Brief Commentary:
I've noticed that these chapters take me roughly two hours to rewrite. Huh. Well, seeing as I'm not tired and it's 1:10 AM, I figured I should continue on with the revising. See how much I can do in one day. XD But seriously, it's bugging me to have like, two revised chapters then a chapter that seriously needs to be revised...ehhh. So I'll just do it!


Reasons Not For Your Ears
Chapter Two

The next morning, Winry's energy was sapped, even though she woke up at seven (she had woken up much earlier at her past schools) and was dressed and moderately ready for school by 7:20 or so. Bearing faint circles under her eyes, she trudged noisily down the narrow flight of stairs to the kitchen/family room, where her grandmother was already frying a couple of eggs.

"Morning, Baa-chan," she yawned and stretched, sleepily pulling her book bag over her shoulder only for it to slide down to the crook of her elbow.
"Hungry, Winry?" Pinako Rockbell greeted her with a grunt, not turning to face her granddaughter as she silently observed the cooking food. Expertly digging a spatula underneath one of the eggs, the elderly woman slid it onto a plate and offered it to Winry.
She shook her head and yawned again.
"No thanks."
Rolling her eyes, Pinako scooped the other egg onto the plate and turned off the small stove she had been facing, walking over to the small kitchen table and sitting down. Evidently she had been famished; both eggs were gone within two minutes. Winry felt a small ache in her stomach from just watching, but she had her pride, too, and wouldn't try to reveal that she had become hungry. Instead, she waved a quick good bye to her grandmother before she walked slowly out the door, wondering silently if she should try using public transportation instead of her bicycle today.

When she nearly fell over trying to climb onto her bicycle, she decided public transportation would be better.

As she walked past her apartment from the shed where her bike was kept, Winry grinned as she caught sight of Pinako staring solemnly out at her from the doorway, her pipe held carefully in one hand as she raised it to her lips unblinkingly. Waving again, she turned her back to the building and began to job to a near by bus stop, hoping that if the bus wasn't too crowded, she could actually get a few extra minutes of sleep.

The morning air was unforgivingly chilly as Winry pulled the school's sweater more tightly around her torso. The bus stop was unoccupied with the exception of three other people, two of which were fellow students bearing the same school uniform. The third person was a man in a business suit who kept looking anxiously around, but Winry decided not to pay much attention to him. After the bus pulled in, the man was the first to practically leap on, while she and the two other students slowly climbed the tall stairs and sat quietly into the cushioned seats. The bus wasn't overly noisy at 7:36 AM, so Winry was able to drift into some sort of slumber, although it was very light.

When the bus pulled in near the school, she, along with the two others, stepped off as quietly as they had gotten on, and began a slow walk towards the entrance. Almost as soon as she walked inside, Winry ran straight into Alphonse, who greeted her as cheerfully as he had the day before. When she only offered a tired "Hello" in response, he began a quick interrogation.

"Did you sleep well last night?"
"No."
"What time did you go to bed?"
"...dunno."
"Did you have anything for breakfast?"
"No, wasn't hungry."
Her stomach found this to be the perfect opportunity to gurgle loudly, much to her embarrassment.
"Winry..."
"...what?"
Alphonse deftly slapped her on the back, startling her out of her stupor.
"What the hell was that?!" she blurted out, clamping her hands over her mouth as soon as the words slipped out. Letting out a meek, "Sorry," Winry stared at her shoes in immense concentration. Alphonse let out a laugh.
"Well, that woke you up, didn't it?"
Her cheeks reddened.
"...I guess," she admitted.
He grinned at her.
"Well, class will be starting soon; I'll see you there, I suppose?"
Winry nodded quickly, face still flushed.
"See you, Al."


The only thing Winry successfully accomplished in class that morning, besides raising her hand and muttering "Here" for roll call, was sleep. She had long mastered the ability to sleep with her eyes open, and she was like that now. Slumped over her desk with her chin resting on her folded arms, Winry stared ahead with glazed-over blue eyes at the chalk board. Luckily, Mustang-sensei did not seem to notice. Unfortunately, even sleeping with one's eyes opening could not notify one of the end of class.

"Oi!"
Five more minutes...
"Oiii!"
You're too noisy...
"OI!"
"WHAT?!" Winry shrieked suddenly, snapping into a standing position and succeeding in knocking over her belongings onto the floor. Looking up abashedly, she met the eyes of a dark-skinned girl with mousy brown eyes and black hair, and an amused grin dancing on her lips. After several seconds of trying to hold back, the girl exploded into a fit of laughter, while Winry just scowled at her, confused and unsure of what to do. Eventually the girl's giggles died down, and with a smirk, she said,
"Figured you should know that class is over."
She paled.
"How long do I have until next class?"
"Five minutes or so, don't worry," the girl assured her. "Mustang-sensei walked out with the rest of the class, so you haven't gotten caught yet."
"Er...good." Winry scooted away from her desk and stood up from her chair, sighing as she gazed at all of her spilled belongings on the floor.
"I'll help," the girl must've seen her upset expression and quickly crouched down on the floor, beginning to place her things haphazardly back into Winry's arms.
"So," she said as she picked up a couple pens and a pencil, "You're the new student, Rockbell-san, right?"
"Yeah...er..."
"Aetern Paninya," she introduced herself.
"Uh, thanks a lot, Aetern-san."
"Call me Paninya."
Winry glanced at her for a brief second, wondering why everyone here was so formal, before she answered with,
"Then you can call me Winry."
Paninya grinned as she stacked the last of her belongings into Winry's arms, and stood up to face her.
"All right, Winry," she offered her hand to shake, before retracting it awkwardly with a sheepish smile when she realized that Winry didn't have a hand available to shake with.

The two walked in silence to Winry's locker, before Paninya waved and ran off to get her own things ready for the next class. Interest piqued by the girl's strange behavior, it wasn't until her locker clicked open that she remembered the boy from the night before. Suppose he attended this school? As far as she knew, there weren't many others in the city. With a sigh, she mentally swore to herself that she would keep an eye out for the boy, in hopes she might at least get a glimpse of him. Winry bit her lip as she realized that shouting at him "I SAW YOU ON THE ROOF LAST NIGHT!" would not be a good introduction. Maybe she just shouldn't say anything. Her eyes sub-consciously drifted to her left, and she blinked in surprise when they landed on Alphonse, rummaging through his locker. As if sensing her gaze on him, he glanced up.
"Fell asleep in class, Winry-chaaan?" he mock-scolded her, a grin stretching across his face.
"No, I was paying attention," she tossed back at him, trying to remain as casual as possible.
"Ha ha, I don't think so," Alphonse gave her a knowing look and shook his head, but let the topic slide as he pulled out his things and closed his locker. Winry did the same, and couldn't help but smile when she realized that she and Alphonse were actually walking to class together, even though both were saying nothing. However, the icy glares she felt boring into her back tempered that small happiness, and Winry had to suppress a shiver. To distract herself, she allowed her eyes to peel the hallways, ever alert for any presence of the boy she had seen the night previous.


I know some of the points made in the chapter were actually made in later chapters, so I will be editing them. :) Never fear, my darlings, this story will come out of construction relatively soon...I hope. -dances to London Bridge to pass the time-