- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.
Ah, My Loki-sama!
written by Kurosu
- Chapter Thirty-Six.
With the weird and crazy weekend behind her, Mayura was sort of refreshed for the new school week, heading over to the agency so early in the morning - an already strange occurrence when the girl was known for running late to school. She stood on the front door step with a smile and knocked. Seconds later, Yamino opened the door and greeted her with a cheerful good morning, "Please come in, Mayura-san."
She nodded happily, "I came to pick up Hel-chan for school! I'm so glad we can do this again!"
She chatted with much enthusiasm, walking with the mansion caretaker towards the dining room. There, the rest of the family were at breakfast and happy to see her arrival. Loki, grinning, welcomed the lovely sight of his favorite mortal to start his morning and gestured to the empty seat next to Hel-chan, "Why don't you join us, Mayura?"
Fenrir was busy with his plate of breakfast, but he managed a greeting somewhere in between his big bites of food. Hel-chan blushed, completely embarrassed at her eldest brother's ill manners - one sometimes wonder how these three could be related, but one look at Loki and it was evident of all the awesome genes they each inherited.
"I'll get another plate," Yamino smiled.
Mayura remained where she was in front of the archway and smiled nervously, blushing and avoiding Loki's eyes. She stopped Yamino from grabbing another plate from the kitchen, "It's okay. I just wanted to walk with Hel-chan to school." She gripped the handle of her bag tightly, ill at ease with the blonde god's stare, which shouldn't normally affect her so much, and averted her gaze upon the goddess, seated to her father's left.
"Ah, sorry, Mayura-san!" Hel-chan quickly finished her orange juice and wiped her mouth clean while the mortal girl sweatdropped, telling her it was okay to take her time. There was no rush since this was probably Mayura's earliest time in the history of her school career, soon to make her teacher proud.
Hel-chan excused herself to finish getting ready and grab her things, and Yamino had already begun to clear the table, taking his plates and his sister's towards the kitchen, which left Mayura defenseless in Loki's presence, nevermind a preoccupied Fenrir still scarfing down his meal.
The god noticed her nervous fidgeting as she stood there, having eyed her ever since her arrival, and the strange silence irked her, so she peeked over to him, eyes met, and she shyly looked away. He made a curious hum sound, and she turned to him again. He was leaning to one side, resting his chin on one hand, while the other motioned a 'come hither' with his finger, and she hesitated briefly before succumbing to his wishes.
She came close to him, but it wasn't close enough for his preference, a sort of friendly distance that he didn't need, and he reached out to her wrist and pulled her towards him. She squeaked in surprise, dropping her school bag, which caused Fenrir to look up for a second then resumed eating, and she suddenly found herself sitting in his lap, her legs draped over one side of the armrest. He held an arm around her back, keeping her settled in place, while his other hand cupped the side of her face and brought it towards his own.
His beautiful green eyes bored in to her crimson ones, searching for something deep within her, and in turn, she couldn't tear her gaze away, finding his emerald pools hypnotic, but she was soon met with a tinge of frustration and a frown upon his lips.
"Mayura," he whispered, his breath millimeters from her skin, teasing her, and her hands pressed against his chest, trembling at the solidity of his form, "you're hiding something from me." His hand moved from cupping her face to resting on her chin, a slight lift upwards, as he dived down to her neck and placed a soft kiss - on the opposite side from the mark he had given her a few days ago.
"Loki-sama!" her voice rose a bit too high, and she felt him smiling against her, obviously enjoying her reactions very much. Her hands balled in to tight fists, grabbing on to his shirt, as she struggled against his teasings. His lips moved up to her jaw and trailed more kisses along her jaw line till he reached the lobe of her ear and nipped it playfully. She shuddered at his warm breath burned against the sensitive spot behind her ear, unintentionally whimpering like a helpless kitten.
"Don't..." he whispered, deeply and seductively, "keep secrets from me... Mayura..."
They heard a gasp from the background, and Mayura looked over to see a red-faced Yamino clearing his fogged up glasses, apologizing profusely for their interruption, while an equally-colored Hel-chan stood in front of him, not appearing that very apologetic because she had secretly witnessed an opportune moment of the two until her brother just had to ruin it. However brief it was, it got her fangirl mode revved up, almost to the point of hyperventilating.
