I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

[Amamiya: This morning, when Yukino left, she specifically asked me to apologize to Yuriko on behalf of Team Fox... Did something unpleasant happen between Yukino, Team Fox, and Yuriko?]

Yukino quickly responded with a voice message.

[Yukino: Hmm... I think it's okay to say it like this.]

[Yukino: Didn't Yuriko tell Sensei?]

[Yukino: Perhaps it's because... she was too disappointed with SRT and the Fox Squad's performance.]

Through Yukino's incredibly fast voice messages, Amamiya learns about some of Yuriko's past.

— Long before she joined the Engineering Department after the turn of the millennium, Yuriko was a student at SRT.

The relationship between him and the members of the Fox Squad is probably that of a 'senior and junior'.

This was something Amamiya had learned from Yuriko during their previous interactions.

But perhaps due to some concerns, Yuriko was unwilling to elaborate.

According to Yukino's description, Amamiya learned that before officially transitioning to the millennium, Yuriko in SRT had 'worked' with the Fox Squad for a period of time.

In fact, Yuriko was the fifth member of the Fox Squad at the time, codenamed "Fox5".

But it's a case of "good times don't last long."

Seemingly feeling that a simple voice message couldn't express the complex emotions in her heart, Yukino made a video call after speaking for a while.

After Amamiya received the call, accompanied by the holographic projection of the Shittei no Hako, a fox-eared girl dressed in a JK-style casual outfit appeared in what seemed to be a private room, maintaining a slightly apprehensive but mostly warm smile.

After a brief moment of tension, Yukino in the holographic image quickly organized her thoughts and briefly described the interactions between the Fox Squad and Yuriko in the recent period.

“Sensei, now you should know... back then, the absurd order to ‘attack the Federation Student Council’…”

“It was assigned by Huaye.”

"What's even more 'absurd' is that... as the team leader at the time, I saw Hanaya as 'the key to rebuilding SRT,' and I even led the team to carry out that order."

"Before carrying out the attack, I went to see Yuriko and invited her to join the SRT reconstruction operation..."

At this point, Yukino couldn't help but laugh at how stupid she had been, being used by Hanaya time and time again.

"After I extended an invitation to Yuriko... she kicked me out immediately."

Yukino's words made Amamiya understand.

Now I know why she apologized to Yuriko after she 'came to her senses'.

At that time, Yukino was almost a machine that didn't think proactively and only 'completed tasks'.

With only a few thoughts... I even considered dragging my former teammates down with me.

That's really strange...

"So, if possible, please apologize to Yuriko on my behalf..."

"After all, I did something so stupid. I don't expect her to forgive me, but I do want her to see my sincerity and stance now."

"As long as... she knows that our Fox Squad is now on Sensei's side."

Can understand.

After all, even if Yukino has 'repented,' Yuriko doesn't know it yet.

If the information from both sides doesn't match up, leading to some strange misunderstanding, it will be too late to fix it.

After concluding her negotiations with Yukino with gentle encouragement, Amamiya decided on her evening plans.

—To avoid a situation where “information is not matched and a strange misunderstanding occurs,” Amamiya felt that it would be better to inform Yuriko about the Fox Squad’s “repentance” as soon as possible.

[Amamiya: Where is Yuriko now?]

[Yuriko:? 】

[Yuriko: Sensei, is there something you need from me?]

[Yuriko: I'm currently preparing for the Akawa Grand Festival.]

【尔玲兒〒（二.）意陕磷b?{ a百合子：[股份有限公司]Sensei If you're in a hurry, you can come here to find me.】

I casually clicked on the coordinates Yuriko sent, and the electronic map that automatically opened located me to the nearest airport to the stadium in the Millennium Autonomous Region. Amamiya thought to herself, 'Just as I expected.'

When it comes to preparations for the Akawa Grand Festival... students from all over the country are mobilized.

Speaking of which... the Rabbit Squad is currently using the excuse of 'maintaining security for the Grand Games' to stay temporarily over there in the Millennium...

After learning that Yuriko was a 'senior' of the Fox Squad, Amamiya became increasingly curious about her views on the Rabbit Squad.

Yuriko should have firsthand information about the Rabbit Squad's situation.

From a senior's perspective, how does she view these 'little rabbits'?

Let's go take a look at the place that has a thousand-year history.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The foxes of Kivotos are all cunning and ruthless.

Following the coordinates given by Yuriko and the navigation of the electronic map, Amamiya headed towards the airport of the ancient autonomous region, which was gradually being shrouded in night.

The self-governed area, home to the Millennium Science and Technology Park, has always emphasized the balance between environment and technology, from small street corner greenery to large buildings and the selection of venues for conferences.

Arriving at a scenic lakeside near the airport, where one could see the bustling city lights across the sea, Amamiya didn't immediately see the fox-eared girl who sent the coordinates. Instead, she noticed... a fantastical spectacle of constantly changing lights in the night sky, created by a swarm of glowing drones.

What makes it so fantastical is that the drones, flashing different lights in the darkness, create a delightful spectacle that complements the starry sky above, the lakeside in front of you, and even the fresh scent of rain that you can smell with just a sniff.

'Is this... preparation for something like a drone show for the millennium?'

Arriving at the lakeside, Amamiya, whose attention was temporarily drawn to the drone swarm performance, stroked his chin and wondered what Yuriko was doing here so late at night.

These drones, flying in the night sky, occasionally change their light effects and patterns to form a thousand-year-old logo, or other banners that are probably designed by the "Publicity Department".

Amamiya waited for a while and noticed that the changes in these patterns were very regular.

This 'pattern' continued until... the pattern that was supposed to rotate into the club's logo did not become a logo as the pattern suggested, but instead formed a sentence.

