Chapter Eight: Dillema of the Golden Edge - Part Two


	The car door shut quietly, and the footsteps moved even quieter. 
If it had not been for the noise the child was making, they would have 
caught everyone off guard. Especially Mousse. Although, Mousse was the 
only one to notice before they walked into the home.
	"Hello?", Akane yelled as she walked into the door. 
Instinctively, Ranma's eyes shot up.
	Ryouga followed behind her silently, and cautiously. He had 
agreed to come along to see Mousse the previous night, but he knew 
deeper down it was really Ranma he had wanted to see. To speak to.
	"Ahh, Akane!", Nodoka greeted. "Welcome to the party!"
	*Party?*, Akane thought as she walked into the tea room. Her jaw 
dropped. There were several people, nearly all of them had surprised 
her.
	Some, however, she had expected. Her father, obviously. Nabiki 
and Kinami were more than likely to be there. Mousse's friend from the 
night before, and of course, Mousse. Seeing Mr. & Mrs. Saotome in the 
tea room with their daughter in the corner was surprising enough as it 
was.
	But the deciding factor was sitting opposite Nabiki, next to Mrs. 
Saotome.
	"U... Ukyou?", Akane asked, eyes shot wide open.
	"Uhh.. Hi there, Akane...", she replied meekly.
	A million thoughts ran through her mind. Several different 
outcomes played themselves through. Maybe it was the shock of seeing 
both Mousse and Ukyou back in Nerima. The former alive, and the 
latter.. well.. back... Maybe it was the fact that she had run out on 
Ranma and herself six years earlier, and that she partially blamed 
Ukyou for Ranma's death, that had she been there, he might not have 
died. But whatever it was that led her to slap Ukyou accross the face, 
succeeded.
	Ukyou was not expecting it. Akane just walked up to her, face 
expressionless, and let her palm fly into the side of Ukyou's face. 
With a surprising crack, Ukyou feel back from her kneeling position and 
onto the floor.
	"What--!?", Ukyou asked. But stopped as she saw Akane letting the 
tears flow freely.
	"Akane, dear?", Nodoka asked, mouth agape, "What's the matter?"
	"How... Dare you?", she asked under her breath.
	"What?", Ukyou replied.
	"How dare you come back after all this time?! Where were you when 
Ranma took off to China and die?"
	"I... Akane, I didn't know!", she defended.
	"Oh, how convienient!"
	Everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing, and stared 
at the two of them, shocked.
	"Akane, she didn't--", Ryouga tried to interupt.
	"It doesn't matter!", she replied. "It's too late now, anyways!"
	Mousse walked over to Ukyou and helped her up. "Are you okay?", 
he asked.
	Ukyou nodded. "I'd... I'd better go...", she said, running off 
towards the door.
	At this point, Ranma just didn't care anymore. "No.", he said, 
blocking the entrance. The truth is, nobody, not even Ukyou noticed his 
movement by the time he had arrived at the door.
	"Move.", she said, trying her best to remain expressionless.
	"Ukyou, sit down. He replied."
	Nodoka gasped. She was going to gasp after he had spoken the 
first time, but wasn't quite sure she had heard the voice.
	"Ranma, I'm going to go. I'm obviously not welcome here."
	Genma promptly fainted while Akane stared into space for a 
moment. Her face betraying her emotions. She was too shocked for words.
	"No.", Nodoka said. "It can't be."
	"_MOVE_, Ranma."
	"Ukyou, sit down. NOW."
	Ukyou chose that moment to try and pry him out of her way, there 
was no success, as she collapsed to the ground and began to cry.
	"I thought... Hiruken... He... Sounds like Ranma!", Nodoka 
muttered to herself. She looked towards Genma's unconscious form laying 
on the ground near the Shogi board, next to a catatonic Soun.
	"Well, so much for that!", Kinami blurted.
	"What's going on here?", Nodoka asked.
	Ryouga walked over to the person standing in front of the tea 
room entrance. "R.. Ranma?"
	Ranma did the only thing he could do. He nodded.

