Ed snickered and shook his head. "So you guys are just born with these powers, right? And then do you study to improve them? How does it work?"

Osanna smiled a little and sat next to him. I hope my grandfather didn't scare you. He means well, he's just a little overprotective.

"It's... not really something I ever have to think much about," Naomi admitted. "It's just... normal. I've always been a half-breed, so I don't really know how to be anything else." Holding out one of her hands, she concentrated for a moment and created a small chunk of crystal-clear ice. "It's always there. I just have to think about what I want it to do."

"That's amazing," Al said, reaching over to poke at the chunk of ice cautiously.

"Not at all," Kurama replied. "It's understandable, really."

Ed nodded, looking at the ice. It was definitely food for thought. "Do you learn more things to do with it, or just whatever you can think of? What about your limits?"

Osanna nodded and sat there quietly, just watching everyone else. Hiei rolled his eyes; the fox needed another nudge. His foot "accidentally" caught Kurama in the side, pushing the fox a little closer to Osanna. Not that Hiei really cared what the two did, but it was easier to deal with Kurama when he wasn't repressing his curiosity.

"There are limits like no tomorrow," Naomi said. Closing her hand around the chunk of ice, she made it dissolve and vanish again. "I only have so much energy at my disposal, I can only control so much of my element at any one time, I only have so much endurance..." She shrugged. "Everything I can do, full-bloods can do better. I would get torn apart in a fight with one."

Kurama shot Hiei a half-hearted glare, but didn't move away from Osanna again.

"If I might ask," he said, trying to spark conversation with her again, "your grandfather mentioned he ran a business?"

Ed nodded. "Sounds a little like alchemy. There are lots of rules, and things you have to take into account, and even if you get really good there's always someone better than you."

Osanna nodded. Yeah, he has a couple, actually. He has a chain of restaurants that he runs, actually, along with a couple other less legal things.

"Everything's got rules," Naomi agreed. "Like I said, if I ever got into a fight with a full-blood, I'd get torn apart. Literally. Halflings aren't exactly... well-liked."

"It's good that he still finds time to visit you," Kurama said. "He looked like he really cares about you."

"Yeah, I know how that feels." Ed shrugged. "Their loss."

Osanna nodded again. He's my only remaining family, she wrote. He makes time to visit me as often as he likes.

"So what about the two of you?" Naomi asked, changing the subject slightly. "How's all this alchemy stuff work? Does it work the same way youki does?"

"Then it's good you have contact with him," Kurama replied. "You seem very close to Naomi, as well."

"Not exactly. Many alchemists have to draw the full circle and symbols to do what I did, but because of my arm I don't have to." Ed shrugged a bit. "It's not that complicated."

Osanna nodded with a smile at that. We grew up together, so we've been together for as long as I remember. We even went to the same school for a couple years. I don't have enough power to rank for a specialty school, but she did, so she was gone for two years with that, but other than that we're almost always together.

"But what is it?" Naomi asked. "You know, besides fascinating."

"Specialty school?" Kurama repeated, rereading the message to make sure he understood. He looked at Osanna. That was a new concept.

Naomi snorted slightly and leaned back so she could see them.

"Worst two years of my life," she commented.

"It's science," Ed said. He pulled over a piece of paper and started writing. "Look, this is what you'd need to make, say, a bowl. That's all alchemy is."

"How the hell do you know what she's writing?" Yusuke asked, looking over at Naomi with surprise.

Osanna grinned. If you rank high enough, Level 3 or higher, you go to a specialty school for your ability. Naomi went to an elemental school for two years.

Naomi grinned and glanced at Yusuke.

"I guessed," she said. "Obviously, she mentioned something about specialty schools, and I went to one." She rolled her eyes. "I barely pass for a Level Three." Turning back around, she looked at the complicated-seeming circle that Ed had drawn. "How does this make a bowl? It makes no sense!"

"It makes sense to me," Al commented, glancing at the array. It was perfect, as per usual from Ed.

"You get the necessary elements and components, put them in the middle of the circle, and then you make the bowl." Ed shrugged. "Hey Al, maybe we should show her how it's done."

Osanna looked up from her notebook, obviously curious about what the two were doing.

Al nodded.

"That's a good idea, brother," he said.

"It still makes no sense," Naomi said. She pointed to the array. "That's a drawing on the table. A drawing."

Ed scoffed but started looking around her house, gathering up things to use. He motioned to Al, pulling some chalk out of his pocket as he did and starting to draw. He would go through the whole process because he was showing someone else.

Naomi watched, fascinated. She really wanted to see how this was done and what exactly happened.

Kurama was interested, as well, and moved slightly to one side to get a better view. He tried not to notice when the side he moved to was closer to Osanna.

Even Hiei watched as the two set everything up on the floor.

Ed looked over at Al and nodded. A moment later everything swirled together, leaving a silver-colored flask on the floor.

Osanna's eyes were wide, and she leaned over Kurama just a little to see if moving three inches closer made it change.

Naomi's eyes were wide too.

"That's awesome," she said, leaning closer cautiously to get a better look. "You just went up about a thousand cool-points with that trick."

Kurama blinked and leaned in a bit closer, too. He'd never seen anything like that, and he was desperate to know exactly how it worked.

Ed smirked over at Al and started to clean up the chalk lines, picking up the flask and tossing it to Naomi. "See? I told you. It's just science."

Osanna blinked a few times before she leaned back.

"What the hell?!" Yusuke yelped. "That was not science! If that was I might have paid attention during school!"

Naomi caught the flask awkwardly, juggling it between her hands until she got a good grip on it. She turned it over, examining it. She tapped it with a finger.

"It seems solid enough," she said. "That was awesome." She handed it over to Osanna.

Osanna immediately tested the flask, tapping it a few times and listening to the little echo. She grinned, delighted.

Ed rubbed the back of his head with a grin. "Thanks," he said, going back to his seat.

Kurama leaned over to get a closer look at the flask. It definitely looked real, and it was solid. He still had no idea how it worked.

Naomi memorized as much about the flask as she could. It was a simple enough piece, not hard at all to re-create her own way. Holding out her hands, she concentrated on creating a replica of the flask. Slowly, the ice took shape. Within a few moments, an identical flask made of clear ice sat on the table.

Ed looked at the ice flask, a little surprised. "That's pretty good," he said, nodding.

Osanna handed the flask over to Kurama, having satisfied her own curiosity. That's cool. She held out the notebook to Ed, who grinned at her.

"That's part of what I learned in the specialty school," Naomi replied. "Like I said, though... I'm barely a Level Three, I only had just enough power to get into the school in the first place. My father is a Five, and I've only ever been within sensing distance of a Six once before."

Kurama accepted the flask and looked it over. It seemed well-made, which seemed odd considering it had been a pile of dust five minutes before.

"Okay, what the hell does Level 3 mean?" Yusuke demanded, apparently over the alchemy.

We're classified here by Levels. Level 6 is the highest level of demon there is, the strongest. Level 3 is average, 1 is low, and 0 is human. Osanna handed over the notebook to Yusuke.

Yusuke read quickly before he nodded. "Okay, that makes more sense."