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

Rikka seized the opportunity, and after her brother and Kazusa finished their conversation, she quietly approached him.

How have you been staying at Yukino's house these past few days?

"Apart from Yukino's unfortunate illness, everything is fine."

"What's the progress of the film's editing?"

"About 80%."

"How come it's only 80%!"

"What do you mean only 80%? Do you think film editing is a simple thing?"

Seeing that Chiya had raised his hand, Rikka instinctively covered her head in defense, but he still managed to flick her forehead.

He explained, "Actually, the film is already edited to such a level that it can be shown directly. However, for the scene at the end of the film where the male and female protagonists' music room is demolished, in order to make the audience see it more clearly, I decided on the spot that even if it is simple, we still have to do some special effects."

Rikka nodded to indicate that she understood, and casually rubbed her hand, which had just been holding the potato chips, against his clothes as a form of protest: "Oh, I see... When are you planning to go home?"

Yuan Qianye slapped her small hand away: "You already miss me after only two days away from home?"

Rikka snorted. Having spent so much time with Eriri, she had somehow picked up a tsundere attitude, and what she said was clearly not what she really meant: "I don't miss you. It's Chiyo who keeps babbling and calling for her brother. You haven't been back to Mom and Dad's place for over a week, have you?"

"Actually, I originally thought that I would let Yukino rest at home and I could take her computer and edit the video by myself. But she refused no matter what. Her face was flushed, but she still insisted on helping. When I was about to leave for school this morning, she was already up and sitting at her desk. I was really worried about her."

Furthermore, Chiyo strongly suspects that Yukinoshita's prolonged absence from home these past two days was also a deliberate act.

The woman seemed to be intentionally creating opportunities for the two of them, trying to sell her daughter, but he had no proof.

"Alright, then there's nothing we can do. Yukino has really had a tough time lately, Chiyo, so please take good care of her."

"Tell Chiyo that when the school festival starts, her parents can bring her to school to play with her brother. He'll buy her lots of delicious food."

"Okay, what about me?"

"You pay for it."

…………

Chapter 45: School Festival Part 1

Thursday, June 6th.

It was 11:37 p.m.

In Yukino's room.

As the rendering progress bar on the computer screen slowly reached 100% and a "complete" message popped up, the two people standing in front of the computer breathed a sigh of relief.

The film, which is over 50 minutes long and more than 7 GB in size, and took the team more than half a month to shoot, is now officially completed.

Yuan Qianye immediately reached for the mouse, clicked copy, and deftly inserted the pre-prepared USB drive into the port, dragging in a backup copy.

The most important part, the finished film, has to be shown at the school festival tomorrow, so we must do everything we can to ensure it goes smoothly.

He certainly didn't want those low-probability, dramatic tragedies to happen to him.

After doing all this, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hands, leaned back, and lazily yawned.

"Thank you for these past few days." Yukino rubbed her slightly sore eyes, her voice tinged with weariness.

"Is it really necessary to say such things now? Besides, I prefer a more sincere way of expressing my gratitude rather than just saying thank you verbally."

"for example?"

"Look, we've been busy until now, it's so late, shouldn't we..."

"Oh? What should it be? You can just say it."

"Well, we should prepare some late-night snacks for the people who helped us, so they can fill their stomachs."

Yukino smiled dismissively, as if she had won a victory: "You still say you have guts."

Yuan Qianye sighed: "You still don't understand me. I won't take action unless I'm more than 80% sure of anything."

He got up and left the room, and Yukino turned off her computer and followed him into the living room.

At this late hour, both of them moved very quietly, afraid of disturbing their mothers' rest at home.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Just kidding, I can do it myself. You're not fully recovered yet."

"I haven't been coughing since this morning, and my fatigue has subsided, so there's no need to worry anymore."

Even so, you still need to remember to take your medicine tonight. Your constitution is too weak. Don't let the germs make a comeback during this period of weakness before you fully recover.

“You don’t need to worry about that… um?” Yukino opened the refrigerator and paused slightly.

"What's wrong?" Yuan Qianye leaned over to look inside.

In the most conspicuous middle shelf of the refrigerator, there was a plate of freshly made sushi, with a note attached to the transparent plastic wrap: "If you're hungry after dinner, let's eat together. There's also freshly squeezed walnut milk on the kitchen stove."

Clearly, this was something Mrs. Yukinoshita had foreseen and prepared in advance.

Yuan Qianye smiled and said, "It's fine, and it saves you the trouble. Do you want me to heat it up?"

"How can you eat sushi if you heat it up?"

The raw fish slices and fresh shrimp on top will be cooked directly by the hot water, resulting in a strange taste.

She knew he was concerned about her and didn't want her to eat cold food while she was sick, so she immediately shook her head.

She accepted the favor, but there was really no need for her to do that.

After a quick late-night snack, the two went back to their respective rooms to rest.

Perhaps because the movie was finally finished and the heavy burden of the new project was finally lifted, the two of them fell asleep peacefully as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

On Friday morning, just like the past few days, because the male head of the household was away on a business trip, it was still just Yukinoshita, her daughter, and Minamoto Chiya having breakfast together.

"It's been so pleasant. These past few days, the house has felt much more lively because of Chiya-kun's presence. It's a pity you have to go back today."

Mrs. Yukinoshita, who spoke with a smile, had beautiful features and smooth skin. If it weren't for her elegant kimono and the imposing aura of a noblewoman, no one who didn't know the truth would have thought she was the mother of two children.

Judging from her appearance alone, she is no different from a young girl. Time seems to have had no effect on her, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Yuan Qianye politely replied, "Since everything has been done, and I have indeed disturbed you these past few days, it's time for me to take my leave."

