Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 4 (The Oumeno Menace)

Dream Boy (1)

   "No faaaiiir!" Kokichi whined. "You're not my mom! That's what Kirumi's for! Hmph!"

   "Well...too bad," Kaede said, placing her hand on her hip, and holding the magnet close to her chest. Kokichi turned to Himiko and gestured to her.

   "I bet Himiko would back me up!" he said. "Himiko, will you please tell Kaede to give me back my magnet? Pwetty pweeaaase?" Himiko felt her brain going haywire. 

   "Nyeeeh...um...magnet, back Kaede his give," she stuttered. "W-Wait! I m-mean...K-Kaede, give his m-magnet back." Kaede shrugged and relinquished the magnet to Kokichi. 

   "Woooow! It totally worked!" Kokichi exclaimed. He reached for Himiko's hand and shook it. Fireworks were going off in Himiko's brain. "Thanks, Himiko! You truly are magical!" He turned and sauntered out of the room. Himiko slowly raised her Kokichi-infested hand up to her face, staring at it as if it were made of gold. Kaede smiled and rolled her eyes, while Miu snorted.

   "Nyeeeeh...he touched my hand!!" Himiko whisper-screamed. "Did you guys see that?! He...touched...my...hand!!!" She danced in a circle, flailing her arms. 

    "Yes, we saw, Himiko," Kaede replied. 

   "By the way, Kirumi asked what you guys want for dinner," Kokichi said, suddenly reappearing in the room. Himiko stopped dancing immediately and froze in fear again. Kokichi leaned against the doorway, twirling the magnet around his finger as he gave Himiko a cheeky grin. "Nee-heehee...Himiko, were you dancing just now?"

   "U-Um...yeah," Himiko replied nervously. "I-I was...showing Kaede and Miu a dance move I saw on TV."

   "Oh?" Kokichi replied with what seemed like an innocent smile. "Which dance move?" 

   "Um...th-this one?" Himiko answered. She then began flailing her arms awkwardly and slowly twirled around. "It's called, the, um...'The Twisted Octopus.'"  

   "Cool," Kokichi replied as a smirk slowly grew on his face. "I'll have to look that dance move up on YouTube." Himiko's eyes widened. 

   "N-No!" she exclaimed, then covered her mouth. "Um, I mean...no, you wouldn't like it. I-It's not your style." Kokichi shrugged.

   "Okie-dokie, then," he replied. "Sooo...what did you guys want for dinner?" 

   "Um...spaghetti is fine with me, I guess," Kaede answered.

   "Yeeeaaah...and ya know what? Tell Kirumi to throw in some extra meatballs!" Miu added. "They remind me of the good ol' days!" Kaede groaned and rolled her eyes in exasperation. Kokichi shifted his gaze to Himiko.

   "And you, Himiko?" he asked. 

   "Spaghetti's fine!" she squeaked. 

   "Nice!" Kokichi replied. "Welp, I'll go tell Kirumi, then!" He looked at each girl, making sure to look at Himiko last. Still twirling his magnet, he gave Himiko a small, flirty grin before leaving the room. 

   "Wow," Kaede said, giving Himiko a surprised smile. "Did you see the way he looked at you?"

   "Huh? Why?! W-What about it?!" Himiko asked. 

   "I think he knows you like him, Himiko," Kaede said. 

   "Nyeh! N-No! No, he doesn't!" Himiko said. "If he did, he wouldn't be talking to me at all! He'd ignore me and think I'm weird! He wouldn't want anything to do with me at all!"

   "Ooookay, whatever you say, Himiko," Kaede said. "But I think he knows." 

    "Especially after he gave you the eyes," Miu agreed. 

   "Well, I don't think he does!" Himiko insisted. "That look didn't mean anything!" 

   "Uuuuh-huh," Kaede and Miu replied in unison, smirking at Himiko. 

   "I mean, you never know, Himiko, he might like you back," Kaede said.

   "Yeah, right," Himiko muttered. "He's way out of my league. He's smarter than me, and I bet he doesn't get nervous when he talks to the people he has a crush on. He's always so confident, and he's charming. I bet he can get anybody he wants." She hung her head sadly. Kaede placed a comforting hand on Himiko's shoulder.

   "Well, maybe he comes off as confident and charming because you like seeing him that way, but in fact, he's probably the opposite," Kaede said. "You never know until you talk to him, Himiko." Himiko looked up at Kaede with hope. 

   "If I do, do you think he'd want to be my boyfriend?" she asked. Her hopeful gaze became dreamy. "And then we'll get married and live happily ever after in a mansion? And then we'll travel the world? And end up living somewhere romantic, like...like Paris, or Hawaii, or something?"

   "Ha! In your dreams, half-pint!" Miu cackled. Himiko hung her head despondently. Kaede frowned at Miu and smacked her head. Then, she turned back to Himiko with an encouraging smile.

    "You never know until you talk to him," she answered. "Sometimes, even though it's scary, you have to make the first move, Himiko. If you don't, you could be spending the rest of your life with regret."

    "Yeah...you're right," Himiko said. Deep in her heart, Himiko knew Kaede was right. It just wasn't that easy. Himiko did want to talk to Kokichi. She wished she could talk to him forever. She just didn't know how to make that first move. Suddenly, she was struck with an idea that, oddly enough, Miu had given her. In your dreams! Miu had said.  

   "Um...I gotta go," Himiko mumbled. "Thanks for the advice, Kaede."

   "Sure! No problem!" Kaede answered in confusion as she watched Himiko suddenly rush out of the room. As Himiko walked back to her room, her mind was racing with excitement. If she couldn't talk to Kokichi in real life, she knew another way! And she knew exactly how to do it!