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Disclaimer: Don't own KUROSHITSUJI or any of the FATE/STAY NIGHT, FATE/ZERO, FATE/ect., ect., and such-like stuff.

Hello! I've been thinking of changing Sakura's name lately. Sakura doesn't want to go back to being a Tohsaka and probably wants to distance herself from being Sakura Matou. Once my thoughts reached this point, the name 'Kurohime Sakura' popped into my head. 'Kurohime' having the Japanese meaning of 'Black Princess' and everyone should already know that 'Sakura' has the meaning of 'cherry' and so I think it sounds good. But then I thought that with her purple coloring, it might be better to go with something related to plums. So I looked on line ant plum related names, but couldn't find anything related to the Japanese Plum that I liked the sound of. However it turned out that some plum trees were originally from China and that they even had the word "meihua" available to describe an aspect of the plant. 'Meihua' specifically means 'Plum Blossom.' So the possibility of naming her Meihua Kurohime, or perhaps Kurohime Meihua, also seems like it has merit. Maybe having such names as Kurohime Sakura or Kurohime Meihua sounds like it is strange, and I understand that, but I think it sounds good that way. On the other hand I feel like it would be more proper if I write her name as Sakura Kurohime or Meihua Kurohime with the flower part of the name first. Ciel has a taste for grand sounding names, so I feel like either option is a good choice. Of course I could just drop the 'Kurohime' idea completely and go with either Sakura Meihua (Cherry Plum Blossom) or Meihua Sakura (Plum Blossom Cherry), and while both sound good to the ears, but the meanings don't match up well at all and seem like they are overly floral. So this is something that I will be thinking about, at least for a little while.

The names are pretty though, right?

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FATE/BLACK

CHAPTER 9

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The Servant was already seated behind Zouken's desk when Kariya arrived in the study. At a nod from the black clad boy, Kariya sat across from him in the indicated chair.

"Would you like to guess my intentions," asked the Assassin Class Servant, "Or would you rather I just jump directly into telling you what you're going to agree to do for me?"

The words were arrogant and preemptively assumed Kariya's cooperation, but considering what had happened, that irritating assessment wasn't wrong. They both knew that Kariya only had two choices, cooperate or die, and considering how far they both knew that Kariya was willing to go to help Sakura (who now belonged to Assassin), there was really only one choice that the male Matou would make.

"Are you going to hurt Sakura? If I obey you, will you let her go?" Kariya Matou asked. It was the only thing he cared about.

"I see that you are clear about your priorities, though still attempting to delude yourself about that girl's fate." replied Assassin. "I'm afraid that I must disappoint you. 'Letting her go' as you put it is indeed possible, but it was result in the type of harm that is best avoided. Even oblivion is a better option. Take a moment to think back to what I told Zouken about my current relationship with Sakura. Back then I did not lie and at this point in time, asking me if I'm going to hurt her is a waste of breath. Considering the type of contract I made with her, asking me about 'harm' is not something I can honestly reply to you about. I suppose it would depend on how you define the word 'harm'."

Kariya felt his already tense body become even stiffer with dread.

"What is that supposed to mean."

"If you ask me, right now, if I am hurting Sakura," said Assassin, "then I can honestly tell you that I am not. However, I could also choose to instead tell you that I am, and that statement would be true as well. Her situation is not so simple."

Kariya's hand's curled into fists and he momentarily fought to stay calm. He wanted to shout, demand clearer answers, bang on the desk and threaten the boy to free her from whatever agreement he'd made, but he didn't. He'd been raised by Zouken Matou and understood that such behavior wouldn't accomplish anything. He knew the limits of how far he would have been permitted to go with the old magus, but he knew next to nothing about this demonic boy and didn't want to risk pushing him too far.

"That do you mean." Kariya hated such an unclear answer. In his experience, ambiguity regarding ones fate never boded well for ones future.

Fortunately for him Assassin had no hesitation about answering. The boy calmly rested his elbows on the desk, clasped his hands, and explained.

"Sakura sold her soul, along with her entire self, to me in order to escape the life that Zouken decided for her. Furthermore, because of her desperation and inexperience, she let me set the terms of our deal. A choice made cannot be unmade and the only reason I was originally interested in getting the Grail was because something went wrong with the deal I once made when I was in a situation similar Sakura's. She is damned by her choice, just as I was, that is a fact that will never change and as time passes she will gain a better understanding of what that means and suffer as a result. However, because I know that unexpected things can happen I included some escape clauses in our agreement. If any of them are triggered, they will allow me to abandon both her and our deal, but they will not change her status as a damned soul. Without our deal, her potential suffering could last literally forever. But with it in place, her suffering, both in life and in death, is guaranteed to end eventually."

These words were ugly and Kariya hated them.

"So you're saying that Sakura is doomed to suffer no matter what."

"Yes, and I hold the entirety of her existence in my fist." said Assassin simply. "But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Although she will never know Heaven, having her soul devoured and completely snuffed out means that the pain of existence will end. I as my property, you have my word that I will take care of her. She will not suffer in Purgatory nor be abandoned at the Gates of Hell. Compared to being a lost or abandoned soul, a mere meat for any fiend to play with, belonging to me is a good thing for her."

"You're actually trying to say that damnation is not bad? That Sakura selling her soul is a good thing?!"Kariya said incredulously. Like most members of magi families, Kariya was not particularly religious, but even he knew enough about the topic to understand what an utterly absurd thing Assassin had said.

Assassin ignored Kariya's tone, and baldly replied.

"Compared to the alternative? Yes."

He noted the disbelieving look on Kariya's face and sighed.

"Kariya, you would never have been able to save Sakura from Zouken. You don't have the power or connections. Winning the Grail War would have been an even less likely possibility. While I do not know much about your family's mage-craft, going by what I've seen and overheard, you would have met a bad end for sure and Sakura would have been even more alone than she is now. Without some sort of powerful intervention the both of you would be doomed. Neither the police nor the Clock Tower would have helped. Even if you prayed with the whole of your soul to whatever god you believed in, no one was going to come. Hope might not exist in Hell, but help of some sort can always be found there so long as you're willing to pay for it."

Assassin stared intently into Kariya's eyes.

"So what do you think is better? A hellish life where your tormentor gets everything and you meet a bad end, or a merely bad experience where your tormentor gets a well deserved punishment and you can live comfortably while dragging your enemies down in to hell with you?"

Kariya sat quietly and thought about it for a few minutes. Both choices were bad. The best option would be to suffer neither fate, but if it was unavoidable…

"You're talking about choosing the lesser evil?" asked Kariya

"No they are both equally evil." replied Assassin. "Die as an un-avenged victim or drag others down with you. The morality of right and wrong has nothing to do with it. It's a matter of whether or not to let your enemies get away with what they've done. Sakura wasn't thinking about that at all, she just wanted to escape. So I made the choice for her and gave her the escape she wanted and the revenge she couldn't even dare to dream about. This was my kindness as a demon. Since she would be giving me so much, I would give her this extra as part of the price. I suspect that right until the end, she will look back on this night and never regret accepting my offer."

Kariya clenched his hands and asked another question.

"What would you have done if she hadn't said yes to you? Would you have left her to Zouken."

"No." said the boy, "I would have saved her the only way I could have, by ending her life. She's too far gone to be rescued, and if she hadn't had the strength to accept my offer I would have given her the peace she craved by painlessly ending her life."

The boy grinned.

"Then I would have gone ahead and killed Zouken anyway. Aside from the fact that I disliked what I knew about him, it would have been too troublesome to leave him alive."

Silence descended as Kariya thought over what Assassin had said.

Assassin only gave him a few moments to think about what he'd said, before continuing.

"To the best of my knowledge, most magi families don't care much for Gods or religion in general, I believe that your family is the same. In any case, since there is nothing you can do about Sakura's death or afterlife you should just focus on doing whatever you can for her in this life. This is the only life she will ever have and I think you'll agree that up until now, it wasn't very good."

It was at this moment that Kariya interrupted.

"No, you're wrong! Her life used to be happy!" he exclaimed, "Aoi was a wonderful mother to her and Rin a good sister. Even if I can't forgive Tokiomi, I can admit that he was a good father and took care of his family. Sakura's life only became bad after Zouken got his hands on her. She can recover! If she returns-"

"Fool."

