From: alhuang@hcs.harvard.edu (Andrew Huang) alhuang@hcs.harvard.edu http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang January 19, 1997 This is fanfic number 2 for me. (Fanfic 1 is still in progress, as the chapters get cranked out...don't know when I'll be posting it.) I'm a fan of Mousse's, and I really think that he deserves to have someone--Shampoo. However...he could do things a little differently. A lot of people seem to agree, too--I've seen numerous things about how he's a bit overly affectionate for his own good. So, I've decided to tweak Mousse just a little, with a little bit of help from...elsewhere. Heh. Legal stuph: All Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Takahashi-san and whoever does the publishing/translating/whatever. Urd belongs to whoever created "Ah! Megami-sama!" and so forth. And now, Oddzilla Productions presents.... "Mousse, Version 2.0" <...>: thoughts *...*: sound effects {...} (within quotes): speech in Mandarin (Mousse, Shampoo, and Cologne speak Mandarin, not Cantonese. Believe me, I KNOW. I've lived in a Mandarin/Taiwanese speaking household for 18 years.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shampoo humphed and spun around on her heel, stomping back into the Nekohanten. Behind her, in the back lot, Mousse lay knocked out, a large bump on his head growing slowly. However, although he was out, he wasn't being out idly. His subconscious was rather active.... Suddenly, Mousse's eyes snapped open. He sat up and pushed his glasses down in front of his eyes, looking around. Mousse's nose started to bleed a little. (I guess he sees a lot clearer in his dreams.) He scratched his head for a few moments. He smiled. Now was a time for changes. He was going to do things differently. It was time to be-- Out Of Character. Mousse blinked. Where did that phrase come from? ------------------------------------------------ "Arigato! Have nice day." Shampoo was...uneasy. Mousse had been oddly quiet ever since he finally came back to work after getting knocked out earlier. He had been especially careful, it seemed, to stay out of her way and even was wearing his glasses all the time. Only twice that evening had he made any visual mistakes. It was a record for him. Strangest of all, the only times he ever spoke with her was to communicate a customer's orders. No fawning, no blathering, nothing like that at all. She did, however, note the slightest hint of a smile on his lips all the time. When the night was finally over and she locked up, she looked over nervously at Mousse as he wiped down the last of the tables. "{Muu Tsu! Start on the dishes.}" She paused for a moment, then added, "{Good work tonight.}" He only smiled and nodded his head, then walked to the kitchen. As he stood at the sink, soaping up the dishes and bowls in hot water for Cologne to wash in cold water (hey, she's the only one who can do that in this establishment), he thought about how things were going that day. He heard Shampoo walk in the kitchen and begin putting away the supplies, but did not turn around. He finished up and walked towards the living area behind the restaurant, hands tucked into his sleeves like always. When he passed Shampoo, she stiffened visibly. "{Xian Pu, is there something wrong?}" She blinked a few times, opened her mouth, and stopped. She thought some more and just said, "{No, nothing is wrong....}" Mousse nodded and walked through the door. Suddenly, Shampoo said, "Wait. Shampoo must ask...is something wrong with Mousse? Mousse seem...very quiet now." Mousse turned around, the same faint smile on his lips. "No, nothing is wrong with me. In fact, I feel better than usual." He suddenly whipped his right hand out of his sleeve, sending a small object flying towards Shampoo. Instinctively, she snatched it from the air. It was a red rose. She blinked. "Good night, Shampoo." He walked on towards his room, leaving behind a very confused Shampoo. Cologne watched this exchange, equally confused. "Now, what was that all about, Great-granddaughter?" She answered, "Shampoo have no idea." ------------------------------------------------ Morning. Mousse lay in bed, contemplating the fuzziness which he assumed was the ceiling of his room. He hopped out and dressed quickly. As he left his room, he bumped into Shampoo. "{Good morning.