Oliver

[Year 1900]

15-year-old Roy was closing his eyes and murmuring something while standing at the front door of a house. He was trying to motivate himself because he was in a new place, and there was no one there who could give him some courage. His dreams were relying on a person who was behind that door…

"I can do this, I will persuade him to teach me alchemy"

He opened his eyes and with confidence, he knocked on the door and quickly stood like a new soldier on his first day in front of his senior. Five minutes passed, and no one opened the door. So, he knocked again, and still, no one opened the door. He kept on repeating the same thing for some time and still no one opened the door. He couldn't even hear any noise from inside the house. After trying for an hour, he assumed that no one was at home. But, his determination was way stronger. He decided to wait there till he meets the owner of that house and the man from whom he wanted to learn alchemy. He sat on the verandah which was quite big and pulled out a book from his bag and started reading it.

After an hour, a black-haired woman in her late fifties, wearing an Augsburg dress with a bun, along with a young short haired blonde girl, who seemed like 12-13 years old, wearing a frock, came with a bag of groceries. It was impossible for them to ignore Roy who was sitting on their verandah. When Roy saw them, he quickly stood up and greeted them instantly like a gentleman. It was rare to see a visitor at their place, so the old lady asked the boy out of curiosity,

"Who are you?"

The boy instantly replied without making her wait for a second,

"My name is Roy Mustang Ma'am and I am here to learn alchemy from Master Berthold Hawkeye"

It was rare enough for them to get a visitor, and finding a person asking to study there was unusual on a different level. So, the old lady tried to break Roy's determination. She spoke in the bluntest and most discouraging tone possible,

"Listen boy, Mr. Hawkeye does not like strangers. He has specifically told me not to allow any stranger inside the house. So, I am afraid you have to leave"

But, it was not easy to break Roy's rock solid determination. He was prepared for situations like that and replied to her very politely,

"Fine, I will be waiting out here. I will meet him in person when he comes out"

But, the old lady was also persistent in discouraging him. She instantly replied bluntly,

"He rarely comes out of the house… it might take days or weeks before you meet him and even if you meet him, he won't accept you as his disciple. So, leave before he makes you leave"

Roy also made sure to reply to her confidently,

"Ma'am, I have made up my mind to learn alchemy from Master Hawkeye. There is nothing in the world which can make me leave this place until I learn alchemy from him"

The young girl who was hiding behind the old lady was peeking Roy while he was speaking. When Roy looked at her, she again hid behind the old lady. The old lady was impressed by his determination but, she still didn't try to encourage him. Instead, she gave up and finished the conversation without wasting more time,

"Do as you please… but, don't mess with anything here"

She and the young girl entered the house and closed the door. Roy again sat on the verandah waiting for Berthold to come out. The old lady told Berthold Hawkeye about Roy and why he was there, but Berthold didn't consider that to be important and asked her not to disturb him. It was night and no one came out of the house, Roy slept at the verandah using a thin blanket which he brought with him. He was lucky that the place was not chilling at all.

Next day at early morning, when the old lady came out of the house, she found Roy sleeping on the verandah, tucked under his blanket like a turtle. Just a moment later, the young girl opened the door and came out to join the old lady. Both were amazed that the boy was still there by himself, in the open.

Both of them then left for the groceries to the nearby market. After some time, when they returned, they saw Roy was sitting on the verandah reading a book. When they approached near the door, Roy quickly stood up and greeted the old lady like the previous day, just like a gentleman,

"Good Morning Ma'am"

Then he looked toward the girl but, she quickly opened the door and got inside before he could speak to her. The old lady also ignored him and went inside. Roy sighed watching their reaction and sat again at his position to read. That day also passed just like the previous day, Berthold didn't come out of the house and Roy kept on waiting there.

Next day, when the old lady and the girl were returning from the market, they saw Roy was feeding a puppy. When they approached the door, Roy acted the same way he was acting from the past two days. But this time when he greeted, neither the old lady nor the girl went inside by ignoring him. The girl was looking at the puppy with white fur, jumping around Roy's legs. The old lady looked at Roy and responded to his greetings for the first time in a polite voice,

"Good morning"

She was curious about the food the puppy was eating, so she asked Roy out of curiosity,

"Are you feeding that puppy your own food?"

