The girls were still in the couple’s mansion, and they were slightly busy. The tigers tried to improve Sophia’s hair straightening iron to deal with their extraordinarily fluffy and unruly hair. At the same time, the other two were trying out new hairstyles for each other to pass the time.

“Okay, show me what you’re planning with the scrunchies.” Maya and Ari were back in the living room after having gotten some hair accessories, and the cat-girl once more stood in front of the mirror there.

“Just tie your hair into the twintails from earlier. The one with the hair on your chest, but with the scrunchies a little deeper than before, somewhere further below your collar bones.”

“Alright.” She did as instructed, but she wasn’t necessarily happy with the result. “I can’t say I’m a fan of having the scrunchies resting on my breasts…”

“I’m not done yet.” Saying so, Ari grabbed one of the tails. With one hand, she held the inner hairs that had been tied together while the jaguar used her other one to push up the scrunchie with the remaining hair. As a result of that, the cat-girl’s hair above the scrunchie around her neck got pushed to the side and gained some value. Afterward, she did the same with the other tail.

“Ahh!” Maya looked at the result in the mirror with a satisfied expression. “I see! With my hair spilling to the sides from being pushed by the scrunchie, it covers all of my neck, including the nape now. It’s cute. I like how fluffy it looks. Well, not as fluffy as those two, but you know what I mean…” She glanced at their girls.

“Ahaha, that’s true.” The jaguar let out a small giggle. “I’m glad that we found something cute for you.”

“Yes, thank you! I might exchange the scrunchies for some ribbons the next time, or once I found a few nice ones to buy, but I really like the style!” The cat-girl turned around in front of the mirror a few times to make sure of it. “I think a little braid next to one of my eyes going below my bangs could go really well with it, too.”

“Oh! That would be adorable!”

“Let’s try it later, but for now…” Maya stared at the jaguar. “How about we play with your hair for a bit?”

“Really? Do you have an idea?” Judging by Ari’s expression, she actually seemed to be looking forward to it. “My hair tends to look really weird if I tie it up, after all…”

“Leave it to me~!”

----------------

While the two were making progress with their new hairstyles, the tigers, too, had gotten further with Sophia’s invention.

“Let’s see…” The blonde looked at her improved prototype. She had replaced the tongs with the new ones she bought and made the top parts where she added the heating ore mixture even smoother so that it glides better over their hair.

“It feels a bit less janky now.” Anna was also staring at it. “Not saying that that’s an achievement…”

“Haha, it couldn’t get any jankier, after all.” Sophia had to agree with it. “Okay, now we add your idea with the conductivity ore to power the heating element while holding it.”

“Do you know how to use that stuff?” The princess picked up the shimmery and blue material the blonde had put on the table. “Oh, it’s called ore, but it’s actually quite soft, huh? You can easily form it with your hands. It’s more like fresh clay.”

“Yes, it’s super easy. You simply form it into a thin line between the things you want to connect. Adding it to a string makes it easier to use and prevents it from losing connection. Still, we only have like 20 centimeters to cover.”

“Oh, that really sounds easy.”

“Yep, I have tons of fun ideas for it already, but let’s focus on the really important things first. Getting our hair to behave, that is!” She sounded way too serious for what she said. “Give me some of the ore, please.”

“Of course!”

“Okay, that should do it.” Sophia had put some of the connectivity ore on the back of each arm of the tong and connected the handle part with the tips.

“Looks jankier again.”

“Shut up…” She hadn’t asked for criticism. “For the finished product, it’ll be directly integrated into the arms! It’s a prototype! It’s supposed to be janky!”

“Does it work, though?”

“Only one way to find out.” Saying so, the blonde gripped the makeshift tongs and poured some of her magic into the handles. Using her free hand, she then brought it closer to the top part to feel if the temperature was incre- “Ouch!” She touched it. “It’s hot!”

“Stop touching hot things already!” Even though Maya was busy with Ari’s hair right now, she still had to retort after hearing her yelp.

“It was an accident!”

“So… it works?” Anna tried to keep the topic on track.

“What makes you think so? My cry or my red fingers?”

“Ahaha… Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, as you’ve just heard from my cat, I burn myself pretty often.”

“Does that make it better, though?” The princess tilted her head in response.

“That’s not important! Results are!”

“Is that so?”

“Probably!” The blonde couldn’t stay serious with her claims.

“That sounds more like the Sophia we know.” Anna liked the goofy girl more. “Is it time to test?”

“Oh? That sounds like someone’s volunteering as a test subject?” Her expression formed into a grin.

“That’s not necessarily what I… Why not? I want smooth hair!” The princess changed her mind mid-sentence.

“Ah, you need to wash your hair first, though. It has to be as clean as possible.”

“Oh, that’ll take a while…” Anna grabbed her massive ponytail to bring the point across.

“It’s just a test, though… Washing the forehead area or your bangs in general should be enough, I guess.”

“True. That won’t take that long, then.”

“Great! Could you use the shampoos and conditioners I bought earlier? They don’t work on their own, but it might help later.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, let’s go-“ Sophia energetically stood up from the sofa, but the voices of the other duo immediately stopped her.

“What do you think you are doing?” Maya stared at her.

“Exactly!” Ari got especially loud.

“Showing the princess where the bath is…?” She tilted her head in return.

