Edward entered the HTH training hall. The heat in the big room had been turned off, so it was deathly cold and quiet. He walked in to the middle of the room and looked around. He heard a sound behind him and didn't flinch. "What do you want now, Envy?"

"Aw, how'd you know it was me?"

"Shut up and get to the point."

"I want Cynthia." Envy declared. "She's strong and smart, and hot, and I want her. SO I need YOU to dig up some dirt on her!"

"Me?" Edward turned on his heel. "Do it yourself. I won't do it."

"Yes you will!" Envy popped up next to him and popped the casing on his arm. "Or I'll expose your little secret to the school."

Edward glared at him.

"Choose any method you want." Envy said airily. "Force, begging…" He smirked slyly. "…Seduction."

"Pervert."

"No name calling! That's cheat!"

"Listen, can't this just wait?" Edward crossed his arms. "Cynthia found this pig today, and it's actually pretty intelligent, so I'm going to help her take care of it, okay? Once she sets it free I'll do your bidding…" Edward stalked off before Envy could refuse this statement.

"An intelligent black pig, hm…" Envy muttered as he went back to his dorm. He remembered something from a certain book about the legends of China.

"… And that's what happened." Ryouga finished. He was dressed and Cynthia was still red in the cheeks. "And I fell in love with a girl named Akane but she's Ranma fiancé so I'm set on killing Ranma but he's WAY to good but I won't admit defeat so I came here to get better at martial arts."

"Maybe you should just give up on this girl and pursue someone else." Cynthia said, obviously bored. She was on Edward's bed, lying on her back, her hair falling over the edge. Ryouga was in the chair at the desk Alphonse usually sits at. "I mean come on, she's engaged."

"No!" Ryouga leapt up. "I shall not give up on my true love!"

"Man you're weird."

Edward pushed open the door, nearly stubbing his toe on Cynthia's halberd. "Cynthia, move your crap…" He blinked and stared at Ryouga.

Ryouga stared at him.

Edward pointed and said, "Who?"

"His name is Ryouga Hibiki." Cynthia replied. "He's the cute black pig."

Ryouga blushed.

"He ain't that cute anymore, is he?" Edward smirked.

"You're so rude, Ed. What did Envy want?"

Edward flinched. Did she follow him? Of course not… "Envy? What makes you think I was leaving to see Envy?" He jumped up next to Cynthia on his bed. Cynthia snatched the letter from his pocket. "This, duh."

Edward snatched it back. "It wasn't Envy. It was someone else."

"Oh yeah?" Cynthia snickered. "Who?"

"None of your business." He glared at Ryouga. "So you're that pig. How did you turn back?"

Ryouga and Cynthia averted their eyes from each other. Ryouga rubbed the back of his head. "Don't ask."

Edward relaxed against the wall. "Whatever." He looked out a window, then averted his eyes. Envy was sitting in a snow-covered tree, sliding a hand across his neck and mouthing, "Get that dirt or else!"

"Ryouga, why don't you go enroll with Lalaurana?" Edward suggested, shifting to hide the window from Cynthia's view.

Ryouga nodded. "Right." He stood up and grabbed his pack and umbrella. "I'll see you around school, I guess." He looked at Cynthia and bowed, blushing slightly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Just go hurry up to the main office!" Cynthia waved as he went out and sat up on Edward's bunk. "I'm so bored…"

"And alone we are, again. What time is it?"

Cynthia turned her gaze to the clock. "Nine thirty. Why?"

"Just wondering." Edward looked out the window again. "Listen. I want you to duck under the window for a second."

"Um…" Cynthia flipped off the bed and ducked. "Why?"

Edward ducked too. "Envy is blackmailing me. He wants me to get dirt on you, so he can blackmail you into being his girlfriend, or something. He 'wants' you, as one of his 'friends.'"

"That's just…"

Cynthia peeked over the window. Envy was gone.

"…SICK!"

"Yeah. I know. Is Envy gone?"

"Yeah, why else would I have screamed?"

Edward looked down at the ground from the window. Envy had actually fallen out of the tree. "Stand up, so Envy can see us…"

He popped the casing on his arm and stood. Cynthia did the same, except the part with the casing. And so Edward began to explain exactly how Envy was blackmailing him and what was going on Cynthia nodded at the appropriate times.

Envy watched this. So Ed was telling Cynthia what was going on, then begging for her help? He would have done it a different way. Probably seduction because, well, he was Envy. And Cynthia was hot. But back on topic.

He watched Edward and Cynthia converse for several minutes, almost falling asleep. But then he saw Cynthia lifted her eyes to Edward's face and hug him. Edward hugged her back.

Aw, how sweet. Envy thought sarcastically. Cynthia is going to try to help Edward…

In truth, it was anything but that. Cynthia surprised Ed with that hug, making him blush and timidly return the hug. Time seemed to freeze to Cynthia. Her eyes were hand closed, and her face was buried in his shoulder. She felt small in his arms, even though they were the same size. Despite his metal arm, she felt warm, and safe. Cynthia liked the smell of his skin through his uniform.

"What's wrong?"

The words cut though the silence like a knife. Cynthia could hear his words very clearly from so close.

"Nothing." Compared to his, Cynthia heard her voice to be small and high-pitched. "I just feel…"

"What?"

