Gus Kinney: Hello here we are again now with a new crossover black butler/loveless i hope you like it

Chapter 1

Why can't I sleep? After a few more moments of lying there with my face buried in the pillow, I stole a glance at the clock. Seconds ticked by, marking the passage of time with each twitch of its hand. How many more nights am I supposed to spend like this? Cold air wrapped around me when I left the warm embrace of my blankets and padded over to the window. Moonlight drifted in through the window as I pulled back the thick curtain to peer outside. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Darkened houses surrounded me on all sides, and streetlights illuminated the empty street.

I let the curtain slip back into place and sighed. Instead of crawling back into bed, I sat at my desk and leafed through a book. I can't just sit here until morning. Even with the curtain open, there wasn't nearly enough light for me to read without straining my eyes, and I didn't want someone to happen across me sitting there with the lights on. Mom would only get mad that I wasn't in bed. I tossed the book back onto my desk and crumpled forward, resting my head on the crook of my arm.

My ears twitched slightly as a soft mechanical humming reached me. What is that? I picked my head up in time to be blinded by a bright light. Everything around me seemed to drift away, and was replaced with unfamiliar bustling streets. Horse drawn carriages made their way down the uneven cobblestones streets, sloshing through brackish puddles. Women made their way down the streets in strange, frilly dresses, and the men wore overcoats and riding boots. What's going on?

I ducked into an alley and pressed my back against the cold brick. I flattened my ears against my head as a shrill whistle pierced the air. What's going on? Did I fall asleep? Slowly backing away from the main road, I decided to try my luck in the back streets. Less people would have seen me there. Even if this was a dream, I didn't want to call attention to myself. Nobody here had their ears, even the kids! I want to go home. I don't like this.

The narrow passage way opened up after what felt like hours. Voices carried over to me, and I stopped short of stepping out into the open. A group of men had crowded around a small boy with an eye patch. He didn't flinch when one of them hoisted his up by the front of his shirt, his arrogant smile never wavering. "Leave him alone!"

The man holding the boy glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, before throwing the boy onto the ground. "W'at you think you're gonna do 'bout it?"

I froze in place as they came closer. My ears flattened to my head as I managed to take a fraction of step back. There wasn't much I really could do besides keep the attention away from him. Luckily I could take a hit, but with this many guys around, I didn't know how long I would last. One of them grabbed me by the collar, while another one grabbed my legs and tossed me into a pile of abandoned crates stacked up against the wall of the building. Thin wood snapped beneath my weight, and the sharp splinters sliced through my skin until I was lying against the ground. Spots danced in front of my eyes for a few moments as I regained my bearings. Blood trickled down the side of my face as I struggled into a sitting position. The group had reformed around the boy, laughing amongst each other about how 'easy' I was. A low growl ripped through my chest as I stood, brushing fragments of wood from my hands. Every cat has claws, I guess I have to show them mine.

"I said, leave him alone!" The man standing in front of the boy toppled to the ground when I rammed him, unprepared for my sudden attack. He glared at me from his spot on the ground as I backed away from the rest of the group. The boy stood abandoned by the others, seeming more annoyed with my intrusion than relieved. Does he want this to happen?

My back brushed against a wall, and the rest of the men crowded around me in a semi-circle. A swift punch in the stomach brought me to my knees. The air was forced out of me as I doubled over, trying to focus on anything other than what was going on. My vision blinked in and out before I caught the boy approaching from in-between the legs of my attackers. Don't. "How long do you plan on waiting around, Sebastian?"

A shadow fell over me, then a man dressed in black landed on the ground in front of me. He dropped to one knee in front of the boy. "My apologies, young master."

The men crowded around me slowly fell away, taken out in a few barely visible movements from the boy's butler. Seimei's going to flip when he finds out. I weakly rose to my feet and leaned against the wall for support. Using the tattered sleeve on my shirt, I wiped some blood out of my eyes, and kept a watchful eye on the boy in front of me. He spoke in a hushed tone with his butler for a few moments with his arms folded over his chest. The boy's brow was furrowed, whatever he was saying about me, it was obvious he wasn't happy. A chill ran through me when I briefly locked eyes with the butler. I pressed my back against the cold brick and flattened my ears in a feebly attempt to make myself seem smaller. There was something about him that made my hair stand on edge. I should go while I can.

