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

Frankly speaking, in modern society, unless it is an important occasion, such as a memorial service, a coming-of-age ceremony, or a large-scale event, few people dress as formally as Mrs. Yukinoshita. In modern society, which emphasizes fashion and convenience, kimonos can easily appear out of place.

However, due to her exceptional mental fortitude and strong personal aura, Mrs. Yukinoshita is able to carry off the kimono quite perfectly and showcase her unique charm.

As for Yuan Qianye, without needing anyone to specifically inform him, while practicing piano with Kazusa, he had already been silently observing from his omniscient perspective at the school gate because he cared about her.

Seeing that his future mothers had all arrived and the song he was playing had just ended, he stood up and said that it was time to call it a day, and invited her to go for a stroll around the school festival together.

During last night's dinner party, Yukino and Eriri both mentioned that their mothers would be coming to school today. Therefore, Kazusa roughly understood what he was going to do when he left, so she immediately shook her head and indicated that she would stay here.

I neglected my daily piano practice for a while due to filming a movie, and now I can catch up.

Since she said that, Yuan Qianye didn't insist on dragging her along. He said he would come back to have lunch with her at noon and then left first.

He went downstairs to the school's central courtyard and pretended to bump into them by chance.

When the two ladies saw him, they subtly glanced at their own daughters' reactions, and their gazes toward him softened considerably.

After politely greeting them, Yuan Qianye joined them and toured the campus together.

Yesterday morning I was worried about the movie's reception, but in the afternoon I was bombarded with congratulations from classmates and dragged around for interviews. In short, the noisy time passed by.

Today, apart from Yuan Qianye performing the piano on the main stage inside the stadium this afternoon, no one else has any particularly important plans, so they have no worries and can relax and enjoy themselves.

The second day of the school festival began with the various stalls in the courtyard.

Chiya noticed that although Eriri's mother tried to show the demeanor of an elder in front of her younger relatives, she was still much more childish than Yukino's mother.

While browsing the student-run stalls in the courtyard, she was interested in checking out each one and joining in the fun, showing a nostalgic expression. At first, she was rather reserved, but she quickly let her true nature show.

"Eri, they have some hardcover old manga books for sale here. They look really good. They're hard to find in bookstores. Where did they get them from?"

"Qianye, aren't you boys really good at shooting games? Auntie wants that hand-woven lanyard, can you help me with that?"

"Come on, Yukino-chan, you should try this taiyaki too. It's such a lovely stall run by students, they really know how to use the ingredients! There's so much red bean paste inside!"

Eriri felt quite embarrassed about being such an unreliable mother, but no one else seemed to share that sentiment, so the atmosphere was quite cheerful.

Rikka also arrived at school later, but because she wanted to go to the gymnasium in the afternoon to support her brother and Kazusa's piano performance, she had to switch classes with other students. As soon as she arrived at school, she took the initiative to help out at the class event.

Yukino was the same. She accompanied her mother to the school festival until after 10 o'clock. She took out her phone to check the time and had to hurry back to her class to help.

Lady Yukinoshita nodded knowingly: "It's alright, you go first, I'll go with the others."

Mrs. Sawamura smiled and waved to Yukino, who was about to leave: "Good luck, Yukino! Your mother and I will come to your class to support you after we finish watching your movie."

Yukino bowed slightly in greeting, and before leaving, her gaze met that of Minamoto Chiya.

Yuan Qianye casually waved his hand, indicating that you could rest assured that your mother was in his care.

Yukino was actually quite worried. She was concerned that her mother might say something to Chiya in private. However, with Eriri and Eriri's mother present, it seemed that even if her mother had such intentions, she wouldn't be able to find an opportunity.

So she nodded, felt relieved, and turned to leave.

As she watched her daughter head towards the school building, Mrs. Yukinoshita looked away and asked, "Chiya-kun, you just said the movie is about to start. Shall we go over now?"

“Okay.” Yuan Qianye glanced at the time: “There are still more than ten minutes before it starts, so let’s go in and find a good seat in advance.”

Mrs. Sawamura said jokingly, "My daughter Eriri has been saying that your movies are really great ever since you started filming. Last night, she proudly showed them off to her father."

"Mom!" Eriri looked extremely shy.

"What does it matter?" Mrs. Sawamura rubbed her daughter's head. "There are no outsiders here. You did tell us that your movie was definitely worth looking forward to, especially praising the story written by Chiya, saying that the viewing experience was no less than that of commercial films. I was really looking forward to it, and I didn't even sleep well last night."

"...!"

Noticing her childhood friend's gaze and that of Yukino's mother, Eriri simply turned her head away and ignored her.

Mrs. Yukinoshita maintained her impeccable smile, helping to smooth things over, and chimed in, "Actually, my eldest daughter said something similar to me when she got home last night, telling me that I absolutely had to make time to come and see, otherwise I would definitely regret it if I missed it this time."

"Your eldest daughter came here yesterday."

"Yes, because I was the student council president for several years, I was invited back by my juniors to visit the school festival and also went to see the children's movie."

"It's the former student council president! Yukino's grades are so good too. Speaking of which, both of your daughters are quite outstanding."

“Isn’t Eriri the same? Yukino showed me photos of her winning painting when she participated in the regional painting competition. The composition and color were excellent. She might become a great artist in the future.”

