Surrounded by Doubt | Kuroshitsuji

Chapter 1 - Feeling sick

Ciel's P.O.V.

As the drapes were being pulled apart letting the light from outside enter the room Ciel squinted his eyes, trying to slowly get used to the sharp brightness piercing through his eyelids by repeatedly blinking until he was somewhat used to it.

When trying to sit up he felt a bit dizzy and shaked his head a little to get rid of it. He didn't notice the butler pouring hot steaming tea into a cup staring at him with one eyebrow raising in suspicion.

"Good Morning, Young master, are we perhaps not feeling well today?" The butler asked.

Ciel looked up only now noticing his butler's dark crimson eyes staring at him with what he might have thought was worry, of course he knew demons did not possess such feelings but he would never pass on the opportunity to tease Sebastian, showing a small smirk build up on his face he said "I'm perfectly fine, why? Are you worried?"

The butler did not answer and instead picked up the cup of tea spreading the aroma coming from it, he walked up to Ciel who was now sitting up in a more comfortable position on his bed, presenting the tea and expressing a subtle smile. Sebastian bowed down a little after Ciel received the cup in his hands, his face getting a bit too close to Ciel's for comfort causing the boy to blush vaguely.

"It is a butler's duty to above all tend to his master, is it not?.. now would you care to hear today's schedule?" The butler asked with a calm voice.

"Mm.. sure.." He mumbled, now looking away and somewhat disappointed that the butler didn't seem affected by his teasing, he proceeded to take a sip of the hot tea, feeling the liquid warm up his throat.

"It would seem you have some paperwork but apart from that your schedule is clear. . Perhaps the day could be spent relaxing in bed?" The butler proceeded, clearly aware that Ciel wasn't feeling too good, suggesting to his master that bedrest would be the best option while taking the empty tea cup out of the boy's hands once he had finished.

Ciel waved his hand insinuating that bedrest was out of the question while moving his body to sit by the bed frame. He felt his limbs being heavier than ever as well as his headache growing stronger from the slightest bit of movement. Determined to not show an ounce of weakness in front of the butler, he tried to fight the pulsating headache without making any faces which proved to be easier said than done. While moving Ciel attempted to look down as much as possible to avoid Sebastian reading his face, this in the end didn't prove to be very effective as he nearly fell off the bed but managed to catch himself before the butler had a chance to react.

"Sebastian. . " He groaned, fighting the headache to keep a clear mind. "Get me.. Dressed. . . Also I will be having breakfast in my study today". He watched as his butler bent down for a deep bow.

"Yes, my Lord" The demon said as he started performing his duty just as flawlessly as always before preparing to leave Ciel alone in the room.

The young boy's thoughts wandered off while getting dressed, now lingering around the events that had occured only a mere day ago, as the Queen's faithful watchdog, they had received a letter a few days ago regarding the production and use of illegal gases in London of late.

The reason for his service being called to action was that a number of noblemen as well as other individuals ranking with high status were being targeted in attempts to steal any valuable documents they had in their possession.

Victims of the gas, after such incidents, had been kept at the hospital for several days before they could make out that the perpetrator didn't use a concentration high enough for death to come knocking on the door, instead the objective was to acquire the documents, meaning the gas was purposely made so as to barely make the target fall unconscious for a certain amount of time with the side effects upon waking up working as a decoy even after the theft had been accomplished. It had caused some complications as every person working on the case felt uneasy interacting with either crimescenes or suspects as the fear of getting gassed was growing in all of them.

Ciel knew he couldn't blame the poor souls, the sight of someone in that condition certainly wasn't a pretty one, he had even witnessed it himself, when a young girl in the hospital, only a few years younger than the earl himself, woke up and instantly turned against her own older brother with fear hiding deep in her look, spewing all kinds of accusations but mainly that he was out after her and their parents. Meeting her worried parents gaze as they only stood there, watching her instead of taking action against the brother she so desperately tried to warn them of had made her big emerald eyes release a waterfall of tears before finally getting exhausted after throwing a tantrum, leading to the girl eventually falling asleep.

The victims themselves also suffered from headaches, fevers and occasional nightmares which from the descriptions appeared to only fuel the fear and paranoia that awoke within them. Really it wasn't much of an issue, considering the effects steadily toned down with the passing of time. The individuals struck with bad luck soon enough managed to return back to their everyday lives, only vaguely remembering what had happened during that specific period of time which was apparently caused due to the high fever they tended to get after waking up from interacting with the gas.

For a second Ciel started reasoning in his head. The symptoms that he was exhibiting were oddly similar to the ones of the victims he thought. But Sebastian had made sure Ciel didn't actually enter the domain where the gas could reach him, the demon had left him to scout for the documents in one of the offices instead while taking care of everything else since the gas wouldn't affect him, should he come in contact with it.

Ciel woke up from his train of thought when the noise of porcelain rattling on the cart Sebastian was wheeling out startled him a little. He had given Sebastian a look in annoyance to having made the boy flinch slightly at the noise, the butler had in return given his master a look in the eye but not showing any signs that he understood Ciel was annoyed showing in his features.