	Soun was the first to come out of his catatonic trance. Akane 
still stood silently, not showing any form of emotion. A few minutes 
later, Genma awoke from his involuntary slumber.
	"I suppose I'd better explain.", Ranma said as he sat down at the 
table.
	"A few of you already knew who I was, even before this little.. 
Problem. Either by accident, or my revealing myself."
	Ukyou sniffled a bit at his words.
	"That fact is, whether or not you believe it, I am Ranma Saotome. 
Or at least, I used to be."
	"No.", Nodoka placed her face into her hands. "It can't be. _YOU_ 
can't be..."
	"Please, listen to me."
	Genma decided to choose this moment to speak. "I don't know who 
you are. Who you think you are, but I'm giving you ten seconds to get 
the hell out of my sight.", he said clenching his fists.
	"Pop, I--"
	"_DON'T YOU DARE_, call me that. I am not your father, you are 
not my son. My son is dead."
	"Honey, please--", Nodoka pleaded with her husband.
	"No!", Genma looked at his wife, with a betrayed look on his 
face, "You actually believe this nonsense?"
	"He deserves to be heard out. Even if he isn't who he says he 
is."
	"He is who he says he is.", Soun interupted. "He's proven that 
already."
	"Don't tell me he's got you believing this nonsense!", Genma 
replied.
	"It's not nonsense.", Mousse continued. "It is Ranma."
	Nabiki could only nod.
	Genma shook his head. "I don't believe this. Don't you see? Ranma 
is _GONE_. He's dead, nothing we do can change that!"
	"You're right.", Ranma interupted.
	"See, he admits it. Now who are you?"
	"Ranma Saotome."
	Genma clenched his fists again, growling, he continued. "And now 
you can't even make up your own goddamned mind on who you are!"
	"Shut up, pop. Just sit down and shut up."
	"Who are you to talk to me like that?!"
	Ranma pounding his fist on the table and stood up. Ripping his 
cowl off, to reveal his form to the people in the room. "Look, I've had 
a really bad experience. Ever since I came back yesterday morning! And 
ever since then it's been nothing but a roller coaster. Protecting 
friends from friends, fighting demons from hell, becoming a goddamned 
cat! And now to top it all off, my own _FATHER_ is too blind to see 
whats in front of him."
	Genma couldn't speak. He could only stare at the grotesque form 
standing in front of him. Akane was the first to break the silence.
	"You're alive.", she said, tears streaming out of her eyes.
	Ranma turned towards her. "Akane, I--"
	"SHUT UP!", she replied, "You're alive. You've been alive all 
this time, and _NOW_ you decide to come back and tell us?! I don't care 
that your face is like that. I don't care now, and I wouldn't have 
cared then. Only if you had come back. Ranma, don't you get it? I loved 
you. I _LOVED_ you goddamn it! I still do, I never got over your.. 
Death", she scoffed. "But now you're back. And what do you expect us to 
do? Jump for joy? It's not as easy as that. Most of us have accepted 
the fact that you were dead. Look at your parents," she pointed at 
them, and Ranko, who was in the corner, standing next to little Ranma, 
frightened at what was happening. "They've accepted your death, and 
moved on. It took them a while, but they moved on. Look at Ryouga and 
I. We accepted it, and also moved on with our lives. I swear, it was a 
mistake to name our son the way we did, if we had known you were still 
alive."
	"That's just it! I _WASN'T_ alive!", he shouted. "Look at me 
Akane, look at me. Do you think I could have survived this long with a 
face like this, with a body like this? Hell. I don't even feel pain! I 
was shot several times last night, but look at me. No blood. Hell, I 
don't even _HAVE_ blood. Do you think I've been alive for the past five 
years? Hell, I only came back yesterday. Whether it was the fates that 
brought Mousse and Ukyou here at that time, or it was pure coincidence, 
it happened.", he collapsed, "Damn it Akane, now you know why I didn't 
want anyone else to know."
	Akane was speechless, as was everyone else after hearing the 
confession. Genma decided to break the silence.
