All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends-Chapter 285: Keika The Wingman

"Keika-nee? Umu, I've picked up senpai already, we're on our way back."

"Huh? I see. Got it. Then we'll just eat out."

After that brief exchange—

Yukima Azuma hung up.

"What did Keika-nee say?"

( ╹ -╹)?

Sora Ginko asked curiously.

"Keika-nee said something suddenly came up and she had to go out. Master's not home either."

"No one's at the club right now, so she told us to come back a bit later."

Yukima Azuma repeated what Keika had said, though his expression looked slightly doubtful.

(≖_≖ )

Upon hearing that, Sora Ginko's eyes lit up instantly.

Perfect—now she could have Azuma all to herself!

( • ̀ω•́ )✧

And since it was almost lunchtime, they could eat out together.

It was practically a date!

Yukima Azuma, however, recalled what Kiyotaki Keika had been wearing when he left—

A comfy home outfit.

She didn't look like she was planning to go out at all.

And Master? Wasn't he at the club playing some gacha Bishojo game?

They'd barely been gone for that long. Why were both of them suddenly "busy"?

Azuma: (っ ͡ ͡º - ͡ ͡º ς) Suspicious

Keika: (๑>؂•̀๑) Ehe~

...

Since they weren't heading back to the club—

The two decided to change plans on the spot.

They found a local Chinese restaurant in Chiba.

"Welcome~"

"What would you two like to order today?"

A middle-aged man in a black suit approached, holding a menu.

Sora Ginko, being shy around strangers, hesitantly hid behind Yukima Azuma.

"Anything you'd recommend?"

Yukima Azuma asked casually.

He had a fairly good impression of Chinese restaurants in Japan.

First of all, being both Asian cultures, the flavors and cooking styles were somewhat familiar.

Secondly, the two countries were geographically close, and cultural exchange was frequent.

So Chinese cuisine in Japan generally stayed quite authentic.

Even when dishes were tweaked for local palates, they didn't taste "off."

Unlike in Europe, where it was a whole different story.

At the very least, Yukima Azuma had been to Hawaii and Wall Street before, and not once had he dared step into a Chinese restaurant over there.

Hearing Yukima Azuma ask for a recommendation—

The middle-aged man, who seemed to be the owner, immediately flashed a friendly smile.

"Do you two like mapo tofu? That's our specialty dish."

"Actually, I'm quite confident in my mapo tofu."

"To strike the perfect balance between aroma and flavor, I use five different spices."

"To really bring out the freshness of the tofu and the fragrance of the chili, we've put a lot of effort into our cooking techniques."

As the restaurant owner enthusiastically went on and on—

Sora Ginko instinctively clicked her tongue.

"It won't be as good as Azuma's, anyway."

Though she didn't speak loudly—

It seemed the owner still heard it.

The man who'd just been rambling passionately suddenly stopped, casting a glance at Yukima Azuma, his expression briefly stunned.

( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

Seeing the poor guy visibly shaken, Yukima Azuma gave a small cough to smooth things over:

"Uh... sorry about that. We'll have one order of mapo tofu, one special sauced rib, and a combo fried rice set, please."

The owner nodded silently and walked off with the menu.

Sora Ginko pressed her lips together, a little embarrassed.

(,,¬﹏¬,,)

She had just blurted it out without thinking—

But honestly, she meant it.

After all, Yukima Azuma had level 8 cooking skills, and Chinese cuisine was his specialty.

Sure, saying it so bluntly might've been a little rude...

Yukima Azuma gently patted Sora Ginko's head.

The small, flustered look of his little senpai—awkward and shy like this—was undeniably adorable.

He took her hand and led her toward a two-person table in the restaurant.

They both sat on the same side.

Sora Ginko slid into the inner seat.

She casually removed her thick white fur coat.

Yukima Azuma reached over to help her pull one sleeve off.

Watching him hang up her coat—

Sora Ginko's eyes curved slightly as she smiled softly.

Even so, a true tsundere would never admit she was happy.

(💢,,>﹏<,,) b-baka!

"Oh right, the Meijin Tournament—are you planning to join this year?"

Trying to ease the atmosphere, Sora Ginko brought up a topic herself.

After placing her coat carefully, Yukima Azuma shook his head in response.

The Meijin-sen was held every spring.

Among all the major titles, it carried the highest level of prestige.

"Meijin" was considered the ultimate destination for every professional shogi player.

If the Ryuuou title represented the birth of the strongest genius—

Then Meijin represented the gathering of the absolute strongest players.

And yet, Yukima Azuma wasn't aiming for it.

Even his motivation for claiming the Ryuuou title hadn't stemmed from the title itself.

Maybe someday, if he had time to spare, he might casually pick up the Eternal Meijin title.

But this year, barring any special reason, he had no plans to enter any more tournaments...

At most, he'd just focus on defending the Ryuuou title.

Seeing Yukima Azuma shake his head—

Sora Ginko seemed a bit surprised.

"Really? Then you're going to turn down the Meijin's challenge too?"

"Huh?"

Yukima Azuma looked confused.

Seeing his blank expression—

Sora Ginko blinked once.

"Keika-nee didn't tell you?"

"Yesterday, the Meijin asked President Tsukimitsu to visit our shogi club."

"He said he wanted to arrange a match with you."

"And since the Meijin-sen is coming up, he also asked whether you planned to participate."

Yukima Azuma shook his head again.

He honestly had no idea about any of that.

In truth, Kiyotaki Keika had completely forgotten to tell him.

At first, after some casual chatting, she had planned to bring it up—

But the moment Yukima Azuma mentioned Sora Ginko—

That onee-san-senpai of theirs immediately switched into wingman mode, too busy playing matchmaker for her two kouhai.

Keika: ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ❤︎✩‧₊

And just like that, the challenge was yeeted straight out of her memory.

After a brief moment of surprise—

Yukima Azuma realized it actually wasn't that strange.

The current Meijin—was the top figure in the world of shogi.

In fact, possibly the greatest shogi player in history.

After successfully securing the Eternal Meijin title—

He'd fixed his sights on a singular pursuit.

To discover shogi's ultimate answer.

In the end, does the first move truly hold the advantage?

Or is it better to go second?

To answer that, Meijin had studied nearly every possible sequence of shogi moves.

He'd battled countless powerful, unconventional opponents.

And in the world of shogi today—excluding a few "old relics" with level 9 skill who'd already retired—

Among the active players, only two had reached level 9 in shogi technique:

Yukima Azuma, and Meijin.

To Meijin, Yukima Azuma was the shortcut to the ultimate answer.

Thinking back to their previous match—

"Umu, then I suppose I should make the trip."

Just then, Sora Ginko was sipping her drink.

Hearing that, she gently bit down on her straw.

Meijin, huh...

She had the feeling this boy was about to step even further ahead.

She'd have to work harder too.

Right at that moment—

The middle-aged owner came over, holding their food.

"Here you are—mapo tofu for the two of you. Please enjoy."