[T/N: 🎊 HAPPY NEW YEAR chaps! 🎊 May this year be Healthy and Productive for you! Enjoy~]
"Little Goenica, what do you like to eat?"
"Mushroom soup." Goenica said as she tilted her head back. Her preferences all followed those of her adoptive father, Goenitz.
"Mushroom soup, huh… that's a little hard to handle, I'm not very good at making it… Little Goenica, how about sukiyaki? It also has mushrooms in it."
"Okay!" Goenica stretched out her voice as she nodded.
"Then it's sukiyaki."
Kagura Chizuru confirmed it once, then left the room.
After lunch, Aiden took Goenica wandering all around the shrine, letting her get familiar with the environment.
And although the Kagura sisters were still a bit worried about Orochi's revival, after Aiden repeatedly guaranteed it, they could only set the matter aside for now. After all, predicting when Orochi would revive was impossible, and gathering the Three Sacred Treasures families was also a problem, after all, they knew a little about the grudges between the Yagami family and the Kusanagi family.
While Aiden was strolling around the shrine with Goenica, the two of them also directed the maids to prepare bedding and some daily necessities for the little girl. They planned to make Goenica live with them. Keeping busy like this quickly calmed them down.
They even chatted for a while about the topic of what they would do in the future after having children… It seemed like every woman Aiden met had thought about this before, but having children was still way too early.
The shrine was big, so after going around with Goenica once, it was already time for dinner, and the day passed just like that.
————
In the blink of an eye, the second day arrived.
And on this day, the first KOF Tournament finally officially began.
The competition venue had been chosen in Tokyo's largest stadium, and it had already been renovated ahead of time by the organizers and the Japanese authorities…
Worried about the destructive power of strengthened fighters, the stadium was reinforced again. With the support of reinforced concrete, there basically wouldn't be a collapse situation.
The original soccer field at the center of the stadium had also been refurbished. On top of the compacted soil flattened by large rollers, a thick steel plate was laid, and then on top of the steel plate, a ring made of pieced-together marble was constructed.
A super-large ring over a hundred meters long and more than fifty meters wide, this level of structure wouldn't even be much affected by artillery shells.
However, because this tournament was entirely held by Rugal personally, there were no advertisers placing ads this time, giving it a very pure feel.
Aiden and the Kagura sisters took Goenica to the Shiranui dojo first, then went together to the venue. Mai Shiranui and the others were very curious about Aiden bringing a little girl to the tournament, but after hearing that he was taking care of her for someone else for a while, they didn't ask more.
Not long after, the group arrived at the stadium.
By this time, the outside of the stadium was already packed tight with spectators and reporters.
Speaking of which, this tournament was privately hosted by Rugal, and since he wasn't short on money, he didn't intend to sell tickets at all. So very early on, he had released a huge number of tickets through raffles and other random methods.
In addition, participating fighters and guest viewers all had the right to bring family or friends to watch, which made the fighters extremely satisfied.
"Shermie, Helena… Tamaki, you came too?"
After getting out of the car and walking through the special passage into the venue, Aiden saw Shermie and the others. What he didn't expect was that Tamaki had also come.
"Came to cheer you on." Tamaki's outfit hadn't changed much, still the same as before. She glanced at the Kagura sisters behind Aiden and at Mai Shiranui and the other girls beside him, then waved toward Goenica, "Goenica, Shermie and Helena have talked to me about you."
"Aiden, are they also your girlfriends?"
Hearing Tamaki's words, Goenica raised her head and looked at Aiden.
"Ahem… They're female friends." Aiden lightly coughed, then forcefully pressed Goenica's head, signaling her not to talk nonsense.
Goenica immediately shut her mouth, and then, at Aiden's request, walked over to Shermie's side.
While they were talking, the stadium broadcast issued a notice, telling all participating fighters to gather beside the soccer field to prepare for the draw.
Afterwards, they arrived at the field, and all the fighters had gathered.
At this moment, the giant screen above the stadium began flashing wildly, and everyone stared at it.
Soon, the digits on the screen stopped flashing, and the fighters' team numbers appeared first.
