Black Swan Rising - A Black Butler Fan-Fic

16- Just Like a Boy

Time passed by with unimaginable slowness. The days were filled with glances and smiles, promises of meeting in the dead of night. We would talk and tell stories and watch the stars with fondness. Our first kiss seemed to be our one and only. We were chaste as virgin lovers since then.

I practiced in the barn with the horses a lot more often since the events on the Campania. I always found myself lost in thought. Even when the young lord came to me with a letter not long after Easter, I couldn't seem to concentrate past my own weakness against my bag. Something about losing to the Undertaker made a fire light inside of me.

"Derek Clemens, the son of Her Majesty's cousin the Duke Clemens, has been acting strangely," he explained, leaning against the barn door and propping his foot up on it. "He's a fifth year student at Weston College and the only son to the Duke. He's stopped sending letters and coming home for summers and vacations, and the Queen is getting worried."

I threw a few punches as I listened, getting toward the end of my work out without so much as a lift off the ground. I was getting frustrated. With each throw of a punch, I let out a soft grunt to give it more force and power. My hair was falling in my face, sticking to the sweat on my brow. "What of it?" I asked. "He just sounds like he's being rebellious."

"Her Majesty thought so too," was his reply, closing his eye comfortably. "However, more and more students are refusing to come home or write to their families. The coincidence is beginning to concern her."

I finished with a loud grunt and a forceful punch. Finally, the bag went flying into the air, suspended for a moment above us. I listened to it drop, the rope snapping and making the bag fall to the floor in a heap. I sighed heavily; that will have to be fixed another time.

"Do you plan on infiltrating yourself?" I asked. Weston College was a renowned school for the sons of nobility. He was more than qualified for the job, but I knew he often used other means to attain his information, most of them not including himself. Our exploits on the luxury liner and anything in regards to the supernatural were personally handled, but this seemed to be more of a "fetch me the evidence" type job. In all honesty, the Queen's lapdog was not used to putting forth work.

"I have no choice," he replied. "Everyone knows everyone's family in that school. I wouldn't be able to find anyone who would be able to get the job done for me."

I nodded and dragged the bag off to the side, picking up a rag and wiping off my face and neck. "Is Sebastian going with you, my lord?" I asked, letting the rag hang on my shoulder.

"Yes," he replied, "and so are you."

I smiled and laughed a bit. "My lord, this is an all boy's school we're discussing," I pointed out, sitting down and taking sips of water from a glass and pitcher Sebastian brought long ago. Each drop was like an oasis on my desert tongue. "If it's not obvious already, I am — without a doubt — a grown woman."

"I'm well aware," he replied. "We'll be dressing you as a boy. You'll have to bind yourself and take precautions to avoid being seen, but I'm sure you'll find a way."

I was astonished at such a plan. Bind myself? Precautions? Was he serious?

"My lord, it's not as easy for a ... well endowed woman ... to be bound for so long," I pointed out.

"We will find a way to give you moments to unwind," was his response. "If you're not up to the task, then Sebastian and I will be fine on our own—"

"No!" I told him, catching myself. His eye was wide. "I-I mean... I'm willing, my lord..."

He pushed himself off the barn door. "You'll have to suffer extremities, deal with the cruel world of men and maintain your cover as well," he explained. "You will have to also maintain your grades and reputation at Weston. You will be representing the Phantomhive estate as a cousin from the country and a dear friend to Sebastian. Hold yourself in such regards."