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

Eriri and Rikka's faces were both flushed. They had just been speeding across the sea at such a high speed, and their bodies and minds were so refreshed that they couldn't help but shout and yell happily for a long time.

On the way back, Rikka touched her throat and exclaimed excitedly, "I'm so happy! My throat is a little dry from shouting. It's a pity that Yukino and Utaha didn't come with me."

Rikka's eyes lit up when she saw a fresh juice stall on the beach.

Following her gaze, Yuan Qianye said knowingly, "I'll go buy it. You guys go back and rest first. There are other activities later."

"Okay, I want watermelon juice!"

"Okay, got it." As soon as Yuan Qianye finished speaking, he turned to Eriri and said, "Let's go then."

He mentioned Eriri in a very natural tone, continuing their teammate pairing from the sea.

"what?"

After a brief moment of surprise, Eriri subconsciously took a half step back.

Wait, instead of calling out to Saeko-nee, they dragged me along... Could it be...?

At this delicate moment, Eriri found it hard not to connect the situation with the things she had been secretly doing.

Yes, Qianye is very smart. Even the police couldn't figure out the suicide case that was kept in the dark. He only took a few glances at the scene and deduced the rather hidden truth!

So what I did... even though Saeko-nee was there to cover for me, from a retrospective perspective, it was full of loopholes!

The most obvious difference is her significantly larger size compared to Saeko's!

In the spa room, whether it was the moment she sat on Qianye's lap or the moment she collapsed onto Qianye's chest due to exhaustion... with Qianye's intelligent mind and keen senses, it's hard to imagine that he didn't notice anything unusual!

So now that he's so obviously trying to get to be alone with me, it's quite obvious that we can draw a very clear conclusion—

He had clearly discovered something and was now going to confront him!

Help! Snowman!

However, Yukino is currently more than a hundred meters away and has no way to help Eriri, who is in such a desperate situation.

So, there's only one choice left...

Eriri looked at Saeko as if grasping at a last straw, her eyes filled with a pitiful, pleading light!

But Saeko just looked at her gently, and Rikka ignored her obvious gaze as well.

"Then we'll go back and wait for you. Thank you, Eriri."

"I don't mind if you add a little more sugar to my watermelon juice, please."

"Ah... um, that..."

Eriri timidly reached out her hand.

Saeko and Rikka didn't even glance at her, chatting and laughing as they handed over the task of making the juice.

Seeing Saeko's "heartless" attitude, Eriri felt dizzy, her body went weak, and she could hardly stand.

With lightning speed, Yuan Qianye helped her up: "Eri, are you alright?"

"Sorry, I didn't..."

No! This is a golden opportunity! A perfect chance to escape!

Eriri instantly switched into Daiyu's mode, resting her hand on her forehead and acting frail: "I...I think something's wrong. My head is a little dizzy. It must be because my fever from yesterday hasn't completely gone away yet."

"Really?" Yuan Qianye reached out and touched her head. "Your body temperature seems normal, and you were shouting loudly and energetically just like Rikka when you were at sea."

"Well... it's probably because I got too carried away and overdid it back then, that's why it's like that now, it seems a little worse." She glanced cautiously at Qianye out of the corner of her eye: "Sorry, I probably won't be able to go buy juice with you, so I'll..."

"With your health like this, why are you buying juice?"

After he finished speaking, Eriri didn't react at all. She only felt her body lighten, and the next moment she found herself being picked up by him.

"Let's go straight to the nearby hospital." Yuan Qianye walked quickly.

"Ah! No need, no need!"

Eriri panicked completely, her little feet flailing wildly in the air.

"I'm actually fine, Chiya!"

"Hmm?" Yuan Qianye looked at her suspiciously.

"Um, I mean, although I feel a little dizzy, it shouldn't be anything serious! I don't need to go to the hospital at all, I just need to rest for a while!"

"Is that right?"

"That's right! I know my own body best, so don't worry! Um... put me down now, I'll go back to the beach chair, sit down and rest for a while and I'll be absolutely, absolutely fine."

Yuan Qianye stared at her silently for a few seconds.

Eriri felt uneasy under his gaze, her eyes darting around, unable to meet his eyes at all.

Yuan Qianye finally breathed a sigh of relief and did as instructed.

Eriri put her feet back on the ground and, without further hesitation, pointed towards Yukino and the others: "Chiya, you don't need to worry too much. Well then, I'll go back and meet up with everyone..."

Seeing that Chiyo didn't intend to hold her back any longer, Eriri turned around, initially taking two tentative steps before her pace quickened, her escape becoming increasingly obvious.

"Eriri." Minamoto Chiyo suddenly spoke, causing Eriri to freeze in place, her fleeing steps halting abruptly.

