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

The two men were agile and burly, and they wore special communication earpieces in their ears. They looked well-trained, and it was easy to conclude that they were neither fanatic fans nor paparazzi.

The way they were staring intently at me clearly meant they were prepared to target me!

If I hadn't been running so eagerly that it got the two people following me running too, it would have been really hard to spot them in such a crowded situation.

But I've been keeping a low profile lately, and I don't think I've offended anyone...

Yuan Qianye couldn't figure it out for a moment, so he decided to put it aside for the time being. In short, he just wanted to get rid of them smoothly, and he had important things to do right now.

He arrived at the coffee shop, where the middle-aged female owner greeted him with such respectful bowing and obsequious tone that it was as if a servant in feudal times had met a high and mighty master.

There's no way around it, this handsome young man in front of me is giving me just too much!

After settling down on the second floor of the coffee shop, Yuan Qianye took a big gulp of ice water to calm his racing mind.

At 7:12 PM, Yukinoshita Haruno pushed open the door of the coffee shop.

This is a privately owned coffee shop. It's not very big, but it's well-decorated and has a sophisticated atmosphere.

What's a bit strange is that, due to the festival, the street was flooded with several times more people than usual, and almost every shop along the street was packed, but this place was deserted, with no customers on the first floor.

"Hello, are you Ms. Yukinoshita?" The female boss took the initiative to greet her.

This one sentence alone reveals so much.

Yang Nai didn't answer immediately, but stared at her thoughtfully. After a moment, he replied, "Yes, I am."

"Mr. Yuan is waiting for you on the second floor. You can see him by going upstairs this way."

Yang Nai turned her head to look at the stairwell, then quickly looked back at the owner's face and asked with a smile, "Is this place booked out?"

The boss maintained his smile and bowed slightly.

"When did he book the entire venue?" Yang Nai continued to ask.

The response was still a smile and a bow.

Yang Nai understood. That bad guy must have already told the shop owner beforehand that he wouldn't get any useful information from her.

Yang then got up and walked upstairs the next moment.

The patent leather high heels on her feet made a distinct "clack-clack" sound on the wooden staircase.

The moment Yang Nai appeared on the second floor, Yuan Qianye smiled and stood up from his seat to greet her.

"Sister, you're here."

Yang Nai used one hand to block his chest, which was leaning towards her with his arms outstretched, maintaining a bright smile, but exuding an obvious chill from her body.

When this older sister is angry, the aura she exudes is far more terrifying than that of her younger sister.

"Yuan Qianye, I only came here because you told me so confidently on the phone that you would give me a clear answer tonight and end our relationship. But what are you doing now? Going to all this trouble to book an entire coffee shop, what are you trying to do?"

Yang Nai pressed her hand against his chest and then raised it to pinch his cheek.

"I do want to end my relationship with my sister, but before that, please let go first. I have some other things I want to say to my sister first," Yuan Qianye said vaguely.

"What's there to say? Besides, you clearly made plans to be with Yukino and the others today, where are they now? And how did you explain coming here alone to them?"

"Okay, none of that matters. Just calm down, sister. I'll explain everything to you one by one."

Yuan Qianye broke free from Yang Nai's hand, came behind her, pressed her shoulder, and pushed her, who was not so willing, to sit down by the window.

"But before that, I hope you can promise me one thing."

"what's up?"

"You have to promise me first."

Yang Nai rested her chin on her hand and chuckled as she looked at him: "You obviously have ill intentions, how could I possibly agree?"

Yuan Qianye sighed: "I might have had mischievous thoughts about my sister before, but ever since that night..."

Seeing that Hino's gaze suddenly sharpened, Gen Chiya immediately changed his story.

"...After our relationship improved that night, I never had any ill intentions towards you again."

"Yuan Qianye, I'll ask you one last time, what exactly do you want?"

He insisted on choosing today, making Miyoko pick her up, to meet her at this annoyingly crowded festival. He had made plans with his sister beforehand, yet he had to complicate things like this...

"Sister, if you really want to know, just do as I tell you now, and you will understand everything immediately."

The boy looked back at her with a pure and innocent smile, as if she were soothing a wary wildcat, her eyes as clear as a newborn animal, untouched by any filth.

Yang looked deeply into his eyes, then turned her face away to look at the surging crowd outside the window, letting out a soft sigh of resignation, though her heart began to race uncontrollably: "Remember what you said, I promised."

"Now, please close your eyes, sister."

"..."

Yang did not hesitate and closed his eyes as instructed.

This request was both unexpected and expected.

She had already decided that if Yuan Qianye were to do anything to her while she was asleep, then she would... she would...

We won't let him off easily!

With vision obscured by a blur, hearing becomes acute.

Yang Nai did not encounter the situation she had anticipated, but instead heard him walking away with deliberately light footsteps.

Where is he going?

Before she could wonder for long, a faint "sizzling" sound, like wheels rolling over an old floor, slowly approached her.

"You can open your eyes now, sister."

When Yang Nai slowly opened his eyes, his breath hitched.

Gen Chiyo was pushing an exquisite silver food cart, which carried a cake that looked like it came from a dreamland.

