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

It's On, Leon! (1)

     Himiko was trudging through the cafeteria with her lunch tray in her hands and a sad frown on her face. All day, Leon had been tormenting her, from calling her names to shooting spitballs at her, as if he'd marked today on his calendar as "Annoy Himiko Day." She'd been waiting all day for lunch so she could have a break from him, and spend time with her best friends, Tenko and Angie. 

   "Hello, Himiko!" Angie chirped.

   "Why do you look so sad?" Tenko asked with concern. "Has a degenerate male been bothering you?!"

   "Actually, yes," Himiko replied, plopping herself down into her chair. 

   "Who?! Tell me who, Himiko, and I'll go right over there and bust him in his skull!" Tenko demanded. 

   "No, it's fine," Himiko mumbled, picking at her food. "I just wanna forget about it. It's such a pain to even talk about it."

  "Are you sure?" Tenko asked. Himiko nodded her head.

  "Maybe you'd feel better if your man was here," Angie teased, giving Himiko an impish grin. Himiko gave her a small smile in return.

  "Nyeh...Kokichi has an optometry appointment today," Himiko explained. "So he's going to be absent all day."

  "Oh, of course! I remember now!" Angie said.

   "What's wrong with his eyes?" Tenko asked.

   "Nothing. It's just a regular check-up," Himiko said. Then, she smiled. "Although, it would be funny to see Kokichi wearing giant, horn-rimmed glasses like they did back in the 70s and 80s." The three shared a giggle. Himiko reached for her napkin to wipe her mouth, when she realized that she hadn't grabbed a napkin at all. "Oh! I'll be right back. I have to go get a napkin." She stood up and walked towards the napkin dispenser. She stopped dead in her tracks, however, when she realized that she had to walk past a table that Leon was sitting at to reach it. She straightened herself up and walked on, pretending not to notice him, and trying not to make eye contact. It was all for naught, though, because as she walked by, Leon stuck his foot out, and tripped Himiko. "Oof!" she exclaimed, and bumped right into Mahiru, who fell onto her backside. As Mahiru made contact with the ground, the camera strap around Mahiru's neck had swung the camera towards the floor, breaking it on impact. 

  "My camera!" Mahiru exclaimed, desperately reaching for it. Her eyes welled up with tears as she realized the lens was cracked, and some of the other components were broken. The other students in the cafeteria gasped and turned their attention towards the commotion.

  "Oh, no! Mahiru, I'm so, so sorry!" Himiko cried, trying to help Mahiru up.

  "Geez, Himiko, you should be more careful," Leon said to her with a snarky grin. 

   "S-Seriously, Himiko!" Mahiru stuttered as she stood up. She gave Himiko an annoyed and hurt expression before running off. The other students, including Leon, began to snicker at Himiko. Himiko turned to Leon, and pointed an accusatory finger at him. 

   "Y-You tripped me!" she yelled.

   "Pfftt...yeah right," Leon replied, scoffing. "Stop blaming other people for your mistakes, you clumsy, dumbass bitch." He, and the other students, started laughing at her. Himiko felt her face grow hot. Tears stung her eyes as she fled to the bathroom.

   "That...venomous snake!" she hissed furiously to herself. "Rotten, little toad!" She viciously pulled the paper towels from the dispenser and started wiping her eyes and nose with them. She crumpled them up with hatred, pretending that they were Leon being crushed with her own bare hands. She threw the crumpled-up wads into the trash can, and sunk to the floor, burying her face in her hands. She wanted so badly to get back at Leon, but she didn't know how. As the tears flowed from her eyes, she began to hate herself for feeling so helpless and useless; it felt as if she would always have to rely on Kokichi for getting her out of her own messes. Suddenly, she stopped crying as she thought of Kokichi. She remembered what he had taught her when he was training her on how to be a Supreme Lady. *A Supreme Lady knows her enemies' weaknesses by listening and observing, instead of speaking. Knowing the right information can help make her enemies submit to her.* Himiko thought about this for a while, then wiped her tears. A smile then appeared on her face as she began to laugh out loud with glee and a hint of malice.

  ***

   Later after school, Himiko holed herself up in hers and Tenko's room, scheming up ways to get back at Leon. The problem was that she didn't know much about him, other than that he was the Ultimate Baseball Star. She didn't know how that would be useful information in getting revenge on him, but she did know that she had to get info on him from other students who knew him well. She listed off the people she usually saw him hanging out with: Junko, Sayaka, Ibuki, Mondo, Chihiro, and a few others. Himiko thought about going to Chihiro for some info, but because he and Leon lived in the same dorm, she decided against it. She went for the next best person: Ibuki, since the others on the list also lived in Leon's dorm. Himiko knew that Leon sometimes went to 7th Island House to practice music with Ibuki because he would rather be a musician than a baseball player, so she thought that maybe Ibuki might be useful for getting some dirt on Leon. She smiled sneakily to herself as she headed out of her room, and down the stairs. On her way to the front door, she ran right into Kokichi. 

   "Eyyyy, Monk-eyyyy!!" Kokichi said as he wrapped his arms around her, and playfully swung her back and forth. "I haven't seen you since you got home! What were you doing in your room?"

  "Um...well, nothing," Himiko replied. She didn't want to tell Kokichi her plan just yet. He gave her a curious look.

  "Are you hiding something from me, HimiCocoa Bean?" he asked with a sly grin. Himiko straightened her posture and cleared her throat, staring Kokichi in his eye.

   "Kokichi, I really can't talk right now," she said in her best authoritative voice. "I have some...Supreme Lady business to attend to." Kokichi raised his eyebrows at her in surprise and amusement. 

    "Oh?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. He lifted her hand to kiss it. "Do you need any help with that, my queen?"

    "Non, non," Himiko replied, wagging her finger regally at him. "I want to handle this myself, if it's alright with you." Kokichi smiled at her, impressed. 

   "Yes, ma'am!" He bowed slightly to her as he moved out of the way to let her pass.

   "Thank you," Himiko nodding respectfully at him. As she reached the front door, she turned back to Kokichi, who had his arms crossed, and was leaning against the wall grinning deviously. Himiko returned the same devious grin. Kokichi felt proud of Himiko upon noticing the mischievous twinkle in her eyes that resembled his own. He gave her a playful wink as she waved goodbye to him before sauntering over to 7th Island House to find Ibuki.