"A Change of Scene"  Chapters 60-63

December, 1998.  June "KaraOhki" Geraci
karaohki@snet.net

Previous chapters can be found at
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/rothko/228

The characters from Ranma 1/2 in this fiction are the creations of
Rumiko Takahashi.  This story was written for non-commercial purposes
only.

Chapter 60

Shiro stuck his hands in his pockets and shivered.  The sun was so
bright when he'd looked out the window that morning that he'd gone out
without his gloves.  He'd been walking for some time, thinking about
Shampoo.  It seemed to Shiro that was all he did--think about her, and
miss her.

The situation was beginning to affect Shiro in a way it never had
before with any of his other "loves".  His grades were slipping.  At
the close of a lecture he would find that he had no recollection of
what was said.

"Ranma is so lucky", he thought to himself.  "Akane is with him every
day, and all I have to go home to is a dorm room.  I wish Shampoo was
with me."

Then Shiro stopped walking, hunching his shoulders up against the cold
wind.  Shampoo could be with him.  He could afford to have a wife, and
a place of their own.  Heck, he could even afford kids.  The only
question was whether or not Shampoo was ready to marry him.  Without
actually saying so, she'd asked him for time, and he'd tried hard not
to be pushy, but this was a question Shiro desperately needed an
answer to.  Shampoo's last couple of letters to him had been much
warmer in tone, and had hinted of affection for him.  Maybe...

That thought sent Shiro back to his room at a run.  He grabbed a piece
of paper and began a letter to Shampoo, which began in Japanese.
After a few minutes of writing, Shiro's Chinese textbooks helped him
compose the most important question he'd asked in his life.  When he
was finished, he closed the letter with a phrase he needed no help to
write on his own.

"Wo ai ni."

*****

Shampoo lay on her bed, reading the letter again.  She'd re-read it so
many times in the week since its arrival that it was in danger of
disintegrating, but the words never changed.

Shiro's letter was a marriage proposal, and he was waiting for an
answer.  There was no doubt in Shampoo's mind of the answer she would
give.  The only thing that had prevented her from sending it
immediately was the consequences it would bring.  It was very likely
that Cologne's reaction to Shampoo's plans would be to disown her.
Shampoo loved Shiro, but she also loved Cologne, her father, and the
rest of her family back home in China.

Cologne was on the phone downstairs with one of her old friends from
Joketsuzoku.  From what Shampoo had been able to overhear before
Cologne had sent her out of the room, Mousse's aunt had died, and he
was on his way back to Nerima.

Shampoo felt edgy, and uncertain.  From the tone in her
great-grandmother's voice, something was obviously wrong, but until
Cologne got off the phone, there was no way to find out what it was.
Footsteps on the stairs made Shampoo jump, and she hid Shiro's letter
under her pillow seconds before Cologne entered the room.

"Child, I must talk to you, and you must listen."

"Great-Grandmother?"

"Mousse is on his way back, and you are to marry him when he arrives."

"WHAT?"

Cologne observed Shampoo's expression, her own darkening.  Shampoo had
been rejecting Mousse since she was a small girl.  Over the past few
years, the reason for that rejection had been Ranma, but before that
episode began, Cologne had suspected that Shampoo had at least a
little bit of affection for Mousse.  Now all she could see in the
girl's eyes was loathing.  This was not going to be easy.

"Shampoo, I see no other choice for you.  You wasted too much time
chasing Ranma, and you failed.  The elders at home know this, and this
puts your position in jeopardy.  They are also considering making
Mousse outcast, because he refused to accept an arranged marriage
while he was there."

"I don't care whether Mousse is made outcast or not,
Great-Grandmother.  It makes no difference to me.  I won't marry him!"

"Listen to me, Shampoo.  I've been training you to take my place in
our society when I'm gone.  In order for you to be able to do that,
you need to have a husband who knows his place.  As fond as you were
of Ranma, I don't think he would ever have submitted to being a
subservient husband.  We would have tried to train him, of course,
because he would have been valuable to us, but he is an obstinate
young man.  Foolish as Mousse is, he loves you, he knows his place in
our society, and would stay there if he was your husband."

