(A/Ns: This chapter took me ridiculously long. I do not know why. I just wrote incredibly slowly. So, this is the penultimate chapter, and if you've read the public school arc of black butler, you might be able to take a pretty decent guess at what happens in the last chapter. I can't promise the next chapter will be quick, because my exams start next week. And yes, I start practising my descriptive writing here. It's in my exam; it counts as revision ok :3 Anyway, this chapter is a bit mixed up, but it all leads to the last chapter where all shall be revealed! Finally, the bit in italic is a flashback, because I just had to include William. Oh, and just to clarify, the mock exams they do in this chapter aren't their actual exams. Trust me, I haven't forgotten my own plot; it's all written down in my sacred FF notebook!

Please review! Thank you so much to the person who reviewed twice (sort of :p) you know who you are! Seriously, it really motivates me, especially to hear that you're enjoying it. And I apologise about the things which bother you *sigh* if only I could read minds...

Content warnings: mild swearing, major spoilers for Pandora Hearts manga, references to drinking, vomiting (for any emetophobics) and hinted ElliotxLeo yaoi

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)

Chapter 7

"Ugh… last night was the worst idea ever…" Oz groaned, his hand moving up sluggishly to support his throbbing head, "How much did we even drink?"

"Too much…" Gilbert replied as he drug his fingers through his hair, "Whose idea was it?"

Charles raised his hand slowly, leaning on the gazebo behind Oz.

Gilbert sighed, glancing around the surrounding area at the 7 living corpses. On the opposite side of the gazebo, Ciel and Alois were both leaning precariously against one of the pillars, their faces grim and fitting in well with the dismal atmosphere. The two had given up with their fag duties for that current moment in time, abandoning the prefects in favour of trying not to collapse. Charles was also with them on that one, but had at least opted for one of the pillars behind Oz, internally wishing he'd be able to sit down.

On the sofa in from of him, Oz and Gilbert were both slumped beside each other, a text book lying over Oz's face and another on the floor. Across from them, Elliot and Leo were both leaning against each other's shoulders, ignoring the occasional suspicious or judgemental glance from the rest of the group. Finally, diagonal to them, Break was perched on his normal chair, his body stretched out exhaustedly with his legs dangling freely over the adjacent arm, a hand resting lightly over his stomach.

"You do realise the two of you basically admitted you were in a secret relationship last night, right?" Alois teased; minus the usual enthusiasm, of course. He shot a sidelong glance to Elliot, who whipped around to face him hastily.

"Huh?! What the hell are you saying?!" Elliot yelled in outrage, flinching slightly as his headache worsened, "How can you be so patronising when you're so hungover anyway?"

"Oh please, I threw it all up this morning…" Alois muttered, "Besides, patronising people is one of my many talents."

"You mean one of your few talents," Ciel corrected nonchalantly, and if he'd retorted with slightly more enthusiasm, it would've been a pretty good comeback, "But Alois has got a point, for once I must confess."

"Shut up!" Elliot shouted, his headache practically screaming at him stop being so aggressive as it throbbed painfully again, "Ouch… I can't even be arsed with this."

"Well, let's face it Elliot," Leo started dully, "They're not stupid, so is there really any point in hiding it?"

"Shut up Leo," Elliot repeated, with slightly less volume than last time. He felt his face redden slightly, Leo giving him a reassuring glance before he drew in a deep breath, "Fine… whatever. Call it whatever you want. I'm not denying it."

"Fuck buddies? Friends with benefits? Lovers? Boyfriends? Bum buddies? There's a whole list of things I could run through, so leaving it as an ambiguous decision probably isn't the best idea," Alois smirked devilishly, "Just pick a label, or I'm doing it for you."

"Go with lovers; that's the best one," Leo decided from beside Elliot, bringing his legs up to his chest and resting his arms on his knees.

"Huh?!" Elliot yelped, flinching violently away from Leo and glaring at the other, mentally begging for his blush to just go away, "What the hell? 'Lovers' implies we're screwing!"

"Well…" Leo countered, his expression stoic as always, "Technically-"

Elliot slammed a hand over Leo's mouth, silencing him abruptly and gritting his teeth. "They don't need to know anymore, Leo."

The blonde felt as Leo pouted within his hand, his body sinking back against his shoulder as they resumed their previous position, knowing full well they had nothing to hide anymore.

The area fell into silence again, everyone feeling too dead inside to continue speaking.

