All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends-Chapter 226: Izumi Sagiri’s Message

December 10th.

Tokyo welcomed its first snowfall.

The snow wasn't heavy, just a light flurry that settled into a thin layer on the ground.

Christmas was just over ten days away.

Japan didn't have many traditional holidays, with only fifteen legally recognized public holidays.

There wasn't much unique culture of its own—

Thanks to the influence of Western consumerism, Christmas here was livelier than in many other East Asian countries.

And right after Christmas—

Was New Year's.

Another year was about to pass in the blink of an eye.

After finishing his shogi tournament journey, Yukima Azuma returned to Shuchiin.

Around this time, Shuchiin Academy had begun voting on locations for their upcoming field trip.

Today was the weekend.

Yukima Azuma was enjoying a relaxing gaming session at home.

"Do you have torches? I'm heading into the mine."

( •̀ - •́ )

"No, wait, let me smelt some charcoal first."

( •͈૦•͈ )

Kasumigaoka Utaha controlled her blocky character, tossing wood into the furnace.

Meanwhile, Yukima Azuma's character was repeatedly crouching and standing next to her, looking impatient.

The script for White Album was now completely finished.

So with nothing to do, Kasumigaoka Utaha started playing Minecraft with Yukima Azuma.

But in the corner—

Eriri wasn't nearly as free.

Her chronic procrastination had flared up again, and her illustration work was barely halfway done.

While clutching her drawing tablet and furiously sketching, she kept glancing over at the two, looking like she wanted to grind her teeth into dust.

(｡•̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ꐦ) !!!

After smelting enough charcoal, Yukima Azuma combined it with sticks to craft torches—

And immediately set off on an expedition.

Meanwhile, Kasumigaoka Utaha gathered wood—

And started building a tiny, run-down box house.

Inside the house, time passed peacefully.

Down in the mine, bloodshed and chaos ensued.

With another well-timed overhead slash, yet another Skeleton was sent to its grave.

Yukima Azuma's phone vibrated.

He glanced around—no mobs in sight.

Setting his controller down for a moment, he picked up his phone.

A new friend request had arrived on LINE.

Yukima Azuma tapped on the sender's profile.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

The avatar was Meruru, a magical girl from a children's anime.

The display name was just a string of meaningless katakana.

Staring at the unfamiliar account, Yukima Azuma was puzzled.

His personal LINE account was set to be searchable only with the exact ID.

Random friend requests were extremely rare.

After a brief moment of thought,

He moved his finger and pressed "Accept."

The moment he did—

Tzzzt—

A sharp static noise crackled through his headset.

The sudden sound sent shivers down Yukima Azuma's spine.

He quickly grabbed his controller.

Luckily, he had just mined some iron ore—

And had placed a furnace nearby to smelt a few iron ingots.

With those, he quickly crafted a shield.

Raising the shield just in time, he survived the Creeper explosion with only a sliver of health left.

He let out a sigh of relief.

Then, without hesitation, he picked up the still-burning furnace and carried it with him.

His mining expedition was over.

Watching Yukima Azuma's character sprint back towards the surface,

Kasumigaoka Utaha raised an eyebrow and asked:

"Done already?"

Normally, based on Yukima Azuma's personality...

He wouldn't leave the mine until he had at least half a stack of diamonds.

"Umu, got something to do."

Yukima Azuma nodded, stuffing all the resources in his inventory into the chest.

Then he glanced around, evaluating the matchbox-like house Kasumigaoka Utaha had just built.

Though it lacked decoration, it still felt quite cozy.

He put down the controller once more.

Yukima Azuma picked up his phone to check.

It better be something important.

Otherwise, nearly getting blown up by a Creeper just now—he would definitely settle this debt with whoever had just sent the friend request.

After accepting the request, the other party immediately sent a message.

[Today is my birthday. Can you buy me a birthday cake?]

Seeing this vague message, Yukima Azuma tilted his head in confusion.

( ╹ -╹)?

Could it be… a scammer?

Like: I'm a high school girl, transfer 500,000 yen to me!

Clicking on the avatar of the sender, Yukima Azuma felt the urge to delete the contact immediately.

But in the end, he didn't.

Instead, he replied:

[Why should I buy a cake just because it's your birthday? Do we even know each other?]

The message was quickly marked as "read."

Then, the "typing" status kept appearing and disappearing.

They were probably typing and deleting over and over again.

A long while later, a response finally arrived.

[My dad said that if I had a wish, I could ask you for help.]

Seeing this message, Yukima Azuma quickly ran through the list of people he knew.

Whose kid would take their parent's goodwill and use it to ask him for a birthday cake?

The number of people Yukima Azuma was acquainted with wasn't small.

Rather, it was extremely large...

After all, Laplace Corporation's philosophy was: "Make as many friends as possible, and as few enemies as necessary."

