This is it, the last chapter of Red Rose, our lovely fluffy fanfic between Sebastian and Grell. Don't cry, hopefully there will be more (at some time, hehe). That means SEQUEL!
It's a surprise to me that many people liked my OC's (I literally made them up on the spot and developed a little) so I commemorated Leander and Everhardt by putting up a small profile/info for them on my page!
Final BIG thanks to: Princess of Heart 11, Kasia-chan, Music lover LOL (I Lol at that XD), Watergoddesskasey, Anonymous reviews...for reviewing.
And SPECIAL big thanks to: Gothic-Romantic99 and OtakuPrincessArtist for reviewing every chapter, I loved your reviews and your praise, you kept me going!
Disclaimer: Toboso Yana is the owner of Kuroshitsuji and all characters that appear in it (wow, first Disclaimer I write formally)
Claim: Leander and Everhardt are of course MINE!
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry:
Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee well, my only Luve
And fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.
–A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns
The snow has stopped falling, the once dead-gray trees start sprouting leaves, the grass beings to cover the land, slowly making its presence known. The winter has almost ended and spring is at the doorstep, waiting. The citizens of London take this wondrous transition for granted, walking through the streets, seeing it as just another day, only less cold; too much work to do to stop and behold. Another day alive in the world proves someone else has passed yesterday; a Reaper's work is never over. And the warm embrace of the spring brings a small reminder to a Shinigami that years, decades, centuries have passed without Death heeding single step. Sometimes, a well needed break is needed to succor the weary, overworking soul. Especially to someone as deranged as our bittersweet vixen, Grell Sutcliff.
"Cranky as always, Grell-sempai?" The curled, golden locks of a young, well dressed reaper bounced as he paced to greet the flamboyant transvestite. Bloody long hair flipped side to side as red stiletto heels turned, the owner raising a brow at the comment. "Well you would be if you had to go Reaping so many souls at this time of night, Ronnie." They were currently inside the Shinigami Library, the night prevalent even in the Reaper's dimension.
A few laughs echoed on the now-empty library, glasses shimmered, light reflecting on them. "Grell-sempai, did William-sempai give you too much work again?" Some chuckles escaped the two-toned youth, failing to sound concerned.
"Of course! As usual...Will is such a slave driver! I swear one of these days he's actually going to work me to the bone!" Chained glasses clinked as the redhead threw out his hands for emphasis. "But at least I managed to finish my report on due time... I think it's a first in my whole time working."
"You really finished the report?" The frowning elder reaper drew his right hand to grab a document from the wooden table, demonstrating its contents. Ronald read superficially, but saw it was complete.
"Wow, I don't think you have ever finished on time! Ever!" Clearly surprised at his superior's handiwork, Grell bragged proudly.
"I'll say! Will should soon think the apocalypse is to come out of this miracle!" The two giggled inwardly when a voice broke out their chat.
"Sutcliff, Knox, what could you be up to this time?" Grell and Ronald stopped breathing for a second, and the both of them peeked over their shoulders. Indeed, William was standing, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed (as always), a frown over his lips at the two's behavior. The sharp, tall man noticed the report in the infamous troublemaker's gloved hands. "I see you are done, Sutcliff, hand me the file." He quickly took the report and inspected it. A few flaws here and there but a somewhat average job well done; he still couldn't comprehend why Grell was asking so often for a day off, but as long as the work was done, no questions asked. "It's not the best but seeing it is you, Sutcliff, our deal is done. You can enjoy tomorrow as a day off." Grell regained his energetic self and hoped with joy, arms flailing all about.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Will~! I take back what I said!" The redhead couldn't avoid giving the taller man a strangling hug, much to the other's dislike.
"Sutcliff!" William pried the shorter, petite reaper off him with much force. The raven-haired reaper spoke again. "Honestly... Just remember not to cause unnecessary problems in the human world, and stay far away from those vile demons. You have a knack for getting yourself in a pinch." He adjusted his glasses out of habit.
