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

Incidentally, the first two small cards had the words "Congratulations" attached to them.

He also asked his friends, and they said that this deliberately mysterious behavior was not their doing.

Although she cared a little, Gen Chiya wasn't the type to get stuck on things.

The person who sent the flowers wanted to keep it a secret, so he didn't want to waste time digging into it; the important thing right now was to focus on the competition.

Perhaps, just as Yoko said, she was simply a fan attracted by his personal charm?

"It's almost your turn." A short while later, Yoko reminded Gen Chiya.

Kazusa looked at him, even more nervous than when she was going on stage, her hands clenched tightly: "Good luck."

"Ah."

Yuan Qianye got up and headed to the waiting area.

…………

098: The match has come to an end.

Tokyo Cultural Hall, the venue for the grand final of the competition.

After the previous contestant finished performing, he stood up and bowed to the judges and the audience, and a few scattered, brief rounds of applause rang out.

"Next up, contestant number seventeen, Yuan Qianye..."

As the host announced the start of the broadcast, Yuan Qianye slowly walked onto the stage.

His inner self was not as calm as his expression suggested.

My heart started racing, not from nervousness.

Rather, it was the moment when the fruits of my hard work over this period were about to be tested that made me genuinely excited.

His personal habit is that if he does something, he either doesn't do it at all, or if he does it, he must achieve something.

Wasting time for no reason is the most unforgivable behavior.

He sat in front of the black grand piano in the center of the stage, its body gleaming with a deep luster under the spotlight.

He adjusted his chair, placed his hands lightly on the black and white piano keys, and took a deep breath to regulate his breathing.

Four months ago, his knowledge of the piano was limited to the basics.

He acquired LV1 piano skills from Yukino when he was very young.

This forces him to rely solely on his memory and reaction time, like playing a rhythm game, relying entirely on his own senses to play pieces with obvious mistakes that even laymen can hear.

But now, with Kazusa's technical support, Yoko's meticulous teaching of various skills, and his own hard work, he has finally achieved his goal.

He has been completely transformed. Like kendo, the piano has been successfully integrated into his body and become an instinctive part of him.

The fingers no longer need to be consciously focused; relying on subconscious instinct, they can completely and autonomously know with what force to press which key next.

It's no wonder that Kazusa was able to endure the loneliness of having no friends for so many years, spending all her time in the practice room with the piano.

When something is elevated to a certain level, it will naturally bring forth indescribable and wonderful pleasures.

The stage lights dimmed slightly, and at the same moment, Yuan Qianye began his performance.

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.

In the audience section, Touma and her daughter emerged from the dressing room, intently appreciating Gen Chiya's performance.

The mother and daughter had different expressions.

His mother realized that he was in good spirits today and there was no need to worry too much after hearing the beginning of Yuan Qianye's performance, so she seemed quite relaxed.

As for the daughter, she remained tense, her eyes glued to the figure on the stage. It's likely she wouldn't truly relax until his performance ended.

Besides.

Other mothers and daughters also quietly arrived at the finals venue.

At Yukinoshita's house, the mother and her two daughters sat in the back row of the audience, blending into the center of the crowd and not standing out.

For this match, Yuan Qianye told his friends that there was no need for them to come to the venue to cheer him on.

The reason is simple: piano competitions are different from competitive sports, and even laymen can enjoy the fun of the competition.

The field of piano playing clearly has a certain threshold for appreciation.

Even if Eriri, Rikka, and the others came to the venue, they wouldn't be able to enjoy watching the match, and might even find it boring.

But there are exceptions.

——Yukino.

When everyone else in the group echoed Yuan Qianye's words and cheered him on one after another.

She remained silent.

That's why I came here today, wanting to personally verify his piano playing skills.

I'd say I'm starting to feel numb...

Her childhood friend suddenly burst onto the scene during junior high school, displaying extraordinary talent in different fields in a short period of time and achieving remarkable results.

Besides feeling happy for him, she also felt a sense of loss.

She wasn't the only one; her mother and sister also developed a strong interest in him.

My sister was supposed to have a class reunion today, but she canceled it after learning that Yuan Qianye would be participating in the piano finals.

The same goes for my mother. She had planned to accompany her husband to visit a certain senator's house, but she changed her plans at the last minute and postponed it.

