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

Rikka quickly invited the deliveryman in. After confirming that the goldfish tank was placed near the French windows in the living room, she didn't need to worry about the rest. The deliveryman installed and adjusted it himself, and she just watched from the side.

"As expected, it was Chiya who bought it."

Rikka pulled a photocopy of a payment slip from the package, which had Chiya's signature on it.

Saeko chimed in, "So Chiya likes these things too."

Rikka shook her head: "I don't know. I've never seen him interested in these things before. I caught a few goldfish at the night market and put them in a basin, but he didn't even glance at them. Maybe his sister wanted to buy one for the house when he went out yesterday. It would be a nice decoration for the empty living room."

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

Saeko discovered the blind spot.

"Qianye went out with Toka-nee yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Rikka, why didn't you come along?"

"Don't even mention it, I'm super unhappy too. We went to such a nice restaurant, went to the arcade, won so many plush toys, and even took group photos. They didn't even include me in all that fun!"

"Oh, I see..."

Looking at Rikka, who was standing with her arms crossed and puffed out in a huff.

Saeko Busujima looked up at the ceiling, then glanced at the fish tank that was being filled with water.

A woman's intuition told her something was wrong, but a lack of evidence prevented her from being sure.

The following week.

Kasumigaoka Utaha and Sawamura Eriri remain at loggerheads.

At the same time, a rather peculiar tacit understanding was reached.

Whenever one of them is present, the other will always follow.

Verbal battles, both overt and covert, are indispensable.

But the scene of the two of them holding hands and pinching each other, like last weekend, never happened again.

Perhaps after the fight, both of them realized that they had no way to suppress each other on their own.

If both sides are evenly matched and neither can gain the upper hand, there's no need to waste time and effort.

It is both exhausting and undignified.

On such a day, on Thursday, Gen Chiya, having made all the necessary preparations, officially submitted the first part of his Four Bodies to the Hayakawa Science Fiction Award committee.

If it weren't for the award's requirement that the word count for entries be limited, he would have really wanted to combine the second part with the first part and submit it together.

In his view, the combined brilliance of these two works is far greater than the sum of its parts.

But rules are rules, and Japanese people are generally quite conservative, so there's no need to be so concerned about such things.

The main quest here is complete; all that's left is to wait for the outcome.

Time flew by and Saturday arrived.

Today, Yuan Qianye finally has work to do after a long time. She will be going to a newly developed seaside resort to shoot an advertisement.

A group of girls he was close to would also go along.

…………

Chapter 192: Their Intensive Preparations

"Whoa! I'm awake!"

On Saturday morning, just as dawn was breaking, Rikka, who was extremely excited and woke up earlier than usual, jumped right out of her bed.

Without even changing out of her pajamas, she rushed straight out of her room to Qianye's room.

"Chiya, wake up... Hey, where is everyone?"

The first thing I saw was neatly folded bedding; I didn't see anyone else.

"Thump thump thump" I hurried downstairs again, only to see my older sister busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen, currently tasting miso soup on a plate.

Hearing the noise, the black-winged creature on the coffee table looked up briefly, then quickly lowered its head again to focus on eating its walnuts.

"Sister, where is Qianye?"

"He has a job, so he can't be as leisurely as us. He just finished eating and left first, but Miss Kudo picked him up."

When Shika mentioned this, Liuhua noticed that there were indeed unwashed dishes on the table.

Shi Hua waved to her.

"Come over and help me taste it, see how it is?"

"It's fish and tofu soup... Absolutely amazing! The texture and rich flavor are superb. With this skill, you could even open your own shop or become a gourmet."

"You're so happy just to go out and have fun? You're such a smooth talker."

Just like Qianye...

But opening a shop or becoming a food connoisseur...

Shika paused for a moment, lost in thought, because of her sister's words.

"I'm telling the truth. My sister has all these qualities. She's beautiful and a great cook. I wonder which man will end up with her."

"Alright, alright, enough with the compliments. Go change your clothes and check what you need to bring. I'll get everything ready after breakfast. We need to meet up with the others. Excitement is fine, but don't be rude and late."

