Thank you everyone for the great reviews, they were really encouraging, and I hope I don't let you guys down, and a special thank you to Kanashii.Umi for pointing out the spelling for Yamino's… true form name. I'm going to use the Midgardsorm from here on out, and eventually go back and change it in the previous chapters.

And yeah, Yamino is speaking in snake form in this fic. I saw no reason why he shouldn't seeing as Fenrir can speak in his puppy form, and whenever Yamino was the giant serpent in the manga/anime, he could speak then too. Plus I don't think the fact that Loki lost his… godliness (that's what I'll call it XD) that anything that happens to Loki should automatically happen to his kids as well, cause that would mean Hel would lose what supernatural goddess ability she has, and then we'd have no more Queen of the Underworld and… well, that gives you an idea on how my thinking works on the subject.

Chapter 4
Fourth Night – Soba, Melons, and Onigiri

"Loki-sama, those melons over there look nice and ripe, and would be a very easy to prepare food."

Melons. Melons are good. Melons are VERY good. Fenrir couldn't SEE the melons being referred to since they were high up on the table in front of him, but he could imagine them in their sweet, green, gooey fruity yuminess.

"Just how easy would you say 'easy to prepare is'?"

Mmm yes, the easier for Daddy, the better. Daddy couldn't cook. At. All. Fenrir cringed at remembering his father's attempt at pancakes that morning on the small little Bunsen burner type stove they had. Aparently the task was something way beyond the capability of his father and caused a giant mess afterwards in which Loki swore several times while cleaning it up to never ever to attempt cooking again.

"Well, Loki-sama, you just… slice it up and eat it. No cooking would be required at all."

Yes, yes! Daddy can do that! It wasn't hard to slice something up. Not hard at all if you had hands and a knife. Daddy had hands, and they had a knife at home… somewhere.

"Hmmm…" Loki was still studying the honey dew melons when the vendor finally took note of him.

"Can I help you?" The produce vender greeted Loki with a smile which suddenly turned nervous at noticing the big, green snake wrapped around Loki's neck, but if Loki noticed, he paid him no mind. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice the vendor at all. Instead Loki just kept looking at the melons until he turned his head to look down at his older son.

"Would you like melon for tonight Fenrir, and maybe some sushi from the convenience store?" Loki smiled.

Fenrir perked up at his father addressing him. "Oh yes Daddy!" He gave is little tail a wag at the prospect of more food, NOT prepared by his father. After eating ramen noodles constantly for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, non-stop, ANYTHING sounded better. Depending on his father for food had definitely lowered the… fine taste he had acquired with his brother cooking. So sadly nothing at that moment sounded better than convenience store sushi.

"Maybe I could even pick up some coffee Hagen Daz ice cream." His father continued on.

NOTHING was better that ice cream! Nothing! Fenrir's eyes widened at the idea, and it sent a shiver of joy down the pup's spine.

ICE CREAM. Not only did his father seem sick of ramen, but he was treating his taste buds tonight. "OH YES DADDY! Ice cream sounds PERFECT!"

One good thing about living in a very poor shack meant they had no freezer. No freezer with a carton of ice cream meant having no choice but to finish all the ice cream off in one sitting, which meant Fenrir usually got at least half of the carton. In other words the idea of ice cream was extremely appealing to the pup.

Loki continued to smile down at his son while the vendor continued to stare at what he saw as a barking dog and a foreign man with a snake. A very odd combination for a small, Japanese town.

"Alright then, it sounds like a plan!" Loki finally seemed to notice the vendor. "Oh, hello." Smile. "Could I get one of those melons over there?"

"Mayura-san is due later today, isn't she Loki-sama?" Hissed Midgardsorm from Loki's neck. "If she'll be showing up tonight around dinner, you might want to make sure you have enough to feed her."

Loki tilted his head thinking about it… "I suppose you're right. Mayura does like to eat." He grinned, and held out two fingers to the stall owner. "Better make it two melons."

The vendor tried to not even to make the slightest bit of eye contact with the supposedly insane man, and got the melons in a bag to him as quickly as possible, and took the money which thankfully was in exact yen. As they left, the vendor sighed in relief to see them gone without incident.

"Ice cream, ice cream" sang Fenrir as they headed for the convenience store closest to their home.

"Coffee ice cream!" Loki began to sing along and with that the women who were earlier flocking to get a good look at the handsome foreigner were instantly driven away, covering their ears. Somewhere in the distance a cat began to yowl.

"Ah… Loki-sama… do you think that's really a good idea…?" Suggested Midgardsorm who unfortunately was the closest to the singing ex-god.

Mayura hummed some random tune as she approached the shack, bag in hand containing two packages. One package was the souvenir dragon from Izumo shrine, and the other was Warigo Soba; Izumo's own specialty soba dish consisting of extra dark buckwheat noodles and a yummy bonito and onion sauce. Might as well give Loki a taste of other foods he hasn't been able to try.

The sky was just approaching dusk as she came up to the shack, and when she was about to knock she couldn't help but pause and wonder at the excessive barking of Fenrir which came from the other side of the door.

