Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Four - The Test

A couple of days had passed since his encounter with the two boys in the Rukongai and Hitsugaya had finally managed to forget that any of it had occurred. It had taken a great deal of meditation however he'd finally been able to banish the sight of the obnoxious boy from the Rukongai from his mind. The young captain was sitting at his desk in the Squad Ten office, idly thumbing through a stack of paperwork that he'd bullied Matsumoto into completing, when he heard a knock on the door. Glancing up from the papers Hitsugaya called out, "Come in."

The door of the office slid open and some random Shinigami that Hitsugaya didn't recognize stepped inside. The man walked the short distance across the office to Hitsugaya's desk and then sank to one knee in a respectful bow. "Captain Hitsugaya, I bring a message from Head Captain Ukitake."

Slightly surprised by the show of respect and vaguely thinking to himself that this must be one of the recent Academy graduates Hitsugaya said, "So what's the message?"

"The Head Captain requests your presence in the Squad One courtyard in one hour," the Squad One member replied.

"Right," Hitsugaya said, hoping against hope that this summons didn't have anything to do with the blonde haired menace from the Rukongai. "I'll be there."

The Squad One member nodded as he got to his feet, bowed respectfully to the young captain, and then left the office.

"I wonder what this is all about," Hitsugaya thought to himself as he watched the door of his office slide shut. Shrugging to himself the young captain went back to proof-reading his vice-captain's paperwork. He would find out soon enough what Ukitake wanted with him so there was no use dwelling on it now.

"Captain!

Hitsugaya was once again jarred from his thoughts as the door of his office was thrust open and his vice-captain waltzed in, a wide grin on her face. Sighing in resignation Hitsugaya pushed the papers to the side, fully realizing that he wasn't going to get anything accomplished with all of these interruptions. "What do you want Matsumoto?"

"Oh nothing really," his vice-captain said in a sing-songy voice, tossing a lock of her strawberry blonde hair behind her back and plopping down on the sofa.

Hitsugays growled under his breath and glared at his subordinate. "So you just felt the need to interrupt me for no reason?"

Matsumoto opted not to verbally reply to this question from her captain and instead offered him a wide smile.

"Why do I even bother?" the young prodigy thought to himself as he messaged his temples with the tips of his fingers. He could already feel the beginnings of a headache and it was still early in the day. This did not bode well for the captain of Squad Ten.

An hour later, on the dot, Hitsugaya arrived at the Squad One courtyard and as he walked through the gate it was to find a trio of people awaiting his arrival. Head Captain Ukitake was there of course and Hitsugaya was forced to stifle a groan as his gaze fell upon the two boys from the Rukongai.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Hitsugaya thought to himself as he walked slowly toward the spot where the Head Captain was standing. The young captain forced his face to remain impassive, even as he was wondering what exactly he'd done to deserve this level of punishment, and when he reached Ukitake he came to a stop and said, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes," Ukitake said, picking up on the subtle hints that Hitsugaya wasn't overly happy with the situation but chosing to ignore them. He was convinced that this was the best way to bring out Edward's powers. "I need your help with something Toushirou."

The young prodigy was almost afraid to ask but he had to know. "And what exactly is it that you need help with?"

Ukitake gestured toward the blonde haired boy who was standing with his brother a couple of feet away. "It seems that Edward is unable to consciously control his reiatsu. We've attempted kidou several times, all to no avail. Since you're the one who caused his flair of reiatsu the previous time I was thinking that perhaps if you engaged him in combat you may be able to force it out of him again."

Hitsugaya was at a loss. "You mean you want me to fight him?"

"Not a serious fight," Ukitake was quick to say, remembering that the two boys' relationship hadn't exactly gotten off to a stellar beginning. "I'm convinced that he just needs a little nudge in the right direction. He's been studying the usage of kidou for the past couple of days and now it's time for practical skills, so to speak."

Smirking Hitsugaya placed his hand to the hilt of the zanpaktou that he was wearing secured across his back and drew Hyourinmaru. Then, once he was holding his four foot long sword out in front of him, he turned to face the blonde haired boy named Edward, the smirk still on his face. A blue aura grew around Hitsugaya and an icy wind began to blow across the courtyard.

"Oh I am so wiping that smirk off his face," Ed muttered under his breath as he clenched his hands tightly into fists, hating the smug expression that Hitsugaya had on his face and vowing to do something about it.

"But Nii-san," Al said, reaching out quickly and grabbing his brother by the upper arm. "You can't even use your powers and he's a captain." Al had also done some research during their brief stay inside the Seireitei and he knew exactly what you had to be able to do in order to be a captain and although he didn't understand all of the terminology he knew without a doubt that it wasn't an easy thing to accomplish.

