Chapter 6: Omnipotent

A/N: I'm glad I got a few people who liked the idea of Sayuri and Aki being Espers! I thought it would be nice to see some different magical creatures besides demons and angels. I thought why not add a little spice to the drama? I also have pictures of what they look like in their Esper forms on my Deviantart page that's linked to my home page if you want to look.

We've now reach the part where we see the ever annoying Lizzie (shivers) I swear, just hearing her in English and Japanese gives me a headache. How Ciel puts up with her is beyond me. If I were him, I'd kill myself.

Anyway, besides that little rant, let's get on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler; I just own my Oc's. (If I did, I would have Sebastian all to myself)

Enjoy!

/

After that little incident at the Ferro mansion, life went back to normal for everyone…well, almost normal.

Now that Ciel and Rioko knew about each other's secrets, they were very keen to find out more about themselves. They wouldn't bluntly ask each other about why the other had a servant that wasn't human, but they picked up bits and pieces along the way.

Ciel surprised Rioko by letting her come over for breakfast each day instead of trying to sneak in. it seemed that since she would keep about Sebastian being a demon a secret, he started to trust her a little bit more. That and he wanted to find out what an Esper really was. He knew that there were angels and demons on this world, but he had never heard of an Esper. Seeing Sayuri and Aki transform into these monstrous creatures really shook him to the core. If there such things as them out there in the world, then what else was there?

He figured he would get his answers since his college was the Queen's Messenger Bird. Rioko was bound to know a lot of things.

It seemed that fate was bringing these two children closer and closer together.

/

It was another slow morning at the Phantomhive residence. The grounds were foggy and the clouds covered the sun. It would have been gloomy had it not been for one certain person.

Screams rang through the halls as Grell held on desperately to the runaway tea cart that he was on. The poor butler was a complete mess as he screamed.

Ciel and Rioko looked up from their meal when he barged into the dining room and crashed into Finni, dropping a hot pot of tea on the poor boy's shirt.

The young gardener shot up and yanked on his shirt so it wouldn't burn his skin as badly.

"Hot, hot, hot!" he cried.

Grell gasped in horror when he saw what he did.

"Oh! I'm so, so sorry!" he cried.

"Here, let me clean it up!"

He went to grab a napkin that was on the table, but ended up grabbing the tablecloth and pulled everything down with it.

Rioko sighed.

"Well, there goes the fine china" she muttered.

Grell screamed like a girl when he saw what he had done.

"Oh no!"

Aki held the bridge of her nose to suppress a headache. If there was one thing she hated (or rather a lot of things) it was loud, obnoxious people. If Sayuri and Rioko didn't order her, she would have killed every single person who gave her a headache. But if that happened, then half of the world's population might be cut in half.

Rioko sighed and looked at Ciel.

"Remind me again why you let this nut job stay?" she asked.

Ciel sighed as he remembered the 'favor' Madame Red asked of him.

"Oh Ciel darling, I have a problem. Grell is hopelessly incompetent . Could you do me a tiny favor and have Sebastian train him to be a decent butler? Can't refuse your favorite aunt, can you?"

Rioko sweat dropped. She never knew just how whipped Ciel was until just then.

"If it were me, I'd tell them to take a hike" she thought.

Ciel held the bridge of his nose.

"I thought Sebastian would be the only one troubled, but I never expected that I would be affected by it as well"

Rioko patted him on the shoulder.

"You have my sympathy" she said.

Sayuri sighed as she placed new plates of food in front of the young masters. She pitied Grell, but she thought that he was way too clumsy to be a butler. Only a fool would ride on a tea cart and pull down a table cloth that contained expensive china.

Grell was trembling as the other servants glared at him for making a mess. Sure, they trashed the manor a few times themselves, but to do it all at once was ridiculous.

"I'm so sorry for causing all this trouble" Grell said.

"I don't know I can apologize"

He suddenly gasped.

"Wait! That's it!"

He pulled out a knife and held it to his throat.

"The only thing I can do now is die! I shall atone with my death!"

Bard and Mey-Rin flipped out when they saw him point a knife at his throat.

"Calm down a second!" Bard shouted.

"Um, should we take the knife away?" Mey-Rin asked.

A tick mark appeared on Aki's forehead.

"What do you think?" she said sarcastically.

Sebastian went over and placed a hand on Grell's shoulder.

"There will be no need for that" he said.

Grell looked up at him with teary eyes.

Sebastian just gave him one of his fake smirks.

"Just think of the horrible mess you would make" he said.

"It would take hours to clean up all the blood"

Grell had sparkles in his eyes as he looked up at Sebastian.

"Oh, Sebastian. You're so very kind" he said.

Aki scoffed and took the knife from him,

"If you're going to kill yourself, try not to make it so sloppy" she said.

"If you're planning on killing yourself, try to make it clean like hanging yourself or put a bullet to your head. That's a way of going out on style"

Grell's eyes seemed to sparkle even more.

"You're so thoughtful, Aki" he said.

"To want to help me out like that"

Rioko sweat dropped at the scene.

"How is that being nice to him?" she whispered to Ciel.

Ciel shrugged.

"You've got me" he said.

Sebastian picked up the tea pot that Grell had prepared and frowned at the contents inside.

"Now what I'd like to know is how you could ever think it was acceptable to serve the master and Lady Rioko such weak tea?" he asked.

"Watch me. A spoonful for each person and one more for the pot. Finally, add half a pint of boiling water and let it sit until dark"

All of the servants took notes on this so they would know what to do next time.

