"We'll always be together! It's a promise!" a young voice said happily, as a hand went on top of two others.
It was winter time in the garden realm, the snow covered the trees, buildings and the ground. Loki and Thor were in a process of making a snowman, they had already done rolled up a big pile of snow for the bottom and a smaller one for the middle, Thor put an even smaller ball of snow on top. Loki put buttons on for the eyes and a bucket on it's head while Thor drew the smile on with his finger. They then stood, Loki put his hands on his hips, proud of their work.
"Yosh! It's done" a sneeze came behind them, he turned to see Takeru running along the path, rubbing his nose.
"It's so cold" he muttered, Loki smirked and made a snowball, he threw it and it hit Takeru in the head. Takeru stopped running and turned to Loki, gritting his teeth.
"Gomen gomen, my hand slipped" Loki smirked.
"You bastard…" Takeru scooped up some snow and threw it at him, only to have Loki dodge it easily.
Loki laughed "You'll never hit me with those!" he ran off with Takeru chasing him.
"Wait you jerk!" he yelled as he threw another snowball. Hades and Yurika watched them from the steps.
"It's snowed quite a bit" Yurika said as she sat down besides him.
"Hai" he agreed "Winter snowfall is a snow joke" he chuckled as his own joke, a snowball hit him on the forehead, causing him to fall back.
"Gomen Hades-san!" Takeru apologized while Yurika giggled.
Yui stood on her tiptoes reaching for a book in the library, she leaned farther up but could still not reach it "Just a little more…" Suddenly a hand came up and got it for her, Yui stood on her feet and turned behind her to see who it was.
"Balder-san!"
"Here you go" he said as he gave her the green book.
"Arigato" Yui put it on a book trolley which had six other books on, they all had a title related to Christmas. Balder, wanting to help her, pushed it as he and Yui walked through the school hallways. "I didn't think the season would change just as we prepared for our cultural festival"
"The same thing happened during our seaside school" Balder reminded her
"Zeus-san really is fickle…" Balder turned to her and smiled "A winter cultural festival, I hope we can come up with some good ideas-"
All of a sudden they heard a rush of footsteps and cheers from boys and girls, they looked in front of them to see a load of the spirit students running towards them. Unfortunately as they go to them Yui got pushed away into the crowd.
"Balder-sama!"
"Why isn't our club practicing today?"
"Excuse me!" Yui said trying to push through "Please let me through-" she yelped as she got pushed away again.
"Gomen minna-san, I'm doing some research for the student council" Balder told them, he didn't look to happy to see them.
"Research? We'll help you!"
"Let is help you!"
"Excuse me...Please let me-" Yui got pushed out of the crowd but she rushed back in "Please let me-" and got pushed out again "Yosh"
"Could you please let me through?" Balder asked them kindly, he desperately wanted to move past them and get to the student council room.
"Your troubling Balder-sama!"
"Make way!"
"Then why don't you move? And you too!"
"You move!"
"I'll move after you do"
Balder signed as he could not get passed.
"Balder-san!" Balder looked down to see Yui in her knees holding her hand out to him "This way, now, while you can!" Yui managed to get Balder away from the crowd and run into another hallway without getting seen. They leaned against the wall as Yui caught her breath, when she did she looked at Balder and smiled "Let's see how things go from here"
"Are you alright?" he hurriedly asked her as he held her hand gently "Are you hurt?"
"Huh? I'm f-fine"
"Good, if anything happens to you I'll take responsibility for it" He told her
"H-Hai" Yui said "Ano Balder-san are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine"
"Oh, you can't get hurt can you?" she said, suddenly remembering that no one can hurt him.
"Because my mother loved me so much, in order to protect me from death, she made agreements with all things in creation" he explained to her "That's why no one can hurt me, it was my mother's promise"
"Promise?" she questioned in confusion, Balder looked down, sad.
"Everything that might cause me harm avoids me" He looked at her with a smile "But I can hurt myself, if I trip and fall"
Yui giggled "Now that you mentioned it, the first time we met you tripped" Balder smiled then looked at her seriously.
