A Hundred Mysteries

written by Kurosu

EPISODE TEN: New Obsession! Mayura and the Lackluster Artist!

A ten-second countdown till the clock struck five in the afternoon. Mayura stared it down like her very soul depended on it, which probably was to some degree, but then again, she was stuck in her seat in after school detention, from all the tardiness that she racked up for the month. She and her partner in crime, Narugami, had the misfortune of continuously getting on Higashiyama-sensei's bad side.

Speaking of the young man, his left eye was literally twitching by the second, and when it finally hit four, he booked it out of the chair faster than the teacher could blink. Mayura froze half way standing up from her seat, and the rush from Narugami's speed caused the air to blow against her hair and clothing. She was quite impressed though, hitting her first into her other palm, smiling, "I didn't realize Narugami had become such a mystery fan!"

She quickly grabbed her things and bowed to the old man in charge of detention before she walked out. By the time she was outside the building, she didn't see Narugami at all. She shrugged to herself, thinking that he was probably already at Loki's office from the speed he possessed. She jogged to her usual destination after the school day ended, excited about the many possible mysteries waiting for her, wearing a big smile and swinging her arms happily back and forth as she speed walked.

It was such a beautiful afternoon, the clear blue skies with the warm glow of the sun, and the cool breeze that tickled her skin. It was good to be alive, and despite the two hours spent in detention, it would be great if she could get a mystery out of today.

Her school bag suddenly slipped from her grasp and flew high into the air, her eyes following the flight path of her belonging, arching overhead into the distance until it came down again. No one saw it coming, not even the poor, helpless individual who seemed to have his arms full of various things. The bag rapidly descended upon his head like an anvil being pulled by a giant magnet in one of those silly cartoons.

DOINK!

Mayura winced, swearing that was the sound the collision made, watching the young man fall over. She ran over to him and apologized frantically, trying to collect the books and papers scattered around him. He was mumbling something to himself that she couldn't make out, but she gathered as much as she could, noting several sketchbooks among the pile, and stood up, with a helping hand extended to him.

Annoyed and frustrated, the young man slapped the offered hand away from his face, prepare to shout and scream, or throw a temper tantrum in the middle of campus, but when his eyes rose up to the heathen that dared topple him and his precious works, his brain completely shut down by the sight of perfection before his eyes.

Enter Kaitou Freyr, an ambitious, lackluster artist barely making a living had turned to being an art teacher at the academy. It wasn't the teaching aspect that bothered him as much as the fact that the academy belonged to the family of his most disliked enemy in the world, but to pay the bills, he had to tuck away his pride and animosity. To make matters worse, he had not been able to create a single art piece yet.

He lacked the muse, the inspiration. At least he had thought so, until the gods had finally blessed him.

Star-struck, he grabbed her offered hand within his, knelt lowly before her and breathed, almost in the stalker-like, creepy way, "Ya-Yamato Nadeshiko!"

She just stared at him in confusion, "Um, actually my name is Daidouji Mayura." The words left her mouth too late, not that she had even thought it was terribly wrong to give one's full name to a complete and total stranger, who was now worshipping her and the ground she stood on.

"N-No no," he shook away her misunderstanding, still glued to her hand, standing up, "Y-You're my Ya-Yamato Nadeshiko! Th-There's no m-mistake!" He took a hand away from her and patted down his sloppy, flannel shirt until he found what he wanted. He pulled out a small card from his shirt pocket and placed it in her hands, overly giddy about the fated connection they had.

She looked at the card that had his name and his job title. Originally the title was 'art thief', but it was crossed out with a huge black 'X' and replaced with childish handwriting underneath: 'artist extraordinaire'. Why didn't Freyr make new business cards correcting his job? He was a starving artist after all, and he just had to piss off the card maker after that ordeal.

She passed the books back into his hands, still staring at the card in thought, and a smile grew on her face as an idea hit her. She couldn't wait to share the idea of having some business cards for the club, would definitely bring in some mysteries if people knew who they were!

Unfortunately, Freyr, a one-track minded, superficial person, was thrilled to see her as happy as he was, but really, who could compare to Freyr's overwhelming joy, nearly blinding Mayura's own bubbly personality?

Meanwhile, at one large office of a particular chancellor, Loki was leaning back in the comfortable chair, legs crossed, elbows resting on the armrest. A book in his left as he shifted his weight to the right and leaned his cheek into his palm. He was trying to focus on the book in his hands while his son and daughter were playing with the adorable, black puppy, but it was difficult to read the words when all he could see every time was a certain president of the Mystery Club.

Things seemed to have returned to normal from the messy weekend, but he hadn't been able to get any private time with the girl, especially with Freya's return which made it more difficult to do the things he wanted. He looked over at the clock and frowned at how late it was for Mayura, and even if she had detention, she would be at the office by now. She had yet to miss a day in making an appearance at his place, so the universe just better not conspire against him, or someone would have to deal with an angry, handsome... chancellor.

