Chapter Two: The Cinder Girl

(Note: this chapter from Shampoo's point of view is obviously not written in her normal speaking style. The reason is that, as has been mentioned by other writers, her Chinese is perfectly normal. I assume she thinks in Chinese, therefore all that she is thinking is being transcribed in good English. Also because it would be a real pain to write the whole chapter in Shampoo-onics. Her dialogue, however, is still in the usual bad grammatic form.)

I hummed to myself as I washed the dishes from our lunch-hour rush. Everything was so, so perfect! The Tendo's were throwing a party to determine who would marry Ranma . . . I knew, just knew, that I would win him! "Grandmother!" I called. "What we do at party to win Ranma heart?"

Grandmother was rummaging through one of our kitchen cabinets. "Well, child, I have thought that through, and I think that it will be necessary to take Akane out of action."

"How do that?"

Grandmother looked very pleased. "There is one of my potions I have not yet told you about. It is called The Hundred Year Sleep. Meanwhile, you will be able to win Ranma's heart without any distractions."

"That too, too good idea," I agreed. Then I stopped. "What we do about Spatula Girl?"

"I'm making enough of the potion for her as well," Grandmother said with a knowing smile. "I haven't bothered with making any for Kodachi. She is not a threat."

I smiled brilliantly. "Party be so much fun! But what Shampoo to wear . . . ?"

In the end, it was Grandmother who found me something to wear. And it was the most beautiful dress in the world! I knew the moment I saw it, that Ranma would finally fall in love with me, once he saw me in this dress. It was red silk and cut in the style of my home, but hundreds of red feathers were stitched to it so they dangled, turning the arms of the dress into wings. With it on my bed, Grandmother placed a mask studded with rubies. It was designed to look like the face of a hawk, but all red. Then she set down the final and most beautiful part of my costume. They were shoes, the same red as the dress, but translucent. They were made of glass!

"Oh, so pretty!" I said. "Just Shampoo size too!"

Great Grandmother chuckled. "Those are magical shoes, Shampoo. They were your mother's and before that her mother's, and before that mine, going back ten generations. Whoever first dances with you while you wear them will be destined to marry you, and the shoes will aim all their power to seeing you married. So make sure you dance with the right man."

"Yes, Great Grandmother." I ran my fingers along the silk of the dress and the glass of the shoes, secure in the knowledge that at last Ranma would be mine. The Violent Girl and the Spatula Girl couldn't compete with magical shoes, and even if they could, they were going to be fast asleep, while I wooed Ranma.

"Now, grand-daughter, I want you to put all your effort into ensnaring son-in-law. Dance with him first, then draw him off and talk to him. The shoes will work a glamour on him, so that he will see how beautiful you are. Extract from him a promise to marry you and come back to China with you."

I nodded. "But what about potion?"

She smiled. "I shall insure that it finds its way into the correct cups. You are not to get involved in that. If this fails, son-in-law will blame only me. You should direct all your energy to winning his heart."

I preferred that anyway. I could spend the whole evening with Ranma!

The days until the party went by so, so slowly, that I wondered if the day would ever come. Part of why they went so slowly was that nothing was happening. Grandmother had told me to leave Ranma alone, so that he would not expect me to cause any trouble at the party. I think the other girls were employing a similar strategy, because they left him alone too. Everything was quiet. Even Mousse left me alone. All there was to do was wait tables and plan for the party.

At last the day came and grandmother shooed Mousse out of the house, so that we could prepare for the party undisturbed. I bathed and combed out my hair, leaving it completely loose. I did not even tie up the usual two buns on either side of my face. There was no need for make-up, because the mask would cover my face, so I merely slipped into the dress and shoes, then secured the mask.

"How I look, Grandmother?" I inquired cheerfully.

"Hmmm." She studied me. "You will do, child, you will do. Do you not want to wear some perfume?"

I shook my head. "No. Ranma no like. He think Shampoo up to something if wear perfume."

