Himiko runs out of MP halfway back.

The Ultimate Mage had expected breakfast to get her pumped to really start her day. Instead, she found that being full of food was slowing her down... How great would it be to head back to her room, bundle up under the cover, and sneak a little nap in until the time came? It'd be a really short nap... but imagining Saturday sun coming in through the blinds, while she rested without a care in the world... that magic seemed to be calling for her.

"Geez... What am I thinking, nyeh? I'd be napping for like thirty minutes, tops. I'd recharge like... five percent of my MP. Max. No, what's needed now is focus, nyeh. Concentrate on the magic."

In direct contrast to her words, Himiko plopped down on a bench, crossing her arms behind her head and gazing up at the blue sky. "Aah... When you can't sleep in your own bed, nature isn't so bad, either. I feel totally connected to the leylines right now, nyeh..." Letting her cares melt away, Himiko kicked one leg idly, counting the clouds. "I wonder if Tenko managed to set up okay... Well, I bet everything'll go just fine. I worked so hard on it, after all... And nothing can go wrong on a pretty day like this."

An unintentional nap was starting to seem like a real possibility, as Himiko's eyes began flagging. "Nyeh... I wish Tenko carried a phone so I could just call her. Then again... I might have to put her number my contacts, nyeh. That'd be a big pain..." The magician lazily took her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "Looks like it's eleven fifty. Only ten minutes, nyeh... guess I'd better-"

The realization hit her on a delay. "T-t-ten minutes!!" How long had she been lying around here?! She couldn't actually tell, since she had only had a vague idea of the time when she sat down. As she sprung to her feet, she felt like her heart was catching in her throat. Off there, in the distance... she couldn't make all of them out, but that was definitely Shuichi leading a group this way, wasn't it?!

Managing to move the dusty lever that switched her into high gear, the mage turned on her heels and began running for the pool.

It wasn't that long of a run, but Himiko was very out of shape and running the fastest she could remember. Actually, the fastest she thought she had since... Actually, had she ever actually run for anything? It wasn't something she could see herself doing.

In any case, once Tenko heard her gasping for air outside the curtain, the martial artist emerged. "Himiko! I was beginning to get worried you'd been caught in some nefarious trap without my protection! Well, you'll be happy to know everything's great here."

Himiko couldn't imagine feeling great ever again, her sides burning like she could hardly believe. "I'm... okay... Once the magic starts... I'll be okay... As long as everything... is okay here..."

As the mage raised her head, her heavy-lidded eyes slowly opened wider and wider until they were bulging from her head. Things were not okay. Things were so not okay, she couldn't decide what aspect to focus on first, but it seemed like the nearly-naked Tenko would explode if she didn't address her first. "Tenko... w-what is... why are you wearing that, nyeh?!"

The martial artist was dressed in a tiny, strained-to-bursting red bikini, clearly sizes too small for her. She looked so ridiculous, Himiko would be humiliated to perform alongside her... But, more importantly, that swimsuit was supposed to be for the magic trick! There was no way Himiko could wear it now...!

Tenko thought she had mentally prepared for Himiko's reaction, but she found herself blushing and fidgeting, regardless. It was rare for Himiko to show so much emotion. "I know, y-you're surprised I worked up the guts, aren't you? But I understood your heart, and once I did, I resolved myself to meet your expectations! Using my Neo-Aikido, nothing is impossible! Not even appearing before you like this... o-or doing anything else you might ask of me, now that we've come this far.." The larger girl bashfully pushed her fingers together, closed her eyes, bent over just slightly to bring her face down a level, and pursed her lips for something that she apparently thought was inevitable.

That image of the relatively soft-bodied, erotically-dressed young lady leaning down for a kiss might be a dream for somebody, but Himiko was not that girl, and this was not the time. "Forget it, nyeh! The pool! What the heck did you do to the pool?!"

"Huh?" The whole time she'd been setting up and then meditating, Tenko hadn't bothered looking at the pool again. After all, why waste time on that? There'd be plenty of time to look at it when it had Himiko's lithe and adorable form gliding through it like a tiny, magical dolphin. So, she finally turned her head to see it...

The two of them stood with their eyes bulging in nearly identical stunned expressions. Somehow, while no one was watching it, the entire pool had turned a putrid, nasty green. Far from sparkling blue, it looked like a swamp, or a chemical vat that would turn someone into a super-villain.

"Ooooh my Goood!!" Tenko shouted, stumbling to the edge of the pool and kneeling beside it on her bare legs to peer closer, as though she'd discover something by looking at it harder. Instead, she was hit with a spicy smell, reeling back with tears in her eyes. "Ugaaah!! Oh, Himiko, forgive me! My horrid, impure thoughts have been poisoning it! My accursed, degenerate, masculine thoughts are the culprit! I'll repent by-!"

Before Tenko could continue with her threat, which seemed to involve her own dangerously raised fist and tears streaming down her face, she realized Himiko didn't seem to be listening. Like a dead-eyed zombie, she had staggered into the curtain ring. Her voice came from inside. "Tenko... I didn't wanna imagine this, but... Are you wearing my swimsuit, nyeh? My special swimsuit from my locker? The slimy one?"

"Y-yes!" Tenko admitted, nodding with a hopeful expression that she was giving the right, helpful answers and would be forgiven for her mistakes up to this point. "This tiny swimsuit you prepared for me is definitely slimy with your love!"

There was no response from the curtain.

Tenko raised her voice, cupping her hands to the sides of her mouth. "I said, this tiny swimsuit you prepared for me is definitely slimy with your love!!" The martial artist bit her fingernails with concern at the silence. She spoke up in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. "H-Himiko... Don't lose courage! Your magic show can definitely still be a success! Your audience demands it, but also, your own heart, which worked so hard to create this magic! Believe in yourself, and Neo-Aikido! And your friend Tenko, Neo-Aikido's favorite disciple!"

Himiko didn't seem willing to commit to believing in that, but she finally spoke. "They're about here, aren't they? Stall 'em for a little time, nyeh... I'll... create some magic... to get us out of this mess. M-maybe... teleportation..."

Sure enough, Tenko saw some people approaching the pool. Suddenly, she became very aware that she would not be exposing herself to Himiko, primarily, but rather the audience the mage had managed to summon. She wondered what kind of cute girls Himiko had managed to rope in... "Well, all of the girls in Hope's Peak Academy are kind, beautiful, and generous in their own way, with hearts that I'm certain can accept Himiko's magic. I suppose it doesn't matter which ones she invited. Okaaay!! I'm gonna get pumped up and give them a proper greeting fitting for a mage's assistant!"