- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.
Ah, My Loki-sama!
written by Kurosu
- Chapter Thirty-Three.
"EMERGENCY CRISIS!"
Mayura cried as she slammed her hands down on the dining table, wakening up all those present in the room if they weren't fully awake yet. She was standing at one end of the table, looking frantic and breathing heavily, which Loki wouldn't normally minded on most days, but he didn't understand why the rest of the gods were also seated in his home. All eyes were on her, including a patient Yamino in the middle of serving tea to their uninvited guests, at least he and his father didn't invite them.
Narugami was already munching on the plate of cookies, crumbs dribbling out of his mouth, not caring that he was pulled out of his shrine duties and his new part-time job wouldn't start for another two hours.
'Oi, Flashy Pants,' Fenrir barked, 'Don't eat all the food!'
"Forget the food!" Heimdall yelled and drank his tea, "What's this emergency, nee-chan? I do have other things to do."
"Yes yes!" Freyr interjected excitedly, "If Yamato Nadeshiko is in a bind, Freyr will save you!"
Mayura took a deep breathe and then looked at them, opening her mouth to begin her tale of woe...
"So... the other day, our class had a meeting about the pre-summer festivities, and we had decided to do an awesome, scariest haunted house ever! So... we divided up the jobs to get materials, building things, etc..."
"Jormungand, more cookies!"
"Yes, nii-san."
"Yeah Megane, more cookies!"
"I was going to get supplies from the art room, and then on my way back to class, my arms filled with so much stuff..."
"Freyr, stop breathing over my shoulder!"
"Heim, if you don't want your cake, Freyr wants it!"
"Take it!"
Mayura, fuming from all the interruptions, sped through the rest in one breath, "I couldn't see where I was going and tripped over something, everything flew into the air, and flailing my arms to regain balance didn't work and I went flying forward. I grabbed onto the nearest thing which was the curtain, but it ripped from the banister and I kept going forward into the marble stand and... KNOCKED OVER A 8,000,000 yen ($80,000) ANTIQUE VASE!
All the gods, who had been drinking tea during this monologue, suddenly had their beverage spewed from their mouths. Then they all gaped at a very upset and distraught Mayura, hung her head low, bangs obscuring her eyes, and wondered how in the Nine Worlds did this mortal girl ever survived this long in Midgard. She was a walking magnet for trouble, but no one dared to utter a word or maybe even breathe.
Loki, sweatdropping, was a brave man- err, god to ask the inevitable, "Mayura, then... how will you pay for it?"
Her head snapped up, and she was staring aback at him with an almost mad look about her eyes and pointed to the lot of them, "You guys... You guys will help me!"
Everyone sweatdropped and feared for the worse, but no one could object to the mortal girl's declaration, each having owed her much already, and it was silently agreed upon that they would do all they could to reach this insane amount of money for one vase that probably had no reason to be displayed in a public high school without any appropriate security measures.
A few minutes later, after all the uninvited guests left the agency, Loki returned to his study and sat at his desk, trying to process what had just occurred while Fenrir had curled on the couch for a nap. The door quietly opened, and Yamino entered with a late afternoon tea.
"How is she?" he asked his son.
"Mayura-san is resting in the guest room." He smiled and added, "I think the lavender peach tea helped."
Loki leaned back in his chair, chuckling, "She... just never ceases to amaze me."
"I'm glad that you are happy, Loki-sama."
He stared at his son for a moment, and then his gaze fell upon the desk top, feeling a bit guilty that his children had left their home in Asgard to be with him in the mortal realm, for his own selfish desires, "Yamino... I'm-"
"Loki-sama, we'll go wherever you go. As long as we're with you, we're happy."
'Jormungand's right,' Fenrir had opened an eye, yawning, 'It doesn't matter where we are, home is always with you, daddy.'
Loki smiled, happy that his sons understood him so well.
"Nii-san can be sentimental after all."
"Quiet, Jormungand, I want to sleep," he growled, squirming uncomfortably at having be complimented as a softie, shutting his eyes again.
Yamino laughed softly into his fist, "Yes, nii-san."
So the day of the school festival arrived, and Mayura, in a maid outfit, had been running around all morning to make sure everything was in place, not a detail missing nor out of order, which would make Yamino quite proud, and in a few hours of the early morning, she was able to turn the school's rooftop into an extravagant cafe that would make any London restaurant envious.
