Tokyo's Phantom Thief

The girl with the black ponytail—Shiho—nodded.

"Mm… this is fine. It's just a minor sprain. I actually already have this stuff at home, so we didn't need to come out here in a rush…"

"No way!" the blonde girl snapped immediately.

She was strikingly beautiful, clearly mixed-race, and the intensity of her aura only increased when she got worked up.

"Your wrist is super swollen! And that bastard Kamoshida still wants you to keep training? That's not 'pushing through'—that's flat-out abuse! And what's wrong with the rest of your volleyball team? Why isn't anyone protesting this?! Are the teachers and parents blind?!"

"Shhh! Ann, you're being too loud!"

Shiho quickly covered her friend's mouth, panicked at the outburst.

Hmm…

Rinto hadn't been trying to eavesdrop, but when someone shouted across a drugstore, you didn't really have a choice.

Besides, his old instincts as a phantom thief kicked in on reflex—his brain automatically started analyzing the situation.

First, the mixed blonde girl's name was Ann. With looks and a figure straight off a magazine cover, it wouldn't have surprised him to see her on a billboard in Shibuya.

Her friend with the black ponytail was Shiho. She might not have been as flashy as her half-Japanese companion, but with long limbs and a tall, graceful frame, she stood out in her own way.

From their conversation, it sounded like Shiho was on the school's volleyball team.

The fact that she was training even during spring break suggested she was good—possibly a top-tier athlete.

She'd been cradling her wrist since walking into the store, which likely meant she'd gotten injured during practice and left early.

Then there was the name they dropped—Kamoshida. Sounded like a coach or PE teacher. And based on context, a pretty abusive one.

Rinto's heart sank a little.

…No way, right?

That sounded an awful lot like the post he'd seen that morning on the Phantom Thief Request Board:

A school athletics coach was harassing female students, and the corporal punishment was getting worse—enough to spark serious incidents if left unchecked.

This kind of despicable, power-tripping teacher was exactly the type Rinto used to target.

But to make someone truly reform, you needed names and concrete personal data. An anonymous online post wasn't enough.

…No. Stop it.

Rinto shook his head, as if physically tossing those thoughts out of his mind.

This wasn't his life anymore.

He didn't want to talk to people while secretly calculating how to break into their hearts.

Back in the day, he used to piece together these kinds of leads, doing detective work to gather background info on a target before executing a full infiltration.

But now…

Now he wanted to live like a normal person.

"Momoka-nee, can you watch the register for a second?"

After calling out to his co-worker, Rinto slipped on a mask and walked over to the two girls.

They seemed to think he was coming over to scold them for being loud and started fumbling to apologize.

Rinto just waved it off.

"No worries. You weren't disturbing anyone… It's just—your wrist looks pretty badly injured. Mind if I take a look?"

Shiho flinched a little, instinctively pulling her hand to her chest.

Though she was well over 170cm tall and looked more mature than the average high schooler, she still acted with a kind of hesitancy that felt surprisingly delicate.

She glanced at her friend, clearly unsure of how to respond.

Ann, on the other hand, was all fire.

"Go ahead! Please check it out, mister! She got hurt during volleyball practice and didn't even say anything at the time! She didn't get it treated either—and now it's all swollen up!"

"Ann! I'm really fine, okay…?" Shiho mumbled. "If I say I'm hurt, Mr. Kamoshida will get mad again… say I was being careless…"

As she trailed off, her face clouded over. Her brows drew together in a dark, defeated expression.

It wasn't the wrist that concerned Rinto—it was that. That timid, shut-down look in her eyes.

A coach being strict was one thing.

But if a student didn't even feel safe saying she was injured, that pointed to something far worse.

Rinto didn't pry. He gently took her wrist and pressed down with two fingers.

"Nnngh…!"

Shiho winced, her face tightening—but she didn't say a word.

…Yeah. This is bad.

From her reaction, Rinto could almost confirm that she was dealing with not just physical injury, but emotional suppression. Learned helplessness.

And next to her, Ann was watching with barely disguised anxiety, eyes full of concern for her friend.

After a moment's thought, Rinto decided—he'd help them.

"I don't think this is something you can brush off. Might even be a hairline fracture. You'll need to rest for at least a month—if not, you're risking serious long-term damage. Forget volleyball—this could affect your daily life."

"—What!?"

Both girls paled at the news.

But Rinto didn't give them time to panic.

Switching into full professional mode (as much as a drugstore part-timer could), he spoke quickly:

"Judging from your uniforms, you go to Shujin Academy, right? There's a private clinic not far from here—run by a very skilled female doctor. She's currently offering free checkups for students. Just head two subway stops over to Sangenjaya."

"Oh—and until then, don't move that wrist. I'll wrap it up with a sling for now. You don't want to start the new semester with a full cast, do you?"

…Faced with Rinto's calm but relentless approach, the already timid Shiho looked completely dazed—her eyes practically spinning.

As he secured her wrist with a triangular bandage, Rinto caught the faint scent of deodorant on her skin. It was that fresh, slightly citrusy smell unique to athletic girls.

Ann, meanwhile, was all enthusiasm, nodding furiously and taking charge like a protective big sister.

"Thank you so much, mister! Can we exchange contact info? If you send me the address, I'll take her over right now!"

Straightforward and efficient. I like her.

Rinto nodded in approval.

After swapping contact details with Ann and texting her the clinic's address and doctor's name, he watched the two girls rush off.

Only once they'd vanished from view did he return to the register, phone in hand, tapping out a message to someone.

Momoka had watched the whole thing from start to finish and couldn't hold back a snort.

"Rinto, you sly dog… Didn't know you had such a soft spot for pretty schoolgirls~ (-ω-)"