A longer chapter this time... hope you enjoy! Any tips are welcome.
Reminder: slow paced story. PS: thanks for the correction, anon!
Pillow fight
Close my eyes? Wh- I thought just before Eli started to shake her towel, I managed to take my arm up to avoid the sand getting into my eyes, just in time. "Hey! Be careful!" I protest to the older girl.
"I told you to close your eyes…" she says with patience. "Well, let's go, then." And just like that she proceeds to walk towards the house. It took me a few seconds to react, so I had to take a few quick steps to catch up to her.
"Be careful next time!" I mutter angrily.
"Next time? Sorry, sorry." Eli says smiling at me, her jokes, ugh... I didn't meant it like there's going to be a next time. I notice she is trying to look at the cover of my book. "What are you reading?"
"Huh? I-it's nothing…" I respond rather quickly as the blonde rolls her eyes.
"Why are you so stubborn?" she takes the book out of my hand so fast I couldn't stop her so I just stay looking at her with surprise, she is fast. "Ah, I've read this book too." She lends the book back to me and sighs heavily. "You have to make everything hard, don't you?" I look away, feeling a bit guilty. She was just asking something, Maki… why I am so bad at talking to people… I'll never know.
"Y-you're even more stubborn!" I mutter the first thing that comes to my mind. "And what are you, a ninja?" I say half-jokingly, referring to Eli's quick movement when getting the book out of my hand. She laughs and I giggle in response. "It's good so far…" I say shyly as I curl my hair.
"It is." The blonde says with a little smile. "I didn't liked the ending, though. You'll see why." she voices thoughtfully.
"Ugh, did you just ruined the book for me?" I protest as we reach to the house entrance, I cross my arms. "Wow, thanks…" I voice with sarcasm, but I'm secretly happy to be talking about books with someone else, for a change.
"N-No, I didn't! I didn't told you any spoilers!" I giggle at her worry as the both of us walk upstairs.
"You did ruined it, but whatever." I sigh jokingly as I put my shoulders up, the other girl just shakes her head with a smile. We are now standing in front of the room she is sharing with Nozomi and Nico.
"I did not. 'But whatever'…" is she mocking me? Eli giggles. Ugh, she is! "Goodnight, Maki." I try to hide a smile.
"You are not funny, you know?" I voice, making the blonde laugh once again as she grabs her doorknob. "Night, Eli-senpai."
"You're just jealous I'm funnier than you." She whispers as she opens the door. "And stop calling me-"
"Shh, you are going to wake everyone up." I whisper back to avoid another scolding, then I walk away. I heard Eli's sigh which makes me grin as I'm entering to my room. I'm happily not sharing it with anyone, Rin and Hanayo took the visitors room next to mine. I went directly to bed, yawning before letting my head rest on the pillow…
—
I woke up just moments before my alarm clock made a sound, I set it up because I didn't wanted to risk sleeping more than I should and having someone else waking me up, that would be so embarrassing. After I brushed my teeth's I decided to check if the other girls were awake. I heard some voices coming from the kitchen as I walk downstairs… When I got to the kitchen I recognize the third years are cooking breakfast. Nozomi seems to notice my presence and turns around to look at me.
"Oh, Maki-chan, good morning!" Nozomi says with a tender smile, Eli turns around and smiles at me while Nico stays focused on cooking.
"Good morning…" I voice shyly… ugh, they seriously seem like they are our parents… Well, except Nico-chan.
"About time the younger ones started to get ready, sheesh!" Nico shouts with frustration, but she seems really entertained. So this girl likes cooking after all?
"Huh? You would be sleeping if I hadn't woken you up, Nicocchi" Nozomi says with a smirk but Nico just ignores the comment. "Behave, don't make me grope you." The third year voices with a pervy smile, I roll my eyes while I sit at the table, leaning on my elbow.
"Ah, Maki-chan, good morning!" Umi's voice comes from behind me. She sighs with frustration. "I'm glad you're awake, it took me a lot to make Rin wake up… and Kotori is still trying to make Honoka stand up." She shakes her head in disapproval. "We have so much to do today!" I notice Eli laughs and I giggle silently, just like she said yesterday, Umi has already plans for the day.
