Finally, it's here. I could say that my prereaders
were
late in giving it back. I could say school
interrupted,
but bottomline, the reason this took so long was I was
too damn lazy to write for a period of weeks. This
went through a lot of rewrites, so please inform me of
stupid sounding sentences and other stuff I missed.
Comments should go to ex_fuk@edsamail.com.ph
A lot more action in the next chapter, hopefully. Plus
Coco gets knocked down a peg or two.
Thanx for reading!
Jose Argao
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: old one4.txt
-- Desc: old one4.txt
Disclaimer: The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi. I don't own them. I don't intend to make money for writing
this. (Yeah right, like I could.)
Here Comes an Old Challenger- Chapter 3
By: Jose Argao
"Just where _were_ you yesterday? Honestly, I go to the trouble
of waking you up early and what do you do? You show up at school hours
late, and proceed to skip classes. Don't try to deny it, Ranma. Hiroshi
saw you come through the gates. He also told me that you weren't alone.
School is a place for learning, not expanding your harem."
Soun watched in horror as his youngest daughter bit off a large
chunk of food from her chopsticks, along with a sizable chunk of said
eating implements.
"A... Akane dear..." Soun found himself unable to finish as
Akane swallowed the whole thing.
Akane gave her father an irritated look. "You were saying
something, father?"
Soun gulped and answered meekly. "Nothing dear. Just enjoy your
meal."
Ranma, on the other hand, ignored the conversation as he tried
to concentrate on defending his breakfast from his father. On the other
end of the table, Nabiki was lost in thought.
"I'm leaving," declared an angry Akane as she picked up her
bag and went to the door.
"I'd better get going too," remarked Ranma as he got up and ran
in pursuit.
Meanwhile, at the Nekohanten, Cologne was busy getting ready
for school. While she put on make-up in front of the mirror, Shampoo
watched her quietly from the bed. A few minutes later, Shampoo finally
asked the question on her mind.
"Great Grandmother, why you put on so much make-up?"
Cologne stopped for a moment and looked at her. With an air of
superiority she replied, "To look natural of course."
Shampoo sat for a moment and pondered the wisdom in those
words. Realizing that she could not understand, she decided to just
keep her thoughts to herself.
After another half-hour, Cologne put down her things and
admired herself in the mirror. She was attractive before, of course.
But now, after hours of preparation, she looked stunning. For some
strange reason, although Shampoo was sure she had put on a lot of
make-up, it was hardly noticeable. She had let her long, purple hair
hang loose behind her. Her ears were adorned with a pair of small gold
earings, and her uniform was modified to accentuate her figure subtly.
The blouse was clinging to her waist ever so slightly, and her skirt
was shorter than most, though not glaringly so. Satisfied that no
normal teenage boy would be able to keep his eyes off her, she got up
to leave.
"I want you to visit the school later," she said to Shampoo as
she picked up her bag.
"When you get there, distract Akane and Ukyo so I can make my
move on Ranma."
Seeing the look of disappointment on Shampoo's face, she
hastily added, "That way, you'll have him to yourself all the sooner."
This seemed to calm Shampoo somewhat, as she quickly replied,
"Yes, Great Grandmother."
On her way to school, Cologne thought about Ranma. "What would
be the best way to get to son-in-law," she wondered out loud. She had
seen the way Ranma reacted to force, so it was out of the question. On
the other hand, more subtle means seemed to roll right over him.
As she ran across the street, getting appreciative stares from
the men and jealous glares from the women, she saw a familiar figure
running down the street. Increasing her speed to catch up, she shouted
loudly.
"Ranma! Ranma! Wait up, It's me."
Ranma turned around to see who was calling his name. His mood
brightened when he saw that it was Coco.
"Hi Coco," Ranma greeted. "Nice to see ya again. We'd better
get to school. We're late."
"But I thought you said you didn't care about your studies."
"I don't," Ranma began. "But Akane's mad at me again and I
wanted to ask her why."
Cologne did her best to act confused. "Akane, who is she? Is
she your girlfriend?"
"No! Nothing like that!" Ranma suddenly grew bright red. "I
don't even like her! She's just a stupid, uncute tomboy."
'Is that so,' Cologne thought. She pressed on asking questions.
"So she's just a friend?"
"Not really." Ranma thought about his relationship with Akane.
"She's supposed to be my fiancee."
Cologne tried to look surprised. "You're getting married?"
