Changes 2:
Discussions and Decisions
by Jess Dougherty
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Disclaimer: Same as the one in the first chapter, I don't own any
of these characters or claim to do so. They all belong to Rumiko
Takashi and their respective company. So, stop reading this and on
with the story!
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Shampoo had been leading Mousse by his sleeve, which was starting
to bother her, since he had started acting unusual. His new choice of
style was not what had done this, but his attitude. It had already
been ten minutes since they had left the Nekohanten and has been
eerily quiet the whole time. He had not once said anything to her like
his old self as he had always done for the past two years since
arriving.
Her nerves were starting to wear thin since this is not what she
normally was used to. Her face was becoming red and contorted with
rage that lay buried underneath her skin. Five more minutes passed by
but it wasn't this alone that made her angry, young women were staring
at Mousse as they walked. She had heard their whispers of them looking
like a nice young couple or that he looked handsome. That, was
starting to get to her and she finally let it out.
"Mousse starting to get on Shampoo's nerves!!!" She let go of his
sleeve, turning around to face him as she shouted.
{Excuse me Xian, but why do you say that?}
"Mousse talk normal or Shampoo no talk to Mousse at all."
This caught Mousse by surprise. {What do you mean talk normal Xian?
I am talking to you in mandarin Chinese, our home's language if I
remember correctly. So what do you mean by normal?}
"Shampoo mean you should talk in Japanese, after all Shampoo and
Mousse still in Japan. So Mousse talk normal." She had lost some of
her anger as Mousse had pointed out to her how he was talking to her.
He was showing her great respect by not talking to her in an outsiders
language but by their native tongue.
"Ok Shampoo, if you'd like for me to do so." He said this with no
hint of the amount of feelings like he used to. Instead he had
answered her as a regular person trying to have a conversation with
her.
This got Shampoo's attention, she had expected for him to react
hurt in an over-reacting way, or in any way he had before today. She
had expected the 'old' Mousse to talk to her. What was happening here?
"Mousse, tell Shampoo why you acting like this?" She said this with
a hint of worry.
"Its simple Shampoo, but I can't tell you just yet as to why.
Please respect this answer and take me to Dr. Tofu, please?"
Shampoo hesitated for a while as she hated not knowing why her
best friend had changed so much. She reacted to his question and did
so as he had asked of her, also because her great-grandmother had also
asked her of this. Cologne would need her help soon enough, she'd have
to hurry. She started to think as she led him to Dr. Tofu's office.
_Why is Muu Zhuu acting like this? Have I done something?_ It
started to hit her as to all the 'somethings' she had done to him in
the past. Her abuse as some might say, but she put a halt to it, not
wanting to remember any further. _Is that why he is acting like this,
so... no he would never have reacted like this, he hasn't before
anyway, why would he now?_
Looking back to Mousse she could see that his face was in an
stone cold expression, completely devoid of emotion as his eyes were
covered by his sunglasses.
_He does look a bit more handsome than usual._ This thought caught
her by surprise and she turned around more quickly. _WHAT AM I
THINKING?!? This is Mousse I'm thinking about, not Ranma. But... he
does look... a little... uh, different._
Shampoo started to wonder is she was still sane for thinking like
this about Mousse, her best friend and annoying suitor. Shaking
herself at this point, she tried to stop her train of thoughts and do
as she had been asked. She continued to lead Mousse up toward Tofu's.
Some thirty feet away though, was one of Nabiki's informants and
he couldn't help but notice Shampoo leading a stranger somewhere.
Having seen the young Amazon before on jobs for Nabiki, he knew
exactly who she was and what info his 'boss' wanted out of him. To him
this looked like a major bonus time.
Taking out his camera, he managed to get of a shot of Shampoo
leading this young man by the sleeve. Or in this case, made it look
like by the hand.
As he finished taking at least three quick shot photos, the young
man spoke as he smiled. "Jackpot."
***
Hours later...
Nabiki was sitting under the tree in front of the school, as she
had before during lunchtime, with Ranma and Akane. Though as usual,
they were both at each others throats, in a matter of speaking. The
chorus of their insults rang true through the air from one another as
Akane was angry, still, from yesterday when he wouldn't eat her
'stew.'
In more truer terms, it looked more like primordial slime, the
stuff life on earth began with, than eatable food. But, she stayed as
calm as always, her eyes closed and ignoring their constant bickering.
She wasn't much of a martial artist, having given up the art when her
mother died like Kasumi. Though one thing that still paid in her
earlier training is the extra 'sense' she had acquired. That helped
her a lot of times, especially in her business of choice.
True to its words, she began to feel a tingle, meaning news of
GREAT importance was coming her way at any moment. True to its feel
again, Nabiki opened her eyes slightly as she saw her most valuable
'agent,' of sorts, at least most reliable, coming toward her.
'Kaji' was the name she had given him for no other reason than to
have a codename when handling business. He stood at an even height of
six feet, with short, brown, spiky-like hair. His eyes were of deep
emerald green color with relatively roguish features that could blend
easily with the crowd. That's' what he was paid for and he was the
best at it.
It was the same young man that had captured in photo Shampoo,
leading an unrecognizable male youth, toward Dr. Tofu's clinic. As he
was closing in on Nabiki, he noted her eyes opening and her head
tilting off to the side. That meant she wanted to conduct business off
in private, like she always did.
He nodded and headed off toward where she had pointed.
Nabiki turned around to Ranma and her little sister, excused
herself and left. Ranma and Akane both had a surprised look on their
face but it quickly changed as he noticed he hadn't touched his bento.
That meaning he hadn't touched Kasumi's prepared lunch. Within seconds
he was in warp mode as he ate. Akane came out of her shock and had a
look of disgust as she saw. Then all went back in regular mood as off
in the distance as certain yell came.
"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!!!!!"
Then a familiar bandanna aquapigmorphic was clearly seen in a
flying heading directly toward the pigtailed martial artist. Sounds of
a fight could clearly been heard of in the distance.
Nabiki got to her informant and to any bystander that may be
nearby, they talked of from a distance. Nabiki having a familiar
feline smile as she looked at what the man had handed to her. They
looked like photos, but who can tell right?