After a while, the other girls joined us for breakfast, then Eli said we needed to get ready for practice, Umi was excited. All of us were standing in front of the second year student, who is showing us some training charts. She went full military this time… I said to myself, looking at the intense practice we have ahead. I hear Honoka, Rin and Nico snorting, of course they are totally against it… Rin managed to distract Umi and in a blink of an eye she grabbed Hanayo as Honoka, Nico and her escaped towards the beach, with Kotori following them. I sigh, they are so hopeless…
"C-Come back!" Umi yelled, but it was too late.
"Well, it can't be helped…" Eli says and I look at her.
"But, Eli-senpai-"
"I told you 'senpai' is not allowed." Eli says and winks to Umi. "We have been practicing a lot lately, we also need some time to play together." She says with a smile, Umi responds with a sigh, defeated.
"Play together… hehe." Nozomi replays the words to no one and giggles, I shake my head, she has no shame.
"Umi-chan, Eli-chan!" We hear Hanayo yelling from the beach, she's with the other girls. Eli waves at them in response.
"Okay, let's go!" Eli exclaims happily. Ha! It seems like our student council president is not as strict today…
Now everyone is wearing their swimsuits as the nine of us get to the beach. I sigh as the other girls enter to the water, I just go sit on my usual beach lounge. Nozomi was filming with her camera while Kotori found a water gun and she was ready to use it… I return my eyes to the book, I really want to finish this chapter… I stay there reading while the others just kept playing around. After sometime Nico joined me, sitting on the lounge next to mine… it didn't took long for her to go back to them after Rin challenged her.
"Maki-chan, come join us!" I look up and it's Honoka waving at me.
"Huh?" I return my eyes to the book. "Uhm, no thanks…" I say shyly, I don't need to look up to know Honoka is dissapointed.
*Eli's POV:
I sigh at Maki. She's too stubborn to join us… for now.
"I see" I hear Nozomi saying, she's also looking at Maki.
"Maki seems like a hard nut to crack." I voice looking at the redhead, Nozomi looks at me and giggles. "w-what? I said something funny?"
"Not at all, Elichi." Nozomi answers with a smile. Uhm…
...
*Back to Maki's POV:
After we ate our lunch it didn't took long for the others to be eager to go back to the beach. I lie down once again on my lounge, back to the book again, I guess… I thought to myself as I realized we are definitely not going to practice today. I hear Hanayo and Rin talking happily in the distance, I look up and I can't help but spy on them … they are, uhm, attempting? To build a sand castle. I sigh but I can't stop a giggle, these two. I shake my head as I return my focus to the book. A few minutes pass before I hear a familiar voice…
"You are getting close to the end." It was Eli, se startled me a bit since I didn't noticed she's standing next to my lounge. "You'll see what I meant yesterday." She voices as she now looks at the other two first years.
"Actually, it was today… it was already past 12" I correct the older girl and she rolls her eyes, then she smiles looking at the ocean. I don't know why but I stay looking at her, that smile intrigues me… I blush when I notice what I'm doing so I look away quickly, returning my eyes to the printed words… but still looking sideways. I can feel Eli is watching me this time… "W-what?" I ask looking at those blue eyes.
"N-Nothing!" Eli says nervously… why she is not with the others?
"Eli-chan, Maki-chan! We need some help nya!" We heard an entertained Rin shouting at us, apparently the castle… well, there's no castle anymore… now it's just a pile of sand. We giggle simultaneously at the situation.
"I-It's an emergency!" Hanayo voices with urgency.
"We are going to make the best castle ever!" Honoka yells with excitement as she joins the two first years, with Umi and Kotori following her lead.
"Come on." Eli says with a smile, asking me to come with them.
"Y-You go first." My mouth answers without letting me think, Eli sighs with frustration and leaves to help the others. I stay looking at them… I should go to the water, I thought as I felt the hotness of the air. I just need to refresh myself… then, maybe I'll join them… not that I want to help them anyway… that's what I thought, even though I knew I was half lying to myself. I leave my book on the lounge and I start walking to the water, I notice sideways two pairs of eyes looking at me…
"Maki-chan, you're going to the water just when we are not there nya! It's not fair!" Rin cries and I sigh heavily at her words, I give up.
