Hello my beautiful readers! Here is the promised (and long-awaited?) sequel to 'Living! *.*

I'm sorry for taking so long to update this. The reason for this remains the same from the other times: too little time to type the chapter. -.-

This chapter has introduction written all over it, but I found it so much fun to write it. XDXD I really hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. =)

No more delays!

Oh, wait! One more delay: I DO NOT own Kuroshitsuji or its its characters; only the plot and OCs belong to me.

Now! No more delays! Please, enjoy the first chapter of "Pursuing'! =D

"Fitting?" I questioned as I poured tea into the Earl's cup.

"Yes, fitting." The young Earl confirmed matter-of-factly. "You don't expect me to allow one of my employees to wear clothes that don't fit him." He took a sip of the tea and smirk at me. "Or her."

I felt a blush creep to my cheeks as I, discreetly (alright, not discreetly), looked around to make sure no one besides Sebastian - who had his scrutinizing eyes glued to me to make sure I was serving tea as he had taught me (I swear, he makes it seem that serving tea is a matter of life and death!) - had heard. Sure, we were in the young Earl's office so no one else was close by, but I could not keep from doing that and it amused the boy far too much.

"Not to mention that my aunt will visit us in on the day after tomorrow." The boy added as an after-thought. "Everything must be absolutely perfect, including you." Then looked me up-and-down. "No matter how impossible it seems."

I was taken back by those words. "What's that supposed to mean?" Honestly, I had just bathed and downed one of Sebastian's fine butler's outfit; I was looking my best since… well, ever! "What's so wrong with me? Besides the clothes that are a little too large."

Though he was smirking amusedly, the Earl couldn't help but roll his eyes. "One: your hair; when was the last time you cut it? It looks like something that can be used to sweep the floor. Two: you can't keep your back straight for more than two seconds in a roll; I swear, it decreases your height in some good two inches. Three: I doubt that you'd be able to walk with your feet aligned if your life depended on it. Four: you keep moving your hands and arms as if you were looking for somewhere to put them. Five: your face; you're always changing expressions and showing too much of what you feel. I bet you don't even know how to look composed. Six: would you look at your nails? They co-"

"Alright!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms to hide my nails form the boy's sight. "I'm a mess, I get it. So… this fitting will fix me?"

"Don't be retarded." Undertaker, am I hearing your words coming from the Earl's mouth? "The new clothes will simply make you seem less of a lost cause. It will take time for you to correct all of your demeanor flaws, but, since we don't have much of it until my aunt arrives and miracles do not happen that easily, we'll have to make it do with improving your appearance."

I blushed and glared at the ground; honestly, I felt like a worm at that moment.

"Now, leave both of you." The Earl commanded, turning his attention to the papers on his table. "I'm sure there's something that must be done around the manor."

Sebastian and I were quick to obey.

"Don't worry." Sebastian said reassuringly as soon as we were out of the door. "I'll train you myself to make sure you learn how to behave properly for the Marchioness' visit."

"As far as I know, angels produce miracles, not demons." I mumbled.

A devious smile stretched across the butler's lips. "We will see about that."

I gulped at seeing that smile. I knew I would not like that "miracle".

Well, I hated that miracle.

Sebastian told me that I had to supervise Finnian, Baldroy and Mey Rin.

Sure, those three may be the WORST HELP EVER, but, at that time, I didn't know that.

Well, give me a break, okay? I had arrived at the manor on the night before, and all I had done then was greet everyone quickly and help Sebastian to clean the place. On the morning after, I was summoned to tell the Earl and his butler my history. I told everything, but gave him no names for I didn't want the boy to think that I was there just to convince him to help me get Chamberlin. Also, I omitted Darrel's existence; after all, who was I to put his peace in America in risk? After I was done, Sebastian decided that would be as good time as any for me to learn how to serve tea and the Earl informed that, on the day after, a woman called Nina would come over to make a fitting for me.

Aaaand, that's pretty much it. Now, back to my most recent source of pain: Baldroy, Mey Rin and Finnian.