"You're strange, you've been strange since we met. Why does being around me not affect you?"
"Huh?" He then smiled at her.
"As god of light I subconsciously charm everyone around me, but you have not changed, you see me for who I truly am"
"A-Ano…" Balder leaned forward so that he was inches away from Yui's face.
"You're special"
"Huh?"
"I feel comfortable by your side" his hold on her hand tightened "I wish I could stay here forever" Yui gasped and was taken back by his words. Loki walked out of a corridor smiling and stopped when he saw Balder and Yui.
He glared at them.
"Christmas market?"
"Hai, in the human world Christmas is a widespread essential winter event"
"See? They decorate fir trees like this and enjoy feats together" Balder said as he put the book on the table for all of them to see, they were sitting in the council room where Yui and Yurika were telling them about Christmas. The gods looked at the page too see a picture of a family sitting at a table eating with their decorated Christmas tree behind them.
"Is this a Christmas market?" Tsukito asked the god of light
"No, a Christma market is a marketplace where decorations and food are sold" he replied "See? Like this" he showed them a page from another book where it showed a big three decorates with ball-balls, tinsel and all sorts of other decorations, it had a golden star on the top along with a red ribbon.
"Oooh" Apollon smiled as he saw the picture, to him the trees looked really nice and pretty.
"I understand…"Dionysos said
"Well? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do this?" Baler asked, Apollon stared at the picture longer before speaking.
"Kalos!"
"K-Kalos?"
"It meant 'the greatest'" Apollon explained to Yui "We'll open a Christmas market at the cultural festival!"
"Really?" the girls asked excitedly.
"From the photos, it seems showier than a typical cultural festival" Tsukito said as he picked up a book and looked at the images.
"I know" Balder said making everyone look at him "Why don't we set up booths in the inner courtyard? We can decorate trees there and turn them into a Christmas trees"
"That's sound wonderful" Yui smiled
"Great idea Balder-san!" Yurika praised.
"We should arrange the decorations at once" Tsukito informed them, Apollon closed his eyes and put a hand to his neck, he hummed as he was deep in thought.
"What's wrong, Agana Belea?" Balder asked
"I don't mind if it's just trees" Apollon answered as he opened his eyes and look at them, lowering his hand "But I prefer something explosive"
"E-Explosive?" Yui never thought that Apollon would say something like that!
"Hai, 'Art is explosive!' That's what I read in a book, we should finish with a flashy explosion!" he said excitedly "How much gunpowder will we need?"
"That isn't what they mean by 'art is explosive'" Yurika said as she looked at Apollon worriedly.
"Really?"
"Hey, look…" Dionysos put his book on the table for them too see "Some regions burn their trees at the end of Christmas to pray for good health"
"Then we should burn the trees in our-"
"Absolutely not!" Yui cut Apollon off.
"Awww…"
"But it would nice to have some kind of centerpiece" Baler thought, Tsukito then looked up from the book he was reading.
"If we can't come up with anything immediately why don't we think about booth's first?" he proposed.
"You're right" Badler agreed "Without booth's it isn't a market"
"How should we pick groups for booths?" Apollon asked "Draw lots? Play rock-paper-scissors?"
Balder looked at Yui with a smile, hoping that she'll pick to be with him.
"What you you think?" Dionysus asked the girls
"Well…" Yui was deep in thought on how to pick the groups, she needed something simply to do it.
"How about dividing them up by your mythology's nation of origin?" Yurika offered.
"Huh?" Balder looked at her shocked while the others looked confused.
"Good idea Yurika-chan" Yui praised her with a smile.
"By a myth?" Apollon questioned
"Hai, aside from me and Yui-chan you all live in the same dorms, that'll make it easier to work" Yurika explained to the blonde.
"So I would work you, Kusanagi Yui and Totsuka Takeru then" Tsukito summed up
"That's a great idea! I'm getting excited!" Apollon smiled.
Dionysus straightened up from his chair "Yosh, we should let the others know" he seemed excited for this market just like Apollon.
"Things are going to get busy" Tsukito said, knowing that everyone will be working hard.
"Hai!"