Assassin coldly interrupted the man's desperate rant.

"You're an idiot if you believe that. The memories of a happy past will only serve as a means of comparison between what she has now and what she thought she once had. When something is truly lost, you can never get it back. Ever since coming to this place she has no doubt been thinking of the past and doubting if everything was really as idyllic as she remembers. Did they love her or was it all just pretend? Did they care or were they secretly laughing at her? Memories of love and happiness will only make her pain worse. Love, Hate, Trust, Doubt, everything she had was ripped away and tainted by what happened to her."

Assassin practically spat these words, his voice all but dripping with venom.

"Furthermore, Tokiomi was a capable magus and capable enough as a family head to manage the finances. As a support for his family, there is indeed nothing to criticize. However, as a father he is a failure. You should already know that's true. His family wasn't his first, or even his second priority. If it was he would have never sent Sakura away and certainly not to the Matou's. If things had played out the way he'd expected, then at some point in the future his two daughters would be enemies and have to fight against each other when the 5th Grail War comes around, or maybe by then their children would. Tokiomi valued their future as magi over their bond as sister's and the path he wanted for them would have bloodily ripped that bond apart one way or another. You know that I am right about that. Also, it's apparent that Tokiomi didn't even do any research about the Matou's before giving Sakura to Zouken."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kariya. Assassin's words were ugly. It was like they were striping away all the lies he'd told himself to make the situation easier to endure.

"What do I mean? Isn't it obvious? The Tohsaka's and the Matou's have known each other a long time. They have shared a city together for several centuries and cooperated as allies during times of peace and rivals during times of war. The Tohsaka family as compiled extensive records about the Matou's during this time. It is easy to comprehend, at least in part, what the Matou family, and some of their mage-craft, is like. Yet Tokiomi Tohsaka still chose to send Sakura here. Either he didn't bother to check up on the available information about them, or he only cared about their reputation and didn't bother to look more deeply. No matter which reason is the truth, he prioritized mage-craft over everything else, foolishly thinking that it was the best path for his children's happiness. This is the reasoning of a magus, not a father. Even his wife, Aoi shares in some of the blame since she went along with her husbands' plan."

"Shut up! Don't talk about Aoi like that!" shouted Kariya.

"Oh? Have I touched a nerve? But I notice that you're not remarking on anything else I've said. Perhaps you have some feelings for that woman? However, the facts remain the same. Regardless of the reasons, she cooperated with Tokiomi in isolating Sakura and sending her to Zouken. I don't know how much she knows about your family, but that was the outcome of her choice and nothing will change that. Either she knew and let Sakura be sent here anyway, or she didn't know and chose not to look too deeply into the issue. These are the facts. You don't have to like them, just accept that this is the reality. For better or for worse, choices were made and there is nothing to be done about it, so just accept it and move on."

Assassin sighed, "That which is truly lost, can never be regained," and leaned back as if exasperated with this whole discussion and exaggeratedly rubbed his head as if pretending that Kariya was giving him a headache.

"I'm tired of this topic, and it's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You know that I intend to use Sakura and keep her alive, at least until the end of the Grail War. But I'd like to negotiate with you regarding the quality of her life and the possibility of extending it. This is the only life she has now, so since you care so much about her, shouldn't you focus on what you can do to make that life as comfortable as possible?"

Kariya gritted his teeth, but kept quiet about the change in conversation. He understood that Sakura's deal with Assassin wasn't something he could do anything about. Since that was the case, he could only go along with whatever Assassin wanted and hope that it would somehow aid the doomed child.

"What do you want me to do?"

Assassin smiled, the pretense of stress vanishing.

"You will pretend that Zouken is still alive, that you will be the only Matou Master participating in this War, and if anyone comes to speak with either Zouken or Sakura it will be your task to keep them out of the house. If it's a magus you can say that Zouken is in his workshop training Sakura and can't be bothered. If the visitor has more mundane origins, then say that Sakura has been sent to a special training camp for gifted children. Her grades are good enough to make that believable. If the visitor has some other business or nature, then I trust that you can come up with some sort of excuse. The man was old and creepy, so even if you say he's sick and resting I doubt anyone would look further into it."

These orders would be fairly easy for Kariya to carry out and would be no problem. He basically just needed to keep people thinking that everything was normal in the Matou home.

"I also want to make you my guardian, Kariya. There are some things that only an adult can do, and aside from the Tohsaka's and the priests there are no other people that know the truth about me. Therefore I can speak openly with you without any need to pretend and have you speak in my place during those situations where an adult is needed to speak on my behalf. No matter how capable I am, the one thing I cannot do anything about is my youthful appearance."

"Is that all?" asked Kariya.

"For now, isn't that enough, or do you want more?" questioned Assassin. "You can handle that much, right?"

"I can do it."

"Good." said Assassin. "I'll come by later and redecorate two rooms to look like Sakura's and mine. I'll make sure they look lived in as well. You'll need to keep them clean and get rid of any dust. There will be times where I will use this place for my home address, you just need to keep up the pretence of being Sakura's Uncle and my Guardian during those times. The regular people won't care, and magi won't question why a declining magus family brought in a male child with high potential into their home. Do you understand what I mean?" questioned Assassin, while giving Kariya a pointed look.

"I do. But what about Sakura? You made reference to 'the quality of life.' What did you mean by that?" asked Kariya.

"She's my property now." said Assassin. "I can treat her however I want until the end. You already know that I intend to keep her alive until the end of the Grail War. But it's up to my discretion as to how I will treat her. I just need her to be alive, healthy, and obedient. Even if I choose to confine her somewhere for the duration of her life, it's still fine. Even the girl herself wouldn't complain about that since it would still be better treatment than she had before."

"You'd do that!" Kariya said through gritted teeth. He was very obviously restraining himself from attempting any foolishly hopeless acts of violence.

Assassin merely smirked at him.

"I could. It would be the easiest and safest way to keep her hidden and secure. However, I do have some sympathy for her circumstances, so as long as you are obedient and serve me well I'm willing to make other arrangements. A comforting environment, education, work to help keep her busy, maybe even a chance at attending school and permission to make friends. I might even be willing to allow you to visit her and see with your own eyes that she is being raised properly. Depending on how things turn out with the Grail War, if we are both alive at the end, then letting her live a few more years is also a possibility."

Kariya took a deep breath to try and stay calm. After a moment he spoke in an even tone.

"And all I need to do is serve you? If I do that you won't mistreat her or confine her somewhere?"

"I'm willing to give my solemn promise on this up to the end of the Grail War." said the black-clad boy. "But any consideration beyond that will have to be earned by both you and her. There's no reason to reward those incapable of loyal work or achieving good results. It's a situation where life is a privilege, not a right, you understand."

Kariya agreed to do whatever child assassin wanted, and from there on the discussion was mostly just refining the details.

The demonic child also instructed Kariya to spend as much time as possible getting his atrophied magic circuits back into shape. The eye-patch wearing boy made it clear that he didn't expect any great achievements from Kariya and only needed him to be strong enough to summon and maintain a Servant for a short time without dying. Being able to control the summoned hero wasn't even that important. He just needed to show the Servant off for a short time to the other masters to prove his right of entry into the war. To that end, he told Kariya not to perform the summoning ritual until he received word from Assassin that all the other Servants had been called.

They spent the next 20 minutes discussing… -Well, it would be more accurate to say that Assassin spent that time going into more details of what he expected Kariya to do, while Kariya begrudgingly played 'yes-man' to the Servants orders.

By that time, Sakura had finished washing and dressing and was ready to leave when the demonic boy came for her.

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The apartment door silently opened and two small figures entered.

"Sakura, this is one of my properties. I need you to stay here for a little while. Meanwhile I need to take care of a few errands. I'll prepare a bowl of raman and some sandwiches for you. So pick whichever bedroom you want and put away your luggage. Ahh, but don't bother unpacking, this place is only temporary. I'll have the food waiting for you in the dinning-room by then. Stay away from the windows, keep the curtains closed, and don't go outside, that's an order. You have permission to use the TV if you get bored while I'm gone. I recommend you go straight to bed after your done eating, you should be fairly tired by now. I'll check up on you when I get back. You should be able to take care of yourself until then."

