Through The Looking Glass Ch. 5
Author: Only_dani
Title: Though The Looking Glass Ch. 5
Rating: PG (for language)
Warnings: Spoilery abounds
Summary: Ed and Al just saved each other from the gate, but when they land in Karakura town and find that Shinigami are fighting Envy it turns their little world upside down. Rated M for adult situations and language but mostly will be PG. Possible het and Yaoi pairings in future chaps. WARNING: The pairings will be odd.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist and I dont make any money writing this, its simply the product of my over active imagination combined with my overwhelming urge to write.
Previous Chapters:
Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4
Chapter 5: Find me A Find, Catch me A Catch.
Ed walked across the sprawling Karakura town to Ichigo's house in the early night, pulling his red jacket tighter around him from the late autumn chill. Their time to patrol usually left off when Al and the archer got back from theirs and he had taken to walking to Ichigo's house and meeting him there instead of having Ichigo meet him at the shoten. He needed time alone and away from the hat-man and the sly questions he kept asking. He had to give the man grudging credit for the way he did it though. The way Urahara dropped little questions in the middle of a conversation or asked something deceivingly innocent with that seemingly cherubic smile of his was dome with an exceptional underhanded capacity. Ed had gathered over the week they had been here the man was much much more intelligent than he let on, maybe even as intelligent as Ed was, which truthfully wouldn't really surprise him. The man definitely had his own secrets, he could tell that just from the way Renji kept slipping in his own rather blunt questions that Urahara sidestepped with a laugh or flick of his fan.
Conniving hat wearing bastard. He thought with a small grin.
If Ed wasn't on guard he would have slipped up more than once about where they were from and how they had gotten here. And what a weird place here is.
He had learned quite a bit in the last few days patrolling with the redhead. This world was definitely much different from Amestris, the technological advances in and of themselves were definitely something to pay attention to and he had asked question upon question on just that alone. Phones could be carried in pockets, vending machines on street corners held anything from delicious drinks to Sudoku games and these things called television! They were brilliant pieces of machinery that brought comedy shows, step by step do-it-yourself projects and world news from all over the world straight to your living room. Ed was pretty sure that if Winry ever saw any one of these things they would have all been torn apart within seconds just so she could see how they worked. He smiled sadly to himself at the memory of her pulling apart his alchemy watch and sped up his steps in the cold dark.
The most interesting find though was the fact that alchemy worked here, whereas in the Hoenheim world (which Ed had taken to calling the world his father was now in) it didn't. The best guess was that the Hoenheim world was too far removed from his own for the alchemy to work, the history was simply too different. It made sense that it would work here though considering all of the other strange things that seemed to happen in this world. The most fascinating being the idea of a separate linked world called soul society watching over the living world in which certain people could travel back and forth, as well as the linked souls of zanpakutos that Ichigo had told him about. It turns out the swords actually held a soul within them that mirrored an aspect of the shinigami soul that they could control - well not control really, he reminded himself - they had to understand the sword, learn its name, and work with it in order to master the power within them, not unlike mastering the flow of energy to create alchemic reactions. Each power was different too, which was also somewhat similar to the way certain alchemists gained special abilities when learning about alchemy. Mustang had his flames, Kimbly made bombs, and Armstong had those stupid stone head things. The parallels were quite fascinating.
However intriguing these things may be it still didn't answer the fact of how Ed and his brother ended up in this place, or how Ed could use this information in order to get back home. There must have been a reason it opened up here, some kind of catalyst maybe… The more he thought about it the more unsure he became about the primary reason they landed in this world.
"Stupid gate." He murmured under his breath as he turned the corner onto Ichigo's street.
When he got to the door and knocked he was unceremoniously yanked inside and pulled up the stairs and into Ichigo's room by the redhead himself.
"Nng- Leggo! I don't know why you had to pull me into your room like that." Ed growled as he pulled his red coat from the death grip Ichigo had on it.
"Well this time I had a reason!" Ichigo growled back, the ever present scowl darkening on his face. The teen looked like he was holding his breath for something.
"What kind of reason would you need to haul me like a sack of rice up your stairs?"
"I-CHI-GOOOOOOOOO!" The baritone yell came from behind the door and a second later the door flew open.
"That reason." Ichigo groaned before he was pummeled with a fist from a rather large looking man with dark hair, a scruffy chin and a half crazed smile.
"It's the great Kurosaki Papa smack of pure love!" The man shouted as he put the redhead in a headlock and proceeded to try and punch Ichigo in the stomach.
"Dad why are you so damn weird?" The teen yelled as he pushed off the older man and tried with little luck to push him out the door.
"This is your father?" Ed's eyes were huge with disbelief. The older man caught sight of Ed and turned a ridiculously huge smile on the blonde.
"Awe Ichigo you're making new friends I'm so proud of you! Why hello there young man." Ichigo placed his head in his hands as the older man stepped towards Ed with surprising speed and stuck out his hand.
"Ah… Hello sir." Ed said trying to pull his thoughts in order and took the offered hand in his metal one.
"That's a firm handshake you have there, please call me -urk!" The last comment was cut off, probably because Ichigo's arm snaked around the older mans neck and tried to forcefully remove him from the room.
"Outta my bedroom old man." Ichigo grated out while trying to pull the older man towards the door.
"I -ak- think it's important for a father to -hurk- meet the friends of his son." The words came out strangled and garbled and the elder and younger Kurosaki's started to grapple for the door with Ichigo's arm still around the father. The elder was trying to keep it closed; the younger was trying - with little success - to wrench it open.
"Well I don't ya freak!" Ichigo yelled. The teen let go of the elder Kurosaki's neck in order to focus on getting the door open only to have his father give him a sweeping blow to the side of his head.
"AHA! You let your guard down!" The older man yelled triumphantly.
"That's IT!" Ichigo shouted, face going an uncharacteristic pink and yanked the door open. The two fell into the hallway and one of their legs, Ed wasn't sure which, smacked the door closed and muffled sounds of fighting could be heard behind the closed door.
