Note: This fanfic is starred by Mousse and Shampoo, so all the dialogues
are in Chinese.
Navel, master Shi Baoliang, Mei and Sei are my own characters, please
don't use them without my permission.
Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Viz communications, all the characters
created and copyrighted to Rumiko Takahashi.
Okay, all this takes place after Hidden memories (my first fanfic) which
could be considered as the prologue for this story, I do recommend you
to read it first, although is not really necessary, and now, let us
begin with....


THE MAN WHO LOVED SHAMPOO
PART 1 OF 2

BY
DR_FACER


Pain, that was what he felt right now, his wings felt like if they were
about to fall off, he knew he shouldn't have flown all the way from
Tokyo to China, but considering his financial status, it wasn't like if
he had had a lot of choices, Mousse looked down, he was now flying above
Joketsuzoku, "At last!" He thought as he headed for his house, Mousse
landed carefully on the roof of his house and after checking that no one
was at home, he entered trough an open window and headed straight to the
kitchen, a few moments later, a human Mousse exited the house and
quickly ran to the forest, Mousse didn't want anyone to know about his
return, so he ran until he was at a safe distance from his house,
panting, Mousse pulled out a map, he needed to know the exact location
of the place he was searching for, as he checked the route he had to
follow, he cursed, he'd had to go trough the Musk dynasty territory,
which meant dealing with Herb and his bodyguards, Mousse sighed, that
was not a nice option, he checked the map again and found an alternate
route, the path was harder, but a lot safer and shorter, the only
potential danger in this alternate route were the burglars that predated
over the weak travelers, fortunately, he was not a weak traveler, Mousse
smiled and put the map back in his sleeves, ready to begin his real
travel, "You just wait Shampoo, you just wait and you'll see what I'm
capable of." He muttered and firmly walked north.

Back in Nerima, Shampoo was tired, without Mousse around, her work in
the restaurant had suddenly doubled, amazing that big jerk had actually
been good for something, Shampoo passed the last order to her great-
grandmother and waited for the Ramen to be ready, at least there weren't
that many customers at the moment, but by the evening, the dinner rush
would be hell, Shampoo looked at her father, he was taking the orders of
a couple, the young Amazon knew that he had been the most shocked when
Mousse left, and she still didn't understand why, so she thought she
should ask him, tonight if possible.

In China, Mousse was walking in a forest path, the route had been easy
up until now, but soon he would have to start cutting his way trough the
thick bamboo forests that surrounded the mountain he was heading for, if
what he had heard about a mighty martial arts master living in the
depths of the Bayankara mountains was true, then he would do anything in
his possibilities to have that man accepting him as his student, Mousse
smiled, that man was supposed to be the master of a deadly art that made
you invincible, according to the stories not even the amazons or the
members of the musk dynasty dared to defy him, and that was impressive,
for a man to have the respect of the amazons was already a big
achievement, but to have the respect of the musk dynasty as well was
almost unbelievable, so Mousse was sure that if he dominated that art,
he would be able to face Ranma in battle and manage the draw he so much
needed, so he continued his way, wondering what kind of a man his soon
to be master was, when a woman called him, the voice was familiar for
Mousse, but he could not really identify the owner, so he turned and put
his glasses back on, the young man stared the woman in front of him
filled with surprise, how did she found out that he was in China?
"You!" Mousse shouted, "How come you knew about my return?"
The young, green haired woman smiled, "I saw you flying above my house!
I just had to come and say hello!"
Mousse was startled, "You...saw...me?"
The girl nodded, "Yes I did! It was luck actually, I was checking a nest
some doves made on the roof of my house when I looked to the sky and saw
you flying towards your house!"
"Yeah, luck." Mousse said and started to leave, "It was nice to see you
Navel, but I really have to go, good bye."
"Wait Mousse! You can't leave just like that!" Navel shouted and crushed
Mousse with a huge boulder.
"Well, if you put it that way, I think I have some time for you." He
answered as he crawled out of the rubble, "What do you want Navel?"
Once Mousse was up, Navel immediately jumped away, "Mousse!" She shouted
and pulled a sword out, "I challenge you!"
"Hey, I knew that was all you wanted Navel, I'm sorry, but I have no
time for this." Mousse said and began to walk away.
"Are you dumping me, pretty boy?" Navel thought, "I'll show you to dump
me you big jerk!" She grinned and dashed towards Mousse, her sword at
the ready.
"Wha...?" Mousse mumbled when he noticed that Navel was attacking him,
he quickly turned, but ...
"HIIYAA!"
*CLOONG!!*

Seconds later, only Mousse stood there, unscratched, watching the
unconscious girl at his feet, he tossed the iron mace he used to knock
Navel out and erased himself from the place as fast as he could, if he
was lucky, he should be able to get far away enough before his life
became a lot more complicated than what already was.
"God! What was I thinking? I fell in Navel's trap like a stupid
beginner! Now that I've defeated her, she'll start chasing me all over
the world trying to marry me!" He thought as he increased his speed,
right now, it was imperative that he could put as much distance as
possible between him and Navel, or else, he risked fighting Navel's
great-grandmother, and that wasn't something in Mousse's to do list of
this millennium, so, he ran.

