A Girl Reaper? *A Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler Fanfiction*

Chapter one: One Hell of a Reunion

"Mmmmm...." Darcy rolled over in her soft sheets and snuggled her head further into her feathery pillow. Darcy slowly began to come to. 'This.... Isn't right..'
Darcy's eyelids opened to reveal her stunning green orbs.
'Where am I?' She wondered.
Last night's events caught up to her.
Darcy cringed slightly as she sat up.
'Am I dead?' Se thought. 'Certainly I must be. Last night I was murdered- wait was that even last night? It could've been years ago for all I know!' Darcy started to panick.
"Perhaps I was in a coma?" She asked herself.
A thought struck Darcy.
"Why am I in blankets and sheets?" She whispered.
"And why am I in..... A coffin?!" Darcy shouted the last part.
Darcy eyeballed the black casket she was sitting in.
She realized, as she removed the blanket covering her, that her stomach, chest and head were wrapped in bandages and her arms and legs had visible cuts and slices on them.
Darcy looked around the room she was in. It was fairly dark, only a small amount of sunlight seeped in from what few windows were present. Burning candle illuminated throughout the room.
There were similar caskets to hers lying around the room and propped up against the walls.
Darcy could feel panick and anxiety building inside her, and as she heard footsteps approaching the room she was in, she was certain her heart would burst.
The footsteps stopped right in front of the door and Darcy stared wide eyed at it, hoping whatever was on the other side would stay where it was and not enter.
Too late.
The door slowly creaked open and in walked a man with long silver hair and dressed in all black, a black whimsical top hat to match and long black nails.
His silver bangs covered his eyes and he was in concealing clothing, but Darcy could see apparent scars on his pale complexion.
"I see you're awake now, love. Gave all of us quite a fright, you were in rather bad condition when you were brought into my shop last night." The man said with a large toothy smirk.
Darcy gulped. "I'm sorry...?"
The man crossed his arms. "Ah, right right right. You were unconscious when you were brought in so I suppose you haven't the faintest idea what I'm talking about." He said with realization.
He rubbed his chin. "I'm the Undertaker and this is my shop, after the assault from your uncle last night, William, Grell and Ronald brought you here to have me fix you up." He explained, taking Darcy by the hand and assisting her out of the coffin.
Darcy cringed as a sharp pain coursed through her wounds. "William, Grell and Ronald...?" She questioned.
Undertaker served as Darcy's crutch as she limped slightly over to the door. "The men who saved you last night, dearie." He answered. "I can feel your heart racing, no need to be scared. We won't harm you in anyway."Undertaker promised, causing Darcy to blush at her obvious nervousness.
"Okay."
Undertaker led Darcy out of the room, down the long and dark hallway, and to the entrance room of his shop where three waiting shinigamis were sitting.
"She's awoken." Undertaker announced, nudging the pink haired girl forward.
Darcy recognized the three men In the room as her saviors from the previous night. "U-Um..." She stuttered, limping forward.
Grell's head shot up. "Darcy!" He exclaimed.
Darcy gulped as the flamboyant red head charged toward her. "Oh my sweet girl! You had me sooooooo worried! All of this stress really isn't good for my health~" He gushed, crushing the pink haired girl in his arms.
Darcy let out a yelp of pain. "H-Hurts..." She stuttered through lack of oxygen.
"Grell, stop it! You're hurting the poor girl, you bloody idiot!" Ronald scolded, walking up to the duo and whacking Grell on the head.
Grell released Darcy and rubbed his head. "Aw Ronald! Why do you always have to be so mean to me?" He whined, looking like a hurt puppy.
Ronald rolled his eyes before looking down at Darcy. "Are you alright, love?" He asked.
Darcy looked at the man (who she now knew as Ronald) in wonder. "U-Um yes... I am." She answered.
Ronald stared at Darcy for a long, hard moment.
Darcy bit her lip and stared at the ground, starting to uncomfortable.
'What's his deal?! Don't tell me... I'm stuck with a corpse obsessed freak, a chainsaw maniac, a pervert, and a stuck man who is barely even talking...' Darcy sighed quietly at the thought.
'Will I ever get a break?!'
Darcy laughed out awkwardly, silently attempting to limp towards the door.
"Listen, I appreciate what you did for me last night. Really, I do!"
Darcy was sure she was sweating like a penguin in the desert.
"You must be with the child protective services, right? Our neighbors must have finally reported all of the yelling they hear. I guess I'll just make my way over to the nearest police station? I can take it from here, thanks!" Darcy talked as fast a rocket, flashing the four men a quick smile before making a quick dash towards the door.
