Okay, so I lied about not releasing stuff when each part is done.
Besides, I do really need help on this part. I'm not sure how much I want
revealed to Shampoo. This version has Shampoo hear everything. Is it too
much? Also, the dialogue does seem to need a little work. Final note: Hope
you B5 fans like this. :) But if it proves necessary, I may take out a few
Kosh-isms, if they seem too forced.


---------------------------------------------------------------------

-Understanding is a Three-Edged Sword [Babylon 5 bonus: find the
Kosh-isms!]

  There was a distinct air of strangeness in the Nekohanten. Oh, sure,
all appearances were normal, save the fact that a certain blind boy
wasn't working during this dinner hour, but you could just _feel_
something out of the norm from the pretty, purple-haired waitress
serving the customers.

  Mousse had regained consciousness just a few minutes after her
inglorious win over him, but had avoided Shampoo ever since. Well, it
wasn't like she was also actively seeking him out, either--though that
was bound to change, considering her puzzlement over why he threw the
fight, among other questions.

  There was also the fact that his throwing the fight the way he did was
rather insulting. Still, curiosity won out over pride, just for this...
at least for now.

  Cologne hadn't been any help. "I'm as confused about this all as you
are, Great-Granddaughter. You'll have to ask him. And something tells me
that he won't be saying anything to me." So, it was up to Shampoo to
seek out what in the name of the ancestors had happened.

  But that all would have to wait for this damned dinner hour. Sigh.
Smile, take an order, wonder "Why?", run it to the kitchen, pour some
water, wonder "Why?", ask how the food is, back to the kitchen, bring
out an order, wonder "Why?".... The air of strangeness was given a name:
impatience.

  Ah, closing time. The "Closed" sign had barely been flipped in the
front window, when Shampoo found herself up the extra flight of stairs 
and in front of Mousse's bedroom door (if the drafty attic could be
called a bedroom). With only a moment's hesitation, she knocked on the
door.

  No answer.

  She decided to forgo knocking again, and simply opened the door and
walked in. Of course, by the time she realized that it was too dark to
see much, she had already run into the table standing near the entrace.
She fell over with a crash, and picked herself up while cursing loudly,
until she realized that there still hadn't been any answer.

  She squinted in the darkness, adjusting to the faint moonlight,
somewhat muffled by clouds, before she finally found a silhouette
sitting on what apparently was a bed. She opened her mouth to speak, but
was beaten to it.

  "So, you know how it is to live in my world."

  That stopped her for a moment, but only a moment. She had a reason for
being here, and damned if he was going to put her off her questions.

  "Mousse, you know why I'm here. If not, you're stupider than I
thought."

  Mousse turned, so that his profile was outlined in silvery light. He
appeared to be holding something in his hands. What it was, Shampoo
couldn't tell. He paused a moment, then spoke.

  "Why did I not defeat you? Why indeed...." There was a hint of a
chuckle in his voice...but a mirthless one. "You do not understand. But
you will."

  <Well, that was rather cryptic.> "What do you mean?"

  Mousse sighed, and turned his back to her once again. "An ugly truth
was revealed to me. I...I _saw_, finally, that you...do not love me. And
I have none to blame other than myself. Saotome, indirectly, but...."

  Now _that_ was something to behold. Shampoo's jaw dropped wide open,
though her Joketsuzoku pride was saved by the darkness. "Y-you said...
said...." She trailed off.

  Mousse held the silence for a few moments, before finally rasping out,
"Yes. Yes, you heard me right. I said that I know that you don't love
me, and that there is little that I can do, probably, to change that--if
anything at all." If the tears in his eyes couldn't be seen, then they
could be heard in his voice.

  Shampoo decided to give her jaw muscles a gentle workout, opening and
closing her mouth soundlessly for a little while. Finally focusing her
thoughts, she ventured further. "But, then, why did you challenge me?
And then lose on purpose? It...well...."