"What's with this zombie apocalypse vibe, jeez…" Charles spoke over the silence, "I get you're all hungover but seriously, you could've put in a little bit of effort."

"Eh? You drank more than all of us," Oz commented drearily, pulling the textbook off his face and discarding it to the floor, "You weren't sick this morning either. I don't get it."

"It's easy," Charles told him, "I've just got a really high alcohol tolerance. It's called practice. But trust me, in some ways, I'd wish I could get it out of me."

"Seconded," Break groaned, his eyes still resting shut, "I don't think I've ever drank so much in my life~"

"Aren't the two of you still adolescents though?" Ciel questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh please," Charles laughed lightly, "No one can control me."

"Once again, I agree~" Break hummed, "But last night, I regret."

"Have any of you done your final mock exams yet today?" Ciel asked, trying to keep the conversation consistent, "I know ours went badly."

"I slept through it," Break announced, almost proudly, "I couldn't think of anything to write."

"We had ours," Gilbert added, "I probably could've done a bit better, but I suppose it's only the mocks so the grades aren't recorded, thankfully."

"Haha, mine was brilliant," Alois chuckled, "I wrote the entire essay on how shit the poem was."

Gil glanced upwards, staring judgementally at the other. "Why?" he deadpanned, "I told you not to do that."

"I know, but the question was 'How does the poet present the theme of power in this poem?', so I just listed all the reasons why it didn't."

"…"

"You're going to fail so miserably," Charles mocked.

"As if I care," Alois scoffed, "I've got money."

"Of course you do," Gilbert responded bitterly, "We all do. Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"That's not the point!" Oz intervened, "Argh… we have our mock exam after this."

"Which one is it?" Charles asked, running a hand through his hair and leaning over into his bag, "I'll see if I can memorise anything last minute."

"It's science," Oz groaned as he dug the palms of his hands into his eye sockets, "Mainly the calculations."

"Screw that," Charles muttered, chucking the book comically onto the ground and folding his arms over again, "I'm too hungover to read."

Once again, the gazebo collapsed into a thick silence, no one really making an effort to speak. Charles dropped onto the floor, folding his legs over in front of him after finally deciding he couldn't be bothered to stand for any longer. Along with him, Alois also chose to sat, squatting in favour of keeping his pristine white uniform the same colour. Ciel remained standing up, keeping some sort of dignity despite knowing no one was really paying any attention.

Meanwhile, in front of him, Elliot and Leo had both fallen asleep, their heads lulling onto one another's shoulders as they effectively passed out. No one there quite knew how much the two of them had drunk last night, but for some reason it seemed as though the alcohol might not have been the only thing which stole their energy.

Break sat up slightly, crossing over his legs and shifting; an unsatisfied and uncomfortable expression spread across his face. He spoke up, "Ciel. Tea~?"

Internally, Ciel groaned. "Yes, of course," he responded plainly, wandering over to the tea tray and preparing it, "Are you sure you're okay to drink it?"

"Eh, I'm thirsty," Break shrugged, "I haven't eaten or drunk anything since last night, after all~"

"Whatever you say…" Ciel accepted reluctantly, continuing to do as he'd been ordered.

"How much longer before we have to go back?" Gilbert asked, facing Alois expectantly.

Alois frowned, pathetically lifting his wrist and reading his watch. "About 5 minutes."

"Alright, I'm off," Gil announced, standing up and picking up his bag, swaying a bit and leaning on the sofa for support. He blinked a few times, before successfully regaining his balance and proceeding to leave.

"I'm not supposed to follow?" Alois called over to him, grinning on the inside to himself.

"No."

"Well that was just mean…" Alois pouted, tilting his head back against the pillar.

Ciel finished preparing Break's shortly after, handing it to other cautiously and bowing discreetly as he was supposed to, before stepping back and resuming his duty. A few moments later, however, Break leaned forward, placing the still almost full tea cup back on to table and leaning back against the chair.

"Ugh," he grunted, holding a hand up to partially cover his mouth, "At least I know it's not blood this time… if you'll excuse me."

Abruptly, Break stood up, his hand sliding away from the arm of the chair as he hurried off towards the adjacent building.

Charles snorted derisively, watching as Break sped up before disappearing around the corner with a hand over his stomach. "I think this officially declares me as the strongest drinker out of everyone."

"I'm not competing again," Alois murmured from the floor, grimacing, "I guess Gilbert gets to watch that guy puking now."

"Should one of us help him?" Ciel proposed, not quite sure he was up for the job himself.

