The Role of Bodyguard

"So you're the Elric brothers, huh?"

Edward quirked an eyebrow as the tall redhead looked the siblings up and down. Getting irritated at the man's suspicion, he decided to mimic the older man- earning himself a discreet elbow in the side from his little brother.

Haruhi's father had met the two siblings at the door, blocking their path to the interior of the apartment in favor of sizing up the blondes. Some of the other residents were equally interested, peeking out the windows or watching from their balconies as the duo were led to the door, curious if these were more of their neighbor's rich handsome boys from her prestigious school. Haruhi, more than a little used to the behaviour had disappeared into the apartment shortly after their arrival.

The tough scrutinizing performed by the older man began to irritate Ed, the redhead clearly radiated uncertainty- not that either Elric would make their client aware of that fact, afterall, Ed was no longer the 12 year old with impulse control problems, and Alphonse was more than used to not making a scene. "I'm Ranka," The older man finally said as he smiled, though the suspicion was still clearly read. "Haruhi's father."

Edward nodded, giving the man a firm handshake, "Ed Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist. This is my brother, Alphonse."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Al said with a bow.

"Likewise! I must say, it's truly an honor to have a state alchemist staying with us," He moved aside to let the boys pass, but not before looking them both directly in the eyes. He held out his hand and pointed to a corner of the room just beyond the door, "You can set your bags in that corner until we get things settled after dinner."

Taking a look around the small apartment, which consisted of a decent sized living room with a handful of doors leading to what was assumed to be other rooms, it was pretty obvious this wasn't a large apartment despite the decent amount of space. The two conjoining rooms were likely bedrooms, and the room they were currently in seemed to house the kitchen as well, though it wasn't a stretch to assume the room also doubled as the living and dining room. Many apartments the brothers had shared were similarly short on space or only consisted of the kitchen and restroom.

Setting his bags down where he was directed to, Ed turned to Ranka, "Are you sure you don't want us staying next door or something? Apartments kinda small…" earning himself not only a frown, but a much harder elbow to the ribs, "Ow!" He whisper shouted, sending Al a dirty look and a few choice words.

Ranka seemed to pay no attention to the scuffle as he walked across the room and stood near the sliding doors directly opposite the entryway. "Nonsense! It's much safer for Haruhi if you're in the same apartment. Just don't try anything! I expect things to stay professional!"

"Stay...professional..?" At this, the golden haired boy was thoroughly confused. He was never not profe-...okay he was never usually professional in any sense of the word. Even when he was on his best behaviour things were usually too urgent to follow protocol-though that didn't mean he couldn't be! Of course how would a total stranger know that? It's not like Mustang spoke to the client directly or anything…or he shouldn't have anyway...

Thanks to all the comments and murmurs from the Host Club's customers earlier that evening it didn't take long before another thought popped into the alchemist's head. His eyes widening as things clicked, causing an immediate shift in his demeanor as he scrunched his face up into a nasty scowl, "Hey-wait a minute, who do you take us for?! I have a fiance I'll have you know!"

Al's head whipped to his left to look his brother in the eye, "You what! Brother when did this happen? And why didn't you say anything?! When did you ask her? It is Winry, right?"

Accusation momentarily forgotten, Ed rolled his eyes at his brother's whining, "Of course it's Winry, Al! Who else would it be!? And I thought I did tell you!"

Al looked momentarily conflicted which was quickly replaced with a scowl of his own. Before he could berate or question his brother, however, their host cleared his throat, a small smile gracing his face as both brothers turned to look at him, "As reassuring as that is," Ranka began, turning to Alphonse, "That goes for the both of you."

"Uh, you don't need to worry about me, sir. I'm always professional." Giving his brother a pointed look to let him know that this conversation was not over and he owed him details! Ed frowned, but once again their host spoke up before anything could be communicated between the brothers.

