Gyah. The formatting really got screwed up when I tried to post this the first time; let's try again.
"Why, hello," greeted Tendou Kasumi, the eldest of the Tendou sisters.
"Hello, dearie," replied Happousai, the former grandmaster of her father's school, "Is Soun in?"
"Why, yes," she answered, "Why don't you come in?"
"Thank you," he said, stepping in, "You're Kasumi, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
"You've grown into a fine young woman, Kasumi-chan," he continued, "It's good to see you again."
Kasumi blinked. "Why, thank you. If I might ask, how do you know me? I can't seem to remember you."
Happousai laughed. "The last time I saw you, you were only three years old, Kasumi-chan. I'm Happousai, your father's old sensei."
Kasumi blinked again. "Oh my. Well, I'll go get father. You just make yourself at home."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Kasumi-chan."
"Oh my," Kasumi said before walking off, "What a nice old man."
If her father had heard her say that and known who she was talking about, he would have had a fit.
-------------------
Reflection,
By
Aleh,
Chapter Five: The Tearing of the Web
-------------------
The next day, Ranma headed to school with a slight bounce in his step.
"What is it, 'Niichan?" his sister, Ranko, asked.
"Everything!" he exclaimed, "The school called -- I can start work at Tofu-sensei's tomorrow, Happousai's willing to help, I'm getting back into shape faster than I would've believed possible, and I haven't even blown my cover yet!"
Ranko blinked.
"In other words," Ranma continued, suddenly calm, "I'm having a good day."
With that, Ranma resumed his air of cheerfulness as Ranko facefaulted.
-------------------
"So," Rei asked over the phone, "This Happousai just showed up and your father's letting him stay with you?"
Nabiki nodded, it briefly slipping her mind that Rei couldn't see her. "Yeah. He seems nice enough, though. Almost reminds me of your grandfather, actually."
On her end, Rei blinked. "Old pervert?" she asked.
Nabiki chuckled. "Yep. He seems to be controlling himself, though. Other than a few restrained leers, he hasn't tried anything. Dad, on the other hand, seemed *REALLY* put off by his behavior, almost like he was expecting him to jump up and grope us or something."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Nabiki answered, "And get this. He's Dad's old sensei."
"No wonder he was willing to put him up for a while."
"Somehow," Nabiki replied, "I doubt that it was a matter of gratitude. You should have seen him begging and pleading for mercy as soon as he saw him."
Rei blinked again. "Huh?"
"Happousai just walked in, and Father started bowing and scraping."
"Wow."
"Happousai looked pretty disgusted at his behavior, though. I think they didn't exactly part on good terms."
"Oh," Rei commented, not knowing what to say.
"I'll try to get the story after school. I wonder if it has anything to do with what happened with the Saotomes, though."
"It could," Rei agreed.
"So... anything else?"
"Yeah. It seems that our school has a new Grandmaster. Happousai said that he'd passed on the
mantle and retired."
Rei's eyes widened slightly as she took in the news. "So, who is he? What's he like?"
Nabiki sighed. "I don't know," she responded, "I didn't get to ask. Happousai arrived around dinner, and afterwords, he pretty much spent all his time talking to Akane. I was going to ask him this morning, but he said that he had some business that he needed to take care of before I could. Actually, he seemed rather weak this morning, almost like he was sick or something."
"Well, I hope he's okay. If he's your father's old sensei, he's probably a treasure trove of information about the Art. I mean, your father's even better than Akane or Mako-chan, and he's really out of practice, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Nabiki agreed, "Happousai said that, too. Then again, he hasn't really been the same since Mom..."
"There, there," Rei comforted, trying to reassure her friend.
"Thanks, Rei," Nabiki replied after a few moments, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Nabiki," Rei chided, "You're my friend. We need to stick together, ne?"
"That we do."
-------------------
Akane practically skipped to school, Nabiki struggling to keep up.
"W... Wait up, Akane!" Nabiki shouted ahead, making her sister stop and turn around.
"What is it, Nabiki?" she asked cheerfully.
"W... why are you so happy?" Nabiki panted out.
"Happousai-sensei offered to help me train," Akane replied, a wide smile on her face.
Nabiki blinked. "I... I thought... he was retired."
