Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: No one else cares if I leave out OCs or not?... not even Otis huh? No one wants to see Grell's memories either? Well alright I guess. I was hoping on some answers on these things ^^
Well another chapter is here! Just a little something before we keep going. Oh and guess what, my internet is back up and my laptop is working. Now I can answer your guys. Woot! A few explanations on things and etcetera (I seem to like to use that word now… hmmmm…) actually I've noticed it'll be a bit longer till there's a major time skip. I'd still like my questions answered, but all I've gotten so far is concerning Chaz, Ciel & Sebastian, and the Phantomhive family in general. I was hoping for more than just that, but if that's what your guys' concerns are then I'll just leave it at that ^^ Towards the end I'll ask again, but if you want to say something say it! I really like to see comments from you guys still =3 Also one more thing: should I make a new story for the next part? I don't know how far the chapters go on . Does someone know? Because on a website I was on earlier (for something else) the limit was 50 chapters. Is it limitless here or do you get cut off at 50 or some other number? Just thought I should ask because I don't know. If it does then I want to plan ahead ^^ that's it for now! Enjoy as always!
!#$%^&*()
Sophie pulled on her black necktie nervously, walking through the door and into the academy building. There were several things she needed to do before the end of the day, so she arrived an hour early to talk to each one of her teachers. She walked through the hallway to the cafeteria to have something to drink, almost running into another student shinigami. "Oh sorry," she quickly said, giving her a weak smile.
Margaret's face went pale, a giant smile coming on her face when she saw her. "Sophie!" she laughed, hugging her tightly and almost dropping a pile of papers she had tucked under her arm. "Where have you been! Everyone thinks you're dead!"
"Dead?" she questioned her, walking over to a hot tea dispenser and pouring herself a cup of tea. "I'm not dead, just human."
"Human?" she asked, Sophie adding some honey to the paper cup as she looked up at her.
"Yep," she smirked, "hu~man~~. I've been with my dad the whole time – say how are you? Is school going well?"
"Yes thank you," Margaret smiled, walking over to an empty table and sitting down. Sophie followed behind her and sat across from her at the table, slowly drinking her tea gleefully and eating a scone she grabbed without anyone noticing. "Jasmine has been a great mentor for me… thank you for introducing us."
"Hey no problem," she chuckled as she finished the scone in her hand. "I figured she would. How has Julia been lately?"
"She's doing okay," she shrugged, "but once she heard the news you were dead she wouldn't leave her house. I hope her father comes back! She needs the extra support… say will you be going to her house today since you're back?"
"No," Sophie shook her head as she drank down her tea. "I'm only going to go to school and then back home. I don't want my dad to worry… plus I don't feel like going out right now. I just want to sleep," she smiled to her. "My dad made it so I'll be living with him till I graduate… he told me he wrote up the forms and everything while I was gone… so yeah. Do you want me to take my stuff out of the room?"
"No it's alright," Margaret frowned, "I was hoping you would be staying and we could hang out some more… but I guess not…"
Sophie looked over at Margaret, a frown coming across her own face. "Hey don't frown about it," she said as she put a hand upon Margaret's hand in a comforting way, "We can still talk. I just have a lot of things to sort out right now… that's all." Then Sophie took her hand away, leaning back in her seat as she sipped more tea. "Plus I can't really talk about it everything right now. I'm still trying to get over the stuff that happened with me."
"W-what was that?" Margaret asked as she drank down some tea from her own cup.
Sophie let out a distressed sigh, looking over at the window as she began to think. "Just the normal stuff: my powers disappearing and I turned into a human, Grell leaving me with the Undertaker because he is the only one who knows what was going on with me, demons coming after me and trying to eat me, Alex almost dying by a powerful demon, gaining all my lost memories and finding out that same demon killed my parents and I watched them die in cold blood, learning that I know more about the shinigami realm when I was a human then I had thought, learning that a man I held in high standards sealed my powers away because I couldn't control them, my father coming by on my birthday and convincing me to take up an eternal oath to do his job, and only having two weeks to study for the finals even though I missed about a month and more of material. Just normal stuff really," she shrugged.
Margaret's mouth dropped for a second as she collected herself. "N-normal?... Sounds like a bunch of not normal stuff to me! Bah… just wow," she responded with a sigh. "I can't believe this… and I thought I was having a hard time."
"Hey don't worry about it," Sophie chuckled, "I've gotten over it! I figure that a lot of random stuff will happen in my lifetime and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I just have to go with the flow, you know?" Sophie smiled to her, sipping down all of her tea. "Yeah I went through a lot, but I'm okay now. Really… I'm okay…"
Margaret gave her a reassuring nod, a smile back on her face. "Whatever you say, I guess. I'll tell Julia you're alive then… but it's nice to see you again."
"Yeah same here," Sophie smiled, whipping out the silver pocket watch from her pocket and opening it in a swift motion. Margaret blinked in astonishment, watching as she put it back into her pocket and stood up. "I better get going now. There's a lot I have to go and do today…"
"Okay," she smiled to her, giving her a wave as Sophie left. "Take care!"
"I will!" Sophie smiled to her, throwing her paper cup in the trashcan and quickly left the cafeteria.
