Chapter 45: 44: Ranking Tournament (4)

Arriving at the arena the next day, Erina murmured, "We sure are early today... but... why did you wake me up so early Yuiko..."

Handing Erina a pastry, Yuiko averted her eyes while confessing, "Well... waking you up yesterday was a total pain... so I did it earlier today so I would have more time to wake you up... but then you just, you know, woke up... really quickly..."

"Well, it's fine! We even went to get pastries together~!" Erina laughed, munching down on her pastry, "They even have strawberry filled pastries here! Heavenly~"

"Yeah, the different fillings at this pastry place taste amazing!" Yuiko agreed, "Though... I think our match starts soon..."

Nodding, Erina pointing to a nearby arena, mentioning, "I checked earlier, our fight is in that mini-arena."

"Cool~" Yuiko thanked, licking her fingers as she finished her pastry, then wiping her hands with a few napkins, "But... isn't that Krystina, Vlad, and Hiroshi over there? Waiting in the arena?"

Stiffening up in surprise, Erina whispered, "Isn't that the opposing team too? Are we late?"

"It is! Wait wha..." Yuiko muttered, checking the time on her terminal, "No, we have time... I guess everyone else is super early... Want to run over there?"

Scarfing down the rest of her pastry, Erina forced out a "Sure..." before running off towards the arena. Following Erina, Yuiko pulled out a bottle of water from her pocket while leaping onto the stage.

Taking a sip of water, Yuiko asked, "You want a sip? To help wash down that pastry?"

"Sure," Erina replied, taking the bottle of water from Yuiko's hand, "Hey, is it okay if I drink the rest?"

Watching the referee walk into the arena, Yuiko nodded, asking, "Can you also throw the bottle away then?"

"Easy~" Erina giggled, throwing the bottle into the trash can just off stage with an underhand toss, "So the battle is beginning early? I don't mind~ but I hope the others are okay with it too..."

Standing in formation as the referee started the round, Erina boosted herself backward with an ice pillar before sending a wave of weak spells towards the opponents. Casting another wave of weak spells to send to her opponents, Erina muttered to herself, "Weak and fast, numerous in numbers Erina… just barrage them with everything you have!"

Using her left hand to prepare a larger spell and right hand to cast a constant barrage of small spells towards the enemy, Erina chuckled, "I would be in so much trouble if I didn't learn how to parallel cast... but with this, I can create my own cover fire... how overpowered… I wonder why more people don't do this!"

Slicing a nearby spell out of the air, Krystina retorted, "Yeah, we know it's overpowered! You're the only one in our grade who can parallel cast, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's jealous!"

Laughing, Erina defended, "Hey I don't think I'm the only one! Yuiko can also do it!"

"You don't understand, Erina..." Krystina lamented while sighing, "Hey concentrate! Don't slack off! I see you slowing down those waves of spells!"

"Hai~" Erina replied, refocusing on her spell casting, "And what do I not understand?"

Crouching down next to Erina behind an ice wall, Krystina explained, "First of all! I consider you and Yuiko one unit! A package you could say! So Yuiko doesn't count as another person! You and Yuiko are one person! You're always together, you have the same interests, you never fight, pretty much you totally get along!"

"Yeah", Erina agreed while nodding, "Yuiko and I never fight that's true! We're best friends like that!"

Listening to Erina, Krystina muttered to herself, "Calm down, Krystina... calm the frick down... we have a presentation on this... calm the holy fricking hell down Krystina, she's just naive and innocent..."

Watching the battle come to a close, Krystina continued, "Second of all! Erina, you parallel cast on a whole different level! You can parallel cast two elements together if you want! Furthermore, you can do it pretty casually! While you can do that everyone else in the grade who can parallel cast is at a level where they can only do it semi-regularly!"

Hopping over the ice wall, Erina admitted, "I guess you have a point there..."

Deciding to run away from Krystina, Erina ran over to Yuiko asking, "Do you know how long until the next round?"

Checking the time, Yuiko answered, "About 45 minutes, so we have time to go do stuff if you want~"

"Nah... I kinda just want to... you know," Erina replied, "you know, sit around for a bit~ I'm still sleepy from waking up so early, you know?"

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Holding Erina's hand as she found the next arena they would fight in, Yuiko teased, "So you wanna cuddle?"

"Yeah~!" Erina rejoiced, the tease flying far above her head, "That would be great!"

Walking to one of the seats next to the mini-arena, Yuiko asked, "Is right here okay? I don't really care where we sit, so you can choose~"

Sitting down on a random seat, Erina mumbled, "I'm just gonna sleep here okay...?"

"Sure sure~, I have a book to read anyways." Yuiko whispered, "Though I always wonder how you manage to fall asleep so quickly..."

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Reading her book to pass the time, Yuiko checked the time before murmuring, "Guess I have to wake up Erina now don't I... It's a shame~, with such a cute sleeping face..."

"Come on Erina~ the next round is starting soon," Yuiko soothed, running her hand through Erina's hair while nudging her shoulder, "I know you want to sleep but we don't have much longer..."

Shifting to the side, Erina mumbled, "I don't wannaaaa... I wanna sleep..."

Giggling, Yuiko teased, "Such a sleeping beauty, eh? Well, would a kiss wake you up~?"

Lifting Erina off her shoulder, Yuiko planted a light kiss on Erina's lips while whispering, "Revenge for earlier~!"

"Wha?!" Erina exclaimed, startled awake, "Bully..."

Pulling Erina out of her seat, Yuiko giggled, "I've never seen you get so embarrassed before~"

"Yuiko... you idiot!!" Erina exclaimed before running off towards the stage, "That makes me feel weird inside!!"

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Watching the scene unfold below the stage, Krystina wore an expression of enlightenment while muttering, "So that's how it is..."

Sighing, Vladimir asked with a chuckle, "What have you figured out this time captain? With your 'romance radar'?"

"Or you're 'ship tracker'," Hiroshi added, laughing with Vladimir on the side, "whatever that is..."

"So..." Krystina muttered, waving the two boys off, "Yuiko has feelings for Erina, but doesn't know if Erina has them? Erina has feelings for Yuiko but doesn't know or acknowledge those feelings yet...?"

Ignoring Krystina's ramblings, Vladimir asked, "Hey Hiroshi? You've been doing that drill thing with that spike spell, you think you could teach me after the tournament?"

Nodding, Hiroshi replied, "Yeah it's pretty easy, you should be able to get it quickly..."

Meanwhile, off to the side, Krystina exclaimed, "If that's how it is, I gotta inform the others!"

Pulling out her phone, Krystina frantically began reporting her new findings to the 'Yuina Tracking Group'...

"She really needs to calm down doesn't she," Vladimir asked Hiroshi, watching Krystina typing then sending a flurry of messages, "What created this obsession with our other two friends..."

"Anime Vlad, Anime," Hiroshi teased, pulling up some pictures, "remember all the posters in her room? Plus, that fanfiction she showed us? Maybe it was that?"

Stroking his chin with a ponderous expression, Vladimir murmured, "You raise a good point, mhm mhm… Hiroshi you're truly an enlightened philosopher…"