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

I'm taking a day off to organize my thoughts. I'll resume updates tomorrow.

Volume 2: Chapter 206: In short, no need to rush (5k)

Xueno: "..."

With no outsiders present, she rolled her eyes at Yuan Qianye in annoyance.

But since they've known each other for so many years, this level of resentful look in their eyes has absolutely no offensive power.

In the end, she bore the brunt of it all.

I'm used to it.

As she thought back carefully, she realized that Qianye had shown this monstrous side since she was very young.

For example, when I first met Eriri.

Because he wanted to comfort and help Eriri, who was being bullied, Chiya pretended to be one of her friends.

Up to this point, everything seemed normal and understandable; it was a white lie.

But shortly afterward, in order to help Eriri regain her confidence and bravely perform on stage to face what she loves, he used both her and her sister at the same time, dragging them both into the scheme.

The most crucial point is that even though she and her sister belatedly realized his methods, they couldn't refuse due to various considerations and could only follow the direction he had initially planned.

He really demonstrated this so-called "manipulative leadership ability" very early on.

Yukino glanced at Chiya Minamoto, who was lounging lazily in his chair drinking coffee, and her thoughts raced.

"Why are you staring at me if you're not planning a meeting?" Yuan Qianye raised an eyebrow and asked casually.

Yukino didn't say anything, her tone implying "I can't be bothered with you," and simply took out a stack of documents she had printed out during her lunch break from her bag.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get started. Regarding the specific destination for the December school trip, and the preliminary arrangements for other related activities, there are a few key points that need to be discussed and decided upon as soon as possible..."

As she spoke, she pushed the documents in front of each of the people.

The student council currently has five official members.

President Chiya Minamoto, Vice President Yukino Yukinoshita, and Saeko Busujima, who serves as both accountant and disciplinary committee member. In the Yuuka Study, turning the next page reveals another world.

And then there's Eriri Sawamura and Rikka Takanashi, who, out of friendship, volunteered to help out with tasks like document organization and running errands because Yukino was too busy to handle everything on her own.

Others, such as Kazusa or Utaha, who were also very close to Minamoto Chiya at school, did not join.

Kazusa has a rather aloof personality, and could even be described as somewhat willful. In addition, her daily piano practice schedule takes up a lot of her time and energy, leaving her with neither the free time nor the inclination to come to the student council to serve the school and the students.

The latter's reasons were similar, except that she replaced practicing piano with writing novels. Creative inspiration and deadlines were the most important things in her life, not to mention the student council and those two people she had never gotten along with, which naturally made it difficult for her to keep up.

Rikka caught a cold today and was too weak to do anything during PE class, so she rested on the sidelines. After school, Chiya had the driver take her home to rest, so she wasn't there.

This staffing configuration is actually quite good for a high school student council.

Depending on the specific circumstances of each school, the remaining positions may include a secretary responsible for paperwork, as well as other miscellaneous positions such as cultural committee member or supervisory committee member.

However, at Soubu High School, there's no need to be so clearly divided and add so many people unnecessarily.

In previous student councils, the number of members was generally around five or six. Everyone had their own responsibilities, and when problems arose, they would discuss and solve them together, which actually made them more efficient.

Leaving aside the current president, Gen Chiya.

As the vice president, Yukino comes from a wealthy family with connections in both the political and business worlds.

She received elite education from a young age, and her logical thinking, document processing, thinking ability and execution ability far surpassed those of her peers.

If real life had a specific attribute panel, she would definitely be an all-around talent with an overall evaluation of "S".

She may not possess the same level of genius as Kazusa in music or Saeko in kendo, which surpasses the "S" level and is almost monstrous, making her unparalleled.

However, in terms of overall qualities, learning ability, adaptability, and potential to handle complex matters, Yukino is definitely one of the best among her peers, with almost no weaknesses.

Perhaps she is not as strong or experienced as her older sister, but given time to grow, her future is definitely promising.

