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

"Do you remember what I just said? It wasn't a lie to comfort you, but something that really happened."

"Huh?"

"How should I put it between Chiya and me..."

In the steam of the hot spring, Saeko's cheeks flushed slightly, her gaze drifting into the distance as she was lost in some kind of memory.

It concerned her privacy, and there were some things she didn't want to say so clearly, but now she couldn't care less about that in order to comfort Eriri.

"...Although we don't do that every time, sometimes I do get a flutter in my heart because of my personal interest, or because he does something really cool, and then I get extra excited about it... You should understand what I mean by that, right?"

Eriri's face flushed even redder, but she nodded vigorously, her azure eyes filled with not only shyness but also curiosity and disbelief.

That Saeko Busujima... that powerful, elegant, and composed Saeko-nee, could she... be just like me?

"Therefore, I often find myself in situations like what you just experienced, Eriri."

It won't be as exciting and out of control as you just described, and the quantity will definitely not be as exaggerated.

Saeko kept the second half of her sentence to herself. Right now, making Eriri happy was the priority, so there was no need to explain it to her in such a clear way.

"Is...is that really true?" Eriri's eyes widened.

If even someone as perfect as Saeko can act like this... then her own actions just now... don't seem so unusual or hard to take to heart.

“Really? I swear if you don’t believe me, this absolutely happened, and more than once.” Saeko raised her hand.

"No, no need to swear! I believe you!" Eriri quickly pulled her hand down.

But then, a more crucial question came to mind.

Eriri bit her lower lip, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "Then... what about Chiya's reaction back then?"

“Hmm, that’s counterintuitive.” Saeko smiled, but also seemed a little shy. “Chiya is indeed very clean, but she was quite, quite excited about my situation and showed a lot of joy.”

"Excited!?"

Joy?!

Eriri's toes curled up at the bottom of the hot spring pool and began to unconsciously rub against each other.

“That’s right. At that time, he showed me a kind of possessive joy that I felt was marked. It’s hard for me to describe in words, but he didn’t have the slightest bit of disgust or aversion. On the contrary, it seemed to arouse a certain… well, I should say a gentle protectiveness and a deeper affection in him.”

"...!!!"

this……!

This...this...this!!!

Eriri, it's unbelievable!

This answer completely overturned her understanding of Qianye.

The childhood friend I remember was always neat and tidy, occasionally a little picky, and would complain about her getting her hands and cuffs dirty while drawing. This is different from the Chiya that Saeko describes now, who would feel excited and happy about that kind of chaotic situation...

She always felt it was difficult to reconcile these two images and see them as the same person.

However, Saeko's statement did have some effect.

I'm not the only one experiencing this unusual situation...

With this realization, Eriri's mood, which had almost hit rock bottom, improved somewhat and she no longer felt so bad.

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.

After Saeko left, only Chiya Minamoto remained in the spa room.

He didn't rush to wipe his body or change into a bathrobe immediately, nor did he call a waiter to clean up the dampness in the room.

He's thinking about something very seriously right now.

He stretched out his right hand toward the massage bed, his fingertips getting wet again.

To confirm something, he slowly raised his fingertips, finally bringing them to a steady stop in front of him.

He stared at it without moving for a long time.

My mind starts working, imagining what would happen if we continued to get closer, or even if it actually touched my face...

A conclusion was reached quickly.

His meticulous radar malfunctioned.

Given what just happened, it seems that even if his face were completely exposed, he wouldn't have any complaints; on the contrary, he would be very happy. The fact that Chiyo is still unable to calm down is the best proof of that.

I didn't think that way about Eriri before...

Friends? Absolutely.

However, she is still somewhat different from Yukino, lacking those superfluous emotions.

In the past, he mostly regarded Eriri as a girl next door, more like Rikka.

She's so cute and adorable, it makes me worry about her and I always want to take good care of her in every way.

But now, after what just happened, Yuan Qianye has discovered that many things have changed without him even realizing it.

Eriri is no longer the little brat who cried her eyes out in Yukino's arms when he went abroad.

She has grown into a beautiful young woman with considerable advantages in all aspects.

What was once disdain has now turned into a secret joy and excitement of acceptance.

Eriri... her thighs are quite soft, her waist is slender, and although her breasts don't offer him the same unparalleled softness as Saeko's, they are small and have a unique allure.

The most important thing was indeed the shape of her little bottom, and the feeling of touching her when she was actually sitting on him... It was so comfortable it was almost intoxicating.

