Ranma-chan stood against the slide door, her cheeks burning with a scarlet blush, her hand pressed against her breast, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart as she listened to the sound of Kasumi leaving the other room, a sigh of relief erupting from her when she heard the other door closed. She released her grip and let the white towel fall to the floor, taking in fairly large breaths now that her breasts were no longer pushed against her and the towel no longer rubbed her pointed nipples.
'I swear someone is out to get me…how many girls am I going to walk in on' Ranma mentally screamed.
She began to approach the bucket, filling it with cold water, taking a seat leaning against the bath before turning the bucket over her head, letting out a small gasp at the cold sensation; goose bumps appearing on her skin as she lightly shook from the cold before turning round and turning on the hot tap to fill the tub.
"Five days until I have to make that choice…I don't know whether to be excited, scared or just nervous…Kasumi made me promise to choose for me but how can I…even if Kasumi has a point on how after all I've been through I have earned the right to be selfish…how can I deny my friends such things?" Ranma asked herself, snorting at the word 'friends' when describing his fiancés.
"Shampoo can't go home without me and will be forever shamed, she would lose everything…how could I take away a girl's home, her family and friends from her just because I don't want to marry them? Then there's Ukyo and if I don't marry her she has to live her life registered as a boy and with her sense of honour she'll never get her femininity back and I doubt her father would let her come home without me,
"Then there's the Tendos, if I don't marry one of them their honour will be tarnished and now that the engagement has become such common knowledge the dishonour will be known all around, they'd be humiliated like Ukyo was, laughed at for having their fiancé run out on them…then there's also the little fact that me and Genma have been staying her so long that theirs have sky rocketed and they have to constantly rebuild parts of their house and dojo…how can I leave and force them to suffer the dishonour and humiliation while having the knowledge that I destroyed their finances?" she continued.
The tub now full, she reached and twisted the water off before slowly rise from where she sat and stepping into the bath, letting out a pleasurable sigh as she felt the hot water caress her cold body. The familiar tingling of her curse activating coursing through her and soon she was a he once again, he lowered himself fully into the bath and closed his eyes, enjoying how the water felt, the tension and stress within his body slowly melting away.
'If I leave, everyone I leave suffers…but still…if I don't leave then…mom…she'd be heart broken, a mortal makes a stupid wish and she lost her daughter and now she has a chance to get her back after over a decade and she isn't willing to return…it would kill her…oh what should I do!' Ranma mentally cried out as he gripped either side of his head in frustration, his eyes squeezing shut.
…
Mousse stood upon a rooftop, his gaze watching the Tendo dojo with immense concentration, even with his glasses on his vision was blurred but he'd know that Ki signature anywhere and now that it was combined with manna, well there was no mistaking it. Images of that night flashing before his mind.
"How is it possible…my weapons ran him through, he should of died but instead he turns into a girl and…such power?" Mousse muttered.
"So you know then?" an old voice questioned, one that Mousse recognised, he never turned from the dojo.
"Know what, Happosai?" Mousse questioned.
"About Ranma and her new power" Happosai responded as he took a seat beside the hidden weapons master, taking out his pipe from within his GI and smoking it.
'Her?' Mousse noted.
"A couple nights ago I tried and nearly succeeded in killing Ranma, heck my weapons ran him through and the next thing I know I'm at the mercy of his cursed form spouting stuff about the Goddess Of Darkness, so tell me old man what the hell is going on?" Mousse snapped, turning to glare at the old man.
"Well I suppose I better tell you before you do something stupid" the old perverted master sighed "Ranma isn't who any of us thought she was, she's the daughter of Eris and in a few days-time she'll be coming here to either collect Ranma or let him remain here but it's Ranma's choice" he explained.
"Eris?" Mousse asked.
"Greek Goddess of chaos, strife and discord" Happosai stated.
"Goddess…YOU MEAN RANMA'S A DEMIGOD!" Mousse roared.
"At the moment yes but not for long" Happosai stated.
"Huh?" Mousse questioned.
"Ranma is or was a pure 'blooded' goddess, stolen from Eris before her birth by Genma via a wish and now the times coming where she can choose either to remain in Nerima and become human again or leave and be a goddess" Happosai explained.
