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A blond teenager walked casually down the street with his significantly taller, butler. The two were in perfect step, although the shorter was farther ahead. He spoke with huge gestures to the figure behind him,

"I'm so excited!" He exclaimed, his left hand in the air and his right in front.

"Yes, I can see that." The taller replied, keeping his arms behind his back.

"There will be so many, no doubt. They said they'll have 'it' very soon!" The blonde said happily, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Indeed, and then perhaps you'll busy with 'it' for a while then?"

"Oh this, this I won't ever get bored of. Ever since I saw 'it' I've desired to own 'it.'"

"Just don't break 'it' this time Alois-Bocchan."

"I won't Claude! I won't I promise."

"Something like this can't be repaired, even by me."

"I am fully aware of this, Claude." Alois said a bit angry. He had heard his butler twice already, if he did not stop, he would be punished.

"How much farther?" Alois asked dejectedly. The road looked as if it went on for ages.

"Just around that corner, bocchan."

The two made it to the building some bit after and entered with a high air of arrogance. The blonde swept past the nobles and dresses and headed straight for the end of the hallway. A boy sat lonesome in a chair. His hair was messy and his face covered in dirt. Alois smiled at him,

"Hello, you wouldn't happen to be Allan would you?"

"That would be me, sir." Allan responded without looking up.

"Well, let's wash you up and discuss the merchandise."

Allan shook his head, "You need to talk to the master first, and I'm not allowed to leave without his permission."

"Hm, I'm not sure if I like a rule-player like him," Alois commented to Claude.

"He isn't following the rules for no reason, bocchan, it's out of fear. That is a requirement to get our job done, especially on how difficult retrieving 'it' will be."

"True, true. Let's find his master."

After a short search, Claude and Alois spoke with a man. There was much negotiating and laughter from each of the two parties. A price was determined and Alois returned, Claude by his side, and led the dirtied boy out of the extravagant, yet hidden, hall.

"I'm your master for a quick amount of time, alright?"

"Yes, bocchan."

Alois ran a hand through his golden hair, "So what power do you possess?"

"I can-"

"Never mind, I want it to be a surprise. I like surprises," Alois giggled, taking the even younger boy by the hand. He led him finally to a carriage where they drove away; an owl perched safely atop, taking in the city with its golden-blue eyes. The trio would return soon to claim what Alois deemed as rightfully his.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~BREAK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You groaned as you awoke late into the morning. You were quite surprised considering Ciel and you usually woke up mid morning and ate breakfast. He was not in the bed next to you and you got up worriedly. You looked onto his neatly made bed and found a note.

~Dear ___,
Today I have a few errands to run, please do as you wish and I will expect to see you at five this evening, an hour and a half before suppertime.

-Earl Ciel Phantomhive

You chuckled uselessly to yourself; he was so uptight even in his letters! For God's sake, he signed it with his perfect handwriting and full name. You folded the paper and stuffed it into your bag, not quite wanting to throw it away.

You put clothes on, ate the food Sebastian so generously left out for you, and headed out of the quaint house. The streets were cold, winter was practically here. You pulled your coat tighter to your body, trying to lock in the heat. You decided you would visit some old friends, perhaps catch up on old times.

For some odd reason your feet took you to an unknown area, the path familiar, the reason was not. You kept walking, head looking at the ground, flower in your hand.

It was a white rose you had secretly picked from a nearby garden. You kept smelling it, and held it closer, the petals covered in slight frost. You rubbed your cheek with the palm of your hand, trying to warm it a bit.

There was no snow on the ground but the morning dew and slight wetness from an early morning shower covered the ground in an even frost. You almost slipped once, regained your footing, and continued. You ignored all passing people, just set on your destination.

You finally arrived at the unknown destination. Your feet stopped before your mind had. You looked up and met with a large, silver arc. It was the local graveyard. You shuddered, why did you subconsciously come here!? On your one day 'off' you came to a graveyard?

You followed your own thoughts and led your way through the small and crude path through tombstones. You made it to your mother's grave. You collapsed to the floor, on your knees and wept for the second time in such a short set of hours. Before these last passing days, you had not cried in years.

You leaned on the tombstone, remembering happy memories, sprawling your body on the damp earth. You were so lost in the memories you did not notice the animals nearby or the owls that perched on the trees watching you stiffly. Their beady eyes not seeing your emotion, only seeing your body.

The tears slowly came to a stop, you sat in your thick dress, and jacket, staring at the single rose you lay on the grave. Death was hard, and visiting it was equally as difficult as well. You mumbled to yourself, blowing warm air into the palms of your hands.

