Yusuke Kitagawa, Outstanding Student Representative

"Eh, are you interested in accepting the award? Then I have no problem with it." Tangze blinked and played dumb.

"Who said I was interested?!" Even through the phone, Tangze could practically see Kaito Kuroba jumping three feet into the air. "Even if it's just an average painting, it's still something I worked hard to make. Are you really going to leave the award sitting there unclaimed?"

"You keep saying you have no interest in the grand prize, but you're actually paying pretty close attention to it..." Tangze raised an eyebrow, finding it rather amusing.

"Just because I'm not entering the industry doesn't mean I know nothing about the art world." Kaito Kuroba rolled his eyes dramatically. "Anyway, I've given you the warning. If you really don't go accept the award, you're not the one who'll look foolish."

Yusuke Kitagawa was a fictional member of the Phantom Thief Troupe fabricated by Tangze. His identity was that of an art student furthering his studies at a vocational school in Haido Town. His parents had died, and he had been raised by the teacher who taught him painting. Later, the Phantom Thief Troupe exposed that teacher for plagiarizing his students' works and even claiming Yusuke Kitagawa's mother's final painting as his own...

That was the character profile Tangze had explained to him in detail.

The premise was novel, the character motivations were complete, and it had plenty of narrative appeal. If Yusuke Kitagawa ever made a name for himself in the art world, this would become the sort of backstory that could pad out countless academic papers on art theory.

Unfortunately, the story had one massive loophole: neither Yusuke Kitagawa nor his teacher actually existed.

By convention, grand prize applications required contestants to list their affiliated institution so the organizers could contact