AN: I wanted to tell my readers whether this story follows the anime or manga. I want to say both, but this story follows the anime and parts of the manga. I haven't included the circus arc because it is irrelevant to the story. I hope that everyone understands now if they didn't understand before. Before the beginning of this chapter I thought my readers would want to know that Kuroshitsuji 2 is out! I watched the first 3 episodes and was impressed. - Madame Stephanie


William entered the cafeteria with Rachael at his side, he wasn't feeling too much better than he had been before as he was still tired and ill-tempered, but he was at least satisfied with the reports his dispatchers had sent in and how he had finished reviewing and filing all of them. He had almost entirely forgotten about Grell and his preposterous proposal earlier that morning because of how busy he had been, he was appreciative now to have a scheduled break from his work, but it was not the smell of food but the idea of being away from his office that made this moment more enjoyable as William was almost never very hungry and ate only because he knew he had to.

It was then that he heard a scream; it was an uncommon occurrence inside the barrier so of course William had to look, but it was not the scream but the sound of the scream that attracted his attention more than anything. As he had suspected, it was Grell, but what was happening? He saw a small group of shinigami circling a large space and from the centre he heard a hoarse screaming and an occasional shouting, there was also whispers and laughter from the circle but not one of them interfered. So William knew that he had to step forward. He made his way through the circle calmly and into the centre where he saw what was happening plainly and he wondered if it was some kind of sick game.

It reminded him of how much he hated people.

He pushed Caleb aside and took his place, where he caught Grell and held onto him; because he was light he was not difficult to catch. He felt Grell breathing quickly in his ear and holding onto him as if he were the only solid thing around him. It was not only fear that radiated from his small body but an unfathomable anger that let William know that if he attempted to move him then he could be bitten. He was aware that more than Caleb and his friends were watching him now but he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead he turned to Caleb beside him and frowned as he thought quickly of how to put his anger, disgust, and hatred into words. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he began.

"I have asked myself that so many times. I know that because of our nature it is not uncommon to have enemies; I know that it is not uncommon to occasionally lose control of ourselves, but you aren't like the rest of us. There is something wrong with you but I don't know what it is. Are you sadistic, do you receive pleasure from his pain? Are you masochistic, do you enjoy the punishment of your actions? Are you desperate, do you want the attention you know you will receive?" William shifted Grell to one arm and summoned his death-scythe with his free hand; he quickly prepared it and adjusted it at Caleb's neck, and ignored all of the sounds of protest around him.

"I don't know, but I do know that whatever your reason, that you are a poor excuse of a person. Grell is so much stronger than you. Grell is so much smarter than you. Grell is so much better than you! He may not defend himself from you, but if he were allowed to use his scythe, then he could kill you. I will try to arrange for that. In the meantime, if I catch you with him doing anything this stupid again, then I will kill you." William pulled his death-scythe away and dismissed it before he left the cafeteria with Grell securely in his arms. He walked past Rachael who had been watching from a distance and William felt that he owed her an apology. He paused beside her and told her softly so that no one else could hear,

"I apologise, Rachael. I know that you are his manager, and must be fond of him, but I hope that you can understand. I don't care what I have to tell him, this has to stop, but somehow I feel that even this isn't enough… I'm not hungry; I will see you later today." And with that said William left the cafeteria with everyone watching his back. Brandon was included in this group of onlookers and stepped forward beside Caleb. He frowned and told Caleb, "I wouldn't worry about him, Caleb, he sounds impressive but he can't do anything. It is against the rules to kill another shinigami for any reason, unless they are going to kill you otherwise, and it is common knowledge how he is. He wouldn't risk his job, he could lose it and his life for that, and he wouldn't do that even for the freak he is so fond of. Let's get breakfast and forget about this."

...

William entered his office with Grell still securely in his arms, but he didn't keep him there for very long, instead he stood beside one of his two chairs for guests and attempted to remove Grell from him, who held on tighter and shook his head as if to say he didn't want to move. With a frown William told him, "Sutcliff, I know that you're acting, let go." and Grell gave a compliant sigh and allowed himself to be removed and placed in the chair. From there he looked up and gave William a smile and a thank you for rescuing him. It was then that he began to bat his fake eyelashes in such a ridiculous way that William had to look away. Instead of telling Grell, 'you're welcome,' he told him "Don't allow yourself to become comfortable, you will only be here until the breakfast break is over, and after it is you will be returning to work. Until then, please remain silent."

