"Shall I go through your appointments for today, bocchan?" Sebastian asked in his usual silky smooth voice. His master, Ciel, folded his arms over his chest and reclined on the brown leather of his office chair. He stared down at the red-brown wood of his desk, shining in the morning light coming in through the curtains behind him. "Get on with it," he grunted coldly.
It was seven o'clock in the morning at the Phantomhive estate and Ciel was just staring his day's work. At six o'clock, he had awoken to one of Sebastian's light touches on his shoulder. After being dressed in his usual navy blue suit, he ate a simple breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, French toast, and milk. So far his routine was exactly matched to that of yesterday's, not to mention the day before that and the day before that. If schedules were transcribed into paintings, he thought, they would all be dull gray watercolor on canvas.
"In three hours you have a Math lesson with Mr. Coreman. At one o'clock, Lady Elizabeth will visit the mansion, and tonight Lady Coreilia Ishiki from Red Lantern Publishing will be joining us for dinner to discuss the children's books you wanted to publish. She will be staying at the Phantomhive residence for three days. That concludes today's appointments," Sebastian finished with a small bow.
Ciel opened his exposed eye and threw a sideways look at his butler. "A Japanese Lady with an English first name? How unusual," he noted. Sebastian nodded. "I have already looked into Lady Ishiki and know all the details pertaining to her. She is the head of the company, even though she is only your age." Ciel closed his eye. "Let's hear it then." It was Sebastian's turn to close his eyes, and when he reopened them, there was a devious shine playing amongst blood red. "She also…has a situation very similar to ours."
Coreilia Ishiki. A twelve-year-old girl of Japanese descent. The head of her very prosperous publishing company, accompanied at all times by a loyal female butler named Leian Vinculis who was said to have performed superhuman feats time and again. Apparently they shared a very special relationship, almost like sisterhood, but not quite. Coreilia was brought up in a peasant family in Kyoto, Japan, and at the age of five, she was kidnapped by a famous cult that rounded up children of all ages from all around the world and forced them to fight each other to the death while people spectated from the stands. It was a "kill or be killed" situation, and there was no record of how many children met their deaths in that arena, but after five years, she formed a contract with the Devil and escaped, hands bloodstained. She immediately went to the Scotland Yard, the closest police force to the cult's hideout, and reported the murder of countless innocent children. Even to this day they were still tracking down the sinful cult, which was much harder to catch than they had thought, since they moved around all the time and left no traces behind. Lady Coreilia had been waiting for news about their downfall ever since.
In the meantime, to repay her debt to all the other lives she had taken, she opened a publishing company, specializing in children's books, and by the end of its first year it had published fifty bestsellers, a phenomenal achievement for even an experienced publishing company.
Ciel did not know what to expect from Lady Ishiki. Reports said that she was very outspoken and energetic, and others said that she was well-behaved and lady-like. All of them noted that she hardly dressed like a lady, in some form or fashion. As he ate his lunch at his desk, he fiddled with a white pawn, watching as it heavily contrasted the dull colors of his desk. Unconsciously the corner of his mouth flicked upward. There was a splotch of red on the monochrome gray canvas. Things were about to get interesting…
As he walked down the grand staircase to the first floor of the estate, Ciel observed the three servants, Finny, Mei-Rin, and Bard, as they scramble around, preparing silverware and china, tearing away the pink crepe streamers and sweeping up the confetti left by Lizzy. Sebastian walked briskly across the room, chef's apron still tied around his waist, dusting off his gloves. Ciel snapped and caught his attention.
"Has dinner been prepared successfully?" he asked his butler. Sebastian bowed. "We have had a few MINOR setbacks…" here he threw Bard a creepy smile. "But it is all taken care of." Ciel groaned and rubbed his temples. So that's what all the explosions half an hour ago were. He had too much to deal with, he thought. He really needed a break…
"Bocchan," Sebastian walked up to him. Ciel snapped out of his thoughts. "What, Sebastian?" he asked testily. The butler bowed and stood to his side. "Lady Ishiki is here. Perhaps you should go outside to greet her." Ciel blushed, embarrassed that he didn't notice the plain black carriage that had just pulled up at the front door. He waved Sebastian off and walked briskly out the door and into the fading colors of the sunset.
Mei-Rin was standing by the door of the carriage, helping a small figure out of the black box, smiling a cheesy welcome smile, and Ciel could read the look of apprehension on her face. He looked to the side of her and saw why. A girl, about three inches taller than him, was stepping out into the cold air, her body shrouded with an unbuttoned black trench coat, arm held up to her black top hat to keep it from blowing it away. Under her coat Ciel could see a simple cloth kimono, a solid shade of neon orange, tightly wrapped around her body. The top of her face was shrouded by the hat, but a coy smile adorned a pale, slim face. The thump of her black riding boots echoed in the wind, and she hopped off the last rung and stood up, admiring the façade of the Ciel's grand home. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of green and her thin, straight black hair blew in a frenzy over her right shoulder. Her mouth was wide with delight and she looked up at Ciel, who was in awe of this incredibly odd girl, and exclaimed, "Your home is truly exquisite, Ciel Phantomhive! Such elaborate pilasters!"