So saying, Assassin, gently nudged Sakura toward where the bedrooms were and headed to the kitchen.

Sakura hesitated a moment before going to explore the indicated rooms. She didn't care which room she'd be using, but there was no reason not to look.

Both the main and guest bedrooms were fully furnished and looked comfortable. However, they looked like the type of perfect bedrooms you'd see in a magazine so she didn't think they'd ever been used before.

She decided on the guest room and dropped her luggage off there before heading to the small dinning where the delicious scent of raman soup was causing her stomach to rumble.

Assassin seemed to have already left, and Sakura was mildly surprised that he had managed to cook, set the table, and tidy up in the 3 or so minutes she'd been looking at bedrooms.

Just as he had promised, the table had a bowl of soup, a plate of small sandwiches, and even a fresh pot of jasmine tea.

There was also another addition to the table.

A black eyed, white plushy rabbit wearing an elegant navy-blue vest and a black eye-patch, its mouth seemed to be slightly frowning. Leaning against the plushy was a small letter.

Sakura seated herself at the table and decided to read the card before starting her meal.

Sakura,

This is Bitter Rabbit. In the past, this was my company's top selling item so I hope the two of you will get along. The world can be beautiful, but we all know that there is also ugliness in it. There will always be something to be bitter about. Although the comfort he can give you is false, it is still better than nothing at all. So let Bitter be your friend and keep you company.

~ C.P.

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Raiga Fujimura had been sleeping soundly in his futon when something woke him up. He tiredly rubbed his eyes and sat up. The first thing he noticed was that a small candle in an elegant little clay bowl was sitting on the polished teak-wood floor a few hand-spand's away from his pillow, dimly providing a bit of light to his dark bedroom. The second thing he noticed was that no such candle-in-bowl type item, lit or otherwise, should be there.

Having become somewhat more alert with that realization he had just opened his mouth, either to shout for his guards or to quietly call whoever had snuck into his room, but the intruder didn't give him the chance.

"Good evening Mr. Fujimura," said a young and familiar voice, "I apologize for rudely sneaking in like this, but I wanted to talk to you without anyone else knowing of my visit."

It was the voice of the boy with the mysterious background he had been associating with since last year, though it had been some time since they had last seen each other face to face. The boy, who was currently using the name Ciel Phantomhive, had requested teaching in the sort of skills that only future spy's or assassin's would want and had even arrogantly predicted that he would be able to quickly master those lessons. Unexpectedly, the child had proved his genius and done exactly that.

About a year after that, young Ciel had suddenly decided to seclude himself and only contacted him over the phone. The child had claimed to be working on a special project that he didn't want to leave, but had promised to call at regular intervals to prevent worry. Raiga had still worried, but decided to respect the boy's choice since he did keep in contact.

Although the arrogant boy was not of his blood, the old man truly regretted the impossibility of the boy ever becoming his heir. Despite himself he'd come to like the child, and although Ciel obviously harbored a terrible darkness inside himself, the boys brilliance was undeniable.

And now, after a year of not seeing each other, that same boy had snuck into his room in the middle of the night. What could he be up to?

"Little Ciel, didn't I tell you to call me Gramps?" The words were friendly, but his now alert face was serious.

Raiga turned to face his unexpected visitor, folded his knees, and straightened his back, showing the boy the dignity of a crime boss rather than the slumped form of a tired old man. The candle light gave the shadows of his stern wrinkled face the illusion of sinister menace.

The boy smiled back in a friendly way. The darkness of his black-clad garb made the contrasting whiteness of his face seem positively ghostly in the flickering light of the small candle.

"You did, Gramps, but I keep on forgetting. I feel that it lacks proper respect." This exchange had occurred almost every time they'd met, to the point of becoming a habit, but neither of them minded. It was a friendly exchange. Raiga could tell that the boy meant well because of the warm tone that always accompanied these words, however the old man mourned that despite the child's good intentions the coldness never really left either his manner nor his single blue eye.

"So why did you come? If you want to play as an assassin there are far better outlets I could direct you to pour your youthful energy into."

Though the two were not family, a bond of sorts had formed between them surprisingly quickly and a sense of trust and warmth had developed. That was why, despite knowing how deadly the boy could be, the old man wasn't concerned. If the boy had truly meant to throw everything away and kill him, then he would have gone about it differently.

*snicker* "Gramps, you should be happy that I am not visiting you as an assassin. The security of this place is laughable and I could have killed you more than a dozen ways and been long gone before anyone even noticed. I recommend that you spend some time later on carefully considering how to fix that."

Raiga smiled wryly back at the boy. "I believe I'll do that." Then more seriously, "So why did you want to meet me secretly? You've never done this type of thing before."

The boy's merriment disappeared as he, also, became serious.

"My father secretly contacted me about a bit of high level gossip that leaked from another organization. It wasn't something that he should have ever heard a whisper about. Just like how your Fujimura Group is less than a raindrop compared to my Father's ocean-like organization, there is an ocean out there that makes what my father has comparable to a puddle and the word is that very soon they are going to do something. Gramps, these people take secrecy very seriously and they have the power to enforce that policy to a frightening extreme. Before I say more I need your word that you will keep this secret. Not by word, or hint, or deed must you give any indication ever of having been told what I feel I must tell you. Can you make this oath and keep it?"

Raiga stayed quiet and observed the deadly serious look on the boy's face while thinking of the best way to reply.

The child was wearing his usual black eye-patch and favorite cos-play clothes of black antique style western garb. Why the boy enjoyed wearing such a stiff and grim outfit, Raiga would never understand, and how he could sneak around without wrinkling his clothes or putting so much as a hair out of place was a mystery the old man doubted would ever be solved. More to the point, the boy was usually open, straight forward, and a bit arrogant whenever he came to visit, so for him to come over like this strongly indicated not only the boys skill, but also how grave of a matter he considered this to be.

"Very well, I swear on my name and my Family that I will keep secret whatever it is you have come to say; though if it is such a serious matter, perhaps it would be better not to say anything at all."

"I had thought about not contacting you," admitted Ciel, "But it left a bad taste in my mouth. Ever since I came to Japan, you have been the one that made me feel the most welcome, the most at home. You're people have also proven to be not entirely bad company, nor incompetent. And although your granddaughter, Taiga, has been somewhat of a handful at times, I can't dislike her liveliness. That warm exuberant personality of hers' reminds me of my ex-fiancé, though fortunately your girl doesn't have the same annoying obsession with all things cute and adorable that my Elizabeth had. All in all, I cannot completely think of you all as mere business associates with whom I happened to have good dealings. In fact, you are the first people in my life about whom I have the freedom to care about with almost no strings attached. So when father passed on the rumors, I started to worry about what might happen in the future if I kept silent."

"Hmm, I'm pleased that we've managed to find a place in your heart," Raiga said.

Indeed, he was pleased. Business was business, but the boy had something about him that was endearing and pulled at the heartstrings. Having a relationship that was good on both a personal and work-related level was rare, and it pleased the old man that the boy felt the same. It also made him happy because it meant that the child had not fallen so far into whatever darkness had consumed him that he could no longer recognize or welcome a sincere offering of light.

"But tell me what you came to say. What could be so dangerous that you had to hide your coming here for fear that your knowledge of it would be discovered and we suspected of learning this secret."

The black-clad boy nodded.

"Alright, listen carefully."

With the manner of a storyteller about to begin a ghost story, Ciel leaned forward, his hauntingly pale face taking on a sinister cast, and went on to explain a highly edited version of the truth.

Around 3 or 4 hundred years ago or so, 7 prominent representatives from an underground organization had come to Japan, specifically the area that was now known as Fuyuki City, for reasons unknown and had a bad falling out where everyone died. Because none of them returned tensions rose in their respective families regarding who to blame and issues of inheritance. 60 years later more representatives came in order to find out what happened and restore a measure of peace. This was important because of the family's individual power and status in the organization and the organizations need to remain united against other influences. Unfortunately, history repeated itself and they all died.

This cemented a vendetta between the families that could never be reconciled, but for the sake of the organization, and maintaining their own power base, they could not allow personal feelings to get in the way of business and simply tear into each other until only one remained. However, this was a problem that the organizations other members couldn't ignore either since it represented an opportunity to advance their own position while weakening rivals. Furthermore, if all out fighting broke out it risked revealing and weakening the organization.

