Okay, I've decided that this will be the start of the William x Grell chapters, as William will be in the rest of the chapters from now on.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kuroshitsuji.
William pushed his glasses up with the end of his deathscythe and observed the guilty-looking Grell silently for a moment. An uncomfortable silence passed as William took his eyes off the redhead and glanced at the cart, where Undertaker was resting and humming something, while the coffin on the back of the cart shook, growls issuing from it.
"..."
Deciding that he didn't want to know why Sebastian was in a coffin (though that was where William thought the demon should be) turned his attention away from the cart. At least the demon couldn't cause anymore trouble than he already had. William had seen the three dead men nearby. At least the demon hadn't devoured their souls. The paperwork involved in explaining why a demon got to some souls even with a reaper nearby was giving William the start of a headache...
Grell had been worried when William looked away, wondering if the other were mad at him. When William looked back at him, with piercing green eyes from behind the glasses, Grell had half the mind to throw himself at William's feet and beg the man not to punish him too harshly.
"Grell."
"Y...Yes?" Damn, he couldn't even keep the tremble out of his voice.
"Need I have to repeat myself?" came the clipped response.
Grell bit his lower lip slightly, unsure how to tell William that he had lost track of the four men's cinematic records in the span of a few minutes. He didn't dare say that he had been distracted by Sebastian.
William sighed inwardly before speaking to the mute redhead, "Did you collect the souls yet?"
"...Yes..."
William's frown deepened. If Grell had collected the souls already, then why was he acting so nervous...unless..."Did you lose them?" The silence that followed the question was uncomfortable, and all but answered the question.
Grell spoke up in a quiet tone, "I...I lost track of them..."
William could feel a migraine coming on. It seemed like he'd be in for a sleepless night once more, "Grell Sutcliff...how does one 'lose' track of souls? You do realize that you could go on probation again, or receive disciplinary action once again?" William would have kept going and causing Grell's expression to grow more horrified, when the Undertaker spoke up from where he was seated.
"Cinematic records? Do you mean these~?" Undertaker held up a stack of four books in one hand and showed them to the two shinigami.
There was a short silence, before Grell broke into a wide smile and threw himself at Undertaker in an attempt to catch him in a hug. Grell was about to thank Undertaker for finding the cinematic records, but the other acted more quickly. Allowing Grell to catch him in a hug, Undertaker held the books out to William, who was wearing a slightly exasperated expression.
"He handed them to me when he went to go check on the butler," Undertaker said pleasantly, and Grell, still hugging him, breathed an inward sigh of relief. He was glade that Undertaker had said something because Grell knew that he wouldn't have been able to lie to William without the other picking up on it.
William eyed the pair of them, from Undertaker smiling, to Grell still buried in a hug against the man's chest. With a small shake of his head, William stepped forward and took the books from Undertaker's outstretched hand.
Undertaker settled back in his seat, Grell not moving from where he clung to the other's clothing.
William frowned and poked Grell lightly with his deathscythe.
Grell let out a yelp and glared over his shoulder at the frowning William, "What was that for?"
Ignoring Grell's indignant reply, William used the tip of his deathscythe to push his glasses back into place, "I expect you to return to headquarters with me as soon as the demon is returned to his irresponsible master." William sighed, "I don't know what he was thinking, letting that thing wander around on his own." Ignoring the coffin that shook angrily, William turned toward Grell once more, "No loitering around once the demon is dropped off. Is that understood, Grell Sutcliff?" Hearing a sullen 'yes' in response, William walked closer and sat down on the cart, near the coffin.
Grell pushed away from hugging Undertaker to look at William with a frown of his own, "What are you doing, Will?"
William fixed Grell with a glare, "Making sure you don't try and stay longer than you must."