"Right! Well, this is a two-bedroom apartment so i'll have to ask you boys to stay in this room," Ranka motioned the brothers to follow as he opened the doors he'd previously been standing in front of, "We can move the table out of the way later, the other room has a draft. Hope you don't mind the floor!"

Edward shrugged, glancing around the new room and spotting the large television in the corner. "Not at all, beats a bench."

"Besides, we brought enough clothing for sleeping bags." Alphonse said with a smile.

"...you're going to sleep on your clothes? We have blankets you can use! Oh, don't tell me you're like Haruhi's other friends."

"What?" Ed asked, ignoring the comment on Haruhi's friends and whatever implied insult was hidden in there, "Ooh. No, we're alchemists, we can alchemically alter the fabric of the clothes we brought into sleeping bags and fix them when we need them. Not the prettiest thing, but it works."

"Nonsense! You don't need to do that, you're guests! More than that you're guards, here to keep my little Haruhi safe! Whatever we can provide you with, we will!"

Alphonse threw his arms up with a smile, "We wouldn't want to inconvenience you, Mr. Ranka."

"Nonsense! It's no trouble at all. I just want my little girl safe, it's a fair trade in my eyes!"

Ed snorted, Equivalent Exchange, huh? Must be a foreign concept only to the rich…Suddenly exactly which friends Ranka had been referring to made sense, and the elder brother shrugged, "Alright, if you're sure."

They chattered and discussed the protection orders until dinner time, Haruhi having finished her homework, made a stew pot for the night while the boys chattered. Ranka explaining his job and the hours it entails, the Elrics explaining why they had been chosen for the job.

"I've heard so much about you!" Ranka smiled, more relaxed by this point in the night, "You've made the papers over here, you know!"

The stew spoon stopped halfway to Ed's mouth as he looked to his brother, "Have I really?"

Alphonse returned the astonished look, putting his spoon back in his bowl while his brother resumed eating, "That's surprising, as far as we knew Amestrian politics were still pretty hush-hush."

"Well it's nothing actually political, but some journalist I guess went to get some information about Amestris from Amestris thanks to the treaty being arranged." Haruhi shrugged, leaning back and pulling a newspaper out from beneath the television to hand to her guards. "It's all right here."

Taking the folded paper, Ed unfurled it and was immediately graced with a photo of himself in one of the very few times they'd managed to get him into the mandatory uniform. His brother, still trapped in their father's armor, towering behind him, "Small town military boy, breaks record as youngest to ever join." Ed began, reading aloud so Al could keep up, "Sources say he's a true hero. Embellishment. Saved my life. Blah, blah- Exposed a cult leader that had tried to brainwash us all. Youswell…"

Alphonse snorted and pulled a corner of the paper closer to him, "If there's one soldier you can trust, its that Elric boy!" A grin spread across his face, but Ed couldn't tell if it was because his brother was proud of their achievements or if he was planning on referencing this at some point.

Ranka smiled, "Seems you've got quite the reputation."

Shaking his head, Ed rolled his eyes, "Ya'know it's funny, my picture's printed right here in the paper, but not a single person recognized me- and half the military still gives me grief about stealing my ID."

"Yeah well, it took me a while to realize that I was friends with the principal's son. A lot of the people here are less observant than I-" Haruhi stopped speaking as an audible knock found its way to the dining room, creating a very palpable tension in the air.

The knock sounded again, casual knock, not urgent or rushed, but forceful and meant to be heard. The Elrics looked first to Haruhi who seemed to be holding her breath, and then to Ranka who caught their eyes and ever so slightly shook his head, "We weren't- we weren't expecting any company."

At this, Ed nodded and quietly grabbed a large vegetable knife from the table as Al tapped Haruhi's shoulder to grab her attention, "Shhhh….I want you to try and calm down, steady your voice and ask who it is, okay? Just loud enough for them to hear you. We'll take care of the rest." At Haruhi's non-response, Al tried a little harder. Looking to his brother briefly who was peeking through the sliding door to scout out the entry room. Returning his attention to the frightened girl next to him, Alphonse put a comforting hand on her shoulder and flashed a gentle smile, "Haruhi. What if it's a classmate? We don't want to get worked up over nothing, right?"

