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

Shihua is the eldest child in her family and is considered the eldest sister, but she is actually only a first-year high school student and doesn't have much experience in this area.

The death of her biological father and the early hardships she endured with her mother and sister made her psychologically more mature than most of her peers, but that was only reflected in her daily life.

She was actually quite helpless about the fact that images of that night kept popping into her head these days, and she couldn't control the situation at all.

She felt resentful because she was being taken care of by her adopted brother again, and felt that she lacked the demeanor of an elder sister.

But for Haruno, who had heard what Toka said, from the perspective of an outsider, she keenly sensed that things were not so simple.

"Wow, what a loving sibling relationship. My little Xue Nao has never comforted me when I underperformed in a competition, let alone asked me out to a movie to try and help me relax."

However, they will still offer thoughtful gestures such as serving tea, water, and snacks to the room.

"That's the inevitable result of you always bullying Yukino."

"That's so unfair! I didn't always bully her, I just joked with her occasionally... But speaking of which, what you just said, Toka, putting aside your sworn sibling relationship with Chiyo, really does sound like a date between lovers."

Yang Nai braced her hands on the bed behind her, looked up at the ceiling, and gently swung her legs back and forth.

Their posture and expressions were very casual, and their tone was mostly joking.

Upon hearing this, Toka did not move her body, but Haruno, who had deliberately said these words to test her, caught a glimpse of her friend's pupils changing for a moment out of the corner of her eye, and could tell that she had a strong reaction.

"Phew." Yang Nai suddenly stood up and lazily said, as if she had suddenly lost interest in the topic, "I am quite envious of the relationship between you and Chiyo. Family members should care about each other. I really hope that my Yukino can learn from him and have high emotional intelligence, so that I won't have to worry about her when she goes out in the future."

The extra sentence gradually calmed the turmoil in Shihua's heart.

Without waiting for a reply, Yang Nai grabbed Toka's hand and said, "Oh, right, I saw a really pretty scarf on the street earlier, so I picked one up for you too. Go try it on and see if it fits."

"Why would you suddenly give me a scarf?"

"Christmas is coming soon, so this is a gift for you in advance, and also a reminder that you shouldn't forget to give me a gift..."

Yang pushed Toka's back as the two entered the dressing room.

When Toka couldn't resist her, she tried on a light brown scarf in front of the mirror, while Haruno watched her with a smile.

But deep in his eyes, there was still an unfathomable meaning hidden behind his friend's loss of composure, which he had just noticed.

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.

Inside the Yukinoshita family's living room.

Yukino is also transforming into Santa Claus in a way at this moment, distributing gifts to her friends.

Eriri was overjoyed to receive a beautifully packaged box of macaron desserts.

Rikka received a cartoon reindeer hat.

Saeko Busujima also politely expressed her gratitude after receiving the tea gift set.

Finally, things got a little tricky when it came to Gen Chiya.

He was holding the small white velvet ball pendant, which still had a small tag on it that read "Made in Japan".

After staring at it silently for a while, he looked at Yukino with a puzzled expression, not understanding what she meant by giving him this.

Is it carrying some kind of implication?

Yukino explained frankly, "I couldn't think of anything to give you before I left until I boarded the plane, but then I thought it would be too sad if everyone else got a gift and you didn't, so I just picked one randomly from the gift shop at the airport."

It turned out to be the case.

Yuan Qianye nodded, understanding her thoughtfulness, and was quite touched: "Thank you, Second Miss, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be so troubled and still think of giving me a perfunctory reply."

"I've told you many times not to call me Second Miss."

"Yes, Lord Xue Aotian."

"..."

Yukino stared at him silently for 3.2 seconds.

As a result, when she looked at him, she found that she could not easily show the same look of disgust as she did when looking at others. In fact, she noticed that he seemed to have become more... in line with popular aesthetics over the past few months.

In the end, she simply pressed her fingertips to her forehead, sighed wearily, and gave up trying to be funny with him.

Eriri, watching their interaction, smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

That's great! Even though they've been apart for a while, their relationship is still as good as ever when they meet again. I'm so happy for them.

With some time before dinner, Eriri eagerly asked Yukino about her plans for the upcoming free time: "Yukino, now that you're back, you shouldn't have to go to math Olympiad classes all the time like you did during summer vacation, right?"

Yukino looked at Eriri, who was looking expectant, and understood what she was expecting. But because she knew she couldn't meet her expectations, her expression turned apologetic: "I don't have to go to the math olympiad class anymore, but I have to study microeconomics during this winter break."

"Yukino, you're so young, and you're already learning this?" Saeko Busujima said, quite incredulously.

Yukino nodded: "It was my mother's request. She hired a professional teacher who will come to our house to teach me."

Eriri and Rikka exchanged a confused look: "What does microeconomics mean?"

Yukino patiently explained: "Microeconomics is the foundation of macroeconomics. It refers to individual enterprises, business units and their economic activities. Studying this course can help people gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the market, so as to make more informed business decisions."

What micro and macro, what unit market...

What are they even talking about? Is this stuff taught in middle school? Do students in the UK learn this kind of thing?