Grell slumped in the seat, facing away from William, not liking the tone the other had spoken to him in. It sounded as though he would be in for a lecture when he got back to headquarters with William...Grell blushed faintly when he glanced to the side at Undertaker, realizing that he had thrown himself all over the other man. Undertaker was still smiling, as little wider than usual, as he urged the horses into motion and headed for the graveyard's exit.
121
Grell had been silent for most of the ride back to the Phantomhive mansion, mostly due to the fact that William was sitting close behind him and Grell wasn't sure if he should be saying anything...but the silence was terrible. Something about the trip to the graveyard came back to him, and Grell let out a little gasp, which drew the two other's attention to him. Seeing that Undertaker had looked over at him, Grell asked, "That scythe...it was a deathscythe...was it yours?" Grell held still as Undertaker lifted his left hand and ran it through the red hair. Grell could almost feel the puzzlement rolling off of William.
Undertaker drew his hand away, a small grin making its way onto his face as he turned his attention to the road once more, "Hmm, I wonder. Wouldn't you like to know..." Undertaker lapsed into silence, as did Grell, who knew he wasn't going to get an answer out of the Undertaker unless he could get him to laugh...
Grell thought about ways to do that, until the cart pulled up to the front of the mansion. The coffin was shaking more now that Sebastian presumably knew where he was, while William eyed the coffin distastefully, wondering how much overtime the demon had caused him that night.
Undertaker got off of the cart and headed for the side of it, ready to let Sebastian out of the coffin. Undertaker paused when he noticed that Grell was behind him, and William frowned at the evil smile Grell wore. Undertaker tilted his head, "Yes, what is it?" Undertaker let out a small sound of surprise when Grell trapped him against the cart, grabbing his clothing. William raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going through the redhead's mind.
"If I make you laugh, will you tell me about the scythe?"
Undertaker's expression, which had been mildly surprised, changed into a wide smile, "If you insist. Try and bestow a great laugh and I will...!"
Before Undertaker could finish, Grell's smile had widened and he tugged the other's clothing, managing to slip his hands underneath, and grinned when that drew a surprised intake of breath. 'Got you.' Grell moved his fingertips lightly against the Undertaker's skin, tickling him.
Inside the coffin, Sebastian was growing frustrated. The cart had stopped, yet no one had let him out yet. They weren't just going to leave him there, were they? No...they wouldn't...that would be too awkward to explain, and not to mention suspicious (his clothing was still ruined). Sebastian had managed to free himself from being tied up by now, and was about to try and force himself out of the coffin when he heard the prelude to eventual discovery.
Undertaker laughing.
"Uwwahahahahaahaaaa!"
William winced from the close proximity of the sound, frowning unhappily, while Sebastian managed to barely prevent himself from wincing at the sound. The butler was silently cursing Grell for deciding to make Undertaker laugh in the middle of the night. Just what did Grell want to know this instance that he had to do that now?
There was a quiet exchane between Grell and the Undertaker, before the coffin lid was removed.
Sebastian waited patiently as the lid was moved, and quickly got out of it, not bothering to even try to fix his clothing, because he knew it was a lost cause. Completely ignoring William, who had gotten off of the cart, Sebastian fixed a glare on Grell, who, amazingly, didn't flinch. Instead, the redhead smiled at him and whispered something to Undertaker, who was standing next to him.
Undertaker smiled in response, and with another whispered sentence to Grell, put the lid on the coffin and climbed back onto the cart. He waved lazily to William, who in return merely jerked his head in a nod. The cart started to leave, and Undertaker's voice could be heard as he left, "Give my regards to the Earl, and don't hesitate to come calling if you need answers~." With that Undertaker, his cart and horses vanished into the distance.
There was an awkward silence, broken by a surprised gasp and a thump.
Grell whirled around and saw that Sebastian had knocked William down to the ground, and was currently cracking his knuckles and throwing a meaningful look in Grell's direction, a light, dangerous smile on his lips. Grell took one look at the smiling demon, before turning and running in the direction of the mansion, Sebastian right on his tail and ready to cause some damage.
