Keeping My Brother
Genre: Crossover
Universe/s: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.
Spoiler Warnings: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but
references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end
of the FMA storyline.
Chapter 3 : If I've Seen Your Face...
Somehow, they had adamantely stayed away from discussing anything to do with what had just happened, in the sense of Dante, the Ishi, Ed having effectively died, Ed offering himself to bring Al back... Being in a strange new world had helped decide the topic of conversation. Fortunately where they were now seemed to speak and write with pretty much the same language, although if they kept quiet and evesdropped on the passing foot traffic, they realized that understanding the basic words being spoken most certainly did not equate to comprehension of the topic. They marveled at the architecture, building materials, city layout, cars, people, fashion, and everything in the store windows. They had, of course, never seen television, cell phones, or a computer, and when they came to a store that sold all three of these things, they could not help but stop and gape at the display until the cat reaquired their attention by biting Ed's ankle.
After a while, the two realized that their conversations had boiled down to pointing out everything they didn't recognize and agreeing it was amazing and unbelievable. So they lapsed into silence.
Ed broke it. "Well, we know this cat is definately keeping tabs on us. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention at all so I have no idea where we are now, in relation to where we started."
"Everything looks so similar in its strangeness... we could have passed by the same place two or three times and I'm not sure I would have noticed."
Ed noticed that Al was a little short on breath. "Daijoubu?"
Al grinned. "Heki, heki. I'm just getting used to the way a real body moves again."
Ed had begun to pay attention to the people, always present around them but never particularly crowded. "Sometimes they look at us, I guess we are dressed very strangely for this place."
Suddenly Al put a hand to his stomach, and Ed heard it growl. "Wow... I'd forgotten what it was like to feel hungry, mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Eh... heh. I guess I was always hungry, in a sense... eager to follow the path we'd started walking... eager to finish it and get back to normal. I mean, it's not the same as an empty stomach kind of hunger, but... the empty part matches." They came to a small grocery store that stocked fruit and vegetables outside, and both boys eyed the food and drug their feet as they passed, and sighed.
"I hope this cat has an owner that will feed us," Ed complained. The cat in question, without halting, turned back to look at Ed for a moment.
"Eee... I think she just glared at you, Nii-san." Al's voice sounded worried, and it struck Ed again that no matter how many times he had heard Al's worried voice in the past, it just sounded better here, this way. He couldn't keep the happiness off his face.
"What makes you think it's a she?"
"I don't know... just, kinda seems right."
Finally they turned down what seemed to be a more residental street. "Wow, if she lives in a house like this, maybe we won't have to worry about sleeping outside tonight." The setting sun made their shadows long, and street lamps began to flicker on as the boys passed them. Nevertheless, they walked through many walled residental streets until the sun was gone and the temperature started dropping. Al folded his arms to keep as much heat inside the cotton shirts he wore, while Ed clenched his hands and realized how used he had gotten to wearing those white gloves. "Heh, I guess I negotiated with the Gate to get my jacket, at least." After a moment's pause, he felt compelled to add, "Don't really remember much of the transaction..."
A few seconds later, Al replied quietly, "Yeah... me too." Ed wondered if Al also had the phantom memories flit on the edge of his conciousness like irritating moquitoes. Ed also kept to himself that this place in nearly no way resembled the war-scarred glimpse of the Other World he had seen before. It was almost as if... that world had matured, a lot. A whole hell of a lot.
After what seemed like an hour since they left the park/construction area, Ed and Al finally seemed to be nearing a shop. In the intermittant light of residental street lamps, the light through the windows of the shop made it seem both inviting and out of place. They could see two small children in front of the shop with brooms, a girl and a boy. The girl's soft voice barely reached the two brothers, but the boy's boisterous call that accompanied his wild swings was clearly heard: "Urusai! This is the soccer that men go crazy for!"
Where the light that spilled from the shop warred with the dusk, the cat stopped. The two brothers stopped too, and eyed the inside of the shop. Ed wasn't sure he could have categorized what the Urahara Shop sold... some of it looked like jarred candy, some of it looked like personal care products, most of it he wasn't sure if he couldn't identify because he came from such a different culture, or if even someone from this same culture would know with a glance what was being sold. But that one shelf there definately looked like food. Processed and packaged and he didn't know if he would recognize the ingredients, but it looked edible. He took a step forward.
