「Anime x Reader One Shots」

The Beauty Inside the Armor (Alphonse Elric x Reader)

You backed up slowly, trying to figure out how to get out of the situation. When the robber first appeared demanding your money you assumed that you could easily fight him. That assumption dissipated once he pulled out a knife. You were stuck defenceless and helpless at the hands of a thief and who knows what else he was. You weren't about to let that happen, though. You stood your ground and refused to give in to the petty thief, even when he began to inch closer with his knife.

"Come on, girly. Just hand over your money and no one will get hurt," he said in a raspy voice.

Instead of answering you decided to try and run around him but he was too fast, swinging at you with his knife before you could get past him. You dodged the knife but you were back in the same corner as you were in before. The thief proceeded to draw nearer to you, all signs of him not wanting to hurt you were gone. You still had fight left in you but you knew it would be pointless. He was by far stronger and faster than you. Maybe you really should've just given him your money and got out while you still could.

Before you could attempt to do anything else, a giant suit of armor ran to the scene and knocked the thief down. Yeah, that's right. A giant suit of armor. What are the odds? In only a matter of seconds, the thief was knocked out cold and crumpled to a heap on the ground.

The giant suit of armor extended a hand to you which you immediately slapped away. Sure, the guy saved you, but you still couldn't trust him. Once you slapped his hand away a flash of pain spread across his face even though the impact most definitely hurt you more than it hurt him.

"M-miss. Are you alright?" the suit of armor said in a surprisingly childlike voice. You expected his voice to be deep and gruff, but the reality seemed to fit better than your assumptions for some reason.

The guy in the armor tried reaching for you when you failed to answer. You backed away from him, deciding not to hit him again.

"I only want to help you," he said, hurt cutting through his voice like a knife.

"How am I supposed to trust you? For all I know you could be another thief. That suit of armor you wear is a great scare tactic," you said, crossing your arms.

"I'm not! I swear!" he said, looking frantic.

"Prove it. Take off the suit," you challenged.

The panicked look in his eyes seemed to have grown stronger after you asked that question. What was that about?

"I-I c-can't," he stammered.

"And why is that?"

He looked around checking for any signs of people even though you and him were in an abandoned alley way. Taking a deep sigh, he sat on the ground, his back resting against the wall.

"It's kind of a long story," he said, sounding sad. You didn't realize at first that he was sad about the topic itself, you thought it was only because you were forcing him to share the story. Maybe, just maybe, if you knew that the topic hurt him so much you wouldn't have forced him in the first place.

"I have time," you answered, sitting a few feet away from him.

Before beginning, the suit of armor introduced himself as Al, the brother of the famous Fullmetal Alchemist. You've heard of the two brothers before but you never heard of their backstory. That's why you were so shocked after Al told you his story. The reason he was stuck inside a suit of armor, him and his brother's exhausting and nerve-wracking quest to try and locate the Philosopher's Stone, and all the other journeys they've been forced to endure.

Throughout his story, you moved closer and closer to him without even realizing it. By the time he had finished, you were sitting right next to him, leaving no space between the two of you. After hearing his story, you felt an attraction before the two of you. You felt like you finally found someone who was like you, someone who could understand you. You've felt broken and weak for most of your life, you never felt like you could fit in.

But then you met Al, a boy who's endured so much more than you. On the outside he seemed like a strong person that shouldn't be reckoned with. But on the inside, he was just a broken kid, just like you.

The attraction you felt wasn't for the piece of armor, it was for what was on the inside, the real Alphonse Elric. The true beauty laid inside the rusted piece of armor.

When he finished his story, you took his hand in yours. A tint of pink tainted his face but he didn't pull always, if anything, he looked more peaceful after you held his hand.

"So, uh, what about you?" he asked sheepishly. "How has your life been?"

You hesitated for a moment, trying to think of all the things to tell him. But after none of them seemed to be even worth mentioning after his side of the story, you know what else you could say that's true.

"I'm going to forget about my old life, my past. None of it matters now. I'm going to begin a new life, a fresh start to make my life better. It all starts now, when I've just met a person who's worth remembering forever and always."