I Am the Principal Wife!
"……"
"Let's go, kid. We're here."
"…Yes."
Shoulders hunched up around her ears, Kotori trailed after the man who tossed his words out as if none of them concerned him.
She had finally reached the Korea she had wanted so badly, and still her pounding heart would not settle. All she could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other.
"U-um…!"
"What."
"C-could we maybe go a little slower…?"
Her voice only shrank as she spoke. The courage she had scraped together withered the moment it met a look that said she was a bother.
"You want to look around?"
"Yes…"
"Tch. Young lady from a fine house. Can't exactly slight her."
"I can hear you…"
"What was that?"
"I didn't say anything!"
Kotori clapped a hand over her mouth, startled by her own shout. Setsuna, Japan's S-rank hero, slid a finger up under his hood and rubbed the groove above his lip.
"Sightseeing in the airport. You actually want to?"
"…If you're busy, we don't have to."
"Stop reading me and answer. I'm asking for real. Do you want to?"
His eyes flashed, sharp enough to frighten. The color drained from Kotori's face.
"I-I don't…!"
"……"
Setsuna turned his back on her.
"Come on. People are staring."
"Yes…"
Kotori walked on in a gloom, fists clenched in the front of her clothes. The kunoichi following behind were at a loss.
They traded their meaning in a cipher no one else was meant to hear.
Lord Setsuna. He seems to be heading somewhere that has nothing at all to do with the exit.
Personality aside, he is a hero. Perhaps he simply cannot bear to see a child in tears.
We should send word to the people waiting that we will be late.
"Quit thinking useless thoughts. I don't know what you're saying, but I can guess well enough."
"We're sorry."
"Tch. Grumble, grumble."
Setsuna jammed his hands into his pockets and ambled on.
Thirty minutes ought to satisfy her.
He checked the maps posted here and there and laid out a route in his head. Half an hour would be enough to skim the important parts.
"Ah! That's the hamburger place the Shrine Priest told me about!"
"My lady! Where are you going!"
"You mustn't run off on your own!"
"……"
Damn it. He'd forgotten how fast a child's mood could turn.
Setsuna swallowed the irritation boiling up in him and went after the naive little brat. She had already vanished into the crowd, but an S-rank hero's inborn senses caught the deserter soon enough, even at a sprint.
"Hey! You—"
"Ow!"
"Agh!"
The kid managed, at last, to crash straight into a man in a suit.
"Who do you think you are, running around—"
"It's been a while, Mr. Setsuna."
"You."
Setsuna startled, just slightly, at the suited man's voice. Only then did he realize who it was.
A man in the Smiling Mask, as if other people's eyes meant nothing to him at all. The Phantom Thief. Counting today, this was their third meeting.
"I heard the news. You've been named the next president of Japan's Hero Association. Congratulations."
"Ha. I screwed up, the Association nearly fell apart, and somehow it landed on me. I didn't want it. All the blame, none of the pay. Why would I take a seat like that?"
"But you did accept it, didn't you? Whatever you say against yourself, the people around you think rather highly of you."
"The moment they start acknowledging a hero who's killed a pile of people, they're already cracked. First chance I get, I'm out."
"I wonder. Whether it'll be as easy as you make it sound…"
"Easy or not is mine to decide. You gloomy bastard."
"Gloomy? Where would you find anyone brighter than I am? A phantom thief only ever looks at what's lovely and good."
That's how it has to be.
"I can even put a smile on a cute girl's face."
The Phantom Thief lowered himself to meet the eyes of the girl staring blankly up at him. She had gone down from the impact; he was on one knee. A snap of his fingers produced a rose, and the whole of it might have been a single panel from a comic.
"You've grown even lovelier than when I left. Have you been well, Kotori?"
"M-my husband…"
Both of Kotori's hands flew to her cheeks, and she had no idea what to do with herself. Up close, the Phantom Thief was the very image of a prince on a white horse. And since he had, in fact, saved her, calling him a prince was not so far from the truth.
"Husband is a little much for me. Call me Phantom Thief, plainly. Phantom is fine, too."
"But my husband is my husband…"
"Why does it always end up there?"
He tucked the rose behind her ear. Its tender thorns tickled her skin.
"Up you get. You'll dirty those lovely clothes."
"Ah!"
Kotori sprang up like a wooden marionette. A palm moved like a breeze and brushed the dust from the seat of her skirt.
"Nngh. How did I not even notice…"
Color surged all the way to her neck. Her face went red past anything her hands could hide.
"That on your clothes. Is it the white rose I gave you?"
