Black Butler: The Stellar Dove

19.2

  We threw the sheet off of it to find a little cream-colored ball of fur with wide blue eyes and a twitching tail.

"It was a kitten!" the maid nearly fainted from relief.

"Aw!" I picked it up and held it to my chest. "How did you get in here? Oh, you are just precious!"

"Is everything alright?" Sebastian poked his head in the room. "I heard some commotion—Jonathan!" he came to my side in a split second, his eyes wide as he stared at the little creature.

"I thought you might have something to do with this," I smirked, handing him the kitten. "He was in the sheets. He nearly gave Mey-Rin and I a heart attack."

"Oh dear, you're not supposed to be wondering around the manor!" Sebastian ignored me. "Wait, if you escaped, that must mean..." And like that, he took off to his room, running like a madman.

"Sebastian, wait!" I chased him down the hall. "Slow down!" I finally reached his room, out of breath. "What is going on!?"

"They're gone!" he was saying, looking in his closet.

"Are you alright...?" I backed away a little.

"Estella," he grabbed my shoulders, his face turning stone serious. "You're the one person I trust most in this place, and I beg for your help. I kept five kittens in my room, and now they've run away. If my master finds out, he will be furious. Can you please help me retrieve them?"

"Uh..." I mumbled. "Sure..."

"Thank you, my lady," he bowed. "I will forever be in your debt."

I sighed. "I'm just not going to ask why you were keeping them in your closet in the first place. I suppose I'm off to chase kittens now."

~~~~

I went back to the kitchen to begin my search to find the three servants gathered in there talking.

"Hey, you guys," I said as I shut the door. "Listen, we have a mission from Sebastian, but you have to be discreet about it and not let Ciel find out."

"Oh course!" Finny nodded. "Anything for Mr. Sebastian!"

"Four kittens are lose in this manor, and we have to find them."

"Oh no!" Mey-Rin cried. "But the young master's allergic to cats!"

"And he might fire Sebastian if he finds them!" Bard gasped.

"Those poor kitties!" Finny shouted.

"HERE, KITTY KITTY!" they all began calling as they crawled around the floor, ran about the room, opened and slammed cabinet doors, doing anything else that made noise.

"I SAID BE DISCREET!"

"Here, kitty kitty..." they began whispering, continuing with their strange activities.

"I love you guys, but please stop." I laid my head in my hands. "Just keep your eyes peeled and let me take care of this?"

~~~~

I had been making rounds around the manor for almost an hour with no luck at all. Suddenly, I turned a corner and came to a corridor where a little black kitten sat, batting at the edge of the rug.

"Aha!" I sighed, running towards it. It looked at me with wide green eyes as it turned and began to scamper off. As soon as it did, I heard footsteps nearing from the other side. "No, come back!" I gasped, bolting for it. When I reached the kitten at last, it was too late to run, and nowhere to hide it. I looked around frantically, then seeing no other option, made a rash decision.

Ciel found me standing up a bit too straight and smiling a bit too brightly, my hands folded in front of me.

"Good afternoon, Estella," he greeted me.

"Afternoon," I nodded back. "How did your morning lessons go?"

"Alright, I suppose. And you?"

"I'm doing great," I squirmed a little, feeling the kitten move between my knees. A little claw stuck into my leg, making me cringe. "Jst grrrreat!

He narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"What do you—" The kitten meowed. There was a short silence as his eyes winded. "Meow...en?" I attempted to cover it, then began coughing as my face turned bright red.

Ciel continued to look at me in utter confusion, his mouth slightly open, then sneezed. He then sighed and shook his head. "Never mind. I'm going back to my study. Just... go get some rest and never ingest anything Lau gives you for now on, alright?"

"Sure, of course!" I laughed nervously. Once he turned the corner, I pulled the kitten off the underpart of my skirt and returned it to Sebastian's room.

"Two down, three to go..."

~~~~