He had to admit that the impact and allure of that touch, mixed with the girl's unique fragrance, far exceeded his expectations.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to restrain himself from raising his waist just now.

Strictly speaking, it seems that he bears most of the responsibility for creating the current situation.

If he had followed Saeko's advice and remained quiet from beginning to end, he wouldn't be in this situation now.

But Yuan Qianye did not regret it, because this accident made him more aware of his true feelings.

Let's talk to Eriri.

he thinks.

It wasn't like now, using the guise of a massage to cover his eyes, secretly taking place in his one-sided darkness.

Unlike before, they no longer used the label of supreme friendship, like that of siblings, to subtly obscure the subtle feelings that were quietly growing.

Instead, they should find a time when they can be alone face-to-face, focused, and have ample time to have a formal, honest, and open conversation.

Regarding the subtle changes in their relationship over the years, he candidly revealed the unspoken feelings he had always kept hidden behind tonight's "accident," and finally, most importantly...

There are more possibilities for the future between them.

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.

The cleanup of the SPA room was simpler than Yuan Qianye had imagined.

I thought the staff would ask a lot of questions when they saw something unusual in the room, but in reality, they were very professional, or perhaps they were very knowledgeable. In any case, they didn't waste any words and respectfully started cleaning right away.

After leaving, Gen Chiya also went to soak in the hot spring for a while.

He didn't think Eriri was dirty, but rather that she still had slippery essential oil on her body that needed to be washed off.

Furthermore, he really needed to find a place to kill some time.

He didn't go back to his room until almost nine o'clock in the evening.

Utaha and Yukino were not mentioned, as they remained outside the situation from beginning to end and had no way of knowing about it, so of course they did not find anything unusual.

As always, Rikka was being mischievous. When she saw her older brother come back, she even dragged him over to play a game of Ludo that they had just finished.

The most important ones are Saeko and Eriri.

Ya Zi has a strong mental fortitude; you can tell from her behavior in the SPA room just now. This level of concealment is incredibly easy for her.

As for Eriri... well, if you deliberately avoid looking at her, you really won't notice anything unusual.

But if Yuan Qianye glances at her even a little longer, the situation becomes quite delicate.

It wasn't very obvious, but she looked as if she had done something wrong and was feeling extremely guilty.

Therefore, when faced with Rikka's invitation, Minamoto Chiya simply said that she was a little tired that day and made up her bed early, closing the door to rest.

This was also to consider Eriri's feelings and face. Since seeing me made her panic, it would be better to temporarily reduce the frequency of me being in front of her and let her calm down as soon as possible.

Since he had made it so clear that he needed to rest, the others naturally stopped making a fuss and quickly washed up and went to rest as well.

As a result, everyone got to rest earlier than they had ever done since arriving here that night.

Shi Yu was exhausted last night, and even after sleeping for half a day, she couldn't fully recover. So, as soon as she snuggled into bed, she fell asleep almost immediately.

As for Yako, after what happened in the spa room and then comforting Eriri for so long at the hot spring, considering her feelings, she temporarily put aside her original plan to go see her lover tonight and went to sleep obediently.

Yukino, who had taken a nap at the hotel at noon, did not close her eyes after the lights were turned off.

She deliberately remained conscious because of the abnormalities she had noticed about Eriri.

Since Eriri was perfectly normal all day yesterday, but suddenly became absent-minded after one night, and even stammered and avoided eye contact at times, something must have happened to her while she was asleep last night.

She felt that her above speculations were completely correct.

The second young lady was so certain that she lay down on the bedding in the dim light, pretending to be asleep without moving, but in reality she was observing her room and especially Eriri's situation with great alertness.

This did indeed lead her to discover some things.

Rikka fell asleep quickly, but her sleeping posture wasn't very good, and she kept changing positions.

Eriri was the same. Yukino silently observed her and saw her tossing and turning, unable to sleep, and then taking out her phone and silently looking at something.

But that's all there is to it.

Yukino kept an eye on the time until after midnight, and seeing that Eriri had put down her phone and gone to sleep, she was unable to discover any other special circumstances that she had originally thought of.

Was I wrong from the very beginning...?

With that thought in mind, Yukino finally succumbed to sleepiness and drifted off to sleep.

The following day, an unexpected situation arose during the trip.

Early in the morning, Eriri was breathing rapidly with her eyes closed. She clearly heard someone calling her to get up, but she felt groggy and her body was not under her control.