Kasumi hummed a soft happy tune as she laid out dinner on the table. The house glowed with the eagerness of the new evening. She blushed a little as she remembered Mousse's lips on her and the time they both spent as she straightened a place setting. She had never felt so alive before, so fresh, and so clean. All her raw desires seemed to come out in one large sunburst and she couldn't believe that he had actually reciprocated those feelings back to her.
With a final look at the table, she sat down and waited for the rest of her family to show up for dinner. The thoughts of the day rang in her mind softly as she watched her father and Ranma's father step in and take their seats. Both men were idly discussing their next plan to bring Ranma and Akane together and with a flourish they began to eat. Kasumi could only smile as she watched the men eat and talk. She liked being a homemaker. She loved the life of a housemother.
Suddenly she heard and saw the door open out of the corner of her eye. In walked Nabiki and Mousse, both looking calm but a little worse for wear as they both took seats at the table. After the perfunctory greetings to all at the table, the group began really eating in earnest. "Does anyone know where Ranma and Akane are?" Kasumi asked lightly.
"I'm not sure, Kasumi. That boy of mine said he was going to go walking alone but I'm not sure where he is now," Genma said as he slurped down his soup.
"Do you think Akane and Ranma are together, Genma?" Soun Tendo asked his old friend as he reached for his cup of tea.
"I'd doubt it, Daddy," Nabiki answered glibly. Her normally pale, controlled face was back as she smiled over to the two older men. They both grunted a reply and went back to their food. "Kasumi, I think Ranma was going over to the park. At least that's where I saw him going when I left school for the day."
"Well, we'll keep their food here until they come in. I'm sure they'll be here sooner or later." Kasumi looked shyly over at Mousse and smiled at the Chinese boy who was idly playing with his food. When he saw Kasumi's smile, he sheepishly grinned and began slurping down some of the soup. He was still very shy about looking at Kasumi, as the remnants of their coupling still remained fresh on his mind. "Mousse, are you going to stay here tonight?"
"Well, um, I hadn't exactly planned on it. I need to do some things at the Nekohanten but I'll not do them until later on this evening," he said, a white lie permeating over the entire statement. He knew she had seen his overnight bag in his hand when he came in and only hoped she wouldn't bring up the subject of his staying the night up with anyone before he had a chance to talk to her. "Nabiki and I have to do some things before I can leave though. Can I talk to you later on when we're done?"
"Absolutely."
"So Mousse, how have things been for the new owner of the Nekohanten," Soun asked, an oily yet fatherly smile on his lips. Mousse inwardly blanched as he quickly thought about the best way to handle this little lump of joy. Danger, Will Robinson...
"They've been interesting. I've learned more about Japanese business law then I ever thought I would need to."
"And I'm the one who taught him," Nabiki said smugly, her hand squeezing Mousse's wrist slightly.
"Good. Well I wish you all the success in the world. You're no longer our rival since Cologne left, so now we can all be friends at this table." Soun extended a hand to Mousse, genially offering a truce to the boy. The Chinese male shook it and a tense moment passed over the entire room. For a long moment, no one spoke as the meals were being finished. Then the wall exploded.
"Ranma! You jerk!!!!" came the cry from outside as a shaken and rather broken wall came down more. The hole seemed to expand as Ranma scrambled from the rubble and ran to the other side of the room. "Uncute tomboy!!" he yelled back as he tossed the first thing he could get his hands on at the rapidly charging girl. In this case it was the remaining pot of soup that was now lukewarm and slightly concentrated. It hit Akane in full stride, splashing all over her and her mallet. With an Amazonian scream and a Ruthian swing, she planted the mallet into the center of the table.
"Help me! NOOO!! Stupid girl!!!" Ranma screamed as he charged down to the dojo, a fire breathing Akane on his heels, screaming expletives entirely too severe for their argument. For a long moment, everyone at the table merely sat in silent shock at the destruction around them. Between the broken table, the large hole in the wall and the destroyed remnants of the two-thirds eaten dinner, Ranma and Akane had effectively ended dinner in less then 45 seconds. A sudden, even louder crash rang out a moment later from the destruction of the dojo. And then, total silence reigned over the house.
