Note: This fanfic is starred by Mousse and Shampoo, so all the dialogues are in Chinese.
Navel, master Shi Baoliang, Mei and Sei are my own characters, please don't use them without my permission.
Ranma ½ is a trademark of Viz communications, all the characters created and copyrighted to Rumiko Takahashi.
Okay, all this takes place after Hidden memories which could be considered as the prologue for this story; I do recommend you to read it first, although is not really necessary, and now, let us begin with...
THE MAN WHO LOVED SHAMPOO
PART 1 OF 2
BY
DR FACER
Pain, that was what he felt right now, his wings felt like if they were about to fall off, he knew he shouldn't have flown all the way from Tokyo to China, but considering his financial status, it wasn't like if he had had a lot of choices, Mousse looked down, he was now flying above Joketsuzoku, "At last!" He thought as he headed for his house, Mousse landed carefully on the roof of his house and after checking that no one was at home, he entered trough an open window and headed straight to the kitchen, a few moments later, a human Mousse exited the house and quickly ran to the forest, Mousse didn't want anyone to know about his return, so he ran until he was at a safe distance from his house, panting, Mousse pulled out a map, he needed to know the exact location of the place he was searching for, as he checked the route he had to follow, he cursed, he'd had to go trough the Musk dynasty territory, which meant dealing with Herb and his bodyguards, Mousse sighed, that was not a nice option, he checked the map again and found an alternate route, the path was harder, but a lot safer and shorter, the only potential danger in this alternate route were the burglars that predated over the weak travelers, fortunately, he was not a weak traveler, Mousse smiled and put the map back in his sleeves, ready to begin his real travel, "You just wait Shampoo, you just wait and you'll see what I'm capable of." He muttered and firmly walked north.
Back in Nerima, Shampoo was tired, without Mousse around, her work in the restaurant had suddenly doubled, amazing that big jerk had actually been good for something, Shampoo passed the last order to her great-grandmother and waited for the Ramen to be ready, at least there weren't that many customers at the moment, but by the evening, the dinner rush would be hell, Shampoo looked at her father, he was taking the orders of a couple, the young Amazon knew that he had been the most shocked when Mousse left, and she still didn't understand why, so she thought she should ask him, tonight if possible.
In China, Mousse was walking in a forest path, the route had been easy up until now, but soon he would have to start cutting his way trough the thick bamboo forests that surrounded the mountain he was heading for, if what he had heard about a mighty martial arts master living in the depths of the Bayankara mountains was true, then he would do anything in his possibilities to have that man accepting him as his student, Mousse smiled, that man was supposed to be the master of a deadly art that made you invincible, according to the stories not even the amazons or the members of the musk dynasty dared to defy him, and that was impressive, for a man to have the respect of the amazons was already a big achievement, but to have the respect of the musk dynasty as well was almost unbelievable, so Mousse was sure that if he dominated that art, he would be able to face Ranma in battle and manage the draw he so much needed, so he continued his way, wondering what kind of a man his soon to be master was, when a woman called him, the voice was familiar for Mousse, but he could not really identify the owner, so he turned and put his glasses back on, the young man stared the woman in front of him filled with surprise, how did she found out that he was in China?
"You!" Mousse shouted, "How come you knew about my return?"
The young, green haired woman smiled, "I saw you flying above my house! I just had to come and say hello!"
Mousse was startled, "You…saw…me?"
The girl nodded, "Yes I did! It was luck actually, I was checking a nest some doves made on the roof of my house when I looked to the sky and saw you flying towards your house!"
"Yeah, luck." Mousse said and started to leave, "It was nice to see you Navel, but I really have to go, good bye."
"Wait Mousse! You can't leave just like that!" Navel shouted and crushed Mousse with a huge boulder.
"Well, if you put it that way, I think I have some time for you." He answered as he crawled out of the rubble, "What do you want Navel?"
Once Mousse was up, Navel immediately jumped away, "Mousse!" She shouted and pulled a sword out, "I challenge you!"
"Hey, I knew that was all you wanted Navel, I'm sorry, but I have no time for this." Mousse said and began to walk away.
"Are you dumping me, pretty boy?" Navel thought, "I'll show you to dump me you big jerk!" She grinned and dashed towards Mousse, her sword at the ready.
"Wha…?" Mousse mumbled when he noticed that Navel was attacking him, he quickly turned, but …
"HIIYAA!"
CLOONG!!