"Hughes I think I found your soul mate." Ed said quietly with a small laugh.
"Ed is that you?" He heard a soft feminine voice and the closet door slid back so that he could see the young woman he had met at the shoten a few days before.
"Rukia? Why are you in Ichigo's closet?"
Rukia shrugged and gave him a good natured smile, flashing him a set of straight white teeth. "Because I live here." She said simply.
"In his closet?" He said without thinking and mentally kicked himself at how ridiculous he sounded. She couldn't mean the actual closet… Could she?
"Pretty much." Oh. Well then. She got up from her seat on the shelf and came to stand in front of Ed in the small room and Ed started to founder for something to say. She shrugged again and gave him another warm smile, then pulled a small silver cell phone out from the pocket of her skirt and flipped it open with a flick of her wrist.
"Since Ichigo is beating his father up in the hall I thought I should tell you we picked up a hollow a little while ago but it was destroyed. Uryuu and Al seem to be a pretty good team so far."
Ed's eye sharpened on the young woman and the cell phone in her hand she was looking at. "Do you think it was Envy?" He asked.
Rukia shook her head decidedly and looked up at Ed. "No this one wasn't very strong and it couldn't mask its reiatsu." She murmured and flicked the phone closed and placed it back in her pocket.
"I wish I could be happy about that." Ed said with a sigh and slumped against the desk in the room.
"What do you mean?" Rukia took up a spot beside him and leaned against the desk as well, her large violet eyes curious.
"I mean I don't want my brother up against him alone." Ed had to raise his voice over the thumping going on in the hall and dropped his eyes to the floor.
"That makes sense. You're very close to him aren't you?"
"Yeah. Do you have a brother?"
"Yes. I was adopted into the Kuchiki family a long time ago. My brother and I are close but not like you are with Al. I think it's sweet." He looked at her and was caught by those beautiful violet eyes again. He swallowed and gave her a small smile.
"Thanks…" For some reason Ed was starting to have trouble speaking. It seemed that the moisture in his mouth seemed to evaporate but the sweat in his palms had somehow multiplied.
"Man that guy is such a freak sometimes!" Ichigo threw the door open and fell back to press himself against it with what looked like a very impressive outline of a foot across his face.
"My dear son needs his private time. Oh sweet darling Misaki our son is growing up so fast!" the muffled voice from behind the door could be heard easily and Ed let out a small laugh.
"You didn't incapacitate him this time?" Rukia asked as she pushed herself away from the desk and sat back on her perch in the closet.
"No but I should have. Come on metal man our patrol starts now. Where's Kon?" The redhead inquired while looking searchingly throughout the room.
"It's Ed or Fullmetal." Ed said, folding his arms across his chest.
"My bad- Fullmetal then, it's a cool name." Ichigo ruffled his disheveled red hair before looking over at Rukia. She placed a finger at the end of her chin in thought for a moment.
"The last time I saw Kon Yuzu was playing with him, I think she put him in a dress." She said with an impish smile.
"Well I guess I'll just have to leave me on my bed so it looks like I'm sleeping. Can you do me a favor and watch over my body until I get back?"
"Sure."
"Thanks Rukia. Ready Fullmetal?" Ichigo said absently as he grabbed his substitute shinigami tag.
"Yeah I'm ready." Ed nodded and watched as Ichigo lay down on his bed and smacked his chest with the tag. A swirl of energy that was quickly becoming familiar surged in the room and Ichigo's shinigami body rose from the bed, complete with black robes and ridiculously large sword.
"Does it hurt at all going in and out of your body like that?" Ed asked. He was trying to step around the body on the bed in order to get to the window so the two could climb out and start their patrol.
"Nah it feels kinda tingly for a minute though. How does it feel when you do that alchemy thing, does that hurt?"
"Alchemy? No it… Kinda feels tingly." Ed mused. Ichigo landed on the pavement and Ed clapped his hands to create stairs along the wall so he could walk down. Once there he clapped again to put the house wall back in order.
"Man that's cool. Ok I was thinking we should start near the industrial area and work our way around the town that way. I don't think we've gone that way yet."
"Sure sounds good to me."
"Alright, this way then." Ichigo motioned with his chin and the two started walking. "So how is training going with you and your brother?"
"Honestly it's going slow. Al remembers all the training we had but his movements…" What was he supposed to say to end that sentence? 'his movements aren't as heavy hitting as his metal body' or maybe 'All his kicks are aimed too low because he used to be as tall as Armstrong.' He shook his head a little in frustration.
"Well that's usually what happens when you start sparring again, you forget stuff sometimes."
"That's why we're training. Urahara let us use the training facility under the shoten. It's a lot bigger than anything I've used before and there's a lot of raw materials so we can even practice alchemy down there without having to worry too much about bugging the rest of the place. Hey why don't you join us sometime and help us out a little with sparring, I wouldn't mind showing you a thing or two about Amestris fighting."
"Ha! You're on little man." Ichigo said with a laugh.
"DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" Ed yelled, throwing his fist into the air. Honestly he wasn't that short any longer, he had grown to almost five foot five, much taller than the five foot three he was stuck at.
"Geez ok, ok calm down. Kinda touchy about your height aren't you?" Ichigo held his hands up in front of him in order to placate the blonde. He turned his head towards one of the side streets they were walking by and by the looks of it he caught sight of something. "Hey wait a minute, is that Uryuu?"
Ed turned to look and could see the dark bespectacled teen along with a very familiar ten year old.
"Looks like it. HEY AL!" Ed called out and raised his hand in greeting. The two boys turned at the voices and trotted closer.
"You know I could probably hear you yelling from across town brother." Al chided. Ed rolled his eyes.
"Kurosaki." Uryuu said as he folded his arms across his chest and gave the redhead a haughty stare.
"Uryuu." Ichigo responded in the same arch tone. Ed and Al exchanged amused glances at that.
