Apologize.
That was all Loki had to do.
It didn't have to be a grand display or anything more than a couple of thoughtful words. Yet, somehow, he was having a difficult time figuring out how to get them out. It had been a few days since his athletic mishap resulting in a scolding from Balder after clocking a Kusanagi sister with a tennis ball. At the time, he had barely mustered a half-hearted apology, disinterested and uncaring. However, he had found himself surprised and fascinated when she not only brushed off his grudging penance but responded with a sarcastic quip of her own. He been too flustered to reply at the time, stunned and still reeling from the sheer adrenaline of the whole situation. She rushed off before he could say anything further.
His plan was originally to leave it there; to go on about his business and leave her to her own devices. It wasn't until he noticed her by chance wandering the halls in casual attire that he was able to see the extent of his damage. The dark discoloration had become frighteningly apparent along her pale skin and despite himself, Loki started to feel a hint of genuine remorse.
He hadn't meant to hit her. It was only supposed to be a practical joke at Balder's expense. He had no way of knowing the ball would veer so far off course that it would traverse the field and find its away against the side another student's neck. Despite what the Aesir insisted, harming others was never something that he generally intended to do. Yet, it seemed that despite the passing of so many years, he was still very good at doing so. It also seemed that he hadn't gotten any better at rectifying the resulting problems.
Today would be the day, however. He would find the woman, give her a quick sorry and move on with his student life. That had been his plan since the other day when he had stumbled upon her again on her way to the cafeteria. Seeing an opportunity, Loki had tailed her to the mess hall, hoping to corner her during an evening meal. Upon finding her with the Greek god and her younger sister however, he decided against it.
Instead, he opted for earlier, meandering along the school grounds, hoping to bump into her. She typically spent the early morning jogging around the grounds, so it shouldn't have taken long for her to appear. On this day, however, she had never shown up, only adding to his confusion and his concern. If she had avoided even doing her exercise routine, she must have been even worse off than she let on.
With not a clue where else she could be, Loki spent his time inconspicuously wandering around the campus trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive woman. She was nowhere near as studious as her younger sibling, so the likelihood of her making her way to class early was relatively low. He checked the dining hall to no avail. He checked the music room and found nothing. He even hung around outside the Japanese dorms for a short while, trying to catch her as she left. All attempts had ended in failure and at this point, Loki was growing agitated. Why was that woman suddenly so difficult to find?
'Hmm?' He slowed his pace as a flash of navy caught his attention. Finally, the person he had been searching for. She was striding down the hall by her lonesome, possibly on her way to class. She looked a bit tired from his perspective, with a bit of a drag in her step. Her ends were frizzy, and her head was low, eyes staring forward. And, most importantly, she was alone. Perfect. Now was his chance. Stepping forward, he prepared to make his move, steeling himself for whatever reaction he would receive. But then, a glimpse of maroon stopped him, his agitation growing even further.
. . .
"Morning!"
'Of course…'
Nari slowed her pace at the sound of a familiar voice approaching quickly from behind. That cheery tone and careful footsteps could only belong to who was quickly becoming her personal stalker. She waited patiently for the pair of feet to catch up to her before continuing onward. "Hello, Dionysus. You decided to show up after all."
"Indeed. And how pleasurable that fate would bring us together this morning."
"We are in the same class. Nothing more than coincidence."
"But a pleasurable one nonetheless."
Nari sighed and fought the urge to roll her eyes. That man was truly shameless. Yet somehow, she couldn't stop the slight tugging at her lips. It was so ridiculous she couldn't help but feel amused. At the sight of his gentle smile, she began to wonder if perhaps she had judged him too harshly. It was true that he was obnoxious, more than a bit amorous, and a possible pervert, but he had never actually done anything wrong to her personally. In fact, aside from the occasional flirting, he had offered her nothing less than kindness since their meeting. Looking at the situation objectively, she had been standoffish and maybe even a bit rude.
Shaking her head, she relaxed her shoulders and allowed a more casual pace. "You're something else…"
"Is that a good thing?"
Nari only sighed leaving Dionysus laughing heartily at her exhausted tone. It wasn't the warmest of welcomes, but at the very least, it wasn't a cold rejection. Beside him, he saw her small smirk slowly widening into a smile.
The two walked to class, chatting quietly amongst themselves. They weaved in between the moving doll students, pausing occasionally as one of them said or did something oddly human. When they finally arrived, they took their seats and shifted their attention, Dionysus greeting Apollon and Nari speaking with Yui. The classroom hummed with cheerful chatter as the seats slowly filled with students, all waiting for lecture to begin.
. . .
"The muscles in the human body can be categorized in several ways."
"Mn…?" Nari moaned softly at the sound of Thoth's droning voice drifting from the front of the classroom. His footsteps clicked along the hardwood flooring as he moved, tapping the chalkboard gently with his pointer stick as he went over the various tendons and muscular structure of the human body. When she had drifted off to sleep, she wasn't sure, possibly early-on in the lesson as her lack of sleep finally caught up to her. Thankfully, Thoth didn't seem to have noticed.
