A/N: Ayyy short chapter. Fun to write, hopefully even more fun to read. Huge thanks to ArcMeow for Beta-ing. Check out his work, they're a huge inspiration for me.

Chapter 10: Not Out Of The Race

"Yo, Godou. You're the bartender today?" Shakti asked as she slid onto the stool across him.

Godou nodded. "Mama Mia's off today, so she asked me to cover." He hadn't seen the Ganesha Familia's Captain in a while. Apparently they'd just returned from an expedition of their own. "What can I get you?"

"Two beers."

He raised an eyebrow. "Two?"

"Yeah. One for me, one for you."

That same eyebrow twitched. "You know you have to pay for my share, right?"

The blue-haired woman across him nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just don't like drinking alone."

Sighing, Godou began to pour the drinks into the mugs. Personally, he thought drinking on the job was unprofessional. But according to Mama Mia, if he couldn't get drunk and it meant more beers were getting sold, then there was nothing wrong with it. "Where's your Familia?" he asked, realizing that the rest of the Ganesha Familia was conspicuously absent.

"They like another tavern. So I'm here alone."

Godou slid Shakti's filled mug across the table top, smiling in satisfaction when it stopped perfectly in front of her without spilling a drop of beer. He'd spent hours perfecting that technique.

"Shouldn't you be with them?" He took a sip of his own beer. Bitter, bubbly, and sour as usual. The recent experience with Soma he had hadn't affected his general dislike for alcohol.

Shakti made a shrugging motion as she drank from her mug. "The bartender here is cuter."

He rolled his eyes. And here was someone else that was also determined to recruit him. "Flattery isn't going to convince me to join your Familia."

He frowned after he finished his sentence, his mind drifting off a little. It felt a little odd, having not seen Loki for a whole week. In fact, it seemed like the entire Loki Familia had begun to avoid the Hostess. When word spread a couple days ago that Aiz Wallenstein had reached Level Six, Godou had half-expected Loki to burst into the tavern with her usual entourage to celebrate.

But she hadn't. Not a single person from her Familia had come.

He blamed Lancelot.

He felt the goddess bristle at the accusation.

'Why is she still upset? I don't recall saying anything that controversial."

Godou was quite sure it wasn't anything that Lancelot had said in particular that had irked Loki.

'Oh. The kiss,' Lancelot thought, as if it were a mere triviality that had resurfaced in her mind. 'You kissed back,' she pointed out.

And indeed, he had. Actually...why had he? He still remembered the sensation very clearly. When Lancelot's soft and moist lips had pressed into his own, he had initially resisted. But when her tongue had wormed its way past his teeth to brush against his own tongue, the world had simply melted away then.

For a short, blissful moment back then, Godou had completely forgotten everything about Orario and its Dungeon. About being a Campione and fighting Gods. About being all alone. Right then and there, locked in that passionate moment, he had been at peace with himself, almost as if he was still surrounded by the people he loved, and was one with them.

'None of that would have happened if you had called on me instead,' Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi suddenly chimed in. 'I would never kiss you.'

Godou balked at the mere thought of it.

"-Godou!"

He blinked, suddenly jolted back into reality by Shakti's call, realizing that the girl had been waving her hand in front of him for who-knew-how-long already. He shoved the pair of bickering Gods into the back of his mind. He was still on the clock, and there was a customer right in front of him. He would decide how to deal with the Loki situation at a later time.

It would be bad for business if the Hostess lost the patronage of her whole Familia, after all.

And also, Godou didn't want to lose one of the few friends that he still had.

XxXxXxXxXx

Riveria slammed the door wide open, ignoring the groans of protests coming from the blanket-wrapped figure curled up on the bed.

"Get up, Loki. It's been a whole week."

"Mmbgh unhbghmm," replied the bed in an incoherent mumble.

Riveria strode to the window, and with a sweeping motion, tore open the curtains. Sunlight flooded Loki's room for the first time since Kusanagi Godou had stepped foot into the Loki Familia's home.

The elf stood in front of the bed, waiting for her goddess to make some kind of response. When none came, she spoke instead. "You're acting like a heartbroken teenage girl. You're a goddess for goodness' sake."

"Mmbgh un-"

Riveria couldn't take it anymore. She violently yanked the blanket off the bed.

"BAHDUH!?"

And with it, Loki tumbled off the bed in an ungraceful heap.

Riveria tried to hide her amusement as Loki hissed at the unwelcome exposure to sunlight, using her hands to cover her eyes.

"Why'd you go and do that for, Mama? Didn't you see the 'Do Not Disturb' Sign I left on the doorknob?"

