The next morning, I was woken by the blinds to the room being opened. I opened my eyes slightly, shading my eyes with my hands. Stupid sun. That's when I was reminded where I was. I sat up, and saw Sebastian fixing up the room as the other two boys simply muttered for the blinds to be closed and rolled over, grumbling something about it being too early. That's when I glanced at the clock. It was 6:23.

"Close the freaking blinds," Daniel whimpered. He was ignored, and he fumbled around for a eye cover to block the light. I wasn't used to getting up this early either, as my roommates usually woke me up at 8:00, usually in some strange manner, like flicking food at me or pouring bottles of water on my face until I looked like I'd almost drowned again. "Why up so early?" I asked, rubbing my eyes to get the sleep out of them. He merely smiled. "Good morning, Phantomhive," he answered. I blinked."Where are my manners. Good morning, Michaelis," I answered, glancing away from him."It's polite to look at someone in the eye when talking to them. And please, call me Sebastian." I gave a slight nod, when a thought struck me. "Hey, wait a moment…it's Saturday," I pointed out. He smirked. I guess he'd been waiting for me to point that out. "What are we doing up this early on a Saturday?" "Given that it's six, I'd assume we're going to peek in on the girls bathing," suggested Daniel. Sebastian made a face."Why would we do that?" he asked."I'm not interested in East and West Carolina," I responded. Allen chuckled and rolled over to look at me."Oh, is that what we call it now?""Phantomhive," Sebastian said, not appearing to enjoy the way the conversation was going. He held out his hand, and I took it and pulled myself to my feet. I was still in my clothes from the previous night, as I hadn't brought out a spare pair of clothing from my room. "The teacher has entrusted me to teach you how to swim on the weekends. That is why I woke you up. There is no time after school for such a lesson for the teachers, so I'm doing so, early morning, on the weekends. You won't mind?" I blinked, trying not to let my surprise show. Lessons from Sebastian? I wasn't sure how to take that. I thought about it for a moment. But then I thought about Sebastian shirtless. I rested my head in my hands."You're looking a little feverish. Are you perhaps falling ill?" asked Sebastian. I blinked."No, I'm okay. I'd love to take lessons from you," I answered. Allen gave me a funny look."You sound almost excited. They're just swimming lessons.""I almost drowned once, and you know what? I'd also love for that to never happen again." He paused thought about it for a moment, then nodded."Point taken."

So I hopped out of bed. I didn't have a change in clothes, but I was sure I could get back into my own dorm room after the lessons were done. Sebastian spent a few hours teaching me the basics of how to not drown, which I appreciated, even if I spent most of my time gripping the side, nervous about going under again. And almost every time I did this, Sebastian would smile at me and ask in an almost challenging voice, "Scared, Phantomhive?" and every time, I would lie, 'No', and go back to doing whatever he told me to do. It was an interesting system, especially since Sebastian clearly knew what was going through my mind every time I attempted something, recalling last month's accident, even if I couldn't' remember it very well. Around the end of the lessons, he left me by myself, apparently trusting me not to do anything stupid. He came back with, to my surprise, a change of clothes. He took my hand and helped me out of the water."I think that's enough for today," he said."How'd you get into the room? The door was locked," I admitted. He answered my question by pulling out a small pin from his pocket. My eyes narrowed."You picked the lock?" I asked. "It's only natural that a member of the Michaelis family would be able to know how to lock pick a window," he answered. I raised an eyebrow."Your family associated with the black market in some way?" He didn't answer that statement, instead, handed me my change in clothes and we headed to the locker rooms. Sebastian took a seat as I got changed. His eyes narrowed when I took my shirt off."Your bones are quite visible," he noted."I don't eat much," I admitted. The school only served lunch, and you were required to have your own breakfast and dinner, which was usually sent in by your parents. I have previously mentioned that my parents aren't around anymore, or at least, I believe I have. "You're like a stick," he commented, poking me in the ribs. I curled inwards a little bit as he did, not expecting this. "Easily breakable.""Don't underestimate me!" I growled, smacking his hand away. He seemed slightly surprised. I paused.

