Okay, here's chapter 2. I really tried on the grammar thing, proof read it a few times, but I'm not saying that it will be perfect, never am i going to say that. The responses to the reviews will be down there. For now enjoy the next installment!
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me, it will never be mine, it belongs to its rightful owner somewhere in the world.
Chapter 2: Problem with Leaks
Jin struggled to get out of his make shift bed and finally untangled himself from the blanket.
Skipping breakfast he slung his pack over his shoulder and made his way out of the forest, for some utterly weird reason he wasn't in the best of moods, probably the comments he have heard the day before about his parents.
Exiting the forest, the sun shone on his thick lens and the scent of the forest left his nose, leaving only the chattering and confusion of the town. To say the truth his lenses are quite thick but he didn't really need them, the advantage of having them is that people don't stare at his weird eye color; blue.
Trudging down the streets he felt stares on his back but merely shrugged them off, he was used to them, he had to go through this routine everyday after all. He felt a pang of greed as he saw the ramen shop where customers were streaming in and out, but his pride took over and he kept a straight and made his way towards the school.
Entering the tall building there were already a fair amount of students crowding the hallways, all Jin can do was heave a sign. And like the red sea, as he walks through the students separated into a straight line, none of them wanting to touch him. Jin kept a straight face and walked through making his way to his class. Until a certain someone got in his way of course.
"Lao, who are you going to bore to death again today?!" A sneering voice asked, the voice was
Ta Shi's officially the school bully.
"Please move out of the way," Jin said casually, feeling the shadow that was looming over him. Like his name, Ta was a fairly large guy, as for in mandarin Ta means big. And of course his favorite meal of the day is probably Jin. But unluckily for him today his meal is in a rather foul mood.
"Ah, are you a scardy cat?" the bigger boy mocked, and got a glare that went unnoticed from Jin. For good measure Ta kneeled down and looked Jin in his thick lenses, just to say that he was bigger.
"Too bad, if I punch you, you couldn't even tell the teacher, you have no parents after all!" That struck a code for Jin; it was officially the forbidden subject in his head.
"Please move out of the way," he repeated, feeling no fear for the bigger boy, he knew that he could slam the boy up right on using only one finger anyways.
"You're getting me pissed," The older boy growled, but then a smirk spreaded across his face, "Heard your parents were suckish at commanding the clan," he continued.
"Shut up,"
"Ooh, touchy subject? We finally got a different reaction, well, I'll continue then, they are stupid getting themselves killed off so easily my father is way better and he isn't even a master ninja," Ta continued, by now the whole school was crowding around them.
Something snapped and before Jin could control his anger that was boiling inside a fist was shot towards the taller boy, hitting its mark completely. However Ta did not faint or anything like that, as normal bullies' do, he shot right back, at Jin's critical point, however he did not hit.
Jin's highest point was speed and attack, so it was easy for him to move out of the way with the boy's slow movement. There was a small silence from the crowd, everybody knew that nobody punches Ta Shi, and most knew that Jin Lao does not fight back, he doesn't' even show emotion at times.
Finding his mask on the ground, forgotten, Jin let his anger take over and clash with the other on with full fury, he have hold this in for some time and doesn't plan on keeping it over any longer, this was a chance to release it and he decided to take it.
Nobody said that Ta wasn't good too and fired back swiftly with attacks that were meant to be strong in contact, however his movements were slow. Jin knew enough that if he ever gets hits even once, that wouldn't be so fun, not for him anyways.
After a few minutes he landed a punch on Jin's face, his glasses scattering onto the ground, bits and pieces unmendable. Ta smirked happy he have finally landed a punch on the smaller boy, but then caught himself smirking then stopped, he couldn't act happy to beat this wimp. Although that was what Ta thought, Jin wasn't a wimp for he did landed a few fair punches and got Ta clutching the left side of his stomach.
Jin was left stumbling, but no onto the ground, he got himself to stand up right again, eyes closed. "What wimp? Are you scared now? Scratch that you were always scardy cat," Ta leered, looking like he didn't have enough of those punches to the stomach just yet.
"Shut the hell up Ta!" Jin snapped, how he was in a rowdy mood today, he couldn't tell that it was to his advantage, but it was certainly worth something. "Don't talk trash about my parents! It's more like you're talking about yourself," Jin snapped, that got him a pissed look from Ta.
"I like you better when you're quiet and quit complaining," Ta said getting into fighting stance.
"I have never liked you anyways," Jin snapped getting into fighting stance. Ta smirked, the boy doesn't have his glasses, and so he could not see, a person who wears glasses that thick would be better off blind. However he was wrong.
"I could still beat you Ta, but I would let you keep your pride," Jin said running towards the older boy, forgetting about the surroundings where students were going ooh, and ah.
"Don't get so cocky wimp!" Ta shouted rushing towards the smaller boy, but going without a fighting plan was a rather bad idea.