"Brother we found a hollow chasing after a little girl. It kinda looked like a chimera." Al said excitedly. There was an underlying emotion in his eyes though and Ed looked more closely at his younger brother in order to figure out what it was.
"We defeated it easily enough. Al did quite a good job in helping with his alchemy." Uryuu stated and gave Al a small quick smile.
"You did?" Ichigo inquired and looked at the youngest of the group. Al ducked his head a little and blushed at the comment.
"Yes he created some kind of wall and saved the girl."
"Like sensei at the flood?" Ed asked. Walls were actually quite hard to make on the fly, the circles needed for it were quite complex and was impressed with the skill of his younger brother.
"Exactly like sensei." Al said heavily, still keeping his eyes on the pavement. "Brother…"
"What is it Al?"
"This." Al said quietly and clapped his hands then placed them on the ground. There was a small surge of energy and when his hands pulled away a small stone rocking horse lay on the ground.
"No circles… I kinda figured that would happen." Ed shrugged and gave his brother a smile.
Al looked up from the creation with wide eyes. "You were expecting it?" He said disbelievingly.
"Well yeah. I mean the same thing happened to me, Sensei and… The others. It makes sense it would happen to you too. It makes things easier doesn't it?"
"Yeah it kind of does." The smile Al gave Ed was real and sincere this time and Ed smiled back.
"What's the big deal about not using circles?" Ichigo asked looking confused.
"Well it's like the highest form of alchemy you can achieve." Al said softly before clapping his hands again and changing the stone rocking horse back into pavement.
Ichigo's eyes lit up. "So it's kind of like Bankai."
"Bankai?" Ed and Al said simultaneously.
"Yeah it's the highest form of zanpakuto release, mostly only captains and higher ranks in the Gotei 13 can do it like me and Renji. Maybe I'll show you when we spar the day after tomorrow. I'd like to do it tomorrow but I have school."
"You're going to spar with us?" Al asked looking hopefully at Ichigo.
"Sure, Fullmetal here offered. Hey Uryuu you should join us." Ichigo said and elbowed the archer none too gently in the ribs. Uryuu smacked his elbow away and gave him a dirty look.
"I might, if only to show the superior power of the Quincy."
"Che. You and your Quincy pride." Ichigo rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.
"Sounds like fun, I've been training with only brother recently so it would be good to see some new moves."
"You make it sound like I suck Al." Ed said in what he hoped was an un-whiny voice.
"You don't suck. I'm just saying it would be fun."
"Nice backpedal." Ed said sarcastically.
"Thanks."
"We're just heading back to the shoten now. I'll see you tomorrow at school Kurosaki and I'll see you on Saturday." Uryuu nodded toward Ed before turning and heading back in the direction they came from.
"See ya later Uryuu, Al." Ed said and waved happily. Al waved back before catching up with the archer.
Ichigo and Ed started walking in the direction of the industrial area again in companionable silence.
"Ya know your brother seems older than he is." Ichigo said after a time.
"That's because he is older than he looks."
"He is? He looks like he's ten."
"I know." Ed shrugged. He could feel the teen's eyes on him but kept his face forward on the road ahead of them. There was a long tense pause before Ichigo sighed.
"Let me guess, it's a long story?"
"You're starting to get the hang of this." Ed laughed.
"Well you don't really give me a choice. Your pretty chincy with your answers you know. You must drive Urahara insane."
Ed could feel the smile widen on his face.
"Heh, yeah."
***
Urahara sat on the porch of the shoten, tea cup in hand watching the late afternoon sun pull the shadows of the shoten along the porch and into the yard. With all the people currently staying in the little building it was hard to get any time alone with his thoughts other than when in his workroom, which no one dared enter. It was nice having that space to himself but sometimes it was good to relax in the fresh air and he sighed contentedly in the silence of the afternoon, sipping his tea.
"I see some things don't change." A soft feminine voice filled with amusement broke through the quiet and Urahara's mouth quirked in a wry smile in hearing it.
"I see your getting better at masking your reiatsu so some things change, and for the better too." Urahara said lightly. He tilted his head to the side and watched as a slim purple headed woman detached herself from the darkness of the shoten wall to stand in front of Urahara, a small smile on her lips.
"Come, sit, have some tea with me." He moved a little on the bench to make room for the woman. Yoruichi nodded and took a seat.
"I think I'll sit but I don't need tea at the moment."
"Suit yourself. Tessai made it, and it's quite good…?" The silent offer was extended again but Yoruichi decidedly shook her head and looked out to the rooftops of Karakura, the light was catching bright strands of her indigo hair and making her skin glow.
"I spoke with Soi Fon." She said quietly.
"And what does the special forces Taichou have to say hmm?" Urahara murmured, eyes narrowing on the woman's profile.
"This is bigger than we thought Kisuke." Yoruichi's voice was void of all emotion now and the beautiful eyes that she landed on Urahara's were serious and… Was that concern hidden in those golden depths?
"Isn't that always the way with us though?" He said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Yoruichi gave a light snort. "Maybe with you it is. Seriously though, the information Soi Fon found…" Yoruichi tipped her head to look to the floorboards of the porch, as if looking for the right way to explain what she knew.
"Out with it Yoruichi." There was a long pause before she shifted in her seat.
"It seems as though the young men you have at the shoten aren't from here. They come from another world entirely." She looked as if a huge secret was revealed and Urahara smiled once more then brought the little teacup to his lips, taking a long sip before replying.
"Tell me something I don't already know." Urahara said laughingly. Yoruichi looked him over once more before replying.
"That obvious are they? They came through a gate. Apparently it was supposed to be locked by Sou-Taichou himself over four hundred years ago." This information was definitely interesting and had Urahara looking thoughtfully into the depths of his teacup.
"If the gateway is supposed to be locked wouldn't there be a failsafe? An alarm of some kind maybe in order to let Seireitei know that the gate was opened again?"
