【Steel Refining Flame Steel】How to make the person I like also like me

2nd hour from Mustango.

Pale morning light seeps in through the cracks in the window, and the pointer on the wall gradually points to 9 o'clock.Edward squatted on the chair in the reception room and wrapped himself tightly in the nylon jacket. The sleeves of the pajamas were pulled over the knuckles, and his hands hugged the knees of the trousers. His messy hair fell from his forehead, and his eyes were anxious and tense.Not far away, a young police officer with blond brown hair and other people were paying attention, and from time to time they cast appreciative glances in Edward's direction.The boy was too lazy to know the note—he didn't even look him in the face—if it was normal, he would probably jump up and beat him up, just like a madman.

A female police officer with short black hair and a tear mole at the corner of her eye came over and gave her colleague an accusing look, while the young man stared at her indifferently, as if he couldn't understand the other party's matter and came to him now What the hell is the same thing.The male colleague leaned against the wall resentfully, and the woman stepped forward and covered Ed's shoulders with a thick orange blanket.

"What's that for?" Ed said, glaring at her.

"Blanket," said the female police officer, "for comfort."

Ed shuddered, like a cat whose fur had been shaved: "I don't need to be comforted."

"Why don't you need it? According to what you said, you just escaped from the kidnappers..." The male police officer behind him interjected.

"But there are still people who haven't escaped." The boy gritted his teeth, "Is this the reason why I came to you? It's not to be appeased or something."

Hearing this, the policewoman rubbed her hair in annoyance, "I can understand your feelings, but we are still verifying the information..."

"I depend on human life, you tell me..."

"Your signal generator is very smart, but the other party's signal connection is intermittent." The little brother couldn't help but interjected again, "And you can't be sure how many people are there, right? Acting rashly will only be more dangerous. And The hostage is in the hands of the other party, and the geographical location needs to be further confirmed, so..."

"I'll go with you," Ed said.

"impossible."

The boy stood up awkwardly, and the blanket slipped from his shoulders, "How is it impossible? I'm not..."

"You are not a child, but you are not a professional either," said the policewoman.

"But I've been there at least once."

"Even so..."

"Think about it, if the criminals saw you, what would be their first reaction?" The police officer shook his head, "They will immediately know that you brought someone to find you, and then your friend's efforts will be in vain . His life will also be threatened, do you want to see such a situation?"

"Officer Proxiu." The policewoman sighed.

The air in the room suddenly fell silent, the white light from the window reflected the texture of chalk on the wall, and the sound of the hands of the wall clock was deafening.Kakaka.Every sound marks the passage of time, and the pointer is like a sharp soft knife touching a certain place on the body, poking it once and then poking it again.

The young man wanted to say something, but in the end he hesitated to speak, but turned his face away and looked aside.

"I know."

"Ok?"

"I know, you need to investigate, locate, and confirm again and again. You can't take me there. It's useless to beg you... I know everything." Ed clenched his lower lip, "So I I can only ask you to hurry up. I will tell you everything I know, it doesn’t matter if I sit in this shitty place for a day or two, and it doesn’t matter if I repeat it several times like a repeater. Just please hurry up! Hurry up... ..."

What to do?The boy pursed his lips and didn't say any more.

It's not because of cheap, meaningless tenderness and meaninglessness, and it's not because of hypocritical and superficial rewards. The love that used to evolve into today will definitely not be the same as it was originally... What pulls everything behind is indeed other reasons.

The reason itself, he couldn't rely on the rationality at the moment to think.

The greater the gravitational force, the slower the time that exists - this is a truth that everyone who has read the theory of relativity is familiar with, but very few people have ever escaped from the current gravity and truly experienced all this: that is, In other words, if you don't climb out of one river, cross the river bank and step into another, it is impossible to feel the change in the length of time; and in Edward's view, there is no so-called bank between rivers and rivers, soaking in the original People in the torrent of time may be swept by another river without knowing it.Just like at this moment, the rotation of the pointer is as slow as a heavy drag. He felt that he finally felt the variation of his own time. He was pushed from the originally smooth and stable wave to the other side, where the time was long and short. It was only then that the boy was sober. Just recognize it all.