Seconds later, only Mousse stood there, unscratched, watching the unconscious girl at his feet, he tossed the iron mace he used to knock Navel out and erased himself from the place as fast as he could, if he was lucky, he should be able to get far away enough before his life became a lot more complicated than what already was.
"God! What was I thinking? I fell in Navel's trap like a stupid beginner! Now that I've defeated her, she'll start chasing me all over the world trying to marry me!" He thought as he increased his speed, right now, it was imperative that he could put as much distance as possible between him and Navel, or else, he risked fighting Navel's great-grandmother, and that wasn't something in Mousse's to do list of this millennium, so, he ran.
Meanwhile, in the place where the short fight between Mousse and Navel took place, a couple of identical twins jumped out of the bushes surrounding the path, one of them was holding a camera.
"Did you got the pictures, over?" Asked one of the girls to the one who was carrying the camera.
"Yes, a whole lot!"
"Great, let's then help the boss."
"Right! Over."
The two girls, better known as the herbalists Pink and Link from Yaocaicun, kneeled next to Navel, "Hey boss, are you okay?" Pink asked, but Navel didn't move.
"I think Mousse hit her very hard, over." Link answered.
"You know, amazons have the weirdest love concept I've ever seen." Pink said, pouring some rose petals tea on her sister's cup.
"Yes, you're right Pink, over." Link agreed, pulling a table and some cookies from hammer space.
"I wonder why is Navel so interested in Mousse?" Link asked and took a bit from a cracker.
"No idea, but she sure pays well for our help, over." Pink answered and drank a sip of her cup.
Navel opened her eyes and moaned, she watched her two 'assistants' and frowned, how dared they! Drinking tea and eating crackers when she was wounded! "HEY YOU TWO, I WONDER WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO START HELPING ME HERE!!" Navel shouted as she got up, she dusted herself, and began searching for the suddenly missing twins, she found them hiding behind a rock at least five yards away.
"The boss sure has a talent to scream, over, she scared the hell out of me!" Pink said.
"Yeah, I felt the same! Over." Link answered.
Navel sweat dropped and bonked both twins' heads, "What are you doing!?"
"Nothing boss, over!" the twins answered at the same time.
"Aaargh! Stop talking like a walkie talkie already, will you!?"
"But we're not talking like a walkie talkie boss, over."
Navel shook her head, "I give up, you two are helpless!" She said, "Did you got the pictures?"
"Yes we did! Over." Pink said
"A whole roll of film! Over." Link finished.
"Good, now go and have the film developed, I'll wait for you in the Joketsuzoku monthly's offices."
"Yes boss, over!" The twins shouted and quickly headed to Yaocaicun.
Navel laughed. "Now he's mine Shampoo! And soon, you won't be able to do anything about it!" She shouted and laughed again.
Shampoo closed the Neko Hanten doors and sighed, today had been a very busy day and tomorrow would be worse, Ukyo caught a cold a few days ago and had closed her restaurant for the week, and so all of her customers had instead come to the Neko Hanten. Yes, it meant more money for her restaurant, but it also meant more work for her, and without Mousse here, all that work would have to be done by herself, after all, her father wasn't that good of a waiter, and her great-grandmother had made clear that she would never be a waitress, (the true was that Cologne knew her great-granddaughter attracted lots of male customers, and Mousse also had attracted a few girls from time to time, so, what right did she had to ruin the young customers illusions?), Shampoo entered the kitchen and saw her father, she had to talk to him, he had been acting weird since Mousse left and she was intrigued, very intrigued indeed.
"Father, are you OK?" Shampoo asked.
The man smiled when he heard the voice of his daughter, "Of course my girl! I'm feeling fine!"
"I don't think so father. You've been acting very strange since Mousse left."
"Have I really?" He joked.
"Yes father, you have, and I want to know why." Shampoo said seriously.
"There's nothing to say daughter." The man answered with a very concerned look, "Now please, leave your father alone."
Shampoo was startled, her father never denied anything to her, but this, what was so special that he couldn't tell her? She had to know, it was her right as an Amazon to be answered by any other man of the village, even if the man was her own father.
"Father, you know you have to tell me, it is written in the laws of Joketsuzoku."
"We're not in Joketsuzoku right now child, so I won't tell you."
The young Amazon took a depth breath and then exhaled, fine, if asking nicely didn't work, she would have to blackmail her father, "Father, you better tell me, or perhaps you want me to tell great-grandmother?"
The man sweated cold, "Are you blackmailing your own father?"
"Just a little."
Shampoo's father took a seat and invited his daughter to join him, "Fine, I'll tell you, but be aware that you probably won't like what you're about to hear."
