All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

Chapter 14: A Pain Worse Than Jealousy is Having No Right to Be Jealous

Kasumigaoka Utaha had been unable to sleep since early morning, even though she had stayed up quite late the previous night.

She wanted coffee, but the canned coffee from the vending machine outside was simply unpalatable.

So, Kasumigaoka Utaha decided to try brewing coffee herself.

The result...

"Disastrous" was perhaps the only word that could describe it.

She wasted some coffee beans.

The manual coffee grinder had to be meticulously cleaned as well.

Kasumigaoka Utaha pulled a Fukuzawa Yukichi bill from her wallet and placed it under the bag of coffee beans.

Of course, she didn't actually need to use that much money.

After fumbling around for a while and giving up, Kasumigaoka Utaha sat down, exhausted, and scrolled through news on her phone.

By noon, Yukima Azuma had already prepared a meal and stored it in the fridge, ready to be microwaved.

For some reason, Kasumigaoka Utaha let the afternoon slip by before finally taking the plate out of the microwave.

She couldn't help but marvel at Yukima Azuma's thoughtfulness.

After all, the Yukima Azuma she had known before wasn't the kind of person to be this meticulous.

There had been a few minor tantrums over this in the past.

However, even though Yukima Azuma wasn't naturally detail-oriented at first, he had his own strengths.

You could call it a talent for learning quickly or a willingness to recognize mistakes and correct them.

In their relationship, whenever Kasumigaoka Utaha pointed out small issues, Yukima Azuma wasn't like those rigid "patriarchal types." Instead, he would silently adjust and improve.

By the end of their time together, Kasumigaoka Utaha had come to understand this clearly.

Still, the "thoughtfulness" of the current Yukima Azuma took her by surprise.

Around 1 p.m., news related to shogi suddenly started appearing in her feed.

Among the updates, a few pieces of information quickly caught her eye and climbed to the top of the trending section.

They were all related to the official matches in Chiba.

Kasumigaoka Utaha clicked on the news as soon as it appeared.

She was the type of person who knew only a little about shogi.

Most of her understanding of shogi had come from Yukima Azuma's explanations during their time together.

But when it came to wins and losses, promotions or demotions, those were things she could comprehend immediately.

When Kasumigaoka Utaha saw Yukima Azuma's name on the promotion list, she let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Success is good..." she murmured, then realized her emotions were somewhat unusual.

It wasn't just simple joy at Yukima Azuma's promotion.

The breakup three years ago and Yukima Azuma's withdrawal from the shogi world at the same time...

Now, with his return to the shogi scene and his achievement of success, it felt as though their breakup might have had a different ending.

This connection was entirely unfounded, yet Kasumigaoka Utaha's intuition compelled her to link the two events together.

Stretching slightly, she prepared to put her phone away and head upstairs to nap.

But just as she was about to close the news page, her eye caught a headline.

Her finger, poised to exit the screen, froze.

Instead, she clicked on the article.

"A Genius Reborn After Three Years! The Shogi Queen's Passionate Confession!"

That was the headline.

Beneath it, the word "Confession" blazed in bold, fiery red-orange letters.

Upon entering the article, two images immediately appeared beneath the headline.

The first photo showed Yukima Azuma standing on stage, holding a microphone and smiling calmly.

The second photo captured Sainokami Ika bursting into the hall, her eyes alight with excitement as her lips formed his name, her expression brimming with fervor.

The scene exuded a strong sense of "romance."

'The aloof, intellectual young man offering a smile only to the passionate, determined young woman.'

That was the vibe it seemed to convey.

Both possessed striking appearances.

Even if this had been categorized as a social news piece, it would still have stirred excitement among uninformed readers.

Not to mention that this was within the shogi world.

Both of them were professional players—Yukima Azuma and the Queen of Shogi herself.

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a black line form across her brow.

She tapped her foot lightly, her long legs clad in black stockings creating a rhythmic sound against the wooden floor.

Her fingers pressed firmly on the screen as she slowly scrolled down to read the rest of the article.

The detailed report elaborated on Yukima Azuma's outstanding performance in the official match.

It also highlighted Yukima Azuma's illustrious past achievements.

The majority of the article, however, was dedicated to describing the Queen of Shogi's dramatic entry into the hall.

It painted a vivid picture of her disheveled attire and urgency, her sole intent being to meet Yukima Azuma, the 5-dan player.

It recounted the interaction between the stage and audience and even included a verbatim quote of the Queen of Shogi's words.

"Hey, date me. As long as I have Azuma, nothing else matters."

The passionate confession of the Queen of Shogi...

Upon reading such a description, Kasumigaoka Utaha's fingers clenched so tightly that a cracking sound could be heard.

After a series of lengthy paragraphs that seemed to be excerpts from a youthful romance novel, finally, at the end of the article,

in an inconspicuous spot,

in small font, it stated:

"Unfortunately, Yukima 5-dan has temporarily declined."

And there was no further information.

The comment section below the article had turned into a battleground of "dog food" (public displays of affection).

Clearly, not many people paid attention to the final note.

Kasumigaoka Utaha turned off her phone screen.

Even her breathing became heavier.

It took three deep breaths before she gradually calmed down.

But once calm, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a faint pain in her stomach.

Not a physical pain.

It suddenly dawned on her that she had neither the reason nor the right to be angry.

If it had been before...

She could have easily unleashed a tirade of sharp words at Yukima Azuma the moment he returned.

She might even have harshly interrogated him about where exactly that "thieving cat" had appeared from.

But now...

On what grounds could she do that?

The moment she realized this,

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt even more unsettled than witnessing Yukima Azuma being confessed to.

"Could it be that compared to jealousy, what's more painful is the lack of the right to feel jealous?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha muttered softly.

The sound of a key turning in the lock came from the entrance.

"I'm back (Tadaima)."

The boy's voice echoed from a distance.

Kasumigaoka slowly walked toward the doorway.

Seeing the boy changing into his house slippers, she softly greeted:

"Welcome home (Okairi)."

Yukima Azuma looked up, blinking a few times in surprise.

"I thought Kasumigaoka-senpai would completely ignore me."

After all, before heading out, he had slyly teased her a bit.

"As a senpai, I naturally possess the grace to forgive the mischief of my juniors."

Kasumigaoka Utaha crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.