"… I don't know. Small, afraid." She noticed something from the corner of her eye; Envy, climbing down the tree.

"Envy's gone, you know."

"Yeah…"

Cynthia let go and looked at the floor. "I'm…"

"It's OK, really…"

Cynthia swayed slightly. She closed her eyes and felt pressure in her head, as if she were trying to remember something…

"What are we doing here?"

Rini looked at the school, pulling her jacket closer. It was cold, but surely it was warm inside?

Amy looked up from her blinking mini computer. "I need to study the form of martial arts."

Lita flexed her fingers. "I want to enroll for a little while!"

Raye sighed. "I want to practice archery here."

Mina grinned. "I want to meet hot karate guys!"

Serena glared at Luna on her shoulder. "I have no reason to come here."

Luna opened one eye. "This is very important, Serena! I sense strange power here, power worthy of a sailor scout."

"So why didn't you bring Setsuna, Michiru or Haruka?"

"Because. Lita, please lead on into the office. There should be signs on the walls."

All of them stood in a line, looking at the same sign. The sign was written in many forms of Chinese and English, but…

"It's not in Japanese." Lita said after a while.

Inuyasha happened to be walking by at the time. He looked over. "Are you lost?"

"Yes!" Amy smiled. "Can you help us? You need a Japanese translation, you know."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We have to get to that…" He pressed the button in the intercom.

"Lalaurana." Lalaurana's voice said.

"Hey, La, it's Inuyasha." He replied. "We have some kids down here that need to find the office. Could you send someone to get them?"

"Sure, sure. I'll buzz for Cynthia, wait a sec…"

The speaker clicked off. "Cynthia will come and get you soon. I'd give you a tour myself, but I'm busy. Cynthia is new and needs to work on directions anyway."

"Wait!" Lita caught him by the shoulder. "Lalaurana? Isn't she founder of this school?"

"Yeah."

"And wasn't the school founded a hundred years ago?"

"Yes. This current Lalaurana is the original's granddaughter. And her daughter-in-law is Cynthia."

"I see…"

"Cynthia?"

Lalaurana's voice crackled over the speakers. Cynthia looked up. "Sensei Lalaurana?"

"We have some girls on the first floor. Could you please take them to the front office?"

"Of course, Sensei. We'll be there soon…"

The speaker clicked off. "Come on, Ed. Let's go."

She grabbed her halberd, just in case.

"Hello?"

The girls turned their heads, only for their eyes to fall on a girl with a six-foot halberd. Cynthia smiled. "You must be the girls Lalaurana said. I'm Cynthia…" She cocked her head towards a blonde-haired boy next to her. "This is Edward."

However, their eyes were still fixed on her halberd. It was Amy who finally broke the silence. "Of course!" She smiled. "I'm Amy, and this is Lita, Mina, Raye, Serena and Rini. We're here on strict business."

Cynthia nodded. "Sure. Come with me."

Minutes later Cynthia led them all into the main office. She set down her halberd and went to the front desk, telling the receptionist that the girls were here to see Lalaurana. When she turned around, Lita was trying to lift her halberd.

"God, what does this weight, like, a ton?" Lita asked, grunting and dropping it.

"Yes, exactly. Inuyasha says it weights 2,582 pounds."

Amy smiled and shook her head.

Lalaurana, fiery hair and all, skipped out from her office. "Hello, hello, hello, hello!" She said optimistically. "You must be the girls that called earlier!"

She pointed at each. "You want to enroll for your stay, you want to study the statistics, you want to practice archery, you two have no reason for coming, and you want to meet hot karate guys."

Lalaurana pulled Mina aside for a second. "If you want my opinion, go for Edward, or Envy!"

"Right."

Lalaurana punched in Envy's room number.

"Hello?"

"Wrath?"

"Sensei Lalaurana!"

"Is Envy in? Don't tell me he's wandering campus at this hour!"

"No, he's in."

"Tell him to come to the office, please."

Minutes later Envy looked around the door. "Yes, Sensei?" He emerged fully into the office, his palm-tree hair as springy as always.

Mina's heart leapt from her chest. "Lalaurana, he is hot!"

"He's not so special." Cynthia was looking at her nails, wondering if Lust had any good nail polish. She may be mean, but she was stylish.

Envy just stared at Mina. Mina looked a lot like Cynthia, but with a different shade of hair. But Mina looked wimpy.

"NOT SO SPECIAL!" Envy grabbed her hand and spun her out, then pulling her back into a dip. "TELL ME that wasn't special!"

Cynthia stared at him blankly. "I can say it in two languages. That was not special, futsu wasu notsu supeshiaru."

"HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THAT FACE?" Mina protested, lifting a finger to make her point.

"Once you get around his looks, it's pretty easy."

"Envy! Please show these girls to two empty dorm rooms. Take Edward and bring their luggage." Lalaurana ordered.

"Yes, sensei!" He gently swung Cynthia around, where Edward caught her.

"I'll come too." Cynthia said, glancing uneasily at Edward.

"It's so sweet that you want to come with me!" Envy grinned, kicking Edward aside.

"I just want to make sure you don't make Ed do anything stupid!" She hissed.

"What was that?" Amy asked, looking at her from the doorway.

"Uhh… NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! Hahaha!" Cynthia rubbed the back of her head. "Envy, Ed, let's go help the girls get their luggage!"