- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

Ah, My Loki-sama!

written by Kurosu

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

The large doors to the banquet hall suddenly flew off their hinges and smacked in to a group of extra lackeys, but everyone - allies and enemies alike including the squealing fangirls - were in awe at the appearance of Loki and the gods, like a beautiful sparkling of light illuminated them from the heavens. Mayura was in the middle of passing a plate of omelets to Spica when she caught sight of Loki, and the latter happily accepted the food.

"Mayura!"

"Loki-kun!" Mayura called out to him, standing up, and broke in to a run for him.

Touma watched on as the only two people in the room were running towards each other and found great interest in the girl's bright face, eyes filled with affection and a beautiful smile that made his insides churn with warmth. If only he had someone that could look at him like that, and why not have that girl do it, "Hm, Sarutoru."

He had been trying to figure out what was happening below, where the new faces had come from since he wasn't informed of anyone entering the fortress. Upon hearing his name, he turned to his prince, "Yes, Touma-sama?"

"Punish those trespassers," he ordered calmly, "And bring that girl to me."

Sarutoru followed his gaze to the center of the room where the pink-haired beauty was about to reunite with the equal good-looking man and nodded. He then shouted in to the microphone, "Capture the intruders!"

Chaos promptly ensued, the gods versus an island of freaks, while the random female extras were either fleeing the scene or getting snatched up by various animal-hybrid guards, which left the goddesses to join the battle, much to Freya's psychotic joy. She smacked the nearest soldier with the frying pan and proceeded to stomp the next one to the floor.

"Freyr's beloved sister!" the idiot god leaped for Freya, only to be hit in the face by the pan, "You're... o...kay..."

Gullinbursti flinched.

"Freya-sama!"

The goddess flicked her wrist, and the pan struck Hodur's face too, and he quickly joined a semi-conscious Freyr on the floor. "Ah, nii-sama! Hodur! Don't surprise me like that!" she picked up her brother by the collar of his shirt, "Where's my Loki?"

In the craziness of fleeing women, Hel-chan was knocked to the floor, and a menacing shadow appeared behind her, looming over her form. A hand fell on her shoulder, and she gasped, turning around to see a creepy soldier drooling lustfully at her, but his face was soon met by a portable stove - one that was used for the cooking contest - thrown by an angry Yamino. He wasn't about to let some filthy pervert touch his sister like that and get away with it, and neither was Heimdall, who sent Gjallar to peck the living daylights out of the lecherous man that dare touch a goddess.

"Hel! Are you all right?!" Yamino inquired, helping his sister up to her feet.

"Th-thank you, Jormungand-ani. Heimdall-sama."

Heimdall looked around for the others, just as Gjallar returned to him, perching on his right shoulder, "Let's hurry and find the others. We need to get out of here."

Spica was going from one dish to another, the ones from the cooking contest before it was interrupted, eating what she could, not realizing of the danger around her or just ignoring it because food was more important. So she was quite oblivious to the group of soldiers sneaking up behind her, hoping to capture her by surprise, but they should've paid more attention to their surroundings rather than her.

A thunderous roar shook the ground, and the floor cracked, splitting in half, creating a deep crevice that separated the guards from Spica. The cause of it originated from the great Narugami, who struck the ground with Mjollnir, grinning smugly, while Fenrir ran over to his mother, "Mom, you okay?"

Spica just looked at him, deadpanned, still eating, and he sweatdropped - what a rhetoric question, his mother was a giantess, so of course she was okay! But he had to mentally applaud her for the ability to still eat despite the inappropriate time and place.

While all that happened, Mayura was ecstatic to see Loki again and was only a few feet away until she could reach out to him, but it was too good to be true, and the dramatic reunion was cut short by Sarutoru's appearance, jumping down in between them. He gave her a creepy smile and dashed for her before Loki could react, and his arm hooked around her waist, pulling her straight in to his hold, being kidnapped for the second time in the same day.

Loki sprinted after them as Sarutoru, carrying Mayura bridal style, fled up to the platform where Touma stood, waiting for their arrival, but the god wasn't going to let them escape with his mortal. He blasted a fireball from his left hand, aimed for the monkey's back, the latter freaked out and barely dodged it, letting it hit the wall off to his left. More soldiers appeared, charging for Loki to block his pathway up to the platform.

