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Devilish Impulses	By : Arianawray Category: > Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji ???) Views: 13948 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 1-Unwanted
- 2-Whim
- 3-Trust
- 4-Taste
- 5-Scheme
- 6-Command
- 7-Competition
- 8-Advice
- 9-Enlightenment
- 10-Sustenance
- 11-Caught
- 12-Breath
- 13-Arms
- 14-Inflammation
- 15-Imagination
- 16-Intent
- 17-Compromise
- 18-Sacrifice
- 19-Despair
- 20-Compassion
- 21-Interest
- 22-Equality
- 23-Mentor
- 24-History
- 25-Disorder
- 26-Reputation
- 27-Gifts
- 28-Admission
- 29-Watching
- 30-Bonds
- 31-Revelations
- 32-Confrontation
- 33-Struggle
- 34-Separation
- 35-Duty
- 36-Change
- 37-Together
- 38-Love
- 39-Epilogue: Heaven
- 6
- 7
- 8
Competition

"I can take my master now," Sebastian says, walking up to Agni whilst Lord Randall and his men are picking up the Easton brothers from the floor.

Agni starts to hold Ciel out to Sebastian. The butler's hands are almost around the boy's waist when the earl growls out a stern objection to being handed over: "Why am I being passed between the two of you as if I were an infant? Put me down. I am not a baby."

As Agni sets Ciel down gently, he locks eyes with Sebastian, giving him an amused look over the boy's head. Sebastian expresses no acknowledgement of the look. He is still examining the new sense of possessiveness that surprised him when he saw that another had momentarily taken his place as his master's protector and defender. He does not wish to exchange such glances with the other servant – it implies that they are sharing the child in some way, and Sebastian does not like to share.

Agni, however, partly disarms the devil by telling him: "Mister Sebastian, you left Lord Ciel's side to keep my prince safe. I would never have forgiven myself if I had been unable to keep your young master just as safe. My prince means everything to me. How could I allow you to lose that which is most precious to you while you were protecting that which is most precious to me?"

"Mister Agni is most honourable," Sebastian replies evenly.

Ciel, standing between the two and completely dwarfed by them, is on the brink of clicking his tongue in annoyance at what he thinks of as an absurd and pointless exchange when Lord Randall catches his eye from across the room.

The Commissioner nods to him – silent thanks for how his unconventional methods to expose the truth have worked in cooperation with police procedure this time. Ciel, from between the two giants, nods back in equally formal fashion.

As Robert Easton is dragged away by Randall and his men, still bleeding from this gunshot wound, he snarls out to Ciel: "Our mother won't let this go."

Ciel does not trouble himself to reply. He waits till the brothers and the policemen are at the front gate before he walks out of the house with Sebastian and Agni. It gives him time to recover the composure that had momentarily shattered when George Easton had fired his gun straight at his face, and Agni had stunned him with his intervention.

On their way out, they pass the Eastons' butler and other servants. Although they are standing around looking lost, they have enough of their wits about them to give the Earl of Phantomhive the most resentful of glares as he leaves the residence.

***

Finnian is waiting with the carriage, which he has moved to a spot under the trees outside a nearby park. He lights up when his master, Sebastian and Agni emerge from the house. Because he is playing coachman today, the gardener is dressed properly in sober black, with a shiny black hat on his head. He feels proud that he was the one who took the reins at noon and drove his master safely to the Eastons.

Each of the groups into which their party divided itself earlier has timed everything down to the minute. Sebastian alone has carried out at least three different jobs in the time it took Finny to drive Ciel down a few London streets: he has approached Soma and Agni for assistance, taken them to Lord Randall (who for this period of time has instant access to the Prince of Wales), then hunted down the scullery maid and the reporter.

Finny does not know how Sebastian has done all that in such an impossibly brief time, but he has seen the butler perform daily miracles for nearly three years, and has ceased to question the probability or even possibility of what he can do.

