"ME?!?! HIDEOUS?!?! " Kaito shouted. Shuichi turned to Kaito and started chuckling. "What are you laughing at, Shuichi?! That ain't funny!"

   "Haha, sorry, Kaito. It sort of is," Shuichi replied. 

   "You sayin' I'm hideous?!?!" Kaito asked incredulously. 

   "No, it's just funny that Himiko thinks...you're..." Shuichi paused to think for a moment. "Wait, Himiko...why would you think Hiro saw Kaito, and not Kokichi?"

   "Yeah! Kokichi's far more hideous than I am!" Kaito exclaimed. "Er...not that I'm hideous to begin with." Himiko sat there, tight-lipped. Shuichi's eyes widened with realization.

   "It's Kokichi, isn't it?" he asked softly. A deep red blush appeared on Himiko's face, and she nodded. 

   "Huh? What's Kokichi? What are you two talkin' about?" Kaito asked. 

  "N-Nothing," Shuichi replied. He turned back to Himiko in surprise. "Really?" he asked. Himiko nodded eagerly, her blush deepening.

   "Why are you blushing so much, Himiko?" Kaito asked. Shuichi stood up.

   "That's not important right now, Kaito," he said before turning to Himiko with a smile. "What is important is that I think I know a way to fix this so that your future won't get ruined, Himiko." Himiko stood up with hope in her eyes.

    "Nyeh...we're going to burn Hiro at the stake?" she asked hopefully. 

    "N-No! Why would you suggest that?!" Shuichi exclaimed in shock and horror.

    "If we do that, his predictions might go with him!" Himiko explained. 

    "Well, if that were the case, I don't think you'd want to burn Hiro just yet," Shuichi said. "We have to go to him and confirm if what he saw in that crystal ball was actually Kaito."

   "Yeah! And it better not be, or I'll show him what hideous really looks like!" Kaito growled. "Callin' me hideous...the nerve of that guy!"

    "Well...actually Himiko called you hideous, Kaito,' Shuichi pointed out. "It might not be what Hiro saw."

   "But who else would have purple hair and be hideous?" Himiko asked.

   "KOKICHI!!!" Kaito roared. "What, you don't think he's hideous, Himiko?!" 

   "Um...well, I, uh..." Himiko stammered.

   "Uh, come on, you two, let's just go," Shuichi chimed in, trying to keep Kaito from learning Himiko's secret. The three of them walked over to Hope House and rang the doorbell. Makoto answered the door and allowed them inside, showing them to Hiro's room. Shuichi knocked on Hiro's door.

   "Heeey, wassup?" Hiro asked. 

    "Hiro, we want you to confirm something for us regarding Himiko's fortune yesterday," Shuichi said. Hiro turned his attention to Himiko.

   "Oh, yeah! Haha, you were gonna marry the purple-haired, hideous dude!" he laughed. "I feel real bad for you, Himiko!"

   "Dude! I'm right here!" Kaito yelled. Hiro gave him a quizzical stare.

   "Huh? Whaddya mean, man?" he asked. 

   "You think you can just stand there and call me a purple-haired, hideous dude?!" Kaito growled. "What makes me hideous?!"

   "Oh! Haha, I wasn't talkin' about you, bro!" Hiro replied.

   "So, that wasn't Kaito you saw in your crystal ball?" Shuichi asked.

   "Nope!" Hiro replied.

   "I knew it," Shuichi said. "It was Kokichi, wasn't it?"

   "Yeah, that's right!" Hiro said. "He was makin' one of those creepy faces that he usually makes when he wants to act all evil, and stuff." 

   "Hahaha...that means I'm not hideous!" Kaito laughed with relief. 

   "S-So...I'm gonna marry Kokichi, then?" Himiko asked, her voice rising with hope.

   "Looks like it," Hiro replied with an apologetic shrug. "Sorry about that, Himiko. If you thought your life was over because you thought you were gonna marry Kaito, just imagine how it's gonna be when you marry Kokichi."

   "Oh...um...yeah, yeah, it's probably gonna be a reeaaal pain," Himiko said, pretending to be sad. She was trying really hard to contain her excitement. Shuichi smiled at her, knowing how she really felt.

   "Well, see you dudes later!" Hiro said. Shuichi, Kaito, and Himiko bid him goodbye. 

   "Hey, Himiko, why was I the first person who came to mind when Hiro said the word 'hideous?'" Kaito asked as the three of them walked home. "Why didn't you think of Kokichi?"

