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

Things Get Magically DICE-y For Kokichi and Himiko (3)

     The rest of the evening had been really awkward and quiet without Kokichi in the dining room during dinner to annoy everyone. Even though Kokichi was obnoxious, they had to admit that they liked him better that way rather than being angry and mean. At least when he was being obnoxious to everyone, it meant that he was in a good mood, and not belittling and berating Himiko, or threatening to sic his evil organization on everyone else, leaving them to question if he was serious or not. 

   "Did something happen between you two?" Kaito asked Himiko during dinner. 

   "I really don't want to talk about it...please," Himiko replied quietly, picking at her food. "Um...I'm going to bed." She stood up and was about to toss her food.

   "Er...wait, Himiko," Kaito stopped her. "I'll, uh...eat the rest of that. No use in it going to waste, y'know?" 

   "Sure," she replied, handing him her plate before trudging upstairs to her room. Himiko changed into her pajamas and forlornly climbed into bed. Her head filled with thoughts of what had happened earlier that day. She just wanted to forget it and sleep forever. She closed her eyes and let herself drift off into a deep sleep. 

   Surrounded by nothing but pitch blackness, Himiko tried finding her way through the darkness. Lost, alone, and afraid, she began to sob until she saw a speck of white through her blurred vision. She walked closer to the white speck which looked familiar the more she approached it. It was Kokichi! She called out his name, but when he turned to look at her, he ran away. She chased after him, begging him to stop, but each time she caught up to him he evaded her grasp. At one point, she was so close to him that if she reached her arm out, she would have been able to grab him. Right before she did, however, the ground beneath her caved in and she was sent falling to her doom. The last thing she saw was Kokichi sneering at her, fading away as she fell further down. Suddenly, Himiko hit the ground in the pitch blackness.

    "WAH!" Himiko cried out, jolting straight up in her bed. She looked around the semi-darkness, breathing hard. Once her eyes adjusted, however, her breathing slowed down as she realized she was in her bedroom. She saw Tenko sound asleep on the other side of the room. "It must have been a nightmare," she whispered to herself as she took a few deep breaths. She looked at her clock which read 11:45 p.m. Moonlight shone through the window, which Himiko was grateful for. She hated being in darkness. She sighed sadly as she remembered what happened earlier that day. She hated angering Kokichi even more. Her nightmare made her feel like she had to set things right with Kokichi. She didn't know if it really was her fault or his fault for the way he was acting, but she didn't care. She just wanted things to be like they were before. She got out of bed and stared longingly at the moon, resting her head on the windowsill. She imagined herself and Kokichi dancing under the moonlit sky. She sighed as she imagined him caressing her face. She imagined this as she saw a white figure running off into the night. 

   Himiko rubbed her eyes and saw that the figure was actually Kokichi running out into the backyard and further away, looking behind him as he did to make sure nobody was following him. Himiko quickly slipped on her boots and witch hat and went downstairs to the supply closet to get the broom. It wasn't the broom that she usually used for flying, but it would do for now. She silently tiptoed outside into the backyard, dusted off the broom, and climbed onto it. She began hovering a few feet above the ground. When she felt comfortable, she eased herself forward and flew towards the direction where she last saw Kokichi.

   "I hope he didn't go too far," she whispered to herself. The further away she flew from Casa V3, the more barren the landscape became. There were hardly any trees for her to hide behind in case Kokichi was watching. She considered turning back and waiting until morning to apologize to Kokichi, but her gut told her to keep moving. She did until she came across a set of old train tracks that were mostly covered by the grass. She didn't know which direction to follow the tracks which frustrated her. In the moonlight, however, she could barely see footprints that created a path for her to follow. Her heart racing with excitement, she followed them. The footprints led to a decrepit, abandoned train station that sent chills down Himiko's spine. Cautiously, she floated above one of the platforms trying to spot Kokichi. Just when she was about to give up, she saw Kokichi head deeper into one of the tunnels. She flew closer to the wall where the platform ended and the tunnel continued and watched as he knelt down and scanned the area to make sure nobody was watching him. He then opened what looked like a trapdoor and slipped inside, closing it behind him. Himiko waited a few minutes before following him, keeping an eye on the exact spot of the trapdoor so as not to forget its location. 

   When she felt safe enough to follow, she flew the broom over to the spot. She lifted her finger up in the air and silently chanted a spell that allowed her finger to glow. She pointed her finger towards the ground and smiled. There it was! She reached for the latch and pulled it. To her dismay, Kokichi had locked the trapdoor behind him. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Chanting another spell, she pointed her finger at the latch and zapped it, causing the trapdoor to become unlocked. She now opened the trapdoor and peeked inside. Using her finger to light up her surroundings, she could see that the tunnel was a bit too narrow for her to fly, so she had to walk. Making sure to close the trapdoor behind her, Himiko climbed into the narrow tunnel and began her dark journey through it.