Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Gets A Clue ❯ Confusion sets in ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: asayogure 
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Martial Arts / Fantasy / Comedy / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.24.2001 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.5K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Martial Arts / Fantasy / Comedy / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.24.2001 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.5K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Ranma 1/2 Fanfic "Ranma Gets a clue"
Written by Asayogure
Last modified (9/24/1999)
Chapter 2, "Confusion sets in."
_______________________________________________________
B egin.
_______________________________________________________
He was doing a fair job of keeping his eyes off his fiancee,
the last thing either of them needed right now was to have their
parents notice them showing even a trace of affection towards each
other. They would be in the chapel before they knew what had hit
them, if they did.
With everyone finally seated Kasumi started dishing out
breakfast. Bowl's of rice and miso soup, pickled vegetables and
of course, tea. Digging in hungrily the family ate as usual, with
Ranma and Genma eating the most, fighting each other for the food.
Akane for her part had no appetite. She couldn't show any outward
sign of divergence from her normal actions. For if she did, Kasumi
would pick up on it immediately and would want to know what was
wrong. To tell the truth Akane herself didn't know what was
wrong, she just felt, well . . . weird, and very lightheaded.
Ranma on the other hand, had almost entirely forgotten about
what had happened this morning. He was too busy locked in battle
with his father over breakfast. Each of them stealing food from
the main serving dishes and each others plates with lightning
quick chop stick strikes. Both of them eating what was on their
plates with equal abandon. Genma was rapidly devouring his bowl
of rice and miso soup, and Ranma was starting to worry about his
own. With the speed of his chestnut fist Ranma quickly set about
devouring his own food. Genma finished his and immediately went
for that of his son's. His chopsticks only struck bare dish as
Ranma had just finished. Pouting, Genma glared at his son. Ranma
grinned coyly and said,
"It's okay pop you're on a diet remember?" Genma started to
agree. "Why yes I . . . HEY! Waitaminute! . . . " then he snapped out of
it, "Are you saying I'm fat?"
"Not at all old man . . . . . . ::grinning:: for a panda." That did
it. Genma was mad now. He leapt up from his seat, lunging at his
only son, intending to strangle some manners into him. Only his
hands grasped only empty air. Tapping his father on the back of
the head Ranma grinned.
"Getting slow old man." Genma in a state of shock was
thinking to himself, "How in the world did Ranma get behind me so
fast? Is he getting faster, or am I really getting slow?"
Ranma took advantage of Genma's pause and subsequent absence of
movement to grab Akane's hand and haul her away from the table.
"Come on Akane we're gonna be late!" He shouted almost
gleefully, as he practically dragged her behind him. The rest of
the family just watched in shock as Ranma dragged Akane out the
front door. With the notable exception of Genma whom at the moment
was still standing where he had lunged for Ranma, his hands
grasping an imaginary throat and his mind replaying the "almost"
battle over and over, trying to figure out when Ranma had managed
to get behind him. Ranma grabbed both their box bento lunches and
school bags as he went out the front door, Akane's hand still
tightly in his.
Akane for her part was just basically letting herself get
dragged. She trusted Ranma. About 2 minutes later though Ranma
was still going full speed, running along their daily route which
took them by the aqueduct, when the fence had come into view he
had tensed as if to jump up on it, then looked back at his fiancee
and smiling continued to run beside and in front of her on the
ground. Akane however was getting tired, jogging for long
distances she could do, but not sprinting. Gasping she managed to
get out,
"R-Ranma -S-Slow down please . . . "
"Hmmmmm?" Ranma looked back to see Akane stumbling after him.
He slowed immediately to a walk and then stopped altogether to let
her catch her breath. After a short while she stood up tall again
and just looked at him. Ranma hardly seemed to notice that she
was blushing at their close contact and that he was still holding
onto her hand. He was obviously excited about something, and
looked anxious to get somewhere.
He was waiting for her though, even though it was obviously
slowing him down. She also noticed during her precursory glance,
that he had all her stuff shouldered alongside his. "How sweet!"
he thought.
"Ranma . . . " She started to say.
"Yeah?" Glancing down to her eye level, he trained his eyes on
her and she could almost feel herself slipping away and losing
herself in those 'Oh too intense' blue gray eyes of his.
"W-Why are you in such a rush today? We're like a half an hour
early for school ya know . . . and you haven't even sparred with your
father today yet . . . " She trailed off feeling stupid just talking
to Ranma and having him just listen.
Ranma just grinned and poked her in the nose as he said,
"Ah but I have sparred with you today Akane." He said while
grinning True he had sparred with her she reasoned. But she knew
and he knew that she was nowhere near the level of perfection that
Genma had achieved. So Ranma couldn't have gotten a very good
workout. Instead of arguing the matter though, she just dropped
it. The morning was too beautiful, the wind too crisp and fresh
and the sun too bright and cheerful, and Ranma was being far too
nice to let some stupid argument kill the mood.
Ranma was just standing there still. Watching Akane out of the
corner of his eye, the rest of his mind was still going on over
drive. He was very confused and needed to talk to a sympathetic
ear or he was gonna lose it. But who?! None of the Tendo sister's
obviously, nor his pop or Mr. Tendo. None of his other fiancee's
he dared tell, nor would they want to hear it. They would most
likely slap him and then go off to kill Akane.
To be honest Ranma didn't really have a lot of friends. At
least none that he would trust not to blab to the entire school
this sort of thing.
Sure there were Hiroshi and Daisuki and a few select others.
