Ciel is a famous j-pop star who has everything going for him. Sebastian is a troubled delinquent in a highschool rock band. When the shit hits the fan, Ciel is broke, alone and miles from home. In his new public school, the two lives clash in a complicated way.
Disclaimer, I do not own the characters used nor the songs!
Manga: Yana toboso
Song: Chocolate disco by some j-pop girl who's name I didn't care to remember.
Sapphire drop!
Chapter 1, By the Power of that Smoldering Gaze.
Millions of people roared like one enormous creature, the crowd almost drowning out the amplifiers that attacked the open ears with upbeat music.
"Keisan suru onna no ko(A thinking girl)"
On the large stage was a small boy with blue hair. His pale skin had been further paled with powder that made him look like alabaster, but not as translucent. Not even the fine stone could stand in comparison to the perfection of this boy.
"Kitai shiteru otoko no ko (and a hopeful boy)"
His hair covered one of his entirely with thick azure bangs, and a long braid that exceeded the rest of hair and hung down near his collar bone. Around him, other, less significant people danced to complicated choreography.
"Chocoreito disuko!(chocolate disco)"
The boy's clothes were royal blue and swagged out to full capacity. Barely an inch of his skin was left unaccesorized, save his neck and a peeking sliver of the pallid flesh of his chest. Even his face had blue makeup and jewels around his eyes.
"Chocoreito disuko!"
True, his music wasn't painfully meaningful, but it didn't need to be. Not only was the boy so strikingly gorgeous it was like a privilege to look at him, his voice was like a thousand angel's harpstrings. At least he had talent in the first place. Besides, it wasn't like he wrote these crappy songs.
The boy grinned at the crowd as electric instruments reached a crescendo, ending the last song of his concert in Okayama. Next he only had Fukuoka then the tour would move to south Korea. The boy flashed a wink to a few girls in the front row who practically fainted. Giving a great bow, and an "Arigatou, minna. Okayama wa daisuki desu!" he finally left the hall and went backstage where he could finally whipe that bullshit smile off his face.
Ciel Phantoms, or as his fans know him 'Sapphire'. To be honest, it sounded like a name for a cheap prostitute or a beloved family beagle. Or, y'know, a fair amount of both. Either way, he didn't care. It was all a part of his gimmick. They decided blue was the color that looked best on him, and went with it. Dyed his hair and all. Not that it was a huge change for him, Ciel had had blue highlights before, but his natural hair color was gray.
Ciel is a French-American boy born and raised in Yokomori, near Akita. From the time he was little, he wanted to make music. He put out his first independent album when he was thirteen, before any of the Sapphire business had begun. It was a 12-song CD called Serpentine Sky. Two singles that began fluttering in the wind a year thereafter had then caught the attention of an agent named William Spears, who eventually got him signed to a label that put this thick gimmick onto him. From there, he caught on like wildfire and he never again questioned what the people wanted. These stupid songs, elaborate clothes, and flashy accessories. His career has been going strong for the past two years.
Whatever.
The blue haired boy took a seat in an armchair that had been provided upon request and fanned away some intern or make-up artist or something who had tried to dab sweat from his forehead.
"William." Ciel called, resting his head on his perfectly manicured hand. "All if well with the tickets this time, I assume. I refuse to fly buisness class again."
A black-haired man swept across the floor toward the boy.
"Actually, a situation has arisen." He said in his calculating voice. The young idol felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation.
"I know you're not my assistant, Will, I know, but don't forget, you work for me! You have to stop this, whatever it is. Are you depressed or something? Has it been a while since you-"
"I assure you, that is not the problem. I have grave news."
"Shit, don't fucking tell me!... It's coach, isn't it? We're flying coach, aren't we?" Ciel cursed and waved away a drink that was offered to him by a passing staff.
"Ciel, your parents have passed away." William finally said with irritation in his words. Ciel sat there a moment, his eyebrows knit together in thought, then rise in question.
"Passed away?" He asked gently.
"Yes, after an unfortunate accident on their-"
"Died? Bit the dust? Kicked the bucket? Really?"
"er..Yes-"
"Old Rache and Vince really breathed their last, huh? mmm, okay." The youth considered cracking his knuckle and examining a loose jewel on his ring finger's nail polish.
"A-ah, Ciel-"
"Let's just cut to the chase here. How much did they leave me? Did they leave me the house? The boat? The fortune? That one was on my Christmas list." Ciel whispered in a sing-song voice.
"Everything in your parent's will-" Ciel smirked ready to hear the new had been patiently waiting on. "-has been left to your brother in America."
"Those... Bastards!" Ciel exclaimed and stood, now pacing around the chair.
"It doesn't make sense. I was always the better student, the talented one. Why the hell should Alois get that money!?" the boy looked furious now.
"It's also my displeasure to inform you... The company and I... Are dropping you."
...
"WHAT!?" Ciel screamed, practically at the top of his lungs.
"The company can't afford to keep you on the payroll because of your expensive taste, and I have picked up to many new projects to juggle between at this point."
