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

"You really gave me a big 'surprise' that exceeded my expectations." Yang Nai looked at him with a complicated expression: "There's something I'm quite curious about now, how did you convince those two to be willing to maintain this... um... three-person relationship with you?"

She almost blurted out the word "love triangle" without thinking, but she managed to hold it back and used a gentler term instead.

"That's not the point."

"Yes, you've already done it. The process doesn't matter; the result is what it is."

Yang Nai sighed, stood up, and paced slowly back and forth in the living room. He rubbed his temples, looking slightly troubled, but then suddenly burst into laughter for some reason.

"Let me guess, you brought up this thing that you had been deliberately hiding to Yukino, there must be some reason behind it, right? It's not just because you want to announce your relationship."

This older sister's keen insight should never be underestimated...

Yuan Qianye avoided her gaze: "That's not important. I mentioned this to Yang Nai-nee because I wanted to ask you for a favor."

"Could you help me persuade Yukino to let my own sister join your harem game?"

At this moment, Yang Nai still had a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth, but there was no warmth left in that smile.

His playful gaze also revealed an extremely sharp and cold edge.

The relaxed and lazy atmosphere in the living room suddenly tightened, replaced by an invisible and immense sense of oppression.

…………

Chapter 016: He doesn't seem that angry after all.

Yukino's reaction was within Chiya's expectations.

He could understand the problems her younger sister Yukino was facing by putting himself in her shoes.

If a shameless man came up to him and said that he really liked Rikka, but already had two female confidantes, he still hoped that Rikka would be entrusted to him without any qualms...

If that hypothetical situation were to actually occur, the most dignified way for the older brother to refuse would probably be to simply get up and leave.

Being able to refrain from punching him in the face is already an act of extreme restraint.

It's understandable that she cares about and loves her family.

However, that's not the case now.

Although Yuan Qianye did have similar clear thoughts in his heart, he wouldn't be so thoughtless as to say them out loud now.

They even skipped over Yukino, the key female protagonist, and instead asked her older sister to act as a go-between.

The person in front of me isn't a matchmaker.

Besides, this isn't children playing house; there's no such abstract way of courtship as having someone relay a message between two people.

But before he could explain, he had to correct a mistake in the other person's words.

"I can understand how angry you are as the older sister right now. It doesn't matter how you see me, but there's something I need to make clear: neither I nor Saeko Utaha consider our relationship to be a game."

Yang Nai laughed angrily: "Are you saying that you are both serious and want to maintain this relationship in the future?"

Yuan Qianye nodded calmly but firmly: "That's right."

Yang Nai showed an utterly incomprehensible expression: "Have you considered how much resistance you would encounter if you really wanted to do this? Not to mention that your current relationship would never be fully accepted by modern society, you wouldn't even be able to get past their families."

"How are you going to explain this to their parents? You can't just be as straightforward as you are now, kneeling down and bowing to them as if you're going to let them hand over their precious daughters to you, can you?"

Without even thinking, Yuan Qianye replied directly: "We don't care about the opinions of other unrelated people. However, because it does attract a lot of unnecessary attention and malicious words, we have always chosen not to announce this relationship to the public. But as time goes by, this problem is actually easy to solve. As long as I continue to work hard and become strong enough, I will not be bothered by the outside world at all."

Secondly, regarding their families… this is indeed difficult. It's foreseeable that they will be angry and object when they truly find out about our relationship. However, we are prepared for a long-term battle. After all, whether it's Saeko, Utaha, or me, everyone is an individual. They care about their families, but they can't change their lives because of their family's opinions.”

Yang Nai narrowed her eyes: "You've already thought it all through, and you don't even care if you have to break ties with their families if necessary?"

Gen Chiya shook his head: "I didn't say that. Saeko and Shiwa's families will also be my family in the future. I won't be so rude to them. What I just said was just to show my determination."

"You're really quite confident, but are you really so sure that when you finally face off against their family, they'll stand firmly on your side?" Yang Nai's question suddenly became sharp, with a hint of provocation in her words.

In response, Yuan Qianye simply shrugged, frankly stating without showing much urgency or concern: "I can't answer that question, since the final decision rests with them. But if that day ever comes..."

"You're just going to give up?"

"I will continue to work hard and try various methods to gain the approval of their families and win them back."

"That's easy for you to say. Do you really think it's an easy thing to do?"

"That's not something I need to consider right now. I choose to believe in my future self." Yuan Qianye took a sip of his drink; he didn't want to dwell on this issue any further.

Yang Nai felt a dryness in her throat: "...Are you determined to go down this path to the bitter end?"

"Because I want to stay with them forever and I want to secure their future, I live each day to the fullest."

I've worked incredibly hard for this, exercising, learning new things, striving to become better, and constantly improving myself... I don't think there's anything wrong with the path I'm on now, given my positive and proactive attitude.

"..."

Yang Nai took a deep breath upon hearing this.

She leaned back in her chair and looked up at the unremarkable ceiling.

The fingertips of his right hand tapped restlessly on the table.

Gen Chiya remained silent.

Yang Nai looked at him like this and realized what was going on.