As sense started to seep in, Haruhi's looked up at Al, her breathing steadying ever so slightly. The Elrics, both having been keeping an eye on her since the first knock had sounded, could tell that even though she was clearly shaken over this whole thing, she was much better at hiding it than her father or her friends. The fact that she immediately jumped to the conclusion that there could be an enemy at the door meant this was probably weighing on her mind all day, not that either brother had any sort of inkling that she had been so worried.

As Alphonse prepared to say something else, Haruhi gave a stiff nod and cleared her throat. "Who," She croaked, throat dry. Taking a sip of water she tried again. "Who is it?"

The call was loud enough, but it was returned by silence...and then another knock, this one more frantic.

The Elrics shared a look, and both deciding that they would wait no longer, took action. Slinking out into the other room, Ed brandished the large knife, cutting the lights as he reached the switch and keeping along the walls and out of sight of the windows. Alphonse on the otherhand, turned the lights off in the dining room and shut the door behind his brother, kneeling by the door and silently pulling everything off the table in order to use it as a barrier.

Now that the lights were completely out in the apartment, Edward could visibly see a few silhouettes through the curtains, one of which that seemed to be trying to see inside. Quickly cutting to the front door, he could hear muffled voices, whatever they were talking about they were keeping their voices low and Ed prepared himself for a fight. He couldn't help the brief thought that crossed his mind about how much easier it would be were he able to alchemize them all through the cement, but at least he was well versed in ambushes at this point. Settling himself between the doorknob and counter, he stealthily unlocked the door and waited on the balls of his feet, ready to pounce.

The voices seemed to be getting agitated, but not angry. Soon enough they stopped completely, and the unluckiest of the group knocked again.

The uninvited guest only managed to knock once.

Ed heard the first rap on the door and quickly flew into action, throwing the door open and grabbing the still outstretched arm, bending it backwards quickly and forcefully- earning a loud cry muffled by the sound of his blood pumping past his eardrums. In the same fluid moment, he swept the legs out from two of the closest figures and slammed the first man into the railing, keeping hold of the still twisted wrist, and holding the vegetable knife outstretched at the two left standing, ready to push the first person over the rails and take out the last two.

And that was the point he realized there were actually three people remaining standing. And that these three were eerily familiar.

The stillness was thick, nobody dared move, and the only sound was the coughing done by the light blonde who'd been slammed chest first into the metal handrail opposite the door.

Ed sighed, lowering the knife and momentarily stashing the knife through one of the belt loops in his pants as he hauled Tamaki back to his feet, all but throwing him through the doorway before steeping back and glancing at the rest of the group, "Well? Get in."

"A-are you sure..?" Honey whimpered quietly, though his body language betrays his whine, clearly wary after that very quick display of force.

Edward scowls, keeping his eyes on their surroundings and watching the alleyways visible from the balcony. "Did I stutter? Get in the apartment before an actual threat shows up. Every second this door is open is a chance someone can take at your friend's life."

At that, the host club wasted no time piling in the front door, the twins stumbling over one another as they scrambled to their feet.

Taking one last glance around the terrace, Ed shut the door quietly, locking it behind him and shouted, "Coast is clear, Al! You can turn on the lights!"

"Who was it?" Al shouted from the other room as the lights in the dining room turned on.

"The idiot club, who else?" Ed shouted, carefully maneuvering his way through the small area dimly illuminated through the sliding door. "I think I may have broken something on Tamaki, slammed him pretty hard into the railing."

"Ed!" Al scolded from the other room, the sounds of the table being righted permeating the thin door, Ed could almost see the frown on his brother's face, "Be nice, what would Winry say?"

Flipping the switch to the living room overhead lamp, Edward scoffed, "That the idiot brigade sounds better."