"I thought that too but this gateway - it must have opened in a different way than last time."
"Hmm… That would make sense considering it was locked." Urahara said softly and lifted the small teapot to pour another cup of hot tea.
"There's more." Yoruichi said in a hard voice, eyes locked to the puffy white-grey clouds and small worry lines etching themselves into the caramel skin between her brows.
"Of course there is." Urahara said with a snort of amusement.
"It's locked on our side so I don't know if they can be sent back without Sou-Taichou finding out and unlocking the doors and we both know how he is when he locks something. That door isn't opening again anytime soon."
"Well that makes things more interesting doesn't it?" Urahara smiled to himself. He always did like a challenge, and this situation seemed to give him another chance to shine.
"I'm sure that if anyone can figure it out you can." Yoruichi smiled at him but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes this time.
"Ah Yoruichi, you always did have high hopes for my intelligence." Urahara gave her one of his mischievous looks and the sad little smile the woman had on her lips turned genuine.
"Oh please, you're the one that's always going on about your genius abilities."
"That's because I am a genius, remember?" He toasted to her with his little cup and took another sip.
"Always so cocky." She said with a laugh, shaking her head lightly from side to side.
"I would call it being truthful. But to get back on topic…" Urahara murmured. The smile faded from Yoruichi's face and her eyes became intent and serious once more.
"This alchemy you spoke of, apparently that's how the gate opened the first time, there was some kind of alchemic reaction from the creation of something - a stone of some sort - Soi Fon couldn't get the name of it but it was strong Kisuke. Strong enough that the doors blew open and started pulling reishi through it, pulling apart entire chunks of Rukongai and even some pieces of Seireitei. The intake of energy was so huge the gate had to be closed and locked before any more reishi could be pulled through. A little while ago there was another disturbance but because of the lockdown the doors stayed shut." The worry lines between her brows were back.
"A stone huh? It must be damn powerful for a gate to burst open and start pulling apart both Rukongai and Seireitei." Urahara mused aloud and then almost punched himself for saying it. The stone he created - Hougyoku, it was just as world changing, if not more so than whatever stone this was for all he knew. Hell the entire oncoming war was his fault in a way. His shoulders tensed with the memory and regret of it. So many deaths and all for some damn experiment… What a fool you are Urahara Kisuke he thought to himself.
Yoruichi seemed to grasp the thought path Urahara had taken and patted his hand in understanding.
"It's not your fault you know. Aizen would still have chosen his path with or without Hougyoku." She said softly.
"You're getting better at reading my thoughts too I see." He tried to laugh but it sounded bitter even to his own ears and choked it off.
There was a long silence in which both seemed to watch the shadows stretch across the shoten yard, pulling the last vestiges of light from the small porch and draping them in the shadows of early evening. He took comfort in the fact that although they were both alone, they were alone together, and somehow that seemed to help, even if only a little.
"Can these two boys do alchemy as well?" Yoruichi inquired, breaking the silence and pulling him back to the present.
"Yes they both can. Ed said that it's not a usual ability where they come from but both seem to have the gift. The young one Al even taught Uryuu how to do some simple stuff but the reactions take a lot of energy out of him, I can see it on his face. I have a very strong feeling that the hollow - this Envy character is from their side of the gate as well."
"Why do you say that?" Yoruichi finally looked at him again, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
"It's looking for their father."
"So four people have come through? This is unheard of! No one has ever tried to come through before. Why now I wonder?" She said, the last part was said quietly, almost as a question to herself.
"Well I'm not sure how many came through but two are definitely here and I'd put money on the fact that Envy is number three. I'm positive the boys are keeping something from me about him too." Urahara dropped his head a little in thought, hiding his eyes under the brim of his hat.
"That certain are you?" He could hear the amusement in her voice.
"Yes." He said solemnly.
"Well I'm sure you have a plan for getting that information out of them." She said confidently. Urahara shook his head a bit at that.
"I've been trying but Ed seems to be the slippery kind of kid, he dances out of questions so well I would think he's a reincarnation of me or something."
"Kami help us all if he is, I have my hands full with just one of you." Yoruichi gave a chuckle and nudged the mans shoulder.
"As you should be."
"Well if using intelligence to get the answers you want isn't working maybe you should try a different tactic?" he caught her eyes and saw a very familiar glint in the depths and could feel a slow wicked smile working across his features.
"You know you might be right."
"I usually am." Yoruichi suddenly tensed. "That's the Quincy's reiatsu. What's he doing here at this time of the evening?"
"Well he's been patrolling with the younger boy Al for almost a week now. The other reiatsu though…" Urahara's smile turned gleeful. "Do me a favor and mask your reiatsu again, I'm sure these two don't want us to break their special moment." Her eyes went wide with surprise but she did as she was asked and the two shadowed figures on the porch pulled their energies into themselves and sat in anticipation in the shadows of the porch. Not long after two male figures could just barely be seen on the outskirts of the shoten yard. It looked distinctly like the two were holding hands before the shorter of the two pulled the other down for a quick kiss.
"Did he-"
"I found this out the other day. Interesting isn't it?" Urahara cut her off with a laughing whisper.
"Well I have to admit this was unexpected, especially those two." Yoruichi chuckled.
"I thought so too but you have to admit it is rather cute. Ah young love." They both exchanged knowing glances as Uryuu pulled away from the other boy to walk towards the shop.
There was a loud crash and Urahara could hear Jinta's muffled voice, then Ed's loud tenor shouting 'DON'T CALL ME SMALL!' tearing through the silence of the evening.
"I should let you go so you can take care of your dysfunctional little family then." Yoruichi had gotten up from her seat, trying to hold back the laugh he knew was buried somewhere inside.
"Mm yes probably. Thanks for dropping by Yoruichi." He said, standing and stretching a little and nodding to Uryuu, now walking alone towards the shoten.
"Any time Kisuke." Her smile was back and she gave a wink to the now visibly flustered archer before she shunpoed into the growing darkness of night.
