Hello there everyone! Last time I thanked the new followers but I didn't thank everyone else who reads this story and helped to reach over 1300 views! Wow, guys! I'm so happy I would jump up around if I could! Thank you so so so much! *blowing kisses to every direction*

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I entirely own only my OCs, arcs and ideas/themes not mentioned in any form of the franchise (manga, anime, games, movies or musicals).

Chapter 16: The Tutor, An Angel and a Trickster

The following three days the Phantomhive household was rather calm and peaceful with nothing out of the ordinary happening. The staff had been informed about Miranda's arrival and Mey-Rin and Finny were the ones more excited about it, since they were practically interrogating Selina about her cousin with every chance they got. Both were certain she would be charming and sweet like Selina and then hastily reassured her they would always prefer and love her, no matter how her cousin would be. The only thing Selina could do was smile amused by the honesty and naivety of her friends.

Generally speaking, the atmosphere in the manor was very light and fun, making everyone feeling nice. Even Sebastian seemed to be in a good mood and that was evident in his interactions, especially with Selina.

Every time he was talking to her called her name with a smile, and his voice was so sweet and kind that Selina had to stop what she was doing and stare at him for a while, just to make sure that indeed he was the one talking. He was even more gentlemanly and caring to her and sometimes, discreetly showered her with compliments, but not in an ironic way as it would be expected of him. Selina often felt like he was indeed flirting with her, but then reminded herself it was part of the 'newly-wed couple in love' act and responded accordingly also playing the game. However, she was satisfied that Sebastian limited himself only to the verbal part since it would be much easier for her to deal with.

That was the case until one more rainy night after a hot day, when the male demon started giving signs of resuming his games... Unfortunately, the female witch failed to recognize the seriousness of his intentions.

Selina was in her bed trying to sleep but her sharp hearing did not allow her to do so, since the noises of Sebastian clearing the grounds from trespassers were quite audible to her. It seemed that tonight's 'guests' were more determined than usual and somehow they bothered Sebastian; Selina could hear the demon talking while killing them, in a more annoyed manner than other times... Perhaps because they dirtied his clothes. That went on for a good half hour and then five more minutes as he was getting rid of the bodies. He finally finished and came back into the house. Selina sensed him approaching his room and pulled her sheets up to her chin turning on her side determined to sleep as the demon closed the door of his chamber.

A great lightning that seemed to have stricken somewhere close lightened up the room with a thunderclap in tow. In less than a second, a loud crash of glasses was heard from upstairs, followed by a scream and a cry calling for Sebastian. Before she knew it, Selina was already outside her room running for the stairs, sensing the demon running beside her and hearing the other servants coming out of their rooms, sleepily asking what happened. In a flash, Sebastian and Selina reached Ciel's bedroom. Sebastian opened the door with force, almost unhinging it, and both ran into the room while taking in the picture before their eyes.

It looked like the lightning was indeed very close, so close that it hit a tall tree just outside the room's window, broke quite a big branch and the blowing wind threw it through the window on Ciel's bed burying the child.

"Oh my -!"

Was the only thing Selina managed to say with a trembling voice, before running to the bed while Sebastian was lifting the branch. The smaller, pointy ones were all over Ciel's covers pinning him on the mattress and as soon as Sebastian lifted the whole thing, Selina pulled the covers back and grabbed Ciel, hugging and lifting him out of bed like a small child. Thankfully, the boy did not object, on the contrary he willingly hugged the woman and allowed her to remove him from the bed.

Sebastian left the branch to fall back on the bed and was beside them in an instant. "Young master, are you harmed?" A tinge of concern in his voice.

"What happened?" and "Is young master all right?" were heard from the door as the others almost tumbled, entering the room with haste.

Ciel managed to hide his right eye in Selina's gold locks and with one hand grabbed his eye patch that suddenly appeared in Sebastian's hand.

"Yes, yes, I am all right. As soon as I heard the glass breaking, I covered myself with my blanket completely." He reassured everyone.

"Ya have quite good reflexes, young master. That's good." Bard said relieved.