	"I'm still not convinced.", he said, "For all I know you're just 
a doppleganger. And a very unconvincing one at that."
	"Fine.", Ranma said, getting up to walk to the door, "Believe 
whatever the hell you want."
	"Ranma, wait.", Nodoka yelled as she ran up beside him.
	"What?", he said, without looking back.
	"For almost a year, my own son was hidden from me in plain sight. 
I promised to myself that nothing like that would ever happen to me 
again. I knew it was you from the moment I heard you speak, Ranma.", 
she looked into his eyes as he turned back.
	"Your eyes may hide you, but I know my son. I know."
	"Mom, I... I'm not the same.", he said.
	"You were always my son. You always will be. I love you, son.", 
she said as she embraced him in a powerful hug. Genma stood up and 
adjusted his glasses.
	"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, for now.", he said, "But 
the minute you slip up, I'll be all over you."
	"Then I suppose he'd better not slip up.", a voice said from the 
doorway, surprising everyone.
	"Don't you ever annouce yourself?", Ranma asked the old man.
	"I like it better this way.", Cogliostro shrugged.
	"Who are you?", Genma asked.
	"Need I introduce myself again? Just call me a friend.", he 
replied.
	"What do you need, old man?"
	"I was fortunate enough to have witnessed the fight with Violator 
last night. A very interesting technique, Saotome. Cat-fist I believe."
	"What?", Genma asked. Vaguely recollecting the call the previous 
night. He mentally smacked himself over the head.
	"Interesting is not the word for it. I'd rather not have the 
technique, thank you very much.", he said, glaring at his father.
	"I'm familiar with the methods used in training for the Cat-fist. 
It must have taken a very disturbed individual, to have even considered 
training you in such a technique."
	Genma suddenly leapt to his defense. "I'm not disturbed! I just.. 
forgot to read the next page..."
	Nodoka had heard all of this before, but was still confused as to 
something. "Who are you to Ranma?", she asked.
	"I am... One of his kind..."
	"One of his kind? Whatever do you mean?"
	"Lets just call me his advisor."
	Ranma nodded, "He told me about Violator before he showed up last 
night."
	"Indeed I have. Most usually are defeated by him on they're first 
challenge. Ranma is one of the few I've seen who have bested him."
	"I've fought demons before."
	"Indeed. The incident in which the demon of mischief was released 
from his prison, and inhabited a young lady named Kasumi I believe."
	"How did you..?", Ranma asked.
	"I have more sources than you could have imagined, Saotome. The 
priest was simply one of them."
	"The priest? Bazu?"
	Cogliostro nodded.
	"Ranma, my time here is short, there are other matters I must 
attend to quickly. It seems there has been a mistake. You may not see 
me for a short while after this, but I've come to warn you of 
something."
	"Whats that?"
	"Do not take lives, by any means. Do not participate in the 
taking of a life, even if the life you are taking is the same person 
that took your life away from you. It is imperitive that you follow 
these rules."
	"Why? I was already sent to hell, what does it matter anymore?"
	Cogliostro eyed him carefully. "Hell is more than just a place 
you go to die, Saotome. Heaven is more sinister than you could imagine 
as well.", he said as he left through the gates.
	"Who was that?", Genma asked.
	"Cog.", Ranma replied.
	"Count Nicholas De Cogliostro..", Mousse corrected.
	Nabiki thought for a moment. Spying the time, and seeing it was 
now past noon, she decided it would be better to catch up at a later 
time, lest she go out of business. She was low enough on money as it 
was.
	"Kinami, we'd better head back to the restaurant. Ukyou? You 
coming?"
	Ukyou reluctantly nodded, not making eye contact at all, she 
moved along to tag behind the two of them.
	"Bye guys...", Kinami waved, somehow losing her enthusiastic 
state of mind.
	"Ryouga?", Ranma asked.
	Ryouga had been waiting since he heard about Ranma's presence the 
day earlier to get a chance to speak with him, but somehow, now didn't 
seem the right time. The children had since left to play in an upstairs 
room, and he was sitting at the tea room table with the rest of the 
adults.
	"Yes?"
