Ranma / Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!

Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! Belongs to Minato Soft

Special thanks to Vandenbz who hard work was able to clean up this fic immensely! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Seriously, Have you gotten stronger?

+++++Nerima++++

Ranma surveyed the trail of the utter devastation that had been laid across the Nerima district. It all started when Taro had once again brought his problems to Nerima looking for the old pervert, despite him telling the cursed boy that the old letch was not currently in the area,Taro persisted in his belief that Ranma was lying and covering for the pervert. 'As if.' Ranma thought with a snort.

"Give me the old letch now or else I'll get really mad!" Taro threatened as he leapt at Ranma who easily evaded the pantyhose-wearing boy's strike.

Frowning, he waited for Taro to do a follow up attack but the pantyhose boy looked a bit worn out. Ranma hated to say it but either Taro had gotten slower or he was beginning to get faster.

"Like I told you rocks for brains the little perv ain't here so why don't you just take your bullshit outta here!" Ranma shouted back before landing a powerful kick on the cursed boy, slamming him into the nearby wall. To his surprise Taro actually looked dazed from the attack. Concerned, he went down to check."Yo, you okay?" He asked as he snapped his fingers in front of the bull-headed boy.

"Ranma! Hurry up or we'll be late!" Akane shouted from the sidelines.

Ranma shot a look to fiancee #1 before glancing back to the pantyhose boy before shrugging his shoulders. "I hate Wednesday." He grumbled before jumping away and landing lightly beside Akane.

"Honestly, you can play with Taro after school!" Akane chided as she started a brisk jogging pace to Furinkan High. "Hurry up before we're marked late."

"Right." Ranma said agreeing before turning back around to look at Taro who still appeared dazed from his attack. Weird, usually Taro would have been up by now. "Want me to carry you?" he asked his fiancee casually.

Akane stopped in her tracks and a light blush adorned her face before she smacked him hard with her book bag. "Baka!" She shouted in embarrassment. "What kind of perverted things are you trying to pull now?!" She huffed before turning back around and running off as if Ranma was on fire.

"Ow..." Ranma said as he gingerly touched his head and felt a typical Akane lump growing there. He didn't understand why she was always hitting him, he was being civil for crying out loud! She was the one that was worried about them being late, nothing was faster than roof hopping. "Stupid tomboy." He grumbled and ran after her only to hear the familiar ringing of bells from a bike.

"Airen!" Shampoo, Amazon of the Joketsuzoku, said in greeting as she tried to land on her favorite landing pad, Ranma. To her surprise she watched him nimbly sidestep her perfect landing and found herself forced to adjust her balance on the bridge rails. "Nihao!" She said cutely as she quickly regained her balance.

"Shampoo." Ranma said in a flat tone while giving his unofficial fiancée #1 a half lidded stare. He took to moment to admire her, he had to admit she was looking pretty cute in her white chinese-style silks today. "We really going to pretend that didn't happen?" He asked staring at her bike.

"Shampoo have no idea what Husband talking about." Shampoo said glibly as she biked slowly beside Ranma, keeping pace with him. "Shampoo see Airen already knocked fuck out of stupid bull boy yes?" She said looking back to Taro's still-unresponsive form briefly before turning her attention back to her husband to be.

"Yeah, he must have been feeling under the weather or something, he went down easier than I thought." Ranma said offhandedly as he put his hands into his pockets and continued walking. Something about their last exchange bothered him but he didn't know what.

"Hmmmm~~~~" Shampoo hummed as she looked at Ranma and gave him a piercing stare.

"What?" Ranma said defensively. She wasn't eyeing him in her usual predatory way, in fact she was looking at him in a way he hadn't quite seen before.

"Hmm, maybe great grandmother right about you after all." Shampoo said softly to herself.

"SAOTOME! DIE!" Mousse, the Hidden Weapon Master, shouted from out of the blue.

Ranma, reacting on pure instinct, dodged all of Mousse's throwing knives, quickly closed the gap between the two and sent Mousse flying off with a rising dragon uppercut.

"I'll returnnnnnnn..." Mousse's voice trailed off as his trajectory sent him flying away.

"Hmmmm..." Shampoo said eyeing Ranma again.

"What? What did the old ghoul say bout me?" Ranma asked, interested to know.