Now the police are taking the criminals away, Lord Phantomhive is walking steadily out of the house with Sebastian and Agni, and Prince Soma is sprinting across the street to throw his arms around the earl. Finny sees that everything has come off well. His moment of panic when he heard the guns go off has passed now that he is certain no one he cares about is hurt. He quickly urges the horses up the street, so his master will not have to walk any further.

"Ciel!" Prince Soma is wailing, and rocking the earl from side to side, as Finny pulls up beside them. "I was so afraid you would be hurt! Why didn't you let Sebastian stay with you?"

Ciel growls as he pries Soma's arms loose from around his neck to free himself. "Stop that, you royal idiot. This is a public street. You're embarrassing us both," he mutters.

"I don't care," the young prince insists, keeping an arm round the boy's shoulders. "You are my precious friend, and I will embarrass you all I please, wherever I please."

"My lord, is it all over?" Finny asks, jumping down from the box seat to hold the horses steady while Sebastian opens the carriage door.

"It is almost over," Ciel replies.

"I heard the gunshots..." Finny begins.

"Only Robert Easton was shot," Ciel tells him, pausing on the pavement to wave Soma ahead of him into the carriage. He pauses a further moment when he sees that both Sebastian, and Agni – who has just handed Soma into the carriage – are offering to help him step up into the vehicle.

Sebastian gives Agni a look, and the Brahmin withdraws his hand with a smile, allowing the butler to take his master's hand to steady him as he climbs in. Sebastian keeps hold of Ciel's hand even when the earl has taken his seat, and looks him over quickly, to be certain that he is not in any way harmed. Ciel, embarrassed and irritated, twists his hand out of the butler's fingers and scowls as he looks out of the other window.

Sebastian would normally take the reins, but as Finny has done a decent job of transporting Ciel here without incident, he continues as coachman. The butler thus enters the carriage after Agni, and pulls the door shut. The two servants would have placed their masters in the seats facing forward for a more comfortable ride, while they themselves would have occupied those facing backwards. But Ciel has planted himself in the seat opposite Soma. So Agni sits next to the prince, and Sebastian takes his place beside the earl, who does not look at him.

When Finny climbs back into the box seat and clucks his tongue to get the horses moving, Soma asks Ciel: "Are we going back to the manor?"

"That would be my preference," Ciel replies. "Unfortunately, I must remain in London a little longer to see if His Royal Highness has any further instructions for us. If he decides that he wishes to tie up the loose ends today, it may be possible for us to leave tonight. But we shall see. Thank you, Soma, and thank you, Agni, for agreeing to help us at such short notice. You put your own lives at risk to expose the blackmailers."

"It was nothing," Soma replies with a grin. "We've been handing out endless rolls of curry bread to people on the streets for days, so this makes an interesting change. We almost rushed back to your manor about a week ago when we heard someone mention that it had burnt down. But someone else said he had just seen with his own eyes that it was perfectly fine, and we got your letter too telling us that all was well. So we stayed to help the people who had lost their homes. Things are starting to settle in the parts of the city affected by the fire, though, and more of the displaced people are being sheltered by various charities and churches, so we were free to help – and proud to be involved in such an adventure!"

"I am honoured to have been of use," is Agni's quieter response, after Soma's gushing speech.

"Thank you, Agni, for saving me from George Easton's bullet," Ciel says.

"I would do it all over again for such a friend of my prince," Agni smiles.

Sebastian eyes Agni with an inscrutable look, and remains silent.

***

As the carriage disappears up the street, two figures step out from the park in front of which the Phantomhive carriage had earlier waited.

"Was that the child, with the covered eye?" Percival Ambrose asks his servant.

"The boy's scent is the same as the human one I detected in the churchyard, master, other than the vicar's."

"He does not look much like his great-grandfather. But half the Phantomhive men take after their mothers, so that is hardly surprising. Which of the individuals with him ate Susan's succubus?"

"The tall one dressed in black, master."

"What is the nature of his contract with the Phantomhive child?"

"I am unable to ascertain that."

"Well, I don't suppose it makes a difference. All such contracts are evil."

"Shall we follow them to where they reside, master?"