She took out some yen from probably the same place Akane took out
her mallet and paid the man. He looked extremely happy but calmed
himself quickly as he put the money away. Both their faces were as
though nothing of great importance had happened. They nodded to each
other and both went their separate ways.
Nabiki was heading back to Ranma and Akane with only a few minutes
of the lunch bell to spare. Ryoga had lost himself in the fight, as
always and was last seen heading north, toward Tokyo. As she walked
over, Nabiki was already calculating how much she would try and, in
the end, get from Ranma. The idea of someone out there that can
attract Shampoo other than him will definitely come in handy,
especially if that someone was who she thought she recognized.
The bell struck and she saw that Ranma grabbed Akane by the waist
and jump toward the third story window, their class. He sure didn't
wanna be late, though by the look on her sisters face, it meant
trouble for the martial artist. But that was another time.
***
Some street...
Mousse, as he was called by the people he knew in Nerima, was
walking back to the Nekohanten and was only a few yards away. In his
right hand he held a large fighting staff made of oak, one he had
been given by his father. It had a nice golden surface and it was at
least six feet tall, almost half a foot taller than him. He remembered
his father telling him it had been given to him by a gaijin he had
made friends with in his youth.
It was one of his earlier weapons, one he cherished since it was
one of the last things given to him by his father. He loved practicing
how he could hide in it with his other weapons, but he had managed.
Even how he did it was a mystery to him. But what was on his mind, was
the conversation he had had with Dr. Tofu Ono.
Flashback
Shampoo had left quickly after leaving him and he was happy she had,
this meant that his newfound 'gift' would be a secret to himself. Also
to the Tofu-sensei as well.
"This is remarkable Mousse," Dr. Tofu spoke as he examined his eyes
for anything strange, "how did this happen?"
The doctor sounded both excited and worried for Mousse as he
checked everything he could. Considering what Shampoo had told him
about how he woke up with sharp pain and crying blood, he had
questions.
{Dr. Tofu, I have no idea what happened to cause, this except for a
dream I had last night.}
Tofu understood Mandarin, considering he did most of his ancient
medicine studies in China. He noted the seriousness and worry in
Mousse's voice, so he began to act like the neutral man he was
occasionally like.
{Tell me about the dream Muu Zhuu.}
Mousse then proceeded to tell him of the revelations he had in his
dream. The remembrance of old promises and one time goals he had as a
child but had forgotten. He told him how he had finally seen that he
was not being treated all that well by Shampoo or Cologne. That he
finally saw he was being treated worse than males in his village. That
he now was his old self, the person he was before Nerima, before Ranma,
before Shampoo. Then he told him that the person in his dreams were
none other than himself. Then that afterward he awoke with the pain
that led to his newfound sight.
{I see. Muu, I think I know what happened to you. I think that
you somehow caused yourself to become as bad sighted as you once were.}
Mousse was puzzled by this new bit of information. {What do you
mean Dr. Tofu?}
{Please, call me Ono for now.}
{Okay Ono-sensei. What do you mean by what you said?}
{What I mean Muu, is let me first ask you a question. Did your
father ever begin to teach you any forms of chi attacks when you were
young?}
{Yes. At the age of three he was starting to teach me to have
better control over my weapons and self-discipline. To increase my
action/reaction time with the weapons by strengthening my chi as well
as my ki.}
{Then that might explain it. Tell me Muu, when did you start to
have vision problems?}
This further confused Mousse, he was trying to see where the good
doctor was leading. {At the age of three Ono-sensei.}
{Then my theory is correct! You said you met Xian Pu a little after
turning three, right?}
{Yes. You don't mean that she caused my bad eyesight? That Khun Lon
might've put a spell of sorts on me?}
Tofu laughed at that. {No Mousse, what I mean is that Xian Pu was
in a way an indirect source of your mind.}
{Huh?!?}
{What I mean to say, she was the key but you were the one who
started the machine.}
{What?!?}
{Muu Zhuu, you ever heard of the saying: Love can blind you?}
{Yes. But what does that have to... you mean... I did this to
myself.}
{In a matter of speaking Muu, yes.}
{But how?}
{You, in some way, made your own chi take a solid form of some kind
of a blindfold over your eyes. No one but you could feel its affects
or see it, or in your case, not see it well. Tell me Muu, in a true
fight, can you beat Xain?}
Mousse stood quiet for a few seconds as she took in the information
but he had always asked himself, in a way anyway, that question. In a
true fight of the test of who is a superior fighter, no hands down he
was better. He had the combination of a true martial artist, he was a
great hand-to-hand fighter and an even better weapons fighter. His
own father had told him once: To be a master martial artist, you must
know your fighting, both unarmed and armed. The Yin-Yang of a true
warrior.
He knew what his father was talking about in that moment and could
base it to any moment in his life, any fight, anything. Armed; cool
and collected. Unarmed; irrational and emotional.
The answer, it was simple now that he had changed; yes. In his past
it was uncertain because he made himself weak, now?
{Yes.}
Tofu began to smile until Mousse spoke up.
{Though now, I'm not sure I still want to.}
{Muu?} Tofu began to speak as he saw Mousse's change of attitude
toward what had been his one goal in life.
Mousse turned to face the doctor and continued on. {Ono-sensei, you
have brought more to my attention than I had seen in my dream. More
that even my double had said I would discover in my new path. But now
I see something else...}
He began to shake with some rage and anger but he kept himself cool
remembering his fathers' words. He was now armed and controlled.
{I see everything that I had blinded myself too. All the cruelty
done not just to me but not all theirs but most my own. I think its
time for a change in my life.}
Turning to face Dr. Tofu, Mousse spoke," {Dr. Tofu, can you please
keep my renewed eyesight a secret for now? Please?}
The doctor nodded and said, "Yes."
END of Flashback
Mousse was walking down the path to the Nekohanten wearing still
his sunglasses he had put on that morning. With the large staff he
made it look as though he was blind but that was just an act. The
doctor had helped out with a plan to help him convince others that he
still saw like he used. In his right pocket were the non-prescription,
just plain glass glasses he had given him to help with the charade.
They looked like his normal pair of bottle-thick frames but they
were just plain glass, like looking out through a window. He took them
out and ducked into an alley to get a good look at them. He noticed
almost as quickly that they were in fact an exact double of his old
glasses. He took off his sunglasses and put on his new frames to get a
good feel of them, and he was right.
