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

Page 165

Yoko returned and briefly explained the reason to Hayasaka Ai, then excused herself.

She couldn't quite remember where she put the key to the basement door, only that it should be somewhere in her bedroom. She and Aunt Shibata had to hurry and find the key; they couldn't keep the workers waiting.

"Qianye, could you please greet the guests for me?"

After saying that, Yoko hurriedly followed Aunt Shibata back to her bedroom.

The living room suddenly fell silent.

Seeing that Chiya's gaze had shifted to herself, Hayasaka Ai became uneasy.

She considered herself a professional maid, capable of maintaining a calm and composed mindset in all situations.

But right now, just being stared at by Yuan Qianye already made her feel uneasy and out of place.

This was beyond her comfort zone, and she didn't know how to deal with the situation, so she could only lower her eyes slightly and remain silent.

I'd rather do nothing than make a mistake right now.

I've forgotten where I heard that phrase.

It's an embarrassing mindset, but it's really useful.

But Yuan Qianye didn't let the silence last long: "Thank you."

Hayasaka Ai paused for a moment, then looked up at him in disbelief.

At this moment, Yuan Qianye had already revealed a faint smile.

When Hayasaka Ai met his eyes, it was as if she had traveled through a time tunnel and returned to that evening from her childhood.

Back then, he was just like he is now, with a slight smile in his beautiful eyes, and even more so, a gentle warmth like lukewarm water.

"You..." Hayasaka Ai's hiding technique was broken, but this was obviously something she was happy to see happen.

Yuan Qianye spoke again calmly, making her point even clearer: "Those bouquets of flowers were from you, right? Thank you."

Hayasaka Ai didn't admit it, but he was extremely certain of it.

At this point, it's no longer important to delve into how he knew it was him who sent the flowers.

What Hayasaka Ai found most incredible at this moment was that after so many years, he still remembered her!

"You still remember me?"

Yuan Qianye chuckled: "You remember me too, don't you?"

Hayasaka Ai was speechless.

However, at this moment, tiny bubbles welled up in her chest, bursting one after another with a series of popping sounds.

I'm not the only one who still remembers that past...

Realizing that it was a "two-way street" in a sense, she found it hard to contain her excitement.

Yuan Qianye reminisced about the past: "I still remember you. You were wearing a plain long dress and crying, looking like you had been bullied. Now, you are much stronger than you were back then."

Hayasaka Ai was eager to defend herself: "I was too young at the time, there was nothing I could do, let alone encounter such an accident, I was just a little kid..."

Halfway through her speech, realizing that her emotions were running high, she immediately fell silent.

Yuan Qianye didn't mind and chuckled as he continued, "Don't you think life is amazing? I never thought that after so many years, we would meet again in this way."

Hayasaka Ai nodded: "It really is amazing."

They only met once back then, but now they can sit here and chat like old friends.

There was absolutely no sense of incongruity; in fact, it was quite reassuring.

That's very strange.

Hayasaka Ai asked, "So you recognized me at the banquet before?"

"Well, but seeing that you didn't seem to recognize me, I thought that if I took the initiative to talk to you then, it might cause you trouble, so I didn't say anything."

"Thanks……"

"There's no need to thank me for this."

“I’m not referring to that. I’m talking about how you helped me get that contact book back then.”

"Oh, you mean that book where you and Mom exchanged heartfelt messages, and you freely acted like a spoiled child towards her in it..."

"No need to go into so much detail!"

Hayasaka Ai's chest rose and fell slightly.

In just a few minutes, her emotions were like dough, allowing the person in front of her to knead and reshape them at will.

But... surprisingly, it's not unpleasant.

"In short, thank you so much back then. Although you might not think it was a big deal from your perspective, that contact book was very important to me."

At that time, five-year-old Hayasaka Ai had just left her parents and was living with Shinomiya Kaguya.

Arriving in an unfamiliar environment, without her parents by her side, the contact book containing her mother's encouraging words was a ray of light comforting her lonely and anxious heart, enabling her to get through that most vulnerable period.

