Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso

OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls

A/N: Sorry for not posting another chapter for so long ^^' I was caught up in my other fanfic that I didn't have time! And I was forced to do other things during my break so I barely had time to work on anything… Anyways I hope you will enjoy this next chapter. We're back on track to the main plot. Well… ENJOY!

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"… Another boy was found dead in the streets again?" Grell sighed as he tended to the pot.

"Yes Mum," a boy sighed. "The story is the boys are being lured in the middle of the night, raped, and then left for dead in the street. It's a gruesome sight –"

"I'd prefer if you keep this to yourself for the time being," Grell told the boy. "If you start spreading the word around that the streets are unsafe then we'll have problems. For now let's just keep calm and try to solve this before someone else dies… only boys?"

"Only boys," he told him. "If that's all then I'll go to work. See yah," he smiled, leaving Grell as he set the ladle down in the pot and let out a tired huff.

From the knowledge the children gave him, the boys being raped and murdered all happen on Ratcliffe Highway. Why anyone would go there is a mystery to him, but Grell did know that he'd have to investigate these murders tonight before another boy ends up dead. "David," Grell grabbed hold of his sleeve before he left, "I want to go out tonight so could you keep watch of the kids for me," he smiled.

"W-what Grell," he huffed, "your arm is still healing –"

"Doesn't matter," Grell pouted. "I am going and that's that. Just be here a little early… alright?"

"Alright," David sighed, collecting his food before turning to leave. "I'll be here before nightfall. Just come back in one piece."

"I won't make any promises," Grell winked at him, David shaking his head as he left. Grell chuckled for a while till he let out a tired sigh, looking down at the bowl of hot soup as the fire slowly died down. He had an unnerving feeling in the pit of his stomach that this was the work of a demon, a smart demon, and if it was then he may end up with more than a small infected arm.

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"Grell this way," a boy pulled on his sleeve, bringing him down the road, "this is where Pat disappeared."

Grell followed humbly behind the boy, keeping his eyes on everything that moved for any signs of foul play. The only thing he saw was filth, which he found sickening to his stomach. The air smelled disgusting, the adults were conversing in business he didn't want to know about, and there was rubbish everywhere they stepped. No wonder there were children that left, but hey a person has to do what they got to do. He hoped in the back of his mind that he wouldn't have to go back to the building before he was done, since the demons were still out killing humans and snatching souls. Well… he could only hope that they wouldn't get hurt –

"Hey Raven," a boy waved as the boy looked up from the wall he was leaning against and walked over. Grell raised an eyebrow, watching as the boy about his age came towards them puffing on a cigarette in his mouth.

Grell looked him up and down, noticing how eerie the boy, whom is called Raven, felt. He was wearing a big black scarf with oversized red collared shirt and large black trench coat much too big for his small body. He had black dress pants, black shoes, and black gloves on, which was a weird outfit for a boy to have. The thing that made Grell nervous was his short black hair, and even more so, his red piercing eyes that seemed to see right through him. "What are you looking at?" the boy huffed, Grell coughing and quickly looking down at the ground.

"Oh don't worry about it," a boy next to Grell smiled, "Raven is someone we can trust."

"Hmmmm…" Grell narrowed his eyes at him from behind his red hair, "I have my doubts."

"Humph," Raven huffed at Grell, turning his back on him and looking at the other boys. "So I have some less expensive beer tonight. Anyone want some?"

"Sure!" most of the boys said, following Raven through a back door of a pub and sitting down at the stairs leading up to the rooms above.

Grell kept his eyes on the boy as he sneaked into the bar, snatching a few beers and bringing them back over where they sat. "Who is this boy anyways" Grell grumbled under his breath, "and why are you hanging out with him at night?"

"Oh," the boy next to him chuckled. "We call him Raven… or that's what he calls himself I suppose," he shrugged, "but anyways we come here after our shifts for a few drinks. That's all."

"Hmmm…" Grell responded, eyeing the boy as he handed over the beers and gathered the money the boys were handing him.

"We don't know much about him," the boy continued, "but we do know that he works here. He talked to us a few weeks ago while we were making our way home, and since most of us wouldn't mind getting our whistles wet we came in for a few drinks before stumbling home."

"A few weeks ago?" Grell thought. "… that was when the boys started disappearing."

"Oh that so?" The boy chuckled, paying for his beer and nudging Grell in the arm, "Do you want some?"

"Nah," Grell shook his head, "I shouldn't drink –"

"I assure you nothing is wrong with the beers," Raven said, holding the beer in front of his face. "What," he asked, "You scared~?"

"No!" Grell growled at him snatching the beer from him. "I am no chicken!"

Then Grell blinked, remembering he should probably pay for the beer even though he didn't have a lot of money to spend. "I can pay your way if you don't have the money –"

"It's on the house," Raven told them, turning around and heading back to the bar. "I don't want you to hate me so early on."

