- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

Devotion

written by Kurosu

In the distance, he could see the train compartment waiting for him, along with his two sons and a shikigami, plastered against the background of endless trees and an orange hue sky. He lifted his green eyes to the vastness above them, a certain longing from the depths of his heart that sought some sort of freedom from his desires, though he wasn't sure why the ache continued to linger when he had made his decision.

Each step forward felt like the weight of the Nine Worlds upon him yet he did not stop, pushing forward until he stood before the three of them. He was quiet, soaking in each of their figures and faces eager to receive his presence and his decision. A soft smile fell upon his lips, reassuring himself that this was the correct path for him, for them.

"Loki-sama."

'Daddy.'

"Loki-tama..."

"Guys..." he paused and took in a deep breath before resuming, "let's return to Asgard."

Overlooking Yamino's gasp, Loki dropped his eyes and moved forward, hands in his pockets, in between his sons, avoiding the appalled stares and opened mouths wanting to question his decision, but no one dared to ask the inevitable, knowing that it took a lot of willpower to come to this conclusion. Even if it wasn't the one they were expecting, their loyalty and priority would always be with Loki, and he must have a reason for returning to the realm of the gods.

The three exchanged quick worrisome glances before turning to follow the god, who had reached their ride, but a loud voice cut through the awkward silence.

"LOKI!"

Upon hearing his name, he stopped, a hand pressed against the side of the door, his back still faced towards the others, while Yamino twisted halfway to their fellow god, who stood a distance a ways at the moment, and didn't blame him for the anger and disbelief in his tone, praying that things could be settled peacefully.

Fenrir was the one to bark at Narugami, 'What do you think you're doing? Using that tone with daddy. If you're gonna return with us, then hurry up.'

Loki removed his hand from the door, briefly taking a moment to gather himself, before turning around to face his long time friend, who was not happy with him at all. His emerald eyes, sometimes flickered blue within the light, clashed against the stormy, chocolate orbs of the god of thunder, Mjollnir gripped tightly in his right hand, as he hastily closed the gap between them.

The distance shrunk to the point that Narugami reached out his left hand and grabbed Loki by the collar of his burgundy coat. His mind was frenzied with all sorts of thoughts, from Loki to Mayura to Asgard, his heightened emotions obviously on display for the world because he was just that type of person to wear them in the open. Deeply hurt and upset, like a betrayal against him but it wasn't. He could only feel this on behalf of someone close to them, someone he thought that was important to Loki, but he had been wrong apparently.

Narugami shouted at the still god, no reaction from him, just apathetic eyes staring back, "Are you really doing it, Loki?! Are you just going to return to Asgard like this?!"

"We don't belong here," came his cold reply, "And it's been my goal since the beginning."

"What about Daidouji?!" his voice grew louder, if that was even possible, anger seething through it, and one could almost hear the thunderous roars of the skies in the background as it darkened, "Do you know what she's going through?! Searching everywhere for you!"

"It's... been taken care of."

Narugami, confused, let him go and took a step back, staring at the trickster god that he once called his best friend straightening out his clothes. The statement made him realized what Loki had done, "You... You erased her memories?"

Loki averted his eyes elsewhere, his silence avoidance on rhetoric question answered it, and if Narugami wasn't angry before, he was now furious, "How could you! How could you just take that away from her?!"

"I had no choice!" the god whipped his equally raging eyes at the swordsman, with dark skies filled with streaks of light, "I was sparing her from the pain of loss!"

He hated excuses, unjustified reasons for selfishness was all he saw and heard, and it boiled him inside that Loki had become the god that everyone believed him to be, and even he now was losing faith in his friend. For all that they had gone through, their many adventures in Asgard, Jotunheim and even Midgard with their mortal friend, he was forsaking it all just to attain his desire of godhood again.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Narugami trembled in indescribable rage, every inch of him filled with the wrath of a god, and continuous thunderous sounds blaring overhead didn't let anyone forget that. He lowered his head, eyes tucked away from the sight of Loki, attempting to calm his nerves, but nothing was ever going to help mend the broken friendship.

His voice was low and thick, each word increase with pain and fury, "You selfish bastard... You never considered her feelings at all!" Both hands at his side, one still holding Mjollnir, clenched tightly, baring his knuckles white, as he snapped his head up, shouting, "You... Dammit!"

Narugami whirled around, away from them, "Go back to Asgard then! But I'm staying here!"

Surprised by the declaration, Loki remained in his spot, now doubting his decision, after realizing the truth to Narugami's words, but he did think it was in her best interest to forget him and everything that had happened. It was to spare her from that terrible sense of loss again, wasn't it?