Six hours after leaving Mustangu, the search and rescue team set off.Edward was taken from one room to another, repeating what he had just said over and over again; the furnishings in each room were very similar, the words of the question and answer hardly changed, and even the faces of the interrogating police officers were in Edward's eyes. very different.In a sense, it is tantamount to repeating time.

"Do you remember when you were taken into the car by the suspect?"

"Around 2:40 am."

"Were you unaware of being taken to the confinement place by the suspect?"

"I was stunned by the electric shock baton, and when I woke up, I was already in that concrete room."

"What time is it?"

"I don't know when I woke up. It was still dark outside the window, but it was already a little bright. If you leave the time, you should be able to calculate a more accurate number based on the time the transmitter left the place."

"Several people?"

"I don't know how many there are in total, but I saw four of them: a strong passer-by, a strong man with panda tattoos, a bearded man, and a bitter-looking man."

"Another victim, is he someone you know?"

"Roy Mustangu, someone I met through work."

"Can you think of the reason why you two were kidnapped?"

"……I can not."

In the dull room, during the boring dictation, an unfounded hypothesis appeared in Edward's mind: From the past to the present, the time Edward Eric is in and the time Roy Mustangu is in , There is a certain relationship between the two, similar to the kind of quantum entanglement.In the past, Ed could feel the pain that Roy had endured; and Ed showed his sincere feelings, and the other party did not turn a blind eye to it.Right now, Ed endured unwillingness, anger, exhaustion, and grievances, and followed them from room to room, making oral recordings again and again, as if every bit of sadness he endured was actually for Roy Mustang in the distance antiquity.It seemed that if Eduardo endured a little more, Roy would have to bear a little less; even if they couldn't, at least they were enduring the urging of fate together, at least they were still sharing joys and sorrows.

The boy's poor language ability and emotional intelligence cannot be clearly explained to any third party. Even he himself would secretly find it funny, but he still can't help but look at it from this angle and still believe it.

More than nine hours after leaving Mustangu, the search and rescue team contacted back.They walked back to the original place along the track marked by the signal generator carried by Ed. The old abandoned factory had long been empty, and the transmitter on Mustangu also interrupted the signal for an hour and a half. .The police force in the rural town is limited, and their only evidence at the moment is the sporadic images that the cameras along the road may capture: in a sense, their clues have been interrupted.

The little policeman named Proxiu looked at his female colleague with embarrassed eyes for a long time, and the black-haired girl with a tear mole glared at him angrily, and then set her eyes on Edward.

It was 4:[-] in the afternoon, and Ed had just returned from the last round of dictation.He was sitting on the bench in the reception room, still hugging his knees, still wearing pajamas indecently, but somehow his hair was smoothed out, and he listened to the other party's explanation calmly, as if the anxiety of the few hours just now was all at this moment Inexplicably calmed down.

"You can go back." The policewoman said, "Shall I call a car for you?"

Suddenly there was no direction to work hard, no focus of worry, and the tiredness from a sleepless night came like a tide. Ed nodded and slowly put his feet on the ground.At this moment, he suddenly remembered something.Ed raised his head, looked directly at the woman, and said calmly:

"Once there is news, please call me immediately. If there is a need for me, I will come right away. So... please?"

That's it.

Eleven hours after leaving Mustango, Ed returned home.

Spring is here, and dusk is coming later than in past months.But the evening wind was still blowing through the woods, the snow on the thatched house disappeared, and a large bundle of thatch fell from the roof, allowing the wind to sweep it away.

Ed changed his clothes and took a shower in the bathroom.Leaning his forehead against the tiles, the boy turned the faucet, turning on the water hotter than before.The mist rose, and the long hair was sticky and wrapped around the back and shoulders, like golden water plants.The boy's stiff and pale face regained some of its blood color, but he always felt that the hot water flowing on his skin hadn't warmed the parts of his body that needed it most.As soon as he wiped his body and walked out of the bathroom, he was greeted by the air-conditioning in the room, trembling, cursing himself for forgetting to turn on the heater just now.

It's already March, why is it still so cold?