Meanwhile, in the place where the short fight between Mousse and Navel
took place, a couple of identical twins jumped out of the bushes
surrounding the path, one of them was holding a camera.
"Did you got the pictures, over?" Asked one of the girls to the one who
was carrying the camera.
"Yes, a whole lot!"
"Great, let's then help the boss."
"Right! Over."
The two girls, better known as the herbalists Pink and Link from
Yaocaicun, kneeled next to Navel, "Hey boss, are you okay?" Pink asked,
but Navel didn't move.
"I think Mousse hit her very hard, over." Link answered.
"You know, amazons have the weirdest love concept I've ever seen." Pink
said, pouring some rose petals tea on her sister's cup.
"Yes, you're right Pink, over." Link agreed, pulling a table and some
cookies from hammer space.
"I wonder why is Navel so interested in Mousse?" Link asked and took a
bit from a cracker.
"No idea, but she sure pays well for our help, over." Pink answered and
drank a sip of her cup.

Navel opened her eyes and moaned, she watched her two 'assistants' and
frowned, how dared they! Drinking tea and eating crackers when she was
wounded! "HEY YOU TWO, I WONDER WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO START HELPING ME
HERE!!!!" Navel shouted as she got up, she dusted herself, and began
searching for the suddenly missing twins, she found them hiding behind a
rock at least five yards away.
"The boss sure has a talent to scream, over, she scared the hell out of
me!" Pink said.
"Yeah, I felt the same! Over." Link answered.
Navel sweat dropped and bonked both twins' heads, "What are you doing!?"
"Nothing boss, over!" the twins answered at the same time.
"Aaargh! Stop talking like a walkie talkie already, will you!?"
"But we're not talking like a walkie talkie boss, over."
Navel shook her head, "I give up, you two are helpless!" She said, "Did
you got the pictures?"
"Yes we did! Over." Pink said
"A whole roll of film! Over." Link finished.
"Good, now go and have the film developed, I'll wait for you in the
Joketsuzoku monthly's offices."
"Yes boss, over!" The twins shouted and quickly headed to Yaocaicun.
Navel laughed. "Now he's mine Shampoo! And soon, you won't be able to do
anything about it!" She shouted and laughed again.

Shampoo closed the Neko Hanten doors and sighed, today had been a very
busy day and tomorrow would be worse, Ukyo caught a cold a few days ago
and had closed her restaurant for the week, and so all of her customers
had instead come to the Neko Hanten. Yes, it meant more money for her
restaurant, but it also meant more work for her, and without Mousse
here, all that work would have to be done by herself, after all, her
father wasn't that good of a waiter, and her great-grandmother had made
clear that she would never be a waitress, (the true was that Cologne
knew her great-granddaughter attracted lots of male customers, and
Mousse also had attracted a few girls from time to time, so, what right
did she had to ruin the young customers illusions?), Shampoo entered the
kitchen and saw her father, she had to talk to him, he had been acting
weird since Mousse left and she was intrigued, very intrigued indeed.
"Father, are you OK?" Shampoo asked.
The man smiled when he heard the voice of his daughter, "Of course my
girl! I'm feeling fine!"
"I don't think so father. You've been acting  very strange since Mousse
left."
"Have I really?" He joked.
"Yes father, you have, and I want to know why." Shampoo said seriously.
"There's nothing to say daughter." The man answered with a very
concerned look, "Now please, leave your father alone."

