Before Alois can stop it, his chin trembles, but he reigns it in quickly. "If you think you can see all of me right now, then we really don't understand each other." The words rising out of his throat feel like needles or sharp teeth or black fingernails. "And if you don't understand me, you did lie." He shakes his head curtly, angrily, and squeezes his eyes shut. "I can't hate everyone who hurts me, Ciel. Not like you do."

And he flares up, suddenly, looking at Ciel's face through wet, clinging eyelashes, cheeks gone from white to pink in his fury. His voice raises, too. "Guess fucking what, Ciel, having a heart doesn't make me less than you!" The sneer comes back. "You think I'm sick, but you can't rightly claim to be any better than me."

(That's why I love you so much, you know?)