Chapter I : Ciel Alencon
"Haa…"
A long sigh filled the FRIAR's lobby and with just a sigh, the remaining BLOOD members' attentions were directed to the silver-haired god eater immediately.
"What's wrong Ciel-chan? Are you not feeling well?" Nana asked.
"Eh? N-no! I mean, yes I'm fine… It's just… Something just crossed my mind, that's all" Ciel answered while stuttering.
"Are you sure? Perhaps when Julius and Kei are done with their report, you should take a rest. I'm sure Julius will allow you to do so" Romeo, the mood-maker in BLOOD joined.
When Ciel heard that specific name, her face became red and her heartbeat rose. Just by hearing that name, her usually calm demeanor was gone even faster than a Chi-You.
"N-no, I'm fine really. We still have a mission that needs to be done. I'll get some rest after all our missions are done" Ciel tried to peace her mind and went back to her calm self, it could fool Romeo and Nana, however, it didn't work for Gilbert.
"I don't know what happened to you, but Romeo is right. If you're not feeling well, go get some rest. You'll just get in the way if you're not in top condition" Gilbert said sarcastically.
Ciel knew that was Gilbert's way to show that he was worried for her safety, but no matter how harsh it was, what Gilbert said was true. If she kept acting like this, the next mission might be her last.
"Hey, Gil! That's very harsh! Apologize to Ciel right away!" Romeo said. From the very beginning, Romeo never liked Gilbert because of his rude and cold attitude. Romeo might be fine with Gilbert's straightforward rudeness, but it wasn't a nice thing for a girl like Ciel, or so Romeo thought.
"It's fine Romeo, what Gil said is true, but please don't worry. I'm fine and it won't get in the way of our mission" Ciel said with calm expression but her gaze was sharp. After seeing 'this is how Ciel's face supposed to be' expression, Romeo just nodded and went to Nana's side. While Gilbert just stand and leaned his back to the wall, except for now, he fixed his hat and hide half of his face with it.
Now that the other BLOOD members were doing their own activities, Ciel started to think how could this happen to her. Ever since she joined BLOOD, she started to feel that she experienced many things, both physically and mentally, and thanks to Dr. Rachel's invitation to join BLOOD, she met many persons that she even thought; "this kind of person does exist".
It's understandable for Ciel that her physic was gradually changed, ever since she became a god eater, her strength, speed, and senses had changed in a monstrous pace. For things like height or weight, it was normal for her since no matter what she had become, she was still teenager.
What surprised her more was from her mental. Even when she was still a kid back in Magnolia Compass, she always bind by strict rules and taught that rules were more important than everything. Because of this, she was unable to develop any social ability and thought that normal conversation was unnecessary. However, thanks to that, she was able to finish any missions given to her. Even Dr. Rachel chose her to become Julius' bodyguard. Even though Ciel spent her childhood with Julius, but she never considered herself as Julius' friend, because all she needed to do was 'protect Julius'.
Even after both of them were reunited in BLOOD, Ciel still didn't feel any emotion. She just thought Julius as a leader that she had to follow. The same went for other BLOOD members. Except for that person…
Yes, except for the vice-captain of BLOOD, Ayase Keiko or Kei for some people. While other person stayed away from Ciel because of her calm and serious demeanor, Keiko insisted to talk with her and always engaged her in conversation. While other BLOOD members evaded Ciel's question and interest about bullet, Keiko was the only one that shown interest in her weird taste for girl in Ciel's age.
Ciel found it strange that Keiko, a girl who was one year older than her and also the second person with authority in BLOOD was acting like that. Keiko was always calm no matter what the situation was. She didn't talk much when no one talked to her, but she could be very different when playing with Romeo's and Nana's cheerful personality. She even joined them to pull a prank for Gil, with a furious and wet Gil as the result. But when needed, she could be the most reliable person.
During a mission, Ciel could clearly see that Keiko was probably born to be a god eater. According to Dr. Rachel, Keiko became a god eater and joined the BLOOD at the same time with Nana, but her progress was way faster than Nana. She was able to fought pack of Ogretails or even a Kongou alone shortly after her first mission, and able to awake her power of blood in a short time ever since she joined BLOOD. After Ciel saw it with her own eyes, she started to think that Keiko was indeed born to be a god eater.