Sayuri handed Rioko and Ciel their tea when it was cool enough to drink.

Ciel grimaced when he tasted what brand it was.

"Why isn't this Earl Grey?" he asked.

"Because until you pay your debt you owe me, you're not getting a single cup of Earl Grey" Rioko said.

"You didn't think I would still let you have the teas you owe me when you haven't even bothered to pay?"

A tick mark appeared on Ciel's forehead.

"You cheeky little…" he muttered.

Sebastian pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time.

"Master, are you ready?" he asked.

"It is almost time. I have the carriage waiting out in the front"

Ciel sighed and put his tea cup down.

"Fine" he said.

He stood up and looked at Rioko.

"Well? Aren't you coming?" he asked.

Rioko raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to come with you on your little errands?" she asked.

Ciel nodded.

"You didn't honestly expect me to let you stay in my home while I'm not around, did you?" he asked.

Rioko wore a small smirk.

"If you did, I would have thought you lost it" she said as she stood up.

"I'll get ready. Just let me fetch my coat"

Sebastian looked at the Phantomhive staff.

"As for the rest of you, I want this place absolutely spotless, understand?" he ordered.

"And Grell, just sit and relax so you don't cause any more trouble…oh, and if you do think about killing yourself, please do it outside"

Rioko looked at Aki.

"Stay here as well" she said.

"I know you don't like going out on errands, so just stay here in case Grell tries to kill himself and so nothing gets damaged around here"

"And don't try to kill anyone" Sayuri warned.

Aki snorted at that.

"No promises there" she said.

Sayuri just sighed.

"You're hopeless sometimes" she said as she followed Rioko.

Aki just rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall.

"Great, now I have to babysit" she muttered.

Her eye twitched when she saw Grell scoot closer to her out of the corner of her eye.

A tick mark appeared on her forehead when she rounded on him.

"Stay out of my personal space, four eyes!" she snapped.

/

The shopping district was crowded with people as they went from store to store for products.

Sayuri walked behind Rioko as she looked around and asked Ciel which store was for which. She thought it was really cute the way her eyes sparkled when she saw something new. She may have been the head of the Junshinto family, but she was still a child. She needed to experience things like girls around her age did.

She stifled her giggle, when she noticed that Sebastian was looking at her.

She sighed. After he saw that Aki and herself were Espers, he was very protective around Ciel. It as if he thought that they were going to steal his mater right in front of him or something.

She understood though. He did have a contract with the young boy after all. After he finished whatever task Ciel gave to him, he would be able to devour his soul. While she personally didn't like the sound of it, she knew that she shouldn't complain. Everyone had a certain way to survive and if eating souls was a demons way to live, then so be it.

She turned and gave Sebastian a fake smile.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"You've been looking at me since we left the manor. If you want to say something, then just say it"

Sebastian looked taken aback for a second before he regain his composure.

"Very well, since you asked, I'll tell you" he said.

"I won't allow anyone to get their hands on my master"

Sayuri blinked for a moment before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

Sebastian looked confused as she continued to giggle. She smirked as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Oh, this is so funny" she said.

"You think I'll steal your master and devour his soul. Oh, that's rich"

She quickly composed herself and calmed down.

"You don't have to worry about that. Espers don't eat souls, if that's what you think" she said.

Sebastian simply wore a serious look on his face. He didn't have to worry about his meal being stolen, but that didn't mean he wouldn't put his guard down.

"I would say I'm relieved, but I'm afraid I say that I can't" he said.

"I don't really know what an Esper is, so I don't fully trust you for obvious reasons"

Sayuri smirked and nodded.

"That's understandable" she said.

"You wouldn't want to put your trust into the wrong hands after all"

She turned and looked ahead to see Ciel pointed to various stores and explaining them to Rioko.

"As for what I really am, I really don't know myself" she said.

"I know that I'm and Esper, but that's just it. I lost my memories about 18 years ago, so you're better off asking Aki than me. But, from what she's told me, Espers are beings that are made from fallen angels. When god cast them out of heaven, they just couldn't accept the banishment and decided to create their own army of enchanted beings. They made them in hopes of rebelling against god and getting back into heaven"

She sighed and looked up at the clouded sky.

"But, since I have no recollection of being part of any rebellion, I can only assume that my sister and I managed to get out of that mess since we've been serving the Junshinto family for 18 years. If not, then I would have remembered something by now"

She gave Sebastian a weak smile.

"I suppose this is confusing you" she said.

"Sorry if it doesn't answer your question, but that's what happens when you ask someone who has a memory loss problem"

Sebastian mulled her words over. He knew she wasn't lying, otherwise he would have detected it.

So he wasn't going to get answers about their little guest, just yet.

"Very well" he thought.

"I suppose waiting is the only options I have at the moment. Fortunately the young master hasn't bothered finishing up his business with Lady Rioko just yet"

They headed into a cane store since Ciel's new cane was ready.

The store clerk smiled when he saw that he had customers.

"Oh, hello boy" he said to Ciel.

"Did your father send you for something?"

Ciel growled slightly at the remark, knowing that it was ridiculous that a boy his age would need a fancy walking stick.

Sebastian spared him from further humiliation and held out the order form.

"Actually, he's here on his own business" he said.

The clerk took the receipt and smiled.

"Oh, you're here for that walking stick" he said.

He turned around and opened a drawer containing Ciel's stick.

