Author's note: The idea for this fic came from the little dialogue between Mayura and Yamino after the ending theme on episode 7. In the original dub, they were talking about oyakodon, but in the Brazilian dub, they talked about hot dogs. Fortunately, the joke also works in English.

I can't believe I'm actually posting this. It's been a while since I've last indulged in a one-shot attempting at humour...

Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Sakura Kinoshita, not me. No copyright infringement is intended here and I make absolutely no money from this.

MISNOMER

It was a nice Sunday afternoon. As usual, Mayura had come to the Enjaku Detective Agency, hoping that there would be another mysterious mystery to solve. There had been no cases so far, but Mayura wouldn't give up so soon. She would stay until night fell and she had to go home to avoid another scolding from her father.

As a result, she eventually became quite bored and began to whine and pester Loki, who was trying to focus on his reading, his patience running thin. Yamino, observant and perceptive as he was, noticed their predicament, announced he was going to make them some hot dogs, and asked Mayura if she wouldn't like to help him. The girl promptly agreed, glad to have something useful to do at last (she was also quite hungry).

"Well, I'm not hungry, so don't bother bringing me any," muttered Loki, giving Yamino a meaningful look. The message was clear; keep Mayura away so I can study in peace. Yamino nodded slightly in understanding.

Minutes later, Mayura and Yamino sat at the table in the kitchen, a tray full of hot dogs between them. Mayura picked one, stared at it for a moment, and took a bite. She hummed appreciatively, looking thoughtful. Just when Yamino was finishing his first hot dog and helping himself to a second, Mayura spoke.

"Yamino, don't you think hot dog is strange?"

"Strange?" he echoed uncomprehendingly. What could possibly be strange about something as mundane as a home-made hot dog? He blinked down at the tray. "I thought it tasted good..."

"Not that, I mean the name!" she said, shaking her head. "Why is it called 'hot dog'? I mean, that doesn't even make any sense! It doesn't have dog meat in it!"

He frowned uncertainly. She did have a point there. "Maybe it's because it sort of looks like a dog's muzzle, or –"

"It doesn't look like a dog at all to me," she said, squinting her eyes at her hot dog.

"I see..." He eyed the tray of hot dogs again. "What should we call it, then?"

"How about... 'hot snake'?"

Yamino froze, taken aback, not entirely sure he had heard her correctly. Mayura, oblivious to his discomfiture and satisfied that she had come up with a more appropriate name for the snack in her hands, happily took another hot dog – hot snake? – and munched away.

After watching her for a minute, Yamino looked down at the whole hot dog in his hands, trying to figure out why exactly Mayura thought that "hot snake" was a better name for it. Was it because the sausage was thin and long like a snake? That was the most innocent explanation he could think of, at any rate, and yet it was more than disturbing enough.

A snake of such small size would probably have to be a baby still... The mere thought naturally brought the image of a baby snake in the place of the sausage. If he looked hard enough, he could almost see the thin line of a lipless mouth, the tip of a forked tongue poking out, and a dull, tiny eye. Yamino shuddered. It looked quite a bit like his own true form, only much smaller and younger.

"Are you all right, Yamino?" asked Mayura, snapping him out of his morbid thoughts. "Are you cold? You're really quiet all of a sudden, and you look a little pale..."

"Oh," he breathed shakily, managing a watery smile. "No, I'm fine." Inconspicuously, he put his hot dog away. He had lost his appetite completely. He didn't think he would ever be able to eat another hot dog again – or even make one, for that matter. He just knew he would always remember this conversation if he tried, and always imagine a tiny, helpless baby snake in the bread.

Now if only he could find a way to make Loki stop liking hot dogs, too...

The End