She managed to persuade the principal to allow her to use the place since all rooms and fields were occupied by the clubs, not to mention she promised to pay for the vase, so he couldn't flat out refuse, being partly responsible for his students.
She glanced over the side and saw people flooding through the school gates to attend the festivities, wondering where the others were. They had to change in to their uniforms, but they should've been done by now and met her up there. She heard the door open and turned around, only to be greeted by a curious Koutaro, wearing a dracula costume and looking very handsome as one too.
Puzzled as to why he was there, she walked over to him, "Koutaro-kun, aren't you part of the haunted house?"
He nodded, "Yes, but I wanted to check on you."
She gestured to her cafe and smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "Well, it's the best I can do, with my allowance. Loki-sama and the others will be here shortly."
"Um, that's not what I meant," he sighed and stared at her, carefully. He seemed doubtful about something, so he asked her, "Is it really a good idea to get Loki to help? With all the crazy things that's been happening? It seems all he does is bring you trouble..."
She smiled and shook her head, "Iya, Loki-sama has been good to me. It's me that always cause trouble for him." She looked away, blushing, "Like this, I'm grateful that he and the others are helping me."
"If it's the vase, I could-"
The door opened again, before Koutaro could even offer to help pay for the vase, and Loki walked through first, looking super sexy and hot in his butler attire, not much different from the regular sophisticated, expensive clothing he wore. He was soon joined by the rest of the gods, wearing the same outfits, and even Heimdall had his mini-butler suit tailored to him, as well as Fenrir with his cute bowtie collar.
Narugami was the most uncomfortable of the lot, tugging at the collar several times, and still had Mjollnir slung over his back, giving him a rather rugged appearance. On the other hand, Yamino appeared calm and ready to work, though this job would be no different from his every day schedule at the agency, serving Loki, and the only difference was just an upgraded uniform from his simple one.
The only person truly accustomed to such extravagant, outrageous wear on a daily basis would be the reigning champion Freyr, who had additional customization of his attire with flowing cape - the first butler to ever to be donning one.
"Ah!" Mayura's face brightened, and she clasped her hands together, "Everyone looks so handsome!"
"Yamato Nadeshiko is much lovelier!"
A love-struck Freyr skipped towards Mayura, his arms wide open with the intention of embracing her, but she, being oblivious, moved towards Loki, so the clumsy god caught a very uncomfortable Koutaro in his arms. Embarrassed, both pushed away from each other, while Narugami and Fenrir snickered at the comical sight. Heimdall and Yamino just shook their heads, sweatdropping.
Mayura stepped up to Loki, who arched his brow in surprise, as her hands reached up to him, more specifically his tie, a smile playing on her lips, "It's a bit crooked, Loki-sama."
With a tug here and there, she straightened it out till he looked beyond perfect, smoothing out his collar and coat like a faithful wife would. Before she could retract her hands from his person, he had seized them within his own and drew them back to his chest, placing it over his heart, while their eyes never left each other. She blushed; he smiled.
Freyr's girlish scream interrupted them, and they sweatdropped and turned to see an angry Freyr and Koutaro shooting straight for them, wanting to strangle Loki for monopolizing the pink-haired girl.
For the third time and not the last time, the door flew open, interrupting all the drama and lovey-dovey stuff, and a sudden flood of overly excited females nearly broke down the door itself, for the chance to be dining at the butler cafe with a bunch of sexy, delicious butlers that shimmered like gods.
And Mayura didn't waste any time at the opportunity of making money, for the sake of the vase, shouting out her command, "GROUP POSE # 7!"
Upon her order, the gods scattered into their designated spots as rehearsed before, to present themselves in a spectacular manner to their female audience. Even Koutaro was amazed at his classmate's power over these handsome men, cute child and puppy, as strange as the combination seemed, and he wondered who all these oddballs were that happened to appear in her life.
A very peculiar mystery that needed to be looked in to.
Mayura took a snapshot and more, planning to make some money off all the photos and maybe future calendars too. She should've done this sooner, much much sooner! And somehow Koutaro got wrapped in to the whole flow of things, not that he minded since he was around Mayura, and his class' haunted house was one vampire short that day.
The click of her heels as they tread across the pavement, catching the attention of every male like a domino effect, all the way to the building entrance. All eyes were glued to the gorgeous backside, watching the sway of her hips as she walked, the gait of a sexy, confident woman. After she disappeared in to the building, the men were still hypnotized by the lovely sight, and eventually the brutal smacks from their jealous girlfriends snapped them out of the trance.