But they were mere followers really, not equals, nor friends.
Running over his ever dwindling list of people he knew, Ranma was
trying to find one he trusted, at least a little. The old freak
was out, DEFINITELY OUT! The old ghoul was wise, but he really
didn't trust her, and couldn't dare let her know about this. She
was a possibility, but only if he could figure out a way not to
let her know who the girl was he was talking about.
There was Dr. Tofu, and while Ranma trusted him explicitly
with regard to all matters of the mind and body and anything
concerning honour, he was afraid that either Kasumi might walk in,
or that he might spill the beans later when she did make an
appearance. There was Ryouga . . . he trusted him, sorta but not if
it concerned Akane and besides it was rather difficult to locate
Ryouga unless one had a few weeks to kill wandering around Japan
looking for an oddball martial artist carrying a steel lined
bamboo umbrella.
"Ranma!" Akane Shouted. Ranma snapped out of it and focused
on Akane.
"I have been trying to get your attention for the last couple
of minutes . . . what are you thinking about?" She fairly yelled.
Ranma could see she was starting to get mad. And lord knew that
could mean trouble.
"Uh nuthin Akane. I was just, um nuthin." He stammered.
"Well then," she softened her voice now seeing as he wasn't
just ignoring her. "Let's get going then shall we, it will be
weird to actually get to school EARLY." She grinned at this
comment.
It was at this point that they both heard it, and both of them
froze in their tracks. A distant ringing approaching at what
sounded like incredible speed. Which could only be one person
this early in the morning. Shampoo.
Ranma paled and braced himself, Akane just glowered. "Great!"
She thought, 'just great we were actually getting along fairly
well, and now that Chinese Bimbo! Has to show up and wreck
everything!' Out loud she said, "Ranma, lets get out of here . . . "
Her eyes pleaded with him. But Ranma had suddenly had a
realization. MOUSSE! He could talk to Mousse. Since wherever
Shampoo was, Mousse was sure to follow. Akane started off towards
school, when she noticed that Ranma was not following her, he was
just standing there with a stupid grin on his face. Akane's heart
broke a little bit then, and her face fell. Angrily she stomped
back over to him.
"Ranma!" She yelled, he looked down surprised.
"Yeah? What is it Akane?" Softening her voice into the tone
that she reserved for when she was really furious.
"If you want to get hung on by Shampoo and every other girl
that happens to cross your path . . . " She paused a minute and fought
back the urge to cry. "Then I guess it is none of my business.
Just gimme my stuff and I'll . . . I'll leave you two alone." She
sniffled just faintly.
"N-No no Akane it's not like that at all. I hate being hung
on, by ANYONE. I'm not waiting for Shampoo, I'm waiting for
Mousse." She just rolled her eyes and snorted.
"Yeah whatever Ranma." With that said she snatched her satchel
and bento box lunch out of his grasp, intending to storm out of
there, but only succeeding in sort of stumbling-walking.
Curious though she stopped about a block away and turned back.
She wanted to see what Ranma did around his other fiancee's when he
thought he was alone. What she saw next amazed her. Shampoo
displaying skills almost superhuman, was riding her bicycle on the
top of the railing that bordered the aqua duct. A cloud of dust
trailing in her wake. She was wearing her usual outfit, a pink
silk blouse and pink silk pants, imprinted with a flower design
that was very feminine very close cut and looking almost like
pajama's. Her hair was pulled back out of her face with a simple
ribbon, and as usual she wore no makeup. Waving to Ranma she
cried out.
"Airen Airen, Nihao! Husband no go to school today, take
shampoo to date!" She grinned happily seeing as Akane was nowhere
to be seen, and Ranma was just standing there waiting for her, oh
happy day! Launching herself and the bike off the railing and
straight at Ranma. Since Akane was not there though to distract
him, nor hit or yell at him, he had plenty of time to gauge her
trajectory and rate of fall, speed and angle.
He neatly side stepped the falling bike and caught her around
the waist in a move that could almost be compared to a clothesline
attack. Slowing her down just enough he then let her go to
stumble behind him while he spun the opposite way he had let her
go. It was over in under 3 seconds. Dazed Shampoo came to a halt
and looked at Ranma.
"Husband . . . " She began, obviously struggling with the foreign
language. "You I mean," straightening up Shampoo spoke a sentence
that could almost pass for descent Japanese.
"Would you care to take me on date?"
'She must have been studying' Ranma thought. Akane watching
from the distance noticed that while Ranma was being polite, and
Shampoo was obviously unaware of it, he was constantly circling
around her and staying out of her range. He had one leg back and
both hands above waist level, a loose guarding stance but still a
stance that would allow him to fight or flee on a moments notice.
Effectively keeping the Amazon girl at arms length while not
making her aware of it. Akane started to grin openly.
Shampoo was getting frustrated. Here she had spent all that time
learning that phrase, thinking that the only reason that Ranma
hadn't accepted her invitations in the past was because he hadn't
understood her.
Thinking he might not have heard her the first time, she tried
again. "Would Husb . . . I mean , would you care to take me on date?"
She looked up at him hopefully.
"Hey Shampoo that's great! Your Japanese is improving every
day . . . who has been helping you?" Ranma asked. In the shadows Akane
frowned. "What's he being so nice to her for?!" She muttered
under her breath.
Shampoo answered Ranma, uttering a single one word answer.