The young Amazon smiled, "I'm not a little girl dad, if its bad, I'm sure I can handle it."
The man relaxed in his chair and lighted a cigarette, then, when he had smoked almost half of it, he spoke, "Shampoo, you love that Ranma boy a lot, right?"
"Yes, I love him very much." Shampoo answered and sneezed, that new brand of cigarettes her father was smoking right now smelled quite bad.
"I knew it, but I needed to hear it from you, since you and me hardly ever speak to each other, well, I had doubts about your feelings for him."
"Was that the reason why you were acting strange?"
"No, it was something else." The man paused, "Shampoo, how do you feel about Mousse?"
Shampoo blinked, not really understanding why was his father asking her that, "What?"
The man went to the freezer and grabbed a bottle of soda, "You know, I really like that boy, Mousse I mean, I think he would be a great husband."
"What?" Shampoo asked again, "Excuse me dad, but are you sure you're not sick?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Now answer me, how do you feel about him, do you really hate him?"
Shampoo lowered her eyes and for a moment, she was afraid of answering, "I..." She stopped, searching for the proper words to describe what she felt for Mousse, "I don't hate him, he's…he is my best friend, but he doesn't seem to understand it!"
The man opened the bottle and emptied it in one go, he threw it to the garbage can and then he spoke, "It's not that he's not understanding you daughter, it's you who is making him believe that he has a chance."
"That's a lie!"
"No, it's not, Shampoo, you may fool yourself, but you can't fool me or your great-grandmother."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have seen you with Mousse, I know he can be a pest, but for most of the time you two get along quite well, and you do smile to him more than what you might think."
"Shampoo never do that!" She said in her broken Japanese, "Shampoo only love Ranma!"
The man smiled, Shampoo was nervous, that was the only reason why she switched to Japanese, he had hit a sensible spot there, it made him feel guilty, but nobody said that being a father was easy. Besides, he wanted her daughter to be happy, and for that, he had to help Shampoo face her feelings, "I'm not saying that you love him, all I'm saying is that you do seem to feel something for him, something that's more than friendship maybe?" He answered still in Chinese.
"NO!! Shampoo no care about Mousse! Shampoo never cares for him!" She shouted rising from her chair, "Shampoo love and care for Ranma!"
"But what about him? Does he love you too, daughter?"
"Shampoo no answer that question!!" The blue haired girl angrily answered and exited the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
The man noticed his cigarette had burned all out by itself and sighing he lighted up another one, "Yes, it's hard to be a father, pretty hard."
"Are you sure this is for the best?"
Shampoo's father turned to the small window to his right, "Cologne."
The old Amazon jumped inside the kitchen and sat in front of her son in law, "I still don't know how I let you convince me."
"It's just because you too want Shampoo's happiness." The man said smiling.
"Maybe, but I'm still not sure, Ranma would be a great addition to our village."
"Yes, the only problem is that he doesn't want to marry my daughter, and I don't want him to hurt my Shampoo anymore!"
"And I assume that's why you think Mousse would be an adequate husband all of a sudden?" Cologne asked.
"No, I have liked that kid since I met him, maybe I like his stubbornness, reminds me of myself I guess."
Cologne Smiled, "Yes, you were very stubborn, fighting Shampoo's mother three hundred times before defeating her is a proof of that."
"See why I like the boy that much? He never gives up, I'm sure he'll draw with Saotome next time they fight! He won't fail I know it!"
"He'd better not." Cologne said seriously, "If I'm going to accept him as a part of our family, he better not."
"Don't worry, I'm sure the kid will do it." Shampoo's father said as he exited the kitchen, leaving Cologne alone.
"What's this?" Cologne wondered while examining one of the cigarettes her son in law had been smoking, that particular cigarette was black, and it smelled different to the brand Shampoo's father usually smoked. Cologne frowned in frustration when she recognized what she was smelling, the cigarette was made of the plant of the true heart, the smoke that plant emitted when burned was harmless for adults, but even a small dose caused hallucinations in kids and teenagers, forcing them face things they had buried deep in their hearts, "A dirty trick son in law, a very dirty trick indeed." Cologne said and bounced out of the kitchen, "I'll better keep an eye on Shampoo; the hallucinations could make her react violently."
"Damn!" Mousse thought, "This stinking Bamboo forest is thicker than I first thought! At this rate I'll never cross it!" The young man stopped, it was late already and he was exhausted, he wanted to reach the master's house this same day, but now it was impossible. After chopping down bamboo all day, his energy had been completely drained.
