Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler). All rights belong to the author, Yana Toboso. I am merely using her characters and story for entertainment.

Ciel didn't fully understand what he was doing here with his demonic butler but he knew of one thing: he was never going to venture here again. Somehow the conniving demon had persuaded him to buy a cat for the manor. How had he let this happen? How could he have left his guard down so? It was shameful, truly shameful, for him to be seen here in this hellhole called a "pet shop," watching his cat-loving moron of a butler ogle every cursed feline within his sight and he, sneezing and sniffling, eyes watering, wanting nothing more than to return to his nice, cozy manor and eat some sweets. But he was a man of his word and, though it pained him greatly, he'd let the butler have a cat.

Under certain conditions, of course.

"Sebastian!" shouted the exasperated Earl. "Pick out a cat or we're leaving immediately! Achoo!"

"Oh, but, sir," pleaded he. "They are all such lovely things. I can hardly choose just one."

"A deals a deal. Only one!"

"Alright..."

The butler continued his wandering of the pet shop to examine a few choice kittens while the woman behind the counter smiled nervously at the two of them; the Earl was still ridden by his allergies. At last, the butler had found the perfect kitten, a pure white one which he named Grace (Ciel didn't ask). As they made their way back to the manor, neither said anything while the last of the day's light slipped away before them. Sebastian persisted in cuddling and cooing over his new feline friend and Ciel sneezed throughout the trip, ignoring his butler's occasional offer to hold the kitten.

Finally, they had reached the manor and Ciel tiredly went up to his bedroom. Loosening his tie, he sighed and flopped down on the bed, not caring that Sebastian would have to smooth out the sheets later. The more work that butler had the better. It was his fault that they now had a cat roaming around the mansion; his fault he nearly couldn't breathe at the pet shop; his fault that he made him go there in the first place. But how could he deny the pleading look he'd given him then when he told him he would ask for nothing else in this cruel, unsightly, materialistic world for the whole of his service? Surely no one would think less of him for giving in?

Wearily, the Earl sat up and clumsily attempted to undress, ditching his tight, itchy, new suit for some more comfortable clothes. He was in the process of slipping a nightshirt over his head when he heard a shriek coming from the floor below and then a scream. Opening the door of his bedroom, he shouted,

"What the devil's going on down there?"

Another shriek and then a crash.

"Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear! The young Master'll be mad, yes he will!" cried a voice from a distant room.

"Mad about what?" he demanded angrily, running down the staircase and toward where the screams and crashes grew louder still. "What's going on? Where's Sebastian?" he panted, buttoning his shirt.

Finny burst through the door of a room, coughing and looking to be covered in ashes. He ran down the hall to greet his master, smoke billowing from behind him. "Young Master! Young Master! There's a monster on the loose! You must run!"

"A monster?" He checked the gardener over to see if he was joking but the look he was giving him was serious and full of fear. "What's a monster doing in my manor?" Oh, no. Had they found out Sebastian's secret? Was he hunting the three of them down right now?

"I don't know, young Master, but we have to leave right now! It's tearing the place to shreds!"

Fully unnerved, the boy and the gardener ran from the room and, hearing another scream, ran even faster than before. They found the kitchen and slammed the door behind them, breathing heavily. When they turned around, they found a huge Gatling gun pointed right at them. The boy jumped and clung to the gardener's ash-covered shirt.

"Ah," Baldroy's head popped up from around the gun, "it's only you guys."

Ciel had had quite enough now. He'd make sure to make that demon pay for all this, regardless of whether he was involved or not.

"Well, of course! Who did you expect? Where's Sebastian?"

"He left," the chef replied casually.

"Left!?"

"Yeah, and a good thing he did, too. There's somethin' prowlin' 'round 'ere ya know. I reckon even he-"

"Where's Mey-Rin and Tanaka?" interjected the irritated boy.

"Might be dead for all I know..." said he ominously, striking a match on the sole of his boot.

The gardeners' eyes widened fearfully and he trembled. "D-dead?"

"This is utterly ridiculous!" The boy stormed out angrily, leaving the two servants alone in the kitchen without asking whether they knew where Sebastian had run off to. Oh, but when he got back...

