Not Her: Dagger x Reader [Story: Ch. 2]

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About a year and a half later
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You walked up to entrance gate. Looking up at the sign above you, you smiled.

Noah's Ark Circus

When you first came here with the others about a year and a half ago, you stayed the night and the next day to help with backstage stuff since Beast wasn't able to. Joker even let you stay for the show that night, free of charge. Ever since then, you've come to help them whenever they were in London, or a close enough distance you could travel to. Joker loved having the extra set of hands, as it got everything done just that much quicker.

They wouldn't be opening the gates to the public for a few more hours. You were about to start jiggling some of the bars when you saw Jumbo not far away, "Hey! Jumbo!"

He looked up and started walking towards. Once you were in he shut the gates back, "You're here early."

"Ciel told me I could go on and leave if I wanted. He really doesn't have anything important going on today anyways." You said. Ciel didn't mind letting you come here as long as you could do your job at the manor just as good as usual. Thankfully, you've kept up your end. You would hate not being allowed to help out anymore.

He chuckled and pointed to a nearby tent, "Joker's in there."

"Thanks Jumbo." You said before running off. You opened the flap to see Joker with his head in one of the boxes, "Um, Joker?"

You had apparently starled him a little, seeing as he quickly jumped up and looked at you, flashing his boyish grin, "Hey! You're here!"

"I'm here!" You said, returning the smile, "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly were you doing?"

"Snake was letting his friends roam the grounds some. They freaked some of the newcomers out, so now we're trying to find them all. Only missing one now." Joker answered.

"Is the one that's still missing Goethe?" You asked.

Joker looked amazed, "Yeah! How'd ya know?"

You pointed to Joker's feet. He looked down to find Goethe staring up at him. You laughed, "He's been there the whole time."

"And this is why we need you here." Joker said, picking Goethe up. He looked the snake in its eyes, "Now, let's go return you."

You and Joker left to go find Snake. Goethe kept trying to squirm out of Joker's grasp, but he kept a tight hold on him. You reached over and pet the reptiles head, "So what do you have for me to do today?"

"Hm..." Joker thought for a bit, "You could help watch over the newcomers while they're training. Answer questions, help with finding what they need. Stuff like that. Nothing you haven't done before."

You nodded, "I'll head on over to the pratice tent then."

"Training won't start for another hour. Just hang out till then." Joker said.

"Ok." You said. You left Joker to go find something to pass the time with. After being here so many times you've learned the main format of how they set things up, so you don't get lost anymore. Much.

As you passed by a small clearing, you noticed a familiar figure. You waved at him, "Dagger!"

He turned around and waved back before motioning you over, "I wasn't expecting you here till later."

"Yeah, I seem to be getting that a lot today." You said, walking over to him. You noticed the practice board he had set up, "You practicing?"

"Yep." He said, tossing a knife at the board. It hit dead center, "So what does Joker have you doing?"

"Overseeing the newbies. But that won't start for about an hour. I've got nothing until then." You said.

"Nothing?" He asked.

"Nothing."

He held one of his knife out to you, "Wanna learn knife throwing?"

"K-Knife throwing?" You barely trusted yourself eating with a knife, but throwing them? You just knew your clumsiness would turn this into a disaster.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Dagger said, holding the knife out to you more.

You knew you shouldn't, but he just looked so eager. You couldn't say no to him. Sighing, you grabbed the knife, "Fine. But when I kill someone, it's on you."

He laughed, "Deal." He pulled out another knife and held it at your eye level, "Now mimic how I'm holding it."

You copied his finger positions the best you could, "Like this?"

"Loosen your grip some. If you hold it too tight, it won't go as far." He put the knife he had up and started fiddling with your fingers. You slightly blushed at the sudden contact with him, but let him move you fingers. He grabbed your elbow, bending it at the right angle, then moved your wrist back some. He smiled down at you, "Now, when you toss it, flick your wrist forward at the same time you move your arm. By doing that, not only will it go further, but it also makes it do a cool looking spin."