!#$%^&*()
)(*&^%$#!
Sophie flipped open her pocket watch and looked at the time, noticing it was about time to get to Grell's office. "Nice watch," she heard from in front of her, causing Sophie to stop in her tracks.
"Thank you," she smirked as she closed it and put it back in her pocket, "It was a gift… How are you doing Alex?"
"I'm alright," he responded, turning around and walking with Sophie towards the office buildings. "They have me on medications for the pain, but I don't really need them anymore. So how are you doing? When we left you with the Undertaker… I really didn't think you would be coming back Sophie."
"Oh that," she chuckled to herself. "Actually I'm still staying there, but it's fine. Actually I'm getting my powers back! But it'll be a while… just have to give it some time," she smirked.
Alex blinked in confusion, rubbing his nose slightly. "You smell weird."
"Is that so?" she raised an eyebrow, giving him a shrug as they turned a corner and began walking up the stairs. "That explains things. I met a man named Death just the other day and became a God of Death. I bet you saw me fighting out there two days ago? Yeah that was me," she shrugged as they made it to the top of the stairs.
Alex paused on the stairs, looking at Sophie wide-eyed. "What?" he yelled, taking a few steps back. "Hey I knew something was different about you!"
Sophie turned around and looked at him confused. "The part of being a God of Death or smelling like Death?"
"… both!" he yelled at her. "Probably the Death part though. I knew something smelled funny!"
Sophie smirked to him, leaving him on the stairs as she stood at the top. "What's so bad about it? He's a nice being actually. He took care of my brother when he died; so why are you getting hysterical?"
"B-brother?" Alex asked, scratching the back of his head. "Woh… you're going too fast Sophie."
"Yeah well this whole time I've had things thrown at me from left to right! After learning all my memories I was shoved into an eternal job that my father had done before he died. Do you think I like all this being thrown at me? No, but I'm just going to let it slide," she finished calmly with a smile coming back to her face. "I just have to be calm and take it all in… that's all. Now I have to get to Grell's office and tell him I'm back," she said as she looked at her silver pocket watch.
"Wait," he said, causing Sophie to pause. "Sorry if I made you angry… I-I didn't know a lot of things happened to you. I guess it's a lot for someone to take in, huh?"
She gave him a nod, "Exactly. I may be slightly different, but I'm still the same Sophia you met in the detention room. Oh which reminds me," she said as she took out her glasses case and opened it. "I forgot all about these things," she chuckled to herself as she put them on her face. "Oh, woh!... that hurts," she frowned as she rubbed her eyes.
Alex laughed, patting her on the back as he walked past her. "Well I mustn't be keeping you. Tell Miss Sutcliff hello from Mr. Tyrant and me."
"Sure," she waved to him, walking in the opposite direction for Grell's cubical. She paused for a second, noticing there was someone else in his cubical and his stuff wasn't there. "What the…" she looked around, trying to find some hint of red in the white, gray, and black cubical. "Excuse me," she said looking into the room, "do you know where Mr. Sutcliff went? He used to work in this spot –"
"He got promoted," the man responded with as grumble as he continued to work on some paperwork. "You can find him in office E47."
"Okay thank you," she nodded to him, looking around the rows of cubical and started to get dizzy. She grumbled to herself and rubbed her eyes, taking off her glasses and had them hang in the front pocket of her suit coat. Sophie went to the stairs and dashed up the stairs, walking into the E level of the building. She looked around for the room 47, going past office E30 in haste. That's when she ran into an elder shinigami, papers scattering everywhere. "I'm so sorry!" she gasped, grabbing papers as they flew in the air and scattered on the floor.
She heard a woman's voice growling at her as Sophie gathering the papers quickly. "Why you incompetent – Sophia is that you?" the woman asked, Sophie pausing as she looked up and saw a familiar face.
"Oh Fiona! It's nice to see you again," she smiled as she handed back the papers. "Why are you on a lower level? Don't you work on level T?"
"A shinigami working here hasn't been getting his paperwork in on time to me, so I had to come down here and yell at him," she shrugged. "So you must have taken the oath then! How was it?"
"I-it was okay," she chuckled, "Death was nice… hey did you know I have an older brother?"
She gasped, "Really? Wow, so the Undertaker doesn't know right?"
Sophie chuckled with a smile, "Well he didn't know till I told him. Isn't that weird though? I thought I was an only child till now… ugh this is starting to get to be too much."
"Oh hunny," she frowned, rubbing Sophie's back in a comforting way. "Don't say that. Hey before you know it everything will be back to normal, trust me. Things were crazy when I started being a God of Death, but once you start doing your job things will get better."
"Yeah but my teachers aren't helping me," she grumbled. "They won't give me notes or anything! Darn hard asses. Each one is telling me to just retake their class next year… but what's the point in doing that if I have straight A's in those classes? Are they being hard on me because of my vow or something?"
"No it can't be that," Fiona told her, "insubordinates like them won't know anything about your files. Actually the only ones who know right now is just me. No one has been allowed to look at your files, and since I'm the DMD then I can keep them hidden for you," she chuckled as she noticed the shocked look in her face. "Hey this gig has its perks every once in a while," she smirked to Sophie as she patted her back. "So how about I help you? Tell me the names of your teachers."
