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

She slowly put down her chopsticks and bowl, placing her hands on her thighs under the table, suddenly appearing awkward and shy.

Her mother's words of enlightenment suddenly made her realize something.

Yes, this is a great opportunity if I can make all the arrangements!

Mrs. Sayuri put down her chopsticks with her right hand, cupped her face, and showed a nostalgic expression: "Thinking back to those days, your father and I went on a trip together. Among us was that girl who grew up with your father and was very close to him. After playing all day, everyone, including her, went back to their rooms to rest. But your mother secretly invited your father to the hotel's swimming pool to teach me how to swim."

Looking back now, I think that's probably when my relationship with your father really started to grow closer. And thankfully, Mom seized that opportunity, otherwise you might not exist today.

“Darling, how could I not…!” Mr. Sawamura stopped abruptly as soon as he opened his mouth.

Eriri listened as if she understood something, and seeing her father's strange expression, she couldn't help but ask with concern, "Dad, what's wrong?"

"Did you choke on your food? Never mind him. Tell your mother about your plans, Eriri. Which hot spring hotel did you book?" Mrs. Sayuri interrupted her idle chatter and quickly got to the point.

With reasoned arguments and supporting examples, Eriri didn't resist this time: "My phone is in my room. I'll show it to Mom after dinner~"

Okay~

After the meal, Mr. Sawamura conscientiously cleared away the dishes.

After Eriri went back to her room to get her phone, she sat down on the sofa with her mother and leaned her head together.

"...Based on online ratings, I booked this restaurant. It's said that the hot spring water is very comfortable and natural, and the food is also delicious. The head chef is a former two-Michelin-starred chef, and the ingredients are all seasonal, so it's both delicious and healthy."

“I see. Mom had heard about this hot spring resort from a friend before, and she highly recommended it to her, saying that the service and the stay experience were perfect and she wanted to find an opportunity to go again next time.”

"Of course, I did my research beforehand."

"Well then, let's see what room you booked, Eriri."

"Wait a moment..." Eriri operated her phone and tapped on her order: "...There are six of us going together this time, and I booked three rooms."

She showed her mother the room design she had chosen.

Xiaobaihe took the phone screen and swiped through the album to view the images.

The picture shows a typical Japanese-style room. There is no bed; people rest on tatami mats with futons, which is quite common for Japanese people.

"The room looks rather ordinary."

"There's nothing I can do. I made two million, not twenty million. There are nicer rooms available, but they're too expensive. If I stay in nice rooms, I'll have to cut back on food."

Mrs. Lily was very surprised: "Honey, two million isn't enough? The three rooms you booked only cost a little over sixty thousand in total."

"Um... I went out with Rikka today and bought some games and merchandise. Then... I got a new drawing tablet because the old one wasn't working very well. I also really like the new wireless headphones that came out recently, so I bought two. One for myself and the other is a birthday present for Yukino."

And then there's Qianye's birthday coming up soon, so I pre-ordered a smart bracelet online that tracks heart rate during workouts. So… actually, I only have a little over 900,000 yen left in my pocket.”

Eriri felt a little embarrassed as she said this, realizing that she might have been spending money too much.

However, Mrs. Sayuri didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Her daughter earned the money herself, and she could spend it however she wanted. Besides, she wasn't exactly spending money recklessly.

Gaming and related products are my daughter's hobbies, the graphics tablet is for work, and the wireless headphones and smart bracelet are for her friends.

These are all reasonable and necessary expenses.

So Mrs. Sayuri waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry too much about money since it's a rare opportunity to go out and have fun. I'll give you Dad's credit card later. Look, isn't this suite great? It's private and has its own small courtyard, as well as two separate hot springs. You can stay together and each of you can just take care of your own rooms. It's also very convenient to visit each other's rooms. It's just a few steps from the corridor connecting the courtyard, so you don't have to run back and forth in the public corridor. Isn't that great?"

Eriri looked at the introduction to the luxury suite her mother had clicked on, and was quite tempted by the pictures in the brochure, but the price made her gasp.

"It is indeed very good, but it costs 200,000 a night, Mom."

In comparison, the price of the new SW game console seems so good value for money; you could buy four of them for the price of one.

Use it, display it, collect it, or give it as a gift—it's just right.

Mrs. Lily affectionately patted her daughter's head.

"It seems that Mom was too strict with your allowance before. This amount of money is nothing to your dad. He spends more than this on a bottle of wine when he goes to the mansion club with his friends. Compared to that, it's much more worthwhile to use it on things that make you happy."

"That was just normal work-related socializing. Everyone in this industry does it, there's nothing we can do about it," Mr. Sawamura said, unable to help but defend himself after hearing his wife's words as he came to the living room after washing the dishes.

But no one paid any attention to him.

Eriri rushed into Mrs. Sayuri's arms: "Thank you, Mom!"

"Hmm~ Who told you to be my little cutie?"

Shouldn't you be thanking me? I paid for it, I used my credit card...

Mr. Sawamura sat dejectedly on the single sofa and picked up today's newspaper.

“This hot spring inn is located a bit far. If you leave in the morning, you’ll probably arrive around noon. If you stay overnight and then head back the next day at noon, you won’t get to do much. There are mountains, shrines, and attractions nearby. It would be a shame not to take this opportunity to visit them.”

