Demonic Language [Momo, Ranma]

Listen, Ranma had just learned that taking feasible steps, smaller steps than normal at a time – as long as he was consistent – then he’d make much more progress than before! That was Morikawa-sensei’s biggest lesson, and he wasn’t hopeless enough to ditch that gold nugget. Now he was here… further training, and the years would only pass by. But while he was a little hasty and impatient before, knowing that us Shinigami live long lives… it was worth tempering his hasty nature.

After all, even if small, he could see improvement here and now- oh what the shit, he couldn’t get drunk now?! “Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?” escaped his maw, his jaw slowly lowering to the floor as one of his favorite pastimes were off limits during Kidō practice, “… T-Tea, please…” He’d do with tea. Tea was sweet and delightful, too, though he hadn’t had tea in… fuck, how long was it? Damn, how long was it?!

“Really? I never really bothered much with the higher spells, I kinda like the lower ones as they are. No, I’m not dumb! There’s something beautiful in simplicity, young lady! DON’T PATRONIZE ME, I JUST LIKE THOSE SPELLS A LOT! I-I-I’d like some tea, actually…” Realizing how rude he’d been, he’d squat down, twiddle his fingers and profusely shiver in shame. “T-The higher ones don’t scare me or anything…”

To say his reaction was a surprise would be an understatement and just for a moment, an annoyed look would cross Momo’s face. She’d been nothing but courteous to him after their first few moments of distrust and for him to suddenly snap at her like that didn’t go down too well with her. Yet, Momo wasn’t the woman that she’d once been and had reached a level of maturity to understand that there must’ve been a reason behind his outburst rather than him just being petty.

Beckoning him to follow, she’d say before leading off back inside the house. “Come with me then and I’ll make some tea.”

The dark haired woman wouldn’t say anything else until she was halfway through making drinks, easily knowing her way around the kitchen so that it was second nature. As she went about it, Momo would eventually ask him about his previous outburst. “I don’t need to be a master of psychiatry to have noticed your concern about using the more powerful Kido. What is it that makes you so nervous to try them? You’re perfectly safe with me and I’m not going to teach you anything that is too difficult. I just feel that you’re more than skilled enough to be able to use higher numbered Bakudo.”

He’d follow obediently now. Like a child afraid of angering their parents, it was the kind of energy he exuded with his fingers twiddling, gaze down and with a timid aura as he entered her house. He didn’t say another word, kind of caught in the moment of cutting himself short after his previous outburst – it was pinching his belly to know that he did what he did… so embarrassing.

And thus, he sat down on the nearest couch or stool, shivering in anticipation. She hadn’t said a word afterwards. She just proclaimed to make some tea, but he could feel a very menacing effect from her, even if unintentional. He shook, he shaked, he shaketh- and his heart came to a halt… and then started beating again. She was just worried if he assumed too high of a bar to reach.

… He still had to work on jumping to conclusions. That shit always bit him in the ass.

“You think so?” Ranma genuinely asked, not even bullshitting at this rate, “… Thanks, sensei. Not gonna lie, I’ve been struggling with Kidō for a while, so I really thought my hands were built wrong or something. I’m not nearly as talented in it as my girlfriend…”

Erica could probably supervise a few hours with him back home. She had a much deeper affinity with Kidō than him. At least, he believed so, based on what he’d seen and felt. “Wait, so how big are the numbers gonna be? 30s? 40s? I hope it ain’t all the way up in the 60s or 70s, I-I’m not that confident…”

He seemed awfully nervous all of a sudden and Momo wasn’t quite sure as to why. One moment he was confidently casting spells and the next he had withdrawn into himself. It was rather perplexing and the dark haired woman naturally wondered if perhaps there was an unpleasant experience somewhere in his past that had led to it. If she’d noticed anything about the Shinigami she’d met lately, it was that a lack of confidence seemed to be a constant. Just what was going on at the academy and the Gotei? She was sympathetic to his plight though.

Finishing the tea and placing two cups on a tray, alongside milk and sugar in case he wanted it, Momo would carry it over and place it on the table in front of the couch, where it’d be in easy reach. The irritation that’d been on her face was long gone now and when she replied, her voice was as gentle as ever. “I don’t think you’re lacking when it comes to Kido and honestly I don’t quite understand why you’re so nervous around it. You were successful at casting Shakkaho without any trouble so you should be alright with a bakudo of around the same difficulty. The fact you are more skilled with that field of spell says to me that you’ll be just fine.”

Pausing briefly, she’d add. “It’ll just be a 30’s spell, one that I’m sure will help you in your encounters going forward. Geki is a fine spell but somewhen, you’re going to come up against an opponent who’ll shrug it off. It’s important that you test your limits a little. It’s only then we grow.”

Ohhh… he didn’t really consider himself a tea guy, but cheers. It… warmed him up more than he expected. It was a bit tough on the tongue at first, since he was more used to colder drinks, but over time, he eased into drinking it normally- not before putting some milk in it, though. So much focus in that one action.

“Ooooooooh… I can try. Always felt like a Bakudō guy,” he replied, quickly feeling his confidence return. Bakudō, that was his homefield when it came to Kidō – since he showed a strong preference for that tree, Hinamori-sensei was quick to attempt to build upon that. “30s… hmmmh… mmhhhmmmmm…” Ranma tried to remember just what those spells around #31 were.

