That's Amore

Back in the dining hall, the Norwegians bid farewell as they headed off to their rooms.

"So who do you think we'll play next?" Zago asked.

"The pairings aren't up yet?" Tenju asked.

"I guess teams are still playing in both sections. If I recall correctly, parings following the second round are results-based, meaning teams that won play other teams that won, teams that lost play teams that lost, and teams that drew could play any depending on overall standing," Okisato noted.

"And to add to that, teams can only play each other once, which is why it's important to score wins or at the very least draws against the top teams. Since we both won, our teams each get 2 points. Had we drawn we'd only get 1 while as a loss gets you nothing. There's no additional points if you win 4-0 vs 2.5-1.5 either," Mimoko added.

"So you're saying we don't go to number 1 with our 4-0 win? Lame," Iori grumbled.

"To answer young Zago's question, there is a way to tell who we might be paired up against before the pairings are made official. If you look at the standings, the teams you're closest to there will likely be your next round opponents," the masked man stated.

After the pulling up the standings, things stood as followed, the men's team looked likely to face either Canada, Mongolia, or Tanzania while the women had a good chance of facing either Italy, Estonia, or Sweden.

"Sweden's that streamer, right?" Iori asked.

"Astrid? No, I don't-"

"No not her, the one that plays chess... Cronholm! Abby Cronholm! Heard she sucks though."

"She did win in the 1st round, and her grandmaster mother is also playing. But Italy is easily the strongest team we're likely to face," Mimoko noted.

"Estonia's also on a hot streak after winning 4-0. In fact, Italy only got 3.5 out of 4, but to be fair their opponents were more formidable than Estonia's. Though if I'm bein honest, it might be best if we face Sweden or Estonia. Italy would be a pain, especially considering who's at board 1.

"AH! Did somebody call for Amore?" a voice sang out.

Standing before everyone was a young woman clad in a white bathrobe, black latex knee-length dress, and white Mizuse Niimi brand sneakers. Her face and exposed skin were all covered in green beauty cream while her hair was wrapped up in a hairnet, making it difficult to truly determine her identity at a glance. Daria however recognized her by her voice and began to scowl.

"Hello Laura."

The woman's eyes lit up as a playful smile appeared on her face. "La mia ragazza [My girlfriend]! You've cut your hair and dyed it blonde. Oh and you are rocking the most massima femminilità drip. You make my heart beat and my lips lust for yours."

As Laura attempted to plant a kiss on Daria's lips, Daria blocked her with her fan.

"And as I've told you a thousand times, I'm married and not into you."

"I care not. I want to make love with all who tingle my heartstrings. Man or woman it matters not. Nor does the number. Polygamy was crafted for my very existence!"

Clack!

Everyone went silent as the sound of a high heel being slammed down echoed through the hall. And at it's source stood a woman garbed entirely in purple. Alongside her stood an older woman with greying green hair, a woman with short red hair, and a woman with curly red hair that obscured one of her eyes. They along with Laura made up Italy's women's team.

"Laura, must you gallivant around like that?" the woman in purple glared.

"It's a metamorfosi! One I shall hold until my grand debut tomorrow," Laura smirked.

"Then how about you seal those lips until tomorrow as well?" the woman with short red hair snarled.

"I haven't kissed a maiden yet!"

"Laura, do not cause trouble for the people here." the green-haired woman sternly scowled.

"Yes mommy."

"I am NOT your mother, but I suppose being the oldest here, I am somewhat considered the team mother. Maestro, you keep aging backwards each time I see you."

"Oh, always obsessing over age," Daria chuckled.

"I'm going to be a grandmother soon, and that makes me feel ancient."

The woman was Margarita Verde, a 55-year old Italian grandmaster. Though her rating had dipped just below 2400, she was still a formidable adversary. The red-haired woman was Gloria Alfredo, the reserve member for Team Italy, though still a formidable 2301-rated women's grandmaster. The other red-haired woman, Isabella Elena, was also a woman's grandmaster, boasting a rating of 2369. But it was the final member of the team that had made Daria wary.

Her name was Carla Sanmarino, and her rating was just 1985. Had she been designated as the reserve member, Daria wouldn't have been so wary of her, however, she was not only playing on board 2, but had also been added to the line-up last-minute to replace Vittoria Giallo, who now represented England.

While Vittoria only had a rating of 2317, her true skill was far higher than that, and she only had the rating she did due to going easy on far lower rated opponents. Daria suspected that might be the case with Sanmarino as well.

But one who's skill Daria knew of for a fact was Laura Amore's. While there was some debate whether Vittoria was truly the strongest female Italian player, there was no doubt that with her representing England, Laura was Italy's top woman. With a rating of 2569 and title of grandmaster, she was one of the main reasons Daria was so wary of Italy.

Laura let out a sigh and began walking away, before suddenly turning around and leaping towards Mimoko, planting a VERY passionate kiss on her lips. Daria angrily attempted to swat her away with her fan, but Laura gracefully danced away.

"Such a cute young lady. What's your name, and was that your first kiss?"

Mimoko blushed and shivered in embarrassment, however, she regained her composure rather quickly. This was in fact, NOT her first kiss, though she'd much rather forget just how her first kiss was stolen from her during Streama festivalen by a woman claiming to be the goddess of bald. Compared to what that woman had done, Laura's kiss was like a flick to the cheek.

"Her name's Mimoko. She's the one that became top woman on the charts," Isabella nodded.

"But those charts don't include maestros, like Himitsu-chu-chu," Laura pouted.

"Isabella, shut your girlfriend up. As for you Japan, we play you, we crush you," Carla glared as Isabella smeared some beauty cream over Laur's mouth.

"Mmmph ngh mmph ngh [See you tomorrow, girlfriend]," Laura giggled as Isabella dragged her away.

"Well that was certainly an encounter," Okisato grumbled.

"I'll say, I recorded every bit of it," Iori grinned.

"And if you had any ounce of integrity, you'd delete it, but it's uploaded already, yes?" Mimoko glared.

"Number 1 on trending!"

"Fuck you."

"Well, no need to get all sour. Now why don't we doll ourselves up for tomorrow. Spa's still open," Daria grinned.

"Okaa-chan!? I thought you didn't want that pervert anywhere near me!?"

"And I don't, bitch sleeps with way to many people. Besides, you already got a girlfriend, right? The baldy from Streama-"

"OKAA-CHAN, that BITCH forced herself upon me and I hated every second of it. I hope she's still trapped in that other world."

Mimoko was referring to one who dubbed herself, Smoothilina the goddess of bald, whom she had encountered during Streama festivalen. There, Smoothilina had not only only shaved Mimoko balder than bald, but also borderline raped her in order to bestow a blessing upon her.

"Ugh, it's always the crazy girls that fall for me and violate me. Do I just emit some pheromone that attracts crazy women to me?" Mimoko groaned.

"Want me to kiss ya, too for views?" Iori snickered.

"Do it and I'll slug you in the eye."

"Like a big pizza pie?"

Mimoko glared in silence for a bit before deciding to head off to the spa with Daria and Azenira close behind.

"Welp, guess I'll go get a facial with the others. Have fun roaming or whatever," Iori waved as she headed off.

Tenju meanwhile decided to head to her room, as to her, a beauty spa was pointless since she was essentially wearing latex 24/7 over her burned skin.

Now only the guys remained, but upon closer inspection, Okisato noted one guy was missing, Ginji.

"Just when did he sneak off, and where too?"

...

In the bathroom, Ginji chuckled as he sat on the toilet, scrolling through the standings on his phone. "So this is who we could be up against. So should I win, draw, lose, or sit out..."