Himiko heard laughter from the top of the main staircase of the asylum's lobby. Suddenly, a string of nine kids in clown masks flew down the banister and formed a single file line side-by-side with each other in front of Kokichi and Himiko. They grandly removed their masks and took a bow.
"D.I.C.E. reporting for duty, Supreme Leader, sir!" they announced in unison.
"At ease, payasitos!" Kokichi ordered. Kokichi's associates tucked their masks into their scarves and sat down on either the other couches or the beanbags while Three, the pigtailed clown, and Five, the short-haired clown, went to dress Kokichi in his dictator hat and cape.
"Hahahaha, the boss said 'doodie' a few minutes ago," Four, the blonde-haired clown snickered to Five, who rolled her eyes.
"What does 'payasitos' mean?" Two, the pudgy clown, asked.
"I believe it's Spanish for 'little clowns,'" responded Nine, the clown whose sleeves ran past his hands.
"Thaaaat's right, Nine!" Kokichi said. "Now, you guys remember the plan for tonight, right?"
"OH, MY GOSH, YES!! Hi, Supreme Lady Himiko!!" Three, exclaimed, waving excitedly at Himiko. Himiko shyly waved back to her.
"Hi, Keiko!" she replied.
"Did that Guki girl stop bothering you?" Three asked curiously as she toyed with one of her pigtails.
"Nyeh...yeah, she's still in juvie where she belongs," Himiko replied. "Thanks, again for helping me out. You and Emi."
"You're very welcome," Five replied politely.
"Yeah, that girl was a freak!" Three nodded. "She's lucky that she wasn't stalking ME, or I would have introduced her to my ten friends: my knuckles!" A few months prior, Three and Five were sent by Kokichi, while he was out of town, to help Himiko catch this girl named Nori Nakagawa, who was posing as the Ultimate Thespian named "Guki" while stalking and terrorizing Himiko.
"Back on topic," Kokichi said. "You guys are going to put on a show for your Supreme Lady presenting each of your unique talents! We'll go in order starting with you, Two!"
"You got it, boss!" Two said as he stood up and removed a large box from behind the couch he was sitting on.
"Eight, hit the lights!" Kokichi ordered. Eight, the dark-haired clown who hardly ever spoke, nodded obediently and flipped off the lights. He then flipped a few other switches that turned on the spotlights that illuminated the center of the living room where Two was standing. Kokichi leaned to whisper in Himiko's ear. "Two is a juggler," he said. Himiko nodded at him. "Okay, Two, whenever you're ready!"
"Okay! I'll start with the easiest thing: oranges!" Two said. He passed the box in front of Kokichi and Himiko, grabbed three oranges, and started juggling them. "Miss Himiko, if you could toss me some more oranges from the box, I'd appreciate it."
"Oh! Sure!" Himiko replied. She grabbed a few oranges. "Just tell me when."
"Okay, toss me three more...NOW," Two said. Himiko tossed him a couple of oranges, and he was now juggling six. "Okay, for the finish..." he then began tossing the oranges back in to the box, until he was left with two and squeezed them, the juices getting in his eye. "Um...okay, nooot the best idea," he said, squinting. He then rubbed his eye with his scarf. "Okay, I'm good to go! Next, I'm gonna juggle bowling balls." Himiko's jaw dropped in shock.
"B-B-Bowling balls?!" she exclaimed.
"Yup! Three 16-pound balls!" Two said proudly.
"WHAT?!" Himiko exclaimed, her hands flying to her mouth.
"Uh-huh! Watch this!" Two took two of the 16-pound balls and started to juggle them with ease. Himiko was going back and forth between dropping her jaw and biting her nails. "Hey, Kokichi, could you toss me that third one?" Two asked.
"Yup! Just tell me when," Kokichi said, picking up the ball while struggling under its weight a bit.
"Okay...NOW," Two said. Himiko covered her face as Kokichi threw the ball to Two, expecting to hear bones crack and a blood-curdling scream. But she didn't. Cautiously peeking between her fingers, Himiko saw that Two was juggling all three balls just fine. "Okay, back into the box they go!" Two tossed all three balls high into the air before he fell to his back. Himiko gasped in horror as she saw the balls hurtling back towards Two. They each landed on his large belly and bounced back into the box. "Ta-da!" Two said. He stood up and bowed. "Pretty good, huh?" Himiko just sat there with her mouth agape and her hands covering it. She looked over at Kokichi, who gave her a smug smile.
"Um...wow, Two...that was...amazing," Himiko managed to say through her disbelief as she and Kokichi clapped for him. "Terrifying, but amazing!"
"Why, thank you!" Two said, bowing.
"That's not ALL he can juggle!" Four said, running up next to Two. "He can juggle people, too! Juggle me! Juggle me! Pleeaaase! Juggle me!"
"Well...okay. I'll do it real quick," Two said.
"YES!" Four yelled. Two picked Four up with one hand on his feet, and the other, hovering in the air, waiting to catch his head. Two began tossing Four as if Four were being swished around inside of a washing machine. "WHOOO...THIS...IS...SO...FUUUNNN!!" Four shouted as he spun.
"Okay, Four, I'm gonna toss you, now," Two said. "Ready?"
"YYYUP!" Four replied. Two tossed Four into the air. Four did a couple of backflips in the air before thrusting his arms and legs up and descending back into Two's arms. He started giggling uncontrollably.
"Um...what are you laughing at?" Two asked with a smile.
"P-Put me down," Four giggled. As Two placed Four onto the ground, Four fell to his knees and clutched his stomach, still in a fit of giggles. "Hahahaha, the air..." he struggled to say through his giggles. "The air...tickled my belly. AAAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!! I CAN STILL FEEL THE TICKLES!!!" The others rolled their eyes and started to chuckle.
