A/N: Oh no, it's now been a little over two weeks since I last updated! Aw, and I was doing so well with being ahead of schedule . . . anyway, as promised, here is Chapter 3, starring Edward and Alphonse! Enjoy~!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing.

Chapter 3

A few hours later . . .

The brothers emerged into a room almost completely submerged in darkness. The only light that could be seen was a thin sliver coming under the door in front of them. This confused them greatly, because they found the room to also be extremely small, and when they turned around, the door that they had just come through was nowhere to be found.

"Brother, where are we?" Al asked worriedly, trying to see Ed in the darkness.

"I'm not sure . . . AH! SOMETHING JUST FELL ON MY HEAD!" Ed screamed as something stringy and slightly damp landed on top of his golden hair.

"Brother, calm down!" Al exclaimed as Ed wildly flailed around, trying to remove the object from his head. He managed to ram into the door in front of them so hard that it fell open, and the boys tumbled out into a sunlit hallway.

"Ow! Al, get off me! You're heavy!" Ed groaned, trying to remove the suit of armor from where it was crushing his abdomen.

"Sorry, Brother!" Al said, quickly standing up. He helped Ed to his feet and the blonde glanced around at their surroundings while Al picked up the object that had landed on his brother's head.

"Ed, it's just a mop . . ." He held out the offending object towards his brother, who scowled and snatched it, throwing it off to the side. Both boys surveyed the area they were in, not having a clue as to where they actually were. They looked back to the room they had just fallen out of and were utterly perplexed when they realized that it was just a plain old broom closet.

"Okay, this is really weird . . .," Ed muttered, noticing that the hallway they were standing in was part of a huge building. It had at least two stories, Ed guessed when he looked out of one of the many windows lining the hall.

"Is this still part of Lab 5?" Al asked, and Ed shrugged.

"I don't know. If it is, this must be one gigantic room to fit this building inside of it . . . But if it was indoors, then why would there be sunlight coming through the windows?"

"Maybe it's artificial?"

"Yeah, maybe." The boys gazed around for a moment, and then Ed grinned and clapped his hands together.

"Well, if there really is a clue to the philosopher's stone in this place, we'd better start searching!" he said.

"Yeah," Al agreed, and they started to head down the hallway towards a pair of big, brown, double-doors, the sign over which read:

Music Room 3

Suddenly, the doors slammed open and a person emerged from the room. Ed held out his arm to make Al pause as they watched. The person was very skinny, with a black dress and dull pink hair. They waved to the people in the room and then quickly shut the door and turned around, the smile on their face immediately being replaced by an exhausted and, Ed thought, extremely depressed expression. The person stared at the floor and started walking down the hallway towards the two brothers, not realizing that they were there.

"Excuse me," Al said as the boy (he assumed the kid was) walked by. The boy jumped and let out a yelp, surprised. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

The boy just stared at Al with an almost curious fascination.

"What are you?" he asked, looking into Al's glowing eyes. "Your soul wavelength is extremely strong-"

Suddenly, he seemed to be cut off mid-sentence by an invisible presence. He stared into space for a few seconds while the brothers shared a questioning glance.

"Oh, okay," the boy said to himself. He looked at Al again, his eyes wide. "Um, I have to go. Sorry."

"Wait!" Al called as the boy started to run down the hallway. He was about to go after him, but Ed grabbed his arm. "Brother . . .?"

"Just let him go, Al," Ed said. "I don't think he'd have been much of a help anyway. Let's just head to the room he came out of- maybe there's some people in there who can help us."

"Right, let's go," Al agreed. They started down the hallway again, noticing how spotless and clean everything was. Ed had a feeling that this place was definitely not part of Lab 5 anymore.

The brothers got to the doors and grasped them both at the same time. They pushed, and the doors swung inward to reveal a flurry of rose petals that surrounded them in a cloud of red for a few seconds.

"What the hell was that?" Ed asked incredulously, brushing rose petals off of his cloak. He looked into the room and found himself staring into the gazes of seven boys, all dressed in what appeared to be school uniforms. Ed and Al glanced at each other uncertainly, and then Ed shrugged and led the way into the room.

"Hello, there!" he said brightly, waving. The boys just stared at the two brothers. Eventually, a tall blonde came up to them.

"Hello, I'm Tamaki Suoh!" he said, holding out his hand. Ed grasped it, and Tamaki frowned when he thought he heard the chinking of metal. He then reasoned that it must have been the armor that the other new person was wearing.

"I'm Edward Elric and this is my brother, Alphonse," Ed said, gesturing to the suit of armor. By now, the rest of the boys had converged around the pair, and they were all studying them curiously.

"Are you new students?" a boy with black hair and glasses asked.

"Students?" Al questioned, his voice sounding muffled by the armor. "Is this place a school?"