Wherever this woman went, drooling, ogling men followed, and this scenario repeated through four more floors till she finally came to her destination. She stood in front of the door, leading to the rooftop, and took a deep breath, eyes closed to focus on her task at hand, because this was going to be her dramatic entrance, to make a grand impression.
She readied herself and pushed forward, throwing the door open, and stepped in to the forefront, hands on her hips to bask in the glory of her beautiful image gracing his presence... yet only silence greeted Freya.
The goddess opened her eyes and looked around, jaw dropping at the busy butler cafe, about twenty women piled at a table - was that even possible? She couldn't believe her eyes, that the gods have been literally brought down from their heavenly thrones to be mere man servants to female mortals!
But Loki, Koutaro and Freyr appeared to be enjoying it, chattering with the girls and entertaining them, while Narugami, Yamino and Heimdall served snacks and drinks, and even Fenrir was being doted on - like a snapshot right out of a host club! All the while, Mayura was counting up the profits and trying to fit it in to the safe box, but she might need a second one because she could barely close it.
"More tea please!" a random girl waved.
"Coming!" Mayura chirped and hurried with a pitcher of tea. She smiled, passing by a shocked Freya, "Hello, Freya-sama!"
"Wh-What's going on here?!"
After refilling some empty glasses, the cheerful girl returned to the goddess and helped her to an empty chair. She fanned some fresh air to the blonde's way, telling her take it easy and breathe. Yamino handed a glass of sweet tea to Mayura, who gave it to Freya, hoping to relax her a bit.
"It's good to see you again, Freya-sama," Mayura smiled.
The goddess looked up to her, surprised at such a warm welcoming, though she had hoped that Loki would take her into his arms and hugged her and kissed her, and Mayura noticed that Freya was apparently feeling better now since she seemed to be preoccupied with her thoughts.
Loki walked over and was surprised to see the goddess had joined them, but she had such a dreamy look that he didn't want to interrupt, so he glanced to Mayura, gesturing a questioning hand towards Freya. She shook her head, not knowing what went on in the goddess' head, and stared pointedly at him, thinking that he could probably snap her out of the goofy stupor. He gave her a flat expression, questioning her if she was serious about it, because they both knew Freya would just pounce on him like usual.
Mayura smiled nervously and just shrugged, not really wanting to, but they couldn't just leave a zoned out Freya all day, to which Loki rolled his eyes in response, because he would gladly leave her like that just so he could have some peace and quiet. The two conversed like this, without words for the next few minutes - for fear that a single noise could awaken the goddess - until Freya came out of her daydream by herself, blinking at Loki 'eye smexing' to Mayura.
"LOKI!" she cried and threw her arms around a surprised god, "How I've missed you!"
"Ah... it's uh, nice of you to visit, Freya," he smiled nervously, while many of his fangirls in the background glared at the touchy-feely goddess. He was more worried about Mayura's reaction to this situation, but the girl appeared to have wandered off, leaving him to the she-wolf and kept herself busy with serving their customers. He watched the mortal girl going about from one table to another, thinking that she needed a punishment for leaving him alone with Freya.
"Loki~!"
"Hrm?"
Freya pressed a finger to his chest, inching it up to his tie, poking at it playfully, "You still owe me a date~!"
"I do?"
Yes, Loki had still owed her one from the time Freya stayed at the Daidouji house, and in exchange for her to keep her identity and theirs a secret from Mayura's father, he had to bribe her with a date, and now Freya was on Midgard to collect it - such bad timing to ruin his fun.
A promise was a promise, but that didn't mean he couldn't delay it as long as possible, in to like the future never!
"As you can see, Freya," he started, "I'm a bit busy here..."
"Oh Loki-sama," came Mayura's very calm voice, and she appeared in front of them, "you can take a break."
Loki sweatdropped at the very stiff smile the girl was wearing and wondered if she had heard their conversation.
"Why don't you take Freya-sama around the festival, Loki-sama, on your date!"
Okay, she did hear, and the way she emphasized the last word made him cringe. Freya had completely agreed that he showed her around the mortal event, but apparently with two women against him, he had lost. He gave Mayura one final pleading look that she almost wavered, worried about him, but she believed in keeping promises, even if it was made to another female.
"AH! FREYA!" Freyr's voice cut in, and for once, Loki was very relieved at the idiot's appearance, grabbing the blonde goddess' hand, attempting to separate the two immortals, "Freyr will not let Freyr's sister near Loki!"
