Ed was defenseless against the mysterious girl's kunai. The kunai came blazing at him at almost lightning speed. The blade was aimed for his heart and in his current condition, Ed wasn't sure the he would survive. He closed his eyes and remembered that this was almost like what his battle with Scar was like. He waited for a miracle, but had doubts in his mind. He knew that Hikaru was busy elsewhere and wouldn't know where he was since he's battling in a secret room. He wondered if his brother or Armstrong would at least save him, but he doubt that would actually happen, too. He just wished for a miracle like what he did in the battle against Scar, hoping someone would find this secret room and rescue him.
The kunai ripped through his black jacket and through his black undershirt. But before it was about to pierce into his skin, it was quickly knocked out of the way leaving only a tear in Ed's undershirt! Ed quickly turned to his right and saw Hikaru with her left hand on the ground breaking the slide and with the kunai between her teeth. She was gripping the kunai like a dog when she finally came to a stop and took the blade out of her mouth. She stood up straight and faced the mysterious girl, who gave her an angry look.
"I was trying to protect you from that foolish shrimp, Hikaru!" the girl shouted with an angry tone in her voice.
Hikaru didn't give her a response and instead helped Ed get back on his feet, who was infuriated at the girl for calling him a 'foolish shrimp again'. The girl was even angrier with Hikaru and quickly ran up to her trying to stab her with another kunai. Hikaru used the first kunai to block all of her attacks. She pushed a little more force in the final hit countering the girl's slashes. The girl flew back and landed gracefully on her feet.
"Please stop, L." Hikaru said in concern. "Notice your blood on the floor. If this keeps up your body won't be able to function anymore."
L noticed this and quickly ran towards the balcony of the room. She jumped off into the forest and was gone. Hikaru was tired from working continuously all day and the fighting added to it. She fell to the ground on the bottom and began to lie down on her back. Ed walked over to the table and picked up the stolen library books. He carried the books over to Hikaru and dropped them over by her side. She sat up straight and began to look at the books.
"Hikaru, do you know who stole these books from the Central Library?" asked Ed.
Hikaru just stared deeply into Ed's golden eyes with her strange crimson ones and gave him a really sad face. Her sad face then changed to a cute face that looks as if she was about to burst in tears. Ed wondered what was wrong and sat down beside her. She stroked her hand on the torn rips on his undershirt and felt the open skin of his chest. Ed blushed a few shades of red when he felt her finger stoke slowly on his chest. Then he noticed that there were tears falling from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Edward…" Hikaru softly apologized and let go of his chest. She looked at the books and more tears fell from her eyes. The small drops slid down her face and on to her hands.
Ed was wondering what happened and asked, "What did you apologize for?"
"L almost killed you." Hikaru answered.
"That's not a good enough reason for you to apologize, Hikaru!" Ed shouted back at her.
"It's my fault because I-I…" Hikaru began to stutter.
"You what?" Ed wondered impatiently waiting for her response.
"I'm the thief who stole the books from the Central Library!" Hikaru shouted at him with a lot more tears pouring out of her eyes. Ed was surprised to hear this. He got up and just stared at Hikaru with a really serious look on his face. Hikaru held on tightly to her knees and continued, "I needed those books for some research, so I let L steal them for me. You can go ahead and take those books back and turn me into the military if you like."
Hikaru then stood up and held out her two hands in front of Ed, waiting for him to at least place handcuffs on her wrists. Ed just looked at her and saw the sadness in her crimson eyes. Looking into her eyes gave him a sad expression as well. He knew that Hikaru wouldn't tell him what the research was, so he didn't really bother to ask her. He was sorry that he shouted at her earlier, but still grabbed spare handcuffs from one of the pockets on his red jacket. He locked the handcuffs around her wrists and noticed that she hung her head low in more sadness. Ed place his left hand underneath Hikaru's chin and lifted her head up making her eyes meet with his.
"I'm sorry." Ed said sadly, now being the one who's apologizing. "A State Alchemist is considered the 'dog of the military' and we have to obey every order a higher official tells us, even if it's against are own free will."
"It's ok." Hikaru replied trying to avoid eye contact with Ed. "It's your duty, so I can understand."
Ed pulled her head back trying to regain the averted eye contact and said, "How about I let you slide a bit on this one?"
