Chapter 2

First Day – Part 2

Friendly Fire

As Ed walked in, the class fell silent. He continued his stride and he informed the homeroom teacher of the situation, showing the man his program card. A pair of blue eyes widened in the back of the class.

"*whisper* Oh I see. *normal voice* Students, it seems we have a new student joining us this semester. Please, why don't you introduce yourself; your name, your grade, seeing as this is a mix of tenth and eleventh based off of academic merit, well, it's supposed to be any way – we've only one, ha ha, and let's see... an interesting fact about you.

"Uh... 'kay. I'm Edward Elric. I'm in tenth grade, and there's nothing all that interesting about me," he said offhandedly.

"Oh, very well then. Please take a seat... there are quite a few open."

"Um, sure..." Where should I sit then...? I don't know any of these people...

"Ed." A feminine voice called out.

Edward scanned the room to see where the voice was coming from.

At the back of the class he saw a hand waving at him; a delighted smile, blonde hair framing a pink-tinged face. She had bangs swept to the left and two long locks on either side, both reaching to her chest, and the rest tied up in a high ponytail. She had bright, soft, ocean-blue eyes.

"W...Winry?"

Everyone had looked to see Winry smiling and greeting Ed and then back at the amber-eyed boy.

– cue gossip and chatter –

"Why don't you come sit by me?"

"Uh, sure..."

Edward walked over cautiously and took a seat next to Winry.

"Since it's just the first day back and we have a new student, I'll just let you socialize and get to know each other." With that, the homeroom teacher sat at his desk readying his plan for the day.

"Why didn't you tell me you were transferring here?" Winry asked happily curious.

"Well, the Bastard didn't tell me and Al until the after you got back from vacation and we called but you said you were busy and then you yelled at me and that was two days ago and, well, here we are now."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense..." Winry grumbled,"For the record, I busy sorting out automail orders. They really piled up the two weeks I was gone."

"Speaking of which, hey Win-"

"Hey new kid. What's up? Oh, yeah – nice hair."

Why does this guy smell like smoke so bad? Ed wondered.

Ed and Winry looked over to see a tall, medium build, boy. He had blond hair; short, combed back, but with a tuft left shagged in the front, and slender, mischievous, but kind, blue eyes.

"Hey. Y'know, not much. And thanks, I leave it like this so I can ge sarcastic compliments from walking ashtrays."

Snickers were heard from behind the newcomer. Ed adjusted so he could the source.

The stifled laughing was coming from a boy with short black, with bangs haphazardly strewn across his forehead. When he stopped snickering, his eyes opened to reveal sharp onyx orbs.

"Geez, Havoc. Don't you have anything better to do than to bother the new guy?"

"Nope!" The one designated as Havoc hollered in merriment.

"New kid," –,"My name's Edward Elric." Edward interrupted sternly –,"right... Ed, where ya from? I'm from the countryside, Mustang and Hawkeye over there *pointing to the dark haired boy and the young blonde woman Ed just noticed sitting next to him* are from a town just outside of East City. So what about you?"

"I'm from Resembool, the sheep herding town south of here."

"Hey, isn't that where you're from, Winry?"

"Yeah. Ed and I are childhood friends," she replied.

"Huh, first day here and short-stack's already got himself a lady," Mustang said offhandedly.

"HEY WHO YA CALLIN' SHORT – DOES IT LOOK LIKE I NEED A LADDER TO REACH MY SEAT – WHY I OUGHTA KNOCK YOU FOR LOOP YOU –"

"Ed, calm down you idiot!" Winry smacked the back of Edward's head.

Everyone blinked and stared at Ed after his outburst and Mustang smirked maliciously.

"GAH, WINRY, what the hell!" Ed rubbed his cranium.

"Perhaps now is the time to quit picking on the new one." the blonde woman from earlier iterated.

"Aw come on Lieutenant, we're just being friendly," Havoc said with a kind smirk, to which Hawkeye looked sternly at.

She stood up from her seat and walked pacedly to Edward.

Ed looked up at the stern-looking young woman. Her long, sunflower blonde hair came down to the middle of her back, with bangs parted on the right, sweeping to the left. She had mahogany brown eyes; they were at first apathetic looking, almost glazed-over, but actually seemed to have a softness and warmth to them. Her posture was stiff when she walked, but it seemed to relax a bit as she smiled softly and stuck out her hand somewhat.

"Hello, Ed. I'm Riza Hawkeye."

"Um, hi." Edward gently took her hand and they shook simultaneously.

"The 'walking ashtray' is Jean Havoc: Professional Idiot," – Havoc fumbled –,"and that's Roy Mustang."

"Hey, how come I'm the only one to get ripped on?" Havoc whined.

"If you're friends with Winry, I'm sure you wouldn't mind letting us get to know you."

Ed thought the statement over momentarily,"Nah, I guess not,"he said with a friendly grin.

"Great! We'll –"Havoc was cut off by the bell's ring.

"Time to find out what my next class is." Ed absently said as he looked at his program card.

"Hey, I'll help you find your next class, okay?"

Ed smiled and thanked Winry. This school's kinda huge. I have no doubt Winry'll be a big help.

"Since Hawkeye so graciously introduced us, why don't you join us for break and Lunch?" Mustang asked cooly.

Why, so you can call me short again? Ed thought bitterly.

"Sure, whatever. But I have something to do at break before I head over."

"Very well. See you then." With that, Mustang, Hawkeye, and Havoc, like the rest of the other students, left for their next class.

He acts like a bastard.

"Ed. You coming?" Winry questioned.

"Yeah."

They strode into the hall and fell into a like step.

"So, whadoyou have to do at break?"

"Well, I still have to find my locker," he looked at his program card,"and I also have to meet up with Al near the front office."

"Heh, so how's Al feel about the transfer?"

"I'm not gonna lie and say it didn't surprise him. He was totally caught off-gaurd when we were first told. But he recovered quickly."

"Oh yeah. He was happy to hear that you go here, too." He said jovially. "I'm sure he'll adjust quickly. He's good with people, so I bet he'll make a lot of friends."

"You're not wrong on that point. *sigh* Well, this is you're next class. After this is break."

Edward looked questioningly at her.

"Oh yeah. This school runs on a block schedule. Mondays and Wednesdays we have Homeroom, and classes one, two, and three; Tuesdays and Thursdays we have Homeroom and classes four, five, and six. Fridays are all classes.

Break is between classes 1 and 2, or 4 and 5, and Lunch is between classes 2 and 3, or 5 and 6. Fridays have break between classes 2 and 3, and Lunch between 4 and 5."

"...That's an odd way to do it."

"Yeah, but you get used to it. *giggle* Well, gotta run; see you in a bit."

Winry trotted away and Ed faced his class and walked in.