"Well. I guess they've both taken care of their dinner," Kasumi said brightly, her normally cheerful face drooping despite all her efforts to stay buoyant in defeat. A slender Chinese hand grasping hers caused her to look over and see the concerned face of Mousse looking back at her. Both Soun and Genma noticed this gesture and looked at it with a bit of wonder.
"Kasumi, I'm going to make this promise to you right now. I will never let this happen again to something you've done. I promise." Mousse held a stoic look on his face as he said the meaningful words.
"And how do you propose you're going to do that, Mousse?" Genma asked lightly, his own eyebrows furrowing slightly on his forehead.
"Listen and you'll understand."
-----
"We're all done, Ukyou," Konatsu said tiredly as he slumped into a seat near the cash register. The entire evening shift had passed over and both young people had worked extremely hard. Konatsu could feel the weary tiredness flow over him like a flood and he knew that this had been a profitable night for Ukyou. And that, to him, was all that mattered. "The entire front of the house is ready for tomorrow."
Ukyou nodded and grunted a reply as she finished her last line of figures in her big book. With a flourish she took the register of money to the back, emerging a few minutes later with a bottle of sake and two glasses. She stepped to the register and withdrew the envelope from underneath it. "Come and sit with me. We need to talk," she said softly as she walked to a booth. He followed her and they sat opposite one another in the large booth. Drinks were poured by Konatsu's shaky hand as Ukyou opened the envelope and began to read. A long moment passed before she even took a drink while Konatsu's glass was nearly empty.
"Konatsu, I was offered a partnership for this place," she said after a long hit of the potent liquor.
"Oh?" Konatsu lazily replied.
"Yes. Nabiki and Mousse offered me this. Apparently Mousse has been left the Nekohanten and he cannot handle the entire restaurant by himself. He wants to sell the place and use the money he receives to open us up full time. He'll work in the mornings, we'll continue to take the evenings." Another drink and a slight grimace as the potent drink hit her stomach. "Nabiki will be doing both our financial reports and our publicity, if I take this offer."
"And you want to take this offer?"
"What choice do I have? Konatsu, you know that I'm only one bad week away from not having a place anymore. I'm not making enough from just dinner. I need to expand. There are people here who want my food all the time and I need to bring it to them to survive."
"And yet if you did, it won't be your place anymore. It won't be 'Ucchan's'," Konatsu parried. His hand shook as he held his glass in his hand.
"What makes you think that it wouldn't?"
"What makes you think that some place like the Nekohanten, where Mousse did more of the cooking then people think, would just fade off into obscurity? He'll carry the history and the style and the recipes of that place forward through here. And I don't want that. Not from what you've built. I play second fiddle to you and you alone, Ukyou-sama..." Ukyou blushed as she heard the boy's surprisingly strident words. She knew he was crazy for her and yet all she felt for him was an occasional passing friendship through her heart. And there was still that little issue between them...
"I told you not to call me that, Konatsu. And as for you playing second fiddle to me, I don't really care about that. Truthfully, I'd like it if you left your love for me behind so that all I'd have is a good worker to help me." Ukyou's face turned while she spoke, showing off the lines of her face the stress helped create. Konatsu maintained a stoic face as best as possible as he poured himself another drink. "I'm still angry at you for what you did to me. What right did you have to interfere with my trying to get Ranma on a date? What right did you have?"
"I didn't have the right, ok?" Konatsu said angrily, "And neither did you. You saw and heard Akane say she was going to cook for him that night! You saw it with your own eyes! As did I! What gave you the right to come behind her and soft soap him? Who said you had to comfort him when he doesn't come to you?"
