011. Liar
Roy Mustang would never call himself a liar.
In fact, he was a manipulator of truths. Wise with his words, looking out for the wellbeing of others while withholding life shattering information. He had plenty of practice with his sometimes self conscious foster sisters or the all too self destructive Edward Elric. That's right, he most definitely was not a liar. He was a manipulator of words.
At least until it came to Riza Hawkeye.
Though, this wasn't exactly by choice.
When there were 2 ½ (sensei's random appearances could be counted) of you lived in a large house, you find that you learn far too much about the person you spend the majority of time with. While he had struggled to learn her every mood, gesture, and expression, she seemed to catch on within a month of them actually becoming comfortable.
Once, before he had left the Hawkeye Household for the Academy, he had come stumbling in late. He was certain that he had been as quiet as possible but had been proven wrong when a disapproving sixteen year old greeted him at the bottom of the steps. She had wrinkled her nose at his drunkenly cheesy grin and in a disapproving voice had asked, "Have you been drinking?" Giving a hiccup filled laugh, the dark haired man shook his head.
"Nooooo Riza-chan. I was just hanging out with some of the guys in town. Barry just turned 21 today, y'know!" he chimed far too happily. The teenage blonde had stared at him silently before standing, turning her back, and walking back up the stairs towards her room.
"Liar." She muttered. The word struck just has hard as in present day if you were to call him useless. That was the first and last time he had ever allowed her to direct those words to him, though he was certain that she had thought the same horrible word once he had left, during Ishbal, and after he had burned the tattoo on her back.
He had promised to stay with her.
He failed.
He promised he would use her father's alchemy to make the country a better place.
He failed.
He had promised that he would never let history repeat itself and harm come her way.
He had failed.
With each failure, despite her loyalty to him, he heard a disappointed voice constantly calling him a liar. But he wasn't a liar! He had never lied to her since that night. He had always made sure to keep her filled in with any and everything he had thought, needed, desired, planned. He could never lie to her. Even now as he held her in his arms, yelling her name over and over while men scattered around trying to hold off the enemy and he applied pressure to the bullet wound she had just received in her side.
"Riza, stick with me! Everything is going to be alright!" he yelled over the shouts and explosions in the background. Wincing in pain, she cracked an eye open at him and gave a nod.
"I know." She managed. That's right, she did know. She knew he could never lie to her.
Roy Mustang wasn't a liar.