Tearing myself away from the wall, I took an experimental, shaky step around the bodies in front of me, wondering which way I should have gone from here. The sky overhead was slowly darkening and I could feel the air pressure dropping with each second. Any minute now it was going to start pouring and I didn't want to be caught out in the storm. As if reading my mind, the butler placed himself in front of my tracks, and crouched in front of me. His sincere smile startled me. From how quickly he took care of those men, I didn't think he would have been so nice, or at least appear to be. "Hello, what might your name be?"

I took a small step back, placing my hand over the gash in my arm as blood trickled from the wound. There was something off about him. I could figure out what, but it gave me a bad feeling. "I won't hurt you."

The boy sighed impatiently, so I finally replied, "Ritsuka"

One of my ears twitched as the boy came up to me, taking over the conversation from his butler. I could still feel the strange man's eyes on me as I talked with his master. "I'm Ciel Phantomhive, and you just interfered with one of my undercover operations. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Are you a cop or something?"

His butler chuckled, but was quickly silenced with a glare. "Something like that. Where are you from? It's obvious you aren't from around here."

"Um… Japan." The boy arched one of his eyebrows, and looked to his butler, who gave a slight nod. "Where am I? Is this some sort of reenactment or something?"

The butler cut his master off and asked, "What year is it?"

I was hesitant to say anything. Why was he asking me this, didn't he know? Did something happen to me? Where did that thing send me? "2015?"

The boy snorted and turned his back on me, slowly making his way towards the direction I had come from, leaving me alone with his butler. "It's best you come with us, Ritsuka, we'll get this all sorted out." I cringed when a large drop of water hit my ear, and redirected my gaze skywards. "You don't have any place else to go, correct?"

He's right but… how are they supposed to help me? I don't even know where or when this is. I just want to wake up, this has to be a dream. "Yes but..."

I took a step away from his outstretched hand. It was strange how intently he watched me, like a cat stalking a mouse. I can't lose my ears here, mom will flip. "Nothing will happen to you so long as you're with us, I promise." I wanted to find comfort in his words, I really did, but staying out in the rain was starting to look better and better. Nobody said I had to spend the night, I can always leave when nobody is watching.

I reluctantly nodded. The butler smiled again and nodded, before taking me into his arms and standing. "Wait, p-put me down!"

"It's faster this way. You're hurt, save your strength. I'll patch you up when we get back to the manor."

I nodded again, but still wanted to be put down. "It's okay, I can walk. This is nothing."

It took some convincing, but once Ciel told him to just do it, I was returned to the ground, and left to follow the unusual pair on my own accord. We made our way down semi-familiar streets until I was back where I had been originally dumped. I partially hid behind Sebastian as we made our way down the street. I stood out like a sore thumb with my strange clothes and ears. Even at home, I never got this many strange looks when I went into school covered in scrapes and bruises. I might as well have been a different species.

The butler opened the door to a parked carriage, and waited for Ciel and me to climb in, before following behind us. I gripped the seat as the carriage ambled down the uneven street. The wheels gave in to the will of every rise and fall in the uneven road, and every time a wheel rolled across a pothole, I felt like the whole rickety car would tip over. I don't like this.

I was caught when the butler started speaking Japanese, while some of the words he used had been updated, it was nice to not have to translate everything into English, even if it was only for the time being. "What region are you from?"

"I don't know about all of that, but I live near Tokyo." He didn't say anything for a long time, probably not knowing where I was talking about. "Where is this?"

"London, 1887." This far back? It would have been next to impossible to find a means to get home. We weren't any closer to time travel back home than we would be here. Maybe we had a better view of how space worked, but that was as far at that would go. What happens if I'm stuck here? How can I die before I'm even born?

"You never told me your name."

"Forgive me, I am Sebastian Michaelis, it's a pleasure."

I nodded weakly, flinched as we rolled over another pot hole. Ciel tore his gaze away from the window. His visible blue eye roamed over my small, battered frame, then flicked to Sebastian, before returning to the window. "Make sure your stray behaves himself, Sebastian. I don't know how he got here, but we can't have him interfering with anything."

"Of course, young master."

The bustling streets eventually gave way to a winding, heavily forested path. "Uh, how much farther."

"Several miles."

I cringed and hunched over, wanting nothing more than a flat path for even several moments. I'd take crowded train rides over this any day. I'm never getting in one of these things again.

Gus Kinney: there we go chapter one is up