- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura. Chapters 41-43 are based on Ranma 1/2's second movie, Nihao My Concubine, because I thought it would be hilarious to put Mayura and Loki and the group in the setting, lol.

Ah, My Loki-sama!

written by Kurosu

- Chapter Forty-One. Special - Unforgettable Summer, Battle for the Brides.

One Friday afternoon, Mayura and Hel-chan were returning to the ever famous and popular detective agency of the neighborhood that had become a second home to the pink-haired mortal, both excited about the start of their one-month summer vacation. Hel-chan opened the front door and allowed her friend entrance first, as the girl slipped by, an envelope fluttered out of Mayura's school bag to the floor.

"Mayura-san," the goddess called, bending over to pick it up, and handed to the mortal, "This looks important."

"I have no idea," she shrugged, looking at the object in her hands, "Ah! That's right, Koutaro-kun gave this to me during lunch. I must've forgotten, haha."

Yamino entered the hallway from the kitchen and smiled, "Welcome home, Hel. Mayura-san." He, having heard the last bit of conversation between the girls, spotted the envelope being opened in Mayura's hand and inquired, "Is Kakinouchi-san collecting on the money he loaned you for the antique vase?"

Mayura sweatdropped, "Yamino-san, please don't bring up such sad memories."

'Jormungand!' Fenrir called, hopping down the stairs, 'Hurry up with the snacks! I'm hungry!' Seeing Mayura with a card in her hands now and having caught something about her classmate and the debt she owed, he wanted to know what was happening, not that he was a gossiping puppy, 'Is that vampire guy demanding daddy's girlfriend's hand in marriage to repay her debts?!'

Now the three of them sweatdropped at Fenrir's assumption, and just as Mayura unfolds the card, Narugami - having dropped by in between his part-time jobs for a quick snack, which was really two big meals - popped his head out of the kitchen, with a sandwich hanging from his mouth, not hindering him from speech, "Daidouji's too young to get married!"

More sweatdrops littered the hallway, as well as more people since Hodur came running out of the dining room, asking, "There's a wedding today?!"

Then he promptly tripped over Fenrir, who was in the way, not that he could tell, and Spica appeared right behind the fallen blind god, holding a sign: 'Loki's robbing the cradle huh?'

An annoyed vein popped on Loki's head as he stood at the top of the stairs, glaring at the immortals gathered in his house, "Why don't all of you stop interrupting Mayura and let her read it."

Mayura, still sweatdropping, smiled nervously, "Th-Thank you, Loki-kun..." She turned attention to the card from Koutaro, reading the words carefully, and her face suddenly brightened, "Oh! It's an invitation to his new family yacht!"

"Ano..."

Mayura's expression was of confusion, days later on the Kakinouchi family yacht, standing next to a twitching Koutaro, as they watched the strange scene before them. Somehow all of Mayura's (immortal) acquaintances were on his yacht having a good time like they had been invited, but he had only sent the invitation to his classmate and crush, so how in the world did this weekend getaway date get so screwed up?!

Loki, appearing behind Mayura, wrapped his arms around her bare shoulders, since she was wearing a purple two-piece swimsuit with a floral-print sarong, and rested his chin on top of her head, grinning stiffly, "It was kind of you to send an invitation, Kou-boy."

There was a strange tenseness in his voice as he spoke that only Mayura recognized and sweatdropped to, because the god was doing his best not to let his motion sickness get the best of him, even after taking some medication for it. Mayura had insisted that he didn't need to come along, but what guy - in this case, god - in their right mind would let his mortal girl go off on a weekend trip with some other male?!

Of course Loki trusted her, the girl who was clueless about the ever growing attention from the males around her, but he did not trust Koutaro nor Freyr to keep their hands to themselves. Oh, the things he did for his beloved mortal, unofficial girlfriend, not that he even realized how much he had done for her and sacrificed for her, because he was just as oblivious with his own feelings as his female counterpart, who at least admitted to having affections for him.