This was, of course, not the first time that Grell had been in William's office, and like every other time before it was not silent in the room even when William asked. He heard Grell's soft breathing, his foot tapping the floor, his fingers strumming the desk, and even noises that he didn't make like the ticking of the clock and the birds singing in the tree outside of his window. It was monotonous, but strangely peaceful, William read from the book he had bought from the human bookstore without actually understanding, he was too focused on listening to sounds around him. It was then that he heard a different kind of sound, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor and the click of high heels. William looked up at Grell who had begun to wander aimlessly around the office, looking at decorations, flipping through books on his bookshelves, and looking out the windows.

William averted his eyes from Grell and focused again on his book, but he realised quickly that he did not remember where he had left off and had to start over at the beginning on the page. He had not read very far when, once again, he was interrupted – he felt the presence of Grell's warm body on and against him as he sat on his lap and made himself comfortable. This was not the first time this had happened; it was a common occurrence even, almost every time Grell was in William's office he would try and William could not say that he liked or disliked this action as it often depended on his mood. William apparently was not in a good mood. With a frown William pushed him away, as this was his usual treatment, Grell began to mosey around his office again only to try again later. With a sigh, William pushed him away again, and even without looking at him he knew that Grell was watching him. He must have been waiting for him to say or do something, but William couldn't find the energy to say or do what Grell wanted.

William loved Grell, but he had so much difficulty expressing his love, they were too different – William was an ideal worker and Grell was an indolent worker. William was prim and proper and Grell was gaudy and flamboyant. William was careful and Grell was reckless – and there were even more differences than that. It was a common saying that opposites attract, and it was true, but even if together they fulfilled each other, opposites were like water and oil and repelled each other. When William had rescued Grell from the demon Sebastian (or perhaps he had not rescued him at all but taken him away) he had upset Grell. Because William had been worried for his life that entire week of his absence and he had been even more unsympathetic than usual he had felt bad and tried to be open with Grell, and everything he had said to him had been true, but his feelings were more complicated than that.

William may have loved Grell, but he also hated him, he hated him for being different and difficult – he would give Grell a direct order and he would disobey him. He would tell Grell about a matter of serious importance and Grell would be playful or unconcerned. He would give Grell a job and discover later that he had been shopping instead of working – It was understandable that when he had tried to be open with Grell to give him an apology that he hadn't expressed any of this, he did that every day, it was so much easier to express his hatred than his love – and it wasn't fair. He frowned and bit his lower lip, it was not the first time that thoughts of this nature had come to him, and when they did they made him more sentimental than usual. He set his book down on his desk and looked up to apologise to Grell for his bad mood earlier this morning, but he was already gone.


Even with Brandon's reassuring, Caleb didn't feel any better. Everyone's eyes were on him, including his manager, Rachael – whose gaze was strong enough for him to feel it's presence without actually looking. He felt extremely uncomfortable, not so much with himself but with the people around him. It was frightening for him to imagine what they could be thinking now, what they would talk about later, and the overall impression of him it would leave. He didn't want to be viewed as a bully, he didn't want to hear the whispers of his name in the hallways - he just wanted people to like him. He tried so hard to be likeable; he tried to do everything he could to fit in, but he was only burying himself deeper and deeper into something he was going to regret – or already regretted.

Perhaps he cared too much about what other people thought of him, and maybe that was why he admired Grell and his ability to be so open and accepting with himself, and learn to ignore everyone else. But he couldn't be so sure about that, because he hardly knew Grell at all – maybe Grell was even more lost than he was, but wasn't going to sink low enough to pretend to be something he wasn't. Either way, William was right - Grell was better than him, by so much that it made Caleb hate himself in comparison.

Caleb didn't want to be around these people anymore, he just wanted to leave. He wasn't hungry enough to put up with the embarrassment he was experiencing now. As he was walking away he heard something crunch beneath his foot, it was one of Mary's cookies – probably the one Grell had dropped. Caleb looked down at it, and as he was Madeline ran up to him.