"No! It's just a prearranged thing between our parents! I don't
even like her." Ranma paused for a while, then spoke again.
"Listen, I don't really want to talk about it. Let's just get
to school, okay?"
"Sure, if that's what you want." Cologne mentally congratulated
herself for her minor victory. Within seconds, she managed to take
Ranma's attention away from the Tendo girl.
'You don't really want that girl, Ranma. You just don't realize
it yet.' It wasn't until a few minutes later that she realized she had
stopped calling him son-in-law.
The two of them arrived at school a few minutes later. As they
were about to enter, Cologne put the next part of her plan into action.
Putting on the 'Kawaii Look' that she had practiced for hours the night
before; she tugged at Ranma's shirt.
"You want something?" Ranma asked.
"I don't know my way around. Could you show me where my room
is?" She replied, careful to look down and shift her weight between her
feet a lot.
"I guess. What room is it?" Ranma kicked himself mentally,
realizing that he barely knew his own way around. Taking the small
piece of paper from Cologne, his face lit up. He knew where _this_
room was.
"Hey! We have the same class!" This was no surprise to Cologne,
of course. She had asked specifically to have all her classes with
Ranma. Trying her best to sound surprised, she took his hand and
allowed herself to be led inside.
When they got to class, Ms. Hinako had already started her
lecture. Actually, it wasn't as much a lecture as it was telling the
students about the new anime show she had watched the other night.
Finally, after the second knock, she noticed Ranma at the door.
"Mr. Saotome, why are you late? That is the behavior of a
delinquent. I shall have to teach you a lesson!"
Ranma came in through the door. This in itself wasn't at all
unusual. Ranma had been coming to school late for as long as the other
students could remember. What _did_ come as a surprise, however, was
what he was holding with his hands. Specifically, who he was holding
hands with. As the male population of the class drooled, Akane sat in
her chair and tried to look busy. This was doubly hard for her since
there really wasn't anything to do. Ukyo's evaluation of Coco changed
from friend to rival within milliseconds. She started twirling a pencil
in her fingers as she appraised her 'opponent'.
"Ms. Hinako," Ranma began. He was interrupted by a female voice
from behind.
"Oh no, Ranma was late because of me." Ms. Hinako gazed up to
see who the voice belonged to.
"And who might you be?" She asked.
Cologne stood straight and let go of Ranma's hand. Ukyo
noticeably brightened at this gesture. "I'm the new student, Coco."
The boys all scrambled to take down notes. They failed
miserably, however, since saliva and paper don't make for a good
combination. Cologne just giggled at the reaction.
"Really? A new student? That's so cool!" Ms. Hinako completely
forgot about Ranma, who quietly crept to his chair. Looking around the
room, she spotted an empty seat.
"You may sit beside Ms. Kuonji," she stated while pointing to
the right of Ukyo.
"But I want to sit beside Ranma!" Cologne complained cutely.
Ukyo snapped the pencil she was twirling. The boys shuddered in
unison as a pig-tailed martial artist wearing a red Chinese shirt
invaded their fantasies. Akane ripped the book she was pretending
to read in two. Luckily for her, she managed to do this before anyone
noticed that it was upside down.
Ms. Hinako, oblivious to the reactions of her students, looked
at the seats beside Ranma. Hiroshi and Daisuke sat at either side of
him. She thought as hard as she could, which wasn't really all that
hard.
'Ranma is always talking to them, disrupting class.' She
looked at Cologne, who smiled at her.
'Coco looks like such a nice student. Maybe if she sits beside
Ranma, he'll start to behave.' Ms. Hinako's eyes glazed over as she
imagined Ranma, wearing a uniform and taking down notes.
"Very well, Ms. um..." a large sweatdrop formed at the back of
her head.
"Coco," Cologne volunteered.
"Yes, Ms. Coco. You may sit beside Mr. Saotome." Turning to
Daisuke, she gestured towards Ukyo. "You may sit beside Ms. Kuonji."
As Cologne walked to the back, she passed Ukyo's desk. 'Now's
my chance,' Ukyo thought to herself. Slowly, she stuck out her foot.
'Let's see how popular you are after you fall flat on your
face.'
Cologne saw the look in Ukyo's eyes and immediately knew
something was up. She had seen it many times before, on her own great
granddaughter. She quickly noticed the foot sticking out from under
the desk. She raised her foot and brought it down on Ukyo's. Hard.