"B-but I"
"Sophia Serbus, the names," she narrowed her eyes.
Sophie grumbled quietly to herself, giving her a nod. "I will in a second. I need to find my mentor's room first."
"Oh okay. I'll come with you then," Fiona smiled, turning around and walking past the offices. Everyone in the cubicles looked over at them, cowering slightly as the DMD walked past them. Sophie rolled her eyes, hating how people kept staring at them. "Just let it go," Fiona said to her, causing Sophie to quickly look over at her. "You will be stared at for the rest of your life, especially since you're a Serbus. A lot of beings will look to you for help, others for guidance, and most to simply dispose of you. It's up to you to decide which way you will go, but the important thing is to keep true to the promise you made in your oath. Other beings will be jealous that you have a special job, but don't let it bother you. Walk tall and proud when you walk past others because you can't let them get under your skin, okay?"
Sophie cracked a smile, "Thanks," she said meekly as they continued down the room. Fiona gave her a nod and followed Sophie, stopping once she came to a halt to a door. "Okay they said Grell is in E47 now," she said as she pointed to the label.
"E47 is where your mentor is?" Fiona said with a frown.
"Yeah why?" Sophie said with curiosity, suddenly understanding as her smile went to a frown. "Oh no, what did Grell do this time?"
"As I said, he didn't turn in his paperwork on time," Fiona sighed to herself, "and since he is new here I had to come down and remind him what the rules are here. I don't think he'll like it if I come in –"
"Hey don't worry about it!" Sophie said with enthusiasm in her voice. "He'll get over it… plus that can't really be that bad. He has gone months without bringing paperwork in on time, so he'll be fine."
Fiona smiled and gave her a nod, "Well if you say so. I'll stay at the door though; you walk inside first."
Sophie nodded back and knocked on the door, opening the door slowly as she peek her head into the office. "Grell are you in here?" Sophie called into the room quietly, noticing a red head lying on the desk. She looked around the room and noticed that he moved the red things he had in the cubical into the new office, adding some more red things to spruce up the place.
Grell lifted up his head and his eyes widened, almost throwing his chair into the wall behind him. "Sophie!" he gasped, running over to her and grabbing her into a hug. "You're back!"
"Y-yeah…" she groaned as he squeezed her tightly. "G-grell… Grell, you're choking me…"
"Sorry," he said sheepishly, letting go of her and setting her back down on the ground. "I-it's just… are you better now? What's going on?"
"Going right to that, are we?" she smirked. "Yep I'm okay. My powers will come back in due time, but I have to keep staying at the Undertaker's place. Actually I don't mind that… but I think you already know why," she smiled to him and then let out a sigh. "So how are you?"
"It's been dreadful!" Grell groaned as he walked back around the desk and sat down in his chair. "The Director of the whole~ Dispatch came by and talked to me, me! Doesn't she have other things to do then yell at me? Everyone seems to be doing that lately, even William."
"William?" Sophie asked, sitting down in a chair and scooting closer to his desk to hear him. "What is going on with him?"
"He's being all fussy over something," Grell grumbled. "I don't know what… Something about not being able to see a file or record? I don't know," he sighed as he slouched in his chair, "and the paperwork is more then I thought, and they won't let me reap now! That's what I love to do, you know what I mean!"
"Yeah," she nodded as she was deep in thought, "I get it… could it be that he can't look at my record anymore?" Grell looked up slightly with curiosity. "Because I was told that my records are now being kept away from public view. That's probably why he's being mean… I mean meaner than normal," she chuckled slight.
"Yeah probably," Grell grumbled, "but why does he have to lash out at me? I don't do anything wrong… I mean the only time I can talk to him is when we're off work, but he stays late now! What if I come by his office at night every once in a while? He need to sleep more anyways."
"Plus I expect that every employee of mine is having the proper rest and care for themselves," Fiona said as she walked into the room. Grell looked up and flinched back slightly, unsure of what to do. "If this William man isn't getting the properly care for himself then I'll have to take matters into my own hands… I guess," she grumbled to herself.
"Oh you don't have to do that Fiona," Sophie smirked as she leaned back in her chair to look at her. "Mr. Spears is always a stick in the mud. He'll get over it… besides Grell takes good care of him anyways. He may not know it, but he'll be grateful about it later, right Grell?"
"R-right?" Grell responded as he looked at Fiona. "W-what are you doing back, Mrs. Obki?"
"Please Mr –"
"Miss," Sophie interrupted her.
"Miss?" Fiona asked as Sophie looked back to her with a smirk.
"Grell would rather be called Miss, but if you're going to make fun of him then don't say it," she explained with a rough tone in her voice.
"No I wouldn't make fun of someone's decision like that!" Fiona said, and then smirked. "Besides I make the best nicknames around here!"
Sophie chuckled, "Oh I bet you do!"
Sophie snickered at her own comment as Fiona gave Grell a slight bow. "Sorry Miss Sutcliff. Anyways I'm just here because I wanted to talk with little Sophia over here, and since you are her mentor I hope we can become friends," she smiled to him.
