Mousse's New Love

" "= Talking

' '= Thinking

* *= Memories/flashbacks

Summary: Mousse had to accept it sooner or later, the fact that Shampoo did not, and most likely would never, like him. That day was sooner than he thought…After being cruelly rejected by Shampoo, he runs into Karen (or rather, she runs into him.) could this strange girl, who has no memories of her past, be the love he was looking for all along? Or will she reject him just like Shampoo did?

(To avoid any confusion, in my story Mousse owns his own house in Japan, he doesn't live, or stay, with Shampoo)

Chapter 1: The Lost Girl Karen

It was getting late, and Mousse was walking home, he was having a bad day. 'Sigh…what an awful day…' he thought to himself, he had just left the Cat Café after an argument with Shampoo. "She always yells at me but…she was serious this time…"

*Mousse!! You I hate!! You go home and no come back!!! Ranma I love, not Mousse! *

It sent chills down his spine just thinking about it. 'I guess I should go back to china and…'

-"AAAAHH!!!"-

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream and, suddenly, a girl comes running towards him, followed by two men. Before he has time to react, she collides into him, knocking him over.

"Help!! Someone!! Th-They won't stop chasing me!!" She yells frantically. Mousse, having realized what was going on, quickly got up and pushed her away from them. The two men, who obviously didn't know who they were dealing with, kept running toward the girl. Before they could blink, they had been pinned up against the nearest wall with knives.

"If I catch you two messing with her again I'll do more than just pin you to a wall!" Mousse yelled, hoping to avoid further conflict with them. "Are you all right?" he kindly asked the frightened girl.

"Thanks to you I am!! I'm Karen! It's nice to meet you!" She happily replied. "You're amazing! Are you some kind of magician?" She asked curiously as she turned her head cutely.

"Uh, no. I'm Mousse, master of hidden weapons." He stated. "So…Karen was it? What were you doing out so late and…why were those men chasing you?" He asked.

"…I…don't know, I was walking and the next thing I knew, I was being chased…I don't have any money, or anything of value…I've been running from them all day. I'm really lucky to have run into you." She giggled. "Literally too. I didn't hurt you…did I?"

"What? No. Of course not. It takes a lot more than that to hurt me!" He said proudly. "…Where are your parents? Do you live nearby?"

"I…I don't know…" She said quietly.

"Y-…don't know? How can you not know-" Mousse stopped when he realized he was making her sad, and decided it best to change the subject. "Um…so you don't have a place to stay?"

"…no…I've just been wondering around…for as long as I can remember…I've been alone…" She looked as though she was about to cry when she said that.

'Ah! She's gonna cry!' "Well, why don't you come with me…since it's so late, you can stay the night at my house, and tomorrow I can help you find a place to stay." He said trying desperately to cheer her up.

"I can!? But…I don't want to impose on you…" She said shyly.

"No! No. Not at all! Come on, follow me, my house isn't to far from here!" He said, then turned around and walked straight into a lamppost. "I-I'm okay." Karen started giggling uncontrollably, she just couldn't help herself. "Hey! It's not that funny…" 'Well, at least she's happy…' He lead her toward his house. Wondering about Karen, he decided to ask her about her past, hoping it wouldn't depress her. "So…you really can't remember your parents?"

"No, I've tried but…Oh, that's right! I do have this…Ah! Where is it!?" She yelled, as she frantically searched her pockets. "It's-it's…GONE! Gone!" As she was panicking, Mousse noticed something fall.

"Hm? What's this? Hey, is this your-"

"YES!!" She cut him off and snatched it back. "That's it! Where did you-"

"You just dropped it" he said before she could finish.

"Oh, thank you! It's my mothers locket…I think…I've always had it, it had a picture of my parents in it but…I dropped it in water once and…it ruined the picture…"

'She really can't remember anything…' "Hey look! That's my house over there." He pointed to a small house a few blocks away.

"Which one?" She asked.

"The small wooden one, over there." He pointed again.

"Uh…Mousse?"

"Yes?"

"You're pointing to a tree…"

"Huh?" His glasses fell into place. "Oh, my bad…over there then" he said, feeling really stupid. "Well, let's go." He walked her to his house and let her in. "I'll go get some blankets for you, please, make yourself at home in the meantime." He smiled at her before going off to look for blankets. It didn't take very long before he had a temporary bed for her. "Here. Is this okay for you to sleep on?"

"Yes! Thank you so much! It's been ages since I last slept inside!" She exclaimed happily.

"What!? That's terrible!" He exclaimed. "Karen…are you hungry"

"Hm? I'm fine…" Her stomach started growling.

"…What do you like to eat? I could order ramen…er, no, nevermind that…How about okonomiyaki? I can go get it from Ucchans…It won't take long."

"Oh! Really!? I've always wanted to try it!" Karen said delightedly

"Ucchans Okonomiyaki it is then. You just stay here, I'll be back soon." Mousse told her, then went to get their dinner.

-At Ucchan's-

"Hm? Oh, hello Mousse. Why are you here so late? It's almost time for me to close shop." Ukyo asked calmly.

"I thought I'd get some of your okonomiyaki for dinner tonight. Can you make two orders for me?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't question him. But of course she did.

"Two orders? Why do you need so much?" Ukyo asked him.

"uh…Since when do you question a customer!" He quickly stated, avoiding her question.

"Here you go, two orders of my famous okonomiyaki. Enjoy!" She said in her normal way. 'I have to close anyway, might as well follow and see what he's hiding…' Ukyo thought to herself while shutting down her okonomiyaki restaurant. After she did that, she proceeded to following Mousse home. 'So that's what's going on…'

End of chapter

Author's Notes: Can you believe this idea just 'popped' into my head, in the middle of the night of all times? As if I don't have enough trouble sleeping…I've already written down summaries for the first 9 chapters, yes, 9, and it only took me a few minutes…And I didn't get writers block once! Sorry If you're a fan of Mousse/Shampoo pairing, and don't expect anything too romantic either, this is a romantic comedy. Though I plan on using most, if not all, the important characters from the show so far (I've watched up to episode 84-Mousse returns to his old country home.). I know the title is probably dumb…but I couldn't think of anything better…I might change it later.