The Tournament Arc Continues

The first day of the Tournament Arc came up in no time at all. Before I realized it, we were already standing just outside the arena. It seemed like everyone was here: the eight of us competing, my sister, and the Naka family were expected to come. I, however, did not expect to see the many others that showed up: my sister's friend and classmate Sakura Amari as well as several other classmates, Beaufighter and Hadrian—who Tanaka-san had apparently become good friends with recently, Tanaka-san's parents, Osana-chan's parents, and an assortment of other people that were friends or even friends of friends. I turned to look at the massive group of people and sighed.

"So, you are Taikutsu Juyo?" Tanaka-san's dad walked up and asked me.

"Yes," was all I answered.

His dad put his hand out to me, indicating a handshake. I hesitatingly went along with it.

"Thank you for helping that son of mine to get a waifu; I was worried he was a lost cause," His dad suddenly said with tears in his eyes.

"Okay, Dad, why don't you go with Mom to your seats. Tanaka-san suddenly jumped into the conversation and pushed his father away from me. I'll have to thank him later for that.

With Tanaka-san gone, Raphine was left defenseless. In an instant, Osana-chan's parents pounced on her.

"Hello, Dear! My, you are such a cute waifu!" Madam Tomo asked.

"What Tier are you, dear?" Mister Tomo added.

"She's an A-Tier! Estouls shouted before Raphine could answer. He, of course, had no idea what tier she was.

"How wonderful!" Madam Tomo said.

"I didn't expect them to come," I whispered to Osana-chan, who was off to the side shaking her head.

"They were planning to gamble on the event from home, but they got wind I was competing and decided to do it in person," she whispered back.

"I see," I said.

"Ah, Main-kun! We have to get going! We're supposed to be in our pod early on the first day!" Trash-chan shouted very loudly to me; it got everyone's attention. Nice save Trash-chan.

We did have to be at our pod early on the first day, but we still had an hour before we had to go. She must have realized most of us had an easy escape from the crowd. We all took the opportunity, and the eight of us competing quickly ran off to the arena.

The first thing we had to do was to run through the shopping center that had been seemingly set up overnight. Many people had brought out stalls and booths to sell various things outside the arena. We quickly ran past this area and into the arena.

"Thanks, Trash-chan; I'm not sure we would have escaped so easily otherwise," I said with heavy breaths as we stopped to show our participation badges.

"What do you mean?" Trash-chan asked as we all walked in. A volunteer at the front pointed us in the direction of our pod.

"Didn't you yell 'we were late' so we could get away from the large crowd?" I asked as we walked to our pod.

"No, I looked at my watch, and it said we were late!" Trash-chan showed me her watch.

I'm not sure where she got this watch, but it looked like something that ought to be thrown out. The glass was scratched up, and the strap was well worn.

"Trash-chan, this watch is broken," I said after looking at it. She looked back at the watch and tapped it.

"Oh, you're right!" she exclaimed.

"Where did you even get that?" I asked.

"Oh, I was checking out what I had in my Recycling Bin, and I found it!" she said as the watch disappeared from her wrist.

"Where did you ever pick something like that up?" I asked.

"Who can say..." was all Trash-chan answered.

We had spent quite some time researching Trash-chan's new power, mostly to sate the curiosity of Tanaka-san and everyone else once they heard about it. It didn't have a name, so we ended up spending most of the time deciding what to call it.

The ability had two stages; the first was what we ended up calling Trash Collector. This stage allowed Trash-chan to collect some item or ability from another waifu. Whatever she collected, it had to be something that the waifu, or anyone really, had parted with. This could be something they literally left lying around or something as interpreted as parting with. In the case of Firestorm's flames, Trash-chan was able to collect them since Firestorm had no intention of bringing them back to her. Theoretically, the fire would have stayed good to use until Trash-chan brought them back out.

Once something was collected, it was sorted into two 'bins,' as we decided to call them. The first bin was the Trash Bin; it housed anything that could not be considered immediately useful. Trash-chan can pull from this bin for many applications. This was where her Trash-whip and the Combustible Trash came from. The Trash-Wave was something that temporarily dumped the whole bin on the battlefield.

