In crossover anime, who isn't a childhood friend?

The two chatted casually as before, with Chiyo mostly bringing up topics and Kazusa doing most of the talking.

The atmosphere should have remained calm and peaceful, just like the gentle waves of Tokyo Bay today.

But the result was just as Chiya Minamoto had said a few hours earlier when comforting Kazusa: "Unexpected things happen in life all the time, so you have to keep a calm mind and get used to it all."

Tokyo is such a big city, yet we happened to meet at this time and in this place.

It really is fate that we've known each other since childhood.

This time, it was Yuan Qianye who stopped.

Kazusa stopped talking and it was her turn to look at her with a puzzled expression.

"Did I run into someone I know?" he explained.

acquaintance?

The next moment, in Kazusa's line of sight, not far ahead, a woman in the group of three suddenly looked in their direction, then raised her hand high with a happy expression and quickly walked over.

"Isn't this Qianye? How could I run into you here! My goodness, what kind of fate is this!"

Yang was in high spirits and acted exaggeratedly, which was consistent with her usual style and persona.

She glanced at Kazusa, who was standing to the side, unsure how to react. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but a friendly expression remained on her face.

"Hey, I've never seen this student before."

At that moment, Lady Yukinoshita and Yukino also came over.

Lady Yukinoshita maintained her usual polite smile.

Just like her eldest daughter, she smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Yuan Qianye.

As for Yukino, she stayed a body length behind her mother and sister and did not move forward.

Despite being the closest childhood friend to Minamoto Chiyo, she was surprised when she saw the bouquet of flowers held by the girl next to him.

The expression she displayed in front of him at that moment seemed even more unfamiliar than that of a stranger.

…………

075: Mrs. Yukinoshita's Considerations

On the straight road along Tokyo Bay in Shiodome.

Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze lingered on the girl standing next to Chiya Minamoto.

The bouquet of flowers she was holding was the focus of Yukino's gaze.

In all these years we've been together, has she ever received flowers from him even once?

The bouquet included small bows, Christmas canes, and small toys as decorations.

The most eye-catching feature is, of course, the cursive script itself.

The bouquet was made up of a combination of three different flowers.

The main colors are red roses and white lilies, with pink baby's breath as a secondary color.

From a young age, Yukino learned various elegant skills for cultivating her mind and temperament from her mother, including flower arrangement.

While not exceptionally outstanding, they are certainly proficient.

Therefore, it is natural to interpret the meaning behind this bouquet of flowers.

Red roses are widely recognized as the flower of love, representing deep affection and passionate love.

The white lily symbolizes purity, solemnity, and mutual affection, representing a long and happy marriage and enduring love.

As for pink baby's breath, it represents romance, an indispensable supporting element, and the affection between lovers.

The above three flowers, when combined, lead to this interpretation—

My love for you is as passionate as fire; we are a match made in heaven, and I want to be with you forever.

This moment was one of the rare times in Yukino's life that her mind went completely blank.

These are words that should only be used when someone is experiencing a major shock, but they suddenly appeared on her on this seemingly ordinary night.

Reason told Yukino that she had to face their relationship squarely; they were friends, and she shouldn't be having so many complicated emotions at this time.

But her emotions kept reminding her of the night she returned to China, when she mustered up the courage to hint to him after dinner that she would have some free time, only to be met with his perfunctory and unsatisfactory reply.

She simply couldn't help but compare the scene from that day with the situation before her.

A Christmas Eve filled with wonderful atmosphere: beautiful bouquets, a gentle breeze, a walk under the moonlight...

And it was just the two of them.

Yukino, inappropriately distracted, repeatedly pondered the relationship between them in her mind.

A hidden unease seeped into the water, and the out-of-control ripples continued to expand.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

For Yuan Qianye, who prides himself on having maxed-out emotional intelligence and social skills and being a social saint who is almost perfect.

