Bandages
A Matantei Loki Ragnarok Fanfic
Chapter 2
At Yamino's insistence, Mayura returned to the Enjaku Detective Agency for dinner and to explain everything to Fenrir, Ecchan and Narugami, who had taken up the habit of eating dinner at the Trickster's home. They took the bus back towards the sprawling mansion and walked in tense silence.
Four months of not seeing each other was quite a long time. Their reunion over Loki's bandaged body did not yield a very good opportunity to say, "Hi, how have you been?" Yamino, quite gallantly, held his silence. It would be to no one's benefit to have the imminent conversation in public. Everything was going to come out. Better it be in the sanctuary of the agency than the public streets.
More than the silence, Yamino was grateful that Mayura was obediently walking towards the house. He did not want to force the girl into doing anything. A man forcing a girl was never good in any context. Even less so on the street and when the girl was already on the verge of tears. There's nothing like a girl crying to make a man look guilty. People were already giving Yamino weird looks as he walked two steps behind the girl with salty tears misting her eyes. With his heightened senses, Yamino could taste the difference between the salt in her tears and the sweat of the thousand people in the near proximity.
The gates appeared and a loud barking filled the humid air. Ecchan had gotten the house door open under the commands of the little black dog.
"Nii-san, stop barking. You'll make the neighbors upset," Yamino opened the gate for Mayura, then closed it behind them.
"Hello, Fenrir, Ecchan," Mayura knelt and let Fenrir clamber awkwardly into her arms for a ride back into the coolness of the house.
"Mayura! Mayura!" Ecchan chanted as he zoomed around the girl's head. Though the cheerful little summon tried his best to hide his sadness when Mayura stopped visiting, he did nothing to shield his exuberance at seeing her again.
They barely got to the dining hall when they heard a thundering of feet. They automatically moved out of the way so Narugami could charge straight in for his chair.
"Oi! Megane, where's the food at?" Narugami threw himself down in his chair and propped Mjollnir beside him against the table. "Oh, Daidouji, long time no see. How's it going?"
"Hi, Narugami-kun."
"Yo! Food!" Narugami didn't really hear Mayura's response. "And where's Loki?"
"Dad ain't here, genius," Fenrir growled out from where he still sat in Mayura's arms.
"Oh, did Odin catch up with him or somethin'?"
"Loki-kun got in a car accident," Mayura said as she clamped a hand over Fenrir's muzzle to stop the onslaught of swearing that was going to happen.
"Car? Loki? How'd that happen? He hates vehicles."
"More so now, I believe," Yamino entered from the kitchen loaded down with a tray of sandwiches. "Loki-sama was hit by a car as he tried to cross the street."
"You'd think he'd still manage to avoid getting hit. Magic and all, ya know."
"He was preoccupied," Yamino looked up from where he was pouring tea to where Mayura finally slumped into a chair.
"We are still talking about Loki, aren't we? What could he possibly be thinking about that would override his instincts to protect himself? We all know how strong that instinct is," Narugami said around mouthfuls of food.
"I think Mayura-san is the best person to answer that question," Yamino said and punctuated his statement by putting a cup of tea before the girl in question.
"How am I the best person to answer that? I have no idea what Loki-kun is thinking," Mayura hid behind her cup from the four sets of staring eyes.
"Loki-tama is always thinking of you, Mayura," Ecchan said from where he floated beside the god of thunder. "He hides it. Tries to, anyway."
"Dad fails miserably. He turned down all of the cases that came in this week," Fenrir was sitting on a cushion on the chair beside Mayura.
"I don't get it," Mayura peered into her cup.
"Really," Narugami licked the crumbs from his fingers as he swallowed the last bite. "I thought it was obvious that Loki is head over heels for you. He's told you everything."
"And what does that have to do with why he's hospitalized right now?"
The four mystical entities blinked and looked at each other. Each silently passing on the responsibility of telling her to the next person. It was like a silent game of hot potato until Yamino finally broke down.
