HY: I'm so very sorry for the late update and getting back to everyone who reviewed, faved, etc. I don't know how other authors churn out chapters on a weekly basis, I really don't, anymore. Please accept two chapters (this one and the next) and hopefully it isn't too sappy in some parts *insert eyeroll* (I hope I made you lovely readers laugh as well) before I disappear under my terrible workload and not update for the next few months (sobs).

Don't own Kuroshitsuji plus the lovely cover image by Night's-Whisper18-san (thanks sooo much, dear!)

Hunting Arc 2 : Brotherly 'love'

Cripes! Three thirty!

I hurried with the meal Malum had prepared to the guests and the earl. Seriously, if Malum prepares the meals…what's Bard's use in the household…?

Everything was going smoothly. The Marchioness and the earl had some hunting competition where both of them tied. Malum had given me a small smile, which gave me some hope that the severity of his 'possible' punishment later would be …lighter…

I was on my way back to the manor when…

Sial…

I stopped. It wasn't Malum calling me. My hand slid into my vest, gripping a dining knife I hid there. "Who is it?" I quietly asked, my senses alert.

Fufufufu…you don't even recognise one of your brothers…?

A slight rustle from the bushes behind me made me swirl instantly, turning face to face with a –

bear…?

What the?

"Brother 4. What brings you here?" my voice was flat as I looked at the giant grizzly. Did Mother send him to see how Malum was doing as well…?

Sial…I was bored, so I wanted to see how you were doing…

I rolled my eyes. "Really? For your information, I am doing well. Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do." I turned away from him. Bastard! He only wants to see if I feel miserable where I am!

How prim and proper you are, Sial…And so well dressed too…

I stiffened. This wasn't good. Brother 4 was up to something…

Oh, you were serving guests…I'll go and see how tasty they are…

The hell you are!

I ran after the bear – Brother 4 must have seeped some of his spirit inside it. Didn't he know that he was going to face Malum's wrath? Then again, you can lump relatively half of my brothers together with the other three Phantomhive servants.

"Ehh?" came Lady Elizabeth's shout before she started screaming.

"Liz – !" shouted the earl. So, he's got some manliness in him after all…

Brother, you idiot! Stop it! Malum's there! I mentally cried at my idiotic Brother 4. But since he was an idiot…

Bang! The Marchioness fired her gun at the same time Malum threw a dinner knife – see, these knifes do come in handy! The knife stabbed the back of Bro – I mean – the bear's head.

By the way, it serves Brother 4 right for his stupid actions. I hid behind a tree, watching to see if everything was alright before I silently headed back to the manor, shaking my head.

Why the heck do I even have such an oaf for a brother…?

"Surprise, young Master!" cheered Maylene, Bard and Finny with Tanaka and I in the background. I was crossing my fingers, hoping both the earl and Malum weren't too displeased…

Which they were sweatdropping – hey, I tried my best to make the decorations look presentable already!

Eerily, it was the Marchioness who flashed a demonic gaze – I knew she had to be in league with Mother somehow…

Oh no…

"I came here specially to say this, but it looks like your servants have beaten me to it. Happy 13th Birthday, Ciel." This time her face turned tender.

"And also everyone, I'll be counting on you to take care of my daughter and husband in the future…"

I exhaled. So she was pleased with all of us…I suppose the sweet talking helped in a sense…

If wonders never occurred…Ciel, the grouch, actually laughed! So I suppose he was still a kid after all…

You know what the best part was? The Marchioness actually nagged at Malum for the service he provided today – the garden, the broken china (ooops…) and the burnt dinner…

Maybe I really was going to get it after all…I'm doomed…

While everyone was partying, Malum made his way into the side kitchen where he usually prepared his meals and I followed him. Might as well get any punishments over and done with…I sighed.

"Sial…"

"Yes, Brother…?" I swallowed.

"We have some questioning to do with a particular bear, I believe…," said Malum, cracking his knuckles.

At times like this, I suppose a bit of sibling "love" won't hurt…

"I think this is enough," spoke Malum, brushing his hands.

I felt really sorry for the bear having to undergo the ill treatment. My eldest brother had trapped Brother 4's soul inside the bear thus enabling him to fully torture Brother 4 for endangering "darling" – shudder – Ciel's life. Had Brother 4's soul not bound his soul to the bear temporarily, I'd say that Malum would have definitely killed the animal with his actions. I discreetly wiped away the blood which had sprayed on my cheek.

