Reincarnation

Chapter 21:

The next morning Ciel woke up to find a butler standing over his bed with the morning sun filtering through the curtains. Sleepily, Ciel rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly, taking a while to process what was going on.

He was Ciel Phantomhive which meant that the butler was the demon Sebastian Michaelis.

The boy sat up slowly and noticed that Sebastian was holding a tray with a teapot, two cups, a milk jug and a sugar pot.

"Good morning, Ciel," Sebastian greeted with a smile. "How are you feeling? You looked confused for a second."

Ciel stretched his arms and sighed. "I had some strange dreams where I was separately Ciel the first and Ciel the second so I was a little disorientated when I woke up. Not to mention, I had that bloody dream about a raven- I've had that one three times now."

Skilfully, Sebastian poured out the tea into the teacup which Ciel recognised as being a set that he had owned when he was an Earl in the 19th Century. If he recalled correctly it was the Wedgewood Blue and White.

"How did you get hold of the tea set?"

The butler poured milk in followed by sugar. "I found it yellowing at the back of a cupboard in the kitchen so I gave it a good clean," he explained and passed to cup to Ciel who accepted it.

"What's the second cup for?" he questioned as the image of Sebastian joining him in his bedroom to drink tea was somewhat bizarre.

"It was for Alois Trancy in case he was awake, but he seems to be in deep sleep so I will not pour any for him."

They both turned to stare down at the snoring blonde in his sleeping bag who was blissfully unaware what was going on around him.

Ciel glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 7 o'clock in the morning, much to his surprise.

"Why did you wake me up? I don't have school until next week."

"Ronald Knox visited whilst you were asleep," Sebastian informed him. "William T. Spears would like to discuss his proposition with us this morning before all the Reapers leave."

As he spoke he dropped a piece of black cloth into Ciel's unoccupied hand. Ciel picked it up and saw that it was an eye patch that was identical to the one he used to wear. He squinted closer and realised that it was the one that he had worn earlier when he had deliberately walked into Sebastian on a crowded London street. An event that had set his and the Grim Reapers' plans into motion, ending in another contract, the revival of Earl Ciel Phantomhive and the merging of the two Ciels into one.

Seeing the puzzled look, Sebastian explained. "Whilst you were asleep I visited the Trancy residence and found it on the kitchen table. I also found something else..."

Ciel looked up in puzzlement and then he realised. Hiding something in a toilet cistern was not going to fool a demon for long.

Sebastian held up a certain journal, the final one in the set which had the most damning testimony in it; just a minor love confession- his most guarded secret.

"Admittedly, it did take me a while to find this. I would have never thought that someone with my picky young master's face and genes would stick their hand in a toilet cistern."

Ciel made a face. "Have you read them yet?"

"No," the butler answered. "They are private journals that you wrote and a butler never invades the privacy of his master and since you went to a large amount of trouble to hide them away from me, that was all the more reason not to. I assume the journals were what that elusive riddle eventually led to."

Ciel held out his hand for the journal and Sebastian passed it to him. The demon was naturally curious about the contents of the journals, but whatever had been written had been intended for only a Phantomhive to read and he was certain that his master had written something about him which he would become embarrassed about if he knew that Sebastian had read it.

"Would you have read them if you had found them before our status quo ended?" Ciel enquired out of interest as he rested his hand on the leather cover of the journal.

The edges of Sebastian's lips twitched. "I would have, because at the time we were in a stalemate, you were not my master Earl Ciel Phantomhive so I would have been under no obligations to protect your privacy."

Much to his surprise Ciel sighed before saying, "You can read them if you like, but only if you make me a cake later and keep Grell away from me when we visit Spears."

"Duly noted. What cake would you like?"

"Devil's food; I feel like eating chocolate and don't cheat by using readymade chocolate frosting- I know Betty Crocker when I taste it," Ciel ordered as he pushed his bedcovers away and stood up.

Sebastian look affronted. "I would never do such a thing. Would you like my help getting dressed?"

Ciel flushed red like a tomato. "No thank you, I don't need your help to do up buttons."

"Are you feeling embarrassed, Ciel? I have seen it all before, you know."

"I order you to let me dress myself," the boy said forcefully and breathed a sigh of relief when the butler bowed and left the room.

A snigger came from below him and he looked down to see Alois Trancy staring at him.

"Is there something funny?" Ciel asked darkly with a vein twitching in his forehead.

