Chapter Twelve
His Butler, A Complete Idiot At Love
Okay, so here's the deal.
First, Ciel is ignoring me the entire day. I mean, THE. ENTIRE. DAY. I go into his office, he takes one look at me, and ducks his head, shooing me out. I didn't think much of it, until I remembered one important thing:
He. Didn't. Eat. His. Cake.
Ciel was going to die.
Joy P.O.V.
Even I had to admit, Ciel was acting weird. Yeah, I barely knew the guy, but still! All I knew about him was that he loved cake, and when Stevie came out of the doorway with a full slice of the stuff, I knew something was up.
Just to be safe, I confiscated the evidence.
Drocell P.O.V.
And so I thought to myself, when I think to myself, I thought to myself….
Sebastian P.O.V.
I am simply too much of a hell of a butler to reveal what my master is going through.
Back to Stevie:
"Ciiiiiieeeeellllll," I called, bringing another piece of cake into his study. He looked at me, then looked away. I frowned, slamming the tray down and marching over there.
"Alright Lord of the Eyepatch, why the hell are you ignoring me?" I slammed my hand on his table. He looked up at me, glaring. But, I noticed something. He wasn't looking me in the eyes. He just looked at my face.
There was something seriously wrong with this kid.
"What's wrong, Ciel?" I asked, "You've been holed up in your study since seven, haven't come out once, and won't look me in the eyes, wait…." I thought about it for a minute, then gasped. It could only mean…
"Ciel, don't tell me….you actually…."
Ciel looked shocked, and kinda afraid, "Stevie I swear you've got to h-hear me out on this-"
I cut him off, "You stuttered! Ciel, you killed someone, didn't you?"
…
The room was very silent when I said that. Ciel looked even more shocked, then calmed down, sitting in his chair, "Stevie," he started, "You have got it all wrong, I-"
I pointed at him dramatically, "That's what a criminal would say!" And rushed out of the room like a roadrunner.
Ciel P.O.V.
Why I was in love with her of all people, I have no idea. She was rude, clumsy, unladylike, and a terrible chess opponent, yet all I could do was blush like a schoolgirl when she was around. This was totally unprofessional!
I decided, I would have to fall out of love with Stevie. It was the only way. The only way I could ever-
"Ciiiiiiiiiieeeeeellll,"
Oh Lord I can't do this.
Stevie came in through the doors. I tried looking her in the eyes, but all I could do was duck my head. This is torture!
Stevie noticed my lack of attention, and slammed the tray down, marching over to me. With one hand firmly on my desk she said,
"Alright, Lord of the Eyepatch, why the hell are you ignoring me?"
I glared at her. Only, I just kind of glared at her face. I still couldn't look her in the eyes, and her mouth was right in front of me- NO! OH LORD NO!
She immediately shifted her gaze to concerned. I gulped.
"What's wrong, Ciel?" she asked, "You've been holed up in your study since seven, haven't come out once, and won't look me in the eyes, wait…." Her eyes grew wide with realization, and she backed up, gasping.
"Ciel, don't tell me…you actually…"
I stood up abruptly, "Stevie I swear you've got to h-hear me out on this-" Crap, why did I stutter? Now she'll know!
"You stuttered!" Oh no, here it comes, "Ciel, did you kill someone?"
…
How did she make that connection?
I tried to calm down, sitting in my chair, "Stevie, you have got it all wrong, I-"
She pointed at me dramatically, "That's what a criminal would say!" And rushed out of the room like Sebastian on drugs.
This was going to be a long day.
Joy. P.O.V.
"Drocell," I asked, looking up at him as we walked throughout the town. He and I had decided to get away from Stevie and Ciel, a.k.a., give them some much needed alone time, "How do you think Stevie is doing? Ciel won't…do anything to her, right?"
Drocell looked down at me, still wearing his infamous Face of Blank, "I thought to myself, it is incredible hard to tell at this point, Miss Joy. However," He stiffly reached up, tilting his hat in a mocking, gentlemanly fashion, "We all know the young lord is one to surprise us,"
That gave me the scariest chills ever.
"I guess you're right, I mean- oof!" I looked at who I bumped into, prepared to apologize. I was met with two pairs of blue eyes, both intelligent and cunning. The chills came back again. Why is everyone so suddenly scary today?
"S-Sorry about that," I said, taking in their appearance. One of the blue eyes was a boy, blonde hair, tailcoat-
Holy shit.
Short shorts.
I tore my eyes away from them, focusing on the other pair of blue eyes. She had fiery red hair, lanky, but was wearing boys clothes. I brushed it off. Her choice.
"It's fine," the girl said, waving her hand up and down, "We were in a bit of a hurry, not watching where we were going. Bye bye!" She waved her hand, continuing on with the boy. Something in the way of how he watched Drocell made my hair stand on end.
Damn chills.
Drocell and I continued walking down the road, with me noticing the lack of a crowd that day. More chills. Maybe it was just cold?
"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down," Drocell sang. I froze in my steps, hearing his voice. He couldn't possible sound that beautiful, could he?
Drocell didn't notice me stopping and continued walking, singing, "London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady~" He finally paused, stiffly looking back at me as if I were a rare sight to be seen, almost quirking and eyebrow…if he could.
