A/N: I just realized that in Chapter 2, I call Ranma a "he" even though he's in his girl form. While this was partially because I was writing it at 5am when I'd lost most of my senses, I had always thought it was unfair to switch his pronoun while the other cursed ones remain a "he" or a "she" even in their animal forms. After all, he's originally a boy, right? Plus it doesn't hurt for the lazy ones (like me) if he stays a he.

4

The bathroom was clouded with the steam from the hot water. Genma cracked his neck and laid his back against the bathroom tub lazily. He watched as his son kept on his frowning face without saying anything longer than Ranma typically would.

"So what's up, son?" he asked without too much curiosity. He earned no response.

As his mind had been elsewhere and was nearly disconnected from his body, it took a while before Ranma realized that his father had spoken. Before he could react, though, Genma had put his fingers together and sprinkled water into his face. When his view had cleared, he saw that his father was sticking out his tongue, laughing triumphantly as he repeatedly sprinkled more water in Ranma's direction. It was a trick they used to do whenever they were in the water together. But Ranma was a little kid back then, and he wondered if his father had such an unhappy childhood that he was making up for it now as an old man.

After several more attacks and no sign of stopping anytime soon, Ranma gave up trying to be the bigger man and put his fingers together as well and counterattacked. Eventually they moved from splashing water onto each other's face to pure fist fighting. Only after three bumps grew on his head did Genma raise a white flag and straighten his glasses.

"As I was saying," he said with a straight face as though nothing unusual had happened, "what's up, son?"

Ranma suddenly forgot his latest grudge towards his father. "Oh yeah." His serious face restored. "Oyaji, we need to go on another training trip. And," he added with a tone of importance, "this one will be a permanent one." With that, he looked at his father determinedly.

At first Genma returned the same look. Then he started to pick his nose and acted as if he had never heard of the idea being conceived. Ranma had to hit his head to force an answer out of him.

And so he sighed, shaking his head regretfully. "Ranma, I admire your determination, but do you know how hard it is for an old man like to me to go on a training trip permanently, without a home to go back to?"

"Oh." Ranma grew sympathetic as he came to realize that his father was not as young and strong as he used to be."

He couldn't keep his sympathy for long, however, as his father continued speaking of his dilemma passionately, complete with tears rolling down his eyes. "With no decent food like Kasumi's cooking everyday! With no TV! And having to actually work!"

Ranma's face strained. He never misunderstood his father after all. "I got it. If you'd rather stay here and eat for free and lie around doing nothing, then do so. But I'm out of here." He started to rise from the bathtub and put a towel around his waist.

Relieved from a potentially dark future, Genma made no further comment. His son was a man after all; it was time to let him go. More tears rolled down his eyes—tears of pride. Ranma, I'll be supporting you from right here.

"Oh, by the way," Ranma said before he slid the bathroom door and made his way out. "Tell Uncle that Akane's not coming back. She's found someone else. So that's why I'm leaving: I'm no longer her fiancée."

This particular statement didn't strike Genma as anything special until a long time after.

If Ranma wasn't going to marry Akane, then that would mean that he, Genma, would not be related to the Tendo family. And once Tendo found a new fiancé for one of his daughters, that fiancé and his family would move in to the Tendo house, and that would mean that he, Genma, would have to move out and be on his own.

Genma's world was instantly turned upside down. This can't be. I musth do something.

-tbc-