You Can't Hide Forever

His Butler, Competing (part 2)

All of the gathered people were eating the curry that had intrigued them the most as Mr. West watched smugly with Agni at his side. The two of them together just seemed unnatural.

"My company's curry is far and away the most popular!", Mr. West said happily. He looked over at Agni as he spoke.

"Don't let your guard down. They also seem to fancy Sebastian's", Agni pointed out. Just as he said, just as many people were eating curry buns. Mr. West did not like this fact.

"No need to be concerned", a voice said. The two turned to the source of the voice and saw Mina approaching them. "Right, darling?"

"Mina! What are you doing here?!", Agni asked in a panic. He looked around nervously. "What if His Highness sees you?!"

"He's already seen me", she said.

"Already?", he asked, his eyes wide. "Don't tell me you..." Mina wrapped her arms around Mr. West and laid her head on his shoulder as she smirked.

Ciel tugged on my arm lightly and began to lead me through the crowd to an unknown destination.

~~Hana's POV~~

Soma was standing in front of a statue of the goddess Kali. Though he accepted my previous words of encouragement earlier that day, he was still rather upset and having a hard time with the new information.

"Agni...", he began. "You knew about Mina, so you tried to keep us from meeting."

"What's the meaning of this?", a voice behind us asked. We turned around and saw Ciel and Claire. "Your butler is fighting, and you run away and refuse to watch?"

"That's not it", Soma said, looking back at the statue. "I've been thinking over what I've done. I didn't know anything. No, I didn't try to know anything. Not how Mina felt, or how Agni felt." Ciel nodded.

"If you understand that, why are you just standing here?", he asked before turning and starting to walk away, leading Claire with him. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "You ought to think about what a master owes to a butler who's fought for him."

"Ciel...", Soma began as Ciel and Claire began to walk away again. Claire looked back at me as she walked and nodded her head, a silent signal. I stood still for a moment and she was right. The atmosphere was changing slightly. Something was coming and it would arrive or reveal itself soon.

"Oh, there they are! Your Highness! Miss Hana!", a voice called. I looked towards its source and saw Finny waving as he, Bard, and Mey-Rin ran towards Soma and I.

"The curry sampling has started already, yes!", Mey-Rin said. She was holding a small plate with two buns on it.

"If you don't hurry, you'll miss it!", Bard said while pointing back the way they had came.

"Here", Mey-Rin said as she offered the plate to us. We both picked up a bun each and bit into them. Soma's eyes widened.

"That's good!", he complimented. I nodded in agreement as I continued to eat. "Your khansama's curry buns taste so kind." He smiled gently.

~~Claire's POV~~

When we got back, Agni was on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his eyes as he cried.

"How could you?!", he asked. It was like we had never left. "The prince cared so much for you, and you seemed to truly enjoy yourself!" Mina released her husband and walked up to Agni.

"You would never understand", she claimed. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned down a bit. "Not you-- a Brahmin who gave up all his privilege to be some khansama!" She leaned back up.