Ed ran to the living room, stomped his feet and turned on the heater, turned his head to think for a while, and then turned on the antique radio beside him.The radio signal is not good, the sound quality is even more insane, the sound played intermittently, sometimes high and sometimes low, and the program itself is even less interesting. Loud, gaudy music played endlessly.Ed let his wet hair hang loosely on the armrest of the sofa—if Al sees him, he will probably complain a lot—wrapped in a quilt, hugging a pillow in his arms, and resting his feet in colorful thick wool stockings. On the roaring heater beside him—it’s dangerous, please don’t imitate it—opened the last save file in his hand, and continued to play nds while complaining about jokes on the radio.

A wild electric sheep jumped out of the grass, and it turned out to be shining!Ed screamed, sat up suddenly and frantically began to slice blood and throw the ball.Unexpectedly, with a slip of the hand, an accidental hot mouse sprayed the flashing sheep to death immediately, and the first flashing sheep in life was GG.Ed was so angry that he rolled off the sofa, and his mournful roar echoed around the beam.Angrily, the boy threw Yu-Gi-Oh! on the sofa. Who knew that this old antique could not help falling, and it automatically shut down with a bang, and Ed's progress from playing just now was still not saved.

A golden bean rolled wildly on the ground, and the quilt rolled him up during the rolling, turning into a natto roll kicking on the ground.

Ed suddenly felt that he was so angry and hungry, and by the way, he remembered that he hadn't eaten rice all day.At noon, the police officer enthusiastically asked to bring Ed food, but he didn’t have any appetite at the time, so he just rolled his eyes and declined – if I knew it earlier, I should have asked him to at least bring a box of instant noodles, I don’t know now Is there anything to eat at home?

Thinking of Ed, he struggled to get up from the ground and was about to go to the kitchen, but almost tripped over his own quilt to death.The spicy-quality radio played music with a strange rhythm, and the bouncing drum beat up and down on the ceiling and floor of the room, like a huge marble.

The young man squatted down and opened the refrigerator, and in the empty compartment there was only a box of leftover pizza delivery from yesterday, devil pepper flavor, which was frozen like a discus for throwing in the refrigerator.With no other choice, Ed curled his lips and stuffed the pizza into the microwave to heat it up, while he sat on the high stool beside him shaking his legs to the rhythm of the radio music, looking around idly.What song is this?Is this head-shaking tune considered rock and roll?

"Di——" the music stopped, and Ed blinked, only to hear the sweet and cold sound of the radio, just like the iron railings that were frosted in winter.

The voice said: "The time is now, 23:[-]."

"Ding——" the microwave oven stopped, and a strong spicy aroma came from behind the opened door.

The music sounded again behind him, this time it was heart-piercing rock and roll, and heavy drums beat overhead.Ed didn't say anything, just poured the pizza onto the plate and grabbed the fork and started to gobble it up.The strong spicy taste irritated the coating of the tongue and the nasal cavity, the young man took a sharp sniff, and stuffed the food into the dull pain in the stomach that had been tense for a day, as if he wanted to swallow some other indigestible feelings Into the stomach, before chewing, want to digest.

Deep in the body twisted, the dry and cold stomach wall grinded and reversed under the strong stimulation, and then almost without any accident, there was an uncontrollable sharp pain and nausea.The young man shivered, and without caring about the food in his hand, he jumped off the stool while clutching his hands, and rushed to the bathroom quickly.The food that had just entered his stomach poured up like a river, and Ed sat next to the toilet and vomited it out in pain.

Damn, it's so embarrassing.What a shame.

The boy's fingers were clinging to the edge of the bathtub, and he was rolling upwards in bursts of unspeakable pain. He didn't know how he could vomit so much after he had been hungry all day.

He suddenly remembered the night he and Roy Mustangu first met.At that time, he also vomited a car in a very embarrassing way, and Edra dragged him unconscious on the floor of the bathroom, not knowing how to comfort the uncontained sad soul in the painful body of this stranger in front of him.

This is the 16th hour of leaving Mustangu, and there will be a longer time to wait helplessly, and the life and death of the other party is uncertain.

What am I thinking?Ed asked himself, like his hands were groping in the deep ocean, trying to find the rope of reason.What am I thinking?sad?worried?Do you regret it?Overwhelmed?

No, it is not reconciled.The boy gritted his teeth, very, very unwillingly.Of course, this guy is eating his own bitter fruit, but from Edward's own point of view, it shouldn't be like this anyway.

I don't know how to spend the rest of the night.