What amazed Ciel most is Keiko's expression during her fight with Aragami. It was always calm. It felt like she was assessing her opponent's movement and her long black hair that flutter every time she moved was beautiful, even when she tied it into ponytail. Once Keiko defeated and devoured an Aragami, her expression was cold; it almost felt like she had a resolve to kill every Aragami she saw. But when it was done, her expression softens and her smile always washed away all that eerie thought.
The more Ciel spent her time with Keiko, the more she felt comfortable. The black-haired vice-captain made her feel something that she never felt before when spending her time with other person. Ciel even gathered her confidence to ask Keiko to become her friend, which the latter accepted happily, and so, Keiko became Ciel first friend. The silver-haired god eater tried to overstep her line by asking was it fine for her to call the vice-captain with her name. At first, Keiko surprised with the sudden and simple request, and saw that flustered Ciel was too cute to resist, she wanted to tease her more, but she still allowed Ciel to do so. In the end, perhaps Ciel got carried away and she ended up telling everyone that Keiko had became Ciel's very first friend, with Nana and Romeo asked to be friend with Ciel too.
After Keiko became Ciel's friend, Ciel found she could has a conversation with BLOOD members and even other persons in FRIAR like Fran and in The Den like Licca. To be honest, Ciel never thought that became friend with Keiko could change her this much. She didn't hate this change, in fact, she loved it. Even the always cheerful god eater, Nana, also said she liked the new Ciel better.
However, this feeling was also what disturbed Ciel every time, especially after the vice-captain disobeyed the order from general-director Grem to save Ciel. The more time she spent with Keiko, the more this feeling disturb her more. Also, whenever Ciel saw the vice-captain having conversation or fun with other persons, she felt a little unsettling. Ciel knew that Keiko was kind to everyone, and many persons liked her, but somewhere in Ciel's heart wanted to keep Keiko for herself. Well no matter how she wanted to do it, Ciel knew it was impossible to do so.
"Ah, Kei-chan!" when Ciel heard that Nana shouted that name, she suddenly felt nervous.
That was her, the person who just lingering on her mind earlier, was now appearing right before her own eyes. The long black hair that she admired, the white skin that almost felt too bright for her eyes, and the red eyes that looked like a pair of ruby planted into them, everything about Keiko always made Ciel starring in awe.
"How is the report? It seems it takes longer than usual" Gilbert asked the blonde BLOOD's captain, Julius Visconti.
"No, there is no problem with the report. It just that the vice-captain has something to do after the report and I have to wait for her" Julius answered.
"Oh? I wonder what you just did, Kei. Don't tell me, is it another people asking to take a picture with you or give you some present?" Romeo joined and asked curiously.
"Again? You should learn to say 'no' if they asked something unimportant" Gilbert said sarcastically while approaching the group.
"Why did everyone want to take picture with you, Kei-chan? If I'm not wrong, yesterday during lunch time so many girls were asking to take picture with you too" Nana asked while putting her finger in her chin, as if she was thinking.
"Well, it is understandable. She is the talented God Eater that able to use power of blood very quick and gained the position of BLOOD's vice-captain no longer after she joined. Also, don't forget that BLOOD is a special unit that different from the usual unit, so we're basically pretty famous!" Romeo said proudly
"Really?! But if we're really famous, why did no one want to take picture or give you a present, Romeo-senpai?" Nana asked again
"T-That's not true! Many girls in FRIAR wanted to take picture with me, and they also gave me presents! I'm not like Kei who accepted them in public!" Romeo retorted. Other members of BLOOD already knew that was clearly a lie, well, except for Nana who clapped her hands in awe.
"To put it simply, Julius and Kei are the most famous among girls in FRIAR, but since Julius is not all-smiley like Kei, so of course everyone's attention goes to Kei" Romeo continued.
"Why are all of you making such assumption…At least let me explain it first" Keiko said with a sigh.
"And why did you mention me in that assumption, Romeo?" Julius asked while shrugging his shoulder.
While the groups were bickering like children, the silver-haired god eater only watched from sideline while thinking deeply about their conversation, about Keiko, of course.
Ciel thought what Romeo said was true. Keiko was pretty famous in FRIAR and The Den. She also liked to smile almost to everyone and couldn't say 'no' to a request. At first, Ciel only noted that Keiko was kind, however, the more she saw it, and it became as clear as sky that Keiko was afraid to hurt their feeling if she refused them. The other BLOOD members haven't noticed it yet, but Ciel noticed it firsthand when she looked into Keiko's eyes. Of course everyone won't notice it, not when that smile of her appeared.
