Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler, short story:

"GHOST CAT"

"Aaaaaa-choooooooo!"

Ciel Phantomhive's continuous sneezing concerned Sebastian. It almost felt like the young master's allergies were acting up, but the Earl was only, truly exclusive, allergic to one thing: cats.

Sebastian favored the notion his master did not have knowledge of his horde of felines stockpiled in his private chambers. Regardless of this blindness of sight unseen, a person's allergies tended to "notice" things the eyes were not privy to…

Ciel and Lukas Phantomhive sat in the Drawing Room. They were here to enjoy a moment of serenity and quiet on this Saturday after a week of strenuous work and affirmation within the Funtom Cooperation. The company was expanding and announced to the media a partnership with the Von Strauss family leather and meat business. But the paperwork itself was a task and a half.

The late Erich Von Strauss, Thann and Spencer Von Strauss's father, apparently had a lot of creditors that needed to be paid off before the partnership could proceed, which unexpectedly, put the Von Strauss's in the red. Erich Von Strauss also had a lot of gambling debts that after his death the creditors came calling to collect from his sons.

Thann and Spencer Von Strauss didn't know this "secret life" their father lived and the Illuminati would not help, even though Thann and Spencer both accepted their new positions within the Illuminati. Thann was now Sub-Head to Kyle Livingston of the British branch of the Illuminati, while Spencer was one of the main three lower facilitators that dealt with the many activities within this cult.

Both had many ideas in how to change the Illuminati for the greater good.

It took weeks to settle everything with the creditors. And with help from the Phantomhive's paying off most of the debts, the Von Strauss's now had a more eager reason to seal their business partnership with them. In fact, the Phantomhive's now owned 51% of the Von Strauss's business, which made them its true proprietor. But without the business merger, the Von Strauss's would have been finished, so it was unavoidable.

But Thann and Spencer were thankful for the help.

"Aaaaaa-choooooooo!" came another, longer sneeze, followed by Ciel blowing his nose with a handkerchief. Lukas looked equally as concerned as Sebastian, as the butler exchanged the used handkerchief, giving Ciel a fresh one.

Ciel then reached for his tea cup and took a sip. "I can't smell the tea," he said, then sniffed. Not to in an attempt to smell the Earl Grey, but to try to clear his nose.

Ciel sat in his usual "head of the family" chair that looked abreast of everything within the room. Lukas sat on a couch next to him. "Brother, what do you think is causing your allergies to flare up?"

"If I knew, I would eradicate the culprit," Ciel said snippish, his nose stuffed-up. He put down his tea and then blew his nose again.

"You don't have to stand on ceremony with me, brother. Something is obviously aggravating them, but there are no cats in the house. Well, not to my knowledge, anyhow." Lukas turned to Sebastian. "Sebastian, do you know of any felines veiled from sight within the halls of the mansion?" He lifted an eyebrow.

It was common-knowledge to the family Sebastian had an unnatural fascination with cats. Lore and mythos had demons associated with cats as a demon creature. Plus, they were also known to side with witches and warlocks who practiced black magic in fantasy stories. But even Sebastian couldn't explain his love of them. Only when he saw one, he fell head-over-heels and forgot everything that was going on around him.

Sebastian smiled thin. "No, I do not, my lord," he said courtly. "But I shall endeavor to find out."

"Also, please ask the rest of the servants to search for any feral cats that may have wandered onto the property. It is still winter, and they may have crawled into hovels in the foundation for warmth. Highly unlikely, but it may be plausible. If a demon can be a butler for humans, anything is plausible."

Sebastian smirked. "Indeed. I shall begin the search at once, Master Lukas."

"Oh, and one more thing. Can you locate Renny. I haven't seen him in quite some time. It is possible he may know something. As of late, has begun to establish a liking with cute, furry animals. Wildlife aside."

"Of course," Sebastian said, bowed, and then left.

Ciel began to sneeze, but it didn't come as fluent this time. "Aaa-aaa-aaa…" Ciel stopped, his mouth frozen opened, his nose pinched up, his eyes closed. "Chooooooooooooooooo!" The sound was audibly loud and considerably messy. Ciel had neglected to position the handkerchief in time to his nose.

Lukas was disgusted as snot and moisture landed onto the table between them and into their tea cups. "S-sorry," Ciel said, blowing his nose.

"Not to worry, brother." Lukas proceeded to clean up the mess with one of number of fresh handkerchiefs Sebastian had set aside in preparation for Ciel's allergic sneezing fit. "Sebastian will find this mysterious trigger to your allergies. I promise."

