Chapter 11: The Problem Begins

---Last Saturday---

Loki's and ecchan's relationship was a unique one. Although Loki treated ecchan as one of his children and loved him/her/it (Loki could never tell) just as much, their relationship also had qualities of close friendship. This especially became apparent when ecchan's vocabulary, grammar structure, and pronunciation improved. Ecchan continued to call Loki 'Loki-tama' however. Probably because ecchan thought it was cute. Loki meanwhile thought it was funny that he had a special nickname from each of his children. And although Narukami was Loki's closest friend, there were things that he wouldn't tell Narukami and would tell ecchan. Perhaps it was because Loki felt more comfortable around ecchan at times, or perhaps it was because ecchan understood Loki better. Whatever the reason was however, neither Loki nor ecchan noticed this phenomenon.

It was around three o'clock in the afternoon and Loki was walking back from another shopping trip for clothes. Well, Loki bought the clothes and ecchan went along for the trip. Of course that meant that ecchan was riding on Loki's head the whole time.

"I hope this will be the last time I'll have to buy new clothes in a while," commented Loki.

"Punyaan?"

"Well, I only have a centimeter or two more to go, and I bought my clothes big enough so that won't be a problem. So hopefully I won't have to buy clothes again until these wear out." Loki sighed. "That's one thing I really miss about Asgard. Your clothes don't wear out there."

"Punyaan!"

"Does that mean you dislike clothes shopping as much as I do?"

"Punyaan."

"You really do like that sound, don't you ecchan."

"It's funny to say Loki-tama."

"That's as good of a reason as any other."

Loki walked down the final block and opened the gate of the detective agency. There he stopped to admire the red roses growing along the sidewalk. Mayura was right. They definitely brighten up the front of the house, even thought they are a lot of work to maintain. Loki smiled remembering Mayura coming in dirty from head to toe earlier that year after spending a whole day preparing the bed for the growing season. I should have told her she looked really cute then.

"Thinking about Mayura again Loki-tama?"

"You know me too well ecchan. Come on, we'd better get in. Mayura will start to think I got lost if we don't. And I'm sure she'll want to look at the new stuff I bought. Besides, the wind is getting a little chilly."

Just as Loki was walking up the stairs to put his new clothes in his room, Mayura came into sight. "So, Loki-kun, what did you buy? Let me see. Let me see them Loki-kun! Please?" Mayura had started to jump up and down with excitement.

What is it with girls and clothes? It's not like she'll never see them… living here and all. Not to mention doing the laundry. In a way it's cute… I guess.

Mayura had reached the stairs and began to push Loki towards his study. Fenrir and Yamino were conveniently not present; both deciding to skip the madness that they knew would ensue. That… and they both thought that their father would like to have some time alone with Mayura. Once inside the study, Mayura and Loki sat down next to each other on one of the couches.

"So… what did you get Loki-kun?"

"Alright, alright, calm down. I'll show you." Loki picked up the topmost hanger and removed the black protective plastic cover. Mayura gasped.

"It's red… You bought a red overcoat this time. And the ribbon's blue! That's just like the guy I met when…" Mayura didn't finish her sentence.

"Like the guy you met when…?" asked Loki. Could she be referring to the two times she saw me in my original form before? Come to think of it, I wonder why that hasn't been brought up before. It's not like I can hide the fact that I look exactly like him. Well of course… he's me. But she doesn't know that, right?

"Oh, it's nothing… you wouldn't want to hear about that… It happened so long ago."

"No, I'd listen. Would you tell me… please?"

"Well, remember when I let to pick which cake you wanted to eat and you picked the non squished one?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, the 'handsome guy' as you called him, was also wearing clothes just like this."

"Oh, I see."

"And I met him one other time too. Remember when you went missing for a couple of days? The afternoon before you came back, he was here. I was outside the door to the study when I heard some noise. Thinking it was you I ran in and… but it was him. He was really nice to me and even listened to my problems with trying to find you. He even offered to help me. But I said that his thoughts were enough and I was about to go off looking for you again when he told me he was a god! And then he said that he'd grant me a wish…" Mayura's voice trailed into silence.

"Mayura?"

"I laughed because he sounded so much like you. You know, it's funny. I don't even know his name. But, I believe in god now because you came back Loki-kun."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know it's kind of silly, but I stopped believing in god when my mama died. And then the 'handsome guy' had to tell me he was a god. I told him that if he truly was a god, all I wanted was to see you again."

"You got your wish."

"Yeah… a whole four years worth." Mayura stuck out her tongue at him.

"What… you don't want to see me anymore?" asked Loki, pretending to be hurt.

"No, no… that's not what I meant!"

"I guess I can let that slid," said Loki as he gave her a smile. Mayura giggled.

"Are you sure you're not related to him? You two look identical."

"Related is not the right word. Um, it's kind of complicated actually. And…"

"I guess it would be. You just can't be related to a god. Uncanny resemblance with family connections somewhere in the distant past? Mystery!"

"Basically…" She'd believe that?

"Fushigi mystery! …Loki-kun's associated with a god. No wonder you're so good at the spiritual stuff."

"Exactly." Of course, being a god helps.