"I-I'll join you after I swim a bit, Rin, okay?" Rin seems pleased with my answer and smiles, I turn around.
I enjoy the ocean's feel as I get used to the water's temperature. I get myself under the water and I make a sigh of relief when I come out, feeling refreshed. I swim a bit more, getting where the waves begin to form. I love diving in to avoid them, letting the water movement pass over my head. I feel relaxed as I stay there for a while, escaping from the waves…
"Maki, you need to be careful!" I recognize is Umi's voice. Huh? I turn around, the second year and Eli are standing with their feet's in the water, looking at me.
"Yes, come back immediately!" I hear Eli shouting this time, I laugh, these two think I am a small child or wha- that's when a big wave hits me, sucking me into water without warning. I manage to get out and I take a huge breath of air when I reach the surface.
"Maki, are you okay?" I hear Umi once again, she and Eli are getting into the water.
"I'm fine!" I shout with anger and embarrassment as I swim back towards the two girls, they stop when they observe I'm okay.
"You need to be careful…" I hear Eli saying to me as I walk past them.
"She is right! Swimming alone is dangerous." Umi agrees with the blonde, the two of them following my steps as I walk, annoyed at them.
"It was because you two distracted me!" I say with frustration as I turn around to look at them, I feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I can take care of myself!"
"W-we were just being cautious…" Eli explains putting her hands up in surrender. I just snort, crossing my arms and looking away while Umi laughs nervously.
"I'm not a baby." I voice silently to no one in particular.
"Eli-chan, come back! We need your help here." I hear Kotori half-crying and I turn my face to look at the others, the castle… wow, it's actually looking decent, even though a tower just fell. Eli giggles as she quickly walks back to them… I had to stop myself from smiling, Eli likes sand castles? The thought makes me forget the bitterness and embarrassment I had.
"I'll go help Nico and Nozomi at the house." Umi informs me as she walks away, I stay there… looking at the other girls working on the castle like it was their most important project. I feel the need to join them but I hesitate.
"Maki-chan, come help us nya!" I hear Rin once again, for some reason my eyes move to Eli's. I sigh but I finally walk to them.
"Fine." I answer simply as the other girls smile at me. I sit next to Eli, who is very focused on fixing the destroyed tower. I take a look to the rest of the castle, Eli definitely helped them… "You all are doing a decent job here, who would have thought…"
"Ah! So you like it!" Honoka says teasingly, which makes my cheeks flush at the accusation.
"I-It's not that good!" I say embarrassed and I hear Eli's giggle. I sigh once again and then I take my attention to the castle as I try to help here and there. The other girls are chatting happily and I take a glance at the blonde next to me, I can't stop a giggle, she's so focused into making the perfect castle. She is such a baby! I thought to myself when Eli made a little flag using a leaf and a stick. She placed it at the top of the tower, then she smiled at it, almost proudly. I giggled again, this time Eli noticed I was observing her moves. "Why are you so good at this? Sand castles…" I ask the now embarrassed girl… wait, did I just called her 'baby' in my mind? I shake my head to shake the thought too.
"I-I'm not…" I look at her with a smirk. "Fine… I like sand castles, okay?" she says whispering and I laugh. She's blushed, ha! The childish side of Ayase Eli…
"You are so childish…" I say teasingly, grinning at her.
"L-look how's talking! You even put some rocks there as decorations!" she counter attacks my words.
"B-because that's what you were doing! Sheesh…" I grumble as we lock our eyes in a challenging way… then we giggle, probably at our own silly discussion.
"Hehe, Maki-chan and Eli-chan seem to be getting along." Honoka smirks at us.
"D-don't say things like that!" I voice with embarrassment as I return my focus to the castle while I listen to Eli's nervous giggle. Then we stay there, finishing the last touches of the famous building.