Yuan Qianye had such absolute confidence in her, after all, she was the first learning companion in his life to provide him with assistance.

Just as there is always a special bond between a trainer and their first Pokémon, the first one is always given a lot of special meaning.

Therefore, in conclusion, even if there are some vacancies in the student council, they are not a big deal thanks to Vice President Yukino's personal abilities; she is capable of resolving those minor issues.

Not to mention, the reason why Gen Chiyo entrusted most of the student council's daily affairs to her with such confidence, and even deliberately made her the core of the student council's actual operation, actually had another, deeper consideration.

That's the consideration, but I can't say it outright right now.

After all, he had already been rejected once before.

This time, we cannot launch such a reckless direct attack.

She used to help him integrate into this unfamiliar world, and now it's his turn to repay her kindness as he grows up.

"...Now it's your turn to stand there grinning like an idiot and look at me, President." After clearly explaining the key points of the issues that needed to be decided and handled in this meeting, Yukino Yukinoshita immediately turned her gaze to Chiya Minamoto, who seemed to be somewhat distracted.

Her voice was flat, but a hint of helplessness could be detected upon closer listening: "Were you even listening to what I just said?"

In fact, her childhood friend wasn't as bad as she made him out to be.

Adjectives like "handsome, dashing, and elegant" might be fine for literary descriptions, but using them to praise someone in real life, no matter how good-looking they are, will likely seem exaggerated, pretentious, or even a bit greasy.

But applying these words to Yuan Qianye feels completely natural and not at all out of place.

Despite his primary identities as a student and writer, he has somehow been described by television stations and news media as a "once-in-a-century handsome young man."

Her popularity and public recognition even surpass many new-generation idols and actors in the entertainment industry who debuted based on their looks.

Online, there are also strange honors such as "Top 1 brother who most wants to be pampered by older sisters" and "I want to marry him the most, even if he is a 'scumbag', it doesn't matter, I can ask for nothing more just because of his looks". Although they lack official endorsement, they are quite popular among young netizens.

Although for him personally, such praise of his physical appearance is really unnecessary and indifferent.

"Of course I'm listening. You've gone to so much trouble to organize it so clearly, how could I possibly slack off halfway through?"

"What about it?"

"It's simply a matter of selecting the specific location and dates for the December school trip as soon as possible, and most importantly, ensuring that the budget fully considers and takes into account the financial capabilities of most students' families, so as to achieve the best cost-effectiveness while guaranteeing the quality and safety of the activities."

Yukino looked away, revealing a calm "you passed" expression, and didn't continue the conversation. She then steered the meeting back on track: "Regarding the specifics of the school trips in previous years, I reviewed the student council's internal archives in advance and printed out records of all aspects of the activity over the past three years. You can take a look first to get a clear understanding."

Everyone took the forms she handed them; the text was arranged very neatly.

Key information such as location, time, and personal fees are highlighted in bold for easy reference.

Such pragmatism and clarity are indeed characteristic of Yukino's efficient style.

Yuan Qianye took the documents, glanced at them quickly, and then put them aside.

Eriri held the information and looked at the destinations listed last year. Her eyes lit up slightly, and her tone was tinged with envy: "You went to Kagoshima last year. That's great. I just saw some travel videos of that place on social media recently. The scenery is so beautiful!"

It's said that you can go directly to the Sakurajima observation deck for a close-up view of the crater, and also experience the thrill of climbing to the summit of Mount Miyanoura to overlook the sea of ​​clouds and the surrounding mountain and sea scenery. Just thinking about it makes me feel incredibly excited!

Saeko smiled and said, "Well, it's true that we went to Kagoshima last year, but those two places you mentioned... well, we didn't include them in our itinerary at the time."

We followed a fairly standard school trip itinerary, visiting several well-known seaside parks, local museums, and experiencing traditional glassmaking workshops. In the evenings, we returned to our hotel, had dinner together, played games, chatted, and that was pretty much it.

"Ugh, this sounds so boring."

