Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Different Path ❯ Chapter 5

This story contains scenes of explicit sex, naughty words, and other horrible, offensive things.  If you are underage in your house, village, town, city, community, state, province, country, or continent: READ NO FURTHER!  If that type of thing offends your tender sensibilities, or you are stupid: READ NO FURTHER!  All characters are the copyright of their respective creators and/or owners; no copyright infringement is intended by this story.  Any resemblance to people, places, or situations alive, dead, or otherwise is purely coincidental.

 

A Different Path

 

Chapter 5

 

Several Hours Later

 

Ranma and Happosai were back at the Tendo Dojo. At the moment, however, instead of being inside it, they were standing on top of it, both panting as a result of their long fight. Neither one's face looked like they were going to give an inch, but finally Happosai extended his hand palm out.

 

“All right, Ranma. Let's call this one a draw.”

 

“Givin' up, eh?”

 

“Don't push your luck, you little punk!” Happosai snapped, before softening his expression slightly. Slowly, unwillingly he conceded, “OK. No…collecting here at the Tendos or at your new school.”

 

“And no skirt flippin', peepin', or anything else like that neither, right?!”

 

“Right,” Happosai reluctantly agreed in the face of his student's strong pressure.

 

“And not for a hundred feet around those two places either, right?!”

 

“What!?! A hundred feet?!?”

 

“A hundred feet!” Ranma insisted.

 

“OK! Fine! A hundred feet!” Happosai sullenly kicked a loose tile off the roof. “Are you happy now?! Taking away the little bit of fun an old man has left in his miserable life? Tell me! Does that really make you so happy?!”

 

“Ecstatic,” Ranma suddenly dropped onto the roof with an exhausted groan. “Kami! You almost had me there, Master! I was `bout ready to drop!”

 

“Hmmph! Young kids these days! No stamina! Now when I was your age I-!”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ranma interrupted the martial arts master. “I know, I know. You ran twenty miles a day up mountains with bears on your back while fighting off saber-toothed tigers. In blizzards. Whatever.”

 

Happosai shook his head as his student stretched out on the tiles, groaning again in tiredness. “We need to train you harder, Ranma. But for now…I'm off to see what I can find hanging in the breeze! Don't wait up for me!” Ranma just raised a weary hand to wave goodbye as his master dashed off into the growing darkness of the evening. As soon as he had made his way out of ear and eyeshot, however, Happosai too collapsed onto a convenient roof, groaning in exhaustion much like his student had been doing.

 

Ranma, you're really starting to push me! The ancient master thought as he tried to regain his energy after the long, hard-fought battle with his student. I knew when I first saw you what a martial arts prodigy you were, but you continue to surprise me! The only things keeping me a step ahead of you right now is my experience, mastery of ki techniques and my ability to drain yours off to support me. But soon enough, you'll want to learn those very same skills, if not from me then from someone else. And when you do…Then you will truly be a Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts!

 

“Welcome back, Ranma-kun!” Kasumi greeted Ranma a few minutes later as he entered the living room, walking a bit stiffly after his battle. “Are you all right?”

 

“Yeah, I'm fine, Kasumi. Thanks. Just a bit sore.”

 

“So, you lost then?” Nabiki asked curiously.

 

“Nah, we called it a draw,” Ranma shook his head ruefully as he sat at the table. “That old man may not look like much, but he's damn good! I'll get him one of these days, though! Anyway, he agreed not to do his thing here or at school, so we're safe as far as that goes.”

 

“His thing? Just what do you mean by that?”

 

“Oh, you know, stealin' panties, peepin' on girls while they're changing clothes, flippin' up skirts, gropin' butts, nuzzlin' breasts,…” The Tendo daughters' eyes all grew large at the extensive list of perverse things Happosai enjoyed doing. Genma and Soun, well aware of their master's proclivities, began weeping. “Well, I'm sure you get the idea. Like I said, he won't be doin' that stuff here now.”

 

“He really likes that kind of thing?” Nabiki finally asked.