Despite not spending much time with the others employees, when I think back, the amount of burnt food, broken plates, dirty and dead leaves and flowers that Sebastian and I found around the manor when we arrived from London should have made me suspicious of the their abilities.

But it hadn't, so I was quick to agree with the butler's order to supervise them.

I honestly thought that it wouldn't be so bad.

Never had I been so wrong.

Before sending me on my way to supervise those three, Sebastian tied half of a broomstick on my back, following the line of my shoulders, to make sure I wouldn't slouch. He put a book on top of my head so that I would keep my posture straight. And the worst: he told Tanaka to follow me and keep an eye on my feet and punish me every time that I widened the angle between them. I don't know how, but that old butler always had hellish hot tea inside his cup and he dropped a little of that on me every time I walked wrong (can it be that all the butlers have a sadistic side, or just the ones of the Phantomhive manor?).

After establishing my little, personal hell, the demon had the nerve to say that I should be grateful he was not going to fix my behavior yet!

"Just these matters should not trouble you much." He said. "Be happy that I am letting the worst to later. Now, what are you still doing here? Go after Bard first; I saw him walking towards the kitchen moments ago, and I do not fancy having to rebuild it again thanks to him blowing it up the with his cooking methods."

I stared at the demon with wide eyes. "B-Blowing up the kitchen? That's a joke right?" Sebastian didn't answer and just walked away. I lowered my shocked gaze to Tanaka, who was standing right besides me. "He was joking right?"

"Ho ho ho!"

Therefore, I found myself walking to the kitchen with the speed of a crippled slug as I tried to balance the book on my head and keep my feet straight.

"Bloody de-" That's right, Tanaka was close by; I couldn't say demon. "-devilish annoying butler. 'Be happy that I'm letting the worst to later.' Bah! What a- OUCH! That burnt, Tanaka!"

"Ho ho ho!"

At that moment, as I clenched my fists and jaw in irritation, I wished that Grell was there with me. I desperately needed to pound someone.

When I reached the kitchen's door, I took a deep breath, telling myself that it really couldn't be that bad, that the demon was lying to me about the kitchen being blown up, that the Earl would never hire such useless help.

My jaw hit the ground when I saw the """"""""cook""""""" (yes, all of these quotation marks are necessary, for Bard is as much of a cook as I am of a fairy) preparing to start cooking a huge, fat pig.

By lighting a stick of dynamite.

"BALDROY! WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS ARE YOU DOING?!" I yelled in despair as I slapped the thing away from the cook's hand and stepped repeatedly on the wick to put the fire out. After I was sure the thing wasn't going to explode I turned to the man with incredulous, angry eyes. "Now… WHY WOULD YOU LIGHT A BLOODY STICK OF DYNAMITE?! BETTER YET, WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE SUCH A THI- OUCH! TANAKA! NOT NOW, PLEASE!"

"Ho ho ho!"

After scolding Bard as an angry mother and making him promise to never, EVER put his hands on a stick dynamite again ("I don't care how much meat you have to cook! You use the bloody oven!"), we both made the preparations for dinner so the rest of the cooking could be made in less than an hour before serving the food. Also, I prepared the Earl's afternoon tea.

In the process, I must have dropped the book from my head at least a hundred times. Tanaka dropped his tea of Satan on me about as many times too.

I had just finished brewing the Earl's tea when I heard the kitchen's door open. I raised a smile towards the person, thinking it was Mey Rin.

"Hello t- Oh, it's you." I narrowed my eyes as I watched the blasted demon examine the kitchen with surprised eyes. "What now? Ready to put spikes on this bloody stick you put on my back?"

"Actually, I just came to prepare Young Master's tea, but it seems my job is half done already. I must say, you two did a good job." Sebastian said with a pleased smile. "Though the spikes are not a bad idea."

I narrowed my eyes even more but chose to let that last comment pass. "Your job is not half-done." I spoke in annoyance. "As you can see, Bard and I finished the tea and prepared cookies for the Earl. There's nothing you need to do."

Sebastian had the guts to raise an amused eyebrow at me. "You don't truly expect me to serve this to Young Master, do you? Do not glare at me like that. I do not mean it as an offense; you did a good job, but it does take time for one such as you to learn how to prepare tea and sweets and present them properly."

