Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Twenty-One - Clues to Follow

A couple of days had passed since the arrival of Mustang and Hawkeye to the Seireitei. The two former military officers had settled in fairly well however Ed was doing everything in his power to avoid them.

Or, to be more precise, he was doing everything in his power to avoid Mustang.

After all he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was forced to be in the man's presence for unbearable lengths of time so he felt the need to mentally prepare himself for this.

"Where exactly are we going Nii-san?" Al asked as he followed his brother through the Seireitei. Ed had said that they were going for a walk but he had been elusive as to their exact destination.

"To the Rukongai," Ed replied shortly.

"And why exactly are we going there?" Al wanted to know. "We're supposed to meet with Captain Hitsugaya at noon."

"We'll be back in plenty of time for that," Ed said, waving his hand dismissively. He well remembered the fact that his temporary commanding officer had scheduled a meeting but he needed some time away before that.

"Is something the matter Ed?" Al was familiar with his brother's moods and could tell, even though the older boy was trying to hide it, that Ed wasn't in the best of moods.

Ed sighed as he continued to walk toward the gate that separated the Seireitei from the Rukongai. "I just wish that we could get this whole mess straightened out so that things can go back to the way they were."

"Hmm," Al said, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. "We'll figure out who's making the chimera Hollow and then we'll kick their butts."

Ed nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. He knew that Al was just saying that in an attempt to cheer him up but he appreciated the gesture none the less. His younger brother had always been the more optimistic of the two but the brothers balanced one another out nicely. "I know we will Al."

Al could tell that his words helped a small degree but he could also tell that Ed was still not completely over his foul mood. Maybe the walk would help him take his mind off of things. "So what are you most looking forward to once all this is over?"

"Going back to Squad Five," Ed replied without a moment's hesitation. "And kicking that guy Tomori's ass."

Al thought back to the Squad Five member who had been giving Ed a hard time ever since he'd joined the ranks of the Shinigami. He was also the reason why Ed had sought out the help of Captain Hitsugaya, which had lead to the duel fighting/alchemy lessons.

"You're still hung up on that?" Al asked, even though he wasn't surprised in the slightest. His brother had always been one to hold a grudge so it was only natural for this trait to carry on after death.

"Yes!" Ed exclaimed, clenching his hands into fists. "I'm going to knock that smug look off of his face if it's the last thing that I ever do."

Al couldn't help but smile at these words. They were almost the exact words that he'd once used in regards to Captain Hitsugaya. But thankfully the two of them seemed to have reached a tentative truce after the discovery of the modified Hollow.

Which was a good thing due to the arrival of Colonel Mustang.

Al wasn't sure if he could handle the yelling from all fronts. And no matter how diplomatic Hughes could be Al had the feeling that even that wouldn't be enough.

With Ed leading the way the two brothers made their way out to the very spot in the Rukongai where they had been found by the Shinigami upon arrival in Soul Society. Sitting down under a tree Ed pulled his legs toward his chest and wrapped his arms around them in a protective manner. The blond Shinigami placed his head upon his knees and stared ahead, seemingly lost in thought.

"This could be dangerous," Al thought to himself as he sat down beside his brother. This thoughtful side of Ed scared him and he made the decision to keep a close eye on the older boy.

Just in case.

The Elric brothers sat in silence for awhile, each lost in his own thoughts. They had been enduring one ordeal after another since their arrival in the Soul Society and Al found himself vaguely wondering what was going to happen to them next.

"Bad luck seems to follow us around," Al thought to himself with a sigh.

In the days to come Al would think back to these words and wonder if perhaps he had a bit of psychic power. For the very moment that he had the thought he saw a flaming ball fly through the trees toward them.

"Look out!" Al screamed as he knocked his brother out of the way.

Both of the Elric boys rolled across the ground, rising to face the smoldering remains of the tree that they had been leaning up against mere seconds before.

"What the hell?" Ed exclaimed in an irate voice. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the hilt of his zanpaktou. His searching gaze swept across his surroundings but he couldn't seem to locate his attacker.

"Someone's out to get you," Al muttered as he too drew his sword.

"You've got that right Shinigami boy," a sinister voice called out.

"Come out here and face me you bastard," Ed screamed, once again looking for any signs of the person that had attacked him and his brother.

He loathed people who attacked in such a cowardly manner.

"Have it your way."

A flash of light temporarily blinded the two youths and then, once their eyes adjusted, they saw two Hollow standing before them. These were smaller than the ones that they were accustomed to facing and had a more human appearance.

"That's the one that we're supposed to kill," the taller of the two snarled, pointing toward Ed.

