Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 2 (The Oumeno Strikes Back)

The Case of the Missing Pop Star (7)

     Kokichi and Shuichi made their way back into the mansion, where Himiko was waiting anxiously for them near the entrance. 

   "Nyeh...you're back!" she exclaimed, running up to Kokichi to give him a hug. 

   "Haha, yup! Glad to see you back in one piece, Luffy!" Kokichi joked as he removed her witch hat to ruffle her hair. Himiko turned to Shuichi, who was still rubbing his sore shoulder from the lamp that had fallen on him. 

   "Oh, my! What happened, Shuichi?" Himiko asked. 

   "Someone tried to drop a lamp on my shoulder," Shuichi replied grimly. Himiko turned pale with fear.

   "You mean...they tried to kill you?!" she whispered in horror. 

   "I don't know if they tried to kill me," Shuichi replied. "But they definitely don't want us snooping around anymore, that's for sure. But, anyways, Himiko, we need to get everyone's alibis. I'll take Michiko, Kokichi, you take Yui, since she's mad at me, for some reason, and Himiko, you take Hibiki. See if you can find out what happened right after the incident happened."

   "Got it!" Kokichi and Himiko replied with a thumbs-up before the three of them separated. Shuichi found Michiko in the dining room sitting with Sayaka. 

   "Hey, um...Michiko? Got a minute?" he asked, sitting down. Michiko shot him an annoyed look.

   "For what?" she asked.

   "I just want to ask you some questions about what happened after you found out Izumi was kidnapped," Shuichi responded. Michiko drew out a long sigh and rolled her eyes.

   "So, you're interrogating me?" she asked.

   "No, no, I just want to know your alibi," Shuichi said, waving his hands defensively. "It might help us get closer to the truth."

   "Do it for Izzy, Michiko," Sayaka said. 

   "Fine," Michiko replied curtly. "Well, after we heard crashing through the window, I immediately jumped out of my sleeping bag. I didn't know whether to investigate the window first, or turn on the light, since everything happened so fast, but in the end, I decided to turn the light on, since we'd have a better idea of what happened if it was on. After that, we briefly looked around for Izzy, but she wasn't even there, so we rushed out of the room, looking for her. We went downstairs because, for some reason, we thought it would be safe down there. Stupid, I know, but we weren't exactly thinking clearly. But, anyways, we stayed down there to catch our breaths and figure out what might have happened to Izzy. Hibiki suggested that we split up to find her, since we'd have a better chance that way. I decided to search upstairs, like in the other bedrooms, the bathrooms, and stuff like that. Yui wanted to search the garage, Sayaka went to search outside, which was pretty stupid of her to go out there alone."

   "I know it wasn't the best idea, but I'd do anything for Izzy if it meant finding out that she was okay," Sayaka replied quietly. 

   "Well, anyways, Hibiki volunteered to search downstairs, like in the kitchen, living room...places like that," Michiko continued. "After we were done searching, we all met up in the living room...without finding Izzy, obviously. Then, we just decided to sleep in a different bedroom because Sayaka's was now a disaster zone." Sayaka swatted Michiko.

   "No need to be so snarky about it!" she huffed.

   "So, you didn't notice anything out of the ordinary?" Shuichi asked. 

   "No..." Michiko replied softly, then thought for a moment. "Well...I did notice that when we met up in the living room, Hibiki had come from upstairs when she said she was going to search downstairs for Izzy. I suppose that was weird because I didn't see her go upstairs. But I must have been too preoccupied with searching for Izzy to notice."

   "She told me that she had went to bathroom," Sayaka chimed in. "I hope this isn't TMI, but she was probably...vomiting."

   "She does get queasy easily," Michiko agreed. "When things get too overwhelming for her, she tends to throw up a lot."

   "That's not good," Shuichi said. "I hope she was okay afterwards." But why go upstairs to the bathroom? he thought to himself. Why not use any of the bathrooms down here?

   "After we all calmed down, so did she," Sayaka replied with a small nod.

   "That's good," Shuichi said. "So, Sayaka, the incident happened in your room, correct?"

    "Yes, why?" Sayaka asked. 

    "Well, Kokichi and I searched outside beneath your window for possible clues, and...we found a music box there," Shuichi explained. "Is it yours?" Sayaka turned pale.

   A m-music box?!" she exclaimed, and stood up immediately. "I have to go get it!" Shuichi stood up to stop her. 

   "W-Wait!" he said, grabbing her arm. "It's part of the crime scene. We can't mess with it. Besides, Kokichi said that the music box being there was a very important clue."

   "I don't care! That music box is important to me!" Sayaka sobbed. Michiko wrapped her arms comfortingly around Sayaka. 

   "Why is it important to you, Sayaka?" Shuichi asked gently. 

   "Izzy...she...she gave it to me," Sayaka replied through her tears. "Sometimes, the stress of being an idol really gets to us, and one day, I was just having a really bad day. I wanted to just...just...end it all! But Izzy was there for me. And she gave me that music box to help me feel better. I know a music box isn't much, but it shows that Izzy was always thinking of me. She was like an angel watching over me. And now...now, something has happened to her and I can't do anything about it!" Sayaka wailed harder in Michiko's arms. 

   "See? This is what happens when you live the life of an idol," Michiko muttered bitterly to Shuichi. "Everyone thinks it's all sunshine and happiness, but it's not. It's cold and miserable. If I could, I'd do anything to get us all out of it."

   "I see..." Shuichi sighed sadly as he watched Michiko comfort the sobbing Sayaka. "Well, thank you for your time, Michiko." He bowed politely before leaving the dining room, allowing Michiko and Sayaka a moment alone.