The numbering started from the Japan Team…
Japan Team was No. 1, Art of Fighting was No. 2, Ikari Team No. 3, Women Fighters No. 4, Fatal Fury No. 5, Kim Team No. 6, Psycho Soldiers No. 7, and Aiden and the Kagura sisters' Kagura Team No. 8.
"Now that all team numbers have been selected, next will be the matchup draw."
As the host spoke passionately, the numbers on the screen began jumping again.
"Shermie, which team do you think can win the championship?"
While the draw numbers were flashing rapidly, Tamaki watched the screen from the prime viewing seats, then turned to Shermie.
"On paper, probably the Japan Team. Kyo Kusanagi's strength is too strong."
As a member of the Hakkesshu, even if Shermie no longer followed her fate, her attention to the Three Sacred Treasures families was still the highest. Thinking about it, she said so.
Tamaki didn't know the story between the Hakkesshu and the Three Sacred Treasures. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I actually think the Art of Fighting team is pretty strong. Just looking at their posture, they look ridiculously strong."
"I bet on the Kagura Team." That was Helena speaking. Since Aiden was in the Kagura Team, she bet without thinking.
"Goenica, what do you think?" Helena then looked at Goenica sitting between the women.
"I don't know…" Goenica couldn't understand all these twists and turns. After thinking for a bit, she still couldn't make a choice.
"Aiden will win!"
At this moment, a mature voice sounded next to the women.
Looking toward the direction of the voice, in an empty seat beside them, a graceful, elegant woman suddenly appeared.
"Mm… this woman, is she the one Aiden said could defeat me?"
Among the gazes, all of them were examining the woman, but only Shermie's gaze carried scrutiny within the examination.
Finally, her gaze fell on the woman's chest.
'She's a bit stronger than me.' Shermie thought. She accepted that she had actually lost, she had a combat strength of ninety-two.
And the woman they were looking at was Nyotengu.
The participating fighters had the right to invite relatives and friends to watch, so last night, Aiden had extended an invitation to the suddenly visiting Nyotengu.
Lifting her skirt slightly as she sat down gently, Nyotengu looked at Shermie and the others.
"I, Nyotengu, am pleased to meet you." Nyotengu said very politely.
"I…"
Hearing her self-address, Shermie and the women all froze for a moment. 'This kind of self-reference… was a bit too archaic, wasn't it?'
'I haven't heard that self-title for at least a good hundred years.' Shermie thought. The last time she woke up, her memory still stayed in the 19th century, and at that time, there weren't many women anywhere in Asia still using such self-address.
However, what Shermie and the women found even stranger was Nyotengu's name.
'Nyotengu… that sounded like some sort of mythical monster, right?'
To be fair, Shermie wasn't unfamiliar with monsters. But ever since firearms appeared, most weak monsters either died or fled, and the strong monsters unafraid of firearms hid themselves away. After so many years, this was the first time she'd seen a living monster.
Facing the women's surprised gazes, Nyotengu didn't say more. She picked up a plastic bag stuffed full at her feet, took out several wooden boxes, and handed them to Shermie and the others, then said, "Would you like some snacks?"
"Mm! Then thank you."
The women didn't stand on ceremony. After saying thanks, they accepted them.
Then, while eating snacks, they looked toward the giant screens around the stadium. The jumping numbers had already slowed down, the draw results were about to be announced.
At this moment, everyone in the stadium held their breath as the numbers stopped completely, and a huge uproar erupted inside.
The draw was complete.
Then, the voices of the two commentators who had participated in last year's Japanese Mixed-Species Martial Arts Tournament alternated, "Dear live spectators and guests, and all viewers watching on TV, the draw for our tournament has concluded. Now I will announce it."
Commentator A said, "First group, Team No. 1, Japan Team, vs. Team No. 6, Kim Team."
"Second group, Team No. 5, Fatal Fury, vs. Team No. 3, Ikari Team."
"Third group, Team No. 4, Women Fighters, vs. Team No. 7, Psycho Soldiers."
"Fourth group, Team No. 8, Kagura Team, vs. Team No. 2, Art of Fighting."
Commentator B said, "Because this is the first world-wide martial arts tournament, this competition will use a double-elimination format. The first defeated teams will continue fighting in the losers bracket."
"Any team that loses twice in a row will be completely eliminated. Teams entering the winners bracket will, after losing, also fall into the losers bracket and face the winners there."