"Maki! Where were you?"

Nico's voice was high pitched and whiny.

"I was shopping, Nico." Maki walked past Nico and set her purse on the table. "What would you like to do next?"

"Hmm... I wanna go into the pool!" Nico gestured wildly in the direction of the giant outdoor pool in Maki's mansion.

"Alright..."

Once Maki slipped away from Nico, Maki walked upstairs and entered the working room.

"Maki! You're back! Nico came an hour ago, and I think she wants to go into the pool," Eli said.

Maki nodded. "I know. We'll let her go in the pool with Rin and Honoka. You can work on the script with Umi." Maki gestured to Umi, who was typing on her laptop furiously.

"Okay. Did you tell Rin and Honoka yet?"

"Not yet. They're in their rooms. I'll call them."

Eli nodded and Maki took out her phone.

"Hello?"

"Honoka, Nico wants to go to the pool. Can you and Rin go with her?"

"THE POOL? OH MY GOSH YASS!"

Maki frowned and hung up the call.

"What did she say?" Eli asked.

"She said yes. Eli, what should I do right now?"

Eli gestured to Kotori, who was drawing dress designs on paper. "I want you to get measured by Kotori, so she can make your dresses later. Then you can help her plan hairstyles. I already gave her a basic outline of the hairstyles anyway."

Maki nodded, and Eli turned to go sit next to Umi.

Maki sat on the bean bags next to Kotori. "Um..hi Kotori. Eli told me to get measured by you."

Kotori nodded. "Sure!" Kotori grabbed her measuring tape and began to wrap it around Maki's waist. "20 inches...Wow, Maki, your waist got so small."

"Um..."

Kotori measured Maki's hips and bust...awkwardly.

"Okay, we're done now..." Kotori wrote down the measurements on a piece of paper. "Let's try some hairstyles!"

Kotori patted the beanbag in front of her. "Sit, Maki."

Maki sat down in front of Kotori. "So...what's the first style?"

Kotori handed Maki a rough sketch of an elegant hair bun. "Eli gave me this sketch. Apparently, it's the hairstyle the princess has before she gets kidnapped. Stay still, Maki."

Kotori brushed Maki's hair and sprayed it with heat protective spray. Then, the curling iron was turned on and Maki tried not wince when Kotori began to curl strands of Maki's hair very close to her head.

"Hm...I think it should go like this..."

Moments later, Maki found herself with hair clips and pins all over her hair as Kotori began to do some sort of black magic and perfectly replicate the hairstyle on the sketch.

"There! Maki, have a look." Kotori passed Maki a mirror and Maki studied herself.

Maki's hair was up in a high twisted bun with some curled strands framing her face, an exact copy of the sketched drawing. Kotori knows what she's doing...

"Eli, what do you think?"

Eli stood up from her chair and strode over to Maki. "Maki, let me see...Wow very nice, Kotori! It's exactly like the sketch. Although now that I've gotten a closer look, I think a lime green hairpin would look good with Maki's hair."

Kotori nodded and started to write notes. "I'll try to make that with the prop making tools. How about a rose shaped pin?"

"That would be great. Hm...what color should Maki's dress be when she gets kidnapped?"

Kotori looked up from her notepad. "How about a red dress with purple in it? It would bring out her eyes and the red would go well with her hair."

"Yes yes..that would be perfect. Umi and I are almost finished with the script now, we just need to double check everything first. Kotori...I want you to try this hairstyle as well."

Eli went back to her table and came back with a piece of paper. "This is the hair that the princess has while she is in captive."

Maki peered over Kotori's shoulder. The sketch was a woman with long, straight and slightly messy hair.

Kotori grabbed her phone. "Wait, before I do that style, I need to get a few pictures of this one first. Maki, stop moving. " Kotori snapped a few photos and motioned for Maki to sit down.

Maki sat down and Kotori began to untie Maki's fancy hair bun and brush her hair through. "Eli, like this?"

Eli nodded approvingly. "Yes, yes. The princess has very nice hair, so it won't be too messy."

Maki studied her slightly messy hair in the mirror. "Are these all of the hairstyles you have planned out so far?"

"Yes. Maybe you guys can go check up on Nico," Eli said.

