Chapter 27

I sighed. School was over, and now, it was summer, and with that, loads of homework. I sat on my table, hacking down math problems and trying to finish them as quickly as possible.

"Sheesh," I muttered. "These problems are harder than trying to purify one hundred fifty three X eggs."

"Don't jinx yourself," someone said, and I turned around. Akumu and Majyo was leaning on my door. "Jinxes are very serious curses," Majyo warned.

Akumu nodded. "Yep. Anyways, congrats. You really did work hard."

"What do you mean?" I asked, cocking my head.

"Don't you think that I didn't notice? For the performance, you stood after school until five to help the backstage crew, helping way more than you were assigned. And you stood up late every night practicing your singing."

"How do you know?"

Akumu rolled her eyes. "I'm right next door. I heard you singing," she explained, and smiled. "You really are Star Class's hero."

I smiled. "Yeah."

"Hey, Shizuko?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for being such a *beep* at the beginning," Akumu said.

"It's ok," I said, smiling.

Walking over to me, she pointed at the loads of homework piled up on my desk. "You can do that later, can you?" she asked.

I sighed. "And do what?"

"A water gun fight. Everyone's waiting for us in Yaya's Playground."

I rolled my eyes. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for just ONE water gun fight..." I muttered. "I can always do my homework later.."

Akumu nodded. "Yep. Let's go!" she shouted, grabbing my hand and rocketing down the stairs.

~And so, we went to Yaya's Playground, a huge indoor playground with all sorts of slides, and the Embryo Hunters, Misaki, and Ryuu were waiting for us...~

Nagi smiled. "Well then, since everyone's here, let's get started: there will be teams of two, and it will be a knockout battle. Those who are completely soaked will be out. The teams are: Amu and Ikuto, Lulu and Tadase, Utau and Kukai, Rima and me, Shizuko and Ryuu, Misaki and Yaya, and Kairi with Akumu. Yuu, Yukari, and Pierre will be the judges."

Yuu nodded. "Hahaha, kids, make a place your meeting place with your partner, and then in five minutes, the game will begin! Everyone will get a water gun from Yukari, and Pierre will be giving out buckets of water. Got it?"

"GOT IT!" everyone shouted.

"Hahaha, then, the five minutes with start right... NOW!" Yuu shouted, and everyone rocketed towards Yukari to get a water gun, and then ran off.

Ryuu nodded at me. "Let's go, Shizuko-chan!" he shouted, charging at Yukari, getting two water guns, and handing one to me. "Let's make our meeting place on the entrance of the highest slide!"

Yuko nodded. "Yep. That way, people won't be able go in there often, and can always escape down the slide."

I nodded. "Good point. Let's go!"

~We went on the entrance of the highest slide...~

"Phew!" I cried out. "That was tiring!"

Ryuu nodded. "Yep. Anyways, this is where we'll stay, until someone finds us or when there's only one team left."

"AWWWW!" Emi whined. "But I wanted to play!"

"Yeah, Ryuu-kun!" Yuko whined. "The point of games is not winning, but it's to have fun! Let's go!"

Emi nodded. "Yuko-kun's got a point!"

"B-But..." Ryuu protested.

"Well, it won't hurt to have fun, right?" I asked.

Ryuu sighed. "Well, then, I guess it really wouldn't hurt..." he muttered.

I smiled. "Let's go, then!" I shouted, grabbing my water gun and jumping down the slide.

"Wait for me!" Ryuu shouted, jumping down with me.

~Now, at no one's POV, let's take a sneak peak at Nagi and Rima... :3~

"Nagi," Rima called out quietly.

"Yes?" he answered. "What is it?"

"Is it against the rules to shoot at someone in your own team?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. Why?"

Rima smiled, and aimed her water gun at him. "Well then I guess it wouldn't hurt to have some fun, right?" she asked, and fired at him.

Nagi laughed. "Haha, but..." he said, scratching his head. Rima fired at him again. "I'm not going easy on you, then!" he shouted, firing at Rima.

"Kusukusu!" Rima shouted. "Go all out!"

Kusukusu chuckled, and then fired at Temari and Rhythm. "Kusukusukusu..." she chuckled again.