Grell huffed slightly, crossing his arms. "Grell…" Sophie frowned, "She's trying to be nice. Plus things work related should stay at work, right Fiona?"
"Right Sophia. Someone taught you well, huh?" Sophie gave her a nod, looking over at Grell and noticed that he was eyeing Fiona suspiciously. "And I will hope that you call me Fiona while we're have nice chats Miss Sutcliff… if you would like. I don't want to be rude or anything."
"No it's quite alright… Fiona." Grell blinked for a few moments trying to swallow the word. "Wow… Sophie how do you know her?"
"My biological father is friends with Fiona… and so is my current father actually," she shrugged. "Geeze," Sophie sighed as she looked over at Fiona, "how am I going to keep those two separate?"
"Call one of them big bimbo and the other little bimbo. That's what I do," Fiona smirked.
Sophie's eyes went wide and then she laughed. "Wow! You guys are so~ nice to each other!"
"Meh," she shrugged. "They bicker every single time they're together. I think that's a way for men to bond, I suppose," she laughed to herself, "but I don't like it. They always end up giving me more overtime. You know that fight you had with Centurion? Well that was a lot of paperwork, thank you very much."
"Sorry~" Sophie rolled her eyes, "perhaps you shouldn't have signed my forms then," she smirked.
Fiona laughed, "Hmmm… I think you act more like the Undertaker than anyone else. I'll have to tally this up later," she smirked. Then she looked at her watch, "Oh look at the time! If you want me to call your teachers down then I'll have to do it now."
"O-okay," Sophie frowned as Fiona went to Grell's phone, "but I'd rather you didn't. I can do another semester and –"
"Your teachers are being highly unacceptable," Fiona interrupted her with a snarl in her voice. "A good teacher will help their students succeed and not fail. Perhaps I should teach again just to teach these youngsters a lesson," she winked at Sophie, causing Sophie to giggle.
Sophie got out of her chair and walked over to Grell, noticing the confused look on his face. "Yeah sorry about all this –"
"No need to apologize. I just wasn't expecting all of this," Grell sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
"Do you need help with paperwork or –"
"Nope!" he smirked, "I finished my paperwork for the day! That's why I thought Mrs. – Fiona's~ comments were rather ru~de."
Then they looked over at Fiona, who was talking to someone on the phone. "Yes connect me to the intercom please," she said into the phone. "Sophia, who are the teachers you have for this semester?"
"Mr. Ingraham, Mr. Earnshaw, Mr. Kendrick, Mr. Upham, Mr. O'Mahony, and Mr. Gillpatrick," Sophie said to her.
"Wow… no wonder you're close to graduating," Fiona smirked. "That's a lot of classes to take since we teach a lot in every class! Okay then… Mr. Ingraham, Earnshaw, Kendrick, Upham, O'Mahony, and Gillpatrick come to RM E47 immediately," she said in a rough tone, hanging up the phone once she was done. Then she looked over to Grell with a pleasant smile on her face. "It's up to you Miss Sutcliff if you want to stay. I'm sorry I have to do this in your office but –"
"Hey I don't mind," Grell shrugged her off, "and call me Grell."
Fiona smiled to him, giving him a nod. "Grell… okay sounds great." Sophie grabbed the chair she had been sitting in and brought it around to the other side of Grell's desk, slamming her head onto the desk with an annoyed sigh escaping her lips. Fiona hummed happily to herself and grabbed another chair, sitting down on it on the other side of Grell's chair. "So Grell… how is it that you are young Sophia's mentor?" she decided to ask to start up a conversation.
"Well…" Grell thought to himself as he sat back in his office chair, "I met her when dear William brought her in. Oh she was such an angel to me!" he squealed slightly before letting out a cough, trying to act professional. "You see I had an A average when I graduated from the academy, and when I saw dear little Sophie's name… well there you go," he giggled to himself.
"Oh I see," Fiona thought, "I didn't know how they did all that stuff… huh."
"Yep," Sophie said as she let out a sigh with her head on the desk. "Haven't you been around for a while? Shouldn't you know?"
"Hey!" Fiona yelped as she let out a huff. "I just don't pay attention to boring details like that!"
"Well maybe you should," Sophie lifted her head up and pushed away stray hair from her face, "aren't you a director?"
"Exactly my point," she huffed, "I'm much too busy to notice –"
"But you have time to spend here yelling at six teachers that won't give one student their notes?" Sophie looked over at her with a smirked, noticing as she stuttered slightly. "Really Fiona? Are you using your time wisely?"
She narrowed her eyes and let out a huff. "I don't have to do this!" she began to say, "I'm just doing this because you're father is my friend and –"
"Yeah, but that doesn't give you a reason to do it," Sophie chuckled and then beamed. "Hey don't get so mad about it. I'm just stating a point."
Fiona blinked for a second surprised before she chuckled back. "Yep, Undertaker. Kid you need other influences then just him. He's a bad influence on you."
Sophie stood up stunned, "Hey don't pull him into this –"
Then the door flew open as six man walked into the room with sweat coming down their brow. Fiona gave Grell and Sophia a smirk before narrowing her eyes at the men in front of them. "Did I say you can come into the office?"