An extremely embarrassed Mayura had jumped out of Loki's embrace, grabbed her fallen school bag, announcing their leave for school, and dashed towards the archway. She took hold of a trembling Hel-chan's wrist and hurried the both of them out the mansion within seconds, leaving a sulky Loki to sigh at the missing warmth from his lap.
Yamino coughed, noting his father's apprehensive posture, "Loki-sama, are you all right?"
"Hmm," he stilled for a moment, glancing out the window, towards the gates, watching the two girls make their way across the sidewalk, "I'm not sure... but Mayura... Ah, nevermind." He waved it off casually, not wanting to trouble his son over the matter of the girl when he worried over so many things as it was, and Yamino didn't want to pursue it if Loki didn't want to discuss it.
Yamino did notice a subtle change in Mayura though, not sure why, but she was reacting more actively to his father's advances, as if acknowledging them and its effects on her for the first time. He sweatdropped, as he watched Loki's far off gaze, sensing trouble in their future.
No one seemed to be bothered by Hel-chan's sudden return to school, teachers having found an illness as a reasonable excuse, and things fell back to the normalcy, with the exception for the soccer field being ruined from the weekend's festivities. It wasn't quite a huge problem, because the whole performance from the butler cafe had garnered much attention from other schools in the district, making Mayura's high school very popular.
Though the profit the cafe made would be used to repair the damages, which would have left Mayura back to her original debt, but the ever kind and generous Koutaro had paid for the antique vase. Ever grateful, the girl promised she would somehow pay her debts to her classmate, however long it would take her, and Koutaro smiled. It was a smile that held a secret giddiness to it, holding Mayura to her promise, and Hel-chan sweatdropped, knowing that that particular, devious smile very well, because her father sometimes wore them.
Perhaps it was a good thing that Hel-chan returned, so she could keep an eye on things at school, where her father couldn't, and she definitely couldn't allow Koutaro to get close to Mayura.
It was quite hard to do when the three of them were having lunch in the classroom, and Hel-chan sighed, wishing she wasn't so quiet and passive, but she observed Mayura, seeing how she conversed with Koutaro so easily. They were happily chatting away, and Koutaro figured it was a good time as any to approach the subject, "So Mayura, I haven't seen Chibi-Loki in a while. How has he been?"
Mayura froze, the onigiri pressed at her mouth after she had taken a bite of the rice ball, and her eyes flickered over to Hel-chan, who was just as surprised. "Ano..." she started, racking her brain out for some excuse.
"Ah, he was sent off to school, abroad," Hel-chan smiled shyly and picked at her array of food in her bento box with the chopsticks.
"I see," Koutaro nodded and took a sip of his drink, thinking about the next inquiry of the strange agency that had recently popped up in the neighborhood, so he missed the quick exchanges between the girls. He smiled and looked at Mayura, "So Chibi-Loki's mo-"
"No way! Seriously?!"
Koutaro's interrogation of Loki's family background was interrupted their classmates in the corner of the room, discussing loudly about a certain rumor, where one of the girls nodded her head fervently, "It's said that the National Library is... haunted! Every evening after it closes, there are sounds of footsteps that walk the floor... searching for something... or... someone!
"Books have fallen from shelves when no one is even around!"
"Maybe it was the wind?" another girl suggested, semi-logically.
"Indoors?"
"Heavy wind?"
"The lights turned on after being shut off a minute later!"
"Bad wiring?"
"Hello, this is THE National Library. But it gives off a creepy, cold vibe, and some have even heard it moan mysterious words... 'Hel... Help... me'?!"
"Someone sick and tired of studying?"
Yeah, this totally caught Mayura's interest for being cool and mysterious, and she listened more attentively, ears burning with excitement for more information.
"Is it trying to communicate?!" someone asked.
"Who knows!"
"Has anyone seen it?!"
The girl shrugged, "No idea, just heard about it this weekend. My friend's boyfriend's sister's friend's cousin was returning some books before it closed and got caught up in it.
"She screamed and ran away, so I don't think she ever got any evidence."
