Hi! It's me again, Dion Starfire with another installment of A MOUSSE SPURNED. It took me a month to write this chapter and thank god! I think this turned out to be some of my best writing. I ended up rewriting it five times though and the last time I wrote it in third person. The reason being is I couldn't express other characters' feelings accurately through Mousse. I'm glad I redid this chapter though, it wouldn't have been as long as it is. It started to be nine pages but after the rewrites it grew into twenty or so pages. I hope you like it. So as always I'd like to say a few words to my readers. For all those who preread the last chapter and replied WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! Thank you; it shows me that my work is being enjoyed. I appreciate all the letters I've been getting. I know I started this series with a serious tone to it and it'll always have a serious tone so get used to it. However, it'll have its funny parts, so don't get all gloomy on me, okay? So, without further eloquence, here is chapter three of A MOUSSE SPURNED. Enjoy! Yours in insanity, or sanity, depends on your point of view. Dion Starfire (D.S.) P.S. If anyone can translate the title into Japanese. Please write me. Arigato. P.P.S. I almost forgot to tell you I didn't like the way I did the Chinese translations in the first two chapters so when Chinese is spoken it will be between *and* and thoughts will be in (and). STUDIO FAN PRESENTS Mousse No Kyozetsu Suru A MOUSSE SPURNED A fanfiction by Dion Starfire All copyrights belong to Rumiko Takahasi and Viz Distributing Co. CHAPTER 3 - GOODBYE, I HAVE A DATE. *Mousse! Are you up there? * Mousse woke up to a loud banging coming from the hatch to his apartment. *Yes! Who is it? * *Shampoo!* *What is it, my love? * Mousse said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. *Don't call me that. Are you ever going to get up? I've been calling you for the last hour.* (For the last hour? How long was I out? That dream! That was a dream, wasn't it?) *What time is it?* He asked as Shampoo came up through the hatch into his room. *It's eight. We got to get ready for the morning customers. * She walked over to his bed, sat dangerously close to Mousse, and started to play with his covers in suggestive ways. Almost making his nose bleed in the process. (GULP!) *I'll be down after my morning practice,* he replied nervously, trying not to stare at Shampoo. She stopped playing with the covers much to Mousse's relief, but then she tried to pull them off him. *Get up.* With that she yanked the covers out of his hand forcing Mousse to pull out a dressing screen to put between them. However, he placed the screen in front of the potted plant he had walked into the night before. She tapped him on his shoulder; surprised, Mousse jumped around to see Shampoo giving him one of her heart-melting smiles. "Here are glasses," she said giving him a smile that you could only call as mischievous. Mousse snatched his glasses from Shampoo, jumped over the screen and screamed, "What are you doing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" "Playing," Shampoo said. (Mousse, you're too easy to tease.), she thought stifling a giggle in the process. "I knew you loved me, Shampoo," he said excitedly! Mousse ran out from behind the screen in a bathrobe to give Shampoo a hug, only to have a bonburi introduced to his face. "No. I just want you hurry. No want to do work alone." "I said I'd help after practice!", he retorted as he picked himself off the floor. "Don't know why you practice. It no help you beat Ranma. It all right. Still, come out of paycheck." "Paycheck? Oh, you mean the slave wage O-baba* calls a salary," Mousse said venomously, "I'm lucky I can go to college, and I don't see the point of fighting Ranma. Even if I won... " * "Hah" "(Sigh)... Even if I won, I still wouldn't have your love." "You never have love. You weak and lazy fighter. You never beat me. You never beat Ranma. No women ever want you. You die alone and Shampoo be with Ranma." Although Shampoo's comments had hurt, Mousse couldn't help laughing at what she said. He laughed for ten minutes before Shampoo said anything. "WH..... W... Why you laughing? .......Stupid Mousse!", she said fearfully thinking that she finally pushed him over the edge. When Mousse looked up at her, Shampoo distorted her beautiful face into a confused frown, he laughed even more. "I'm...HAHAHA... a.... HAHAHA... lazy fighter! HAHAHAHA... Oh... Shampoo... heh... thanks. I needed a laugh. I really did. OH... that was sweet. You know, I'm not the one who's lazy." He looked at her with a chuckling smile. Shampoo's frown turned from confused to angry. "What you mean?!" "Oh nothing, just don't be too confident, Shampoo, I just might surprise you someday." Shampoo started to emit her battle aura, it got to full power very quickly. "YOU STUPID TO MAKE FUN AND CHALLENGE AT SAME TIME, MOUSSE!!!!!!" "Who said I was challenging you?" Mousse said matter-of-factly trying not to laugh. Shampoo's aura died abruptly with what he said. There was a palpable pause between them that seemed to go on forever. Shampoo was just staring at him the whole time, her face was struggling with confusion over feelings she rather not deal with when it came to Mousse. She thought Mousse as only a friend, but every once and awhile, she got confused as a warm feeling in her heart tended to resurface every time Mousse did something for her that she couldn't ignore. The last time she felt that was when Mousse saved her from the bird man.* "You make Shampoo mad." With that she brought up her mace and slammed it into his head, knocking him into a wall. She started down the hatch when Mousse asked her from the wall, "How does it feel to hit someone you love, Shampoo?" * She stopped to look up at him, her face betrayed no emotions, and said, "I no love you, Mousse." After she left, he fell from the wall with a sob, "I'm sorry Shampoo? But why do you hide? Why won't you admit your true feelings?" As Shampoo closed the hatch she had to steady herself when she heard Mousse say through his sobs, 'Why do you hide?' Walking back to the kitchen she looked toward Mousse's room she remembered both questions that he asked her. "You've always been my best friend and it does hurt Mousse. It hurts a-lot but ...I ...I don't .... love... you..." Mousse waited until he was sure he wouldn't run into Shampoo during his mourning routine. He was waiting tables that day; so he decided to wear a light blue dress shirt with a black tie and a pair of gray slacks. