Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or 'It's My Life' by Bon Jovi.
It's My Life
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Jaz96min: Thanks for thinking I am good at writing. I'm glad you like my stories. No, I'm not an author and I don't plan to be one. Writing is just a pastime for me. Thanks for the review. The length of the chapters depends on all that happens in them. So each chapter will either be longer or shorter than the last.
I'm going to be going back and forth between German and Japanese. When I switch languages German will be in bold and Japanese will be in italics, for at least the first line of the change.
"Talking"
Thinking
Texting
Chapter 7
October third.
This day meant a lot to the Elric family. On this day Trisha Elric died in that car accident, Ed lost his arm and leg, and Al's illness came to be. They were all hurt on this day. Hohenheim wasn't hurt physically, but his heart was suffering from the loss of his wife and that fact that his two sons who he loved greatly were hurt. All of them remembered this day clearly, though none of them wanted to.
Ed had to practically drag himself out of his bed this morning. He never liked getting up on this morning. Staying in bed all day was much more preferably than getting up and getting on with life. But he knew his mother wouldn't want him to mope around. She would want him to get on with his life. She would want him to live, live for her. Moping around would not get anything done or change the fact that she died.
After taking his shower and getting dressed Ed left his room and walked to his brother's room, which was three rooms down the hall. Not bothering to knock, the elder Elric brother just threw his brother's bedroom door open while yelling, "GET UP, AL! THIS IS NO TIME FOR SLEEPING! THERE IS A KITTY OUTSIDE IN THE COLD RAIN!"
Immediately, Al shot up from his bed and ran out of his room, leaving a laughing Ed behind. Ed sat on his brother's bed to wait for the younger one to return.
"That wasn't funny, brother." Al grumbled when he came back into his room.
"I don't know how you fell for it." Ed smirked. He looked out the window. "The sun is shining right through the curtains."
Glaring at his brother, Al went to his bathroom to get ready for the day. Satisfied with his work, Ed left the room and went back to his room to grab his keys, cell phone, messenger bag, and his black wallet before heading downstairs to wait for his brother and for his breakfast.
"Today is the day." Al said somberly when he sat down for breakfast.
Ed sent his brother a sad smile. "Yes, it is, but we shouldn't be sad. Mom would want us to be happy for her. She would want us to go as far as we could in life while still being happy. Isn't that what you basically told me the other day? Mom would be happy with whatever makes us happy even if it doesn't take us far."
Al nodded his head. "I just miss her so much."
"I do too, Al, I do too." Ed glanced at his father's empty seat. "And so does dad. He just buries himself in his work so he doesn't have to deal with these painful feelings of missing her and feeling lonely without her around to fill the house with cheerfulness."
"I'm not lonely. I have you and my friends. If anyone is lonely, it is you brother." Al replied, pushing his eggs around on his plate. "Will you at least try to make at least one friend today?"
Ed laughed. "You're still pushing that. I'm fine without friends, Al, but for you I can try. Tell me, oh wise one, how do I make friends? You seem to do it so easily."
"Don't just sit there and stare out the window like I know you do. People aren't just going to come up to you and make friends with you. You have to look for them. Go and talk to someone. That's where friendships start." Al replied.
"Kind of hard when you start at a new school because everyone has been together for years and already have their friends. I'm the new kid who doesn't know anyone." Ed replied.
"That's not an excuse. I made friends." Al argued fiercely.
Ed shrugged. "Yeah, but you had Winry with you." He pointed out gently, but there was a trace of envy hidden in his voice that even he may not have realized was there.
"True." Al said with a nod of his head.
"Whatever. I'll try to talk to someone today, Al." Ed said idly. "But I'm not making any promises."
"That's all I ask." Al replied happily.
Rolling his eyes, Ed threw his messenger bag over his shoulders and left the dining room. Al ran after his brother, yelling for him to wait for him.
"You're late." Winry accused as soon as she opened the passenger's door.
