Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach, just borrowing the characters for my own amusement.

Chapter Eight - Becoming a Team

Maes Hughes had a couple of hours to kill before he was scheduled for guard duty and he decided that he wanted to go and visit Ed and Al. He'd heard a couple of pieces of information that he found extremely interesting and he wanted to talk to the two boys. It was approaching early evening so the chances were good that the two boys would still be hanging close to the Academy grounds. With this thought in mind Hughes left the Squad Ten barracks and made his way across the Seireitei toward the Shinigami Academy.

As he approached the building Hughes was pleased to see Ed out in the courtyard, sitting underneath a large tree with his nose buried in a book. A smile appeared on his face as the older man quickened his pace, anxious for a chance to pick on his surrogate son.

"So Edward," Hughes called out as he casually made his way across the courtyard of the Shinigami Academy. "I heard that you got your zanpaktou."

Ed put down the book on advanced kidou that he had been reading and glanced up as the familiar voice called out to him. A smile slowly spread across his face as he watched Hughes approach. "Hey Hughes. Yea, I guess you could say I got my zanpaktou."

"You guess," Hughes said as he sat down beside Ed under the large tree. "What's that supposed to mean?"

In answer to the question Ed pulled his still sheathed sword from his belt and held it up for his friend's inspection. "If you so much as smirk I swear I'll kill you."

"I don't see anything funny about it Edward," Hughes said, miraculously managing to maintain a straight face and thus proving himself to still be the master of diplomacy."

"Uh huh," Ed said, not sure whether he truly believed Hughes' words.

"So how's your training going?" Hughes asked, seeking to divert the boy's attention away from the size of his zanpaktou.

"Alright I guess," Ed replied after a moment's thought, placing his sheathed sword back in the belt of his uniform. "I've managed to learn the name of my sword and I managed Shikai once but now my zanpaktou has turned stubborn. I think the only reason he relented the last time was because my life depended upon it."

"I see," Hughes said, a thoughtful expression in his kind eyes. "Well I'm sure you don't wanna hear this Ed but that's actually fairly typical for a zanpaktou. The vast majority of them are rebellious. That's why you have to work so hard at becoming a team."

"That's what my teacher says," Ed told his friend grudgingly. "But what can I say, patience has never been my strong suit."

Ed paused as he recalled Hikari no Shinjitsu's words to him. "You must learn patience Edward. Until you master that you will not be able to harness my powers."

"Dammit," the boy thought to himself as he recalled the words of his zanpaktou. "That smug bastard was right."

"Nii-san," a voice called out from across the courtyard, interrupting Ed's thoughts. Both Ed and Hughes glanced up at the sound of the voice and their eyes focused on Al as he walked across the courtyard toward the spot where they were sitting.

"Hey Hughes," the young boy said as he came to a stop in front of them.

Hughes raised his hand in greeting. "Hey Alphonse. So where have you been? You should know better than to leave your brother unsupervised. He tends to get into trouble."

"I know," Al said as his older brother glared daggers at their former father figure. "We went to the library together after we got out of class but Ed decided to ditch me after he found the book that he wanted. Unfortunately my book was a little harder to find." As he spoke Al held up a thick, leather bound book.

Hughes noticed that Al's book was also about advanced kidou techniques and he raised one eyebrow. "Are you boys doing some research?"

"You could say that," Ed replied in a quiet voice.

Hughes thought that the boy's answer seemed somewhat evasive however he didn't have time to further pursue the matter. It was almost time for him to take his turn at guard duty so he had to report back to Squad Ten and prepare. Getting to his feet Hughes turned back to face Ed. "I'll catch you boys later. I have to get back to work."

Ed gave his friend a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."

Hughes shook his head. "I keep telling you that he's not that bad."

"See ya," Ed and Al called out in unison as Hughes turned and walked away. Then, once the older Shinigami was out of earshot, Al turned back to his brother, a slightly guilty expression in his eyes. "Are you sure keeping your theory a secret from him is a good idea? I mean I know you said that we shouldn't tell anyone but come on Ed, it's Hughes."

"We can't tell anyone," Ed told his brother, his tone firm. "At least not until I know whether or not my theory has any basis. Not until I know if it's even possible."

Al still didn't look convinced however he didn't press the matter further. The look in Ed's golden eyes was very familiar and Al knew from experience that arguing would be pointless.

"Come on Al," Ed said suddenly, closing his book and getting to his feet. "It's getting late and I still want to get in some training before dark."

Ed had been training like a man possessed ever since his close encounter with the Arrancar and Al was becoming somewhat concerned about him. "You know Nii-san, I don't think it would kill you to miss a day. You shouldn't push yourself so hard."

Ed shrugged as he began walking toward the Squad One barracks. He had been working extremely hard, throwing himself completely into his training, but he really couldn't help it. That was just the way that he did things, the way that he had always done things.

Shaking his head and completely exasperated by his brother's behavior, Al fell into step behind Ed. "Why doesn't he ever listen to me?" the younger boy thought to himself as he and his sibling made their way toward the Squad One complex. Unfortunately, as always, the answer to that particular question, eluded him.

