My first Ranma fic, so don't ditch it too hard…

Disclaimer: All of this stuff belongs to the genius Rumiko Takahashi, not me. I just use her characters for torture purposes. So… don't sue.

Just because Shampoo talks with a complete lack of pronouns and articles and proper verb tenses doesn't mean she thinks that way. Anyway, it's too much trouble to write the way she talks.

Sorry if the events don't quite match up, I've seen like what, a dozen episodes? Anyway, so, if it's really messed up plotwise or chronologically, then either I didn't feel like writing it that way or I just plain don't know what's going on.

Blind Hope

I'm so stupid. I can't believe I could be so damn blind. I am a complete and utter fool.

I, Shampoo, am a complete and utter idiot.

I can't believe I would be so god-damned blind. Or, maybe I can. Maybe I just saw it and didn't want to, so ignored it. Saw it, but didn't see it, if you know what I mean.

I mean, sure, Ranma's an ass-kicking martial artist. So, he's really, really cute.

But cuteness isn't everything, you know. If cuteness were everything, then I, or even Ukyo, would be married to Ranma right now. But no, he had to marry the most uncute girl in all of Japan – no, the world!

That – that – ooh! I'm sooo mad at him! Great-Grandmother is just taking it all in stride, like she always does. Ooh! If I were a less nice person I would just punch both of them out!!

…Only they'd both kick my butt.

Alright, I admit it. I'm lonely without Ranma-chan around. He never has any time for me now that he and Akane are married. Not that he'd even look at me anymore. I tried everything, I swear! I tried every scheme in the book to get them apart – but no, Ranma just has to go ahead and marry the little bitch.

You know, I used to think that if this ever happened, I'd be devastated. Heartbroken. Kinda like Ryoga must be right now. But you know what? I'm not. I just feel empty, really empty. Like now that Ranma's out of the picture, I don't have a purpose anymore. I stopped being mad and now there's just… nothing.

I don't really know what to do now. I just take care of the business at Cat Café.

I miss Mousse.

My life used to be divided into three perfectly equal parts: Chase Ranma, take care of the Café, and try and get rid of Mousse. First Mousse left and went back to China, leaving me with two things. I could handle that for a while. Then Ranma marries Akane, leaving me with one. It gets kind of boring here, now. Can't chase Ranma, don't really like him much anymore anyway, and Mousse isn't here to piss me off. Okay, maybe it's more than that. But no matter how annoying and stubborn he is, he was always there, you know? You could rely on Mousse.

Okay, he's just slightly obsessed with me, which can get annoying, I mean, doesn't he know when to give up, or what? There's probably plenty of girls back in China that would like him. He isn't ugly or weak or anything. He looks pretty good without his glasses on. He's just so… Mousse.

Well, what's wrong with him anyway? He's stubborn, he's obsessive, and he's so proud that he doesn't wear his glasses half the time, and then mistakes everything for me. Okay, so that's kinda sorta funny. Really. But he's honest, and loyal, and… Ooh, what am I thinking! This is Mousse we're talking about here. Mousse. That annoying little twerp, remember? (The logical side of my mind takes this moment to remind me that he isn't little at all, and is more than a head taller than me. Logical side, take a hike).

So maybe I miss Mousse, just a teeny little bit. Just a bit, hey? A little, teeny little miniscule bit!. Ooh, don't say that. I got that word from Mousse. He's pretty smart for a guy who goes around hugging trees and roast pigs.

Okay, so, he's smart, he's good-looking, he's loyal, and he's honest… like that means anything at all! Plenty of people must be like that. Plenty of people who are not Mousse.

Thinking… I'll get one. Really.

Damn. Okay, second tactic. I am not in love with Mousse. I am not in love with Mousse. I am not in love with Mousse.

Okay, this is not working.

I'm so stupid. Stupid and blind.

~*~

Mousse looked up at the sign at the crossroads, squinting through his glasses. He shifted the backpack on his back, thinking, I hate travelling. This is much more Ryoga's style than mine.

Why had he come here, anyway? What was the point? After two years couldn't he just give it up and stay at home?

Nope. Give you three guesses why.

Because of Shampoo, of course. It was stupid, like picking at a scab. It hurt like hell but you just had to do it.

She doesn't care about me at all, he thought, sullen. She's probably married to Ranma by now. I'll just be hurting myself more.

I left to get away from her and Ranma and that wrinkled old prune, and here I am coming back. I thought I'd given up hope on her. It would be a lot more rational if I did.

Since when has anything I have done been rational? Everything I did in my life, I did for Shampoo. I just kept hoping that one day I'd be good enough to beat Ranma, that Shampoo would confess her undying love…

I should just give up. This is really, really stupid.

