I didn't reread over this because it's like 1am so please excuse any mistakes (+my beta is on vacation.) I promise chapter 2 will be a lot better. It might seem rushed, but that's because I currently have writer's block :( sowwy

this is the first fma & higurashi fanfiction I've made! enjoy. reviews are appreciated :)

Now was not the time.

On top of getting split up from Al and running away from Scar, Ed was now trapped at a dead end alleyway. Today seriously wasn't going well.

Ed quickly clapped his hands together and pressed them to the ground, raising the stone up from beneath him. Once deeming a safe height, he jumped off of the platform and onto the top of a building.

He could hear footsteps near him, though they didn't sound like they would belong to Scar. They were light and calm as if it was a child passing by.

'Whatever…' Ed thought, scanning the rooftop for somewhere to jump. 'Who cares who it is, I need to find Al and get out of here!'

Just as the thought left his head, he took a wrong step and slipped from the top of the building. He reached up to grab onto something, but there was nothing to grab. So, he let himself fall.

As he fell, Ed swore he could hear something sizzling; like the moment right before alchemy is performed. Had Scar caught up to him? No, he could've sworn Scar was way behind him once he reached the roof…

Right before he hit the ground, the building collapsed, and Ed was thrown backwards from the explosion. So, Scar had caught up to him.

As he was thrown to the ground, Ed felt a splitting pain on his right side. He looked over, only to find his automail arm had been caught by some debris and ripped off of his shoulder.

'Damn...' He thought. 'Winry's going to be pissed.'

However, that was the least of his worries. Having only one arm left Ed pretty much defenseless, and without Al backing him up, the only option he had left was to get up and run as fast as he could.

Of course, the world just wasn't going to cooperate with him today. As well as his arm being completely wrecked, his automail leg was facing almost the same scenario. A (pretty huge) metal pole had pierced through it, and on top of that, a lot of debris from what looked to be the rooftop was all around the pole. Although it didn't seem like it would deal too much damage, Ed was pretty certain it would take him a while to pull the pole out without damaging something that would cease his ability to walk.

So, Ed did the most logical thing his panicking head could think of; scream for Al.

"ALPHONSE!"

Of course, considering the two had been separated, there was no response to Ed's call. (At least, that was what Ed thought.) Instead, there were footsteps signaling that, from what Ed thought, Scar had found him and was coming towards him. 'Okay..' Ed sighed. 'Maybe screaming wasn't such a good idea.'

As the footsteps got closer, Ed looked down at his leg and wrapped his hand around the pole. No way was he going to die here, not until Al has his body back. He pulled up and grunted in pain. As he did, Ed took a moment to observe what damage had been done.

What he didn't notice earlier was that the leg was pretty much damaged to the point where even if he removed the pole safely, he still wouldn't be able to walk. Ed cursed to himself as he heard Scar get closer, and read over the options he had to get out of here.

He finished removing the pole and quickly pressed his left hand to the wall for support, and pulled himself up. But, as soon as Ed stood up, whoever stood in front of him was not Scar. In fact, it was actually…

"AL!"

Ed couldn't believe it. Was he really not paying attention to how those footsteps sounded? He could've sworn they sounded more human than metal…but hey, Ed wasn't complaining. He found his brother, and now the two can get out of there before Scar actually arrived.

Alphonse turned around and, at the sight of his brother, came running towards him. If Ed were to listen very carefully, it would sound like Al had hidden something in his armor again.

"Brother! Are you alright? What happened to your arm?!"

"It got torn off by a piece of debris. My leg isn't working either. But, other than that, I'm okay."

"So, I'm guessing you can't walk?"

"Yup."

The two stood there in silence for a moment, before Ed broke it;

"So, how'd you find me?"

"I was standing over there," Al pointed to a nearby alleyway. "And I thought I heard you running somewhere in the distance. Then the building collapsed. I came over here to inspect." Though he didn't point it out, Ed could hear a little bit of nervousness in the way Al spoke.

'Hm…' Ed thought. 'I wonder why I didn't see or hear him.'

He sighed. "Eh, oh well. Come on, Al, we should get going."

Al sighed. "Do you want me to carry you, brother? I can't really think of any other way to get you out of here…"

"Sure, Al. You might want to hurry though, I think Scar's still on our tail."

"Alright. Let's go." Al walked over to Ed and carefully scooped him into his arms, carefully trying not to hurt him.

If there was one thing Edward was not looking forward to, it had to be the near-death experience he was going to receive from Winry. He could already picture the words written on his tombstone, 'RIP Edward Elric. Cause of death: Hit with a wrench.'

After escaping from Scar, the two of them decided it would be best to head back to Resembool for repairs, considering Ed was practically vulnerable at the moment. They didn't even bother to make a phone call.

"Hurry, Al!" Ed shouted as Alphonse hoisted him off of the bench. "If you don't start running, we're gonna miss the train!"

"O-Okay!"

They almost ended up missing the train but made it there just in time. Ignoring a few passing glances, Al found a seat and sat down, placing Ed on the seat in front of him.

The two sat in silence for most of the ride. This was pretty unusual, considering that practically every train ride they go on, one of them is talking the other's ears off.

Ed was the one who broke the silence.

"Hey, Al?"

"…Yes, brother?"

"Are you alright?"

"Uh…yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's just that-"

An echoed sneeze interrupted their conversation.