Brother 4 said nothing, maybe because Malum had dislocated the bear's jaw, or probably because he was scared…And so was I. My appetite for dinner completely vanished when Malum launched five percent of his fury onto Brother 4 for nearly killing his prized possession *meal*.

Another indirect lesson learnt : Don't mess with Malum's cats or that little brat. Other than that, you'll still survive.

"Sial, you can clean up the mess, right? I'll be going back to see if our guests are leaving." Malum threw one glare at the nearly dead bear, and withered the nearby bushes at the same time.

"I'll have to ask Finny to trim those shrubs…"

My eyebrow twitched. You idiot! Didn't you kill those bushes yourself? And I have to be the one handling the bear you pulverized! Clean up your own mess, damn it! Oh, but I realised another thing…Malum hadn't mentioned Ciel's presence as in calling him 'Young Master' in front of our brother.

I used telekinesis to drag the bear back into the forest, inwardly wincing the entire way. It was as good as dead, really. Even if it managed to survive the night, that bear wouldn't be able to hunt any longer…

When I'd decided I was far enough, I dumped the bear under a tree and began to walk off.

Looks like brother Malum has been domesticated, huh?

I froze in my tracks. Was Brother 4 catching onto something? If he told Mother the truth of why Malum was here, as in his suspicion of Malum's attachment to Ciel…Hell would freeze over. I think Mother definitely had her suspicions, which was why she sent me over…But what about Brother 4? Did he come here of his own free will or Mother also sent him? I turned back to look into a shadowy figure of Brother 4 who was slowly releasing himself from his entrapment – the bear was probably dead already, and smirked.

"Malum is interested in having a fine gourmet meal. You don't expect him to roam the world in his actual form or appear to people the same way you took over a bear's body, do you?" I heightened my senses, just in case he tried to beat me up, but from Malum's lesson I didn't think he had enough strength to do anything just yet.

My other brother scowled at my taunting and mentally retorted, Oh, so just because you're under his protection you can act cocky towards me, huh? Just because you wormed yourself into his bed you think he'll protect you?

Wormed myself into Malum's bed…? WHAT? I hatefully glared at Brother 4, trying to still my body from trembling slightly. What the hell did he take me for?

His scent is all over you…You must have been quite the experience, thanks to our tutelage...He sneered.

My jaw was clenched and my fingernails dug into the palms of my hands. He just had to bring up those memories, didn't he? Damn that bastard! If only I was more experienced in combat I would have pulverized him!

You're a fool, Sial. Malum won't take a weakling like you under his wing even if you're writhing under him in bed.

Your name befits your existence…

Brother 4's words faded away as he dissipated into thin air.

Your name befits your existence…

I stood there for awhile as Brother 4's words mocked me in every direction.

"What a mess!" I groused when I opened the door to the garden shed – the first time I'd actually been here. After standing on the hunting grounds like a fool after my brother's callous words, I didn't feel like going back to the manor. I didn't want to look at Malum either. All I felt like doing was hiding somewhere, wanting to puke my guts out…and be alone. And the single place I thought I'd get some peace was the garden shed. None of the other servants and Malum would find me out here at this time of the night.

The sight that greeted me was wood carvings, bits of shattered glass and a few glass bottles in a corner. If this mess wasn't cleared, Finny could hurt himself since he was that clumsy. I stopped short. Why would I even be concerned about Finny? I think I should have been more annoyed with him because of the mess he made. I shook my head, removing these unimportant thoughts.

Turning about, I used my senses to feel if anyone was approaching the shed. Nobody was, so I mentally cleared the mess on the floor, arranging them into a pile and then flicked everything into empty gunny sacks.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I collapsed onto a nearby stool. Not actually eating since breakfast, running around saving those three goons really could wear you out, demon or not. My eyes landed on the wooden table in the corner. There were three glass bottles I hadn't cleared yet…eh, containing wooden ships? Oh, those ornamental ships-in-bottles which I used to see when I was in town running errands! Those were very delicately made, albeit not on a professional level, but to arrange wooden pieces to make a ship through such a narrow bottle neck was a rather painstaking task.

Doesn't seem like something Malum would do – his work is usually perfect…

I scowled, dragging my stool towards the table, my eyes fixed on them. The first ship looked rather plain where the carving had been unbalanced – the ship's stern was bigger than its hilt. The second bottle's ship looked improved, except for the unfortunate fact of the ship's sail slightly cracked and it couldn't be removed from the bottle. The third's flaw was too much glue had been added to the base of the ship that the texture of the glue could be noticed on the wood.

These seem to be the discarded ones, I'm sure the best was selected as a present for Ciel's birthday.