"Yes, but not quite so. It seems one of the small branches scratched your cheek, young master." Sebastian announced and heard Mey-Rin gasping in fear and concern. "There is no reason to worry, Mey-Rin. It is only a small scratch. Alright, let us get to work. Mey-Rin and Snake, prepare another room for our master, preferably away from trees. Mr. Tanaka, would you please prepare something for young master to help him calm his nerves and go back to sleep? Bard treat master's wound immediately and Finny go fetch a big piece of tarp, some nails, rope and a hammer. We need to close up the gap for now, until tomorrow that I will fix it."

While talking, he had taken a robe out of Ciel's closet and wrapped it around the young boy that had begun to shiver even though he was huddled up in Selina's warm embrace. The others left to do what they were told right away.

"Selina." The demon called her. "I need you to stay here and assist me with the tarp. I cannot let Finny because he will open up a hole on the wall if he tries to nail the tarp." She nodded and finally put Ciel down so that the boy could go to the bathroom with Bard and get his small wound treated. Sebastian smiled, watching the woman following the boy with her concerned eyes. "Even though I know it, it amazes me every time." Selina looked at him questioningly. "How much you really care for him. How do you manage to forget everything else that he is, when the situation orders it, and see him only as a boy needing someone to care for him at all times?"

"That is not difficult. Everyone else sees him as a child at all times and that is why they do not take him seriously. I try not to do that because I know how much it angers him… but I guess, when it concerns his safety… I fail majorly to fight my true nature… I always cared for the little ones, human or animal." She shrugged her shoulders, showing it did not bother her too much.

"Here, I brought everything, Mr. Sebastian. Do you want me to help you nail it on the window?" Finny said breathless entering the room with arms filled with the tarp and everything else.

"No, thank you. Selina can manage perfectly; you go and see if the others need any help." Sebastian said coldly to the young boy, who looked at him confused and a little hurt, but left the room, nevertheless. Leaving, he closed the door so that the already wild wind would not cause an airflow and make their work harder.

Selina was already at the window trying to tie the flapping curtains out of their way. She then pulled a chair close and stepped on it, in order to reach the upper part of the window, where the tarp would be hanged and nailed first. Sebastian and Selina worked quickly and methodically, even though the tarp was constantly flapping, and the rain soaked both of them. Finally, it was tightly secured around the window, so that it would not be blown away during the few remaining hours of the nightly wind and rain.

Selina was ready to get down from the chair when she felt a strong arm encircling her waist, lifting her up and then putting her down at the opposite side of the chair. She turned and looked at Sebastian surprised, who was already loosening his hold on her.

"You are barefoot, and you were about to step on the broken glasses. Actually, I am surprised you avoided them while tying up the curtains."

Selina did not answer, only shrugged as she felt she had lost the ability to talk all of a sudden. Only then did she see, despite the darkness in the room, that Sebastian was wearing only his trousers, drenched in rain now, and his shirt, hanging open from his shoulders and back. Drops of water were travelling on his naked torso and face that for a moment were extremely close to her. His raven hair was also dripping, and his red eyes were glowing in the darkness as they were looking at her.

Once he removed his hand from her waist, Selina found her voice and jumped towards the door. "I'll go and fetch broom and dustpan to collect the broken glasses right away."

"No." Sebastian's voice was heavy with determination. "You should better go and change your nightgown. You may be more than just a human and you may have greater stamina, but I cannot risk you getting sick two days before our departure for our mission. Your body is already quite chilled from the rain." He said towering above the woman with one hand on the door to prevent her from opening it.

Selina looked down on herself and saw that indeed her nightgown had exactly the same fate as Sebastian's trousers; all wet, sticking to their bodies, revealing every detail... Even Selina's underwear was starting to soak in water.

"Right." She whispered crossing her hands over her chest in an effort to cover herself, while struggling to keep her eyes away from Sebastian's figure.