"That right was given to me when his ass of a father decided to sell us off to get a free ride. I can't go back to my father without a husband and I can't stop loving or wanting him. So don't you tell me what my rights are. I have more of a right to do what I can to get him then you do to get me. And I don't want you. Not like that." Ukyou looked back to the bottle and poured herself another large drink. "The bottom line is, if I take this opportunity I'll be able to have more time to go after Ranma and make him mine. And I'll have more money to stay open and survive here. I'll be able to pay you more for what you do here. It's not a hard decision."
"So you're going to do it." Konatsu's words were hardly a question but a statement of the obvious.
"Yes."
"...Then I want my hourly wage increased by half. And I want all the tips I earn for myself alone." Konatsu said softly.
"That's fine." With that, the boy's eyes popped up. "Considering I'm not paying you a tremendous amount, that's ok."
"Then do what you want. I'm leaving for home but I'll be at the usual place at 2.30 tomorrow. Goodnight." Konatsu got up from the table and walked to the door. His leaving caused Ukyou to sigh and shake off the sad feelings that conversation had caused. But it was true; this was her only option and she wanted Ranma more then anything else in the world. She poured another drink and sipped it, considering just how her life was going to change now that she was teaming up with a man who had previously been aligned with one of her chief rivals.
-----
"There. That's the last part of it," Mousse said as the last temporary board was nailed into the wall. He turned to the doorway to the kitchen and wiped some stray sweat from his brow. "The table is gone, the wall has been patched and the food has been cleaned up. I guess there is nothing else to do."
"Thank you so much, Mousse," Kasumi said softly as she came into the room from the kitchen, her apron now off and her beautiful body taking up space in the room. Mousse couldn't help but look at her a second or too longer then necessary. She was so beautiful! "I never knew you knew so much about carpentry and construction."
"I don't. I really just learned the basics because of Shampoo. She used to break walls at the Nekohanten all the time." At the mention of her name Mousse sobered as his mind flashed back to a time when things were less up in the air. "Um, Kasumi?"
"Yes, Mousse?"
"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I really can't go back to the Nekohanten tonight. There...there are too many bad memories there right now..."
"Of course. I can understand why you wouldn't want to go back there." Kasumi smiled brightly and stepped over to Mousse's side. "Though, there is the little issue of the vomit on the side of your bed."
"What vomit?" Mousse asked obliquely then stiffened as he remembered his vomiting spell from that morning. "Oh Kasumi, I'm so sorry about that. I completely forgot about me throwing up..."
"It's alright Mousse. I cleaned it up. Remember, I was rather unmindful of it as well." At that, both young people exchanged shy smiled and a blush between them. "Though...there is one thing you could do for me..."
"And that is?"
"You could sit with me on the porch and talk with me. That would make up for me having to clean up your vomit." A smile permeated her face as she said the words and she was rewarded by a nod and a smile. They proceeded to the porch and sat on the steps to the house. For a while they merely looked up into the night sky and watched the panorama of the evening go by them. Kasumi slid her hand over and touched Mousse's hand. He noticed this and looked over to her with a bit of concern in his large eyes.
"Kasumi, we need to talk." He scooted closer to her and took her hands in his. She merely nodded and waited for his next words. "Kasumi, you know I can't be with you right now. I...I still want Shampoo with all my heart. What we did today was...was..."
"Wrong? A Mistake?" Kasumi offered quietly, her eyes already beginning to mist over a little as her worst fears were being realized.
"No. It was too soon. Far too soon." Mousse sighed and looked off onto the ground by the koi pond. "Kasumi it's only been three days since Shampoo left. I'm not able to throw away nearly a decade of loving someone in 3 days. There's no conceivable way."
"So you do still love her..."
"I desired her. I wanted her. For me to say I loved her would be stupid because I didn't do what someone who loved someone else would do. I obsessed over her. I nearly ruined her life a bunch of times. I desired her but she didn't desire me the same way. How can I say I loved her?"