Sarutoru landed safely and dropped Mayura to the floor, in front of his prince, as Touma turned to the puzzled girl and extended a helping hand out to her, a gentle smile on his face, "It's all right. I won't hurt you."

She blinked and accepted his hand, being pulled up to her feet.

"What about the other bridal candidates?" the monkey-man inquired curiously.

"Oh I don't care. You can have them," he waved off his subordinate, who immediately took off without another word, excited in claiming his own bride, still holding Mayura's hand, his eyes remained glued to her person, "I've already chosen my bride."

She looked around, confused, and seeing that no one else was there besides the two of them, she pointed to herself, "Me?"

"Who else?" he grinned and gave her hand a tug, drawing her closer to him, "What's your name?"

"Eh, Mayura. Daidouji Mayura."

Feeling awkward was an understatement, because not only was this boy shorter than her, he was a few years her junior too, and besides, she already had someone else in her heart. She sweatdropped when he brought her hand up to his face and kissed the back of her hand like a gentleman, "Mayura... what a beautiful name."

"Let her go," came a steady, threatening voice that did not match the owner at all. A very pissed off Loki, looking very disheveled after beating down a group of guards in his way, stood at the top of the stairs, a hand on the railing while the other held Laevateinn.

"Loki-kun!" Mayura gasped, concern written all over her face, and moved towards him, but Touma still held her hand and pulled her back against him. He snaked an arm around her waist, keeping her at his side, which only infuriated Loki even more, that the little prick dared to touch his Mayura so intimately.

The god narrowed his eyes at the young prince, "This is your last warning. Let her go. Now."

"I take orders from no one!" Touma snorted.

Loki usually didn't beat up on kids, but this brat was going to be an exception. He charged forward and swung Laevateinn down, but Touma shifted Mayura towards the back and raised his scabbard to block the attack, summoning a bright light from the sheathed sword to blind him. The god wasn't going to fall for his tricks again and snuck in a left fist to Touma's face before the end of the sword struck in to his stomach, the force sent him skidding back.

"Touma-kun, stop! Please," she struggled and failed, against a boy to boot, "don't hurt Loki-kun!"

He looked at her slightly hurt that she cared more for his enemy, not that he bothered to realize that he only knew her for like a whole ten minutes, "Mayura, don't you want to be my wife?"

"No!"

He glared at her for her rebellious answer and tightened his grip on her, unwilling to let her go. He summoned a dark portal and dragged her with him to it, and they disappeared from sight, her voice calling out to Loki.

The god angrily slammed a fist to the ground, silently cursing Touma, and after a few moments to calm himself, he stood up and hurried to regroup with the others, only to find them equally frustrated and pride bruised once again, because they were not able to rescue any of their female friends. During the frenzy, they faced off against Touma's numerous soldiers, and his elite commanders had cunningly entered the fray and snatched the girls from under their noses.

The group was forced to split up and search the spacious fortress, but how they did that was up to them. Heimdall had taken over the leadership, since Loki appeared inwardly distraught over Mayura, and controlled himself from rolling an eye at his obvious weakness.

"I leave the others to you," Loki declared before running off, following the only physical connection he had left of Mayura.

"Loki-sama!" Yamino called, worriedly.

'Daddy!'

Narugami shook his head, "It's no use. He's got it bad."

Meanwhile high up in the tree fortress, the portal reappeared in a large room that one could assume was the prince's personal chamber, and a frowning Touma exited from it with Mayura and shoved her on to the bed. She sat up quietly and looked around as he turned away coldly and walked over to the table. He stood there for a few moments, his back facing her and the still posture of his body revealed nothing of his emotions.

He then reached a hand out to the teapot in the middle of the table and poured a cup of warm tea. He returned to her, standing a respectable distance from her, and offered her the beverage. She accepted it and peered up to his face, seeing that he was no longer angry, but the loneliness in his eyes was heartbreaking, "Touma-kun..."

He managed a smile, "So, how do you like my room?"

"It's... nice," her curious eyes roamed the room again, and she sweatdropped at the ridiculous size of it all - probably the size of just her family shrine, "and big." She noticed a large picture frame of a beautiful woman holding a small boy in her lap over the mantle, "Who is that?"