"Sorry, I got up late this morning so that meant Al got up late as well." Ed told her as he checked his clock. At this rate he was going to be almost late to his homeroom again.
"Well don't get up late." Winry argued.
Ed rolled his eyes. "I don't have to drive you to school you know. We can always walk there if you want."
Innocent eyes flashed at Ed as Winry pretended to zip her lips shut.
"So Al," Winry said as she turned to her friend. "Do you want to sleepover this weekend?"
Ed turned to look at Winry quickly with a frown before turning back to the road. "I'm not sure our dad would be comfortable with Al staying at a girl's house." Or me. He added in his head.
"Don't worry Ed. Wrath and Fletcher will be there. I know some boys can be uncomfortable when surrounded by all girls. Noah, Rose, and Paninya are coming as well." Winry added to Al.
"Please brother? I don't want to spend my weekend at home. Can I please go to Winry's?" Al pleaded with his hands clasped in front of him. "I'll be good and it will be alright because I won't be the only boy there."
Winry leaned forward to look at Ed more closely. "And my parents and grandma will be there. Nothing is going to happen."
Ed hesitated for moment longer. "I guess you can go, Al."
Behind him Al and Winry erupted into cheers of delight.
"Oh, and brother?" Al said as Ed helped him and Winry out of the car. "I talked to Wrath. Your secretary is his mom."
Ed nodded his head. "I thought so. I mean, what were the chances that they had the same last name and didn't know each other?"
"HEY WINRY, AL!"
Al and Winry looked towards the school to see their friends waving them over. Winry grinned and ran over to them. Before Al could follow Ed put a hand on his shoulder.
"How is your arm?"
"It's fine, Ed. A little pain isn't going to kill me." Al replied, glancing over at his friends.
"Go ahead. I have to leave before I'm late anyway. Just don't rip the stitches out." Ed told his energetic brother.
"Thanks. Don't be late or dad will scold you again and after everything that's happened this week, it won't be good. I won't. Bye brother." Al replied so fast that his words were almost incoherent before running over to his friends.
It took Ed a minute to break out of the stupor that Al threw him into. His brother never spoke that fast. He was usually calm and quiet. But now looking at his friends he saw that they were all loud and energetic people. He must have changed himself a little for his friends.
Damn it. I can't believe I let Al's friends distract me that long. Ed thought angrily as he ran down the hallway. Note to self, don't get up late again.
Slightly flushed, Ed came to a stop in front of his homeroom. He entered the classroom just in time.
"Don't make this a habit, Mr. Elric, because you won't be so lucky one of these times." Izumi said placidly.
"Don't plan to." Ed replied before heading to his corner. As he sat down he remembered that promise he made his brother and let his head drop to his desk with a thump. Despite his calm, badass attitude he was nervous as hell. He didn't know the first thing about making friends. Al said to just talk to someone, but what was he supposed to say?
*It's*My*Life*
"Can't you pitch any better than that, pipsqueak?" Envy asked snidely as the ball was tossed back to Ed.
"DON'T CALL ME A PIPSQUEAK, YOU GENDER CONFUSED PALM TREE!" Edward yelled angrily as he threw the baseball at Envy's head.
Envy ducked so the ball went over his head. When he stood up he was glaring at Ed. "What did you call me?"
"A gender confused palm tree. I mean really, the first time I saw you I didn't know if you were a girl or boy. You wear the boy's uniform but really, you sound like a girl's and a boy's voice mixed so it is hard to tell. And your hair reminds me of a palm tree. With how pale you are and with that hair I'm surprised you don't get mistaken for a palm tree more often." Ed sneered at him. "Honestly, are you an idiot? I shouldn't have to explain that to you."
"You son of…." Envy started to say, which would have ended badly for him if he had finished what he was saying. He only stopped because his voice was drowned out by the loud laughter coming from his classmates. Even his friends, Frank and Solf, were laughing some.
Scar stood to the side of the class and rolled his eyes. His students could argue and verbally hurt each other. He didn't care. He was trying to make them toughen up. Part of being strong was being able to handle what your opponent says to you. Only when punches started getting involved did he interfere.