"So how are things going in Squad Ten Toushirou?" Head Captain Ukitake asked the white-haired boy who was sitting across from him. The two of them were sitting in Ukitake's office, on the sofa that was situated in the center of the room, and both held steaming cups of tea.

"Fine," Hitsugaya replied as he met the Head Captain's gaze levelly. "I finally managed to get my paperwork caught up."

"Well that's good," Ukitake said, offering the boy a wide smile.

Hitsugaya took a sip of tea and then placed his cup on the low table that was positioned in front of the sofa. Turning his gaze back to Ukitake the young captain asked, "So what's the real reason why you summoned me here? I know it wasn't to make forced small talk."

"Always to the point," Ukitake thought to himself as he offered the young captain another wide smile. "I actually did have something important to discuss with you Toushirou but since it pertains to a certain person that I know you're not particularly fond of I thought it would be best if I tried a little bit of bribery first."

Hitsugaya eyed the older captain warily as he thought to himself, "If he pulls candy out of his sleeve again so help me. . ."

"I realize that you and Edward got off to a bad start when he first showed up here in Soul Society," Ukitake began, breaking into Hitsugaya's thoughts. "But I'd like for you to put your differences aside for a little while and train with him."

Hitsugaya's teal eyes widened as he heard that request from his superior. Train with that obnoxious blonde-haired menace? What could he possibly have done to warrant such a punishment?

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you don't want to," Ukitake said, the tone of his voice understanding. "But please at least give it a chance. I think that Edward would progress much faster if he were pushed a little harder."

"But surely I'm not the only one capable of pushing him," Hitsugaya said. "I mean you have eleven other captains to choose from, not to mention vice-captains and any number of other people."

"I know," Ukitake said. "But he's already proven that he improves by leaps and bounds when he fights with you. Apparently his dislike for you equals your dislike for him and he seems to have made it his goal in life to defeat you."

Hitsugaya nodded absently, knowing that Ukitake was right. Edward had said that he was going to beat him even if it was the last thing that he ever did and although Hitsugaya didn't see it happening any time soon he couldn't deny that the Academy student's powers would more than likely increase more rapidly if the two of them were to begin sparing. With a weary sigh Hitsugaya nodded his head in agreement. It wasn't something that he wanted to do, nor would he enjoy being forced to spend time with the obnoxious Academy student, but he wouldn't deny his superior's request. He had too much respect for the man to flat out say no. "Very well."

"Thank you Toushirou," Ukitake said, knowing how much the Squad Ten Captain had wanted to say no and appreciating the fact that he hadn't. "I'll get back to you on the exact details of these training sessions but I plan on starting them in a couple of weeks."

Hitsugaya nodded, to show that he'd heard Ukitake's words. "Well at least I have a couple of weeks to prepare for the torture. That's something I guess." Snapping out of his thoughts Hitsugaya suddenly remembered that he had work to do. The Squad Ten Captain turned his attention once more to Ukitake. "Thanks for the tea Head Captain Ukitake but I should probably get back to work. I left Matsumoto in charge of Squad Ten."

The young captain didn't say anything further on the subject, not that he needed to. Ukitake was well aware of how much the Squad Ten vice-captain loathed paperwork. "Thank you for coming."

Hitsugaya bowed to his superior and then turned and made a hasty retreat before the Head Captain managed to talk him into something else that he didn't want to do.

"I can't believe he actually agreed to that," Ukitake thought to himself as he watched the diminutive white-haired captain walk away. "I can honestly say that I didn't see that one coming."

When the Elric brothers arrived at the Squad One training grounds, which Head Captain Ukitake had given them permission to use whenever they wanted to, they took their usual positions. Al sat down at the edge of the battlefield, to read his book, while Ed went to the center and prepared to do battle with his zanpaktou once again.

"Alright you," Ed muttered under his breath as he pulled the short sword from the sheath that he wore secured at his waist. "Could you try to be a little friendlier this time?"

"Oh I don't know," the far off voice that only Ed could hear called out tauntingly. "Could you try not to suck so bad?"

Ed clenched his hand around the hilt of his zanpaktou, angered by the taunt. His sword kept telling him that he had to learn patience but then deliberately said things to provoke him. "I'm not gonna let him piss me off this time," Ed thought to himself as he fought to control his anger.

"Yes you will," Hikari no Shinjitsu predicted.

Ed's eyes narrowed however he chose not to further argue with his zanpaktou. It wouldn't make a difference anyway and Ed was determined to continue with his training and work on becoming Hikari no Shinjitsu's partner, no matter how long and how much work it took.

Al could tell by the expression on his brother's face that Ed was fighting hard to control his anger and could only guess that the older boy's zanpaktou was once again giving him a hard time. "Poor Nii-san," he thought to himself. "Leave it to Ed to get a zanpaktou with an attitude problem. It really is the embodiment of his heart and soul."

As he thought this Al's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his own zanpaktou. He still wasn't sure how he felt about it's powers and hadn't revealed them to anyone. Not even his brother. "I'll show him eventually," the younger boy vowed. "Just as soon as I understand it myself."

A/N - and thus ends another chapter. This one brought up more questions than it answered. Sorry about that but that's just how it ended up. Answers will be revealed sooner or later. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.