"Just the look on your face when he said that he had seen it all before, but I'm glad- it definitely means that my friend is still there. And don't think that I haven't guessed Earl Ciel Phantomhive willingly merged souls."

Ciel gave him a sharp look. "Why would that be?"

"Because he wouldn't be able to keep up with the schoolwork!" Alois retorted snidely. "The Earl was thirteen when he became a demon whereas Ciel the second is fifteen, almost sixteen- three years can make a lot of difference in the education system."

"Very amusing, Alois," was the un-amused response.

Half an hour later, attired in a smart blouse and shorts, to keep up the impression that he was fully Earl Ciel Phantomhive, Ciel stood at the entrance of Weston College accompanied by his butler.

Ciel pushed open the door to find Grell, dressed in his customary red outfit, including his aunt's coat, waiting in the entryway.

"Hello Sebas-chan and brat," he greeted rudely. "Will is waiting in his office."

"Why do you always wear the same outfit," Ciel asked to annoy him.

At his side Sebastian smirked. His young master was certainly getting into character- the original Ciel had always been poor at acting so he was glad he had suggested merging and he was sure that his young master would spent the rest of his life feeling guilty. Besides, he had always wondered why someone like Grell, who cared so much about his appearance always wore the same clothes.

Grell screeched. "I can't take this! It's only half seven in the morning. Just follow me to Will's office and don't say anything to me on the way, brat."

Ciel raised his eyebrows at the mention of morning before remembering that Will had told him that the Grim Reapers actually needed sleep, unlike demons. The butler and master followed the reaper down several school corridors which were familiar to Ciel as he had been a pupil at this Weston College for three and a half years, but he had also never been here before.

The door to Will's office was open and Ciel immediately spotted that almost everything had been removed from the office like the hole punch and stapler on the desk as well as the potted plants that had been on the windowsill.

The headmaster was sat at the desk writing something in his notebook and looked up as they entered and nodded in welcome. Will pulled out a sheet of paper from his notebook and passed it to Ciel who raised his eyebrows when he saw the events and locations.

"Apparently London Bridge will fall in nineteen years time," he commented with a smile as he thought of the old children's song. "How ironic."

"Now that I have given you that we can all leave now," Will said and snapped his notebook shut.

"Already?" Ciel was surprised as he had expected them to stay around for a while to check that there was no way that they could obtain control of Sebastian.

"There is no time left. I have arranged all administrative matters and given you the list. I have nothing left to do here."

"Have you already found a new Head teacher, History teacher, Science teacher and a security guard to replace everyone?" Sebastian enquired.

Will nodded. "The new head teacher is someone that you both know quite well and he was very willing to take the job."

Ciel began to get a bad feeling about his future school life with a certain long grey haired reaper in charge. "Your replacement wouldn't happen to be... Undertaker?" he asked cautiously.

"It is. The replacement History teacher is the one Sutcliffe replaced this year, there is no real need for a security guard and the other science teachers can work together to take over the deceased science teacher's lessons until Undertaker can find a suitable applicant himself," Will informed him with a trace of a smile on his face.

"The uniform may also change as it has served its purpose ," Grell added as he was feeling left out.

"The situation that you set up was very well arranged," Sebastian complimented Will. "It would have worked if the second Ciel Phantomhive had known nothing about his ancestor."

"There's nothing worse than a smug demon," Will muttered darkly. "It's time for us to leave now, so could you both vacate the premises."

The former head master locked the office door behind them and they all walked outside together, Grim Reapers, Demon and human together.

"Good bye," Ciel said as he and Sebastian walked out the front gate with the list. He saw Will give him a suspicious look so he added an insult. "Don't forget to wash your clothes once in a while, Sutcliffe."

"Good bye, Phantomhive. If you don't carry out what I have ordered, I will come and slash you with a death scythe myself," Will threatened.

Ciel nodded in reply and he and Sebastian started to walk home. As they were halfway down the road, Ciel turned back to see that the school gates were now closed and that the Grim Reapers had disappeared. The sun was now beginning to rise and light up the grey sky.

Ciel smiled as he was now able to relax without having to worry about the reapers.

"Ciel, it would be best if we hurried home. I have to get back in time to make preparations for breakfast."

Without waiting for his master's reply, he scooped him up into his arms and ran back to the townhouse. They climbed in through Sebastian's bedroom window which he had kept open for convenience.

When they entered the kitchen they found Alois waiting for them. The blonde was eating a bowl of cereal and chocolate milk.

