The Earth...

A scientist once made a conclusion long ago that the Earth was the very core of the universe-the center of it. But his theory was challenged by another scientist who claimed that the Sun was the core, not the Earth. More people believed the Sun was the center, and they still do today. However, the universe is seemingly infinite. The very thought of a theory for the universe to have a pure center could drive a man crazy. To even have an end seemed impossible. People still hardly know a thing from out there, beyond where human kind cannot go any further. At one point in life, it's not well to wish to know everything. Once a person does know something that they could have literally been dying to know, it's like it just ends; the thrill, the adrenaline, the excitement, the search. The effort to getting that point; the conflict rising to the climax, when really, the hill going downstream from the climax really wasn't all that desired in the first place.

It's all-this world-Earth-It's all just.

Pathetic.

"Edward Elric!" exclaimed the disgruntled voice of Ms. Crempwent. She was a short and rather stubby teacher, with a large nose that was always turned up. He black and white hair was unkemptly thrown into a bun and her square-shaped glasses always stayed glued to her face, sometimes hiding the teacher's eyes. But not at this moment, for her angered brown glare daggered without mercy at their chosen victim with her hands punted on her hips.

A boy jumped as if bit by the sudden realization of the teacher calling his name. ". . . ?" He turned his golden orbs to meet her gaze, gulping. His black-framed glasses lightly slid to the top of his nose as he lowered his chin, shoulders ever so slightly hunching. A few stray strands of his sun-kissed locks flowed in front of his face while the rest was pulled back into a tight, neat braid with a dark red hair tie at the end. His braid reached about between his shoulder blades, and it was never let loose.

He never enjoyed looking into Ms. Crempwent's case; it was surely almost as if her eyes would eat your very soul at times; he was sure of it.

"Stand up, Elric!" the steaming teacher ordered. In her classroom, when speaking or were spoken to, you stood in a sign of respect and attention. That, and at times, humiliation.

The young blond did so, sighing. He pushed up his glasses before slipping his hands into his brown slacks, glancing to his left before turning to Ms. Crempwent's cursing glare.

"Tell me, boy, you payin' any attention in my class or are those blasted clouds teaching your youth everything you need to know?" she growled. Honestly, the boy couldn't ever bring up a moment when Ms. Crempwent was an enjoyable woman; that's probably why she was still a Ms. In this teacher's class, a student must always be attentive, twenty-four-seven, really. Even they even begun to travel off to land that Ms. Crempwent didn't approve, she'd instantly slam the hammer down-just as she had done now.

A few minutes prior to this moment, the young blond, Edward Elric, was staring out the windows, watching as white-cotton dappled the skies of a soft blue. The boy truly found the sky all the more interesting than this so-called health class. He felt as though the clouds themselves could teach him more about life that Ms. Grumpy-Wench ever could. "I apologize, Ms. Crempwent," Edward murmured in that soothing voice of his. Like hell he did, though.

A few girls sighed at the very rhythm the seventeen-year-old spoke with, their hearts fluttering; he always seemed to do that to them effortlessly.

"Tch!" she scoffed, "Just take your seat, Elric. I have a special assignment for you after this class!" She then turned her back to the class body, once again beginning her lecture of this and that. She snatched up a piece of shock bored and began writing and drawing diagrams; scritch, scratch, the chalk went.

Edward frowned, rolling his eyes and just simply plopping back into his seat once more. This class... utterly bites, he thought. He laid his right elbow on the desk, setting his chin in his palm with his left arm bent over the surface, hand laying in the crease of his upturned right arm. Instead of staring outside this time, his attention simply, easily, floated unto the ceiling. Edward still didn't bother to listen to the squawky woman on the studies of-who knows. The blond couldn't keep his attention on her long enough to even want to find out. He just didn't care.

Suddenly, a cold atmosphere froze the room...

"Elric...!" came a low thunder from the teacher that suddenly smacked a ruler on the edge of Edward's desk, making he teen jump once more, tearing his arms off the desk, pressing his back to his chair as much as he could.

