Chapter 35

A Chapter by Keevan

A month went by after that. Edward and Alphonse both helped me with my alchemy during that month, and I got better at it. I then demonstrated to them what amazing things alchemy could do, as in decompose your body into a shadow, which I did for them.

"That's so awesome!" Edward said excitedly as I re-formed. "How do you do that!?" I shrugged. I didn't really know either, but it was probably because alchemy was my "ultimate ability". A Homunculus thing. I couldn't tell him that.

"And you don't even need a transmutation circle!" Alphonse said. "You saw the Gate!"

And that was the first time I had ever heard of the Gate. It seemed insignificant then, so I brushed it off and shrugged again.

"Okay, I'm gonna try!" Edward said. He took off his red coat, and clapped his hands together, thus placing them on his chest.

The only thing that happened was that he formed a big hole in his shirt.

"Looks like your alchemy doesn't work the way mine does," I said. He grumbled, now annoyed, and said, "Let's move onto something else."

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I woke up one day to find my hair had completely changed color. Not to mention, a bittersweet taste was in my mouth. I got dressed, and that's when I realized my hair was darker than what it should have been.

I left my room and ran to the nearest bathroom, locking the door behind me. I stared into the mirror and almost screamed. My hair was supposed to be a brownish-reddish color that I always kind of liked. But now, it was an extremely ugly and dark brown color. The color of mud, but a little darker. And I had no idea on how I was going to explain it. ______________________________________________________________________________

I dyed my hair back to it's original color an hour later, and felt a little relieved that it looked normal, and no one had seen me with the dark hair. And the days that followed were extremely boring, because all of the assignments were stupid and insulting to our skills.

One of them was finding a fat woman's cat.

The next was helping an old man find his house.

Another one was helping a local bank count money.

And the one I hated MOST was having to "escort" Miss Rockbell back home to Resembool.

"Do I have to?" I complained to the colonel. He sighed and said, "Yes, you do. She's a friend of Fullmetal, and she requested to be taken home by him. And since you two are partners, that means you go, too."

"What about Alphonse?"

"He's staying here, just for trust reasons," he said. "If Fullmetal leaves his brother here, there's no doubt that he'd come back for him. It's a way we can keep tabs on him."

"In other words, you don't trust him," I said.

"Exactly," Mustang said, crossing his arms. "and quite frankly, I don't quite trust you, either. But, there's no way to make sure you come back, so Edward's keeping tabs on you while you go. We don't want a repeat of the last time, now, do we?" He glared at me. I shuddered and nodded.

Edward and I had to meet Winry at the train station. We found her, leaning against a wall with her toolbox at her feet, hand on her hip. When we got to her, she shouted annoyed, "Where have you been, Edward?! I've been waiting!"

"Sorry, we got held up," Edward said with a yawn. "I tried to beg the colonel to let Al come along, but no such luck. Damn colonel..."

"Why are you here?" she asked me, looking me up and down. I shrugged and lit a cigarette, keeping my expression blank.

"You can't smoke on the train," she said like a know-it-all.

"Thanks for the tip, Captain Obvious," I said, not looking at her.

"No problem, Lieutenant Sarcasm!" she shot back, clearly irritated that I had to tag along. She seemed different from when we first met. Then, she was afraid of me and wouldn't look at me or talk to me. Now it was exactly the opposite, except she was just plain annoyed with my presence.

On the train ride to Resembool, Edward brought up the idea of Winry and I spending a day together again.

"No," I said right off the bat.

"Why not?" Edward asked annoyed. "You two don't get along and you don't even know each other. Just take a day, I can guarentee that you'll become friends."

"I don't know, Ed," Winry said, flashing a glance at me.

"I'm not looking for friends, Fullmetal," I said, using Alphonse's excuse. I stared out the window, trying to ignore both Edward and Winry's glares. I sighed and said, "Edward, when did Colonel Mustang say to be back?"

"Tomorrow," he said. "We can stay with Winry and Pinako tonight. Oh, and there's some stuff I want to ask you later.

"I should have asked you sooner," he continued. "but it escaped my mind. And, since we're going to a place....connected with the questions....I thought I'd ask you later tonight after dinner."

He didn't explain it that well, but I knew what he wanted to talk to me about.

The Bad Man.

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