Disclaimer: Black Butler and Pandora Hearts is not mine.

A/N: No one loves me. They didn't like my story. T_T Anyway, I'll still post the next chapters in case someone thought of wasting his/her time reading this.

Chapter II: The Other Side of the Mirror

It's the same group of people again, he thought. As much as I like socializing, this party still bores me.

It was a gentle, yet dull evening. Another party had been held in that mansion. A fifteen-year-old, blond-haired boy wearing velvet green shorts, white undershirt, black vest and tie, same velvet green overcoat, black socks and boots was examining the people in the ballroom with his poignant emerald eyes. He was standing alone on a nearby corner when, alas, a group of ladies noticed his presence.

"Oh, look at him. Doesn't he look exactly like the deceased son of Duke Vessalius?" asked the lady wearing a blue headdress on her neatly-tied brown hair.

"Yes, he is indeed! I heard he is a close relative of the Duke. What a charming boy! Isn't he the same lad Lord Oscar brought at your birthday celebration?" answered the one who was wearing a pretty, yellow, laced gown. "Let us approach him, ladies. The lad looks lonely."

The ladies went on their way towards the lad. The latter cursed himself for being a wallflower and for being there in that party in the first place. But, being a part of a noble family, he had no choice but to entertain anyone who will greet him. The ladies started on with their questions: things like why was he alone, where's the young lady who was with him, if the said lady was his fiancée, why he was standing there like a wallflower, and other such rubbish. He was responding, but all of it seemed to go straight out of his ear. He doesn't care anyway. For him, all of that was nonsense. He did chat and dance a little, but his mind was so tired that he barely enjoyed any of it. When the party ended, he immediately excused himself and retired ahead of the others. He needed a rest, and the best thing to do was to immerse himself in a dream.

Like you, I want to get out of here too.

All you have to do is call my name.

Ah, is this as far as I can get? It will be alright if you only run.

Run away, O—

"—z!" a loud call echoed through the whole room. It was already morning. The blinding lights of the sun had caused a little difficulty for him to see. When he finally adjusted to the light, he immediately recognized the one who called. It was a girl around his age—quite the lively one he wouldn't expect every morning.

"Good morning, Alice," he greeted as he did some stretching. He went down from bed and started fixing himself for the day.

"I'm hungry. They won't give me any food unless you're awake."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll be done in a minute. I'll join you."

"Will they be serving meat?" the girl asked as she threw herself down on the bed.

"I don't think so, Alice. They don't usually serve meat during breakfast. But since it's you I might ask a special offer," he said, smiling at the said girl. After getting himself ready, the two of them headed out to join the others at breakfast. When they finished their meals and rested for a while, the boy asked the girl to accompany him in taking a little stroll in the garden.

"Alice, have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and saw your reflection, but somehow the 'you' that was reflected on it was not entirely you?"

"Eh?" Alice gave him a confused look. "I don't get you, Oz. Isn't it when you look at the mirror, what's reflected is always the same? Anyway, looking at yourself in mirrors is very troublesome and such a waste of time. I don't get why Sharon and the others spend most of their time in front of it."

Oz stared dumbfounded at Alice. A few seconds later, he burst out laughing. "Yes you're right. Forget what I have said. I'm just entertaining myself."

Alice stared back at Oz. Somehow she could feel the lingering sadness in the boy's façade. "Why, Oz… do you like it when you stare at the mirror?"

He smiled at her and said, "No, not really. Every time I look at my reflection, I remember that certain past I had. My sin… that existence that wasn't supposed to subsist… I'm supposed to be dead a long time ago, if it wasn't for you—" he paused. He didn't realize it at first, though when he did, an intense blush crept on his cheeks. "A-Alice, what are you doing?" The girl was silent for a change. She was leaning on the boy, lips touching his cheek. It wasn't really something like what it was supposed to be. She had bit the poor boy all of a sudden. "I-It hurts," he mumbled after Alice released him. He caressed the bitten cheek and looked back at her, still blushing. "W-Why did you do that?"

"Because you were making that face," she explained, rather proudly. "Sharon said that if I do that to a boy, he'll gain lots of energy. The boy on that book she showed me became lively after the girl bit him on his cheek."

Now he knew where that came from. The only difference is she had understood it wrong. "I-It was something different, Alice. You don't just do that to anyone."

"Why?

"Because…" he paused for a second. The thing the girl meant to do was to kiss him, but it turned out that she misunderstood the kissing from biting people on their cheeks. Anything that has got to do with Romance, she unreasonably fails at it. Oz wouldn't be surprised. After all, she's not really what her appearance states her to be. He guessed explaining it to Alice wouldn't lead them both anywhere. "Forget it. Anyway, why were you looking at something like that? Was that a new preference? It's good to like books, but you have to consider what to like."

"I was curious, that's why. Sharon kept on blubbering things about love and jealousy. I don't really care if I can't eat it. She said jealousy is sour and sweet. I don't like sour foods. But that book seemed interesting so I asked her about it."

Oz burst into laughter once more after hearing what Alice had said. "Are you always that curious? The things Sharon was talking about were feelings. They are not food, Alice. It's just a way to describe it." Alice stared at him with an annoyed look. "You know, you remind me of that Alice in 'Through the Looking Glass'. She's as curious as you."

"What's that?"

"It's a book. You know, Alice Liddell in 'Alice in Wonderland'. She ended up following a white rabbit because she was curious why it was wearing a tailcoat and to where it was heading. She found herself in wonderland after that… and a lot of curious, weird things happened to her. 'Through the Looking Glass' was the next series."

"Hah! What a fool! If I were that Alice I wouldn't follow that White Rabbit!* She's annoying and that rabbit is an enemy!"

"It's different from her," Oz explained once more through his laughter. "I'll read it to you if I had the chance. You should listen carefully and learn from the story." Alice pouted. She really doesn't like that White Rabbit. "Fairy tales are great, don't you think? Most of it always ends up with a happy ending. I wish I could be in one."

Be careful on what you wish for.

"Ugh!" For a moment, a sharp pain hit the boy's head. Oz held on to it as he tried to regain his composure. "My ears are ringing… W-Whose voice was that?" It was a weird feeling. He wasn't making things up, too certain that someone had just whispered in his ears. After that certain incident, he had been experiencing a lot of weird things.

"O-Oz! What's wrong?" Alice immediately came to his aid. Oz had convinced himself that he was alright. But the pain was just too unbearable that he passed out, leaving Alice calling for his name over and over again.

Author's Note: *The White Rabbit here refers to the White Alice or the Will of the Abyss. Alice had mistaken it for her. For more elaboration, she's Alice's twin. Anyway, you'll get it more if you're reading Pandora Hearts. By the way, as to clear it, I'm not claiming Oz and Alice's conversation about Jealousy and the part where Alice bit Oz on the cheek as my own. It was taken from the Manga (the Jealousy part is somewhere here in Retrace XXVIII: Modulation, while the Kiss part is somewhere in Retrace XLI: Where Am I?)

Sorry for making Oz a little unsociable.

If you want, you can review. I'm open to suggestions. :)
I'll update again next time.