"We will go see it. We've already made plans. We'll go on the day of our visit and then wander around the neighborhood in the afternoon."

"Even so, the time is still too tight... Here's a suggestion from Mom: you can go there the afternoon before, have dinner there, soak in the hot springs and rest well, and then have a happy day the next day."

"This arrangement is good, but then we'd have to book a suite for two nights."

"It's okay, Dad's credit card will solve all your problems."

"Thank you, Mom!"

They should thank me too!

Mr. Sawamura had forgotten when was the last time he was hugged so affectionately by his daughter.

"Oh right, Mom, no, that won't do." Eriri suddenly remembered something.

"what happened?"

"I've already arranged the trip with everyone, and the departure time is set. If there are any last-minute changes, it might be impossible for everyone to get together."

Mrs. Lily thought for a moment: "Who from your group went this time?"

Eriri held up her fingers one by one: "Chiya, Yukino, Rikka, Saeko-nee, Kasumigaoka Utaha."

"Are Chiya and Rikka very busy lately?"

"They're not really busy; it seems they've been staying at home during the Lunar New Year period."

Mrs. Sayuri clapped her hands gently: "That's fine. The others are the others. If they don't make it in time, there's nothing we can do. Let them go there on their own according to the original plan. You can go ahead with Rikka and Chiya. There's no need to be so rigid in the arrangements. Flexibility is very important."

Eriri blushed and nodded, clearly realizing something: "I'll go ask them later."

At the same time, a little devil in your heart emerges.

I hope that Kasumigaoka Utaha, Saeko, and even Yukino...

Just then, the little angel appeared and punched the little devil away.

No, let's forget about Yukino and Saeko.

Hopefully, only the woman in black stockings was too busy with the sudden change in departure schedule to leave, and could only depart according to the original plan.

That way they can leave her behind, exclude her, and have fun for one night.

"But you didn't invite Toka this time?" Mrs. Sayuri asked, somewhat puzzled.

“I invited her, but Toka-nee declined because she has to stay home to help take care of Chiyo.”

"She's so sensible. Compared to her, mine..." Mrs. Sayuri rubbed Eriri's little face: "...I can only say that she has a promising future."

Eriri mumbled, "Really, don't underestimate me. If you give me a younger brother or sister, Mom, I'll wholeheartedly help you take care of them."

For some reason, Mr. Sawamura's face turned ashen in an instant. He hurriedly got up, dropped the newspaper, and fled from the living room.

Mrs. Lily looked down helplessly at her husband's fleeing figure.

Even if he were willing, I wouldn't want to have the baby myself. Pregnancy is such a painful experience, I really don't want to go through it a second time.

In this respect, Mrs. Takanashi truly loves her current husband very much.

That's so good!

Later, the Sawamura mother and daughter got together to discuss some interesting arrangements that might be useful for the trip. Considering the daughter's easily embarrassed nature, the wife used her own past experiences as examples to refer to things that were not easy to say directly.

Eriri couldn't help but nod repeatedly, quite surprised that her usually unassuming mother was so good at having fun.

After that, Eriri, who felt she had learned a lot, went back to her room and clearly had a lot of expectations for this trip to the hot spring inn that she had never thought of before!

My mother won over my father during their trip, so does that mean I have a chance to do something in a similar situation?

In fact, Eriri has always maintained a rather "pure and desireless" state of mind.

Just like the promise she made with Yukino and Chiya on Christmas Eve when she was in third or fourth grade, she was content with just the three of them staying together and being best friends for life; she felt that was enough.

However, this situation changed after Kasumigaoka Utaha appeared.

Upon seeing this woman suddenly appear beside his childhood friend, throwing herself into his arms in an almost explicit manner, fueled by a sense of crisis, some suppressed emotions that he had been unwilling to confront quickly awakened and were noticed.

The story that her mother had repeatedly emphasized and highlighted—how she overcame her father's childhood sweetheart despite starting at a disadvantage and eventually got married—inspired Eriri and made her pay special attention to it.

She was of course firmly on her mother's side, but that didn't stop her from being determined not to repeat the mistakes of her childhood friend.

It's so embarrassing that someone with the advantage of having a childhood friend could still lose like this.

If it were me, I definitely wouldn't lose!

Eriri picked up her phone and edited a message, which she then sent to the group chat she had created for the two-day hot spring trip.

[Eri: @Everyone, I'm sorry everyone, but considering how much more fun we can have this time, I've thought about it carefully. If we could check in the afternoon of the day before, we'd have more time. What do you think?]

[Kasumigaoka: I'm fine with anything.]

Tch, those idle folks really do have time...

Eriri, her wish unfulfilled, looked at her phone screen and huffed in dissatisfaction.

[Rikka: Sure, I've been pretty free lately and don't have any plans at home. Wait, I'll go ask Chiya.]

Eriri: Mm-hmm.

[Yukino: Please wait a moment, I'll go ask Mom if there are any other arrangements at home.]

Eriri: Okay, okay~

[Rikka: Chiya said he's fine!]

[Eri: Yay! (Thumbs up.jpg)]

[Saeko: I also have time. Leaving earlier is indeed a great suggestion, but it will probably increase the expenses. If you don't mind, I can share some of the cost.]

Eriri: No need, Saeko-nee. You always take such good care of me, let me show off once in a while. This time it's a treat, so you won't have to spend a single penny.