"No but –"
"Get out!" she hissed at them, throwing a random object from Grell's desk at them. They quickly left the room and closed the door, Fiona sitting back down in her chair and letting out an annoyed sigh. "Incompetence."
"Talk about a bad influence," Sophie smirked to her as Fiona stood up.
She let out a sigh to collect herself before answering Sophie. "Sorry you have to see that. I just get so angry when they just walk in without a knock on the door."
Sophie smiled to her as she stood up. "Yeah well," she sighed, "you don't have to be mean."
"I'll try not to," Fiona looked over at her and then giggled. "Now you'll see how a master does it," she said with a wink. "Take notes, there will be a test," she smirked as she walked around the desk and sat upon it.
"Not a test," Grell and Sophie groaned at the same time, Sophie giggling and Grell chuckling.
Fiona smirked at them, calming herself down to prepare herself for the meeting. "You can come in now," she said, the door slowly opening and the six shinigamis walking in. Fiona let out a huff, watching as each one filed in behind the other. "Like an assembly line, how dull."
"No kidding," Grell grumbled to himself, getting another giggle out of Sophie.
Fiona crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes as she stared at each one of them. "Now I am hearing that you are not helping a young student with her studies. What is going on? Can one of you explain the situation to me?"
"Well Mrs. Obki," one of the more confident teachers stepped forward began, "Could you care to tell us who the student is?"
"Miss Sophia Ser –" she paused when Sophie coughed into her sleeve. "Oh sorry, Ioreta," she responded. "Miss Sophia Ioreta informed me that she has come to each one of your rooms to ask for notes."
"Well we can't simply give her the notes," the teacher began, "A student needs to be able to come in during lectures and gather their own notes –"
"That may be true," Sophie said as she interrupted him, "but I told you the entire entire situation. If it were up to me I would have attended the classes, but I was under strict jurisdiction to stay away until further notice. I have forms filled out during my stay and the shinigami who was taking care of me if you need to see them for proof. Plus," she said looking over at Fiona, "you don't have to do this –"
"Yes I do," she said in a huff. "When I was teaching, we would help our students if they were put into situations they themselves could not control. From what I know, and from your own files, you're a hard worker. If you are anything like your father you'll be able to learn the material in no time," she smirked.
"Yes but –"
"No buts!" Fiona narrowed her eyes. "This is a favor –"
"I don't need favors Fiona!" Sophie snarled back. "Look I'm fine with taking one more semester."
"Sophia you don't get it," she shook her head. "Once you take your oath you're supposed to start working once you have all your powers." Sophie blinked for a few moments in shock. The other shinigamis looking at them in confusion, especially Grell. "If you try to take another semester at the academy then you'll be overly exerted! No time off at all! You won't be able to control all of the hours you'll have to take and you won't have time to sleep. Trust me Sophia; they've pulled this shit on us all the time. That dang council piles so much overtime on my desk that I can't even think straight. That's a reason why Undertaker quit. And don't get me started with those before you, oh it wasn't pretty," she sighed. "Come on I'm just trying to help –"
"Please stop," Sophie grumbled to herself. "So many things at once! Look I'll be fine with just waiting for a while. You don't seem to get that I've had to swallow a bunch of new things in the past few weeks and it has been torture. I can't thank you enough for helping me, but some things I just have to do on my own… alright?"
"No Sophia, no," she shook her head. "Dang now you're acting like your father. Make up your mind will you?"
"Why?" she shrugged. "They were both influences on my life. Don't expect so much from someone… god I'm so tired with all of this already," she slammed her head back into Grell's desk.
"Oup you've cracked," Fiona sighed as she looked over at the man who had stood forward. "So you are…"
"Mr. Earnshaw," he said with a bow. "I actually told her that she can take the final exams for my class," he explained, "and after this conversation then I won't mind giving her the material we went over in class."
"Alright," Fiona shrugged. "What about the rest of you?"
They all nodded in comply. "It seems reasonable. If Sophia had gone over the reason for her absence then we wouldn't have turned her down."
"Well…" Sophie mumbled into the desk with her head down, "I can't talk about it and if Mrs. Obki wants to keep them hidden from everyone so be it. I don't really care."
"Come by my office tomorrow and we'll discuss this," Mr. Earnshaw said as he got a nod from Fiona. "Can we go now?"
Fiona narrowed her eyes, looking rather crossed. "Fine, be gone, but if there are more complaints then I'll have to call you into my office." They nodded and they left the room, leaving a frustrated director, a tired student, and a close to exploding red head. "Now back to you," Fiona said as she stood up and peered over at Sophie. "Do not undermine me in front of my subordinates. You may be the daughter of a dear friend of mine and a God of Death, but if you pull something like that again then I'll kick you out."
"I don't care," Sophie mumbled to her, refusing to lift her head up.
"You don't care?" Fiona yelled. "Don't say stupid things like that!" She grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her out of the chair, coming into contact with her face, "Why you little –"
"Sophie?" Grell asked as he pulled down Fiona's arm, starting to hear silent sobs coming from her.