"You flatter me. What artist? She's far from it..."

As they talked, they arrived at the multimedia classroom.

Someone actually enlarged and printed out the promotional posters that Eriri had prepared, and put them on a board in the most conspicuous place at the entrance and exit.

Gen Chiya chose a good seat near the front for the two ladies, and he and Eriri sat down next to them.

The scene was noisy and crowded, even more so than yesterday.

The two ladies huddled together, chatting quietly and occasionally letting out soft laughter.

Just as Yuan Qianye was about to ask if he needed help buying a drink or something, his phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly rang.

For no apparent reason, on a sunny and pleasant June day, Yuan Qianye suddenly shivered.

He took out his phone and looked at the caller ID, thinking to himself that his hunch had been right.

The phone kept ringing.

"Aren't you going to answer?" Eriri asked.

The other two ladies also looked over curiously.

"Of course."

Yuan Qianye swiped the screen and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello..."

"Oh, okay, no need. The multimedia classroom is a bit hard to find, let me come and get you..."

After exchanging a few words and hanging up the phone, Yuan Qianye stood up.

Murphy's Law is indeed true; some things are more likely to happen the more you worry about them.

"Who is it, Qianye?"

“Kasa’s mother, she just arrived at school, I’m going to pick her up.”

"Should I come along?"

"No need, just save me a seat here."

"okay."

Gen Chiya quickly left the classroom and walked briskly to the school's shoe-changing area, where he met Touma Yoko.

She stood in the shade in front of the building, looking down at her phone. She was wearing a light beige crepe de chine sleeveless shirt and charcoal gray straight-leg pants, her gaze hidden behind brown gradient sunglasses.

It had been a while since we last met, but this pianist still gave off such a sophisticated and stylish vibe.

Suppressing her anxiety, Yuan Qianye quickly walked over: "Aunt Touma."

"Oh, Chiya, thank you for coming all this way to pick me up." Touma Yoko took off her sunglasses and tucked them into her collar, her warm smile unchanged from before.

However, Chiyo was not going to let his guard down because of this. The person in front of him was not someone who could be easily won over by simply judging his inner emotions based on his outward appearance—he was the complete opposite of Kazusa.

I don't understand how a mother like that could raise such an innocent child...

"No trouble at all. Have you contacted Kazusa yet?"

"Yeah, I just called her, but she didn't answer. I also sent her a message, but she didn't reply."

"She's practicing piano in the piano room, so her phone might be on silent. Shall we go find her now?"

"No rush. You guys made a movie, right? I heard you two are the male and female leads. I have no reason to miss it. Let's go see that first."

"Ah... okay."

"Why do you look so troubled? Is it just my imagination?" Yaozi teased, sizing him up.

Yuan Qianye shook his head: "No trouble at all. The movie is about to start anyway, so you can sit in my seat later."

"You're so reliable, I knew I could have trusted you."

With a smile, Yaozi followed Yuan Qianye to the multimedia classroom. There was a queue at the classroom door for people to buy tickets to enter, but that didn't matter. As usual, they simply scanned their faces and entered through the staff entrance.

Yoko's gaze was drawn to the large poster featuring her daughter alongside Minamoto Chiya, and she quickly raised her hand to take a picture.

Gen Chiyo guided Yoko to her seat. On the way, he explained to Yoko that Eriri's mother and Yukino's mother were also present. Yoko didn't seem to care much and smiled, saying it was good, since they were close in age and could talk about children's education.

After meeting, it was indeed a scene of three women making a drama. In addition, they had met before at the celebration banquet after Yuan Qianye won the kendo competition, so they were not strangers.

Therefore, during the time before the movie officially started, they exchanged polite greetings and quickly became acquainted, chatting about anything and everything.

Soon, Eriri, who was sandwiched in the middle, also left her seat and went to the side of the classroom to stand, just like Minamoto Chiya, who had no seats available.

"Isn't it uncomfortable to sit here?"

"No, let the three of them chat slowly. I'm the center of attention there, and I feel so much pressure."

Yuan Qianye thought about it and agreed.

Because the classroom was very noisy, he couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he could see that all three of them were laughing happily.

Feeling somewhat uncertain, he asked Eriri, "What were they saying when you left?"

"We were discussing the movie's plot, and before that, we were talking about things like clothing coordination," Eriri answered honestly.

Gen Chiya nodded knowingly: "Leave this to me, I'll stay with them. You've already seen the movie, it's tiring to just stand there. Go out and find Rikka or Yukino to pass the time. I'll bring your mother and the others to meet you after the movie."

Eriri shook her head hesitantly: "No need, they're all busy with their own things, and it's fine as it is now...."

"I see."

The movie soon officially started airing. While Gen Chiya was chatting closely with Eriri, he was also paying close attention to the gazes directed at the three ladies, which was noticed by Touma Yoko.

His quick averting of his gaze prompted Yoko to give a meaningful smile.

Shortly after, his phone vibrated to notify him of a message.

It was sent by Yoko.

I just chatted with the two of them, and it seems they don't know the specifics of your situation.

…………

Chapter 51: School Festival Part 7

Upon seeing this message, Yuan Qianye's heart skipped a beat, realizing that something was wrong and his worst fears had come true.