The butler poured tea into his master's fine cup. Ribbons of red and brown gleamed down as steam rose from the cup. A young boy sat in his chair and stayed quiet until the butler moved on to serving scones on the plate.

"Lady Grey?" The boy asked. The butler smiled, eyes half closed, while he still served breakfast.

"As accurate as always, Young Master. I am not surprised."

"Schedule?" The boy ignored the compliment.

"Today's a rare day, Young Master. I cannot recall anything important that has to be done today. Not even unimportant duties, for that matter. I believe you finished all of the documents?"

The boy nodded slightly before taking a sip of his tea.

"Funny. I've always wanted a break from all the work I have to deal with, but when I actually get a break, I cannot think of anything to do."

The butler started organizing his cart so he can exit the room. "Well, Young Master, you can always go on a stroll downtown. Read a book, perhaps. Or play chess, if you like."

The boy scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. The only people who know chess in this manor are you and I. And I do not want to play chess with my butler."

"I assumed that would be the case. Anything else on your mind?" The butler asked.

The boy sighed. "I do not know. I kind of want to do nothing."

"Ah. If that is your wish, I would leave you be for the day." The butler said, and bowed. He exited the room with the cart, and walked downstairs where the kitchen was.

"Now, what to do with all the time I have…" The butler muttered to himself, walking slowly. However, he was stopped when he heard a faint 'SEBASTIAN' through the closed door. Sighing, he turned on his heels and walked to the room he just exited from.

"Yes, Young Master?" Sebastian said as he opened the door.

"I think Elizabeth said she is coming here tomorrow. Make the preparations." The boy said while he read the newspaper. Sebastian could see the headline in the back that read 'Funtom Company's Bitter Rabbit Sales Skyrocket: Ciel Phantomhive Successful Yet Again.' Sebastian chuckled.

"What's so funny." The boy grumbled.

"I see that the Young Master is in the spotlight again." Sebastian said.

Ciel replied with another grumble. "Get Elizabeth a Bitter Rabbit or something."

"Of course, Young Master." Sebastian said, bowing slightly, and walked out of the room.

A Bitter Rabbit…. Preparations for Lady Elizabeth…. Must go downtown… Sebastian thought as he quickly cleaned up the kitchen. He could see Bard yawning and walking in.

"G'mornin'." Bard said, sounding like he was half asleep.

"Bard, I must go downtown for a few reasons. Can you make sure the Young Master is alright here?" Sebastian said, eyes still focused on his task.

Bard nodded. "Sure thing…"

Sebastian nodded in response and walked out. He did not waste time waking up the others, as he knew that they would do nothing than causing problems and leaving them with Sebastian to fix. Sebastian quickly prepared his carriage and made his way to the city.


Sebastian's arms were full with bags of various things he had purchased from the stores. Not only did he have to get things essential for Lady Elizabeth's comfort, but he also had to restock some of the ingredients required for baking Ciel's sweets. He was about to take all of them to his carriage when he spotted something peculiar.

A girl. She was dressed in all white. At first, Sebastian frowned at the thought of all-white. Better not be one of those people…. Sebastian thought to himself. However, he realized that the girl was far off from those who worshiped angels. She wasn't wearing a skirt or a dress like a 'proper' lady. She was wearing white pants and a white shirt that looked a little too big on her petite body. She seemed… troubled? Her hair was a mess. It was cut short, like a boy's, but it looked like a drunk barber had done it. She wasn't wearing any shoes, and her skin was bruised almost everywhere.

"Watch where you're going!" Shouted a man as the girl stumbled into him.

"s-s-s-orry! I'm so sorry!" The girl cried, and ran in the opposite direction. It seemed like she did not know where she was heading though. Soon, she was bumping into others. and all she could do was apologize and make the same mistake.

"Damn these drug-users, even in the middle of the day…" Grumbled the man as he walked away from where he was bumped into. Several people murmured in agreement.

Sebastian stared. How very peculiar.


The day went by normal. Ciel had a visit from Madam Red and Lau, like he usually did when he was bored. Sebastian chuckled when he saw how annoyed Ciel was.

"Why… Why do they always know…" Ciel complained in his office. Sebastian thought of telling him that it was rude to hide in your office when you have guests, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

"I saw something interesting today, I was wondering if I could get your opinion on this."

Ciel sighed. "Sebastian, you already know I'm not allowing you to shelter cats in this manor."

Sebastian smiled. "No, Young Master, this is not about cats. Though, I still want to shelter those poor cats with no place to go…"

Ciel started rubbing his forehead with his left hand and sighed again. "What is it?"

Sebastian's smile widened. "A girl."

Ciel's hand stopped immediately, and he put it down to intertwine his fingers under his chin, so he could see Sebastian in the eye. Sebastian was smirking. Ciel laughed. "I should have known, It's about time I allowed you a toy of your own, yes?"

"No," Sebastian said immediately. "I thought this would be more of your interest than mine."

Ciel stopped laughing and stared at Sebastian again, silently telling him to go on.

"I assume she would be useful for this manor."

Ciel instantly knew what he meant. Another killer. But one word stuck in his mind. "Assume?"

