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

I'll go find Saeko and Utaha when I get home tonight...

Forget it, I'll talk to Saeko first.

After deciding on his next steps, Yuan Qianye went back upstairs.

He hadn't experienced this feeling of uncertainty and tension, to the point where his heart rate was over 100 beats per minute, for a very long time.

This is true both when stepping onto the highly anticipated kendo arena and when participating in a literature award and waiting for the award to be announced.

Even when his relationship with Saeko was exposed to Utaha, putting him in a precarious situation, he had to face Utaha's gloomy face and think of a solution.

His mind was only filled with thoughts like, "Oh no, this is getting a little tricky," but the sense of urgency wasn't particularly strong, and he still had some leeway.

Comparing his current feelings with the situations described above, it goes without saying how important the second young lady is to him.

However, Gen Chiya has a good habit: he doesn't hesitate or overthink things he's already decided on, thus avoiding unnecessary mental strain.

Taking deep breaths along the way, by the time he stepped onto the sixth floor of the club, his mood had returned to normal, and he had the leisure to observe the situation on this floor again.

The club building only has six floors in total, and if you include the rooftop, it can barely be called a seventh floor.

In short, the situation on the sixth floor was even worse than on the fourth floor where the Service Department was located. Although the clubs on the fourth floor had strange names, they had signs and you could feel some activity. On the sixth floor, however, it was so deserted that you couldn't see a single person. Looking around, all the classrooms were empty, and the doors were locked and completely idle.

If you come here on a dark or rainy day, a timid person might feel scared.

Yuan Qianye walked to the end of the corridor, opened the door, and went inside.

The sound of the door opening made Kazusa turn around warily, but when she saw that the uninvited guest was someone she knew all too well, her gaze quickly softened.

"Your place is nice; it's very quiet with hardly anyone bothering you."

“After all, Mom specifically mentioned this request when school started... Why did you suddenly come?”

"I was a little worried, so I came to see if there was anything I could help with."

As he spoke, Yuan Qianye scanned the room.

It has to be said that the school's attitude changed after the sponsorship was provided.

The classroom that Yukino's Service Club received was a mess, covered in dust, and needed to be carefully cleaned before it could be used properly.

But Kazusa's place was a completely different story. Apart from the brand-new piano placed in the center, there were no other clutters in the room, and the wooden floor was clean and tidy.

Not only did I not smell the stuffy odor that had settled in the Service Department classroom from the lack of ventilation, but there was also a natural, faint fragrance. It was obvious that the school must have sent someone to clean and tidy up the place beforehand.

Gen Chiyo took out her phone, pointed it at the room, spun around, and filmed a short video, naturally including Kazusa's figure in the recording. After finishing, she sent it to Touma Yoko, who was far away overseas, to reassure her.

Kazusa could roughly guess what he was doing, so she didn't specifically ask him.

"You must be very busy to have time to waste here with me."

"How can expressing concern for friends at the right time be considered a waste of time?"

Kazusa was quite pleased with these words, and immediately placed her hands on the black and white keys, but hesitated to press any keys to produce a sound.

She let out a soft breath, as if after some consideration, she had finally made up her mind. She looked at Qianye, who was pacing around the classroom, unconsciously glancing around without intending to leave immediately, and said...

There's something I want to tell you.

"Ah."

"I don't know what my mother specifically asked you to do before she left, but as you can see, I'm not the kind of person who needs special care. You've been taking special care of me these past few days since school started, and I can see that and I'm very grateful. But going forward, you don't need to care about me so much. I'm not as...useless as you think, not as lacking in my own opinions..."

Kazusa wasn't the type of person who was eloquent; in fact, based on Chiya's overall impression of her, she could sometimes be described as clumsy.

In fact, this very long speech was just like that. She sat at the piano with her head slightly lowered and her voice very soft. There were only two people in the classroom, her and Yuan Qianye, but when she was talking to him, she couldn't look up and meet his gaze at all.

In her current state, it's almost as if she's whispering to her beloved piano.

"...In short, what I want to say is that you don't need to think about taking me with you in everything. I'm fine with it and I don't want to cause you any trouble. I will have my own plans and arrangements. During holidays, I will basically practice the piano at home. At school, I'm either in the classroom or here. If anything happens, you know you can find me here...that's all."

When people are young, they often react in two completely different ways when they encounter someone they have innocent and beautiful feelings for.

One option is to charge forward bravely and cleverly, like a soldier eager to be the first to scale the walls, going wherever the opportunity takes you. The result is either that you achieve your goal and become a happy couple, living a life of blissful obscurity, or that you fail, face a cold rejection, and end up with a lot of bumps on your head, but you still become the closest of brothers and sisters in the eyes of your friends, and it seems that no matter what the outcome, it's not too bad.

The second option is to remain silent and keep a tight rein on things, keeping all feelings and emotions bottled up inside. These feelings ferment and accumulate throughout the year, but the person can't express them or say them out loud. In the end, they can only entertain themselves by fantasizing and imagining a wonderful future together. But when the person finally falls to the ground and is cut open, all those youthful daydreams that were once connected to the inside have long since expired and changed. In the end, they can only be thrown into the trash heap and will never be of any use again.

Kazusa does not fall into either of the two categories mentioned above.

She was unwilling to remain a silent person, but her attempt to move forward only went halfway before she turned back.

There were still some things I couldn't say clearly.

The general in his mind is now criticizing the cowardly, timid soldiers who fail to carry out orders thoroughly.

Oh well, I've always been this way anyway, so it's already quite an achievement to have reached this level.

Somewhat discouraged, Kazusa comforted herself in this way.

But to her surprise, her words made Yuan Qianye stare at her intently, and then he strode over and stood beside her.