"S-so, what now? I do what-the-fuck now, exactly. I can't BELIEVE this!"
"Well, you'll have to go live with your next available relative considering you're not of legal age to rent property yourself. We haven't left you completely in the dark. I've prepared a flight out to LA in the morning and a towncar to take you to the residence of your aunt Angelina."
"I don't even know who the fuck that is. A towncar? You cut me off like line a snake-bitten toe and you can't even spring for a stretch?" Ciel walked faster and in a tighter circle now.
"And where exactly does Angelina live? What about my private tutor? Did you even check this woman out, how do I know she's not some psychopath?"
"Angelina is doctor at a clinic in Oakland, California, in America. I did a background check on her, and she is aware of your arrival."
"Oh, that's nice. That's cool. And when exactly did you make this decision? How long have you been planning to boot me anyway?" Ciel spat in the general direction of the man, not even caring to look at him anymore. Oakland? America? At least it was California, so someone might know of him. What was this school situation anyway.
"And my tutor? Is she coming?"
"I only just made the final decision today. And you'll be attending any public school of your choice." William confirmed, punching his glasses up high onto the bridge of his nose like he always did. Like some kind of nervous twitch.
"...public School?" Ciel hissed with a cringe.
The rest of the day subsequent to the conversation was lived by the boy with a sense of surreality. He collected his plane ticket from William and left the hall in a crowd of people huddling to get glance or touch of him as an entourage to the cab that took him uptown. He got out and went to his third floor studio apartment and packed all of his clothing into the possession of fine leather luggage. Then, he went to the bathroom and took a long bath looking through the one-way glass out into the city and sipping brandy from a wine glass.
After slipping into a blue satan robe, Ciel went to the foreroom and sat in the dark, staring at the flame of two lit candles across the room. Maybe he could think of this as an opportunity. Maybe he could go solo, or get a record deal in America. To do that, he'd have to write new music, English music. That wouldn't be too bad. He was fluent in English, having bi-lingual parents and all.
A pang of sorrow exploded in Ciel's chest as this thought crossed his mind. His parents. Dead in some accident. He hadn't even bothered to inquire about what it was.
"I..." Ciel spoke and coughed to find his voice raspy and dead.
"Am the worst kind of person."
The problem is that he had let it all slip away from him. The reality beneath the smoke of fame and false security of money. He sipped from a bottle now, taking generous gulps of alcohol. He used to write real lyrics, about the pain and happiness around him. His mother often helped him with that. But when Vincent got some hot-shot job they started raking in cash, and it was like he didn't even exist anymore. As a matter of fact, Ciel could hardly remember the last time he saw his parents. It would be one thing if they went all over and at least tried to contact him, but no form of communication had even been attempted.
But they've seen Alois.' Ciel thought. "They must have, to leave him everything and cut me out completely. Is it because I sold out? Because what had been the meaning of my life turned to shit? Because everything within a ten meter distance from me turns to steaming piles of fucking shit?'
Ciel grabbed the bottle by the neck and slammed it and its entire content onto the polished belawood flooring. Then, he laid back across the leather surface of the couch and stared at the Ceiling with this wierd little smile on his face. And began to laugh.
"The state of things... Has gone from emotional to physical." He assessed to himself.
"Shikata ga nai(it can't be helped)." Ciel whispered with finality and drifted to sleep with unfallen tears shrinkwrapping his sapphire blue eyes.
The sun rose to the point in the sky where it drifted over the skyscrapers and shone directly on Ciel's face, making him rise from an unsatisfying rest. The boy sat up and looked blearily at the clock on the wall. 8:30. His flight would leave at 9:30.
The youth felt stomach growl as he stood and his head spin before pulsating with an intense migraine. Ciel put a hand to his forehead and felt the boiling heat there, and no later than the next moment was he tripping up the stairs in the direction of the second-story bathroom.
The boy's knees crashed onto the floor as the contents of his stomach was emptied into the porcelain bowl and pale, skinny arms were splayed about the rim. Ciel tucked his braid back and another spew of brownish liquid was spit into the toilet.
With a miserable feeling, Ciel crawled into the shower and sprayed his clothed body with the cold stream. Beginning to ease the heat in his head, ciel lied back into he tub and closed his eyes. It was so cold, he could nearly see steam rising from his skin and when he felt leeched of any existing body heat, he finally shut it off and stumbled out of the shower. Disposing of the soaked robe onto the floor Ciel toweled off and went across the hall to the bedroom where he made an outfit of the remaining unpacked clothes.
After throwing on his coat, gloves, hat and sunglasses Ciel walked out of his apartment, taking the elevator to the lobby and leaving. Outside, a yellow cab was waiting for him. A hairy man emerged and threw his luggage into the trunk.
"Easy, you vagrant." The boy spat and slammed his door getting into the cab.
The ride up the airport was short, contrasting the long ride to California. He sat in coach in front of a toddler and next to a man who required two seats to sit on, and there were only two seats a row.
When he arrived, looking around things were already quite different. In Japan English was commonly written in boards and signs, but with no Japanese reference at all, Ciel came to his landmarks a bit delayed.
