Telephone Man Junior ~The Man Searching for a Public Phone~
Kagurazaka Denwa, 24. Unemployed. NEET. Professional freeloader. His life changes when he finds a single telephone card among his late father's belongings—a deep green card belonging to the legendary hero who once protected the Kanto region during the Showa era: the Green Telephone Man.
There's just one problem. To transform, he needs a public phone. In the Reiwa era. When smartphones rule the world and phone booths are vanishing faster than heroes' reputations.
Armed with his father's card, a
Telephone Man Junior ~The Man Searching for a Public Phone~ - Face Recognition Storm and the Fourth Eccentric
Kagurazaka Denwa, twenty-four years old. Unemployed.
Ever since that day—when he'd driven off Hariu, the Hardbank operative—things around Denwa had gotten a little noisier.
No, not around him. Inside his head.
(Hikari-san said I was "cool"...)
Under his futon, he replayed the phone screen over and over.
The words "Akane Hikari."
(Cool. Me. Me, when I'm transformed.)
That one word echoed on an endless loop in his skull.
"...Heh."
A pathetic little laugh escaped him, filling the damp tatami room.
(Is this what they call a popularity phase? Has it finally come for me too?)
He gently stroked the green telephone card tucked into the wristband on his left arm.
(Dad, thank you. Thanks to your card, I'm feeling better right now than I have in my entire life.)
The instant he thought it, his phone buzzed.
"Whoa!?"
Denwa shot upright.
On the screen was a message from Akane Hikari.
"Can we meet today? There's something I want to talk about."
"...Can we meet!? Something to talk about!? This is totally it, right!? She's gonna say let's go out!"
Denwa shouted.
No—wait. Calm down.
(Hikari-san is investigating the Telephone Man's trail. "Something to talk about" has to be about the card. It's not that she's interested in me.)
But maybe.
(Maybe it's not zero.)
With trembling fingers, Denwa typed a reply.
"Sure. Where?"
Seconds later, a response came.
"The alley with the phone booth in Kagurazaka. I love the atmosphere there."
"...The phone booth. The place where I got reported."
Denwa smiled wryly.
(Well, whatever. If I get to see Hikari-san, anywhere's fine.)
Denwa peeled off his wrinkled tracksuit and changed into his one decent outfit.
A navy hoodie his aunt had bought him years ago, and faded jeans.
He looked in the mirror.
Bedhead black hair. Dark circles under his eyes. A haggard face.
"...Looking good. No—not good at all."
He sighed and left the house.
The alleys of Kagurazaka were bathed in evening light.
Cobblestone paths. Old wooden houses. Here and there, remnants of the Showa era lingered in scattered pockets.
Denwa walked toward that phone booth.
(I wonder if Hikari-san's already there.)
Heart pounding, he turned the corner.
That was when it happened.
"—!"
In front of the phone booth, Hikari was doing something.
No—more than doing something—
"Huh?"
Denwa couldn't believe his eyes.
Hikari had the booth's receiver pressed to her ear, and in her left hand she held a vermilion telephone card.
And she was slowly sliding that card toward the card slot of the phone.
"H-Hikari-san!?"
Denwa ran over.
Hikari turned around.
Shoulder-length black hair, tinged faintly vermilion by the setting sun. Pale skin, large eyes. Today she wore a white blouse and a deep-red long skirt—an outfit with a retro Showa feel.
"Oh, Kagurazaka-kun. Perfect timing."
Hikari smiled brightly.
"Perfect timing—what are you doing!? Don't tell me you're trying to transform?"
Denwa's voice cracked.
"Yes. I thought I'd try it too."
Hikari said it as if it were nothing.
"Try it... but, uh, to transform, you have to shout the move name..."
"I know. It was written in my grandmother's diary."
Hikari slid the card into the phone.
"W-wait a second! There are people around here—aren't you embarrassed!?"
"Embarrassed? Why?"
Hikari tilted her head.
"Why—because, you know, when you transform, you shout the move name at the top of your lungs..."
"Is that a problem?"
Hikari's face was completely serious.
(She's dead serious.)
Denwa clutched his head.
