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

The moment their eyes met across the long tree-lined path, a reserved yet bright smile immediately appeared on Kaguya's lips.

She took the initiative to step forward, her smile still restrained, but her hurried steps, which completely disregarded ladylike manners, ruthlessly revealed her inner excitement and joy.

"President!"

Finally standing before him, Kaguya tilted her head slightly, finally able to examine him closely again after many days.

"Long time no see, President Shinomiya, I'm bothering you again."

Yuan Qianye chuckled lightly, glancing around as if to subtly remind everyone that this wasn't a good place to chat.

Kaguya Shinomiya immediately understood, quickly suppressing her slightly overt emotions, gracefully turning to the side and gesturing for him to come with her to the student council room.

Upon arriving at the student council room, she went to make coffee, while Yuan Qianye looked around at the environment where the two of them were alone, and casually remarked, "I haven't seen anyone else today."

"Because everyone has their own club activities in addition to their student council work, they won't stay here all the time."

"I see. I remember that President Shinomiya used to practice archery consistently and achieved very good results."

"That was all in the past. Actually, I stopped studying archery when I was in the second grade."

"It's a bit of a pity, they clearly have such amazing talent."

“There’s nothing to regret. Life is rarely completely fulfilling. It’s true that I gave up archery, but I’ve gained some other fulfilling experiences since then.”

Kaguya Shinomiya handed the steaming coffee to Chiya Minamoto and politely said "Please" in a soft voice.

"Thank you." Yuan Qianye took it, blew on it, smelled the aroma, and took a small sip: "As expected, only the coffee brewed by President Shinomiya has such an amazing taste."

He had said similar things to Yukino, Saeko, and Toka, only now he was praising black tea, green tea, and food.

But this is harmless; he genuinely believes it and is speaking the truth from the bottom of his heart.

Kaguya Shinomiya clearly enjoyed it, raising her hand to partially cover her mouth, and for once during these gloomy days, she laughed from the bottom of her heart.

The two sat down together on the same side of the sofa and spent a relatively peaceful time under the pretext of the joint school activity.

Only by staying by his side at this moment can Kaguya temporarily escape from the heavy worries from her family and gain a moment of respite and lightness.

Before we knew it, an hour had passed.

Kaguya Shinomiya suddenly remembered something and stood up apologetically. She realized she had forgotten her appointment with her teacher that afternoon to go to the staff office and asked him to wait a moment, as she would be back soon.

After pushing open the door, Kaguya, her face slightly flushed, headed not towards the staff room, but towards the restroom.

After confirming that she had left, Yuan Qianye actually went to the window and opened it.

Hayasaka Ai, who had been silently waiting outside the window, stood up at this moment.

Because of the high windowsills inside and the bushes that were more than a meter tall on the outside, she was never discovered by anyone.

"It's amazing that you can squat here for an hour." Yuan Qianye looked at her, his tone tinged with helplessness and heartache.

“It’s not something that’s difficult to do.” Hayasaka Ai pointed to her headphones: “Chiya’s songs are very nice. I would enjoy just sitting here quietly and listening to them on repeat all day.”

"With this kind of weather, there should be mosquitoes around by now."

"Please don't worry, I've already sprayed mosquito repellent beforehand."

Is this what I'm trying to emphasize?

Yuan Qianye was somewhat amused and exasperated, so she decided to be more explicit: "What I mean is, why do you have to hide? Even if you want to keep it from her, we've met so many times before. If we talk normally face to face, it shouldn't arouse her suspicion, right?"

“I understand…” Hayasaka Ai’s voice lowered, her eyes flickering slightly: “But I just… want her to be alone with you right now. After all, it seems that only you, Chiya, can make the young lady forget her worries for the time being, and only you can make her happy, even if it’s only temporary.”

This statement... feels quite similar to a certain special profession that pleases women.

Yuan Qianye looked at her speechlessly.

Hayasaka Ai felt a little guilty under his gaze and repeatedly lowered her head to apologize.

Finally, she realized that her suggestion was indeed a bit excessive, so she repeatedly promised that she would "repay" him properly afterward.

Boss Yuan didn't care about any rewards or anything like that.

He was simply kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see those around him suffer from hardship and sadness while he remained indifferent.

Therefore, he said seriously, "It's too formal for us to talk about these things. We can discuss the repayment later. Now tell me about her current situation."

Hayasaka Ai sighed, her eyes darkening: "The young lady... has been in a particularly bad situation lately. When the original people in the villa were gradually taken away, she tried to resist, but it was all in vain."

After learning that the head of the family was seriously ill in bed, and that she was completely unable to visit him, she cried several times behind my back...

She understood her situation, so she never showed this vulnerable side to me. She had also subtly and overtly tried to persuade me several times to quit my job and stop working with her…

Even in difficult times, they still care for each other; it truly shows their deep sisterly bond.

As Chiya listened to Ai Hayasaka's account, she gently tapped her fingers on the windowsill, pondering what she could do in the situation.

Kaguya Shinomiya returned quickly, so his conversation with Hayasaka did not last long.

Around 5 p.m., Yuan Qianye took the initiative to get up and say goodbye.

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.

Because Hayasaka had asked him for help, for a long time afterward, whenever he had free time after school, Minamoto Chiya would run to Shuchiin Academy.

Although Kaguya Shinomiya was under close surveillance, she was still the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family and retained a last shred of dignity.

