Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach.
Chapter Two - Finding a Place to Belong
After Hitsugaya had calmed somewhat from his encounter with the obnoxious boy in the Rukongai he decided that he should pay a visit to Head Captain Ukitake and tell him in person about the two boys. As much as he would like to explain the situation in a letter that he could have one of his subordinates deliver the young captain realized that this was not the responsible thing to do. The news of this boy would be better delivered in person. So, decision made, the young captain got to his feet, informed his vice-captain that he was leaving, and then made his way to Squad One.
When he arrived at the Squad One office Hitsugaya knocked lightly on the door, to announce his arrival. A few minutes passed and then a voice called out, "Enter."
Hitsugaya slid the door open and stepped inside the office.
"Oi it's Toushirou!"
Hitsugaya instantly bristled as he heard the new Squad Five Captain call out his name. His given name. No matter how many times the orange haired menace did that it never became less annoying. "Hitsugaya," the young captain snarled. Even though they were now even in rank, since Kurosaki had been given the title of Squad Five Captain after he defeated Aizen, it still annoyed Hitsugaya that the man insisted on referring to him so informally. At the very least he could use his last name. Hitsugaya cast a narrow-eyed gaze in the man's direction however Kurosaki merely offered him a goofy grin, completely unphased by his fellow captain's displeasure.
"One of these days," Hitsugaya thought to himself, clenching his hands into fists in an attempt to resist the urge to throttle Kurosaki. Captains were absolutely forbidden to fight one another however the orange haired Captain of Squad Five made him want to forget that particular rule just long enough to knock some sense into him.
"So what brings you to my office Toushirou?" Ukitake asked the young captain, recognizing the deadly look in the boy's teal eyes as he gazed over at Kurosaki.
"Sorry sir," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice, turning his full attention to the Head Captain. It was at this point that Hitsugaya realized that the Head Captain could have had some important business with Kurosaki. "I didn't mean to interrupt. . ."
Ukitake held up his hands, halting the boy's apology mid sentence. "Don't worry about it Toushirou, it wasn't anything important. So what's up?"
"Well," Hitsugaya said, attempting to recall the earlier incident without reliving the anger that the blonde haired boy's words had evoked. "Matsumoto and I were returning from our mission when we heard shouting coming from the direction of the Rukongai. A surge of reiatsu accompanied the shouting so we decided to check things out for ourselves."
"And?" Kurosaki prompted when Hitsugaya paused his story briefly.
Hitsugaya frowned however he continued the story without comment. "We found two boys wandering around the Rukongai and I believe that one of those boys was the source of the reiatsu."
Ukitake nodded, glad that Hitsugaya had told him about the new arrivals. Everyone was still on edge from the Winter War with Aizen and no one wanted to take any unnecessary chances. The Head Captain held a thoughtful expression in his eyes for a few moments and then he abruptly got to his feet. "We should go and find out what those two boys are capable of."
Kurosaki nodded his head in agreement, seeming eager for the trip to the Rukongai. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, was more reserved. He'd already seen more of the boy than he wanted to and a repeat performance of the scene earlier did not appeal to him in any way.
"Come on Toushirou," Kurosaki said, stepping over to the spot where the white haired captain was standing and throwing an arm around his shoulder. "It could be fun."
"Get your damn hand off me Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya snapped, taking a couple of steps back away from his fellow captain.
"Okay, okay." Kurosaki was holding his hands up in a placating gesture however there was a smirk on his face. "Calm down, I didn't mean anything by it." The smile the orange haired captain wore on his face belied his words of apology however.
Hitsugaya didn't look convinced but he chose not to comment.
Ukitake had watched all of this unfold with a calm expression and now that it seemed to be over he spoke up. "Come on. Let's take a little trip out to the Rukongai."
Hitsugaya was still less than anxious to see the blonde kid again however it seemed to him that he was out numbered. The young captain shrugged his shoulders in defeat and then fell into step behind Head Captain Ukitake and Kurosaki.
"Nii-san," Al spoke up, breaking the silence that had enveloped the two brothers for the past couple of hours.
"Yea Al," Ed said, opening his eyes and gazing over at his brother. Al was sitting in front of the makeshift tent that the siblings had constructed and he had a thoughtful expression in his kind, gray eyes. "What's on your mind?"
