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

Himiko Becomes Her Greatest Fear (2)

     The next morning, Himiko was the last one to wake up, as usual. The smell of warm muffins wafted through her room, which is really what had caused her to wake up. She still felt a little miffed at Kokichi from the day before, so she wasn't as excited to eat some muffins. Still, she got up, got dressed, and went downstairs, her stomach growling. As she entered the kitchen, she nearly walked right into Kokichi. Smiling, he leaned in towards her to give her a kiss, but she turned her face away from him. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, she saw that he held up his hands in surrender and politely stepped back so she could walk by. Usually, Kokichi would have playfully teased her about being upset with him, but given that she was his supreme lady, he decided to treat her with a bit more respect. As she walked past him to grab a muffin, Kokichi walked silently to the living room where the others were. 

    

   Himiko thought for sure that he'd say something snarky about her still being mad at him, so she was a bit surprised that he'd kept his mouth shut. It did make her feel less cross at him; maybe that was the reason why he was so polite. Either way, she still didn't feel like talking to him just yet, but she did need an idea for a prank that would impress him. She grabbed a muffin and was about to head out the door when she suddenly felt the need to tell him that she was going out. Annoyed at herself for wanting to talk to him, she walked towards the living room where she saw Kokichi casually leaning against the entryway wall. She quietly cleared her throat and tugged lightly on his sleeve to get his attention. He turned to look at her, his face having no trace of resentment or anger despite Himiko being upset with him. In fact, he was very courteous as he waited, without teasing her or smirking, for her to speak.

   "I'm going out," Himiko mumbled. Kokichi was about to reply when Miu interrupted him.

  "Are you two fightin,' or somethin?'" she asked rudely. She asked so loudly that the other students turned to look at them. "What's wrong, Himiko? Kokichi too small for ya? Are you goin' over to see Gundham again to get your fill? HA-HA!!" She started laughing obnoxiously. Himiko turned red and glared at Miu, but Kokichi merely laughed.

  "Nee-heehee, say what you want about her, Miu, but at least she's getting more action than you," he said. 

   "Eeeeeeee...y-you don't kn-know that!" Miu whimpered. "I've gotten l-lots of action! And y-you don't have to look at me like that, D-Donkey Lips! I was only kidding!" Kokichi gave Miu a toothy, smug grin. Then, turning back to Himiko, he nodded in affirmation at her, indicating that he acknowledged her statement about leaving. She nodded back at him, with a slight hint of a grateful smile on her face, and left quickly in case the smile grew bigger. Cramming the strawberry muffin into her mouth, she headed outside to search for inspiration for the perfect prank. 

  ***

   Later that evening, everyone was gathered in the dining room for dinner. Himiko was still quiet as she ate her dinner. Kokichi was good at keeping to himself all day so as not to annoy her any further, which caused her to stop being upset with him. She, however, had someone else to be upset with. Someone who couldn't keep her mouth shut. Someone who needed to be taught a lesson. She found herself eager to speak out over the humming of everyone else's conversations. 

   "Nyeh...Rantaro, could you pass the salt, please?" Himiko asked. Everyone abruptly stopped speaking, surprised at Himiko's sudden question.

   "Oh, um, of course!" Rantaro replied, cheerfully handing the saltshaker to Himiko. The others watched as Himiko dumped salt on her food. To make the situation less awkward, Kaede decided to talk to her.

  "So, um...Himiko...where did you end up going today?" she asked. "You'd been gone awhile and you hadn't brought anything back."

   "Nyeh...I was just shopping," Himiko replied, setting the saltshaker down. "I saw something that caught my eye when we went to the mall the other day, so I decided to go back and look for it. Unfortunately, it was gone." Kokichi, who sat right next to Himiko, stared intently at her. He knew that she was lying. Even though he didn't want to, he started to wonder if what Miu had said earlier was actually right. He also thought that perhaps she was merely searching for prank ideas. Either way, he pushed the former thought out of his mind and allowed the conversation to keep going.  

   "Oh, that's too bad," Kaede replied, looking at her with genuine sympathy. "Whatever it was, hopefully it'll come back!" 

  "It was a makeup set," Himiko said. "Harry Potter-based makeup set, to be specific. I was hoping to buy it because it had the color palette of my favorite House: Hufflepuff." Again, Kokichi sensed that she was still lying, but didn't say anything about it. He was eager to see where the conversation would go, and find out why she was lying so much.

  "I didn't know you were a Potterhead, Himiko," Tsumugi said, a proud smile forming on her lips. 

  "HA-HA...more like a POThead!" Miu spat. "Donkey Lips is slow enough to be called a pothead. AND she needs makeup to cover up all that ugly that comes with bein' one! HA-HAAA!!" This was the moment Himiko had been waiting for.

   "THAT'S IT!!!" Himiko shouted, standing up. Glaring at Miu, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a gun. She pointed it right at Miu. Everyone gasped and stood up, backing away from Himiko. Even Kokichi seemed to be genuinely freaked out. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID INSULTS! I TOLD YOU TO RESPECT ME, AND I MEANT IT!!" Her hands shaking and her eyes intent on Miu, she pulled the trigger.