A/N: It's been a month since the In Our Hearts fanzine concluded, and we're allowed to post our pieces. Here's mine! I've always headcanon'd that Himiko actually owns the little cat she's seen with in her splash art, and I incorporated that into a cute little piece focusing on her and her friends.

Also has an amazing accompanying piece by artist Lingua di Gatto, who was a joy to work with! It's the story image.

If you want to see more lovely fics and art for the fandom's less popular characters, look for the In Our Hearts Zine on Twitter and Tumblr!

"When I open this door… be prepared. A beast of unimaginable power lurks in there. My familiar: a feeeearsome white tiger. It'll take all my MP to keep it from pouncing on you two."

Himiko's audience oohed and awed. Well… one oohed, one awed. She stood with her friends Tenko and Angie outside her dorm room, the mage standing between them and the door as if keeping them safe from the monster inside.

Despite her warnings, the artist seemed undeterred, rocking on her heels. Tenko, though, took a step forward, a hand held flat in prime chopping position. "Let me go first! If it attacks you, I'll stop it in its tracks."

Himiko stared back blankly. "It's my familiar. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine."

"But what if you aren't?!"

"Are you doubting my abilities?"

That made Tenko take a step back. "N-Never! I would never! …Carry on." Once she'd relaxed, she looked at the ground, cheeks colored in a deep red while she sheepishly tapped her fingers together. Himiko finally turned and unlocked the door, slowly pushing it inwards.

A quick little spell from Himiko filled the room with light, a little spell called 'the light switch'. Tenko entered second, poised to strike any feral creatures that may or may not want to devour them whole, and Angie took up the rear without a care in the world. Together, the girls entered the beast's domain.

Himiko's room was in some strange sort of state where its owner was too lazy to keep it clean, yet also too lazy to mess it up in the first place. A few assorted food packages (delivery, of course) and magical effects lay scattered around – her cards, her staff, a few books on mind-boggling feats and wonder. But beyond that, it was mostly in order… except the bed. We won't talk about the bed. It was clearly the most used part of the room, and we'll leave it at that.

But most importantly… the room was empty.

While her guests pondered what that meant, Himiko didn't seem to mind that a giant tiger had somehow gone missing in her room, instead dropping to her knees beside her desk. "Ahhh… theeeere they are."

Her classmates glanced down at her as she stretched faaaar under the mattress. Curiosity turned to shrill squees of joy when the mage pulled back out and stood up with a surprise in her arms. A kitten, the critter dangling from her arms with eyes wide as saucers. "I shrunk them down so you'll be safe."

"AAAAaaah!" Tenko clutched her hands to her chest as if to stop her heart from breaching it. "How did you find something almost as cute as you?!"

"A precious little gift from Atua," Angie agreed. Then paused. "Or… a big gift shrunken into a tiny one? …What's their name?"

"His name is Snowdust." A fitting name for the way his white fur settled along his gray stripes. To her, the name was perfect - not as basic as Snowflake, but not something drawn out and silly either. She refused to admit she'd considered Whiteclaw the Ferocious beforehand.

Tenko paused, mouth twitching. "…Wait, did you just say 'his'?"

"Yeah. Is that going to be a problem…?" the Mage murmured as she set her pet down, eyes narrowing into an expression that said 'smack talk my familiar and I'm turning you into a toad'.

"N-no! It's only a problem when it's people! He's too small and fluffy to be a threat. And even if he wasn't, he's still young! I could push the degeneracy out of him with rigorous training while he's still got room to grow!"

"Please don't push my familiar."

"I won't! How could I?" She bent down to the floor to admire the kitten face to face. It blinked back and batted at her nose. "Degeneracy has never been this cute before!"

Himiko dropped down to stroke the cat, the small creature purring as it arched its back into her palm. The other two joined her, cooing and coddling him, Angie giggling as it climbed up into her lap. Her God had whispered in her ear of a fun surprise in store today, and yet again, they weren't wrong. "You know," she wondered aloud, "acquiring a 'tiger' would be pretty hard, even for an Ultimate. Where'd he come from?"

Himiko's gaze intensified, like a storyteller preparing to delve into an epic. "You're right, it wasn't easy. I had to go on a long, harrowing journey." She spread her arms and waved her fingers as if illustrating the distance the lazy mage somehow managed to cross. "Over deserts, plains, jungles, all in search of the Nekosekai mountain… a place where big cats of all kinds gather to fight for dominance. I challenged the biggest tiger there, but he was no match for my enchantments! And now, he works for me~."

Tenko's jaw hung open in awe. Angie's… was a bit less open, instead quirked in thought. "Nekosekai… hmmmm. Isn't that the name of the pet store across town?"

"…N-nyeh! N-no, no it isn't!

Well, such a trip would definitely seem like a journey to someone that sluggish. Angie simply giggled, allowing Himiko to hold onto her fantasy. "I see. You certainly picked a wonderful assistant!" Himiko smiled at her, perhaps appreciating her playing along.

But before long, her focus was grabbed as Snowdust wiggled himself under her arms and mewled for her attention. Leaning, she picked up and balled a little toy mouse up in her hand, and when it reopened, it was gone. Snowdust sniffed her palm in some vain hope it was still there while Angie and Tenko watched, boggled. With a flick of her wrists, it materialized again, to everyone's delight as she threw it away and the cat chased it. She might've been slow on her feet, but when it came to sleights of hand there was no better. Again and again, both her pet and her guests were stupefied by the way she seemed to pull things out of midair, only to make them vanish once more.