"Besides… I could never leave you walking around in wet clothes freezing to death and having your… body in public display for Bard and the other males to see… no proper husband would allow something like that." His voice was so smooth getting lower with every word that caressed her ears. Selina felt something warm embracing her and then turning her to face him, for a moment she was confused but then saw that Sebastian had removed his shirt and wrapped it around her. "It is not much, but thankfully it did not get wet and it will keep you warm until you reach the servants' bathroom… unless you want me to warm you… as a proper husband would do."

His words a sweet, mesmerizing whisper to her ears, pulling her down to his depths as she started feeling her body getting warmer – whether it was from the close proximity of his body or from any other reason Selina could not tell – as her mind was getting lost in a vibrant red fog. Sebastian still holding his shirt pulled her closer to him, leaning over her, his eyes locked with her cat-like ones. Her hands almost trapped between them, lightly touched his well-defined abdomen making Sebastian take a slightly deeper breath than usual. Selina's head slowly fell backwards, on its own accord, surrendering her slightly parted lips, ready to receive his own already descending while his hot, heavy breath showered her flushed face.

Right at that moment, a persistent knock on the door made both of them land harshly back to reality. Selina immediately pulled away from Sebastian as he was letting his shirt go and stepped back quickly finding his normal self. Finny was heard from the other side of the door, asking if everything was alright with a slight worry in his voice. Selina opened the door, pulling the shirt closer, and as soon as she informed Finny that everything was fine, excused herself and left almost running towards the servants' corridor.

Once she was back in her room's safety, she paused to think what almost happened. For a while, she was so lost in the memory of everything that transpired between them and the sensations she felt, that she almost fell down due to her shaking knees. However, pretty soon, reason returned to her mind, and came to the conclusion he was just messing with her, only this time she knew the reason and the worst part was that she could not demand of him to stop. He would insist it was essential for the success of their mission and Selina could not disagree or try explaining him that the era they were in was quite puritanical, and a couple would not show great affection in public, as Sebastian would stubbornly insist they should practice.

"Anyway," Selina thought shaking her head. "We are leaving in two days and tomorrow Miranda is coming, so he will be quite busy with her, to concern himself with me or find time to continue his games; therefore, I will leave it at that, there is no reason to say anything. He will forget it by the time we will be alone, and he will focus on our assignment."

She took off his shirt and folded it neatly. She then took a clean nightgown, underwear and her robe and went to the bathroom to dry herself up. Once she was ready, she went upstairs to check on the young master. She found him in another room, deep inside his pillows and covers drinking a cup of warm milk with a drop of honey. The child seemed already to be half asleep and soon started yawning, thankfully not having lost his sleep after what happened. Sebastian, fully dressed, also came to check on him and as soon as the boy went back to sleep, the staff of the household did exactly the same. They all went back to their rooms, yawning and stretching, but above all thankful their master had not been harmed in any way.

{~}

Miranda was seating in a chair in front of the window in Selina's room and her attention was divided between the scenery outside, drying from the evening rain, and the clanging sounds coming from her cousin's side. She sighed obviously bored and looked at Selina. The blond woman was focused on picking various vials with colourful liquids inside and putting them in a small handbag.

"It's only for a week and you're taking all these potions with you?" She finally asked.

Selina turned to her with wide eyes. "We have no idea what we'll face. Hopefully, everything will be clearly human machinations and I won't have to use any of these, but… I have to be prepared for everything."

Miranda smiled. "As always. Wow, what is that? I haven't seen it before." She slid out of her chair, approaching Selina sitting on the wooden floor. She took a small vase and opened it to smell the deep red salve that was in. Instantly, her eyes goggled, and her nose shrugged in disgust. "It smells like the demon, horrible."

Selina grabbed it out of her hands. "I was looking for that. It smells like Sebastian because it is made out of his blood." She informed her cousin in a casual tone.

"Did you find a way to vanquish him using his own blood?" Miranda asked, hope evident in her voice, only to receive a disapproving glance from Selina.

"It's a healing salve. Last time, Undertaker literally impaled him with his scythe, and he was in a really bad shape for a couple of days. I cannot risk him getting hurt again and not being able to do his duty."