"I don't give a damn what he is," Ed said loudly as he took a couple of menacing steps toward Hitsugaya. "I'm going to kick his ass."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at this statement and sheathed Hyourinmaru. "I've changed my mind. You're not even worth the use of Hyourinmaru."

"Why you. . ."

"Hey," a voice called out from the gate of the courtyard. "What exactly is going on? I felt Toushirou's reiatsu and. . . " It was at this moment that Kurosaki's eyes fell upon Ed and his question was answered without a word from Ukitake. "O---oh, I see."

The orange haired Captain of Squad Five quickly jogged over to the spot where Head Captain Ukitake was standing. "So what exactly is going on Ukitake?" There was a look in his eyes that said plain as words, 'can you see what's about to happen?'

"Just a little test," Ukitake said calmly, although he was far from certain that this little experiment of his would turn out okay for all concerned.

"Okay," Kurosaki said, deciding that there was nothing to do but trust the judgement of the Head Captain. "But I hope you know what you're doing."

"You and me both," Ukitake thought to himself although he didn't make any reply.

Hitsugaya and Edward faced off against one another, each sizing up the other, and then the young captain abruptly raised his hands and Edward watched in horror as a ball of red energy flew from the boy's hands and came toward him.

"What the hell!" Edward exclaimed as he barely managed to jump out of the way of the attack, which slammed into the ground where he'd been standing only moments before.

"It's kidou," Hitsugaya said, still wearing the same maddening smirk. "Which is what Head Captain Ukitake has been trying to teach you for the past three days."

Edward stared at the burnt spot on the ground however his attention was brought back to Hitsugaya when he felt the energy building up once more. His golden eyed gaze shifted back to Hitsugaya and he saw blue energy gathering around his hands. "Now what?" he thought to himself as he prepared to dodge whatever attack the kid chose to launch at him.

Kurosaki turned to Head Captain Ukitake as Hitsugaya unleashed Pale Fire Crash on his hapless opponant. "I don't think this is such a good idea. I don't think things are going so well for Edward."

"We'll give it a few more minutes," Ukitake said in a quiet voice, his eyes never once leaving the two boys who were engaged in battle. He wasn't all that worried about Edward because he'd noticed something that Kurosaki apparently had not. Hitsugaya wasn't actually aiming at Edward but instead was directing his attacks to land beside the other boy.

Kurosaki shrugged and focused his attention back to the two combatants.

Ed's thoughts raced as he dodged several attacks from the white haired boy who seemed intent upon killing him and he recalled one of the so called spirit chants that Ukitake had taught him in order to control kidou. Ed opened his mouth to say the chant however his words were stopped before they even exited his mouth by yet another kidou blast.

"This is seriouly pissing me off!" Edward yelled as he dodged this latest attack from Hitsugaya, a blue aura beginning to surround him. After he dodged the attack he whirled around to face his opponant, held up his hands, hurriedly spit out the one chant that he could remember and watched in shocked amazement as a ball of red energy shot from his own hands.

Ukitake nodded his head in approval as he witnessed Edward use one of the many kidou attacks that he had attempted to teach the boy. Red Flame Cannon was one of the more basic attacks however the fact that Edward had successfully performed it gave the Head Captain hope that he would be able to master the more difficult moves soon.

"Well," Kurosaki said as he watched Hitsugaya dodged Ed's attack and counter with one of his own. "Three days in the Seireitei and he's already ahead of me."

"I keep telling you that you should learn kidou," Ukitake told the orange haired captain.

"I know," Kurosaki said with a shrug, thinking about all the work he'd have to do in order to learn to use kidou. The Squad Five Captain shuddered at the very thought and since he hadn't exactly wanted to become a captain in the first place there was no way he was going to work extra hard to be good at the job. "But it's just not worth my time."

"Dammit!" Ed exclaimed as he dodged yet another attack from Hitsugaya. Sliding to a stop and kicking up a massive amount of dirt Ed once more used the only attack that he seemed capable of pulling off and he watched as the red ball of energy soared toward Hitsugaya.

The young captain allowed the attack to come within mere inches of hitting him before he dodged the attack effortlessly using his flash-step. Hitsugaya smirked at the blonde boy one more time before launching yet another kidou blast in his direction.

Ukitake knew what was going to happen a split second before it actually unfolded before his eyes. As before Hitsugaya was aiming at a spot beside Edward however this time the blonde boy was about to dodge in the wrong direction.

