-AN-

I'm not sure yet exactly where this story is going to go. I've already enjoyed Ranma and Sailor moon crossovers where Ranma was a little more serious than normal, so this is me giving that a shot. There I'm trying to place this after the wedding fiasco Ranma verse wise, but before the black moon family Sailor moon verse wise. Ranma will be older than the inner scouts in this one, I'm thinking. Will more change, who knows? Here's your drunken uncle hoping ya'll have a good time reading.

-Story start-

There wasn't much in Nerima that would worry the current residents of the Tendo home anymore. After a couple years of high powered martial artists, magic users, near death experiences and more than a few close calls, it should take quite a bit at this point to scare any of them. That being said there were still some small instances that would indeed have all of them looking outside to check if pigs or Ryoga were flying.

One of which was a quiet Ranma in his girl form, quietly conversing with Happosai out on the veranda.

No one knew what the two were talking about, especially since the only one brave enough to approach them so far was a seemingly oblivious Kasumi who brought the two tea before retreating back to the kitchen with a serene smile on her face. Nabiki was doing her best to pay attention to her show on the tv, but her money making senses were tingling something fierce. She knew there was something going on here that'd make her a lot of money but the oddness of it all was forcing her to stay and watch for now. Next to her Akane had no shame about watching the two like a hawk, sure of herself that those two perverts were up to something. She wasn't sure at the moment just what, but she'd be there with her mallet when they finally acted up.

Behind the two sisters the two usually plotting fathers Genma and Soun were attempting to play go as per their usual habit. However both kept Ranma and their vengeful master within the corner of their vision at all times. Much for the same reason probably, everyone else in the house was keeping a healthy distance from the pair outside.

Simply put, Ranma had begun to change.

Ever since the failed wedding attempt, and the subsequent destruction and now rebuilding of the dojo, Ranma hadn't acted the same towards anyone in the infamously known Nerima wrecking crew. He wouldn't rise to the normal baiting from Akane, or flip his lid with the father's pushing the marriage. And the errant suitors that always seemed to show up and blame him for their failures? They learned quickly he was no longer playing in their fights anymore. As Kuno and Mousse were currently learning while healing broken legs, Ranma wasn't pulling his punches anymore. So too had his various fiances seemed to have taken a hint recently and had been giving him space, not that he'd seemed to notice as he was spending more and more time with the master of the Anything Goes martial arts school.

All eyes flipped to Happosai as he stood and stretched, pipe in hand and a wide smile on his face, "Well, as fun as this has been Ranma my boy, it's almost time for me to hit the road." Pointing at Ranma with his pipe he puffed out his chest with a challenge, "How about it boy, one more round?"

Not needing to stand by this point as Happosai was still below his girl form's head, Ranma grinned and nodded, "Not like you have anything new to try on me, so go for it old man." Cocky and brash as always, Ranma wouldn't back down to a challenge from the diminutive master.

Before anyone else could get a word in Happosai thrust forward with a shout, leading with his pipe while still smiling the whole way. Ranma however had already brought his right hand up, catching the subtly spiraling pipe and counteracting the motion and sending every bit of chi infused energy back towards his school's master. Within a blink Happosai was sent careening through the air towards the koi pond where he skipped along the water twice before righting himself and landing mostly unharmed along the far bank. Still smiling he erupted into a joyous laugh while shaking his now sleeveless left arm. "Ahh, you've caught on much faster than I thought you would. I feel much better now leaving the school to you."

"Whaaat!? What's the meaning of this master!" Soun was already at the patio door pointing an accusing finger at his demon of a teacher.

"What do you mean leave the school to the boy? You left it to us didn't you!" Genma wasn't far behind, getting the strange feeling that something important had passed him by already.

Happosai shrugged while Ranma walked over and handed him back his pipe, though it was now a twisted mess. "You imprisoned me in a cave, I never left the school to either of you." Pointing to Ranma, Happosai snorted, "You did a decent job raising a martial artist Genma, but your own greed kept what was important just out of reach." Adopting a thinking pose the master did nod his head, "Though I guess due to your plotting and schemes, what Ranma needed did eventually come to pass. Tell me, what is anything goes?"