"You loved her because you wanted the best for her. Be honest, if Ranma ever did marry Shampoo, would you have given them you're blessing and backed off?" Kasumi asked lightly.
"Yes."
"Then you did love her. Most of the other people here wouldn't do that. You know that."
"Ok, so maybe I did love her. But I can't love anyone else right now..."
"Even me?" Her eyes met his and he sighed heavily. Mousse hated, more then anything, to be put on the spot.
"Kasumi, I'd have to be a blind man not to see how beautiful and wonderful you are. I'd have to be an idiot not to see that. But I'm not ready to do anything with anyone else right now. I...I know that I'm not over Shampoo. I know this. I know that one morning I'm going to wake up and cry my eyes out for four hours over this woman. I know for a long time I'm going to either be depressed and neurotic or angry and fragile because of her. Do you want that in a man?"
"I want you, Mousse. Whatever happens we can work it out. I...I just don't want to lose you, Mousse." Kasumi sighed as all her raw emotions came out once again.
"You won't lose me. Not if this all works out. Especially me training Akane."
"Do you honestly think your plan will work, Mousse? I've tried to teach Akane to cook before and yet she just can't do it. She's so impatient in trying to make Ranma happy..." Kasumi sighed as she remembered all the disasters that seemed to happen whenever Akane seemed to even come close to a kitchen.
"I can do it because I had to learn. The amazons taught me so much more then people realize. I'm not going to back down from her in teaching her because they didn't back down to me."
"But do you think that she'll even accept your offer?"
"When I dangle the Ranma carrot in front of her eyes she will. Trust me on this." Mousse smiled grimly and sighed a little. "Kasumi I like you. I think you're going to make some guy a really grateful man. And I'd like to be that guy. I've thought about this a lot over the time we were apart. And I do want to make you happy. But I can't give you what you want right now. Not with me on the rebound."
"Then be my friend. Be my friend and we'll see what happens on the other side." Kasumi snuggled closer to the boy and rested her head on his shoulder. Mousse slid an arm around her waist and sighed contentedly. Things could have been worse for the Chinese boy but for now he was content.
-----
"So you've come to a decision," Mousse asked Ukyou the next day. He and Nabiki sat on the same side of the booth Ukyou already sat in, directly opposite them. The spatula chef seemed almost content as she spoke.
"Yes. I will accept your offer to merge our restaurants into one joint place. On two conditions."
"And they are?" Nabiki asked.
"We pay Konatsu directly out of the split of the money. And other help will be paid through our working expenses."
"That's acceptable."
"And two, that when I need some time off to go and try to win Ranma, the slack shall be picked up by you, Mousse." Ukyou looked directly at the Chinese boy and smiled a little. "You were absolutely right when you said that this would help me win Ranma, but I want to win him when I can. I will work the evening shift with Konatsu and you'll work in the mornings like we agreed."
"That will work only if when I need a bit of time off, you'll pull up the slack just as much," Mousse replied genially.
Ukyou's nod signaled that the deal was now set. Nabiki extended a hand to the girl and they both shook. Mousse did the same and with that gesture the partnership was made. "We'll bring over the paperwork for you to sign in a few days, Ukyou. We need to leave now to get the Nekohanten sold. When we're ready we'll hammer out how we want to put this all together."
"That's fine. Would you like to come over this evening after work for a celebration dinner? I've got some new ideas I'd like to show both of you..." Ukyou said with a broad smile on her face.
"That would be very nice, Ukyou. We'll be here just before you close tonight. Take care for now." Both Mousse and Nabiki rose and walked to the door as Mousse said their goodbyes. Once outside, Mousse sighed a little and looked at Nabiki as they waited for a cab. "You know that this now changes everything."
"Of course it does. But now we're finally becoming the masters of this disaster. Would you have it any other way?"
"Nope."
