I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Yuka didn't let go, but stared at Ako and Mary with an unusually vigilant look.

"...?"

Ako stepped forward and calmly requested, "Please let go, Yuka-san."

Mary also displayed a solemnity that was unusual for her, unlike her usual pure and sacred demeanor.

It felt strangely abrupt, like a nun who was supposed to be praying and healing suddenly picking up a cross and transforming into a fighting nun, but it was strangely captivating.

"Please, Yuka-san... give Sensei back to us."

Amamiya, who stopped following Yuka's movements, carefully observed Ako and Marina's different reactions.

"oh oh……!!!"

Shion's excitement clearly reached a new level.

"An unexpected 'special change' has occurred?!"

"After 'borrowing' her item, Yuka was stopped by both Iromari and Ayako?!"

"They clearly came for Sensei..."

How will things unfold?!

"This is getting more and more interesting..."

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Race of Borrowing Objects (Part Two) - Love Cannot Be Lowered, But It Cannot Be Beaten by Perseverance - Tears

Murphy's Law tells you when you think things can't get any worse.

What does it mean when 'the dark clouds suddenly turn into thunder, swallowing your resolve'?

"Hey, Hayase Yuka... It's time to stop hogging Sensei all the time. Hand Sensei over to me (us)!"

Faced with Ako's rebuke and aggressive aura, Yuka did not respond with a "If you want it, come and take it yourself" kind of response.

With a flicker in her eyes, the purple-haired girl subconsciously clenched the adult's palm, which intertwined with her fingers and gave her safety and warmth.

Considering the pros and cons... Yuka can compromise on many things. But there are some things that she absolutely cannot back down on or compromise on.

In Yuka's view, "everything about Sensei" falls into the category of something that is absolutely non-negotiable.

Yuka didn't know what Mary and Ayako's 'borrowed keywords' were, but a bad feeling told her that she had to 'get rid of' Ayako and Mary.

"Sensei..."

Taking a deep breath, Yuka didn't respond to Ako and Mary's gazes, but instead turned to Amamiya, casting a warm, passionate, yet unwavering look in her eyes.

"It's time to start... 'escape'."

Amamiya was happy to cooperate with Yuka in such a 'special' and very romantic atmosphere, and answered without thinking.

"I will accompany Yuka all the way to the end."

Only then did the airship's broadcasting equipment suddenly broadcast Shion and Mai's long-paused commentary, filled with amazement and envy.

"Oh my god... the millennium-old Hayase Yuka suddenly said something that sounds like a confession?! This... this... is this something I can hear for free?!"

"Sensei's response... oh... that's wonderful! Sensei's response was so gentle and firm! Although she didn't use keywords like 'forever,' forever is such an unrealistic and vague term, so Sensei's promise sounds even more reliable now...!"

"I'm so envious of Yuka... oh wait, no."

"So... Yuka is taking Sensei... and starting to 'run away'?!"

Feeling the pull from her arm, Amamiya ran after Yuka without hesitation.

He didn't deliberately try to take the lead, nor did he run alongside Yuka. Instead, he maintained a perfect distance, running half a step behind Yuka, keeping a romantic feeling because of the close proximity.

"Oh... Yuka is sprinting with Sensei! Even the way they run is so romantic! Could it be... that Yuka's target for borrowing things is really 'the person she likes'?!"

"Has the insurmountable curse of the 'borrowing race' keyword in the history of the Akawa Grand Festival been broken at this moment?!"

"Difficult...difficult...could it be...a 'couple'...no, it should be 'in love'?!"

"Will this kind of relationship... be born in this special competition?!"

The sky was overcast, and although it wasn't quite thunderous yet, the constantly gathering dark clouds gave the students watching in the stadium a sense of unease.

However, the current pace of development, where everything is being built at an incredibly fast pace, makes it difficult for them to pay attention to the sky above them.

Yuka remained silent, gritting her teeth as she sprinted towards the finish line with all her might.

Although the keyword for borrowing items wasn't 'someone I like'...

But it doesn't really matter.

Run, Yuka, run...!

Faster...faster!

The passion of this moment, the emotions of this moment...

In this way, they can vent all their frustrations at once!

"Love" is an identity constructed from two inequalities...

Decompose sadness and anger into factors!

Then... let them become part of the system that supports the operation of the identity...

The heart was beating wildly fast, and the pent-up emotions in the chest were something that had been suppressed all along. It didn't need to be released by screaming, but rather needed to be repeatedly calculated using emotional formulas.

Amamiya was genuinely surprised to notice that Yuka's expression had become surprisingly calm while she was running.

It seems that even when emotions erupt, Yuka is more 'latent'.

"Oh...we see that Ako and Mary's attempts to stop her haven't had any effect on Yuka's movements at all..."

"A girl with long hair flowing, holding the hand of her beloved, runs for her love"—that's a very special kind of romance, isn't it...?

Following closely behind Yuka's pace, Amamiya glanced in the direction of the studio.

Shion and Mai, aren't you afraid of being 'punished later'?