In the present situation, he is taking a walk with a piano prodigy who feels lonely because she is not with her mother, and they happen to run into his childhood friend's family.

Aside from being slightly surprised, it really wasn't a big deal.

After a brief greeting, he cheerfully introduced them to each other.

"Aunt Yukinoshita, this is my friend Touma Kazusa..."

"Touma, this is my childhood friend Yukino Yukinoshita, and the other two are her older sister and mother..."

There's an old joke about how someone can get another person to spend 180,000 yuan on you in just three sentences.

There are now humanoid succubi in the world. The simple phrase "childhood friend" can instantly shatter the Ice Queen's subconscious zero-degree expression.

Perhaps because of the night breeze, the tuft of hair on his head began to sway gently.

Yukino Yukinoshita withdrew her gaze from the unfamiliar girl and turned it back to Chiyo Minamoto, but still remained silent.

Touma Kazusa, on the other hand, felt somewhat at a loss for what to do with the sudden appearance of strangers.

But after learning that they were all acquaintances of Yuan Qianye, he still took off his mask and awkwardly greeted them: "Hello..."

"Hello, hello." Yang Nai responded on behalf of her family, but as she replied, she stared thoughtfully at Kazusa's exposed face.

Unlike her younger sister, Haruno is more cheerful and outgoing, so her scrutinizing gaze is more undisguised.

This made Kazusa uncomfortable, so she subconsciously did something similar to what she had done when facing the interview camera before, hiding half of her body behind Chiya.

This small gesture sparked further speculation among some of the people present.

"Ah!" Yang Nai silently repeated Touma Kazusa's name in her mind, then suddenly realized something: "Touma-san...didn't you participate in the Tokyo Gakuen Piano Competition before?"

Although it was a question, Haruno's expression was very confident.

Kazusa was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

The competition they mentioned was jointly organized by several local music academies in Tokyo.

The competition repertoire focuses on classical music, which, while not among the best in the world, is quite well-known in Japan.

Just like all the other competitions she has participated in since she was a child.

Her mother signed her up, so she went.

The championship in the youth group was also won back easily.

“I knew it.” Yang Nai smiled brightly: “I also participated in that competition. We even competed against each other, but I was not as good as him and only got third place in the end.”

Kazusa thought for a while, but to no avail.

The main reason is that she usually focuses all her attention on the piano, so it's really hard for her to remember the little details of life and competitions.

She answered softly, "Sorry, I don't quite remember."

She meant no harm. Kazusa, who lacked communication skills, was simply speaking her mind honestly.

But it was indeed achieved by sheer luck, a rare feat that completely froze the perfect older sister's confident smile on her face.

The conversation really died in an instant.

"Ouch, I got sand in my eye..."

Yuan Qianye pretended to touch the corners of his eyes with the back of his fingers, while slightly lowering his head to hide the corners of his mouth that he couldn't suppress from turning up in a crazy smile.

This is a natural counter to cunning and scheming.

Yang never expected things to turn out this way.

Kukuku...

After her eldest daughter said that, Lady Yukinoshita remembered the girl in front of her.

She has won numerous championships in various piano competitions and is the daughter of the very talented pianist, Touma Yoko.

But now, regardless of the girl's identity or whether it's the fact that my eldest daughter was humiliated by her, let's not dwell on it.

She didn't care much.

Because at this moment, something even more worrying happened to her.

Her youngest daughter, Yukino Yukinoshita.

She was born after ten months of pregnancy, and mother and daughter are of one heart. She raised her from a young age.

Even though Lady Yukinoshita, as a mother, wasn't speaking to her youngest daughter at that moment, and didn't even see her expression, she was still present.

But only because she was half a step behind.

And her unusually quiet reaction when facing Yuan Qianye today.

That's enough to roughly guess what she's thinking right now.

Still clinging to a sliver of hope, and desperately wishing her guess was wrong, Mrs. Yukinoshita chuckled and parted her red lips slightly: "Chiya-kun, did you just finish eating?"