Hel-chan sweatdropped, because this sounded just like a typical prank, yet Mayura couldn't overlook such a mystery. This was just what she needed to get her mind off Loki, but wait, this was a case that Loki would investigate, right? So that would mean she would have to report it to him, in a way, but technically there wasn't a client involved that needed the mystery solved.
"Mayura-san, you aren't... thinking what I'm thinking you are thinking... are you?" Hel-chan hoped that grin on Mayura's face wasn't a sign of a secret adventure without Loki, but why did she even bother, because this mortal attracted a pantheon of gods and divine beings and mischievous spirits and who knew what else. Yes, the girl needed Loki more than ever if she were to survive till old age.
"Of course," she announced, "This sounds like a job for us!"
"So, you are planning to speak to chichi-ue about it?" she whispered, because it was just weird to call her father by his name in front of others.
"Hm, Mayura, you're going to investigate?" Koutaro inquired, not liking her hobby as a detective assistant taking her in to dangers, "It just sounds like childish pranks to me."
She held her index finger up to them, stating matter-of-factly, "A detective always investigates every case thoroughly, from all possible angles, to find the truth... because we just can't follow rumors."
Koutaro sweatdropped, "Um, but isn't that what you're doing now?"
The girl frowned and began to rant on how totally wrong he was and this was different because the pursuit of truth was absolute for the benefit of future generations, while Hel-chan smiled, thinking her father still need to put some more effort in to teaching his assistant.
That afternoon, Loki had left the agency with Fenrir by his side, having received a message from Mayura about a case she had acquired and to meet her and Hel-chan at the National Library after school let out. He mused over the text messages, recalling the last time he had fun with it, and it was a good way to communicate with her if she was hesitant on meeting eye to eye or speak coherently to him.
He had time till the girls would be leaving school and making their way to their destination, and there was no way he was going to take public transportation, still not able to get over the motion sickness that mortal machinery caused him. Plus, Fenrir needed his daily walk in the sun, happily trotting along, puppy eyes roaming about the scenery and a very alert nose sniffling out delicious aromas of the streets.
Loki took the phone out of his pocket, wondering how he should surprise her, and just why did women start swooning as he walked in to view? Didn't they have any thing better to do? Seriously, Fenrir was getting tired of all the stupid things female mortals did just because his father was that sexy and drop dead handsome...
Yeah, they were dropping like flies all right. But they could at least pass out in silence, not sighing like love-struck fools, which they were anyway. He sometimes wished they would just take a walk in their own neighborhood, at least he could get free food from the familiar faces that managed to stay conscious.
He finally opened the phone, brought up her name and typed a quick message, all the while a smile played on his lips: 'Lets play a game.'
He wasn't sure what her last class of the day was, but he was patient enough to wait for her reply. It only took three minutes for him to receive it: 'No.'
He chuckled at her firm response, but at least she was now thinking about him, because he could feel the faint jittery of her mood, and if he turned around, he would most likely see the shimmering white thread that connected them. As much as he liked what they had, the greedy part of him wanted more, and at this rate, if he didn't solve what was bothering her, he would probably lose her.
He just opened a chance for her: 'Whats wrong? Afraid?'
It took her a bit longer again to answer back, so something was weighing heavily on her mind, 'Im not.'
'Talk to me.'
'About what?'
'What r u thinking?'
'Loki will get me in trouble.'
He laughed: 'Ur in trouble w/ me.'
'What? What did I do? :-('
Before he could type a reply, he received her second message: 'Im sorry.'
His eyes softened, wondering if she was worried about making him upset, like hurting his feelings, and of course, it was like her to apologize without knowing the truth. She always wore emotions on her sleeves, so it wasn't hard to decipher the change in her whenever she was near him, so he was obviously the problem on her mind, as flattering as it was.
He repeated it once again: 'Talk to me.'
'Now? About the case?'
'Mayura.'
'Have to go. C u soon. :-)'
Loki sighed...
And Mayura sighed too, a small smile on her lips because she was happy he was worried about her, in his own silly, flirty way, even though she had been avoiding him. She quickly tucked the phone back in to her skirt pocket before her crazy biology teacher caught her, but her mind was still thinking about the blonde god, so much lately that she even dreamt about him last night.
