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

The Mean Teacher (2)

      Later that night before bed, Kokichi knocked on Tenko and Himiko's bedroom door to see if Himiko was okay. 

   "What do you want, degenerate?" Tenko asked, crossing her arms. 

   "I want you to get out of the way so I can see how Himiko is doing," Kokichi replied in an annoyed voice. Tenko rolled her eyes and left the room so Kokichi could enter. Himiko looked miserable; she was utterly silent, and her hair looked messy as she lay on her tear-stained pillow. Kokichi knelt to his knees so that he was at face level with Himiko. He stroked her cheek. "How ya doin,' kiddo?" he asked her softly. Her eyes met his as she slowly lifted her own hand to touch the hand that Kokichi was stroking her cheek with and managed to smile a little.

   "I'm okay," she replied quietly. Kokichi took her hand that held his and kissed the back of it. 

   "That's good," Kokichi responded softly. "Well, I just came in to see how you were doing and to tell you good night." He kissed her forehead and stood up, ready to leave.

   "Could you stay a little longer?" Himiko whispered, longing for his company. 

   "No problem, Monkey Buns," Kokichi replied, sitting on her bed and removing her hat for her. Himiko sat up to nestle into Kokichi's arms. She felt the warmth of his arms around her and his chin that rested on her head. She listened to the sound of his heartbeat which soothed her, causing her eyelids to droop. Soon, Himiko fell asleep, and Kokichi waited a few minutes more before laying Himiko down to sleep and tucking her in. With one last kiss on her forehead and a warm smile, he turned the light off, closed the door, and left. 

  ***

   In the middle of the night, while everyone else lay asleep, Kokichi made his way to the abandoned insane asylum that served as the headquarters for his organization, D.I.C.E.

   "Guys, we have a situation," he said as he burst through the doors that led to the "throne room" of D.I.C.E. headquarters. It was the giant room with all the cameras and the platform on which Kokichi's throne sat. Kokichi's clown cronies stood in line at attention. Three, the pigtailed clown, grabbed Kokichi's hat to place it on his head while Five, the tall female clown with the short hair, wrapped his cloak around him. Then, both clowns went back in line to stand at attention. 

   "Reporting for duty, Supreme Leader, sir!" Kokichi's associates chanted and saluted.

  "Sorry for the abrupt entrance, guys," Kokichi said. "At ease." The clowns relaxed as they watched Kokichi pacing back and forth as if he were contemplating something. 

   "Um...something on your mind, boss?" Two, the pudgy clown, asked. 

   "Yeah, Kokichi, you look kinda like a lion trying to figure out which wildebeest to eat," added Four, the clown with the blond hair that resembled a flame. Kokichi sighed.

   "It's a teacher at school," he finally said. "She upset my girlfriend badly, and I want to get her back."