Trash-chan's second bin was the Recycle Bin. This is primarily where powers and weapons were saved and other items that might have useful applications. We had tested this thoroughly, mainly due to Tanaka-san's insistence. She was able to absorb bullets from Junkers and arrows from Raphine before they hit her. However, she could not absorb Junkers' mech suit or Estouls lance when they tried to attack her with them. She was able to absorb Estouls' lance after knocking it out of his hand and waiting for the minute and thirty seconds previously thought to be the condition for using the Trash-Wave, however.

Even though Trash-chan absorbed the lance, Estouls was still able to resummon it after his cooldown. This led to them each having a lance at the same time. After testing, we found that Trash-chan's was the weaker of the two, which confirmed that Estouls still had the original lance.

We arrived in the pod and looked around. It was quite jaw-dropping. The last times I had fought in a War, they had given us an F-tier pod. For the Tournament Arc, however, they assigned pods based on the collective tier of the team. Due to that, we were standing in a B-tier pod.

The pod was a fairly decent-sized room. The walls in front of us were made of glass so clean you could hardly tell it was there, and behind us, the walls were painted a lovely burgundy color. In the center of the room, there was an oversized, crescent-shaped couch. Next to the sofa, there were two large flatscreen TVs that stood on small carts to be rolled around the room to where desired.

We all sat down on the couch; it was big enough to fit all eight of us and sank in. It had to be the most comfortable couch I had ever sat on.

In no time at all, the fights began. We were up early in the day, so only two fights were before us. I didn't pay much attention until it was finally time for our battle. That is not to say that exciting stuff didn't happen. One team, in particular, sent out a waifu to modify the field for the two later fighters to sweep away the competition. The whole time the announcer they had was yelling along with the fight.

Then, it was finally time for our fight. I pulled out my tablet to look at the opposing team. Their team consisted of waifus with who I was not very familiar. Fortunately, I didn't have to be familiar with them. I turned to Tanaka-san, who was looking at the opposing team.

"Hmm, I see. I see," he muttered to himself.

"Alright, everyone! Are you ready for this next fight!" The announcer yelled. The crowds shouted along with him. He was excited for sure; it was probably his first time doing this job, after all. For the Tournament Arc, they always like to have a guest announcer. That was this guy and his waifu this year, though I didn't know who he was.

"Let's send out Estouls first," Tanaka-san said, "His lance gives him an advantage on most of the opponents here."

I had no complaints about his suggestion. I looked over to Osana-chan and Shin-san. Shin-san didn't have any opposition to the suggestion, while Osana-chan was excited to see Estouls fight.

That was the plan we went with, and Estouls was teleported into the field. On the other side of the field, a waifu with gold-red hair was teleported in. She was dressed like a neanderthal and held a long stone spear.

"Alright, everyone! Our first battle will be against the waifus stone age Amber and... Estouls!" The announcer shouted out. "How do you feel about this battle Rose," he added.

"Well, I'm not sure. Both are physical attackers that use weapons with reach. It may be left to who can get a lucky blow in," the waifu that sat with the announcer said.

"Well said, this will be an interesting fight, to be sure!" The announcer shouted. I don't know how he can keep up that energy.

Estouls and the waifu Amber stared at each other for a moment. Estouls' lance appeared in his hand. Then the fight began.

In a flash, they lunged at each other and tried to strike the other with their long-reaching weapons. Each weapon missed as the fighters ducked from their attacker's blows. Gusts of wind seemed to trail out behind them as the weapons missed their targets.

"Estouls! Just get on your griffin and take her out from the air!" Osana-chan yelled to him.

"Wait, Estouls, don't use that unless you think it is necessary!" Tanaka-san yelled back.

In the field, the two began an odd dance of attempting strikes and dodging them. It all was happening so fast that it was hard to keep up with.

"Why shouldn't he go all out!" Osana-chan asked Tanaka-san.

"She has a point," Shin-san added.

"We should try to win fights showing off as little of our skills as possible; we want future opponents to have as little information as possible," Tanaka-san answered.

"Wow! This fight is going so fast! I can hardly tell what's happening with the fighters! All I know is that the moment we don't see a gust of wind will be when one has finally landed an attack!" the announcer yelled.

I turned back to the fight, but it looked more like two blurry fighters trying to attack each other. Fortunately, the TVs we had in the room could slow down the action. The people running the program had already done as much for the at-home viewers, though even slowed down, it was still quite fast. On the screen, Estouls threw forward a strike which was dodged by Amber as she twisted out of the way. In a flash, her spear disappeared, and she had a sword instead. With Estouls' arm and lance outstretched, she charged in close and struck a blow across his chest.

