Kou Niimura (Thief)

## Kou Niimura

* School Outfit
* Thief Outfit

**Kou Niimura** in *Phantom Wolf*. He attends Wolf High School (狼高校 lit. *Ookami Koukou*) and is both captain of the Boys Kendama Club and leader of phantom thief group Masque de Wolf (マスク・ド・ウルフ lit. *masuku do urufu*).

## Background

The founder of Masque de Wolf and the one that came up with the Boys Kendama Club as a cover-up for the group. He has a strong inclination towards making as much money as he can and is very adamant about the group not working for free. He owns a cat named Mint that he adores.

As the team leader, he's the most rational and level-headed member a majority of the time. Unless he's dealing with Ritsu or Rintarou, it's incredibly rare for him to engage in pointless banter. It's equally rare for him to let his emotions affect his rationale, and he has the final say in what actions the team takes. He is also held up as the most intelligent member, though his social intelligence can sometimes be lacking. Despite being standoffish most of the time, he genuinely cares about his team and is aware of the people around him.

His primary role on the team is as an information gatherer and, when the situation allows or demands it, a hacker. As he's always up-to-date and well-informed, it isn't uncommon for him to take preliminary steps that might give him leverage later on. Among the phantom thieves associated with Phantom Wolf, his ability to hack into security systems is unique, and he's overall skilled enough to accomplish missions on his own (and does). He's aware of his team members' individual capabilities and makes decisions accordingly.

## Relationships

### Yuuto Rurikawa

He often doesn't entertain Yuuto's hero-worship of him, but will use it to his advantage given the opportunity. While he isn't one to pursue pointless endeavors, he has a tendency to give in to going along with Yuuto's requests with enough coaxing. When gathering information, he'll rely on Yuuto's extensive information network and research abilities if the need arises.

He plays games with Yuuto three times a week as part of the contract he made to get him to join.

### Tomoya Aizawa

He and Tomoya have a level of mutual respect for each other. Though they aren't particularly close, he's expressed that he relies on Tomoya (and the others) as much as they rely on him.

### Yukinari Shimotsuki

He frequently scolds Yukinari for his mistakes and general lack of knowledge, but will praise and acknowledge his achievements in equal measure. It's common for him to make Yukinari do menial tasks, whether it's running errands or having him do the legwork during investigations.

### Rintarou Mori

Most times, Rintarou will get on his nerves and they'll end up in a verbal dispute. As he takes their rivalry fairly seriously, and Rintarou is more often than not the one getting the upper hand on his team (read: Yukinari), he openly expresses his dislike of Rintarou and distrusts his friendly attitude. He frequently refers to Rintarou and his sister as "the Mori siblings" (森姉弟 lit. *Mori Kyoudai*) instead of using their group name "Forest Brother".

### Ritsu Kamiki

Like Rintarou, it's common for him to get into a verbal dispute with Ritsu whenever they meet. Many of their conversations involve him criticizing some aspect of her character and her becoming angry and firing back. Rintarou notes that their arguing could actually be a sign that they're good friends, but both he and Ritsu completely reject that notion.

## Trivia

* At one point, the password to his laptop was "mint0222" (the name of his pet + the date for Cat Day in Japan).
* It's implied that he isn't very good at Kendama despite having learned it as a child.
* One of his prized possessions is a secret folder of pictures of his cat.