The moment his figure intersected with Mary and Ako, Amamiya sensed a subtle sense of danger.

Taking a quick glance back, Amamiya raised an eyebrow.

Having failed to physically block her, Ayako drew her pistol and fired a shot at the ground beside her.

—Although it was obvious that the shot was not intended to harm anyone, the sudden sound of the gunshot still slightly distracted Yuka.

Taking advantage of Yuka slowing down, Ako sped up to catch up and then grabbed Amamiya's other hand.

"Oh? Ako distracted Yuka by firing a gun as a show of force, and in doing so, managed to stop Yuka in one fell swoop!"

"Did this 'romantic marathon of love' ultimately fail...? Is this also a case of 'love succumbing to the tears of perseverance'?"

Why did you say that in such a relieved tone, like "thankfully it didn't happen"?

With Ayako pulling her like that, Yuka could no longer run and had no choice but to stop.

Amidst Shion and Mai's back-and-forth banter, Yuka turned around and looked at Mary, who was following closely behind. After hesitating for a moment about whether to follow Ako's example, she ultimately tried to grab Amamiya's arm.

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere clearly fell into a brief stalemate.

After a brief standoff, Ako's expression softened slightly, and she spoke with a strange sense of embarrassment: "My 'borrowed keyword' is also Sensei."

"Me too..."

Mary, already panting slightly, immediately joined in the running.

Spurred by her competitive spirit, Yuka refused to back down: "No matter what...Sensei, I can't give up..."

The main theme of the Akawa Daisai is peace and justice, to set aside direct conflict as much as possible, and to determine the winner through sports.

In this situation... the fact that Ako could pull out a weapon, fire a gun as a show of force, and distract Yuka is already an exceptional case among exceptional cases.

Even with the special rule that "if irreconcilable conflicts arise during the borrowed item race, ownership can be determined through light-fire confrontations," the participating students would never use this "special rule" now that Amamiya is still alive.

"The stalemate continues!"

"I didn't expect everyone's borrowing keyword to be Sensei?! In this situation, how do we judge it..."

With Shion and Mai taking turns giving increasingly excited commentary, Noah, who had previously acted as the referee, reappeared.

"Given this special situation, the next step is to see how the referee interprets the 'borrowing keywords'."

With a peculiar posture of 'neither of them willing to let go,' the girls slowly and deliberately began to move, holding onto Amamiya.

Noah, acting as the referee, clapped his hands, signaling, "Now... everyone, please hand me the slips of paper with the keywords for borrowing items written on them!"

Without hesitation, Yuka handed over the wet and deformed note she had been clutching, despite Noah's strange teasing and envious gaze.

"Hmm~ So this is the keyword that Yuka-chan drew..."

"Oh... Yuka-chan, so that's how you see Sensei..."

Noah's expression, which easily aroused curiosity, made Yuka, who had been 'unfazed' before, blush now.

"W-what?"

"The question isn't something you can judge subjectively... Let's confirm it quickly, shall we?"

"Whoosh..."

Noah chuckled again, his expression ambiguous.

"The question content is not correct. Hayase Yuka is the first place contestant."

Yuka jumped up excitedly, genuinely happy that the plan to "kill two birds with one stone"—that "Millennium Technology Academy won the key event" and "achieved her own goal"—had succeeded.

Regarding 'borrowing keywords'...

"No, Yuka-chan. Saying it out loud would break the rules—even though Yuka-chan has already finished the competition, it's still not allowed."

"After all... guessing the contestants' 'keywords for borrowing objects' is also a key point in the borrowing object race."

“But…” Yuka hesitated slightly, “the students’ misunderstandings…”

Noah immediately gave a smile that resembled a maternal aunt's smile: "Hehe..."

Yuka-chan... that wasn't a misunderstanding at all, was it?

It was already a 'established fact' in private...

With a polite 'smirk,' the white-haired literary girl still used an exceptionally serious and solemn tone to thwart Yuuka's attempt to explain: "No means no."

Yuka: "..."

'So this is another side to ruthless calculation...'

'She didn't ask for further clarification... does that mean she's admitting it?!'

'Have students this bold all the time?'

'Even more daring than Ghenna's students?!'

'The students of Trinity feel ashamed of their own inferiority...'

'If I were in her position right now, I definitely wouldn't be able to shamelessly condone everyone's gossip...'

'Huh? I didn't expect a Trinity student to be...'

'If it were me, I would definitely take this opportunity to announce to the whole world that I love Sensei!'

'...'

Stop daydreaming, sister.

The "exciting" discussions of the students around her reached her ears, and Yuka felt so heavy that she couldn't even lift her head.

She didn't know whether to describe the feeling in her heart as sweet or something else. Despite her shyness, Yuka still didn't let go of Amamiya's hand.

"Alright... Next up is Gehenna's Amami Ayako, and Trinity's Ilomari..."

Noah took the note from Ayako's hand, unfolded it, glanced at it, and was clearly stunned. Then he looked at Ayako with a surprised expression.

"...Is everything alright?"

Yako forced herself to maintain a calm demeanor and asked in as little as possible.