He followed her gaze, "That's... my mother and me."

"Your mother?"

He walked up to the frame, with a sorrowful expression, "She died soon after I was born." He touched the edge of the frame and sighed, "Sometimes I wonder what kind of woman she was..."

"You lost your mother too," Mayura stared at the teacup in her hands, an ache in her heart at the memory of losing her mother.

Touma whirled around to her, "You too, Mayura?"

She looked up and nodded, a faint smile upon her lips, "But I still have papa. Loki-kun, Hel-chan, Narugami-kun, and all my friends."

He smiled too, glad that they had things in common and she could relate to his feelings, "I'm never lonely either. The whole crew on the island is my family." He walked over to her and took her hand within his, "And now I have you."

She blushed, "Touma-kun."

He knelt down before her, his hands snaked around her waist, as he laid his head in her lap, "With you, somehow, I feel good. Very good."

"But Touma-kun, I don't understand. There are many girls more pretty and lovely than me."

"That may be so," he closed his eyes, feeling the gentleness of her aura, and she sweatdropped at his remark, "but no one can match your warmth. It's like, you have a very accepting soul. So beautiful."

He saved himself with those last words, and she looked up to the ceiling, pondering over his words - words that she would not understand till much later - and she felt him move out of her lap. Her eyes drifted back down to him, and he was staring at her intently as if soaking in the details of her face.

"This island has a secret," he spoke to her quietly, "Only males are born from early times by the magical force of the spring, that comes from the center of island, and turns any creature which falls down there into a man.

"It's, so to speak, a cursed island."

"Eh! Cursed?! That's a great mystery!"

Her excitement over the story surprised him, and he stood up, taking her hand, and led her over to a podium with the island's emblem on it. He took out a small peach amulet and inserted it in to the central impression, and gradually, the panels of floor in front of them parted, revealing a secret passageway that spiraled down through the trunk of the tree. At the very bottom, she could see a soft glow of the source of the magical water, deep inside the earth.

"Is that the magical spring?" she asked in awe.

"Yes, because of it, we have to brides from outside."

"Touma-kun..."

"However, the spring is sacred since it protects the island. The story of the spring is a secret between the two of us." He faced her, clasping both of her hands within his, "You'll stay here with me, won't you?

Meanwhile, a lot of things happened, but it wasn't surprising that Freya was angry and throwing things around again. If her personality wasn't so irritating at times, one would sympathize with her, but the one who was suffering the most wasn't the goddess. The poor dog-man by the name of Wonton was the target of her wrath, but all he was doing was to please his mistress by bringing her all sorts of gifts, though the dead squirrel was probably overdoing it.

"Stop giving me useless things!" she shouted. She tried to march to the door, but he would always block her way. She smacked him with her frying pan, but that did nothing to his thick skull. He only stared at her like a curious dog, wagging his tail.

"Do you even understand me?!"

He smiled and nodded. He scurried off to a cabinet and returned with her next gift, which was a bone, nicely wrapped with a ribbon to show how much care and thought he put in to it. Of course Freya still rejected it, since it couldn't even compare to the wonderful gifts she received from the gods of Asgard.

Suddenly, they could hear a familiar voice calling out for the goddess, followed by a crash through the wall courtesy of a large Gullinbursti and the magical bishounen Freyr, "Freya! I've found you at last!"

Narugami poked his head through the hole, "Shesh, you sure know how to make an entrance."

Freyr hopped off his ride and pointed his wand at Wonton, who unexpectedly took interest in the magical stick, "You beast! Release Freyr's beloved sister from your imprisonment, or else Freyr will smite thee in the name of justice and the fair maidens of the Nine Worlds!"

"Nii-sama," she sighed, having no more patience on theatrics, and walked over to him, grabbing the wand. She dangled the object in front of the dogman, who was enraptured by it, and then threw it out the window, "Go fetch it!"

Freyr squealed and cried like a little girl having lost her favorite doll, "Freya, how could you?!"

Wonton, with tongue hanging out of his mouth, made a dash for it, along side Freyr, both running after the wand and jumping out the window to grab it. It was too late when they realized what happened, and they plummeted comically to the ground. Freya and Narugami with Gullinbursti ran to the window, sweatdropping, "Nii-sama..."

