A Change of Setting

Yako stumbled backwards across the large bed, scrambling away from the unfamiliar man that was standing before her. "What are you doing here?" she demanded in a high pitch tone, her wide eyes glued to him.

Sebastian looked at her, confusion flickering in his dark eyes. "Coincidentally, I was going to ask you that very question. What have you done with the young master?" There was a sinister, suspecting edge to his tone, but as he studied Yako's horrified face, he couldn't help but notice that she was just as equally confused.

"Young master?" she repeated. "I haven't done anything to him, but if you have a mystery, I'm sure we can talk about this at my office. Did my mother let you in?"

Sebastian looked at her sympathetically. "Look around you. Do you know where you are?"

For the first time, Yako tore her eyes from the gorgeous butler, examining the room around her. With a gasp, she realized it certainly wasn't hers. She was laying in a large, canopy bed, in an ornate, old-fashioned room. With a butler.

She jumped off the bed, pulling at a strand of her hair and giving herself a pinch to check that she was awake. Was this some sort of bizarre psychological experiment that Neuro was putting her through? Had a villain kidnapped her? Neither guess seemed to be right (although the first was possible). Anxiously, her eyes lifted to the butler again, who continued to stand on the other side of the bed, silently taking in the situation.

"What is your name?" he asked her in a kind tone.

Yako was grateful that the butler was being patient with her, but even more scared because he had as little of an idea of how she got there than she did. "I'm Yako Katsuragi," she answered.

"I'm judging that you're in England on vacation, then?" he asked, "or, perhaps, your father is on a business trip?"

"England?" she repeated in horror. Before Sebastian had the chance to respond, she had already dashed over to the other window, glancing out over the vast, beautiful land of the Phantomhive estate. She became short of breath, her lower jaw hanging open in awe.

"I'm not in Japan anymore," she murmured to herself softly. She glanced back over at Sebastian. "Who are you? Do you live here?"

"I'm (one hell of) a butler, Sebastian," he explained. "This is the Earl Ciel Phantomhive's estate."

"Earl?" she repeated, spinning around to face him with wide eyes.

Sebastian was distracted at the moment, noticing her pajamas for the first time. "May I ask what it is you are wearing?"

She glanced down at her baggy shirt and polka dotted pajama bottoms. "Pajamas," she answered.

"…Is that supposed to be your nightgown?" he asked slowly. "I have never seen a lady wearing gentlemen's attire as sleepwear before now."

"Welcome to the 21st century," she laughed in a sarcastic tone.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, and Yako felt the blood drain from her face.

"It is the 21st century, right?" she asked slowly.

Sebastian nodded towards the bed. "I think you might need to sit down."

---

A century and a half in the future, Ciel Phantomhive was rushing around Yako's room, trying to find a solution for his terrible dilemma. He could hear a woman's footsteps coming up the stairs, and could see no way to hide. Sebastian wasn't answering his calls, he had no idea where – or when – he was, and everywhere he turned he was faced with something unfamiliar. He darted into the closet as a hiding place for a moment, but the short, pleaded skirts and men's shirts scared him out. What kind of person would wear such an inappropriate, and odd combination of dress?! He darted across the room again, and was about to hide under the desk, when he noticed a mass of thick, tangled wires of various colors, all which were hooked up to the strange, black screen. Even more confused, he went towards the door, but beside it stood a tall stick with a shade on top, hiding a strange, oval piece of glass. Beside it was an odd switch, which he didn't dare to turn on. Horrified and out of time, he jumped into the bed, pulling the sheets over himself in hope of escaping the woman's notice.

"Yako?" the voice came again. The door opened, and in stepped Yako's mother. "You need to get up, or you'll miss the bus." Bus? What was that? "Do you want to be late for school?" When Ciel didn't answer, she continued, "Are you sick?"

Ciel responded by forcing out a few coughs.

"You push yourself too far with that detective job of yours," she went on. "Go ahead and rest today. If you'd like, I can make breakfast for you. There's a new recipe I've developed, and I want someone to test it on-" Ciel let out a small grunt. "Wow, you must be really sick if you don't even want to eat. I'll let you go back to sleep. If you need anything, call me at work."

At last, the door shut again. Ciel waited until he was sure she was gone before sitting back up, darting towards the window.

