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

Emotionally Detached (9)

    Kokichi's mouth dropped at the vastness of Deep Thought; it seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, like a pitch black, endless ocean against the evening sky. Kokichi looked down at the edge of the water at his feet. Despite the water's extreme darkness, Kokichi could see wisps of fog deep within swirling around like silent serpents. 

   "What is all that fog doing in there?" Kokichi asked. 

   "Remember the mind fog from before? Looks like its reached its way into Deep Thought," Sadness replied. "It's polluting Himiko's deepest thoughts. She's trying to focus her mind on something other than the Honor Roll ceremony, but all it's doing is clouding up her mind." Sadness bent down closer to the water.

   "You're...not going to touch that, are you?" Kokichi asked.

   "Nothing happens! Watch!" Happy chimed in cheerfully. She knelt down next to Sadness, holding onto Kokichi's leg for balance, and planted her hand in the water. When she brought it back out, her hand was as dry as it was before she stuck it in. "Nyeh...see? Like water off a duck's back!" Kokichi smiled.

   "Hahahaha, that's so cool!" he said. He also stuck his hand into the water. It sure felt like actual water on the surface, but when he stuck his hand deeper, it felt light like air. When he brought his hand out, it was completely dry like Happy's hand. Kokichi looked at his hand in astonishment. He cupped his hands together and dipped them back into the water. When he tried to bring a handful of it out, it faded away like steam and drifted back into the water, making soft whispery sounds as it did. Again, Kokichi's hands were dry. "Wow...I never thought I'd live to see something like this," he said in amazement. 

   "Right?! It's pretty cool, huh?" Happy exclaimed. 

   "Nyeh...we can't sit around here sightseeing," Anger said. "We need to put the memory in there!"

   "Right," Sadness said. Still kneeling on the ground, she took the memory wand and dipped it into the water. The blue, red, green, and gray glow of the wand began to fade as it leaked out into the murky depths of Deep Thought. "C'mon, you guys! Let's get on top of that ledge up there to get a better look!" Sadness said, pointing above them at a cliff that overlooked Deep Thought. Once they were at the top, they looked down to see Deep Thought's darkness was replaced by moving images of Himiko sitting forlornly alongside a few other classmates who hadn't made Honor Roll. She looked up to see many of her peers on stage receiving their Honor Roll certificate, even Kokichi, who waved happily at Himiko. She forced a smile on her face and waved back at him. When Kokichi turned away from her to receive his certificate, Himiko swallowed and took a deep breath as if trying to conceal her feelings.

   "That was the moment the barrier went up," Sadness said quietly. "Instead of trying to let us help her, she blocked us out." The other emotions sighed sadly. They kept watching as the ceremony ended and, as the students were leaving the auditorium, Kokichi showed Himiko his certificate, which showed all A's. Himiko clapped and gave him a hug, but as she hugged him, her eyes became wet, and she tightened her lips as if trying to hold back tears. When she finished hugging him, her smile came back, and they walked off together away from the auditorium. Then, the scene began all over again. Kokichi let out a somber sigh. 

   "Because the memory is in Deep Thought, the scene will keep looping until Himiko decides to express how she feels," Sadness said.