A/N: A Different Tendo Dojo is an ongoing commissioned fic from the same commissioner who had me write An Experienced Woman, though it features a lot less of a focus on Kasumi. As of this posting the story has 19 chapters up on my other websites like QQ and HF. Go to those places if you want to read ahead, otherwise enjoy.

Eventual Themes: Slutty Sex, Partner-Sharing, Lesbianism, Incest

-x-X-x-

"What're we even doing here, old man?"

Standing across the street from their ultimate destination, Ranma Saotome narrows his eyes as he looks at the completely unassuming dojo in front of him. Having spent much of his life on the road, traveling from place to place with only his irritant of a father at his side, the young martial artist had developed a bit of an eye for these sorts of things.

Namely, he knew when a place had promise. This place, this 'Tendo Dojo', really didn't strike him as the sort of location that had promise. Though he had to admit, it certainly seemed to be popular among the ladies. The only people he saw going in and out of the dojo appeared to be women of all ages, of all walks of life. There were everything from schoolgirls to coeds really, and it confused him just a little bit.

A stray thought hits Ranma with all the force of a speeding train and he whips around to face his damnable glutton of a father.

"Oi! You better not be thinking of making me go in there in my cursed form to steal female-only techniques or something like that!"

That sounded exactly like something Genma Saotome would do. Ranma had long ago come to terms with the realization that their School of Martial Arts, the Anything Goes School, was a bit… well, disliked would be an understatement. And for good reason too, though personally he felt what they did was… well, justified. Martial Arts was meant to be shared, in Ranma's humble opinion.

The way that so many Masters of other Schools hid their teachings away, hoarding their techniques out of some misplaced form of pride… it kind of pissed Ranma off of he was being honest. Especially since, more often than not, Ranma and his father ended up not only learning the techniques but improving on them. Ranma had lost track of the times he'd been able to make someone else's technique into a better or adapted version of itself.

For that and that alone, Ranma would continue to follow his father's lead when it came to… appropriating other Martial Arts Schools' techniques. However, he drew the damn line at being forced to use his damnable cursed form to do it! It was bad enough that his father had pushed him into the Spring of the Drowned Girl, but Ranma was a guy, through and through!

At being confronted with this most likely of ideas based on the proof in front of them… Genma doesn't say anything. Ranma blinks as he realizes his father is just standing there staring at the dojo in consternation and bafflement.

"Soun… what the hell have you been up to?"

Hearing his dad mutter that under his breath, Ranma gets the impression that Genma wasn't expecting this either. Mollified a little bit, he listens when his father turns to him and finally gives him an answer to his accusation.

"No, Ranma. We're not here for that sort of thing. This place… it used to belong to an old, old friend of mine. He and I actually learned at the feet of the same Master, your Grandmaster and the head of our entire School. We made a deal, him and I. We'd both train our progeny up to an acceptable level, and then once we were done… we'd marry the schools."

Now, Ranma hasn't had what one would call a particularly conventional education. But he DID live and breathe Martial Arts, and he'd seen a lot of shit in his travels, especially related to Martial Arts Schools and things like continuing on the line and what not. So, it doesn't take more than a few seconds Ranma to process what Genma is saying and comprehend it.

Eyes bulging out of his skull, the young martial artist gapes at his father.

"Y-You mean like… me marriage? Like me and a girl marriage?"

Genma nods grimly at that, and then before Ranma can even begin to have an outburst, he suddenly surges forward, walking across the street and right up to this nondescript Tendo Dojo.

"H-Hey! O-Old man, what the hell?!"

Ranma hurries after him of course, still sputtering at the idea that he was going to have to get married. He wasn't ready!

-x-X-x-

And thus, that was how Ranma found himself sitting across a table from his father's oldest friend, shifting from side to side as the two reminisce and greet one another. Or it WOULD have been, if this were another world where things hadn't gone off the rails a long, long time ago.

"S-Soun… Soun is DEAD?!"

Genma sounds choked up beyond belief as Ranma blinks and gently pats his father on the back. Honestly, he's never seen his old man get so emotional over anything before, except for maybe food once in a while. But to be fair, sometimes they were quite literally starving… if you hadn't had a meal in over a week, you'd cry too upon getting something nice and filling and satisfying in your belly, oh yes you would!

Seated across from them, rather than this Soun Tendo that Genma had been expecting to see, is Mrs. Tendo… Soun's widow. Apparently, Soun passed away years ago, but with no way of contacting Genma, they couldn't tell him. Instead, all she could do was wait for him to crop up again and inform him of the sad news then.

Nodding sympathetically, Mrs. Tendo lets out a low sigh, clearly feeling some level of grief, but muted with the tragedy so far behind her.

"I'm afraid so. My beloved husband was struck with a sudden illness… oh, over ten years ago, at this point. It was very sudden, and quite hard to move on from… but I know he would have wanted me to be strong. If not for my sake, then for the sake of the girls."

That gets Genma's attention, oddly enough. They've barely sat down at this point, with Genma accepting some tea from Mrs. Tendo before brusquely asking where his friend was, only to be informed of Soun's death. Now though, it seems that Mrs. Tendo has brought up something very close to Genma's heart.

"Girls… as in plural? You and Soun had daughters before he passed?"

Blinking a bit at that, Mrs. Tendo smiles and nods, before breaking out the photos.

"Oh yes! We had three lovely daughters. Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. Soun died when Akane was quite young, unfortunately, so her and Nabiki don't remember him all that much."