Cologne paused, waiting for Shampoo to respond, but she just sat
there, waiting for her to continue.

"I believe we've been in Japan too long, Shampoo.  It's time to go
home, and I've already begun looking into selling the restaurant, but
the way things stand now I'm afraid you may not find your existence
there a happy one.  I told you that your position was in jeopardy,
Shampoo, and I meant it.  You allowed an outsider male to defeat you,
and you failed to make him your husband.  You gave Akane Saotome the
Kiss of Death, and failed to follow through on it.  Our society does
not look kindly on failure.  As I see it, you need to redeem yourself
by returning home with Mousse as an obedient Amazon husband."

Cologne knew that Shampoo was going to reject her words before she
finished speaking them.  She had stiffened, and her fingers had curled
into claws.

"No!  I'd rather stay in Japan forever than marry Mousse!"

"Don't you want to see your father, and your cousins?"

Shampoo's resolve wavered momentarily.

"I miss them, but . . ."

"Then you have no choice.  From now on, Shampoo, you're going to
listen to me, and me only.  First:  no more volunteer work.  I think
you're spending far too much time with those people.  Second:  no more
language lessons."

Shampoo gasped.

"Yes, I've known for a while now.  You're not going to be in Japan
much longer, Shampoo, so improving your Japanese is a waste of time."

Shampoo opened her mouth to argue, but Cologne stopped her with the
wave of a hand.

"No, Shampoo.  You will obey me, as an elder, and as your
great-grandmother.  I'm not giving you a choice this time."

Noting the tears in her great-granddaughter's eyes, Cologne's
expression softened a little.

"It's almost time to open, dear.  Better wash your face."




Chapter 61

Mr. Misato's door opened as Akane was walking her guests downstairs.

"Good afternoon, ladies."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Misato", Akane responded.  "I hope we weren't
making too much noise for you."

Mr. Misato smiled.

"Oh no, you've been very entertaining.  I just wanted to see if your
friends' faces were as lovely as their voices."

He paused, and smiled at their self-conscious expressions.

"They are."

*****

Shampoo pasted a smile on her face and unlocked the Nekohanten's front
door.  The usual lunch crowd began to drift in, and she was soon so
busily serving all of them that she didn't pay attention to the taxi
pulling up outside.

"Are you sure this is the right place, ladies?"

The driver was confused.  Two well-dressed women, their arms full of
packages from some of Tokyo's most exclusive shops, had flagged his
car and asked to be taken to Nerima.  He'd assumed that they had a
more elegant destination than this for lunch.

"Perfectly sure, young man.  Thank you."

Shampoo smiled when the door opened, admitting two women she hadn't
seen before, but who looked vaguely familiar.

"Welcome to Nekohanten."

The women nodded and smiled, and took a table in a quiet corner of the
room.   Mai smiled at her mother as she helped her take off her coat,
and took the opportunity to whisper in her ear.

"She's beautiful, Mom."

When Shiro told his sister that Shampoo's great-grandmother didn't
approve of his seeing her, she knew that she couldn't just walk into
the Nekohanten and introduce herself.  Mai was very fond of intricate
plots, and decided to invent one in order to meet Shampoo.  When she
told her mother about it, she was eager to participate.

Shampoo was bringing the soup to the table when Mai pulled a packet of
photos out of her purse.  She was handing them to her mother when they
slipped from her fingers, and fell to the floor.

"These are from when we were visiting, Mom.  Oops!"

"Don't worry, Shampoo will get these for you."

Shampoo set down the soup, and bent down to retrieve the photographs.
She was putting them in a stack without really looking at them when
she recognized the face in the photo between her fingers, and took a
second look.

Shiro was sitting on the floor, a baby in his lap.  In the background
was the young woman sitting at the table, and a man she didn't
recognize.

Shampoo wordlessly returned the pictures to Mai, a question in her
eyes.  Mai smiled and nodded, and pointed to the individuals in the
picture.

