His Master, Concerned

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji. I just use the characters to let my inner submissive play around for a bit.

Warnings: hints of yaoi, mild BDSM, UN-BETA'd (sorry if sux)

Pairings: one-sided Sebby/Ciel

Summary: Ciel finally discovers what is bothering Sebastian, and it isn't what he was expecting.

A/N: This part is written once again from Ciel's POV, though the next chapter will *definitely* have Sebby's POV. lawlz

It had been a slight infraction. Nothing but the slight tilting of liquid betrayed a slip in Sebastian's perfect mannerisms. Ciel stared at the teacup placed before him, his one eye narrowed in concern and confusion. He would have thought that he had hallucinated the whole thing, but that was the third time in that week that Sebastian had made a mistake, no matter how insignificant it was. In the past, Sebastian had always placed Ciel's tea in front of him in a perfectly balanced position where the liquid sat steaming and undisturbed. However, it was moving ever so slightly in front of him, and when Ciel looked up at his butler, he saw that Sebastian had turned and doing something useless on the serving cart.

"What are my plans for today?" Ciel asked, staring at Sebastian's back.

Without facing him (as he usually would), his butler replied, "You have a meeting with Walter Emerson this afternoon at three. That is all."

"He's very important. You won't embarrass me, will you?" Ciel asked, hoping to strike a nerve.

Sebastian turned towards him slightly without a hint of irritation, but he wasn't smiling either. "Of course not, bocchan. Now please excuse me. I still have many preparations to make."

Ciel watched as he left and then turned back to his tea once the door had closed. The movement in the liquid had stopped, and Ciel stared at his reflection for a while. He pulled up his eye patch and studied the contract embedded in his right eye. He didn't know what was going on exactly, but he had a feeling that something wasn't right with Sebastian. The demon's hold over him wasn't weakening (in fact, it felt like it was getting stronger), but Sebastian didn't look very well. Granted, Ciel knew nothing about the health of demons or if it were even possible for them to get sick, but Sebastian was seemed paler than usual, and yet he still carried out all the duties expected of him as a servant of a Phantomhive.

"What are you hiding from me, Sebastian?" Ciel murmured, covering his eye once more. Sebastian was on the verge of breaking his promise, and it was pissing Ciel off, and even worse, making him worry.

That afternoon had gone swiftly and perfectly, as expected, however, as soon as their guest had left, Ciel caught the slight swoon in Sebastian's step just as he was leaving his study. Ciel got up without thinking and rushed over to Sebastian, who was leaning against the wall with one hand on the door knob.

"What's wrong? Sebastian…. Sebastian!" He reached up to grab Sebastian's arm, but Sebastian quickly wrenched it free and with more force than necessary. Ciel stumbled back, offended and oddly hurt. Sebastian had never blatantly rejected him before. And when Sebastian looked at him, he must have realized the same thing because he quickly bent down on one knee, a hand over his chest and his head bent low.

"Bocchan… my sincerest apol – "

"Save it!" Ciel shouted, anger and pain flaring through him. His body began trembling, and he fisted his hands. "If you don't want me then get out!"

Sebastian looked up at him, his red eyes reflecting pain. "Bocchan…."

Ciel turned away. He couldn't stand it. "OUT!" he cried. A second passed and then he heard the door open and close through the pounding in his ears. He crumbled to the floor, his knees having given out. What he was feeling was probably more of shock than hurt, although they were pretty equal. Ciel had thought that they had settled everything a month ago. He had ordered Sebastian not to avoid him, and to be faithful to him until the end. Sebastian had agreed, but what did it amount to now? Nothing. Sebastian couldn't even stand the touch of him. Ciel was probably so despicable that even a demon didn't want him.

Liar. That was the only word that kept running through Ciel's mind.

That night, Ciel remained in his study. The lights were off and he was sitting in his chair, staring at the door and waiting for someone, though he knew he'd be disappointed. He had felt hungry several hours ago, around dinner time, but the pain had dulled to nothing. In the past, no matter what feud he and Sebastian had had, Sebastian would come for him and carry him to the dining room if he had to, or simply bring his meals up. This time, no one had called him. No even Finny or Bard or -- .