"Just like looking through a window," he whispered.
He took them off and put them back into his pocket. Now wasn't the
time to put them on as he had to pretend he couldn't see. He needed
time to figure out some answers like if he still loved Shampoo or
could he ever love her after all the abuse she had given him for so
long.
Touching his tied hair, he wondered if he should keep like this or
let loose like it used to. Time passed but he soon came back to
reality and took out his watch. He noticed that had already missed out
helping not only the breakfast hour but also the lunch. That definitely
meant a sever punishment, unless...
He wondered and knew his new choice to pretend could help him out
again here and now. Putting back on his sunglasses he let his hair
remain tied and decided to wonder about that later on. Placing his
fighting staff out in front he left the alley and continued on walking
toward the 'Cat Cafe,' his home and job.
As he walked he started to think. _Hm, never knew I could be so
resourceful when I use my head instead of my heart all the time.
Wonder if of a little of Xian Pu and Khun Lon might be rubbing off on
me?_
He smiled at that thought and then spoke. "Nah!!!!!"
***
The Nekohanten...
Cologne looked at the clock and wondered when that good for nothing
Mousse would be back. He had already missed almost six hours of work
and had yet to return. She started to wonder if it was a good idea for
her to have sent off to the young Doctor that had helped Ranma stop
most of her plots to get him.
Then there was a noise in front of her as the bell by the door to
signify customers chimed. She waited for her great-granddaughter to
show the person around and hear her sweet voice as she did her job
like she was supposed to. Unlike Mousse.
Though instead she heard her great-granddaughter yell out a name
instead. "Ayiah, Mousse. You back already."
Cologne went over to the door separating the kitchen and the dining
area where the customers ate and took a peek. She noticed that Mousse
was being guided in by a large staff, one she had seen before long
ago. Also that his hair was still tied back with his shades still on
making him look as different as it had that morning. She couldn't
help but notice that it did in fact make him look much more...
confident.
Noting that most of the people had gone off except for one man who
was sitting with his back to them and eating his ramen. She felt
something coming of from him but nothing dangerous. She ignored him
and hopped over to Mousse.
"So boy, what did the doctor say about your eyes?"
Mousse remembered his little 'speech' he had worked out with Tofu-
sensei and said it. "Dr. Tofu simply said it was nothing out of the
ordinary, only that a blood vessel near my eye ruptured. I'll be
momentarily blinded for the rest of the day. He said I should return
to normal by tonight or tomorrow morning. Nothing to be alarmed about,
that's' all."
Cologne took in the information, feeling nothing coming from him to
say that he was lying and nodded. "Good, you should know this place
from head to toe by memory, so get to work. You'll be mopping the
kitchen, dusting and sweeping the storage room,...." And so forth she
continued down the list.
Meanwhile the man that was still there was the same short brown
haired male that had taken a pictures earlier. Now he had his
recording device out and pointed at Mousse and the other two Amazons.
Finally finished, he got up, left some yen to pay for his meal and
walked out the front door.
Mousse noticed that man that had just left and couldn't help but
feel he had seen him somewhere before. He shrugged off while still
maintaining the look of a momentarily blind person. Putting away his
staff, he went for the stairs with his hands stretch out, as to feel
his way to the stairs. What surprised him though was the feel of two
small soft hands grabbing his. Then they led him to the stairs, one to
the rail and the other to the wall to steady himself.
The person moved to go back to work but he had captured a glimpse
of the person's hair. It was of a deep violet color that hung free and
long in the air like wave of energy. A part of his old personality
threatened to come out and want to glomp her, but he remembered. He
remembered her cruelty and abuse and it stopped, he didn't feel as
angry as he had the morning. Though he hadn't totally forgiven her or
himself, that was why he remembered what he did, to stop and break the
cycle.
Standing there momentarily, he stopped his thinking and then went
on to climb up the stairs toward his room.
Shampoo couldn't help but take a little glance at Mousse as he was
feeling his way up the stairs. She never did hate him as much as she
told him, but honor damned that she marry the man that had beaten her.
In fact, living with him this past three years had changed her view of
him. Turning back to doing her job, her mind began to wonder of the
times in the past he had been there for her.
Shampoo hated those times from her age of three up until now,
every time he had glomped onto her. Everytime he was always annoying
her with his yells and bellows of professing his love to her. But there
were times she really loved him being around.
The times when he offered advice or helped her train to become the
best she was. There were also those time when he showed great strength
and will. Like the time he had saved her from Torristan, the bird man,
from when they were on the island of Togenkyo*. She really liked him
at those times, unfortunately they were few in number, not at first but
as time went on for both of them.
When she was thirteen and he had been a good friend to her during
her time training for the Female's tournament. She had actually
commented to herself how handsome he was even with his glasses on. But
he caught her looking at him and he turned into the unbearable joke he
was most of the times. She had been so angry she had lost her first
match in the tournament. He on the other hand had managed to become the
Male's village champion and getting in good graces with the village
elders for he was the youngest ever to receive the title.
She was always a little tough on him but after that year, she had
gotten more tougher on him. He still continued on to keep winning the
title year after year as she did from the age of fourteen and on. That
still made her the youngest female ever, but Mousse had beaten her by
one year, she never forgave him for that. Even though they were both
considered the best of their generation because they were the best of
the best.
Though she had noticed a change in him since that morning, ever
since she had seen his new look, with his hair pulled back. It was
then that she remembered he used to wear it like he had it now, before
she met him at the age of three. She recalled all the good times they
had had but also felt the familiar rush she used to have when she
first saw him as a handsome man at the age of thirteen. Though this
time she kept it to herself, she already loved Ranma... or did she?
She shook herself again trying to stop her thoughts before they
went to far. Ask questions she didn't wanna answer to even herself
and went back to doing her job.
Up in the attic that Mousse called his room, he took off his silk
black robe and went for one of his other black robes. He took one out
and stared at it for a while. He had rarely used the one in his hands
for one good reason, it had no sleeves. Not to mention that what he
had in this one were mostly all bladed weapons. In this one it was a
twin pair of katanas, another sword much like Shampoo's, a couple of
spears, long knives, stars, and more shuriken. In other words, in all
his black robes he chose weapons of death to hide in, plus the color
showed their purpose.
