For a Moment
Chapter Four- ...I Felt Safe
"Momma, look! It's snowing! It's so bright!" A high-pitched voice cried as he pulled his mother through the slowly falling snow. She laughed as her son giggled with delight. "When we get home, let's get Poppa and build a big snowman!" He explained making the woman only laugh more as he kept going on and on about what they could do and he was so busy going on about it, that he bumped into someone. He turned around and bowed. "I'm sorry, Mister!"
Ciel turned around as well, looking at what had just bumped him. "Pink." He thought instantly before bowing back. A small box in his hand. "It's alright." He said with a smile as the small boy nodded and ran off with his parent. He looked at the sky and sighed softly. Winter was a great season. All the sadness of the air would turn frost and you couldn't see it with the flakes of white in the air. Heavenly, was how Ciel described it.
I wish the falling powdered snow would land and hide me
The snow and tears that fall are without even sound
"Ciel, are you okay?"
He stopped softly singing before turning to the confused looks of Aka and Renji. He smiled simply. "I'm fine. Just a bit distracted." He answered, careful to not drop the box he had. She blinked again nodding before starting to walk away, followed by Renji. Ciel sighed a bit before walking after them holding the crate to his chest a bit. "I need to work on not dazing out so much..." He decided going to match the other two's pace.
It had been only a few months since Ciel had started working for Lord Ichijo. He rarely saw him except for when he had parties or events. Other than that, he would be in his study or bedroom or even out of the manor. During that time, Ciel had grown to not love but somewhat like his new duties. He wasn't getting beaten daily or screamed at. He did his work just how Madam Johnson had always wanted him too. As he did it, the thoughts and plans of escape had been slowly building up. His goal was just getting free. It was his only reason for working so hard. Not only that, but he wanted the same for his new found friends. They had been added onto the list not so long after he got there.
Ciel had learned a lot about them and Lord Ichijo. Midori, the oldest, he was the only one who had been born in England. He was small and 16, though his birthday was a mystery along with all the rest. Renji and Kuro were from Japan and explained that they were fraternal twins. They were 15 and the tallest out the bunch. Kira was born in Germany and was 15 as well. She knew that her mother had given her to Lord Ichijo. Papu was from Korea and was the youngest, being 13 like Ciel. She didn't remember much as well. Aka was 14 and had no idea where she was born and didn't remember her parents or how she even got to work for the man. He had learned that Lord Ichijo had inherited his fortune from his late mother. Never married and no living relatives, nothing. Kuro had found evidence that he had another set of workers with the same colored names as they did, except Ciel, only that when they turned 18, they disappear without another word. The story worried Midori but Renji convinced him that her brother was just joking.
At the moment, Ciel, Renji and Aka had left the manor to go get more groceries when the late November snow started to fall. It had been growing colder for a long time. The girls had wore thick stockings and boots with hats outlined in their color. Ciel had a black cloak with a blue scarf and black boots. It was shortly after he started working, he revealed his wonderful cooking skills. They all voted him to be top chef, which he immediately declined. It was then revealed that he was the only logical choice, since he was already reading cooking books and knew how to work the things they didn't. After a few days of begging, he cracked and gave in. Since then, he always tried to improve. That was something he remembered his mother telling him all the time. There's always a level higher than what you are.
"Hey, why don't we get cake ingredients while we are out so we don't have to buy any later?" Aka asked which caused Ciel to tilted his head in confusion. She smiled brightly at him. "Have you forgotten that your birthday is only in two weeks? Master doesn't let us out like this often, you know. I want to be able to make sure that we have everything to make you a really good cake."
"Aka, that really isn't necessary." Ciel insisted, getting a better hold of the supplies so he didn't drop it. "You don't need to make a cake. We wouldn't have time for it anyway. Like you said, isn't it about time when Master Ichijo sends us to go find those flowers that only bloom in the winter. He's very particular about them being planted before his Christmas party. I'd hate to disappoint and make him angry over something as simple as my birthday."
Renji sighed. "Ciel, you haven't disappointed Master since you get here. And your birthday isn't simple. It's a celebration of your birth. You've helped us so much since you got here that I would angry if we didn't light a candle or anything. It's like you were a hero from a book." She saw Ciel blush lightly while avoiding gazes with her. "Come on, it could be really fun. Not to mention that you said yourself that you love sweets. What's better than some tea and cake? Please?"