Remembering his father's words outside of the dojo, Ranma finds his mouth drying as he looks over the photos that she points out to them. Kasumi is far older than him, but also quite beautiful and still young. Nabiki is only a little older then him, while looking quite studious. Except, there's something to those eyes of hers… something conniving and even possibly sinister?

And finally, there's Akane, who if she's the youngest, must be closest to his age. She's cute enough, certainly… but if he's going to marry her, hell, if he's going to marry any of them, Ranma has to know what sort of martial artists they are. Still, for the moment at least, he stays quiet and lets his father do the talking.

"Ah, yes, well… you see, Mrs. Tendo… before Soun passed, he and I had made a deal. We would train our respective children in the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, and then when we considered them at a respectable level, we would join the two branches together… in matrimony."

Mrs. Tendo's eyes widen at that, and she covers her hand with her mouth in a way that shows how surprised she is. Ranma is privately vindicated, and wonders if he might be able to get out of this altogether.

"Oh my! That's-!"

Before she can say precisely what she thinks of this, the door off to the side suddenly slides open, catching all of their attention. Mrs. Tendo's surprised expression becomes a soft smile, while Genma freezes up. Ranma, meanwhile, looks at this new arrival curiously. She's none of the three Tendo Daughters, but apparently his father knows her somehow.

Meanwhile, the woman herself seems surprised to see Genma, only to stop dead in her tracks when she lays eyes on him. Ranma can only blink owlishly as tears appear in her eyes and she awkwardly steps towards him.

"R-Ranma?"

"N-Nodoka! What… what are you doing here?!"

Wait, Nodoka? Ranma knew his mother's name… but not what she looked like. At least, not until now. This was his mom? This was the woman he hadn't seen since he was two years old?

Completely ignoring her estranged husband, Nodoka Saotome finishes closing the distance between them and wordlessly collapses to her knees to hug Ranma right then and there. A little bit lost, but also a bit overwhelmed, Ranma slowly hugs her back, even as Mrs. Tendo answers for Nodoka.

"Nodoka lives here, Mr. Saotome. She has for over a decade… she was a great help to me in the aftermath of my husband's death, a pillar of support that I don't know what I would have done without."

Taken aback by this and completely white-faced, seeming unsure how to respond, Genma ultimately just slumps as he watches his wife and child meet for what might as well be the first time.

"I… I see…"

Ranma really isn't sure what to think about any of this, in all honesty. Was he still supposed to be getting married to one of the Tendo Girls? As his mother finally pulls back from the hug, she gives him a watery smile and looks him up and down.

"Oh, my handsome boy. My big, manly boy. Look at you, Ranma. You look so good! I bet you've had all sorts of manly adventures, haven't you?"

Blinking at the overuse of the word 'manly', Ranma glances to his father to see the man looking stricken and shaking his head wildly. Ranma… isn't entirely sure what Genma is trying to tell him, only that he needs to tread carefully. That much is more than obvious.

"I… yes. I've been on lots of adventures…"

The first sign he gets of his mother's neurosis is when she tightens her grip on his arms, her smile becoming ever so slightly brittle.

"Manly ones, right?"

"Y-Yeah mom… very manly…"

Now he thinks he might get what his father is saying. Genma is trying to warn him off of mentioning the Cursed Spring 'adventure'. Ranma gives his father a fractional nod to show he understands, while Nodoka lets out a squeal of happiness and goes right back to hugging him oh so tightly.

"Nodoka… perhaps it would be best to let Ranma go so you can join the conversation. Genma here was just talking about how he and my late husband had hoped to marry their children to one another. Meaning Ranma… to one of the girls."

Mrs. Tendo seems to be the one to finally cut through Nodoka's stupor, her words causing Ranma's mom to pull back again and blink owlishly. For a long moment, it feels like everyone is waiting with bated breath to see how Nodoka will react. Finally though…

"Well, that's a toughie, isn't it? Akane is already in a relationship with that Kuno boy, and Kasumi is in college and has her own special friends. Meanwhile, Nabiki LOVES to say she's married to her business. But if I had my way… I'd say Ranma should marry all three of them!"

Looking between Genma and Mrs. Tendo, it's abundantly clear to Ranma that this is not what either were expecting. Mrs. Tendo in particular looks especially aggrieved, possibly having been expecting Nodoka to have been more in her corner. After all, they'd apparently been living together for over a decade.

Ranma, at this point, is a little tired of having everyone make decisions for him without his input. So, he decides to speak up finally.

"Well, I'm not going to marry anyone without meeting them. And besides, my wife has to be just as capable of a martial artist as I am."

There, he's put his foot down. And funnily enough, all of the adults seem to like what he's said in some fashion. Genma nods in agreement with Ranma's statement, likely the martial artist bit, while Mrs. Tendo smiles softly. Finally, Nodoka lets out a squeal and glomps her son yet again.

"Oh! Ranma is so manly! So take charge! Of course, sweetie! We'll have to arrange a meeting, ASAP! Yui, get the girls together, won't you?"

"… Very well, I'll get in contact with all of them and tell them dinner is non-negotiable this evening. We'll have a family meeting after that."

As Nodoka squees some more, seeming very happy and intent on not letting Ranma out of her sight, Ranma exchanges a worried look with his father. Neither of them were used to being surrounded by so many women. Ranma really wasn't sure what to think about this… about any of this. His current marriage prospects were apparently in college, running a business already, or in a committed relationship.

While it was nice to see his mother again, Ranma couldn't help but feel like this whole "coming home" thing was off to an incredibly rocky start…

-x-X-x-

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