A/n: First update of the new year! Hope you enjoy. :3

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and don't kill me for using a Twilight quote. ;-;


Chapter Eight: Adjustment

"When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end." –Bella Swan, Twilight

Monochrome no Kiss – SID

***

In Ireland, on a lonely green hill far from where humans wander, there is a small pub of sorts. It only appears at sunset, and vanishes by afternoon the next day. This pub is magical. No normal human may enter. And, inside this warm little brewery can be found the best liquor on this earth. Whether you're looking for whiskey, beer, vodka, sake, or wine, you'd find only the highest and purest quality here… at Barnabas Wee's Little Tavern.

Barnabas Wee was a two-century old little kappa, but you didn't need to worry about him. He was quite peaceful, and actually had a fear of water, and conflict. He'd been in this part of Ireland for the last several hundred years, and his hospitality is a favorite amongst all creatures alike.

That night, in the warm, cheery place… whispered above the music and laughter… the hot topic amongst the guests was, naturally, Yuuko's newest take-ons.

Kimihiro Watanuki, the odd lad he was, was naturally still quite the celebrity amongst the magical world. But now, he'd been booted down, by the two new little humans she had.

Humans… It was a pathetic word for these two. They were Alchemists.

"Blimey, yeh, I've 'eard of 'em!" Barnabas laughed at the talk. "The wife's been naggin' me to take a trip o'er to Japan to see 'em. Kurozumi thinks the young one's the 'andsomest bloke 'round."

"Oh, you mean Alphonse." Kuroko, a little dark haired girl said softly, in an enchanting French accent. You'd never guess she was a hundred years old. "Yes, from the photograph I saw on Ryo's internet boards, he's quite a beauty. I bet his blood is just as sweet as those innocent eyes—eep!" She squeaked as the tall blonde boy bonked her on the head.

"Watch it, Kuroko. Your fangs are showing." He howled with laughter, his wolfish grin obvious. "Those two sure are funny though. Alchemists they say, ha! Haven't seen any o' them around this side since… since…"

"—I left?" A deep male voice interjected, sending the pub into silence.

Barnabas gasped, lifting his glasses so his aged eyes could get a better look at their newest guest. He grinned wickedly at his old friend, watching with amusement as the taller man sat in a seat near the bar, his blonde hair pulled back his golden eyes aged by worry… yet still showing happiness somehow.

"'Ohenheim of Light." The kappa chortled, raising his half empty glass of scotch in greeting. "Welcome back, old frien', welcome back! Same as always, I 'ssume? And 'eard about Yuuko-chan's new pet Alchemists, 'ave ya?"

Hohenheim managed a smile. "Whiskey, yes. Thanks, Barnabas. It's good to be back." He said lightly. "And I do believe you're talking about my sons."

***

-Three Weeks Later-

"Everyone, please welcome your new classmate, Edward Elric-kun. He has just transferred from Germany, so greet him properly."

Edward felt little beads of nervous sweat on the back of his neck as he looked out to the room of kids, all whom were staring right at him.

Jiiiiiiiiiiiii… (1)

"A-ah! Yo, pleasure to meet you all." He said, trying to be cheerful. "I'm Edward Elric. Please take good care of me… …Especially you cute girls there." He added reluctantly, forcing himself to wink and hold a hand in their direction.

As the girls squealed and giggled—all flustered by the action—he sweatdropped, trying to contain his eye's twitching to a minimum.

Damn you, Yuuko-san… He hissed inwardly, his mind flashing back gravely to the night before, after dinner. Yuuko had just informed him and Al that they had school in the morning, and wanted to rehearse them on a 'stunning introduction that would guarantee them limitless popularity with all of their classmates'.

"No, Yuuko-san. That introduction is so incredibly stupid, and humiliating, I refuse to do it!" Edward growled, making a series of hand motions all signaling no. Yuuko pouted a bit, crossing her arms.

"But Edward, don't you want to get lots and lots of girlfriends?" She asked bluntly, puffing out her cheeks in childish frustration. "With such a sexy smile that only you can pull off, added with the right lines… The girls will be all over you! It's impossible for this not to work! The key is to not be shy and—"

Edward growled again. "I don't want to do that! I don't want a girlfriend, much less a bunch of them!"

Yuuko slowly smiled at the pause that ensued, her eyes alight with evil.

"Edward-kun. You will say the line to your female classmates during your introduction, or pay the consequences."

In the end, Yuuko had won that fight. And damn her for it, too. Edward added in his head. He hadn't been this pissed for a while. Yuuko Ichihara was starting to really remind him of a smoking, drinking, and extremely well endowed female version of Roy Mustang. Give her a military uniform and some ignition cloth gloves, and the witch was nearly an exact replica, give or take an ounce of pompous juice.

As he sat in his seat and the class begun, Edward—somehow almost completely aware of how much female attention he was getting—wondered if his younger brother was having as terrible a time as he was.

Al had, in the end, wound up in the class one year below him.

Now, for those who are asking how someone in a ten year old's body could fit into that class… The timeskip has missed something.