	"I'm not angry. I don't blame you in away way."
	Ryouga felt a weight lift off of his chest as Ranma recited the 
words. Whether he truly meant it or not, he didn't know.
	"Thank you.", he replied.
	"Mother?", he asked.
	"Ranma?", she replied, worriedly.
	"I've missed alot over the past five years. Everything here is 
new to me. Akane and Ryouga, Ranko.", he laughed, "Little Ranma."
	"I know, dear."
	"I don't expect Pop to believe I am who I say I am, but I do have 
this to ask of you.", Ranma said, recieving a frown from Genma as he 
realized they were talking like he wasn't even there.
	"What's that dear?"
	"Can I borrow him?"
	Genma's mouth dropped open. "What do you mean?", he asked.
	"Well, most of us are going to San Fransisco. We've found out 
Kenoru was there, nothing more."
	"You would like your fathers help in bringing him to justice?"
	"No prison could hold a man with that kind of power.", Genma 
replied.
	"No.", he agreed. "But Cog is right. We can't kill him. We can 
only fight him. Lets just hope everything turns out alright."
	"Yes.", Nodoka agreed. "Your father may accompany you."
	"Hey, you can't leave me out of this!", Ryouga yelled out.
	"I didn't expect you to, Ryouga, but its up to Akane."
	"What?", Akane asked.
	"I'm asking you if you would allow Ryouga to come along. Theres 
no guarantee that any of us will return alive, that why I'm asking your 
permission."
	Akane thought for a moment. The last time, someone she loved went 
to fight Kenoru, he wound up dead, even though he had brought along 
two, extraordinary martial artists. But this time, there would be more. 
Greater numbers. A look at Ryouga's face clenched it.
	"He can go.", she said. "But I'm coming along too."
	"No.", Ranma refused. "You've got a son to worry about. If Ryouga 
doesn't return, then you've got to raise him yourself. I was raised by 
my father. Trust me, a single parent is better than no parent at all."
	The guilt wracked her. She had actually been considering leaving 
her child behind and going off, to possibly die, or worse.
	"Akane, he's right.", Ryouga agreed. "You've got to stay here, 
you could get hurt, and then Ranma would have nobody."
	"But.."
	"No buts.", he said.
	The phone rang moments later. Soun rushed over to pick it up and 
answered.
	"Hello?"
	A pause.
	"Yes, of course. It's good to hear from you again."
	Another pause.
	Soun seemed to be counting up numbers in his head. "Besides you 
and I, Seven more."
	A final pause.
	Soun smiled, "Yes. I'll tell them. Goodbye."
	Soun hung up the phone. "That was Kuno. He has set up the 
transportation, we'll need to get out our passports."
	Ryouga smiled. He always had his passport with him, you never 
knew where he would end up.
	"When are we leaving?", Ranma asked.
	"Tomorrow afternoon.", he replied.

	"Do you think they're okay?", Ukyou asked, visibly worried.
	"They'll be fine. I.. I'm sorry about the way Akane acted when 
she saw you.", Nabiki replied.
	"It's alright. I deserved it. I shouldn't have run off like that 
in the first place."
	"What time is it?", Kinami asked the only member of the group 
that had a watch. Nabiki checked the time.
	"Twelve Thirty...", she replied.
	"Are we taking the scenic route?", Ukyou quipped. "Usually only 
takes a few minutes to get to the restaurant."
	Kinami looked down for a moment, thinking. "We'd better hurry. He 
might be there soon."
	"Kinami...", Nabiki warned.
	"I just want to be there when he gets there, Nabs."
	"Who?"
	"Gen--", Nabiki began.
	"My boyfriend.", Kinami quickly replied, shooting an icy stare an 
Nabiki.
	"Ooh, a boyfriend, eh? What's he like?", Ukyou asked, trying to 
get her mind off of what happened before.
	"Uhh, Ukyou?", Nabiki asked.
	"What?"
	Nabiki just shook her head.
	Kinami never answered, and began to walk a little faster.
	"Did I say something wrong?"

