Memories of Murder:
Chapter 16:
The funeral was held in England due to Ciel Phantomhive's nationality and the fact all other members of his family were buried there. The Phantomhives paid for all the mystery club members to fly there as well so they could attend it too.
When Sebastian had wished he could be back in London again when he had first arrived in Tokyo, he hadn't wanted to return for a funeral. He hadn't wanted it to be a funeral for a person he was genuinely fond of. He dreaded the funeral because it meant Ciel was going to leave.
The weather was average on the day of the funeral. That meant it was mildly cool with weak sunlight. Sebastian half wanted it to rain so he could hide his face under an umbrella.
"Does it feel strange to attend your own funeral?" he asked Ciel once the church service had finished.
"It does. I feel guilty for the pain I have caused my family for poking my nose into something I couldn't handle," Ciel answered very honestly.
He watched Ciel's coffin being lowered whilst standing next to his ghost and another person he didn't know. He was regretful when the coffin was covered by earth because it meant Ciel wasn't going to stay now.
"Come with me," Ciel instructed and Sebastian knew the time had come.
He was led to a deserted corner of the cemetery where thankfully there were no trees around. Unsurprisingly enough Sebastian had had enough of trees.
"Firstly, I would to thank you for solving the mystery and finding my body. Without you, I would be stuck at that school forever."
Without Ciel he would be stuck at sixth form without anything interesting to do.
"I am very glad that you managed to tolerate my battiness," Ciel continued. "It can't have been easy."
"You improved over time."
Ciel grinned brightly at him and seemed to stumble over what he was going to say next. Sebastian knew what it was just from that.
"... I can't stay here forever. Everything has been resolved. I have been given a proper burial, my parents know the truth, and the Weston Six and Undertaker are facing hefty prison sentences. There is nothing left here for me."
Deep down Sebastian knew Ciel was perfectly right. He had done what he had wanted. He made an attempt to persuade him.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for me?"
The look on Ciel's face was a conflicted one.
"I'm dead," Ciel stated plainly. "You are alive."
Hearing that caused Sebastian to finally accept it. He would grow old, Ciel would forever be 16. It would be a strange relationship considering that no one else could see him.
"If you were alive, would you like me?" Sebastian asked flirtingly.
"Perhaps," Ciel winked and Sebastian smiled in spite of himself.
"Of course my wonderfulness would win you over."
Ciel laughed before turning serious. "Before I go, may I ask one request one more favour from you?"
Sebastian sighed dramatically. "All I have ever done for you is endanger myself, follow your orders, put up with you and find your body."
"So you won't do it?"
Sebastian's interest was piqued. "What is it?"
As Ciel leaned forward to whisper in his ear Sebastian noticed that his already translucent body was fading. When he heard what Ciel wanted him to do he wasn't unduly surprised.
"If I must," he sighed. "Are you leaving now?"
"I am. I have been staying here on borrowed time."
Sebastian watched Ciel's body fade into nothing and he stood there staring at where Ciel had been standing. He was going to miss him. It felt strange to remember how much he wanted Ciel to stay away from him.
"Good bye, Ciel."
He spotted Elizabeth and an unfamiliar blond man approaching him. It was fortunate they hadn't found him earlier and interrupted his final time with Ciel.
"Thank you for everything," she said and bowed her head.
"It was hard, but I managed it," Sebastian answered and turned his gaze to the man next her.
"Sebastian, this is Alois Trancy. He was Ciel's friend at that school in Japan."
Alois nodded at him and Sebastian returned it with an additional glare. Ciel's friend must have known enough to work out who had killed him and had done nothing. Alois seemed to guess his thoughts exactly.
"We were all threatened to keep quiet and we didn't exactly know what happened to him so we weren't sure what to do," Alois explained. "When he never reappeared, we worked out he was dead and made the collective decision to leave hints behind that proved he existed.
Sebastian remembered how terrifying Undertaker looked and understood why that had done what they had been told. He wouldn't have done it himself though.
"We got the yearbook printed with Ciel's name and photo. That went to pot a year later when bloody Miss Blanc suddenly ran in and tore the pages out. We concealed more subtle things after that. We even sneaked into the old clubroom to leave something behind."
The small clues that had spurred him on in the beginning had come from the mystery club after all and weren't accidents like he had assumed.
"They were useful," he replied. Without him he wouldn't have had the stepping stones to the rest of mystery.
Alois smiled faintly. "I am very happy that someone found him and did what we couldn't.
The conversation turned onto different subjects after that until the two were called away by someone else and Sebastian was left alone again. This time it wasn't for long.
Finny came bounding over to him followed by the other two. Finny had swapped his red hairpins for black and Bardroy had actually shaved for the occasion.
"Guess what? I just got a text from Will. He wants to rejoin and he even said please!" Finny exclaimed excitedly.
"Do you still want to be a member?" Bardroy asked him awkwardly. "I've become sure you only wanted to find out about the Seven Mysteries."
That was right. He had only joined for Ciel and not for his own amusement. Most of his investigative actions had been prompts from Ciel and weren't his own work. Then he remembered Ciel's unexpected compliments about his intelligence and the satisfaction he felt when he put everything together at the end.
"I may still want to be a member."
He found himself being deluged by them throwing their arms around him and bawling. He stiffened momentarily and was ready to push them off when he decided he would let them do what they wanted for a moment.
He looked over at where he had last seen Ciel and smiled. He would carry on with mystery solving in his memory.
"Good bye, Ciel."
The End
A/N: Thank you to everyone that left reviews and favourited this fanfiction. I suspected it would not be very popular due to the focus on mystery solving rather than romance so I am glad that a few people did like it especially as this is my final Kuroshitsuji fanfiction.
I would like to credit Kindaichi Case Files as inspiration for some aspects of the plot. I would also recommend that manga to anyone that likes mystery manga.