"You were there. At the place where the accident happened. Loki-sama must have seen you. All reason and instincts must have shut off for some reason. What were you doing?"
"Studying," simply speaking, Mayura responded with wide eyes.
"Alone?" Fenrir inquired.
"No, I have a tutor."
"A man?"
"He's only a year older than me. That doesn't mean he's a man."
"Male; bad enough," Fenrir looked to his sibling who gave a nod of agreement.
"Why can't you explain more simply?"
"Dude, he's jealous, Daidouji."
"My head hurts," Fenrir growled. "Let Dad talk to her. She's not understanding us. Besides, it's a conversation they should have."
"You're right, Nii-san."
"Damn right, I'm right. Dinner!"
00000000000000
Mayura was forced to stay for dinner and the night at the agency. Yamino put out a humble, yet extensive, spread for the twin appetites in Fenrir and Narugami. After which, the man gave the thunder god strict orders to keep an eye on Mayura while he made up a spare room for her.
The deity didn't have much of a task as the girl wandered into the office to sit forlornly on the couch. Narugami stayed silent with this partner sitting easily at his side, easily within grasping reach; just in case Mayura did anything drastic. But all she did was sit and stare at the empty chair behind the desk. Every few minutes, she would look around the room and sigh. While it was obvious that she was troubled, Narugami made no action to instigate a conversation. All the same, Mayura did nothing to speak to her old classmate.
"Mayura-san, I set up the room for you. There are some clothes in the closet for your use as well," Yamino peeked around Narugami's shoulder.
"Thank you, Yamino-san. I think I'll turn in for the night. Good night, Yamino-san, Narugami-kun," said Mayura. She stood, her eyes half glazed over, and managed to get to the doorway without tripping over her own feet. As she went down the hallway to the stairs, she bumped along, like a car skidding around a guardrail on a cliff; which was what her mind felt like, even if her outward expression was more like a zombie.
Finding the bedroom by the fact that Yamino left the door open and the light on, Mayura entered it and leaned back, shutting the door with her entire weight. The room itself was simple. There was a large canopied bed, a dresser, a small writing desk, a bookshelf and a vanity. Everything was done in the scheme of a pale green, resembling the home owner's eye color. The bathroom was equally functional oriented like the bedroom, though Mayura barely noticed as she used the toilet, washed up and brushed her teeth. There was a hair brush at the vanity in the main room, so she seated herself and tried to untangle her hair from the mess it became throughout the day's events. Something that was only marginally easier than unraveling her mind from what had transpired throughout her day.
Her mind was a far cry from the outward appearance of serenity. Inside, she was a turbulent mess. She was stressed from her studies; work exhausted her and then her tutor dumped a bomb on her only moments before the crash outside the store drew Mayura and her attention away. And, of course, there was Loki. He alone was a topic that would make Mayura crazy on a normal high school day. But she was no longer a high schooler. Now she was older, knew more things. With which came an onslaught of more worries. Like feelings.
With a heavy sigh, Mayura put the brush down and leadenly went to the dresser to find something to wear. It was more like an armoire and when she pulled the doors open, it was as if she had a bucket of ice water dumped on her. Inside, neatly arranged, were simple clothes, but all feminine and all in her size.
Still holding onto the door handles, Mayura turned a critical eye on the room. Things were different in the room than what Loki had in his. The vanity, for one. A critical eye caught that that the pillows were cotton filled, as she preferred, rather than the feathers of Loki's preference. Even the naturally dark wood furniture was different than the light color of Loki's.
"I wonder how long this room has been set up?" Mayura pondered to herself.
It was unsettling; thinking that there was a god who made up a room specifically for her. Mayura wasn't quite sure what the appropriate response would be. Appropriate or not, the only thing she could do, was crawl into the bed, cover her head with the blankets and try to clear her mind enough to get some semblance of rest.