}" She was slightly startled, and only nodded in reply. "Where are you off to in such a rush?" She paused before answering, "Bringing breakfast to husband. Shampoo not can be late." Mousse bristled at this for a moment, but quickly calmed himself down. However, when he spoke, there was a definite iciness in his voice. "I see. Well, then, I suppose you should hurry." He abruptly turned and walked off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a bang. Shampoo almost jumped at the noise, and she stared at the closed door for a moment. "Why Mousse acting so strange?" she murmured to herself. She shook her head. She humphed mentally and walked away, but not before shooting a backward glance at the closed door. Inside, Mousse was splashing his face with warm water. He sighed. "I must keep trying. It never was easy before." The lunch hour went much the same as dinner did yesterday. Shampoo was relieved that Mousse was no longer seemingly angry at her. Still, she wondered why he hadn't proclaimed his undying love to her like he used to every ten minutes. Then she remembered the rose that she now had sitting in a vase in her room. Mousse was also thinking as he served the customers. ------------------------------------------------ Mousse relaxed at a booth. The lunch crowd had finally disappeared about fifteen minutes ago, and the dining room was empty. He sat back, eyes closed, massaging his temples, when he heard a rustling across the table from him. He opened his eyes to see Shampoo sitting down, carefully avoiding his gaze. He said nothing. Shampoo finally spoke. "M-mousse, did Shampoo hit you too hard on head yesterday?" Mousse chuckled softly and said, "No, no, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Shampoo hesitated, and answered, "Mousse...acting strange." "Am I really?" He shrugged "Maybe so. But...believe me, I'm feeling okay. Really." Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo...glad that you okay. H-hate to lose good worker." She turned to go, but Mousse caught her hand. She whirled to face him, ready to smash him as usual--but before she could, he gently raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. This brought her to a complete stop. Mousse simply smiled again and said, "{Thank you for your concern, Xian Pu.}" He shook his sleeve a bit, and suddenly Shampoo found a white carnation pressed into her fingers. He let her hand drop and walked to the back. Shampoo was left sitting at the booth, blinking, looking at her hand and the flower. She turned suddenly to face Mousse's retreating figure, eyes wide, and then-- --she blushed. Badly. "Aiyah." ------------------------------------------------ The dinner hours were busy. Very busy. Shampoo and Mousse were both constantly scuttling back and forth from the kitchen to the tables (plus the cash register). Fortunately, there were no calls for take-out tonight-- a minor miracle--so Shampoo was able to help out with the service all evening. For those watching her carefully, there was a slightly puzzled look visible on her face. Also, there was a pretty white flower placed in her hair.... Mousse, on the other hand, was smiling--especially when he looked at the carnation which Shampoo had tucked into her hair earlier. *CRASH* A voice muttered from outside the front door. "Chikusho...." The figure to whom the voice was attached to stood up and brushed himself off, then walked in the front door. "Hi, Shampoo! Akane made dinner...and due to some...uh, well, misunderstandings, she booted me all the way out here. Convenient, huh?" Ranma. Of course. "Airen!" *glomp* "Shampoo so happy to see you!" Mousse nearly crushed the bowl he was holding in his hand. "*urk* Shampoo-I-need-to-breathe-okay, that's better." "Violent pervert girl cook *heheh* again? Mousse! Get bowl of ramen for Ranma!" Shampoo was relieved to see Ranma. This would take her mind off of the weirdness going on today. Mousse walked over to the table where Ranma sat with the usual bowl- of-noodles-on-the-house. He set it down and stiffly said, "Ranma, we need to talk later. Tomorrow, after school. Behind the Nekohanten." He turned around and walked back to the kitchen. Ranma blinked. "Wow. He didn't even threaten me like usual. Oh well." He dug into his food as he always did. "Yes...Mousse act strange all day today." There was an odd note in Shampoo's voice, which Ranma noticed. Then her eyes narrowed. "Mousse better not attack husband." "Oh, don't worry about me. If he does, you know I can take him. I like the flower, by the way. Looks nice on ya." Shampoo turned away so that he wouldn't see her blushing--or the slightly guilty look on her face. She never stopped to think why she might be feeling guilty.... ------------------------------------------------ Shampoo was even more uneasy now. After Ranma had left, Mousse had lost even the small smile, and rather, had a blank but obviously restrained expression on his face. Whatever he communicated to her was spoken as short as possible, as if he was limited on breath. Cologne noticed this as well, and pulled Shampoo aside during a lull (one of the very few that night) to talk to her. "{What is going on with Muu Tsu?}" Shampoo shook her head. "{I don't know. He's been acting strange ever since I hit him yesterday...for one thing, he hasn't said that he loves me at all today.}" "{Do you suppose he's given up on you?}" Shampoo again shook her head. "{I thought that too, but then I remembered that rose from yesterday, and...never mind.}" Cologne glanced at the carnation, but said nothing. Shampoo continued, "{He's been nice to me, still, except when I told him this morning that I was delivering breakfast to Ranma, and now, ever since Ranma came in for dinner.