"Oh, he is," Akane answered, resuming her walk, the bounce in her step blatantly visible.
"So, then..."
"He just offered to help, Nabiki," she said, "You know, give me a few pointers, not to formally train me."
Nabiki blinked again, at something of a loss. "Oh." At that, Nabiki decided to change topics. "So... find anything... out about the new Grandmaster?"
Akane stopped and turned around, still grinning widely, giving Nabiki a chance to both catch up and catch her breath.
"No, not really. Happousai-sensei said that he'd visit the dojo in a few weeks, though."
"Oh."
-------------------
Ranma and Nabiki both noticed subtle changes in Akane's fighting stlye that morning, and both, correctly, attributed it to Happousai's advice. Overall, she was fighting more gracefully and precisely, her motions flowing from one to another in a manner that had been lacking from them beforehand. Ranma, of course, noted that she had a long way to go, but the improvement was there, nonetheless. In addition, Ranma noticed subtle changes in Akane's aura, indicating that she had
begun to master some of the techniques from the scroll that he had written for her, and was beginning to let go of some of her anger as a result, not to mention placing the remainder under her control. As he had told his students countless times beforehand (well, on his own world), 'a martial artist must use his emotions, not let them use him'. Akane had begun to take the next step along the path to that goal. Watching her, Ranma couldn't help but feel pride.
The rest of the school day, however, was rather boring to the children (and ancient immortal in a sixteen-year-old body) of the two families.
-------------------
As Ranma and Ranko walked home after school, Happousai stopped them.
"Hello, Ranma," he said, bowing politely.
"Hello, Happy," Ranma replied, returning the bow.
Ranko blinked. "This is Happousai?" she asked.
Happousai turned to her. "My, oh my. She is a cute one. Your sister, I assume?"
Ranko nodded. "So, why'd you call him an old freak?"
Ranma pointed at where he was undressing her with his eyes. "That's why."
By the time Ranko turned to look, Happousai was wearing an exaggeratedly innocent expression.
"What?" Ranko asked.
Ranma sighed. "You can drop the act, you know."
"Hotcha!"
Ranma casually removed his fist from Happousai's face, which was less than a foot from Ranko's chest. "She's still off limits, though," he continued.
"Oh," Happousai said, dusting himself off, "Why didn't you say so?"
"Nevermind," Ranko commented, shaking her head.
"Why don't you go on ahead?" Ranma asked, "I'm sure that Happy here stopped us for a reason."
"Okay, 'Niichan," Ranko replied, wanting to get away from the sheer aura of lust that Happousai was giving off.
-------------------
Turning to Happousai, Ranma frowned. "You didn't have to scare her off like that, you know."
Happousai shook his head. "Ranma, m'boy, you may trust her, but I don't know her well enough to, and what I wanted to talk to you about is for your ears only."
"And how would letting her know violate that? You saw her aura."
Happy blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Our ki-signatures are identical. You know what that means."
Happousai's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "You mean..."
Ranma nodded. "We have, at least in part, the same soul. I'm not too worried about why, although I am a bit curious. I won't go to too much trouble to find out, but I'll ask Amaterasu the next time I see her."
Happousai's jaw dropped. "You've *MET* Amaterasu?!?"
Ranma chuckled. "Of the kami, she's among the easiest to contact. Well, other than the Norns, anyway, but the circumstances which led to them being so easy to get in touch with were... rather unique."
Happousai blinked.
Sensing his father's master's confusion, Ranma chuckled again. "Belldandy, the Norn of the Present, was living with her fiancée in a temple in Nekomi. The other two were staying with them."
Happousai blinked again.
"It's a long story," Ranma explained, "I'll tell you later."
Happousai nodded in polite acknowledgement before changing the topic. "I got those items you wanted," he said.
"Good," Ranma replied.
"If I might ask..."
"Why did I want them?"
After Happousai nodded in confirmation, Ranma answered. "For the most part, because I can use them. The necklace, for example, could come in handy as a disguise, not to mention its original use. Some others... well... most of them are too dangerous to leave lying around, and I know how to destroy the ones I can't use."
"Well, m'boy," Happousai said, handing Ranma a small bag, "Here they are. By the way..."
"Running out of energy already?" Ranma asked.
"Yes, well..."
