The True Nature Of A Zanpakutō [Rangiku, Ranma]

”What do you meeeeeeaaaaan? It’s been like 15 minutes…” Ranma groaned, even though it had been about a minute… but he looked genuine. Strange.

“See, I think me and Hōkamaru got something special going on – uh, he didn’t talk to me, and I figured why get up in his space if he doesn’t like to talk? So, like, I tried to… not talk to him, but just spy on him, y’know… that way, I can sort of see what he’s up to, and he doesn’t have to say a word to me or even know I was- he probably knew I was there, it’s his world after all…”

…

“A-Anyway-“ Ranma continued, giving a rather detailed report of his Zanpakutō’s Inner World. He was actually there, but Hōkamaru’s nature made it seem as if Ranma was only gone for about a minute rather than 15 times the amount. “-He was practicing with my sw- with his Zanpaku- with… uh, the sword. This one.” Now, that was confusing – the Zanpakutō was still able to manifest their own form as a sword in their Inner World? News to him. It was like cloning yourself.

“And I saw it, clear as day… he slowed his sword down while swinging!”

A genius invention by Hōkamaru – instead of slowing enemies down with an aura that doesn’t affect the user, he slowed the sword itself down and thus allowed himself to fall prey to his own ability. However, there was a catch. “A-And then, BOOM! All of a sudden, the sword smashed into the ground, and I could feel it in my feet and spine! It was like he slowed it down to build up… spee- I mean, force, speed, something, and then just- like a spring.”

Basically holding the sword back like a spring, building up potential energy. When the spring, aka the slowdown, was cancelled, the sword launched forward with all of its built up energy. Have you ever held a rubber band and stretched it? the moment you let go of one end, it bounces towards the other at much higher speed than if you just casually tossed it.

“I thought it was only useful for distractions or making openings – I didn’t even know Hōkamaru could be used offensively…”

Back up on his feet, Ranma lifted Hōkamaru and began swinging for practice. Ranny would be able to see the characteristic, blue tint packed with Reishi that emitted from the Zanpakutō, clearly but slowly working on slowing down the blade itself rather than the surrounding area. The blue tint simply hovered over the blade, but not all of it – just the upper half. The rest, Ranma swung around, trying to notice if it was being held back by the slowdown effect at times.

This was far more up Ranma’s alley – practicing new Zanjutsu with Hōkamaru. Case was, until now, Ranma had to be creative all by himself when thinking up techniques, which had left him stagnant for years. Certainly, he felt a pull and was marveled by the fact that he could aim the effects of his Zanpakutō on the sword itself, but it wasn’t where he wanted it to be yet.

“See? It’s… being slowed down, it’s not really clear now, but trust me – ya gonna love it when it really slows down. This is my true calling, after all! Plenty of Zanjutsus!”

Maybe Hōkamaru just knew Ranma well… he was reckless to a fault. Childish, occasionally brash, kind of a bullethead. Show him things one step at a time… and take his time. Trust the sword – it would give him all the time in the world if it could, but this was close.

Ranny did consider helping him with a spar, but whether or not that would magically make his Zanpakutō cooperate more with him… was another discussion. However, Ranma was a bit immersed in practicing the technique he saw Hōkamaru use with the sword – slowing its swing down for a brief moment, then… oh, what was that?

It felt like the blade got stuck in time, but as he pulled the unaffected handle down with more strength, the blade swung down harder when the effect of his Zanpakutō ended. Only just now did he finally catch that feeling and swung again – and again, and again…

Ranny would be able to see the blue aura grab half of the blade, from the top to the center of its sharpness, while Ranma’s palms exposed bulging veins showcasing the extra pull he gave it during that short moment. Until he reached a last swing… and the sword pushed the air away, strong enough to make Ranny’s hair flicker back but nothing more.

“… Hehe, I don’t think I need to spar, anymore,” Ranma commented with a grin under his bandages, a grin Ranny definitely recognized, “It’s quite simple, really…” Turning away from her, he’d step a few meters forward and prepare an overhead strike – holding the blade up over his head, and then swing it down-

The blade got stuck in a blue bubble of Reishi, his Reishi, braking the blade’s speed in a small area where time flowed slower. The handle, free from this bubble’s influence, was pulled down as hard as possible by Ranma’s veiny, stressing hands, and once the bubble disappeared-

*CRASH!*

The ground that the blade landed on was carved open by a small, rubbly crater. It was reminiscent of the destruction he could cause with Hakuda. Resting the blade on his shoulder, he’d turn back to Ranny with a victorious sparkle in his eyes and comment: “I definitely need to get used to this. My first, actually offensive Zanjutsu… I know, right? So what do ya say, Ranny? Wanna dance?”

He’d point the tip of Hōkamaru back at her, eager to test this Zanjutsu out in real combat. Whether or not the meditation worked… whether or not he truly understood it… Ranny could conclude that Ranma had gotten a bit closer to his Zanpakutō without even talking to it. There was something strong developing deep in its core, and Ranma felt confidence build up in his as a result.