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail so it wouldn't get into the customer's food. His clothes looked form fitting but for anybody who knew Mousse would know otherwise. He wasn't wearing his regular robes, so he decided not to wear all his weapons 'cause it would take too long to transfer them, five hours to be exact. He left through the skylight Akane had so graciously provided him last summer. He landed on a balance beam in the back of the Neko-hanten. Mousse built it from scraps of wood that came from tables that Shampoo broke over his head. Mousse put his hand to his head and smiles. (Chuckle and Ranma thinks it only happens to him.) He walked the path dodging the various traps that Shampoo had set along the way. The beam led him to a crudely built shack. There was one continuous tension wire holding together the various pieces of wood that made up the shack. He went into the shack and proceeded to do a kata that ended with a flurry of punches and kicks ending in a crane stance. At the end of the exercise every piece of wood had either a knife, throwing star, an ax, mace, yo-yo---- stuck through it. There was even a Ranma doll stuck through one board. "Not bad." Shampoo said involuntary. Surprised, Mousse turned around to see an inquisitive Shampoo. "Shampoo, you were watching?" "Yes, I want see if you get caught by traps." He noticed her hiding a stopwatch behind her. "So, how fast was I." Mousse asked as he pointed to the stopwatch. Embarrassed, Shampoo pulled the stopwatch out, looked at it, went to tell Mousse then did a double take. "Three point two seconds!!!!? You... faster...almost... fast as Ranma." A large, clear, sweat bead formed on the back of her head as she looked at a smiling Mousse. "It's kinda hard not to get faster when you're racing Ranma to the cafeteria.", Mousse said enjoying the amazed look on Shampoo's face. "Luckily for me Ukyo transferred there otherwise I'd starve." "....Ukyo?" She questioned, slowly getting over her amazement. "Yeah. She's my next room neighbor. HAHAHAHA!!!!", Shampoo gives him a confused look suggesting she didn't get the joke. "Sorry, inside joke, but anyway she transferred to Nizomi University last semester to get closer to Ranma. Her transferring was the big highlight of the semester!" "Why?" "Well for starters I nearly died eating Akane's cooking every day. Second, we were both having trouble with our major till she transferred. We've also been training each other." "Why you train with Uyko? You should train with someone from village!" "WWWell I would have, but when I went to ask you, you said no. My wounds took a whole week to heal. So I asked Mr. Tendo if I could train with Ranma and Akane. After that I trained weaponless for a couple of months until Ukyo transferred. She saw that I was completely ignoring my weapons training; so... she tested me, I lost. I was rusty, literally. Since then we've been training each other. But I still wanted to train weaponless so now Ukyo and I train together. Then we train with Ranma and Akane." As Mousse went on about how college is with Ukyo around. He remembered the time when they were studying late one night for a test at the library. Shampoo thought, (He looks happy talking about Ukyo, maybe too happy. Well that's good! ....I guess. Maybe he'll forget me now.) Shampoo sighed sadly still confused about what happened that morning. *********************************** Just before the library closed Ukyo fell asleep. Mousse quietly put their books away so not as to wake her and he carried her back to his room. He placed her on his futon and covered her. Mousse slept over on the other side of his apartment. That morning Ukyo woke up to the smell of a western breakfast. "Morning, sleepy. You've must have been really tired. Here eat. Our class starts in an hour." Mousse handed her a plate of food. "Where am I?" Ukyo asked wiping the sleep out of her eyes. "In my room. I couldn't find your key in your bag and your roommate, Certs, wasn't in so I let you have the futon." "Where did you sleep?" She looked at her breakfast with disdain. On the plate were eggs over easy with hash browns and bacon. "In my sleeping bag." She tasted the food. "MMMM!!! This is good!" She eyes him suspiciously. "When did you learn to cook?" "I worked in a restaurant throughout high school. You would think I'd pick up a few things.", Mousse remarked with a smirk. A little angry at Mousse, Ukyo raises her voice a little to make it known. "Yet I always cook when we're together, you jackass, and I never ever seen you cook before. If you can cook, why did you eat Akane's cooking?" "Like I said, I worked in a restaurant throughout high school. I hate cooking. Besides, there is less of a recovery time from Akane's cooking than her beatings. You eventually build up an immunity to her cooking," explained Mousse. "Oh," her anger going away, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have fallen asleep." "Don't worry about it. I'm mean, you're my best study partner, when you're not sleeping that is," he said teasingly. "We were studying for twenty hours without a break. I'm just glad it was you instead of me. I don't think you could have carried me back." "Why?" "Because I'm so fat." He said with a lazy grin as he hid the cooking utensils in his robe. "Huh?..... Oh ...HAHAHAHA... I get it." Ukyo laughed. That night they were studying again but this time they were in Ukyo's apartment. One thing her apartment has which Mousse's doesn't is a television and VCR. They served only one purpose to Ukyo and that was to watch and record her favorite show, Maison Ikkoku. When it was on, she wanted to be only one place and it was in front of the tube. Mousse tried to study while she was watching the show but he couldn't concentrate with all her laughing. So defeated once again by Ukyo's will, he watched it with her. He came in the middle of the series, so he was confused. But Ukyo is an Otaku when it comes to Maison Ikkoku. She had all the past episodes and OAVs recorded. Mousse got a crash course that night in the lives of Yusaku and Kyoko. It turned out that he liked the series; so they watched it but Mousse fell asleep during the last OAV. With Mousse's head in her lap, Ukyo saw that he had fallen asleep. She smiled and lowered the volume on the t.v. so she wouldn't wake him. After while Mousse snuggled closer to Ukyo and whispered, "Shampoo." With that her smile turned from amused to sad. (Mousse, you're my best friend in the world; right next to Ranma and I don't ever want to see you to get hurt.) She paused to look at him and started stroking his hair wondering, (Why do you love Shampoo so much? What do you see in her? All she ever does is hurt you and all you have ever shown her is love. She's nothing like you! College has really changed you; you were always gentle, caring, and now it's even more so. You think of everyone else first, even when it comes to Shampoo. Why can't you see that you deserve better than her?!), she thought with emotions generally reserved for Ranma. Mousse woke up to see Ukyo tears in her eyes and asked, "Ukyo? Are you crying?" "Oh! You're awake! I (sniff) didn't (sniff) mean to wake you," she said wiping her eyes. (Why am I crying?), Ukyo wondered. "Is something wrong?", he asked worried about his friend. "Oh! It's nothing! I was just thinking of Ranma and me and..." Mousse put a consoling hand on Ukyo's shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll get him. He'll come around." (She'll be crushed when Ranma and Akane reveal their feelings for each other. Still, for right now, I can't let her hope fade.) Ukyo looked into Mousse's eyes and saw nothing but compassion. "Oh, Mousse!" she cried out as she hugged him. (You deserve better you dumb duck!) ********************************************* Mousse noticed that Shampoo wasn't paying any attention to what he had said. "OH! I almost forgot to tell you that Ranma and Akane are married." Shampoo reacted by grabbing him by his tie forcefully, choking him in the process. "_What?!