So to settle the matter, it was decided to deliberately stage a battle royal in Fuyuki at intervals of several decades until a final winner could be determined and the vendetta settled once and for all. Since the original conflict began because of the deaths of the original 14 representatives and then the deaths of the 14 that went to investigate later on, the battle royal would also have 14 members, 2 for each of the 7 families. If a suitable representative couldn't be found or hired for some reason then some random person would be dragged in to fill out the numbers.

Since secrecy was the most important thing that the organization cared about, any witnesses or outsiders that learned of what was going on or saw something they shouldn't, would be killed. To prevent the chance of their secrets leaking the organization would also kill the friends, families, and even the pets of the witnesses.

Since it was a battle royal, it wouldn't be strange if there was also a lot of collateral damage caused by the actions of the fighters, so disposing of evidence and calling it a 'terrible accident' would likely be common at that time. Also, if one of the killers brought in for the battle went rogue and either started to draw undue attention or stray from what they were brought in to do, then the overseer (a person non-related to competing families) would order a temporary stop to the fighting and offer a prize to whoever killed the transgressor first.

The next battle royal was going to start in a few months, maybe even sometime next year. A sign of the battles beginning would be an increase in deaths and strange happenings.

It was because this would be such a big event, and many people would need to be involved, that whispers of what was going on had leaked and eventually made their way to Ciel's father and then to him.

"Gramps," said Ciel, "I can tell by that stony look on your face how upset you are to hear about this. But remember what I said about those peoples love of secrecy? How big they are compared to you? In order to live, in order for your family to live, you cannot forget about that."

To say that Raiga Fujimura was disturbed by what he had just heard would be an understatement. A feeling of incredulity, rage, and helplessness swept over him the more he thought about what he had just been told.

The reason why something like this needed to be kept secret was obvious. The reasons why a leak about this matter happened was also obvious. Many people would need to be involved in order to successfully pull something like this off, and those people's status and ability would also be at a very high level. This matter was clearly of such a high level that Raiga easily understood why someone like him had no business knowing about it in the first place. Just knowing was enough to make him a potential target.

"Ciel, what do you expect me to do?" questioned Raiga. "I almost feel like it would have been better not to have known and depended on luck."

The boy nodded solemnly.

"As expected of the man worthy of being called my Gramps," said Ciel, "you understand the nature of the storm headed your way and you are aware of why you can give no hint that you know it is coming. As I said before, I'm telling you this because I have the luxury of being able to care about you as I could never care about any others in my previous life. By telling you this it is my hope that you can avoid trouble while making it seem that you know nothing. Start mumbling about having bad dreams and visiting priests & psychic for advice. Make certain that all your properties are fully insured. It wouldn't be a bad idea to arrange for Taiga to start learning a foreign language. Maybe plan for her to go out of town or out of the country when the time comes. She's fond of kendo so arranging for her to attend or watch a competition might be good. There's also the option of sending some people to keep her company while playing tourist somewhere. When the atmosphere of the city starts to turn dark, you can just say that you have a bad feeling in your old bones and order your people to stay indoors after dark and not put so much as a toe outside once the sun sets."

Raiga smiled wryly.

"You want me to act like I'm getting superstition in my old age and started making decisions based on the omens I'm seeing?"

Ciel shrugged, and casually waved away the matter.

"Why not? You can always go back to your normal ways later after the battles are over. As for Taiga," here the boy grinned, "don't even try to tell me that's not a good idea. Learning more than one language is useful and sending her away to sight-see would be a fun reward for her efforts. There's nothing wrong with that and with her far away from Fuyuki, she won't be in danger. Just keep a casual eye out for signs that the battle is starting and send her away then."

Raiga nodded at the boy's words, and a wave of gratefulness washed through him. He might have been happier not learning about any of this, but that would have meant placing his life, his granddaughter's life, and the lives of everyone around him into the hands of luck. Thanks to Ciel's warning he had plenty of time to carefully plan out his actions and protect those he cared for to the best of his ability.

"What about you, Ciel?" asked Raiga. "What will you be doing then?"

"I haven't decided if I should leave town or batten down the hatches and wait for the storm to pass. I am prepared to go either way, so you don't need to worry."

The two sat quietly, seemingly lost in their own thoughts, the light from the candle caressing their faces, the only illumination in the darkness.

Finally the boy continued.

"I will be keeping a low profile for the time being. I doubt that I will meet anyone that recognizes me, even back home I didn't go out much."

Raiga snorted in derision, then a small chuckle escaped and his previously stern expression crumbled as his lips curved into a wry smile.

"Ciel, considering how little I've seen of you lately and how rarely you went outside even before that, I feel that if you can become less conspicuous than you are now you might cease to exist altogether."

Ciel chucked at Raiga's words, though his pale, candle-lit face lost none of its ghostliness.

"You might be more right than you know." said the boy. "My spirit is here in Fuyuki. It is not my homeland, but it's the closest place I have to a true home now, and as a spirit it wouldn't be strange for me to disappear one day; though I don't plan on doing that any time soon."

"That's good." said Raiga. "I'm glad that you feel at home here."

The two chatted for another hour or so until the small candle burned itself out. When the light vanished, so did Ciel, and Raiga was once again reminded of how talented the boy was (since he didn't even hear the boy leave, nor detect how he made his exit).

Raiga was thankful for the boys warning, and pleased that the child was happy here, but most of all he was glad that such an obviously deadly future assassin was on his side and unlikely to turn his blades against his Fujimura Group.

.

-XXX-XXX-XXX-

.

After Sakura read the note, she stared quietly for a moment at the Bitter Rabbit plushy that Assassin had gifted to her, then immediately dug into the food he had prepared.

She couldn't tell if it was because it had been so long since she last ate anything or if the level of his cooking ability was just that high, but she found the meal delicious. It was such simple food, but it tasted better than anything she could remember ever having tasted before. The sandwiches made her feel full and the hot soup and tea filled her body with warmth. She ate every last bite and had to resist the urge to lick the bowl.

Then she just sat there.

She stared at the empty dishes. She then leaned back in the padded chair and stared up at the blank white ceiling.

She closed her eyes.

The apartment was silent. Because it was late at night, there were no sounds from either the neighbors, or from the residential street outside; just the occasional rustling of tree leaves in the wind.

It was so very quiet, as if she was the only one in the world. She welcomed the quiet and the stillness.

No worms crawling or squeaking, no bugs rustling, no looming threat of a magus coming over to show her a new level of hell.

Her body was warm and the only movement inside it was caused by the beating of her heart and the air in her lungs. She was alone in her body. There wasn't anything there that shouldn't be there.

Silent tears began to trickle down from her closed eyes.

She was warm, and safe, and clean. That was the truth, but it didn't feel like reality. Rather, it felt more like an impossible wish come true and any moment now she would wake from this dream to find herself back in the bug pit with the worms moving on and inside her body while Zouken gloatingly looked down on her from above.

But this was not a dream. This was her new reality. So why was it that now, despite being free from that terrible place, she still felt so dirty and wretched? Why couldn't she be happy now that it was all over? Why did she still feel that life wasn't something worth living?

She had a second chance for a new beginning, but it wasn't something she could feel happy about.

She shuddered as the memory of a thousand tiny claws skittered across her flesh and stir her insides.

The trickle of tears turned into a river as she cried.

Zouken hadn't minded her screams, but he hadn't approved of tears. Crying wastefully used up a human body's supply of water and he didn't like having to stop her training just to remove her from the worm pit so she could get something to drink to re-hydrate. He had found ways to punish her every time he had caught her crying, methods that made the worm pit seem like heaven in comparison.

Now all the tears she'd been holding back came flowing out and soon the quiet of the apartment was disturbed by the sound of her uncontrolled sobs.

Eventually she cried herself out (at least for now, anyway) and went to the kitchen. She then turned on the sink and splashed some water on her face before retrieving and washing the dishes.

Dishwashing was mindless work but it kept her hands busy and let her regain her lost calm.

Since it was just a few items, it didn't take her long to finish with them.

