This Is True Kido! [Mizu, Ranma]

Ow, what? What if he tried really, really hard? Could he, then, change a spell or two? Maybe?

Definitely not. That wasn’t how shit worked here – experts existed for a reason, came to existence for a reason, and were trained to reach that level for a reason. Skills like those took time, dedication and focus – many traits of which Ranma was still on the low end. J-Just when will I be ready, then?! PLEASE DON’T SAY, LIKE, A HUNDRED YEARS – I CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG! he echoed loudly in his fluid mind, although Mizu quickly introduced to him an alternative that’d skip over the whole process of manipulating a spell into another…

So, uh, she just knew the perfect spell for him – literally what he imagined came to life in front of his widened, excited eyes as crimson samurai armor floated over Mizu’s form after her incantation- fuck, he should’ve written that down. He was still too mesmerized by the fact that a spell of his description actually existed to begin with, further elevating his opinion on the expertise of Squad 2 and the Gotei in general. They just had a knack for everything!

“T-That’s, that’s perfect! That’s literally what I was thinking about!” Ranma exclaimed joyously, waving his arms in jubilation. Here he thought that it was just that – remember the incantation, cast the spell, and boom – armor to make him last a little longer whenever he got himself in a pi-

Oh, the duration was proportional to his skill… h-hey, he wasn’t bad at Kidō. He’d think that he was actually quite adept with it, if he was to be completely honest. “I can try, at least-“ he confidently nodded and walked to the side, making a bit space before closing his eyes:

“O’ Lord of Heaven, Adorn me in your Grace, and Defend your A-…“

… Did you expect every lad in the Gotei to possess photographic memory, Mizu? Pulling up a word he’d never heard before.

“… A-… something- Bakudō 55: Sei-kotsu Sōkō!”

And lo and behold, first time using a spell plus missing out on one word, and he still managed to exert Reiatsu out of his form that slowly began forming... something. His body remained uncovered, in the end, except for his left hand, which revealed a pair of transparent, reddish wrist plates. “… AYO! Mizu, look – first try and e-“

Aaaaaaand it was gone the moment he turned around to show his hand to her. “…”

Every time Ranma reacted excitedly, Mizu fed off it. It had been such a lousy few months in the Gotei because of the recent tragedies and seemingly unending piling up of casualties on the Second Squad's doorstep from both the hospital explosion and battles in the Living World. For this man who she had met just a few minutes ago to address her as Vice Captain and to act like her spell was something amazing drew a glint to her golden eyes, which practically sparkled in the sunlight.

At this point Ranma's eagerness to attempt the spell on his own didn't surprise her at all, though the confidence with which he said the incorrect incantation was impressive in its own way. Despite his flub he still managed to summon something that at least resembled part of her spell, which was...something. Sort of.

"Umm..okay, not quite..." Though she wished he let his head do some thinking for him instead of jumping in recklessly like that, Mizu still gently touched his arm to reassure him. "A modest first effort, but a good step nonetheless Ranma-san. You need to be careful though because even Bakudō can explode in your face if you don't treat it with the respect it deserves. Now, the correct incantation is 'O', Lord of Heaven, Adorn me in your Grace and Defend your Arbiter'." Mizu put enough emphasis on the last word so he hopefully wouldn't forget it again.

… Not quite there. He got that feeling with her gentle touch, like he was on the right track but still several steps off. At least, he had quite the kickstart – he manifested a wrist plate!

He could listen to people, okay… when he wasn’t too caught up in his own stupor or excitement. When he wasn’t trying to get a wink of sleep in the midst of duty. He could still… behave, y’know? He wasn’t hopeless… duh. Although, being reminded of the explosive risk of misusing Bakudō did send shivers down his soul spine. “G-Got it… please forgive me, Bakudō Gojūgo-kun,” he apologized with one hand held straight and vertical on his forehead as he bowed in apology, “If I get injured again, Erica will question my sense of self-preservation all over again…”

Arbiter… like orbit, then an -er at the end, and then exchange the o with an a… got it. He could do it! Mentally cheering himself on, slapping his chest in confidence, Ranma once more took a deep breath and focused. “O’, Lord of Heaven… Adorn me in your Grace, and Defend your Arbiter,” he spoke the incantation, the image of his ideal armor coming into full view within his brain. The ideal armor covering his body, protecting him from all the harm he was fated to collide.