_" "Well, that got your attention real fast, didn't it," he said with a grin. "Boys who play tricks on young girls go very bad place, Mousse!" She took his glasses and threw them into the alley and started for the door. "You know, I wouldn't demean yourself like that, Shampoo," he said looking at the blur. "What you mean?" "You look like a young _woman_ to me, not a girl. And a lovely one at that." There was a bright red glow on her face accompanied by what looked to be a smile. Mousse couldn't believe it! She was giving him a smile because he complimented her and she wasn't beating him. However, it faded just as fast as it appeared. She went into the restaurant leaving him to fend for himself. Before she went inside, she locked back at Mousse to see him crawling around looking for his glasses. ((Sigh) He'll be there for hours. Oh well, at least he is cute when he squints. Te he.) After a while, Shampoo noticed that there weren't any of the familiar noises of pain coming from Mousse as he bumped into things. She looked outside to see if Mousse had already found his glasses. She was very surprised to see Mousse was navigating around objects instead of running into them while looking for his glasses. Confused, Shampoo decided to scare him. She went out, picked up his glasses, sneaked up behind him and... "AIYA!!!" Sensing someone behind him; Mousse whirled around, grabbed her hand and shirt, and he flipped her using his momentum as he fell back. (Whoever she was, she'll think twice before sneaking up on someone.) Mousse thought, (SHE!??!) Shampoo let out a small ouch as she landed hard on her back. "I'm sorry Shampoo! I didn't know it was you. I just reacted. I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry my love," apologized Mousse as he rushed right past Shampoo. "Over here, duck!" yelled Shampoo with disgust, mostly at her inattention. He turned toward the voice to see a familiar purple blur. Mousse looked back and saw that he was talking to a bird. "Squawk!" It pecked him and left. "Here are glasses!" He could tell by her voice that Shampoo wasn't happy. "Thanks. Are you hurt?" Once Mousse had put on his glasses, they showed him a very angry Shampoo. "You just lucky!" SLAP!!!! "How do that? Ukyo not teach that!" Mousse explained while he nursed his cheek. "Well, last semester Ukyo and I went to a martial art convention with Ranma and Akane. Look, we got an hour before the store opens. Why don't we go in and I'll tell you what happened while I take care of this bruise. OK?" "Ok." *************************************** While Ukyo and Mousse were displaying some of their techniques to some people that were there. Plus... "Kawaikune!" "Hentai!" Ranma and Akane were arguing. "What are they arguing about his time?", Mousse asked as he threw a couple of knives at Ukyo. She swung her huge spatula and hit the knives back at him. "I think it's about the tournament.", Ukyo stated. He caught them and had to jump to dodge her kick that followed the knives. "What about it?" Mousse came down with a lasso and tied her up. She ducked a punch and used her huge spatula with her legs to sweep his legs out from under him. "He doesn't want her in it." She said as she jumped back to avoid the mace he threw at her, while using her big spatula to cut the lasso. "RANMA NO BAKA!!!!" "I hope Dr. Tofu is here. An OPENING ...I got...," Mousse said as he pulled the mace back as it passed her and used the chain that was attached to it to re-wrap her. He pulled her down toward him and pulled the 'killing' stick to finish their demonstration...WHAM!!!!, "...you ... ouch." Thud. Fortunately for Ranma it was one of those rare times that Akane missed. Unfortunately, Mousse was right behind him. When the mallet hit him, one of his weapons went flying toward a person. Ukyo shouted but it turned out to be unnecessary because the man deflected it with his wrist then caught the chain so it fell harmlessly to the ground. "Sorry...about...that. My weapons usually can withstand anything without coming lose," he apologized when he came to. Then Mousse noticed something. "You're... you're... How did you do that?...You're blind!" "OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT! I JUST NOTICED! HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN THIS WAY?" The blind man obviously dealt with this before. "Way to go, Mousse." WHAM!!! Ranma leaves the conscious world and starts dreaming that, he is the only nail in a world of hammers. "Shut up, Ranma." Akane dryly said leaving the mallet on his head. "I'm sorry. It's just that... I assumed...I'm sorry." Mousse said apologetically. "It's okay. Don't worry about it." He said laughingly.. "I get that reaction all the time. Not many people expect a blind person to be into martial arts. That mallet must not have hit you really hard to jar only one weapon with all of those weapons you have on." "You don't know how hard Akane swings that thing. I hope you never have to find out either." Blink blink " . . . How did you know it was a mallet?" "By the sound of the impact. Being a blind martial artist has its advantages like catching muggers off guard, being able to tell if the cars are stopped at an intersection so I can walk across a street. I usually bring my Seeing Eye dog with but there is too much aggression here. He'd only end up attacking somebody. I'm curious; can I see your weapons?" "Sure. What's your name by the way? What are you doing?" "My name is Jyu P-tur. I need to feel them to see them, but," Jyu was frisking Mousse looking for the weapons, "I can't find them. I can hear them and there's a-lot of them but I can't feel them through your tunic. All right! I _know_ I'm not hearing things, so what's the deal?" "I'm a master of the Hidden Weapons Style taught at my village in China. I wouldn't be much of a master if I was in a grappling match and my opponent could feel my weapons and take them. The hidden weapons style just doesn't mean that your weapons can't be seen. You need to learn the style that the weapon comes from. And it needs to be a _complete_ erasure of its presence to the other person's senses. I impressed that you can hear them." "Wow. How long have you been training?" "I've been training since I was two." There is a momentary flood as everybody, except Mousse, starts sweating. "Can I ask you a question?" "Sure." Jyu said drying himself off. "Could you teach me your style?" "WHAT!?!?!?" exclaimed everyone who heard Mousse's speech. "Me? Teach you? Why? You already know an art. And it sounds like from what you told me that, you know every martial art style that has a weapon. I wouldn't know if I'd be teaching you something you'd already know." "Well it's kinda hard to explain, you see, I wear glasses." "And." Jyu stated waiting for the rest of the explanation. "Here let me show you, put out your hand and brace yourself for some pain." Mousse handed Jyu his glasses and took him outside. It was a nice sunny day and once the rays from the sun hit the glasses Jyu dropped them. "Whoa! What were those magnifying glasses?!", Jyu said rubbing his hand. "No, my glasses. I have the strongest prescription in the world. And even then things are a blur. The scientists in America want to make a new space telescope with them. I told them if they could make me a pair of contacts I'll give my glasses to them." "Let me guess. You never look directly at the sun do you?" "No sir," Mousse laughs a little at the joke, "I like my eyes. Flawed as they may be. Now do you see the reason? Will you please teach me?" "Yes I do. But I don't know if I _can_ teach you. You see I was taught by a sighted person. My Sensei saw what I was doing wrong and corrected me. I wouldn't know if you made a mistake or not." An old man came into the conversation. "Please teach him." *TEACHER!