Shinigami
Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545
A/N: Yay! 100 reviews! Finally. This is the first story of mine to reach a hundred reviews. I'm actually kinda surprised 'cause this story only has three chapters so far, so I guess I must be doin' somethin' right in this story for it to be so popular. I'm in a really good mood now, so this chapter shouldn't take too long to write, I finally got the hang of Java Programming so I am really ecstatic. Anyways, time to destroy that hell blasted cliffhanger!
New Characters:
Sado (Chad)
Age: 16
Occupation: HighSchooler and living tank. LOL.
Appearance: Usually wears jeans and some kind of dark T-Shirt, has long brown hair that obscures most of his face and has a usually solemn expression. Is about 6' 3" tall.
Abilities: Immensely strong and has great endurance, even able to take the force of a full size steel girder falling on him with little injury. Develops ability to release reiatsu in focused blasts.
Inoue Orihime
Age: 16
Occupation: HighSchooler and general ditz, though extremely smart.
Appearance: Around 5' 11", long orangish red hair, six pointed star sapphire earrings, loose T-Shirt, jeans or skirt, always appears cheerful.
Abilities: Develops ability to manifest fairy like beings from one of her earrings, giving her the ability to heal, defend, and attack.
Ishida Uryu
Age: 16
Occupation: Quincy, Highschooler, Craft Club master of sewing and stitching, general genius.
Appearance: Around 6' or so. Medium straight bluish hair, glasses, rather thin, wears chain and cross on his right wrist, dresses kinda like a nerd, though a cool one.
Abilities: Can pinpoint Reiatsu signatures, manifests bow from cross on right wrist and shoots arrows of living energy, can develop rather strong tactics and strategies.
Abarai Renji
Age: Unknown looks around 17 - 24
Time of death: Unknown
Occupation: Lieutenant of sixth squad, Shinigami.
Appearance: Red hair, done up in warrior que, around 6' 1", intense expression and wears shinigami robes most often, has black tattoo like markings on his face and body.
Kuchiki Byakuya
Age: Unkown, looks to be around 25 - 30
Time of death: Unkown
Occupation: Captain of sixth squad, Shinigami.
Appearance: Aristocratic face, snow white hair done up in braid like things with a headpiece, generally bored or unimpressed expression, about 6' 2", Captain style shinigami robes.
Kon
Age: N/A
Occupation: Modified soul, supposed to fight and destroy hollows, placed in body of stuffed lion and is used to separate Ichigo's soul from his body in order to fight as a Shinigami.
Appearance: As Ichigo: The same as Ichigo, though without the serious and angry/annoyed expression. As stuffed Lion: Small, about 1' 6" to 2' tall, lion like face and ruff around neck, beady little eyes. Quite animated for a stuffed animal.
Abilities: None that are important as far as I can see.
Chapter Four: Ranma's Story
Ranma stood and waited, trying hard to keep from going to the kids rescue, wanting to see how Ichigo's argument would turn out and whether or not he would fight the hollow. For now, he just listened.
"Death gods must be fair to all souls! If you save that child, then be prepared to save all souls in need of help." The girl said, and Ranma found herself nodding to her words, seeing that they coincided with her martial arts code of honor.
"Wanting to save only those that you can see, only those that you can reach, this work isn't that convenient."
Just then the boy began to trip and Ichigo began to turn to help.
"Don't save him!" The girl commanded, halting Ichigo in his tracks.
"If you wish to save that child now, then you must be prepared to help all! Be prepared to save them all even if it means chasing them all around the world and sacrificing yourself!"
Ranma thought she was being just a bit too hard on the guy, it was ingrained into all martial artist to help the weak. Though it was true that they shouldn't only save those they could see and reach, asking him to chase them all over and save them all was a bit too much for one person, especially someone who is Ichigo's age, who probably has many other things to contend with.
