This is the second posted chapter today. If you haven't read chapter 17: Discovering the Truth. Don't read this…yet.

Chapter 18: Distance

Both Loki and Mayura returned back to the house late and retreated into their separate rooms. For the following two days, both avoided each other as much as possible. And when they couldn't avoid each other, such as meal times, neither spoke. Mayura and Loki even avoided visual contact if that was achievable. And as the tension between them continued to build, Yamino, Fenrir, and ecchan could only hope that neither would do something they would later regret. That fateful event happened on the third day.

"What are you doing Loki-san?" asked Mayura as she peered over Loki's shoulder as he sat at the desk.

"Did someone speak to me?"

"Yes, I did Loki-san. And I asked, what are you doing?" retorted Mayura angrily.

"I'm filling out the application to take the Tokyo University Entrance Exam, what does it look like?"

"Tokyo University… the most prestigious university in Japan! But you never went to school Loki-san."

"I was home schooled."

"What's this… Fu…fa-ru-ba-u-ti-se-n?"

"Farbautisen. You know… my last name… I do have one Daidouji-san," said Loki in a belittling voice.

"You don't have to be so mean."

"Whatever you say Daidouji-san."

"Are you planning to go to Tokyo University to get away from me Farbautisen-san? Why don't you just kick me out?!"

"I wouldn't do that. Your father asked me to take care of you. And I do not renege on my oaths. Besides, where would you go Daidouji-san? Your job at the shrine doesn't pay enough for you to live on your own."

"Well I hope you do well on the entrance exam this weekend, Farbautisen-san," replied Mayura curtly.

"I intend to. Now, if you don't have something urgent to speak to me about, would you kindly exit my study Daidouji-san? I need to prepare for the exam."

Mayura left the study, slamming the door in her wake.

After that, the angry tension in the house decreased. Loki and Mayura were no longer giving each other the silent treatment—but they addressed each other formally and rarely said anything of important. The discussion highlight for Friday was 'Farbautisen-san, would you kindly pass me the salt please.' (The sentence contained seven words!) Never before in Loki's and Mayura's relationship of almost seven years had either acted so formally towards each other, or anyone else for that matter. As a result, their actions were awkward and forced. Nothing else seemed to happen from the incident which relieved Yamino, Fenrir and ecchan greatly. Loki took the Tokyo University entrance exam that Saturday as planned and Mayura continued to work at Ginga Shrine, although a little bit more dedicatedly. But as the first week of estrangement stretched into a second something radically changed for the worse. Both Loki and Mayura began to withdraw into themselves, and neither seemed to hold the same joy for life which they previously had. Mayura didn't smile or laugh anymore and Loki's eyes had turned a soulless gray. And it was this morbidity that greatly disturbed anyone who knew either Mayura or Loki.

Author's Note: Loki's Last Name

Yes, I know Loki's real last name is Laufeyiarson. But even Loki isn't that brave (or stupid) as to actually use his real first name and last name on Midgard. Even really slow people would catch onto that. And in the anime Kotaro was already suspicious (Ep. 25 He reads a book on Norse Mythology.) Loki can't really afford to give any more hints on who he really is. But don't worry, he'll use Laufeyiarson later. Hehe

I actually used Loki's patronymic or father-name. In the nineteen hundreds and early twentieth century many Norwegians took their patronymic name and claim it as their official last name. This was an especially common practice in the immigration records of Ellis Island. A patronymic name is literally what it sounds like.

If a man named Anders (first name) had a son called Jon, then the boy would be called Jon Anderssen, that is: Jon, the son of Anders. In some dialects the patronymic could be Andersson or Anderssøn, but the meaning is the same.

If Anders had a daughter called Anne, she would be called Anne Andersdatter, that is: Anne, the daughter of Anders. The spoken form, however, was more like Anne Anderste or Anderstet. Today Norwegian genealogists often use Andersdtr as an abbreviated form. The women used their patronymic all the life, married or not, but this custom began to change around 1900 or a little earlier.

So, since Loki's father was a giant called Farbauti, if he needed to create a last name for official documents on Midgard, his name would be Loki Farbautisen.

Italic text taken from http:www.nndata.no/home/jborgos/names.htm