* Mousse exclaimed being he hasn't seen him in over four years. "Who are you?" Jyu asked politely "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Spray, Mousse's teacher. Stand up straight Mousse! AND close your mouth." He points to Ranma. "You too!" Spray takes out a cane from his robe and whacks Mousse and Ranma on the head. They go into dreamland. He turns to Jyu and asks, "What is your name young man?" "My name is Jyu." "Well, Jyu I ask you to teach my pupil as a favor to an old man." "I would like to. Honest. But if he makes a mistake how am I going to tell?" Jyu said clearly concerned. "What if one of his friends was there telling you what he was doing?" "All right," Jyu said giving up, "I'm willing if someone else is." "I'll do it!", Ukyo said in a rush before Ranma could say anything. "Good! Mousse!" Spray turned to Mousse. *Yes, Sifu!* Mousse straightened at his Sifu's voice. *In Japanese!* "Yes, Sensei." "I want you to come back to the village when your done training. And bring your friends with you." "Why Sifu?" "Just humor an old man. Mousse, although you are good in our style it still needs to be polished. You are no where near as fast as you should be. You still need to know more before you take on the responsibility I need to give you. And one more thing before I give my lecture." He puts on a big grin on his face. "Yes Sifu?" "I'm glad you gave up on Shampoo. Your new girlfriend is cute. What's her name?" Spray puts his arm around Mousse points at Ukyo. Mousse and Ukyo being caught off guard, stared at each other until Ranma and Akane's snickering brought them back to earth. "What? No, no, no. We're just friends." Ukyo and Mousse say at the same time trying to avoid each other's gaze. Ranma and Akane are still snickering. "Oh, sorry for the mistake," Spray said with a knowing smile, "I must have misinterpreted the way you were acting toward Mousse." Embarrassed, Ukyo quickly says, "I already have a fiancée," and hugs Ranma. "He is NOT your fiancée," yells Akane and starts arguing with Ukyo. "What is with those two?" Jyu and Spray asked Mousse. "You don't want to know." ****************************************************************** Mousse didn't tell how he trained to Shampoo because she doesn't respect simple methods of training, which is why she doesn't know the Bakusai-Tenketsu. Mousse was taken to a dojo, which Ranma and Akane had boarded up, he was placed in the center of the room and Jyu came upon a problem. Stripping Mousse of his weapons was the biggest problem Jyu had ever come across. "You want me to do what?!" Mousse backed himself into a corner looking frantically at the people there. They were lined up in a row surrounding Mousse. First, there was Jyu, looking terribly frightening in his black gi with his black glasses on. He wore his long hair, which had a natural bright red stripe down the middle of his jet-black hair, over his shoulders giving him the appearance of a red striped panther. Second, there was Akane. She was a little taller and filled out her gi, very, nicely. But Mousse was paying attention to what she was carrying. She was brandishing her new mallet. It shined so much that the last thing its victim would see was his shocked expression. Mousse regretted teaching her to use it more effectively. Ranma was next, dressed in his kung-fu outfit. He was standing there with his arms crossed with a wicked smile on his face. Like Akane he grew. It wasn't the fact that he grew taller that bothered Mousse. It was that he grew more athletic. Finally, Ukyo was leaning on her spatula giving Mousse a smile that said give up your weapons or be hurt. "I want you to drop your weapons," stated Jyu. "I've never been without a weapon! Even when I trained with Ranma I wasn't without a weapon!" "Mousse, drop your weapons, otherwise we'll be forced to hurt you." Ranma said forcefully. Mousse gave Ranma a withering look but saw everyone else backing him up and backed down. "All right, all right, all right! I'll do it!," Mousse said with indignity. He took of his tunic and shook it out. The results took the form of a three-foot pile of weapons. "Okay, that's all of them. Happy now?" "No, I'm not! I don't think we have all of them. Take off your shirt." Mousse took off his shirt and gave it to Jyu. Ukyo, Ranma, and Akane were blinking, sweating, and slowly backing away in fright. Because of the fact that Jyu had added six more feet of weapons to the pile. Three hours later. Jyu, Ranma and Akane are trapped in a corner in shock. Ukyo is in front of a dressed and very upset Mousse. She was still emptying him. "Okay... What haven't we done yet? We've done your tunic, T-shirt, legging, and your shorts. What's left? I know! Somebody get me a comb." Ranma and Jyu couldn't move but Akane managed to wiggle out to find a comb and threw it to her. Ukyo started to comb Mousse's hair. As she combed his hair, things started to fall out; a bat, a collection of antique throwing knives, a mallet twice the size of Akane's, "Hey! Where did you get that?" Akane asked with a gleam in her eye, and finally a ball and chain that was three times the size of the mallet. Ranma in seeing the final result of their work exploded, "How in the world can you fit all of this on you!!!!????? Especially that BALL AND CHAIN! WHAT ARE YOU? I .... I..... I..... I... I..." Ranma started to babble incoherently. "I tried to warn you. I've never unloaded completely before, it's easier just to leave them in my clothes. Jyu called from under the pile, "Could someone call a truck? ..Please?" After the hall was emptied Jyu placed Mousse back in the middle of the room. "All right Mousse. I want you to concentrate and tell me where my fist is. Every time you get it wrong you're going to get hurt. After you start getting them right consistently, they're going to get faster. And eventually you'll start having to block. Don't forget that fists aren't the only thing that can hit you; a foot, bonuri, a mallet, knives, anything, so I also want you to say what is in front of you. If you don't get it right, you're going to get hurt. Remember, I want you to concentrate and listen. You can't rely on your eyes anymore. You have to rely on your touch, your hearing, and your smell in blind- fighting. Your art has been hampered too long. Once you master this you won't need your glasses to fight anymore. If an opponent thinks your glasses are a weakness you'll have the advantage then, not him. Are you ready to leave your eyes behind?" "Yes!" Mousse gave his glasses to Ukyo and she gave him a smile and mouthed 'good luck' before blindfolding him. Jyu prepared himself and threw a punch. "All right! What's this?" "A foot. In front of my face." "Ukyo?" "Wrong. A Fist." PUNCH "OW!" After living blindfolded for a week trying to dodge