"No, Carsten, not yet. Not today. I shall wait and see what else develops before I make myself known to them. I want to first understand what the child intends to do with his life. Or if he intends to live at all. Then I shall know what to do next."

***

Soma and Agni have not been to the town house for some time. They gaze up at the narrow, smallish building as the carriage pulls up outside the gate along the quiet street in Belgravia.

"Can I trust you to put the horses away into their stalls for a second time this week without killing them?" Sebastian asks the gardener dryly, once they are all out of the vehicle.

"Of course you can, Mister Sebastian!" Finny responds eagerly.

"I am certain that Finnian will do an excellent job," Agni says with an encouraging smile, making the young man glow, and prompting a sceptical look from Sebastian which suggests that he now recalls why Agni has never been his favourite person. The Brahmin mysteriously brings out the best in the incompetent servants, something Sebastian has never done, not least because he thinks he can do everything so much better on his own.

The devil's reaction to Agni's presence does not improve once they are indoors. For despite his being a guest here, he seems to know exactly where everything is in the kitchen. He has cheerfully announced to his prince and the earl that he has some packs of excellent spices tucked inside his sash, and will cook a special curry for lunch to help everyone settle down after the danger and excitement at the Eastons'.

Sebastian can only quietly state that he will bring out some tea before he strides into the kitchen after Agni.

"Ah, you have winter vegetables in these sacks," Agni remarks, examining the contents of some of the cloth bags on the counter.

"I bought them at the market yesterday," Sebastian says. "I had thought to make soup or stew for the Young Master today, but as he seems not to object to the idea of your dish..."

"You are too kind, Mister Sebastian," Agni smiles. "These would be just the thing for adding to the curry."

"Wonderful," comes the cold reply.

They get the fire started and put a pot of water on to boil. Agni will use most of it for the curry, and Sebastian will take some for the teapot. As they wait for it to heat up, Agni stirs the spices into a paste and cuts up the vegetables, while Sebastian selects a blend of English tea, to which he adds a little dried chamomile, which humans seem to find calming. It is not likely to go well with the curry, Sebastian thinks. However, he hopes the young master will have finished drinking it before the curry is served.

"That is good tea," Agni observes, seeing what Sebastian has chosen from the row of tins lining the shelf above the cabinet. "It would probably have gone better with the stew you had thought of preparing for Lord Ciel, but it may also go surprisingly well with my curry."

"Will it now?" Sebastian asks uninterestedly.

"I think it will," Agni replies in a soft, yet bright voice. "Mister Sebastian, this is not a contest, you know. Our curry duel ended at the Crystal Palace three weeks ago, did it not?"

"Hmm."

"I believe we both won there. Your curry earned the favour of the queen, but my failed efforts somehow earned freedom for my prince from the illusory memory of Mina, and my freedom from Harold West’s blackmail."

"Indeed."

"I cook now in appreciation of all that you and Lord Ciel have done for my prince and for me," Agni continues gently. "I do not cook to compete with you. Perhaps others out there would seek to do that, but I am not one of them."

As he says those words, Agni casts the butler a glance that gives the words so much more meaning than their semantics alone.

Sebastian nods in a sign that he has understood, and turns back to the tea. Nothing in his outward manner has altered, but Agni can tell with his sixth or seventh senses that the attitude which was very much like resentment in the other servant is receding. Sebastian is resuming his manner of regarding him merely as a regular annoyance, in the same way he regards the other servants, Prince Soma, and nearly everyone else.

He smiles to himself as the butler leaves the kitchen bearing his teapot on a silver tray. Everything is back to normal... or somewhat back to normal, Agni realises, when he notes some continuing tension between the butler and his master while they are waiting on the earl and the prince in the dining room.

He says nothing until later on, after Ciel and Soma have had their curry and thoroughly enjoyed it, and he and Sebastian have returned to the kitchen. Finny has been sent out into the patch of garden beside the horse stalls with his curry lunch on a plate, so Agni and Sebastian are alone together. Agni has never seen Sebastian eat anything, but he invites the butler to join him in consuming the rest of the curry.

"It is nothing like your prize-winning concoction, but I believe it will not disappoint your tastebuds," the Brahmin says.

