A/N- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, and that's the truth! The immensely talented Hiromu Arakawa (or Arakawa Hiromu!) does.
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The new student had arrived at the decaying Hawkeye house two weeks before. Riza hadn't seen that much of the boy as her father had been monopolizing his time. She had served them meals in her father's study. The student and alchemist were always either there or in the laboratory. Riza's father had told her that she must awake before them to prepare their morning meal. Obedient daughter that she was- did she have any choice in the matter? - she did so. She had no idea how late they stayed up at night or into the morning.
In that small and secret place inside of her, the one where she hid her desires and other …weaknesses, she had hoped that a new presence in the house- it wasn't a home since her mother died- would change things. Having a friend in the house, even just someone who paid her any attention at all, would go a long way toward easing her loneliness. The boy wasn't that much older than she, and he wasn't intimidating. He wasn't a big kid. Those dark eyes and hair against his pale skin made him look frail to her. Her father had told her to address the student as "Mr. Mustang". It amused her that his family name was also related to animals. But the routine that had settled on the Hawkeye house had just seemed to cause more work and no companionship for her.
This day had been following the usual pattern. She had prepared and served breakfast, which required that she clean up after her father and the boy and wash the dishes. After that, she did laundry. Next came lunch and the cleanup for that. She then straightened up the house. Her father rarely used any room except for his study, lab, and bedroom, but he insisted that she keep the house in meticulous order anyway. The time to prepare dinner quickly arrived. How could a day be so full and yet so boring?
She had served dinner to the alchemist and student, and after she ate standing up in the kitchen, she went into the study and collected the dishes, being careful to not disturb the scholars. She had rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the sink when Mr. Mustang trotted into the room with a small smile on his face. What a beautiful boy! she thought. She was about to ask him what she could do for him when-
"Should I wash or dry, Miss Hawkeye?" he asked. She realized that he had already rolled up his sleeves.
"Oh. Thank you, but I couldn't accept your help, Mr. Mustang. You are Father's student. A guest in the house." She couldn't help but let her shock show.
"Oh, please, Miss Hawkeye." He waved a pale thin hand in dismissal. "I totally love learning alchemy, but my brain needs a rest, and my body needs an uncomplicated chore to do. Your father is a real taskmaster, but I see that you know that much better than I do. He's a brilliant man, and I am incredibly lucky to be here, but I wasn't sure that I'd survive his trial period," Mustang sighed.
She handed him a dishtowel, thereby answering his question. "I didn't realize that you were on trial," she told her surprising new assistant.
"Well, I had to demonstrate to him that I was worthy of being his student. He wanted to see how quickly I could grasp things and if I could retain them. I think that I've learned more arrays and theories in the past two weeks than in the entire time up until then! And I used to study during every second of my free time. Well, most of my free time." He winked at her with a sparkling inky eye. "Anyway, I am honored that he has deemed me to be worthy of his time and effort. It was probably by the skin of my teeth. Your father is amazing. I'm so happy that he's taking me on."
"Congratulations," she told him. "You are my father's first and only student, Mr. Mustang. You must be pretty amazing yourself."
He shrugged his skinny shoulders. "Anyway, I'm sorry that I haven't helped you before. I just haven't had a chance. From now on, your father is just going to tutor me during the day unless we're doing something where we can't stop. I'll have a schedule and free time. Free time! I'll still want to study a lot, but I can help around the house some and maybe even get out to meet people. And please call me "Roy," at least when Teacher is not around." He rolled his eyes. "Mr. Mustang! I'm just a kid. I can't be too much older than you."
She actually giggled, making him break into an adorable grin. "I'm 'Riza,' but we can't let him catch us calling each other by our given names or we'll be in big trouble." She never defied her father, but having a partner in crime would make it fun, as long as they didn't get caught. A mini mutiny! The idea thrilled her.
He nodded vigorously, causing his shaggy black hair to flip, flop, and fly in all directions. She watched out of the corner of her eye as she continued to scrub a plate.
"So, Riza. I know that you don't have much free time, but what do you like to do when it's your choice? I've noticed you carrying books that didn't look like alchemy books. Has your father taught you any of the science? Do you like to read?"
She glanced into the sink and realized that all of the dishes had been washed. Mr. Mus- Roy was nearly done with the drying. She'd never felt sad to complete a chore before. She couldn't think of an excuse to keep him with her to tell him about her reading and interests.
"If you've got any chocolate," Roy interrupted her thoughts, "I, at the risk of sounding conceited, know how to brew the tastiest hot chocolate ever. Do you have time to sit and talk for a little while?"
She allowed herself a small smile and had no idea that it made him sad that he hadn't seen any expression that wasn't super serious on her face until this evening. "The chocolate is on the top shelf of that cabinet there, Roy."
Top shelves in that high-ceilinged kitchen were far out of reach for even tall adults. That's why they kept a ladder in the far corner. (At the time, she thought that he must not have noticed it, but years later, after she had learned that he always noticed everything, she figured out that he had been trying to impress her. She had laughed when she realized that, because, having witnessed accomplished alchemy all of her life, she had been much more impressed with the hot chocolate.) He smirked and pulled a stick of chalk from his pocket. He sketched a transmutation circle on the floor. The floor began to bulge, and the bulge formed into a seat. He jumped onto the seat as it continued its rise. When it stopped, he was right on level with the correct shelf. He grabbed the chocolate out of the cabinet and the floor chair began to sink. He jumped off before it got too low, and then the floor was normal again. He scuffed out the chalk circle.
Riza was still feeling shy with him as they sat down to drink. It embarrassed her that a guest was trying to make her feel more comfortable in her father's house. He asked her again about her reading and whatever else interested her.
"This is a little embarrassing," she began. "I like to read just about anything except for alchemy texts! I have absolutely no interest in alchemy whatsoever. At all!" Her voice had gotten a bit strident, and Roy sensed that the reasons behind her dislike of the topic were dark and deep. He commented, "Hey. That works out for me! I probably wouldn't be here studying with one of the great alchemists of our time if you had been interested! He'd be too busy with you to take me on." He'd meant to comfort her, because her dislike of learning alchemy clearly disturbed her. Unfortunately, his words made her reflect over the fact that if she had shown an interest in alchemy, her father might have shown an interest in her.
"So what does interest you?" he asked again, trying un-cloud her huge red-brown eyes.
She snapped herself out of her brood and turned back to the boy. "I really do like to read nearly everything else. I like current events, history, mystery, romance, and especially adventure. I love books where the heroine has trial after adventure after exploit. Probably because nothing exciting ever happens to me. It's important that no matter what happens to her, the heroine always is strong and clever enough to make it through and find happiness.
"But I can't tell you what interests me most. I'd have to show you!"
"So, will you?" Roy asked. He was a curious boy, and Riza's cryptic remark had intrigued him.
"I can't do it here. We'd have to go out into the woods. And you can never, never, never tell Father. Do you swear?"
Curiouser and curiouser he thought. "What swear would you except as proof that I won't betray you?" He didn't believe in a deity to swear by or a good book to swear on, so he didn't offer to use those for his vow. He wanted it to mean something.
"Blood swear!" she demanded. He nodded.
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A/N- Thank you for reading. We all know what interests Riza, but what will Roy think of her obsession? Does anything else happen in the woods? I don't know everything that happens next, because Riza and Roy have only told me some of it. I hope that they tell me more. I hope that some of you want to know, too. Please, please, please review!