A Change in Him: Chapter 13

Author: Null Factor

This story contains scenes of explicit sex, naughty words, and other horrible, offensive things.  If you are underage in your house, village, town, city, community, state, province, country, or continent: READ NO FURTHER!  If that type of thing offends your tender sensibilities, or you are stupid: READ NO FURTHER!  All characters are the copyright of their respective creators and/or owners; no copyright infringement is intended by this story.  Any resemblance to people, places, or situations alive, dead, or otherwise is purely coincidental.

Chapter 13

Friday Afternoon, After School

“You dirty old man!!! Get back here and give us our underwear back!!!”

“Nyah-nyah!! Catch me if you can, my dears!”

Ranma’s head popped up at the sound of the schoolgirl’s screams followed by the harsh mocking tones of...The young martial artist narrowed his eyes as he looked for...There he is! The Old Freak!! His target located Ranma sprang into action. Carefully judging the speed and path of Happosai the teenager dashed and leaped forward to land directly in front of him, causing the old lecher to come to a screeching halt.

“Ranma! Get out of your Master’s way!”

“Master!?! Ha! You’ve never taught me jack, old man. Now hand over those panties!”

Happosai’s face swiftly turned from wrathful to frightened as he curled his diminutive form protectively around his bulging sack of goodies. “Ranma!” He sobbed pitifully, “You wouldn’t steal the precious belongings of a poor, weak old man, would you? Would you? Can’t you find some silky darlings for yourself somewhere else?”

“I don’t want ‘em for me, you pervert!” Ranma reached forward to yank the bag out of his “master’s” hands, only to quickly jerk his hands back, just barely avoiding a red hot coal from Happosai’s pipe. “Hey! Watch it!”

“No, you watch it, you little punk!!” Happosai snarled, dropping his ‘poor, pitiful, me’ act.

“No, you both should watch it!!”

Startled at that comment both skilled martial artists’ heads popped up to see themselves surrounded by a furious group of schoolgirls holding brooms, rakes, shovels, bats, mallets, bokutos, and other miscellaneous instruments of pain and suffering. And they looked extremely willing to use them.

“Aw, crap!” Was the only thing Ranma could choke out before he and the ancient molester were swept under by a furious tide of blows yielded with righteous feminine wrath.

When the smoke and dust cleared more than ten minutes later Happosai and Ranma slowly picked themselves up, covered with lumps and bruises from their run in with the enraged schoolgirls. Both had received far worse beatings in their various forms of “training,” however, so they quickly shook of the effects of the pounding and eyed one another angrily.

“How dare you let that gang steal my precious darlings,” Happosai growled. “I ought to...”

“They weren’t a gang, old man, and they didn’t steal anything. They were just reclaiming what you stole in the first place!”

Happosai’s face turned red at this rejoinder and Ranma readied himself for combat, but suddenly the lecher’s face cleared. “Ranma,” he abruptly suggested in a much calmer tone of voice. “I think it’s time we had a talk.”

Gradually, Ranma let his body relax from its defensive position as he looked over his father’s master. He slowly nodded his head as he spoke; “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I got a few things I wanna talk to you about too.”

“Follow me, then.” In a flash the two martial artists bounded from the city street and were swiftly gone from view. The citizens left behind didn’t even blink an eye, however. They had seen such things, and more, too often to be even mildly surprised by anything now.

In moments the two expert martial artists were settled in a park far away from their initial meeting point, each eyeing the other somewhat warily. It was the old pervert who was the first to speak. “Ranma, you said something about teaching earlier. Do you really think you’re ready to learn my secrets?”

“Ha! When it comes to martial arts there ain’t nothin’ I can’t master!” Suddenly Ranma frowned and added, “Just don’t be tryin’ to teach me none of your panty stealing techniques, or nothin’ like that, got it, old man?!”

Happosai merely smiled smugly and then looked carefully at the younger man across from him. “I left it to your father to teach you the basics, Ranma. Now it’s up to you to prove to me that you’re ready for more advanced teachings.”

“And just how do I do that?”

“You’ve seen my Chrysalis Technique a couple of times now. I’m going to do it one more time for you and I want you to show to me that you can see how it’s done. Were you able to figure it out from before, Ranma?”

