Ciel:

The sun shines through the carriage's curtains after a busy day. Sebastian hands me a letter with the name "McMillan" written on it.

I look the envelope in my hands. I'm indecisive: I should throw it away according to my standards but I don't want to. I tell to myself that it is just a simple letter. I put it in my pocket to read it when when I'll be back home.

This time in the Weston College was draining and interesting. I can finally return back home after solving the mystery of the dissappearance of Derek Arden.

My time here was supposed to be short, but I got caught in the game despite the mess it was. It is very electrifying to live in community this way. But I'm meant for the darkness and I shall not get away from it, I only came out of it under the queen's orders. This episode now belongs to the past. All these days, I live them on credit. I only live for one goal: finding the culprit who slaughtered my family, make them pay and restore the honor of my name: Phantomhive. Everything else is futile.

This letter has nothing to do with all of this. It's from McMillan, my roommate and best friend from the school. He was sad to see me leaving the school so he wrote me this letter. The Weston and its events remain to the past. I should not keep it, it's useless.

Regardless, I can't resist the temptation. I'll read it later.

Sebastian:

Humans are fascinating creatures, I'm never bored with them. This young Ciel Phantomhive is a very interesting specimen. Most of the humans i pacted with used my power to realize all of their fantasies and felt almighty. These souls were boring and flavorless. They took pleasure bullying others and having all the rights they wanted. This was so tiresome... That's why I became pickier about the quality of my food. And this one, Ciel Phantomhive, he's the opposite of everything I've known ever since. All the humans who escaped from imminent death enjoy their time as much as they can, since they don't have a lot more left because of the pact. But him, he persists to renounce to all sorts of things: social contact, friends, enjoying life. But on the other hand, he doesn't moderate himself with sweets... Humans are full of contradictions. He wants to isolate himself probably for avoiding bonding too much with people around him, but he continuously attract some strange birds. His soul is so special it attracts folks around him in spite of himself. It's very amusing to see. The more the time passes, the more he's surounded by people caring for him despite being against his goal: achieving his objectives in the shadows, out of sight. Didn't he undertsands he can't fight against it? That a soul like his continuously attracts people around him? He should enjoy it instead! It's incomprehensible. At the same time, he wants to imitate his dead brother and fake being selfish, proud and a loner, but he does the exact opposite. He's kind, humble and sympathetic. He tries to look the opposite but he constantly fails: he helps others without expecting anything in return, like how he helped Snake, Soma, Arthur and much more. He cares more about other than himself. He tries to do good things as much as he can around him but he completely forgot about his own happiness. But that's what he believes, he hides his personal goals behind his duty. For example, this toy brand, "Phantom", was not necessary at all, he said it's for honoring his family's name, but in reality, it's his childhood dream. Always burying his face in the sand... He should assume his desires, they are not that extravagant. All human need social contact, it's almost vital for them. Why does he wants to deprive himself so badly? Humans really are full of contradictions.

He holds in his hand the letter of his friend McMillan. Logically, he should throw it away without any hesitation, it's useless and futile. What's the interest of keeping it? But I see doubts in his eyes, he's split: he wants to keep this letter, but it goes against his principles of not bonding closely to anyone, but that's impossible for someone like him. Will he resist and throw the letter? Has this young McMillan did attract his attention this much? He could never see him again if he wanted to. He can just never answer to his letter. He will be too busy studying in the Weston College that he could never take contact again. Cut ties would be incredibly easy. Everything depends on this piece of paper, it's not like this clingy prince Soma. So? What are you going to do, young master?

He slips the letter in his pocket, making me crack a smile. He didn't resist this time, I admit being very surprised. This simple boy caught the attention of the young earl? How funny. He catches the view of my amused look and sends me back a dark glare, making me understand he won't tolerate any comment about it. I laugh a bit and let the young earl and his pride alone. Very interesting...

Ciel:

I'm finally home. It's the evening: I eat and I take care of the rest of the paper I have. I could go to sleep. But I have something else in my mind.

I take the letter out of my pocket. I open the envelope and take out the thin paper sheet. I smile, recognizing his distinctiv handwriting. It's very distinctive from mine but still pretty.

I then proceed to read the letter.

