Reincarnation

Chapter 11:

This Ciel Phantomhive was not a reincarnation.

It was his parents.

It was through science that had looked exactly the same as original Ciel Phantomhive

(Chapter 9)

Sebastian frowned at his own deduction. Was the answer really that simple?

It didn't explain everything properly. He still didn't know why Grim Reapers were running Weston College and were interested in him. It also did not explain why this Ciel had the same succulent scent as the other Ciel. If they were separate people then their souls would smell completely different.

He had been intending to make a contract with the current Ciel Phantomhive in order to finally obtain the aforementioned delicious soul, once he had found out exactly what the boy was, but now he was wary of doing so as there were still unanswered questions.

Sebastian shut down the computer and replaced everything as he had found it before relocking the study door. He crept back into Vincent Phantomhive's bedroom and dropped the key back into his dressing gown pocket.

As he approached the top of the stairs, about to go down and return to his bedroom, a voice whispered "Sebastian..."

He whirled round to face the speaker and felt disappointment when his sharp eyes discerned the figure lurking in the shadows. It was Alois Trancy.

"Hello, master Trancy. What are you doing up so late?" he said quietly, interested to hear what the brat would say.

"I might ask the same of you, it's nearly 2 o'clock in the morning- it's early not late. Don't give me any bullshit about butlers having to get up this early. It is the 21st Century you know," Alois added as an afterthought.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the insult and decided not to take the bait.

"I thought I heard a noise so I came up to check," he lied smoothly. "Now that I know it is you I will return to my room."

Alois raised his eyebrows but decided to let it go. "Good night, Sebastian."

He turned away from the butler and returned to Ciel's bedroom. His best friend was fitfully sleeping again. There were beads of sweat dotted on his pale forehead and he rolled over with a groan as Alois slipped in next to him.

Alois opened his mouth to inform him that he had seen Sebastian acting suspiciously, then he paused. Ciel was under a lot of stress at the moment and he clearly wasn't sleeping well and he didn't need something else to stress about right now.

He would tell him in the morning.

"What? You saw Sebastian come out of my parents' room last night?" Ciel hissed after Alois informed him what he had seen the following morning. Then Ciel sighed. "He was clearly after the key to the study. I know what Dad keeps it in his dressing gown pocket. It would be easy for a demon to sneak in there and steal the key."

"Is there anything incriminating in there?" Alois asked as he pulled on his blazer.

"I'll explain at school," Ciel said and picked up his schoolbag.

As the pair passed through the entryway Sebastian appeared in front of them holding two packed lunch boxes.

"I heard that school lunches are not very nutritious, so I took the liberty of preparing packed lunches for both of you." Sebastian held out the lunches with an angelic smile.

"The only good thing about school lunches is the fish and chips on Fridays," Alois replied as he took his packed lunch from Sebastian. "Right, Ciel?"

Ciel nodded and hesitantly took his lunch from the demon's outstretched hand. "Thank you, Sebastian."

Sebastian blinked in surprise at hearing the words "thank you" come from someone that looked exactly like his former master who had never said the words.

"Have a nice day at school."

***

As soon as Alois and Ciel sat down at their table during registration their form tutor approached them.

"Ciel, Mr. Spears wants to see you in his office. I will tell your English teacher that you will be late to her lesson."

By now everyone in any of Ciel's classes was used to Ciel missing parts of the lessons to see the head teacher so no one blinked an eyelid as he left the room.

Normally he saw Will twice a week. In each of their meetings Will had explained facts about Grim Reapers and Demon, but he had always said that he would explain the contract that he wanted Ciel to make with Sebastian when the time came.

Ciel wondered if that time had come now as Sebastian had found out what he really was. He had broken into his father's study after meeting the Grim Reapers for the first time and had found the incriminating documents so he knew that it was very likely that Sebastian knew the truth.

He entered the office after knocking and sat down his usual chair, opposite his headmaster.

"Has the time come for you to explain yet?"

Will pushed his glasses up his nose with his finger. "Yes. Now that the demon is very close to you we can't afford to mess up."

"So, you are going to tell me exactly what contract you want me to make?"

