Maki stepped out of the patient's room.

"The doctor said she was fine."

Eli sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Nozomi, Eli and Umi were the only people Maki allowed to visit the patient with her, mainly because they were the most mature. And least likely to do something embarrassing.

Maki closed the door behind her and started to walk down the hall to the elevator. "We should go."

Maki sat down on a sofa in the living room, where all of the girls were gathered. "So... that girl was fine, the doctor said she was okay. I'm guessing that everyone who didn't go to the hospital with me took showers already..?"

Honoka nodded. "Everyone took showers...well Nico is still in the shower, but everyone else is all cleaned up."

"Wait...guys," Eli spoke up. "Isn't it Nico's birthday soon?"

Kotori clapped her hands lightly. "Oh yeah! July 22nd! We should do something!"

"OH! OH! Can we make a haunted house for her?" Rin exclaimed.

"Or an eating contest?" Honoka shouted.

"A rice eating contest!?" Hanayo's eyes started shining.

Honoka tapped her hand on her chin. "Hmm, well I was actually thinking about bread rather than rice."

"No way! Rice beats bread for sure!"

"WHAT?"

Honoka and Hanayo started arguing about carbs.

"I... would actually like to make a play," Umi stated softly (in midst of the chaotic Rice vs Bread war).

Eli turned her head to Umi. "A play? That's a great idea!"

"Whaaat? But I wanna have an eating contest!" Honoka whined.

"Well, perhaps it could be in the play?" Kotori suggested.

"And, don't forget the haunted house!" Rin shouted.

Maki massaged her temples. "Let's think about this. A play that MUST have an eating contest AND a haunted house. In addition to that, we MUST entertain Nico, so that would involve at least 400 truckloads of glitter...and remind me again, who is paying for this?"

Everyone in the room pointed at Maki. "You."

Maki gritted her teeth. "Marvelous, marvelous, just FANTASTIC. We have to divide the work somehow, but I'll have to come up with some sort of plan first. This is going to be a long week..."

Kotori smiled slightly. "Um, before that, should you, Eli and Nozomi shower first? We will wait down here have dinner later."

Maki nodded. "My chefs are preparing for a barbecue today. It should be ready in about an hour."

Maki slipped on a t-shirt with a pair of shorts. She patted her hair with a towel lightly. What should the play be about?

Maki grabbed her phone and started heading downstairs. Well, it should be something that 8 girls can play.

"Maki! Can we eat now?" Rin whined.

Maki's eyes widened. I got it!

"I got it!"

Umi frowned. "Got what?"

Maki looked around to check if Nico was near, and when she saw Nico eating a bag of chips a fair distance away, Maki start talking. "The story for our play! I think it should be a sappy romance story about a princess! Nico would like that right?"

Umi nodded.

"So, the princess could be held captive by the evil prince of a neighboring kingdom, and the king and queen offer a reward to any young man who can rescue her!"

"What's the reward?" Umi asked.

"The princess's hand in marriage, of course! And that would make the young man a prince as well! So, a brave young man sets out to save the princess, and along the way, he wins an eating contest!"

"That's random."

Maki rolled her eyes. "Courtesy of Honoka. Anyway, he would have to enter a haunted house as well, so I was thinking, maybe he needed some money and worked in one before he left? We'll figure it out later. So, when the prince finally rescues the princess, they go back to the king and queen together, and get married!"

Umi smiled. "That seems perfect. Although, how did you get all of these ideas?"

Maki blushed slightly. "Oh, you know...just some thinking..."

And romance novels...

Umi nodded. "Well, we've got the story down, who's going to be who?"

"Well, we'll need the princess, the young man, the king and queen, 2 eating contest competitors, the prince holding the princess captive, a sidekick for the evil prince, and maybe a haunted house worker. That's already 9 characters... Perhaps a few people can act two characters?"

"Okay. We should probably write this down."

"You're right. I'll go get some paper." Maki dashed up to her bedroom and grabbed the nearest notebook she found. When she came back downstairs, Maki flipped to the next blank page and started writing.

"Maki, how are we going to decide the actors?"

"I suppose we'll have to call another meeting with everyone. What if one of us takes Nico to the beach while we have the meeting?

"Sounds good." Umi smiled at Maki.

"GUYS I WANT FOOD!" Nico's piercing scream made Maki wince.

Maki walked over to the fuming Nico. "Uh... Nico?"

"Maki! You are a horrible host! How dare you make me wait for food?"

Maki sighed. "Nico, barbecue takes a long time to prepare. My maids are almost finished, so can you please wait?"

Nico looked in thought. "Hmm...Nah. I NEED FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Maki gave up and covered her ears.

Walking away from the whining mess of a human, Maki slid open the door that led to the grassy area where the barbecue was going to be held. "Ms. Kiruko, when will the food be ready?"

The maid named Kiruko slipped away from her the table where she was arranging plates full of raw meat. "Soon, Miss Maki. We shall be finished in 5 minutes."

Maki smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Maki closed the door and called, "Guys! Food will be ready in a few minutes."