"W-wait I'm sorry –"
"Please leave me alone!" Sophie gasped, pushing her arms away and sitting back down in the chair. "I told you, I'm tired of this. It took my papa the whole day to convince me to do his job… but I'm starting to regret all of this now."
"Sophia…" Fiona frowned, "I-I'm sorry if I –"
"Look," Sophie said in a monotone voice as she rubbed away the tears in her eyes. "I wish things could be simpler, but they aren't. I've learned to just let things slide, but if you're going to push me back into the academy then so be it. I'm tired of all of this… okay," she grumbled as she put her head back on the desk. "I'm sorry for getting angry," she mumbled into the desk, "but I'm just tired right now. I was only going to say hello to Grell, go home, and sleep… that's all."
Fiona gave her a nod, leaving the chair and walking around the desk, "I get it. You need some time to cool off… well I won't put it against you if you want to take another semester… I-I'll go now." She nodded to Grell and walked over to the door, leaving swiftly and closing the door behind her.
Grell looked over at Sophie unsure of what to do. "Is there something you want to say Sophie? I'm here to listen if you want."
Sophie lifted her head and looked over at him, letting out a sniffle as she rubbed her nose. "I don't know… I'm just tired. Today just stressed me out a little."
He nodded to her, suddenly grabbing her waist. "Sophie come over here," he said as he pulled her onto his lap. Sophie smiled to him and nodded, resting her head on his chest as she sat down. "Look, I don't know what happened but I don't want to see you a sobbing wreck. Whatever you decide I don't care, but don't do anything too stressful. I want to see my little apprentice smiling again," he smiled as he rubbed her back in a comforting way. "Come back to my office later… I don't care when, but try to come back this week so I won't worry. Then you can tell me everything you want to talk about, okay?"
Sophie lifted up her head and gave him a nod. "A-alright… later then," she cracked him a smile before getting off of his lap. "I think it's about time I get home."
"Oh dear don't go yet!" Grell exclaimed as he stopped Sophie. "We'll need to cover up that redness in your eyes. We don't want anyone to notice that you've been crying."
"Okay, okay," she smiled to him as she sat down on a nearby chair. "I'll stay a little longer."
"Great!" Grell said as he pulled out a drawer his top drawer that contained hoards of makeup. "Now stay still. It'll just take me a few moments…"
)(*&^%$#!
!#$%^&*()
The door opened and Sophie walked into the back of the mortuary. She sighed to herself, closing the door behind her and locking it. She took off her shoes and left them at the door as she walked towards the bedroom in her socks. "Sophie?" She heard her name being called from the main room and instinctively looked up.
"Yeah?" she asked, walking down the hallway and into the living room instead. She set her bag down on the couch, letting another tired sigh leave her lips as she walked into the hallway again.
"How was school?" he asked as Sophie walked into the main room.
"Okay, I guess," she rubbed her head. "I'm just tired… I don't know if I can do all this."
The Undertaker looked up from the body he was working on, his smile fading slightly. "Do what?"
"All of this!" Sophie grumbled as she plopped over on his desk. "Just… everyone is saying that I changed. Then others are putting all these expectations on me… I still haven't gotten over my memories, and… I'm starting to regret becoming a God of Death," she sighed as she put an arm over her eyes.
Then she heard him getting up, walking over to where she was laying and loomed over her. "It must have been a stressful day, huh?"
"Y-yeah…" Sophie replied as she rubbed her eyes. "Fiona told me she's keeping my records hidden from the council, but I wonder how long that will be. Plus my teachers wouldn't give me the notes or any help and Fiona talked to them… I didn't like that though. Why does she care so much if I succeed? Can't I just take another semester or something?... Undertaker I don't know anymore."
"… Sophie sit up." She groaned as she got up, the Undertaker sitting down where her head was. Sophie grumbled as she rubbed her irritated eyes, her head flopping onto his shoulder. "If you feel overwhelmed then we can wait till next semester for you to graduate. Aren't you working ahead of everyone else anyways? Just take this time to relax…" Then he looked over to a speck of dust floating down from the ceiling. "… so many Gods of Death have died already. Please understand why Fiona wants to keep you safe. You're the first new God of Death in years! We have lost so many already… it would be a waste to lose another with stress."
"I know," Sophie groaned as she kept her head on Undertaker's shoulder, "just… I don't want to be babysat. I want to do what I need to do, you know? And the finals are so close… I don't know how I'll study for everything in time."
"How about this," he began as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, "you talk to your teachers tomorrow. If they won't help you to study then I'll help you. Okay?"
"… okay… as long as this doesn't keep you away from your work," Sophie responded.
The Undertaker chuckled, "It's a deal," he smirked as he gave her a peck on the top of her head. "Now it's about time we go to sleep. I'll finish up this body in a few more minutes, but it's about time we take a look at those wounds of yours, yes?"
"Okay," Sophie said as she gave him a peck on the cheek, jumping off of the desk and walking away. The Undertaker gave her a smile and went back to work, his Cheshire cat grin back on his face as he whistled to himself.