Ranma leaned forward and said, "who? I didn't hear you." A little
louder the very proud Amazon girl mumbled the word again. Seeing
that Ranma was still waiting for an answer , she blurted out,
"MOUSSE! Stupid duck boy help me!" Shampoo pouted, and to
alleviate the uncomfortable tension she felt she took the time to
run through the familiar motion of flipping her hair over her
shoulder.
Ranma just grinned and looked up. Scanning the rooftops, then
back down at Shampoo. Then Ranma got an evil impulse. "Was it
hard Shampoo?" he asked her. Looking up proudly Shampoo declared,
"Nothing too hard for Amazon warrior!"
"Well did you work real hard on it?" Ranma grinned. Shampoo
not getting where Ranma was heading with this simply nodded.
Almost laughing now Ranma managed to get out, "did you work
yourself into a lather?!" Grinning he snorted and tried not to
laugh out loud. Shampoo just stood there a minute then suddenly
getting it she stood up tall and with her hands on her hips she
defiantly shot back,
"that not funny Ranma! Village family names of Amazon tribe
no is for laughing! Husband's need be polite!" She made a great
'pouting' face and then grinning evilly she said, "maybe wild
stallion boy need to be broken in more, yes?"
Ranma shut up still grinning and just accepted the play on
words regarding his name sake. Looking at Shampoo again he
imagined her working herself into a lather again and broke out
laughing harder. Falling over and clutching his sides Ranma
giggled uncontrollably.
It was contagious and soon Akane was chuckling quietly to
herself in the shadows and Shampoo was smiling though not
laughing . . . Warrior women did not laugh, she told herself. Ranma
while rolling on the ground in mock hysterics was still watching
the rooftops for telltale signs of the person he was watching for.
The master of hammerspace was sometimes hard to spot, so Ranma was
teasing Shampoo in the hopes of goading him to reveal himself.
Knowing how protective Mousse was about Shampoo . . . there! About a
block away by that chimney, a flash of light off of metal. That
could only be one person. Hopping to his feet Ranma muttered his
goodbye to Shampoo and hopped up to the nearest rooftop then to
the one after that.
'And that was that,' Akane thought. 'He never touched her, he
was polite but kept his distance and now he is off to god knows
where I am going to be late for class.' Quietly Akane slipped
around the corner very proud of her fiancee heading off to school.
Shampoo just stood there for a minute, then out loud she said to
herself, "that one is crazy horse boy." Shrugging her shoulders
she straightened her outfit and adjusted her hair, then turned and
picked up her bike, hopped on and sped off.
Ranma was busily hopping from rooftop to rooftop looking for
Mousse. Spotting the glimmer he had seen earlier Ranma stopped a
rooftop away and called out, "Mousse come out man, it's me I need
to talk to you." Casually stepping out from behind a chimney
mousse leapt across the chasm that separated the two rooftops,
"Shampoo my love you have come for me at last!!" Ranma
expecting this neatly sidestepped the crazed duck man and yelled
after him, "put your glasses on man, it's me Ranma!"
"Ranma Saotome?!" My most hated adversary?" Mouse then slumped
his shoulders a little and muttered, "what do you! want?" He then
sat down straddling the bridge of the rooftop. A knife appeared
in his hands seemingly out of nowhere, a wet stone in the other,
he began to sharpen the blade while glaring at Ranma, not exactly
friendly body language. Ranma mirroring his opponent had his
arms crossed, like a barrier in front of him. Ranma decided to
keep his distance for now and simply leaned up against the
chimney. Speaking first Ranma tried to break the ice.
"Mousse just hear me out okay man? You can argue with me after
I am done." Nodding mousse continued to sharpen. "Okay mousse
here goes, I really don't have a lot of guy friends that I can
trust with this sort of thing. However you are a man of honour
are you not?" Mousse looked up startled and replied,
"Of course I am Saotome. I was raised with the finest sense of
honour a man can have." He confirmed indignantly. Mousse was now
paying rapt attention. Ranma continued on.
"Very well as a martial artist I ask you to swear to me that
what I am about to tell you will go no farther, not even to
Shampoo, and especially not the old ghoul. Do you swear?" Mousse
paused for a second then said as he nodded, "I swear continue."
With a sigh Ranma plopped down next to Mousse, he spoke in low
halting tones. "Mousse, I am confused . . . " Seeing as it looked as
if Mousse was about to make a smart ass remark Ranma quickly cut
him off. "You have known me since you followed Shampoo here
right? How many fiancee's do I have now Mousse?"
"I believe the official total is 3 now right?" Ticking off his
fingers as he listed them, "There is Akane, Ukyo and ::gritting
his teeth:: Shampoo."
"Right, not to mention-Kodachi, ling ling, lung lung, most of
the girls at school, that ramen noodle fiancee I had, anyone who
happens to swallow a love potion pill, female monkeys, Venus,
basically anything female in general seems to be drawn to me." He
trailed off as Mousse was starting to get 'that look' on his face.
"What is your point?" Mousse growled.
"Well you see you and I are very similar yet also very
different. We both have many of the same qualities but there is a
striking difference between us two, you openly love Shampoo and
chase her. What is it like to be that way? To know you love
someone?"
Mousse sitting as Ranma was now facing the still early morning
sun. His back was arched forward and his shoulders slumped as he
hung his head in thought. His unrestrained black hair cascading
down around his head, hiding his face from view. Suddenly sitting
up and assuming a haughty tone of voice Mousse sneered, "am I to
believe that the great self proclaimed god of love and he whom has
total power over women, with legions of them falling at his feet,
begging to be wed to him, is asking ME! What love is? Tell me
Saotome what game is this? Do you mock me now?"