"Not sure if should tell Airen." Shampoo said evasively as they reached Furinkan High's school gate. "Bai bai Airen! Think of Shampoo kay?" She said with a flighty wave before turning her bike around and leaving Ranma alone.

"Grrr.." Ranma growled a bit but blew it off, something about that entire exchange with Mousse bugged him too. He just didn't know what.

"Ranma HURRY, you have a minute before the bell rings!" Akane shouted from the window of their classroom.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Ranma said as he ran quickly toward the school building and with a single leap was inside their classroom just as the bell rang.

School passed by quickly for Ranma and before he knew it, it was time to go home.

"And remember class! Any one that wants to go on the senior trip has to have their form filled out and returned by Friday!" Hinako , their short pretty teacher said happily while sucking on a multicolor swirly lollipop. "See you tomorrow!"

"Stand!" The Class Rep shouted. "Bow!" She signaled as all the student save Ranma stood and bowed.

Ranma was just looking disinterestedly outside the window until Akane smacked him lightly on his arm with her book bag. "Huh, Kane, we done?" He asked before standing up to stretch.

"Yes, let's go home, I have this new curry recipe I wanted to try." Akane said happily and did not notice the distressed look on Ranma's face.

While Akane's cooking wasn't bad anymore per say, it still left a lot to be desired. Who was he kidding? It left a lot to be desired but at least she tried hard. Seeing her hopeful look Ranma resigned himself to his fate. "Right. Sounds great." The pigtail boy said in a strained tone.

"You'll love it!" Akane said happily and left together with Ranma. No sooner were they out of the school was Ranma instantly flanked by Ukyou.

Instantly Ranma felt the temperature drop so fast he wondered if he was channeling the Soul of Ice. "Yo Ucchan, didn't see you earlier." He nodded to his best friend in greeting.

"Yeah, had to get my business license renewed so I had to skip school today." The young brown-haired entrepreneur said.

"Then why are you here?!" Akane said accusingly while turning her nose up at her rival. "Shouldn't you be at your restaurant or whatever?" She made a waving gesture with her hand.

"I always have time to walk home with my Ran-chan!" Ukyou said happily while looking at Akane and emphasizing the "Ran-chan" point. "You don't mind do you Ran-chan?" She asked in a half afraid half hurt tone.

"Huh? No, I think it's great!" Ranma said honestly. Who wouldn't want to spend more time with their best pal right? Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as Akane's aura suddenly got darker.

"Fine if you like to walk home with your "cute" fiancee so much then go ahead,I'm just going to be a third wheel around here!" Akane shouted angrily before socking Ranma in the face and sending him flying off to into a wall.

"Hey! Whadda do that for you tomboy?" Ranma shouted back angrily. The punch didn't even hurt him, it was just the momentum of the punch itself that smashed him into the wall.

"Stupid Baka!" Akane shouted at him before running off.

Ranma once again sighed dejectedly. Almost two years now, two years and she still jumped to conclusions just as easily as the first day. He wondered if sometimes the engagement was even worth it anymore.

"Hey Ran-chan, you okay?" Ukyou asked in concern having read Ranma's confused expression. Extending her hand she was a bit hurt that Ranma didn't take it but instead picked himself up. "Okonomiyaki at my place if it helps any?" She offered tentatively in a small voice.

Looking at his official fiancee#2 but technically #1 because he knew her first, he saw how worried she was over him. "I'm fine Ucchan, Sounds great but I have some thinking to do." He said, knowing that him spending time with Ukyou would just make Akane angrier. "Catch ya next time?"

Ukyou's expression turned downcast momentarily with her bangs covering her eyes before she faced him with a forced smile. "Sure thing Ran-chan, I'll be here anytime you need me, see ya!" She said and ran off.

"ARRRGHHH!" Ranma screamed in frustration as he punched a nearby wall, destroying it in the process. He'd seen the hurt expression on his best friend's face and once again that he'd made yet another girl cry. He felt like an asshole. "Fuck my life!"

"Ranma! What did you do to Akane, you playboy?!" Ryoga , Ranma's longtime rival shouted as he charged at the pig-tailed boy.

"Ryoga." Ranma said happily with a grin. "Just the stress relief I needed!" He smiled evilly.

Apparently his smile was so evil it took even Ryoga by surprise who only hesitated a second before jumping to battle his longtime rival.

