Disclaimer: I still don't own Ranma1/2.
Summery: After the Mousse incident, Ryouga's trying to get away from everything so he can find out why he's suddenly so distracted around Shampoo. Unknown to him, Shampoo's tracking along, intent on paying back the honor debt she owes him.
[Sign]
(Thoughts)
SOUNDS
Flashback
/Chinese/
Unlikely Couple
Part VIII
Troubles with a shower
====================================
Walking through the corridor with a feeling of utter dismay, Shampoo-cat meowed loudly as she looked up at the door in front of her as she popped her claws out and began to scratch the door to get Ryouga's attention before she was kicked out of the inn for being a cat.
Inside the room, Ryouga sighed as he sat up form the bed, one hand pushing a wild lock of hair away from his eyes as he rolled over on the bed and stood up. "I'm coming" Keeping his eyes on the wooden door, Ryouga grimaced as he struggled to make his way through the room.
Outside the door, Shampoo debated with herself if she should risk getting heard by the old lady if it could make Ryouga open the door at a much faster pace. Even as she lifted up her front paws to hit the wood again, the door began to move as Ryouga looked out into the hallway. "Meow!"
Turning his head down, Ryouga shook his head as he picked up the pink cat from the ground. "Cold water huh?" Placing her on the bed, after nearly getting sidetracked out the door two times, Ryouga pulled open his backpack and lifted up a thermos from the inside. "This is the last one, so be careful with it."
Giving him a glare at the tone of his voice a she spoke, Shampoo-cat jumped down onto the floor, and waited for the hot water to hit her. She didn't have to wait very long as the water hit her head and back, soaking her fur and making her feel even more damp and miserable then before.
But it was good to be back in her cat form. Blinking her eyes, Shampoo-cat yowled for all she was worth as she turned to face Ryouga who had turned pale as well, his eyes moving to the thermos and the water on the ground. "I don't understand, it was hot when I made it yesterday..." Trailing off, Ryouga reached down a finger and quickly jabbed it at the water in the bottle. "Damn it, its only lukewarm."
Re-screwing the lid onto the thermos, Ryouga stood up and grabbed Shampoo-cat from the ground, trying to hold onto her as she began to squirm in his arms. "Hey, you want to get changed back, we have to find hot water." Feeling her relax, Ryouga grinned a bit as he looked down at her. "Now where's the bathroom?"
Giving a loud yowl and sending her claws into Ryouga's leg, Shampoo glared up at him as he was staring down the wrong end of the hallway, her tail moving in the air a bit as he gave a deep sigh of defeat and turned around on the spot, stopping as he faced their room, giving her a quick look from the corner of his eyes.
Ready to sigh as well, Shampoo jumped up on his shoulder and pointed in the right direction with her front paw, nearly running it down under his nose to reach the right direction.
Turning his head in the direction she had pointed out, Ryouga nodded as he began to walk in it, giving a small grunt every time he felt Shampoo correct it with a poke of a claw on his chin. Finally reaching the door into the shower room, he pulled it open and shut a look into the place.
The shower were still running and a small puddle had formed on the ground from it, but that wasn't the main problem, looking closer at the shower tap, Ryouga shook his head as there was no way he could reach it without turning into P-Chan.
On his shoulder, Shampoo cat hissed a bit as she stared at the damn source of her current misery, the water not really the problem, but the cursed form it carried with it, a sign of her weakness, her humiliation and fall from grace.
Still thinking of the problem with the cold water, Ryouga gave a deep growl as only one real solution came to mind, one he hadn't really considered since he had promised himself not to use that technique again, ever. Moving down a hand, he grabbed his belt and undid the knot on it, holding it in front of him as he used his Chi to form it into a sharp, longer version of his bandannas.
Staring at the belt sword, Shampoo nearly fell of his shoulder as she wondered if her great grandmother knew the lost boy had mastered the Iron Cloth Technique. "Meow?" Turning her head to face Ryouga, she blinked when she saw a deep concentration on his face as he stared at the shower tap.
Then the lose boy lashed out with his belt, watching as it snapped around the cold water tap as he willed the belt to become soft for a second, long enough to get the end of the belt to get a good enough hold of it for the rest of his plan to work.
Shampoo blinked and shook her head as the belt turned hard again, enough to allow Ryouga to move the end of the belt in his hand to turn off the water. Letting a few drops of cold water drop to puddle of the ground before he nodded to himself at his work.
