I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Be careful of the burn."

Amamiya took the cup and gave one of the coffee cups to Miyu.

The girl wearing bunny earrings reluctantly accepted the steaming mug, staring blankly at the rising chocolate-colored liquid inside.

After hesitating for a long time, she still tried to stick out her pink little tongue and gently lick it... then her face contorted from the heat.

'Ugh...'

Ye Zhu: "..."

"I told you, be careful, it's hot."

After repeating the sentence earnestly once more, Ye Zhu stopped paying attention to Miyu, who was grimacing and repeatedly sticking out her tongue in an attempt to relieve her pain.

"Sensei..."

After sitting back down at the director's desk, she raised a toast to Amamiya in the distance: "Minors are not allowed to drink alcohol, so I'll use coffee instead to express my gratitude."

"...Thank you for your selfless help to the Valkyrie Police Department."

As he spoke, Ye Zhu let out a long breath, blew on the steaming coffee to cool it down a bit, and then took a small sip.

Amamiya held the coffee cup but didn't drink it.

Although he is indeed a coffee lover, and under the influence of Sakura Sojiro, he has also become quite accomplished in the art of coffee brewing...

But consuming caffeine late at night is definitely not a wise thing to do.

This means that workaholics like Ye Zhu, who still have work to do later, need to "recharge" at this time.

"Of course..."

"Speaking of which, Ye Zhu, what are your plans for dealing with the members of that 'Rabbit Squad'?"

Ye Zhu, slightly energized by the caffeine, no longer had a vacant and listless gaze.

She put down her coffee cup for a moment, glanced at Miyu who was holding a mug with both hands, hesitating whether to continue drinking, and did not answer immediately.

"The current idea is... to detain them for a period of time, and then recommend them to be incorporated into the Valkyrie again."

After a brief pause, Ye Zhu leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and stretched his body slightly.

"However, this is just my personal opinion on how to handle it..."

"This time, the Federal Student Association has different opinions... so, theoretically, we should follow their proposed solution..."

"The damage caused is significant, so the punishment will not be lenient..."

"The worst outcome might be that they will never be able to enroll in any school again."

That would truly be the 'worst'...

They're not even as bad as the delinquent girl gangs that roam around Kiwatos.

Upon hearing this, Amamiya looked at Miyu, whose heart was heavy because of Ye Nagisa's words.

If she hadn't been mindful of the situation, she probably would be curled up in a ball right now, sobbing softly.

"but……"

Ye Zhu changed the subject, raising her voice slightly: "There shouldn't be absolutely no room for negotiation in this matter. Sensei..."

"If you insist on recruiting them, you can actually use Xia Lai's privilege of recruiting students to recruit them directly as a team, as Xia Lai's second special operations team..."

After thinking for a moment, Ye Zhu did not continue.

—It would be 'impolite' to say anything more.

It's better to leave it at that.

Amamiya nodded, and as she stood up, she patted Miyu's head from behind.

The disheartened girl seemed to have found temporary comfort, and her dim eyes were rekindled.

"Miyu, we might not see the team members for a while... Let's go back to Xialai for the night first, and then we can think about other things."

After a long silence, Miyu gave a timid reply with a particularly complex expression.

"……Um."

—Rabbit Park is currently "locked down".

The various equipment and other items in the camp, aside from the completely confiscated essential miscellaneous items... will probably be disposed of by the Valkyrie Public Security Bureau as junk or something similar...

It made no sense for her to return there alone.

In less than a day... they lost their 'place to live'.

Moreover, the culprit who caused him to lose his "place of refuge" was none other than the adult beside him...

But strangely enough, Miyu didn't feel the slightest bit of hatred or resentment.

Because, subconsciously, she felt it was very important to act together with her teammates...

But after listening to almost the entire private conversation between Amamiya and the other three little rabbits, she clearly realized that such an "ideal" was impossible to achieve.

"Resisting the 'atrocities' of the Federal Student Council, SRT Academy was reorganized so that the Rabbit Squad could survive."

Such a thing... is absolutely impossible to do.

If things are inherently unworkable... then no matter how much effort you put in, it's completely meaningless.

If the team members could join Xia Lai...

With complex thoughts swirling in her mind, the girl put down her mug, clutched her sniper rifle wrapped in strips of cloth, and followed Amamiya with hurried, timid steps.

Although the road ahead is still very dark...

But Miyu has a strange feeling that as long as she follows the adult in front of her and chases after his light, she will reach the most correct ending...

Clutching the gun, she quickened her pace, running until she was right next to Amamiya before finally stopping.

Amamiya deliberately slowed down her movements, intentionally maintaining a speed that was just enough for Miyu to keep up.

Maintaining this arrangement, Amamiya led Miyu across the roads surrounding Rabbit Park and onto the Arius Squad's heavy pickup truck, which was parked in the lingering twilight.

The girls in Arios's squad seemed to have been 'waiting for a long time'. Saori, sitting in the driver's seat, took off her baseball cap the moment she heard the back door open, placed it on the dashboard, and then adjusted the rearview mirror.

