Demonic Halo [Momo, Ranma]

The next part was the hardest one yet… for now that he could seal an object inside of this honey-ball, he needed to unseal it. Remember, Ranma… just like a key. The seal was just the lock you put on four-eyes, your Reiryoku was going to be the key that’d unlock it again.

You just had to… stick the key in. Y’know, like you stuck it in Erica a few nights ago- yes, just like that… he just needed to grasp the feel for it. He was still going at the whole unlocking part blindly, but he knew deep inside – once he cracked the code, all other times would run smoothly.

And with his Reiryoku flowing out, faint and invisible, the honey-ball reopened itself like a budding flower blooming. The rings around it looked like yellow light donuts expanding, suddenly turning into a burst of Reishi releasing the object inside.

Aaaaaaaaaand… four-eyes was intact! Oh my God, he was intact! “… Yes- YES YES YES!!! I DID IT!” Ranma’s jubilation hit a fever ceiling, seeing him fly up in the air in a celebratory fistbump to the sky, “MY FIRST SEAL! FUCK YEAAAAH!!!”

Offering a round of applause for him as he completed his task, Momo would smile at her student. “Excellent work! You managed to pull that off perfectly and now have all the know-how you need to make any seal you wish. There isn’t much more I can add to the topic besides advising you to simply get creative and experiment. That goes for barriers as well, thinking about it but I must say that you’ve made great progress already today. I have one more skill to teach you…but I think that you could do with a break first, hmm?”

Starting to head back inside, she’d say, glancing over her shoulder at him. “Let’s have some tea first before we go any further as it does take quite a lot of energy to handle barriers and seals to begin with. Once we’ve relaxed for a bit, I’ll show you how to cast spells where you utter the spell names afterwards rather than before. Ninja Kido if you like.”

Oh shit, any seal? He quickly noted that he needed to make more in the future – what other seals could he make exactly? Were they all working the exact same way, or were other seals working differently with different effects, different results, or different machinations?

Machinations… weird word… oh tea. Ranma was in the mood for some relaxing tea, something to warm up his soul and restore his energy. Damn, Auntie used to drink tea too…

… Ninja Kidō?! “Wait, Ninkidō?! Ninja Kidō?! I completely forgot about that,” he expressed with hype, remembering that certain expertly skilled Kidō casters could cast Kidō before even saying the incantation, “You think I’m ready for that now? Shorter chants are one thing, but completely going around the chant itself…”

“I don’t see why not. If you can use barriers and seals then there’s no reason why you can’t use spoken after Kido as well. The principal isn’t all that different from regular chant skipping in truth. All you have to do is go through the motions of the spell, visualising it in your mind as you normally would when skipping and then utter the chant afterwards. We can have a go at it after our break and see how we go. I’m sure with practice, you’ll get the hang of it.” Momo answered with a smile.

Heading inside, she’d go into the kitchen and start bustling around as she made the tea. As she did so, the dark haired woman would ask, curious. “So, other than Kido, what else are you up to during this rather messy time? Have you decided what you want to do with the Gotei seeming to be in a bit of a hole?”

Hmh… he’d have a go at it, then. His Kidō skills were developing at a rapid rate – perhaps a result of the pressuring environment around him, or maybe because of Erica’s encouragement, or maybe both, or maybe none at all (maybe he just always had it in him, who knew?)

Some would argue that warring environments brought the best out in people… hell, that sounded like something Shura would say. On the other hand, if he was taught this in the Shin’o Academy, would he had been able to use seals and barriers back then? It would’ve definitely made him even more interested in Kidō.

Her kitchen had faint cinnamon and citrus scents in the air. Ranma wasn’t exactly a bloodhound, but he knew good scents when he smelled it (another props to Erica). It made his body feel sluggish, like he was turning into pudding. “I… wanna help out Tentō and Koma-boss, and just keep maintaining the Soul Cycle… I already miss the Gotei United, though,” he expressed with a somber yet saddened melody as he found himself scooting towards the nearest sitting place, “It’s fun to maintain the cycle when you got family around ya… very motivating and all, but I don’t know what the Central 69 are up to. Honestly, I don’t know that much…”

Honestly, Momo had long stopped worrying about such things. With the Soul Cycle meaning about as much to her as last week's rubbish. The Gotei had used that as an excuse to commit their fair share of disgusting acts and the petite brunette wondered at times if it was even actually true. Yeah, she’d become a cynic but so had many or would become so, she believed, especially now that the latest group had collapsed.

“No doubt that Captain Komamura will do his best to make sure that his new group will do what’s right.” She replied evenly, finishing the tea and carrying it over to where Ranma was sitting. “He’s an honourable enough man or was when I knew him and I confess that he was easier to speak to than his…new rival, if that’s the way to put it. Lord Kuchiki was hard to talk to at the best of times.”

She seemed to believe in Komamura’s efforts, if anything. He did come off as a man of justice, but also a man of… well, shame. The way he talked, avoiding taking a higher position in speech and manner, the way he just seemed to humble himself even at the presence of who might as well have been a kid running into him like Ranma… he’d been experiencing a lot. Ranma learned that Komamura used to be a Captain back when the original Gotei 13 were around – as always, having joined like 5 or so years ago really meant that Ranma missed out on a lot.

“Kuchiki Byakuya… he’s from the same fam as Captain Kuchiki Rukia, no? I mean, obviously, they have the same family name,” he asked, remembering the Captain of Erica’s previous squad, Kuchiki Rukia… huh, must’ve been awkward or something.

But tea was ready! Nice! "*sip* Thanksies! But still, if you say that about Lord Kuchiki… was he, like, an emo or something? You mean he was like that back when the Gotei 13 was around, too? The fuck's his problem, then? He and Koma-boss were fellow Captains once, why not just get the fuck along…?"

The more he thought about it… weren't they just doing the same fucking thing?! What was the point?!

“I’m not saying that they were enemies or anything like that and I’m certain that they were cordial back then. I just meant that it seems to me like they’re trying to do the same thing now. Both trying to protect the Soul Cycle and all that but what happens when you get two groups trying to perform the exact same task? More often than not, they get in each other’s way and end up being at loggerheads.” Momo answered, wanting to make sure that her previous words were understood correctly.

“Lord Kuchiki wasn’t emo, he just carried himself with that cold and apathetic manner that made him hard to approach. It’s a noble trait I believe or with him at least and it made interacting with him difficult. He mellowed out a bit over time but even today, I reckon he’s still got that same kind of coolness to him. You’re right though, he and Captain Rukia are in the same family although she’s completely different. We were friends in the past.” She’d go on to add.