…"Like I said, I was just helping Dr. Leah to carry some document to the lab!" Keiko's roar brought Ciel back from her deep thought.
"Now now Kei, you don't have to make a lie. We're already know how famous you are~" Romeo said while patting Keiko's shoulder
"That must be nice…Hey, Kei-chan, did you get anything delicious?" Nana joined while hugging Keiko with sparkling eyes.
"Oh, on the contrary, I actually wanted to ask you to give me some of your odenpan. I haven't eaten any breakfast so I'm really hungry now" Keiko said while patting Nana's head.
"Of course! Here, let me take it from my bag!" Nana said cheerfully.
As Nana went to get her mother's special recipe, the odenpan, Julius said that the BLOOD unit will undergo their next mission after 30 minutes break. The other member probably already had enough rest, but not for Julius and Keiko who had to make a report after each mission. As the captain of Blood unit, Julius had to report to Dr. Rachel about the progression of each BLOOD unit on mastering their power of Blood. Meanwhile, Keiko was in charge of making the paper report, of course Julius or Ciel helped the vice-captain from time to time, sometime the operator, Fran, also offered her help, but to no avail, Keiko insisted that she could finish it by herself.
As always, Keiko could be pretty selfish sometimes, even Dr. Leah had to remind Ciel to watch over the vice-captain so she didn't overwork herself. Not just Dr. Leah, even Dr. Rachel asked Julius to do the same thing. As Dr. Rachel once said that Keiko has a very special Blood power, which she called "Evoke". To put it simply, it could awoke other person's Blood power. Dr. Rachel believed that Keiko's power was essential factor for other BLOOD unit members to awake their power of Blood.
While Ciel still swam in her pool of thought, the swimming session suddenly ended when she felt something cold pressed onto her cheek.
"Kya?!" Ciel shrieked as she surprised by the sudden sensation on her cheek. When she looked to the source of the sensation, she saw the girl who just lingered on her mind right in front of her while offered a cold drink
"Sorry to startle you. Here, I have a cold tea for you. My treat" Keiko said while smiling gently then she sat beside Ciel
"Ah…thank you…very much" Ciel accepted it shyly. Ciel couldn't see her own face right now, but she's pretty sure that she's blushing now.
"Thank you for your hardwork…" Ciel said after calm herself. She tried to start the conversation
"Thank you for your hard work too, Ciel" Keiko answered with a giggle
The awkward silence appeared, however for Ciel, the silence was pleasant for her. Not because she didn't want to talk with Keiko or anything, but just sat beside Keiko was comfortable and calming for Ciel.
"How's your progress with the Blood bullet? Is there any major problem with the process?" Keiko asked and broke the silence.
After hearing the Blood bullet was mentioned, Ciel somehow got pretty excited
"Yes, the progress is pretty good! I still need to do more research, but with the current status, I think the result will be very promising! Not to mention the—" Ciel answered excitedly, but she suddenly stopped when she noticed that she spoke very fast.
"I'm sorry…." Ciel lowered her head after she noticed that Keiko just looked at her intently. This was very embarrassing…Ciel thought
Something similar also happened before, when Ciel talked about bullet, she became pretty excited. That might be normal, but what embarrassed her most was when she encountered a problem with Blood bullet. Keiko gave her a suggestion which was worked and solved the problem Ciel had with Blood bullet. Too happy that her work finally succeed (with Keiko's help of course), Ciel hugged Keiko out of blue. At first Keiko accepted the hug, but after a while, she noticed that Ciel didn't show any sign to let her go. Keiko didn't mind a bit about it, but the gazes from Mutsumi and Kota who always stayed on the lounge embarrassed her, so she told Ciel to release her, with embarrassed yet happy Ciel as the result.
"Ahaha, why did you stop? Please continue" Keiko said accompanied with a laugh and a pat to Ciel's shoulder
Surprised, Ciel raised her head again and her gaze met the gentle pair of ruby and a warm smile.
"You don't have to worry about me, I enjoyed this conversation. Also, I'd love to hear your voice more, Ciel" Keiko said kindly and Ciel respond it with a blush, but she'd also happy at the same time
Deep inside her heart, Ciel wished that she could spend her time with Keiko more. Just like this, sat side by side, talked about anything, and saw those warm eyes and smile every now and then. Also, Ciel won't mind with a little flattery, as long as it's from Keiko.