"I was just thinking about this world," Al said in a quiet voice, gazing around at his surroundings before focusing back on the familiar face of his brother. "I'm curious to find out more about it."
"You and me both," Ed said, gazing down at his hands. He still couldn't get used to the fact that he had both of his hands once more and this fact alone was enough to tell him that he and his brother were no longer among the living. Not that being dead seemed to be all that bad except for the stupid nature hike and the disturbing lack of food. Ed's stomach began to growl at the very thought of food. "Man," he groaned, clutching his stomach and making an awful face. "I'm starving."
"So you really do have reiatsu," a voice called out from a short distance away, joining the conversation without having been invited.
Ed glanced up and watched as three people stepped into the clearing where he and Al had made their campsite. One was the angry, white-haired boy from earlier however the other two were completely new faces. One was an older man who also had white hair and the other was an orange haired boy who appeared to be around Ed's own age, although regrettably he was taller. All three of them were wearing the same white coats, although the older man's had sleeves while the other two didn't, and Ed vaguely wondered whether they had some special significance.
"Excuse me," Al spoke up, surprising everyone including himself. He usually wasn't the outgoing one however he wanted to know about this strange world that he and his brother found themselves in and he had the feeling that this group would be able to answer their questions. This made him decide to speak up before Ed had the chance to offend their guests.
The white haired man turned kind eyes to Al. "Yes?"
"Can you maybe tell us where we are sir?" Al asked in a quiet and polite voice, his gaze hopeful.
"You're in District Five of the Rukongai," the man replied. "Which is located in Soul Society."
"Soul Society?" Al repeated. He turned to face his brother. "See, I told you it was the after life."
"And you were right," the man said, regaining Al's attention. "My name is Jyuushirou Ukitake and I came here from the Seireitei in search of you boys. I was told that the two of you have high reiatsu and needed to discern the truth of that for myself."
"Seireitei," Al said, still confused. He hadn't understood the strange words that were being spoken by the white-haired stranger. "Reiatsu?"
Ukitake nodded, not really surprised that they knew nothing of the Seireitei or even the spiritual powers that they themselves possessed. "The Seireitei is the location inside of Soul Society where the Shinigami live and reiatsu is your spiritual energy."
"And you think we have, what did you call it, spiritual energy?" Ed asked, doubt evident in the tone of his voice.
Ukitake nodded.
"Yea right," Ed scoffed, shaking his head at the absurdity of that statement.
"You sound doubtful," Kurosaki said, gazing over at the blonde haired boy. "You're hungry aren't you?"
"Well yea," Ed admitted, clutching his stomach as it once again gave a ferocious growl.
"Well hunger in this world is a sign of reiatsu," Kurosaki explained. "Most souls do not have enough reiatsu to cause hunger but for those with higher levels of power food is required. You seem to be among the latter."
Ed still did not look convinced.
"What an idiot," Hitsugaya muttered, his gaze focused on Ed.
"You again!" Ed snapped, an identical look of annoyance appearing in his golden eyes as his gaze fell upon the white-haired boy from earlier. "You rude little. . ."
"Don't make me have to kill you," Hitsugaya threatened, his hands clenched into fists. A blue aura grew around the young captain and at the same time an icy wind began to blow around the group.
"As if a little runt like you could hurt me," Ed said, not even remotely concerned by Hitsugaya's threat, and seemingly oblivious to the irony of his own words. An almost identical blue aura grew around Ed as he gazed over at Hitsugaya.
"Why you. . ."
"Wow," Kurosaki thought to himself as he felt the electricity caused by the two boys' reiatsu. "Those two could do some serious damage."
"Alright," Ukitake called out, placing a restraining hand out and halting Hitsugaya's advance toward the blonde boy. "You two can bond later, for now we have more pressing matters to attend to. I think that you boys should come to the Seireitei so that your powers can be assessed. I have no doubt that you have the potential to become Shinigami."
"And Shinigami are?" Ed asked.
"Shinigami are the ones charged with protecting the souls of the living from Hollow and performing Konso in order to send them to Soul Society," Ukitake explained. "And Hollows are lost souls that prey upon normal souls which haven't yet made it to Soul Society."
"Hmm," Ed said in a thoughtful voice.
