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

Now that we have a clear goal, it's about time to teach my daughter some things beyond piano.

"Qianye, come here. Your collar is a little crooked. Let me adjust it for you."

Yoko waved lightly.

What can she do? Only she, as the mother, can make up for and correct what her daughter failed to do well.

Yoko has nimble hands and a fragrance similar to, but stronger than, that of Kazusa.

Her attractiveness to the opposite sex as a woman is undeniable, and Gen Chiya is no exception.

This is a biological instinct, a law of nature, and there's no way to avoid it.

But Kazusa noticed his slightly unnatural expression when his mother approached him to adjust his clothes.

As Yoko stopped and talked to Ms. Miyoko, who had come in later to buy drinks.

She approached Yuan Qianye with a gloomy expression and said softly, "Were you secretly looking at my mother just now?"

Gen Chiya: "..."

I was just secretly looking at you, why don't you say anything?

"What do you mean by secretly? I was just observing naturally."

They even shamelessly admitted it!

In what way am I compared to my mother...?

No, that's not the problem!

That's disgusting!

Despite Kazusa's increasingly hostile gaze, Chiya calmly explained, "Aunt Yoko's scarf and corsage today are quite beautiful and elegant. I'm thinking of buying the same ones for my mom later."

So that's how it is...

I misunderstood him...

Kazusa felt a little embarrassed, but she quickly came up with a solution: "I'll ask my mom later and I'll buy it for your aunt."

Yuan Qianye politely accepted half of her offer: "No, no, no, you still have to have the money."

"Whatever you want..."

Tut tut...

My silly daughter...

As a world-class pianist, Yoko Touma possesses hearing as acute as her daughter's.

She appears to be discussing matters related to the competition process with her subordinates.

But in reality, he was multitasking, overhearing the conversation between the two people not far away, which they thought was being kept secret.

She has already decided that she will quickly help her daughter with her studies, including not only how to properly showcase her charm, but also an additional urgent course on how to detect male lies.

Although Qianye has been very hardworking and upright so far, but... what if...?

There's a saying, "better safe than sorry." If you have the resources to prepare, it's always better to do more.

The conversation with Miyoko came to an end.

Yoko turned to look at Gen Chiya and said with a smile, "By the way, let me tell you something. One of the female judges in this competition is an old acquaintance of mine."

"An old acquaintance?" Yuan Qianye couldn't help but make the connection instantly.

Does he also have to experience something that outsiders find disgusting and contemptible, but when he himself is in that situation, he immediately changes his mindset and feels quite relieved?

Commonly known as – going through the back door.

It's not the physiological kind.

Seeing the complex and ever-changing expression on Yuan Qianye's face, Youzi understood what he was thinking. This time, she laughed out loud: "This is not good news. Although we are old acquaintances, we don't have a harmonious relationship."

Yuan Qianye instantly regained his composure: "I see. Was that judge your rival or enemy?"

"You could say that. When that female judge was young, both of her boyfriends left her after they met me and started pursuing me instead."

Yoko Touma spoke in an extremely relaxed tone about some of her remarkable past experiences from her youth.

"President! I've told you so many times, given your current position, you can't talk about these things in public!" Kudo Miyoko reminded him helplessly from the side.

Yaozi waved her hand dismissively: "It's okay, it's okay, there are no outsiders here anyway."

Gen Chiya made a promise: "Don't worry, Miss Miyoko, I won't talk about this kind of thing to anyone."

Kazusa remained quite calm about this; she knew her mother all too well and was used to it.

Gen Chiya turned to look at Yoko again: "So, strictly speaking, because of this past event, this competition might be disadvantageous for me and Kazusa?"

"While there might be some bias, it's not that extreme. After all, the competition process is completely public, and the scoring system removes high and low scores, so it's unlikely that person would intentionally give you low scores."

Furthermore, I have some influence in the piano world, so you don't need to worry about being treated unfairly; just proceed with the competition normally.

Touma Yoko's original intention was to strike a pose with her hands on her hips to convey confidence, but halfway through, she couldn't help but laugh at herself.

This inadvertently dispelled much of the pre-match tension.

Yuan Qianye couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at her, his smile handsome and sunny.

He watched his mother interact with him so familiarly.

Kazusa took a deep breath, this time controlling her emotions. She felt dissatisfied but did not show it outwardly.

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.

From Chiyo's own perspective, the piano competition process was like this.

It's actually quite boring.

It's both boring and complicated.

The boredom refers to the boring nature of the competition, not the boredom of the art of piano itself.

As for the complexity... that refers to the rules of the competition.

The order of appearance on stage is determined by drawing lots. After each person performs, the seven judges will score them on a 100-point scale.

The highest and lowest scores are excluded, and the remaining scores are added together to obtain the average score.

Those with an average score of over 85 will advance directly.

These are the rules for the first round of the main competition.

Next up is the semifinals.

After nearly 80% of the contestants were eliminated in the first round, a new round of competition began with an additional element.

In addition to showcasing their chosen piece, each contestant must also perform a piece prescribed for the competition on the spot.

This round will eliminate most of the contestants from all over the country.

Even so, more than sixty contestants advanced to the finals.

In the finals, the number of judges increased from seven to nine.

The repertoire has also changed.

It must include a technically demanding Chopin etude, as well as one or more pieces of your own choice, and should often be kept under fifteen minutes.

These are competition rules that vary slightly from stage to stage.

When Yuan Qianye had to explain to his family and friends who cared about him, he seemed particularly distressed.

Fortunately, Yukino, who had a similar experience, explained it to him in detail in the group chat.

Eriri and Rikka still seemed to understand it only vaguely.

All they knew was that Qianye had successfully passed the preliminary rounds and then stood out in the semi-finals, and that was enough.

On the day of the final, Yuan Qianye was actually somewhat uncertain.

After all, piano competitions are not like kendo, where good physical fitness can give you a huge advantage.

The art of piano mainly relies on finger skills and the coordination of hands and feet to present exquisite performance effects.

But regardless of whether he felt confident or not, having reached the finals, he naturally had to roll up his sleeves and give it his all.

On the day of the finals, he and Kazusa followed Yoko Touma to the backstage private dressing room as usual.

Both of today's main characters have changed into different outfits, both with black as the main color.

It was clearly a deliberate act by a mother; the matching outfits were on display again, and the two still looked so well-matched.

The door to the lounge was pushed open, and Kudo Miyoko walked in, holding a bouquet of flowers, with a subtle expression.

The other three looked at her at the same time.

Yoko smiled and said, "Are these flowers for Chiya again?"

"Yes." Miyoko nodded. "I ran into the flower delivery person at the door, so I just brought them in."

She handed it to Gen Chiya.

Under the watchful gaze of Kazusa with her curtains slightly lowered, Chiya opened the small card in the bouquet.

It only contained the simple two words "Go for it!"

Yoko asked, "Where is the person who delivered the flowers?"

Miyoko knew what the boss wanted to ask: "He was from the flower shop, and he was even wearing a uniform with the flower shop's name on it. He said the customer ordered it online, gave me the flowers, and left."

“Same as before.” Yoko muttered to herself, then smiled at Chiyo again: “That’s great, congratulations Chiyo, you’ve gained a loyal fan in the piano world so quickly.”

She called him a "die-hard fan," which isn't entirely wrong.

During the competition, something strange happened to Yuan Qianye.

This is the third bouquet of flowers he received today.

The first two bouquets were received after he advanced to the semi-finals and after he entered the finals, respectively.