While the question seemed to the directed at the two fathers, Happosai was directing his gaze to everyone now on the patio sans Kasumi who was still in the kitchen. Akane chose to speak up, "Aren't we about fighting with any and all skills we have? Anything goes right?"

Snorting Happosai shook his head, "Sure, to some bystander that's what our school is. But what I dreamed of was a school of adaptability. Of constant improvement and growth. Sure we learn and take other techniques, but that's to mold it into our own school to make it fully our own. To make it part of our style. Anything goes is to embrace that anything can happen, and that we should be ready for anything." Sighing and producing a new pipe from stuff space, Happosai lit it with some of his own chi before glaring at his two oldest students. "You've forgotten what it means to be of my school, either between your negligence, or though laziness." Turning to Ranma Happosai shrugged, "Take my advice boy, what you wanted to do, you should get to it, before you end up like them." Waving Happosai left on that cryptic message and was already disappearing over the rooftops with a merry cackle filling the air.

Turning to the others Ranma sighed before walking into the house, no one stopped him, but everyone seemed to have questions. The one who couldn't seem to hold herself back was the fiery Tendo heir herself, "Ranma!"

"What's up Akane?" Ranma paused at the bottom of the steps to look back at the assembled group, eyes not exactly cold, but more closed off than Akane had ever seen them.

"What did he mean by plan? What have you been up to you pervert!" Already Akane could feel the handle of her mallet forming in her hand, though she wouldn't wallop the boy just yet.

"That's easy." Shrugging and looking back to the top of the stairs before looking at everyone else, "I'm going on a training trip for a while. I have something I need to learn."

Smelling blood, Soun was already pushing an increasingly angry Akane towards Ranma, "That sounds like a wonderful idea my boy. Why, you should take your loving fiance with you. You both can bond during your travels without the fear of others getting in the way."

Genma rubbed his hands together while grinning, "He's right boy, why your mother would be so proud to hear about her manly son taking his fiance along on a training trip." Unsaid was that Genma himself hadn't seen or heard from his wife since the wedding fiasco, not that he was complaining.

Shaking his head Ranma sighed one last time, "Yeah no can do. What I need to do could kill me, and I don't want to bring Akane into that." Looking towards Akane with another unreadable expression Ranma couldn't help but regret what might have been, "Besides, Akane has a life and friends here. Can't take her away from that."

Tuning out her fathers while they tried to reason with Ranma, Nabiki felt the hair on the back of her neck buzzing. Something was definitely off about all of this and it was more than just Ranma being more, assertive, recently. Akane was only seconds away from blowing up and she had maybe a moment before Ranma was tossed through the ceiling again. "Ranma." When the martial artist turned an icy gaze towards her something primal screamed at her to run and hide with everything she had. If she hadn't been so used to life and death fights breaking out around their ward so often she may just have, though it was a close thing. Ranma had never looked at her like that before. "Where are you going?" She was sure that she never wanted him to look at her like that again however.

Smiling something impish, Ranma shook his head while starting up the stairs. That he didn't answer them wasn't what was foremost on everyone's minds. Nor that this was the longest Ranma had been in his girl form without complaining. What had everyone's attention was the thin layer of ice on the banister where Ranma's hand had been, and the instinctual feeling that if anyone pressed the issue they may just learn how good Ranma had gotten in the last year.

"Genma my old friend, something important has changed, hasn't it?"

Genma nodded while internally he was cursing up a storm, "It'll be fine, we'll have the boy back under control and ready to marry your daughter in no time." Unsaid however, was that neither was willing to press the issue.

Later, when the two fathers finally worked up the courage to go and talk to the boy/beat some sense into him, they'd find a room empty of his possessions and an open window.