"Yes, but first I will tell you the terms of the contract that your ancestor made."

Of course Ciel knew exactly what those terms were having read the other Ciel's journals which explained it in detail.

"He requested that the demon follow every order, never lie and remain at his side until the end," Will paused for emphasis. "I want you to make a similar contract with the only difference being that the power to order the demon can be transferred to a person of the human's choosing."

Ciel's eye twitched, now he knew that the Grim Reapers were after. They wanted the power to control Sebastian themselves without a middle man.

"How do you suggest I get him to agree to these terms? He is not stupid, he will know that he is being tricked."

"He agreed to your ancestor's contract easily enough. He craves your soul; I think he will agree to anything to get his hands on it. You've piqued his interest- he is curious so he will make the contract."

As soon as he had finished speaking Will switched his attention to the stack of correspondence on his desk. This was usually the signal for Ciel to leave. This time Ciel ignored it.

"You are saying that everything is up to me now? I have to somehow get him to make the contract with me?"

"I have already deployed all of my playing pieces. 35 years ago I reincarnated your parents, I arranged your birth, Trancy's reincarnation and set up this school. My next part comes after you make the contract. Then you will never see any of us again," Will informed him without looking up from his paperwork.

"I understand," Ciel sighed. "But, why Sebastian of all demons."

"He is willing to actually make proper contracts and starve himself to make just one soul taste better- you do not find many demons like that. In addition he seems to have a weakness for the Phantomhive family," the grim reaper looked up briefly. "I persuaded Undertaker to plant some seeds in the demon's head about his feelings for his former master."

"That creepy long haired man? You have certainly planned this well, Mr. Spears. I suppose I should go start plotting now," Ciel said and left the office.

Will stared after him with surprised look on his face. Something was not right. The boy knew more than he should...

At lunchtime Ciel and Alois sat down in their usual secluded spot at the back of the school hall. The spot was good for private conversation and transactions.

Ciel stared down at his packed lunch doubtfully before opening the box and finding a stack of neatly cut sandwiches, cheese straws and an apple crumble in a ramekin and a spoon. He carefully checked for any signs of listening devices. For the moment school was the only place secure from Sebastian where he could have a conversation.

"What's in yours? I've got a whole load of pink panthers in mine," Alois said and pushed his towards Ciel.

Ciel leaned over. All that was in Alois' was the pink panther biscuits and a pink lady apple. "Hmm, that's not very nutritious. I don't think he likes you that much- he wants you to get fat."

He dug into his apple crumble first with the provided spoon and frowned at the unexpected taste of spinach. He took off the crumble topping with his spoon and spotted the tiny pieces of spinach leaves that were mixed in with the apple.

"I think he is trying to give me extra folic acid," Ciel said dryly and pushed it aside for the moment as something that was less important. More importantly he needed to get Alois up to date.

"Sebastian knows that I am not a reincarnation- Dad keeps some of the documents from the laboratory that did the IVF and PGD in his desk. He was probably searching the study for the riddle. I left behind a forgery, but I'm not sure that it was good enough to fool him."

"Where did that riddle come from anyway?" Alois asked through a mouthful of pink panther and sprayed pink crumbs on the table.

His best friend smirked. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- I thought you were a fan."

"I'm not that much of a fanboy. Besides, my favourite is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."

"Harry Potter aside, Will had explained what kind of contract he wants me to make and has offered no suggestions to how I should lure him into making it. Do you have any ideas?"

Alois considered it for a few moments as he chewed. "Hmm, you seduce him. With cat ears."

Ciel shot him a not amused look. "Serious ideas if possible."

"You have enough time to get closer to him and lure him into making a contract; wear cat ears- it should make it faster. You could get him to tutor you," he added as a more sensible suggestion.

Ciel daintily nibbled on a cheese straw as he considered Alois' suggestions. "The last idea is good, we are going to fail the history exam in a few months unless Grell actually starts teaching. We can get him to tutor us."

***

Notes on food:

Pink Panthers are wafer biscuits that are bright pink. (A British biscuit is an American cookie)

Apple Crumble is a British dessert of stewed apple topped with a crumbly mixture of butter, flour and sugar.