Could I Get Your Number?

She had loved literary fiction since she was a child. Maybe it was because her late mother had been a writer of it. Maybe it was because her father had filled the house with nothing but novels.

She didn't turn her nose up at any genre, but literary fiction was what she loved most. Reading, for her, was more fun than anything else in the world. She had spent most of her childhood with a book in her hands, and growing older had not changed that in the slightest.

I want to talk about stories...!

These days, though, almost no one read literary fiction.

She had tried the rest of her colleagues too, even going so far as the office staff in the hero building, and not one of them shared her taste.

It's not weird, is it...? It's literature...?

People would talk about anime, comics, webtoons, foreign dramas, Korean dramas — every kind of story there was — and yet not once had anyone so much as mentioned literary fiction. Bookstores were piled with titles trumpeted as million-sellers and bestsellers, but who was actually buying them and reading them? Not a single person in the Hero Association even knew the name of the most famous novel out right now.

"...Am I that niche?"

She murmured the lament while browsing the bookstore nearest the Hero Association. She had slipped away in the middle of her shift, and as a flagship hero whose face was far too well known, she had hidden herself thoroughly.

Fantasy really isn't my taste...

Should she force herself to switch the sort of books she read? She was still turning it over.

"A Splendid Afternoon... a bestseller, they say."

A novel by a foreign author — a work said to have drawn the public in by melting together life and death, and the line between the moral and the immoral. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It stood as this year's bestseller, and still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not one person around her knew the title.

Then who in the world is buying these and reading them...?

She was walking along, sunk in the thought and staring into space, when—

"Ow!"

"Ugh!"

Someone had walked straight into her chest.

"Are you all right...?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

It was a girl with hair the color of near-white silver, and golden eyes that glittered like stars.

Yujin was, at this moment, thoroughly delighted. The little girl she had just collided with had seemed to come to the bookstore alone, so — just in case — Yujin had kept her there and started recommending works of literature.

"This one's nice. The way it delicately warps the point of view while talking about an old man's life..."

"Right, right. Yeah, that author is so good at rendering the way people live...!"

"Uh... this one? I glanced at it earlier, but the style is hard to make sense of."

"I felt the same way. But even accounting for that, the command they have over the material..."

"Mmm... I like this. I only read the opening, and already the feeling comes through so clearly."

"That's the novel I had the most fun with. Foreign author, but it's seriously good."

And the girl would read each recommendation at a startling pace, then offer an evaluation that actually fit.

...Finally. Someone I can actually talk to!

A girl who said precisely what Yujin herself had been thinking. She did not seem like someone who had only been reading for a day or two.

"How about this one? It's from last year's contest. The shorts in here are easy to get through, and they're fun."

"Short stories... not bad."

"Oh, this book's good too. It's by a writer named Yuina Yuki. The content's pretty dark, but the way it flows..."

"...Oh. That sounds fun. I think I'd like it."

"This one's... fun, but it's about tragic lovers... ah. Maybe not this one."

"No, it's all right. I like that sort of thing too."

"F-for a kid, some of the content is a little..."

To the eye, the girl was elementary-school ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠age at most. Or, if she was simply small, she might just barely scrape by as a first-year in middle school.

Shouldn't she be in school at this hour?

As far as Yujin knew, the schools were already back in session. Even the Hero Academy, which started its term late, had already opened.

"It's all right."

"Mmm... here."

But Yujin decided not to think about it any further. After years of turning those thoughts over in solitary monologue, someone she could actually share them with had appeared right in front of her. The rest did not matter.

And she might be a child carrying some kind of wound.

The girl's cute face had left her staring, spellbound, enough to make her falter without realizing it. There was no telling what scars might lie behind that bright, innocent expression. In her life as a hero she had seen far too many children wounded by the world as it was, and she would not pry so carelessly.

"This book here is... ah, have I been doing all the talking...?"

"Not at all. I didn't know what to pick up, and thanks to you I think I've found some worth reading."

"......!"

"Um, though most of what I've read is classics. My favorite is The Stranger... do you happen to know any novels with a similar feel?"

"...O-of course!"

And so an hour passed, then two. Yujin showed no sign of tiring.

The girl did not brush her off with half-hearted answers the way everyone else did, or answer with nothing but confusion. She gave serious thought to everything Yujin said — empathy, critique, and even brief debates when their opinions diverged.

This is fun...!

A girl with thoughts far deeper than her years. How wonderful it was to have someone who listened, and who pushed back. The books they had already talked through together numbered past thirty, and Yujin found herself wishing the hour would simply go on.

"So this one is..."

Vrrrt—

But happiness, as ever, has to come to an end.

"...Ah. Right."

She had been so lost in the conversation that she had forgotten she was, at this very moment, ditching her shift on the sly.

"H-hello..."

Her senior's voice, thick with anger.

"I-I'm out on p-patrol right now—"

At that, Yujin hurriedly checked her messages.

"...Ah, yes. I-I'll be right there."

"I-I'm sorry... I'll hurry..."

Click. The call ended there.

"...S-so, I think your big sister has to get going."

"Ah, yes. Thank you for telling me about the books."

When Yujin said it was time to part, the girl gave her a polite little bow.

As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a rule, flagship heroes like her never gave their phone numbers to anyone. Hand a number to a single person and it spread, until tens of thousands of calls came flooding in over a single day. It happened all the time. Giving a number to a minor was the most dangerous of all. Children sometimes wanted to show off just how special they were.

"I-it's nothing, really... I just — if you're all right with it — I'd like to talk about n-novels together..."

But none of that mattered to her now. Someone had appeared who could finally quench a thirst she had carried for years.

"...All right."

"Thank you...! Ah, your name, if I could..."

"It's Yuhwa."

"Pretty name. If you're ever curious about a book, or if there's something you want to talk about, call me anytime!"

"Your voice... is too loud."

"Ah, s-sorry."

A girl who even told her to quiet down. Yujin did not think the child in front of her would go spreading her number around.

"I'll give you the novels we've been looking at as a gift. Later, just go downstairs and tell the lady at the counter your address, and she'll send them over."

"...Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Today was fun for me too, thanks to you."

Vrrrt—!

"Yikes. I'd better run."

"Take care."

Yujin said goodbye to the girl — Yuhwa — then went to the counter and paid for the books. If the child wanted anything more, they were to charge it all to her. She said as much while revealing who she was.

...Thirty minutes by car from here to the villain zone.

Cloth fluttered. Yujin pulled off her coat and every piece of her disguise, pressed them to the star-shaped mark on her chest, and they were sucked inside in an instant.

"...Isn't that Starlight?"

"Whoa, she's seriously pretty..."

"Hey, photo — photo, quick!"

The moment she appeared, the people on the street broke into a murmur.

If I leap and cut between the buildings... five minutes ought to do it.

Like a sprinter at the blocks, she folded forward and set her hands to the ground.

"Looks like she's about to take off."

"You didn't get the villain alert? One showed up over that way."

"Starlight! I love you!"

She gave the crowd that had closed in all at once a small smile, then drove strength into her feet and sprang. From the pavement to a rooftop, and then she was crossing the gaps between buildings, racing the shortest line to the outbreak zone.

"I'll wrap this up fast and send her a text."

She couldn't stop smiling. She had someone now — someone she could keep talking to.