Ranma simply sighed and seemed to look even more depressed.
Then he spoke. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think
you do. I know that the old man isn't the cause of ALL my
problems, but he sure is for a great deal of them. I was taken
from my mother when I was six years old. The words "training
journey," didn't really register then, as part of a ten year trek
all over Japan and parts of China."
"I miss my mother Mousse, and because of Jusenkyo and this
stupid curse of mine. In addition to the idiotic promise my pop
made, I am honour bound to not see my mother until I can find a
cure. Do you know what that feels like?" Mousse didn't, his
mother was safe in China and he could go and see her whenever he
felt like it. Paying closer attention now, he tried to listen
carefully as Ranma, his supposed enemy, poured his heart out to
him. He was beyond confused.
"Casual admirer's aside, I have four girls chasing me around
right now in their own ways. There is Akane, my first fiancee I
was aware of. Thanks again to the old man. Then there is Ukyo,
my oldest and best friend to this day, she is also after me thanks
to pop. Then there is my self titled fiancee, thank god, Kodachi
the black rose of annoyance, Kuno. Crazy as she is and acts, she
is only after me because I was the first male not related to her
to show her an ounce of kindness."
Ranma paused and then looked sadly at Mousse, his eyes showing
sympathy. "Then there is Shampoo . . . a girl so obviously in love
with either myself or her traditions, that she will sit for hours
on end perfecting her Japanese just so she can ask me on a
date . . . how long did you help her with that phrase man? Knowing
whom she was planning on saying it to?"
He looked at Ranma differently now, he could see a teenager
sixteen almost seventeen, almost a full grown man, a person very
strong and confident but in the eyes of this person he could see a
lot of confusion and a little weariness. Haltingly he answered.
"I-err well I, yes you are right I did help her. I did it out
of love. I don't think I could deny her anything if she asked it
of me. I knew she would say it to you, but I just chose to ignore
that part. Instead I just focused on her beautiful voice and
imagined those words were being spoken to me." Mousse smiled a
resigned grin.
"Yet you never give up do you? She spits in your face and you
get up the next day and ask for more, completely forgiving her,
full of love . . . why?"
"I-I love her Sao . . . err I mean Ranma. Until I am dead I will
never deny that, nor will I give up hope."
"You know something Mousse I think that secretly Shampoo cares
for you as well." His eye's lit up at this.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I have watched her mousse, you ever just watch her?
When she is around other men, she refuses to even speak or glance
at them, completely ignoring their presence. Let alone flirting
with them, she NEVER does that. Then there is you, she trusts you
enough to let you live in the same house as her. She talks to
you, and YOU are the one she goes to when she needs help man.
You are constantly breaking down the barriers that she lays down
between you two. She even took you home tenderly after that match
we had that I was supposed to throw . . . sorry bout that by the way,
but you were kinda freakin me out with those blades of yours."
Mousse was in shock. What Ranma had said was all true. Shampoo
really did care for him! It was only the stupid laws and the old
ghoul keeping them apart then.
"So what is your point Ranma? Why do you wish for me to tell
you what it feels like to be in love?"
"I have four people in my life right now all acting on what
they believe to be the influence of love. Some of them are very
aggressive and open about it. Others are very shy or cautious
about it. I have feelings too ya know, I'm human too . . . I just
don't know what they mean."
"Very well I shall play your game Ranma and tell you what it
is like for me to love Shampoo." Taking a deep breath and looking
off into the distance he began. "When she walks into the same
room as myself, my heart starts to beat faster and my knees feel
weak. If she speaks to me I will gladly listen, for no sound is
more beautiful than her voice to me. Many people either love or
lust after Shampoo for her body. For me that is not the case. I
am effectively blind without my glasses on. Even with them on
the vision is not that clear. I never get to even hug her, which
you do on an almost daily basis."
Ranma started to protest. Mousse holding his hand up
continued, "let me finish, which you get to do whether you want to
or not. I enjoy the scent of her whether it is the flowery 'just
showered' fragrance she has or her musky after exercising scent.
I love everything about her and I would gladly almost gleefully
die for her if she asked me to, and I would do so anyway if her
life was in danger . . . " He paused to look up at Ranma. "Much the
same as you have done for Akane on many occasions." Ranma blushed
at this. "In short I enjoy being around her, revel in her
affections and am not in love with only a part of her but with the
person that Shampoo is." Stopping Mouse looked up and met Ranma's
eyes unashamedly. " For me to deny my love would be silly." He
said that while looking pointedly at Ranma.
"So tell me Ranma why the sudden interest in what it feels
like to be in love?"
"I, um, I, well ya see . . . " Looking up and seeing Mousse
looking rather un-amused and rather impatient . . . he began again.
"Something happened to me this morning."
"Yeah and?"
"Me and Akane . . . we well, sorta . . . " Mousse face faulted and he
tipped over. Sitting back up quickly he prodded Ranma.
"Go on, go on."
"She well I, well we both sort of ki . . . " He trailed off on
the last word.
"What did you say? You two what?!" Mousse was losing control
here he was so excited.
"We kissed." Said so quietly that Mousse almost missed it,
but also said with such sincerity and that blush on his face could
not be faked that Mousse knew that he was telling the truth.
Understanding lit up his features now.
"So you think you may love the Tendo girl huh?" That explains
a lot. This could also cause you a world of problems if you let
word of this get out, I can see why you swore me to secrecy. If
you openly pursue Akane , all hell is gonna break loose."