Ciel looked at him, his left eye reddened with his allergies, his right eye hidden behind an eye patch that covered the demonic covenant between he and Sebastian. "I hope so. My fate is in his hands. And I dread the out-out-out… Aaaaaaaaaa-chooooooooooooo!… come."

With that sudden sneeze, Lukas unexpectedly became the target of its dispersal.

Renfrew Phantomhive's quarters was another converted visitor's room much like Lukas's. When Lukas came to stay at the mansion, Lukas was assigned a small chambers but later two rooms were merged as one to grant him a larger bedchambers and living space. But this hadn't happened for Renny yet, although planned. Plans needed to be drawn for such reconstruction of his room on the second floor of the mansion.

Ever since he became a member of the present family - now in the body of a boy named Johnny Lazarus, who had been used by the demon and long-time rival Decco, and youngest off-spring of Sebastian in the distant past; Renfrew once a ghost, for accidentally killing himself when he attempted to threaten his own father to treat him better because Renfrew's father was a hostile drunk and would beat him daily - he came to live here. In fact, chronically, he was over 150 years old, but by appearance alone, his new physical appearance was age ten within this new body.

He had taken by a little while to become used to his new appearance, but he soon became okay with it. Besides, he couldn't change it anyhow. He had made the decision to merge his spirit with his new body. Now he had to live with it.

At first there was only his cousin Ciel, then he became reunited with Lukas after a seven-year separation regarding nefarious and sinister forces that kept them apart. Then through recent events of an almost, equal sadistic nature concerning demonic foreplay, he was granted a second chance by a friend of Sebastian to live again. As his transition was pretty smooth and there were no complications, he regarded it as his redemption for helping his cousins in their greatest time of need.

He was told Reapers could not restore him to his previous life because he was blacklisted by God for committing "an unforgivable sin", namely a form of suicide when he accidentally killed himself. The gun he threatened himself with to demand his father treat him better went off accidentally in his chest. But by his wandering spiriting entering into the hollow empty shell of a body, of Johnny Lazarus - he now lived again!

Right now, he was face-first in his dressing wardrobe closet with his quarter's door closed but not locked. "Shhh, now you stay quiet," he said to something inside. "We can't let cousin Ciel know you're here. He won't allow it."

A knock suddenly came at his door and he frantically shut the wardrobe doors with a loud bang. Sebastian came into Renny's room. "Forgive me, Master Renfrew," he said. "I hope I am not intruding."

"In truth, yes you are, Sebastian," Renny said rather firmly. "I was busy."

"I am sorry, Master Renfrew. It was just Master Ciel and Master Lukas haven't seen you much today and they were wondering what you have been doing. I wondered perhaps you have walked about and gotten lost. This is a very big mansion, and someone new to it may lose their way."

"Indeed. But I believe I know my way about, Sebastian. Before my rebirth, so to speak, and the evils of Decco, I used to follow cousin Lukas about. So, I believe I have a firm grasp of the hallways and corridors and basement of this mansion."

"Very good. I am aware you are a quick study - "

Meooow.

Renny gasped.

Sebastian lifted an eye brow and looked towards the wardrobe closet standing tall on the wall. "What was that?"

"Ahhh…nothing," Renny said too quickly. "Just your imagination." Then smiled nervously.

"If it were just my imagination, then you wouldn't have heard it also."

"Heard what?"

Meooow.

Renny snapped his attention to the wardrobe closet.

Sebastian sighed, then opened the closet. "Master Renfrew, if this is what I think it is…" But to Sebastian's surprise the wardrobe was empty except for clothes, even after a thorough search. "I could've sworn I heard a…"

Renny smiled, almost relieved. "It was your imagination."

"You do know Master Ciel is allergic to cats of any nature," Sebastian said.

"I do know this, but there are no cats here," Renny said with a broader smile.

"I see," Sebastian said skeptically. "Master Ciel has been profusely sneezing as of an hour ago."

"Is he alright?"

"He should be once the culprit is caught."

"Have you searched your room, Sebastian? For any 'culprits'?

Sebastian eyed him suspiciously. "I assure you, Master Renfrew, I am not hoarding any cats in my room."

"I didn't ask of you were hoarding any cats." Renfrew's brows pushed up suspiciously. "I wouldn't accuse you of anything of the sort."

"Indeed."

"Please tell cousin Ciel and cousin Lukas that I will down shortly," Renny then said.

"Very good." Sebastian then mumbled as he left, "I could've sworn I heard a meow."

Renny closed the door. "He's gone."

He opened the wardrobe doors and looked inside. Suddenly a blue translucent form of a grayish cat appeared. It meowed and then purred affectionately as Renfrew seemingly petted it.

