A/N: Chapter two! It'll get more interesting now considering I don't think I'll be able to stretch the storyline too much this time! w00t!

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Ed blinked, "Eh? Really? What did you find?"

"Not what. Who. Take a look," Paninya grabbed Yoh in a playful headlock, "It's Hao's brother Yoh. The one he told us about."

"WHAAAT? No way!"

"Yup, too bad. Looks like you can't write your name on this one!" she teased, "I'll take him back and get all the credit!"

"Wait," Yoh struggled against her grasp and she let him go, "Take me back? You don't mean..."

"Well to see Hao, of course," she put one hand on her hip, the other holding up the bag still, "He misses you alot, can't blame him. Don't you want to see him too?"

"Well yes, but no," he took a step back, "No, I can't go. I can't see him. I'm not allowed!"

"You've gotta be kidding, man," Horo said, "After all that you said and this just perfect never-in-a-million-years opportunity comes along and you still say 'No, I'm not allowed'? What's the matter with you!"

"But you don't understand!" Yoh cried desperately, "The punishment for seeing him is-"

"OI! What the hell are you doing?" A second blonde kid drops in on them, "We gotta get out of here!"

"Damn, he's right!" Ed took Paninya's bag from her, "I'll take this, you get that."

"Right," in one quick motion, the dark-skinned girl picked Yoh off of the ground and tossed him effortlessly over her shoulder, "I don't care what your excuse is, I'm not letting you get away just yet."

As the three newcomers took off running with Yoh now their hostage, what else for Manta, Ren, and Horo to do but chase after them?

"Wait for us!"

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They arrived at Hao's in no time, since the mysterious three seemed in a hurry to get away from...something.

"If you ask me, they're acting like criminals," Ren said to no one in particular as they were going along, "It's very suspicious. What exactly is in that bag?"

The others shrugged it off. They figured they'd find out eventually, and at the moment it wasn't important.

They snuck inside and locked the door behind them, Paninya grinning from ear to ear, "I can't wait to see his face!"

"This is bad..." Yoh protested weakly.

"What's bad?" came a feminine voice, "And who are you?"

"Oh, Winry," Edward said surprised, then smirked, "It's Paninya's 'present', as she likes to call it," he put his hands up in an I-have-no-idea gesture, "Uh, where is Hao, anyway?"

"Mn, upstairs," she answered, fishing around in her pants pockets for something, "but I don't think he wants to be disturbed right now." She beamed as she found what she'd been looking for- a screw.

"Trust me, he'll want to be disturbed for this."

"Well, do what you want, little bro. I'm going back to work."

Ed gave her a funny look, "Huh? I'm not younger than you."

Smirk, "That wasn't a reference to your age."

His eyes slowly widened as he realized what she meant, "HEY!"

Ignoring the two's conversation- or more like arguement- Paninya dragged Yoh upstairs with inhuman strength and stopped in front of a door, knocking on it politely, "Oh, Hao! I have a present for you!" she called.

When the door was answered, she shoved Yoh into a pair of unsuspecting arms and declared, "Happy Birthday!" before walking off.

The longhaired boy blinked rapidly, "Yoh?"

"It's been a long time...brother."

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"So, how do you know Yoh's brother?" Manta asked Edward, whom were both sitting on a old couch downstairs. The others were there too, all sitting around the living room in whatever chairs they could find.

"Hao? WELL, it's a long story..." Ed said grinning, getting ready to go into story-telling mode, "but I'll tell you! Many years ago, I saved him from a huge, vicious, pack of-"

"Oh, can it, you big liar," Winry said as she walked past him, hitting him in the head with her trademark wrench, "Hao saved your ass from that bear cub. Pansy."

"Oh, THANKS! Damn, you won't ever let me have a moment, will you!"

"Do something note-worthy, Edo, and I'll give you a moment."

"We're just in the same line of work," Paninya interrupted, "We met up that way, and he offered to let us stay since he had a place and we didn't."

"You were homeless?" Horo asked surprised, "All of you?"

"More like we wandered from place to place," replied the other blonde guy, named Russel, "We chose to live that way, no big deal."

"It is a big deal when you don't have a home."

