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

He stopped and gestured for Hayasaka Ai to wait a moment.

Hayasaka Ai nodded obediently.

He answered the call and held the phone to his ear.

"What's wrong? Call me now?"

After being asked, he fell silent.

The person on the other end of the phone should be explaining why they called, while he listens silently.

Under the moonlight, the lines of the boy's profile were exceptionally clear.

Hayasaka Ai watched his serious expression as he answered the phone, her gaze softening unconsciously, her eyes sparkling with tenderness.

But the next moment, while she was still thinking about the wonderful activities to be held at the festival later that night, her mood was clouded by the slight frown of Gen Chiyo and the troubled look in his eyes as he quickly looked in her direction and then looked away.

"Now? But I have something to do and I have an appointment with someone else, so I can't..."

Yuan Qianye turned around and stopped abruptly.

Hayasaka Ai saw him scratching his head in distress.

Having already sensed something was wrong, she suppressed her sadness, stepped forward, and grasped the hem of his clothes. When he looked over, she maintained a gentle expression and calmly shook her head.

Yuan Qianye understood her meaning, sighed silently, and said into the phone,

"I understand... um... um... okay."

He hung up the phone, and his gaze toward Hayasaka Ai seemed somewhat troubled.

The maid didn't want him to make that face because of her, so she took the initiative to ask, "Is there something urgent?"

Yuan Qianye nodded bitterly: "It's a work matter, and I have to handle it personally on short notice."

Hayasaka Ai managed a weak smile: "There's nothing we can do about it, it's work after all. Go on, the other person is probably still waiting for you."

He looked at Hayasaka Ai with an apologetic gaze: "But we've only just arrived..."

“Although it was only a short time, I’m already very happy today.” She interrupted him, her voice soft but firm: “Thank you for spending time with me today.”

Yuan Qianye was silent for a moment, then looked up at the night sky, as if he had made up his mind, and looked at her again: "Are you planning to go straight back after this?"

"Yeah, it's really boring to go to a festival by myself. But it's good to go back early so I can watch TV shows while taking a bath, which is something I haven't done in a long time."

“I know this request might be a bit much to ask…” Yuan Qianye carefully chose his words, his tone hesitant. “It was because of me that our date was interrupted, so I can’t apologize enough. But… there are still many booths we haven’t had a chance to experience together tonight. So, could you wait for me for a while? I’ll finish my work as soon as possible and come back. At most, an hour. It won’t be eight o’clock then, and we can still stroll around together for a bit longer… Is that alright?”

As he spoke, his expression became increasingly unnatural.

However, Hayasaka Ai, who had almost completely let her guard down in front of him, did not notice this slight incongruity.

All her attention was now focused on the word he had just said—dating!

Does he actually consider our meeting today as a "date"?

Once again, a complex mix of emotions washed over the maid, leaving her both happy and shy.

With her hands behind her back, she tiptoed: "There's nothing wrong with it. I didn't have any other plans for today anyway."

"Great! I'll finish this quickly. You can wander around or wait for me at a shop before I get back."

After finishing speaking, Yuan Qianye turned around and ran away.

Hayasaka Ai was left alone. She stood there, watching his figure disappear into the crowd before turning her gaze away and touching her slightly hot cheeks.

There was no way to deal with the sudden emergency at work, but fortunately, the final result wasn't the worst. He will come back; it's just that the happy times will be slightly delayed.

She comforted herself in this way, trying to ignore the slight sense of loss in her heart.

However, looking at the crowd around me, almost everyone was surrounded by family and friends, and seeing the smiles on their faces, I realized... I still felt a little lonely.

As Qianye suggested, let's find a place to kill time before he returns.

The maid looked around, her gaze settling on the toy gun shooting stall that Yuan Qianye had just mentioned.

Remembering the nostalgic look on his face when he talked about his childhood, Hayasaka Ai wanted to try out the game he had experienced.

If he's lucky enough to win the jackpot again like he did before, that would be even better. When he comes back later, it might surprise him, and he might even praise him.

With that thought in mind, the maid walked up to the stall.

The stall owner shook the bell in his hand.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho! Come and see! Balloon shooting game. The grand prize is a newly released game console, and the winners will be drawn based on the number of balloons they shoot!"

The maid remembered that Chiyo liked playing games, and that there were two game consoles of different platforms plugged into the TV in his house.

If he wins an award, it would be perfect to give it to him later.

With a "what if" mentality, the maid paid for the toy gun.

Ten consecutive launches: only the first launch, a trial launch to get a feel for the ball, went astray; the subsequent nine launches hit their targets cleanly and decisively, breaking a total of nine balloons.

She put down the toy gun and reached into the lottery box.

Nine lottery tickets, seven thank-you tickets, and two small gifts.

Well, that was to be expected. 500 yen for ten shots, a cheap way to have fun. It's all about having a good time.

