Kuro: *bangs her head against the wall* Must. Stop. Procrastinating.
Tamashii: *sits there eating gummy bears and watching the pitiful display*
William: Kuro does not own Kuroshitsuji or the characters.
Grell: She does own the plot and the non cannon characters scattered throughout this story.
Kuro: *continues to bang her head* Must. Make. This. Chapter. Acceptable.
Tamashii: I'm getting bored of this *sticks a pillow between the wall and Kuro's head* Start writing this chapter already.
Ronald: It's four in the morning. Let her sleep and write later.
Kuro: *bangs head against her desk* Too. Many. Plot. Bunnies. Cannot. Sleep.
Tamashii: If you give yourself a concussion then I will make you work twice as hard. Oh yeah, I'm taking your anime, manga, fanfiction, and music privileges away until you get back to updating this story. Another thing, start the story.
Kuro: *gives Tamashii puppy eyes* Fine...
~X~
William sighed as he leaned back against his chair. The disappearances of these humans were not what bothered him, however, the fact that the kidnapper was suspected to be a demon was something to worry about. If the demon was after the soul then wouldn't it be easier to just kill the girl and take her soul. What was the purpose in keeping her alive? No matter the reasoning, he would have to send someone to investigate this. He could not trust Grell with this alone and he was too busy to accompany the crimson haired shinigami. Eric and Alan perhaps? Maybe he would send Ronald and Jasmine. Then again was it wise to send a half demon into something like this? On the other hand, she would know more about this than any shinigami would. He needed to make a decision quickly if they wanted to keep the girl alive. Two experienced shinigami or sending in someone who had the knowledge. Perhaps sending all four would be his safest bet. Then again that would be a double edged sword. The fact that four would be going rather than just two made it more likely they would not be able to move in the manner they need to. This did not seem like it would be too big a problem. He had his decision. He stood from his desk, picking up the file as he did so, and started for the door. He could not shake the unease from his mind. He wanted to believe that it was just his imagination and that he was reading too much into a demon's behavior. But was that all it was? He knew demons could not be trusted. That was a simple fact that would never change, however, why go to the trouble of keeping the girl alive? That was the million dollar question that, as of now, had no answer. He pondered on this as he made his way through the many halls of the dispatch. Perhaps the demon was using her to lure them. If that was the case, then they would be walking right into the trap. What was the point in using the human as bait? It would be far more productive to just starting killing people and taking their souls. Was the girl special in some way? Before he knew it he was standing in front of Ronald's office. He knocked twice then opened the door. Ronald was sitting at his desk doing his work and Jasmine was napping on his couch. He knew that the two had been training and could understand that Jasmine would be tired. Still, that was no excuse to be sleeping when she had her own paperwork to be doing. William sighed and decided to let it slide this once. He was going soft.
"Do you need something, sir?" Ronald's voice cut into his thoughts.
"Yes. Wake your partner and come to Slingby's office." He said and shut the door, only to open it again and add "Make sure she isn't sleeping here again. She has her own work to do." Before closing the door a second time.
Ronald sighed and stood up stretching. "I know you are really awake."
"I was enjoying the silence." Jasmine mumbled, also getting up and stretching. Even though they were now a couple she enjoyed the peace that came with not talking. It was not like she never wanted to talk, but she had her moments when she just wanted to not be bothered by anyone.
"I know." Ronald stated as the two left his office and went one door over to Eric's office. Neither of them bothered to knock since the door was open. Ronald closed the door behind him and then took a seat next to Jasmine.
"Now that I have you all here." William started as he handed the file to Ronald. "I'm going to be honest here and I hate admitting this, but I have no idea what this demon wants. The only thing I care about is getting this girl back. If you can't get her, then at least bring back the soul. It would be preferable to kill the demon while you are at it." He paused as Ronald passed the file to Eric, who opened it and started reading over it with Alan. "Again we do not know what this demon is up to, so that is why I am sending all four of you. I want you to leave as soon as this meeting is over."
"It looks to me as though the demon is using this girl's soul as bait for us." Jasmine pushed her glassed back up her nose. "It would be wise to assume that there are more demons involved. They are setting an obvious trap."
"My thoughts exactly." William nodded. He would not admit that he had not considered multiple demons. "If there are no other questions or comments then you may leave." William stood and left the four alone in the room.
"Something seems weird about this." Alan commented as he skimmed over the file once more.
"Yeah. We should keep our guard up while we are on this case." Eric agreed. The four teleported into London and immediately began seeking out where the demon was hiding.
"We should split up. We can cover more ground that way." Ronald suggested.
"No. It is too risky." Eric said with a sharper tone than he had meant while Alan just shook his head.