Ciel regained his firm posture and shut his mouth. He had never seen such a girl, so carefree and unique with her attire. "Why thank you, Lady Ishiki," he said in return. "Oujo-sama," he heard a low female's voice call from behind the vibrant fabric of the Lady's clothing. A young woman with bright purple eyes stepped elegantly out of the carriage. "Must you always act so informal? There is serious business on the line here." Ciel looked the arriving butler up and down. She wore the same formal butler uniform as Sebastian, but she had a thick, black, bushy ponytail sticking out of the back of her head and her forehead was covered by a heavy covering of her curved bangs. Sebastian laughed, surprising Ciel. He had not laughed in quite a while. "Do not fear, Leian-san," he chuckled. "Bocchan does not mind. Do you, bocchan?" Ciel saw him wink. The little Phantomhive swallowed nervously. "Indeed. I welcome you to our humble abode, Lady Coreilia Ishiki!" he said to his guest. In a flash, he saw orange fabric swishing in front of his eyes. He looked up, startled, and saw Lady Ishiki's grinning face not far from his. She held up a bent arm, hand curled slightly, and motioned for him to do the same. He carefully placed his hand in hers, mimicking the curve of her elbow, and he felt her squeeze his hand. It was a light squeeze, but Ciel felt some hesitation in it, like she was holding back from crushing his small hand in hers. Lady Ishiki's grin grew wider. "I look forward to working with you, Lord Ciel," she giggled happily, and released his hand. Ciel, slightly befuddled, turned around and called over his shoulder, "If you would be so kind and follow me, Lady Ishiki," and lead her into the dining room.
"So here is the first version of the book, as you requested," Coreilia said through a mouthful of emi nigiri, sending Leian over to give Ciel a thin, 10" by 15", leather bound book with gold writing on the cover. They were sitting in the dining room, a two-floor-tall room, elaborate Baroque architecter kept from spilling from the walls by the flood of candelight. The table was far too big for just two people, and the room echoed loudly.
Sebastian had served a mound of sushi for dinner, much to Lady Ishiki's delight, who immediately helped herself to. Leian stood to her Lady's side, maintaining a steady pokerface.
Ciel leafed through the book lazily, admiring the illuminated text and small thumbnails while chewing on a tuna sashimi. It was a very excellent job on the publisher's part and he was impressed. But suddenly, Leain handed him a new book, very wide and short, like a photograph album. Same bindings, but when Ciel opened the pages, the paper was full of color, detailed illustrations growing into the page. Lady Ishiki had drawn the text so it merged into the pictures; roots twisting themselves into letters, white clouds forming words. Ciel had never seen anything like this, but he was more than pleased with it. He looked up to see Lady Ishiki smiling smugly.
"I had another version made. Do you like it?" she asked Ciel. "It's…incredible," he breathed. "How much does this cost to make?" Ishiki giggled. "Even less than the first version," she announced. "Doing such tiny details in the text for the whole book is very expensive."
It was decided, then. With both masters more than pleased, the rest of the evening was spent talking about the latest in crime. Ciel found Lady Coreilia quite a wall-informed girl, despite her manner of speaking. These three days were going to be amusing. He was looking forward to them.
Sebastian closed the door to bocchan's room and looked down the hall where Leian was saying goodnight to Lady Ishiki in the guest room. He must remember to compliment the young Lady's genius to her.
Suddenly, a draft blew his candle out, and Sebastian watched as a thin line of gray smoke trailed from the wick, red eyes glowing in the night. He winced. He had no matches with him, a terrible blunder for the Phantomhive butler.
A faint whoosing sound caught Sebastian's ears and a dark form appeared in front of him. He watched as a hand rose up to the candle and he heard a set of fingers snap. A little spark lit up the hall and caught on the wick, bursting into flame. Reian's amused face appeared in the darkness. There had never been anything special-looking about Reian, Sebastian remembered, except that she had purple eyes and in human society she could be called "beautiful", but she was a very independent akuma, and she was excellent company.
"Tsk tsk," Reian chided him. "Remember to bring matches next time, Sebastian." He smiled kindly. "Always proper, as to be expected of the Ishiki household," he cooed. Sebastian straightened up again. "Ara, I don't seem to remember the last time I saw you, Reian."
Reian sighed and stepped away, back turned to him. "I think it was back in Hell, where we were lazing around with Joseph," she reminisced. Sebastian remembered now. That was several years ago, before that little kid, Luka, had summoned him.
He heard Reian sigh. "It's great to be working again, although oujo-sama is hardly a hard client," the woman said, stretching. Sebastian chuckled. "Fu fu fu, have you become attached to a human, Rei-chan?" Sebastian taunted her, honey dripping off his words a gallon a letter. Reian turned her head, purple eyes glaring at him. "Shouldn't I ask the same of you, Sebas-chan?" she asked coolly. The Phantomhive butler chuckled again and walked over to his old friend, smiling slyly. "Now that we have arrived at agreeable terms, shall I take the liberty of showing you the surrounding area?" he offered.
As the two butlers walked off into the night, the moon cast the bright orange light of fall.