He watched as a thin, Japanese woman stepped into one of the automatic carriages. It made a large, roaring sound before she backed it away from the house, out onto the road, and drove off down the street.

Ciel stared in awe. How did she do that?

More important, what was he going to do now? He was still in his sleepwear, and there was no way he was borrowing clothing from that disgusting closet. Not knowing what else to do, he returned to his bed, forcing sleep upon himself in the hope that he'd wake up to find it was all a terrible dream.

Like that would happen.

---

Yako sat down at the end of the long breakfast table, swinging her legs back and forth in a soothing motion, trying to calm her nerves. Everything about the Phantomhive estate was breathtaking. She wished she wasn't so worked up so she could enjoy it.

She had related her entire story to the strange – but amazingly handsome – butler, but neither of them had been able to find a solution to the problem. The butler was surprisingly calm in the situation, and seemed almost amused at times by what had happened.

"I suppose this means that the young master is in the future," he had deducted casually.

His calmness was admirable, but also startling. Yako had no idea how he managed to face this impossible situation without losing his nerve.

Her mind was racing a mile a minute, but the only answer she kept coming back to was that Neuro was playing a prank on her. Why would he, though? He enjoyed torturing her himself, so what fun would he get from this? Besides, it took her away from their detective duties, and wasted a lot of time. So it had to be something else.

She let out a small laugh, trying to imagine what Neuro would say when she explained that the reason she hadn't shown up to work was because she had been trapped in the past.

Sebastian reappeared from the kitchen, carrying out a tray of food. Yako looked up, taken off guard, and her stomach growled in anticipation from the wonderful smell.

"A cup to tea, to sooth your nerves," he said, placing it down in front of her, "and I hope you'll enjoy this breakfast of poached salmon and mint salad, with scones. It's one of the young master's favorite dishes, and I hope it will suit your tastes, my lady."

Yako blinked in disbelief as he placed the fantastic meal before her, and was even more astonished by what he had called her. "My lady?" she repeated in disbelief.

Sebastian glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Would you prefer me to address you otherwise?"

Yako stuttered for a moment before collecting herself, shaking her head. "No, not at all. In fact, I kind of like it." It certainly beats 'slave', she thought to herself. This guy is nothing like Neuro!

"I've explained your dilemma to the other servants. I hope you don't mind, but there was no way around my telling them."

"I don't mind at all," Yako responded through a mouthful of scone. Sebastian cringed at her lack of manners, but didn't say anything, because she was a technically still a guest. "Servants, huh? This Earl seems really important."

As she said this, four heads appeared from around the corner, several sets of eyes peering at her in awe. She glanced up from her meal, staring back over at them. They vanished around the corner again.

Sebastian let out a sigh. "You can come out," he invited the other servants. "I have other tasks to perform, and I have to find a solution to this before Lady Elizabeth returns. If you could, please keep the guest company."

Mey Rin, Finny, Bard, and Tanaka crept into the dining room as Sebastian exited it, bowing to a flustered Yako as he went.

"I'm Finny," the young gardener immediately introduced himself, taking a seat beside Yako. "You time traveled, huh? We've had a lot of weird things happen here, but I've never heard of that!"

"Me either," she assured him with a sigh. "I'm just as confused as you are."

"I think it's kind of creepy," Bard admitted, scratching the back of his head. "No offense."

Yako was so used to severe insults that she didn't even know why he bothered to add 'no offense' to the end of that. "It's fine. I feel the same way." She took another bite before adding, "I know one of you probably has to keep an eye on me, but you don't all have to abandon your work for my sake."

"Actually…" Mey Rin began slowly, twiddling her fingers, "We wanted to ask you a few questions."

"What's the future like?" Finny blurted out excitedly, unable to hold it in any longer. He leaned across the table, his eyes flashing eagerly. "Do people still eat? Can dogs fly? Do machines make everything for you?"

"Yes, no, and yes," she answered quickly.

Their eyes widened in disbelief. "They make everything?" Finny repeated. "More than just cloth and iron?"

"It's kind of sad sometime. We rely a lot on machines in the future. Plus, carriages run on batteries and don't need horses."

"I don't know what batteries are," Mey Rin admitted, "but that sounds really-"

"-Goddamned scary!" Bard finished.

"They run on gas, too," she continued, having fun watching their expressions change.

"What do you do for a living, if the machines do everything?" Finny pressed on.

