You're A Shock [Erica, Ranma]

Man… it was meant to have occurred the evening after that wonderful day, but it went to show just how busy the Shinigamis were. Far too busy for Ranma’s taste, but it was honest work done… minus the odd ones. The episode with Shura and nearly losing his limbs in a damn spar. The funny antics of his Zanpakutō. Noharu swatting him like a fly because of slang. And her… urghhh, just thinking about her sent shivers down his spine. Funny enough, it wasn’t out of fear this time – that was the only lesson he was able to take away from her.

But she did disgust him, to a degree… which led to today, meeting a girl who wouldn’t fight him, hiss at him or swat him. Nay, nay, nay, of all the Kaido practitioners who’d meddled with his wounds, Erica was by far the most welcoming – heck, she was also the first one who didn’t grimace at his mouth scar. He’d considered training in Kaido himself, so that he could rid of those scars at last, but… they’d become kind of a brand at this point. And he enjoyed the bandages.

But not today. Today, the bandages around his face were gone, and he embraced the strange looks for a few moments. Sooner than anticipated, the looks dissipated and left him feeling normal in his Shihakushō. Couldn’t dress up in a locked-down Soul Society to save his life, since there was always a looming threat outside that he should be prepared to answer.

He did, however, choose a nice place – it was near a bridge running over a large pond, reflecting yellow rays from the evening sun. He hid behind his back a pair of caramelized apples on sticks – very romantic, don’t you think? He thought so, since they appeared in so many romance novels that he’d read prior to this time. Something about candied apples just brought the best out in people, but… Ranma soon felt the tingling spread on his face. Paranoia. Exhaustion from prior events. The fact that his face wasn’t bandaged.

Many thoughts ran through the enigmatic Shinigami’s head, hoping that for once in his life, sake wouldn’t be the one to soothe them as he awaited his date.

He got all gibberish when he heard her call over to him, having looked away at the wrong time in anticipation. Safe to say, he missed her a lot – it was definitely just the easy-going vibe that she brought which illuminated his heart after having to deal with crazy stuff for… what, had it been over a week already? Even when Soul Society was holding its breath, shit happened… what a crazy time to be welcomed in.

Of course, Ranma was tougher than most – he’d realized that after his talk with Noharu and realizing how awakening a Shikai alone was a big-ass, heavy-ass achievement. He’d gained quite a few pride points just from that talk, which had helped garner up courage for today… and thus, he turned around to gaze upon her blossom-like beauty, her heart-melting smile, those intoxicating braids and-

Huh… something was different about her. His heart beat faster than it did last time they met, but maybe it was due to the nature of their meeting – it was a date, after all, which Ranma didn’t see coming this damn fast. Cut him some slack for being uppity… or maybe it was something else about her. There was just something about her today… that drew him in. That was when he noticed, stared, realized he was staring, stared away, sweated, wondered, pondered… then stared at her again, pretending not to have stared at all. It was just a glance, so hopefully his gentleman-like choice to move past it would land. I'm not so mentally weak that I'd lose brain cells over a little clea- w-wait, maybe it's intentional? Then I gotta sta- no, stop yourself… remember what you read, Ranma.

“I… I can wait here for a while longer, if you want,” he joked, rubbing the underside of his nose to contain his excitement over meeting her again. Armina’s threatening everything, Shura’s wildcard attitude, his road to moderate his sake intake… it all leaked away into nothingness, replaced by a sweet, fragrant scent of appl-

Oh wait.

“I think this’ll rock for a snack,” he spoke up, having realized that by rubbing his nose earlier, he was holding out one of his candied apples on a stick… which he began munching, while holding the other one towards her, “… Damn, they’re sweet. Suits you perfectly.”

At times, it felt as if his mouth was way larger than it actually was, due to the slight after-touch on his scars. He could’ve sworn that he’d once fought a Hollow whose mouth resembled what his scars made him imagine… a big, vicious, almost serpentine maw that could gobble up an entire building, or something. A terrifying thought, and a morbid one at that – he did well to shake that creepy thought aside.

“I, uh… woah. Big dub for your mum,” he complimented, feeling a little alienated first-hand – due to obvious reasons – but also quite adored at her history. Also, damn, lucky draw for him! He already earned some pretty brownie points from the cherry-haired healer – things were off to a smooth start on their date, and Ranma almost wanted to throw a dance move in celebration of that.

“What do you meeeeeeaaaaan, you’re totally the sweet one here – you’re the one with candy-flavored hair and caramel herit- e-eh…” Ranma uttered back in playful protest of Erica’s returning compliment, wondering if her sweet exterior and honeyed interior came from growing up with candied apples at her mercy. However, to his surprise, her hand was reaching out to his face and threw him off for a moment, slightly pulling his head back at first… but ultimately letting her rest her hand on his cheek above his scar.

It caused a flare to go off on his face, almost red enough to hide the scars entirely. Yeah, ever since their talk… the bandages became less important. If anything, Ranma just found another reason to wear them, which he’d muster up to say: “I-I mean, the bandages… they still look cool, though. But yeah, I get ya – wasn’t as big an issue as I thought.”

With her having reached out to him, he finally noticed how close their faces were. Her birth marks on clear display, a couple of dark dots resembling distant orbs in a pale sky, each right under one of her bright, glistening eyes. He felt drawn… but the pull wasn’t enough to ruin a date by going way too fast. Curse such a reality.

“Mhmm… m-mhm… eh?!”

Instead of letting himself drown in the depth of her eyes – or the subtle view of a vast canyon further below – he twirled around with his back turned towards her, followed by his left arm opening up, inviting her to lock arms with him if she so desired. “How about we go on a walk? I bet you’ve been hella busy these days – met any other interesting patients with sweet banter?”

Huh… well, what were the fucking odds?

As happy as Ranma was to lock arms with his date and walk across the bridge over the pond and just take in the wonderful evening weather with the orange sun setting in the Soul Society, her first experience to share with Ranma on this beautiful time was directly related to his Division… an event that he, too, was part of. Her mentioning Noharu cast a spark through his head as he realized the context behind her treatment from that start alone… and as Erica continued, several sparks of ‘oof’ and ‘oh shit’ kept shooting through his head as his face grew more and more… nervous. Shaking. Vibrating. Awkward.

He bit into his candied apple to suppress the awkward feeling of dread for a moment, deciding to add some light into the case: “Yeah, thaaaaaaaaaat… was Shura, yeah. Noharu told me after I’d fought her myself.” He, too, needed to be patched up afterwards – Shura’s last attack almost divorced him from his arms and legs… her and her cleaving Zanpakutō.

…

“I didn’t get too hurt, don’t worry – we got a good Kidō practitioner in the Eighth,” he quickly added, in case his mention of having fought this Shura lass would make Erica worry, “W-Well, not that… not that I’d not prefer to be treated by you, or anything… really…” Just stick to the topic, Ranma.

Even thinking about the whole ordeal made an eyebrow rise as Ranma pondered… in confusion. “It’s funny – Shura didn’t seem that tilted when I fought her. Yeah, sure, she came in and wanted nothing more than to fight us, but… it felt more like she was testing us. Then again, she did go nuts at Noharu- but then again, I didn’t see the end of that duel- b-but then again, I don’t know what set her off- but then again…”

Ranma had to rub his temples with his free hand after short-circuiting himself once more. It was getting out of hand, that damn habit of his. “Have… you met other Fourth Division members, though? I’m sure they’re not all domestically hostile…”

Ah, thank the heavens… Erica now knew Shura’s name, and thus a terrible encounter between the two had a nil chance of occurring. If anything happened to her… strong feelings would bubble up inside of Ranma’s chest. It was wild, exciting, warm but frustrating. As if he was on the verge of melting down from the inside out at the very idea of anything happening to this… this precious smile of hers.

Fuck… he couldn’t play it cool anymore. And they hadn’t even gone that far into their date yet, and somehow, Ranma still caught heavy feels. Massive, heavy feelings bubbled inside of him for that heartwarming smile, and he thought to himself…

Y’know, Ranma… it’s kinda wild that you’re here today. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of a future where I’d walk across a pond on a quiet soulful evening with a cutie like her in my arms. Whatever lottery I played in my previous life, I sure as hell got the jackpot…

He, too, would take a bite off his apple in tandem with her, needing the extra sugar to keep his bravery intact. And as Erica asked about his whereabouts, Armina popped up in his head again… causing a cold chill to run down his entire body, likely to be felt on Erica’s arm. “… I met another Fourth Squad psycho,” he quickly put out there, “This Armina girl… listen, Shura’s first impression wasn’t a nice one, I get that and all – and I didn’t want Noharu to be in danger like that, I really feel bad for her – but Shura’s friendly compared to this ice bitch, fucking hell…”

How on earth was he supposed to explain the events that followed in clarity?!

“I was… visiting my parents again, and there she was - beating up random Rukongai criminal freaks like she was one of them. She went all ‘fight or die in this world’ bullshit- nah, I pray you never heal her… not in a million years.” That was an absolute nightmare to think about, an encounter between Armina and Erica… no, no, no, never. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. No way.

“… Oh, and we fought this gigantic Rukongai Arhat guy, too. Size of a tower, big and purple. He’s actually pretty cool once you get to know him. Way cooler than Armina, that asshat…”