You stood to make your departure and wiped your eyes. You accidently slammed into the body of a much taller person,

"I'm really sorry," You mumbled stepping back.

It was a man with eccentric red hair and an odd appearance. He was tall and wore an outfit consisting mainly of red, his eyes were a bright color and he wore red glasses to match. "You should watch your step!" He exclaimed angrily.

"I said I was sorry!" You bit back.

"Oh I just want to see Bassy," He sighed, brushing past you.

"…Bassy? That wouldn't be short for…Sebastian?" You questioned, not moving.

The red haired man sprinted back in front of you, "YOU KNOW SEBASTIAN?" He asked happily, he grabbed your arm and dragged you to a bench.

"Well that depends…he's a butler?"

"Yes, yes he is! He follows around that prideful brat, who lies oh too often!"

"Ciel does not lie!"

"I was promised a kiss to Bassy but I never received it even after saving his beloved Elizabeth. All I want is to hold him close in moonlight and have him whisper sweet nothings into my ear until he carries me to a bedroom where we passionately-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" You hollered your face a light shade of pink.

"Oh you think dirty, I was going to say 'make love!'" Grell replied pouting as he fixed his glasses.

"Th-That is dirty!" You replied, hearing the exact phrase you did not want to.

"Oh come on, surely Sebastian has talked about me in the same mann-"

"Nope."

"But he must say-"

"Never."

"B-"

"Nope. Never heard of you from either, looks like you have an unreturned love." You said bitterly, wanting to simply leave the area. This man was annoying the hell out of you.

"It must be Ciel's fault; he does whatever that brat wants him to!"

You shook your head, "He's merely human Sebastian surely wouldn't do 'anything' for Ciel." You replied, crossing our arms.

The red headed man smiled maliciously, "Oh, he's merely human? Does that make me merely human too because I am in this form? Of course not! No human could pull off a color as passionate as red as I do! No one could look half as sexy as that demon does in a tailcoat either!" Grell said, getting lost in his fantasies again.

"I have no idea who you are but-"

"I'm Grell Sutcliffe, a Shinigami, nice to meet you," He leaned forward to shake your hand, his eyes telling you he was insane.

"Shinigami don't exist." You replied, laughing nervously. This person was a nut; he would surely kill you if you stayed around.

Grell laughed, "I've never received THAT reaction before. Here take a look," He held his book in front of you, "This book contains the names of souls I'm supposed to evaluate today, so far five people are to die. In a few days there is going to mass chaos."

"T-That's impossible…" You muttered looking at the name under yesterday's 'collections'. Mary's name was right there, death written as unknown and time was exactly when you and Ciel discovered the owl.

Grell smiled wider, "Believe me now, girl?"

"G-Get away from me!" You nearly screamed backing away, Shinigami were supposed to merely be folk tales.

He scanned his book, "So you must be ____ the new addition to the Phantomhive team, there's much talk about you in the larger city and even here, although no one knows who the brat is."

"Look, I'm just going to leave now."

"You don't want to know when you're supposed to die? Or what Ciel's done, perhaps who Sebastian truly is?" Grell tempted. You stopped mid-step and thought about it. It would be nice to learn who the suspicious butler was and finally understand how Sebastian could perform so many tasks. However, Ciel would tell you when he deemed you ready.

"No thanks, I trust Ciel." With that, you walked away, dress billowing in the wind. Grell laughed loudly, walking the opposite direction.

"Tell Bassy I'll be awaiting his midnight smooch!"

You ignored him and continued on your way back. Time was ticking and five was right around the corner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BREAK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ciel and Sebastian made their way done the streets of the town. Ciel peered into shop windows and chatted idly with his butler. The latter of the two pitched ideas while Ciel merely shot them down.

"Perhaps a dress?"

"No, that isn't for her." Ciel replied.

"I think a necklace would suffice greatly milord."

"What if she doesn't want it?"

"A bracelet, milord? One with red and blue stones set into nice silver?"

"It'll be obnoxious on her wrist."

Yes, the two were looking for a gift for your birthday that was tomorrow.

Ciel and Sebastian paused in front of a church, Ciel's way blocked by a man in white clothing.

"Would you like to make a donation sir?" He asked, his voice was old and raspy.

"No." Ciel moved on yet the man strode in front of him again.

"A young boy as you should treat their elders and religious practitioners better. Now that I think of it, you haven't shown up for church since you have arrived in this town."