"I know, I know Mousse, I need help . . . I need a plan."
_______________________________________________________
End.
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Written by Asayogure
Last modified (9/24/1999)
Chapter 2, "Confusion sets in."
_______________________________________________________
B egin.
_______________________________________________________
He was doing a fair job of keeping his eyes off his fiancee,
the last thing either of them needed right now was to have their
parents notice them showing even a trace of affection towards each
other. They would be in the chapel before they knew what had hit
them, if they did.
With everyone finally seated Kasumi started dishing out
breakfast. Bowl's of rice and miso soup, pickled vegetables and
of course, tea. Digging in hungrily the family ate as usual, with
Ranma and Genma eating the most, fighting each other for the food.
Akane for her part had no appetite. She couldn't show any outward
sign of divergence from her normal actions. For if she did, Kasumi
would pick up on it immediately and would want to know what was
wrong. To tell the truth Akane herself didn't know what was
wrong, she just felt, well . . . weird, and very lightheaded.
Ranma on the other hand, had almost entirely forgotten about
what had happened this morning. He was too busy locked in battle
with his father over breakfast. Each of them stealing food from
the main serving dishes and each others plates with lightning
quick chop stick strikes. Both of them eating what was on their
plates with equal abandon. Genma was rapidly devouring his bowl
of rice and miso soup, and Ranma was starting to worry about his
own. With the speed of his chestnut fist Ranma quickly set about
devouring his own food. Genma finished his and immediately went
for that of his son's. His chopsticks only struck bare dish as
Ranma had just finished. Pouting, Genma glared at his son. Ranma
grinned coyly and said,
"It's okay pop you're on a diet remember?" Genma started to
agree. "Why yes I . . . HEY! Waitaminute! . . . " then he snapped out of
it, "Are you saying I'm fat?"
"Not at all old man . . . . . . ::grinning:: for a panda." That did
it. Genma was mad now. He leapt up from his seat, lunging at his
only son, intending to strangle some manners into him. Only his
hands grasped only empty air. Tapping his father on the back of
the head Ranma grinned.
"Getting slow old man." Genma in a state of shock was
thinking to himself, "How in the world did Ranma get behind me so
fast? Is he getting faster, or am I really getting slow?"
Ranma took advantage of Genma's pause and subsequent absence of
movement to grab Akane's hand and haul her away from the table.
"Come on Akane we're gonna be late!" He shouted almost
gleefully, as he practically dragged her behind him. The rest of
the family just watched in shock as Ranma dragged Akane out the
front door. With the notable exception of Genma whom at the moment
was still standing where he had lunged for Ranma, his hands
grasping an imaginary throat and his mind replaying the "almost"
battle over and over, trying to figure out when Ranma had managed
to get behind him. Ranma grabbed both their box bento lunches and
school bags as he went out the front door, Akane's hand still
tightly in his.
Akane for her part was just basically letting herself get
dragged. She trusted Ranma. About 2 minutes later though Ranma
was still going full speed, running along their daily route which
took them by the aqueduct, when the fence had come into view he
had tensed as if to jump up on it, then looked back at his fiancee
and smiling continued to run beside and in front of her on the
ground. Akane however was getting tired, jogging for long
distances she could do, but not sprinting. Gasping she managed to
get out,
"R-Ranma -S-Slow down please . . . "
"Hmmmmm?" Ranma looked back to see Akane stumbling after him.
He slowed immediately to a walk and then stopped altogether to let
her catch her breath. After a short while she stood up tall again
and just looked at him. Ranma hardly seemed to notice that she
was blushing at their close contact and that he was still holding
onto her hand. He was obviously excited about something, and
looked anxious to get somewhere.
He was waiting for her though, even though it was obviously
slowing him down. She also noticed during her precursory glance,
that he had all her stuff shouldered alongside his. "How sweet!"
he thought.
"Ranma . . . " She started to say.
"Yeah?" Glancing down to her eye level, he trained his eyes on
her and she could almost feel herself slipping away and losing
herself in those 'Oh too intense' blue gray eyes of his.
"W-Why are you in such a rush today? We're like a half an hour
early for school ya know . . . and you haven't even sparred with your
father today yet . . . " She trailed off feeling stupid just talking
to Ranma and having him just listen.
Ranma just grinned and poked her in the nose as he said,
"Ah but I have sparred with you today Akane." He said while
grinning True he had sparred with her she reasoned. But she knew
and he knew that she was nowhere near the level of perfection that
Genma had achieved. So Ranma couldn't have gotten a very good
workout. Instead of arguing the matter though, she just dropped
it. The morning was too beautiful, the wind too crisp and fresh
and the sun too bright and cheerful, and Ranma was being far too
nice to let some stupid argument kill the mood.
Ranma was just standing there still. Watching Akane out of the
corner of his eye, the rest of his mind was still going on over
drive. He was very confused and needed to talk to a sympathetic
ear or he was gonna lose it. But who?! None of the Tendo sister's
obviously, nor his pop or Mr. Tendo. None of his other fiancee's
he dared tell, nor would they want to hear it. They would most
likely slap him and then go off to kill Akane.
To be honest Ranma didn't really have a lot of friends. At
least none that he would trust not to blab to the entire school
this sort of thing.
Sure there were Hiroshi and Daisuki and a few select others.
But they were mere followers really, not equals, nor friends.