"Well, I guess I'll sleep here today." Mousse set up a fire and started heating some water for his instant Ramen, he was tired, but he still was hungry, when his dinner was ready and he was about to start eating, he heard something, a shy sound behind him, "A tiger?" Mousse asked himself, tigers were very rare in this area, but what else could it be? Monkeys?
"I'll better check it out" He thought and slowly walked to were the sound was coming from, when he was at leas two feet away, the noise stopped, Mousse held his breath and slowly approached the bushes, he reached for the cold leaves and slowly moved them aside…
"SURPRISE!!" A red and green blur shouted as it jumped above Mousse's head, knocking him down in the process.
"Hey!" Mousse shouted as he got up, but then, a munching sound made him sweat, he slowly turned to his small camp, and he saw that a kid wearing a large, red hood, probably six or seven years old was eating his ramen! His last Ramen!
SLURP! MUNCH! GULP!
"Boy that was good!" The little brat shouted when he finished what should have been Mousse's dinner, the kid noticed Mousse was staring at him, he smiled and asked the young man, "Hey mister, don't you have more Ramen? I'm still hungry!"
"You…you cursed brat!! That was the last of my food!!" Mousse screamed, "What am I supposed to eat now!!"
"Not my problem, see you later!" The kid said and slowly headed to the forest.
"No way kid! you're not getting away!" Mousse exclaimed and threw his chains, tying the kid before he escaped, "All right kiddo, you're mine now."
Mousse grabbed the kid and with a quick move, he soon had him hanging upside down from a tree, "Now kid, who in the hell are you to come here and steal my food!?"
The kid's eyes filled with tears, "But I was so hungry mister! My big brother and I haven't eaten in days!"
"Brother?"
"Yes! He's a strong martial artist and if you don't let me go he'll kick your ass real good!"
Mousse grinned, "Yeah right, I bet he will."
"I mean it! He really is strong! And he'll punish you when he finds about this!" The kid said while he struggled, trying to escape.
"We'll see about that tomorrow boy." Mousse said and walked to the small camp he'd set up sooner.
"You!" A man's voice called, "How dare you treat my sister like that!"
Mousse turned and saw what looked like a young man like himself, who also wore red and green Chinese clothes "Sister? You mean this boy is really a girl?"
The newcomer sweat dropped, "You didn't know?"
"No I didn't, but in that case, I'll let her go." Mousse untied the girl and let her down on the floor, "There girl, you're all set, now let's see what your brother has to say about what you did."
"Brother, help me! This guy's a pervert! He said dirty things to me!" The girl shouted and ran to her brother's arms.
"Is that true stranger?"
"OF COURSE NOT!! Your sister is lying!" Mousse argued.
The girl's brother stared coldly at Mousse, "I don't believe you, you do have the face of a pervert! Prepare to be punished!" He said adopting a fighting stance Mousse had never seen before.
"Hey wait, there's no need for this!" Mousse said.
"Shut up, you pervert! I'll teach you hang girls upside down!" The mysterious boy shouted and charged, throwing loads of punches to Mousse at a very high speed.
Mousse dodged all of the blows, he had already faced Ranma's amaguriken and this punches, while fast, were nothing near the speed Saotome's punches could reach, in fact, for Mousse it was as if this boy was moving in slow motion. He smiled, the guy was good, but not good enough, and taking advantage of a pretty obvious opening in his adversary's defense, Mousse kneed his opponent's jaw, sending him crashing in a near tree, "Now, will you calm down and listen?" He asked.
"Never! I'll never admit defeat from a pervert like you!" The boy said, shaking his head to fight dizziness, "You are a strong fighter, but I'm not defeated yet!" He shouted, taking out a water canteen.
"What's he doing?" Mousse thought, "A water canteen? Could it be that he was Jusenkyo cursed too?" That was bad, if he was cursed and willing to use his cursed form in a fight, that could mean only one thing, it meant that this guy didn't turn into a silly rabbit! Mousse threw a knife to break the canteen but he did it to late, the knife did broke the canteen, but the boy had already splashed himself with cold water…
GROOOAAARRR!!
Mousse was paralyzed, his adversary had turned himself into a freaking, enormous, white tiger!! This was not good, a normal tiger was dangerous, but a tiger with a human mind was ten times worse. As he circled the huge feline, trying to find a way to knock him out fast, Mousse searched for his trusty hen inside his sleeves, he hadn't use it in months, but he expected that this plan would work.
