I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Like... the final preparations before a big exam?

With Azuko by her side, Amamiya entered the training department, a 'large gym,' without any hindrance. In the bright room, where various fitness equipment were arranged in an orderly manner, she saw Sumire sitting on a step, seemingly having just finished a round of training, and drinking a sports drink.

Noticing someone push the door open and enter, the girl, who was about to bring the bottle to her lips, paused, then hurriedly stood up.

"Ah... Sensei!"

"You've finally arrived..."

Sumire became slightly curious after noticing Azuko, who was standing quietly and carefully to the side and behind Amamiya.

"Saori-san didn't come with us this time..."

After a slight sigh of regret at not seeing a 'fair match', Sumire gave a brief self-introduction under Azuko's curious gaze, and then led Amamiya to a training area by the window.

"Sensei, look over there..."

Following Sumire's directions, Amamiya and Akiko noticed that in the corner, the Millennium Students were still using various fitness equipment, jogging, bench pressing, or using dumbbells to train their arm and wrist strength.

Without exception, they were all wearing gymnastics uniforms of the same style that had been around for millennia, in the prime of their youth, doing the most vibrant thing of 'sweating profusely'.

"Thanks to Sensei's 'magical fitness powder'... the students who recently joined the training department have made steady progress."

Sumire, standing to the side, explained with a slightly 'gratified' tone: "Through their persistent training during this period... they have successfully improved from being among the 'weakest in terms of physical strength among the millennium students' to being among the 'excellent in physical strength' category."

That is indeed a significant improvement.

As Amamiya's gaze swept across the area, she noticed an even more interesting phenomenon.

These millennium students, who were already in training, reacted completely differently to the gazes they received—some became even more enthusiastic, while others hastily stopped, waiting nervously and expectantly.

Amamiya approached a white-haired girl with a bob haircut who was doing bench presses. She looked down and carefully observed the girl's body lines, which had become noticeably smoother and more powerful.

"Indeed... the effort is evident."

【~???~】(Millennial Student)

【~??~】(Violet)

Amamiya changed the subject and gently reminded everyone, "However, you should also pay attention to moderation in training and remember to balance work and rest."

'Woo...'

After touring a small area, Amamiya conducted a detailed 'training results assessment' of each of the Millennium students.

"At least through my own efforts, I've achieved my goal of 'restoring my physical strength to the level of a normal student,' which should be quite fulfilling, right?"

'Um! ’

"Training too hard isn't good either, but judging from this, you must have made some friends during training, right?"

Thank you, Sensei!

"Judging from your improvement and the results of your efforts, you should be the hardest working kid in the training department. For you guys... I don't advocate this kind of excessive effort that 'pressures yourself', but your perseverance and 'never backing down' is indeed commendable."

"Let's accept this 'Flying Man Medal,' a symbol of hard work, as a reward for our efforts."

'Huh? Is this for me?!'

'Hehehe...'

"You... I remember you were one of the key members of the 'Kōrin Grand Festival Opposition Association' not long ago, right? Do you still want to 'oppose' it now?"

'（///////）'

'sen, Sensei...'

"Enough with the teasing. Your efforts have yielded just the right results... Well, such effort is enough to deserve this 'Sunflower Brooch'."

'...Thank you.'

After taking out a few aesthetically pleasing and effective accessories from her 'spoils' from the other world and distributing them to the students who had achieved outstanding results, Amamiya returned to Sumire and Akiko's side and clapped her hands at the students of the Millennium.

"Students who didn't receive a 'souvenir' shouldn't be discouraged. In fact... you're only a tiny bit away from meeting my minimum standard for giving out 'souvenirs'."

The Phantom Thief will cherish the "repentance" of everyone in the opposition.

"Now, everyone has achieved their initial goal—'to at least restore their physical strength to a normal level and not hold the team back.'"

Amamiya tilted his head slightly, and his tone became more empathetic, like a speech.

The bond skills he learned from "Uncle Sun" Toranosuke Yoshida while working as a phantom thief in Shibuya, Tokyo—[Impression Manipulation], [Manipulation of People's Hearts], and [Charismatic Speech]—are all in effect at the same time.

"Everyone has achieved their goal and accomplished what they 'wanted to do.'"

"Is there anything else that you'd like to do?"

"If there's something you want to do, once you've figured out if it's right or wrong... then do it with all your might."

"The 'phantom thief' will lurk in the shadows, protecting everyone and preventing them from going astray."

"Although the phantom thief cannot always be with everyone... he will always be watching, protecting, and supporting them from the shadows."

"If we compare all of this to climbing a mountain... then..."

"I will support everyone and look forward to meeting you all again at the mountaintop."

"And that's exactly what I 'want to do.'"

As soon as he finished speaking, Amamiya felt more than a dozen bright eyes looking at him at the same time.

【~???~】(Sumire, Azuko)

【~??~】(Students from a thousand years ago)

Briefly enveloped by an ocean of affection notes, Amamiya waited a moment before removing the "Sun Uncle's" bond skill effect.

Amamiya waved to the students of the Millennium Academy again: "What I mean is—if you have any other hobbies, you don't need to train here in the gym every day anymore."

"But remember, you can't neglect your daily routine."

After receiving a noisy but generally consistent response, the girls went to the changing room to change their clothes.

Before saying goodbye... Amamiya received more than one farewell with hidden meanings, and even strange looks with connotations of ideals and expectations, longing, possessiveness and so on.

After dismissing the former members of the "Akura Grand Festival Opposition Association," who each had their own ideas, Amamiya breathed a sigh of relief.

