- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

Ah, My Loki-sama!

written by Kurosu

- Chapter Thirty-Eight.

'Daddy, look at this cafe!' Fenrir chirped, wagging his tail, staring at the cafe entrance, 'This place looks yummy!'

"Ah..."

Fenrir had stopped near the door, but Loki, still in a sort of daze, kept walking ahead, passing by the length of tall windows, when he felt the urge to stop. He was confused at the certain impulse and the sudden cease of movements from his legs - even for a god, he could be pretty dense - until he heard his name, "LOKI~!"

The voice was familiar but not the one he had hoped for, waiting for, nor thinking about all this time since their last encounter that had disrupted the harmony between them. When he and his son turned to the owner of the voice, Loki shouldn't be surprised to see Freya, but Fenrir the great wolf of Asgard was horrified, watching the blonde goddess throw herself at his father - did that woman have no shame?!

This just had to happen right in front of the cafe's stretch of large windows, where a certain trio sat. Freyr had his hands clasped over a strangely pensive Mayura, who was too preoccupied with her thoughts to take notice of him, and then there was Hel-chan's heavy hyperventilating-like breathing as the goddess, clenching and unclenching her hands with thoughts of sending the god straight to Helheim, glared at the idiot's bold move upon her friend.

As if they had felt the weird vibe of the atmosphere, eyes from outside turned inward while eyes from inside turned outward, and all Nine Worlds could feel the great disturbance from a freaked out Freyr. He was the first to react, jumping out of his seat, tearing his touch from his beloved Yamato Nadeshiko, and slamming his fists against the window like a madman, alarming the nearby customers, "GET YOUR HANDS OFF FREYR'S SISTER!"

"Nii-sama, you're embarrassing me!" his sister reprimanded him from the other side of the glass, and technically, it should be Freya getting her hands off Loki, but who was really being petty about it? And who was embarrassing who?!

And if anyone bothered to carefully look behind Freya, to the background, across the street to the bookstore, one could see a giant sweatdrop hanging over Yamino's head while Hodur was moping next to him, holding a book upside down.

Hel-chan and Mayura sweatdropped at their companion's unstable reaction, wishing they did not know this god, but the girls had a mixed reaction at the sight of Freya all over a twitchy Loki, whose eyes remained glued to one certain person inside the cafe.

Loki, masking his frustration, stared at her, then his eyes flatly turned to a loud, still screaming Freyr pointing an accusing finger at the god. He figured the idiot wasn't worth another glance so he turned back to his mortal, a bit longer this time in staring at her, as if trying to find the truth in her crimson orbs, that this wasn't a betrayal.

He was definitely not amused, at all. His eyes questioned what she was doing with Freyr, and she seemed miffed, returning the same questionable look at him for being with the goddess, jealous evident in those beautiful orbs because she had accepted her existing feelings for the god, even if he didn't understand what his own were.

But he was certain about one thing, and that was the uncomfortable, terrible feeling in his chest from seeing Mayura with some other male besides him or his sons, and maybe Narugami. All this time, when she had willingly stayed by his side, he had taken her for granted, always expecting her to follow him or catch up to his side wherever he went. So to see her with another man - not yet mentioning Koutaro at this point, because the gods were already a hand full - much less think about it, he was livid.

As skilled as he was in concealing his emotions from others, Mayura couldn't deny the tinge of hurt that she could see right through him, and it pained her just as much, knowing that it was her fault too.

Before Loki could smoothly pry Freya's hands from his neck, Mayura had turned away and spoke to a surprised Hel-chan quickly, and he watched the girls shift out of the booth. The mortal hurried out of his sight, and he knew she was running away. He couldn't let her avoid this confrontation anymore, and after yanking Freya from his person, he ran to the entrance just as Fenrir jumped out of the way and Mayura shot out the door.

His right hand swiped for her but missed her by a few centimeters, the ends of her pink tresses brushed against his skin as if mocking him. He called out to her, but she didn't stop, and he didn't hesitate to run after her, speeding by a stunned Fenrir.

"Loki!" Freya cried and dashed after him, only to run right in to her own brother exiting the cafe, creating a messy pile of confused immortal siblings. A sweatdropping Hel-chan appeared in the doorway, because the idiots were blocking the way, and sighed, walking around the two fighting and arguing, quickly meeting up with Fenrir off to the side.

The two sweatdropped, seeing Yamino sprinting from across the street, lugging a clueless Hodur along. When they regrouped, Hel-chan, worried, asked, "What should we do now?"

It was Fenrir with the answer, 'Leave them be. We got them to this point. It's up to daddy to do the rest.'

