Ranma
The following day came, Ranma still having no idea what to do as he laid on his back, arms behind his head. There was just so much to consider, how had this all become so complicated? Ryoga was just a pig that came into their lives, yet, his presence was so strong that in his absence, the house felt empty, despite there still being three people. Those thoughts alone triggered Ranma's memory, Ryoga having to explain his feelings on the subject of actually being human. What did it mean to be human? This was clearly a question Ranma never asked himself, but from what he could gather, being human was about experiences and how they reflected one's own personal growth. Where did Ryoga fit in this equation? Did Ryoga even have a place among other humans? 'Course he does!' Ranma thought, feeling bad for having felt that way. 'The guy ain't entirely human but that doesn't mean he isn't just as human as me!' Ranma's thoughts echoed in his mind. His lips became pursed as he tried to figure it all out, then finding himself staring at his own hand, looking at it but not actually at it, as if he were trying to see beyond it, but by doing so all he did was see his own aura, a dark blue color emitting from his body. Ranma wasn't sure what the color meant as his father never really taught him what the colors of auras meant, since his father probably didn't listen during that part of his training, all Ranma knew was that it was making him feel uncomfortable as if there was something he should be addressing. Ranma brought his focus back and considering it further, he didn't know what it meant to exist as it always came as pretty much an instinct. 'Is that how Ryoga feel sometimes?' Ranma thought, know having had a strange taste of what Ryoga was going through, but Ryoga's was perhaps a bit more extreme. 'Ryoga... what's it like knowing that what makes you human, might not even exist?' Ranma sighed, lowering his head a bit, thinking about these things wasn't Ranma's thing.
Then it hit Ranma, she saw Ryoga as an actual person, thanks to his human form, did that mean that Ranma's girl side existed and had a right to exist just as much as Ryoga's human side? Ranma's face became as red as the beats grown for the local market. 'That can't mean I'm also a girl! Right!?' Ranma thought, then felt his face go into a deep crimson red coloring now as he recalled his own set of womanly features.
"Damn it!" Ranma shouted, gripping the back of his head and rolling from left to right, much like a dog rolling over at a fast pace. "Stupid girl side! Stupid Ryoga! Stupid mummy!" Ranma screamed, calling out all his problems in sheer frustration.
"Who're you calling a mummy!?" Genma asked, returning home, smelling strangely of rotting vegetables. As if to further prove this, there was strange strange stains on Genma's face, ones he probably hadn't noticed.
"Geez!" Ranma shouted, cringing and pinching his nose, hoping to fan some of the smell away. "What the heck happened!?"
Genma crossed his arms and felt a vein twitching on his forehead, "There were some kids who thought it'd be funny to throw rotten food at me..." Genma replied.
"I thought they weren't allowed to throw stuff away?" Ranma replied, still keeping his nose firmly pinched.
"I really don't wanna' talk about it, boy..." Genma said, giving room for a pause.
"Okay, whatever." Ranma shrugged.
"It was a living nightmare!" Genma shouted, ignoring Ranma's lack of interest and proceeding to tell his story anyways.
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Flash Back
The Nekohaten or rather the hut that was the current Nekohaten, was seen with it usual amount of customers, ranging from a few people to regular townsfolk just passing by, followed by the occasional child holding child holding onto his mother's arm and pointing to something off in the distance, completely in the background. Though the focus was actually on the large panda just around the bend of the building, said panda carrying his balance ball under his arm, much like a business man; but a panda. Genma then began his usual routine, placing the ball down and hopping up onto it, grunting something in panda as well, the large mammal began to balance itself on the ball. Genma showed great balance and great showmanship, his training clearly proving useful in this moment.
From inside the Nekohaten, the establishment was the typical Chinese food stand, a wooden front counter where stools where placed and the average rectangular wooden tables, much like the panic tables seen at parks, but also made of wood. However this shack wasn't seeing much business, that however was not a problem for Nodoka; she enjoyed peaceful days like these. Nodoka finished behind the counter and rang it up. The customer being a balding man, taking it from her he showed his appreciation by giving her a smile, she nodded her head returning it as well, that was until the man offered her a smile that seemed more suggestive than anything. Nodoka instantly caught on and pointed to a sign near her work station.
"Please do not bother the workers during work hours, any who do will answer to the owner, Cologne."
The man backed, clearly working up a nervous sweat before quickly leaving the building and going outside. Most women would have answered to advances like that with their rings, however Nodoka didn't have a ring, not because she wasn't married. "I really wish Genma hadn't needed to pawn our wedding rings..." she commented, sighing. 'If only we had made more money that month...' she thought.
"Bwa!" was heard outside of the door and from outside she could see Genma falling on his back as some children were seen running off, holding what she could only assume was... vegetables? Quickly she ran out from the side of the counter and made her way over to Genma, dropping to her knees, supporting the back of his head, or at least was trying to.
"Genma!" she cried, shaking him a bit.