~*~

It was past noon when Mousse sat down on a corner to eat his lunch. He reminded himself why he was here again.

Well, this time I'm not going to make a fool of myself. If Shampoo comes around, I'm not going to say anything to her. I'm not going to do something stupid.

"Mousse?"

Mousse turned to face to voice. "Huh?"

Ryoga blinked a few times, "Mousse, it is you! I thought you were in China!"

Mousse shuffled his sleeves uncomfortably. "I came back for a visit."

"To see a certain blue-haired babe?" Ryoga winked and sat down on the curb beside him.

"No." Mousse replied flatly. "What's the point? It's better if I don't see her at all. She's probably married to Ranma by now."

At that comment, Ryoga went suddenly silent.

"Ryoga?"

"Shampoo isn't married to Ranma, because Akane is." Mousse now noticed that Ryoga's eyes were red and that Ryoga was trying as best he could to cover it up.

"I'm sorry," he said, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't be." Ryoga sounded angry now. "I'm the one who should be sorry. If I had ever had the guts to tell Akane the truth, that I -" he cut off.

"What, that you love her, or that you're P-chan?"

"Both." Ryoga said miserably. "But I'm such a stupid coward and an idiot and a fool that I -"

"Ryoga."

"I'm sorry." Ryoga hung his head.

Mousse laid his chin on his knees. "We're both on the same boat, you know? I know what you feel." He sighed. "Shampoo won't look twice at me either."

"I wouldn't care if Shampoo looked twice at me." Ryoga tried a feeble attempt at humor.

Mousse almost laughed, but it came out sounding like a cross between a cough and a snort. Then he just sighed.

"Sucks, doesn't it?"

A few people wandered by before Mousse said anything. "Well, I'm not gonna take it anymore." He sat up straight.

"What?" Ryoga asked.

"I'm not gonna take it anymore. I'm going to look Shampoo straight in the eye and say, 'Shampoo, I do not love you anymore!' " He stood up and yelled onto the street. "You hear that, Shampoo?? I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE!!"

"I wish I had the guts to say that," Ryoga sighed.

"Well, hey, Ryoga, you never loved Shampoo in the first place!" Mousse ran off.

~*~

Mousse stormed up to the Cat Café. "Shampoo!" He burst through the doors to see Cologne at the counter.

The old woman raised her eyebrows. "My, I expected you to come bother Shampoo. I heard you were back in town."

"I'm not here to bother Shampoo! Now where is she?"

"Shampoo here, Mousse." Shampoo came out of the kitchen, with her oven mitts still on.

Eek, a tiny little part of Mousse's brain (and a large part of his body) said. Shampoo! Mousse squelched it. "Shampoo!" He cried. "I don't love you anymore, Shampoo! You hear me, I don't love you anymore!"

Shampoo just stared at him. Was this some kind of imposter? She looked him over. White robes, pink glasses, black hair, goofy grin. It was him, all right. No one but Mousse looked so funny when he smiled.

"You hear me?" Mousse said proudly. "I'm not going to bother you anymore, Shampoo! I don't love you anymore!"

Shampoo just stared at him. The words echoed down her eardrums and into her brain, but it still didn't click. "Mousse?" She took her oven mitts off and went around the counter to face him.

It's Shampoo it's Shampoo it's Shampoo – Mousse stomped on his brain. Now was not the time to get cold feet!

"But Mousse –" Shampoo just stared at him. She heard a crashing noise, and figured it was just her world crashing down around her. This was what she'd wanted, wasn't it? Wasn't it? To have Mousse stop bugging her. But back then she'd been obsessed with Ranma, chasing him around and scorning what was right underneath her nose. And now that she decided she liked Mousse, he didn't like her anymore! Why? Was it because of Ranma? Was is a crime to want someone to love you?

Sudden impulse grabbed her, and Shampoo didn't fight it. She pulled off his glasses and threw them on the counter, grabbed two locks of hair on either side of his face and yanked her mouth to his.

After two seconds of shock and bliss, Mousse fell on his butt on the linoleum. "I'm not falling for it," he gasped, reminding his lungs how to breathe, and that he needed air to live. "You're just toying with me."

"Shampoo no toy with Mousse." She said fervently, kneeled down in front of him, leaned over to place one arm on either side of him, and kissed him again.

Mousse felt like he'd been hit by a brick. A blue-haired, gorgeous, wonderful, amazing, unbelievable brick. "Shampoo." He managed to choke out.

"Shampoo so sorry!" she hugged him tight, squeezing what little air he had managed to get into his lungs out again. "Ranma get married, no love me, Shampoo miss Mousse!"

"You did?"

"Shampoo love Mousse!"

It finally clicked. Mousse grabbed her around the waist, hugged her, and got up, spinning her around in the air. "So you DO love me after all!"

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