Chapter 5 Acquainting

Haruhi tried her best to get the boy a little more familiar with the people surrounding him. She felt that by doing so, he wouldn't be so afraid. Not that he had shown even the slightest bit of fear since he was pulled from the trapdoor-at least as far as she knew since her eyes had been covered for the majority of the time.

Then Haruhi thought to herself, should I be getting acquainted with this boy? I don't even know who he is.

She glanced over to the man writhing around in the sheets.

Yes, she thought, I'll definitely wait before getting too close to these strangers. At that moment the naked man stopped wrestling with the sheets and popped his head up. He stared directly at her for a moment, then glanced at the boy in front of her. He started crawling towards them, the sheets- thankfully- dragging along with him like a greek toga until he was beside Ciel.

"Sit, Pluto," Ciel suddenly said. The man- Pluto?- obeyed and sat on his haunches.

"Does he think he is a dog?" Haruhi asked.

Ciel looked at her. "I suppose we could say that."

Haruhi decided not to question that for the moment. She didn't even have time to because Kyouya was suddenly at her side in front of Ciel.

"Mr...Whithouse," he spoke in English, "it seems I was unable to locate even a single person with your name in almost all of Japan. That of course does not surprise me, as you seem to be a foreigner. So at the moment I am having my associate search in England- your home country I presume?"

"That it is," Ciel confirmed.

"However, for the time being, I cannot allow you or your..." Kyouya looked towards Pluto, "...subordinate to travel too far from my sight."

"And why is that?" Ciel asked, irritated at the implications that he would have to be monitored.

"It should be quite obvious," the tall teen stated matter-of-factly. He didn't elaborate any further.

"Very well," said Ciel, once again irritated by the older boy's condescending tone. Having been well versed in politics himself, Ciel understood that despite his and Pluto's ridiculous appearance, it would not be far fetched to consider them either spies or illegal immigrants. "So what, then, do you propose we do? Live in that crawl space for the time being."

"Actually," Kyouya adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, "I would suggest you stay with me or one of the other members you see here until your situation is resolved."

"Do you mean live with one of you complete strangers?"

"Yes, that is what I said. There are many rooms available, and tight security. It would be a more pleasant stay than say-" He adjusted his glasses once more and glanced towards Pluto "-a federal holding facility, don't you agree?"

"Very well." Ciel admitted defeat. He was powerless: outside of his country, quite possibly out of his own century, and without his butler. He at least had Pluto: if Ciel kept Pluto's true form a secret, he could use it later as an advantage. However, in his human form Pluto was more of a burden than a help: he would no doubt be mistaken for an indecent, unstable menace to society by the authorities. It would be easier for Ciel to take up the offer from this calculating young man, than to waste more time dealing with the authorities.

At least this one speaks English, Ciel thought.

"Good," Kyouya smiled and pulled out his phone. "Then I will arrange for it a soon as possible."

Haruhi had been trying to follow their conversation as best as she could. She had gotten a bit lost a few times, but she understood clearly what Kyouya was doing. "Senpai?" She asked in Japanese. "You are taking them in?"

"Yes," Kyouya said simply.

"Isn't that a bit risky?"

"It is," Kyouya tapped a few numbers into his phone, "but not to worry, I will take the necessary precautions. Now could you tell Tamaki to get out of his corner and find some clothes for the naked man. It would be troublesome if he were to run off without that sheet." He then lifted his phone to his ear and walked off to his desk.

Haruhi sighed and turned back to Ciel, "I am sorry, I will return."

Ciel nodded and Haruhi stood, gave one last glance to the naked man who was staring at her intensely, and made her way over to Tamaki sitting in a corner beneath a window.

What is it now, she thought as she noticed his dramatic, forlorn state.

"Senpai," She started as she approached him, "could you-"

"So someone finally noticed me, huh?"

"What are you talking about, Senpai?" Haruhi asked flatly.

"It is truly a lonely existence when a person is invisible like myself. Ignored even by you, my own daughter-"

"I'm not your daughter."

"I was brushed away like a speck of dust on a rich man's shoulder!"

"What are you- never mind, Kyouya-Senpai wants you to find that man some clothes s-"

"What about these?" Said two voices simultaneously. Haruhi turned to see the twins brandishing an OHS male uniform.

"When did you guys get that?" Haruhi asked, surprised.

"We heard Kyouya talking earlier-" said Hikaru.

"-And we remembered the extra uniform from when we found yours," said Kaoru.