"I don't usually like being touched. My apologies," I sighed. He shrugged"It was rude of me," he answered. I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I can make an exception for you. You can touch me whenever you want," I uttered, then realized what it was I'd just said, especially when Sebastian looked surprised."Ah…th-that came out wrong…" I stammered. After a moment, a small grin spread on his face, until he was laughing. I was blushing furiously."Stop laughing!" I snapped. After he was done laughing, he stood, placing a hand under my chin and lifting my head up so I was looking at him in the eye. "I find that you're quite cute when you're flustered." He pat my cheek lightly and turned away, heading for the door."You should talk to the faculty about switching dorm rooms as soon as you're done getting changed, though if that takes a while, then you're always welcome to stay with Walker, Yulen and I." The door closed behind him, leaving me staring at the place where he'd been just a moment before. Had that just happened? I must have spent at least two minutes standing there, absolutely dumbstruck, when the PE teacher walked in and asked what the hell I was doing, just standing there.

"…I'm going to talk to the staff, now," I told him without explaining the context. I closed my eyes, then threw on my shirt and, locking up my belongings in my locker, then headed for the office. It was about 8:00 by now, so the staff should be woman at the front desk seemed bothered by what I told her, saying she would punish the boys there, and was rather surprised when I insisted that she didn't."It'd just be best if I found a different dorm to stay at for the time being.""Well, there's only one that has any space left, and that's room 78..." she admitted, biting her lip."And that's a Senior's dorm. We were making more dorms for new students next year, but they're all filled up at the moment…""I don't mind staying at a Senior's dorm," I blurt out. She seemed surprised. "Room 78 was where I stayed when I got the boot from room 40 anyway," I admitted. She seemed thoughtful, then nodded."If they don't mind, then fine." She picked up a little phone and directly called their room. It was interesting PA system we had. After a moment of nodding and not saying much, she hung up and said that I could get my things from room 40 and switch rooms. I headed back to the dorm room, finding the door unlocked. Alois was on the computer again."Back so soon?" he asked dully. "I'm switching rooms," I told him. He didn't fly off the handle, which was good. He instead nodded."That's good," he muttered. I glanced over his shoulder to see what he was doing on the computer anyway, but he turned around and pushed me away."It's none of your business what I'm doing," he growled. I blinked."Angry about last night?" I asked. He didn't answer, which I took as a yes."Look, I'm sorry. I was angry. I shouldn't have told anyone. If anyone gives you any trouble, I'll stand by you. Alright? You've been through enough." My thoughts went back to when Elizabeth had spilled my secret, after the fight we'd had. The situation reminded me of that. As much as he'd put me through, I didn't want to remain on bad terms with him. The typing momentarily stopped, as if he was acknowledging my words, then they started back up again. I sighed and began to gather up what little I owned.

"Ciel," he murmured as I headed for the door. "Yes?" "I'm sorry I gouged out your eye." I didn't miss a beat."Sorry I left that scar on your arm." I headed out the door. I wondered why I felt a little disappointed. It wasn't as if I wouldn't see him again. Perhaps I still did have lingering feelings for him after all…

"Hey! Welcome to the dorm!" Allen greeted when I entered the room. I nodded. Daniel was staring at the ceiling, with a book on his face, and Sebastian was sitting on the edge of his bed, focusing on something he was doodling in a notebook. "I have a question for you," admitted Daniel."An eye patch? What are you, a pirate?" I sighed. "I haven't heard THAT one before. What, do you want me to take it off? Fine." I removed the eye patch and looked at them. Allen's eyes went wide when he saw the practically empty socket and the scarring around it. "Oh, man!" he yelped. Daniel lifted the book from his face and took one look at it. He looked ill."Geez, what happened to your eye?" he asked, eyes narrowed."Should I put the eye patch back on?" I responded. They both nodded, so I picked the eye patch from the floor and put it back on."As for what happened, I'm not at liberty to talk about such a thing. Besides, it was a while ago," I answered. Allen shrugged, and interrupted Daniel by saying"We won't pry." I began to put my few belongings in drawers and in the closet before sitting down and glancing out the window. "So, Sebastian, what're you doodling?" asked Daniel, glancing over the edge of his bed. The notebook snapped shut."Doesn't matter," he answered sharply. A small photo fell from the book, but it didn't seem that anyone except me noticed it. He got up, placing the book in a drawer and heading out. I knelt down under the bed, picking up the picture, and leaving the room to look at it in private, so Allen and Daniel didn't see it too. -The photo was of Sebastian and another boy I didn't recognize. They appeared to be the same age. The other boy had long red hair, glasses, and the name 'Grell' was written under the photo. My eyes narrowed slightly. Grell looked like he was a little too fond of Sebastian. Sebastian, on the other hand, just looked annoyed."Now, why pry into business that's not yours, Phantomhive?" The photo was snatched from my hand, and Sebastian stood in front of me. He looked cross. I held his gaze."I was only curious. It fell out of your notebook. I was going to return it," I answered. He seemed disbelieving. "Who is Grell? He seems to like you," I asked. He turned away."Just a friend. A very annoying friend." His expression slowly softened and he sighed."Curiosity killed the cat, they say. I guess it's not a fault of yours. Speaking of cats…" his eyes narrowed."Can I trust you to keep a secret from everyone?" I blinked, surprised for a moment, before nodding."Don't tell anyone about the photo, for one. Second, Follow me." I nodded, and we headed down a path that led away from the dorms, towards the classroom buildings. I was surprised when we took a sudden left off the path. The walk was silent for a while, then he suddenly asked