To her, Loki was a god, a friend - a friendly god, sure - and someone very important to her, but why did her heart pound so much whenever she thought about him, or whenever he was near her. The way he flirted with her, teased her, normally didn't affect her, and she would brush it off as a game between them, but when she saw him with Freya - or more correctly, Freya latching on to him - she would get jealous and all sorts of emotions would bubble in her chest.
She didn't understand what was happening to herself, as if focusing on the words in her textbook would give her the answer, which was very silly of her. Even Hel-chan sweatdropped at her friend's apparent turmoil and concentration to the point that smoke was rising from her head, probably having killed a few brain cells.
Mayura reached her limit and dropped her head on her desk, brain fried and smoking, while the teacher panicked over his semi-conscious student, "Daidouji! Did I give you too much information?!"
Hel-chan brought her hands to her mouth, hiding her giggles and sighing too. Her father had such an effect on women, even Mayura was no exception, but in a way, she was also the exception because he had never given any female more than a glance or two. He may be a tease, but he was also a gentleman and didn't cross the line... and yet, he had probably crossed a hundred lines by now with Mayura.
The girl was certainly special, because Hel-chan could see it too, along with the rest of the immortals, for they, too, were attracted to her to some degree - whether they would agree to it was another matter.
After a few mishaps, Hel-chan wondered if her father would continue to pursue the mortal girl. She rested her cheek on the back of her hand, thinking about all the dangers that had befallen them, to get to Loki by using Mayura, which she was sure that he would blame himself for. It was just like him to, but he was also the type to take responsibility for the matter. He would protect Mayura no matter what, from physical harm, but would he accept the responsibility of her heart, when both realize that it was more than just friendship that had blossomed between them?
Feeling a bit anxious about the situation, Hel-chan watched her friend trying to calm their teacher down and insisting that she was fine.
"Mayura-san..."
After a few switches of trains, Mayura and Hel-chan emerged from the subway station and took a ten-minute walk to reach the main entrance to the National Library. It was a few minutes until six when she checked her phone, but there was no Loki in sight waiting for them. Hel-chan had asked if he was at the other entrance, but she shook her head, "I told him to meet us at the main one."
The girls turned around at the sound of barking and saw Fenrir running to them, with a sweating Loki right behind him. Of course he was late, considering he had walked across town to get there, which created even more admirers and stalkers, because he still refused to take any sort of transportation, even if it meant he would be late to the rendezvous point.
"Mou, Loki-sama!" Mayura pouted, crossing her arms over her chest, forgetting her dilemma with Loki, "We are so taking the train home!"
"But Mayu-chan," he hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder, "it's a nice day for a walk!"
"You want another walk after being late?"
'No, daddy, no!' Fenrir whined, tired of walking so much.
Hel-chan giggled and picked up her brother, who sighed happily at finally being carried, and both watched the scene between their father and his unofficial girlfriend.
With an arm around the girl, Loki poked her cheek, giving her a sly look, "So how did you get this case for us?"
"We-Well," she started nervously, staring up to the skies, "we just... happened to overhear things..."
He arched a brow curiously, "From lover boy?"
She turned to him, totally confused and very forgetful, especially when it was not an important fact for her to remember, wanting to ask who he was talking about, but seeing that his face was so close to hers, her face flushed a deep red, and she suddenly pushed herself away from him. "You're too close!" she cried and hurried to the library entrance.
He stared after her, running a frustrated hand through his golden hair, mumbling, "It never bothered her before..." He sighed, and upon remembering this was Mayura the trouble magnet, he ran after her.
'This is getting old,' Fenrir deadpanned, 'The... tension is killing me.'
"Ani-ue," Hel-chan sweatdropped and walked ahead, eventually regrouping with the pair in the lobby of the second floor. They only had about an hour before the library closed, and from the little information their classmates had offered from their discussion, the rumored happenings came from the third floor.
"Excuse me, Miss," an employee stopped Hel-chan, "We are sorry, but pets are not allowed in here.
"Ah, I'm sorry," she bowed, "Could you let my friends know I'll be outside then."
Mayura and Loki turned back to them, having heard the employee speak to Hel-chan, who smiled and waved them ahead. The young man walked over to the couple and told them about their rules, and after he left, Loki smirked, "It's up to the detective and his assistant then."