Ukyo stifled a yelp as pain registered from her foot. She
looked up to see Cologne smiling at her. For a second, their eyes met.
Then, Cologne went off to her desk.
A pale blue battle aura formed around Ukyo. 'That little hussy!
I'll show her who's the cute fiancee around here!"
As Cologne was about to sit down, a pen shot past her and
suddenly smashed into Ranma's chair, missing him by inches.
"Oh my! Are you okay?" Coco asked as Ranma tried to dislodge
the pen from the chair. She looked over to where the projectile came
from.
"My uh... my hand slipped." Akane turned and stuffed her torn
book in her bag.
Cologne glanced at her. "I take it that's Akane?"
"Yeah. That's her. Don't worry about it, she's always like
this." Ranma then put his head on the desk and started sleeping.
"Ms. Tendo, I really think you should see a doctor." Ms. Hinako
was now taking a protesting Akane by the arm and leading her out the
door.
"I'm okay! I don't need a doctor!" Akane tried desperately to
reason with her. Her pleas fell on deaf ears, however.
"Of course you do. That nervous twitch is dangerous. You could
hurt somebody. In fact, you almost hurt Ranma." Ms. Hinako turned to
Cologne, who sat straight in her chair and smiled at her. Realizing she
had lost this round, Akane reluctantly made her way to the clinic.
Back in class, Ms. Hinako wrote a few numbers on the board. "I
want you to read these pages for five minutes. Afterwards, we'll
discuss them in greater detail."
She sat down and promptly fell asleep on the teacher's table.
Twenty minutes later, the bell signifying the end of class awoke her.
"Oh, I must have fallen asleep. The pages I've assigned will be
your homework. See you tomorrow!" Ms. Hinako got up and left, humming
to herself.
The teacher for second period was absent, so the class decided
to get an early start on lunch. Ranma went over to his usual spot under
a tree. Cologne made a move to follow him but was stopped by a hand on
her shoulder.
"Hi Coco. Let's eat together, okay?" Ukyo took her by her arm
and started to drag her off.
Cologne thought fast. Quickly, she touched Ukyo on the back of
her neck. She immediately fell over, unconscious.
Just then, Hiroshi walked up to them. "Hey, we were wondering
if you ladies would like to eat with... Huh? What happened to Ukyo?"
Cologne adjusted her skirt, causing heads to turn, and picked
up Ukyo. "I'd love to, but could you help me take her to the clinic?"
Hiroshi, glad to be able to actually _touch_ a member of the
fairer sex, jumped at the opportunity. "Sure! I'll help you carry her."
A few minutes later, Ukyo was deposited on a bed beside
Akane's.
Akane looked up at Coco. "What happened to her?"
Cologne feigned a confused expression. "I don't know. She just
fell over. How about you, how are you doing?"
Akane frowned. The nurse had insisted that she stay the rest of
the day for 'observation'. She didn't need a doctor. She was fine. What
happened was as much a nervous twitch, as the sun was cold. She
couldn't very well tell the nurse _that_, however, so she stayed.
"I'm fine. Really, I don't know why I have to stay here."
Cologne took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Well, I hope you
can get out soon."
After taking one last look at Ukyo, she turned to the corner
Hiroshi chose as his temporary home and called him. "Hiroshi, let's
get going. Lunch is almost half over."
When they came back, Ranma and Daisuke still hadn't started
eating. Noticing this, Cologne tried out another technique.
"Ranma, you waited for me! That's so _sweet_!" She plopped down
beside him and started opening her bag.
"Um... Yeah! Sure! We waited for you guys. Right, Dai?"
Ranma gulped nervously. Actually, he never intended to wait.
It's just that Shampoo appeared again. She seemed to be looking for
someone, which was strange because she knew where Ranma sat every day.
But when she found Ranma, she was all over him. Ms. Hinako managed to
chase her off, but not until lunch was almost half over.
"Er... right." Daisuke wasn't used to lying. Usually it got his
chi absorbed by a certain teacher. However, Ranma's tone told him that
he'd better go along. For his own good.
Ranma opened a brown paper bag, and cringed at what he saw
inside. The curry, or at least he thought it was curry, had a strange
green hue. It bubbled from time to time, and smelled like burnt rubber.
He gingerly prodded it with his chopsticks, and tried to pull them out
a moment later. After several unsuccessful attempts, Ranma let the
curry have them.