"What do you think of cats?" I paused."I'm allergic, but I think they're graceful creatures." He seemed to like this answer, for he let out a quiet 'hm', and nodded. I decided that it'd be best not to mention the fact that I liked dogs more. We took several turns until we were completely out of sight of the school. I actually had no idea where we were, but I didn't question him. We eventually came to a small shack that looked completely out of place in the location. He chose then to elaborate."They plan on expanding the school, and this shack is going to be torn down." I nodded, thinking that made sense. We entered the creaky old building. There wasn't a lot to say about it. It didn't look or sound entirely stable, there were breaks in the floorboards, and a few mice darted by every now and then. Sebastian glanced around and then let out a loud whistle. At this, a pair of cats climbed from the shadows. One was a white cat with black eyes, the other, a black cat with white eyes. Behind it, three kittens stumbled after them, both varying colors of silver and grey. The black cat had blood on its muzzle. Sebastian knelt down in front of the cats. They seemed quite wary of me, but very fond of him. I sneezed, causing one of the kittens to jump. "Phantomhive, meet Kiwi and Seras, and their kittens, Lily, Jasper and Rose," he stated. The small silver kitten, Jasper, bounded over to Sebastian, who gently pet it. The white adult, Kiwi, curled up in Sebastian's lap. I just fell into a fit of coughing. The dark gray kitten, Rose, glanced at me then walked over to me and began swatting my untied shoelace. "You mentioned the shed being destroyed. You're worried about the cats, aren't you?" He gave me a smile."I'm not worried about them. Because you and I are going to bring them to the dorms tonight." Now would be a good time to mention that pets were absolutely not allowed on campus. I stared at him for a moment. "What about Daniel and Allen?""They don't have to know," he answered. "We'll just sneak out after 10:30, pick them up, and put them in the empty supply closet. I've already got food set up for them," he seemed pleased with himself. Or maybe he was distracted by Lily, the smallest pale gray kitten, who was licking his hand. Normally, I would've been exasperated by this behavior of fawning over animals…but this was Sebastian. I let it slide.

"So. You really like cats." For some reason, this wasn't exactly something I would have expected with Sebastian. He gave me a look, as if to say 'duh', but just nodded. "Well, the cats seem to like you too," I admitted. I paused, then sighed."I have a question for you. Back in the locker rooms earlier today…you said I looked cute when I was flustered. What did you mean? Why did you say that? Are you…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. He smiled."You and I are very similar in certain regards, Phantomhive," was his response. I thought about the statement for a moment, before murmuring"Similar? Are you…like me? I shouldn't dance around the topic, since I suck at dancing anyway. Are you gay too?" I expected him to be offended by this statement, my assumption being way off. Instead he just laughed."I knew you'd figure it out by yourself eventually, Phantomhive." Kiwi meowed as if to remind Sebastian that he was there. Instead, he removed the cat from his lap and walked over to where I stood, kneeling down slightly, then he kissed me on the cheek. "So, you'll help me move the cats?" he asked. Not trusting my voice, I nodded. He smiled and ruffled my hair. "Good."