  "I needed...I had to prove myself. All that time, I was better than
you at fighting. But I just would not let myself hurt you, you know
that. Well, that and the fact that I couldn't keep these damnable
glasses on. And so I always lost, always failed. When I realized
the truth.... Perhaps it was a matter of ego, as well; I am not
certain." A pause. "And so I fought."

  Shampoo was silent. This was food for thought; Mousse was not a blind,
helpless fool, then? After all these years...might he even be better
than Ranma? No, no; Ranma was always the best. Right.

  Mousse startled her out of her reverie when he continued, now barely
whispering. "I decided to lose because I would not force you into
something you did not want. I had already proven it to myself, you, and
that old ghoul, I would imagine."

  "You still love me." For once, Shampoo did not hesitate to speak. He
didn't answer...but then, it wasn't a question, anyway. The silence
continued uncomfortably for nearly a minute. Shampoo's heart was heavy;
she felt no elation at the fact that Mousse was finally going to stop
chasing her. No, not because she secretly loved him with all her heart,
like some of you fanboys and girls would like to imagine, but because it
hurt to see one who was a friend, an old friend, reduced to such gloomy
levels.

  "What will you do now?"

  "Well.... I.... Ever since I came here in search of you, I have always
been here. But I don't want to be here, not anymore. I'm just not
sure...where I will be going." There was an odd hesitation there."

  "I...I see. Are you sure you want to go? I mean.... Well...."

  "_Nothing_ keeps me here, at least not at this restaurant. The abuse I
have put up with certainly is not worth the 'pay' that I get from your
great-grandmother. I may stay in Nerima, I may go back to China, I
may...travel further."

  "Gone...." Truth be told, Shampoo had gotten used to his presence,
even...comfortable. It would be very strange without him here. "I
think...."

  "What, you want me to stay?"

  "N--ye--I mean, maybe.... Mousse, you don't think that I hate you, do
you?"

  "Actually...I guess not, since you've put up with me so long."

  "I don't, of course not...you are a friend, after all. And I would
find it strange if you left...."

  Mousse turned to her, a certain glint shining from his glasses.
"Really? I find that...interesting." He paused a long while. "But I
can't stay here. Maybe I will stay in the area, but I just can't stay
here, not at the Nekohanten. It would be too much." He stopped, pensive.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Do you remember the first time we met? All the way back when we were
three years old?"

  "I...I do, yes...." The non sequitur caught her off guard.

  "Even back then, I was as blind as I am now. But I remember when you
first said, 'Hello, Mousse,' to me. Your voice...it was one moment of
perfect beauty. I fell in love with you, right there. Thirteen years. To
let all of that go...."

  Shampoo's smiled slightly at the memory. Shortly after that was when
he had attempted to propose marriage to her...but ended up talking to a
nearby rock. That wasn't too nice of him.... "Yes, I remember that,
somehow." There was a note of fondness in her voice. "I understand." For
this to wash over, it'd be best to leave her for a while...at least, not
live under the same roof.

  Mousse suddenly stood up and looked down a moment. He slowly let drop
what he had been holding in his hand, and strode past Shampoo, out the
door. "I suppose I have a little work to do. One last time. I will be
leaving sometime tomorrow...."

  Shampoo turned to follow, but then looked back at what Mousse had
dropped. She picked it up off the floor...it was...rope.

  Specifically, a noose.

  Shampoo almost fell down when she realized what it was. Mousse's words
echoed earlier in her ears: "I'm just not sure...where I will be going."
And, "I may stay in Nerima, I may go back to China, I may...travel
further." Those moments of hesitation....

  She whispered a prayer to the spirits of her ancestors--not exactly
sure about what--as she carefully untied the noose and dropped it to
the floor. Then she followed him downstairs to finish up the clean-up
job.



>From Andrew Huang, Taiwanese-American-German-Scot Harvard Student :P
Brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Ryouga and Ukyou! Ukyou and Ryouga!"
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
Kurimoto Shiro's manager, DBTFH; Harvard Anime Society, Secretary