Ranma sighed before holding a palm towards Happousai. After a moment, a ball of white energy formed in front of it and shot into Happy, where it was promptly absorbed.
"Thanks, Ranma. I really do appreciate this; you know that, right?"
Ranma smiled. "Of course," Ranma replied, "I couldn't do this for the version of you in my world; by the time I understood how, it was already too late. The cure would've killed him. With you, though, there's a good chance of it working."
Quickly patting Ranma on the back, Happousai left, returning to the Tendou dojo to continue his work.
-------------------
"Yes, that's right," Happousai said as Akane finished a snap kick, "Now repeat that kata twenty more times."
"Hai, sensei," Akane acknowledged, restarting the kata.
"None of that, Akane," Happousai replied, "I'm retired, remember? It's one thing coming from your father; I did train him, after all, but I'm just trying to help you get rid of the flaws in your style."
"Maybe," Akane answered, finishing a brutal three-punch combination, "but you're still teaching me."
Noticing an approaching presence, Happousai turned towards the dojo entrance. "We'll finish this discussion later, Akane-chan," he said, before addressing the newcomer. "Yes, Nabiki-chan? What is it?"
-------------------
Meanwhile, Ranma and Ranko were sitting in Ranko's room and talking.
"So... what'd Happousai want to talk about?" Ranko asked curiously, "And how can you treat that... letch with so much respect?"
Ranma sighed and took the pouch out of his bag. "For the first part, he wanted to give me this," he said, handing the pouch to Ranko.
Ranko opened it... and gasped in shock. It was full of golden and bejeweled objects, including some that would be considered priceless works of art by any measure. "Wh... what..."
Quickly taking it back as Ranko's grip had loosened dangerously because of her surprise, Ranma spoke up. "Careful!" he chided, "Some of that stuff's dangerous, you know. I may be fast enough to catch 'em all if you dropped it, but I'd rather not have to."
Ranko blinked, gathering her wits. "Dangerous? How?"
Ranma sighed and took out a golden bracelet with three giant pearls attached to its exterior. "They're ancient magical artifacts that Happousai took from the Joketsuzoku when he was younger. Some of them do... well, less than pleasant things."
"Huh?"
"The pills embedded in the pearls on this bracelet, for example, cause a person to fall in love with the first person they see after ingesting one."
Ranko blinked. "Are you serious?" she asked incredulously.
Ranma just nodded his head. "Yeah. Here," he said, taking one of the pearls and handing it to Ranko, "They each have a different duration. This one only lasts for a split second. Try it."
Ranko gave Ranma a dubious stare. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.
Ranma nodded his head. "I can read the magical auras on the pills; they're rather simple artifacts, actually. Besides, there's only one way to get rid of 'em... they're pretty much indestructable otherwise. Later on, I'll take the day pill myself-"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?" Ranko exclaimed, shocked at Ranma's casual attitude towards mind-altering magic.
"And make sure to look at Akane right afterwords. That's how I got around it last time."
"Oh," Ranko replied, blinking.
"It only lasts for a day, and it can't make you fall in love when you already are; they just lend a bit more urgency to the feelings. I can resist *THAT* easily enough."
"And what about the third pill?"
Ranma sighed. "I'll feed it to a dog or something. It's just about the only thing I can do."
"How long does it last?"
Ranma shook his head. "It's called the 'lifetime' pill for a reason, Ranko. It's permanant."
Ranko gaped, jerking away from the bracelet like it had suddenly turned into a poisonous snake. Ranma sighed and replaced the Instant Pill's pearl on the bracelet befure putting it back in the pouch and taking out another item, a clear crystal vial.
"To give you another example... this contains something called a 'universal solvent'. Ever heard of it?"
Ranko's eyes widened in recognition. "You mean..."
Ranma nodded. "It's like an acid that'll eat through literally anything unless it's magically protected. The vial, fortunately, is also virtually unbreakable... but its contents regenerate. It will literally never run out of the stuff."
Ranko looked stunned. "How-"
"About one vialfull a month; the vial contains enough to eat through around a yard of steel."