However, her (very) injured body seemed to have other plans.
One step onto her right leg, and her twisted ankle and bruised knee completely collapsed on her. Darcy let out a small cry, similar to a puppy, as she collided with the cold hard floor, her face contorting in pain as her sore body ached and screamed at her.
Darcy fought back the tears as she cradled her now throbbing ankle, not wanting to cry in front of the strange men who she was sure were out to either kill her or sell her.
She looked up through her blurring vision to see the four men rushing over to, then looming over her, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "... Please just kill me. Please. I don't want to be sold, and anything you want to do to me, it'll just make me hurt more. My life has been hard enough, can you please just give me this?" Her voice was soft, quiet and broken. Darcy began to shake as the silence grew thick after her request, and for the first time in a long time she truly wished that her life would just end.
"Love, I promise, swear to you, we aren't going to hurt you."
Darcy slowly opened her eyes, side eyeing the men cautiously. She didn't trust herself to breathe.
The man named Ronald was the one who had spoken. He slowly and carefully bent down so he was eye level with Darcy. He eyed her ankle.
"You've got a nasty bruise starting to form there. If it's alright with you, can you allow us to wrap it?"
Ronald saw the panic flash in Darcy's eyes, and he was quick to reassure her. "We'll only touch your ankle. Nothing else. I swear." He spoke quickly, lifting both of his hands in the air to show he meant no harm.
Darcy didn't know what she believed this man and his words. She knew she shouldn't; she did not know these men, and she should never let strange men touch her.
But Darcy saw such sincerity in the man's eyes, and as she looked up to the other three men, she saw their eyes shone with concern, not malice.
Slowly, she looked backed down at Ronald, and nodded.
Ronald gave her a small smile. "Alright. Thank you, love."
Darcy allowed the man known as Undertaker to fish out a roll of gauze from one of the nearby drawers in his shop, and he kneeled down, taking Darcy's ankle into his lap and swiftly wrapping the ankle efficiently and effectively.
Undertaker hummed as he wrapped the swollen skin, and Darcy eyed him warily with glossy eyes.
Without looking up and bangs still covering his face, Undertaker addressed the girl. "I know I'm quite the mad man. Mentally insane, probably." He began, his usual cheerful and eerily gleeful voice somewhat serious. "However, my dearie, I would never thoughtlessly kill or cause harm to any little girl." Undertaker never once looked up from his work on Darcy's ankle. "Especially you, dear. You're far too precious."
Darcy's heart rate began to increase, she eyed the Undertaker warily as she slowly tried to pry her ankle from his hold.
"He didn't mean it like that, Darcy." The cold, stoic voice of who Darcy presumed to be William spoke out.
Darcy looked up at the man with his thick rims and slicked back dark hair. His bright green eyes matched hers as he met her gaze, and he pushed his frames up higher on the bridge of his nose.
"Undertaker has no hidden meaning to his words, and Ronald was not staring at you because he fancies you." William was quick to dispel Darcy's worries and Darcy wouldn't be surprised if the man was a mind reader on top of all of this.
She blushed at how obvious her emotions must've been for him to call her out so accurately.
"It's just that.."
Darcy's gaze came back up at the sudden, almost inaudible softness that was now in the uptight reaper's voice.
His green eyes had lost their typical hard stare, and it's place was... something akin to sadness?
William sighed. "You just look exactly like her."
Darcy's brown scrunched up in confusion at the odd statement.
"Damn near carbon copy. Not a single ounce of Mark in there, huh?" Ronald nodded his head in agreement, and Darcy saw a fond smile slowly creep up on his face.
At this point, Undertaker had finished his i work of wrapping Darcy's ankle, however he made no move to take her ankle out of his lap.
Darcy's rosy lips formed into a pout as she listened to the two men. Had they lost their mind? Who on earth were they talking about?
"Do I remind you of an old girlfriend or something?" Darcy asked, cocking her head to the side inquisitively.
William's face turned all shades of pink, and he went into a coughing fit of embarrassment as he looked away from the girl. "O-Of course not!" His voice tried to sound angry and firm, but all Darcy heard was how flustered he was.