"It's not that boring. Leaving your familiar surroundings with close friends and going to a new place to spend a few special days together is a rare kind of fun and a memorable experience, isn't it?"

"That being said, I don't have your level of understanding, Saeko-nee..."

Yukino began by summarizing: "According to the records, the locations of the school trips organized by our school over the past three years and the fees that individuals had to pay, from the nearest to the furthest, are: Kagoshima, 77,000 yen per person; Kumamoto, 81,000 yen per person; Hyogo, 79,000 yen per person."

In conclusion, regardless of the specific travel destination we need to decide on this time, I personally recommend keeping the average cost per person to around 80,000 yen. Based on previous years' prices and current cost of living, this price range should be manageable for most student families, ensuring a certain level of activity quality without placing an excessive financial burden on ordinary households.

Yuan Qianye nodded almost without hesitation: "Okay, this budget range is reasonable, I agree."

Saeko Busujima smiled and said, "I have no objection. Yukino has considered everything very thoroughly."

Eriri Sawamura naturally nodded in agreement: "Yeah, I think that's fine too."

Seeing that no one objected, Yukino took out her notebook and wrote it down: "So, regarding the discussion and selection of subsequent travel destinations, we will proceed based on a budget of no more than 80,000 yen per person. Next, we will choose the specific locations..."

She put down her notebook for a moment and continued, "...Does anyone have any specific thoughts or suggestions on this matter?"

Saeko and Eriri, who were being looked at by her, both shook their heads.

Saeko is indifferent to this matter. Just as she said, it's not about where to go or what to do, but about the person who accompanies her during the process.

As for Eriri, it's even simpler. She simply doesn't want to bother with this matter. If either Chiya or Yukino is around, she prefers to leave the decision-making to them.

This dependent behavior of treating the two of them as her external brain became even more obvious after she and Qianye became lovers.

Saeko spoke up, "Yukino, why don't you tell us your own thoughts first?"

That's fine, Yukino nodded.

She did indeed have some initial ideas before the meeting even began.

"My idea is that the student council should issue a notice and let each class vote to choose their desired travel destination, and we will make a final decision based on the final statistics."

Her idea is typical and is a democratic centralism decision-making scheme commonly used by the previous student council and many other schools, attempting to find a balance between respecting students' wishes and ensuring the feasibility of the activities.

With a subtle expression, Yuan Qianye said, "So, you mean we first gather everyone's opinions, and then based on that, we make the final decision by majority vote..."

Yukino immediately sensed that he had other ideas: "Is there a problem?"

"I think your original intention was good, and there was nothing wrong with it in itself. It's just that the specific implementation plan needs some optimization."

"optimization?"

“Hmm.” Yuan Qianye stated his opinion directly: “There are so many classes in the school. If we let them decide for themselves, the destination options will become numerous and complicated. Even if we manage to reach a decision through negotiation, can we really be sure that the decision made in this way truly reflects the principle of majority rule?”

His words were a little convoluted, and Eriri didn't quite catch on at first.

However, Yukino seemed to realize something and said, "That's true..."

Eriri looked at the two of them at once: "What exactly do you mean?"

Gen Chiyo explained with a smile: "Our school has more than twenty classes. If we really have to make a decision based on Yukino's idea, in the worst case, more than twenty classes could very well give more than twenty different answers."

Ideally, more than half of the classes would give the same answer, which would make the subsequent work proceed very smoothly.

However, reality is rarely so extreme. So, it is highly likely that while everyone gave different answers, a small number of classes overlapped in their answers, and by a very small margin, they decided on the travel destination.

For example, among more than a dozen options like Osaka, Kyoto, and Fukuoka, all are listed as option one, but Hokkaido, which received the most votes, is listed as option two or three.

"I see!" Eriri suddenly understood.

Therefore, if Yukino's suggestion is followed, the final result will not be a true case of the minority obeying the majority.

Instead, it was a few who relied on luck to successfully sway the majority whose opinions were divided.