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

But apart from that, everything else matches up perfectly.

Even details like the bow at her neck and the white stripes on her knee-high socks were flawless.

The second young lady froze, as if a pause button had been pressed.

But this situation was soon resolved.

She was sitting on a bench by the flower bed on campus when she immediately stood up, her shoulders straightening instinctively.

Her breathing became erratic, and her previously calm eyes suddenly shone with a dazzling rainbow, overwhelmed with joy and disbelief.

"Where are you?"

Suppressing her trembling voice, Yukino asked softly.

The fact that she described the details of her outfit today to this extent is definitely not a coincidence.

The excuse of magic is quite unbelievable, so there's only one possibility left...!

The longing for someone, and the romantic scenarios imagined in her mind, caused Yukino, who was usually calm and wise, to completely lose her rationality and basic thinking ability.

She even overlooked the message Eriri had just sent her.

In the message, Eriri clearly stated that she had dinner with Chiya at his house today, and that he had just seen her off.

In such a short period of time, Japan and the United States were separated by the Pacific Ocean.

Even if Yuan Qianye rode an intercontinental ballistic missile, he wouldn't be able to get to her side that quickly.

"..."

The smile doesn't disappear, it just moves on.

Just moments ago, Yuan Qianye seemed quite relaxed, but now his smile slowly froze, and he could no longer smile.

From God's perspective, he saw that after the second young lady's breath hitched slightly, her cheeks quickly flushed red, and her cherry-colored lips parted slightly, radiating an unprecedented vitality.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her movements were so abrupt that they drew frequent glances from the other students in the garden.

She tried to hide her smile, but couldn't. The smile rose from the dimples at the corners of her mouth to the captivating curves at the corners of her eyes. A gentle breeze lifted her hair, and even the soft downy hairs on her cheeks shimmered in the warm sunlight.

In that instant, the air around her seemed to dance in unison to the girl's radiant beauty, and the whole world paled in comparison to her dazzling brilliance.

"..."

Yuan Qianye slowly opened his mouth, trying to answer something again, but still failed to speak.

It's been so long since I've seen Yukino so happy.

No, in his memory, he had never seen this side of her before.

It is both vivid and beautiful.

Unfortunately, the current Yuan Qianye is simply unable to meet her expectations.

It's like a child seeing their father carrying a bulging bag home on Children's Day, or a boy suddenly kneeling by a pond in a park on Valentine's Day.

The child thought her father had brought her a gift, and the girl covered her face with her hands, crying tears of joy, thinking that he had finally come to his senses and was going to propose to her.

But in reality, the father didn't bring back a gift, and the boy's sudden kneeling was just to tie his shoelaces.

Making the wrong move at the wrong time creates a false impression that further fuels people's excitement and anticipation, only to find out in the end that it was just wishful thinking and a misunderstanding.

This is just too cruel.

I only wanted to lighten the mood and give Yukino a little surprise, how did things turn out like this?

Now, Yuan Qianye is completely stuck here, caught in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, Yukino Yukinoshita, having received no reply from Chiyo Minamoto for a long time, slowly regained her composure.

Eriri's previous message flashed through her mind, and she suddenly realized what it meant.

Her face suddenly turned even redder, but this time it had nothing to do with the emotions that had just surged up.

She took a deep breath and sat down with her head down.

The curious or concerned stares around her now felt like thorns in her back, making it impossible for her to ignore them any longer.

Thinking back on my thoughts and expectations just now, as well as my subconscious reactions and words, I realized that they were all spoken without thinking.

That's nothing... It's like being an idiot...

From God's perspective, Yuan Qianye realized that he could no longer remain silent.

If you make a mistake, you should try to fix it.

He couldn't respond to the second young lady's expectations at the moment, but he had to think of a way, even if it was just to slightly reduce her sense of shame.

"Hello...hello? Can you hear me? The signal was bad just now. What did you say, Yukino?"

