A/N: (peeks head around the corner, waves white flag) Hello. Please don't kill me. I know that this took a really long time to show up and that it probably isn't what you were hoping for. As you may remember from last chapter, Alois bought a present for Ciel. This chapter explores that. Also, this chapter is dedicated to my beta because, well, she knows why. Thank you for being so awesome, Hilaire.

Disclaimer: No, this chapter did not take so long because I suddenly gained ownership of Kuroshitsuji. It's still not mine.

The Dress

"No."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

"It's pink."

"So? Did you want it to match your eyes? Just have Sebastian help you put it on, if you get that far."

"Alois," Ciel said in a threatening voice that was not quite a growl. Ever since a certain school play, the Phantomhive had swore to himself that he would never let anyone talk him into a dress again.

Especially not Alois Trancy.

The blond boy (who was dangerously close to being seriously injured) shrugged. "You were the one who wanted to know how I got away with going on dates with Claude." His voice came out as dismissive as Alois could possibly make it. Being who he was, it also sounded teasing.

Ciel's fist clenched around the pink material he was holding in his hand. "You mean to say that you dress like this for dates?" Impossibly blue eyes stare at the garment in shock, not surprised about Alois doing such a thing, but the implication that it worked.

"Sometimes. Mostly when I'm trying to get Claude to look at my legs." The look on the blond's face clearly stated that he hadn't had much success on that front.

Wasn't that also why Alois wore shorts? The blue-haired boy looked back at his best friend. "Well, Ido not want Sebastian to look at my legs." He said in his best decisive voice. Ciel released the fabric from his grip in favor of crossing his arms across his chest.

The other boy rolled his eyes. "So you let him pick your clothes for the hell of it? Bullshit."

The Phantomhive opened his mouth to protest but shut it quickly. Sebastian had just sort of slipped into the role of picking his clothes for him, hadn't he? Since he didn't try to make the boy look overly childish or feminine, Ciel hadn't paid much attention to it or called the demon out on it.

He'd been too busy trying to salvage his dignity when he started dreaming about how Sebastian used to dress and undress him. Every. Single. Day.

Taking Ciel's silence as an admission of defeat, Alois drew his face closer to the other's. "Just call me if you want help putting it on later." Without giving his friend a chance to protest, the blond straightened up before walking away. "Anyway, I need to figure out what to wear for my date. See you around." And just like that, Alois sauntered off like he owned the place.

The Phantomhive boy scoffed to himself and shoved the dress back into its box. He absolutely did not need it.

Ciel stared at the clock on the wall of the classroom. Five minutes. Only five more minutes and he could get out of here to see Sebastian. But as was usual when one wanted the time to pass quickly, those five minutes were taking forever.

He caught himself idly toying with the thought that perhaps Alois was right and the school clocks were broken. This was ridiculous, of course. They worked fine the rest of the time. Alois only had trouble with them because he hated to wait for anything.

It wasn't long until the bell finally rang and Ciel hurriedly packed up his things and exited the classroom.

He was just outside Sebastian's classroom door when he saw a woman talking to his demon from the window. The boy didn't need to see her blushing face or the way she tried to subtly show her cleavage to know why she was there.

Normally, Ciel would have waited in another room for the slut to leave and then gone to collect Sebastian like nothing had happened. It wasn't like Sebastian was cheating on him – the boy knew damn well that those women were always turned away.

But today it bothered him more than usual. Even as cleavage-lady was being shot down, Ciel felt a bubble of irritation rise in his chest. He supposed the fact that he couldn't be more open about his relationship with Sebastian was finally getting to him. Or could he? It wasn't really something he wanted to do if he could help it, but one last look at that woman in Sebastian's classroom made up his mind for him.

The blue-haired boy went into the men's bathroom and ducked into one of the stalls. Pulling out his cell phone, he hit the speed dial that he had assigned to Alois.

Sebastian was confused and a little concerned when Ciel never showed up. He tried to come up with a list of places where the boy might be. If he was going home by himself today (which was often), he would have let the demon know first. And so, as much as Sebastian hated to admit it, the quickest way to find Ciel was to ask Alois.

... and the quickest way to find Alois was to talk to Claude.

The key to their success as co-workers had always been a lack of communication. Admittedly, this often proved difficult due to the close relationship between their respective humans in this lifetime, but they managed. This meant that they didn't seek each other out to talk unless it was work-related. Needing to find Ciel, however, wasa legitimate excuse. Now if only they could conduct the conversation relatively peacefully.

The History teacher knocked on the door to Claude's office and waited patiently for the other man to acknowledge him before he stepped inside.

Claude glanced up at the person who had entered his office and did a discreet double take. What in the fresh hell was Sebastian Michaelis doing in his office? It was sorely tempting ask the crimson-eyed demon if he had lost his mind but Claude stopped himself in time. "May I help you?"

Sebastian schooled his features into a neutral expression in attempt to conceal his distaste for being there. "Do you know where I can find Alois Trancy?" It would have been nice if Claude would just give him the answer so he could get the hell out of there.