In Joketsuzoku, Navel was smiling with joy, in her hands she had the first copy of next month's Joketsuzoku monthly, and its contents couldn't be more perfect, in the front page was a picture of her being defeated by Mousse, and the article described how Mousse had won their fight, an interview with the witnesses of the duel Pink and Link was also included, not to mention a full review of the wedding Navel's family was planning, and bios of her and Mousse were in the social pages, they even put some file pictures the newspaper had! And finally, an article Navel wrote herself, explaining how Mousse finally realized that chasing Shampoo was a waste of time and how he had challenged her to a battle he barely won.
"Yes! This will do fine, I wonder what will Shampoo do when she reads all this? Will she come back?" She asked to the mirror in her room, "I don't think so, Pink and Link told me she was all over that weird boy, what was his name? Lan-ma? Oh, who cares! Mousse is mine and that's all that matters!" She said and turned off the lights of her bedroom, and when she covered her body with her sheets, she smiled, for this time, she had won, and Shampoo couldn't do anything about it.
Shampoo couldn't sleep, a strange feeling had been bothering her the last few hours, she got up and opened the window of her bedroom, maybe a little fresh air could help her get rid of the feeling. Through the open window, Shampoo gazed at the stars and suddenly found herself thinking about Mousse again, she hated it, she had been thinking about him more and more since he left, she hadn't told that to her dad, as if it wasn't bad enough that her father thought Mousse would be a good husband for her, Mousse was stupid, the only one for her was Ranma, he was the man who had defeated her and…
"You can fool yourself, but not me." Her father's voice resounded in her mind, Shampoo shook her head to dissipate the thought, what had been that?
"You know it better than no one else Shampoo, how long will you hold on to a lie?" This time, the voice that echoed in her mind was not her father's, it was her own!
"We love him, that's true, but he doesn't love us, he probably thinks we're a nuisance, a girl with no honor." This time Shampoo had to close her eyes and grit her teeth firmly to shut the voice in her mind, she couldn't accept that, Ranma would love her one day, he will realize she was the best one, not Akane, Ukyo or Kodachi, she was the best for him! She could be both a warrior and a housewife, and that was something none of her competitors could do, Akane would never be a proper wife, Ukyo was too tomboyish for her own good, and Kodachi, well, Kodachi was a maniac, and still, Ranma never really noticed how perfect for him she was, he always ran away from her babbling excuses, he never cared about the way she always expressed her love for him, he never hugged her back, he just ignored her when she was only trying to win his affection.
"See? You admit it, he doesn't love us, we're little more than a friend for him, shouldn't we go back to our real home?" The voice said again, using a tone that teased Shampoo's soul.
"SHUT UP!! Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup!!" Shampoo thought, "I don't want to hear you, shut up!"
"I won't, you have to face this; you have to face what you already know in your heart!"
"I don't want to!" Shampoo whispered and she kneeled besides the window, hiding her face in her hands, "I can't face it, I can't do it!"
"Yes you can! If you can live with a lie, then you can face the truth!" The voice said.
"NO! I won't listen to you anymore! You're hurting me!"
"You are hurting yourself, is it so hard to give up on him?"
"I can't give up on him! Ranma is the man I have loved the most! I even love him more than….." Shampoo stopped, she noticed her hands were wet with tears, she dried them in her nightgown, she closed her eyes, and then she pleaded, "Please, please leave me alone, I can't take this anymore, it hurts so much to admit it, please go away…"
"How can you beg your own essence to stop? You have to embrace her, it's the best for you!" The voice replied, this time, the voice sounded a lot like her mother.
"Mo...mother? Is it you?"
"Yes it is me my child." the voice said.
Shampoo opened her eyes and saw her mother standing next to her, "I miss you mother; I want to be with you again, I want to be in Joketsuzoku again, I want to stop all this nonsense, but I can't."
"Yes you can Shampoo, you can do anything you want."
"No I can't, I'm useless mother, I'm lonely, I'm not happy, and I can't even get what I want! Then how will I stop all this?"
The voice remained silent.
"Mother?" Shampoo asked, fearing that even her mother would abandon her, "Mother!"
"You can do it Shampoo, when you let the feelings you have so long repressed to come out, when you have the courage to admit what you know is correct, then you will be able to finish with this that so much suffering has caused you, I only pray that you do it soon, or else, it will be to late." Then, her mother kneeled besides her and kissed her forehead, fading little by little as she did so, until it completely disappeared, leaving Shampoo alone, crying in front of her window.
