- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

Ah, My Loki-sama!

written by Kurosu

- Chapter Thirty-Four.

"Huh?"

Narugami squinted and leaned over the side of the roof for a better look at the crowd below. He could see Loki and Mayura pitted against the familiar blonde, red-head, and brunette in the middle of the festivities and people were actually cheering and clapping down there. And when had the two sneaked off from work, which wasn't the problem right now, Narugami!

"Oi Megane," he called, "Guys, I think Loki and Daidouji are in trouble."

The rest of the pantheon of gods joined Narugami, forgetting their female and some male clientele. At the sight of their respective love interest in trouble, the siblings freaked out and ran towards the exit first, and Loki's two sons soon followed them.

Heimdall ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, "Can't believe I'm doing this..."

Narugami grinned, "Heh, helping Loki? Or serving mortals cake and tea?"

"Shut it, Thor," he growled and stomped off, with a laughing god of thunder right behind him, which left...

Koutaro and their customers blinked, confused, as they watch their butlers walk away without serving and entertaining them anymore. After a brief acceptance of the situation, they all turned their eyes back on to the sole employee of the butler cafe, the poor vampire holding a tray of cakes in one hand and a pitcher of tea in another, left eye twitching at being left alone to fend for himself... and Mayura's cafe.

Yes, he was doing this for Mayura, but wouldn't it be better to just close shop and write a check for the vase?! His own allowance could cover at least five antique vases!

"This is very serious!" Mayura flailed her arms to the crowd, trying to get them to leave, because the three dangerous females didn't hold back when it came to a fight. Her first-hand experiences was all too clear in her mind, and she didn't need any casualties on her conscience when her school was going to be a future battle ground.

But unfortunately, no one took the girl's warning seriously, and apparently even those at the center of attention were too focused on the battle at hand to bother with the mortal audience, especially Hilin, whose mop was pointed directly at Loki, "I'm telling you, one more time, to release Baldur-sama!"

Loki glared at her, seeing that they were not going to believe his words and were very earnest in executing their threat of major hurt on him and those around him. He normally wouldn't have any hesitation in retaliating, but it was just too risky, not when he had someone important to him to protect. He could sense Mayura's uneasiness behind him, knowing how worried she was for the people around him, who were completely oblivious to the dangers.

"Loki-sama..."

"Mayura, stay back," he advised, and for once, she wasn't going to protect because the graveness in his voice told her that he wasn't going to take any arguments from her right now.

"Oi Loki!" Narugami called, appearing from the throngs of people, along with the rest of Asgard's immortals, "Don't leave us out of the fun!"

"Loki-sama, we're here to help!" Yamino jogged over to his father's side with Fenrir.

"Freyr will be the one to protect Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Freya exclaimed, "I can't allow these women to interrupt our future date!"

"I just want to go home," Heimdall sighed, reluctantly joining the others to surround their enemies.

"Damn you, Loki!" Hilin growled, "You had reinforcements all along, you coward!"

'Oi, you hag! Don't insult my daddy!' Fenrir barked, 'You're the one fighting three against one!'

"Hilin-san," Gina started, "Um, I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Of course not, but we have no choice!" Hilin raised her mop in to the air, shouting, "But for Frigg-sama's sake!"

"YES, FOR FRIGG-SAMA!" Gina, whose eyes had garnered the more psychotic look at the mention of their dear queen, had turned the knob of her gun to something randomly ridiculous, such as flame thrower... "FRIGG-SAMA~!" she cried and stepped forward, aiming her gun at no one in particular and pulled the trigger...

Nothing happened.

She pressed it again, and still nothing. Everyone, including the audience, sweatdropped.

"Um..." Gina looked at her weapon, noting the blinking battery sign, "I forgot to recharge it."

They all fell over, allies and enemies alike, but Hilin was the first to recover, swinging the mop at Loki, "ATTACK ANYWAY!"

Gina threw her gun, and it managed to smack Freyr right in the face, while Fullia kicked half her melon towards Narugami who sliced it in half with Mjollnir, and pulled out her second feather duster. Fully armed with her cleaning tools, the blonde skipped forward and jumped at Freya, who blocked the strike with a frying pan and shoved her back. Fullia flipped back in mid-air and brought the two dusters in front of her and shot out a bunch of sharp feathers at the goddess.