'That should solve everything, right...?'

Amamiya turned her head and met Sumire's exceptionally intense gaze, earning the girl's heartfelt praise.

"As expected of the coach... his words really got me excited."

"With the coach's encouragement, I feel like I can keep training..."

Amamiya smirked and waved his hand.

You don't have to.

"Also, thank you Sensei for... retaining these new members of the training department."

Trying to persuade them to stay?

When did I try to persuade them to stay?

Amamiya hesitated for a moment, then heard Sumire continue, "With Sensei's encouragement... I feel that although a considerable number of them won't come often, a small portion will definitely become stable members of the training club!"

Amamiya: ...

I wish that were true.

It would be even better if those students who stayed were not scared away by Sumire's 'Spartan' training style.

"Oh...right. Sensei, the training club recently got a rather special member, I think you should get to know him..."

"I've already contacted her, and she should be on her way now."

"If you don't mind the trouble...would you please wait here for a moment?"

Chapter 46 I know a little about baseball

At night, the Millennium Science Academy, bathed in the soft moonlight and shrouded in a starry curtain of light, possesses a uniquely minimalist and sci-fi aesthetic.

In the baseball team's batting practice field, Amamiya, with a baseball bat slung over her shoulder in one hand and lightly tapping her shoulder, stood at the designated batting spot.

"Oh... Coach, want to show off your skills?!"

A black-haired girl with a ponytail stood outside a fine mesh metal fence, her purple eyes gleaming with a strange light.

Amamiya stretched his wrists, trying to recapture the feeling he had when practicing at the Shigenjaya batting practice range.

After trying out a swing of his bat, Amamiya, under Sumire's expectant gaze and Akiko's gentle stare, turned his back to the pitching machine and made a 'ready to hit' gesture.

As the machine started to hum, Amamiya narrowed his eyes slightly, his usual gentle demeanor temporarily masked by the sharp, penetrating power of his third eye.

The most opportune moment, the most precise rhythm.

In the world presented by the Third Eye, Amamiya hits the baseball from the pitching machine with perfect control, without using a single point more than necessary.

The baseball struck the bat with a crisp, pleasant sound, and then the ball, arcing through the air, slammed into the bullseye with a thud.

Immediately afterwards, the "Home Run" symbol appeared on the electronic scoreboard.

"A home run right off the bat?! Truly worthy of the coach—!"

Stretching her body, the girl, slightly sweaty from her workout, bowed slightly and cupped her hands in a megaphone shape, expressing her heartfelt gratitude.

Meanwhile, Azuko, sitting at another table with an energy drink in hand, was not surprised at all by this situation.

After all, Sensei is a phantom thief who fights in another world with the unique style of 'elegance in toying with enemies'...

It is only natural that a true "ace" possesses such keen reflexes and control.

"Home run, home run, and more home run..."

"The coach's reaction speed and physical coordination are incredible."

While Sumire was reflecting on this, Akiko paid a little attention to the 'athletic girl' whom Saori had mentioned before.

Asuka's exploration and curiosity were undisguised, which naturally elicited a reaction from Sumire.

"...?"

Noticing the gaze, Sumire temporarily shifted her attention from the shock of Amamiya's brilliant shot: "What's wrong?"

"Has Saori been here before?"

"I've been here, and I've 'sweated it out' with the coach and me."

Sumire answered without hesitation: "Saori's athletic ability and endurance are among the best I've ever seen outside of Millennium Academy."

The refreshing and straightforward nature of athletic girls is rarely ambiguous and thus rarely leads to speculation.

With her eyes lowered, Akiko tried to imagine, based on Sumire's simple description, a scene of Saori doing bench presses, jogging, and playing baseball with Sensei after being brought to the Millennium Technology Academy.

Speaking of sports...

Does the school hold outings during the autumn/winter season?

If only we could go on a picnic with Sensei and the entire Arios squad in the golden autumn, when the world is bathed in sunshine and the wind is gentle...

If it weren't for the fact that she was still exhausted and couldn't continue to participate in high-intensity exercise... Azuko really wanted to try something like this, 'seemingly meaningless exertion'.

With these thoughts in mind, Akiko turned her gaze to Amamiya at the training ground, temporarily abandoning her intention to 'continue negotiations'.

Seeing that Azuko was tired, Sumire did not disturb her any further and turned her attention to the hitting practice area.

"Wow... the coach has hit 5 batters, and so far only one of them wasn't a home run... that's amazing."

After Amamiya hit another home run at the batting practice range, he made a stop gesture, causing the pitching machine to stop serving.

It seems that the training he did at the hitting practice range, accompanied by Morgana, on 'reaction, strength, explosiveness, and coordination' was not at all rusty.

The reason for 'warming up' at the baseball club's batting practice field was mainly because of the "special member" mentioned by Sumire.

Almost a second after Amamiya stopped, the door to the batting practice area was opened by an orange-haired girl wearing a baseball cap and an oversized baseball uniform.

The girl held the door open with one hand and pressed the brim of her baseball cap with the other. Instead of going in directly, she stood at the doorway, leaning halfway in to observe the training department.

Since only Amamiya was standing in the hitting practice area, the girl who came in naturally turned her gaze to the area after scanning the entire field.

Using the baseball bat as a crutch, he struck a cool pose, but in reality, during his short rest, Amamiya felt new eyes on him.

"It's...Sensei, right?"

Amamiya, who was about to make a 'ready to hit' motion, paused for a moment and turned to look at the girl who had made the sound.