	It was nearly two o'clock when it was decided that they should 
part ways and get ready for the upcoming trip. Ryouga and Akane went 
home, while Genma and his family stayed at the Dojo.
	"So, it's really going to happen now, eh Ranma?"
	"Looks like it..", he replied, staring off into the afternoon 
sky.
	"Do you miss it?", he asked.
	"Miss what?"
	"Everything. Life, the way things used to be..?"
	"You mean with Ukyou and Shampoo glomping on me wherever I went?"
	Mousse laughed, "I can't believe I used to think that was your 
fault..."
	"It was in a way... I beat her..."
	"Yeah... Sometimes I try... Sometimes I try to think what might 
have happened if Kenoru had never come around into our lives."
	"I try not to think about that. If he never had come along, Akane 
would have definately died. Then I'd be even worse off."
	"Kenoru ruined the lives of too many people, Ranma."
	"I know. Its not fair. Even you. I remember when we were friends. 
You would _NOT_ stand for bullies. The minute you saw one, you'd go 
nuts.", he laughed. "Remember when Gosunkugi was surrounded by those 
guys at school, and you had met me an' Akane for lunch?"
	Mousse laughed. "We sure gave those guys a run for their money."
	Ranma smiled under his cowl. "Sure did, even old Gos was thankful 
after that..."
	"Which is out of character for him."
	"Of course."
	"But I do miss it.", he said.
	Mousse nodded.
	He laughed. "I could even live with my curse right now if I had 
to."
	"I've had to for seven years."
	"Isn't it funny, though?"
	"What?"
	"An assassin, who turns into a duck..."
	"Actually, being a duck has helped me pull off a few jobs I never 
would have been able to otherwise..."
	Ranma looked into the Koi pond for a moment.
	"I never lived without remorse, Ranma. Even moreso now, last 
night I had wanted to kill myself. I'm thinking of turning myself in 
after we've taken care of Kenoru."
	Ranma nodded. "It's your choice, Mousse. If you feel its the best 
thing to do, then..."
	"I do. Theres nothing more for me to do."
	"What about Kinami?"
	"Eh?"
	"Don't tell me you haven't noticed...?"
	"Oh _SHIT!_", he yelled.
	"What? What's wrong?"
	"I forgot!", he yelled, banging himself on the head.
	"What? Oh, you mean..?"
	"Her injury, it was caused by her boyfriend!"
	"On purpose?"
	"_YES_"
	"Shit, who is he?"
	"I dunno, some guy named Genken, that all I know. He's supposed 
to see her today sometime."
	"Should we go give him a talking to?"
	"You wanna come along?"
	"Of course, if theres anything I hate more than Cats, its guys 
who hit girls for fun."

	"Welcome to--", Kinami began, then stopped. The store had been 
empty except for her, while Nabiki and Ukyou negotiated upstairs. 
Seeing Genken walk in was a bit of a surprise, even if she was 
expecting him.
	"Amazing, you're actually here...", he muttered.
	"Genken, hi.. I uhh.. It's good to see you."
	Genken laughed. "Whatever.", he said, with a slight slur to his 
voice. He sat down as the bar.
	"Is there something I can get for you?", she asked.
	"Gimme some sake."
	"Genken, I think you're already--"
	"Just gimme some fucking sake, bitch."
	Not wanting to 'incur his wrath', she reached under the counter 
and gave him a bottle of sake.
	"350 yen", she said, not making eye contact.
	Genken laughed. "Put it on my tab.", then smirked at her.
	"How come you never put out?", he asked.
	"What?"
	"You heard me. How come you never put out? We've been going out.. 
what.. two months now? Ain't it time to give me some sugar?"
	"Genken, you're drunk, I think you should--", she was cut off by 
a loud cracking noise on her cheek. She cried out loud enough for 
someone to hear.
	"Don't you fucking talk back to me!", he said.
	It wasn't long before two individual's came running down the 
stairs. "Genken!", Nabiki yelled, seeing Kinami on the floor, holding 
her face. "Get the hell out of my store!"
