That Maid; Exceptional

Chapter Four

Note: I have decided that the story will follow the manga. It would take me forever to start from the beginning, so I think I will go off of chapter 24 in the manga. (I don't like prince soma so you won't see much of him)

Kthx!

4/13/14 Revision notes: I'm sorry for all the mistakes in these chapters. I am working moderately hard at fixing them. Reading them again makes me want to kick my own ass for all the mistakes i made. Btw, I did add a little here and there. I mostly added more of Raika's thoughts, burned some cringe worthy dialogue with fire, and added a flashback or two. Doesn't change the story at all if you don't feel like going back and rereading. I know I wouldnt.

Raika could feel the presence of another in her room as soon as they stepped past the threshold. In a flash she grabbed the intruder's arm, preparing the break it off. They were quick as well and push her down with their other hand. She instantly smelled the musk of a male, Sebastian. She looked into his crimson eyes.

"I did not mean to startle you." He whispered huskily, red eyes glowing.

"It is highly inappropriate to be visiting a lady's room so early in the morning." She chided him in a teasing manner. "People might make assumptions." He smirked down at her.

"It is time to get up; the master will be up soon." He changes the subject. Before he leaves, he sets a small metal object on her nightstand. "It's my spare; I noticed you did not carry one." He explained as he left the room. She looked at what he set down. A pocket watch?

She stands and changes into a new uniform that was clean and pressed. The demon opens her closet cabinet and pulls out her black book. She used a necklace to play as a book mark. She opened to the page that was marked and took out the necklace.

She could feel a hum from the small locket. With a smile, She placed the necklace in her pocket and the book back to its spot. The pink haired demon left her room to start her first real day as a Phantomhive servant.

Raika could tell that Sebastian just woke up the other servants by the sounds of movement from each of the bedrooms. The sound of a groan drew the demonesses attention. She looked to her left and saw May-Rin drag herself out of her room.

"Good morning." Raika greeted her. The bespectacled maid jumped at the greeting.

"Ah! Good morning." She responded to the demon, clearly startled. The two of them walked up the stairs to the first level. May-Rin turned to go to get her cleaning supplies and Raika continued to the kitchen. She gathered some scones and prepared some Earl Gray tea. Placing the meal on a cart, the maid made her way to her mistress's room.

The room was dark when she opened the door. Stopping the cart next to the sleeping girl, the maid leaned down.

"Mistress." Raika whispered to the small girl. Stirring and looking around, she seemed a little confused as to where she was. It only took a second longer for her to realize where she is. Raika moved quickly and opened the curtains, letting the sun into the room.

"Breakfast this morning is Earl Gray tea and scones." Raika announced as she serves the small girl her breakfast. She silently waited for the little girl to finish her breakfast.

"Can we play in the garden today?" Sheno asks as her maid removes her nightgown and places her in a blue dress. The demon gestured for the small girl to sit in front of a mirror and finished by braiding her hair.

"I apologize Little Mistress. You have a full day of lessons. There may be a little time to play during lunch." Raika places a bow matching the dress at the top of the braid. The little girl groaned but agreed to meet with her teachers. The demon escorted her mistress to the study and gathered her materials for her. The two reviewed the history that she was taught last time she met with her teacher.

Sebastian entered the room escorting an elderly lady. He placed her bag next to the table that Sheno was sitting at.

"Raika, Ciel would like you to accompany him to London." Sebastian told her. He also explained that they would be gone for a bit.

"Will my mistress be accompanying us?" the demoness asks, looking down at her mistress.

"Yes, Ciel would like for her to join us in a few days. Is that satisfactory?" He responds. The pink haired demon looked down. She felt strange. Conflicted? But the master of the house required her assistance.

"Mistress, I need to accompany Ciel to London. In a few days, a servant will take you to stay with us. Is that okay?" She explains to her mistress. The small girl understands and nods. The maid pats Sheno on her head.

"Would you do something for your maid?" Raika asks formally, kneeling down in front of her of her mistress. Sheno, seeing her maid's serious demeanor noded in determination. Raika pulled her necklace from the pocket in her uniform apron and put it around the small girl's neck.

"Hold onto this for me. It is very important to me." She explains to the dark haired girl.

"I will never take it off." The small girl smiles as she looks at the necklace. It was a circular shape and and held a detailed metal exterior. Inside is a replica of the demon mark that her older brother shared with Raika. Since her contract is with Falkir, she cannot expect to fully protect Sheno without a seal.

"Okay, I would like you to tell me everything that you learn during my absence. And remember, if it is an emergency, call me. I will be there." Raika bid the small girl goodbye and left the room with Sebastian.