"Oh great," Ed said as he held up his zanpaktou. Why was it that people always had issues with him? "I don't even know you guys and you still wanna kill me."

"Nothing personal," the shorter of the Hollow said, a sadistic grin appearing on his face. "Just orders."

"So who the hell ordered you to kill me?" Ed demanded as he activated his Shikai and held up his newly formed staff.

"I'm afraid that's privileged information," the taller Hollow snarled as he lunged toward Ed.

Ed sighed and twirled his staff, striking the Hollow across the face with the blunt end of the blade. He was hoping that if he beat the snot out of the Hollow then it would see fit to tell him who exactly had ordered this attack.

"Pitiful."

While Ed was occupied with the first Hollow the second of the pair decided that this would be the opportune time for him to attack. Holding up a pair of razor sharp claws he dashed toward the blond Shinigami boy.

"No you don't!" Al exclaimed, blocking the blow before it reached his brother.

"What the hell is wrong with you Elric?" an icy voice called out, causing Ed to pause mid swing and gaze up.

"Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

Ed watched as the by now familiar ice dragon struck both his opponent and the Hollow that Al was fighting. Both were knocked back and issued screams a second before they disintegrated.

"We could have taken care of it ourselves," Ed huffed as Hitsugaya came to stand in front of him.

"Sorry about that," Al apologized, bowing politely to the white haired captain. "Thanks for your help."

Hitsugaya nodded and turned his attention back to Ed. "You probably could have taken care of it," he admitted. "But we have a meeting."

"Damn it!" Ed exclaimed, having completely forgotten about the fact that he and Al were supposed to meet with the other members of the team.

"I expected you to forget," Hitsugaya said, rolling his teal eyes. "Now come on. We're going to train after the meeting."

"Train?"

"Mustang and Hawkeye need to learn to at least partially control their reiatsu," Hitsugaya said as he sheathed Hyourinmaru and began walking down the path toward the Seireitei. "And we all need to work on alchemy."

"Right," Ed said, realizing that they would need every advantage that they could get in order to beat the person responsible for the modified Hollow.

The trio walked in silence for a few minutes and then Ed drew up short, causing the other two boys to stop and stare at him in confusion.

"What is it Nii-san?" Al asked, slightly concerned for his brother.

"Those Hollow," Ed said, a thoughtful expression in his golden eyes as he thought back to the words the Hollow had spoken before the battle. "They said that they were ordered to kill me."

"By whom?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"They wouldn't tell me that part," Ed admitted. Then he narrowed his eyes. "But I might have been able to persuade them to cooperate if you hadn't killed them first."

"Doesn't matter," Hitsugaya said, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll find the person responsible. And I think that this might prove to be a useful clue."

"Glad to see that you're so worked up over the fact that someone wants me dead," Ed growled.

"Tch."

"And they're back to normal," Al thought to himself as they continued on their way toward the Seireitei. He wasn't sure if he was happy about this or not.

A little of both perhaps.

"So there are the slackers," Mustang said smugly as the trio entered the Squad Ten office.

"Shut it Colonel Sarcasm," Ed snapped as he walked across the room and sat down on one of the two sofas that were positioned in the center of the room. "You know, since I'm a Shinigami and you're not, in this world I outrank you."

"Keep dreaming pipsqueak."

"That's it!" Ed exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I'm killing him!"

"Calm down," Hitsugaya snapped, using every ounce of self control that he possessed not to freeze them both. "We have work to do."

Ed reluctantly sat down and the meeting commenced. Hitsugaya informed the group about everything that Squad Twelve had found out and then he made Ed recap his encounter with the Hollow in the Rukongai.

"So once again someone wants to kill you," Mustang said. "You really are a magnet for trouble Fullmetal."

Ed growled low in his throat but didn't bother to deny the accusation. Because as much as he disliked hearing it from Mustang the fact remained that it was true.

"So," Hitsugaya said, gazing at the assembled group. They weren't exactly the easiest people to work with but they all had fairly decent reiatsu, not to mention most of them were alchemists. Annoying or not these were the people most likely to defeat the unknown enemy. "Keep the things that we discussed here in mind as you go about your training."

An evil glint appeared in Ed's golden eyes as he thought about training. While he could sense that Mustang possessed reiatsu the colonel didn't know how to use it.

"This is gonna be fun," he thought to himself with an evil laugh.

"I don't like the looks of that," Al thought to himself as he gazed at the maniacal expression on his brother's face. "I wonder what he's planning."

Al thought about it for the briefest of moments and then reached a conclusion. "On second thought, I don't think I wanna know."

A/N - and there's another chapter. Hope that you enjoyed, please be kind and leave a review.