Shampoo wiped her tears and smiled, "Thank you mother, I won't disappoint you, I promise." She whispered and then, she fainted.
The tiger was moving towards Mousse slowly, its head almost touching the floor, but its eyes set firmly in its prey, the beast lowered its body and Mousse knew the tiger was about to jump at him, probably aiming for his throat. Mousse gasped, he had three eggs in his right hand, which was still hiding in his sleeve, he planned to stuck the eggs in the animal's mouth hoping for the smoke to confuse it, but his aim had to be perfect, if he failed, there would be blood, most certainly his blood.
The tiger growled and jumped, its eyes, claws and fangs shined in the dim light provided by the fire Mousse had set up earlier, Mousse set his feet firmly on the ground and smiled, the tiger had his jaws wide open, just what he wanted, "Eat this cat!!" Mousse shouted and with a quick move of his right arm, three little black eggs were thrown straight to the tiger's mouth, exploding inside the animals throat, the beast landed poorly where Mousse had been standing just a fraction of a second before, smoke coming out of its mouth, the tiger was disoriented, its throat and eyes were sore.
"Brother look out! He's coming from your left!" The little girl who had been only watching the fight shouted, the tiger tried to move out of the way but it was too late, Mousse slammed a giant steel hammer in the tiger's left flank, which knocked out the beast immediately.
"Ha! That was easy!" Mousse said, "I thought that someone who could transform into a tiger would be a better opponent."
"You killed him!" The little girl shouted, kneeling besides the unconscious tiger.
"Of course not, he's just going to sleep for a while."
"Really?"
"I didn't have any reason to kill him, now, let's use some hot water to turn your brother back into a human, I want to ask him something." Mousse said and went to the fire, picking up a kettle filled with hot water.
"Do you know about Jusenkyo too?" The girl asked.
"Yes, I do." Mousse answered as he poured the hot water on the tiger's head.
"AAAHH! That was very hot you idiot!!" The now not so unconscious tiger-boy shouted.
Mousse smiled, "You shouldn't complain, you lost the fight remember?"
"But you cheated!" The boy argued and jumped back on his feet.
Mousse smiled again and pointed down, "And you call me pervert? Jumping around naked in front of your little sister, who's the pervert, huh?"
"GAAH!!" The boy shouted and jumped behind a tree, "You enjoy embarrassing me in front of my sister!?"
"You're the one who did it all!" Mousse replied, "Here." He said and threw a blanket to the tiger-boy.
Five minutes later, all had been explained, the tiger-boy forced his sister to apologize to Mousse and the three were now chatting around the fire, "By the way, I'm Mousse, what's your name?" Mousse asked to the siblings.
"I'm Mei Baoliang!" The girl said.
"And I am Sei Baoliang, we are the inheritors of the Baoliang School of martial arts, not-blind style."
"Baoliang? Not-blind style? I've never heard of that school."
"Of course not, it's a family secret!" Mei said.
"But you're the only one who had ever defeated me." Sei sadly commented.
"Grandpa will be very angry at us." Mei announced.
"Don't tell me about it Mei." Sei said, "Anyway, we have to go, say good bye Mei."
Mei apologized again to Mousse and bowed, then she ran to catch up with her brother, who was already walking away, "Mousse, you owe me another fight, don't forget it!" Sei shouted before he and his sister disappeared into the bamboo forest.
"Shampoo!!"
Cologne rushed inside her great-granddaughter's bedroom, she had come to check on Shampoo, fearing that the hallucinations caused by the smoke of the true heart plant would be too much for Shampoo when she heard a loud crash. Now inside Shampoo's room, Cologne was kneeling besides the blue haired girl. Shampoo was in a deep slumber, and her face showed no discomfort, the crash Cologne had heard had been caused by a ceramic pot Shampoo had in her drawer, apparently, Shampoo hit the drawer with her body and that caused the pot to fall, fortunately, Shampoo wasn't hurt. Cologne struggled a little with the girl before she could put her in her bed, then as she picked up the pieces of the broken pot, Cologne found something, it was a small envelope, obviously it was inside the pot, the envelope was folded so you couldn't see what it was written on it.