!#$%^&*()
Sophie sat on the edge of the bed completely naked as she stared down at the bandages around her chest. She was picking at them, getting close to poking at her scabs and wounds. Then the Undertaker came in, quickly slamming the door shut as he backed away. "Sophie put something on," he said seriously, trying to not giggle at her appearance.
"What's the point if you're going to tell me to take everything off anyways?" Sophie grumbled, getting up to find something.
"Well at least put on some pants –"
"The scar goes all the way down to my torso, remember?" Sophie said with sarcasm in her voice.
"Put a towel on or something," the Undertaker said with a slight annoyed tone in his voice.
Sophie smirked, grabbing one of his oversized white shirts and draped it over her body. "Fine come in," she huffed, crossing one leg on top of the other and sitting back down on the bed with her arms crossed over her chest.
The Undertaker walked in again, leaving the door open as he set down a bag full of medical supplies next to her on the bed. "Now turn around and show me that love~ly wound on your back –"
"Oh see!" Sophie responded as she turned around and flopped her body down on the bed. "No point in any of that!"
"I'm just trying to keep some decency~ around here," the Undertaker hummed to himself as he helped her take off the shirt without seeing nothing but her back. "Unless you want to walk around the mortuary bare naked and show yourself off to the visitors," he giggled to himself as Sophie grumbled back.
"Yeah I bet you'd like that," she responded. "Having the men see a young maiden like myself around the morgue naked. You'll get a lot of customers that way," she smirked, hearing the Undertaker pausing for a second before he mumbled to himself.
"Sophie sit up for me so I can take the bandages off," he said in a monotone voice.
"Oh did I make the mean little Undertaker mad?" Sophie smirked as she sat up in the bed and moved her hair away from her back.
Then she felt long sleeves wrap around her body and grasp her suddenly, sending a painful sting up her spine. "Don't make me regret keeping you, little maiden," he growled into her ear, sending a chill down Sophie's spine.
"Okay fine!" Sophie grumbled, "Just let go!" He quickly let go and Sophie let out a huff, rubbing her back in pain. "Ow…"
"Now…" he began to hum again as he cut into her bandage and began undressing the bandage around her body. Sophie sat there quietly, just feeling his sleeves brush by her waist every so often as he undid her bandage.
"Why is everyone being mean to me today?" Sophie grumbled quietly under her breath, enough for the Undertaker to hear.
He frowned as he brushed a nail across her cheek as she sharply flinched away. "I'm sorry little maiden…" Sophie just looked at her knees as she rubbed her eyes with her left hand. "How's your arm?" he asked to change the conversation.
She shrugged, moving it slightly as she poked her right arm with her left hand. "Okay. Obviously the scar is gone… but the poison is still there. It hurts and I don't like using my right hand, but at least I'm more comfortable writing with my other hand… why?"
"Just asking," he smirked as he continued to undo her bandages. "… I'm sorry."
"For what?" she grumbled back.
"Not saving you… I should have been doing my job," he said in a monotone voice.
Sophie lifted her head up and turned her head, her eyes coming into contact with his bangs. The Undertaker frowned, noticing that she had put makeup on to hide the fact she had been crying. She smiled, brushing the silver bangs from his eyes so her crystal blue and shinigami green eyes looked into his double-iris shinigami green and yellow eyes. "It's alright," she said with a sigh escaping her lips, "you couldn't have known… I shouldn't have left the morgue. I knew I was being tricked but…" She looked away from him and down at the dusty floor. "I… I couldn't see them hurt Alex. It just happened okay? I don't know how to explain why I went out there but –"
"Shush," he said as he pressed a nail to her lips. "You don't have to explain," he smiled to her, grabbing the bundle of dirty bandages and setting them to the side. He gently put a finger on her long scab and she flinched, letting out a hiss in pain. "Hurts?"
"What do you think?" she grumbled under her breath closing her eyes and wincing.
"You'd think it would heal up by now," he said with curiosity in his tone of voice as he put his finger down and went into the medical bag.
"I was still a human when I got it," she grumbled again, turning her head so she was facing forward on the bed. "Plus it was from a demon… I don't know what type of demon, but a demon nonetheless."
"I get it," he chuckled as he grabbed a bottle from the bag and popped it open. "Now I'll have to put the ointment on your back, is that okay?"
"Y-yeah okay," Sophie cringed slightly, pulling her hair back so the Undertaker wouldn't get her hair gross and sticky with medicine.
The Undertaker put it some on his hands and gently dabbed it on her scar, making her flinch back. "It's okay," he cooed in a reassuring voice, "it will just be a few moments." Sophie nodded, still arching her back as he started from the top of her spine and down to her left torso. She held her breath as he rubbed her back, whimpering in pain until he closed the bottle and put it away. "Now was that so bad?" he chuckled as he cleaned his hands with a rag from his pocket.
"Y-yes…" Sophie responded, closing her eyes as she started to feel dizzy. "I-is there something else you have to look at?"
"The scar on your chest," he said as he grabbed the dirty bandages and began to walk away from the bed, "but first I'll let that ointment dry on your back."
"C-could you get me some wat-er?" she asked, looking over at him with a tired look on her face.