everything. "What's this?" Jyu asked. "A fist in front of my face." Mousse said as he blocked it. "RIGHT!", Ukyo cheered not waiting for Jyu's question. "Good! Good! You got it, but don't take off the blindfold yet. I'm going to take a break but you're not. I want you to be ready for anything. Don't forget to listen to the movements of the air, feel the gentle wind of the room, smell the scent of the air and of the people in here. I want you to keep total concentration. I don't know when my break will be over but, you will.", Jyu walked away from Mousse toward Ranma. "Ranma, I want you to take my place.", Jyu whispered. "Why?" "Because you're faster than me. You would be the best test for him. Please, do it for him. Okay?" "Okay." Mousse heard someone step in front of him and felt the rush of wind that was in front of a punch. He yelled out, "Fist!" as he blocked it. "Fist!", Block. "Fist!", Block. Foot! , Block. This went on for a minute when Jyu shouted, "Faster!" Fist!, Block. Fist! , Block. Foot!, Block. Another minute went by Jyu shouted, Faster! Another minute. (I'm surprised. I'm almost in Amaguriken mode. Oh well . . . Why not go full tilt.), Ranma reasoned. "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" "WHAT??!!! RANMA!!!! ", Mousse exclaimed. Nobody answered as fists were pelting him but he was blocking them more frequently. Soon none of the punches were getting through. "You shouldn't be able to block my punches," Ranma stated wondering if it was a good idea using the amaguriken against Mousse. "I feel the air that's in front of your fists, Ranma. I don't need to depend on my glasses any more during a fight." "Okay then, lets up it a level." Ranma started going faster until all Mousse heard was a rush of wind. He had to go even faster and faster until they stopped at a certain speed. Mousse got used to the speed and started returning punches. Some punches pelted Ranma; surprised at the sudden return he yelled, "Hey! You're not supposed to return them!" "Why? Did you think I was going to tire out? Come on! Speed up!" With that Mousse started going faster. Ranma kept up the pace easily and soon they took it beyond both their limits. "All right Mousse!", Jyu cheered, "Ukyo take off the blindfold and turn on the lights." Mousse faltered as he was assaulted both by the light and a fist. "Ukyo can I have my sight back?" Ukyo asked Jyu and he nodded his agreement. Once Mousse's sight came back he saw Ranma smiling. And he asked, "Why are you smiling?" "Because, Mousse, I just learned a new technique. But I'm not going to use it until I need it. And I just taught you the amaguriken. So, you're my first pupil." Ranma said smugly. "You know what, Ranma. I didn't like the way you said that. KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN REVISED, BLIND LIGHTING FURY!" Mousse switched from to punches to kicks catching Ranma off guard. Then he took off his glasses, put the blindfold back on and let his instincts take over. Mousse started going faster and faster and faster switching between kicks and punches. Akane seeing that Ranma was getting hit by lighting fast kicks and punches yelled, "Hey! I thought they were only sparring!" "What's going on?!" Jyu asked. "He's pushing Ranma back!" Ukyo answered, afraid for the both of them. "When... did... you... become... so... fast?", Ranma asked as he blocked a kick then tried to dodge a punch to no avail. "I realized something. I was always as fast as you but was with my weapons. Now, I'm weaponless so I'm even faster. And you just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time." "I'm tired of this. KATSHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN REVISED, METEOR STORM!" Mousse started to feel a heat coming from Ranma. Ranma started to draw on his CHI but not releasing it in one blast. Instead he released it in little flashes every time he threw a punch at Mousse. Even though Mousse was blocking the attacks he was losing ground. The attacks felt like torches. He had to start dodging them otherwise he would have died from the burns. Later, Ukyo told Mousse that he looked like he was in a strobe light. When the last bit of Ranma's chi was used Jyu stopped them before they killed each other. Both Ranma and Mousse passed out supporting each other making an upside-down v. When Mousse woke up, he found Ukyo taking care of his wounds; she wanted to take care of Ranma but Akane was tending to him already. "You know, you're a dumb duck. Akane and I had to pry your fists from each other. I was scared for you when Ranma did his Meteor Storm. Jack-Ass, why did you go all out?", Ukyo asked. "I got angry. Ranma always thinks he's better than everybody. And he started bragging during the fight. He was congratulating himself on teaching me the Amaguriken. He thinks he's better than me. Well he's _not_. Every time we've fought it's always been toe to toe. The only reason he wins is that he gets lucky or he learned a new technique. And he when he wins he thinks it's because he's better. I wanted him to know he's not better than me. He is a good martial artist. And we could be friends but there are two things preventing that. First, Shampoo, it's not his fault I know that but if she would only realize that she doesn't love him, she would leave him. It wouldn't be so bad if she lost to someone that loved her. But nooo she loses to a guy who was already in love when he... ," Mousse noticed the look on Ukyo's face. It was one of sadness. "I'm sorry Ukyo I shouldn't have said that. I know you're in love with him." "It's okay," she said with tears in her eyes, "I'm getting used to it now. The fact that I'm in love with someone who is in love with somebody else. But I can't give up hope. I wish... Akane... but she's a friend. It's so hard. At least you still have a chance." "It's still not much of a chance. I don't want to fight her, but I can't marry her unless I defeat her in combat. But I'll never win because I never take the advantages that she leaves. If only Ranma loved her. I'd know she would be safe and most importantly she would be happy." "You really love her, don't you?" Asked Ukyo seeing the love in Mousse she wished she had from Ranma. "You have no idea. Ranma really _is_ to blame for all this. His ego is making everyone he cares about suffer. I don't like him treating you like a friend even when he knows your in love with him. Doesn't he realize how much he hurts you?" "I try not to.", Ranma said surprising both of them. "How long have you been there?", Ukyo asked. Ranma had thoughtful and sad expression on his face. "Long enough. I'm sorry Ukyo, Mousse." Hearing this enraged Mousse. "YOU'RE SORRY!!! YOU'RE SORRY!!!!!" "It's all right, Mousse." "NO, IT'S NOT, UKYO. LOOK AT HER!!! YOU DID THAT!!!! YOU MADE HER CRY!!! YOU HAVE BEEN HURTING HER FOR ALL HER LIFE AND YOU SAY YOU'RE SORRY!!!!! YOU TAKE AWAY MY LOVE AND YOU SAY I'M SORRY!!!! YOU CAN'T EVEN SAY I LOVE YOU TO AKANE AND YOU SAY I'M SORRY! I DON'T KNOW HOW IN THE WORLD YOU CAN LIVE WITH YOURSELF! YOU RUIN PEOPLES LIVES JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE AFRAID OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU! STOP LETTING PRIDE GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR FEELINGS! YOU DON'T NEED PRIDE TO LIVE, TO LOVE, TO HAVE