"Oh dear kami," Happosai said in shock.
"See?" Cologne said, "It isn't wise to make Ranma mad. Saffron learned that the hard way."
"So… you've known since then?" Happosai asked.
"Yes," Cologne told him, "I was the only one who saw the last few seconds of the battle, when Ranma transformed into what you see and completely slaughtered Saffron, a GOD, in one blow. And he knows I know."
"He saw you?" Happosai asked.
"Our eyes met, yes," Cologne said, "And I've been watching him since."
Ryoga, Mousse, and Akane were thrown back when Ranma forced them off of him. Ryoga and Mousse landed gracefully, like a martial artist should. Akane landed like an overweight cat on marijuana.
IE: She fell on her ass.
Ryoga and Mousse stared at Ranma in shock, similar to Happosai.
Ryoga then touched the still bleeding marks on his face. His eyes went to his bloody fingers, then to Ranma, and then back to his fingers. He then turned around and started to pace up and down the length between the school gate and the front doors. He seemed to be in conflict with himself.
No one notice, except for Ranma. Everyone was busy staring at Ranma.
Ranma was now at least two and a half feet taller, his build and scale grew with him. His lithe form was now covered in a thin yellow fur. Except for the underside of his arms, his chest, and his face, which were covered in whitish fur. The yellow fur had the brown spots all over it. His blue eyes became slitted like a cat's. His legs became slightly longer and much better muscled. A tail was reaching out from his spine. Said tail was lashing around angrily.
His face didn't change much. He kept his normal human facial structure. Two black stripes reached out from below his eyes, reaching down to an inch above the corners of his mouth. His mouth now held sharp and mean looking fangs, only slightly longer than Ryoga's. His ears were now cat ears, but still in the same place as hit human ears.
Ranma looked like a cross between a man and a cheetah.
"WERECREATURE!" Mousse yelled finally, attacking Ranma again. To Ranma, the blades that Mousse now threw at him glowed slightly, and he felt inclined not to touch them.
Silver.
Ranma easily avoided touching all of the silver plated weaponry, and flashed into motion, ripping towards Mousse like a bullet on cocaine. A small burst of sound told everyone that Ranma had nearly breached the sound barrier.
Mousse went flying back as Ranma slammed his feet and fists into him at nearly 10x Arimuriken speed. His limbs were flying fast enough to cause ripples in the air and a slight afterimage made his movements look like a computer animation from a movie.
Mousse was quickly covered in small cuts from claws and many huge bruises. There were several sick sounds as Mousse's limbs dislocated. It would hurt, but it would heal quickly and wouldn't cause lasting damage. It also seriously impaired him at the moment.
Mousse fell to the ground, barely conscious. Ranma then turned his gaze to Ryoga, who wasn't pacing, but staring at him. Ranma noted that his face looked rather sad, but almost peaceful. Ranma stared back at him.
Ryoga shook his head, turned, and slowly walked off of school ground with his head hung low. This confused Ranma, but he dismissed it and turned to Akane.
Akane was currently on the ground, staring at Ranma. Ranma glared at her coldly. Akane started to become very, very afraid as Ranma started to walk towards her. His steps now had a supernatural grace to them.
"How's this for a freak, you damn tomboy?" Ranma asked. His voice made Akane shudder. It was smooth and calculated, yet cold and devoid of all emotion.
Akane noted that Ranma now had really sharp looking fangs.
"Get… get away," She mumbled, "Please…"
"No," Ranma told her, sneering slightly, "I will not take any more of your prissy stuck up shit."
"Wh-what?" Akane asked, opening her eyes to again look at him.
"I've taken blows from you every damn day!" Ranma shouted, "All because I thought that you might grow the fuck out of it and realize what a total bitch you were being. But no, you came to enjoy it. I could see your sick twisted little smirk every time you felt your mallet hit me."
Akane stared at Ranma in fear.
"I am your punching bag no more, Akane Tendo," Ranma snarled, walking closer at a gruelingly slow pace, "I will never marry a damn human such as you. I never would marry a human ANYWAY. But you… your heart was too cold and too GODDAMN full of blind fucking rage to ever love anyone."
Akane's thoughts flashed back to that day two years ago, to the small speech Ranma made about his family. She started to cry silently in fear.
