All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

First floor of the lecture hall at Shuchiin Academy.

All the public classrooms were now open.

Some were being used as parent-teacher meeting rooms.

The rest were for students and parents to wait and rest.

At this moment, a few adults were standing in the hallway outside the meeting rooms.

All of them were parents waiting for their children to arrive.

If Yukima Azuma hadn't taken Hayasaka Nao with him to the student council room...

Then most likely, she'd be standing here right now too.

Fujiwara Chika quickly walked up to a gentle and well-mannered middle-aged man.

She smiled sweetly and greeted him, "Dad."

(„• ⩊ •„)੭ <3

The middle-aged man nodded in response to Fujiwara Chika.

Then, his eyes shifted toward Yukima Azuma and Shinomiya Kaguya.

This middle-aged man was, of course, Fujiwara Chika's father—

The central pillar of the Fujiwara political family.

From his attire alone, one could tell he was a politician.

Perfectly pressed suit, non-prescription glasses, always wearing a friendly smile.

"Shinomiya-san, Yukima-san, thank you both for taking care of my daughter."

Being recognized didn't surprise Yukima Azuma in the slightest.

Tokyo wasn't that big, and in those circles, the people just went around in a loop.

Even though Yukima Azuma rarely attended social parties...

With the rise of the Laplace Corporation, there was no way he could remain a nobody.

Among all the old men Sayuri had introduced to build connections, maybe this Fujiwara guy was even one of them.

Just like Shinomiya Kaguya, Yukima responded with a polite, perfunctory nod...

And then shifted his gaze toward the waiting room beside them.

Right at that moment, a figure stepped out from the room.

The moment Yukima Azuma saw the woman, he visibly froze for a second.

Today, Mrs. Yukinoshita was wearing a white sweater and plain jeans.

Though it couldn't be called loungewear, it was clearly a departure from her usual polished style.

Normally in summer, Mrs. Yukinoshita would wear formal gowns or traditional kimono.

In winter, at most she'd throw a fur coat on top.

After all, the places she showed up were usually formal parties or luxurious ballrooms.

But today, this outfit had none of that elegant noblewoman aura.

The feeling she gave off... was even somewhat reminiscent of Haruno.

The typical "office lady onee-san" vibe.

Mrs. Yukinoshita stepped out of the waiting room and walked straight toward Yukima Azuma the moment she saw him.

Seeing Yukima Azuma look a little dumbfounded—

She couldn't help but frown.

"What? You got a problem with it?"

Hearing that, Yukima Azuma didn't even know where to begin complaining.

To say he had a "problem" wasn't quite right.

He was just seriously confused as to why Mrs. Yukinoshita showed up here.

At that moment, Mrs. Yukinoshita lifted her hand and glanced down at her own outfit.

After confirming there were no slip-ups, and it matched the impression she wanted to give—

She turned to look at the still-stunned Yukima Azuma, and something flickered in her eyes.

She cleared her throat softly, then said somewhat awkwardly:

"Haruno told me that you wanted someone to attend the meeting on your behalf."

"Even though you refused to take the Yukinoshita name, technically speaking, you're still part of the Yukinoshita family."

"So I figured it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand."

"Don't tell me... this wasn't your request?"

(Note: MC's guardian is Mrs. Yukinoshita, and maybe he has a household registration in the Yukinoshita family. When his family had an accident, he was only about 12-13 years old, if he didn't do that, he would have ended up in an orphanage.)

Upon hearing that...

Yukima Azuma's mood became incredibly complicated.

The number of things he wanted to complain about only grew.

Even so, he still opened his mouth and said:

"No, it's true I asked Haruno to help find someone."

"I just didn't expect you'd actually agree to do it, so I was a little surprised."

Telling the whole truth right now obviously wouldn't be smart.

Mrs. Yukinoshita had come all the way here in person.

If he turned her away now...

It'd be like slapping them both in the face for no reason.

If it were just in private, no big deal—at most just a few sarcastic exchanges with Mrs. Yukinoshita.

But right now, there were several other Shuchiin students' parents standing around.

A quick glance showed: some toy company CEO, a member of parliament from some prefecture, or a legit member of some zaibatsu family.

Hearing Yukima Azuma accept it—

Mrs. Yukinoshita quietly let out a breath of relief.

She'd also been worried that Yukima Azuma would flat-out deny it in front of everyone and toss in a few mocking comments while he was at it.

If that happened, she'd be the laughingstock of high society for the next month.

