Ranking Tournament (5)

Standing in position, ready for the battle to begin, Yuiko predicted, "Looking at this team, I'm pretty sure someone on our team is going to be eliminated this round. As long as it doesn't happen immediately, we should be fine, Eliminated teammates return in the next round after all..."

Leaping into action, Yuiko cast a body enhancement spell on herself, leading the charge towards the opposing enemies. Exchanging blows with the opposing captain, Yuiko grinned, having formed her gauntlets while fighting.

Seeing Yuiko's grin, the opposing captain tried to back off, muttering, "Gotta move~ I've seen what those can d-"

Landing a solid punch on the captain's side, Yuiko eliminated the captain while exclaiming, "Not so fast~ can't let you go even if you do know what these girls do~!"

Getting another enhancement spell cast onto her by a passing Krystina, Yuiko frowned, watching Vladimir get ganged up on and eliminated.

"Well, that sucks..." Krystina murmured, rushing towards the recovering attackers, "Guess I have to pay them back don't I?"

Chuckling after watching one of her targets get sniped by Erina, Yuiko sent a flurry of attacks towards the last remaining member of the opposite team. Dodging the opponent's attacks by a hair, Yuiko replied with her own series of attacks, eliminating him without too much trouble.

Shaking hands with the opposite team, Yuiko left the arena, hand in hand with Erina.

--------

Holding hands with Yuiko, Erina asked, "Didn't Vlad make a bet with Hiroshi? The bet was about who would be eliminated first during a round in the tournament?"

Nodding, Yuiko answered, "Yeah, I think they made a bet like that... I don't know what the punishment was though..."

"I don't either..." Erina added, "So, our next round is in about 15 minutes right?"

"Yup, it's the semi-finals~!" Yuiko replied with a wide smile, "We're almost there, it's almost the end!"

Checking the board, Erina commented, "Why did we even come to check... there are only two arenas we could be fighting in... and it's easy to see one of them is already full..."

"Wait, yeah... why did we do that..." Yuiko pondered, climbing onto the arena, "Meh, doesn't matter all that much does it? Let's just concentrate on our next fight."

Waving over Krystina and the others, Erina mentioned, "I heard that the team Haizaki is on has also been doing pretty well... Do you know anything about their team?"

Thinking for a second, Yuiko replied, "Hmm.... well... I know that Haizaki is still a total turdbag... but for the others... they're fine~"

"What do you mean?" Erina asked while tilting her head, "Like... the others are nice?"

"Yeah~" Yuiko continued, "Their team captain is some blond guy, I don't know his name, but he's pretty decent... then there are 2 more girls and another boy... those 3 are great~ Krystina and I are friends with the two girls, and the boy is friends with Hiroshi and Vladimir!"

Smiling, Erina asked, "Ne, Yuiko? Can you introduce me sometime~? I wanna meet them!"

"Aiya... I don't wanna, but I guess I'll do it..." Yuiko sighed, stretching a bit before the next round began, "Actually I mostly don't want to introduce you to Vanessa..."

"Why..." Erina asked, pulling on Yuiko's sleeve while doing her best puppy dog eyes, "Y-you really won't introduce me...?"

Taking a critical hit, Yuiko relented, "Sure! I'll do it! I'll introduce you if we fight against each other in the finals, okay?"

Watching Erina dance around in happiness, Yuiko muttered, "Whew boy... damn that was dangerous... I think my blood pressure went up... or I got diabetes..."

"Hmm..." Yuiko hummed, "This round seems easy enough... we should be able to pass it..."

Winning without much trouble, with only Yuiko and Hiroshi being eliminated, Erina commented, "They weren't as simple as they seemed..."

Passing Erina a milkshake she just bought, Yuiko replied, "Mn, well, they were actually kind of a one-trick pony... after they eliminated me and Hiroshi with their surprise trump card, you 3 defeated them with ease..."

"I guess..." Erina agreed, "But~ I saw that Haizaki's team passed, so let's go meet those 3 people~!! Let's gooo!!"

Letting Erina wait for a bit, Yuiko ran over to Krystina asking, "Hey Krystina, are you doing anything right now?"

Shaking her head, Krystina replied, "No...? Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Yuiko explained, "I promised Erina that I would introduce her to Vanessa and Charlotte..."

Face morphing into an apprehensive expression, Krystina whispered, "Why did you promise her!? Didn't we say we want to keep Vanessa away from her?!"

Burying her face into her hands, Yuiko confessed, "I c-couldn't... Erina gave me her puppy eyes... What was I supposed to do?!"

"Ah..." Krystina replied, realization dawning on her face, "Well, I guess I better go with you... just in case."

Waiting for Yuiko and Krystina to finish talking, Erina decided to sit down on a nearby bench, murmuring, "I wonder how long it's going to take for Yuiko and Krystie to finish talking..."

Leaping to her feet as Yuiko and Krystina walked over, Erina asked, "So where do we need to go to meet them? We should eat lunch with them!"

"Yeah, I called them just now," Yuiko replied, "We'll eat lunch with the two girls, but you'll have to wait until before the battle to meet the boy."

"It's fine~" Erina exclaimed, "I just want to meet some new friends~"

Following Yuiko while holding hands, Erina asked, "So how are they? Like... Do they like the same stuff I do? What type of personalities do they have?"

Averting her eyes, Yuiko laughed, "Um... hey, Krystina, why don't you answer!"

Staring at Yuiko with dead fish eyes, Krystina turned to Erina, explaining, "Well... Charlotte is nice, pretty normal, kinda similar to me and Yuiko... but Vanessa... um... well, it'd be better to see it yourself..."

Bewildered, Erina muttered, "Ok... I guess I'll have to wait..."

Wallowing in her confusion, Erina perked up once she saw two girls waving them over to a nearby table.

"Is it those two?" Erina asked, tapping on Yuiko's shoulder, "Which one is which?"

Sighing, Yuiko answered, "Let's walk over there... I'll introduce you once we get there..."