Sliding the door open, Al rolled his eyes and walked over to Tamaki to asses his injuries. Haruhi close behind, "What are you guys doing here?"

Tamaki swallowed nervously as Alphonse rubbed a hand across his chest, feeling and pushing each rib individually before moving onto the limp and very red right arm, "We-" Tamaki winced, "We wanted to come check up on you, we were worried."

Haruhi had wanted to berate her senpai for just barging in again, but one look at his arm and she figured he learned his lesson this time. "You should've called, you know."

Al smiled up at the brunette, "I'm sure he realizes that now." Gently setting Tamaki's arm at his side, Al turned to the doorway and shouted to his brother, "Ed! Nothing's broken, but you did dislocate his arm! You're gonna have to hold him down so I can put it back into place!"

The apartment was silent before a loud groan made it's way from the table, "Aaaaaal! I just sat down, can't it wait til after dinner?"

Alphonse frowned and made sure his frown was heard with a sharp "Brother!"

"Fine!" A quiet rustling was heard before Ed finally made his way back into the living room. Handing Al a dish cloth he frowned, "You know if my food is cold it's your fault."
"Oh shut it, I'll warm it up for you, you baby."
The other hosts were quiet as they watched the brothers work, gently laying Tamaki down, Al explaining what the dishcloth was for before placing it in his mouth, and Edward grabbing both shoulders firmly but not with unnecessary force. Both brothers took up quietly bickering as they prepared to fix the injured boy's arm, "I can't believe you dislocated his arm." Al began lightheartedly. Afterall, he couldn't actually berate his brother for doing his job. And a good job at that. Were these actual intruders they'd have been at best- in too much pain to fight back, and at worst- crippled enough to give the elder Elric a slight advantage.

Ed shook his head with a slight grin knowing exactly what his brother was doing, "Hey, be lucky it wasn't broken. I thought I broke it."

"You almost did."

"With good reason!"

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't."

"Oh, like you wouldn't have."

"I would've transmuted him to the concrete."

"Well if that were an option I would've transmuted them through the concrete."

"Well why didn't you?"

"I didn't because I didn't! It's a good thing I didn't too or they'd all be hurt."

"Knowing you, they wouldn't just be hurt."

"And what are you implying?"

"Ambulances. Many ambulances."

"And yet you complain about a not-broken bone."

Snap! A muffled scream was heard as the elbow joint was snapped into place, the conversation distracting everyone from what they were about to do. When it was clear Tamaki could move his arm alright, despite it being sore, Ed helped him to the dining room and poured him a bowl of stew.

"Sorry about your arm, there was no way of knowing who was at the door." Ed began once the guests were settled around the table. Ranka had grabbed more bowls and spoons from the living room-kitchen (Haruhi was not going that close to the door if he had anything to say about it!) and the host club began serving themselves what was left of the stew. "It was safer to just assume you were a threat and act accordingly than assume you weren't and potentially get ambushed."

Before Tamaki or any of the hosts could respond, Ranka clapped his hands together and all but squealed, "Oh that was excellent, Edward! You really are worthy of your reputation! Alphonse, why'd you cut the lights?"

"Well it's darker outside than inside, so if anyone was going to peek through the window they could see everything with the lights on, including Ed sneaking up to the door."

Edward took a long slurp of his (alchemically warmed- thanks Al) stew as his little brother explained, setting the near empty bowl down, "Speaking of work; Haruhi- we still have to take your statement."

Lowering her spoon back to her soup bowl, Haruhi blinked, "I thought I already gave one to the police."

Ed shook his head, "Police statements are useless, they're supposed to write every single word, but they never do- so sometimes important information is left out."

"It's also much better to hear an account directly from the witness because they can give details subconsciously that they might not actually remember." Al continued with a smile, that turned into a savage grin as he looked to his brother, "Plus the chief of police is having a hard time taking Edward seriously 'cause of his age."