"I was wondering who have use for a stack as short as this. Naturally, I didn't think a child-"

He was cut off when Sebastian had the walking stick pointed right at his head like he was about to ram it into his skull.

The butler smirked darkly.

"Straight as an arrow" he remarked.

"A magnificent stick indeed"

Rioko snickered at the clerk's reaction. The poor old man was sweating bullets at the prospect of nearly being killed.

Sebastian pulled out a bag of coins and placed it on the counter.

"Keep the change" he commented.

The group left the store, not caring that the poor clerk passed out in fear.

"Blast that Finnian and his inhuman strength" Ciel muttered.

Rioko just smirked as she remembered when the gardener broke Ciel's walking stick.

"It is a pity" Sebastian said.

"You haven't had a growth spurt in years"

Ciel growled at that. He was really sensitive about his height.

Sayuri gave the poor boy a sympathetic stare.

"There's nothing wrong with being short, Earl Phantomhive" she said.

"It's better to be short than tall. You should just see Aki. Back at our home, she always bangs her head every time she passes through the door. Plus, being shorter can intimidate your clients to do as you say"

Ciel didn't say anything, but his scowl lessened.

As they were walking, they passed a window display of the Funtom company's newest toys.

Rioko sweat dropped when she saw so many children gathering around the display to get a closer look at the toys.

"How you're a wealthy business man by just selling toys and sweets is beyond me" she said to Ciel.

"To me, they just seem pointless. If you're going to sell a product to people, use something that everyone will want to use. You won't see an adult playing with stuffed animals, but you will see them buying tea"

A tick mark appeared on Ciel's head. He was starting to regret bringing Rioko along.

He'll admit that selling toys seemed like a childish business, but at least it put food on the table. Besides, the Funtom toy company had been in his family for generations. He wasn't going to change it just because he thought it was childish.

Rioko just snickered at Ciel's face.

"I love it when I win" she thought.

Meanwhile, Sayuri and Sebastian just sighed, knowing there was going to be yet another fight on the ride home.

Sayuri gave Sebastian a weak smile.

"At least you'll be outside riding the carriage. You should be grateful for that" she said.

Sebastian just shook his head.

"You have no idea" he replied.

/

Back at the Phantomhive manor, Grell had begged to do a household chore to prove that he was a capable butler.

Since he was giving everyone a headache, the servants allowed him to trim the bushes in the massive garden. It wasn't really bad really since everyone could relax and enjoy the fresh air.

Aki sighed in relief since she could smoke one of her cigarettes. Since Sayuri didn't approve of her smoking inside a guest's house, she had to smoke outside. It wasn't so bad since Bard tended to smoke as well.

The head chief took a drag on one of the cigarette's the Aki loaned her and blew out a thin trail of smoke.

"Bloody hell, these cigarette's are good" he said.

Aki smirked as she let her own 'death stick' dangled between her teeth.

"You won't find this kind of brand in London" she said.

"Kyoto is known for making some crazy shit"

Grell seemed to be drooling as he watched Aki lay out on the grass in a very un-lady like posture.

When the Esper's 'four-eyes is watching me' senses went off, she looked up at the butler and glared at them.

"Those bushes aren't going to trim themselves, four-eyes" she snapped.

"Get back to work!"

Grell jumped and quickly hacked away at any branches that were sticking out.

Bard chuckled.

"You sure showed him" he said.

Finni and Mey-Rin nodded.

Aki shrugged and lay back down, placing her hands behind head.

"I tell it as it is" she said.

"I'm not the kind of person who's going to sugar coat it for you just to make you feel better. If you've done something bad, I'm going to tell it as it is. Life is no fairy tale"

Everyone had to nod at that. They were even lucky to be working where they were at, despite being lousy servants.

As Grell was trimming, he looked up at the Phantomhive manor. He had to admit, it was beautiful estate. Far more beautiful than Madame Red's.

"This is a magnificent manor that really shows the greatness of the Phantomhive family" he said.

"Oh, how stately it is!"

Bard blew smoke from his lips as he admired the manor.

"It's barely been two years since it was built" he admitted.

Grell raised an eyebrow.

"What? But it looks so dignified…" he said.

"That's only natural" someone said.

Grell turned around to find an elderly Japanese man standing before him. The clumsy butler screamed while Aki pulled her gun out.

"Who the hell are you?" she cried.

"Oh, it's the real Tanaka!" Finni cried.

"We haven't seen him in months" Mey-Rin added.

Aki raised an eyebrow.

Real Tanaka?

This was the same short old man who always sipped tea, and went 'ho ho ho'?

Tanaka just gave them a warm, knowing smile.

"This manor is built to be exactly like the old one" he explained.

"It's faithfully reproduced down to the finest cracks in the pillars"

"Reproduced?" Grell asked.

Tanaka nodded.

"The entire Phantomhive estate went down in flames three years ago" he said.

Grell gasped in horror.

"Th-then…forgive me for asking, but did Master Ciel's parents….?"

Tanaka nodded.

"Yes. The previous generation oh Phantomhives died in the fire"

Aki grimaced.

She had heard that Ciel lost his parents, but she didn't think they would die in a fire. Even if she hated the little brat, she thought that was unfair he had to lose his parents that way.

"Poor thing" Grell said.

Just then, the real Tanaka 'deflated' and went back to his chibi like form.

"Tanaka?" Grell cried.

"His normal heat consumption is very low" Bard explained.