FRIENDS! BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT! I'M SORRY RANMA. I JUST CAN'T LET YOU OFF THE HOOK THAT EASILY!" Mousse took him by the shoulders and threw him into the wall. Ranma dodged the mace that followed but had to block the knee that was aimed for his head. Ranma made a swipe for Mousse's head with his leg, which he ducked. But Ranma continued around to a leg sweep that Mousse jumped over. He continued his motion and aimed his next turn at Mousse's chest. Mousse blocked it and used Ranma's momentum to throw him back into the wall. But Ranma rebounded of the wall and kicked Mousse in his face knocking him off his feet. As he fell, Mousse went into a backflip, he placed his hands on the floor, used his legs to grab Ranma's leg and finished the flip. Resulting in Ranma getting his side smashed into the floor. Ranma kicked Mousse's legs out from under him and punched him in the back as he fell. When Mousse got up Ranma yelled out, "HIRYU SHOUTEN HA!" (How am I going to counter this?), he thought. Then his glasses flew off and suddenly Mousse knew the answer. He brought his legs together, put his arms out, Mousse brought his hands together and forced all the sensations he was feeling out of his hands and yelled out, " BLIND FALCON'S DEATH!" His chi took the form of a falcon and flew straight through the hurricane hitting Ranma in the chest knocking him back through the wall. "Ranma!", Akane yelled and went after him. Ukyo started to go after him but Mousse put an arm in front of her stopping her. "Let her do it. He'll be fine." "Why did you do that to Ran-chan?", Ukyo yelled at Mousse pounding on his chest. "He deserved it! He needed to be taught a lesson. Plus .. . " He hesitated when their eyes met. "Plus what?" Ukyo stopped her pounding but left her hands on his chest. "Plus, you were crying! And when I saw him . . . I couldn't let him hurt you anymore. You're too special to me." Mousse said, unconsciously putting a hand to her cheek. "Special?" Ukyo took his hands in hers and returned the look he gave her. A picture of Shampoo flashed in Mousse's mind and he realized what he was doing. "Did I say that? Well... what I meant was um... um..." "Mousse!" Surprised, Mousse broke the hold Ukyo had on him and turned around and looked gratefully at Akane coming at him with the mallet. He didn't bother to block it knowing that in his weakened condition that he was going to pass out anyway. "Stop! Akane!" Ranma yelled as he took the mallet away. "But look what he did to you!" She yelled in her defense. "Yes, he defeated me in combat.", He paused to let the full impact of the statement sink in, "He was right to do what he did. He needed to do it. All he has to do now is beat Shampoo. Good luck you'll need it. But what I want to know is where did you get the power to get through my punch?" "When the wind knocked my glasses flew off I reverted to blind fighting. Letting my instincts take over, I notice something among all the sensations that I was experiencing. It was my chi that I was feeling. The sensations were fueling it, powering it even more. Your chi comes from your confidence, Ryoga's comes from his depression. Mine comes from my lack of sight. I would have never felt it if you didn't throw that punch." "Why did it form a falcon?" Ukyo asked. "I don't know. I just needed to get through the wind so I guess I formed it that way." "Mousse, I'm sorry, for everything that's happened. I wish we could have met under different circumstances. Friends?" Ranma put out his hand. "Friends," Mousse said taking his hand. < End of Flashback> ********************************************************* "And that's what happened.", Mousse told Shampoo. "What he mean by responsibilities?" Shampoo wondered. "I don't know?" Cologne appeared out of nowhere as usual. "So my brother Spray was talking to you about responsibilities. I'm impressed, Mousse." "Hello O-baba. So you know what he meant by that then." "Yes." "Please tell me!" SLAM!!! "No. You'll find out when the time is right.", Cologne said as she took the cane from Mousse's head. "What was that for?" "For not getting to work! Now hurry up, we only have a half an hour left before opening." Ding. Mousse was still in the kitchen when the bell suggested that the first customer of the day had come in. When he went to greet the customer, he got a big surprise. "Welcome to the Neko . . . Ukyo!!??," Mousse heard Shampoo growl in the back, and ignored it. "Hi! What are you doing here? Don't you have to open UCCHAN'S?" (What is SHE doing here?) Shampoo thought. "Hi, Mousse. My regulars come after one so I had some free time. Besides, I wanted a change of pace. I never saw you wait tables before. What did Shampoo ditch you? I know you don't deliver this early in the day." "Shampoo never forget responsibilities! Kill for insult!," yelled Shampoo coming out with her bonburi attacking Ukyo. Ukyo ducked as Shampoo swung at her. "Hey! Cut it out. I was only joking." yelled Ukyo dodging another swing and then blocks a kick. "Okay I wasn't. What about your responsibility to Mousse!" "Mousse not my responsibility." she said hesitantly, leaning back to avoid a kick then tilted her head to dodge a thrown spatula. "Oh really! How about when Mousse saved you from the bird-man on the island," Ukyo dodged a mace, "he knitted a scarf for you but you but Ranma's name on it." Ukyo continues her verbal barrage as Shampoo's strikes are getting closer and closer. "He's fought to protect you, he's fought for you in your place! All he has ever known or shown is the love he has for you and you scorn him. You're an idiot for not loving him. If you ask me, I think he's a great catch! You're lucky even to know him." "If you like so much. You go with him.", Shampoo said. That comment caught Ukyo off guard and then she started to consider it. Shampoo noticed Ukyo's expression; she became even angrier and decided to kill her. She went for the killing stroke when she noticed that her maces were cut in half and her hands were in Mousse's. Mousse threw Shampoo's hand to her side, stared her straight in the eye and quietly letting Shampoo know he was serious said, "I can't let you hurt her, Shampoo. I love you but you will have to kill me to get to her. Go in and make her order, NOW! Number 14!" Shocked into numbness. Shampoo went in the kitchen and started the order. (He's never yelled at me before,) she thought. Cologne, who watched the whole thing, said, *He hasn't yelled at you like that before has he.* *No, he hasn't, ever. I never saw him like that before.* *I have. You know, Mousse, he'll do whatever it takes to protect the people he loves. He's gotten better, a-lot better. He has the speed of the amaguriken. I wonder how he learned it. He also gained better control of his chi.* *How can he be so cold-hearted?*, Shampoo shivered at the memory of Mousse. *I think his infatuation with you is being replaced with that girl. Won't we be lucky if those two get together? We'll get rid of two problems with one blow.