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

Rikka narrowed her eyes knowingly, smiling like a little fox, replied "OK," and after asking the two what drinks they wanted, she left with Eriri.

“Perfect timing, I also have something to tell you.” Yukino’s hand gestures were the same as Minamoto Chiyo’s, but her movements were slow and deliberate, making her look more ladylike: “After finishing my homework last night, I stayed up until after 2 a.m. to finish reading your new work.”

Yuan Qianye nodded, indicating that he was listening attentively.

"The shock of reading to the end, of learning the criminal's true motives..."

Yukino paused, seemingly searching for the most appropriate adjective.

"...It's like standing on the edge of a bottomless abyss, facing the deep darkness, which sends chills down your spine. Although your new work still falls into the category of suspense and mystery, its analysis of human nature is penetrating to the bone. I personally feel that after this novel is published, your name and the name of this work may once again appear on the headlines of major news newspapers."

Yuan Qianye put down the wet wipe: "I don't care about news headlines or anything like that. I care more about your opinion. What do you think of the quality of this new work?"

"The quality is very high."

"And what about me, the one who wrote this novel?"

After a moment of silence, Yukino lowered her eyes, sighed helplessly, and said in a reverent tone, "That's impressive too."

Yuan Qianye nodded with satisfaction. That's the good thing about the Second Miss. Because her belief is absolute justice, she is honest and frank. She will not say anything against her conscience in order to please others, and she would never lie.

Unlike Shiyu, who was so comfortable that her consciousness was about to collapse, she still bit her lip and stubbornly said something like "Not comfortable at all... Ohhhhhhh!!" when faced with her own question.

When faced with a tender inquiry from someone who is genuinely concerned and asks if they should be gentler, they force themselves to maintain a facade of composure and appear completely at ease, even giving a dismissive look as if to save face.

Honestly, the more defiant she is, the more I want to bully her.

So it's not Shiyu's fault that he didn't come to school today and stayed home instead.

He may bear some responsibility, but the primary responsibility is definitely not on his side.

I wonder if the Second Miss will react exactly the same way she does now if she encounters a similar situation in the future.

Based on her personality, she might answer, but she'll probably be too ashamed to look at herself, so she'll either cover her face with her hands or hide under the covers.

Oh no, just thinking about that look is incredibly cute...

"What are you grinning about?" Yukino's disapproving look interrupted his thoughts.

Yuan Qianye quickly composed herself: "Of course I'm happy to hear you praise me, what's wrong with that?"

Of course, no problem.

However, his words made Yukino feel a little uncomfortable.

She used to not think there was anything wrong with being happy when he praised her, but now that he has a girlfriend, many things are completely different from before.

She turned her face away, looking out at the deepening twilight: "You haven't signed a title for your new book yet. Don't you have a concrete idea yet?"

"I already have an idea, but I'd like to hear your opinion before I answer. What title would you give this novel?"

These words made Yukino think about them very seriously. She slowly said, "If it were me, names like 'motive,' 'perjury,' or 'unfounded crime' would all be taken into consideration."

Yuan Qianye nodded: "The title does fit the novel's content quite well, but considering the reader's experience and impact, my first choice is still 'malice'."

“Malice…” Yukino murmured a few times, her beautiful eyes shining slightly.

This word seems to possess a certain magic; when it is uttered, one can feel the profoundness and weight it contains.

The deepest malice often arises under the brightest sunlight; it can devour all that is beautiful, just to prove the existence of shadow itself.

The title of this book brings an undeniable certainty and gets straight to the heart of the matter, making it far more suitable and perfect than her few superficial proposals.

After a moment of silence, Yukino gazed intently at Chiya and said, unable to deny it, "You really are a genius."

Her earnest praise made Yuan Qianye a little embarrassed, since this was not his personal intellectual property, but rather he had simply taken the idea of ​​a famous writer from another world and used it for his own purposes: "Alright, let's get back to business."

He took a stack of stapled documents out of his bag, placed them on the table, and then pushed them in front of Yukino.

Yukino's gaze fell on the document: "This is..."

"It's just a simple cooperation agreement," Yuan Qianye explained.

"An agreement?" Yukino frowned slightly. She felt that helping him with this favor didn't need to be so complicated, requiring the signing of an agreement or something.

"I can roughly understand what she's thinking," Yuan Qianye explained.

"This is different from the commissions that the Service Department has taken on in the past. It is a commercial commission that is outside the scope of basic mutual assistance among students on campus. The time and energy you put in cannot be compared with before. So I can't let you help out of thin air. I will definitely give you a certain amount of compensation. Therefore, the general terms must be listed out. From a macro perspective, clarifying our respective rights, responsibilities and expectations in advance can also minimize unnecessary conflicts and disagreements between us later."

“I agree with your idea, but I don’t need your payment. No matter what kind of request it is, I will not accept payment. This is something that was decided when the Service Club was first established.” Yukino answered immediately, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Once money is involved, the Ministry of Service is no longer pure, and its nature is completely changed.

But what she didn't realize was that when she answered, she subconsciously straightened her back, and the unique pride and unquestionable attitude that a top student naturally exuded made her even more adorable in Yuan Qianye's eyes.

She was clearly sticking to her principles, but her cheeks were slightly puffed out because she was too serious. Even when she straightened her back, her chest was only slightly puffed out, which showed a kind of childlike stubbornness. It was admirable and made people want to cheer her on silently.

Large items offer a sense of security and inclusivity, while small items possess their own unique charm.

“There’s no need to deny it so quickly.” Gen Chiyo raised his hand to gesture for Yukino to calm down and listen to him first: “If you don’t accept this reward, what about Eriri?”