Ranko gasped. Sighing again, Ranma replaced the vial. "Now do you understand why I treat Happousai the way I do, Ranko?" he asked. "Yeah, he's an old freak and a perverted panty-thief, yeah, he's petty and vindicative, but he does have his points. I'll admit that he often does the right things for the wrong reasons, but it doesn't change that he does them. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Joketsuzoku still had these artifacts? What a tribe of people who treat
their men like slaves and whose marriage laws don't give the male any voice in the matter would do with a bracelet full of love pills? What a tribe of people who believed that 'mere' outsiders were inherently inferior would've done with things like that vial or the Chain of Eternity? What a tribe who believed that their laws took precidence over any and all others would've done with the power to topple governments? The artifacts that Happousai stole from them had that power and more. If they had still had them, I wouldn't have been able to avenge Akane's death, you know. I may have been good enough to take out a group of Joketsuzoku elders, but if even one of them had used the Chain, it would've been enough to change the outcome, you know. It wasn't for another five or six years, at least, that I was good enough to challenge someone with the experience of a Joketsuzoku elder and a body in its prime."
Ranko blinked.
"Think about it," Ranma finished, getting up and walking out, pausing at the door. "Try to understand."
-------------------
Later that evening, Nodoka answered a knock at the door.
"Hello?" she asked, pausing to smile when he saw who it was. "Grandmaster Happousai! It's a pleasure to see you!"
Happy chuckled. "Yes, No-chan. It's been a while."
"Why, yes, it has," Nodoka replied, before pausing. "Oh, my! I seem to have completely forgotten my manners. Please, come in."
As Happousai followed Nodoka into the house, he heard a crashing sound come from the kitchen. Recognising the cause, he quickly hopped over, opening the cabinet under the sink.
"Pathetic, Genma. Really pathetic."
-------------------
Upstairs, Ranma noticed Happousai's approaching ki-signature and headed down. The first thing that he noticed was his father, cowering in the sink cabinet. Unconsciously echoing Happy's statement from just a moment earlier, he disgustedly shook his head. "Pathetic, Oyaji."
Enhancing his hearing, he managed to pick up mutterings about "ungrateful sons" before Happousai burst into laughter.
"Looks like we agree, eh, m'boy?"
Ranma chuckled. "Yes it does, Happy."
Finally growing a spine, Genma jumped out of the cabinet and attempted to hit Ranma for the blatant show of disrespect, only to find his fist intercepted by Happousai's pipe.
"None of that, Genma," Happy chided gently as his former student lay crumpled on the floor, "I didn't come here for revenge, you know."
Genma, recovered and bowing and scraping at Happousai's feet, looked up in hope. "W... why, Master? If not for that, then..."
"Why, to tell you that I've decided to retire, of course!"
Genma stared in disbelief.
"I've even found an heir, one who's already managed to surpass me!"
Genma's eyes bugged out and Ranma chuckled at the expression on his face.
"Who? Who is he, Master?" Genma begged, grovelling some more.
Happousai grinned. "That's for me to know, Genma. You'll find out soon enough."
"Oh, hi, Mom," Ranma greeted, turning to where his mother had just walked in, holding some tea. How she managed to heat up a kettle and actually make the tea without entering the kitchen, he didn't want to know, but it was still an impressive feat.
"Hello, Ranma," Nodoka replied before turning to Happousai and continuing, "Would you like some tea, Ojiisan?"
"Why thank you, No-chan," he answered politely, casually sipping a cup as Genma continued his embarassing display.
The meeting continued along that pattern, with Genma's grovelling reaching truly epic proportions as Ranma and Happousai chatted calmly with Nodoka.
-------------------
The next day at school was relatively uneventful, Kunou being warded as had become usual and Nabiki making little effort to find out the history of the Saotome Ryu, as she was waiting for an opportunity to ask Happousai, who hadn't spent much time at her home other than his now-common sessions helping Akane improve her form.
After school let out, and Ranma had ensured that Kunou wouldn't bother Akane for a while, Ranma headed over to Tofu-sensei's for his first day of work.
-------------------
Okay... I'm having writer's block with this chapter, but I wanted my readers to know that I'm not dead. This is a sneak preview of Chapter 5, containing a good part of the plot... about half, actually, of what I have outlined for it. On the bright side, I've copied my outlines and such for Reflection to an electronic format, so I haven't been totally stalled on this story. My revisions to Rebirth are coming along slowly, due to the lack of decent C&C, and the new version should both be funnier and more easily readable.
