Chapter 8 - Shampoo’s Rude Awakening
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Ranma took the stairs two at a time as he made his way to the roof with his lunch. Once he reached the top, he pushed the door open and walked out into the bright, warm morning. He let his eyes adjust for a moment before he looked around. ‘Good,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t look like anyone’s up here.’
With that, he jumped up onto the top of the small stairwell that jutted out from the roof. He surveyed the roof, as well as the school grounds, from his new vantage point. Satisfied that nobody had seen him, and that he was truly alone, Ranma sat down with the lunch he’d just purchased.
However, as he tried to open the small bento box, he found that his hands had started shaking. He paused for a moment in an effort to calm himself, but as his mind focused on what had just happened with Ukyo, the shaking just got worse. Despite the warm weather, he felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Damn,’ he thought, ‘for a minute there I thought she was really gonna do it.’ Ranma set the box down and wrapped his hands together.
‘Get a grip!’ he demanded of himself. ‘It didn’t happen, you’re alive, and Kasumi is safe from Ukyo. So just get a freakin’ grip.’ Thoughts of Kasumi being safe did help relax him somewhat, but the whole incident had forced him to face the one truth that he would never let anyone else see, and that he himself had trouble acknowledging.
‘I... was... s-scared.’
The idea left a bitter taste in Ranma’s mouth. The carefully cultivated façade that he presented to the world, that he was a powerful martial artist who wasn’t afraid of anything, didn’t mean much when his own mind taunted him with the fact that it wasn’t true. ‘Dammit, nobody wants to die, so what’s the big deal? That doesn’t make me a coward. Hell, I was willing to go through with it, to save Kasumi. That’s enough, isn’t it?’
He wasn’t sure if it was, but he thought it might be. As he continued to think, Ranma found that his body was finally settling down. ‘I’m just glad I came up here. If anyone else had seen me, they woulda laughed at me. Of course, then I woulda kicked their ass.’
Ranma finally managed to pick up his bento box, and actually open it without too much difficulty, when the door to the stairwell below him slammed open and he dropped it. He nearly cursed out loud, but remembered his whole purpose in being up here was to be alone. Instead, he just crouched down where he was.
‘I wonder who it is,’ he thought curiously. It didn’t take more than a second to find out.
“Ranma,” came Akane’s voice.
‘Damn,’ Ranma thought. ‘I really don’t want to talk to her right now.’ With that, he just laid himself flat and hoped she would go away so he could finish his lunch in peace.
 |
Akane stared around the roof, looking for any sign of Ranma. When she’d chased after him earlier, she was hoping to catch up with him in the lunch room, but he’d managed to give her the slip. She’d then gone out to the school grounds, munching on her lunch as she went, in the hopes of finding him outside. When that hadn’t succeeded, she went to the roof. ‘I was sure he’d be up here,’ Akane told herself. ‘Where else could he be?’ As she searched around, Akane couldn’t help but think about what had happened with Ranma and Ukyo. She was having the hardest time making up her mind. Should she be happy, or angry? ‘Well,’ she thought with a small amount of bitterness, ‘why couldn’t he have done the same thing for me? Why didn’t he deal with all these girls when we were engaged?’ Then she remembered how Ranma had said repeatedly that he was worried about how the other girls might hurt Kasumi, and how she wouldn’t be able to defend herself. |
Soon though, Akane realized the lunch period was about to end. She really didn’t want to stand out in the hallway holding buckets of water, so she bolted back to the stairwell and made her way to class. Along the way, she kept thinking of Ranma.
‘I’ll just catch up with him after school,’ she hoped, looking forward to the chance to speak with him.
Nabiki strolled out of the administrative office with a satisfied grin on her face. ‘Man it’s nice to have so much pull around here,’ she thought wistfully. ‘It’s going to suck when I have to start all over again in college.’ Pushing the thought aside, she made her way towards the three girls who were waiting for her.
As she walked, she considered each of the subordinates. They were all freshman, and thus younger members of Nabiki’s organization. This meant they weren’t nearly as experienced, but it also meant they weren’t as well known. ‘That’s what’s important for this mission.’
“Ladies,” Nabiki said when she’d reached the group. They each stopped chattering and focused their attention on their leader. Nabiki handed each of them a slip of paper.
“Here are your passes,” she said. “Now, let’s go over this one more time.” Each of the girls nodded.
