Mousse’s Change of Heart

Original Fan fiction by Michael Shearon

Chapter 3: A New beginning for all.

Ryouga tossed and turned as the memories rushed over him. First, Mousse's attack, the total arsenal wave, had caught everyone off guard. Everyone knew that he was the master of hidden weapons, but that move taught them all what that meant. Ryouga had been one of the few who had stood up to the move, trying to fight their way in to Mousse, trying to get the revenge that they had sought to get from Ranma. No one knew why… it was just what seemed appropriate. Mousse let fly with an attack that no one ever expected to see the like of… The Total Arsenal Wave. A pure wall of weapons and whatnot came flying at them all. Ryouga had stood his ground, blocking what he could, dodging what he couldn't. But soon, the weapons were too thick, and he was pelted by multiple chains. Then he noticed the large metal ball on a direct course with him. He ignored the cries of pain around him, and focused on that one thing, among the rest. He screamed, "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" and jabbed a finger at it, shattering it into billions of pieces. That attack had served him many times before. This time, however it was his undoing. The shrapnel from the Iron ball caused chains and other items around him to converge on him. He tried to keep himself free, but the chains just encircled him. Before he could gain control of the situation, he was bound head to toe. Unfortunately, he fell over right into a large puddle of water. Even more unfortunate, was the fact that Akane was in perfect view of him, and looking right at him falling. With a loud splash, Ryouga felt the chains go limp around him. And he knew exactly what had happened. He had become P-Chan, Akane's pet pig, and the most embarrassing part of his life. He wriggled free, and saw Akane's shocked expression… and she was looking right at him. "P-Chan… Where's… Ryouga? Oh my God…. Ryouga is P-Chan!" The scream was the worst thing he had ever heard… because he knew all chances with her had ended with one resounding… splash.

Ryouga sat bolt upright in the hospital bed, and immediately regretted it. His head was still in a great deal of pain from earlier. Mousse had left almost a week ago. Ryouga and Ukyou were the only ones still hospitalized. They were both nearest to Mousse when he released his attack, so were in the thickest amount of weapons.

"Lemme guess, Ryouga. You had the dream again," came the slightly sarcastic voice of Ukyou. She was still waiting for release for the concussion she had, in addition to the broken leg. She'd be all right in no time, but Dr. Tofu didn't want her to exert herself.

"Yeah… I just can't figure it out… How did it work? How was MOUSSE of all people able to defeat half the martial artists in Nerima in one move? He even beat Ranma down. I just can't figure it out."

"Well, don't strain yourself. We were kinda stupid… I mean, the guy was just trying to leave… and everyone in town was trying to keep him where he was most miserable. Personally, I hope Mousse is happy."

Ryouga looked down as he realized Ukyou was right. He began wondering what he was going to do with his life now.

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Mousse looked around the Chinese street he was standing on. The air smelled different. the ground felt different… And then he figured out why. He was home. Home again after so long. He was also… broke. It had taken his last bit of money, and a good deal of haggling, to secure his seat on the freighter headed for Hong Kong. He stood on the street corner, and started thinking, idly pulling things from his sleeves, observing them, and then putting them back. Fortunately, none were weapons, because his actions were starting to draw a crowd. Mousse noticed, and then had an idea.

"Oh, Hello, ladies and Gentlemen. I see you were enjoying my little gift… Now… are you ready to be impressed?" he said, sounding almost like some sort of circus barker. His time in the Chinese circus had made him a little of a showman. "You, milady," he said to an attractive woman about his own age, "I would present you with this rose," he said, pulling one out, "but a creature of such beauty deserves so much more." He squeezed the stem of the rose, and the petals exploded, expanding into 2 dozen roses. The woman's eyes went wide as she accepted the roses, and her face began to match the color, bright red. That's when she gave Mousse a bit of a surprise. She grabbed him and gave him a very full kiss on the lips. Once Mousse recovered from his shock, he thought a minute, and said quietly to himself, "Hmm… I believe that I may like being a magician…" He continued on with his show, astounding the small crowd with his feats. When he was finished, he pulled a broad-brimmed, Chinese hat out, and passed it around to the entire small crowd. By the time he had collected from all of the on-lookers, he had quite a bit of money accumulated. The trouble was, that young lady was still in the area, making very significant glances at him. Mousse then realized he might have chosen the wrong lady to impress, so he hid his money, and quickly departed the area, in search of some place to spend the quickly approaching night. He found a small, cheap motel, and made his way inside. He tried not to make eye-contact with the 'ladies' leaning against the wall. Fortunately, he was successful.