"I think it's done, nya!" Rin exclaims happily, standing up with a jump. I just hope Rin doesn't destroy it by accident, with all this excitement she has… I giggle at the thought as we all stand up to admire our… yeah, it is a decent castle.
"Kotori-chan, get it on video!" Honoka says to the other girl, who has Nozomi's camera on her hands.
"It just needs…" Eli says reflectively, then she kneels down and starts digging, all of us keep looking at her with curiosity… what is she- Oh! She's making a waterway from the castle's lake to the shore… as Eli stands up one ocean wave gets to the waterway making the water flow until it fills the lake.
"Ohhh!" The other girls exclaim with joy, I smile as I cross my arms looking at Eli.
"Well, that was smart." I voice with one eyebrow up, she smiles shyly in response. I giggle silently.
"It was amazing nya!" Rin says with another jump.
"Eli-chan is like a sand queen or wizard…" Honoka says impressed, the compliments make Eli laugh nervously.
"D-Don't say that, Honoka." I smirk at the blonde's embarrassment. "Let's just go help the others." She orders, making the others follow her words almost automatically. We all walk back to the house, Eli and I at last.
"Ha! You're blushed." I point out teasingly, which makes her cheeks get pinker. I laugh as the two of us keep walking a couple of steps behind the others.
"Look who is talking… Y-you are the one who always blush!" Eli says defending herself and I flush at her words. "See?" great, now she is the one laughing at me!
"I-I'm not!"
"You are." The blonde says with a smirk as we get to the beach lounges, I grab my book, trying to ignore her words.
"Ugh, you are annoying." I voice with frustration to the other girl.
"You started it." She says raising her shoulders. "I am just joking." Then she puts her hand fondly on my head for just a second.
"Right." I answer simply, looking away from her as I feel my face getting redder because of her last gesture.
When we arrived to the house, Nozomi said they needed some other ingredients to finish dinner so I decided to change my clothes and grab my stuff to get to the store before hunger strike us all. I start walking downstairs.
"I'll go!" Honoka offers herself to get the food we need. She is probably very hungry by know, knowing her…
"Its fine, I'll go by myself. No one knows where the store is, so-"
"Then I'll go with you." Nozomi voices putting her hand up. "You don't mind spending some time with me, right?" I look at her unamused, she will insist if I refuse, so it's not like I have a choice. I sigh for the hundred time today.
That's how I ended up walking to the store with Nozomi, she's a couple of steps ahead of me, like she knows the way to the store. I don't think her cards know that information…
"Oh! What a beautiful sunset." The vice-president comments as she turns her look to the horizon.
"What are you doing?" I ask the older girl, I know she is planning something.
"Nothing, I just think you're a handful." I look away sighing. Here we go, I thought, knowing her she is about to give me some weird advice like she always does when we are alone. "You wish you could be closer with everyone, but you are not honest with your feelings." She voices enigmatically.
"I-I'm just like this… I don't know what you are talking about, I don't wish any of that." I say curling my hair, it's not like I want to play with them, wasting my time it's not my style… I lie to myself.
"See? You can't be honest with yourself-"
"What do you want from me, then?" I cut her off with frustration, she suddenly stops walking.
"I can't leave you alone, I'm an expert with girls like you…" she looks at me like she can see right through me.
"Now you're just talking crazy things" I say, not really understanding what she meant. Or not wanting to.
"You should try to have fun from time to time, we are on a trip together after all, you know?" then she keeps walking.
"Why are you acting like you know where the store is anyway?" I muttered, trying to change the subject.
"Well, I know some things or two…" I sigh heavily as I keep following her, not knowing what else to say. I get lost in my own thoughts. I just want to be alone. A loner, that's who I am and no one is going to change that. Even though I know I don't seem like a loner now, since I'm surrounded by the other muse's members most of the time. So that's what Eli and Nozomi have been doing… they just want me to fit in. Maybe Nozomi is right… but I just don't know how to get close to people. I shake my head, I don't need to get close to anyone. Besides, I'm just their composer and nothing more… right?
