"Master...it's time to wake up..." Claude Faustus uttered as he entered the room after a subtle knock. He carried the tray in elegantly, his grace weaved perfectly like the spider's web he once treaded upon. His name was given to him by Alois Trancy - the boy who was currently nowhere in the vicinity. In fact, whatever he had taken of his soul had been perfectly rotten. Yes, much less than he had expected. He was now here to awaken the slate-haired boy on the bed, a full few years younger than the blonde he had once served. He opened the shades with a slight 'whoosh' after setting down the tray on the bedside table. His smirk was one of a man who seemed far too bemused, and the moment that Ciel Phantomhive opened his eyes, he found it detestful.

Of course, at the moment, the poor boy wasn't himself, but he believed he was Alois after having his memories overwritten by the damn butler who had started all the trouble. In fact, for Ciel, it had been at least two weeks since he'd somehow after much speculation ended up at the Trancy manor, 'his' manor, almost been choked with a toothbrush, have to come to terms with the perverseness of his new butler, and end his help to the queen. He found himself always extremely bored these new days.

He sat up, with a heaving sigh as he did every single morning, having no idea and not even wanting to know what his butler and new servants were going to throw his way today. He was very perterbed by this, the only one he could even look at without wanting to vomit over the carpet was the damn maid who scared him as much as the rest. "Jackson's Earl Grey, am I right? I can smell it. And the scone." He said simply, and Claude's grin could be seen widening. He gave a curt nod, brushing back the part of his hair and then turning Ciel slightly to accomodate his dressing. The dress gown was pulled off without a second thought and to this day Ciel still felt very awkward when exposed with this man. A man who reminded him so much of that other...with piercing red eyes and silky black hair that fell almost to his shoulders...but then again...that man killed his family. Therefore, he was detested in every way by Ciel. Well...every way that he could remember. There were just...certain gaps in his memory where there were what he imagined to be 'black holes'. For some reason, they could not be explained and he just took it as if he had some sort of incident, perhaps tripped and hit his head and that was why things developed into the way they became.

"Your schedule is rather short today. You have a lesson with Madame Bright and then you are free for the rest of the day." Claude announced at a reasonable volume. Ciel wasn't even really listening. He watched Claude's lips move. Wondering for a moment, if him and Sebastian really did look that much alike. And he wondered for a moment if he'd ever see the damned man again.

"You seem out of it today, Bocchan." Claude then annunciated with such precision that immediately the image of Sebastian in Ciel's mind shattered and his brows furrowed, his expression turning to anger when he saw the vision of his 'little brother' in his arms while they sat in the middle of the burning village. "Is there a problem?" He asked softly, smirking and sliding the boy's socks up his lithe and smooth legs, then moving to unfold the long-sleeved white shirt he'd picked out for 'his' master that morning. Ciel just stood by as Claude did so, he was simply disturbed by the fact that he was so exposed. Even though he was a servant, he was still a demon. He breathed gently as the trousers, vest, jacket, and shoes were placed over the outfit, making him look a bit less than his usual dashing attire. Of course, there was no need to have to look good considering everyone he'd once knew thought him dead.

"Nothing's wrong." Ciel nearly spat, disgusted as he went to walk out of the room and looked at the maid beside the door. He nodded, then said softly, "Lead me to the office, Hannah." And looked down the hall then back to the maid who only nodded.

He felt a pair of eyes on him. They were not Hannah's. He had a firm belief that they were Claude's, and in all honesty, it wouldn't surprise him in the least. When he did sit down in his rather ornately decorated office, not too much unlike the one he thought he'd sat in only a few weeks prior, he dismissed Hannah off somewhere and laid his forehead against the mahogany wood of his desk. He heaved out another sigh, feeling obligated to do something, ANYTHING at that point. The first thing he saw was a piece of paper and a well-kept old-fashioned fountain pen.

He blinked, "Alright, then..." And took the paper and pen, putting it straight in front of him and beginning to write. He didn't even think about what he was writing - this must have been what they called free-writing.

When he finally felt at peace with his mind and with the raging thoughts in it, he set the pen down, and surveyed his work. He felt calm for the first time in ages. "What on Earth have I written?" He asked himself then looked down at the page fully, completely and took in its contents.