Mayura looked back down at Loki's new clothes. "You have to put it on! Come on, I want to see you in it… please? Pretty please Loki-kun?"

"You're not going to stop pestering me until I do, will you."

"Nope."

"I'll be back in a bit then." Outside the study Loki sighed. What I do for you Mayura.

Several minutes later, Loki walked back into the study. "Um, Mayura…"

Looking up from the magazine she was reading, Mayura stared at Loki. "Wow…"

"I take it that 'wow' means I look good?"

Mayura suddenly giggled and stood up. She walked over to Loki and began to untie his ribbon.

"What are you doing Mayura?"

"You tied it crooked Loki-kun," commented Mayura as she was retying it.

Loki couldn't help but look down and watch Mayura. If feels so… natural for Mayura to do this. That thought of course brought a smile to his face.

"There, all done. Looks like you won the bet Loki-kun. You're definitely taller than me. But at least I'm at the perfect height to retie your ribbon. That's better than nothing right?" asked Mayura as she tilted her head to look up at Loki.

"Can I have my prize then?"

"Huh?"

Mayura looked into Loki's eyes and saw within them an emotion she couldn't exactly place. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Loki's mouth coming closer to hers. He kissed her sweetly and drew back for a second. Finding no obvious complaint, Loki decided to kiss Mayura again, hoping that this time she would respond. As if she had heard Loki's silent request, Mayura began to kiss him back. But as she placed her hands on his shoulders, Mayura's brain had finally processed the unexpected information.

"We can't be doing this Loki-kun," exclaimed Mayura as she pushed Loki away. "I thank you for being so kind to me and all, but what you feel for me is probably just a crush. For god's sake, I'm six years older than you. You should really look for girls closer to your age Loki-kun. I mean, how about Reiya-chan? She's nice and seems to be very interested in you Loki-kun."

"But… Mayura!"

"I… I got to go to the shrine. There's going to be an evening wedding there tonight. I really should help Nakaji-san set up the shrine. Um, I won't be back until late tonight. Bye… Loki-san…" Mayura ran out the door and closed it quickly behind her.

---Silence---

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---Silence---

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---Silence---

"Loki… san…"

Author's Notes: Did anyone get flashbacks to Fruits Basket while reading the retying the necktie/ribbon incident? I sure did while writing it. If have haven't seen Fruits Basket yet, I highly encourage you to. It's a slightly serious comedy about a girl named Honda Touru and the Soma family. (The Somas have been cursed by something rather unique.) What might scare both Fruits Basket fans and newbies to the show is that Touru's seiyuu or voice actress (Yui Horie) later played Mayura too! Sometimes the resemblance is uncanny.

To Dunebird: Sometimes even I don't know where I come up with the stuff. I'll just sit at the computer and type at the spur of the moment for most of the chapter. When writing I only have a vague idea of where I want the chapter's plot to go. The more definite the dialogue and interactions between the characters in my head, the harder it seems to write. Some of the ideas were jokes my beta reader and I had made when we were way to tired or sugar high… or both… definitely both, and I wrote down because they were too funny to forget. The mail order bomb was one of those. Fenrir's fleas… well all dogs get flees right? Fenrir's has a girlfriend came about because I wanted something that Narugami could tease Loki about—I just don't see 'the playboy Loki' wanting to think about being a grandfather. The Loki's excuse for Yamino not letting her in the basement—thinking back on it probably came to me in a re-read of Icka M. Chif's "Out of the Dark"—kinda got the old noggin going. I loved writing the growth spurt. The fat comment was completely spur of the moment, and after I had typed it, I couldn't force myself to delete it. I'm not a bona-fide gamer either. Oh well, can't be everything.

To Dunebird: Two reviews… two thanks from the author! I hope to keep your addiction quite strong. A corrupted mind? Never... that was by all means an angst filled cold shower. If you re-read the first chapter with that in mind… umm… yeah…
And probably just too early in the morning. My mind comes in two modes… pure and innocent and… umm… not so… I out do my male friends at times.

To LittleGreenWolf: Never used the author alert thing (at school we have fiber optic constant internet connection—you're computer's on, you're on the internet type) so I've never gotten into using it. But that's gotta stink. Hope you like the length of this chapter a little better. Unfortunately the next chapters will be short, because of the content involved. I might post two chapters at a time though. I don't know.

To Bibliomaniac: In 'real chapter 7' I mentioned Odin's ring, and claimed that Loki "borrowed a ring or two" from Odin for centuries. But I had to come up with a more… umm… legitimate way for Loki to get money too. One, Odin would notice if Loki took that many golden rings. Plus Loki's on Midgard and Odin's ring are in Asgard… but Loki probably had several stashed away somewhere. I would if I prophecies stated that at some point I was going to be exiled to Midgard. Two, and most importantly… Thor's the one asking Loki where the money is coming from. I don't think it would have been wise for Loki to tell Thor he was stealing from Odin. Although I thought the ring reproduced 600 times a day… but I could be wrong… I read my Norse Mythology over winter break. Hope you like this chapter! And now I really have to see that picture! Blast it that I'm not good enough yet in Japanese to translate the manga. Hurry up ADV!