Shinigami ½

-Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or Bleach, all credit shall go to their respected creators.)

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Chapter 1: Ranma Falls in the Spring of Drowned Shinigami

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Many people say that men should carry the weight of the world on their shoulders while leading a path for the weaker man to follow. Discipline and rigorous training is what leads these so-called 'men' to do the things they do. But in a world where martial arts meets magic and supernatural, they will soon learn that there is always going to be a consequence to one's actions.

-Jusenkyo China-

Two men, one fifteen year old boy with black hair tied into a pigtail and a stocky middle-aged man with glasses and a bandana on his balding head, walk this very path. They never questioned what lay ahead of them. All they had in mind was training to hone their battle skills, and bathing in the so-called 'magic' springs.

Genma, the middle-aged man in a bandana, was looking at a map of Jusenkyo, or at least trying to. He was born a Japanese man to a Japanese family, and one would not be stupid enough to think this Japanese man, who has spent the majority of his life in Japan, would know how to read the Chinese language. But, his pride would not let him tell his son, Ranma, the boy with the pigtail, that he never knew how to read Chinese.

Ranma grew suspicious of his father. He knew that there was no way his father could read Chinese. Does he look that stupid?

"Hey, pop!" Ranma called to Genma. "Are you sure this is the right way to where we're going?"

Genma hesitated when the question was asked. He stopped for a moment, and tried to look smart in front of his suspicious son. He was the type of man that never let people know how clueless he is in this type of situation, even if they are a little suspicious. He made something up to cover up his illiteracy.

"Uh…yeah of course, son." He said quickly. "Do you think I would lie to you when I said I could read this map?"

Ranma glanced at the map from behind his father. A tick mark grew on each of his temples.

"Do I look that stupid to you?" He shouted. "Why do you act as if you know it all?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Genma asked, moving on.

"I mean, how can you read Chinese when I've clearly never seen you pick up a book in your life?" Ranma clarified aloud.

"I'll have you know that linguistics is my specialty! And, it's not that difficult to read it!" he lied through his teeth.

"Okay, have it your way, pops." Ranma sighed.

The two walked on for hours on end without stopping or resting.

… … …

They have been walking for five hours straight, and Genma suddenly stops, leading Ranma to bump into Genma really hard.

"Hey, watch where you're going, old man!" he shouted. "Why are we stopping anyway?"

Ranma walked past his father, stroking his aching head.

"Look, there it is!" he shouted, pointing just ahead of Ranma. "Behold, Jusenkyo!"

Ranma turned toward where Genma was pointing at, and he saw it too. They were standing at a cliff directly above a valley filled with hundreds of pools and bamboo poles sticking out of each and every one of them. He took in the magnificent sight for about a moment before Genma bonks Ranma in the back of his head.

"Ow! Hey old man!" he shouted after his retreating father's figure.

Genma was clearly in a rush to be in this valley of Jusenkyo. Even though Ranma found it to be a spectacular view, he had to admit that admiring the scenery was definitely not 'manly' in his book.

Genma and Ranma arrived at the bottom of the valley, and stopped to look around for a while. Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes next to them was heard, and they turned their heads toward the sound. The bushes were indeed moving, and they approached it cautiously,

"Alright! Whoever's behind the bushes, come out right now and identify yourself!" Genma announced.

Someone answered his warning, and a man emerged from behind the bushes. This person was a middle-aged, chubby, Chinese man wearing a brown tour guide uniform and cap. He was carrying a pack of relief supplies on his back and had a hiking stick in his hand. He was breathing hard, which probably meant that he had come down the valley to greet them as their unofficial tour guide.

"Hello, travelers." He said in Chinese. "May I assist you? I am a tour guide of Jusenkyo."

Ranma and Genma both looked at each other with blank stares. Genma had no clue what this tour guide was saying, and obviously neither did Ranma. Ranma turned to the tour guide and addressed him very slowly.

"Um…we don't speak…Chinese, sir." Ranma said. "We are…from Japan."

The tour guide blinked for a moment then realized his mistake.

"Ah! Sorry, sirs!" he exclaimed in his heavily accented Japanese. "We get very little visitors from out Japan! I just think everyone I see know Chinese, you know?"

