When lunchtime finally arrived, Yui eagerly packed up her stuff to escape the strange glances that she kept getting from the gods throughout the class. It was getting so ridiculous to the point that the usually indifferent Thoth was giving her strange glances whenever he faced the class. It was creeping her out!

Determined to find a moment of peace, she ran out of the classroom clutching her poorly packed bag to her chest. Making her way outside, she wove in and out of the phantom students not daring to look at anyone. Once outside, she found a suitable distant tree and quickly sat down underneath its' green canopy. She leaned her head back against the rough bark and she felt her hair snag onto it. She let out a sigh, accepting the inevitable tangled chaos she would have to fix later.

'What the hell is going on with everyone?' She thought to herself. 'It's as though they are anxious about something. Dammit! This is even worse than when they found out about my depression! It's as though there is something they are uncertain about...' Her eyes widened and slowly closed as she released a loud groan. 'Kami, I hope they aren't thinking about that poem!'

"Thud, thud. Thud, thud."

Yui was pulled out of her thoughts by the strange noise accompanied by a small vibration through the tree behind her. When she looked up, she saw Loki reclining on a large branch, swinging his leg lazily and kicking the trunk. His other leg was being used to pop up his arm that was wielding a lollipop.

She let out an intentionally loud sigh in which her intended target heard. He swung himself over the branch and hung upside down looking at her. One of his long braids was hanging dangerously close to her. She had to fight the temptation to use it to pull him out of the tree.

"Hey Kitten! Is there something that I can do for you?"

The human representative continued sending him silent death threats through her eyes before she sighed and leaned her head back with her eyes closed. "Go away Loki. I want to be alone right now."

She could feel him roll his eyes at her before he dropped down from his perch and crouched next to her. "What's up with you lately Kitten? You've been acting weird."

She shot up and glared at him. "Me?! I'm acting weird? I'm not the one that keeps staring during class and avoiding me like the plague!"

He chuckled and flipped his braid over his shoulder. "I have no idea what you are talking about Kitten."

She shook her head and stood up. "It doesn't matter Loki. I want to be left alone and you're obviously not going to be the one to leave."

She turned, prepared to stalk off when she felt him grab her wrist. Turning around, she looked down at him unable to see his eyes behind his bangs. She tried to yank her wrist out of his grasp but found that he was holding her too tightly. "Loki." She received no response. "LOKI!"

Slowly, he looked up and gave her another one of the strange glances that she had been subjected to earlier that day. "Kitten... I..." She raised a brow at him. "I know you want to be alone. But please... just... stay for a minute." Maintaining a suspicious look on her face, she sat down next to him. He never let go of her wrist, but she felt his hold loosen.

"What is it Loki?" She could see the hesitation in his eyes and it was making her nervous.

"A-Apollon... he told us."

He stared at her, pleading with his eyes for her to understand what he was trying to say. After a few moments of deep contemplation, her eyes widened and she gasped. Her eyes narrowed, silently demanding him to reveal what Apollon had told them.

He sighed and looked away from her. "I... w-we don't want to lose you Yui. Please... just, live with us." His pleading eyes threw her off for it was something that she thought she would never see in the god of mischief's eyes.

"L-Loki I... I don't know. My... my family... I'm only... human. I'm nothing." Her choked out sentence ending in nothing more than a pleading, pained whisper. The red-headed god looked at her with respect.

"Kitten,... you're everything to us. Especially to Balder, Takeru, and Apollon. They... we need you."

She could tell that he was struggling with his emotions and hated that he was appearing weak in front of her. She knew how hard it was for him to talk to her like that and it made her appreciate his friendship even more. Tears began brimming in the corners of her eyes. She bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

Slowly, Loki moved towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. It was an action that he was clearly uncomfortable with, but he forced himself to do it anyway.

Feeling a newfound, comforting weight on her shoulder she slowly stopped trembling and took deep breaths to calm herself. Catching on to her uncertainty, he withdrew his hand and stood up. "You don't have to give us an answer now Kitten. We all know how stubborn you are. This is something that you will need time with. Just know, we will respect any decision that you make." He turned around and squared his shoulders. "We owe you that much." With that being said, he walked away, leaving a confused human girl on the ground.

-x-

Once she was able to get a hold of herself, she realized that she needed to get back to class. She gathered her stuff and made her way back to the building for the afternoon lessons. Her thoughts were filled with Loki's strange behavior. The god of mischief was practically begging her to say yes!

Shaking her head, she put on her mask and entered the classroom. She didn't dare look at anyone as she contemplated the possibility of living amongst the gods. 'Could I sacrifice a life with my family for people that I have only known for a few months?' She didn't know the answer, but she had a feeling that the next few days will force her to make a decision.

Author's Notes

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that there are a few chapters that I plan on going back and rewriting before I continue this story. I have an issue with the pacing of the story and I want to fix that before anything else. There is a chance that some chapters will be split, but no major plot points will be changed. This is a story that came to me in a dream (cliche, I know) and I can't get it out of my head. At the moment, the story is just not flowing like the way I want it to be. Again, if you have any suggestions for what you want to see like interactions, scenes, conversations, etc. let me know! I read every single review that is left on all of my stories! I hope that you are enjoying the story so far. Happy reading!

-Raedaline.