"This little one is my son, Nojiri,  and the man sitting with me is my
husband.  That's my brother holding the baby."

Shampoo's eyes widened.

"You are Mai?"

"Yes, and this is my mother."

Shampoo fought the impulse to bow to Mrs. Hayasuka.  Bowing was not an
Amazon tradition.

"Shampoo is--I am--very pleased to meet you.  To meet both of you."

The Nekohanten was crowded, and the three did not have the time to
talk as much as they would have liked to, but Mrs. Hayasuka spent the
rest of the time observing Shampoo.  She admired the girl's grace and
beauty, and the way she treated her customers.  They lingered over
dessert, waiting for the lunch crowd to disperse.  Soon Cologne
emerged from the kitchen to help Shampoo clear all of the tables.

"Excuse me, Miss, but can you help me?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can you tell me how to get to the station?  I'm not sure if my
daughter and I can find our way."

Cologne nodded at Shampoo, and gestured to the door.

"Why don't you walk them there, Shampoo?  I can finish up here."

Shampoo nodded back, trying hard to suppress the urge to grin.

*****

Shampoo sat between Mai and Mrs. Hayasuka in the station.  Shiro had
told her a lot about them, assuring her that she would love them, and
he'd been right.  If she had to trade her family in China for this
one, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  Her father's face came into her
mind, and Shampoo shuddered.  How could she think such a thing?  She
loved her father so much.

"Is something wrong, dear?"

Mrs. Hayasuka's eyes were so kind.  Shampoo wanted to answer her
question, but hesitated.  This was something she would have to talk to
Shiro about first.

"No, nothing.  Can Mrs.--can you--do Shampoo a favor?"

Shampoo caught herself, and tried again.

"No, I will say this right!  Would you do a favor for me, please?"

"Of course, dear.  What is it?"

"Please, tell Shiro to visit.  There is something I must tell him.
Tell him I can meet him at Tendo Dojo."

"I'll do that."

*****

Shiro and Ranma separated at the door of the theater.  They'd gone to
a matinee while the girls practiced at Ranma's apartment, whatever it
was that they were practicing.  No matter how hard Shiro tried to get
Ranma to tell him what it was all about, all Ranma would do was grin,
and shake his head.

Shiro was passing through the lobby at the dorm when he was stopped.

"Hayasuka, your mother called three times."

"Three times?  Is something wrong?"

"How should I know?  She just said you had to call right away."

An hour later Shiro was on his way to the train station, bag in hand.





Chapter 62

Ukyo put the last of the clean dishes back where they belonged, and
turned the lights off in the back room.  She'd cleaned every inch of
the restaurant, twice, and it sparkled.  Ukyo took no pleasure in it.

She had been cleaning, scrubbing, making her fingers raw, because she
was so angry that she had to distract herself.  She'd been an idiot,
and had ruined everything.

Earlier that afternoon, Takashi had dropped in to see her and have
lunch.  A couple of other male students were the only other customers,
and they left shortly thereafter, leaving the school paper on the
counter.  Takashi picked it up, and was soon engrossed in its pages.
This made Ukyo curious, and she came around the counter to look.

"That figures", she thought.  "Prettiest girl on campus vote.  No
wonder he's glued to the paper."

Ukyo recognized Mishi as one of Akane's friends, and was about to get
back to her grill when Takashi turned the page, and she snatched the
paper out of his hands.

"Saotome?  Akane SAOTOME????"

Ukyo didn't realize she'd said it aloud until Takashi responded.

"Oh, you didn't know?  They got married over the holidays."

Takashi was not prepared for Ukyo's reaction.  First, she closed her
eyes, obviously trying to remain calm.  A couple of tears leaked out
from her closed lids, and then her expression changed from one of
anguish to one of fury.

"How COULD he?  How DARE he?"

Then Ukyo crumpled the picture of Akane, and tossed it across the
room.

"It's all HER fault!"

Takashi was thoroughly confused.

"Ukyo, I'm sorry, I don't understand . . ."

"He was MY fiance!  Mine, not HERS!!"