Koutaro's left eye twitched at the childish nickname, not sure how that even came about, but Mayura was glad that Loki had stop calling her classmate 'lover boy,' which she figured came from the young man's popularity with their female classmates - bless her naiveté. The mortal boy wanted to correct him and slap that offensive hand from his classmate's person, but his vision was filled with a meek Hel-chan, in a rosy one-piece bathing suit with a navy hoodie over it.

"Thank you, Kakinouchi-san," she expressed her gratefulness with a shy smile and bow, "I've... never been on a yacht before."

Spica, wearing a yellow, ruffled bathing suit beneath her evergreen dress, was off to the side stuffing her face with food, held up a sign: 'Thanks for the invite.'

"Ah, it's my pleasure," he laughed, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

In a fitted white dress over a blue, two-piece swimsuit, Freya walked by, adjusting the wide-brim, straw hat on her head, adding in her thanks too, "It's quite nice, but I've been on bigger and more luxurious ones."

And Koutaro's left eye twitched again, wondering why she bothered to come with them then, though he couldn't be rude to his guests and kicked them off, in the middle of the sea, as pleasant as that thought was. That would be too suspicious if a lot of people suddenly went missing upon his return to shore, so all he could really do was just go with the flow - hadn't he always done that when it came to Mayura and her strange group of friends?

The blonde goddess latched on to Loki's arm, suddenly pulling him away from a sweatdropping Mayura, who could see how lively the god had become with Freya, never mind that he was actually attempting to fend off the goddess from his person. The pink-haired girl pouted and turned away, marching over to the side to join Hel-chan in admiration of the scenery of the open seas. The cool breeze wafted through their hair as they shared some quiet conversations, along with giggles and smiles, Mayura forgetting her troublesome feelings, while the rest of the crew were scattered about the yacht.

Spica, at the table of food, still eating along side Narugami, Fenrir and Gullinbursti, in some sort of unofficial eating competition between the four gluttons, though it was more like who could be the first to puke from overeating upon the ever moving water transportation.

Yamino sweatdropped from watching them, bits of food all over their faces and flying in to the air, and wished there was something for him to do because he was not used to just relaxing, when he always took care of the house and everyone. It was a heavily ingrained habit that he couldn't break and ran over to Koutaro, "Kakinouchi-san! Is there any cleaning you need done?!"

Koutaro sweatdropped while Fenrir noisily barked with his mouth full, 'This is a vacation!'

Narugami laughed and threw the wooden sword towards Yamino, who clumsily caught it, "If you're that desperate, you can polish up Mjollnir."

Yamino glared darkly towards the god of thunder and hissed, slamming the blade of Mjollnir on the table surface, causing the brunette to sweatdrop and whisper to his eating companions, "Megane's true form is coming out."

No one was even paying attention, since Spica was in her own little world of food and Fenrir was busy fighting Gullinbursti over the last gyoza. And somewhere in the background, Hodur was happily fishing, even in his usual dark attire that was out of place among the beach wear - not that Loki's dress shirt and pants were great for the outing either, but he couldn't imagine himself wearing the cargo shorts and t-shirt like Narugami.

Mentioning Freyr would cause a brain spasm with his overly embellished, short-sleeve button-up shirt with dark slacks, and he still managed to attach his flowy, dramatic cape to the ensemble! It was because of the idiot that Heimdall, being the other normally dressed one since he was still in child form, found himself among the group of immortals, glaring at his companion, with his faithful Gjallar perched on his right shoulder.

He growled, "Why did you drag me on this trip?!"