"One such as me?! Why you-!"

"Relax and just accept the compliment, Elliot!" Bard said, giving me a friendly slap on the back. "God knows Sebastian don't give them freely."

I turned my narrowed eyes to the cook. Seeing his happy smile, I couldn't help but drop my glare and let a small smile of my own stretch across my face. Bard was such a fun guy (despite his most unorthodox cooking ways) and Sebastian's compliment seemed to mean so much to him… Well, I guess I could let that pass.

"Whatever, I'm going to see if Mey Rin needs help. See you later."

"See ya, Elliot!"

"Work well, Mr. Hall. Hope you do not make Tanaka waste his tea much."

"Ho ho ho!"

The maid needed all the help in the world.

I found her in the (enormous) dining room, putting away what seemed to be some very expensive china. When I came in the room, she had a few plates in her hands and was beginning to climb up the portable stairs supported on the cupboard.

"Well, she isn't as bad as I thought." I said to myself, smiling in pure relieve.

But, on the first step of the stairs, Mey Rin slipped and fell to the floor, taking the china and my smile down with her. Now, don't ask me how, but Mey Rin's slip almost made the whole cupboard (which I'm pretty sure it was nailed on the wall) fall on top of her with all its expensive plates, glasses and cups. Thank God, I was fast enough to hold it back before anything was damaged. And, more important, before Mey Rin got hurt.

Mey Rin was frozen on the ground, looking up at me through her thick spectacles with, what I believe, were surprised and grateful eyes.

I returned her stunned stare with an incredulous one. Come on! NOT EVEN ONE STEP! She wasn't able to climb ONE SINGLE, BLOODY STEP before falling to the ground! How was that even poss-!

"OUCH! Tanaka! Can't you see my hands are kind of full here? I'm not in condition to worry about posture and elegance right now!"

"Ho ho ho!"

After returning the cupboard to its original position, I helped Mey Rin to get up. The maid was now blushing like mad and avoiding to look me in the eyes.

"I'm really sorry, Elliot, sir!" She said loudly and desperately. "I'm such a klutz. You didn't get hurt did you?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." I assured, passing a hand through my hair and letting out a tired sigh. "But you really should be more careful, you know? Thankfully, I was here to give you a hand, but can you imagine the mess it would be if I had not been able to keep the cupboard from falling on the ground? Even more, imagine if it had fallen on top of you? You could've gotten really hurt, Mey Rin."

"Forgive me…" Mey Rin said in a very small voice, as if she was a child getting caught sneaking some candy.

I couldn't help but smile reassuringly at the maid and ruffle my hand through her hair.

"Forget it; just help me clean this up. I'll put the china away myself."

After we finished cleaning the dining room (I must say I received surprisingly few tea burns during that) and I asked Mey Rin not to climb any stairs while holding breakable objects, I went after Finnian.

"Just one more and I'm free~!"

Honestly, I was almost skipping in joy at the prospect of taking the rest of the day off, sit back, kick my feet up and read a good book. I had seen Phantomhive's library and let me tell you: it was love at first sight. Well, truth be told, I had begun walking with a skip in my steps, but it seems my brain can't do that while keeping my feet straight so I was punished with Satan's tea once again. Hence, I resumed walking slowly towards the garden, keeping my feet straight. Well, for most of the time anyway.

When I arrived at the garden I couldn't control my frustration with the employees anymore. I just fell to my knees (without dropping the book from my head! Take that, Sebastian!) and let tears streak down my face freely. Bard had been an unpleasant surprise, Mey Rin, a disappointment, but THIS - the garden's condition - was just heartbreaking.

There were huge holes on the ground, trees, GIANTIC trees were tumbled on the dirty as if they were thin branches, there were a few bizarre-looking agglomerate of planted trees (they seemed like 'trees bouquets') AND there were hundreds of dead flowers and leaves everywhere.

"Why do you do this to me, God? Better yet, why do you hire such useless help, Earl?"

"Ho ho ho!"