"He doesn't like people helping him," Oz countered, shooting Ciel an uneasy glance, "It's weird, really… the moment you offer him help, it's like he doesn't need anyone else. But then, he treats other as though they do. It's… contradictory behaviour, really. I find Break really strange, sometimes."

"Hmph, don't we all," Elliot mumbled, his eyes still closed shut.

"Oh, you're awake," Alois chuckled, "I thought you and that Leo kid were sleeping together."

Elliot glared threateningly at the other, disregarding his comment. "I'm not that hungover. It's Leo who's the light weight. His shitty ass stomach caused him to pass out like 5 times this morning."

"And I'm guessing his 'knight in shining armour' came to save him?"

"Huh? No! I left him lying on the floor the last couple of times."

"Oh, aren't you nice."

Meanwhile, around the corner of the building, Gilbert had just been taking drag of the freshly lit cigarette when Break came sprinting around the corner.

However, before he could even ask any more questions, Break leant over the bushes cutting off the small pathway, retching over them as he emptied the contents of his stomach, which was – admittedly – just acid and bile.

Instead of helping, Gilbert simply stood there, kicking his leg back and leaning against the wall, continuing to smoke his cigarette absentmindedly.

"Well this is a sight I never thought I'd ever see."

Gilbert turned around at the voice immediately, spotting Reim turning the corner to where they stood.

"I'm with you on that one," Gilbert confided, "It's impressive though."

"And stupid," Reim deadpanned, "Why did he even drink that much? I know Oz mentioned that there would be alcohol, but I thought he'd apply at least a touch of self -restraint."

"He and Charles found another thing to compete with…" Gilbert exhaled, taking one last drag from the cigarette before dropping it onto the floor, snuffing it out with the heel of his shoe, "They wanted to see who had the highest alcohol tolerance."

"Huh, I see… poor Charles."

"No. Charles won."

Wordlessly, Reim shot Gilbert the most perplexed look ever, his eyes so concentrated; almost as if he were contemplating his entire life. "That can't be true if Charles was 17 like he said…"

"Then he probably isn't," Gilbert commented, "I think the bell goes in a moment, I should get back to the gazebo."

"Wait, I need to talk to you and Xerx about something quickly," Reim held him back, lifting his hand; a white envelope folded and held between two fingers, "I'll just wait until Xerx finishes his…. business."

Only a few seconds later, Break eventually finished, dry heaving once more before staggering backwards against the wall, his back colliding heavily with bricks as he panted. He raised a hand, wiping his mouth the sleeve of his wrist. Eyes squinting down at the bushes, Break asked quizzically, "There's no blood in that, right?"

"No, just acid," Reim grimaced, "What on earth were you thinking last night?"

"I hate to break it to you, Reim, but it was my understanding that the only person I could beat in the way of drinking was you," Break answered, chuckling casually, "Fufu… apparently, I was very wrong."

"Whatever," Reim dismissed, rolling his eyes, "I don't want to keep telling you off; especially when this entire ordeal ends tonight."

Break and Gilbert both froze, Gilbert being the first to react. He sighed, shoulders dropping in relief. "Thank god that's over. How do you know, though?"

"The Headmaster said he'd send a letter when the time came," Reim explained, "It's an invitation to Ciel, Alois and Charles to attend the Midnight Tea Party tonight."

"Do you know what will happen?" Gilbert asked uneasily.

Reim shook his head regretfully. "I'm afraid not, no."

"I see…" Break hummed, smirking, "Well that guy is good at scheming, after all. I'm sure something interest will happen~"

"If something does happen, please just… fight normally?" Reim pleaded, "I'd rather not have to carry you back to the carriage and then haul you whilst passed out through Pandora. Sharon will be worried, and I'll end up having to take responsibility."

"Haah… asking me to do something 'normally' is like asking me to stop breathing," Break chuckled, "But I promise I won't do anything else stupid~"

"You said that the first time," Reim sighed, holding the envelope out to Gilbert. Hesitantly, the raven took it, scanning over the invitation briefly. "I have to get back now. I've been summoned. Please make sure you're waiting there at midnight, if possible beforehand. And remember to look presentable."

"Ugh, that means putting in effort~" Break pouted, "That's really not one of my strong points, you know, Reim~"

"Just please wear something suitable. It's the Headmaster's request."

"Fine."

"I will be off now then," Reim said, turning on his heel swiftly and wandering away, "Remember to give that to the others."

"You ready?" Gilbert asked, watching as the other swayed slightly against the wall, his face pale – well, paler than usual at least, "You not gonna die?"