"Is that your lunch?" Cologne knew for a fact that Kasumi was a
wonderful cook, so it was a surprise to see the contents of the bag. If
she didn't know better, she'd say it was toxic residue.
"I guess Akane was cooking again today." Ranma put down the bag
and stared up at the sky. "Damn! And today of all days too. I gave all
my money to Nabiki this morning."
Cologne brightened. She was hoping for a lucky break today, and
she'd been getting them almost without trying.
"That's okay, Ranma. You can share my lunch." Cologne opened a
bento box to reveal a variety of foods. Hiroshi and Daisuke drooled as
the aroma hit them. Ranma shifted his position nervously.
"I'm really not sure," Ranma began. He stopped when he saw the
hurt look in Colognes face.
"It's okay if you don't want it. It must not look very good."
Cologne made a move to close the box, when Ranma stopped her.
"No! It looks good, real good." Ranma took a rice cake and put
it into his mouth.
"See? I love it." Ranma then began eating. He was prevented
from doing so, however, by Cologne's hand.
"Huh?" Ranma blurted out in surprise. "But I thought..."
Cologne silenced him with a finger to his mouth.
"I said we could _share_ my lunch. Not that I'd give it all to
you." She then took a rice cake and held it up to Ranma's mouth.
"Now say, ah." Ranma had no idea what to do. On one hand, this
was an extremely risky proposition to say the least. Half the school
could see them. On the other hand, the food was very good. Plus, he
was reasonably sure that Akane and Ukyo were in the clinic. Shampoo
would still be recovering from her encounter with Ms. Hinako. Kuno and
Nabiki wouldn't be out of their classes for at least an hour, so no
chance of them seeing. Then again, Nabiki never really had to be at the
actual location of any event to know about it. His head started to hurt
from all that thinking. He decided that for now, his stomach had top
priority. He would worry about the consequences later.
Ranma opened his mouth wide and said "Ah." Cologne giggled and
gave him a bite.
'This is much easier than I anticipated,' she thought as she
took a bite for herself. 'A lot of fun too.' She stopped momentarily as
she considered what had possessed her to add that last remark. She
decided she would think about it later.
Back at the clinic, Ukyo was just beginning to recover her
senses. Seeing that she was not alone, she struck up a conversation
with her temporary roommate.
"She's taking him right from under our noses, you know."
Akane sat up and looked at Ukyo, who was still staring at the
ceiling. "Who are you talking about? Who's taking who?"
Ukyo stared at her knowingly. "Stop playing dumb. You know as
well as I do who I'm talking about, or you wouldn't be here." Akane
remembered the torn book in her bag. To herself at least, she had to
admit she was jealous, insanely so.
'Why did she have to come here anyway? I've been with Ranma
much longer and he's still a closed book to me. She shows up and does
in a few days what I couldn't do in over a year.' She was snapped out
of her thoughts as Ukyo continued.
"You know, I always hoped that if Ran-chan would choose someone
other than me, it would be you." Akane beamed at the compliment.
"I figured you'd be divorced in a year or so and Ran-chan would
come running back to me." Akane felt her mood suddenly deflating. With
a Herculean effort, she managed to ignore the insult and ask the Ukyo a
question.
"What are you saying then, Ukyo? Get to the point."
Ukyo pried her eyes off of the ceiling and turned to Akane.
"What I'm saying, sugar, is that maybe it would be better for us to
join forces."
Akane opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off once again
by a wave of Ukyo's hand. "Don't worry. We'll just say you're doing it
for the sake of the dojo. No shame there, right?"
Akane marveled at Ukyo's ability to read her thoughts. Surely
she wasn't _that_ transparent. Still, it was her best chance at getting
Ranma back.
"Fine, I'll do it. But only for the sake of the dojo."
Ukyo just smiled at her. "Sure, sugar. Whatever you say."
Just then, the nurse came in the room cutting off all further
conversation.
Back at the field, Ranma was feeling _very_ full. Hiroshi and
Daisuke, on the other hand, were feeling _very_ jealous.
"Man, I'm stuffed." Ranma stretched out his arms and stood up.
"That was great, Coco. The last time I ever ate anything that good
was... was..." Ranma stopped himself. The last time he ate anything
quite like that was when he was in China, shortly before he defeated
Shampoo. Looking at Coco, he started thinking.
'Well, she _looks_ Chinese, and she seems to bear a heavy
resemblance to Shampoo.' Ranma wrinkled his nose. 'Nah, impossible.