That triggered something as Genma's eyes shot open and the large bear suddenly became a blur, now standing on two feet and shaking his fist at the laughing children, one even sticking his tongue out at him. "You snot nosed kids!" was what could be read on Genma's sign.
Nodoka's eyes went wide, always shocked with how quickly Genma was able to recover, something she was sure he passed onto Ranma as Ranma also had a absurd amount of tolerance to pain. "Oh, Genma... " she sighed, but shortly after she found a smile across her face.
Genma had reacted as any man who was discovered to have taken a life long curse for the pursuit of renting himself out as a show bear. He would have attempted to make a run for it, but soon saw the smile on Nodoka's face.
"Genma... I know how I acted when I first found out about this," Nodoka paused, meeting Genma's eyes. "I thought that you had no humility... but when I thought about it, you're doing this so we don't live as badly as we were before."
Genma sighed before nodding his head, holding his hands out, an apologetic look to his face as he held his hands out, speaking to her, although, all that came out was,"Bwawa! Bwa! Wa! Wa! Bwa!" came from his muzzle, though his thoughts told a different story.
Nodoka swore she heard, "I'm doing it for all of us... so we can have our dream." then Nodoka found herself throwing herself at Genma, bringing him into a warm embrace, then pulling back as she felt something, a rotted vegetable stuck to hear dress, obviously the weapon at the scene of the crime. Nodoka wiped it off her and then giggled, finding the whole thing pretty funny.
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"Ah... yes. This is all very touching indeed, but, might I suggest you get back to work?" Cologne commented, appearing behind Nodoka, seemingly from nowhere.
End Flashback
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Ranma throughout this entire thing was hardly listening but when it came to his mother he finally paid some attention, although had to wonder how his father knew about the stuff he wasn't there for. "But how did know about the things you weren't there for...?"
"Never mind that boy!" Genma shouted, crossing his arms and going into his room, beginning to disrobe, hoping that the stains could be removed from his favorite gi.
"Hey old man... when are you gonna' get off your butt and train me, huh?" Ranma asked, reminded of his lack of training time with his father. "Least gimme some kind of technique to use on that Shampoo girl!" Ranma exclaimed, slamming one closed palm on the floor, now sitting up with his legs crossed.
Genma's went silent for a moment, "How much time do you have?"
"Just a little under thirty..." Ranma replied, looking to the side. "If I win, I ain't gotta' marry that Shampoo girl, but if I lose, I'm gonna' have ta' marry that pest... but she'll save Ryoga from dying so soon..."
Genma's eyes went wide as he hatched a scheme, 'Wait... if Ranma marries that Shampoo girl, maybe we can use her to get back to Japan!' Genma thought, then the moment he heard that Ryoga's life would be spared, he could only conclude that Ryoga must have been restricted to a pig's lifespan. 'Hm... but this would also mean that, he'd still be around...' Genma thought to himself, tilting his head downwards ever so slightly. 'Ryoga...'
Ranma upon finishing what he said, found himself waiting for any sort of response from Genma, there had been a brief silence that got Ranma wondering,, "Old man?" Ranma questioned, trying to lean forward ever so slightly.
Genma at the time was cupping his chin in thought, though his expression as shady as a mob member from the 1920's. 'Hm... maybe I should sabotage the boy's chances at winning, clearly they want him for some-" was as far as Genma thought before being snapped back to reality, by Ranma calling out to him. "G-go outside and prepare a fire Ranma! I've got something to teach ya' boy!" Genma shouted in a hurried and worried tone. 'I should give him the Tenshin Amaguriken! Least till I can think of something else!' Genma thought in a hurried panic before saying the following. "Go get a fire started! I'll be right out!"
"Bout' time!" Ranma shouted, quickly heard getting up to his feet and preparing a fire, hoping that his father didn't just want to cook something outside, using training as an excuse to get a fire going.
Shortly after Ranma was on his knees and hunched over the fire, using a bamboo stick to blow into, making the fire stronger with each blow, until finally getting it running, but by the time Ranma finished, Genma was already there, attempting to look cool by making such a entrance. Ranma was unimpressed of course.
"Here's a technique that could give you the edge boy... but I warn you, there's a chance you can't complete it." Genma stated, dropping a bucket of water he had been carrying with him and a bag.
"What's that for, pops?" Ranma asked, pointing to the bag in question.
Genma smirked as he held the bag out before Ranma, rustling the bag around a little. Ranma wasn't aware of what was in the bag and what it could possibly be, he expected something like crystal balls or some lucky martial arts bandanna or something. "Hold your hands out, boy..."
Ranma rolled his eyes and decided to play along with Genma's theatrics. "Alright." he replied, holding his hands out, watching Genma turn the bag up-side down before shaking it up and down, some chestnuts falling from Genma pouch and into Ranma's palms. "Why can't you take thing seriously, old man!?" Ranma shouted, practically barking like a dog.
