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

Shuichi Saihara, Where Are Ya? (8)

     Kokichi took Himiko's hand in his and rushed over to the bathroom, all the while making sure nobody was around to see them. He silently closed the door behind them after entering. He looked up to see if there were any vents on the ceiling, just in case, but there weren't any. 

   "What are we doing in here, Koki-" Himiko began, but Kokichi put a finger to her lips.

   "Ssshh," he whispered. "Himiko...what did Mr. Grumpypants tell you when he threatened you?"

   "Well...I was too scared to hear everything he said, but I think he said something about this lighthouse being very important to him and his sister, and that I should be careful," Himiko answered. Kokichi eyed her intently as he listened. 

   "Hmm..." he murmured in thought, taking a look around. "Something stinks around here."

   "Nyeh...sorry. That usually happens when I'm nervous," Himiko said, blushing as she used her hand to fan behind her.

   "No, no, that's not what I mea-" Kokichi started. He stopped himself and looked at Himiko, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He reached for the air freshener. "Ugh...you're not allergic to this, are you?" he asked.

   "No," Himiko replied. 

   "Thank God," Kokichi said, and immediately began spraying the room with the air freshener. He placed the bottle back down and shook his head at Himiko. "Weirdo. Okay, back to what I was saying before...I wonder what about this lighthouse is so important that he had to threaten you like that."

   "Well...m-maybe he just wants it to be better than the other lighthouse," Himiko said with an uncertain shrug. "You know, like Bessie said, to honor their dad."

   "But that's another weird thing," Kokichi said. "She said that the actual reason they got rid of the previous lighthouse was because there was an issue with the electricity that caused the bulb to the lighthouse to go out, which caused that ship accident."

   "Nyeh...that is true," Himiko admitted with a nod. 

   "Why didn't she say that before, instead of telling us that they rebuilt the lighthouse to honor their dad?" Kokichi asked thoughtfully. 

    "Maybe she was ashamed about the real reason?" Himiko guessed. Kokichi shook his head.

    "Non, non, I don't think so, Monkey Buns. She didn't seem so ashamed when she was explaining it to us," he pointed out. "She also said that her ghost dad is the reason for the current power outages, right?"

   "Right," Himiko nodded. 

   "But, why? What would their dad have against his own kids?" Kokichi asked. "Why would he make them go through something like this?" Himiko opened her mouth to answer, but shut it closed again as she thought.

   "Nyeh...that's a good point," she mumbled thoughtfully. "I didn't think about that." She looked up at Kokichi, who gave her a sly grin. "A-Are you saying that...that Barty and Bessie are the culprits?" Kokichi shrugged.