The night would be falling soon, and it was never a good idea to stay out late after dark, especially for a high school student like herself. So being a good girl and daughter, she was heading home after a long evening of walking apparently. She didn't remember why she was at the park or how she ended up there - quite a mystery - but after waking up to that realization, she decided to hurry home, lest she worried her overprotective father.

She rounded the corner and proceeded down the sidewalk, a slight jog in her pace, but the sudden feel of déjà vu crept down her spine as she came to an abrupt stop. She turned to her right and eyed the location beyond the iron gates of the property, only to find a pile of rubble and debris. She stepped up to the closed gates, fingers wrapping around the solid bars, curious eyes peering at the destruction, wonderment dancing in them.

"Daidouji," she heard her name being called and turned around.

She blinked at the young man in the dark gakuran walking up to her, his expression solemn and serious. Her head tilted slightly to the side as he stood in front of her, a wooden sword ever in his hand, "Hm? Narugami-kun, what are you doing?"

Hearing her say his name, he felt so relieved, and all the tension in his body lifted in to nothingness. He shook his head, smiling to himself, "Nothing. But," he glanced towards the destroyed property and frowned, "what are you doing here?"

"I was on my way home," she stated with a shrug and turned back to the landscape, "I wonder why this place was destroyed."

He was quiet for a moment, wondering what he should tell her, and then said, "Eh, the owner left."

"He moved? But why destroy the house?" she asked curiously.

"He won't be returning."

"Eh, Narugami-kun!" she leaned close to him, grinning, "You sound like you know the owner!"

"N-No! I just... heard." He turned his head away from her, scratching his chin, his eyes unconsciously gazing upward to the skies. He heard the familiar hum of deep thought emitted from the back of her throat and chanced a look at her, and she was indeed thinking with an arm across her abdomen and the other resting on it, an index finger to her chin as she thought. It was her habitual thinking pose that he found to be cute and endearing.

"Ah, I understand!" she chirped and held the same pointed finger out to him, "The owner died and wanted to go to heaven, instead of remaining on earth to haunt his home, so the best way to do that was to destroy the house so he wouldn't have a place to haunt!

"Do you think he made it to heaven?"

His brown eyes softened at the sight of her usual antics, and he laughed, "Geez, Daidouji, you sure got some crazy imaginations there."

"Oh!" she exclaimed out of the blue, a hand over her mouth at an epiphany, "I just solved a mystery!"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, tugging her along, "I'll walk you home."

"I'm not a child, you know," she said, even though she pouted like one.

"I'm walking you like a gentleman would for a lady," he sweatdropped, still holding her wrist, but she didn't resist or hit him, so that was definitely a good sign in his future, not that he really thought that far ahead. He was just happy that she was smiling again, even though the method was not to his liking, but perhaps, Loki had been right to do this after all.

He shook that horrible thought aside, because it was the coward's way out, and he wasn't one to disrespect a friend's feelings and memories either. No matter how much pain it would cause, he couldn't do what Loki did. He didn't want Mayura to forget that he never existed, but that may also be selfish of him, and he frowned at that thought, being lumped with Loki after all.

"He~h, Narugami-kun is awfully quiet!"

"Hey Daidouji."

"Hm?"

"Would you stop chasing mysteries?"

"No way! There's nothing better than chasing them!"

"There is to! Like help me with my jobs!"

"Boring!"

"It's not- Okay, maybe some are, but I need to make a living here..."

"No thanks! I love my mysteries."

"Ugh, love something else!"

"Like what?"

"..."

"I thought so!"

"Me."

"What?"

"Nevermind."

"Narugami-kun! You're being all mysterious!"

"Heh, is that so?"

"What's with that smile? Narugami-kun, tell me!"

As strange as it might be for someone to look down upon Midgard and see a god laughing carelessly in the presence of one mortal girl, it was just natural for the two teenagers to find company with each other, when, perhaps, this was the only memory that was left for her. A memory that he would nurture and watch over for the rest of her life, letting it blossom in to something more in the many days ahead, because he couldn't imagine his eternal life without her.

Notes: Surprised that it's a MayuGami? Lol, it came to me last night, after I skimmed through a Japanese fanfic of the two - my Japanese is pretty rusty, lol. Anyway since there aren't many MayuGami stories out there, I felt like contributing. This probably seemed more like friendship than anything, but you could also see it romantically if you want - it has potential. Thanks for reading! -kuro.