"Why are you leaving, Caleb? Our break isn't over yet." Caleb didn't look at her, his gaze remained on the cookie - he noticed the oddly shaped bite-marks on it, it couldn't have belonged to anyone else but Grell.

"You wouldn't understand, Madeline." Even if he told her, it would probably only make things worse.

"What, are you just not hungry?" Caleb wondered if she even listened to him at all, he supposed it could be useful for this situation - maybe he could get out easily.

"You're right, I'm just not hungry." Hopefully she would just let him go now, but she did not have the reaction he intended – something must have bothered her somehow.

"You thought that I wouldn't understand that? What do you take me for, Caleb? - I'm not that stupid! And I see you would rather look down at the floor than look at me, you never look at me when I talk to you, why is that? Is it because you don't think I'm pretty, Caleb?" He was almost positive she wasn't listening; maybe she did hear him and just asked a stupid question – Madeline had to turn everything into a tragedy somehow. He hated how they were always arguing about something stupid. Caleb looked at her, figuring it would only be worse if he didn't.

"You know that you're pretty, and you know I don't think your ugly – you're only saying that because that's what you want to hear."

"No I'm not, it's because you wouldn't tell me otherwise! You're so stupid, Caleb!" Madeline looked like she was going to start crying. "You never tell me I'm pretty." Caleb might have felt bad for her if she wasn't going to cry about it – was that really worth crying over? He didn't understand Madeline, but he hated it when people cried over everything that makes them sad.

"Are you really going to cry about that, Madeline, really?" Caleb knew he was probably only making things worse, he heard Madeline sob loudly.

"Y-You're so mean to me!" Caleb didn't have much time to think or say anything concerning that because by then Rachael had came over to them with Brandon, Jacob and Walter. On sight Madeline ran over to Walter and began to tell him what happened.

"Caleb, you're coming back to my office with me." Rachael had to give these four a lecture on what happened this morning to help avoid anything like it happening again. She was sure that William had been convincing but that wasn't the kind of lecture that they needed. These dispatchers were her responsibility and she wanted to reassure them in the right direction. She began to walk away after she spoke, expecting the others to follow – after telling Madeline to stay behind and eat breakfast.

...

Grell was coming out of a strange place, he didn't remember the details of it but he did remember that there was a really tall, colourful tree – and if you climbed it to the very top then the whole world (and everyone in it) would turn various shades of your favourite colour. He also remembered not liking everything being red once he climbed to the top, because it took the beauty out of the colour if there weren't any other colours to compare it to. So to solve the problem he went around painting everything the right colour with a magical paintbrush. It was also really cold there, but it hadn't snowed at all for some reason.

Grell was awake now, and he felt the presence of water - as if he were taking a cold bath – an extremely cold bath. He shifted slightly, feeling his left leg rub against a smooth, stone material. Where was he? Grell opened his eyes, and he saw a blurry sky, which was blue with some clouds. But what he saw more was the bright, bright sun, causing Grell to blink a few times and look away. As more things were coming into focus, he heard the sound of people's voices and laughter, as well as the sound of morning birds.

"I think he's awake now."

"Good morning, Grell!"

"Hey Grell, why were you sleeping in the fountain?"

There was some laughter following these comments, was he really in a fountain? Grell sat up and looked around, seeing through his blurry vision that he was sitting in a shallow fountain, and that there were a lot of people outside, but only about four or five of them were surrounding the fountain. How did he get here? He did sit on the ledge of the fountain a lot, and so he must have slept-walked here. Grell hated how he did that, it always put him in awkward situations like this. He was also awfully cold, this water was especially bitter in the early spring weather.

He was still half-asleep, so this was all coming to him slowly; the shinigami rubbed his eyes with wet hands, which were cold to the touch. He heard the voices speaking again, also increasing in volume – but he couldn't make out what they said very clearly, he was pretty sure he heard William's name mentioned in there somewhere.

Grell's body was stiff, he moved his arms to wring out his hair (which was sopping wet), but it was rather uncomfortable for him to move at all. He let his hair fall in front of him as he squeezed the water out, he didn't want to leave a trail of water behind him when he went back inside – that would just be embarrassing and messy.