Darcy huffed in annoyance as she glared up at the man. She was mentally and physically exhausted, she was sure at this point she belonged in a mental institution, and most of all, she was still internally terrified at her unknown future. "Can you all stop just beating around the bush! I want to know who you are, and who on earth you're talking about!" She exclaimed. "I don't mean to raise my voice, but at this point I've had a very confusing and quite frankly very overwhelming past 24 hours, and I need answers now! Who are you, how do you know me, and WHY AM I HERE?!" Darcy finished with an angry huff, her cheeks were flushed and she was panting slightly. Tears were starting to bubble at her eyes. "Just let me GO HOME!!"
The four men seemed quite taken aback by her outburst, even Undertaker (who rarely wasn't goofy) and William (who was in a permanent state of emotional constipation) looked slightly startled.
William, as expected, was the first to collect himself. "Right, of course. I apologize, Ms. Darcy. We have been quite inconsiderate of your feelings, and have been selfish in our own reunion. I understand you must be quite confused and frightened of your current situation."
William pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. "Well to start, the woman we were referring to was-"
"YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL MOTHER!" Grell all but sobbed as he threw himself onto Darcy, his red form crushing the girl.
Darcy let out a startled cry as the strange man tackled her, and Undertaker grunted as he struggled to remove himself from under the reaper.
"Grell!" William yelled sharply, clearly angry at the outburst. "Don't just say it out right like that, and do not handle Darcy so roughly!" William was almost shaking, fed up with the fiery haired man he was unfortunately acquainted with.
Grell sobbed dramatically as he rubbed his cheek against Darcy's, and nuzzled his nose into her soft pink hair.
"Oh hush Willy! I've been holding myself back this whole time, and I just can't anymore!" Grell cried out.
"Darcy, my sweet sweet girl, we're your GODFATHERS!"
Darcy was frozen in Grell's embrace.
Did she hear him correctly?
Her mother? Godfathers?
"M-My what...?" Her voice was soft under Grell's shrill cries.
"GRELL!!"
A resounding smack! echoed throughout Undertaker's shop as William's fist collided with Grell's head, effectively getting the man off of Darcy while making Grell's cry out in pain.
"Can't a father hug his daughter in peace?! Oh William why do you abuse my heart like this?" Grell's cried as he cradled his head on the floor beside Darcy.
Ronald rolled his eyes. "You're embarrassin' yourself Grell, honestly don't be so dramatic."
Darcy's eyes remained fixed on the cold floor of Undertaker's shop, her eyes wide, and her mind going a million miles a minute.
"... Is that true?" She asked quietly.
Ronald turned his attention to the girl. "Come again?"
Darcy shakily looked up to the suited men. "Is what he just said true?" She repeated, her voice almost a whisper.
The men remained silent, while Grell's cries slowly died down. The air was heavy, and thick.
William sighed. "It's best we sit down and discuss this." He concluded.
Undertaker rose to his feet. "I'll set some tea and biscuits on the table." He offered, already striding away to a connecting room.
Ronald slapped his forehead. "This is not how we wanted that conversation to start. Honestly Grell, you're my senior but you act like such a rash child." He rubbed his temples, almost resembling William for a moment.
Grell pouted at the ginger. "You keep me away from Darcy all of these years and you expect me to not be emotional seeing her again?!! I'm sorry that I love Darcy the most out of all you sorry reapers here!" He shrilly exclaimed, crossing his arms and huffing.
"You little- That's not true and you know it!" Ronald's voice was starting to progress into yelling. Darcy's eyes shot between the two men, William seeing the confusion increase in her eyes and quickly felt the need to assist the poor girl. William stepped in between the two reapers, much like a father would intervene in a childish squabble.
"Enough, you too. Honestly, grown men, reapers on top of that, should know not to let emotions dictate your work. Don't be amateurs." He chided in a cool voice, sharp eyes boring into his two subordinates.
He turned to face Darcy. "Come now, Darcy. We will continue this discussion in the other room." He said promptly.
Darcy took a moment to process his words, then slowly nodded.
As her aching body struggled to get off of the shop's floor, William's hand came into her view, a silent offer of assistance.
Darcy eyed the hand, then the owner's face. Her mind screamed at her to not take it, but her beaten body said otherwise.
Darcy took William's hand in silence, and limped ahead of the men to follow Undertaker, keeping her head down.
The four of them entered the room quietly, and Darcy presumed this to be a section of Undertaker's own private quarters. It was a small kitchen, compact and cozy. Clearly meant for a single occupant.
She limped her way over to the wooden table in the center of the room, wincing with each step she took.
Undertaker was already there, and he pulled out a cushioned seat for Darcy to sit down in.