The next Morning, Mousse put on another magic show, and collected even more money than before. Apparently, word gotten around about the longhaired illusionist. Mousse now had enough to pay for food and supplies for the trip inland to return to Joketsuzoku. Mousse began thinking about what he was going to do once he got there.

{Everyone will know that I've given up on Shampoo… Will I live out my life a hermit? Are all those girls from the village single, or will they try to sic their husbands on me… I never was very popular with the ladies. Will that change now that I am no longer chasing Shampoo? Hmm… I wonder… Did I make the right choice by coming here? Should I have just stayed in Japan? No… I had to get out of there… too many painful memories… besides…. Ranma would have probably tried to get revenge for what I did.} Similar thoughts raced through Mousse's head as he entered a small forest on his way to the trail that would lead him through the mountains. From there, he could find Joketsuzoku easily.

As he was leaving the town, he was approached by a young man wearing a white shirt with a Yin-Yang embroidered on the chest. He stood about as tall as Ranma. He had short brown hair with bangs cropped close to his hairline. Another thing Mousse noticed about the boy was the tattoo of a black dragon that started near the boy's shoulder, and ended a few inches past his elbow. He was a few years younger than Mousse, looking to be around 13 or 14. He looked none too friendly, brandishing a staff, and pointing it at Mousse's face. His Grip showed that he was no slouch either. On the end of it was a piece of paper that read [I saw you in town. You got a lot of money. I want it. Now.] The look in the boy's icy blue eyes showed that he meant business.

Mousse, however, was not to be intimidated. He simply drew a similar staff of his own, and forcibly lowered the boy's staff in one expert move. The boy's counter attack was swift and sure, spinning the opposite end of the staff quickly at Mousse's face. Mousse quickly dodged the attack, assuming his battle stance. The boy slowly edged closer, quite obviously analyzing Mousse's stance, scouting for any possible weaknesses. Mousse realized what the boy was doing, because he was doing the same thing himself. The boy had quite a solid and secure stance that showed both strength, and defense. Whoever had taught him how to use the staff was quite a good teacher.

Mousse and the boy struck at the same time. Their staves collided with one another quite solidly. Their bodies moved quickly, and nearly synchronously as one staff clacked against the other. Then the unexpected happened.

Mousse's staff snapped as the boy slammed his against the exact center. To anyone else this might have meant they were at a disadvantage. Not Mousse, however. he simply changed his grip and stance, and used his brand new pair of singlesticks. When the boy blocked one, the other landed on one of the boy's arms, moving too quickly for him to keep up. The boy all but dropped his guard as Mousse began hitting him with a flurry of small strikes. Mousse stepped back, not wanting to seriously hurt him.

The boy didn't appear hurt however, aside from the bleeding lip. He suddenly leapt forward and launched a series of attacks that Mousse was hard pressed to avoid... {Where did this burst of strength come from?} He thought as he used all of the acrobatics at his disposal to keep the boy from rendering him unconscious, which he knew would happen if he let any of those attacks get through. Mousse jumped as far back as he could, and launched a few dozen chains at the boy, tangling up both weapon and wielder, dropping both to the ground.

