Lovers' Quarrel, But More Wholesome [Erica, Ranma]

There we go! A smaller Dankū to accommodate for her arm should be less taxing on her concentration – it made sense for the 8th Squad enigma. If you couldn’t work with the entire puzzle, work with a fraction of it. Not surprisingly at all, Erica could do such a thing with ease – her delicate arm was now covered by an auric screen that was classic of this spell. She makes it look soooooooo eeeeeeaaaaaaasyyyyyyyyyy… that’s Erica for ya!

Once her arm was raised, Ranma chanted: “Hadō #31: Shakkahō!” His open palm pointed her way released a small, fast Shakkahō charging through the air like a bullet. A subtle observation… he had shrunk the fire orb even further, and it’d granted the spell some extra speed in exchange for firepower. After all, he didn’t want to even accidently hurt his love – was he being a bit overprotective? Maybe.

Shut up! Leave him alone… at least, he too was testing new waters. Super Bullet Shakkahō~! A-Actually, it should have another name than that…

There wasn’t much for her to do other than brace herself and as the fireball came towards her, Erica would do just that. The ball struck her spell hard and caused the area around her to become covered by smoke. Yet, she felt no pain and actually felt pretty good. Sure, there was a touch of nervousness but the pink haired was feeling pretty confident overall. The smoke lasted about twenty seconds before disappearing, revealing the woman to be completely unharmed although she coughed a few times because of the smoke.

“That went rather well.” She’d call out to her boyfriend, revealing that her arm guard was still intact and pretty much undamaged. It was all so promising and as she chuckled with delight, Erica would raise her arm again, an almost challenging tone to her voice. “Want to have another try at modifying your spell to see how it fares against mine?”

She was rather pleased with herself but once but why shouldn’t she be? The healer had been working for ages on her Danku and at last, it seemed that she’d found success, thanks to Ranma’s advice.

… Oh dear, that was a lot of smoke. She managed to block it! Spectacular, Erica! “See? Everything’s easier when it’s smaller,” he confirmed with a long nose, “Should get easier and easier the more space you wanna expand it to. Usually how I go along with it- like with my Shakkahōs.”

Once the smoke settled and revealed Erica’s position again, Ranma couldn’t help but feel pride bubble up in him. They were both diving into Kidō, but Erica had an edge and level of understanding in the field that Ranma had yet to replicate. Then again, his true speciality was-

“Bet!”

He heard the tone as sharp as glass – there was a tint, pleasant aroma of… confidence, huh? Erica had every right to be confident, but so did Ranma! He would show her something flashier than a miniature fireball…

“Ye Lord! Mask of Blood and Flesh, All Creation, Flutter of Wings, Ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and Pandemonium, the Sea Barrier surges, march on to the South…!”

This time, he was generating a large Shakkahō – and an even larger one, it became. As for visualizations? Well, it was a fireball… like holding the sun in his palm, growing larger and larger, until it rivaled the size of a small fountain. “Are you ready, Erica?!” Ranma alerted her over the sound of bristling fire condensed within the orb that he held in front of his torso, “T-This one’s a big one… okay… please block it…”

Once her guard was up, and ONLY once her guard was fully up, would he push the large orb forward with a battlecry: “Hadō #31: Shakkahō!”

Nodding as he called out to her, Erica would strengthen her arm so that it was as rock solid as she could make, her Danku still holding firm. She was feeling much more confident now and as the large fireball came towards her, a smile would cross her features as she braced. The two spells would again meet in a rather showy explosion, covering the area around the pink haired healer in smoke but the squad 2 member felt no fear and held her ground firmly. There was no pain again and as the smoke cleared, she was in one piece again.

The only difference this time was that her Danku shield looked a little bent this time around but other than that, it had handled the attack rather well. Pleased with her work, she’d approach Ranma, letting the spell fade away. “That certainly went better than I was expecting and I’m more than happy to see that you’re getting the hang of your Kido too. I’d say we’ve both made good progress so far today. You’re going to be catching me up soon if I don’t do something about it.”