"So when he's real Tanaka for more than three minutes, it makes him sleepy"

Aki sweat dropped.

"This whole manor is full of nut jobs" she muttered.

"Ahhhh!" everyone whipped around when they heard Finni and Mey-Rin scream and point towards the bushes that Grell trimmed.

Instead of normal looking bushes, they were trimmed to look just like skulls.

"Why the hell are they all skulls?" Aki cried.

Grell had another one of his panic attacks when he realized the screwed something up, yet again.

"I-I've caused you trouble yet again!" he sobbed.

He went over towards a ladder and put his neck through a nose that magically appeared out of nowhere.

"I shall atone for my death!"

Everyone quickly ran up to the ladder so he wouldn't fall of.

"Quit trying to kill yourself already!" Bard snapped.

"And where the hell did that nose came from?" Aki added.

Grell shook his head.

"But if I don't hang myself, it will be a stain on my honor!" he cried.

"If you kill yourself, it give a big mess to clean up!" Aki snapped.

"Now get down from there before a beat seven shades of shit out of you!"

Before Grell could do anything, a person suddenly came up and took the ladder that Grell was on and pulled it away, causing him to choke himself.

"GRELL!" everyone cried.

/

After a long trip in London, Ciel and Rioko finally returned back to the Phantomhive estate. Luckily for Sayuri, she didn't have to break up a fight and was pleased that they were acting civilized with each other for a tiny bit.

Sebastian opened the carriage door for them and helped them all out. When it came to Sayuri's turn to get out, he held his hand out for her.

The young maid blushed and shook her head.

"Oh, no thank you" she said.

"There's no need to be helping the hired help"

Sebastian just gave her one of his smirks.

"It's only proper to help a lady, even if she's a maid" he said.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't?"

Sayuri just blushed some more and simply accepted his hand as he helped her out.

"Thank you" she said.

Sebastian just bowed before heading towards the front doors.

"You both must be tired" he said to Ciel and Rioko.

"I'll prepare you some tea right away"

He opened the door to let Ciel and Rioko enter first.

Ciel took a step forward, then deadpanned when he saw the inside.

Sebastian looked confused.

"What's the mat-"

He froze when he saw the inside of the mansion as well. Everything was filled with frills, laces and sparkles.

Rioko paled when she saw that everything was pink.

"What kind of nightmare have a stepped into?" she asked.

Sayuri hide her face behind her fan in shock.

"Oh my"

Ciel's eye twitched at the sight.

"My mansion…" he muttered.

"What in the world happened here?" Sebastian asked.

"SEBASTIAN!"

Ceil's servants, along with Aki came running towards them, wearing silly outfits.

Finni was dressed up as a bunny, Bard was dressed as a baby, and Aki was dressed as a pirate.

The sight was both humorous and scary at the same time.

Everyone clung to Sebastian desperately while Aki clung to Sayuri.

"What on earth happened?" Sayuri asked.

"Better yet, why are you all dressed like that?" Sebastian added.

Rioko was holding her sides as she laughed. The sight of Aki dressed like a pirate was too much for her.

Said Esper glared at her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt.

"Don't laugh, you little brat!" she snapped.

"It's all the crazy girl's fault!"

She looked at Sayuri.

"Can I kill her? Please?" she begged.

Ciel raised an eyebrow.

"Crazy girl?" he asked.

Just then, the sound of someone choking in the salon caught his attention.

Ciel and Rioko peeked into the room to see that it too was girlishly decorated and that Grell was hanging from the ceiling with a bow on his head.

"That is very disturbing" Rioko said.

A tick mark appeared on Ciel's forehead as he looked at his aunt's butler.

"What are you doing?" he ordered.

Grell looked like he was half dead with the way that he was hanging by his neck.

"As you can see, I'm on the verge of dying" he rasped.

Sayuri placed a hand over her mouth.

"Oh dear" she said.

Aki shrugged.

"Hey, he wanted to kill himself earlier so it's his own fault"

Ciel just shook his head.

"I'm surrounded by fools" he thought.

"Sebastian, get him down" he ordered.

Sebastian bowed.

"Yes, my lord"

As he was getting Grell down, a blur of orange and yellow zipped past him and latched onto Ciel. Ciel blinked when he saw a young girl around his age with curly blonde pigtails cuddle him.

"Ciel!" she cried.

"Oh, Ciel I've missed you!"

Everyone was stunned to see this girl cuddling up to Ciel and rubbing her face against his.

"Elizabeth!" Ciel said surprised.

Elizabeth just smiled as she placed her hands on Ciel's shoulders.

"Aw, you know I'm always telling you to call me 'Lizzie'!" she said.

She pulled Ciel in for another hug and cuddled with him.

"Oh, every time I see you, you're so cute!" she squealed.

Rioko snickered as the scene unfolded. She didn't know who this Elizabeth person was, but to her, she was a gift from heaven. If she was able to harass Ciel like that without him lashing out in return, then that meant the head of the Junshinto family had an ace up her sleeve.

"Maybe if I use her, Ciel will hurry up with paying his debt" she thought.

An evil grin spread across her face as she started to come up with various types of blackmail.

Sebastian managed to get Grell down and held him by the back of his jacket. It seemed that he could never have a normal day, no matter how much he wished for it.

"Lady Elizabeth" he said.

Elizabeth let go of Ciel and gave Sebastian a curtsy.

"Oh, good afternoon, Sebastian" she said.

Sebastian inclined his head in a bowing manner.

