Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Romiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended. ========================== The Loving Arts Chapter 1 A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by TeW Last Update Aug 5, 2000 ========================== "What do *you* want Happosai?" Ranma asked. The old master appearing in the Tendo home after a long absence was bad enough, but he was acting weird too. "I want you to go on a training trip with me. It will only take a few weeks and you're out of school right now." The old man answered. "I got things to do with my break besides spend it with you." Ranma expected the old master to start arguing and throwing things around, instead he simply shook his head and stood up. "Come with me boy, there's someone I want you to talk to." Something in his voice, maybe it was the hint of sadness, made Ranma drop the defensive stance he'd shifted to. "Okay, as long as we're back for dinner." To his surprise Happosai laughed. "Don't worry, I wouldn't miss Kasumi's cooking for anything." * * * * "This is were we're going? Tofu's new clinic?" The doctor had returned a month ago and moved his clinic to a larger, but more out-of-the way location. It did have a nice yard in back and a good sized living area behind the clinic. Personally, Ranma figured he was planning on settling down and starting a family. He had a pretty good idea who he was planning on asking to marry him too, though so far he hadn't made any moves in that direction. Happosai just walked into the clinic. Ranma shrugged and followed. Maybe whoever he was supposed to talk to was sick. "Well, what can I do for you two today? Tofu asked. "Doctor, please tell Ranma about my condition." Happosai said. Dr. Tofu pushed up his glasses and looked seriously at the old man. Happosai nodded at him as if to agree with some unspoken question. "Very well. This should be kept in confidence." Ranma nodded. "Happosai is dying." * * * * Happosai ate dinner slowly and with obvious relish. He got a few odd looks from Soun and Nabiki. Genma was his usual oblivious self, and Akane was too upset about Ranma announcing a training trip with the master to notice anything. "Ranma! Tell me why you're running off with Happosai! Some new technique he's promised to show you?" Akane said in yet another attempt to get an explanation out of him. "Nothing like that, he just wants to spend some time training me. He *is* supposed to be the school's Grandmaster." Ranma said, hoping Akane would notice the veiled reference to his duty to *their* school. "But...But...what about the plans we had?" Akane asked quietly. Ranma swallowed. They'd had some plans to get away from the dojo for awhile. Just the two of them. Their fathers had forced it on them, but he was pretty sure Akane was looking forward to some quite time together as much as he was. "Umm..." "I guess you'd rather spend time with him than me." Akane whispered. With that she got up and ran upstairs. A moment later he heard the door to her room slam. "Oh, man." Ranma hated it when she got like this. "Don't worry boy, she'll come around." Happosai said. "Now be ready to leave in the morning. I'm got to spend some time with an old friend before we go." "Yeah, okay." "Thank you for dinner Kasumi dear," Happosai said with a smile. "It as delicious as always. Got to go!" With a wave the old master walked out the door. "Weird" Nabiki muttered. "I wonder where the old goat is going." Ranma thought out loud. "Why to see Cologne." Kasumi answered. "Huh? Why would he want to see that old troll?" "He said he was going to see an old friend. Who else is around from when he was young?" "Oh" Was all Ranma could say. He finished his dinner in silence, thinking about what it would be like to have everyone he knew now, his parents, friends, the Tendos, Ukyou, Akane... all gone, nothing but a memory. Hell, if that was the case he'd probably be happy to sit around and talk to *anyone* else who remembered, even Kuno. And pretty soon there would be only Cologne. Was there *anyone* else who remembered her youth? He decided he'd be a bit nicer to her from now on, as long as she wasn't trying to carry him off to China. * * * * "Here we are my boy!" Happosai chortled. "Great." Ranma groaned. He'd just climbed what felt like a vertical slope for five kilometers, Breathing had a bigger priority than sightseeing. When Happosai said they were going to 'The Mountains' to train, he didn't think he'd meant the *top* of the mountains. It hadn't helped that he was carrying two packs with Happosai perched on top. Ranma dropped the packs, incidentally dumping Happosai onto the ground. The old man landed easily and didn't even comment on Ranma's rudeness. Instead he light his pipe and looked around. "So what do you think?" Ranma looked up from rubbing his sore shoulders to see what the old man was talking about. "Oh, hey, this is pretty cool." They were in a small valley near the tops of a group of mountains. Despite the bleakness of the terrain they'd hiked through since they'd passed the tree line a little ways back, there were trees here. Just small pine trees, but still trees. Ranma could see steam rising from one end of the valley and guessed there were hot springs keeping the valley warm. That also explained why there wasn't a trace of the patches