Chapter Text
Edward loved ice skating. The speed that reduced the stands to a blur of color, and the moments where he left the ice in a jump made him feel invincible. Every time he was on the ice he never wanted it to end, for him there was nothing better than ice beneath his feet.
He was practicing his routine for the upcoming competition, which if he ranked high enough would put him in the state championships. He was planning on skating to the violin version of “Requiem for a Dream” which was currently blaring through the speakers of the rink. It was sad sounding song, but it was beautiful and made him want skate just as beautifully.
Edward started out skating backwards on one leg, before quickly dropping the leg and going into backwards crossovers. He swung around forward using his left leg and after a graceful loop, went into an attitude spin. While still in the attitude spin, he lifted his leg straight up behind his head and transitioned into a Biellmann spin. Edward then dropped his leg and once again skated backwards. Right as the song reached crescendo he launched himself into the triple loop and landed it going into the basic camel spin. He transitioned into backwards crossovers before twirling. Going onto one leg Edward launched himself into The Flip. Then as the music quieted he went into the triple loop. Skating out he went into a camel spin and gaining speed grabbed his right leg, transitioning into the doughnut spin. Then twirling out of it Edward went into a spit spin right as the music reached the second crescendo. Standing up on one leg he began the scratch spin and ended it, going into backwards crossovers. He stopped with a dramatic flourish as the music abruptly ended.
Edward smiled. He was breathing hard and his face was cold but he felt invincible. That was of course until he heard the whistles and jeers directed at him by a few players of the hockey team waiting outside the rink. Edward frowned and looked up at the clock. It was still five minutes until his slot on the rink was over, but he turned in the opposite direction to leave. He didn’t want to hear people insulting him for doing something he loved, especially not from a bunch of oversized muscle brained jocks.
When people heard that he was a figure skater they automatically tried to make him feel like shit, often times by calling him a girl. Edward didn’t take offense to being called a girl, seeing as all the women in his life could easily hand him his ass. However it pissed him off that people assumed that figure skating was something strictly for women. What he did was extremely hard; requiring perfect balance, flexibility, strength, and control over every part of his body.
Scowling Edward skated over to the edge of the rink where he’d left his water bottle and bag. He grabbed them and stepped out of the rink, walking carefully in his skates to a bench three feet away, a bench which was already occupied by two people. Edward’s mood darkened even further, all traces of euphoria from skating gone. Sitting on the edge of the bench as far away from the two hockey players as possible Edward unlaced his skates. He was about to take one off when the hockey player nearest to him scooted closer, the light reflecting harshly off of his glasses.
Edward sat up and looked at the bespectacled hockey player distrustfully. He was about to tell him to go away (in much cruder terms) when the players face melted into a goofy, love struck smile as he shoved his phone under Edward’s nose. Edward blinked and stared at the phone which was displaying a picture of a blonde haired green eyed girl, who smiled at the camera exasperatedly. Edward looked up completely confused. Why was the hockey player showing him pictures of, what Edward could only assume by his expression, his girlfriend?
The hockey player seemed to sense his confusion as he pulled the phone away and stuck out the hand not holding the phone.
“I’m Maes Hughes” he introduced, clearly waiting for Edward to shake his hand.
Edward complied grabbing his hand and giving it a small shake. “Edward Elric” he said in return still confused as to why Hughes had shown him the picture.
Hughes immediately dropped the serious expression he’d worn while introducing himself and went back to his goofy, lovesick smirk. “This is Gracia, my girlfriend. Isn’t she just the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen?” He asked in a completely besotted tone, practically wiggling with delight.
Edward wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but fortunately the hockey player on the other side of the bench rescued him from having to answer.
“Maes stop showing that damn picture around to every person you meet” he barked in an irritated tone looking up from what seemed to be a sketch pad. He had an equally irritated expression on his face, but his dark eyes revealed he wasn’t quite as irked as he appeared.
