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

Only now did he have time to look at his plans for tomorrow and his personal matters.

The latest message was sent by the maid around 11:00 AM.

A chart clearly outlined her daily work schedule for the coming week, including the specific times and tasks.

With her schedule packed full, Yuan Qianye glanced at it briefly and realized that she wouldn't have a single free moment during the day for the next week.

Therefore, it was impossible to bring up the matter of going out to meet him again as before.

Yuan Qianye had mixed feelings.

Although he always felt that Haruno and Toka, who now had formal jobs in addition to their studies, were working very hard, they were not as busy as the maid who was extremely busy.

The Shinomiya family are truly inhuman. Because they are powerful, they have been taking advantage of her since she was a child, treating her like she's not even human.

However, as he said before, no matter how much he felt sorry for Hayasaka, he still wanted to help her out of that situation. But she herself did not have such thoughts because of the young lady of the Shinomiya family, who now couldn't live without her.

What can we do...? We should respect Hayasaka's wishes, show her more concern, and just let it go.

However, the maid can't even find time to go out and meet him during the day, so how can she provide proper care?

From a god-like perspective, spanning most of the city, Yuan Qianye saw the maid lying on her side on the bed in a pitch-black room.

There weren't any particularly exciting developments today.

She simply held her phone, browsing his personal account page, looking at the photos and short videos about him posted by Rikka, and occasionally a knowing smile appeared on her lips.

Seeing this, Yuan Qianye felt even more heartache and also began to complain about the young lady.

If it weren't for her, the maid wouldn't be so overworked.

He typed it out and sent it.

[Yuan Qianye: Are you asleep?]

[Hayasaka Ai: Not yet.]

It recovered almost instantly.

Immediately afterwards—

[Hayasaka Ai: Is now a good time? I'd like to hear your voice.]

…………

Volume 2: Chapter 200: Why Don't I Just Come See You? (5k)

Gen Chiya turned his gaze to the room and glanced over.

Yang Nai was so exhausted that her voice was hoarse, and her physical strength had obviously run out halfway through. At this moment, she was lying heavily among the messy bedding.

It would be more accurate to say she has fallen into a deep sleep rather than a peaceful one.

In this situation, she has absolutely no chance of waking up, so naturally there's nothing inconvenient about it.

It must be said that his super physical abilities played a very strong role at this time.

Without any hesitation, Yuan Qianye dialed the number directly.

"Ah, Chiya, they've attacked directly..."

The maid's slightly rising intonation betrayed her true emotions, and in fact, she was indeed very happy.

For her, the message she had just sent, which was meant to test the waters, was not something she had much hope for.

After all, it's so late. Logically, he should already be resting, or... busy with something else.

"Because I also want to hear Ai-chan's voice."

"...!"

This line was the decisive blow, especially when paired with Yuan Qianye's voice, which sounded somewhat languid, gentle, and even a little bit hoarse from the recent performance.

Hayasaka Ai had been working hard all day, starting early this morning and leading her subordinates in preparing for the important banquet that evening.

After the evening ended, I spent some more time playing around with the young lady in the bathroom. Even after returning to my room, I couldn't completely relax. I still had to stay on edge and report Kaguya's performance and schedule to that old geezer...

Therefore, she was already exhausted, feeling extremely fatigued.

So she quickly washed up and lay in bed looking through Qianye's account that night, just wanting to relax and gain some mental satisfaction, thinking that she would stop for today and not do anything special.

But now, hearing Chiya's voice, and hearing him express his longing so directly to her... Hayasaka Ai felt that the dam she had been holding up, called "reason," was instantly breached by the surging emotions.

She recalled their passionate kisses and embraces that had almost melted each other... Deep within her body, an uncontrollable emptiness and longing began to rise again.

This state is like a normal office worker who is exhausted after a long day at get off work. He originally planned to go straight to sleep, but when he sees suggestive videos in bed at night, he can't help but think that he was really tired today, so he might as well reward himself and turns to open the browser...

Although it might be a bit too blunt, the role that Yuan Qianye, who took the initiative to call at this moment, played in the maid's emotional journey was not much different from that of those generous teachers.

It's so easy to precisely evoke the deepest, most uncontrollable stirrings and desires within a person's heart at the moment when they are most exhausted and most yearning for comfort.

"Sorry, I had some things to take care of tonight, so it got very late and I couldn't see your message right away."

At Minamoto Chiya's words, Hayasaka Ai abruptly withdrew her hand, which had been slowly reaching down from under the thin blanket.

"No, no, that's not true. I should be apologizing. You're so busy and I still bothered you by calling. Don't you...shouldn't you get some rest?"

"Don't worry, I was thinking of calling you tonight. We haven't been able to meet up for a while. Actually, if possible, I don't want things to stay like this. I want to meet up with you face to face and talk."

"Yeah, me too..."

My longing to see you is so intense that it's affecting my work, and even the young lady noticed it.

A useful maid mask can only conceal facial expressions, but it can't hide a dazed state.

"Ai-chan too, we're on the same page... Well then, I have an idea about this."

Your work mainly focuses on the day and night. During the day, you need to stay by that young lady's side constantly, and at night you often need to accompany her to various banquets or classes, is that correct?

“Yes,” Hayasaka Ai replied briefly, though a slight thought stirred within her.

