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

Shuichi Saihara, Where Are Ya? (10)

   "I'm so sorry, but...I don't have the time," Ivana said, grabbing some items form the trunk. She was wearing a jacket, and on the back were the letters 'PG' written on it. Kokichi and Himiko looked at each other in confusion, but decided to think nothing more of it.

   "Well...actually, I just wanted to know why you wanna sell this lighthouse so badly," Kokichi finally said. "It's kind of a dump, don't you think?" Ivana whirled around with an angry glint in her eye.

   "Excuse me?! " she growled. For a second, her Swedish accent seemed to have disappeared. She took a breath as if forcing her to maintain her composure. "Ja, I'm so sorry for yelling at you, but I will have you know that this lighthouse is not, as you say, 'a dump,' little boy!"

   "But, it's not yours," Himiko said. "Barty and Bessie already said they don't wanna sell it." Ivana gave Himiko a cold look.

   "Uh, what Himiko means is that are you sure you wanna sell this lighthouse?" Kokichi explained. "After all the electrical problems it has, and you know...that ghost guy running around...seems kinda dangerous, don'tcha think?"

   "Hahaha...no ghost legend is going to keep me from selling this lighthouse," Ivana laughed. 

   "But, whoever you sell this lighthouse to might be afraid," Kokichi pointed out. "They might get in trouble if another electrical problem were to happen. What if the lighthouse bulb goes out while a ship is coming in? There might be another crash, like the one that happened last month."

   "What? There was no crash that happened last month," Ivana said. Kokichi raised his eyebrows at her.

   "Ohhh...is that so?" he asked as a sneaky grin crept onto his face. Ivana blinked.

   "Oh! Oh, haha! Yes, yes! I remember now, what you are talking about!" she said. "I do forget things sometimes. Yes, there was that horrible crash last month, but...I don't worry about those kinds of things. Now, if you don't mind, I best be going inside. Buh-bye!" She cheerfully waved goodbye as she rushed over to the front door of the lighthouse. Kokichi watched her with a smug grin.

   "Nyeh...someone's in a hurry," Himiko said as they watched Ivana knock on the door. Fred answered it and allowed her inside, leaving Kokichi and Himiko alone to talk without being overheard. 

   "Mm-hmm...she was quick to get out of our conversation," Kokichi said. "Funny how she got upset when I mentioned the lighthouse being a dump."

   "Yeah, that was weird," Himiko said, nodding in agreement. "Also, it sounds like she lost her accent when she yelled at you."

   "I thought that was weird, too," Kokichi agreed. "It seems like Ivana knows more about the lighthouse than she lets on. Also, did you see her reaction when I told her about the accident? She said that there wasn't one!"

    "So...does that mean that Bessie lied about that!" Himiko asked incredulously. 

   "Sounds like it," Kokichi nodded. "I had a feeling she was when she was talking about it."

   "Nyeh...this is bothering me, Kokichi!" Himiko huffed in frustration. "The lighthouse isn't all that great! Barty, Bessie, Ivana...Why are these people so obsessed with it?! Why would Bessie lie about that ship accident? And why would Barty threaten me over this stupid lighthouse? Nothing is making any sense!"

   "Hmm..." Kokichi murmured thoughtfully as he looked over to the grassy patch where the manhole cover was hidden. "I'm not sure, but I bet that's where we'll find our answer...and possibly Shuichi!"

    "Well, then, let's go!" Himiko said as she began walking towards the manhole, but Kokichi stopped her.

   "No, Himiko!" he warned. Then, he looked around before lowering his voice. "It's not a great idea to do this in broad daylight. We have to wait later on until nighttime. In the meantime, let's go back into the lighthouse to go eat. I'm kinda hungry."

   "Will they even feed us after what happened last night?" Himiko asked. Kokichi shrugged while pulling out a key ring from his pocket.

    "If not...I can always drive the Mystery Machine to a diner," he said with a sly grin and a wink. Himiko let out a small laugh of disbelief.

   "D-Did you steal that from Fred?!" she asked. 

   "'Stealing' is such a harsh word," Kokichi answered with a cheeky grin. "I prefer the term 'borrowed.' "