Ed paused for a moment, right before giving Al a suspicious look. "….Al?"

"….Yes?"

"What was that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, brother…"

"Alphonse."

"I'm serious!"

"It's not another cat, is it?"

"It's nothing, brother…I swear."

Another sneeze followed Al's sentence.

"Al, what do you have in there?"

"It's not a 'what', brother, it's a 'who'…"

"Oh, so you do have something in there!"

"Could you quiet down a little, brother? People are staring at us..."

"…Fine." Ed grunted, and went back to staring out the window. "Just make sure to get rid of the cat when we get to the station."

"Okay…"

The first thing Al did once they stepped off of the train was to make a break right out of there.

"Al? Hey, where are we going?"

"To Winry's! Y'know, you need your leg and arm fixed as fast as possible, brother!"

"Hm, I guess you're right…wait a minute, do you still have that cat inside of you?!" From what Ed could hear, it sounded like something was hitting the inside of Al's armor as he ran. Ed swore he could also hear whimpering.

"N-No…?" Al stopped running.

"Al. Get the cat out."

"It's not a cat, brother…" Al mumbled, trying to make sure Ed didn't hear him. However, due to his brother's amazing hearing skills, Ed knew what he said perfectly clear.

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing, brother."

"Then why don't you open your armor up? Let me see it for myself."

Al paused for a moment, contemplating Ed's wish.

"…Fine. But you have to promise not to freak out."

"I won't."

Al sighed and gently set Ed on the ground, then went to go open up his chest. He placed his hands down on the plate and lifted it up, revealing what was inside.

It was a little girl.

"Alphonse…" Ed paused for a moment, looking down at the girl.

"I'm sorry, brother…but she was hurt, and I couldn't leave her there…" Al looked down, only to find Ed reaching inside the armor. "…Brother? What are you doing?"

He watches as Ed pulls his arm back out at Al's question. "…Nothing. Come on, let's bring her with us..."

'Weird.' Al thought. 'Brother would've told me to leave her here. Maybe it's because she's injured?'

He sighed and sealed up his chest, leaving the sleeping girl in there.

"EDWARD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY AUTOMAIL?!"

Ed gasped as a wrench was suddenly flying towards his face. He fell out of Al's arms on impact and landed on the ground.

"WINRY! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"STOP BREAKING MY AUTOMAIL AND MAYBE I WON'T! Idiot…"

Ah yes, the usual lover's quarrel. Beautiful, isn't it?

"Brother, you should really stop breaking your automail…" Al reached down to pick his brother up.

"It wasn't my fault this time! I didn't see that explosion coming."

"My point still stands, Ed." Al sighed as he carried Ed into the house. Ed groaned in response.

By the time Ed had received his normal lecture, put on a spare, and received the time in which his automail would be fixed, it was already nighttime. They had dinner about an hour ago, and by now Ed and Al had some time alone to themselves.

Both of them were currently sneaking over to the couch, figuring out that this was the perfect time to unveil the mysterious girl Al picked up earlier.

Alphonse kneeled down and carefully opened his chest plate, reaching inside of himself and pulling the girl out. He set her down on the couch.

They both observed the girl. From a glance, you could obviously tell she was a child. She was wearing a red and white colored…dress? (At least, that was what Edward thought.) Her hair was a light purple hue and was styled down, a few curls visible at the end.

'Definitely not Amestrian…' Ed thought as he looked her over. '…Maybe she's Xingese?'

As Ed skimmed over her hair, he noticed something strange. He moved his hand to the side of her head and, to confirm his theory, there were horns on the side of her head.

Ed's face contorted into one of a suspicious look. He tugged on the horns to make sure they were real, which they were.

"Al, look at these…" Ed turned to his brother, showing him the horns.

"Brother, what are those…?"

"I think they're some type of horns."

Al sighed and turned to Ed.

"Al, be careful. I think we might be dealing with a homunculus."

"A homunculus? But, where's the ouroboros tattoo?"

"From what I can see, she doesn't have one. It might be under her clothes, though. I'm not saying she is one, but it is possible."

"Well, we'll find out when she wakes up. Right, brother?"

"Yeah. Be on your guard, Al. We don't know what she can do."

"Okay…"

A sudden sneeze interrupted the conversation once again. Both brothers jerked in surprise and turned to face the girl.

"Brother…I think she's waking up…"

"Yeah…"

The girl sneezed again and whimpered. Ed backed up a little bit just in case the situation escalated.

"Hauu…my head…"

Ed flinched at the sound of the girl's voice. She really did sound like a child.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she took in her surroundings. "Huh…where…?" She looked right over at Ed and Al. All three of them froze.

"…W-Who are you guys?! Where's Rika? Auau…" The girl sat up, still staring at the two.

"…What do we say, brother?" Al whispered, to which Ed replied with a "We tell her our names? I don't know…"

Al sighed and turned back to the girl. "Well, um…my name's Alphonse. This is my brother Ed." He pointed to Edward. "I found you lying in an alleyway, injured, so I decided to bring you here…sorry if we startled you."

After a moment passed by, the girl seemed to calm down. "It's okay. By the way, did you see another purple-haired girl anywhere near me?"

Ed looked towards Al for an answer.

"No, I don't think I did."

"Hauu…oh no…Rika…" the girl whimpered and sighed. "I hope she's alright…"