She'd tell me if she were an Amazon. And since when were Amazons so
nice? And cute?' Ranma stopped himself. Did he just think Coco was
cute? He looked at her again, smiling while she kept the remains of
lunch. 'Well,' Ranma reasoned, 'It's not like it isn't true. Besides,
if no one ever hears, who could it possibly hurt?' He was interrupted
by Cologne's voice.
"Ranma, we'd better get to class!" Cologne held out her hand to
Ranma. He absently took it and went to class. This particular action,
however, was not lost upon a certain girl just coming out of the school
building.
'Nothing more, huh? I think not.' Nabiki went out casually and
sat down to eat.
About halfway into class, Ukyo entered. Explaining about her
'fainting spell' that morning, she slowly went to her seat. Later that
afternoon, at the sound of the bell signifying the end of classes, she
approached Cologne.
"Coco," She began with a bright smile. "I'd like to thank you
for helping me this morning."
"Don't mention it. You're welcome." Cologne wanted this little
conversation over with as quickly as possible. Ukyo was planning
something, she was sure, and she had no interest in finding out what it
was.
Ukyo wasn't about to let it end any time soon, however. "Well,
I'd really appreciate it if you'd come to the Ucchan's with me. The
least I could do is give you a free meal for all your help."
"That really isn't necessary. Thanks anyway." Cologne ran about
a dozen different excuses through her mind. "I have to be somewhere."
"Oh but I insist." Ukyo pressed on, unwilling to let Cologne
off the hook.
"I'm truly sorry, but I wouldn't be able to go if I wanted to."
Cologne found herself wishing more and more that this conversation
would just end.
"Why not?" Ukyo tried one last time.
"Hey, Coco! Ukyo!" The voice startled both of them. Turning to
its source, they found Ranma walking up to them.
"Ran-chan! What a surprise!" Ukyo immediately glomped onto
Ranma. "What brings _you_ here?"
"Well," Ranma seemed uncomfortable. "Actually, I'm here to tell
Coco to let Doctor Tofu have another look at her ankle."
Cologne saw her way out. "As you can see, Ukyo, I have a
medical appointment that can't wait."
Ukyo let go of Ranma and tried to put on a smile. "That's okay,
Coco. You just let Doctor Tofu have a look at that leg of yours."
Cologne took Ranma's arm and dragged him toward Doctor Tofu's.
The moment they were out of sight, Ukyo slashed her battle
spatula at a nearby tree. "Another time," she told herself. 'There's
always another time.' She began the walk home.
Seconds after she left the tree fell over, hitting Kuno
squarely on the head as he walked home.
"Did I miss anything? What were you talking about?" Ranma tried
to pry himself loose from Coco's grip. It was surprisingly strong.
"Nothing, just some girl things. You wouldn't understand."
Ranma kept quiet. Actually, he probably _would_ be able to understand,
but that wasn't exactly a part of his life he was all that eager to
talk about, so he let it go.
After arriving, Doctor Tofu took a look at Cologne's ankle.
Slowly, he poked and examined it over and over again. Finally, after a
few minutes, he let it go.
"Amazing, there's absolutely no trace of injury. This is highly
unusual."
Doctor Tofu looked at Cologne as she put on her shoes and
stood up. "Anyway, you should have no more problems with it. You have
an amazing recuperative drive."
"Thanks, Doctor." Cologne wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, she
had found out that there was something girls could fall back on when
they find themselves speechless. She giggled.
Walking out the door, she turned to Ranma. "Aren't you going
home?" Ranma started to stand but was stopped as Doctor Tofu put his
hand on Ranma's shoulder.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to speak with Ranma for a moment."
Cologne thought for a few seconds. She took one more long look
at Doctor Tofu.
"Okay, I'll just wait out here." Cologne walked outside and
stood by the door.
The moment the door closed, Doctor Tofu began talking. "Ranma,
what martial art does Coco practice?"
Ranma looked confused at that question. "What do you mean, Doc?
I don't think she practices the art at all."
Doctor Tofu looked him squarely in the eyes. "You must have
sensed it too, Ranma. She has an incredible amount of chi, and her
recuperative drive is much faster than normal. When I was examining
her, I twisted her ankle around. Any normal person would have felt
pain. She hardly noticed it. Her body was so flexible. People aren't
born with that much flexibility."
Ranma took on a serious demeanor. "I know. I've felt it too. Do
you suppose she's just naturally gifted?"
