A/N: Many thanks to those who have read and reviewed and/or faved this story! I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter as well, even though it's sadly short.

Living Nightmare

He was doing the dishes, humming under his breath. Soon Master Loki would be home, asking for dinner. It was all ready for him, of course. The day Yamino couldn't prepare dinner in time for his master would be the day he was dead. Especially since Master Loki had specifically requested that Yamino prepare something delicious for his return. That had been a while ago. He and Narugami had gone to look for the disappeared Mayura, leaving Yamino alone at the agency.

Alone.

Yamino paused in his task. Night was falling, sinking the world around him in darkness. He hadn't yet taken his time to turn the lights on, so the agency was dark. Dark and cold. Dark, cold, and empty, save for him.

This place is so dark and cold, it makes me feel very lonely...

Déjà vu.

The doorbell rang, jolting him out of his troubled thoughts, and he smiled, his heart filling with warmth and hope. Master Loki was back!

"Welcome home, Master Loki!" he called out in a singsong tone and opened the door. To his surprise, however, the sight that greeted him was not that of his master, but a stranger – a cute, sad-looking girl with long, wavy hair and glasses. She looked familiar, somehow. Where had he seen her before?

Before he could ask how he could help her, the girl seemed to fall against him, and something cold and sharp pieced his midsection. He froze at the icy pain, his entire body trembling and turning cold, getting colder and colder, his blood seeping from his wound, draining him of life.

"I found you... Jormungand. Thought you could have Loki all for yourself, did you?" said the figure still pressed against him. Her voice sounded different, though, and not only because it came out a little muffled. It was a male voice whispering in his ear. "Midgardsorm."

The figure stepped back and Yamino gasped, both at the pain of having the dagger pulled away and at the sight before him. It was Thor! And there was no dagger in his hand, only a hammer. That damnable, accursed hammer. Mjöllnir.

"Monster," rumbled the god of thunder, with a smirk.

Fear grasped his heart. He knew that look all too well. That was the expression Thor had always worn when he'd been about to...

"No... Oh, no... Please..." he whispered. Whether he was begging for mercy or in denial of this horrible reality, even he couldn't tell. A bit of both, perhaps.

When Thor ignored his plea and began to lift his hammer to bring so-called divine justice on him, Yamino tried to step back and throw his hands up to protect himself, his previous injury forgotten. He failed, though. He had no hands at all. Or legs, for that matter. He fell to the floor with a hiss.

All of a sudden he was a child again, virtually defenceless against this unrelenting tormentor. He whimpered every time the hammer made contact with his scaly body and his bones threatened to break. He tried to crawl away, but something heavy pinned him against the ground. He wiggled and struggled, but Thor's foot didn't budge at all and continued to hold him in place.

"You won't get away this time!" yelled Thor, putting a little more pressure on his victim.

Yamino hissed and squirmed in an effort to turn his head. If only he were a little stronger and faster, he might have been able to bite Thor's leg and inject poison on him. A moment later, Yamino let his head fall limply to the ground. No, he couldn't do it. He was too weak. Too weak. Hopeless. He had always been hopeless.

He flicked out his tongue and smelled a familiar scent. He made another, half-hearted effort to lift his head, trying to focus his eyes, but everything looked blurry. Where were his glasses? Maybe Thor had broken them. Nevertheless, he knew who was there, watching them. If he tried really hard, he could make out the figure of a child.

"Master Loki..." he gasped. His voice was so soft and hoarse, it could barely be heard, even if Thor weren't yelling threats right above him. Regardless, Yamino persisted, willing to make himself heard. "Master Loki... Please help me... Please..."

By now, Loki had come close enough that Yamino could see him almost clearly. The trickster god's expression was bare of any emotion, his gaze cool. What was wrong with him? Couldn't he see that Yamino wasn't just playing war with Thor, that he was in actual distress?

"Master Loki! Please help me, Master Loki!" he kept imploring, his chest feeling hollow. He didn't understand. Why wasn't he getting through to Loki? "Master Loki! Father!"

At last Loki showed some emotion, though Yamino now wished he hadn't. A twisted smirk formed on the child's lips and he began to chuckle louder and louder, until he was cackling as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"'Father'?" shouted Loki. "I'm not your father! You made it quite clear when you stopped referring to me that way. You disowned me, and now, after all this time, you dare to call me your father just because you want my help?"

