I'm on crack… Let me rephrase that. I'm on a crack-pairing writing frenzy!

For those wondering, yes I'm aware of how absurd the pairing is. Alois is from the anime, while Doll is from the manga. Still, I couldn't help noticing the potential to it. This story, however, takes place during the manga's timeline; a reimagining with Alois being present during those times without Ciel (or the readers for that matter) being aware of it…


O N E – S H O T

The Earl, The Princess & A Day At The Circus

"Hannah!"

The shout echoed throughout the manor, a thunderous boom loud enough to frighten the nearby birds into flying away yet had no noticeable effect on the workers within the walls of the Trancy household. Most of them, at the very least. They had all gotten quite used to the yelling and screaming that came at nearly every waking moment of their lord, most often than not being directed at the maid.

This time another cup of tea had been spilled, causing the young Earl of Trancy to shout at his servant, who without trying to shutter quickly got on her way to cleaning it. For the young Earl, however, it was highly annoying. Even if most of the time he would simply spill things on purpose just so he could see Hannah squirm under his threats; this time he had genuinely wanted to take a sip of the blasted thing only for it to spill all over the table. He also genuinely considered it her fault, for some reason.

"Hurry up and go get more tea. I just ate a mouthful of biscuits and I have them stuck on my throat. Or do you want me to choke here?" He swung around the newspaper he had been reading, or pretending to read anyway, like some sort of flyswatter while hitting Hannah on the head repeatedly. As she muttered an apology, she was quick to use the nearby towels to dry most of the mess up, yet leaving a little bit unattended for due to the lack of drying material. She was about to leave briefly to fetch more, but was stopped by a tug of her skirt by her master.

Said master would have wanted to smack her or something at that moment, which she thought was what he was going to do, but all she received was the newspaper and a gesture to use that as a drying cloth replacement. Being on the verge of oxygen deprivation did wonders for people, Hannah was quick to note.

As she did as instructed, she was stopped by a hand quickly grabbing the titular piece of the newspaper and violently tugging it out of her hands. The young blond was quick to grab the piece and examine it, as his eyes narrowed. Half expecting another preach or worse due to her following orders, she was surprised by how childlike his voice sounded.

"What's this here?" At that moment she stopped to briefly see him looking at the page rather intently, and afraid to answer since she couldn't tell if he had asked her or himself the question. A rather forced "Hmm?" followed, which made her realize it had been the former.

"Y-Your Highness." She shuttered, inwardly. "It reads about the disappearance of children all over-"

"Not that you moron!" the youth shouted again, nearly slamming the newspaper on her face while pointing at a segment a bit to the end of the page. "This! What's this?"

"Oh… That's a circus announcement your Highness. It's a type of show with many attractions and games." She wasn't sure if he had even bothered to listen to anything she said after the word "circus", but he did mutter a "oh" afterwards. This was followed by the last dry newspaper ending in the floor while her master quickly stood up, slamming both of his opened palms onto the table as his chair fell backwards onto the floor resulting in a loud booming noise. "Claude! Hannah! Tell the other three to clean up, we're going to the circus!"

(((((BrEaK)))))

Alois Trancy liked the simple things in life. He was proud of himself because of it. Despite all his wealth, he loved a day out in order to see what the common people saw in order to enjoy themselves. He could understand why they saw these things and why they spend their days in such a manner. The unorthodox display which now stood before him was clear evidence of all of this…

The above paragraph is complete bullshit, as noted by Alois Trancy.

"This… is a circus? Who in the right mind would call this wasteland anything that resembles entertainment?" The young Earl stomped on the ground as if it held any particular meaning, as both Claude and Hannah stood at his side. Hannah merely looked around, as it didn't even seem like the place was all that filled up as the newspaper had made her believe it usually got.

"What a bore… Oh well, let's get this over with at least. We've got to entertain our dear Hannah at least." The way he said it made her cringe, as she tried to avoid direct eye contact with him. One of these days she felt he would rip her eyes out by just looking at him the wrong way. He seemed to pick up her train of thoughts, somehow, and continued. "Don't get your hopes up moron; you're here just to pay out of your miserable salary-"

"This attraction is free." Claude intercepted, his eyes somehow glued to the Circus' logo, which had a rather big paper taped onto it which read: "Closed". He didn't feel it necessary to let his master know, thought.

"…" Alois' eyes narrowed. "We're so out of here."

Turning to walk away, the young Earl was stopped at the sight of one of the performers passing by the trio. His appearance was certainly circus-like, but it was his arm that caught the attention of the blond. A skeletal arm, which seemed to have belonged to the grim reaper himself. The attention to detail was so fascinating that it looked very real, which made Alois wonder just what type of show were this people putting up… or hiding.

