Chapter 2: Meet the family, England.

Hayate was feeling overwhelmed. He had arrived at the sprawling Phantomhive estate, about an hour out of London, with England's typically gloomy weather. It had gotten his spirits down and made him worry about the job ahead. He had entered through the front grand doors and was greeted by the sight of the household servants standing, slightly agitated, by the stairs. He was then taken to the study to meet the master of the house.

The earl was seated behind a solid oak desk on a high back chair. Hayate was taken back. Ciel Phantomhive was immaculately dressed in his usually tailored ensemble, arms resting casually on the arms of his chair, he emitted and aura of nobility and power and determination, and beneath that something a little bit...dangerous. The young earl's piercing gaze made him feel uncomfortable and he shifted slightly. Hayate wondered just what had happened to this boy to make him so hard. He also wondered about the eye patch over his right eye that was partially obscured by the earl's raven coloured hair, but it was a mystery that would most likely remain unsolved – Hayate wasn't going to ask about it, he didn't have the right, but he felt that it has to do with why the boy was so hard. After a moment of scrutiny, the earl gave a slight nod and Hayate gave an internal sigh of relief.

"I am Ciel Phantomhive, welcome the Phantomhive Estate. I hope the servants have shown you around the manor. You'll have to watch them closely, they really are very incompetent and I don't know why I keep them on sometimes."

Hayate hesitated, then spoke. "Why do you keep them on, if they're so bad?"

Ciel shrugged. "It's true they are very incompetent but they are utterly loyal to me and would protect me and this manor with their lives." He fingered the signet ring on his hand.

Hayate felt a shiver gone down his spine. Who was this boy? He opened his mouth to speak again, but Ciel got in first and began explaining the temporary butler's duties.

"Well, if you understand your duties you should go and prepare dinner. If you have any problems see Tanaka or me."

And with that he was dismissed. Hayate bowed and quietly left the room in search of the kitchen.

Hayate opened the kitchen door to find a disaster zone. The entire kitchen, along with the servants, was covered in flour. Broken eggs lay in a forlorn pile on the bench, their innards in a sticky goo. Smashed crockery lay scattered around the floor. The servants were milling in an aimless panic with Meylene fretting over the broken crockery, Bard looking at the burnout flare in his hand disparagingly and Finny was milling for the sake of milling although he may have had something to do with the mess of eggs. After a few moments the servant noticed Hayate standing, still frozen with shock, in the doorway and looked at him and then all at once rushed him. He suddenly found himself surrounded by a wall of noise. He was feeling very overwhelmed. Ciel has warned him about the servants but he didn't think that anything would this quickly or on this scale. He had only just arrived! He felt himself begin to tear up. How was he going to cope?

'So cute!' the servants thought in unison and continued to stare at him. Bard lit a cigarette.

"Umm," Hayate said hesitantly. "Can I get you to clean up and let me deal with dinner? Bard, can you show me where the pantry is?"

After the servants had finished cleaning and were evacuated from the kitchen, Hayate finally was in his element. He somehow managed to get things together and presented Ciel that past the test, although it wasn't his usual fare. Hayate heaved a sigh of relief and the rest of the evening past relatively uneventfully. A few hours later after he had finished his duties and Ciel had long since gone to bed, Hayate collapsed exhausted onto his bed. The day had been too long.

Thank you for reading this chapter. Feedback is very much appreciated, so please review! This chapter was a little shorter than the first but hopeful this story will get better now that I've introduced the main players. Please tell me if there are any errors, so I can fix them. I hope this chapter wasn't too unoriginal...

Frankly, I'm feeling rather sorry for Hayate right now, I think he got the short end of the stick. Sebastian is going: 'ah, this is annoying' while Hayate is going: 'ah. Help me!'

I think I've written enough now... I have many awkward situations prepared for the two butlers... *evil grin*