The boy thought he would have no sleep all night, but his mental and physical strength could not sustain the long-term consumption. He finally returned to the bedroom with his pillow in his arms and prepared to sleep.

The room was silent with the radio off.The heater stopped, and the temperature of the room dropped suddenly.

In this long and chaotic sleep caused by the exhaustion and anxiety of the previous day, the cold darkness and noisy dreams intertwined.Vaguely, he remembered the last time he encountered a similar thing, and it was the only few times in his life that he actually experienced the so-called "soul flying away".

That was during the riots in Paris more than a year ago.At that time, Lin hadn't hooked up with his partner; Ed was still focused on discovering the mystery of his antisocial personality disorder, and didn't consider expanding his relationship with the world a little bit; and Alphonse had just completed his first year of work and study in Paris. One season, I was going to spend my first public holiday in France, who would have expected to encounter such a mess.

What's more, the information of Edward, who has been separated from the outside world for a long time, was delayed for at least 3 hours. When he heard about this incident, it had been more than 6 hours since the riot happened. Coerced by colleagues both hard and soft, it was the first time to participate in a decent social event, and it was generally a barbecue with a group of colleagues who were too leisurely on the balcony of the institute.At that time, Edward was holding the only metal clip in one hand while skillfully turning the slices of meat on the baking tray, and taking turns reciting the digits after 3.141596 with others to compete for the right to eat the next slice of meat. Without warning, the nationwide turmoil that occurred in the Iris country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean was broadcast, and there were all kinds of explosions and parades.Ed's hand holding the barbecue tongs became stiff immediately, his whole body was bone-chillingly cold, his heart jumped into his throat for an instant and he couldn't move, and he didn't react until his colleagues impatiently asked him to hurry up and continue reciting.

Ed didn't care to put down the clip, grabbed his phone and ran out quickly, locking himself into the nearest toilet cubicle.Leaning his back against the door panel, he felt numbness in his mind, and even his fingers were forced to confront him at this moment, becoming extremely dull, and he even pressed the home button of the phone several times before he could barely dial the number.

The word "Al" lit up on the screen, and the waiting beep sounded mechanically.

Don't have a problem, don't have a problem, don't have a problem.Ed clenched his lower lip and tried to control himself, as if the strings of reason were snapped one by one amidst the beeping sound.

Then, the call was connected.

"elder brother?"

Edward almost sat down on the ground.

The blood that had been frozen just now began to flow again, making the sound of waves crashing against the eardrums.It took him a long time to even make a sound: "Al."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and a gentle chuckle came out, "What? You only know now?"

"I will watch the news every morning in the future, I promise." Ed said sullenly, holding his head.

"Why are you worried about me?"

"You are my younger brother! I'm not worried about you, but I'm worried about the male anchor of the morning news?" Ed rubbed his forehead anxiously, "Why, where are you now?"

"I was lucky," Al said, "and I happened to be skiing near the Alps with my classmates. Nothing happened."

Ed took a deep breath, then changed his mind and said, "Then you are in Nice? You stay still, I will find you right away."

The other end of the phone actually laughed again.Ed was almost angry, what the hell is going on with this guy Al!

"There are parades around the school now, so I'm on vacation." Al said softly, "I'll come back to you right away."

Boom boom boom.The door to the compartment was banged from the outside.

"Edward Eric, you're not human!" Lin screamed from above, "You fucking ran away with the barbecue tongs!"

Ed clutched the phone and glared anxiously at the slamming door next to him: It's rare for Al to be coquettish with my brother (?), why are you squinting!

In the dream, the teenager ignored the increasingly dull knocking on the door, turned his head away and was about to say a few more words to his brother, when he lowered his head, he was surprised to find that the mobile phone in his hand was gone, replaced by a small hand , clutching his wrist tightly.It was Al's hand.

He stared in astonishment and looked around. In the blink of an eye, the cramped toilet cubicle turned into a narrow entrance at the end of the long corridor.The shiny teak floor, the warm yellow light, the soft morning light, the breeze exuding the fresh and sweet aroma of vegetables, the sound of creaking footsteps... Ed suddenly realized that this was his home, where his mother, Ed and Al's house.And Al was by his side, holding the copper sulfate crystal bottle he had just taken off the bookshelf in one hand, and holding his own in the other, trembling slightly with nervousness.Al in front of him didn't have a hearty and black-bellied smile, and he wasn't half a head taller than himself. His golden oblique bangs were neatly tucked behind his ears, and his flickering eyes revealed the uneasiness and fear unfamiliar to Ed—that was 9 Year-old Al, he urges himself to open the door.