"What do you mean?"

“From my very first novel, I’ve been getting Eriri’s help. She turned down a lot of commercial illustration jobs to focus on drawing illustrations and character designs for my novels. Of course, I pay her for it afterwards. Do you see anything wrong with that?”

“No problem, but Eriri’s situation is different from mine. I’m doing this for you voluntarily, based on my own feelings…”

"Let's put that aside for now and focus on Eriri's perspective. I'll naturally ask her to help with the novel project. If you refuse payment, what will she do?"

You think her situation is different from yours, but she won't think that way. She'll just think, "Yukino is also Chiya's friend. Yukino doesn't accept any payment, so wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to accept payment?"

From a factual standpoint, she did put in the effort, but because she's also considering our feelings, she's caught in a dilemma, torn between two options.

Yukino's mind was incredibly quick; she instantly understood Chiya's meaning and swiftly grasped the logic behind it—

If Eriri insists on sticking to her current idea of ​​helping without expecting anything in return, then she will find herself in a very awkward situation.

Eriri might feel embarrassed to accept the reward she deserves because of her friendship.

This is completely unfair, and it's not the situation Yukino wanted to see.

Friends are friends, and business is business; clear boundaries are good for both parties.

From a rational perspective, this is indeed a correct idea.

But, for Eriri's sake, should I also make money from Chiya?

From this moment on, their relationship became intertwined with monetary transactions.

It's hard to describe the feeling, but Yukino felt quite uncomfortable after realizing this fact.

It was as if something extremely pure had been defiled...

Yukino lowered her head, her black hair slipping down her shoulders and obscuring her profile.

From Yuan Qianye's perspective, you can see her slightly pursing her cherry-colored thin lips, her curled eyelashes trembling gently.

“I understand you might find this hard to accept, so here’s my thought.”

At this moment, Yuan Qianye slowly proposed a solution.

"The agreement does state that I need to pay you accordingly based on your workload, but that's what it says. In reality, I won't pay you. That's fine."

Upon hearing this, Yukino immediately looked up: "You mean..."

"Well, I won't follow the terms of the compensation agreement, and you'll just accept it. As long as we both understand each other without any objections, and Eriri can receive her share of the compensation without feeling guilty, then there won't be any problem, right?"

Yukino was persuaded and nodded after a long silence: "Okay, I understand."

She really admired him; he always considered everyone's feelings in such a thoughtful way, including protecting Eriri's interests in such a gentle manner.

This gentleness was what she cherished and longed for most.

But now, that tenderness can no longer belong exclusively to her.

“Alright, take a look at the details first. I’ll give Eriri a copy later so she can sign it too.” Gen Chiyo smiled. “I know this is a bit of a hassle, but even if it’s just for my sake, since I’m a junior manager now, the more I handle these kinds of documents, the more skilled I’ll be when signing real contracts with others in the future.”

"Mm." Yukino responded, temporarily suppressing the complex emotions surging within her, and picked up the document.

The paper feels thick and the printing is clear.

Turning to the blank first page, the second page reveals the title—"Literary Creation Assistance Agreement," with Yuan Qianye as Party A and Yukinoshita Yukinoshi as Party B. The format is standardized, the terms are clear, and it does not look like it was hastily drafted.

She read through the clauses line by line; many of them were not complicated, but they were quite thoughtful.

This includes her scope of work in subsequent collaborations, including but not limited to initial review of the manuscript, basic text proofreading, and providing her own opinions from a reader's perspective on the flow of the plot and the characters' dialogue.

The time allotted for assisting with the work and the specific delivery dates were all taken into consideration for her needs.

The document, written in bold and black font, outlined the subsequent assistance process, emphasizing that Party A would prioritize Party B's studies and personal time, and that the assistance progress would be fully coordinated with Party B's pace, requiring only regular updates. It also stipulated a general timeframe for reviewing the first draft and providing feedback, leaving ample room for flexibility.

Despite being described as a simple cooperation agreement by Yuan Qianye himself, it contained a considerable amount of content.

The densely packed terms and conditions took up seven pages. In addition to the above, there were also very formal confidentiality clauses, details of remuneration, cooperation period, and so on.

Even though Yukino reads very quickly, she couldn't read it all carefully in a short time and could only skim through it.

During this time, Eriri Rikka brought back a few glasses of juice and drinks. When she returned to the table and saw that the two of them were still talking, she wisely went back to get the food, leaving the two of them alone to talk.

Before long, Yukino turned to the last page, where the signature section was located below the terms and conditions.

The first party has already signed the neat and elegant three characters "Yuan Qianye," leaving the date blank, while the second party has left it blank, awaiting her decision.

To be fair, although it is a simple agreement, the terms are complete. If it weren't for the lack of the crucial section on liability for breach of contract, it would almost give the impression of a formal contract.

Everything seemed to be going well.

But what's with this subtle sense of unease...?

Yukino looked at Chiya, who was casually scrolling through his phone while drinking a beverage. Noticing her gaze, he returned a clean and natural smile.

But it was precisely this seemingly ordinary smile that set off alarm bells in Yukino's heart.

Over the years, she had been tricked by this guy with such seemingly harmless starting moves too many times, so she couldn't afford to be careless.

She glanced at the terms of the document in her hand again, her instincts telling her that he might have planted some traps within it.

Is it because the confidentiality clauses are too detailed that you feel uncomfortable?

No, even though he had told me he trusted me, I wouldn't let this affect my emotions.

Although it might sound like she's bragging, she really isn't the kind of person who's petty.

Well, in areas other than romantic relationships.

So, where exactly is it...?

Yukino examined the agreement in her hand even more carefully.