So this is my first Black Butler story. I know Grell may be a little out of character, but that's just the way I needed him to be for this one shot to work.
I hope you all enjoy!
I own absolutely nothing from Black Butler.
Grell Sutcliff had never trained another reaper before. No one trusted him to show a new recruit how to do things. Everyone expected him to either fail or try to kill the new reaper. Or both.
So when Grell got the call to come up to William's office, he never once thought that he'd be meeting a trainee. Instead, the crimson haired reaper began to freak out, trying to think what on earth he could have done wrong now.
With hands shaking, he made his way up to the office. The black door was oddly intimidating today, and Grell swallowed hard before pushing it open.
"Grell." William's cold voice cut through Grell like a knife. He instinctively attempted to curl in on himself, his emerald eyes focusing on the ground. William sighed loudly.
"Stand up straight you fool." Grell did so immediately, and was greeted with not one, but two reapers staring at him.
Beside William's desk stood a short, petit girl with chin length brown hair. She gazed cooly at Grell, her amethyst coloured eyes narrowed in what appeared to be annoyance. She threw a desperate glance at William, who didn't react. Groaning, the girl placed a hand on her hip, eyebrow raised.
"This is who is going to train me?" She asked, her voice laced with an english accent. At her words, Grell could feel the fire inside him spark up, a fire that he had thought died a long time ago.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Grell replied, silently daring the girl to attempt to oppose him. She opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by William.
"Grell Sutcliff meet Viola Gardenia. She is a new reaper, and from this day forth she shall be trained by you. Don't screw up Sutcliff. Now, both of you, out of my office." William waved them out, immediately focusing on his work.
Grell led the way out, not sure how he should feel about this female reaper walking behind him. He could tell she had spirit and fight, something that he felt he had lost when the man he had loved disappeared.
"I can't believe they stuck me with you." A harsh voice muttered closely behind him. Grell stopped, and turned slowly, eyes trained on Viola. The brunette watched his every move, saying nothing.
"Now darling, why so upset to be stuck with me?" Grell asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. Viola rolled her eyes, and the male reaper had to quell the urge to slap her.
"Every one has heard about you. The oh so great Grell Sutcliff who fell once that demon butler disappeared. You're a joke." Was the clipped response he got as Viola marched purposely around him. Grell grabbed her by the back of her violet coat, noticing for the first time she wore trousers like a man, and threw her hard against a wall. He stalked towards her, his deep green eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"I am not a joke." He said gravely, his shark like teeth glittering. Before he could get any closer, a blade suddenly appeared in front of him. It was a deep silver and curved. It was about half the size of the short girl who held it, and the blade was black, decorated with purple jewels. Without a doubt, it was Viola's death scythe.
"Put that thing away." Grell hissed. Viola didn't reply, instead she took a step closer, the blade pointed towards Grell.
"I'm not afraid of you Sutcliff. You're just another depressed reaper. Maybe if you were the Grell Sutcliff of the old my opinion of you would change." She said, and with a huff, continued down the hall, death scythe slung over her shoulder.
It had been two weeks since Grell had been put in charge of Viola and so far neither had killed the other. Yet.
Grell found that the young reaper brought out bursts of emotion, bursts of boldness and flamboyance. Bursts of the old Grell.
Viola noticed it too. In fact, she purposely started egging Grell on in hopes of seeing the fire in his eyes. His eyes were far too dull, they needed to have a spark in them. A spark that was slowly reappearing.
She pondered this as she walked behind Grell in the streets of London. His blood red coat was easy to spot, so she didn't need to worry about losing sight of them. None the less, she hurried to catch up to him
"This is our quota for the day." Grell said, handing her a small notebook. The page the book was flipped to was filled with names and dates. Viola glanced at it briefly before looking at Grell.
"Do you ever pity them?" Grell looked down at Viola, surprised at the sudden question. He shrugged his shoulders.
"No. Its the way life works." he replied, voice nonchalant. Viola studied the page again.
"It's so many people though." She said, almost to herself. Grell raised an eyebrow.
"Not people, souls. If you get attached, it bites you in the arse." The crimson haired reaper replied. Viola looked at him, her eyes full of realization.
"Is that what happened to you?" She asked softly, as if she were afraid to say it too loudly.
"I got attached to a human once. Lady Red they called her. We made an excellent little team, but she grew soft on me... She couldn't kill that little brat. So I had to kill her. I kept her lovely coat to remind me." Grell said, as he stroked the coat sleeve absentmindedly. His pace quickened, and Viola had to rush to keep up with him.
"Whose the little brat?" She asked. All she had known about Grell Sutcliff was that he had loved a demon and became depressed when the demon had disappeared.
