So now we're finally on chapter two of the manga! I just want to take the time to thank everyone who's still reading – Lots of love ya'll! Oh, I just realized that I forgot to mention this, but unless specified, the POV is third person omniscient.

I do not own anything.


That Butler, Very Skilled


'thoughts'

"speech"

{setting/stage directions?}

*sound effect*

An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration or stuff like written letters.

=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift


{London, A Short Distance From the Manor}

*Jingle~! Jingle~!*

A bell rang as Ciel, Sebastian, and Chêne entered a shop. Sebastian had ordered a new walking stick for Ciel yesterday, and Ciel had insisted on coming to pick up it up in person. The shopkeeper was an old man that Chêne thought resembled a balding Santa Claus. Only, the man did not have a beard, just a mustache… no red suit either, just normal menswear. He was wearing spectacles though…Okay, so maybe he didn't look like Santa…

"Welcome, boy." The shopkeeper greeted Ciel. "On an errand for your father?" Ciel twitched and furrowed his brow, clearly affronted by the old man's words. Chêne sighed internally.

'Bad move, old man.' Chêne thought. Sebastian stepped forward, smiling and holding out the receipt.

"Excuse me. I have come to retrieve my Master's walking stick." Sebastian said politely. The shopkeeper took the receipt.

"Aah, yes." The shopkeeper said in recognition as he turned and retrieved the stick. "The owner of this stick… I was wondering who in the world would use a stick as short as this."

Ciel glared at the man. Chêne frowned slightly at the man. She could tell the shopkeeper wasn't trying to be malicious, but to treat a customer like this… The air in the shop was starting to feel heavy. Ciel's foul mood had started to affect his surroundings. Although Chêne had no idea how Ciel managed to do that, she did know one thing. Things would not end well for the shopkeeper if he didn't learn how to read the atmosphere soon. The man continued to speak, totally oblivious.

"I never considered it might be a child–"

*Whoosh!*

The shopkeeper's last sentence was cut short when Sebastian suddenly whipped the walking stick around and thrust it straight between the man's eyes, stopping just half an inch from his face. Sebastian had a serious and disturbingly calm look on his face. The man was blue from shock and trembling, shaking in his boots. Sebastian smiled his infamous shit-eating grin.

"Why, I detect not a single bend. What a magnificent walking stick." Sebastian said tossing a coin purse that was practically overflowing on the counter. "Please keep the change." Chêne sighed and shook her head. Sebastian was such a bully.

=†=†=†=†=

"Really…" Ciel said, strolling down the street with his new walking stick in hand. "Finni's ridiculous strength is nothing but a pain. I had to get a new stick because of it." That's right, the whole reason Ciel had to have a new stick made was because Finni had somehow managed to snap the old one clean in half. Chêne had found Finni holding the broken stick and bawling his eyes out, sobbing about how sorry he was, and she just couldn't bring herself to yell at Finni whenever he had that 'kicked puppy' look… so Chêne had decided to take the blame. Of course, Sebastian immediately knew who the real culprit was since Chêne was far too weak to do such a thing.

"Indeed. You have my deepest apologies, Sir." Sebastian said, smirking and placing a hand over where his heart should have been. They did not know if he actually had one... "Though you failed to grow any taller, you had to go to all this trouble."

Chêne giggled. She just couldn't help it. Besides, what did a twelve-year-old need a pimp cane – I'm sorry – walking stick for in the first place? A vein popped on Ciel's head.

"Hmph! Why are you laughing? You have not grown an inch for the past two years now. You are only two inches taller than me." Ciel reminded Chêne.

"Yeah, but I'm nineteen and a girl, Ciel. Technically, I'm finished with puberty, so I'm not supposed to grow anymore. Didn't I cover the stages of puberty for males and females last week when your science tutor couldn't make it?" Chêne said.

Ciel scowled at her. That had been a particularly awkward lesson for him when Chêne had insisted on teaching about women's menstra – about 'that time of the month.' Ciel shuddered at the memory. He had learned more about the human body in that one afternoon than he had ever hoped to in his entire life, and worst of all, Sebastian had been far too amused by the entire situation.

"Is that not even worse?" Ciel asked, his tone a little more acidic than he had meant after his recollections. "You will be stuck at a measly height of 5'2" for the rest of your life. I, on the other hand, am still capable of growing." Ciel smirked challengingly at Chêne. Chêne just shrugged and smiled.

"At least I never have to worry about being taller than the guy I like. As for why I'm so short, I do have a lot of Irish in me. I could be part leprechaun!" Chêne joked and grinned cheekily.

"There is no such thing." Ciel grumbled. Chêne raised and eyebrow.

"How do you know? After what we've seen…" Chêne glanced at Sebastian out the corner of her eye. Sebastian smirked.

"Chêne also has those dreams from time to time." Sebastian said.

Personally, Sebastian had never met a leprechaun, but he could not resist teasing the young master, and he had occasionally overheard Chêne talking in her sleep when he dusted the library since she had a habit of sometimes falling asleep while reading. In fact, she had been mumbling something about Finni breaking Ciel's 'pimp cane' just an hour before it happened. Sebastian had asked her about the dream after the fact, but she had just tilted her head in confusion. Chêne hardly ever seemed to remember her dreams, a pity really.