"Then smile. We're on the tip of a gold mine here." She smiled at the boy and hugged him tight as their cab showed up. He hugged back and opened the door for her. They both stepped in and the car sped off to a certain realtor in the area. A fresh breeze blew across the Nerima skyline as they rocketed downtown. It smelled of change.
With a final look at the table, she sat down and waited for the rest of her family to show up for dinner. The thoughts of the day rang in her mind softly as she watched her father and Ranma's father step in and take their seats. Both men were idly discussing their next plan to bring Ranma and Akane together and with a flourish they began to eat. Kasumi could only smile as she watched the men eat and talk. She liked being a homemaker. She loved the life of a housemother.
Suddenly she heard and saw the door open out of the corner of her eye. In walked Nabiki and Mousse, both looking calm but a little worse for wear as they both took seats at the table. After the perfunctory greetings to all at the table, the group began really eating in earnest. "Does anyone know where Ranma and Akane are?" Kasumi asked lightly.
"I'm not sure, Kasumi. That boy of mine said he was going to go walking alone but I'm not sure where he is now," Genma said as he slurped down his soup.
"Do you think Akane and Ranma are together, Genma?" Soun Tendo asked his old friend as he reached for his cup of tea.
"I'd doubt it, Daddy," Nabiki answered glibly. Her normally pale, controlled face was back as she smiled over to the two older men. They both grunted a reply and went back to their food. "Kasumi, I think Ranma was going over to the park. At least that's where I saw him going when I left school for the day."
"Well, we'll keep their food here until they come in. I'm sure they'll be here sooner or later." Kasumi looked shyly over at Mousse and smiled at the Chinese boy who was idly playing with his food. When he saw Kasumi's smile, he sheepishly grinned and began slurping down some of the soup. He was still very shy about looking at Kasumi, as the remnants of their coupling still remained fresh on his mind. "Mousse, are you going to stay here tonight?"
"Well, um, I hadn't exactly planned on it. I need to do some things at the Nekohanten but I'll not do them until later on this evening," he said, a white lie permeating over the entire statement. He knew she had seen his overnight bag in his hand when he came in and only hoped she wouldn't bring up the subject of his staying the night up with anyone before he had a chance to talk to her. "Nabiki and I have to do some things before I can leave though. Can I talk to you later on when we're done?"
"Absolutely."
"So Mousse, how have things been for the new owner of the Nekohanten," Soun asked, an oily yet fatherly smile on his lips. Mousse inwardly blanched as he quickly thought about the best way to handle this little lump of joy. Danger, Will Robinson...
"They've been interesting. I've learned more about Japanese business law then I ever thought I would need to."
"And I'm the one who taught him," Nabiki said smugly, her hand squeezing Mousse's wrist slightly.
"Good. Well I wish you all the success in the world. You're no longer our rival since Cologne left, so now we can all be friends at this table." Soun extended a hand to Mousse, genially offering a truce to the boy. The Chinese male shook it and a tense moment passed over the entire room. For a long moment, no one spoke as the meals were being finished. Then the wall exploded.
"Ranma! You jerk!!!!" came the cry from outside as a shaken and rather broken wall came down more. The hole seemed to expand as Ranma scrambled from the rubble and ran to the other side of the room. "Uncute tomboy!!" he yelled back as he tossed the first thing he could get his hands on at the rapidly charging girl. In this case it was the remaining pot of soup that was now lukewarm and slightly concentrated. It hit Akane in full stride, splashing all over her and her mallet. With an Amazonian scream and a Ruthian swing, she planted the mallet into the center of the table.
"Help me! NOOO!! Stupid girl!!!" Ranma screamed as he charged down to the dojo, a fire breathing Akane on his heels, screaming expletives entirely too severe for their argument. For a long moment, everyone at the table merely sat in silent shock at the destruction around them. Between the broken table, the large hole in the wall and the destroyed remnants of the two-thirds eaten dinner, Ranma and Akane had effectively ended dinner in less then 45 seconds. A sudden, even louder crash rang out a moment later from the destruction of the dojo. And then, total silence reigned over the house.