Sebastian nodded. "Yes."

Ciel's brows knitted together. "So you didn't actually see anything."

"No,"

Ciel sighed and his attention went back to the book he was reading before Sebastian came in.

"However,"

Ciel looked up.

"He reminds me very much of…."

Sebastian didn't finish his sentence. Ciel's brow twitched and he glared at Sebastian, but he just smiled back.

After a while of the staring contest, though. Ciel gave up. "Gah. Whatever. If you think she's gonna be useful, go get her."

Sebastian bowed, and exited the room.


It was late into the night when Sebastian left the manor. The guests have left, and Ciel was in deep sleep.

Sebastian didn't bother with going in a carriage. It was easier, and faster, to go by foot.

It took less than 10 minutes for him to arrive. The place where he saw the girl that afternoon. It didn't take much time for Sebastian to find her. He looked around a convenient place where a person could sleep outside, which mostly were narrow roads in between tall buildings. He doubted the girl had a home.

It was after passing the third building. The girl was wandering around the street, looking around and up as if she was lost. Sebastian was about to step out when he heard a man's voice. He hid himself within the shadow of one of the building.

Footsteps approaching… Several men were there. Laughing, shouting…. Most likely drunk or high.

"Hey pretty girl~" One of the men said. The girl yelped in surprise and turned around to face them.

"Ey, you sure that's a girl? He looks like a boy to me!" A man shouted at the first man, then few others laughed.

Another man said, "girl or not, he-she looks pretty decent to me!"

The first man laughed with them before walking up to the girl, closing the distance. The girl sensed that she was in danger. She started backing up, but her back hit a dead end.

"What's wrong, little mouse? Scared?" The man in the back yelled.

"Yeah, little mouse, no need to be scared. I'm a friendly guy. It'll be good." The first guy whispered while still closing the distance.

Closer, closer….

"N-no! Get away from me!" The girl cried, voice barely a whisper.

"It'll be good," The man repeated.

Closer, closer, closer….

"G-get away!" The girl cried.

"Aw, come on now, little mouse,"

Closer, closer, closer, closer…

"D-don't touch me!"

The man was close enough to touch her cheek. His fingers grazed down to her chin, and he grabbed her forcefully. Sebastian was pondering interfering.

"Definitely a girl." The man smirked and put his face closer to hers.

"I said GET AWAY!" The girl suddenly yelled. Sebastian's eyes widened at the sight. The girl pushed against the man's chest, and his body went flying. He hit the wall on the other side of the street, and shattered the windows of the building.

"Max!" The men shouted.

"Max! Max!" They yelled as they crowded at the man whose name was apparently Max, and one put his arm around his shoulder as he started to drag him away.

"He's not breathing!"

"Monster!" One of the men yelled at the girl, who was now sliding down the wall into a crouching position and crying. The men shuffled away. The girl just saw there pathetically, sobbing.

"What a performance," Sebastian said, clapping his hands slowly. The girl looked up. She had dark orange eyes, almost red, even.

"G-get.."

"'Get away' I know." Sebastian said, crouching down in front of the girl. She flinched a bit.

"Your…. Your eyes…" The girl said, her own eyes widening.

"You were there, weren't you!" She suddenly. Sebastian cocked his head to the side in question.

"What's your… what' your… What did they do to you?! How come you're here?!"

Sebastian smiled once he understood what the girl was trying to say. "No, miss, I have a completely different set of circumstances."

"Oh…" The girl's eyes drifted to the ground. Not long after, she looked up at him again. "Why are you talking to me?"

Sebastian's smile widened. "It's obvious,"

The girl didn't say anything.

"My master is waiting for you." Sebastian said. The girl immediately started shuffling away from Sebastian, awkwardly, for she was still in her crouching position.

"N-no! I'm not going back!"

Sebastian acted quick. He grabbed both hands of the girl. "I am not one of them." He said.

"Then… then… If...if your master wants m-me, tell him h-he can't. He's going to…to...he's going to die."

Sebastian's grip tightened. "My master does not want you."

The girl stopped fighting against Sebastian. "Then… what does he want?"

Sebastian loosened his grip when he was sure the girl wouldn't run off. He smiled at her. A kind smile, not a smirk, nor a twitch of his lips, nor his easy smile. A truly kind smile.

"My master wants you to work for him as a maid."

The girl seemed to calmed down a bit. She stopped breathing so shallow, and stopped stuttering. "Work? Maid? But...I know almost nothing about those things."

Sebastian stood up and pulled the girl up as well.

"Those are minor issues. There's food and shelter and clothes… and safety." ('most of the time, he mumbled, but the girl did not hear.) "If you'd like that."

The girl took in a deep breath. "Okay… I'll go with you to your master, then…"

"Good choice." Sebastian said walking to the direction of his house. The girl followed.

"One thing I forgot to ask." Sebastian said without turning.

"What is it?"

"What is your name?"

The girl stopped. Sebastian stopped, too, and turned to look at her. She was staring at the ground. one hand gripping the back of her neck.

"My name… my name is... they call me Experiment Number S-017…"

Sebastian's eyes widened at first, surprised, but soon he was smirking. Exactly what I thought.