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

"Then why are you asking so clearly?"

"That's what chatting is all about, just talking about anything and everything, asking random questions."

Yuan Qianye shrugged and spread his hands, his performance flawless.

At least so far, Kazusa hasn't noticed anything wrong with him.

"If nothing unexpected happens, I will go on stage at seven o'clock."

What music will be played?

"It's a song adapted from a folk song, with a slow tempo and not too difficult. There will be dancers on stage, so I'll have to go there for a rehearsal before the day."

"That sounds like a bit troublesome."

"Otherwise, why would my mother push this matter onto me?"

"Well, being able to play the piano in different settings is a rare experience for you, and it may even help improve your piano skills, so just enjoy it with a positive attitude."

Kazusa looked at him strangely, remaining silent for a long time.

Yuan Qianye felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze: "What's wrong?"

Kazusa's gaze became even more resentful: "What you said is exactly the same thing my mother used to tell me. You're trying to fool me too, aren't you?"

"I'm innocent! I don't know exactly what Auntie was thinking, but I was sincere. I approached it with a positive attitude, not just going through the motions. Maybe something good will really happen."

Kazusa was silent for a moment: "What if nothing good happens?"

"Ok?"

“I said, what if I do as you say and nothing good happens?” Kazusa emphasized, tilting her head back and staring intently into Minamoto Chiya’s eyes.

Yuan Qianye came with a tentative mindset, but now he encountered unexpected pressure!

As for Kazusa, is she the kind of person who is proactive and aggressive like she is now?

Yuan Qianye was very puzzled and felt caught off guard for the third time today.

But Kazusa was still waiting for his answer; he didn't have much time to think.

Under her gaze, Yuan Qianye reached out and placed his hand on her head, attempting to physically lower her IQ.

"Just focus on preparing for your performance, and leave the rest to chance. What if something unexpected happens?"

Although the tone was serious, it seemed like he said something stupid.

Kazusa couldn't help but laugh the next moment.

Yuan Qianye felt somewhat embarrassed: "Let's go!"

"Mmm," Kazusa replied quite gently.

As Yuan Qianye walked out of the second music classroom, the moment the door closed, her casual and relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by a troubled expression as she held her head in her hands.

My brain is trembling!

Just now, he talked too much and made a mistake that even Rikka, whom he considers a little fool, would never make.

Not only did it make Kazusa realize something from a state of complete ignorance, but it also seemed to have made a promise to her in a daze, making her have some expectations of herself.

The problem is that he didn't even think about making any special preparations!

He simply wanted to go to the event with everyone to cheer for Kazusa, maybe give her a bouquet of flowers and say some congratulatory words, but that was all. After checking in like that, he rushed off to Haruno's place.

His already limited Sunday time has become even more strained by his amazing actions. What can be done?

The maid is available from 6 PM onwards, while Kazusa's performance starts at 7 PM, an hour apart.

An hour may seem like a long time, enough for washing up, exercising, taking a lazy nap, or even for Saeko to have sex several times over. Toka shyly whispers "husband" in her ear, while Utaha goes from resisting to desperately calling for her dad.

But it's far too short for meeting up with girls on dates.

The essence of dating between men and women is to create a relaxed, enjoyable, and memorable time together.

If you go out, you should have a heart-to-heart talk, and you should definitely have a meal together. Besides that, if you're feeling a bit more attentive, you should have other entertainment activities, such as going to the movies, an amusement park, or a karaoke bar. Afterwards, you can stroll side by side on a quiet path and have a relaxed conversation. Even if you don't take her home, you should at least make sure she gets on the bus safely and send each other a message after you both get home to put your minds at ease, and then happily make plans to meet again next time.

The maid was filled with anticipation. She couldn't possibly condense all of the above into an hour after she came out. That would be unrealistic, and even if she could miraculously do it at three times the speed, the process would be utterly devoid of enjoyment.

Therefore, the final conclusion is that no matter how you think about it, it is impossible to achieve a situation where all three parties are satisfied simultaneously, even with the maid being taken into consideration.

Chiya also considered taking this opportunity to introduce the maid to the others, so that everyone could happily go to see Kazusa's performance together, have a meal together afterwards, and then proceed as planned.

However, after careful consideration, he rejected the idea.

Not to mention that, given Yukino Eriri's personality, it's unlikely she'd be able to quickly become friends with a complete stranger.

He also had to consider whether this was what the maid wanted.

Perhaps for her, it was simply a matter of wanting to meet up with someone she already knew in a relaxed way, rather than spending her precious time off expanding relationships that were meaningless to her.

Gen Chiya slowly walked to the corner of the stairs in the middle of the floor, took out his phone from his pocket, and stopped his gaze on the message that the maid had sent twenty minutes ago.