"Well. I guess they've both taken care of their dinner," Kasumi said brightly, her normally cheerful face drooping despite all her efforts to stay buoyant in defeat. A slender Chinese hand grasping hers caused her to look over and see the concerned face of Mousse looking back at her. Both Soun and Genma noticed this gesture and looked at it with a bit of wonder.
"Kasumi, I'm going to make this promise to you right now. I will never let this happen again to something you've done. I promise." Mousse held a stoic look on his face as he said the meaningful words.
"And how do you propose you're going to do that, Mousse?" Genma asked lightly, his own eyebrows furrowing slightly on his forehead.
"Listen and you'll understand."
-----
"We're all done, Ukyou," Konatsu said tiredly as he slumped into a seat near the cash register. The entire evening shift had passed over and both young people had worked extremely hard. Konatsu could feel the weary tiredness flow over him like a flood and he knew that this had been a profitable night for Ukyou. And that, to him, was all that mattered. "The entire front of the house is ready for tomorrow."
Ukyou nodded and grunted a reply as she finished her last line of figures in her big book. With a flourish she took the register of money to the back, emerging a few minutes later with a bottle of sake and two glasses. She stepped to the register and withdrew the envelope from underneath it. "Come and sit with me. We need to talk," she said softly as she walked to a booth. He followed her and they sat opposite one another in the large booth. Drinks were poured by Konatsu's shaky hand as Ukyou opened the envelope and began to read. A long moment passed before she even took a drink while Konatsu's glass was nearly empty.
"Konatsu, I was offered a partnership for this place," she said after a long hit of the potent liquor.
"Oh?" Konatsu lazily replied.
"Yes. Nabiki and Mousse offered me this. Apparently Mousse has been left the Nekohanten and he cannot handle the entire restaurant by himself. He wants to sell the place and use the money he receives to open us up full time. He'll work in the mornings, we'll continue to take the evenings." Another drink and a slight grimace as the potent drink hit her stomach. "Nabiki will be doing both our financial reports and our publicity, if I take this offer."
"And you want to take this offer?"
"What choice do I have? Konatsu, you know that I'm only one bad week away from not having a place anymore. I'm not making enough from just dinner. I need to expand. There are people here who want my food all the time and I need to bring it to them to survive."
"And yet if you did, it won't be your place anymore. It won't be 'Ucchan's'," Konatsu parried. His hand shook as he held his glass in his hand.
"What makes you think that it wouldn't?"
"What makes you think that some place like the Nekohanten, where Mousse did more of the cooking then people think, would just fade off into obscurity? He'll carry the history and the style and the recipes of that place forward through here. And I don't want that. Not from what you've built. I play second fiddle to you and you alone, Ukyou-sama..." Ukyou blushed as she heard the boy's surprisingly strident words. She knew he was crazy for her and yet all she felt for him was an occasional passing friendship through her heart. And there was still that little issue between them...
"I told you not to call me that, Konatsu. And as for you playing second fiddle to me, I don't really care about that. Truthfully, I'd like it if you left your love for me behind so that all I'd have is a good worker to help me." Ukyou's face turned while she spoke, showing off the lines of her face the stress helped create. Konatsu maintained a stoic face as best as possible as he poured himself another drink. "I'm still angry at you for what you did to me. What right did you have to interfere with my trying to get Ranma on a date? What right did you have?"
"I didn't have the right, ok?" Konatsu said angrily, "And neither did you. You saw and heard Akane say she was going to cook for him that night! You saw it with your own eyes! As did I! What gave you the right to come behind her and soft soap him? Who said you had to comfort him when he doesn't come to you?"