Yamino winced. "No! No, no, Master – er, Father, it's not like that at all! I just—"

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Loki, all traces of amusement gone. "I don't really care about what you have to say. It's not as if I ever wanted to have you as a son, you know. Maybe if you had been a little more like Fenrir..."

"B-but I can still be useful to you, Master Loki!"

"Well, yes, you were rather useful. You made my life a little bit easier after I was exiled." Loki pointed at him. "But I don't need you any more! Narukami here is a much better assistant than you could ever hope to be!" Scoffing, Loki turned his back on him. "Narukami, be nice and put him out of his misery, will you?"

"Gladly," muttered Thor, with a vicious smile. Yamino barely heard him; he felt as though another knife had just stabbed him in the heart and was twisting, over and over, tearing it into pieces.

"Nooooooo!"

He sat up with a jolt, surrounded by darkness. The only sound was that of his quick, shallow breathing. His entire body was shaking and drenched with sweat. He looked down at himself, at his hands, noting he had them back; he was in his human form again. His eyes darted wildly around. He was... in his bedroom, at the Enjaku Detective Agency. He was home. It had all been a dream. A horrible, horrible dream, but that was it. It hadn't been real.

Too shaken to feel truly relieved at the realisation, he brought a trembling hand to his face, wiping the wetness that might be sweat or tears – or maybe both, he didn't know. His stomach churned and rolled, but after some deep breaths, the nausea passed and his breathing calmed down.

With his other hand, he groped for his glasses on the nightstand and put them on in order to see the time on the clock. Fifteen past four in the morning. He groaned and got up from the bed. He doubted he could fall asleep again, and even if he could, there would be so little time left that there was just no point in even bothering. He might as well make himself useful, then.

He looked at his sweaty self in disgust. First things first, he told himself. He needed a bath.

oOo

Fifteen minutes later, Yamino was dragging himself to the kitchen, one of his favourite places in the house. Hopefully he would feel better after having a light breakfast. However, as he neared the kitchen, he could hear some clunks and sizzling. He blinked and grew alert. Who else could be up at this ungodly hour? Could it be a burglar?

He tiptoed the rest of the way to the kitchen, his shoulder to the wall, and peered inside. When he saw who it was, he didn't know whether to be relieved or even more unsettled.

"Th—Narugami?"

Narugami looked over his shoulder to meet Yamino's gaze.

"Hey! About time someone in this house woke up." He paused, narrowing his eyes a little. "Damn, Four-Eyes, you look like death warmed over. What happened? Didn't you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Narugami," said Yamino, remembering his manners a little belatedly. He stepped into the kitchen after a moment of hesitation and watched the other man curiously. "And no, not really," he admitted in response to Narugami's question. "What about you? Why are you up so early? Is something wrong?"

"Nope! Everything is just fine!" Narugami threw a pancake up in the air and caught it again with practiced ease. "I always wake up at four AM. Golden rule of a good worker; the early bird catches the worm. I'm not lazy like Loki."

Yamino frowned at the slight against his master, but made no comment. Instead, he watched Narugami with something akin to fascination. Against all expectations, Narugami seemed to be full of energy this morning, his movements agile and precise, his eyes fully alert and lively, his complexion healthy once again, and a smile played on his lips. It seemed that this one-night rest had done him a world of good, after all; more than would be considered natural. Perhaps it was due to him being a god.

Whatever the reason behind his quick recovery, once again the contrast between them was obvious. Narugami in the pink of health and Yamino feeling, well, like death warmed over, as Narugami had oh-so-tactfully put it.

"So, what's the matter?" asked Narugami conversationally, his voice muffled as he had just stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth. "Nightmare?"

"Er, well... Not exactly," Yamino fibbed, shifting nervously. He didn't feel comfortable discussing this with the very source of his nightmare.

Besides, he was growing more and more preoccupied with something else. His eyes kept being drawn to Narugami whenever he touched anything in the kitchen; when he made another toast, when he took a couple of plates and glasses out of the cupboard and set them on the table, when he opened the refrigerator to get some juice, when he began to make coffee. Without quite realising it, Yamino's frown deepened at each action. For some reason, the sight of Narugami in the kitchen – his kitchen – messing around with all the utensils in such an offhand manner, as if he owned the place, was really bothering him. He felt a sudden wave of protectiveness wash over him.

