Hey, long time no see. I'm just going to warn you all now. In the future, there will be no warnings. You just don't pick up a book that says at the top of each chapter, "YAOI!1!11!1 DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ! Top!Sebby/Bottom!OC! HetSmut! If you like, then read on, but make sure you have a tissue to clean up your nose!". Generally, if smut will be in the story, it's implied in the description. I'm positive I have implied that. If it looks like the story is headed in places you're uncomfortable with, skip the paragraphs with that content, like every other reader. I mean, I know it's just fanfiction, but warnings seem... unprofessional.

I am not awesome enough to own Kuroshitsuji. Not even Prussia-

Well, point being. Kuro belongs to Yana Toboso, all rights reserved.

Four hours later, Sebastian brought Alistair inside and locked the door, then gave thought to finding Lilith. No, he shook his head, he had better check on Amelia and see if she made any progress on her paperwork. Or, more accurately, pry the book from her fingers and send her back to her study to finish the whopping two documents she has to read and sign.

"Young mistress." He greeted upon walking up to her lounge chair, "Perhaps it would be wise to finish your paperwork."

She looked up from the book in her hands, "Sure, I was just getting ready to put the book down."

"I'm almost positive you were, my lady." He said sarcastically.

"All right, fine, I had no intention of moving until I finished. You're right, however. It would be wise to finish my work."

"I am seldom wrong."

Amelia smirked at him, but it had less fire than usual. "If that isn't true, I don't know what is."

"Was it a very good book, my lady? You seem contemplative."

"Yes, the best books make you think. It is interesting, at least. Very," she hesitated, "educational."

Abaddon looked up from her lap and glared at Sebastian. She scratched his ears and he begrudgingly lay his head back down, still not taking his eyes off the butler. Amelia looked at him apologetically.

"I do not understand how I could possibly have wronged that cat."

Amelia shrugged, "I don't know. He won't tell me why he doesn't like you."

Sebastian stared at her, trying to decide whether or not he would keep his mouth shut. He calculated irritation factor and decided not to. "And yet you say you can't talk to animals."

"Don't make me throw another pillow at you." Amelia laughed.

"That reminds me. You'd be happy to know that Alistair can now play catch. If you ever feel the need to play with him, be sure to watch your face."

Amelia laughed again, "Did he get yours?"

"Almost," Sebastian admitted. "He is smart enough; I think we'll start guard training tomorrow."

"What is this?" Amelia gasped.

"What?"

"Does Sebastian Michaelis like a dog?" She asked dramatically, "Say it isn't so! It's the end as we know it!"

"Yes, yes, young mistress, the end. Now if you could get started on your work? Today's schedule is already very distorted. Shall I hold on to that book for you so you don't get distracted?"

"I'll keep it, thank you. Besides, right now, you're the one distracting me. Is there any chance you could make something to eat for me? I'm hungry all of a sudden."

Sebastian bowed and disappeared and Amelia held the book under her arm and picked up Abaddon, then carried them both to her study. It wasn't long after she sat down and started reading that Sebastian appeared with a slice of spice cake and sweetened tea infused with ginger.

"Am I an invalid, Sebastian?"

"Young mistress?" He asked for elaboration. His eyebrow raised. Why on Earth would she think she is invalid?

"I was just wondering. You do things so quickly. Even assuming you have cake on hand all the time, you make it from one side of the manor to the other very quickly."

"If I could not do that much at least, what kind of butler would I be? Certainly not one well suited for the demands of the house Phantomhive."

"Yes, well, how do you do it? Do you just sprint everywhere?" Amelia giggled at the idea of Sebastian sprinting through the halls, but still wearing that impassive unbothered face. "I know I certainly couldn't do anything as quickly as you do."

"Young mistress, you simply do not have the same focus I do."

"I still can't walk ninety miles an hour."

"You are only human after all," Sebastian replied, then mentally slapped himself. "Everyone has different talents," he finished smoothly.

