61Note: This is my first fanfic. EVER.Please don't get angry if it's not what you like. I'll improve over time. Thank you and enjoy!
REVISED VERSION! After I re-looked it over, I realized that it could have been written a lot better (I still do) and this was probably the reason why I couldn't find the passion to continue. I hadn't started with a direct plot in mind, and I hope that by editing a whole bunch, the overall story will be a heck of a lot better. And I changed the rating to T, instead of K+, just as a caution. Thanks for all who have reviewed and favorited and followed. It is because of you that I decided to try this fanfic once again.
Date Re-Published: September 2, 2014
Word Count (excluding author notes): 2,977
Pages: 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or Fullmetal Alchemist.
Chapter 1: Cross Academy, Here We Come!
He was standing in complete white. It seemed endless: every direction began and ended with white. It was disorienting, and he blinked a few times, attempting to block out the overwhelming brightness. Where in the world was he?
Immediately his thoughts went to his brother. Was he safe? He couldn't remember the last time he had saw his younger sibling. Panicking, he immediately set off…
But then almost just as quickly stopped. Where was he going anyway? He frowned and glanced once more at his surroundings. Something seemed strange, almost familiar in a way. He couldn't place it, but he knew it wasn't something good.
A sudden realization came to him. He had been there before...but where exactly was "there"? He couldn't spot a single shape or life form-there was almost an eerie sense of déjà vu. The entire place seemed unrealistic.
Unnatural.
Suddenly, everything just clicked. It all made sense. But if that was true, if he was really there of all places...than where was it?
He had to get out of there.
A cruel laugh came from behind him. The familiarity sent shivers down his spine.
He spun around, heart thumping wildly, and came face to face with-
"ED!"
Gasping, the teen shot up and immediately hit his head against something hard. Edward Elric sat back and groaned, holding his forehead. He glared. "What was that for?" he questioned, hiding the fact that he was actually thankful for the rude wake up call.
"Sorry, Brother, but the Colonel just called," apologized the familiar voice of Alphonse.
The older sibling grumbled, and pushed himself from the bed. "What for?" he asked, throwing on clean clothes in record time.
"You've got a new mission."
Knock. Knock.
Silence.
The blonde teenager on the other side of the door scowled. He briefly considered kicking the stupid door down.
POUND.
"Oh sorry, come in!"
Edward huffed in irritation, and pushed the oversized doors open. He was greeted by the very familiar sight of papers stacked upon piles of even more papers-only this time it wasn't limited to the desk stationed at the far back of the room.
"Who is it?" questioned Colonel Roy Mustang, not bothering to look up from his 'work'.
Edward could feel his frustration rise even further-something that happened quite often while in the Colonel's presence. He stomped over to the desk, albeit slower than intended due to the mountains of paperwork, and knocked over a large stack on top of the desk.
The Flame Alchemist finally lifted his head to the sound of fluttering papers. He sighed, and placed his pen down for the moment, before casually leaning back in his chair. "Well, hello Fullmetal! I thought it was you, but being so short and all, I couldn't really see anything to confirm that."
Edward's face immediately turned red with anger, and he leaned forward, spitting in his superior's face. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET SO SMALL THAT HE CAN'T EVEN BE SEEN OVER A POPPY SEED?!" he roared.
Roy only smirked. He picked up his pen and signed another form with a flourish, and then looked back up at Edward. "By the way, I have a new mission for you."
Edward backed up, the color in his face receding to normal. He nodded for the Colonel to continue.
"I have enrolled you in a school called Cross Academy," Roy began. "You are a part of the Day Class. I couldn't enroll Alphonse for obvious reasons, so you'll be the only one going."
Edward frowned, but knew that arguing would do him no good. Besides, there had been plenty of times when he had taken solo missions. "The Day Class?"
Roy nodded. "There is both a Day Class and a Night Class, although I don't know the reason why. But you are being sent there to investigate. Apparently there have been some strange issues occurring, and your mission is to find who is behind all of this. It shouldn't be too hard, but there is reason to believe that a Philosopher's Stone is at work here."