Riveria threw the object she'd been holding onto unwillingly at Loki's face. "Loki. Your used underwear does not constitute as a 'Do Not Disturb' sign. If anything, it is a cry for help."

"I don't need help," Loki mumbled. The goddess brought the offending garment close to her nose and sniffed it once before immediately making a disgusted face and chucking it towards another corner of the room. "As you can see," she said quite proudly as she re-wrapped herself with her blanket. "I have everything under control. I have a plan," she declared boldly.

"Oh, do share," Riveria said with undisguised mirth. She wondered what Kusanagi Godou would have thought of the scene in front of her. She doubted it would be of anything favorable towards Loki.

"I'm going stay here and wait until all these annoying feelings go away." Loki jumped onto the bed. "So, shoo. You're getting in the way of my plan."

"No. I'm not going to let you do that. You've tried that for a week and clearly it hasn't worked. We're going to work through this the mortal way."

"The mortal way?"

"We're going to talk about it. That's how normal people overcome difficult feelings. We talk."

Loki snorted. "Talk? Like that's going to solve anything. Gods don't talk. Gods stay put and let their feelings fester and bottle up, before letting it all explode in gigantic displays of power that end up creating amazing natural phenomena."

"That's exactly what we're trying to avoid, Loki. We're doing this. Everyone's worried. Even Aiz is. She broke another record when she reached Level Six, and all you did was pat her on the back. Loki, something is wrong with you, and you know it."

Riveria knew that bringing up Aiz had been the right decision when guilt flashed across Loki's face.

"Ah, right. Aiz reached Level Six. I can't believe I forgot about that." Loki let out a sigh. "Fine. We'll try this your way. Let's talk."

Riveria allowed herself to smile, bringing herself to sit across Loki on her bed.

"So," she began. "Kusanagi Godou."

"Yes. Kusanagi Godou. Everything is his fault," Loki grumbled.

Riveria had half a mind to agree with her. But on hindsight, barring the little display with Lancelot, she'd realized almost everything had been out of his control. "Let's talk about him then. What do you think of Kusanagi Godou?"

The question wasn't just to help Loki express herself, but also to sate Riveria's personal curiosity. Loki treated Kusanagi Godou differently from virtually everyone else, even fellow Gods. She wanted to know why.

"Stupid. Annoying. Ungrateful," Loki listed off.

"You're going to have to be honest if this is going to work," Riveria said gently.

Inwardly, she found herself starting to actually compare Loki to an angsty teenage girl. She knew that Gods, in Heaven, perceived emotions differently in their Divine Forms. Because of that, Loki must have been experiencing some feelings for the first time, considering that her human form wasn't that old. She hoped that this wasn't going to be as troublesome as explaining puberty to Aiz had been.

"I was honest," Loki protested. "At least, I was for the last one."

"Ungrateful?"

Loki nodded.

"Why do you think that, Loki?"

"Why?" Loki repeated. "Did you not see him snogging with Lancelot back then? I mean, all this time, I've been extra nice to him, visiting him at the Hostess almost everyday, inviting him to join the Familia and all that. But then he's always turned me down, and suddenly he has the nerve to do that with another goddess so shamelessly?"

Riveria was a little taken aback at Loki's outburst. And confused, too. "What's one have to do with the other? Joining your Familia has nothing to do with Godou being in a relationship with another God."

"Don't you get it, Riveria?" Loki exclaimed. "I wanted him to pick me! But he chose Lancelot!"

That answer did nothing to abate Riveria's puzzlement. "What are you talking about? Godou and Lancelot have clearly been together before he met you. Did you expect him to cut ties with his existing goddess just for you?"

"Well...yeah," Loki admitted. "He can't have two goddesses. That's not fair."

"Why not?" Riveria asked. "I mean, obviously, Godou's going to pick her over you if he's forced to choose."

Loki scowled. "You're supposed to be on my side," she said.

"I'm on nobody's side," Riveria said. "It's the truth. Godou's known Lancelot longer and better."

"Well, I still want him," Loki said, hugging her pillow tightly against her chest. "I want him so badly that it hurts. But he already has Lancelot, so now I don't know what to do."

Want him so badly that it...hurt?

Riveria blinked. This was starting to sound almost as if Loki...

She shook her head to rid herself of the thought. That was impossible...right?

She had to make sure. "Loki. Do you...like Kusanagi Godou?"

Loki looked at her as if she'd asked a stupid question. Riveria thought it was too, but it still had to be asked nonetheless.