"You got my kimono wet," Temari muttered. "I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU LIVE ANY LONGER!" she shouted, going all out at Kusukusu.

"Cool!" Rhythm shouted, and fired at Kusukusu.

Everyone ran about, and no one came to disturb them. Rima slipped, and almost fell, but Nagi catched her. "You ok?" he asked.

Rima smiled, and nodded. "Yep," she muttered, blushing a bit.

Nagi smiled. "That's a relief."

Rima smirked. "Gotcha," she muttered, firing at him.

"Hey! I just saved your life!" Nagi shouted, firing at her.

"Never let your guard down!" Rima shouted.

"Kusukusukusu..." Kusukusu chuckled.

~And now back to Shizuko's POV...~

"Target spotted," I muttered, pointing at Utau and Kukai.

Ryuu nodded. "I'll get Kukai, and you'll get Utau."

"On a count of three," I whispered.

"One."

"Two."

"THREE!" we both shouted, charging at them.

"It's an ambush!" Utau shouted. "Kukai, get Ryuu, and I'll get Shizuko!"

Kukai nodded. "Hahahaha, got it!"

"Kishikishi..." Il chuckled. "Go Utau-chan! Go Kina-san!"

Daichi fired at Kina, and her make up got all ruined. "Why you..." Kina muttered coldly. She got out her water gun, which was huge. "*Beep,* it's on!" she shouted, going all out on him.

"I'm the angel of love, the angel of peace, so please don't hurt me..." El muttered, hiding under a bush.

~We fought each other, until finally Kukai and Utau lost... We went to our meeting place again to dry off...~

"ATTENTION!" Yuu shouted. "THERE ARE ONLY TWO TEAMS REMAINING. THE SHOWDOWN WILL BE AT THE STARTING POINT, SO GET READY AND HEAD THERE NOW!"

I looked at Ryuu. "Ready?" I asked, standing up.

He nodded. "Rea- BE CAREFUL!" he shouted, grabbing me as I slipped and almost tumbled down the stairs next to us. He blushed, and let go of me. "That would've hurt if you went down that way," Ryuu muttered, looking away.

I nodded. "Thanks," I said, smiling.

~Now to the other remaining team...~

"Now listen up. According to my calculations, the only team remaining would be Ryuu and Shizuko. And I've observed their movements. Apparently their tactic is for Shizuko to get the females, and Ryuu to get the males. Your specialty is the element of surprise. Mine is the element of strategy. Together, that's the most powerful combination ever. Let's go give them a pleasant surprise..."

She smiled. "I'd love to see Shizuko's frightened face..." her shugo chara muttered coldly.

~And now back to Shizuko's POV...~

We quietly walked towards the open space. "There's no one here..." Ryuu muttered.

"Maybe they're still getting ready?" I asked.

"Nope," a ghostly voice said, behind my back. Shivers went down my spine, and I jumped, screaming. "GHOST!" I cried out, jumping into Ryuu's arms.

Ryuu's eyes widened, and he blushed. I slowly got out of his arms, and muttered, "Sorry."

Ryuu shrugged. "It's ok," he muttered.

Someone fired at us, and we whirled around. They kept on firing us, yet they were no where to be seen.

"I sense Musashi and Majyo!" Yuko shouted.

"They're hiding in the bushes!" Emi shouted.

I nodded. "Ryuu, let's go get payback!"

"Here! Here!" Emi shouted, pointing at a particular bush. We slowly approached it, and saw that Musashi and Majyo were really there.

Majyo smirked. "Tricked ya," she muttered, firing at us in the face. We flinched, and Majyo shouted, "Musashi! Now!"

I opened my eyes and quickly glanced around, but saw nothing. I looked up, just in time to be drenched in water.

"... AND WE HAVE A WINNER!" Yuu announced. "I PRESENT TO YOU THE WINNING TEAM, AKUMU AND KAIRI!" he shouted.

They landed on the ground, apparently sitting on a tree and watching us embarrass ourselves.

"Sorry, Shizuko," Akumu muttered, smirking. "A showdown is a showdown, right?"

I smiled. "Right. Don't worry about it."