She thought of her sword and it was instantly in her hand. She leapt forward as Ichigo was still stuck in indecision and cleanly sliced off the hollows head. The head and body soon disappeared into blue particles that dissipated quickly. She felt a rush of energy when it did and her body glowed once again, though not as much as the first time. She felt a little more drained than she had before, though, and her sword automatically receded back within her body. Though she did feel even more alive, somehow.
She turned to see the shocked faces of Ichigo and the girl.
"Sorry, but I'm not bound by your rules and logic. It's my duty to defend the weak whenever I can. As a martial artist, Ichigo is bound in the same way. I think you are being a little hard on him."
She leaned down to comfort the kid, who was currently crouching on the ground and crying. "Shh, it's alright now. I won't let one of those things eat you."
She heard someone approach from behind her. From the feel of their ki, it was Ichigo.
"Thanks. And yes, it is my duty to protect the weak. But duty is not why I would have helped. It would be 'cuz I wanted to. Thats the same for you, isn't it Rukia? When you saved me and my family, it was because you wanted to, not because it was your duty."
Ranma looked up at Ichigo and saw that he was staring hard at the girl, apparently Rukia. Rukia looked slightly shocked, as if she had never considered why she had helped in the first place, whether for duty or because she actually wanted to help. Ichigo nodded in affirmation of his guess. Then he looked to Ranma and made a silent request to approach the child. Ranma stood back to watch.
He knelt down next to the kid who looked up into his eyes.
"Hey kid, if you don't want to be scared like that again, then hurry and go to heaven." With that he lifted his sword and Ranma was horrified for a moment, thinking he was going to stab the boy, but then he reversed the sword and tapped the kid's forehead with the end of the hilt. When he lifted it there was a kanji for afterlife on him. The kanji glowed and soon the soul of the kid receded into the ground which was also glowing blue. Then both kid and glow were gone.
The girl came up next to Ichigo with a resigned look on her face. "Excellent soul burial." Was all she said to him. Then she faced Ranma.
"And who are you? Why do you have the spirit force of a shinigami? What are you? What was that glow? What happened to your Zanpakutou?" She asked in an accusing voice, obviously confused by Ranma's appearance.
"Um... I can't really answer any of those 'cept for the first, I don't even know what that last thing was.. My name's Ranma Saotome." Ranma said with a slightly apologetic look on her face. After all, Rukia acted as if she had done something wrong and if anything had gone wrong it was usually her fault, at least, everyone seemed to think so back when she was alive.
"Ranma Saotome?" Ichigo said in recognition, bringing his head up to look at the redhead. "True, you do look like him, but last time I checked, Ranma was a guy. And he had black hair and was a little taller and bulkier."
Ranma sighed, getting really tired of having to explain her curse to everyone she met. She resigned herself to explain, once again, and probably not for the last time.
"Well, it's a long story. Put simply, when I was on a training trip in China, I fell into a cursed spring in Jusenkyo, the Nyanichuan, or spring of drowned girl. What happens when you fall into a spring there, is you take on the shape of whatever drowned there last. I've gotten used to my curse though. All it takes is cold water to change me into a girl and hot water to change into a guy."
They looked incredulous, which irritated Ranma. "Alright, if you need me to prove it, then here!" She pulled out a cup from her subspace pocket, a technique she had coined from Mousse, and collected some water from a nearby pond and heated it up with some ki. She then dumped said water on her head.
He was amused by their shocked reactions. They were almost always shocked, guaranteed.
Rukia got a little closer and looked Ranma up and down, a slightly perplexed expression on her face.
"So it is you. The one I saved from that hollow the other day. So, you can change genders with water.. Well, that still doesn't explain this strange body you are wearing."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ranma asked, his curiosity piqued.
Rukia pulled out a glove with a strange skull on the back of it and put it on.
"I mean this!" She said as she shoved Ranma in the chest. Ranma fell back with a wrenching sensation and felt the world both dull and sharpen around him, as if he lost some senses but gained others. He picked himself up and noticed that once again he was wearing the white robes he had originally started with, though these had a white dragon outlined in black on one side and a black dragon on the other side, seeming to oppose one another. Neither of the dragons seemed to have their eyes open though, as if they slept. He was also carrying his sword once again.