Title: Though The Looking Glass Ch. 5
Rating: PG (for language)
Warnings: Spoilery abounds
Summary: Ed and Al just saved each other from the gate, but when they land in Karakura town and find that Shinigami are fighting Envy it turns their little world upside down. Rated M for adult situations and language but mostly will be PG. Possible het and Yaoi pairings in future chaps. WARNING: The pairings will be odd.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist and I dont make any money writing this, its simply the product of my over active imagination combined with my overwhelming urge to write.
Previous Chapters:
Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4
Chapter 5: Find me A Find, Catch me A Catch.
Ed walked across the sprawling Karakura town to Ichigo's house in the early night, pulling his red jacket tighter around him from the late autumn chill. Their time to patrol usually left off when Al and the archer got back from theirs and he had taken to walking to Ichigo's house and meeting him there instead of having Ichigo meet him at the shoten. He needed time alone and away from the hat-man and the sly questions he kept asking. He had to give the man grudging credit for the way he did it though. The way Urahara dropped little questions in the middle of a conversation or asked something deceivingly innocent with that seemingly cherubic smile of his was dome with an exceptional underhanded capacity. Ed had gathered over the week they had been here the man was much much more intelligent than he let on, maybe even as intelligent as Ed was, which truthfully wouldn't really surprise him. The man definitely had his own secrets, he could tell that just from the way Renji kept slipping in his own rather blunt questions that Urahara sidestepped with a laugh or flick of his fan.
Conniving hat wearing bastard. He thought with a small grin.
If Ed wasn't on guard he would have slipped up more than once about where they were from and how they had gotten here. And what a weird place here is.
He had learned quite a bit in the last few days patrolling with the redhead. This world was definitely much different from Amestris, the technological advances in and of themselves were definitely something to pay attention to and he had asked question upon question on just that alone. Phones could be carried in pockets, vending machines on street corners held anything from delicious drinks to Sudoku games and these things called television! They were brilliant pieces of machinery that brought comedy shows, step by step do-it-yourself projects and world news from all over the world straight to your living room. Ed was pretty sure that if Winry ever saw any one of these things they would have all been torn apart within seconds just so she could see how they worked. He smiled sadly to himself at the memory of her pulling apart his alchemy watch and sped up his steps in the cold dark.
The most interesting find though was the fact that alchemy worked here, whereas in the Hoenheim world (which Ed had taken to calling the world his father was now in) it didn't. The best guess was that the Hoenheim world was too far removed from his own for the alchemy to work, the history was simply too different. It made sense that it would work here though considering all of the other strange things that seemed to happen in this world. The most fascinating being the idea of a separate linked world called soul society watching over the living world in which certain people could travel back and forth, as well as the linked souls of zanpakutos that Ichigo had told him about. It turns out the swords actually held a soul within them that mirrored an aspect of the shinigami soul that they could control - well not control really, he reminded himself - they had to understand the sword, learn its name, and work with it in order to master the power within them, not unlike mastering the flow of energy to create alchemic reactions. Each power was different too, which was also somewhat similar to the way certain alchemists gained special abilities when learning about alchemy. Mustang had his flames, Kimbly made bombs, and Armstong had those stupid stone head things. The parallels were quite fascinating.
However intriguing these things may be it still didn't answer the fact of how Ed and his brother ended up in this place, or how Ed could use this information in order to get back home. There must have been a reason it opened up here, some kind of catalyst maybe… The more he thought about it the more unsure he became about the primary reason they landed in this world.
"Stupid gate." He murmured under his breath as he turned the corner onto Ichigo's street.
When he got to the door and knocked he was unceremoniously yanked inside and pulled up the stairs and into Ichigo's room by the redhead himself.
"Nng- Leggo! I don't know why you had to pull me into your room like that." Ed growled as he pulled his red coat from the death grip Ichigo had on it.
"Well this time I had a reason!" Ichigo growled back, the ever present scowl darkening on his face. The teen looked like he was holding his breath for something.
"What kind of reason would you need to haul me like a sack of rice up your stairs?"
"I-CHI-GOOOOOOOOO!" The baritone yell came from behind the door and a second later the door flew open.
"That reason." Ichigo groaned before he was pummeled with a fist from a rather large looking man with dark hair, a scruffy chin and a half crazed smile.
"It's the great Kurosaki Papa smack of pure love!" The man shouted as he put the redhead in a headlock and proceeded to try and punch Ichigo in the stomach.
"Dad why are you so damn weird?" The teen yelled as he pushed off the older man and tried with little luck to push him out the door.
"This is your father?" Ed's eyes were huge with disbelief. The older man caught sight of Ed and turned a ridiculously huge smile on the blonde.
"Awe Ichigo you're making new friends I'm so proud of you! Why hello there young man." Ichigo placed his head in his hands as the older man stepped towards Ed with surprising speed and stuck out his hand.
"Ah… Hello sir." Ed said trying to pull his thoughts in order and took the offered hand in his metal one.
"That's a firm handshake you have there, please call me -urk!" The last comment was cut off, probably because Ichigo's arm snaked around the older mans neck and tried to forcefully remove him from the room.
"Outta my bedroom old man." Ichigo grated out while trying to pull the older man towards the door.
"I -ak- think it's important for a father to -hurk- meet the friends of his son." The words came out strangled and garbled and the elder and younger Kurosaki's started to grapple for the door with Ichigo's arm still around the father. The elder was trying to keep it closed; the younger was trying - with little success - to wrench it open.
"Well I don't ya freak!" Ichigo yelled. The teen let go of the elder Kurosaki's neck in order to focus on getting the door open only to have his father give him a sweeping blow to the side of his head.
"AHA! You let your guard down!" The older man yelled triumphantly.
"That's IT!" Ichigo shouted, face going an uncharacteristic pink and yanked the door open. The two fell into the hallway and one of their legs, Ed wasn't sure which, smacked the door closed and muffled sounds of fighting could be heard behind the closed door.