That period, which she considers a dark chapter in her life, was when she was a "crybaby" who liked to cry at the drop of a hat.

Yuan Qianye didn't expect to receive such a formal thank you, but he didn't think about it for long: "No need to be so polite. You secretly sent flowers to her rival without telling the young lady you serve, so we're even."

His tone changed noticeably when he said this, rising in pitch and becoming more relaxed. Clearly, he didn't mean anything by it; he was just joking.

Hayasaka Ai, having reached this point, could finally let go of the last shred of lingering concerns in her heart.

Soon after finding the key, Touma Yoko returned to the living room and saw the two chatting happily in the distance.

Um?what's the situation?

She tilted her head in confusion.

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.

"...I will consider it."

"I'm sorry to have bothered you, so I'll take my leave now."

Touma Yoko gave a rather ambiguous response to Hayasaka Ai, who had come specifically to visit her today.

Hayasaka Ai only had a brief moment after she left, during which she shed her maid persona and chatted with Minamoto Chiya in a more relaxed manner.

When Yoko returned, she immediately composed herself and reverted to her previous taciturn and polite demeanor, but this also made her seem inexplicably distant.

Having achieved her goal and gained an unexpected bonus today, she got up to take her leave.

And sensing that Touma Yoko seemed to have discovered something, she didn't cast any further glances at Minamoto Chiya as she left.

Her behavior was entirely subconscious; she did it before any specific thought even occurred to her.

She simply didn't want anyone other than her and Yuan Qianye to know about their long-standing relationship.

Perhaps it was just to cover up her tearful past.

This reasonable conjecture came to Minamoto Chiya's mind.

However, Hayasaka Ai's actions dispelled some of the more complicated thoughts in Yoko's mind.

She had another guess about what she had just observed.

The focus shifted to Minamoto no Chiya.

Thinking about it carefully, that maid was actually quite pretty, with that face and that specially made, exquisite maid outfit...

It's not surprising that he acted so familiar and enthusiastic.

Unbeknownst to Chiya, she had already been labeled a "uniform fetishist" (pending) in Yoko's mind.

After Hayasaka Ai left, he took the initiative to ask Yoko about her specific plans: "Aunt Yoko, would you like to teach that young lady the piano?"

"Don't call me auntie, call me mom."

Yuan Qianye squinted at her speechlessly: "Some jokes stop being funny after they've been told once."

Yaozi shook her head to indicate that she was not joking: "I'm already prepared. I'll be the godmother of the baby in your mom's belly when he comes out. So, in terms of seniority, shouldn't you call me mom too?"

Hmm, what you said makes sense and is convincing... what a load of rubbish!

Yuan Qianye ignored her, propping his hands on his thighs. Since he had already delivered the thank-you gift today and expressed his intentions at the entrance, he planned to go straight back.

"Wait a minute...you really can't take a joke."

Yoko pulled Minamoto Chiya down to sit again.

Let's get back to the original topic.

"I don't plan to teach that young lady."

The reason is quite simple.

"Although they are very generous with the money, the problem is that I don't have time to take one day a week to teach them in person. Besides, there are bound to be a lot of rules and regulations in such wealthy families, which is what I hate the most."

Although the Shinomiya family is a behemoth, even if I wanted to get along with them, there was absolutely no need to achieve my goal in this way.

I'll introduce a few of my more capable friends to that maid later, so it won't be impolite and won't be a wasted trip for her."

That's an answer that fits Touma Yoko's personality.

The little maid she was talking about was sitting in the car on the way back, looking at the few people in her phone's contact list.

The vague, hesitant thought that had just surfaced in her mind was immediately suppressed by her.

Don't ask for anything more; things are already good enough as they are now.

She put her phone away and thought to herself.

…………

Volume 1: Chapter 102: Don't Speak When You're Too Small (6500) (26/51)

"Oh my god, Qianye, you actually made it onto a magazine cover!"

"Oh my god, these guys photoshopped my face to be too white."

Mid to late May.