I'm in a crossover anime world, and I've been transported to Hogwarts twice.

Immersed in ruthless strategic thinking, Genichi Hanyu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and up to his head, as if he had been suddenly thrown into the heart of a Siberian blizzard.

The chill did not come from the external environment, but from a penetratingly cold gaze.

Almost instinctively, he stiffly turned his neck to look in the direction of that piercing gaze.

In an instant, his gaze met Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes, which were burning with icy flames.

Yuzuru clearly saw the surging anger and undisguised questioning in Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes.

She noticed it!

She caught the darkest thought in his mind at that moment!

A brief silence fell. Genichi Hanyu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turbulent thoughts in his heart. His face instantly switched back to its usual expression, which was both gentle and distant, and even the corners of his mouth managed a slight smile.

He made his voice sound as steady and natural as possible, with just the right amount of doubt, breaking the suffocating silence between them: "Yukino? Is something the matter?"

His voice was calm, as if the murderous intent to destroy his family and clan had never existed.

Yukinoshita Yukino didn't answer immediately.

She stared intently into Genichi Hanyu's eyes, as if trying to pierce through his disguise and look into the depths of his soul. The air around them was as tense as a bowstring stretched to its limit, and the noise in the classroom seemed to be shut out into another world.

A few seconds later, she spoke very slowly, with a heavy sense of pressure, her voice low but clear, as she enunciated each word: "What were you thinking just now?"

Every word was like an icicle, striking Yuzuru's nerves.

When Yuzuru Genichi met her gaze, his feigned gentle smile remained on his face, but a subtle, almost imperceptible ripple flickered deep within his pupils.

This silent confrontation is far more dangerous than any verbal conflict.

The sunlight outside the window seemed to have dimmed a bit, foreshadowing a storm brewing beneath the calm surface.

A silent war has begun between them, a war about bottom lines, methods, and what to protect.

115 Ideological Clash, Yukino's Fury

Genichi Hanyu has a distinct mark etched into his very being: a deep-seated aversion to trouble.

This aversion doesn't stem from laziness, but rather from a physiological rejection of complex entanglements and pointless consumption.

His life motto is simple and effective: if you find trouble, solve it; if you foresee trouble, nip it in the bud.

Like a skilled gardener, his world allows no room for any weeds that might spread, only for an orderly landscape.

Any weeds that disrupt his rhythm, drain his mind, or especially threaten what he cherishes, must be thoroughly and cleanly removed before their roots penetrate too deeply.

Efficiency and results-oriented approaches are paramount; whether the process is gentle or respectable is never a priority in his cold, pragmatic logic.

This way of thinking creates an almost insurmountable chasm between him and Yukino Yukinoshita, who is right next to him.

In Genichi Hanyu's opinion, Yukino Yukinoshita's personality, to put it bluntly and even harshly, is that she is too much of a saint.

She adhered to certain moral principles that he considered outdated and unbearable, had excessive sympathy for the so-called weak, and always sought a perfect solution to those entangled troubles without harming anyone.

In Genichi Hanyu's mind, this was almost equivalent to being tied down and waiting to die.

She pursues procedural justice, values ​​individual dignity, and even when facing enemies, she adheres to a bottom line that Yuzuru considers intangible.

This trait may be a noble persistence in calm times, but in times of crisis when swift and decisive action is needed, it becomes a hindrance or even a fatal weakness in Yuzuru's eyes.

Therefore, when the idea of ​​eradicating the root of the problem grew wildly in his mind like a poisonous vine, it uprooted and crushed the foundations of those families who kept sending him gifts and trying to control the trajectory of his life, so that they could no longer cause trouble.

Genichi Hanyu almost instinctively chose to keep it a secret and did not intend to tell Yukino Yukinoshita.

He knew that once this plan was leaked, its cruelty and thoroughness would inevitably stir up a storm in Yukino Yukinoshita's heart and ignite her most intense anger.

That would not be a simple argument, but a complete denial of some inhuman quality deep within his soul.

He didn't want to face that storm of anger, nor did he want to see the utter disappointment and alienation that might appear in her eyes.

He preferred to bear the burden of this bloody plan alone, clearing away obstacles efficiently and thoroughly in his usual way, and perhaps then whitewashing the situation.

However, Genichi Hanyu underestimated Yukino Yukinoshita's understanding of him, or rather, he underestimated Yukino Yukinoshita's almost instinctive insight into his true nature beneath her exceptional intelligence.

Their intertwined past, countless clashes of ideas, and those indescribable, subtle emotions had already built a sophisticated decoder of Genichi Hanyu in Yukino's heart.