"Hughes I think I found your soul mate." Ed said quietly with a small laugh.
"Ed is that you?" He heard a soft feminine voice and the closet door slid back so that he could see the young woman he had met at the shoten a few days before.
"Rukia? Why are you in Ichigo's closet?"
Rukia shrugged and gave him a good natured smile, flashing him a set of straight white teeth. "Because I live here." She said simply.
"In his closet?" He said without thinking and mentally kicked himself at how ridiculous he sounded. She couldn't mean the actual closet… Could she?
"Pretty much." Oh. Well then. She got up from her seat on the shelf and came to stand in front of Ed in the small room and Ed started to founder for something to say. She shrugged again and gave him another warm smile, then pulled a small silver cell phone out from the pocket of her skirt and flipped it open with a flick of her wrist.
"Since Ichigo is beating his father up in the hall I thought I should tell you we picked up a hollow a little while ago but it was destroyed. Uryuu and Al seem to be a pretty good team so far."
Ed's eye sharpened on the young woman and the cell phone in her hand she was looking at. "Do you think it was Envy?" He asked.
Rukia shook her head decidedly and looked up at Ed. "No this one wasn't very strong and it couldn't mask its reiatsu." She murmured and flicked the phone closed and placed it back in her pocket.
"I wish I could be happy about that." Ed said with a sigh and slumped against the desk in the room.
"What do you mean?" Rukia took up a spot beside him and leaned against the desk as well, her large violet eyes curious.
"I mean I don't want my brother up against him alone." Ed had to raise his voice over the thumping going on in the hall and dropped his eyes to the floor.
"That makes sense. You're very close to him aren't you?"
"Yeah. Do you have a brother?"
"Yes. I was adopted into the Kuchiki family a long time ago. My brother and I are close but not like you are with Al. I think it's sweet." He looked at her and was caught by those beautiful violet eyes again. He swallowed and gave her a small smile.
"Thanks…" For some reason Ed was starting to have trouble speaking. It seemed that the moisture in his mouth seemed to evaporate but the sweat in his palms had somehow multiplied.
"Man that guy is such a freak sometimes!" Ichigo threw the door open and fell back to press himself against it with what looked like a very impressive outline of a foot across his face.
"My dear son needs his private time. Oh sweet darling Misaki our son is growing up so fast!" the muffled voice from behind the door could be heard easily and Ed let out a small laugh.
"You didn't incapacitate him this time?" Rukia asked as she pushed herself away from the desk and sat back on her perch in the closet.
"No but I should have. Come on metal man our patrol starts now. Where's Kon?" The redhead inquired while looking searchingly throughout the room.
"It's Ed or Fullmetal." Ed said, folding his arms across his chest.
"My bad- Fullmetal then, it's a cool name." Ichigo ruffled his disheveled red hair before looking over at Rukia. She placed a finger at the end of her chin in thought for a moment.
"The last time I saw Kon Yuzu was playing with him, I think she put him in a dress." She said with an impish smile.
"Well I guess I'll just have to leave me on my bed so it looks like I'm sleeping. Can you do me a favor and watch over my body until I get back?"
"Sure."
"Thanks Rukia. Ready Fullmetal?" Ichigo said absently as he grabbed his substitute shinigami tag.
"Yeah I'm ready." Ed nodded and watched as Ichigo lay down on his bed and smacked his chest with the tag. A swirl of energy that was quickly becoming familiar surged in the room and Ichigo's shinigami body rose from the bed, complete with black robes and ridiculously large sword.
"Does it hurt at all going in and out of your body like that?" Ed asked. He was trying to step around the body on the bed in order to get to the window so the two could climb out and start their patrol.
"Nah it feels kinda tingly for a minute though. How does it feel when you do that alchemy thing, does that hurt?"
"Alchemy? No it… Kinda feels tingly." Ed mused. Ichigo landed on the pavement and Ed clapped his hands to create stairs along the wall so he could walk down. Once there he clapped again to put the house wall back in order.
"Man that's cool. Ok I was thinking we should start near the industrial area and work our way around the town that way. I don't think we've gone that way yet."
"Sure sounds good to me."
"Alright, this way then." Ichigo motioned with his chin and the two started walking. "So how is training going with you and your brother?"
"Honestly it's going slow. Al remembers all the training we had but his movements…" What was he supposed to say to end that sentence? 'his movements aren't as heavy hitting as his metal body' or maybe 'All his kicks are aimed too low because he used to be as tall as Armstrong.' He shook his head a little in frustration.
"Well that's usually what happens when you start sparring again, you forget stuff sometimes."
"That's why we're training. Urahara let us use the training facility under the shoten. It's a lot bigger than anything I've used before and there's a lot of raw materials so we can even practice alchemy down there without having to worry too much about bugging the rest of the place. Hey why don't you join us sometime and help us out a little with sparring, I wouldn't mind showing you a thing or two about Amestris fighting."
"Ha! You're on little man." Ichigo said with a laugh.
"DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" Ed yelled, throwing his fist into the air. Honestly he wasn't that short any longer, he had grown to almost five foot five, much taller than the five foot three he was stuck at.
"Geez ok, ok calm down. Kinda touchy about your height aren't you?" Ichigo held his hands up in front of him in order to placate the blonde. He turned his head towards one of the side streets they were walking by and by the looks of it he caught sight of something. "Hey wait a minute, is that Uryuu?"
Ed turned to look and could see the dark bespectacled teen along with a very familiar ten year old.
"Looks like it. HEY AL!" Ed called out and raised his hand in greeting. The two boys turned at the voices and trotted closer.
"You know I could probably hear you yelling from across town brother." Al chided. Ed rolled his eyes.
"Kurosaki." Uryuu said as he folded his arms across his chest and gave the redhead a haughty stare.
"Uryuu." Ichigo responded in the same arch tone. Ed and Al exchanged amused glances at that.
