After the commotion outside, everyone had come inside and tea was prepared at the dining room table. Everyone sat and talked quietly about things that didn't upset Izumi, but Ed managed to quickly get to the point of asking her about the Philosopher's Stone.
"The Philosopher's Stone? No, I don't know much about it." Izumi answered.
"I see." Ed replied, managing to hide his disappointment.
"Didn't we meet an alchemist recently who mentioned it?" Sig asked his wife, and she looked up in thought.
"Did you know his name?!" Ed asked excitedly.
"Hmm..." She thought for a moment. "Ah, that's right. His name was Hohenheim."
"That's a pretty weird name." Manami commented, but noticed that Ed's expression hardened, as gritted his teeth and glared to the floor. She also noticed that Al had his eyes on his older brother as well.
"What is it?" Izumi noticed as well, and spoke up.
"He's alive, then..." Ed growled under his breath.
"You know him?" Izumi further inquired, and Al looked back at her.
"... he's our father."
"?!" Manami blinked in surprise. Their dad, the guy who left when they were kids?
"It's his fault our mom died." Ed hissed. "If it wasn't for him..."
Manami frowned. She understood being upset that their father left, but blaming him for their mother's death? She couldn't agree with that.
Not when she lost her sister to the same plague.
"Um... Mr. Sig, you said that Hohenheim mentioned the Philosopher's Stone," Manami spoke up. "What did he say about it?"
"Something about a lifelong dream." Izumi answered. "He sounded happy talking about it."
She paused, noticing Ed still glaring at the floor. She got up to approach him, quickly smacking him over the head.
"Ow!"
"Wipe that sourpuss face up and get ready for dinner!" Izumi barked before going to walk towards the kitchen.
"Manami, was it? Would you mind giving me a hand?"
Manami nodded, quickly going to get up. "Sure thing!"
She didn't mind helping, but she knew that she was too scared to say no regardless.
They both exited the room, leaving the Elric brothers alone with Sig. Izumi led Manami to a rack on the wall where aprons were hung, and grabbed one to put on.
"Choose any apron, they're all clean."
"Yes ma'am." Manami quickly went to do so, flinching a little as she reached with her right arm to tie the apron behind her back.
"You alright?" Izumi noticed immediately. "Your arm hurt?"
"J-Just a little!" Manami insisted. "Nothing major!"
"Mm," Izumi motioned with her head to beckon Manami to follow her. "Remind me after dinner to take a look. I'm no doctor, but I've been given a bunch of herbs and medications for various remedies. I might have something that could help."
"Th-Thanks..." Manami started to get that there was no point in resisting.
They had a tremendous meal. One good thing about a butcher shop was that there was no shortage of meat.
There was a short moment where Sig questioned if Al was going to eat, but Ed quickly changed the subject.
"Al, tell them about how we helped deliver a baby in Rush Valley..!"
"We didn't do much... but there was a big storm, and we couldn't get the mother to a doctor..." Al started to explain. "But brother and Manami managed to build a bridge that helped the grandfather get a doctor faster. Winry jumped right to action and got everything needed to start helping the mother through the childbirth until the doctor got there! The mother was so brave..."
He hummed happily. "Everyone is blessed when a baby is born, huh?"
Manami smiled a little at that comment, and so did Izumi.
"You're absolutely right." Izumi said. "That same miracle brought us all into this world. Never forget to be thankful for the life given to you."
They smiled back at her and nodded.
After dinner, everyone helped clean up. Izumi had sent Ed and Al into one room, and Manami into her own room across the hall from the brothers. Though, after she put her stuff down, Izumi asked for her to come to her room.
She must have remembered.
"So..." Izumi sat Manami down on a chair by the bed, then walked over to a bunch of jars lined along her dresser and looked them over. "What happened to your arm?"
"..." How was Manami supposed to answer that?
"I, uh..." She thought for a quick moment. "There was a skirmish and someone had a gun..."
She tried to make the fake story sound as mild as possible, but that still earned widened eyes from Izumi.