"Dear Ciel,

I was very surprised when I heard that you were leaving. It was so sudden... I had the feeling I didn't have the time to say goodbye to you properly. We had so much good memories toghether and our room feels empty without you..

The criket match was incredible! I'll never forget it! I never thought the Blue Miracle could happen again in front of my eyes! You made me realize that we, Saphire Owls, can achieve anything, even if we step out of our comfort zone! You inspired me, Ciel! You are an amazing person and even though you're not here anymore, I feel lucky to be your friend. I hope the distance between us won't affect our friendship and we will continue writing to each other! I would also like to see you again but I know you must be very busy and I also am with my lessons.

At the end of the day, I realized that I don't really know much about you, I feel a bit guilty... I would like to fix that! I would really enjoy getting to know you more, Ciel. Give me some news!

Your best friend,

McMillan"

I smile while reading the letter. I will answer him tomorrow. I realised that I too don't know much about him either.

McMillan:

I wonder if Ciel got my letter... I miss him, my room is so empty without him. I wonder why he left so suddenly, just after the new Blue Miracle..

It makes me anxious to realize that I don't know much about him. I know his family name from afar being a member of the high aristocracy, but that's all. He's not the kind of person to talk a lot about himself..

I go every day to the reception of the college to see if I got an answer from him. What if he never answered me?.. I don't want to think about it. We're friends, right? Best friends even! And when we're best friends, it's for life! There's no reason that he wouldn't answer me. But it doesn't prevent me from stressing out. Every day, I hope for receiving his answer. I go back once again today, my stomach tied in knots.

- Hello mister, did you receive a letter for me? My name is-

- Yes I know, Mister McMillan, that's for you.

He hands me a letter. Finally!! I take it without waiting.

- You very impatient. Is it from your girlfriend?

- Not at all, it's from my friend. Thank you!

I run toward my room to open the precious letter. I open it carefully, the seal on it is so elaborated!

I unfold the paper and read:

"Dear McMillan,

I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly, but my obligations called me back. I hope everything is fine for you, I wish you good luck with your studies. Know that I had a great time with you at the Weston College, I was lucky to have you as a roommate. I don't know if we will have the occasion to see each other again, since we are both very busy, but I'm sure we will find an opportunity during the next vacations. I would be glad to talk with you around a cup of tea.

Sincerely,

Ciel Phantomhive"

His handwriting is so sophisticated.. The letter is rather short and gets directly to the point, it's just like him! I don't need much more, the simple fact that he didn't forget about me makes me so happy. I was on a little cloud for the next two days, pondering about my answer to him. I admit that waiting so long made my head go fuzzy.. I thought he was going to talk more about himself in his letter. I take it and read it again: why is he so busy? I want to know! To be honest, I don't think he'll voluntarily come foward to me to talk about it and it would be rude to ask him directly. He's an earl, after all! There must be a ton of information circulating about him! When the weekend arrives, I consider a solution: where can I get some informations? Exceeded by the complexity of my task, I wander around the city center. Suddenly, I see a newspaper vendor. I know him well, I always buy him the last news when I pass here. He's always reading the newspaper he sells when no one is around before shouting the latest news to attract customers.

.

..

... I found it!! If there's someone who must know everything on everyone in this city, it must be him!

- Hello young man, do you want the latest newspaper?

- Hello mister, I would like to ask you something instead!

He looks surprised:

- I'm all ears.

- You read all the newspaper you sell, right? For how long?

- I would say 5 years.

- Do you remember a lot of thing about what you read?

- Yes, I have a very good memory.

- Amazing! Can you help me?

- Sure, but it's not free. A lot of people come to ask me for information about past editions like that, it allows me to earn a bit more money at the end of the day.

- Great! Is it enough? I tell him handing the money.

He counts the money I gave him and say:

- Very fine. What would you want to know?

- Tell me everything you know about Ciel Phantomhive.

- Oh, Ciel Phantomhive? He's very well known for being a very young earl, he's brillantly leading his company and make his family name shine accross the country all by himself.

- Alone?

