All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

Chapter 17: This is 'Complaining with the Mouth, but Honest in Action'

When she heard that all she needed to do was compensate a few thousand yen,

Eiri-ri, truly naïve, took her wallet out of her bag.

For someone like Oujou-sama, who came from a wealthy family,

A few thousand yen wasn't anything significant.

If everything could be solved with just a few thousand yen, Eriri would sincerely be willing to do so.

However, as soon as she opened her wallet,

The 10,000-yen bills inside caused the two gyaru to freeze.

While Eriri was still flustered because she didn't have any small change,

One of the delinquents grabbed her wrist.

"Hey, I've changed my mind. My shoulder hurts a bit, a few thousand yen isn't enough, give me everything!"

She said that.

The audacity of the words was so extreme that even Eriri realized she was being extorted.

What should I do? Should I give it to them?

If I give it, will they keep pushing their luck and continue extorting me?

But if I don't give it, I'll definitely get beaten...

Eriri's eyes filled with tears once again.

Why did she have to go through something like this?

When the two delinquents saw that Eriri didn't immediately let go of her wallet,

After a bit of tugging,

One of them suddenly swung a fist, intending to hit her and take her wallet.

Instinctively, Eriri tightly shut her eyes, her body trembling slightly.

She was so afraid of pain.

"tsk!"

In the pitch-black world behind her closed eyelids, a familiar voice rang out from behind.

Along with it was a soft click of the tongue, filled with anger, and the sound of hurried footsteps drawing closer.

The pain she had anticipated didn't come.

Instead, a loud slap echoed right in front of her.

Carefully, Eriri cracked open her eyes just a little.

The sight that met her eyes was the gyaru who had just swung her fist.

Now, she was clutching her arm, her body swaying to one side.

It was clear that her arm had just taken a heavy blow.

In the corner of Eriri's field of vision,

A figure of a young man stood tall.

At that moment, all the anxiety in her heart disappeared completely.

Eriri felt more at ease than ever before.

Just like before,

As long as she could see that familiar back,

Nothing else mattered anymore.

Because he was the one who could make her feel that safe.

"What are you doing!? Want to die!?"

The gyaru girl whose hand had been slapped away yelled at Yukima Azuma.

The hand she had just extended toward Eriri now had a large, reddened mark across its back.

Yukima Azuma coldly stared at the two girls.

Most of the time, this young man gave off a sense of calmness and politeness.

But when his eyes narrowed slightly and he wiped the usual smile off his face, his entire aura transformed, exuding a terrifying, invisible pressure.

He didn't even bother to respond.

He just stood there silently, staring.

Ten seconds passed.

The aggressive demeanor of the two delinquents completely evaporated.

"Apologize to her."

Yukima Azuma's voice was like a command, carrying an unyielding force that brooked no disobedience.

The two delinquents instinctively wanted to resist.

But just as they opened their mouths to curse,

A chilling sensation raced up their spines and settled at the nape of their necks.

The boy standing before them seemed to have transformed into a venomous snake, poised to devour its prey, its imagined tongue flicking menacingly near their throats.

"S-sorry!"

The two girls bowed their heads in fright, apologizing.

"Get lost."

Yukima Azuma ordered.

Immediately, the two fled, stumbling and falling as they ran, their appearance utterly pathetic.

Watching their retreating, miserable figures, the anger in Yukima Azuma's chest subsided somewhat.

The oppressive atmosphere dissipated along with it.

Ever since he reached his current level in shogi — a mastery often referred to as "transcendent skill" — Yukima Azuma had realized he could project the aura he used on the shogi board into real life.

...Even if it was just a little.

It was like the air of someone holding ultimate authority, ready to overwhelm everything.

Someone standing at the peak, stepping over countless players to become an undefeated genius.

That aura, even in small doses, was enough to leave two high school girls utterly defenseless.

"You..." Eriri was about to ask, "Why did you follow me?" But her gaze lowered for a moment, and she froze. The question immediately changed: "You're injured!"

Hearing this, Yukima Azuma calmed down, reining in his emotions.

Then, following Eriri's gaze, he looked down.

On the back of his right hand, fresh blood flowed in thin rivulets.

The dark red drops gathered at his fingertips before falling to the ground, forming stark crimson spots.

Yukima Azuma lightly waved his hand, as if dismissing the injury.

He felt nothing in particular.

It must have been from earlier, when he slapped away the gyaru girl's hand and her nails accidentally scratched him.

The wound didn't seem too deep.

Seeing Yukima Azuma disregard the injury, Eriri immediately tensed up.

Instinctively, she stepped forward and grabbed his hand.

"Don't move!" Eriri said, pulling out a bandage from her bag.

After rinsing the wound with mineral water, she carefully applied the bandage to the injury.

When she finished, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew... ehh!?"

Realizing what she had just done, Eriri's face flushed bright red.

"This... this is just because you helped me! It's just a simple thank-you! Don't get any ideas!"

Her words came out in her familiar tsundere style.

Yukima Azuma didn't respond.

Even though he could now fully grasp the meaning behind tsundere remarks,

When it came to Eriri, Yukima Azuma preferred not to engage.

After all, it was for this very reason that they had broken up.

"Let's go grab something to eat," Yukima Azuma said.

"Huh? Why should I eat with you? That's so ridiculous..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her stomach let out a loud grrr.

This time, Eriri's face turned completely red.

Her delicate features, from her flushed cheeks to her ears, resembled a Christmas apple.

Yukima Azuma chuckled softly.

Eriri was just like that—normally, she wouldn't easily go out.

She probably only attended a manga exhibition.

Judging by the timing, she must have just left the venue and hadn't had dinner yet.

And for this frail "otaku" girl, after spending the entire day exploring the exhibition, claiming she wasn't hungry would've been absurd.

At this moment, simply bringing up the topic of food would inevitably cause her body to betray her, no matter how much she tried to deny it.

Just like what happened now.

This was exactly the classic example of "complaining with the mouth, but honest in action"!

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