"I-I happened to be there when the MP's were after him, and I got shot through the shoulder by accident."
"Those morons in the military have no idea what they're doing." Izumi spat, and Manami shrunk a little.
"Hmm..." Izumi selected a few jars to bring over and set on the bedside table next to her. "Let's take a look."
Manami hesitantly went to take off her overcoat. Izumi reached to unwrap the gauze and slowly peel off the bandages.
"You already got some ointment?" She asked, and Manami nodded.
"It's working well." Izumi went to look on both sides of her shoulder. "And that bullet went all the way through..." She sighed, reaching for a cloth to dab some disinfectant on.
"This is gonna sting..."
Manami braced herself for the pain. Izumi gently dabbed the cloth on, but it didn't make it hurt any less. She did her best to bite back the urge to groan.
"The scab on the outside looks fine..." Izumi commented. "It's the tissue on the inside that I'm worried about. Unfortunately, we can't see it."
"I can move my arm this much," Manami lifted her fist up to her elbow, but Izumi shook her head.
"Can this move?" She reached with both hands to slowly straighten her arm out, then went to try to reach her arm up.
It got a little over her head before she winced.
"Okay." Izumi nodded. "It's still repairing. but the fact that you could lift your arm at all means that it's healing nicely." She reached for two jars, opening them and reaching inside.
"This will help with the pain," She handed her one capsule. "And this will help quicken the tissue regeneration." She handed another.
"Get a glass of water downstairs and take those. Come back tomorrow night for some more, Manami."
"O-Okay..." The brunette went to stand and grab her overcoat. "Thank you, Miss Izum—"
"Oh, now I remember..!" Izumi clapped her fist into her hand, as if she realized something. "I've been racking my brain because I swore I'd heard your name before..." She looked to Manami.
"You lived in Resembool with Ed and Al, didn't you?"
"Ah... y-yeah..." Manami nodded.
"They talked about you and Winry a lot." Izumi said, making Manami smile a little.
That was nice to hear.
"So, you're traveling with them now?" She asked. "What for?"
Manami's smile faded. Oh boy... she was pushed into another corner, wasn't she?
"Well..." She tried to think of a quick excuse, before noticing Izumi wasn't looking up at her anymore. She looked down to see that Izumi had reached to yank at the tiniest length of a silver chain that hung out of her pants pocket.
"?!" Manami froze as Izumi pulled out her pocket watch completely, and they both watched in silence as the watch dangled for a long moment.
"So... you're one of them too." Izumi's eyes rose to meet Manami's, narrowing. "What really is your business here?"
"I don't have any actual business..!" The brunette insisted, taking a step back. Izumi dropped the watch and let it fall against Manami's leg.
"I'm a State Alchemist, yes, but..." Manami sighed as she grabbed the watch and stuffed it back in her pocket. "I'm with Ed and Al because... I was assigned to be Ed's partner. I have to follow wherever he goes." She looked back up at her.
Izumi stared down at her for a moment, reading her expression. She sighed softly before turning away, leaving Manami to internally sigh in relief.
For whatever reason, she was expecting a beating...
"I can tell you're telling the truth." Izumi spoke. "It's really a shame... children being in the military. Kids your age should be living your lives, not risking your them and getting shot." She said quietly.
At least she still bought the story about her wound...
"..." Manami looked down to her feet. "I know I'm young, but... I've made a lot of mistakes... done a lot of bad..." She looked back up to Izumi. "I enlisted because... I want to right those wrongs."
"..." Izumi sighed softly through her nose. "I can't scold you for your reasoning, but I can guarantee that you could do a lot better than being a soldier." She looked back to Manami.
"I have one final question. Are you following those boys because it's an order? Or because you're supporting them as their friend?"
Manami's eyes widened at that question. She looked back down as she thought for a moment, then sighed.
"In the beginning, it was because it was an order. But..." Her eyes narrowed. "That's my fault." She shook her head.
"I have to earn back their trust, but... it's not my place to decide if I'm by their side as a partner or as a friend."