In reality, as Kaguya Shinomiya's most trusted personal maid, her daily work involves far more than just these tasks; upon closer examination, it can amount to dozens of items.

However, there's no need to explain this so clearly at this time.

"Recently, I've been fortunate to receive recognition and support from readers because of the release of my new novel. With the help of the news media, my popularity has reached a new level. Lately, I've had an endless work schedule, and my free time is completely filled. I can't stop at all, which is why I only have time to call you at this time. I think you're the same as me in this regard."

"Ah."

Although they weren't speaking face-to-face and there was no need to be so particular about etiquette, the maid still got out of bed, leaned against the headboard, and nodded subconsciously.

"It's the same on my end. For some reason, the young lady's brothers have been actively increasing their contact with her lately, and her schedule has become much busier with social engagements. But no matter how busy she is, the young lady needs to ensure she gets enough sleep to maintain a healthy routine, so she has to go to bed before 11 p.m. every night. That's her bottom line."

"And after that, it's all over for you."

"It's not that I'm against it, because sometimes I have to continue to handle some things after the young lady has rested, which will take some time. But even so, I usually finish completely before midnight."

After saying this, Hayasaka Ai could clearly hear Minamoto Chiya on the other end of the phone seem to sigh softly.

The sigh made her feel uneasy for a moment.

However, Yuan Qianye did not say anything that would worry her. Instead, his tone remained as relaxed as before: "I understand. It's similar to my situation. Me too. The end of the day's work does not mean the day is over. After I come back at night, I also have to study or read to recharge myself. I usually don't finish until around 11 or 12 o'clock every day."

Looking at it this way, our schedules actually overlap significantly in many ways, don't they?

"That's how it is..." Hayasaka Ai said with a hint of disappointment.

This is why the two of them haven't been able to go out and date together recently, unlike before, with a slightly longer but controllable and stable plan.

Both of them were so busy they barely had time to breathe, they had no free time at all.

There used to be hope, but now there's no hope at all.

Yuan Qianye's tone rose slightly: "However, our work and rest time overlap significantly, which is actually quite good."

Hayasaka Ai, as if reminded of this, seemed to understand something: "Chiya, you mean..."

Before formally revealing her thoughts, Yuan Qianye felt it was necessary to explain to herself: "What I'm about to say is simply because I want to see you. There is absolutely no ill intention involved, so please don't feel too much pressure."

“It doesn’t matter if I have it!” Hayasaka Ai said decisively.

Realizing she might have blurted out her true feelings, she quickly tried to backtrack: "...I, I mean...I believe in Qianye, I believe you would never hurt me, so whatever you're thinking, you can tell me directly."

"Then I'll just say what I'm thinking. Ai-chan, you've probably already guessed it... Since we can't meet during the day or at night, how about we do it now, late at night, when we both have time and can talk freely?"

Hayasaka Ai was very interested in Minamoto Chiya's suggestion, extremely interested!

Even if her rational mind is screaming that this is crazy, it will further reduce her already insufficient sleep time and make her, who is already exhausted from high-intensity work, even more depleted of her energy.

Unfortunately, after the initial excitement, practical problems immediately surfaced.

Even if she could overcome her physical exhaustion and was willing to sacrifice her sleep for him, Qianye's proposal still couldn't bypass other more serious concerns.

"Chiya... I'm so glad you went to all this trouble for me, but... it's probably not so easy for me to go out late at night."

Hayasaka Ai, fearing he might overthink and misunderstand that she didn't want to see him, immediately began to explain.

"Because of the young lady's identity... her situation is somewhat special. Over the years, she has actually suffered many attacks or harassments from unknown people. Therefore, the head of the family ordered that the Shinomiya Villa be equipped with the highest level of protective measures."

There are highly trained professionals on guard shifts here every night. Even as the head maid, I am subject to strict regulations. If I don't have a valid reason and report in advance... I can't leave the villa late at night."

“I understand, that’s why I didn’t want you to go out. Besides, I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you go out so late, not to mention that the time spent on the road would affect the little rest time you have left.”

Such considerate words warmed Hayasaka Ai's heart once again: "So you mean..."

“I’ll just come find you,” Yuan Qianye said matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" Hayasaka was genuinely stunned: "But... although I am in charge of all the affairs around the young lady, the security work of the Shinomiya Villa is a completely independent department, directly responsible to the head of the family."

If it were daytime... I'd like to come up with some excuses that might get them to cooperate and let you in as a guest or a friend visiting.

But late at night... that's completely impossible. Those guards only follow rules and orders; they won't make exceptions.

She explained it in such detail in an attempt to make him understand the difficulty involved.

"I understand, so it's fine as long as we don't bother them."

"Qianye, are you trying to say...?"

"Well, since going in openly is neither feasible nor convenient, I'll just go in from another place so as not to bother the security personnel."

"!!!"

The maid, who fully understood his thoughts, couldn't help but imagine that scene in her mind—

In the still of the night, like Romeo in the legend, he overcame numerous obstacles to reach her window... For a fleeting moment, a strong sense of romance and excitement stirred her heart.

But soon, reason and her years of training in the Shinomiya family's defense system made her forcefully dismiss this unrealistic idea, and her tone became serious.