“...”

Happosai sighed and shook his head in evident disappointment before speaking again. “Ranma, you’re really letting me down.”

“Don’t tell me that, you old freak!! Why not give me a little hint or something?!?”

“I thought you could master any martial arts technique. Didn’t you say that?” The tiny marital arts master watched his teenage pupil squirm in anger and embarrassment for a few minutes before he went on. “Just watch carefully this time, Ranma.”

“I watched you as closely as I could last time and it didn’t help me then!”

“I said watch me ‘carefully’ not ‘closely’. There is a difference you know.”

Ranma opened his mouth to reply, but then let it snap shut as he thought over what Happosai had just said. So what’s the old perv tryin’ to say? Maybe last time I was too focused on him or somethin’? So instead of looking just at him I gotta... “OK, old man. I’m ready.”

Happosai didn’t say anything in reply; instead his body began to slowly fade from view as he started using his Chrysalis Technique. As he did so Ranma was watching him not only with his eyes but also through his sensing of ki flows. This time the teenager immediately began seeing things he had never noticed before. The previous times he had been concentrating his attention so much on Happosai he hadn’t paid any attention to the surroundings. Now he realized that the surroundings were the key to the whole technique.

The old freak’s not bringing his ki into himself to warp space or nothin’ like that! Ranma thought with surprise and excitement. Instead he’s spreading it out; he’s kinda blending his ki with the natural energy of stuff around him! Now let me see here... Ranma kept his eyes wide open as he tried to copy what he had seen and felt Happosai do. His recent extensive practice with ki flows was really helping him out now, but it was still difficult and felt strange to merge his aura with his surroundings. Gradually he could feel his ki come in tune with his environment.

When the shift was finished his eyes were met with a surprising sight. From the point of view of someone using the Chrysalis Technique the world was a different kind of place. Natural things like bushes, trees, and so on seemed brighter and more evident, while manmade stuff like the metal park bench in one corner of the clearing were ghostly and hard to make out. “Whoa! This is pretty weird!!” Ranma muttered as he looked around in wonderment.

“Not bad, Ranma. Yes, it is surprising isn’t it?” Happosai’s unexpected voice shocked the bemused Ranma and caused him to lose control of his ki. Without his hold of his body’s energy keeping him in tune with his surroundings he dropped out of the Chrysalis Technique and popped back into view of anybody who might be watching. A few seconds later his reappearance was followed by that of Happosai.

“Not bad. Not bad at all, Ranma.” Happosai said again to his somewhat bewildered pupil.

Ranma quickly recovered from his surprise to grin cockily. “I told you, old man. If it’s got anything to do with martial arts, I can’t be beat! Hey, whatcha got there?” The teenager looked closely, trying to make out the battered looking text that Happosai had pulled out of his shirt. It was about the size, shape, and thickness of a clothing catalogue, but the paper it was made up of was yellowish and stained from age and wear. The centuries old martial artist said nothing, but flipped open the book to show that it was filled with pages of handwritten notes in Japanese accompanied by numerous diagrams.

Hey! Ranma began unconsciously taking a few steps forward as he tried to make out those pictures that Happosai was passing by so quickly. Those look just like the ones in my book, but if these are in Japanese... “Let me have a look...What are you doing, old freak?!” Ranma reacted angrily as Happosai suddenly tucked the text away back under his shirt.

“You have to earn it if you want to read this, Ranma.”

“Whaddaya mean?! I just proved I could do your Chrysalis Technique! What more do you want?”

“You have to prove to me that you’ve mastered it. Today’s Friday so let’s have a little contest over the weekend.”

“A contest? What kind of contest?”

“Starting at midnight tonight you’ll have 48 hours, all of Saturday and Sunday, to find me three times.”

“Find you? What’re you talkin’ about?!” Ranma growled in frustration.

“I’ll be using the Chrysalis Technique, stupid!” Happosai glowered at his young student. “If you can show to me you’re good enough to stay in the Chrysalis technique for long periods of time, long enough so you can locate me three times, then you can have my book. Think of it like a kind of hide and seek. Do you think you can do it?”

Ranma frowned, as ever unable to resist any challenge involving martial arts. “You got it, you old perv. That book’s gonna be mine!”