"Easy, love. Don't re-open your injuries." He advised carefully as Darcy took a seat next to him. Darcy nodded, but did not vocally respond.
She was sure she was going into shock.
As William, Ronald and Grell took a spot around the table, Undertaker pushed a small plate of what looked like dog biscuits towards the girl as well as a hot cup of tea.
"Need something in your system." Was his simple explanation.
Darcy's shaking hands carefully grasped the tea cup, bringing it to her red lips. She hummed in appreciation as the warm liquid trekked down her throat.
As William cleared his throat, she turned her attention to him.
"Right, so... where shall we begin?" He questioned the males.
Undertaker rested his chin on the palm of his hand, his long silver hair pooling around him. "Best start from the beginning. Back to the academy days." He stated in a wistful tone.
William twined his fingers together as he rested his hands on the table, nodding.
"Very well." He nodded.
William's green eyes met Darcy's.
"Darcy, I believe we should preference the story I'm about to tell you with a few small introductions." He began with his serious tone.
"To start, my name is William T. Spears. I'm a leading figure in the Management Division of the Grim Reaper Dispatch." He adjusted his glasses.
Darcy blinked heavily. "Grim reaper...?" She whispered. Darcy's will all but faded away. "So I am going to die?" Her tone seemed to convey that she had no fight left in her.
William shook his head quickly. "No no, do not misunderstand. That is not your reason for being here. If you let us explain all the way through, I promise you will understand." He assured her.
Darcy cradled her head in her hands. "My mother, my Godfathers, grim reapers... is this all some kind of sick joke?" She groaned, feeling like a child as tears of frustration once again began to pool at her eyes.
"Now now, no tears Darcy. You're actually quite the lucky lady, because you're in the presence of the one and only Ronald Knox! The next great reaper!" Ronald's cheery voice rang through the air as he stood from his seat and stuck his signature pose, trying to at least get a giggle from the girl. "Ronald Knox, Retrieval Division of the Grim Reaper Dispatch at your service!" He struck his typical lady killer smile at the girl, hoping for a reaction.
Darcy eyed him and his flamboyant pose carefully, and simply looked over to address Grell.
"And you?"
Ronald only felt a small part of his pride be chipped away.
Grell's shark-tooth grin shone brightly on his face as he bound over from his seat and kneeled in front of Darcy, taking her hand in his.
"My dear, precious, gift from heaven goddaughter Darcy! I am your wonderful, beautiful, man-eater godfather Grell Sutcliff! Retrieval Division of the Grim Reaper Dispatch!" Grell's voice was like nails on a chalk board and Darcy wondered if he knew how to do anything else other than yell.
"Oh how I have longed for the day that you would be back in my arms! You're chubby little cherub face hasn't changed one bit, and oh how much I have missed you!" Grell gushed sweetly while Darcy tried not to get offended by his use of the word "chubby".
"Now, come here and give your papa a HUG!" Tears poured down Grell's face as he lunged himself towards Darcy (again), and the teen sighed as she stuck her foot out at the last moment, her heel colliding with his gut.
"OOF!" Grell all but fainted as he fell the the hard ground, staring up at Darcy with a look of pure betrayal. "Is that anyway to treat the man tasked with caring for you? Oh, the tough love of parenthood!" Grell screamed with all dramatic intent, clutching his heart.
Darcy glared hard at the man. "I don't even know if I can trust you lot yet! Let alone believe you're my godfathers!" Her glared tracked all four men in the room.
Undertaker's cackle rang throughout the shop, and he clutched his sides tightly. "Oh my! She took you down quite easily you red haired fool! Oh I haven't laughed this hard since the time Bassy threw you out of the manor window, oh my Darcy you are quite the comedian!"
Darcy gaped at the man.
Was he certifiably insane?
As his laughter died down, Undertaker wiped at his eyes with his sleeves. "Well, I believe that leaves only me for introductions."
Undertaker took off his small top hat, and bowed his head slightly. "Undertaker. Retried Grim Reaper! This is my shop, and I only give the best treatment for my clients. Make me laugh, and we will get along just fine dearie." Undertaker shot her a silly, but somewhat creepy Cheshire Cat grin, his long bangs covering his eyes.
Darcy gulped.
'Clients? There are coffins everywhere! This man owns a funeral parlor! Is he referring to the corpses as living patrons?!'
She thought, laughing awkwardly and giving Undertaker a grin of half uneasiness, half horror.
"R-Right... how sweet of you?" Darcy shot the odd man one more look before turning back to William.