of snow they'd been seeing. Ranma looked down at the old man and saw him staring off to the left. Following his gaze Ranma saw a...building. Bigger and nicer than a cabin, but not really a house. Kind of a cottage. "Who lives here?" Ranma asked. The place looked too kept up to be abandoned. "Why I do of course." The old man said proudly. "I was born here. I come back and clean the place up every now and then. Peaceful, isn't it?" "Yeah, it is. Thanks for bringing me here." "This place has been my retreat since my parents died when I was fourteen. My sister never liked visiting after that, so I could always be alone here." "You had a sister?" Happosai laughed. "Oh yes, a firey little redhead with a nice figure. She had half the boys in town chasing her." "Sounds familiar." Ranma said absently, thinking about the way Kuno went after his girl form. "It should boy, she was your great-grandmother. Probably where your girl side got her red hair." "She was?" Ranma had never really thought about his family past his father and mother. He'd certainly never dreamed that he was related to the old goat. "Yes, your mother met her when she was very young. I don't know if she'll remember, but you could ask her when you get back." "Umm...okay." Somehow Ranma had assumed it was his fathers side of the family. Well, it would give him something to talk to his mom about, he sometimes had trouble finding things to say to her. "Right. Let's get the place ready and get a little practice in boy. I don't have much time to whip you into shape!" * * * * Happosai leaned on this knees and gasped for breath. Ranma was having more than a little trouble himself. "Just let me catch my breath." The old master managed to get out. "Then I'll show you how it's done." "Come on, we've been sparing for three hours. Don't you think it's time to take a break?" Happosai didn't answer, being too busy trying to breath. "'sides, at this altitude we gotta take it a *little* easier." He said. "Ha!" Happosai puffed. "I was *born* up here. A few thousand meters shouldn't make a difference." "Yeah, well *I* wasn't born in the mountains. So let's take a break." "Very well, if you need one." Happosai finally said.Ranma thought. After a few more minutes of puffing Happosai stood straight and waved him over. "Come on boy, I want to show you something, then we'll made dinner." They walked through the pine trees. A feeling of peace came over him. He'd spent a lot of his childhood camping in pine woods and the smell was one that affected him at a deep level. As the walked the pines got taller but sparser, interspaced with brush and colorful patches of the small wildflowers that always flourished in protected spots in the mountains. It was also getting warmer. "So are there hot springs over here? I never heard of any up this high." "Not exactly, boy. There's a hot pool, but the water comes from snow melt, not from underground." "Huh? Why's it hot?" "Because there's a place where the ground is hot. Some kind of underground steam vent heating the ground there or some such. I've never bothered to find out exactly." Ranma fell silent as they entered a small clearing. The rocks of the valley wall arched around gently cupping the area. A waterfall ran down that wall, steaming mildly and falling into a pool that emptied into a tiny stream. The stream had been widened into several small pools along its length before disappearing into the trees. "The big pool is the warmest, about like a furo. The smaller pools get cooler as the water temperature drops off." "This is really neat. You're lucky to have such a nice place to hide out." "Glad you like it boy, it's yours now." "What!" "Actually it's a wedding present. Once you get married it will be yours. Remind me to give you the name of the law firm I set things up with." "I-I don't know what to say master." "Well, having you actually call me 'master' was worth it. Besides who else should I give it to? I don't have any children around, and you're a relative as well as the heir to my school." Ranma stared at the old man for a second, then grinned at him. "Come on, you must have a few kids floating around somewhere. I've heard some of your stories." "None." Happosai said sadly. "I've never been able to have children." Ranma's grin faded. He didn't know what to say to that. While he wasn't in a hurry, he did expect to have children some day. The thought that he wouldn't be able to...that was hard to think about. "Let me tell you a little secret, boy. The Amazons have a law. If a wife isn't pregnant in the first year of a marriage, the marriage is automatically void. It normally isn't a problem, since they have herbs to make it easy for a woman to get pregnant. But..." Happosai turned and looked up at the top of the waterfall a few dozen meters above them. "I was married to an Amazon. I think she loved me, but when a year went by and no children...and not through lack of trying! That as it, null, void, gone. The marriage officially never happened." Ranma didn't know what to say again. It was like he'd never really known anything about Happosai. Finally he cleared his throat and managed to get out an 'I'm sorry'. Happosai turned and gave him one of his face splitting grins. "It's not all bad, the first year is definitely the best, and I got that. Besides, being tied down with