"I put my orders in the school store" Yui told Balder as they walked through one of the many hallways of the academy "Now I have to think about my booth"
"Why?" Balder asked as he stopped walking, Yui stopped as well and turned to him confused.
"Huh?"
"Why did you agree with Yurika-san's method that would separate us?"
"Separate?"
"Forming groups based on mythology! I wanted to be by your side, I wanted to always look upon you!" Yui jumped at his words and was taken back.
"Huh? Eto.."
"In my heart I have counted every time you have smiled at me or spoken to me" he told her, putting a hand on his chest "Every time the setting sun illuminates you hair and makes it shine…"
"Eh?" Now Yui was very confused by what Balder was saying, it didn't make any sense to her.
"Robbing me of those precious moments is a serious crime" he then walked closer to her "As punishment you will dine with me every day from now on" he grabbed her using using a bit of force and smiled "Now that that's decided, let's get dinner"
"But I need to talk to my group about our booth-"
"Hey Yui-chan!" the turned behind them too see Yurika, Takeru and Tsukito walking out of a corridor.
"Quit loafing around, weren't we going to discuss out both?" Takeru asked
"A-Ano.."
"Gomen you three" Badler cut in and wrapped an arm around Yui's shoulders "Actually we need to assist the teacher"
"Eh? But-"
"You do?" questioned Tsukito "Then I guess it can't be helped.
"A-Ano-"
"We'll make the booth decisions about our booth, see you later!" he waved, dragging Yurika with him as she just stood there watching them.
"W-wait!"
"Come on, Yui-san" Balder said pulling Yui to him "What shall we have for dinner? Fried-chicken? Or maybe ginger-fried pork?" he asked as he dragged her with him down the hallway.
"Wait Balder-san, why did you say that?"
"Balder!" Loki said happily as he ran between them, breaking Balder's hold on Yui arm "Where have you been Balder?"
"Loki, be careful! Apologize to Yui-san" Balder scolded him
"Hai…" he quickly turned to Yui and leaned down "Gomen!"
"It's fine" he stuck his tongue at her and wiggled his fingers while making a funny noise, she looked at him confused. He stopped and turned to Balder.
"Hey Balder let's get dinner together" he looked at Balder happily
"Gomen Loki, I promised that from now on I'd have dinner with Yui-san everyday" Loki turned his face to the side to glare at Yui, she was taken back and he quickly looked away.
"Really? That's too bad, and i prepared your favourite barbecue too.." If Balder wasn't going to come then Loki would have to force him by teasing him.
"Barbecue?"
"That's right" he fake pouted as he turned to his golden-haired friend "That meat you love so much" Balder started to sweat, Loki wasn't backing down and leaned closer to Balder lacing his hands together "There's so much meat! And it's so, so good"
"But I must dine with Yui-san…" Badler said, trying to ignore what Loki was saying but failed "I know!" He leaned up and smiled brightly "Yui-san, come eat barbecue with me!"
"Huh?" Loki and Yui looked surprised at Badler, who clap his hands in excitement.
"Yeah that's it, that's they way to go!" He walked to Yui and grabbed her hand and dragged her along with him as he walked.
"Nani?!" Yui looked at Balder in shock as he dragged her, after hearing Loki calling for him to stop she looked back at him to see him glaring at her. She didn't understand why Loki hated her.
The barbecue was held on the roof, it has grass on so people could lay down and talk amongst others. Thor was cooking the meat on the barbecue while Loki turned them over, Balder and Yui stood and waited for the food.
Balder was extremely happy as he watched the meat cook, he held his plate up as Loki put a cooked steak on it.
"Eat up Balder" Balder used his chopsticks to hold the food and eat it.
"Arigato Loki" he said as he ate a piece, Loki then gave Yui a plate with only vegetables on.
"Here, you eat too" he was smiling at her, but it doesn't take a genius to know that it was a fake smile.
"A-Arigato" Yui sweatdropped as she took the plate Why is this happening?
"Here" Yui looked up to see Balder holding a piece of meat with his chopsticks inches from Yui's mouth.
"Eh?"
