"I like this school." Alphonse said as the two brothers walked back home from school. Edward was dragging his feet, kicking up dirt. He wasn't really excited to go home.

"Yeah, it's alright. The teachers are cool, and so far no one knows about my automail, except Mr. Armstrong." Edward explained the whole situation to Al, assuring him that it was ok, and that the Gym teacher had promised not to tell anyone. "Did you have any homework?" He asked, changing the subject.

At that, Al wrinkled his nose. "Yes. Ms. Hawkeye gave us a worksheet to do, to see what level we are at or whatever. Did she make you guys do that?"

"Yeah, but I finished mine in class." The siblings approached a dinky little apartment complex and went to apartment number four. Edward unlocked the door with his key and they entered the small, one bedroom apartment. There was a living room, though it felt more like a bedroom, because that's where Ed was sleeping. He put a futon in there and it was still in bed form because Edward was too tired and grumpy to put it back as a couch before he left for school. On the other side of the apartment was the kitchen, it was slightly bigger than the living room, but not by much. There were a few dishes in the sink and a pot of leftover stew in the stove, but other than that it was clean...as clean as it could be anyway. Some drawers were broken, and there was a big, black mark that could possibly be a burn mark of some sort. There was one, teeny room that Al had claimed as his, and a bathroom that was so small Edward was surprised they could fit a shower in there.

It definitely wasn't much, but it was their home now. "It was great for Dad to lend us money for this place...but don't you think he could have given us a little more? I mean...he's never really been in our lives, it's the least he could do." Al said, setting down his book bag and making Ed's bed into a couch for him to sit on.

"Yeah, well, Hohenhiem is a cheap bastard, I guess." Edward mumbled, going into the kitchen and looking through the cupboards. Edward didn't have the heart to tell Al that Hohenhiem actually didn't send any money, and that's why they were living in such a crappy apartment. The money Ed used to get them here and enrolled in school and everything was money that he made, and whatever was left of what their mother left them when she died. Ed also couldn't tell him what he was doing to keep getting money...so instead he told Al that their father was sending them money every week. He didn't like lying to his brother, but he didn't want him to know the truth either; sometimes, ignorance was bliss. "We're out of food. I'll have to go shopping tonight. What do you want for dinner?"

"Pasta with meat sauce sounds great!" Al said. Edward smiled at his brother and nodded; anything for Al. Ed looked in his wallet and frowned-no money. Great...

It was late, and Alphonse was waiting for his brother to get back, he had been gone for two hours now...it didn't take that long to buy food, did it? Right when Alphonse was about to get up to go look for Ed, the front door opened and the blonde entered the apartment, with two plastic bags hanging from each arm. "Brother! What took you so long?" Alphonse said, taking the food away from his brother and setting the bags in the kitchen (far away from that black burn spot)

"Sorry, Al...I got lost." Edward was trying to hide his face, and Al knew something was wrong.

"What happened, Brother?"

"Nothing, Al, I'm going to bed. Make yourself dinner and do the same." Edward made his futon into a bed and laid down, his back facing away from his brother.

"...You're not going to eat?" Al asked, worried. Edward skipping out on a meal was a thing that rarely ever happened, something was definitely wrong, but he decided not to push-Edward didn't seem to be in the mood.

"I'm not hungry," Ed answered, his tone was cold. Al felt bad, but he didn't know why, he didn't do anything wrong.

"Ok..."

Edward wrapped himself up in his blanket, it was a big quilt that his mother had made for him, and put his head under his pillow, and listened to his brother make dinner, hoping to god that the purple bruise on his cheek would fade by morning, and that his little brother couldn't tell he was crying.

"Edward, come on, we're going to be late." Alphonse called to Ed, who was currently locked in the bathroom, doing god knows what-his hair, probably. As far as Al knew, Ed hasn't even eaten breakfast; he's just been in the bathroom.

"Just go on without me Al; I'm going to be a little late." Edward called back. He heard Al sigh then reluctantly leave. The blonde turned his attention back to the mirror, the sight alone made him wince. His bruise didn't get better overnight; in fact, it seemed to have gotten worse. His right cheek was purple and swollen, not something he could hide easily. He cursed silently at the man that had hit him; there was no need to be so damn rough...

Edward didn't have any make up to put on his bruise, so instead he would have to avoid Al as much as possible. He didn't care if everyone else saw him like this, but he couldn't bear it if Al saw and started to ask questions. Edward sighed, covered up his face with his bangs as much as possible, and exited the bathroom.

Principal Mustang was sitting at his desk, going through some paperwork. It was ten minutes until school officially started, and he didn't really do much until around second period, that's when the kids are awake enough to be assholes. A light tapping at his door made him look up from his paperwork. "Come in." He said, a little confused at who would be here before school even started.

The door opened and a young boy walked in that Roy didn't really know. "Good Morning, Sir, I'm Alphonse Elric."

Ah, that's why he didn't know the boy; he was one of the new students. "Take a seat, Mr. Elric. How may I help you?"

The boy sat down in a small black chair on the other side of Roy's desk. He seemed nervous, or upset, so the principal waited patiently for him to speak. "I um...I really don't know why I came here but...I'm just worried, Sir."

"About what?" Roy asked, leaning forward a bit to show his interest.

"My brother, Sir, Edward. You see...He came home late last night, and he's been coming home late for a while, but last night he was acting strange, and this morning he was locked in the bathroom and wouldn't let me see him...it's not like him. I guess what I was wondering was, if you can, try to keep an eye on him, and tell other teachers to do so as well? If you have the time, I'm sure you're too busy to be bothered with one insignificant student, but-"

"None of my students are insignificant." Roy stated, cutting him off. "I will do my best to keep an eye on him. I'll send out an email to the other teachers to send him to my office if they notice anything strange or wrong with him. Sound good?" Roy was a damn good principal, and he listened to his students and tried his best to keep them out of harm's way, and If Edward was getting into something that could be dangerous, he wanted to stop it before it got worse. Roy just hoped the boy wasn't doing drugs.

Alphonse smiled at his new principal (who was turning out to be much nicer than his last one) and stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Mustang. It really means a lot to me," and with that, he left. Roy smiled to himself, most of the kids in this school were selfish little bastards, and it was good to see someone care about another person.

Roy turned to his computer, and, just like he said he would, sent out an email to all of his staff members.

Hello and Good Morning,

This morning a junior by the name of Alphonse Elric entered my office. Apparently he is worried about his older brother, Edward Elric. If you see or hear anything strange/suspicious/anything that wouldn't be considered normal, please do not hesitate to send the boy to my office. Thank you for your cooperation.

Roy Mustang

He clicked the send button and hoped that Alphonse was just worried for nothing, and that he wouldn't have to see Edward Elric for any reason.