	"Maybe you want some instead, eh bitch?", he said, approaching 
her menacingly. "What about your friend there? We can make it a 
threesome."
	Visibly appalled, Ukyou stepped down in front of Nabiki, "What 
the hell do you want?", she asked.
	"Genken, leave them alone!", Kinami yelled from the floor.
	"Shut up! I'll get to you later!"
	Ukyou started with a backhand to the face, but somehow, luck 
smiled on Genken, and he managed to grab her arm and twist it behind 
her back.
	"I think you do want some of me, don't you, bitch?", he asked 
her. "How would you like it if I snapped that pretty liitle arm of 
yours right off? I can do it, you know. Make it so you'll be beggin me 
to leave you alone."
	"Get the hell off of me or you'll be sorry!", Ukyou warned him.
	"Ooh, what are you going to do, huh?"
	"Genken, get the hell off of her!", Kinami warned.
	Genken finally lost his temper. He released Ukyou and spun her 
towards the ground, manging somehow to knock her head on the edge of a 
chair and render her unconscious, when he turned to Kinami.
	"What the fuck? After all I've done for you, all I've _EVER_ done 
for you, this is how you repay me? I've had just about enough of you, 
bitch!", he raised his hand and readied it for a large slap across 
Kinami's face. It never connected. Just before Genken was about to 
strike, the door swung wide open.
	"Get the _HELL_ away from her!", Mousse yelled.
	Kinami's heart jumped, "Mousse, leave him alone, this is my 
problem!"
	Genken did a double-take. "Mousse? What the hell kinda name is 
that?"
	"Mousse, please. I can handle this.", Kinami pleaded. Nabiki had 
a very worried look on her face.
	Mousse looked down to the ground, spying Ukyou. This seemed to 
make him even madder. "If you touch her, I'll _KILL_ you.", he said.
	"Who the fuck are you, faggot?", he looked towards Kinami. "Is 
this the loser you've been seeing behind my back? Huh? Answer me, you 
_BITCH_!"
	"Genken, please. He's--"
	"Shutup! I don't want to hear anymore from you.", he pushed her 
back towards the grill and looked towards Mousse.
	"You, faggot, are going to die.", he pointed at him.
	"We'll just see about that."
	"STOP!", Kinami yelled. Both of them stopped in mid-attack and 
looked towards Kinami. The third party chose this moment to appear.
	"You need our help, Kinami?", Ranma asked.
	Kinami looked towards Ranma. "No. I can handle this.", she said 
as she took up a defensive stance only a few feet from Genken.
	"What the fuck is this? A male harem?", he looked towards the new 
figure standing behind Mousse. He stood a good head taller than him, 
but about ten times as menacing. He turned to face Kinami. "Oh, you 
think you can take me, bitch? I'll have you on the floor screaming for 
mercy in seconds!"
	"Shut up, Genken. I'm not going to take your shit anymore!"
	"You'll take whatever the fuck I have to dish out, bitch!"
	Mousse looked visibly worried. Apparently this man had managed to 
take out Ukyou, as she was lying on the floor unconscious. Even after 
Six years, she still had to be good enough to defeat him.
	"Come on bitch, lets go!", Genken said as he clenched his fist 
and ran at her, head on.
	Kinami easily sidestepped his punch and kicked him in the back, 
sending him sprawling into the floor.
	"Lucky shot.", he said as he wiped his mouth. "Won't happen 
again."
	"We'll see."
	Genken managed to wrap his arms around Kinami and send her to the 
floor, exactly the place she didn't want to be. Pushing her back 
against the floor, and manuevering her legs against Genken's stomach, 
she sent him flying over the grill and regained her balance all at 
once. On the other side of the grill, Genken stood up and looked 
manacingly at her.
	"You'll pay for that, bitch!"
	Mousse smiled. He had an eye for skill, and he could quite 
obviously see that Kinami was more skilled than Genken. The only 
problem was that every time Genken was hurt, Kinami's emotional state 
seemed to degrade.
	"AGHHH!", Genken ran at full speed towards Kinami, but istead of 
launching an attack, he pulled a jackknife out of his pocket and 
launched it at Kinami. It hit her in the upper arm as she screamed in 
shock.
