Greeting the Royal family, Erina and Yuiko walked back to their table to wait for the food to be rolled out.

Sitting down, Erina asked, "Hey Yuiko, did you hear that the Yoshidas made a breakthrough in the medical field?"

Shaking her head, Yuiko replied, "No, what was it? I heard they were getting some competition from that one family from the Yang Supremacy."

Taking a sip of water, Erina explained, "Yeah, the breakthrough that the Yoshida family made blew away the competition, making it so that Yang Supremacy's family that tried to enter the medicare field was pushed out."

Leaning back in her chair, Erina expanded on her earlier statement, "So the breakthrough that the Yoshidas made allowed their newest machines to heal broken bones at an accelerated pace. Making it so severe injuries take only half the time to heal! The official statement even said that there was a lot of room to improve upon."

Slack-jawed, Yuiko asked, "That's amazing and all, but did the Yoshida family share the invention with the other families in the medicare business? Otherwise, the Yoshidas might start a monopoly..."

Thinking for a second, Erina replied, "Hm... I'm pretty sure that they did... because the monopoly laws are pretty strict."

Nodding, Yuiko, and Erina went back to chatting about various topics from their day to day lives.

Chatting for a while, Erina and Yuiko turned around startled when a family entered late while making a big deal about their presence.

Turning to Yuiko, Erina whispered, "I'll bet that's the Hanamiya family!"

Giving a wry smile in response, Yuiko replied, "Oh I didn't think of that, I thought it was the Noragi family!"

Pinching Yuiko's cheeks, Erina complained, "I know it's obvious! I just wanted to say it!"

Laughing at Erina's antics, Yuiko rebutted, "But that was way too obvious. The Hanamiya family does this every year... so much so that sometimes other families will bet with each other how late the Hanamiya family will show up!"

Letting go of Yuiko, Erina turned away with a pout, "Hmph, what a bully~!"

Patting Erina on the back a few times, Yuiko joined Erina in looking at the spectacle that unfolded every year, the Hanamiyas sauntering up to the royal family only to be chewed out by the Royals.

"How many times do you think they'll apologize this year?" Asked Erina, "I think they will maybe apologize twice...? Even if they never honor their apologies, they still apologize every year to the Royal Family..."

Thinking it over for a second, Yuiko answered, "They'll probably apologize more than usual this year because they showed up later than usual..."

Nodding, Erina moved her chair closer to Yuiko's to have a better view while watching the scene in silence.

In the front of the hall, the Hanamiya family sauntered through the door, making a racket to announce their arrival. Walking up to the Royal Family, the Hanamiya family bowed before greeting, "The Hanamiya family has arrived, we sincerely apologize for our tardiness."

"We know, we all know... just don't be late next time." Sighing in exasperation, the Queen shooed them away with an off-hand comment.

"Okay, we will make our best effort to be on time next year. Again, we would like to show our remorse for arriving late." The head of the Hanamiya family added before spinning a leading his family towards the rest of the families in the Elitist faction.

Sighing, Erina turned to Yuiko while lamenting, "Yeah, it turned out almost exactly the same as last year. How does the Royal Family even allow the Hanamiya family to do this? Couldn't they just revoke their status as part of the 17 pillar families?"

Shaking her head, Yuiko replied, "No... I asked Papa before and he told me that there are a few reasons why they can't do that. The first one is that the Hanamiyas are too entrenched into the industry that they deal with, the construction industry. The second reason is that in the military, the family has consistently performed well, no matter how bad their attitude. The last reason is that the family still manages to get all the responsibilities and work done, even if it's just barely done, it's still done. Because of these reasons, the Hanamiya family is still one of the 17 pillars..."

Dejected, Erina groaned, "So that's it? There's nothing we can do? Well... well that sucks a lot..."

Tapping Erina on the shoulder, Yuiko replied, "It's fine~ just ignore and avoid them and you'll be fine~! Come on Erina, there's no time to be sad right now! The foods about to be rolled out!"

Perking up like a pet learning that their owner arrived home, Erina agreed, "You're right Yuiko, there isn't time to be sad! The dessert is waiting for me! I'm going to try and eat more than I ate last year!"

Chuckling, Yuiko offered her hand to Erina while they walked towards the now rolled out food tables, "How many was it last year? I think it was 5 slices of cake?"

Grabbing onto Yuiko's hand and leaning against her, Erina corrected, "I'm pretty sure it was 6, I think I ate one more at the end."

Nodding, Yuiko agreed, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that slice... you ate it when you were already so full. It was so funny watching you walk to the testing area afterwards!"

Giggling, Erina added, "I ate so much that I gained a kilo or two when I weighed myself at home! Though I did burn it off after just jogging a lap around the house..."

Shaking her head with a wry smile, Yuiko replied, "You must have eaten a ton for you to gain weight... But I forgot how easily you lose weight too... you're truly the dream of us girls..."

Getting in line, Erina stopped leaning on Yuiko's shoulder to pick up a plate, "You know... I think I might just start with dessert...?"

Hearing Erina's thoughts, Yuiko started chiding Erina, "What do you think you are doing? You have to eat some normal food first okay, Erina? Your mom thought this might happen, she even pulled me aside and told me to stop you if you thought about it! So no dessert for you yet!"

Pouting, Erina replied, "Fine... I'll just eat a plate of the main course before getting dessert..."

Smiling, Yuiko pulled Erina along while beaming, "Hah! I knew I could get you to eat something! Come on, let's get our food and go back to our table, okay?"

Following Yuiko, Erina agreed, "Okay! Wait! Hey, you also have to eat some eggplant! I know you don't like it but you have to eat it!"

Putting some eggplant on her plate, Yuiko teased, "Aww, I thought I could slip by it without you noticing~"

Sticking her tongue out, Erina replied, "Never!" before laughing and walking back to the table with Yuiko.