“We’ll see, Ranma. We’ll see.” Happosai suddenly leaped onto one of the branches high up on a nearby tree. “Remember, the game starts at midnight tonight!” With that parting cry the debased martial artist was gone.

I gotta get that book! And I’m gonna!! Ranma thought as Happosai disappeared over the treetops.

Saturday Morning

Ranma yawned even as he finished a last series of morning exercises. Damn that old freak! Keepin’ me up all night lookin’ around for him! When I catch him I’m gonna... Ranma yawned again, stripped off his sweat-sodden shirt and began walking toward the Tendo house and breakfast. And indeed Ranma had been awake all night looking around for his perverted master while simultaneously working on his mastery of the Chrysalis Technique. He had to admit that his search for Happosai was helping him improve his ability at the difficult technique, but still...

“HHIIIIYYYYAAAAA!!!!”

“Whoa!” Ranma jerked backward as his father suddenly jumped out of hiding and leapt into a flying kick that just barely missed. As Ranma tossed his sweaty shirt aside and assumed a defensive position he complained, “Damn, Pop!! Are you still trying this crap?!”

“Shut up, boy” Genma growled. “It’s for your own good. Now, take this!!” Along with his words the panda man began flicking out a series of blows at his son, but none of them connected. That in fact was the problem and what Ranma had been complaining about. Reluctantly acknowledging, at least privately, that he was no longer in his son’s league as a martial artist, Genma had taken to resorting to ambushes, hoping that surprise assaults would allow him to defeat his disrespectful boy. So far, the strategy hadn’t been much of a success, but he kept at it.

Unfortunately, this Saturday morning was showing just why the sneak attack tactic was a failure; once Ranma had withstood or avoided the initial assault, he was free to use his superior speed and strength to overwhelm his chunky, middle-aged father. It only took a couple of minutes for the teenager to have his father concentrating solely on defense in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Genma’s protective guard wasn’t enough, however, and when one of his son’s feet snaked through to smash into his skull it both blasted him into unconsciousness and into one of the poor, battered trees that dotted the Tendo garden.

The dissolute older man did get a measure of revenge, however, even if he never got to see it. After being knocked into the tree his heavy, limp body bounced off it and dropped into the carp pond. The wave of water caused by this was attracted to Ranma like iron to a loadstone and the sweaty, muscular, topless teenage boy was soon an extremely annoyed, sopping wet, quite busty teenage girl.

“Damn it, Pop!!” the now redheaded Ranma scowled at the panda floating in the small pond before sighing, shrugging her shoulders and picking up the shirt she had discarded earlier. Her clothing reclaimed she started walking back to the Tendo house as she had originally intended.

The battle between father and son, as well as Ranma’s earlier morning workout, had had an audience and as the cursed teenager stepped up onto the veranda she was met by Nabiki’s drawled; “So, are you planning on pulling your father out of the pond, Saotome?”

Ranma glanced over his shoulder at the bobbing panda and then into the living room where the Tendo family was gathered around the breakfast table. Soun had his head stuck firmly into his newspaper so he could safely claim ignorance to anything that might go on around him. Akane in her yellow, pig-printed pajama’s was shoveling rice into her mouth, pointedly ignoring her fiancé. Kasumi was as usual on her knees doling out everyone’s breakfast, but her normally quick, sure hands seemed a bit clumsier than usual this morning. Perhaps this was because her dark grey eyes seemed to have difficulty in staying where they belonged; down on the food and drinks she was serving. Finally, there was Nabiki, casually clad in morning wear consisting of a long sleeved shirt and sweat pants against the increasing chill of late October. Her face had its usual cool, calculating look, but a slight blush began to form on her cheeks under Ranma’s gaze. This was especially true when the martial artist’s bright blue eyes swept down to where her breasts swelled out the front of her shirt, making her keenly conscious of their braless state.

“Nah,” Ranma finally replied. “Let him sink or swim on his own. If he drowns just think how much money we’ll save on grocery bills.”

“Good point.”

“Oh My!”

“Ranma!! I can’t believe you!!!”

Ranma ignored Nabiki and Kasumi’s responses to her comment and turned to face Akane who had slammed her rice bowl so hard onto the table that the ceramic had cracked. “What’s your problem?”

