Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, and I'm not making any money for this, so please don't sue…. Please?
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// \\ = Amazonian Mandarin
"" = Japanese
'' = thoughts
Set Post-Saffron, three months after the Bombed Wedding.
A few small liberties were taken in reference to the structure of the Nekohanten. Namely, one wall of the kitchen, the one adjoining the dining room, is now a three-foot counter with a gap to come and go, but otherwise open. This will allow the aromas of excellent food cooking to flow into the dining room, making everyone who comes in want a bowl of Ramen. Gotta give it to Khu Lon, the old bat is smart. Secondly, Mousse has his own room, the same size as Harry Potter's, in fact. Oh, and they have a large walk-in freezer in the basement, where they store all the food they use in the restaurant.
Forging a Relationship: a Ranma ½ oneshot. (maybe)
"Remember, child, that even the best steel must first be shaped by hammer and fire. Then it must be ground and sharpened on the whetstone, so that all rough edges are smoothed, and the edge ground keen and bright. Then it must be hardened in fire and water. If it survives, then, and only then, may it be called a warrior. What, you thought I was talking about swords? Foolish child…."
Amazon Elder Rha Zur, Master Bladesmith
"Mousse, you lazy male, get down here! Lunch rush starts in an hour, and you still have to sweep the floor and set the tables up! I swear, that male's more trouble than he's worth…" Her voice trailed off as she pogo-ed into the kitchen on her gnarled staff.
Mousse sighed, and stopped his weapon inventory. Even only partially finished, it showed some disturbing lacks, and a few downright absences, a thing which he couldn't remember happening since the time he was ten. He was even down to his last seventeen knives! Resolving to finally succeed in his request for some time off, he vowed to double his efforts today, in the hopes of impressing the old ghoul.
Grabbing two trays of individually wrapped sets of chopsticks, he stuffed them in one of his stuffspace pockets and reached for his apron. 'I guess I'd better get this over with…' With that cheery thought in mind, he opened the door and went downstairs.
Watching Mousse with half an eye, Khu Lon stirred the beef broth, and decided to add a touch of salt to the chicken broth. Most Japanese ramen shops used tempura flakes, but if you didn't strain the broth at just the right moment, it came out too salty. She preferred using chicken, as it had a better flavor. She just had to avoid boiling the broth, lest it become cloudy, for the Japanese were finicky eaters, and would turn up their noses at cloudy broth. Still, it made for better ramen, as many a happy customer could attest.
Deciding to wait another minute before stirring the chicken broth, she turned her attention to Mousse, and could find no fault in his actions as of yet. "I see the fool finally decided to wear those contact lenses he bought. Took him long enough." Watching as he swept the floor, setting each table as he went, she was struck by how quickly he was working. "Yep, he's going to ask for time off soon. Just as well, really. We could use another set of knives for the restaurant, and Xian Pu can finally replace her spear…"
Her mind resolved, she stirred the chicken broth, carefully, and waited for the lunch rush.
Mousse sighed as he took down the open sign and closed the door. The lunch rush had been unusually busy, with many deliveries, so he had had to wait tables for three hours before preparing for the evening rush. Deciding that now was the best time he was likely to get, Mousse walked into the kitchen and knelt down in front of Elder Khu Lon, his eyes on the floor. //Honored elder, this unworthy male would ask a favor of your most kind and understanding self.\\
'Laying it on a bit thick this time…' Feeling a flash of annoyance, the Elder decided to save herself from any more overdone sycophancy, and said, "Yes, you can have your two weeks, Mousse. Just make sure we have another set of knives for the kitchen, and Kasumi was admiring that last set of knives you did, the ones with the dragon on the blade, not the crane. I think you should make her a set of her own. I'm sure she would be very appreciative."
A few days later, as Nabiki was walking home from school, she turned the corner and spied Shampoo laying on top of the crumbled remains of the wall around the empty lot, watching some sort of loud activity within. Curious, as this was something that was not seen often around Nerima, she walked closer, and noticed that whatever it was that was going on in the empty lot, Shampoo was watching it very closely, indeed.
Deciding that she didn't want to walk all the way around the lot to get to the entrance, she asked, "What are you watching, Shampoo?"
"Am watching Mousse. Silly male is master of his craft, Shampoo give him that." Seeing the uncomprehending look on the middle Tendo's face, she grinned and extended her hand. "Should see master at work at least once in life." Seeing, for once, not a trace of scorn or anger on the face of the Amazon at the mention of Mousse, Nabiki knew she had to see something that could make this girl respect him even a little. Taking the hand offered, she scrambled up to sit on the wall, and felt her jaw drop.
There before her was Mousse, all right, but a Mousse she had never seen before. Instead of his usual long, flowing robes, he was dressed in loose-fitting trousers and a t-shirt, with a long leather apron over it all. His normally loose hair was bound tightly back into a long queue, and he had a black smudge on his cheek. However, it was his actions which surprised her the most.
He was hitting a large, glowing piece of metal with a hammer. At first, she was amused by the anachronism of an Amazon warrior forging steel in modern-day Tokyo. After a few moments, however, she was struck by the grace of his motion, and the economy of energy of his strikes. She didn't know what he was making, but it was quite obvious that he did, and before she had turned her head to ask Shampoo what it was, she could see, quite clearly, that it would be one of the scimitars he was so fond of wielding. Turning to Shampoo, she said, "I always did wonder where he got all of those weapons."
Shampoo smirked, and said, "Him youngest master smith in Joketsuzoku, ever. Since Mousse four years old, him learn his craft from the finest master bladesmith in Clan. He was journeyman smith at ten, and declared master bladesmith at twelve. In all clans of Joketsuzoku, only one smith better. Honored Elder Razor, Mousse's great-great-grandmother." Taking her sword from her scabbard, she reversed it and handed it to the middle Tendo daughter, who caught her breath when she looked closely. Running the full length of the blade, right down the center, were a series of Chinese ideograms almost too small to see, and in the exact center of the guard were engraved flower blossoms that were so life-like she wanted to bend down and sniff them.
Although Nabiki Tendo knew next to nothing about weapons, she recognized quality work when she saw it, and her yen-sense was screaming at her that it was VERY valuable. Reluctantly returning the beautifully crafted sword, she watched a little longer, then regretfully started toward home, resolving to return the next day and watch.
Kasumi Tendo cheerfully hummed a little tune as she chopped vegetable with one of the new knives Elder Cologne had so kindly given her. She especially like the very realistic dragon that ran the length of the blade, and whose feet seemed to hold tightly to the handle.
Upstairs, in the middle Tendo's room, Nabiki was once again rudely awakened by the Saotome morning ritual. Rubbing blearily at her eyes, Nabiki got up and moved to her dresser. What she saw there caused her breath to catch in her throat. Sitting on the top of the dresser was a large brass bowl filled with brightly colored pebbles, and in the middle of the bowl was an exquisitely crafted steel dragon. It was a western-style dragon, sitting up on it's haunches. It's head was turned over it's shoulder, as though it were looking about, and clutched in it's forepaws was a small red gem. Though she knew that it was merely glass by the play of light through it, it was still the most beautiful statuette she had ever seen.
Noticing a note, she opened it, and what she read there made her smile and blush. It read, simply, " I saw you watching me. And I liked it."
A/N: Just a little something I did while I'm waiting for votes in my Firefly poll. Hope you all enjoy.
The BackwoodsWordsmith