Disclaimer: I still don't own Ranma1/2.

Summery: Mousse Snaps.

[Sign]

(Thoughts)

*SOUNDS*

++++++++++>Flashback<++++++++++
<Chinese>

Warning: Sort off WAFF.

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Unlikely Couple

Part V

Shampoo the Nurse

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Ryouga opened his eyes and blinked at the sharp light coming from the ceiling. Turning his head he spotted Shirokuro staring back at him, long tongue dangling out off her moth and a constant happy smile on her doggy face. Sitting up, he was reminded off what he had done last night, when a sharp pain shot though his body. Gently laying back down again he moved the blanket aside and took in the damage. A fine bandage was wrapped around the torso and lower abdomen.

"Well, well, you finally decided to join us"

Turning his head he spotted cologne sitting on the window still. Her wooden staff tapping the wall patiently as she waited for Ryouga to say something in return "Oba-sama?"

Cologne lifted a eye brown at the word before she grinned "Looks like you got yourself in a bit of trouble there sonny" Pulling out a long thin pipe she lighted it and took a puff from it, blowing out a smoke ring she looked down at the lost boy "Thank you for helping my Great Granddaughter last night, you have my gratitude" Turning to look at him fully, she narrowed her eyes "But, I must say I am most surprised to learn that Shampoo is here with you"

Ryouga blinked, before he closed his eyes. Leaning back in his bed, he sighed loudly. "It was mostly pure luck I guess. I found her two days ago drunk, in some alley" Cologne hummed as she leaned back and motioned for him to continue.

++++++++++>Flashback<+++++++++++

Ryouga grumbled loudly as he walked down the half lit street. Unlike the major parts of Tokyo there was no cars or big neon signs to light up the streets. Just the small cones of light cast by the towering lamb posts. Sometimes the darkness was by small signs blinked unsteadily to proclaim that here was an all night Sake bar or cafe. Stopping in front of such a place Ryouga briefly wondered if he should go in and ask for directions, or maybe to escape the cold night air for just a while.

The desire to at least get some warm and maybe get something to eat won over the desire to find the Tendo Dojo. Stepping in through the door after spending a few moments to find it, he nearly went the wrong way. If he hadn't spotted the sign over his shoulder he would have walked away from it completely.

The inside of the bar was smoke filled and filled with the sounds of people mumbling and sifting their head to see just who dared to enter their bar at that time of the night. Some of them shrugged at what they saw as a kid stumble in through the door while other took in the muscles and the way the eyes travel from side to side in order to spot any threat.

After a while Ryouga found his way to a small table at the edge of the wall. Dropping the oversized backpack he settled in to rest for a bit. The sound of feet moving over the floor made him crack open one eye to see an elderly woman wearing a greasy uniform step up to the table. Holding up a notepad she looked at him with a sour expression "What do you want" The words were sneered out at him as she looked at the notepad.

Ryouga opened both eyes and looked at her "Can you get anything to eat here?"

"No, this is a bar. You want something to eat; you go down the street to the all night sushi bar. Now what do you want to drink?"

Standing back up, Ryouga picked up his backpack "Nothing" Stepping away from the table he ignored the glare the waitress shot him as he slowly made his way to the door. Opening it he felt the fresh clean night air, replace the smog filled one inside of the bar. The door clicked shot behind him, as he looked left and right, hoping to spot the sign telling him that this was the sushi restaurant.

Leaving it all up to fate Ryouga stepped out into the street and turned left hoping that somehow this would lead him to some place warm. It wasn't until he spotted the turned over trashcan that he knew he was back in the damn alleyway. Feeling his frustration raising, Ryouga stomped down the alleyway. Well he did until he stumbled over the feet sticking out from under one of the trashcans.

Ryouga looked up from where he had landed face fist into the pavement. Turning his head to see whatever it was, so he could reduce it to dust, he found himself staring at a pair of legs dressed in pink Chinese pants. Sitting back up Ryouga moved the trashcans away and looked closer at whom he had tripped over.

Dirt purple colored bangs fell down over the person's head and chest. Panicking at the though of finding a dead person, Ryouga didn't relax until he saw the chest rise gently as the person breathed in. Moving the hair away from the face Ryouga did a double check "Shampoo?"

Gently picking her up Ryouga fought back a nosebleed. Stepping back out of the alley he looked left and right hoping to spot someone he could ask for directions. Facing the same old dark street he started to run following the old Hibiki saying, "The path doesn't matter, just follow it and you'll likely find what you seek eventually.