"Why, hello," greeted Tendou Kasumi, the eldest of the Tendou sisters.
"Hello, dearie," replied Happousai, the former grandmaster of her father's school, "Is Soun in?"
"Why, yes," she answered, "Why don't you come in?"
"Thank you," he said, stepping in, "You're Kasumi, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
"You've grown into a fine young woman, Kasumi-chan," he continued, "It's good to see you again."
Kasumi blinked. "Why, thank you. If I might ask, how do you know me? I can't seem to remember you."
Happousai laughed. "The last time I saw you, you were only three years old, Kasumi-chan. I'm Happousai, your father's old sensei."
Kasumi blinked again. "Oh my. Well, I'll go get father. You just make yourself at home."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Kasumi-chan."
"Oh my," Kasumi said before walking off, "What a nice old man."
If her father had heard her say that and known who she was talking about, he would have had a fit.
-------------------
Reflection,
By
Aleh,
Chapter Five: The Tearing of the Web
-------------------
The next day, Ranma headed to school with a slight bounce in his step.
"What is it, 'Niichan?" his sister, Ranko, asked.
"Everything!" he exclaimed, "The school called -- I can start work at Tofu-sensei's tomorrow, Happousai's willing to help, I'm getting back into shape faster than I would've believed possible, and I haven't even blown my cover yet!"
Ranko blinked.
"In other words," Ranma continued, suddenly calm, "I'm having a good day."
With that, Ranma resumed his air of cheerfulness as Ranko facefaulted.
-------------------
"So," Rei asked over the phone, "This Happousai just showed up and your father's letting him stay with you?"
Nabiki nodded, it briefly slipping her mind that Rei couldn't see her. "Yeah. He seems nice enough, though. Almost reminds me of your grandfather, actually."
On her end, Rei blinked. "Old pervert?" she asked.
Nabiki chuckled. "Yep. He seems to be controlling himself, though. Other than a few restrained leers, he hasn't tried anything. Dad, on the other hand, seemed *REALLY* put off by his behavior, almost like he was expecting him to jump up and grope us or something."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Nabiki answered, "And get this. He's Dad's old sensei."
"No wonder he was willing to put him up for a while."
"Somehow," Nabiki replied, "I doubt that it was a matter of gratitude. You should have seen him begging and pleading for mercy as soon as he saw him."
Rei blinked again. "Huh?"
"Happousai just walked in, and Father started bowing and scraping."
"Wow."
"Happousai looked pretty disgusted at his behavior, though. I think they didn't exactly part on good terms."
"Oh," Rei commented, not knowing what to say.
"I'll try to get the story after school. I wonder if it has anything to do with what happened with the Saotomes, though."
"It could," Rei agreed.
"So... anything else?"
"Yeah. It seems that our school has a new Grandmaster. Happousai said that he'd passed on the
mantle and retired."
Rei's eyes widened slightly as she took in the news. "So, who is he? What's he like?"
Nabiki sighed. "I don't know," she responded, "I didn't get to ask. Happousai arrived around dinner, and afterwords, he pretty much spent all his time talking to Akane. I was going to ask him this morning, but he said that he had some business that he needed to take care of before I could. Actually, he seemed rather weak this morning, almost like he was sick or something."
"Well, I hope he's okay. If he's your father's old sensei, he's probably a treasure trove of information about the Art. I mean, your father's even better than Akane or Mako-chan, and he's really out of practice, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Nabiki agreed, "Happousai said that, too. Then again, he hasn't really been the same since Mom..."
"There, there," Rei comforted, trying to reassure her friend.
"Thanks, Rei," Nabiki replied after a few moments, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Nabiki," Rei chided, "You're my friend. We need to stick together, ne?"
"That we do."
-------------------
Akane practically skipped to school, Nabiki struggling to keep up.
"W... Wait up, Akane!" Nabiki shouted ahead, making her sister stop and turn around.
"What is it, Nabiki?" she asked cheerfully.
"W... why are you so happy?" Nabiki panted out.
"Happousai-sensei offered to help me train," Akane replied, a wide smile on her face.
Nabiki blinked. "I... I thought... he was retired."
"Oh, he is," Akane answered, resuming her walk, the bounce in her step blatantly visible.