A suit of armor that could put Erica’s mind at ease, if only a little bit…

His Reiatsu reacted in full, emitting from all the pores in his body and crystallizing into red armor translucent to the naked eye- this time, his legs were adorned in its grace as well, and after a couple more seconds, plates began appearing over his torso as well. It was unusual to catch up to a spell like this, but Bakudō spells were much more up Ranma’s alley than Hadō or other subtypes. Maybe he just a knack for it.

“… Oh, wait, that’s it- a full set of armor!” he jubilated – unfortunately, the moment he cut off focus to take a look at his manifestation, only a few seconds passed before his Reiatsu-forged armor dissipated again, “… Damn, you were right – it does not last long. Lemme try again-“

And that, he did. The same incantation, the same result, without as much as waiting for the next input from Mizu. Instead, his eyes shone bright red like his armor, beckoning to the Vice-Captain while most of his focus was up: “Now, uh… d-do you hit me, or shall I hit myse- oh come on, it broke again! You were able to make it look so easy, Vice-Captain… but it's suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch a cool spell! Holy fuck, is it a cool spell- wait, forget I cussed in front of you...”

Seeing determination within her would-be student, Mizu took a step back and watched in silence, an encouraging look painted upon her face. She took his apology as totally sincere, because if this young man was anything it was clearly honest to a fault. Ranma didn't seem adept at keeping his thoughts to himself, and doesn't have much of a filter to speak of, but instead of being revolted or repulsed by such a personality quirk like true nobles might be, Mizu found it endearing. He was someone she could trust to speak true.

Upon Ranma speaking the correct incantation, Mizu was glad she wouldn't need to repeat herself. Though he was a bit out of sorts, at least he could apply her advice properly. Then when the armor actually appeared, Mizu was surprised! Second attempt total and first time using the appropriate incantation and he was already conjuring a full set of armor, though it was a little different from hers in its simplicity. Afterwards he proved her right as he determinedly jumped right back into it and cast the spell again, no concern for his own stamina, and once more conjured the armor.

Though thus far Ranma had proven adept at learning a new spell, Mizu wasn't surprised by the inevitable result that followed his third attempt. "If I made it look easy Ranma-san, it's only because I used that spell hundreds of times before ever attempting it in a real battle. Remember, the easiest part of Kidō is casting, it's every question after that's difficult. Will it explode in my face? Will it last long enough? Will it hold up in battle? You should be absolutely, positively sure you know the answers to these questions before ever trying it in a fight, Ranma-san. Otherwise you risk your life unnecessarily, as well as anybody's life who is depending on you."

A hundred times… he could cast it a hundred times, yeah, but on the same day? Maybe not… m-maybe not? In conjunction with his Zanpakutō, he likely c- wait, did it even work like that? Wouldn’t he still drain himself of, what, Reishi and stamina in the process? He couldn’t slow down himself, after all – that was a constant of his Zanpakutō’s ability-

… Wait, no, his Sealed form had something going on, but it didn’t work like that- no, in the end, he was convinced it was a constant that his Zanpakutō only worked on his surroundings, not himself. Hence why it worked so well in combat… but enough about that grumpy Spirit and its silent treatment of him.

“That makes… a lot of sense, ye,” he replied, blinking in approval of her wise words, “So… all I gotta do is use it, like, a bunch of times here and there, get used to it, like getting used to wear a new scarf and stuff?” That was the closest comparison he had – like getting used to wear a new set of clothes, though Shinigami all wore the damn same!