Slowly and very carefully he removed everything in them except the
twin katana, the shuriken, and bladed tip chains. He replaced the rest
of his weapons with the weapons he was given by Torristan, the
Birdman. They were about thirty black feather darts. He remembered the
day after Ranma had defeated Prince Toma, and the joyous times they
all spent the next three weeks. Mostly because the island took its
time in floating in the direction, back to Japan.
Torristan in respect to him for defeating him had trained in the
use of the darts and their use. He had learned the paralysis points
all to well and when time came to leave, he had given this as a
remembrance of their training and friendship. Mousse had eventually
added about fifty or so more darts considering he turned into a duck,
therefore adding more to his arsenal.
These weapons weren't as lethal as the rest he had carried and he
didn't need the extra attachment of sleeves to use them. He could pull
them out in a moments notice and un-noticeable at any moment. Plus his
skills in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts had grown over the
years. Especially considering the place where he lived and with whom he
was company of nearby. He could honestly say that he was as good as
Shampoo, it not Ukyou or maybe better. Almost at the rank, if there
were any, the third best martial artist in Nerima. He stopped himself
there and shook out the rest of his thoughts as he continued to hide
in a few more none lethal but painful weapons.
Finished dressing he looked himself in the mirror over by the far
wall as he was leaving. He had it there mostly as hope that one day he
would have good eyesight and his prayers had finally been answered. He
gave himself a once over and noticed that he was much more in shape
than he thought. A look at his now exposed arms told him that they had
as much strength in them as Ranma, if not Ryoga. Though that was
mostly wishful thinking. He shook his head at the last thought as he
looked down with a happy smirk on his face.
Putting his shades back on, he went down as though he indeed in
fact know the Nekohanten like the back of his hand. His still tightly
tied ponytail waving behind him, as he moved around with more grace
than he had ever shown before. Over his eyes were the same shades that
he had warn all morning, allowing his eyes to be concealed.
He heard the gasp he had been expecting to hear coming from the
farther corner where he knew Shampoo would be. Though the sound of
dishes crashing from the kitchen made him jump and flip through the
air. His twin katanas were drawn in an instant and pointing directly
from where he had heard the noise. He kept his eyes still in order to
keep the blind act up, and to further push the envelope.
"Who's there?"
Cologne had been shocked once by Mousse when she saw his new look
that morning but now his brand newer look caught her by surprise yet
again. Then to see a quickness and grace she had never expected to
come form Mousse came next. When she heard him ask for who was there
confirmed to her that he still couldn't see.
"Its alright Mousse, I just dropped a dish I was using for cooking."
Mousse rose as he put away his katana and bowed. "Sorry Elder, I
didn't se... know it was you. Forgive me for my reaction."
Cologne accepted his apology but kept it to herself that he even
showed any respect. Normally he would've disrespected her by mumbling
what almost always said, something along the lines of mummy monkey.
Turning back to the dishes, couldn't help but recall a drastic
change in him, from his manners to his appearance and now his skills.
Almost as though he had changed from that one night to a whole new and
other person. She wondered if he had been possessed.
Her thoughts kept her busy most of the day, until the after school
rush came. Shampoo and she, had the food ready and cooked in time to
make a large profit. Cologne also noticed when Nabiki came in through
the front door and saw her shocked expression when she caught sight of
Mousse. Though the shock did not last, almost as though... she had
expected it but not this much.
_Should've known that girl would've heard something sooner about
what happened to Mousse. But, how much did she know?_ Her thoughts
raced as the crowd started to grow with passing moments.
When Nabiki left though, not more than an hour had passed that the
evening crowd started to even out. Half the people in the Nekohanten
were either male or female. This meant that word of Mousse's new
'attitude' and 'look' had passed via Nabiki Corp. News.
Cologne didn't complain, to her this meant more money for
expanses into fixing the cafe up, but it had its problems. It also
meant not enough time to hatch up a plan to snare son-in-law.
Shampoo and Mousse however were too busy to think anything about,
all except Shampoo that was.
{_Why didn't Ranma come and see me today? He didn't even come
after school to see me._} Looking around the crowded room and then the
clock told her something. {_Ayiah. Look at the time, if Akane is
making dinner then Arien must've gone to Ukyou. Damn this._}
Looking over to the other side where Mousse was handling the rush
of business with ease, she did notice he had the occasional near
stumble. To her it meant that his sight must be coming back already.
Though she grimaced when she noticed that he blushed and had to
compose himself from running. Then she saw why as a girl about her age
in a group of giggling girls pulled back her hand from where Mousse's
butt used to be.
For some reason she couldn't help but get a little angry or was it
a little jealous? Shaking her thoughts she amended that it was anger
that the girls would take advantage of a male like that. And so on
went most of the night.
When time came to close, Mousse was taking off his sunglasses and
putting up an act of quick healing. Putting on the 'special' glasses
that Tofu had given him, it looked as though Mousse was back to his
normal self. He actually caught a glimpse of Shampoo pouting when he
put away the sunglasses.
Looking around, he got down to cleaning with his back to her and
the broom in his hand. Deep down he was in a bit of conflict over what
he had seen the day. In conflict whether he should be angry at Shampoo
for causing so much pain all this time or happy that she was finally
noticing him. He just didn't know.
Shampoo was in a similar struggle herself as her thoughts ran back
and forth between pictures of her and Ranma or her and Mousse. Her
thoughts almost went completely to Ranma when she saw him put on his
glasses back on. But they changed back when she saw that he was still
not acting his normal self. She also couldn't help notice the form of
a frosty blue aura around him, faint but noticeable.
Cologne looked on with her face trying to understand this new
change of events looking at the two youths.
"Hmmmmm?"
To be continued...
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Well, won't bother with the same thing as before but just to say
something, you can see I tried adding a few things. What Ranma 1/2
character story can be made without at least mentioning and making a
small appearance by the infamous pig-tailed martial artist, right?