Shampoo was startled, her father never denied anything to her, but this,
what was so special that he couldn't tell her? She had to know, it was
her right as an Amazon to be answered by any other man of the village,
even if the man was her own father.
"Father, you know you have to tell me, it is written in the laws of
Joketsuzoku."
"We're not in Joketsuzoku right now child, so I won't tell you."
The young Amazon took a depth breath and then exhaled, fine, if asking
nicely didn't work, she would have to blackmail her father, "Father, you
better tell me, or perhaps you want me to tell great-grandmother?"
The man sweated cold, "Are you blackmailing your own father?"
"Just a little."
Shampoo's father took a seat and invited his daughter to join him,
"Fine, I'll tell you, but be aware that you probably won't like what
you're about to hear."
The young Amazon smiled, "I'm not a little girl dad, if its bad, I'm
sure I can handle it."
The man relaxed in his chair and lighted a cigarette, then, when he had
smoked almost half of it, he spoke, "Shampoo, you love that Ranma boy a
lot, right?"
"Yes, I love him very much." Shampoo answered and sneezed, that new
brand of cigarettes her father was smoking right now smelled quite bad.
"I knew it, but I needed to hear it from you, since you and me hardly
ever speak to each other, well, I had doubts about your feelings for
him."
"Was that the reason why you were acting strange?"
"No, it was something else." The man paused, "Shampoo, how do you feel
about Mousse?"
Shampoo blinked, not really understanding why was his father asking her
that, "What?"
The man went to the freezer and grabbed a bottle of soda, "You know, I
really like that boy, Mousse I mean, I think he would be a great
husband."
"What?" Shampoo asked again, "Excuse me dad, but are you sure you're not
sick?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Now answer me, how do you feel about him, do you really
hate him?"
Shampoo lowered her eyes and for a moment, she was afraid of answering,
"I..." She stopped, searching for the proper words to describe what she
felt for Mousse, "I don't hate him, he's...he is my best friend, but he
doesn't seem to understand it!"
The man opened the bottle and emptied it in one go, he threw it to the
garbage can and then he spoke, "It's not that he's not understanding you
daughter, it's you who is making him believe that he has a chance."
"That's a lie!"
"No, it's not, Shampoo, you may fool yourself, but you can't fool me or
your great-grandmother."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have seen you with Mousse, I know he can be a pest, but for most of
the time you two get along quite well, and you do smile to him more than
what you might think."
"Shampoo never do that!" She said in her broken Japanese, "Shampoo only
love Ranma!"
The man smiled, Shampoo was nervous, that was the only reason why she
switched to Japanese, he had hit a sensible spot there, it made him feel
guilty, but nobody said that being a father was easy. Besides, he wanted
her daughter to be happy, and for that, he had to help Shampoo face her
feelings, "I'm not saying that you love him, all I'm saying is that you
do seem to feel something for him, something that's more than friendship
maybe?" He answered still in Chinese.
"NO!! Shampoo no care about Mousse! Shampoo never cares for him!" She
shouted rising from her chair, "Shampoo love and care for Ranma!"
"But what about him? Does he love you too, daughter?"
"Shampoo no answer that question!!" The blue haired girl angrily
answered and exited the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
The man noticed his cigarette had burned all out by itself and sighing
he lighted up another one, "Yes, it's hard to be a father, pretty hard."

"Are you sure this is for the best?"
Shampoo's father turned to the small window to his right, "Cologne."
The old Amazon jumped inside the kitchen and sat in front of her son in
law, "I still don't know how I let you convince me."
"It's just because you too want Shampoo's happiness." The man said
smiling.
"Maybe, but I'm still not sure, Ranma would be a great addition to our
village."
"Yes, the only problem is that he doesn't want to marry my daughter, and
I don't want him to hurt my Shampoo anymore!"
"And I assume that's why you think Mousse would be an adequate husband
all of a sudden?" Cologne asked.
"No, I have liked that kid since I met him, maybe I like his
stubbornness, reminds me of myself I guess."
Cologne Smiled, "Yes, you were very stubborn, fighting Shampoo's mother
three hundred times before defeating her is a proof of that."
"See why I like the boy that much? He never gives up, I'm sure he'll
draw with Saotome next time they fight! He won't fail I know it!"
"He'd better not." Cologne said seriously, "If I'm going to accept him
as a part of our family, he better not."
"Don't worry, I'm sure the kid will do it." Shampoo's father said as he
exited the kitchen, leaving Cologne alone.
"What's this?" Cologne wondered while examining one of the cigarettes
her son in law had been smoking, that particular cigarette was black,
and it smelled different to the brand Shampoo's father usually smoked.
Cologne frowned in frustration when she recognized what she was
smelling, the cigarette was made of the plant of the true heart, the
smoke that plant emitted when burned was harmless for adults, but even a
small dose caused hallucinations in kids and teenagers, forcing them
face things they had buried deep in their hearts, "A dirty trick son in
law, a very dirty trick indeed." Cologne said and bounced out of the
kitchen, "I'll better keep an eye on Shampoo; the hallucinations could
make her react violently."