+++++ Later that evening +++++

"Jerks," Ranma said as he made his way back to the Tendo Dojo. After Ryoga, Kuno decided it would be a great time to show up, followed by Tsubasa and surprisingly enough Taro again in bull form. It took some time but he eventually put them all down easier then he thought he would. Still it bugged him, he wasn't as winded as he thought and strangely even the wounds he'd received were already starting to heal. "Made me late for dinner , Akane will probably assume I skipped out on her cooking, My day could not get any worse." He moaned to the sky.

"Hiya Ranma my boy!" Happosai's voice said from behind him.

"Me and my big mouth." Ranma lamented and turned around to face the pervert, adjusting his body into a battle stance. "Right, let's get this over with." He said tiredly. "Hate, hate Wednesdays."

"No need for any of that my boy!" Happosai said cheerily which further put Ranma on edge, that reaction however wasn't missed by the grandmaster of the Anything Goes school. "Hey! What's with that distrustful look?" He whined.

Ranma narrowed his eyes further which seemed to make the old letch cry harder.

"Oh what an ungrateful world, to be distrusted so!" Happosai cried in a childish voice while he rubbed his eyes on his sleeve.

"And what the HELL do you think earned you that reputation in the first place!" Ranma shouted at the old pervert which in turn made the old man bawl like a baby in the middle of the road. Despite how much he distrusted the old letch, seeing him cry and get depressed like this was kinda wrong even though he knew Happosai was faking it. "Whatever. Look, stop crying, what do you want?"

Happosai's crocodile tears instantly dried up. "Why my boy I am glad you asked!" He said cheerfully and jumped top of Ranma's shoulder.

Ranma sighed but tolerated the old pervert's presence. "So what is it, I need to face my make- I mean eat Akane's cooking soon." He corrected himself as he walked toward the Tendo home.

"My boy, I am taking you out to fight someone!" Happosai said with a grin as he looked at his heir.

"Pass." Ranma said flatly and felt Happosai face-fault off his shoulder before jumping back on.

"What? Why?" Happosai asked in protest.

"Have enough crazy people to fight here, don't need to add more to the list." Ranma said easily.

Happosai suddenly laughed. "Oh yes. The people around here are really challenging you aren't they?" The diminutive pervert asked mirthfully. "I heard about the Taro fight earlier this afternoon, a new record I heard." The old man said knowingly.

"It's all your fault he came here in the first place! Just change his name this time around!" Ranma turned and shouted at the grandmaster of the Anything Goes school.

"What?! Change an amazing name like Pantyhose? Never!" Happosai could not believe this sacrilegious, vile thing that Ranma wanted him to do. Still, he wasn't here for this, oh no he had much bigger pan-fish to fry. "Ahem, anyway, I also observed your fight earlier." He continued on as if Ranma had not shouted.

"What about it? They are just dumb asses like usual." Ranma said tiredly as he started walking again. He realized that the old pervert wanted something when he started talking instead of fighting.

"Yes, but they are easier to take down now aren't they?" Happosai asked archly with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"So?" Ranma asked but he already knew the answer. They were getting too easy, he'd finally gotten to the point where he could take them all on with minimal damage on his side. "They'll get better." He said as if he believed it.

"No, I don't think they will," Happosai said and held up a hand before Ranma could protest. "At least not to your level they won't, they'll grow sure but they will forever be under you in terms of skill and ability." He said honestly.

Ranma stopped in his tracks. On some level he knew it but felt that maybe if he gave them a couple of more tries they'll surprise him. The fights no longer felt as satisfying as they once did, he was already able to anticipate all of their moves from the moment they started to attack him. They were falling into a pattern and he was falling into it with them.

"Ranma my boy, you have hit that invisible wall that all martial artists face." Happosai said sagely.

Upon hearing those words, Ranma recalled what his father had told him when he was younger.

++++ Flashback Ranma 10 years old +++++

After the tenth time of getting his butt kicked by his father he grumbled out loud about how his father had an unfair advantage over him.

"My boy, you should be glad that you have something to aim at defeating." Genma, still in his trademark dirty white gi, said seriously. "Because once you have surpassed me you will eventually hit a wall."

"Wall? What wall?" Ten year old Ranma asked in a curious tone.