"Of course I like him. Why would I not? I mean he's a nice guy, once you peel him away from Lancelot, that blonde upstart. And he helped you guys out in the Dungeon, how could I ever hate him for that?"

Riveria felt the corners of her lips get pulled down. While Loki had answered her question, she had a feeling her God had grossly misunderstood the question.

"I mean, romantically. Do you have romantic feelings for Godou?"

Loki tilted her head. "You mean love?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Loki readily shook her head. "Nuh uh. The one I love is Aiz."

Riveria opened her mouth. But then she didn't really know what to say. She knew Aiz held a special place in Loki's heart, but Riveria was quite certain that it was a different kind of love than the one she was talking about. Loki probably saw Aiz as something like a favorite...pet?

She immediately scolded herself for degrading Aiz like that, but she could think of no better analogy. But that opened up a whole other can of worms.

Was Loki so emotionally obtuse?

"What?" the God asked, as Riveria stared at her intensely. "Why'd you go all quiet?"

She didn't know how else to say it. "Loki, I think you're in love with Kusanagi Godou."

"Did you not hear what I just said? I love Aiz."

"Fine, I'll rephrase it," Riveria said in annoyance. "You have a crush on Kusanagi Godou."

For a moment, Loki said nothing. Then she erupted into laughter.

"Me? A crush on Godou!?" Loki pressed her hands into her stomach, doubling over. "How could I have a crush on Godou? I'm not that kind of God, you know? I don't get crushes, period."

"The first crush is always the hardest," Riveria said flatly.

Loki waved her hand dismissively. "Impossible. I'm a God, and Godou's a-" She suddenly stopped.

Riveria knew what Loki had been about to say. A human. Godou's a human. But they now both knew that that was not quite true. While a God falling for a human seemed slightly far-fetched, a God developing feelings for a demigod (for Riveria did not know what else to call Godou) seemed far more plausible.

Loki's amused grin flatlined as Riveria realized the exact same thoughts were going on within the goddess' mind.

"You're serious," Loki said.

"I am now," Riveria said. It was the only thing she could come up with where everything made sense. Loki wasn't just upset, she was jealous. Loki didn't just want Godou to be in her Familia, she wanted Godou to be with her. Loki wasn't just curious about Godou, she was interested in Godou.

Oh great Heavens. She never thought this day would come. Loki, who treated every girl in the Familia like walking stress-dolls, suddenly developing feelings for a man.

Across her, Loki's eyes narrowed. Riveria recognized when her goddess was thinking hard, and the subsequent fluttering of her eyelids confirmed what she already knew.

And then Loki opened her mouth. "Mama, what exactly is love, anyway?"

Riveria inwardly groaned. This was definitely going to be far more troublesome than it had been with Aiz. Aiz didn't talk back, and Riveria already knew that the ensuing conversation with Loki was certain to fray her nerves.

It had taken thirty whole minutes of nonstop explanations, questions, and analogies before Loki had, grudgingly, accepted that some small smidgen of her being might have developed minuscule and near-insignificant feelings for Kusanagi Godou.

Riveria wasn't well-versed in the arts of lovecraft, but she'd lived long enough to recognize what was what, something that apparently Loki had not. It hadn't been an easy conclusion to arrive at, but even Loki, in her stuck-in-denial state, could find no other explanation that could explain her aberrant behavior.

Loki, a God almost as old as civilization itself, had somehow managed to develop a crush on Kusanagi Godou.

"In short, do you think about him often, and want to see him, even when he's not around?"

"Yes."

"Would you feel happy if he pays a bit more attention to you than other people?"

"Yes."

"Would you feel upset if you saw him getting close to another woman like, let's say a certain blond-haired goddess?"

"YES," Loki replied through grit teeth.

Riveria leaned back. "Congratulations, Loki. You finally have your first crush after several eons of existence."

Despite her words, Riveria knew that this was no reason to celebrate. Love made people blind. Internally, she prepared herself for whatever stupid and reckless ideas Loki was going to spew out next.

"I have to kill Lancelot," Loki immediately said.

"No." Even without mentally readying herself beforehand, Riveria was sure she would have instantly shot down that idea anyway.

"Why not? It's the perfect plan! I'll kill Lancelot, and Godou will be heartbroken. And then, in his time of grief, I'll be there to comfort him, and because of that he'll fall in love with me instead. And then..." Loki paused. She turned to Riveria and asked, "and then what happens next? I've never done anything like this before, Mama." She sounded quite lost.

So this was what it's like for a God of tricks and mischief to fall in love. "Nothing happens," Riveria said. "Nothing happens because Godou's not going to fall in love with you if you kill Lancelot."

