A/N: Greetings to you all! Obviously, here is the next assessment to this story, and I do hope that you will all enjoy it! Personally, I find this chapter my most 'active' one yet (if you all understand what that may mean).

This is IMPORTANT! READ THIS: I don't believe that I mentioned it in my previous author notes, but I will be changing the rating from 'T' to 'M' on this once I post the next chapter. Just letting you know that incase you haven't already put this on alert and plan on searching for it in the future...

I also send thanks to all of my reviewers. At the bottom of this page in my ending author note, I have made a list of all of those who reviewed in the past chapters. Thank you so much! I smile whenever I read them.

Disclaimer: Kuroshitsuji and all of its characters belong to their creator. I only claim the plot that will develop for the purposes of this fanfiction...


Chapter 2: Disgraceful Reflections

The girl... the girl... the girl...

That reoccurring thought echoed repeatedly throughout my mind. It was pitiful; really, it was. To think that a mere human girl, of all things, set me off this much irked me. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have been another passerby; however, she had eyed Ciel up and down. She was definitely peculiar; she had approached us without any sign of hesitation and also had been bold enough to flirt immediatelywith the boy in front of me.

For that, I despised her.

She was a threat.

A bloody threat!

"Ow, Sebastian, that's too rough," a familiar voice intercepted.

Ciel ineptly tried to reach behind him to keep me from scrubbing his back vigorously as I had been. I did not mean to, but the very thought of the annoying girl made something within me flare angrily.

"Forgive me, Ciel. My mind was elsewhere. I'm sorry if I have hurt you."

"No, it's fine," the master admitted. His hand reclined back into the sudsy, soap bubbles around him. "Continue, please. The water is starting to get cold."

"Well, suppose that we would have had something to block us from the rain...you wouldn't be freezing in the bath now, would you?"

Ciel did not respond to that, for it was the truth.

By the time Ciel and I had reached home, we were soaked down to our undergarments. I could have cared less; I'd quickly made way to my room and grabbed a spare change of clothes. My hair had been (and still was) dripping wet; however, I would take care of myself later. I had told Ciel to wait in the foyer so that he wouldn't track puddles around the cottage.

Once the shivering teen had been wrapped in a towel, I'd led him to the master bathroom and filled the tub with warm water. Ciel had sighed delightfully when he'd made contact with the heated liquid. While readying a washcloth, I watched how the boy's tense body uncoiled instantaneously. His upper back muscles had rippled when he rolled his shoulder blades around to get comfortable in the bath. He'd sighed, momentarily relieved of the cold.

Difficult... That had been the word to describe the ongoing fight against myself. This had always been where my sense of control seemed to slip loose. How could Ciel modestly sit there in the tub—looking as tempting as he did—without realizing what he was doing to me? This constant emotion of want was unnerving and corrupted my thinking process. It left me absolutely helpless in the face of my desires.

Just then, having caught me staring as he had earlier on, his head lolled back on the the rim of the tub so that he was glancing at my person upside-down. The master's delicate, moist neck was in perfect view, exposed, and I tried to focus instead on what the boy had asked: to begin washing him.

So I had. Currently, after having finished giving Ciel a full body scrub (which as just as challenging as anything else), I replaced the washcloth I had in my hand with tiny, brass bucket and began rinsing the boy with lukewarm water.

He was completely bare beneath me. There were so many things I could have been doing other than just cleansing the boy. But these thoughts, if pondered on for a lengthy amount of time, would eventually turn into actions. Not that I would mind; yet, for the best, I decided to keep a conversation going to distract me from any impulsive notions.

"Ciel, I don't understand why we couldn't have taken a carriage to begin with," I said, throwing the first, shapely thought I could process out into play.

"You know I don't like them," he whispered.

The master had developed a minor case of claustrophobia, in which tightly enclosed spaces frightened him. In one of his false memories—he'd told me—he'd been kidnapped and trapped in a cellar until I'd supposedly rescued him. Realistically, this false memory had been based immediately after his parents had been murdered, when he'd called upon me that fateful day so that I could come to serve him.

He did not know that, though. He did not know that I wasn't human. Another false memory had sincerely made him believe that I had always been a butler of his family household. Ciel had far too many false memories of his past, but if it kept him from the harrowing truth... it could be dealt with.

