All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

After Christmas, New Year's Day arrived in a flash.

It was the start of a new year.

Yukima Azuma went to a shrine festival in the Shibuya area with the girls in the household.

When it came to New Year shrine visits in Japan, Yukima Azuma only had two impressions—yukata and fireworks.

As massive bursts of fireworks exploded across the sky,

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Yukima Azuma finally understood why so many works from the Land of the Rising Sun

featured scenes of confessions and misunderstandings under a sky full of fireworks.

Because fireworks are really loud.

You have to shout at the top of your lungs just to be barely heard.

And confessing at that moment,

it was totally normal to get misheard as saying "moon."(Note: Suki = like, Tsuki = moon.)

After New Year's,

spring break was just around the corner.

Following the final exams, Yukima Azuma received a phone call from Sayuri.

"Does Laplace have shares in that operating system under Microsoft?"

Sayuri got straight to the point as soon as the call connected.

"Quite a lot."

Yukima Azuma himself wasn't exactly sure how much anymore.

The investment had been poured in back when the operating system was still in development.

At that time, most of Laplace Corporation's liquid cash had been handed over to Microsoft.

Later on, those shares had been diluted through multiple rounds.

But still—an investment from the early development phase.

Founding shares and stocks bought on the market were two entirely different things.

Even without knowing the exact numbers, Yukima Azuma could still calmly say: "Quite a lot."

On the other end of the line, Sayuri sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hiss~... So what are you planning next?"

After Microsoft's cross-platform Windows operating system launched,

it crushed the government-issued OS released the same day in terms of functionality, usability, and convenience.

All kinds of vultures who had once ridiculed Microsoft were now staring wide-eyed.

Everyone now knew—buying Microsoft stock meant making a profit.

The only issue… was that getting even a single share was about as hard as reaching the moon.

Regardless of how much "quite a lot" actually meant in Yukima Azuma's mouth,

it was undoubtedly a sum of money growing to an absurd degree.

At least for the current scale of Laplace Corporation,

there was simply no need for that much capital.

If you had that much money and still stuck to making little furniture items,

that'd be a waste so tragic it hurts.

That kind of money—hell, even if you poured it all into dead-end industries like cars or cell phones—

might be enough to carve out your own empire.

"I'm starting a video platform. Those shares will only cover part of the cost, and I'm not even sure the cash will be enough to burn through."

Yukima Azuma said.

"What kind of video platform could possibly burn that much…"

Sayuri instinctively wanted to question what kind of video platform could possibly need that level of funding.

But halfway through the sentence, she stopped herself.

Reality had proven it—Yukima Azuma's foresight was far sharper than hers.

At the very least, she had seen the Microsoft OS investment too.

But at the time, she hadn't considered buying in at all.

I mean, who would've thought

an operating system developed by a private company could destroy a government-backed product?

If you couldn't see as far ahead as someone else,

then questioning them now would just be slapping yourself in the face.

Unable to understand it was one thing—Sayuri decided to drop it altogether.

"There are some old men who want to meet you. Do you have time?"

Sayuri finally revealed the real purpose of the call.

And just the fact that she was calling personally, saying "old men" wanted to meet—

you could already guess what kind of people they were.

Yukima Azuma opened his mouth,

originally intending to decline and end the matter.

After all, the next steps for Laplace Corporation didn't need to be reported to anyone.

Once Laplace's video platform launched, its direct competitors would be the big boys—YouTube, Twitter.

If it really succeeded, Laplace Corporation would become the fifth largest conglomerate in the Land of the Rising Sun.

At that point, even those "old men" would have to watch his mood before making a move.

Getting tangled up with them now?

What a waste of breath.

But just as the words of refusal were about to slip from his mouth, Yukima Azuma suddenly remembered something.

The sentence that was about to be spoken turned around mid-air and shifted into:

"I'm free, but it'll have to wait until next week. Also, I need to bring someone with me."

On the other end of the line, Sayuri glanced at her phone in confusion.

Bring someone?

Who was he planning to bring?

Sayuri pondered for a moment, but no one seemed to fit.

The Yukinoshita family? That girl was already being kept hidden like a treasure—no way Yukima Azuma would let her show up in public.

The Hinatsuru family? Still way too young, bringing her out now would serve no purpose.

The Suou family? Possibly, but they were probably swamped right now.

One by one, Sayuri went through all the people close to Yukima Azuma.

But she still couldn't think of anyone who matched the situation.

"Got it. Let me know when the time comes then," Sayuri agreed, not pressing further.

After all, once they met, everything would become clear.

After hanging up,

Yukima Azuma casually flipped the phone in his hand.

Spring break was just around the corner.

Winter had long since passed.

And once spring arrived,

the general election of Japan's National Diet would officially begin.

If one wanted to start making moves now—there wasn't much time left.

Scrolling through his contact list,

Yukima Azuma found Hayasaka Nao's number and dialed straight away.

The phone barely rang once before it was picked up.

"Nao-nee, have you landed yet?"

"Didn't even send someone to pick me up, and now you're calling like you care. What's with the fake courtesy?"

On the other end, Hayasaka Nao's voice was clearly teasing.

She had, in essence, already boarded Yukima Azuma's ship.

Getting off that ship was no longer an option.

So Hayasaka Nao didn't bother playing any of that superior–subordinate role-playing with Yukima Azuma.

On the contrary, their relationship had become surprisingly close.

"You really want me to pick you up, Nao-nee? I'll come personally right now."

Yukima Azuma chuckled lightly.

Hearing that, Hayasaka Nao immediately rolled her eyes.

"Forget it. My bad."

Officially, she was still a key figure within the Shinomiya household.

She hadn't openly broken ties with them yet.

The Shinomiya family had just sent a car to pick her up earlier.

If Yukima Azuma were to show up in person now—

then her time in Japan would definitely be filled with endless trouble.

"Speaking of which, are you heading to the Shinomiya main residence this time? Or straight to Shuchiin?"

Yukima Azuma asked curiously.

Logically speaking, Hayasaka Nao shouldn't be returning to Japan at this time.

But the reason for her return this time—

Wasn't because Yukima Azuma summoned her.

It was because Hayasaka Nao had to return—for the parent-teacher conference at Shuchiin Academy.

Final exams had ended.

Before spring break, Shuchiin would be holding a parent-teacher meeting.

Homeroom teachers and subject instructors would meet with each student and their guardian individually for discussion.

The main topics would be academic performance and future plans.

As a prestigious noble academy,

the future of Shuchiin students

was expected to be clearly charted from the very first year of high school, based on their individual strengths.

If the grades were excellent, they would consider moving on to the internal university system or other top-tier universities.

If they had special talents, the focus would shift toward developing that path—whether it be as an athlete, musician, artist, etc.

In the following semesters, Shuchiin would tailor its advanced curriculum according to that chosen track.

All in all, the meeting was a big deal.

Hayasaka Nao's return wasn't just for the meeting as Hayasaka Ai's mother,

She also carried an important mission entrusted to her by the Shinomiya family—

To attend the parent-teacher conference as a representative for Shinomiya Kaguya.

Kaguya's father—attending such a meeting himself was practically out of the question.

As for Hayasaka Nao, in her roles as Kaguya's former nanny and a senior officer of the Shinomiya family—

She was the perfect stand-in.

Only thing was, since she had now "defected" to Yukima Azuma's camp,

there was still a slight trace of awkwardness lingering in her heart.

(Note: This chapter doesn't have anything to add emojis to.)

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