Edward stepped closer, intrigued. "So what do I do once I've found this guy?"
"Just figure out his identity," the other alchemist confirmed. "Do not engage with him, understand? It doesn't matter if you've got a 100% chance of snatching the Stone, you will not get near him. Am I clear?"
Edward frowned. Why...? he thought to himself. Aloud, he muttered a reluctant, "yeah".
Roy eyed him for a minute, before deciding that he would have to trust the blonde.
"You'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon at"–he paused and shuffled through a pile of papers to his right before yanking a sheet from the middle and scanning it–"2'o clock sharp. Don't be late."
"I wouldn't dream of it," snorted Edward. In a more serious manner, he added, "But why so soon?"
Roy shrugged. "I don't have the details." The response was rather vague and Edward narrowed his eyes. He could detect the lie, but he didn't question it.
"Whatever."
Edward turned his back and briskly walked out of the office.
When Edward arrived back to the hotel, Alphonse immediately pestered him for details.
"So what's the mission? Where are we going?"
Grimacing, Edward knew his brother was going to be very disappointed-an understatement-but it couldn't be helped. "Mustang said that I'm the only one going. I have to attend a school, and the armor is a little too strange, apparently."
Even though Alphonse didn't have a human body, his dismay was clearly expressed. "Isn't there another way?"
The older sibling put a comforting hand on Alphonse's arm. "I'll only be away for a short amount of time. I just have to find this guy's identity. It shouldn't be too hard."
Alphonse sighed. "I just worry for you, Brother."
Edward smirked. "Hey, shouldn't that be my job? I'll be fine." Alphonse sent him a wary glance, but eventually decided to drop the topic.
The rest of the day passed quickly, and Edward soon found himself waving goodbye to his brother, and departing from Central along with his driver, Jean Havoc.
During the ride, Edward and Jean began to chat about Cross Academy. According to what information the military had collected, the Night Class and the Day Class seemed to be kept separate. They only crossed each other's paths while the Night Class students were coming out of the Moon Dormitory for their own classes, at twilight.
To Edward's surprise, there was something called the Disciplinary Committee, although there were only two people who were in it: the headmaster's daughter, Yuki Cross, and Zero Kiryu. Their job was to help keep the Day Class and the Night Class separate. Apparently, the Day Class students were obsessed with the Night Class-enough that they would do anything to even see them.
Over all, it seemed like a typical high school. Maybe this will be harder than I thought, Edward thought.
The two military members arrived at the academy a few hours before the sun began to set. Havoc wished Edward good luck on the assignment, before quickly leaving the driveway.
Edward turned towards the main building of the school, carrying his suitcase. He entered, and looked around, trying to determine where the Headmaster would be. Noticing the stairs, he began to walk up them, dragging his suitcase behind him.
He managed to climb up a few steps before someone snatched his luggage out of his hands. Edward's head snapped up, and immediately met gazes with a boy, about his age, with silver hair, and lavender eyes. The alchemist frowned, and tried to reach around him to grab his suitcase. "Hey, can I have that back?"
The teenager rolled his eyes with annoyance, and began rapidly climbing up the remaining flights of stairs, as if it was normal to carry a twenty kilogram* suitcase that quickly. Edward blinked in shock, taking a second to recover, before bolting up the stairs after the other teen.
He was lead to a room, and one of the first things he saw was a man with light brown hair tied in a ponytail and glasses. The man was sitting at a desk, and Edward knew it had to be the Headmaster, Kaien Cross.
As Edward entered, the Headmaster looked up and smiled. "Hello!" he greeted cheerfully. "Edward Elric, am I right?"
Edward nodded. "Yes," he replied, not bothering with an added 'sir' at the end.
The Headmaster's grin widened. "Well, then! It's a bit late right now, so the tour will have to come tomorrow. Is that alright?"
The blonde alchemist nodded again. "You're rooming with someone named Dave Goodman. Room Number 53, Sun Dormitory." The Headmaster shifted his attention to the silver-haired teen who had grabbed Edward's luggage. "Zero, can you show him to the dorms?"
