Disclaimer: நான் சொந்த எதையும் செய்ய

A/N: Hi, guys. Thanks for patiently waiting on this. Also, once again, Sebastian IS NOT a demon in this story. He was a human before he died. That being said, let's move on.

XxxxxX

Ciel picked at his dinner absently. He knew that his parents were giving him worried looks, but he couldn't bring himself to meet their eyes. The earlier events of the day kept replaying in his mind.

They had called an ambulance as soon as they got downstairs. As they waited for it, they checked over their friend. He was unconscious, but he seemed to be breathing comfortably. After the paramedics arrived, they announced that the blond had a broken leg and a possible concussion, but otherwise seemed fine. They wouldn't be able to know more until later.

"Ciel, honey, are you alright?" his mother asked.

"Yes, mum, I am," he said quietly. "I just can't stop thinking about Alois."

"You can go visit him after school tomorrow," his father promised. "I can leave work a bit early and drive you to the hospital."

"Alright," he said. He then stood up. "I'm not hungry. I'm going to my room."

"Alright, darling," his mother said. "You know you can come talk to us if you need to."

"Yes, I know," he replied.

He kissed her cheek before making his way back to his room. A shiver went down his spine as he walked up the staircase that his friend tripped on earlier. He suddenly wondered something. Did Alois trip? As he recalled, it looked like he had been shoved. But nobody had been close enough to the boy to push him. Well, nobody that they could see...

He narrowed his eyes and walked faster to his room. Could the butler have really hurt his friend? He almost didn't want to think about Sebastian that way, but the more he did, the more it made sense. The man had given his friends rather dirty looks. And Ciel did say that they were bothersome.

He sat down on his bed and sighed. "Sebastian?" he called.

"Yes, my lord?" came an immediate response. The butler stood before him and bowed. "What is it you need?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn't want to risk making a fool of himself by accusing the spirit.

"Is the young master still hungry?" Sebastian asked curiously. "I noticed that you did not eat much of your dinner. How about I make you some hot milk?"

He nodded absently in reply. The butler gave him a concerned look before vanishing. In the spirit's absence, he convinced himself that he needed to voice his thoughts. He wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise.

Sebastian returned within five minutes with a kettle and a jar of honey on a cart. He poured the milk into a cup and handed it and the honey to the boy.

"Thank you," he murmured as he combined the liquids before taking a sip. He let out a little sigh. Sebastian always managed to make everything taste wonderful. He quickly drank the liquid and placed the cup back on the cart. He then turned to the butler.

"Sebastian, I want to talk about what happened to Alois earlier," he stated.

It was barely noticeable, but he was sure that he saw the man flinch. "Yes, sir, what about it?" Sebastian asked calmly.

"I'm going to ask flat out," he said with determination. "Did you cause him to fall down the stairs?"

"Yes, I did," Sebastian replied simply.

"What?" he gasped. He didn't think that Sebastian would just admit to it, let alone sound so passive. "Why would you do that? You could have killed him!"

"But, my lord, he and that other boy were bothering you," Sebastian said, sounding aghast. "I cannot have people coming into my master's home and blatantly insult him. I normally wouldn't interfere, but you weren't making any move to defend yourself. I decided to teach them what happens to those who insult the Phantomhive name."

"You're insane!" he snapped. "We always talk to each other like that! If it was really bothering me, I would have given them a peace of my mind! You presume far too much!"

To his surprise, the spirit smiled slightly. "It is good to see that you have not changed too much over the years, young master."

He just stared at the man for a moment before scowling. "Get out!" he demanded. "I don't want to see you in the mornings or any other time of day. Leave my sight permanently."

Sebastian took a step back at that. His face held a look of shock and hurt. But he bowed and said "Yes, my lord," with sadness and resignation in his voice. He then vanished.

Ciel fell back on his bed and sighed. He couldn't help but feel guilty for hurting Sebastian's feelings. But the spirit was clearly dangerous. Maybe it was best that he just forget about the butler.

XxxxxxX

The rest of the week passed by ordinarily enough. He went to school and came home to a quiet house. He passed the hours studying and watching television, much like other people his age. He went back to his regular morning routine(which was a lot busier without Sebastian to help).

He visited Alois on the two days that he was kept in the hospital. The blond was going back to school next Monday. His leg was broken, but everything else was, thankfully, fine. Ciel wanted to ask him if it felt like he had been shoved, but he didn't know how to explain that question.

"It's a good thing your head's so hard," Ciel told his friend. "Otherwise you might have lost the small amount of brains you have."

"Oh, hardee har har," Alois replied sarcastically. "You know, I could sue you for this. I was hurt on your property, after all. But instead, you can just carry my books for me. Luka volunteered, but he forgot that we go to different schools." He smiled fondly at the thought of his younger brother.

"Maybe you should call Ghostbusters or something, Ciel," Soma suddenly suggested. "I've been thinking, and I think your house is haunted. It was really cold in there, and I felt some strange presence. I really do think that a ghost might have hurt Alois."

"You, uh, have really thought hard about this, haven't you?" he asked awkwardly.

"Cool, we can be on 'The Haunted'!" Alois exclaimed.

"Stop being ridiculous!" he snapped. "There is no ghost in my house and even if there was, I don't need help!"

Later on, he would regret not taking his friend's advice.

XxxxxX

He woke up around noon on Saturday. It was nice to sleep for so long after a long week. And even though he was still a bit groggy, he could sense another presence in the room.

"What is it, Sebastian?" he sighed. The butler had not bothered him all week. Why now?

Sebastian appeared before him and bowed on one knee. "My lord, I want to apologize," he said solemnly. "I acted quite atrociously toward your guest. You are right, I should never have acted without permission. From now on, I shall only act on your orders. Please allow me to continue serving you. I promise that I'll be your faithful dog."

He knew that he should send the apparition away, but something was telling him to forgive Sebastian. It was like a feeling of old friendship. Maybe even compassion. Besides, it seemed like the man had learned his lesson.

"Fine, but I want no more incidents like what happened on Monday," he said sternly.

"Of course," Sebastian replied eagerly. "Now, I have prepared for you a light lunch. If you wish, I can show you the grounds after you have eaten."

"Sounds good," he relied.

They then spent a good three hours exploring the grounds. Sebastian showed him everything from the gardens to the stables. And, of course, he had more stories about the house's previous occupants.

"The gardens were once very grand," the butler informed him. "Though I must say, that was mostly my doing. Our gardener unfortunately didn't know his own strength. He was also an idiot. In fact, all of the servants were incompetent."

"If they were so bad, why were they working here?" he asked as he examined a long dead rose bush.

"They were mainly hired to protect the manor from intruders," Sebastian explained. "I did try to teach them how to be proper servants, but they just never managed to learn."

"Hn," was all he said in reply. Even though Sebastian spoke of his former co-workers with contempt, Ciel could see a fond look in the man's eye.

"Young master, it looks as though it might rain. Why don't we return inside?" Sebastian suggested.

"Yes," he agreed as they hurriedly made their way back to the large house.

"Young master, is there anything else you'd like to do? If not, I shall go prepare your afternoon tea," Sebastian said.

Ciel thought for a moment. "Actually, Sebastian, there is. There's a room upstairs that has it's door locked. I want to see what's inside of it."

XxxxxX

A/N: Hm, that chapter didn't go quite like I planned. This whole story isn't going like I planned. Also, there probably won't be more than three more chapters. I never planned for this to be very long, and I've already got the ending planned out. (I keep using the word "planned".) Planned planned plannedddddd... Sorry.

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