Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/7318099. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: M/M Fandom: 終わりのセラフ_|_Owari_no_Seraph_|_Seraph_of_the_End Relationship: Hyakuya_Mikaela/Hyakuya_Yuuichirou, Ferid_Bathory/Hyakuya_Mikaela Character: Hyakuya_Mikaela, Hyakuya_Yuuichirou, Ferid_Bathory, Kimizuki_Shihou, Saotome_Yoichi Additional Tags: Idol_AU, Dubious_Consent, Grooming, Slow_Build, Hurt/Comfort, Abuse, Other_Additional_Tags_to_Be_Added, Additional_Warnings_In_Author's_Note Stats: Published: 2016-07-01 Chapters: 1/? Words: 1914 ****** Can You Hear My Voice? ****** by softsheep Summary At eight years old, Mikaela Shindou fell completely in love with another boy from his Orphanage. After the boy’s adoption, Mikaela signs with the illustrious Sanguinem Records in order to become an idol -- a star-lit beacon that will lead Yuu-chan back to him. Notes I wanted to hop on the Idol AU bandwagon, but instead explore the darker parts of the idol industry, as well as of Mika and Ferid's relationship! While in the first few chapters there's unlikely to have anything, this will get rather dark!   The soft click of the camera’s shutters echos through the quiet sound stage. Murmurs escape the lips of the photographer, words like “Good”, “Chin up”, “Tilt your head back more”, “That’s good”, “Push your shirt up more”, “Can you spritz him with more water?”.   So far, it was par for the course, when it came to one of Mikaela’s gravure shoots. The lights around him were hot and bright, but in the years that he’d been signed on he’d gotten used to them. The backdrop is supposed to look like a locker room, today -- there’d been a shoot several hours long last week where his producer had rented out a baseball stadium for the day when he had been shot in similar states of manly undress, pushing a drenched top up just enough to give his fans a tantalizing peek of abs, tipping his head back with his lips parted just so with a hand slicking golden hair back out of his characteristically angelic face.   He didn’t understand the appeal of shoots like these, but it was evident that his photobooks sold much, much better the more he teased his audience.   This wasn’t what he wanted, though. He was an idol, not a model. His schedule was booked to the second as it was, between vocal lessons and dance practise and variety show and radio appearances and recording and god forbid concerts his life was hectic enough, but with modeling thrown in and canceling those radio show appearances to make more eye candy … it sat wrong with him.   But, he had to. Early on in his career, Mikaela had realized how very little control he had over his life -- How his entire existence was now in the hands of his producer.   That was just a side effect of being an idol. It had been four years, now, since he signed with Sanguinem Records. At first, it made him feel guilty that he was chosen among searches. Sanguinem Records was very illusive, and everyone who was produced under them did very, very well due to the company’s vast wealth and social influence. Competition to sign under them was extremely rough and very cut-throat, but one of their more eccentric producers had taken a liking to Mikaela very early on in the process, giving him tips and hints on what to do and what not to do every step of the way.   Since his selection at twelve, Ferid Bathory had been hands-on in producing Mikaela nearly every day. He was an extremely, extremely rich man with such high influence that there were rumours that it was him alone keeping Sanguinem Records afloat, despite merely being a producer, rather than the president of the company.  Despite those rumours, he very rarely took on a production - - Mikaela had been his first in years, and it was obvious as to why. With how close the man worked, there wasn’t any way he could have multiple idols beneath him at any given time. Even with Mikaela’s penned in to the minute schedule, Ferid was there every day hovering in the background to ensure that everything went right. If there was even a hair that was off-beat, the man had no qualms in stepping in mid-interview to make sure the wording of something came out right when written down or that recording would be edited correctly or that his client was not photographed from such an unflattering angle.   Of course, it was rare that he needed to step in. When it came to any contact with the media, Mikaela was the picture of perfection. He’d been groomed by the best to act like the best . He was all smiles, he was flirtatious winks and comments when the person he was working with was a woman and he was non- aggressive and friendly body language and words when working with a man. The boy was a dream to work with on the industries side, and that only added to his immense popularity.   It was rare for magazines to not have him on the cover, recently, and even more rare for his music to not be playing in stores. Everyone knew who he was -- He had a fragrance, he was the spokesperson for a line of watches .   And ---   --------That’s exactly how he wanted it.   This way -- he would be seen. This way, he would be found.   This way, there was absolutely no chance that he wouldn’t be reunited with the boy that he was in love with.   =============================================================================== Eleven years ago, now, Mikaela’s parents were in a fatal car accident by result of a drunk driver. ---His father was that drunk driver, though that part of the records had been carefully covered up by gentle trips to the police office and several bank notes. Scandals never came up about the cause of his parents death, nor was there ever any slander trying to make him feel survivor’s guilt as the only one who had walked away from the accident, all thanks to his producer.   With no relatives close enough to take him in, the accident left Mikaela in the care of an orphanage. For quite awhile, he was alone. Then -- more, younger children came into the picture with similar gritty, dark stories to them and weight that someone their age should never have to think of, let alone carry. It was then that Mikaela decided that he would carry it for him - that he’d be their beacon of protection and strength and weather the storm so that they didn’t have to, so that these children with already terrible lives could live in some sense of happiness.   ---That was, at least, what he had been doing until the latest addition to the orphanage. Yuuichirou Amane -- A bitter, hurt boy who had nearly been killed by his parents, who didn’t want to be touched, who rejected the playful nickname of ‘ Yuu-chan ’, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with these new people that were saying that they were his family now, it’s okay. Who, despite all that, all but forced Mikaela to give up half of the weight that he’d been carrying in the stead of the children.   ...Who Mikaela fell in complete and total love with instantly.   For the next four years, things weren’t smooth and they weren’t good , but with the both of them heading their new ‘family’ in the safety of their orphanage, things were much, much better than they could have been. They learned to be loved, to be accepted, to be needed -- Every child in the orphanage had been given things that they had been deprived of in their broken homes. They’d all begun to heal under the protection and affection of each other.   That’s why it was always particularly heartbreaking when someone left. Adoptions away weren’t uncommon, especially for the youngest of the children. Slowly, bit by bit -- other families began taking pieces of theirs away under promise of giving them a better home . It couldn’t be better than here, many of the children thought -- They’d become accustomed to this life, they loved their pieced together family more than anything, and yet … had little power in choosing whether or not they left.   Every time a member of their family was taken away from them, the thread that they’d put so much effort into mending their shattered hearts with began to fray at the edges.   Late into their twelfth year, the thread all but snapped when Yuu was taken in by a powerful family with a powerful name. They’d watched him for some time, they’d had meetings with the boy that more often lead to him telling them to screw off with much more powerful language than someone only twelve should be using. However, after seasons and seasons of attempts, they put in an offer that he nor the orphanage could refuse. The family offered to pay an obscene amount of money to the orphanage and offer it’s protection should anything political come up, and knowing the families track record when it came to such things, it was -- … foolish, to say the least, to deny them.   The day that Yuu left, Mikaela knew that it was going to be rather unlikely that he’d ever see the person who he’d come to see as his other half again. He was off to become too important, he would likely join the military, he would probably be safer and warmer and happier in his new home than he’d ever been in an under-funded orphanage where he needed to carry weight that Mikaela would much have rathered he leave at the door.   ----So, he figured … he would become someone even larger and even more important. He would become someone that would stand a chance in re-uniting their family, a shining beacon that nobody could ignore.   =============================================================================== “Mi~ka~. ☆”   An all-too-familiar voice resonated from behind him soon after he’d stepped off the set. He’d been expecting it, of course -- his producer was so punctual that it was almost annoying. ...No, that wasn’t right at all. It was extremely annoying, actually, but -- that was his life, wasn’t it? He was an idol, after all, and his producer didn’t gain his reputation of being the best without being able to manage time so eerily well.   “You did well today.” He cooed, becoming all too close all at once. His producer had little sense of personal space, often touching him without asking. At some point during the shoot, Mikaela’s shirt had come off, and he hadn’t had a chance to put it back on. The man had his hand pressed gently to the boy’s side -- it was uncomfortable, but it was never something that he brought up.   “Thank you.” Mikaela replies coolly, giving a small nod. He never knows how to answer this man’s praise. He speaks with a silvered tongue, he’s too amazingly charismatic to be comfortable around. Something drips from his every word, but -- that’s also something that Mikaela never thought to bring up.   Flashing a smile, Ferid crosses the room, closing distance between himself and a desk with a sealed manila envelope. Thin fingers trail down it as if feeling it out before he picks it up, turning around and handing it over to Mikaela without a change in smug expression.   “As you know, there’s a large entertainment festival in several months. Aah, obviously, the ever-talented Mika-chan is a frontrunner for it…”   ‘Mika’ was his stagename. Mikaela was too foreign to draw attention from most people, and studies found that women, his target demographic, found men with feminine-sounding names to be “moe”.   “It’s also where several new talents will be debuting. They’ll be your rivals, obviously~. So… Get to know them, mm?”   Rivals in the idol industry meant having to follow other idols or groups and pander even harder than they did. It meant being better, faster, more appealing than them. While fans could be fans of more than one group, the goal was to make yourself their ultimate dream.   Prying the envelope open, Mikaela tilted his head to the side in mild interest. It was always somewhat amusing, trying to see who thought they’d be able to make it. Usually, they were a country bumpkin with a head too full of dreams, and ---   -------When he pulls the first photo from the envelope, his heart stops.   Those piercing green eyes.   That raven mop of hair.   ---No, he thinks.   No way--   His mouth hangs open, unable to make a sound, unable to react outwardly. --Yuu-chan.   Yuu-chan ---   --- Was his new rival? Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!