Hughes turned and looked back at the other hockey player. “But Roy” he whined childishly “she’s just so pretty I can’t help myself”
Edward may not have known Hughes, but he knew who “Roy” was. Roy Mustang was the captain of the hockey team and according to the majority of the school, a total player. While Edward didn’t know him well enough to confirm the last part, it was an indisputable fact that Mustang was captain of the hockey team. His name was always written for the six am slot that came after Edward’s four am slot.
Amestris high was the only school Edward knew of that had its own ice skating rink. Unfortunately the only times you could skate privately were before school hours, as after school it was open to all students as free skate. So instead of competing with the hockey players for the six am slot Edward just came in two hours earlier.
Edward sighed, relieved to be taken out of the conversation. He removed his skates, and then began wiping off the blades. In figure skating the blades were everything so the edges had to be kept sharp and rust free or the results could be crippling. Once Edward was done he put the guards on the blades then stuck the skates into his bag.
He was about to stand up when Hughes roped him back into the conversation. “You’re leaving already?” he asked incredulously with a slight whine in his voice.
Edward just gave him a blank look. Of course he was leaving, his slot was two minutes from being over and he never stayed to watch the hockey players. He’d much rather be in the library studying biochemistry and with it being almost three hours until class started, he had plenty of time to do just that.
“It’s Fullmetal we’re talking about; of course he’s not staying.” Mustang interjected as though he were explaining the obvious.
Edward narrowed his gold eyes. Fullmetal was what most people around school called him. He was well aware that he was socially inept, but Bradley Wrath (an upper classman and the current student council president) had decided that Edward was downright robotic and dubbed him Fullmetal. It had stuck much to Edward’s dismay, and never failed to piss him off.
“You’re a real bastard, Mustang” Edward said casually before standing up, flinging his bag over his shoulder, and walking off to the locker room.
When Edward walked into the locker room it was blissfully empty however that didn’t stop him from heading straight to the bathroom stalls after grabbing his clothes. He pulled off his training clothes, taking special care to make sure they didn’t catch on his right arm or left leg. They were prosthetic limbs, with machinery that took electrical pulses from the nerves, to move like a natural appendage and certain parts were fairly sharp. It was because of them that he could still skate after the accident that had cost him his limbs.
Edward put on his pants and a long sleeved, navy blue flannel, then after pulling on his gloves and boots, he left the stall. He put his bag into his locker and sighed tiredly as the adrenaline crash hit. Pulling his long blonde hair out of the disheveled bun, Edward walked over to one of the mirrors in front of the sink. He combed out his hair with his fingers and wished he’d remembered to bring his brush. His hair went down to the bottom of his shoulder blades and it was taking forever to get it untangled.
Once it was what could be considered brushed Edward pulled his hair back into a braid, leaving his chin length bangs to frame his face. Then grabbing his backpack he left the locker room.
Edward wandered through library, nodding hello to Sheska as he passed. She was a library aide with short brown hair and glasses that made her chocolate eyes seem too big for her face. She also happened to be one of his only friends that weren’t Winry or his brother, Alphonse.
Heading to the biochemistry section Edward grabbed the few books and sat down to read and take notes. Biochemistry was his favorite subject, however it wasn’t taught in school and way too many books were filled with errors. It was only because his foster mother Izumi Curtis was a biochemist that Edward was able to distinguish the false information.
Two hours and forty five minutes later the bell rang and Edward was forced to pack up his notes and return the books back to the shelves he’d found them on. He’d read three of them, and while they hadn’t been too inaccurate, he unfortunately hadn’t learned anything new.
He was leaving the library when he heard Sheska call his name. Turning around Edward saw a walking stack of books coming towards him and smiled. Sheska was worse than him when it came to overdoing things, and with the amount of time she spent reading instead of working, Edward was surprised that she was still a library aide.
“Want me to take half?” he asked her when she’d finally staggered to his side, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.
“Yes please!” she panted desperately from behind the stack, struggling to stay upright.
Edward grabbed half of the books and revealed Sheska’s face, shining with a light sheen of sweat from exertion. He then pushed open the library door with his hip and waited until Sheska was out in the hallway, before letting the door swing shut.
