A Romance of Ones and Zeroes
By: Neko-chan
Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji, as awesome as it would be otherwise. I am making no profit off of this story. Cupids-Arrow[dot]net is, to my knowledge, my own creation. If any dating site pops up with that name anytime soon, be sure to tell me so that I can collect royalties for name use. -laughs-
Summary: [AU (kinda); modern times] On Ciel's eighteenth birthday, the Phantomhive heir decided to make a profile on a dating site in an act of boredom and a desire for something new. Needless to say, Ciel got more than he bargained for.
WARNING: This story will eventually be bumped up from a 'T' rating to an 'M.' The bumping-up won't happen for a while, but it will eventually come. The reason for the increase? The featured relationship is going to be Sebastian/Ciel. Therefore, if you don't like slash, yaoi, shounen-ai, homosexual pairings and relationships and sex, male-on-male action, boi pr0n, etc., I very much suggest that you run while you still can. ;)
Author's Note: No, I have no idea where this came from. Yes, I do realize that it probably makes no sense whatsoever. Am I going to write it anyway? You betcha. ;) For those who decide that they want to stick around... well, needless to say, I hope that you enjoy the ride. (And as for that 'AU (kinda)' comment: you'll find out what I mean soon enough!)
Dedication: As with most of my recent Kuroshitsuji stories, this one's also dedicated to Lily. Thank you for listening to my rambling about the series (both anime and manga), babe. I really appreciate it, especially since most people would just tell me to stfu and stop overthinking and overanalyzing things (the curse of being an English major!). I hope that you like this story, too, and I proooomise that I'll be writing you That One Story soon~ -hugs-
A Romance of Ones and Zeroes
Chapter One: Riddle Me This
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The first thing that Ciel realized when he opened his eyes on his eighteenth birthday was that he was bored. The second was a decision that he wanted to do something to change this. The third was a consideration as to how that change could come about.
Staring up at the blank whiteness of his bedroom ceiling, the now-adult contemplated what he could do to change that boredom. There was little that he could do at the moment: the fourteenth of December--eleven days before Christmas and a little bit more than half of a month to New Year's; fall semester's finals had finished the week before and he didn't have his spring semester classes until the seventh of January. Nothing to do, nothing to change; boring, boring, boring.
There was a stagnancy to his current situation and Ciel hated that more than anything else.
It was... well, dull.
And, at the very least, as a present to himself, Ciel wanted to do something interesting; he wanted to make some action that would mark a change. The thing was, though, the blue-eyed boy couldn't think of anything. It was funny, in a way, that the normally highly intelligent university student--president of his family's toy company since the death of his parents--could draw a blank on a puzzle that should have been so easy to solve.
...and there it was, the answer to his problem: A puzzle.
One of the things that had always made Ciel despair was the fact that no one around him could keep up with his verbal traps, was willing to play his word games and riddles--riddles that he had made up himself and riddles that he had found in so many different places, stories and cultures and word-of-mouth all. The puzzles and riddles and problems that he loved solving had always been an open obsession with him that warred against the toy company for Ciel's encompassing attention. At one point, Lizzie had laughed that Ciel's future human love would have to be both smart enough to deal with all of the word puzzles and savvy enough to play through the business politics that came with the boy's company.
That person would have to be interesting, intelligent, willing to play with him; that person was someone who couldn't be boring.
And, with that, Ciel decided what he wanted most for his birthday.
-
After several hours of contemplation, however, Ciel came to the first snag in his plan in getting what he wanted the most: everyone around him that were able to keep up with him were too old, related to him, not interesting enough, or unattractive. Perhaps the former and latter were shallow in their own ways, but Ciel knew that he wanted something better than that for himself and he wasn't willing to settle for anything less than perfection.
In the end, the result was always the same: No one around him was currently suited to meet the standards that Ciel wasn't willing to give up on.
-
The solution to all of that, however, was a bit more complicated and took Ciel most of the day to finally give in to. If those around him were unsuited to his needs--and that, by default, also included the circles that he vaguely participated in--then he would have to look elsewhere for that 'present.' He'd have to broaden his horizons, would have to look at people outside of his usual interactions...
The eighteen year-old grimaced because he, too, knew the answer to that particular problem.
Eventually, though it took longer than it perhaps should have, even that distaste was overcome and Ciel went to sign up for a site that no young male would openly admit to turning to unless he was absolutely desperate: a dating site. Different pages were skimmed and then tossed away. Either the clientele were too old, too boring, too focused on things that Ciel thought was unimportant, but he came across a lesser known site after a bit more time digging--Cupids-Arrow[dot]net.
The blue-eyed boy signed up for a two month subscription and picked out one of the many pictures of himself that littered the internet--he was feeling motivated in finding someone to entertain him and complement him, but he was still young enough that Ciel didn't think that it was too much of a priority (just yet, anyway, though Tanaka had been making particularly pointed "Ho ho ho."s as of late). Still... it would be nice to finally have someone that he'd be able to consider an equal.
So Ciel picked one of the pictures that he remembered Lizzie cooing over longer than usual; he was facing the camera in this picture, and Ciel could see for himself that the look in his gaze was sardonic, though his cousin had exclaimed over how handsome his smile was (sarcastic, he had corrected in his own mind) and how competent he looked in that black suit. Showing off his smooth skin, making his hair look darker than usual, and causing his eyes to gleam like sapphire--all words that his cousin had used and all words that had made him laugh at the time. But... well, Lizzie was a girl and he supposed that he could trust her taste, despite her rather frightening tendency towards wearing pink and frills and her attempts in getting him into a similar wardrobe.
Even with all that, it was still the picture that Ciel picked over all of the others--a silent hat's off to his cousin and his trust and affection in her that he knew he didn't demonstrate often enough.
The profile was the easiest thing to answer:
A riddle, granted a relatively simple one, and a challenge to those who came across his page--
At night they come without being fetched,
And by day they are lost without being stolen.
Riddle me this, answer me this... answer the riddle and proceed on to the next step of the game if you think yourself capable of doing so.
-
It didn't take long before someone actually responded
-
Thirteen minutes later, Ciel got a reply from the user 'Malphas.'
The answer to your riddle is 'the stars,' Riddle Master. Or shall I call you 'bocchan'?
And Ciel smiled. It was always fun when others actually took up the challenge of the thrown gauntlet--and this particular user looked like he would be a great deal of fun, just from this first response. Leaning back in his leather office chair, the young man lightly tapped his mouth with a finger and contemplated a reply that would suit.
-
Yes.
He had doubted it in the beginning, but this was the perfect birthday present to himself.
~To be continued...~