Sakura went to her room and retrieved her pajamas and toothbrush, then she went to the bathroom to wash up and prepare for bed.

Once done, the little girl removed Bitter Rabbit from the dinner table and carried him with her to bed.

Bitter was soft and the plushy body was very comfortable to hold.

The room was dark and the only light came from the electric clock on the nightstand. Sakura hugged Bitter tightly and tried to sleep. Her belly was warm and full, and her body was sore and exhausted; sleep should have come quickly.

But it didn't.

She tossed and turned under the warm covers of the soft bed, trying to find a good position, but sleep refused to come. Finally she settled for turning in the direction of the bedroom door and tilting her head to stare blankly at the clock.

She didn't keep track of how many minutes passed, just watched as the numbers changed.

Her mind was wide awake, but what was she thinking about? She wasn't even sure if she was thinking at all, or if she wasn't letting herself think. Logically she knew that because a lot had happened, she really did have a lot of things to think about, but at the same time she didn't want to think about anything. So far worrying about her problems hadn't solved them, and thinking about anything just led back to worrying.

The minute numbers on the clock changed again.

…

And again.

And again…

Nothing good would come from thinking. She didn't want to think. But even so, maybe her mind wanted to ignore her wishes and start thinking. Did her mind have important things it wanted to think about?

The numbers changed a few more times, steadily counting up to the next hour.

But her mind belonged to her, so if she didn't want to think then her mind should obey and not think. But it was not like she could scold her mind for being disobedient. It would be a pointless thing to do and if her mind wanted to do it then wasn't this the same as herself wanting to think against her will? But herself was herself so in the end didn't that make her indecisive about something that wasn't worth thinking about?

And if she didn't want to think about anything, then why was she thinking about her thoughts?

She closed her eyes, snuggled under the blankets and gave Bitter another squeeze.

…

…

…

More time passed, but sleep did not come.

…

…

…

She heard the bedroom door open. The little girl's eyelids lifted and she saw Assassin standing in the doorway holding a lit candelabra.

"You're not sleeping." He said.

"I can't sleep." She replied.

"You should sleep anyway, you've been through a lot and both your mind and body need rest in order to help you recover."

"I'm trying to sleep, but I can't."

The teenaged Servant of assassination sighed.

"Would you like me to stay here and watch over you until you fall asleep?"

"…yes." She said in a small voice.

The boy nodded.

"Very well, now try to relax. Tomorrow is another day and there will be much to talk about and do, so you need to get some sleep. I'll be here watching over you. There is nothing you need to fear while I am here." He said with an empty smile.

"You made a rhyme."

"Unfortunately I did. I suppose it just slipped out." He stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke his next words in a gentle voice. "I dislike seeing history repeat itself. Right now you remind me of me back then."

The little girl focused her attention on him.

"What do you mean?"

"Back then, Sebastian would stand in my room and watch over me, guarding my sleep. I could sleep because I knew he was there and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. He was the only one I could trust to protect and never betray me."

It was dark in the room and the candlelight made the shadows dance, so she wasn't sure of the expression on Assassin's face, but she thought she heard a hint of sadness when he spoke about this 'Sebastian.'

"Who was Sebastian?" she asked.

"Sebastian is my butler. I was once in a bad situation, just like you were, and just like you made a Contract with me, I made a Contract with him."

There was something comforting about the Servants voice. Also, ever since she saw him enter the room, a slight tension she hadn't been aware she was feeling began to ease. So she asked a question that she normally never would have asked.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

Assassin didn't answer her immediately and seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Just when she started to think that he wouldn't answer her question, he finally replied.

"He stayed by my side, protecting and obeying me. He granted my wishes and became my might. He promised to be mine until the day I became his and he pledged to stay by my side until the end."

"Did he keep his promise?" asked Sakura.

She felt a little better now, talking to the black-clad boy, than she had before. Somehow she felt a little closer to him, as if he was sharing some privet secret despite not actually mentioning any details.

"Well," said Assassin contemplatively, "I suppose that the best answer I can give you is this: Sebastian will always be 'one Hell of a butler' to me."

"What does that mean?" asked Sakura.

She felt a stirring of long forgotten curiosity start to spark to life inside herself as she lay in the comfortable bed looking up at the boy who avenged her and saved her from Zouken. Even though Assassin had only spoken these few sentences about his butler (indeed, this was the first time he had even mentioned him to her at all), she could somehow tell that the way he thought of the man was different from how he thought of anyone else. Before being sent to the Matou's she might not have noticed, but her experiences there had made her more aware of the subtleties of nuance that betray what other people are thinking or feeling.

For example, it had let her know that when Zouken was smiling he was in a good mood and more likely to go easy (comparatively) on her, and if he was laughing he was thinking about doing something dreadful.

Those same senses of her were now telling her that this 'butler Sebastian' person, was a significant importance to Assassin. Some complex feeling colored his words. Ever since they'd first met, she'd only heard him mention his summoner, members of her family, the elder Kotomine priest, and herself. He'd made it clear that his opinion of them (including herself) had not been very high.

However it was different when he mentioned Sebastian. There was anger, longing, contempt, respect, and mysteries. She really couldn't pin point what it was that gave her that impression. It was more than his words or the tone of his voice and with both the candlelight making the shadows flicker across his face and his statue-like stillness she didn't think it was facial expression or body language, that gave her this impression. Perhaps it was some sixth sense or a combination of all those possibilities that did it, but whatever the cause may be, this was the impression she got.

She felt that if she could better understand what this butler meant to Assassin, she would be able to better understand Assassin.

"It means," the Servant in question replied, "that this is all I'm going to say about him for the time being. All you need to know for now is that, as per the terms of our contract, if something happens hand you can no longer belong to me, your ownership will transfer to him. Furthermore, I want you to know that this isn't something that you need to worry about. I am *sigh* unfortunately aware of his tastes and preferences and have already thought of what sort of clothes you should wear in order to make the best possible impression in the event you should happen to meet. First impressions are important after all."

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Sakura asked.

"Two reasons: first, because I can tell that this conversation is helping you to relax a little, and second, because there is a lot we need to talk about later and I'm impatient."

"Oh." She said.

"I think you're feeling a little better now." He set the lit candelabra on the bedside table next to the clock. The Servant extended his black-gloved hand and lightly brushed Sakura's hair with his finger tips. "I am not a singer, and I have no interest in sentimentality, but if you like, just this once, I will sing you a lullaby as I guard your rest. Would you like that Sakura?"

She snuggled the plushy and nodded her head.

"Yes, Assassin."

"Ciel, Sakura," corrected the Servant, "from now on, when we are alone, you must call me either Ciel or Master Ciel. At all other times you are to say 'My Lord' or 'Young Master.' This is an order, do you understand Sakura?"

"Yes." She said.

"Yes, what?" he asked.

"Yes, Ciel." The little girl answered.

"Very well then."

Ciel nodded his head and gave her the gentlest smile he could make as he continued to lightly pet her hair.

"Close your eyes and relax. Listen to my song and take comfort knowing that nothing will harm you again."

Sakura did as she was told and let Ciel's voice wash over her.

.

(Lyrics sung to the melody of "HUSH LITTLE BABY")

Hush little baby don't say a word, Master's going to kill all the mocking birds.

And if those mocking trash won't die, Master's going to wave all their hopes goodbye,

And if their hearts don't learn despair, Master's going to tear up their pride instead.

And if they strike out with their knives, Death God's coming to collect their lives,

And if their names aren't on the Lists, Master will get mad and use his fists.

And if new enemies appear, Master's going to kick them in their rears,

And if those fools won't take a hint, Master's going to rip them to tiny bits.

And if those bits assemble again, Master's going to twist off all their heads,

And when all your enemies lay dead, you'll be my tasty treat instead.

.

Ciel's voice was sweet like an angel's and full of protectiveness. The bloody lyrics made warmth bloom in her heart because they spoke of his determination destroy anyone that wanted to hurt her. It felt really good to have someone care about her.

He had to sing the song five times before she finally fell asleep.

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.

Estate (Land) – Wikipedia: "Historically, an estate comprises the houses, out buildings, supporting farmland, and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion."

