I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"...Ayane?"

"Phew... It feels so good to be away from everyone's sight and just be with Sensei like this..."

You find yourself getting so deeply involved without even realizing it.

After a soft sigh, the girl, facing the evening breeze blowing through the forest, gave Amamiya an innocent smile with slightly flushed cheeks.

—For some reason, the lighting and the 'bright smile of a girl under the sunset'... gave Amamiya the feeling of being in a visual novel CG trigger.

"Sensei..."

The girl slowed her pace, and her voice gradually became soft and gentle.

"Hmm?" Amamiya slowed down her pace and looked down at the black-haired girl who was almost 20 centimeters shorter than her.

'Calm down Ayane...'

This is a rare opportunity…

Seize this opportunity and pour out your heart in one breath...

"I...I...I..."

The girl, who was trying to calm herself down, stammered involuntarily just before she could speak: "I..."

After trying for a while but still failing to achieve the effect she envisioned, Ayane finally decided to 'give up'.

She raised her voice to a level that she later found shameful, and loudly declared her feelings: "I... like you!!!!"

Amamiya: "?"

Amamiya was quite surprised to hear a 'proactive confession' that she thought she would never hear from Ayane.

After her initial surprise, Amamiya then found it quite amusing—

He truly hadn't expected that Ayane would be the one to confess first.

What he didn't expect was that Ayane's 'confession' was so direct and so traditional—it didn't even have the kind of prelude that Hoshino had done before, which was so direct that he couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

Noticing Amamiya's unusually surprised expression, Ayane, knowing there was no turning back once the arrow was released, disregarded any lingering shame.

With swift and decisive movements, she took out a letter sealed with a heart-shaped wax seal from her handbag, held it with both hands, bowed to Amamiya, and handed it to him with unprecedented respect and admiration.

"I... want to date you!"

Perhaps because she gradually shed her sense of shame, Ayane's words became increasingly steady, even carrying a strange kind of tenacity.

"Ever since you helped us reclaim our own future... I have become more determined to become more mature."

"I……"

"I want to become more mature, I want to be by your side in a special way, I want... to always be with you!"

"I know that compared to my other colleagues on the countermeasures committee, I am very ordinary, very plain, and very inconspicuous..."

"But even so, I still have to say it."

"From now on..."

"Please allow me to accept me..."

Amamiya listened intently to the girl's increasingly incoherent and chaotic explanation.

"Sen, Sensi..." After uttering what she wanted to say in one breath, the girl looked nervously at Amamiya, "Will you... accept me?"

[Here, it seems we should choose our words carefully...]

Amamiya smiled, not answering immediately, but instead teasingly remarking, "How 'traditional and conservative' you are..."

As the girl showed a slight disappointment, Amamiya immediately nodded gently: "But that's precisely why it's so Ayane's personal style."

"Because it was Ayane who said those words, so... I accepted it."

【~???~】(from Ayane)

[They've developed a special relationship...]

There's no going back...

【Ayane Okuzora (Moon) ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆】

[★6 Ability "Full Moon Bath" is now unlocked!]

After the feeling of relief washed over her, the girl couldn't help but smile.

Her gaze was drawn to the twilight, and to the full moon that had hung high in the sky long before dusk.

Following the new moon, a bright and clear full moon gradually rose in her world.

'It seems somewhat unexpected, yet also somewhat expected…'

'Does this mean I'm... a little closer to Sensei?'

Ayane, whose thoughts had just begun to surface, was unaware of—

This sweet feeling that filled her chest and warmed her whole body wouldn't last long.

Chapter 58 Ayane: The episode I hate the Helmet Gang the most!

"Hmm... there's nothing wrong with the power system..."

"Some equipment shows slight signs of aging, but it probably underwent maintenance not long ago, so at least from the energy distribution system, there are no noticeable abnormalities..."

Slightly bending over, the black-haired girl inspected the equipment for a while, then wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, let out a long sigh, and looked at Amamiya, who was checking another piece of equipment.

"Sensei, how's the situation on your end?"

Amamiya finished the inspection and briefly summarized his observations: "The electrical systems here are all safe, there are no problems whatsoever."

"Then, it's time to get started..."

Wearing rubber insulating gloves, Ayane slightly tiptoed, placed her hand on the main switch, and slowly pushed it up.

'Om—'

With a slight beep as the electrical equipment started up, the lights in the room instantly turned on.

The resort island seems to come alive in an instant at dusk.

"In this way, the energy issue can be considered resolved..."

The girl, brimming with a sense of accomplishment, clapped her hands.