Through the reflection in the rearview mirror, Amamiya saw Saori, who was wearing a seatbelt and poised to pounce at any moment, with a gentle and relaxed smile that had now become quite natural.

“Sensei…and also, is it Kasumizawa Miyu from SRT Academy? Good evening.”

Saori's greeting was mainly directed at Miyu.

She clearly sees the 'confusion' that Meiyou is exhibiting nowadays.

Before they joined Xia Lai, when they and Arios's team were 'wandering around', they were just as uneasy as Miyu is now.

Faced with Saori's sympathetic greeting, Miyu subconsciously shrank back—Saori's 'cold and ruthless ferocity' during battle left a deep impression on her.

Realizing that she had unintentionally startled the other person, Saori's smile became slightly unnatural.

Seeing this, Misaki, who was sitting in the passenger seat, decisively gave up her plan to greet them, tugged at her mask, and remained silent.

If Saori is already like this, then if she really tries to negotiate, she's even more likely to run into a wall.

Hiyori, sitting in the second row, timidly said "Good evening," and then fell silent.

As the 'meek one' in the team, Hiyori's personality... isn't much better than Miyu's.

Although she can communicate normally, she will deliberately avoid communication most of the time.

Only Azuko greeted them gently and politely, then added, "Try to keep hope and believe in Sensei."

Meiyou remained silent throughout, quietly observing the team's 'family-like' daily routine.

Saori turned on the car stereo and started playing instrumental music called 'natural white noise' as she started driving.

After a few simple and heartwarming exchanges, Arius's team fell silent.

Carefully observing and savoring the beautiful scenery of Arios's team, I gradually felt sleepy as the vehicle moved forward.

Her delicate, petite body gradually lost its balance with the slight swaying of the vehicle and tilted towards Amamiya.

Amamiya shifted slightly at the opportune moment, using his shoulder to let the sleeping Miyu lean against him.

[I sensed that Miyu was gradually lowering her guard...]

Coopation is now unblocked!

【Xiaze Meiyou (Hermit) ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

[★1 Bond Skill "Invisible Presence" is now unlocked!]

The girl, in a light sleep, relaxed her brows and eyes, gently smacked her lips, and then moved closer.

Amamiya took out the summer uniform jacket that she had changed out of earlier from her shoulder bag and draped it over the sleeping girl with one hand.

Goodnight, sweet dreams.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Unflowered, My...Cinderella

The sun still rises as usual.

However... compared to yesterday, Xia Lai today is much more lively than usual.

With her blonde hair tied back in a neat and stylish manner, and her blue irises clear and bright, the 'maid girl' carefully and cautiously observed Miyu, who was sitting in Xia Lai's office because she had nowhere else to go for the time being.

"Sensei..."

After a moment's thought, Shi seemed to remember something and asked, "Do you like... little rabbits?"

Amamiya, who had just picked up a document and was about to review it, paused upon hearing this and looked at Toki with a helpless expression.

You can't just jump to conclusions based on a single instance of me temporarily taking in a 'homeless little rabbit'...

Amamiya did not directly respond to this question, which could have further fueled ambiguity.

But his silence only resulted in Shi's 'intensification'.

"If Sensei likes rabbits..." He darted to Amamiya's desk, slightly bending down to bring his face level with the surface, his hands forming a peace sign above his head, "biong~biong~"

1. Together they stopped feeding and wept. Wu Liuyue and Yu Gong: "..."

"What were you doing at that time?"

"Imitate a rabbit." Shi replied with a cool yet serious expression, "If Sensei likes rabbits, I can imitate them a little bit too."

As he spoke, he made a peace sign with both hands, hooking his index and middle fingers together to resemble rabbit ears—like a rabbit with folded ears.

"...Please praise me immediately."

Amamiya sighed, sensing from the blonde girl's unusually serious expression that she meant, "If Sensei doesn't praise me, don't blame me for taking forceful measures."

"Hmm...very much, Shi Jiulingliu is |熘企把?尔扒y/*ue$-?已=卄's personal style."

【~???~】(time)

For today's young girls, it seems that just receiving verbal praise is enough to make them feel satisfied for most of the day.

She stopped pretending to be a rabbit, stepped back, and folded her hands in front of her, placing them flat above her lower abdomen, adopting the posture of a 'professional maid'.

"Does Sensei prefer coffee, Longjing tea from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, or Trinity black tea?"

Amamiya knew perfectly well that Toki acted this way because outsiders were present, and she was aroused by a desire to assert her dominance.

Before he could speak, the pink-haired girl sitting quietly in another chair immediately raised her hand.

"Haha☆~ Um, for me, black tea is fine~"

After confidently stating her requirements, the pair of white wings adorned with decorations behind her couldn't help but flutter in anticipation.

He paused slightly as he was about to leave.

“As Sensei’s personal maid,” she said calmly, looking at Amamiya, “helping Sensei receive guests is a maid’s duty… I understand.”

Amamiya: "..."

I've already said it when introducing myself to everyone else, do I really need to repeat it again...?

Then she looked at the girl sitting on the sofa, her legs rubbing together, looking extremely uncomfortable in this situation. She kept glancing at the trash can not far away, as if she really wanted to hold onto Miyu in the trash can.