"Claude."

"Your Highness." Claude merely looked on with passing interest at the young boy, having noticed at just what had glued the boy's eyes back towards the back are of the circus tent. Having known Alois Trancy for a while, he had a very good idea at just how useless this little endeavor would be. And how he had no chance at getting out of it.

"I'll check something around back, accompany me for a bit." At this he turned to his other servant. "Hannah! I'm hungry. Go fetch me something to eat while Claude and I go out back. Don't let me catch you in my sights if you're not holding snacks."

"Y-Yes, your highness." At this, she was left alone as Alois happily skipped towards the tent, with a rather forced Claude sighing behind. She did give the place a good last look though, since there was something off about it all. Still, she was sure Claude had felt it too.

In the meantime, she had better find some snacks…

(((((BrEaK)))))

The back area was filled with many a things, ranging from props and dangerous looking equipment (which caused Alois' eyes to sparkle) to different cages housing a variety of animals (which caused Claude to frown, he hated cats). What interested Alois the most, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Now where did the skeleton guy run off to?"

"Sir." A single pointed finger caused Alois to look upwards, just as the lights of the place were flickered off except for one strategically placed beaming light aimed at a tightrope nearing the ceiling. Before Alois could call Claude childish for showing him such an uninteresting thing, he saw someone take a step into the tightrope. That caught his eye.

It was a very peculiarly dressed girl, whose hair covered almost half of her face and whose dress reminded Alois of a fat swan. Regardless, the girl in question walked with outmost excellence against the thin line of rope, something which quickly bored the young Earl. He also saw that a few other people were at the bottom of the poles that held the ropes, which he figured were also performers judging by their appearance. But he still couldn't see the skeleton armed man.

At that moment, he got an idea.

"Claude." He moved his head to be in earshot of his butler, who bowed slightly to listen to whatever insanity would be spoken by the boy. "Make her fall."

The girl tripped, as the umbrella she had been holding flew and fell towards the empty stands, her body giving way to her weight and pulling her onto the side. A collective gasp and shout was heard by those there, all in an instant trying to figure out what to do. Alois merely smiled. "You're getting even faster Claude."

"It wasn't me."

"Wha-"

Before Alois could form the question, the corner of his eye caught glimpse of the falling girl not falling, instead spinning once against the tightrope as she landed gracefully back onto rope. Getting an eyeful of everything under the girl's skirt, Alois merely looked on as the girl skipped her way across the tightrope, reaching the other pole in a matter of moments.

"You scared the living shit out of me Doll." One of the bystanders, performers, whatever, said. She was a rather well-endowed female who dressed slutty, which reminded him a little of his own maid. He dislikes this woman now.

"Just let the brat fall, she's only showing off." This was said by what Alois perceived as a young boy, who was seating against the stands with a young girl standing next to him. His eyebrow rose at the notion of calling the other girl a brat, considering how bratty those two looked. Before he could continue listening, he was interrupted by Claude, who merely cocked his head to the side.

"Now, now. Let the princess do her thing." Alois smile returned; it was the skeleton. The man in question merely stood near the base of the pole "the princess" was casually seated at. He stared up at her. "Doll, dear. I can vouch that new antics are fine and all, but if you trip and fall and die it will look bad for us. So, please, stick with the script."

"As you wish Joker, but you have to promise if I practice it enough you'll at least gimme a chance!" She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, grinning at the older man. Joker, as she called him, merely returned the smile. "Besides." She continued, closing one eye. "Those folks ain't seen anything like it. They gonna love it!"

"I concur." His smiled shifted a bit. "We have to guests who saw the whole thing and were left rather speechless."

At this everyone turned to face the Earl of Trancy and his butler, both of which merely blinked in acknowledgement. "Who? Us?"

"Correct you are young lad." Joker turned to face the youth, as Alois merely stared at his arm. Such a well-made contraption. If only Claude would rip it off he could- "What brings you to the show so early, you both fine gentlemen are so eager to see some action that you couldn't wait for the curtain to raise?"

"Huh? Yeah, let's go with that." Alois clapped, as he would usually do. "Bravo, bravo. Mister Joker sir, you are fabulous."

"The bloody hell, it was me walking the thing." Doll was quick to cut in, having somehow gotten down from the pole a few instances before. Alois could care less. "At least gimme my proper respect."

"Bravo to you, now shut your trap and let me speak to the man." Another clap was made at Doll's face, before Alois turned back towards Joker. At this Doll felt a vein pop.