"Hmm… is that the only, true reason?" Miranda looked at her suspiciously.

Selina sighed. "Here we go again. What other reason could I possibly have?"

"Well… he may disgust me but I'm not blind. He has chosen a really attractive form and everything about him is… sinfully alluring. He is perfect in everything he chooses to do; has a dark sense of humor, irony and I admit that his eyes can look straight at someone's soul. He is pretty much… your type." Her emerald eyes were shining full of innuendos.

A tired and bored look appeared in Selina's eyes and face. "Let me guess… Bard and Mey-Rin have already shared their theories with you." The only response Miranda gave was a shrug of her shoulders as her eyes took a teasing twinkle. "As you said, he has chosen a very attractive form; form, which means not real. All these 'sinfully alluring' things you see are a façade and his human physical appearance is like a cloth he wears, nothing more. So, I cannot be interested in something like that, end of story. Now… I wanted to ask. You said you have no control over the information they share with me, but… I sense that certain info I was not told, was because of you." She finished while looking at her cousin in an interrogating manner.

Miranda straightened her slim body, opened her eyes wide giving them a look of pure innocence. "Like what? I don't understand what you're saying."

"Oh really? Well… Grell Sutcliff always talked about his…" She sighed as the matter of gender was always an issue for the red-haired reaper and confused her greatly; being send back to an era where the reaper could be viewed only as a man did not help. "Her love, her one and only with whom she could not be with and fate, in the form of an 'ugly woman', separated them like one more pair of tragic lovers, right?"

"Yes. Everybody knows about Sebby... or Bassy."

"And you don't know who that was? You're saying that you've worked with him… her for almost a decade and you don't know the true identity of Sebby… Sebasssy… Sebastian darling!" Selina's cat eyes were like a slow burning fire.

"Oh, you mean about that! Well… she may have talked about the 'hunk' demon she met in the Victorian era, about… a hundred times."

"My point exactly. But I was not told about that, and for three years I was being delivered my ass on my hands every time I had training with him... her and she was rambling about her love, but I never knew the reason and what that Sebby had to do with my training. Also, I was never told about Sebby's obsession with cats and I almost spilled the beans to Ciel that the back yard is swarming with cats… The kid took a really dangerous expression, I must say, just in the idea of cats running around. Also, I was never told about the real abilities of Bard, Finny and Mey-Rin; needless to say, Sebastian thought it was funny to let me find out on my own, and the result was that when I did, they told me their stories… it was not pleasant for them, especially for little Finny!" Her eyes were a pair of angry, blue fires.

"All right. And what makes you think I had anything to do with that?" Miranda said innocently as she was pulling away from her dangerously looking cousin.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe, because they are like your usual pranks?" Selina's voice was full of irony. "Maybe, because you knew, I would not lose the irony of the situation, and have a fit of nervous laughter when I would realize who the 'ugly woman', that supposedly took Grell's love away, is and who Sebby is? Because of him I have bled… I don't know how many times during training! Maybe, because you always say I make funny faces when I am surprised or busted for something not so good?" Selina was approaching her cousin quite predatory.

Miranda could not keep a straight face any longer and slowly started giggling while trying to speak. "I-I must admit that you must have been… q-quite a sight in all these instances. I am so s-sorry I could not see your face-"

"Oh, you're so dead right now." Selina said and launched herself on her giggling cousin. She circled Miranda's throat with her hands and, without putting any pressure, started shaking the laughing woman. "Next time someone asks me if I am really a demon, because of my crude and creepy remarks, I will point to you as the real demon in the family, since you are the one enjoying teasing people."

"Maybe, but my teasing is completely innocent." Miranda said in between giggles.

"Oh wow, now I'm convinced… not!"

"Oh my, what a pleasant sight! Selina, can I hope that not even you could bear the insanely sweet odour of that creature and decided to get rid of it?" Sebastian was heard, quite amused, from where he was standing at the door. His red eyes shining teasingly.

"Mm… In your dreams, demon!" Miranda answered right away in a very rude tone.