"So, then..."
"He just offered to help, Nabiki," she said, "You know, give me a few pointers, not to formally train me."
Nabiki blinked again, at something of a loss. "Oh." At that, Nabiki decided to change topics. "So... find anything... out about the new Grandmaster?"
Akane stopped and turned around, still grinning widely, giving Nabiki a chance to both catch up and catch her breath.
"No, not really. Happousai-sensei said that he'd visit the dojo in a few weeks, though."
"Oh."
-------------------
Ranma and Nabiki both noticed subtle changes in Akane's fighting stlye that morning, and both, correctly, attributed it to Happousai's advice. Overall, she was fighting more gracefully and precisely, her motions flowing from one to another in a manner that had been lacking from them beforehand. Ranma, of course, noted that she had a long way to go, but the improvement was there, nonetheless. In addition, Ranma noticed subtle changes in Akane's aura, indicating that she had
begun to master some of the techniques from the scroll that he had written for her, and was beginning to let go of some of her anger as a result, not to mention placing the remainder under her control. As he had told his students countless times beforehand (well, on his own world), 'a martial artist must use his emotions, not let them use him'. Akane had begun to take the next step along the path to that goal. Watching her, Ranma couldn't help but feel pride.
The rest of the school day, however, was rather boring to the children (and ancient immortal in a sixteen-year-old body) of the two families.
-------------------
As Ranma and Ranko walked home after school, Happousai stopped them.
"Hello, Ranma," he said, bowing politely.
"Hello, Happy," Ranma replied, returning the bow.
Ranko blinked. "This is Happousai?" she asked.
Happousai turned to her. "My, oh my. She is a cute one. Your sister, I assume?"
Ranko nodded. "So, why'd you call him an old freak?"
Ranma pointed at where he was undressing her with his eyes. "That's why."
By the time Ranko turned to look, Happousai was wearing an exaggeratedly innocent expression.
"What?" Ranko asked.
Ranma sighed. "You can drop the act, you know."
"Hotcha!"
Ranma casually removed his fist from Happousai's face, which was less than a foot from Ranko's chest. "She's still off limits, though," he continued.
"Oh," Happousai said, dusting himself off, "Why didn't you say so?"
"Nevermind," Ranko commented, shaking her head.
"Why don't you go on ahead?" Ranma asked, "I'm sure that Happy here stopped us for a reason."
"Okay, 'Niichan," Ranko replied, wanting to get away from the sheer aura of lust that Happousai was giving off.
-------------------
Turning to Happousai, Ranma frowned. "You didn't have to scare her off like that, you know."
Happousai shook his head. "Ranma, m'boy, you may trust her, but I don't know her well enough to, and what I wanted to talk to you about is for your ears only."
"And how would letting her know violate that? You saw her aura."
Happy blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Our ki-signatures are identical. You know what that means."
Happousai's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "You mean..."
Ranma nodded. "We have, at least in part, the same soul. I'm not too worried about why, although I am a bit curious. I won't go to too much trouble to find out, but I'll ask Amaterasu the next time I see her."
Happousai's jaw dropped. "You've *MET* Amaterasu?!?"
Ranma chuckled. "Of the kami, she's among the easiest to contact. Well, other than the Norns, anyway, but the circumstances which led to them being so easy to get in touch with were... rather unique."
Happousai blinked.
Sensing his father's master's confusion, Ranma chuckled again. "Belldandy, the Norn of the Present, was living with her fiancée in a temple in Nekomi. The other two were staying with them."
Happousai blinked again.
"It's a long story," Ranma explained, "I'll tell you later."
Happousai nodded in polite acknowledgement before changing the topic. "I got those items you wanted," he said.
"Good," Ranma replied.
"If I might ask..."
"Why did I want them?"
After Happousai nodded in confirmation, Ranma answered. "For the most part, because I can use them. The necklace, for example, could come in handy as a disguise, not to mention its original use. Some others... well... most of them are too dangerous to leave lying around, and I know how to destroy the ones I can't use."
"Well, m'boy," Happousai said, handing Ranma a small bag, "Here they are. By the way..."
"Running out of energy already?" Ranma asked.
"Yes, well..."