Estouls, still standing, went sliding back across the field. He stabbed his lance into the ground to stop just before he crashed into the wall. He looked at the ground as he tried to catch his breath. Amber took the opportunity to charge at him.

Estouls looked up to his opponent. She had knocked him from the center of the field nearly to the edge, but she would close the distance in no time. Before Amber could, however, he held his lance in an odd position. Then, he threw it across the field with all his might. Amber stopped suddenly, but the lance came at her too fast. It landed a blow, and she landed on the ground, out cold.

"And that did it!" the announcer shouted. The crowd cheered along with him.

Amber was teleported out the field, but Estouls was left in.

"That was great, Estouls!" Osana-chan shouted.

"That's good to hear, but I think I might need to tap out now," Estouls relayed back.

"Stay in the field a little longer; we will see who they send in next and swap out accordingly," Shin-san suddenly blurted out. It seemed like he wanted to participate in the strategy as well.

"I agree," Tanaka-san confirmed.

After a few short moments, another waifu appeared on the field. She had short, rosewood-colored hair and tape wrapped around her fists.

"So, they send out Cherry; she's a close-range martial arts fighter and a bad match-up for Estouls," Tanaka-san said.

"Why would they do that!" Osana-chan asked.

"They're anticipating us switching," I answered.

"Yeah, they think we will switch, so they sent out someone unexpected, hoping we won't have a good counter to it," Tanaka-san said while rubbing his chin.

"So, should we not switch? Estouls seems pretty tired from that last exchange?" Shin-san asked.

"We already planned to switch, so we're not going to back down now! I'd say Junkers or Raphine should be in this one!"

"Raphine should be good," I said while looking at the waifu on the field.

"No, let's send Junkers; they may just be trying to bait us and plan to switch again. She has the most mobility to adapt with," Shin-san said.

Meanwhile, as we discussed, the fight had already begun with Cherry and Estouls. She charged at him and tried to deliver a punch to his chest. He quickly slid out of the way, and she collided with the wall. The whole arena seemed to shake from the blow. That got our attention, and we promptly teleported Estouls out of the arena. In his place, Junkers appeared.

She immediately took to the sky above Cherry's head. A rain of bullets began to bombard the ground. Cherry took off running away from Junkers. She was helpless now as the shots chased after her, or so I thought. She leaped up in the air and smashed her foot into the ground. It simultaneously cracked into a large stone and turned over. The rock landed upright with Cherry behind it. Junker's bullets collided with the newly created makeshift wall.

From behind the wall, they switched out the waifus. Now behind the wall was a waifu with blond hair in a ponytail.

"Oh, and after creating that wall, they switch from Cherry to Lucky!" the announcer shouted.

Lucky bent down and placed her flat palms on the ground. Two doors appeared on the ground next to her. The first had a dragon on the door, and the second had a goat. The doors opened and revealed two staircases from which two more fighters came up. From the dragon door came a slick-looking waifu with spiky hair and scaly-looking clothing. From the goat door came a husbando with a large form and large horns.

The waifu, Lucky, didn't do anything. Instead, the dragon waifu took off into the air after Junkers. She was not fast enough as the Dragon waifu struck her. Junkers immediately began to fall. Before she hit the ground, the goat collided his horns into her in a quick charge. She smashed into the sidewall of the arena and was knocked out.

The crowd cheered as Junkers was teleported out. At the same time, the dragon and goat disappeared. We were now tied, with the next winner deciding the match.

"Well, that's not good," Shin-san said.

"Should we send in Trash-chan?" Osana-chan asked.

"No, she is a bad match-up against Lucky. Send in Raphine," Tanaka-san said.

"Is she a better match-up?" I asked as Raphine was teleported in.

"I can only hope so..." Tanaka-san said.

Raphine had her golden bow appear in her hand. Lucky, who was still behind the wall, put her hands on the ground, and two more doors opened. This time the doors had a tiger and a rabbit on them. Once again, new fighters stepped out. The tiger was a waifu dressed as a martial artist in striped clothes, and the rabbit was a waifu with long rabbit ears on her head. The rabbit rushed Raphine with a sudden kick. She had run across the field in a flash to deliver the blow.

