I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"First come, first served."

"Ugh...! They actually seized the initiative when Alice wasn't on guard, Green, how despicable!"

"Hehehe... Alice, don't blame me for being despicable. The Sensei conflict is just like this."

"First come, first served. Only the strong who seize the opportunity deserve this 'best spot'..."

This noisy argument, centered around himself, started at the beginning of the game and continued until Kai called for dinner.

As the victor in this conflict, the blonde girl sitting in his lap narrowed her eyes, naturally revealing a contemptuous smile of a victor.

Putting down the portable operating device in her hand, she did not leave Amamiya's embrace. Instead, she lazily stretched and then leaned back slightly, lying in Amamiya's arms. Her emerald green eyes held a charm that did not match her figure, yet was already beginning to take shape.

"I'm a little sleepy..."

"Since Sensei will be staying here tonight... should we prepare a makeshift bed for everyone to sleep on together..."

Amamiya stroked the back of the girl's head, without answering her metaphorical suggestion.

Although Little Green was the victor in this 'mini-war,' she was not the true winner.

The moment the white-haired girl with an apron and a high ponytail carrying dinner walked out of the kitchen was the moment when the outcome was truly decided.

Amamiya supported Midori's waist and put her down from her arms, then naturally got up to help Kai share the unnecessary pressure brought by the 'pots and pans'.

As Amamiya approached Kai and was about to take some of the cutlery from her, she suddenly heard Kai's barely audible voice.

'Sensei...'

"Wait... could you spare a little time?"

Chapter 57: Watching this episode as a child stirred up extraneous emotions within me.

"It's all your fault, Sensei."

"You and I should never have met."

"Because of you, I have developed extra feelings in my heart."

When Amamiya pushed open the rooftop door, the first thing she felt was the tranquil summer night before her and the dazzling stars overhead.

Whether it's the city lights shining under the night sky right in front of her, or the distant, shadowy clusters of cities of varying heights that are hard to see, both can add a special kind of 'foreground' beauty to the lone girl leaning against the rooftop.

Amamiya really didn't expect... that the white-haired girl who had invited him to the rooftop of the game development club's activity room, leaning on the railing and bathed in the moonlight and evening breeze, would start with such a 'complaint'.

After a slight pause in pushing the door open, Amamiya finally opened the door leading from the stairwell to the rooftop and went up to the rooftop.

"It seems that the main reason Kai called me to the rooftop at this time was... to vent his emotions?"

After gently closing the door and confirming that it was locked, Amamiya naturally walked to the side of the white-haired girl, leaning against the railing and turning his head to look at her profile.

Kay wasn't wearing glasses, which served many purposes such as 'softening a sharp aura,' 'adding a gentle feeling,' and 'slightly showing maturity and intellect.' Her white hair flowed freely, and her spirits were bright—although she seemed to be complaining, there wasn't a trace of real 'resentment.'

Instead, it carries a very subtle balance and struggle.

"yes……"

After a few seconds of silence, the girl spoke through gritted teeth, "I called you here to vent my emotions..."

"Or rather... to vent 'excessive emotions' in one's heart."

Amamiya remained leaning against the railing, looking up at the sky.

"So how does Kai plan to 'vent'?"

Kai didn't reply immediately. Instead, he braced himself against the railing with both hands and pushed slightly to steady himself. Then, he turned and moved sideways to stand in front of Amamiya, looking up to meet her gaze directly.

Amamiya neither dodged nor backed down, but simply gave him a calm and gentle look.

"..."

"..."

After staring at each other for exactly fifteen seconds, Kai gritted his teeth, clenched his fist slightly, closed his eyes, and made up his mind.

Then... she bumped directly into Amamiya's arms without saying a word, but hugged Amamiya tightly, her movements becoming increasingly awkward and unnatural.

“This kind of ‘surprise attack’ is a little dangerous, Kay.”

After a moment of surprise, Amamiya calmly put his arms around the girl's shoulders and hugged her.

Kai remained silent, only burying and rubbing against her repeatedly.

Amamiya chuckled, maintaining her embrace and silently enduring her girlfriend Kai's spoiled and venting behavior.

"..."

After venting, Kai didn't let go. Instead, he held the hugging position, tilted his head back, and looked at Kai with an unexpectedly complicated expression.

“Sensei, do you know?”

"After you helped me resolve the question of whether I am the princess's subordinate AI or an individual, the first thing I need to consider... is a question about you."

Gather your emotions, then release them quickly...

Previously, as an AI, even after gaining a body and enlightenment from intelligent life, Kay still acted in such 'simple and efficient' ways in some unexpected little things.

"Oh..." Amamiya asked cooperatively, "What's the problem?"

"...Of course, it's the relationship between me and Sensei, the princess and Sensei... and the relationship between me and the princess."

Kay puffed out her cheeks slightly due to a minor emotional outburst, her expression neither clearly angry nor resigned.