"But there's no way Ranma would ever choose to stay here and then…that means…" Mousse drifted off.
"That the Goddess Of Darkness shall rise and over the next few days she's going to only get stronger so if I were you I'd be on my best behaviour, not even I would risk angering a deity, even a new one" Happosai said in a rather serious tone.
"You mean you're going to behave?" Mousse questioned, attempting not to laugh at the very idea.
"Considering my life could very well depend on it, HELL YES!" Happosai spat.
"Your life?" Mousse questioned.
"Yes my life…Ranma took out Saffron without being a demigod never mind a full god" Happosai snapped.
"But Ranma wouldn't hurt anyone" Mousse interjected.
"Except those who she fights…besides who knows maybe when she becomes a goddess she'll less merciful…anyway at the moment Ranma's the least of my worries" Happosai stated.
"Oh?" Mousse questioned.
"Yep, or did you forget her mother is the one whose coming to pick her up and what do you think she'll do if she catches the ones to torment her child?" Happosai stated, Mousse paled at that, he turned back to the Tendo dojo, his heart quickening slightly at the idea of a goddess coming to Nerima and one who will punish anyone to harm Ranma.
…
Ranma and Akane exited the Tendo compound and began to head in the direction of Furinkan High school. They walked in perfect step with one another, Akane avoided looking at her fiancé, still miffed he had refused to eat the breakfast she had made. Ranma walking beside her lightly rubbed the newest bruise on the back of his head.
'No wonder I never pass my classes Akane must be doing some serious damage with all those hits to the head…why is it always the head?' Ranma mused.
Their journey was spent mostly in silence, managing to avoid Shampoo's bike for once by taking another route to school, a small diversion but they were back on the right path soon, as they began to grow nearer to the school Akane expected Ranma to jump onto the fence and walk along it like he did every morning, only he didn't. Ranma continued to walk beside Akane appearing to be in deep thought.
'He didn't jump up…he's actually walking beside me…is this his way of saying he WANTS to walk with me?' Akane mused, a light blush tinging her cheeks at the thought, a small sigh escaped Ranma's lips as his head seemed to dip further.
"Ranma is there something wrong?" Akane asked, a touch of concern infiltrating her tone without her meaning for it too.
"Akane…what would you do if I wasn't here anymore?" Ranma asked, hoping she would say something that would make his decision easier to make.
"Ranma what are you talking about?" Akane asked.
'Is he planning on leaving…but what about the engagement?' Akane questioned.
"Err" Ranma stammered, unsure if it would be a wise idea to tell Akane of the offer, the loud mouth of Nerima, honestly she was worse than Nabiki at least with her you had to pay for gossip involving him and his life, she gave out for free whenever she got angry, which was most of the time.
"Hmm?" Akane pushed, turning to fully face her fiancé as they continued to walk to school.
'Well I guess now that I've brought it up I might as well spill before she comes up with some perverted worst case scenario' Ranma mentally sighed.
"A little while ago someone offered me a choice" Ranma began only to have his voice catch in his throat.
"A choice?" Akane asked.
"A chance to leave Nerima with my honour intact…to be free of all the engagements and have a fresh start" he explained, Akane's heart skipped a beat.
"You're leaving?" Akane gasped out, managing to remain control over her voice.
"I decided…the offer came with a catch" Ranma said.
"A catch?" Akane questioned as she raised an eyebrow.
"If I decide to leave I'll be permanently trapped in my cursed form…no way back…at least not for a looong time" Ranma explained.
'Permanently a girl…that pervert!' Akane mentally cried.
"I only have a few days" Ranma continued.
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR YOU PERVERT, LEAVE, SEE IF I CARE!" Akane yelled before delivering a powerful uppercut to Ranma's jaw, he flew back and up several feet up into the air before landing head first into the ground. Akane stormed off in the direction of the school.
Ranma stumbled back to his feet, rubbing the new bruise atop his head, he glared after the younger Tendo, making no move to catch up with her. He began to brush the dirt off his clothes with his spare hand.