Well, can't wait to see what people said about this one, later.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
*(NOTE): For those of u who don't know what I'm talking about,
check out;
Ranma Movie 2 'Nihao My Concubine'
Discussions and Decisions
by Jess Dougherty
*********************************************************
Disclaimer: Same as the one in the first chapter, I don't own any
of these characters or claim to do so. They all belong to Rumiko
Takashi and their respective company. So, stop reading this and on
with the story!
***********************************************************************
Shampoo had been leading Mousse by his sleeve, which was starting
to bother her, since he had started acting unusual. His new choice of
style was not what had done this, but his attitude. It had already
been ten minutes since they had left the Nekohanten and has been
eerily quiet the whole time. He had not once said anything to her like
his old self as he had always done for the past two years since
arriving.
Her nerves were starting to wear thin since this is not what she
normally was used to. Her face was becoming red and contorted with
rage that lay buried underneath her skin. Five more minutes passed by
but it wasn't this alone that made her angry, young women were staring
at Mousse as they walked. She had heard their whispers of them looking
like a nice young couple or that he looked handsome. That, was
starting to get to her and she finally let it out.
"Mousse starting to get on Shampoo's nerves!!!" She let go of his
sleeve, turning around to face him as she shouted.
{Excuse me Xian, but why do you say that?}
"Mousse talk normal or Shampoo no talk to Mousse at all."
This caught Mousse by surprise. {What do you mean talk normal Xian?
I am talking to you in mandarin Chinese, our home's language if I
remember correctly. So what do you mean by normal?}
"Shampoo mean you should talk in Japanese, after all Shampoo and
Mousse still in Japan. So Mousse talk normal." She had lost some of
her anger as Mousse had pointed out to her how he was talking to her.
He was showing her great respect by not talking to her in an outsiders
language but by their native tongue.
"Ok Shampoo, if you'd like for me to do so." He said this with no
hint of the amount of feelings like he used to. Instead he had
answered her as a regular person trying to have a conversation with
her.
This got Shampoo's attention, she had expected for him to react
hurt in an over-reacting way, or in any way he had before today. She
had expected the 'old' Mousse to talk to her. What was happening here?
"Mousse, tell Shampoo why you acting like this?" She said this with
a hint of worry.
"Its simple Shampoo, but I can't tell you just yet as to why.
Please respect this answer and take me to Dr. Tofu, please?"
Shampoo hesitated for a while as she hated not knowing why her
best friend had changed so much. She reacted to his question and did
so as he had asked of her, also because her great-grandmother had also
asked her of this. Cologne would need her help soon enough, she'd have
to hurry. She started to think as she led him to Dr. Tofu's office.
_Why is Muu Zhuu acting like this? Have I done something?_ It
started to hit her as to all the 'somethings' she had done to him in
the past. Her abuse as some might say, but she put a halt to it, not
wanting to remember any further. _Is that why he is acting like this,
so... no he would never have reacted like this, he hasn't before
anyway, why would he now?_
Looking back to Mousse she could see that his face was in an
stone cold expression, completely devoid of emotion as his eyes were
covered by his sunglasses.
_He does look a bit more handsome than usual._ This thought caught
her by surprise and she turned around more quickly. _WHAT AM I
THINKING?!? This is Mousse I'm thinking about, not Ranma. But... he
does look... a little... uh, different._
Shampoo started to wonder is she was still sane for thinking like
this about Mousse, her best friend and annoying suitor. Shaking
herself at this point, she tried to stop her train of thoughts and do
as she had been asked. She continued to lead Mousse up toward Tofu's.
Some thirty feet away though, was one of Nabiki's informants and
he couldn't help but notice Shampoo leading a stranger somewhere.
Having seen the young Amazon before on jobs for Nabiki, he knew
exactly who she was and what info his 'boss' wanted out of him. To him
this looked like a major bonus time.
Taking out his camera, he managed to get of a shot of Shampoo
leading this young man by the sleeve. Or in this case, made it look
like by the hand.
As he finished taking at least three quick shot photos, the young
man spoke as he smiled. "Jackpot."
***
Hours later...
Nabiki was sitting under the tree in front of the school, as she
had before during lunchtime, with Ranma and Akane. Though as usual,
they were both at each others throats, in a matter of speaking. The
chorus of their insults rang true through the air from one another as
Akane was angry, still, from yesterday when he wouldn't eat her
'stew.'
In more truer terms, it looked more like primordial slime, the
stuff life on earth began with, than eatable food. But, she stayed as
calm as always, her eyes closed and ignoring their constant bickering.
She wasn't much of a martial artist, having given up the art when her
mother died like Kasumi. Though one thing that still paid in her
earlier training is the extra 'sense' she had acquired. That helped
her a lot of times, especially in her business of choice.
True to its words, she began to feel a tingle, meaning news of
GREAT importance was coming her way at any moment. True to its feel
again, Nabiki opened her eyes slightly as she saw her most valuable
'agent,' of sorts, at least most reliable, coming toward her.
'Kaji' was the name she had given him for no other reason than to
have a codename when handling business. He stood at an even height of
six feet, with short, brown, spiky-like hair. His eyes were of deep
emerald green color with relatively roguish features that could blend
easily with the crowd. That's' what he was paid for and he was the
best at it.
It was the same young man that had captured in photo Shampoo,
leading an unrecognizable male youth, toward Dr. Tofu's clinic. As he
was closing in on Nabiki, he noted her eyes opening and her head
tilting off to the side. That meant she wanted to conduct business off
in private, like she always did.
He nodded and headed off toward where she had pointed.
Nabiki turned around to Ranma and her little sister, excused
herself and left. Ranma and Akane both had a surprised look on their
face but it quickly changed as he noticed he hadn't touched his bento.
That meaning he hadn't touched Kasumi's prepared lunch. Within seconds
he was in warp mode as he ate. Akane came out of her shock and had a
look of disgust as she saw. Then all went back in regular mood as off
in the distance as certain yell came.
"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!!!!!"
Then a familiar bandanna aquapigmorphic was clearly seen in a
flying heading directly toward the pigtailed martial artist. Sounds of
a fight could clearly been heard of in the distance.
Nabiki got to her informant and to any bystander that may be
nearby, they talked of from a distance. Nabiki having a familiar
feline smile as she looked at what the man had handed to her. They
looked like photos, but who can tell right?
