There'll be no magic show without an audience!

Himiko's mood continued to sour as she trudged her way to the dining hall. Was there really any chance she'd find people in there? Who in their right mind would even be up at this hour? If it wasn't for the fact she still hadn't eaten breakfast, she might have given up then and there.

Of course, it wasn't still sunrise anymore. After the initial preparations and dragging her feet to move, the time for the show was already getting close... But to Himiko, being up before noon on a Saturday felt insane.

Anyway, even for a more reasonable bar of insanity, Hope's Peak Academy had no shortage of nutty students, and so she shouldn't have been surprised to find plenty of them eating, either alone or in groups. "Oooh!" Himiko crowed with rare enthusiasm, her brown eyes shining. She forgot breakfast for the moment, determined to hook as large of an audience as possible. "Now, to figure out who's ready for a magic show, nyeh... And if things get really dicey, I've got my trump card to play." There was a secret and unusual element to her show she'd thought of that might be able to get a couple more seats in the audience filled, but she didn't want to overplay it if she could help it. Magic, after all, should be the star of the show. "Time to fill my classmates' hearts with magic! ... Nyeh."

"So, Toko, you seem like the kind of person who would have nothing else to do on a Saturday, nyeh. Wanna see my Poolside Magic Show?"

The purple-haired girl, who'd been eating alone, dropped her fork in a clatter on her plate. "W-wha?! Why would you ask me? And why would you assume I'm n-not doing anything? I'm g-gonna be writing, obviously!"

"Just forget about that, nyeh! Don't you wanna see some heart-pounding magic?"

"H-heart pounding?!" Toko put her hands on her cheeks, her eyes shimmering behind her glasses. "M-M-Master Byakuya is g-gonna be in your magic show?!"

"No, of course not! It's just me, cuz I'm a mage, nyeh!"

"T-then why would you lie about it?!" With a sour scowl, Toko growled and rose from her seat to deposit her tray.

"... Whatever. My show will be better without a weirdo like that, anyway, nyeh..."

"Hey, Ibuki. You like to see fun shows, nyeh. Wanna see a Poolside Magic Show?" Himiko thought this one was a safer bet... In fact, even if it didn't work out immediately, she thought her trump card could be used here.

"Ibuki Mioda is Ibuki's name!" The rocker head-banged as though that kind of nod was called for, nearly dipping her long hair in her breakfast by accident. "Of course Ibuki wants to see a Poolside Magic Show! I mean, I didn't know they existed until two seconds ago when you sat here and implied they existed, but now it's almost all I wanna do!! Ibuki totally wants to bring all her frieeends, why am I still sitting here talking about it?! When is it, how long have I gotta wait?! My arms are gonna fall off!"

"W-why are your... Nevermind, nyeh." Himiko nodded much less vigorously, but still enthusiastically, her black hat flopping on her head. "That's good. Bring all your friends to the pool at noon, nyeh."

"... The pool?! At noon?! Today?! Shooooock!!" Ibuki shouted, suddenly freezing with her hands in the air. "Th-that's exactly when I set up my rock concert! All of my friends, all of your friends, all of anybody's friends are already gonna be there today in the gym! Shiiiiiit!! It's Ibuki's total defeat!!"

"... It sounds more like my defeat, nyeh." Himiko rose with a pout again. "Fine! Good luck with your show, nyeh."

"Uoooh!" Alone, Ibuki continued thrashing as though being hit by invisible whips. "My Poolside Magic Show dream was already crushed! This is it, the long hard road of a famous musician is like this, ain't it?! Ibuki's youthful soul that craves new and exciting school life experiences is seriously weeping hot, messy tears here!!"

"K-Kaede. You're friends with pretty much everyone, nyeh. I don't think you'll turn down- I mean, uh, I'm sure you wanna see a Poolside Magic Show, right?"

The blonde-haired pianist gave her an apologetic smile and clapped her hands together in a bow. "Sorry, Himeko! I sure would love to, but I already have piano practice scheduled for today."

"... Wow. Piano practice on a Saturday sounds like a big pain, nyeh. I feel sorry for you."

Kaede shrugged a bit awkwardly, standing up with her empty tray. "That's just the way it is for a practicing musician, I guess. Sorry I couldn't help you out, but I hope your show goes well! I'm sure it will. You're the ultimate magician, after all."

"Ultimate mage, nyeh," Himiko reminded her despondently... Suddenly, the girl's eyes opened wider in slow realization. "Wait a sec. I didn't tell you when the show is. You've got piano practice all day, nyeh?"

The blonde continued to smile, but began edging away from the table. She suddenly winced, then held one hand to the belly of her sweater. "O-oh, sorry, Himeko! I've got a bit of a stomachache, so I'm gonna just go ahead and get out of here. Good luck with your magic show! I'll be rooting for you!"