While taking a bath, Al somehow had gotten sent to the Zashiki-Warashi's place.

And somehow, while there, he'd gotten his true body back. As in, he was now his actual age.

Edward sighed and laid his head in his arms, looking out the window sadly.

It really made him depressed to think magic succeeded in restoring his brother where he—and science—could not.

***

"Hi there, everyone!" Al chirped, bowing. He wore a big smile on his face, and his long hair was pulled into a ponytail. "I'm Alphonse Elric. Please call me Al. It's such a pleasure to meet you all, and I can't wait to start working with you!"

To all the girls in the class, and even a couple of guys, Al looked like the most adorable thing in existence.

"W-wait, Aru-kun!" One girl called shyly, before he could sit down. He blinked and smiled, nodding for her to continue. "E-Elric-kun, I mean… Can you tell us… a bit about y-yourself?"

"Of course! I like kittens and science, I have an older brother, and I'm right now learning how to cook a variety of things!" He grinned even wider, little shojo bubbles and sparkles floating around him. "As I said, I just transferred from Germany. Please tolerate me, as I am very new to Japan and don't know much."

Several girls nearly fainted, and Al's title of 'class bishie' was officially ensured.

Right now, Al thought life was almost completely perfect, and school was super fun. This was exactly the opposite of what Edward was feeling, but still.

I'm so glad I came here… He thought, blushing a bit when he thought of Himawari, and of Zashiki-Warashi.

***

Watanuki stared at the little threesome who was eating lunch together on the lawn.

Himawari… Oh, Himawari! The joy of his life, his sunshine! As long as she was there, the annoying bug that was Doumeki did not entirely exist to him. He shot a glare at said nuisance, but it went fairly unnoticed.

"Tomorrow…" Doumeki began slowly, taking a bite of his tamagoyaki. "…Octopus hot dogs… and Turkish Delight."

Lightning flashed behind Watanuki.

"Those don't even go together!" He shrieked. "And Turkish Delight?! Not only is it a foreign desert, it's probably hard to make, too!!! I'll be up all night!"

"…I want walnuts in some… maybe pomegranate too." Doumeki mused.

"No way! I never said I'd make it for you, damn it!"

Himawari smiled. "I've never had Turkish Delight before! Would you mind if I tried some too? I've heard it's really good—Yori-chan, my friend from middle school, went to Turkey last summer and told me about it."

Watanuki grinned like an idiot and spun around, only hearing her first two sentences. "Of course you can try some, Himawari-chan! I'll make you the best Turkish Delight ever!"

"Don't forget some jelly, to spread on top of it."

"NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU WANT, DUMMY!!!"

"That sounds kind of nice, actually!"

"Well anything for you of course, Himawari-chan! Only the best, after all! Ahahahahahahahahaha!"

A few moments later, while Watanuki and Doumeki bickered some more, the sounds of footsteps on the grass could be heard. Himawari's eyes widened a bit, and Doumeki had an air of surprise.

"Excuse me," Al said, his voice a little deeper yet still soft and gentle. "Um… Have any of you seen my brother?"

Watanuki smiled slightly, happy he was a little more used to the fully aged Al than the others. "Yes. He was back-talking the teacher, and had to stay in class over the lunch break to clean."

Al sighed, slumping a bit. "Ah… Brother… Why was he being rude?"

"The teacher brought up alchemy… and how it was a dead science." Doumeki began slowly. "Edward got pissed and started shouting… and the teacher made him wait outside."

"Brother…" Al groaned. "He'll never change… But, I know how he must have felt… Hearing something he treasures so much being called a—…" He trailed off, looking at the still surprised Himawari. She didn't know about him or Ed yet, and he didn't really want her to.

"Kunogi!"

"Hima-chan!"

Everyone looked over to two girls, and blinked. "Ah, sorry!" Himawari giggled. "I promised to help my friends out! I can't believe I nearly forgot!" She gasped, jumped up. "Thanks for the lunch, Watanuki-kun! And, it was nice talking to you, Alphonse-kun. That's some growth spurt you had there." She smiled. "Bye Doumeki-kun, Watanuki-kun, Alphonse-kun! See you!"

Al watched as she ran off, blushing slightly, before shaking his head. "As I was saying… I know how he must have felt… Hearing something he treasures so much being called a 'dead science' must have hurt brother." He smiled sadly. "He already was in a bad mood after fighting with Yuuko-san last night and this morning. He seemed really upset before we left for school…"

Watanuki nodded. Edward had seemed a little antsy today. "Mm."

"Well… Um, I think I'm going to go walk around!" Al beamed. "A nice girl from my class, Usagi-san, made a map for me! It's proved to be helpful so far. Well… I'll be going now." He shrugged. "Later, Watanuki-kun. Doumeki-san."

Doumeki stared at the boy, before speaking. "Oi. Al."

Al looked back at the sound of his name, confused. "Yes, Doumeki-kun?"

"You have a nice looking arm. You… might be interested in joining archery club."

"Huh?"