Ranma sighed before holding a palm towards Happousai. After a moment, a ball of white energy formed in front of it and shot into Happy, where it was promptly absorbed.
"Thanks, Ranma. I really do appreciate this; you know that, right?"
Ranma smiled. "Of course," Ranma replied, "I couldn't do this for the version of you in my world; by the time I understood how, it was already too late. The cure would've killed him. With you, though, there's a good chance of it working."
Quickly patting Ranma on the back, Happousai left, returning to the Tendou dojo to continue his work.
-------------------
"Yes, that's right," Happousai said as Akane finished a snap kick, "Now repeat that kata twenty more times."
"Hai, sensei," Akane acknowledged, restarting the kata.
"None of that, Akane," Happousai replied, "I'm retired, remember? It's one thing coming from your father; I did train him, after all, but I'm just trying to help you get rid of the flaws in your style."
"Maybe," Akane answered, finishing a brutal three-punch combination, "but you're still teaching me."
Noticing an approaching presence, Happousai turned towards the dojo entrance. "We'll finish this discussion later, Akane-chan," he said, before addressing the newcomer. "Yes, Nabiki-chan? What is it?"
-------------------
Meanwhile, Ranma and Ranko were sitting in Ranko's room and talking.
"So... what'd Happousai want to talk about?" Ranko asked curiously, "And how can you treat that... letch with so much respect?"
Ranma sighed and took the pouch out of his bag. "For the first part, he wanted to give me this," he said, handing the pouch to Ranko.
Ranko opened it... and gasped in shock. It was full of golden and bejeweled objects, including some that would be considered priceless works of art by any measure. "Wh... what..."
Quickly taking it back as Ranko's grip had loosened dangerously because of her surprise, Ranma spoke up. "Careful!" he chided, "Some of that stuff's dangerous, you know. I may be fast enough to catch 'em all if you dropped it, but I'd rather not have to."
Ranko blinked, gathering her wits. "Dangerous? How?"
Ranma sighed and took out a golden bracelet with three giant pearls attached to its exterior. "They're ancient magical artifacts that Happousai took from the Joketsuzoku when he was younger. Some of them do... well, less than pleasant things."
"Huh?"
"The pills embedded in the pearls on this bracelet, for example, cause a person to fall in love with the first person they see after ingesting one."
Ranko blinked. "Are you serious?" she asked incredulously.
Ranma just nodded his head. "Yeah. Here," he said, taking one of the pearls and handing it to Ranko, "They each have a different duration. This one only lasts for a split second. Try it."
Ranko gave Ranma a dubious stare. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.
Ranma nodded his head. "I can read the magical auras on the pills; they're rather simple artifacts, actually. Besides, there's only one way to get rid of 'em... they're pretty much indestructable otherwise. Later on, I'll take the day pill myself-"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?" Ranko exclaimed, shocked at Ranma's casual attitude towards mind-altering magic.
"And make sure to look at Akane right afterwords. That's how I got around it last time."
"Oh," Ranko replied, blinking.
"It only lasts for a day, and it can't make you fall in love when you already are; they just lend a bit more urgency to the feelings. I can resist *THAT* easily enough."
"And what about the third pill?"
Ranma sighed. "I'll feed it to a dog or something. It's just about the only thing I can do."
"How long does it last?"
Ranma shook his head. "It's called the 'lifetime' pill for a reason, Ranko. It's permanant."
Ranko gaped, jerking away from the bracelet like it had suddenly turned into a poisonous snake. Ranma sighed and replaced the Instant Pill's pearl on the bracelet befure putting it back in the pouch and taking out another item, a clear crystal vial.
"To give you another example... this contains something called a 'universal solvent'. Ever heard of it?"
Ranko's eyes widened in recognition. "You mean..."
Ranma nodded. "It's like an acid that'll eat through literally anything unless it's magically protected. The vial, fortunately, is also virtually unbreakable... but its contents regenerate. It will literally never run out of the stuff."
Ranko looked stunned. "How-"
"About one vialfull a month; the vial contains enough to eat through around a yard of steel."
