Thank you everyone who read my last chapter, especially those who reviewed. Here's the next chapter. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 2
Second Night – The Old Man Who Lived in a Shack.

"Daddy!" Fenrir shouted as they walked into the two room shack Loki had set up. Fenrir came up to greet Loki, tail wagging.

"Hello Fenrir" Loki picked up the greeting pup and plopped down on the bed, leaving the only chair in the house, usually reserved for Mayura, to Thor.

"Thor?!" Fenrir finally got a look at who was behind his and gave him a suspicious glare. In the corner of Loki's eye he noticed Midgarstorm slither past his foot, under the bed. Apparently he was still frightened of Thor, but then again who could blame him. Norn predictions weren't something to take lightly, he should know.

"Hey Fenrir." Thor answered. "Where's Glasses?"

"He's around. " Loki smiled as he focused on rubbing Fenrir behind the ears.

Thor continued to look around the small shack made of scrap wood and various parts of his old house, which didn't take long seeing as the shack wasn't more than 20 feet wide. It mainly just consisted of a bathroom, and a bedroom with a sink, a bed, a bookshelf, and Loki's old desk. Once Thor was done, he stood at the window inspecting the lot that was left of Loki's house.

"Dammmmn, I didn't realize how much damage Freyr did to you house!" He gave Loki a lopsided smile. "I heard he wrecked it, but with Freyr… Freyr wrecks a lot of things. I didn't know he flattened it like a pancake. It almost looks like I took Mjollnor to the place."

The idea brought a sad expression to Loki as he kept he stared at his. "I'm just happy he didn't succeed in his original goal of hurting my children."

Thor was silent, unsure of how to react to the comment so he waited a minute before changing the subject, and sitting down in the wooden chair behind the battered remains of Loki's desk. He set his hammer down next to him on the dirt floor.

He asked, glancing down at all the paperwork strewn about. "Still doing detective work?"

"Yes. Harmless little cases here and there. There aren't that many evil forces about now, now that Balder is no longer after me." Loki still had problems accepting that Balder had them all fooled and thinking Odin was behind it all. The pain of losing a friend, no, a brother like Odin still hurt. He had half the mind to take after Thor and dress in the traditional black of mourning. "How is everyone else doing?"

Thor let out a sigh as he leaned back in the chair, apparently fully comfortable now. "Heimdall has gone back to watching the bridge, and Feryr… well aside from him being a bit put out of not being King, he's doing fine. He's sometimes gone chasing some other mortal girl here on Midgard, some girl in Europe he ran into, so Daidouji would probably be relieved if she could remember. Freya is fine, but really concerned about how you're doing."

"I'm doing fine."

"You don't say." Thor studied Loki. "You know Loki… What happened… it can be undone. I can-"

Loki held up a hand to stop Thor. "No. … You're a good friend Thor, but… I've come to accept being mortal now. Being stripped of immortality and the powers that go with that privilege… it's interesting. Like, a new experience, and I've already accepted it anyway. I look forward to growing old now I suppose, even though my lifespan as a Jouten will be much longer than any of the humans here."

Thor sighed, but knew how stubborn Loki could be. "Well, the offer will always stand if you change your mind… Idun has plenty of apples to share, and we'd always love to have you back in the hall."

Loki still focused on Fenrir, but smiled. "Thank you."

"And… well… will you refuse my at least helping you rebuild your house? I think it's the least I can do, seeing as now… well, I'm not exactly hard for money now, and you… well, I think I owe you for all those meals Glasses fed me under your roof!" He got up and took a pose with Mjillnor over his shoulder and grinned at Loki. "Heck, Mjillnor and I could rebuild the whole place by ourselves."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?"

Thor's grin widened. "Heck yeah! What good is being king of the Nordic Pantheon if I can't build a simple little house on Midgard?!"

Mayura sat up straight with surprise. "You mean construction will begin next week?!"

"Yes, the plans have already been made out, and the construction company will start on Monday." Loki responded as he gave the snake around his neck a loving rub on the head.

"Where'd you get the money?"

"I had some saved up for it. Just because I choose to live in a shack doesn't mean I have no money."

Mayura gave him a scrutinizing look. She couldn't help but feel he wasn't telling her the whole story, and why suddenly begin construction now, when he could have started it earlier? Either way, she supposed she should be happy he wouldn't' be forced to live in a shack anymore. A shack was no place for a great detective to live.

She was just beginning to imagine his house looking something like Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street when Fenrir gave a sudden bark on her lap, demanding more attention and almost causing her to spill her tea. She responded with a good belly scratch. "Where will you be staying while they work on it?"

"A hotel somewhere more than likely. I'm sure I can find suitable accommodations nearby while they work on the house."

"You don't need to do that!" She set the teacup back down on the saucer and looked back to the Loki who was sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall with his snake. "We have a guest room at my house! Papa wouldn't mind, and Fenrir, and.. and Midgardstrom would be fine there too!" She didn't really want to think about the snake being in her house, but she had to admit Loki's Midgardstrom was slowly making her not mind them so much. SLOWLY. "I doubt a lot of places in town would allow a dog and a snake!"

Loki gave her a smirk. "Are you sure May- … your father wouldn't mind it?"

Mayura took only a second to respond. "I see no reason why not. It's only the right thing to do, and the room is never used anyway."

"Well, if it'll be alright with your father, it would be most appreciated, Mayura." He gave her a genuine smile. "You truly are all someone could ask for in an assistant."

Mayura could feel her cheeks start to burn at the compliment, and while turning her head away asked "Would you like me to make another pot of tea?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

She walked over to the tea maker on the small counter next to the sink to start boiling water.