Raphine didn't hesitate, however. Instead of firing her bow, she slammed it into the rabbit waifu. The waifu went flying across the field but ended up disappearing before she made contact with the ground.

The tiger waifu ran across the field at Raphine next. She was not as fast, though, so Raphine fired an arrow from her golden bow at her. The tiger attempted to catch the arrow, but it exploded into a fireball when it was right in front of her. The tiger disappeared next.

"And that's two of Lucky's summons that were defeated!" The announcer shouted over the cheers of the crowd.

"I see, so if you hit them hard enough, they are forced out," Tanaka muttered to himself.

"Raphine," I said, "Tanaka-san is muttering to himself, but he seems to think you just have to get a good blow on her summons to get rid of them!" I took it upon myself to relay what Tanaka-san had said.

Lucky went ahead and created two more gates to open. This time they had a rat and a dog. Once again, two waifus were summoned, and they charged at Raphine. Raphine shot both, and they disappeared.

Lucky jumped out from behind the stone. Raphine aimed at her, but before she fired, Lucky disappeared. In her place, the team's last fighter appeared. A waifu with long turquoise twintails that were tied up with pink bows. Raphine fired her arrows, but the waifu made a sphere of water appear around her that floated in the air. The arrow connected with the water shield, but it only exploded in an ice sheet on the outside.

The opponent shot a stream of water from inside the sphere at Raphine, who only barely managed to dodge the blow.

"Raphine is at a disadvantage!" Tanaka-san said.

"Should we switch out for Trash-chan?" Shin-san asked.

Raphine just barely avoided another attack of water while firing another arrow. It hit the sphere and stuck to the side, as if it was lodged in a wall, before exploding into a sheet of ice.

"Yes, we need to switch!" Tanaka-san confirmed.

Without another word, Raphine disappeared from the field and was replaced with Trash-chan.

"And they go for a switch! This means all fighters from both sides have entered the field!" The announcer yelled out to the cheering crowd.

The waifu shot another stream of water at Trash-chan, who put out her arms and absorbed the liquid into her recycling bin. Upon seeing her attack disappear, the waifu made her water sphere dissipate and landed on the ground.

Trash-chan produced a Combustible Trash and threw it at the waifu. She gracefully dodged it, allowing it to fly over her head as she ran toward Trash-chan while ignoring the explosion behind her. The twintail waifu had a spear of water appear in her hands, and a suit of armor appear around her that was made out of water. The waifu tried to strike Trash-chan repeatedly, but she just dodged the blows.

"Trash-sensei, that is one of Chris's best magic attacks; she is going all out on you now!" Tanaka-san yelled to Trash-chan.

"That's great, Otaku-kun, but how should I counter it?" Trash-chan asked as she dodged the flurry of attacks.

Tanaka-san began to rub his chin.

"Oh, how about Estouls' lance!" Osana-chan suggested while clapping her hands together.

"Will that help?" I asked.

"His lance can nullify magic. Even if Trash-sensei's copy is weaker, she should be able to take down Chris with a good blow," Tanaka-san muttered. I think I recall Estouls saying the lance was special, but I had no idea why until now.

"Did you catch that, Trash-chan?" I asked.

"I got it," she relayed back. In her hands, Estouls' lance appeared. The waifu called Chris stopped her attacks and leaped back, or at least she tried.

Trash-chan delivered a blow onto Chris. The water armor shattered along with the lance, and Chris went flying and rolling across the field. A buzzer went off to indicate the battle was over. We had somehow managed to win the first match.

I leaned back into the couch and looked at the ceiling. This was going to be a long Tournament Arc; I could just feel it. I let out a sigh and sat up straight. The others were cheering and giving praise to our fighters as Trash-chan was being teleported out of the arena. I joined along with the others.  

*****

The second day of the Tournament arc was already underway. Our next fight wasn't scheduled until the next day, so we had a little free time. We had decided to take turns watching the fights today to see who our potential future opponents might be. I had spent the morning shift with Shin-san and now was free to walk around. Shin-san and Junkers had already gone off to sit with their family in the audience. Trash-chan and I had decided to catch up with my sister and were now walking in the shopping area outside the arena.