Glaring at Ed and silently vowing revenge, Envy stormed off to the locker rooms. No one dared to humiliate him like that. No one!
A hand being clapped on his back made Ed look up. "Jean, what do you want?" He growled.
"No need for such hostility." Jean said with his hands held in front of him in a sign of surrender. "I just wanted to say nice job."
"Huh?"
"He means nice insult. No one really likes the Homunculi here and most are too afraid to stand up to them. The Alchemists are pretty much the only ones that don't fear them." Riza explained.
"Oh." Ed said quietly.
Jean grinned at him. "That had to be one of the best insults hurled at Envy. Maybe you aren't so bad after all, Elric."
Ed shot him an evil grin. "Thanks, but that was only the beginning."
"Targeting the Homunculi?" Roy asked and when Ed nodded his head he continued. "The Homunculi rule the school by using fear. We are taking them down. Olivier is the student council president. We are keeping the Homunculi out of student council and are aiming to beat them at this tournament."
"I already joined the Alchemists and will help you take them down. Envy is mine though." Ed growled.
Roy shrugged and held his hand out. "Anyone who stands up to the Homunculi like that is a friend."
Ed stared at the hand in front of him. There were two problems. One, he would have to use his right hand to shake and that he could not done because of his automail. Secondly, it was Roy Mustang, the man who constantly threw short jokes at him, ignoring the fact that they've only known each other for two days.
But he did promise Al that he would try and make friends. And here was a group offering their friendship to him. Besides his promise to Al, he was lonely. He couldn't study and hang with his little brother forever. There was also the fear of being hurt or betrayed by friends again. He didn't want that again, but he couldn't know what type of friends they would be until he's gotten to know them.
Ed held his left hand out. "Sorry, I shake with my left."
With an eye roll, Roy swapped his hand and shook hands with Ed, sealing the deal of friendship. "Time for proper introductions. I'm Roy Mustang. Call me Roy."
"Edward Elric."
"Took you long enough to make friends with us." Maes said cheerfully.
Ed stared blankly at him.
"Don't mind him. He's an idiot." Jean said.
"Hey!" Maes growled.
"By saying that then it makes it sound like you knew he was going to be our friend from the start." Riza said.
Maes grinned maniacally. "Of course. Roy wasn't going to let him stay by himself, not with the Homunculi picking on him because he is new, alone, skipped a grade, and now because he's offended one of them." He stopped and looked at Ed. "Really, stop giving them so many reasons to target you." Maes turned back to Riza before Ed could retort. "Gracia was also going to talk to him soon because Roy was being too slow in talking to him. She wanted to talk to him because she thought he was lonely. By her doing that, you, Maria, Rebecca, and I would talk to him. We would then end up being friends with him which would bring him into our group."
"All of that would depend on if Elric let Gracia talk to him." Fuery pointed out.
"Which he would have because Gracia is really nice and he isn't a bad person." Maes replied.
Ed's head felt like it was going to explode with all this. "Wow, Hughes, you should really be an investigator."
"That's what I'm going to major in at college. And Ed, call me Maes. All my friends do." Maes said.
"Yep. Maes." Jean said, causing Maes to look at him.
"Maes." Gracia said with a smirk.
"Maes." Roy said in sing-song.
"Maes." Heymans said.
"Maes." Riza said.
"Maes." Fuery said.
Ed watched as Maes looked back and forth between his friends in amusement. "Maes."
Maes faltered for a moment and looked at Ed with a frown before walking away while grumbling, "Great. They've taught Ed the game as well."
After buying his lunch, Ed walked into the cafeteria and looked where his new friends were sitting. There wasn't an empty seat at the table. With a sad smile, Ed went over to an empty table and sat down. He didn't even know why he was sad. They just became his friends last period and he was new. Of course they would forget about him already.
