I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

The languid and nonchalant look in his expression vanished. Despite wearing a swimsuit, the 'killer' aura he exuded completely changed the feeling Hoshino gave Amamiya.

"I'm really not good at delicate work like helicopter maintenance..."

"So, good luck to the younger generation~ I'll take care of the security around the helicopter's landing site."

After saying that, Hoshino picked up his shotgun and headed into the depths of the dense forest.

In terms of safety, there is no need to worry about Hoshino, whose combat power is among the best in the entire Givotos.

The remaining Ayane, Serika, Shirako, and Nomiya exchanged glances, and Nomiya took the initiative to suggest, "Then... shall we split up within the resort and take turns checking the condition of the buildings and the availability of supplies?"

The girls acted in perfect unison.

And Amamiya... is about to begin her own actions.

So... who should we contact first?

Chapter 55 Hoshino: The Angriest Episode

After a brief discussion on the spot, the five girls from Abydos dispersed; some went to check the warehouse, some went to clean the rooms, and others were preparing for resource coordination and planning.

They seemed to have a 'tacit understanding' in leaving Amamiya behind.

Actually it is not.

If Amamiya could learn more about the girls' secret "plan," he would know that... in reality, such behavior was not "coincidental," but rather "premeditated."

Intentionally leaving Amamiya 'left behind' and letting her choose one of the directions to actively seek it out... this was part of the plan.

how so?

That's because...everyone really wants 'private space'.

"Who should I go to..."

After standing there for a moment and thinking it over, Amamiya finally decided to go find Hoshino.

Since starting "senior's training", and after a period of time without seeing each other again, Hoshino's changes are obvious.

She began to show the positive responsibility and awareness of a senior, no longer like before, who, although she seemed to be closely integrated with the other four in Abydos, still maintained a certain distance from them.

After a moment's thought, Amamiya decided to check on Hoshino's recent situation.

Following the rusted and damaged railway tracks, Amamiya walked through the sun-dappled, rustling forest and returned to the vicinity of the 'Abydos crash site' near the beach.

On the beach, Amamiya saw a pink-haired girl standing by the crashed helicopter, gazing at the waves and feeling the salty sea breeze. Her solitary figure gave her a sense of loss.

She seemed to be staring blankly at the sea.

It wasn't until she heard the rustling sound of footsteps approaching from afar that she turned her head to observe the direction of the sound source—and upon realizing it was Amamiya, a complex, strange light flashed in the girl's heterochromatic eyes.

"Sensei..." she waved casually, "I thought you'd go find Shirako and Serika first. Turns out you came to find me instead?"

Amamiya came to Hoshino's side, sat down against a rock on the beach, and then answered 'sincerely': "Because I'm more worried about you than your juniors."

【~???~】

Hoshino paused for a moment, then smiled with relief: "Is that so... Even though I'm supposed to be the senior, I'm the one who gets worried more easily..."

After a soft sigh, she smiled warmly and playfully: "If it were before, I might have just thought you were particularly 'troublesome,' and therefore wouldn't have wanted to get to know you."

"It was after you introduced me to more things... that I gradually came to understand."

"The training of seniors... includes not only caring for juniors... but also experiencing care from even more seniors..."

Hoshino recalled their late-night conversation and the 'senior's back view' he had seen at the Abydos station not long ago.

"In the past, my attitude towards this kind of care was to avoid it, to be annoyed by it..."

As Hoshino spoke, he shifted his feet slightly, attempting to approach Amamiya.

Realizing that Amamiya had not 'rejected' her, she became even bolder and tried to lean back and sit directly on Amamiya's lap.

"...Me now."

As he gently rubbed inwards, Hoshino tried to grab Amamiya's arms and wrap them around himself. His "hehehe" smile gradually took on a tinge of happiness: "I crave it even more..."

"Sensei's, more care..."

If a girl the size of a body pillow were to snuggle in one's arms, the thin fabric of the white lotus leaf swimsuit would be of no use in blocking the gentle breeze carrying the scent of the sea that clung to her body with the sound of the waves.

Slightly cool and slightly bitter, it has no shortage of the 'budding and unripe feeling'.

Amamiya sighed softly, lowered her head slightly, and hugged Hoshino as she met Hoshino's gaze, which was tilted back at a peculiar angle.

"Sensei..."

Her heterochromatic eyes rippled with the waves, and in the salty, damp sea breeze, the girl softly uttered the words she had been preparing for a long time.

"Could you...give me more...care that has 'special meaning'?"

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

here we go again……

Since arriving in Kivotos, Amamiya has received 'confessions' more than once or twice.

—But for Hoshino, this is the second time.

Because during the first 'confession,' he was interrupted at a crucial moment by Shiroko, who suddenly returned.

This is the second time.

Amamiya paused for a moment, just about to answer, when suddenly a deep voice, sounding like it came through a helmet and had the air of a 'tough, arrogant young woman,' rang in his ears: "The crash site... it should be here..."

Amamiya, who was about to answer, suddenly lost all interest in preparing her response and looked in the direction from which the rustling sound was coming—

Through the perspective of the "third eye," Amamiya could see some new green humanoid silhouettes in the distance, as well as a blue humanoid silhouette moving in his direction.

When scouting enemies using the "Third Eye," the enemy's danger level will be indicated by the outline corresponding to the levels: green → blue → yellow → red → red with black smoke.