Freya jumped out of the way while Narugami smacked the projectiles back at the flying blonde, who comically dodged her own weapons.

Freyr rubbed his face and stood up angrily, facing a frustrated Gina, who was trying to find her spare gun but all that came out of her sleeves were cloths and spray bottles of cleaning solutions. For daring to mar his handsome face and humiliating him in front of his Yamato Nadeshiko, he summoned his magical wand from his cape and waved it dramatically in the air, "I chose you, Gullinbursti!"

The sky above them darkened just a bit and split open, and the spectators' jaw opened.

"Wow, this is an awesome show," someone commented.

"The special effects are so real!"

"Is that... a giant pig?!"

And said giant pig fell through the rip in the skies and would've landed on the innocent bystanders if they hadn't been smart and quick enough to move out of the way.

With Gullinbursti behind him, Freyr grinned smugly and pointed the wand at Gina, throwing his cape to the side and letting it catch the random breeze to give him the wanted dramatic flare, "For your violation against beauty and Yamato Nadeshiko, Kaitou Freyr will punish you!

"Go, Gullinursti, go!"

The giant pig hopped over his master, charging right for Gina. She decided the barrel of pesticides would work, so she attached a huge nozzle on it and sprayed it against the magical beast, causing it little irritation because he was a pig, not a pesky insect, but it did annoy the people and Heimdall, who no longer enjoyed that part of the show.

Heimdall, tired of all of Freyr's fancy, magical stuff, just walked over to a busy Gina and shoved her away from her makeshift weapon. He sweatdropped out how easy that had been, and Gullinbursti happily stomped the barrel with one of his stumpy foot.

Loki blocked Hilin's strike with Laevateinn and gathered fire in to his other hand. She jumped back when the fireball shot out of his hand, disappearing in to the skies, all eyes following it in magical awe, and still in mid-air, she slashed the mop in a horizontal direction, sending an arc of air hitting the earth, digging a gash right in to the ground, only inches from Loki's position.

Yamino threw a tea tray through the air, like it was a frisbee, at Hilin, and followed the attack with four forks from one hand and four knives from the other, conveniently borrowing them from the butler cafe - so Koutaro was short a few utensils. The red-head sliced the tray in half and smashed each set of projectiles out of the way, but she missed the third set... that was really Fenrir being thrown at her.

Surprised at the insane move, Fenrir cannonballed in to her stomach and before he fell away, he bit her arm, and she cried out, flailing her arm wildly until it made him dizzy and he unlatched from her, falling out of the skies. Yamino quickly moved in to catch his brother safely in his arms, but all that just made Hilin ever pissed, practically foaming at the mouth in anger.

Yamino sweatdropped, "Nii-san, do you-"

Fenrir glared, 'I DO NOT HAVE RABIES!'

While the gods were fighting their battles, Mayura could only watch them worriedly from a distance, unsure of how to help but not wanting to get in the way either. Her hands clenched the hem of her skirt, baring her knuckles white, and she bit her bottom lip, anxious with every second Loki was engaged against a red-aura glowing Hilin, who was relentless in every swing, every thrust of the mop, a few times coming close to wounding the god.

She watched him block a strike but get kicked in the side. He didn't fall, just braced himself as he skidded across the ground.

"Lo-!"

Ah, poor Mayura never got to finish calling out to him because of the hand that covered her mouth. She grabbed on to the arm, but another arm snaked around her waist and held her in place, as she continued to struggle against her captor. The people behind them gasped and ooh'ed and aah'ed at the unexpected twist in the play.

Loki twisted away just as Hilin slammed the shaft end of the mop to the ground, causing a small explosion of debris in to the air. He heard the surprise from Yamino's voice and whipped his head over to Mayura, who was now in the clutches of a fourth person, one that he did not recognize, but the Frigg Brigade knew her very well. Hilin, nearly frozen in her spot, was now nervous and less lethal in appearance, almost to a point of strange submission.

This situation had caused the other mini-battles to halt and became a sort of stalemate, as the gods stared in horror at the apparent abduction of their mortal hostess.

"Eir-sama," Hilin bowed after joining the woman's side with her comrades.

"I can no longer leave this matter to you," her voice sounded lifeless and cold, but Hilin could not protest, considering that they had failed several times already.