Then he saw his body laying on the ground and nearly panicked, thinking he was once again dead.
"Don't worry, you're just outside your body now. Look at it closely though." Rukia said, noticing his panic and calming him, redirecting his attention to what she saw wrong with his body.
He looked a little closer and saw what was odd about it. It was incomplete. Bits and pieces were missing from his face and torso and his feet and part of his legs weren't there altogether!
"What.. What does this mean?" Ranma asked, wondering what in the world was going on.
Rukia seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment, Ichigo and Ranma waiting for her to think of some reason, then came to a simple answer.
"I don't know."
Ichigo and Ranma both facefaulted, cracking the ground a bit.
"You don't know?!" They both yelled in tandem.
"Easy! I do know someone who might know though. I'll take you to him. I was planning on going soon anyways." She said and began to walk away, obviously expecting them to follow.
Ranma and Ichigo looked at each other, then shrugged. Ichigo began to walk off as Ranma touched his body and realigned himself with it, being absorbed back into it. He felt the pieces that were missing be replaced by his own reiatsu and was then back in his own body. He then tried an experiment. He attempted to manifest his sword but found that it would no longer come out. Hmm... That's strange. Maybe it has something to do with my body being reconstructed?
He shrugged off the thought and hurried after the other two before they left his sight. They remained silent for most of the trip, only having slight conversation every once in a while but for the most part ensconced in their own thoughts.
Soon they turned down a side alley and after another turn came upon what looked like a convenience store, though it looked like one of the older kinds. Two kids were in the front, one a girl with blue hair done up in two ponytails, the other a boy with flame red hair that stuck up everywhere. The boy was currently using the end of a broom to push the girls head down.
"Even though you're lower than me..."
"No I'm not! I'm three years older than you!" The girl whined. Ranma got the feeling that she wasn't much for confrontations.
"Not age, Level! I'm talking level!" The boy said with a superior, though annoyed, look.
As he brought the broom up to push down on the girls head again, Rukia walked up and grabbed it from him, ending their little argument/fight.
The boy turned in surprise. "Who's there!" He said, before recognition lit in his eyes at the sight of Rukia.
"You never change, do you shorty?" Rukia said.
"Is the manager in?"
The boy gave her a very grumpy look and the others a curious one before mumbling a 'welcome back' and opening the door.
When it opened it revealed a large man with thick hair and goatee and mustache wearing an apron and some work clothes carrying a bunch of large boxes. He looked to be around 6' 5" tall and was truly an impressive sight, at least for those who had never seen someone so large before.
"Hey, Jinta! It's not time to open yet..." He left off when he caught sight of who was here this early.
"Oh, Kuchiki-Dono!" He said as Rukia walked in. "Please wait just a moment. I'll go and wake the manager."
As he was saying this a man who was around 5' 11", wearing some gray loose clothing and a dark coat with checkers at the hem and wearing a strange green and white striped hat walked in form what was obviously their residential area.
"So sorry. I'm already awake." He said, then released a mighty yawn, making Ranma want to yawn as well. He walked down onto the main floor, slipping into a pair of sandals that awaited him there.
"Good morning, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu." He said as he walked down the aisle. "And welcome, Kuchiki-san, and friends." He said as he finally reached Rukia, bowing to Ranma and Ichigo in greeting. Ranma finally got a good look at him and noticed that his eyes where very shadowed and his hair, while a white cream color, was that way naturally and not from old age.
"We just got some new stock from there this morning. What are you in the market for today?" The manager said with a welcoming smile.
Rukia looked back at Ranma and indicated that he should approach. He walked up, leaving the two kids with Ichigo and Tessai. The manager looked him over a bit and let out a low whistle.
"Well now Rukia-san, what have you brought to me? This is rather strange Reiatsu." He said, still looking at Ranma strangely.
"Well, that's the reason that I brought him here. Ranma, meet Uruhara, the manager of this store and trader of goods from Soul Society." Rukia said.