He gulped, eyes slowly rising up to meet her gaze. A small sweatdrop rolled down his cheek.

"You know my rules; don't cross me nor them! You get no special treatment within my class, so you will not have the luxury of slacking off! No arms crossed on the desk, nor elbows! Pay attention!" She pointed the tip of her ruler barely a centimeter from the boy's nose. "I swear you have the shortest attention span out of my whole class, Edward Elric! You now have two special assignments waiting for you at the end of class!" She smacked the ruler into her left hand, giving a glare to Edward that, actually, she had been giving him more recently lately. Then again, that could be the fault of Edward since his attention , as well, as been deducing more and more lately in her class.

Could one truly blame him?

Edward blinked, staring a moment, then he suddenly stood to his feet, slapping his own hands on his desk. "What?" he exclaimed, "That's not fair! You can't even prove that I wasn't paying attention!"

Ms. Crempwent's nose twitched as a low snarl bellowed from her double-chinned throat.

"And I do not have a short," he cringed on the word, "attention span! Maybe if you actually lectured on something important in our lives, I'd give two sh-" He stopped, eyes widening. Edward blinked a few times then closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose, sighing. "This... This adds up on my "special assignments", doesn't it...?" he idly questioned as he slowly sat back down in his desk, bitterly staring at it-almost glaring.

"You bet your little youth it does, boy... Not only three extra 1,000 word essays, but you now gladly have the present of serving a week of detention, Mr. Elric!"

From that, the class erupted in small snickers and giggles; whispers and shushes.

Edward, grit his teeth, trying hard to refuse the growl that wished to claw out from his throat. He bit his lip and just plopped back down into his desk chair, clenching his jaw as hard as he could. As he glared forward at the bored, his fists were clenched as tight as they could be-knuckles white.

"Quit your glaring, Elric," Ms. Crempwent snapped, already having her back to the boy as she was on her way to the front of the class, to once again seemingly fill these students minds with important information. "Now... As I was saying before...!"

Edward heard her command but the narrowed, daggering stare wouldn't seize. His lips were pursed with his brow tucked down; with the ruler that Ms. Crempwent used to emphasize certain phrases, Edward watched like a predator on prey.

Not soon enough to Edward Elric, the bell sung, the horrid class thus being let out and students free.

Edward blinked, looking away from the window-that he had once again let his mind drift off to-and to the clock. With the realization, he boasted out a huge sigh of relief. If someone were to ask him what class he disliked the most-even despised-he would flat out answer this one. With that thought bared in mind, the blond stood, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He folded up the legs and grabbed his black velvet-like glasses case and flipped it open, gently setting them in there; inside the case almost had red silk-like material-most likely faux. There was also a cloth in their for cleaning purposes. He snapped the case closed and grabbed the long strap of his messenger back, tossing it over his shoulder at the same moment Ms. Crempwent barked his name.

"Edward!"

The young male flinched a moment, then sighed through his teeth. Damn she-devil... he hissed in his thoughts.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

After Edward had received his special assignments, he had quickly left the room in a storm, walking towards his locker.

High school sucked. Sucks. The teachers, to Edward, were mostly asses, and everyone that Edward knew here were also mostly asses; selfish beings who could be like a pack of ravenous animals.

And one of those ravenous animals was none other than Roy Mustang himself, who often referred to himself as noble as the being of his last name-which was utterly dead wrong. He was something similar, yet different. Edward pondered if Roy was familiar with the other word for a donkey. The high-n-mighty man would never lay rest of the short jokes he unleashed on Edward-just thinking about them boiled the blond.

Another was Maes Hughes; not so much of an ass as others, but his annoying obsession with showing pictures of his little girl greatly grinded one's nerves. Maes was in his fourth year of highschool, and a husband-to-be, but he wasn't like the other single-celled teens who had children during highschool; he was smart about it, and responsible. He actually planned on having his little girl-no matter how strange that sounded to Edward. Ed always thought it best just to label the man "weird", despite sticking by his side and supporting him.