"Brother we found a hollow chasing after a little girl. It kinda looked like a chimera." Al said excitedly. There was an underlying emotion in his eyes though and Ed looked more closely at his younger brother in order to figure out what it was.
"We defeated it easily enough. Al did quite a good job in helping with his alchemy." Uryuu stated and gave Al a small quick smile.
"You did?" Ichigo inquired and looked at the youngest of the group. Al ducked his head a little and blushed at the comment.
"Yes he created some kind of wall and saved the girl."
"Like sensei at the flood?" Ed asked. Walls were actually quite hard to make on the fly, the circles needed for it were quite complex and was impressed with the skill of his younger brother.
"Exactly like sensei." Al said heavily, still keeping his eyes on the pavement. "Brother…"
"What is it Al?"
"This." Al said quietly and clapped his hands then placed them on the ground. There was a small surge of energy and when his hands pulled away a small stone rocking horse lay on the ground.
"No circles… I kinda figured that would happen." Ed shrugged and gave his brother a smile.
Al looked up from the creation with wide eyes. "You were expecting it?" He said disbelievingly.
"Well yeah. I mean the same thing happened to me, Sensei and… The others. It makes sense it would happen to you too. It makes things easier doesn't it?"
"Yeah it kind of does." The smile Al gave Ed was real and sincere this time and Ed smiled back.
"What's the big deal about not using circles?" Ichigo asked looking confused.
"Well it's like the highest form of alchemy you can achieve." Al said softly before clapping his hands again and changing the stone rocking horse back into pavement.
Ichigo's eyes lit up. "So it's kind of like Bankai."
"Bankai?" Ed and Al said simultaneously.
"Yeah it's the highest form of zanpakuto release, mostly only captains and higher ranks in the Gotei 13 can do it like me and Renji. Maybe I'll show you when we spar the day after tomorrow. I'd like to do it tomorrow but I have school."
"You're going to spar with us?" Al asked looking hopefully at Ichigo.
"Sure, Fullmetal here offered. Hey Uryuu you should join us." Ichigo said and elbowed the archer none too gently in the ribs. Uryuu smacked his elbow away and gave him a dirty look.
"I might, if only to show the superior power of the Quincy."
"Che. You and your Quincy pride." Ichigo rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.
"Sounds like fun, I've been training with only brother recently so it would be good to see some new moves."
"You make it sound like I suck Al." Ed said in what he hoped was an un-whiny voice.
"You don't suck. I'm just saying it would be fun."
"Nice backpedal." Ed said sarcastically.
"Thanks."
"We're just heading back to the shoten now. I'll see you tomorrow at school Kurosaki and I'll see you on Saturday." Uryuu nodded toward Ed before turning and heading back in the direction they came from.
"See ya later Uryuu, Al." Ed said and waved happily. Al waved back before catching up with the archer.
Ichigo and Ed started walking in the direction of the industrial area again in companionable silence.
"Ya know your brother seems older than he is." Ichigo said after a time.
"That's because he is older than he looks."
"He is? He looks like he's ten."
"I know." Ed shrugged. He could feel the teen's eyes on him but kept his face forward on the road ahead of them. There was a long tense pause before Ichigo sighed.
"Let me guess, it's a long story?"
"You're starting to get the hang of this." Ed laughed.
"Well you don't really give me a choice. Your pretty chincy with your answers you know. You must drive Urahara insane."
Ed could feel the smile widen on his face.
"Heh, yeah."
***
Urahara sat on the porch of the shoten, tea cup in hand watching the late afternoon sun pull the shadows of the shoten along the porch and into the yard. With all the people currently staying in the little building it was hard to get any time alone with his thoughts other than when in his workroom, which no one dared enter. It was nice having that space to himself but sometimes it was good to relax in the fresh air and he sighed contentedly in the silence of the afternoon, sipping his tea.
"I see some things don't change." A soft feminine voice filled with amusement broke through the quiet and Urahara's mouth quirked in a wry smile in hearing it.
"I see your getting better at masking your reiatsu so some things change, and for the better too." Urahara said lightly. He tilted his head to the side and watched as a slim purple headed woman detached herself from the darkness of the shoten wall to stand in front of Urahara, a small smile on her lips.
"Come, sit, have some tea with me." He moved a little on the bench to make room for the woman. Yoruichi nodded and took a seat.
"I think I'll sit but I don't need tea at the moment."
"Suit yourself. Tessai made it, and it's quite good…?" The silent offer was extended again but Yoruichi decidedly shook her head and looked out to the rooftops of Karakura, the light was catching bright strands of her indigo hair and making her skin glow.
"I spoke with Soi Fon." She said quietly.
"And what does the special forces Taichou have to say hmm?" Urahara murmured, eyes narrowing on the woman's profile.
"This is bigger than we thought Kisuke." Yoruichi's voice was void of all emotion now and the beautiful eyes that she landed on Urahara's were serious and… Was that concern hidden in those golden depths?
"Isn't that always the way with us though?" He said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Yoruichi gave a light snort. "Maybe with you it is. Seriously though, the information Soi Fon found…" Yoruichi tipped her head to look to the floorboards of the porch, as if looking for the right way to explain what she knew.
"Out with it Yoruichi." There was a long pause before she shifted in her seat.
"It seems as though the young men you have at the shoten aren't from here. They come from another world entirely." She looked as if a huge secret was revealed and Urahara smiled once more then brought the little teacup to his lips, taking a long sip before replying.
"Tell me something I don't already know." Urahara said laughingly. Yoruichi looked him over once more before replying.
"That obvious are they? They came through a gate. Apparently it was supposed to be locked by Sou-Taichou himself over four hundred years ago." This information was definitely interesting and had Urahara looking thoughtfully into the depths of his teacup.
"If the gateway is supposed to be locked wouldn't there be a failsafe? An alarm of some kind maybe in order to let Seireitei know that the gate was opened again?"
"I thought that too but this gateway - it must have opened in a different way than last time."