"I'm a detective," she responded, "and a high school student."

"A detective?" Mey Rin cried in astonishment. "Why, the young master has a similar job as well!"

"Not exactly," Bard interrupted, "but he does have to solve some cases for the Queen now and then."

"Queen Victoria?" Yako repeated, her eyes widening. "I read about her in history!"

Mey Rin's face lit up. "So she knows who she is!"

Yako had to admit, it was interesting to talk to people from a different time period, and them seemed normal enough. Besides, the food was excellent. And the butler was hot. Not that she'd admit it. But her nerves began to calm, and a relaxing feeling settled over her. Soon enough, she was talking freely to the servants about nothing inparticular.

A few minutes later, Sebastian reappeared. "I've called for Nina Hopkins. She'll be here soon to find something for the young lady to wear."

"I'm going to get clothes?" Yako cried out. "Victorian clothing?"

Sebastian smiled, chuckling softly. "Well, we can't exactly allow you to run around in that all day, can we?"

Bard smirked. "I was going to ask, what the hell is that?"

Yako looked down at her clothing, comparing it to Mey Rin's. There was a lot she was going to have to explain.

---

Ciel eventually managed to fall back asleep, but was awoken by the sound of his window being thrown open. A horrifying man with blonde and purple hair, wide, bright green eyes, and a bright blue suit crawled in through the window, dragging a man with a scary looking grimace and an earring in his lip behind him. Ciel gathered the sheets up around him, staring in horror as the two monsters made their way into his room.

"Get out, you brutes!" he cried out helplessly, watching them in horror. "What do you think you're doing, barging in through the window?"

Neuro dusted off his red gloves, raising his strange face to the young Earl. "Why, do you see this, Slave Number Two? It seems Slave Number One has a male acquaintance she hadn't told us about."

"What the hell is he doing in her bed?" Godai shouted, though he seemed to have made an answer for himself already.

"I suppose we'll have to ask Yako," Neuro responded to Godai. Addressing Ciel, he added, "Would you know where she is?"

"I don't know who she is!" Ciel cried out defensively, edging away.

Neuro placed on his innocent, pouting face. "Isn't that just terrible, Servant Number Two? It seems that this young boy has used Yako, and is now cutting off all ties with her! How ungentlemanly of you!"

Godai let out a sharp laugh. "Like you're one to talk. You're the one that sets her on fire every other day, and chains her from the ceiling for hours on end-"

Ciel stared at them in horror, suddenly grasping the subject of the conversation. "Who do you think I am?" he demanded angrily, offended by their perverse assumptions. "You shouldn't talk about such things so openly!"

Godai raised one of his eyebrows; his dark eyes looked Ciel up and down. "An eye patch?" he questioned. "What's up with that? Why don't you just get a glass eye?"

"Shh! He may be poor," Neuro hushed Godai, "which is why Yako must have paid him to spend the night with her."

"I am not a prostitute!" Ciel cried out defensively.

Even Neuro couldn't help but snicker at the way he said it.

"Might we ask you your name?" Neuro asked, casually striding across the room, studying it for trances of his missing slave.

"I'm the Earl, Ciel Phantomhive, and I will make sure you regret speaking to me in such as casual manner once I return to my mansion!"

"What the hell is this guy smoking?" Godai spat.

"This is quite interesting," Neuro said, mostly to himself, as he continued to circle the room. "It seems as though this young boy is familiar with our time period."

"How did you get that?" Godai demanded.

"Isn't it obvious, from his dress, his questions, and the way he speaks?" Neuro demanded. "Even for a slave, you should be wiser than this. I may have to demote you."

"How can I be demoted any further?"

"What do you mean, different time period?" Ciel demanded. "The year is 1889!"

Godai backed away. "What the hell is he going on about?" He stared at Neuro expectantly. "Is this one of your tricks?"

"It seems that Yako truly is not here, and a boy from the past is in his place," Neuro observed calmly. He stood in silence for a moment before a devious smile spread across his face. He walked across the room, grabbing Ciel by the wrist, and dragged him out from the bed.

"I suppose you will have to do," he concluded. "For the time being, you are Yako Katsuragi, high school detective!"

Ciel struggled to free his wrist from his grip. "Don't touch me so easily!" he cried, although his efforts were in vain.

"Now, Neuro finished, "Let us go!"