A furrowed brow in frustration, an unconscious tap of his fingertips, a fleeting shadow in his eyes, even the barely perceptible stagnation in his aura—these details, seemingly meaningless to others, are key codes for deciphering the storm raging within Yukino Yukinoshita.

Just now, when Genichi Hanyu was annoyed by the family power behind those girls, and when the thought of completely resolving the situation took shape in his mind and released the first wisp of cold killing intent, Yukino Yukinoshita's alarm system was instantly activated.

She didn't need him to admit it himself; she didn't even need a complete chain of reasoning.

The fleeting, resolute glint in his eyes, like a poisoned dagger; the instantaneous tension in his body, like a cheetah locking onto its prey; and the aura surrounding him, suddenly becoming heavy and dangerous—all of this was like a clear jigsaw puzzle, rapidly piecing together in her mind, pointing to the answer she least wanted to see, yet was absolutely certain of.

The air seemed to solidify into heavy lead. Yukino Yukinoshita slowly raised her head, and her icy blue eyes were no longer glaciers, but had transformed into two bottomless pools of cold water, calm on the surface, but churning with monstrous waves that could devour everything within.

Her gaze was like the most precise scalpel, cold and sharp, with an undeniable penetrating power piercing straight into Genichi Hanyu, as if to peel away all his disguises and look directly into the bloody plan deep in his soul.

"Hanyu Genichi."

Her voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear. Each syllable was like an ice bead falling onto a jade plate, carrying a chilling coldness that could freeze everything.

"look at me."

0Request flowers0

Genichi Hanyu's heart sank.

He met her gaze, and in those icy blue eyes, he saw no anger, no questioning, only a deathly, cold understanding.

"Just now, you were probably thinking of eliminating the problem completely, right?"

Yukino Yukinoshita spoke slowly, as if stating an undeniable fact, or as if giving him a final chance to confess.

She didn't even use vague terms like "solving the problem," but precisely pointed out the bloodiest, most thorough, and most in line with Genichi Hanyu's way of thinking solution—to nip the problem in the bud.

These four words were like four cold daggers, piercing the fragile trust between the two.

Genichi Hanyu's body stiffened for a moment.

. 0 . . .

He instinctively tried to look away, attempting to brush it off with his usual cynicism.

He opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was blocked by something.

cheat?

Yukino Yukinoshita?

Especially in front of her eyes, which seemed to see right through one's soul?

That would only be a futile struggle, adding fuel to the fire, and pushing her further away.

He knew her too well; deception would only make her angrier and more contemptuous, severing their already precarious connection completely.

silence.

A deathly silence spread through the living room, so heavy it was suffocating.

Genichi Hanyu neither admitted nor denied it.

He avoided Yukino Yukinoshita's aggressive gaze, his jawline tightening, his eyes drifting to a certain place.

This silence, this avoidance, was the clearest answer in Yukino's eyes—acquiescence.

Yukino Yukinoshita's breathing seemed to pause for a moment.

Her hands, resting on her knees, dug her fingertips deep into her palms, causing a sharp, stinging pain, but it paled in comparison to the tearing coldness and despair in her heart.

She saw it; she guessed right.

An indescribable weariness and chill swept over her.

anger?

Of course there was, but beneath that anger lay a deeper despair, as if one had fallen into an ice cave.

She once thought that perhaps she could influence him, or that he could understand that the bottom line she held was not outdated.

But now it seems that it was just wishful thinking on her part.

116 Misunderstanding, Yukino's Shame

Just as the suffocating silence, like icy vines, was about to completely strangle the last possibility of communication between Genichi Hanyu and Yukino Yukinoshita, a voice, tinged with languor and amusement, yet perfectly timed, broke the almost frozen air like a pebble thrown into an icy lake.

"Oh dear, the atmosphere is so heavy, Yukino. You've probably misunderstood what he meant!"

It is Yukino Yukinoshita.

She had silently leaned against the doorframe of the tea room, arms crossed, with her signature knowing smile tinged with mischief.

Sunlight danced on her slightly curled hair, but it couldn't dispel the sharp insight into the world in her eyes.

From Genichi Hanyu's frustrated hair-pulling to Yukino Yukinoshita's sudden outburst of questioning, and then to the chilling silent confrontation, she took it all in, like a seasoned director calmly observing this drama starring her dear sister and that troublesome guy.

She understood the cold core of Genichi Hanyu's trouble-eliminating logic, and she also understood her younger sister's extraordinary "867" moral philosophy.

Watching the two of them, separated by an invisible barrier, each plummeting towards the abyss of freezing point, she ultimately could not stand idly by.

She didn't want to see Yukino completely heartbroken, and she didn't want to see Genichi Hanyu go to extremes because of the inability to communicate, leading to irreversible consequences.