"Um, we understand that already." Ranma said, ignoring the tour guide's lack of fluency. "Considering we just arrived here."

"Oh, how you get here if you no know Chinese, sir?" the tour guide asked.

"We swam here!" Ranma exclaimed, showing off his lean bicep muscles.

"What? You can no swim here from all the way Japan!" he exclaimed.

"It's true, though." Ranma said.

"Well, if you did swim here, then when did you arrive in China?"

"About half a year ago." Ranma answered.

"What? You were here half a year, and you still no know Chinese a little bit?" the tour guide exclaimed, astonished.

"Well, we didn't have time to talk to the locals and we walked all the way here." Ranma said.

"Jusenkyo a isolated valley, and you say you arrive from Chinese shore more than thousand mile from here, and you had no time to speak?"

"It was a very complicated thing."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore." Genma cut in. "We've come to train in this humble valley of yours, and we'd be honored if you were to show us the proper way, mister tour guide."

Genma bowed with his palms together at his chest, and closed his eyes while doing it. The tour guide was very ticked off when he did that, and just turned his back on them.

"That is no how you bow!" he shouted. "If you no bow properly, you no get help from me!"

"What did I do?" Genma asked.

"You bow stereotypical way, sir! The one thing outsiders do is bow to us like that!"

"Is it bad?"

"People make very bad assumption about us Chinese, and bow all day long and squint their eyes like they got lemon squeeze in them! I mean, we no bow no more, except martial artists, but please do not do that again!"

"Um, sorry." Genma apologized while scratching the back of his head. "Then, would you please be willing to guide us around here?"

The guide turned back to Genma, and his mood changed entirely.

"Why, yes I will!" he exclaimed joyfully. "Come, sirs, we go now!"

… … …

The walk seemed to be endless. It only took an hour, but it seemed to drag on for more than that. The guide kept talking about legends, cursed springs, Jusenkyo's tragedy, and magic water. They literally heard none of what he said, and they decided to stop at the next spring.

"I think this should be good enough, right Ranma?" Genma stopped, and then they all stopped.

"Wait! What are you doing?" the guide asked.

Genma took off his pack, and started stretching.

"Come on, Ranma! We must prepare!" he said.

Ranma followed suit and took off his pack, which was a relief for his part since he carried the least, but the heaviest things. He stretched just like his father. They jogged in place, did push-ups, sit-ups, leg stretches, arm stretches, and practice punches. Finally, they were ready.

"Let's go, Ranma! The real training begins!" Genma exclaimed, and leaped up onto the pool's bamboo pole. He used his incredible acrobatic skills to land properly on the pole without letting it bend or snap. He seemed weightless, and graceful like a crane. But, Ranma stopped admiring the crane that was his father, and followed after him onto the next pool's bamboo pole.

"Hey, what you doing, sirs?" the guide called up to them, knowing it was futile that they'd listen. "Get down from there! It very bad if you fall in spring! I no finish my tragic story!"

"Save it for the campfire, old man!" Ranma shouted down to him. "I gotta beat the crap outta my pops first."

"Big talk coming from a such a young man!" Genma taunted. "I won't go easy on you just because you're my son!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Ranma shouted back, and they both leapt off of their poles like acrobats in flight.

The guide just stood their astonished. Who are these people? They are very strange? Did they not hear what he just said? It's like sound go through their ears only to come out the other without reaching their brains. The guide just left them to their futile ends, seeing as how other stubborn martial artists have done the same thing.

"Such a waste." He said.

Ranma and Genma exchanced blows and kicks at each other in the air for about a few seconds before they pushed off each other and landed on the opposite poles, with Genma on the left and Ranma on the right.

"Do you give up now, boy?" Genma taunted, sweat forming from his forehead.

"Not a chance, old man! I haven't even broken a sweat yet, and I can see that there's some sweat forming on your face when we've only just started!" Ranma taunted back. That did it!

Genma leapt off his pole enraged. How dare his incompetent son? Is it his right to tease him just because he's gotten older, and less enduring than he was ten years ago? It was time he taught Ranma a lesson, but he never got it because Ranma just leapt off his pole and disappeared from sight. Where did Ranma go? It was like he just vanished into thin air. Then suddenly, Ranma reappeared behind Genma, and kicked him into the spring below them, then landed perfectly on the opposite pole. Splash!