~ Author: Ciel needs to be recognized as a proper Lord but he can't afford to devote all his time to managing a large estate or buying a village, plus the rules in modern-times have loosened, so he bought the smallest qualified property he could that also happened to be right on top of a lay-line. It goes without saying that something like this is expensive to upkeep, so Ciel leaves management to capable people and just focuses on legitimate (mostly) ways to make money. At times like this a trust worthy first class accountant is a must!

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Half A Year After Ciel Arrived In England, A Mansion Somewhere In The Countryside

.

Edward Holland was fair skinned man, about 5 ft 6" tall, with short blondish-brown hair that he wore in a slicked-back style. His face and body were forgettably average and the only memorable thing about it was his thin silver rimmed glasses. In fact most people that met him only had this sort of impression about him.

If he changed his glasses, hair color, and clothes, he would be able to easily disguise himself as someone else in a crowd should the need arise.

Which, in fact, it once had. It had been a half a year ago that he had met his current employer, and the events of that time were burned into his mind.

His former employer had been far from law abiding citizen he pretended to be. Edward had found this out while going over the company's account books and soon found himself in a situation where he was in danger of losing his life. After the CEO's hired thugs caught up to him, he had tried to persuade them that he had no intention of telling anyone about the things he'd discovered, but they'd thought that the best way to make sure of his silence was to kill him.

Edward had been half-way beaten to death when a certain child had suddenly appeared and offered to save him in exchange for his agreement to some unusual conditions. Not being in a position to either question or refuse the offer, he had agreed.

Edward was then treated to the sight of the strange black-clad boy literally tearing his former attackers apart (Without getting even a drop of blood on his clothes! How was that possible!?), and then vanishing all traces of what happened. Honestly, it was like something out of a nightmare. One minute those big men had been telling the eye-patch wearing teen that they'd kill him as soon as they finished with the hapless Edward, and the next minute the creepy boy had tossed the accountant aside, ripped out the arm of the man that had been punching him, and then used said arm as a blunt instrument on the other men.

Things got really messy after that.

By the time the boy was done, there was so much blood and meat around him that you couldn't even tell that any of it had once belonged to several humans.

Edward had been so terrified, he could barely breathe. He hadn't even noticed the puddle of urine he was sitting in as he'd cowered against the wall, far as he could get from the fight.

"I am pleased that you have agreed to work for me, Mr. Holland," the monstrous boy had said, hellfire glowing in his one visible eye, "I am certain that in the future we shall get along just fine."

Feathers, or rather the shadows of falling feathers, had quickly filled the room until the only thing Edward could see, besides the absolute darkness, was the demonic boy. The child then pulled a bundle of documents from somewhere along with a pen and handed them to the scared-out of-his-wits Edward.

"I know you just agreed to work for me, but I think it's best that we do this properly with a formal contract of employment. I should tell you that there are a few unusual clauses in here, but as long as you serve me faithfully and never knowingly betray me you don't need to worry about those. Ahh, it's fine if you've changed your mind about your employment options and don't want to sign… But I'm sure you can guess what will happen next if that is the case, right?"

Edward had signed those papers as quickly was he could, not even bothering to read them first.

"Excellent! Even in this situation you've managed to remain clear headed enough to do as you should." The boy complimented with a devilish smile as the surrounding darkness faded away. "Although you should probably have read the contract first, I can sympathize with why you didn't." The darkness was gone and it had taken all the blood and gore with it. "Still, I would like to strongly advise you not to lose your composure and become so distracted again in the future. For your personal records, I'll photo copy these for you later. You ought to know everything you've signed up for after all. Now then, since I'll be your Master from now on I had better get you properly settled in your new position. You should have no complaints about either your pay or working conditions, though if some issue arises you are free to discuss it with me and depending on the problem I'll decide what should be done about it."

Edward just kept his mouth shut and listened. He didn't feel that he was in any proper state-of-mind to risk saying anything just then. That he had not fainted or gone mad was already a laudable accomplishment as far as he was concerned.

"Oh," the boy continued, "you don't need to worry about that fellow that put a bounty on your head. I'll take you somewhere to rest and then go crush him and his little organization. They won't be a problem."

His new boss had been as good as his word and did all that he promised.

Once he'd recovered, the Young Master had given him a map, money, and a set of detailed blueprints. The map was of an area far in the English countryside and the location of a derelict estate had been circled in red ink. His first task was to purchase the land and hire a reliable contractor to tear down the old mansion and dig a new foundation. He was also to file the blueprints for the new mansion that was to replace it (just as the law required for such things) and see about getting the necessary materials for the future construction.

Edward had asked why the boy didn't want to just repair the original house that was on the site, but the boy said that fixing the place up would be more costly than the effort was worth and he already had a solid idea of what he wanted anyway. He was also told not to bother with hiring builders and just focus on getting the building materials and then set up a high, tarp-covered scaffolding around where the new house would be.

Edward had done as he was told.

In less than a month the accountant had made his Young Master's money look like it hadn't come out of nowhere, made some investments upon the boy's suggestions, bought the specified estate, cleared away the original mansion, had the foundation for the new one prepared, and set up the scaffolding.

At first he hadn't understood the reason for some of what he was doing. After all, what was the point of getting building materials but not hiring builders? What was the reason for a tarp covered scaffolding around where the new mansion would be when there was no construction, no mansion to hide, and nothing to see but the empty foundations?

He'd had his answer after contacting his Master once everything was ready. The boy had ordered him to go stand on the other side of the Tarp and keep an eye out for anyone that might be watching. Edward had known that it was just an excuse to get him out of the way, but hadn't argued.

10 minutes later the boy had called him over, and after crossing back past the tarp he could only stand in awe of the freshly built mansion. The boy said that he was to leave the tarp scaffolding up to keep the mansion hidden since it would be very suspicious if anyone familiar with the area was to pass by and see the already completed mansion there. His Master then told Edward that he was to be the house's steward and should spend some time researching on what a stewards' duties were. He was also ordered to wait a month before hiring builders to put up a high fence around the borders of the property to keep trespassers out. He was also to hire people to clear the area within 20 meters of the fence to make sneaking in more difficult.

Furthermore, as much as possible, Edward was also to avoid employing any locals that might be in the area. Small communities were hotbeds for gossip and the fewer locals around, the longer it would take anyone to notice his activities, and the less likely it would be for anything strange to be noticed before a believable amount of time had passed.

The accountant could easily guess about those, and other, reasons and judged that though it would raise expenses, it would be easy enough to bring in people from farther away to take care of the wall and its environs, but the mansion was too big for just him to take care of.

His Young Master had said not to worry about hiring more staff, he'd take care of that along with everything else once the fences were built. As much as possible, the boy wanted his new residence to be self-sufficient and privet.

And sure enough, roughly half a year later the land had been tidied, the smooth 20 ft tall stone fences built, 15 meters on either side of the fences cleared, the tarp and scaffolding removed, and the main gate to the property (specially designed by the Young Master to resemble a lion guarding a gate) had been installed. The words "PHANTOMMANOR" were prominently emblazoned across the top of the iron gateway.

The demonic boy had also acquired enough people to properly maintain the place.

Edward had once arranged a 'getting to know you' party for everyone and soon learned that they had all been hired in much the same way that he had. They'd been cornered in a bad situation and then the demonic little boy had shown up and got them out of it while scaring the shit out of them so they'd understand the consequences of crossing him.

It had been a relief to know that he wasn't alone in his situation and the new employees had bonded over their shared experiences and become closer to each other.

As Steward, he lived in the servant's area of the mansion, same as the Housekeeper, Head Maid, Head Gardner, and Head Cook. Currently, there was no valet, and though the Young Master had said he had a Butler, they had not yet seen him in person, only a few paintings of him.

The rest of the mansion's employee's, lived in a separate building on the other side of a small lake situated just behind the back garden.

The building looked like a small mansion and blended in well with the aesthetic scenery of the garden, lake, and lawn, but its interior actually had more in common with an apartment building. Each servants' apartment had a small kitchenette, small living room, a full bathroom with a washer and dryer, and two bedrooms. This could be considered as being reasonably luxurious for servants, but half their salary went toward rent and if anything happened, they'd have to play for fixing the problem themselves. Since a plumber, electrician, mechanic, and general handyman also lived there (though the four normally worked with the gardeners and helped with general manual labor on the estate) it wouldn't be difficult to resolve any problems that might arise. There was also a nice little vegetable and herb garden to one-side of the building that the residents were expected to look after.

