On the day of the cricket match, Ciel got dressed in the cricket uniform and joined his team out on the field, who were trying to debate how to win.

"I think we have a shot," Ciel surprised himself by speaking up. "I mean, my father won years ago. If he did it, why can't I? I'm still very much his son,"

"Indeed, but we're not known for being the most athletic House," A third-year adjusted his glasses.

"Besides, your brother is on the opposing team, which means they have a huge shot too!" A first-year said in a worried tone.

"I can handle it," Ciel said, trying to reassure them. After all, if luck was on his side, his little addition to the food had gone over smoothly, Scarlet Fox would eat it, and have to forfeit from how sick they are. Just like in his previous world.

"Well, I suppose we have faith in you," Clayton finally said. "Something's telling me to trust you,"

Ciel nodded and headed out onto the field, wincing at how hot it was. It wasn't unbearable, but certainly not weather one wanted to be playing a sport in. He glanced over at the stands and saw his family there alongside Sieglinde and Diedrich; Sieglinde and Elizabeth were cheering and smiling.

"I look forward to your show of good sportsmanship," His brother greeted as his own team walked out. "It's fun to have small competitions like this as brothers, isn't it?"

Ciel just frowned. "Let the best team win,"

The game began and Ciel retained his memories of his other previous cricket tournaments and used them to his advantage, trying to get the upper-hand on his brother and Scarlet Fox's team as a whole. It wasn't exact, obviously, as the teams changed every year, but it was still helpful. Even despite that, when it was time for a break, Scarlet Fox was still a few more points ahead Sapphire Owl.

"I'm sorry..." Joanne apologized as they walked off together.

"What are you sorry for?" Ciel asked.

"I know how much you wanted to win this tournament this year...but it looks like we're going to win. I mean, I love winning, and I love cricket, but it's not fair if you're not happy,"

"Don't worry about it. I anticipated something like this happening,"

"If you say so. Uh, want some cake?" Joanne easily cut one of the pieces off a bigger slice with edible red ribbons. "It's chocolate, and I know you love chocolate," He held it out with a smile.

Ciel stared at the slice with caution, genuinely unsure if he poisoned it or not but knowing it was far better safe than sorry. Still, if he refused sweets, Joanne would instantly suspect something was up and tell his brother, who would absolutely suspect something was up and likely warn the others away from the food.

"Phantomhive?"

"Oh, um..." He stumbled over his words, making Joanne's eyes shimmer with worry. "Sure. But only a small bite. I can't overload myself with sugar just before a game,"

"Okay!" He giggled. "Want to eat with your family?"

"No, right here is fine!" He wasn't about to risk Sieglinde getting ill. He then picked up a fork and very gingerly cut off an even smaller portion, putting it into his mouth and chewing but not swallowing.

"Isn't it good?" Joanne smiled and took a few bites himself.

"Cedric! I wasn't expecting to see you over here! Partaking in our victory cake?" His brother wandered over. "Hm? What's in your mouth?"

Ciel quickly shook his head and shielded his face, but his brother was determined and pulled his face back over and forced his mouth open. "It's full of chocolate cake!" He smiled and gave Ciel a sudden pat on the back, making him swallow in surprise and widen his eyes.

Oh no, he swallowed the cake! He had to find some way to get it back up before-

"Don't you feel much better now? I always get worried when you don't eat, you know. Especially since I love you so much!" The twin smiled easily, pouting a bit at the cake. "Aw, it's chocolate. I much prefer strawberry, as you know,"

"I think there's some strawberry tarts!" Joanne said happily, finishing up his slice of cake.

"I like strawberry sweets the best though," The twin pouted. "Oh well. I suppose I will just eat later tonight at the ball," He smiled a knowing smile at Ciel before he left, and Ciel realized with horror he hadn't touched a single piece of any of the food, whereas Ciel himself had been made to eat one of the cakes he poisoned.

Luck most certainly wasn't on his side that day.

Once the break was over and everyone headed back onto the field, Ciel tried to recompose himself by taking deep breaths. He didn't even feel weak or nauseous. Maybe he needed a higher dose in his system to sicken him. He coughed and tossed the ball back-and-forth in his hands, keeping his eye on the opposing team.