"Heimdall is Freyr's wingman!" he stated the obvious, only to receive a darker glare that he didn't notice, "Freyr needs the support to pursue Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Heimdall tried not to slap his forehead, knowing well that the mortal girl was already taken by his rival, but seeing Freyr so hopeful that it was almost sickening, he wasn't that cruel to hurt his friend's feelings. Then again, if he did help Freyr out, he could relish the defeated and embarrassed look on Loki's face when Mayura had been seduced by another man. He glanced at an eager Freyr hiding behind the cooler, ogling the mortal in the distance, and he sighed, not able to believe that he had just imagined Freyr seducing Mayura, or any female for that matter.

"All right," the small god had given in, "I'll distract Hel, or something."

So Freyr waited until his best friend, and wingman, in the whole Nine Worlds made his way over to the girls and asked to speak to the goddess of the Underworld. Mayura smiled, waving them off, and leaned against the side, resting her elbows on the railing. When she was completely alone, Freyr made his move, confidently striding over to the solitary girl... only to have Koutaro suddenly appear out of nowhere and start talking to her, killing the god's chance.

About to freak out over the matter, Freyr saw something even worse from the corner of his eye, catching a certain blonde god in the act of manhandling his beloved, younger sister, which was really Loki trying to break away from a clingy Freya's hold, from a non-crazy Freyr perception.

Torn between the love of his life and his precious sister, he couldn't decided who to save, but Loki was the more villainous one. He charged ahead, shouting, "Freyr will save you, Freyr's beloved sister!"

Everyone turned their heads towards a determined Freyr running straight to a baffled and rather pale Loki prying Freya's hands from him, with the intention of saving her from Loki's treacherous advances, and it was just in time that Loki jumped back from a confused Freya, who was suddenly tackled to the ground by her own brother. The siblings tumbled and rolled straight off the deck, down the stairs, and crashed in to who knew what below...

All was silent above deck, so quiet that the breeze could be heard laughing at the silliness of it all, which was soon followed by a loud explosion from below the deck that freaked everyone out, mainly Koutaro since it was his family's yacht.

Half an hour later, Koutaro returned from assessing the damage from the engine room, still in disbelief that two bumbling fools had destroyed such an expensive thing, which left the little boat adrift at sea. He rubbed the side of his head, trying to push the oncoming headache away, but at this point in time, he believed it couldn't get any worse - sometimes it was great to just be ignorant of the things around him.

"Well, I've radio for help," he explained to his unwanted guests, "But I don't know when the coast guard will get to us. There seems to be a storm coming in."

"We have no choice," Loki sighed, laying on a bench with his head resting in Mayura's lap, and opened his eyes to glare at the siblings that caused the mess, who were looking very pitiful as they knelt, in seiza style on the deck, with their heads hanging apologetically low, very sorry for their childish actions. He frowned, prodding them for more, "Well?"

"Freyr/We promise to behave for the rest of the trip!" they bowed, their heads bumping the deck in sincerity.

"It can't be helped!" Mayura tried to lighten the mood, her hand stroking Loki's head to make him feel better from the ill feeling that finally kicked in after the medication wore off, "Why don't we just enjoy the rest of the trip as it is, until help comes."

Hodur, still oblivious of it all, was still fishing in the background, having yet to catch anything, and the explosion from earlier probably didn't help him either.

Mayura's cheerful encouragement brought up their spirits as most returned to what they were doing earlier, though that still left the ashamed siblings in the corner for time out, deemed by Loki, to which Mayura sweatdropped too, thinking it was a tad immature, but he insisted since they were behaving like kids anyway. He adjusted himself, flat on his back, as he gazed up to her, a sly look upon his face, and reached up to her cheek to give it a pinch, "Are you wanting to be punished too?"

She blushed, glaring at him, as he pushed it further, "Hm, for a naughty student, I think a span-"

She covered his mouth with both of her hands, "Mou Loki-kun is impossible!"

"Oi!" Narugami called, "Some of us are eating!"

Spica's sign: 'Do carry on.'

"..."