"I am not really one for curry," Sebastian demurs politely.

"But if you would not object to it, I would be honoured if you would eat this late lunch with me," Agni presses. "After all, you cook remarkable curry for one who claims to not be fond of it."

Sebastian considers the proposal. Eating some human food will hardly damage him. After all, he has recently survived the young master's "gift" of lemonade spiked with Mr Tanaka's ghastly powdered seasoning, a finger of chocolate from a wasted thirteenth-birthday cake, endless samplings of curry in the lead-up to the competition at the Crystal Palace, and a great deal more.

He accepts Agni's invitation. The two sit down at the servants' table in the kitchen, and tuck into curry mopped up with chunks broken off a length of French bread. Adjusting his devil's tastebuds to human calibration to gauge the quality of what he is consuming, Sebastian decides that it is good food.

"Thank you, Mister Agni," he says, after his third mouthful. "Your cooking is excellent."

Agni inclines his head in acknowledgement of the rare praise. "Cooking is an art, though. Whatever my prince may say about my curry-cooking prowess, there is no definite science to it, and I do not always succeed. Everything depends on taste and perception. There are times when I measure out precisely the same quantities of the same ingredients and prepare them in exactly the same way, and the dish somehow still tastes different. Perhaps the artist's emotions have an effect."

Sebastian understands what Agni is saying intellectually, but he does not comprehend it beyond that, for his own cooking is purely scientific, developed and measured according to his master's exquisite yardsticks of taste.

Agni goes on to say: "We humans are changeable creatures. We perceive art differently from one moment to another. We do not always like things in the same way we did before. But that is the beauty of it – there is always hope for change. If something has gone wrong, it can be made better. If something is good for a time, we remain thankful for the occasions when it is not as good, because we will be able to appreciate it better when things become good again."

"Are we still discussing cooking, Mister Agni?" Sebastian asks archly.

"Cooking is symbolic of many things, Mister Sebastian. We are discussing whatever you think we are discussing," Agni returns with equanimity. "I only wish to say that the recipe you use to please another's tastes may not always be appreciated in the same way all the time, but if the food is cooked with love and devotion, a perceptive soul who tastes it will always appreciate that love behind it."

For once in his existence, Sebastian senses that he lacks a crucial weapon in his arsenal of tools to perform his duties to his own exacting standards. He takes another mouthful of the curry and examines it carefully. Devils can taste every physical and chemical element in food, the least morsel of contamination, and any poison and spells thrown in. But he finds himself unable to perceive what emotion it may hold. Perhaps only humans fancy themselves able to distinguish characteristics like "love" in food.

He finally remarks: "Not everyone understands love and devotion. At least not the same way you do."

"That too is part of the beauty of it," Agni says. "We all understand love and devotion differently. Your way may not be my way – or your master's way, for that matter – but if it is understood as such between two souls, that is all that matters."

"Mister Agni is very wise in the ways of cooking and devotion," Sebastian smiles politely. "Although much of his subtlety is lost on a heartless creature like myself, I shall hold the lesson in my head for a time when I am better able to use a heart."

"You are not as bad as you make yourself out to be."

"Don't make statements about things you do not understand," Sebastian says, lightly enough for his matter-of-fact utterance to be taken as little more than a joke.

Agni does not have time to respond to that, however, for Finny comes rushing into the kitchen to inform them that the same unmarked carriage in which the Prince of Wales had been driven away from the street outside the Eastons' house earlier that day is pulling up at the gate as he speaks.

"I know it's the same – I recognise the horses!" the gardener says breathlessly.

Sebastian and Agni hurry through the house and wait behind the front door while Finnian tears around to the front to open the gate. A man, whom they recognise as one of the attendants who had waited for the prince in the street some distance from the Eastons' house, steps out of the carriage and onto the driveway. He is not dressed in the usual livery of the prince's household, but in a dark, finely cut, anonymous suit which speaks of the prince's continued emphasis on the need for discretion.