"Hmm, I'll try~." Grell exclaimed with a hum and fluttered his eyelashes effeminately at the taller reaper's words. Will quirked a brow at the redhead's purr. Grell could stay away from trouble, but the last order was more of an advice than instructions in his mind. The feminine reaper took the liberty to part with Ronald and leave, making a small portal to the human world.
Soon afterward, Ronald rubbed the back of his half-blond-half-black hair awkwardly at the silence. "I guess I'll go ahead and punch out then–"
"Not so fast, Knox." The superior caught the arm of a ready-to-sprint-away Ronald. "Where is your report of the week's Reaping?"
Gulp. So that's what I forgot...
As he passed through the portal, the city of London formed under his shoes, heels clicking against the cobblestone ground of an alley when the short redhead took a step. It was certainly very late; barely a human being walking around in the streets, some beggars and street dogs passed around. The lampposts lit the near-empty streets, some stores were just about to close, pubs stayed alive and filled with drunkards. As the flamboyant reaper trotted the road in the direction of the young boy's manor, he saw the dim light of a nearby store flicker over some women's apparel. Maybe he could afford to dilly-dally a little more.
By the look of the bright moon it was just over midnight when the tired reaper reached the Phantomhive manor, who yawned slightly as he stepped up the front stairs. Right as he reached the front door, it creaked open from the inside, a gloved hand over the handle, revealing a fine and handsome butler.
"Welcome, Grell Sutcliff." The finely dressed butler gestured for Grell to enter. "I must say, this is quite the late entrance."
Grell gladly entered the mansion, exhaustion visible in every fiber of his being. "Well, I finished everything at the last minute, literally; plus I made a small stop to buy something!" He showed the large bag his thin arms were carrying.
"May I be of assistance?" Sebastian felt interested in the contents of the bag.
"Ah-ah, it's a surprise~. You can't peek, and it's not really heavy at all so I can manage." The demon butler blinked owlishly. Surprise? What kind of surprise...
"Nevertheless, it is already tomorrow, you must be feeling sleepy. Follow me." Sebastian lead the way to one of the guest rooms for the droopy ginger, looking back every few minutes through the dark hallway to make sure Grell was still behind him, awake. They arrived before a door in the eastern part of the second floor, the raven-haired butler opening it to demonstrate the inside decor. The room was fairly spacious, walls painted in a soft blue tone, a fuzzy reddish carpet underneath, windows covered in red curtains build facing the door. There was a cabinet filled with some books in the left corner of the room near the window and a large wooden armoire filled with some high-class clothing in the opposite corner, near a bed. A large bed with four pillows was positioned against the right wall, sheets colored a deep red, already prepared for the red-loving reaper's stay. Also, a bed counter stood at the left of the bed, holding a lit candle. As soon as Grell saw the queen-sized bed, the oversized bag met the floor and he leapt towards the smooth-looking bed, landing with a fluid thump, face between two fluffy pillows. A barely audible purr left his lips as he kicked his stiletto heels off and into the floor, planting his face further into the extremely comfortable cushions. Sebastian let out a sigh as he picked up the bag and spoke up.
"Grell, your 'surprise' is left abandoned here." The reaper perked up and stood, losing balance at the feeling of the flat floor under his feet.
"Oops. I forgot." He quickly rose from the lovely bed and snatched the bag, skillfully taking out the item he had bought and hanging it inside the wooden wardrobe without the butler seeing it. "There! Now if you excuse me, I'll get ready to sleep." He removed his coat and also hanged it inside, followed by his black vest. He glanced back at the still figure of Sebastian, who looked back with indifference. "Sebas-chan, a lady needs her privacy! Please look away." A faint blush crept over the reaper's cheeks.
