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

Kokichi and Himiko's Great Penguin Rescue (8)

     "Himiko...Himiko...wake up," came Kokichi's voice. Himiko slowly opened her eyes and saw Kokichi fully awake, and the other D.I.C.E. members scrambling around the headquarters. Himiko shot up.

   "Nyeh...are the cops after us?!" she asked in alarm. "Do they know where we are?!"

  "Nope! But we gotta get ready for our journey to Antarctica," Kokichi replied. He handed her a fluffy coat. "Here, you'll need this. I'll explain everything once we get onto the helicopter. You just get ready and take Pinkwin with you."

   "H-Helicopter?!" Himiko repeated. 

   "Yup! It'll be here soon, and we need to be on it once it gets here, so get ready," Kokichi said before hurrying off. Himiko felt confused. She looked at Pinkwin, who was awake.

   "What's going on?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his tiny flippers. Himiko scooped the little penguin into her arms and gave him a little hug.

    "Nyeh...I'm not exactly sure," she admitted. She looked at the time on a clown clock across the room. The time was 3:30 a.m., two hours after they rescued Pinkwin from the zoo. Himiko still felt sleepy, but she placed Pinkwin back into his icebox and walked over to the bathroom to wash up. When she exited the bathroom, she saw Three sitting next to Pinkwin's box and petting him. She turned to Himiko with a disappointed expression.

   "Kokichi told us we can't keep him," she sighed. "He said that Pinkwin wouldn't be able to survive with us, and that he needs to be in Antarctica. I guess he's right, but it still makes me sad."

   "Nyeh...I'm sorry, Keiko," Himiko apologized with a sympathetic shrug. Three smiled a little.

   "Well...that's okay," she said. "At least we get to go to Antarctica! That'll be fun!"

   "You're right," Himiko replied, smiling back at Three. 

   "Hey, Himiko! Keiko! Helicopter's here!" Two called from the top of the stairs. "Kokichi says to get up here yesterday!" 

   "Okay!" Three called back up. Together, Three and Himiko lifted Pinkwin's icebox and hauled it up the stairs. They followed Two up to the roof of the building. Outside, it was still dark, but the roof was lit up. Himiko gasped at the sight of a helicopter that had landed right in the middle of the roof. Its blades were spinning wildly as Kokichi and the others were placing some supplies into the helicopter. Kokichi turned to see Himiko and Three, and waved them over. Kokichi took the icebox and handed it to Ten, who placed it gently onto the floor of the helicopter. Three climbed in next.

   "You next, Himiko!" Kokichi shouted over the whirring of the blades as he helped pull Himiko into the helicopter. She sat down in an empty seat, looking dazed and confused by the situation. "Is that everyone?" Kokichi asked the others. They nodded in response. Kokichi then shut the door and turned to the pilot. "We're ready to go, Eighteen!" 

   "Got it!" the pilot responded, and took off into the sky. Himiko felt as if she were in a dream. Everything that was happening felt so surreal. Even her magic seemed more logical compared to suddenly climbing into a helicopter in the middle of the night and flying off to who-knows-where with an organization full of fun-loving and light-hearted criminal clowns, and a stolen penguin. Kokichi noticed her puzzled expression and laughed.