"It's an invisible one," Genma corrected himself. "It's when a martial artist gets to the point where no one can challenge him on equal terms."

Ranma tilted his head cutely and looked at his father, his teacher. "But wouldn't that mean I became a great martial artist like you wanted?" He asked in confusion. "You want me to not be good?"

"No , no!" Genma said quickly. "Think about it Ranma. How do you feel after you hit me and make me hurt?" He asked with a serious glint from his glasses.

Ranma took some time to mull it over. "Good!" He replied after a couple of seconds.

"Now when you fight those boys during lunch time at school, do you feel just as good as when you could land a hit on me?" Genma asked his son.

Ranma had to admit, it was not as satisfying. "No, not really." He replied.

"And you know why?" Genma prompted his son.

"Be-because they're weaker and it's not fun picking on those weaker them you." Ranma said honestly.

"Correct!" Genma said proudly to his son. "Martial arts are only enhanced when you have someone stronger or on an equal level to fight. For me, I have my best friend. For you, well... You are still growing but one day when you surpass me I hope you find a worthy rival."

"Why?" Ranma asked, perplexed.

"Because son, it's lonely at the top." Genma said sagely before turning around. "Okay now today, we will be training with rattlesnakes, the poisonous kind. You ready boy?!" He loudly.

"Huh?!" Ranma asked before hearing the question. "Right you are pop! They won't keep me in the hospital this time!"

"Thata boy!"

++++ End Flashback ++++

Ranma's eyes widened in understanding and he looked at the diminutive founder of his school.

"I see that you have realized it, truth be told you surpassed them quite some time ago." Happosai said sagely as he took a puff from his peace pipe.

"What? No, I mean Ryoga and the others have given me plenty of problems." Ranma said coming to his friend's defense.

"They kept your skill from rusting away but when push came to shove you have always come out on top, it was NEVER in doubt." Happosai said, having witnessed some of the fights." I even went so far as to cripple you and you found a way to beat them." Ranma could still remember how it had felt to be inflicted with the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion technique.

"Well that's because I learned a new move to counter that!" Ranma defended. Remembering how he was forced to learn the Hiryuu Shoten Ha or forever lose his ability to fight as a martial artist.

"Exactly and if they were worthy to be your rivals they would have countered that and pushed you once more to your limits. But they didn't and so you held back against them." Happosai said seriously. "I myself try to push you to your limits from time to time but just like you I don't find it any more fun to handicap myself against opponents than you do either."

Ranma couldn't believe it, Happosai was correct. When faced with a new challenge, he just adapted and pushed himself harder and beat his opponent. Afterward things went back to normal. Status quo.

"Now can you honestly tell me when was the last time you completely went all out and used everything in your arsenal to defeat someone?" Happosai asked.

"Saffron." Ranma replied instantly, then someone else came to mind. "Herb." He was about to say Ryu, but with Ryu once he was able to counter the Yama-Sen Ken it came down to a matter of skill which Ranma had plenty of, it was game over at that point.

"Felt good to let loose didn't it?" Happosai said knowingly. "Despite everything being on the line, it felt good to not be concerned for your opponent's well-being and and lose yourself in the Art, didn't it?" He said while looking directly into Ranma's eyes.

"Yes, but I am not a berserker or a battle-crazy martial artist." Ranma retorted. Sure he loved a good fight, heck he lived for it but it wasn't like he couldn't go without it. "Sure I would love to cut loose but if I am better well then they'll just have to work that much harder to reach me! " He replied honestly.

Happosai had to say he was surprised by Ranma's declaration. He didn't view his rivals as stepping stone, he viewed them as friends. "My boy, you never cease to amaze me sometimes." He said while chuckling heartily. He'd taught Soun and Genma to sacrifice everything for the Art, apparently that lesson did not take with Ranma.

"Well, is that all you wanted to say Happosai?" Ranma asked. They had been at the Tendo door for quite some time.

"No actually," Happosai said with a smirk. "You see Ranma, I found someone in your age range that is better than you." He gloated.

Ranma looked offended. "Ain't nobody better than me, I'm the best!" He rebutted vehemently at the old man.

"Ranma, have you ever heard of Kawakami Tesshin?" Happosai asked.

"The grandmaster of the Kawakami style? Of course, who hasn't?" Ranma said. Even he'd heard of Tesshin Kawakami.