"Well," I started, not meaning to make the master feel uncomfortable, "not only would we not have gotten wet, but it would have saved us time as well," said I. "And we wouldn't have run into that girl," I muttered more over to myself.

"Why?" Ciel asked, already over his mini-episode. He'd obviously heard what I'd said. "There wasn't a thing wrong with her."

"Excuse me? Master, please forgive me for saying this: She seemed unusual."

"What do you mean? She was lost," Ciel explained with defense.

"It could have been a hoax to get our attention. She seemed to know where she was going," I pointed out.

"She was harmless."

"She came to us without even thinking twice about it. We could have killed her."

"Well, I could have," I chuckled mentally.

"She needed help. I believe that I would have done the same," Ciel shot back with a little more volume amplifying his voice.

Without giving any warning, I took a full bucket of water and spilled its contents over Ciel's head. A good amount of it must have gotten in his mouth because he spat some out furiously. While he was occupied with that, I drained the tub and completely finished rinsing the rest of his body.

"Sebastian!" He glared at me with both of his royal, sapphire eyes. Something indignant flickered within them. "What was that for?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about," I coaxed sarcastically.

So much for starting a conversation...

I took one of the towels I'd lain out, and covered Ciel's nude body with it. It would have been a waste of a warm bath had I left him here alone after what he'd said.

"How can he defend that girl," I thought. And the answer to that was because he was a human, an ignorant human who was blind to my feelings toward him.

Ciel turned from me. I understood that he was upset, and that he did not want to be touched. He dried his body rather hastily, and I held out the clothes I'd prepared for him. He took them with out a word, also hastily placing them upon his body. At one point, I caught him fumbling with the buttons of his pajama shirt. He sighed in frustration but would not ask for my assistance.

After two full minutes, I took it upon myself to help him out regardless of his stubborn attitude.

"You know what I think this is about?" He started, still tremendously displeased with me, "I think you're just jealous."

I froze on the spot, leaving the top button of his shirt undone. My head lifted up slowly so that my eyes landed on his in a meticulous manner.

"You see! That's what it is—you're jealous because you fancied her," Ciel stated triumphantly.

Oh, how wrong he was...

All within a second, I towered over the boy, slammed the palm of my hand against the wall behind Ciel, and viciously stepped forward. I was almost certain that my eyes were glowing with rage. How could this boy be so blind? How could he assume that I had eyes for someone other than him?

"S-Sebastian?" Ciel's voice faltered from an accusing tone to a fear filled one.

"Good, I intimidated him," was one of my first thoughts.

He was terrified; that much was evident by the way he'd cringed away from me. There was so much more that I wish I could make the boy feel within that instant. I had to admit (as shameful and terrible as it was) that I wanted to hurt Ciel for the words he'd spoken, for the assumption he'd just made. But he had a pure mind when it came to such matters. He did not understand what was going on behind the scenes...

Perhaps it was time to show him.

My head dipped down to meet the boy's surprised face. My lips fell against his before he had the chance to register what was happening. I had him cornered, like predator and prey; he was absolutely defenseless. He had no where to go, no where to turn and escape from me. I savored the moment.

Even though, Ciel was at the ripe age of adolescence, his lips still held the endearing taste of a sweet, childish innocence. He fell back against the wall limply while the courtship continued. Slyly, my tongue slipped agilely passed his lips; it sought more, craved more, needed more of the boy. I hungrily leaned into his smaller frame, forcefully pushing Ciel further into the wall.

He moaned silently in response; however, other than that, there seemed to be no other reaction coming forth from him. It was out of complete shock, I was sure, that the young lad remained motionless. He did not resist me, nor did he accept.

This wasn't what I wanted...

I pulled away from him, disappointed. I'd wanted him to reflect some of the intense emotions I felt in his own actions. It was necessary for there to be some sort of counteraction that I could feed off of so that I could use it to my advantage. Instead, he seemed temporarily empty and lifeless... no words spilled from his lips, no movement riled from him. With our persons detached from each other, the boy only dully began to slide sluggishly down the wall supporting him, his eyes fixed on some distant space that did not exist in this realm.