With a silent yawn, Nari forced herself awake and blinked her eyelids. Diagonally, Yui was sitting in her desk, quill pen in hand as she took casual notes of the topics discussed. Always a diligent student, it didn't surprise her. To Yui's right, Tsukito was doing the same at five times the speed. His pen flew across the paper, line by line, taking down, quite literally, every word their instructor said. In front of Yui was a shivering Apollon, muttering nervously to himself about incantations.
Behind them towards the very back of the class were Hades and Takeru, both looking disinterested as ever, along with Thor who sat still as a statue. Balder sat diagonally in the other direction beside Dionysus, who was sleeping shamelessly on his desk. Unlike herself, he had clearly fallen asleep on purpose, enjoying a dream about delicious grapes of some sort. If Thoth had heard his sleepy mutterings, he was choosing not to acknowledge it for the time being. And directly in front of her, fiddling with an eraser, was Loki, doing she could only imagine what.
"Hmm… these will make excellent wine…" Dionysus mumbled, turning his head to the side to get more comfortable. At this point, Thoth was no longer turning a blind eye, spinning around, and shooting a fearsome glare toward the careless god. And Nari wasn't the only one who noticed. Worried for his classmate, Balder leaned over in his chair, trying to rouse the snoozing god from his stupor.
"Hey, that isn't a good idea. Come on, Thyrsos…"
Dionysus gave no response and in fact, seemed to fall into an even deeper slumber. A light snore interrupted Thoth again, shooting a shiver up Nari's spine. The look on his face was pure unadulterated venom, and for a moment, she began to wonder if another lightning strike was imminent. In front of her, Loki snickered at the display without a care in the world.
Balder, undeterred, rose from his seat. He placed both hands on Dionysus's shoulder, using his full force to try and shake him. "You have to wake up… wuah!"
As expected, he lost his balance and somehow, went tumbling backward, knocking over his chair, and landing on the ground with a spectacular crash. Nari's eyes widened at the display, more impressed at his direction than the fall itself. How he had managed to tumble backward while leaning forward was a mystery. Apollon rose to his feet and shouted, running from his chair in between the desks to aid his fallen friend. Kneeling down to help him, he bumped the desk jerking Loki's sabotaged eraser. The trap activated, and the pink menace came to life, bouncing wildly around the desk before launching itself into the air.
It bounced off Dionysus' head before continuing on to another victim, startling the god from his restful nap. "Huh? What? Are monsters attacking us?!" he shouted.
Tsukito, who had heard him, shifted his attention, writing down the new information in his notebook. "Are monsters attacking us…"
Nari's eyes widened, watching the situation unfold as the other students slowly rose into a panic.
"M-Monsters?"
"Like giant eight-headed snakes?"
"Ah! No!"
Eight-headed snakes? Just what sort of human souls did Zeus use to create those people? Now fully awake, Nari quickly stood, joining her sister in trying to settle down the rioting students. "Everyone, calm down. There are no —"
BANG!
All fell immediately silent at the sound of a loud crash sounding from the front of the classroom. It seemed that Thoth had finally had enough. Wordlessly, he slammed his book shut, turned, and stormed from the classroom into the hall. Yui looked nervously back at her sister, unsure of what to do. Nari only gestured her head towards the door, encouraging her to go after him. She would stay behind and attempt to wrangle the students. With a nod, her younger sister bolted out of the classroom after the Egyptian god.
When the door closed behind her, Nari sighed and looked around at the chaos that was the remainder of their class. In the back, Hades was muttering about misfortune, as though the entire situation were somehow his fault. Thor still sat silently as though nothing had happened and Takeru was origami-folding his notebook paper, seemingly unfazed by the whole scenario. Tsukito was still rapidly writing down everything he heard, while Apollon helped Balder to his feet. Loki was sitting in his chair, head thrown back, laughing uncontrollably.
Aggravated, Nari stepped around her desk and fixed every one of them with a menacing glare. "What the hell is wrong with you people? Can't you take anything seriously?"
Balder shrank, slowly sliding back into his seat with an apologetic frown. Apollon looked sheepishly at the floor, and their most studious member began writing down her words. "What the hell is wrong…"
But Nari was having none of it.
"Tsukito. Knock it off. Right now."
Surprisingly, even the moon god halted his movements, pen screeching to a stop mid character at the sound of her seething voice. Emotionlessly, he lifted his head and fixed her with his full attention, awaiting further instruction. Takeru's face twisted into a scowl, hopping up from his seat and leaving his folded swan forgotten on the desk. "Oi, Human! You can't talk to my brother like that —"
"Shut the hell up!" Nari shouted, startling even the temperamental sea god into silence. His eyes widened in surprise, clearly unaccustomed to such rage from a human woman. She didn't give him time to recover or formulate a response. "You idiots just don't get it, do you? We. Are. Stuck. Here. Every single one of us."
