22 V. I Chapter 19: Deteriorating

The next week passed without incident, the Rose Branch building opening and work beginning. Out of the six work days, Ciel was late for two of them, always showing up slightly disheveled and a bit pale.

Whenever an employee asked what was wrong, he just brushed the question off with a smile.

"Ciel, what should we do for-- whoa! Are you okay?" exclaimed Laksa.

Ciel looked up from where his head had been resting on the desk. "Y-yes , fine. Everything's fine."

Laksa shook his head. "I'm not buying it. I'm calling Jaeyline to send someone over to take your place. You obviously need some sort of help, what kind, I'm not sure."

As Laksa turned to walk away, a hand closed around his wrist with an iron grip.

"Don't. Please."

It pained Laksa to see Ciel in this state, and not know why. Laksa's eyes went to the hand grasping his, eyes widening as he saw a fresh rope burn, the skin pink. His eyes narrowed, grabbing Ciel's hand and forcing the sleeve of the shirt up, revealing red marks crisscrossing over his arm and disappearing beneath the rest of the shirt.

Ciel quickly took back his arm, covering the wounds with the sleeve once again. "I told you I was fine," he repeated.

"Is it that woman?" asked Laksa.

"It doesn't matter."

"No, it does--"

"That's enough, Laksa. You don't get to step into my life and start telling me what to do. I know what I'm doing, and I know if you try to step in, it will only get worse," snapped Ciel. "I've been through this before, and I know the best way to deal with it. I just need everyone else to mind their own business and carry on with life."

Laksa looked at Ciel with worried eyes. This behavior of his... it was almost self-destructive. As much as Laksa wanted to do something, he knew that if he pried any more, he might permanently hurt Ciel.

"Very well," replied Laksa. "Let me know if you need anything. I'll be in my office."

Ciel just put his head back on the desk, unable to do anything due to the aching of his body. He didn't want to snap at Laksa, but it was the only way to keep him away from the problem. Ciel knew first hand that whoever tried to stop his mother would end up dead, and he wasn't going to be separated with Laksa again.

The office door opened again, footsteps walking right up to the desk.

Ciel barely had the strength to look up at Laksa as his brother took the pile of papers from the desk, carrying them into his own office. Ciel smiled to himself. Even when pissed, Laksa would still help him in whatever way he could.

"Get some rest," his brother called from the other office.

Ciel closed his eyes. Maybe... just this once, he would let the work be carried by another, and rest.

.

"You look surprisingly happy."

"It's because you're leaving soon for America," Jaeyline replied.

Orion sighed. "That's not it. It's because today is the day that Michaelis boy is coming in with his report, right?"

Jaeyline just laughed.

"Speaking of, how is that new assistant?" asked Ina.

"Well... he's someone Ciel recommended, and someone I'd met before. He's... kind of like a robot," said Jaeyline. She'd been surprised to see Denis' name on the list, along with his contact info. When she'd called him to see if he wanted the job, he'd sworn at Ciel for putting his name on the list to begin with, but agreed to serve as her personal assistant, if only so he could get Ciel to owe him one later.

"Got to go! The office opens in ten," called Jaeyline, swinging her bag over her shoulder before hopping down the steps of her manor and into the car.

Once she got to the building, she ran into the elevator and began the accent up to the top floor, where her office resided.

"Good morning, Miss Jaeyline," said Denis as she walked through his office to get to hers.

"Good morning," replied Jaeyline as she pushed the glass doors open, walking around her desk and plopping down in the chair. She checked the clock, noting Ciel would be there within ten minutes, before pulling out her laptop from her back, opening her email and skimming through them, picking out the primary ones and responding. She got through seventeen before her doors opened.

"Miss Jaeyline, Ciel is here to see you."

Jaeyline nodded, trying not to look eager as she closed her laptop and sat up straight. "Come in," she called.

Ciel stepped into the room, his clothes immaculate.

However, Jaeyline could see a slight slump in his shoulders, either from tiredness or something else, she didn't know. She could also tell he was moving a bit more stiff than he normally did. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Ciel just nodded, smiling. "Of course, Chairwoman Jaeyline. I came in today to deliver my report. After this, I will go back to the Rose Branch and continue work."

Jaeyline nodded, though she could feel something different about Ciel. He was almost more subdued. Though he was never an emotional guy, his words normally had depth to them, but today they sounded more flat, monotone, without feeling. She took the papers from Ciel, flipping through them as Ciel watched.

Two minute s later, Jaeyline just sighed and nodded. "Perfect," she said, looking up and smiling. "Just like always."

Ciel just nodded. "Am I dismissed?"

Jaeyline was slightly surprised, but agreed. "Yes. Thank you for your work, Ciel."

"It's not a problem, Chairwoman Jaeyline." Ciel walked out of the office without another word.

Slightly confused, Jaeyline called Denis in her office. "Is it just me, or does he seem slightly off?" she asked once Denis had taken the seat in front of her.

"It's not just you," agreed Denis. "He's definitely acting a bit strange." He frowned.

"Is there any reason why this might be?" asked Jaeyline.