Rin and Nico cheered in unison, "Yaaaay!"

Honoka squealed. "Barbecue! Bring in the booze!"

Maki grimaced. This is not going to end well.

"Honoka! We shouldn't drink here! It's Maki's house, and we can't make a mess!" Umi pleaded Honoka.

Maki sighed. "It's fine, I already warned all the staff."

Honoka cheered. "OH YES!"

5 minutes later, the girls were walking on the grass, selecting their choice of meat and roasting it on the prepared grill.

"Mmmmmm Maki this beef is delicious!" Rin exclaimed, chewing with her mouth wide open.

"Uh...thanks. We imported this beef from Australia, so I'm glad you think that way."

Rin's jaw dropped when she realized that she must have consumed a fortune of meat.

"Guys! This is the best beef I've ever had in my life!" Nico said to her camera. "Hey, Maki! Say hello to my subscribers!"

"No." Maki turned away from Nico, but somehow got dragged into the camera's view. "Nico, stop!"

"Nope! Hey, guys remember Maki?"

Maki crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Well, of course, they remember me. You keep filming me every 5 minutes! Oh sorry did I say filming? I mean forcibly dragging me into the camera's view. Gee. Thanks."

Nico smiled and pushed Maki away. "I'm going to ignore that. By the way, the shrimp is also amazing!"

Maki grimaced and started to finally roast some kebabs. Finally. Without anyone bothering her.

After a half an hour of food, chatter, and selfies, the sun started to set, painting the sky and sea a gorgeous crimson.

Nico, of course, was taking a million photos. "Wow, imagine all the likes I'm going to get from this picture!"

Maki sighed and stared into the sky. This is certainly a beautiful scene...but it's ruined by them.

Honoka, Nico, and Rin were stupidly prancing around the grass yelling something about the sunset giving them inner energy.

When Honoka had the best idea ever.

"Guys! We still have the booze!"

"Yaaaaaaa! Booze!" Rin cheered.

Maki buried her face into her palms. Well, I should mentally prepare myself.

When Honoka brought in the alcohol, Kotori and Hanayo instantly passed out from one sip, Rin and Nico were having a drinking contest, Eli and Nozomi were watching everyone, while Maki was losing her sanity in the corner.

At least Maki took Nico's camera away. Smart girl.

"Maki, you're not going to drink?" Nozomi smirked at Maki.

"Um...I'd rather not drink..."

"Come on, one sip won't hurt! You'll feel great!"

Eli elbowed Nozomi. "Nozomi... don't."

Nozomi looked rather offended. "What? I wasn't trying to do anything!" Nozomi leaned forward in her seat. "But seriously, if you don't drink, you'll be stuck dealing with a drunk Nico. You wouldn't want that, do you?"

Maki turned to look at Nico and Rin, who were already drunk and climbing onto a horrified Umi. "Uh... maybe not."

"Then drink! All your troubles will disappear!" Nozomi winked at Maki.

Eli shook her head. "Maki, don't do it."

Maki bit her lip and fought the temptation. "No. I will not drink tonight."

Unfortunately, Nico and Rin just noticed Maki.

"MAKI! WHATTTUP DUDE! I WANNA GO FISHING FOR ELEPHANTS! PLEASE TAKE MEEEE!" Rin wiggled around on the grass.

Nico latched herself onto Maki's legs. "NO FAIR! MAKI IS GOING TO TAKE ME!"

Rin stood up shakily. "WHAT? NO WAY! MAKI LIKES ME MORE!" Rin hugged Maki tightly. "MAKIIIIIIII I LOVE YOU MORE THAN NICO DOES PLEASE TAKE MEEEEEEE!"

Nico pulled Rin off Maki and pushed her to the ground. "HEY, MAKI LIKES ME MORE, OKAY? SEE?" Nico started to lean in closer to Maki's face.

Maki has had enough.

Maki has lost almost all of her sanity.

Maki pulled herself out of Nico's grasp.

And she began to drink.

A lot.

Soon enough, Maki was drunk.

"Bwahahahahaha! Nico, you're so funny! Ahhahahahaha! Oh, Nico..." Maki was kneeling on the floor next to a dancing Rin and a very smiley Nico.

Maki laughed and laughed, clapping her hands at the smiling Nico. "Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Guhhh... Hahahahahahahaha! Oh, Nicoo." Maki stared at Nico's smiley face and started to lean in closer.

And closer.

And closer

And even closer.

Her face merely inches away from Maki's Nico stopped smiling and began to panic slightly.

"STOP!" Umi pulled Maki away from Nico and starting yelling. "YOU THREE HAVE HAD FAR TOO MUCH TO DRINK! I'M BRINGING YOU TO BED."

Nozomi smiled slightly. "Umi, why'd you have to ruin the show?"

Umi turned her head to Nozomi. "The show? What show? You mean laughing Maki, dancing Rin, happy Nico, and passed out Honoka? WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT THAT?"

Umi grabbed Maki's arm and started dragging Maki back into the house.

Well, this was fun to write.

Note: This story has no romance. For sure.