Promotion? (Rangiku/Ranma)

”Shakkahōōōōōōō!”

The Vice-Captain would be able to hear howls in the far background. A certain someone was breaking character by sticking around for further practice, even after a lot of the other Squad members had called quits. Those who knew Ranma were curious to see what he was up to, baffled at him tiring himself out with-

“Shakkahōōōōōōō! Hadō #31: Shakkahō!”

”AYO, RANMA, KEEP IT DOW- WAIT, THOSE WERE FOR TOMORROW, YOU DUMBASS!”

A joyous, giggly laughter echoed through the walls – Ranma was having a great time, sadly to the paranoia and dismay of his squadmates. He’d always been a sort of a gremlin in Squad 8, the kind whose next move you just couldn’t really predict due to how their brains were wired differe- wrong. Just an enigma in a dead man’s garments doing the first thing that came to mind.

“Shakkahōōōōōōōō…!”

…

At one point, the echoes died down. Peace returned to Squad 8, and silence befell the rooms and offices once more. His terror had ended at long last, and people could rest easy – that was, until the door to the Vice-Captain’s office opened up more, leading a bratty, cocky, confident smirk plastered to a Shinigami’s face into Matsumoto’s workplace, aiming straight for the desk. Too single-minded to wait for her to finish her paperwork, he did as many times in the past – slam his hand on the desk, glare Matsumoto straight in the ti-EYES, and request with a lower, bravado-sprinkled voice: “So about that Seat, Vice-Captain Matsumoto…”

In times past, his way of entering the office alone had elicited a ‘not yet’ from his superiors, but Ranma thought that he’d gathered quite the resume by now. A Shikai, and a growing aptitude for Kidō – in a way, he was halfway to what the Seated Noharu referred to as a ‘4/4 Shinigami’.

Oh, sweet! His ear wasn’t pinched this time! He knew his local charms would convince his stunning Vice-Captain that he’d grown over the years here in the 8th, not just in his impeccable ability to hype his squad pals up in their time of need – such as when Shura paid a visit – but also in his mental development ever since gooning together with- I mean getting together with Erica.

He was no longer the little, unaware shithead who couldn’t stand still for more than half a minute, drank in the middle of a fucking meeting, fell asleep during half of his duties, and got distracted conversing with pluses that were just waiting to go to the Soul Society. You know… thinking back, damn, he must’ve been a pain to deal with…

…

Naaaaaaaah, he wasn’t that chaotic.

Now, Ranran, Ranster, the Ranboss – he had a bunch of nicknames for her, bless her heart – actually provided him a chance to really convince her that he was worth a Seat in the 8th. It was ultimately Cap’n Rose’s decision, but surely Ranma could- wait, a spar? Ranny could fold his spine like laundry, shit just got infinitely harder than he anticipated. His face visibly changed texture from a shining, confident flare to a rough, sketchy shiver in black and white. “… I see… l-let’s go, then! I’m game! What, I’m not too afraid to spar my sweet, sweet, super-awesome Vice-Captain at all~! I know your heart’s big and soft enough to pull your punches a solid bit…”

If she’s anywhere as fast as Noharu- fuck, she IS! Okay, okay, I can just keep my distance, throw all those Shakkahō’s at her like I’ve practiced… just gotta make sure not to hit her chest, those red fuckers will bounce STRAIGHT back at me.

Strategy set, ready, and he followed her lead – gathering his courage, his energy, and luck. Luck, luck, and plenty of that shit.

There it was. Haineko, the Vice-Captain’s Zanpakutō. Ranma betted that the two of them had a strong bond and camaraderie with each other, much unlike he and his Zanpakutō… but what was the deal with Hōkamaru, again? Was he mad at Ranma, or was he shy? Was he being grumpy, or was he trying to tell Ranma something and Ranma was just being a brainlet about it? Who knew… one thing was certain – their bond, however transparent it looked, was strong enough to illicit them both on a first-name basis.

Ranma would make use of all of his skills to convince Ranny to give him a good word. That included Hōkamaru, too. “Let’s give her a rockin’, Hōkamaru. I’ll try not to fold in the meantime,” he reassured himself and his spirit, almost snuggling the sheathed Asauchi up to his face before unsheathing.