Unfortunately, Claude Faustus had never been in the habit of doing Sebastian any favors.

In Claude's defense, he assumed that Alois had mouthed off to Sebastian in class again, and was now skipping out on his punishment. "Do you need him for detention or a lecture?"

The History teacher silently cursed the fact that he couldn't just say 'yes'. Alois would tell Claude about it later and he didn't need the silent mocking that would come from the man if he took that route. "I need to ask him something."

The golden-eyed demon quirked an eyebrow ever so slightly. "And what would that be?"

Sebastian hesitated. "Ciel didn't come by my office today and hasn't called me, either."

There was a hint of mockery in Claude's voice. So faint most anyone else would have missed it, but Sebastian noticed. "So you don't know where he is?"

Sebastian gave a slight downturn of his lips and faintly bristled at the slight. "He doesn't follow me around like a lost kitten, unlike someone else I could name. Though if Alois didn't, I'm certain you'd keep him on a leash."

Claude chose not to grace this with a response, although the lazy smirk on his lips clearly indicated how amused he was by the other demon's defensiveness. "Aren't you the one on the leash here?" he asked instead. The English teacher never failed to point out that while Sebastian and Ciel had 'outings', they couldn't exactly be called 'dates'.

Crimson eyes narrowed at the other. "That's my choice" With that, Sebastian strode out of the office as calmly as he could. Well, that plan had been a failure. Perhaps he should just call Ciel himself. Hopefully, the boy wasn't in a situation where he wouldn't answer the phone.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Ciel looked at himself in the mirror and gulped. Why had he told Alois he was going through with this plan? Because Sebastian is involved.Carefully, he touched the reflection in front of him. It would work. There was no way that Ciel Phantomhive would humiliate himself for nothing.

Just then Alois walked out of the bathroom and grinned. "Getting in touch with your feminine side?"

Ciel scowled. "Be quiet," he snapped. This was degrading enough without Alois adding commentary.

The blond just shrugged and walked up behind his best friend. "We looked pretty fuckin' good."

The Phantomhive tried to ignore the comment. "I don't see how these dresses make it publically acceptable. Instead of looking like a homosexual pedophile, Sebastian will look like a heterosexual pedophile." No real improvement, as far as Ciel was concerned.

"That's what the make up's for," Alois answered offhandedly.

Make up? Ciel's mind ground to a brief halt. His friend had not mentioned make up when they started this.

The other boy grabbed his best friend by the dress sleeve and led him into the bathroom. "Come on, Ciel. Do you want to look like a girl or a gay boy in a dress?"

The blue-haired boy silently swore vengeance on the Trancy as he was dragged into the bathroom.

In truth, the make up didn't turn out as bad as Ciel had thought it would be. Alois was actually very careful with it, and in the end, Ciel didn't look like an over-painted teen trying to look twenty-five. "Do I even want to know where you learned to do this?" he asked. He somehow doubted Alois' mother was desperate enough for a daughter to teacher her son about cosmetics.

"Hannah."

This comment was followed by Ciel's phone going off. The boy checked his caller ID. "It's Sebastian." The blue-haired boy took a moment to compose himself before answering. "Hello?"

"Ciel." There was a note of audible relief in the demon's voice. "Where are you right now?"

"At home. I had to take care of something here," the young Phantomhive answered vaguely. Taking a deep breath to build up his nerve, Ciel moved onto the next part of his plan. "I want to go out somewhere... with you." Heat rose to his cheeks at the last part.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Sebastian was probably processing what he had just heard. This wasn't typical Ciel behavior, after all. "Shall I pick you up from your house then?"

The boy started at that. "No!" he exclaimed a bit too forcefully. Clearing how throat, he corrected himself. "No. Meet me at that ice cream parlor we went to last week."

"Alright. I'll see you then, Ciel."

"Bye." With this said, Ciel hung up. He stared at his phone screen for a moment. He really hoped he wouldn't regret this.

Alois was leaning against the wall with his usual 'I was around Sebastian' expression. "You do know that you're going to be 'fashionably late', right?"

"..." Damn.

When Sebastian first got to the specified meeting place, a quick scan of the area told him that Ciel wasn't there yet. But that couldn't be right; Ciel wasn't in the habit of being late. Crimson eyes scanned over the people present again. His gaze lingered on the girl in the pink dress whom he had initially thought was there with her boyfriend. Closer inspection proved this to be inaccurate. The demon suddenly smiled to himself.

"I said go away," Ciel hissed through clenched teeth. He should have known that this was a bad idea. If this jerk did not leave him alone right now, was going to get slapped hard.

The taller boy leaned in a little closer. "Come on, you're too pretty to be here by yourself."

"Would you kindly leave my niece alone?" Both boys turned their heads to see Sebastian Michaelis standing there with a cool, if not frightening, smile.

To his credit, the boy that had been pestering Ciel had enough sense to back off in a hurry.