"Sebastian..." it read, "Why? It seems like that is the only question I can ask you, but it doesn't cover any of the things I really want to know. Why did you do this? Burn down the village and kill my brother...Was he even my brother? He looked nothing like me. Why am I stuck here? You could have just said sorry...why? Why didn't you just SAY SORRY?" His handwriting slowly became messier, his anger must have started to increase. "I hate it here...the servants scare me. I can't think about you without being so angry! Why? Sebastian, explain this to me! Immediately, and that's an order!" As Ciel continued reading, he felt his vision go blurry.

"What on Earth...?" And when he touched his eyes, a tear rolled down his cheek and fell onto the paper in front of him. He found himself suddenly feeling exposed, weak, almost like a child. The child he hated being. He wanted to be in control, to be strong, to be able to coordinate his feelings, thoughts, and actions. And yet, now, he felt handcuffed to anxiety and sadness, and fear. That one emotion was the epitemy of his hate, the one strong point of view he didn't want to see from.

The writing got worse and worse until Ciel could no longer read it. It was pitiful, seeing his script so out of place all of a sudden.

And so he sat there for a few moments until he got up and stood near the open window. The air dried his cheeks but left them still tear-stained. When he heard the doorbell ring, it shocked him out of his trance of feeling the breeze flow wonderfully through his hair.

He heard glass breaking downstairs. "Now what...?" He grumbled tiredly, and proceeded, with quick, lithe steps, down the hall and down the stairs into the main room, the banquet hall. What he saw shocked him.

They...seemed like strangers. And yet these faces seemed to fill some of the black holes in his memory. The triplet demon butlers were busy, along with Hannah and Claude, fighting off the 'intruders', though Ciel didn't see them that way. As mentioned, they seemed strangely familiar. There were two dark-skinneds, one with violet hair and the other with locks of silver, both of them fighting off Claude. A man with blonde short locks, a stubbly beard and a cigarette in his mouth along with a younger man with blonde hair and red clips, as well as a woman with pinkish-red hair tied up in pigtails took on the three demon butlers. There was one face there who filled many spots. His hair was long, almost to his knees, and red. Next to him was a man with his face covered not only by gray locks but a black hat, both taking on the demonic maid. However, there was something that prevented Ciel from placing names with the faces. As he tried and tried to remember, his head began spinning, hurting, and memories were all bouncing around. The village burning - or...was it a mansion? The small boy, his 'brother' - or was that his parents...?

Something took over him again and his hands fisted as his head filled with thoughts of rage.

"Damn you, Sebastian, DAMN YOU." He said loudly, fisting his hands in his hair. The moment he opened his eyes because of the pain of ripping his hair, he came face to face with the very man who had caused him all this pain. "Sebastian..." He said, his brows furrowing and his face contorting yet again.

The taller man didn't say a word. His ruby orbs that perfectly complimented his pale skin seemed to shine, and yet in sadness. "Bocchan..."

"Don't say a word to me!" Ciel near screamed, his voice almost breaking as it went up an octave.

"Bocchan..." He repeated again, pulling the boy firmly into his arms. Ciel hit him, over and over, but Sebastian refused to let go. He pulled back, tilting the boy's face up with one hand and with the other arm holding him firm to him. "Ciel..." He then said, not exactly with confidence but not with fear, either. The mention of his name caused the slate-haired boy to freeze. And then, the demon's lips were upon his. The contact froze him, and yet ignited a liquid flame in his body. The way their lips touched, fitting perfectly together. When they broke, Sebastian once again repeated, "Ciel...my Bocchan..." Softly, and yet with a tone Ciel had never heard out of him before. The touching of lips repeated again, and in an instant memories flew back into the boy's head. Everything that had happened. The angel, the young queen, the cinematic record, his refusal to give up his hate and never accomplish his revenge...to the point where he moaned out in pain, and that into the kiss that hadn't ended quite yet.

"Master!" Claude shouted in a panic, and in that instant, Agni got him.

Ciel couldn't hear the others anymore. His heart seemed to flutter. Now, nothing mattered. Absolutely nothing. Sebastian was innocent to Ciel, he had done nothing wrong. It was all the fault of Claude. He breathed out through his nose, backing but a moment, his cheeks pink and full of life again. He leaned up, closing his light blue eyes, holding his arms around the butler's neck and starting another kiss.

Now, all that mattered was that he was in the arms of the butler he now knew he loved.