If my chapters seem to get shorter, that's only because I'm getting less and less time to work on them. Christmas break has not been kind on me.
I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, the anime nor manga. Neither am I making money off of this.
With a flick of her wrist, Izumi Curtis sent Alphonse Elric crashing across the platform of the train station. His forced launch did not falter until he smash into a stack of luggage, where he lay, askew in chunks of bags.
Edward Elric stared with horror at his brother, now nothing more than a tangled mess of arms and legs. And, as if turning her pupil into a pile of goo wasn't enough, Izumi Curtis charged forward, seized poor Al by his ankle, and flung him back in the direction he came from. Al hurtled into Ed, and the two brothers spun down the station with speed unlike anything anyone present has ever seen before. Luckily for Ed, Al cushioned his collision with one of the pillars, and thus, allowed Ed to scramble up quickly to flee the scene.
Unfortunately for Ed's plan, Izumi seemed to have noticed that her rash actions unintentionally involved an innocent passenger, and rushed forward to help. Grabbing the man by his left arm, she pulled him up and steadied him. Her husband, Sig Curtis, began to dust the dazed chap off.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive my performance back there. Are you alright?" Izumi asked politely.
Ed, unused to this kind of courtesy from his former teacher, stared for a moment, which made the woman worry even more. But she was quickly reassured as Ed, accustomed to violent treatments like this from his apprenticeship in the past, recovered promptly and waved off the two flustered Curtis's. Checking that his hood was secure, he hastily introduced himself. "My name is Vic Alrec, pleased to meet you."
By that time, Winry and the others had hesitantly sneaked up on the unpredictable Curtis.
"Uh… Hello there, Mrs. Curtis. How—how do you do?" Winry stole a peek at the unconscious Al as she directed Izumi.
"Very well, Winry. Thank you for asking."
Riza smiled warmly at the tough-as-nails woman. As expected, Riza and Izumi got along very well. "What brings you here to Central?"
"What else? To see my fool of an apprentice pass the State Alchemy Exam." Izumi growled and glared at Al, who was moaning slightly as he regained consciousness.
"Well, I could see how that would be a reasonable cause." Mustang nodded cautiously. He had known the Curtis's for awhile now, but he was still slightly intimidated by both.
"That's not the only reason," Izumi said with a sad smile. "I have two pupils, remember? Even if he is beyond my reach, I still care for him and his birthdays. How old would he be now? Twenty-two?"
"Yes," murmured Winry. "You won't believe how disappointed I am right now. I really wish I could see him at this age."
Vic gulped slightly. It was quite obvious who they were referring to. He hid his regret and remorse by helping Rosé with Al.
"Thank you," Rosé said with a grin as they got Al back on his feet. Alphonse leaned heavily against Vic and seemed to be still unaware of his surroundings.
A small crowd of passengers who had witnessed the entire exchange between Teacher and Student gathered around the small group. They backed up hurriedly as Sig stared down at them. The poor man looked miserably at his wife, who was the real person they should be wary of.
"Excuse the commotion we caused earlier. Please move along." Izumi shooed away the cluster of people gently. Then she barked to Mustang's group, "Where's the car?!"
"Over there," Havoc scrambled off to prepare the automobile, thankful of an excuse to leave the frightful female. He was quickly joined by Breda, Fuery, and Falman.
"I'm sorry to ask you this, but can you please carry Alphonse over?" Izumi asked Vic, who was once again disturbed by how nice his teacher could be. Now he was unsure which was the real 'Teacher', the one always howling like a beast or the sweet lady before him now?
"Uh… Sure. Yeah" Vic flung Al's arm over his shoulder and half-dragged, half-carried his brother to the car.
Then Izumi asked a question he had gone through great lengths to prevent: "Do you have automail?"
Vic heard Winry gasp with excitement, and he silently cursed his teacher for being so observant. He had suppressed most noise from his heavy footstep with multiple padding, but that was only meant to fool the average human, not someone like Izumi Curtis.
Continuing to the vehicle without stopping, Vic replied, "Yes. I do have automail."
Mustang and Hawkeye glanced at him with surprise. "Do you really?" they asked.
"Yeah. I guess I forgot to tell you."
"Can I see it?" Winry asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity, accompanied by a mischievous spark. Vic missed that inquisitive look in her eyes, but, at the moment, he did not welcome it.
"Maybe another time."
--
Edward, taking babysitting duty, watched Elicia Hughes zoom around the park, sneaking up on her pals and screaming their ears off. She was excited, that much was obvious. She had good reason to be, too. After all, what nine-year-old little girl would be bored when she's passing out ten birthday invitations to friends of her choice? And with the subject of birthdays in the air, it was rather hard to think about anything else. That was why Ed was in so much of a pickle now.
By Al's description of Ed's birthday, it was a pretty private event. None of the annual participants in this gala was going to let Vic in without a hard fight, and, as desperate as Vic may be to celebrate with his friends and family, he was not ready to take them all on.
Needless to say, Ed was frustrated. It was his birthday after all. It would be an absurd outrage if he couldn't partake in it.