"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked as she finally stopped crying.
Ed gave her a big smile and answered, "I'll say that the books weren't harmed at all, and then I'll have you try to enter as a State Alchemist. Even though you'll have to follow orders like a dog, it's better than being charged for a felony. The colonel has to let you off easy on this. He really likes girls, so just try to act all innocent around him and maybe he'll let you off. If not I'll back you up. It's thanks for fixing my arm and leg."
Hikaru was overjoyed and gave Ed a bigger smile than her regular small ones. She had a good feeling acing through her body and it was if she had never felt it before. Her heart strangely feels warm and contained a really good feeling. But underneath that good feeling was the aching pain of her chest. She placed her hands softly on her chest to suppress the pain, but it still remained. She let out a deep sigh trying to let the good feeling she had before leave her and it was soon gone, along with the pain. She looked up at Ed again and felt a bit sadder just by looking into his eyes. She began to think deeply without averting her gaze.
"Hikaru, know a way to get out of this room?" Ed asked snapping her back to reality.
"Uh… Yeah." Hikaru answered and turned around. She lifted her right leg in the air came down with an immensely powerful smash kick. The kick almost shook the entire room and was able to shake the secret stairs loose. The stairs landed to the ground on the floor beneath the secret room with a loud thump. The library room shook a little bit from the aftershock of the smash kick.
Ed's jaw dropped as he was amazed by Hikaru's strength. Hikaru walked down the stairs and Ed quickly followed behind her. Ed remembered that this was the room where he read that mysterious diary. He wanted to ask Hikaru about it, but decided to wait a bit longer before asking. They walked over to the large stone door leading to the west wing. Ed was about to open the door for them, but the door suddenly swung open knocking Ed back with an incredibly strong force. The person who suddenly knocked the stone door open was Major Armstrong! Behind him was Al who was actually helping him shove the door open.
"Oh Edward Elric!" Armstrong shouted proudly. "I'm glad to see you're safe!"
"We thought you were lost somewhere broth-" Al added, but then was stunned at what he saw. Armstrong was shocked to see it too.
After being knocked back from the stone door, Ed soared right into Hikaru and fell right on top of her. His head was on top of her chest making her blush. Hikaru suddenly felt the same chest pain again and tried her best to suppress it, but it was no use. Her face grew redder with blush as Ed slowly got off her chest. He slowly slid his face off her chest, accidentally rubbing his left cheek against her breasts. Ed noticed this too and blushed also. He was shocked to see himself doing this and quickly got off her. Hikaru placed her hands over her chest again trying to ease her pain. The blush disappeared from her face and she let go of her aching chest. Hikaru looked over at Ed who was still blushing, but was really angry this time.
"I can't believe my own brother would do such a thing!" Al cried out. "I'm too young to witness this mature scene!"
"I am ashamed of you, Edward Elric!" Armstrong shouted with smoke fumes of anger coming out of his nose.
"Shut up!" Ed shouted angrily, still blushing. "You and Al are the ones who crashed open that damn door and knocked me into her!"
Hikaru watched Ed jump into the air and wildly punched and kicked Armstrong and Al. Seeing how mad Ed was, made her laugh. She looked longingly at the happy trio and wished that she were with them, always looking happy and cheerful. But something was holding her back. There was feeling inside of her that was preventing her from the happiness she longed for. She just looked at them and gave them a small smile, but on the inside her heart was hurting.
Ed was exhausted from trying to punish Armstrong and Al, while Armstrong and Al were both exhausted from being beaten on by Ed. Hikaru simply walked over to them as Ed looked up towards her.
"Ready to go, Hikaru?" Ed asked her.
"Uh…Sure." Hikaru answered looking down at her handcuffs. "Are we going back to Central?"
"We're going back to the Eastern Headquarters first." Ed explained. "The State Alchemist Exam takes place in Central, though." He sighed for a moment and then continued. "This has turned into a bigger hassle than I would've thought. The colonel sure knows how to torture us."
"Brother, why are there handcuffs on Hikaru?" Al asked just noticing the handcuffs keeping Hikaru's wrists tied together.
Ed walked over to Hikaru and placed his right hand on her shoulder. He gave Al a weird, evil smile and said, "Right here is the thief we were assigned to hunt down." Al gasped and Armstrong looked at Ed with a stunned look. Ed just gave them an evil grin and continued, "And I caught her single-handedly."