"Hmm… That would make sense considering it was locked." Urahara said softly and lifted the small teapot to pour another cup of hot tea.
"There's more." Yoruichi said in a hard voice, eyes locked to the puffy white-grey clouds and small worry lines etching themselves into the caramel skin between her brows.
"Of course there is." Urahara said with a snort of amusement.
"It's locked on our side so I don't know if they can be sent back without Sou-Taichou finding out and unlocking the doors and we both know how he is when he locks something. That door isn't opening again anytime soon."
"Well that makes things more interesting doesn't it?" Urahara smiled to himself. He always did like a challenge, and this situation seemed to give him another chance to shine.
"I'm sure that if anyone can figure it out you can." Yoruichi smiled at him but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes this time.
"Ah Yoruichi, you always did have high hopes for my intelligence." Urahara gave her one of his mischievous looks and the sad little smile the woman had on her lips turned genuine.
"Oh please, you're the one that's always going on about your genius abilities."
"That's because I am a genius, remember?" He toasted to her with his little cup and took another sip.
"Always so cocky." She said with a laugh, shaking her head lightly from side to side.
"I would call it being truthful. But to get back on topic…" Urahara murmured. The smile faded from Yoruichi's face and her eyes became intent and serious once more.
"This alchemy you spoke of, apparently that's how the gate opened the first time, there was some kind of alchemic reaction from the creation of something - a stone of some sort - Soi Fon couldn't get the name of it but it was strong Kisuke. Strong enough that the doors blew open and started pulling reishi through it, pulling apart entire chunks of Rukongai and even some pieces of Seireitei. The intake of energy was so huge the gate had to be closed and locked before any more reishi could be pulled through. A little while ago there was another disturbance but because of the lockdown the doors stayed shut." The worry lines between her brows were back.
"A stone huh? It must be damn powerful for a gate to burst open and start pulling apart both Rukongai and Seireitei." Urahara mused aloud and then almost punched himself for saying it. The stone he created - Hougyoku, it was just as world changing, if not more so than whatever stone this was for all he knew. Hell the entire oncoming war was his fault in a way. His shoulders tensed with the memory and regret of it. So many deaths and all for some damn experiment… What a fool you are Urahara Kisuke he thought to himself.
Yoruichi seemed to grasp the thought path Urahara had taken and patted his hand in understanding.
"It's not your fault you know. Aizen would still have chosen his path with or without Hougyoku." She said softly.
"You're getting better at reading my thoughts too I see." He tried to laugh but it sounded bitter even to his own ears and choked it off.
There was a long silence in which both seemed to watch the shadows stretch across the shoten yard, pulling the last vestiges of light from the small porch and draping them in the shadows of early evening. He took comfort in the fact that although they were both alone, they were alone together, and somehow that seemed to help, even if only a little.
"Can these two boys do alchemy as well?" Yoruichi inquired, breaking the silence and pulling him back to the present.
"Yes they both can. Ed said that it's not a usual ability where they come from but both seem to have the gift. The young one Al even taught Uryuu how to do some simple stuff but the reactions take a lot of energy out of him, I can see it on his face. I have a very strong feeling that the hollow - this Envy character is from their side of the gate as well."
"Why do you say that?" Yoruichi finally looked at him again, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
"It's looking for their father."
"So four people have come through? This is unheard of! No one has ever tried to come through before. Why now I wonder?" She said, the last part was said quietly, almost as a question to herself.
"Well I'm not sure how many came through but two are definitely here and I'd put money on the fact that Envy is number three. I'm positive the boys are keeping something from me about him too." Urahara dropped his head a little in thought, hiding his eyes under the brim of his hat.
"That certain are you?" He could hear the amusement in her voice.
"Yes." He said solemnly.
"Well I'm sure you have a plan for getting that information out of them." She said confidently. Urahara shook his head a bit at that.
"I've been trying but Ed seems to be the slippery kind of kid, he dances out of questions so well I would think he's a reincarnation of me or something."
"Kami help us all if he is, I have my hands full with just one of you." Yoruichi gave a chuckle and nudged the mans shoulder.
"As you should be."
"Well if using intelligence to get the answers you want isn't working maybe you should try a different tactic?" he caught her eyes and saw a very familiar glint in the depths and could feel a slow wicked smile working across his features.
"You know you might be right."
"I usually am." Yoruichi suddenly tensed. "That's the Quincy's reiatsu. What's he doing here at this time of the evening?"
"Well he's been patrolling with the younger boy Al for almost a week now. The other reiatsu though…" Urahara's smile turned gleeful. "Do me a favor and mask your reiatsu again, I'm sure these two don't want us to break their special moment." Her eyes went wide with surprise but she did as she was asked and the two shadowed figures on the porch pulled their energies into themselves and sat in anticipation in the shadows of the porch. Not long after two male figures could just barely be seen on the outskirts of the shoten yard. It looked distinctly like the two were holding hands before the shorter of the two pulled the other down for a quick kiss.
"Did he-"
"I found this out the other day. Interesting isn't it?" Urahara cut her off with a laughing whisper.
"Well I have to admit this was unexpected, especially those two." Yoruichi chuckled.
"I thought so too but you have to admit it is rather cute. Ah young love." They both exchanged knowing glances as Uryuu pulled away from the other boy to walk towards the shop.
There was a loud crash and Urahara could hear Jinta's muffled voice, then Ed's loud tenor shouting 'DON'T CALL ME SMALL!' tearing through the silence of the evening.
"I should let you go so you can take care of your dysfunctional little family then." Yoruichi had gotten up from her seat, trying to hold back the laugh he knew was buried somewhere inside.
"Mm yes probably. Thanks for dropping by Yoruichi." He said, standing and stretching a little and nodding to Uryuu, now walking alone towards the shoten.
"Any time Kisuke." Her smile was back and she gave a wink to the now visibly flustered archer before she shunpoed into the growing darkness of night.