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

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Chapter 073: Decisions Need to Be Made When the Difficulty Increases Sharply (6k)

The rain was fine and the usually bustling central playground was deserted, but this did not stop the school's broadcasting station from operating as usual.

Students at Zongwu High School are quite familiar with the daily lunch break broadcast, which is always on time. Sometimes it simply plays popular songs or instrumental music, and occasionally it broadcasts missing person notices and announcements about various school arrangements.

What's a little unusual today is that two girls with sweet voices are having a conversation to share or comfort the interesting stories or troubles submitted to the anonymous mailbox.

The background noise, which is usually ignored by most students, has attracted a lot of attention today because it is so interesting.

The same applies to everyone in the Service Department.

Rikka thought this was a pretty good format and felt that the Service Club could probably follow suit.

Instead of rigidly defining the club's mission solely as "actively extending a helping hand to those in need," they can occasionally act as a "confessional," offering appropriate responses and suggestions based on the desired attitude of those who want to confide in them, whether expressing melancholy, sadness, or distress. This is also considered doing a good deed and is quite close to the original ideals of the Service Club.

For Rikka, who is usually completely unreliable and only focuses on things that make her happy, this is a rare and reliable piece of advice.

Yukino and Eriri both agreed with her idea.

"Brother, what do you think?" Rikka asked smugly.

"Ah... um, that's good." Seeing his younger sister's eagerness for encouragement, Yuan Qianye temporarily put aside his absent-minded expression and stood by the window, giving her a thumbs up from afar: "Not easy, you can come up with some good ideas sometimes."

"That last sentence is unnecessary!" Rikka puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, then muttered to herself, "If you're going to praise me, just be honest..."

Despite this, Rikka was still delighted. She ignored her clueless and naive older brother and went to discuss with Eriri and Yukino about adding a side club service to the Service Club, similar to a confessional in a church.

And some of the more unconventional and enthusiastic people actually suggested that they could actually build a small room in the event space where people could cover their faces, since she happened to have a nun-style cosplay outfit and headscarf at home.

She became more and more excited as she talked, but in the end, Yukino gently tapped her head with a chop to stop her wild and unrealistic ideas.

"Buzz-"

My phone vibrated again.

Yuan Qianye looked troubled; he was inexplicably resistant to the existence of his cell phone.

Ten minutes have passed, and he still hasn't figured out how to reply to the maid's invitation. He's really afraid that something unexpected might happen.

With the worst-case scenario in mind, he took out his phone.

With a sigh of relief.

It was just a message from Yukino.

If it's really difficult, you don't have to force yourself.

Yuan Qianye looked in their direction.

Yukino placed her hands under the table on her thighs, holding her phone in her hand.

While Eriri and Rikka weren't paying attention, she secretly glanced in his direction.

She must have noticed his distress after receiving the maid's message, which is why she said that again.

The second young lady's thoughtfulness is not obvious; it is only revealed in a rather gentle and unintentional way at specific times. But it must be said that once you get the hang of it, it is quite adorable.

It's okay, don't worry, I won't force you.

After replying to the message and nodding slightly to Yukino to indicate that she didn't need to worry, Minamoto Chiya started walking, preparing to leave the activity room.

"You two chat first, I'll go upstairs to find Kazusa."

"Oh, brother, you absolutely mustn't let it slip in front of Kazusa."

"Don't worry, I'm not you."

"You're getting more and more annoying!"

Rikka's words were meant to express her anger, but the expression she wore was one of pure joy as she smiled.

This sounds rather inappropriate, even absurd, but it does give the impression of being somewhat flirtatious...

"What's wrong, Eriri?"

After her older brother left, Rikka turned around and saw her friend staring intently at her.

Eriri shook her head, suppressing the uneasy feeling that something was amiss.

"It's okay."

Gen Chiya closed the door to the Service Department, went upstairs, and finally stopped outside the door of the second music classroom.

He silently organized his thoughts. The information he had gathered was that he had already decided to celebrate Yang Nai's birthday on Sunday and give her a surprise.

Unfortunately, this arrangement coincided with Kazusa's performance schedule, and he had just promised Yukino that he would go with everyone to surprise her.

Although the time is squeezed together, as long as the timing of the time is staggered properly and both sides are taken care of at the same time, it is not a difficult task.

But the problem is that the maid has also sent a message.

It wouldn't be difficult to refuse by saying I had something to do, but how should I put it? He had just helped him out and done him a great favor. Last time, when we were about to part, he had also said that we could hang out together again anytime we had time.

Now that she has actually done as she was told, she has mustered up the courage to send the invitation with high hopes. Yuan Qianye felt that if she refused outright, the child would most likely be quite disappointed and saddened to the point of turning into a voyeur in the dead of night, and the pressure that had nowhere to be released would turn into desire and cause her to torment herself wildly.

She's already so busy with work every day, and then she still drains every last bit of her energy and strength at night...