Ranma bowed. "Nice to meet you, Uruhara-san."
Uruhara bowed in kind. When he straightened he smiled. "Right, well, enough with the formalities. What exactly did you need?"
Ranma looked to Rukia.
"Might as well as tell him everything Ranma." Rukia answered his unasked question.
"Well, it's like this..." Ranma began.
He told them everything, from the point when he contracted the disease till now and even included a couple of his hunches on what was going on. Everyone gathered around and became a silent audience, only asking questions every once in a while and having him give an example of the curse a couple times, leaving him as his female form once again. When she finished, Uruhara leaned back in thought.
"That disease of yours sounds strangely familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it. But that thing with absorbing energy when you defeat a hollow seems to explain how you are rebuilding your body. You are merely taking the excess energy they have and unconsciously use it to build a physical body for yourself. I have no idea how you do it though, that may be an ability unique to your Zanpakutou."
Ranma heard the unfamiliar term again and capitalized on the chance to have it explained. "What is this Zanpakutou thing you keep talking about?"
Uruhara and Rukia and even Ichigo gave Ranma a skeptical look.
Uruhara, seeing the honest confusion in Ranma's eyes, deceided to explain."Well, I guess you wouldn't know. A Zanpakutou, also called 'Soul Slayer', is an extension of your soul, another being that takes the shape of a sword and has a universal ability to cut spirit particles, such as a soul or a hollow, as well as material things. They each have their own unique names and abilities, as well as a unique form."
"Unique form? Mine looks just like any other Katana, 'cept for the fact that it's polished so much that it's like a mirror." Ranma said, failing to see anything truly unique about the sword he uses, except for the fact that he could manifest it at will but he assumed that that was an ability that everyone else had as well, failing to see that fact that Ichigo carried his in a sheath on his back.
"Well, a Zanpakutou has three stages of release. A sealed form, which is what all Zanpakutous first manifest as, looking for the most part like a normal Katana. Then there is Shikai, which is the first release, that shows the Zanpakutous true form and ability. Last, there is Bankai, usually the sword takes on an entity of it's own and grows to a large size, displaying it's users and it's own true power, though it is still more or less under direct control of the Shinigami. Bankai is very hard to control, however, and is considered one of the greatest accomplishments that a Shinigami may reach."
Ranma thought of the implications of the information she had just gathered. So, this Katana can get even stronger than it already is and so can I. Not only that but it is apparently very special in it's own way. Won't Kuno be pissed if he ever finds out! Ranma thought with a silent snicker to herself.
Then Uruhara began to speak again, bringing her attention back to the real world.
"Now, I'm not sure but I think your theory on why you cannot manifest your Zanpakutou freely anymore is indeed because your body is now more than sixty percent complete. You will need to convert to shinigami form in order to manifest it again."
Ranma thought on this a while, then groaned as he saw a familiar grin on Uruhara's face, a grin Nabiki always wore when she was about to seal a deal that would earn her more money than her service was actually worth.
"Alright, how much for something to get me out of this body when I need to fight?"
"10,000 yen." Uruhara declared, smiling unashamedly. Ranma grumbled as he ran off to get the money, shouting that he would be back shortly. Then Uruhara turned to Rukia. "Ah, and you needed something as well, right? What was it?"
"A rank D spare fuel rod for a spirit communicator and sixty bottles of soma fixer. Oh, and did you get the item that I asked for yesterday..."
o0o
(Yes, I know that I am skipping a lot of story, but heck, they were mostly fillers in my opinion)
o0o
Ranma ran past Ichigo and the two kids and jumped up onto the roofs, getting her bearing before roof hopping as quickly as she could back to the Tendos, not caring if anyone saw her. Wow, we really traveled quite a ways away. I don't even think we were in Nerima any more! She thought as she flew through the air. She finally reached the house without incident and jumped in through the open window of her room. Carefully looking around to make sure that no one was around, she lifted the panel of the flooring in a corner of the room and stuck her hand into a hole in the woodwork beneath the house. She thanked her luck that no one had yet found her hiding spot for her money and pulled a fat wad of bills out of the hole. Everyone seemed to think that Genma gave Ranma an allowance, not noticing that the pandafied man stole anything valuable whenever he could get his hands on it, even when it was his own son's property.