"Looks like it's us two," Joanne smiled awkwardly as he greeted Ciel.

"Wouldn't have it any other way,"

The game continued on for a while, the two Houses ended up tied at first but Scarlet Fox gradually started racking up more points. Ciel was determined to see it through to the end though. He waited for Joanne to toss the ball back; he was standing blankly while keeping his head down, eyeing the ball.

"Harcourt, are you alright?" Redmond asked, walking over. Joanne said nothing before he suddenly gasped and vomited profusely, all over himself and the ground. He covered his mouth as the audience gasped in surprise and disgust.

"I-I...ummmm..." He threw up again and then dashed off, tossing the ball on the ground. Several other members ran off too, looking green and sick. Ciel would've smiled to himself if his own stomach didn't suddenly flip at that moment too, making him double-over and empty his stomach on the ground. He went for a few rounds before collapsing on his back, feeling extremely weak and drained. The audience buzzed over in the stands while the Prefects tried to calm down the remainder of their teams.

He heard footsteps approaching him and he briefly glanced up to see the smirk of his older brother standing over him.

"Awwww, you got sick," He leaned over. "But you're not actually sick, are you? You tried to sabotage my team and you got payback for it. What is that called in India, karma?"

"It wasn't supposed to...happen..." Ciel coughed really hard.

"Obviously. I'm a bit sad though. It always saddens me to see you so sick and weak, no matter what the cause is,"

"Cedric!" Rachel and Vincent had run onto the field to check on him, and Ciel groaned slightly in pain. His stomach and throat felt as if they were on fire.

By the time they reached him, he had passed out, and the two teams were announced as being forfeit from the tournament, so only Violet Wolf and Green Lion had a chance at winning.

######

Ciel surprised himself by making a bit of a recovery in the afternoon, but he was determined to still be too weak and sick to attend the after-game ball. Ciel found he didn't really mind, he likely wouldn't have danced much anyway. When he finally came to, he found himself in the school's infirmary with several members of the family buzzing over him.

"Cedric! Are you alright?" Rachel asked in a worried tone. "Thank goodness you recovered so well," She gave him a tight hug he winced at, though not as violently as before. It seemed he was very slowly and gradually getting used to her hugs.

"It was a fluke. I guess I ate something bad," He said quickly, not about to admit the truth.

"Tomorrow we are taking you home. Ciel will be here for a few more days, but you are coming home early," Vincent said sternly. "You aren't in trouble. It's just that you need a quieter environment to recover better in,"

Ciel never thought he'd be so thankful in his life.

"Who ended up winning?"

"Well, both teams were forfeited on terms of illness," Vincent began when Edward came in, wearing a formal suit and flowery hat. "Ah, there's one of the winners now!"

"Cedric, are you okay?" Edward asked instead. "I heard what happened from Ciel. Did you hurt your head?"

"No, I landed on grass," Ciel responded. "Congratulations on winning, by the way. Your House deserves it,"

Edward blushed suddenly at that. "It was nothing. We beat Violet Wolf and the remaining members of Scarlet Fox...including Ciel. But he was a good sport about it too. I honestly can't remember the last time we won a cricket tournament though,"

"We'll leave you to rest. Is there anything you want?" Rachel asked gently. "Anything at all?"

"Not really. I think Edward and Sieglinde should go enjoy the party too, even if I'm not there," Ciel shook his head.

"No way. If my favourite cousin is still under the weather, it's my job to cheer him up!" Edward smiled.

"I am sure they'll come by to bring you something to drink later," Rachel reassured Ciel before she gave him another hug and stood up. "We will see you after the party,"

Ciel nodded at them, and Edward briefly left and came back wheeling Sieglinde's wheelchair. His heart hurt a bit when he saw her all dressed up in a pale cerulean dress trimmed with white, tastefully low-cut enough with matching gloves and a white ribbon-choker. In her hair was a small arrangement of white flowers pinning back a veil. She was all dressed up for a ball, a ball Ciel wouldn't be able to attend.

"Lord Cedric!" She greeted anyway. "Can I kiss you? Everyone always feels better after a kiss from their beloved!"