"Okay, I know your names and now you're trying to convince me that you're 'reapers'?" Darcy quirked an eyebrow up at the man. "Undertaker mentioned something about the academy days. What does that mean?"
William adjusted his glasses for the one hundredth time that morning.
"Yes, right, let's begin."
William helped himself to a cup of tea, carefully sipping the liquid before starting.
"Darcy, to start everything off, we are Shinigami, or grim reapers, a part of the English Grim Reaper Dispatch. We are in charge of reviewing, collecting and accounting for the souls of those who have passed, using our own unique death scythes." William took another sip of the tea, glancing at Darcy to see if she was following along.
Darcy looked slightly confused and slightly skeptical, but nodded in response, her eyes clear.
William continued. "Before we become fully fledged reapers, we must go through the reaper academy, then pass a graduation examination."
William's voice took a much softer tone.
"That, is where we met your father."
Darcy's head perked up, and her eyes shines brightly. In all of her years of living in that hell house, Victoria and Klaus never told her anything about her mother and father. She didn't even have a picture..
"My father? Does that mean my father was a reaper as well?" Darcy questioned, unable to mask her excitement at such a statement.
William looked slightly taken aback. "You know much less than I expected." He stated. "Tell me Darcy, did you have any idea of your parents? Or where you came from?" He asked her intently.
Darcy shook her head. "I thought I already made it clear. I'm still skeptical on this whole reaper thing, but I've never heard anything out my parents before. If what you're telling me is the truth, then I'd really love to hear it." She smiled gently, starting to feel a little better at the prospect of finally being able to hear something about her enigmatic parents.
"Wait, you mean to tell me that you were never told anything regarding your parents?" Ronald's voice cut into the conversation, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Darcy shook her head, and a sad gleam reflected in her piercing green orbs. "My auntie and uncle never told me anything, they hated my parents and they hate me by default." She shrugged. "Whenever I asked about them, it would only end in an argument."
A flash of anger went across Ronald's face, and he punched the table in a fit of rage. "Dammit!" He shouted, making Darcy wince.
Ronald shot a glare over to William. "I told you we should've gotten her out of there sooner, Will!"
William shot a matching glare at Ronald. "It was never my call to make, Knox. Now sit down and stop acting like a child, let me finish." He said with sharpness and leaving no room for argument.
While Ronald grumbled in his seat, William addressed Darcy once more.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but rest assured we can tell you everything you'd like to know." He promised her.
Darcy's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly.
"I know you still feel like you cannot trust us, but you have sincere word that you can, and we will do whatever we can to prove it to you." William stated with another sip of the rose tea.
"Now, we met your father when we were still in the academy, Undertaker having just recently graduated, Grell and I nearing the end of our training, and Ronald being a rather fresh faced newbie." William recounted.
"Your father was the top of his class, and he graduated with flying colors. I cannot tell you the exact moment all of us became as close as we did, but between training together to supporting each other through dangerous missions, all of us had managed to form our own tight unit within the massive Grim Reaper Dispatch. Your father, Mark Lowell, was by every single account our brother." William's grip on the delicate tea cup tightened, and Darcy swallowed as she listened to the tale.
'These men... don't appear to be lying. I can see it in their eyes, talking about a departed friend like this. They're hurting, just like me.' Darcy thought, as she snuck a glance at the other reapers.
Ronald bit his lip as he heard William's words, and had a death grip on the table. Grell, no longer on the floor, sat in his seat with teary eyes and Darcy could tell these were not the same tears from earlier when she had rejected him. Even Undertaker, in all of his obscurities and aloofness, had his ever Cheshire grinning lips pressed in a thin line, his head hung lower as his bangs covered his face.
William took a small breath.
"Your mother, Darcy, was a reaper as well. She was in the Retrieval Division like your father, and by chance they had been assigned as partners. From that day, they fell in love, got married, and not too soon after your mother became pregnant with you."
Grell sniffed slightly, dabbing at his eyes with a lace handkerchief. "Oh, it was such a beautiful day.." He cried quietly, earning a eye roll from Ronald, though there was no malice from it.
Darcy nodded as she took in the man's words. "I can almost picture it... it all sounds so lovely." Darcy whispered, almost as if she were day dreaming. "My mother, tell me please, what was she like?" Darcy's eyes were desperate, and Will felt his heart clench at such a question.
"Bastards..." She heard Ronald whisper, no doubt in reference to the girl's wretched aunt and uncle.
William pushed his bow empty tea cup away from him, signaling Undertaker to pour him another.