"That's what I'm worried about, nii-san," Yamino sighed, knowing how dense their father could be when it came to the feelings from the opposite sex, but it amazed him sometimes how insightful his brother could be, as much of a meanie head he could be sometimes.

"Ah, you underestimate Loki-sama's feelings for that girl," Hodur sighed, shoulders drooped forward.

"Hodur-sama," the goddess looked at her friend, who appeared to be more aware of the situation and all the tension underneath it, due to his lack of sight and reliance on the rest of his senses and that godly sixth one, but wouldn't that put him back to having five senses? Ugh, nevermind the weird tangent Hel-chan got herself in to, just re-focus on the problem at hand, which wasn't much they could do anyway.

'I'm getting hungry,' Fenrir barked.

"Me too!" Hodur's face suddenly brightened to realization, a great contrast to his many previous gloomy moments, but food made the world go round? "The food on Midgard is delicious!"

Yamino sweatdropped, "Then let's wait for them at home. I'll make dinner for all of us."

With that agreement, they all decided to head back to the agency, with Fenrir settling in Hel-chan's arms after all that walking and leading his father around, and a poor Yamino was in charge of guiding a daydreaming Hodur, trying not to let the god bump in to objects and persons. So that left Freyr and Freya coming out of their bickering to realize that their respective love interests and acquaintances had disappeared, and they panicked, both running down the streets, in the obviously wrong direction, calling out hopelessly for their loved ones.

Mayura was running as fast as her legs could carry her, weaving through the crowds, making various turns down familiar streets to hopefully lose her pursuer. She just couldn't get the image of Loki and Freya out of her head and didn't want to have to deal with him at the moment, when her feelings were all over the place. She had been avoiding him all week, hoping to sort out her thoughts before speaking to him again, knowing that her avoidance of him probably hurt him, so she could understand if he was upset at her about that.

She ducked down a neighborhood street, slipping through a few more side shortcuts until she made it to a more empty area, slowing down a bit to catch her breath. She was near the park, at the another entrance, and hurried towards it, just needing a place to hide out for a bit till things cooled down or Loki gave up chasing after her. She pushed through some bushes and in to the small grove of trees, an old childhood spot that she ran to when he neighborhood children had shunned her from games.

She dropped down at the base of a tree, knees pulled up to her chest, not caring if her skirt didn't properly covered her, and her arms wrapped around her legs, resting her forehead on her knees, ragged breaths heaving in and out of her. She had never thought she would get so worked over her feelings like this, like someone was just tormenting her by throwing her in to some shoujo manga.

Her breathing settled down, but her heart was still racing, pounding against her chest, and she sighed, the guilt found its way to her conscience, recalling the hurt expression he wore. She wanted to apologize, but the things between them couldn't ever return to normal, not with the affections she held for him, and to be honest with herself, she just didn't know how to face him either.

She heard the rustling of leaves and breakage of twigs and snapped her head up, to see him standing before her, out of breath like she had been earlier, his shimmering hair disheveled just as his clothes were. Before she could even react to his presence, shooting up to her feet, Loki closed the distance between them within a few quick strides, taking hold of her shoulders, and pressed her back against the trunk of the tree. She lowered her head, hiding her expressive eyes beneath her bangs from him, but he moved in closer to her, his breathing having calmed down now that she was within his touch.

"Don't," he started, inching in to her personal space until she was flushed against his body, and rested his chin on top of her head, "Don't avoid me. Please."

Being this close to him, hearing his pained voice, she lost herself to his overwhelming presence, every inch of him permeated her senses. She couldn't deny how happy she was, in pure bliss, and her arms found their way around his body, wrapping around his warmth, and refused to let go, her gentle hands clutching at the fabric of his coat possessively.

Feeling her response to him, Loki squeezed her tighter, thrilled that she wasn't going to run away from him, and just happy that she was back with him. He could feel their bond strengthening once more, having struggled just to chase the fading white thread that led him to her, in this secret hideaway from the crazy world around them.

"I'm sorry, Loki-sama," she whispered for the pain she caused them, and upon hearing her voice, his heart skipped a beat, and he pulled back just a tad to look down at her. She was still refusing to meet his eyes, so he tucked a hand under her chin and lifted her face up to his. Her eyes still stubbornly avoided him, but he could see the redness of them and the moistness at the edge, threatening to spill, in fear of his anger and hatred.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead, to reassure her that he felt anything but happiness, the warmth and gentleness of his touch should let her know, and if not, the next feathery kiss above her right eye would prove to her further of the feelings in his heart. He followed the second kiss with a few brief ones, kissing away the tears that tainted her skin, and licked away those that had already slid down her pale cheeks.