"The night view in the suburbs is beautiful. If you can find a quiet viewpoint to relax at this time, it should be a kind of... unique 'pleasure' even in the context of a thousand years ago."

As Amamiya read those words aloud, the girl's gentle voice, slightly cool due to its blending into the night, rang out behind her: "Good evening, Sensei. Welcome to observe the drone opening ceremony performance, which was specially prepared in advance."

Amamiya turned to the side at the sound and looked at the fox-eared girl who had just pushed her goggles up to the top of her head. The tip of her white tail reflected the RGB lights, giving her a cyberpunk vibe.

"It really is just a prelude to the opening ceremony."

Amamiya was slightly surprised. He followed the girl to her side before looking at the night sky in the distance.

"But isn't the Akawa Grand Festival opening during the day? Shouldn't such a 'drone swarm performance' be more effective at dusk or dawn?"

【~??~】

“Sensei is right.”

Yuriko pressed a button near her headset and replied in a gentle, unhurried tone, "Actually, regarding the 'drone show'... there are still many inconveniences, or other projects that Sensei had already rehearsed before coming."

"For example, the classic colored smoke flight... There was originally an idea to have Albatross as the lead aircraft for the performance, but Albatross disagreed, so the plan is currently being revised."

Amamiya: "..."

Would albatrosses lead a flight trail of smoke? That would be so interesting.

Amamiya couldn't imagine such a scene at all, and shook her head slightly with a forced smile.

Following Yuriko's command to recall them, the drones that had been roaming the night were systematically retrieved.

The once bustling night sky quickly returned to silence.

Noticing that Amamiya's attention was focused on the drone swarm, Yuriko remained silent, waiting for all the drones to be retrieved.

"Sensei came to see me, there must be something else going on, right?"

"It's about the Fox Squad."

When the 'Fox Squad' was mentioned, Yuriko's expression changed slightly for a moment.

"Oh. Sensei recently started contacting the Fox Squad, and encountered difficulties? Or has something changed that requires my intervention?"

Amamiya shook his head.

As he walked back to the temporary 'drone swarm control site' nearby with Yuriko, he explained the 'cause and effect' of the matter to her.

Yuriko, who had been listening attentively with her eyes lowered the whole time, only let out a thoughtful "oh" after Amamiya recounted the recent changes in the Fox Squad... or more accurately, Yukino alone.

"Oh……"

"In other words, Yukino...senpai, after Sensei pointed out that her belief was wrong, she experienced a system crash and reboot, as well as subsequent self-vulnerability repair..."

"Now, she's been 'repentant' by Sensei. So she wants to apologize to me, and also wants to convey a message through you—'The Fox Squad is on Sensei's side, and the reason they're still working for Hanaya is because now is not the time to betray them'?"

After summarizing all the strange stories she had heard along the way, even the usually composed Yuriko felt a sense of awe.

Yukino's personality change overnight... honestly, can only be described as "being reformed".

The omnics have awakened?

Or did the sun rise in the west?

Noticing Yuriko's adorable micro-expression—calm yet subtly surprised—Amamiya casually asked, "What does Yuriko think of Yukino's apology?"

"I don't watch it much," Yuriko replied without hesitation. "Actually, I wasn't angry at the time."

"The main reason is that I feel... there's no need to hold a grudge against the 'human-machine senior.'"

"Getting angry at a program that only outputs and executes commands, and receives no response to any internal injection or output... that's not anger, that's impotent rage."

Amamiya: "..."

That's really... sharp.

He looked over unexpectedly and met the girl's open and honest gaze.

Despite Amamiya's increasingly suspicious gaze, Yuriko maintained a calm demeanor with little apparent emotional change.

"Yuriko, you don't seem like you're not angry at all..."

"Is that so?" Yuriko's fox ears twitched. "The reason Sensi thinks I'm 'angry' is probably because Sensi has never seen me truly angry."

Having learned Yuriko's opinion on the current Fox Squad, Amamiya refrained from asking any tactless questions like "Do you plan to go back?"

"Do you know anything about the members of the Rabbit Squad? From a senior's perspective... what do you think of them?"

Unlike her previous quick and unthinking answers, Yuriko pondered this question seriously for a while this time.

“Those ‘little rabbits’,” Yuriko said slowly as she recalled, “…fortunately, Sensei, you stopped them and prevented them from following the same path as the Fox team.”

"It's hard to judge from a personal perspective, but if we only look at it from the perspective of the seniors... they are juniors with 'potential'."

"He's the squad leader..."

Yuriko hesitated for a few seconds before finally speaking up: "...I see Yukino's shadow in her."

"It is recommended that Sensei give them 'special attention'."

Although it's not as aggressive, it's still quite sharp.

"As expected of Yuriko, she truly embodies the spirit of a 'senior' in this regard."

【~??~】

Yuriko smiled but didn't reply.

"I'm a little overwhelmed with organizing the drone equipment by myself... Can Sensei help me out?"

"After this matter is over, may I touch Yuriko's tail?"

Just as she was about to turn and leave, Yuriko, who was leading Amamiya to the drone recycling point, stopped by a street lamp. Under the bright, cool light, she slowly turned her head and gave Amamiya a flirtatious, 'charming yet helpless' eye roll.

“A person who tries to negotiate with students before even starting to help is no good person.”

Even as she said that, the speed at which her big fox tail swayed had clearly slowed down.

Despite Yuriko's glare, Amamiya brazenly replied earnestly, "But I am a good phantom thief."

【~???~】

"Oh yes……"

Yuriko feigned sudden realization, as if she had just remembered something: "Sensei is a phantom thief... so negotiating, making demands, and trading have become second nature to him?"

"After all, there was a prior agreement that you could touch their ears and tail anytime... Sensei, please proceed."