You quickly looked away to try and hide your spreading blush, "So do I get to throw it now?"

Dagger took a step back, "Go ahead."

You looked at the pratice board he had set up. It was just a regular wooden board that had a target painted on it. Dagger had set it about thirty feet away, which though extremely simple to hit for him, seemed near impossible to you. You yanked your arm forward, flicking your wrist like Dagger said, and let go of the knife. It spun past the board and landed about five feet behind it on the right side.

You pouted and Dagger stuck an arm around your shoulders, "Don't sweat it [Name]. Try again." He handed you another knife.

"Hey! Whatcha two up to?" You heard Joker call. You turned to see him walking up to you two.

"Trying to teach [Name] knife throwing." Dagger replied.

"Ok, I have two questions. First, did you find Snake?" You asked.

"Yep. Goethe was returned safe and sound." Joker said.

"Two." You paused for a second, "What's up with that ridiculous hat?"

"What, this old thing?" Joker pointed to the top hat he was wearing, "Found it one of the prop boxes earlier. Like it?"

"Well, it's just as vibrant as you are." You said.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment." He chuckled and turned to leave, "I'll let you two keep working. Later."

Dagger put a hand on your shoulder, "Alright, let's get back to it."

You nodded and started practicing again. You tossed three more knives, none of which hit the target. Well, one did, but it hit with the handle, so it didn't stick. One went into a nearby tree and the other hit Joker's hat when he was walking by with Doll, sticking the hat to the tent.

"You know, if you really didn't like the hat, you could've just said so." He said, pulling the hat off the tent while Doll was laughing at him.

You and Dagger burst out laughing as well. Dagger looked at you, "At least you hit something."

"Hey! I hit the target!" You protested.

"With the handle. It doesn't count if it doesn't stick." Dagger said, pulling out another knife and handing it to you. You pulled your arm back and got ready to toss it when Dagger grabbed your hand again, "You're still holding it too tight."

"Sorry." You said. Dagger positioned your fingers correctly and nodded at you to go ahead. You swung your arm and felt the knife leave your hand. You watched it it spin towards the target until it finally hit it, blade in. Though it still didn't make it in the ring, you were still excited that you hit the board with the right end of the knife, "Dagger, I got it!"

You looked up at him and saw that he wasn't even paying attention. He was looking over your shoulder at something, "What? Oh! That's great [Name]! Here." He handed you all the knives he had with him, "You keep praticing. I'll be right back."

"Huh?" You looked up at him confused.

"Big Sis! Wait up!" Dagger yelled, running off.

You looked behind you and saw that Beast was walking out of the practice tent and Dagger running after her. You sighed and looked at the knives in your hand. This happened everytime. You and Dagger would be doing something, just the two of you, then Beast would walk by and Dagger would tell you he'll be right back. He never comes back. Sometimes Beast wouldn't even be in the area, somebody would mention her being in the practice tent or something and Dagger would make up some silly excuse to go see her.

You dropped the knives by the practice board and began to walk towards the exit. You were so consumed in your thoughts, you didn't notice Joker running after you.

"[Name]!" He said. You shook your head and looked at him, "Where are you going?"

"Home." You said, "I just don't feel like being here today."

"But it looked like you and Dagger were having fun." Joker said.

"Yeah. We were." You said.

Joker seemed to catch on to what you were saying. He gave you a pitying look, "Oh. Then go on ahead."

"Are you sure? Cause if you really need me to stay-"

"It's perfectly fine. Go on home." Joker smiled at you. He was the only person who knew about your crush on Dagger. No one else at the circus, no one at the Phantomhives. Just Joker.

You went up and hugged him, "Thanks."

"You will come back tomorrow though, right? We're only here for a couple of days and I want you to see the show at least once." Joker said, hugging you back.

You chuckled, "I will."

With that, he let you go and and you made your way back the manor.