"Ciel-sama!"

Ciel heard the cry just as Finny, Bard, Tanaka and Maylene crashed through his office door. He nearly jumped in his seat, the panic on his servants' faces making him worry.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"We can't find Sebastian-san anywhere!" Finny cried. He held a plate in his hands that consisted of something burnt and what looked like a boulder. "We tried to make dinner for you but we couldn't!"

But Ciel wasn't paying attention to what the blonde was saying. He stood up from his chair. "What do you mean you can't find Sebastian?! Explain!"

"B-b-bocchan!" Maylene said, tearing profusely behind her glasses. "We searched for him at all the places he could be! But he's always making bocchan's dinner at 4:30 and then we didn't see him and then we looked for him and then we tried making Ciel-sama's but it turned out like thaaaaaaat!" And she started crying harder but Ciel couldn't find it in himself to feel annoyed. He was too busy thinking about where Sebastian could be. Had he suddenly left him? No, that was ridiculous, yet he still had the irrational fear that Sebastian had ended the contract and abandoned him….

He ran out of the office and searched for the closest mirror he could find. He settled for a window lining the hallways and lifted his eye patch. The seal was still very much there, yet it didn't resonate like it usually did. Ciel glared at his reflection, mustering up the courage to do what Sebastian had told him to do when he wanted to call on him.

"Sebastian," he said, picturing the demon in his mind's eye. "Come, Sebastian!" He waited for all of two seconds but nothing happened. Cursing, he continued to run down the hallway and out of his mansion. If Sebastian wasn't going to come to him, then he was going to search him out and make him pay. He was going to make Sebastian do the most humiliating of things and then some. And then he'd teach him what it felt like to be fettered to a Phantomhive. Ciel would be a crueler master if that's what it took to train Sebastian completely.

He had Tanaka prepare a carriage for him and they rode out to London. Ciel didn't know what compelled him to start his search there, but he had a feeling that Sebastian was hiding somewhere in one of the city's hidden pathways or dungeons. He considered visiting the Undertaker, but then he saw a flash of white disappear behind a corner. He jumped out of the carriage without telling Tanaka anything and followed the obvious lead

Ciel ran through the alleyways without thinking about where he was going, but only following the flash of white that preceded him. Finally, out of breath, he stopped in front of a warehouse, the door of which was left ajar for him. He slowly entered it and saw that it was naught but a spacious room with a stair case leading to a lower level. He went down the stairway and appeared in a dimly lit brothel.

Or what looked like a brothel. There were several people lounging in plush sofas all around the room, naked or half-naked, sinfully wrapped around each other. One thing Ciel noticed was that almost everyone in the room had glowing, purple eyes. He could feel the aura that Sebastian sometimes gave off in the midst of slaughter and realized that most of the beings there were demons, and then the ones wrapped in theirs arms, offering themselves up willingly, were their humans.

"Hello, Ciel-kun."

Ciel looked up with one wide eye to see a woman with silver hair, someone who looked similar to a woman he'd met once before but couldn't possibly be. Ciel's eye narrowed, though he felt beyond terrified and intimidated. The woman had glowing purple eyes, much like Sebastian. Ciel then realized that she wasn't a woman at all.

"What is this place?" he said, his voice trembling slightly. "Where is Sebastian?"

She giggled. "My my, you are quite adorable." She stepped closer and bent towards him, her heaving breast at his eye level. "Having a contract with another demon means I can't take your soul, but I would very much settle for everything else." She eyed him suggestively. "I have a soft spot for boys like you, you know. Forget about Sebastian and come with me instead."

"Where is Sebastian?" he repeated, trying not to let this woman get to him. "Let me see him!"