"More like you jumped on top of her and forced her to see everything your way." Al said doubting Ed's capture. "I never knew my own brother was an evil Super Pervert"
Ed was infuriated and ran towards Al trying to rapidly punch him as much as possible. In between his slower punches Ed shouted, "I AM NOT A PERVERT! AND ESPECIALLY I'M NOT A SUPER PERVERT!"
Armstrong walked over to Hikaru, who was watching the two Elric brothers beat the living out of each other. He bent over and whispered kind of loudly into her ear, "Is it really true that Edward caught you single-handedly?"
Hikaru looked up at Armstrong and answered, "Well he did catch me, but I'm not that sure about him catching me single-handedly." She smiled and continued to watch the Elric brothers. "It's more like I'm turning myself in, though."
"You're turning yourself in?" Armstrong questioned. "You know you're dealing with the military, right?"
Hikaru continued to watch Ed and Al and replied, "Ed promised to help me get through with the military and also help me become a State Alchemist."
"You know being a State Alchemist means that you are required to obey every order they give you?" Armstrong continued to question her. "You'll end up like Edward and myself, obeying orders that are even against our own will."
Hikaru turned towards the Major and said, "I know what the consequences are, but I'm still going to go through with it. There's a weird feeling inside of me that I can't describe, and it's telling me that there's something waiting for me if I accept Ed's help with the State Alchemist Exam. So I can't refuse the opportunity that's waiting ahead of me."
Armstrong saw Hikaru's determination in her eyes and began to burst into tears. The tears quickly trickled down his face like waterfalls as he suddenly embraced Hikaru with his large muscular arms. "Oh such determination, Hikaru!" He shouted as he tightly hugged her, almost breaking her bones. "You touched my heart!"
"That's…good to… know." Hikaru said chokingly as Armstrong was crushing her with his muscular arms. Ed stopped fighting with Al and turned around to see what kind of nonsense Armstrong was causing. The two brothers quickly rushed to Hikaru's rescue. Ed motioned for Al to come closer into a certain kind of formation. Ed ran towards the right, trying to position himself directly in front of his younger brother. Al picked up little more speed on his pace and placed the back of his right hand on his left palm. Ed jumped into the air as Al place his hands underneath his brother's feet and launched him higher into the air. Ed was soaring at a fast speed towards Armstrong. He stretched his right leg out and nailed Armstrong directly in the face with a strong aerial kick.
Armstrong lost his grip on Hikaru, fell to the ground on his back, and looked as if he were out cold. Ed gracefully fell to the ground next to Hikaru perfectly on his two feet. Al quickly joined up with Ed and the two stood proudly saying,
"There you have the Elric Brothers' Trinity Strike (Lv.1)!"
Hikaru walked over to Ed and Al, properly bowed to them, and said that she was thankful for them rescuing her. In the meantime, Armstrong regained consciousness and got back up his two legs. He crept silently behind the two Elric brothers and exclaimed with steams of anger shooting out of his nostrils,
"Why would you two try to attack me, Alex Louis Armstrong, of the Great Armstrong Generation?"
"We were just trying to save Hikaru, Major." Ed explained with a frightened tone in his voice.
"We didn't mean to hurt you at all." Al added with scared voice tone as well. Armstrong didn't believe the two Elric brothers and his right fist began to rapidly shake. There was a strange red aura emanating form his fist and there was white shine coming from his eyes. He quickly ran up towards the Elric brothers and unleashed an immensely powerful uppercut directly at them. The uppercut was so devastating that it managed to actually send both brothers soaring through the air at a massive speed. Ed and Al broke right through the glass window and flew into the sky until they weren't visible anymore.
"Ed! Al!" Hikaru called out over at the broken window. She was surprised to see the brothers fly off into the sky from Armstrong's uppercut and tried to assume where they would land. "They should be on the other side of Elendia if my estimations are correct."
"That should be at the entrance near Resembool?" Armstrong guessed as he began to flex his large muscles.
"That should be correct." Hikaru answered as she jumped out the broken window. She landed perfectly on a tree branch that was about the same height level as the floor she and Armstrong were on. Hikaru turned around and said, "I suggest you should be heading out too, Major. I know a special shortcut."