The remaining doll students slowly moved away, scurrying toward the doorway to escape her wrath. With classes at an end, they had no further reason to remain with the group. And Nari didn't care. They weren't her concern. "You have got to be the dumbest group of people I have ever met. You may be gods back home, but that doesn't matter because right now, you are no different than the rest of us. I'm stuck here. You're stuck here. Yui's stuck here. And none of us are getting out of here if you don't straighten the hell up!"
The room was silent, each god looking back at her with varying degrees of emotion. Tsukito and Thor offered none, staring blankly towards her, although she could have sworn she saw the smallest hint of a smirk on the larger god's face. Takeru and Hades were stunned, uncertain of what to say or do. Apollon, Balder, and Dionysus looked apologetic, as though the true gravity of their situation hadn't really occurred to them until that very moment. The only outlier was Loki who was just snickering in response.
"Hehe. Wow… who knew the puppy had fangs?"
Every pair of eyes shifted toward the Norse god, including Nari's. She wasn't smiling. She had had enough. She was tired, she was frustrated, and she was angry both with herself and the entire situation she had found herself in. And Loki had pressed her final button. Her eyes flicked behind him for the briefest moment before she locked on target. He needed to be taught a lesson, and she would have to be the one to do it.
Striding forward, she placed both her hands on the back of his chair and her desk, respectively. Then, she shoved the desk forward, lodging it against the back of Loki's chair with a loud crash and startling the fire god. She leaned toward him as he jumped, lowering her voice to a venomous hiss. "And you. You're the worst of them all. It's no wonder you ended up here. You were trouble in Asgard, and you're trouble here in the school."
Loki's smile evaporated.
Slowly, he rose to his feet, forcing Nari to step back from him. His stormy eyes narrowed into infuriated slits as he shot daggers into her eyes with his own. It was no secret or surprise that there was a size difference between the two of them, but now standing before the other, the gap was evident. Loki all but towered over her at nearly a head taller, and she could practically feel the heat radiating from his body. But Nari wasn't deterred. She was far too angry.
"What did you say?" Loki rumbled, voice barely above a whisper.
Apollon and Balder made to step forward, seeing the escalating situation. Nari waved them away, her eyes never leaving her opponent's. She was unintimidated by his aggressive display. She was accustomed to behavior like this. Instead, she continued boldly forward. "I said, you're trouble. And to be honest, I don't really give a damn. If you want to stay here forever, then fine, be my guest. I doubt many would complain. But Yui will not pay for your foolishness."
Having said her piece, she moved away from him, hoping to locate her instructor and sister. But Loki wasn't finished. He reached forward to stop her, likely to give her a piece of his mind, but she didn't let him. In a surprising display of dexterity, she maneuvered around from him, evading his grasp. In the same motion, slapped her hand on the nearby desk, capturing the runaway eraser and putting an end to its reign of destruction. Then, she hurled it at him, bonking him right in the center of his forehead.
Loki stood stunned for a moment, utterly befuddled as the pink toy bounced off his face and flopped lifelessly to the floor. He didn't know what to think. The woman before him had scolded, evaded, and insulted him, all within the span of a minute. Then, she had assaulted him, and with his own contraption no less! He didn't know whether to be furious or amazed. Perhaps he felt a little bit of both. But he didn't plan to lose so easily.
"Hey, I'm not —" he started forward to catch her, moving with purpose this time… but he couldn't reach her. Suddenly, the reasons for Nari's earlier display became crystal clear. While challenging him with a frontal attack, she had distracted him from her actions behind him. During their exchange, the edge of his long braid had lay positioned over the back of his chair. As a result, when she slammed the two together, she had trapped and stuck the crimson rope in between the two. When Loki darted forward, at nearly full acceleration, he fell victim to both resistance and Newton's law of motion.
Catching, Loki's braid yanked him backward right off his feet and sent him crashing to the floor in an almost Balder-like fashion. He sat there, stunned, for a few moments, trying to process what had happened to him. When he turned, he saw his lodged braid, now loosened by the force of his pull. Then, he turned and stared at her with a dumbfounded expression as Takeru burst into unrestrained laughter. The trickster had been tricked… and that was the most hilarious thing in the world to him apparently.
Before him, Nari smirked, having made her point. Then, she spun on her heel and marched out of the classroom, leaving the dazed god behind. He watched her go, eyes wide as she vanished through the door. He didn't move, even as Balder appeared beside him to help him to his feet. He was frozen in place with a range of emotions flooding through him. Emotions he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was true that Loki was livid and would without a doubt get back at her the first chance he got… but he was also impressed. He was fascinated, intrigued, and perhaps even a bit excited. It had been centuries since someone challenged him on such a level.
And now, he was going to answer that challenge, tenfold.