To call it an area was a bit of an understatement though, the giant collection of tents and booths circled the whole arena as if it was a colossal donut, or at least that is how I had to figure how it looked from above. There was no way I could tell how big the area was while in the middle of it. From where I was standing, it seemed more like it was a straight line of booths rather than a circle, which was a testament to how large this area was.

"Big brother! Look at that!" my sister shouted as she pointed at one of the many booths. They were selling commemorative t-shirts with various waifus printed on them. Many sellers made goods to remember the event, which were cheaper than those sold in the arena. Some sellers sold food, and others sold random goods. The collection was completely random as the Tournament Arc did not officially support the shopping center. It was popular, however, so the officials didn't mind people setting up their shops.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Do you think they would have Trash-chan?" she asked.

"I doubt it; they usually only do popular waifus."

"Aw, can't we look anyway?" my sister asked with a frown.

I rubbed the back of my head and looked around the area. I never did get a chance to answer, however. Trash-chan had already walked up to the booth and was eyeing the shirts.

"Hey, Trash-chan, don't just walk off!" I called out to her. She didn't hear me or ignored me; either way, she did not respond to me. My sister, upon seeing Trash-chan was already at the booth, ran over to join her. I sighed. As long as they didn't make me buy anything, I guess it was okay. I had to take some time off work for this Tournament Arc, so I needed to be more frugal.

"Main-kun! Look, there have Junkers and Estouls, and... Raphine," Trash-chan said to me as I walked up to the booth.

"Can we buy one?" my sister asked.

"Why not buy them all!" Trash-chan added with a smile.

"No, we are not buying any of them!" I said firmly.

"Oh, come on... Big Brother..." my sister said while giving me a sad look.

"No, we are not buying anything," I repeated.

"But Big Brother, I hardly have any casual clothes to wear," my sister pleaded. I gritted my teeth.

It had always been hard to make sure she had proper clothes. I somehow had to balance my check from work on so many expenses that I usually had bought her clothes from wherever was cheaper. Then, to add to the difficulty, many of her clothes burned up in the fire that torched our apartment. She had been using some of the Naka family's spare clothes for the time being. She, of course, knew all this when she made her plea.

"Fine, one shirt," I grumbled. I owed her more than a shirt anyway. If she at least smiled from it, I could at least be content with that.

"Excuse me, sir! Do you have any shirts with Trash-chan?" my sister asked the guy at the booth.

"Who?"

My sister gestured to the green-haired waifu who stood next to her.

"This is Trash-chan!"

"Never seen that waifu before in my life, kid. If you want, I can take a picture of her and print a custom shirt, going to cost you extra, though."

My sister smiled and looked in my direction. I sighed and pulled out my wallet.

"How much extra?" I asked in a low tone.

"Double the regular price."

"Fine."

The man pulled out a small camera and aimed it at Trash-chan. She fiddled with her hair for a moment before striking a pose. She bent down and crossed her arms while leaning slightly to the side.

"Oh, wait!" my sister shouted after the guy had taken the first photo. "We should all be in the picture!"

"There's no need for-," I began to say.

"Great idea, Sister-sama!" Trash-chan said.

Before I realized it, I was dragged into the range of the camera as well. My sister stood on Trash-chan's left. She moved one leg forward and held one arm up in the air. I just stood there.

"Come on, Main-kun; you need to strike a fun pose!"

I turned around and looked back at the camera.

"Is this good enough?" I asked.

"Can I just take the picture?" the man asked in a disgruntled voice.

We stayed silent as he took the picture. In a short while after, he handed my sister the printed shirt. She gleefully took it and slipped it over her current shirt.

"This is great! It's like a family picture!" she said happily as she pulled on the shirt so she could look at the picture upside down.

"Hey, Sister-Sama, look at that over there!" Trash-chan suddenly shouted as she ran off to whatever distracted her. My sister followed behind.

"Hey, wait until I pay at least!" I shouted at them, but they just ran off. I shook my head as I turned back to the guy who patiently held his hand out in front of me.

I handed him the money, and he just replied with a quick:

"Thanks."

"By the way, would you be able to send that picture to me as well?" I asked.

"Sure, but it-"

"How much extra," I said sharply.

He had to think about it before replying.

"A third of the shirt's cost."

I looked down at my wallet. If it had a head, it would be shaking it to tell me 'no' right now. I sighed and pulled it open.

"Fine, but you better give me a digital file for that cost."