Selina released her and laughed lightly at the scowl on her cousin's face.

"What a pity." Sebastian said disappointed for a moment. "Anyway, I came to inform you, Selina, that tomorrow we will be catching the 9:30 train from Paddington, therefore, we will have to be at the station at least by 8:30; so, you must wake up at six. I would advise you to get some sleep early tonight."

"Why bother? I mean, you can be there in a few minutes if you go on high speed." Miranda seemed genuinely confused.

"I agree with you, Miss Miranda, but my master wants me to act as much as possible as a human in order to pass as one, so… I cannot disobey."

"Damn… smart kid!" Admiration ringing in the angel's voice.

"Alright, thank you, Sebastian, for letting me know; I am packing some last-minute things and will go to bed." Selina reassured the demon.

Sebastian nodded and left closing the door. As he was walking away, he heard a happy Miranda, squealing for sharing a bed with her beloved cousin again and Selina answering it was fine, as long as Miranda was not kicking so much. He was impressed to hear a very light happy timbre in her voice; he was certain she was happy to have the annoying creature beside her, even though she tried to hide it. He sighed since that was something he could not understand about humans, how could they want the company of such irritating people.

However, later that night Selina's aura, so vibrant and strong but peaceful, drew him to enter the room again. He found the two young women sleeping soundly on the narrow bed hugging each other. On their legs there was a book left open that seemed to have some pictures in it. Curiosity took over him and picked it up. It was a photo album, but the photographs were coloured with real life colours; he got truly impressed at the thought humans will be able to produce so lifelike pictures in the future. Now he looked at the photos closely.

In one of them there was Selina, Miranda and one more woman. They all looked very young and happy. Miranda had a white hoop resting on her hair and was wearing a white button-less, short sleeved shirt with black letters on, announcing there was a stairway to heaven. Selina on the other hand, had a headband on from which two red horns were protruding and was wearing a similar shirt in black with white letters, stating there was also a highway to hell. Their fingers intertwined and Miranda's nails were painted white while Selina's black to complete their outfits accordingly.

The third woman was sitting between Selina and Miranda with arms thrown over their shoulders hugging them. Actually that woman looked like how Selina was now; dark chocolate hair and even deeper blue eyes, looking violet under certain light, were the only major differences. She was also wearing a similar shirt that had the words heaven and hell on it and the picture of three angels sitting and… smoking cigarettes.

Sebastian was getting more and more interested in that future era of theirs. It seemed humans had finally been released from their god-fearing prejudices and developed a very sharp sense of humour, humanizing powers greater than themselves, even if they had no good knowledge of them. He could not deny he liked this kind of humour, since it seemed quite insightful for the blind and ignorant humans. He found they might become a little more interesting and tastier beings.

His eyes glided to the next photograph, where a young man had been added, with his arms around the unknown woman's waist and she was resting her head on his chest. Selina's hand was stretched forward and upwards as she must have been holding whatever it was that took the photograph, while she and Miranda were squeezed together at the lower corner of the photograph. The couple was smiling, watching the silly faces the two girls were making. Sebastian smiled and put the album back on the bed at exactly the same place as it was and left the room.

Strangely enough, a smile lingered on his lips, really surprising him. For some reason, he was getting a very strong vibe of happiness out of the expression everyone had in these pictures. A happiness that did not derive from the acquisition of material wealth and power – as he very well knew to be the usual case with humans – but only by the simple fact they were all together, they had each other and were happy about it. The three young women and the man, seemed not to care about anything else except each other. He found that curious and… somehow interesting.

He he he, Sebastian... such a tease to poor Selina :) ! Now, I know, you might be frustrated that both story action and SebastianxSelina action are too slow, but... guys, it's a slow burn, plus I cannot ever imagine Sebastian any different than a calculating teasing bastard that will act only when the time is right... or when he reaches his limits! :D

Also, I feel very sorry for Selina... having to be between an angel (also teasing her in a way) and a demon! But I also love it! *evil smirk*

Till next time! Bye!