"Hahahaha, okay, thanks for your performance, Two," Kokichi said. "Also, could you help Four out of the way? It's Three's turn, now." Two grabbed Four's arms and dragged him back to one of the couches, where he was still laughing.
"YAY!! YAY!! It's my turn!!" Three shouted. She took her place under the spotlight in the center of the room. She put her hands behind her back and pulled out two, long, pink streamers. "TODAAAY, I will be doing-" Three was interrupted by Four's giggles. Three shot him an annoyed look. Four stopped giggling, and Three continued speaking. "As I was saying...today, I will be-" Again, Four started laughing. "Ugghhh...Kokichiiiii," Three whined, bouncing impatiently as she looked to her leader to say something about Four's giggling.
"Ichiro, stop laughing before I sentence you to five hours in CC," Kokichi said. Four immediately stopped laughing, and sheepishly placed his hands in his lap.
"Nyeh...what's 'CC?'" Himiko whispered to Kokichi.
"I'll tell you about it, later," Kokichi whispered back. "Go ahead, Three!"
"Eeeeeee!" Three squealed happily. "I will be doing...an acrobatic ballet recital!" Three struck a pose as she thrust both her pink streamers out to one of her sides .
"Three used to be part of a traveling circus before she joined us," Kokichi whispered to Himiko.
"Ahhh, I see," Himiko replied, nodding.
"Eight, Ten, Four, and Two! Play that music loud and true!" Three announced cheerily. Eight pulled out a violin, while Ten, the clown with the afro, started beatboxing, and Two and Four started clapping and snapping rhythmically. Three began her recital, dancing to hip-hop violin music. She did a bunch of twirls and flips with her streamers flowing gracefully behind her. She ended her recital with a backflip and landing while doing the splits and holding her streamers high above her. "TAAA-DAAAAAAA!!!"
"Oooo! I loved that very much, Three!" Himiko said as she and Kokichi clapped. Three bowed deeply, her pigtails flopping on the floor like bunny ears.
"Thankee-thankeees!" Three replied, and skipped back to her seat.
"Okay, Four! You're next," Kokichi announced. Four slid into the spotlight dramatically.
"Alrighty...prepared to have your nose blown and your butt wiped, 'cuz I'm gonna take ya to...FUNNYTOWN!!" he said. "Uh! Won't you take me to...FUNNYTOWN?! Won't you take me to...FUNNYTOWN?! Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep...beep-BEEP-beep-BEEP! Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep...beep-beep-beep-beep."
"Haha, Four is the comedian of our bunch, and he likes to tell jokes," Kokichi whispered to Himiko. "Though, his jokes are quite...unique."
"Like how?" Himiko asked.
"You'll see," Kokichi replied. He nodded to Four, signaling for him to start performing.
"Okaaay, what do you call a three-legged dog?" Four asked. The room was then drenched in awkward silence. "Oh...this is where you ask 'what,' boss lady," Four whispered to Himiko.
"Oh! Sorry," Himiko whispered back. "Could you do it, again?"
"Ugh...fiiiine," Four pouted. He cleared his throat, however, and tried again. "What do you call a three-legged dog?"
"What?" Himiko asked.
"A dog!!" Four replied. He then started laughing so hard that he fell to the floor clutching his stomach as he previously did after Two juggled him. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! GET IT?! Cuz...cuz...even if it has three legs...it's still a dog! AAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!" The joke was so lame, but Himiko found herself giggling anyways. She was giggling more at the fact that Four was laughing his head off at his own joke. She turned to Kokichi, who was also smiling. He raised his eyebrows at her as if to say, "told ya so."
"Hahahahaha...okay...okay...I can't do anymore," Four said, shaking his head and gasping. "Haha...ooohhh, that joke killed me! WHOO!" He wiped a tear from his eye as he stood up and headed back to his seat.
"Haha, oookay," Kokichi said. "Five, you're next!" Five timidly took her place in the center of the room, her arms tucked tightly at her sides. "Five is a contortionist," Kokichi whispered to Himiko.
"Nyeh, this should be interesting," Himiko whispered back.
"Whenever you're ready, Five," Kokichi said, nodding to her. Five nodded in response and took a deep breath. She nodded over to Eight, who began to play a melancholy tune on his violin. Five bent herself backwards and tucked her arms and head underneath her legs. Himiko winced and started to squirm in her seat. Five then wrapped her arms around her legs and began rolling herself around like a ball. Then, with one hand, she pushed herself up off the ground, and unraveled the rest of her limbs, straightening herself as she did a handstand. Then, she swung her legs forward so that her arms were tucked in between them, and began walking on her hands. With a strong push from her hands, Five finished with a perfect backflip, straight to her feet, and ended into an elegant bow. Himiko stared at her open-mouthed and began to clap.
"That was amazing, Five, but...didn't that hurt?!" Himiko asked.
"No, not really," Five responded, smiling shyly. "I've been doing that for years. But thank you. It's not often people think my contortion skills are amazing. People usually call me a freak, while other people, well...never mind." Five fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Um..." Himiko looked to Kokichi, unsure of what to say. With his head, Kokichi gestured over to Five, encouraging Himiko to speak to her. Himiko took a deep breath. "Emi, you're not a freak. You just have an unusual talent. That doesn't make you a freak, it just makes you unique. And if people can't understand that, well...maybe they're not the ones whose words should matter to you. I think you have an amazing talent, so...you're not a freak, okay?" Five smiled gratefully at Himiko.
"Th-Thank you," she replied. "Thank you very much, um...boss, or miss, or..."
"It's okay, you can just call me Himiko," Himiko replied sweetly.
"Oh! Well, thank you, Himiko," Five said. Smiling, she took her place back on the couch. Himiko looked to Kokichi, who smiled proudly at her and stroked her cheek affectionately.