"...No, never mind. Go right ahead, do as you like."
When Denwa said it in defeat, Hikari smiled.
"Then here I go."
Hikari gripped the receiver again and drew a deep breath.
"—Telephone Sensing!"
Her voice rang out through the alley.
Denwa instinctively looked around.
(Is anyone watching!?)
Fortunately, the alley was empty.
And then—
Vermilion light spilled out from the phone booth.
"Whoa!"
Denwa shielded his face with his arm.
The light faded.
Standing there was—
"...So this is transformation."
It was Hikari.
No—it was the transformed Hikari.
A Telephone Man wreathed in vermilion light.
Her white blouse had become a two-tone combat suit of vermilion and white. At her waist, a belt shaped like an old telephone. On her chest, an emblem modeled after a vermilion telephone card.
"Amazing... My body feels so light. I can hear every sound around me."
Hikari stared at her own hands.
"Whoa...! Hikari-san, you transformed! That's incredible!"
Denwa was genuinely impressed.
"Yes. So this is my grandmother's power..."
Hikari closed her eyes, as if sensing something.
"—Oh?"
Hikari suddenly raised her head.
"What is it?"
"There's a response. From other public phones. Nearby, two... no, three. Public phones responding to my card."
"Response? To your card?"
"Yes. The vermilion ability is 'sensing and communication.' I can tell the location and status of nearby public phones. And right now, three public phones are reacting to my transformation and transmitting something."
"Transmitting something?"
Denwa tilted his head.
"Yes. Like a signal calling allies. As if my card is reaching out to the other cards."
"Other cards..."
Hariu's words flashed through Denwa's mind.
"Hardbank will eliminate outdated heroes like you, without fail."
"You"—plural.
(So there are others who hold Telephone Man cards?)
"Kagurazaka-kun, it seems it's not just us."
Hikari released her transformation.
The vermilion light vanished, and she was back in her blouse.
"There are other people with Telephone Man cards. Someone might answer this signal."
"Answer..."
Denwa swallowed hard.
(Allies? Or enemies?)
"—I answered."
A voice spoke.
Denwa and Hikari turned at the same time.
From the shadows of an old building at the far end of the alley, a man appeared.
He looked twenty-one or twenty-two. Slim and tall. Black-framed glasses, a deep blue cardigan. In his hands, a notebook and a blue telephone card.
"Aoi Ritsu. Holder of the blue Telephone Man card."
The man spoke in a flat tone.
"Y-you have a telephone card too..."
"Yes. I followed the response from your card. The son of the green Telephone Man, Kagurazaka Denwa, I take it."
Ritsu glanced at the card on Denwa's left wrist.
"That card has seventeen uses remaining. Your usage pattern is inefficient. Energy consumption per transformation isn't optimized. You're an amateur."
"Huh? How can you tell how many uses I have left!?"
Denwa's voice rose without thinking.
"I calculated backward from the magnetic degradation. Your card is handled roughly. You've been transforming wastefully."
Ritsu opened his notebook and wrote something down.
"Wait a minute—who are you? Don't just analyze my card and call me an amateur."
"I'm Aoi Ritsu. I used to be in the Self-Defense Forces' intelligence division. Now I research communications engineering at university. Your card's data is a valuable sample for unraveling the Telephone Man transformation system."
Ritsu spoke without looking at Denwa's face.
"Sample... I'm not a sample!"
Denwa scowled.
"Um, Aoi-san, was it?"
Hikari stepped forward.
"You have a Telephone Man card too. Blue... the ability of speed and leaping."
"Yes. And you're vermilion. Sensing and communication. Your transformation just now was sending a signal to the surrounding public phones. That's how I found this place."
Ritsu looked straight at Hikari.
"I see. So my signal called you here."
"That's right. Your ability can sense the cards of allies. My card received your signal too."
Ritsu held up the blue card.
"So, what now? The three of us investigate the Telephone Man's trail? Or do we disband here?"
"H-hey, wait! Why are you deciding everything on your own!? I don't know anything about you yet!"
Denwa wedged himself between the two.
"Do I need to be known? We're fellow holders of the same cards. That's enough."