He sighed and gave a slight nod. Saying no to any of the girls had always proven to end in vain. Why he continued to argue against them was something that he would never be able to really understand. "But nothing too big alright, I don't want to waste any of the materials that we may need." He said before smiling at them. "And make sure that the cake is good. Nothing worst than bad cake."
"No one cooks as good as you, Ciel!"
The three laughed happily as they made their way to the next section to get their last bit of things which was bread. Since Aka had the least, she was going to carry that. Ciel looked off into the distance when he heard a horse going hayware with a child on its back, knocking over a bunch a things. He glanced over to the girl for a second and set his crate doing and running over to it where some adults were already reacting. Somehow, he managed to grabs the rope attached the animal and started to hush it. He smiled at it and the horse nuzzled against him. He laughed. "There. Nothing to be scared about." He whispered before going to the back, where a little girl was holding on to the saddle for dear life. "Miss, are you alright?"
She looked up and wiped her watery eyes. She had light blue eyes that was mixed with a shade just as dark as his. Her hair was a matching dark blue that had two braids on either side of her face and a bow behind her hair. After a moment, she nodded. He held out his hand to her and helped her to ground carefully. The crowd watching in awe as she looked up to Ciel. He was taller than her by maybe an inch. She twiddled her thumbs, looking down. "U-Um...Thank you. My horse saw a snake and it started to go crazy...You aren't hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm just fine. I'm glad that you are alright. Though I can't really talk for all the things it ran over." He scratched his head with a nervous laugh, looking at all the damage. The girl brung a hand close to her mouth and winced. Lots of stands had been knocked over thanks to her. "On a lighter note, it's nice to meet you."
She looked at him again and bowed politely. "O-Oh right! Pardon my rudeness. It's nice to meet you too. My name is Ai Kazuki. What's yours?"
"My name is Ciel Ph..." He paused, his hand moving a bit. His last name...It had been years since he said it. He didn't even remember it until now when he had a proper introduction instead of someone talking for him. Shaking it off, he bowed back with the same smile. " Just Ciel. A pleasure." They exchanged a look before an older woman came running towards them screaming Ai's name.
"Ai-Chan! Ai-Chan!" She went and hugged her tightly making Ai cringe. The woman had long brown hair that let loose in a bun. She had bright green eyes and red flower in her hair. With how her dress looked, she seemed like a nobel. "That was so terrifying, are you alright?" She asked instantly checking her for bruises.
"Yume-Senpai, I'm fine. Really, stop." The girl complained wiggling away. She sent a smile at Ciel. "He saved me."
The woman known as Yume smiled at him. "Ah, you're so cute. Kinda like my Ai-Chan!" She said and smaller girl blushed looking away. Ciel averted his eyes too. "Well, thank you for saving my Ai-Chan. I don't know what I'd done if I lost her like that. Her mother would flip." She giggled and went into her pocket giving him 15 gold pieces. "Here."
His eyes widened and started to give them back. He couldn't accept money for something so little. It wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do. "I-I can't take this…"
Yume grinned. "Of course you can. I have millions more at home. But I beg you to take them. I don't know how else to thank you so I thought that would be a good start." He was going to protest but she kissed his forehead. "Thanks again, Cutie.
"Princess, we should be leaving." A voice said from behind them.
Ciel looked and the woman did too. He then stared at her for a long time as she went around giving money to replace the things the horse had broken along with Ai. His eyes widened as he went to get the crates he put down. He went back his thoughts seeing the crest on her necklace and remembered a few months prior when he was working for Madam Johnson. That was the Sekai kingdom crest….So that had to be the princess. "Then who is Ai to her…" He noticed Aka carrying the box towards him. He pocketed the money and walked towards them. "Let's get back."
As the child walked up the hill leading out of the small village, Ciel saw a homeless man sleeping outside one of the houses. His heart sank and he let the girls keep walking going over to him. Seeing a cup on the ground, he got about 7 of his gold pieces and places them into the cup before running to rejoin the girls. The sleeping figure watched him move, his crimson eyes narrowing at the boy watching him walk away.