Heimdall was at the front of the yacht, staring in to the distance, while Gjallar was now flying in the skies, circling above them. His eye was glued to the horizon, as if he could see something that far ahead of them, but his concentration was broken by Hel-chan's presence, next to him, inquiring, "Is there something wrong, Heimdall-sama?"

When Gjallar returned to Heimdall's shoulder, the god spoke, pointing ahead, "I saw some mysterious islands in the distance."

"Mysterious?!" came Mayura's high-pitched voice, and she popped up behind them having heard the magical word. The pair sweatdropped as she leaned over to the side, holding a hand over her eyes to block out the sun, trying to see these mysterious islands, "Mou, I don't see anything."

Hel-chan explained, holding her index finger pointedly in front of her, "Heimdall-sama has the sharpest eyesight of all the gods, able to see the smallest of things for hundreds of miles."

The praise caused the said god to blush, but Loki interjected a snide remark, "Even with his one eye."

Heimdall's face flushed red as he glared at the blonde god, who was pulling Mayura back from the ledge with one arm wrapped around her waist and bopping her head lightly with the other. A slightly better Loki sighed, holding her close to him, her back pressed against his chest, "Mayura, you need to be more aware of your own safety."

She pouted, "But they're mysterious islands!"

"And?"

"And we should investigate them!"

Gjallar squawked at them, but no one could speak falcon language, except for Heimdall, who translated, "The ocean current is taking us straight to one of the islands."

"Eh! So we will get to explore it?!" Mayura practically jumped out of Loki's arms in excitement.

"If there's land," Yamino sounded thoughtful, "then there are people...?"

"And if there are people," Narugami joined the fray, slamming a hand on to the table, shaking the poor furniture.

"There's gotta be food!" Fenrir, with Narugami, shouted gleefully.

Spica, munching on a slice of watermelon, threw her sign up: 'Food!'

Even Gullinbursti was excited, and everyone else sweatdropped at the quartet's enthusiasm over food.

"We're going pretty slowly," Koutaro informed them, "At this rate, either the coast guard or storm will get to us before we even reach the islands."

Mayura seemed put out by the news and sulked, but Loki was grinning, glancing to the other gods, who noticed his mischievous grin and realized that the trickster god was up to something, and when he was plotting, it was never good. He turned to his middle child, "Yamino, why don't you go with Kou-boy to the engine room and see if there's anything you can do down there."

"I don't see what we can do," the mortal sighed, "We're not experts."

Yamino, having understood what his father wanted him to do, sweatdropped and insisted, "I have some experience with machines..." He wasn't quite lying about the fact, because the lawn mower, the vacuum cleaner, the garbage disposal, the nail gun, the chainsaw were all minor machines that he had to be familiar with and operated. With little reassurance for the blonde, Yamino insisted that they take a look anyway, so they disappeared below deck.

Within five minutes, only the solo form of the infamous serpent of Midgard returned to them, and he informed the gods that Koutaro was now taking a nice nap downstairs. Loki's grin grew as he told them, "Let's get to land while there's still daylight."

So with that said, the many gods used their magic to push the yacht towards the mysterious islands, and in no time, they were speeding insanely at the sight of the shoreline. It was much too fast, and they wouldn't be able to slow down in time, but this was the consequence for having ten immortals - more specifically, seven gods including Hel-chan since she was promoted by Odin and two demi-gods and one giant - use their powers on one tiny boat.

The bow of the yacht crashed hard on to the shore, the sudden force snapped the ropes and the mast broke in half, sending it flying ahead in to the sand, while everyone on deck was tossed around before they could brace for the impact. Mayura flew forward, but Loki was able to grab her arm and pull her in to him before both went hitting the deck. He twisted them around so he landed first, on his back, and she, on top of him.

Yamino had flattened Fenrir and Gullinbursti, then Spica's butt landed square on her second son's back, while she was still chewing on a roast duck, not worried about the trouble around her, and even Heimdall didn't fare too well when he embarrassingly fell face first in to a blushing Hel-chan's chest.

