My first Kuroshitsuji fanfic. AU, will be quite OOC in some (many!) places. Rated M for future smut.
This is only the intro, the story will be several chapters long. More to come soon! Enjoy. :)

NB I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I wish.

There was no denying it – Ciel Phantomhive was as spoiled as they came. A ripe 18 years of age, he was the prodigal son of Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive, his father being a successful entrepreneur and his mother an artist f note. Since a young age he had been bathed in luxury and had soon learned to accept it as the norm, deciding that he deserved nothing less than the best. Being often preoccupied with work, his parents had hired the best governesses to oversee his childhood well into his teens, and had gone on to send him to an expensive school in central London.

It was here that he was now in the third quarter of his final year of school. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he couldn't be more glad to get the bothersome process over and done with – school was never more than tedious at best. He aced his classes with ease, excelled at sports despite his rather slight build, and always kept an aloof distance from his classmates. Perhaps it was this last fact that ensured that while he had never been blessed with many friends, there seemed to be a never-ending stream of girls that fell for his 'mysterious bad-boy' image – a notion that was completely absurd, in Ciel's mind.

Granted, Ciel's looks were far from ordinary. His shimmering bluish-black hair fell messily, partially covering his face. Ciel did this on purpose for while his left eye was an entrancing shade of blue that could be likened to a deep calm ocean, his right eye was a startlingly bright violet. It had always been a point of fascination for many of the people around him, which was why he preferred to hide it.

The tips of Ciel's hair brushed against his cheeks, which had long since lost their boyish roundness. His nose was perfectly straight, his lips full and pouty, their shade a rosy pink that contrasted wonderfully with his flawless milky skin. His jawline was pronounced but not overly angular, leading to a slim neck that flowed seamlessly into a lithe, athletic body, honed through several years of track and field sports. Thanks to a recent growth spurt Ciel stood almost 1,80 metres tall, a fact that he was secretly immensely proud of.

Currently, the young Phantomhive was wiling away the last ten minutes of his mathematics class, doodling on the margin of his otherwise immaculately kept notebook. It was the last lesson of the day and once again, he was bored beyond tears. He knew the material that was being revised backwards. However, his end of term exams were approaching, so with an internal sigh he dragged his eyes back to the blackboard, determined to at least look as though he was making an effort.

The minutes dripped by and he snuck a glance to his right, and then to his left. There, a pair of green eyes caught his, followed by a dazzling smile as Elizabeth Milford realised Ciel was looking her way. Ciel quickly turned his eyes back to the front of the class. Elizabeth, or Lizzy as Ciel knew her, was the daughter of his parents' oldest friends. He had known Lizzy for the greater part of his life, and they had been near inseparable in their childhood.

However, he had recently decided that Lizzy had attachment issues and had decided to but some distance between the two of them. He suspected that the girl felt a little more than friendship for him and he didn't want to encourage that.

She was gorgeous, there was no denying that, what with her big green eyes and curly blonde hair. Her face had retained its doll-like quality and her petite body only served to emphasise these features. She was incredibly popular among the male students of their school, and some of the female students as well. Lizzy never seemed to have much patience for her admirers though, rather spending her time reading or with a few close friends. Overall she was decidedly sensible, and not stupid either.

Too bad he didn't play that side of the fence.

While he had never openly admitted it – barely even to himself – he was well aware of the fact that he wasn't attracted to girls. The situation with Lizzy only confirmed that, in his opinion. Luckily he had thus far been able to conceal this information from his sometimes annoyingly curious parents, brushing off questions as to why he had never thought of getting himself a girlfriend with the excuse of school and sports taking up so much of his time.

Ciel pressed a fist against his forehead. It was exhausting thinking about such things when school was about to be over for the day. And with that, he pushed all bothersome thoughts to the back of his mind.

Precisely at that moment the bell rang through the hallways, the students grabbing their pencil cases and notebooks and flinging them into their bags in an almost perfectly synchronised motion. Ciel followed suit, swung his rucksack over his shoulder and made for the door, allowing himself to be pulled into the hallway with the tide of students all heading for the exit.