"Oh please," Break snorted, steadying himself on two feet and wandering away from Gilbert, "I'm not ready to die quite yet, so don't think you can get away from me so easily. Although, I must say, in my current condition, death seems slightly preferable over this eternal suffering also known as a hangover."

"Okay then…" Gilbert muttered, following him out from behind the building and back to the gazebo.

"You're back," Oz acknowledged grimly, the school bell interrupting him mid-sentence, "Haah… never mind."

"Yeh, but before you go, I need to give something to you guys quick. Mr Lunettes just visited me," Gil announced, lifting his hand and holding up a thick piece of paper, grabbing the attention of Ciel, Alois and Charles.

"Come on Gil, just get straight to the point~" Break mocked, plucking the invitation and passing it to Ciel, glancing down at him with a devilish smile, "How would you and your friends like to pay us a visit at the Midnight Tea Party tonight?"

Ciel's eyes widened instantly, the blurred image of Alois smirking discreetly making its way into the corner of his vision. Soon after, a sly grin twitched across his own lips, as he accepted courteously, "We'd be honoured."

….

"Well then, it looks like they're all set."

Sebastian gazed out into the night, the stars shining bright in contrast to the pitch black sky in the background. The moon was full, beaming brightly and illuminating the small garden beneath where the 4 of them stood on the top of the chapel a safe distance away.

Inside this garden, there was a long table, four brick walls decorated with overgrown ivy topping it off, the only entrance being a rusty black gate. Along the edges of the table, there were several chairs, exactly opposite each other and each accessorised with a tea cup and plate. Candles were lit along the centre of the table in a dead straight row, despite not being necessary.

At the end of the table, there was a slightly larger chair – almost like a throne – with several jewels donning the arms. In it sat an unrecognisable silhouette, the five chairs around it occupied by Gilbert, Oz, Break, Elliot and Leo. The group's chatter was idle; their voices unfortunately too far away to hear clearly.

Both Leo and Elliot wore the same clothes, except with a purple ribbon added to Leo's collar. Oz had worn his signature formal attire, the dress shorts falling just beneath the long velvet blazer. Similarly, Gilbert had stuck with the same black suite he always picked out when formality was a necessity, a cigarette dangling between his fingers; burning away and drifting up into the night sky, as he laid back in his chair. Lastly, Break had clipped his hair back, discarding the violet cloak in favour of his usual suite, his sword tucked neatly away beneath the clothing.

"So, er… why're we here again?" Ronald asked, leaning on his death scythe – the lawnmower – and readjusting his glasses, "That don't seem too suspicious…"

"Oh Ronnie, do you not remember our little trip earlier~?" Grell purred, faking offense.

"Well, yeh, bu-"

"What is your meaning?" Sebastian interjected, thinning his crimson red eyes at the pair distrustfully, "What have the two of you been up to?"

"Oh don't be so uptight, Bassy~" Grell chuckled, fiddling with a strand of hair between two fingers, "Ronnie and I only took a quick glance at some of their cinematic records, mhmm~"

"How innovative…" Sebastian muttered to himself, "What did you find out?"

"Ohhh! Where to start~!" Grell beamed, "Well my dear Bassy, firstly, that Elliot has had the most dreary life of them all, hauled up in an aristocracy. There's been one or two strange incidents with himself and that Leo boy, but nothing out of the ordinary. Oh, and speaking of Leo, his life I just so tragic. Alone and abandoned when he was 12, poor boy!"

"Grell, calm down," Ronald hushed, face palming and shaking his head at Sebastian, "Anyway, tha' Gilbert, yeh, well his was weird. There's a massive gap… and then some other records from a hundred years ago or somethin' like tha'. There's also some brother called 'Vincent', but, it was kinda weird…"

"I see… what about Oz? I know Undertaker mentioned he couldn't find Break, but-"

"I found him."

Grell, Ronald and Sebastian's head all whipped around to face Undertaker, the silver haired reaper having distanced himself from the rest of the group. He stood bang in the middle of the roof, balancing perfectly; his eyes fixed dedicatedly on the distance.

"And how exactly did you manage that?" Sebastian interrogated, "Has this something to do with your 'method' you told me of recently?"

"Hehe~" Undertaker chuckled, a smirk stretching at his lips with his back still turned, "Something along those lines~"

…..

"What do you think you are doing here? You certainly do have a lot of nerve to dare setting foot in here."