Running over his ever dwindling list of people he knew, Ranma was
trying to find one he trusted, at least a little. The old freak
was out, DEFINITELY OUT! The old ghoul was wise, but he really
didn't trust her, and couldn't dare let her know about this. She
was a possibility, but only if he could figure out a way not to
let her know who the girl was he was talking about.
There was Dr. Tofu, and while Ranma trusted him explicitly
with regard to all matters of the mind and body and anything
concerning honour, he was afraid that either Kasumi might walk in,
or that he might spill the beans later when she did make an
appearance. There was Ryouga . . . he trusted him, sorta but not if
it concerned Akane and besides it was rather difficult to locate
Ryouga unless one had a few weeks to kill wandering around Japan
looking for an oddball martial artist carrying a steel lined
bamboo umbrella.
"Ranma!" Akane Shouted. Ranma snapped out of it and focused
on Akane.
"I have been trying to get your attention for the last couple
of minutes . . . what are you thinking about?" She fairly yelled.
Ranma could see she was starting to get mad. And lord knew that
could mean trouble.
"Uh nuthin Akane. I was just, um nuthin." He stammered.
"Well then," she softened her voice now seeing as he wasn't
just ignoring her. "Let's get going then shall we, it will be
weird to actually get to school EARLY." She grinned at this
comment.
It was at this point that they both heard it, and both of them
froze in their tracks. A distant ringing approaching at what
sounded like incredible speed. Which could only be one person
this early in the morning. Shampoo.
Ranma paled and braced himself, Akane just glowered. "Great!"
She thought, 'just great we were actually getting along fairly
well, and now that Chinese Bimbo! Has to show up and wreck
everything!' Out loud she said, "Ranma, lets get out of here . . . "
Her eyes pleaded with him. But Ranma had suddenly had a
realization. MOUSSE! He could talk to Mousse. Since wherever
Shampoo was, Mousse was sure to follow. Akane started off towards
school, when she noticed that Ranma was not following her, he was
just standing there with a stupid grin on his face. Akane's heart
broke a little bit then, and her face fell. Angrily she stomped
back over to him.
"Ranma!" She yelled, he looked down surprised.
"Yeah? What is it Akane?" Softening her voice into the tone
that she reserved for when she was really furious.
"If you want to get hung on by Shampoo and every other girl
that happens to cross your path . . . " She paused a minute and fought
back the urge to cry. "Then I guess it is none of my business.
Just gimme my stuff and I'll . . . I'll leave you two alone." She
sniffled just faintly.
"N-No no Akane it's not like that at all. I hate being hung
on, by ANYONE. I'm not waiting for Shampoo, I'm waiting for
Mousse." She just rolled her eyes and snorted.
"Yeah whatever Ranma." With that said she snatched her satchel
and bento box lunch out of his grasp, intending to storm out of
there, but only succeeding in sort of stumbling-walking.
Curious though she stopped about a block away and turned back.
She wanted to see what Ranma did around his other fiancee's when he
thought he was alone. What she saw next amazed her. Shampoo
displaying skills almost superhuman, was riding her bicycle on the
top of the railing that bordered the aqua duct. A cloud of dust
trailing in her wake. She was wearing her usual outfit, a pink
silk blouse and pink silk pants, imprinted with a flower design
that was very feminine very close cut and looking almost like
pajama's. Her hair was pulled back out of her face with a simple
ribbon, and as usual she wore no makeup. Waving to Ranma she
cried out.
"Airen Airen, Nihao! Husband no go to school today, take
shampoo to date!" She grinned happily seeing as Akane was nowhere
to be seen, and Ranma was just standing there waiting for her, oh
happy day! Launching herself and the bike off the railing and
straight at Ranma. Since Akane was not there though to distract
him, nor hit or yell at him, he had plenty of time to gauge her
trajectory and rate of fall, speed and angle.
He neatly side stepped the falling bike and caught her around
the waist in a move that could almost be compared to a clothesline
attack. Slowing her down just enough he then let her go to
stumble behind him while he spun the opposite way he had let her
go. It was over in under 3 seconds. Dazed Shampoo came to a halt
and looked at Ranma.
"Husband . . . " She began, obviously struggling with the foreign
language. "You I mean," straightening up Shampoo spoke a sentence
that could almost pass for descent Japanese.
"Would you care to take me on date?"
'She must have been studying' Ranma thought. Akane watching
from the distance noticed that while Ranma was being polite, and
Shampoo was obviously unaware of it, he was constantly circling
around her and staying out of her range. He had one leg back and
both hands above waist level, a loose guarding stance but still a
stance that would allow him to fight or flee on a moments notice.
Effectively keeping the Amazon girl at arms length while not
making her aware of it. Akane started to grin openly.
Shampoo was getting frustrated. Here she had spent all that time
learning that phrase, thinking that the only reason that Ranma
hadn't accepted her invitations in the past was because he hadn't
understood her.
Thinking he might not have heard her the first time, she tried
again. "Would Husb . . . I mean , would you care to take me on date?"
She looked up at him hopefully.
"Hey Shampoo that's great! Your Japanese is improving every
day . . . who has been helping you?" Ranma asked. In the shadows Akane
frowned. "What's he being so nice to her for?!" She muttered
under her breath.
Shampoo answered Ranma, uttering a single one word answer.
Ranma leaned forward and said, "who? I didn't hear you." A little
louder the very proud Amazon girl mumbled the word again. Seeing
that Ranma was still waiting for an answer , she blurted out,
"MOUSSE! Stupid duck boy help me!" Shampoo pouted, and to
alleviate the uncomfortable tension she felt she took the time to
run through the familiar motion of flipping her hair over her
shoulder.