People would say she shamelessly pushed herself forward to claim family ties, that she had no self-respect, that she was a disgraceful woman.

Even so, to have given birth to a daughter like Yukinoshita Yukino…

It was clear that Mrs. Yukinoshita was the kind of person whose bones were filled with pride.

If she were to be publicly humiliated on the spot, then mocked relentlessly afterward…

Mrs. Yukinoshita would most definitely go home and smash things in a fit of rage.

┬──┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ)

(ヽ°-°）ヽ ┬──┬

┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

"These days I don't have much going on, so playing the role of a parent isn't so bad."

As she spoke, Mrs. Yukinoshita waved Yukima Azuma over.

With a face caught somewhere between reluctant and complicated, Yukima Azuma stepped forward to stand next to her.

At that moment, Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai — having more or less figured out the situation — looked at the two of them...

And suddenly felt that the two really did resemble a mother and child.

Mostly in terms of presence.

There was a definite sense of "shared bloodline."

Meanwhile, Fujiwara Chika was still blinking in confusion.

She still hadn't figured out what exactly was going on.

This beautiful lady... is Yukima-kun's parent?

"Is the parent of Shinomiya Kaguya present?"

Right at that moment, a voice called from inside the meeting room.

A parent-student pair walked out from the room.

Hayasaka Nao responded.

She then led Shinomiya Kaguya into the meeting room.

The contents of the meeting were nothing special.

Everything was just for formality's sake.

The Shinomiya family had already arranged for Kaguya to move up through the internal system.

A sort of golden stamp — something to add prestige to her name.

After all, a college degree was almost a given these days.

As for her future career, there was practically nothing to worry about.

The chance of Shinomiya Kaguya inheriting any part of the family business was extremely slim.

The more likely scenario — or at least, the one the Shinomiya household had defaulted to — was that she'd marry into another prestigious family and serve as a decorative flower vase.

Shinomiya Kaguya's academic performance posed no concerns regarding internal progression.

Her aspirations and reality were perfectly aligned.

The teachers at Shuchiin naturally had no objections.

As for Shinomiya Kaguya's true feelings...

With her current status, she had no right to speak up.

From the moment she was born into the Shinomiya family, that had always been the way of things.

...

Meanwhile, outside the meeting room—

Yukima Azuma, almost unconsciously, once again glanced up and down at Mrs. Yukinoshita's outfit.

To be honest, for Mrs. Yukinoshita to show up at Shuchiin dressed like this…

She clearly put a lot of thought into it.

Most of the parents present today were dressed in a similar way — formal but not stiff.

Too formal, and it would come across as rigid in the eyes of other students.

Too casual, and it would seem disrespectful to the teachers.

Take Hayasaka Nao as an example — her outfit carried the same vibe — obviously the optimal choice.

Just the fact that Mrs. Yukinoshita had put in the effort to carefully prepare for this parent-teacher meeting...

At least for today's gathering, she already surpassed the majority of parents in the world.

And yet...

"Have you ever attended any of Yukino's parent-teacher meetings?"

Yukima Azuma lowered his voice and asked.

The polite smile that had been perfectly in place on Mrs. Yukinoshita's face froze for a moment upon hearing that question.

A damn good question.

Because the answer was—never.

As Yukinoshita Yukino's mother, Mrs. Yukinoshita had never once attended a single parent-teacher meeting.

Most of the time, the Yukinoshita family's butler would attend on her behalf.

On rare occasions, it would be Haruno, the elder sister, who filled in.

And just for the record, she'd never attended a parent-teacher meeting for Haruno either.

Seeing the flicker of awkwardness cross Mrs. Yukinoshita's face...

Yukima Azuma quietly sighed.

What a strange feeling.

He was, technically, only a adotep child of the family in name.

And yet, he was being "spoiled" more than her two biological daughters.

He even got to experience these maternal moments that neither Yukino nor Haruno ever had.

Mrs. Yukinoshita wasn't a cold or heartless person.

Of course, she loved her two daughters.

But the affection she gave them had to be secondary to the interests of the family.

Yukima Azuma, as a cooperative partner of the Yukinoshita family...

When making a request like this one, he ended up being more valued by Mrs. Yukinoshita.

To receive maternal care from her, it had to be something that aligned with the overall benefit of the Yukinoshita family.

This kind of setup... was seriously twisted.

Yukima Azuma suddenly felt a surge of indignation—on Yukino's behalf.