Takashi backed away from the counter, watching Ukyo.  She had
retreated back behind the counter and was staring at the grill, not
seeming to notice that the food on it was burning.  After a minute, he
decided to take matters into his own hands, and went around to her
side.   Gently pushing her out of the way, he scooped the charred food
off the grill and set it aside.  He then took her arm, and led her to
a chair.

"Ukyo, would you mind explaining all this?  Ranma said he was engaged
to Akane.  You're saying he was your fiance?"

Ukyo told Takashi the story of Ranma's engagement to her, and to
Akane.  Takashi's expression grew darker as she progressed.

"So you're telling me that you moved to Ube just to be near Ranma.  If
that's so, why are you going out with me?"

Takashi didn't receive a reply.  Instead, Ukyo got very red, and
looked at her feet.
That was enough of a reaction to make him draw the correct conclusion.

"You were using me to try to make him jealous, weren't you?"

Turning his back on Ukyo, Takashi paced around the restaurant, trying
to calm himself enough to speak without shouting.  When he finally
returned to Ukyo, she was just sitting there, waiting.

"I don't know what you were thinking, Ukyo.  If the guy didn't want
you, how did you think something like this would work?  Besides that,
how were you going to explain it to ME if it did?"

Ukyo didn't respond, and Takashi continued.

"You're really cute, Ukyo, and I thought you were a nice girl.
Obviously, I was wrong.  If you ever get over this obsession with
Ranma, maybe you can have a real boyfriend, but it's not going to be
me."

The door slammed behind Takashi, and Ukyo slowly walked over, and
locked it.   Moving as if in a dream, she took out her cleaning
supplies, and began to scrub.

*****

"Hi Ranma!"

Ranma grinned, and waved at Toshi.

"You girls have fun?"

"Lots.  I think we've got it now, Ranma."

"Don't stop practicing until you're sure, Toshi."

Ranma was surprised when Toshi started to giggle.

"Akane said you would say that, Ranma.  She said it's because of your
martial arts training - that you want to be the best at everything.
Don't worry, we intend to be PERFECT!"

Toshi moved on, and Ranma continued towards home.  Ukyo saw him as he
passed her window.

"Ranma."

The quietness of Ukyo's tone was enough to tell Ranma that he was in
deep, deep trouble.  He turned around, and wasn't at all surprised to
see Ukyo holding her huge spatula, fire in her eyes.

"You've betrayed me for the last time, Ranma.  I get my revenge, and I
get it NOW!"

Before she'd even finished speaking, Ukyo attacked.  Not really
wanting to believe that Ukyo would hurt him, Ranma was slow to duck,
and she caught his arm, tearing his coat sleeve and cutting him
slightly.  He jumped up onto a street light, holding the pole with one
arm.

"Ukyo!  What do you think you're doing?"

"What I should have done the first time I came to Nerima, Ranma.  Beat
you senseless."

Ukyo took another swipe at Ranma, but missed.  The spatula sliced the
pole, and it came down, Ranma with it.  As he fell, she whacked him
with the spatula, sending him flying several feet.

"You - were - MINE!  "How - could - you - DO - this - to - me?"

Ukyo accompanied each word with a blow.  Ranma blocked most of them,
while trying to answer.

"Ukyo - damn it, would you STOP!  Let me talk!  Ow!"

Ukyo paused for breath, her tired arms letting the spatula sink to the
sidewalk.  Her anger was turning to misery, and the tears began to
flow.

"Why, Ranma?  Why?  We could have been so happy."

Realizing that Ukyo was no longer capable of trying to attack him,
Ranma came forward, and took the spatula out of her hands.  He led her
back to Ucchan's, brought her inside, and put her in the nearest
chair.

"No, Ukyo.  I had to marry the one I loved.  You have to let go of
me."

"You BELONG to me!"

Ranma finally lost his temper.

"NO I DON'T, Ukyo!  I don't belong to you any more than I belong to
Shampoo, or Kodachi, or even Akane!  I belong to ME, and I get to
choose who I want to be with.  I made a choice, and you're just going
to have to live with it!"