Ed jumped to the side, in an attempt to avoid Hitsugaya's attack, however once again he zigged when he should have zagged and the kidou blast made contact. Ed flew through the air and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

All eyes focused on the limp form that was lying on the ground and Hitsugaya's eyes were wide in disbelief. Sure the boy was an absolute pain in the neck but he hadn't meant to actually hurt him.

"Nii-san!" Al shouted as he dashed across the courtyard and dropped to his knees beside the spot where his older brother was laying. Holding out his hand Al watched as his brother was enveloped in a golden light and the wounds caused by the kidou blast began to heal.

After only a few moments Ed sat up and he gazed over at his brother in shock. "Al. . ."

"I have no idea what I just did," Al exclaimed, gazing down at his hands in shocked amazement. The golden aura had faded, leaving nothing behind to explain what exactly had happened.

"Alright," Ukitake called out, gaining the attention of the three youths out on the battlefield. "I think we've gathered all of the information that we require from this little exercise."

Al held out his hand and pulled his brother to his feet and together the two boys made their way back over to the spot where Ukitake and Kurosaki were standing. Hitsugaya joined the group moments later and as soon as they were all assembled in the same location Ukitake turned his gaze toward the two non Shinigami of the group. "This proves that you both possess fairly strong reiatsu and if you're willing I propose that you begin attending classes at the Shinigami Academy immediately."

"The Shinigami Academy?" Al repeated.

Ukitake nodded. "At the Academy you'll learn the skills you'll need as a Shinigami."

"What do you think Nii-san?" Al asked, turning his attention to his older brother.

After the use of kidou in the fight with Hitsugaya, Ed was determined to learn to fully control these strange powers that he seemed to be in possession of and he nodded his head. "I think we should go to the Academy. It's not like we have anything better to be doing with our time. I'm always up for learning something new."

"Then it's decided," Ukitake said, offering the two boys a smile. "Tomorrow the two of you will officially be students of the Shinigami Academy. Until then you're both free to do what you want."

Ed and Al both nodded and together they left the Squad One courtyard.

Once Ed and Al had left the Squad One courtyard Ukitake turned toward Hitsugaya. "Thanks for your help Toushirou."

"Don't mention it," Hitsugaya said, having actually enjoyed firing kidou blasts at the boy from the Rukongai.

"And thank you for going easy on him," Ukitake said with a smile. "I noticed that you were aiming your attacks at the ground beside Edward instead of directly at him."

Kurosaki's jaw dropped in surprise. How exactly had he missed something like that?

"Hmph," Hitsugaya said with a shrug, his voice gruff and his teal eyes narrowed. "It wasn't as though he was a worthy opponant or anything."

"If I didn't know better I'd think Toushirou actaully enjoyed torturing that boy," Kurosaki said, gazing down at the white-haired captain with one eyebrow upraised.

"Hitsugaya," the prodigy snapped, glaring at his fellow captain as though he'd like nothing better than to blast Kurosaki where he stood.

"You're dismissed," Ukitake said, breaking up the fight before it had a chance to break out. Shaking his head he watched as both Hitsugaya and Kurosaki walked away, the former surrounded by a vast aura. When would the boy learn that Kurosaki wouldn't enjoy taunting him nearly as much if he just stopped reacting to it?

"So Nii-san," Al said as he and his brother walked away from the Squad One barracks. "What should we do now?"

"I don't know about you," Ed replied. "But I have every intention of going back to that library and studying up on how to manipulate reiatsu and the use of kidou. I'm going to get through these classes as soon as possible and then I'm going to have a rematch with that annoying little. . ."

"Nii-san," Al said in a reproachful voice. Personally he didn't think that his brother should be calling anyone little, after the way he used to react to such comments, however he had no intentions of telling this to Edward. He didn't want to start a fight with his brother just as he'd learned to somewhat control his reiatsu. "So Ed, what do you make of my powers? Did you read anything about a healing kidou in those books you were pouring over?"

Edward shook his head. "No. I was mainly focused on attacks. We'll have to ask someone about it later. I'm sure Ukitake will know what it is."

Al nodded, wishing that he'd thought to ask the white-haired Shinigami about his strange healing powers before they'd left Squad One. "Oh well," he thought to himself as he and Ed made their way across the Seireitei toward the library. "It's not like I won't see him again."

After the rather unorthodox battle in the Squad One courtyard Hitsugaya made his way back to his office in Squad Ten. As he slid the door open the young captain saw that Matsumoto was still on the sofa only now she'd fallen asleep.

"Once again, what did I ever do to deserve this level of punishment?" Hitsugaya thought to himself as he sat down at his desk and resumed thumbing through the stack of paperwork.

TBC. . .

A/N- and there we have chapter four. hope you enjoyed this installment and next up is the Academy. that should be fun-filled beyond belief. til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.