"And no one wanted that guy running around naked," they both finished simultaneously.

"I see," said Haruhi. She lifted the uniform from the twins hands, "let's go get him dressed then."

She turned to start in Pluto's direction but, before she could take another step, she was stopped by three sets of hands on her shoulders. She looked back to see both twins and Tamaki with serious looks on their faces.

"Let us do it," they all said, taking the uniform from her.

"Sure... I guess..." Haruhi stammered hesitantly.

Ciel watched as Haruhi conversed with the eccentric blonde and the twins, mentally cursing himself for not learning Japanese earlier. It was quite disadvantageous not being able to listen and understand what was going on. He decided that as soon as he got back to his manor he would be sure to make Sebastian tutor him.

Wait... Ciel thought, coming to a realization. Sebastian is a demon, an immortal as far as I know! Perhaps, if I am simply in a different time period, he is still here as well!

Realizing he was still sitting on the floor like some peasant, Ciel stood, and walked to a nearby chair.

If I can find Sebastian, Ciel thought, he would be able to get me back to Phantomhive Manor. Then perhaps Pluto can sniff out whatever was in that wall that transported us here and we could go back through it to return to our own time.

Then Ciel paused in his thoughts, realizing yet another possibility. A possibility that sent a shiver up his spine as he seated himself in the pink, cushioned, armchair and Pluto settled beside his feet. What if the contract is null...

Before Ciel could wander toward darker thoughts, two voices interrupted him: "Could you tell the pervert to get dressed?"

Ciel turned to face the twins. "Here are some clothes he can wear." Ciel hadn't a clue whether it was the same voice who had spoke first or a different one. He noticed that one of them was holding out an outfit with the same blue jacket and black pants that they were all wearing.

Perhaps the school uniform, Ciel thought. Then he realized what they had just asked him.

"I highly doubt he knows how to dress himself," he said.

"He can't dress himself?" Both twins asked simultaneously, tilting their heads to the side. "So you always let him run around naked?"

Well animals usually don't wear clothes anyway, Ciel thought to himself.

"The butler dresses him," he said out loud without thinking.

"Butler?" The one on the left asked.

Ciel was silent.

Then the one on the right spoke to his brother in Japanese.

"Could you dress him then?" Asked the one on the right.

"What? Me?" Ciel asked hidding his irritation.

"Well at least you know him." Said Left twin

"We're just a couple of strangers," said Right-twin.

What did they expect him to do? Ciel could barely get himself dressed properly without the help of his butler.

Not that he would ever admit that.

What should he do, though. If Ciel let one of these strangers near Pluto, would he react poorly and revert to his four-legged form?

No, Ciel couldn't risk losing his one trump card. He would have to set aside his pride for now. Perhaps even put on his "Smile" act and play the part of innocent English boy again.

Yes, Ciel thought, However I will have to shift into character subtly in order to get the glas- Kyouya to buy it after talking to him the way I did earlier.

Ciel looked up at the twins, making sure to hide any of his true nature that may have been present on his face. "I will do my best, then."

But before Ciel could move to throw his pride down a cliff, the blonde- Tamaki- popped up behind the twins.

"You fools!" He exclaimed to the twins. "How could you ever make a child dress a man? It's completely reversed!"

"But highness..." They said in unison.

"How do you expect such a thing from a boy. Quickly, call some of your stylists or something."

The twins sighed, Right-twin mumbled something in Japanese to Left-twin.

"What was that?" Tamaki asked.

"I said 'sure thing, Boss,'" said Right-Twin as Left-Twin pulled something out of his pocket and began speaking into it in an urgent tone.

"That's what I thought," said Tamaki.

So, Ciel thought, the blonde is the leader around here. Then, glancing at Kyouya and the twins, he added: At least as far as he is aware.

It wasn't long before three adults, one woman flanked by two men, pushed through the large double doors breathing heavily, as if they had just run all the way here.

They stopped in front of the twins and the woman spoke, "What is the emergency? Is someone hurt? Is someone dead?!" She exclaimed frantically.

"We need you to dress that man." Hikaru stated matter-of-factly.

"...Eh?" She asked with a blank look. Then, turning to look where Hikaru had pointed, her eyes met those of a pale young man crouching at the feet of a foreign boy. "What?!"

Hello Readers,

I just wanted to say thank you for taking an interest in this story. I am happy that some of you have enjoyed it so far, and I hope you still enjoy it now!

~Kookie

P.S- Sorry for the long waiting time between updates.