Greetings Earthlings! And this marks the beginning of my foray into the Kuroshitsuji fandom. This is a retelling of the Book of Circus arc; which is season three of the anime and the (third? fourth? somewhere around there) major arc in the manga (chronologically it occurs right after the curry competition). This isn't a reimagining of the arc, however (no, I'm not creative enough to do that) but a recounting of it from someone else's point of view. A certain glasses wearing, pruning-pole toting someone else. Yes, I'm writing William T. Spears, people. Be prepared.

Quick note: So, please skip this if you don't care, but here are my reasons on why I use the pronouns I do to refer to Grell. While I (and, I believe, the author, but I'm not entirely sure about that) think of Grell as trans female (MtF trans) and while I would normally use female pronouns to refer to her, this is Victorian England. I doubt the concept being transgender was widely known back then (though I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert), and this is from Will's POV, who has canonically referred to Grell as male throughout the series. However! Reapers in general have been known to be ahead of the times (chainsaws and lawn mowers, anyone?) and Grell's persistence of referring to herself as [actress, lady, pretty redhead, what have you] might have just confused Will. So, as shown here, he uses mainly male pronouns for her, but doesn't quite know what to do, and that gives him one more reason to be irritated. But that's okay.

Warning: As this is a retelling of Book of Circus, there are spoilers for the entire arc. If you haven't seen or read it yet, get on that and then come back and read this.

Pairing: Grelliam if you squint. But you really have to squint.

And on that note: enjoy!

:::

Noah's Ark

:::

In retrospect, William T. Spears was incredibly glad that Sutcliff hadn't taken that mission.

It had, of course, been pure luck that he himself had taken it in the first place. His superiors had ordered reconnaissance to be done at a local circus, which they believed had been involved with the supernatural and a multitude of premature deaths not yet on the list. It was natural someone would have had to look into it. However, with Sutcliff still under suspension and the rest of his subordinates in the field already, he hadn't exactly had a choice in the matter of whom. And if the dark haired Reaper was anything, it was most certainly competent in carrying out his orders.

Therefore, he had made the trek to London and entered Noah's Ark. Oh, how demeaning; a man of his stature who rarely left his office having to enter a circus of all things. He had even thought, at the time, that perhaps Sutcliff's attitude would have been better suited to that place, though no doubt he (she?) would have gotten distracted and failed, as usual, to carry out his (her?) orders.

Leaving him to have to clean up the mess. Again.

Perhaps not, then.

So he had entered the circus with what little dignity he had had left, and had begun to investigate when the boy had arrived. Or rather, when the boy and his demon had arrived.

In all honesty, he shouldn't have been surprised they had come. Those two had had a tendency to interfere in everything supernatural; it was practically part of their job description.

However, that didn't mean he didn't find their presence irksome (to say the least). The thought of working with them had, of course, crossed his mind, but he had dismissed it but a second later as the notion of working with any demon (and especially that one, the one that Sutcliff so adored, his mind had supplied unhelpfully) was preposterous for any Reaper.

'Except, perhaps, a certain chainsaw wielding one,' he had thought, shaking his head in disgust.

In any case, he had resolved not to let the demon bother him in his duties.

And then, of course, the rooming arrangements had been switched.

Joy.

So William T. Spears, Director of the London Division of England's Reapers, had ended up bunking with a common demon. Quite possibly one of the most distracting things he could have done, seeing as he had had a mission to complete. A good thing Sutcliff hadn't been put in that position, he had thought, as undoubtedly the wretched subordinate of his would have completely forgotten about his (her? Honestly) orders and run amok.

And then, as if that in and of itself hadn't been a blow to his pride and patience, the demon's master had wanted the demon to investigate the circus as well. At night. Alone. Unfortunately, to prevent that from happening and any possible souls from becoming unaccounted for, he had had to babysit him.

Which meant having to stay aware and awake instead of getting some much needed rest. Oh, how he had wished the circus had served tea, preferably of the caffeinated variety, but it had had nothing of the sort.

But he had only to operate on a lack of sleep for the days remaining until it would all be over, he had consoled himself. Yes, he would merely stall for time until that day came and he could go back to Headquarters and get some rest and normality back into his life.