Hel-chan was tied to a cross high in the air, in what appeared to a large room with several wooden poles and beams criss-crossing like an aviary design of a cage. She was slowly regaining consciousness when she recognized the figure approaching her from the darkness. It was the feathery, masked man that stood in front of her, and he took her chin within his hand, lifting her face up towards him, "You will become my wife."

She jerked her head away, "Never."

"You will be mine," Toristan leered, "No one is stopping me."

Before he could make another move, he sensed someone entering his territory and retreated from her in to the darkness, needing to deal with the intrusion before he could claim her for his own.

Hel-chan spotted Heimdall and Gjallar below and shouted to them, "Be careful, Heimdall-sama!"

"Hel!" he called up to her, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine!"

Gjallar flew up to her, ahead of Heimdall, to assess the situation, but Toristan intervene and slapped the falcon from getting close to Hel-chan.

"Gjallar!" she cried out, watching helplessly as the unconscious bird fell through the air.

Heimdall appeared and caught his friend, which came to great relief for Hel-chan. He set Gjallar down to the side and straightened up, glaring at Toristan, who was now haughtily standing above him, sneering, "Are you here for your woman?"

Hel-chan blushed, "Whaa, wait! You're mistaken."

"I'm here to save Hel," Heimdall stated.

She blushed and was promptly ignored when the two engaged in battle.

Toristan flew down like a missile at Heimdall, who had just thrown his gloves aside, sidestepped to avoid the dive attack. Instead of giving the birdman a chance to turn around and head in for another attack, Heimdall jumped down the beams after him, and by the time Toristan glided back around a pole, the god came out from a blind spot and decked him with a fist, sending him flying through several beams, breaking them in half before falling on a small platform.

Dazed and in pain, he staggered to his feet, and the mask slipped off his face and dropped to his feet. At the sight of his true face, Hel-chan and Heimdall first fell in to silence and then busted in to uncharacteristic laughter because anyone with that hilarious face, a small beak for a mouth and mohawk hair, was too much to just hold back.

"Aha, you really," Heimdall laughed, "are, haha, a bird!"

Hel-chan giggled, face all red from it, "I didn't think, hehe, you'd look so silly."

Toristan, furious, blew steam from his red face and squawked out, "You'll pay for that!"

His high-pitched, unmanly voice earned him another round of laughter, and he quickly attacked them with a storm of sharp feathers. Heimdall was able to avoid most of them, but two managed to hit his right leg and one on his left arm, paralyzing him and restricting a lot of his movements, while Toristan was able to assault him with more deadly projectiles.

"Heimdall-sama!"

The rain of feathers smashed down on the god trapped on the beam, ripping through the wood and shattering it to pieces in a cloud of dust and debris. Hel-chan's cries went unheard in the background, the tears pouring for her fellow god, and when the dust cleared, there was no sign of Heimdall, only a gap in the beams.

Toristan flew back up to a weeping Hel-chan, whose head hung low, and he laughed in triumph, "Now that your lover has been defeated, I can-"

His speech stopped abruptly when a burst of dark energy emitted from the woman in his clutches, and he sweatdropped at the black aura shimmering in the darkness, increasing in size until it became a large shadow hovering her. He unconsciously took a step back as Hel-chan lifted her head up to him, red eyes pierced in to him, and the appearance of several eyes within the shadowy form stared at him, giving him a deathly chill.

"Welcome to Hel."

The shadow shot straight in to the air and made a turn back down, slamming right in to a frightened Toristan, paralyzed in shock, and sent him through all the beams, snapping them to pieces, and painfully hit the floor. The impact created a small crater around his still body, and the shadow of eyes dispersed, returning to its mistress of the dead.

Hel-chan, free from her bounds, knelt down to pick up an injured Gjallar regaining consciousness and cradled him carefully, before jumping down to the ground again. She gasped upon seeing Heimdall struggling with the last paralytic feathers embedded in his arm, while all the ones that Toristan had attacked him struck the ground with him in the center void, since he had used the darkness to create a shield at the last minute to avoid the assault.

"Heimdall-sama!" she rushed to him just as he pulled the last one out, and she hugged him, "I'm so glad you're all right!"