"Not at all, it's no bother at all. On the contrary, you, as a guest, have helped me a lot. You've helped with cooking and housework, gone grocery shopping with me and helped carry things, and even taken care of Yukino when I was too busy to pay attention to her. It's so nice to have a sensible boy in the family. He's very reliable. I'm a little envious of your parents. I should be the one thanking you for your help these past few days."

Yukino couldn't help but interject, "Mom, Dad is just on a temporary business trip. He's not away working all year round."

“Your dad is different. He’s a mediocre cook and he has a job. When he gets home, he just lies in the bathtub as soon as he gets there. He doesn’t have time to deal with these kinds of household chores.”

Yukino was speechless at these words, and upon reflection, they seemed to be true.

Although he presents himself as a good man to outsiders, he is indeed much lazier at home, like a bear that has just come out of hibernation and hasn't woken up yet. When he comes home from get off work, he will only subconsciously look for a place where he can be comfortable.

In situations involving other people's family matters, Yuan Qianye cannot simply agree or offer any other opinions, as that would seem impolite.

The main reason is that his future father-in-law has a special status. Even if the other party is not present, he doesn't dare to offend him and can only casually deal with it with a laugh.

"The school festival is tomorrow and the day after, and Sunday is the day after that. Actually, if you don't have anything else to do, you can stay a few more days. As for the books you published, I was thinking of having a detailed chat with you when I have time. So many wonderful ideas and concepts are truly amazing."

“Mom.” Yukino sighed and couldn’t help but speak again, “Chiya has his own things to do, how can he stay at our house all the time? And didn’t you see that he’s not really used to staying here these past few days?”

"No, I'm quite used to it."

"..."

Yukino glanced at him silently, her eyes conveying the unspoken message, "Who do you think I'm speaking for?"

"However, I have a lot of work to do during this period. When I have some free time later, Auntie, if there's anything you'd like to talk to, I'll just give you a call."

"Hehe, okay, it's a deal then." The lady, who had been silently observing the interaction between her daughter and the boy, raised her hand to cover her mouth and let out a satisfied, subtle laugh.

After the meal, Mrs. Yukinoshita escorted the two to the entrance.

"Chiya-kun, is it alright if you bring your luggage to school? I'll have the driver take you to school and then take you home."

"No need for that. I'll leave this in the club room when I get to school, and then take it home with me after today."

"It's a bit of a pity. If I didn't have to go to the company to handle some business today, I would definitely go to the school to see the movie that you've worked so hard to make over the past few days."

"It's alright. The school festival lasts for two days, and our movie will be shown in the multimedia classroom at different times each day. Auntie, it's okay if you're not available today. You can come tomorrow. Just let Yukino know when you've decided, and I'll prepare your admission ticket in advance."

"Oh, thank you so much, I'll consider it."

Yukino, who had been watching the interaction between Minamoto Chiya and her mother from beginning to end, did not say anything. On the way to school, she closed her eyes to rest because she had not slept well the night before.

It wasn't until they got off the bus in front of the school gate and walked into the school together under the watchful eyes of many people that she finally spoke: "Why are you trying so hard to please my mother? What exactly do you want?"

Yuan Qianye felt that his character was being questioned, and said with an upright face: "Isn't it only natural to give basic courtesy and respect to elders who are close friends?"

Yukino didn't believe it at all: "Your respect went way beyond normal, it was almost obsequious, like... you had ulterior motives."

"Don't talk nonsense. I have absolutely no ulterior motives. I just feel that I am sincerely grateful to the aunt who brought you into this world and raised you to be such an excellent person. Not to mention that when our Yuan family was able to move into a big house and get rid of the embarrassing situation of the whole family crammed into that small house, we were undoubtedly helped by her. She is a benefactor to our family, and of course, you are too."

Yukino's gaze swept across both sides of the courtyard, where many activity stalls had already been set up, and many people were busy among them, making it a lively scene: "Don't exaggerate so much. I just recommended a house with a slightly better price-performance ratio for you. You don't need to take it to heart. Besides, even without your mother's help, you will be able to improve your family's living conditions with your own abilities sooner or later."

Yuan Qianye casually accepted the flyer handed to him by a student: "It may be like that to you, but to me it is a favor, something that needs to be remembered and repaid when the opportunity arises."

For some reason, the topic inexplicably veered off course.

Yukino didn't want to continue talking about her mother, since respecting her mother was better than the two of them having a bad relationship.

Neither of them went back to their classroom; instead, they went to the Service Department first.

Eriri and Rikka arrived soon after.

After meeting, the two were relieved to see that Yukino, who had taken three days off in a row, looked well.

Eriri couldn't wait to take a stack of printed movie flyers out of her schoolbag.

Rikka, on the other hand, couldn't wait to see what the actual movie would be like after it was finished.

Letting the three of them chat enthusiastically, Yuan Qianye put down his luggage and schoolbag and dialed Kazusa's cell phone number.

The other party hung up immediately, and two minutes later, she arrived at the Service Department. However, when her eyes met those of Minamoto Chiyo, before she could even say hello, Rikka grabbed her arm and dragged her to the computer screen to watch a movie that had just started playing.

During the actual filming, because the film's segments were shot in a scattered or even disordered manner, the plot was not very coherent, making it impossible to accurately imagine how the final edited film would look.

Now, with the finished product right in front of them, thanks to the clever storyboarding and composition, as well as the lyrical background music featuring the piano, the work presented by this unprofessional filming team unexpectedly appears to be of a very professional standard.

Before they knew it, everyone except Yukino and Chiya, who were involved in the editing, was quite engrossed in watching.

Kazusa's feelings were the most complicated. On one hand, she felt a little ashamed looking at herself in the picture, but on the other hand, she was moved by the sweet scenes of her and the male protagonist, played by Chiya Minamoto, being affectionate as the plot progressed.