I own nothing but my OC.


That Butler, Shadowing


≤speech in Indian language≥

'thoughts'

"speech"

"Demonic speech"

{setting/stage directions?}

SOUND EFFECTS

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

=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift


Previously:

"Ohhh~? Whatever is the matter, my lord~?" Lau asked curiously, tiptoeing closer to Ciel. "Feeling a bit blue, are we, hmmm?"

"Shut up! Don't follow me!!" Ciel shouted angrily, vein mark throbbing on his forehead as he stomped off.

So much for Chêne's 'brilliant' plan...


"Soma and Agni stayed out so late last night... They must be looking really hard for Mina." Chêne said, sighing sympathetically, as she thought of how worried they must be for their missing friend, and she arranged everything they would need for Ciel's morning tea on the serving cart. Sebastian was currently ironing the newspaper, a little trick that helped not only make the paper nice and crisp, but it kept the ink from rubbing off on Ciel's hands, and getting smudged all over the place. She noticed that something seemed to have caught his attention. "What is it?" Chêne asked curiously as she walked over to his side.

"I think our guests were definitely out looking for something..." Sebastian said as he held up the newspaper for her to see.

"!" Chêne said, gasping in surprise. She sighed. "Trouble sure does have a way of finding us, doesn't it?" Chêne asked, sweat dropping and smiling wryly, hoping things hadn't just taken a turn for the worse.

=†=†=†=†=

KACHAK.

"Pardon us, Sir..." Sebastian said as he opened the door to Ciel's bedroom. "Oh? Your being awake at this hour is quite unusual." He remarked, slightly surprised to see Ciel sitting up in bed, wide-awake.

"Whoa! Ciel woke up early!? This has to be one of the seven signs of the apocalypse!" Chêne said dramatically in mock horror.

"I don't want to hear that from the one responsible for it!" Ciel snapped back, chagrined.

"What? How am I to blame for your insomnia?" Chêne asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"Tch! I couldn't sleep well because I was too damned irritated." Ciel said, vein mark throbbing on his forehead as Sebastian handed him that day's newspaper. "Those two didn't get back till late last night, after all." He said grumpily as he unfolded the newspaper and opened it up to read it. "I mean, what in the—!" Ciel's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he furrowed his brow as he read the headline.

ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS ATTACK!
A Coffeehouse in Piccadilly Circus severely damaged!

It had happened again.

=†=†=†=†=

{Ciel's Study in the townhouse}

"—Well! Let's be frank, that duo has seemed terribly dodgy from the start~!" Lau said, smiling, as he read the newspaper and watched Ciel as he opened his mail. The stack of letters Sebastian was holding was thicker than a Webster's Dictionary.

"Quite." Ciel said, grimacing slightly, as he picked up yet another invitation. "Every time I come to London I can't go a day without one of these..." Ciel mumbled, chagrined, as he opened the unwanted invitation. "However, I can't fathom why they would cause those incidents."

"I'm usually a pretty good judge of character, and I didn't get the feeling either of them would do something like this... Soma might be annoying, but I think he and Agni are good people." Chêne said thoughtfully. "But it is possible that their search for 'Mina' is a lie... I mean, who would really travel halfway across the world to search for a person with only that... thing... to go by?" Chêne said, referring to Soma's drawing, and sweat dropping. When she had shown it to people while she was Christmas shopping, all she had gotten for her trouble was a few strange looks, and absolutely no information.

"Indeed. Going by that behavior, the theory of a grudge against colonial rule seems weak at best." Ciel agreed, thinking back on Soma and Agni's annoying, but relatively harmless behavior since they met. "Even if they think ill of Anglo-Indians, attacking them indiscriminately entails too much risk."

"Also, Agni and Soma are very religious, and Hindus believe in the power of non-violence and peace. Hinduism promotes peace, love kindness, hospitality, humanity and love. If I were them, even if was planning to attack someone, it would be the creep who took my friend, not innocent bystanders..." Chêne added.

"In the first place, if they were indeed the perpetrators, would they leave the townhouse in blatant view of my sight as they did? That's like practically begging me to suspect them! Jut thinking back on it makes me angry!" Ciel huffed indignantly.

"Besides—" Chêne started to speak.

"Well, thennn—!" Lau said, smiling innocently as he interrupted her. "To expediate matters, you just have to trail them at night. Right~?"