"I don't believe cousin Ciel is affected by you," he wondered, "but I can't say for sure. Maybe his allergies of cats is also of the mind and somehow he knows you're here? But I don't think allergies act that way."

Renny thought for a moment and then shook his head, then the cat shook its head as if answering as well. He had known the cat for sometime and knew it was very intelligent.

"I still can't believe you found me here and after all this time." He smiled. "I've missed you very much."

Sebastian stood outside Renfrew's room listening with a keen ear. He could hear the young master talking to someone, and sensed something in the room with him. It didn't feel malicious, but it did feel otherworldly. And then he thought, Renfrew had been a ghost for many years, perhaps throughout that time, he had made a few "friends". This was not bad, but friends that said meow?

If Renfrew had a cat in the room with him, Sebastian would have sensed it.

"SEBASTIANNNNNN!" came a loud, desperate voice from the main floor. It was Lukas.

He made haste to the Drawing Room where he had last seen the young lord and hurried inside. Here, he observed Master Lukas on his knees with Ciel on the floor. Ciel had collapsed, his breathing wheezy.

"What has happened?" he demanded.

Lukas shook his head. "I think his allergies have taken a turn for the worse," he expressed scared. Ciel was sweating and his heart was beating rapidly.

Sebastian went to Ciel and picked him up. "We must get him to his bed and then call a doctor. This is reminiscent of when he suffered a severe bout of asthma just last year."

"Do we have any of his medicine?"

"No, it has all recently expired. But after I put Master Ciel to bed I will immediately go into town. I know a good pharmacist and I will gather the proper medicine."

As they traveled upstairs, Lukas said, "Can't you just make him better with your powers?"

"It doesn't work that way, Master Lukas," Sebastian said, climbing the main staircase with Ciel laying limpless in his arms, Lukas next to him. Their pace was hurried. "Through the years, I have learned certain chemical reactions in the human body help other reactions. Therefore, if you eliminate one, another one will take its place, perhaps even worse. The human body must make its own balance."

Sebastian carried Ciel down the hallway, Lukas then opened Ciel's chambers for Sebastian, and soon the butler lain Ciel on his bed. However, Ciel appeared now to be breathing normally and he was no longer sweating. His heart rate had even returned to normal.

Ciel then opened his eyes. He looked at both Lukas and Sebastian in turn. "What is going on? Why am I in my chambers and on my bed?"

"You collapsed, brother. Sebastian brought you up here. But…you seem fine now, not affected by your allergies." Lukas eyed Sebastian suspiciously. "Sebastian please don't tell you brought a cat into the mansion and are hiding it?" This time demanding the truth.

But before Sebastian could answer, Renny burst into Ciel's bedchambers. "Is cousin Ciel alright? I heard a scream, then hurried footsteps." He looked downcast and guilty. "It is cousin Ciel's allergies, isn't it? I'm sorry. I didn't think he would trigger them. He's a ghost cat."

"Ghost cat?" Ciel, Lukas and Sebastian said in unison.

Suddenly the cat, translucent in blue, much like when Renfrew was when they first encountered him in the mansion, strolled casually into the room. Ciel looked nervous, but he didn't sneeze. In fact, the ghost cat, even when it "hoped" onto the bed, didn't trigger any allergic reaction from Ciel at all. Ciel moved away.

"I thought you were acting oddly, Master Renfrew," Sebastian said. "Please explain."

"There is nothing truly to explain. When I was a ghost, I found him. Or rather, became reacquainted with him. He is my cat from when I was alive. He must have sense me here and came calling."

"How can a ghost cat sense you were here?" Ciel asked, a little less nervous.

"I suppose with a strong enough bond, even death is no barrier."

Ciel sighed. "Despite unusual, then there is something else triggering my allergies in the mansion." He gave a brief sideways glance to Sebastian. "However, I believe it only resides in the Drawing Room."

"Cat fur?" Lukas offered.

"Summon the servants. Have them search the Drawing Room, then have them clean it thoroughly," Ciel ordered. He looked at the ghost cat, the cat looked at him, then it smiled friendly. He didn't necessarily dislike cats, only that they triggered his allergies. "In the meantime, keep him away from me."

Renfrew gave a whistle. It was like a command, and the ghost cat then jumped off the bed and went to him. It then turned itself solid-like and sat next to Renfrew courtly. Renfrew pet it like a 'live' cat.

The servants searched the Drawing Room thoroughly, but nothing that looked anything like cat fur or in fact any dirt resided. Sebastian always kept every room immaculately clean, it was a testament to his duties. But Ciel remained out in the hallway as everyone else continued to search for something, anything that was triggering Ciel's allergies, as something inside was.