'You know Akane...sometimes I really don't understand you, everyday you hit me, tell me that you hate me and then you get all jealous when I'm so much as in the company of another girl, or you do something like this' Ranma inwardly sighed.
"Don't even bother Ranma, you may turn into a girl but as a man you'll never understand them" said a voice to his left.
"Yeah tell me about it..." Ranma sighed, he then realised whose voice he'd heard and his eye twitched, he turned on his heel and landed a glare on the old perverted master of the Anything Goes style, "What do ya want ya freak?" he snapped.
"Easy there Ranma, I only wanna talk" Happosai responded as he raised his hands up to signify he meant no harm, Ranma's gaze narrowed, showing he did not believe Happosai.
"I know, I know, you have absolutely no reason to trust me or anything I say, especially after everything I've done to you" Happosai sighed "But still, Ranma, I give you my word that I will be completely honest with you and I won't try anything" he continued, placing a hand on his heart, leaving the other up.
"What's with the change of heart?" Ranma questioned.
'Even with him being the panty thief of Nerima and second most perverted next to Nodoka, but still even he would not give his word lightly' Ranma mused.
"Ranma, yesterday when I...molested you" Happosai began, Ranma's eyes widened slightly at Happosai's chosen word but didn't say anything "I felt the manna within and how it and your Ki were in perfect harmony within your body, until a certain event comes to pass that is...but I digress, I recognised the manna within you Ranma" he continued.
"What do you mean you recognised it?" Ranma questioned.
"Like all Ki signatures are unique so is manna and I'd recognise yours anyway as belonging to Eris" Happosai explained, Ranma stiffened.
"How much do you know?" he questioned, his tone one of danger.
"I know everything Ranma, yesterday when I left I summoned Eris...though she wasn't happy to see me she did explain your situation to me" Happosai explained.
"How do you know my mother?" the raven haired youth questioned.
"Simple, I formed a contract with her a couple hundred years ago, in exchange for immortality I would cause as much chaos as I could...she seems to have a thing for chaos...she neglected to include eternal youth however, so over time I have had to maintain my body's stability by assimilating the Ki of others and so as to do it so as to not harm them like Hinako I claimed it through simple but perverted methods...though over time my body grew so used to female Ki that any male Ki other than my own became toxic to me...if I don't continue to assimilate the Ki eventually even my Ki reserves will run out and time would catch with my body, I may not know how the Amazons live so long but I do know that the minute time catches up with me, my body will turn to dust" Happosai explained.
'He became a pervert to survive' Ranma gasped, his eyes widening, then a thought struck him.
"Why didn't you teach Hinako how to do it in small ways rather than the way you did?" Ranma questioned.
"She was weak and required that much Ki just to survive, though I made sure not to teach her the advanced set that would prove lethal, only enough to keep her alive...though it didn't hurt that she allowed me to take the Ki I needed without any opposition" Happosai explained, silence soon filled the air between the two martial artists.
"So did you really come here just to tell me you knew about me and mom or was there something else?" Ranma questioned.
"Ranma what are you planning to do when it comes time to choose?" Happosai questioned, Ranma averted his gaze.
"I don't know" he muttered, his voice so low that even Happosai barley heard it, the old master let out a small sigh.
"Well take my advice Ranma, get out of Nerima and go with your mother, she loves you far more than anyone in Nerima ever could, she's spent everyday watching over you since Genma took you from her , unable to help or do anything as she watched her child tortured by the one who abducted her from her mother...go with her and you'll be happy, stay here and you're staying in hell" Happosai stated before taking off back in the direction of the dojo, Ranma just stood there for a minute.
'Wow even Happosai wants me to choose my happiness over everyone else's honour...even though he would lose his heir and the best martial artist in Nerima' Ranma mentally sighed, he glanced towards the school to see the school yard empty.
"Well I'm already late, later than normal so I might as well take it the whole way" Ranma muttered before turning and walking in the opposite direction of the school, considering what Happosai and Kasumi had said and how Akane reacted.
A/N Hope you all liked the chappie, not sure when next one will be though, plz review and as always I am open to suggestions and would greatly appreciate them