Hnnnng, I can already see her jaw drop at my first move! Hinamori-sensei really brought out the artist in me, after all~!

Incantation-less Hadō spells were still a relatively new topic to him, but Hinamori-sensei made its machinations clear. And the spell he’d been training the most lately was Shakkahō, so it was up – right in front of his extended palm, he released the sake of its name: “Hadō #31: Shakkahō!” In front of his extended, free palm, a red orb manifested, flared up akin to a torch, and then burst forth as a ball of fire with… less speed than usual. Almost surprisingly slow for someone as ol- I mean, as battle-harnessed as Vice-Cap’n Matsumoto.

But Ranma didn’t wait for more than a second before leaping forward himself. And the twist was… he wasn’t aiming his sword at today’s sparring partner. Nay, he instead kicked the Shakkahō orb itself with his foot, channeling his Spiritual Energy through the shin to add extra explosive power, which ended up smashing the orb forward like a football at high speed. He figured that, for now, this extra speed could make up for lack of firepower… at least, until he got a stronger knack for incantation-less casting. He just needed more time to bring out the full power of his spells when abandoning chants, and Hakuda worked really well with that!

Shakkadan! It’s my own, little twist~. It was the extent of how much he could alter a spell, merely changing one of its most linear outputs.

Ranma… did need to check his ego. He genuinely thought that Ranny pulled a face there, and he immediately began thinking while landing on the ground: Oh shit, I really did spook her! Take that, Ranny! Ya really thought I hadn’t been cookin’ lately, but guess ag-

Right when he was getting back up on his feet, he quickly wanted to glare back at his spell’s trajectory – instead, the view was blocked by Ranny’s sudden, imposing presence taking him way off guard! Bonk, and he toppled down on his butt in response, quickly rolling back in order to make more space between the two. Okay… that was a real Shunpo. My fucking bane. How do I deal with that, then?

“D-Don’t think I can’t deal with people fucktons faster than me!”

He could try to slow her down, but since she was prone to evading his attacks, a projectile-type technique like Yone wouldn’t land. He’d have to unleash the full force of his Zanpakutō. “Move… Hōkamaru!” he exclaimed, immediately expanding a blue coloration from his sword and to the surroundings. Rapidly stretching over a range of 50 meters, the saturation was strongly blue, deep-blue, and vastly low in other colors. It was immediately noticeable, and so was his Spiritual Pressure that could be felt in every corner of this space.

Movement… would feel limited. Shackled by the air itself, as if chained by time itself, Ranma would try to limit the Vice-Captain’s movements. However, her own Spiritual Pressure fought back against his ability, pressing on the sphere like pressing a needle against a balloon. A big push, and she could undo her bindings… and she had the speed to do it in time, too.

Ranma wasn’t affected by the shackles of blue space, so he quickly closed in on Ranny with a flying kick aimed at her belly. He likely wouldn't make it, but this was the bread and butter of his Zanpakutō's ability - giving him openings to compensate for his own lack of speed.

Dangit… she blocked with her Zanpakutō in time for his kick to land. So this was how big the difference was between the two… he could often tell from how resistant his foes were to his Zanpakutō’s ability. Ranny didn’t look bothered at all! She could even talk to him within the blue space, so merely slowing her down to this extent wasn’t enough to land a hit on her.

But shit, at least he wasn’t evaded… while forcing his leg forward against her Zanpakutō, his Spiritual Pressure flew back into himself, dragging in the blue colors until the surroundings looked normal again. Ranny would no longer feel any restrictions to her movement. “Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!” he chanted, causing his Spiritual Energy to manifest as electricity which traveled through his leg and attempted to cross her Zanpakutō, hopefully landing an annoying electric impact on her arms.

Of course, between the lack of chanting and her Zanpakutō being the medium, the damage would be lessened to a significant degree. Her Haineko was a fickle monster to deal with, too, so Ranma was actually very grateful that Ranny stayed on the defensive for now. S-Something tells me she's leading me on! It's creeping me out!