"Whatcha doing on the ground, Elliot?" Finnian asked cheerily, walking towards me.

I raised my gaze to Finnian, who was staring at me with big, inquisitive eyes and a bright smile.

"Mourning." I answered, looking numbily at him.

"Mourning? What?"

"The loss of my reading time." I answered with a sigh and got up. "Now, what exactly happened around here? And have in mind that nothing short of an earthquake is a good enough explanation."

"Explanation? What for?" Finnian repeated, tilting his head to the side in pure confusion. "Did I do something wrong?"

I felt my eyes widen at hearing those words and proceeded to re-examine the garden; holes, tumbled trees, weird 'trees bouquets' and dead flowers and leaves. He was kidding with me right? He had to be!

When I returned my wide eyes to him, Finnian seemed to understand why I had asked that.

"Oh! You must be worried about the holes, huh?" The boy said, scratching the back of his neck with a nervous smile. "You see… I wanted to plant these trees, but they are so big! So, Bard lent me some red sticks to dig the holes-" Why am I not surprised? "-but I guess I overdid in the amount I used. Hehehe…"

Maybe I was a bit too irritated because of the dynamite and the tiredness and the broomstick on my back and the cupboard and the book on my head and the straight feet and the tea and Sebastian's amused smirk, because I didn't find it in me to laugh along with Finnian. Bloody hell, I didn't even give him a polite smile.

"Anyway! To fix the huge holes, I started putting more trees in them; it looks good doesn't it?" He pointed to one of the 'tree bouquets' he had made. "So don't worry! When I finish, all of the garden will look like this!"

MY FACE would look like this holed ground if I let Finnian do this to the garden! Sebastian would make sure of it!

"Finnian…" I began, trying to make my voice calm and soft, and not a bit as stressed and desperate as I was feeling. "I love how you had the initiative to… innovate the garden to make it look better, but don't you think that the classic garden styles are the more adequate to the manor?" I don't know if there is something such as a classic garden style, but it was the only thing I could think of saying.

"What is a classic garden style?" Well, damn.

"Uh… A classic style is… Uh…"

I looked around, trying to think of something, when my eyes caught Sebastian looking at me from one of the mansion's windows with an extremely amused smile on his face. I glared at the demon wit pure hatred before my expression brightened up.

"Sebastian's style!" I exclaimed, turning around to look at the young gardener with a victorious smile. "The classic style is the one used by Sebastian! How does he arrange the garden when you're not able to?" Or when you mess it up?

"But Sebastian uses many different styles..." Well, damn again. "Once he even transformed it in a Japanese rock garden!"

My jaw hit the ground at that. Really! That demon could not make it easy for me, could he?

"Well, forget Sebastian's style then! We will do it our way!" I decided, marching towards one of the few 'tree bouquets' and laying a hand on one of the trees. "But no agglomerating the trees in just one hole, alright?"

Finnian saluted animatedly. "Yes, sir!"

Then he did something I'd never expect. He walked towards me, close to the 'tree bouquet' and he… HE TORE ONE OF THE TREES OFF THE GROUND WITH HIS OWN TWO HANDS!

"W-What? I-I… Just… H-How did you do that?" I asked, feeling my jaw hit the ground once again.

"Oh, this?" The boy asked with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

My surprised expression gave place to a smirk as I grabbed another tree and pulled it off the ground, holding it above my head. It was Finnian's turn to look shocked.

"Don't worry; you didn't scare me." I said, letting the huge tree fall on the dirty. "Well, I guess it'll be rather quickly with both of us working together, huh?"

Finnian let out a short chuckle and nodded his head cutely.

Yes, that last adjective was very much necessary. This boy is as cute as one can get.

I know curiosity killed the cat and all, but I couldn't help but ask Finnian how he got that strong and his answer surprised me to no end.

"I… never asked to be this strong." Finnian began, turning his back to me and taking some steps forward. "But someone took me away and injected things in me that made me like that. Young Master and Sebastian brought me here. Here, I learned to read and to garden. Here, I don't have to take injections everyday. Young Master and Sebastian let me go out whenever I want to and don't make me kill my friends." Then, the young gardener, who lived the same life I did, turned around to give me a bright smile. "I love this place; that's why I decided I'd stay and protect it."