"Yeah, Ouran Academy," said a boy with bright, orange hair to Ed's right.

"Don't tell us you just wandered in here without knowing where you were . . .?" a boy exactly identical to the previous one added. Ed and Al stared at them for a moment, amazed at how perfectly similar two people could be.

"Well, we didn't mean to come here," Ed said after a few seconds. "We were just looking for something, and we heard that there was a clue to it in this room, but when we went in it we somehow ended up in a broom closet here at this school."

The Hosts just watched him uncertainly as he explained.

"That's some story you got there, pipsqueak," the first twin commented, smirking.

"Uh-oh," Al muttered when he saw Edward twitch. The blonde whipped around and pointed a finger at the twins.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE CAN'T GO OUTSIDE BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL MISTAKE HIM FOR A BUG AND TRY TO SQUISH HIM?" he screamed, making everyone but his brother jump in surprise. Al gripped Ed's shoulders as he hopped up and down in agitation.

"Brother, calm down!" Al said as the other boys all took a few hasty steps back, the twins clinging to each other protectively. After a moment, Ed seemed to calm down a little.

"Please try not to make comments like that when he's around," Al whispered to the twins. "He's a little sensitive about his height."

"Alphonse, don't call your older brother little!" Ed exclaimed.

"Wha- I didn't! You take everything too personally!"

"Nuh-uh!"

""Wait!"" the twins said, stopping their argument. They looked at Al with their eyebrows raised.

"You mean you're-"

"-the younger brother?" they asked.

"Um, yeah," Al said, embarrassed since he had once again been mistaken for the eldest brother. "I'm a year younger."

"But you're so much bigger- or maybe that's just the armor," Tamaki backtracked when he saw Ed starting to fume.

"Hey, you shouldn't feel bad about your height," a boy with brown hair piped up. He looked almost feminine, and if Ed and Al didn't know any better that could have sworn he was a girl. "At least you're taller than Honey-Senpai."

He gestured to a boy who looked about seven years younger than everyone there. Ed walked over to stand next to him, grinning when he realized that Honey was a few inches shorter than him.

"Ha, you're right! I am taller than him!" he exclaimed, laughing almost maniacally. Honey's eyes widened and he backed up next to his cousin.

"Takashi, this guy is starting to scare me . . .," he said quietly as Ed continued his laughing fit. Al just put his face in his hands and sighed, waiting until Ed finally calmed down.

"Are you alright now, Brother?" Al asked once the laughing had ceased. Ed nodded.

"Yup, I'm good- oh no!" Ed had backed up to lean against a pedestal that was situated near him, when he'd accidentally knocked over a very expensive-looking vase perched on top of it. Everyone stared openmouthed at the vase as it shattered, the sound making them all wince. They all slowly turned to stare at Edward.

"Not again . . .," the boy with the glasses sighed, and Ed shrugged apologetically.

"No problem, we'll have it fixed up in a snap," Ed reassured him. The Hosts stared at him skeptically as he squatted down next to the broken vase. He clapped his hands and held them over the vase, a bright light appearing out of his fingertips. The Hosts watched in amazement as the light fizzled and cracked, making a cloud of smoke. After a few seconds, the light suddenly stopped. When the smoke cleared, the vase was sitting just as it had been before, fully repaired.

"What the . . .?" Tamaki gasped, and the rest of the Hosts took up a similar cry as Ed stood up and brushed his hands off on his cloak. Ed and Al looked at them all in puzzlement.

"What? It's just alchemy," Ed said as the twins gingerly picked up the vase and everyone crowded around to study it.

"What's alchemy?" Haruhi asked, amazed at how perfectly the vase had been put back together.

"It's the science of deconstructing and reconstructing matter," Al explained. Haruhi gave him a blank stare, so he tried a different approach. "Um . . . it's like, if you have something made of a certain substance, you can break it down and then recreate a new thing using the same substance."

"Yeah, we're alchemists," Ed chimed in, and by now everyone had turned their attention from the vase to the two brothers. Ed half-smiled. "By the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you've never heard of us, have you? Does the Fullmetal Alchemist ring a bell?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Right, didn't think so."

"Um, how did you do that?" Tamaki asked, referring to the vase now perched where it had been before.

"Like we said, I used alchemy," Ed told him.

"Is that like some type of black magic?" one of the twins asked.

"Are you part of Nekozawa's club, pipsqueak?" the other one questioned.

"No, I've never heard of that club, and WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL WHEN HE STEPS INTO A PUDDLE THE WATER GOES ALL THE WAY OVER HIS HEAD?"

"Brother, calm down!" Al exclaimed, once again grabbing Ed's shoulders. The twins couldn't help but snicker at the fact that Ed got offended so easily.

"Look, who are you two anyway?" the blonde asked, shoving away his brother's hands. "I don't even know you're names! I'm gonna have to start calling you Twin One and Twin Two!"