Geki was a quick, simple spell, but if a dummy could push back against it, then so could a Shinigami or Hollow. She was right to worry that he might be in need of elevating his arsenal, and since they were now talking about Bakudō, he was almost leaning over the table with widened eyes full of sparkles. “What… what spell are we talking about, now? I’m game, especially if it’s like Geki. Like some sort of… super Geki- wait, forget I said that.”

He took another sip of his tea and melted back into his seat, feeling a bit too homely in her abode. He was glad that he hadn’t weirded her out nearly as much as he did Morikawa-sensei.

Smiling at his sudden enthusiasm, Momo would take a sip of her own drink while considering the possibilities. There were quite a few Bakudo that she could teach him but she made sure that at least for today, it would strictly be at the same level as his Hadō. He seemed confident with the 30’s and if that’s what he wanted to learn then it was fine with her. Of course, if he decided he wished to push further then that was well in her spell range to handle but it would be left entirely in his hands.

“I was thinking of a spell called ‘Shitotsu Sansen’.” She replied with a chuckle, certain that he could get the hang of it. “It is Bakudo number #30 and when you cast it, you pin your opponent to a surface with three yellow triangles of light. The spell isn’t all that difficult and it’s kind of hard to get wrong but don’t let the ease of it fool you. If you hit someone with it, they’ll have a much harder time escaping then they would Geki. I think it’s a nice next step for you and can lead into some more potent Bakudo using light later on. Does that sound reasonable to you?”

Shitotsu Sansen sounded like a dish. Yeah, that was his first thought. However, to think that it was the #30 of Bakudō was very nice – Shakkahō was only 1 above that number! And he’d been very familiar with Shakkahō now, intent on taming that level of Kidō diligently since Noharu’s words hit his ears. She’d probably be a little annoyed that he didn’t catch up on her skill with Hohō first, but fuck it.

“Sounds deadly! Like nailing enemies with giant laser bolts,” Ranma pondered over the imagery of this spell, “Three triangles… so, like, three spikes? Doesn’t that… leave a limb open?” He imagined that it targeted arms and legs, but most… most Shinigami were humanoid. They had two arms and two legs. So maybe… it hit two arms and the stomach?

Two legs and the head?

“If it’s formed like triangles, it shouldn’t be too hard to manifest. I can already imagine how it’d look…!”

“It can leave a limb open and unfortunately that’s a weakness of the spell but if you can hit a target in both arms and a leg then you’ve pretty much got them pinned.” Momo replied, taking a sip of her tea. “It’s particularly effective at taking an opponent by surprise so maybe that’s why it functions the way it does. It also does leave them rather open to being struck by another attack so maybe think of it as a good setup for something else. Like most low levelled Bakudo though, it’s not meant to deal damage so calling it deadly is probably overestimating it a bit.”

Smiling at the fact he was agreeable, she’d continue. “It’s not the most difficult spell to conjure and because of that, I feel as though we can try it without an incantation. It’ll give you something new to work on during your studies and I’m sure that with time and practice, you’ll make good use of it like you do with Geki.” There were options like Rikujokoro when it came to binding with light but that was a rather high levelled spell and one for another day.

“By all means finish your tea though before we get back to it.” She added with a short laugh.

Hmh… not many people could fight with just one of their legs and no other limbs to support. In that way, as long as Ranma would be able to disable their arms… he could see a promise with this new spell. A surprise nailed-to-the-wall kind of spell…

Ranma did like surprises! That was very much to the chagrin and discontent of his future victims…

“Nah, nah, that’s all good, Hinamori-sensei! I deal plenty of damage by my own,” Ranma reassured her with a shaking palm, five fingers stretched as if physically trying to pause reality itself, “Should have plenty of use, anyway. Imagine if I land a Geki on one of those captains you drew as dummies… and right when they think ‘easy break’, BAM! Three spikes to the torso, shoved into the wall, and met with a blazing Shakkahō straight to the face! That can’t go wrong… *sip*”

The tea was very sweet now. He might’ve spoiled himself a bit, but it was her helping, and he did want to execute his ideas and continue the training. Imagine that, Ranma began enjoying training without groaning about how long it was taking.

...

“Done! Thanks for the tea, Hinamori-sensei. I’m ready to fuck up some of those... uh, I don’t know what their names are, but that white-haired prick kinda looking weird at me. I’ll rearrange his face if I see him out there.”

He was a curious fellow and Momo actually had to laugh as he spoke about beating up one of the individuals who the ex lieutenant had made her targets look like. The dark haired woman hadn’t seen him for a long time and they hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. He never seemed to fully understand the position that Momo was in after Toki’s fathers demise. Momo had been in a dark enough place without him and eventually, the friendship that they once had completely fell apart.

“Well, it’s nice to hear you being so ready to get going again but I’ll tell you now that the little prick you are talking about was once a Captain of the Gotei.” She replied, still grinning. “Make sure you’re prepared if you do come across him, as he did love to use his Bankai in every confrontation, even if it’s not warranted. He always believed himself to be the hero of any battle, despite the fact that nine times out of his ten, he ended up taking a beating, I doubt very much that he’s changed since then.”

Finishing her tea, she’d go on to say. “Alright then. Let’s go back outside and continue with your training. It’s good that you already have a visualisation of the spell in your mind but I’ll give you an example of it in action first.”

With that, she’d stand up to her full albeit insignificant height and lead the way back out, asking him curiously. “I know that you’re a little wary of the high ranked spells right now but is there a level that you’d like to reach one day?”