Doctor Tofu put his hand to his chin. "Well, it's not
impossible, but I doubt it. What does _she_ say?"
Ranma looked thoughtful. "We haven't really talked about it. I
just assumed she had that energy naturally."
Doctor Tofu's face brightened. "Well, in any case, it's not
unusual for powerful martial artists to arrive in Nerima. Maybe Coco is
one of them. It just bothers me that she's being so quiet about it.
Be careful, Ranma."
Ranma stood up. "Don't worry, I will." With those parting
words, he left the clinic. He found Cologne outside, looking at
flowers.
"Let's go," He said as he ran past her.
"Okay." Cologne replied, as she began to run herself. A few
minutes later, they were back at the spot where they had first met.
"Well, I guess this is where we split up." Ranma began to
walk in the direction of the dojo.
"I guess. Bye, see you tomorrow!" Cologne ran in another
direction, waving at Ranma.
"Bye," Ranma replied. He continued in his walk. 'She knows
martial arts.' He finally thought to himself. 'I ran fast, really fast,
but she managed to keep up. No way she could have done that without
any training.'
Meanwhile, at the Nekohanten, Shampoo was talking to Mousse.
"So, after a while, they split up. That's about it." Mousse
finished telling Shampoo of the events following lunch hour concerning
Ranma.
"Why are you suddenly interested in them, Shampoo? I thought
you said you didn't care?" Mousse found himself with a foot embedded in
his face.
"That none of your business. Shampoo no have time to explain
everything to stupid blind boy."
At the Tendo Dojo, Nabiki was having problems of her own. In
front of her lay a stack of papers detailing Coco's every move from
roughly a week ago to that afternoon. Her problem stemmed from the
fact that before that, no one knew anything about her. It's like she
never even existed before then. Her only clue was an early sighting
of Coco jumping over roofs toward the school. The fact that she knew
martial arts did not surprise Nabiki. After Ranma arrived, she had
learned to expect things like that. Taking a map, she carefully studied
the direction Coco was supposedly heading to get to the school. She
then started backtracking; looking in the opposite direction for clues
that might reveal anything about her. Nabiki's eyes narrowed when she
noticed the close proximity of the Nekohanten to Coco's theoretical
origin. Picking up a phone, she started dialing the number of the
restaurant.
"Hello, Nekohanten." A male voice answered that she recognized
to be Mousse.
"Hi Mousse. This is Nabiki." She paused for a while. "Yes,
that's right, I'm Akane's sister. Listen, I need to talk to Cologne. Is
she available?" She paused again. Longer this time.
"Oh. I see. One week ago you say? Thank you. No, no need to
tell her when she arrives. Thanks. Bye."
Nabiki slowly put down the receiver. Cologne 'went away' to an
unknown place at approximately the same time Coco appeared. It might
just be a coincidence, but Nabiki didn't believe in coincidences.
'Bingo!' She thought.
Back at the Nekohanten, Cologne was just making her way into
her room via the window. She was mildly surprised to find Shampoo
waiting for her.
"Akane and Spatula girl not there at lunch. What happen?"
Cologne looked at the intensity in Shampoo's eyes. She decided
to answer coolly. "Things didn't go exactly as planned. I improvised."
"Shampoo hope that the only thing that not go as planned."
Cologne stared at the younger Amazon. Shampoo _never_ used to
talk like this. She was an elder, and Shampoo gave her respect. She
realized that she had been lenient as of late, and that Shampoo needed
a lesson in respect.
"Do not worry, _child_. The master plan is unaffected. If this
is to work, you are to trust me without question. Am I making myself
clear?"
"Yes. Shampoo understand." Shampoo slowly made her way out the
door.
Outside, up on the roof. A small white duck sat thinking. 'What
was that all about? I barely understood a thing.' Mousse flew back
down to the first floor and poured a kettle of hot water over himself,
changing forms. The fact that Ranma's new interest was meeting with
Shampoo was disturbing, to be sure. But the conversation was what
bothered him the most. He decided to bide his time for now. He would
get to the bottom of this, eventually.
End
Author's Notes: Whatever happened to Kuno defeating Cologne? It will
come up later, like in a chapter or two. This is getting longer and
longer. I would like to thank all the people who helped me. Don't know
and Chester to name a few. I could look all you guys up, it would only
take a few seconds, but I'm too lazy. So, instead of doing that, I'm
writing this lengthy apology to the guys I forgot. Go figure.