Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 2 (The Oumeno Strikes Back)

Seating Charts

    *This particular story takes place when Himiko is still a new girl at Hope's Peak Academy. She's been new for about a couple of weeks, already.*

   Himiko walked into her Health class with a feeling of both anxiety and excitement. It was one of the few classes she shared with her crush, Kokichi Ouma. She usually sat in the back of the class where she could stare dreamily at the back of Kokichi's head without the fear of him looking back at her. Whenever Kokichi would pass a glance at her, she'd feel her heartbeat increase exponentially. In Health class, though, it was the only time she felt safe looking at him without passing out from "Doki Doki Syndrome." Today, however, was different. For as soon as Himiko entered the class, she noticed some of the other students like her, who had arrived earlier than others, were gathered around the teacher's table. The teacher noticed Himiko, and beckoned her over.

   "What's going on?" Himiko asked in a small voice.

   "Seating charts," the teacher replied with a smile. Himiko felt her heart skip a beat. As the other students dispersed, and allowed her some room to see, Himiko hesitantly walked over to the seating chart, hoping and praying that she wouldn't be seated next to Kokichi. On the chart, the desks were separated into pairs, which was how the class had always been set up. When Himiko found her name, she wanted to scream out loud at the top of her lungs, and scratch the teacher's eyes out. She was, in fact, seated right next to Kokichi. Himiko gulped, and trudged to her seat, shaking slightly as she did so. She sat down and laid her head down on top of her desk, pretending to be asleep. A few minutes later, she heard someone sit down in the desk next to hers. She didn't have to lift her head to know it was Kokichi, nor did she even dare to lift her head. She just sat there, hoping the teacher wouldn't call on her to tell her to pay attention. "Miss Yumeno, pay attention, please!" the teacher called out, much to Himiko's annoyance. 

   "Yes, ma'am," Himiko replied in a quiet voice. She reluctantly lifted her head, but making sure to tilt her head a certain way so that the brim of her hat was blocking her view from Kokichi, in case he was looking at her. Himiko was taking notes as the lesson went on, making sure to pause every now and then to keep her hand from shaking. Nyeh...please, don't let him notice! she begged in her mind. Finally, the lesson ended, and the students were left to finish the rest of the class in silence doing their homework from the lesson, or talking amongst themselves. To keep herself from looking up, or thinking about Kokichi, Himiko decided to work on her Health homework. From beside her, she heard a few pops that were quiet at first, but grew louder each time she heard them. It sounded like Kokichi was chewing bubble gum, but she didn't dare look up to confirm it. For some reason, she felt his eyes on her, but she kept focusing on her homework. Suddenly, she heard the biggest pop right in her ear, causing her to jump up in alarm.

   "Mr. Ouma, that's enough!" the teacher scolded. 

  "Seriously! There's nothing more annoying than the sound of someone constantly popping their gum!" Kaito exclaimed in annoyance.

   "Nee-heehee...sorry," Kokichi apologized with a cheeky grin. He turned to Himiko, who was still looking at him in alarm. He nodded his head at her, and winked. Pretending to be annoyed, Himiko rolled her eyes, and looked away, hoping to hide her reddening face in time for him to not notice. Kokichi leaned forward on his desk, and rested his head on his hand. "Sooo..." he began, slightly lifting the brim of Himiko's hat up. "...do you wear this thing all the time?" Her face still red, Himiko hastily pulled her brim back down.