Being abandoned by his friends was nothing new to Ed. Keeping friends has always been difficult for him. They hung out with him for a cool reputation because he was smart, cool, the bad boy. They hung out with him for money. They hung out with him for his help in getting them out of trouble. It was all the same. They used him and that hurt. Some even betrayed him by pushing the blame on him because they knew his father could get him out of trouble but it still hurt. Alfons Heiderich was the only one of his friends to not hurt him in Germany. He was lucky for that because all the ones who did ended up in the hospital. Even that though didn't make him feel any better. But that was obvious. He only did that because it was his revenge to them hurting him.
Ed felt himself being jerked backwards which caused a small sound of surprise to escape his lips. As his chair was being dragged backwards with him on it, Ed saw a hand out of the corner of his eye grab his lunch tray. He turned his head to see who was dragging his chair away from his table and raised a brow. "Mustang, what are you doing?"
"First of all, call me Roy. Second of all, we're sitting over here." As Roy finished talking he let go of Ed's chair which was now positioned at the head of the table they were sitting at and Maes put his lunch in front of him.
Blinking in surprise, Ed found himself looking up at his new friends. They actually remembered him and came to him to bring him to their table. Maybe they could be good friends.
"After school I say we go to my house." Roy said. He glanced at Ed. "That means you to. We get together after school sometimes to either hang out or study. This week we are at my house. It's a different house each week."
"You get together every week?" Ed asked.
"No. We just have a schedule of whose house we go to each week. We don't necessarily have to go to that person's house at all that week." Alex explained.
Ed scratched his head. "Um….just give me your address then. I have some things I need to do after school before I can meet you there."
"How long will it take you?" Roy asked.
"Depends on where you live." Ed retorted.
"Relax shorty. No need for the attitude." Roy replied.
Ed's eye twitched. "WHO…"
Maes slammed a hand over Ed's mouth. "Please don't yell again."
Huffing, Ed crossed his arms and settled for glaring at Roy.
"What do you have to do after school anyway?" Jean asked curiously, leaning forward on the table to look passed Riza at him.
"I have to go pick up Al and Winry from the Junior High School and take them home." Ed replied with a shrug.
Riza raised a brow. "Who?"
Ed tilted his head and blinked at her. "Alphonse is my little brother and Winry is…..a friend, I guess."
"You guess?" Roy scoffed.
"Fine, she is Al's friend, but she is also a family friend I guess because her grandma and my dad were old friends." Ed snapped.
"I didn't realize you had such a short temper." Roy muttered.
"SHORT?" Ed yelled, getting ready to stand up, but Maes pushed him back down and sent Roy a reproaching look.
"Wow, even when I'm not referring to your height you react." Roy said, a smirk forming on his face.
Riza, who saw the smirk, turned to Ed quickly to continue the conversation. "Have you talked to your friends in Germany recently?"
Immediately a frown crossed over Ed's face. "Forget that. How did you all become friends?"
Sensing that she hit a touché subject, Riza allowed the subject change. "Well, Roy and I met when we were younger. We are neighbors. It was raining and he threw mud at me."
"Hey!" Roy growled. "You're the one who threw mud at me first."
"Mud?" Ed whispered in disbelief.
"You threw first." Riza retorted.
"No I didn't." Roy retorted.
"What does it matter?" Maes interrupted.
Sighing, Riza turned back to Ed. "We had a mud fight and became friends from there. We have been friends ever since. I met Maria, Gracia, and Rebecca from school."
"Maes and I became friends after we fought against some older students who were picking on Kain. From that, Maes, Kain, Riza, Maria, Gracia, Rebecca, and I became friends." Roy explained. "Heymans, Alex, Vato, and Jean came from a martial arts club we joined in Junior High School. Riza didn't join the club until we started Senior High School. That's basically how we met and became friends. Common interests."
"Are you a fighter, Fu-Kain?" Ed asked.
"Not really. Maes has given me a few lessons but I'm not really into fighting." Kain replied. "Do you like it here so far?"
Ed looked around the cafeteria. "Much better than Germany."
