A/N: I am glad those of you who are leaving reviews are enjoying this.

Thank you for reviewing.

I'm working on a class this summer that finishes on the 13th. After then, I promise I'll try and post more!

So read, REVIEW PEOPLE, and enjoy.

Edward Elric

"Ed! Wake up!"

I groaned, slapping at the arms that were attempting to shake me awake. "No." I tugged my pillow over my face.

"Ed." I vaguely recognized that the voice was Al's. "We have school! Remember, we're supposed to ask Mr. Mustang-why did you leave the notes everywhere?"

"I was studying them." I mumbled, muffled by the pillow. "I thought maybe he put them in code and I could rearrange them to find something."

"Well, did you?"

"Not in the slightest!" I grinned from under my pillow.

Al pulled the pillow from my head and tugged me off of the bed, throwing me to the ground. I didn't realize how much stronger Al was than me. "And that's why we're going to school."

I groaned, and Al set me down by my closet. "Get ready quickly. Winry's already waiting downstairs." With that, he walked out of my room and shut my door.

I glanced around my closet, then decided to put on a black t-shirt and my long red coat. Quickly, I pulled my long hair back in a ponytail, since I wouldn't have time to braid it this morning. I finished my routine by brushing my teeth and doing other sanitary things. Then, with a small nod, I tramped down the stairs.

"It's about time." Winry muttered, standing up and grabbing her bag off the floor. "Have to go in earlier for you, and what do you do? Wake up late."

"What can I say?" I shrugged. "I'm just awesome that way."

Al stifled a chuckle, and he grabbed his bag. "C'mon, guys. Let's go."

We made it to school fifteen minutes before the bell would ring. I looked at Al, and murmured, "We need to head to Mr. Mustang's room."

Al nodded, and smiled at Winry. "See ya at lunch, Win!"

I'm not sure if Winry actually heard him, because she was already running over to a group of guys. I rolled my eyes. Of course that would be what she did.

I looked over at Al, and I saw him roll his eyes, too. "I didn't think you found that annoying." I commented lightly.

"Please." Al muttered. "She runs off with a new guy every time I try to talk with her."

"Do you understand it?"

"Not a chance." Al shook his head. "Let's just go."

We walked to Mr. Mustang's room in silence. Al knocked on his door, then cracked it open. "Mr. Mustang?"

"Ah, Alphonse." I heard Mr. Mustang's voice from the room. "What is it? I didn't think you arrived to school on time usually."

"Well, my brother and I had a question for you." Al explained politely. "It's about the theory of alchemy."

There was a pause. "No one has ever taken a liking to alchemy." Mr. Mustang sounded surprised. "But.. Come in."

Al smiled and opened the door, and we both walked in. Mr. Mustang's gaze became darker when he saw me. "I didn't realize Edward was your brother."

"Uh.." Al looked slightly embarrassed. "Yes, sir. He's brilliant in chemistry."

"So Mrs. Curtis said in her notes."

I rolled my eyes. He did know that Mrs. Curtis liked me. "Our... Father was a chemist. He studied alchemy-he wanted to make it real." I began to explain. "I was looking at his notes, and I believe there's a way to make it real."

"I see." Mr. Mustang was a little curt. "I don't believe there's much I can do..."

"Mr. Mustang," Al interrupted him, "we just wanted you to see these runes. We can't figure out what they are, and we thought you would know, since you're the chemistry teacher and all, and we overheard you talking with Ms. Hawkeye and you said you were interested in alchemy."

Mr. Mustang gave us and even look, then he nodded. I handed him the notes. "I'll look at them. It might take me a while, but I'll do it."

"Thank you, Mr. Mustang!" Al grinned.

"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Mustang." I murmured.

Mr. Mustang just nodded, looking a little distracted now. I looked at Al, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. It was time to take our leave.

We exited Mr. Mustang's room quietly. Al gave me a giant grin. "Did you see the look in his eye?"

"The look that said 'I don't want to do anything for that Edward kid?'"

"No," Al laughed, "he seemed really interested, Ed! He'll figure something out, I just know it!"

I looked at him. "You really think we'll do this?"

Al nodded with enthusiasm.

I smiled a little at him. "Then I guess we'll have to make sure we work extra hard on this!"

Al grinned, but his grin quickly turned into a frown. I wondered what I said to make him frown, but then I saw his gaze was resting on something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at.

Of course it was them, I scowled.

The Homunculi.

The Homunculi was a gang in Central High. I'm not sure if anyone actually knew their real names, but they all had nicknames that everyone in the school knew, even if you were new.

First, there was Lust.

Lust was everything a guy could want in a girl. Beautiful flowing black hair, gleaming violet eyes (whether they were real or not, we weren't sure), and a pretty good-looking body. The only thing was she never stayed with one guy-she always used everyone. She had some nasty backstabbing claws for girls, too.

