The Landlord Next Door | A Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) fanfic

03 An Inconvenient Coincidence

Rolling her head back against the wall of the lift, a long drawn sigh puffed out of her mouth.

Erin grimaced at the heavy weariness all over her body after such an eventful day. The memory of the incident from noon was like a lingering nuisance, coming back to remind her repeatedly of her recklessness. She did not know what came over her when she poured whisky on that man's shirt – it was more than anger, certainly.

She was guilty of what she had done and being on the receiving end of the icy glare he threw at her sort of intimidated her, but she couldn't quite shake off the small satisfaction seeing his oh-so-precious suit dripping wet.

Erin dragged a hand down her face with a sigh as she watched the number on the lift panel flicker higher and higher with an absent glint in her eyes. The weary ache in her body and her drooping eyelids showed her great need for sleep. Walking listlessly into the hallway as soon as the lift reached the 24th floor, she brought the watch on her right wrist closer to her face and groaned at the time – it was already eight and tomorrow was already her first day of school!

Quickly unlocking the door of 24B, she kicked off her shoes to the shoe cabinet at the side and paused ever so briefly to look back at her shoes she left scattered on the floor as Sebastian's reminder to keep the apartment tidy rang in her head. Brushing the sight away, she continued her way toward the second floor with a yawn.

Screw the rules. What was the point anyway? She would be wearing them tomorrow too! And all she cared about now was a quick bath and sleep.

Stifling a yawn, Erin reached for the door knob as soon as she arrived at her door, her fingers already itching to pop open the buttons of her shirt.

Thud.

Her hand froze inches above the knob. Her eyes which had immediately widened to the sound turned to a certain door at the end of the hallway she stood in. Feeling her breath catch in her throat, her body tensed in realisation – the usual closed door was left ajar.

A burglar?

Horror sept into her.

Her mind begin to race as she quietly made her way over to the room and softened her breathing as she peeked through the gap. The room was dark but she could easily tell that this room was much bigger than hers. Her eyes swept the room as much as the gap allowed her to.

She blinked in confusion when she saw no one. Maybe something dropped?

"Okay Erin, you're just gonna check and leave." Erin murmured under her breath. Pushing the door a little wider, she gingerly eased herself into the quiet room

"...the room at the end of the upper floor is to be left alone."

Erin paused in her tracks for a second and continued her way in. "Alright, this is only a one-time thing. It could be a burglar. Sebastian entrusted you to this place so this is necessary." Giving herself a decisive nod, she blindly felt the walls near her.

Where the hell were the light switches? She continued groping around.

Erin finally gave up when she found none and carefully manoeuvred around the furniture lying around her, trying to make out the silhouettes the light from the hallway could barely reach.

Her heart was beating faster the deeper she went. She was wide awake now, every little silhouettes she walked past made her turn sharply to look at them. Her hands were clenched tightly into fists at her sides as she kept an eye out for any hiding intruders.

At times like this, she wished she took martial arts instead of photography! Maybe she should have called Sebastian first? It wasn't too late, wasn't it?