"He has an heir, around your age who has amazing talent and I would say surpasses you in most areas." Happosai said, egging him on. "Challengers from all over the world travel to Kawakami City in order to fight he-him." He said with a sly smile. Happosai decided to withhold the sex of the Kawakami heir for now. Ranma was funny when it came to girls.

That seized Ranma's interest, he hadn't heard much about the Kawakami grandmaster choosing an heir yet. Must have been a recent decision.

"Now let me tell you something interesting, Ranma my boy." Happosai said as he rested on Ranma's shoulders. "I have fought Kawakami Tesshin one hundred times in my lifetime."

Ranma looked at Happosai with newfound, he hated to say it, respect. "How did you do against him?" He asked in curiosity.

"The record as it stands now is fifty wins for me, and fifty losses." Happosai said with a sigh. "I won our first encounter, he won our last one." The old grandmaster said mournfully. It had been SOO close too!

Ranma's respect for Happosai went up several notches. "I have to admit, I'm impressed old pervert." He said with a bit of awe. Sometimes he underestimated the old fart.

"That is why Ranma my boy, I would like you, my chosen Heir to battle the Kawakami heir for the tie breaker three days from now at their shrine." Happosai said while smirking at Ranma.

"WHATT!?" Instantly the dojo door flew open with Soun and Genma jumping out along with the rest of the Tendos, Ryoga, Nodoka, Mousse , Shampoo and Cologne.

"Huh? What the!" Ranma said, spinning his head around as he looked at the others.

"Master, what do you mean the boy is your heir?!" Genma asked in protest.

"That's right. He can't be your heir until he marries Akane!" Soun protested along with his friend. If Ranma was the heir then that meant for all intent and purposes that the schools were already joined.

"Happosai, what trickery is this?" Cologne said dangerously. "You know we can't use him if he is yours." She said in an angry tone.

"Ah Cologne chan! Sorry didn't know about that," Happosai said honestly. "Besides, he is the only one out of all my students that is worthy of the title. Sorry to say that Natsume, Kurumi, Taro, Hinako, Genma and Soun did not make the cut."

Cologne looked like she wanted to protest but now that Ranma had been officially declared the Heir the other elders of her tribe would never approve of the outsider male now. This changed everything. "Damn you Happy, you couldn't wait?" She asked, rather vexed at this turn of events.

"Sorry Cologne -chan but this battle is more important." Happosai said, looking at Ranma who was still shocked at being named the heir. "So what do you say Ranma? You interested in carrying the pride and honor of the Anything Goes school against the Kawakami School of martial arts?" He asked with a chuckle.

Ranma looked down at the old pervert and could hear the earnest plea in Happosai's voice. "You're serious aren't you, about the heir and this fight being a tie breaker between the schools." He asked in pure astonishment.

"Yes I am, the Kawakami heir is said to be the best of this generation, no one can match Tesshin's heir, not even the Four Devas of martial arts." Happosai said with a warning tone. "The Kawakami heir's thus far official record is all wins, zero losses."

Everyone watched as Ranma's bangs fell over his eyes and he started to shake. Even Akane had heard of the Four Devas, but she did not know that they had fought the Kawakami heir, whoever he was, and lost.

"Ranma, the four Devas are really strong, maybe we should postpone it for now." Akane voiced her concern.

"Hmm, the old letch is right, the Kawakami heir has defeated everyone that ever stood up against him." Nabiki said while trying to find a picture of the heir on the internet, yet strangely failed to locate anything useful.

"That's because he hasn't met me yet." Ranma said, startling everyone as his eyes now had a determined look to them. Looking down at Happosai he grinned at the Grandmaster of Anything Goes. "I'm in."

"Excellent." Happosai said with a grin while in the back of his head he couldn't help but picture Momoyo's collection. 'Panties here I come!'

TBC...

AN: Woo, sorry for the long wait on chapter two.

And so now we have Ranma side! It's shorter then the other chapter but I found if you have nothing more to write about a chapter then it is best not to write anything at all. No use in putting in fillers. :D I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :D

Thank you for all the reviews thus far it was very encouraging and I'd like to thank each and everyone who took the time out to leave one. /bow

As always C+C welcomed , Reviews appreciated. :D