"I apologize, I'll turn around." It didn't really matter to Sebastian since he knew that Grell wasn't really a woman, but he had to respect the other's wishes over privacy. Then again, seeing the redhead undress might not be such a good idea, as it would provoke some parts of his lower anatomy to twitch.
Grell saw it was safe to presume to change and began to unbutton the white shirt. Removing the last button, the ginger took off the shirt, his socks and trousers quickly, leaving them on the floor, and searched inside the wardrobe for a nightgown. He found one to his liking –silky with long sleeves, lacing in the back much like a corset, and the gown reaching his ankles–, and clothed himself with it, feeling a little chilly. Putting the gown on properly, the cross-lacing in the back was out of his reach to tie up. Whimpering softly, he frowned at his short arms and reached farther back to try at tying the lace again.
"Do you wish for me to help?" Grell flinched for a moment and glimpsed over his shoulder at Sebastian. The butler was already behind him holding the two separate thin laces, ready to help the weary reaper.
Grell flushed, turning away. "W-well, you're already here so...go ahead." He crossed his arms and puffed his chest, trying to seem offended. In the inside, of course, he was trying to keep calm and collected, unable to. Sebastian started to tightly binding the lacing, a few groans of pain emitting from the redhead. At the last two knots, it seemed he fastened the back a tad too tight, hearing Grell mewl and whine.
"Is it too firm?" Sebastian expressed with some concern in his voice.
"N-no, instead, c-could you press a little tighter?"
...A masochist to the core. He should have expected that. "No, it would be most uncomfortable to rest in, now go to sleep." Some complaints and a swift smack later, Grell was on the bed, pouting. The butler was watching over him to make sure the hyperactive reaper wouldn't wander off in the night. The last time Grell slept over, some rooms were mysteriously painted red and a couple of Sebastian's undergarments went missing.
"No fair! I can't sleep with you looking over me like a hawk... Can't you lull me to sleep, or at least come closer?" He said with what he considered a convincing 'innocent' face.
Sebastian simply stared back, serious features prevalent. The redhead turned away, taking the answer as a no and leered at the wall. Grell almost gave up on sleeping, but then he felt weight on the other side of the bed. "If you don't fall asleep in the next five minutes, I'll return to the corner." A loud squeal left the ginger's lips when he saw Sebastian lead back and rest on the bed, taking the butler's arm and giving it a squeeze. He clung to the demon and snuggled over a shoulder, taking it as a more comfortable pillow. A sigh. He was always so clingy, but it didn't bother Sebastian as often now.
"Now I don't know if I can fall asleep with you here~."
Even if the words were spoken with honest, truthful sense, the welcoming embrace of sleep soon overpowered the debilitated and fatigued reaper, falling soundly asleep in the demon butler's arms after two measly minutes, and softly snoozed. A smirk reached the butler. Always so contradictory, Grell. Looking at the sleeping figure of the redhead, he saw he still had his glasses on, chains entwined in the long, red hair. Carefully using his free arm to remove the red glasses, he folded and placed them on the bed counter. Staring one last time at Grell, contemplating his rising and lowering chest, breathing in his sleep, Sebastian thought.
As a demon, I do not need to rest and regain energy, but this time it should be an acceptable just cause to enjoy the luxury of sleep, no?
The morning sun rose, light rays delicately bringing light to the guest room were the resting reaper laid. The curtains had been lifted, causing the redhead to toss and turn, before waking, cursing at the sun for appearing all too early. He lifted the sheets and covered his face, not wanting to wake. A lady needed her beauty sleep after all. Two, three hours of restless napping passed before Grell got the guts to sit up and get dressed. He did wonder where his demon had gone. So he stood up, directed his sluggish walking to the armoire and picked out a special outfit.
Sebastian had already done the morning schedule and resided outside, over the steps of the entrance. Ciel, who had given him the day off to spend it with the reaper, was in his study checking the Funtom Company's income and product sales. Currently, the butler was enjoying petting a small black cat that always wandered around and greeted him. The cat hopped off and ran back, around the mansion. Curious to the cat's behavior, Sebastian followed its path, leading to the flower garden in the back and found it curled up over a tree.
