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

"Alright, alright." Hayasaka Nao waved her hand, deciding to get straight to the point: "Then I'll just say it directly, when do you plan to officially announce that you and my Ai are together?"

Meeting Hayasaka Nao's smiling gaze, which seemed to know everything, Minamoto Chiya was caught off guard and briefly lost his composure.

The nonchalant tone was like that of a familiar neighbor auntie who had long been certain of her daughter's relationship with the boy next door.

When did this happen? Did Ai-chan tell Auntie on her own initiative?

That's not right. Given her personality, if she really wanted to be honest with her mother about her relationship, she would definitely have discussed it with him beforehand.

As Chiya was rapidly sorting through the various possibilities in his mind, Nao Hayasaka, seeing this, took the initiative to clear things up for him: "It has nothing to do with love. I discovered it myself. After all, that child can't hide anything from me."

She observed the subtle changes in Yuan Qianye's expression with great interest, her smile widening: "Or... am I just wishful thinking and guessing wrong?"

“That’s not true.” Yuan Qianye came to his senses, smiled ingratiatingly, and frankly affirmed, “I am indeed with Ai.”

He paused, then added, "The reason I didn't tell you was because I love her and she thoughtfully considered my situation."

"It's not just that, is it?"

Nao Hayasaka raised an eyebrow, her tone carrying the wisdom of someone who's been through it all.

"You must have considered Ai's situation too. She works as a maid in the Shinomiya household, and also serves as a bodyguard and butler in private. If she suddenly gets together with you, a young president with a good reputation, and the people around her find out, she probably won't be able to keep a low profile in the future."

"You are truly insightful." Yuan Qianye offered a small compliment.

"Forget it, you young people can discuss this yourselves and take your time. There's no use me worrying about it." Hayasaka Nao picked up her teacup, took a sip, and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that now, let's get down to business."

"?"

Yuan Qianye was stunned for a moment.

So, what we just talked about wasn't the important stuff?

"Has Ai told you anything lately?" Hayasaka Nao put down her teacup, her gaze becoming more serious.

Yuan Qianye was completely confused: "What... what do you mean?"

Nao Hayasaka understood from his reaction and sighed, "It seems you haven't mentioned that child at all."

Yuan Qianye's expression became more serious. During this period, he had been quite preoccupied with the matter of Rikka and dealing with the series of changes in his surrounding relationships caused by her arrival, and had indeed temporarily neglected to pay attention to her.

Even so, they still texted and called each other from time to time. They would exchange sweet nothings and give each other a general update on their lives. During this time, he didn't notice anything unusual about her.

"What's wrong with loving her? Did something happen?"

"Don't be nervous, it's not that Ai is in trouble, but it is indeed related to her..."

Hayasaka Nao first reassured Minamoto Chiya by stating this premise, and then proceeded to explain the recent situation with the Shinomiya family.

That's right. To be specific, something happened at the Shinomiya family's place.

Since the beginning of this year, Shinomiya Kaguya's father, Shinomiya Karian, the head of the Shinomiya family, has been admitted to a special sanatorium due to poor health.

But perhaps due to his advanced age, coupled with the fact that he was still remotely managing the vast family affairs even during his recuperation, his health deteriorated day by day.

By the end of February, his condition had deteriorated to the point that he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

Although he was later rescued, this former powerful and domineering figure was now emaciated and on the verge of death.

In this physical condition, he was naturally unable to continue handling the heavy family affairs and was forced to delegate authority to the younger generation in the family.

As a result, the power of the family was taken over and divided among the three sons.

The only daughter, however, was completely excluded from the core of power.

With her father, the only person in the family who could barely be considered a "backbone," suddenly collapsing, Kaguya Shinomiya, unlike her three half-brothers, has recently found herself in a rather dire situation as the daughter of a concubine.

Not only was she issued a series of strict restrictions, but even worse, no matter how much she pleaded, she was not allowed to visit her father on his sickbed!

As Yuan Qianye listened, he roughly understood.

A very familiar plot, the prelude to the division of a wealthy family's assets.

With the old man in power nearing the end of his life, the first thing the three "good sons" did was to kick their youngest sister out of the picture.

But Shinomiya Yan'an was still alive; this was only the beginning.

Once he passes away, Kaguya Shinomiya has no idea what kind of terrible treatment she will suffer; her future is bleak.

Having understood this premise, Nao Hayasaka's seemingly disjointed remarks—such as asking when the two of them planned to officially get together, inquiring about the teaching environment and atmosphere of Soubu High School, and even discussing the ease of transferring schools—became more reassuring.

All of this suddenly becomes very easy to understand.

Leaving aside Kaguya Shinomiya, Hayasaka Ai is her biological daughter.

When the Hayasaka family fell into poverty, they had no choice but to send their daughter to the Shinomiya family to find a way out.

But now, after years of accumulation, the Hayasaka family has built up some wealth and naturally doesn't want their daughter to be caught up in such a complicated vortex of a wealthy family.

An hour later, Minamoto Chiya saw Hayasaka Nao off.

He returned to his desk, sat down, and spun his chair around to look out the window, then decided to send a message to Hayasaka Ai.