 

“Oh, yeah! Does `em every chance he gets!”

 

“No wonder you're such a pervert learning under that dirty old man!” Akane observed.

 

“He taught your dad too,” Ranma observed with a shrug. “Anyway, it's not really my cup of tea.”

 

“Well then, what is your cup of tea?” Nabiki asked with a smile.

 

“Me? I like-”

 

“Kasumi dear!” Genma interrupted his son. “Will we be eating soon?”

 

“Oh, my! I almost forgot! I'll go get it now,” The eldest Tendo daughter stood up and smiled. “I hope you're all hungry, I cooked quite a bit!”

 

“I'm starvin',” Ranma responded enthusiastically. “I can't wait!” Ranma looked around, then asked, “Hey, where's Ryouga? Ain't he eatin' with us?”

 

“He left about an hour ago, after he woke up.” Nabiki answered. “Besides, don't you think it'd be uncomfortable to eat with him here? I mean, after you just beat him?”

 

Ranma shrugged indifferently, “Why? It was just a little fight. Nothin' serious. Why would anyone care so much?”

 

You really don't know Ryouga so well, do you? Nabiki thought. Oh well, you'll find out soon enough…

 

“Dinner everyone!” Kasumi announced as she began setting out trays of food.

 

“Wow! It looks and smells delicious, Kasumi!” Ranma immediately began loading his plate full of food.

 

“Well, I hope you enjoy it. Please eat everyone.” Soon the only sounds in the room were those of contented people filling their mouths. Ranma quickly ripped through his first serving of everything and asked for seconds.

 

“This is really great, Kasumi!”

 

“Thank you, Ranma-kun. I'm glad you enjoy it.”

 

“Man! A fantastic cook and so beautiful too! You're gonna make some lucky guy awfully happy!”

 

“Oh, my!” Kasumi blushed prettily as she handed Ranma another bowl of rice. He took it from her and set it on the table, but kept a hold of her hand, lightly caressing it.

 

“You know,” he observed. “Most women who spend a lot of time in the kitchen have such rough hands, but I've noticed that your skin is so wonderfully soft and smooth, Kasumi. And your eyes are so beautifully dark and mysterious, I feel like I could just fall into them and lose myself there forever…”

 

“Oh, my!” Kasumi's blush grew even rosier as the teenager holding her hand so gently complimented her, his blue eyes intent on her face.

 

“Hey!” Akane interrupted angrily. “Do you mind not molesting my sister?!”

 

“`Molesting'?!” Ranma appeared shocked at her use of such a term, even as he kept a hold of Kasumi's hand. “Is it molesting to recognize beauty, to pay tribute to Kasumi's lovely features and abilities? I don't think I would call that molesting.”

 

“Well, I don't care what you would call it, you pervert! Now let go of my sister this instant or…!!”

 

“I'm sorry, Kasumi,” Ranma sighed as he released Kasumi's hand. “Maybe we can talk about this some other time. When there won't be so many…interruptions. I know! Can I help you make breakfast tomorrow? I usually had to do most of the cooking when the Master and I were travelin' around, so I know my way around a kitchen. You don't have to worry about me gettin' in your way. And I'm sure an awesome cook like you can teach me a bunch about makin' food! You know, we can cook and talk and…”

 

“And what, you twisted degenerate?!” Akane looked ready to leap to her feet and attack, but was quickly calmed by her eldest sister.

 

“Now, Akane,” Kasumi chastised her. “That's no way to speak to a guest; especially one who's just offered to help us. You should be more polite. Now, please wait a moment everyone while I just go and get the dessert.”

 

Now that's interesting, Nabiki observed thoughtfully as she watched Kasumi hurry from the room, her cheeks still slightly red. I've never seen anyone make Sis act that way. The middle Tendo daughter switched her brown eyes over to Ranma who was humming happily as he voraciously devoured another helping of food. Looks like I can guess what his cup of tea is without him even telling me! And Nabiki wasn't the only one thinking along those lines.