The look of fear in Mayura's eyes was different this time, and it was much worse for Loki, because Mayura was now a true hostage at the hands' of his enemies - her life, so fragile like a sweet flower caught in the chaos of a storm. Her importance to him was indescribable, most knew of this yet did not voice their thoughts, but he had to remain calm and unattached to have the upper hand... as if he could do that...

"She has nothing to do with this!" Loki yelled, moving towards them, anger rising to the surface.

"Stop," Eir commanded, and it was obvious that this strange, emotionless woman had no qualms about dispatching her mortal captive if need be, even the spectators shuddered at the iciness of her tone.

"In exchange for this mortal's life," she started, "you will bring Baldur-sama to us."

"We don't have him!" he growled.

"Then find him. You have twelve hours. We will contact you."

"And don't try anything funny!" Hilin scowled, as the wind around them became restless, spiraling at their feet and gaining altitude. Fear of losing her, Loki with his sons made a dash for them, but the kidnappers had disappeared with Mayura in their hold.

He stared in that one spot for the longest of time, ignoring all the cheers and compliments of a wonderful performance and even questions asking about the group of pretty women disappearing, and in a burst of frustration, he jammed the end of Laevateinn in to the ground, hanging his head low, berating himself at what kind of powerful god couldn't protect those important to him. He had constantly put her in to danger, but not once had she complained or even hated him for bringing his troubles to her.

She was such an accepting soul that it tore him up inside, like a part of him had gone missing.

He was staring down at Laevateinn, feeling an emptiness in his chest, the warmth that used to fill his heart when she was around had faded, and he felt a chill trickle down his spine, gradually simmering in to out right fury. If anything ever happened to her, happened to Mayura, he wouldn't know what to do... but he would never forgive himself.

Somewhere in a very dark room, one of the double doors opened, allowing a bit of light to shine inside, and a young woman entered. The length of her wavy hair swayed after her, as each step she took was soundless and ghost-like, gliding across the floor until she reached the bedside, situated in the center of the vast room. The edges of darkness hidden in the endless pitch black.

She raised a hand to the sheer curtains, while the other held a book, and pulled it aside, revealing the peaceful face of Baldur. One would never have thought this was the image of a very arrogant, cunning and envious god of Asgard, the favorite son of Odin who was brought down by Loki, Hel-chan's own father, and she smiled at the thought.

But now, there were far more important things that mattered to her than holding Baldur there in Helheim, more specifically in her own palace of Eljundnir, where very few could enter and even fewer could leave unscathed, nor alive but then most people were dead in the Underworld anyway.

"It is time, Baldur-sama," she spoke quietly, "Awaken."

Her head was pounding so hard, like Narugami taking Mjollnir and beating the side of her head with it or the bickering of Freyr and Freya as they argued, or the similar sound to her heart when it quickened every time Loki was near her. She could see the image of his face in her mind, and her eyes opened, hoping to see him again, but she was met by the old rusty sight of metal beams and lofty ceiling.

She slowly sat herself up, trying to figure out where she was and what had happened, eventually recalling Loki disappearing from her vision. She looked around frantically, in the middle of what appeared to be an empty warehouse, no longer in her maid outfit because she was now wearing something akin to a white, wedding gown, her hair completely pulled up in to a fancy bun, with loose strands framing her heart-shaped face. She sweatdropped at her gorgeous appearance, not hating it but was it really appropriate for a prisoner?

And then there was her comfortable bedding, which was actually made of really expensive-looking materials, fit for a royalty, clashing against the ugliness and dreariness of the scenery.

"You're awake," Eir sounded unenthusiastic, seated a few feet away in an luxurious, antique armchair that probably cost twice as much as the vase she destroyed if she wanted to compare the value, staring at her.

"Ano... who are you?"

"My name is Eir."

Mayura looked at her a bit uncertain about something, asking anyway, "Eir-sama, like the others... Are you... um, as crazy as they are? I'm not saying that you are nor look it, but lately, appearances can be deceiving."

"I am skilled and competent."

She sweatdropped and guessed that was all she would get from that question, so she tried another one, "What do you want with Baldur-sama?"

"Frigg-sama would like her son back."