He escorted her outside. Finny, Bard, and May-Rin bid their master goodbye.

"While I am gone, I leave the house in your hands." Ciel announces before sitting down inside of the carriage.

They responded with a quick "Yes, My Lord!" and salute in a serious manner.

"Please take good care of my Mistress for the next few days." Raika bows to the other servants.

"Leave it to us!" Bard smiled at her. The other two quickly agreed. With Sebastian's help, she takes her seat directly across from Ciel in the carriage.

The ride went quietly. Ciel rarely spoke to her. He appeared to be off in his own world most of the time. He also told her a little of what they were going to London for, but it was not enough for her to come to a conclusion as to the main goal of their visit. Sebastian was quiet but kept glancing at her throughout the trip. The small carriage stopped besides a large building. The Phantomhive butler opened the door and helped both passengers out.

"Sebastian, put the carriage somewhere a little more discrete and catch up when you are done. Miss Raika, follow me." Ciel ordered, not even bothering to look back at the two servants. The city was large and there were many well maintained buildingings in this area of London. Ciel seemed to know his way to their destination. They stopped in a small alleyway across the street from a beautiful fenced in building. It was quite tall and impressive for something built by humans.

"We need to get to the third floor of that building unnoticed." Ciel explained as he gestured to the beautiful building.

"Yes Earl." She responded as she stared at the window and looked for people that could possibly see them.

"I think a window would be our best route." Sebastian's voice came from behind them. Neither the demoness or the young Phantomhive were startled by his sudden appearance.

"I will get the window. Can you take your master?" she asked the demon.

"I wouldn't be much of a butler if I couldn't." he smiled at her. She looked away quickly when the two made eye contact.

"Well I don't have all day so let's get this over with." Ciel muttered. Raika nodded and ran across the street quickly. She quickly made sure that no people were around before jumping up to the third floor without breaking stride. To her luck, she did not have to force the window open. The demon slipped inside easily and looked around. There were many books and files all over the place. Sebastian quickly followed her into the window and set Ciel down.

"Make the copies quick." Ciel instructed as he found a large book and handed it to Sebastian.

"We have a guest." Raika pointed at the man entering the room. He noticed Ciel and recognized him immediately and started yelling at him saying something about the commissioner being furious with him if he knew Ciel broke in here and was making copies of some of the confidential files.

"How does it look Sebastian?" Ciel calls over to him. Raika looks over her shoulder as the demon looks over the list he had been copying.

"Of the children we've been asked to investigate, there appears to have been no increase in corpses." He explained sending her a look. She was curious. Corpses? She thought. Ciel asked to borrow the photos. The man whom she learned was named Aberline yelled at the small boy in mild frustration. She could tell that it would not be good if his boss found out about this.

"If you get caught, say that I took them." Ciel answers in a nonchalant manner as he hands a stack of photos to Raika. She quickly places them into her pocket.

"I'll still be scolded!" he cries out in frustration.

"Thank you for today." He waves the man off. She heard Ciel say his version of a goodbye and saw Sebastian give the other man a bow.

"Thank you Mr. Aberline. Sorry for any future inconvenience our meddling causes." Raika smiled and quickly bows as well and follows the two out of the room. The man blushed at the young made. Cute, he thought to himself.

Getting out was so much less conspicuous than getting in. The carriage was waiting for them a block down the street. The two discussed the case that Ciel was assigned as they head back to the carriage. Raika did not care too much for the details.

"Raika, children have been disappearing. Queen Victoria has asked me to find the cause of their disappearance and return them to their families. We believe that it has something to do with a circus near town. She wants the the Phantomhive household to investigate." Ciel explains.

"I understand" She answers as she sat down. I have never been to a circus before. Only seen it in pictures. I wonder what it's like to see up close…

"Young master? If this deals with the underworld, will we be visiting his place once again?" Sebastian asks as Ciel stares at a letter he was holding. It must be how the queen assigns tasks she observes the queen's seal in wax on the letter.

Why would anyone desire to take a child? They are not very useful. Intelligence is not a quality that comes naturally to many either. She continues thinking about when she first started working for Falkir.

He was quite mean to her when she first started. He would purposely cause trouble for her at the mansion or in town. He would yell at drunks and challenging them to fights because they both know she would intervene. She could remember he would do that to get a raise out of her. She had gotten better since then as well as her master. The pink-haired demon was strong, but she was considered fairly weak in comparison to other demons.

What a brat. She thinks as she remembered what Falkir was like when he was a child. Her eyes softened. She didn't hate him; he was actually one of her favorite contracts. It took several years for him to warm up to the demon. He was mean with small moments of kindness. She thought back to her old uniform. That was the first nice thing he did for her. After a year, it seemed like she was family to him. He was very informal with her. A small part of her wished she didn't have to take his soul. But that part was very small.

