Leaning against Yuiko while waiting for the first round opponents, Erina mused, "They aren't showing up are they..."
Running her hand through Erina's hair while Erina was lying on her lap, Yuiko replied, "Doesn't look like it so far... Though I do wonder how many teams skip the first round and get eliminated..."
"Who knows..." Erina replied, starting to nod off a bit in Yuiko's lap, "Maybe, Krystina?"
"Probably..." Yuiko murmured while waiting for the 15 minute mandatory wait time to be over.
————
Walking back to one of the many boards that would tell them their next round opponents, Vladimir muttered while rolling his shoulder, "Ow... my shoulder hurts... I hope we get easy opponents, I don't really feel like moving around that much next round..."
"Are you okay? Do we need to go to the infirmary?" Erina asked, barraging Vladimir with questions while turning around, "Do you know how your shoulder started hurting?"
Overwhelmed by Erina's questions, Vladimir chuckled, "Woah, Woah... slow down... I'm fine! We don't need to go to the infirmary. Also... yeah... you don't need to worry about how my shoulder started hurting..."
Seeing that Vladimir said it was fine, Erina turned around to continue discussing her new book with Yuiko.
"You're okay right?" Krystina whispered with an apologetic face while walking to the next Arena, "Sorry if I gripped your shoulder too hard...."
Smiling, Vladimir replied, "It's fine! Don't worry about it, I was just exaggerating! Though I don't know why... maybe attention? I'm not sure... I kinda did it unconsciously..."
Walking alongside Vladimir and Krystina, Hiroshi teased, "Well, you won't be getting too much attention from Yuiko and Erina, not when they have their 'normal friend conversations' and fluffy atmosphere around them!"
"Yeah, trueeee!" Vladimir agreed while trying to suppress his laughter.
Not even bothering to suppress her laughter, Krystina added while wiping tears away, "It's so true! Normal best friends totally cuddle together in their free time~"
Chuckling, Hiroshi nodded with a grin before hardening his expression as the other team walked in.
Walking in with a vulgar expression, the opposite team leader sneered, "What do we have here? A bunch of sissies! You guys are going to be crushed before us! We have 5 boys, while you guys have 2 boys and 3 girls!"
Disgusted by his words, Krystina taunted with a sweet yet not so sweet smile, "I wouldn't be so sure of that~!"
Turning around, Krystina muttered, "We're going to crush him okay? Are we all in agreement?"
A little miffed at the team leader's words, everyone chimed in, "Do you even need to ask? Of course!"
"Okay! Let's just go with the usual strategy! We'll blitz them and knock them out before they even know what's happening!" Krystina exclaimed with fiery passion.
Shaking hands with the Krystina under the Referee's call, the opposite team's captain jeered, "You ready to lose? Or are you too afraid to talk back? Shaking in your skirt? You shouldn't have even come to this school!"
Walking back to her side, Krystina turned around with a cold expression and spat, "You should cease your empty barking, you wastrel mutt!"
Ignoring the other team captain as he exploded into a stream of curses directed at her, Krystina turned to her team and reminded, "Make sure to crush them! Though don't try too hard, we still have later rounds to participate in~"
As the referee blew the whistle, Krystina began buffing Yuiko as Vladimir and Hiroshi worked together to create a favorable playing field.
Running ahead of his own group without buffing himself, the other team's captain yelled, "I'm going to crush those two piss boys! You guys start casting spells!"
Meeting the other team's captain, Vlad murmured while beginning to fight, "Not even buffing yourself or bending? You overestimate yourself..."
Beginning to fight, Vladimir summoned two metal pillars that rushed towards the captain. Watching the captain use both of his arms to deflect the pillars, Vladimir kicked the captain in the chest, sending him flying before shooting a pillar up under him to hit him from behind.
Running over to the captain, Vladimir rained down a barrage of punches until his magic shielding broke, eliminating him.
Leaping up, Vladimir relaxed seeing that the battle was already in the bag. Hiroshi and Yuiko were rushing around, wreaking havoc among the remaining members of the other team. Erina was shooting a barrage of spells towards the opponents, ripping through the other team's spells before striking the opponent's shields. Krystina was next to Erina, blocking any spells that may have passed through Erina's barrage.
Finishing the battle in a flash, Krystina shook the other captain's hand with a victorious smile plastered onto her face.
Walking back to the board that listed the next round matchups, Krystina watched as Yuiko and Erina re-entered their own little world.
Iron claw clamping Vladimir once again, Krystina hissed, "Why?! Why do they always have that atmosphere! It's so sweet! It's so sparkly that it hurts to look at!"
Staring off into the distance, Vladimir thought, 'Ah... shoulder, how I will miss you in the future!'
Chuckling at Krystina's leaking thoughts and Vladimir's dead expression, Hiroshi walked up to Yuiko and Erina while asking, "Why don't you two start dating? You already seem like you're going out!"
Shaking her head, Erina replied, "No, why would we do that? We're just friends... we're a perfectly normal pair of friends..."
"Yeah..." Yuiko agreed with a nod, "Is there anything weird that we do?"
Clamping down even harder on Vladimir's other shoulder, Krystina hissed, "Ohh~, just friends you say? Just friends my ass!! Start dating already! Normies should just explode! Arghhh!"
Doing an imaginary salute, Vladimir looked into the distance while thinking, 'Shoulders... I have taken you for granted! You will forever have my appreciation! Dying in combat, a most honorable death!'
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Meanwhile... in a dark room... was a shadowed figure reporting on the phone...
"Hm...? Do I have any news? Of course!" The shadow reported, "Why else would I be reporting?"
"So any developments? Any juicy moments?" A cheerful voice asked from the phone, voice dripping with hidden motives.
Flipping through some notes, the figure began, "So our targets, the two girls, have been steadily getting closer to each other. However, so far, both girls only see each other as friends."
Sighing, the voice on the other end replied, "Well... let them be... thanks for the update though, Natsuki~!"
Walking out of the shadows towards the next Arena she would be judging for, Natsuki responded, "Eh, don't worry about it~! You three have... how should I put this... pulled me to your side. Miyuki, I'm also having fun watching Erina and Yuiko's relationship develop!"
Laughing from the other side of the phone Miyuki replied, "Well I better get going~ So talk to next time okay?"
Smiling, Natsuki answered, "Bye~! Catch you later, Miyuki~!"