I Joined the Sentai Heroes Who Were Beautiful Girls Other Than Me but the Heroines Were All Yanderangers

36. Philans Pink is an Active JK

“Huh?”

Philans Pink, or rather Momo, is actually a man. The topic is so out of the blue that I can’t even bother to hide my disdain.

“That’s impossible. Is there a man with twin tails? And she’s pink, and her hero suit is a skirt.”

I know for a fact that Momo is a woman, so I can’t keep up with my friend’s crazy talk. Besides, anyone who has seen a picture of Philans Pink would call her a ‘she’ without hesitation.

“No, on the contrary, pink, mini skirts, and twin tails are too cute. Is there a woman who’s the embodiment of cuteness like that? She’s definitely putting on an act. I bet she’s a man who’s trying to hide it by acting super girly.”

There really is a hero who’s like the personification of cuteness, now that I think about it.

“Judging from the photos, her chest is pretty small, and her body is the kind you’d expect to see on a middle-schooler or a high-schooler who’s a late bloomer, right? I’d like to propose the theory that Philanspink is a man.”

“Who would that benefit, exactly…? Don’t tell me…”

I glare at my friend with suspicion.

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I’m just saying, it would be pretty messed up if it were true. Imagine if the beautiful hero of justice was actually a pervert who dresses up as a woman in public.”

“….”

It’s just some gossip. I tell myself that, clenching my fists behind my back.

In modern society, what he’s saying isn’t anything special. Theories about heroes abound online, and there are plenty of people who like to speculate about their true identities. For most citizens who aren’t directly affected by disasters, heroes of justice are just a form of entertainment, and there are plenty of manufacturers who take advantage of the fact that they’re not affiliated with any particular company to sell unofficial merchandise. Even that Philansred stuffed animal, Akane-san and the doctor had nothing to do with it. It was just something that some random person came up with and started selling, the same way you don’t ask a dog for permission when you make dog-themed merchandise. In this day and age, it’s common sense that heroes are content that the public can do whatever they want with.

I’m the only one who isn’t satisfied with the fact that I’m not part of any of that merchandise or gossip, but the doctor and the other heroes have already come to terms with it.

“If you keep saying horrible things like that, Philanspink might not come to your rescue if you ever get into an accident.”

Since the people in question don’t seem to mind, all I can do is tease my friend about it.

“hahahaha, what if you were Philanspink?”

“If I were, I’d shoot myself in the head.”

“Wow, that’s scary.”

The disconnect between the public and heroes. When you think about it, it’s no wonder that they start to get depressed.

“Hey, how long are you going to keep talking about heroes?”

My friend’s voice from behind me, where he’s already finished cleaning up his desk, startles me. I realize that class must be over. I figured it wouldn’t be worth paying attention anyway, but I guess I tuned out more than I thought. It’s unpleasant when your indifference leads to unpleasant topics, so while I don’t blame my friend at all, I’m going to get a large bowl of ramen tonight to vent my frustration over the fact that he brought up the Philanspink-is- a-man theory right in front of me.

“Are you going to Minakami?”

As I’m leaving the classroom, Isaki speaks up again. What, so he’s going to come with me after all, despite what he said?

“I’ll walk with you to the station.”

With that, Isaki picks up his plain vinyl umbrella. I sigh slightly and take a plastic bag out of my bag.

“Asagi never carries a big umbrella, huh?”

Isaki teases me when he sees the navy folding umbrella I pull out of the plastic bag.

“I’m more of a fair-weather man.”

“What does that even mean?”

Isaki is a friend I made when I first started university. Our student ID numbers are close, so we help each other out in class a lot. He’s not a bad guy, but he tends to have somewhat biased opinions on politics, heroes, and celebrity cheating scandals, which can make it difficult to respond to him.

“Is there any hero you like, Isaki?”

“Hmm. I don’t know, since I can’t see their faces.”

And he’s a bit of a lookist, too.

“If I had to pick one, I guess I’d go with the busty one. Green, was it?”

“…Yeah, I guess so.”

Female heroes’ bust sizes are a common topic of conversation, but when I think about the fact that I know her personally, it’s hard to respond as casually as I used to. To Isaki, who’s just a regular person, she’s probably like a celebrity or an anime character, but to me, she’s a colleague. And since I’ve seen quite a lot of Uguisu-san on video, talking about her figure is especially awkward.

“Your face is kind of red. Are you a closet pervert?”

“Of course not. I’ve been rooting for Red ever since she saved me when I was a kid.”

Apparently, Akane-san is “by far” the most popular, according to the doctor, but most people don’t realize that Philansred has a great figure because of her body, the cape that covers her body, and the speed at which she moves around the scene, which is rarely captured on camera.

“Red, huh?”

He looks uninterested. That’s fine. In fact, I think it would bother me if he was interested in her, so even though I’ve met Akane-san, it seems that Philansred is still the object of my admiration.

“It’s raining pretty hard, though.”

Isaki looks up at the gray sky from the entrance of the school building, yawning. I open my folding umbrella and step out into the rain.

“I heard on TV that the rainy season might end next week. I can’t wait for summer.”

As we walked out of the school building, chatting about such trivial matters, we heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching from afar.

“Uni students are so full of energy, even in the rain,” I muttered, feeling a twinge of old age. I turned to see who it was, out of curiosity.

“Sempai, Sempai Sora!”

A lovely, colorful umbrella and a voice came from the distance. There was only one girl who called me “Sempai.”

“Momo!?”

A pale pink umbrella with a simple, outlined heart pattern all over it and a scalloped edge, as I recall. A small, round umbrella that exuded girlish charm, a rarity on the science campus. As expected, twintails popped out from under it.

“hehehehe, I came!”

Momo, clad in her casual clothes, proudly swayed her usual long, low twintails and looked up at me with a sweet smile.