It was complete chaos, with some students socializing and blocking the hallway, while others tried to get into their lockers. Edward weaved in and out of students paving the way for Sheska who followed close behind. He resisted the urge to tell people that the hallway before class wasn’t the time to socialize, as he doubted that they’d pay him any mind.
After what felt like far too long, they finally reached the class that they shared for first period. Edward sighed in relief as he escaped the crowded hallway for the nearly empty anatomy classroom. He headed to the back of the room and set the pile of books on the desk adjacent to his before collapsing in his chair. Sheska copied him, and they sat in a companionable silence as the classroom filled up with students.
“So,” Edward began after a couple of minutes “did you manage to find any books to read?” he asked teasingly.
Sheska laughed at that. “Yeah, the library just got a new shipment of books in, and I just couldn’t help myself. I mean so many books in one place, all begging to be read, who could possibly resist that?”
Edward shook his head. He would’ve called her a nerd, but he was the same way when it came to biochemistry. “I could name a few people, but they’re all on the hockey team, so they don’t count.” He replied, then went silent as the teacher walked in and immediately began taking roll call.
Once the teacher was done calling roll Edward pulled out his biochemistry notes and worked on coding the most recent part. Biochemistry wasn’t exactly a secretive science, but he was possessive over the several years’ worth of information he’d accumulated, so he painstakingly coded it. He already knew the anatomy class material so paying attention wasn’t really necessary. Edward actually had enough credits that he could graduate early, but he chose not to. The main reason being that by staying at Amestris high he had access to the ice rink.
“Edward,” Mr. Proctor said pulling Edward out of his notes after a good portion of the class had passed. “What is the hyoid bone connected to, and where is it located?”
“It’s not connected to any bone sir, and it sits on top of the larynx, anchoring the muscles on the floor of the mouth.” Edward replied with a slight raise of his eyebrow. The class had yet to reach that part in the curriculum, and judging by the muttering his response elicited, no one had expected him to answer it.
Mr. Proctor sighed running a hand through his thinning red hair. “Why are you in this class Edward? It’s obvious that you know the material, so what exactly are you getting from being in here?”
Edward wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he said nothing, hoping Mr. Proctor would drop it. Fortune seemed to smile on him, as after a few moments Mr. Proctor gave up waiting for an answer and went back to teaching.
Beside Edward, Sheska sighed and turned towards him. “You’re gonna drive that poor man into an early retirement” she whispered disapprovingly at him. ”And it’s only two months into the school year”
Edward rolled his eyes at her, “You’re exaggerating, he’ll just throw me out of his class.” He whispered back, and pointedly ignored the disbelieving look she threw him.
The rest of the class passed without incident and when the bell rang, Edward bid Sheska goodbye and headed to his next class. They only shared first period and lunch so he wouldn’t see her for another two hours.
After barely surviving his mind numbing world history class, and his soul sucking calculus class, Edward was finally released for lunch. He stopped by his locker to grab his lunch before reluctantly heading to the cafeteria. If eating in the library was allowed Edward would gladly eat there, rather than sit in the overly loud cafeteria. Unfortunately there was a strictly enforced no eating in the library rule, so he and Sheska ate with the rest of the school.
Edward walked into the cafeteria, wincing at the wave of noise that hit him. He was heading over to the table he and Sheska normally shared when someone called his name. He looked around confusedly for a few seconds, before meeting a familiar pair of bespectacled, amber eyes. He immediately recognized Hughes and frowned slightly, remembering his earlier meeting with the overzealous man. His frown deepened when he saw Sheska seated beside him, looking slightly uncomfortable.
They were seated close to the tall windows that lit the cafeteria, at a table that was highly sought after by the other students. It was currently occupied by Hughes and a few other people Edward didn’t recognize. Walking over to the table Edward wondered what this was all about. It was highly unusual for people who weren’t his brother, Sheska, or Winry (his childhood friend and the mechanic for his prosthetic limbs) to talk to him. Then again Hughes seemed to be the exception to that rule.