children just isn't my style. Besides all that isn't my point. The point is that your marriage to Shampoo was almost a year ago. Unless she gets pregnant in the next six weeks you're off the hook." Ranma looked at the old man, his face splitting into a smile remarkably similar to the one Happosai wore. "Thanks old man. That's good to know." * * * * Ranma-chan groaned inwardly as Happosai started yet another story about his youth. At first it had been interesting to hear about his great-grandmother when she was young, but Happosai had switched to stories about his early hears traveling around Japan. It was like history class without the motivation of having to listen for a test later. He tried to stifle another yawn, but couldn't keep it in. "Hmm...looks like you're ready for some sleep Miya." Happosai said. "Huh? Who's Miya?" Ranma asked. "Oh! Sorry boy. Miya was my sister. I guess sitting in this old house and talking about the past, I got to thinking you were her. You certainly look a lot like her in that form." "Going senile, old man?" Ranma teased. "Maybe, it's not all that easy to keep a hundred years of memories straight in your head." Happosai admitted. "Huh, never thought of it that way." "You will boy, you will. Now let me tell you one more thing, and then you should get some sleep." "Sure, what is it." Ranma said, stifling another yawn. "There's a book and a few other things hidden under the flagstone behind the stove. There's some gold, which might come in handy, and there's two rings. Give the plain gold one to Cologne from me. The other was my sisters, I'd appreciate it if you'd give that to Akane someday, but if it's some other girl that's fine too. The book has some techniques you'd better learn. I think you're going to need them." "Sure. Anything else?" "No, get some sleep. I'm going to stay up and write some letters for you to deliver when you get back. "Okay. G'night" "Hey, boy?" Happosai said quietly. "Yeah?" "There's a little plot on the north side of the valley. My parents, sister, and her husband are buried there. There's a space between my mother and sister..." "I understand." Ranma said. For some reason there were tears in his eyes. It's a good thing he was in his girl form, he hated crying as a guy. "Good night boy. See you in the morning." "Right. Don't stay up too late." Happosai laughed. "Go to bed boy, you youngsters need your sleep." Ranma nodded, to tired to try for a comeback to that, and headed to his room. The room that once belonged to his great-grandmother. * * * * Ranma woke late, the sun was already well into the sky when he opened his eyes. "Guess Happosai let me sleep late." he muttered. He got up and got dressed for the day before heading to the main room to look for some breakfast. Happosai was still there, sitting by the now-cold stove clutching his pipe with a peaceful, happy look to his face. He wasn't breathing. Ranma dashed over and tried to revive the old man, but stopped after a few seconds. It was too late, he was already cold. He'd been dead for hours. Much to his surprise, Ranma found himself crying. He was glad he was still in his girl form, it was easier to cry and he knew he'd be crying in either form anyway. "Hey, old man. You were a pain, but I'm still going to miss you." He said, bowing his head. After a few minutes he looked up and closed Happosai's eyes, then carried him up to his bed. He layed him out with his pipe on his chest and his hands crossed over it. Then he went off to find a shovel. Ranma, now male thanks to the hot water in the pool, put the last shovelful of dirt on the grave and gratefully stuck the shovel in to the ground. He'd put the grave right where Happosai wanted, between his sister and mother. He'd also cleared the weeds that had grown around the other graves and gathered wildflowers to put on them. Later he'd put an offering of food for everyone there. They were, after all, his family, even if he had only ever met Happosai. "I guess I should say some stuff now, but you know I'm no good at that. You taught me a lot of stuff, and I'm happy for that. You giving me this land and all the other stuff was real nice. I guess all I can give you is a promise that I'll try to make the School of Anything Goes a good one. With that Ranma bowed to the graves and headed back to the house. The first thing he did was get the stove going and start some food, he hadn't eaten all day and it was mid-afternoon now. Then he looked at the letters Happosai had written. One for each of his parents, one for Mr. Tendo, one addressed to both Kasumi and Nabiki, one for Cologne, and at the bottom of the stack an envelope for Akane and a piece of paper addressed to him. Ranma held off reading the note until he'd made himself a big meal and demolished it. Then he washed the dishes and went to the pools to take another bath. After that he felt he didn't have any more excuses and went to read his note. * * * * [[Ranma-chan, I can tell I don't have long now. So I better tell you everything now. It's easier this way, I hate all that emotional crap as much as you do. First, you are now Grandmaster of the school. The notes to your fathers will tell them that. They may challenge you for it, but I'm not worried about your ability to handle those two old men. Second, that book I mentioned last night. Read it. It will help