Hayasaka Ai called back very quickly, and her first words were an apology: "I'm sorry! My mother has caused you trouble!"

Yuan Qianye smiled reassuringly, "How could it be trouble? I should thank her, otherwise I wouldn't have known you encountered such a thing..."

The two then chatted for a long time afterward.

Now that her mother had made almost everything clear, Hayasaka Ai no longer hid anything and recounted the details one by one.

Kaguya Shinomiya's current situation is indeed quite dire.

The Shinomiya family is now effectively controlled by the eldest son, Shinomiya Hiromitsu, who has always shown no affection for his youngest sister.

Previously, with Shigong Yan'an above him keeping him in check, he was somewhat more restrained.

But now the head of the family looks like he might pass away at any moment, so the outcome is predictable.

The situation of Kaguya Shinomiya, which Nao Hayasaka just mentioned, was far worse than she described.

The most noticeable reduction is in daily expenses. In the villa where Kaguya Shinomiya lives, many of the original servants have been removed, and almost all of them are now people who are monitoring her.

Faced with this deteriorating situation, Nao Hayasaka naturally could not remain indifferent.

She had privately approached Hayasaka Ai, earnestly persuading her to resign and leave Kaguya Shinomiya's side, and offered to take care of Kaguya in her place.

But whether it was out of a desire not to add further burden to her mother in this already complicated situation, or out of the deep bond between Hayasaka Ai and Kaguya who had grown up together since childhood, she simply couldn't abandon Kaguya in the current situation.

Therefore, she decisively rejected her mother's suggestion.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Nao Hayasaka made that move to come and confront him directly.

Since she couldn't reason with her daughter herself, she thought of asking her daughter's boyfriend to help persuade her again.

What if it works?

If the daughter agrees to resign and transfer to another school, she can naturally stay away from the impending power struggle within the Shinomiya family and ensure her safety to the greatest extent possible.

Really pity the parents of the world.

Yuan Qianye sighed inwardly.

He actually hoped that Hayasaka Ai would agree to her mother-in-law's suggestion, resign from her job, and come to his side, away from those conflicts.

But considering her personality... he knew that it was really impossible.

Hayasaka Ai is a good girl. She might choose to leave when Shinomiya Kaguya is able to take care of herself and be safe and sound, but she would never be so heartless as to abandon her now that she has fallen to the bottom and her future is uncertain.

"...So, are you really not going to reconsider?" Yuan Qianye asked, holding his phone. Although he already knew the answer, he still held onto a sliver of hope.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

“…I’m sorry, Chiya…I…” Hayasaka Ai began with difficulty, her voice filled with deep guilt and struggle.

Yuan Qianye was mentally prepared, but he still couldn't help but sigh.

He decided to settle for second best. Since the maid was determined not to leave, he could only think about how he could help.

"I understand. Are you free later? We haven't seen each other in a long time, and I'd like to talk to you in person."

“Recently, the young lady has been strictly restricted from going out, and there are many people secretly monitoring her, including me, so… I’m sorry, it’s probably not possible right now.” Hayasaka Ai also wanted to see him, but she didn’t want to cause him any trouble because of herself.

Yuan Qianye thought for a moment: "Is your young lady still going to school normally?"

Hayasaka Ai instantly understood, and her tone brightened: "It should be fine at school!"

Although there are people monitoring the school, during normal school hours in the daytime, those monitors can only stand guard outside the school gate.

"How about tomorrow afternoon? I'll come directly to you."

"that……"

"What's wrong? Is there something troubling you?"

“It’s not like that…” Hayasaka Ai’s voice became somewhat hesitant, as if she was preparing some unspeakable request.

After several seconds, she finally mustered up her courage and whispered, "...Qianye, could you... also call Miss? You don't need to say anything special, just say as always that there's a joint school event you need to discuss with her."

This small request was nothing to Chiyo, but he still chuckled and asked, "Ai-chan, are you okay with me doing this?"

“I’m perfectly fine!” she replied immediately and decisively, but then her tone quickly turned to a soft disappointment: “I just… haven’t seen Miss smile for many days, and I hope she can be a little happier.”

Yuan Qianye remained silent for a moment, the sunlight outside the window reflecting in his eyes, a soft yet firm light.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best tomorrow."

"Thank you."

See you tomorrow.

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

…………

272: Kaguya Shinomiya's Determination

As agreed, Minamoto Chiya was picked up by the driver immediately after school and headed straight to Shuchiin Academy.

He got off the bus at the school gate and glanced around briefly. Students walked out of the school gate in groups of three or five, laughing and playing around from time to time. At first glance, it seemed no different from usual.

However, after a quick scan of the area around the school from a bird's-eye view, three suspicious-looking men wearing earplugs can be seen scattered in different directions. They appear nonchalant, but their eyes are actually constantly locked on the movements inside the school gate.

And this is only the situation at the front gate.

Yuan Qianye straightened his gaze and walked towards the gatehouse at the school gate as usual. After registering his name and explaining his purpose, he entered smoothly.

On the way to the club building, I unexpectedly saw Kaguya Shinomiya standing quietly waiting.