"He doesn't have to know," Loki said pointedly. "I can be discrete when I want to. I'll kill her secretly. I'm actually very good at things like that."

Oh, Riveria had no doubt about that. Which brought about the second problem with Loki's stupid idea. She couldn't believe she actually had to explain this to Loki.

"And how are you going to kill Lancelot? Mind you, she's stuck in Godou's soul almost all the time, but when she isn't, she has access to her Divine Powers, while you technically don't."

Riveria smiled when she saw Loki purse her lips in frustration. This whole situation would've been cute if Loki wasn't spouting out notions about murder.

"Maybe if I-"

"Stop," Riveria interrupted. "No killing. That's not going to solve anything."

"Then what am I supposed to do? This whole love and romance thingy is annoying!"

Riveria whole-heartedly agreed. "Maybe we can try to remove the crush," she suggested.

"You can do that?" Loki asked, surprised. "Is there some kind of spell? Or maybe a ritual..."

"Love doesn't work that way, Loki," Riveria said blankly.

"Oh. Then how do we get rid of it?"

Riveria drew a blank. She wasn't quite sure about it either. She'd devoted her whole life to studying and practicing magic and because of that, she'd never really gotten anywhere romantically speaking.

"We should start by talking about why you like him," she proposed. "If we know the reason, we might be able to do something about it."

"But I don't know why I like him," Loki said.

"Then let's begin from there," Riveria said. "Spend more time with Kusanagi Godou and find out why you like him in the first place."

Loki looked quite horrified at the prospect. "You want me to get even closer to Kusanagi Godou? What if this crush thing gets even worse?"

Riveria had not intended to tell Loki of that possibility. But it seemed Loki was not as dense as she'd initially assumed. In response, she smiled, almost motherly, at her God. "If that happens, then I promise you that I'll be supporting you all the way. We'll win Godou's heart together, Loki. I'll always be on Team Loki."

Loki beamed back. But then she faltered. "But he already has Lancelot."

"So?" Riveria immediately retorted. "Countless Gods have invited me into their Familias, but I've rejected every single one of them. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I think you're the best God in Orario. Don't tell me I'm wrong now, am I?"

Loki's chest puffed out as she grinned. "Of course not! I am the best God around after all!"

"Exactly," Riveria said, patting her head. "So don't tell me you're going to give up just because some goddess who can turn into a sword took your place first. The Loki I know would never be happy with just a silver medal."

"You're right, Mama! I'm not going to lose to Lancelot! I'm going to make Godou fall in love with me!"

Inside, Riveria felt glad. It was good that Loki's spirits were high once again. And now that she'd found a goal, then-

Riveria suddenly hesitated. She'd been so focused on lifting Loki's spirits that she'd forgotten that their original intention was to rid Loki of her crush in the first place. But now, at this point, she wasn't sure what exactly she was hoping for. The initial goal of Loki getting over her crush on Godou would've been the simplest option for everyone. But the other option had the possibility of making Loki either very happy, or breaking her heart.

Well, this sudden change in Loki's attitude complicated things.

Loki hopped off the bed, and Riveria was quite pleased to see her changing out of her pajamas for the first time in a week. Then she realized Loki was wearing her going-out clothes.

"Loki, where are you going?" she asked, slightly suspicious.

Loki put on her usual blue crop-top. "Do you remember what Lancelot said? About how other Gods will come to realize that Godou's special?"

Riveria nodded.

"Well, I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to mark him as mine before any other goddesses get any funny ideas."

This time, Riveria didn't nod. "You have a plan," she stated, more than asked.

"Yep."

She could hear Loki's determination now. This wasn't the idle daydream of a maiden in love. This was the God of tricksters and mischief setting down a strategy to achieve victory through any means.

Riveria smiled. Regardless of what happened to Loki in the end, she knew one thing wouldn't change. She'd continue to support and walk beside her goddess no matter which route she went down.

Somebody had to make sure that the idiot didn't go around trying to kill her competitors, after all.

XxXxXxXxXx

The change was subtle at first, but became very obvious, very soon.

Everybody in the Hostess was staring at him, and for the life of him, Kusanagi Godou just couldn't figure out why. There were curious glances, dirty looks, and blatant stares. It seemed as if every single person in the tavern was here just to watch him.

He knew it was intentional. Many of them he didn't recognize, and for so many first-timers to show up to the Hostess just to look at him meant that something had happened.

He just didn't know what.

But he was on the clock, which meant that he had to continue to do his job, rather than dig around and unearth the reason.

So he continued washing the used mugs silently. At least this sudden development also meant that everybody appeared to be too intimidated to approach him for drinks, going through the waitresses to order instead. He didn't mind that bit.

