Wow… I've gotten so caught up about this whole drama business I've completely forgotten Grell hurt his ankle… Um… uh… er… well… reapers heal quickly, so I guess it healed? We'll just accept the fact it healed so I don't bore you to sleep with a long, un-eventful chapter… Anywho… continuing on with the story!


Chapter Eight

"N-no! Sebas-chan, you must have seen it wrong, I can't die!" Grell cried, sinking to his knees in dread and grabbing at Sebastian's hand weakly, feeling the oncoming tears spill over once more.

"Grell, stop," Sebastian instructed, when Grell glanced up at him, he looked Grell in the eye again and pulled him up, placing his hands on each of Grell's shoulders to steady him, wiping away Grell's tears with his ungloved hand, "Listen to me Grell, and listen to me well. That curse is not going to happen, and you are not going to die if I have anything to do with it, am I clear?" Sebastian asked,

"Y-you would do that for me?" Grell asked in surprise; the butler gave a small nod to signal he was serious and was nearly bowled over as Grell grabbed him in a hug, nuzzling into his chest and uttering the two words Sebastian had not heard in a long while:

"Thank you…" The reaper whispered.


After a few long moments, Sebastian heard an impatient sigh from the dining area Ciel was still in.

"Grell, please excuse me, I must go," Gently guiding the reaper to step back, Sebastian turned and almost ran to find Ciel still sitting alone at the table,

"It took you long enough, if I knew any better I'd say you were getting more and more compassionate towards it," Ciel muttered, staring, unimpressed, up at his demon butler. Sebastian leaned down to pick up the empty plates and straightened up in shock when Ciel drew a hand across the butler's face in a slap, punishment for leaving without command, Sebastian's eyes flashed the demonic pinkish-red and he was glad Ciel hadn't seen the quick colour change.

"I apologize, Bocchan, for taking so long, Grell had a slight issue I needed to take care of," Sebastian tried to keep the growl of irritation from his voice and ignored the action Ciel had taken to before. The little bra- noble had some nerve to bother Sebastian about his kindness towards Grell! Surely if Bocchan was in the situation Grell was, he wouldn't be so witty about it…

"Fine…" Ciel waved his hand dismissively but glanced up to the butler again, "I expect you to be back on schedule now and not worrying about that reaper? You've given enough trouble for one day; did I allow you to leave when that… thing screamed?" Sebastian fidgeted, if he was busy with the young noble, he wouldn't have as much time as possible to stop the curse from… He didn't want to think about what would happen to Grell if he didn't act soon enough. But how could he get out of having to follow the br- Bocchan around? Maybe if the child knew about the situation and danger Grell was in, he could get the time he needed… Ciel could deal with the other servants instead of a single butler for a while until this was all over. Sebastian was about to answer when interrupted by a thunder rumble outside and rain lashing at the windows in a sudden storm.

"Bocchan, if I may, Grell is in much danger…"

"Yes, and you want to slack off why?" Ciel growled, the uncovered eye narrowing.

"If I do not help to lift the curse from a soul he has collected, Grell is headed for sure death." Sebastian replied, thoughts of dread and slight worry for the reaper fogging his thoughts,

"Really?" For a moment, Ciel almost looked surprised, but it flipped right back to the usual scowl, "And how will helping the reaper benefit us, exactly?"

"Reapers can be very useful when helping, may I recall the time about rescuing your fiancé?" Sebastian asked, knowing mentioning Lizzie would pull a heart string, "We may need his assistance against." Ciel growled and muttered something 13 year old children shouldn't say, before sighing,

"Fine, but you will not involve me in any way, and also, Lizzie will be arriving tomorrow for a visit, her mother is going out on a hunting trip and would prefer if Lizzie stayed here," Ciel muttered. There was one weight lifted from Sebastian's shoulders.

"Thank-you, Bocchan," Sebastian bowed deeply, greatly thankful Ciel had agreed. He quickly yelled for the other servants

"Bard! Finny! Mei-Rin!"

"Yes Mr. Sebastian!" Three shouts came from different areas in the mansion and a quiet,

"Hohoho," Echoed as the three main servants and Tanaka assembled in the dining room,

"You three, I will be busy, and probably not around much for a while, you shall take care of Bocchan as well as I have, and you will do everything you can to help if something goes wrong… Am I clear?"

"But what if-" Finny started,

"I repeat, am I clear?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow, Finny nodded quickly, not wanting to give trouble. Sebastian nodded, gave a curt bow to everyone in the room, and left, heading back to the kitchen to see Grell kneeling with a wet dish towel, soaking up the spilt water from earlier. Looking around, he noticed the broom pan was filled with the glass shards from the plate to be disposed of, the broom leaning against the wall not that far off… Grell was actually quite productive when not clinging to him or being a nuisance. Sebastian saw a glimmer of movement in the reaper's eye as he cast a glance from the corner of his eye and noticed Sebastian, turning fully around with a shark-toothed grin.

"Couldn't stay away?" He teased; Sebastian rolled his eyes at Grell's regular attitude,

"Hardly… Come, we need to visit Undertaker," Sebastian gestured to the door and Grell stood up, slowly following. Here he was thinking Sebastian had finally warmed up to him, only to be ignored like a fleck of dust brushed away. After a bit of a walk in the soaking rain, the pair finally arrived at the old, dark building, coated in cobwebs. Sebastian raised his hand to knock, and was surprised when Grell walked right in before remembering Undertaker was a shinigami and others in that field of work were probably welcome any time.

"Undertaker!" Grell sang as he strolled casually through the dreary building before taking a seat on a coffin lid. He bounced up as though he'd seen a ghost when the coffin lid raised a little ways underneath him, and slammed shut, only to be replaced with a wild banging and shouting inside- Grell had sat on Undertaker's coffin; locking the legendary shinigami inside. Retreating beside Sebastian, Grell watched as the elder reaper rose from the coffin and gave a lunatic's grin, his silver hair gleaming in the dull light of the shop.

"Weeeelcome," He grinned, looking from the butler to the reaper, "What brings a beautiful lady and Mr. Butler here today?" Grell blushed deeply and flapped a hand at Undertaker,

"Oh Undertaker, you old flatterer," He giggled before turning to Sebastian, face turning somber, "Go on, tell him,"

"Would you rather step outside?" Sebastian asked, Grell thought about it, and nodded, slowly walking towards the door and settling himself outside to lean against the wall while he waited, making sure to stay under the overhang to keep dry. After around fifteen minutes, he leaned an ear against the door to listen in on the last bit of the conversation Sebastian and Undertaker were carrying on.

"So, you're finally beginning to give a little care for the reaper?" Came Undertaker's voice, keeping low and sad,

"Slightly, it's more the fact he can be such a big help when needed, like the time Lady Elizabeth was kidnapped by Drocell-" Sebastian was cut off as the door of the shop burst open to reveal Grell standing there, looking very upset as he stormed deeper into the shop towards Sebastian until he was a few feet away, Sebastian stared down at the little reaper as tears of betrayal collected in Grell's eyes.

"So, through all of this, me thinking you actually care for me… was just… just so you could use me for help again? I love you, Sebby! Can't you see all I want is for you to feel the same way back? Why would you do this to me!" And at those final words, a heart-broken Grell whirled around and tore from the shop.


6:30… in the morning? What the hell am I doing up at 6:30 in the morning… *facedesk*… YOU GUYS ARE LUCKY I LOVE MY FANS! But thank you everyone who's supported me through this and all the reviewers and subscribers… I stayed up all night writing this for you guys so I hope you enjoy it!