Shadows: I cannot express how deeply sorry I am for not having posted this chapter sooner. I just haven't been able to find the time to actually finish typing this, let alone having it out for everyone to read. But now that I am OFFICALLY unemployed—kinda sad that I'm actually happy about not having a job at the moment—I'm hoping that I'll be able to once again start working on new chapters and having them out in time for all of my readers. I hope the length of this chapter will somewhat make it up to everyone.

Kaishi!

The sound of someone crashing to the floor and yelling snapped Rebecca out of her dream state sooner than she had hoped. No doubt Mei-Rin had forgotten to retie her boots and tripped on one of the laces.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Rebecca reluctantly climbed out of bed and made her way over to the door, only to find the red haired maid lying face down on the floor.

"Mei-Rin… Somethin' wrong?" The teen questioned.

Scurrying back onto her feet, Mei-Rin immediately grabbed Rebecca's arm and started pulling her down the hall in a hurry. "Ooh, Mista' Sebastian and Mista' Agni are having a duel, yes they are!" She squealed.

Rebecca struggled with keeping her balance as she was dragged down the hall by the overly excited maid. "M-Mei-Rin! S-Slow down before you send us both to the floor!"

"Ooh! This is so excitin' yes it is!" Mei-Rin grinned, ignoring the teen's words.

Rebecca sweat dropped as she was forcefully lead back up stairs to the townhouse's ballroom.

Bard, Finni, and Benjamin were already crouched in front of the ballroom doors when Mei-Rin and Rebecca arrived, seeming complete enthralled with whatever was occurring on the other side.

"What's goin' on?" Rebecca asked, hoping to get a better explanation from one of the others.

"Guess Lau convinced Sebastian 'nd Agni ta duel on their masta's behalf." Benjamin replied, turning his attention away from the two butlers to regard the female.

"They're both amazing yes they are!" Mei-Rin gushed.

Sighing, the ebony haired teen kneeled down next to Benjamin and peeked inside, slightly curious as to why the butler's duel was so interesting to the others. The performance inside causing her eyes to widen in disbelief.

Both Sebastian and Agni were solely focused on winning their duel, thrusting their foils at key target points every chance they got and dodging the attack whenever one got to close. It was as if the two were in some type of exotic dance rather than fencing.

After dodging an attack to his face from Sebastian by ducking out of the way, Agni quickly jumped back onto the offensive, aiming for the same spot on the Phantomhive butler, who also dodged by stepping a little to the left.

Once again Sebastian tried aiming for the Indian's face, only to have Agni throw off the foil's trajectory by using his own and again, aimed of his opponents face.

Both males waited till the last second to dodge each other's foils by bending backwards, leaving almost everyone in complete awe of their abilities.

Rebecca could hardly believe what she was seeing. Both the Phantomhive butler and the Prince's butler moved with such grace and agility, there was no possible way that the two of them could even be remotely human! Fueling that theory more was their final attack. Sebastian and Agni had both recovered from dodging the other's attack mere seconds after it happened and instantly went on the offensive, thrusting their foils forward, only to have the tips meet dead center.

With the amount of forced used in each of the males thrusts, both foils immediately began to bow and, unable to handle the stress, snapped in half, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.

Sebastian caught the tip of his foil as it came back down from its short flight into the air. "Oh dear. The blade is broken." He sighed, slightly annoyed that this was another thing he would have to replace.

"We cannot continue then. This match is a draw." Agni stated, appearing slightly relieved by the outcome.

"Too bad," Lau chuckled.

"Hmm! Ciel's khan-sama fared pretty well!" Soma grinned, walking over to his faithful butler, hands behind his head as if the draw wasn't a complete surprise.

Ciel stared at the two butlers' in complete disbelief. 'A draw!?'

"Agni's the best fighter in my palace. You are the first to fight equally against Agni!" Soma gloated, praise of his servant clear in his words.

"No way…" Benjamin blanched.

"Mista' Sebastian actually lost!?" Finni stated in shock.

"Bloody 'ell. Mista' Agni is incredible." Bard added, unable to think of anything else to say.

Rebecca remained silent as the other servants began speaking about Sebastian's loss. 'There's just… There's no possible way that those two are human. For their foils to snap the way they did… I've never seen that happen…'

Her mind reeled as she tried to come up with some logical reason for both butler's speed and accuracy. True she had seen both Sebastian and Agni fight first hand before, though it couldn't really have been considered one since Sebastian had mostly been on the defensive during that minor altercation, but the fact still remained.

"Hey, you alright Becca?" Benjamin asked, snapping his friend out of whatever daze she had been in.

Rebecca blinked a few times before turning to the dirty blonde teen. "S-Sorry… I'm just surprised is all." She lied.

Benjamin eyed his companion cautiously. According to Mei-Rin and Finni, Rebecca had been acting a bit off since she woke up. And what had made things stranger to them was that Sebastian had ordered that no one wake her unless it was absolutely necessary. He knew that the ebony haired teen didn't necessarily like being around the black clad butler for whatever reason, but now, from what he could tell by the look in her eyes, she was deathly afraid of him.

Ciel stared at Agni in complete shock and disbelief. 'That man… Held his own against a devil!'

"I like you! Ciel's khansama! I shall excuse you today in deference to your skills." Soma declared, oblivious to the uneasiness that emanated from Ciel.

Sebastian placed a hand over his breast and bowed slightly. "I am most honoured."

"Mister Sebastian, thank you for being my opponent." Agni smiled happily.

"My pleasure. Mister Agni is a very quick study. I never would have guessed you were but a beginner." Sebastian replied.