"Alright, then. Follow me." She smirked and led him further into the room, bypassing all the demons and their meals sprawled out on the furniture and floors. Ciel could feel the eyes following him, devouring him, and he walked closer to the woman who had the same intentions as they did, yet someone whom he trusted just slightly more (she hadn't touched him, after all). She led him through a door and down a hallway filled with more doors on either side. Ciel could hear moans and screams and other obscene sounds a boy like him shouldn't be hearing. They turned around a corner and walked down another staircase. This led to a single dungeon. And against the wall, chained from neck to feet, was Sebastian.

But before Ciel could call him, his guide wrapped a hand around his mouth and made him watch from the shadows. In front of Sebastian was a couple, a male and a female. The female was scantily dressed in leather and whipping the male, human, across his back as he kneeled on the floor. He was naked, and with every strike, he arched so much that Ciel could see that was aroused to the point of dripping between his thighs. Something was shoved in his ass and sticking out, like a plug, and Ciel couldn't help but feel oddly curious yet horrified about the whole situation.

And when he looked at Sebastian, his heart stopped at the sheer intensity of hunger on his face. Sebastian's clothes were tattered, and he was bleeding from what looked like whippings with a metal tail. He was panting, his chest rising and falling rapidly as if he had run across the country. There was a wild look in his glowing eyes, something Ciel had thought he'd seen before, like when he was getting out of the bath or when Sebastian dressed him.

"You see, Sebastian is nothing but a demon, Ciel-kun," his guide was whispering to him. He could hear her soft voice even through the tortured man's screams. "He craves human souls and flesh. He hasn't been fed in a long while. How much longer do you think he'll last?"

"He can do whatever he wants," Ciel said once she'd removed her hand. He was shaking, a suddenly feeling of jealousy and bitterness creeping up his chest. "I never told him he couldn't feed."

"Ahh, what a naïve child. You are quite ignorant of your Sebastian's needs. Even a master has a duty to his servants."

"Won't you have a taste now?" the other demon was asking Sebastian. She had stopped and was now directly in front of Sebastian. Ciel couldn't see his face anymore. "He's ready, can't you see?"

There was a brief pause in which Ciel held his breath, and the room was silent except for the soft whimpering of Ciel's older look-alike. The chains rattled as Sebastian shifted, a single word leaving his lips.

"No."

A loud smack echoed off the walls. Ciel was still shocked by the entire situation to reprimand Sebastian's tormentor for laying a hand on him. A part of him was glad, yet a part of him didn't want Sebastian to suffer. It was probably too much of him to wish for Sebastian to stop feeding. Sebastian was a carnal demon. His baser instinct was to feed on flesh and souls. It would be like asking Ciel to give up his pursuit of vengeance.

"Why do you refuse? Do you think you are better than us, Sebastian? Just because you have a name and leash given to you by a human child?"

"I already told you, I only want my bocchan." Sebastian's words made Ciel shiver. He'd never heard Sebastian refer to him like that before, with so much desire and possession. "Only him."

She laughed. "He doesn't want you. Not in the way that you want him. But this human," she stepped back and stood next the human kneeling on the ground, and Ciel paid more attention to his looks. He had pale skin, a slender build, and blue-tinted hair. His eyes widened. From behind, he looked like a taller, broader version of himself. This was the person they were tempting Sebastian with? But why? Ciel still didn't understand.

"He'll let you fuck him however you like, and you can eat his soul if you so desire." She touched the man's hair down to his shoulder where he shivered under her touch. "It'll be easy to pretend that he's your master. He'll even call you 'Sebastian'. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Ciel could see the war in Sebastian's eyes as they focused on the man in front of him, and after what felt like centuries, they finally closed and his lips curled into a small smirk.

"I have already declined your offer. Please release me. It is about time for my bocchan to be put to bed."

She laughed. "Oh, but he's already here."

Cliffie? I know. Um, this chapter was inspired by episode 20/21? I can't remember. For those of you how haven't seen the anime, I apologize if I spoiled the episode's contents. hmm, well, I really couldn't resist chaining Sebby up and torturing him. Are the characters still in character? hope so.

Next chapter will be a hoot! stick around... or if you hated it, you can ditch me. waaahz! Please feel free to comment!