“A-Ah…”

“S-So you aren’t going to help her…?” The jaguar sounded relieved.

“Why would I? She’s a grown girl, isn’t she? Very grown.” The blonde had to say this part twice because it was important to her.

“I-I see…” Ari’s face turned red.

“I might help with drying her hair a bit once she’s back here to make sure it’s properly prepared, but that’s about it. Alright, let’s go, Anna.”

“Okay.” Saying so, the two tigers left the living room, and Sophia guided her upstairs to the smaller guest bathroom.

----------------

“This looks so great!” After a few minutes, the blonde was back and started inspecting Maya’s new hairstyle as she was taking a break from her own project right now.

“Ehehe.” The cat-girl liked what she was hearing.

“Good job, Ari. You’ve managed to make her even cuter. I had no idea that’s actually possible.”

“You’re welcome…?” The jaguar wasn’t sure how to reply.

“Yep, thanks!” Sophia really liked it. “Are you going for a new look, too?” She looked at Ari. “You’re not going to hide this glorious pattern, are you?”

“No, it looks really weird if I partially hide it… I do want something different, though…”

“So, what’s the plan?” The blonde changed her attention to Maya.

“I’ve got a lot of inspiration when playing with your hair, and I really have a thing for braids right now~.” The cat-girl’s eyes were sparkling. “I already have an idea or two that I wanted to try before you sent the princess to wash her hair.”

“Oho, braids are great!” She only changed her hairstyle a little while ago, having braided hair herself now, but Sophia was already fond of it. “A small one or two also wouldn’t destroy the pattern. I’m looking forward to it~.”

“Me, too.” Anna came back at the right time to voice her agreement on the topic.

“R-Really?” Ari reacted quite strongly to this statement.

“Of course!” She nodded.

“I-I see.” The jaguar looked really happy about it.

“Alright, princess, let’s properly prepare your hair before we get started.” The blonde wanted to continue her test.

“Yes!” Agreeing to it, Anna got closer to her fellow tiger, and the girls went back to their unusual duo groupings.

“Hmm…” Sophia lightly touched the other’s bangs to make sure they were properly dried. “Still a little wet… Do you mind if I use some air magic to get any remaining moisture out of it? I might have to increase my power a bit to get it completely dry, though~.”

“Blow me!” She sounded a little too motivated about it.

“Okay…” Something about her reply urged Sophia to be as gentle as possible while trying her best not to make a comment here, though. A minute or two later, Anna’s bangs were as dry as possible.

“Alright, that should be enough.” Sophia eventually stopped her air magic again.

“Thanks~. You’re pretty handy, aren’t you? I can do that myself, but not with such precision…”

“Ahaha… Well, drying your hair with a towel’s better, though… Your bangs look even fluffier now because of the wind having disheveled everything. We’ll deal with that, though~.”

“I hope! So, what’s next?”

“We need to section your bangs into separate strands.” Saying so, the blonde gave her a couple of hair clips, and the two started doing just that.

“It sure is a lot of work. I guess you’ll get used to it once you’ve done it a few times, huh?”

“Probably, yeah.” Sophia nodded. “Okay, sit down, please. You’re too tall for me to work with your hair if you’re standing…” The almost 20cm height gap between the tigers caused her to stretch her arms a lot.

“Of course.” The princess sat down on the sofa again while the blonde stood in front of her.

“That’s better. Time for the desert spray thingy.” She grabbed the bottle from the store and carefully sprayed it on a sectioned-off strand of Anna’s hair.

“Why does heat protection stuff for desert smell like roses…?” The tall tiger tilted her head after the smell of the spray reached her nose.

“What were you expecting?”

“No idea… Cactus?”

“That’s fair… Wait, do cactuses smell…?”

“Good question…” Anna had no answer for that, either. “Maybe they smell like roses?”

“Maybe…” This mystery most likely will remain unsolved. “Should we give it a try?”

“Please be careful, okay? I hate my fluffy hair, but I somehow doubt that I’d prefer burned one over it.”

“I’ll try my best.” Saying so, Sophia grabbed the makeshift straightening iron and used it on a strand of hair they had sectioned off from the princess’ bangs. “Hmm…” After the initial sizzling sound that burned some of the heat-protection spray, it glided smoothly through Anna’s hair.

“I-Is it working…?”

“Kind of?” While she gave a vague answer, the blonde made some more passes on the strand of hair. “It is straightening, but… Your hair’s sturdy. I can keep the temperature up now, but the maximum heat has to be higher, maybe? I might need to adjust the heating ore mixture for it to generate more heat in a smaller area.”

“I see…” Anna sounded disappointed. “Wait?! Did you just say that it is straightening?!”

“Yep. It looks quite good after four passes now. I’d like to get it down to one or two, though.”

“Seriously?!” The princess sprang up from the sofa to look at herself in the mirror Maya and Ari had been using the entire time. “Ohh!” Her face instantly lit up. It’s straight!” She looked thrilled. “Thank you so much for this invention! Could you please do the rest of my bangs, too?!”

“Sure~.” Sophia couldn’t say no to this big and excited-looking puppy tiger.

Once Anna sat back down, the blonde continued her styling work with the princess while the other two girls focused on the jaguar’s new hairstyle for a while.