*, Cologne eyes Shampoo for a reaction to the conversation but there was none. (Who is it you love, Shampoo? Ranma or Mousse?) Cologne thought. Shampoo wasn't hearing anything she was just watching Mousse and Ukyo sitting together talking. She imagined them going out together; hugging, holding hands, getting married and having kids. Then she saw Mousse take out the two tickets for the movie he was going to take her to and gave them to her. Ukyo started to jump up and down. She hugged Mousse and gave him a kiss on the lips. Cologne comes next to Shampoo; looks over at Mousse and Ukyo and said, "Looks like Mousse has a date." Crack! " Oh! Sorry great-grandmother !'" "Shampoo! Now I have to fix this. Let go of the handle, granddaughter. Now, why did you do that?" "Shampoo SOOOO mad at Mousse.... he think he can beat me. Shampoo, go train for rest of day, okay?" "Okay Shampoo. But be back before closing so you can get ready for your date with Ranma.", Cologne called out to Shampoo. **************************************** Ukyo sat down and asked Mousse, "What was that about?" "I don't know." Since no one was at the Nekohanten, Mousse sat with her. "Maybe she's jealous." Ukyo said with a smile. "I doubt it." Mousse sounded hopeless and his face looked even worse. Ukyo made a face and said, "Oh come on! Have some hope. You told her that you beat Ranma didn't you?" "No." Mousse said flatly. "Why not?" Ukyo said curiosity getting the better of her. "Because I would still have to beat her to marry her. And I want her to come to me freely, not out of obligation to an outdated law. How would I know if she married me out of love?" "I see your point. But who is the next in line to lead your village?" "Shampoo," Mousse said, "I know where your going with this." "Good... You love her don't you?" "Yes. With all my heart." Mousse said letting all of his love he has ever had for Shampoo come through in his voice. Ukyo was caught off guard at the depth of Mousse's love for Shampoo. It made her feel as if Shampoo was the only water in a desert that Mousse lived in, and that he experienced his first drink. She thought, (What is it with me and men who are in love with someone else.) She gave a small sigh and said, "Then fight her on her terms!" "But I can't bring myself to harm her." "Do you think the village elders will respect Shampoo if she has a husband who did not win her over? No! She'll be rejected and everything she's worked for all her life will turn to nothing. You want that to happen to her?", Ukyo said feverently. "No." Mousse responded, quietly acknowledging her point. "I can't decide for you Mousse. I just hope you know what your doing." The ring of the bell told Mousse that another customer came in and it was time for him to go to work. "Well, time to get to work. Here, take them, I was going to go with Shampoo but she didn't want to go with me. And I know you will enjoy them." Mousse handed Ukyo his two tickets to the Maison Ikkoku movie. Ukyo eyes lit up, "Arigato!" She screamed as she jumped up and down around the room. Then she gave Mousse a hug and kissed him on the lips. She looked at the expression of shock and confusion on his face and asked, "What?" trying to keep her giggling down to a minimum. Mousse blinked for a minute or two and his glasses fogged up. While his brain was trying to sort out what he just experienced. "Nothing! I'll.... go.... get your order!" Still confused, he got her order and ended up tripping over a plant. Luckily, Ukyo caught it before it hit the other customer. She stared at Mousse with wonder at his antics. While she ate, he was talking to plants, tables, and menus. When Ukyo was ready to leave, she went up and slapped him. "Mousse! Snap out of it! Why are you acting this way?" Ukyo said with concern in her heart. Mousse finally comes to his senses and the fog lifted. Visibly embarrassed, he looked at her, took a deep breath. "Thanks... sorry about that... I've got get to work." Mousse started to walk away but Ukyo wasn't about to let it go at that and grabbed him "Wait! What's wrong, why won't you look at me." Mousse had his head down and mumbled. Ukyo didn't t hear what he said. "What?" Mousse knew he couldn't escape this time so, "I only got kissed once before. I keep trying to save that for Shampoo." Mousse saw the look of shock on Ukyo s face and tried to cover himself. "Not that the kiss wasn't nice or anything like that. In fact I kind-of liked. But...." Ukyo's look went from shock to a smile. "Don't worry Mousse. You weren't unfaithful. I just gave you a peck. If I really kissed you, you would have known.. Now go to work and I've got to get going." Mousse sighed with relief. He went outside and waved goodbye. "Have fun with those tickets," he said with a smile. Ukyo returned the wave with a smile. "Oh I will. Good luck with Shampoo!" ********************************************************* Memories of Mousse running through her head, Shampoo jumped from roof to roof not caring where she was going. She finally ends up at an empty Furikan. (They're falling in love. Anybody can see that. Good! He needs love. God knows I haven't shown it to him...) She cries out, *Why am I feeling this way? I only love Ranma! DAMN IT!!!.... MOUSSE!!!!! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?!? ,* She got up and started practicing her form. Every move was strong and graceful. They continued to get faster and faster becoming more exact and forceful until every one of them was flawless. Shampoo thinks to herself, (This will be the last time. The last fight. For both our sakes ..I can't lose.) Shampoo keeps telling herself she hates Mousse until she believes it. ***************************************** Shampoo is getting ready for another challenge from Mousse. (I wish Mousse would stop challenging me. I like him and all but he's doesn't want victory enough. He's always telling me he loves me.) Shampoo is starting to get mad. (If he really loved me he would hit back instead of trying to dodge all the time asking me to give up! He just doesn't get it! I can't love him until he defeats me. I just hope all of the rejections, insults, and injuries gets him mad enough to really fight. And if he, only if, he beats me I'll love him. Oh well, better go see where the idiot is.) "Shampoo, where are you my love?" Mousse's voice came from outside. Shampoo heard her younger sister's ,Rinse, voice out in front yelling at Mousse. "Hey Mousse! Get off the roof. You could hurt yourself." (What is that idiot doing on the roof?) Shampoo thought. Mousse was on top of Shampoo's roof. How he got there was a mystery considering he didn't have his glasses on. Shampoo came out of the house and looked up at Mousse. "Mousse, you idiot! Come down from there." Mousse looked in the direction of Shampoo's voice and saw a black blur instead of a purple one and thought she had changed her hair. Rinse was only a year younger than Shampoo but looked just like her only more developed and her jet-black hair was worn short. Upon seeing her pointed at her and said, "I challenge you for your hand!" Rinse prepared herself without a word; she being the second most popular girl in the village she was used to this happening. She saw Mousse jump at her but he misjudged the height and jumped into a branch. Rinse tried to catch him but she wasn't expecting all the weight and passed out from the impact. The first thing that Rinse saw when she woke up was Mousse's blue eyes. Rinse thought eyes were the gateways to the soul --< In other words she's a sucker for good-looking eyes. D.S.