51 Please, Take Your Time!

Kate woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. Today was the day the most prestigious school in the country opened its doors to allow aspiring students to take its entrance exam.

Inside the bathroom, Kate was soaking inside the bathtub while chatting with Stella.

[Are you ready?]

'I'm ready!'

[Are you sure you don't want me to help you pass the exam?]

'Let me try it first,' Kate answered with determination. 'If I can't answer the questions, feel free to swap with me!'

[Sure thing!] Stella smiled within their shared mindscape. She trusted Kate and knew that the glutton girl would do her best. If possible, she wanted Kate to pass the exam without her help. That way, she would feel a sense of achievement because she did everything without Stella's help.

[It would be best if you hurry up a bit,] Stella commented. [Heinz usually comes around this time to wake you up.] Since today was an important day, Stella was paying close attention to the time. She didn't want Kate to be late.

'Alright,' Kate said. 'You're such a worrywart, Stella. I will not be late for the exam.'

[I will only be at peace once you are inside the classroom taking your tests.]

'Fine. You win.'

Kate reluctantly left the bathtub and wiped her body with a clean towel. She then walked towards her closet. She picked out a pair of jeans and the light blue shirt that Ciel bought for her in the countryside. Since she was just taking an exam and not going to a party, she decided to dress comfortably.

She just finished buttoning her jeans when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Ciel."

The corner of Kate's lips curled up. 'Here's another worry wart.'

[That's Darling for you!]

"Just give me two minutes," Kate replied while she donned the blue shirt on her upper body. "I'm almost done changing clothes."

"Take your time. I can wait," Ciel answered from behind the door.

Kate looked at the mirror. Seeing that nothing was amiss, she hurriedly opened the door and allowed Ciel to enter her room.

Ciel looked at her from top to bottom before casually nodding his head. "It looks good on you."

"Thank you." Kate gave Ciel a light hug and kissed his cheek. "Good morning."

Ciel hugged her back and returned the kiss. "Good morning."

This was a normal morning greeting for the two of them. This habit was formed because of Andrea. She would casually enter their rooms to wake them up and give them kisses whenever she woke up early.

Kate thought that this was a common gesture in the U.K so she decided to follow suit. When she took the initiative to kiss Ciel on the cheek and greeted him with a "Good morning" the younger boy was surprised. However, being used to his mother kissing him out of the blue, he didn't think much of it and returned the greeting. Since then, the two would greet each other like this everyday.

When Chloe found out about this, she adamantly and shamelessly decided to do the same thing with her "Big Brother." This incident happened before she learned how to do 'Moderation'.

"Comb your hair first," Ciel said. "Or do you want me to do it for you?"

"Do me-- Ouch!" Kate rubbed her forehead. "Why?"

"Because you said something stupid," Ciel replied with a frown. "You watch too many drama shows. Don't copy them."

Kate could only curse Ciel inside her heart for being a stuck-up boy. Stella, on the other hand, laughed from within their shared mindscape, adding insult to her injury.

"Don't flick my forehead," Kate said with a face suffering from injustice. "What will you do if I fail the exam because you kept on flicking my forehead?"

Ciel chuckled when he heard her sorry excuse. "Alright. I will stop, for now."

"So you're planning to hit me again!"

"Don't worry, you're safe, for now."

Before Kate could say anything, Ciel held her hand and pulled her towards the mirror. He made her sit on the chair and picked up the comb on top of the table. His slender hands along with the comb, brushed her hair to make it look presentable.

Kate had her eyes closed while she listened to Ciel hum as he worked his magic on her hair. After a few minutes, Ciel stopped brushing and added a silver-colored, butterfly hairpin as a finishing touch. He looked admiringly at his handiwork and nodded his head in satisfaction.

"You can open your eyes now."

A smile appeared on Kate's face when she opened her eyes. Ciel did a good job in arranging her hairstyle and the butterfly hairpin stood out from her reddish brown hair.

"Thank you, it's beautiful."

"Yes, the hairpin is more beautiful than you."

Kate pouted. "If Ethan was here he would say that I am more beautiful than the hairpin."

"I'm not Ethan."

"Che!"

Kate cursed Ciel for the second time of the day. How can he irritate her on such an important day?! This must be a part of a conspiracy to make her fail the exam. Kate was starting to doubt whether Ciel really wanted her to pass or not.

"Of course I want you to pass."

"C-Can you read minds?!"

"I can only read the minds of stupid people," Ciel said as he backed away while holding back his laughter.

Kate became angry when she heard him indirectly call her stupid. She ran after him and the two played a game of tag inside Kate's room. Although Ciel was a boy, Kate was more athletic than him. It only took her less than a minute to grab hold of his shoulder and pin him down.

Ciel lost balance and fell down, dragging Kate along with him. Luckily they were near the bed when it happened. Ciel found himself being pinned down on the bed with Kate on top of him. The girl had a devilish grin on her face as if he found something delicious to eat.

Her pretty face, long eyelashes, clear hazel eyes, and adorable pink lips made him fall into a daze. Kate saw his current state and felt a sense of achievement in her heart.

[Switch!]

Without waiting for Kate's approval, Stella switched with her. She lowered her head and pressed her soft lips over Ciel's lips, at least that was her initial plan. However, she went off mark and kissed Ciel's nose instead.

The sudden kiss brought Ciel out from his daze. He was about to gently push Stella away when the door opened.

Andrea came into the room and saw her adoptive daughter pinning her son on the bed. Her eyes widened for a brief moment before a chuckle escaped her lips.

"Sorry," Andrea said as she slowly closed the door. However, before she truly closed it she managed to blurt out a few more words with a hint of laughter in her voice. "Please take your time! I'll make sure that the two of you are not disturbed."

Stella immediately switched with Kate and hid herself inside their shared mindscape. The strong willed personality's face was as red as a tomato due to embarassment.

Kate looked at Ciel and knew that she couldn't make up an excuse for what happened. Since the deed was already done, she had no choice but to kiss him again!

The glutton girl puckered her lips and attempted to kiss him, but her lips were blocked by the softness of Ciel's palm.

"Pass the exam first," Ciel said in a serious tone. "Then we'll talk."

Kate had a feeling that Ciel wasn't talking to her, but to Stella who was currently hiding inside their shared mindscape. Surprisingly, Kate heard a soft "Un" on her head and knew that it was Stella's answer to Ciel's words.

Kate felt a headache coming her way. The day had just started and she already felt exhausted due to this misunderstanding that Stella had created. She was also worried that her Mama Andrea would get the wrong impression.

Fortunately for her, Andrea was not thinking along those lines. She knew that the two were just playing around and was only teasing them when she told them to "Take their time."