"Damn!" Mousse thought, "This stinking Bamboo forest is thicker than I
first thought! At this rate I'll never cross it!" The young man stopped,
it was late already and he was exhausted, he wanted to reach the
master's house this same day, but now it was impossible. After chopping
down bamboo all day, his energy had been completely drained.
"Well, I guess I'll sleep here today." Mousse set up a fire and started
heating some water for his instant Ramen, he was tired, but he still was
hungry, when his dinner was ready and he was about to start eating, he
heard something, a shy sound behind him, "A tiger?" Mousse asked
himself, tigers were very rare in this area, but what else could it be?
Monkeys?
"I'll better check it out" He thought and slowly walked to were the
sound was coming from, when he was at leas two feet away, the noise
stopped, Mousse  held his breath and slowly approached the bushes, he
reached for the cold leaves and slowly moved them aside...
"SURPRISE!!!!" A red and green blur shouted as it jumped above Mousse's
head, knocking him down in the process.
"Hey!" Mousse shouted as he got up, but then, a munching sound made him
sweat, he slowly turned to his small camp, and he saw that a kid wearing
a large, red hood, probably six or seven years old was eating his ramen!
His last Ramen!
*SLURP! MUNCH! GULP!*
"Boy that was good!" The little brat shouted when he finished what
should have been Mousse's dinner, the kid noticed Mousse was staring at
him, he smiled and asked the young man, "Hey mister, don't you have more
Ramen? I'm still hungry!"
"You...you cursed brat!!! That was the last of my food!!" Mousse
screamed, "What am I supposed to eat now!!??"
"Not my problem, see you later!" The kid said and slowly headed to the
forest.
"No way kid! you're not getting away!" Mousse exclaimed and threw his
chains, tying the kid before he escaped, "All right kiddo, you're mine
now."
Mousse grabbed the kid and with a quick move, he soon had him hanging
upside down from a tree, "Now kid, who in the hell are you to come here
and steal my food!?"
The kid's eyes filled with tears, "But I was so hungry mister! My big
brother and I haven't eaten in days!"
"Brother?"
"Yes! He's a strong martial artist and if you don't let me go he'll kick
your ass real good!"
Mousse grinned, "Yeah right, I bet he will."
"I mean it! He really is strong! And he'll punish you when he finds
about this!" The kid said while he struggled, trying to escape.
"We'll see about that tomorrow boy." Mousse said and walked to the small
camp he'd set up sooner.
"You!" A man's voice called, "How dare you treat my sister like that!"
Mousse turned and saw what looked like a young man like himself, who
also wore red and green Chinese clothes "Sister? You mean this boy is
really a girl?"
The newcomer sweat dropped, "You didn't know?"
"No I didn't, but in that case, I'll let her go." Mousse untied the girl
and let her down on the floor, "There girl, you're all set, now let's
see what your brother has to say about what you did."
"Brother, help me! This guy's a pervert! He said dirty things to me!"
The girl shouted and ran to her brother's arms.
"Is that true stranger?"
"OF COURSE NOT!!! Your sister is lying!" Mousse argued.

The girl's brother stared coldly at Mousse, "I don't believe you, you do
have the face of a pervert! Prepare to be punished!" He said adopting a
fighting stance Mousse had never seen before.
"Hey wait, there's no need for this!" Mousse said.
"Shut up, you pervert! I'll teach you hang girls upside down!" The
mysterious boy shouted and charged, throwing loads of punches to Mousse
at a very high speed.

Mousse dodged all of the blows, he had already faced Ranma's amaguriken
and this punches, while fast, were nothing near the speed Saotome's
punches could reach, in fact, for Mousse it was as if this boy was
moving in slow motion. He smiled, the guy was good, but not good enough,
and taking advantage of a pretty obvious opening in his adversary's
defense, Mousse kneed his opponent's jaw, sending him crashing in a near
tree, "Now, will you calm down and listen?" He asked.
"Never! I'll never admit defeat from a pervert like you!" The boy said,
shaking his head to fight dizziness, "You are a strong fighter, but I'm
not defeated yet!" He shouted, taking out a water canteen.
"What's he doing?" Mousse thought, "A water canteen? Could it be that he
was Jusenkyo cursed too?" That was bad, if he was cursed and willing to
use his cursed form in a fight, that could mean only one thing, it meant
that this guy didn't turn into a silly rabbit! Mousse threw a knife to
break the canteen but he did it to late, the knife did broke the
canteen, but the boy had already splashed himself with cold water...
*GROOOAAARRR!!*
Mousse was paralyzed, his adversary had turned himself into a freaking,
enormous, white tiger!! This was not good, a normal tiger was dangerous,
but a tiger with a human mind was ten times worse. As he circled the
huge feline, trying to find a way to knock him out fast, Mousse searched
for his trusty hen inside his sleeves, he hadn't use it in months, but
he expected that this plan would work.