"Okay!"

Liu Hua rushed into the bathroom to wash up.

Shihua absentmindedly served the food and placed it on the table.

I don't know which man will end up getting the better deal...

She sighed wistfully, unable to articulate her exact feelings at that moment.

Why did that guy's face immediately pop into my mind?

The Takanashi sisters were making a ruckus early this morning.

The Sawamura family is in a similar situation.

"...Sunscreen OK, swimming goggles OK, sunglasses OK, sun hat OK, swimsuit OK."

Eriri is currently checking the various items she has for this trip.

She was in a great mood as she counted the items and put them into her backpack.

Mrs. Sawamura, standing beside her, watched her daughter's joyful expression with a beaming smile, genuinely happy for her as well.

However, considering the details of the trip to the beach that she had gleaned from her daughter, she felt that as a mother, she should offer some advice based on her own experience.

Thinking this, she took out the swimsuit that Eriri had just put in her backpack.

"Eri, isn't this swimsuit a bit outdated?"

Eriri was taken aback by what she heard, then panicked somewhat, quickly taking the book from her mother's hand and unfolding it to examine it.

"Hey, is it outdated? I just bought this last year, I think it's really cute."

"It is indeed very cute, but the light orange color, plus the complicated lace fabric on the edge of the swimsuit, doesn't it seem a bit too flashy? It gives off a childish vibe, doesn't it? Eriri, you'll be a high school student soon, Mom thinks it would be better if you chose a more mature style that's a bit more adult-oriented."

"Hey! What should we do then?"

Eriri hurriedly threw her swimsuit on the bed and rushed to the wardrobe, pulling open the drawer.

Unlike underwear, which is an everyday necessity, swimsuits are not something you can own that many sets of.

She then pulled out three more items. Two of them were old and obviously too small, and the third was similar in style to the one she had left on the bed, only in a different color.

"Oh no! Mom, why didn't you remind me sooner? What am I going to do now? We're about to meet up with everyone. Is it too late to buy swimwear now? Wait, there probably aren't any swimwear stores open at this time!"

Eriri was on the verge of tears, and at that moment she let out a desperate wail.

"Honestly, it's all your fault, Mom! Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

"You child, how can you blame your mother for not being prepared in advance?"

Despite her words, seeing her good-for-nothing daughter with tears welling up in her eyes, looking as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment, Mrs. Sawamura finally softened. After all, she was the apple of her eye, and she gave up the idea of ​​teasing or making fun of her.

"I knew this would happen, so Mom prepared everything in advance. Ta-da! Look at this!"

Mrs. Sawamura picked up a delicate little paper bag from her desk.

Eriri immediately perked up, her pitiful look vanished, and she rushed over to open it.

All the anxiety vanished, replaced by a shyness stemming from a lack of confidence.

"Mom...isn't this...too...too...daring?"

There were two swimsuits in the paper bag, one was flawless pure white, and the other was refreshing navy blue.

But no matter which outfit it was, they all seemed too thin and flimsy. If she actually wore them, she felt that her body would be more than 90% exposed.

One swimsuit has a front-tie top, while the other skips the neck or shoulder ties and is just a narrow strip, which should feel similar to a corset when worn.

Both sets of bottoms consist of two narrow triangular pieces, which are not the regular style and need to be tied up from the side.

She had never worn this style before and felt she couldn't pull it off at all.

"Don't be daring. Isn't this how girls dress these days? My Eriri is so pretty, she'll definitely suit it too."

"But……"

"There's no 'but' about it. Eriri, you're just a little unsure because you've never worn something like this before. Take your clothes off now, and we'll try it on first, then you'll understand."

"..."

Eriri clutched her light swimsuit, her lips pressed tightly together, her expression still quite hesitant.

Mrs. Sawamura leaned close to her ear and said something as if she were bewitching her.

"With so many girls coming with you this time, don't you want Qianye's eyes to stay fixed on you the whole time?"