Heh, if I didn't know better, I'd say that dog likes to sound of his own bark. She smiled to herself. Finally she knocked and an immediate but muffled response of "Come in" filtered out to her.

"Hiiiii, Loki-sa…." She stopped in mid sentence, taking in the scene in front of her with shock. Loki sat behind his desk as usual, but on Loki's desk spread out in a crazy mess out were jumbo convenience store cartons of sushi and onigiri, along with several bags of potato chips, most of the food already gone. These were all haphazardly strewn about the desk along with a pot of tea, but what REALLY got to the teenage girl was the sight of her boss eating straight out of a Hagen Daz ice cream carton. From what she could see, the flavor was coffee.

Fenrir was making what would be considered cute puppy sounds as he lapped up some of the ice cream out of a dish set down next to the desk.

So this is the meal of a bachelor….? She thought to herself as she took in the scene. Even the snake had a meal in his tank… a scared little rat hiding in its corner. However where the other two were happily blazing through their food, Midgardsorm was taking his time with his meal. She shocked her head and forced herself to look away from the creepy sight of the snake.

"You're just in time for some melon if you want. We made sure we got extra for you."

"Ehh…. Thank you…." She replied politely, and set her package on the one section of the desk she could find not covered by junk food.

"You know Loki-san… I can try cooking for you sometime if you're this hard pressed for food…"

"Hmm." He looked up at her with a spoon in his mouth, and took it out. "You can cook, Mayura?"

"… basic stuff." She mumbled. Better than what you're eating at least. I KNOW I can do better than convenience store food.

He gave her a smile that almost made her knees weak. "I might have to take you up on that sometime. Would you like some coffee ice cream?"

She looked down at the carton of ice cream, noticed it half melted, and gave a nervous smile and shake of the head. "No thank you."

"Suit yourself." He shoveled another spoonful into his mouth. "So how was your school trip to Izumo?"

"It was nice." She sat down on the bed since Loki was currently seated at the desk in the only chair in the shack. "The temple wasn't THAT impressive, but the town was fun to visit. In fact, I brought you some Warigo Soba from it to try out. It's their local specialty." Fenrir gave a little bark and looked at her expectantly.

"You can try some later Fenrir." Loki muttered as he scrapped the bottom of the ice cream carton. "You've already eaten enough today."

She couldn't help but smile at the depressed expression the dog seemed to put out at that, which was followed by a little whine. Fen-chan was so cute sometimes.

"Your being here leads me to the conclusion that you didn't run into any kappa, eh?" He smirked at her as he set down the now empty carton onto the ground. Fenrir immediately attacked it seconds later.

"Nope, no Kappa." She replied. "But I did get a glimpse at a fox. I went after it for a better look, but it got away in to the woods before I could see if it was anything like Kitsukoko. I guess I was… out foxed!" She laughed at her own supposed cleverness.

She noticed Loki's expression quickly loose the smile and he suddenly looked serious as he folded his hands beneath his chin. "You should be careful Mayura. It's dangerous to stick your nose into something just because you're curious. You'd do good to remember this."

Mayura was hit with a sudden wave of déjà vu at the comment, and shook it off. "Heh, I'll try to remember that, Loki-san." He sure said some seriously detective sounding stuff sometimes. Suddenly she remembered. "Ah!" She stood up and got the top package out of the bag and set it in front of Loki before sitting back down. "I got you a little souvenir from the shrine. It's based off the legend they're most famous for in Izumo. I hope you like it."

Loki opened the box and examined the wooden figurine with the delicately carved necks. "It's a really nice piece of work Mayura, thank you. The detail is to be admired. Orochi of the Eight Heads, I presume?"

"Yep." She nodded her head. "The one who ate all of Princess Kushinada's sisters, and he would of ate her too if the exiled god Susanaoo didn't come by and kill him."

"He married Princess Kushinada afterwards, didn't he?" Loki delicately set the statue on a shelf to his left, and continued to look at it.

"Yes… and one of his descendants was apparently Prince Ōkuninushi."

"I do recall a bit about Ōkuninushi. I think however I need to brush up on my Japanese mythology."

"I can get you a book from the library if you need it."

He smiled. "No, that won't be necessary. I have a couple books in my collection covering it."

Mayura glanced behind him at the big bookcase overflowing with books. "Oh…" Not only was he a detective, but he sure was a reader, and from what she could tell, a reader of everything from South American mythology to sociology. Maybe she should start reading more if she wanted to be a great detective…

"But thank you again for this figure Mayura, it'll look nice on a shelf in my new home once I gets built. Speaking of which, is everything ok with your father about my staying at your house during the construction?"

"Sure! Papa said it was fine. You can stay as long as you need." Inside she was nervously laughing as she recalled the incident with her father days earlier when she brought it up:

"You mean that you invited that… THAT FORIEGNER to stay here till his house is built?!"

"It'll only be for a week or so, Papa. It won't be that long-"

"But in my house? With his… his weird creatures?!"

