A Pained Heart and Determined Mind: Chapter Two
((A/N: In the last chapter, I forgot to credit the idea that got that chapter off the ground to irishjenny, thanks for the idea! Also note, that sense this is set after the events of both seasons of the anime (though I'm not writing him as being a demon, I just don't feel like doing that, sense I don't know how it would affect the character), Ciel is somewhere around 17 or 18 years old, sense I'm trying to keep the age of the characters relevant to the story-line I'm using in this.))
After a short moment, the door to the manor swung open, a well-dressed man standing before Josephine. He had black hair, falling just into his face, and red eyes, Sebastian looked just as handsome as the night before. The butler let the young woman inside, welcoming her to the manor.
"I'm sorry for being late, Sebastian; there were a lot of records that needed reviewing," Josephine stated, trying to explain why she was nearly two hours later than she thought she would be.
"It isn't any trouble, Josephine, I assure you. Now, there is a fairly serious reason to why I wanted you to come here. You see, the Young Master and I have recently received a case that is just out of our hands, after I had told him of your abilities, he requested that he meet you as soon as he could. I do hope that you don't mind," Sebastian told her, explaining just why he had asked her to be here on such short notice.
The young woman nodded, and was led to one of the manor's rooms, the drawing room, she knew from what Sebastian had told her. The butler knocked fairly softly on the door, and a call came from the other side, telling the two to enter.
"My lord, this is the young woman I was telling you about, Miss Josephine Grey," Sebastian said to a young man.
The young man before her had one eye visible, and it was large and bright blue, his hair fell over his other eye, and was blue-black in color. He had a stern, though bored look about him, almost as if he had nothing to do much of the time.
"Are you sure she's fit for this, Sebastian?" the young man asked.
"That decision is up to you, my lord."
The young man rose from his chair and walked towards Josephine, examining her with a cold, yet bored look. After some time, he nodded, and motioned for the girl to sit down. Josephine took a seat, silently wondering what this boy could be thinking.
Several moments of silence passed, reminding Josephine of an event that took place five years ago; the little 'meeting' between her and her superior, William T. Spears. It had been a long time ago, though the girl still remembered her feeling of dread as her story slowly fell apart, and she was forced to admit her true past. The silence was heavy and tense, until a small smirk crossed the lips of the young man.
"She is truly a reaper, just as you said, Sebastian. That makes her perfect for this, if she chooses to accept the offer."
"Might I ask what this is all about? I do not intend to sound rude, but why am I here? I understand that you are working on a case that I could potentially help with, though we're very busy trying to piece together a mystery of our own back at dispatch," Josephine stated.
"There has been a string of murders committed by a cult in the area, and it seems to be affecting those on your end of the spectrum. You see, there is not one trace of the souls the bodies had contained, as is usually left by a reaper, there's always a trace left behind, but these bodies have none at all," Sebastian replied. "We believe that you could possibly assist us with the case."
Josephine thought for a bit, she had already been assigned to this case at dispatch, and along with her usual work, if she accepted this offer, she'd need to start working overtime, something she really didn't want to do. The Shinigami was silent for a moment, thinking, contemplating her choices. On one hand, if she chose to accept, Josephine would be able to spend more time with Sebastian. On the other, with everything else on her plate, the young woman would end up working overtime if she accepted. The minutes passed silently, the pair giving the young woman time to think.
Finally, Josephine spoke, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline. It's a tempting offer, but with so much currently on my plate, I simply don't have the time to work two angles on the same case," she stated, her tone having a sincere, though slightly tired tone to it. She rose from her seat across from the young man in front of her and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, the light coming through the window glinting off the surface of the lenses.
"Thank you for your time, then," the young man stated politely, ordering Sebastian to show Josephine out. The butler bowed, and led Josephine out of the manor, stopping her before she left.
"You already knew about the souls being lost?" he asked, curiosity prominent in his tone.
"Of course, Sebastian, these records being lost is taking its toll on my job. I've been working overtime for nearly two weeks trying to find something, anything that would lead to the reason why these records can't be recovered" Josephine replied.
"Well, thank you for your time, Josephine. If you do end up finding something, please write, or visit, I truly enjoy your company," Sebastian said, bending down a bit and softly planting a peck on Josephine's lips, though only for a short second before backing off.
Josephine smiled lightly. "I'll be sure to visit when I can, though you need to remember, we aren't supposed to be seeing one another. I'll see what I can do, though," she replied, getting on her tip-toes to place a soft peck on Sebastian's cheek before leaving for her apartment.
It was dark by the time Josephine arrived home, yawning. The woman decided not to bother making dinner; she wasn't all that hungry, anyways. She simply put on a set of her silky, dark green pajamas, and curled up under the covers of her bed. The woman's slim form nearly melting into the warmth of her bed as she placed her green-framed glasses on the black bedside table and drifted off to sleep, a now welcomed friend, rather than a feared foe as it had been in years gone by.
The reaper slept soundly though the night, barely stirring in her sleep, and not waking up from her slumber with tears streaming down her cheeks. She would have nights like that, where she would wake up crying in the middle of the night, or days every now and then where she had to force herself to stay strong and not return to the blade, or go to another medium for relief from her stress. What helped the most now, was knowing that there were people who cared about her, and would listen when she spoke of what was on her mind, and would allow her to cry on their shoulder when it was needed. Having someone who finally cared was the greatest comfort Josephine had, and in the time to come, though she didn't know it just yet, those people she knew cared, would be the ones to keep her going in an even more trying time than back when she was mentally weak and unstable.
((A/N: Hey everyone! I just wanted to apologize for the delay between chapters, I've been on a couple of vacations and I wasn't able to write much while I was away, but I have returned! I also want to credit irishjenny (again, lol) for her help with this chapter. And yes, I'm aware that this chapter is fairly short compared with what I have in The Grey Truth, the chapters will be getting longer as the story progresses.))