...At least, that was what he had told himself. As fate would have had it, however, but a few days before that day had come, he had ended up having to perform in the circus. And, not only had he had to do a 'partner act' with that revolting demon (which, ordinarily, would rank quite highly on his list of things he would prefer to avoid), but Sutcliff, being the idiot he/she was (by now, he had given up attempting to make sense of it in a fit of frustration and had decided to just use both pronouns), had convinced Agent Knox (off duty for that night) to attend the show and tell him/her what happened.

Well, he had gone through worse (his final exam with Sutcliff unwillingly springing to mind) and thus he had gotten through the act without too much frustration. Excepting the moment when the demon had attached himself to his death scythe, the reaper hadn't even had to come in contact with him.

After the show, he had retired to his side of the quarters, wanting sleep. And, as was its wont, Fate had had other plans, arriving in the form of the demon and his master intruding three centimetres upon his rest. He had, fortunately for his sanity, succeeded in getting them to leave but a moment later, but the sentiment had been the same, and he had still been able to hear their conversation perfectly well through the walls of the tent. He had wondered what the commotion was when the demon's master had begun to cough, but he hadn't cared enough to bother getting up. Instead, he had busied himself by thinking of more important matters, like ways to stop Sutcliff from finding out what, exactly, he had been doing in a circus act.

Sensing the demon outside, alone this time, had interrupted his plans of giving a certain red haired reaper paperwork until he forgot his initial question and William had made his way out of the tent just in time to see the demon, who had been preparing to leave and investigate on his lonesome. It seemed like his master had become indisposed, giving the reaper all the more reason to have, a moment later, forbidden him from roaming. A sole demon away from his master would have almost invariably lead to overtime.

William must say, he had been surprised when the demon had offered him a deal, but he had decided it was better to reject the offer. With their kind, it was best to automatically assume they wouldn't keep their promises. He was prone to learning from others' mistakes, and thus he had stopped the demon from leaving (and in a less violent manner than he could have, even).

It had been with little shock the next morning that he learned the demon and his master had finished with their business at Noah's Ark. After all, demons in general were, though he was loathe to admit it, not unintelligent, and this particular one seemed to have a knack of getting his way in one manner or another (William's mind flickered back once more, this time to the incident not so long ago involving Sutcliff misbehaving and him having to bow his head to that very same demon; the incident which had caused him ever so much paperwork). In any case, he had had a hunch that in order to complete this mission he was going to need to let the two leave, therefore he had merely nodded his head and let them pass without incident.

He had soonafter left the circus for his own part, and, reviewing the list of deaths that were to happen for the first time in weeks (the book had been far too bulky to bring with him), had recoiled in surprise when he had realized exactly how many souls they had expected him to reap that night. Their demand had been entirely unrealistic, and thus he had requested backup. They had refused, as was their wont, and he had had to send yet another letter to the personnel department, explaining exactly how his situation was to play out should they not send the required help.

They had relented.

So he and Agent Knox had dutifully reaped the souls contained in the burning manor; calmly, professionally, nothing more, nothing less.

Now, perhaps he had wished for more help than just one other reaper, and perhaps he had voiced that wish aloud in the presence of Knox, but that certainly wasn't to say that he hadn't also explicitly mentioned his relief that Sutcliff was out in the field elsewhere. Though, he had reflected, narrowing his eyes, that chainsaw wielding maniac was most definitely not the best choice to have taken the Phantomhive mission.

In any case, he had finished the reaping, and, having returned to Headquarters on time for once, had gone home, preparing himself for a cup of tea and a good book.

...Where he had been greeted with Sutcliff and Knox's eager faces, intruding his house to force him to share his version of his 'Circus Experiences', as they had dubbed them.

As he wearily accepted that the troublesome duo wouldn't leave until he had summarized his mission, William thought to himself that while perhaps Sutcliff may have had a better attitude for infiltrating a circus, he was incredibly glad he/she hadn't gone.

Why? Because if so, there would have been that much more paperwork to deal with.

:::

How did I do? Dry enough for you? Let me know down below.

On another note: I kinda love Will's character. I feel like, since he hasn't had much character development so far (some, but not nearly close to that of others in the series), he's both slightly under appreciated and really fun to write, because he can be played in so many ways.

Also, I am shameless Grelliam trash, and since I can't write romance, I tried throwing in hints. They probably didn't come through, but I tried.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading, guys.

See ya!

-Ua