Chapter 23: 23: Another Banquet~!

Having finished messing around with Erina's hairstyle, Yuiko rocked Erina's shoulder while whispering, "Erina, you should get up now~ we're leaving soon."

Stirring from her nap, Erina mumbled, "I wanna sleep more..."

Watching the sleepy Erina that she doesn't see that often, Yuiko giggled a bit before continuing, "Erina, did you forget the test is today? You know, the Magic Measurement test."

Bolting up in her seat, Erina yelled, "WAIT, TODAY'S THE TEST! I forgot! I'm awake now, I'm awake!"

Collapsing into fits of laughter from Erina's actions, Yuiko reassured, "It's fine, Erina, we aren't going to leave you behind. I think we are leaving in like 15 minutes? We should go ask the parents."

Nodding in agreement while hopping off the couch, Erina walked out and rushed ahead of Yuiko, breaking into a light run, towards where all the other parents were sitting.

Watching Erina run ahead of her, Yuiko muttered, hiding a grin while picking up her glass of water, "I wonder if she even noticed that I changed her hairstyle, I bet Ms. Noragi would love it though."

Taking a sip of water, Yuiko took her time meandering her way towards where the parents were chatting, her face breaking into a wide grin.

Running into the room where the parents were chatting, Erina asked, "Hey Mama? Do you know when we are leaving?"

Turning around, Miyuki replied, "Hm? Oh, I think we're leaving in like 15 minutes. Also, nice hairstyle! Did Yuiko do it for you?"

Confused, Erina raised her hand and felt her hair, realizing in embarrassment it was different from how she had it earlier in the morning. Flushing like a tomato, Erina ran out of the room while pulling along Yuiko, who followed her in amusement, flashing a quick grin to the parents and older siblings in the living room.

Seeing Erina run out of the room with a red face dragging along Yuiko, Emily turned towards Shousuke sitting next to her, whispering, "I am willing to bet that eventually Yuiko and Erina will start going out. Like 200% sure."

Nodding, Shousuke added, "I bet it'll happen before they turn 18."

“A bit conservative aren’t you?” Suzuki teased, smirking, trying to sip her water to play innocent, “I’ll bet if they go to that new academy, it’ll happen within a year~”

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Running out of the room, Erina clung to Yuiko with tearful eyes while asking, "Why didn't you tell me you changed my hairstyle?"

Laughing, Yuiko answered, "Well, because it's fun to mess with your hair! It's easier than doing my own hair too, so I just keep my hair in a ponytail all the time, and whenever I have the chance, I mess with your hair!"

Patting Erina's head, Yuiko continued, "By the way, that expression isn't going to change anything~. Here's a mirror, though, so you can take a look at the hairstyle."

Taking the mirror, Erina looked at herself and marveled at Yuiko's handiwork, "Wow... amazing... How did you do this? I could never do this... Isn't this hairstyle called the side braid?"

Nodding, Yuiko replied, "Yeah, it's the side braid, though it's not exactly it. I braided only the hair on the right side of your head, nothing else, but I think it should still be considered a side braid... you look cute, though, Erina!"

Blushing a bit, Erina responded, "En... you really did a good job. I'll keep it for the banquet and the test."

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Spending some more time outside the room chatting, Yuiko and Erina were called back when everyone was getting ready to leave for the banquet.

Seeing that Erina didn't change her hairstyle, Miyuki smiled with 'that' look, asking, "So, Erina... I guess you've decided to keep the hairstyle, eh?"

Ignoring the teasing look on Miyuki's face, Erina replied, "Yeah, it looks good~! So I decided to keep it for the banquet."

Leaving the house, Erina decided to sit down in the seat next to Yuiko, "So do you think we'll bump into Haizaki again?"

Thinking for a bit, Yuiko replied, "I think we'll probably see him... I think the question is if he's going to make a scene during the banquet..."

Looking out the window, Erina added, "Yeah... I wonder if he's going to be surprised that we are actually part of the same age group he is in. He probably thought that we wouldn't be in the same testing group as him..."

Pointing at a waterfall outside the window, Yuiko agreed, "That's true because I feel like if he knew that we were going to be tested at the same time as him he would've treated us better..."

Nodding, Erina mentioned, "Apparently this year there's going to be about 5 people tested, a lot more than usual."

Surprised, Yuiko replied, "Yeah, that is a ton... not as much as the 8 from Shousuke and Suzuki's year, but still more than 2 years ago where there was literally 1. I felt bad for that guy... all the attention was on him..."

Turning her attention back inside the car, Erina mused, "At least he had a complex element, which made it so he was respected... god knows how much he would've been made fun of if he didn't get a complex element."

Seeing that they were pulling up to the royal palace, Yuiko asked, "Ne, Erina? Are you ready?"

Smiling, Erina replied, "Of course I'm ready!"

Looking at the decorations on the royal palace, Yuiko muttered, "I don't know how they manage to make it better each year, but they do."

Pulling Yuiko out of the car, Erina answered, "Well, probably because they hire top-tier designers. But who cares about that? Let's go eat!"

Getting out of the car, Yuiko agreed, "Yeah, who cares about decorations when you have food? Especially cake~!"

Running ahead and twirling around in her dress, Erina added, "All the dessert~!"

Catching up to Erina, Yuiko held onto Erina's hand as they walked into the expansive banquet hall. With people all around them, Yuiko and Erina waited by the main door for the parents and the siblings to join them before going to greet the hosts.  Seeing the people they were waiting for, Erina waved before pulling Yuiko along to join them in the line.

"Have you spotted Haizaki yet?" Erina asked once they were waiting in the line.

Shaking her head, Yuiko replied, "No, I haven't, but knowing the Hanamiya family, they'll probably arrive late..."

"True, true. I'll continue looking for the Hanamiyas later." Erina reasoned before focusing back on the hosts as they arrived at the front of the line.