Ciel went back to the lounge, wondering if he should change. But the vest was dark and in the dim, ambient lighting of the lounge the damp stain wouldn’t be noticeable. Besides, he didn’t bring any change of clothes and to go home would beggar more questions than to leave it be. But something had changed with the tears on his shoulders; he was no longer afraid of George. He supposed that with the tears, George suddenly became more human. And while you might fear a monster, a man of flesh, blood and tears is not scary at all.

When he entered the lounge, he gave a wry smile. Kou, who was learning how to mix drinks at the bar was being hit on by Yue. That was fast. But he supposed that he should have known. If he and the twins could tell who Kou was without being told, what more Yue who had been together with Dawn for nearly two hundred years?

There was a hundred and fifty year gap between Dawn and him; so when he was growing up, he hardly saw this elder sister of his. She was a free spirit who roamed the world, coming back occasionally to Sanctuary to help out or rest. She also used the club as neutral ground when she assisted in solving disputes between the spirit folk, whether they be between individuals or races. It was only when she got together with Yue that she came to the club more often or else they would only see Dawn one year out of every ten.

Back at the bar, Kou was indifferent to Yue’s advances and did not respond. Master Gin who was beside Kou however, did not look very happy that Yue was flirting with Kou in front of him but held his tongue. As long as Kou did not say that this was harassment, Master Gin could not take any action. Just as he was about to blow up in frustration, Scarlet came over and gently led her husband away. Helpless, Master Gin could only stare at the both of them but obediently followed his wife to greet the guests. Shaking his head, Ciel approached the bar.

“Share a drink with me, Kou. As a sign of new friendship.” Yue was persuading, Kou, his mouth a charming grin.

“Sorry, sir, I’m still new to the job and shouldn’t be drinking on my first day.” There was a hint of exasperation in his voice.

“No worries, you can drink with me after you get off duty.”

“Sir, I really think-“

“Call me Yue.”

“This is really inappropriate…”

“Yue, you’d better stop before my father finds an excuse to throw you out.” Ciel laughingly interrupted them.

Yue stopped grudgingly but the gentle look in his eyes were overflowing. “Fine, I’ll call it a night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” For the first time in nearly a hundred years, Yue went home. His brothers would be shocked for sure. There was a complicated look in Kou’s eyes.

“Are you all right? He didn’t make you uncomfortable, did he?” Ciel asked.

“I’m fine… he didn’t make me uncomfortable, the opposite, rather…”

Ciel was amazed at how even with sealed memories, Kou could immediately resonate with Yue. Well, they would need to overcome quite a few large obstacles this time so perhaps having a slight advantage would help smoothen their relationship.

“So you’ll be tending to the bar from now on?”

“I’m not sure. Uncle Gin told me to try as many things as possible to see which one fits me more. So I’ll learn at the bar for now before I move onto another job scope.”

It felt weird to hear Kou call Gin uncle but there was no choice. With the story that Kou was his relative, it would be odd if Kou called him by any other title. Ciel knew that the one with the bleeding heart was probably his father.

“I see. Let me know if there’s something you don’t understand. Father made all of us learn the ropes from the bottom up so I’m pretty well versed at everything here... Except maybe security.” He added as an afterthought. His one sore spot.

Kou looked at him. “I can see why you don’t handle security.”

“Not you too… this is frustrating ok?” Ciel grumbled.

“Are you really that weak?”

“It’s just that I was never interested before. But that doesn’t mean I’m weak…”

“Maybe if you tried taking a bigger interest in security issues…”

“I suppose… tell me when you’re following the security team. They can’t turn me away if you’re there.” Ciel finally decided.

Kou smiled for the first time that evening. “Of course.”

They slipped into a comfortable silence while Kou continued to learn how to make the complicated drinks for the guests. Ciel stood nearby and gave some tips and advice now and then but left most of the teaching to the bartender on duty. Seeing him in deep concentration, Ciel gave a smile and left to mingle with the guests. The harmonious interactions between the two were of course noticed by their parents.

“It’s like he never left.” Scarlet said as she watched the both of them, leaning on her husband’s shoulder.

“Mmm” Gin gave a murmur of assent, his arm around her waist. They went through many hardships to be together and even bear children but those trials had made their relationship stronger and their children more precious. In truth, it was Gin that couldn’t bear to see his children grow up and leave the nest. Scarlet had always known this, which was why she had to put up some pretences to keep him happy; but like all mothers, she knew that her children would grow up and find their own way someday. She just had to remind the stubborn man beside her that it would soon be time to let them go.