Grell huffed at the boy as he left, staring into his opened bottle at the liquid in his hand. He had to be honest; he never had alcohol in his life. In the shinigami realm they prohibited alcohol for minors till they graduated. Grell gulped, bringing the bottle to his lips and only letting a sip run down his throat. Suddenly he let out a cough, gagging into his sleeve at the foul taste the beer had. "My!" the boy laughed patting Grell on the back roughly, "I would think you never had a beer in your life!"

"I-I guess," Grell coughed, his face turning red from his hefty coughing. He let out another sigh and brought the bottle to his lips, drinking down some more as he eyed it suspiciously.

This time he took the time to study the taste, noticing there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. "Like it?" Raven asked Grell as he shrugged.

"I guess." Grell huffed, "But I don't like the flavor."

"Oh," Raven nodded as he pulled his scarf closer to his mouth and sat down next to him. "It's all I can give you," he explained in a soft voice, "because my master only wants me to sell the cheapest beverages to the children."

"Master?" Grell raised an eyebrow. "You're a servant?"

"Yep," he nodded, "but not a very good one. If I don't deliver my master his desires every night he punishes me."

"That's awful," Grell frowned sipping down more of the drink. "You know, if you don't like it here you could come live with us –"

"Nah," Raven held up a hand and stood up, "I'm fine here. Thanks for the offer."

Then he left them and walked back into the bar, cleaning the counters with a rag and handing out the drinks the customers demanded from him. "He's always like that," the boy told Grell before chuckling, "but don't worry. He grows on you over time."

"Yeah…" Grell sighed as he sipped his beer, "I guess so…"

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Days had passed and every night there would be one boy unaccounted for. Grell started to worry, turning the ladle in the pot as he thought to himself. "David," he began to say to the boy sitting behind him, "I'm going to go out tonight. I'll need some money for a drink."

"Oh?" David sighed as he stood up and looked into the pot, "Why? They boys are vanishing and turning up dead days later worrying you?"

"Of course," he huffed, "I am the~ Mother Hen after all and as a protective mother I want my chickadees counted and accounted for… you don't go to that pub do you?"

"Nope," David chuckled as he sat back down. "I save every pence I get. Plus I don't drink… at least not beer," he admitted.

"You won't mind if I take some money off of you tonight?" Grell looked behind him, a look of worry on his face.

"Not at all," he smiled, "we're family after all and I'm the one keeping you here. Just… just make sure you come back safely. Whatever is going on I don't want you to be the next boy turned up dead."

"Fine," Grell nodded, "I promise I'll come back. Don't worry about it David. I won't leave you and Essie alone. You'll be at each other's throats if I do."

"Oh Grell," David laughed, handing him some coins from his pocket and placing them in Grell's hand. "There's enough for about two beers and maybe some bread. Whatever you don't use give it back to me in the morning… alright?"

"Alright," Grell promised, shoving the coins in his pocket and going back to tending to the pot. "Now get your breakfast and go already. You'll be late if you don't." David nodded and took the ladle from Grell's hand, pouring the liquid into his cup and slurping it down as he turned to leave.

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"I didn't think I'd be seeing you here again," Raven smirked, handing him a beer and holding out his black glove to Grell for the money.

"Figured," Grell sighed, grabbing a few of the coins from his pocket and setting them into the boy's hand. "… By the way… do you know where Trevor went?"

"Haven't seen him since yesterday," Raven admitted, setting his stuff down and using a rag to clean the sticky beer from his hands, "Why?"

"According to the boys he was here and disappeared after he came into the pub," Grell huffed, "so you must have seen him last."

"Oh did I?" he shrugged, looking up to the ceiling as he thought about Grell's accusation. "… how old?"

"What does that matter?" Grell raised an eyebrow.

"Because I have a lot of customers every day and I can't recall a boy named Trevor," Raven huffed, turning around and heading for the bar.

Raven took his time before he came back to the stairs, throwing a rag over his shoulder as Grell stared at him as he drank his beer. "Trevor is about eight," Grell told him as he sipped from his beer, "with light brown hair and blue eyes."

"Eight…" Raven thought, sitting down next to Grell and putting a cigarette into his mouth. "Yeah I guess I saw him last night," he admitted as he lit the cigarette and threw his match to the ground.

"You did?" Grell responded, "When? What happened to him?"

Raven let in a big gust of air, sucking in the smoke into his mouth before puffing out the smoke from his lips and into the building. "… Hmmm… I can only answer part of your question –"

"I don't care. Just answer me," Grell grumbled, getting tired of the waiting the other boy was making him do with the information he seek.