"Why, Joy, what are you doing?" He asked, completely turning, "I thought to myself, she mustn't be alright, standing there like that,"
"Please," I said, still frozen, looking up to him, "Please sing that again,"
If Drocell could look surprised, he would.
"I thought to myself," He put a hand to his wooden chin in thought, "I have a very odd mistress indeed, very well then," He smiled at me, that same creepy smile as when I had first met him.
"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady~"
Mystery person's P.O.V.
Puzzles. I needed puzzles. Why didn't I have enough around me? All of them, too easy, playthings for little, brainless, drooling, dribbling giggling whining crying children!
I felt disrespected. I felt demoralized. Demoralized. D-e-m….too easy. Anyone could spell that.
Oh, how long. How long had it been since I had a good puzzle? Three years? Four? When was it that I was able to indulge, to drown in that ecstasy of my precious mind games, to think and create and reason…
How long was it, since I was able to find an answer once more?
"Drocell!"
A voice. A voice from outside my window pane.
"Wait for me!"
That voice. That voice reminds me of the sparrow a' rap-tap-tapping on the glass, high, sharp, quick.
I smiled, looking out the long-faded curtains.
"Sing it again, Drocell!"
I think I found a new puzzle.
Joy P.O.V.
Drocell and I made it back to the house, only to find Stevie and Ciel making out.
Got ya, didn't I?
Actually, we did go back to the house, but when we walked inside we saw the exact opposite of romance. Stevie was stomping throughout the house, muttering about "How could Ciel do such a thing?" and "Damn Pirate Lord,"
"You okay, Stevie?" I asked. She looked at me, pretending to be okay.
"Sure!"
"…Sure,"
I decided not to question her for two reasons: One, I was tired. Two, I had the odd feeling that something bad was gonna happen soon anyway, so no more unneeded drama.
Alois and Penny P.O.V.
Penny waltzed through the house, happy that Hannah's eye was finally fixed. Everything now seemed perfect in the Trancy Manor. Birds sang, Claude tap-danced, Alois did whatever the hell Alois does, complete bliss for all.
Speaking of which…
Alois snuck up behind Penny, clamping his hands on her shoulders and yelling "BOO!" right in her ear. Penny screamed and turned around, only to start laughing uncontrollably. Alois joined her.
"D-Don't do that!" She giggled out.
Alois laughed some more, then took on a completely serious, almost taunting face instantly. He stepped closer to Penny, looking her in the eyes and tilting her chin up with one finger.
"You haven't thought about it, have you?" He asked knowingly. Penny froze up, blushing.
"A-About what?"
Alois giggled, almost looking innocent, "Well…" He picked up one finger and drew it slowly across Penny's bottom lip, "That…"
Penny sucked in her breath as Alois leaned in, sliding his hands around her entire frame.
"What do you say, hm?"
It seems he had forgotten who exactly Penny was.
A sneak.
And a damn good one.
She slipped out of Alois's grasp, tripping him by sliding her feet under. When he was down she took off, shouting "Not this time you don't!"
Alois had never been more frustrated in his life.
Stevie P.O.V.
I had now learned that Ciel didn't kill someone. Bit of a relief. What still gave me the chills was the fact that it was so believable in the first place.
For once Ciel was out of his study, going over the grounds with Sebastian, so I had the opportunity to clean the place. God it was a mess.
I started to arrange the items on his desk when I noticed and interesting newspaper article:
"FROM JACK THE RIPPER TO THE PUZZLE MAN, WHAT WILL LONDON FACE NEXT?
An extreme outbreak of murders has taken place on the area of the east docks, where the victims are literally taken apart, piece by piece, and arranged in an orderly fashion in a series of rows. Police think that the culprit suffers from an extreme obsessive compulsive disorder, from the way that the body parts are arranged. No evidence is ever left behind, other than a certain note, always saying "I need a harder puzzle," leaving Scotland Yard baffled. In other news-"
I noticed that Ciel had made circles around the key points in the article, writing out notes such as "Ask Undertaker," and "Find ports there,"
My eyebrows knit. He wasn't actually considering this case, was he? Who did he think he was, Sherlock Holmes?
"Ciel…" I said to myself, "What are you up to?"
Ciel P.O.V.
My mind kept switching from thoughts about the Puzzle Man to thoughts about Stevie. Who was this mysterious character? Why did Stevie assume I was a criminal? Was it that easy to believe?
I know knew that there was no possible way to fall out of love with Stevie. It couldn't happen. But what to do about Elizabeth? She was my fiancé, for Christ's sake! How would I handle that?
Maybe tomorrow I could simply tell Stevie, and she might just help me sort this out. Wait, scratch that. She isn't that reasonable.
Besides, tomorrow I would have to visit the Undertaker for news about the Puzzle Man. I would like to see what he has to say.
There was no way I could let Stevie find out about the Puzzle Man. If she did, she would want to come along, wind up getting hurt or kidnapped, and I or Sebastian would have to rescue her again. It would be an unbearable bother….mostly.
I sighed to myself. How does one go about in courting a complete idiot?
Author's note! Okay, yes, long time since I updated. I was running low on ideas. But now I finally put a plot in! The Puzzle Man arc! Send me ideas for what he should look like if you want, or, if there's a character in the Kuroshitsuji anime you want me to write an OC for, send it in and I'll consider it! Once again, review or I won't give you another chapter!