It had been a long day, littered with surprise tests. Trust those imbecile teachers to unwittingly have the same idea on the same exact day, Ciel thought to himself. He pushed his hair away from his eyes with a slender hand and shook his head, eyes going squint as he reached the school yard. The sun was shining so brightly that it reflected off of every available surface – the lightly coloured bricks in the wast school yard, the school building itself, and even off of the students' school uniforms, which consisted of grey slacks – pleated grey skirts for the girls – white shirts, navy blue blazers and blue and grey striped ties.

Ciel strode briskly over the neatly paved yard, keeping to the shade of large oak trees that were lined up all the way to the grand front gate. Once outside, he looked around, and upon seeing the familiar black Audi A8 parked by the sidewalk, walked towards it. The man standing by the car, dressed in black and white, reached out and opened the door for Ciel with a little bow.

'Good afternoon, sir,' he said. Ciel gave him a nod and slid inside the back seat of the car, inhaling the lush scent of leather and polished wood that such expensive cars always seemed to exude.

'Take me straight home today, Daniel,' he demanded as soon as the driver had taken his place behind the steering wheel.

'As you wish, sir.' The engine started with a soft purr and Daniel pulled away from the curb smoothly.

Ciel's footsteps were muffled by the plush carpets of the Phantomhive manor. He was looking for his mother, who was most likely in her studio, painting. He turned a corner and walked up a flight of stairs, then another. He was now on the top floor of the house. The hallway here was decked out in a rich midnight blue and there were only two doors. One led to a relatively small bathroom, the other to his mother Rachel's studio, which took up almost the whole floor. She had chosen the space directly under to roof to do her painting because the slightly slanted windows afforded superior lighting and she was barely ever disturbed.

The young Phantomhive knocked twice on the door and, not really expecting an answer, pushed it open. His mother was sitting on the farthest side of the studio, right by a row of windows through which the evening light filtered softly, bathing her and the easel that she sat in front of in a warm orange light. Hearing the creaking floorboards, Rachel looked up, a kind smile gracing her full lips upon seeing her son.

'Ciel, darling, how nice to see you.' Her voice was melodious and carried easily across the large space to where Ciel was walking towards her.

'Hello, mother,' Ciel greeted her. She looks lovely in that light, he mused. The sun matches her hair. 'Are you working on a new painting?' He stood behind her and leaned over her shoulder, scrutinizing his mother's latest work of art with a trained eye.

A wild flurry of black and orange greeted him. Abstract, yet eerily graceful ravens' wings joined with oddly proportioned heads; an entire flock of birds covered most of the canvas, painted in long strokes. Only in some places did a bright orange background seep through, the colour similar to that of the now blood-red sunset bathing the studio in its light.

A slight shiver ran down Ciel's spine as his eyes settled on the most disturbing element by far. The ravens' eyes were painted a deep, vibrant red that was not a shade from crimson. They were far too big for the birds' heads, seemingly jumping out of the picture, right at Ciel, who forcibly suppressed another shudder.

'Do you like it, Ciel?' asked his mother softly, turning on her stool to face him expectantly.

Ciel swallowed. 'It's, uh... fascinating...' He trailed off. 'Mother, you – they aren't talking to you again, are they?' His voice was tinted with worry as he tried to read the answer from her smiling eyes.

'Nonsense, darling,' she laughed. 'Don't be silly now. Here, have a biscuit.' She reached to her right, where there stood a small trestle table with a delicate china tea set and a matching plate filled with ginger snaps. Rachel took the plate and offered it to Ciel, who grudgingly helped himself, his eyes drawn to the disconcerting painting yet again.

'Is something bothering you?'

Ciel shook his head slowly, distracted. 'No, everything is fine, mother. I'll be in my room doing school work if you need me, alright?' He smiled at her and squeezed her arm in reassurance, then headed for the studio door and back down the flight of stairs and towards his room.

Rachel stood up to close the door that her son had left slightly ajar. Sitting back down on her stool, she gazed at her painting in silence for several minutes, before brushing a flyaway strand of lush blonde hair behind her ear. She glanced out the window, where the sun was now completely disappearing behind the horizon.

'Be careful, Ciel, darling,' she whispered as the last rays of orange dissipated into the midnight blue night sky.