"It better not be leaping from branch to branch." Armstrong replied.
"Don't worry about it." Hikaru assured him. "You couldn't stand on these branches without having them break off instantly 'cause of your size and weight. Even thought these are strong branches, they won't be able to support the weight of large muscled man, like you."
"So what are you suggesting for me to do?" Armstrong asked her.
"Just jump out the window." Hikaru answered. "I'll explain everything from there."
Armstrong took a few steps back, got into a running position, and took off. He leaped through the window, breaking off the rest of the loose glass and landed to the ground creating a small earthquake. The sudden quake caused Hikaru to fall right out of the tree branch and land on the ground on her bottom.
"Maybe letting the him jump out the window was a bad idea." Hikaru mumbled her regret. She got back on her feet and was surprised that she didn't feel any pain from the fall. She checked at how high the branch was and just thought that she was must've gotten used to the pain of falling of trees.
"You said you'd explain things from here." Armstrong reminded.
"Yeah." Hikaru merely replied as she led him to the back of the mansion. There was small locked safe that was as big as the size of a doghouse hidden underneath the giant tree that was connected to the mansion. Hikaru took the safe out and Armstrong was amazed to see her strength. She took a lock pick from her pockets and carefully picked the lock. Inside the safe was a small box filled with junk, mostly consisting of metal pipes. She pulled the box out and relocked the safe.
"What do you plan to do with that, Miss Hikaru?" Armstrong asked.
"Watch and see." Hikaru simply answered as she dumped all the junk over the forest floor. Hikaru clapped her hands and placed them over the junk pile, performing Alchemy. Blue light surrounded the junk pile, and it suddenly morphed into a large bicycle that even Armstrong can ride without having it break.
"You seem to do Alchemy the same way Edward does." Armstrong commented.
"He doesn't need a circle to perform Alchemy?" Hikaru asked.
"Correct." The Major answered. "That's how I've always seen him perform it. I have circles on my gloves and the same goes for the colonel. By the way Miss Hikaru, what is the bicycle for?"
"I thought this could be a fast way trough the forest, since I assumed you have incredible speed on it due to your strong muscles." Hikaru assumed as Armstrong curled his mustache and walked over to the bike. He picked up Hikaru, placed her on the back of the bike seat, and hopped on himself.
"What are you doing?" asked Hikaru.
"Hang on!" Armstrong merely answered and he began to peddle at immense speed. The two were traveling through the forest with an incredible speed that Hikaru believed she could be able to reach the other side of Elendia in no time. "Just provide me with the directions and I'll take of everything else." Armstrong told her as the bike started to pick up more speed.
"All right." Hikaru said. "Just keep going straight and avoid all the trees that stand in your way. That should take you to the front of Elendia that is connected with Resembool."
Armstrong began to peddle quicker and in about five minutes he and Hikaru can see Resembool through the thick grove of trees. Lying on Resembool soil was Ed and Al. Ed was on the ground rubbing his back to ease the pain while stood up. Noticing the Elric brothers, Armstrong hit the breaks and Hikaru held on tightly to Armstrong's shoulders to prevent herself from being thrown off the bike.
"Ed! Al! You two ok?" Hikaru said as she jumped off the bike and helped Ed get back up on his legs.
"Yeah." Ed answered. "But I learned something today."
"What is it, brother?" Al asked.
"Never try to anger Major Armstrong." Ed told Al as Hikaru watched the two brothers talk with a simple smile on her face. Then Ed turned around to face Hikaru and asked, "By the way Hikaru what's with that big bike?"
"Oh! I transmuted a bike using Alchemy and some junk random people dumped in Elendia." Hikaru said walking over to the bike. "And I believe that this size is the only one that the Major can actually ride on."
Ed had an evil grin on his face as if he were scheming up a sinister plan. He rubbed his chin with an evil twinkle in his eye, and then he ran off to a nearby house. Hikaru, Al, and Armstrong all wondered what Ed was up to. Ed soon came back carrying a large plastic bag over his back. He set the dark bag down on the ground and motioned Hikaru over with his hand. She was curious to see what kind of scheme he concocting was in his odd mind. Ed whispered the plan out in Hikaru's ear to make sure that the Major and his brother couldn't listen.