""Well, we're-""

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kyoya cut the twins off as they were about to go into their introductory speech. "Look, I'll make this fast; those are the Hitachiin twins- that's Hikaru, that's Kaoru. I'm Kyoya Ootori, that's Mori-Senpai, that's Haruhi over there, and you know all the rest. Now, explain how you just fixed that vase!"

Ed and Al shrunk back instinctively as Kyoya stared them down menacingly. He had seemed so dormant before, the brothers wondered if he could have multiple personalities or something.

"Now, now, Kyoya, calm yourself," Tamaki said, putting a hand on Kyoya's shoulder. "I'm sure these boys don't mean any harm, am I right?"

Ed and Al nodded quickly, and Tamaki grinned.

"There, you see?"

"You're going to take their word for it?" Kyoya muttered, still eyeing the pair suspiciously.

"Um, listen," Al piped up. "We'd love to explain all about alchemy and everything, but I think Brother and I should be going; it's getting dark outside, and we need to go find a place to stay for the night."

Everyone glanced out the window and was surprised to find that the sky was turning a beautiful shade of pink. They looked at the clock and realized that it was almost five-thirty in the evening.

"Wow, time sure flies!" Tamaki commented.

"Oh no, I have to go home and start dinner or it won't be ready before dad comes home!" Haruhi groaned. She smiled at Ed and Al apologetically. "Sorry, but I really have to go. Nice meeting you!" She rushed over to a hidden closet, grabbed her book bag, and dashed out the door.

"Wait, my darling daughter!" Tamaki cried as Haruhi disappeared from sight. "You didn't say goodbye to daddy!"

"Uh, daddy . . .?" Ed questioned as Tamaki ran to catch up with her.

""It's a long story,"" the twins said. ""Just don't even ask."" Ed held up his hands to show he wasn't going to pry and let it go. Tamaki came back into the room, pouting.

"She- er, I mean he, ran as fast as he could when he saw me coming," he grumbled as he came up to the group. He then straightened up and smiled at Ed and Al.

"Well now, you say you don't have a place to stay?" he asked, and the brothers shook their heads. "You can come stay with me, if you'd like! The Suoh Mansion number two has lots of spare rooms!"

"Tamaki, are you crazy?" Kyoya hissed. He tugged Tamaki off to the side, out of earshot of the rest of the group. "You just met these guys and you're inviting them to stay with you? Not to mention that weird thing they did with the vase . . . I've never heard of alchemy before. What if it's some weird occult thing?"

"Yeah, Tama-chan," Honey piped up, having snuck up in their conversation. "I mean, they seem nice and all, but can you really trust them after knowing them for such a short time?"

"Aw, it'll be fine!" Tamaki waved away their concerns. "I just have this feeling about those two . . . like, as if they were meant to meet us. I want to help them as best I can, especially if they're looking for something." Honey and Kyoya just stared at him.

"I knew it," Kyoya said, shaking his head. "You're officially crazy. Fine, do whatever you want." He threw his hands in the air and walked over to rejoin the rest of the group.

"Tama-chan, just be careful, okay?" Honey said, tugging on his sleeve. Tamaki just grinned and ruffled his hair.

"Of course, Honey-Senpai!" He then went over to the other boys, Honey trailing along behind. Ed was once again having a fit, and Tamaki quickly deduced that it had been caused once again by the twins calling Ed small.

"Well, it's settled," Tamaki said once Ed had calmed down. "You both can stay with me for the night!"

"Oh, no, we don't want to be a burden," Al said quickly, but Tamaki waved his excuses away.

"Really, it's fine."

"No, we'll just go find a hotel. We've got money- oh wait . . .," Ed trailed off, glancing at Al.

"Oh no, Brother, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If they know nothing about alchemy, I doubt any place around here would accept any checks from Central . . ." They shared another glance, and then looked back at Tamaki.

"Okay, we'll accept your offer," Ed said.

"Excellent!" Tamaki beamed. "Well, then let's head off; it's starting to get darker outside, and my servants tend to worry if I'm late . . ."

Servants? Ed and Al thought as Tamaki grabbed his book bag out of the hidden closet. This guy must be loaded!

"Well, bye guys! See you tomorrow!" Tamaki said, waving to the other Hosts as he ushered Ed and Al out the doors.

"Yeah, see you!" Ed said, waving as well.

"Bye!" Al added.

""See you later, pipsqueak!"" the twins shouted as the trio exited the doors.

"DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" Ed screamed, making Al have to grab onto him so he wouldn't run back into the room as the twins laughed maniacally.

Al sighed as he carried his flailing brother down the hallway, hoping that things would start to get a little more normal soon . . .

A/N: The next chapter will finally feature everyone coming together! Look for it in about two weeks~!