Mayura felt his tongue brushing across her skin and gasped at his intimacy and the tender feeling, her warm breath sent a wave of electrifying sensation through his own body, shuddering from such a small, innocent reaction from her. He was amazed at how a simple thing could get him to feel so alive, not just from anyone, only she could entice such feelings.

He finished drying the rest of her tears with his kisses and pulled back just a bit to see her face. She was now shyly gazing up to him, the pink of her cheeks was adorable, and he wanted to kiss her some more, but there were important matters they had to discuss. He cupped her face in both of his hands, keeping her eyes staring straight in to his, and spoke in such a soft, loving tone, "Mayura, I'm... terrible with words, but you're very important to me."

Her crimson eyes widened, searching within his own for affirmation that she wasn't imagining these words, and he smiled, a sweet chuckle coming from his throat, but he was very sincere, "If I didn't like Mayura, I wouldn't have returned."

Mayura continued to stare at him, wide-eyed, appalled that he was very awful with expressing himself verbally, if this was his way of telling her that he did return her feelings, so it wasn't exactly one-sided on her part, but this clumsiness of his was part of his charm for her. Seeing him struggle to find the words to articulate himself was very amusing, and she suddenly found herself laughing at the absurdity of it all, placing her hands affectionately over his own.

She leaned in to a confused Loki, resting her forehead comfortably against his shoulder, as he blinked at her strange behavior. He still didn't know why she was laughing, but as long as she was in a good mood again, he was happy too, having her relaxed within his hold. When she finally calmed down to soft giggles, she straightened herself in front of him and gave him her patented bright smile, "Sorry, Loki-sama, I didn't mean to laugh like that, but I was just happy.

"I like Loki-sama very much," she confessed wholeheartedly, "So please, let me stay by your side."

He smiled beautifully, the warmth of their feelings radiated mutually between them, and he let out a small laugh, brushing his thumb over her cheek, "That is your wish after all."

Back at the agency, Yamino had already started on dinner with his nagging brother being unwanted company, complaining every two minutes how famished he was, so to silence the noisy puppy, he rolled his eyes and threw a freshly baked roll to the floor to hopefully appease the great wolf. He returned to his cooking, but the peaceful quietness was disrupted seconds later since it only took a few seconds to snatch the delicious roll in to his mouth and pretty much swallowing it whole.

With his incessant barking, the chef had no choice but to kick his brother out of the kitchen and locked it down till everything was complete. A miserable Fenrir stalked out down the hallway and in to the living room, where Hel-chan and Hodur were, with the former pacing back and forth worriedly - just like her worry wart brother, Yamino - in front of the window, eyeing the gates every few minutes too.

Ignoring the spaced out Hodur, or maybe he had fallen asleep while standing up before the landscape painting on the wall, he walked over to Hel-chan and hopped on the chair to look out the window too.

'No use in worrying,' he sighed, paws perched on the window sill, 'If daddy can't change things, I guess we can all go home then.'

The goddess stopped and stared at her eldest brother in shock, "Ani-ue! How can you say that! Even if chichi-ue returns to Asgard, he won't be happy."

'I know that!' he snapped angrily, and she flinched at his tone and Hodur shook out of his slumber, looking about like he was lost. Fenrir glanced at her and felt terrible, 'Sorry, Hel... But we can only do so much for daddy's happiness.' He gazed up to the darkening skies, noticing the clouds were slowly gathering overhead, and wondered why it held such an ominous feeling. He prayed his father would soon return, with his unofficial girlfriend, before it started to pour.

"Ah! They're back!" he heard Hel-chan cried happily. She ran out of the room as his gaze fell down to the earth again, seeing the blonde god walk down the sidewalk, hand in hand with the mortal girl next to him, both smiling and chatting with one another like nothing had ever changed. His tail, unknowingly, wagged with pure joy, but he could tell something different had definitely changed between the two.

The raindrops began to litter the earth, painting the walkway with droplets of darkness, as he watched, from the safety and comfort of the house, his sister run eagerly out to the couple with an umbrella. She hugged Mayura, welcoming them both home, and sheltered them from the weather, as they all hurried in to the house. He couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming scene and hopped down to the floor and made his way out to the entrance to greet his family.

A few days later, Fenrir had forgotten about that strange, foreboding feeling he had felt that day his father made up with his girlfriend - though it was still unofficial, he knew otherwise because the closeness between them was beyond that of just best friends. He had become a great observer of details as of late, if only to make sure things were going smoothly, but he was still relentless with his siblings.

'I want seconds!' he would howl at Yamino, 'More hot sauce too!'