Lastly was Jean Havoc-again, not as much as an ass as Roy Mustang, but he was still a swollen, annoying, little bastard. That, and it was just pitifully cruel how most of his girlfriends were swooned away by Mustang. That, and the loute smoked. Edward couldn't stand the stench.

With a sigh, the said blond pulled up the lever on his locker and opened the school property container, shoving in his load of paper work from his most favored teacher.

Speaking of favored people, there was another asshole to add to the list, though Edward made sure not to stick around him. He was in his third year of high school whilst Edward was still within his second. This boy often dressed oddly and very easily creeped people out, even Ed included, making the blond think each time: How could anyone wear purple-or "amethyst" as the boy always corrected-contacts for no reason, then clash it with dyeing their hair green? The boy had such like hair and styled it weird that it resembled a palm tree, almost.

He goes by the name "Envy"; whether that's his real name or not wasn't exactly established amongst the student body, but not many dare to snoop in order to find out; he was menacing and unpredictable.

However, even though this Envy was eccentric, some of the student body somehow still found him-irresistible. How, Edward would never understand. The young blond found him just ghastly. Not just for his preference of style-or lack there of-but for his very tolerance of people-or, again, lack there of. The boy seemed to just utterly hate people, even including his younger, first year brother, Wrath. (Edward didn't know if that was his true name or false, either.)

He hated all except one-all except Edward. Envy seemed to find the utmost pleasure from crawling beneath Edward's skin.

At the very thought, Edward shuddered as he pulled out his history book, tucking it in his arm. Switching his thoughts, the young boy began to think how, unlike his last hour, history was a very much tolerable class. Despite the book he carried, which was thick and heavy, history itself held a gentler teacher, and it was a more calming class in general.

With quickly snatching a pen from atop the shelf platform in his locker and sticking it in his mouth, he knelt down and grabbed a gray-covered notebook from the bottom before laying it over his history book and standing straight. He closed the locker with a light slam with his red-bottomed black boots before he quickly headed down the hall, through the mass of students, towards his classroom.

Damn! Why must people stop directly in the middle of the hallway to chat? ... Why is it history that I am always late for? Edward questioned; though history was a casual class, he just couldn't be punctual with it.

No later than by a minute or two is when Edward set foot in the classroom. Once he entered, he gave a huff, feeling a bit out of breath from the jog of coming from one side of the school to the whole other.

Students giggled as the teacher peered over at the blond. "Ah... Mr. Elric... No surprise to see you-late. Please, take your seat," he spoke gently, standing at his wooden podium which was placed at the front of the class. He didn't even bother to look at Edward. Mr. Kimone was bald at the top of his head, white hair rimming around it. His eyes were a dull blue, hidden behind brown-framed, cokebottle glasses, and staring down as he flipped through the pages of a historical book.

"I won't mark you tardy this time, Edward... Be glad you are on my good side at this time." He gave a soft, warm smile to the blond who sheepishly grinned at the kind action. Mr. Kimone's voice old, dry, slow, and soft, similar to a kind grandfather's. He had to be near his seventies, or sixties at least.

Edward gave a nod, quietly heading over to his seat and sliding in. After being seated, he let out a silent sigh of relief before plopping his books on his desk.

M. Kimone was a nice teacher. Ed questioned if his kindness was because he was more elderly, or if his heart was just benevolent. Perhaps it was both.

A half hour into the class, Edward was almost dying to fall asleep. Teacher was amiable, but boring. With his arms crossed over his desk and his eyes half-lidded, he gave a yawn, shutting his eyes the rest from the action. It was almost a fight to wrench open his golden orbs once again. The drolling boy looked forward at the projector giving off pictures of ancient animals-or something.

Edward couldn't really focus on the images enough to interpret them correctly. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head a bit to attempt in ridding of the lassitude. It was times like these where he wished for his brother to be in the same class as him, however, his brother was but a first year and in much more advanced classes-which weren't exactly Edward's forté, since he already lacked the motivation for his current classes. He did what was needed, though-or tried to, anyways.

Nevertheless, Edward wished he'd at least had this class with one of his friends-even Maes would do. Now that's desperation.