"Believe it or not boy, this is no joke." Genma stated firmly, eyes meeting Ranma's. "The technique you're about to endure has been so difficult that many have often decided to stop bothering all together, but I know you son, you're too damn stubborn for that..."
"Whoa... so... how do I do it?" Ranma asked, looking down to the fire and then back to Genma. "Can you show me?"
There was a brief pause from Genma as he didn't want to be found out, thinking quickly he found an answer off the top of his head. "Boy you can't relay on me for the rest of you life!" he shouted, taking a fatherly tone; for once. "You have to do it on your own! The point of it is to your ability to adapt! Keep those chestnuts from touching the fire boy! Once you can keep catch them all before they hit the fire, you'll have mastered the first stage in its practice." Genma stated, crossing his arms and appearing to be very serious, however inside his head, there was a different story, 'Not to mention this could buy me sometime to think of a clever way to keep Ryoga from coming back... and I doubt Ranma can master this technique, hell, I couldn't." Genma thought.
"Now learn the Tenshin Amaguriken!"
Ranma only vaguely paid attention to what Genma had to say, as he didn't like his father being so dramatic and long winded. Not to mention he was used to this sort of treatment from his father. "Fine old man... ya' gonna' watch me?"
"Wish I could, Ranma! But work calls! I was really just given a small break!" Genma said as he was suddenly several feet away from Ranm, his back facing his son as his hand was held out, waving him goodbye. 'Thank goodness for odd jobs!' he thought, being glad he decided to use his panda form for easy manual labor, or at least easy for a panda but those that paid him had no idea he'd be lifting as a panda. 'And also thank goodness for buying time for brilliant schemes...' Genma thought, smiling like a fool, thankfully not within sight of Ranma, so it went unnoticed.
From behind him, Ranma could be seen struggling and even screaming a little as he would often retract his hands from the fire before reaching back in and attempting to master the technique again.
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Chingensai, Happosai, Matsu & Ryoga
The two aged martial artists; plus Matsu, watched in amazement as Ryoga scaled a mountain, jumping from place to place, seemingly like a blur somewhat as he finally reached the top, the middle of his foot hitting the edge, but due to his weight the weak dirt collasped under his weight, but Ryoga became extremely alert, immediately shifted his weight forward causing him to land on his stomach, aside from a few scratches, Ryoga was for the most part alright, just a bit shocked he almost fell to his death. Ryoga found his strength again and got onto his hands and knees, surprised that he had survived but also coming to realize that his jumping capabilities had drastically increased, showing the fruits of his labor. "I did it..." Ryoga uttered in disbelief before forming a wide grin. "I did it!" Ryoga cheered as he rose to his feet, throwing his arms out and smiling as much as a kid in a candy store.
Happosai and Chingensai watched with pleased looks on their faces, Matsu however was still worried about him, especially after Ryoga's near death experience. "Ta' think he was a pig, huh Happy?" Chingensai commented, still surprised with how cursed creatures could have such potential.
"The boy's determined, Chin..." Happosai complimented, "and he's ready!" Happosai declared, a wide wrinkly smile adorned on his face. 'And maybe I don't gotta' share my precious treasures now that, that Ryoga feller is gonna' help! Ehehehe...' Happosai thought to himself, his outward expression not showing his clear intentions, since he had taught himself to deceive others very well. "Get it ready, Chingensai! The boy's moving up!"
Matsu sighed when hearing that Ryoga didn't need to climb this mountain side, he really didn't think they needed this dramatic of a test to show how far Ryoga's come. "Ryoga! You can come down now!" Matsu shouted, hands to the sides of his face as his voice echoed until it reached Ryoga.
Ryoga was basking in his accomplishment, finding a surge of confidence he hadn't really felt before. He held out a open hand in front of him, then looking down to his palm, he slowly coiled his fingers inwards and clenched his fist. 'Ranma... wait for me, I'll show you how strong my feelings for you really are...' Ryoga thought, a smile across his face.
Ryoga was brought back to the present when Matsu called out to him, Ryoga cautiously made his way over to the edge and looked over it, finding Matsu and Happosai waving to him from the bottom.
"Hey! Ryoga! Time for ya' to learn something new, boy-o!" Happosai shouted, his eyes closed, smiling the entire time he shouted.
Ryoga's eyes widened as he made his way down the mountain side, thankfully not too exhausted. Though he had to admit it was much easier coming down than going up a mountain, any hiker could have told him that though.
After having gotten down from the mountain side, Ryoga was being lead to his new training sight, which he knew was just going to be somewhere near their construction sight.
"Hey! You got it ready ya' old puppet!" Happosai shouted, jokingly insulting him.
"Sure do you aged elf!" Chingensai shouted from a tree as he could be seen perched on a tree branch, looking much like a squirrel. Despite him looking hilarious up there, that wasn't everyone was focused on, as his hand was supporting a thick green vine, but even more noticeable was the huge boulder said vine was wrapped around.
"Is this the...?" Ryoga gawked, his eyes trembling a little.
"Yes! The Bakusai Tenketsu training..."