- Yes, all his family died several years ago during a terrible fire. I remember it like it was just yesterday, everyone was horrified, a huge mansion and his occupants reduced to ashes in one night... It still gives me the shivers. We thought there were no survivors when, out of nowhere, the young son, Ciel Phantomhive, had survived. He was now an orphan. A lot of rumors said that this was a criminal fire... Not only had all the family died this night, but all the sevants too. There was nothing left of the Phantomhive family except him, a frail young boy, who had to take over the head of the family despite his young age. Everyone thought it was the end of the Phantomhive family, to everyone's surprise, he demonstrated his genius and maturity. He didn't just save his name but he also created his own successful company. It-...

He interrupts himself when he looks at me again. I am in tears. He looks surprised to see me crying.

- It's horrible what happened to him!... Why didn't he tell me anything about it?.. He must have felt so lonely.. Why would someone want to hurt them?...

I take my glasses off and wipe my wet eyes.

- I-I'm sorry, you can continue..

- His company, it's the famous toy brand Phantom.

- What?!!

- You're surprised? It's inspired by his family name though

- I never thought about it!

To be honest, I love this brand.. I even have one of their plush, Peter Rabbit, I don't tell it to anyone because it's weird to have a plush at my age.. And that it's Ciel who produced it! He's incredible!

- A lot of people talk about him as a genius, and a lot envy his sudden success. But there's other rumors about him, they say that for generations, his family has been the watchdog of the queen and they are the king of the shadows, that would be the reason of the fire, they had a lot of enemies.

- What?... The queen's watchdog?..

- Yes, she sends them to do the dirty work, out of the view of the police and the people, working in the shadow of our society. People think he took back the reins and would be the new king of the shadows, his genius and maturity would make him able to do it, but those are only rumors. I told you everything I know.

Wow, I knew I was going to learn things about him, but not things like that..

- And his eye? He's wearing an eyepatch. I don't know how he hurt himself. Was it during the fire?

- Exactly. I don't think he went out of this intact either physically or psychologically. It's awful to go through that so young and be forced to become an adult so quickly.. It will become a strengh.

I'm thoughtful, it's a lot of information for me!

- Thank you so much sir for your information!

Then he gives me back the money I gave him.

- Huh? But-..

- Take it back, it was a pleasure to help you. It's your friend, right? Everyone knows that he's a very secretive person, I didn't expect that even his friend didn't know about his past. It's also said that he rarely goes out in public, it's not someone who likes to put himself on a show.

- You're right, he's not the kind of person who seeks the attention of others.. Thank you so much mister for your help, I said politely taking back the money he kindly gave me back.

- Have a good day, young man

Ciel... How could I pretend being your friend without knowing all of this?... The more I learn about him, the more I realise that he's someone exceptional. To be honest, it almost scares me.. It's the type of person who gives the feeling of being above everyone around them, unreachable, a bit like the prefects at the Weston.. Next to them, I'm not very impressive, son of a Baron, my father gave everything he had for me to study here. I'm a common little noble while he stands with the elite of our society, if the rumors are true, he would be personally close to the queen! What if he gets bored of me? What if I wasn't worthy anymore for being his friend? I thought by learning more about him I would feel closer to him, but in reality I feel like I'm drifting away from him..

Why is he my friend? What do I bring to him to him for making him intrested in me as a friend? I want to understand! I want to become even closer to him and being worthy to a friend like him!

~~~~~~~

Hello! Thank you for reading the first chapter of this story! I hope you enjoyed it.

I'm Merya, fanfiction writer on Wattpad for years, my specilaity are Black Butler fanfictions!

How lucky, you have the priviledge of reading one of them right now!

Balck Butler is one of the mangas that inspires me the most and I'm always very proud of my fanfictions.

Another of my speciallites are underrated ship, and that exactly what this story is about! I wasn't satisfied with the Ciel x MacMillan fanfiction I read so I decided to write one myself.

If you see some mistakes or sentences that doesn't make any sense, I'm very sorry!

My native language isn't english and translating a whole story by myself isn't easy, it's my second fanfiction in english, but I still need training!

I you see any mistake, don't hesitate and tell it to me, I'm always up for improvement!

(If you are french you can check the french version ;3)

All the drawings of the chapters are made by me, I hope you enjoy them as well!

Thank you and I hope to see you for the next chapter! Don't hesitate to give me your feedback.