“Nene,” she said, speaking to the tallest girl. “You’re getting out two periods early, and I want you to go to the Cat Café. If Shampoo is there, keep an eye on her. If she leaves, I want you to follow her. If she isn’t there, stay in the general area and keep an eye out for her or Ranma and then follow them. Got it?” When the girl nodded, Nabiki turned her attention to the next one.
“Yurina, you’ll be getting out one period early. I want you to leave school immediately and make your way towards the Cat Café. When you’re about halfway there, I want you to lose yourself in the crowd. Then, keep an eye out for Ranma or Shampoo and follow them. Understood?” Another nod.
“Ichigo,” Nabiki said finally, turning to face the most athletic one in the group. “You have the hardest assignment. You’ll also be getting out one period early, but I want you to wait just outside the school. If my guess is right, I expect Ranma to bolt the moment the bell rings. Most likely, he’ll make his way straight towards the Cat Café, and he’ll probably be in a hurry. You probably won’t be able to keep up, but I’d like you to try. Understood?” She received a very tentative nod in return and understood why.
“I won’t be upset if you can’t keep up with him,” Nabiki said soothingly. “He’s incredibly fast. All I ask is that you do your best.” Ichigo immediately perked up an gave a more enthusiastic nod. Nabiki fought a sigh. ‘Gotta keep the help happy,’ she told herself.
“Okay, let’s go over the rest. All of you need to avoid being spotted by either Ranma or Shampoo at all costs. To that end, I want each of you to make sure to change out of your uniforms before you leave the school grounds. Also, if any of you end up coming across each other when chasing them, make sure to use your heads and split up appropriately. Finally, once you spot them together, you need to get close enough to overhear what’s happening without being conspicuous. Once you’ve heard everything, I want you to report back to me immediately. Any questions?”
All of the girls shook their heads. “Good. I know you girls will succeed. And remember, if any of you gets the information I need, there will be a bonus for all three of you.” The girls all beamed at their bosses praise and the promise of additional money. Nabiki gave them a smile. “Okay then, off to class with you.”
As the girls each headed towards their classrooms, Nabiki finally let out the sigh she’d been holding in. ‘I wish I didn’t have to go through all this,’ she thought indignantly. ‘But I know that idiot Ranma isn’t being entirely honest, and I hate not knowing what’s happening.’
Nabiki shook her head and made her way toward class. Along the way, she thought of ways to fleece Kuno out of his money in an effort to cheer herself up.
Ranma sat in class, watching the hands on the clock move ever so slowly. Occasionally he’d look over to Ukyo’s empty desk and feel a pang of guilt go through him. ‘I hope she’s alright. I should probably talk to her, but I never know what to say. Maybe I can ask Kasumi for help, she always knows the right thing to say.’
Thinking about Kasumi made Ranma wonder what was going to happen when she found out what he’d done with Ukyo, and what he was about to do with Shampoo. ‘I hope she won’t be mad at me,’ he thought remorsefully. ‘But I did promise her I’d take care of these other girls, and she didn’t say nothin’, so I doubt it’ll be a big deal.’
Seeing that there was only one minute left until the bell was going to ring, Ranma immediately put his books into his bags, careful not to have the tanto in there spear one of them in the process. Then he glanced at the windows to make sure that they were open.
The moment the bell rang, Ranma scrambled out of his seat and ran towards one of the windows. He heard the instructor giving some last minute instructions regarding homework, but he simply ignored it. Placing one hand on the sill, Ranma leapt out the window and took off in the direction of the Cat Café.
‘Gotta get this over with,’ he thought angrily, as he put on as much speed as he had.
Shampoo glanced at the clock that hung in the kitchen of the Cat Cafés’ kitchen. It was nearly time for Ranma to get out of school, and she really wanted to meet him along the way. She glanced over at Mousse, who was still cleaning up the dishes from the lunch crowd. Then Shampoo turned towards her grandmother who was beginning to make preparations for the dinner rush.
Cologne must have felt Shampoo’s attention, because she turned to face her granddaughter. Shampoo, knowing that Mousse’s hearing was very sharp, decided to address her grandmother using the disjointed hand signal language of the Amazon’s.
[Grandmother, leave, go, airen?]
[Yes, granddaughter,] Cologne signed in return. [Want, me, handle, duck?]