"Here Yui-san, open up" he smiled and leaned closer
"Eh? But…"
"'Ah…'" Yui had no choice but to eat the piece from Balder's chopsticks "Is it good?"
"H-Hai" They heard something drop and saw Loki looking at them in shock.
"B-Balder gave...He gave someone his meat?"
He's this upset over one piece? Yui thought as she watched Loki.
"Hey you! What have to done to Balder!" Loki said angrily as he pointed at Yui "Do Japanese gods have some weird power?!"
"I didn't do...wait god? Do you mean me" she asked him, Loki looked at her weirdly.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Who else could I be referring to?"
"Ano, your wrong" she told him kindly "I'm not-"
"She's human" Loki looked at Balder confused.
"Eh?"
"Loki, Yui-san is a human, as well as Shimizu-san" Yui noticed that Balder didn't call Yurika 'Yurika-san' as he normally did? What made him call her by her surname?
"Eh?...Eh?!" Needless to say Loki was shocked "Human? This girl?" he pointed at her.
"You mean you didn't know" she asked him, Loki turned to her, a bit angry.
"Whether I knew isn't the point!" What's a human doing here? Isn't this a place for gods to study humans?!"
"W-Well, Zeus-san"
"She's here to represent humanity as well as Shimizu-san" Balder told his friend "They're helping us properly understand humans"
"I don't believe this...humans" Loki clutched his head in despair "I was living with humans"
"Do you have to say it that way?" Yui asked him annoyed
"Thor did you know about this?" he asked his friend
"Hai"
"No way! Why? Am I the only one who didn't know this?" he asked them "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Gomen" Balder smiled sadly at Loki "I never realized you didn't know" Loki clutched his head again and went on his knees.
"This sucks, this seriously sucks" he muttered "I can't believe a human, of all things, is Balder's...If that's how it is" he slightly raised his head to look at Yui, who was watching him and glared "Now I want to keep you apart even more"
Yui's eyes widen at his words
Outside in the school yards the markets were being set up, everyone had boxes of decorations and were painting their booths. At Yui's booth, Tsukito and Yurika were painting while Takeru was on the roof doing god knows what.
"I'm going to the school store then" Yui announced "Yurika-chan, can you come with me?" Yuria turned to Tsukito.
"Can you managed without me?" Tsukito nodded at her and Yurika nodded at Yui "Arigato Tsukito-san" The girls started to walk, they chatted on their way but got interrupted by a certain god.
"Yui-san!" Balder ran up to them and they stopped.
"Balder-san"
"What's up? Where are you going? Can I go with you?" he questioned her with a smile
"U-Um…"
"Balder!" Loki ran up to them while Thor walked "Balder, what are you doing? Where are you going? Can we go with you?"
From then on whenever Yui and Balder where together Loki would always but in with Thor watching, he interrupted them when they were talking eating lunch, talking about their lessons and even P.E where he leaned his hands on Yui while she was stretching, causing her back to hurt.
Yui winced as she walked down the academy stairs, rubbing her back, she was with Yurika as they walked, both had changed back into their uniform.
"The pain will go away in time Yui-chan" Yurika told her, she had that pain many times as she was very active in P.E lessons "Take a cold bath and then have a warm shower, it really helps"
"Arigato Yurika-chan" Yui smiled at her friend "You always know how to cure pain"
"Being Captain of the football team as it's advantages" Yurika winked, they reached the bottom of the stairs where they heard a familiar voice.
"Wait Loki!"
They leaned pass the wall to see Balder and Loki, by the looks of the it they weren't having a friendly conversation.
"What do you think you're doing?" Bader asked him
"Nanii? What's wrong Balder?" Loki asked, not loosing his teasing tone "Your making a scary face"
"Don't be foolish" Balder replied "I'm trying to have a serious conversation.
"Serious?"
"Why are you so cruel to Yui-san?"
"What are you talking about? I don't understand...Oh anyway-"
"Loki" Balder looked at him seriously "Look into my eyes"
"W-Why are you being so serious?" Loki asked him, a bit surprised from his change "She's just a human girl, who cares about-"
"Loki!" Loki's eyes widen at the raise of Balder's voice "Don't disappoint me any further" Loki was silent for a minute before replying, putting on his cheerful tone.