Instinctively, my hand reached for the young master, for it was always and foremost, the most important task at hand to protect the boy from harm, whether it be physical or mental. At the moment, I had failed that task. I did not mean to startle the boy as much as I had. It was not in his normal character to remain passive in such a situation, which was why I had taken it upon myself to take action now. That, and the anger I possessed—which had come to life in spite of his misunderstanding—had fueled me. However, seeing that I was undeniably the cause of this effect, watching the scene before me felt almost unbearable.

"Master?" I questioned solemnly while I leaned in to advance toward the teen to lift him up.

In contrast to my effort to comfort the boy, the response remained as before; the eerie silence lingered in the room, making me worry more than I would have thought possible. It was once my fingertips brushed ever so slightly against his left cheek that, suddenly, something animate stirred within him. His azure eyes lit in a furious rage upon me, his muscles relaxing then tensing instantaneously. I saw it coming; his right arm flexed quicker than his left—

Slap!

Although, it'd only stung the second that the impact had taken place, there was a continuous, burning sensation on the area of which Ciel's hand had made contact with my own flesh cheek. Slowly, I turned my attention back toward him, my eyes dancing wickedly upon the sight before me: the young master's face had become flushed from being pale, and a definite spark of confusion invaded his now wide, sapphire eyes.

He mumbled something incoherent, and then with an outburst of new found energy yelled, "Get out!" with his voice pitching recklessly.

"You'll catch a cold if your hair is still wet like that," I answered curtly; although, it did not match how I felt.

There was the urge to grin devilishly upon the young lord; although, I fought it. This was just the kind of reaction I'd been desperately wishing for, other than the one where he would have openly taken me. However, I definitely knew that that would not have been the case. Things would be a little uneasy from here on in, but at least the first step had finally been taken.

I reached for another one of the dry towels off of the bed post, only to have it ripped violently from my grip.

"I can do it myself! Get OUT!" he howled viciously, "Get out NOW!"

"As you wish, my lord."

I had meant to close the door behind me, only to find that Ciel had beaten me to that task as well, and he slammed the door abruptly in a rather frenzied manner. The old frame of the door shook repressively until the tremors died out on their own accord. I listened as the hard pattering of feet also stomped off and fell into what I assumed was the bathroom of the master bedroom. The was a second, violent slamming of another door that resounded even out here in the hallway.

Then, silence dominated sound once more.

Finally clear of the master's view, the devious smirk that I'd been retaining unleashed itself upon entirely my lips. In fact, it remained there even as I found my own room in the two-story cottage. There, I'd grabbed a towel for myself. My thick, dark hair was still damp. I dried it out, trying to engross myself with the task, hoping that I wouldn't lose my temperament and run in after Ciel. Yet, I still felt the smirk tugging at my lips.

"Such a tasteful kiss," I thought endearingly.

Of course, I felt somewhat guilty for what I'd done but did not regret it. I would never want to remove that moment of time from my mind. It was wonderful, miraculous, stunning...

I glanced up, only to catch my reflection staring back at me in the mirror. The me in the mirror was smiling of need, of want, of long, broken patience. Since when had I become such a demon that needed anything other than souls from this material world? Since when?

Disgusted, I placed a hand upon my eyes to shield them from examining the strange, perplexed demon butler in the reflection across from me. It was practically disgraceful to see how far I'd be willing to fall for my precious master—for a still mortal being.

Hopefully, that would change...soon.


A/N: So, it would mean the world to me if you'd all be kind enough to leave me a little review to let me in on your thoughts. It doesn't have to be long, but I do ask that you try to leave something. You may ask questions (I take a liking to those reviews), or you may simply state what you thought of this.

Really, it means a lot.

Oh, I also send thanks to all my previous reviewers. These are the wonderful people that took the time to leave me something special for the first two updates: PKS, arienrhod, forit911, Wasabi-sama, VivaLaQueen, The Phantom Devil, Kim, riji, Hwoarang's Wife, wuzzgoinon, Figment of an Imagination, Else, Sleeping Moon, Futaba Hotaru, Diana, uno, Fallen Angel Of The Forgotten, NekoKaigara, BlancEspirit, iPAiNTED, and WindAlias.

Thanks for reading...

~Lybe