To gloss over it lightly, to pretend that nothing happened, is the greatest tenderness that Gen Chiyo can achieve.

"nothing!"

"Oh, I see. How was my magic trick performance? I guess I guess I succeeded."

"..." Yukinoshita fell silent for a moment.

Yes, we can confirm that he's not with us. So, how did he find out about our clothing style today?

The self-deceptive fantasy of surprise turned out to be a misunderstanding, but such doubts still exist.

She looked down at her shoes and reluctantly murmured, "How did you do that?"

"Since I've already said it's magic, of course I can't just tell you the secrets of it so simply."

"..." Yukinoshita took another deep breath, speaking slowly and deliberately, emphasizing each word: "I don't have much free time, I'm very busy, what do you want?"

"Nothing special, I just wanted to talk to you and have a heart-to-heart."

If Chiyo had said something like that to Yukino so directly under normal circumstances, it might have made her heart flutter slightly.

But now, knowing about his affair with Kasumigaoka, and having just been misled by him into having such shameful thoughts, she still felt extremely ashamed, even though no one she knew had witnessed that scene.

Two events that upset her in quick succession left her completely numb to his words, and she even felt a little amused.

"Compared to me, you probably have better people to talk to, people you can sit close to and observe each other's expressions closely."

The second young lady herself did not realize that her seemingly normal tone was actually tinged with a distinct bitterness.

Yuan Qianye's shoulders trembled again, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile.

"That's true, but Yukino, you're different. We're childhood friends, aren't we? If I had to choose the closest and most trusted friend from my side, it would definitely be you."

Although his cheerful expression seemed a little unserious, his words were sincere and true.

A heart fluttering without ulterior motives, the awakening of innocent emotions, and unadorned purity.

Every aspect demonstrates the undeniable value of the phrase "If only life were like the first time we met," and there's no doubt about that.

Yukino appreciated this; the things she cared about were also valued by him in the same way.

This feeling of mutual attraction is wonderful, and she's not the only one foolishly caring about it and treasuring it.

Unfortunately, this level of anger wasn't enough to calm her down instantly.

To put it more concretely, her mood bar, which was currently full of displeasure, has decreased by about a third, and the color curve has changed from bright red to vivid yellow.

The situation is not as urgent as it used to be, but we still need to be careful.

"I've discovered something."

"Ok?"

"Your speaking skills seem to be getting better and better lately. You know how to put yourself in the other person's shoes and say things that will make them happy."

"It has nothing to do with speaking skills. I just expressed my true thoughts. If there is any skill involved, it is sincerity."

"If you're being honest, tell me the techniques behind the so-called magic trick you just performed."

"The allure of magic lies in its mystery, which is really hard to explain. If you really want to know, Yukino..."

"If you really want to know?"

"Never mind, let's talk about something else."

"I have nothing to tell you."

“I have it, it’s about Shiyu.”

"Ah."

She maintained a composed demeanor, but Yukino immediately snapped out of her casual conversation and became serious.

Yuan Qianye leaned on the balcony railing, gazing at the night sky.

"Well, she's been struggling with her novel lately, and she doesn't know how to proceed with the romance between the male and female protagonists. She came to me about it, and I offered to help her by pretending to be her boyfriend to gather material and see if I could spark some new inspiration."

"Oh."

"You don't seem surprised."

"Yes, because I know... when I was talking to Eriri, it seemed like she was also listening to Rikka."

"I see..."

Why are you telling me this?

"There's no particular reason, I just felt like I wanted to tell you."

"..."

The mood bar has dropped by another third, and the color curve has changed from bright yellow to light green.

It has returned to normal values.

"There's another thing. My fame increased a bit after winning the Edogawa Rampo Award, and because of the previous train accident, my popularity surged again in a short period of time. I took on a lot of work and made quite a bit of money."

How much savings do you have right now?

"About 120 million."

“…Go on.”

Despite being somewhat prepared, she was still a little shocked and felt a little respectful when Yuan Qianye actually gave the exact number.