…

…

His Seikotso Sōkō still had very ‘round’ and smooth surfaces, but Ranma was beginning to have the gears in his brain turn and twist. “… Wait, wait, something just clicked in me…” he warned Mizu-sensei out of nowhere, looking at his latest attempt at manifesting the spirit armor, “… This might not be too bad – I-I know it’s not perfectly like yours, but maybe this could work too! This kinda feels better…” Instead of samurai-like plates, he had rounder pieces of armor on his form now – the density of Reishi that made it up was clearly smaller than Mizu-sensei’s, but…

“Wait, what am I even saying – I just started- arrrghhhhhhh! Everything always takin’ so damn long… a hundred times, Ranma, a hundred times…”

Ranma clearly had some impatient vibes to him, which was ironic given his Zanpakutō’s ability.

A strange metaphor from a strange man. At this point Mizu didn't really expect anything else from Ranma, but she didn't dislike him for it or anything. He was actually kinda growing on her...though she certainly wished he tried thinking before speaking just once or twice. Maybe more. Probably not though. Not based on their conversation so far, at least.

"Think about it like training a muscle, Ranma-san. It takes repetition and time. It's not something that will come immediately, and forcing it will just result in hurting yourself." Feeling her head inflate with egotistical hot air, Mizu couldn't help but be proud of how wise she sounded, if only for a moment. She sounded sagely, even!

Unable to stay high on her supply for too long, Mizu was brought back down to Earth and as she was she noticed how impatient Ranma was being. Taking on a more serious tone, Mizu chastised him for how he was acting "Ranma-san, no matter how hard you try you can't and shouldn't force it. As Vice Captain of the Second Division, I'm ordering you to not hurt yourself by being reckless and impatient." Little could be said for how intimidating the tiny Shinigami could be, but she was doing her best to be authoritative. The last thing she wanted was for her student to get hurt.

Okay.

Okay, okay… don’t hurt yourself, Ranma. You were too used to that, and it was bad for you – obvious shit, right? Of course, Mizu-sensei would have a problem with his recklessness, for who wouldn’t? Put the Retsu back in the past and remember that right now, you were Ranma – and Ranma liked to take things easy and steady, right? Right?

“… Sorreh…” he apologized awkwardly, slowly watching his spirit armor vanish, “I… bet Erica’s far more patient with things like these.” He didn’t know how well-versed Mizu-sensei was with the Squad’s members, including his girlfriend Erica, but it wouldn’t hurt to at least bring it up. Erica would be amazed if he could master this spell, maybe she hadn’t seen it before and would even get jealous…

“… I wonder what Erica’s up to,” he murmured to himself at last, shockingly spinning on his head right in front of Mizu-sensei’s eyes. His deep thinking put his body into autopilot, so he was grinding his skull against the floor with his spinning, while he cupped his chin like an enigmatic sage. Yeah, he was taking a little break now – take it easy, remember?

“… Wait, Mizu-sense- I MEAN, Vice-Captain Morikawa… this might just be a weird thought, but… how many spells have you invented, again? I-I thought the armor thing was your only invention…”

'Erika'? Surely he didn't mean the First Division's Vice Captain, right? Mizu didn't know a bunch about that woman outside of her reputation for being stern and powerful. Well, Mizu thought, best not to assume anything about either of them. She instead opted to just continue observing Ranma's attempts at mastering her spell, which appeared to stop altogether as he got lost in thought and started doing...something...

"Um..." muttered Mizu, unsure of what to say or do in this situation. She had no clue what Ranma was doing. Is it a kind of dancing? Some sort of training regimen? Was he hurting himself?? Mizu's eyebrows nearly went to space as they remained raised from confusion. Her last suspicion was at least proven unlikely as he asked her about the other spells she's made, which shook her from her shock from watching him spin.