Then, there was Envy.

Envy was the best liar I had ever seen. It was as if he could be any person he wanted to in the world. He had spikey, dark hair and mischievous violet eyes. He was always trying to turn people against each other just for fun, too. And he always called me "The Pipsqueak."

Next, there was Pride.

Pride was a small, quiet boy on the outside. But I was fairly certain he was the creepiest kid I had ever met. He was the youngest member of the Homunculi, but he was able to hold himself high. I was fairly certain he could be the toughest one out of all of them.

Sloth was a giant. That was the only way to describe him. Our gym teacher, Mr. Armstrong, was one of the most buff men I had ever seen. But when put near Sloth, he was completely dwarfed. He was also the dumbest person I had ever met. I wasn't even sure if he actually had a brain.

If Sloth was the guy with the most muscles, Gluttony was definitely the one with the most fat.

He was huge.

I had never seen anyone eat as much as Gluttony. I was also fairly certain I had seen him trying to eat part of the lunch table one day, until Lust chided him and told him to go get more food. If he couldn't have any food, he would pout and suck on his chubby index finger. I assumed it was to make up for not being able to chew on anything.

Finally, there was their leader. Greed.

Greed was Ling's twin brother. Evil twin brother, but his twin brother. Ling hated him so much that he wouldn't even tell us his real name. He flirted even more than Ling did with girls, and he said that his first rule was he would never fight a girl, because he wasn't that type of guy. His second rule was he never lied, which I was surprised that he always followed up with. He was rather blunt because of it. He always wanted everything, though. He had a whole rant about it when he first introduces himself to people, and it got rather lengthy about how much greed he had. Hence the name.

Everyone in our school despised them, but there was no way to really stop their scheming and planning. Or, there wasn't a way yet.

Not that I had a plan or anything. I just want to see someone bring them down.

My money was on Ling beating the crud out of his brother, since Ling was quick and light on his feet while Greed was tough and had a lot of stamina.

But I knew Ling wouldn't ever try anything at school. He would rather pretend his brother doesn't exist.

"Well, well." Greed grinned at us. "The Elric brothers!"

"Greed." Al muttered, not giving him any other acknowledgement.

Envy grinned at us, his eyes gleaming with mischief. I could swear that his teeth were more than slightly pointy. "The Pipsqueak and little Aliphonse!"

"So, Elrics, have you seen my brother around?" Greed asked casually.

"No." I muttered darkly. "It's not like he would talk with you, anyways, Greed."

Greed heaved a fake sigh. "It's true! Ling is completely ashamed of-"

"For good reason!" Ling's yell echoed in the hallway. He was glaring fiercely at his brother, and Lan Fan was standing behind him.

"Bro, I told you... You shouldn't keep hiding that cutie away-" Greed began, grinning at Lan Fan.

"Don't you talk about her that way, Greed." Ling growled. "She's better than you." I saw Lan Fan blush a little behind him, which made Greed erupt into laughter.

Pride laughed his little, creepy laugh. "The Homunculi are better than normal humans." Envy grinned proudly beside him.

Lust rolled her eyes. "Then why do we even bother associating with them?" She sounded bored. She was probably looking forward to which new guy she could lure into her claws.

"I just want some food..." Gluttony moaned, and Lust shook her head.

"I guess you're right, Lust." Greed grinned at us one last time before turning and walking off in another direction. His pack followed him quickly, except Sloth, who scratched his head in a confused manner before finally understanding.

Ling's fiery glare followed his twin brother until he disappeared. "I hate that guy."

Lan Fan shook her head. "I don't understand why he acts that way..."

"Because he's a homunculus." I shook my head. "He thinks because he's in the gang he's better than everyone in the school."

Ling looked like he wanted to spit. "It's disgusting. And the way he treats girls... He shouldn't even be able to look at Lan Fan that way." Lan Fan blushed again, and Al and I smiled a little.

"Someone's awfully protective." Al laughed quietly.

"She's my best friend." Ling huffed. "She deserves better." At that, Lan Fan's face fell a little. I knew that wasn't the only reason he was so protective of her, though. With a glance at Al, I knew he knew, too.

"Let's just get to class." I said, shrugging. "Can't do anything about it until someone figures out a way to dethrone them."

We said our goodbyes and parted ways quickly, hurrying to our first class.

Throughout the rest of school, the Homunculi never crossed my brain.

The only thing I could think of was whether Mr. Mustang would be able to help me and Al.

Whether he would prove that alchemy could be done.

Whether there was a way to bring my mother back.

Okay, just to clarify.

I know that Pride is technically the oldest homunculi, I promise.

But I was going off of looks, and how he was supposed to look the youngest.

Because I mean, come on... I thought that would make more sense...

So don't kill me please. And thank you! :)