive world," Rinto replied.

His tone was calm, even more composed than usual.

To avoid being followed, Rinto continued moving through the bleak landscape, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

There was no way a normal human could move like that—his physical abilities in this world were on par with a comic book superhero.

He went on:

"I explained some of this to you and Kasumi before, didn't I? This place exists opposite the real world. It's a world formed by the public's cognition. People's subconscious thoughts shape everything here, so the layout mirrors reality… just, a lot darker."