"What was wrong with Germany?" Kain asked confused. As far as he knew there was nothing wrong with it right now.
Sighing, Ed looked back at Kain. "Everyone knew me."
"I don't see how that is a problem." Heymans said confused.
Rolling his eyes, Ed rested his head in his upturned palm. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." Heymans challenged.
Ed looked at Heymans with calculating eyes before shaking his head. "No thanks." He picked up his tray and kicked his chair back. "Time for Chemistry!"
Heymans's mouth dropped open and he made gestures at Ed's retreating back as he tried to think of something to say. "Wha…..huh….ho…"
"He's hiding something." Roy said.
"It's not our business." Gracia replied as she picked up her tray and left the table.
"Hello Mr. Elric." Izumi greeted when Ed came into her classroom.
"Afternoon Curtis-sensei." Ed replied.
Izumi ruffled through some papers on her desk before finding the ones she needed. "Here are some papers you need for the Alchemists. I was going to give them to you yesterday but you had to leave almost as soon as you got there so I never got the chance to give them to you. The first is our training sessions' schedule. Those might change if things come up. The second one is a form that your dad needs to sign that will allow you to join the Alchemists and the last one is a form your father needs to sign that will allow you go to the national tournament if we beat the Homunculi. The national tournament takes place in North City so all students need consent from a parent or guardin." Izumi explained.
Ed paled a considerably amount. "Consent?"
Izumi raised a brow and looked at Ed suspiciously. "That won't be a problem, will it?"
Ed took the papers and flipped through them. One was a calendar with certain dates marked for training and when the tournaments were. The other two were each forms that needed to be signed. The first explained the Alchemists and the second was about the tournaments. "No, of course it won't. I'll get them back to you as soon as possible."
"Be sure that you do. Since you missed the first few months of our school year you missed the first tournament. The second tournament against the Homunculi is halfway through November and the third one is at the end of February. The national tournament is during spring vacation when school ends. We'll discuss it more when it gets closer." Izumi explained. She looked behind Ed at the students that were waiting for class to start.
"Okay. Thanks sensei." Ed replied. He looked at the students too. "Sorry for holding up class."
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Elric. Just go sit down now." Izumi said.
Ed nodded his head at her and went to his seat next to Riza.
The amber eyed girl shot him a worried look but Izumi started talking so she couldn't speak to him.
"I have your tests graded and will be returning them now. I expected better grades from a lot of you. If you just applied yourself more I know you could do better in here." Izumi said.
"She says that after every test we take." Riza whispered in Ed's ear. "The grades are mostly good. Some do badly, but most get C's and B's. It's very rare for anyone to get an A on her tests."
Ed nodded his head.
Izumi slid Ed's test onto the desk in front of him and gave him a suspicious look before moving on. Immediately and without looking at his grade, Ed grabbed the test and put it in his chemistry book.
Riza blinked at him. "You're not going to look at your grade?"
"Maybe later." Ed shrugged. "What about you?"
"I got an eighty-five. That's one of my best grades on a test in here." Riza said happily.
"Good job." Ed replied kindly.
"Elric, Hawkeye, pay attention." Izumi snapped.
The two teenagers snapped their mouths shut and turned to the front of the class.
"Mr. Elric!" Izumi called when class was over. "Stay for a moment."
Sighing, Ed shrugged when his friends looked at him and went over to Izumi's desk. "Curtis-sensei, what do you need?"
"I have never had a student get a hundred on one of my tests." Izumi stated.
Blinking, Ed pulled his test out of his book and looked at it. Right at the top in red was a hundred with an A next to it. "Oh."
"School in Germany started only a month ago. You couldn't have learned enough Chemistry in one month there to pass my tests. How did you do it?" Izumi asked, suspicion clear in her voice.
Ed scratched the back of his head, smiling nervously. "Well, I've been learning chemistry since I was ten. My dad is a chemist and wants me to follow in his footsteps."
"You don't sound happy about that." Izumi observed.