We arrived from the store and Nico finished the dinner rather quickly, I was really hungry at that point and so were the others. We ate a really good food and the nine of us took a bath… Later, Rin found some futons in her room, this isn't going to end well… all the girls decided to sleep together in them so they all placed the futons at the living room. I sigh with annoyance, I knew it. I sit on one of the sofas while Nico, Honoka and Rin are rolling around the futons. I roll my eyes, taking my attention to my phone. Why do we have to do this?
"Why do we have to sleep in the same room?" I decide to voice my question out loud, hoping someone wants to stop this nonsense too.
"We are in an overnight trip together, Maki." Eli says like that explains it all.
"It will be fun!" Nozomi says exited and I sigh with defeat. These two need to stop.
"Okay, let's decide who sleeps where!" Honoka says with excitement as her and Nico fight for a spot. Rin makes sure to save a place next to Hanayo.
"What about you, Maki-chan?" Nozomi asks me, I return a serious expression at her while I curl my hair.
"I don't care." I answer closing my eyes and looking away. I hear Eli and Nozomi giggling.
I ended up sleeping on the odd futon, with my head next to Nozomi's and Eli's. After what seemed like a couple of seconds, not even a minute… Honoka started to make some noises, she couldn't sleep so she tried to eat some food. We turn the lights on… That's when Nico turned around telling us to go to sleep.
"Harasho…" Eli says horrified at… Nico's beauty treatment. Hanayo and Rin look as scared as ever.
"Just go to sleep already!" Nico shouts just before Nozomi throws a pillow to her face.
"Maki-chan, what are you doing?" What? Is she seriously trying to blame me? Then Nozomi proceeds to throw another pillow, this time to Rin, Rin throws one to Honoka and Honoka to… I was able to stop the pillow with my arm. What are they doing?
"You're not going to throw it back?" Nozomi asks me with a giggle.
"You-" I start saying but a pillow hits my face, cutting off my argument… It was Eli, I look at her as she hides her grin with one hand. "Ugh, fine!" I voice with frustration as I grab a pillow. "Bring it on!"
And that's how the war started, all the girls now throwing her pillows around. I was barely able to dodge a double-pillow-hit from Nozomi and Eli. The fight continues with laughs coming all around… that is until we hit Umi by accident. Apparently she gets really mad when someone wakes her up… in a blink of an eye Umi goes into full assassin mode! After she gives Nico, Honoka and Eli a headshot, she is ready to end with Rin and Hanayo too… that's when Nozomi and I manage to hit Umi's head, which makes the second year student fell asleep again. That was close… We sigh with relief, even though we are talking about just soft and harmless pillows.
"Maki-chan, Nozomi-chan, you saved us!" Hanayo cries with joy, still hugging Rin.
"But you started the war, Maki-chan!" Rin says teasingly.
"N-No, I didn't! It was Nozomi." I voice, looking serious at the third year girl.
"I don't know what you are talking about!" Nozomi denies with a giggle.
"Ugh, you are-" Nozomi cuts me off, hitting my face with a pillow. "What are you doing, Nozomi?!" I mutter with frustration, what is up with her now?! First the talk and now this?
"You can say my name naturally now." Huh? I look at Nozomi and I get embarrassed instantly as I notice she is right. "You are handful." She says once again while the other girls smile at me.
"You are!" I shout, looking away... I can't believe I just said her name like that. I can see Eli smiling at the situation… how did she survived Umi's headshot? I had no idea.
The girls talked happily for a couple of minutes before everyone decided to finally sleep. Or more like everyone but me… I thought, noticing the other girls are sleeping. I grab my book as I go to my usual spot outside the house. I just want to read this chapter… I thought to myself as I hear some silent steps.
"Maki?" This time Eli's voice doesn't surprise me. "Reading again, huh?"
It was another introductory kind of chapter, I really hope you enjoy character development and bonding and all... I try to do my best in writing from Maki's mind. Thank you to anyone who reads/comments/follows the story! I appreciate it a lot. Have a great day!
Note: did a quick update fixing some words. Thanks to the anon reviewer who corrected my silly mistake haha! (I wish i could reply to guests reviews).