SEPT| Questions and More Questions

Normally, two types of people withheld information. It was either, A, a sad attempt to attract attention, or B, someone who actually has secrets that could cause significant damages.

Ciel was many things but Reina never considered him as an attention seeker — attention found him, not the other way around — so she could only assume that whatever knowledge he possessed of her grandmother held the power to change the course of her life.

Even though it was not headed towards a good place, since she wondered everyday if she would end up in a mental institute after losing her mind or, in the worst case, lose her body to a spirit, her instinct were high on alert whenever she was around Ciel. Not to mention, she wasn't quite sure if Ciel's request was as simple as it sounded. The key he mentioned made her ask a thousand questions. What does it open? Would she be responsible of ending the world if it were something like Pandora's box? Sometimes, things were locked away because they were dangerous. Why did it have to be her grandmother? Did it involve spirits?

Mind riddled with unanswered questions that induced severe anxiety, Reina decided to call in sick, take a few days off to go through the dusty boxes her grandmother had left her. She never bothered to open them. She didn't understand why she inherited those. The lawyer just dumped them at her mother's apartment and she had been carrying it around since she left the nest.

Now, she was lying on a bench at a park near her place, enjoying the chirping of jovial birds and the gentle breeze that tickled her cheeks every now and then. While she felt a tad bit guilty for bailing on work, knowing that the coffee shop would be hectic since the beginning of Easter break had was always been tough, but she enjoyed the moment of tranquility. No screaming toddlers who were hellbent on breaking everything in their sight, no entitled parents, no bratty teenagers.

The tranquil moment was short-lived when her phone vibrated, her screen lighting up with a text from Marie. Reina didn't have to open it to know that it contained at least ten crying emoji and a couple of colourful words directed at whoever decided to make her shift hell. Out of guilt, she opened it, the minuscule one by the chart bubble disappearing, and wrote back a short reply.

Be it a coincidence or not, not once had she been pestered by spirits. Almost like they had all vanished. She could only suspect that it had to do with Ciel. Was he nearby? Did he leave a mark on her? Or did he slip a hex-bag into her purse? (She checked and there was no such thing.)

A loud sigh slipped from her parted lips, right forearm covering her eyes.

—&—

Ignorant to how many hours she spent on that bench, Reina woke up when her back began to ache in an unbearable way and sat up, raking her fringe with her fingers. It was still bright but those around her were already nursing bottles of different alcohols.

She panicked when she could not feel her phone in her pocket, frantically checking her body, hoping that it was not stolen.

"Merde..."

No matter how many times she searched, her pocket was void of her phone and unless she swallowed it during her sleep, she drew the conclusion that it was stolen. That was until she heard the mocking chuckles of Ciel coming from behind.

There he stood, leaning against the tree, scrolling through whatever it was on her phone.

HER phone.

She leapt over the bench, stepping on the backrest for an extra boost, and knocked into Ciel, snatching her phone from his hand. Unfortunately, he was going through the creepy messages she received on a dating app she downloaded as a joke a few years ago.

Face red like the setting sun, even her ears felt warm, heart beating in a frenzy.

Despite having the air knocked out from his lungs, Ciel laughed wholeheartedly. This side of Reina, he enjoyed very much. When she was flustered, speechless.

"It's a pity things didn't work out with Pierre from Nice. He seemed like a nice guy, indulging your affection for Harry Potter."

Goodness, Reina just wanted to die in that moment.

But Ciel took things further, disregarding that her cheeks had turned into an alarming hue of red. "Did he say 'Let's take the train to Hogwarts together so I can Slytherin your room'? Or was it-"

"You had no business going through my phone like this! This is invasion of privacy," Reina quickly shot back through gritted teeth. "How did you even unlock it?"

"Well, you were asleep so all I had to do was try all of your fingerprint until I found the correct one."

The wide grin he wore, Reina wanted to punch it off. He looked so smug as if he was immensely proud of himself.

"It's common sense, Ciel. You don't go through someone's phone without their permission." She sighed. "But talking about common sense to you is like trying to teach a duck to fly. Just tell me why you're here."

"I think the correct order would be you getting up then you can ask whatever question you have. Not that I am complaining, this might look inappropriate to some," he pointed out, making her realise that she was straddling over him, mothers throwing looks of disgust at them. Hurriedly she stood, brushing her top like nothing had happened. Ciel followed suit, dusting the back of his black chino. "Now, to answer your question, the weather was lovely and I decided to take a stroll through this lovely public park."

Reina gave him an incredulous look, not buying the faux illusion of coincidence that he was trying to paint. "Really?"

"Oh, why, yes," he smirked. "It is Fate that led me to you."

"And why would Fate do such an annoying thing?"

"Fate works in her own mysterious way. You wouldn't like her very much, I think."