"…It's already been three months since I came back to Tokyo."
Asakura Rinto, still tousle-haired from sleep, muttered to himself while brushing his teeth in front of a cracked mirror.
This was Tokyo—well, technically Kawasaki City, just on the outskirts.
Kawasaki belonged to Kanagawa Prefecture. Rinto was currently living in a run-down rental house here.
Even though it was only two subway stops away from central Tokyo, that tiny distance made a world of difference in rent prices. For half the cost, you could rent a place twice the size.
Of course, the trade-off was that this house was over sixty years old—a certified deathtrap.
Sure, it had its perks: a detached layout, two whole floors, and from a square footage standpoint, it definitely counted as a "big house."
But the air conditioner only worked for cooling, not heating. The weeds in the yard were taller than people. And now that spring had arrived, the bugs and critters crawling out of the woodwork were the stuff of nightmares.
Still, this was Rinto's temporary residence—and he'd already been living here for a month.
Oh, and by the way, Rinto was a transmigrator.
Not from any clearly defined parallel world, though. He had no memories of his previous life. The classic amnesiac protagonist setup.
If you asked him why he was so sure he wasn't originally from this world, it was because he'd been born with complete modern 21st-century knowledge, along with fluency in almost every language.
This knowledge was ingrained into his soul, as immovable as the name Asakura Rinto itself.
Honestly, that gift alone was enough for him to live comfortably as a freelance translator.
And even setting aside that ridiculous "summoned-to-modern-warfare" level skillset, he had something even more unusual.
He could steal people's desires.
He'd once operated as the infamous Phantom Thief of Hearts for several years, resolving countless crimes from the shadows that the law couldn't touch.
But after a certain turning point, he'd chosen to hang up his cape and retire from the vigilante life.
"…Why am I thinking about all that now?"
Rinto splashed cold water on his face, rinsing away the leftover foam from his toothpaste.
Staring into the fractured mirror, he practiced his public smile—one that would make him seem like the picture-perfect friendly high school boy to outsiders.
During his travels across Japan over the past two years, he'd once met a scruffy old man who shared a piece of wisdom:
"Heroes have an expiration date."
Rinto agreed with that now more than ever.
He was long past his chūnibyō "I want to be a hero!" phase.
He'd graduated from phantom thievery. Now, he was ready to live quietly as an ordinary high school student.
Next week, he'd be transferring into Shujin Academy as a second-year student—technically, a senior to the Yoshizawa sisters.
It would be his first time seriously attending school since arriving in this world. Rinto was genuinely looking forward to it.
When Rinto finished washing up and changed into casual clothes, he returned to the living room.
The Yoshizawa twins were already seated and waiting to have breakfast with him.
This decrepit old house's kitchen had clearly been renovated too many times to count. The walls between the kitchen and living room had been knocked out, creating an open-concept layout, complete with a bar counter.
The previous owner might've tried to run a private bar out of it. Definitely the kind without a license.
Since the only table in the living room was a short coffee table—completely impractical for eating while sitting on the couch—Rinto and the twins always ate side by side at the narrow bar counter instead.
Sumire sliced off a tiny piece of fried egg with a knife and fork, chewed delicately, and swallowed.
Even that simple movement had the grace of a swan. Rinto found himself thinking: If I filmed these two eating and posted it online, it'd easily hit a million views. The only thing standing between me and financial freedom is my selfish desire to keep their beauty to myself.
Then again—
If the sight of them eating had that kind of market value, but he got to enjoy it every day for free, wasn't he essentially cashing in millions of virtual likes daily without spending a yen?
Thinking of it that way, Rinto felt like he was living in obscene luxury. I must be the luckiest guy on Earth.
Of course, the sweet, capable younger twin had no idea what kind of nonsense Rinto was thinking. If she did, she might just leap on him in a fit of joy.
Sumire covered her lips with her hand and glanced toward the staircase.
"Rinto-senpai, should I go wake Miss Momoka? If she doesn't come down soon, breakfast's going to get cold."
Momoka was Rinto's roommate—full name Kawaragi Momoka.
She was 20 years old and unemployed.
She called herself an "independent musician," though in reality she was living the dream of the Tokyo drift life—a broke artist working part-time jobs to cover rent.
"No need," Rinto replied with a shake of his head.
"She got into another argument last night with some other bands over territory. Even flipped them off and tried to provoke them. I had to carry her on my back for thirty minutes to escape their wrath. She called it a 'victory,' insisted on throwing a victory party, and—unsurprisingly—got totally smashed."
"She's got the same shift as me later today. I'll wake her up then. You can stick her breakfast in the fridge. Sorry for making you do this every time."
Sumire smiled sweetly, her eyes narrowing into cheerful arcs.
"It's no trouble. I wanted to make breakfast for you and Miss Momoka anyway. Since she's your roommate, and my sister and I come over every day… it's the least I can do."
So young and already so considerate of social harmony. This good little sister is far too perfect, Rinto thought, his feelings leaning more and more toward the protective warmth of family.
Though to be fair, he was only a year older than the twins. And they'd only known each other for three months.
That was back when Rinto had just returned to Tokyo, right as the calendar flipped to a new year.
Most students were enjoying their winter break at the time.
But as athletes on a professional track, the Yoshizawa twins had already resumed daily training—even in the freezing cold.
It was on one especially damp, bitterly cold day that Rinto happened to pass by and pull Sumire out of the way of an oncoming truck. That was how they'd first met.
Thinking back, he'd only just decided to retire from his life as a phantom thief and live as a harmless civilian.
And yet, somehow he immediately did something that drew all kinds of attention…
Still, no matter how much he grumbled about it, he couldn't just stand by and watch a cute young girl get splattered across the pavement. A hero had to step in.
At that moment, Kasumi—who'd been chewing on toast while scrolling on her phone—suddenly let out a surprised "Ah!"
"The Phantom Thief request board just updated! A new post got bumped to the top… 'My friend's been getting harassed by the coach during sports club activities at school. There's also constant physical punishment, and it's getting worse. Please, Phantom Thief, help us. If this keeps up when the new semester starts, I'm really scared something awful might happen…'"
Kasumi read the message aloud, voice full of feeling, then turned those big, acorn-round eyes toward Rinto.