Ciel washed the remaining dishes from dinner while humming to himself. He was finishing the last dish when he glanced out the the window. It was almost 11 at night but he saw something flash outside. If he wasn't crazy than it looked like a person. He rinsed off the final dish and went to go look check when he saw Kuro sitting against the wall with Papu and Midori. He was in a fetal position and his tie was loose along with his entire uniform, which also looked roughed up. He forgot about what he saw to go check on him. "What's going on?" He asked kneeling besides his friend. "Kuro, what happened...?"
The boy bit his lip and shook his head. "It was my fault...I..." He stopped, choking on his own words. It looked at he had been crying as well. Ciel looked at his wrist and gasped silently at the familiar looking marks. Like someone had tied them together with something thick. His head lowered and bangs covered his dark blue eyes. Kuro saw it from the corner of his eyes as Ciel took his wrist. "Ci-Ciel..."
"How." The boy's voice was low and smooth, cutting him off before Kuro could lie to him.
He had gotten very overprotective over the children who worked with him, mainly because of how meek they got around other people. At the first part he attended to, a woman had spilled her drink on the floor on purpose just to make Aka clean it up but the girl said nothing, to the woman or to Lord Ichijo. He remembered some of the young children at the party were teasing Kira because she tripped but she didn't defend herself. Ciel had to step in. He used his words to scare the bullies away and asked the woman as politely as he could managed to stop because he'd hate to tell her husband that she was kissing a man in the garden. Now, Kuro looked at him with fear in his eyes, ready to protect whoever hurt him. "I-It's not really..."
Ciel kept a dull look and slightly squeezed his wrist making the boy flinch. He didn't want to hurt him but he wanted the truth. Kuro always hid his emotions because he didn't want to bother anyone else. His attention went to Midori and Papu as well, but mostly Midori since the girl didn't speak. "How." He repeated calmly, eyes hard and serious on the wound on Kuro's wrist.
"One of the guest got very drunk and went to use the bathroom and ran into him. I think they were about to...you know... but we opened the door, and caught them last minute." Midori explained quietly, looking at his wrist as well. "You can't go out tonight...You won't be able to do anything. I'll tell the others that we should go another time."
His eyes widened while Ciel got confused. "No! You can't do that! Master will get very upset that we missed the opportunity! You can't cancel it!" He protested looking down. "We've hid this long enough. He's bound to find out sooner or later. Have Ciel go in my place."
"Go? Go where? What on earth are you talking about?" Ciel asked, frowning.
Midori averted his gaze. "Papu..Take Ciel to Renji and the others. We'll leave once I take Kuro to our room."
She nodded her head and took the boy's hand leading him to Gazebo where they usually left from to get supplies from the town. Once they got there, Ciel lost color in his skin. The other girls were there and they had on dark cloaks and were each holding a weapon. Renji and Aka had a dagger while Kira held a small black pistol. "...What are you doing..." He asked in a whisper and they still heard him.
Kira looked at him and gasped trying to hide it. "Ciel! Um..we can...explain!" She looked at Papu with a small glare. "Why did you bring him here? We weren't going to involve him, that's what we agreed!" She said.
"Involve me in what? What the blazes are you guys doing that you had to hide it from me! And why does it require you to have those weapons?" He frowned. He just didn't understand it at all. "Midori..He told Papu to bring me here...So explain. What's going on?"
Papu went over behind Renji picking up a basket of flowers putting on a lighter colored cloak while Aka walked towards him with a reluctant sigh. "We've been doing this for almost a year, Ciel. We haven't been completely honest with you...I know that you read the newspapers every morning... The Flash Case, where an entire house of people is murdered and only jewels are taken..." She recited, holding up the knife. "That's us. Master sends us out to collect jewels for his collection and rid ourselves or any witness." His mouth dropped and she looked down. "He gave us our target a little over a week ago. They only just came into town and they're leaving first thing in the morning."
He couldn't believe this. He had been living with people he thought he could trust but it was really just a facade. He never really trusted Ichijo but he had stayed with these children. Showing them how to be independent and they showed him the meaning of family again...was that just a way to trick him? "So you kill innocent people for stones...Mere colored rocks! What makes you think that this is okay?"