Sebastian opens the door for him as he ascends the stairs. The messenger enters the house and is shown into the dining room, where Ciel rises to accept the note that he holds out to him with both hands. The Prince of Wales' seal secures the envelope.

"His Royal Highness has authorised me to say to you what he has written in the note you now hold, Lord Phantomhive," the messenger says. "You are expected at Buckingham Palace at four o'clock today for a private audience with His Highness. His Highness also asks that Prince Soma Asman Kadar of Bengal accompany you, as well as your servant who captured the conspirators, and Prince Soma's servant also."

Ciel bows to this representative of the future king of England, and the man bows in return before leaving the house. It is now two o’clock. They have time to prepare for their visit to the palace, which is only a short ride away by coach.

Soma has no change of clothing with him, but Ciel has a large collection of outfits even in the town house, stored carefully in the tightly closed wardrobes to keep pests out. Some of the items that have not been touched in years smell rather musty, but other, more recently cleaned ones are all right when unfolded and shaken out.

There is no possibility that the taller, 17-year-old Soma could ever fit into Ciel's unaltered clothes, but Sebastian and Agni are creative under the need to improvise, and quickly discover that some old silk cravats and printed-silk sashes of Ciel's can double as the exotic stoles and sashes favoured by the Indian prince. An oversized silk coat once worn for a costume party makes a pleasing outer garment for the older boy. And a tidying of Soma's hair, an adjustment of the way it is bound, and some nimble wrapping of the binding in gold braid unwound from an old coat of Ciel's make the Bengal royal ready for a visit to the palace.

Once assured that his companions will not be unsuitably attired for their status and the occasion, Ciel retires to his bedroom with Sebastian, leaving Agni in the guest room with Soma to put the outfit together.

When they are alone, Sebastian drops to one knee in front of him, bows his head and says: "Forgive me, Young Master. I failed to be your shield as our contract demands that I be."

"Stop grovelling before me," Ciel rumbles. "It was I who ordered you out of my presence and caused you to be absent when the gun went off, so are you suggesting that I ought to grovel before you too?"

"Would I do such a thing, Young Master?” Sebastian asks, looking up with an ironic smile. “But regardless of your orders, it was my duty to have been there when George Easton fired."

"So you could save me while leaving the bullet to ricochet into poor Soma? Do you think I would ever permit such a thing to happen again?"

Abberline's unspoken name hangs in the air between them.

Sebastian does not answer at once, but removes his gloves and wipes a little smudge off Ciel's left cheek before saying: "I would have absorbed the bullet. But if you do not hold it against me for obeying you, then I shall continue with my usual duties."

Another smudge visible only to the devil's eyes is stroked off Ciel's chin, and more unseen traces of things on the boy’s face that displease the butler. That done, Sebastian leans in and breathes in the scent of his skin before pronouncing: "There were specks of gunpowder on your face, Young Master, but they have been removed."

Hints of Agni’s scent too, from where you rested your cheek on his shoulder.But he does not say that.

He rises and turns to the wardrobe, from which he selects several garments. Once the earl looks satisfied with what he holds up for his examination, he begins to undress him.

For several minutes, they do not speak. It is not, however, an uncomfortable silence, considering what has gone before. They have simply fallen swiftly into a long-practised routine of getting done what is necessary, quickly and efficiently.

Sebastian has chosen an appropriately formal, double-breasted, straight-cut black coat with burnished brass buttons for his master, over a white shirt that is not excessively lacy, a white cravat secured with a sapphire pin, and a discreet charcoal-grey waistcoat. For this occasion, the earl must also be dressed in long trousers, which he dislikes. Laced-up black leather shoes, his walking stick, and a black top hat with deep-grey trim complete the look.

They speak again only when Sebastian has pulled his gloves back on, and is about to open the bedroom door for his master to step out. That is when the butler says in a low voice: "Young Master, remember all that we agreed you would have to say to the Prince of Wales. This is the time to do it."

Ciel looks up at Sebastian, nods, and precedes him out of the bedroom. They meet Soma and Agni at the top of the stairs, then they go down to where Finny has prepared the carriage and horses again, and begin the drive towards the palace.
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Devilish Impulses