"Here you go, otou-san!" Hel-chan chirped, placing a nice cup of hot tea on his desk. He thanked her and closed his book before taking the cup for a sip. "It's the jasmine blend nii-san ordered last week," she informed him and then added as an after thought, "I bet senpai would love it!"

Yamino, placing a plate of cookies down on the floor for Fenrir, corrected, "It's jasmine silver needle white tea.* It was said to be scented five times with fresh jasmine blossoms!" He almost sounded like a tea enthusiast, but then again, if it was for his father's picky taste, he would do any research necessary to accommodate him.

He smiled, "Thank y-"

Loki never got to finish thanking his son when the doors flew open, thankfully the hinges were still intact, and Mayura finally made her appearance, gracing them with a 120-watt smile, "Everyone!"

"Kaichou..."

"Senpai~!"

"Mayu-chan."

She marched to them, holding out a business card proudly, "We have a new case!" She placed the card down on Loki's desk as he leaned forward, and the two siblings, on either side of the girl, peered at the rectangular piece of paper, "I call it, the Case of the Cursed Artist!"

Loki read the artist's name and snorted in laughter, "Freyr isn't cursed, Mayu-chan. He lacks talent."

"Mou, Loki-sama! That's mean to say," she shook her finger at him. "The duty of a mystery club member is to help those in need!"

"Ano, senpai, I thought we were solving mysteries."

"Well, yes! It's the same thing! We're helping Kaitou-san by figuring out this curse, and by solving this curse mystery, we're helping Kaitou-san! Either way, our goal is one in the same! Attack the mystery!" she gushed energetically, with a 'hand on her hip and pumped up fist' pose, all the while, Loki happily played with her long hair.

"I think she just added another duty," Yamino smiled nervously.

Hel-chan giggled, "Oh, by the way, senpai, where are Kakinouchi-senpai and Narugami-senpai?"

"Hmm," Mayura now put on her thinking pose, an index finger on her chin, looking upwards to the ceiling, "Kakinouchi-kun had some family business to deal with- Mou, Loki-sama!" she pouted, trying to take her hair back from him, "and Narugami-kun, no clue," Loki was still messing with her, "He was out the door before I was."

She puffed out some air, glaring down at Loki, who had captured both of her hands within his and kissed them. Ignoring him, she turned to the remaining club mates, "We can work this case without them. Kaitou-san asked for a meeting tonight at eight, so we can go to his office after dinner."

After hearing that, Loki gave her hands a tug, grabbing her attention again even if it was just her glare, and told her, "Then you can have dinner with us." He smiled, "I'll even be a gentleman and escort you to see Freyr." One could just almost imagine a devil Loki inside his head cackling madly over 'being a gentleman' part, because he had so many things going through his head that weren't that gentlemanly.

She looked at him suspiciously, "You're awfully familiar with Kaitou-san, Loki-sama."

He sighed, "Well he is Freya's older twin brother."

"Eh?! No way!"

Mayura, lost in her thoughts, recalled how clumsy Freyr was, dropping the books again after she had given them back to him and she could barely get through the conversation with his continuous stuttering. Now she compared that to how confident and elegant Freya carried herself - yes, one could see why it was unbelievable, and maybe even a mystery! But wouldn't that be more for the psychologists or geneticists to research and discover, since she wanted to deal more with ghosts, goblins and aliens.

By the time she came out of her thoughts, she was seated at the dining table ready to eat, with Yamino, Hel-chan, and their adoptive father, Loki. And just who was in her lap? Loki wishing it was him, but no, it was Fenrir from out of the blue. His owner hugged him and cooed the puppy happily, and the kids were not seeing things, that was a sparkle of jealous fire in their father's eyes. The poor dog sweatdropped, having no idea that his presence would get that much attention from Mayura and that much trouble with Loki.

Yamino quickly intervened, "Aha, let me take Fenrir to the kitchen. Get him something to eat too."

Hel-chan breathed a sigh of relief when the two disappeared from view and then tried not to giggle when her father started scooping some of the dishes onto Mayura's plate. She pouted and tried to tell that she wasn't a four-year old kid. She could get her own food just fine but thanked him after that for inviting her to their family dinner. Even though she felt like an outsider there, they all made her feel so welcomed.

Yamino eventually rejoined them to a nice dinner together, and Mayura smiled to herself at the comfortable atmosphere she felt with her school mates, including the charming, lecherous chancellor. It was a lovely dinner, despite all the little teases and flirting from Loki, and much embarrassment for poor Yamino, and only to be encouraged by Hel-chan who had been giggling to herself the whole night.