Elizabeth pouted when she saw Grell.

"Aw, you took him down?" she asked.

"Yes, my lady. He mars the beauty of the room" Sebastian said.

Elizabeth sighed sadly.

"Aw, but I made such a lovely decoration out of him" she said.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Decoration?"

Elizabeth nodded happily and gestured to the salon.

"Yes! Look, the salon is so cute now too, isn't it?" she asked.

Cute wasn't the right word to describe it. More like horrible and wretched.

Ciel just had a disturbed look as he saw all the frills and stuffed animals that littered the whole place.

"My mansion" he muttered.

"Only cute things can exist in this mansion!" Elizabeth squealed.

"Right, Antoinette?"

Everyone looked at Tanaka, who was dressed up as Marie Antoinette.

Sayuri smirked while Rioko snickered. Sebastian wore a weak smile on his face when he saw how much Tanaka was enjoying this.

"You too, Tanaka?" he asked.

"I have a present for you too, Sebastian!" Elizabeth said.

Before the butler could ask, Elizabeth put a pink, frilly bonnet on his head.

"You're always dressed in black, so I thought this might look good" Elizabeth said.

Bard, Finni and Mey-Rin snickered as the sight, but they quickly stopped when Sebastian gave them the death glare.

Rioko snorted slightly at the sight of seeing Sebastian wearing pink.

This caught Elizabeth's attention and made her realize that there was someone else in the room. Her eyes went wide when she saw Rioko standing there with her maids.

"Oh! How rude of me!" she cried.

"I didn't know that Ciel had any guests"

She quickly went into a curtsy.

"I'm Lady Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford, but you can call me Lizzie" she said.

"I'm also Ciel's fiancée"

At the mention of fiancée, a light bulb went off in Rioko's head.

"Oh, this day just keeps getting better and better" she thought.

When Ciel saw the evil smirk on her face, he knew that he was going to be harassed by Rioko.

The girl just gave him a dark smirked before replacing it with a cheesy one when she bowed to Elizabeth.

"I'm Rioko Junshinto. Head of the Junshinto family" she said.

"I'm a business partner with Ciel and I came in from Japan to work out some business. And I must say, he has such an adorable fiancée"

Elizabeth's eyes sparkled when she heard that.

She quickly grabbed Rioko's hands and held them tightly.

"Oh! You're so sweet! Let's be friends!" she cried.

"And you're so cute! I just have the most cutest dress that you have to try on!"

Rioko mentally cringed at the mention of dresses. She absolutely hated dressing up and tried to avoid it as much as she could.

Elizabeth clapped her hands happily as she came up with an idea.

"Say, I know! Now that the mansion looks so lovely and all, let's have a ball!" she cried.

"And I'll dance around with my fiancé as my escort!"

Ciel's eye twitched in annoyance. There was no way that he was going to have a ball.

"How said that I would agr-"

"Wear the clothes I picked out for you, won't you Ciel?" Elizabeth interrupted.

"I just know they'll look adorable!"

A tick mark appeared on Ciel's forehead.

"Listen to me when I'm-"

"And I must dress up as well!" Elizabeth said.

She went up to Grell and tugged him by the broken noose around his neck.

"Come on. I'll make you even cuter too!"

Grell gagged when Elizabeth dragged him by the rope as she ran out of the room.

"Wait! I said no ball!" he cried.

But it was too late.

/

"I always wondered how you were able to put up with me, but after seeing your fiancée, now I can see why"

A tick mark appeared on Ciel's forehead at that comment.

Just slammed a few papers down on his desk while Rioko wore a cheesier like smirk on her face.

"Who would have thought that the great, stoic Ciel Phantomhive would have such a hyper, cheerful fiancée?" she asked.

"You look like an odd couple, but you know what they say: opposites attract"

Ciel gave Rioko a dull glare.

"Do you want me to throw you out?" he asked.

Rioko held her hands up in surrender.

"Fine, fine. I'll behave" she said.

"Just remember that now I know about your little fiancée, I'm considering it as blackmail"

Ciel just groaned and placed his head on the desk.

It was bad enough that Rioko was here, but to add Elizabeth into the picture just made it worse. Having two very annoying females in the same house gave him a headache.

Sayuri gave the poor Earl a sympathetic smile.

"There, there, Sir" she said.

"Lady Elizabeth seems like a very lovely lady. She appears to really love you, so that's something to be happy about"

Ciel just groaned at that.

Sebastian poured some tea for his young master, knowing how Elizabeth affected him.

""I believe the wisest thing to do today would be to go along with her plan and then ask her to leave" he said.

Ciel just scowled.

"Just give her some dinner or something and get her out of here" he said.

Rioko snorted at that.

"You've tried that on me and it hasn't work" she pointed out.

"What makes you think it'll work on Lizzie?"

Ciel just sipped his tea and closed his eyes in frustration.

"I don't have time to go along with her girlish hobbies" he said.

"But my lord, it appears Lady Elizabeth desires a dance" Sebastian said.

Ciel looked away at the mention of dancing. Everyone picked up on this and suddenly grew curious.

"Young master?" Sebastian asked.

"I've never seen you dance, but I presume you can do it?"

His response was Ciel picking up a few documents and covering his face with them.

That was all that they needed to answer their question.

"Well, that explains why you play the wallflower when asked to parties" Sebastian sighed.

"I'm busy with work" Ciel pointed out.

"I have no time to waste on a stupid ball-"

Sebastian suddenly got into his face.