"Godou!"

A familiar high-pitched voice called his name. He looked up, only to see Hestia bouncing into the Hostess in a rather forceful manner. Completely ignoring the looks of the other patrons, the short goddess hoisted herself onto the barstool right in front of him. Her mouth was silent, but her face was giving him an expectant look, demanding an explanation.

"Lady Hestia," Godou greeted casually. "It's rare to see you here."

It actually was. While her adventurer, Bell Cranel, visited often, no thanks to Syr, Godou rarely saw the goddess herself in the Hostess. Though Godou could understand, what with her busy schedule earning money for the Familia. Was that why she was here? Because he hadn't visited her to collect his daily fried potato for the past few days?

"Why didn't you tell me about the expedition?"

Godou blinked. "What expedition?"

"The one with the Loki Familia, of course! Why didn't you tell me you were going with them?"

Godou blinked again. He'd almost forgotten about that. But he was surprised Hestia knew about it. While it wasn't exactly a secret, Godou hadn't mentioned it to anyone except his fellow colleagues. Maybe Syr had told Bell about it, who had then told Hestia. But whatever the case, it seemed like a moot point now. He doubted Loki wanted anything to do with him at the moment.

"Ah, some stuff happened between Loki and I," he said sheepishly, "so I think that might be cancelled."

Hestia made a surprised expression. "Oh," she said softly. Then from her bag, she pulled out a paper bag and slid it across the table to him. "Here, I saved one for you."

By now, Godou could recognize Hestia's fried potatoes by scent alone. Gratefully, he accepted it. "Thanks, Lady Hestia."

"So you were considering joining the Loki Familia?" Hestia asked, sounding worried.

"Well, I'd rather not," Godou said, taking a bite of the potato. It was still hot, which was nice. She must have came right after work. "But Loki was quite forceful about the whole thing. Didn't give me much of a choice."

"She's like that," Hestia agreed.

"You're close to her?" Godou asked.

"We argued a lot in Heaven," Hestia explained. "We don't really see eye-to-eye on a lot of matters."

Godou noted Hestia's short height, trying to imagine Loki sitting next to her. He estimated about a whole head's worth of height difference. "I can imagine that," he said, chuckling.

"So you're not joining any Familia?" Hestia asked.

Godou could've swore she sounded almost hopeful.

"No," he said. "I don't have any such plans right now. I like where I am right now."

"But if that changes, you'll let me know, right?" Hestia asked. "My offer to you is always open. You can join my Familia whenever you want."

"Sure," Godou said. He didn't see any problem with that. At least, unlike Loki, Hestia kept her distance and knew not to push. Then again, he supposed that being understanding was what the goddess of family excelled at. Hers wouldn't be a bad Familia to join, all things considered.

If only the nice moment hadn't been ruined by someone kicking the door open while screaming his name.

"Kusanagi Godooouuuu!"

Godou's eyes widened when he recognized the blue hair.

"Shakti," he said calmly, even as the woman stomped up towards him, a piece of paper crumpled in her hand. "Back so soon?"

She'd barely left a few hours ago, and Godou didn't peg her to be an alcoholic.

"What the hell are you thinking, following the Loki Familia to the Fifty-Ninth Floor!?"

Godou blinked. Hestia, he could sort of understand. But how in the world had Shakti found out about it?

The answer came a second later, when she slammed the piece of paper in her hand onto the counter. "The Loki Familia just posted this on the Guild Notice Board. Care to explain? And why didn't you say anything about it earlier? Do you have any idea how dangerous it gets past the Fiftieth Floor?"

Choosing not to reply, Godou took a good look at the poster. He already knew trouble was brewing when he heard Loki's name and saw her Familia's crest printed on the piece of parchment.

'LOCAL CHEF TO ACCOMPANY LOKI FAMILIA IN EXPEDITION TO FIFTY-NINTH FLOOR,' read the headline in very big letters.

Well, that explained why everyone was staring at him. The goddamned redhead had gone and blurted out to all of Orario he'd join their upcoming expedition.

He had no idea how to react to this. Or rather, he had so many emotions and responses running around in his head, he had no idea which train of thought he should be boarding.

'Perhaps the kiss was not enough.'

'No, Lancelot. It was definitely more than enough.'

XxXxXxXxXx

A/N: IMPT: Hey guys, I'm thinking about writing an Omake, one where Loki pranks Hephaestus by passing her both Lancelot and Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi. Would you guys be interested in reading such a thing, since there's no relevance to the story? Do let me know in the reviews/comments.