A light blush of embarrassment spread across Agni's cheeks. "Oh no! Please!" He laughed nervously, holding up his hands. From the corner of his eye, Agni could see Ciel cautiously approach him and his smile fell, turning to the young Earl.

"Lord Ciel. I apologise for my earlier actions. Does your arm still hurt?" Agni inquired, concerned that he may have hurt the boy more than he originally thought.

"N-no…" Ciel stuttered, unable to get over his initial shock.

The white haired Indian sighed in relief. "I am glad!"

The young bluenette continued to eye the male as he walked back over to his Prince. 'Could he… be…' There was only one way to figure out if his hunch was right. "Sebastian." He called, beckoning over his servant.

"What is that man?" Ciel asked in a low voice, knowing the demon could hear him perfectly fine. "Don't tell me he's…another one of those…" The boy shivered as an image of that idiot reaper popped up in his mind.

Sebastian smirked. "Heh. No, he is human."

"I see…" Ciel sighed, relieved that they wouldn't have to deal with another Grim Reaper. His relief however was short lived as Soma ran up behind him, throwing an arm around his shoulder and nearly knocking the poor boy off his feet.

"Ugh!?"

"Come, Ciel! Let us have another round!" Soma insisted, more so demanded. "I won't lose this time!" He declared.

"So how many times do I have to tell you I am busy!?" Ciel growled, annoyed with the prince's antics.

"Yes… He is only human." Sebastian repeated to himself, a smirk still plastered on his features. "…However… He has powers that we can never hold… you see." The demon's gaze flickered to the door, sensing that someone was still watching his every move. Frankly he wasn't surprised when he caught sight of Rebecca staring at him before she quickly vanished from his line of sight. It was just another reminder for him that he needed to apologize for his actions the other night. Something he really wasn't looking forward to actually doing.

After watching the duel between Agni and Sebastian, the servants along with Benjamin and Rebecca went off, returning to their respective duties.

Having not been assigned to any real job for the day, Rebecca followed both Bard and Benjamin back to the kitchen, deciding to finish up the dishes from that morning knowing that Bard probably hadn't touched them.

"Hard ta believe Sebastian actually lost."

"Whaddya mean?" Benjamin asked, curious as to why the trio of trouble was so surprised.

"Sebastian neva loses. 'At's 'he first time." Bard replied, grabbing one of the sauté pans out from under the cabinet.

"He really that good?!"

Rebecca heaved a sigh, deciding to ignore the two as they spoke about the butler's past victories. If Sebastian didn't have such a dark aura about him she would probably admit to being impressed. 'Bloody 'ell Rebecca! Stop thinking about that sort of thing! You'll only make it worse on yourself in the end!' She scolded mentally.

The ebony haired teen frowned at her reflection in the water as she filled the sink. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. Was the thought of Sebastian being inhuman really getting to her this badly?

Yes… yes it was.

Without a word, Rebecca grabbed the dish rag hanging off the side of the sink and began washing whatever dishes were piled up from breakfast.

"Aaall right! I can't let that Indian show me up!" Bard declared, slightly startling Ben and Rebecca with his sudden enthusiasm. "Today, I'll do my best to—"

"No, thank you." Sebastian stated nonchalantly as he walked into the kitchen, swiping the sauté pan from Bard's grasp, leaving the chef slightly stunned. "I will cook, so please do not do anything. We are already half an hour behind schedule…" He added.

Bard's anger instantly flared. "HEY! C'MON. TODAY, I WAS GONNA COOK MY SPECIAL! HEY, YOU LISTEN—GYAH! SEBASTIAN, YA HEAR ME!?"

"Oh, I say. Please do be quiet for a spel—"

"Mister Sebastian. May I come in?" Agni asked, popping his head through the open door before stepping into the kitchen. "I was wondering if I could help you…"

"Mister Agni. Please just relax." Sebastian insisted. The Indian butler had already done enough today than what he should have.

"We can get things done faster with two of us! I shall do whatever you ask of me." The Indian smiled, once again surprising the black butler.

Sebastian thought for a moment, his gaze quickly flickering to Rebecca. He could use this for his own benefit. "Then… may I ask you to prepare the gooseberry sauce for today's main dish and the cottage pie?"

Bard's jaw dropped upon hearing Sebastian's words. "NGAH!"

"Of course!" Agni nodded.

Sebastian quickly stepped over to one of the draws, pulling out a few sheets of paper that were clipped together. "Here are the recipes. They are my own. Let us use minced chicken for the cottage pie." He suggested, taking into consideration of possible food restrictions due to their faith.

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness." Agni replied.

"Now. Bard, stop being an obstruction and please step aside. You are in the way." The demon stated, turning around so he could speak to Benjamin.

"HEY! WHY'S HE GET TO WORK WHILE YOU'RE TELLIN' ME I'M IN THE WAY!?" Bard hissed angrily, jabbing a finger in Agni's direction. Said butler sweat dropped as Sebastian ignored the house's 'chef'.

"Benjamin, please assist Mister Agni should he need any help. And make sure Bardroy doesn't touch anything."

"Sure thing." Benjamin nodded. Although he doubted that the second part would do anything.

"Rebecca—!" Sebastian started, turning to face the female before getting cut off.

"Miss Rebecca! Miss Rebecca!" Mei-Rin shouted, running into the kitchen with a letter in hand.

Sighing, Rebecca stopped washing the dish in her hand and turned to regard the other maid. "Somethin' wrong Mei-Rin?" She asked.

"A letta' came for you, yes it did!" The wine haired maid replied.

"A letter?" Rebecca questioned, slightly confused?

Shadows: Srry that this is so short and that it took so long for me to post… My writers block is horrible. I'll try to post another chapter as soon as I can so for now, I leave you with a temporary cliff hanger. Tell next time.