Jin opened his eyes and felt a whole lot better; he just loves loosing those glasses, now he has an excuse for not wearing them. Throwing a few punches they were merely blurs to the other students. Of course the one moving so fast was Jin and they couldn't even watch his expression, and they would regret it. A smile spreaded across Jin's face, an expression he thought was forgotten, he didn't have a fight for far too long. But what they did see was the moving shocking blue that was moving with speed.
"Stop this!" A voice shouted from the crowd, and unluckily it was a teacher. Scratch that it was one of the more harsh teachers and was very serious about practice and training. Lao shi Dao was a person no one wanted to agitate, and that was a fact.
The two boys froze mid action upon hearing her sharp exclamation. "What's going on here?" she asked walking towards the boy, eyes widening slightly seeing the small book loving boy caught up in a fight, she found it rather impossible.
"Lao shi, I don't know what happened Jin just threw a punch at me from nowhere," Ta complained in his good boy voice, it was rather pitiful. Jin threw a glare at the taller boy, and Dao swore that she saw a flash of gold appearing for a second there.
"What's your story Jin?" she asked giving the smaller boy a chance to say something, she wasn't like those teachers who have favorites, and she sees things with rimes and reasons.
"He insulted my parents, Lao Shi," Jin said with a hint of anger laced into his voice. There was no denying that his personality changed completely, and that was a rather bad sign. The students who were in a ring stared openly, the quiet boy just showed some emotion.
"Alright then, you two stop bickering," The teacher said signing slightly, "Ta, you come with me to the office, Jin you wait in front of my class, we'll talk about this later, both of you are dismissed from today's school." And with that the young teacher motioned for Ta to follow her, with a scowl he followed her, glaring at Jin with his best death glare.
Dao Lao Shi was, well a pretty impressive teacher, she was in her 30s but was still able to control the teachers like they were hypnotized. Some of them might be, she had the silky black hair that is slightly tinted blue, making it look like the night's sky, and other than that her eyes were the same color. But one thing that a person always recognizes is probably the mole under her eye. Lao shi Dao's hair cut short and her body slim fit to be moving around with high speed, which was shat she always does to get students who were sleeping in the middle of class. Her star student was unsurprisingly Jin, it was a fact to the whole student body, he has brains and guts, and that's what she likes about him.
The whole building has heard about the fight in a few hours, it spreaded like wild fire that also had oil added to the mix. Of course the main subject will be that; he that the heartless creature finally showed some emotion, but there were some talk on the unique eye color of the nerd. And before he knew it Jin was the talk of the school in mere hours.
"Come in Jin," The young teacher shouted after dismissing the other boy for a few minutes. Jin obediently entered the room and sat down on a chair opposite of the woman. "What happened?" she asked swiftly taking out a scroll and swiftly dipping her brush into it, ready to write down whatever she was going to write.
"Like I said Lao Shi, he insulted my parents and my clan, a will not forgive him," Jin answered getting into his monotone mode. Dao flinched slightly at the piercing blue eyes that expressed determination, and could easily show all of his emotions. "And he started it, although that sounds childish, it is the truth," he added, the teacher nodded.
"I see," she said tapping the brush on the parchment leaving dots but no noticeable words, she didn't see anything to write. "So that's why you wear glasses," she randomly said, it was better to have a casual chat as friends than as teacher and student.
"My eye color might attract attention and that is the last thing I would want," he answered stiffly, as he always did.
"So again, how did you beat Ta? He was the best offense player in the school, and it looks like he received a few possibly knock out blows but you don't even have a scratch," she looked interested, she was in fact. The boy was never seen as a fighter and always had his nose stuck in the books, who knew he would also be a good fighter?
"Despite common belief that I don't have physical strength, they were wrong," Jin snapped with annoyance, before catching himself and returned his calm features, this raised Dao's eyebrow.
"You have split personalities?" she asked, she knew nothing about her favorite student thinking back, this was a chance since he never gets punishment or detention.
"I merely wear a mask," he answered fetching a spare pair of glasses from his pocket and slipping them on.
"Take those glasses off, there's no problem with your eye color," Dao said, "Ah, and there's something else I would like to talk about," and with that the scene turned deadly serious and there was this atmosphere that sent chills down the spine.
"You do remember Ling Yao right? The present emperor?" she asked intertwining her fingers into each other and resting her chin on them. Jin nodded. "Well, he have been quite interested in your conditions lately and wanted to meet the last of the Lao clan and wanted to meet you himself," she said expecting and over enthusiastic child jumping around, but of course than was not it for Jin.
"It seems that I cannot decline this offer," he said a sign appearing on his face, indeed he admired the emperor, he have brought prosperity to the country and ruled with a humble heart. He wasn't wise or exceeds in knowledge, but he was caring and would give anything for the country, also he was once a friend of the late Fullmetal Alchemist. That was the main reason how Jin knows of the man, they were living far from the capitol after all.