But still… a favor in the business world couldn't possibly be exchanged for a birthday cake, could it?

Thinking it over, Yukima Azuma decided to ask directly.

[What's your dad's name?]

[Izumi Kotetsu.]

Seeing that name, Yukima Azuma's fingers froze.

So, it was Izumi-san's child.

Which meant… it had to be Sagiri.

"What's going on?"

(„• ֊ •„)੭

Noticing Yukima Azuma's odd reaction, Kasumigaoka Utaha put down her own controller and turned to ask.

Being questioned, Yukima Azuma responded:

"Utaha-senpai, do you remember the bookstore where we met?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked slightly puzzled, not sure why Yukima Azuma was bringing this up.

But she still nodded.

"I think it was Izumi Bookstore. The owner's surname was Izumi, a middle-aged man—pretty nice."

For Kasumigaoka Utaha—a person known for her sharp tongue—to call someone "pretty nice," that person must have been quite remarkable.

Yukima Azuma also nodded.

"That's right, Izumi-san. His child just sent me a friend request on Line."

"Said they wanted a birthday cake."

Hearing this, Kasumigaoka Utaha opened her mouth, about to make a sarcastic remark.

But very quickly, she furrowed her brows and fell silent.

Back then, the two of them frequently visited Izumi Bookstore.

Their relationship with the owner was very good.

But why would his child suddenly add their father's friend on Line?

Unless… Izumi-san had…

(note: ( ≖‿ ≖ ))

When they first met, the middle-aged man behind the cashier was only in his early thirties.

It had only been three or four years since then…

Kasumigaoka Utaha stiffened slightly.

After a moment of silence, she looked at Yukima Azuma and asked:

"What do you plan to do?"

Yukima Azuma shook his head.

"What else can I do? There are still ingredients in the fridge, so I'll just make a cake."

Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded and stood up.

"I'll help too."

...

The two of them stepped into the kitchen, taking ingredients out of the fridge.

In Yukima's house, the kitchen was fully stocked with every possible cooking utensil.

There was even a specialized oven just for baking cakes.

Since Yukima Azuma occasionally made cakes for the girls in the house, he was highly skilled at it.

This time, he baked two cake bases at once.

One was beautifully covered in cream.

Then, Yukima Azuma poured jam into a piping bag and handed it to Kasumigaoka Utaha.

She carefully wrote "Happy Birthday" on the cake's surface.

‪‪❤︎‬◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜‪‪❤︎‬

The second cake, Yukima Azuma kept simpler.

He added some seasonal fruits, drizzled it with freshly made jam, and cut it into several pieces.

"Eriri, want some cake?"

Yukima Azuma called out from the kitchen.

Eriri, who had been waiting for a while, immediately rushed over at the scent.

✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡

He cut a slice for her and then pointed to the rest.

"Later, bring a portion to Kirisu-sensei. The rest, save for Megumi and Yukino when they come over."

Eriri nodded seriously, though in reality, her mind was already completely occupied by the cake.

After that, Yukima Azuma took out a large gift box and placed the birthday cake inside.

"Utaha-senpai, do you want to come along?"

He asked while holding the cake box.

Kasumigaoka Utaha thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"Nah, if I go… I wouldn't even know what to say."

Seeing her decline, Yukima Azuma didn't say anything more.

"I'm heading out."

"Umu… take care on the way."

After Yukima Azuma left, Eriri, still munching on her cake, curiously approached.

"Who's that cake for?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at her.

"A child of an old acquaintance. Back then, Lonely-kun and I were helped by them."

Eriri blinked a few times.

She hadn't expected something like that.

Seeing how much Eriri was enjoying the cake, Kasumigaoka Utaha also went into the kitchen and took a piece for herself.

She scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth.

The sweetness was just right, the texture soft and smooth.

That gentle, comforting taste unique to sweets spread across her tongue.

Kasumigaoka Utaha instantly felt her mood improve.

"If only I could live as carefree as Sawamura-san, how nice would that be?"

"( - ⌓ - )

The long-haired girl sighed sincerely.

Hearing that, Eriri initially smirked smugly, but then she sensed something was off.

∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?

It felt like Kasumigaoka was subtly calling her an idiot.

"Nani!? You wanna fight, you fat hag!!"

⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

While carrying the cake, Yukima Azuma casually sent a message asking for Izumi Sagiri's address.

Even though he already knew where the Izumi family lived,

At this moment, it would be strange if he did know.

The response came quickly with the exact address.

No hesitation, no deception.

Yukima Azuma blinked.

Was Sagiri just too trusting, or did she genuinely have that much faith in her father's old friend?

Either way… he would go there first.

Yukima Azuma hadn't expected that his story with Sagiri would continue in this way…

--------------------------------------------

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