Ranma snorted at the thought of Genma giving her an allowance. No, she made most of her money working odd jobs whenever she could for the construction companies and occasionally as a bodygaurd, making a decent amount of money for the short times she could work before she had to get home in time for Akane to punt her into LEO for 'spending time with his hussies' as she put it.
Ranma counted out the money and put it in her pocket, replacing the barely touched wad of yen back into his hiding place and making sure no sign of her hiding place remained before she left. She hurried back to the store, though it appears that Ichigo and Rukia had already taken off.
She jumped down from the rooftops and looked around. Seeing no one outside, she walked up to the door and opened it.
"Ah, welcome back, Saotome-san! I take it you wish to buy the separator?" Uruhara greeted her with a smile.
"Yeah, I think it would be a good idea. What happened to Ichigo and Rukia?" Ranma asked, looking around at the strange items on display.
"Oh, they had to go to school or some such." Uruhara replied, walking into the back to retrieve the item.
School! Ranma thought in a panic, then with visible effort calmed herself down. That's right, don' have to worry 'bout that no more. They have me registered as dead. It would be kinda hard to explain to everyone how I suddenly came back to life. Even my life isn't so screwed up that they would all just take it in stride. Ranma reasoned, deciding that she no longer needed to bother herself with it.
Uruhara strode back into the room bearing a wrapped bundle and set it on the counter. Ranma took out her money and gave it to him and he quickly counted out the bills before opening the cash register and placing them within. He then picked up the bundle and unwrapped it, revealing two bracers made of some kind of polished anodized steel. They had small, sharp ridges all along their length, looking as if they were made for actual combat.
"Just put these on and you will be able to step in and out of your body at will. They are very strong, so don't worry about them breaking." He said as he handed them to Ranma.
Ranma placed them around her arms and noticed that they were far too large and had no adjusting straps or anything. Before she could say anything, however, the bracers seemed to hear her unspoken complaint and began to shrink and smoothed themselves out to cover most of her lower arms, the ridges expanding and becoming slightly deeper, as if made to grab swords and break them. Ranma moved her arms and hands in all directions and found that they didn't limit her movement in the slightest and felt like it was almost part of her skin.
"You like them?" Uruhara asked, a strange glint of of pride and something else Ranma couldn't make out in his eyes. Ranma nodded her satisfaction, still testing out their mobility.
"I'm so glad! These are a couple of my newest creations. I needed someone willing to test them out. I'm glad they work properly."
"Wait! So I was a guinea pig for your new invention!?" Ranma yelled, incensed at having been manipulated once again.
Uruhara wasn't even shamed in the slightest. "Yes, yes, sorry. But they work, or at least they should. Come on, try it! Concentrate on leaving your body."
Ranma, though still mad at the strange store owner, was very curious on how well they would work. She concentrated on her body, imagining it as energy outside of the body she wore now. She felt a slight tingling sensation, then heard a silent pop as she suddenly found herself in the robes of a shinigami, still white instead of the traditional black that she saw on Ichigo and Rukia, her body falling in front of her as it's means of support left it. She quickly caught it and lay it down gently on the floor, not wanting to have it injured when she got back into it.
"Wow, this is great! Much better than I expected. Thanks, Uruhara-san." Ranma said, glad she didn't have to go through the effort of finding Rukia when she needed to get out. If she even had the time to.
"Glad you like it. Nice doing business with you, Saotome-san." Uruhara said with a smile, as Ranma left, getting back into her body before walking out.
o0o
"Glad you like it. Nice doing business with you, Saotome-san." He said with a smile, as Ranma left with a happy look on her face. He then went in to his office back in the house, a room that no one but he was allowed in. It was filled with strange contraptions and meters and screens and some strange machine in the middle.