"Here, why don't you eat something?" suggested Narugami, oblivious to Yamino's vexation.

Yamino, who hadn't been paying much attention to what he had been saying, jumped in surprise when Narugami dropped an impressive pile of pancakes on the plate before him.

"I'm sorry?" he said, giving the pancakes a wary look.

"You'll feel better after eating something," was Narugami's matter-of-fact reply. Again without asking for consent, he poured juice into one of the glasses on the table and shoved it in Yamino's direction, very nearly spilling its contents. "A healthy meal can cure anything! You know, maybe that's why you've been so run-down; you gotta eat more. You're way too skinny, anyway," he said, with a disapproving look and a jab at Yamino's ribs.

Though a bit ruffled by the jabs – both verbal and physical – Yamino still had what he liked to think as enough self-control to remain mostly calm and let them slide without comment. He let his eyes focus on the meal before him once again, and it said something about how out of sorts he was that it took his brain a while to catch up and comprehend why they were so close to his side of the table.

"Wait, you mean you have made breakfast... for me?" he asked slowly, uncertain. It was such a new, bizarre concept that he was having some trouble believing it. He wasn't even sure he liked the idea very much. On one hand, it was rather thoughtful and uncharacteristically nice of Narugami; on the other hand, it was Narugami. Messing with his pristine kitchen, free to taint his food if he so wished...

"You shouldn't have..." he murmured uncomfortably.

"Aww, no need to thank me!" said Narugami, misunderstanding his meaning. "It was no problem at all! In fact, I could make breakfast for everyone every day—"

"No!" Yamino burst out. Then, looking away from Narugami's startled gaze, he coughed and amended, "I mean, I appreciate your offer, but that won't be necessary."

Narugami just shrugged and narrowed his eyes at him. "Oi, why aren't you eating? Is something wrong with the pancakes I made? Are they not good enough for you?" he questioned, a hint of a threat in his low voice.

"No, no, it's delicious!" Yamino eeped, even though he had yet to touch his food. Under Narugami's overbearing glare, he withered with a shudder and reluctantly began to eat.

He had to hand it to him; the pancakes were really good, indeed. If anyone else had made them, Yamino would have given his compliments. Unfortunately, they had been made by none other than Narugami, and Yamino could barely enjoy their taste; he just stuffed one forkful after another into his mouth, eating mechanically and a little too quickly, anxious to get it over with. The realisation that he was alone with his worst enemy while everyone else was asleep, blissfully unaware of his whereabouts, had just caught up to him and made him feel very uneasy. It went against his policy to avoid Narugami like the plague. If Narugami were so inclined, he could do whatever he wanted to Yamino; he could kill him right now, and no one would ever know who the culprit was.

All of a sudden, Narugami leapt to his feet, pushing his chair backwards so it nearly toppled over. The abrupt movement nearly gave Yamino a heart attack, and for one second he really believed that his thoughts would become reality and that Narugami was going to attack him right here and now.

However, Narugami seemed to be ignoring him completely. He washed the dishes quickly, almost broke one glass, dried his hands when he was done, and grabbed his wooden sword from where it had been lying on the counter.

"I'm going out for my morning exercises," he told Yamino. "Don't disturb me. When I come back, we'll talk about our chores. All right?"

Swallowing, Yamino just nodded. Only when Narugami had left and his footsteps could no longer be heard did he allow himself to relax. Now that Narugami was gone, he felt he could breathe again.

Now that he was once again... alone.

Completely alone.

Alone in a dark and cold mansion.

He almost wished Narugami was still with him.

oOo

A few hours later, Yamino went out to the supermarket. Not the one nearest to the Agency, but another a little farther, so it would take him longer to go and return. He needed to be away from Narugami for a while, to rest his mind, even if it would exhaust his body even more. As long as he could have a moment of peace and feel safe enough to lower his guard, he did not care how tired he felt.

When he finally made it back to the Agency, he felt as though he was going to drop at any moment, and yet his mind was alert. While he still felt daunted at the prospect of seeing Narugami again in the very near future, at least it didn't feel as though his nerves were scattered all over the place. He had even had the presence of mind to remember to get his tonfa before leaving the house. Just let Narugami try anything funny; he would regret it dearly!