Ranma stormed out, leaving Ukyo behind.  She sobbed for a moment, and
then slid out of the chair, curling up into a tight ball.  She had
nothing to live for.

The figure on the roof of the restaurant watched Ranma limp away, and
climbed down to look in the window.

*****

Akane had her back to the door when it opened, and she turned around
and went pale.  Ranma's face was covered with blood, from a cut
somewhere on his forehead.  His jacket sleeve was torn, and a dark
stain showed her that he was bleeding there, too.  He limped into the
kitchen, and closed the apartment door behind him.

"Ranma!"

Akane flew to her husband's side, and tried to help him out of his
coat.  He winced, and gently pushed her hands aside.

"I can do it, Akane.  It's not that bad."

Ranma eased himself out of his coat, handed it to Akane, and sat down.

"Who did this, Ranma?"

"Ukyo."

"UKYO?  You LET her do this to you?"

Ranma had been sitting with his head down, and looked up at Akane's
words.  His expression was bleak.

"Would you have wanted me to hit her, Akane?  I just tried to defend
myself, that's all I was able to do."

Akane was already getting warm water and the first aid kit.  She
started on Ranma's forehead, concentrating on her husband's injuries,
rather than his words.  Satisfied that the cut had stopped bleeding,
she began unbuttoning his shirt.

"No, I guess not.  But why, Ranma?  Why would she attack you?"

"For getting married.  For not telling her."

Akane was done bandaging Ranma's arm, by the time he'd completed his
story, and she put the kit on the floor, and  kissed his cheek.

"There was no way to win this one, Ranma.  If you'd told her, she
would have either beat on you then, or tried to stop our wedding
again."

Akane sighed, and leaned on Ranma.  He put his arms around her, and
lifted her into his lap.

"You're right, Akane.  I just have this bad feeling."

"Don't even say it, Ranma.  Don't even THINK it!"

Ranma just held her.  He didn't say anything, but he couldn't make
that feeling go away, and it had been right more than once.



Chapter 63

Kasumi was in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes when the
telephone rang.  Soun looked up from the book he was reading, but
Kasumi flew past him before he could even think of getting up.

"I'll get it, Father.  Hello?"

"Hello, Kasumi, it's Shiro."

"Shiro, how nice of you to call.  How are you?"

"I'm fine, Kasumi.  I'm in Nerima, and I was wondering if you could
recommend an inn in the area."

Kasumi looked shocked.

"Don't be silly, Shiro.  Come stay with us.  We have plenty of room."

"I don't want to impose so late at night,  Kasumi."

"Nonsense.  You come here, and then I can invite Shampoo to visit.
You're here to see her, aren't you?"

With an invitation like that, Shiro couldn't refuse.

*****

Cologne watched Shampoo as she served their late-night customers,
trying to determine what had caused the change in her mood.

That morning after their talk, Shampoo had been very quiet, and very
sad.  This evening she the life had come back into her face, and into
her eyes.  More than one young man was looking at her with admiration,
but Shampoo didn't seem to notice.  It was evident to Cologne that
Shampoo's thoughts were turned inwards, and it bothered her that she
couldn't guess what she was thinking about.

The sound of the telephone ringing interrupted Cologne's thoughts, and
she turned to answer it.

"Shampoo!"

"Yes, Great-Grandmother?"

Shampoo looked up, to see Cologne holding a take-out order.

"Please deliver this to the Tendo Dojo, Shampoo.  I'll be so glad when
Mousse gets back.  It's hard having only two of us here."

Shampoo merely nodded, and set off on her errand.

Cologne picked up a tray, and began to clear tables.  There were only
a couple of customers left in the restaurant, and she was considering
closing after their departure when a sudden thought made her decide
she would do just that.

Kasumi Tendo had ordered too much food.  The only people living in the
house were Kasumi, and her father.  She'd been ordering a lot of
take-out lately, and Shampoo was always late getting back from her
deliveries.  Cologne knew that Shampoo had become friendly with
Kasumi, and had allowed her time with her, but now she was suspicious.
Kasumi had never called for delivery this late at night before.
Shampoo's change of mood and this take-out order were too conveniently
close together.  It was time she did a little investigating.

