After my lessons for the night were done, Logan took on a human form and I taught him about hand-to-hand combat, what humans did at their social gatherings, how to do chores and how to read. He was a quick learner like me and soon, we had nothing to do but go over our lessons again and again. Just to make sure we got everything.

It was so much fun; it was almost a shame I had to wake up.

But when I did wake up, it wasn't like I thought it would be. My body wasn't in as much pain as it was before and I don't know if I'm right or not, but I think it looked more human.

Maybe the Alchemical process of turning me into a Chimera was still happening, that was why I was in so much pain earlier because my body was still adapting and changing it's form.

"Maybe you're right, Celina. Either way, I'm a nocturnal hunter, so please don't make us go outside yet." Logan complained in my head.

"Shut up, Logan, you'll be fine." I told him, "Gate, you're such a whiner."

"Oh, screw you, Celina!"

I laughed and got up off the ground anyway. I felt sore and my body still hurt, but it wasn't even half as bad as it was last night.

I wonder… maybe, if I concentrate hard enough…

I sat back down on the ground, crossed my legs as best as I could and pictured myself as a human. My hair red, my eyes green, my skin peach. I pictured my 6-year-old body in my mind and I felt the hair on my skin receding back into my body and my snout becoming flatter.

And when I opened my eyes again, the pain was gone, I was just sore and I had a human-looking body and face. There was just one problem; I was naked. But there was a solution to that problem.

"Thank Gate I ended up in a cloths shop." I muttered as I looked through my limited options.

There were T-shirts and jeans, but no socks or shoes. I'll be lucky if I can find a size that fits.

"You could just be naked you know, it's not like anyone's in this abandoned shop." Logan offered.

"Yeah, but I wanna get back to Nina to make sure she's okay. I need to find Ed and Al, too." I added, picking up a black shirt with a tiger on it.

"Worrying for your kin, huh? At least you do that." Logan stated.

"Hey, you say that as if all we humans are heartless." I grumbled, grabbing a pair of denim jeans.

Satisfied, I went into the changing rooms and put the clothes on. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized a few things were different about me. My hair wasn't red anymore, it was orange with 6 black high-lights on each side of my head and my eyes weren't green anymore, they were a very dark (almost black) brown colour. And, oh my Gate-

"Logan, I have your ears sticking out the top of my head and your tail above my butt." I said, grabbing them and pulling them to make sure they were real.

Oh yeah, they were real alright. I looked around the empty changing room, hoping there was something here I could use to hide my ears (since I could stuff my tail down my jeans) but there was nothing.

Oh man, I can't go into Central like this!

"Why are you so worried about your ears? They're completely natural, you've got nothing to panic about." Logan said.

"Not to the other humans outside; they'll think I'm some kind of experiment or feral beast." I said, looking around and finally finding something that could work to hide my ears.

"You were an experiment, Celly, why are you so worried about it?" Logan asked.

I put the cow-boy hat with a chin-string on my head and saw it covered my ears, "I don't want to catch too much attention and let's be honest here; someone walking around with what most people will think are 'dog ears' is gonna attract a lot of attention. It's bad enough that I'll be walking around without any shoes on."

"I guess. You humans are so weird." He told me.

"Whatever, Logan. Whatever." I thought back as I crawled back out the opening from the night before.

So, with no shoes on my feet and a hat on my head with my tail between my legs, I walked into the busy Central streets, looking for somewhere to find shoes at while avoiding getting my toes stepped on or too many stares directed my way. And not a single thing on that list was easy, just to let you know!

"Hey, did you hear about that Tucker guy?"

I flinched and listened in, worry curling up in my stomach.

"Oh, you mean the Sowing Life Alchemist? I heard that the day before yesterday he turned his own daughter into a Chimera and got court-marshaled for it. It was supposed to be kept a big military secret, but my sister was there and she said she saw the whole thing. It scared her so much, she really needed to talk to someone about it; poor dear choose me."

"Amy, don't be a bitch."

"But it's all true and she told me herself I could tell anyone I liked because no one would believe me."

I have to find out more.

"That's a bad idea, Celina." Logan hissed.

"Shut up, Logan." I growled back.

"Excuse me," I called, looking up at the woman who were towering above me.

"Oh, what is it honey," the brunette haired woman who knew about Tucker knelt down, "are you hungry, or lost?"

I shook my head, "My best friend Celina Tucker didn't come to school yesterday and I got really worried because Daddy told me I'm never going to see her again. I'm really sorry for eaves-dropping, but I heard you were talking about Celina's Daddy, Mr. Tucker the Sowing Life Alchemist." I made fake and childish tears appear in my eyes, "Is it true?"

The brunette looked between her red-haired and blonde friends, but neither of them offered her any support. The brunette sighed and met my eyes, "I'm afraid it's true, sweetie-pie."

"What happened to the Chimera?" I asked, "What happened to Celina-chan?"

The brunette looked down, "I don't know, kid. My sister told me it escaped and hasn't been seen since last night. Some of the military officers think it's dead, others believe it's run away out of Central or is still alive and hiding somewhere."

I felt guilt coaling in my gut and started sniffling for real this time.

Hastily, the brunette had her hand on my shoulder, "Hey, it's okay sweet-pie, I'm sure your friend is fine somewhere."

"Yeah," the blonde said, sarcastically, "she's just playing a big game of hide and seek and waiting for you or the damned military to find her."

"Amber." The red-head scolded and then smiled at me, "Excuse her, she's a no fun pessimist. I'm June, by the way. These are my friends, Amber and Amy."

I smiled at them and whipped at my eyes, "I'm Shoko. Shoko Motomiya."

"It's very nice to meet you, Shoko." Amy smiled, then looked down and frowned slightly, "Where are your shoes, though?"

"Oh I umm…" I forced a blush, "it's a really long and embarrassing story."

"We got time." Amber huffed.

"And we'll use that time to get you a new pair of shoes and socks." June declared.

Amber made a sound of shock, but before she could protest, Amy cut in, "I agree completely."

"You guys don't have to do that for me!" I yelled instantly, waving my arms around, "I'll just go home and get another pair."

"Nonsense, kid." June smiled, "There aren't any houses in this area and there's no way I'm letting such an adorable kid walk around without any shoes on. What if you get a booboo on your foot?"

I internally scowled, but externally blushed, "Ar-are you sure about that? You guys really don't have to do it."

"We absolutely do!" Amy added, "We wouldn't ever be able to look at ourselves in the mirror again if we didn't take good care of you now and that would make it very hard to put make up on."

I made tears appear in my eyes again, "Oh thank you so much, you're too kind!"

Amber scoffed, "Whatever. You're bound to be better company then Mustang anyway."

I felt my interest perk at that, "Mustang? Who's he, Amber-onii-chan?"

Amy and June squealed at that while Amber just blushed, "No one, just some bastard player! Now come on, already!" she grabbed my hand and started tugging me along, "Let's get you your stupid shoes."

I giggled and latched onto her hand, "Okay, Amber-onii-chan!"

Amy and June squealed again, "SO CUTE!"

"So annoying." Logan grumbled in my head, "Are you actually going to mooch off these people like some stupid scavenger?"

"It beats being starving and shoe-less." I grumbled back to him, my mask and cuteness not being effected by my negative mood.