Mizu shook her head a bit then spoke up "Please stand back up, Ranma-san. You're...making me nervous." It took her a moment to count up the spells she'd come up with, at least the useful ones that is "There are five spells I've made and use. Some others proved useless, so I'm not counting them. They range from the armor you've seen, to a Hadō spell that's equivalent to number 89 in strength."

”?” Huh… he was just thinking deeply, though. Oh well, he did as told and was on his feet in no time – to think that he could make the Vice-Captain nervous at all, though… peculiar.

“Huh… wait, you’ve made a whole five new spells? Damn, and you still look wayyyyyy younger than even me,” he damned the very idea of just how much time she must’ve spent perfecting these new spells of hers. She was a driven artist, to the T! He could learn much more from her than Kidō. “89… that 89?!” He knew what she referred to – the freaking giganto-maniacal juggernaut of a spell, the one that created a giant electric ball in the sky that just kept shooting-

Wait, she created a new spell equal to that?! Mizu-sensei, you absolute unit! Ranma would make sure to vote for her to be the next Captain Commander…

Speaking of spells – he was still driven to master Seikotsu Sōkō. He’d likely never come across a spell much more suited to his desires than here and now, and for as long as Mizu-sensei- sorry, Morikawa-sensei- was here, he basically had a fountain of good points, tips and sage counsel from theirs truly. He was in the zone now, and he felt really genius for still remembering the incantation: “O', Lord of Heaven, Adorn me in your Grace and Defend your Arbiter'. Bakudō #55: Seikotsu Sōkō!" he chanted, this time… not tensing up, but sort of letting his arms rest and embracing the lazy nature in him as a clutch for not acting reckless. As long as he was calm and allowed his Reishi to run its course, it shouldn’t blow up in his face…

…

He was squinting his eyes at first, but opening one up more to witness his creation, Ranma got a solid view of bright, crimson spirit armor adorning his form – with round, smooth surfaces that was far easier for him to visualize than antique samurai armor, but understandably brittle enough to break down by a mere poke. Undeserved pride bubbled up inside of him, and he couldn’t help but throw Morikawa-sensei a squinty-eyed grimace with a hiding, wide grin under his mask. “Whatcha think, huh? I really do got a knack for Bakudō – this is lit.”

Though appreciative of Ranma's stunned reaction to her apparent talent, Mizu still stared dumbfounded at the Shinigami. What had she just told him? There was no mastering a new spell in the span of fifteen minutes. At this rate he would exhaust himself creating the same level of armor over and over. His willingness to jump in and try it without reservation was impressive in its own right, someone she knew not everyone was readily capable of, her mind drifting back to recall Hana's struggle to get started. Still, a little more patience from Ranma would probably do him some good in her estimation.

Or maybe she was wrong. Ranma had managed to make incremental progress so far, and she did know she couldn't judge others based on her own shortcomings. After all, it took dozens of tries before she was even forming solid sheets of Reishi, much less full fledged armor. Maybe, juuuuust maybe, she shouldn't be too worried. Still, she knew there were dangers with learning and practicing Kidō and didn't want him to burn himself up or out doing it.

"Yes, very impressive Ranma-san. You're making quick progress! Just...please don't forget my warnings, Kidō isn't something you can be reckless with." Maybe it would be a good to idea to show him something she knew he wouldn't be able to replicate? At least, not yet? Mizu mulled on that idea for a moment before deciding to heck with it, maybe it'll humble him and get him to calm down a bit.

Inexplicably, Mizu took a few steps in silence away from Ranma, her eyes closed all the while. She stood like a statue, every muscle in her diminutive body relaxed, her breathing slowed to a crawl. Then her hands shot up and clasped together before the word Icicle appeared above her head in glowing Reishi which swirled into a sphere and launched at the ground in the form of an actual spear of ice. Afterward, Mizu turned back to Ranma, her golden eyes burning with the ferocity of the Sun.

"That! Is Gokudo! This is true Kidō, or rather it's the truest essence of Kidō. Actually...that might be a bit arrogant to say...never mind! It's just something I made!"