She took out some yen from probably the same place Akane took out
her mallet and paid the man. He looked extremely happy but calmed
himself quickly as he put the money away. Both their faces were as
though nothing of great importance had happened. They nodded to each
other and both went their separate ways.
Nabiki was heading back to Ranma and Akane with only a few minutes
of the lunch bell to spare. Ryoga had lost himself in the fight, as
always and was last seen heading north, toward Tokyo. As she walked
over, Nabiki was already calculating how much she would try and, in
the end, get from Ranma. The idea of someone out there that can
attract Shampoo other than him will definitely come in handy,
especially if that someone was who she thought she recognized.
The bell struck and she saw that Ranma grabbed Akane by the waist
and jump toward the third story window, their class. He sure didn't
wanna be late, though by the look on her sisters face, it meant
trouble for the martial artist. But that was another time.
***
Some street...
Mousse, as he was called by the people he knew in Nerima, was
walking back to the Nekohanten and was only a few yards away. In his
right hand he held a large fighting staff made of oak, one he had
been given by his father. It had a nice golden surface and it was at
least six feet tall, almost half a foot taller than him. He remembered
his father telling him it had been given to him by a gaijin he had
made friends with in his youth.
It was one of his earlier weapons, one he cherished since it was
one of the last things given to him by his father. He loved practicing
how he could hide in it with his other weapons, but he had managed.
Even how he did it was a mystery to him. But what was on his mind, was
the conversation he had had with Dr. Tofu Ono.
Flashback
Shampoo had left quickly after leaving him and he was happy she had,
this meant that his newfound 'gift' would be a secret to himself. Also
to the Tofu-sensei as well.
"This is remarkable Mousse," Dr. Tofu spoke as he examined his eyes
for anything strange, "how did this happen?"
The doctor sounded both excited and worried for Mousse as he
checked everything he could. Considering what Shampoo had told him
about how he woke up with sharp pain and crying blood, he had
questions.
{Dr. Tofu, I have no idea what happened to cause, this except for a
dream I had last night.}
Tofu understood Mandarin, considering he did most of his ancient
medicine studies in China. He noted the seriousness and worry in
Mousse's voice, so he began to act like the neutral man he was
occasionally like.
{Tell me about the dream Muu Zhuu.}
Mousse then proceeded to tell him of the revelations he had in his
dream. The remembrance of old promises and one time goals he had as a
child but had forgotten. He told him how he had finally seen that he
was not being treated all that well by Shampoo or Cologne. That he
finally saw he was being treated worse than males in his village. That
he now was his old self, the person he was before Nerima, before Ranma,
before Shampoo. Then he told him that the person in his dreams were
none other than himself. Then that afterward he awoke with the pain
that led to his newfound sight.
{I see. Muu, I think I know what happened to you. I think that
you somehow caused yourself to become as bad sighted as you once were.}
Mousse was puzzled by this new bit of information. {What do you
mean Dr. Tofu?}
{Please, call me Ono for now.}
{Okay Ono-sensei. What do you mean by what you said?}
{What I mean Muu, is let me first ask you a question. Did your
father ever begin to teach you any forms of chi attacks when you were
young?}
{Yes. At the age of three he was starting to teach me to have
better control over my weapons and self-discipline. To increase my
action/reaction time with the weapons by strengthening my chi as well
as my ki.}
{Then that might explain it. Tell me Muu, when did you start to
have vision problems?}
This further confused Mousse, he was trying to see where the good
doctor was leading. {At the age of three Ono-sensei.}
{Then my theory is correct! You said you met Xian Pu a little after
turning three, right?}
{Yes. You don't mean that she caused my bad eyesight? That Khun Lon
might've put a spell of sorts on me?}
Tofu laughed at that. {No Mousse, what I mean is that Xian Pu was
in a way an indirect source of your mind.}
{Huh?!?}
{What I mean to say, she was the key but you were the one who
started the machine.}
{What?!?}
{Muu Zhuu, you ever heard of the saying: Love can blind you?}
{Yes. But what does that have to... you mean... I did this to
myself.}
{In a matter of speaking Muu, yes.}
{But how?}
{You, in some way, made your own chi take a solid form of some kind
of a blindfold over your eyes. No one but you could feel its affects
or see it, or in your case, not see it well. Tell me Muu, in a true
fight, can you beat Xain?}
Mousse stood quiet for a few seconds as she took in the information
but he had always asked himself, in a way anyway, that question. In a
true fight of the test of who is a superior fighter, no hands down he
was better. He had the combination of a true martial artist, he was a
great hand-to-hand fighter and an even better weapons fighter. His
own father had told him once: To be a master martial artist, you must
know your fighting, both unarmed and armed. The Yin-Yang of a true
warrior.
He knew what his father was talking about in that moment and could
base it to any moment in his life, any fight, anything. Armed; cool
and collected. Unarmed; irrational and emotional.
The answer, it was simple now that he had changed; yes. In his past
it was uncertain because he made himself weak, now?
{Yes.}
Tofu began to smile until Mousse spoke up.
{Though now, I'm not sure I still want to.}
{Muu?} Tofu began to speak as he saw Mousse's change of attitude
toward what had been his one goal in life.
Mousse turned to face the doctor and continued on. {Ono-sensei, you
have brought more to my attention than I had seen in my dream. More
that even my double had said I would discover in my new path. But now
I see something else...}
He began to shake with some rage and anger but he kept himself cool
remembering his fathers' words. He was now armed and controlled.
{I see everything that I had blinded myself too. All the cruelty
done not just to me but not all theirs but most my own. I think its
time for a change in my life.}
Turning to face Dr. Tofu, Mousse spoke," {Dr. Tofu, can you please
keep my renewed eyesight a secret for now? Please?}
The doctor nodded and said, "Yes."
END of Flashback
Mousse was walking down the path to the Nekohanten wearing still
his sunglasses he had put on that morning. With the large staff he
made it look as though he was blind but that was just an act. The
doctor had helped out with a plan to help him convince others that he
still saw like he used. In his right pocket were the non-prescription,
just plain glass glasses he had given him to help with the charade.
They looked like his normal pair of bottle-thick frames but they
were just plain glass, like looking out through a window. He took them
out and ducked into an alley to get a good look at them. He noticed
almost as quickly that they were in fact an exact double of his old
glasses. He took off his sunglasses and put on his new frames to get a
good feel of them, and he was right.
