A small and degenerate audience!

Tenko ran forward with a cheery smile on her face, her breasts bouncing dangerously in her too-small top with each step. "Greetings, esteemed guests, ladies and-"

The martial artist's eyes had begun to crack open. When she saw who she was addressing, her face immediately twisted into a disgusted grimace. "Degenerate men."

"How rude!" One of those degenerates shouted back at her. "I'm giving you one chance to correct that robophobic prototypical carnival barker greeting before I report you to the authorities!"

Tenko crossed her arms and glanced away in a bad mood. "Fiiine. Ladies and degenerate men and robots."

Really, her statement still wasn't quite correct: after all, there were no ladies present at all. The only three people greeting her were the detective Shuichi Saihara, looking about as out-of-place as he felt without his usual attire, wearing black-and white swimming trunks and missing his usual cap so that his dark hair and most of his pale body were on display; Kokichi Oma, who apparently hadn't gotten the memo and was still dressed in his full white outfit and checkered scarf; and K1-B0, the robot who had taken offense a moment ago and was dressed... well, equipped... in the dark, metallic, futuristic equipment that was probably the only thing he could wear.

Tenko could feel their degenerate male gazes burning across her body... Shuichi, in particular, was basically stealing glances whenever he thought she wasn't looking. Kokichi was watching with wide-eyed and childish surprise that was almost more annoying than if he'd simply been gawking at her with obvious lust. K1-B0... was a robot, so there wasn't much point in worrying about how he was looking at her. "You men... what are you doing here?! Are you not aware that at any second, Himiko will be performing a special magic show for an audience of lovely females she has personally invited? Your presence will foul the mood, the magic, and the Earth's atmosphere! Don't you understand pollution is on the rise because of your existence?!"

Shuichi finally managed to get his eyes on Tenko's face. "Himiko told me to invite as many people as I could... Well, these two were the only ones I could invite."

Kokichi gave an excited grin, hiding his hands behind his back. "Once I heard about it, I was on board! Only cuz Shuichi is here, though. I hate birthday party magic shows more than anything, so I can't wait to see Shuichi point out the wires and all the secret hiding places using his skills!"

"I never promised to do anything like that... We'll be a good audience, Tenko."

K1-B0 cleared his throat and spoke up next. "I had a busy schedule of maintenance scheduled for today, but my presence is required because I am the only available student who has the sophisticated recording equipment Himiko requested from Shuichi. Therefore, I was obligated to clear my schedule-"

"Oh, oh!" Kokichi interrupted, producing a handheld camcorder he'd been hiding behind his back, then set it down. "Shuichi asked me for that, too, so I brought one! Funny, huh? It's almost like you didn't even need to be here, Kee-boy!"

"..." K1-B0 hung his head and kicked at the floor despondently. "... There was a need for a back-up camera, and so, I will be performing that function..."

"Anyway, Kokichi, I've been meaning to ask..." Shuichi put his hand to his chin, glancing at the other boy. "Why didn't you wear a swimsuit?"

"Huuuh? But you never told me!"

"I'm... ninety-nine percent sure I did."

"That sure, huh? Then you definitely did!"

Shuichi grumbled, no longer sure whether he'd actually brought it up or not. "Well, Himiko told me it doesn't really matter. So, Tenko, where is Himiko? Is she, uh... in that curtain?"

Tenko bit her lip, feeling herself sweat harder. How long was she supposed to buy time for Himiko? Was there some sort of signal? The two hadn't really discussed... But, since the mage still hadn't revealed herself, she thought she still needed a bit more. She tried to search for some topic that she could comfortably discuss with her disgusting male peers...

Having not gotten an answer to his question, Shuichi awkwardly tried another line of questioning. "Um... S-so, Tenko. Himiko had mentioned she would be wearing a teeny- uh, um, a small bikini at the end of her show, but she didn't mention anything about you. It seems like... that would have been an effective motivator to get more boys to show up, so, um, I'm curious. Was this a planned part of her show, or...?"

Tenko shivered at receiving an indirect compliment from a boy, then spat derisively. "Pah! This was not part of Himiko's plan. As though she needs me to act as a crutch for her magic! What a hideous and twisted male idea." The martial artist stood with her hands on her hips and her eyes tilted scornfully down. "However... Himiko told you she would be wearing a tiny bikini? I... was not aware of that." There was a brief moment where Tenko might have considered the obvious implications of that fact, but instead, she moved past it to chew them out some more. "And so, once she told you that, all of you dirty dogs came wagging your tails... Typical degenerate males! Tell me, Shuichi, are you here to see magic, or Himiko's cute bikini body? Answer me!"

"Eh?!" The young man reached for his cap to pull it down, and when he realized he wasn't wearing it, he ended up tugging on his hair instead. "Ah... I agreed before that, like I told her earlier... B-but if I had to say whether I cared about it or not... It's not a non-factor, exactly..."

"Ha! Typical degenerate male behavior." Tenko sneered down at him like he was a lower lifeform. "Wearing your hideous horny desires on your sleeve... To think, you're thinking of an adorable, innocent angel like Himiko in that way! Disgusting. Kokichi?"

"Me...? Huh..." Kokichi crossed his arms behind his head with an almost pitying smile. "I mean, is the magic trick for her to fix those ugly lips of hers and grow some actual boobs? Then, I might be interested!"

"Ha! Typical degenerate male behavior." Tenko sneered down at him like he was gum on the sidewalk. "Unable to comprehend the beauty and attractiveness of a perfect body like Himiko's! Despicable. Keebo?"

The white-haired robot raised a hand timidly. "Um... Even if you ask me, while I identify with male pronouns, I am a robot, and as such, I have no reproductive organs to become aroused by her body or by anyone else's."

"Ha! Typical degenerate male behavior." Tenko sneered down at him like he was a tin can in a gutter. "Claiming not to be capable of being aroused by a body like Himiko's. Some of the filthiness of that pronoun you hold must have rubbed off on you! Disheartening. Well, now it looks like we know exactly what kind of audience we're dealing with, huh, Himiko?"

... There was still no response from the curtain. Something must be wrong... Tenko did her best to keep an even smile on her face, but that only ended up reflecting in what looked like hysterical panic on a face like hers. "Uh... Y-you men stay here. Don't take one step towards that curtain. I'll check on the star of the show!"

Shuichi watched appreciatively as Tenko turned, apparently unaware that her undersized bikini bottom was sliding even further down her ass. As she disappeared from view, Shuichi put his hand to his chin again, contemplatively. "I think it's pretty clear... this magic show isn't going as planned. Something's off."

"Really?!" Kokichi put a hand to his mouth in surprise. "And here I was, thinking Tenko was putting on a sexy show for us degenerate males! Well, leave it to the Detective to notice something funky in the air, even when it's super-well hidden. Say... since nothing else is going on, and it's just the two of us guys here-"

K1-B0's cough went ignored.

"-Why don't you show off those fancy skills of yours? I'm a big admirer of your detective work, you know! I wanna see you puzzle out Himiko's entire magic trick before shows up!"

The other boy sighed, scratching the back of his head. That was... probably not the worst idea. After all, even though Shuichi had no desire to ruin Himiko's show... when something went wrong at Hope's Peak Academy, it tended to go way, way wrong. If it was something dangerous, he had a responsibility to help. Also, it would be better than standing around and trying not to think about teeny bikinis, anyway... Shuichi knew as soon as Kokichi got a hint that he was, he'd definitely-

"Unless you'd rather think about something else? Somethin' else on your mind, Detective? Well, don't mind me!"

"Too slow!" Shuichi chided himself, clicking his teeth.