KABLAM!!!!!!

"..."

"..."

"Um, the... stuff... blew up, grandpa." Adam told Dr.Sid. Lately, he had taken to calling the old scientist "grandpa". Which the doctor did not mind. Adam was like the little grandson he never had... and very cute at that, too.

Sid glanced at Adam, then immediately burst out laughing. The boy was covered from head too foot with the remains of the experiment, which had been ground liver and several other substances ( Non-dangerous, he had made sure of that). Apparently Adam had been carried away during the testing.

"Doctor, are you alright? We heard something explode in here..." Students and teachers who had been passing by crowded into the lab. What they saw immediately had them knocked off their feet and rolling on the floor laughing. A small boy, who was now unable to be told from a pink snowman, stood blinking confused at them, while the most respected doctor in the world was cracking up beside him. Shouts of "Muhaha!" and "Oh my god that is SO adorable!" could be heard. Even the sternest of the professors had to grin.

In a dull, strict place like the HMA, laughter like this was seldom heard. And, though Adam didn't know it, everybody was happy to have recovered their smiles -- genuine ones -- back, all to the credit of this small boy covered with ground liver.

And this little episode was how Adam was finally introduced to his friends in the HMA.
 

Adam shut the textbook with the problems he was working on. For the past two hours, he had been working on the homework that Grandpa aka Dr.Sid had given him. Though he had no clue to WHY he was doing these. Ah well. He guessed there was a point somewhere (not that he bothered to find it), so he merely complied. After all, he had a hell of a lot of time, didn't he?

Adam searched under his bed. Dr.Sid had gotten him a room in the schoolto stay in while it was decided what should be done with him. The room itself wasn't too big, but it was cozy. Not that he had very much to do.

Ah. There it is. Adam reached and pulled out a box from under his bed. Not much was in it, but this was his treasure box. He opened the lid.

Inside was a small wallet and a silver necklace. he took out the items.

First, the wallet. I had been a gift from his father on his seventh birthday. He hadn't carried much around in it; rather, he had kept small photos of his family tucked in its pockets. Now he was glad he did.

He had three photos altogether. One was of him and his twin sister, another of him and his parents, and the last of his whole family. He stared at the third.

He and his sister had been five then. The picture had been taken by a neighbor, capturing the scene where Adam and his sister had been playing soccer in their yard, while their parents were sitting on the porch steps watching them.

His sister. Evelyn had always been cheerful. She was older than him by three minutes, and they both had the same jet black hair and emerald green eyes. They would always go around playing harmless pranks on other people, and then run off together to avoid being caught. Happy days.... Something wet rolled down his cheek. He hurriedly wiped the tear away.

He picked up the necklace. The chain was silver, with a small platinun cross pendant hanging on the end. He and his sister both had one, given to them by their mother as far back as he could remember.

"No... Not again...." Adam whimpered, as memories of his beloved twin once again assaulted him. "Evelyn..."

Unable to contain himself any longer, Adam drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on his knees. And he cried.
 

Two hours later...
 

Gray knocked on Adam's door. "Adam, it's me. Are you in there?" He received no response, so he opened the door. "Adam...?"

His eyes instantly spotted the curled up form by the bed. He walked over to it. Adam was sleeping.

'He's been crying again...' Gray thought, as he lifted the boy and se him on the bed. He noticed the necklace the child was holding, as well as the photos on the floor. He picked them up. One had a younger Adam with a girl that looked exactly like him (sans hairstyle), one with Adam and two adults, and one with Adam and all three people in the two othr photos. Gray understood right away that these were Adam's family. He smiled sadly. Poor child.... He silently collected the photos and the necklace and put them in the box (also on the floor). He set it on Adam's desk, then quietly went out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
 

Meanwhile...
 

Aki typed away on her laptop. She had a report due tommorow for her bio history class, and she was almost finished. She was on her last two paragraphs when she heard a knock on her room door. She got up from her seat and opened it. "Yes?"

"May I come in?" Gray grinned. Aki smiled back. "Sure!"

"So, um, did you want something?" Aki asked, when the two were seated on her bed. She didn't know why, but these days she felt...strange... when around Gray. Not in the bad way, but...

"Nah, not really." Gray gave a laz grin toward Aki's way as he leaned back on the headboard. "Just thought I'd drop by." he then sat right back up. "No, actually, that's not right." He became serious. "I visited Adam a while ago... he was cryong again. I'm worried." He lookes at Aki's eyes. "I'm not sure if it's just me or no, but... does Adam seem a little thinner to you than when we first found him?" He asked.

"It's not just you. I noticed too." Grief destroys the spirit, as well as the body, she thought. Especially the mind of a child....

"Aki? Aki! Hey, Miss Ross!" Gray waved his hand in front of Aki's face, breaking her away from her thoughts.

"Hm? Ah, oh. Sorry. What did you say?" She asked, smiling apologetically.

"Uh, do you know why Adam is getting so thin? He eats all his meals but still..." He trailed off.

Aki was a bit startled. "He lost his family, Gray." "Yes, I realize that, I lost my parents too, but..."

"That's because you were strong. You told me yourself that you were fifteen when... well, you know. Adam is only nine."

Gray was confused, but he sort if got the idea. " Well... I guess that's true. " He murmured. "I just wish that I could make him feel better. It's been a short while, but he's like a little brother now, and..." He didn't finish.

"He's young. He'll recover in time. You and I both did." Aki said, trying to reassure the young man in front of her. It seemed that Gray cared a lot for the boy Adam. And she didn't want him sad.

'Now where did THAT thought come from?'