The three-tiered cake base is wrapped in soft cream, resembling mountains covered with the first snow.

The candlelight flickered and shone along the edges of each floor, its warm glow illuminating his smiling eyes.

Gen Chiya moved closer, bending his knees slightly to grasp Hinata's hands.

Happy birthday, sister.

His voice was as soft as a feather, yet it struck her heart with a heavy blow.

…………

Chapter 082: I Like You, and All of You (6k)

The warm candlelight reflected in Yukino's eyes, and all she could see were the gentle, smiling eyes of the boy.

Her mind went blank for a moment, and she even forgot that she had come today with the determination to end the complicated relationship between them. She didn't even realize that it was inappropriate for him to hold her hands so intimately, let alone resist.

Happy birthday, sister.

Gen Chiyo's voice broke the dazed feeling of Yono, who was still reeling from the sudden surprise.

She blinked, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, as if she had just woken from a beautiful dream.

"You...you are..." Yang Nai didn't realize that her voice was trembling, and her tone was much softer than when she first came upstairs.

"I'm sorry, this is the only way I can do it. If I make it too obvious, my sister definitely won't come over to let me celebrate your birthday."

Yuan Qianye slowly stood up, let go of her hand, and took out a black velvet necklace box from the compartment under the cake cart.

Yang Nai, seeing his actions, also realized something: "So the reason you specifically called to ask if I was free that night, pushing me step by step until Sunday, was because..."

“Yes, it’s to lower your guard. After all, I’m really, really smart.” Yuan Qianye walked slowly behind Yang Nai, leaned forward slightly, and gently placed the delicate necklace on her neck with both hands. “If I directly asked you to meet on Sunday, you would definitely have some suspicions. Even if I could find a way to make sure you accept the invitation, my intentions would be more obvious, and the surprise would be lost. I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now.”

The necklace brought a slight coolness the moment it touched her skin, but Yang Nai's breath grew hotter with her increasingly rapid heartbeat. Even so, she still subconsciously denied it: "Who told you I'm happy right now?"

Yuan Qianye understood, but he wasn't in the mood to rush to expose her little lie at this moment.

He continued, "I did consider a surprise gift, but I remembered what you said before: that no one should know about our relationship. So, after thinking about it, I decided against it. Although things are a bit complicated now, I'm content as long as I can celebrate my sister's birthday..."

He fastened the necklace, and although his attitude was intimate, his actions remained perfectly proper throughout, without any attempt to take things further or overstep any boundaries.

"...I have good taste. No, I should say that you have a swan neck, so no matter what kind of necklace it is, it will look quite beautiful on you."

Then, Yuan Qianye took out a small mirror from somewhere and placed it on the table in front of Yang Nai.

Her face in the mirror glowed like peach blossoms, her eyes sparkled with spring. The exquisitely designed necklace adorned her once bare neck, adding to her allure and making her breathtakingly beautiful.

"Happy 18th birthday, sister." Yuan Qianye sent her congratulations for the third time tonight, each time more tender than the last.

Yang Nai finally couldn't maintain her feigned composure any longer. She replied in a very soft voice, "Thank you, Chiya, thank you for the cake, thank you for the gift, and thank you for all the trouble you went to prepare for me. But you know, I really can't see you as..."

"Don't rush to say what you're going to say next." Yuan Qianye interrupted her, glanced at his phone, and looked out the window: "It's about time to begin."

"what?"

"Sister, come with me."

Gen Chiya grasped Yono's hand, pulled her up, and led her to the window on the second floor facing the street.

As you look out the window, you see a bustling crowd of people celebrating the festival, with colorful lights illuminating the streets as if it were daytime.

Yang Nai tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to show her.

Yuan Qianye didn't explain, but simply murmured to himself, "Five, four, three, two, one—"

The sound of the word "one" had just faded when, in the distance, a huge firework, accompanied by a crisp whistling sound, suddenly shot into the sky and burst into a dazzling nebula with a loud bang.

Immediately afterwards, countless more points of light rose into the sky one after another, like stars falling or fireflies dancing, making the night sky dazzling!

The glow of fireworks illuminated every corner of the festival, drawing crowds who stopped to watch.

Yang Nai gazed at the beautiful night sky, her eyes reflecting the colorful lights, and she was mesmerized.

Yuan Qianye could feel her hand, which had been loosely clenched, slowly tightening.

He slowly released her, stepped to the side, and came up behind her. He reached forward with both hands to his sides, took her hands in his, and pulled her delicate body into his arms.

"I sponsored the fireworks show for this Qixi Festival. A total of 2,321 fireworks were set off. My sister and I have been together for a total of 2,321 days since we met. Tonight, everyone my sister sees is a guest at your birthday party. This is the second gift I'm giving to my sister."

He softened his tone slightly, continuing to speak gently yet firmly.

"I know my sister's concerns, but I also have my own insistence. I can't imagine a future without my sister, but some words are meaningless without action, and I can only show my determination in this way. I am here today to make a clean break with my sister, but I'm sorry it won't be in the way you expect."

What I want to say is that I can't simply dismiss what has happened between us as just a dream. Until the day I leave this world, I will hold my sister's hand tightly, just like I do now, and I will never let go.