"With all due respect, young master" he said.

"It's called a 'social dance' for a reason, and it's a skill that will naturally be necessary at soirees and banquets. The world expects a first-class gentleman to know how to dance. If you reject any more dance invitations, your reputation in society circles will plummet…"

Sayuri smiled weakly.

"He's right" she admitted.

"Everyone expects a young Earl to know how to dance. If not, then why would they bother working with such a boring business associate?"

Ciel made a face. His reputation as a Phantomhive was on the line, all because he couldn't dance.

He had to fix this.

"Fine, I'll do it!" he snapped.

"That'll make you happy, right? Call a tutor or something"

Sebastian pulled out his pocket watch to check the time.

"I'm afraid there's no time to call a tutor" he said.

"By your leave…I will instruct you in dancing"

Ciel made a face.

"You?" he cried.

"Don't be ridiculous! I can't dance with a tall man like you!"

Rioko sighed in annoyance.

"Gosh, you're so hopeless" she muttered.

She stood up and offered her hand.

"Since you're so picky, I'll be your dancing partner. If you don't like it then go ahead and make a fool out of yourself in front of Elizabeth"

Ceil scowled. He didn't want to dance with her, but it was either her or Sebastian. Since he didn't want to feel awkward dancing with a tall male, he decided to dance with Rioko.

Standing up, he took her hand.

"You say anything about this, and I'll deny it" he said.

Rioko scoffed.

"Please. I want to forget this as much as you do" she said.

Ciel growled then looked at Sebastian.

"Do you even know how to dance?" he asked.

Sebastian bowed deeply to them.

"Leave the Viennese waltzes to me" he said.

"I was often a guest at Schonbrunn palace"

Rioko raised an eyebrow..

"You've been around that long?" she asked.

Sebastian gave her a devilish smirk.

"It comes with being a demon" he said.

Rioko just sighed.

"Right"

She looked at Ciel.

"Alright, just follow my lead"

Ciel made a face.

"I do not trust you to lead me in dancing" he snapped.

A tick mark appeared on Rioko's forehead.

"Then perhaps I can show you an example?" Sebastian suggested.

He turned to Sayuri and bowed deeply.

"My I have this dance, my lady?"

Sayuri blushed slightly, but nodded.

She held her hand out to him and tired to ignore the electric shock that went through her veins as he gently grabbed it while placing the other around her waist.

"You hold the lady's back firmly" Sebastian explained.

"When the music begins, lead with your left foot"

The two of them began to slowly dance to show how it was suppose to look like.

Sayuri was blushing the whole time. She had never been so close to a man before, let alone a handsome one like Sebastian.

As they were dancing, Ciel and Rioko started dancing as well. Ciel was doing fine when it came to turning, but when he had to move forward or step back, he would always step on Rioko's foot. The girl's eye would twitch with annoyance whenever that happened and she had to resist stepping on his foot in revenge.

Sebastian sighed as he watched his master fumbled.

"Your instinct for dance is not so much lacking as catastrophic, my lord" he said.

"You mustn't simply hang off of your partner"

Rioko grabbed Ciel's face and pinched his cheeks so it looked like he was smiling.

"You should also fix this face of yours" she said.

"It's rude to a lady. You need to smile like you're having fun, even when you're not"

Ciel slapped her hand away.

"Let go" he snapped.

He stepped back and touched the Phantomhive family that was on his finger. Like Rioko, his ring symbolized his status of the family.

He looked at his hands as if wanting to avoid her stare.

"Anyway, I've…I've…forgotten how to smile like I'm having fun…"

Rioko blinked when she heard that.

Being the Messenger Bird that she was, she learned about what happened to Ciel on his family. She felt bad for him, but surely that couldn't have made him forget how to smile?

She went up and flicked him on the forehead.

Ciel grabbed his forehead and glared at her.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Rioko gave him a stern look as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You didn't forget how to smile, you've simply chose to throw that thought away" she said.

"No one can forget how to express an emotion like that, it's in our instincts. You just threw that instinct away when you became the Earl of Phantomhive. Childish emotions are useless to you and whatever is childish to you, you just throw it aside"

Ciel bit his lip, having someone like her read right through him. She was right. After what happened to him and his family, he threw those childish feelings aside. Smiling and being cheerful wasn't going to find the person who killed his parents and put him through all that torture.

Rioko sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know what goes on in that head of yours" she said.

"But for my own sanity, I'd rather not know"

Sayuri and Sebastian just watched as their masters looked at each other without saying anything.

It amazed them sometimes how similar, yet different they could be. They were like each other's Yin and Yang. Ciel was the darkness while Rioko was the light.

This was bound to be a very interesting relationship.

/

Downstairs, Grell looked at himself in mortification. Elizabeth had dressed him up in a white frilly dress with a matching ribbon in his hair.

"T-this is…such a humiliating outfit!" he cried.

Bard, who was dressed up as a sailor, patted him on the shoulder.

"Just give up on it" he said.

Grell had anime tears running down his face.

"This girlish, infantile, white color…"

He suddenly looked determined.

"If I were to dress up, I wish it were a passionate red!" he declared.

"With a plunging neckline and slit up the skirt!"

Aki made a face.

"Is that what you're so upset about?" she asked.

"If I were you, I would be more concerned about wearing a dress"

Grell seemed to ignore her and headed towards the window.

"If my only other choice is to live in shame, I would rather die!"