	"See now, bitch? I told you."
	Kinami pulled the knife out of her arm and tossed it to her side. 
All emotion seemed to drain from her face as she looked at him. No look 
of betrayal or hurt. Only rage.
	"You are going to pay, you son of a bitch.", she said to him.
	"What did you call me? I'll make you eat those words, bitch!", he 
pulled another knife out of his pocket.
	Before he could even throw it, it was out of her hands. Kinami 
had covered the distance to him faster than anyone in the room had even 
thought possible. She kneed him in the stomach and tossed him across 
the room with her bare hands. She chased after him and began to kick 
him ferouciously. A moment later he was unconscious.

	The eyes of everyone in the restaurant were transfixed on Kinami. 
Nobody, even Ranma or Mousse could have guessed she had _THAT_ much 
skill. Nabiki had seen her spar with Ryouga at the dojo from time to 
time, but the amount of skill she had shown at that point simply 
astounding her. She was good enough to beat even Ryouga if she had 
wanted to.
	Kinami's face never molded itself out of the raged look. Mousse 
walked over to her after she had stopped her assault on the unconscious 
form of Genken, lying on the ground.
	"Are you okay?"
	She laughed. "Amazing."
	"What?"
	"I never thought about it that way before."
	"Whats that?"
	"I didn't mind him threatening me. But the minute he threatened 
my friends, everything just blew up. Then after he threw the knife, I 
lost it."
	"How did you..?"
	"I've never really been angry before. Not _THIS_ angry. Sure, 
I've had to defend myself against muggers and would-be rapists, but 
this was different.", she pointed at him. "I l--... No.. I _THOUGHT_ I 
loved him. Even if he was drunk, he's still an asshole."
	"Kinami, I--", Nabiki began.
	"I should have listened to you to begin with, Nabs. I'm sorry."
	"No, I am."
	"Theres no reason for you to be. This was going to happen 
eventually. At least I got to him before he killed me."
	A few feet away, Ukyou groaned and raised herself up. "What.. 
What happened?"
	"Genken did.", Mousse pointed at the floor.
	"When did you guys get here?"
	Ranma spoke up. "We decided it would be best if Kinami didn't 
have to face him alone."
	"Wait.", Kinami asked, "You knew?"
	"In a way... I knew something was wrong when I saw your shoulder 
this morning. I just didn't know what."
	"Then how did...", she looked towards Nabiki. "You?"
	"Not really. I just kinda guessed. From the look on Nabiki's 
face, I knew.", Mousse said. It wasn't really a lie, he remembered the 
look precisely.
	Kinami looked towards the ground again. Genken finally began to 
stir.
	"What the hell...", he said, groaning.
	"Get out Genken.", Kinami said.
	"What are you saying?"
	"I'm saying, get the hell out of here."
	"You can't tell me what to do, bitch!"
	"Don't try my patience Genken. I put up with enough of your shit 
for the past month! Now get the _HELL_ out of here before I kick your 
ass _AGAIN_."
	"Again? You just got fucking lucky--"
	Ranma put his hand on Genken shoulder. "I suggest you listen to 
her."
	Genken stopped. "Get your fucking hand off me before I make you 
bleed."
	"Fine.", Kinami said, taking another defensive stance, "You wanna 
fight again?"
	"No Kinami, conserve your strength. We'll all need it once we get 
to San Fransisco. You should get someone to look at your shoulder."
	"I can help there.", Mousse said, "I've learned a healing trick 
or two over the years."
	"What the fuck?", Genken protested. "Are you deaf, get your--", 
he grabbed Ranma's hadn and began to twist, "Goddamned hand _OFF_ of 
me!"
	Unfortunately, Ranma's hand did not twist. It did not budge. All 
Genken's actions hand succeeded in doing were making Ranma madder.
	Ranma picked Genken up with one hand and twisted him around to 
face him. He used his free hand to remove his cowl.
	"What that fuck!?", he cried out.