Ciel's attention quickly shifted to the man in front of him. "You're late."

The demon's smile became something more teasing. "I apologize." Red eyes flickered over the boy's choice of attire. "You look lovely, my lady." He offered an arm. "Shall we?"

The feeling of déjà vu itched at the back of Ciel's mind. This whole scene felt distantly familiar, but the Phantomhive couldn't place it for the life of him. Giving up on it for the moment, he ignored the man's arm and walked out to the waiting car. Even if he was in disguise as a girl, there were some things he just wasn't doing.

By the time Sebastian got into the car, Ciel had buckled up and was waiting. "Is there anywhere you wanted to go?" the demon asked as he pulled out of the parking spot.

Ciel averted his gaze to the window. "I don't care. Anything's fine." In truth, he hadn't thought that far ahead. On the occasion that they went out somewhere, Sebastian had always been the one to choose the location. It had never occurred to the boy that it might be different this time.

Sebastian arched an eyebrow at that. This situation had been odd to begin with, but it was getting stranger by the second. Just what was going on here? Placing that aside for now, the demon put some thought into where they could go.

Ciel kept his gaze fixed on the window as the car moved along. Looking, but not really seeing. Where would Sebastian take him? With this get up, he really did look old enough to be the man's girlfriend. His very short girlfriend, but still.

They pulled to a stop in front of a building that the boy had never seen before. He waited for Sebastian to come around and let him out of the car. Normally he'd say he could do it himself, but he was supposed to be acting like a young lady right?

"Where are we?" he asked, as his door was opened and he stepped out. Much to his dismay, the only reply that Sebastian offered him was a mysterious smile. Lying was against the rules, but Ciel had never said anything about simply not answering.

Once they got inside the building, Ciel's eyes widened. Blue eyes fixed Sebastian with a cold glare. "You know what I think of dancing," he hissed. It wasn't the best known fact that Ciel Phantomhive had been born with two left feet. It was embarrassing, so he tried to keep the knowledge as limited as possible. But that didn't change the fact that Sebastian and Alois were both aware of it.

His glare was met with another smile from the raven-haired man. "All the more reason for me to show you how enjoyable an experience it can be."

A hand was offered, and by this point the boy was sure that the demon was just doing this to mess with him. "Fine," he huffed, and accepted Sebastian's invitation to the dance floor, "but we leave when I say."

The demon gave a nod of agreement and urged Ciel into the correct position for a waltz.

It wasn't very long into this venture before Ciel was winded and feeling stupid for his missteps. Why did Sebastian have to be so damn tall, anyway? This would be much easier if the man was closer to his own height.

Sebastian himself noticed the other male's heavier breathing and led him away from the dance floor. "We really must work on your stamina. For a young lady to be tired after only one dance…" he trailed off, leaving the rest up to personal imagination.

Ciel scowled at him, momentarily forgetting about the dress. Sebastian was insulting him and he had that weird déjà-vu feeling prickling in the back of his mind. He was just about to tell the man that they were going to leave now when the sound of someone clapping drew the attention of both of them.

It was some pretty strawberry-blonde woman and the boy could already feel his irritation firing up. He knew where this was going.

She approached them both, eyes roving appreciatively over Sebastian. "You're a wonderful dancer, sir."

A polite smile appeared on the demon's lips. "Thank you, miss."

If he were Alois, the Phantomhive would have been sorely tempted to do something drastic to this woman to get rid of her. As it was, he cleared his throat and gave his best 'girl voice'. "Shouldn't we be going?" He tugged at the man's sleeve for emphasis.

The woman's eyes now flickered over to him. "Is this your sister?" Sister? She was going to write him off as Sebastian's sister?

The bubble of irritation began to rise further in the blue-haired boy's chest. He glared, not caring if it was unladylike. This wasn't the 1800s and it was pretty clear that this woman was declaring war.

Sebastian moved his hand to Ciel's shoulders and offered the lady one of his nice, but disquieting, smiles. "No, this is my girlfriend, and we really must be going." He led Ciel to the door, leaving the lady dumbstruck. Well, that plan had spun out in flames. So much for having a proper date. "Is there anywhere else you'd like to go, Ciel?"

"Home. I want to get out of this damn dress," the boy said and, not for the first time, promised himself that he wasn't going to listen to Alois' crazy ideas anymore.

His progress was halted by the demon firmly grasping his wrist. When Ciel turned his head, intending to ask the man just what he wanted, Sebastian kissed him. Right on the mouth, just outside the building and in full view of others, Sebastian Michaelis kissed him.

For just a minute, Ciel forgot that Alois' ideas weren't to be listened to and that this wasn't why he had worn this damn getup. Although, somewhere along the way it was hard to keep track of why he had humiliated himself like this in the first place.

"As you wish," the demon said, and led the boy back to the car. Ciel was going to have to explain the point of all this once they got home. After all, the boy hadn't specified whose home they were talking about.

End

A/N: That's all. I hope it was worth the wait. (bows) Thank you for reading.