"That right was given to me when his ass of a father decided to sell us off to get a free ride. I can't go back to my father without a husband and I can't stop loving or wanting him. So don't you tell me what my rights are. I have more of a right to do what I can to get him then you do to get me. And I don't want you. Not like that." Ukyou looked back to the bottle and poured herself another large drink. "The bottom line is, if I take this opportunity I'll be able to have more time to go after Ranma and make him mine. And I'll have more money to stay open and survive here. I'll be able to pay you more for what you do here. It's not a hard decision."
"So you're going to do it." Konatsu's words were hardly a question but a statement of the obvious.
"Yes."
"...Then I want my hourly wage increased by half. And I want all the tips I earn for myself alone." Konatsu said softly.
"That's fine." With that, the boy's eyes popped up. "Considering I'm not paying you a tremendous amount, that's ok."
"Then do what you want. I'm leaving for home but I'll be at the usual place at 2.30 tomorrow. Goodnight." Konatsu got up from the table and walked to the door. His leaving caused Ukyou to sigh and shake off the sad feelings that conversation had caused. But it was true; this was her only option and she wanted Ranma more then anything else in the world. She poured another drink and sipped it, considering just how her life was going to change now that she was teaming up with a man who had previously been aligned with one of her chief rivals.
-----
"There. That's the last part of it," Mousse said as the last temporary board was nailed into the wall. He turned to the doorway to the kitchen and wiped some stray sweat from his brow. "The table is gone, the wall has been patched and the food has been cleaned up. I guess there is nothing else to do."
"Thank you so much, Mousse," Kasumi said softly as she came into the room from the kitchen, her apron now off and her beautiful body taking up space in the room. Mousse couldn't help but look at her a second or too longer then necessary. She was so beautiful! "I never knew you knew so much about carpentry and construction."
"I don't. I really just learned the basics because of Shampoo. She used to break walls at the Nekohanten all the time." At the mention of her name Mousse sobered as his mind flashed back to a time when things were less up in the air. "Um, Kasumi?"
"Yes, Mousse?"
"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I really can't go back to the Nekohanten tonight. There...there are too many bad memories there right now..."
"Of course. I can understand why you wouldn't want to go back there." Kasumi smiled brightly and stepped over to Mousse's side. "Though, there is the little issue of the vomit on the side of your bed."
"What vomit?" Mousse asked obliquely then stiffened as he remembered his vomiting spell from that morning. "Oh Kasumi, I'm so sorry about that. I completely forgot about me throwing up..."
"It's alright Mousse. I cleaned it up. Remember, I was rather unmindful of it as well." At that, both young people exchanged shy smiled and a blush between them. "Though...there is one thing you could do for me..."
"And that is?"
"You could sit with me on the porch and talk with me. That would make up for me having to clean up your vomit." A smile permeated her face as she said the words and she was rewarded by a nod and a smile. They proceeded to the porch and sat on the steps to the house. For a while they merely looked up into the night sky and watched the panorama of the evening go by them. Kasumi slid her hand over and touched Mousse's hand. He noticed this and looked over to her with a bit of concern in his large eyes.
"Kasumi, we need to talk." He scooted closer to her and took her hands in his. She merely nodded and waited for his next words. "Kasumi, you know I can't be with you right now. I...I still want Shampoo with all my heart. What we did today was...was..."
"Wrong? A Mistake?" Kasumi offered quietly, her eyes already beginning to mist over a little as her worst fears were being realized.
"No. It was too soon. Far too soon." Mousse sighed and looked off onto the ground by the koi pond. "Kasumi it's only been three days since Shampoo left. I'm not able to throw away nearly a decade of loving someone in 3 days. There's no conceivable way."
"So you do still love her..."
"I desired her. I wanted her. For me to say I loved her would be stupid because I didn't do what someone who loved someone else would do. I obsessed over her. I nearly ruined her life a bunch of times. I desired her but she didn't desire me the same way. How can I say I loved her?"
"You loved her because you wanted the best for her. Be honest, if Ranma ever did marry Shampoo, would you have given them you're blessing and backed off?" Kasumi asked lightly.
"Yes."