"And if I follow you outta here, I'm gonna see you go straight to a bathroom, nyeh?" Himiko called after Kaede with an accusatory scowl beneath the wide brim of her hat.

"Th-that'd be a pretty weird thing to do, ah ha ha! G-gotta run!" Kaede hurriedly put her tray away and dashed out of the dining hall, assuming that Himiko wouldn't chase after her.

It was a safe bet. Himiko flopped her cheek down on the table with her arms hanging loose at her sides, but called after Kaede with the last of her energy. "I'm gonna need to take a big dump during your next recital, so don't come looking for me, all riiight?! Nyeh!"

Himiko had finally gotten herself a tray and eaten breakfast, but she hadn't gotten any stamina back at all. On the contrary, she sat with her chin on the table and her hat shading her entire face, sulking and moping.

She started a little bit as she felt the seat bounce. Someone had taken a seat next to her. When she tilted up the brim of her hat, she got a good look at who it was: Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, in his usual all-black uniform with his short black hair and trademark detective cap. Rather than the Ultimate Detective, however, Himiko tended to think of him as a kind of a sad guy... After all, when there was a second so-called "Ultimate Detective" in the same school, and the guy himself claimed to only solve cases by luck, it was hard to take him seriously. Still, she appreciated that he apparently intended to cheer her up. "Shuichi... wanna see a magic show at noon, nyeh?"

"A magic show?" Shuichi had intended to start talking with Himiko, but that announcement was sudden. Instead of finding out about her problem, he'd suddenly been drafted into an obligation... He privately wondered if he'd fallen into a trap. "Uh... I guess. When is it? I have free time today."

"No, of course you don't... Uuuuuugh... Nyeeeeh..." Himiko ignored his response and continued to pout on the table.

"Uh, Himiko, I said I would-"

"If it's come to this, I'm finally gonna play my trump card, nyeh!" The girl finally turned her head on the table to look up into his eyes with rare intensity, even as she apparently lacked the energy to actually lift it. "Shuichi, this isn't gonna be any ordinary magic show. It's a poolside magic show. You get what that means, right, nyeh?"

"It'll be... beside a pool?" the Ultimate Detective deduced, feeling like he was giving a dummy answer.

"That's right. That means, if you watch the whole thing... at the end... there's a special surprise." Himiko flushed a bit, a rare difference in her ordinarily emotion-light face, as she gave him a small smile. "You'll get to see the Ultimate Mage in a teeny bikini, nyeh. Pretty exciting, huh?"

Shuichi dropped his fork in his eggs, unsure of how to respond to that. "Uh. Okay. Well, I said I'm going, so..."

"I knew it! I knew a lonely loser like you couldn't resist the teeny bikini, nyeh!" Himiko changed her expression into a smug, "got-em" smile, still resting oddly on the table.

"What a terrible thing to say about the guy who's going to help you out! I agreed before you said anything about that!" Shuichi defended himself with a red face, tugging the edge of his newsboy cap over his eyes.

"You're gonna help me out too, huh, Shuichi? Thanks... I was all outta MP, so you're a great guy, nyeh..." Himiko stood up, straightening her hat. "So, to help me out, find as many other people as you can to attend. I've been asking all morning, and I'm so tired of it... Besides, you can get in the boy's dorm, so you can ask all the guys there. Oh, also, find someone who can record it. That's how you can pay me back for the free magic show. I'm counting on you, Shuichi. Nyeh."

With a stunned face, Shuichi watched Himiko deposit her tray and leave him holding the bag of gathering an audience for some strange Saturday magic show. "W-wait! If it's poolside, uh, is the audience supposed to wear swimsuits?"

"... I don't really care what you wear, Shuichi," Himiko responded with a blush, diverting her eyes. "Sorry you got the wrong idea, but we aren't like that, nyeh."

"N-no, I'm asking for the... You know what, I'm just gonna assume we're supposed to wear swimsuits." The detective sighed as Himiko left, then finished up the last of his breakfast with a frown. "You've gotta start standing up for yourself, Shuichi. Sheesh, try to be friendly, and now half my day'll be taken up with this. And... what's all that about a teeny bikini, anyway? Am I... supposed to use that in my pitch to get an audience?"

Shuichi tried to puzzle it out... Then, to his surprise, he found his mind lingering on the image of Himiko's small body clad in an even smaller bikini. The strange, model-like poses the magician in his imagination showed off didn't really go with her childish, sleepy face or her pale body, which development seemed to have missed... But it was true, at least, that she had kind of cute legs...

"Dammit, I didn't sign up for the teeny bikini!" he found himself standing and shouting as a reminder to his rebellious imagination. Immediately, all of the eyes in the cafeteria were on his outburst. Stuttering, the pale kid left his tray without clearing it and tugged his cap down as far as it would go over his grey eyes and very red face. "N-now would be a good time to go to the dorm."