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

A short while later, the two parted ways, both somewhat confused and infatuated.

"Shihua, you've been busy all night, I didn't mean it today."

“Today I was the one who meant it, so don’t tell such an easy lie again…” She reached down and said, “…You’re so energetic, you clearly mean it.”

"Tenka..."

"Little rascal...no, big rascal...ah—uh..."

The next day, during a break at school, Chiya sought out Eriri and the others to express her gratitude for their support the previous night.

They all seemed unconcerned, with Eriri even blaming him for being too formal.

After school in the evening, Rikka is going to Eriri's house to play.

Chiyo thought it had been a while since she had visited Eriri's house, so she bought some fruit and brought it over as well.

We also had dinner together at her house that evening.

Eriri had already gone, and Chiya Minamoto felt he couldn't show favoritism, so a day later he bought some more things and went to visit Yukinoshita's family.

This continued until Thursday. After school that day, Chiya and Rikka took Kazusa to the supermarket, and then went directly to Touma's house to bother them.

Originally, Chiya Minamoto was planning to go to her father's bar to get two bottles of good wine to take to Touma Yoko, but considering her health condition, she decided to give up on the plan.

"Oh, you two little ones are here! Welcome, welcome!"

Touma Yoko warmly welcomed the brother and sister, and naturally, they ate dinner there as well.

Yoko even called Miyoko over. It has to be said that she treated her former subordinate quite well. Knowing that she came from the countryside to work hard in this big city all alone, she would call her to have dinner together when the situation was right.

After dinner, Kazusa played games with Rikka on TV in the living room.

Kazusa doesn't usually play games, but her abnormally nimble fingers, honed from years of piano practice, allowed her to quickly master battle games. After just a few rounds, she was incredibly skilled at using her signature moves and combos, unilaterally crushing Rikka, who had only managed two or three rounds of victory.

So Rikka refused to play battle games with her anymore and switched to cooperative puzzle games instead.

On the other side of the living room, Gen Chiya, Yoko, and Miyoko sat together at the dining table.

The dishes and utensils had been cleared away, and freshly brewed light tea had been served.

At that moment, Miyoko received a call from the TV station. She held the phone to her ear with one hand, listening and responding from time to time, while using the other hand to jot something down in her notebook.

After a conversation that lasted about ten minutes, she hung up the phone.

Miyoko first looked at her boss: "The contract with the TV station is almost ready. It will be sent to us for review tomorrow. The producer and director have also been selected. All we need to do is sign the contract to officially start the project. Since it is a short drama series with nine episodes, the filming process will not be too long. If everything goes smoothly, it will be officially broadcast in about two months."

Yuan Qianye nodded: "The speed is much faster than I expected."

Yoko chimed in lazily from the side: "Anything involving business, as long as it's profitable, will become very efficient."

Miyoko smiled, walked to the side, and took out her laptop from her bag: "Also, the detailed outlines of the first two episodes of the TV series are out. Boss, take a look first. If there are any parts you are not satisfied with, I will contact them to make changes later."

After a simple operation, she placed the computer in front of Yuan Qianye, and Youzi curiously came over to take a look as well.

While the boss was looking at the outline of the drama series, Miyoko brought up what she had just written in her notebook: "Also, Ueno-sama has two other things he asked me to ask for your opinion on, boss."

Yuan Qianye, preoccupied with two things at once, didn't look up: "You say it."

"There are no problems with the music. However, considering that it needs to be integrated into the TV series, the director felt that the length of the music pieces appearing in the movie might need to be appropriately lengthened. He suggested that it might be better to have the original composer make the changes. Of course, the TV station will provide the corresponding compensation."

However, this isn't a mandatory requirement, but rather a matter of negotiation. If the original composer is unavailable, they can invite other music producers to make the changes. However, in that case, the name of the music producer who helped with the modifications must be separately listed in the credits.

While Miyoko was reporting her work to her boss, Kazusa, who was playing a game with Rikka not far away, glanced at them with some concern.

Yuan Qianye nodded to indicate that he understood, but did not give an immediate answer. Instead, he asked, "And the second thing?"

Miyoko replied, "Minister Ueno asked the boss if you were interested in appearing in the upcoming drama series."

Gen Chiya was somewhat taken aback: "You want me to act in it?"

Yoko chuckled, feeling that the boy in front of her was bringing her more and more interesting things: "Isn't that pretty good? After achieving success in kendo, literature, and piano, you can now open up a brand new track for your life. With the Oscar as your ultimate goal, how about starting your efforts with this TV series?"

Yuan Qianye said helplessly, "Please stop making fun of me."

He's extremely busy right now, and there's never enough time for him, so naturally he has no interest in facing the public and becoming an actor who can be judged by others and whose efforts are thankless.

Wouldn't it be nice to steadily reproduce and publish those works one by one, and enjoy passive income as a great writer?

Miyoko quickly waved her hand: "Minister Ueno didn't mean that. He knows that you are a student now and need to balance your studies, so you definitely don't have time to participate in the busy filming. So he just asked if you could make a simple cameo appearance in the TV series. You don't even need many lines. The key is just to show your face."

As soon as she said that, Yuan Qianye understood instantly.

After all, he is a well-known figure, and he recently published a hit novel. He is currently very popular. If he could appear in a TV series, he could use that as a selling point to attract public attention during the pre-broadcast promotion.