"Ah," he returned her embrace, a strange but not unlikable feeling to have someone worried over him, "Me too."

Fenrir had tracked down the scent of Spica, which also coincided with the aroma of food, leading Yamino and Hodur to a room, where said giantess was feasting at a large table of delicious food. Her two sons sweatdropped while Hodur was clueless to what was happening, and even more outrageous was Sarutoru, in a maid getup, serving the food to Spica.

After setting down the extra dishes, he threw his arms towards the girl, "My darling, I did what you asked, now give me a kiss!"

She shoved the wooden sign in his face, stopping him from getting his dirty hands on her: 'Keep the food coming.'

"But honey-"

Still eating, she used the sign and hit him some more without missing a beat, until he was bloody and unrecognizable, and Yamino and Fenrir sweatdropped, pitying the poor monkey-man now sprawled out on the ground like a corpse.

Hodur rushed forward, falling to his knees, crying, "Spica-sama! Speak to me!"

'Mom can't speak, you fool!' Fenrir barked.

"Hodur-san, that's not Spica-sama either," Yamino told him, wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.

The pleading look on Touma's face, like a child wanting his greatest wish to be granted, burrowed its way to her heart, but Mayura shook her head, her feelings for Loki were much stronger, "I'm sorry, Touma-kun, but I can't. I have my papa, my friends... and..."

"And?"

"And Lo-"

"Mayura!"

At the sound of his voice, she turned towards the door, and they expectantly flew open, and Loki ran in, heading straight to her when he saw her smiling at him. An enraged Touma grabbed Mayura's arm before she could escape and jerked her out of the way, "If you value your life, then leave here now.

"I won't let you take her away from me!"

"She isn't yours to begin with!"

Laevateinn swung down upon him, but Touma blocked the staff with his bare hands, and Loki pulled back in time before his fist could make contact. The prince drew his sword, the blade gleaming in the light, but the god was prepared for the brat's predictable tricks. He called upon his special attack and a blaze of fire shot forth, engulfing Loki and Laevateinn within the flames.

"Loki-kun!"

As if the god of fire would let this measly flame do him any harm, even if it was just an illusion, but the stupefy expression on the boy's face was priceless. Loki charged through the mirage of fire, Laevateinn in hand, and emerged from it, green eyes turning a dangerous red color as he jabbed the end of the staff right in to Touma's chest. One could almost hear the sound of bones cracking as the prince fell backwards to the floor, "Whaa... how...?"

Loki stood over him, the glowing redness of his eyes fading back to green, and his voice was low and threatening as he held Laevateinn at his chest, "Never steal from a god."

Touma glared at him, "God? Don't make me laugh!"

He smacked the staff aside and made a run for it, towards a surprised Mayura, grabbing her wrist and dragging her with him to the underground springs. She tried to resist, but he picked her up and threw her in to a cart. He kicked the release lever and broke it too, just as Loki jumped down on to the tracks. He gave the set of carts a shove, setting them in to motion, while he used the lever to fight off the god.

"If you're a god, then what are you doing with us mortals?!"

"That's none of your business!"

Touma thrusted the stick towards his torso, but it hit Laevateinn's shaft instead. He ducked down and swept his right leg across the ground, knocking Loki off balance, and then broke in to a run after the carts. He took a giant leap and landed in to one of the carts, making his way towards Mayura.

Loki quickly got up, but they had gotten such a head start that the only way for him to catch up would be to jump down to the tracks below him. It was a dangerous dive to the next level, but he was a god - a god who was going to get his mortal back at all costs. He bound to the next tracks, just as the mine carts were making the loop towards him, and jumped right in, but Touma had already moved Mayura towards the other end and trying to unhook the rest of the cars.

He swung Laevateinn to stop the idiot from making the situation worse, speeding recklessly down an old mine track, but the distraction made Touma twist the metal pole against the track, sparks flying from the friction of metal, which derailed all the cars, sending them all in to the air. Touma was able to grab on to the edge of the tracks, but Mayura went plummeting downwards.

"Mayura!"

Letting Laevateinn disappear from his hand, Loki set his arms at his sides and dived right after her, and when he was within reach, he grabbed hold of her hand and drew her towards him, hugging her tightly, "Mayura."