++++++++++>End Flashback<++++++++++

Ryouga smirked "Both me and Shampoo, would have been halfway to China if Shirokuro hadn't found us. Turned out I had run past my house 6 times in a row" Turning his head to stare at the elder woman, he closed his eyes again "Not wanting to take the chance of getting lost, I decided to follow Shirokuro and spend the night at my house."

Cologne nodded before she looked at him "I'm sure that Shampoo told you about her punishment." At the dark look Ryouga gave her closed her eyes and glared back at him "Twice the council found her guilty of failing the ancient laws, the first time was punished when she was throw into the Maoniichuan at Jusenkyo." At the pale look on Ryouga's, she shook her head "Yes, you do well in fearing the powers of that place." Putting away the pipe, she jumped off the window still and pogoed across the room on her staff. "

Ryouga grumbled and looked at the wall "So, what will you do now?"

Cologne smirked again. "Nothing for now." At the angry look on Ryouga's face she held out a hand "I will look at the laws of the Amazons for a solution to this problem. Shampoo is one of the best students in our tribe in the last 60 years. I'll return and tell her when I find a way for her to become a member of the tribe again, in the meantime she can stay here with you." Opening the door, she turned her head and gave him a look of mild concern. "Be careful, Mousse will most likely try something again. I fear the boy has lost it for good" With those final words, the door closed behind the elder as she left.

Ryouga nodded at the words and warning, and leaned back down into the bed, ready to relax some more. only to look as a purple blur jumped in through the door and sat down on the bed. "Nihao, how lost boy feeling?" Lifting up a wooden tray, she had brought with her to sit on the table next to Ryouga's bed, she turned to face him, and picked up a spoon from the hot brew of the lone bowl sitting on the tray. "Shampoo bring delicious soap for lost boy"

Ryouga glared at the nickname. It wasn't enough that he had heard all through his short time in school, did she have to throw it in his head every time they met. "I'm fine, and the name is Ryouga. Not lost boy, not bandanna boy or p-chan, got it"

Shampoo looked at him, before grinning widely. "Okay, what umbrella boy say. Shampoo no call lost boy." Her eyes showed the laughter running through, as she struggled to avoid dropping the spoon at the glare Ryouga sent her and laugh out loud.

Ryouga groaned loudly and clenched his hands in front of him "If you say that one more time. I'll mph…" Ryouga blinked as Shampoo stuffed the spoon into his mouth while he ranted. Chocking a bit, he swallowed the soup and glared at the Amazon girl "I can use a spoon you know"

Shampoo smiled sweetly and lifted the spoon again "Great Grandmother told Shampoo to look after umbrella boy, so Shampoo look after umbrella boy" Stuffing the spoon into his mouth again, she shot him a glare the promised him a really bad day if he didn't do what she said.

***************

Mousse sat on the quiet rooftop. Below him the people moved back and fourth like they did everyday, with no change in their life. He never understood them, granted his life back at the Amazon village had never been that big a difference from the way these spent their life. But he took a small satisfaction in knowing that he, at least wouldn't be working himself like a slave just to live for the rest of his life. A grim smiled formed as he played with a small knife. One would almost say he would do one of them a favor, by ending their pointless life.

But that was not here or now. What he needed was a plan, something that would get Hibiki out of the way and make Shampoo his. But after what happened last night, it seemed that the only way to get what he wanted, was to use the one thing he had never wanted to use on his beloved. It was time to turn to the vast Amazon knowledge of magic.

But the old ghoul would be on the lookout for him. So unless he was prepared to fight off an elder, which no one his age and skill level had tried to do before, he couldn't use the spells and potions from the Neko Haten. Clenching his fist, he lifted his head and glared down at the street below him with anger, those stupid and pointless people, who had forgotten most of their old ways, and the knowledge of magic. Slowly stopping his inner rant of the uselessness of these outsiders, Mousse looked down at the people. Not all of them could have forgotten the way of magic. There had to be a few who knew how to used it and who was willing to help him. All he had to do was find them, and to do that, he had to find the nearest shop dealing with ingredients used for magic.

People cringed as the laughter erupted from the rooftop.

****************

Ryouga grumbled as Shampoo left the room. It was the second time he had been forced fed by the young Amazon girl, it didn't help that she had to be so close to him when she did it. The last thing he wanted to do, was pass out from blood loss next to her. Biting back the pain, he slowly dug his way out of the bed and onto the floor. Staring down at himself, he grunted. At least they had let him keep his pants.

It was time to get moving, he had saved the Amazon, that was the code for martial artists, but that was also where it ended. It was nice to be taken care off, but it was just the Amazon laws at work, or Shampoo following her great grandmothers orders. Feeh, who cared about that, it was time to get moving, he still hadn't found the perfect present for his Akane-san, and it had been a long time since he had seen her beautiful face and radiant smile. Pulling on his backpack, he spent the next ten minutes trying to find the door to his own room.