“Hello Hughes,” Edward said dryly when he reached the table “May I ask why you’ve kidnapped my friend?” he asked with an inquiring raise of his eyebrow.
Hughes laughed “I didn’t kidnap her; she came willingly when I told her what great friends we are.” He said rubbing a hand over his stubbly chin.
Edward looked at Sheska in askance to see if Hughes was telling the truth.
She smiled sheepishly, all nervousness gone now that Edward was there. “What can I say? I was curious what kind of person would actively seek you out, pledging vows of an undying friendship.”
Somehow Edward didn’t think Sheska was exaggerating.
“Sit” she suddenly commanded tugging at the hem of his shirt, and gesturing to the empty spot on the bench between her and Hughes. He complied dropping his backpack on the floor and sitting down, after setting his lunch on the table.
“So,” Hughes began after a brief, yet awkward silence “tell us about yourself, the mysterious Edward Elric.”
Edward frowned at that. He’d never intended to come off as mysterious; too many questions would come up, questions that he had absolutely no intention of answering. “I’m not mysterious.” he said, although it came out way more defensive than he’d intended.
“Please,” said a voice that Edward immediately recognized “If you were more mysterious I’d suspect you of being in the witness protection program.”
Edward looked across the table right into the smug gaze of Roy Mustang and glared, as some of the other people sitting at the table laughed.
“This is why no one new ever wants to sit with us Roy.” A girl sitting next to Mustang said disapprovingly.She had her dirty blonde hair tied back in a tight bun, and a small amount of expertly applied eyeliner ringed her sherry eyes. Around her was an aura that reminded Edward of a coiled snake.
Edward shifted slightly away from her. He’d been around women who could kick his ass long enough to be able to recognize one when he saw her. Mustang however, seemed completely unaffected by the stern look the blonde was giving him.
“Are you okay?” Hughes asked from his spot beside Edward “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Edward didn’t take his eyes off of the scary blonde “No just someone who can probably kill me using only her finger, and that’s if I’m lucky.” He replied honestly.
Hughes chuckled, seeming to know exactly who Edward was talking about. “Yeah that’s Riza Hawkeye. She’s the captain of the archery team so you’re not too far off.”
Edward inwardly shuddered; he was never going to introduce Hawkeye to Winry. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t survive the meeting.
It was only then that Edward realized that he’d managed to avoid the original conversation Hughes had attempted to start. He smiled slightly to himself feeling victorious, and opened the brown paper bag that held his lunch. He pulled out some carrots and began eating them, while ignoring everyone at the table. If he stayed quiet everyone would forget about him. Besides the window gave him a fairly nice view, so tuning everyone out was easy
Hughes however, didn’t sense Edward’s desire to be left out of the conversation, as he was quick to pull Edward back in. “So Edward,” he began “All of us are going to hang out after school today, would you be interested in coming?” he asked hopefully.
“No.” Edward said immediately. He didn’t even want to be sitting here, and there was no way he was going to hang out with a group of strangers. Anyways he had to babysit his neighbor’s daughter, Nina, so it wasn’t like he could actually go.
He steadfastly ignored Hughes crestfallen face and Sheska let out a frustrated sigh beside him.
“Please forgive him, teaching Ed manners is next on my list. I still have to drill it into his head that he can’t flip off the people who smile at him in the street.” She said, with a pointed glare at him.
Edward mock glared back at her, as once again the table burst into laughter.
“That was only once.” Edward protested, his face heating up with embarrassment.
Hughes nudged Edward, a large smile on his face “Care to enlighten us?” he asked.
Edward was about to refuse, but Sheska spoke before he could. “To be fair the first time he did it, the people were doing a bit more than smiling. The second time however, it was a friendly old couple who were very surprised at Ed’s reaction.” She said with laughter in her voice.
Edward looked at her with a betrayed expression on his face. Sheska saw it and laughed harder.
“You deserved that for being rude” she gasped out in between fits of laughter.
“Why am I even sitting here?” Edward grumbled to himself angrily munching on his carrots. Sheska was undoubtedly going to tell them every story where he did anything remotely embarrassing. He contemplated standing up and leaving when, for the second time that day, a phone was shoved under his nose.