Ed choked on the last chunk of meat from his meal, coughing violently and grabbing for his glass of water, as his brother's grin widened and he continued, "He thinks Ed's a fake." As Ed finally swallowed the offending piece of meat and glared at his brother, Al burst out laughing.

"It's not funny, Al!"

"You're right, it's hilarious!"

"Considering how often this happens you think you'd have gotten it out of your system! Honestly, if it wasn't for this stupid treaty I'd have given him a reason to think I'm who I said I was!"

Al chuckled, despite knowing he should probably cut this tirade off before it gets worse, "Brother, behave."

"You saw how he was treating me! He's lucky I didn't break his jaw- I certainly wanted to with the crap he was insinuating."

"You could've called Mustang, he would've set things straight."

"And be indebted to him? No thanks, at least with this mission he owes me a favor and I don't intend to give that up just to convince some idiot that clearly can't do his job right."

"What do you mean, can't do his job right?" Ranka asked, "You're talking about the chief of police, yes?"

"Yeah, and we wouldn't have been called in if he was competent." Ignoring Al's -now, not amused- outburst of brother(!), Ed continued. "He hasn't given us any useful information which is making things more difficult for us. We don't even know the state of the first victim's body from the information we were given, so I highly doubt this was the work of an alchemist which is the whole reason we're even here." Edward sighed, "It honestly sounds like you've just got some sicko running around that the police don't want to deal with, but who knows? They won't give us any actual info."

Al sighed, "They suspect it's an alchemist or we wouldn't be here."

"Yeah, and there's plenty of evidence everywhere when an alchemist's involved, why is basic evidence classified to the people brought in to find the bastard?" Al snickered as he took a sip of his water, but his brother still caught the laugh and scowled, "Goddamnit Al, I told you it's not funny!"

Al put his hands up in surrender "I know I know."

"What if this guy is an alchemist, you know as well as I do this tiny apartment won't stand a chance."

The smile finally left Alphonse's face, "If he is an alchemist, this whole building likely wouldn't stand a chance."

Any questions that the group may have had for the Elrics died at that statement. The apartment went quiet and both brothers realized they'd gotten a little too caught up in the moment to register they'd just let information slip that they hadn't actually meant to.

The quietness only lasted a minute but it felt like much longer.

Ranka put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, before finally breaking the silence, "Are they that dangerous?"

Quietly berating himself for having to answer the question to begin with, Edward frowned, what the hell- may as well give them the rest... "Amestris kept its borders closed since its founding for a reason. We were constantly at war because our government was corrupt." He shrugged, "A single skilled alchemist can take out an army." Ed paused, taking a slice of a cake that had found its way to the table since the host club arrived and taking a bite of it, talking as he chewed which earned a frown from Al, "I...met..? some State Alchemists that were responsible for the deaths of thousands during the war of extermination. So...yeah, they can be pretty dangerous, and we don't know this guy's specialty, or any details on him. We're basically going in blind."

Swallowing, he realized everyone in the room was more nervous than before, and his brother was shooting him a nasty look, "Hey, hey, relax," Ed continued, setting his fork down on the small plate with a clink, "That's why we didn't turn this down. If it's just some run of the mill psycho he won't stand a chance, and if it's an alchemist- well, he still won't stand a chance. We're the best our country can offer."

Another pause ensued as the group digested what they were just told, Tamaki having zeroed in on something in Ed's explanation that sounded eerily like what the twins had insinuated earlier that night, "Are...you're not...one of those state alchemists...are you?"

Ed, having returned to the cake, looked up at his cousin, "Hm? Uh, yeah, I'm a state alchemist, thats the whole reason we're he-"

Al sighed loudly, effectively cutting the elder Elric off, "Brother that's not what he meant. And no. Brother and I have never killed anyone."

A look of comprehension dawned on Ed's face, "Oh. Yeah, we plan to keep it that way too."