Or he would reprimand Hel-chan, 'Hel, are you peeping on them again? That's a terrible hobby!' She would blush and apologize, but he would then tell her to hush so he could hear what's going on in the next room, to which she would sweatdrop and mumble that they had a lot in common than just genes.

Even poor Hodur was not spared from the great wolf's nagging, 'Hodur, you fool, that's the pantry! Don't pee in there!'

Though he only calmed down once Loki and Mayura entered his view, turning in to a docile puppy, letting the pink-haired girl scratch his head, at the spot where he loved it the most. He settled comfortably in her lap as she did this and snickered at the slightly annoyed expression his father wore, seated next to them on the couch, because the god was obviously jealous of the attention his son received.

"Ne Loki-kun," Mayura started, and Fenrir's ear twitched at the change in formality from the girl towards his father and smiled to himself. Sometimes the evidence of their relationship was blaring right in front of everyone, and other times, they were subtle hints - like the playful curl of her lips when Loki teased her, or the close proximity when they stood together, arms touching, or when just passing a book to each other, fingers brushing lightly against one another, or the way her eyes shone brightly when their gazes met, and he smiled lovingly in response.

Sure, it was cute, like Hel-chan had put it, but Fenrir could only take so much saccharine display as prescribed for his badass reputation and closed his eyes - though out of sight, out of mind didn't quite work - still clearly listening to the conversation.

"Did you get any mysterious, cool case yet?!" she asked eagerly, leaning towards the handsome detective at her side.

Loki had an arm behind her, resting on the couch, while the other tapped his chin, pondering thoughtfully over her question, letting her stew in the aggravation of having to wait for an answer from him. He grinned when he saw the twitch of her glaring left eye at him, making a very impatient humming sound from her throat, and finally responded with, "Maybe?"

"Mou Loki-kun!" she pouted, "What kind of answer is that? You either have a case, or you don't."

"Well it is a mystery," he chuckled and stood up. He walked over to his desk and opened the top drawer to grab something from it.

Mayura had lost any ounce of annoyance as she tried to make out the object that he was pulling out, and it was a white envelope. He returned to her side again and handed it to her, "I received this earlier today."

She scrutinized it, only the words 'a small thanks' was written on the front and nothing on the back. She looked at him, puzzled, and he just smiled enigmatically and nodded to her, eyes briefly fluttered to the envelope, indicating that she could open it on his behalf. She hummed impatiently again, giving him a suspicious eye, before turning her attention to the envelope, soon tearing the flap open, and peeked inside.

He watched her reaction carefully, from annoyance to out right glee, at the the coupon for a free ice cream sundae in her hand, and laughed, "So, is this mysterious and cool enough for you?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Loki-kun can be such a dork."

"Gods are not dorks!" he huffed out.

"Hmm, you just proved it!" she giggled and waved the paper in front of him, grinning triumphantly, "If Loki-kun wanted a date, all you had to do was ask."

He blinked and remembered the same line he had used on her quite a while ago (from chapter 30), laughing at her slyness. He playfully pinched her cheek, "You've become such a sassy girl."

She gave him a cute, mischievous grin, "I learned from the best."

"Is that so?" he murmured huskily, his hand had ceased teasing her cheek and caressed it lovingly, as he leaned in to her defiant and attractive smirk, that grew just a tad wider in expectant of his move. She inched forward too, closing the small gap between them...

'Okay! I'm outta here!' Fenrir barked suddenly and jumped out of Mayura's lap and raced out of the room, like his tail was on fire or there was yummy food waiting for him downstairs, but he couldn't take it anymore and had get out of there. His little face flushed with embarrassment when he reached the kitchen, surprising Yamino, who was sweeping the floor, and his father was right. He was still a few centuries too young to deal with the opposite gender in such a non-platonic way.

"Nii-san, are you okay?"

Fenrir blinked, having stood in the middle of kitchen for a five minutes, and sweatdropped, 'Eh, I'm hungry.'

"Ani-ue, you're always hungry," came Hel-chan's voice, and the goddess appeared in the doorway, rubbing the drowsiness of her nap from her eyes before putting on her glasses, "But I am too, hehe."

"Ah, I'll prepare something," Yamino smiled and put the broom aside to finish his chore later, "I received a new batch of tea for Loki-sama this morning! I think he will like it!"

'Don't bother,' Fenrir grumbled, 'Daddy and his girlfriend are going out.'

"Really?!" Hel-chan lost her leftover sleepiness and was filled with excitement.