Russel didn't answer. There was an uncomfortable silence for a while after that, until Winry asked, "Uh, you know, why don't I make some tea? Would you like that?"

"Oh, yes, thank you," Manta said. The other two gave a nod.

"Alright, well, then I'll be right back!"

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"I can't believe it," Hao said softly, stepping closer to Yoh who had moved to the opposite end of the room, "I've missed you so much..."

"I know," Yoh whispered, "I have too, but..."

"No buts. Stay here," he approached Yoh from behind and wrapped his arms around him, resting his head on Yoh shoulder, "with me."

"...I can't. God knows I want to, but-"

"Because of Anna?" Hao took a step back.

"Anna knows everything," Yoh sounded afraid, "She'll know I was here and she'll tell..." he put a hand to his face, "And then..." Hao hugged him again and this time Yoh clung to him tightly, allowing himself to cry a little, "Why did this have to happen? Why..."

"It was Anna, wasn't it. That day..." Hao felt Yoh tense in his embrace, "That scream, I can still hear it even to this day. I didn't see her face but I know it was her. She did this to us..."

Yoh was silent, and that was all Hao needed to know, "I'll kill her."

His brother looked at him with fear-stricken dark eyes, "You can't! You can't just kill someone because you dislike them! If you did that, they'll surely-"

"Because I dislike them!" Hao shouted back, "How about someone that ruined our lives, does that count!"

Yoh couldn't answer, and Hao took the time to calm himself, "I'm the 'evil' one, remember? She's going to pay, I'll see to that," and he left the room, the door clicking shut softly behind him. Yoh's legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor, shaking, "...but they'll kill you."

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Roughly an hour went by before Yoh decided to come downstairs, Hao long since retreating to the basement to cool off.

Manta was the first to jump up when he spotted Yoh, "Are you okay, Yoh?"

"Hn? Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go guys," he turned to leave, and the rest followed suit. They all made it out of the house and were walking down the sidewalk when someone said, "Are you sure? You're just going to leave without saying anything to your brother? Who knows when you'll see him again."

Yoh stared ahead of him as he walked, ignoring the question but answering, "Guys...promise me that you won't ever tell them anything about Anna, if they ever asked."

The three exchanged puzzled looks, but agreed nevertheless and continued on their way in silence.

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Hao came up from the basement just as Yoh and the others left. He watched them through the front window, "Edward."

Ed stood, "Yeah?"

"I want you to follow them."

"And find out where this Anna girl is?"

Hao shook his head, "No, he won't go back to wherever she is tonight, he'll be expecting me to have someone follow him."

"Then why are you-"

"I want you to bring back his friends," he interrupted, "They'll have the information I seek. Force will be needed, though. Sneak up on them..."

"...and get them when they least expect it, gotcha." wink.

"Exactly."

Ed took off tailing them, with stealth and expertise that only years of practice brings.

Hao grinned evilly, a shadow passing over his face, "I'll get my hands on Anna yet."

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As the sun started to dip below the horizon, Yoh found it more difficult to carry on. "Oh, man. It's alot longer walk into town than I thought. Hey, uh, I'll be right back, 'k?" His friends nodded okay as Yoh made a beeline for the nearest bathroom.

"Must be all that melon soda."

"Haha, yeah."

'Perfect,' Edward thought, watching the three just standing around, 'They're alone now. This is just too easy.' He crept closer and prepared to strike.

"Do you hear something?" Ren asked suddenly.

"Like what?"

"I don't know," he paused, "Like a rustling sound."

Horo shrugged, "I don't hear anything."

"Maybe it's just-" the boy didn't get to finish the thought as somethingvery hardcame in contact with the side of his head knocking him out cold. The other two didn't have much time to react before they both met the same fate in rapid succession.

Ed hefted their bodies over his shoulder as if they weighed as much as a grain of dirt, and started back where Hao was waiting for him.

"Yep, too easy."

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A/N: I don't actually know if Yoh drinks melon soda, I just read in another fic that like every chapter he was drinking one somewhere so I was playing off that. Heh;;

And I know I could just have Hao's normal lackeys take care of them, but I find this more interesting, don't you? No? Well who asked you… 99;