"If it is a demon we are looking for I can probably find it." Jasmine sighed. She closed her eyes and let her senses roam over the large city. Any trace of the demon's presence she would find. It startled her briefly when an oddly familiar presence caught her attention. She felt her demon soul growing restless. She refused to give in though and continued the search. Was that it? The amount of malice radiating from that area...yes it must be. Hidden under all that she felt a pure soul. Weak, but alive. "Found them." She said, opening her eyes.
"Where are they?" Ronald questioned.
"Follow me." Jasmine leaped onto a roof and began racing along the rooftops with the other three right behind her. It was not long before they had reached their destination. They all four summoned their death scythes and cautiously entered the building. The evil aura was overwhelming their senses. There were at least three demons and the human girl. Once inside the building the four stayed in a tight diamond like formation. The building was a large warehouse, but surprisingly it was empty which made it easy to find the demons. The shinigami readied their scythes as they approached, keeping their backs covered with Eric leading. It seemed strange. The demons were simply waiting there for them with the girl at their leader's feet.
"Took you long enough." The silver haired demon sneered.
"Let's make this quick shall we?" The red eyed demon sighed, nudging the limp body at their feet.
Jasmine's eyes widened with fury when she was able to see the girl's face. It was Katy. "How dare you?!" She snarled, dropping her scythe and changing to her demon form. Lunging forward she was met head on by the silver haired demon, who had also changed, and was easily thrown aside. The large wolf towered over the tiny fox with his fangs against her neck. He was not breaking the skin, but it was a clear warning to the other shinigami that if they tried anything then she would die.
The raven demon sighed in annoyance. "You just can't keep that temper of yours in check, Morgan. Please learn some restraint. After all, we were going to be civil about this."
"I think it has taken an interesting turn." The third demon chuckled. "Let's let it play out, Aaron."
"As you wish."
Ronald flew at the wolf with his death scythe aimed to kill. He knew that Alan and Eric were going after the other demon. The wolf jumped away nimbly, easily avoiding the attack, but this gave Jasmine the opportunity to get up and change out of her demon form. There was no question that she was out matched. Besides, the less she changed into her demon form the better. He glanced over at Eric and Alan, surprised to see they had similar looks of fury to Jasmine's. Was he missing something here? Not waiting around to ask, he once more lunged forward in hopes of giving Jasmine time to get to her scythe. He landed a direct hit causing the wolf to stumble away. Jasmine was by his side again, her burning green-yellow eyes taking on a red hue that he had not seen before. Sure she had red in her eyes, but they were practically glowing right now. He was secretly frightened by the sight. She had fought with demons before, so what had her so angry? Alan and Eric, too, were clearly angry. He could worry about that later. For now he needed to save the girl's soul and kill the demons. He and Jasmine lunged forward at the same time, scythes at the ready, and cornered the demon. Morgan was not worried in the least, in fact, he seemed to be enjoying this. The large wolf bared his teeth and let out a low growl. The growl sent a shiver down Ronald's spine. It was an ominous sound. One that has the intent to kill. Jasmine did not hesitate to attack the fur covered demon. He pushed off with his powerful legs and sored into the air above the Shinigami. As he landed he turned back and lunged forward, but before he even reached the half demon a voice sounded above the chaos.
"Enough!"
Everyone froze. The three demons shared similar looks of annoyance and slight fear. They all turned to face the intruder, only to find Ciel Phantomhive and his demon butler. Morgan returned to his human form before he was roughly dragged away by Aaron and shoved behind James. The man in the trench coat was the first to speak up. "It has certainly been awhile since we have had the honor of seeing each other. What name do you go by now? Sebastian, was it?"
"I would not call it an honor to be in your presence." Sebastian said with a tone of disgust.
"Come now, Sebastian, don't be like that. I thought we were friends."
"Sebastian, stop chatting and get what we came for." Ciel huffed impatiently.
"Yes, My Lord." Sebastian stepped forward, his movements were slick as if he were gliding. His eyes held amusement as the lesser demons moved out of the way and the Shinigami readied their precious weapons. He stopped in front of Jasmine and smiled. A genuine smile. "Come with me now."
Jasmine froze, her grip loosening on the handle of her scythe, not making a move to stop her father as he removed the death scythe from her hands. Watching as he tossed it aside, she still made no move. Finding her voice, she whispered. "I…I can't…"
"Surely you do not feel as if you belong here?" Sebastian asked genuinely confused.
Jasmine thought about that. She really did feel out of place despite everything good that has happened. "Very well…" She whispered with tears in her eyes.\
~X~
Kuro: *hides* So…yeah I am still alive…
Ronald: She has been crazy busy and had writer's block
Kuro: *holds out all kinds of baked goods* Forgive me? Please review?