She nodded and frowned at the paperwork in front of her. "Only human," she repeated hollowly.

"Are you well, young mistress? You don't have a fever, do you?"

"I'm fine. I'm just tired all of a sudden."

"I hope you didn't waste your energy in reading that book. Did you at least learn anything?"

"Perhaps." She answered mystically, then stared at Sebastian. She shook her head. What was she thinking, that Sebastian was a—Hah, don't even finish that thought.

"I will leave you to finish your work."

"What if I want you to stay?"

"Then I will stay, but you will not get your work done."

"I can sign and talk at the same time." She started reading her papers. Sebastian stood in his usual spot, behind her right side. Amelia wasn't used to being so aware of Sebastian's presence, and now had no idea what to say. Every time he even breathed, she noticed it. But then, she knew she was keeping him for no reason. Amelia scribbled out a clause she didn't care for and wrote a compromise. "So, what else are you talented at? Can you walk on the ceiling?"

Sebastian chuckled, "My feet are firmly planted on the ground."

"So, then, no flying?" She corrected a misspelled word. Really, these people should take English classes. How could they run a business with such abysmal spelling?

"Afraid not. I can jump quite high, though."

"Teleport?"

"Not quite."

"I guess you aren't from a fiction story, then." Her eyes traveled over the next page. The silence that followed was slightly less than comfortable. She barely heard Sebastian move to flick a fly, which flew uncontrollably at a wall, already dead by the time it struck.

"You can leave if you want, Sebastian. You don't have to stay here, you know."

He bowed and headed for the door. When he had turned the handle, her head snapped up.

"Oh, wait! I almost forgot!"

"Yes, young mistress?" He turned around.

"That event in the mail. Was that a dance?"

"It was."

Amelia sighed, "Dancing is so silly. People look silly when they're dancing."

"It's a tradition, no matter how silly."

"What is the silliest dance you've ever seen? Can you show me?"

"You're kidding."

Amelia looked serious for a moment. When Sebastian looked like he was going to start dancing, Amelia spoke up, "I am kidding. I'm sorry, you can go."

Sebastian bowed and closed the door behind him. The mistress sure was acting strange today.

"What do you mean, you let him fly off?!" The angry officer shouted at his subordinate.

"He told me he was to go bomb London, sir."

"Were you aware that his gas tank has a leak? He was one of our best pilots! And here, you've essentially killed him!" The officer looked just past the junior officer's shoulder. "Are those the bombs that were supposed to be on the plane?"

The lower-ranked man turned around and looked at the pile of death. "Ja. I guess no one loaded the plane."

"I would have your head on a stick if it weren't for the fact that they would be useless on that plane now. Come. We will have to tell our superior."

Amelia snapped her book closed and put her head in her hands. No matter how much she read on these demons and their accursed contracts, she could not find anything conclusive about her mark. She was tired of evading the subject with Sebastian and trying to find out no her own. He's known her for her whole life. If anyone would know, he would; and if anyone was a demon, he would be the one. "Sebastian."

"Young mistress?" he asked from the door. Occasionally his speed surprised her.

"Have I ever told you that I like your hair?"

He smiled, "I don't believe so. Thank you."

Amelia stared at him with a faint smile. If he is a demon, she considered, she could simply order him to do something out-of-character. She'd rather not. Something seemed wrong about ordering around the man that raised her.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes. I've just been reading a lot. It has never occurred to me to ask, but why must I keep my birthmark covered? It's not like it's unladylike to show my neck."

"No, it isn't. However, in some cultures, including British, your birthmark is a sign of bad luck. It stays covered for your protection."

Amelia nodded, "Is that all? I've had it since birth, right? Literally?"

He smirked, "That is the definition of a birth mark."

She ignored his play, "you know more about me than anyone else, and of my mark. Is it completely unique, or could someone else have one like it?"

"It is unusual, but there is a possibility that someone has the same one. Unlikely, as far as birthmarks go." Sebastian didn't show his rising discomfort. "You are very inquisitive today."