The silence stretched on, though the group seemed to relax a little bit. The calmest in the room seemed to be Ranka-reassured his little girl was actually in good hands, despite the startling information about who may be after his daughter- followed by Mori, Honey, Kyoya and finally Haruhi. Tamaki and the twins seemed thoroughly shaken and none were really making an attempt to hide it.

Al spoke up when he realized the silence was just going to continue to stretch as he poured what was left of his stew onto Ed's plate, the little bit of broth mixing with the cake's frosting, but knowing full well Ed would eat it regardless. "And the bad people are out of power now, we're making reparations to make it up to the marginalized groups that were targeted under the previous rule. So you don't have to worry about us being part of that whole fiasco." Ed snorted, but true to form, practically inhaled the few bites of meat and vegetables on his cake-plate.

Turning his attention to Haruhi, Al thought this was a good point to put the conversation back on track, "Sooo...yeah, we'll have to take a statement at some point tonight or tomorrow because your police chief doesn't want to leave things in the hands of children."

"I'M 19!" Ed roared, slamming his fists on the table- luckily having swallowed before his outburst, "There's no reason for him to withhold information like that except to be a dick! I have proper Identification!"

"For once", Ed scowled at his brother, but Al continued, "Yaknow brother, if you actually showed up in uniform, people would take you more seriously."

"Yeah, and blow the element of surprise? I don't think so." Pushing his now empty plate toward his brother, he continued, "It's stupid and ugly and if I didn't have to wear it when I was in the military I sure as hell ain't wearing it now!"

"Was?" For the first time since their arrival Kyoya had spoken up, his glasses glinting in the light and effectively cutting off the conversation.

Ed and Al both looked to the club's manager in confusion, speaking in tandem "What?"

"You said was in the military. Odd manner of phrasing, if you ask me." Taking the opportunity, Kyoya pulled out his notepad and scribbled something down in it.

Al shot his brother a look, to which his brother thought for a moment before meeting Al's eye and shrugging, "Yeah, whatever, guess it really doesn't matter if they know or not. Technically, I'm retired, and Al's never been with the military."

It was Haruhi who asked the next question, "If you're retired, why are you here?" Asked by anyone else the question likely would have been an accusation, however, Haruhi seemed genuinely curious, so Alphonse decided to keep the explanations rolling.

"That actually has a bit to do with our cousin." He began, smiling at Tamaki, "Brother and I had just gotten back from separate research trips a few months ago, so the timing was good. But Tamaki's dad recognized our last name and wanted to meet us so the fuhrer put in extra effort to contact us specifically."

Ed shrugged, "Which would've happened anyway, just going by the file we were given."

Al nodded, "So basically because we were the best suited, it's more of a favor than an order."

"Like that matters, Al. They knew we wouldn't turn it down the second they called us."

Ranka shot a look to both brothers, "And why is that?"

"Well, what would you do in our situation?" Ed asked returning Ranka's expression, before looking across the table, "There's too many wildcards floating around to leave Haruhi without protection just to find someone else qualified enough. This could be either a really dangerous situation, or it could be nothing, there's no evidence the suspect is even looking for her."

Alphonse continued, looking Ranka in the eye, "Wouldn't you rather err on the side of caution than find out later that you could've done something to prevent a disaster?"

At that, the father nearly had to stop himself from crying. They didn't need to be here, as dangerous as this could be. They were here just in case, as a precaution, voluntarily and from what it sounds like with little evidence Haruhi was even in danger. A tear or two trailed their way down his cheeks, "I have to thank you, I'm so grateful- you don't have to be here, what you're doing for us, for my little girl-"

Ed cut him off, raising a hand with a shake of his head, "Don't sweat it old man, it's what we do."

ANs

Please let me know how I'm doing! I have more motivation to write the more reviews I get!

Also to the three people who've reviewed so far, I'm super glad you guys like my story thus far! Thank you very much for reviewing!

Also also sorry if these titles are butt. My b.