"Hey! What were you thinking just now?" Ranma called down to the bubbling surface. "I thought it was a martial artist's rule not to let emotions cloud your mind, stupid old man!"

"Hey! That was very dangerous, young sir! You no idea what you done!" the guide called up to him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That is Spring of Drowned Giant Panda! The spring where ancient panda drowned 2000 year ago! Now, whoever fall in there take body of original panda! It tragic story!"

"What? Are you serious?" Ranma exclaimed, refusing to believe such a stupid tale.

Just then, he was proven wrong. The surface of the pool bubbled even more, and a giant panda emerged from the spring and landed on the bamboo pole opposite from Ranma. This panda looked almost comical. It had large stupid-looking eyes, and face that reminded him of Genma. Wait! So, where was Genma?

"Hey, old man! What happened to pops?" Ranma asked.

"I try to warn you! Your father now a panda!" the guide shouted.

"Huh?"

The panda roared, and leaped toward Ranma, breaking the bamboo pole in the process, and clawed him into a pool several yards away. There was no time to land on his feet anywhere solid, for there were only pools there, and even with his level of martial arts, he still landed in the pool. Splash!

Ranma struggled to resurface. He thought he was going to drown because he had landed on the wrong side, and water was rushing through his mouth and filling his lungs. What's more, the spring water seemed to be a lot denser than normal water. He found it almost impossible to resurface, until he reached down to his side.

Then, he felt something. It was a sheathed katana at his side, and he strictly never remembered putting that there and wore strange Meiji-era styled kosode and hakama instead of his white karate gi. Then, with a sheer force of will, he unsheathed the sword, and the water rushed from underneath him. The force pushed him up and out of the water, landing on the ground next to it.

He looked down at himself again, and held the sword in his hand like it was an alien thing. He looked like he changed clothes and outfit, but he was sure it wasn't like that before.

"What am I?" he asked.

He walked over to the spring he just emerged from and looked down to see his reflection. His face, hair, and eyes were the same. The only thing that changed was his clothes, which had been a white karate gi, and the sword. He sheathed the sword, and admired his new look.

Sure he looked different, but this was definitely a cool, but strange feeling. He clenched and unclenched his fist, sensing a power that had not been there before. Then, suddenly, a blue orb of energy formed in his palm, and it radiated something strange. This energy almost seemed natural, but then he wondered if he could use it as a tool for battle.

Ranma outstretched his arm, and aimed for the forest next to him. He concentrated, and then fired the orb of energy as if it was a cannonball.

"That is so awesome!" he exclaimed in triumph. "I had no idea I could do that! I wonder what other amazing abilities-"

Then, he was interrupted. The guide was running over to him from across the way, and the giant panda followed close behind him, panicking. The guide stopped in front of him, and took in the sight that was before him. The guide gasped, and nearly fainted from shock, more so than what Genma transformed into.

"Hey, what's wrong, old man?" Ranma asked.

"Y-Yo-You! This is terrible!" he shouted.

"Wait! Calm down and tell me what's so bad."

"You fell in Spring of Drowned Shinigami, or Soul Reaper! It tragic story of how a Shinigami committed suicide and drowned himself in that very spring more than 1000 year ago!" the guide exclaimed, arms flailing around him like he was hysterical. "Now, whoever fall in there become Shinigami without taking original body! Now, you young Soul Reaper!"

"Wait, what do you-" Ranma was about to ask what he meant when a pillar light appeared from behind him. Ranma turned toward the pillar of light, and everything was engulfed in the light.

Then, Ranma was gone…vanished…disappeared without a trace.

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A/N: Well, how do you guys like this kind of crossover? It's something a little different, but basically, Ranma falls into the Spring of Drowned Shinigami, and then he is whisked away to the Soul Society to train in his newfound abilities. Then afterward, he will get to return home. But, I'm thinking of pairing him up with someone, and maybe you guys can suggest what squad he gets to be in and what position he gets. Please rate and review, and I'll update next time! Bye!