"You remember a few months ago, when I mentioned that nightmare I had, and how as a result I had a hard time settling back into my life? It wasn't a nightmare. It was my actual life. I studied a lot on the subject upon coming back to school, and I learned I only have until the end of the year, if even then, to figure out some way to get back to my own life. I finally have the memories of this life come to me, so they've been helpful, but it's not enough. Have you two figured out anything?" He asked in a low tone.

"I think Elizabeth suspects something. She seems more absent-minded than usual and started reading about...supernatural things. Things that can't be explained by science, though Ciel found out what she was doing and quickly put a stop to it," Edward admitted. "It didn't seem like she learned anything though,"

"Oh! Since this is meant to be your perfect world, why don't you do something so completely strange, it'll break it?" Sieglinde suggested eagerly.

"Or you could stop fighting it and resign to entirely the world,"

Ciel buried his face in his hands. Both options had merit, but he felt as though he already knew what was wrong, what had happened, deep in the back of his mind, just out of reach.

"If I don't figure this out, I will die. All those books confirmed that for me," He finally said after a time, making Edward and Sieglinde silence. "Yet...there's a small part of me that's selfish and doesn't want to leave this life. All of the things that happened to everyone in my own life...never happened. Everyone gets to be as happy as I am,"

"Then I don't think that's selfish, if you want everyone to be happy," Edward said.

"But I still have to go to prevent myself from dying," He slowly climbed out of the bed, feeling a bit disorientated but nothing major. He still wore his outfit from the cricket game and held his hand out to Sieglinde. "At the very least, I can give you a dance,"

Sieglinde's eyes lit up and she gently took his hand, carefully stepping out of her chair. She fell into him and they both stumbled.

"Can you actually do this?"

"For a little bit," She admitted, and he slowly took her hands and kept one hand balanced on her waist, then they gently stepped in rhythm together. She smiled up at Ciel as he carefully twirled her around once, then kept her steady as she started to wobble. Her veil spun around with her and fell in a wave over her shoulders, dousing her in sparkly white. Their steps were quiet on the hard floor, and after a few minutes of dancing, Sieglinde found she couldn't keep her balance anymore. She stumbled and fell into Ciel, who managed to catch her, and buried her face in his chest.

"I think that's enough dancing for both of you," Edward scolded; even Ciel had to admit he felt slightly out-of-breath. Sieglinde gave him a quick peck on the cheek before Edward helped her into her wheelchair.

"It was just like a fairy-tale..I can't wait to tell Vati about it!" She gushed.

"Surely we've danced before?" Ciel questioned.

"Mainly fun stuff for children. This was the first time we danced in such a romantic way..."

He laid back down in his bed, mulling over that thought. Sieglinde was definitely head-over-heels for her supposed prince, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that, or even about her. But if it meant making this version of her happy, then he supposed it would be fine in the end. He just wished that the regular versions of everyone, the ones who lived in his own world, would retain at least one of the happy memories he gave them in this world.

######

Meanwhile, at the party, things were starting to wind down a bit, though many people were still dancing. Rachel and Vincent had finished dancing with each other and went outside for some fresh air, looking at the sky.

"I wonder if they're going to shoot the fireworks off tonight?" Vincent asked.

"I'll be sad if they do only because Cedric would miss them. He'd love to see them,"

"Maybe Ciel could tell him about them,"

Rachel gently took Vincent's hand and leaned on his shoulder slightly. "I just wanted him to have a nice final night here before we bring him home tomorrow,"

"Evening," Frances greeted the pair, walking outside with Alexis.

"Evening yourself," Vincent smiled. "How are things going in there?"

"Fine. Ciel is still dancing with Elizabeth, though knowing her, she'd likely dance the whole night away if she could,"

"How's Cedric doing?" Alexis asked curiously.

"We want to take him home early from school so he can recover properly. He's doing fine, but we thought the quieter atmosphere would be better for him," Rachel said.

Frances just nodded.

Rachel held Vincent's hand a bit tighter. "Can we walk around the grounds some more? I'd love to see some beautiful flowers. Inspiration for my scrapbook,"

"Of course," Vincent smiled at her and the two walked off together.