Kuroshitsuji One-Shot Collection

The Colour Of Death

Fandom: Kuroshitsuji

Title: The Colour of Death

Ship: GrellxSebastian

Characters: Ciel Phantomhive, Elizabeth Midford

Synopsis: Neither Sebastian, much less Earl Phantomhive would have ever thought they would find themselves in such a situation. Mainly considering that the butler was a demon. However, one fateful morning, Ciel discovered that Michaelis could indeed fall prey to something as human as illness. This one, however, wasn't remotely like any he had ever heard of. Unlike his millennia-old butler, that is.

Warnings: AU Canonverse. Implied mention of scenes taken from the original manga series. OoC. Angst. Romance. Reference to historical events.

Streets of London

Sebastian Michaelis, Earl Phantomhive's butler, had gone out that morning, even under the intense storm that was shaking London, after receiving, through a letter from one of Queen Victoria's bodyguards/butlers, a curious message that, in the first place, warned him of a series of strange deaths that had occurred unexpectedly in recent days. And whose victims hadn't suffered any injury at the time of their deaths; in addition to that, they were mainly healthy, without any history of their own or hereditary disease. On the other hand, Charles Grey had expressly requested in the letter that he didn't inform his master about it, or the reason for it, and instead to conduct the investigation completely alone. That was the only order –if he could call it that– which the black-haired, crimson-eyed demon chose to ignore. He wouldn't mention a word to Ciel, even though in a way that meant violating one of the conditions of his contract. However, he was under the impression that he wouldn't be able to solve that situation on his own. Not this time.

And there he was then, walking along the dark and eerily quiet London streets, closely followed, though not exactly accompanied by his 'research partner'. Ironically, he was a being more than a person whom he had detested for what he had been in existence, simply because of his duty. He shook his head, blew out a deep breath, and raised his crimson gaze to the ceiling where Grell Sutcliff stood, of course, carrying her scythe over her shoulder. When the Shinigami with long crimson hair, pale skin and curious green-yellow eyes noticed it, she quickly came down from the ceiling, placing herself next to the demon, without him even managing to separate himself from her. However, and laying one of his hands on the Shinigami's arm when he leaned slightly on his shoulder, Michaelis offered him a brief smile and stated:

—There will be time for that when we're done here, Grell...

The redhead looked at him with her bright green eyes, with a hopeful expression in them.

—Are you serious?

—You know I can't and shouldn't lie to anyone... Though I think I bought a ticket to the Eighth Hell* with the young master...

Neither of them mentioned another word after that brief exchange and instead they continued on their way.

They were surprised not to hear any sounds, not even any birds or vermin of the kind hovering around the area, though they decided to ignore that situation altogether. They wouldn't deny, however, that this wasn't at all normal in London, even at such late night hours. After another two hours with no trace of the possible reason for those deaths, or of new victims, they thought of giving up their search, at least temporarily. However, at that precise moment and thanks to his naturally acute hearing, Sebastian caught a sound that was intermittent, but still perfectly audible, at least to him. This, however, seemed to come from a place far from where they were, so this time, he decided to resort to his equally sharp vision. And that even gave him the ability to see at distances normally impossible for the human eye**. He opened his crimson orbs in a gesture of genuine astonishment, and why not stupor, upon discovering that the sound he heard belonged to children's desperate screams, mixed with adult voices that seemed to exclaim expletives. On the other hand, he further discovered that the latter came from a mob of angry adults, mostly men, with torches in their hands. The roaring laugh of the Shinigami, standing a couple of steps from the butler, caused him to turn towards him with an arched eyebrow.