The boy had even given permission to expand it if they wanted and could even sell any surplus grown there as a source of personal income.

Their Young Master had also given his staff permission to use the little lake as a picnic spot and swimming hole as long as it didn't interfere with their duties and they didn't mess up the scenery or pollute anything.

As an afterthought, the boy had also arranged for the area behind the servant's apartments to be paved over and a small detached two story out-building to be built for their use. The top floor was for storage while the bottom floor was divided into a parking garage with Men's (left)/Women's (right) communal washrooms on each end of the building. A special garage area for the mechanic to repair or perform maintenance on the cars belonging to the Young Master and his servants had also been built here.

The logic behind this buildings existence was that cars had to be put somewhere and cared for, people accumulate unneeded stuff, and workers that that work the land or repair residences or go splashing around in lakes get dirty. Since washing carpets everyday would be too troublesome it'd be better if the staff have a place to wash off the grime and avoid tracking filth into the house.

Life on the estate was pretty simple, and fairly comfortable. Nobody had any complaints about that and most agreed that it was better there than in the city. Anyone that did start to miss city life could only wait for their day off to go into the nearest town.

They'd all been nervous when they'd first arrived, but now they'd all settled in quite comfortably.

Best of all, since entering his employ, they'd almost never seen their demonically terrifying Young Master.

Edward Holland shook his head and stopped his reminiscences of the past. He had work to do, the mansion wouldn't take care of itself.

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5 Days After Sakura's Rescue

.

The steward of Phantom Manor, casually strolled into the kitchen where the rest of the manor's main staff was waiting.

"Is everything ready for the Young Master's arrival?" the steward, Edward Holland, asked?

"Yes sir," said Mary Sutherland, the 22 year old Head Maid (A.K.A.: the Housekeepers assistant). With her blue eyes, long blond hair, and tall perfectly proportioned body, she looked like a classic Nordic beauty. "The rooms been prepared, but isn't there something strange about this?"

"Where our little Master is concerned, is there anything normal?" remarked Judith Smyth, the Housekeeper, sarcastically. She was a mature woman in her early 50's. Her black hair had just started to develop some strands of silver and a few prominent wrinkles had started to appear on her face.

"Well considering that he's some kind of monster," started the brown-haired and hazel-eyed Head Gardener, Jeriff Labrynth, "one that holds our lives in his fist, scared us shitless at our first meeting, and treats us all better than any previous employer any of us ever had, I don't think the word 'normal' belongs in the same sentence as him."

"Truer words have never been said." Said the Head Cook. "I still can't believe that one of the first things he made me do after hiring was to legally change my name from Alois Claude to Cocytus Hari. I was born in France. I'm French. So what's wrong with having a French name? Plus I think it's a great name! It's distinctive and stylish. I liked it a lot and had it my whole life!"

He was an easily excitable man and tended to wave his hands around and shout when he got agitated. Luckily he had been blessed from birth with a warm personality that never failed to charm those around him. Add in his jade green eyes, fair white skin, and strawberry-blond hair, and you had a handsome man that any woman would want, even to the point of overlooking a few annoying quirks.

He didn't like to talk to his fellow staff members about what situation lead to his meeting with their Young Master. The only thing he'd been willing to say was that he'd had the bad luck to get dragged into a situation involving two yandere's and almost died in a murder-suicide.

"You're still complaining about that?" said Jeriff. "It's been months now and we're all sick of listening to you complain, you're not even saying anything new. Just accept it already, it's not like you can change anything by complaining about it. Anyway, Cocytus Hari is a stylish and distinctive name, so it's not all that bad."

The others, except for Cocytus Hari, all nodded in agreement. No one could say that it wasn't a distinctive name.

"The little demon said that 'Cocytus' was a place in Hell and 'Hari' was the last name of a famous traitor." The cook said flatly.

Mary turned her face away and carefully stifled a chuckle.

"Well, you already make everyone call you 'Mr. Hari'-"

"Because Cocytus is weird and way worse!" the cook tried to interrupt.

"—and it's not like anyone would know the meaning if you just avoid explaining about it." The maid finished.

"It's the sort of stupid thing a chunni brat would call themselves!"

"Well, our Master is a young brat," Judith couldn't resist adding her two cents in to the conversation, "and he does like to wear a pirate style eye-patch and those dark old-fashioned clothes. And he loves to act all dark and scary—"

"—He is dark and scary!" (Mr. Hari)

Judith ignored him and kept talking.

"So I don't think it would be wrong for us to think of him as a 'chunni brat' and thus, it's not too surprising that he gave you such a name. The Young Master just happens to have the power to back up his little hobby. If I was you, I'd be grateful that he only demands that we wear these Victorian Era servant uniforms during our work hours. They may be outdated, but they're comfortable and easy to move in. When you consider that he could order us to wear something really outrageous and we'd have to do it, you realize that there's no point complaining."

"Mr. Hari," said Edward Holland, deciding it was time to change the subject, "I'm surprised that you even know the meaning of a word like 'chunni'. I didn't think you had any interest in manga or anime."

Mr. Hari coughed embarrassedly and looked away.

"Yes, well, just a little. I'm French so it's only natural that as a man born in the country famously known as the world's greatest center for art and romance, take the time to learn about Art in all its forms and study it carefully."

Even in his own ears, this sounded like a pathetic lie.

"Is that so?" asked Edward archly, raising an eye-brow. "But didn't your family move to America when you were still a baby and didn't you grow up there? Your English doesn't have even a hint of a French accent."

Evidently Edward didn't believe Mr. Hari either and wanted to tease him.

"What about you Edward?" said Mr. Hari, trying to find a way out of the verbal trap he'd fallen into and shift the blame, "Since you know about it, doesn't that mean that you like manga and anime to?" Since he was sinking, he might as well drag down someone else with him.

"I am not like you," Edward answered loftily, his voice filled with superiority. "I had been badly beaten when I met the Young Master. During my convalescence he kindly gifted a stack of manga to me so I wouldn't get bored. There's nothing strange about a child who reads manga and nothing strange about a child sharing his good intentions by gifting some manga to a wounded adult."

"Somehow," said Mr. Hari, "the Young master in your story doesn't seem to match the little demon I remember."

"Maybe you just haven't noticed his good side yet?" (Edward)

"He has a good side?" (Mr. Hari)

"Stop it, both of you." said Mary.

"Indeed, I think that that is enough of that." said Judith.

"Yeah," said Jeriff. "We all know the boy's some sort of evil demon, but he is good to us, a good employer. There's lots more benefits working for him than I ever had under any other boss. The boy might spit poison at everyone, but his actions show that somewhere inside he's not all bad and just wants to hide it."

The group nodded.

"By the way, what's manga and anime?"

Mary and Judith also indicated that they wanted to know.

"I don't want to go into this right now," said Edward, "I'll lend my manga to you later to look over and you can ask Mr. Hari to share his stash if you're curious." He looked down at his watch, then back up at them. "The Young Master should be arriving any time now—"

"Correction, I have already arrived." A young voice behind them said.

The servants turned as one to see their Master in the doorway. They hastily straightened up and bowed to him.

"""""Greetings, Young Master."""""

The boy merely snorted at them in slight irritation. The afternoon light coming in from the nearby window made the highlights of his dark hair look especially blue. He was dressed in a modern blue suit with a white shirt and red tie, instead of his preferred black Victorian era style. It couldn't be helped, he'd had to make use of the chaffer to pick him, and his companion, up from the airport and his usual clothes would have stood out too much.

"You're all incompetent. If I hadn't heard Edward just now, I'd have thought you'd all forgotten about me." These words were dripping with distain and contained just a hint of a threat.

"No Master," Edward was quick to reply, "It's impossible for any of us to forget about you. We were just uncertain of when you would arrive and thought we'd use the time to make sure that everything was ready."

"It doesn't change the fact that you are all incompetent." The blue-haired, teen said. "You should have been waiting out front to greet me, like proper servants would. If my butler was here you'd all feel his wrath, he'd spend the next hour lecturing you about your duties and conduct." The boy sighed, and glanced at a framed glass-covered painting decorating the kitchen wall just a few feet above the light-switch. "That man knows how to properly run a mansion."