"It's not enough! I can't stand logic-obsessed types like you!"
"That's unfortunate. But I need your cooperation. The green card is special even among the Telephone Men. Your father was the strongest hero who ruled Kanto."
Ritsu stared at Denwa's card.
"...You know about my old man?"
Denwa's voice dropped.
"I know. As data. In studying the history of the Telephone Men, the green one is unavoidable. Your father was in a class of his own among the Showa heroes."
For the first time, emotion entered Ritsu's voice.
"...I see."
Denwa looked down, his expression complicated.
(So my old man really was amazing. Nothing like me.)
"—Are you the senpai!? The green one!?"
Suddenly, a shout rang out.
Denwa looked up to see a boy sprinting toward them from the opposite end of the alley at full speed.
He looked seventeen or eighteen. Short blond hair, sun-tanned skin. A yellow tracksuit, and in his hand a yellow telephone card.
"Whoaaaa! Are you for real!? The son of the legendary green!?"
The boy skidded to a stop right in front of Denwa.
"Uh, ah, y-yeah..."
Denwa stepped back, overwhelmed.
"I'm Kikawada Genki! I've got the yellow Telephone Man card! You're Kagurazaka Denwa-senpai, right!? Shake my hand!"
Genki grabbed Denwa's hand with both of his and shook it vigorously.
"H-hey, ow, ow, ow!"
"Ah, sorry! I just got excited! I mean, the son of green! Do you know how much my dad looked up to your father!?"
Genki's eyes sparkled.
"Your old man was a Telephone Man too?"
"Yes! The yellow Telephone Man! The ability of power and destruction! I've been carrying this card around forever, hoping to become a hero like my dad!"
Genki held up the yellow card.
"I see. The yellow card. Power and destruction. The muscle-brain type."
Ritsu said it while writing in his notebook.
"Muscle-brain—that's rude, man! I'd prefer 'the type whose body moves before his brain'!"
"Same thing."
"It's not the same!"
"Um, you two, please..."
Hikari said, looking troubled.
"I never imagined there really were other card holders. And two of them."
"Maybe three."
Ritsu looked toward the far end of the alley.
"—Oh my, you found me."
Softly.
A woman appeared, the hem of her white dress swaying.
She looked around twenty. Silky black hair down to her waist. Pale skin, narrow eyes. A smile played at her lips. In her hand, a white telephone card.
"Shiratori Shizuku. I hold the white Telephone Man card. Nice to meet you."
Shizuku stared at Denwa's face.
"...Oh my, so this is the green one? Heh. More useful than I expected."
"U-useful!?"
Denwa's heart gave a lurch.
(A pure, innocent type has arrived! White dress! Long black hair! This is completely my type!)
Denwa stared at Shizuku, entranced.
"Yes. Your card, green, is protection and endurance. High defense and stamina. Perfect for a wall."
Shizuku spoke while keeping her smile.
"A wall..."
"Oh, was I wrong? You look exactly like the type who stands in front and takes enemy attacks. Rather than supporting from the back, you're better suited to stepping forward and becoming a shield."
Shizuku's eyes narrowed, appraising Denwa.
"...Well, maybe you're right."
Denwa faltered.
(Somehow, this person's smiling but her eyes aren't...)
"I'm Aoi Ritsu. Blue. Speed and leaping. Nice to meet you."
Ritsu gave Shizuku a slight bow.
"I'm Kikawada Genki! Yellow! Power and destruction! Nice to meet you!"
Genki raised his hand energetically.
"I'm Akane Hikari. Vermilion. Sensing and communication. Pleased to meet you."
Hikari bowed politely.
"And I'm Kagurazaka Denwa. Green. Protection and endurance... apparently."
Denwa borrowed Shizuku's words.
"'Apparently'? What's that? You don't even know your own ability?"
"I-I know it! Protection and endurance, right! High defense and stamina, right!"
Denwa said in a panic.
"Heh, I'm joking. Don't get so worked up."
Shizuku giggled.
"...We've ended up with quite the lineup, haven't we?"
Hikari looked around at the four of them.
"Yeah. Now we've got fou
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