Green represents 'small fry that can be easily killed', while blue represents something that poses a certain threat.

The 'confession' that Hoshino had been preparing for so long was interrupted, and the cracks in her originally relaxed and happy expression became obvious.

Reluctantly wriggling out of Amamiya's embrace, she immediately glared at the source of the sound—

Before the 'enemies' in the woods had even emerged, Hoshino was the first to spot the gleaming steel helmets on their heads, reflecting the sunlight.

The pink-haired girl, her heart burning with a dark, brooding fire, narrowed her eyes slightly.

'Is it the Helmet Gang again...?'

To be honest... Abydos has a special "connection" with the 'Helmet Troops' in every sense of the word.

When Abydos was in debt, the Kaiser Group, with its ulterior motives, hired members of the Helmet Gang to harass Abydos's campus repeatedly.

After the debt problem was resolved, I went on vacation, only to run into the helmet group again...

It's really... a persistent ghost.

The footsteps gradually stopped, and a group of helmeted soldiers wearing standard steel helmets officially came into Hoshino and Amamiya's view.

Leading the group was a red-haired, red-eyed girl whom Amamiya had met once before.

In the small group of a dozen or so helmeted squad members, whose members were mostly low-level soldiers, only her threat level was marked in blue by the [Third Eye].

It's a 'skilled monster' that poses a certain threat, but there aren't many of them.

Sensing the fierce hostility emanating from Hoshino, he carried a shotgun with bandages wrapped around its handle.

After her gaze lingered on Amamiya and Hoshino for a moment, she seemed to recall the 'painful' experience of being subdued.

"Abydos's... Takanashi Hoshino, and... Charlene's Sensei?"

Her gaze then briefly fell on the half-damaged helicopter behind Amamiya and Hoshino. She seemed to process what she was seeing before exclaiming, "...I see. You're also 'Resort Hunters,' right?"

"That undisguised hostility, and the look in their eyes..."

"You'll understand it immediately once you see it."

Amamiya: "?"

Did she misunderstand something?

Was Hoshino's hostile gaze really because of something like the "resort hunter"?

Also... what is a resort hunter?

Amamiya initially thought this might just be a simple vacation, but now it seems... the mysteries surrounding it are only increasing.

Seeing that the other party did not intend to draw his gun immediately, Hoshino cautiously refrained from taking action, leaving ample opportunity for 'pre-battle negotiations'.

What is a resort hunter?

"...What? Pretending not to know?"

The red-haired girl displayed an emotion somewhere between doubt and disdain, and then she directly raised the shotgun in her hand.

"Never mind... Xia Lai's Sensei, and... Takanashi Hoshino."

"Last time, you had the advantage of numbers and a surprise attack... that's why we lost to you."

"this time……"

She raised her gun and aimed, her tone growing increasingly serious: "We will never fall into your hands again."

Amamiya: "..."

Advantage in numbers?

Amamiya clearly remembered that when the Helmet Gang attacked the Abydos Desert last time, the Helmet Gang had deployed dozens of its members.

On the Abydos side, including Amamiya who didn't directly participate in the battle but only provided off-field command and buffs, there were only six people.

How could she so easily say such nonsense as Amamiya's side winning because of their numerical advantage?

"Sensei..."

Faced with Hoshino's slightly hesitant, but more of an angry, low-pitched question, Amamiya gave a soft "hmm" and took out the Shitei no Hako.

The Helmet Gang is like this; they won't understand human language unless they're taught a lesson first.

After receiving Amamiya's affirmation, Hoshino's demeanor instantly became stern.

With her shotgun slung over her shoulder, a glint of light suddenly ignited in her heterochromatic eyes.

"Then... let's end this battle quickly."

Chapter Fifty-Six: There's no way we can win; I don't understand.

How can one describe what happened next, a battle that was almost instantaneous and executed in one go?

Even without summoning Sophia, Amamiya, watching Hoshino complete this one-man show against a dozen others all by himself, inexplicably thought of a famous line from a certain tokusatsu drama—

"You have absolutely no obligation to face an enemy you can't win against. You should understand that now!"

"There's no way you can win, I don't understand!"

"We have to win..."

The Helmet Crew is not Shining Ultraman Tiga.

But to them, Hoshino was indeed the invincible "Gatanothor".

The pink-haired girl stepped forward with a cold expression. Under the warning of Amamiya's [Ariadne's Line], she slowly dodged the attacks, reloaded her ammunition, and then approached the 'cover' that the Helmet Group had temporarily used to hide.

Raising her "Eye of Horus" is a ruthless close-range shot.

Her heterochromatic eyes, a blend of gold and blue, burned with flames of different colors. Her petite frame and cute swimsuit did nothing to diminish the chilling, sharp, and piercing aura surrounding her at that moment.

Faced with the Helmet Squad members' gazes as if they were looking at a monster, Hoshino simply and indifferently repeated the 'roll call' process.

Every time the Eye of Horus strikes, a member of the helmeted group will inevitably clutch their abdomen or simply curl up and collapse in pain.

"It's no use, we have to retreat..."

Realizing the situation was turning bad, the red-haired girl gritted her teeth and had no choice but to announce an evacuation.

Hoshino did not choose to pursue.

Firstly, because she's wearing a swimsuit, it's not convenient for her to do something like 'chasing' someone.