***

"Stupid teacher with his stupid science and his stupid incorrect beliefs about alchemy and his stupid lectures with his stupid, longwinded rants about discipline and punishment, and stupid Yuuko for making me go to this goddamn hell hole!" Edward hissed under his breath as he cleaned the chalk erasers. "I hate this whole damn school. Stupid girls with the squealing… I wanna go home. Damn this place to fu—"

"Language!" A harshly familiar voice snapped, right before Edward felt a book hit him hard on the head.

"Ouch!" He growled, looking up. "What the hell's your problem—…" He stopped abruptly at the woman above him, paling visibly though his heartrate sped up drastically. N-No… It… It can't be…

"My problem, Edward Elric-san, is that I, Izumi Yoshida, at least deserve some respect. And I also demand your complete attention. All my requests, as your teacher, are within perfect reasoning."

Edward gulped as the dark haired, dark eyed woman glared at him from behind her thin reading glasses, her dark purple pantsuit adding to her threatening aura.

"Y-yes ma'am…" He squeaked, the look alike of his Teacher nearly giving him a heart attack before she smirked.

"Good boy." She teased. "Well, I won't officially be your teacher until tomorrow. It seems your math teacher passed on over the weekend."

That's why we got an extra slot for break… Edward thought, recalling some girls talking. "Oh… They sure replaced him awful quickly, then."

Izumi Yoshida grinned. "I suppose so. But then again, I did get lucky. I've been looking for this job for a while… and I can tell, Elric-san; if you're in my class, then it's bound to be fun."

***

"I swear, Al!" Edward exclaimed with a huff, barely dodging three redheaded girls and a blonde as he passed them. "That woman! The one who hit me! She's Teacher!"

Al sighed. "I didn't say I didn't believe you, brother. I just said it sounded weird."

Edward growled slightly as they entered the grocery store, grinding his teeth a little.

"What I'm more worried about is the teacher." Al murmured. "Apparently, lots of people fall down the stairs in building three. He's the only one who has died from the fall, but isn't it funny, brother?"

Ed blinked. "I haven't heard anything about that. But yeah, it does sound funny. Of course, insinuating that foul play could be involved is also hysterical. Bullying is the most obvious culprit, but that's only odd if it's to a teacher, and the teacher dies…"

Alphonse shook his head, picking up a manga magazine he wanted and putting it into the hand-carry shopping basket.

"Kaori-chan from the class below mine said that whenever someone trips, no one seems to be around. There's no student traffic to trip on, no wet linoleum-like steps, no logical explanations, really."

"Gah, Al. You're looking too deep into this!" Ed sighed, picking out some stalks of broccoli for dinner. Watanuki was making stew, like Granny used to make. "If you try and tell me it's a ghost, I'm gonna get mad. Humans are humans, and humans are clumsy. Easy as that, little brother. Mystery solved."

"Brother…" Al pouted. "… Fine. You win. I'll let this go." For now.

Ed grinned. "Thanks. Now. We need sake!"

***

Envy growled before shrieking and kicking the box's wall again. He had left a nice dent, but he knew there was still a long way to go. He'd been crossing the Gate with the FullMetal Pipsqueak… And then, he was here. The only other memory was a smooth woman's voice saying 'Stay put'.

Why did he have to be pulled into this strange thing? What were these odd remains? It was all Van Hohenheim's fault, he knew it.

After all, it was that bastard's fault for everything.

With his last ounce of strength, Envy turned into his truest form; the hideous and huge green monster where masses of soul energy boiled from his flesh in the form of faces, pleading to be saved. They were the essence of his Philosopher's stone. Or at least, what remained of the power from when Edward had used it. That usage was regrettable, but necessary if he wanted to escape Gluttony's stomach.

Mustering more nonexistent strength, he pounded against the small dent he had earlier managed to somehow create in the containing device, ignoring the aches in his body. He needed to replenish his stone soon, he noted that. If he didn't, he'd be reduced to ash. A dead homunculus was worth nothing to the universe.

He continued pounding, until he smelled something fresher, and sensed a change in the atmosphere around him. Pulling back, he observed his work.

Finally, he could see a little light. At last, the scent of fresh, untainted air reached his nostrils and revived the burning in his chest. He could taste the first glimpses of freedom, and he felt a calm rush over him. He was so close now.

It was nothing more than a small crack, and he was incredibly weakened, but there at least was something to say for his hard work.

Powered by hate and the desire to kill, Envy was now almost free.


A/n: Yeah, sorry about suddenly throwing Al's age thing in there... Honestly, I needed it somewhere, for the upcoming arcs again. But when I tried to write the random bath scene, I... had a teen girl moment and just couldn't go on with that. ._.''

Anyyyywayyyys. Moving on to less awkward topics.

(1) - Baranabas Wee's Little Tavern in Ireland is inspired by The Leaky Cauldron in the Harry Potter series, by JK Rowling.

(2) - "Jiiiii" is a long sound effect usually seen in manga. It is the sound effect for an intense, prolonged stare. As in, the awkward kind that Ed is getting from his classmates.

Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review!
~Dice