"Brother." Al pointed to the door, "There is a knock on the door."

There was a heavy and anxious knocking sound outside the door, mixed with the chattering voices of several people.The dull hammering sound of the door was deafening in the small space, just like a heavy heartbeat.

"Mom said, don't open the door to strangers when you are alone at home." 10-year-old Ed taught his younger brother angrily, but couldn't help casting a flustered look at the door, "Leave him alone!"

"But……"

"Is it the little brother of Eric's family?" A stranger's anxious voice came from the door, and the knocking on the door continued, "Please open the door, please hurry up!"

"No!" Ed screamed, feeling his heart pounding in his little chest.

"Brother, I think..."

"Your mother, she..."

"Let me come." A familiar voice came from outside the door, it was Grandma Pinac.The two brothers looked at each other.

The sound of hammering the door stopped, replaced by Pinaco's gentle and worried voice, which trembled faintly, as if trying to suppress some surging emotions.Ed wondered, did he hear a child crying outside the door?Is it that idiot Wen Li?

I only heard my mother-in-law say, "Ed, Al, it's me, come and open the door."

If the mother-in-law said it, it would not count as opening the door to strangers.But...he thought hesitantly, and couldn't help but look at Al, and at this moment Al was frowning slightly and looking at the door, his golden irises were reflected clearly and brightly by the cast light.Then, the younger brother turned around.He stared at Ed firmly, hugged the copper sulfate crystal bottle tightly in his arms, and squeezed his brother's fingers slightly - Ed's heart immediately calmed down.He led his younger brother forward and opened the door lock.

The first image that came into view was Wen Li's tearful blue eyes.

"Wen Li!?" Ed fussed, "Why are you crying? After all..."

"Ed, Al." The mother-in-law leaned over and put her hands on the shoulders of the two children.Ed was surprised to find that there were tears in the corners of her eyes, just like when Wen Li's parents who worked in the UN medical team left with the peacekeeping force a few years ago.

"Your mother... Dorisa..."

The copper sulfate crystal bottle fell and fell to the ground and shattered.The sparkling blue crystals lay helplessly on the ground, like the sapphire earrings that mothers would wear on festivals, and like a pool of blue tears, flowing unstoppably.

Sometimes I feel that my body is like a bottle, with a lot of tears accumulated in the bottle, so heavy that he staggers when he walks, afraid that someone will accidentally break himself—only trembling, like walking on thin ice .

Ed turned around, and he was surprised to find himself in the dream standing in front of a door again.The dazzling Zhaohui seeped through the crack of the door, making him want to shed painful tears, but unfortunately it was impossible.

"Oh, Ed, Al, why are you up?"

He raised his head, and the white light lingered on his mother's figure.Her tea-green eyes blinked, and she was wearing her usual housecoat and apron.

"Brother, he... took me to pee..."

He turned his face in surprise, only to see that Al was still holding his hand, but his appearance had changed to that of earlier - that was the age when Ed was surprised that "the little baby will grow up", He is not very fluent in speaking, and occasionally gets bullied by his elder brother hitting his head with a thick book.In the dream, the 3-year-old Alphonse leaned limply on the shoulder of the 4-year-old Edward, rubbing his eyes and begging his brother to take his urination. He looked like a cute little angel—blond hair and golden eyes. Like an angel - it's hard to imagine that this guy would turn into such a heaven-defying appearance when he grows up.

Then Ed felt his face in a pair of soft hands.

The golden pupils dilated rapidly, and his breath tightened and held because of excitement.Maybe this is not my true reaction back then?It can't be like this. How could a 4-year-old child who is not awake understand the heart of 17-year-old Edward when he faced his mother?

But my mother's face was right in front of my eyes, smiling slightly, revealing infinite tenderness.Dorisia said softly, "Ed is so good, he will take care of my brother."

He raised his eyes involuntarily.

A tall man with glasses stood in front of the door, looking back at the mother and child in front of the entrance.He has the same blond hair and golden eyes as Edel.