Ranko gasped. Sighing again, Ranma replaced the vial. "Now do you understand why I treat Happousai the way I do, Ranko?" he asked. "Yeah, he's an old freak and a perverted panty-thief, yeah, he's petty and vindicative, but he does have his points. I'll admit that he often does the right things for the wrong reasons, but it doesn't change that he does them. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Joketsuzoku still had these artifacts? What a tribe of people who treat
their men like slaves and whose marriage laws don't give the male any voice in the matter would do with a bracelet full of love pills? What a tribe of people who believed that 'mere' outsiders were inherently inferior would've done with things like that vial or the Chain of Eternity? What a tribe who believed that their laws took precidence over any and all others would've done with the power to topple governments? The artifacts that Happousai stole from them had that power and more. If they had still had them, I wouldn't have been able to avenge Akane's death, you know. I may have been good enough to take out a group of Joketsuzoku elders, but if even one of them had used the Chain, it would've been enough to change the outcome, you know. It wasn't for another five or six years, at least, that I was good enough to challenge someone with the experience of a Joketsuzoku elder and a body in its prime."
Ranko blinked.
"Think about it," Ranma finished, getting up and walking out, pausing at the door. "Try to understand."
-------------------
Later that evening, Nodoka answered a knock at the door.
"Hello?" she asked, pausing to smile when he saw who it was. "Grandmaster Happousai! It's a pleasure to see you!"
Happy chuckled. "Yes, No-chan. It's been a while."
"Why, yes, it has," Nodoka replied, before pausing. "Oh, my! I seem to have completely forgotten my manners. Please, come in."
As Happousai followed Nodoka into the house, he heard a crashing sound come from the kitchen. Recognising the cause, he quickly hopped over, opening the cabinet under the sink.
"Pathetic, Genma. Really pathetic."
-------------------
Upstairs, Ranma noticed Happousai's approaching ki-signature and headed down. The first thing that he noticed was his father, cowering in the sink cabinet. Unconsciously echoing Happy's statement from just a moment earlier, he disgustedly shook his head. "Pathetic, Oyaji."
Enhancing his hearing, he managed to pick up mutterings about "ungrateful sons" before Happousai burst into laughter.
"Looks like we agree, eh, m'boy?"
Ranma chuckled. "Yes it does, Happy."
Finally growing a spine, Genma jumped out of the cabinet and attempted to hit Ranma for the blatant show of disrespect, only to find his fist intercepted by Happousai's pipe.
"None of that, Genma," Happy chided gently as his former student lay crumpled on the floor, "I didn't come here for revenge, you know."
Genma, recovered and bowing and scraping at Happousai's feet, looked up in hope. "W... why, Master? If not for that, then..."
"Why, to tell you that I've decided to retire, of course!"
Genma stared in disbelief.
"I've even found an heir, one who's already managed to surpass me!"
Genma's eyes bugged out and Ranma chuckled at the expression on his face.
"Who? Who is he, Master?" Genma begged, grovelling some more.
Happousai grinned. "That's for me to know, Genma. You'll find out soon enough."
"Oh, hi, Mom," Ranma greeted, turning to where his mother had just walked in, holding some tea. How she managed to heat up a kettle and actually make the tea without entering the kitchen, he didn't want to know, but it was still an impressive feat.
"Hello, Ranma," Nodoka replied before turning to Happousai and continuing, "Would you like some tea, Ojiisan?"
"Why thank you, No-chan," he answered politely, casually sipping a cup as Genma continued his embarassing display.
The meeting continued along that pattern, with Genma's grovelling reaching truly epic proportions as Ranma and Happousai chatted calmly with Nodoka.
-------------------
The next day at school was relatively uneventful, Kunou being warded as had become usual and Nabiki making little effort to find out the history of the Saotome Ryu, as she was waiting for an opportunity to ask Happousai, who hadn't spent much time at her home other than his now-common sessions helping Akane improve her form.
After school let out, and Ranma had ensured that Kunou wouldn't bother Akane for a while, Ranma headed over to Tofu-sensei's for his first day of work.
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Okay... I'm having writer's block with this chapter, but I wanted my readers to know that I'm not dead. This is a sneak preview of Chapter 5, containing a good part of the plot... about half, actually, of what I have outlined for it. On the bright side, I've copied my outlines and such for Reflection to an electronic format, so I haven't been totally stalled on this story. My revisions to Rebirth are coming along slowly, due to the lack of decent C&C, and the new version should both be funnier and more easily readable.