   "Um...no reason," Himiko mumbled, turning the other way to hide her blush. Kaito stopped and eyed Himiko with suspicion.

   "Waaaiiit a second..." he muttered. "Do you seriously not think that Kokichi is hideous?"

   "Umm..." Himiko mumbled. 

  "How...about we...talk about this later," Shuichi suggested. 

   "Do you have a crush on Kokichi, Himiko?" Kaito continued, staring in disbelief at Himiko. Himiko looked to Shuichi, wondering what to say to Kaito. Shuichi gave her an encouraging shrug, allowing her to make the decision. Himiko nodded and turned to Kaito.

   "Yeah...I do," she finally answered in a small voice. 

   "Haha! I had a hunch that you did!" Kaito laughed. "I guess my hunch was correct!" 

   "You had a hunch about that?" Shuichi asked incredulously. 

   "Yeah! I noticed that you do act a little weird around him, Himiko," Kaito said. 

   "A-And...you don't think I'm weird for liking him?" Himiko asked hopefully.

   "No, that's very weird, and you could probably do way better than him," Kaito answered. Himiko's face fell. Shuichi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

   "But...who knows? You and Kokichi might be good for each other," he said kindly. "Maybe Kokichi's the way he is because he needs a friend."

   "Yeah, Shuichi's right!" Kaito chimed in. "You'd probably be a good friend for him, Himiko! I take back what I said before. I believe in you guys! Even though I don't get along with Kokichi, and even though he's a scheming little liar, I'll still believe in him! And you, too! You might be the person who can turn his life around and turn him into a better person!"

   "And maybe he can make you a stronger and more confident person," Shuichi added.

   "You guys think so?" Himiko asked.

   "Of course!" Kaito replied. "Anything's possible because I, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, say so!"

   "And I'll believe in you guys, too," Shuichi said with a kind smile. 

  "Nyeh...thanks, guys," Himiko replied, wiping her tears of happiness. Shuichi and Kaito gave her comforting pats on her shoulders in response. 

   ***

  Later that evening, Himiko sighed blissfully to herself as she sat outside with a notebook in her hand. Inside the notebook was a heart-shaped cutout photo of Kokichi. 

   "Eeee...did you hear that, Kokichi? Hiro says you and I are gonna get married!" Himiko squealed. "I can't wait!" She hugged her notebook close to her chest. Suddenly, she felt her hat being swooped up off of her head.

   "Can't wait for whaaaat?" a teasing voice came from behind her.

   "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Himiko screamed, standing up and turning around. She clutched her notebook tighter to her chest to make sure Kokichi wouldn't take that away from her, like he did her hat. He was grinning mischievously at her while dangling it back and forth.

   "Nyeeeh...w-why do you keep...s-sneaking up on me?!" Himiko shrieked, trying to keep her face from turning red. 

   "Nee-heehee...if you'd stop talking to yourself, I wouldn't have to sneak up on you because you'd be aware that I'm around," Kokichi replied.  Himiko thrusted her hand out.

   "Give me my hat back...now!" she demanded. Kokichi playfully tilted his head. 

   "Hm...I'll give you your hat back...in exchange for that notebook," he murmured flirtatiously. Himiko clutched her notebook tighter. 

   "N-No!" she exclaimed.

   "Why not?" Kokichi asked, stepping closer to her with a playful smirk. "Is there something you're trying to hide from me...Himiko? " Himiko's heartbeat increased. She loved it when he said her name, and it seemed as if he knew it. 

   "N-Not everything is about you, you idiot!" Himiko stammered, failing to hide the blush that was slowly creeping across her face. Kokichi stepped even closer to her. He leaned so close to her that his face was inches away. Himiko shut her eyes, and instinctively, she slightly puckered her lips. She heard Kokichi chuckle mischievously before she felt her hat being placed back onto her head. Her eyes flew open. Kokichi was staring at her, flirtatiously wiggling one of his eyebrows up and down. 

   "I'll get you to reveal your secret to me...Himiko," he murmured. He leaned closer to whisper seductively into her ear. "And when I do, I'll make you wish you had revealed it to me sooner." Himiko made a small whimpering sound. Her heart pounded against her chest, and her cheeks became very hot. She was sure that she was blushing, but she couldn't fight it. Kokichi winked at her before turning and walking away. Himiko deeply exhaled a breath that she had been holding the whole time as she fanned herself. She fell to the ground, still clutching her notebook as she curled up in the fetal position. 

   "Nyeeeh...what a man!" she breathed rapturously.