Then, as sweet as an angel, Elicia trotted up to him and, handing him a sloppy but colorful card, asked brightly, "Big Brother, will you come to my birthday party?"
Now, could he have asked for a better chance? "Of course I will!" Ed nearly screamed. Alphonse had told him before that they celebrated his birthday along with Elicia's; if he was invited to hers, he was invited to his.
--
When Gracia gave her charming Elicia ten birthday invitations, she never even considered that her little cupcake would invite kids older than the age of 11. That had been the unspoken condition in every birthday party she's ever held for Elicia and Ed. Little kids tend to stick with themselves and ignore adults; Gracia appreciated that because it gave the grown-ups a chance to secretly commemorate Ed's birthday. But Vic was almost twenty-two. He wasn't about to stay with youngsters when those his age snuck off into another room. That's why Gracia was so troubled by her daughter's last choice of party members. She knew Al and the others wouldn't like that, but it was too late. Gracia had been informed of the invitation after it was accepted. It would be rude to take it back now. There was nothing to do but let everything be.
--
The birthday seemed entertaining to Ed. He was currently in the Hughes' house, now stuffed with kids, adults, food, beverages, the list goes on. He watched the nine little children run around, the older ones leading the younger. Alisa and Elicia seemed to be especially close, to which Ed felt grateful of. It gave him a sense of usefulness too because he knew if he hadn't come back to life and saved Alisa, Elicia would've lost another dear one.
As Ed observed the playful rascals, he noticed that the eleven adults seemed to be distracted. His suspicion proved true when they left the children to themselves by sneaking into a different room. He, of course, followed.
The moment he stepped in, a stench ran up his nose and filled his mind. Ed looked around. The room wasn't too big or too small. It had a couch along each of the four walls and a rather large table in the dead center. From that table, came the foul smell. Edward looked harder and confirmed his guess: wine. Ed was a little ticked off that they would drink on his birthday, especially when Al was barely more than a minor. And what if they had too much and became a momentarily bad influence for the innocent youngsters outside?
But Ed soon realized that they were merely proposing a toast. He stood off by the side as everyone raised a glass… Everyone except Rosé. She, instead, had brought a cup of apple juice from the children's selection in the previous room. This caught Mustang's sharp eye first, which also let his slightly perverted mind make the statement first.
"You're not drinking, Rosé?" he asked, a smirk playing at his lips.
Rosé, confused at his strange reaction, tried to explain, "I can't drink these days."
"So, I'm right. Al really did it this time. But you're a responsible mother, Rosé. You're not risking the baby's safety by drinking even though you could get away with it." Mustang was merely teasing. There were a dozen other reasons as to why Rosé didn't want alcohol. But joke or not, it did make Rosé and Al go as bright as Rudolf's nose. (A/N: Merry Christmas) That sudden change in color led everyone to believe, for the slightest, irrational second, that what Roy said had been accurate.
It was barely a second, but that was more than enough time for Ed to act.
He whizzed across the room, grabbed Al by the collar of his shirt, and shoved him against the wall.
"ALPHONSE ELRIC, I WANT AN ANWSER AND I WANT IT NOW!! ARE YOU STILL A FUCK'N VIRGIN?!"
Vic's voice carried so much hostility that, for a brief moment, Al was speechless. What gave this man the liberty to question his virginity with such demanding force? Al was angered by that.
Rosé gently but hastily stepped in. "It's not actually true. I'm not pregnant. I just don't like alcohol."
"Oh…" Now it was Vic's turn to go red. He finally realized what an awkward position he was in. Not only had he barged into their private meeting but he actually just screamed at Al over a very personal topic. "Sorry, Al."
Everyone in the room was as dumbstruck as Al was. Nobody has ever dared to venture that far into Al's private love life. Not even Izumi felt that it was her place to reproach Alphonse on subjects like this. Vic, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly comfortable scolding Al in delicate fields such as these, even though they hardly know each other. And Vic was a little too straightforward about it too.
That was only the first of a few dozen occurrences where the Curtis's, Winry, and Rosé found this Vic Alrec to be uncannily familiar.
Believe it or not, I actually liked this chapter. I loved Ed's reaction because it was so blunt. I like blunt comments as long as they're not directed at me. I know; I'm a very egotistical person. I'm not really sure what egotistical means, I barely know how to spell it, but I do know that it has something to do with being selfish.
Please review if you find it worthy of your limited time. I don't care if it's just a simple 'Good.' It'll be better than nothing. You have no idea how much reviews help me get through tough times. When I'm down, I just reread reviews. Much better than therapy, I'll tell you that much. Ask any author if you're not an author yourself. I'm pretty sure that they'll tell you they really appreciate words of encouragement, no matter how small or short. If they don't, then know that they're the people who don't need reviews. Don't waste time on them when you can help those who really rely on positive feedback. LOL. Just joking. Sorry about the random comments. You can review whoever you want. But please try to squeeze my story in there somewhere.
If this chapter seemed rushed, then it's just because I want to return to my original storyline.