Mousse walked up to the boy and put a foot on his chest to stop his struggling. "Look, boy, I have no quarrel with you. If you want the money that bad, have it," he said as he tossed a small change purse to the ground. The boy only scowled at Mousse… it appeared that the boy wanted no handouts. "What do you have to say for yourself then, thief?" The boy's one free hand started to scrawl something in the dirt. [I'm deaf. I can't speak. But I can read lips.] This immediately intrigued Mousse… The boy had already proven himself to be a masterful fighter… {I can make this boy a pupil of mine. He is deaf, so he meets one of the qualifications of the hidden weapons technique… I wonder. How can I convince him to come with me?} Mousse stepped back form him as the boy pulled himself up to his feet and free of the chains surrounding himself, "My name is Muu Tsu. I am from the amazon village of Joketsuzoku. I can teach you a way of life that would make stealing quite unnecessary. Are you interested?" in a very slow voice, emphasizing the motions of his lips. The boy looked at him, rolled his eyes, and then pulled out a small notebook and starts writing in it. When he shows the piece of paper to Mousse, it reads, [I said I'm deaf, not stupid. Talk normal. And my name is Chang, Student of the Wounded Dragon technique of Self Defense. Yes, I'm interested. I don't like being a thief, but a guy's gotta eat. How the hell did you do that thing with the chains?]

"Follow me." Mousse said as he set off. Chang fell into step beside Mousse, watching his face intently. They 'talked' as they walked, and Mousse started describing the art of the hidden weapons technique.

(Meanwhile back in Nerima)

"No, You uncute tomboy! Get away from me! DAD! HELP!!" was heard all over the neighborhood as Ranma begged seemingly for his life.

"Dr. Tofu said you need to eat! NOW EAT UP!" as Akane came closer with her nice steaming bowl of stew. Slime would be more appropriate. Complete with the bits of octopus protruding at unnatural angles. It almost looked like being in the stew was as unpleasant as eating it. Ranma couldn't be positive, but he thought that some of her concoction was moving.

"MOUSSE! Why didn't you just kill me!!? This is TORTURE!"

-WHAP-

-thud-

Akane Dusted off her mallet, as she muttered, "Baka…" and glowered at Ranma's now unconscious form. She immediately regretted doing it. After the fight with Mousse, Ranma had two cracked ribs, along with a slight hobble when he tried to walk, because of the darts in the pressure points. His movement was almost back to normal, which had surprised Dr. Tofu, but he was still in pretty bad shape.

Ranma came to a couple of minutes later, feeling something quite unusual. Someone was hugging him, but someone who didn't normally do so. The grip was firm, yet gentle, and it wasn't at all unpleasant. Then he heard the voice.

"I'm sorry, Ranma. I didn't stop to think..."

{Akane is hugging me? And apologizing for hitting me? Must be the injuries.} "Hey.. Hey, It-it's all right, Akane. Jeez, don't overreact like that! I'm not hurt bad." as he tried to extricate himself from the hug, lest prying parental eyes chose the wrong time to come in and try to push the wedding thing on them. Luckily it wasn't Gendo and Soun that came in.

It was Shampoo. They knew it was her by the choked sob they heard from the outside doorway, and the muttered Chinese.

"Shampoo sorry... She no mean to intrude... just want help Ranma... Shampoo bring herbs to help Ranma hurts... make all better..." The amazon said, trying her hardest to keep her voice from breaking. She had been like this since her Great-Grandmother had told her that she would have to marry Mousse. Depressed, but surprisingly helpful to everyone. But seeing Ranma in Akane's arms just about pushed her over the edge...

"Thanks, Shampoo, but I don't really need them... I'm feeling much better..." Ranma said after an uncomfortable silence. But apparently it was the wrong thing.

Shampoo collapsed to her knees, screaming out, "SHAMPOO NO WANT MARRY MOUSSE! SHAMPOO JUST WANT MOUSSE AS FRIEND, SHAMPOO WANT RAAAANMAAAAA FOR HUSBAND!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and completely broke down in tears. No one really knew how to react at this point, but Akane surprised them all by walking up to Shampoo and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Have you told Cologne that?"

