Ciel Phantomhive creeped Audrey out. He couldn't imagine the boy having friends, yet here he was, talking freely with a blonde kid that Audrey didn't know. The blonde must've been new, because Audrey knew everyone.
Phantomhive seemed to be introducing the kid to the more important students in class–both heads turned toward Audrey. Their whispers couldn't be heard by Audrey, but Audrey actually saw the Phantomhive boy smile.
Creepy.
The teacher, Mr. Irons, entered the room. It had seemed like Audrey had been waiting for hours, although the truth was he had arrived at school early to ask the Principal some questions about what the school thought about his– He had never asked, though–his social anxiety had frozen him up once again.
"Morning, class," the teacher said his usual greeting, along with the same following words. "Sit down, shut up and get ready."
Irons called the blonde, Alois Trancy, up, and with slight hesitation the new kid stood up in front of class. There was silence, then–
"Don't be givin' me the evils!"
Everyone laughed, and Audrey gave a slight smile. He wasn't entirely sure what that was from, but he could google it once Irons started droning on. He pushed his hair to the side of his face over one eye and fumbled through his backpack for his phone.
…
It wasn't long after Trancy started school when Phantomhive approached Audrey with a request for information–on a girl who was bullied for her tendency to hide near the bleachers in P.E. Audrey didn't know what Phantomhive had to do with her, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to.
Audrey tore a scrap of paper from his Science notebook and wrote down her name and address. He raised an eyebrow at Phantomhive, though with his hair over his face the boy wouldn't be able to see that.
"Payment?" his voice sounded ridiculously excited, but the Baines boy was denied candy at home due to it's unhealthiness. Phantomhive had never voiced his disgust about this, but the look on his face when told why Audrey's price for information was candy was proof enough.
With a roll of his eyes, Ciel Phantomhive retrieved two pixie sticks from the outer pocket of his bag. With a grin, Audrey handed the other boy the information, taking the pixie sticks in his own hand at the same time. Pleasure doing business with you, Audrey thought.
…
Years ago, when everyone still thought Audrey was a girl, he had seen a man die. The death wasn't the most disturbing part of the experience, though–he had seen a man in a suit watch the man's memories. At least Audrey thought they were memories–he hadn't gotten close enough to see. The scariest part, though, was the look of uncaring on the man's face. Audrey hadn't talked for two days after that, and his parents assumed he was simply traumatized by watching a man die.
Audrey never corrected them.
…
Sometimes, late at night when Audrey was still awake and staring out the window, he could see men in suits on rooftops just like the man from years ago. They never noticed him, of course. A few times he had seen someone (who he wasn't quite ready to assume the gender of) dressed all in red, with a chainsaw and a wicked grin.
A few nights after his exchange with Phantomhive, he saw them again. He grabbed his camera, zoomed in so he could see the chainsaw-wielding… creature up close. He saw a stitch in the back of their coat, more messily done than even Audrey–who had once accidentally stabbed himself with a needle–could've done.
Audrey snapped a picture, closed the window and laid down his camera. In the morning he would be tired, he mused, but he had a few pixie sticks hidden in his bag.
He laid facedown on his bed and fell asleep only minutes later.