Hohenheim watched his wife's back, then looked at Edward and Al speechlessly.His eyes became complicated due to ideological struggle, and became heavy due to sadness and melancholy, his shoulders trembled slightly due to the ups and downs of emotions, as if he had made a lot of determination, he closed his eyes firmly, turned around and pushed the door out.

The morning sun blooms dazzlingly in front of my eyes, and then closes melancholy.It was the first time Edward recalled the past from such a perspective in these years, and it was also the first time he realized that he had indeed lost his father, and that man probably loved his mother and the two of them deeply.

Lost, lost, lost.People obviously come into this world intact and without any evil thoughts, but when they leave, they are always scarred, regardless of body and mind.Does this mean that life is a process of constant loss?Why is it always so difficult to cherish what you want to cherish and keep what you want to keep?

At the end of the dream, Ed returned to the end of yesterday's dream, going round and round, as if caught in a vicious cycle.That was Ed's nightmare surrounded by smog that he had after being attacked with an electric shock baton and then being tied up in a car and taken to the prison.In the dream, he stood in the turbulent running water, the waves under his feet were stronger than the waves, and the thick fog was like a swamp, sticky and heavy, making it difficult to move.But he was hungry, cold, and exhausted, but he was still trying to gain a firm foothold in the tide, but he was still trying to peel off layers of thick fog, trying to search for the figure of the other party.

With a stagger, Ed was pushed by the upstream river and fell backwards uncontrollably.He wanted to stretch out his hands to support himself, and wanted to step back to stabilize his balance, but in the end he fell irretrievably. He expected that he would fall into the sweeping icy cold water and be carried away by the rolling waves.

Finally fell into a warm embrace.

He raised his eyes in astonishment, and the other party was lowering his head to support his shoulders, with a mischievous smile flashing in his eyes, as if this was something normal and should be.

For a moment, Ed suddenly felt that nothing mattered.The smoke dissipated and the spray receded.He no longer felt anxious, no longer unwilling, no longer afraid or depressed to wake up alone.The moment itself is in a sense enough.Ed couldn't forgive him, but he didn't need an explanation, apology, or compensation at this point either.

"Why?" Ed couldn't help but ask.

Roy laughed, his brows and eyes shining brightly in the dream.Every arc of his smile was exactly what Ed had hoped, imagined, along with every word in his next reply to Ed.

"Because I want to," he said.

This time, he finally heard the other party's words clearly.

Edward opened his eyes.

Under the bright morning light at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, in the winding and soft bedding, it was almost in the most unfounded expectation—he was right in front of my eyes.The black bangs fell on the white sheet, and the sideways face was squeezed out of the soft cheek flesh by the pillow.His long eyelashes and dark circles under his eyes looked exhausted. There were faint old wounds on his forehead and new bright red wounds. The corners of his mouth were bruised and oozing blood. His skin was torn apart by the rope, not to mention that the neckline was stained red by the congealed blood and smelled faintly of blood - he couldn't look any worse, needless to say, this bastard once again sneaked into others without knowing what to do. The private house is probably the key turned under the doormat, and it can give him a bunch of shameless reasons such as "I have taken a bath".When Ed saw him for the first time, he almost jumped up in fright and wanted to push him out of his bed, or punch him on the bridge of the nose again in anger—if he didn't want to hug him and kiss him so much at this moment .

Not because of sadness, not because of worry, not because of regret or helplessness, the reasons lurking under the surface have nothing to do with these seemingly gentle, but actually weak and superficial feelings.Ed didn't want to lose him, whether he was a liar or a villain, Edward Eric didn't want to lose Roy Mustang, he wholeheartedly hoped that the world he lived in could have Roy Mustang—— All the profound reasons in the world are actually very simple.

"Hey, why are you here?"

Ed couldn't help stretching out his hand, and couldn't help rubbing the hair next to the other's ear, which was as soft as imagined, causing the other party to let out a hoarse whimper.Bathed in the morning light, Roy frowned reluctantly, and instead of opening his tired eyes, he shrunk even tighter towards Ed.

"Let me sleep a little longer, just put the money on the bedside table." He said, reaching out and hugging Edward.

On the 26th hour after leaving Mustangu, I lost it and found it again.

TBC