He smirked, giving her a nod. "I'll be right back," he told her as he left Sophie in the room.
She groaned, closing her eyes and sprawling out her body on the bed. Sophie laid there for what seemed like hours, trying to reorient her head on what was going on. Everything that she had gone over in her head was overwhelming her, causing her to have sudden blackouts during a few of her classes. She knew that was because of the reopened wound on her chest, the same type of stab that killed her when she was human. Now it was a lot more agonizing, since she was forcing her body to keep moving and pretend that nothing is wrong. Really everything was wrong and Sophie was being overwhelmed by everything. Perhaps Fiona was right; the stress will be the end of her.
Sophie rolled her head to the side, watching as the Undertaker walked into the room holding a glass of water with an insanely huge smile back on his face. "Here you go~" he smiled to her, sitting down on the bed next to his medical bag. Sophie slowly sat back up, grabbing the glass of water from him as she turned slightly. He poked her wound to see if the ointment had dried, causing her to wince. "Sorry," he quickly stopped, a chuckle escaping Sophie's lips.
"No that's alright," she said as she slowly drank some of the water, "I-it's fine…"
He smiled back, "Turn around so I can see the wound on your chest." Sophie nodded, scooting around on the bed to face him. He frowned, noticing the faint mark where the wound had been. "That healed faster than I thought."
"Well… of course," she smirked, "the wound wasn't from a demon… just a knife." The Undertaker nodded to her, still looking at the wound with a depressed look in his eyes. Sophie's smile faded as her hand went up to his top hat and took it off his head. He looked at her in confusion, a smile planted on her face. "You're not still hung up on Dorren… are you?"
"I am," he honestly told her, a long nail poking her wound, "but that's alright. I'm just glad you're safe." Sophie chuckled, swinging her arms around him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I think it's time to sleep now."
"Okay," she nodded. The Undertaker looked away as Sophie put the white shirt back on and buttoned up the front. "I do have a question," she began as she finished with the last button, "do you have scars also? I know of one on your face, one on your finger, and one on your neck. Is there another one somewhere?"
He smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face into her shoulder. She gasped in surprise, giggling as he forcefully kissed her left shoulder. "Maybe I do," he whispered into her ear, "and maybe I don't," he smirked as he kissed her cheek. Sophie kept giggling as her face began to turn red.
Then she roughly jumped on his chest, pushing him onto the bed. "Come on. Show me. Please~~" she begged, lying on top of his chest as she pouted her face. "I don't want to see it when I'm dying like last time! Come on… just this once?"
He smirked, grabbing her shoulders and chuckling when she let out a high-pitched squeak. "If you let me take off my clothes then I'll show you," he said. With that Sophie quickly jumped off of his chest and rolled back onto the bed. He got up and grabbed his medical bag and top hat, setting it down on a chair in the corner.
She sat down on the bed contently, watching as he took off his big black coat and threw it onto the chair. Then he took off his shirt, setting it down on the chair. He coughed slightly in embarrassment, refusing to take anything else off. Sophie gasped as she looked the newly-found scar. It was a large faint gash on his chest, starting from the top of his right shoulder and leading down to the left side of his lower abs. "H-how did you get that?" she asked, noticing it was a long, deep, and straight line.
"A death scythe," he shrugged as he walked back over to the bed and poked her on the nose, "but that is all I will tell you."
Sophie pouted, "Fine…" She grumbled under her breath, but was happy that he showed her something that, she's guessing, no one else has seen.
"Now go to sleep," he smiled to her, letting Sophie crawl under the covers and wrap her arm under a pillow.
Then he walked over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Sleep well," he whispered into her ear, straightening back up and beginning to walk away.
"C-could you," Sophie began before the Undertaker walked out of the room, "stay here tonight?" He turned around at her and looked over with curiosity, noticing how Sophie pulled the covers tighter over her body. "B-because I'm scared to be alone right now," she said as she looked to the ground, "and –"
She stopped talking as long boney hands wrapped around her body from behind as they pulled her into the owner's chest. She squeaked a little, her face turning bright red again. "I'll be here when you wake up, okay?" he said as he snuggled his face into her back, careful to not touch her wound.
"Okay…" she whispered back, closing her eyes and leaning back into his body. Then she happily giggled to herself, the Undertaker shifting his head slightly to look over at her. Sophie turned over and smiled to him, looking up at his vivid eyes. "I'm yours still, right?"
He chuckled and pulled her closer to him, her face becoming buried into his chest. "Of course you are," he still laughed, brushing a hand through her auburn hair. "My…" he paused as he looked down to Sophie. She had her eyes closed as she was curled up into his chest, a blissful smile on her face. He smiled contently, continuing to brush his hand through her hair. "Little maiden," he sighed to himself, grabbing the covers and pulling them over the two of them as they both fell into a deep sleep.
!#$%^&*()
A/N: Awe, another intimate moment ^^ as you can see Sophie hasn't gotten over things yet. Sure she's trying to go with everything, but she'd rather understand everything then just letting things happen. Well… I hope you liked this chapter. In the next one I hope to go forward in the story more… perhaps cutting it off in the middle of something or just letting it happen. We'll just see what happens =3