 

“Well, son,” Soun began, clearing his throat to get Ranma's attention. “I take it that you and Master Happosai…train together everyday.”

 

“Not really,” Ranma disagreed. “Ya know how he is. Mosta the time he's off doin' his thing; harrassin' girls, getting drunk, stealin' panties and so on. He leaves me to pick things up on my own and then we test stuff out on each other later on. Maybe adding something he thinks I'm ready for. Actually, speakin' of that…What are the local dojos like? Any of `em got anything special or interesting that's worth checkin' out?”

 

“Um, the local dojos? I'm not sure I follow you, Ranma…” Soun looked at Genma in confusion, but his old training partner simply shrugged his shoulders to show he didn't understand either.

 

“It's like I said before. Gramps expects me to pick stuff up on my own. That's why we're always travelin' so much.” Ranma looked at his two elders in confusion. “Didn't he do the same thing with you guys? Ya know, go to a new place and leave ya on your own to learn stuff while he was off terrorizin' the neighborhood? Then later you'd get back together and he'd test ya. That's what we were always doin' anyway, but maybe he did stuff different with you guys.”

 

Genma and Soun looked at one another, similar expressions of dawning comprehension on their faces. They had always thought their terrible Master traveled from place to place so much simply to avoid the police, angry restraunteurs, enraged citizens and so on. But what if, in addition to those indeed very pressing needs, Ranma was right and Happosai had also been expecting them to pick up things on their own while he was having his fun? Had he really been expecting them to show some initiative in their study of the Art?!? It might explain why he had almost always been angry with them when he returned to gather them up and move on to a new place. And those few times he had been pleased…Maybe it hadn't just been that he'd gathered some particularly nice piece of lingerie or stolen a large amount of liquor. Maybe those had also been the times when they had learned something new! The two middle-aged men frowned in consternation at this possible new look at their past relationship under Happosai.

 

“So you guys moved around a lot, huh?” Nabiki asked.

 

“Oh, yeah. I mean, how much can you learn just sittin' around in one place. All that'll get you is a fat ass, right Pop?”

 

“That's right! Hey! Wait just a second there boy!”

 

Ranma laughed and ignored his father, “Yeah, we traveled all over the place: Korea, Thailand, India, Tibet, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam; you name the place and we went there. But probably the place we spent most of our time was China. When I was younger Gramps did a lot of hands on stuff, but as I got older he'd pretty much leave it up to me. Wherever we went he'd just drop me off with whoever might be able to teach me something and say he'd come back in a week, a month or whenever and see what I'd learned.”

 

“Oh, my! It sounds like a very difficult childhood!” Kasumi commented as she handed out dessert to everyone.

 

“Thanks, Kasumi.” Ranma quickly wolfed down his food. “Ida know. I guess it wasn't your regular kinda childhood. But I've been places, seen things and learned stuff I guess most people never even dream about, so…” Ranma shrugged. “I guess it all evens out, huh? Anyway, that's why I wanted to know about any good dojos in the area. I wanna look `em up and see if they've got anything I can pick up from `em.”

 

“Well,” Soun thought the matter over. “There's a magazine we get that deals with martial arts matters. I'm pretty sure it has a directory of some kind you'd find useful.”

 

“And you could always use the Internet,” Nabiki added.

 

“Sounds good. Thanks. Oh yeah, could I use your phone, too?”

 

“Of course, Son,” Soun gestured toward the hallway where the house phone was situated. “Who do you need to call?”

 

“Since I'll be stayin' here at least a month, I figure I'd better let the Amazons know.” Ranma hopped to his feet. “Like I said before, they take this marriage stuff pretty serious and I don't want `em trackin' me down with blood in their eyes.”

 

“I'll show you to the phone,” Nabiki offered. As they entered the hallway and left the earshot of the living room she added, “You know, phone calls to China don't come cheap. And neither do dojos. There isn't much left of ours after you, your master and Ryouga got through with it.”

 

“Hey!” Ranma protested. “That was mostly that Ryouga guy's fault! He was the one blastin' holes through it!”