"Why ya little-"

"Enough princess, don't be rude to our guests. Everyone, take three." Joker did some clapping of his own as the circus freaks were quick to move and rearrange themselves and began to prepare the props and gadget-thingies. There were more of them than Alois had originally thought, as one man in particular caught his eye. The way he had appeared to be in the darkness for so long and had slithered his way there in a moment reminded Alois too much of a snake. "Now then, gentlemen." Joker spoke again, causing Alois to turn back to him. "Please come with me."

(((((BrEaK)))))

For a moment, Alois thought that maybe they were going to get beat up for being their uninvited. Joke would be on them anyway since Claude could easily kill them all in a heartbeat, which made Alois a bit disappointed when Joker merely took them around back (or was it up front) to ask them who they were and if they had liked the preview they had gotten. That meant he had to think of another way to get that arm…

Also, where was his damn snack!

"I see, you're the Earl of the Trancy family. I'm so sorry for treating you with such familiarity, my lord. I hope we have not offended you at all." Joker bowed a bit at this, as Alois merely blinked.

"Not really. I don't give a bloody ass about my title. Actually, I didn't even want to mention ." The prolonged last word was directed at Claude, who merely fixed the position of his glasses with his index finger in response. "Anyway, you have a very fine establishment here Mister Joker; I found it all very amusing."

"I'm glad to hear that, though I wouldn't go as far as to call this an "establishment"."

"I was merely ass-kissing." Before Joker, whose eyes visibly twitched, could respond; another member of the circus gang popped his head out of one of the tents. Alois merely gave the figure a sideway glance before returning his attention to Joker. Joker also noticed the boy, and smiled.

"Freckles, come here for a sec." He motioned his index finger at the boy, who just scoffed. He did, however, walk towards the older man and the men from Trancy.

"Whatcha want Joker? I have to go prepare-"

"The show won't start for about another fifteen minutes or so. Why don't you give our Lord Trancy here a small tour around our campus?" Alois noticed two things about Joker' statement. One, he emphasized "Lord" way too much for Alois' liking. Two, it seemed more like a demand than an actual question. Freckles, as he was called, frowned but nodded.

"Then let's go, my Lord." Sarcasm never went unnoticed by Alois, since he was very proficient in it. Freckles feigned respect, but before Alois could even consider having Claude rip him a new one, he was grabbed by the sleeve and pulled away from the two elder men.

"What the-? Let me go you damn frill; you're escorting me not taking me hostage. Claude!" He turned to face his butler, who still didn't give a damn. "I'll be right back. Oh… And get that idiot Hannah here with my snack!"

(((((BrEaK)))))

"Geez, you're a royal pain in the ass for a noble, aren't cha?" Freckled spoke up, finally letting go of him as they approached a few cages around back. Alois was quick to wipe the imaginary dust off his sleeve, as Freckles merely studied him.

"It's Earl Trancy, not noble. And we're supposed to be a pain. That's why you clowns are beneath us, remember." Instead of getting an annoyed response from the guy, he merely chuckled. At this Alois eyebrow raised, as he wondered just how much of a freak you had to be in order to get into a circus.

"An Earl, in those girly shorts?"

A devilish smile. "They keep my jewels packed, I like it."

"You have one?" An even bigger grin.

"Much more than you freak, but other than talking about our-"

"Got me there." Freckles turned back to his original smile, without the slightest hint of mockery. Alois felt a bit disturbed. He unintentionally wondered why this boy's self-esteem had hit rock bottom, or maybe being an Earl meant having a bigger manhood. He wasn't sure.

"That's sad to hear."

"But it's true, see…" Her hand grabbed his, and was instantly placed on his crotch. Or rather, her crotch. For a moment his eyes widened, at this notion he quickly removed his hand as if it had been burned, eyes still wide. "So it's true ya have a bigger package, but that's not saying much."

"You're a…"

"Yeah."

"…Transvestite."

"…I'm a girl ya twat. Ya don't have to be so bloody rude." At this Freckles turned towards the cages. "Come, the animals ain't gonna show themselves to ya."

It had not been his intention to merely go along with it, but he followed her anyways. She showed him around the area, introducing him to the members whose stage names he could care less for and the variety of attractions each one of them did which he simply ignored. Instead, he noticed that Joker wasn't the only one with a type of prosthetic in his body, but none of the others caught his eye.

"And that be all of them. Us, I mean." Freckles concluded with a rather boyish bow, as Alois merely grinned.

"Fool, you missed one. What about the so-called Doll who was walking on rope. She at least had some talent in her, as opposed to the rest of you useless idiots. Yet, you don't even introduce her to me. Don't tell me she's all pissed off about me ignoring her back there. Or are you all just jealous of her?" After finishing he crossed his arms, expecting a shutter for a response. Instead he got…

"I am Doll. I though ya realized it when you touched my cunt." The blush on his face, either about being reminded of the crotch-grab or being proven wrong (Doll couldn't tell), was absolutely priceless. Before he could mutter something, Doll continued. "Thanks though for calling me talented. Means a lot, Earl."

