Episode 2 Continued - Murder on Elle Street
Yumi sat quietly in the bathtub as I washed off her arms and legs, gently using the softest loofa I could find.
"I have a new task," she told me then, leaning forward so I could wash her back. "It was sent to me in an anonymous note."
"Oh?" I said then, continuing to scrub. "Is that why you've been up all night?"
"Yes," she answered, "I don't know who sent it, but apparently there's been a murder that happened on Elle Street. The police don't know about it, but the note says that the body was disposed before anyone could suspect something."
"That's surely odd," I commented, "that such as this man knew what happened but chose to go to you rather than the police."
"It is odd," she answered, "but I am a Phantomhive, after all. It's only reasonable that I would be entrusted in this. Maybe there's a rat in the guard, who knows."
"Who knows, indeed," I said, continuing to scrub her back. "Have you found any leads yet?"
"No." She stood, the water dripping off her lean form as I wrapped her in a towel and caught under her hips, lifting her out from the tub and setting her down. "I found record of many missing people, but... none of them have her resemblances. In the note, the sender put a picture of her in it. She has long, pink hair and a mole under her eye. None of the missing people resemble her."
"That's peculiar," I said then, lightly patting her dry. "Usually there are record of missing."
"Yes," she answered as I ran the towel through her hair, "and since the police know nothing of it, it's probably reasonable that they do not have record of a body. I would understand that there's no record of the body if it was deposed properly, but she wasn't reported missing? That's just odd, don't you think?"
I pulled a nightshirt over her arms and started buttoning it. "It is odd that the sender entrusted you but did not report her missing."
"Maybe they don't trust the police," she told me. "Maybe there is a rat."
"I know nothing of it, my lord." I stood, holding my hand out to the door. "Set this aside for now. Just relax for a couple hours, yes? A nap, like you said."
She puffed her cheek. "And the sushi?"
"On your nightstand." I smiled.
She tried hard to not look excited, but failed, and she stepped out from the door—into her bedroom—and crawled onto her bed.
I caught the tray and pulled it to her lap, and she stared down at it for a moment. "You are quick, Sebastian. Usually, it took my father's butler an eternity to fold these correctly. But look at you... you left for a minute while I was getting undressed and poof, sushi. It's like it took you ten seconds to make it. And it's perfectly formed, folded neatly, the rice the perfect texture."
I bowed before her again. "It's simply a thing a butler would do, master."
She started eating casually, and I stood there, watching her curiously as she continued eating.
"Sebastian," she said after she swallowed.
"Yes, master?"
"While I sleep, go find leads. I expect a reasoning for her disappearance, descriptions of her family, who the sender of the letter was, and a suspect list, understand?"
I smiled, lips curling. "Expect nothing less of me, master."
"And stay here until I sleep." She took a bite of the second sushi roll. "That's an order."
"Of course."
When she finished chewing, I pulled the tray off her and set it aside.
She shuffled under the covers, and I pulled them to her shoulders.
"Is it still there?" she asked me.
I gazed up at her, watching the pentagram glisten in her right eye. "It's still there, master."
"Okay." She turned over, closing her eyes.
"Master," I said then, and she parted her lashes, "may I ask... why do you always ask the same question every day?"
"What question?" she said.
"About your eye," I answered. "You ask every day."
"Because I just want to know, that's all." She closed her eyes again. "And I want to make sure it's not gone."
A tumble of shock rattled through me, and I stared at her for a moment.
But a smile formed on my lips, and my lashes lowered over my red eyes.
"I'm going to sleep now," she said.
"Yes, master." I watched her curiously.
She relaxed into the bed, and I stood fully and sighed. "Peculiar, aren't you? Why are you so keen on making sure it's there? Do you not trust me?"
"No," her voice was quiet, "I trust you."
"Then why ask as if you fear I broke the contract?"
"I don't," she answered.
I watched her for a moment. "Master... are you afraid that you broke the contract?"
"I never said that."
"You implied it."
"Just shut up," she groaned in annoyance, "if you want me to sleep so much, then stop asking me these grating questions."
I stared at her for a moment. "Master, the contract seal is on your eye. The stronger you feel toward the contract, the more noticeable place it will appear. Your wish was clear, and you stated it to me, and you entrust me to grant this wish. If you did not want this contract in anytime in the near future, then the seal of our contract would not be as noticeable. It would be somewhere concealed like your tongue, or your chest. Not your eye."
She parted her lashes, the light glisten from the pentagram glowing her pillow slightly. "I can't reverse it?"
"No, master. If you no longer wanted the wish, I would know immediately. You would know immediately. You would feel the seal break, and I will come to take your soul."
She chuckled coldly. "You want my soul so badly."
"Indeed, my lord." My voice was soft. "Your soul has the richest taste. I crave it."
She just closed her eyes. "Until then. You will not lie. You will not cheat. You will not leave my side. You will remain my servant, faithful only to me. That's an order."
"Yes, my lord." I kept the smile. "Until the end."
She remained quiet, and I just noticed her eyes were closed and she was breathing softly.
I smiled gently, pulling the covers more over her. "Fast asleep, aren't you, master? You were right, you do trust me."
She was quiet.
"Can't sleep without your faithful butler by your side." I picked up the sushi plate off her nightstand. "So pathetic, aren't you? But... perhaps we're all pathetic in our own ways, aren't we?" My lashes lowered as my smile fell to a thin line. "Cursed for eternity... To get close to you, to him. But the only way... is a demon's way."
She remained asleep.
I just pulled the covers higher on her. "You Phantomhives are very attached to your butlers. Butlers aren't even common now-a-days. Let alone the guard dog of the royal family, policing the underground like the good dog you are. The public knows that it fell long ago, but it didn't really. They just think you're a rich noblewoman with an entitled family name. Which is curious, isn't it? Whoever sent you that note clearly knows who you are. Is that why you're so unsettled? Why didn't you entrust me in the first place? You know I'd find them in seconds."
She shuffled more into her pillow, still sound asleep.
"As I said, you Phantomhives are so attached to your butlers. You can't even tie your shoes without me." I chuckled. "What would you do without me, master, hmm?"
She moaned softly and shuffled more under the covers.
"Alas..." I said then, sighing, "I have my orders. I will do as you said, master, before you wake."
I walked away and to the door, opening it quietly as I shut off the light, casting her a small smile. "Sleep well."
And I left, closing the door behind me.
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