Amelia sighed and shook her head. She has just been beating around the bush. Just spit it out, she told herself. "Sebastian." She said directly, "I believe you are hiding something from me. Sit down and tell me everything you know about my birthmark immediately." After a moment's hesitation, she added with a sigh, "That is an order."

Amelia didn't miss how his eyes glowed and widened ever so slightly. His pupils were now slits, and the skin around her mark tingled with pleasant warmth. It was a little distracting. Sebastian bowed and took a a seat in the other chair as indicated.

"Sebastian Michaelis is the name your father gave me when I was summoned by him. I was to assist in avenging his parents and serve as his butler until then. When it was all over, my prize was supposed to be his soul.

"Before I could get his soul, he died in a circumstance out of my control. He ordered me to care for Elizabeth, your mother, in her pregnancy with his last breath. After your mother died, I was simply going to eat your soul since I never got your father's. That is, until I noticed that you bore the same mark I gave your father as evidence of the contract. That meant that I owed you a service, and you owe me a soul. Since it is against my aesthetics to take a soul before a contract is complete, I raised you in hopes that you would come up with terms or understand well enough to dismiss me yourself."

Amelia listened to his story and nodded a few times. When he seemed finished, she snorted, "This adds a new definition to inheriting all of my father's debts and assets."

"Indeed."

"So, you are a demon."

"That is correct, young mistress."

"Why was this information kept from me?"

"As I raised you, it didn't occur to me that you wouldn't know what I am. As you grew older, I thought about it and didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't understand. Besides, the power to control a demon with any command is a frightening one to give to a five year old, kind and well-behaved though you were."

Amelia smirked wryly. Well behaved indeed, until she got bored. Then she was a little adventurous. She was sure she had almost given Sebastian a heart attack when she disappeared and he found her after giving thought to her presence. She was about to fall from a rather tall tree. He saved her from a few broken bones and reprimanded her for being reckless.

"When you grew older still, I was concerned that it would ruin your trust in me."

"Demons would rely on trust, wouldn't they? Do you have any idea how strange it is to find out that you have been brought up by something you never thought real?"

"I've never been in that situation, myself." Sebastian sighed inwardly. The way Amelia carried on joking; she must not be too upset. Now, he wonders why he ever thought this could turn out any other way. If this wasn't a fearless child, he didn't know what was. This was the one that tried to keep a wild snake as a pet as a child, after all. She caught it herself. Anyway, he wasn't sure what caused greater relief; that her soul wasn't ruined, or that she wouldn't give him that heartbroken, vulnerable look she tried to hide when she had nightmares.

"Well, dearest Sebastian, it is rather shocking. Especially since it may suggest that there is in fact some sort of deity and anti-deity. As you know, I've rejected the idea since I've even heard of the bible."

"I've never met any deity myself. I have met an angel and a few reapers, though," he grinned.

Amelia crossed her legs and rested her chin on her palm. For a while, she stared blankly at Sebastian. Then she spoke with finality, "I am upset with you for keeping secrets, though I understand why it was done. Know that it is no longer necessary. Don't ever do it again."

"Is that an order?" he smirked. Making her order him is probably going to be one of his new favourite activities. Just watching her hear the word was enough to amuse him. Anyone that didn't know her, which was anyone else period really, wouldn't be able to see that she shifted uncomfortably. Her reply was casual, though.

"Yes. If that's what it takes, then it is an order. Do not hide anything from me anymore."

"Yes, my lady."

Amelia ignored the tingle this time and turned around to look out the back window. This happened just in time for both of them to witness a plane of wood and linen crash land in the back garden. "Sebastian!" Amelia gasped. Instinctively, she grabbed a scarf off a peg on the wall and hastily exited toward the garden.

Thank you for your patience. Feedback helps. Think of it as an act of kindness that helps the world by removing even just a little bit more of the ignorance we are plagued by. Also, I have these Sebastian M. shimji that have completely taken over my desktop. Seriously. If I were to count, there would be more than 30.