The small gifts were balloons, which Hayasaka Ai didn't care for and weren't very convenient to hold, so she gave both to the little girl who had been watching from the side.

"Thank you, pretty sister!" the little girl said in her sweet, childish voice.

"You're welcome." Hayasaka Ai smiled, patted her head, and prepared to leave.

"Please wait a moment, sir!" the stall owner called out to her, appearing very enthusiastic. He waved the bell in his hand: "Because your success rate in popping the balloons reached ninety percent! An extra hidden prize has been triggered!"

"A hidden grand prize?"

"Yes!" The stall owner took out a card, wrote something on it, and handed it over.

Hayasaka Ai took it; it was just an ordinary thick paper card with a not-so-delicate blue sky and white clouds background. There were nine circles on the background, and the shop owner had just scribbled his illegible signature in one of the circles.

Hayasaka Ai looked up, puzzled.

The stall owner explained, "Sir, you see the red lanterns hanging on my stall, right? Go over there and find the stalls with the same red lanterns to challenge the game. Collect all the signatures on the empty squares of the cards, then come back to me, and you can win the ultimate prize!"

"What ultimate prize?"

"Please forgive me for keeping this a secret for now. Also, since you have completed the initial challenge with me, as a small reward for passing the level, I'll give this to you first."

The stall owner brought out a huge fox-eared doll from behind and placed it on the counter.

Hayasaka Ai was stunned for a moment.

She had just been wondering if this seemingly random hidden grand prize was some kind of marketing ploy by businesses to attract customers.

By using the guise of collecting signatures to win big prizes, they pique customers' curiosity and entice them to make purchases at different stalls.

However, it doesn't seem likely at the moment.

This enormous doll is over a meter tall. Given its size, it looks exceptionally exquisite, and judging by the price, it won't be cheap.

Even if it's a customer attraction tactic, they wouldn't offer such a high-profile gift right from the start, would they?

"Sir, I see you're not available right now. How about you leave your prize with me for now? I'll give it to you when you come back later. Now you should hurry up and challenge other games. The grand prize is quite tempting!" The stall owner's tone was already somewhat enticing, clearly trying his best to persuade Hayasaka Ai to agree.

The stall owner's attitude was so strange...

Generally speaking, business people who do business outside their hometowns are indeed very hospitable to their customers, but to this extent...

Even though she sensed something was amiss, Hayasaka Ai nodded in agreement.

The reason is that she really has nothing to do right now. Also, even if there is something fishy going on, with the fighting and assassination skills she has acquired over the years, she is not worried about any problems arising.

She walked to the second stall.

After she left, a young couple who had witnessed the whole situation paid for balloon poppers and, after several attempts, finally succeeded in popping nine balloons.

They looked at the stall owner with expectant eyes.

Would the guests like to continue their experience?

"No, I hit nine balloons too, shouldn't I get the same prize as that guy? I get a stamp collection card and a plush toy."

"I'm sorry, sir, but that hidden grand prize is a bit special; it's the only one of its kind in the entire venue."

This is the main venue in the park.

Rikka hung up the phone and walked back to her friends.

"Who were you talking to on the phone? And why did you go all the way there so mysteriously?" Eriri asked her teasingly.

"Nothing much, just reporting to Mom about our outing." Rikka chuckled, then turned to the others: "It's almost Kazusa's turn to go on stage, we should probably head over there soon."

Yukino nodded, but asked with some confusion, "Why hasn't Chiya come back for so long?"

Saeko thought for a moment: "Maybe they should just stay there and wait for us to meet up."

Rikka took out her phone: "Let's go over there first, I'll contact him."

Everyone nodded.

They hadn't walked far when a staff member dressed as a mascot awkwardly approached and handed them small plastic fans, a special gift for the festival.

After everyone thanked them, they each took a handful, which was perfect for fanning their faces to cool off in the sweltering summer heat.

"I've already been delivered by Miyoko-nee, where are you?"

"I'll send you my location, and my sister can come find me here."

After hanging up the phone with Haruno, Chiya Minamoto, who had been multitasking, simultaneously withdrew his God's-eye view from Ai Hayasaka.

So far tonight, everything has gone smoothly on all three sides, which has put his mind at ease.

He shifted his focus back to locking onto himself, centering on himself to avoid encountering other people he shouldn't be seeing and to prevent any unexpected situations.

As planned, he raced against time toward a coffee shop he had booked in advance.

Suddenly, his pace slowed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal.

He deviated from the planned route and wandered into a small alley.

A moment later, two people ran up from the alley entrance. They looked at the two forks in the alley leading forward, exchanged a glance, each chose a path, and quickly followed.

Once they were far away, Yuan Qianye popped out from behind a residential wall on one side of the alley, nimbly climbed over, and returned to the main road, running towards the coffee shop she had originally booked.

He couldn't understand why someone would be following him.