This guy has maintained a very rational demeanor ever since he walked in, which means he must have anticipated being questioned by her and was therefore prepared.

His excellent qualities, which she had always admired—high intelligence, genius, strong opinions, hard work, and high execution ability—have now become a considerable source of trouble.

Both their quality and personality are top-tier, making them rare, gold-level attributes in the game.

But when these terms are combined and combined to exert their effects on Yuan Qianye, isn't the direction of his efforts a little too skewed?

I thought that your success in winning the kendo competition, achieving great things in piano competitions, winning awards and becoming a bestselling author, balancing your studies to keep your academic level up, and taking on various jobs in your already extremely limited free time was all due to your positive and ambitious mindset.

Now she realizes that while she is indeed ambitious, it is completely different from what she originally thought!

Honors, money, status... are probably secondary in his eyes.

What truly drives him forward seems to be the two girls beside him.

Oh right, my own sister was among them.

Although the two were childhood sweethearts, I had considered them a couple from a very young age, and my mother felt the same way.

But given the current situation, it's really difficult for her, as the older sister, to accept it so calmly.

With such complicated feelings, it's hard to offer any full support. Just being able to keep this a secret from my mother at home for the time being is already the biggest concession I can make.

The series of rapid-fire questions had given Yukino Yukinoshita a better understanding of Minamoto Chiya and made her clearly aware of his benevolent nature.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, it seems that he is not just playing around with those two girls, but genuinely wants to be responsible for them for the rest of his life.

A profound sense of absurdity and powerlessness welled up within Hino...

Even she was in a state of confusion, unsure of what to do next from her own perspective.

As the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family and the designated first heir, Haruno has frequently attended various gatherings with her family since she was a child.

As a result, I often come into contact with so-called successful political figures, or well-known figures and entrepreneurs who frequently appear on television screens.

Over time, even if her family members consciously avoid talking about unpleasant things in front of her, she will eventually stop.

Despite her intelligence, through observation and exposure, she was able to discover many dark, deceitful, and shady things.

Among these, it is perfectly normal for men to keep subordinates, female college students, or mistresses even when they already have families.

Although no one had ever said this to Yang Nai, she could clearly sense that in the male-dominated upper class she had come into contact with, most people were not only indifferent to this matter, but even open-minded, tolerant, and appreciative.

They take pride in conquering beautiful, young, and attractive women.

In these people's minds, the women accompanying them are not women, but rather, like watches, rings, and bespoke high-end suits, they are objects used to flaunt their status.

Furthermore, some business cooperation negotiations are even held in high-end clubs located in Shinjuku.

The father has remained faithful to the mother all these years, rushing home as soon as he finishes work, which is a rare exception in the business and political circles.

When Yang Nai suddenly thought of these things, it wasn't out of a subconscious urge to comfort Minamoto Chiya based on what she knew.

In other words, it's okay for capable people to be a bit of a womanizer; this is the norm in upper-class circles.

On the contrary, she was very dissatisfied because he was still just a high school student!

He hasn't even graduated high school yet, and he's already surrounded by women. If he continues like this until he reaches adulthood and truly enters the peak of his manhood... what will happen then?!

Not to mention that he is now showing exceptional maturity, and seems completely unable to let go of Busujima and Kasumigaoka.

Even if she could think of a way to break the three of them up by playing the villain, given her younger sister's quiet and somewhat dull personality—the fact that they've remained at the friend level for a full ten years since kindergarten shows how cunning she is.

She didn't inherit any of her mother's skills in managing her husband.

Even if I were to build an empire for her, could she really hold onto it?

The answer is undoubtedly negative.

Having already considered paving the way for her sister's happiness and having come up with several concrete plans, Haruno cast a worried and troubled gaze at Chiya Minamoto.

The instant she saw him turn back to look at her, her gaze returned to its rational and indifferent state.

Gen Chiya remained silent, observing Hinata out of the corner of his eye.

It was quite amusing; it was the first time he had ever seen this older sister, who always seemed so at ease, display such a wide range of expressions.

One moment she'd furrow her brow, the next she'd purse her lips, and then she'd silently close her eyes for a moment and shake her head very gently, as if denying some idea in her mind.

She was so conflicted; it seemed that his confession had indeed thrown her into a state of utter confusion.

"Let's not talk about that for now. You just said you wanted me to help you. What kind of help is it?" Yang Nai asked, casting a questioning glance at him.

Yuan Qianye tentatively asked, "You agreed?"

"No, I'm just curious to hear what you have to say. Maybe I can gain a deeper and more intuitive understanding of the limits of human shamelessness."

"..."

Yuan Qianye remained silent.

But the next moment, he took something out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and slowly pushed it towards Yang Nai.

"Could you please give this to Yukino?"

Yang lowered his eyes, took the item in his hand, and examined it carefully.

It's just a very ordinary Mr. Pan style keychain, which is quite exquisite. Perhaps it can also be hung on a phone. It's holding a bamboo stick and biting it fiercely. It's wrapped in plastic packaging, and the material is soft when you squeeze it, but it bounces back quickly.