"Oh, what?" Ranma yelled, "NOW you feel sorry? Well, it's too GODDAMN LATE! I'VE ALREADY SEEN MY GODDAMN SHARE OF SHIT IN MY LIFE! I'VE EVEN FUCKING KILLED SOMEONE FOR YOU!"
Ranma's voice suddenly turned sarcastic, and started to drip with venom.
"And not because you're a good person, or a goddamned saint," Ranma said in a hoity toity voice, "I just don't think anyone deserves to die, even a goddamned psycho bitch…."
"Ranma," a voice called, cutting Ranma off, "That's enough."
Ranma turned to see Cologne standing there, for once not on her staff. Happosai was behind her, looking slightly like a sad puppy (about as disturbing as Genma's crying face).
"She has learned her error," Cologne said.
"You don't fucking know what I've been through, Cologne," Ranma snarled. Cologne looked slightly surprised that Ranma had actually used her name, "Don't you goddamn talk to me about when it's enough."
"Save it for another day, Ranma," Cologne said, her voice calm and strangely soothing, "You've hidden yourself and what you are for nearly you're entire life. If anyone deserves a break, it's you. And I'm going to see you have one."
Ranma stared at her in shock, although it was clearly obvious that he was still royally pissed.
"I've had enough of this," Ranma said. His form ripped into motion, flying out of the school property at inhuman speeds.
"Happosai," Cologne said.
"Yes?" Happosai asked.
"Follow him," Cologne said.
"Why do I have to follow him?" Happosai whined.
"Because you're the only human I know of that has the speed needed to keep pace with a werecheetah," Cologne glared at him, "Now go."
Happosai sighed, and his own form blurred from view, going nearly as fast as Ranma had.
Cologne looked down at Akane.
"You really are a fool," Cologne said, shaking her head.
Happosai was breathing heavily by the time he got to the place where Ranma had stopped. It was smack in the middle of downtown Tokyo, on top of a rather tall building.
The distance hadn't been the problem. It was only maybe an hour or an hour and a half away by the metro. But keeping up with Ranma and going that far on foot in less than six minutes was tiring.
The building they were on was at least ten stories high, and was an apartment complex or something like that. Ranma sat on the edge, Happosai stood on the loose gravel that covered the roof.
"Go away, you old coot," The young werecheetah said.
"No, Ranma," Happosai said, "I'm here because I don't want you to do anything stupid. And to apologize."
"Apologize?" Ranma didn't turn, but his tail flicked, signaling his annoyance, "Since when do you apologize?"
"Since now," Happosai said, walking up beside Ranma to stare across the city with him, "If I had known about your past and what you were… I would not have allowed those three to beat you like that."
"My past," Ranma said, "What do you know of my past?"
"Trust me," Happosai said, "Humans may be blind to a lot of things, but I am not."
"No harm done," Ranma scoffed, "None of them were werecreatures, and they weren't using magic of silver, I've already completely healed."
"Oh really?" Happosai said, "Even Mousse? You seemed rather adamant not to touch any of those weapons."
"The silver didn't touch me."
Happosai reached out and touched Ranma's left shoulder lightly.
Ranma had to suppress another inhuman scream of pain. He visibly showed it though. Happosai, after seeing such a large reaction to such a light touch, pulled away quickly.
"Well, I didn't know silver hurt THAT bad," Happosai said, as he saw a single tear squeeze itself out of Ranma's eye, "Um… sorry about that."
Ranma just glared at him out of the corner of his eye, growling quietly.
"You should have that looked at," Happosai said nervously, "Being from a silvered weapon, that could have lasting effects if not treated."
"Fine, I'll have my goddamn injuries looked at by Tofu later," Ranma snapped, "Now leave."
"Still, I'm not going," Happosai said, catching Ranma's tail twitching wildly behind them, "I still have to make sure you don't do anything stupid."
Ranma sighed and didn't respond. He, now gripping his side, rejoined Happosai in watching over the city.
Minutes past in silence. Even the hustle and bustle of the city below was dimmed because of their height.
"So," Happosai broke the silence, "You're a survivor of the massacre…"
"I don't want to talk about it," Ranma snapped, "Yes, I survived the werewolf attack, now shut up about it."
Happosai didn't respond right away.
…
"I will help you, if you like," Happosai said.
"What?" Ranma asked, sighing.