In Joketsuzoku, Navel was smiling with joy, in her hands she had the
first copy of  next month's Joketsuzoku monthly, and its contents
couldn't be more perfect, in the front page was a picture of her being
defeated by Mousse, and the article described how Mousse had won their
fight, an interview with the witnesses of the duel Pink and Link was
also included, not to mention a full review of the wedding Navel's
family was planning, and bios of her and Mousse were in the social
pages, they even put some file pictures the newspaper had! And finally,
an article Navel wrote herself, explaining how Mousse finally realized
that chasing Shampoo was a waste of time and how he had challenged her
to a battle he barely won.
"Yes! This will do fine, I wonder what will Shampoo do when she reads
all this? Will she come back?" She asked to the mirror in her room, "I
don't think so, Pink and Link told me she was all over that weird boy,
what was his name? Lan-ma? Oh, who cares! Mousse is mine and that's all
that matters!" She said and turned off the lights of her bedroom, and
when she covered her body with her sheets, she smiled, for this time,
she had won, and Shampoo couldn't do anything about it.

Shampoo couldn't sleep, a strange feeling had been bothering her the
last few hours, she got up and opened the window of her bedroom, maybe a
little fresh air could help her get rid of the feeling. Through the open
window, Shampoo gazed at the stars and suddenly found herself thinking
about Mousse again, she hated it, she had been thinking about him more
and more since he left, she hadn't told that to her dad, as if it wasn't
bad enough that her father thought Mousse would be a good husband for
her, Mousse was stupid, the only one for her was Ranma, he was the man
who had defeated her and...
"You can fool yourself, but not me." Her father's voice resounded in her
mind, Shampoo shook her head to dissipate the thought, what had been
that?
"You know it better than no one else Shampoo, how long will you hold on
to a lie?" This time, the voice that echoed in her mind was not her
father's, it was her own!
"We love him, that's true, but he doesn't love us, he probably thinks
we're a nuisance, a girl with no honor." This time Shampoo had to close
her eyes and grit her teeth firmly to shut the voice in her mind, she
couldn't accept that, Ranma would love her one day, he will realize she
was the best one, not Akane, Ukyo or Kodachi, she was the best for him!
She could be both a warrior and a housewife, and that was something none
of her competitors could do, Akane would never be a proper wife, Ukyo
was too tomboyish for her own good, and Kodachi, well, Kodachi was a
maniac, and still, Ranma never really noticed how perfect for him she
was, he always ran away from her babbling excuses, he never cared about
the way she always expressed her love for him, he never hugged her back,
he just ignored her when she was only trying to win his affection.
"See? You admit it, he doesn't love us, we're little more than a friend
for him, shouldn't we go back to our real home?" The voice said again,
using a tone that teased Shampoo's soul.
"SHUT UP!! Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup!!!" Shampoo thought, "I don't
want to hear you, shut up!"
"I won't, you have to face this; you have to face what you already know
in your heart!"
"I don't want to!" Shampoo whispered and she kneeled besides the window,
hiding her face in her hands, "I can't face it, I can't do it!"
"Yes you can! If you can live with a lie, then you can face the truth!"
The voice said.
"NO! I won't listen to you anymore! You're hurting me!"
"You are hurting yourself, is it so hard to give up on him?"
"I can't give up on him! Ranma is the man I have loved the most! I even
love him more than....." Shampoo stopped, she noticed her hands were wet
with tears, she dried them in her nightgown, she closed her eyes, and
then she pleaded, "Please, please leave me alone, I can't take this
anymore, it hurts so much to admit it, please go away..."
"How can you beg your own essence to stop? You have to embrace her, it's
the best for you!" The voice replied, this time, the voice sounded a lot
like her mother.
"Mo...mother? Is it you?"
"Yes it is me my child." the voice said.
Shampoo opened her eyes and saw her mother standing next to her, "I miss
you mother; I want to be with you again, I want to be in Joketsuzoku
again, I want to stop all this nonsense, but I can't."
"Yes you can Shampoo, you can do anything you want."
"No I can't, I'm useless mother, I'm lonely, I'm not happy, and I can't
even get what I want! Then how will I stop all this?"
The voice remained silent.
"Mother?" Shampoo asked, fearing that even her mother would abandon her,
"Mother!"
"You can do it Shampoo, when you let the feelings you have so long
repressed to come out, when you have the courage to admit what you know
is correct, then you will be able to finish with this that so much
suffering has caused you, I only pray that you do it soon, or else, it
will be to late." Then, her mother kneeled besides her and kissed her
forehead, fading little by little as she did so, until it completely
disappeared, leaving Shampoo alone, crying in front of her window.
Shampoo wiped her tears and smiled, "Thank you mother, I won't
disappoint you, I promise." She whispered and then, she fainted.

