After stripping off her protective equipment, she rushed up into the gallery to witness Sakura-nee's match. As she emerged into the seats Haruhi-nee and Wendy-imouto waved her over to an empty seat next to the pair. She went and sat down.

"She didn't put up much of a fight did she?" Haruhi whispered into her ear, being careful to make sure no one else in the stands overheard them.

In response, she shook her head.

"You're not even sweaty," her oneechan observed.

"Nope," she responded in a low tone. She didn't want to shame her patSister, so she only gave a quick, one-word response.

"Christiana-oneechan you were so cool out there," Wendy-mouto commented with her adorable voice. The smaller girl was quite excited, it seemed. "You're going to fight again later, right?"

"Yep, I sure am!" she responded with a smile. "I made it into the second round."

"Congratulations!" the younger girl squealed and positively hopped up and down in her seat.

"Calm down, shortie," her womb-mate commented with a chuckle. "It's almost time to watch Sakura-nee and Kelly-imouto's match."

"Ahhh, she's okay," Christiana commented as she leaned over and hugged her little patSister. Then, in a less joking manner, she continued, "Just be quiet during their match okay? You don't want to break their concentration."

"Okay!" came the response as the girl stopped her fidgeting and her face took on a more serious expression.

'She's so cute!' she thought as she gazed at the youngster. Being the youngest in her own matFam, she only got to see her younger relatives occasionally. While the babies were charming, the older kids were also kawaii in their own way.

"Look they're starting," Haruhi-onee pointed out as the staffer returned to the floor.

In all honesty, the bout between Kelly-imotou and Sakura-neechan was quite boring to watch. As in Christiana's fight, the younger girl merely tried to defend herself while her elder pressed the attack. Kelly spent all of her time retreating and guarding herself against the blow after blow that her patSister rained down upon her.

"Is it just me or is Sakura-nee being extremely aggressive?" Haruhi-oneechan whispered. "I mean she hasn't even let up for a moment. Poor Kelly-mouto."

Even Wendy-mouto chimed in. "Sakura is just being a meanie," she remarked, also in a whisper. Even the young child could tell that things were off right from the start. "When you fought you weren't mean," the little blonde pointed out, her eyes firmly locked on Christiana's.

The older girl just smiled in return and wrapped her arm around the little girl's shoulders before giving her a quick, sideways hug. Then she focused her attention back on the arena floor.

Not much had changed during that momentary pause. Sakura-oneechan was still pressing her younger opponent while the younger girl desperately tried to defend herself from the constant onslaught. It was very clear who had the upper hand.

Finally, Kelly-imouto stumbled while retreating and Sakura-nee scored a point while her opponent was off balance. This seemed to take the wind out of Kelly-mouto's sails, as she barely even tried to defend herself after that point. Needless to say, Sakura-neechan quickly scored the second point, and the entire match was over in less than two minutes.

"Wow, she was brutal," Haruhi-nee whispered so that only Christiana could hear.

It was quite clear that the rest of the audience felt the same way. While there had been polite applause after Christiana's bout, there was only silence after Sakura-nee's and Kelly-mouto's match. Even patMother Patricia didn't clap afterward. Apparently, she could read the mood of the rest of the family.

"How could she do that to her own patSister?" Christiana muttered under her breath. "Especially one of her youngers?"

"I don't know," came Haruhi's quiet reply. Apparently, she had heard Christiana's comment and thought that it was a question that she should answer. "I could never do that to Kelly-mouto. She's such a sweetheart."

'I agree,' Christiana thought as she stood to go downstairs and prepare for the third and final match. 'If this had happened in any other setting, what Sakura-nee just did would be considered bullying.'

"Give her hell," Haruhi-nee said after standing and giving Christiana a quick hug. "I know you won't let someone bully you."

"Good luck, Chris-nee," little Wendy-mouto said after giving Christiana a hug of her own. "I know you can win. Teach Sakura-nee that it is wrong to treat her own patSister like that."

"I will do my very best to teach her just that," Christiana said as she made her way to the stairs. Then, with a short wave, she thought 'Let's do this,' as she went through a doorway leading out of the arena's observation level.

----

Once the girls had left the arena, Miss Harrison Leaned over and whispered to Holly, "They are using a stimulant called ephedra to give Sakura an advantage."

"How do you know?" came the redhead's immediate reply.

"It has a very distinct smell, at least to us it does. I could smell its metabolites during the match. That is definitely cheating according to your House charter," Harrison responded in another whisper.

"Do you have any proof?" came the reply.

"No, and since it is not widely produced on Cooper's World it won't show up on a standard blood test. However, it WILL show up on a scan run on Hope," Miss Harrison replied with a devilish grin. "Their overconfidence will be their undoing. This is going to be fun."

"How should I proceed?" Holly asked.

"Accuse Patricia of cheating due to how her daughter fought without tiring and invoke section three clause a of your House charter."

"Live steel combat? Why?" came Holly's shocked reply.

"Because it is the only way that a Matriarch can set any special rules for the outcome of a match in a tournament. Otherwise, only 'standard rules' will apply," came Miss Harrison's retort.

"So what rules should be added?"

"A blood test will be taken of both girls prior to the re-commencement of the match. If we find any irregularities, then the match goes to the one who has not cheated. The Mother of the cheater will also face censure by the rest of House Washington," Harrison explained, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

"So even if Christiana ends up losing the match, she will still win if we can provide proof that Patricia broke the rules."."

"Exactly."

As soon as the matriarch got to her feet and began making the statement that she had suggested, things went according to Miss Harisson's plan. Patricia readily agreed to the blood tests and even requested a rematch if no performance-enhancing drugs or stimulants were found in either girl's system. However, when Holly strongly protested this course of action with the support of two other Wives Patricia backed down on the rematch idea.

'She is like a lamb to the slaughter,' Miss Harrison thought as a unanimous vote to draw the girls' blood for testing by all the Wives. The vote also stipulated that the blood was to be drawn in front of all those present, so the arena staff notified the nurse on duty in their small infirmary to ready the necessary equipment.

'Patricia didn't even protest when she was told that the contest was changing over to live steel. She seems to be more worried about being caught at this point than the wellbeing of her own daughter,' Miss Harrison mused as she watched the drama play out before her. 'What a bitch.'

----

When Christiana was called back into the arena, she was prepared to recommence the match. The last thing she expected was being told that she had to have her blood drawn in order to check for stimulants and performance-enhancing medications.

'I have taken nothing that was not prescribed by a doctor,' Christiana thought as a nurse inserted a needle into one of her veins.

Doing her best not to flinch at the sudden pain, Christiana tried to figure out the cause of this state of events. 'Does this mean that Sakura-nee is suspected of taking something? It would make sense because of the way she didn't get tired during our grueling bout earlier.'

Finally, the vials were filled with blood, and the nurse withdrew the needle from her arm. The medic then placed a tiny patch of NewSkin on her arm to stop the bleeding, and the medical procedure was complete.

Once Sakura-nee's blood was also taken and the nurse had left the arena, Christiana's Mother stood and announced, "Girls, per our House's charter the match will continue using live steel. Please return to your dressing rooms to prepare for the continuation of the Keeper tournament."

'What?' Christiana thought in total disbelief. 'That is not something I signed up for!'

However, upon glancing over at her older patSister Sakura-oneechan and seeing her seemingly unfazed by the situation, she kept her cool. It would be one thing if the older girl was also upset and yet another if she were the only one protesting. Instead, she merely bowed to her Mother once again before leaving the arena floor.