 

“How about the one you made with Ryouga?” Nabiki asked dryly as they arrived at the phone.

 

“Yeah, ya got a point,” Ranma admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Hold on a sec.” He walked over to the front entrance of the house and came back holding a large knapsack. Rummaging around inside the bag, his face finally brightened. “There they are!” Pulling out his arm he revealed what he'd been looking for: two golden statuettes one of a lion and the other of a tiger. Placing them in Nabiki's hands Ranma said, “These are about the only things worth anythin' we got left. Sorry it ain't money, but travelin' around so much, we usually make do with barter, especially out in the countryside. Anyway, I think you can get a pretty good hunk o' cash for these.”

 

“Definitely,” Nabiki breathed, her eyes wide as she appreciated the exquisite workmanship of the two animal figurines. In addition to their obvious artistic value, from their weight she'd guess that they were also pure gold and their eyes looked like they had been made with valuable gems. “Where'd you get them?”

 

“In India. We did a favor for a local temple handlin' a demon that got loose.” Ranma suddenly grinned. “`Course, we didn't tell `em it was Gramps who set it free in the first place `cause he thought there were some bras in that chest!”

 

“Is he really that bad?”

 

“You've got no idea.” The martial artist looked at Nabiki carefully. “So, uh, if you don't mind me askin'…Um, do you handle all the money for your family or somethin'?”

 

“Yes,” Nabiki admitted. “Yes, I do. Since you'll be staying with us, you'll find out soon enough that Daddy is…Well, let's just say he doesn't have the strongest personality in the world. There were certain decisions that had to be made and he hasn't been capable of making them since Mom died, so I've taken care of them.”

 

Ranma nodded in understanding. “Gotcha. So, Kasumi's been taking care of all the housework and you've been in charge of keepin' everything afloat, huh? You're a couple of tough cookies, the both of ya.” Ranma smiled again and suddenly reached out to ever so gently draw his fingers along the line of Nabiki's jaw, making her suck in her breath in surprise. “Smart women, gotta love `em. Especially when they've got killer bodies to match their brains,” he added with an appreciative down and up movement of his eyes.

 

Nabiki felt her face redden in embarrassment, which only served to make her angry. You're not Kasumi, she berated herself internally. So don't act like such a little, innocent girl. Even if he does have such wonderfully deep blue eyes…Nabiki shook of those thoughts. “You may be a guest,” She observed sharply. “But I'm not one of the things you should feel free to take advantage of. Go ahead and make your phone call.” She turned sharply and went up the stairs toward her room, not acknowledging the other teenager when he called up his thanks.

 

Once she was past the entrance to the hallway, however, and out of view she dashed to her room, entered and locked the door behind her. Then, as softly as possible she lifted the handset of the phone she had in her own room and prepared to do some serious eavesdropping, a pencil and pad of paper nearby in case she needed to take notes or heard any particularly interesting information. She had made it to the phone well before Ranma could punch in all of the numbers for his call to China, though. Therefore, she had to wait for several minutes as he spoke to different operators. Clearly wherever he was calling, it wasn't a main line. Finally, however he got through and Nabiki listened intently as the phone at the other end was picked up.

 

The line had a bit of static, but was basically clear, so Nabiki could easily make out that Ranma was speaking with an older woman. She was disappointed, however, in that the two of them were speaking in Chinese, a language she wasn't familiar with. Luckily for her, though, the two soon shifted to Japanese.

 

“Well, Son-in-law,” Nabiki hear the old lady say. “I'm glad to hear you haven't forgotten any of your Chinese. But perhaps it's better for me to work on my Japanese since that's where you are right now.”

 

“Hell, Granny,” Ranma replied with a laugh. “Your Japanese is perfect and you know it! I guess if I ever live to be eight hundred years old then I'll-”

 

“Bite your tongue, you impudent little baby!” The old woman's vice was sharp, but Nabiki could hear the amusement in it, a point that was made clear when she joined in Ranma's laughter with her own cackling.