Maki stood up and turned to leave. "Oh, and where is Nozomi?"

"She's in her room sleeping, " Kotori spoke up. "I think she got tired from teasing Nico too much."

Maki frowned. "Oh."

"KYAAHHHHHHH! RIN MY CAMERA IS WET!"

Nico's screams were echoed throughout the entire first floor and Maki found herself cringing as she stepped into the pool area.

"Hi, Maki!" Rin cheerfully greeted Maki as she aimed her water gun at Nico. "Nico, stay still!"

Nico squealed and threw a towel over her camera (probably trying to protect it). "RIN, STOP IT!"

Rin smiled and sprayed Nico with water. "Nope! Nico, stay still"

Nico made a face. "What? Why should I stay still? I don't want to get soaked!"

"But you're wearing a swimming suit!" Rin grinned. "PLUS, I'm giving you a bath!"

"WHAAAT?"

Maki observed the strange exchange unamused. "Guys, stop fighting already. And where is Honoka? "

Something flashed past Maki and jumped into the pool. "I'M HERREEEEEEEE!" It screamed as it flew into the water cannonball style, splashing water everywhere.

It took Maki a few seconds to register the fact that the flash was Honoka. "Huh?"

Honoka floated up the surface of the pool. "Hi, Maki!"

Nico scowled at Honoka. "Great, now I'm wet again."

Honoka pouted. "Whaaat?"

"Hey, guys let's have a WATER GUN FIGHT!" Rin screamed as she sprayed water onto a fuming Nico.

"OH MY GOSH YASSSS!" Honoka shouted. "But where are the water guns?"

Rin gestured to the backpack sitting next to Nico. "In there. Nico, ya playing?"

Nico unzipped the backpack and grabbed a pink water gun. "Well of course I am! I still need revenge!"

"Then! Here are the rules!" Rin exclaimed. "If you get wet, you're out! If you are already wet, dry yourself! Now, we will all be playing in teams The team with the last dry person wins! We don't have enough people, but Hanayo, Kotori, and Nozomi are on their way!"

Maki blinked. "What?"

"I called them earlier," Rin explained. "Anyways! Honoka and Hanayo will be on my team! Nozomi and Kotori will be with Nico!"

"What about Maki?" Honoka asked.

Maki frowned. "I'm not playing-"

"Food- er GOOD question! Maki will be the golden prize! Any team that gets her wet will automatically win!"

"What? I never agreed to this!" Maki protested.

"Too bad! Oh, here they are! Guys!" Rin greeted Hanayo, Kotori, and Nozomi, who just entered the pool area.

"Hi!" Kotori replied. "We know the rules already, when are you going to start?"

"Get some water guns first. Now, we are only allowed in the pool area, the backyard, the lawn, and the garden! When the game starts, we separate into teams and have a 10 minute planning time! Maki will have to use this time to hide within the playing area!"

"Excuse me, I never agreed-"

"During the planning time we are not allowed to shoot each other, and the team that wins gets 1 kiss from Maki!"

"NO!" Maki screamed.

"Cool!" Honoka shouted at the same time. "Can we get food too?"

"Absolutely!"

Honoka grabbed a blue water gun. "Can we star-"

"W-W-WAIT!" Maki shouted. "Let's compromise! The team ONLY gets a kiss if they get me wet!"

Rin nodded. "Okay! That makes sense! Now, everyone, get into your teams!"

Honoka happily jumped next to Hanayo and Rin while Nico walked to dashed to Nozomi and Kotori.

"Then! We will start the game!"

"5!" Everyone except Maki shouted.

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

Maki braced herself as chaos erupted.

After the game started, Maki immediately bolted away from the pool area. There is only one hiding spot they will not know, Maki thought. The garden's maze!

Maki expertly navigated through the garden to the opening of a maze of tall thick bushes. Maki hesitated. Do I still remember the way? Maki shook her head. Of course, I do! I played her ever since I was 3.

Maki dashed into the maze.

My apologies for not updating often this month. I was having a major writer's block. Just asking, would you prefer me to update short chapters often or long chapters less often. I will add a poll to my profile. Anyways, there are more chapters to come and please review!