}" She paused, then added, "{Muu Tsu talked to Ranma when he was in--he wanted to talk more with Ranma after school lets out tomorrow.}" Cologne considered this. "{Perhaps you should go and listen in to what they have to say when the time comes.}" Shampoo simply nodded. "{In the meantime, just let things be as they are.}" Mousse had been sitting at a table the whole time, relaxing. Well, not really relaxing; he was trying to keep himself calm. He wondered what those two were talking about. *sigh* As they returned to work, Mousse was no longer as curt as before, but Shampoo could tell that some of his demeanor was a bit forced. Still, she was somewhat glad. That night, Mousse did not sleep well. The incident with Ranma had bothered him more than usual. Perhaps it was this new attitude that he was taking. He finally understood that it wasn't really Ranma's fault, and that he couldn't be automatically blamed for it. Still, something _had_ to be resolved tomorrow. Shampoo did not sleep well either. She wondered--as she had been doing for the past day and a half--what Mousse was thinking now. She liked how he was...easing up on her, but--it disturbed her, that she also wasn't quite sure how she felt about Mousse now.... Cologne slept very well. She was exhausted from the busy night. ------------------------------------------------ "Oi! Mousse! I'm here!" Ranma stood in the lot behind the Nekohanten. He was slightly nervous.... This was very unlike Mousse. "Behind you." Ranma whirled around into a defensive crouch. "What do you want?" Mousse stood there, arms in his sleeves. "Not a fight. Not this time. Like I said, we need to talk. About Shampoo." Ranma slowly relaxed, and nodded. "I've noticed that something strange is going on. Shampoo seemed almost worried about you, in fact, when I was eating dinner yesterday." Mousse's heart fluttered for a moment. He calmed himself down. "That does not matter. Just know that I love Shampoo as much as ever. I would still die for her!" There was an unmistakable fierceness in the last sentence. Ranma nodded. "I have no doubts about that." Mousse continued. "I just have the feeling that I've been going about it somewhat wrong." Ranma nodded again, but said nothing. "Now, then, about why I called you here. Well...how do you feel about Shampoo?" Ranma froze. He certainly wasn't expecting this. "Anou, I, uh...." "Please. Answer me." Ranma sighed and closed his eyes. "All right.... All right. Well, she certainly makes life interesting.... I guess I...she's a friend to me. And I do appreciate my friends. But...uh....*sigh* I guess.... *argh* Let me say it this way. I don't feel the same way about her as how she feels about me...or how you feel about her." He stopped, looking down at his feet. "So...how's that for an answer?" Mousse smiled. "If you're serious about what you just said, then I'm _very_ happy with that for an answer." The smile vanished. "However, I'm not going to be truly happy about it _until you tell her_. Do you get what I mean?" Ranma blinked. "Well...it's not like I ever say that I love her--" "But you allow her to carry on like that whenever she's near you! What do you think that's saying? You've got to make it clear to her that you only like her as a friend!" Ranma hung his head, actually looking a little guilty. "Hai.... I guess you're right. *sigh* But...." Mousse walked over to Ranma and laid a hand gently on his shoulder. "But you don't want to hurt her, right?" Ranma nodded. "It's got to happen sooner or later. Believe me, I don't want to see her hurt. At all. If what you say is indeed true, though, you're only hurting her more by not telling her." Ranma sighed yet again. "I'll tell her." Mousse nodded. Ranma turned to go, but then stopped. "Mousse...this is so strange. What brought all of this on, anyway? I mean, you apparently haven't been all over Shampoo lately, you didn't attack me when I came to the Nekohanten, and now, you're just...talking to me like this. What gives?" Mousse stood silent for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure. But...someone or something showed me that what I had been doing just wasn't working. I've got to stop and think about things before doing anything." Mousse thought for a few more moments. "It seems to be working...Shampoo hasn't hit me or even gotten angry at me since the day before yesterday, you know. I'd consider that progress." He smiled, then said, "You know, you could learn from this...." Ranma blinked a few times. "Uh...right.... Well, I'll see you later. Maybe tonight...." He left the back lot, scratching his head. Mousse looked on for a few more moments, then re-entered the Nekohanten, still smiling. A bush in the lot rustled, and out stepped a lavender cat, looking very confused. Somewhat sad, somewhat angry, but mostly confused. ------------------------------------------------ Shampoo stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. She had just changed back and had been running the entire conversation between Mousse and Ranma through her mind. She exited the bathroom, and making sure that neither Mousse or Cologne was around, made her way to her room. She lay down on her bed and continued thinking. *knock knock* "{Great-granddaughter?