"But we aren't lying," Mayura insisted," We haven't seen Baldur-sama since Yggdrasil."

Eir continued to stare at the mortal, assessing her facial muscles and posture, her body temperature, her heart rate, and the tone of her voice, computing all the factors within her head, and came to the conclusion that she was speaking the truth, "Even so, he has no choice but to comply with our demands."

"You don't seem like bad people," she started, appearing hopeful, as she slid towards the edge of the mattress, "All of you care for Frigg-sama and Baldur-sama very much. If we talk this out, I'm sure Loki-sama would be glad to cooperate!" She stood up, letting the layers of the skirt drop to the ground, matching a steady gaze against Eir's own, but the void in her eyes disturbed Mayura, as if she had no soul.

Yamino poured a hot cup of tea and placed it on the counter, "Here you go, Freyr-san."

He sweatdropped at the tearful god, stuffing his face with taiyaki treats with red bean paste, somehow managing to mutter out a 'thanks' through all the sweets. The poor guy was heartbroken from Mayura's abduction and had been in tears ever since, and Yamino wondered which extreme he prefered: Freyr's loud sobbing or Loki's silent anger stewing up a storm in his study.

"Please don't do anything reckless, Freyr-san."

Yamino sighed, and after a nod of acknowledgement from said god, he was able to leave the kitchen with the hot tea for his father and some taiyaki he was able to sneak out of Freyr's possession for his hungry brother. He slipped out of the kitchen and headed upstairs, the silence of the house had become unfamiliar gloomy, missing the bright, cheerfulness of one mortal girl.

He wasn't even half way up the stairs when Fenrir had appeared from the hallway, looking upset and annoyed.

"Nii-san, is Loki-sama all right?"

'Daddy's not talking... He's... staring at the clock.' He sat at the top of the stairs, looking at Yamino, 'Is Midget back yet?'

"Eh, no... Heimdall-san hasn't called either."

'Dunno what he expects to find with his one eye and pet bird. Daddy can't even see that white thread, like last time.'

"I'm sure Heimdall-san will find something. He is the best person to track the divine energies." Yamino then looked upwards, as if staring beyond the barriers of the house, "I hope Narugami-san and Freya-san can do something about it in Asgard."

"You have much faith in Loki," Eir stated, standing up, and smoothly diminished the space between her and Mayura, surprising the girl when she grabbed her under chin roughly with one hand, turning it slightly to the side.

Mayura grabbed Eir's forearm, trying to resist, but her hold was too strong, at least she wasn't being choked to death. "I'll always believe in Loki-sama!" she declared.

Eir's other hand had brushed over Mayura's neck, examining the mark that Loki had left - from the brief moment he had bit her. "You are important to him," she eyed the brand of the trickster god, who dared to claim a mortal as his possession, very bold for a god of his status to do.

Then she brought the girl's face back towards her, gazing in to her wide crimson eyes, "Is he only a god in your heart?"

"Odin-sama!"

Freya was practically running down the red carpet of the throne room, reaching the steps to Odin's throne within seconds, with a hesitant Narugami trailing way behind her because he didn't want to return to Asgard when he was trying to get away from it in the first place, but Mayura's abduction changed it all. Mayura was a good friend, not to mention a cute maiden in distress, so the god of justice in him couldn't overlook the matter.

As for the blonde goddess, as much as Mayura was a hindrance to her relationship with Loki and a formidable rival, Freya would not accept a default victory if the mortal was out of the picture. She had too much pride for that and hated to admit that even Mayura's kindness had grown a teeny bit on her - who else could give her a warm, sincere welcome to Midgard!

"Hm?" Odin looked up, shuffling the Lucky Star manga within the book he was reading, putting it discretely in the space between the cushion of the seat and the armrest, and pretended to be surprised, "Freya, you've returned earlier from your trip. Did you bring me souvenirs?"

He raised a brow at the appearance of his son, "And Thor?"

"'sup, father," he waved.

Odin disregarded the informal greeting, "You two are... an odd combination. But since you've return, Thor, we can discuss your marriage arrangements."

"Eh, no thanks!"

Freya stood her ground, frowning, "Odin-sama, there is a more important matter on Midgard we must discuss!"