Eriri and Rikka's minds went blank, and the number of question marks above their heads increased.

The two women instinctively looked at Yuan Qianye, who was sitting between them, one on each side.

And Yuan Qianye did not disappoint them, explaining in the simplest terms: "You can just think of microeconomics as the techniques for being frugal and saving money."

"Oh wow oh—!"

If you had said so earlier, those two would have understood!

Rikka blurted out, "Yukino, your family is so rich, why do you need to learn money-saving techniques?"

“It’s not about saving money, it’s about the micro…” Yukino wanted to correct her, but after seeing Eriri and Rikka’s clear and innocent eyes, she gave up the idea: “…No matter how rich a person is, they need to have this kind of knowledge. Besides, my family isn’t very rich either. In the end, this is also to prepare for the future. It’s knowledge that we will need to come into contact with sooner or later, so it’s good to understand it earlier.”

Eriri seemed to understand but not quite. She had never lacked love since childhood, and her parents had spoiled her rotten. Her childlike heart had been well protected. She came full of expectations, thinking that it was almost the end of the year and the New Year, and Yukino would finally have time to get together with them after so long.

We don't have to be together all the time, but it would be nice if we could get together every three to five days to have a meal at someone's house and then play some games afterwards.

But to everyone's surprise, she remained the same, filling her holiday time with studying.

She genuinely admired Yukino's constant self-discipline and drive to improve, but ultimately felt more lonely and disillusioned...

Yuan Qianye gently stroked the head of the dejected little golden retriever, instantly brightening her mood.

She felt very happy and pleased inside, but she forced herself not to show it. She simply placed her hands on the white socks covering her knees, silently lowered her head, pursed her lips, and secretly rejoiced.

Gen Chiyo looked at Yukino and joked, "Auntie, so this is the official start of her successor training plan."

Yukino shook her head: "That's something for you to consider, older sister. I'm still far from that level."

"Stop belittling yourself. You're already excellent enough. You just lack experience and life experience. If you continue on your current path, you won't be any worse than Yang Nai in the future."

"..."

The feeling was familiar, just like when she was a child, even though she often doubted herself.

But he seemed certain of something, and from an outsider's perspective, in a tone that suggested he knew her better, he gave her firm encouragement.

"Also, when you feel tired, be sure to tell me. Studying is a good thing, but if you push yourself too hard, it will backfire."

"..."

This kind of preaching mixed with concern is also...

They are clearly the same age, but at these moments, he always exudes a mature, steady, and reassuring aura that comes from someone much older than himself.

At that moment, Mrs. Yukinoshita gracefully entered the drawing room, her mature and elegant beauty radiating a warm and friendly smile, interrupting their conversation.

"Everyone, it's time for dinner."

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 dinner I had at the Sawamura family's house that night was a high-class meal from the UK, which is in line with international standards and features a variety of ingredients and large quantities.

Tonight's dinner under the snow inexplicably reminded me of the Ukiyo-e prints of the Sumida River, so exquisite that I almost couldn't bear to put my chopsticks down.

While the cuisine of the United Kingdom is surprisingly delicious on an occasional visit, it is ultimately more suited to the local, rustic flavors and dietary habits of native Japanese people.

Rikka ate happily, her pink lips glistening under the light, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster with indigestion.

This dining posture represents the highest level of etiquette she uses when judging food!

Shika couldn't bear to watch and wanted to remind her silly little sister to be mindful of her manners when dining at someone else's house.

Now that she's in junior high, she's reached the stage of teenage girlhood, and she can no longer excuse her impolite behavior with excuses like "she's just a kid who doesn't know any better."

But unfortunately, with so many people around, she couldn't directly offer a reminder.

Because she was sitting opposite Rikka, and the dining table at Yukinoshita's house was much wider than the one at home, she couldn't reach under the table to kick Rikka's feet to give her a warning.

Fortunately, Rikka was sitting right next to Chiya, so Toka could only place her hopes on him.

During this time, he seized the opportunity to make eye contact with his sworn brother and subtly winked at him.

At first, Yuan Qianye didn't understand, but he quickly grasped the meaning.

He naturally picked two different sushi pieces from his own plate and placed them on Toka's plate, smiling and gesturing for her to eat them while they were hot, promising to continue serving her if she wanted more.

Shihua was exhausted and gave up. She was too lazy to care about anything anymore and silently ate her meal with her head down.

The subtle eye contact and physical interactions between the siblings at the dinner table were all observed by Yang Nai, who was standing nearby.

She was shocked, and using some clues she had previously discovered in the room as a starting point, combined with what she was observing now, she came up with some conjectures that even she couldn't help but be shocked by.

Although from a public opinion perspective, this is somewhat unfavorable...

However, from a practical legal perspective, it is perfectly acceptable...

After all, they are not related by blood...

The more Yang Nai thought about it, the more she felt that she had guessed correctly and discovered some incredible secret!

As a result, during dinner that evening, she, who is usually cheerful and lively, was even more taciturn than her younger sister.

Despite the discovery, Yoko, being Tohka's good friend and considering Tohka's perspective, didn't intend to tell anyone, including Tohka herself, who seemed confused about the matter at the moment.