The house was strangely quiet as he moved down the corridor. It wasn't that hard finding his way trough the house. After all he had the guidelines on the floor to follow. Still, just how far were this damn line anyway, he could have sworn he had followed it for at least five minutes now. Stopping to look around him, trying to spot something to tell him where in the house he was, he was greeted with the sight of the family room. Ryouga shook his head a little to clear out the shock, he breathed out deeply. He had gotten use to the sudden jump from place to place. Still it was a little nerve ending to find you had just gone from the top floor to the living room without using stairs. But now he was downstairs, now all he had to do was find the front door, how hard could that be?

It was at that time he heard the sounds coming from the backyard, keeping a close eyes on the open window it came from, he managed to find his way over to it in the first try. Slowly looking out through it. He didn't see anything at first, and then he noticed the figure moving in a set pattern of moves near the edge of the grass covering the Hibiki backyard. Shampoo stopped her movement for a short second to kick up one of her bon boris lying on the ground, then her rapid movements began again.

Flowing through a strong kata, she was totally consumed by it. Her eyes closed as she did swept through the motions, told him how used she was to doing stuff like that. Her long silk like hair whipped around with her as her feet and hands moved through the set patterns. But what really caught his eyes, were the smile on her face. Free of anger, hurt and arrogance, just pure joy at doing the art. It was completely unlike his beloved Akane-san's face when she practiced. When she practiced, it was all with anger in her eyes, a need to prove to herself that she a martial artist. He had seen Akane when she practiced the art. She had lacked the spark that the others had, the spark that drove them to constantly improve, not only when it was needed, but also when there was no need too, that was the sign of a true martial artist, to never relax, to always seek the fine path of improvement.

He stood completely silently and watched her, for some reason he couldn't look away from her. It wasn't the first time he had done that. It had happened when he had seen her for the first time at the Tendo dojo. She was like a force of nature, unpredictable and unstoppable. After a minute, her kata drew to an end and she began to relax. Stepping back, Ryouga ducked into the house and began to look for the front door. He needed to think, to learn way his emotions was moving away from Akane-san, how he could have, even for a split second, have felt something besides love for her.

*****************

Shampoo slowly opened her eyes and looked round the garden. She had for the last few minuets of her training felt someone watching her. It hadn't been like the way back at the Neko Haten, where Mousse would stare at her with a lovesick expression that would annoy her, or the sometimes leering looks from the males living in the nearby area. She had barely felt it. Stepping towards the house she was a temporary guest in, she shook her head.

She was far away from those people now, but it could have been Mousse she had felt, hiding somewhere nearby, spying on her. She shivered at the memory of the knives he had thrown at her. The one person she had always felt would never hurt her in anyway had tried to kill her. And then, from out of nowhere, someone she hadn't given much thought to. Had jumped in the way. Had protected her from harm. Not for love, desire, or to gain something, but because he wanted to.

She stopped walking, when she reached the door leading into the room where he was recovering from the knife wounds. Holding up a hand, she stopped just before she knocked on the door. She needed time to think, turning away from the door. She walked towards the guestroom she had moved into. She would talk with him later. Right now, she needed to think. Great Grandmother had told her, that she was looking for a way for her to become and Amazon again and then what. Would she return to the village, or still follow her heart and try to woe Ranma into becoming her husband as she had tried for more then a year now. Entering the room, her eyes swept over the bare wall and the simple bed. The lone window looked out towards the street, and there walking on it was.

Shampoo snapped to attention as she spotted the lost boy, walking down the street, his oversized backpack and umbrella gave him away with no problem. Her mind reeled through the many reason as to why he would run away. Slowly she stepped back into the room. No one ran away from an Amazon, she was still in his debt and she would be damned if she was going to let him get away like that. Grabbing the backpack her great grandmother had given her, she slipped it over her shoulders. She would follow after the lost boy, until she had paid her debt to him. Writing a quick note, she dropped it on the bed of the room. Turning to the window, she nodded, he still hadn't gotten that far away. Pushing open the window, she jumped down onto the wall surrounding the Hibiki compound and jumped onto the nearest rooftop. Trailing behind the lost boy like a shadow, she followed him into the horizon.

Tbc: Crisscrossing the land, Hibiki style.

AN: Yes, one of my most popular fan fictions is back. I may have forgotten about this one for a while. But now I'm back to writing on it. To all you reviewed and have been waiting for this, I'm sorry for the delay. I got side tracked by the Jaded Coral story, but since I can't think of one thing to write for that fan fic, I'm returning to my first Ryouga/Shampoo story.