"That is merely a coincidence." Ciel said dismissively. Chêne giggled softly at Ciel's stubbornness. To the unknowing eye, the young Earl appeared to be calm and dignified, but Chêne could tell he was really sulking.

"Look Mama! It's the 'Funtom' Bitter Rabbit! And it's a new one!" A child yelled while admiring a toyshop's window display.

"Come along now, I just bought you some sweets didn't I?" The child's mother said. Chêne smiled at the sight.

The Funtom Company, with strong financial support from the wealthy and the petite bourgeoisie alike, and thanks to its bold business expansion practices is Great Britain's leading confection and toy manufacturer. With never-before-seen novel product concepts, it has achieved rapid growth in just under three years. You see its name here and there in Greater London every day. No one would guess that the head of the company is among the children who love its toys. Sebastian glanced at Chêne out the corner of his eye. The girl had been one of Ciel's greatest resources when he was building his toy empire. It turned out Chêne's goal had been to become a 'graphic designer' when she grew up, so she had learned quite a bit on her own about how advertisements worked. Her advice about product and marketing research and how it could impact customer behavior had turned out to be indispensable. Chêne's stories of her world and its various forms of entertainment had been rather helpful whenever there was a creative slump within the company. Though she played no active role in the company since she had simply opted to give Ciel some friendly advice here and there – as a reward for her help, Ciel had given Chêne a small share in the company despite the girl's protests.

"Now then, Young Master." Sebastian said as he opened the carriage door for Ciel. "Let us return to the manor quickly."

"Oh, yeah!" Chêne said excitedly. "I almost forgot! That program we've been looking forward to is going to start soon, Ciel."

=†=†=†=†=

{Meanwhile, Back At The Manor…}

"Aaaaah! I did it agaaain!" Finni cried as he stared at the tree he had broken in half. "And after I got scolded just yesterday for breaking the young master's stick! Mister Sebastian will yell at me agaaain!" Finni trembled as he remembered his scolding.

«« Mini-Flashback ««

Sebastian loomed over Finni, emitting a dark and menacing aura. Sebastian's brows were furrowed in irritation and a vein was pulsing on his head. His eyes were veiled in shadow as he glared down at Finni. You could almost see horns on his head. For some reason, Chêne's attempt to cover for Finni had only served to irritate the butler even more.

"Finni…you have absurd strength… So I am always telling you to be careful, am I not?" Sebastian said coldly.

«« Mini-Flashback End ««

"Waaah! I promised the young master and Miss Chêne that we'd all watch 'The Wild Earl VIII' together today! Waaaaaah! Help me, Earl!" Finni sobbed. He looked like a kicked puppy. "If I'm being scolded, I won't be able to wa – Nn?" Finni paused when he heard what sounded like hoof beats approaching. "C-Could it be!" Finni gasped excitedly, doing an emotional 180°, his eyes sparkling with hope. An image was already forming in the unfortunate gardener's mind of the Wild Earl on his noble steed, gallantly coming to the rescue. "Maybe it's the Wild Ea–" Finni stopped short and paled in shock as he was very suddenly and roughly snatched away by a mysterious figure. "AH! Aaaaaaaaah!" Finni screamed.

=†=†=†=†=

Ciel, Sebastian, and Chêne finally arrived back at the manor.

"We have arrived home, Young Master. I will have tea prepared right away." Sebastian said as he opened the door. Ciel and Chêne froze.

"…" Ciel said, pointing to the inside of his manor. He was blue with shock to the point where he had been momentarily rendered speechless. The idiot hair had curled off the top of his head was sticking up perfectly straight like an antenna. Chêne, although she had not gone blue with shock, was sporting multiple idiot hairs herself.

"S-Sebastian…" Chêne stuttered as she stared straight ahead, stunned. Though their expressions were rather amusing, Sebastian, who had not yet actually looked inside, wondered what could have possibly brought about such a reaction.

"Is something wro –!" Sebastian froze mid-question when he looked to see what the two had been staring at. For a moment he too was shocked when he saw what was wrong. The noble Phantomhive manor had been completely decked out in the most cutesy, frilly, and girly decorations any of them had ever seen. The room was sparkling. It was lovely.

"What on earth… has happened here…?" Sebastian wondered out loud.

"It's like the rainbow threw up in here…" Chêne said, slightly fascinated and overwhelmed by how the sudden explosion of color had transformed the manor.

"My manor…" Ciel said numbly. The poor boy was clearly in shock. He had taken a huge blow, finding his home violated like that.

"Are you alright, Ciel?" Chêne asked.

"My manor…" Ciel repeated numbly. Chêne sweat dropped.

"Mister Sebastiaaaan!" Mei-Rin, Bard, and Finni wailed as they burst into the room and tackled Sebastian. Chêne had managed to maneuver the still stunned Ciel and herself out of their path before they were run over.

"What is going on!" Sebastian asked as they clung to him and sobbed hysterically. "Rather… why are you two dressed like that!?" Bard was wearing a baby bonnet and a bib, and Finni was wearing bunny ears and oversized bunny paws for gloves. Mei-Rin was actually perfectly fine and still in her maid uniform. She had just taken advantage of the confusion to hug Sebastian.

'Can't say I blame her…' Chêne thought, '…wait, what!?' Though that thought worried Chêne since it was clearly a Freudian slip-up, now was not the time for a self-psychoanalysis.

"Ask that crazy girl!" Bard said angrily jabbing his thumb towards the door of the salon.