I returned the smile. "That's a very smart decision."

And, deep inside, I felt a pang of emptiness. I noticed that, even though I had L.L., Will, Big Al, Undertaker and Darrel, I really didn't belong anywhere. Not in the mortuary, not in Big Al's home and, definitely, not in America.

I didn't have a home.

Finnian and I spent hours arranging the garden. I shared with him my history as a guinea-pig and he told me a little about Bard and Mey Rin's backgrounds as well.

Yes, those three were the worst help ever, but they were also the most capable and trustworthy bodyguards that the Earl could find in this world. Needless to say, I stopped asking myself why the young nobleman had hired those three.

It was already past daylight hours by the time we got in the mansion, but it was worth it for the garden looked beautiful. Granted, the design wasn't all that charming and not creative in any means (we just used geometric shapes and followed the principle of symmetry), but we planted many beautiful trees, removed all the dead leaves and flowers and, with some of Sebastian's instructions, (yes, it pains me to say, but I couldn't help but ask for the demon's help) trimmed all the bushes. And we did it all with so much care and perfectionism that, though it wasn't nearly the most beautiful garden in the world, it was very pleasant to the eye.

And would you look at that? Tanaka didn't spill one drop of hot tea on me. Ha! Take that, Sebastian!

"Ah! Freedom at last!" I exclaimed to myself, letting my body drop on one of the armchairs in the library. With a lazy, pleased smile on my face, I scanned the shelves full of books. "So many options... I wonder which one would L.L. choose? An adventure book most likely; or maybe a detective novel. Will would definitely go for a History book. Big Al would prefer something current; newspapers for him. Undertaker wouldn't let go of the Anatomy Atlases and other Medical books. Darrel… Hehehe, he'd slap me if I ever pictured him reading books."

My eyelids were starting to fall down when Bard's loud voice asked me to go to the dining room. Letting out a pained sigh, I stood up and walked there.

"I'm here, Bard. Do you need some-"

"WELCOME TO THE PHANTOMHIVE MANOR, ELLIOT!"

My eyes widened as Bard, Mey Rin and Finnian threw confetti on the air and blew party-whistles while Sebastian laid a beautiful, whipped-cream covered cake on the table and Tanaka drank his bloody tea, smiling like to me in a grandfatherly way. The young Earl watched everything from his place at the head of the table with a detached smile on his face.

"W-What?" I managed to mumble in shock.

Finnian skipped towards me and put a pointed hat on top of my head. "It's a party! To celebrate your arrival to our home!"

I scanned the room with shocked eyes, not believing what I was seeing. They… they had prepared a party for me! They were celebrating my presence in the manor!

I couldn't help myself and turned my back to the people in the room to hide the tears that filled my eyes. I was just so, so happy! As I told you when we first met, I didn't remember much of my time before the dungeons so, in a way, this was the first time I had a party thrown in my name.

"Y-You didn't like it, Elliot?" Finnian asked in a hesitant voice. My eyes widened in realization of how rude I was being.

I hurriedly dried my tears on the back of my hands (it was of no use, for they kept coming back) and turned around to face everyone with a big, thankful smile on my face.

"Of course I liked it, Finny!" I said cheerily. "Thank you very much, everyone!"

Finny, Mey Rin and Bard's worried expression gave place to a warm smile. Tanaka's own grandfatherly smile widened a bit. Sebastian's amused smirk didn't falter for one second as he watched my tears of joy streak down my face. And the young Earl raised a slice of cake to me.

"Welcome home, Elliot."

"Thank you, Young Master."

And, somehow, it did feel like home.

So? So? So? How was it? I hope it wasn't too cheesy... =.=

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of 'Pursuing'. The next chapter may take a little longer to be posted, because I decided to (finally) start working on the third chapterof my Chamberlin's fic. But I'll try to write them both at the same time, specially because Elli is going to meet Lizzy and her mother on the next chapter. XDXD

Kisses,

RedVoid