She took off her gloves and put them back in the toolbox she had brought. After snapping out of her serious state, she quickly became shy and bashful again.

"So, next, Sensei..."

Without her saying a word, Amamiya already understood her intention—

'There's still more time...could we...maintain this 'world for two' a little longer?'

"It's still early... Now that we've established a relationship, before we go back... let's do something 'intimate'?"

The girl knew perfectly well what Amamiya meant by "intimate things".

Recalling the feeling of being 'whipped in the ear' when she was on duty in Xia Lai last time, Ayane subconsciously felt a series of hot, fine, and slightly tingling sensations coming from the tip of her ear.

Her face flushed red to the roots of her ears, and she nodded shyly, "...Mmm."

Although...

It's not impossible to do something a little more intimate...

But considering the time constraints and the possibility of being discovered by their companions, so...

Lost in her thoughts, the girl approached Amamiya step by step.

'call……'

After the momentary feeling of weightlessness, Ayane experienced for the first time a "special feeling" that was particularly novel to her.

The strong, firm arms of the adult around her waist provided a sense of security that made the girl instantly fall into their arms, while at the same time she couldn't help but think of the "rescue operation" back then.

Back then... when Serika was held in Sensei's arms, did she feel the same way...?

Or, to put it another way, do you want something even more 'exciting'?

"Sensei..."

The girl let out a soft cry.

"Now that we've confirmed our relationship, could we... well... that kind of thing..."

Her gaze darted around, and under Amamiya's feigned confusion, she stammered a few times before finally suppressing her embarrassment and 'reminding' him, "It's... a kiss..."

Amamiya smiled and moved slightly closer to Ayane's cheek, her warm breath brushing against the girl's burning earlobe.

This move made Ayane, whose eyes were already darting around, even more flustered—she even had a fleeting thought of 'struggling'.

"So, is Ayane ready?"

"……Um."

"Let's...let's leave the room and go outside first..."

—Kissing is okay, but… to say that kissing in such a strange place as the control room, and giving away one’s first kiss…

Something doesn't seem quite right, does it?

Rather than losing her first kiss in the control room of the electrical equipment... Ayane felt that it would be more romantic to embrace each other facing the sunset over the forest outside.

Amamiya readily released his embrace from Ayane: "Alright then."

After leaving the control room and locking it, Ayane was about to continue what she had been unable to do earlier when she suddenly noticed several figures loitering in and out of sight among the dense forest out of the corner of her eye—

Ayane paused slightly, adjusted her glasses, frowned, and observed the area with her eyesight, which was almost impossible to see without her glasses, before realizing...

Those figures, appearing and disappearing indistinctly, did not seem to be their familiar companions.

“Sensei…look over there.”

For a moment, Ayane put aside the matter of 'kissing' and gestured for Amamiya to look in a certain direction.

Amamiya then looked over.

As he saw a variety of figures wearing helmets, he simultaneously heard Ayane's words, which were tinged with anger but spoken in a low voice.

"The Helmet Regiment..."

Why did these guys arrive at such an inopportune time...?

Amamiya never expected that she would encounter members of the Helmet Gang three times in such a short period of time.

First, Hoshino confessed his feelings to her, but the confession was interrupted by the Helmet Group.

Then Ayane poured out her heart, but just before they were about to kiss, the Helmet Gang ruined their plans...

In a way, the helmet group is really... unfortunate.

"Let's see what they're planning to do first."

After surveying the terrain, Amamiya looked at Ayane and then gave her a princess carry.

"Ayane-chan, come on, let's use your unique way of moving."

The nickname "Ayane-chan" successfully made the girl blush again.

After feeling slightly embarrassed, Ayane closed her eyes, steeled her resolve, and collapsed into Amamiya's arms.

Amamiya naturally embraced Ayane in a princess carry, and then with a nimble leap, he transformed into a black streak that sped away at high speed.

While activating Raul's ability [Invisible Presence] in mid-air to reduce his own presence, Amamiya, amidst the occasional soft gasps of surprise from the girl in his arms, rose and fell among the tree branches in the forest, quickly landing on a treetop just as the Helmet Group was about to pass.

As Amamiya approached, the whispers of the Helmet Squad members reached Ayane's ears, who was still half-lying in Amamiya's arms, her heart pounding like a deer.

"Boss, they're ridiculously strong... We can't beat them... What are we going to do..."

"Should we just go back like this? Or... find another island?"

The exhausted voices of the helmeted group members, all of whom were injured to varying degrees, successfully provoked the anger of the red-haired girl in charge.

"What...what are you talking about?!"