"There." Pulling Shampoo off his shoulder, he placed her on the ground and pulled his belt free, re tying it around his pants waist line, grinning a bit as he reached an arm to turn on the hot water tap, pulling hsi hand out as fast as he could as the water started to run down in a steady stream. "I'll be waiting back at the room." Ryouga added as he turned around, pulling off his shirt and dumping it on the floor near shampoo. "Sorry about your shirt and pants."
Staring after Ryouga as he stumbled off in the right direction, Shampoo shook her head and reached in a front paw to test the water, grinning as it had already begun to warm up enough for her change back. Then she spotted the fine silk lying under the puddle and gave a loud angry howl as she recognized her own clothes.
Above her, Ryouga stared at the clothes and then down at the pink cat. Shaking his head as a small tendril of blood flowed out of his nose at some of the more X rated thoughts that popped up in his head. "Must stay faithful to Akane." Still, it was a bit tempting to... "Damn it." Ryouga muttered out as he carefully reached down to guess the temperature of the water without triggering his own curse. "Lukewarm."
Shampoo nodded at his words as she moved a bit away form the water. Her cat body starting to get a bit heavy with the water it had soaked up. "Meow!" Placing one paw in the general direction of her clothes, Shampoo shot Ryouga a glare, daring him to fail in figuring out what it was she wanted.
Staring at her with as he felt rather tired. Ryouga slowly nodded as he had spent enough times in a similar position to know what she was complaining about. "I'll go and get your spare clothes." Turning around, he blinked as he found himself face to face with the wall. "Hey, where' the door."
On the ground, Shampoo growled a bit as she snapped her claws out and into his leg, blinking as all she could feel where the cloth of his pants and some rather powerful lower leg muscles under it. "Meow?!" Looking up, she noticed that he had turned his eyes back to her. "Meow, Rrr, pfff Meow!"
"Huh?" Ryouga replied as he shot a look at Shampoo who had gone off into a speech while in her cat form. The complete meanings of her words missing him, as he couldn't even begin to guess what she was saying to him.
Finally grumbling a bit, Shampoo turned around and poked a paw into the water again, sighing a bit as she heard Ryouga turn around in a haste behind her. Stepping further out into the water, her head dropped down as her body didn't tingled with the feeling of her curse getting deactivated until she was hit by cold water again.
"Hey you, young man."
Turning his head, Ryouga stared at the old woman as she moved down through the hallway. Her eyes half closed, as she held onto a small candle light in one hand and a small cane in the other. "Yes, ma'am?"
Stopping near the bathroom she stared into it for a small second as she could have sworn something pink moved out of her line of sight. "I've turned off the hot water for the night." Seeing his puzzled expression, she shook her head a bit and pointed up at a thick rusted steel pipe running across the ceiling. "It costs to much to have it turned on doing the summer, the heats seeps out through those things doing the night and costs me a fortune."
Nodding a bit as he looked down from the ceiling, Ryouga sighed a bit and rubbed a hand on his neck. "Okay. Well, I'll just pick up my bathing stuff and head back to my room then." Reaching into the room, Ryouga quickly piled the Chinese shirt and pants combo together while ignoring the pink underwear that had started to slip out from the shirt and pants. "Goodnight!" The last was aimed at the old lady who had started to walk down the hallway.
Ducking out into view as soon as the old woman had left, Shampoo looked up at Ryouga who shrugged at her as he stood up. Carefully keeping the soaked outfit away from him. "Sorry, guess you're stuck like that for now OW!" The last bit was added Shampoo sank her claws into the flesh on his hand while hissing at him.
Turning her back to him, she moved out of the bathroom, with the level of arrogance that only a cat could show in a situation like that. Her eyes flashing a bit as she shot a quick look back at him before taking off down the hallway.
Nursing his hand for a bit, Ryouga shook his head as he carefully placed the clothes into the small bucket holding all of Shampoo's bathing stuff. "Crazy Amazon girl." He muttered out while standing up, closing the door to the bathroom as he walked out into the corridor.
"Meow!!"
Turning around as an angry cat voice rang out behind him. The pink tail of Shampoo's cat form slipped into their room with a quick movement up ahead of him. "Oh." Muttering out the word, Ryouga walked up to the room and stepped into it. Placing the bucket with the wet clothes on the floor next to the window, staring at the curled up form of Shampoo on the other bed in the room before he shook his head and sat about wringing out the water from her shirt and pant's.
TBC: Finally we're out of that crazy place.
AN: A short chapter. And not even with the title it was meant to have. There are two reasons for this. One, I'm suffering with a bad case of writers block with this story. Two, it's been over half a year since I last put out something for it.