”I-”

Did she not… get… the banter? He just tried to very friendily and gently intimidate her the way only a little brother figure could – by getting too fucking big for his boots, because at times like these, when it came to Zanjutsu, Ranma did not lack confidence! As a matter of fact, he ought to give some away to charity.

“… Yes, ma’am,” he answered with an obedient voice, obedient posture, and a lowered face, “I- I was just- y’know- bah, I just wanna see how it feels to actually-“

He was losing track of his own words again. “… *sigh* Let’s just say… there are a few Squad 4 people that I might(?) be challenged to a fight by- I think? I hope not, one of them really doesn’t like me- uh, so, y’know, gotta up my game… and this Zanjutsu’s gonna help me do that. Also, I…”

Twiddling his thumbs while holding his Zanpakutō, Ranma appeared far more timid than the interior had revealed before. Almost… bashful. “You… didn’t use your Shikai last time. I know it’s a bit overkill, but… kinda been bugging me ever since.” He wanted to see Haineko lay down the law, and how his Shikai’s skill would fare against it.

He looked like a kitten with those eyes. Those begging, wide eyes…

Aww… he kinda appreciated Ranny for that. Ranma was plenty busy having gotten himself hurt in the past – from leaping between roofs trying to practice Hohō, to covering his face in sod from a Hadō spell – but he’d come a far way since then! Still, though… he could never be too sure-

Oh, was it like a really dangerous Shikai? He was even more excited to see it now! It wasn’t fair that Noharu’d already went up against it… even though she, too, was leagues above him- arrghh, he just wanted to prove himself for once! That last bout they had ended so awkwardly, with him trying too hard to lean on his Kidō instead of his true specialty, but today, he’d show her exactly what he was good at!

His catlike baby eyes kept glaring at her… until she caved in! “Yaaaaaaay!” he jubilated with a leap, “Understood! I’ll go all out, show you what I really got, this time! Definitely…!”

Since he was going all out… better awaken his Shika- wait, he already had it out. Glancing down at Hōkamaru once again, he didn’t notice at first how the waves that the blade formed… were slowly losing a number of peaks. Instead, the few peaks left were widening in wavelength…

His Reishi leaked out from his Zanpakutō, doubling… no, tripling his Spiritual Pressure. A strong, lavender aura contoured the blade, and he was more than ready. If Ranny’s Spiritual Pressure was already this ringing in the depths of his ears during normal sparring… he could only imagine how heavy the air would get when she released her Shikai.

He hadn’t actually witnessed Noharu’s Shikai during her match against Shura back then, but even he felt the unreal pressure in his ears from inside the barracks.

“Your turn…!”

Growl… and the air thickened. Ranma felt it in his spine – Ranny’s Spiritual Pressure finally exposed itself, sending a tremor up and down his poor self. He could feel a tremor in Hōkamaru, too… this was gonna be something crazy. He just felt it.

Eyes glued to Ranny’s Zanpakutō, Ranma quickly spotted that the blade was fading away – from the tip to the guard, it dissolved into… smoke? It looked like ash swirled around her form, like a protective barrier or a harmful mist. Is that smoke? She can manipulate smoke?! Wait… if my intuition is right, she could force second-hand smoker’s lung to me! That’s sick!!! Sickly cool, that is! he pondered with sparkling eyes aimed at her, Okay, okay… she’s waiting for my first move. I should probably not breathe in that ash cloud, that’d be a field day or two at Squad 2… I’ll scatter it! With Hōkamaru’s new Zanjutsu – just like a fan!

Then, uncharacteristically, Ranma flickered to the side – just a few meters, but it was obvious that he was performing Shunpo of all things. Not something you’d see Ranma do often.

He immediately stepped to the other side, about 6 meters, then began approaching Ranny in a zigzag formation. His Shunpo, combat-wise, was so limited in terms of range per step, but if he just kept using it in succession, then maybe he could catch her off guard. At the very least, he used it to close the distance before preparing a diagonal overhead strike!

The blade was grabbed by Hōkamaru’s ability, braking in its descent towards Ranny’s position… for just a moment. Veins bulged out on Ranma’s hands and face, applying so much more force behind his swing than usual before the ability went undone. Ranny would notice that his swing slowed down thanks to a bluish aura around the sharp blade only, but it lasted for a solid moment – he wasn’t able to perform it quicker than that for now.

Still, once the blue aura disappeared, all the stressful force he applied to pull Hōkamaru down almost exploded out of the swing, causing a gust to be pushed out in her direction and the blade to crash towards the ground at an incredibly high speed! Ranny was more than fast enough to evade that, but Ranma wanted to see how he could deal with the ashes at his full strength. Was the force of the swing strong enough to push the ash back, or did he need to apply more strength to his swing?