Edward took the key the Headmaster handed him. The other teenager-Zero-jerked his head toward the door, telling him to follow. Edward had to exit the main building, and walk on a rather long path to the Sun Dormitory. He noticed that behind the main building, there was a fork in the road, and the right path was probably for the Moon Dormitory.
They arrived, and Zero lead Edward up two flights of stairs before turning left down a hallway, and stopping at the last door. He turned toward the shorter blonde, and finally spoke. "This is your room. I'll be in the small building to the right of the entrance way. Contact me if there's an emergency. Otherwise, just ask your roommate." Then he dropped Edward's suitcase on the ground. "Dinner will be at 6:30 in the main building." He turned and left.
Edward raised an eyebrow-Zero sure was blunt-and quietly took out his key and opened the door.
The room was larger than expected, with the walls painted a dark orange, and the floor covered in a fluffy, maroon carpet. There were two beds, both snuggled close to the walls, with a window in between them. One was messy, and obviously recently slept in, while the other was just made. Overall, the room was better than Edward had imagined.
A sudden noise came from the bathroom, and Edward turned to see a boy opening the door. He had dark brown hair, dripping with water-most likely from a shower. The boy grinned at him. "Hey, you're the new kid! Welcome, I'm Dave!" he said enthusiastically.
"I'm Edward."
Dave turned and pointed at the clean bed. "That's yours. I'm sorry if my stuff is everywhere, but I didn't have a chance to clean up, and your enrollment was pretty sudden."
"That's fine. I was homeschooled until now, and my only teacher ended up quitting on me in the middle of the curriculum," Edward lied.
Dave gaped openly. "That sucks, dude," he replied sympathetically. "Anyway, we have dinner in about an hour, so I'd recommend changing into your uniform." He frowned. "You have it right?"
Edward nodded. He never liked wearing uniforms, and he had refused to use the military one, but it was "for the sake of the mission", as the Colonel had put it.
After a quick shower, Edward changed into the black uniform of the Day Class, and walked with Dave to the main building for dinner.
"You'll probably be given the tour tomorrow so you know how to get around," explained Dave. "And then you'll be given a choice in classes. Of course, you still have to take English, History and other mandatory classes. But there are some really cool extra curricular classes that you should try."
As Dave explained all the classes, and which teachers he should try and avoid, Edward studied his surroundings. It seemed like the Sun Dorm and the Moon Dorm were a good distance away from each other. He wondered why they didn't just sleep in the same place. In addition, there were also Dorm Gates, which closed during curfew hours.
Then the main building, where they were headed now, was where almost everything was-the classrooms, cafeteria, library, Headmaster's Office, etc.
When the two boys arrived at the cafeteria, it was already packed with students. Edward, being shorter than most, could barely see where anything was. Dave had to lead him through the throng of people to the back of the line. It was moving fast, considering the amount of people waiting.
Once the food was served, Edward and Dave headed to a small table, nearest to the corner of the cafeteria.
"This is where I normally sit," Dave told the blonde alchemist through bites of his meal. Edward frowned, looking around.
"Who else sits here with you?" he questioned.
Dave grimaced. "No one, really. Apparently I talk too much, and nobody wants to hang out with me. The last roommate I had left because of me."
Edward's eyes widened slightly. "I'm sorry…" he replied, not really knowing what else to say.
His roommate shrugged, seemingly nonchalant, but his usually bright hazel eyes were cast downward. "I mean, he was a jerk anyway. Always acted like he owned the world. Constantly pissed me off."
"I know that feeling." Edward smirked, reminded of a certain raven-haired alchemist.
"So why are you wearing gloves, anyway?" questioned Dave.
Edward froze. He hadn't thought of a good excuse for that. It wasn't like he could just reveal his automail. That would cause an uproar around the school, and drag attention to him that would only hinder the mission.
"Uh…" he responded lamely. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and his head snapped around. A girl with large brown-red eyes was grinning at him. Edward stared at her, and pulled back abruptly.
The girl didn't seem very bothered by his actions, and held her hand out. "You're Edward Elric! Hi, I'm Yuki Cross. I'll be your tour guide tomorrow."
Edward relaxed, recognizing the name. "The Headmaster's daughter, right?" he questioned, shaking her hand.
Yuki nodded, and then motioned to the spot next to him. "Can I sit here?"
The blonde looked back at Dave, to make sure he was alright with it. Dave shrugged, and gestured for Yuki to sit.
Yuki turned, and called for someone else to come over. As the figure appeared, Edward immediately recognized him to be Zero.
I shouldn't be surprised. Edward mused. They're the only two in the Disciplinary Committee. That would have to mean they were pretty close.
Zero sat down on the other side of Yuki. He didn't look very happy to be there.
"So, Edward, what sort of classes are you thinking of?" began Yuki.
The conversation started with regular school questions, and then started to branch off into other non-related topics. Soon enough, they were all engaged in a deep conversation. Yuki and Edward somehow got into a rather explosive argument about the dreaded subject of milk while Dave cheered them on. Zero, who had been silent the entire time, merely watched.
"You know, I bet the only reason why you're so short at this age is because you never drink milk!" Yuki insulted.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE CAN'T EVEN BE SEEN WITH THE STRONGEST MAGNIFYING GLASS JUST BECAUSE HE DOESN'T DRINK HIS MILK?!" he ranted.
Dave winced. "Ouch, Yuki. I think you hit a nerve there." Said girl turned and glared.
"And just whose side are you on?" she growled.
Dave put his hands up in surrender. "Don't get mad at the bystander. I'm simply stating the facts."
Yuki scoffed and turned back to Edward. "Don't you know that milk is rich in calcium?"
Edward had a pretty good idea where this was going.
She continued. "And that means it affects bone health and therefore it's also most likely the only hope you have of growing any taller."
The alchemist twitched as he was reminded of his childhood friend-Winry Rockbell. If only I had been warned that Winry's double would be here...I wouldn't have taken this mission in the first place!
Edward knew that if this girl was anything like Winry, she would have some kind of dangerous weapon and if provoked, wouldn't mind pulling it out. Still, he couldn't help but yell back, "WHO THE HELL WOULD WANT TO DRINK SOME WHITE LIQUID SECRETED FROM A COW?!"
"Burn!" Dave shouted. Edward was grateful that Yuki's wrath wouldn't be focused on him, but he felt bad for his friend. Obviously he had not been exposed to any violent girls-or girls in general.
Yuki turned towards Dave with a menacing aura, and this time he shrunk down in his seat. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but a monotone voice cut through the fierce bickering.
"I can see you're having a ton of fun with these two"-cue death-glare at said boys-"but we have a job to do." Abruptly Zero stood up and grabbed the girl's wrist with an iron grip.
Despite being dragged out against her will, Yuki managed to give Edward and Dave one last grin before disappearing out of sight.
Just then Edward realized that the cafeteria was emptied. His jaw nearly dropped. How long had they been there? He turned back to Dave, who simply smirked at him-for what reason, he had no clue.
They walked in a comfortable silence back to the Sun Dormitory.
Edward let out a long sigh, staring at the pitch black ceiling. Dave had long since fallen asleep.
He closed his eyes and rested his left hand on his forehead. He could almost pretend that he was just a normal kid attending Cross Academy, laughing and arguing with his friends. He could imagine exactly what it would be like. It would be so simple to forget his mission.
I made a promise that I have to keep, Edward reminded himself. His automail hand clenched his blankets.
But someday…
* Twenty kilograms is equal to about 44 pounds.
Author's Note: I really hope you enjoyed the revised version-I am much more proud of it than the first version. To previous readers: I'm sorry that it is going to be changed a lot, I think I'm going to try lengthening the time Edward bonds with the characters. I wrote the first few chapters of this story nearly three years ago! Geez...Anyway, I have written a good portion of the other chapters, so updates will be more constant.
To new readers: Thanks for reading this far! I really hope you have liked it enough to continue reading the next chapter...and the chapter after that...ha.
But in all seriousness I love you guys. If it hadn't been for your kind reviews (I must have read them about 20 times now) and follows and favorites I probably wouldn't have ever considered continuing this story.
THANK YOU!