He expected them to stop him, but when no one came, he looked over his shoulder to see that they were just standing there.

"Y-You're not going to stop me?" he asked.

"Why should we?" Aki asked.

"You're just doing it to gain attention"

Grell had more anime tears running down his face.

Meanwhile, Mey-Rin was helping Elizabeth get dressed up. The young girl was all bubbly.

"I'm sure blue will look good on Ciel" she said.

"I feel in love with the clothes I bought while I was shopping in London"

She turned to Mey-Rin.

"All right, it's your turn next to me adorable!"

She went to grab Mey-Rin's glasses, but the maid quickly backed away.

"I'm really farsighted, and I can't see anything without my glasses!" she said.

Elizabeth just smiled and went to grab her glasses again.

"You don't have to see in order to have fun" she said.

"Leave her be" Ciel said.

Elizabeth looked up the stairs to see Ciel wearing the fancy blue outfit that she picked out for him.

Rioko covered a snicker that was forming in her throat. Sayuri gave her a stern look to warn her.

Elizabeth's eyes sparkled when she saw her fiancé.

"Ciel! You really are adorable!" she squealed.

She spun him around when he came down the stairs.

"I judged rightly!" she said.

She stopped when she saw Ciel wearing his family ring.

"Oh my" she said.

"Ciel, where is the ring that brought you? There was a cute one to match your clothes!"

Ciel pulled his hand away and touched his ring.

"This ring is fine" he said.

At hearing that, Elizabeth started throwing a fit.

"No! I went to so much trouble to make everything cute, but the ring isn't cute at all!"

Aki's eye twitched while she slowly reached for her gun. Sayuri saw this and grabbed her wrist, shaking her head in the process.

"No killing noble ladies" she warned.

"I've told you that before"

Aki scoffed and crossed her arms.

"You ruin my fun" she muttered.

Rioko went up to Elizabeth and decided to spare her colleague. True, it was fun seeing him being harassed, but over something like his ring was a little ridiculous.

"I don't see what the problem is" she said.

"It's the same color as his outfit, so it should match. What's wrong with what he wears on his hands?"

"Because it isn't the one that I picked out!" Elizabeth pouted.

Rioko sweat dropped at that. She never realized how annoying this girl was until just now.

"Throwing a fit over a stupid ring" she thought.

"I think I'm starting to feel sorry for Ciel…key word is starting to"

"You won't wear the ring that a brought you!" Elizabeth cried.

"You're so cruel!"

Ciel sighed, knowing a headache was forming in his head.

"That's not it" he said.

"This ring is-"

As he was talking, Elizabeth managed to snatched the ring off his finger.

"Got it!"

Both Ciel and Rioko looked surprised and alarmed. This girl had to be either really brave or really stupid to take an Earl's ring from him.

Elizabeth looked at the ring and examined it.

"Yes, it's far too big!" she said.

"The one I picked out is perfectly-sized and-"

"Give it back!" Ciel snapped.

The young Earl looked angry as he held his hand out.

"Give that back, Elizabeth" he said.

Elizabeth looked upset at Ciel's sudden change of mood.

"W-why are you so angry?" she asked.

"I went through so much trouble"

Ciel just glared at her, which made her take a step back.

"What?" she asked.

"All I did was try to make you adorable! Why are you so angry?"

Before anyone knew it, Elizabeth did the unthinkable.

"I hate this stupid ring!"

In her anger, she chucked the ring to the ground, causing the gem to shatter.

Everyone gasped in horror.

Rioko instinctively touched her ring to make sure it was safe. It was all she had left to the mother that she never knew.

Ciel simply snapped when he saw his beloved ring destroyed.

In his anger, he raised his hand in attempt to slap her, but Sebastian suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist.

"Young Master…" Sebastian said.

Rioko went in front of Elizabeth protectively while the poor girl herself was crying.

Ciel calmed down a bit to the point where it deemed safe for Sebastian to let go of him.

He went over to Elizabeth and bowed before her.

"That ring was very important to my master" he explained.

"The head of the Phantomhive family passed it down for generations. It was one-of-a-kind. Please forgive my master's rudeness"

Elizabeth gasped in horror when she heard this.

"I…I destroyed such a precious ring…?" she asked.

Ciel picked it up and examined it for a second before walking towards the window that Grell opened earlier.

Everyone watched in curiosity to what the young Earl was doing.

"Ciel, I.." Elizabeth began.

Everyone gasped when they saw Ciel toss his ring outside.

Elizabeth ran up to Ciel.

"Ciel, how could you do that?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter" Ciel said.

"It was just an old ring"

He walked away from the window.

"Even without that thing…I'm still head of the Phantomhives" he said.

Sebastian wore a proud smirk when he saw how determined his master was.

Rioko and her servants wore similar ones on their faces. For all the tough exterior he put up, he sure knew how to mask how upset he was.

Elizabeth was still crying over breaking such a precious heirloom.

Ciel sighed and went up to her.

"How long are you going to cry?" he asked.

He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes.

"Your face is a mess" he said.

"And you call yourself a lady?"

He smirked slightly.

"I don't fancy asking a lady with such a messy face to dance…" he said.

Elizabeth looked stunned.

"Ciel…" he said.

Just then, music started playing. Everyone looked to see Sebastian playing the violin at the top of the stairs. The music was so beautiful that it was as if a professional player was doing it.

"H-how wonderful!" Grell said.

"I'll join him!"