Erica no longer looked so timid when indulged in what was technically… some combat, right? Though, it might’ve been because her boyfriend would never try to harm her, but he’d been by her side long enough to be aware of her reluctance to getting her hands sore, bloodied and dirty. Sometimes, to preserve life… she’d have to take some. And he’d make sure she’d never break down… forever.

So he wasn’t worried anymore, when his large fire orb collided with her arm guard version of Dankū. Even when the area met scattering fire and smoke, Erica remained in her position, unharmed by the inferno. She’d approach a Ranma with sparkling eyes, whose evaluation of today’s practice was quite different: “I- Wha- You feel like leagues ahead, though… n-not that it’s a problem! I think Shakkahō’s underrated – I’ll keep my focus on that. Who knows, maybe one day… I’ll be able to make a gigantic, city-sized Shakkahō!Or-Or-Or maybe thousands of small Shakkahōs flying everywhere-”

Okay… maybe a bit dreamy there, Ranma. He wanted to hug her, just sit down and snuggle while letting his thoughts roll out, but… was that bad work ethics? They were still in her Squad's area.

“*Growl* S-So… you know, I’ll never hurt you… I don’t know why I felt the need to emphasize that, sorry about me- but you know, you seemed to really get engaged there, so… a penny for your thoughts? How you feelin’?” As convoluted as his wording might’ve been, Erica knew that Ranma was there for her, and he knew of her ideals. Being on the offensive, even if just in a spar, wasn’t synonymous with Erica – so how’d she feel now?

Could she… envision herself in an emergency, at the front with her Zanpakutō drawn? “… Oh yeah, maybe your Zanpakutō could give us their input- if they’re willing to, of course… I mean, I’m lovely and all, but a Zanpakutō’s a partner for life. I bet they’d know you better than anyone.”

The healer couldn’t help but cringe as she imagined his ideas for just what his Kido could end up doing. With the art, a great deal was possible but it unnerved her a bit that he was quite so willing to talk about blowing a city up with it. Still, she reckoned that he was probably just letting his imagination run away with him and soon enough she smiled, chuckling.

“I know that you’d never hurt me and the reason why I even agreed to this was because I trusted you. You know better than most that I’ve struggled with the thought of fighting anyone, let alone you and to be able just to take part in a spar is a big step for me. I’ve got to say though that after crossing spells with you, I don’t actually feel so worried about it all. My spells seemed to come quite easily to me and I no longer fear to fight when I have to. That being said, I don’t think I’m ever going to be someone who loves being on the frontlines.” Honest as always, the smile would stay on her face.

In terms of her zanpakuto, she’d glance down, resulting in her blade releasing another burst of sweet pollen, resulting in her looking back up and adding. “I think she’s pretty happy with me.”

… There was something heartwarming about being trusted to this degree. Erica managed to take a step forward in her career as a Shinigami, a step she’d been fearful of for so long, thanks… to him. It made him bashful, reddening his face, turning his usual bravado into timidness. “Y-You don’t… have to be on the front, but hey, you know that already. Glad I could help, though.”

After all… he might’ve been a wildcard in the 8th Division, but he wasn’t a liability. Just keep reminding himself that, day by day.

“… Mhmm… there’s that scent I’m hooked on,” Ranma expressed, his face melting to the aroma poofing out of her Asauchi – as if her Zanpakutō was actively… listening! “She better be – she has you as her partner! Isn’t that right… uh… mhm… maaaaaaaan, I can’t wait to see what your Zanpakutō will do! The suspense’s killing me… but-”

Taking the opportunity to offer Erica an arm to lock with, Ranma did remember one of Mizu- sorry, Morikawa-sensei’s most important tidbits of knowledge. One step at a time. “Let’s not rush it. Zanpakutōs like these need time to get used to us – like with Hōkamaru. I mean, yeah, he might’ve been a bit too quiet for my taste, but I can’t blame a spirit for being shy… also, we cool now.” Erica, too, knew about Ranma’s less-than-favorable interactions with a spirit who refused to utter another word to him – the silent treatment alone was torture for years. But now?

He was cool with it. Something good happened, lately, which drew the two closer… but that was a story for another day.

“Let’s head back. I mean, we can continue tomorrow, and… uh… I wanna go back to bed…”