Denis paused, before saying, "There might be. Ciel's been having family troubles lately, and that might be what's bothering him. His family had always been a bit of a mess, and since his mother returned, he's been under a large amount of stress. That mixed with the new responsibility of the new branch might be giving him a bit of fatigue, which, in itself is astounding. I know as a fact Ciel keeps a very strict body regiment."

Jaeyline nodded. She'd heard Laksa talking about family problems before, but could it really have gotten that bad? But... from what she'd been able to pick up, neither of them seemed that close with their parents. Jaeyline chewed on her lip. Nothing was adding up.

"I suggest you don't dig too far into this," Denis said, interrupting her thinking.

She looked up. "Why is that?"

"Because nothing good comes out of getting involved with the Michaelis and Jackson families. Your life will turn from this into a life of fearing for your life and running across the world. And if they find you, they'll kill you without a single heartbeat of hesitation."

"You say this almost as if you have experience," Jaeyline said, throwing the bait out.

Denis just nodded. "I do. And I barely got out alive. You should know by now that you know close to nothing about us, Jaeyline Cordelia. You should know by now that we are all too good at wearing masks, and you only see what we want you to." Denis stood, exiting her office without another word.

Jaeyline stared after him, fists clenched in her lap. He was right, ultimately. She knew nothing about them, and though she knew a bit more about Ciel, she knew there was even more under what he'd let her see.

Ciel was like an iceberg, while what you see above is massive, it's almost twice as large under the surface. What she knew, was only a small percentage of what was under what she saw.

Jaeyline turned in her chair, staring through the window-wall, gazing across the city to the towering building where Ciel was now President. "What are you hiding from me?"

.

Enda moved through the crowd, dressed as a small girl with brown pigtails, a school uniform over his frame. He saw glimpses of newspapers as he moved, eyes catching a page in the middle with a grid of different faces, the title reading "WANTED: ASSASSIN KNOWN AS LOLITA". He bit back a laugh. He was the best undercover operations assassin in the business. If he didn't want them finding him, they wouldn't.

Enda's eyes fastened on a businessman walking ahead, the target. Enda started running, wearing a face of panic. "Oh, no! I'm going to be late!" he fretted, darting forward. His hand moved to the jade pendant attached to the schoolbag, undoing the thin wire from the loop.

As Enda rushed by the man, his hand flashed out, the thin wire wrapping around the man's neck, and with Enda's next step, the wire cut into his flesh, severing his head from his body with every running step Enda took away from him.

Enda pulled the wire back to him and continued, just another student who slept too late, but once he hailed a taxi, he pulled off the extensions in his hair, re-wrapping the thin wire.

"Ciel's little present really helps, doesn't it?" asked Jerry from the drivers seat.

"Definitely," replied Enda, twirling the tasseled pendant with his finger.

"You're going to have to be more careful, since they updated your wanted pictures," said Jerry.

Enda snorted. "No, I'm not. I'm not just an undercover assassin, Jerry. I'm a special effects makeup artist. I can turn a man into a woman, and a woman into a man, and an animal into a person." Enda smirked out the window. "I have nothing to be afraid of."

"Except for Ciel's mother."

"Except for that," agreed Enda. "The party is coming up. Just a week away."

"Are you sure you'll be okay just the two of you?"

Enda nodded. "Assuredly. I'll do everything in my power to make sure Ciel doesn't get hurt again."

Jerry glanced at Enda through the mirror. "You know that when dealing with that woman, your power, your best, will most likely not be enough to stop her, right?"

Enda nodded again, this time a bit sadly. "I'm fully prepared. I just want Ciel to be happy."

"As do we all."

.

Once Ciel got to the office, he went to the bathroom, a roll of bandages in his hand. He pulled back the collar of his shirt, revealing finger-shaped bruises across his throat. He winced as he lightly brushed them, sending a fierce burn across the marks.

The door opened, and a man who worked on the floor walked in. "Good morning, President Michaelis."

"G- good morning," Ciel replied, his voice scratchy.

"Are you okay, President?" the man asked, pausing from his walk to the stall and instead moving closer to Ciel.

"I'm fine, thank you. Please keep up the good work," Ciel said, slightly rushed, turning so the man couldn't see the long bruises.

"Very well, President." The man continued, but once he opened the stall door to wash his hands, he caught a glimpse of the long, blooming bruises along Ciel's neck. The man silently washed his hands before leaving, but as soon as he sat down, he whispered to the person next to him, "You know..."

Ciel wrapped his neck with the bandages, to cover the purple and blue splotches, before returning to work. When he walked past Laksa's desk, Laksa looked up, saw the bandages, and clenched his hand, but did not call out.

Ciel walked into his office, plopping down and beginning on the paperwork in front of him. Halfway through the first paper, he paused, picking up his phone and dialing one of the contacts.

"Hello?"

"Yes, sorry for calling you out of the blue, Dr. Ishida," said Ciel.

"What can I do for you?" Ishida asked.

"Can you move back my appointment with you? One week from now?"

"I can, but are you sure? You'll be fine till then?"

"Yes, Dr. Ishida."

"Did something happen? Or is something going to happen?"

"I'll leave that for you to descide," Ciel replied. "Goodbye, Doctor." He hung up, setting his phone down and resting his head on the edge of the desk. One week. That was all he had.