It didn't help when Loki leaned over to Mayura, who was sitting to his right, and wiped a bit of food crumbs from the side of her mouth. "You missed a spot," he grinned. She turned pink, with embarrassment and fury, but somehow to thank him in the end. He looked at her musingly and wondered aloud, "I wonder how you would thank me... if I had licked it off?"

Yamino and Hel-chan gasped, followed by the clank of the former's utensil hitting the plate.

"L-Loki-sama!" Mayura turned away to avoid his seductive gaze, "You need to behave!"

"But we're all family here," he smiled and tugged her hair to get her to look at him again, but she stubbornly refused.

"What are you talking about?"

He kissed the ends of her hair, "You felt it, didn't you?"

She turned to him and blinked, thinking that she had felt strangely complete with them, and she wondered why. It was quite the mystery, though probably not categorized that high on her list of priorities, but it did garner some thoughts from her.

Hel-chan jumped in eagerly and hugged Mayura, "I did, otou-san!"

Loki smiled, not having the heart to withhold Mayura from his daughter, or any of his children, that was just too selfish of him, now that he felt a pang of guilt with Fenrir. Yamino had already started to clear the table, and they had less than an hour before they had to leave, but it didn't take long to do the dishes when it was the three of them, excluding Loki. Mayura was very insistent on helping them since she didn't get the chance when making dinner.

So by the time, she was ready to leave, Loki was waiting at the door for her, and Yamino and Hel-chan followed up to see them off. The girl blinked, "Huh, you two aren't coming?"

Yamino, blushing, made an excuse that he had an exam to study for while a pouting Hel-chan said she had a lot of homework to do. Mayura stared at them, a bit suspicious and oblivious of a smirking Loki behind her. Just as Fenrir ran in to the scene, Yamino snatched him up immediately, adding, "We can take of Fenrir until you return, kaichou."

"Oh all right," she sighed. After giving one last pet to Fenrir, she exited the compound first, finally realizing what a luxurious mansion they lived in. Loki grabbed her wrist and pulled along, finally happy that he now had her all to himself, and with the night falling upon them, he could get away with a lot more in the curtain of darkness, like holding her hands and being close to her where their arms could brush by.

"Ano, Loki-sama," came the sweet voice next to him.

"Hm?" he looked down to meet her pouty face.

"You can let me go now."

"What if I don't want to?" he teased, bring her hand up to his lips, and kissed it before weaving his fingers with hers.

"I'm not a child, you know!" she huffed.

"I know," he smiled and took her chin between his thumb and fingers, keeping her gaze on him, as he leaned down to her.

Not even ten feet from the house, and he was already making his move. Somewhere in the background, one could hear Hel-chan squealing in delight, and if one were to take a closer look at the house, the front bay window had three heads - a boy, a girl and a puppy - poking over the window sill to spy on the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"Loki-sama," she breathed, unknowingly enticing him even further, and there was no way he was going to pass up this opportunity. He had waited so long for her, and her lips practically calling out to him, for him to claim what was rightful his, but her hands suddenly got in the way, brushing over her face as if she was searching for something, "Did I get it? Was there something on my face again?"

He blinked at her and then laughed. The girl had just ruined her own romantic moment, not even realizing it, but then again, all that ever floated in her head wasn't of romance, which was a blessing for him, because she grew up without any male interest in mind. He was grateful for her endless interest in the mysteries of the world - well, he was partially involved in that, and perhaps one day, she would discover the greatest mystery of them all.

"Mou, Loki-sama! You weren't going to tell me?!" she pouted, since he was still laughing at her, "I was going to meet Kaitou-san with food on my face!" She pulled away and started walking ahead.

"That's a good idea," he said, walking after her, "We should cover you with food and scare him. He is scared of watermelons."

"That's mean!"

He wasn't sure which she had referred to that he was to do, but he figured there were no limits in teasing her. He fell into step right behind her stomping and smiled before leaning down to her ear, as they continued to walk. His breath brushed against the shell of her ear, "I would gladly eat the food off you."

He stopped walking just as he had expected her to do, but what came next took him by surprise: she ran.

Worried that he had just scared her, he chased after her, but boy, could she run, when she wanted to. They ran across campus, and luckily for them, it was dark and no one was around to chase after the hot, blonde guy and the cute girl. He finally caught up, grabbing her hand tightly before she could escape again. He tried to pull her into his embrace, but she resisted, and he attempted his apology, "Mayura, I-"

He never finished because she had turned to him, like a deer caught in healights, her whole face in a purely deep blush, and he lost all thoughts and words at her suddenly timid appearance, so defenseless. He could almost take advantage of it, if Loki ever got the chance, or people and things would just stop interrupting him, like that stupid, girly scream coming from the building in front of them.