To confirm the puppy's words, Loki and Mayura appeared behind Hel-chan, who turned to them, gushing all red and happy at the sight of her favorite couple in the whole Nine Worlds. She could hardly contain her secretive fangirl mode, after witnessing the closeness the two had become in the past week, but today, they were really going out in public together.

Her father was saying something, but she covered her mouth with both hands, restraining herself from squealing in delight and attempting to maintain her steady breathing. The edges of her glasses began to fog up, but Loki was already pulling his mortal away, so neither of them noticed her strangeness.

"We'll bring back something good!" Mayura called back, her waving hand disappearing from sight.

They heard the front door close, and Hel-chan collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily, holding a hand to her overly ecstatic heart. Her brothers stared at her and then exchanged quizzical glances, wondering if they should even approach her or even ask.

'Maybe she's really hungry?'

Yamino rolled his eyes at Fenrir, and being the more responsible sibling, he inquired, "Hel, are you all right?"

"Y-Yes, Jormungand-ani," she heaved out, her voice quivering with excitement, "I... I have high blood pressure..."

The brothers sweatdropped, and more sweatdrops appeared when Hel-chan sighed dreamily, a lengthy one that sounded like she had fallen in love or something. Of course, who couldn't fall in love with the thought of Loki and Mayura together, sharing ice cream on a bench during a beautiful weekend afternoon and maybe a kiss or two later, and then eventually walking down the aisle and getting hitched, and years from now, more siblings would be born from the union.

Hel-chan couldn't stop her imagination from going wild because she would be a big sister to a bunch of mini-Loki's and mini-Mayura's running around - just how many kids was she thinking about?

Leaving the goddess to her mysterious thoughts and daydreaming, Yamino returned to making them a little snack, so it would satisfy their stomachs but not ruin it for dinner later. He boiled some hot water and then made some sandwiches, being quick and diligent with every move, and even Fenrir couldn't take his eyes away... from the food, really.

Soon, a drooling Fenrir found a plate of delicious ham sandwiches in front of him. Yamino set another plate on the counter and went over to the boiling water to make tea. He glanced over to his dazed sister, still in the same spot on the floor, and sweatdropped. He called to her, "Hel, why don't you eat something."

"Hm?" she blinked and stood up, smoothing out of her clothes as if nothing had happened to her. She walked over to the island and sat on a stool and stared at the plate of food, feeling like she had forgotten something, or maybe someone because Hodur was still snoring away in bed.

"Ah, Hodur-sama!" she exclaimed, "Let me go wake him up."

Her brothers watched her run out of the kitchen, and five minutes later, she returned to them, sighing, without any Hodur in sight. Yamino let her sit back on the stool before bothering to ask if the god was joining them. She shook her head, "He has always been a heavy sleeper.

"Itadakimasu!" she smiled and reached for a sandwich slice and took a bite of it, and Yamino joined her with their beverages.

"How do you like it?" he asked.

"Very delicious!" she beamed, enjoying everything her brother made because he always put a lot of effort and love in to their meals, unlike a certain other sibling that would remain nameless but everyone knew who it was.

'Is this what they call vegetarianism? There should be more meat than this!'

"Nii-san..."

"Ani-ue..."

Before his ranting could continue, they hear the sound of the doorbell ringing. They stilled, wondering who could be at the door, because it was a weekend afternoon, so there was no way it could be a potential client, and even if it was, Loki wasn't home. Maybe if they would stop pondering over it and get the door before it rang again, they would actually get an answer, but then, they were so comfortable in their seats, with yummy food, that they didn't want to leave the wonderful atmosphere of a lovely memory.

Thirty seconds later, the doorbell rang again, so they really had no choice. Yamino got up and walked out of the kitchen, with Hel-chan munching on her sandwich following curiously, to the front door. He reached for the knob and turned it, slowly opening the door.

Both Yamino and Hel-chan stared, their glasses slipping down the bridge of their noses, and the sandwich fell out of the goddess' hand, as their jaws dropped, in complete shock to see a young woman with short, purple hair standing at the front steps of the detective agency.

Notes: I'm surprised this chapter ended up really long, because I had no idea what to write after Mayura and Loki made up, lol. It was difficult to write that scene, starting Mayura's feelings and thoughts. I didn't want to get overly dramatic, since it is a romantic comedy, so I hope it turned out okay. Now they're closer than before, but I didn't want them to be official yet since Spica is in the picture. And more chaos and confusion shall ensue, for the pursuit of humor and awkward situations!

The kitchen scene with the three kids, I totally forgot Hodur was staying at the agency too - shame on me, yes. But Hodur-sama isn't a morning person! He's so like a wallflower, so easily forgotten. *sighs* Anyway, maybe a few more days for the next chapter. -kuro.