Surrounded by Doubt | Kuroshitsuji

Chapter 6 - Staying by his side

Sebastian had figured that when his young master called his name earlier, that he wanted him to stay by his side. He had flattered himself an ounce too much considering his master was apparently only out after a glass of water. Moderately hurt and embarrassed for wanting to be by the boy's side he went on to thinking something seemed a bit off about his young master. Though some suspicion had already started to grow in Sebastians mind, it was only when the boy added "If you don't mind" to his request earlier that it had been confirmed.

Ciel Phantomhive would never ask his demon butler for something as insignificant as a glass of water so politely. The boy must really be delirious from the fever Sebastian thought, although even if his master in all probability only used those words due to having an alarmingly high fever and not being completely aware of what he was saying, the words had left a warm feeling lingering in the butler's bones as he was making his way down the hallway and continued towards the manors kitchen.

On his way to the kitchen he caught the glimpse of a young maid with hazel eyes and straight maroon-red hair which was tied up in high pigtails walking his way. She was carrying an alarming amount of white porcelain plates making Sebastian realise the inevitable was about to happen, just as her foot got caught in something, the grip she held on the plates was loosening and she attempted to comprehend what was happening.

At that moment the butler took in the situation before releasing a quiet sigh, he ran forward preparing one arm to catch the maiden while the other captured one plate which he used to stack the other plates on as they were still spreading in the air. It had almost turned into a habit at this point to capture items in the air as effortlessly as he did.

Sebastian put the plates down on the floor to free his hand once he'd caught them all and switched his attention to the maid in his arms, still confused as to what had just happened, it took her a few seconds before she looked up at the butler. At this point Sebastian noticed her thick, round glasses had fallen down slightly and proceeded to push them back in place with his finger.

This gesture had the maids face going completely red as she backed away from the butler and started to stutter.

"S-S-Sebastian! I-I'm so s-sorry, I should have watched my steps" Her countenance was overflowing from the redness, Sebastian could sense she was embarrassed at the situation and made sure to reassure her with his calm voice.

"Mey-Rin, it's fine but I would appreciate you being a bit more careful in the future as to prevent any events like this from happening again" Sebastian said with a charming smile on his face that made the maid go even redder, at the back of his mind he knew of course that these things would always happen again.

"Y-y-yes! Of course! I-I'll make sure to be careful! Thank you Sebastian!" The butler could see the determination in her features as she said that and felt content with the response. Now he could go on to care for Ciel without any further predicaments getting in his way.

"S-Sebastian? We haven't seen the young master at all today, is he doing okay?" Mey-Rin asked as she attempted to pick up all of the plates again only to be stopped by the gaze of a certain butler, with that she chose to instead pick up half of the stack while waiting for an answer.

"The master seems to have fallen ill and will therefore be needing plenty of rest. I would advise you to not come with any issues that aren't urgent as well as keep the messes to a minimum today"

He was starting to get impatient, he really should be returning to his master's side now since Mey-Rin had taken up quite some time and the boy's fever was most likely not going down.

"Oh could you also inform the rest about the circumstances?" He added before continuing to the kitchen for the purpose of finally getting to the task he was handed.

"Yes sir!" He heard a voice exclaim behind his back.

He filled a bowl with cold water before fetching a cloth and placed everything on the cart along with a can of fresh water. For a butler with his speed, it had only taken Sebastian the blink of an eye to gather what would be of assistance when fighting his master's fever.

He took a subtle look out through the window when he noticed the weather had taken a different turn out of nowhere. The once clear sky that had offered such gatifying sunshine now only offered darkness as murky clouds made their way of taking over all that was light. They swallowed what little rays the sun still had to offer and instead replaced it with a drizzle that soon enough turned into a violent rainstorm.

A still and frigid atmosphere layed like fog in a dark forest outside of the earl's bedroom. The temperature had dropped drastically around the door, Sebastian could even feel a cold breeze escape between the narrow gaps of the frame. The now distraught butler opened the door steadily only to be whacked in the face by the biting wind. Signs of shock still lingering in his features he observed the room, the window was wide open and about to slam into the frame had the butler not moved at full tilt to prevent that from happening.

Once again scanning the room for anything out of the ordinary, his eyes caught a slight lump in the bed. He let out a relieved sigh as he went to check on his master, the boy was in a deep slumber even with the window having allowed such an unwelcoming cold to enter as well as making such thunderous noise.

Sebastian looked at the young earl through the darkness of the room, the boy's face was washed out - more so than this morning - and he expressed frowns as well as whimpering indicating he was in the middle of a nightmare. The demon stepped closer, raising his hand towards the boy. He gently grabbed the shoulder to try and wake the boy as peacefully as he could while also not startling the boy, to his own surprise had the hand on the boy's shoulder been slapped away by a smaller hand.

Crimson met Sapphire. The earl Phantomhive's gaze was overflowing with fear.