"Nii-sama! Let go!"
The siblings began fighting each other, arguing loudly, that Loki was soon forgotten, and the god took this chance and grabbed Mayura, making a run for the door, both disappearing from sight. By the time Freya had yanked her hand out of her brother's hold, she turned back to an empty spot next to her, "LOKI!"
Freyr, satisfied that he had protected his sister, looked around for his love interest too, "Yamato Nadeshiko?"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Will you two shut up!" Heimdall growled at them, throwing an apron at Freya, not caring to know why she even showed up - the more hands on deck, the better! "Get your butts over here and work!"
Of course, with the excitement that was the typical school festival, the Frigg Brigade - the trio aptly dubbed themselves since they needed some catchy name (besides the Fried Fish Bowl restaurant team) worthy of their beloved queen and goddess - could not miss this event, because according to Hilin, Baldur enjoyed these types of events where people gather to follow and praise him. And it was a school, an educational institution that promoted learning and stuff, which Baldur would advocate.
Hilin, standing on top of a takoyaki booth, was scouring the area like she was a pirate on lookout for land, and the booth attendants were not happy, but she didn't care what they, or anyone, thought. While the red-head was busy with her mission, Fullia was having the time of her life, playing games, taking in the sights, and stuffing her face with all the free food the boys bought for her.
That left poor Gina to wander aimlessly and blindly with her gloomy cloud, running into a pole, a few random people, tripped over a box and fell into a pool of fish. The people around her asked if she was okay, and she got up and continued walking like nothing happened, even though she was drenched, and eventually made a lap around the field because she bumped in to Hilin, who had just hopped from her lofty height to the ground again.
"Dammit, Gina!" she yelled, "Watch where you're goin'!"
"Sorry, Hilin-san!" she bowed to the octopus mascot by the takoyaki stand.
Hilin slapped her forehead, groaning. She had enough of the blind Gina and pointed to her, ordering, "I command you to cut your bangs?!"
Lightning flashed from the cloud, and thunder rumbled, and the many people around them fled. The dark blue aura increasing in size was a bad sign, and even Hilin faltered a tiny bit, sweating. Gina, with her bangs still in the way, screamed like a crazy insane asylum patient, both hands clenching and unclenching as if she wanted to twist something in her hands to make the madness go away.
As fast as that appeared, the dreadful feeling faded away, leaving a meek Gina bowing to her superior, "I-I'm sorry, Hilin-san... but I can't obey this order... because... because Frigg-sama said my bangs were cute..." She giggled and blushed, recalling the memory of her dear queen.
The corner of Hilin's lip twitched, and Fullia popped up next to her, out of nowhere, eating a banana and carrying a watermelon in her arm. The red-head glanced over to her, staring at the watermelon, wondering if she should even asked where the thing came from.
"I found something good," the blonde grinned.
"It's... not the melon, is it?" Hilin had to make sure.
"Umm, even better!"
"Baldur-sama?!"
"I forgot."
Hilin was too tired to face-palm, so she said, "Just... retrace your steps, please..."
Wow, she said 'please'... it must be the end of the world!
Thank the divine powers of the Yggdrasil System, because it went right to work at the sign of trouble that dared to break the contracted bond of a god and mortal, not that the pair really depended on the wish anymore. It just made life that much simpler and less worrisome when one knew that the great system of the gods was taking care of things, though the jealousy and insecurities was something they would have to work out between them.
But said unofficial couple was smiling and laughing now at the ridiculousness of the siblings that they were actually grateful for because their bickering allowed them a chance to enjoy the festivities together. Hand in hand, side by side, they walked, still dressed in their server wear, not that they cared, through the hallways and eventually to the outside.
And many stalkers soon followed, though neither really paid attention, only eyes focusing on each other.
"Ah!"
Mayura pointed to the chocolate fondue fountain, her sweet tooth kicking in, and hurried over to it, pulling a content Loki with her. There was an array of fruits and candies and cakes that could be dipped in to the chocolate, and she chose the largest strawberry, letting the warm chocolate liquid drip over the fruit, covering every inch of it. She took a bite of it, savoring the delicious sweetness with a bit of tang, and then held it out to Loki, offering him a taste.
He chuckled, seeing all the chocolate smeared over her lips and mouth, and held her chin between his thumb and index finger, lifting her head up towards him, as he leaned down to her. Her eyes grew wide, with his lips descending upon hers, his warm breath intermingling with hers, and neither remembered that they were still in a very public place. He could smell the chocolate from her mouth, his lips barely brushed hers, so soft and warm. He was gentle at first, teasing her, then became more firm, a flicker of his tongue across her lips, licking the sweetness...