The rest of the crew were thrown overboard, Narugami and Hodur landed in the shallow waters, but the latter sprung to his feet immediately and amazingly caught a shrieking Freya in his arms. The goddess thanked her great luck, but when the blind god took one step forward, he tripped over something in the watery sands and went down, taking the blonde with him - so much for that luck.

Bad luck did run in the family, because poor Freyr had landed face first in to the sand.

While everyone slowly gathered themselves together, Koutaro, having awoken from the crash, finally climbed up from below deck, "What's going on?"

Still a bit disoriented, but not enough to drop his jaw upon seeing the once distant land before his eyes, "Ho-How did we...?"

Speechless, not able to find a reasonable answer for arriving on land, he sought an explanation from anyone, eyeing each person, carefully, on board the yacht, even though half were already overboard.

"It's a blessing from the gods!" Mayura had blurted out, grabbing Koutaro's attention, while a mixture of reaction flittered among the gods, from knowing smiles, quiet giggles and tiresome sighs.

A bit later, the group were now safely on shore, getting what they could salvage from the wrecked yacht, while the Kakinouchi heir stood next to the family's beloved treasure in ruins, never again to be taken out to seas. Thank god there was insurance on it, but would he claim this on paper as a natural disaster? It wasn't like he knew gods existed, and even so, there was probably no clause about gods in the policy, but one could equate gods as the natural disasters themselves!

Everyone left Koutaro to salvage his boat or mope over his tragedy, since other things like survival was more important. Yamino had taken charge of organizing their remaining supplies on the beach, with Hel-chan and Heimdall's assistance, while Fenrir whined he was getting hungry again, since Spica ate most of the food onboard.

Yamino sweatdropped and asked his sister, "Hel, could you and Heimdall-san finish setting camp up. I'll put something together for everyone. I'm sure we're all hungry by now."

They nodded and took over the task, while in the background, Narugami was climbing to the top of a tree and using Mjollnir to whack a coconut above him. It snapped from the tree and came falling down to Spica on the ground, who nimbly caught it within her hands, and she immediately cracked one open and began to drink the juice.

Standing on the edge of the shoreline, where the sea water rose to his feet, Hodur returned to his peaceful fishing.

Just a few feet behind him and to the right, a distance from the makeshift camp, Freya, now in her swimsuit, was getting the best usage out of their stranded on a deserted island scenario by sunbathing, while Freyr recovered from being thrown overboard. He stood on the sandy beach with Gullinbursti at his side, as his eyes searched the area for his missing pink-haired Yamato Nadeshiko.

Everyone was accounted for except for Mayura and... Loki, and the moment he realized this, he went ballistic and screamed, his frustrated cry echoed across the mysterious island.

Flocks of birds were sent in to flight from the canopy of leaves and branches overhead, and Mayura glanced upwards, peeking through to the blue skies, having heard the mysterious cry.

"What was that?" she gasped, excited to be exploring unknown territory like the adventure she had always dreamed of, but she could do with a more enthusiastic company, after glancing back at an annoyed Loki, who had unbuttoned his pristine dress shirt down a few buttons and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows because of the sweltering heat of the jungle. For being a god of fire, he was getting easily irritated by the hot temperature, or maybe it was the pesky mosquito that wanted his godly blood.

She sighed and sprinted ahead, not letting Loki's mood to ruin her excitement of finding mysteries on the mysterious island.

"Mayura!" he called, "Don't wander off! Not out of my sight!"

She stopped and tried to move, but her sarong had caught on a shrubbery. She tugged it off, but the fabric ripped, and shouted back to Loki, "Stop treating me like a child!"

"I can't help it if you just charge ahead without any care," he caught up to her, pushing a branch out of his way, frowning, "Someone has to look after for you."

Mayura, her turn to be greatly annoyed by his words, spun around and ran off in to the unknown just to spite him, while Loki, his bad habit of saying the wrong things when he didn't mean it that way, mentally scolded himself and hurried after her before he completely lost her - literally and figuratively.

