The boy was such a determined little thing, she decided, while bearing the full force of his glaring, "You've made the same mistake yesterday, milord. You are supposed to start with 'At first,', not 'from the start'." Kagome tapped on the very beginning of Ciel's completed assignment.
Ciel made an impressive growl, "I suppose I'll suffer more of your 'punishments'."
She laughed, when she made to stand, "Precisely. Perhaps you should count your blessings that I do not agree with corporal punishments." Patting on her knees she moved to a bookcase, "Considering you kept making the same mistakes, we should start over."
Blanching at her absent comment, Ciel sputtered, "I'm not a simpleton!"
"I'm well aware that you are not," Kagome confirmed, plucking an armful of books and settled them into her hold, "but what better punishment than to feel like one?"
"Urk!" Ciel twisted his eye shut, when the weight banged against his desk. He was unwilling to open his eye to see the high stack of books that promised nothing but pain, "I almost would prefer 10 scores of lashing than this…" He cursed the fact that he'd have to learn so much, to be an Earl, and was starting to regret accepting Kagome as his pseudo-governess, to man his education and his estates.
Kagome shook her head and clicked her tongue, "From my research, corporal punishment distracts the child from learning how to resolve their conflicts, and inforce fear that would hinder the betterment of their education and mental health." When Ciel peered upward at her, with doubt in his eye, she continued, "It would also interfere with my initial orders of your wellbeing."
"…You really are thorough." He murmured, with his knuckles white against the rim of his seat between his legs at the sight of the amount of works he'd have to do, "Are all demons like you? Experienced?"
"I beg your pardon, milord?" Kagome eyed him, with a smile curling up her red lips.
Ciel was curious—he hadn't asked her questions regarding her kind, "I don't expect it'd be a common stance for a demon to serve their master as a servant."
Her eyes glittered with the familiar amusement, "You'd be correct—you just so happened to be lucky, milord," Kagome chuckled, as she thumbed through a book to appoint a new assignment for Ciel to complete, "that you've gained an experienced hand. Now then," she thudded the opened book before her master on the table, "enough dilly-dallying, you can ask more questions later. Your education comes first." Tapping on the page, the one with a whimsical illustration, Kagome instructed, "Transcribe this fairy tale ten times. Once that is done, we will move on to the next one. There will be ten fairy tales in total."
His stomach turned at the disgusting feeling of being a slow-witted bastard, Ciel grimaced at his lady butler, "This is a child's play…"
"I did say we'd have to start over, did I not?" Kagome laughed, as she skimmed through another book, "There's no worse feeling than being a fool, milord. Mayhaps that will motivate you to learn better." She chuckled at Ciel's flustered face.
Ciel hadn't spoken another word, mortified, and flew right in with his latest assignment.
What a cute boy he was, so determined to prove her wrong.
"Perhaps," Kagome corrected Ciel's position and rose his rifle somewhat higher, "once you've achieved five perfect bullseyes in a single row," she ignored his scarlet face at the softness she was compressing at his back, "we could have you trying a hand in horseback archery?" The bullet struck into the target, but inches away from the red bold center, "Ah, well, that is better than missing and killing a pigeon as you did previously." To think he'd have his first kill by an accident…his baffled face at this realization was hilarious.
Her lord wasn't sure of what to take about killing his first bird.
Ciel blanched, stepping away from Kagome's body, "You distracted me! Both times!" His ears were burning. He huffed and pointed away his rifle, "Why horseback archery? That's an odd choice. Why not the gun?"
"You're still suffering from some muscle atrophy, so I thought that the archery could help exercising strength back into you." Kagome mused, and at Ciel's still puzzled face, she went on to explain, "You strive on challenges, milord." Ciel blinked, her observation surprising him, "Guns are sure to bore you quickly once you mastered their uses, and even if you were on the horseback, hunting, that is sure to bore you as well."
Mulling her words over Ciel frowned, "Is archery that much harder?"
"I'd say so. It requires the uses of your body, mental calculating," Kagome whirled her fingers into the air, at the gentle breeze blowing across the field they were occupying, "the weather, and infinite patience—none of which the rifles required to vast degrees as the archery do."
"…I'm not going to oppose that suggestion then." Ciel hummed—archery did not sound half-bad at all.
Kagome pinned her hands on his little shoulders and returned him to his earlier position, "I'll arrange sessions for archery—but first, you must master this." When Ciel picked up his rifle and followed her insistences, Kagome made more corrections, "Stand firmly now and draw in your chin."
The bullet struck the bullseye this time.
His lady butler truly was an experienced hand, Ciel decided while pulling off foodstuffs from his shiny fork. Taking few scant seconds to appreciate her cooking, Ciel swallowed, "Fwah, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a single flaw in your works."
Kagome sparkled with delight, "I'm glad to hear, milord."
Ciel peered at her and paused his eating midair, "…Had you serve a noble before?"
Pausing at his statement, Kagome knocked her heels together and laughed, "Perhaps."
"You wouldn't happen to tell me who it was, then?" Ciel frowned—who was this noble? Was her previous owner recent, or a century of years prior?