"Is it me or did you both come out of Sebastian's bedroom? Looks like my remark about the relationship between the two of you in the 19th Century was right on the mark," he said with a smirk. "By the way Ciel, I've used the last chocolate milk."

"Not funny, Alois," Ciel scowled.

"That reminds me, I was going to talk to you about eating less sugar and chocolate," Sebastian said to his master. "Now that you know that you are going to live to a ripe old age, I suggest that you limit your intake, so no more chocolate milk for you. It is a butler's duty to look after his master after all. Trancy, eat what you like."

The boy pulled a sour face before sitting down at the table next to Alois who smirked at him. As Sebastian was pouring Ciel a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice which was high in Vitamin C, Ciel's parents entered the kitchen.

"You're all up early, like it's a school day," Rachel commented amusedly.

"Have you thought about what sort of product that you are going to help me design?" Vincent enquired as he sat down at the kitchen table.

His son spread demon-approved Cherry jam across his toast- cherries were a good source of antioxidants, as he thought of some ideas. Back in the 19th Century Bitter Rabbit had been one of his bestselling products.

"What about reviving Bitter Rabbit?" he suggested.

His father looked surprised as he had been sure that his son only knew a little about Funtom's history.

"You mean the stuffed rabbit with an eye patch?"

Ciel nodded as his mouth was full of toast. His butler answered for him.

"Currently Victorian influenced textile items are in fashion and products like Bitter Rabbit would sell well to Japanese teenagers as they seem to like stuffed and mutilated animals."

"So you think that we should sell our products in other countries too? That is an idea."

Later that morning, Ciel entered the library to search for the catalogue of past Funtom products which was kept there and found his butler staring out of the window with Ciel's final journal in his hands. As Ciel approached he closed it gently and turned to face his master.

"That was a very pleasant read, Ciel," the butler said with a genuine smile, happy that he finally knew his master's true feelings for him. "I didn't know that you liked me that much."

"Just don't act too smug about it," Ciel scowled.

"Only if you promise that you will never love anyone else like you love me."

"If I did, would you get jealous?" his master asked playfully.

Sebastian bent down so that their faces were at the same level. "Very," he whispered into Ciel's ear before giving it a playful bite. "You're mine, Ciel."

His master felt his face heat up like the sun and he squirmed away from the teasing demon who was clearly taking pleasure in his embarrassment.

"When are you going to take my soul? I have obtained revenge as Earl Ciel Phantomhive and it isn't fair that you can't eat other souls whilst you are contracted to me."

In reply Sebastian simply rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to take your soul anytime soon and I do not care about other people's souls: I only desire yours," he answered exasperatedly. "Do not try anything like you tried last time."

"But-," Sebastian placed a finger over Ciel's lips.

"I will take your soul just before you die- I'm not stealing your life away from you this time."

"What if you get hungry when we are still contracted?" Ciel said in a voice muffled by Sebastian's finger.

Sebastian laughed. If his master hadn't merged with his descendant he would have never have asked that question- he had never asked it when they were first contracted in the 19th Century.

"Hunger is the best seasoning. In any case I can always have a little taste."

To demonstrate he licked Ciel's cheek. "You really do taste delicious, Ciel."

His master's face flushed an even brighter red.

"You are very cute, Ciel. I look forward to spending a lot of time teasing you," he said and wrapped his arms around him tightly. "If you wore those cat ears again, it would make you even cuter."

The playful butler and his red faced master were finally together again after 123 years of anguish and they had now promised to spend their lifetimes dedicated to each other. Outside the library window the sun was high in the sky and was unusually bright considering the season was winter which signified a bright future for the pair of them.

The End

Thank you for everyone who reviewed and gave me support- I would have never finished this if it wasn't for Carrie2sky, Paxloria, Promocat, KittyCiel656, machi-pan, CresentMoonTenshi, Dark Ace Raven and Aservis Roturier.

I am planning to rewrite the earlier chapters to be consistent as I was never happy with them and I need to go back and correct all typos. After that I'm finished with the account.

In reply to the anonymous review: After reading that last a/n with the whole laboratory thing I just have one question to ask.

How old are you?

I am 17. :D I was on Work Experience.

My Chemistry teacher was the teacher that came to check the conditions I was working in etc. It was a shame that he visited my best friend and I when we were counting yellow plastic ducks (there were 2096) instead of when we were doing something more scientific like Chromatography.