"..." Izumi could tell that she was being particularly vague. She decided not to pry any further.
"I'll leave it at that." Izumi turned away again. "Go to bed. I want to sleep."
"Y-Yes ma'am." Manami quickly turned to leave the room.
The next day, Izumi had asked Ed and Al to go with her outside. She said she wanted to see if their alchemy had improved. Manami joined them, watching from the side as Al went to draw a circle on the ground. He transmuted an elegant looking horse with a saddle, big enough that a small child could sit on.
"Very detailed! You've definitely improved." Izumi said as she looked over his work.
"My turn!" Ed said, going to clap his hands and smack them on the ground, transmuting a pegasus with freakish fangs. It was bigger than Al's horse, and stood twice as tall.
"..." Izumi was quiet. "You didn't need to draw a circle to do that?" She asked.
"No..." Ed blinked. He didn't realize the dots she was connecting in her mind.
"Edward..." Izumi frowned. For whatever reason, her sudden serious tone made the hairs on the back of Manami's neck stand..
"... you've seen it."
"Huh?"
"The truth." Izumi clarified, making his and Manami's eyes widen.
"... yeah..." Ed looked down, clenching his fists. "But... Teacher, how do you kno—"
"Miss Izumi!" They were interrupted by a little girl who ran into her yard.
"What is it..?" Izumi asked.
Manami didn't like the expression on the girl's face. She noticed that she was holding something small in her arms.
It looked like an animal.
"It's Chico, my cat... she won't move... can you fix her..?" The little girl asked as Izumi bent down to gently take the lifeless kitten in her arms.
"I'm sorry, Manny... Chico's already dead." Izumi said quietly.
"She's not broken?" Manny asked, and Manami's heart broke.
She didn't understand the concept of death yet.
"No, Manny... Chico is dead. She's gone." Izumi kept her composure. "Living things aren't like toys. You can't fix a life that has been lost."
She gently reached for the girl's hand to put on the cat's chest. "Like you, Chico had a life... but, you don't feel anything?"
"No..."
"That means Chico's life has ended. She can't come back."
"But..." The girl started to wipe her eyes. "She was just here yesterday..!"
Izumi managed to force a smile. "I can't bring her back to life... but I can make a grave for her. Okay..?"
"Okay..."
Manami and the Elric brothers joined Izumi in burying the dead cat.
"Life always come to an end eventually..." Izumi said as they watched the little girl walk away from the cat's grave with her mother. "You live on within the memories of the people you leave behind. Though I know this, it's always hard to tell the young ones in a way they could understand."
Manami could only think back to when her sister died. She struggled to understand her sister's death, even after knowing of death from the time when Ed and Al lost their mother... it was an entirely different experience, losing someone so close.
"..." Ed was hesitant to speak. "Teacher..."
"Edward." Izumi interrupted him, not looking back to meet his eyes. "I heard a little of Manami's story last night, but I haven't heard yours. Do you think it was a good idea to join the military?"
Ed and Manami exchanged glances before he looked down.
"Our job is to work for the people... but I never know when they're going to decide that they're going to make me a human weapon. That scares me." Ed admitted.
Izumi was quiet for a moment. "... but, you joined because you wanted their resources for alchemical research, correct?"
"... I have something I need to do—"
Izumi quickly turned and kicked Ed in the mouth before he could finish speaking, catching everyone by surprise.
Al bent down at Ed's side to help him up, and Izumi stepped in front of them.
"Al, your suit of armor. It's empty, isn't it?" She asked, and then looked to Ed. "And you've got automail limbs."
Both boys stared up at her, speechless. Manami also stared, frozen in shock.
"H-How did you..?" Al trailed off.
"Idiots!" Izumi barked. "I felt it when I threw you over! And I could hear that Ed's footsteps sounded different!"
With the way Izumi noticed her pocket watch chain last night, Manami couldn't bring herself to be surprised at how observant she was.
"... no more lies. No more secrets. You two owe it to me as your master to tell me everything."
"..." Ed sighed softly. "Where do we even begin..?"