"R-Right..."
After leaving the library, Hel-chan, with Fenrir still in her arms, walked over to the ice cream vendor and bought a vanilla cone to enjoy while they waited. They found a bench nearby, that had a good view of the entrance, so they settled their for the time being. Hel-chan held the ice cream out to her brother, who happily ate it, and after a few bites, he sighed, having caught the worrisome expression on the goddess' face, 'Don't worry, Hel. They'll be fine. Daddy is there if something happens.'
"It's not that."
'Hm, you mean that other thing.'
"I don't think Mayura-san realizes it yet."
'Daddy should just take her and get it over with!'
"Ani-ue!"
Fenrir rolled his eyes, 'You're thinking it too!'
"Yes well- IYA!" She blushed. Her brother snickered at the redness of her face, and after calming down, she sighed, "I really like Mayura-san, ani-ue. And I want them both to be happy."
He stopped eating and looked over to the library, "I know. I... kinda like her too."
Hel-chan smiled at his honest admittance as he continued, "She's clumsy, an idiot... way too gullible... but her smiles and hugs are nice. She even gives me her snacks." Fenrir smiled, "She's got a pure heart. I think... she's good for daddy."
She giggled over their mutual agreement and then gasped, "Ani-ue! It's melting!" She pushed the ice cream towards Fenrir, who hurried to eat the rest, before she wiped her hands cleaned, fussing over her messy brother with ice cream all over his face now.
Seriously, who was the older sibling here?
Returning to the library, Loki and Mayura had just stepped up to the third floor, after giving a quick scan of the main second floor, counting the people, including employees, and it appeared that the recent rumors had disturbed a few superstitious people because no one was up there. They glanced up to the fourth floor, seeing one or two employees walking about, but no one was even interested in going beyond the second floor of the main building.
Mayura looked around, wondering where to start, as Loki checked the time once more, "We have forty-five minutes till they close."
She turned to face him furrowing her brows, "The ghost doesn't appear till after it closes. How are we going to stay after hours?"
"Simple," he grinned, stepping over to her, "We'll hide."
"Wait!" she hissed, remembering to keep her voice down, making him stop a few feet from her, "How will we leave afterwards then? They have a good security system."
With his left hand on his waist, he reached the other one out to her and flicked her forehead, "Mayura, are you forgetting I'm a god."
She rubbed her forehead and glared at him, "Yes, and a detective... but also part-time thief?"
He smiled and shrugged, "Gods can do anything?"
So with a huff, she turned away, ignoring him, searching for a good place to hide, among the many shelves. There were a few empty reading rooms, but those didn't offer any good hiding spots though. Of course there were the restrooms too, but those would be thoroughly checked for people.
She stomped around the perimeter once more, in case she missed anything, and Loki followed her quietly, hands stuffed in his pockets, a smile lingering on his lips. He watched her amusingly, letting her get frustrated first, because she was so focused on their case that his presence wasn't currently an issue for her. His grin grew wider when she stopped and stared curiously down the aisle between two large bookcases and walked down it, and of course, he followed, knowing that there was only one way out because the wall in the background was hard to miss.
Mayura walked to the very end, where the wall became the third side of her small boxed in area, and she looked up to the high ceilings, where the light source from overhead was in the next aisle, giving a slightly angled ray of brightness that hit the top of the shelf, leaving the far bottom in the shadows. She tapped a finger to her chin, thinking, and then pressed herself close to the bookshelf.
Sure, it might have worked in her head, but in reality, the library was just well illuminated - not even a cockroach could find a place to hide! That was just fine for Loki, who was not worrying over such trivial matters that a god could solve with a snap of his fingers.
"Ne Loki-sama," she called, in the process of turning around...
Notes: Wow, I didn't think I'd even hit 4k words... *sighs* Sorry for skimping out on the update last night, lol... I sorta got busy replaying Fire Emblem: Awakening again. Lunar difficulty mode is a B-! *growls*
Anyways, I had trouble writing this chapter... 'cause of all the relationship stuff going on here! I'm indecisive with Mayura- argh! And Loki, he's just pushing his luck! Lol. But I think it should be okay in next chapter... Though I have to say I had a blast writing that first scene! Bwahaha... -kuro.