As soon as he stepped into the mansion, he knew there was something odd about it. Something different. Something was missing. If Yamino weren't so tired, he would probably have realised what it was right away. As it was, however, it only took him a minute.

The dust from overnight was missing. Someone had cleaned the entire place while he had been away. There was no doubt as to who had done this. Loki and Fenrir wouldn't do any housework to save their lives, and Mayura rarely came by this early – although she had offered to help him with some of the housework in the past, he had politely refused and she had never brought it up again – so that only left Narugami.

Yamino had thought this might happen, which was why he had deliberately assigned his new colleague to clean up the attic – which was an awful mess and should have taken him the whole day.

"Hey, Four-Eyes!"

Speaking of the devil...

"Narugami," began Yamino in a reasonable tone of voice. "I thought I asked you to clean up the attic..."

"And I did! But I finished it before you came back, so I decided to go ahead and clean somewhere else, too. You took so long, though, I ended up cleaning the whole place."

An incredulous pause, then, "Do you mean to tell me that you have cleaned the entire agency in three hours?"

"Well, yeah, pretty much," said Narugami, with a shrug.

Yamino wished he felt as unconcerned as Narugami looked, but at the moment he was rather getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. With another glance around, he realised that dust wasn't the only thing missing. He pointed at an empty spot on a small table in the corner.

"What happened to the vase that was there?" he asked.

"Oh, that." Narugami rubbed the back of his head and had the grace to look at least a little sheepish. "I, um, sort of broke it. But it was an accident! And, uh, I also broke some other stuff. A couple other vases, one lamp, some figures... I kept their pieces, though! Maybe I can glue them back together later."

Yamino tried to say something, but it came out all choked. He took a deep breath, held it for a long time, and then let it out while a smile eased its way onto his face.

"Accidents... happen," he managed to say, though his voice still sounded tight and forced. He took another breath and this time succeeded in achieving a light, jovial tone, "But many of these items are very precious, so please be more careful in the future, yes?"

"Okay. And don't worry, I'll fix the stuff I broke."

Yamino could have told him not to bother, because even if he by some miracle managed to glue those broken pieces back together, their previous value or beauty would never be recovered. Well, let him try, anyway. If nothing else, it should at least keep him busy and out of Yamino's sight for a good while.

"Very well, Narugami. Er, are you going to school today?" he asked when he noticed his colleague's attire. Hope blossomed inside him; school meant Narugami would be away for hours.

To his disappointment, Narugami gave him an odd look and answered, "No, of course not. It's Sunday."

"Oh. Then why are you wearing a school uniform?"

"You told me to wear 'something proper', so..." Another shrug.

"Ah, I see," said Yamino neutrally. So this was Narugami's idea of proper attire. In retrospect, he really shouldn't have been surprised. Maybe this school uniform really was the most proper piece of clothing in Narugami's wardrobe. Come to think of it, did he even own any other clothes? Yamino didn't recall having ever seen him wearing anything else.

Yamino shook his head, with a sigh. He must really be too tired if he had begun to dwell on his nemesis' dressing style, or lack thereof.

"I'll go make breakfast for Master Loki," he said. "Then I'll go wake him up."

"No need!" Narugami chipped in. "I already woke up the lazy bastard. Made him breakfast, too. He must be in his study by now."

That made Yamino stop short. Ever so slowly, Yamino turned his head to look back at Narugami.

"You made breakfast for Master Loki," he said in flat tones, even though he was quivering inside.

"Sure!"

The nerve! Only he, Yamino, made breakfast for Master Loki! A healthy, nutritious, well-balanced breakfast which he always took so much care to make. It was part of his morning ritual, one of the joys of his life, and now Narugami had taken it from him without even asking. And then, as if that weren't enough, Narugami had gone as far as to enter Master Loki's bedroom and rouse him from his peaceful slumber earlier than necessary.

With relatively little effort that came only from being naturally cool-tempered, Yamino stomped on his growing anger, telling himself he was overreacting. It was only for one day, Narugami must be trying to prove himself useful on his first day of work, no need to make a big deal out of it.