"Right, he said it as an order," Dao said slipping the scroll back into her cabinet and grabbed another shaped like an envelope. "He requested for you to stay at my place, your safety will be at concern if you associate with the emperor, pack your things this is my address and meet me before 8 after that I will lock the house," and with that she dismissed him.
To be honest Jin was in a daze, he was sure his intelligence was acknowledged but for the emperor to know of it? That wouldn't make sense he was just an emotionless cold as stone kid to most people, and for the emperor to call him to meet him? He suspected greatly that this was going to be a prank, but it seemed unlikely Dao Lao Shi was going to prank about such a serious matter.
As he walked down the hallway the scene of yesterday replayed in his mind, the comments and the bad wording about his family, but strangely enough it was different this time.
"He beat Ta without even a scratch!"
"That's not even human…"
"Heard his eyes were blue, I've never seen anybody with blue eyes before!"
"The cold stone showed some emotion, and it was fury the opposite to cold!"
"He's still a nerd…"
And with that he exited the place with a few eyes tracing his back with full intensity. He knew no one could escape with declining a request from the Emperor he wanted to personally, he could return to life like this in the forest with no one bothering him and peace…
But was that what he really want? He froze with the action of throwing his things into the pack. Where did that come from? Of course he wanted to, adventure will only cause him pain and lost, not like he already have enough to be pressured on. But he didn't want a life where he will die an old man unnoticed by the society…
He stopped the inner battle within himself and finished packing; it only took a short time since he doesn't have things to pack he only have three sets of clothes and most of the space was taken by his research notes which included most of the volumes.
Before he knew it, it turned to nightfall and he felt like he was missing out from something, how long have he been having that battle going on? He knew that he often gazes at the sky to think and before long hours would have passed, that was one of his bad habits.
Slinging his pack across his shoulder he exited the house and destroyed it completely, he most likely won't be returning for some time and all that mud will do some use to the growth of the plant around the forest. Looking at the moon it was an estimated 7 and he quietly walked out of the shadows of the trees. Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose he heaved a sign and dragged himself to the address located on the paper he was given.
The teacher's house was a simple two-floored wooden house that didn't seem any special and didn't even seem to have electricity. But then again electricity was something they haven't reached yet, sure Amestris had it but with living close to the desert it was quite hard to find a source that wasn't from coal or oil; which they weren't advanced it either.
He knocked on the door for a few times before stepping back as the door opened revealing his teacher wearing an apron and a spatula in hand, looking like she was about to cook something.
"Ah, Jin, why were you here so late? I was thinking you wouldn't come here after all," she said opening the door for him to enter.
The inside was simply decorated like the outside of the house. And wrong to Jin's hypothesis she has already made dinner and food was steaming on the table including fish and vegetables of all sorts. "Come in, I have already made dinner so you don't need to wait," Dao said brightly gesturing the table filled with food.
"Thank you Lao Shi," he said placing his bag leaning towards a wall close to the table. "When will I be able to return home?" he asked, he was rushing things but he would rather live like that then gathering ruckus.
"It would take some time… a few months at the very least a year at the most," Dao answered taking off her apron and placing it on a chair that was leaning against the wall where a hook was planted.
"I see…"
"You know Jin, you don't act as cold hearted people said you to be," she mused making the child sputter but not spitting anything out. "You seemed to be showing a handful of emotions back then, what caused them to show?" she asked casually.
"I… do not know…" he muttered placing a hand on his forehead, "There was something wrong… normally I keep my actions under control…" he answered eyes unseen. "I guess I was in a bad mood."
The teacher nodded then pushed a glass of milk to him, "Drink up Jin, if you are staying with me it wouldn't be for free." She mused.
"I would rather not teacher. But I understand that I would need to work to gain shelter, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it," he answered grimacing slightly at the sight of white liquid, he have never really liked milk. But it never affected his height, he did daily practice and such he was an average and he was surely surviving without milk.
"Well, eat up then, tomorrow is a Saturday and I would expect you to be ready to work your butt off!" she said laughing slightly, an evil laugh… Jin shuttered slightly.
Done! Hope the grammar didn't burn someone's eyes. Either way most of the names will be in Chinese of Thai, since it's my native, here are the definitions.
Jin = Gold in Chinese
Lao Shi = Teacher in Chinese
Dao = Stars in Thai
Response
The Iceborn Alchemist: Believe me, I cried when I was writing the Prologue, I'm sensitive and I know it.
an (guest): You'll need to wait and see ;)
lilaclily00: I know that my grammar isn't the best T^T and I need to wait one month before I can get a beta... but thank you either way! (I read your story: Family's History, luv it!)
justaislinn: Okay... i know there are the questions left unanswered... but believe me if I revealed the answers that would be the end of this story, it's the point of the whole thing! Oh, and they buried his coat and the remains, his body was not found... wonder why? Thank you!