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

The Case of the Missing Pop Star (8)

     "Hey, hey, he-eeeyyy, Yui!" Kokichi said as he entered the new bedroom that Sayaka and her friends had been staying in after the incident. Yui was found on the bed, sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes. She smiled sadly when she saw Kokichi.

   "Oh, um...hi, Kokichi," she mumbled quietly. 

   "Uh-oh! Somebody's a Sad Sally today," Kokichi said with a cheeky grin, sitting on the bed next to her. "Is it because of Izumi?" 

   "Well, no, not really," Yui admitted in a quiet voice as she wiped her remaining tears away. "Although, I still do hope she's okay and that we find her."

   "Hmm...speaking of Izumi, what exactly happened shortly after the incident?" Kokichi asked.  

   "Um...well, let's see," Yui closed her eyes in thought as she tried to remember. "Ooo! Okay, um...I remember being, like, totally freaked out after hearing the loud crash through the window. We all figured that somebody must have broken into Sayaka's room. I remember screaming and covering my arms with my head until the light turned on. I looked up to see that Michiko had turned it on. Um...I, like, totally TTFN'd out of my sleeping bag, because I did not wanna stay in that room any longer! We noticed that Izzy was gone, so we ran downstairs because we felt safe down there, I guess...which is totally totes-erific weird, now that I think about it, and then we decided to look for her."

   "Did all of you guys search together?" Kokichi asked. 

   "No," Yui replied, shaking her head. "Um...I think it was Hibiki who said that we should split up because we might have been able to find Izzy faster. So, I searched for Izzy in the garage, Sayaka searched for her outside, which was, like, really cray of her to do! Hibiki searched downstairs, and Michiko searched upstairs."

   "I see..." Kokichi replied with a sly grin. "And while everyone else was searching, it was the perfect opportunity for you to sneak upstairs and plant that threatening note in Sayaka's sleeping bag, right?!"

   "W-WHAT?!" Yui exclaimed, gaping in disbelief. "Like, why in the whole, wide world would you say that?!"

  "Because last night, I saw you sliding a note under Shuichi's door," Kokichi replied with a smirk. "Seems to me you like threatening people with notes, huh? You even threatened my girlfriend."

   "I did slide a note under Shuichi's door, but I didn't do the other stuff!" Yui said. "I wouldn't do anything so rude! And, you might not realize this, but I know how to spell the word 'thief!'"

   "Ah, well, what did the note to Shuichi say, then?" Kokichi asked with a smug grin as if he already knew the answer. Yui blushed. 

   "I just...wanted him to meet me in the living room downstairs an hour after I had slid it under his door," she explained. "But...I guess he just completely ignored it because, like, he didn't meet me in the living room. And this morning, he just...greeted me as if he never saw the note...like he didn't even care about my feelings!" Tears began to fall from her eyes. "You can even ask the other girls! I told them that I'd write a note to Shuichi. Michiko scolded me and said that we had more important things to worry about. Sayaka and Hibiki encouraged me, though, so I wrote the note! I was hoping that I'd at least have one romantic night with a boy, since, you know, I'm forbidden to have a boyfriend." She sighed wistfully. "I always liked to imagine myself as a princess, and a prince would come and rescue me, and take me away from pop stardom. I'd give anything to have a boyfriend and some romance in my life."

   "Wow, idol life must really be lonely without romance, huh?" Kokichi asked.

   "Yeah," Yui sighed. "Well, anyways, that's why I was mad at Shuichi earlier today. He didn't even bother to meet me in the living room. I was waiting there for hours before I gave up."

   "Ohhh...so you were out of the room for most of the night," Kokichi pressed. "It seems like you'd have plenty of time to plant that threatening note in Himiko's room." 

   "Ugh...like I said, I didn't do that!" Yui scoffed. 

   "Welp, if you say it's true, then I guess it's true!" Kokichi replied with a cheeky grin. "Going back to the night of the incident, did you see anything weird while you were searching for Izumi?"

   "I'm not sure," Yui admitted. "I went back to the living room just as the others were done searching, as well. Let's see, Sayaka came in through the back door, I came in from the garage, and Hibiki and Michiko came down from upstairs."

   "Wait...why?" Kokichi asked. 

   "So we could all meet up together, duh!" Yui responded. 

    "No, I mean, why was Hibiki coming from upstairs?" Kokichi asked. "You just said that she was supposed to be searching the downstairs area."

    "Ohhh...right," Yui said, nodding slowly. "Something about Hibiki having to, like, vom. She gets really nervous in situations like this, and sometimes, she ends up throwing up a lot. It's really grody, but I feel so bad for her. She has a weak stomach."

   "Ohh...I gotcha!" Kokichi said, standing up from the bed. "Welp, thanks for your time, Yui! You really helped out a lot!"

   "Like, no problem!" Yui said with a smile. Kokichi was about to leave when all of a sudden, Yui stopped him. "Hey, Kokichi?"

   "Yeah?" Kokichi asked. 

   "Um...could you tell Shuichi I'm sorry?" Yui asked sheepishly. "I don't think he'd want to hear it from me after the way I treated him earlier."

    "You might as well do it yourself before he dies, Yui," Kokichi replied. "Shuichi almost got 86'd after a lamp nearly crushed his skull when he and I were investigating outside!" Yui eyes widened in fear. 

    "OMG!! Is he okay?!" she exclaimed.

   "Yup! He's doing much better!" Kokichi answered.

   "M-Maybe you three should get off the case, after all," Yui said quietly. "I'd hate for something bad to happen to you guys." Kokichi eyed her mysteriously.

   "Oh, don't you worry about that," he said. "It's gonna take more than a lamp to get rid of us so easily." With one last impish grin, he left Yui alone, sitting there in apprehensive silence.