"Let me be blunt, have you been intentionally avoiding me these past few days?"

…………

Volume 2: Chapter 156: I Have a Friend (6k) (7)

Eriri, who had already run more than ten meters, eventually came back.

Chiyo's question was too sharp, hitting the core of the problem that Eriri wanted to hide the most.

This made it impossible for her to simply leave.

"What are you talking about! Why would I possibly hide from you!"

You're stuttering like this, baby...

Yuan Qianye was still too gentle and didn't point it out: "I was just asking casually, you don't need to be so nervous."

"Hahaha... Nervous? Why would I be nervous? It's strange that you, Qianye, suddenly brought up such unfounded things! Why would you suddenly think like that?"

"It's just a feeling, but lately the distance between us isn't like it used to be... How should I put it, I'll just say what I think."

"Well... of course, we're not kids anymore, especially since you, Chiyo, are already officially dating Saeko-nee, hahaha..."

Eriri, who was in a tense state and trying her best to deny Chiya's statement, did not notice that her tone suddenly rose a lot, and her forced honest laughter, which was meant to emphasize that she was not lying, seemed so abrupt.

In short, it was a very difficult task.

"Really? So you're saying, Eriri, you weren't actually avoiding me, and all my feelings were just my imagination?"

"Of course!"

Yuan Qianye stared at her subtly.

Eriri straightened her chest and forced herself to meet his probing gaze in order to show her composure.

A few beads of sweat still trickled down his forehead.

The expression on Yuan Qianye's face, which seemed to be about to say something extremely important, suddenly relaxed: "Ah, it's nothing then. I thought I had done something unintentionally that made you hate or angry."

Eriri breathed a sigh of relief: "How could that be! I should thank you for taking me to the hospital earlier, but I was having so much fun that I forgot to say it."

"I see. Since I was wrong, then let's pretend I didn't say anything. Also, let's take this opportunity to make things clear. If the situation I just mentioned really happens between us in the future, Eriri, you must tell me directly and don't hide anything from me."

"Of course, that's what I've always done!"

"Go and rest."

"Qianye, you're all alone..."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems."

"Then slow down."

This unexpected conversation ended with Eriri turning away, secretly relieved.

It wasn't that Yuan Qianye gave up halfway, but rather that he keenly sensed the killing intent emanating from over a hundred meters away—

Shiyu, who was originally leaning against the beach chair, sat up after noticing what was happening on their side and stared straight at them.

Yes, the key to solving Eriri's problem lies not only with her, but also with other external factors.

The main problem is that the sun is shining brightly in the afternoon, and the two of them are just standing on the beach chatting. It's not only hot, but it's also not very private in a public place with people coming and going. They should find a more suitable opportunity later.

For example, he would secretly call her out at night, and the two of them would sit down at a small square table in the hotel restaurant and chat quietly without any distractions.

Oh, and there's also Saeko... whether to confront her directly or continue playing dumb is another question...

Things seem to be getting more and more complicated.

Watching Eriri's departing figure, Chiya Minamoto began to feel troubled, but there was nothing he could do.

The reason why a dream is a dream is because of the unpredictability and complexity of the journey to its realization.

There's no point in rushing things at this stage; we can only take it one step at a time.

That's what Yuan Qianye thought, but he couldn't find a suitable opportunity for the rest of the trip.

From that afternoon onward, Shiwa became more wary and vigilant, and any slightly intimate contact between him and Eriri was strictly guarded against.

In addition to this, the factor of multiple people participating in the activity was also a huge obstacle in his path.

Although from his clear perspective, it's evident that Saeko made many attempts in this regard, ultimately, it depends on the individual's perspective.

Eriri has been avoiding the issue, so there really isn't a better solution.

But the journey must eventually come to an end, and the situation that made it inconvenient for Chiya to take action, while allowing Eriri to easily avoid it, eventually arrived.

The trip started on July 26th, and a week later it was August 2nd.

The original plan was to travel for a week, but unfortunately, I got involved in a murder case, which caused some delays in the trip, so I had to extend it by an extra day.

During this time, they explored the caves on the shore of the sacred land, took a sightseeing boat to enjoy the sea view, went to the seafood market to buy fresh ingredients to try cooking themselves, went to the nearby city of Kuji to experience the Ama (female divers) culture, enjoyed the different sections of the coastline, and also bought local amber handicrafts...

Overall, the parade was quite successful.

Aside from the fact that Yuan Qianye was somewhat unsatisfied in the latter half of the journey, the reason was that Shi Yu, having learned from the previous experience, refused to come to him at night anymore.

Saeko's side suddenly went silent, perhaps because of Eriri's situation, which made Chiya Minamoto quite upset.