The day was turning out exactly as Shampoo hoped it would; a bright, sunny day, certainly no hint of any chance of rain. That was good. She planned to make a few deliveries on her brand-new ten-speed bicycle, and what fun would it be if she were turned into a cat while making those deliveries? Great-great grandma Cologne would understand, however. There was no way for Shampoo to run errands without the risk of getting wet. Cologne supposedly knew of various techniques and remedies that could counteract Shampoo's Jhusenkyou curse, but most of them were only temporary or would leave her in an unacceptable weakened state. Besides, great-great grandmother insisted that until such time as Shampoo found the way to permanently reverse her curse, Shampoo view the curse as a challenge to be dealt with. Like Ranma... One of Cologne's special techniques was to play a crucial role in her scheme to bring Shampoo and Ayumi together. Especially if the boy behaved with the same macho pride and ego she had come to expect from him. Shampoo pedaled on, humming an unfamiliar tune she'd heard on the radio earlier that morning. The small chime attached to her handlebars actually added to the melody. She recalled Cologne's words from the night before. "I have set the plan in motion, Shampoo. Within no time at all the two of you will be married." A broad smile brightened Shampoo's face. Destiny's Wish Part Twenty-Three: What Hot Water Can't Cure written by Mike Koos ---------------------------- The soccer ball broke away from the crowd of soccer players, and bounced high into the air over the field. Ayumi leapt after the ball. The opposing team had made an effort to keep the ball away from him - otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a game, would it? Fortunately, the girls' half of the class were usually given a different activity during P.E. class, or else they might have had to contend with Ranma as well. Even with two highly-skilled martial artists in attendance, though, P.E. class was always one of the precious few welcome breaks in the school day at Fuurinkan High. But there was nothing to stop Ayumi from kicking the ball now. Once he did, stopping the ball would be difficult... he'd unintentionally sent a few people to the nurse's office the last time anyone had tried. And the P.E. teachers - they'd dismissed the whole thing as a case of overzealous competitive spirit. Just as Ayumi was closing on the wayward soccer ball, he heard the distinct chime of a bicycle's bell come from overhead. Overhead!? He cautiously looked up. Above them all, over the soccer field, Shampoo was descending on a bicycle. "Niihao, Ayumi!" she waved. Ranma caught sight of the scene as she waited on her track mark for her partner to pass the baton to her. Like Ayumi, many of her classmates wanted her to be their partner or a member of their team, though Ranma was readily more modest about her skills than Ayumi. Ayumi kept running, and after Shampoo touched down, she pedaled after him. "You know, if we hurry, we can be married by sunset..." He didn't slow down. "I already told both of you, NO!" If he could just make it to the school hallways, Shampoo would have a difficult time following him. "No one decides my future. Not while I'm still alive!" All of a sudden Cologne was next to him, matching his pace by shuffling along on the top of her staff. "Ah, but your future has already been decided!!" "Great-great grandmother!" Shampoo continued to smile, Cologne's appearance not surprising her in the least. Ayumi found himself on the receiving end of what he took to be a hand-driven steamroller - a cement roller with a steel crossbar attached to it. He caught the large roller on one foot while a laughing Cologne retreated into the distance. "Farewell for now, son-in-law!" Not quite too happy about having large, heavy objects pitched at him, Ayumi sent the roller after Cologne by place-kicking it. "I never wanna see you again, you evil old witch!!" he yelled. It wasn't difficult for Cologne to avoid the heavy equipment; it descended sooner than she did. Neither she nor anyone else on the field had expected another person to vault directly into the path of the roller, however. The boy's long mane of black hair was the only thing flowing freely in the wind, aside from the sash of his long Chinese robes, as he kept the rest of his body curled inward for momentum. "Hey!" someone on the field called out to him. "Look out!" But the warning wasn't all that necessary. The boy threw his arms out to each side, slicing the cement roller in half... seconds before he impacted against it. Ranma, Ayumi and Shampoo, along with the rest of homeroom 1-F, watched the hapless newcomer plummet back to earth. At the last moment the boy straightened, landing on his feet, only to have the two halves of the roller land squarely on his head. He collapsed in a pile underneath them. The boy dragged himself out once the dust had settled. "Shampoo..." he said in a dry voice. "Wow, he survived that?" Daisuke remarked. "Must have a thick head." The next thing Ayumi knew, the strange boy was hugging him. "Shampoo! I've found you at long last!" Ayumi planted a foot in the boy's face and used it to push him away. "Do I *LOOK* like Shampoo to you!?" The boy put on a pair of bottle-top glasses and peered through them at Ayumi. He sent Ayumi flying with a right cross. "Who do you think you are, pretending to be my Shampoo?" With Ayumi out of the way the boy drew a confused Ranma into his embrace. "Shampoo..." This time both Ranma and Ayumi pounded him into the ground - Ranma using her mallet and Ayumi stomping on his head to make sure. "She's not Shampoo, either!" Ranma shouldered her mallet. "What d'you think you're doing, you weirdo!?" Once the boy had climbed to his feet and resettled his glasses, he introduced himself. "I am Mousse, Shampoo's husband-to-be." "You are *not* my husband-to-be," scowled Shampoo. "Just because we have known each other since we were children you think you can claim me? I don't think so." Cologne suddenly reappeared to confirm what Shampoo had said. "You are far too late, Mousse. Shampoo is already spoken for," she told him, pointing a withered finger at Ayumi. "She is *not*," Ayumi force his voice to remain calm... even though Shampoo was now attached to his right arm, and Ranma was one step away from switching her glare from Cologne to *him*, at his other side. Awful quick to get mad at him for just about anything, wasn't she? But then, that was normal behavior for Ranma. Mousse grew incredulous. "What are you talking about? By the laws, she is bound to marry me, and no one else!" Cologne narrowed her eyes. "The laws you speak of cannot be any of the ones we hold valid. Unless, of course, you misread them. *Again*. It has been decided by the *real* laws that Shampoo will marry this boy - as you put it, 'no one else.'" "I never agreed to that decision, thank you very much!" Ayumi said through clenched teeth. It was Soun's turn to make an unscheduled appearance. "I TOLD YOU, AYUMI IS ENGAGED TO RANMA!!" he yelled his reminder through a megaphone from behind Cologne. A visibly annoyed Ranma snatched the megaphone away from him and placed it to her mouth. "Geez... you think you could say that a little LOUDER, Uncle!?" she yelled at him. "So..." Mousse pointed an accusing finger at Ayumi, "being engaged to one girl is not enough for you..." "*What*!?" "You are a blight on women everywhere!" declared the boy from China as he directed a foot upward at Ayumi's head. Ayumi bounced over the kick. "Will you shut up and listen? I said--" His opponent brought his hands up and around in a blur, tagging Ayumi's chin in the process. "Hakuchou-ken!" Hiroshi and several other people in the crowd were shocked. "He hit Ayumi!" "...Hakuchou-ken...?" Ranma muttered, her mind slipping into analysis mode. 'Hakuchou-ken' literally meant 'swan fist.' A special fighting technique, then. At least one good enough to catch Ayumi by surprise. It was a good idea to study it in case she wound up having to fight this 'Mousse' herself or help Ayumi figure out what he'd done wrong. Or maybe it was a technique worthy enough of appropriating for the Saotome Class of martial arts. Heck, even using her mallet was legal, though her father frowned on its use... especially since he or Ayumi were the ones she used the mallet on. "I didn't even see the guy's hands hit him!" someone exclaimed.