"I don't really want to be a chemist." Ed said with a shrug.
"Then don't. It's your life, Elric. Do what you want." Izumi replied, scribbling on a piece of paper. "Your dad can't make you become something you don't want to."
Ed frowned.
"He can control your life right now because you are a minor. Wait until you are an adult and can decide for yourself." Izumi said, handing the paper to Ed. "To get you into your next class."
Nodding his head, Ed took it and left the class, stuffing his test back in his book as he went.
"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Elric." Tucker said in a placidly annoying way as Ed walked into the classroom.
Ed rolled his eyes and handed the note to his teacher. This teacher was strange and creepy so Ed liked to avoid him. It was a good thing he only had him for study hall.
"Hey Ed!"
The young heir to his father's mansion, money, and sadly job and title of famous chemist looked at Jean, Riza, Vato, and Miles sitting in the back of the room.
"What did Curtis-sensei want?" Jean asked when he sat down.
"Nothing important." Ed replied as he turned his attention to Miles. "You're Miles, right? A senior?"
"That is correct." Miles replied monotonously.
"He's also the student council vice president." Jean said. "He works alongside Olivier."
Ed raised a brow. "How can you stand it? I sit next to her in trigonometry and she is a little scary."
"When you've known her as long as I have you get used to her and become strong." Miles replied. "You just got to do something to earn her respect then she isn't that bad. She doesn't like cowards."
Chuckling, Ed opened his chemistry book to start his chemistry homework.
"I can't believe Curtis-sensei made you take that test yesterday." Jean said to him.
Ed shrugged. "Just because I'm new doesn't mean I should get special treatment."
"Still, her tests are really hard. Your grade is going to get ruined with her tests." Jean replied.
"Hard, huh? What did you get?" Ed asked with a raised brow.
"A seventy-six." Jean replied happily.
Ed raised a brow at his cheerfulness.
"We said her tests were hard. So many people are happy with a C or B in her class." Riza said to Ed's shocked look.
"What did you get?" Jean asked.
Ed shrugged. "Not important."
"That bad?" Jean asked amused. He noticed the paper sticking out of Ed's book and grabbed it.
"Hey!" Ed growled, reaching for the paper, but Jean jumped to his feet and moved out of Ed's range. "Give that back."
Grinning, Jean shook his head. Ed jumped to his feet and tried to grab his paper back. Jean spun on his heels, paper behind his back, so his back was to the table they were sitting at.
"Give it." Ed snarled.
"What are you two doing back there? Sit down!" Tucker snapped at them.
Sheepishly, Jean and Ed apologized and sat down. When they were sitting, Ed glared at Jean and held his hand out. Smirking, Jean held his hands out with no paper.
"Where is it?" Ed growled.
"No way!" Vato said.
"What?" Riza asked.
Ed and Jean looked at the two. The former paled when he saw they had his test.
Riza looked up at the younger boy in shock. "A hundred? How did you possibly get a hundred on this test? This is only your third day here."
Completely red in the face, Ed laid his head on the table and put his opened chemistry book over it.
"He didn't!" Jean said surprised, grabbing the test from Vato. Sure enough, right at the top of the page was a hundred. "You actually got a hundred?"
Ed ripped the test out of Jean's hand and shoved it in his bag before burying himself in his chemistry homework still very red in the face.
A/N: Japanese schools begin in April and Ed and Al didn't start school in Japan until October. Here is a list of breaks for Japan:
Second week in April: School begins
May 3: Constitution Memorial Day
May 5: Children's Day
End of July through the end of August: Summer vacation
September 15: Respect-for-the-Aged Day
September 23 (or 24): Autumnal Equinox Day
October 10: Health-Sports Day
November 3: Culture Day
November 23: Labor Thanksgiving Day
December 23: Emperor's Birthday
December 25 through January 7: Winter vacation
January 15: Adults' Day
February 11: National Foundation Day
March 21 (or 20): Vernal Equinox Day
Third week in March: School ends, and spring vacation begins
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