Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 1 (A New Oumeno)

That Time When Kokichi Helped Himiko Find Her Missing Diary (8)

         The next morning, Himiko was feeling a bit wary about showing her face at school after what had happened the previous day. She knew it was futile, but she still hoped that everyone forgot about it and was moving on with their lives. She was also nervous about confronting the culprit. She knew who it was, but she didn't know if they'd be willing to return her diary to her so easily. She didn't exactly have a plan on how to make them give it back. Another thing she was nervous about was showing her face to her housemates who were already downstairs eating breakfast. She slowly got dressed, brushed her hair and teeth and walked downstairs to join them. In the hallway downstairs, she happened to come across Kokichi who was walking away from the dining room and towards her direction. Without a word, he smiled and nodded good morning to her, keeping his eyes locked on hers the whole time. Himiko wanted to turn away, but she was captivated by his mysterious eyes. Their eyes locked on each other, he walked right past her, shoulders nearly touching, which Himiko thought was odd, but she wasn't complaining. Suddenly, she turned to Kokichi to ask him something before he could walk away.

    "Um...Kokichi?" she asked in a shy, quiet voice. Kokichi spun around to face her.

   "Hm? What's up?" he asked in a cheery manner, putting his hands behind his head. Himiko bit her lip and looked down the part of the hall that led towards the dining room. Kokichi seemed to read her mind. "Ooooohhhh, you wanna know if the others know about what happened yesterday!" 

   "Well, that's part of it," Himiko answered quietly. 

  "Aaaaannnd, you're also afraid that everyone else at school has heard about it, and they haven't forgotten about it, and they'll only see you as a crazy person who accuses people of stealing her things and attacking them," Kokichi continued. Himiko looked shock that he knew her troubles so well. She turned red and hung her head. Seeing her expression, Kokichi decided to put her mind at ease. "Well, the others here do know about it, but they don't hate you for it, if that's what you're afraid of," he said. "No matter what you do, they'll never hate you as much as they hate me. Also, what everyone else at school will think won't matter, Himiko, because we know who took your diary and we're going to confront them, riiiight?" 

   "Yeah...you're right," Himiko replied hesitantly. She nervously rubbed her arm and bit her lip. Kokichi walked up to her and playfully booped her nose with his finger.

  "C'mon, you're the Ultimate Mage, aren't you?" he asked. "So, put a curse on the people who'll mock and ridicule you! Call it the 'Forever Stuck In A Room With Nagito Curse!'" 

  "Nyeh...that does sound pretty unfortunate," Himiko smiled, cheering up a little. "But I can't do that. My MP's real low right now."

  "That's no excuse," Kokichi replied. "Magic or not, you're going to show the culprit and the others that you're not messing around, got it?"

  "Okay...got it," Himiko nodded. "Nyeh...Kokichi? Why...why are you being so helpful to me?" The question slipped out before Himiko could catch herself. She did want to know why he was helping her, but she didn't want to get her hopes up about him liking her the way she liked him. Part of her wanted to know, while the other half wanted him to just ignore that question.

  "Because you asked," Kokichi simply replied, shrugging. He flashed her a knowing smile before sauntering off to his room. His smile sent goosebumps all over Himiko's body. His secretive nature was very alluring to her, but she was also unnerved at how he was so aware of others' secrets.