*****

Kasumi hesitated when the doorbell rang.  The last time Shampoo had
come with a delivery, Shiro had nearly run her down in his haste to
reach the door.  This time he seemed to tense up, and looked down at
his hands.  Seeing that he was not about to get up, Kasumi opened the
door, and beckoned Shampoo inside.

"No, Kasumi.  Must get back to work."

"Shampoo, Shiro is here."

The change that came over Shampoo's face delighted Kasumi.  She saw
happiness, and excitement, and a little bit of nervousness.  It was
the same look she'd been observing in Shiro since he'd arrived at the
house.  Then Shampoo practically threw the food into Kasumi's hands,
and rushed inside.

*****

Ukyo's bones hurt.  She'd been lying on the floor for hours.

She'd ruined everything.  By wrecking Ranma's wedding, she'd driven
him and Akane closer together.  Trying to make him jealous with
Takashi was a total waste of time, and in the process she'd hurt
Takashi, a perfectly nice guy.  Ukyo sat up, and put her face into her
hands, weeping uncontrollably.  She never heard the door's lock being
picked, the sound of it's opening, and was unaware that anyone was
present until she was swept up into a hug.

*****

Shampoo and Shiro sat facing each other on the dojo floor.  Kasumi
hadn't even bothered asking them to sit down to eat and they'd walked
directly there, never taking their eyes from each other.  For the
longest time, it seemed that neither would speak.  Shiro was the first
to do so.

"Mother said you wanted to see me, Shampoo?"

"Yes."

"And that you had something to tell me.  What is it?"

"Yes."

At first, Shiro was confused.  Then he stopped short, and looked at
the smile on Shampoo's face.  He repeated what she'd said, just to be
sure.

"Yes?"

Shampoo nodded.

Cologne watched through the window as Shiro gathered Shampoo into his
arms, and kissed her.

*****

Akane woke with a start.  Ranma was thrashing around, muttering
something she didn't understand.  Then he began calling her name, over
and over.

This wasn't the first time Akane had seen Ranma having nightmares.
The first time was on their honeymoon.  She'd awakened to the sound of
his voice, calling her name.  Akane had moved closer to Ranma and
stroked his cheek, calling him.  He'd pulled her into a fierce embrace
and then suddenly relaxed, smiling.  She'd hesitated to ask him about
it in the morning, preferring that he bring up the subject, but he
never did.

Since then, it had happened a few more times, but this was more
violent than usual.  Akane ducked under Ranma's arm as it flew toward
her nose, grabbed him, and shook him.

"Ranma!  Wake up!"

Ranma sat bolt upright, sweating and breathing heavily.  At first, he
didn't seem to know where he was, and then he relaxed.  He put a shaky
arm around his wife's shoulders, and hugged her gently.

"I'm sorry, Akane.   It was a dream."

Ranma got out of bed, and began to dress.

"Where are you going?"

"Ucchan's.  I have to be sure everything is all right."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Ranma and Akane had never been out in Ube in the middle of the night
before.  The town was dark and quiet, and there were few people on the
street.  They walked without speaking for a while, until Akane asked
the question that had been bothering her since they left the house.

"Were you dreaming about Ukyo, Ranma?"

Akane knew the answer before Ranma replied.  After all, he hadn't been
calling Ukyo's name in his sleep.

"No, Akane.  About you."

"What was wrong?"

Ranma avoided Akane's eyes,  and instead looked ahead toward their
destination.

"I can't tell you, Akane."

Akane was about to argue about Ranma's response when he squeezed her
hand and pointed ahead of them.

"Why are the lights on at Ucchan's?"

Quietly, the Saotomes approached the window, and looked in.  Ukyo was
sitting on the floor, in someone's embrace.  That someone was dressed
entirely in black, with his back to the window, but Ranma recognized
him immediately, and looked very relieved.

"Konatsu."

Akane reached for the doorknob, but Ranma grabbed her wrist.

"Don't, Akane.  I think we'd better leave them alone."