She nodded agreement. "He would, wouldn't he? Well, now that you're ready, I'll put on my own mask." With those words, she slipped a mask over her own face. Like mine, it was the face of a bird, but an owl rather than a hawk.

"We go now?" I ask hopefully,

We went!

The familiar Tendo yard had been filled with lanterns, and Kasumi had managed to transform the house into something strange and magical. there was something different about the light, and there were strange sparkling things -- tinsel? -- decorating the rooms. Grandmother and I were fashionably on time, but other guests had clearly arrived before we had.

In the costumes and masks, at first I could not recognize anyone. It was like being in a room full of strangers, but at last I caught sight of a familiar braid hanging down someone's back. Ranma! I pushed my way through the crowd. "Ai ren!"

The figure turned around to face me. He was dressed a silvery-white Chinese shirt and pants of finer material than usual, and his face was covered by a white-feather falcon's mask. We even matched. This was too, too good luck. Destiny must have played a part. "Sh- Shampoo?"

"Yes! Ranma dance with Shampoo!" I wrapped my arms around him to make sure he didn't get away. He always tries to, and if you let him, he's gone before you get the chance to kiss him. And where is the fun in that?

Fortunately, Ranma seemed to be in a more accommodating mood that usual, because he did not attempt to run. The shoes must have already been working their magic. "Alright, Shampoo. But . . . what about Akane?"

"Ha!" I seized his hands and pulled him towards the area where other couples were dancing. "You no worry about violent girl! You dance with Shampoo!"

Matching the movements of the other dancers I took one of his hands in mine and placed the other firmly on my hip. "Now we dance!"

"Um . . . okay."

So we danced for a long time! I could feel the magic in the slippers working. Tingles swept through my entire body at the touch of his hands. He drew me closer to him. I knew that the magic was working on him, too. We danced, and I waited for the magic to bind him to me so tightly that he would never, ever try to escape again.

Finally, when I was sure the magic was finished working, I said, "Ranma?"

"Shampoo," he murmured.

"You come back to China with Shampoo?"

He stopped dancing and looked down at me. I couldn't see his eyes clearly behind the mask, but it still felt like I was being stared at. "I will, Shampoo."

"Marry Shampoo?"

"I promise," he said. "Promise me too."

"Shampoo promise!"

Beneath the mask, I knew he was smiling. The slippers had worked! At last, Ranma was mine!

Ranma grabbed my shoulder. "Shampoo, let's go outside. I need to tell you something."

I thought he was looking at something over my shoulder. I tried to look, but he pulled me after him. All I saw was more people dancing. So, I let him take me outside to the porch of the Tendo's house. Here he sat down and sighed. "I've been lying to you."

A shudder of fear ran through me. Was something wrong with the shoes? I still felt immensely drawn to him, my body trembling with longing. But maybe their effect had worn off on Ranma. Great Grandmother had said that the shoes would bind our destinies and ensure that I would marry the first man I danced with, but maybe . . . they were old shoes. Were they getting worn out? Maybe the magic only worked while we were dancing. "Shampoo want dance more!" I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him back towards the crowded room, but he didn't budge.

"No, Shampoo, you deserve to know the truth."

Behind the mask, I was close to tears. "Ranma . . . Ranma not want marry Shampoo?"

"No . . . well, yes. Ranma not want marry Shampoo." He took off the mask. "He loves Akane, Shampoo. Not you. But I do, and I love you, and I will marry you, and please marry me instead."

It was Mousse. Of course, of course, it had been Mousse. Ranma would never have danced with me like that, would never have made the promise so readily. I pulled my mask off and through it at him. The mask had been weighted and some of the inside edges were sharpened. Even with our plans, I would never have dreamed of going to the Tendo's home unarmed. And I ran off into the night. I had promised Mousse that I would marry him, and the slippers would be working all their magic to make sure that I did. How had everything gone so wrong?