As the moon was rising high above him and a sheen of sweat was on his brow, Ranma truly smiled while on a cool down from his last kata. Beating a hasty retreat from the Tendo home and invoking the thief's cloak from the umi sen ken technique had allowed him to evade any and all watchers from Nerima. Though if he thought about it that wouldn't have mattered in the end anyway because everyone was looking in the wrong direction. They'd probably expect him to head towards the mountains or south towards the sea. None of them at this point would have guessed that he'd go the opposite direction towards the city, specifically towards his mother's home in Juban. The journey hadn't taken long between roof hopping and riding atop trains, and his mother was happy to see him after a quick change back into his male self. And now here he was, practicing in a modest back yard while his mother finished up dinner. It was probably the most at peace he had been in a long time if he was being honest with himself.

"Ranma dear, get cleaned up dinner is almost ready." Nadoka had a warm smile on her face her her son nodded and bounded through the back door and up the stairs. It had been to long since anyone besides herself had lived in this home and she was more than ready to catch up with her son. She had to promise him to leave the usual antics behind but she was more than willing to do so after recent events and especially after realizing just what Genma had planned for her son after all this time. That glutton, he wasn't preparing Ranma for anything besides fighting, and there was so much more to being manly besides that. Shaking the thoughts from her head however she let it all go. That was in the past. Today and every day from now on was about learning about the Ranma of now and helping him grow, as real mother should.

And if some cute girls caught his eye and she got grand babies she'd actually be able to spend time with, well, she wouldn't complain at all. Juban was full of young girls after all and with what Ranma had planned he just might run into a few.

As if her thoughts summoned him, Ranma was back down the stairs and already pulling out a chair at the table. "So mom, are you sure you're okay with me doing this? I'm sure I can figure something out if this is too much of a burden."

Nodoka shook her head while sitting across from her son at the table, "Nonsense. I think this is the most important task you've set for yourself in a long time. Though, you may have a hard time at first due to your age."

Shrugging while whispering a quick itadakimasu Ranma began digging into his food. "I can't gain my mastery until I open a school and train someone properly, and I can't do that back with the Tendo's. Akane would hound me constantly to train just her and would completely ignore me, and pops would pocket all the money while doing nothing. Never mind all the others comin' around to bust things up and make my life a livin hell. Nah, I had to get away. Plus, like I promised you, if it doesn't work out, I did get my grades up enough to get into a decent college if I need to." Looking over to his mom he once again smiled, "Thank you though, for this mom."

Nodoka waved him off, "I'd do anything to help my manly son. And money isn't a problem. I've had a lot of time to myself after all, I did have to find something to do in my free time." It hadn't been known to the others, but Nodoka had made a name for herself for traditional painting and something of a stock trader. Things she could learn to do on her own while at home waiting on news of her wayward husband and son. She had never told Genma, more knowing his lazy ways than she'd publicly admit, but to her son she'd let it slip after he noticed she'd paid to have the dojo repaired. Feeling guilt for the other's actions he had asked her how he could repay any of it before she had come clean about her finances. "Though I do wish you'd reconsider college, there are lots of cute girls there."

Sighing at his mom's antics Ranma could do nothing but smile anyway, "I have to do this. Martial arts has been everything I've known until now. I have to see if I can run a school myself. If I fail at this…" Ranma was quiet for a moment, staring into the remnants of his food before looking his mother in the eye, "If I do fail, then yeah, college it is."

Satisfied that at least her son was being pragmatic about this, she nodded, "Okay, that's the most I can ask I suppose. Do you have an idea of where to set up shop yet? If not I have a recommendation." Seeing Ranma shake his head Nodoka stood and left to the kitchen again. There she rifled through her phone book before finding a card and returning to the table to hand it over to her son. "A realtor friend of mine, she does good work and is very fair. She can help you." Seeing the incredulous look on his face Nodoka chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not trying to set you up, at least not this time."

Probably the best he was going to get from his mom, Ranma nodded and looked at the card, "Setsuna Meiou? Okay, I'll give her a call in the mornin' then." Shaking off the odd shiver he just had, Ranma still had a smile on his face. Things were finally going to change for the better around here.

-AN-

5/13/23 Edit: Fixed some major spelling and grammatical errors. Forgot I never really proof read this intro chapter like, at all. Whoops. Thanks random guest reviewer!