"Did you want a better view, little kitten?" He crouched down and took the black kitten, cradling it over his lap. He noticed the birds had started to nest over the tree, and some spring flowers were starting to bloom over the ending season of winter. The feline purred softly at the caresses, stretching and cuddling. "Ah, such soft paws, lush fur..." The amber eyes of the cat flashed and it hissed, pouncing away.
"Hmph! Sebas-chan always flaunts over cats...I wish you would be like that with me!" Sebastian knew Grell had scared the kitten away, always the jealous person. It wasn't that he liked cats more; it was just that cats didn't flirt around excessively or talked. At all. He knew Grell would be frowning and tapping his heeled feet once he looked at him. But when he turned to greet the redhead, Sebastian didn't expect to see that. The reaper was wearing a long, sleeveless, satin red dress, ruffles of cloth cascading around the long skirt, different tones of red mixing together. The heels he was displaying were slightly different from his usual ones, but red all the same, and his usually gloved hands were naked and smooth, nails painted, naturally, crimson.
"...Good morning..." The butler stared unintentionally, astounded. It was fascinating, really, how different Grell looked with a little change in outfit.
"I see you noticed my little 'surprise'~. Isn't it exquisite?" Grell spun around to properly display his new dress, his red locks falling about almost perfectly. He truly was a lady at the moment, and she looked wonderful.
"Yes, I must agree." Like usual, his sadistic side hid his utter disbelief at how well it fit the feminine reaper. Grell sat down next to the butler, leaning against him, the same as always.
"Well, I'm glad~ it's to your liking. I bought it on sheer impulse, well, it was just so perfect I couldn't resist!" He pats out the ruffles, making sure nothing gets wrinkled.
Sebastian chuckles at the action. "If you planned on being your usual self, you shouldn't have worn such a fine dress today, Grell. Such a lady like yourself must take care of her clothing."
"But I like it! And its– wait...you..." Hearing Sebastian call him a woman openly was somewhat embarrassing, in a good way. "Um...right..."
Seeing a flustered, nervous Grell was enjoying for the butler, he didn't understand why though. Maybe because the demon never really saw the over-the-top reaper that way, mostly never halting his advances. Exploring the possibilities of a reaction in Grell was just as intriguing as a chess game; so many strategies, so many different moves...so many things he has yet to discover about the reaper, to uncover. The sitting butler extended his arm forward and flung it down, revealing a rose out of thin air. "Here."
Grell, temporarily out of his daze, took the flower and, upon closer inspection, saw it was the enchanted rose from before. "Oh, it's that rose... You still have the enchantment on it?"
Sebastian smirked. "But of course, it is very important to me." The redhead quirked an eyebrow, before the raven-haired butler spoke again. "You could say I love this flower very much."
Grell scoffed. "A flower? Bu-but how can you love such a simple thing? It's just a rose..." The ginger frowned at the words. How could a flower be more important than himself?
"It may be a simple and worthless thing, but I love it. Well, not as much as I love you." Grell blushed furiously, a reaction Sebastian wanted to get out of the reaper. "You're much more important to me than some silly old flower, Grell, and you should know that much by now." The butler leaned in a stole a kiss from the blushing reaper, who turned red hot like an apple.
The ginger looked away, still flushing hysterically. "I know...I just forget with you teasing and pushing me away so much. That's all..."
"Well if I had my hands on you every time, I assure you we would never leave the bedroom." Grell stared blatantly at the butler's words. It didn't sound half bad right then.
"But if I prefer to take things excruciatingly slow, forgive me. Living for all of eternity would sound too boring if all we ever did was mate like rabbits. I want to remember everything, and everything to be special, Grell...love must be cherished, or at least that is what I understand. This feeling is still new to me."
