Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 3 (Return of the Oumeno)

Shuichi Saihara, Where Are Ya? (10)

    "Himiko. Himiko, wake up!" came Kokichi's whisper in the dark. Himiko snorted as she wiped the drool from her mouth. She felt Kokichi's hand nudging her and her eyes flew open.

   "Nyeh...what's wrong?" she asked, scrambling to the front seat with Kokichi. It was her turn to sleep while Kokichi sat in the front seat to watch outside. Himiko hadn't seen anything suspicious during her shift, so it was up to Kokichi, who had just now witnessed something.

   "Something's happening over there! Look!" Kokichi said, pointing out at a grassy patch a few yards in front of them. The rain had stopped, but it was still dark outside. Because dawn was approaching, however, Kokichi and Himiko could barely make out a person rising straight out of the ground. They couldn't see who the person was, but they saw them dart across the lawn right to a car. The car's headlights beamed as the engine roared. The last thing Kokichi and Himiko saw was the car driving away from the lighthouse.

   "Nyeh...I wonder who that was," Himiko said as the driver turned the corner of a street. 

   "Could have been either Bessie or Barty," Kokichi said. "Or possibly someone else entirely."

   "But, who else could it have been?" Himiko asked. Kokichi smiled at her.

   "Only one way to find out, Monkey Buns," he replied, opening the door. He helped Himiko and took her hand in his, leading her to the spot where the person came out of the ground. With his foot, Kokichi removed a patch of grass that was hiding a manhole cover.

   "Oh, my! They came out of a manhole!" Himiko exclaimed. "Why would they do that?"

   "Because it may not actually lead down to where you think," Kokichi said, giving Himiko a sly grin. "It might lead somewhere else."

   "But...where?" Himiko asked. Kokichi looked up at the sky, which was growing lighter in the fast-approaching dawn. 

   "We'll have to find out later," he finally said. "Let's get back into the Mystery Machine. You should probably get more sleep." Himiko yawned sleepily. 

   "You're right," she said. Together, they walked back to the Mystery Machine and climbed into the back. Himiko snuggled under the blanket while Kokichi sat back in the front seat to keep watch. When morning finally came, Kokichi was just thinking about breakfast until he saw a car pull up next to the Mystery Machine. He looked into the driver's seat and saw Ivana. 

   "Himiko! Wake up again! Ivana's here!" he whispered with excitement. Himiko shot up as Kokichi sprang into the backseat to open the back door. 

   "Ivanaaaa, heeeey!" Kokichi said as soon as he jumped out, followed by Himiko.

   "Aaah!" Ivana yelped in surprise. She opened and shut her mouth repeatedly, clearly flustered by Kokichi and Himiko's sudden appearance.

   "Oh, my goodness! You scared me!" she exclaimed. 

   "Sorry!" Kokichi said with a cheeky grin. "By the way, Ivana, we wanted to ask you a few things that we were curious about."