((Imma test the waters with slight angst. Set in Chapter 2, but not all the events are the same. I know that Himiko supposedly used the hollow-stair trick but let's just imagine that she's still nervous anyway 😅T/w: anxiety, drowning. Also, requests are still open, just comment on the first A/N. Thank you, and enjoy my terribleness.))
Fic title: It's a kind of magic.
Tenko's POV
"Woohoo! Magic show! Hey, Himiko, can you make all of the degenerate males disappear?" I yelled from the crowd. Angie began 'thanking Atua' and settling us down.
"Ladies and Gentleman, introducing..." Angie drummed her fingers on the pole which held up a curtain. "The one, the only, the amazing Himiko!"
The redhead stood on top of a huge tank, huger than any male ego I'd even heard about. Her arms were waving around excitedly, but I could tell by the look in her eye that she was apprehensive.
"May Atua bless her as she attempts this daring trick!" Angie's (I'll admit) gorgeous accent shone through as she spoke. "She'll be tied up in a tank of water and be forced to escape in a mere thirty seconds! If she fails, a tankful of hungry piranhas will eat her alive!"
Himiko was shaking. "Hold on, I'm just going to the bathroom." She didn't even wait for a response, as she shakily made her way of stage. She tripped a little, but nearly ended sprinting to the girls' bathroom.
"Himiko!" Since I was fast, I soon caught up to her in the halls. "Himiko, what's wrong?"
"I don't trust my magic."
"What?!" I stood back slightly, before jumping back into my fighting stance. "Himiko, how could you say that? You have amazing magical skills, so don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
"Nyeh, but I just..." she was shaking even more, crying slightly. "I'm nervous. What if I mess up?"
I crouched down ever-so-slightly, and smiled. "Come on, you of all people wouldn't mess up! What could go wrong?"
She narrowed her eyes, 'nyeh'ing slightly, before breaking my gaze. "I don't think I can do this any more. Someone will try to drown me or something, but messing up my magic skills."
"And if they do, I'll pummel them into the ground!"
"Calm down there, Kaito." She laughed through her tears.
"And, yes and, if you get out okay, I'll tell you one of my darkest secrets."
"Okay, deal." She was still crying, but marched her way back to the gym.
All eyes latched onto her as she clambered back up. "Let's do this!"
The was dropped in after being tangled up, and the clock began to tick down. Th-th-th.
Ten seconds gone; still no Himiko.
Th-th-th.
My pulse synchronised with the ticking. Twenty seconds gone. I heard banging on the glass, but the curtain hid whatever was happening.
Th-th-th.
Thirty seconds gone. Still no—
Gonta looked as if he was about to run, but I found myself leaping up to the stage. Himiko was under the glass, not moving. Passed out? No time to think.
I dived in and dragged out what was potentially a corpse. I checked her pulse - slow, but present.
"Screw this bullcrap."
As anyone could have guessed, I started doing CPR. I heard Oma speak.
"See, Kaito, I told you she liked her."
"Shut it." Kaito and I spoke in unison, though my throat was burning.
Himiko's crimson eyes opened.
The sighs of relief in the room were obnoxiously loud. Or was that just my sigh of relief? I couldn't tell, my heart was pounding too loud.
Himiko sat up like a bolt, before tears lined her eyes. She rushed off stage, a mess.
Once again, I followed her, eventually finding her curled up in the library. She looked a bit like Rantaro, but less... stable. The thought of her being as dead as him made me shiver.
"Himiko, hey..." I placed a hand on her shoulders. "I'm sorry those degenerate makes didn't try to—"
She tackle-hugged me, laughing slightly through her tears. "Never let your guard down. That's what you told me."
"Why are you crying? You're alive."
"Yeah, I know, but I made a fool of myself by being forced to be rescued!"
"Hey, Himiko. You are a lot of things, but you are not a fool."
Silence. I picked up a book, playing with it in my hands. I just needed something to keep me from punching something.
Himiko's POV
I sighed slightly. Great, crying in front of your crush. Come to think of it, she was the first one to see me cry.
"What was your secret? Wait no, you don't have to tell me, since I didn't escape."
"How about I show you?"
She didn't wait for an answer, and kissed me right then and there. Internally, I was having a stroke and heart-attack at the very same time. On the outside, my eyes just widened slightly. I blushed, but I'm pretty sure no-one could tell.
I leaned back, and we were both smiling slightly.
"I guess you could say that it's a kind of magic!"
Damn it, Oma.
Word count - 870.