"I don't practice. I don't pray to a God who may bring hope and success; it is too late for me." Ciel said boredly, trying to be polite.

"Oh but you're so young!"

"Listen here, I don't want to donate, I don't want to practice. Honestly, if the thread to pull yourself from the depths of despair was into the arms of the devil, would you not grasp it?" Ciel asked looking up at the man. Sebastian watched his master closely.

"No, because it is God's will if I fall that far."

"Ah, that is where we differ, and that is where you are weaker. You cannot protect, prosper, or correct your mistakes if you are lost in the depths of suffering or perhaps dead. You have to grasp what is offered to you and make the best of it. Remember that; pass that on instead of this worshipping junk."

And with that, Ciel hurried away, leaving the old man to gape on his own. Ciel and Sebastian finally crossed past an old shop. It sold old trinkets and clocks. A particular object caught the earl's eyes. He headed into the store, looking at it and rubbing his hand across the surface.

"How much for this?" Ciel asked holding it up to the shopkeeper. The old woman examined it closely, her spectacles thick and round.

"For a special lady, hm?" She asked, eying the object closely.

"How much?" Ciel repeated again, ignoring the question. She named a price and Ciel bought it, with a box and ribbon to match. Sebastian tied it up and kept it safe inside with tissue paper. The object was quite frail.

"She will enjoy it milord," The butler said, keeping the box safely in his hands. Ciel merely nodded and the two of them showed up a few minutes before you.

Sebastian had already hidden the present and began working on dinner.

"So, what do you want to do before the investigation tomorrow?" Ciel asked eating some food at the table. Dinner had been set and prepared. It was a roasted meat with eastern spices and lemon, broccoli and shallots were accompaniments. The meal was delicious and served with aged red wine. The dessert was a white chocolate rose-geranium pound cake, topped with diced strawberries.

"I've always wanted to ice skate," You said plopping a strawberry slice into your mouth.

Ciel pondered this, "I could teach you perhaps?"

"You can ice skate?"

"Yes and Sebastian can too," Ciel replied eating more of the pound cake.

You smiled, "I think that'd be fun."

"Would you like to invite…Elliot and Allan?"

You thought back to your argument with him and saw Sebastian glance at you with a warning look.

"No, I think we will be just fine. Especially because we can leave with no questions to begin following Alex."

Ciel glanced at his butler sneakily, over his fork, "Alright." The two of you finished and Sebastian cleared the table. You took a bath while Ciel did whatever he did when you were not around. The butler disappeared again to the land of the lost, in your opinion, and you both finally prepared for rest.

"___?" Ciel asked as the two of you sat in your separate beds. It was now dark out and you were shivering under the covers. Tonight was chilly, a frigid cold not caused by wind but merely depressing temperatures. Although this was true, you preferred the cold to the heat.

"Yeah?" You responded sleepily, snuggling deeper into the mattress.

"What did you do today?"

You thought back on the day, "I visited my mother's grave and met up with a weirdo, who I luckily dodged." You thought it would be best not to lie if he somehow knew what you had done.

"A weirdo?" Ciel asked quizzically, but gained no response for you were already asleep.

"Sebastian?" Ciel called into the night.

"Yes, milord?"

"More blankets for ___, she was shivering."

Sebastian snickered, "Yes milord."

"Why are you laughing!?" Ciel yell-whispered.

"Your love for her has solidified, hasn't it?"

Ciel glared, "I don't love anyone. Don't be ridiculous, everyone is merely an object."

"Sometimes people make attachments to their objects, if that's what you wish to call them, although I know you do not mean it."

"I don't grow attachments."

Sebastian chuckled again, "You'll realize soon enough and when you do-"

"I am going to sleep, do not bother me anymore."

"Good night milord."

Ciel was already half asleep and beyond response leaving the butler to be amused by him. He laid another blanket on your body and your shivering stopped a bit later. He went to put one on Ciel, but he was already pushing off the one comforter on his own. Ciel was used to the cold on most occasions.

Sebastian stepped outside and killed four owls that had decided to perch on the windowsill and branches. He grabbed each one, killed them, and threw them as far as possible. None of the others that sat warily on nearby branches dared to come closer as Sebastian perched himself a top the building to keep watch into the silent night.

The silence though was disturbed by an all too familiar voice, that of another young master.

"Tomorrow?" It said, Sebastian perked up his hearing, to hear a little better.

"Yes, bocchan, tomorrow." Was the final response before the frigid and still cold enveloped the rest of the land and all was silent for another peaceful night.