Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or Black Butler. They, and their characters, belong to their respective creators.

Chapter 18 - Aftermath

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It had taken a while but they finally made their way out of the maze of buildings. Their pace had been slow, partly because of Kyo, partly because they had to take a different route out because of Scotland Yard. And now they were out near the wharfs on the river.

"I'm sure we'll be hearing about this tomorrow in the papers," Ciel muttered as they halted to rest. "But at least that ends it."

Sebastian smiled in amusement. "Of course, and they will doubtless take all the credit." And, though the demon was not tired, he set Tohru down on a convenient crate.

"What a sight we make," Ciel observed as he leaned against a barrel. Lizzy had refused to leave his side, even after she'd learned that Tohru was okay. He supposed he could not blame her, not after having gone through what she had.

All of their clothes were mused up, though Sebastian and Kyo's clothes had suffered the most. Kyo was the only one actually missing articles of clothing though. Sebastian was only missing swatches from his coat from where he'd torn sections off to make bandages.

The ginger-haired boy breathed heavily as he leaned against the pile of crates Tohru sat on. His face was pale under his usually tan skin. Somewhere in the alleys, he'd found a stick long enough to use as a support. It had been enough to help him stay upright but he was dizzy.

Sebastian looked over at his charges. "Perhaps it would be best if I were to quickly bring the carriage around," he observed. "It would appear that master Kyo needs a doctor. Though I did my best, I am no surgeon and had no tools with which to suture his gash."

Tohru's eyes went wide in surprise as she looked at Kyo. "Why didn't you say something? I only thought you were really tired!"

Kyo looked up through his matted hair. "And said what," he asked. "There was nothing I could say that would change anything."

Tohru shook her head. "You're always so stubborn."

Ciel glanced at the two, then back at Sebastian. "You're right. But be quick about it." He didn't like the way Kyo seemed to be swaying, even leaning against the support.

Kyo tried to continue to pretend that he wasn't that bad off, but his vision was blurring again. He slid down to a sitting position and closed his eyes.

Sebastian looked at Kyo in particular. The boy had lost a lot of blood and still had come this far on his own power. It was a remarkable testament to his sheer willpower. "I will be but a moment," he said and was gone.

Tohru looked down at her companion. "Kyo?" She slid off the crate to stand by his side, her legs a bit shaky under her. "Kyo?"

Kyo blinked, trying to clear the haze from his eyes but he was so dizzy. The world was tilting out from under him and he felt like he was falling. "It's okay," he said in some effort. "I'm fine." He reached out his hands as if to grab something before he fell over, unconscious.

"Kyo!" Tohru dropped to her knees in shock. Though the memory of the pain she felt still lingered, it had pretty much subsided. "Wake up! Please!" She looked around frantically.

Ciel and Lizzy were sitting side by side, both unable to do anything to help. "We just have to wait," the earl said in answer to her questioning look. "Once Sebastian returns, we'll make sure he's taken care of. All we can do is wait."

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It was dark, and warm. He felt something cool trickle down his forehead. What was it? Slowly, his eyes opened, unfocused at first, but everything eventually came into focus.

"How do you feel," Sebastian asked, the first face in his view.

Kyo groaned. "Like I've been through a meat grinder." He winced as he tried to sit up. The room looked familiar, dark green décor; more masculine than the one they'd put Tohru in. Where was he?

"Is he awake?" Tohru peered over Sebastian's shoulder, her eyes anxious.

Kyo looked up at her as he lay back down with a grunt. His body felt heavy. "Hey. Looks like you're back to normal," he commented. "I'm glad."

Tohru laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, none of that," Kyo admonished, feeling embarrassed. "I'm not dead yet so don't cry over me."

Sebastian moved back so that Tohru could sit on the edge of the bed. "It was a near thing," he commented as he poured a cup of some liquid. "Thankfully we managed to get you to the hospital in time. They were able to administer to your wounds properly and gave you a few blood transfusions. The Young Master thought it best, however, for you to recover back at the Manor where it was less likely for unfortunate incidents to occur, such as your transforming in front of the eyes of unsuspecting females."

Kyo shaded his eyes against the light overhead. He noticed the curtains were drawn and he had no idea of the time. "Hey, what time is it anyway?"