"Then you did love her. Most of the other people here wouldn't do that. You know that."
"Ok, so maybe I did love her. But I can't love anyone else right now..."
"Even me?" Her eyes met his and he sighed heavily. Mousse hated, more then anything, to be put on the spot.
"Kasumi, I'd have to be a blind man not to see how beautiful and wonderful you are. I'd have to be an idiot not to see that. But I'm not ready to do anything with anyone else right now. I...I know that I'm not over Shampoo. I know this. I know that one morning I'm going to wake up and cry my eyes out for four hours over this woman. I know for a long time I'm going to either be depressed and neurotic or angry and fragile because of her. Do you want that in a man?"
"I want you, Mousse. Whatever happens we can work it out. I...I just don't want to lose you, Mousse." Kasumi sighed as all her raw emotions came out once again.
"You won't lose me. Not if this all works out. Especially me training Akane."
"Do you honestly think your plan will work, Mousse? I've tried to teach Akane to cook before and yet she just can't do it. She's so impatient in trying to make Ranma happy..." Kasumi sighed as she remembered all the disasters that seemed to happen whenever Akane seemed to even come close to a kitchen.
"I can do it because I had to learn. The amazons taught me so much more then people realize. I'm not going to back down from her in teaching her because they didn't back down to me."
"But do you think that she'll even accept your offer?"
"When I dangle the Ranma carrot in front of her eyes she will. Trust me on this." Mousse smiled grimly and sighed a little. "Kasumi I like you. I think you're going to make some guy a really grateful man. And I'd like to be that guy. I've thought about this a lot over the time we were apart. And I do want to make you happy. But I can't give you what you want right now. Not with me on the rebound."
"Then be my friend. Be my friend and we'll see what happens on the other side." Kasumi snuggled closer to the boy and rested her head on his shoulder. Mousse slid an arm around her waist and sighed contentedly. Things could have been worse for the Chinese boy but for now he was content.
-----
"So you've come to a decision," Mousse asked Ukyou the next day. He and Nabiki sat on the same side of the booth Ukyou already sat in, directly opposite them. The spatula chef seemed almost content as she spoke.
"Yes. I will accept your offer to merge our restaurants into one joint place. On two conditions."
"And they are?" Nabiki asked.
"We pay Konatsu directly out of the split of the money. And other help will be paid through our working expenses."
"That's acceptable."
"And two, that when I need some time off to go and try to win Ranma, the slack shall be picked up by you, Mousse." Ukyou looked directly at the Chinese boy and smiled a little. "You were absolutely right when you said that this would help me win Ranma, but I want to win him when I can. I will work the evening shift with Konatsu and you'll work in the mornings like we agreed."
"That will work only if when I need a bit of time off, you'll pull up the slack just as much," Mousse replied genially.
Ukyou's nod signaled that the deal was now set. Nabiki extended a hand to the girl and they both shook. Mousse did the same and with that gesture the partnership was made. "We'll bring over the paperwork for you to sign in a few days, Ukyou. We need to leave now to get the Nekohanten sold. When we're ready we'll hammer out how we want to put this all together."
"That's fine. Would you like to come over this evening after work for a celebration dinner? I've got some new ideas I'd like to show both of you..." Ukyou said with a broad smile on her face.
"That would be very nice, Ukyou. We'll be here just before you close tonight. Take care for now." Both Mousse and Nabiki rose and walked to the door as Mousse said their goodbyes. Once outside, Mousse sighed a little and looked at Nabiki as they waited for a cab. "You know that this now changes everything."
"Of course it does. But now we're finally becoming the masters of this disaster. Would you have it any other way?"
"Nope."
"Then smile. We're on the tip of a gold mine here." She smiled at the boy and hugged him tight as their cab showed up. He hugged back and opened the door for her. They both stepped in and the car sped off to a certain realtor in the area. A fresh breeze blew across the Nerima skyline as they rocketed downtown. It smelled of change.