The question pulled the flustered Kotori back to herself.
"Th-this? Yes! You gave it to me before you left, my husband!"
The white rose hung at the edge of the pocket over a chest that was generous for her age, and though plenty of time had passed since he handed it over, it was as vivid as a flower just opened.
"I-I shaped it into a brooch myself. Well? Is it pretty?"
"Of course. It catches the eye at once."
"Ehe, heh, heh."
Kotori's eyes went soft and unfocused. From the side, she looked as if she had been dosed with something.
"Hey. Quit tormenting an innocent kid. What are you doing here? Weren't you waiting outside?"
"I was hungry, so I was eating hamburgers with the others, and then I happened to see Kotori come running."
Setsuna tipped his head toward the hamburger shop. Sure enough, two people who were anything but ordinary at a glance sat staring this way while they ate.
A red-haired woman, and a girl with sun-bronzed skin. The moment his eyes met theirs, even Setsuna, of all people, had no choice but to look away first.
Ignoring the cold sweat sliding down his spine, he said,
"Yeah, well. Thanks for coming to get us. We just get in the car and go, then?"
"Aren't you hungry? Let's have something simple inside."
"It's a hamburger. Why pitch it like we're dining in some old manor? It's not even a restaurant…"
"If you'd prefer a restaurant, I can arrange one."
"Forget it. You eat your fill."
Setsuna raked at his scalp.
"I want to finish the job, go home, and rest. I don't want to stay long in a Korea where I can't understand a word."
"You won't be able to see Chairman Hwang Seokgu today. He's busy, so the earliest we can make time is the day after tomorrow."
"Give me a break. The next president of Japan's Association shows up, and he can't even make time he doesn't have? If this is the hospitality, what's the point?"
"I came in his place, didn't I? I'm involved as well, so speak as freely as you like."
"You won't give up a single word. Not one."
On reflex, Setsuna kicked the Phantom Thief in the shin. A small smudge of dirt appeared on the black trousers.
"Tss."
"Does it hurt?"
"Shut up…"
Setsuna ground his teeth and glared. The Smiling Mask twitched.
Growl…
Just then, the sound of an empty stomach reached a superhuman's ears with perfect clarity.
"Ah."
Kotori clutched her stomach and shook her head.
"I-it's not me."
"Hm. I believe that was mine."
I'd only just stepped away from a meal. Of course it would complain.
"Mr. Setsuna. I'm truly sorry, but would you spend a little time with us inside?"
"…Do what you want. You're buying."
"Thank you."
The Phantom Thief herded the party from Japan into the hamburger shop. The moment such an unusual crowd walked in, every eye in the place found them.
Setsuna yanked his hood tight and hid his face, then jabbed the Phantom Thief with a knuckle.
"Kotori. What do you like?"
"Um, I… I'd like something with a small portion."
"I see. Four Jumbo Deluxe Combos, please."
"…What?!"
"When you're young, it's best to eat a lot."
"Hnnn…"
Kotori's face crumpled at last. She had lost count of how many disgraceful displays she had already put on today in front of the man she loved. She was so ashamed she wanted to turn around and go back to Japan.
Pager in hand, the Phantom Thief showed them to the table. There sat Pele, sucking on a straw as if she meant to crush it, and Hong Yumin, stroking the head of San-gun, who had turned himself into a cat.
Minsik, the driver who had come along, sat crumpled off to one side, listlessly poking at his fries.
"…H-hello."
"Mm. Well met."
"Hey. You've grown a lot."
Hong Yumin and Pele returned Kotori's greeting. Setsuna gave the barest jerk of his chin and sprawled into a seat.
The kunoichi offered a proper bow of the head.
"Now, now. We're fated to share a car for the next few hours. Shall we at least get a conversation started?"
"Mask."
"Yes."
"Shut it."
"Yes."
The Phantom Thief shut it.
Nearly ten people had gathered, and not a sound passed between them. Silence closed around the table.
Beeeeeep.
"Ah. There's the bell."
"I'll help."
"Me too."
The kunoichi and the Phantom Thief went to fetch the order.
With the three of them gone, the gap they left yawned wide. Kotori glanced around, then leaned in and whispered to Hong Yumin and Pele.
"I-I'm not giving my husband away…! I'm the principal wife!"
"……"
"……"
Hong Yumin and Pele exchanged a look.
They decided.
As they always did.
To kill the Phantom Thief.
The reason was perfectly sound. A child's mouth had let out words that should never have left it. Heaven would be kinder than a prison.