Her intervention was both a reconciliation and an invisible form of control.

Yukino's words reached Yukino's ears clearly, like cracking a hole in the still ice.

"Did I misunderstand?"

Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly raised her head, her icy blue eyes like a startled pool, instantly locking onto Haruno, then turning sharply to Genichi Hanyu with a hint of disbelief and doubt.

Her tightly furrowed eyebrows rose high, as if silently questioning: Could it be that the murderous intent I saw, the coldness I felt, were all fake? What else could you possibly mean?

Yukino Yukinoshita chuckled softly and walked in with elegant steps, the sound of her high heels clicking on the floor particularly clear in the quiet classroom.

She walked between the two, her gaze shifting between Genichi Hanyu's tense profile and Yukino's cold, questioning face before finally settling on Hanyu. With an air of knowing, "Stop pretending, I understand," she spoke up for him, or rather, pointed out his unspoken true intentions.

"It's just a warning to others, my silly sister."

Yang Nai's voice carried a calmness that showed his understanding of the world.

"Although Xianyi's mind sometimes works in a strange way and his methods are simple and brutal to the point of being a headache, he is not stupid enough to indiscriminately kill people, especially those big financial groups that have entrenched themselves in a certain area."

She turned to Yukino, her gaze becoming more serious: "Yukino, think about it, what is the essence of those families that treat their daughters and sisters as gifts to be given away at will?"

"It's arrogance, it's a test, it's a disregard for Yuzuru's bottom line!"

"They are like a pack of greedy and cunning hyenas, surrounding their prey and constantly reaching out their claws to probe."

"If you simply refuse gently, or just get rid of the gift that comes your way, they will only think that the cost is too low and the risk is too small."

"If we give it to Sister A this time, we'll give it to Miss B next time. The methods will only be more covert and harder to refuse."

Yukino's tone was icy: "What Yuzuru wants to do is not to kill those girls as gifts, that is true impotent rage and indiscriminate killing."

"What he wants to kill is the chicken that's been pushed out to test the waters, such as a powerful financial group that's significant enough to represent this unhealthy trend!"

"What he wants to do is to bring this chicken down completely through a thunderous, legal, and compliant strike, making it scream in a sufficiently shrill way, so that all the monkeys hiding behind and watching, eager to make a move, can clearly see what a painful, crippling, or even family-destroying price they will have to pay to set their sights on Genichi Hanyu and try to climb up, control, or test him in this way!"

Yukino's gaze shifted back to Genichi Hanyu, a hint of scrutiny in her eyes: "Genichi, am I right? Your goal is to intimidate, to establish authority, to completely extinguish those people's hopes, right? To prevent similar incidents from happening again once and for all in the most efficient way."

"Only in this way can those tycoons truly hear the voice of rejection and understand that the generous gift they are offering is not only unwelcome but will also bring about their utter destruction."

Under Haruno's precise analysis, Genichi Hanyu's taut jawline finally loosened slightly.

He glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita, whose face was still cold but whose eyes were clearly more thoughtful, took a deep breath, and, following the suggestion from Haruno, and also to clarify Yukino Yukinoshita's misunderstanding, he spoke.

This time, his voice was less irritable and aggressive than before, and more calmly stated: "Yukino."

He looked directly at her frankly, "Yang Nai is right. I admit that my thoughts are very direct, even cold-blooded, but I would not go so far as to kill innocent people indiscriminately."

He emphasized the last four words, his eyes showing a hint of helplessness at being wronged and an eagerness to clear his name.

“The girls who were sent here were innocent; they were victims of family interests. They were never my target.”

"What I want to eliminate is the root of their troubles—the greed, arrogance, and attempts by their family power to manipulate me—and the methods I intend to use..."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, or perhaps demonstrating his bottom line to Yukino: "Through official means, using the legal rules that you know and agree with."

"Commercial fraud, tax loopholes, illegal transactions, unfair competition... How many of these conglomerates that have been entrenched for years have truly clean hands? What I want to do is gather evidence, strike precisely, and make them pay the heaviest price within the legal framework: huge fines, damage to their core businesses, imprisonment of their top executives, and bankruptcy of their reputation!"

"I will use the written law and an irrefutable chain of evidence to make them understand one thing: trying to manipulate me, Genichi Hanyu, as a gift is the most foolish and costly decision they have ever made!"

"Instead of what you might imagine—indiscriminately showing up at their door with a knife and killing their entire family..."

He looked directly into Yukino's eyes and spoke, word by word.

Genichi Hanyu's clear, calm explanation, which kept the means within the legal framework, was like a strong wind, instantly dispelling the deepest shadow of bloodshed that had shrouded Yukino's heart.