"Young Master, please!" cried Finny. "Don't leave us! You'll be killed!"

He ignored his servant's weak attempts at keeping him there and again ran down the hall toward the door which his gardener had recently burst through. Smoke still filtered through the cracks of the door and, rather uncertainly, he pulled it open.

"Gyeh! What is this?" He coughed, blearily looking around the dilapidated room. The carpet was covered in ashes and soot, pieces of wood, and broken china. Edges of it were on fire and a few chairs and tables were already smoldering. And then, "Achoo!"

A sneeze?

He walked into the room, feeling his eyes watering, and looked around. There, in the corner of the room, he saw it: Sebastian's kitten.

A cat caused all of this? I don't believe it!

A manic heroism suddenly flowed through him; if he saved the cat, Sebastian would be fully indebted to him and then, he thought evilly, he could get back at him for making him go through all of this trouble. The idea gave him a surge of confidence and he quickly crossed the room, avoiding the places which the carpet had caught fire, and, after scooping up the wheezing kitten, left the room swiftly.

He slammed the door behind him and ran to the main hall, trying to catch his breath and examine the little kitten at the same time. It did not appear to be hurt; only scared and covered in ashes as Finny had been. How anyone could mistake the thing for a monster, Ciel didn't know. It was actually pretty cute despite being the object which triggered his allergies.

"Young Master! Young Master!"

The gardener ran up to him, tears streaming down his face. "We thought you were dead!"

"Well, I'm not," he muttered, trying to evade the gardener's hug. "Did you find Mey-Rin and Tanaka?"

"Yeah, they were hiding in the closet with Mr. Snake and all his snakes!"

"And Sebastian? Is he back yet?"

Finny stopped trying to hug the boy and said, "No, he hasn't. He said he had some important business in London and for us to - Oh!"

"What? What is it?"

"He told us to take care of his little kitty! Oh, no, it might be dead! It didn't look like it could defend itself!" and he immediately began to cry again.

The boy sighed. "Finny, it's right here. This is your little 'monster.'"

He ceased crying long enough to say, "Th-the kitty did all that?"

"Yes, thanks to Sebastian leaving it here with you three. Even though he knows full well he shouldn't have entrusted such a thing to you."

The gardener plucked the kitten out of the boy's hands and started cuddling it. "Aw, the little kitty must have been so frightened! I'm sure it didn't understand what it was doing!"

"I'm sure." After taking the cat from Finny's hands, he stalked off outside and called, "Sebastian! Come here this instant!"

The butler appeared before him as soon as he had been summoned, clutching a brown paper bag. "You called, sir?"

Ciel marched right up to his butler and pulled him down to his height by his tie. "Your cat has caused a lot of trouble since you've left."

He smirked. "Has she? I wasn't aware that she was such a troublemaker."

The boy grit his teeth and let go of the butler's tie. "I expect the mess it has made to be cleaned up and dinner to be ready very soon, Sebastian."

"Of course, sir." He bowed and then took the kitten from the boy, who glared at him profusely the entire time.

"You remember our deal, yes?"

"Yes. I shall keep her out of your sights. I will never mention her or give you any reason for her existence."

"That's right. Do you think that it destroying an entire room and causing our servants to run around like a bunch of idiots counts as keeping it out of my sights?"

"It will not happen again, sir."

"Good." Before the butler could leave to clean up, he asked, "By the way, what did you have to do in London that was so important?"

"This?" He held up the bag and groped around in it for something. "I had forgotten her food, sir, so I went back to the pet shop to procure some."

The boy narrowed his eyes.

"She will need food, sir," he almost begged.

"Oh, very well!" Before he allowed the butler get to him any further, he walked away.

"Thank you for being so kind, sir."

"I am not kind!" he fired back.

The butler held the kitten up to his face and said teasingly, "What a kind master I have, to let me keep you, my dear."

"Do not provoke me, Sebastian!"

"I am merely stating my thoughts, sir."

"Keep your thoughts to yourself! I do not wish to hear them!"

"Yes, of course, of course..." He resumed his walking back to the manor, humming and petting the pearly-white little kitten lovingly. "Ah, what fun we'll have, my dear! What fun!"