Shampoo nodded emphatically, "Everyday! She just say that unless someone beat Mousse, Shampoo still have to marry Mousse." She momentarily brightened, "RANMA!" at which time she leapt to his side, and glomped him fiercely, bringing on a wince of pain. "You go beat Mousse! Then Shampoo can marry her Airen!" and started snuggling until she heard two words that broke her heart completely.

"No Way."

She moved back and looked at Ranma's face in utter disbelief and shock, as he continued. "I don't want any more to do with those stupid amazon marriage laws. Mousse beat me, fair and square. I'm not gonna go fight him just because of that. I don't want another fiancee! I don't want ANY fiancees! I didn't choose any of this, and I want out of it as soon as I can! I'm not gonna put myself back in that position again." he said, getting a little indignant. The look on his face told Shampoo that he meant every word of what he just said. His words shocked both Shampoo and Akane, but Shampoo got up, and ran out, crying all the way. This, of course, made Ranma feel like he was about the lowest form of life on the planet. He started to get up, but Akane held him down.

"No way, you’re not going out after her, Ranma. You need to rest… Besides… Just let her have this time to herself. I think she needs to get this out of her system."

Ranma tried to protest, but Akane’s hand going into the usual Hiding spot for her Mallet made him reconsider. He just sat down, and felt awful for the rest of the night.

(Elsewhere in Nerima)

Shampoo ran back to the Nekohanten, tears still stinging her eyes. Ranma’s words had devastated her, and left her feeling like she had nothing left. First, She had lost Mousse’s friendship. That was bad enough. And now, she found out how Ranma really felt about her. He didn’t love her… for all Shampoo knew, he didn’t even LIKE her. She pushed open the door, wiping the tears from her eyes and stilling her sobbing voice… She knew how much her Great-Grandmother despised hearing such signs of weakness. She was shocked to see Cologne hopping out from the kitchen area, with a rather large suitcase.

"G-great Grandmother… Where you go? You leave Shampoo here by herself?"

"You are a big girl, Shampoo, You can take care of yourself. I’m going to go find that Lazy good for nothing Mousse, so we can get someone to defeat him in combat. I won’t have my bloodline weakened by that blind weakling." The last part said with a scowl.

"Ranma already say he no fight Mousse. Say he no want Shampoo as fiancee anymore." It was all Shampoo could do to keep from crying again.

"No matter. We can get that Ryouga boy to beat him… He’s strong, if a bit stupid… He might make good children…"

"Shampoo no want Lost Boy for husband!"

"Oh, Do you have any other suggestions? Then I’m off to find Mousse. The last place he’d go is Joketsuzoku. He despised his childhood there… The ingrate. And after all I did for him. I’ll comb Japan first, and then move on to China. You take care of things here. You’ll find all the rest you need for insurance and other things, including food for yourself. Good-bye, Shampoo." And without another word, Cologne was gone.

Shampoo just sat there, her mouth hanging open… Then she screamed out, to no one in particular, in Chinese, no less, "Shampoo will not marry RYOUGA! He is NOT what Shampoo wants! Shampoo wants RANMA! Not Mousse, Not Ryouga, but RANMA!" After this, she settled back to her tears. Her Childhood came back to her eyes as she cried.

Afterward: Well, everyone, there you go. Sorry I didn’t put in the Childhood section, but if I did, You might never see this chapter. So, Chapter 4 will be completely devoted to Mousse and Shampoo’s childhood in Joketsuzoku. I would have had this up and posted a couple of months ago, but Computer problems (I had to re-start this chapter twice because I lost it the first 2 times I tried to write it.) and Everyday Writer’s block slowed the process. I’ve had a few ideas, so Part 4 shouldn’t be too long before it’s posted. Thanks everyone who sent me Emails regarding my story. And thanks for your patience. Send all C&C, plus anything that you might want to see in Mousse and Shampoo’s Childhood to muutsu@mindless.com.