Ranma just grinned and looked up. Scanning the rooftops, then
back down at Shampoo. Then Ranma got an evil impulse. "Was it
hard Shampoo?" he asked her. Looking up proudly Shampoo declared,
"Nothing too hard for Amazon warrior!"
"Well did you work real hard on it?" Ranma grinned. Shampoo
not getting where Ranma was heading with this simply nodded.
Almost laughing now Ranma managed to get out, "did you work
yourself into a lather?!" Grinning he snorted and tried not to
laugh out loud. Shampoo just stood there a minute then suddenly
getting it she stood up tall and with her hands on her hips she
defiantly shot back,
"that not funny Ranma! Village family names of Amazon tribe
no is for laughing! Husband's need be polite!" She made a great
'pouting' face and then grinning evilly she said, "maybe wild
stallion boy need to be broken in more, yes?"
Ranma shut up still grinning and just accepted the play on
words regarding his name sake. Looking at Shampoo again he
imagined her working herself into a lather again and broke out
laughing harder. Falling over and clutching his sides Ranma
giggled uncontrollably.
It was contagious and soon Akane was chuckling quietly to
herself in the shadows and Shampoo was smiling though not
laughing . . . Warrior women did not laugh, she told herself. Ranma
while rolling on the ground in mock hysterics was still watching
the rooftops for telltale signs of the person he was watching for.
The master of hammerspace was sometimes hard to spot, so Ranma was
teasing Shampoo in the hopes of goading him to reveal himself.
Knowing how protective Mousse was about Shampoo . . . there! About a
block away by that chimney, a flash of light off of metal. That
could only be one person. Hopping to his feet Ranma muttered his
goodbye to Shampoo and hopped up to the nearest rooftop then to
the one after that.
'And that was that,' Akane thought. 'He never touched her, he
was polite but kept his distance and now he is off to god knows
where I am going to be late for class.' Quietly Akane slipped
around the corner very proud of her fiancee heading off to school.
Shampoo just stood there for a minute, then out loud she said to
herself, "that one is crazy horse boy." Shrugging her shoulders
she straightened her outfit and adjusted her hair, then turned and
picked up her bike, hopped on and sped off.
Ranma was busily hopping from rooftop to rooftop looking for
Mousse. Spotting the glimmer he had seen earlier Ranma stopped a
rooftop away and called out, "Mousse come out man, it's me I need
to talk to you." Casually stepping out from behind a chimney
mousse leapt across the chasm that separated the two rooftops,
"Shampoo my love you have come for me at last!!" Ranma
expecting this neatly sidestepped the crazed duck man and yelled
after him, "put your glasses on man, it's me Ranma!"
"Ranma Saotome?!" My most hated adversary?" Mouse then slumped
his shoulders a little and muttered, "what do you! want?" He then
sat down straddling the bridge of the rooftop. A knife appeared
in his hands seemingly out of nowhere, a wet stone in the other,
he began to sharpen the blade while glaring at Ranma, not exactly
friendly body language. Ranma mirroring his opponent had his
arms crossed, like a barrier in front of him. Ranma decided to
keep his distance for now and simply leaned up against the
chimney. Speaking first Ranma tried to break the ice.
"Mousse just hear me out okay man? You can argue with me after
I am done." Nodding mousse continued to sharpen. "Okay mousse
here goes, I really don't have a lot of guy friends that I can
trust with this sort of thing. However you are a man of honour
are you not?" Mousse looked up startled and replied,
"Of course I am Saotome. I was raised with the finest sense of
honour a man can have." He confirmed indignantly. Mousse was now
paying rapt attention. Ranma continued on.
"Very well as a martial artist I ask you to swear to me that
what I am about to tell you will go no farther, not even to
Shampoo, and especially not the old ghoul. Do you swear?" Mousse
paused for a second then said as he nodded, "I swear continue."
With a sigh Ranma plopped down next to Mousse, he spoke in low
halting tones. "Mousse, I am confused . . . " Seeing as it looked as
if Mousse was about to make a smart ass remark Ranma quickly cut
him off. "You have known me since you followed Shampoo here
right? How many fiancee's do I have now Mousse?"
"I believe the official total is 3 now right?" Ticking off his
fingers as he listed them, "There is Akane, Ukyo and ::gritting
his teeth:: Shampoo."
"Right, not to mention-Kodachi, ling ling, lung lung, most of
the girls at school, that ramen noodle fiancee I had, anyone who
happens to swallow a love potion pill, female monkeys, Venus,
basically anything female in general seems to be drawn to me." He
trailed off as Mousse was starting to get 'that look' on his face.
"What is your point?" Mousse growled.
"Well you see you and I are very similar yet also very
different. We both have many of the same qualities but there is a
striking difference between us two, you openly love Shampoo and
chase her. What is it like to be that way? To know you love
someone?"
Mousse sitting as Ranma was now facing the still early morning
sun. His back was arched forward and his shoulders slumped as he
hung his head in thought. His unrestrained black hair cascading
down around his head, hiding his face from view. Suddenly sitting
up and assuming a haughty tone of voice Mousse sneered, "am I to
believe that the great self proclaimed god of love and he whom has
total power over women, with legions of them falling at his feet,
begging to be wed to him, is asking ME! What love is? Tell me
Saotome what game is this? Do you mock me now?"
Ranma simply sighed and seemed to look even more depressed.