An access panel was opened up in the floor. Every room had one. It was for easy entry to the plumbing or wiring that ran throughout the mansion hidden in the floor or in the walls. Inside were small crawl-ways that an average-size person could fit. Finny volunteered to go into this one, and almost immediately a rank smell began to fill the Drawing Room, like something had died.

"Found it!" Finny's voice came from the crawl-way and he pulled out a dead cat. More than just dead, partially decayed. "Looks like it's been here for weeks."

"Pewwww!" Bardroy said, holding his nose like everyone else was.

"But why did Ciel only begin sneezing today if it appears it has been down there for weeks?" Lukas said.

Sebastian stepped forward, providing a plastic bag for the dead feline to be inserted. Then tied it. "I believe it may have been my doing, Master Lukas. During the spring and summer seasons, I daily bring in cut flowers so the room smells pleasant. With the autumn and winter seasons, I make do with scented candles. However, I think with the recent thaw, the cat's decay increased and Master Ciel was able to smell it."

"So I was correct, a feral cat did find a way into the crawlways and then became trapped."

"That appears to be the case," Sebastian replied.

"Poor cat," Mey-Rin said. "Died of starvation, I think it did."

"Indeed."

Finny took the plastic bag from Sebastian and left the room to dispose of it.

"Aaa-choo!" Ciel sounded.

Lukas brought him in and explained things.

"A dead cat in the crawlways, you say? Oh." Ciel actually sounded sympathetic. "Clean the room thoroughly, including the crawl-way," he ordered.

"It shall be done at once, my lord," Sebastian said.

An hour later, they were all in the Sitting Room. The ghost cat was with them. And Ciel was finally able to enjoy a cup of tea without a sneezing fit. He sat in a single chair separate from the rest of the furniture as "head of the household". Sebastian stood at his side.

Renny was sitting on a couch with the cat curled up next to him. It was solid-like and he was petting it. It purred from the affection.

"How on earth can it do that?" Lukas asked, sitting across from Renny on another couch. "One moment, it can walk through walls and then the next it looks like a solid animal. And you can pet it?"

"I was able to look normal when I was a ghost, but I didn't care for it," Renny said. "Ghosts can become solid when deemed, but not for very long. It exhausts a lot energy."

"You can't keep it," Ciel said, returning his cup to the saucer he held.

"But he's my pet," Renny whined. "And I won't abandon him just because I'm human again!"

"I don't see any harm in it," Lukas said, half-agreeing. "The ghost cat doesn't affect your allergies, brother."

"No harm?" Ciel protested. "It's a ghost cat!"

"And Sebastian is a demon butler," Lukas retorted. "However, a ghost cat wandering the halls may not be surreptitious and it might scare the servants." He shrugged. "But how can we stop it?"

Ciel scowled. "How indeed. Cats do have a mind of their own, and I very much doubt it will just go away on its own. Very well. But he will be your responsibility, Renny."

Renny smiled gleefully. "You won't regret this decision, cousin Ciel," he said. "And he does know how to be discreet." He looked at Sebastian. "Well, most of the time."

"What's his name?" Lukas asked.

"Vincent."

Ciel gasped. "You named your cat after my father?"

"Our father, brother," Lukas corrected him.

"Forgive me. Our father."

"I already named him before your father was even born," Renny said.

"Did he commit an unforgivable sin as well?" Ciel joked dryly, albeit sounding in bad taste.

"That's cruel, brother. You were never one for good humor."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Why is your cat a ghost?"

"I suppose…we are inseparable. When I died, Vincent was still alive."

"He looks young," Lukas observed. "He doesn't look like he died of old age."

"I think he died of a broken-heart?" Renny looked at Vincent, who purred at his touch.

"Oh, please! This is intolerable," Ciel said.

"Animals do that to!" Renny said. "Just like humans. When a person loses someone they really love and care for, they sometimes can't live without them. So, they just…pass-on. I'm in a different body, but he knows it's me. He honed in on my spirit."

Ciel rolled his eyes again in disbelief, then took a sip of his tea.

"Well, one more lost soul to add to our growing family, I say," Sebastian said, almost with travesty. Ciel was a loner, but now he had a fraternal brother, a long distant cousin; once a ghost but now in the body of an enemy; and now a ghost cat as a family pet, who will now wander the mansion halls and for which, ironically, did not trigger his allergy to cats - and all of them Phantomhive's.

If Sebastian didn't see it becoming more work for him in the future, he would have laughed.

"Quite," Ciel said. "The more the merrier indeed." Then he sighed, weary of it.

THE END.