"Speaking of which, have you heard from Dr. Rachel that we'll stay in The Den for awhile?" Keiko asked Ciel
"Yes, Dr. Rachel told me this morning. It seems Dr. Rachel wanted to conduct a research on Black Plague, and Dr. Leah also wanted to test the functionality of God Arc Soldier on the development of Satellite Base" Ciel answered
After heard Ciel's answer, Keiko seemed to be in deep thought. Concerned, Ciel decided to ask Keiko about it
"Are you alright, Keiko? If you against the idea of staying in The Den, I could accompany you to share your opinion with Dr. Rachel"
"Ah, no, it's not like that. I just remembered about Yuno and Asuna-chan" Keiko answered while waving her hand in disagreement
"Yuno-san and Asuna-chan, huh…" Ciel also feeling down when the two names mentioned
"Indeed, Asuna-chan is such strong girl despite what she has been trough…It must be because Yuno always there to support her" By how Keiko talked about how amazing Yuno was, somehow Ciel felt that jealous of Yuno.
Ciel couldn't disagree with Keiko, because she herself thought that Yuno is an amazing person. Even though she is a famous diva, she still spent her free time with the Black Plague infected, and support them whatever way she could. It's not a surprise that Keiko talked about Yuno that highly
"Do you want to meet Yuno-san that badly?" Ciel asked with low voice, it almost like a whisper
"Hm? Of course I do. Although I think Romeo is the one who wanted to meet her the most, of course, I can't wait to meet everyone in Far East Branch" Keiko answered followed with a giggle after mentioning Romeo
"Do you not want to meet Yuno, Ciel?" Keiko asked
"Eh?! No! I mean, of course I want to meet her!" Ciel flustered by the sudden question
"Hm~something's wrong with you~" Keiko felt suspicious with Ciel's sudden mood change, so she asked while her face's getting closer to Ciel
"N-no! What are you talking about?!" Ciel retorted
"Hmmmmm~" Keiko's face was getting closer and closer as Ciel kept dodging Keiko's question
"Yo-you're face is t-too close…" The more Keiko's face getting closer, the more Ciel's face became redder
"Hhhhmmmmmm~" Now, Keiko's face was just inches away from Ciel's. If she moved closer, their lips could touch anytime soon. Did Ciel against it? No, she didn't, but if, if that indeed will happen, it will be Ciel's first kiss, and she absolutely didn't want that to happen this way, so…
"Alright, stop! I'll tell you what's in my mind…" Ciel stopped Keiko's attack with both hands to Keiko's face
"…I…I…"
*STARE~
"…I…st…raid…me" Ciel said with a really low voice, even with her enhanced ears, Keiko couldn't hear it clearly
"I'm sorry, but I really can't hear you, Ciel"
"It's alright, you don't have to be embarrassed about it. I promise I won't laugh" Keiko reassured Ciel that she won't be laughing, it might be not the best word of comfort, but for Ciel, it's already more than enough
"I..I'm just afraid that you won't be spending your time with me…"
….
"I mean, since I'm boring and such, you might prefer to spend your time with Yuno-san, or anyone else in The Den like Erina, Kouta-san, or even Licca-san" Ciel said while fidgeting, and her face just might explode anytime soon because it became very hot and red
….
"Um…Keiko?" Not showing any respond, Ciel wasn't sure what to do
"Ciel" Suddenly, Keiko called Ciel without expression
"Y-yes!"
"How could you…"
Gulp…Ciel became extremely nervous. She was probably feel more nervous rather than when her first mission with BLOOD
"HOW COULD YOU BE SO CUTE!" Keiko squealed and hugged Ciel
"Wh—Keiko?!" Ciel was definitely surprised with this. She didn't expect this kind of reaction and skinship
"How could you be so cute and silly at the same time" Keiko said in gentle voice
"I'm going to say this over and over again, you're a great person, Ciel"
"Please be confident with yourself, you're not boring, you're kind and everyone loves you. There is no way I can forget you. Even if there are so many people in The Den, in the end, I'll return to you. I've done that before, haven't I? Even Director Grem's order, the Red Rain, and a Chi-You couldn't stop me" Keiko continued while stroking Ciel's hair gently
Ciel was beyond happy, she's in bliss. This skinship definitely made Ciel's heartbeat race, but Keiko's smell, warmth, and heartbeat were also calming for Ciel. Ciel surrendered herself to this comfort and hugged Keiko back
"Thank you, Keiko" Ciel said
This was exactly why Ciel couldn't help but falling for Keiko deeper and deeper. Everything Keiko did able to calm Ciel, no matter what the circumstances are. Ciel couldn't stop wondering, did Keiko really able to read person's mind? She just seemed to know what to do and say to everyone, whether it's to make them happy, or to comfort them, Keiko always knew the perfect words and gesture.