"I...I know." He said just above a whisper. Grell had to admit, sometimes his Sebas-chan was such a romantic, there was no way he could complain. There's no way he would complain. He still had what he always wanted: someone to love, that loved him back. If he had to live without public displays of affection, or bed romances for a couple of years, it was fine. Right now, Grell could be close to his sweetheart, forever.
"Can I have another kiss, then? With tongue?" Wink.
"Not from me. The moment is gone." The reaper pouted at the response.
"Pleeeeeease? Just for a few seconds?" He tried to persuade the butler into it, but to no avail. Sadly for Grell, Sebastian was just messing around. Teasing the needy reaper was fun, even when he did love him.
A sadist never stops being a sadist. Same goes for Grell. And we all know that. All teasing aside, the demon gave the other a warm embrace before speaking again.
"Let's just stay like this, enjoying the spring. It's just the beginning, Grell, like the spring flowers blossoming before us." The birds flew down and chirped in the air. The flowers had indeed just begun to bloom, and so has their relationship. Who knows what comes ahead in the future? "Let's not rush."
The night had crept up on over the day, and the two had spent the day in the garden, contemplating the welcoming spring, forgetting the past winter that has just waved good bye for the year. Grell had to leave, work once again beginning tomorrow. He managed to dress up as a true lady, have a lovely moment and spend the rest of the day with his love. Next month would have more things to bring.
"I'll have to see if I can set up a date such as this one next time, Sebas-chan!" The overjoyed reaper gave one last hug of the day, the butler bowing after he stepped back.
"I hope for the same." Straightening up, he saw Grell had already taken a few long steps out, jumping up to stand on the entrance's stairs.
"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow, my Romeo!" The reaper leapt down and disappeared.
Sigh. "So much like him to depart with a phrase such as that...and have the last word." Sebastian made way to the door, opening it, but glancing out one more time.
"...Good night, my Rose."
Perfection! (I think) BTW Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne (Poets rule XD).
Also, I will take a long writing break (I'll post a new story in winter break, sigh, November is always such a busy month for me) but before I take my momentary leave, I will torture you for a bit.
*Dramatic trailer music*
Sequel to Red Roses...
"Hello, butler~. I have a present for you from a fellow Shinigami; although I don't understand why, but here~." The funeral director gave the bouquet of flowers to Sebastian, who took them warily. The flowers were wrapped neatly by a white cloth and tied together around the bottom of the blanket by a blue strand. It was a clear message, a bouquet of Lilies. Black Lilies.
A lily...a flower presented in burials for goodness. A flower that symbolizes life and rebirth, bright and glistening like rays of the sun. A black flower is another thing... The shade does not exist in the nature of a flower, impossible to see; only dark shades of maroon, brown or burgundy. Still, humans believe to see it, knowing it's meaning... a dark omen. Its symbol is clear, but not only such mourning and grieving nature. Black is elegant, chic, sexy, sophisticated, dangerous, warm, death...a familiar list of words that could describe another creature we know. A Black Lily is all these things, obscure and dark, but one must be more careful of its secrets.
Lies hide behind the Truths of the world. And a forbidden union between Demon and Grim Reaper has its obstacles.
The heavily-cloaked man turned on his heel and proceeded to return to his shop. At the distance he came to a halt, tilted his head to see the suspicious butler once again and spoke in a husky tone.
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet...Correct, butler?"
Wow, you can almost feel the tension rise! You can guess there's going to be a lot of love, lemons (hopefully for you) and troubles along the way for Sebastian and Grell, right? So I chose a quote by the famous play Romeo and Juliet. It is the only embodiment of forbidden love that fits so well between the two (hence why Grell would reference it so much around Sebby), and if you know what it means, you are one step ahead! This has not yet been planned completely out but it the story will start around the end of winter vacation. So, until then, you have something to look forward to!
Read lots of fanfics~
~Cookies