He went by the stairs and started singing like a soprano opera singer. That caused all the servants to fall over anime style.

"What the hell?" Bard cried.

"He's a klutz when it comes to doing chores, but he can sing like that?" Aki asked.

Ciel held his hand out to Elizabeth.

"Soiree etiquette is to forget all the unpleasant things and dance the night away, right, my lady?" he asked.

Elizabeth smiled brightly at that and accepted his hand.

The two of them went into the center of the room and started dancing. It seemed that Sebastian and Sayuri's teaching paid off. Ciel danced professionally without stepping on Elizabeth's feet.

The atmosphere caused the others to start dancing as well. Finni danced with Tanaka and swung him around.

Sayuri giggled at the sight.

"It seemed like everyone is having fun" she said.

Aki rolled her eyes.

"If you call dressing up, hearing an annoying girl whine and everyone dancing to be fun" she said.

Sayuri gave her sister a smile.

"Aw, don't say that" she said.

"You look cute as a pirate captain"

Aki's eyebrow twitched.

"Don't start" she said.

Sayuri just giggled.

Aki just sighed in defeat.

"I take it you want to dance too?" she asked.

Sayuri wore a small smile.

"It does look fun" she admitted.

"And you are dressed for the part"

Aki sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Your mind scares me sometimes" she said.

"But I guess I'll let you have your fun"

She took her hat off and bowed dramatically to her sister.

"Will you honor me with this dance, oh sister of mine?"

Sayuri giggled and accepted her sister's hand.

"I would love to"

The two sisters danced as well. It would have seemed awkward if they were at a fancy party, but since they were dancing among friends, it was normal.

They danced the night away until everyone was exhausted.

/

Elizabeth had fallen asleep by the time their little ball was over.

Grell put her in a carriage and made sure she was comfortable before he faced his colleagues.

"I-I shall take responsibility for escorting Lady Elizabeth home" he said.

"You gonna be alright?" Bard asked.

Grell nodded.

"Yes" he said.

"I'm a more deadly efficient butler that I look"

His eyes sparkled at Sebastian.

"That's right-Sebastian, I've learned from what you what it means to be a butler!"

Sebastian just sweat dropped and cringed when he came too close to his face.

Aki rolled her eyes.

"Seriously" she muttered.

Grell turned to her and gripped her hands.

"And you, Aki" he said.

"You've helped me out too! With your strict disciplinary, I've became more alterative to my surroundings. You're truly the true example of a gentleman"

Aki's eyes bugged out when she heard this.

Gentleman?

"Excuse me?" she snapped.

It was bad enough that she wasn't well endowed like her sister, but to be mistaken as a male by this idiot was a stab to her pride.

Rioko bit her fist to prevent herself from laughing.

Grell was simply smiling as he held Aki's hands.

"They say that before a person dies, his life flashes before his eyes" he said.

"I'm sure that if I die, the dreamland I saw tonight will flash before me over and over!"

Aki snatched her hands away in disgust.

"How thoughtful of you" she said sarcastically.

Everyone watched as Grell drove off with Elizabeth.

Ciel sighed.

"Good grief, what a rotten day" he said.

Rioko smirked.

"You seemed like you were enjoying it" she said.

Ciel scoffed.

"Don't be a fool" he said.

Rioko shrugged.

"Whatever you say" she said.

"Just remember that denial will get you nowhere"

She gestured towards the hand that once held his ring.

"Like when you acted like it wasn't a big deal when Elizabeth broke your ring and you made it seemed like it was no big deal, yet you were going to smack her moments before"

Ciel's eyes harden at that.

"Are you trying to start a war with me?" he asked.

Rioko held her hands up in mock surrender.

"Heavens no" she said.

She gripped his shoulder tightly.

"Although I will give you some words of advice" she said.

"Like you said, even without that ring, you're still head of the Phantomhives. Just don't forget to still be you. You may be an Earl, but you have to remember to still be yourself. Be the Ciel that you know and love. If you don't, life will just be miserable and you'll start to question what your purpose in life is"

Ciel gave her a serious stare. He didn't want to admit that she had a point. He knew he was still Ciel, but there were days where he felt like he wasn't and was just the head of his family. It made him wonder why he took it so seriously when he should have been focusing on finding the person who ruined his true self.

"And you would know all of this because?"

Rioko gave him a mysterious smile.

"Take it from someone who has experience" she said.

She stifled a yawn behind her had.

"I'll take that as are queue to head home" Sayuri said.

She bowed respectfully to Ciel and Sebastian.

"Thank you for such a wonderful evening. It was truly marvelous" she said.

Sebastian bowed in return.

"It is us, who should be thanking you" he said.

"If it wasn't for you, I'm sure the poor master wouldn't know how to dance properly"

Sayuri smiled shyly but didn't say anything.

Everyone parted ways before calling it a night.

As the Junshinto family was heading back to their home, Aki was cursing up a storm over Grell.

"That no-good, four eyed, sick mother-"

Before she could finish, Sayuri covered her mouth.

"Watch your mouth" she warned.

Aki scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"That house is full of nut jobs" she said.

Sayuri nodded in agreement.

"That is true" she said.

Rioko smiled.

"But it does make things fun" she admitted.

Everyone nodded at that.

It was fun and there was more to come soon.

/

A/N: Poor Aki, having Grell think she's a boy. If it wasn't so funny, I'd feel bad for her. I think this is probably the longest chapter I've written so far. Hopefully, they'll get longer.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Ja ne!