Roy replied with a "Yes" while moving his hand over his hairs and with a guilty grin on his face.

The old lady then looked at Roy's bag which was lying open on the ground. There were bits of breadcrumbs in his bag and a half eaten apple. She then looked at Roy and asked with the concern of a mother, after all, Roy was just 15 years old,

"What did you eat this morning?"

She correctly identified the scenario. Roy didn't have his breakfast that morning, he fed the only small piece of bread loaf he had left to the puppy. Now, he was only left with the half-eaten apple. He didn't know what should he say and started smiling embarrassingly. While he was smiling, his stomach growled and exposed the reality. Upon hearing the growl from Roy's belly, the old lady said,

"Looks like you haven't eaten much lately. Even your half-eaten apple looks like you ate it yesterday"

Meanwhile, the girl pulled out two apples from her grocery bag and offered it to Roy,

"Here, take these apples"

She was holding one apple in each hand. Roy looked at her and took those apples from her hands and thanked her.

The girl didn't reply to him and went inside with the old lady. After some time, the door opened and the young girl came out of the house alone. She saw Roy was sleeping on the verandah covering his face with the book he was reading, and the puppy was playing. She had brought some chicken pieces with her to feed the dog. She went closer to the puppy and gave it a chicken piece from the bowl she brought. The puppy started biting the chicken pieces. The girl was smiling looking at the puppy, she bent down to pat it, to which the puppy started wagging his tail in response. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice,

"Do you like dogs?"

The girl looked forward and saw Roy was awake and looking toward her. She was shy at first because she was not used to visitors at her house. Still, she moved over her shyness and replied

"Yes, they look cute and they are loyal too"

"Why don't you pet him then?"

"My father won't allow me"

When Riza used the word "father", Roy was clear that she was Berthold Hawkeye's daughter, but still, he asked,

"So, you are Master Hawkeye's daughter?"

"Yes"

"If you don't mind, may I know your name?"

The girl felt that he was a good person based on her perception of him for those two days. So, she decided to introduce herself,

"My name is Riza"

Roy also followed the formality and introduced himself to her,

"My name is Roy"

"I know, you told us your name on the first day" She informed him with a smile

Roy chuckled for the fact that she remembered his name, and said,

"I thought you forgot"

Riza then bent down to place the bowl of chicken she brought on the floor, and the puppy jumped on it. After giving the bowl to the puppy, she stood up and asked Roy,

"Do you really want to learn alchemy from my father?"

"Yes, I am not leaving this place until I learn alchemy from him" Roy replied with confidence in his voice

"Good luck with that" Riza mocked, but still Roy was not affected. Instead, he asked if there was any progress with the situation,

"Did you tell him about me?"

"He knows. Ms. Becker told my father about you on the first day, but he won't come. He doesn't like to meet peoples"

When Roy heard the name Becker, he got confused for a moment, but then he asked for clarification,

"Ms. Becker? The old lady?"

"Yes, she takes care of the house and teaches me sometimes"

It was an unusual finding for Roy. Riza never went to school. So, he asked with curiosity,

"Don't you go to any school?"

"No, Father doesn't want me to go to school, he teaches me at home"

Meanwhile, the puppy started barking and wagging his tail out of happiness, standing near Riza. Riza began to laugh when she saw the puppy's action. She was clearly in love with that puppy, so she asked the first question which popped into her mind to Roy,

"Have you given him a name yet?"

"Not yet…why don't you give him one?"

Riza was waiting for that moment and suggested a name instantly with excitement on her face,

"How about White Hikari?"

The name was unusual and weird on a different level. Roy was stunned, and while he was thinking on what he should reply, he was bombarded with the most dangerous question from Riza,

"Isn't it a cute name?"

Roy didn't want to argue, so he reacted like a typical man in front of his girlfriend, accompanied by a hesitant laugh

"Yes"

That was the day their friendship began which was going to stand against all odds with the passage of time.