"Just like looking through a window," he whispered.
He took them off and put them back into his pocket. Now wasn't the
time to put them on as he had to pretend he couldn't see. He needed
time to figure out some answers like if he still loved Shampoo or
could he ever love her after all the abuse she had given him for so
long.
Touching his tied hair, he wondered if he should keep like this or
let loose like it used to. Time passed but he soon came back to
reality and took out his watch. He noticed that had already missed out
helping not only the breakfast hour but also the lunch. That definitely
meant a sever punishment, unless...
He wondered and knew his new choice to pretend could help him out
again here and now. Putting back on his sunglasses he let his hair
remain tied and decided to wonder about that later on. Placing his
fighting staff out in front he left the alley and continued on walking
toward the 'Cat Cafe,' his home and job.
As he walked he started to think. _Hm, never knew I could be so
resourceful when I use my head instead of my heart all the time.
Wonder if of a little of Xian Pu and Khun Lon might be rubbing off on
me?_
He smiled at that thought and then spoke. "Nah!!!!!"
***
The Nekohanten...
Cologne looked at the clock and wondered when that good for nothing
Mousse would be back. He had already missed almost six hours of work
and had yet to return. She started to wonder if it was a good idea for
her to have sent off to the young Doctor that had helped Ranma stop
most of her plots to get him.
Then there was a noise in front of her as the bell by the door to
signify customers chimed. She waited for her great-granddaughter to
show the person around and hear her sweet voice as she did her job
like she was supposed to. Unlike Mousse.
Though instead she heard her great-granddaughter yell out a name
instead. "Ayiah, Mousse. You back already."
Cologne went over to the door separating the kitchen and the dining
area where the customers ate and took a peek. She noticed that Mousse
was being guided in by a large staff, one she had seen before long
ago. Also that his hair was still tied back with his shades still on
making him look as different as it had that morning. She couldn't
help but notice that it did in fact make him look much more...
confident.
Noting that most of the people had gone off except for one man who
was sitting with his back to them and eating his ramen. She felt
something coming of from him but nothing dangerous. She ignored him
and hopped over to Mousse.
"So boy, what did the doctor say about your eyes?"
Mousse remembered his little 'speech' he had worked out with Tofu-
sensei and said it. "Dr. Tofu simply said it was nothing out of the
ordinary, only that a blood vessel near my eye ruptured. I'll be
momentarily blinded for the rest of the day. He said I should return
to normal by tonight or tomorrow morning. Nothing to be alarmed about,
that's' all."
Cologne took in the information, feeling nothing coming from him to
say that he was lying and nodded. "Good, you should know this place
from head to toe by memory, so get to work. You'll be mopping the
kitchen, dusting and sweeping the storage room,...." And so forth she
continued down the list.
Meanwhile the man that was still there was the same short brown
haired male that had taken a pictures earlier. Now he had his
recording device out and pointed at Mousse and the other two Amazons.
Finally finished, he got up, left some yen to pay for his meal and
walked out the front door.
Mousse noticed that man that had just left and couldn't help but
feel he had seen him somewhere before. He shrugged off while still
maintaining the look of a momentarily blind person. Putting away his
staff, he went for the stairs with his hands stretch out, as to feel
his way to the stairs. What surprised him though was the feel of two
small soft hands grabbing his. Then they led him to the stairs, one to
the rail and the other to the wall to steady himself.
The person moved to go back to work but he had captured a glimpse
of the person's hair. It was of a deep violet color that hung free and
long in the air like wave of energy. A part of his old personality
threatened to come out and want to glomp her, but he remembered. He
remembered her cruelty and abuse and it stopped, he didn't feel as
angry as he had the morning. Though he hadn't totally forgiven her or
himself, that was why he remembered what he did, to stop and break the
cycle.
Standing there momentarily, he stopped his thinking and then went
on to climb up the stairs toward his room.
Shampoo couldn't help but take a little glance at Mousse as he was
feeling his way up the stairs. She never did hate him as much as she
told him, but honor damned that she marry the man that had beaten her.
In fact, living with him this past three years had changed her view of
him. Turning back to doing her job, her mind began to wonder of the
times in the past he had been there for her.
Shampoo hated those times from her age of three up until now,
every time he had glomped onto her. Everytime he was always annoying
her with his yells and bellows of professing his love to her. But there
were times she really loved him being around.
The times when he offered advice or helped her train to become the
best she was. There were also those time when he showed great strength
and will. Like the time he had saved her from Torristan, the bird man,
from when they were on the island of Togenkyo*. She really liked him
at those times, unfortunately they were few in number, not at first but
as time went on for both of them.
When she was thirteen and he had been a good friend to her during
her time training for the Female's tournament. She had actually
commented to herself how handsome he was even with his glasses on. But
he caught her looking at him and he turned into the unbearable joke he
was most of the times. She had been so angry she had lost her first
match in the tournament. He on the other hand had managed to become the
Male's village champion and getting in good graces with the village
elders for he was the youngest ever to receive the title.
She was always a little tough on him but after that year, she had
gotten more tougher on him. He still continued on to keep winning the
title year after year as she did from the age of fourteen and on. That
still made her the youngest female ever, but Mousse had beaten her by
one year, she never forgave him for that. Even though they were both
considered the best of their generation because they were the best of
the best.
Though she had noticed a change in him since that morning, ever
since she had seen his new look, with his hair pulled back. It was
then that she remembered he used to wear it like he had it now, before
she met him at the age of three. She recalled all the good times they
had had but also felt the familiar rush she used to have when she
first saw him as a handsome man at the age of thirteen. Though this
time she kept it to herself, she already loved Ranma... or did she?
She shook herself again trying to stop her thoughts before they
went to far. Ask questions she didn't wanna answer to even herself
and went back to doing her job.
Up in the attic that Mousse called his room, he took off his silk
black robe and went for one of his other black robes. He took one out
and stared at it for a while. He had rarely used the one in his hands
for one good reason, it had no sleeves. Not to mention that what he
had in this one were mostly all bladed weapons. In this one it was a
twin pair of katanas, another sword much like Shampoo's, a couple of
spears, long knives, stars, and more shuriken. In other words, in all
his black robes he chose weapons of death to hide in, plus the color
showed their purpose.