"Hehe, you're just as uptight as I remember you, Mr William T. Spears~" Undertaker mocked, wandering casually past the other and making his way to the large double doors. He placed a hand on the handle, turning around to face the other reaper once again and grinning, "I came here a little while ago to do some research on a certain individual, you see~"

"Oh, really?" William frowned, raising a hand and pushing his glasses further up his face, "Despite your reasoning, however valid, deserters are not allowed to set foot in the Grim Reaper Library of Cinematic Records. I'm afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'm sure you'd be willing to make an exception."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"The quicker you tell me what I want to know, the quicker I'll get out of here~" Undertaker bargained.

William scowled harshly, opening the book which was previously tucked underneath his arm and flicking through the pages to the contents. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"I'm looking for someone who goes by the name of 'Xerxes Break.' I already checked that name, you see, but he wasn't there. I was hoping you'd tell me something more~"

"And what makes you think that I know any more than you?"

"It's my understanding that he is part of a contract, but not one to a demon of sorts. No, this is something else, and I have the strongest feeling that it has something to do with his dead family."

William shifted uncomfortably, closing the book and replacing it to the crook of his elbow. "There are many cases where there are gaps of the human's cinematic record, or where their soul had mysteriously disappeared after making a contract with something inhuman, which is still unidentifiable to us. It is most troublesome when it does occur; so much paperwork and overtime. The forensics department did look into it, but… they did not uncover anything."

"I see… and out of those people, do any of them mention someone called the 'Intention of the Abyss' frequently in their human lives?"

"There is… one person," William answered reluctantly, leading Undertaker across the room, approaching one of the shelves and browsing through the names, before finally reaching someone named 'Kevin Legnard', and pulling their book from the shelf, "This person has caused the Grim Reaper Dispatch Association nothing but trouble, if I'm honest. A little while ago, they returned from nowhere, after having 'died' a long time. The investigation, was dropped, however, if you look through it, there is a lot about the deity you mentioned."

Undertaker paused for a moment, before turning his back to William, leaving the other alone with the book still open in his hand. "Thank you, William. That information was indeed useful, hehe~"

.

"Ohhh, how I miss Will~" Grell sulked, collapsing dramatically onto Ronald's shoulder, "I can't believe you saw him and we didn't!"

"Er… wouldn't he jus' be mad tha' we bunked off for so long?" Ronald pointed out.

"Hmph," Grell pouted, "Whatever."

"Did you find anything about Oz?" Sebastian asked, redirecting his gaze to Grell and Ronald.

"We found him, but it was very strange. Far too confusing for me~" Grell explained.

"Really?" Sebastian cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Oh I don't know. All the dates and times just kept jumping around and changing. It was such a headache, so we just gave up in the end."

"Hm… alright," Sebastian murmured dissatisfiedly in response, his ear perking up at the sound of footsteps, "Ahh… the clock has struck midnight, and Ciel, Alois and Charles are arriving. So, be alert. From here on out… anything could happen."

….

"Welcome~" Break greeted, standing up and holding a hand out to Ciel, directing the three over to the table, "Please, take a seat. Be our guests~"

"Thank you," Ciel replied courteously, internally taking in his surroundings, the memories from the previous incidents at that location resurfacing, sending a subtle shiver down his spine, "If I may ask, why have you invited us here? As other students have mentioned to me, it is a true privilege to be invited to this."

"It is," Elliot dead panned, "Now sit down and be quiet."

"Elliot, no need to be so rude," Leo whispered harshly, turning around to smile friendlily across the table at Alois and Charles.

"Yeh! Even we don't really know what this is about. Don't be so mean!" Oz scolded, folding his arms over stubbornly.

"Please, stop arguing."

Ciel, Alois and Charles all rotated their heads simultaneously, their view locking on the figure at the end of the table.

Slowly, they stood up, the beige hood previously covering their face unveiling; once and for all revealing his face.

At first, he remained silent, grey eyes narrowing suspiciously at the three fags. Meanwhile, the three he was staring at were all scanning him up and down; for he had long, straight – with curled ends – red hair, the tips making contact with his waist. His attire was overly formal, gold and other fabrics hanging decoratively from his faded cream robe.

"Alright, enough with this silence," Charles interjected, his eyes locking directly on the Headmaster, who still remained anonymous, "Who are you, Mr Headmaster?"

For a moment, the figure kept still. However, after a short pause, he snorted derisively, picking up a black fan from the table and opening it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Charles Grey. My name is… Rufus Barma."