Immediately following Shampoo’s nod, Cologne grabbed the cup of cold water she’d been drinking out of, and then proceed to splash the visually challenged boy. The moment his cursed was triggered, Cologne reached up with superhuman speed and grabbed the duck by the throat. Never breaking stride, she threw Mousse into the cage they kept for him and locked it tight.
Both Cologne and Shampoo ignored the incensed quacking, and turned to face each other.
“Thank you grandmother,” Shampoo said happily. “I go find airen now.” Shampoo stripped off the apron she’d been wearing and started to make her way towards the door.
“Shampoo,” Cologne called out. Once she’d turned around, the old woman continued. “If son-in-law rebuffs your advances again, and it doesn’t look like he’ll change his mind, please head back here quickly. It’ll probably be a busy night.”
| “No worry grandmother,” Shampoo giggled. “Since kitchen wrecker no longer obstacle, Shampoo only have spatula girl and crazy girl to compete. Ranma be mine for sure.” Her grandmother didn’t look too convinced, but nodded nonetheless. Shampoo left the restaurant, got on her bike, and peddled towards Furinkan High. As she rode, she thought about all the ways she’d like to prove her love to Ranma. Whereas the thoughts would’ve make most girls her age blush, they merely elicited a huge grin from Shampoo. She rode for several minutes, repeatedly coming up with more intimate scenarios. When she was about halfway towards the school, she saw Ranma running towards her. ‘He’s running towards the restaurant,’ Shampoo thought, her heart swelling. ‘He must be in a hurry to come see me for a date.’ |
 |
“Nihao airen,” she cooed. “You running to see Shampoo?”
“Actually,” Ranma replied seriously, “I was.”
Tightening her grip around him to the point that she could’ve crushed the base of a tree, Shampoo beamed with pride. “We go on date now?” she asked. Then her voice became very seductive. “And maybe go to Shampoo’s room afterwards.”
She was so caught up in her fantasy, she didn’t register that Ranma was forcibly removing himself from her grip until he was out. Shampoo then noticed that he hadn’t been too gentle in the process. Her arms hurt where he’d grabbed her and she figured she’d end up with bruises later.
“What wrong airen?” she asked in a hurt tone.
“When are you ever going to listen to me?” Ranma asked angrily. “I don’t wanna date you. And I sure as hell don’t wanna marry you. Why won’t you just leave me alone!?”
‘Why is he so angry?’ Shampoo wondered. ‘Does he want some other girl instead? Is it the spatula girl? It can’t be the crazy one. Maybe it’s someone else.’ She let out a little growl.
“Some other girl come between Shampoo and airen?” she asked. “No worry airen, Shampoo deal with obstacle and we be together forever.”
The last thing Shampoo expected was to see Ranma get even more angry, but that’s exactly what happened. She looked into his eyes, and for the first time in her life, she felt something akin to true fear. Shampoo was a true Amazon though, she held her ground.
“Dammit!” Ranma roared. “Why in the hell won’t you listen to me? It ain’t got nothin’ to do with someone else. I just don’t want you.”
Shampoo’s pride was starting to become injured, along with her feelings. She struck a seductive pose. “Doesn’t airen think Shampoo sexy?”
“You know what Shampoo,” Ranma said, some of the anger draining. “You are sexy. But-” He didn’t get the chance to finish as Shampoo once again grabbed onto him.
“Oh, I knew airen think so,” Shampoo said, before finding herself being forcibly removed again.
“Will ya let me finish?” Ranma growled once he was free. “You may be sexy, but I sure as hell don’t like what’s on the inside!”
“What airen mean?” Shampoo asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“What I mean is that you’re cruel, inconsiderate, and manipulative. Don’t you get it?”
Small tears began to escape from Shampoo. “Don’t airen know what happen to Shampoo if he no come home with her? Shampoo be shunned. Ranma must come to China and give Shampoo strong daughters.” By this point, she was practically pleading.
“Will you listen to yourself!? You don’t give a damn about what I want. You’re too selfish to even care. You want me to become your damn breeding stud just because I kicked your ass. Well, I won’t do that with someone I don’t love. And I will never love you! Can’t you understand that? Hell, I barely even like you. And I’m liking you less and less as time goes on!”