 

“Well, anyway, Granny, the reason I called was that I'm gonna be here longer that I thought I'd be.”

 

“Oh? Do tell.”

 

“Ya see, the thing is…It looks like my Pop hooked me up with some kinda arranged marriage here…”

 

“What!?!” The old woman's anger was clear. “Give me all the details of this arrangement, Son-in-law!”

 

“Well, it's like this,” Ranma quickly broke down the main points of what had happened since he and Happosai had arrived at the Tendo house earlier that day. “So anyway, it looks like I gotta stick around here for at least a month to sort all this crap out. Sorry `bout this.”

 

“Not as sorry as Shampoo and the others will make you when they find out about this,” The woman observed dryly.

 

“Ugh! Don't remind me!”

 

“Well, do you think you'll be able to win the duel?”

 

“Please!” Ranma sounded hurt that she'd even ask.

 

The old woman laughed, “Don't get too cocky Son-in-law. Even the smallest pebble can sometimes impede the largest elephant.”

 

“I don't think it's anythin' to be worried about,” Ranma observed dryly.

 

“You losing would actually greatly simplify things. It'd cancel any weddings and make things much easier all the way around. Oh, well,” She continued with a sigh. “If you say you're sure that you can win, I'll simply have to take your word for it for now. If you do, that'll join your schools, but it'll solve nothing as far as the marriage problem goes. Do you think your father and this Soun Tendo will insist on it?”

 

Ranma was quiet, thinking for a few moments before he replied. “I ain't sure, Granny. Pop…Well, let's just say I ain't been too impressed by Pop. He don't seem to have much of a backbone and seems like he'd promise anything to anyone to save his own fat hide. As for Mr. Tendo…I don't know him so well; Hell, I just met him! But he seemed pretty set on this marriage from the way he was carrying on when I got here.”

 

“Well, let's just be patient for now and see how things go. Actually, Son-in-law, I wasn't surprised to hear you say that you'd staying in Japan for some time.”

 

“You weren't? Why weren't ya?”

 

“Certain…signs pointed to a long absence,” She replied a bit mysteriously. “Which is why we'll be coming to join you there in Japan.”

 

“Comin' here?! ALL of ya?!”

 

“That's right.”

 

“Well, uh…I mean right now we're stayin' at the Tendos and…I don't really think they'll be all that thrilled to have four more people livin' off `em, ya know. Especially Shampoo and them, I mean, since I'm supposed to…”

 

“I know that, stupid. When I said we're coming to Japan, I didn't mean to stay with the Tendos!” Exasperation was clear in the woman's voice as she spoke making it obvious to Nabiki that she was no one to mess with. “I need you to find us a place there, got it? Here's what we'll need,” The old woman quickly began rattling off a list of her needs for a residence, making it clear that she was planning on having a combined home and restaurant. Finally she wound down. “Now, do you have all that Son-in-law?”

 

“Uh, no, not really,” Ranma admitted. “Hold on a sec and I'll get a pen and some paper.” Do you want to borrow my notes, Saotome? Nabiki chuckled to herself as Ranma returned to the phone and began taking down the old lady's reiterated instructions. “OK, got it,” Ranma said when she had finished. “So when do you think you'll be here?”

 

“Oh, maybe a week or so,” She replied after a few moments thought. “It depends on how quickly I can wrap things up here.” She chuckled, “I can tell you that your wives are anxious to see you again. Not very becoming for Amazon warriors if the truth be told.”

 

“Well, you know…” A certain amount of smugness was clear in Ranma's tone.

 

Evidently the woman heard it too, “Of course, once I tell them about this new marriage of yours, I'm sure they'll be much more anxious to come over and…talk with you.”

 

“Great!” Ranma groaned. “Just great!”

 

“See you soon, Son-in-Law!” The old woman was still cackling as she hung up the phone, shortly followed by Ranma doing the same. Now that was a very interesting conversation indeed, Nabiki thought as she set down her own telephone receiver as well. This going to take some thought…