*           *           *           *           *

George went of patrol with Bei. It was a little after seven and there was a request for a pick up at the east entrance. Several ladies were waiting when they arrived. George could see ladies from the demon fox tribe, a snow maiden and Jurogumo. His eyes sharpened and he exchanged glances with Bei. However, the both of them gave a courteous smile at the guests.

“Ladies, welcome to Club Sanctuary. We’re so sorry that you had to wait here. We will escort you to the club now.” George said as he gave a slight bow, his right arm crossed to his left chest.

The women tittered, some into their fans, some into their sleeves. These women were professional seductresses dressed in kimonos of the highest quality. The clothes only served to highlight their exquisite beauty, making them appear elegant and ethereal. One of the fox demons spoke. “Nonsense, Sir George. For us to be accompanied by two of the most handsome gentlemen around, it is our lucky day.” They weren’t lying. Bei was of oriental descent and his skin was like fine jade and paired with his dark hair which he kept short made him look alluring. His dark eyes made people shiver with a sense of danger but when he paired it with a come hither smile, no one could resist.

He gave one of those smiles now. “If you lovely ladies would be so kind as to follow us.” He gave another courtly bow, his demeanour elegant and princely. If it were not because he preferred security, Scarlet would have poached him to walk the floors. The ladies absolutely loved his charm. They started their short walk back to the club. Because the snow maiden had elemental powers, the dreary landscape was softened somewhat by a thin blanket of snow. Fluttering snowflakes made the scene dreamy and with the presence of so many beautiful people, if normal humans had seen it, they would most likely be enchanted and be kidnapped by the fey as in the legends.

They arrived safely and George escorted them to the lounge, handing them over to the hosts on duty. He returned to the east entrance, took out another sword and told Bei to follow him. The guard on duty eyed them, asking if he should call for backup.

“No need. Inform Master Gin that Lady Jurogumo is amongst the guests today and to be extra alert.” Once Bei had armed himself, they left.

“Was there a problem?”

“You were leading the ladies so you did not notice”

The snow had not melted yet and the footprints leading to the club made a stark contrast of dark earth against the white. They walked a few meters and George stopped, pointing to a set of tiny trail marks against the snow. They were leading towards a tree that hid one of the barrier key points. Bei’s eyes darkened and George could tell that the man was getting angry.

“Calm down. I only saw two of them so it should still be fine. They were rather small after all.” They followed the trail, senses alert. As expected, the spiders were at the tree, covering it in spider webs. In the bleak landscape, there was a sense of eeriness that couldn’t be suppressed. There were several trees surrounding the club that hid an array that made the barrier. These arrays were powered by special energy crystals and would have been able to keep the barrier strong for centuries. Master Gin had hidden them in the trees that were naturally part of the surroundings to camouflage them for security purposes as well as prevent them from being eyesores. Aesthetics were very important to Master Gin.

Now the webs had disrupted the transmission of the array, weakening the barrier. This was more serious than George had initially thought. He raised his walkie-talkie. “This is George, Bei and I are at barrier array point five of the east entrance. It’s been covered in webs. Pairs on patrol, try and see if there are any anomalies on the barrier array points.”

While George was conveying the message and receiving affirmation from the security patrols, Bei had approached the tree to study the situation in front of him. He jumped back in horror as a stream of tiny black spiders came scuttling towards him.

“George!” he called as he unsheathed his sword. Different from George’s sword, which was rigid and heavy, Bei’s was lighter and more flexible. A light slash and a sword light was released, slashing at the spiders and causing a gash on the ground.

There were more spiders than they expected. This should have been a well thought out plan that was executed earlier than they had expected. Were all the spiders in cahoots? There was no time to think about this now. George also drew his sword but with such tiny, moving targets, what could he hit? If they were not careful, they could also damage the barrier array, weakening their defences even more.

George also barked new instructions to all the patrol guards to fall back and not inspect the array points after all. If the others were also overwhelmed, there would be no one to provide additional support. He then asked for the nearest team to come to assist, stressing for a fire ability user.

Bei had so far managed to keep the spiders at bay but the tide of black was still approaching the both of them at an alarming rate. As if that was not enough, they heard an ominous growl. A pack of dread hyenas was approaching.