The tiger was moving towards Mousse slowly, its head almost touching the
floor, but its eyes set firmly in its prey, the beast lowered its body
and Mousse knew the tiger was about to jump at him, probably aiming for
his throat. Mousse gasped, he had three eggs in his right hand, which
was still hiding in his sleeve, he planned to stuck the eggs in the
animal's mouth hoping for the smoke to confuse it, but his aim had to be
perfect, if he failed, there would be blood, most certainly his blood.

The tiger growled and jumped, its eyes, claws and fangs shined in the
dim light provided by the fire Mousse had set up earlier, Mousse set his
feet firmly on the ground and smiled, the tiger had his jaws wide open,
just what he wanted, "Eat this cat!!" Mousse shouted and with a quick
move of his right arm, three little black eggs were thrown straight to
the tiger's mouth, exploding inside the animals throat, the beast landed
poorly where Mousse had been standing just a fraction of a second
before, smoke coming out of its mouth, the tiger was disoriented, its
throat and eyes were sore.
"Brother look out! He's coming from your left!" The little girl who had
been only watching the fight shouted, the tiger tried to move out of the
way but it was too late, Mousse slammed a giant steel hammer in the
tiger's left flank, which knocked out the beast immediately.
"Ha! That was easy!" Mousse said, "I thought that someone who could
transform into a tiger would be a better opponent."
"You killed him!" The little girl shouted, kneeling besides the
unconscious tiger.
"Of course not, he's just going to sleep for a while."
"Really?"
"I didn't have any reason to kill him, now, let's use some hot water to
turn your brother back into a human, I want to ask him something."
Mousse said and went to the fire, picking up a kettle filled with hot
water.
"Do you know about Jusenkyo too?" The girl asked.
"Yes, I do." Mousse answered as he poured the hot water on the tiger's
head.
"AAAHH! That was very hot you idiot!!!" The now not so unconscious
tiger-boy shouted.
Mousse smiled, "You shouldn't complain, you lost the fight remember?"
"But you cheated!" The boy argued and jumped back on his feet.
Mousse smiled again and pointed down, "And you call me pervert? Jumping
around naked in front of your little sister, who's the pervert, huh?"
"GAAH!!" The boy shouted and jumped behind a tree, "You enjoy
embarrassing me in front of my sister!?"
"You're the one who did it all!" Mousse replied, "Here." He said and
threw a blanket to the tiger-boy.

Five minutes later, all had been explained, the tiger-boy forced his
sister to apologize to Mousse and the three were now chatting around the
fire, "By the way, I'm Mousse, what's your name?" Mousse asked to the
siblings.
"I'm Mei Baoliang!" The girl said.
"And I am Sei Baoliang, we are the inheritors of the Baoliang School of
martial arts, not-blind style."
"Baoliang? Not-blind style? I've never heard of that school."
"Of course not, it's a family secret!" Mei said.
"But you're the only one who had ever defeated me." Sei sadly commented.

"Grandpa will be very angry at us." Mei announced.
"Don't tell me about it Mei." Sei said, "Anyway, we have to go, say good
bye Mei."
Mei apologized again to Mousse and bowed, then she ran to catch up with
her brother, who was already walking away, "Mousse, you owe me another
fight, don't forget it!" Sei shouted before he and his sister
disappeared into the bamboo forest.

"Shampoo!!"
Cologne rushed inside her great-granddaughter's bedroom, she had come to
check on Shampoo, fearing that the hallucinations caused by the smoke of
the true heart plant would be too much for Shampoo when she heard a loud
crash. Now inside Shampoo's room, Cologne was kneeling besides the blue
haired girl. Shampoo was in a deep slumber, and her face showed no
discomfort, the crash Cologne had heard had been caused by a ceramic pot
Shampoo had in her drawer, apparently, Shampoo hit the drawer with her
body and that caused the pot to fall, fortunately, Shampoo wasn't hurt.
Cologne struggled a little with the girl before she could put her in her
bed, then as she picked up the pieces of the broken pot, Cologne found
something, it was a small envelope, obviously it was inside the pot, the
envelope was folded so you couldn't see what it was written on it.