The Almighty's eyes flashed an angry red, causing Freya and Narugami to flinch, but the latter insisted, "Father! You must know what's been going on in Midgard, since you're always sitting on the throne!

"Frigg's servants have been causing trouble for us! And now they've kidnapped our friend!"

"Then why don't you talk to Frigg about this?" Odin said calmly.

Narugami pointed to his father, "You're her husband! Be a man and face her!"

"Look, the last time I had to deal with her, I didn't have a beard for three hundred years. Do you know how long it took me to grow it back?!" Odin sighed and rubbed his face, "The last thing any of us need is Frigg with a temper tantrum."

Freya and Narugami sweatdropped, knowing how true that was, but the god of thunder asked, "Um, so she doesn't exactly know what happened to Baldur?"

"Well," it was Odin's turn to sweatdrop, "I told her he was running an errand for me on Midgard..." The two immortals, standing below, glared at him. "WHAT?! How was I supposed to tell her that her only son was gravely wounded in battle?! If the Yggdrasil System didn't bring down Asgard, Frigg would have!"

"Geez, father, you sure sound scared of her!"

"Try being married to her for a few thousand years," Odin snorted, pulling his book back to his lap, "And besides, your problem should be resolved soon."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Without looking at them, he opened his book again, not wanting to reveal much, but then again, he was the Almighty, king of all the gods and the good stuff, yet he was afraid of his wife like the majority of husbands were. He motioned his hand at them, like shooing them away, "You best hurry back, before shit happens..."

Freya and Narugami glanced at each other, quizzically, and then both turned away, thinking they better hurry back to Loki and the others, and Odin gave them one more warning:

"Seriously. Watch out for Eir."

"Ne ne, is this the place?"

Fullia's bright eyes stared at the three-story, European-styled mansion plastered against the beautiful evening skies, giving the landscape an ethereal glow, as she leaned half her body out of a Toyota Vitz, "Why can't we live in a house like that?" *

Hilin, in the driver's seat, wanted so badly to kick the blonde's ass out of the vehicle, but she amazingly restrained herself because they needed everyone for the mission. "Because," she gritted her teeth and the steering wheel, "we don't get paid very much."

Gina, in the back seat, sighed contently, "Frigg-sama's love is our only true payment!"

"Dammit, Fullia! Just give them the message!" the red-head rubbed her face wearily, "We need to get back to that bossy bitch and make a back up plan in case this fail, which I hope it does 'cause we gotta prove to Frigg-sama that we are better! So much better than that-"

A loud crash interrupted Hilin's monologue, and she screamed at Fullia, who had just thrown a brick through the front window of Enjaku Detective Agency, "You could've at least given me a warning!" The lights turned on in several rooms and the front door opened, just as Hilin stepped on the gas pedal, speeding the car roughly down the road.

Yamino and Freyr stepped out, catching a glimpse of a small, red car swerving down several lanes of traffic, nevermind that the other two lanes had oncoming cars - not sure if they wanted to know how beings from Asgard were able to drive it, obviously no license obtaining was involved.

The Tokyo traffic division was going to have a field day with this part of the district in the next few hours, since Yamino could already see several smoke clouds drifting in to the air, due to some collisions along the road. He held the brick in his hand and examined it, when a surly Loki appeared behind the two, with Fenrir.

Yamino showed him the brick with a message ductaped to it, "Loki-sama, we have a location for the exchange."

* Toyota Vitz, also called the Yaris and Echo in international markets and different generations, is a line of hatchback subcompact cars produced by said company, lol... I could just imagine the Frigg Brigade driving this little thing! All squished in the thing with their weapons and cleaning tools, lol.

Notes: Sorry, this is continuing in to next chapter! I swear the next chapter'll close this subplot! Lol, I originally thought this chapter would be short, but I added so many small scenes in this one that eventually made it long. And I wasn't sure if I was going to post it tonight or not, lol... but I guess I will!

I've been sorta questioning the relationship between Mayura & Loki, and I guess most people are too? Like EchizenRyoma, hehe. But this will get Mayura thinking more deeply about it... now that Eir has brought it up. Loki, for his part, knows that Mayura is important to him, but how far is he willing to go with her? Hmmm, he doesn't know yet! Heh. But we'll see in the coming chapters! I'll leave it at that for now! *yawns* Work work work... buu... -kuro.