Behind them, William recovered from the surprise attack. The dark-haired man stood up, shaking his head, furious that he had allowed the demon to catch him off guard.
121
Inside the mansion, Grell had managed to get into Ciel's bedroom before Sebastian caught up with him, barring his teeth in a pleased way.
The commotion, however, had woken Ciel up, and the boy sat up in bed with a yawn, eying the scene in his room. Sebastian throttling Grell with a sadistic smile in place. Ciel sighed. At least that meant that the case had been resolved. Though Ciel wondered with Sebastian's reaction, if Grell really thought it was a good idea to be alone with Sebastian. Ciel smirked. Well, he knew how Grell would manage it, but Sebastian didn't, not yet. Sighing again, Ciel spoke up, "Sebastian, let go of him."
Sebastian merely flicked his gaze in Ciel's direction and tightened his grasp.
"Now."
Still nothing.
Irritated, Ciel opened his right eye, "This is an order, Sebastian. Let go of him now. You are not to harm him."
Sebastian's eyes flashed faint surprise as he reluctantly released his hold on Grell, who dropped to the ground in a wheezing pile of red.
Ciel managed to not flinch at the glare Sebastian had fixed on him, somewhat worried with the way one of Sebastian's hands was clenching and unclenching. As if the demon were wanting to hit something, but couldn't hit Grell, nor could he lash out at the boy. At least, Ciel hoped that was the case. Ciel answered Sebastian's unasked question, "Grell and I made a deal, and besides, I don't want to go through the trouble of explaining to William that he lost an employee."
William suddenly appeared in the room, menacing Sebastian with his deathscythe. The shinigami glanced over at Ciel, "You would do well to keep your demon on a tighter leash." Glancing at Sebastian, William spoke, "Grell, get up."
Grell sat up, but glanced at Sebastian, who was looking at Ciel. Grell winced as he was hit over the head by William with the deathscythe. Grell turned his gaze to William, about the snap a response at him, when he saw the expression the other was wearing. Comment dying away, Grell looked away as he stood up.
William moved his deathscythe away from Sebastian, "We are going. Now."
Grell didn't need to be told twice, and he leapt out of the open window. With a final irked glare at both Ciel and Sebastian, William went out of the window after Grell.
121
Grell trailed after William, lost in thought and not realizing that the other was speaking to him. After getting smacked over the head with the deathscythe again, Grell reluctantly tuned back in and heard William speaking in a cold voice.
"Grell Sutcliff." William had turned around to face him.
Grell raised his gaze to meet William's and offered a hesitant smile, "Yes, William?"
William frowned at the smiling reaper. Obviously, he had lost Grell during his threat to put him on probation and take all of his privileges away as well as make him do paperwork for years. Making sure that Grell was paying attention, William tried again, "Had the Undertaker not had the cinematic records of the men, you would have been facing probation with loss of privileges, as well as the potential of doing a desk job for several years, under my supervision."
Grell had had to smirk at the desk job comment, before the rest of the words sunk in. Grell gaped wordlessly at William, but couldn't find the words to speak. Instead the redhead settled for staring at William worriedly.
William adjusted his glasses, shooting a disproving glare up at where he could see Sebastian staring out the window at the pair of them before he turned, "We're going to headquarters to finish this discussion."
Grell took a step after the dark haired man, but held back, hesitant.
William turned slightly to regard Grell with one eye, "Either you come with me of your own free will, or I will drag you back myself, by your hair again, if I must." William started to walk again, and this time, he heard footsteps following after him in an attempt to catch up.
1211
Took me awhile to get to the Will Grell stuff. Ugh. Oh well, at least the rest of the story is mostly just the two of them, with Sebastian and Undertaker occasionaly showing up. Since I'm on summer break, I should be able to update more often. Next chapter will be up in around a week. It'll start with a little discussion between Ciel and Sebastian, before focusing on Grell and William.