it seemed like he was the one to question him…mostly.
"Who are you?"
"I thought you knew, Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist."
"How old are you?"
"19"
"… Is there any places where Marines are the most?"
"You mean the marines who work for the World Government? None, we technically don't exist. From what I read, the logs stopped reading us since whoever called Gold D Roger was killed (AN: I know, this sucks, and no, there are no hidden stories about this)."
"So does that mean that the people there don't know that we're pirates?"
"They will if you keep on displaying that flag and the sail."
Hey guys! Let down the sail and the flag - Do we have any other sheets to use as a sail? –
Gah! No! Why are we getting down the flag?! -
Luffy!! Get down here!!
"Where were you going?"
"On a mission."
"Care to specify?"
"No. Military secret."
"To where?"
"I don't know. I haven't read the report yet. And now that's down at the bottom of the ocean."
"You're in the military, right?"
"Yup."
"What rank?"
"Colonel."
"What?!" That interrupted the questioning. "Didn't you say you were 19?!" asked Sanji, very, very surprised.
"Uh-huh." Was the reply.
"How the hell-no, why the hell-… you're lying." Growled Sanji.
"What? Why is it so surprising? What?" asked Luffy, very confused about the whole situation. Franky obliged. "Normally people apply to the military after the age 18. The earliest recruits are at 17, unless they're in a war, which I don't think is right judging by his wear. They get to start by being a private, going up the ranks slowly. If he's a colonel, then he should be around 30, at least!"
"Well, I ain't lying, believe me or not. Besides, I was a major when I got in. I didn't apply for it, mind you. Besides, the youngest colonel I knew was about 28."
"When did you get in the military?"
"12."
"WHAT?! There's NO WAY any kind of military that would let in a child!!" exclaimed Nami.
"… Next question."
"So you have metal limbs." Said Zoro, taking over the questioning again as others seemed too shocked to speak.
"… And?"
"Show us."
"No."
Zoro grumbled. This kid was being very hard to read. Knowing less about the other made it harder to retaliate later when it would be needed. "What about Alchemy?"
"What about it?"
"Can you show us Alchemy?" said Chopper, his academic curiosity overpowering the fear for the short tempered Alchemist.
"Yeah." He didn't move. Usopp asked, "Aren't you going to show us?"
"No."
"But you said-"
"I said I could, I didn't say I would."
That didn't do well with Luffy. "Hey! That's no fair!-"
"Too bad."
"Grrr…I don't like you! Don't come in my crew!!" said Luffy. This was so different from the short tempered boy before. "Shorty!" he added for good measure. Ed's eye twitched, but didn't do anything else.
"The feeling's mutual, I didn't want to be in your crew anyways, and DON'T FUCKING CALL ME SHORT!!"
With that, the crew went back to doing what they were doing, leaving the alchemist alone. Although they did have many things to say to him, mostly being about his attitude, but decided against it, since they needed only to be near each other for a few days. Robin, being the most neutral one, approached Edward with a near-smile.
"The introduction was late, but my name's Robin. It's nice to meet you, Mister Alchemist."
"Why?" asked the boy, hiding his wary face under his bangs.
"Excuse me?"
"Why are you guys this… nice to a stranger? I might be dangerous, you know, and I made crap outta your questionings et cetera, et cetera… so why bother keeping me aboard?" It really didn't make sense. He had deliberately made them angry enough to just let him go by himself – as he still didn't trust these people.
"…Well, it's all up to the captain, although he doesn't seem too happy with you, I guess he still likes you." Oh Happy Me.
"… And the oh-so-powerful captain is…?" Asked Edward, voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Luffy. Monkey D Luffy. He's the one over at the prow."
"… Huh. I thought it was that guy with the green hair and three swords." who the hell names their child Monkey?
The silence from then on stretched to an almost uncomfortable lapse until Ed spoke up.
"So… who are the rest?"
"Mr. Swordsman's name is Roronoa Zoro," So that's what he's called. "Mr. Cook's name is Sanji," This one I don't have any idea. "Ms. Navigator's is Nami," The other girl, then? "Mr. Sharpshooter's is Usopp," Who? "Mr. Doctor is Chopper," So there's a doctor? "Mr. Cyborg" CYBORG?! "is Franky.
"Could you mind telling me the name of that chimera, too? If you've named it, I mean." Said Edward, deciding to listen for the rest's names.
"That would be our doctor, and he is not a chimera. He's a reindeer." Said Robin-wasn't that what she had said?-with a smile.
What? The reindeer's a doctor? "This ship is full to the brim with freaks…" muttered Edward. The other girl didn't seem to notice.
After a while, Ed got tired just sitting on the deck.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to retire… do you have any spare rooms I could use?"
Yeah, like they would, after that fight with the captain and all…
"Um... We don't really have a spare room…" said … Chopper, was it?
"We all sleep in the same room, and we don't have another bed… unless you'd rather sleep on the operation table in the clinic-but then it in not that comfortable…" Said the blonde man. By this time Edward was sure they were either really stupid or really open-minded.
"-But I think one of us could move out for a few nights, there is a sofa in the gym or the library-"
"You have a library?" cut in Ed, our oh-so-favorite book worm. "I mean, um… it wouldn't be kind of right for me to uhh… steal your beds, or something… I could just sleep at the library if that's alright…" Well that sounded lame, thought Edward. This seemed to show, as the other blond smirked and said, "Well, I guess we have another book-obsessed person on out ship. Suit yourself, but you'll have to sleep there for the rest of the trip."
"Fine by me. Although I hope I won't be giving up a comfy bed for a few bookshelves you call a library." Said Edward.
"I'll show you to the library, then?" Asked Chopper, delighted to show off the collections of books the crew (mostly his, Nami's and Robin's, and Sanji's cookbooks) had bought.
"Yes, thank you." Said Edward, getting up. His clothes were mostly dry, but his butt was still wet, and the leather was becoming way too tight for his comfort. He clapped his hands, and placed them on his clothes. The alchemic reaction occurred with the usual blue sparks, and soon, with a puff of steam, his clothes were instantly dry-cleaned. He didn't notice the crew gaping at him, as he busied himself trying to check if his pocket watch still worked.
'Whoa, I guess my alchemy of closing it airtight saved its life! There's no water in there!,' he thought. He turned to Chopper, looking at him expectantly. He took his red coat, flung it over him, and waited for the Reindeer to lead them.
When they got to the library, he got a slight disappointment as to the amount of the books, since it seemed nowhere near the ones in Central Headquarters. He thanked Chopper and sat down on the wall-lined sofa with a book, getting quickly immersed in it.
Out on the deck, the crew were discussing about the newcomer.
"Did you see that?! He clapped, and then whoosh! But I don't think it did anything …" said Luffy. Actually, he did have an idea, but he wanted confirmation before spitting it out.
"I think that was supposed to make his clothes dry," said Nami, "I think it was the steam that puffed out then."
"His left leg is metal." Said Zoro, and all eyes went to him. "His feet sounded different from each other. The left one is heavier."
"Yeah, I heard that too. Damn, then he wasn't lying about his limbs …" said Sanji, one hand raking his hair.
"But that doesn't mean he didn't lie about other things." Said Franky.
Then, Chopper came out of the passage way from the library. "He's reading books." He said, "I don't think he's gonna sleep, I didn't answer me when I said that the breakfast was at 8."
"Well, I guess he didn't really hear you," said Nami.
"I guess…" mumbled Chopper.
The crew decided to retire themselves, but none of them got a wink of sleep until very, very, very late at night.
