mabli@idirect.com A Different Brand Of Mousse part 8 A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Mark Ferrer Disclaimer: All rights are reserved to their respective owners. Only the original characters are mine. Don't sue me, please. (It would lower my faith in the human race.) Note: I honestly can't tell if I've taken some liberties with some/all of the characters. Sorry, I couldn't help it. Thoughts are in <> Normal dialogue is in "quotes" Text (panda sign/reading from written material) is in [] Chinese in {} Last chapter: We learn of how Urd is connected to Mousse. Mousse tries his telekinesis on Happosai. The fiancees wonder how the upcoming fight will go. Skuld is sent to Nerima to set everything up to remove Urd's spell on Mousse. ************************************************************************ Skuld thought darkly. Skuld was walking to the Nekohanten. At the temple, they had searched for the closest Chinese restaurants in the area and found the ad for the Nekohanten quite easily. Strapped to her back was her trusty hammer and a backpack containing her 'magical survival kit'. In other words, it was an air-conditioned pack full of ice cream. The current neighbourhood she was in was rather quiet. In fact, the street she was in was completely deserted. she thought. A couple more minutes of walking and she found her answer. A large crowd of people was gathered in an open lot cheering for some reason. Curiousity getting the better of her, she pushed her way in to the front of the crowd. She was slightly shocked by what she saw. Skuld thought. One of the players scored a goal and the crowd erupted in applause. When the ball came to a stop in the net, Skuld noticed that they weren't kicking around a ball, but a small old man curled up into a ball. Someone had wrapped him up in many layers of clear tape. Confused, she tapped some guy beside her. "Hey, what's-" Skuld began but the guy was already gone, heading for the hills. Another guy noticed Skuld and seemed to back away in fear. "A-Are you a m-martial artist too?" the guy asked, looking at Skuld's hammer. "No. Of course not." Skuld answered, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. "Then what's with the hammer?" he pointed. "Oh, it's just for protection." Skuld lied. There was no need to tell everyone that she debugged computers with the hammer. "Um, okay. I guess I could buy that." the boy said, calming down a bit. "So," Skuld started, tiptoeing a bit to see the field a bit better, "what's going on here? Why are people kicking around an old man?" Seeing that the conversation was heading to known territory, Hiroshi relaxed even more. "That old guy is named Happosai. He's the neighbourhood pervert. He steals underwear and cops feels off all the girls and some of the women. What they," Hiroshi said, pointing at the players and the ball, "are doing is considered justice. Don't worry, people usually beat each other up as revenge in these parts." "Uh-huh." was all Skuld could say. After a moment, she remembered all about her mission. "Oh yeah, do you by any chance know if there's a chinese restaurant around here?" "There's only one. The Nekohanten. It's just two blocks down that street." Hiroshi said, pointing towards a street. Skuld smiled and said, "Thanks a lot-" "-Hiroshi." the boy answered. "It was my pleasure helping out a cute little girl like you." Skuld's eyebrow twitched. She fought to control her annoyance. "Well, see ya around." she said, walking towards the street Hiroshi had pointed to earlier. Call it fate, call it luck but suddenly, Sayuri looked over to her sometimes boyfriend and saw him talking to a cute little girl. she thought grimly. ************************************************************************ Mousse whistled a song he forgot the title to as he cleaned the tables at the Nekohanten. He was getting really tired of waiting so he had decided to start up the restaurant by himself. Instead of wearing his sunglasses, he was wearing his normal, extra-thick eyeglasses. The reason for this is that his Mind's eye was locked on the kitchen, allowing him to cook using telekinesis. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't clearly see his current surroundings, resulting in all the tables he'd wiped to have some missed areas. A sudden knocking at the door called his attention. Putting the cleaning rag down, he went to the door to open it. "Sorry but we're not yet-" Mousse stopped himself before he recognized the person at the door. "Hello Skuld." "Is that you Mousse?" she asked, peering into his thick glasses. Mousse took off his glasses and allowed Skuld to get a good look of his face. "When I came to your house, I was wearing my contacts." he lied. thought Skuld. "Mmm, what's that smell?" she asked, a wonderful aroma invading her nose. "Best chinese food in the city." Mousse started proudly but finished unsurely. Shampoo and Cologne were the true cooks. He only cooked on the really hectic days. "Come on in. You can tell me if it tastes as good as it smells." he said, escorting her to the counter. Skuld looked around the little restaurant. Everything had been set up for the first customers of the day. "So, are you going to open soon?" Mousse walked around the counter and handed her a bowl of the ramen the Nekohanten was famous for. A set of chopsticks soon followed. "Yeah. When I finished cleaning that last table, I was about to flip the sign. Might as well wait until I get my review before I open up." he said, watching the girl blowing on her noodles. Skuld placed the food in her mouth and sloshed it around to get the taste. "Hey, this is good." she exclaimed after swallowing. "I guess I'm ready." Mousse said, walking over to the door and flipping the open/closed sign. Skuld wondered about his wording for a second and asked, "You're running this place by yourself?" "Just for now." Mousse said, peering out the door. "My boss and my... co-worker are out at the moment." "Where are they?" Skuld asked in between bites. Mousse thought about the wording for a second and said, "They're out training. Can't just let your martial arts skill degrade." Both looked up to the sound of the door opening as the Nekohanten regulars came in for food. "Same as usual?" Mousse asked the small crowd. Skuld noticed that some of the customers were spectators at the soccer field. "We'll have the special today. Yuji's paying today." said the 'leader' the group. "Hey. The old guy looked like he was rolling for the other team." Yuji said, thinking of his declining bank account. "Okay, so it's 6 specials all 'round." Mousse confirmed, telekinetically adding the special ingredients to the basic ramen in the kitchen. Skuld looked over to the door and more people started coming in. Mousse looked like he was going to have a lot of work on his hands. Her thoughts were interrupted by- "Whoa! What's that?" exclaimed one of Yuji's friends. Mousse adjusted his glasses and rung a small bell to gather the attention of the people in the restaurant. By now, almost everyone that Skuld had seen at the soccer game were there. "I'm kinda shorthanded today so this is how it'll work. You tell me your order and take a seat. Your food will be delivered through one of the many techniques of the chinese Amazons." Mousse announced. Someone ordered a plain ramen and it came to their table via black hole technique. The crowd applauded while Mousse gave a small bow. A mad rush went to the counter as everyone gave Mousse their orders. The kitchen was thrown into a flurry of activity. Pots, pans, cooking instruments and food were flying around, guided by the boy at the counter. When the crowd got to their seats, Skuld said, "You sure have everything under control. How did you do that anyway?" she thought. "Magicians never tell their secrets." Mousse quoted from memory. "But in your case, I'll make an exception. You see, all you do is this-" Mousse opened his hand slightly "-and a void opens up. Then, you can control what comes through like so." a small mint came out with the words 'Nekohanten' on the wrapping. "It's as easy as that." "'It's as easy as that' huh?" Skuld pouted. "Now I'm sure you're a magician. I should have known you wouldn't have told me." "Sorry. It would spoil the magic anyway." said Mousse, taking a few orders from new customers. Someone took a seat next to Skuld and said, "There's no such thing as real magic you know." "Hello Nabiki Tendo." said Mousse. "Hello Mousse." she said cooly.