Yukinari Shimotsuki (Thief)

## Yukinari Shimotsuki

* School Outfit
* Thief Outfit

*Phantom Wolf's* **Yukinari Shimotsuki**. He attends Wolf High School (狼高校 lit. *Ookami Koukou*) and is affiliated with both the Boys Kendama Club and phantom thief group Masque de Wolf (マスク・ド・ウルフ lit. *masuku do urufu*).

## Background

After Yukinari loses the part-time job he needed to pay for his school tuition, his childhood friend Tomoya offers to talk to his "leader" about letting Yukinari join his own job. During a trial run to see if Yukinari is fit to be part of Masque de Wolf, he demonstrates an acute ability to sense impending danger and is invited to join the group.

While it often isn't formally acknowledged within the story, Yukinari (as the default player character) does a large bulk of the riddle/puzzle solving during investigation sections. He's otherwise usually considered the dumbest member of Masque de Wolf, and more often than not, his blunders are what end up affecting the missions. He's also prone to being the unluckiest person on the team, if not out of the phantom thieves as a whole.

His primary role on the team is as a danger sensor. Due to his cowardly personality, his body has a heightened sense for when danger is coming, and Kou remarks that when Yukinari says he has "a bad feeling" about something, it's usually on the mark over 90% of the time. His secondary roles include moral support, errand boy, and occasionally team medic. Due to gameplay reasons, he also seemingly pulls the most weight during investigations.

## Relationships

### Tomoya Aizawa

Yukinari's childhood and best friend. He believes Tomoya to be amazing and aspires to be as capable as him (namely in things related to physical training). They're shown to be really good friends during the course of the story, and it's usually Tomoya that tries to defend or cheer Yukinari up when he makes mistakes or is being scolded by other people (with mixed results).

It's stated that they meet every morning to walk to school together, and it's mentioned that they also watch movies together and have long phone conversations.

### Kou Niimura

The leader of the phantom thief group Yukinari's in. Yukinari admires his hacking abilities and general know-how. While they aren't shown to be exceptionally close, Yukinari still considers him a friend, and cries in relief when he realizes Kou isn't dead in Chapter 5.

### Yuuto Rurikawa

A fellow member of Masque de Wolf. Yukinari is at odds with Yuuto more often than not, and his constant blunders earned him the nickname "Ponkotsunari" (ポンコツナリ lit. *Ponkotsunari*), which is a combination of "ponkotsu" ("piece of junk") and the ending of his name.

Yukinari frequently scolds Yuuto for speaking to him rudely (by virtue of being one year older than him) and for playing games while they're working. As the only member of Masque de Wolf that Yuuto doesn't show respect, he also takes as many opportunities as he can to get back at Yuuto.

### Rintarou Mori

A member of a rival phantom thief group and one of the primary reasons Yukinari gets in trouble. On the occasions when both Masque de Wolf and Forest Brother are partaking in the same mission, Rintarou will take advantage of how easily deceived Yukinari is to steal the target from him (assuming Forest Brother hasn't already stolen it first).

### Misaki Mori

A member of a rival phantom thief group and Yukinari's type. While she's wholly oblivious, he thinks she's cute and gets incredibly nervous talking to her. This usually earns him teasing from other people and a warning from Rintarou. She (indirectly and unknowingly) completely rejects him as a potential love interest in Chapter 4.

## Trivia

* Yukinari has a long list of things he's afraid of, including dogs, dark places, small spaces, and high places.
* His younger sister once walked in on him and Tomoya practicing how to get out of handcuffs, and it's implied that she mistook it for them doing something else.