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

Emotionally Detached (7)

     Across the hallway was one last door colored a bright yellow. All it took was one little knock before the door swung open almost instantly. The others were greeted with a yellow Himiko with a warm and bright smile. Once she saw Kokichi, her smile became even wider.

   "Kokichi, wow!! It's so nice to see you!" she squealed, giving Kokichi a tight hug. 

    "Haha, hey, Happy!" Kokichi wheezed as he was still clutched tightly in Happy's arms. Kokichi noticed that, unlike the other emotions, Happy had no glow around her. 

    "So, how'd you get in here?" Happy asked, bouncing up and down excitedly. 

   "With this!" Kokichi said, holding up the spellbook. Happy's eyes widened with excitement. 

   "Oh, wheeeeee! That's so awesome, Kokichi!" she squealed. "Oh, wait, wait, wait...why are you in here?"

   "He's going to help us break the barrier that leads to the HimiCommand Center," Sadness chimed in. Happy's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped dramatically.

   "Nyeh...you're going to help us?! D'ohhhh...you're such a great boyfriend, Kokichi," Happy said, hugging Kokichi again. "You make me so happy!"

   "Ah, well, um...I'm glad," Kokichi replied, patting Happy's cheek. "Hey, Happy, how come you don't have a glow?" Happy, who had a large grin across her face ever since she saw Kokichi, suddenly looked a little less cheerful. 

   "Oh, well...because...I'm not exactly needed right now," she replied with a half-hearted shrug. "In fact, I haven't been glowing in quite some time."

   "Ah...Himiko hasn't been happy much lately, huh? Not even before the...thing from a few days ago?" Kokichi asked. Happy shook her head sadly, but she tried her best to maintain her sunny composure.

  "But, that's okay," she said hopefully. "Because you're going to help me, right?" Kokichi patted her shoulder.

   "That's right, Happy," he assured her. "You'll have your glow back, okay? And when you do, I'll make sure you glow the brightest." Happy's lip quivered as she put her hands to her chest. Suddenly, tears began streaming from her eyes. She stretched her arms out to Kokichi and gave him, yet, another hug. 

   "Oh, Kokichi-hee-heeeeee..." she sobbed. "...thank you so mu-huh-huuuch! I...I can't contain my tears, I'm so happy! Omigosh, omigosh, okay, okay, calm down! NOOOOO, I CAN'T CALM DOOOWWWNNN!! WA-HA-HA-HAAAAAA!!"

  "Uh, it's okay...it's okay. Just let it all out. No need to repress it," Kokichi said, patting her back. "That's right. Let it aaallll out."

   "Okay...I think I'm okay, now," Happy sniffed after a while. 

   "Good!" Kokichi replied. "Now, the book says that something needs to trigger the mage into emotional distress," Kokichi said. "Whether it be pain of some kind, or maybe a strong memory. It needs to be something that will force the mage into expressing their emotions. Doing that would force the barrier to disappear."