"Oh right! Come to think of it, there's something I have to do…" Loki said as he began to walk away
"Wait Loki! I'm not finished-"
"I'll listen you you later"
"Loki!" Yii was about to step out and say something when a hand touched her shoulder, she looked back to see Thor standing behind her and Yurika.
"Thor-san.."
"Could you please wear a bell so I know when you're coming? Your like a fucking ninja.." Yurika said with annoyance.
The girls followed Thor outside where they stood on the steps.
"We have always been together...Balder, Loki and I" he said "The three of us enraged the other gods with our recklessness, because Loki was especially mischievous he was ostracized and left alone. Even Balder, god of light, felt alone despite being surrounded by people due to his power to attract others. But opposites attract, and so the two were drawn to each other and became friends"
"Loki!" Balder put a hand on Loki's shoulder, making him stop walking away "Why are you running Loki? What bothers you so much?"
Loki turned around to face Balder "Why do you care about that human? Why?!" Balder blushed and avoided his friend's eyes
"She's special"
"Huh?"
"When I met her I knew right away, that she...that Yui-san is special to me. As I spent time with her I experienced her sincerity, earnestness and kindness. Being with her makes my heart dance, it warms my heart. She's special, Loki. She is special"
Loki smirked "Special? Your special to me! You, Thor and I...We could do anything together, we promised we'd always be together, no matter what!"
"They always did everything together, I was always there, watching them"
"We'll always be together! It's a promise!"
Balder looked away from Loki "Of course I remember, it's an important promise"
"Then!..." Loki gritted his teeth as Balder continued to avoid looking at him.
The three were now walking outside of the academy, the girls listened carefully as Thor continued to speak.
"Loki and Balder share a special bond that not even I can interfere with" he looked at them from the corner of his eye "Like the friendship you two have"
"A special bond…"
"Yui-san" they looked behind them to see Balder running to them "We said we'd have dinner together every day..." he reached them and stopped before Yui "I didn't see you so I thought you'd already eaten"
"Balder-san, a-ano.."
"Well let's go" he said as he grabbed her hand "For dinner tonight I recommend a juicy Hamburg steak"
"Huh? Ah w-wait!" he dragged her with him as he walked away, Loki watched from the window, glaring.
The sun was setting as Yurika walked along the path while carrying a small box of decorations, she was walking to her booth and looked at the others, impressed with their work. But, she was focusing at the earlier events of today.
"What's wrong with Balder-san today? He was acting differently than normal" she said to herself, she saw how Balder looked at Yui since they met, she saw how Balder would always smile at her and wanted to be by her side. Yurika even saw the looks he gave to the other gods as they stood together and talked, she also noticed how cold he was becoming around her and she didn't know why. Was he angry at her? Jealous? She wished she knew so that they could fix the problem, but the god didn't seem to be in the mood.
The words of what Thor told her repeated in her mind.
"Loki and Balder have a special bond that not even I can interfere with, like the friendship you two have"
"Hey!" Yurika broke out of her thoughts as she saw Loki running up to her "Hey there! Kitty cat.."
"Loki-san" Yurika watched as the god stopped in front of her "Do you need something?" something seemed different about Loki but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"I need you help" His common smile remained on his face as did his cheerful tone, but it held a bit of seriousness in it, something was definitely up.
"Help?"
"Hai, come here" He grabbed her and pulled her, making her drop the box of decorations and dragged her between two booths, he stood in front of her as she was put to the back of the wood of the booth.
"What the hell-"
"Quiet!" his cheerful tone and smile now gone "Listen to me carefully" Yurika was taken back by his tone so she kept silent "Your in danger"
"Danger? What do you mean?"
"Balder wants Yui, and he doesn't like it that your with her nearly every second of the day" he explained "If this carries on then he'll be forceful"
"What do you mean by that?" Yurika asked him, slightly worried
"He'll hurt you" Loki seemed troubled as he said this, Yurika felt something from him, like he was worried for her. But it can be true.