Tsk, I can't fathom his actions. Why he wants revenge is obvious, but why his character has to be foul most of the time really has to be fixed.

"Uwa, I'm sorry for making you clear the mess, Nikolas!"

I must have been more drained than I thought, not to have head Finny approaching the shed at all. Finny made these? For such a clumsy person, he can create such artistic things… "Oh, it's alright."

"I didn't see you at the party! Didn't you go for it?" he answered as he neared me.

I hesitated slightly before replying, "I had something to attend to…Anyway I'm not so much of a party person…" Ceh, staying at the party would have been better than to see stupid Brother 4!

"Don't worry, I'm very sure Mr Sebastian has extra tomorrow for our breakfast. I really like the desserts Mr Sebastian makes!" His aquamarine eyes sparkled and under the dim candle light I noticed a slight blush on his face.

Great, another person to add to the Sebastian fanclub…

"I simply am one hell of a butler," I mimicked my brother's usual butler pose of his left hand on his chest and bowed. "That's what he would say…"

Finny laughed. "It…must be nice to have a bother like that."

My blood almost boiled when I heard those words, but there was something odd about the way he said those words – I couldn't identify what it was. You have no idea how 'nice' Malum is…

To think of it, Malum did treat me slightly – a teeny, weeny bit! – better than my other brothers…

Please don't be mistaken. I am still not fond of Malum, or Sebastian as he's known to the general public. Geh!

Changing the subject, I pointed at those ornaments, saying, "I'm sure the earl would like your birthday present. You're really talented."

"I hope the earl does like it…I'd been preparing it since June – you know how clumsy I can get…" He sheepishly scratched his head, and his blush deepened.

June. I did a mental calculation – time in Hell and time on Earth are two different dimensions – right, that time I was still back down there.

" – olas."

I blinked. "Yes, Finny?"

"I'll make you one of these for your birthday, okay?" He gathered the three bottles in his arms.

My birthday? "Wait, you're throwing them away?" I stood up, reaching towards him.

I bit my lower lip when he looked at me. Didn't what I say just sound very dumb?

"They're not very nice looking. I'll make a very nice one for you, Nikolas!" Finny beamed.

"I mean…they're your hard effort, and throwing them away…would be a waste…"

I wanted to bury my head inside a hole do to the mortification I felt. Why the hell am I stuttering?

Cat got your tongue, Sial? My sarcastic inner voice taunted.

"You like them?…Even when they don't look that pretty?" His eyes widened, their glow more obvious.

"Finny, has anyone every told you that you have the most beautiful eyes ever?"

Of course I didn't say that! It would have been the death of me by my own hands. Demon kills himself after admiring beauty of human gardener's eyes out loud. Stupid.

"Y-Yeah." Damn, I can feel my ears burning. All the demons I'd seen before mainly portrayed emotions of evil, malice and scorn – I'd yet to see another demon feeling embarrassed like I did. Was it because I was still young in terms of a demon's years?

"I-I could accept t-them as what you wanted to give me for my birthday…"

Oh, Lucifer, I am so glad no one else is here to see how frigging mortified I'm feeling right now! Finny was looking at me as though I grew another head right in front of him! My human heart beat sped up like it was training for the Olympic games.

Finny held out those bottles to me.

"Thank you, Finny."

Okay, enough of the sap fest, Sial!

I was totally unprepared when Finny suddenly hugged me and it was only by a demon's instinct that I used my strength to withstand the force from his arms around me, protecting the ship ornaments he had given me as well.

It was like a phyton wrapping itself around you bonecrunchingly. (Sorry, Finny!)

"You really are a nice friend to have, Nikolas! You're always helping me out!"

I was once again lost for words.

"I'm so glad I'm friends…with you…" Finny's arms around me slackened as his head drifted onto my shoulder.

Uhh, did Finny just fall asleep on me?

I listened to his heart beating for a moment just to ensure he was really asleep before I telekinetically transferred the bottles onto the table while supporting Finny's weight as well.

Hmm…strange…Finny doesn't feel heavy against me, I would've thought with the strength in his arms his body would be rather solid. But no, he's just an ordinary boy of fourteen who smells of the roses he trimmed this morning, a fresh scent…

Alright, I'm stopping this train of thoughts before unwanted things occur!

I yawned, taking an unsteady step backwards. Heck, I really wanted to send Finny to his room, but I had really exhausted my demonic powers…and Finny was sleeping too peacefully that I didn't want to disturb him. I picked a corner of the gardener's shed which didn't have any tools before letting Finny's head rest on my lap while I dozed off as well.