An autopsy was performed on the body of Ruth Marchand, the old witch who was responsible for the loss of Alois' memory and who was murdered in the home she shared with her granddaughter provided the same results as the initial field analysis. A blade had pierced her chest all the way through to the other side. It was most likely a sword.

Similarly, her granddaughter and caretaker was also interrogated. The girl was a witness to the crime, however, she could not give a physical description of the perpetrators. She was blind, but could hear them just fine despite the fact that they did not speak. The girl claimed to hear enough footsteps for multiple people. "Three, at least" she said, which didn't add up if fingers were going to be pointed to Ciel Phantomhive. It simply wasn't his modus operandi.

If Ciel Phantomhive was going to murder someone as an act of vengeance, it would be a duel. He had done it before. This was his preferred style. Yet, this did not match. The sword did, but it wasn't obvious who the other people were, if he was there. Thus, the neighbours were questioned, and a family of vampires across the street, who just so happened to be the only ones awake saw three men walk up to the front door, where the old woman greeted them and allowed them inside.

This lined up with yet another claim of the granddaughter. She said that her grandmother was not concerned when she opened the door and that she welcomed them inside like she knew them. If it were Ciel, this wouldn't be the case, as she hated the Watchdog intensely to wretch his beloved spouse from him. It was nonsensical. Still, Ciel wasn't in the clear just yet. There was still no definite proof that he did not commit the crime.

As was his nature, however, he didn't want to back down just yet. Ciel wanted to finish this case, despite the fact that there was no need. If H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. took care of things, that was simply less work for him to do. Being the man he was, however, this was about honour, not practicality.

His name had been besmirched, even for just a moment, and that simply would not do. He was now more determined than before to get to Thaddeus and if he could, he would get the old woman's killer, too. A small part of him, however, wanted revenge just to feel like he was in control of something again. For now, he was at the mercy of Alois' scattered memory.

"Mail's here." the blonde said while walking into the office. He rummaged through them, finding a few envelopes for him, but most of them were for Ciel. Thus, they were handed to the bluenette before Alois took a seat.

"Thank you." Ciel answered, setting the mail aside. While he was going to get to it later, the other demon took to opening his right away. "What did you get?"

"A 'get well' card from Sir Midford." the menace replied while shaking his head. Still, he smiled all the same as he opened the card and music started to play.

"Are you getting well?"

"Getting there. I'm feeling more confident every day."

"That's good." the bluenette said with a smile, only for it to fall with two words.

"Oh, no..." Alois said, picking up another envelope.

"What's wrong?"

"It's from the school. That's never fun."

Ciel watched while the other opened the envelope. When the piece of paper inside was free, Alois' eyes scanned a few sentences before leaning back with a sigh. Running a hand through his hair, his eyes never left the paper as he continued to read. Alois read the letter and then read it again; then once more for good measure. Eventually, he tossed the paper onto the desk before closing his eyes and slumping down in his chair with a groan. Perplexed, the Watchdog had to ask.

"What's wrong?" inquired the bluenette, leaning over the divider desk between them to look at the menace. He waited patiently for a response. At first, he only received a drawn-out sigh and a shake of the blonde's head, but eventually, the menace came clean.

"Classes aren't going too well." he said. "At this rate, I'm probably gonna flunk most of 'em, and pass by the skin of my teeth in the rest."

"You've had a busy semester." Ciel stated in an attempt to be reassuring. "It's completely understandable if you fall behind."

"I don't want to fall behind. I want my degree. Falling behind isn't like a Phantomhi-" Suddenly, the blonde cut himself off and blinked in confusion. What on earth was he saying? It came out so naturally that he had barely caught it. He knew better. He was most certainly not a Phantomhive, yet here he was, feeling determined to honour the family name. It made no sense. Furthermore, it was heard by the bluenette, who was surprised as well at the slip as he stared back at the menace with his eyebrows raised.

Ciel watched the blonde pause and ponder with anticipation. He grew more nervous with each passing second, both fearing and looking forward to the possibility of Alois remembering being a Phantomhive and being his husband. The Watchdog longed for it, but the thought also filled him with dread as the fear of rejection engrossed his mind. The possibility that Alois would push him away lingered, and it was all Ciel had been afraid of this entire time. It was the reason why he hid from the menace. It was the reason why he hid them. Whatever happened next was something he couldn't stop, so he just sat there frozen while staring at the blonde.

"I..." Alois began, reaching up to rub his temple. "I… I need to go… Something's coming to me and I need to focus on it."

"A-alright." the other answered, uncertain as to what this meant. He loosened the collar of his shirt as he watched Alois close his laptop and stand up before slowly making his way out the door. The blonde had a hand through his hair as he rubbed his throbbing cranium with his brow furrowed at the discomfort. For a moment, he lost his balance and stumbled, causing Ciel to stand and start moving toward him, only to catch himself.

"Are you alright?" Ciel questioned, freezing in his tracks, but he was waved away.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I just need to lie down for a little bit." the blonde informed before disappearing into the hallway.

Alois was on the verge of something big. He could feel it from how terrible his head felt. Quickly, he tried to get back to his room so he could be somewhere quiet when it came to him. With one hand against the wall, he wobbled to his destination, but instead of the guest room he was currently staying in, his subconscious guided him to the master suite. Unable to get to the master bedroom, he laid down on one of the couches in the front room, where his eyes closed and he slipped into what he could only describe as a dream.


A/N: I'm so tired... My eyes in particular are tired for some reason. I think it's the "falling asleep with my eyes open in class" thing. They can't focus because I am gone. They're not supposed to do that.

I want to update more... All the time... I have shit to do this weekend, though... I'm almost done with this class, then I'm free! I'm free!

Until fall semester...

Oh, well.

I wanna finish this arc soon, but there's a lot going on. Just so much. I might actually have to like, draw up a flowchart on how this shit is gonna go.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "To Daniel and Samantha: How are you two doing?" by Sailyonera

Daniel: "Things are going good! The job is going great and everyone keeps complimenting my ties! Nobody ever did that at school!"

Samantha: "Secretly plotting to persuade Dan to stop buying novelty ties..."

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Question: "How are Amelie and Charlotte doing? Do they still work at Hellsing?" by Honeycloud of RiverClan

Charlotte: "Yep, we're still at H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. We've just been so busy! We just got back from a mission in Coventry. I'm kind of looking forward to sitting down for a bit..."

Amelie: "I almost got shot in the ASS."