Edward scowled at the phone where another photo of “Gracia” was displayed. “Hughes I swear to whatever god you believe in, if you show me another picture of your girlfriend, I will shove your phone so far up your ass that you’ll be singing your ringtone until the battery dies.” Edward promised irritation churning in his stomach.
Hughes immediately pulled back his phone and cradled it against his chest protectively, while Sheska hit him upside the head with one of her many books.
Edward looked at her dryly in response. “Winry hits me upside the head with a wrench, you’re gonna have to try a little harder than that.” He said nonchalantly and popped another carrot into his mouth.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Hughes asked, throwing an arm across Edward’s shoulders.
Edward choked on the carrot he’d been eating, at the mental image that brought to mind. “HELL NO!!!” he exclaimed breathlessly when he could finally talk, and shrugged off Hughes’ arm. Winry was like his sister, not to mention she had absolutely no interest in men.
Hughes smiled gleefully “Though doth protest too much methinks” he quoted in a singsong voice.
Edward glared at him. “She’s just my mechanic, and she’d much rather kill me, than kiss me.” he explained rather irritably.
“Fantastic! You managed to score your mechanic!” Hughes exclaimed and Edward repeatedly banged his head against the table in response.
“I didn’t know you had a car.” Mustang said in a surprised tone, and Edward stopped banging his against the table in response.
Sheska looked at him worriedly as Edward tried to form a believable lie. Winry was the one who managed the wiring in Edward’s prosthetic limbs, hence him calling her his mechanic. While Sheska knew about his prosthetics, the rest of the school didn’t and Edward went through great lengths to keep it that way, going as far as wearing long sleeves and pants in the dead of summer.
“I, uh, make things…like toys…for my neighbor’s daughter. And some of them require wiring, so Winry helps.” Edward said haltingly, hoping that everyone believed him. It was somewhat true; after all he did make things for Nina, but it was mostly out of fabric.
Hughes seemed to easily accept it, as he had a goofy grin on his face. “That’s adorable, you make toys with your girlfriend.” he cooed.
Edward, despite being relieved that Hughes believed him, resumed hitting his head against the table.
“Winry would kill you if she heard you saying that.” Sheska said, surprising Edward with the amount of irritation in her voice. Sheska was fairly laid back, so it seemed unlike her to get angry over Hughes’ light teasing.
Hawkeye suddenly spoke up. “Maes stop teasing Ed; he said that Winry wasn’t his girlfriend, so drop it.”
Edward looked at her confused. “Ed?” He asked her uncertain he had heard correctly, no one outside of his family and Sheska called him Ed.
Hawkeye looked faintly surprised by his reaction “Forgive me if I overstepped a line, but I heard Sheska call you Ed, so I assumed it was okay.”
“No it’s fine.” He replied with a wave of his hand. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Ed just doesn’t know how to be casual. It took me half of freshman year to convince him to call me Sheska instead of my last name, Archer.” Sheska interjected amusedly.
Mustang laughed “Fullmetal wouldn’t know casual if it bit him in the ass.” He said with a shit-eating smirk on his face.
Edward glowered at Mustang’s accusation. He’d show that bastard casual.
“Forgive me,” Edward said to Mustang with a fake English accent “I felt that it was only proper to be formal in your presence, Ser Bastard of Jackass land”. He then gave an exaggerated bow over the table.
Mustang raised his eyebrow, “And pray tell what good is a dwarf to me, Fullmetal?” he asked mimicking Edward’s fake accent and moving a hand to prop up his chin.
Edward turned red at Mustang’s crack at his height. “I’m not fucking short, you asshole!” Edward spat breaking character at the insult. It was hardly his fault he was fifteen and only five foot two, he was still growing.
“I’m sorry Fullmetal; I didn’t realize such a small issue would upset you.” Mustang said condescendingly, amusement glittering in his dark eyes.
“Was that another fucking quip at my height?! I’m still growing, you backwater desert idiot!” Edward exclaimed scowling at the Mustang’s smug face.