"They won't do anything Papa-"

"And my daughter! A strange man under the same roof as my sweet, innocent, teenage daughter?!... I WON'T HEAR OF IT!!"

"Mou! Papa! Loki-san is a complete gentleman, and my boss! He hasn't and he won't try anything with me! Besides, it's the right and polite thing to do to offer to let him sta-."

"Well I won't give him the chance to defile my daughter! Absolutely not! He's not to set foot on this property, you understand?! I'm putting my foot DOWN!"

She sighed at recalling the hour or so of negotiating that took place after with her father. But her father eventually agreed to let Loki stay on the condition that she take up more shrine chores, and more studying, preferably at a prep school, but what mattered was in the end he DID agreed. She just hoped that if he was serious about keeping a constant watch on Loki that it wouldn't make Loki feel uncomfortable while staying there.

"Well, as long as it's ok with Mayura-Papa, we'll be delighted to stay with you two, won't we Fenrir?" Loki gave the dog what Mayura could of sworn was a sly grin. Fenrir responded with a few barks, and Mayura was left thinking about how the funny nick name Loki had just given her father seemed so familiar…

"I assured Papa of your character, Loki-san, so that's why he's agreed to let you stay as long as needed. You just might want to… stay out of his way as much as possible…."

If Mayura was paying attention she might of noticed the face Loki made at her comment, a pout almost, but at the moment her attention was unwillingly drawn to the tank where Midgardsorm was apparently starting for his dinner. The rat was running back and forth, panicking with constant squeaks of fear at the far end of the tank, the end currently without the snank as the snake was slowly slithering towards its prey. It sent the heebee jeebies down Mayura's spine to watch.

Her head swiveled away from it to the sudden knocking at the door.

Mayura glanced at Loki who was apparently making no move to get up, so she stood up and headed to the door. "Coming!" She wondered who was calling on Loki at this late hour. Behind the door Mayura found herself face to face with a middle aged man dressed in an overcoat and fedora hat. He looked rather worn out in his expression, and a bit confused to see her there.

"Ah, you'll have to forgive me for calling on you so late. I was told this was the residence of a local detective for hire, but I don't think I've quite got the right place…" The man began to bow.

"No, No! You've got the right place." Mayura smiled. A client! "Come on in!" The man followed her in, but as soon as she looked at Loki and the desk, she rushed to the desk and immediately started grabbing all the food and trash off. In a flash it was all removed from the desk, and thrown in the sink. She then went up to Loki and looked down at him expectantly. He looked back at her blankly.

"Ano…" she motioned her eyes at their guest, standing quietly in front of the table, and then motioned to the chair Loki sat in. Begrudgingly Loki stood up and let her take his chair. He really needed to find another one.

"Here you go sir, please take a seat!" Mayura invited as she set the chair down for the man, who in turn thanked her as he sat down. Loki leaned back against his bookshelf as Mayura began making a pot of tea.

"Welcome to my detective agency." Loki finally greeted to the man who was looking around all over the place. "You'll have to excuse our current accommodations. This is only temporary. Construction of our actual building will begin next week."

"Oh…" The man looked at Loki. "This place is fine, uh…"

Loki nodded, and continued. "I am Loki, and this is my lovely assistant Daidouji Mayura."

Mayura couldn't help but blush at the compliment as she filled the pot with hot water. The title was originally devised by her, but just the same, it came out of his mouth.

"Thank you Loki-san, Daidouji-san." The man had removed his hat, and was now staring at it in his hands.

"Tea?" Mayura asked. The man nodded, grateful, and she set down a cup and saucer before him. Mayura then sat down on Loki's bed.

The man started. "My name is Toriyama Ando, and well, recently my daughter disappeared." The man seemed to take his time before continuing on with a sigh. "It happened three nights ago today. She was at her prep school, a school which confirms she was there that afternoon, and she was never heard from again after she left. I… the police have looked into it now, but they say there have been no signs of what they call foul play, and they're heavily leaning on the assumption that my daughter is a runaway." He looked up at Loki now with a look of desperation on his face. "I come to you now because I have no other option. The police seem to be about to give up, concluding that Sakura-chan ran away, but…" His voice was starting to crack. "I know my daughter. She was a good child, and had no reason to run away… Please, I beg you… find my daughter."

Mayura looked to Loki as Toriyama-san lowered his head once more, apparently done explaining the case. This looked to be like it was a big case, just the type she was hoping they would get. A true mystery.

"Toriyama-san," Loki began, "I will do everything in my power to find out what happened to your daughter. You have my word." He paused and she could of sworn she looked down at Fenrir when he said the next part. "No father should have to go through what you're going through."

Mayura was trying really hard to suppress the glee she was feeling. She knew it would have been highly inappropriate for her to pull out her official Mysterious Mystery glasses now and go into one of her fits with the atmosphere Toriyama-san had created, but oh how she was feeling it! They were about to start a real case now.

Hope you liked this chapter. And btw, like any other ff author, I luv reviews.

- Mischa