Slowly and very carefully he removed everything in them except the
twin katana, the shuriken, and bladed tip chains. He replaced the rest
of his weapons with the weapons he was given by Torristan, the
Birdman. They were about thirty black feather darts. He remembered the
day after Ranma had defeated Prince Toma, and the joyous times they
all spent the next three weeks. Mostly because the island took its
time in floating in the direction, back to Japan.
Torristan in respect to him for defeating him had trained in the
use of the darts and their use. He had learned the paralysis points
all to well and when time came to leave, he had given this as a
remembrance of their training and friendship. Mousse had eventually
added about fifty or so more darts considering he turned into a duck,
therefore adding more to his arsenal.
These weapons weren't as lethal as the rest he had carried and he
didn't need the extra attachment of sleeves to use them. He could pull
them out in a moments notice and un-noticeable at any moment. Plus his
skills in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts had grown over the
years. Especially considering the place where he lived and with whom he
was company of nearby. He could honestly say that he was as good as
Shampoo, it not Ukyou or maybe better. Almost at the rank, if there
were any, the third best martial artist in Nerima. He stopped himself
there and shook out the rest of his thoughts as he continued to hide
in a few more none lethal but painful weapons.
Finished dressing he looked himself in the mirror over by the far
wall as he was leaving. He had it there mostly as hope that one day he
would have good eyesight and his prayers had finally been answered. He
gave himself a once over and noticed that he was much more in shape
than he thought. A look at his now exposed arms told him that they had
as much strength in them as Ranma, if not Ryoga. Though that was
mostly wishful thinking. He shook his head at the last thought as he
looked down with a happy smirk on his face.
Putting his shades back on, he went down as though he indeed in
fact know the Nekohanten like the back of his hand. His still tightly
tied ponytail waving behind him, as he moved around with more grace
than he had ever shown before. Over his eyes were the same shades that
he had warn all morning, allowing his eyes to be concealed.
He heard the gasp he had been expecting to hear coming from the
farther corner where he knew Shampoo would be. Though the sound of
dishes crashing from the kitchen made him jump and flip through the
air. His twin katanas were drawn in an instant and pointing directly
from where he had heard the noise. He kept his eyes still in order to
keep the blind act up, and to further push the envelope.
"Who's there?"
Cologne had been shocked once by Mousse when she saw his new look
that morning but now his brand newer look caught her by surprise yet
again. Then to see a quickness and grace she had never expected to
come form Mousse came next. When she heard him ask for who was there
confirmed to her that he still couldn't see.
"Its alright Mousse, I just dropped a dish I was using for cooking."
Mousse rose as he put away his katana and bowed. "Sorry Elder, I
didn't se... know it was you. Forgive me for my reaction."
Cologne accepted his apology but kept it to herself that he even
showed any respect. Normally he would've disrespected her by mumbling
what almost always said, something along the lines of mummy monkey.
Turning back to the dishes, couldn't help but recall a drastic
change in him, from his manners to his appearance and now his skills.
Almost as though he had changed from that one night to a whole new and
other person. She wondered if he had been possessed.
Her thoughts kept her busy most of the day, until the after school
rush came. Shampoo and she, had the food ready and cooked in time to
make a large profit. Cologne also noticed when Nabiki came in through
the front door and saw her shocked expression when she caught sight of
Mousse. Though the shock did not last, almost as though... she had
expected it but not this much.
_Should've known that girl would've heard something sooner about
what happened to Mousse. But, how much did she know?_ Her thoughts
raced as the crowd started to grow with passing moments.
When Nabiki left though, not more than an hour had passed that the
evening crowd started to even out. Half the people in the Nekohanten
were either male or female. This meant that word of Mousse's new
'attitude' and 'look' had passed via Nabiki Corp. News.
Cologne didn't complain, to her this meant more money for
expanses into fixing the cafe up, but it had its problems. It also
meant not enough time to hatch up a plan to snare son-in-law.
Shampoo and Mousse however were too busy to think anything about,
all except Shampoo that was.
{_Why didn't Ranma come and see me today? He didn't even come
after school to see me._} Looking around the crowded room and then the
clock told her something. {_Ayiah. Look at the time, if Akane is
making dinner then Arien must've gone to Ukyou. Damn this._}
Looking over to the other side where Mousse was handling the rush
of business with ease, she did notice he had the occasional near
stumble. To her it meant that his sight must be coming back already.
Though she grimaced when she noticed that he blushed and had to
compose himself from running. Then she saw why as a girl about her age
in a group of giggling girls pulled back her hand from where Mousse's
butt used to be.
For some reason she couldn't help but get a little angry or was it
a little jealous? Shaking her thoughts she amended that it was anger
that the girls would take advantage of a male like that. And so on
went most of the night.
When time came to close, Mousse was taking off his sunglasses and
putting up an act of quick healing. Putting on the 'special' glasses
that Tofu had given him, it looked as though Mousse was back to his
normal self. He actually caught a glimpse of Shampoo pouting when he
put away the sunglasses.
Looking around, he got down to cleaning with his back to her and
the broom in his hand. Deep down he was in a bit of conflict over what
he had seen the day. In conflict whether he should be angry at Shampoo
for causing so much pain all this time or happy that she was finally
noticing him. He just didn't know.
Shampoo was in a similar struggle herself as her thoughts ran back
and forth between pictures of her and Ranma or her and Mousse. Her
thoughts almost went completely to Ranma when she saw him put on his
glasses back on. But they changed back when she saw that he was still
not acting his normal self. She also couldn't help notice the form of
a frosty blue aura around him, faint but noticeable.
Cologne looked on with her face trying to understand this new
change of events looking at the two youths.
"Hmmmmm?"
To be continued...
***********************************************************************
Well, won't bother with the same thing as before but just to say
something, you can see I tried adding a few things. What Ranma 1/2
character story can be made without at least mentioning and making a
small appearance by the infamous pig-tailed martial artist, right?
Well, can't wait to see what people said about this one, later.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
*(NOTE): For those of u who don't know what I'm talking about,
check out;
Ranma Movie 2 'Nihao My Concubine'