Grell's eyes narrowed. He didn't like how kind and curious Viola seemed to be at the moment.
"Ciel Phantomhive. And why exactly do you want to know?" Viola had no answer. She simply huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I just want to know." She finally replied after a moment. Grell studied her. Perhaps telling her would lessen the hurt he felt. Perhaps, it would be easier if someone else knew. Finally, he sighed, and ran a hand through his thick red hair.
"Fine. Come on, there's an alley over there. We'll talk there." Grell took off at a quick pace, Viola practically running to keep up with him. When she entered the alley, she saw Grell already seated, his back against a brick wall. Viola sat next to her. Grell took a breath and began his tale.
"A few years back, I met a demon named Sebastian. He was currently the butler of Ciel Phantomhive, due to a deal they had made. When I met him, I realized that I wanted him. I flirted, he had to hold back the urge to retch. It was fun, a little game that I enjoyed. I never realized how deep my feelings went, I thought I just enjoyed flirting. But then one day, he and the brat disappeared.
I was shocked by it, but I didn't let it bother me. But then I saw them again one day, and that's when it all went to hell..." Grell trailed off, remembering the day.
Grell had never felt so alive. First he had gotten a day off, and second he had seen him. The demon butler. Sebastian Michaelis.
Grell smiled widely, his shark teeth catching the light. He strode over to where the butler stood, his hips swaying. Sebastian was clad in a simple black suit, eyes down cast. He only looked up when Grell stood directly in front of him.
"Hello Bassie." Grell said, a wicked grin on his face. Sebastian's already pale face drained of all colour.
"Grell." He said simply, and the reaper had to stop himself from swooning. Instead he leaned into the demon butler, eyelashes fluttering.
"Did you miss me?" He whispered, peering up at the raven haired man. Sebastian swallowed hard, and with white gloved hands pushed Grell away.
"I would suggest you not do that. The young master does not like me associating with anyone but himself." Grell's emerald eyes narrowed at that statement. He took a step towards Sebastian, backing the butler into the wall.
"So?" Grell purred, his hand against Sebastian's chest. Sebastian suddenly grew rigid, and Grell heard someone clear their throat from behind him.
The reaper turned, and saw Ciel Phantomhive, his one visible eye glowing red. Grell blinked, and the red was gone, replaced by Ciel's normally blue eyes.
"Sebastian, you are never to speak to this creature or see him again." Ciel's tone was bored, and he examined his black nails as he spoke. Sebastian bowed slightly, hand over his heart.
"Yes master." he replied, softly. Grell's eyes widened in shock as the butler moved to stand behind the grey haired boy. Ciel flashed an evil little grin at Grell and walked away, Sebastian following behind him. The butler didn't look back once.
"That day my heart broke. I had never realized that I had fallen in love with Sebastian, but that's what had happened. When they walked away, everything shattered. I haven't seen him since that day, and I know that I'll never see him again." Grell swallowed hard before continuing.
"I lost myself when he left. I felt as if everything was over. I can't tell you how often I stared at my death scythe, wanting to just run it through myself. I don't know what stopped me from doing that, and instead, I was a dead man walking. I just didn't see anything to live for." Grell finished, his voice soft. His head was done, red hair covering his face, but Viola could see the tears dripping down. She reached over, placed her hand on Grell's.
"That's terrible. And I was such an arse to you! I'm sorry." Her apology sounded sincere, and Grell raised his head. He smiled slightly.
"You being an arse sort of made bits of the old me come out. So I have to thank you for that. Besides, you're not the one at fault, it's all the fault of that bastard Phantomhive."
"Do you blame all your problems on Ciel Phantomhive?"
"Basically, yes." Viola laughed at Grell's answer. She looked at the reaper who was training her, eyes brighter than before, a sad smile on his face. Pieces of his old personality peeked through, the new personality still slightly in place. It was like two halves coming together to make a whole. Grell was finally finding himself again.
"Can we start over? Maybe be friends?" Viola asked, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. Grell tapped a long finger against his chin, pondering the question.
"I think that would work." He replied and Viola smiled. She stood up, and Grell followed suit.
He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest, and he could feel himself smiling. He hadn't felt like this in a long time. He laughed silently at the fact that it was a new recruit who had helped him feel like this.
And they all thought he would fail. He proved them wrong. Then again, Viola did have an attitude on her, so they weren't out of the park just yet. Grell could one day possibly snap and kill her.
Not likely, but the absurd though bright a small smile to his face, and the red clad reaper followed the brunette out of the alley and into the streets of London, ready to fill their quota.
Please review and tell me your thoughts!
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