They each took turns playing with the pet until they noticed afternoon had faded into the evening through the open window in Himiko's room. When the sun dipped over the horizon, Snowdust stretched, kneading the flooring with his paws, finally turning around to settle in with closed eyes. He'd worn himself out meeting his owner's best friends. Gently, Himiko scooped him up and cradled him like a baby, getting the slightest glance from the kitten before it shut its eyes again, purring softly. The other two glanced down at him over her shoulders, already endeared to the little fuzzball.

Before long, the kitten snored soundly in her arms. "You girls can come over whenever you want to see him. So long as I'm around. You know… to keep him in this form."

Angie just grinned at her dedication to the bit. Tenko's reaction was a bit louder. "I can?! I can come over whenever I want?!"

Himiko just shook her head, a small smirk on her face. "Within reason."

"Awww…"

Himiko knew how much she hated being bothered during a nap, so she set him back on her bed to sleep peacefully. Setting her hat down on the dresser, she pressed a finger to her lips, quieting everyone down and guiding them across the room. They could talk a bit before it was time for them to leave, and let Snowdust sleep in peace.

Before long, Himiko yawned, stretching wide. Her oncoming fatigue was as good a sign as any it was time for her guests to leave. But before that… "Let me say goodbye to the tiger!" Angie insisted, fingers primed for belly scritches.

They crossed back to the bed. The empty bed. The bed currently missing one kitten. "Nyeh?" Himiko ducked low again, red bangs disappearing beneath the mattress. "Huh. Where'd he go…?"

No one was particularly worried. Cats were sneaky, slippery things, and he was probably just crouched somewhere. But the more they looked, the more they realized they couldn't find him. And the window had been left open… paranoia started to take over the mage's mind. "Nyeh…! If we really lost him… I don't know! I might not be able to sleep until we find him…!" For someone like Himiko, that was catastrophic.

"Because your spell will wear off and he'll turn into a man-eating tiger again?" Angie suggested. Tenko couldn't help but smirk when she heard 'man-eating'.

But now wasn't the time for Himiko's usual fibs and delusions. "No! Because I'll really, really miss him…!"

Angie and Tenko shared a look. If Himiko wasn't being whimsical, this was serious. "We'll help you look for him!" Tenko insisted, shutting her window for her. "He can't have gone far!"

Himiko hoped she was right. She stood still, trembling a bit, but a pair of soothing hands on her shoulder helped calm her nerves. "Atua tells me everything will turn out alright. Trust in me and trust in him, alright?"

Swallowing, Himiko nodded weakly. "I hope he's right…"

Night had fallen. You'd think a stark white and gray kitten would be easy to spot in the darkness, but even an hour later they hadn't had any luck in their search. Around the dorms, the nearest areas, even a little bit off campus, her pet had pulled off one heck of a disappearing act. They even passed by a small tennis player that seemed particularly remorseful he couldn't help, and no one else had seen hide nor hair of him. Things were looking bleak.

Defeated, the search party had to return to Himiko's room, the mage looking absolutely drained of all MP and joy as she slouched inside. "Snowdust…" she whined, sniffling. Tears were coming, and the other two shared a concerned glance of sympathy before moving to her side.

Determined not to let Himiko cry, Tenko tried to calm her in her own Tenko way. "I-it's alright!" she insisted, hands waving. "Maybe someone found him and is holding onto him! We'll look tomorrow! And the day after that! We'll put up posters! We'll put posters on the posters! We could even ask some of the other girls and… ugh… boys to help."

Her enthusiasm was contagious, but not even Tenko's endless energy could keep Himiko's lip from quivering. Panicking, Tenko looked around, desperate for some way to placate her. "Uh… uhm… keep calm! We could… ah…" She bobbed anxiously in place, shifting her weight from one foot to the other while her eyes darted around the room searching for something, anything to-

Bonk. Something thudded against her leg. Looking down, Himiko's hat had crawled into her, and she screamed as it jolted and hit her again.

"A-are you doing that, Himiko?!"

"Well… I could… but I'm not!"

Poised to defend against any and all potential threats – even haunted headwear – Tenko reeled a leg back, preparing to punt the top through the ceiling. "HIIIIIIIIIII-"

"Wait!" The only calm one of the group, Angie crouched down, humming curiously as she lifted the cap off the floor.

Underneath, Snowdust looked around, as if he hadn't given them heart attacks multiple times over by now. "Mew?"

Deflating, Tenko set her foot back down, glad she hadn't just launched her friend's pet into orbit. "He was under there the whole time? Hmph. So there is some degenerate deception in him…"

"Come now, Tenko, look at it this way! He made himself disappear. I think her pet has more in common with her than she expected. Isn't that right?"

But Himiko wasn't listening. She'd dropped down and was hugging her familiar close to her face, laughing softly. "Bad, bad familiar! Awful! Ha, I'm so glad you're okay. Ha, ha ha… ha…" Himiko slumped forward, her cheek brushing the floor as she let out a content sigh. All that worrying had really worn her out. "…"

"…" Angie glanced down at her, tilting her head. After the fifty mini heart attacks the mage must've gone through, she wasn't too keen on leaving her alone with a magical disappearing kitten. "Want us to stay the night, Himiko?"

"…Yeah, sure…"

"Alright!" Tenko cheered. "Sleepover!"

Despite her fatigue and gradually fading consciousness, Himiko giggled, feeling safe and warm with her not-tiger fidgeting in her arms. She'd have to keep a closer eye on him from now on… but she knew if something went wrong again, she had two amazing ladies to help her through it. Especially since she wasn't exactly the most energetic person.

As she laid there half-conscious, she felt a wave of warmth wash over her, filling her heart with gratitude for the bonds she had made at Hope's Peak. She felt grateful to have such good friends by her side.

"C'mon, Himiko! We gotta get you up and undressed! I-I mean, into your pajamas! For sleeping! You know?"

Well, one good friend and one sorta pushy friend, at least.