That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Agitated 2

{Later that evening...}

Sebastian waited patiently as a hansom carriage pulled up in front of the Phantomhive manor. Normally Chêne would be with him, but she was currently working on a bridesmaid dress for Mei-Rin. She had decided to spare her fellow maid the hassle of dealing with their strange tailor's unwanted advances since she was too tired from having to defend herself from them to guard Mei-Rin as well. She had managed to convince Nina to allow this with the excuse that since Mei-Rin was her bridesmaid, she wanted to make it herself, as a gift to her fellow maid for her help. Needless to say, Mei-Rin was grateful for the rescue, though they hadn't really told her why she needed a new dress yet...

The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the main entrance, so Sebastian stepped forward to open the door for its passengers, as was expected of any butler worth his salt. He was slightly surprised to find that the first person to emerge was not Lord Randall, but the inspector that had been with him when they visited one of the crime scenes... Mister Abberline, if his memory served him correctly. How unusual.

"It must have been a long journey. Welcome," Sebastian greeted both men politely as he helped them down from the carriage.

"Uwaaaah! What a wonderful manor...!!" Abberline exclaimed, gazing up at the manor in awe.

"Cease your wide-eyed wonderment at once, you ought to be ashamed!!" Lord Randall scolded him sternly. "I have no desire to even set foot in this hive of phantoms that is the Phantomhive manor!" he huffed as Sebastian led them inside.

"I shall fetch my master, so please wait a moment in this room if you would..." Sebastian said respectfully, suppressing a smirk. Lord Randall had no idea just how close that last statement had been to the truth. After all, at least three of the inhabitants of this manor were connected with the supernatural in one way or another...

KACHAK.

Sebastian slowly opened the door to the hallway... and was greeted with the sight of Agni's guilt-ridden face.

BATAM.

Sebastian immediately shut the door again, hoping the police officers behind him hadn't seen what he had. Thankfully, Lord Randall was too busy scolding Abberline for 'slacking', and Abberline was too busy apologizing to pay him any heed. Agni started to push against the door, trying to open it, but Sebastian pushed back, keeping it shut. He was surprised once again by Agni's strength, as he was actually putting up a rather decent fight against the demon butler.
"Mister Agni, What is the matter?" Sebastian demanded calmly, speaking just loud enough for Agni to hear through the door without alerting the two men behind him, feeling slightly chagrined. A tiny bead of sweat actually formed on his face. Why was this man being so irritatingly stubborn?

"I have given much thought to the matter since then, and I believe I should surrender to the police...!!" Agni replied anxiously as he shook slightly from his little contest of strength with Sebastian, breaking out into a sweat as he strained himself to try to force the door open so that he could confess to his crimes.

"Listen to me. If you turn yourself in here, you will inconvenience not just Prince Soma, but you will also be causing an enormous inconvenience to the young master," Sebastian insisted, trying to make the distraught man see reason. "You do understand, don't you?"

"Well, well. Lord commissioner," they all heard Ciel say, causing Randall to end the lecture he was giving Abberline. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Sebastian sweat-dropped. At least they still hadn't noticed the butler's tug of war with the door. "Welcome to Phantomhive manor," Ciel said graciously as he descended the stairs to greet his guest, like a good host. Although, a closer look revealed that Ciel's expression seemed more like he was mocking them.