The elder Amazon opened the small envelope and pulled out a piece of old
rugged paper, she unfolded it and found a message, more than that, an
invitation, and judging by the writing, the sender had been Mousse.
Cologne read the letter, it was an invitation to Joketsuzoku's annual
festival from almost four years ago, Cologne remembered that she had
missed that festival, she had been visiting Yaocaicun's elders at the
time, but this letter, she knew it was special, Why? The old Amazon
noticed a short note written at the end of the letter, it was Shampoo's
writing, the note said:

**I'm  so confused, my heart is still beating so fast of excitement. I
do wish all have ended today between Mousse and I don't I? We were so
close! Why did those stupid twins had to show up just then? Now I'll
never know what it feels to**

The note ended there, obviously something had interrupted Shampoo, and
she had never tried to finish it again, but why did she wrote the note
here, Shampoo had a diary.
"A diary I use to read from time to time." Cologne thought, she did
peeked Shampoo's diary, but it was only so she could know how to help
her little girl in case something were wrong, but this note, it proved
her that Shampoo knew about her reading her diary, that was why she
wrote that note here wasn't it?

Anyway, what was Shampoo talking about? Excitement? and what was that
thing about the twins? The only twins there at the time were Ran-Ran and
Lin-Lin. This was a mystery, but it was one that Shampoo had choose to
hide from her, so she would respect her great-granddaughter wish, this
secret will remain untouched by her, Cologne sighed, she hated not to
know everything about Shampoo, but her little girl was now a woman and
she had to let her go. Cologne slowly put the letter back in its
envelope and placed it in the middle of the broken pot pieces, she gave
Shampoo a last glance, and then, she left the room, hopefully Shampoo
would never now she had been there.

Mousse stretched himself out, miraculously, he had had a good night of
sleep, but his stomach was still claiming for food.
"Just my luck, now that I have no food, I'll have to hunt for something
to eat." Mousse said as he picked up his camp, readying himself for the
next part of his travel, he was so busy that he didn't notice the shadow
that was watching him.
"Wake up Pink! He's moving!" Link said.
"...Uh?...He's moving already?"
"Yes he is! Hurry up, over!" Link scolded and dragged her sister out of
her futon.
"All right, all right! You don't have to drag me like that! Over."
"Then move!"

Minutes later, Pink and Link were following Mousse from a prudent
distance, they didn't want to fight with him. It wasn't their work after
all, they were paid only to track him down and report his final
destination to Navel, which had proven to be a very easy task, since
Mousse was not expecting anyone to follow him, "Hey Link! Remember that
fight Mousse had last night? Over."
"Yes I do, over, it was pretty scary, over."
"Of course it was! Over, that tiger-boy was really something! Over."
"I hope we won't met him again, over."
"Uh? Where's Mousse? Over." Link asked.

The twins looked around, somehow Mousse had disappeared, "EEEK! We have
to find him fast! Over." Pink shouted, "The boss will hit us if we loose
him! Over"
"You're right, and when the boss is mad, she's even worst than Shampoo!
Over."
"Look he's there! Over." Pink shouted and pointed to a near cliff.
"And how the hell did he got there so fast!? Over."
"Who cares! Over, we've got to catch up with him before we lose him!
Over."

Pink and Link nodded to each other and ran towards the cliff, they had
to see were Mousse was going to, if they failed, Navel would be angry,
and that was something both twins wanted to avoid at all costs.

Mousse finally reached the top of the cliff he was climbing, he looked
down and sighed. He wiped away the sweat and began to walk again, too
bad he wasn't wearing his glasses, or else, he would have seen that two
girls were slowly climbing the cliff, following him.

Mousse put his glasses back on and checked his map, he was now only a
few miles away from his destiny, the Kai-Yuang valley, in the middle of
the Bayankara Mountains, he smiled and after putting the map back on his
sleeves, Mousse increased his speed. With luck, he would be able to
arrive there before noon, and the sooner he started training with the
mysterious teacher, the better.

"Hey, were is he?" Pink asked, she had been the first of the twins to
reach the peak of the cliff, but Mousse was nowhere near. Pink sweat
dropped when she realized Mousse was already pretty far from them.
"Oh, damn! Is he out of reach again!? Over." Link complained.
"He's over there. Over." Pink answered, pointing to the horizon.
Link stared to where her sister pointed, her eyes about to shed gallons
of tears, "That's not fair! Over, we've worked so hard and that jerk
just keep letting us behind! Over."
"We should quit, over." Pink said.
"You want to face Navel's wrath? Over." Link answered.
Pink paled, "No thank you! Over."
"Then we have to continue, let's go! Over." Link said.
"Yeah, let's go." Pink answered and both twins forced themselves to run
in the same direction Mousse had gone.