So, according to the principle of maximizing happiness, I guess I have no choice but to decline the maid's request.

It might disappoint her a little, but considering the situations on the other two sides, sometimes you really have to make choices. That's the boring but real reality.

Before replying to the message, Yuan Qianye subconsciously shifted his perspective to the other side of the city to check on the maid's situation.

The library of Shuchiin Academy.

A seat in the corner.

On the table in front of Hayasaka Ai lay a book labeled "Human System Anatomy." Considering that she had been holding her phone in her hand the whole time, it was clear that the book was just casually taken out as a cover.

Yuan Qianye zoomed in further, observing even more details.

The maid stared intently at her phone screen with a blank expression. Every few tens of seconds, her fingertips would uncontrollably swipe up from the bottom of the screen, switching from the shopping app back to the chat app.

She could see him pinned to the top of her chat list and was being followed closely. She kept refreshing to make sure she hadn't missed any of the latest messages that might come back to her because of network delays.

This process is repeated continuously.

During this time, she picked up her water cup to get water from the library's water dispenser, and on the way there and back, her eyes were glued to the cold screen.

Suddenly, a notification popped up in her phone's notification bar. Almost instantly, her emotionless eyes lit up, filled with a positive emotion, and she clicked on the notification almost as soon as it appeared.

But the result was just a news push notification from an unrelated software.

Although Yuan Qianye couldn't hear the maid's voice, he accurately captured the dejected emotion conveyed by her wistful expression and soft exhalation.

Gen Chiya: "..."

It was as if a hand suddenly appeared out of thin air inside his body, slowly tightening its grip on his heart, causing his breathing to suddenly become suffocated.

The fingertips that were already hovering over the phone screen, ready to send a rejection message, suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Hayasaka Ai repeated the above process, quietly waiting for several more minutes.

Half an hour had passed, and the message he had sent to invite her had gone unanswered.

Her eyes grew even darker, and she slumped listlessly onto the table.

She rested her chin on her arm and checked the messaging app page one last time.

Not wanting him to possibly see a "typing" message, she exited and typed text in the notes app.

Sorry, sorry~ A friend suddenly asked me to go shopping and get my nails done on Sunday, so I might not have any extra time. Let's make it up another time~ =￣ω￣=

She looked at them for a while, then felt they were a bit too frivolous, so she clicked backspace and deleted them one by one.

Sorry, my mom suddenly isn't feeling well, I have to go see her...

Before I could finish typing, she deleted it all again.

【I'm sorry, Qianye, I just received a notification that there has been a last-minute change at work, so I probably won't be able to make it to you.】

After hesitating and deliberating for a while, she stared silently for a long time with her lifeless, dull eyes, and then let out another sigh with extremely low pressure.

She clicked copy.

Finally, Yuan Qianye could no longer remain silent and replied with a "Okay" at lightning speed before she could paste it.

A sudden surge of complex emotions, before absolute reason could stop him, prompted him to send a second message.

[Sunday afternoon at 6 PM, right? I'll pick you up then.]

The maid held her breath and widened her eyes to confirm that what she was seeing was not an illusion. At that moment, the smile that appeared on her lips was enough to melt ice and snow, which made her straighten her back and her whole body instantly come alive!

On Yuan Qianye's side, he staggered uncontrollably, covering his face with one hand and leaning against the stair railing.

Just now, swept up in his emotions, he seemed to have made a decision that made the most difficult part of his life so far, one that made it hard to predict how the future would unfold.

…………

Chapter 074: Shiyu: Am I part of your play? (6k)

[Hayasaka Ai: You don't need to pick me up. We can just pick a place to meet like before.]

[Minamoto Chiya: We'll talk about that later. See you on Sunday.]

[Hayasaka Ai: Okay, see you on Sunday.]

"Hush-huh-"

Gen Chiya took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

Now, the maid's sorrow has turned to joy, and she is full of anticipation.

Thus, a world where no one is sad has been achieved.

Of course, the pressure suddenly increased for everyone except himself.

On Sunday night, they need to come up with a way that will satisfy all three parties. Is it really possible to do this without the Shadow Clone Technique?

Yuan Qianye looked somewhat melancholy, but then shook his head vigorously.

No! No matter how unrealistic or unattainable something may seem, we still have to find a way to successfully complete it.

Compared to the happy and dreamy future I envision, this is just the beginning.

I don't have time to wallow in self-pity here!

Yuan Qianye slapped his forehead hard, clenched his fist, and showed a determined expression.

What's that saying again? "Man proposes, God disposes; my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens." It might sound a bit juvenile, but that's the kind of indomitable spirit we're after.

I don't know exactly what to do, but I'm very confident that there's always a way out.