"You wish to try and find if there were any others that survived that day when the werecheetah tribe was all but wiped out," Happosai said, "You've heard the rumors about it. Tell me, why didn't you just leave?"
"Because," Ranma said, calming down quite a bit.
"Because why?"
"Because of Nodoka," Ranma answered, "Because she treats me like a friend. Because she is my friend. I would have to explain what I was to her for her to believe me, and I don't want her to know."
"Hmm…" Happosai said, he then smirked, "She knows."
"What?" Ranma glanced at the old midget.
"She probably knows," Happosai said, "Not every human in this world is blind, Ranma. Some can see the truth, or rather, some know the truth. I've known that she knew of the supernatural for a long time. She knows more than normal people would know. My guess is that she thought you were lonely, and she agreed to adopt you because she wanted you to 'have a friend'."
"She… she knows?" Ranma asked.
"I'm slightly embarrassed to say that she knows a lot more about the supernatural than I do," Happosai said, "She has used innuendo to tell me in small hints everything she knew. She often speaks of the supernatural."
"Nodoka knew…" Ranma said, he then snorted, "Wait, when did you ever talk to her?"
"You know that I do not always stay at the Tendo Dojo," Happosai said, "There are only two people I know that can give me a serious intellectual conversation. Cologne I can't talk too much because she's at the Nekohaten. Nodoka is the other."
"Then why did she sign that stupid contract if she wanted me for a friend instead of a son?"
"You know the answer already."
"Stop being so goddamn cryptic."
"In a word," Happosai glanced at the young werecheetah, "Genma."
"Huh?"
"She used it as a fear tactic," Happosai explained, "She knew that Genma was something less than an honorable man. She used that threat as an attempt to try and stop Genma from doing anything stupid on the trip."
"Then why didn't she just stop the trip entirely?" Ranma argued.
"Really now," Happosai said, "Do you really think Nodoka, a woman with no combat skill whatsoever could keep Genma, a master martial artist, from doing anything? Genma would steal you away during the night or take you by force."
Ranma sighed.
"Let Cologne and me help, Ranma," Happosai said, "I'm sorry to admit, but both of us had a part in the massacre."
"WHAT!" Ranma yelled glaring at them.
"We both had the chances to stop it, although at the time," Happosai said, "But we couldn't. Believe me, I tried, but Genma and Soun somehow trapped me in that cave before I could. And when I didn't come, Cologne couldn't act either."
Ranma growled, his hatred for Genma growing deeper.
"And, as reconciliation," Happosai said, "I offer my help in searching for any survivors. I also offer to finally teach you Anything Goes directly. Not the half assed versions I shoved down Genma and Soun's throats."
"What?" Ranma said.
"The Saotome and Tendo schools of Anything Goes martial arts focuses on two things," Happosai held up one finger, "Tendo's style relies on a single emotional driving force, which explains why the family is like it is. Soun's focus is, of course, sadness. Nabiki has desire and greed, Kasumi has happiness (which I could be no more relieve that she at least avoided the worse affects) and Akane's is…"
"Her anger," Ranma said.
"Exactly," Happosai said, "And when you use a single emotion to fuel your ki, it starts to become dominant in your body. You're body grows adapted to it, and you'll start to be affected by it. You'll be predetermined to react in a certain way. You're body eventually becomes unable to have any other emotion other than the focus."
"And the Saotome school?" Ranma asked.
"What else," Happosai said, "Adaptation and thievery. Not to mention some pretty half assed ways of training. I taught him like that to try and make him realize that he was an dumbass, but he was too much on an idiot to catch on."
"So practitioners of the Saotome School become predetermined just like the Tendo School," Ranma said, with Happosai nodding, "They start to abuse every situation to its fullest, just like selling me for a fish, a bowl of rice, and two pickles."
"That and the training makes 'em go insane after a while," Happosai smirked, "But the TRUE Anything Goes… that is the middle path."
"The middle path?" Ranma said.
"I surmised the Anything Goes technique as a way to meditate back in my younger days," Happosai said, "I was a Buddhist priest, if you can believe that."
"No," Ranma said blatantly, "No I can't."
"Shut up," Happosai frowned at Ranma's sarcastic remark, "I was too a Buddhist. Not a very good one, though."
"THAT…" Ranma said holding up a furry finger, "That I'll believe."
Smack.