Then he spoke. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think
you do. I know that the old man isn't the cause of ALL my
problems, but he sure is for a great deal of them. I was taken
from my mother when I was six years old. The words "training
journey," didn't really register then, as part of a ten year trek
all over Japan and parts of China."
"I miss my mother Mousse, and because of Jusenkyo and this
stupid curse of mine. In addition to the idiotic promise my pop
made, I am honour bound to not see my mother until I can find a
cure. Do you know what that feels like?" Mousse didn't, his
mother was safe in China and he could go and see her whenever he
felt like it. Paying closer attention now, he tried to listen
carefully as Ranma, his supposed enemy, poured his heart out to
him. He was beyond confused.
"Casual admirer's aside, I have four girls chasing me around
right now in their own ways. There is Akane, my first fiancee I
was aware of. Thanks again to the old man. Then there is Ukyo,
my oldest and best friend to this day, she is also after me thanks
to pop. Then there is my self titled fiancee, thank god, Kodachi
the black rose of annoyance, Kuno. Crazy as she is and acts, she
is only after me because I was the first male not related to her
to show her an ounce of kindness."
Ranma paused and then looked sadly at Mousse, his eyes showing
sympathy. "Then there is Shampoo . . . a girl so obviously in love
with either myself or her traditions, that she will sit for hours
on end perfecting her Japanese just so she can ask me on a
date . . . how long did you help her with that phrase man? Knowing
whom she was planning on saying it to?"
He looked at Ranma differently now, he could see a teenager
sixteen almost seventeen, almost a full grown man, a person very
strong and confident but in the eyes of this person he could see a
lot of confusion and a little weariness. Haltingly he answered.
"I-err well I, yes you are right I did help her. I did it out
of love. I don't think I could deny her anything if she asked it
of me. I knew she would say it to you, but I just chose to ignore
that part. Instead I just focused on her beautiful voice and
imagined those words were being spoken to me." Mousse smiled a
resigned grin.
"Yet you never give up do you? She spits in your face and you
get up the next day and ask for more, completely forgiving her,
full of love . . . why?"
"I-I love her Sao . . . err I mean Ranma. Until I am dead I will
never deny that, nor will I give up hope."
"You know something Mousse I think that secretly Shampoo cares
for you as well." His eye's lit up at this.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I have watched her mousse, you ever just watch her?
When she is around other men, she refuses to even speak or glance
at them, completely ignoring their presence. Let alone flirting
with them, she NEVER does that. Then there is you, she trusts you
enough to let you live in the same house as her. She talks to
you, and YOU are the one she goes to when she needs help man.
You are constantly breaking down the barriers that she lays down
between you two. She even took you home tenderly after that match
we had that I was supposed to throw . . . sorry bout that by the way,
but you were kinda freakin me out with those blades of yours."
Mousse was in shock. What Ranma had said was all true. Shampoo
really did care for him! It was only the stupid laws and the old
ghoul keeping them apart then.
"So what is your point Ranma? Why do you wish for me to tell
you what it feels like to be in love?"
"I have four people in my life right now all acting on what
they believe to be the influence of love. Some of them are very
aggressive and open about it. Others are very shy or cautious
about it. I have feelings too ya know, I'm human too . . . I just
don't know what they mean."
"Very well I shall play your game Ranma and tell you what it
is like for me to love Shampoo." Taking a deep breath and looking
off into the distance he began. "When she walks into the same
room as myself, my heart starts to beat faster and my knees feel
weak. If she speaks to me I will gladly listen, for no sound is
more beautiful than her voice to me. Many people either love or
lust after Shampoo for her body. For me that is not the case. I
am effectively blind without my glasses on. Even with them on
the vision is not that clear. I never get to even hug her, which
you do on an almost daily basis."
Ranma started to protest. Mousse holding his hand up
continued, "let me finish, which you get to do whether you want to
or not. I enjoy the scent of her whether it is the flowery 'just
showered' fragrance she has or her musky after exercising scent.
I love everything about her and I would gladly almost gleefully
die for her if she asked me to, and I would do so anyway if her
life was in danger . . . " He paused to look up at Ranma. "Much the
same as you have done for Akane on many occasions." Ranma blushed
at this. "In short I enjoy being around her, revel in her
affections and am not in love with only a part of her but with the
person that Shampoo is." Stopping Mouse looked up and met Ranma's
eyes unashamedly. " For me to deny my love would be silly." He
said that while looking pointedly at Ranma.
"So tell me Ranma why the sudden interest in what it feels
like to be in love?"
"I, um, I, well ya see . . . " Looking up and seeing Mousse
looking rather un-amused and rather impatient . . . he began again.
"Something happened to me this morning."
"Yeah and?"
"Me and Akane . . . we well, sorta . . . " Mousse face faulted and he
tipped over. Sitting back up quickly he prodded Ranma.
"Go on, go on."
"She well I, well we both sort of ki . . . " He trailed off on
the last word.
"What did you say? You two what?!" Mousse was losing control
here he was so excited.
"We kissed." Said so quietly that Mousse almost missed it,
but also said with such sincerity and that blush on his face could
not be faked that Mousse knew that he was telling the truth.
Understanding lit up his features now.
"So you think you may love the Tendo girl huh?" That explains
a lot. This could also cause you a world of problems if you let
word of this get out, I can see why you swore me to secrecy. If
you openly pursue Akane , all hell is gonna break loose."
"I know, I know Mousse, I need help . . . I need a plan."
_______________________________________________________
End.
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