Shampoo was training, she hadn't trained properly since she came to
Japan, and she was losing shape, she needed to be at her best if she was
going to accomplish her plan, she had devised it last night in her
dreams, somehow the idea just popped in her mind, like if it had been
there for weeks just waiting for the adequate moment to show up, she
will not only fix her situation with Ranma, she would also make up for
him for all the times she had caused him trouble, she was, after all,
the only one that could do it. She would face Ukyo and Kodachi in
combat, Ranma being the prize for the winner, and for Akane, Shampoo
sighed, she was the only one she couldn't hurt, but that was only a
momentary problem. She would think about something, she always did.
"Shampoo! We have lots of customers, stop doing that and come back
here!" Cologne ordered.
"Coming!" Shampoo answered, she hated to stop her training, but she
couldn't defy her great-grandmother, especially since she had been
checking on her all day. Shampoo wondered if that was somehow connected
with her favorite ceramic pot being broken this morning? Shampoo hoped
not, she had hidden the envelope again, but what if Cologne had read it?
That would be disaster, and as the young Amazon entered the restaurant
area, she decided not to think about it, but still, the doubt lurked on
her mind for the rest of the day.

After running almost the whole day, Mousse finally arrived to the Kai-
Yuang valley, but as he examined the place he got filled with despair.
Nothing was there, not a house, not anyone, just a large, rectangular
valley circled by a tall wall of rocks in three of its sides, with grass
covering all of it, a stupid stream crossing the far left end of it, and
a huge cave.
No, Mousse stopped for a minute, there was a faint smell coming out of
the cave, Mousse analyzed the smell, was it Miso soup? Yes it was Miso!
Someone was cooking it inside the cave! Mousse walked there slowly, if
the one who was cooking the soup was the master he was searching for, he
didn't want to interrupt him in the middle of his dinner so...
"Who are you?" An unknown male voice asked.
Mousse turned, scared of the man behind him, Mousse couldn't see him
very well because he wasn't wearing his glasses, but still, he hadn't
hear him approach and that was nearly impossible!
"I asked you a question! Answer me!" The man demanded.
"I...I am Mousse sir, from Joketsuzoku, The Amazon village." Mousse
managed to say.
"I have no business with you or your village, go away!"
"But sir, I'm looking for someone."
"And who is that person you're looking for?"
"He's a great martial artist, and I want to be his student." Mousse
answered.
"Is that so..."
"Hey grandpa! The Miso is ready!"
Mousse turned towards the cave, "Mei? What are you doing here?"
The girl blinked in surprise, but then she smiled, "Hey Mousse, hello!
Did you came to visit us?"
Mousse sweat dropped, and pointed the man behind him, "Is he your
grandfather Mei?"
"Yes he is, why?"
"Mei, what's taking you so long! Call grandpa! the soup is getting
co..." Sei blinked just as his sister did and then he added, "Mousse!
What do you want here! Did you came to fight me one more time?"
Sei! Is this the man who defeated you?" The man who was still behind
Mousse asked.
Sei kneeled and bowed, "Yes grandpa, I apologize again, but if you let
me I shall fix that mistake right now!"
The man smiled, "Don't bother Sei, I the great master Shi Baoliang will
fix that myself." Then, the man turned to face Mousse, "You! You said
you wanted to be my student, didn't you?"

Mousse gulped, he was sure now that Sei and Mei's grandfather was the
master he had been looking for, and since he defeated Sei, he had
insulted his family honor, which could only mean that he would challenge
him.
"Answer me! Did you wanted to be my student or not?"
"Yes, yes I want to be your student!"
"But you defeated my grandson in a fight, and he is my best student."
"I'm sorry." Mousse said.
"I heard that you defeated him even in his tiger form, is that true?"
"Yes I did."
"Excellent! I have a deal for you, do you want to hear it?"
Mousse nodded, "Yes."
"Good, now listen, since you defeated Sei, that means that you are very
strong already, are you not?"
"I guess I am." Mousse answered.
"Fine, look boy, I'm not taking students right now, but I'm willing to
do an exception in your case. All you have to do is fight me, and if I
think you're good enough, I'll let you be my disciple, deal?"
Mousse smiled, "Deal! But I warn you, I won't hold back!"
"Neither will I, are you ready?"
"Anytime you want."
"All right then, HAVE AT YOU!" the man shouted and jumped towards
Mousse....

TO BE CONCLUDED

Well this is it for now, it seems Mousse is in a tight spot, yes I know
he had to fight a lot in this chapter, but it was necessary for the
plot, now for the conclusion, We'll see more about Shampoo, and how her
plan will unfold, we will also see her reaction when she reads a special
edition of a certain newspaper from a certain Amazon village, and Navel
will have to go to Japan! Oh yes, I forgot, we'll also see the outcome
of the battle between Mousse and master Shi, but I believe you're
already guessing don't you? OK, see you on part two!

Facer.

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