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

The Case of the Missing Pop Star (4)

    "MWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!" Kokichi erupted with laughter as he fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. "Oh, my God, seriously?!" Sayaka and her friends heard Kokichi's laughter, and came bursting through the door.

   "We heard noise," Michiko said. "What's going on in here?" Shuichi turned to them.

   "I have a question for you guys," he said, and pointed to the navy blue sleeping bag. "Whose sleeping bag is that?"

   "Oh! That's mine," Sayaka replied. "Why do you ask?" Shuichi showed Sayaka the note. "Oh, my..." Sayaka mumbled. "No...no! Not poor Izzy!" She began to sob while Michiko, Yui, and Hibiki read the note, as well. 

   "I can't believe this," Michiko muttered. Tears streamed down Yui's face while Hibiki stood there in dumbfounded silence. 

   "Izumi must be in deep trouble," Hibiki mumbled in fear. 

   "You guys didn't know about this?" Shuichi asked.

   "No," Sayaka said. "Like I mentioned before, we were too freaked out to notice anything suspicious."

    "But now that we see this, Izzy must be so scared," Michiko said. "And the culprit is probably hurting her."

   "Oh, come on!" Kokichi said, still laughing. "You think someone with a lame name like 'Sneak Thief' is a threat?!"

   "Nyeh...they didn't even spell 'thief' right," Himiko pointed out, looking over the note again.

   "Seriously! I'm more afraid of how dumb and uncreative the culprit is," Kokichi said nonchalantly. Though the girls seemed distraught, they began to lighten up a little. Shuichi looked at the sleeping bag. He thought it was weird that the note was found inside of it, rather than outside if Sayaka had jumped out of her sleeping bag at the time of the incident. Did the culprit plant the note after  the girls ran out of the room? If so, why? Was it planted for Sayaka to see? If so, it wasn't a very good plan. The culprit must be scatterbrained. All these thoughts were racing through Shuichi's mind when Sayaka pulled him out of them.

   "Um...why don't we go downstairs and eat?" she suggested. "We'd better eat something hot before the power goes out." Everyone agreed, and headed downstairs. 

   That was an abrupt change in topic, Shuichi thought to himself. He decided to stay quiet about it, however, and enjoy a hot dinner. 

   "Sooo...Sayaka...and the gang...how long have you guys known each other?" Kokichi asked. 

   "Since middle school," Sayaka answered. I met Yui, Izzy, and Michiko at the beginning of our last year in middle school, but I've known Hibiki since the very beginning of middle school. We were best friends all throughout middle school!" Hibiki gave Sayaka a small smile.

   "Haha, I remember when Mai-Mai had a crush on a boy in middle school after he helped a crane in distress," Hibiki giggled. Sayaka blushed.