"AH! PDA ALERT!"
Loki's sweatdropping head fell on Mayura's shoulder, and the girl blushed red but then panicked at recognition of the trio in front of them. He felt the abrupt change in her mood and body and stood up, turning around to meet their adversaries.
"I found them!" Fullia gave her comrades a toothy grin, now eating a fifth slice of watermelon - how she was able to cut it and eat it through four slices during the time frame was a mystery - the juice dribbling down her shirt. "Awesome make out session!" she waggled her brows at them until Hilin smacked the back of her head, and the couple sweatdropped.
"Dammit!" Hilin fumed, not expecting to run in to their enemies.
Loki sighed, pressing a hand lightly to his forehead, wondering aloud, "If this wasn't a coincidence, then I would believe they're stalking us."
Gina, very offended, pointed blindly to a random person, thinking it was Loki, "The only person I'd ever stalk..." Fullia, still eating, corrected her ally by moving the pointing finger towards a sweatdropping Loki, as the dark-haired continued, "would be Frigg-sama!"
Hilin pulled out her mop, and Gina her gun, and that left Fullia to finish eating, so she pulled one feather duster from her blouse, preparing for an all out fight. And by now, they had drawn a crowd of curious spectator, believing the scene before them as a part of some unannounced performance for the visitors.
"Wait a minute!" Mayura shouted, stopping them, "There are way too many people here."
"Who cares!" Hilin scoffed, "As long as we retrieve Baldur-sama, we don't care who gets hurt!"
Loki inquired, "Why are you searching for Baldur anyway?"
"For Frigg-sama's sake!" Gina bellowed, pointing her gun at another random bystander.
"A-ha!" Fullia exclaimed, an epiphany struck her (and not a rock), "I know why we haven't been able to find Baldur-sama!" They all stared at her, awaiting her dramatic answer to grace them. "Because," she resumed, "THEY have Baldur-sama!"
"We don't!" Mayura cried.
Loki sighed, "The last time any of us saw him was at the battle at Yggdrasil."
Hilin frowned, realizing that it all made sense, "I was right from the beginning! You DID have Baldur-sama imprisoned all this time! No wonder we couldn't find him at all! Not even at his favorite places to eat! His favorite games he'd play! Or... or events he would enjoy watching! Loki, you evil villain-"
"That's redundant," he snarked.
"You abducted our precious Baldur-sama for evil deeds! Unforgivable!"
"Please. I prefer cute, pretty girls," he stated and pulled Mayura to him, wrapping an arm around her body from behind. With a hand under her chin, he lifted her head up gently as he leaned down to her neck, giving her a bite, and she squeaked in embarrassment, while the audience gasped and some fainted. He glared in the trio's appalled direction, "Not stupid, spoiled, mama's boys... like Baldur."
"HOW DARE YOU!" Hilin roared, "How dare you insult Baldur-sama, even if there was some truth to those words! And of course you would lie to us! You are the trickster god, deceitful and evil! RELEASE Baldur-sama NOW!"
Still in the god's embrace, Mayura huffed out annoyingly, "Mou! You guys are really stubborn."
"And stupid," Loki deadpanned.
It appeared that the fighting couldn't be avoided, so Loki summoned Laevateinn in his hand as he gently ushered Mayura behind him, just as the people around them clapped - some laughing, some smiling and complimenting on a great show and how real Loki's magic was!
Notes: Lol, Ouran High School Host Club reference! It made me think which MLR character would match up with each of the Host Club cast best... It's tough, but my list would be Loki as Tamaki though personality-wise Kyoya would be better; Heimdall would be "Honey" 'cause I'd leave him as a kid, lol; Narugami as "Mori"; Mayura with a wig on as Haruhi 'cause I love Mayura's long hair, lol; Yamino and human-Fenrir as Kaoru and Hikaru; hm, oddball Freyr doesn't fit as Kyoya, so maybe reverse Loki's and Freyr's roles... lol. Anyway, was just playing around with the idea, lol.
Anyway, I feel like I'm rushing this a bit... typing a lot, because I want to get Hel-chan, Baldur... Eir, and Spica in soon! Yes, Spica! My current outline goes up to a mid-season intermission of summer vacation for Mayura-tachi, which I'm excited about! *gets giddy* -kuro.