"The princess's feelings for Sensei... I, who am of one mind with the princess, can clearly feel them."

Unlike algorithmic frameworks and ordinary data storage, 'data redundancy' accumulates almost every moment.

"When I existed as an appendage of the princess, I..."

"I feel disgusted and even averse to these 'emotional parameters' generated by the princess."

Amamiya ran her index finger across Kai's eyelashes, subtly wiping away the tears that were about to spill.

"But now it seems... the princess's feelings for Sensei are very pure, but it is precisely because they are pure that they are so precious."

According to the princess, "The highest-grade limited-edition recovery potions are so rare that they are often kept until the game's ending and are never used until the game is 100% complete."

"That won't work."

"Once a player has reached 100% completion, all items in the game become meaningless to them."

"Therefore... in my opinion, these emotions that the princess has been keeping hidden should not be kept hidden. Instead... they should be expressed in a timely manner."

“Any tangible or abstract object, if not used when it is needed, will have no meaning to its existence.”

Alice and Kay have completely different understandings of 'emotion'...

In addition...

Is Kai worried about the possibility of players quitting the game and therefore he's considering leaving Kiwatos?

Amamiya could sense the underlying meaning in Kai's words, so he chose to remain silent for the time being and let Kai finish speaking.

At this point, rushing to prove something, making promises like "I will never leave" would only make things more obvious.

Amamiya's guiding principle has always been "First and foremost, never say never."

How many of those so-called promises of "I will always be with you," "I will always like you," and "I will always love you" can actually be kept?

What level of awareness did the person who said this have when they uttered it?

Don't say things you can't do.

Amamiya doesn't like to say "forever," but she also doesn't want to make a so-called "silent companionship is the longest confession" statement.

Silence itself is a betrayal, a retreat.

"so……"

Kay paused for a moment, his words becoming more complex and difficult to understand.

"The princess's accumulating feelings for Sensei caused me, who had not yet obtained a body at the time, to feel confused and fearful."

"Because I knew at the time..."

Amamiya then picked up the conversation, continuing along Kai's lines: "For a princess who is almost eternal... are the princess's companions, or even me, an 'ordinary person,' all too fleeting?"

Kay nodded.

The fairy tale that "the prince and princess lived happily ever after" is itself a strange false proposition.

An impossible fantasy.

After making eye contact with Kai, Amamiya reached out and pinched her cheek, which had a delicate, baby-like texture from her 'birth'.

"You've...changed your mind now?"

"Hmm... it's not just because of the abilities Sensei has shown, but also because of... everything Sensei made me feel."

"...I changed my mind, so I understand even less about my relationship with Sensei."

“I can empathize with the princess and experience with her the feeling of gradually building up emotions. But in your eyes, I am a completely different individual…”

"I……"

At this point, Kai pursed his lips, pondering for a long time before finding a more appropriate description.

"Like a... shameless emotional thief."

"A despicable act of unilaterally stealing the affection the princess has built with you. And yet you want to occupy a place in your heart that belongs only to you. I..."

Due to his emotional state, Kay gradually became incoherent.

"I...I feel like I'm despicable, very..."

Amamiya interrupted Kai's impulsive emotional expression, which was interspersed with physical gestures, with a single sentence: "So... what does Kai plan to do?"

"Eh?"

"I……"

Kay lowered his head, bewildered.

This peculiar 'triangular relationship' problem is difficult for both AI's logical algorithms and human thinking to understand and handle.

Amamiya twirled a strand of Kai's hair with her index finger and said leisurely, "Kai called me here at this time..."

"It's not because 'you want an answer from me,' but because 'you already have an answer,' right?"

Kay was speechless for a moment.

This is true.

However… the 'answer' she came up with was even more 'selfish' and more 'despicable'.

"I want to... be with Sensei, completely behind the Princess's back..."

"Like... like this now?"

After a brief period of embarrassment and struggle, Kay's attitude gradually turned into a "what's the use of it all" attitude.

“I am no longer an appendage of the princess, but a ‘special’ individual… Therefore, emotionally, I also want… to be distinguished from the princess.”

"This way... it's also good to further deepen our relationship with Sensei."

After saying that, Kai looked nervously at Amamiya, waiting for her reply.

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

Instead of giving a clear-cut answer right or wrong immediately, Amamiya countered with, "Is this the answer Kai himself got?"

"Ah."

Amamiya ruffled Kai's hair, her words full of teasing: "That Kai is really greedy."

"However, it's possible."

"...Sensei?"

Faced with Kai's questioning, surprised, and unexpected gaze, Amamiya simply smiled and shook his head: "The 'Phantom Thief of Hearts' does indeed steal desires... but desires also have distinct distinctions."

"Desire is complex and special... a 'special existence' that only intelligent life can possess. There is the basic desire to 'survive,' as well as the advanced desire to 'live a better life'... and even the exaggerated desire to 'rule the world.'"