Back at the campsite, Gjallar was flying overhead, and nothing was out of the ordinary except for maybe a tearful Freyr, mumbling about his precious Yamato Nadeshiko being seducing by the evil Loki, and everyone trying to ignore him. Heimdall, counted silently to himself, though the popping vein on his forehead was evident of his dwindling impatience, as he worked at one side near Hel-chan, who was behind him, shuffling a few things around.

A sudden feeling of dread crept down her spine when she stopped and looked around. She heard something shifting in the sand, but by the time she pinpointed the location, green eyes widened at the patch of darkness rushing at her.

Heimdall paused when he heard Hel-chan gasp, and he turned around to find her... not there, but a giant peach instead.

He whipped his head from side to side, searching for her in the vicinity, but there was no sign of her at all when she had just been right behind him. Poofing out of thin air wouldn't be so unnatural for a goddess, but she wasn't the type to leave without a word, especially when her family and friends were nearby.

He picked up the ominous peach, wondering what had happened and what was going to happen, but this definitely not normal at all, and he had to inform the others.

Freya was laying on the beach with her sunglasses over her eyes, sighing happily at he warm sun and the peace and quiet, even though she could hear the soft sobs of her brother in the distance, and tried not to let it bother her. She was in such a good mood to let anything come between her and the bliss of paradise, but the feeling of trouble wasn't too far away. The uneasiness pricked at her skin, and she shuddered, a coolness heightening her sense.

She felt a strange shadow looming over her and opened her eyes, gasping, "Hodur!"

The quiet god stared down at her, without really seeing her because he was forever blind, but he had felt the tension in the air and had to get to the goddess' side. Freya sat up, taking off her sunglasses, frowning a bit, "You startled me! And you're blocking my-"

Hodur quickly grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet, her weight against him caused him to stagger backwards and fall back in to the sand, just as a dark patch zoomed across the terrain, having missed its target.

Freya pushed herself off Hodur angrily, shouting at him for indecency, and smacked his head, not realizing that he had just saved her ungrateful behind, yet again!

Mayura had been running for a few seconds, when she finally stopped and looked around, wondering where she was now. She felt guilty for leaving Loki behind, but he had made her upset. It was bad enough that she was a mortal, but having to be seventeen years old in comparison to his centuries of existence just reminded her of the different worlds they lived in.

She sighed, knowing that she shouldn't be getting angry so easily since he was so clumsy with words, and smiled at how cute it was sometimes, though she couldn't keep doing this, running away every time there was disagreement between them. It was childish of her to do so too, and he wasn't the only one to be blamed.

Another sigh left her lips, as she plucked a leaf from its branch, because she had to throw away her pride, turn back and apologize to him, and just as she was about to do so, she froze in her spot, that strange feeling of being watched and followed lingered in the distance.

After all that she had been through, Mayura had finally learned to run at the slight feeling of danger, heading back in the direction she had come from... probably? Well the jungle was very dense with vegetation, so she prayed that Loki was still nearby. Even with her disoriented sense of direction, there was no way she would ever be lost from Loki, because of their special bond and the psychic link he had to her.

As if her prayers had been answered, he appeared right in front of her, surprise written all over his face, but being a clumsy girl, she tripped over an overgrown root protruding from the dirt and stumbled in to his arms.

He had felt her distress and rushed to her as quickly as possible, relieved that she was all right, a bit shaken up by something but unharmed. Having caught from the fall, he quickly lifted her in to his embrace and hugged her possessively, as she muffled out, "I'm sorry, Loki-kun!"

She returned his embrace with equal fervor, enjoying his loving warmth, despite the heat of their environment, and he placed a gentle kiss on top of her head that all was forgiven. The best thing after a little argument was the making up and make out sessions - definitely preferring a little more than a hug - especially when they were now alone, but he could be patient and look forward to many more in the future.