"There are two things that you misunderstood, and I feel it's necessary to explain them to you now."

He stepped back with his left leg, his knee almost touching the ground, while slowly bending his right knee, gradually squatting down. This gesture, reminiscent of a marriage proposal, aimed to align his gaze with Kazusa's as she sat on the piano bench.

"Your mother did ask me to go to the same school as you before she left, and asked me to take good care of you. But even if she hadn't said that, I would still continue to do what I do now. There are no other complicated reasons. I just really like being with Kazusa."

Furthermore, I've never felt that taking care of you was a troublesome thing for me; the reasons are as above, and I don't need to repeat them again.

Yuan Qianye smiled, his expression gentle, but the emotions in his eyes were like the sun.

Kazusa was speechless for a moment when she saw him like this. Her entire body, her face, ears, neck... in short, all the exposed skin, was now a beautiful light pink, as if she had just come out of a sauna.

In Yuan Qianye's eyes, he was as cute as Patrick Star.

…………

Chapter 012: He Made a Decision

Kazusa's reaction to what Minamoto Chiya said was also quite intriguing.

She turned her head rather mechanically, remaining silent and not replying, but the next moment she began to play Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 with great force.

The opening sound, "Ding ding ding—ding!", startled Yuan Qianye.

The subsequent playing did not live up to Kazusa's reputation as a piano prodigy. The overall rhythm was somewhat chaotic, and as she rapidly moved up and down the keys, which seemed to be burning hot, very obvious wrong notes could be heard in the middle.

She stared intently at the piano keys and played.

Yuan Qianye stopped staring at her deliberately.

He walked halfway around the classroom, then placed his hands on the windowsill, looked at the baseball team members on the other side of the playground, and hit the ball hard, making a crisp "thud." The baseball's rapid ascent into the air propelled several people into a quick run.

Gen Chiya wasn't really interested in this, but there was nothing else in the room that could catch his eye, and he couldn't just keep staring at Kazusa.

While it's certainly pleasing to the eye, didn't you see that the child has already frantically thrown himself into piano practice, trying to escape reality?

After the Symphony of Destiny ended, Kazusa continued to play the Heroic Symphony without interruption.

The wet, ambiguous atmosphere between the two gradually faded away, and the atmosphere in the room became grand and imposing in a rather eerie way, with a sense of heaviness. It was unclear whether this was the development she had hoped for.

Normally, he might still be interested in teasing Kazusa, but after noticing the second young lady's thoughts today, he wasn't in the mood for it.

I'll go back to the Service Department to see how they've cleaned, chat for a bit, and then go find my dear Saeko.

With that thought in mind, he came within Kazusa's peripheral vision, silently waved to her, and then pointed his thumb diagonally towards the door, indicating that it was time to call it a day, and that she should keep up the good work while he left.

He had just turned around and taken a few steps when the piano music abruptly stopped, followed by Kazusa's urgent cry, "Wait!"

When Chiya turned around, he saw that Kazusa had already stood up from the piano, her head slightly lowered and her hands clenched into small fists. With each step she took, she swayed back and forth with great force, her imposing presence reminding him of the penguin he had seen when he went to the zoo with Yukino Eriri as a child, rushing towards the feeding tank to eat voraciously.

"Here, take this."

Kazusa extended her left hand, her tone stiff.

Yuan Qianye paused for a moment, then lowered his head slightly, overwhelmed with sorrow—he had been groped!

What's wrong with this world? There are so many girls down here, and everywhere is filled with innocent male high school students... Oh, I'm not innocent, never mind.

"What is it?"

He slowly extended his hand.

Kazusa did not answer, but slowly moved her left hand, which was pressing hard against his chest, down and opened it.

And then, a key appeared in Yuan Qianye's palm the next moment.

The key was a dark yellow color, and it looked like it was made of copper. However, it didn't feel cold to the touch, clearly because it had absorbed the girl's body heat.

After handing over the keys, Kazusa withdrew her hand, put her hands on her hips, and instead of looking at him who seemed lost in thought, turned her gaze to the window.

"Although I'm here most of the time, I'll give this to you just in case. Even if I'm not here in the future, you can come in by yourself."

"..."

Yuan Qianye gazed at her beautiful profile, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He was very curious about his luck today, being able to make such great progress with two girls at the same time, but he didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse.

He took a deep breath, and under Kazusa's furtive sidelong glance, quite solemnly raised his other hand to grip the key tightly.

"Thank you for your trust in me, I'm very happy."

"Well... it's nothing, I just thought it would be more convenient for you in the future."

"Yes, it will be very convenient, but don't worry, even if I have a key, I won't just come to your house and bother you. I will definitely let you know in advance before I go to your house."

"Hmm—Hmm?!" Kazusa had been responding in agreement, but she froze instantly after realizing what was happening, her eyes widening as she looked over.

"Hmm?" Yuan Qianye continued to play dumb, matching her with a rather puzzled look.

After silently gazing at each other, Chiyo once again saw Kazusa's exposed skin, now a rather adorable, bright red.

After careful consideration, I confirmed that I understood what Minamoto Chiyo meant, and that I had not misunderstood her.

A mist seemed to rise around Kazusa, and mosquito coils seemed to be distributed in each of her eyes, constantly circling.

She looked down, her right hand trembling violently as she reached into her skirt pocket.

Yuan Qianye could tell that she really intended to give him the key to her house.

But... no, I can say whatever I want, but you actually gave it to me!

That's your house key, you trust me that much?

"Wait a minute, Kazusa."

Yuan Qianye realized that if he didn't call a halt soon, it would be too late. If he waited for her to hand over the key to his house, he wouldn't know whether to accept it or not.