- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

Days of Innocence

written by Kurosu

-Chapter One, Bedtime Curiosities.

Still awake, he was sitting comfortably in bed, two pillows anchored behind his back while another was at his right side, an arm resting upon it, as he continued to read a few pages of the book in his lap, wanting to at least get through the end of the chapter before he called it quits for the night. This had become a habit of his, since who knew how long, and helped relax him in to slumber, but his current reading had piqued his interest, skimming through the rich history and culture of the Babylonians.

He turned the page, eyes fixated on the words before him, though he could hear the soft creak of his bedroom door opening, followed by light platters of small feet across the floorboards. When they stopped at the corner of his bed, he paused and looked up, arching a brow curiously at the small form of a five-year-old girl clutching on to her a stuffed bunny. She was staring at him with nervous, crimson eyes, fingers squeezing the poor bunny's ear.

He closed the book, placing it aside, as he spoke to her gently, "You're supposed to be sleeping, Mayura."

"Um, I can't sleep."

"Why not?"

She didn't answer him but moved forward, closer to the head of the bed, on the more spacious side that he didn't quite take over yet since he was awake, and threw her doll on the covers before she started to climb on to his bed. She struggled a bit because it was a bit high for her, but using the frame to support her footing, she boosted her tiny self up successfully, earning a quiet 'oof' in to the covers, her nose plowing in to the plush body of her bunny friend.

He watched her quietly, with amusement dancing in his eyes, but when he saw her having trouble reaching him, a part of him wanted to help her while the other waited to see what sort of determination she had, whether she would give up and return to her room like a good, little girl, or overcome her obstacles alone, as he hoped she would. He wasn't disappointed, inwardly applauding her ingenuity of using her surroundings to reach her goal.

Sitting on his bed, short legs tucked on either side of her, she pulled the bunny in to her arms and stared at him expectantly, her big, round eyes of innocence boring in to his own worldly ones. "Ne Loki-kun, will you read me a story?"

"Didn't Yamino already read one to you?"

"But I like your stories," she pouted and scooted closer to him. When she was right at his left side, she reached over to the book that he had put aside, attempting to grab hold of its thickness in to her tiny hands, "What's that about?"

"It's about an ancient civilization," he instinctively answered, and she looked at him strangely. He sometimes forgot that she was only a child and sighed, shaking his head.

He lifted the heavy bound of words and set it in front of him once again, letting her drape her curious self over his lap to be in awe of the book. He opened the pages, and her eyes flickered in amazement at all the writings and a few pictures. She stopped his hand from turning the pages when she spotted a painting of a lofty building being constructed by many people around it, "It's a castle!"

He chuckled at her excitement, his hand combing through her long, pink hair, "Not quite."

She pointed to the picture again, "What are they doing? Are they trying to get inside the castle?"

"Your 'castle' is called the Tower of Babel. These people belong to one..." he chose his words carefully, so that she could understand the story, "group, and they built it, hoping to reach the skies."

"Why?"

"They wanted to make it to heaven, where god lives."

"That's silly," she giggled.

He was surprised by her childish answer and looked at her, a small grin on his face, "Oh?"

"Yeah, I don't want to go to heaven," she beamed proudly, "because Loki-kun is here."

It was just her nature to give him such a beautiful answer, the warmth and affection that poured out from her youthful soul for him made his heart flutter in delight. He wrapped an arm around her body, pulling her to his chest, and placed a gentle kiss on her crown. Her head rested over the surface of his heart, the doll squeezed between them, and neither said anymore because this was how she fell asleep for the rest of the night, and it didn't take him much longer either, to follow her in to dreamland.

Notes: Ah, I felt like writing some Chibi-Mayura & Kakusei Loki stories, lol. Even though it's an AU, Loki is still a god... and I guess you could assume that Mayura is reincarnated or something, if someone's looking for a reason behind all this, lol. *shrugs* -kuro.