"Sure thing, I'll even email it to you right now if you want."

"Please do."

After that exchange, I headed in the direction my sister and Trash-chan had run off in. It wasn't too hard to find them. Trash-chan and my sister were gleefully laughing off in the distance.

When they finally came back into view, they were standing off to the side watching a waifu strumming on a guitar. As I walked closer, the sounds of her guitar and her voice became more evident in addition to those sounds. I also heard sounds of other instruments—a drum, bass, and piano.

"Where are those other instrument sounds coming from?" I asked as I walked up to the other two.

"Main-kun! It's such a beautiful song, isn't it?"

"It's lovely, Isn't it, big brother?"

The waifu finished strumming her song and stopped. She made a polite bow to the other onlookers and us.

"Wow! That was great!" A waifu from the crowd stepped forward. She looked like an angel. That is to say; she had large, white, and feathered wings on her back. She wore what looked like a robe, but it had been cut to look more like a short dress, and on her head was around a yellow hat.

The angel reached out and grabbed the guitar waifu's hand. They exchanged an awkward handshake. Then the angel turned our way. The waifu with her guitar took the opportunity to slip away as the angel came over to us. Or rather, she appeared suddenly in front of us. In front of Trash-chan, it had looked like stained glass shards appeared and assembled into the shape of the angel. Meanwhile, farther back, the waifu had appeared to break apart into the same shards. This is how it came across, at least; it all happened so fast that I could not say for sure I saw it right.

She put her hand on her chin and bent over to look at Trash-chan. Up close, this angel towered above all of us.

"I feel like I've seen you before?" the angel asked.

"No... you must have the wrong waifu," Trash-chan said while avoiding looking at the angel in the eyes.

"I guess so! Well, sorry about that!" the angel said with a smile. She gave a small wave as her body seemed to break apart into shards again. She had teleported somewhere else, I guess.

"Let's just go back to the arena; it's almost time for us to watch a match anyway," I said while shaking my head. My sister and Trash-chan didn't offer any resistance as we began to walk back to the arena. However, both had their heads hanging low throughout our walk. I considered trying to say something to cheer them up, but nothing came to mind.

We just continued our walk in silence as we entered the arena and began to go down a long hallway. I thought we would quietly shuffle along like this for a while, but we were interrupted by someone yelling out to us.

"Tai-kun! Emiko-chan!" the voice yelled out. I tensed up and froze. It probably would have been better to run, but my sister and Trash-chan were already turning around to see who called to us.

"Come on, let's go," I said to them, but it was already too late.

In an instant, Trash-chan was kicked into a nearby wall, causing to crack upon impact, and both my sister and I was grabbed for a forceful hug. Other people in the area suddenly shouted out. Some ran off, but most began to pull their phones out.

I turned around as well as I could to face the one hugging us.

"Amplifier, let go!" I firmly shouted. With a frown, the waifu let both of us out of her embrace.

"Tai-kun, you used to love getting hugs!" she said with a pout. She crossed her arms and took a small step back. She had another waifu in her company. A purple girl with sharp teeth and two thin horns were coming out of bushy hair. This purple waifu only stood behind Amplifier shaking her head.

"Hey, you!" Trash-chan yelled out to Amplifier. She stomped over from the cracked wall and pointed her finger close to Amplifier's face.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were there," Amplifier said coolly.

"You! Do you want to finish our fight now?" Trash-chan put her fists up.

"Oh, please, I'm sure Tai-kun and Emiko-chan don't want to see you get beaten to a pulp here. Or maybe they do..."

"Amplifier, Trash-chan, don't fight!" I said while looking around. All around, people had started to watch and record the events. They probably thought they would get a rare chance to see an impromptu war today. I had no desire to give them what they wanted.

"Fine, but only because you said not to, Tai-kun."

Amplifier started to back away finally, and Trash-chan moved so that she stood next to my sister and me.

We continued staring at each other without saying a word. I had stopped them from fighting, somehow, but we still had to get away from here. Around us, the crowd was beginning to leave. They must have realized there was not going to be a fight.

"My, my, what have we here?" a voice came out from the dispersing crowd. It was not a voice I wanted to hear.

My mother came walking up to us from where the crowd was breaking apart. She wore a long skirt and dress shirt, and her hair was up in a bun.