"Ah! What are you two doing?" Out of nowhere, Nana appeared and yelled to them
"Kei-chan, does Ciel-chan not feeling well?" Nana asked with a hint of worry on her voice
"N-no, this is—" Embarrassed, Ciel immediately released herself from Keiko's embrace, but she was prevented from doing so as Keiko's just tighten her embrace
"Ciel's fine, Nana. She's just feel a bit tired from this continuous mission" Keiko said to Nana
"I see, I guess even Ciel-chan can feel tired because of it" Nana said while nodding in agreement
"Speaking of which, Nana, don't you think Ciel is cute?" Keiko said with a wink to Ciel
"W-what are you saying, Keiko?!" Ciel surprised with what Keiko said
"Yes! Ciel-chan is sooo cute! I really like her!" Nana said happily then she joined the hug.
Keiko released one of her hand to hug Nana, and the two of them were laughing together. Ciel couldn't help but laugh after seeing how happy Keiko and Nana were.
"Hey, what are the three of you doing?" Romeo couldn't help to approach curiously after seeing the three girls were hugging and laughing
"It looks fun, can I join?!" Romeo continued
"I'm sorry, Romeo-senpai, but this is a girls only time!" Nana said to Romeo then sticking her tongue out, as if she was mocking him
"Eeeeehhhhh, come on, don't be stingy" Romeo insisted to join them
"Just exactly what Nana said, Romeo, but this is a quality time for girls of BLOOD. If you want to do it so bad, go ask Julius and Gil to do it with you" This time, Keiko mocked Romeo and sticking her tongue out too
"Nooo waaayyyy, come on, Ciel, let me join three of you" Romeo still insisted, and now he begged to Ciel
"I'm sorry, Romeo…but…" As usual, Ciel declined Romeo politely, but to everyone's surprise, Ciel sticking her tongue out, just a little.
Keiko, Nana, and Ciel were laughing together. Actually, Ciel's felt a little embarrassed after did it, because she knew it definitely didn't suit her personality. Still, if it's only took a tongue out just to see Keiko's smile and laugh, she thought it's definitely worth it.
"I'm sorry to disturb your quality time, but we have to deploy in five minutes. Let's go to Fran for the mission's detail" Julius said after approaching four of them
"Good grief, finally…Let's get this over with" Gilbert said then he followed Julius
"Sigh…I agree with you Gil, let's finish this quickly so we can finally take a rest" Romeo scratched his head then went to Fran
"Ah, wait for me, Romeo-senpai!" Nana released herself from the group hug then ran to Romeo
"Upsy daisy~" Keiko also released Ciel from her hug, then she stand up
Meanwhile, Ciel just sat there. She knew she had a mission that need to be done, but somewhere in her heart, she's sad that the happy time with Keiko (and Nana) has ended
"Let's go, Ciel" Keiko said kindly while offering her right hand to Ciel
Ciel smiled then accepted Keiko's hand. As Keiko helped Ciel to stand up, both of them heard,
"Kei-chan, Ciel-chan! Hurry up hurry up!" Nana said while waving her hands happily
"Okay okay~" Keiko answered with a salute then dragged Ciel with her
"Um…Keiko…"
As Keiko heard Ciel called her, Keiko stopped and looked to Ciel
"After this mission's over, would you like to…you know, spend some time on the garden with me?" Ciel said shyly
"Gladly" Keiko said with a giggle, and her answer made Ciel smile from ear to ear
Ciel might be afraid that she couldn't spend her time with Keiko as much as now when they arrived in The Far East Branch, so until that happened, it's fine to monopolize Keiko for herself, right? And in the end, Ciel believed that no matter what happened, Keiko will always return to Ciel's side.