One word Ciel read on a large poster board in the distance stood out to him right away. It was the kanji for his name.
A woman decked out from head to toe in red came walking around with the sign in the air like a wrestling round number. Could that be... His aunt?
Ciel walked forward and as the woman made eye contact with him, she walked to meet him.
"Oh, Ciel, I haven't seen you since you were small enough to fit into the palm of my hand." She cooed as she met him and pulled him in for a hug that Ciel backed away from and straightened his clothes.
"Nice to see you." The boy remarked bitterly and plucked a bit of red cotton from the collar of his shirt. The woman observed his with a bit of spite, but unwilling to be mad at her own nephew for his standoffish greeting, smiled warmly and told him to get into her car.
It was a red sedan. Ciel had never ridden in anything other than the transportation provided for him, so he found it unusual to sit in the front seat of a car. Angelina turned on the radio and began playing some song that sounded much like of Ciel's, beside the fact that it was in English and the voice was much less attractive than his own.
The two rode with the windows rolled down to atone for the lack of air conditioning in the car and arrived shortly upon their destination.
The house wasn't too pitiful. It sat next to two others, one of which looked to be vacant on a tall hill surrounded by bright green trees. There seemed to be a forest behind it. The three houses were uncomfortably close together, though there seemed to be ample room where they could have been placed apart. Still, Ciel supposed it would do.
The red woman and Ciel each grabbed a bag of luggage from the trunk and walked up the sidewalk to the house. Ciel noticed small details that made him uncomfortable about the place. Chipping paint, dusty porch ornaments, the dirt that they both tracked in onto the white shag carpet that stretched across the living room floor. The furnishing was all covered in a thin layer of dirt and dust hung still in place upon the stale air. The windows were all closed, but looked as if they'd screech in protest if someone attempted to open them.
Ciel sighed at the place he would be calling home for... who knows how long. It wasn't entirely unfortunately looking. Beneath the mild filth, there was nice leather couches, fine wood lining the mantle above the brick fireplace. Why anyone would need a fireplace in California was beyond him, considering it barely got below 40 degrees in winter, but really it wasn't... Horrible.
Ciel sighed again and red looked at him with concern before interruption her own thought.
"Oh, you must be hungry. You haven't eaten have you?" She said and that same smile stretched across her face. Awkward, with transparent humility.
"I ate on the plane. Fix me something in a few hours." Ciel said, quickly feeling a bit sorry for his sour tone he hadn't even meant to possess. "I-if it's not too much trouble, I mean." He corrected himself and retrieved his other bag from the door.
"Alright. Well, your room is the first door on the left. It was short notice, but I picked up a few things for you. The room was already made up as a guest room, but I wasn't sure what type of hospitality you were used to..." She trailed of and stiffly started sucking on the inside of her cheek. What outré behavior for a woman of her age. Now that he looked at her, however, despite her busty, mature physique, she was a rather young woman, not much older than than the the line of adulthood herself.
"Thank you, Aunt Angelina." He was unsure of how to address her but that was the most appropriate title he could think to give her.
Lugging the bags upstairs, Ciel swung open the door to his new room. It was surprisingly large, and more furniture than the rest of the house was strewn about in a rushed way. Just out of curiosity, Ciel dropped his bags and popped out to look at the rest of the rooms. He found a small bathroom with a deep sea shower curtain, a linen closet, and the other bedroom, which belong to his aunt. It was smaller than his and Ciel took a moment to compare them. Her's was bare, save the bed and a television set than sat on a dresser on the other side of the room. Looking at the floor, Ciel could see the indentations on the carpet where tables and chairs used to be.
A strange feeling of appreciation bubbled in Ciel's chest as he looked at Red's bare bedroom and recalled her words, 'I wasn't sure what sort of hospitality you were used to'. Perhaps she was humble. Not everyone's intentions were foul, Ciel had to remember. Just everyone in the music business.
Ciel walked back into his room and looked around at the items inside. There was a large bed with a black end table that had a vase of flowers upon it, a desk, a chair, a laptop, a CD player, and a red love seat. Ciel smirked a bit and peered out of the old, battered window. He realized as soon as he did that he could see directly into the room next door. And more than that, he could see a person, close as if he were right next to him. It was a resting figure on a four poster bed with black hair and pale features in a soft expression of sleep.
The room was covered in music. Hard rock. About five guitars lined the edge of the room, three electric, two acoustic. Posters covered his walls, and CDs littered all available table space. A collection of picks sat in a case hung up on the door, and the blankets that sleeping figure lay upon were black. It was fair to guess what kind of person this was. A person not unlike Ciel, who was fully immersed at all times in music. Or, he supposed, more like the person Ciel used to be.
When the azure eyes that scanned the neighbor's bedroom finally rested back on the boy who laid on the bed, Ciel was struck still with shock as the once-closed eyes rested directly on him. Deep crimson eyes bored into Ciel and he was rendered immobile by that gaze. By the power of that smoldering gaze.