Sebastian pulled out his pocket watch as he moved over the filled cup. "It is precisely eleven fifteen at night."

Tohru leaned forward. "You were asleep for a really long time," she said. "A couple days actually. I was really worried. Ciel was here a while ago but went to bed."

Kyo blinked. Was Tohru wearing another one of those fancy dresses? "And what about Lizzy? Is she okay?"

Sebastian handed him the cup. "The Lady Elizabeth is doing well. We sent her back with her maid just this morning. Of course, some memories had to be altered through hypnotism, such as being held hostage by a demon, but I believe she will come through this ordeal without any mishap. It will be as though it were a bad dream."

Tohru smiled. "As for me, I'm keeping my memories, all of them. I made a promise with someone that I would never forget anything." She thought of Momiji as she spoke. She almost wished the boy were there. He was always so bright and cheerful. They could sure use it after what had happened.

Kyo took the cup but didn't look at its contents as he listened to everyone talking. He struggling a bit to sit up a little again. "If it's after eleven, isn't it pretty late? You should be in bed," he chided Tohru.

Tohru blinked. 'You're right! But I wanted to stay by your side, at least until you woke back up."

Kyo wasn't about to get all mushy or anything with Sebastian there so he coughed to cover his embarrassment. "Well, I'm awake now so you'd better go to bed. You don't need to catch another cold."

Tohru stood and almost saluted. "Right!" Her expression softened as she looked back. "I really am glad though, Kyo, that you came after me. Thank you." With that said, she turned and left the room.

Kyo felt warm inside after she left, pleasantly warm. It was a nice feeling. He unconsciously smiled.

"You might want to drink that before it grows cold," Sebastian reminded, indicating the cup he'd given him. "Don't worry that it contains anything harmful. However, it does grow more bitter as it cools."

Kyo looked up at the butler, feeling a bit wary of that last comment. He noticed the older man was arranging some bandages and other items on the night table. He sat up some more, careful not to spill his cup, which he set next to the water basin without tasting it. "What's with all that stuff?" He looked pointedly at the medical supplies.

Sebastian continued with his preparations. "It is time to change your bandages," he replied. "I am told that not doing so on a regular basis can cause greater infection in the wound, which, I believe is something you would rather avoid. Now, if you would please turn a little more to your left so that I may work unhindered by your blankets..."

Kyo blinked. He'd almost forgotten about his injury because of the warmth he'd felt when Tohru had thanked him. But now that he thought about it, he could feel it. It seemed to pulse slightly, but even with that, he didn't move.

The butler unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and folded up the white material to expose his wrists and lower arms, his gloves still on. This accomplished, he looked back at the boy in the bed. Realizing he hadn't moved, he smiled slightly. Always so stubborn. "Don't tell me that even after all we've been through, you still don't trust me?"

The man had a point. Did he trust him, though? The guy had fought alongside him, kept the demon from tearing him to shreds, and though he hadn't tried anything on Tohru, he still occasionally had looked at her with that look that he now understood. Demons liked specific types of souls, after all. The butler had admitted that himself. But did he trust the guy despite all of that?

Sebastian proceeded to move a chair he had set aside closer to the bed and sat down. "Perhaps I should proceed with the usual examination first," he mused and slid his hand onto Kyo's forehead. "Hmmm. That does seem to be an improvement. Your temperature appears to have gone down from earlier today."

Kyo moved away from his hand. "Hey, what're you talking about?" He batted the butler's hand away. "What temperature?"

Sebastian smiled a smile that could easily be mistaken for a fake, though there was definitely some sincerity in it. "I thought I already told you. We don't want any more infection than what already is present. You see, much to my dismay, when I bound your leg back at the warehouse, I did not have the cleanest materials to work with. And human bodies really are so fragile, not that the demon we dealt with was the cleanest either."

"Wha?" Kyo's eyes went large. "You mean to tell me I've been lying here in feverish delirium because you used dirty bandages?"

The door suddenly opened as Finni entered the room with a heavy basin of steaming water. He carried it like it weighed nothing though, water sloshing. "Mr. Sebastian! I brought it just as you asked!"

Sebastian looked up. "Very good. Place it here, please." He indicated the one free spot on the night table. "And after that, I think you may safely retire for the night."