The use of communication tools such as mobile phones has not been restricted.

Almost all of her etiquette and skills courses have been suspended, giving her a lot of free time.

Almost every night, she would chat online with Yuan Qianye until very late.

They already had a debt of gratitude for each other's saving their lives, and now that they were in dire straits, plus the affection that had been growing for a long time.

All of this made her trust Yuan Qianye more and more, and also made her gradually take the initiative to reveal her true situation to him.

For example, the various treatments she is currently suffering in the Shinomiya family, her seriously ill father, and the so-called "brothers" who surround her like wolves.

Of course, most importantly, she finally confessed to him about her master-servant relationship with Hayasaka Ai.

She even created a discussion group and brought in the only two people she could trust, Minamoto Chiya and Hayasaka Ai.

This made many things simpler for Yuan Qianye.

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.

"...Qianye, Qianye?"

Yukino's call brought Chiya back to her senses.

He smiled and looked at Yukino.

"What's wrong? Is it because you're going to get up close to the pandas later, so you can't calm down?"

While that was part of the reason, the main concern was actually worry.

"Have you been too tired lately?" Yukino looked intently into his eyes. "Or did I really cause you trouble by coming here? I've seen you looking very tired several times these past few days."

"Don't overthink it, it has nothing to do with that. I'm just thinking about work."

It is already mid-May.

During this period of time, the head of the Shinomiya family remained bedridden, so Kaguya Shinomiya's treatment did not improve.

Although her background and age were disadvantages, Kaguya was, after all, a direct descendant of the Shinomiya family who had received imperial education from a young age.

Although she inevitably felt some self-pity at first, after realizing that she was not alone and that there were people around her who were willing to support her, she still showed unimaginable resilience and a desperate ambition.

She no longer sat idly by and pinned her hopes for the future on those so-called "brothers." She wanted to take a gamble, simply so that she could firmly control her own future.

Meanwhile, Chiya Minamoto and Kaguya Shinomiya reached a verbal agreement in private. Chiya would use his power to help Kaguya obtain her share of the benefits from the current turbulent Shinomiya family. Kaguya Shinomiya also made it clear that if he succeeded, he would receive a generous reward.

Actions taken based on such an agreement can indeed be categorized as "work".

"Is that so..."

Yukino responded softly, clearly not entirely convinced by his answer.

But right now, she really didn't have the energy to ask any more questions.

"Teacher Yuan, everything is ready, please help me!"

Staff members were bowing and scraping as they greeted and guided the children.

“Okay.” Upon hearing this, Yuan Qianye stood up and also pulled up Yukino, who was taking deep breaths. He couldn’t help but chuckle and said, “It’s only the first day and you’re already this nervous. What are you going to do later? Calm down. This is not like you at all.”

Yukino nodded, trying to suppress her rapidly beating heart by touching her chest. She was completely unaware that Gen had taken the opportunity to hold her small hand tightly, which drew ambiguous glances from several staff members nearby.

After the two of them had walked hand in hand for a while, Yukino suddenly realized what was happening, lightly spat, her cheeks flushed, and quickly pulled her hand back, distancing herself from him.

Yuan Qianye didn't care, since he had already succeeded.

"Mr. Gen, Ms. Yukinoshita, let's disinfect ourselves first, and then change into our pet clothes..."

Staff from Tokyo's Ueno Zoo explained the upcoming work schedule in detail to the two individuals.

In short, Ueno Zoo wants to leverage Chiyo Minamoto's positive image and influence to promote the new pandas that have arrived at the zoo.

We want him to not only take photos, but also to become a zookeeper and, under the guidance of professionals, capture the daily life of caring for pandas.

This will be made into a documentary and broadcast online and on television to promote the zoo. It will also serve as advertising for the zoo and allow us to launch similar "panda volunteer" or "one-day zookeeper experience" activities in the future.

Since that's what the job entails, it's natural that Yuan Qianye would have a lot of close contact and interaction with pandas during that time.

He himself was not particularly enthusiastic about this kind of work, not to mention that the job included cleaning panda droppings, rinsing the ground, and disinfecting water and food troughs, all of which he had to do himself, which was a considerable challenge for him, given his slight obsession with cleanliness.

But since the second young lady had loved pandas since she was a child, he gritted his teeth and accepted it.

Then, he also made a negotiation with the zoo, saying that he could ask for less pay, but he hoped that his agent would be present throughout his work.

Although the request was somewhat abrupt, it wasn't difficult to fulfill, and the zoo readily agreed.

This has led to the situation we see today.

After undergoing numerous complex disinfection and preparation procedures, Chiya Minamoto, along with Yukino, whose face was filled with excitement, was finally able to enter the backstage area where the pandas lived, led by professional keepers.

In order to obtain richer visual material and make the subsequent documentary look more realistic and interesting, Yuan Qianye will appear here for a week.

Actually, the zoo didn't expect to bother the renowned Mr. Yuan for so long. It was Mr. Yuan Qianye who thought that such an opportunity was hard to come by and took the initiative to extend the cooperation period so that the second young lady could be happy for a few more days.

This dedication and commitment to providing extra time without charging extra fees deeply moved everyone at the zoo.

In addition, he was friendly and polite in private, and never refused requests for autographs and photos. As a result, during the following week, the zoo staff spoke highly of him in private.

Because of this successful collaboration, Ueno Zoo subsequently reached a long-term cooperation agreement with Chiya Minamoto.