Amend
College. Freshman year. A full ride scholarship.
A frightful yet thrilling era in a young adults' life to figure out where their seat is in the table of society. While many young adults are frantic or take their time rattling their brains on what they are passionate about to cultivate into an enjoyable fulfilling career, Ciel already knows where he is supposed to be.
A product of a long line of English nobility, Ciel adopted his father's, Vincent Phantomhive, passion of business and their family company, Funtom Corporation. A popular and highly advanced company owned by the Phantomhive Family for generations is not only the leading toy manufacturer in Great Britain, but on the planet; with company headquarters located in London.
Honoring his parents, making his father proud and carrying the torch of legacy, Ciel has taken pride and begun to walk in the footsteps of his predecessors to pursue a degree in business.
Ciel straightens his arm on the desk in his lecture room, making strong attempts to not doze off to his professor explains his pleasure with the class this semester and rambles on about his personal accomplishments, hoping that it will rub off on them. An 'A' from Ciel is expected and the last day of class could have been skipped, but what impression would that give? He might as well wing it. The holidays is right around the corner anyways.
His vision blurs as his eyes begin to wander yet again. The bodies of the students in front of him, the desks, the board, the professor and his voice slowly fade as Ciel's eyes get heavy, setting on the shadow at the back of the class.
Ciel's eyes snap open as he his roughly nudged on the knee by his blond haired friend to the left of him. He furrows his brows and frowns at his friend.
"Five more minutes, Ciel. You can make it." Alois whispers, leaning on the desk as well.
"You're about to fall asleep yourself." Ciel replies.
"I should cave in, shouldn't I?" Alois chuckles lowly.
"Let me enjoy these five minutes before I have to be harassed by you for the rest of holiday vacation." Ciel grumbles as he closes his eyes again. Alois just rolls his eyes in return.
Five minutes flies by like light. The sounds of seats screeching back from students standing up to leave, to the unified indistinguishable moan of conversations from the young people, to the professor raising his voice to give his last goodbyes to his now former-students.
Ciel groans, but in relief and leans back and stretches his limbs. He begins to yawn and before getting a chance to exhale, Alois yanks Ciel up out of his seat.
Ciel begins to violently cough and pry Alois's hands from him.
"What the hell, Alois?!" Ciel asks, trying to catch his breath, only to have Alois grab his wrist and continue dragging him out the building.
"To freedom!" Alois exclaims in laughter.
"I didn't even get a chance to personally say 'Goodbye and Thank you'."
"I'm sure he still has office hours a couple days after the semester ends. You can save your 'Goodbyes' and 'Thank you' cards for tomorrow. Lizzie is supposed to be here already." Alois dragging Ciel down the front of the University steps.
"What about my stuff? I left it back there."
"It's right here." Alois holds up Ciel's jacket and bag while searching for Lizzie. "There she is!"
"Hi babes!" Lizzie waves to Ciel and Alois from her freshly painted car.
Elizabeth's doe eyes sparkle an emerald green as she lets her golden hair down from her high ponytail. Elizabeth, since girlhood, has always been a gluten for absolute femininity and flamboyance. A doll, she is.
"You got your car painted?" Ciel eyes her painfully pink colored vehicle. He remembered when it used to be a bold crimson. The color it originally was when their Aunt Angelina had bought it for Elizabeth, congratulating her for completing her first college semester with a promised 4.0 GPA.
"I love it! It's so cute!" Alois indulges Elizabeth, hoping into the passenger.
"I know, right?" She giggles.
"Does auntie know that you painted over her favorite color?" Ciel asks as he gets into the backseat.
"Well," She started as she begins to pull out of her parked spot and into the streets of London. "It's my car. She got it for me. And I think that means I can do whatever I like to it. I left the interior red so that should keep her happy when she sees it again." She smiles at Ciel through the rearview mirror.
Ciel rolls his eyes playfully and leans to face the window. "If you say so."
"So, how did you do this semester?" Elizabeth prompts Alois.
"All A's for Alois." Alois responds flipping his hair as Elizabeth squeals in happiness and excitement.
"I told you! Freshman year seems so intimidating, but I promise you it's a breeze. Especially with the right professors. What about you, Ciel?"
"You already know the overachiever is keeping his 4.0." Alois laughs and Elizabeth joins.
"Well I know Auntie and Uncle are gonna be happy for sure."