Within seconds a large motorbike was tremendously speeding through the countryside streets of Resembool. Ed was riding in the front of the seat with Hikaru hanging tightly on to his waist, Armstrong sitting in the center in full comfort, and Al sitting in the back controlling the speed of the engine. The speed of the motorbike was going massively fast. Ed and Al were both screaming whenever they came upon a hill and flew high off into the air. Hikaru held a tight grip around Ed's waist trying to prevent herself from flying off into the wind, and while everyone was in an uncomfortable position on the bike, the Major just proudly smiles with pink and sparkles around his face.
The bike went speeding over a large hill and went flying high-sky! When the bike hit the ground it ran right into someone's clotheslines. That person came out into her yard and began yelling at Ed and the others. Before they ran into the clotheslines, Hikaru closed her eyes, not wanting to look at the bike crashing into the lines. After the crash she reopened her eyes and was shocked to see the result of the crash. Ed had three women's panties wrapped on to his head, Al was wearing a man's boxer over his whole head, and Armstrong had a large bra equipped to his chest. Hikaru was disgusted by this and ripped the pink panties of Ed's head and let it go in the wind, but that didn't go too far. The panties were caught in the wind, but one landed on Al's head and the other two flew right into Armstrong's face.
Finally Edward and the others reached close to the Resembool train station, but before they can arrive at their final destination, there was another large hill blocking their path. The motorbike sped right over the hill and again into the bright, blue sky. People at the train station were screaming as they saw the bike come flying down from the sky. Hikaru waited for a moment and then stood up on the bike.
"Hikaru what the hell are you doing?" Ed shouted at her in concern. "You'll lose balance!"
Hikaru didn't answer him and jumped right off the speeding motorbike. She held out her arms and legs, letting the wind carry her down. Hikaru landed perfectly on the ground, while the motorbike crashed right into the wall causing a small explosion behind her. Some people were screaming from the explosion, but some were clapping for Hikaru's marvelous performance. Hikaru smirked and then took a look behind her. Ed came out from dark smokescreen with his hair poofed up like an afro, Al had dust and dirt smeared over his armor, but Armstrong came out of it looking as normal as ever, shining twinkle around his face and the bra still strapped to his chest.
Hikaru looked up at the round clock on the tall black pole in front of the station and shouted, "We have to hurry! The train leaves noon!"
Ed quickly straitened his hair back to normal while running as fast as he could to catch up with Hikaru. Al tore the bra off Armstrong and the two followed Hikaru as well. In the station Hikaru gave the ticket booth clerk a small moneybag and asked for four tickets to Central. He gave her a nod and handed her the four thin tickets. Hikaru's delay at the ticket booth was enough for Ed and the others to catch up. When they reached her, she handed them three tickets and kept one for herself. Afterwards the four alchemists ran together through the station hoping to not have missed the train to Central. An employee at the gate asked for their tickets before he can let them through the gate. Hikaru threw the ticket at the employee, while everyone else handed them in normally as they ran right through. Hikaru looked for a clock around the departure platform and caught a glimpse of one as she was running. She saw the minute hand tick from 11:59 to 12:00 and then steam came out of the train's steam blower. The train began to slowly take off and Hikaru and the others dashed for it. Ed jumped and grabbed the metal handle on the side of the train. Al and Armstrong simply jumped in and perfectly made it. The train started to pick up speed, as it is about to leave the station. Edward held out his hand for Hikaru to grab on to.
"Hurry Hikaru!" Ed shouted as he continued to hold out his hand for her.
"I am, Ed!" Hikaru shouted back as she leaped into the air and grabbed Ed's hand. He pulled her close to him and let her jump into the train. Ed continued to hang on to the metal bar as Hikaru said to him, "C'mon Ed. Let's go inside."
Ed ignored what she said and asked, "Are you sure you want to become State Alchemist, Hikaru?"
"I've already made up my mind." Hikaru replied. "I'll join the military and maybe if they see how my Alchemy are, they might actually accept me. That probably would be a good way to clear my name and possibly any criminal records."
"All right." Ed said with his unsure feeling disappearing from him. "I just don't want to see you hurt."
"I'll be fine, Edward, but thank you about your concern, though." Hikaru smiled as she reassured him.
Ed's smile returned to his face as he looked onward into the shining blue sky and shouted from outside the train, "Then onward to our return to Central!"