At first, when she was silently observing the maid's situation, Yuan Qianye felt a mix of shame and excitement. However, as time went on, seeing the maid's increasingly frequent and somewhat pathological urination, she felt nothing but genuine heartache.

Empty nest maids have empty and lonely private lives, and they really need companionship and care!

Just as I was pondering this, the piano music in the second music room stopped.

Although it is extremely difficult to manage all three parties at the same time, there may still be a glimmer of hope?

With this expectation in mind, Yuan Qianye pushed open the door and went inside.

"Why are you here?" Kazusa didn't get up, or even turn around.

"Shouldn't I have come?" Yuan Qianye asked in a dreamy tone.

Kazusa turned around and looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Okay, the attempt to use the meme failed.

Yuan Qianye leaned over, waved, and unceremoniously squeezed onto the piano bench with He Sha: "Now you can even tell it's me by the sound of my footsteps."

"Get to the point." Kazusa seemed to be in a bad mood.

Yuan Qianye guessed that it might be because of the rainy day.

In the school, there is a corridor connecting the teaching building and the cafeteria. There is a roof above, but there is no shelter on either side. So whenever it rains, a little wind will cause puddles to form on the corridor floor tiles. If you are wearing indoor shoes with thin soles, it is easy to get your socks wet.

He glanced down and indeed saw that the front of Kazusa's indoor shoes was a darker color, indicating that they had been wet.

"Wait a moment."

Yuan Qianye got up and left again as soon as he arrived.

When he returned not long after, he had a clean, dry towel in his hand.

He half-squatted in front of Kazusa, spreading out the towel with both hands: "Come on, take it off."

"No need, I'm not that fussy." Kazusa didn't understand at first, but now she understands what he means.

However, more than his heartwarming gesture, she was curious about where he got the towel, which still had the tag on the edge.

Do you sell this at the school store?

"Where did you get this from?"

Do you know about the health-preserving foot bath club?

"What kind of bizarre club is this?"

"Calling them weirdos is too much. They're right downstairs from us. You should also pay attention to the other people around you. Before, when they saw that the door to our service department was making a loud noise when it was being pushed and pulled, they even came over to help us lubricate the door frame. This time, when I went over to explain the situation, they readily lent me a clean towel. They're all a group of easy-going people."

Minamoto no Chiya Misa remained passive, and even as she squatted, she grew impatient, grabbing her calf to help her take off her shoes.

"Don't move!" Kazusa was quite resistant to this!

She snatched the towel from Yuan Qianye's hand, quickly took off her shoes, lifted her feet together, and then tightly wrapped them with the towel.

"You can't do it like that. You need to use your hands to squeeze the wet areas to absorb more moisture. Just covering them up won't help." Yuan Qianye was about to demonstrate the correct way.

However, she was met with even stronger resistance from Kazusa: "Okay, I know! Just stay there and don't move, I'll do it myself!"

Yuan Qianye stood up, hands on his hips: "Why are you being so formal with me?"

That's not the issue...

The main problem is that Kazusa can't get over her own mental hurdle.

During the rainy season, damp socks, mixed with sweat that naturally seeps from between the toes, ferment and simmer indoors in shoes where there is no ventilation... Anyone with a little common sense knows that the smell is absolutely strong and pungent.

Kazusa simply didn't want him to see her in such an embarrassing and shameful state.

So she received the gift and was very touched.

However, she declined to help with the specific techniques, saying she would do it herself.

"What exactly did you come up here for?"

"Oh, I heard from Yukino and the others that you have a performance on Sunday?"

"What performance? Don't make me sound so amazing. It's just that my mom doesn't like it, but she felt bad refusing because an acquaintance asked me to do it, so she asked me to fill in the numbers and warm up the crowd." Kazusa said, gently squeezing the towel wrapped around her feet.

To be honest, this method wasn't very effective. When she put her feet back into her still-damp indoor shoes after class in the afternoon, the dampness was still there, and she still felt uncomfortable.

However, for a simple girl like Kazusa, who has been well protected by her mother since childhood and focuses solely on the piano, what matters is the attitude shown by the person she likes rather than the specific outcome. Knowing that the other person also cares about her is enough to make her quite satisfied.

"You think it's nothing special, but actually being able to perform on stage is already quite an achievement. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because it's not something worth mentioning. They only found out because I happened to receive a call from my mother when I was having lunch with them, and you weren't there at the time."

"I see."

Gen Chiya appeared to be deep in thought.

Kazusa thought the topic was over, but to her surprise, he continued to ask questions.

What is your specific performance time on Sunday?

Kazusa looked at him with concern: "What's wrong? Are you coming over?"

"How could that be?" Yuan Qianye hadn't forgotten Rikka's instructions to give Kazusa a surprise, so she immediately denied it: "I have something to do that day, so I'm afraid I won't be able to come and cheer you on."