He went to one of the computers and sat down, typing in commands rapidly. Soon, the computer locked on to the bracers he had just given to the shape shifting child, displaying a readout on everything he needed to know about Ranma. What he saw astonished him.
Ranma Saotome
Age: Unkown, 16th reincarnation Age: 18
DOB: Unkown, 16th reincarnation DOB: March 17, 1988
DOD: April 14, 2006
Cause of Death: Viral Hollow, destroyed before death, absorbed by soul.
Status: Borrowed Shinigami power, true Shinigami power still in dormant state.
Reiatsu Power level: Equivalent to Lieutenant, restricted. Modifier to release tapped power enabled and ready to use.
Zanpakutou: Unknown, in double sealed state and hiding true form due to borrowed powers.
Zanpakutou abilities: So far only a few are known. Absorption of spirit particles, reshaping and molding of spirit particles, focusing and condensing spirit particles.
Body Reconstruction: 68 percent complete. Spirtit Particle density: 68,000 SPPSI
!!Warning!!
Subject has undue amount of strength!
Physical Power Levels: Equivalent to Commander General, Unrestricted, Released.
Ki Power Levels: Equivalent to Commander General, Unrestricted, Released.
Skill level: Grand Master of many forms of martial arts, many very unorthodox and dangerous. Able to manipulate ki at unprecedented level.
End of Report. Will send additional information as it becomes available.
Uruhara leaned back in his chair, trying to make sense of the information. He hadn't suspected this Ranma Saotome to have such untapped potential. Not only that but his soul, while youthful appearing, was possibly thousands, even a million years old! A sixteenth reincarnation is, while not unheard of, extremely rare. Most souls have been destroyed before reaching that level of development and have to be reconstructed into a new soul. There was also the problem of the functions that he hadn't programmed into the bracers, such as reading the power levels of the physical body and Ki, whatever that was, along with the readings of the skill levels. And the modifier, which he had sealed before giving the bracers to Ranma, was also released. What ever was doing this wasn't under Ranma's conscious control.
Then there was the density of Ranma's body and soul. The body must naturally be as dense as the spirit that it houses or stronger in order to contain it. If the body would reach the density of 100,000 SPPSI upon completion, then Ranma's soul was extremely dense. With that kind of density Ranma could walk right through the barrier around Seireitei, unharmed practically!
To think, that he found two potential Shinigami in the same area! This would allow him much greater mobility in his plans. But, time to find out who gave Ranma his borrowed power. He quickly typed in a command into the computer.
Benefactor of Ranma Saotome: Lieutenant Matsumoto of 10th squad.
"Interesting..." He said, before reaching for a cellphone, dialing a number on it rapidly.
"Yoruichi-san, yes, it's me, Uruhara. I need you to keep an eye on someone for me. His name's Ranma Saotome and has the ability to change genders when splashed with water. He is potentially the greatest Shinigami to be brought about, or he is one of the greatest dangers to this worlds existence..."
Suddenly a new message appeared on the screen.
New Shinigami and high density souls detected near Ranma Saotome.
Location: Nerima Ward, Tokyo
Shinigami: Kasumi Tendo (Dormant), Nabiki Tendo (Awakening), and Akane Tendo(Dormant and Sealed by mystic arts unknown).
High Density Souls: Genma Saotome, Soun Tendo, Happosai Taro, Koh Lon, Ryu Kumon, Xian Pu, Mu Tsu, Ryoga Hibiki, Tatewaki Kuno, and Ukyo Kuonji.
End of Report.
"Really interesting..." Uruhara said after reading the information a couple of times.
"Um, Yoruichi-san, change of plans..."
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A/N: Yes, I know, I didn't get as far into the story as I thought I would. Oh well. Oh, and I guess this is yet another cliffhanger maybe. Hope you like how things are turning out! I think I got this chapter out in reasonable time. Tell me what you think! I accept Criticism, flames, and just general positive or negative feedback.
Ja Ne!