"You're school trip to Izumo is tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yep! We get to check out all the old temples and parks!" The tea maker was just starting to let out the boiled water, so she got the tea pot ready. "There are so many kami shrines all over the place, so if I'm lucky I just might see a ghost or spirit! Or maybe even Kitsukoko!"

"Kitsukoko?"

"Um!" Mayura nodded as she turned around to set the tea pot on the desk. "When I was little Papa took me there to visit a great aunt who is in charge of a temple there. His aunt or something, I don't remember." She picked up his cup and began pouring him another. "But while there I started to see this cute little brown fox every day. I named him Kitsukoko!"

Loki took the cup of tea and gave her a teasing smile. "Kitsukoko?"

"Hmph" Mayura stuck out her tongue at him was she sat back down. "I was only six." She paused for a second, thinking way back about it. "My great Aunt was really superstitious and didn't think it proper for a girl to be pursuing and naming a fox. Of course all she wanted to do was teach me more Shinto ceremonies and what not. She wasn't much fun." Mayura couldn't help but frown at what the woman made her nine year old self do. Making a little girl go through a purification ceremony in freezing cold water was NOT fun.

Loki was studying her with a smile. "Aren't foxes supposed to steal your soul or something along those lines?"

Mayura tilted her head as she stirred her cup of tea, thinking about the question. "Not really… I guess it depends on the fox. Some are good, some are bad, some are normal foxes, and some are kami." She knew so much about them, she really didn't know where to start.

"If you make a deal with a fox they have such a strong sense of honor that they'll stick by their promise, no matter what! And they can help out a household by doing various favors for them, and even take human form! The older and wiser the fox, the more tails it has, and they can have up to nine tails!" She paused for a second, thinking where to go next. "But some foxes like to cause severe mischief, especially on priests and people of religious station. They can take possession of unsuspecting maidens, seduce men in the forest and make them forget about their family, even lead the man to his death!" Mayura took a pause, thinking with a finger to her chin. "But really they're just tricksters in the end, good and bad I suppose."

"You seem to know a lot about them." Loki smirked.

"Of course! They're fushigi mysteries!" Mayura was grinning now, and searching for her cork bottle glasses to emphasize their mysteriousness, but they weren't in her pocket like they usually were.

"Did you know foxes outside of Japan hold a lot of similarities with the foxes of Japan when it comes to myths?" Loki was gazing outside the window now. "They're tricksters all over the world, and known for their intelligence. They're a creature that demands respect, but has fun doing it."

"You seem to know a lot about foxes, Loki-san. Do you like them?"

"In a way I suppose." He returned his attention back to her, and gave her a funny expression she couldn't read. "You could say I feel a deep connection to them."

Mayura for some reason couldn't break away from his gaze. He somehow held her there with her eyes and she began to feel like she was sinking into the blueness of them. Finally he looked away, back out the window.

"So you'll be gone for how many days?"

"Three. " Mayura had to blink several times to get out of the daze she was in. "It'll be from tomorrow till Saturday. We'll get back late Saturday night."

"I'll make sure to hold off on any mysteries that may pop up while you are gone then."

Mayura's face lit up. "Really!? Thank you Loki-san! I… I would be disappointed if I missed out on any… but if there are any big ones that can't wait for me, make sure you get started on them! We need cases!" Mayura's face suddenly took on a serious look. "Speaking of which, I was planning on maybe making some fliers to put up around town for advertising…"

"Go ahead and do whatever you think will help out the agency Mayura. I… trust your judgment."

Fenrir gave a little bark in her lap which apparently caused Loki to laugh. Mayura couldn't help but feel she was missing something here. As cute as her boss was, he was a very odd man, with even odder pets. Then again he trusted her judgment, so he couldn't be too weird of a man. Sure he was an odd man with odd pets, living in a shack, but he had very good taste in clothes, not to mention assistants.

Mayura got a look at what time it was on her cell phone, and stood up grabbing her school bag. "I have to head back home to make sure I have everything packed, Loki-san. You take care!"

"I will Mayura, be careful on your trip!"

"I will! Bye Fen-chan, bye Midgardstrom!" She thought it only polite to treat the pets the same. The snake hadn't done anything to cause her not to give it that civility.

She was just heading out the door when Loki went "Try not follow anything like willow-whisp or kappa, or even your Kitsukoko while you're there. I don't want to hear that my 'lovely assistant' drowned in the pond because she was chasing something mysterious!"

Mayura was already out the door after hearing that, and was unsure how to react to such a comment. Was it a joke, or did he really believe in them? Was he seriously concerned about her?

The door was already closed, but she gave him a "I won't!" before heading off.

The sun was just starting to disappear over the horizon as the girl was walking down a back alley street on her way home. She was happily humming to herself and swinging a school bag with the melody.

Suddenly somewhere from behind there was a loud crash, and the girl spun around, eyes wide, only to see no one but the empty street full of trashcans and bags for trash collecting. In the distance she could see people slowly begin every now and then, to turn on their porch lights.

"Must have been a cat…" the girl told herself before turning around. She set off again down the street trying to ignore what the long cast shadows were doing to her mind. She was just speeding up her pace when she rounded a corner and gasped when she ended up bumping into someone.

Quickly she bowed. "I'm so sorr-"

"So pretty…" the person replied with a shaky voice.

The girl slowly looked up and was about to scream when the figure cut her off.

Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn! Creepy foreboding drum stuff And that was chapter two, and that was the introduction of a little bit of trouble. Anyway, looks like a problem as arisen in town. What will happen next? Who knows but me? But then again I'm not quite sure exactly what will happen next. I have to think about how I'm going to write out the next chain of events.

It's not too boring at the moment, is it? I'm thinking I'm not too good at dialogue, or maybe I go on and on about stuff too much.

Anyway, reviews would be most appreciated!

Mischa Anniba