"We don't, Ciel." Midori's voice said from behind him. He was now wearing his own dark cloak holding a gun. "We don't have a choice. We do it because Master threatened to separate us... We don't have families or anyone else to turn to. Kuro and I might be able to be paper boys but he'll send the girls right into..." He stopped, but Ciel knew what he wanted to say. He held out the gun for Ciel to take. "You once said that we need to protect was is ours. Help us..please."
The blue-eyed servant lowered his eyes in thought. He'd never wanted to take the life of anyone...but if he went, maybe he could convince them to run away from Ichijo. There was an orphanage that had been opened, not far from London. A few hours away but it was nice there and they didn't have to work like dogs for a perverted boss. Hesitantly, he took the gun and huffed. "Just once...you hear me..Just once.." He muttered loudly.
They all smiled a bit at him and Renji looked off into the distance. "Master changed the mission. We are not only taking jewels but...there is a person we need to eliminate...I'll tell you who once we get there. Let's move."
Ciel watched through a bush as Papu went up to a rather large house and knocked on the door. His hand was clenched into a tight fist watching her. Renji explained who the target was and it was eating him alive. Ichijo wanted the emeralds that were on the crown of Princess Yume Sekai, the royal visiting the town before going to another place way on the country-side. With her was the child of the woman who had stolen a great deal of money from him and wanted the daughter eliminated. Just enough it was the same girl who he had saved earlier: Yume's adopted little sister, Countess Ai Kazuki.
Thanks to Papu posing as an orphan selling plants, the many officers scattered about the ground didn't suspect anything. The plan was simple and dangerous and he hated it more than anything. The others came behind him and watched as well. Once the door opened, the old butler looked at her and Papu silently offered him some flowers, one hand behind her back. Once the man choose one, she gave the signal to them and the 4 ran off leaving Ciel there alone. He shut his eyes hearing the sound of a body being sliced followed by a thud on the ground. He tried not to look at the corpse as he started to go inside where they had ran. It was then he noticed something off.
There were no guards around. There was a princess inside and usually they were stationed outside. Not only that but there hadn't been a lot of Yard men and he couldn't hear or see the horses he saw earlier. He lost his breath looking at the ground, the cold nipping at him with the reason. This was a setup for them..A trap. He turned ready to run inside and tell him him when the entire place burst into angry flames. He was forced back and coughed once the smoke hit him. He stared in horror as the fire grew bigger and bigger. Stumbling back, he broke into a run. He couldn't be there. No while knowing he had just let them walk into their death.
"No! This isn't happening!" He stopped to catch his breath after running for maybe 5 minutes straight at his fastest. He didn't know where he was but knew that he had to hurry and get his breathing under control. The snow had began to fall again and it was getting colder by the second. He heard the yard and stood up, dashing to a corner to hide. Shutting his eyes tight, he waited for the sounds to disappear. Carefully, he looked to see if they were gone and heard a footsteps behind him. Scared, he started to pull out the gun when something grabbed his wrist and held it up over his head, lifting him over the ground. He wiggled and tried getting loose, the gun dropping from his other hand. "No! Let me go! Let go!"
"My My...so you are the one that got away." A smooth voice said to him. He looked up and saw that his hand was being held by a tall man. He wore a black fancy coat and black gloves. His hair was dark black and looked smooth and soft, his face almost like that of an alluring raven. What captured Ciel's attention was the color of the man's eyes. A dark carmine blend that added color to his flawless pale skin. He was like a fallen angel. He smiled and his eyes fell on the pistol that had hit the ground. "And I see the weapon right here." He mused. "I had feeling that you would come for the princess and her sister. Yet, you seem to be the only one who avoided my brilliant trap. Mind explaining?"
Ciel swallowed hard, ignoring the brief fluttering in his stomach to glare at him. "It wasn't hard. It was obviously a trap. There are no horses or anyone around. With a princess who's being targeted, there would be guards outside." He tried again and glared harder. "Are you going to kill me? Go ahead. I haven't killed anything but there's nothing to return to. Do me the favor of ending it so I don't have to!"