Clearly, in her mother's mind, coming to the finals today and witnessing firsthand Yuan Qianye's piano playing level was more important.

After the official competition music finished playing, the entire audience erupted in the loudest applause since the start of the finals.

Yukino clapped her hands with mixed feelings.

Mrs. Yukino leaned close to her youngest daughter's ear to confirm: "Yukino, Chiya, did he really not receive any systematic piano training when he was a child?"

Yukino turned her head to look at her mother, and her eyes, usually calm and elegant, were filled with undisguised admiration.

Yukino shook her head: "As far as I know, it has never happened."

"This is truly astonishing. Haruno, how do you feel about your piano skills compared to Chiyo's?"

When the topic turned to herself, Yang Nai, though reluctant to admit it, still sighed and frankly stated, "I am not as good as him."

At this moment, on the stage, Gen Chiya has begun to perform the piece he has chosen.

The piece chosen was Liszt's "La Campanella," and after only a dozen seconds of playing, a brief round of applause erupted from the audience.

This highly challenging piano piece is rarely seen in youth-level competitions.

This piece is far more difficult than amateur level 10, and even exceeds the standard of professional performance level.

Its complex technical requirements, such as large leaps, broken intervals of more than ten degrees, various octaves, chromatic scales, trills, etc., if any part is not handled well, the effect presented in the live performance will be disastrous.

But Gen Chiyo handled it quite steadily.

It's as reliable as the sound produced by professional music software that pre-records the sheet music.

This is a tactic that Touma Yoko specifically created for Minamoto Chiya.

She knew his strengths and weaknesses at this stage.

Gen Chiyo's freakish physical abilities in swordsmanship can also be well applied to piano playing, greatly aiding his performance.

The most obvious manifestation of this is his almost mechanical fingers.

His endurance and control are at the level of a professional performer. After practicing a piece repeatedly until he is familiar with it, he will basically not make any more mistakes.

His weakness is that he has not studied piano for long enough, and he still lacks in rhythm and emotional expression.

Since that's the case, then we should maximize his strengths and avoid his temporary weaknesses.

Show off your skills! Focus on this point and take it to the extreme.

On stage, Yuan Qianye's ten fingers seemed to each possess their own consciousness, dancing accurately and swiftly on the piano keys, even leaving afterimages.

However, his face, unlike his hands which were so busy they looked like they were about to fly away, showed a very relaxed and comfortable smile.

This striking contrast in performance prompted the audience to spontaneously erupt in applause three times in less than a minute after the start of the second piece!

Yukino had fallen completely silent in response to her childhood friend's behavior.

Yang Nai, who had just finished talking with her mother, sighed heavily and spoke again: "I take back what I just said. It's not that I'm inferior to him. Right now, there's absolutely no comparison between us."

Mrs. Yukinoshita remained silent for a long while, her gaze falling on Touma Yoko in the front row of the audience. She murmured to herself, "It's really amazing. Is it because of the famous pianist's excellent teaching, or does Chiya have such extraordinary talent on her own?"

Neither of her two daughters could answer her question.

However, after personally attending two different competitions and witnessing firsthand the excellence of Gen Chiya, Yukinoshita's perception of this young man's value shifted from "very important" to "special attention."

The mother looked at her youngest daughter.

As she has grown up over the years, she has become increasingly refined and beautiful, like a cat, elegant and self-possessed.

Unlike her cheerful eldest daughter, her youngest daughter is more like her younger self.

"Mom?" Yukino suddenly seemed a little uneasy. She didn't understand why her mother was suddenly staring at her and smiling silently.

As an observer, Yang was able to see things more clearly.

She rolled her eyes, leaned closer, smiled, and whispered, "I heard from Shihua that their family seems to be discussing plans to move to a new house recently."

Mrs. Yukinoshita's attention was diverted: "Are they moving?"

"Well, after all, their house is very small now, there aren't enough rooms, and there's nowhere for guests to stay. Not to mention, a new family member will be arriving soon, so naturally they hope to improve their living conditions after Xiao Qianye earns such a large sum of endorsement money."

Mrs. Yukinoshita nodded thoughtfully at her eldest daughter's explanation.

She looked at her youngest daughter again: "Yukino, have you heard Chiya mention this?"

Yukino shook her head.