Each word felt like a physical blow to Shampoo. ‘He can’t really mean that,’ she thought, as she felt her world collapse in on her. Then it got worse.
“Let me make myself clear,” Ranma said coldly. “I will never marry you, and I will never go to China with you. If you and the old ghoul somehow manage to drug me and take me there, I will escape. And I won’t be too gentle in the process. And if somehow I couldn’t escape...” He trailed off a few moments before continuing in a softer voice. “Let’s just say I’d rather die than be stuck in China with you.”
Shampoo couldn’t believe what he was saying. Wouldn’t believe it. ‘This has to be some kind of trick,’ she thought. ‘Somebody drugged him or something.’ Looking into his eyes though, she didn’t see any of the telltale signs that would normally accompany such an action. She just saw that same anger there.
“Shampoo no believe you,” she said, trying to sound more convincing than she felt. “Airen will come around and love Shampoo. Only matter of time.” She turned around and picked up her bike off the sidewalk. Just as she was about to get on it, Ranma grabbed her shoulder and swung her around.
“Why can’t you just listen!?” Ranma yelled into her face, before claming down somewhat. “Fine. Then I challenge you Shampoo.”
“W-what?” she stuttered.
“I challenge you to a fight. If I win, you promise to stop trying to marry me and leave both my family and the Tendo’s alone.”
‘I’ll never be able to beat him in a fight,’ Shampoo thought. She wasn’t sure whether or not to be ashamed of that, or glad that her airen was so strong. ‘Though he won’t be my airen if I lose in a fight to him.’
“No,” Shampoo said calmly. “Shampoo no fight airen.”
Ranma got an incredulous look on his face. “What!? You’re refusing to accept a challenge?”
“That’s right,” Shampoo said with a nod. “Amazon law say we already married, so Shampoo no need to fight.” It was clear to Shampoo that he hadn’t expected her to refuse, especially when he just stood there looking dumbfounded. She began to turn around again, when the next word out of Ranma’s mouth stopped her cold.
“Coward.”
Once again, Shampoo turned to face Ranma. This time however, her eyes were narrowed and she had a dangerous expression on her face. “What airen say?”
“I said you’re a coward,” Ranma replied casually. Then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I guess that would make you honor-less too, refusing a challenge like that.”
Shampoo felt the heat in her rising to dangerous levels. The only time she could remember ever being more upset at Ranma was when his female form had beaten her in combat. This was the man she loved, the man whose children she wanted to bear, but he’d just crossed a line. A very important one. However, it appeared that he wasn’t finished.
“Say Shampoo,” he said, beginning to raise his voice so that people passing by could hear. “I’m curious. Are all Amazon’s honor-less cowards? Or is it just you? Well, there was Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung. They seemed pretty cowardly too. Maybe it just runs in your family.”
That was the final straw for Shampoo. Without realizing what she doing, she suddenly took a swing at Ranma. He must’ve been expecting it though, because he dodged easily and jumped back. Shampoo began to advance on him in a crouched position, poised to attack.
“Does that mean you accept my challenge?” Ranma asked calmly, stopping her in her tracks.
‘I can’t beat him,’ she thought angrily. ‘But he can’t be allowed to get away with this.’ She thought over the situation as quickly as possible, before coming to a conclusion. She stood up straight and addressed him.
“Shampoo agree on three conditions,” she said. When Ranma nodded, she continued.
“First, airen must fight in girl form, no allowed to turn into male during fight. Second, fight must happen one month from now, so we both have time to train.”
Ranma seemed to be considering it over, and she couldn’t tell which way he was leaning. ‘I can’t beat his male form for sure, and I need that time to train with Grandmother if I’m to have any chance.’ She decided to prod him along.
“Challenger allowed to make requests,” she said seriously. “If airen no agree, then maybe he the coward.”
Apparently she’d struck the right chord, because a moment later he growled, “Fine!”
Nodding with satisfaction, Shampoo continued. “And third, if Shampoo wins, Ranma must agree to marry Shampoo immediately after fight and come home to China and be dutiful husband.”
She watched with a smirk as Ranma blanched at the idea. “Ranma ask Shampoo to give up airen, only fair that airen do what Shampoo asks.”
After nearly a minute of thinking it over, Ranma finally agreed. The two came up with a meeting place and time for the fight, and then both went their separate ways.