The others also looked at it, but it was Jeriff that that asked what they had all been wondering ever since they had been told of the man's existence.

"Speaking of your butler, My Lord, where is he?"

The image was of an incredibly handsome and pale faced man with black hair and amber eyes so dark they almost seemed red. There was a larger identical copy of this same painting in the lobby of the employee's apartment building, both framed portraits had plaques with the same words on them: 'Sebastian Michaelis ~ He's One Hell of a Butler.' Ciel had placed them there so that his servants would recognize his butler if they should ever meet him. However, even though it had been more than half a year since everyone had started working for their powerful Young Master, Ciel Phantomhive, they had not seen so much as a hair of the mysterious man anywhere.

"He is away on important business," the young teen replied, "don't expect to see him any time soon. If he does show up it will be because something terrible happened and his personal attention was needed to deal with it. I suggest you not look forward to his coming."

The 5 servants noted the ominous words, but the boy didn't stop with what he had to say.

"In any case you can forget about him for now. The reason I'm here is to introduce you to the newest member of the Phantomhive household."

Their Young Lord entered the kitchen and stepped to one side of the doorway while gesturing for the person behind him to enter.

"This is Meihua Sakura, she will be my personal maid."

They were surprised to see that the person their Master introduced was just a purple-haired little girl, one who looked several years younger than him. She looked like she should be starting grade school, not entering service as a maid.

There were also a number of odd points that they couldn't help but notice about her. Purple hair aside, her eyes were also purple and had a disturbingly empty look in them, a fact not helped by the apparent absence of their pupils. Her skins complexion was pale in a way that said 'sickly' rather than 'fair' and in addition to the child's version of the standard maid uniform (white ruffled Navy-blue skirt down to 3 inches below the knees, matching tight long-sleeved top, plus bust-to-bottom apron, black knee socks, polished black shoes, white ruffled hair accessory) she was also wearing fake cat ears and cat tail. Around her neck was a thick black velvet choker with a scattering of bright rhinestones. At the chokers center dangled a delicate inch long chain from which hung a small silver tag-pendant that had the word 'Kurohime' on it.

In other words…

"Why is that child cos-playing as a cat-maid?" enquired Mr. Hari, basically summing up what they were all thinking.

The little lord sneered, "I prefer dogs, myself, but I had her dress like this for her own protection and the sooner she gets used to wearing these clothes, the better."

"Protection?" questioned Judith, "What does she need to be protected from?"

"Maybe 'protection' wasn't quite the right word." Earl Ciel Phantomhive answered. "Sakura is a very special little girl and the contract I have with her is different from the ones I have with you or the others. Right now she belongs to me, but if I can no longer keep responsibility for her, then ownership automatically transfers to my butler Sebastian. Sebastian has high standards and an extremely low opinion of people in general. His one weak point is that he turns into an idiot whenever he sees a cat. Since I have no idea of when or if Sakura will meet Sebastian, I want her to always be prepared to make the best possible impression on him. Everyone should already know how important first impressions are, right?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…I have no idea how I should respond to that." said Mary. "Just what sort of scary, pervert, weirdo, is Sebastian anyway?"

"He is the perfect butler of the Phantomhive household," The young teenager said, "anything else doesn't matter to me at all."

"Right…" said Mary.

"Moving on," the boy continued, "Sakura has had some very bad experiences and is a bit traumatized. Under other circumstances I would arrange therapy for her, but for certain reasons, that's just not possible in her case. She can talk about her feelings if she wants, but not about any of the details of her past and I order all of you not to try to pry into it. Although her body has stabilized, she is still physically very weak. I'd like you all to keep that in mind while she's with you."

The servants all exchanged glances with each other, collectively thinking pretty much the same thing: Considering the situations they had been in when they first met the scarily powerful boy, just what sort of horror had this 'special' little girl gone through? It'd be strange if she wasn't traumatized in some way. They all nodded to their Master to indicate their willingness to help look after the young maid.

"Good" said Ciel. "In addition to your teaching her how to be a proper made, I've made arrangements for a few tutors to come and help with her education. She'll have lessons with those people 3 days a week from 10 to 5 and every day from 5:30 to 7 she will receive instruction in jujitsu, those lessons will be in the ballroom. Once Meihua has gone to her room for the night, none of you are to disturb her for any reason unless you hear her calling for you. For the sake of improving both her body and mind, I have instructed her to spend at least an hour before going to sleep doing a special type of meditation. Distraction could be dangerous, so she mustn't be bothered for any reason at that time."

They servants all nodded in acknowledgement.

Satisfied that they understood, Ciel moved on to the next topic and turned his attention to Jeriff.

"I'd like you to have Meihua help out wherever possible in the garden when she's not training as a maid. She's spent far too much time in a bug filled basement and she needs fresh are and sunlight to help recover. I'd also like you to find good places to plant a sapling cherry and plum tree. They are her name-sakes and taking care of them will be her responsibility while she is here."

"Don't worry, My Lord," replied Jeriff, "I know just the spots to plant those trees. But you said, 'while she is here,' so does that mean that her presence here is only for a short time?"

The boy nodded.

"You may or may not have noticed that her name is a little odd, so I'd like you all to understand that it is one I picked out for her since she dislikes her previous names. As said before, Meihua is a 'special girl' and as such, it will not surprise you to know that she has a special background, one that cannot be ignored. Because of that her situation is a little complicated. A certain event will be taking place in her home town sometime next year and both she and I will need to be nearby at that time. As long as she doesn't die, you can expect her to return here. If possible, I plan to have her start formal schooling in Japan sometime next year (after that even, of course) and have her spend her vacations here at the mansion."

"Hang on a moment, Master!" said Judith, "What was that you just said about her possibly dying?!"

"The world that Meihua was born to be part of is dangerous and that fate will never change. Since you'll be assisting me with her, I suggest you focus on helping the girl find something worth living for. This life is the only one she will ever have, after all."

He turned to Meihua.

"I know it would be best if I stayed here to help look after you, but you know the reasons why I can't. I will come to check up on you when opportunity permits. You can also call me if there's an emergency, you know how to do that. In any case, it might be some time before I see you again. On a side note, I'd like you to spend some time thinking about whether or not you'd like to watch me kill your father or if you'd like to be the one to do it, after all it was his decision that landed you in that place and it goes without saying that if it were not for me, it is unlikely that you would have ever been able to leave; plus, I have my own reasons for needing to kill him when the time is right."

Having accomplished his objectives, the Earl of Phantomhive, Ciel Phantomhive, the Assassin Class Servant of the 4th Holy Grail War, left.

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Chapter End

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O0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0O

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Yeah, sorry. I did that big rant at the beginning and then just went ahead and decided on my own to change Sakura's name without waiting.

Originally, I was going to end the chapter after Ciel finished his talk with Raiga Fujimura, but then I thought I should expand a bit on Sakura and get that over with. I was going to end it there, but then I thought about what comes after that and didn't want to make that whole lot into the beginning So I put that here.

If all goes well, the next, and main, story arc can finally begin in the upcoming Chapter 10.

On a side note, I'd just like to say that not only is the Web Novel "MY DAD IS THE GALAXY'S PRINCE CHARMING" super good, but "ACCIDENTLY MARRIED A FOX GOD" is also turning out to be good. There really are a lot of good Web Novels out there.

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MAIN HOUSE STAFF:

Edward Holland ~ Steward, likes peace and calm, dislikes being scared out of his wits

Judith Smyth ~ Housekeeper (50 years old), likes/dislikes, she has a sharp tongue, a mother's heart, and a quick wit.

Mary Sutherland ~ Head Maid(22 years old), likes/dislikes, She not only looks like a Nordic beauty, but her character is bright like a child of summer

Jeriff Labrynth ~ Head Gardener, likes Sci-Fi & horror movies

Cocytus Hari (formerly Alois Claude) ~ Head Cook, likes anime & manga & France. He was born in France but grew up in America

Meihua Sakura (formerly Sakura Matou, formerly Sakura Tohsaka) ~ Apprentice Maid

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`\(^;^)/'

3/17/19

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

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