Finni placed the basin where he was told and gave a sort of nervous bow before running back out of the room, closing the door behind him.

The butler sighed. "A good child but still that." He turned back to his patient. "I wish you wouldn't look at it like that. I used what I had at hand, though I do not believe one can safely blame that completely, as I said. Now, if you would be so kind as to oblige me, I really do insist that your current bandages be changed."

Kyo sulked but flung the covers off of his right side and turned enough for his leg to be easily reached by the dark-haired man. "That do?"

Sebastian laughed slightly to himself. "That will do." He moved closer so that he could easily undo the bandages already in place. He deftly but quickly removed them, setting them aside to expose the jagged gash underneath, with its odd amount of sutures. The flesh was a bit too red for healthily healing skin.

The butler turned back to the table and removed his gloves, revealing his long black nails and a mark on the back of his left hand. He would have preferred to keep the gloves on, as usual, but dipping both hands in water made wearing gloves bothersome, and he was not just bathing someone's forehead to bring a fever down. It also helped that the boy already knew what he was.

Kyo turned his head to watch what was going on and noticed Sebastian remove his gloves. The black nails did not surprise him, not after seeing the black claws of the other demon, but the mark caught his eye. "What's that?"

"Hmm?" Sebastian looked up almost absently as he placed his gloves to one side. "That mark? It is the mark of my contract with the Young Master. I believe you also saw a mark on his eye, the one he always keeps covered?"

Kyo had to nod. "Yeah. I noticed it." He'd thought it a rather odd thing, looking at Ciel back at that place. No wonder he always wore that eye patch. It definitely would make people wonder.

"That is his mark of the contract," Sebastian added as he poured some white powder into the hot water. "And in case you are wondering about what I have just added to this water, it is a chemical compound called magnesium sulfate. It's very good for drawing out infection, as well as helping heal bruises far quicker than they would normally."

He dropped several pieces of cloth into the water. "This treatment is most effective when the water is around ninety to one hundred degrees. The solution is applied through either soaking through immersion, where the area is small enough to allow, or through compresses directly applied to the affected area for no more than half hour increments, though it is always best to change the compress once it has cooled down to maintain the necessary heat for the process. It is also recommended that this process be repeated three times a day to draw out the infection and reduce swelling."

Kyo blinked in surprise. For some reason, he was suddenly reminded of Kazuma. Every time he'd gotten too carried away, sprained something, fallen too hard, his foster father had used something similar to help sooth the hurts. Of course, it had happened less as he grew older, but thinking about it brought him back to the days when he'd first started at the dojo. He'd refused to cry when a particularly nasty sprain or bruise had come, but the care had been the same.

"My apologizes if this stings a little." Sebastian picked up the first cloth and wrung out most of the water before placing it on Kyo's leg.

Kyo was pulled from this memory of his mentor by the sudden sting from the Epsom Salt soaked cloth being placed on his sensitive skin. "G'yah!" He clenched his fists.

Sebastian's expression was sympathetic. "Please bear with it," he requested. "It is preferable to losing a limb. And since you refuse to drink your tonic, you will have to try and ignore the pain."

"What is it," Kyo said through his clenched teeth. This hurt a lot worse than he thought it should.

Sebastian prodded the compress, checking the temperature. "The tonic? It is the same mixture that I gave Miss Tohru when she had a cold, an infusion of herbs against infection, with the side effects of putting one to sleep and alleviating pain. Though, how quickly it would work for you is another matter as you seem far more stubborn than she is."

Kyo growled, though more from pain than from anything else. "Fine! I'll take it! But not because I can't take the pain." He reached for the cup, knocking it accidentally instead of grabbing it, but before it could spill, Sebastian had rescued it and put it in his hand. The boy chugged the contents, gagging at the dregs.

Sebastian chuckled. "Remember, I never did say it would taste pleasant." He immersed his hands in the water basin again, swirling the cloth still inside, making sure all of the salts had dissolved.

Kyo's lips puckered as he made faces. He'd almost have rather had one of those shots from Hatori, almost. It was no secret that he didn't care for them. He put the cup back on the small table as soon as it was empty, his beads clinking against the ceramic. He already felt exhausted. By the time Sebastian moved to change the compresses, he was asleep.