Unseen by either Ranma or Shampoo, Yurina, one of Nabiki’s subordinates, had been inside an alleyway right near where the two had spoken. She’d managed to catch every word. She took a moment to organize all the thoughts in her head, and then dug change out of her pocket as she made her way towards the payphone.
Yurina was giddy with excitement. Not only had she gotten the information that Nabiki wanted, it was particularly juicy information too. She knew Nabiki was going to love it.
She made it to the payphone, and in her excitement managed to drop several coins as she tried to put them in the machine. Finally, she got them all in and dialed the number.
 |
As Ranma left Shampoo and made his way towards the dojo, he couldn’t help but be concerned. ‘Well, I got the challenge I wanted. But who knows what the old ghoul will manage to pull out in a months time. I wish Shampoo woulda just accepted on the spot like I wanted. Ah well, nothin’ I can do about it now.’ As he walked, Ranma considered his next move. ‘I still have Kodachi to deal with tomorrow, but I’m not worried about that one. That one month condition with Shampoo though is makin’ me nervous though. Sure I can beat her now, but if she trains for a solid month, who knows what’ll happen. I don’t even know half the tricks the ghoul might teach her.’ The only course of action that made sense to Ranma now was to train hard himself over the next month. ‘In my girl body though,’ he thought. ‘I may lose some strength, but I’ll be a lot faster than Shampoo. Assuming the old ghoul doesn’t do something...’ The fact that he kept coming back to that thought made Ranma nervous. He thought he knew what Cologne was capable of, but with the stakes at the level they were at, he had no idea what she might try to pull. As he considered his upcoming month of training, it somehow seemed inadequate when faced with what she might do. ‘If only I didn’t hafta worry about school. It takes so much time outta my day.’ “Hmm,” Ranma said aloud, as an idea began to form in the back of his mind. |
Within moments of entering the house and taking her shoes off, Nabiki heard the phone ring. Hoping it was one of her girls, she nearly tripped in an effort to reach it.
“Hello, Tendo residence,” she said in her business voice.
“Boss, it’s Yurina,” she heard through the receiver.
“I hope you have good news for me.” Her smile widened when Yurina said she did. It continued to widen as Yurina relayed everything that had happened. However, as Yurina started to get to the conditions of the fight, Nabiki started to feel shock and surprise settle in. She asked the girl to repeat several points to make sure she’d heard correctly. Once she was satisfied, she congratulated her subordinate.
“Excellent work Yurina,” she said in a softer tone. “You’ve done very well.” Nabiki could practically feel the girl beaming through the phone.
“I want you to find the other girls to let them know that the mission is complete and that you can all go home. Please be sure to thank them for me, and tell them that all three of you can expect your bonus tomorrow.”
Once she’d hung up the phone, Nabiki considered what to do next with the information. She wasn’t going to charge Ranma to keep it a secret, since it might have an impact on Kasumi. ‘Plus, he doesn’t have enough money anyhow,’ she thought with a snort.
Before she could come up with any other ideas though, she heard someone coming down the stairs. She turned to see Kasumi making her way down.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Nabiki asked in a concerned tone.
Kasumi flashed her a smile. “Well, Dr. Tofu said I could get up in the early evening if I felt up to it, and I feel fine. So I decided to get up to start working on dinner.”
“You should still be taking it easy though,” Nabiki said.
“Don’t be such a worrywart,” Kasumi laughed. “Ranma’s been taking such good care of me when he’s here that I feel one hundred percent better.” She got a wistful expression on her face as she made her way towards the kitchen.
‘Oh boy!’ Nabiki thought without trying to giggle. ‘She’s starting to get it bad.’ She was still worried about how Akane was feeling, but she couldn’t deny that Kasumi seemed happy when she spoke of Ranma. Plus, there had been something else, something she couldn’t quite place her finger on. Finally, after standing there for a few minutes, Nabiki got it.
‘Her eyes,’ she thought, her own eyes going wide as she made the connection. ‘I haven’t seen them filled with so much life and expression since... since...’ Nabiki gulped as the final piece fell into place.
‘Since before mother died.’
Thank you for taking the time to read Aijou & Aitou. I hope you have enjoyed yourself. I would love to hear all feedback, positive or negative (as long as it’s constructive). Please take the time to leave a review on fanfiction.net or send me an email letting me know your opinion. Thanks.