“Roy, please stop intentionally pissing off Ed.” Sheska interrupted. “If he kicks your ass, Mrs. Curtis is going to kill him.”
Mustang laughed at that. “Fullmetal weighs what, 100 lbs soaking wet? I think I’d be able to take him.”
Edward stared at him, amused. His adoptive mother, Izumi Curtis, was trained in several different types of fighting, and she’d taught Edward and Alphonse almost everything she knew. Not only that, but ice skating had made Edward very flexible and had given him a sense of balance that he hadn’t gotten from martial arts. In other words Mustang would be screwed if he tried to fight him.
“No, no, Mustang is right. He could totally handle himself in a fight against me.” Edward assured and shook his head at Sheska, when she shot him a dubious look. If Mustang was going to underestimate him then Edward was more than happy to let him.
Mustang narrowed his eyes. “Why do I feel like you’re hiding something?” he asked suspiciously.
Edward looked at him as innocently as possible. “I’m not hiding anything; my sense of self preservation was just kicking in.” he replied, then pulled out a sandwich and began eating it. Though he mainly did it so no one could ask him anymore questions, he really was hungry. Normally he had his lunch finished within the first five minutes of being released from class. However with everyone giving him the third degree, he’d only managed to finish his carrots so far.
“And where exactly was this sense of self preservation when you called me a backwater desert idiot?” Mustang asked despite Edward’s mouth being full.
Edward gestured vaguely towards his mouth and sandwich and ignored the question in favor of eating.
“If Ed and Roy were to fight, who would you put money on?” a guy with spiky blonde hair, sitting on the other side of Hughes, asked suddenly.
Edward looked over at him curiously. This was the first time the guy had spoken up and he looked quite tired. Edward assumed (based on the dark circles around his blue eyes) that he had been asleep, only having been awake for last part of the conversation.
“Jean you can’t place bets on the hypothetical” Hawkeye told the man sternly, though the overall affect was ruined by the fond smile she gave him.
“Hey I’m not placing a bet.” Jean said, raising his hands defensively. “I’m just asking who you think would win.”
Hughes let out a laugh before turning to Edward. “That’s Jean Havoc. If he thinks he can make a bet about something, he will.”
Edward nodded and swallowed his bite of sandwich. “I know the feeling. If Sheska can read it she will, but you should be extremely careful about what you let her read. She has a photographic memory.” He explained.
Hawkeye looked impressed and turned to Sheska. “You have a photographic memory?” she asked, in a slightly awed tone.
Sheska blushed slightly her brown skin going a shade darker. “Yeah, but only when it comes to reading.” She replied shyly. “Winry has me read her direction pamphlets and recite the directions, when she’s about to build something new, so she doesnt have to waste time reading.”
Havoc whistled. “Wow that’s a useful gift to have. I’ll bet that you’re the top of all your classes.” He said sounding slightly envious.
Sheska smiled proudly. “I’m ranked second in the entire school.”
Mustang frowned. “If you’re ranked second who’s first?” he asked. Sheska opened her mouth to respond, but Edward beat her to it.
“Just some loser, I mean honestly, they’d have to be the ultimate nerd in order to beat Sheska.” He interjected with a completely straight face, despite the fact that he was talking about himself.
Beside him Sheska doubled over with laughter. “Edward is ranked first in the school.” Sheska said in response to the confused expressions everyone was giving her, when she could pause long enough in her laughing to speak.
“Dammit Sheska,” Edward protested “You’re ruining my reputation.”
The table erupted into laughter and Edward smiled at how happy Sheska looked. Sheska was sweet and funny, but people avoided her due to her endless fascination with reading, so she didn’t have many friends. It made him happy to see people praising her for her talents and listening to her when she spoke. If these people made her happy, he supposed he could befriend them. Except for Mustang, there was no way he would befriend that bastard.
The bell signaling the end of lunch rang, pulling Edward out of his thoughts. With a mournful look at his unfinished sandwich, Edward packed up what remained of his lunch and waved goodbye to everyone, before heading off to his next class.