"Fuck you."

She smiled in return, before hearing the long-distance sound of the incoming crowd, signaling the upcoming start of the show. "That's all for tha tour Earl, business a calling. Just walk back thataway and you'll be back up front."

As she signaled him and began to move away, Alois merely narrowed his eyes. "What happened to your eye?"

She froze, momentarily. "Wha-?"

"Hmm?" He turned to face her, and for once, she saw genuine curiosity in his eyes. Her only eye widened a bit, before smiling.

"Just some small abuse is all. My mum and pops felt it necessary to apply punishment for things I did; this was for something very bad." Alois studied her, briefly. She studied back. Getting a good luck at the boy, she felt her cheeks redden a bit, since he had a rather peculiar look that with such a serious face made him look… well, she didn't want to describe it.

"That it." She frowned, as he merely cocked his head to the side. She didn't get to argue however, as he added. "Abuse comes and goes, but the important thing is to be there when it stops, to still be there. And to get even when it really matters."

"Earl, did ya…?"

"I've told the Joker guy that I dislike my title, since the name of Trancy is just a load of bull in my opinion. Just bloody crap. Still, I pried the title out of the former's cold dead hands, and I couldn't be happier. I'll do the same with those who still remain. Every. Single. One." Her single eye studied him further, before smiling at him. Alois was slightly surprised at it.

"I see… So the world up there is as cold as it is down here eh? That's somewhat assuring at least. Makes it all feel okay at the end of it all." Alois stopped, stopped thinking at that moment. A single flash of a smiling Luka replaced the girl in front of him. For just the briefest of moments. Then all that was left was the girl again.

This girl was like him. Doll and Freckles, and whatever the hell her real name was. He wasn't sure if she even knew, or if she wanted to remember. Just like him… and Jim Macken…

"Whatcha name Earl?"

"Alois Trancy, my Doll." At that moment he licked his lips, which made her heartbeat skip. At the same time, she could swear she saw some mark in his tongue…

"Doll! The show's about to start; get your butt over here." That was Dagger, as Doll had introduced him to. Doll was quick to look towards him and give him a quick "I'm coming" response; before turning back to face Alois.

"Sorry, got to go a do a show ya know. Are ya gonna stay and watch?" She looked at him pensively, which caused him to avoid eye contact with her.

"Whatever. But if you fall, I'll laugh."

"Jerk." With that, she turned and began to run towards Dagger, Beast and all of the other freakazoids who were waiting for her. Alois merely watched her go on as he turned and walked away himself in the direction she had pointed earlier. Before having the chance to call for them, both Claude and Hannah appeared next to him. He gave Claude a quick look, a bit disappointed that he had no skeleton arm in hand, and was quick to snatch the food bag off of Hannah's hands.

"We're leaving, let's go." At this both Claude and Hannah stared, to which Hannah could barely mutter a "But, your Highness…"."

"The show's boring as hell. There's no music or drinks, and all of the stunts are so well performed that there's no chance we'll get to see somebody die. So I don't care about ya-you, but I'm out of here." As he began to walk away, Alois mind went back to Luka, before going back to the circus girl. She was a very interesting character, which he would at one point or another pay a second visit to if he ever got the chance. Claude and Hannah followed closely behind, not before Hannah warned Claude about an incoming threat.

Alois decided not to bother with Hannah or even Claude for now, as he merely took a bite of his snack (which tastes good but he'd never tell Hannah that), and walked out of the gate that read: "Noah's Ark Circus"…

…Passing right next to a young eye patch wearing boy being followed by a rather pitch black butler.

E N D


The Author Rants About:

Possibilities

And no, I'm not being motivational. I just mean, what are the odds. As a fan of the Kuroshitsuji manga far more than of the anime, I can still see Alois and is group appearing in it. I mean, Paula made it, why can't he. Also, I rather liked Doll, so I wanted to do something with her. Alois x Doll, unheard of (I think).

Scenarios like this are the ones I adore writing, which could happen in canon, but obviously did not. Yet, you can put your mind into it if you try. For all intent and purposes, this is set on the manga Chapter 24 and (if taken the anime to account which would only count Alois' storyline and not the whole Ciel and Sebastian vs. Ash/Angela thing) right before the first episode of season 2. Hence the reason why Hannah has both eyes.

I apologize if they're a bit OOC, which I have honestly tried to keep to a minimum (as in nada), but taking the liberties I have it is almost unavoidable. Still, if you found it a worthwhile read, let me know what was wrong with it, what could have been and what you liked about it.