The man was silent, his eyes piercing at Ciel with no emotion. He didn't loosen his grip but gave small chuckle as an amused grin came to his face. "Forgive me but where would be the fun in that? If you want to die then there is really no point." The man taunted without trying which angered Ciel even more. "But since you are apart of that little organization or whatever, I can't simply let you go now can I?"
The child grit his teeth, getting annoyed with his cocky attitude. His other hand turned into a fist from anger and the cold. "So what are you waiting for, a written invitation? I told you to kill me and get it over with!"
He laughed lightly. "I don't plan to kill you." Confusion spread all over Ciel's face as his glare dropped and he didn't say a word. "You should really let adults finish before you go yelling like that because you have it all wrong, Dear boy." He said with a light smirk, looking at him. "I'm going to keep you."
"Open this door this instant! I demand that you release me!"
Sebastian gave a sigh as he heard Ciel pound on the door. This really was a child..He had given him a nice, warm room instead of a prison cell and this was still his attitude. It was irritating to say the least but he felt responsible for this headache. He thought that he was going to be able to capture the ones who were doing all the murders and he hadn't expected them to be children. He had went out and posed as a beggar to see if he could gather his own details. He had saw one of the girls buying bullet rounds and two daggers. He instantly assumed that they weren't up to anything good. He wanted to follow them but gotten caught by Ciel, who'd given him money. Selfless action for a killer...Or maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time...
"My lord." Hannah walked up her brother and heard the banging looking at it with confusion. "...Did you find a dog while you were out?" She asked seeing how he wasn't stopping. Sebastian put a hand to his head and sighed while her head tilted. "You solved the case, didn't you?"
"I've nearly solved the case, Hannah." He said. "And that dog is more like a yammering puppy I found during it. He's the only connection I have to the whole thing and he's more troublesome then I would have imagined any child to be. Stubborn, Rude...Kinda reminds me of myself at his age."
Her face dulled. "You do realize that you were considered a child not even 4 years ago. Mr. 20-going-on-21. As the the head of the Michaelis family and fortune and the youngest, I'd expect you to really understand everything but you still bring home strays." She huffed crossing her arms. "So what are you going to do with him? Princess Yume and Lady Kazuki shall be here this evening. What do you plan to tell them, My lord?"
He deadpanned. "Why must I tell them anything? They coming for an overnight visit then returning back to her kingdom. The king has yet to reveal her real age and our wedding date. Not to mention that it's already a tedious thing because I'm required to produce a suitable mate of nobility for Ai as a thanks to her Grandmother..."
"We gave you all the available names around her age!"
"Well I know them all and they are terrible. Prince Lance is a sadistic little leader and the kingdom is very far away and that other small brat is an immediate no. If I could make one myself that would be-" He paused mid sentence and looked back to the door he just locked with the boy inside. He thought about it and grinned to himself. "Hannah, I have the most wonderful idea for game to play and I want you and Claude to join."
The woman glared at him stepping away. "Oh no...I'm not playing any games with you, Sebastian." She said and he pouted. "Don't pout at me! I'm your older sister, not your friend. I don't have to involve myself in your strange concepts which you stupidly name ''Game''. The answer is no." He was still doing it and she looked away before having to keep looking at it. After a minute, she gave up with a loud groan. "I really really hate you! Just what is this game?"
Sebastian grinned, knowing that he had won the moment he began pouting. "The child I have in that room is about Ai's age and his English is pretty noble level. If he were trained by the correct servants than he could be turned into a great fiance under his last name. I don't know it but if we learn more about him then we can use him to our advantage. The company's connections to the Kazuki sector is very weak. If they are engaged than we can further business." He explained, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Do you catch my drift?"
"You're asking me and Claude to pose as servants so that you can train this pup?" She summed up and sighed. :That's a lot of nerve but if it really furthers business posing as maid won't hurt...He's just a kid after all...Just like my Luka..." She nearly whispered that last part but Sebastian did hear it. "I'll do it but while we are playing teachers, what will that make you?"
Sebastian winked at her with a tilt of his head. "That makes me simply one hell of a butler, of course."
They meet at last! His plans seems pretty obvious, right? I apologize deeply if you see a lot of typos too! See Ya Next Chapter!