Moving in to refill her master's teacup, Kagome shook her head, "Sorry, but no. I cannot share any information regarding my previous contracts." She wagged a finger at Ciel, "There is a confidentiality clause in our agreements, if you will recall." Ciel frowned, "Besides," Kagome returned to the trolley to return the pitcher, "why bother with the past? It's a moot curiosity. Be grateful that you've gained an experienced hand, as I've said before."
He rested his chin onto a palm, "Fine, I won't bother." Kagome was right, Ciel should be grateful that he had a competent demon at his side, "You wouldn't be opposed to any question I may have with your…species?" He pointed his fork at her, inquiring. He took another bite.
"Within reasons, not at all!" Kagome rested her hands against her lap as she watched her master to finish the last of his plate, "In fact, I do encourage it. All I ask is to not to volley me with questions at once—I have priorities as do you, and we have all the time in world for you to learn of my capabilities in due time."
Ciel paused, tucking a hand into his pocket and curled it over an object inside. He finallt nodded, agreeing with her request, "Very well." He wondered of what would've happened had he gained anyone else instead. Would they be more intolerable and insufferable to live with?
"And! Don't position yourself like so," Kagome pushed his elbow off from his armrest and tugged his hand loose from his jacket, "that is not a proper mannerism at the dinner table."
Well, it was not to say that his lady butler isn't difficult to adapt to.
Ciel wasn't sure if he liked these beasts.
For their breed, these horses looked to be very well bred creatures, but Ciel couldn't ever recall having them in his family's estate. Firstly, they were either pitch black or snow white. There were no other colors, when he remembered how fond his mother were of dabbled horses and those with warmer colored coats and slim bodies. Secondly, they were impeccable in every detail, that they almost didn't look real. Lastly, he didn't remember purchasing any horses back, when they were sold by the royal family for having lost their initial owners to the flame.
Ciel didn't recall ordering Kagome to purchase horses back to fill the empty stalls either—it wasn't a thought he had, when Kagome told him of his horseback riding in his day plan. He'd been too distracted adapting to his new role. "Where did they come from?" Ciel interrupted Kagome's cooing to a pleased-looking horse.
Kagome hadn't mind the horse's displeased nicker in her ear at being ignored, "Oh, I brought them here." She said simply.
These horses really did seem to know her well.
"From where?" Ciel grimaced.
"I don't imagine that particular detail would be hard to pick up, milord." Kagome unlocked the latch on the horse's stall door and unhooked equine equipment from the wall inside, "They're fine beasts. Very loyal and not as temperamental as most mortal breeds. This lovely girl here," she patted the raven-black beast's nose fondly, "would be good for you to start your training. Open your mouth now," the horse did as she was told, and Kagome placed the bit within, "good girl!" She proceeded to tug on the rest, "As I was saying, this one is quite patient so she'd be more tolerable to your learning and isn't likely to toss you off for one mistake."
Ciel hadn't realized how long it took for his mind to process what Kagome just told him, "Why?" He was shrill.
He was grateful that there were no one else in the stable with them.
"Why what?" Kagome set down the saddle on the horse's back.
Ciel threw his hands at Kagome, "Why would you even bring these hellbeasts here!?"
Kagome blinked, and pondered onto his words, "Why not?"
"What if they kill someone!?" Ciel retorted, as he stepped away from all the animals in this barn, his heart jumping to his throat. This explained why the air in the barn felt so wrong.
She laughed, "You worry too much. Mortals still kill just as we would—perhaps this is to say that they," the horse snorted, when Kagome squeezed the belt tight on its underbelly and buckled it, "are better. They won't harm, unless I tell them to. Good grief," she led the animal out from its stall, "didn't you say you have faith in me, milord?"
Ciel pitched the bridge of his nose, "…That I did." He admitted. He dropped his hand and gestured at the horse, "but why?"
The horse snorted at Ciel's hair and nickered at his attempt to trap his cry, as it followed Kagome's lead, "I am merely following your orders, milord."
He stared at her, and blinked, "…They're for protection?"
"Precisely! They," Kagome rubbed the giant animal's ear, "are multipurpose. You can call for them, tell them to keep unwanted guests at bay if I am, for any reason, not available to do so, or to pick you up from any location to another destination. Etcetera. "
"…You are well-prepared." Ciel murmured.
"That I am!" Kagome gestured her master to follow, "Just remember to keep away from water, if you're on its back. Now then, let us start your riding lesson, hm?"
Ciel almost wanted to ask why, but at the horse's dull blink of its perfect ebony eyes, he didn't.
After all, he had to trust his lady butler to know what she was doing.
Words: 1900
A/N: Happy birthday to me~as tradition, here's my gift to you, good readers. Now then, this chapter and the next few will parallel a canon chapter from Kuroshitsuji manga, 63: That Butler, Training. I wanted to show the differences between Kagome and Sebastian and how they functioned as a butler. It was canon that Sebastian had zero experiences as a butler and apparently learned everything from textbooks/manual—but he still did make pretty good progress. However, he is a tad forceful, whereas Kagome used different methods of rearing Ciel as an earl, though it's a debate if her methods are softer.
Kagome on the other hand did have experiences of serving under master(s) before, which will become quite apparent over time. This is no way mean that she's better than Sebastian (though anyone is free to think that way, -laughs-), she just happened to know what to expect as a servant. That's all.
I do definitely encourage you to question certain things though!