As Elizabeth and Alois continue talking, Ciel keeps his attention to the London scenery passing by as Elizabeth makes it to the outskirts of London to the Phantomhive Manor.
Ciel has interned at his own families company before as a good way to earn first hand experience on his role in the company and the responsibility as a business owner. Having to have your hands in all things to make sure ends are tight and in order. Meeting, marketing, management, finances, customer service, bookkeeping, security.
Overwhelming, it is.
And while he'll never admit how anxious he was and still is on his endeavors in his education and personal experience lessons in business, a prideful Ciel internally boasts. He is anticipating seeing the joy in his parents eyes when the news of his new successful milestone in college.
Now approaching the outskirts of London, Ciel looks into the green around him. The tall trees standing parallel to each other by the road that separates them. Elizabeth presses her foot on the pedal to test her speed.
Alois grips his seatbelt with one hand and the other on the car ceiling handle, but says nothing to Elizabeth about her speed.
"Lizzie, slow down!" Ciel protests.
"I'm going a decent speed. Relax."
"You're above 60 miles! That's beyond over the limit!"
"We'll be fine!" Lizzie looks at Ciel throw the rearview.
"Lizzie!" Alois and Ciel scream at Elizabeth just a moment after a dark figure darts across the road and Elizabeth hits a bump, immediately breaking, thrusting them all forward before the seat-belt tightens around their waist and chest, violently pulling them back.
The trio catch their breath and Elizabeth clutches the steering wheel.
"...Did I hit something?" She asks with a shaky voice.
"I don't think so." Alois tries to reassure her as he clutches his chest.
"I need to check." Elizabeth says as she unbuckles her seatbelt.
"No. Stay in the car. I'll check." Ciel states as he unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the backseat.
"Fix your hair." Alois tells Elizabeth, glaring at her as he opens her car mirror and hands her her purse from the backseat.
Ciel walks to the front on Elizabeth's car and quickly eyes it for anything indicating a hit animal.
No blood, no scratches, no damage.
Ciel bends down and looks under the car and to his relief, no hurt or dead animal. But to his annoyance, a field stone.
He reaches behind the front left tire and drags the stone out. It's oddly out of place and Ciel examines it. For what, he isn't sure, but what he knows for certain, it's random and out of place. It's wet and smells of salt water with very small patches of sea-moss scattered across the stone.
Ciel slightly scrunches his face up at the strong scent of ocean water.
"Did she kill something?" Alois asks from out the window and Elizabeth hits his shoulder at his lack of concern.
"A stone." Ciel answers, holding it up.
"What is it doing on the road like that?" Elizabeth asks.
"I have no idea. It's just random. Like it was placed here."
"That doesn't even make sense." Alois furrows his brows looking at the stone.
"Why is it wet and have moss on it?"
"It smell like it's from the ocean." Ciel looks back at the stone.
"Ew." Elizabeth frowns.
"An animal probably carried it out here and just dropped it." Ciel hypothesizes.
"Ciel drop that and let's go before you get sick." Elizabeth pleads.
Ciel observes the stone once more before he tosses it into the sea of grass, bushes and trees. Lizzie holds a wet wipe out to him to clean his hands before he gets back into the car.
"Please drive normally." Ciel asks while buckling his seatbelt.
"Yeah yeah." Lizzie sighs as she slowly pulls off.
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Elizabeth pulls into the circular driveway in front of the Phantomhive Estate. She eases down on the break and parks, releasing her muscles from tensity. She sighs and leans back.
"Thank you for not killing us or an innocent animal today." Alois teasingly smiles at Elizabeth as he unbuckles his seatbelt.
"Please don't mention this to anyone." Elizabeth turns to Alois, ignoring his taunting.
"For a nice 100, I may keep quiet." Alois holds his hand out while Ciel unbuckles his seatbelt and gathers his bag and jacket.
"Alois!" Elizabeth whines.
"Fine." Alois rolls his eyes and hops out the car with his bag.
"Ciel?" Elizabeth looks back to Ciel to make sure she's secure in secrecy.
"As long as it doesn't happen again." Ciel says in a monotone voice. She exhales in relief and begins to gather her things to head inside.
As the trio walks in the gorgeous estate, they look around and see the wonderful holiday themed candles lining the steps and halls.
"I wish they would stop lighting all these candles." Alois says disapprovingly.
"I keep trying to tell them it's too much, but they never listen." Ciel agrees.
The smell of smoked salmon quickly hits the noses of the young adults.