"Hurt..me?" Yurika would never of thought that Balder would hurt her, or anyone. He was kind and gentle, he helped out with everything Zeus threw at them. "B-But what will he do to Yui-chan?"
"I don't know" he admitted "But it won't good, that's why we've got to keep them apart, if we don't then they'll both get hurt" Yurika was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked "I thought you hated humans…"
"You knew?" he asked, surprised. Yurika shook her head.
"No, Yui-chan and Thor-san told me, but why the sudden change of heart?"
Loki eyes lowered a bit "I don't know why, I'm only doing this to keep Balder safe" his tone lowered, it was quiet and gently like. Yurika couldn't help but smile at the redhead.
"Arigato, Loki-san, for telling me this" Loki looked up at her, a bit surprised "Who knew you had a gentle side"
Loki seemed taken back and slightly blushed "Hah? What are you talking about? You humans are weird"
And now he's back to his normal self Yurika thought happily, she then got serious "Yui-chan and I are with the same booth, I'll keep an eye out for Balder-san and make sure to hid Yui-chan if he comes by"
"Good" Loki said, going back to his serious change "I'll make sure Balder stays awake" he then leaned forward, his face inches from her, making her blush.
"N-Nani?" Loki grinned and leaned back
"Nothing~ just wanted to make you blush"
"Moi! Loki-san!"
Unknown to them, Balder was watching them from a window in the academy building, fortunately for them he didn't know what they were saying, but he knew one thing…
He didn't like seeing them together.
Apollon stood on a small wooden podium in the center of the market's, where there were numerous of paths leading out, all the spirit students and the gods (except Balder, Loki, Yui and Yurika) were crowded around him, watching as he made an announcement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the day has finally arrived for-"
"Your talking too much!" Dionysos said loudly with a smirk "Hurry it up!" the spirit students laughed as his joking, Apollon blushed as Dionysos embarrassed him.
"Jeez Dee-Dee, the opening speech is the student council president's job! It's my job!" he whined, in the crowd Hades turned and smiled to Takeru and Tsukito.
"It's time to turn on the lights"
"Hai" Tsukito agreed, he then looked around which got his brothers attention
"What's up Brother?"
"I don't see Shimizu Yurika and Kusanagi Yui" Takeru's eyes widened at his words.
"B-Balder-san..Um, the lightning ceremony..." Yui looked nervously at Balder who had dragged her away from her booth to an area behind the markets on academy grounds. Yui felt scared by Balder, he was acting differently and she didn't like it, right now she wanted to run away, but she couldn't.
"How do you feel about me?" he asked her quietly but seriously.
"Eh?" Balder grabbed her shoulder with force, making it hurt "Ow!"
"Is it someone else? Do you love someone else? Shimizu-san? Loki?"
"Balder-san what are you talking about?" her fear was rising, why was he asking so many questions? She didn't understand what he was saying, she was so confused!
Balder took his hand off her shoulder and took a step back, looking taken back at her question "I see...I understand"
"Five!" the crowd chanted with Apollon for the countdown for the lights.
"In that case…"
"Four!"
"I'll make it so you can see only me" Balder said, his happy aura now gone, infused with darkness and jealously.
"Three!"
Yui eyes widen as Balder stepped closer to her.
"Two!"
"Stop, Balder!" Loki shouted as he ran towards them
"One!"
Balder had a grip of of Yui's chin and was getting closer and closer to Yui's lips, he was smirking and his eyes held darkness. Yui was stood in fear.
"Yui-chan!"
"Zero!" the lights all around the market and trees turned on, lightening up the area.
Yurika grabbed onto Yui's arm and pulled her away, Loki did the same and stood in front of her as Yurika pushed Yui behind her. Balder glared at them and Yui held onto Yurika's arm, finally feeling safe.
"Yurika-chan" she whispered in relief, she went closer to Yurika who wrapped her arms around her.
"Why?" Loki gritted his teeth "Why Balder? Look at me only Balder!" Balder didn't say anything and continued to glare at Loki "You...You belong to me!"