you with many of your problems. But under no circumstances should you allow Cologne to so much as have a hint of its existence. It's the last copy in existence, and the Amazons will do their best to destroy it. You should probably leave it here, and keep this place a secret. The card of the law firm I use is attached. Talk to them on your way back. It'll probably take a while for the paperwork to go through, bureaucracy hasn't changed much in the last hundred years. Be well, Ranma-chan. Take care of my school. - Happosai P.S. Oh, and if you would put one of Akane-chan's bras on my grave now and then I'd appreciate it.]] The last part make Ranma laugh. For a second he'd been worried that Happosai had been possessed when he wrote the note, that last bit let him know the old pervert was still there. Ranma went behind the stove, and pulled up the flagstone. In it was a few odds and ends, a fairly large bag which was, as Happosai had said, filled with various gold coins and nuggets, and a carefully wrapped leather-bound book. He left everything but the book. He carried it over to the chair by the stove, but on a kettle for tea and opened it. * * * * Ranma became aware of his surroundings when it got too dark to read. The kettle had long since gone dry, the stove held only a little warmth, and Ranma's eyes hurt. He reluctantly put down the book, which he'd worked about a quarter of the way through. He got the stove going again, put on a kettle of water and got up to stretch. He found a lamp and lit it then looked at the book, trying to decide if he should read a little more by the light from the lamp. No, he decided. Not until he'd come to grips with what he'd already read. So he sat down and tried to think. The book was about women. It was also about martial arts. Mostly though, it was about how a martial artist should treat women. The philosophy the book was based on was seductive, particularly to someone raised the way he was. He didn't believe it, but he could see the logic. The book broke women into two groups. Those that were 'wild' and those that were 'domesticated'. It said that women were important and precious, but far too different from men to understand. It also said that women should not be allowed to make their own decisions about who would 'domesticate' them. It was filled with techniques that were specifically designed for use against women. He'd already read about ways to see what they were feeling, how to make them...interested in sex, pressure points to make them weak, sleepy, horny, and relaxed. That was just in the part he'd already read. Perhaps the most interesting things in the books were the notes written in the margin in half a dozen different hands. They expanded on the techniques, said how they could be used, how effective they were. One of the different kinds of handwriting talked about how the techniques could be adapted to use with livestock, and he did *not* want to know why. He *did* understood why Happosai thought he needed the book, and why the Amazons wanted it destroyed. He could think of ways to use what he had read to control his fiancees, though some of them were pretty nasty, he couldn't imagine using those on anyone...except maybe Kodachi. He signed and decided to get some sleep. He'd have to finish reading later. And he'd have to find some way to try out some of those techniques, maybe his girl form would be useful after all. * * * * Ranma spent the train ride practicing some of his new techniques and thinking. Happosai's death, his great-grandparent's graves, and the book of techniques had all affected him deeply. He almost felt like it was a different person riding the train back than the one who had gone with Happosai. He examined the aura of a young woman who was smiling at him as she walked by, trying to use the techniques from the book to read her emotional state. He smiled back when he saw happiness, warmth, and affection. Much better than the woman at the train station, she'd had just as nice a smile, but he'd seen anger and despair in her aura. This woman was wearing an engagement ring. Was the book right? Women couldn't be happy unless they were 'domesticated'? His experiences in his girl form were mixed in that area. A lot of the girls he'd talked to as a girl seemed to be perfectly happy the way they were, but a lot of them seemed to be hoping some guy would notice them too. Ranma snorted to himself. If that meant anything then guys were in even worse shape. They were *always* looking at, chasing, or talking about girls. The book was wrong, it was as simple as that. It had lots of useful techniques though. Lots of those techniques he wouldn't use except in the most extreme emergency, others would be quite useful though. He didn't like to hit girls and several of those techniques would be *really* useful as ways to deal with unwanted females without actually hurting them. Ranma let his mind drift again, thinking about the time he'd spent alone in the little valley. It had been nice to be away from everything, but he'd found himself missing his friends and family. He started at the stop announcement. It was time to get off. He had to stop at the lawyers office and try to exchange the small amount of gold he'd brought before heading back. It would be quite late before he got to the dojo. === End Chapter 1 ===