He puffed in more smoke and then blew it out, looking at the wall as he spoke. "Last night," Raven began, "I saw him passed out on the stairs. He must have had more then he could handle, so I brought him up the stairs to one of the rooms and set him inside."

"Oh?" Grell raised an eyebrow.

"Then I left him there and by the next day he was gone," Raven finished, sucking in more smoke from his cigarette before letting a puff. "At least once a night a boy will drink more then he should and pass out on the steps. So I let him sleep off his hangover in one of our rooms at the top of the stairs."

"Is there a specific room you place them in?" Grell asked.

Raven looked over at him, holding the cigarette in his glove and glaring his red eyes at the boy. "Why?" he responded, "You think I~ have something to do with their disappearance?"

"I don't know," Grell shrugged, "but this entire pub is a prime suspect and everything that goes on inside. So? Which room?"

"RM 666 at the end of the hallway to the left," Raven pointed, "but only staff and paying guests are allowed to use the rooms anyways."

"Okay," Grell nodded as he drank down more of his beer, "thank you for telling me."

"No problem," Raven nodded, letting in one last breath of smoke before throwing his cigarette down on the ground and squishing it with his foot. Then he turned to leave, leaving Grell sitting on the stairs thinking to himself.

"Oh Raven," Grell called to the boy getting his attention, "You know, one of those cigarettes can kill you one of these days."

The boy chuckled at him, "You may think that, but I'll have you know I'm extremely~ careful," Raven responded, turning back around and continuing on with his duties.

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Grell groaned, leaning his head against the railing as a boy slumped into Grell's shoulder and hiccupped. "G-grell did you drink a lot too?" the boy chuckled; letting out another hiccup before letting out a tired yawn in his face.

"Y-yeah," Grell coughed as he felt his arm stinging as the boy leaned against it, "Oh boy! I have to hold~ back on the drinks."

"Hey now?" Raven sighed as he came to the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest, "Two? Master is going to have a field day."

"W-wHAT now~?" Grell asked him, Raven ignoring the boy's comment as he helped the two of them up to their feet, mostly helping the boy next to Grell then Grell himself.

Raven slowly led them to a room at the end of the hallway, Grell glancing over at the numbers next to the doors. 08, 10, 12, 14, 666? Grell tilted his head to the side, the number next to the door being out of place as Raven led them inside and helped them sit down. "Now go sit down and rest," he told them as he pressed a hand on Grell's arm and pushed him down on the bed, "and spend the night. I don't think you two are fit to go off in the middle of the night." Grell leaned his head against the bed, staring at Raven as he took out a cigarette and began to light it. "Oh and shinigami," he called to Grell as he began to pass out, "you shouldn't have come," Raven began to laugh, turning around and walking out the door.

Grell's head fell into the sheets, his eyes flickering as he began to groan. "S-shhhhhhiiiittt~…" he said as he heard the door lock will Raven's body disappeared from his vision, his eyes closing as his hat fell off of his head and fell onto the rotting hardwood floor.

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"Sir here's the report," a shinigami said as he set a pile of forms on his superior's desk, the man thanking him as the other walked out of his office.

"Great," the man huffed, looking at the forms laid out on his desk. "Let's see… So we have a Faustian bargaining demon in London? How many now... only this one I suppose, or perhaps even more –"

"F-father?" a little boy called into the room, slowly poking his head in and looking at the black haired man sitting at the desk.

"Oh William," the man looked up and ushered the boy in, "what are you doing here –"

"I-it's noon," William explained with his hands behind his back, "and you said you would be bringing me to the optometrist for glasses –"

"William I'm sorry," his father sighed, "but we have troublesome demons on our hands so I will have to work. You understand correct?"

"I-I guess," William sighed as he looked at the ground.

"... Tell you what, how about I get someone else to take you. There's probably someone here who isn't doing anything," he suggested.

"I guess," William let out another sigh, watching as his father called for someone on the intercom and then turned his attention back to his son.

"... Well go ahead and wait outside the door. Someone will be with you shortly." William nodded and obeyed, leaving the office and closing the door behind him. Then he looked back at the form in his hand, reading over the demon's information and memorizing it. "... has black hair, pale skin, and red eyes... known for taking souls of drunks and rapists... though a very loyal demon it seems. Doesn't go after any other soul except for the one it's contracted to." Then Mr. Spears stood up, almost finished looking over the information as he grabbed his coat and death scythe. "...around for about six hundred years and a very crafty demon I see... Well demon, I'll make sure today is your last breath," he smirked, grabbing the file from his desk and walking out the door.

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A/N: Heh. I want to see how many people get the hints I made ^^ I'm excited for the upcoming chapters. DRAMA! SUSPENSE! Meh not really, but because I'm so mean I'm leaving you with a cliff hanger. What happens to little Grell now? XD Well you'll have to see in the next chapter! =3

Raven – English – large black bird, crow