Narugami, newly dubbed the monkey god of thunder, since he was now climbing his fourth tree for more coconuts, not that he minded, but when a maiden requested a hero god of his status for aid, he couldn't deny her, even if it was the giantess of Jotunheim and Loki's ex. He smacked Mjollnir at the batch of coconuts and watched them fall to the ground, landing right in to Spica's outstretched skirt as she held it out to catch the large seeds.

He sweatdropped at the sight of at least ten coconuts scattered around the young woman and shouted down to her, "I think that's enough!"

He was prepared to climb down when he spotted a strange shadow moving on the ground, heading for Spica. It was flying through the sand quickly, the distance closing in on the oblivious female of eminent danger.

"Spica! Watch out!"

His warning had alarmed the nearby camp, as he propelled himself from the tree, jumping straight down to her with Mjollnir gripped in his hands, held over his head. He shot right behind a curious Spica, who followed him with her eyes, aiming for his agile target zigzagging through the sand. The wooden blade slammed on to the earth, but he had missed, the shadow zipped by him in a flash and reappeared beneath Spica's feet.

She looked down, expression still blank, as the solidity of the ground under her feet disappeared, and the reality of her impeding fall hit Narugami. In a panic, he launched himself in her direction, his right hand gripped Mjollnir while his left hand reached for her, but it was too late when his fingers grabbed the air, the last bit of her purple hair falling out of his view. He landed right next to the shadow and attempted to grasp the intangible object, but after taking Spica, the black patch spitted out a giant peach before disappearing as if it never existed.

He sweatdropped and thought that Spica would probably eat this peach if she was there. He grabbed the peach and stood up, dusting himself off, just as Yamino, Heimdall and Fenrir reached him, after the one-eyed god had retold the tale of the missing Hel-chan.

'Where's mom?!' Fenrir barked.

"She disappeared," Narugami said, holding out a peach, "I don't know what's going on, but something isn't right about this place."

Heimdall held out his peach too, "Hel's gone too."

"Damn," he muttered, "We have to get the others."

The group hurried back to camp, and much to everyone's relief, Freya, Hodur and Koutaro had joined the sulky Freyr, which left Loki and Mayura unaccounted for... briefly, because they were just emerging from the woods. Mayura immediately noticed the two missing people from their band of misfits, "Eh! Where's Hel-chan and Spica-sama?!"

"Yamato Nadeshiko!" Freyr cried, smiling happily, holding his arms out to welcome her back, "You're safe!"

She hurried past him, not meaning to ignore him, but her question was begging to be answered, and Loki didn't look happy either that two important people from his family were missing.

"They've disappeared," Heimdall informed her, as everyone gathered around in to a circle to discuss the situation. He placed his peach in to the center, along with Narugami's peach.

Mayura picked up the two fruits, larger than the average peach, and examined them and then bursted in to tears, hugging them, "Hel-chan! Spica-sama!"

The others sweatdropped at the mortal's belief that the girls were turned in to peaches, and Fenrir sniffed the fruits and shook his head, 'It's not them. They weren't turned into fruit.'

"Oh," she furrowed her brows in concentration, "If they're not peaches, then... they were kidnapped!"

"Wait," Koutaro spoke up, completely confused, "We haven't seen anyone else on this island, so how can they just be taken from right under our noses? I mean, just look at this place," he made a wide gesture up and down the length of the beach, indicating that they could spot anyone within a mile radius approaching them, "I just don't see how this could happen."

"Well, what I saw was strange," Narugami started, propping Mjollnir up in the sands, "I saw this weird, black shadow on the ground, heading straight for Spica. It was faster than I thought, and I don't think any ordinary attack could hurt it. Right after Spica disappear in to the hole, the peach popped up, and the shadow was gone."

"I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to Hel," Heimdall added, "Only the peach was in her place, but I didn't see any shadow."