That's a pretty good idea—to freeload off someone else's popularity.

However, from my own perspective, it's not easy to refuse, since the script is mine and I'll also benefit from the TV series after it airs.

However, Yuan Qianye is no longer the naive young man he was when he first debuted. He will help with this matter, but of course, he can't help for nothing. Cooperation is all about a win-win situation.

"I can appear in the TV series, but I also have a small favor to ask of you, Minister Ueno. Could you please pass this on to me when we meet next time? I think he won't refuse."

"What is it?"

Yuan Qianye pointed to the detailed document: "Look, in the first episode of the TV series, there is a scene where the male lead's father takes him to a restaurant after moving. And the night before the male lead enrolls in school, his father also invites his former colleagues to a bar for a chat. And my family happens to own a bar and a restaurant. How can there be such a coincidence in the world? It feels like everything was destined."

Miyoko immediately understood and suppressed a laugh: "I understand, boss. I'll mention it to Director Ueno next time we meet. As the director of the programming department, he is responsible for the prime time slots and budget allocation for all the TV programs. His power is far above that of the directors. This kind of small matter should just be a matter of giving a heads-up."

That would be best.

"The issue of the music arrangement..."

"I'll try it tonight when I get back. When should I ask them to meet up next?"

"This Saturday at 10:00 AM."

I will give you an answer within two days.

"Ok."

Yoko rested her chin on her hand, smiling as she watched the two of them: "You two are really getting more and more in sync now."

"I have to thank you so much, Auntie."

"Why do I feel like you're subtly mocking me?"

"No way, how could I have such a thought? I am truly grateful that you were able to get Miyoko-nee to help me back then, otherwise I would have been in a complete mess."

Chiya Minamoto is becoming more and more relaxed in front of Yoko Touma.

Although saying this might seem a bit harsh on Yoko herself and Kazusa, it's really great that Yoko is a single mother.

He doesn't have to bear any extra pressure here—referring to the undetermined future father-in-law.

Eriri's father, Yukino's father, and even Utaha's father, although they were all very polite to him, as men, they would still uncontrollably reveal some hostility when they saw their beloved daughters showing affection towards him.

This is a natural and irreconcilable conflict in the relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law.

He had no such concerns when he visited the Touma family. His daughter and mother both liked him very much, which was great, and there was no pressure at all.

As for Saeko's father, this workaholic with lofty ideals is somewhat special. Because his wife passed away early and he spends most of the year away from home, he actually hopes that a good man will appear in his daughter's life to take care of Saeko in his place.

Therefore, when he first met Gen Chiya, in addition to being amazed by his talent in the field of swordsmanship, he also immediately had the idea of ​​having him marry into the Busujima family when he learned that his family was not well-off.

Later that evening, around 8 p.m., Yuan Qianye and the others took their leave.

Yoko escorted them to the courtyard, and when she returned to the living room, Kazusa had already collected the teacups from the dining table and put them in the sink.

"Wow, you're so diligent. It's rare to see you like this today."

Kazusa did not show any obvious expression when faced with her mother's teasing.

Thinking about her purpose, she hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke.

"Mom, you've been resting for several days since you came back. I haven't seen you go out to meet up with any friends."

“Hmm? That’s strange…” Yoko said, circling halfway around her daughter. “…Why are you suddenly so interested in your mother’s daily schedule?”

Kazusa remained calm and composed, her expression unchanged: "Fine, I shouldn't have asked any more questions."

After saying that, she turned to leave, but Yaozi rarely saw her daughter's frank and tender side today. Perhaps tonight they could have a long-awaited deep heart-to-heart talk. How could she just let her leave like that?

"Mom was wrong, I was just joking. Mom also wanted to meet up with some friends, but unfortunately, they're either not home or busy with work, so we can't get together and I can only stay home."

"I see."

"Yes, that's it. There's no complicated reason."

"Mom, you must be very bored staying at home all the time with nothing to do, right?"

"Bored? Not at all, since Kazusa comes back to keep me company every day."

Kazusa shook her head: "After I come back every day, I just practice the piano as usual, so I can't spend much time with you at all."

Yoko hugged her tightly: "Even so, I'm very satisfied."

"I don't think you're doing a good job, Mom."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's just... staying at home all the time, doing nothing, isn't good."

"..."

Yoko slowly released her grip, and looking at her daughter's evasive gaze, she seemed to have grasped something.

However, she remained calm and continued to go along with her daughter's words.

"So you mean..."

"How about... finding something to do for yourself?" Kasa turned to the side and looked at the courtyard view outside the French windows.

That brat...

Touma Yoko now completely understood and was amused by her own daughter.

"For example, could I find myself a music editing job for an upcoming TV series that requires me to revise the original music?"

Kazusa realized that her mother had probably figured everything out halfway through, and she knew that she was ordering her own mother around for someone else's sake, which was somewhat unfilial. Therefore, she awkwardly said...

"I just felt that you've been... basically just lazing around at home all this time..."

"What about you? Don't you have time too? Didn't you help Qianye revise the music before?"

"I'm nowhere near as good as you, Mom."

The implication is that the name Yoko Touma has far greater prestige, status in the music industry, and popularity than that of Kazusa Touma.