I immersed myself once more into the seemingly pointless classic that was Alchemy: The Beginning. It seems that after the fiftieth time of scanning it from cover to cover that the words inside seemed to blend into a single, impossible, riddle.

My first day of work for the State alchemists of Amestris would not become any easier, no matter how many novels I could read on the history of the Fuhrer or the criminals of Central.

I could not help but let a nervous sigh escape from my lips I my eyes wandered toward the shoulders of my new uniform. I was to be First Lieutenant Aikido Shiga, a somewhat obedient and excellently presented military dog.

But it didn't matter what others thought of me. I live for the chase and the thrill of war. At least I didn't have to face the glances of pity that were thrusted in my directions by the subordinate ranks. I had reputation and respect now. I had purpose.

I shrugged on my jacket and bent my hat forward as to cover my ruby eyes and sauntered out the house with a debatably confident look to my face. I couldn't help but worry about my appearance, until a scene of equally formal, black haired beings sauntering through the halls of Central Command. I couldn't resist the smile that I foolishly wore while walking to the office of the man I was to answer to. My superior. Colonel Roy Mustang.

I rapped my knuckles a few times on the glass door and was greeted by an almost metallic laughter and then that of a young man.

Before long a serious and rather hacked off 'Enter' reached my ears. I cautiously opened the door just wide enough for myself to enter and closed it behind me, standing idly by the entrance soon to be my exit.

A quick scan of the room led me to deduce three inhabitants of the room, including a young, blonde haired boy and someone of unknown personality wearing a metal suit. At the foot of the room was a man in his late twenties mopping up a glass of clear liquid from his table of many papers. I guessed that this caused the amusement but wondered how it happened.

"First Lieutenant Shiga?" brought me to reality and I realised my mouth was open and my eyes fixed in a dazed stare at the Colonel's desk. I tried to recover with a quick salute and replied hastily "Sir?"

"Ahh," he mused with a smile, pausing to chuck a wet rag into the bin beside him. "So you are the Building Block Alchemist himself," I nodded quickly without moving my hand and the blonde haired boy chuckled to himself.

I glanced at him, annoyed with his gesture of rudeness but silenced myself before I generated a suitable comeback. It wouldn't do to metaphorically dump all over my chances as of now, would it? No. Stupid question.

"Not replacing Hawkeye are we now Colonel?" The young man smiled. The colonel's cheeks went slightly red and he frowned at the apparently offensive comment. "If I didn't know any better Fullmetal, I would believe that you had some dusty books that needed attending to" his smile returned but it was malicious and the boy dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Me and Al were taking a break from it, hope you don't mind us being here" he recoiled and looked at his neighbour rather sheepishly. He hadn't said a word and came across as shy to myself; his name did ring a bell though.

I cleared my throat slightly "Sorry, but who, may I ask, are you?" By now my hand was by my side but I wished it was by my temple to try and show respect. The boy smiled and got up from his slouched posture on the couch to offer his hand. I took it, relief washing over me that he took it the right way, and shook it. His hand was slightly cold but I dismissed the perception, another question might push our relationship, if there was one.

"Edward Elric" He grinned and casually thrusted a thumb to the direction of the man in a mask. "His name is Alphonse Elric" My eyes wandered over to his relative, I guessed he was by the last name, and was met with a small head bow and I was taken aback by the contrast of these characters.

Another quick look around led me to believe that the serious look on the Colonels face meant he wanted my attention. Keeping the boys talking felt like a good defensive mechanism. "So you two are..." I started and waited for Edward to finish my sentence. "Brothers," The childlike grin still plastered his face and I started to feel slightly easier in his presence.

"Are you quite finished Lieutenant?" said a rather hacked off Mustang and I jumped slightly on the spot, releasing my grip on the boys' hand. "Sorry Sir!" I almost shouted and the ever faithful hand shot up to my temple, not to mention almost blinding myself in the process. He scanned my face thoughtfully for a minute and lifted up some papers, gesturing for me to come closer and examine them.

I walked to the end of the room and took one copy of the multitude of forms to read the print. But I couldn't help but notice the huff of the Elric boy as he deflated onto the seat behind me and I felt two holes being burned into the back of my head.

Luckily for me the Colonel stood up and declared "Do your jobs properly and efficiently and you won't have a problem" a glance to the boys "A lieutenant Hawkeye will help you for any minor enquiries and the rest can be handled by the higher ups" I nodded for him to see I understood so far, but I couldn't help but wonder the relationship between himself and a Mr Hawkeye. A stare met my eyes and I averted my gaze from his young face.

I bowed in signal that I was leaving and he grabbed my shoulder before I twisted. He made sure his mouth was directly at my ear and whispered "The Fullmetal Alchemist should be a priority of yours, if you see him in danger don't hesitate to help him" he got closer, if that was even possible and continued "He never willingly takes help, but he is just a kid and he is arrogant,"

I saluted quickly to him as he moved away and turned round to quickly bow to the two boys before hurrying toward the door for my, much anticipated, exit to the battlefield.

First day you really suck so far...