All in the Golden Afternoon (Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler fanfic)(Sebastian x Ciel)

Murder

Under the Blossoms:

Chapter 1:

Under the cherry blossoms...

Blood...

"Today I will let you go..."

Ciel Phantomhive was jolted awake from his dream by the sound of his butler opening the curtains. He watched silently as Sebastian poured a measure of tea into a delicately rose patterned cup and added a dash of milk. He accepted the tea after recognising the scent as being Ceylon.

"Did you sleep well, young master?" the butler enquired and set the tea tray down onto his bedside table. "Your hair is more of a mess than usual and you did not look like you were comfortable when I came in to wake you up."

Ciel took a sip of tea and sighed. "I have been having a dream involving cherry blossoms as of late, but when I wake up I cannot remember a thing apart from the fact that it involves cherry blossoms."

In taking another mouthful of tea, he completely missed seeing Sebastian stiffen and freeze momentarily.

"Do you wish for me to stay with you until you fall asleep?" he questioned playfully. "We have not done that for a while."

Ciel waved his hand. "There is no need for that. It is not a scary dream or a horrifying dream, I just get the feeling..."

"Of what, young master?"

"That something involving cherry blossoms is going to happen soon which is strange as I have never seen an actual cherry blossom tree," the Earl mused and finished his cup of tea.

"Is that so? Then how do you that it is a cherry blossom that you see in your dream?" the demon asked, keeping his face hidden by turning away to select his master's clothes for the day.

Ciel was quiet for a moment as he considered it. "I think that I saw a drawing in a book when I was younger and for some reason I thought of them when I..." he trailed off. "I will take toast this morning."

At the breakfast table, Sebastian handed Ciel a letter sealed with a familiar wax seal.

"A letter from Her Majesty..."

Ciel hesitated momentarily before opening it, mindful of other favours that the queen had requested of him which had resulted in having to bury his butler or getting an asthma attack. He scanned the contents carefully.

"She wants me to solve a murder case that the son of a family friend is suspected of. For Her Majesty it does not sound that hard."

"If it was vital she would have sent the charming Earl Grey and her other butler," Sebastian pointed out.

Ciel nodded and passed the letter to the demon to read.

"Dartmoor... That is quite far from here. It may entail a night's stay or more if you do not solve it quickly."

"What worries me more is that the murder occurred almost a week ago so the body is almost certain to have passed into the hands of an undertaker who may have already cleaned it up and it clearly will not be that Undertaker," the teenage Earl frowned. "Since he is not in that business anymore."

The decision was made to leave for Dartmoor immediately and to leave the idiot trio, Tanaka and Snake at the manor with strict orders not to blow anything up or break anymore crockery. On the carriage ride there, Ciel was drowsy from a lack of sleep and ended up drifting in and out of unconsciousness filled with dreams of cherry blossoms.

The demon sitting opposite him simply watched him and smirked whenever he spoke in his sleep.

"Our two years together are coming to an end so it is only fitting that you start to remember..." he said quietly. "But you will only learn the full truth on the two year anniversary of our second meeting. At the moment, it looks like I am going to win the bet."