"Loki-kun!" she cried, both were still falling down to the springs, "That's the mysterious spring with the water that'll turn anything in to a man!"

"Is that so?"

He smiled, and a bright light appeared and enveloped them in to the warmth, soon spreading within the caverns, even Touma had to shield his eyes from its blinding rays. When it was clear again, he looked back down and was awestruck by the pure white wings that sprouted from Loki's back as he floated in the above the cursed springs with Mayura secured in his arms, "He really is a god..."

Mayura cracked an eye open, peeking at her surroundings, wondering if she had fallen in to the mysterious springs yet, but it was Loki's chuckle that made her realize that he had saved her like always. She looked down and panicked that they were right above the waters, cutting it very close there, and in a panic, she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Mou Loki-kun! I almost turned in to a man!"

"You think I'd let that happen?" he laughed, "But I do like this."

She blinked, and he gave her a squeeze, indicating that it was just the two of them in each other's arms, before flying them upwards through the hollow tree, passing by an apologetic Touma, who climbed up safely on to the ledge. They eventually reached the tree top, shooting out through the branches and leaves in time to for the sun to emerge from the ocean horizon, and settled down on a thick branch.

Even though her footing was back against a solid surface, Loki wouldn't let her go, unwilling to admit it his fear of losing her again if he did so, but she was all right with it, just the serene moment between the two of them that they hardly had a chance during their trip.

"Ah, Loki-kun! It's so beautiful!" she whispered, her head nestled against him, her arms wrapped around his waist, while his own held her close to him. He dropped his chin on top of her head, smiling at the start of a new day greeting them, thinking this vacation didn't end up too badly.

Hours later when everything had finally calmed down, a remorseful Touma bowed before Mayura and Loki, apologizing for the trouble he had caused them and their friends. Even though the mortal was the only forgiving soul amongst the group, the others couldn't quite do anything about vengeance when she sort of represented them on Midgard.

Loki sighed, "As long as you've learned your lesson, not to touch a god's property."

Touma sweatdropped and looked at Mayura, uncertain about returning the girl back to a very possessive god, "I wonder if this is okay?"

"What do you mean, Touma-kun?" she blinked, and Loki, standing behind her, draped an arm over her shoulder to take a hold of her chin and tilted her head to the side as he leaned down to her exposed neck and kissed her, leaving a bite mark in the process, denoting his property.

Touma blushed, about to draw out his sword again at the violation of a maiden, but he realized that if he was embarrassed by such a scene, he was still too young to compete with someone like Loki, even the god's smug grin said it all.

"Waah, Loki-kun!" Mayura flushed with embarrassment.

"Loki!" Freya whined, "I want one too!"

"Unhand Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko, you vile beast!"

They sweatdropped and sighed, and Narugami asked, "How are we supposed to get home now?"

"Don't worry," Sarutoru smiled, "This is a floating island. Give it a week and the currents will take us by Japan."

"Oh! How nice," Hel-chan remarked.

Heimdall sighed, "So, we get another week of doing nothing."

Spica managed to get her hands on a bunch of peaches and have been snacking on them since, holding a sign: 'When's breakfast?'

'Yeah! I'm starving!' Fenrir barked.

Yamino sighed, thinking it was going to be a long trip back to Tokyo, and glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Hodur had no worries about it at all since he was able to go back to his fishing. Loki's middle child was so right on that, another week of this craziness was going to be a whole other adventure in itself, though there was probably something wrong with this picture, and it wasn't the mysterious floating island drifting towards the sunrise.

Mayura sounded thoughtful, "Ne Loki-kun."

"Hm?"

"I feel like... we're forgetting something."

After a short pause, knowing exactly what it was, he answered her with a quiet chuckle, "No, not at all."

"Ah, somehow, I don't believe Loki-kun..."

"Ugh, where am I?"

Koutaro finally woke up on the original beach to find himself alone and the wrecked family yacht within his sights. He sweatdropped and wondered, "And where is everyone?"

Notes: There you have it! The summer intermission! I just like picking on Koutaro! Did everyone forget about him there, lol? And omg, I totally forgot Hodur and Gullinbursti a few times, lol!

Yes, I do like to ship Hel-chan & Heimdall, hehe. -kuro.