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

Kokichi and Himiko's Great Penguin Rescue (19)

   "Nyeh?!" Himiko woke up with a start. She paused in alarm as she looked at the room around her, which appeared to be a normal girl's bedroom. The walls were light pink and decorated with posters of Antarctic wildlife. Himiko noticed that she was in a bed with a pink, fluffy blanket. She also saw that her clothes from before had been changed into a pink nightshirt and pants. She cringed. Everything was a little too pink for her liking. "Where am I?" she whispered to herself. Suddenly, she heard knocking at the closed bedroom door, making her jump.

    "Himikooooo..." came a creepy, raspy voice on the other side. Himiko kept still and quiet, but as she she listened, she recognized the voice.

   "K-Kokichi?" Himiko called out in a small voice. "Is that you?" The door opened to reveal Kokichi and his usual cheeky grin. 

   "Ding, ding, ding! You're correct, HimiCocoa Bean!" he said as he entered the room and knelt next to the bed Himiko was lying in. He reached up to ruffle her hair. "How are ya feeling, Monkey Buns?" Himiko sleepily rubbed her eyes. 

  "Nyeh...I feel a little better," she replied. 

   "So...what about your magic? Is it still gone?" Kokichi asked. Himiko shook her head. 

   "Sleep always helps replenish my magic," she answered. "Every mage is different, so every mage gets mana from different sources. Mine is sleep...and maybe some tea and sweets."

    "Nee-heehee...that's good to know cuz you've been asleep for a while!" Kokichi replied. 

   "Really?! H-How long?" Himiko asked. 

   "Eh, only 18 hours," Kokichi replied with a shrug. 

   "18 HOURS?!" Himiko gasped. 

  "I mean, that's not as bad as how long you could have been asleep for," Kokichi pointed out. 

   "Well...where even are we?" Himiko asked, looking around the room again. 

   "We're at Sector Zulu 1, the headquarters in Antarctica," Kokichi reminded her. "This is one of my subordinate's rooms. She let you sleep here until you woke up."

   "Ooohhh..." Himiko nodded slowly. Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open. "Nyeh!! Pinkwin!! What about Pinkwin?! Is he okay?!" Kokichi's smile faded. He sighed as he stood up and took Himiko's hand in his. 

   "Come with me, Himiko," he murmured despondently. Himiko stared at him, afraid to take his hand, afraid to know the truth. With a trembling hand, she took Kokichi's and left the bedroom. Himiko felt her heart pounding against her chest in fear as Kokichi led her through the silent corridor. She didn't know what she was going to see. She didn't know if she wanted to see. She wanted to see Pinkwin's smiling face, but judging from Kokichi's expression, she didn't think that was going to happen. Kokichi led Himiko to a door and hovered his hand over the doorknob. He paused and turned to Himiko. 

   "Himiko...before we go in, I just want you to prepare yourself, okay?" he said to her in a grim voice. His face was the most serious Himiko had ever seen. Himiko tried to swallow, but she felt her throat ache from the tears she was trying to hold back. Finally, she nodded, ready to go in and face the truth of Pinkwin's fate. Kokichi opened the door and led her down to the basement, which was filled with a bunch of medical equipment, ranging from hospital beds, to medicines, needles, heartrate machines, and everything else a doctor might need to heal their patients. A teenager Himiko didn't recognize, but guessed he was one of Kokichi's subordinates, nodded to her and gave her a sympathetic smile. Himiko tried her best to smile, but she couldn't. Finally, Kokichi led Himiko to what looked like a playpen for a baby. 

   "Pinkwin's in there," Kokichi said, gesturing over to the playpen. He gave Himiko a comforting pat on her shoulder. "I'll give you all the time you need, babe." Himiko gulped and walked slowly to the playpen. She could already feel the tears stinging her eyes. Clutching the edge of the playpen, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to see. As she slowly opened her eyes and peered into the playpen, she was met with an unbelievable sight.

   "PINKWIN!!!" Himiko screamed in happy surprise. The little bird was playing with some toys in the playpen. Upon hearing his name, he looked up at Himiko and waddled excitedly over to her. Himiko reached into the playpen and gently pulled him up. Tears of joy streamed from her eyes and she cradled him close to her. 

    "Himiko! You came back!" Pinkwin squeaked happily as he wrapped his tiny wings around Himiko's face. 

   "Whoa! Careful!" Kokichi's subordinate warned. "He's still healing from his wound." Himiko could see stitches etched into Pinkwin's body. 

   "Oh...I'm sorry," Himiko apologized. Pinkwin didn't seem to mind as he flapped his wings playfully at Himiko while making happy chirpy noises.  

   "He was losing a lot of blood, but 911 here helped Pinkwin just in time," Kokichi explained. Himiko turned to the teenaged doctor, who gave her a friendly hello. 

   "Thank you for saving him," Himiko said gratefully. 

    "It's always a pleasure to help the wildlife around here," 911 replied modestly. Himiko smiled appreciatively at him before returning her attention to Pinkwin. 

   "Nyeh...I'm so glad you're okay, Pinkwin," Himiko said, ruffling Pinkwin's tiny head. Kokichi wrapped his arm around Himiko and also ruffled Pinkwin's head. Himiko turned to Kokichi and swatted his chest playfully. "And, you! Don't scare me like that again!" she smiled through her sniffles. 

   "Well, if I had told you right away that Pinkwin was okay, your reaction wouldn't have been as amusing as it was a few seconds ago when you thought he was dead," Kokichi replied. Himiko sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

   "Nyeh...you're such a pain," she said. She then smiled at him. "But, then again, you are the supreme leader of evil, after all."

   "Nee-heehee...you finally get me, HimiCocoa Bean!" Kokichi replied cheekily. "Buuut, we're not done with our mission, yet! There's one more thing we have to do!" Himiko looked at Pinkwin, who smiled eagerly at her. Himiko felt her heart drop. She knew what Kokichi meant.

   "Okay," she sighed. "Let's go find Pinkwin's papa."