"I know that smell." Alois smiles as he runs to the kitchen, Elizabeth and Ciel following behind him.
Walking in and through the dining hall, they drop their belongings off on the chairs before entering the kitchen. Opening the doors, Ciel and Elizabeth sets their eyes on the Phantomhive couple and their beloved steward.
Alois is wrapped in the arms of both Vincent and Rachel in a loving embrace.
Vincent and Rachel feeling empathetic to the loss of Alois's parents in a tragic accident, adopted Alois into their home and treated him nothing less than they would a biological son. They raised him alongside Ciel as brother's and provided him with equal adoration and opportunity of success in life. Even after Alois grew into early adulthood, the Phantomhives always had their doors and hearts open to him after he let it be known that he wanted to take a step further into adjusting into adulthood through having his own apartment. Like a mother, Rachel wanted Alois to stay and it took Vincent, a proud father of his second son, a good while of convincing his wife that Alois is taking the right steps into adulthood and manhood and encouraged him.
"With how giddy you are, I must be in for good news, yes?" Vincent laughs as he hugs Alois.
"All A's for Alois? Why of course!" Alois boasts with a toothy smile.
"That's what I like to hear!" Vincent pulls in Alois for a big strong hug.
"I'm so proud of you, my love." Rachel smiles and kisses Alois atop his head.
"There's the other two." Vincent calls out happily seeing Elizabeth and Ciel walk over. "I hope the good news stays good."
"You know your son is a genius Uncle Vincent." Elizabeth hugs her uncle and then her aunt.
"So that means...?" Vincent eyes Ciel as he grips his hand.
"My 4.0 is in tact." Ciel says with a small small. Vincent laughs and pulls his son in for the same strong hug as he did Alois. He let go of Ciel to let him hug his mother.
"And what about you Elizabeth?" Vincent inquires.
"Flawless 4.0 is maintained." Elizabeth flips her hair and smiles. "I'll be taking winter and summer courses so that I can graduate early and finally get my 'Big Girl Job'."
"A house of smartasses, you hear that Tanaka?" Vincent calls out to the steward and Tanaka laughs in return, congratulating the three.
"I smell salmon~." Alois hums as walks towards the stove only to be physically redirected by Rachel.
"Salmon that isn't ready. I made crepes. Here, you three take them and wait for dinner." Rachel hands a large bowl of the snack to Alois and pushes him away from the stove.
"I can't stay for dinner tonight." Alois whines.
"Why not?" Vincent and Rachel asks in unison.
"I promised the triplets that I would spend the rest of my day with them. They haven't seen me all semester. Can I at least have a to-go plate?"
Rachel sighs in defeat. "Yes, of course."
"We'll have you back for the holidays?" Vincent asks.
"I'll be here." Alois assures him walking out of the kitchen, stuffing a crepe in his mouth.
"Tanaka, please sit down and relax." Rachel pleads with Tanaka to take a break.
"You two better go before Alois eats all the crepes." Vincent nudges Ciel and Elizabeth. They both rush out the kitchen and grab their bags from the dining room to follow Alois up to Ciel's room.
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Two hours later, the trio relax in Ciel's room. Ciel lay on his bed and Alois and Elizabeth rest on the small sofa centered against Ciel's window that face out into the estate's garden with the television acting as a background noise and ignored.
"You're really gonna to suffer through a winter and summer term?" Alois asks Elizabeth, taking another bite of his fourth crepe.
"If it means not having to be in college longer than necessary, yes." Elizabeth bites hers.
"You're just overworking and overwhelming yourself. At least take the holiday season off to decompress."
"I spend most of my time studying and little time to myself so I guess you're right."
Ciel dozes off on his bed. The tiredness from earlier during the lecture has come back and he couldn't wish for anything more than a nice nap before dinner.
"Ciel." Elizabeth and Alois calls out in unison.
"Hm..." Ciel nods off.
"We should let him rest. He was tired earlier and was falling asleep in class."
"Oh alright." Elizabeth brushes her hair behind her ear and goes over to Ciel to plant a small peck on his forehead. Alois picks up the remote and turns the television off.
"Farewell my prince." She says before she gets up and walks to the door.
Alois walks up to Ciel after Elizabeth to give his goodbyes to Ciel.
"See ya'." Alois says plainly as he slaps his hand on Ciel's forehead before walking away. Ciel, instinctually, swats at Alois but misses and frowns, his eyes still closed.