Fenrir started barking at the group, which made Koutaro, being the only one not able to understand him, look at the puppy in confusion, 'I couldn't pick up on their scents either. It ends right where they disappeared.'

"Well," the quiet Hodur hesitantly spoke, "earlier, I felt a weird energy near Freya-sama..."

The goddess arched her brows, "You did? Oh, that explains why you did that! I guess I should thank you for saving me."

Hodur blushed and shrunk back in his seat, sighing, wishing he was able to save his best friend, Hel-chan.

"Eh, so Freya-sama was almost kidnapped too?!" Mayura looked at her with concern, "This is so mysterious! This island with no one on it, yet people are disappearing one by one!"

"It's not just anyone being kidnapped," Yamino adjusted his glasses, having noticed a pattern.

Loki rubbed his chin, grinning at the same conclusion that his son had picked up on, "That's right. It seems our invisible enemies are abducting the women." They all gave him the bewildered expressions, excluding Yamino, and he explained, "Well, they've taken Hel and Spica and attempted to take Freya, and Mayura," he looked at her, "didn't you say you felt something watching you?"

She nodded, shifting closer to his side, and he continued, "Yet none of the males were targeted, correct?"

Heimdall nodded, "That's a good point. We were just as unguarded as the girls."

"This..." Koutaro held his head in his hands, shaking in disbelief, "is hard to follow. Is this island haunted? With ghosts?! Or demons?"

"It's possible!" Mayura shouted, "But I can't forgive those ghosts who've taken my friends! We have to do something! Loki-kun! We have to attack!" She was pumped up for an offensive plan but just didn't know how to go about it, and if the situation wasn't so important, Loki would've found her energetic self very cute and endearing.

"Let's think this through first," the god leaned forward to the group, letting them know what their next move should be, "We don't know who the enemy is and why they are abducting females, so our main goal is to get them in to the open." He paused, grinning, "So to lure them out, we need a bait."

"Bait?" Mayura repeated innocently, not quite sure she fully understood Loki's process to the plan, but the others knew, since the bad guys were after girls, and they currently only had two left, between the mortal girl and a blonde goddess. All eyes were still on Mayura, who was still blinking at them cluelessly, until Loki got in front of the girl, blocking their view with a glare.

"Don't even think about it," he warned darkly.

"O-Of course not, Loki-sama," Yamino sweatdropped, not meaning to give his father the idea that they would even consider putting a defenseless Mayura as the main attraction. The girl was enough trouble at home, they didn't need it to happen away from home either, especially against unknown, powerful forces.

The blonde god turned to the only goddess left, "Freya, you're the best candidate..."

"Loki!" she whined, "You're throwing me to the wolves instead of her?! How could you!"

"Freyr disagree too!" Her brother was against it too, but it was difficult to choose between his Yamato Nadeshiko and his sister, "But Freya, forgive Freyr! Yamato Nadeshiko is important!" He cried and hugged his sister.

"Freya," Loki started, sweatdropping, "I was certain you could handle it. With your skills and beauty, I have faith that you would be the better one for the job."

His words seemed to have a great effect on Freya, like he had expected to, unfortunately, and even Mayura could see this needed to be done, but she didn't understand why he just couldn't let her be the bait that he needed for the plan. She wanted to save Hel-chan and Spica too, so she would do anything for that goal.

"You can probably charm them with just a smile," Heimdall added, just in case she needed more convincing, but it was, nonetheless, true.

"Ohoho~!" Freya stood up, laughing proudly, "Of course I would be the best candidate! I am a goddess after all! Hoho~!"

Everyone sweatdropped at the goddess' change in demeanor, and Koutaro, wearing a flat expression, commented, "She thinks rather highly of herself."

"Eheh, you don't know the half of it," Narugami laughed nervously.

Notes: I had too much fun with them, though it was challenging to write everyone together. Please enjoy the rest! -kuro.