Just then, a paper airplane zipped through the air and poked Edward in the cheek-sharp tip, too. Once it stopped, it flopped unto Edward's desk, thus laying motionless.

"Ow..." Ed muttered from the contact, rubbing his cheek. The hell...? He peered down at the piece of origami, and written on it's wing read "OPEN ME".

Edward gave a slight eyeroll but did so. Skeptically, he opened up the paper airplane and read it's contents. The squabble within was written in cursive, almost looking like writing from an elegant quill. There was one simple question written within,

"Are you tired... shorty?"

Edward blinked, staring dumbfoundedly. "Sh...?" Suddenly, his brow twitched and his hands gripped tight on the sides of the origami, crumbling it. He then growled menacingly. "What the hell?" he roared, tearing the paper into a million pieces. His face steamed red as his angered golden orbs glared at the snow-like falling fragments.

"Edward!" barked Mr. Kimone in a scolding tone. "I can tolerate your tardiness, but language is another thing! Please, explain to me of your sudden outburst, Mr. Elric...!"

Ed jumped, startled out of his quick flare. Slowly, his eyes slid to the teacher, cheeks now reddening from embarrassment rather than rage. The shredded snow had scattered upon his desk and now trickled along the tiled floor below. "I-Um..." Now that he shredded the only evidence for the mishap, he couldn't give a reason. "Bad... d... dream?" he said lamely, gulping, knowing it was a horrid answer.

A small vein appeared on Mr. Kimone's temple. "Bad dream?" He drew in and then let out a sigh. "Not only dreaming in my class room, but insensitive language, Edward... I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave." His voice was not of anger, beside slight irritation, but it was kind as well; so strange.

Snickers then flared up in the class.

Ed frowned, "Yes, sir..." He sighed quietly as he grabbed his classes case and stood. He trudged out of the classroom and idly closed the door behind him.

He leaned against the wall before he slid down it, onto his bum. He had one leg brought him near him, bent, and the other laid out. Boredly, the blond opened his glasses case, then closed it; the outside was black, inside a dark red with silk-like material. Once again he opened it, then closed it, continuing the actions; black, red, black, red, black, red, black.

Ed sighed, finally letting the case rest. He leaned his head against the wall and glanced forward before he set his eyes on the ceiling.

History was his last class of the day. It was the middle of the school year-November. It was already freezing outside; Edward avoided going outside as much as he could during the colder part of seasons, such as late autumn or early spring.

With a few taps against the wall, Edward then lolled his head forward and opened his glasses case, plucking out his specks. He closed the case, unfolded his glasses, and slipped the stems over his ears, setting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. The young man's mind was blank-to tired to think. It was Thursday-Edward couldn't wait until it was Friday The weekend-like heaven, it was. Short, but still blissful...

Short.

Short. Short. Short

Edward snarled. "Stupidpaperairplanethingy!" he steamed quickly. "I'm not short, dammit...!" I'll kill whomever threw that blasted piece of origami at my head! Ed promised in thought.

As the young blond drolled off in thoughts, the time ticked on; soon enough, the bell rang, signaling the end of class-the end of the day. Ed, too lazy to stand at this point, stayed against the wall, knees bunched to his chest so the sea of rushing dogs wouldn't step on them as the poured from their cages. Eventually, the students cleared enough for him to stand.

He snatched up his glasses case and returned his specks into them. A small breathe slipped from his lips as he ran his fingers through the soft, loose strands of his bangs. In doing so, he suddenly felt someone else's fingers grasp around his wrist. His eyes flicked to the person, brow furrowing, ready to bark in dismay-until he saw the person.

"Hey there... Pipsqueak..." The voice practically grinning.

e_e I couldn't figure out a right transition, so I stuck some xXxXxXxXx magic in there. xD; Forgive me. x: New story. This one already has a second chapter waiting to be revamped.

This story has been revamped; it was originally made in 2008, I believe. xD; ... Enjoy? :

[WARNING: May or may not contain yaoi and/or yuri in later chapters!]