=†=†=†=†=

{That night...}

"Well, we're heading out, okay? Hurry to bed, little runt Ciel!" Soma said, grinning as he waved goodbye to Ciel, and Agni smiled and closed the door behind them. A vein mark throbbed on Ciel's head as he growled slightly at the prince's remark.

"You know..." Chêne said cautiously, glancing at Ciel. "If you'd drink more milk, like I keep telling you to, then—"

"Unless you want me to have Sebastian tie you up so that you cannot follow us when we go after those two, then I suggest you refrain from finishing that statement." Ciel said sternly, vein mark throbbing on his forehead. Sebastian smirked deviously at her, letting her know that he would be all too happy to help fulfill that particular request. Chêne immediately shut her mouth.

"Yes, Sir! Shutting up, Sir~!" Chêne said and mimed zipping her mouth shut. Ciel smirked. Threats didn't usually work with Chêne... He would have to remember that one.

=†=†=†=†=

For hours, all Soma and Agni did was go from pub to pub and club to club, asking everyone they saw for information, and if the had seen the 'beautiful woman,' aka Soma's drawing of Mina.

"By all appearances, they really are just trying to find someone, hmmm?" Lau said as they all stealthily (?) peeked around the corner of a nearby building, tailing the suspicious duo.

"In order to obtain information about someone in England, the first stop should always be the local pubs and clubs. They aren't doing anything out of the ordinary." Ciel said, shivering. It was cold out here. "By the way, what on earth are you humming, Chêne?" he asked her, sweat dropping. Chêne had been softly humming the Mission Impossible theme song for a while now.

"Hm? Oh, sorry! I didn't even realize I was doing it... hehe." Chêne said, smiling wryly as she sweat dropped. At least they had the proper background music for their little mission... "Who would've thought stalking people could be so much fun~!"

"I know, right~!" Lau said, smiling brightly. Sebastian and Ciel sweat dropped. Maybe they should limit how much time those two spent together... Chêne felt Sebastian place an arm around her shoulder. Chêne tried to suppress her blush as she glanced questioningly at him, suspicious. What was he up to now...?

"You must be feeling chilled after being out in the cold for so long." Sebastian told her, smiling a brilliant shit-eating grin as he pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open to check the time. The demon butler had to admit, Ciel had been right... he was feeling a little more... protective of Chêne than he probably should... but now was not the proper time or place for a self-psychoanalysis. Ciel sweat dropped, feeling slightly chagrined. Chêne was fine, (her resistance to the elements had been increased when she 'leveled up' as she liked to put it) but he was freezing his butt off out here! "1:00 AM..." Sebastian said as he read the time. "They will be returning to the townhouse shortly. Let us head back as well."

"I'll make you some hot chocolate to warm you up, Ciel." Chêne told the young earl, smiling sympathetically when she noticed his shivering.

=†=†=†=†=

{The Phantomhive townhouse, not too long after that...}

Snow began to fall outside as Agni dutifully tucked his prince into bed, and bid him goodnight before slipping out of his room, and walking silently down the dark halls of the townhouse. He seemed to be the only one still awake...

CREAK. KACHAK.

The front door creaked softly as a mysterious figure exited through it as inconspicuously as possible. It was Agni. The Indian man pulled his cloak tighter around himself as he stole off into the frigid night once again.

"2:45 AM." Sebastian said calmly as he watched the Indian man leave from where he was perched on the rooftop, and he read the time on his pocket watch. "He is on the move, as expected." Sebastian said, smirking slightly. He slid a little further down the roof, and leaned over the side, hanging down so that he could look into the window of the room that Ciel, Chêne and Lau were waiting in. "Young Master. He is on the move." Sebastian reported dutifully. Chêne sweat dropped and smiled wryly. Sebastian looked like a bat, hanging upside down like that.

"So sleepy..." Ciel mumbled drowsily as he staggered to his feet. Chêne sweat dropped again. Maybe she should've made coffee instead of cocoa... "All right, after hi—" Ciel started to say, when someone interrupted.

"Wait!" Soma yelled, causing all of them to stop and look at him.

"!" Ciel said, startled awake. "You...!"

"Take me with you as well." Soma said. "I was aware that Agni would sometimes go out after I'd gone to bed. I want to know... what he's up to." Sebastian glanced at Soma out the corner of his eye when he heard that, wearing a rather jaded expression.

'If he knew, then why didn't he confront Agni, or follow him by himself sooner... why wait until now?' Chêne wondered, furrowing her brow slightly in confusion.