"I'm gonna tell mom and dad that you're gonna be sleeping before dinner so they'll know to wake you." Alois says to Ciel. Ciel hums and places a pillow over his face, a unique acknowledgement.
"Bye~." Elizabeth coos walking out the door.
"Sleep tight." Alois says before closing the door to Ciel's room, granting him the silence and peace needed to fall into an unconsciousness he longed for.
Amend
Ciel was gifted a nice few hours of rest before dinner, yet it still wasn't enough. He bathed before dinner and almost passed out once more and had to step out the shower to sit on the toilet to re-center himself. Placing cold rags on his head to not lose consciousness before finishing.
Ciel struggled to keep his head up at the dinner table and Vincent and Rachel absolutely took notice. He did manage to eat all of his food because his mother and Tanaka did wonderful with the cooked salmon and wasting food in this household was out of the question.
Poor Ciel.
Freshman year for him was a breeze, but still nerve racking. He put his best foot forward as always and sacrificed long nights over thinking, overanalyzing, overachieving. Very much a Phantomhive indeed. But the young man met his goals and he'll rest now.
Before Alois and Elizabeth left, they spent more time with Vincent, Rachel and Tanaka in the dining room and kitchen to help make diner, also so Alois could get served his to-go plate first. Elizabeth gave Alois a ride back to his apartment and Tanka was retired for the rest of the day to spend time with his family after being asked to blow out the holiday candles set.
Hugging his parents before retiring, Rachel showers Ciel with kisses while Vincent embraced his son.
"We love you so much Ciel." Rachel places one last kiss atop her son's head.
"We're so proud of you, son." Vincent joins.
"Thank you. Both of you. I love you both." Ciel embraces his parents once more before leaving the dinner table.
Rachel and Vincent were nothing less of loving and supporting parents that did their due diligence in parenthood; cultivating their children for success through dedication, delayed gratification, discipline and passion. Providing the best of earthly pleasures accessible for their children.
Ciel dragged himself up the long wide steps of his manor and into his bedroom. After sluggishly changing into his nightwear, he plops down on the bed, drags the covers over his frame and allow unconsciousness to engulf him again.
Amend
Restless.
Ciel tosses and turns in him bed.
Uncomfortable.
He frowns and groans.
Hot.
He kicks his covers off his body and begins to pull his nightshirt off of him.
So unbelievably hot.
His breathing becomes heavier and Ciel breaks in a sweat. Ready to open his window to cool himself down, Ciel snaps his eyes open and is met with blazing lights engulfing his room.
Immediately, he jumps up on his bed and his heart is racing. His entire room, engulfed in flames.
"What the fuck?!" He screams quickly trying to register his predicament.
Ciel look at his room for a way to escape. He looks at his window but sees that the fire has barricaded the way out. Ciel jumps from his bed and opens his door. The door flings open and Ciel snatches his hand back at the heat. He bolts from his room and sees the halls ridden with flames.
Portraits blackened, walls torn, ceiling collapsing.
"Help! Mom! Dad!" Ciel cries as he runs towards his parents room.
He races down the flaming halls to his parents room and Ciel bunches of the end of his nightshirt around his hand before gripping the door handle but finds that the door is suspiciously locked. His parents never locked their door.
Ciel grips the handle and begins to bang his body against the door in attempts to bust it open, but does not succeed. He cries in frustration and screams for his parents again, hoping that they hear him and find the will to run through the flames and reach the door to him.
With a throbbing arm and shoulder that can't bear anymore, Ciel backs up and kicks at the door handle with all his body weight. The door flings open. His eyes are filled with the light of flames sweeping over his parents room.
Behind a fence of flames, Ciel sees his parents laying in bed, bodies scorched. Hot tears quickly build behind Ciel's eyes and wash over as he screams for his parents.
"NO! Please! Please wake up!" Ciel cries as he begins to run towards his parents bed, willing to scald himself to death by the ever growing bed of fire surrounding his loved ones.
Just as Ciel reaches the fire that roars at the end of his parents bed, he collapses. His his vision blurs and his ears ring. Head pounding from blunt force and his body is weakening from the heat. Too tired to make what of his surroundings, he silently cries and tears trickle down his face. A dark mass steps into his blurring line of vision before unconsciousness takes him.
Amend
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler. All rights to Yana Toboso.
Author's Note: it's so nice to be back. new chapter every week :)
please forgive any and all errors