"It's her!" Trash-chan shouted.

"I've been looking for you Taikutsu-kun, I wanted to talk to you about where you hid my darling daughter. I guess it doesn't matter, though, because here she is!"

My mother pushed past Amplifier and the other waifu that accompanied her and stopped in front of us. She looked down at us with a twisted smile. I think it was supposed to appear like a friendly smile, but it didn't come off that way.

"Good to see you, mother," my sister said softly as she took a step back.

"Oh Emiko-chan, I was so worried about you!" our mother cried out. She took a step toward my sister. My sister responded by sliding behind Trash-chan.

"Big Brother already told me about you wanting me to go, but I don't want to go!" she shouted from behind Trash-chan.

My mother frowned. She crossed her arms while tapping her foot.

"Well, that is unfortunate. However, I'm trying to do what's best for you."

"I don't want to go!"

"Emiko-chan, please listen to reason..." my mother said in a manner that sounded like she was pleading. Her face, however, showed a bulging vein as she gritted her teeth.

"I don't want to go! I want to stay here with Big Brother and Trash-chan and the Na..." she stopped suddenly and covered her mouth. She didn't want to give away where we were staying currently.

"It's a shame neither of my children can be reasoned with. Amplifier, we will have to take her by force then," my mother said while backing up.

"But, Madam..."

"Did I stutter, Amplifier-chan?"

Amplifier sighed and took a step forward to us. Trash-chan answered her aggression by taking a step forward as well. She stood in front of my sister and me. The hallway could have caught on fire, and I wouldn't have been surprised. The two waifus stared at each other with such intensity that anything could have happened.

The air around Amplifier began to shake as she walked. Trash-chan summoned her Trash-whip and pulled on it so that it snapped in the air. I don't think I could say anything to stop these two right now. It seemed like they were determined to fight at this rate.

"Well, this is a sight for sure," someone calmly said as they walked past me. In a swift movement, they were between the two waifus. Amplifier stopped suddenly at the presence of the newcomer.

"Who might you be?" my mother said calmly with the vein on her head still bulging. I did not have to ask the question myself; I recognized this person from the Waifu Draft.

"You can just call me Kalen," she answered.

"What are you doing here," I said quietly.

"What makes you think you can step into this family matter?" my mother asked in a tense tone. She was no longer trying to hide her frustration.

"Family matter? You don't even think of Emiko Juyo as your daughter anymore."

How did she know my sister's name?

"Don't be ridiculous; I'm her mother!"

Kalen sighed.

"I've read up a little on your family. You're an interesting bunch."

"I don't have to listen to this nonsense. Amplifier, take Emiko-chan." The sound waifu sighed and began walking to us again. Kalen put out her arm to stop Amplifier.

"The Juyo family. At first, I thought it was interesting that their son would have someone like Trash-chan as his waifu," Kalen began to say.

Amplifier stopped trying to walk forward and looked at Kalen.

"Trash-chan, do you know her at all?" I whispered to Trash-chan. She just shook her head. Her body language told me she was as confused as I was.

"But as I kept looking into it, it all made sense," Kalen continued.

What exactly made sense? That is what I wanted to ask, but Kalen didn't elaborate. Instead, she just said:

"Things like this are why I know I'm on the right path."

I figured I should speak up, but I didn't get a chance. We were interrupted by yet another person joining the conversation.

"Come on, Kioshi-san, they said the disturbance was down this way!" the voice shouted out. Again, I recognized it. What was even going on today?

Marigold-san and Kioshi-san from Waifu Services ran down the hallway to us. I'm pretty sure both my mother and Kalen made a tch sound, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure.

Marigold ran past my mother and stopped by Amplifier and Kalen. She assessed the situation then shouted out.

"Ah, it's you again!" while pointing at me.

"You know her too, big brother?"

"Unfortunately, I seem to be running into lots of people I know right now."

Kioshi-san tapped Marigold's shoulder and pointed to Amplifier, Kalen, and Trash-chan.

"So, what's going on here? It looks like we have some waifus trying to fight?" Marigold finally asked. Kioshi pulled out a notebook and began to write in it.

"Oh, it's nothing to trouble yourselves with! I'm sure you security volunteers must be busy!" my mother said in a singsong voice.

"They were trying to kidnap my sister," I told them bluntly.