“He’s your father!! How can you be so cruel?!?”

“Lots of practice. Besides, look,” Ranma hooked her thumb over her shoulder where a wheezing panda Genma slowly, shakily dragged himself out of the carp pond and flopped onto his back, his legs still drifting in the water. “See? He’s fine. Anyway, it’s what he deserves for jumpin’ me like that, the no good loser.”

A sign soon appeared in the panda’s paw in response to his son’s disparagement: I do it all for you, son. Then a second sign: I suffer any hardship, any embarrassment, A third sign started to rise, but before it could...

“Then suffer this, you no good Pop!!” Ranma’s well-trained foot lashed out and sent a convenient metal pail crashing into her father’s head. Even as the bonging sound of the coup de grace echoed through the garden, the panda’s beady eyes rolled up in his head and his tongue extended from his mouth, signaling his defeat in the debate between father and son.

Muttering under her breath Ranma turned back around to face the living room again and noticed that Akane was still glowering at her. “Well? What is it now?”

“Are you planning to go around topless all day, you pervert?!” While Ranma blinked in surprise and looked down to remember that she was indeed swinging free as it were, Akane continued berating her fiancé. “You spent all of summer in China to learn that stupid move, didn’t you? Why don’t you use it, instead of prancing around here half-naked?!”

Ranma shrugged causing her rather healthy bosom to bounce around in an interesting way, a point not missed by any of the Tendo daughters. “Who cares? I’m on my way to take a bath anyway, so why change now?”

“Because it’s perverted, you degenerate! You could think of others instead of just yourself for once!!”

“Perverted?” Ranma shrugged again. “I don’t see why it bothers you so much, Akane. It’s not like it’s anything you haven’t seen before. You don’t care, do you Nabiki?”

“Uh, n, no. No. It doesn’t matter to me,” Nabiki stammered out surprised to be suddenly included in the argument.

“See, Akane?” Ranma pointed out, overriding the teenager’s spluttered protests. “If you’re so bothered by these,” here Ranma leaned forward to aggressively thrust her bouncing tits toward her fiancée and, indirectly, the other Tendo daughters, “Then maybe you’re the one who’s got some issues to deal with.” With that comment Ranma spun on her heel and left a silent living room in which one could see an intentionally oblivious father and his three daughters: a stunned, red-faced, open-mouthed Akane and an almost equally surprised Nabiki and Kasumi.

The hush continued for several moments until it was broken by Nabiki’s arch observation, “Kasumi? Isn’t the tea supposed to go into cups, not on the table?”

“Oh, my!”

Meanwhile Ranma had reached the bathroom and quickly stripped out of the rest of her wet clothing, which she tossed into the washer. Then she swung a towel over her shoulder and entered the bath area. Hanging the towel on the towel rack she was just about to turn on the water when a sudden thought went through her mind causing her to frown. That old lech wouldn’t dare! Would he? Who am I kidding?! Of course he would!!

Her night-long practice came in handy as she shifted to the strange space of the Chrysalis Technique as quickly as she could and spun around. In that weird realm the man-made surroundings of the bathing area faded away, but any natural, living thing, such as a small fly that was battering itself against the small window in a fruitless attempt to escape the house, stood out bright and vibrant. And even brighter and more obvious was the small form crouched in one corner of the bathroom, his eyes wide and fixed on Ranma’s naked body.

“HAPPOSAI!! YOU...!!!” Ranma’s fists clenched with such strength that one could hear their joints popping.

“Congratulations, Ranma!” Happosai said brightly, walking toward his pupil as if in happiness at Ranma’s success. “You found me for the first time. Only two more to go!!” He leaped up to snuggle his ancient, withered head between Ranma’s perky orbs. “I’m so proud of you!!”

“Thank you!!” Ranma accompanied this acknowledgement of her master’s compliments with several crushing blows that sent the dwarf spiraling off through the ceiling and out of view into the deep blue October sky. “Dirty old man! Why do I gotta put up with this crap?” Sighing at this rhetorical question Ranma turned on the water and waited for it to warm up so she could turn back into a guy, get cleaned up and have breakfast.