}" Shampoo froze. She still had a lot of thinking to do...she wasn't ready--but.... "{Come in.}" She sat up and sighed, resigned. Cologne hopped in on her walking stick. "{Well, did you hear what they had to say to each other?}" Shampoo nodded. "{And?}" Shampoo sighed again, and recounted everything that had gone between the two boys. When she had finished, Cologne was thinking hard. The fact that Shampoo was still rather calm did not escape her. After a minute, she spoke. "{So Muu Tsu has indeed not given up. And in fact.... Xian Pu, how do you feel about this?}" "{Well...it feels all very strange. I'm...not as angry as I should be. Ranma...I think I....}" She trailed off, not really wanting to think about that. "{But I suppose, I like how Muu Tsu is treating me now.}" "{What about Muu Tsu himself?}" Shampoo was silent for a few seconds. "Shampoo...still think he is stupid blind fool." Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter, eyes narrowed. Shampoo sometimes lapsed into Japanese when she was confused. "Relax for now, great-granddaughter. I'll call you when I need you." "Hai." Cologne pogoed out the door, and hopped down to Mousse's room. She knocked, and a voice answered, "{Yes? Come in.}" She entered to see the Chinese boy sitting on his bed. "{What is it, Khu Lon?}" "{I don't know how you did it.}" "{Did what?}" "{You know perfectly well.}" Cologne paused. "{What did bring this on? I know that a simple blow to the head couldn't have been it. You've been knocked silly many times before....}" Mousse shrugged. "{Whatever it was, it doesn't matter.}" "{I suppose not.}" She pivoted on her stick, and said, "{I am only here for her happiness.}" With that cryptic remark, she left the room. Mousse blinked, trying to understand what that was supposed to mean. ------------------------------------------------ The evening hours were winding down. Only two booths were occupied, when the front door swung open. It was Ranma. He gulped, then said, "Shampoo, we need to talk...." Mousse froze for a moment, glancing over at Shampoo. For once, she didn't leap into Ranma's arms (or rather, wrap Ranma in her own arms), but simply nodded and walked over to a booth in the corner. Ranma joined her there. Mousse continued cleaning up, straining to listen in on what was being said. "Shampoo," began Ranma, "I...I have to tell you something...." "Shampoo know," she interrupted, looking down at the table. Ranma was nonplused. First, he had no idea that she knew already, and secondly, she was taking it remarkably calmly. "Shampoo heard...should have realized long ago." There was a quaver in her voice. "Uh...gomen ne...I didn't want to hurt you. I mean...you're a friend to me, and everything, but...." Ranma trailed off. Shampoo shook her head. "Is okay. Shampoo...understand." She looked up, a few unshed tears sparkling in her eyes. She smiled, trying to ignore them. "Ranma hungry? Still can have free bowl of ramen." Ranma smiled back. "No, thanks...Kasumi cooked a lot for us tonight. I'm fine. Uh...are you okay?" Shampoo sighed, but it came out a little like a sob. "Shampoo...will be okay." She abruptly stood up and walked to the kitchen, pausing once to look back and say, "Good night, ai--...Ranma." Then she walked through the door. Ranma sighed. He didn't enjoy a single moment of that. True, he was relieved that it looked as though Shampoo was finally giving up on him, but.... "Ranma." It was Mousse. "I know that was difficult...." "You have no idea." "Arigato. And...ah...I apologize for all the times I attacked you whenever Shampoo...latched herself onto you." Ranma looked up at Mousse in surprise. "I now realize that it wasn't your fault. Gomen nasai." Mousse bowed to Ranma. "Oh.... Uh, right...I appreciate the apology." Ranma stood up and bowed back. Suddenly, he grinned broadly, and slapped Mousse on the shoulder. "No hard feelings?" Mousse smiled back and nodded. "Hai. This has gone on far too long. I imagine that, had we met under different circumstances, we could have started out as friends." Ranma nodded. Mousse suddenly looked over at the kitchen door. "Well...I'm glad that this is finally cleared up. If you'll excuse me, I think I need to talk to her. Ja ne." He left, walking to the kitchen. Ranma stared after him a moment, then shrugged. "She hasn't hit him since two days ago? Maybe he _is_ right. I've got something to learn from all of this." He walked out to return to the Dojo. Inside the kitchen, Shampoo was sitting on a chair looking down at the floor. She did not look up when Mousse sidled up next to her. Mousse first broke the silence. "{You listened to us talking earlier, didn't you?}" Shampoo nodded. Mousse wasn't angry at all; in fact, it seemed to have made things a little easier for Ranma, for which he was glad. "{Well...what are you going to do now?}" There were a few more moments of silence. "{I...I do not know.