Ranma's eyes went huge.
"Oh shit," Happosai said quietly, knowing that he had forgotten and had just slapped Ranma's burnt shoulder.
An inhuman scream echoed throughout Tokyo. It lasted for about two minutes.
After the scream, Happosai stood there with a feral looking werecheetah growling at him, his eyes promised a quick death.
"Sorry, sorry!" Happosai said, "If you know, Buddhist rely on finding peace. On finding the middle path, not too far to the right, not too far from the left. Not too evil, but at the same time, not too good. Not too necessary, but not too pointless either."
"How'd you do that?" Ranma asked, calming down a little and grasping his shoulder just below the silver burn.
"I didn't," Happosai said, "It was the one middle path that I could not take, not with my… affections."
"What?" Ranma asked, "How does being a leach and a pantie thief make you unable?"
"It's the duality of yin and yang, Ranma," Happosai said, "I have to admit, even in my younger days, I was rather… rambunctious. There's a middle path in the yin and yang Ranma. Just like in not too evil and not too good, and not too cold but not too hot, there are the properties of masculine and feminine."
"What?" Ranma asked.
"One of the reasons why I was always asking you to wear those lovely silk darlings," Happosai's eyes shimmered for a few seconds before he regained his composure, "Um… ah…. Well, you have to take the middle path once more. Not too masculine and not too feminine. Everything in life has an opposite or a balance Ranma, and if you understand the opposites and are able to live in-between them, you gain immunity from them, and then you gain their powers."
"What?" Ranma asked, "You mean like immunity to heat and the cold?"
"Exactly," Happosai said, "If you're body and spirit is in tune with the middle path, the opposites can no longer affect you. Hot and cold are two of the easiest. I've been nearly burnt to a crisp several times, and frozen solid several times more, but I came out none the worse for wear."
"But how is immunity from reality make you a martial artist?" Ranma asked, slightly confused.
"It doesn't," Happosai smirked again, "It's when you become centered on the aspect that the immunities play a direct role. I got the two schools of Anything Goes from my middle path theory. You must center your emotions, just as you center your actions. Not too strong, not too weak. Not too sad, not too happy."
"Aren't you describing reaching nirvana?" Ranma asked.
"Very good guess," Happosai chuckled, "And not entirely untrue. I don't believe it would be far from nirvana. I shall never reach that state, because of my hobbies and also my species."
"What?" Ranma asked, "Human's can't do it?"
"There's a conflict," Happosai said, "Not an beast, not a human."
"That sounds like only werecreatures could learn it," Ranma said.
"True," Happosai said, "Or someone who is Jusenkyo cursed."
Ranma glanced at the old man.
"You have a curse?" He asked.
"Yes," Happosai said.
"But you've been splashed many times, and never changed," Ranma said.
"I centered myself between my curse animal and my human form," Happosai said, "That, and being immune to hot and cold allows me to ignore the effects that would normally trigger then change. Thus, I am both animal and man, just as you are, although I do not have a hybrid form. I am able to control my curse, as you may one day."
"What are you cursed to become?" Ranma smirked.
Happosai's face went strait.
"None of you're damn business," Happosai said.
Ranma hmphed. He would find out one day.
Happosai sighed at the sight of Ranma's smirk.
"Being at peace," Happosai said, shaking his head, "I've almost reached total peace. I'm quite satisfied with my life. Although it is not physical peaceful, you never see me without a smile do you?"
Ranma again didn't say anything.
"I can offer you an attempt to grasp peace, and I can offer to train you in the katas and meditations necessary to bring your body and spirit into balance," Happosai said, "It's relatively very hard training. You have to reach the physical extreme. And when you're body and spirit is aligned, you're physical body will reach near perfection."
"Perfection?" Ranma said.
"It scared me at first," Happosai said, "The muscles I had obtained through the training disappeared, but I was ten times faster and stronger. My skin was like rock, and my ki rose to unbelievable levels. You're mind will become faster, smarter, and you'll learn things about yourself that you never knew. It's almost like Clairvoyance. I often times see visions of events that have happened or are happening."
"So…" Ranma said, "If I learn this…"
"You might be able to revisit the past," Happosai said, "Not physically, but you'll become aware of all that goes on where you were."
"I… I could find…" Ranma asked.
"Yes, you could find your sister," Happosai smirked.