The cat turned her face towards him, and very quietly but perfectly audibly said, "Stay here."
The Elric Brothers' jaws fell and their minds raced as the green-eyed black cat slowly sauntered towards the quiet broom girl, sat at her feet, and let out a 'mraaaw'.
"Chi... chimera?" Ed mumbled. But, it would have to be nearly perfect... more perfect than any one ever made before. "But... if this world can't use alchemy... then how?"
A man in a green coat and wooden geta and a green striped wide-brimmed hat stepped out of the store and exclaimed, "Isn't this Yoruichi You're back!" and scooped up the cat as though it were a baby.
Al muttered, "Yoru...ichi?"
At that moment, the green-coat man looked over at the brothers, and said, "And you brought company. And I bet all three of you have empty stomachs, don't you."
"Is he talking to us or the cat?" Ed whispered.
"I'm talking to you! The shorter one, aren't you the older one?"
Ed immediately disintigrated into anger and charged the man. "Who are you calling so short he needs a ladder to reach the top shelf?"
The man just smirked, shifted Yoruichi and put out his hand, and caught Ed by the forehead. The smirk changed to surprise when the force of the impact caused him to take a couple steps back. Ed was close enough now to hear the cat smirk and jump to the ground. He straightened up and looked up at the man, aware that a massive shape had appeared in the store's doorway, bearing what looked like a saucer and a jar of milk. He heard Al's footsteps pad up behind him, but still he kept his gaze fixed on the shade under the man's hat. He felt he was being sized up, And if he dares make another chibi joke, so help me, I will-
"You see it, Urahara." The cat spoke again as she walked up to the hulk of a man who was pouring the milk into the saucer.
"I see many things, which one are you referring to?"
Yoruichi took a few laps of milk before replying. "The Reiraku. You ever seen one that color before?"
Urahara may have raised an eyebrow, but he definately reached out with one upturned hand towards Ed's left shoulder. Ed took a step back. "Eh," Urahara said, "you think I'm going to hurt you? That's not how we treat visitors to our world." Ed's eyes opened in surprise, and Urahara's hand seemed to tentatively grasp and test the texture of something about eight inches in front of Ed's shoulder, something Ed couldn't see. "Of course, he continued, we're not exactly accustomed to having visitors of your... origin."
"Your... world?" Al's voice was quiet but just as stunned as Ed was, when he first saw a zepplin. To him, it only seemed a matter of a few hours, half a day at most. No wonder he was hungry. So much happens so fast... so much to find out, explain.
Urahara's hand dropped whatever he'd had a hold on, and motioned for Al to step forward a bit more. He repeated a shorter version of the texture-testing in front of Al's left shoulder, then turned and walked back in the store. And crossed his arms, and was silent. The large dark-skinned man replenished the saucer of milk, then stood and disappeared into the back of the shop. And still Urahara was silent. The boy with the broom fidgeted. Ed's stomach took that moment to let out a prolonged growl. Embarrased, he put his hand over his stomach.
"Jinta, Ururu." The broom children stepped forwards, and Urahara addressed them in a language Ed didn't recognize. They acknowledged and also darted off to the back of the store. Then he addressed the brothers. "Well, welcome to Earth, I hope you like your stay. At the risk of gaining two more stray cats, I invite you in for dinner and conversation, but from the sound of it, not both at once. Come, follow me, and leave your shoes in front of the tatami mats. Not sure if they have that custom where you're from."
Al smiled and stepped into the store. "Arigatou gozaimasu!" And he put his hands in front of his lap and bowed.
Urahara, already de-sandaled and on the step, threw back his head and laughed. "Well, I see they bow where you're from too, but kami no tame ni, keep your arms by your sides and don't bow like a girl, unless there's something about you I don't see and don't want to."
Furiously blushing, Al moved his arms to his sides and bowed again, deeper than the first, then slipped off his shoes and stepped up. Ed also bowed a little, not wanting to be too outdone, then sat to unlace his boots.
Yoruichi looked up. Urahara. "Who are you first calling a stray cat, if you don't want to gain two 'more'?"
Ed decided he would invest effort into not angering the cat.
Urahara paused, then with a glint in his voice, answered, "Jinta!" Then disappeared around the back wall. Yoruichi went back to the last of her milk. Ed shed his boots and followed his brother.