The elder Amazon opened the small envelope and pulled out a piece of old rugged paper, she unfolded it and found a message, more than that, an invitation, and judging by the writing, the sender had been Mousse. Cologne read the letter, it was an invitation to Joketsuzoku's annual festival from almost four years ago, Cologne remembered that she had missed that festival, she had been visiting Yaocaicun's elders at the time, but this letter, she knew it was special, Why? The old Amazon noticed a short note written at the end of the letter, it was Shampoo's writing, the note said:
I'm so confused, my heart is still beating so fast of excitement. I do wish all have ended today between Mousse and I don't I? We were so close! Why did those stupid twins had to show up just then? Now I'll never know what it feels to
The note ended there, obviously something had interrupted Shampoo, and she had never tried to finish it again, but why did she wrote the note here, Shampoo had a diary.
"A diary I use to read from time to time." Cologne thought, she did peeked Shampoo's diary, but it was only so she could know how to help her little girl in case something were wrong, but this note, it proved her that Shampoo knew about her reading her diary, that was why she wrote that note here wasn't it?
Anyway, what was Shampoo talking about? Excitement? and what was that thing about the twins? The only twins there at the time were Ran-Ran and Lin-Lin. This was a mystery, but it was one that Shampoo had choose to hide from her, so she would respect her great-granddaughter wish, this secret will remain untouched by her, Cologne sighed, she hated not to know everything about Shampoo, but her little girl was now a woman and she had to let her go. Cologne slowly put the letter back in its envelope and placed it in the middle of the broken pot pieces, she gave Shampoo a last glance, and then, she left the room, hopefully Shampoo would never now she had been there.
Mousse stretched himself out, miraculously, he had had a good night of sleep, but his stomach was still claiming for food.
"Just my luck, now that I have no food, I'll have to hunt for something to eat." Mousse said as he picked up his camp, readying himself for the next part of his travel, he was so busy that he didn't notice the shadow that was watching him.
"Wake up Pink! He's moving!" Link said.
"…Uh?…He's moving already?"
"Yes he is! Hurry up, over!" Link scolded and dragged her sister out of her futon.
"All right, all right! You don't have to drag me like that! Over."
"Then move!"
Minutes later, Pink and Link were following Mousse from a prudent distance, they didn't want to fight with him. It wasn't their work after all, they were paid only to track him down and report his final destination to Navel, which had proven to be a very easy task, since Mousse was not expecting anyone to follow him, "Hey Link! Remember that fight Mousse had last night? Over."
"Yes I do, over, it was pretty scary, over."
"Of course it was! Over, that tiger-boy was really something! Over."
"I hope we won't met him again, over."
"Uh? Where's Mousse? Over." Link asked.
The twins looked around, somehow Mousse had disappeared, "EEEK! We have to find him fast! Over." Pink shouted, "The boss will hit us if we loose him! Over"
"You're right, and when the boss is mad, she's even worst than Shampoo! Over."
"Look he's there! Over." Pink shouted and pointed to a near cliff.
"And how the hell did he got there so fast!? Over."
"Who cares! Over, we've got to catch up with him before we lose him! Over."
Pink and Link nodded to each other and ran towards the cliff, they had to see were Mousse was going to, if they failed, Navel would be angry, and that was something both twins wanted to avoid at all costs.
Mousse finally reached the top of the cliff he was climbing, he looked down and sighed. He wiped away the sweat and began to walk again, too bad he wasn't wearing his glasses, or else, he would have seen that two girls were slowly climbing the cliff, following him.
Mousse put his glasses back on and checked his map, he was now only a few miles away from his destiny, the Kai-Yuang valley, in the middle of the Bayankara Mountains, he smiled and after putting the map back on his sleeves, Mousse increased his speed. With luck, he would be able to arrive there before noon, and the sooner he started training with the mysterious teacher, the better.
"Hey, were is he?" Pink asked, she had been the first of the twins to reach the peak of the cliff, but Mousse was nowhere near. Pink sweat dropped when she realized Mousse was already pretty far from them.
"Oh, damn! Is he out of reach again!? Over." Link complained.
"He's over there. Over." Pink answered, pointing to the horizon.
Link stared to where her sister pointed, her eyes about to shed gallons of tears, "That's not fair! Over, we've worked so hard and that jerk just keep letting us behind! Over."
"We should quit, over." Pink said.
"You want to face Navel's wrath? Over." Link answered.
Pink paled, "No thank you! Over."
"Then we have to continue, let's go! Over." Link said.
"Yeah, let's go." Pink answered and both twins forced themselves to run in the same direction Mousse had gone.
