Ranma was currently in the training cave under the Urahara Shop, currently working on his Flash Step technique.
It had been a few days since he had broken from his father, a few days since he had almost lost control to the inner rage he seemed to possess, drawing the zanpakutô from his Hollow side.
It still confused him how he two different zanpakutôs when most shinigami or even an arrancar only had one. Even then, the zanpakutô for an arrancar only had one release, and that was to release the Hollow’s true form.
Did that mean his zanpakutô only had that release? If so, then why did Urahara-Sensei say it seemed to have both energies in both zanpakutôs? Did that mean they both had two releases?
And how much longer would it be before he discovered the names of his zanpakutôs? Did they even have names? Could he even call them out? And then would he be able to call their releases?
“Um ... Ranma-san?” came the quiet female voice.
“Yeah, Ururu?” he responded to the shy girl, flashing a smile that would make most women glomp him and proclaim him the cutest thing in the world.
“I was sent down here to help you with your practice.”
“Really?” asked Ranma, wondering what the little girl could do to help him. She couldn’t have been that strong, since she never fought back when Jinta picked on her.
“Uh-huh,” she responded, before pulling multi-barrel cannon out of nowhere.
Ranma could only blink, before the quiet little girl released Hell on Earth.
Sailor Pluto could only look on as Ururu seemed to defy logic and reality, as her cannon seemed to have a constant supply of ammo.
But Ranma seemed to be holding his own. Despite the fact he hadn’t been able to build up the needed stamina to continually use the Flash Step, he was smart enough to use it only when needed during his dodging practice. Then again, at least his father had never had the stupid idea to use live ammunition to do such training.
But she had other things to worry about besides whether or not Ranma would be able to dodge a few missiles that could rip a high level Hollow to shreds.
She had to worry about Genma Saotome.
Despite Yoruichi’s hope—or maybe because of her hope since the Goddess of Flash wanted to give Genma a Class 1 beat down—the Master of Anything Goes had not given up hope of reclaiming his son from the ‘foul demons that had brainwashed his weak-willed mind and stolen him from his loving father’. Unfortunately, he had done enough that going to the police for help was not an option.
The local law enforcement never did understand what it took to raise a strong martial artists.
And he certainly wasn’t going to go to Nodoka for help.
But it didn’t stop the portly martial artist from trying to reclaim Ranma on his own. First, he needed to figure out where the boy was being held. Then he needed to sneak in—probably at night to better hide him—and swipe the boy back. After all, when the boy was far enough away, surely the demon's influence would wear off. If not, he’d stop by a shrine and ... borrow ... some seals from them to use and cleanse his son himself. After all, how hard could it be?
And if that somehow failed—though he didn’t see how, as surely his worthless son was even now trying to fight the demon’s influence after seeing what it had done to his honorable father—he could always seek help from Soun. Surely his old friend would help to ensure the survival of the schools.
And if that somehow failed ... there was always the ... last resort.
In a cave blocked by a large boulder that was covered in religious seals, a small sneeze was heard.
Sailor Pluto found herself cursing whatever God was messing with her now, and therefore didn’t notice when the Gates momentarily switched to the image of a sneezing black cat. Even away from his father, the boy still seemed to be in the middle of a nexus of growing chaos.
She needed to do something to stabilize things. If she didn’t, then it was likely the same chaos that had followed Ranma Saotome in Nerima would follow him to Juuban when he met the Senshi.
And even that event didn’t seem to be set yet.
And the fucking future of Dominatrix Moon was still around! If nothing else, she needed to remove that possibility from the time stream.
There was one thing she could do, something that would help stabilize some things.
She needed to get Ranma a social education. While Kisuke and Yoruichi could teach Ranma both how to fight and the ideology of Soul Society, they couldn’t teach him how to act around normal humans.
And that meant ... Ranma had to go ... to school.
“My, he’s improving faster than I thought,” smiled Kisuke as he drunk his tea, watching Ranma's ... training ... on a closed circuit monitor, as Jinta and Tessai arrived to help.
“Perhaps,” said Yoruichi. “But he still needs to learn more. He only knows the bare minimum about zanjutsu (swordsmanship), even though he seems to excel in hakuda (hand-to-hand combat) and seems to pick up hohō (foot combat) pretty well. He’s even getting the Flash Step faster than anyone I’ve ever taught it to. We haven’t even started yet on basic demon arts.”
“True, but he is very skilled as a stock boy,” mused Kisuke, trying not to wilt under the glare his friend was sending him.
A knock on the door saved him from a painful beating. “Hello?” he inquired, answering it, as the others were currently down in the training room randomly blasting Ranma helping him with his defensive skills.
“Yes,” said the man in a business suit. “I understand there is a pigtailed boy here.”
“And you are?” asked Kisuke.
“I am Mr. Ino of the Karakura Town School System, assigned to the Truancy Officer Division.”
“Oh dear,” murmured Kisuke. True, he had that covered for Ururu and Jinta. Them being modified souls, it wasn’t too likely they could fit in well with normal humans ... well, at least not without crippling a few.
Ranma on the other hand ... they had completely forgotten about him. “Um ... I can assure you officer that the boy in question will be registered at the closest elementary school near here by tomorrow.”
“Very well,” said Mr. Ino, as he handed Kisuke a paper. “Make sure he presents that tomorrow when he registers. I expect to be notified before noon, sir. Good day.”
The former shinigami could only blink. He had meant to delay them until he could forge some transcripts for Ranma that said he had passed or was being home schooled as he had claimed form Jinta and Ururu—which reminded him that he needed to start teaching them again, there math skills were a little lax when they helped him with the taxes last year.
But it still brought a smile to his face. Since his friend was already displaying her maternal instincts, why not let her deal with it. “Oh Yoruichi-san...”
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(Posted Sun, 24 Dec 2006 12:50)
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