Al turned to his brother, a questioning look in his eyes. Ed knew the question that his younger brother didn't ask however he was hesitant to follow this group. He still wasn't sure if he believed the words that the man had said however he couldn't deny that he was curious.
"Come on Nii-san," Al said, picking up on his brother's hesitancy. He knew that Ed had issues trusting people however for some reason he believed the words that the white-haired man had spoken and thought that they should go with the group.
"Alright," the elder of the Elric siblings said after a few minutes' debate, getting to his feet. Al quickly joined him. "We're game."
"Excellent," Ukitake said while Kurosaki offered the two boys a smile and Hitsugaya groaned.
Ed and Al fell into step behind the group from the Seireitei and together the five made their way through the Rukongai. Ukitake, Kurosaki, and Al were all silent during the trek back to the Seireitei however Hitsugaya and Ed both muttered darkly to themselves.
As Ed and his brother followed the group of strangers through the forest Ed realized for the first time that the white coats they were wearing weren't all the same, as he had first thought. Each of them had a number and the numbers were all different; the white haired man's had the number one, the orange haired youth's had the number five and the white haired youth's had the number ten. "What the hell is up with that?" Ed thought to himself, wondering why they were numbered. "Hey guys," Ed spoke up, overwhelmed by his curiosity. "Where exactly is the rest of your group?"
"What do you mean?" Kurosaki asked, glancing over his shoulder at the blonde haired boy.
"The coats you're wearing," Ed said. "Numbers one, five and ten. I was just wondering where the others were."
"Oh that," Kurosaki said. "The haoris that we're wearing signify our rank as captain. There are thirteen squads and Ukitake is captain of Squad One, I'm captain of Squad Five, and Toushirou over there is captain of Squad Ten."
"Hitsugaya!" the white haired youth snapped in annoyance.
"Right," Kurosaki said, making no move to correct himself.
"I see," Ed said, his gaze focused on Kurosaki. "So you guys are members of some military organization?"
"You could say that," Ukitake said, joining the conversation. "We're all captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, which guard the Seireitei, Soul Society and the world of the living."
"Well that's kinda cool," Ed said.
"I'm glad you think so," Ukitake said in a kind tone of voice. "Since I have the feeling that both you and your brother are going to turn out to be Shinigami. We'll have to test your powers of course but since your reiatsu is what alerted us to your presence in the Rukongai in the first place I have the feeling that this is going to turn out to be merely a formality."
Ed was silent as he contemplated the words of Ukitake. So he and his brother had the potential to become Shinigami, which according to the words of the strangers, fought to protect the souls of the living from monsters called Hollow. Ed wasn't sure whether or not he believed their story however his curiosity had been aroused and he wanted to find out for himself.
Head Captain Ukitake led the way to the Squad One barracks and once the group arrived there he turned his attention to the two boys from the Rukongai. "You two can stay the night here at Squad One and in the morning we'll assess your abilities and take action accordingly."
Al bowed politely to Ukitake. "Thank you sir."
"Hey," Ed spoke up. "Do you think we could maybe get something to eat?"
"Nii-san," Al said, turning reproachful eyes to his brother and shaking his head.
Ukitake smiled and nodded. "Of course."
Thoroughly tired of the blonde haired boy's irreverent attitude Hitsugaya turned and walked away. He'd informed the Head Captain of their presence in Soul Society and had even gone so far as to travel to the Rukongai to get them and felt that he'd done more than his duty. There was no need for him to stick around and endure further torture.
"Oi Toushirou!" Kurosaki called out, jogging over to join Hitsugaya. "Wait up."
"Hitsugaya," the young captain snapped, turning his gaze toward Kurosaki. "And what the hell do you want Kurosaki?"
"Just to talk," Kurosaki replied as the two captains walked away from Squad One. Hitsugaya was taken back by the words of the orange haired captain and he gazed up at Kurosaki in confusion. "So tell me, honestly, what do you think about those two?"
Hitsugaya pondered the question for a few minutes before he replied, "Despite my personal feelings, they definitely have potential. Just how much remains to be seen."
"Hmm," Kurosaki said.
TBC. . .
A/N- and there's chapter two. this was kinda fun to write and I hope that you enjoyed it. hopefully it won't be too long before chapter three is up but I make no promises. until next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.