I might as well have been stabbed with the glare my mother gave me. Kalen began to laugh and stepped back.

"I like you, Taikutsu Juyo," she said through laughs.

"Well, kidnapping is a serious crime... and using a waifu to do it only adds to your charges..." Marigold-san said casually to my mother. My mother nodded at Amplifier, and she responded with a sigh. Kioshi-san stopped writing in his notebook. He slid it into his pocket and rolled up his sleeves. Underneath, it appeared as if he had some plastic armor on him.

My mother changed her demeanor on seeing the armor. She smiled and gestured for Amplifier to back off. I, too, put my hand on Trash-chan's shoulder and gently pulled her back. She seemed to get my meaning, and her Trash-Whip disappeared.

Kioshi-san responded with a nod and rolled his sleeves back down.

He was so quiet; I would have never suspected he was wearing that armor. It was a particular type of exoskeleton that could enhance an average person's capabilities to allow them to go toe to toe with a waifu. It was a rare item made out of unobtanium, and very few people were allowed to wear it. Kioshi-san showing it to us in this situation was about the equivalent of driving a tank right into the hallway.

Marigold-san sighed.

"Kioshi-kun, did you need to show that off here?" she asked in a grumbled voice.

It was necessary, Kioshi-san said by holding up his notebook and showing what he had written.

"Anyway, I do have to thank you for coming here today!" my mother stammered out. "You see, we made a bet about taking care of my daughter there a while ago, but my son went against his word!"

"You made a bet with your son about your daughter?" Kalen asked while leaning against the cracked wall. She didn't bother hiding the disgust in her voice.

"Was it an officially sanctioned bet? If so, I can look it up in the system." Marigold-san asked.

"Well, no, but..." my mother stammered.

"If it was not official, all I can do is have Kioshi-kun stop you from fighting here. If you must fight, you will have to take it elsewhere," Marigold-san said firmly.

My mother gritted her teeth for a moment before making a smile.

"Well, now that we have an official here, why don't we make another bet, Taikutsu-kun?" she asked me.

I sighed.

"Fine, but... Marigold-san gets to decide the conditions," I said. My mother wouldn't have let me make conditions, and I certainly wasn't going to let her decide either. I would have to hope Marigold-san would make a good call.

Marigold-san took a step back and looked around. She looked at each of us, then to Kioshi-san. Kioshi-san shrugged and scribbled something down. He showed it only to Marigold-san.

"I know, but..." Marigold responded. Kioshi-san turned the page in his notebook. "Fine. You don't have to be that way about it!" she grumbled to him. With a cough, she cleared her throat. "Alright, how about the first team to lose a match in the Tournament Arc is declared the loser?" she asked.

My mother chuckled and nodded in agreement. I nodded to confirm as well.

You need to give your conditions for the bet. Kioshi-san held out his notebook to us.

"Well, when we win, my daughter will come to live with us. She will be a valuable... ahem... I have missed her dearly."

"When we win, you and that guy have to give up all your waifus... and husbandos... and you can't partner any of the same ones after the bet that you were before the bet..." I stammered out the harshest condition I could think of. My mother's vein bulged again, and Kalen began to chuckle.

"Hold on there, Taikutsu-kun. I don't think that deal seems fair. Shouldn't you just bet to have your sister stay with you?" my mother hissed.

"My sister can do whatever she wants, and I'm not going to make a win condition that decides for her. If you want to add to our lose conditions, you may."

My mother didn't answer and just turned around to stomp off. Amplifier and the purple waifu chased after her.

"Well... Kioshi and I will go process paperwork!" Marigold-san said. She took off while pulling Kioshi-san along with her.

"Big brother! Thanks!" my sister said while hugging me.

"Don't thank me yet. I would rather not make a bet at all... now we have to win as much as we can..."

"Don't worry, Main-kun, we were planning on winning this thing anyway!" Trash-chan confirmed with a smile.

"You did alright. Although, it would have been better if you didn't have to make a bet," Kalen said after walking over and smacking me on the back. It stung a little.

"Thanks..." I said.

"Don't worry, soon we will live in a world where such things don't happen," Kalen said with a smile before she walked off. It was a little of a strange sentence, but I figured I would just let it go.

"Oh, we need to get back!" I suddenly realized.

The match we were supposed to watch would be starting soon. We all took off in a sprint down the hallway.