"Well, then. I suppose I will just... make some tea. Yes, tea would be lovely," he said amicably, more to himself than to anyone else, as he made his way to the kitchen. Halfway there, he had to stifle a small yawn. Still morning and already he felt so tired. This wouldn't do at all. "On second thought, better make it coffee."

oOo

"Master Loki, I've brought you tea."

"Hm? Oh, thanks, Yamino." Loki looked up from his reading and stopped short, his brow furrowing. "Yamino... you look—"

"Like hell," said Fenrir from his father's lap.

"Hmm, I was going to say 'a little under the weather', but you got the idea all the same," said Loki, with a tilt of his head. "Is everything all right, Yamino?"

"Of course, Master Loki!" answered Yamino, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, a hint of hysteria threatening to break into his voice. "Everything is wonderful! Why wouldn't it be?" He set the tray on the desk, poured tea for his father, and then took his own cup, which was filled with a different drink – something that did not escape his perceptive father's attention.

"Coffee, Yamino? How unusual," he remarked shrewdly.

"Well, sir, this has been quite an unusual morning," Yamino felt the need to point out. He took a sip and savoured the bittersweet taste of caffeine. "This is a new brand, so I felt this was the perfect opportunity to try it."

Loki made a suspicious, humming noise, eyes narrowed. "Has Narukami done anything?"

"Oh, he certainly has," replied Yamino pleasantly before downing a large gulp of coffee. "He cleaned up the entire agency in a few hours, and he still had time to make you breakfast. He's so... efficient and helpful. Hiring him has indeed been one of your best ideas yet, Master Loki!" He sounded so convincing, he even believed his own words. He had to, or else it would mean either lying to his father or offending him. He didn't know which was worse.

"I see," said Loki, going back to reading his newspaper. Yamino had to smile at the sight of the little boy doing such an adult-like activity. It was just so... so cute. There was no other word for it, except maybe "adorable".

"It shouldn't be so surprising," Loki continued. "Narukami always dedicates himself wholeheartedly to his duty, no matter what it happens to be – even if it is to serve me." An amused smirk played on his lips.

Meanwhile, Fenrir was staring at his little brother with wide, baffled eyes. "Are you serious, Midgardsorm? What about all those antiques he broke? I thought for sure you of all people would freak out about that."

"Ah, yes, that." Yamino gave his brother a serene smile. "We should not blame him, Brother. Accidents happen, you know."

"Not to you."

"Wait," interrupted Loki. "What's this about broken antiques?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Yamino reassured him. "Just some little accidents that Narugami suffered involving some of our artefacts. Nothing to worry about at all."

"Er, Yamino—"

"After all, they were just some ancient pieces of decoration...

"Yamino, I think you should—"

"Unique, invaluable, irreplaceable, millennial antiques... lost forever because of one moment of carelessness..."

The cup in his hand suddenly broke into pieces, spilling what was left of the hot coffee on Yamino's hand and the floor. Unflinchingly, he only stared at it, a little taken aback. He hadn't realised that he had been squeezing the cup at all, let alone hard enough to shatter it.

Completely unfazed by the burning hot liquid scalding his hand or the small, bleeding cuts caused by the shards, Yamino looked back at his father and his brother, who were regarding him with mildly worried looks. Yamino offered them what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"See? Accidents do happen – even to me." He flexed his fingers almost convulsively, dropping the shards to the floor. He frowned down at the mess. "Excuse me, I'll get a mop to clean this up."

oOo

As soon as Yamino stepped out of the study, father and son let out a breath and turned to look at each other.

"Daddy, I think he's cracking."

"Nonsense, Fenrir. It's been less than one day. Yamino is stronger than that."

"Maybe you're right. I never thought I'd say this, but he looked kinda scary just now, when he broke that cup. He looked just like a snake coiling around someone's neck, squeezing it, smothering them to death..." A faint shudder coursed through the puppy's body.

"A very accurate description." Loki smirked in amusement. "And guess whose neck is that?"

So far, so good, he thought. Not even a day had passed and things were already beginning to get interesting. So Narugami had apparently turned out to be quite a competent housekeeper, and Yamino seemed to have got upset over something that wasn't threatening Loki. How extraordinary. He wondered if Yamino would ever lose his temper and confront Narugami. It seemed so unlikely that he thought he might as well wonder if pigs could ever fly, but then, he reminded himself, there was Gullinbursti, so anything was possible.

Wait and see.