"That sounds," Mayura gasped, "like Kaitou-san!" She broke into a run with Loki right next to her, his hand still holding hers, not that she even thought about it anymore. They pushed through the doors and ran up a flight of stairs, but after that Mayura had forgotten where the office was. As much as Loki detested having the information, he led her to Freyr's office and studio.

The door flew open and off its hinges, slamming in to a surprised Freyr, as Mayura made her entrance, followed by a reluctant Loki in to the dimly lit room, and the pair noticed the soft music playing in the background. In the center of the studio, with chairs and easels pushed out towards the walls, a table was decorated with candles and flowers, a romantic ambiance for two.

Loki frowned at the intimate setting, because he had suspected the worse when Freyr was involved, and to have him meet Mayura was as bad as nightmare involving water torture. The girl checked the room, since she couldn't find the artist anyway, inspecting every possible evidence of supernatural activity that had caused his disappearance, "I wonder if the curse took him?!"

There was a sound of someone moaning, and Mayura got excited, thinking it was a ghost, but Loki had shrugged it off and walked towards, over the fallen door that had Freyr underneath, squishing him under there further. "Oh wait, it's coming from there," she pointed to the door. Wanting to find out what it was, she bravely walked forward, but the sexy chancellor stopped her, insisting that it was for her own protection.

The door was thrown aside, and a dazed Freyr climbed to his feet, holding something burning in his oven-mitted hands.

"Kaitou-san! Are you okay?!" she asked worriedly.

Upon hearing the voice of his precious Yamato Nadeshiko, all his pains and worries disappeared, and he leapt for joy into her waiting arms, only to be met by Loki's hand instead. "LOKI!" he shouted, "You heathen! How dare you keep me from my Yamato Nadeshiko!"

With one hand still holding the burnt smelling dish, Freyr's other hand tried to take a swing at Loki, who sighed, still holding the idiot at arm's length. Mayura looked at Freyr, who seemed to be okay now, "Ne Kaitou-san."

He stopped messing with Loki and gave the wonderful girl his full attention, trying not to fidget under her beautiful gaze, "Y-Yes, my Yamato Nadeshiko?"

"Just now, were you in trouble? We heard you screaming on our way here."

"Y-Yes! Yes, I was!" Freyr showed the burnt dish he had, "Dinner is ruined!"

"OH!" she hadn't realized and felt terrible, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you had a date."

"Eh?" Freyr's head lolled onto his shoulder in confusion, "But Yamato Nadeshiko, th-this dinner i-is for-"

She took Loki's arm and started for the exit. She glanced back, apologetically, "Sorry again, Kaitou-san. We won't disturb you any longer! Enjoy your night!"

"Heh, enjoy, Freyr!" Loki gave him a wave and disappeared with Mayura.

"AH! Yamato Nadeshiko!" In a panick, Freyr hurried clumsily after them, but he tripped over the door again and fell face first into his burnt cuisine. Just be glad he didn't knock over the table of candles and started a giant fire that would burn down the building and half of the campus that night, and yes, Loki was very happy the night ended as smoothly as it did, though he did not need another lovesick fool added to the fray.

"Shall we end the night together?" he asked her with a charming smile, giving her hand, which was still looped with his arm, a pat.

"It's a school night, Loki-sama," she answered dryly, having forgotten their intimate moment from earlier.

"I'll give you a free pass tomorrow."

They were still taking a stroll to who knew where, when she looked at him oddly, "You're abusing your powers again!"

"Am I?" he tried to look innocent, but she gave him a disapproving glare, "But it would be for the good of a mystery!"

She sulked, resting her head against his shoulder, "I don't think there's any tonight. And I was so excited when Kaitou-san screamed! It could've been the cursed ghost that was jealous of his artistic abilities coming to seek revenge!"

He laughed, "You have such a cute imagination."

"Mou, Loki-sama!" she peered up to him, "You don't believe in ghosts and goblins?"

"Hm, maybe I do?"

"Hrm, don't tease me so!" She stuck out her tongue at him, letting go of his arm, and ran ahead, "Good night, Loki-sama!"

He stood still, not pursuing her because he knew it was the end of their evening together, and watched her. It sort of made up for the date that she had forgotten about, but not quite. No one had ever stood up Loki for a date before, and some bad school girl was still going to be punished for it. He just had to wait for the right opportunity, and when it came, he would make it so memorable that she would yearn for more, beg for more in a sweet, adorable, desperate voice.

Yes, Loki-sama was definitely a sadist.

((Lol, this ended up rather weird than what I originally intended, but I did love the Loki-Mayu moments! I hope you guys liked them too! Maybe that was more the focus than the mysterious art (thief) extraordinaire, lol! Makes me feel sorry for Freyr. Not sure what my next plot is, trying to work on the other MLR stories.

Thanks for reading/reviewing! -kuro.))