The carriage jolted to a stop. Raika looked out the window to see a rundown shop. A gothic sign with a giant skull on top read: Undertaker. The two men stepped out of the carriage. Ciel proceeded to go inside as Sebastian helps Raika out. She noticed as they were heading to the door, he was still holding her hand. Her face took on some color as she looked up at him. He flashed a cute smile.

"We should not keep Master Phantomhive waiting." She looks toward the entrance of the smell of the dead permitted the air.

"Of course." He answers and holds the door open for her. If she wasn't mistaken, was there a little disappointment in his voice when he let go of her hand?

"Are you here, Undertaker?" Ciel asks, ignoring the stench. To much of Raika's amusement, she saw a man in gray with long white hair bowling with a skull and mini grave stones.

"Welcome Earl. Did you want to get into one of my special coffins?" the man smiles creepily. Something about him seemed inhuman.

"Have a seat, I made a cake." he danced out of the room. Raika looked around. There are no chairs in this room. She saw Ciel sit on one of the coffins facing a desk. She chose to seat herself next to him. The undertaker came back, and Ciel explained the situation with the missing children.

"In the underworld, children's corpses are an everyday occurrence after all. Which the Earl knows very well, doesn't he?" The undertaker smiles and eats what looks to be a cookie but was in the shape of a dog bone. Wasn't he getting cake? she wondered to herself. Raika could see pain in Ciel's expression.

"Are any of these children any of the corpses that have come through here?" Ceil asks making a gesture to Raika. She takes the photos out of her pocket and hands them to the undertaker. The Undertaker took her hands instead, allowing the photos to fall to the floor.

"My what a lovely maid you have Earl." The undertaker smiles at her. She smiled at the undertaker politely and sat back down when he released her. She felt something in her hand. A bone? she gazed at the object in her hand.

"The photos." Ciel commands, Sebastian picked up the photos and handed it to the old man.

The Undertaker looks over the photos closely. Raika sniffed the bone in her hand. A cookie. She placed it in her mouth and ate it. Food never particularly tasted like anything to her. This cookie tasted strangely good to the small demon.

"I wonder… Were they there?" he asks himself. He was trying to remember. He asked Ciel for a bribe. He asked for a laugh? Was this another thing about living in this world that Raika didn't understand?

Ciel kicked the two servants out of the shop. They stood blankly staring at the door.

"I fail to comprehend this situation." She tells Sebastian with a confused look on her face. He looked at her but turned away. Was he embarrassed? Did she say something that angered him?

"Did I say something inappropriate?" she asked him; still very curious.

"No, you are fine. The Undertaker has no desire for physical money. All his payments are with jokes." He responds kindly. She hadn't expected that tone to come from him. Her face grew a little warm, but with him around so much she was getting better at controlling it.

"You have been rather quiet today. Is something the matter?" He asked her curiously. She felt a hand grab her own. It was much larger and warmer than her own. Was he concerned?

"I haven't been this far from the little Mistress before." She responded in a sullen manner.

"It makes you nervous? You do know that we are not completely bound by our contracts. You got the soul you contracted for." He pointed out to her.

"But it's a promise. I'm not going to go back on it." She explained.

"I admire that." His crimson eyes glowed in the shade of the building. The time passes quickly and it is soon getting dark out. Ciel was still inside the building.

"Should we go in?" She asks curiously.

"Perhaps." He pushes the door open. Ciel stood rigid, panting.

"I never thought you would go that far." The undertaker lay, slowly recovering from a fit of laughter. Sebastian lets go of Raika and moved to fix his masters coat.

"What on earth did you do?" he asked nonchalantly. She could tell he was insanely curious. But she also had to admit to some mild curiosity. Falkir always told her that she had a dry sense of humor.

"Don't ask" he responds "I gave you your laughter, now tell me about the children"

"I have never seen those children." He responds with a smile. Was this irony? At least this is what she thought was irony.

"You deceived me." Ciel seethed.

"I did not deceive you, it's a great clue." The undertaker explained.

"Certainly, you knowing nothing if this case means there's no truth to the idea that the children were murdered by underworld companies." Sebastian explains.

"The children are probably still alive." Ciel thinks out loud. Raika could sense a wave of optimism. Finding a bunch of living children would be infinitely easier than finding a bunch of dead children.

"So? Do we go to the circus?" Raika asks hoping that she was thinking want they were.

"I think a visit to Noah's Ark Circus is in order." Sebastian agrees.