}" She suddenly looked up at Mousse. "{Muu Tsu. Answer me. Why are you acting so differently now?}" Mousse sighed. He had been answering this question rather often lately. "{I'll tell you, I'm not exactly sure. Just something that happened after you knocked me out that last time. But I can tell that this is something much better than what was going on before.}" He looked at Shampoo, but she said nothing. "{Before, I was just all over you... and I was too blind, in more ways than one, to see how much you really hated that. I suppose being that possessive just didn't go over well with you. So I decided to back off a little, and...let you decide for yourself.}" She nodded. A tear rolled out of her eye, and she sniffled a bit. Mousse produced a handkerchief and carefully wiped it away. She didn't move away. Seeing that, Mousse tenatively placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle, comforting squeeze. "{Xian Pu...I am sorry...but Ranma's heart does lie elsewhere.}" he added silently. Shampoo sat, deep in thought. She suddenly rose to her feet, and looked at Mousse carefully. On impulse, she stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on the forehead. His brain nearly burned out. (Hey, this is pretty much still the old Mousse, just with plenty of attitude adjustment.) A small smile appeared on her lips, one of the few genuine ones she ever gave Mousse. "{You are right. In fact, you've been seeing things more clearly than I have.... And you know what?}" She paused, eyeing Mousse, who was momentarily speechless, then continued. "{There just may be the possibility that I might even....}" Shampoo trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. She gripped his hand tightly for a moment, then released it, walking back out of the kitchen to the dining room. Mousse stared after her, a huge, silly grin rising on his face. He suddenly froze up, and calmed himself down. His grin faded down to the same, small smile that had been on his face for the last two days. It was really very comfortable, not only to look at, but for him to wear. He thought back to the woman that he saw when he had been out cold. "Arigato," he whispered. He followed Shampoo's footsteps to the dining room to wait on the last remaining customers. Cologne hopped out from the shadows behind a counter where she had been sitting the whole time. She looked at where the two had been sitting/ standing. She turned and began the clean-up work. ------------------------------------------------ Somewhere, out there.... Urd reclined on a couch, looking at the TV screen before her. "Yes, this is going very well for him. Now, to convince him to defeat her in combat, somehow." She thought for a moment. "Well, he doesn't have to hurt her to knock her out. I should have that chiropractor teach him a few shiatsu points, perhaps." She grinned. "Ah, now _that_ man is another project worthy of my attention! Hmm. In fact, Nerima seems to have a lot for me..." She whipped out a notebook from the reaches of Hammerspace and began scribbling down notes. "...the good Ono Toufu-sensei and Tendou Kasumi, Saotome Ranma and Tendou Akane, Hibiki Ryouga...and Kuonji Ukyou, Kunou Tatewaki and Tendou Nabiki-- what is it with these Tendou sisters? Do all three of them really require divine intervention? Oh well, all the more fun for me...." --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's endnotes (everything especially weird explained): Well, there you go. This was a lot of fun to do, and passed many of my less active days of Winter Break quite nicely. Yes, I left it hanging at the end a bit, but...I don't think it's really necessary to conclude this super-neatly. It's already been done. Plus, it would be rather unrealistic--unless I was going to make this a lot longer. I did find it necessary to have Mousse and Ranma (and Ranma and Shampoo) resolve a few of their matters, though. Also, you may think that Shampoo took Ranma's rejection very calmly. It's part of her reaction to what Mousse has become.... This Mousse would be one, I think, that Shampoo could fall in love with. (Guess how Shampoo's last line would have ended, had she completed it. ^_^) A suave, romantic, non-clingy man. It would indeed, though, take more than a blow to his head to make him act that way. I felt like bringing Urd into this one because of that. I might do a short series, with Urd playing around with the couples I mentioned. It sure would be interesting.... As for Cologne, I don't think she's really completely set on Ranma. If Mousse could make Shampoo happy, and he proved himself as a strong fighter (and I'm certain that, if he put himself into it and kept his glasses on, he could beat Shampoo), I think Cologne would accept him. So? What do you think? C&C is welcome. -- >From the desktop of the Taiwanese-American-German-Scot, Wakko "Andrew" Huang Brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla Oddzilla says, "Ryouga and Ukyou! Ukyou and Ryouga!" http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang