Hope ꨄ Male Reader x Edward Elric

ꨄRegretsꨄ

Chapter 9
"What do I do?"
𖣔
M/R's pov

We walked out of the crumbled building, Edward being carried on Envy's right shoulder.

"Brother! M/R!" We heard Alphonse call out. A small smile formed onto my mouth, but Edward's words began to replay in my head and that smile quickly vanished.

"Hello~ I came to deliver a package." Envy sang, placing Edward onto the ground, "His wounds are too bad, but he's losing a lot of blood, so you'd better get him to a hospital, quick. You guys should take better care of the little guy. He's quite talented, you know? We can't afford to lose him."

Envy smirked and looked towards my direction, "Of course, M/R didn't help."

I flinched.

Denny came running as he told us to run, Maria struggling to help Edward. Denny helped Second Lieutenant Ross with Ed, running away towards the direction of the hospital.

Alphonse ran beside me, "What happened in there? What happened to Edward?"

I frowned, my eyes slightly darkening, "A small fight." I smiled as convincingly as I could towards him, "He'll be fine. Though we had an argument in there, I should probably stay away from him for a while."

Or forever, that would be better honestly. I had caused enough trouble. Me lashing out at him earlier with my alchemy made things worse than they could.

𖣔
Edward's pov

I woke up in a white room, presumably a hospital room. I felt like crap, my head was ringing and both my arms hurt. Yeah, both. Even though one of them ain't there.

"Oh, Edward!" Sergeant Denny Brosh called out, opening the door as he had found me awake. Second Lieutenant Ross followed him inside, "It's good to see you're finally up!"

"Where am I?" I asked, looking around the area. Obviously, it was a hospital. Just wanted to make sure.

"It's a clinic run by a friend of Second Lieutenant Ross. We thought it'd be best not to take you to a military hospital as they'd be asking questions." He answered, "It'd be better if you stay here until you're well enough, sir."

I felt a panging sting on the side of my hip, "Damn, it hurts!" I cursed, "I was so close to finding the truth, this is no time to be stuck in a hospital!"

"Fullmetal Alchemist sir! Please allow us to apologise in advance for our rudeness!" They declared. I looked at them questionably, "Eh?"

Almost immediately, I received a huge slap in the face. I sat there, dazed. Maria proceeded to lecture me,

"Major Armstrong specifically told you NOT to go off on your own! You disobeyed a direct order!!" She pointed a finger at me, "He knew that it was going to be dangerous- that's why he told you to stay put. Because you disobeyed the Major's orders, you almost got yourselves killed!"

Denny just stood there nodding. "First of all..." She gasped for air, "You may be talented, sir, but you must remember that you're still a child! And secondly, you can't always act on your own. You need to learn how to work with the people around you. It's okay to trust adults sometimes."

Trust...

They stomped their foot on the floor again, "Sir!"

Agh jeez, what now?

"Please forgive our insubordinance for speaking so rudely and raising a hand against you!"

"I..Uh.." I sat there, still dazed at the whole thing, "No...I- Um, I'm sorry."

"And will you reprimand us for slapping you?" Maria asked.

"Nah, I had it coming," I replied, scratching the back of my neck. They both sighed heavily in relief.

"Why're you guys so polite to me?" I asked. Denny and Maria looked at each other, Maria pushing her slick, black hair back. "Well, although you're not a standard soldier, your rank is that of equivalent to major. One word from you and we could be discharged."

I thought for a bit, "You know, you don't have to be so nervous around me. After all, I didn't take the state alchemy test for the rank. After all, I'm just a 'child,' there's no need to be so polite."

They then became quick to adapt and started chuckling. I asked where Al was and they said they'd given him the exact same lecture, Denny complaining that smacking his head hurt his hand. We chuckled and joked with each other until I remembered about a certain thing I had to deal with.

Oh god, Winry.

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I sat there in my bed for a while after calling Winry, thinking over what had happened back at the lab.

Right, M/R was a homunculus.

I gulped at the thought of betrayal in his eyes. I was the one that was betrayed, yet why does it feel like otherwise?

M/R was hope, a homunculus, an enemy.

But then again, it didn't seem as if he was with them, more as if he was on his own. There was a sense of comfort around M/R and the two other Homunculi, but there was a sense of tensity.

I scratched my head at the thought, wondering where M/R was now. I thought of calling him but realised that there was a small probability that he was around a telephone.

Out of nowhere, the door slammed open, revealing Major Armstrong. "Edward Elric! I was so worried about you!" He cried out, engulfing me into a bone-crushing hug. And no, I'm not kidding, it was bone-crushing.

In fact, I think my injuries have worsened, thanks, Armstrong.