>-- and in her opinion she never saw anything more beautiful. Rinse gave her fiancée a VERY passionate. Shampoo seeing all this was shocked. Mousse, her MOST persistent suitor had suddenly dumped her! Shampoo got very angry went up to Mousse pulled him off of her sister and hit him. "You better take care of my sister or ELSE! Have fun!" She placed him back on her and left. (Well that takes care of that! Why am I upset anyway? He's just a friend. We're going to become family now!) Only that their relationship never worked out. Even though Mousse was going to marry Rinse he still loved Shampoo. Rinse knew this and waited, hoping that he would fall in love with her, till they were about to proceed with the ceremony to release Mousse. A week later Mousse was about to challenge Shampoo when a redheaded girl came to the village. ********************************************* Later that night back at the Nekohanten Mousse just finished closing the restaurant for the day. Shampoo came in the front door the usual way, breaking it down. Once the debris had settled Mousse looked at Shampoo, she never looked more determined in her life and never so beautiful. Mousse gave Shampoo a small chuckle. "You know Shampoo you're going to have to clean that up before you go out tonight because after the day I've had I'm not going to." "Shampoo no care for door!", Shampoo tried to keep her emotions under control so she could win this fight. "What do you care for then, Shampoo? Is it me? Or you just want to be beaten by anybody you come across." "Is challenge?", Shampoo asked with sadness in her voice. "Yes. It is. Don't expect to win this time Shampoo." Mousse gave her a smile that could only be described as love. Seeing that smile almost made Shampoo give up but she couldn't. "This is last fight forever, Mousse! No more want to fight you.... okay?" Mousse saw the sadness in her eyes and wondered at it. "Okay, Shampoo. No more fights. I won't need to after tonight. For you will be my wife." Ukyo was walking down the street, away from the Tendo Dojo disappointed that Ranma already had a date. And what was worse was the fact that the date was Shampoo. (Damn that girl! Getting in the way of all my prospects. First Ranma then Mousse and then Ranma again.) Seeing the Nekohanten ahead she thought, (I'll just give back one of the tickets to Mousse maybe he can get a refund. When Ukyo arrived at the restaurant she saw that the door was splintered and there were sounds of fighting come from it. She looked inside through the window and saw Mousse and Shampoo fighting. Shampoo was breathing heavily and there was a bruise forming on her cheek. While Mousse was just standing still, holding onto one of Shampoo's bonburi, he had tears in his eyes and his robe was almost shredded. Beneath you could see welts and scabs forming. A swift motion by Mousse and the bonburi disappeared into his cloak. This was just the advantage Shampoo needed, she faked with her mace toward Mousse's head while he dodged the mace to one side, and his head met her foot in the form of a kick. The kick sent him flying into the wall; he bounced off of the wall and landed on the ground. The combined blows were enough to jar all of his weapons loose including his glasses. On seeing this Shampoo gave a heart-wrenching sigh looked at Mousse on the floor and said, "It over, you have no more weapon to fight with. I win." "I don t think so my wife." Mousse said as he slowly got up off the floor his battle aura manifesting in such a way that Shampoo felt the heat from across the room. "I'm going to give you a choice, Shampoo. You can either give up, be beaten by several blows or just one. It's your choice." The tone of Shampoo's voice betrayed her words when she said, "I no afraid of you, Mousse. You never beat me. You have no weapons and no sight. How you beat me?" Shampoo charged Mousse getting ready to slice him in half with the bonburi she had ready. Mousse heard a rush of wind above him and block the mace and gave Shampoo a swift punch to the gut. While she was still reeling from the punch Mousse got into position and gathered up his chi. "BLIND FALCON'S DEATH!" sent it toward Shampoo. The combined force of the blast and the punch sent Shampoo into unconsciousness. Cologne went to check Shampoo did some pressure points, walked over to Mousse and gave him his glasses and asked, "You beaten her, Mousse. After sixteen years I didn't think you would ever come to hurt her. But you can't marry her yet." Mousse knowing what she was going to say. "I've already beaten Ranma. You can go and ask him if you want. It doesn't matter to me. I'm going to give Shampoo the choice." Cologne looked at Mousse with a new respect a respect that wouldn't diminished for a LONG time. "You'll be a fine addition to the family. May I do some pressure points to relieve your pain, future son- in-law?" Mousse nodded. When Shampoo came to she looked at Mousse. Mousse looked at her with joy in his eyes and said, "Shampoo, O-baba said I have to defeat Ranma in order to marry you. But I want you to choose. The person you pick I'll make sure wins." Shampoo didn't know what to do. She never thought he would beat her. All she could do is turn her head away. Mousse was shook to the bone. He was so sure that she loved him. "So you really don't love me. After all these years... Shampoo, I can't bear to see you unhappy so I forfeit the right for your hand. But I tell you..... R...a...n...m...a... doesn't.... love... you... " Ukyo hears all of this and sees Mousse is about to collapse so she runs in, catches him and yells out, "Hey sugar! What are you doing? Mousse, it's time for our date, don't collapse before we get to the theater." Ukyo takes a dazed and confused Mousse in her arms and starts to leave. But before they go out the door Mousse turns around to see a shocked Shampoo and says, "Shampoo, I want you to know that I will always love you but I can't stay under this house anymore. You've taken everything, my heart and soul. I have to start over now, I'll come back for my stuff later." He looks at Ukyo, then looks at Shampoo with tears coming out of his eyes, "Goodbye, I have a date." With Mousse using Ukyo for support they turn around and walk out of the Nekohanten arm in arm. An hour had passed when Ukyou came into the Nekohanten, she walked right up to Shampoo with a mixture of anger and joy on her face. "Just so you know Shampoo, Mousse beat Ranma." Author's Afterword Whew!!! Sorry about posting it in parts, but it was the only way I could post it. Finally after a month of rewrites it's done YYEEAAHH!!! So how did you like the ending. Just kidding!!! Although I could end this here, I won't, so be happy. The next chapter I'm bringing in everybody. And I do mean EVERYBODY. So chapter four is in the works so I'm setting the date for release in about a month. So how did you like the pairing of Ukyo and Mousse? I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of it, but I thought it worked rather nicely. Please, I need your input on the fight scenes. What do you think? Well, my fellow Otaku, I'm tired so I'm going into hibernation for awhile. Get ready when I wake up for CHAPTER FOUR -BLOOD BROTHERS. Send c&c to Gosenkugi@msn.com Dion Starfire OUT!!! "Look TARGETS!!!" "Where I need practice?" Dion Starfire