Shampoo was training, she hadn't trained properly since she came to Japan, and she was losing shape, she needed to be at her best if she was going to accomplish her plan, she had devised it last night in her dreams, somehow the idea just popped in her mind, like if it had been there for weeks just waiting for the adequate moment to show up, she will not only fix her situation with Ranma, she would also make up for him for all the times she had caused him trouble, she was, after all, the only one that could do it. She would face Ukyo and Kodachi in combat, Ranma being the prize for the winner, and for Akane, Shampoo sighed, she was the only one she couldn't hurt, but that was only a momentary problem. She would think about something, she always did.
"Shampoo! We have lots of customers, stop doing that and come back here!" Cologne ordered.
"Coming!" Shampoo answered, she hated to stop her training, but she couldn't defy her great-grandmother, especially since she had been checking on her all day. Shampoo wondered if that was somehow connected with her favorite ceramic pot being broken this morning? Shampoo hoped not, she had hidden the envelope again, but what if Cologne had read it? That would be disaster, and as the young Amazon entered the restaurant area, she decided not to think about it, but still, the doubt lurked on her mind for the rest of the day.
After running almost the whole day, Mousse finally arrived to the Kai-Yuang valley, but as he examined the place he got filled with despair. Nothing was there, not a house, not anyone, just a large, rectangular valley circled by a tall wall of rocks in three of its sides, with grass covering all of it, a stupid stream crossing the far left end of it, and a huge cave.
No, Mousse stopped for a minute, there was a faint smell coming out of the cave, Mousse analyzed the smell, was it Miso soup? Yes it was Miso! Someone was cooking it inside the cave! Mousse walked there slowly, if the one who was cooking the soup was the master he was searching for, he didn't want to interrupt him in the middle of his dinner so…
"Who are you?" An unknown male voice asked.
Mousse turned, scared of the man behind him, Mousse couldn't see him very well because he wasn't wearing his glasses, but still, he hadn't hear him approach and that was nearly impossible!
"I asked you a question! Answer me!" The man demanded.
"I…I am Mousse sir, from Joketsuzoku, The Amazon village." Mousse managed to say.
"I have no business with you or your village, go away!"
"But sir, I'm looking for someone."
"And who is that person you're looking for?"
"He's a great martial artist, and I want to be his student." Mousse answered.
"Is that so…"
"Hey grandpa! The Miso is ready!"
Mousse turned towards the cave, "Mei? What are you doing here?"
The girl blinked in surprise, but then she smiled, "Hey Mousse, hello! Did you came to visit us?"
Mousse sweat dropped, and pointed the man behind him, "Is he your grandfather Mei?"
"Yes he is, why?"
"Mei, what's taking you so long! Call grandpa! the soup is getting co…" Sei blinked just as his sister did and then he added, "Mousse! What do you want here! Did you came to fight me one more time?"
Sei! Is this the man who defeated you?" The man who was still behind Mousse asked.
Sei kneeled and bowed, "Yes grandpa, I apologize again, but if you let me I shall fix that mistake right now!"
The man smiled, "Don't bother Sei, I the great master Shi Baoliang will fix that myself." Then, the man turned to face Mousse, "You! You said you wanted to be my student, didn't you?"
Mousse gulped, he was sure now that Sei and Mei's grandfather was the master he had been looking for, and since he defeated Sei, he had insulted his family honor, which could only mean that he would challenge him.
"Answer me! Did you wanted to be my student or not?"
"Yes, yes I want to be your student!"
"But you defeated my grandson in a fight, and he is my best student."
"I'm sorry." Mousse said.
"I heard that you defeated him even in his tiger form, is that true?"
"Yes I did."
"Excellent! I have a deal for you, do you want to hear it?"
Mousse nodded, "Yes."
"Good, now listen, since you defeated Sei, that means that you are very strong already, are you not?"
"I guess I am." Mousse answered.
"Fine, look boy, I'm not taking students right now, but I'm willing to do an exception in your case. All you have to do is fight me, and if I think you're good enough, I'll let you be my disciple, deal?"
Mousse smiled, "Deal! But I warn you, I won't hold back!"
"Neither will I, are you ready?"
"Anytime you want."
"All right then, HAVE AT YOU!" the man shouted and jumped towards Mousse….
To be concluded…
Well this is it for now, it seems Mousse is in a tight spot, yes I know he had to fight a lot in this chapter, but it was necessary for the plot, now for the conclusion, We'll see more about Shampoo, and how her plan will unfold, we will also see her reaction when she reads a special edition of a certain newspaper from a certain Amazon village, and Navel will have to go to Japan! Oh yes, I forgot, we'll also see the outcome of the battle between Mousse and master Shi, but I believe you're already guessing don't you? OK, see you on part two!
Facer.