	"You can't hurt me, Genken. I'm already dead. Now, either you 
leave or I'll put you in a similiar situation."
	"You couldn't hurt me if you tried.", Genken taunted.
	Mousse shook his head. "Listen you stupid idiot! Can't you let 
your damned warped sense of pride go? I despise you enough as it is, 
don't make it worse by proving your stubborness too!"
	"I'll kick your ass too, faggot!", he replied.
	"ENOUGH!", Ranma yelled, picking Genken up into the air. He 
brought he other hand around, a grotesque claw of what it used to be, 
and charged a force of green Ki. Genken's eyes widened at the sight of 
it.
	"Don't make me use this.", he said, "It would be very 
unpleasant."
	Fear gripped Genken as he tried desperately to retain his pride, 
the warped sense that he had. Finally, he let himself go. He quickly 
reached into his pocket and pulled out the last remaining weapon he 
had. He plunged the knife deep into Ranma's heart. Genken was dropped 
to the floor immediately.
	"Yeah!", he yelled, psyched up and jumping around like a boxer, 
"Come on man, lets see how you take that!", he turned his back to Ranma 
for a split second. Which was a split second too long.
	The blow can fast and hard, knocking Genken into the wall and 
breaking three ribs. He tried to get up and breath in some air, he 
could only barely manage to do the latter.
	Ranma approached him quickly and pulled the knife out of his 
chest. The neon green fluid flowed freely.
	"You son of a bitch!", Ranma yelled, genuinely angry. Had he been 
more wary of Genken's sneakiness, he amy have been able to stop it, but 
as it were, he was bleeding. It would be a few more minutes until the 
wound would heal, but the fluid managed to stop flowing a second later.
	Genken could only gawk. He had been a bully during his teen 
years. And had taken pride in the knowledge that he had never lost a 
fight to anyone. But now he was in over his head. When the realization 
hit him, he just couldn't handle it.
	"Go. Now.", Ranma said.
	Genken looked up at him. He was absolutely sure that Ranma was 
going to kill him.
	"Before I change my mind. _GO_."
	Genken was out of the door and down the street faster than a 
bullet.

	"Are you alright?", Mousse asked Kinami after everyone had 
settled down.
	She nodded.
	"Do you mind if I ask you something?", Nabiki asked Kinami.
	"Whats that?"
	"How did you _DO_ that?"
	"Huh?"
	"I've never seen you fight like that. Even with Ryouga. You had 
enough skill at that moment to match, or even _BEAT_ him!"
	"Well, I never really thought about it. I just attacked. I let my 
instincts take over."
	"Waitasec." Ranma began. "You think about your attack before you 
do it?"
	"Sure.", she shrugged, "Doesn't everyone?"
	"I think.. We're about to find out how skilled she really is...", 
Nabiki deadpanned.
	"Kinami, you're supposed to let instinct take over when you 
fight. Thinking about your attack before you do it is liable to get you 
killed!"
	"Hmm.. I wish somebody would have told me that!"
	"How long have you been studying the Art?"
	"Well, I started when I was a kid. My dad put me into a Kenpo 
class. Since then, I've been doign it off and on, but then I saw 
anything-goes style, and _HAD_ to learn it.. I've improved since then."
	"Kinami, if you do that well while thinking about your attacks, 
imagine how well you'd fight on instinct."
	Kinami thought for a moment. "Better?", she asked.
	Ranma, for the first time in a long time, laughed whole-heartidly 
as Mousse bandaged up her arm.
	

	There... Better late than never... :) Anyways, I'm sorry it took 
so long to release it, I've been working on other projects for the past 
little while.. (One of them is increasing my knowledge of the Manga!) 
Expect an all new fic out from me soon, should be about ten chapters, 
and it'll be released over a few days time.. I'm going to finish the 
fic before I post _ANY_ of it.. :)

	Anyways, hope you like this one.. I was satisfied with it.. :).. 
Stay tuned for the next chapter, "I left my heart...", and its sequel, 
"...In San Fransisco.", in which We'll be spending time with Shampoo, 
and two (or three, I haven't decided yet) special guests... :)