Ranma awoke, which in itself was wholly uninspiring.  There was no
fanfare or riotous cheers.  No fireworks or parade of oddly dressed
people and overanxious spectators.  Nor was there the usual bucket of
freezing water or well placed kick to the side.  Not even a screamed
death threat heralded this particular coming of a new day.        
     It was normal... too normal.  Too regular for the center point of
Nerima's wild side.  In fact, the very air which surrounded him seemed
depressed, as if it wouldn't allow such excitement to add color to the
morning.  The sun rose slowly as the birds chirped their apathetic songs
to the world, trying to force joy upon those who couldn't feel it.        
     His hands went to his face, which felt raw and sticky.  If he tried
hard enough he could trace the tear marks across his cheeks to the
various points they ended at as a result of his erratic positioning
throughout the night.  He felt dirty and alone... moreso than he had
ever been in his entire soloist existence.      
     Sitting up, Ranma buried his face in his hands, ashamed at the
weakness he showed.  However, it wouldn't stop... the tears came anew,
as if they were simply waiting for their captive audience.        
     "Kasumi...." he whispered softly as the pain struck home once
again.

PM Productions Presents 
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
A War Fought in Silence
Chapter Two (B)

     The Tendou household was devoid of its usual life that morning.
Nabiki seemed even more haggard than was normal for even her.  Akane
held herself upright, but one look in her eyes told another story of woe
that would make the most hardened soldier cry for pity.  Ryouga, who had
stayed as a result of the previous day's events, seemed disjointed.  His
hair was matted down on one side, as though he had spent the night in
the mud... which was not entirely fiction, as the floor of his tent was
ripped and the rain had been relentless.   
     Soun and Genma were nowhere to be seen, as they had never left the
hospital the day before.  Dr. Tofu had made it perfectly clear that no
one was to try to force them out... for the protection of the hospital
staff.  It had taken him and Soun to convince the rest of the family to
go home and rest, promising that at any sign of change they would be the
second to know after those at the hospital.  Tokyo Central was a large
facility, but also a very full facility, and they simply did not have
the capacity to house so many people overnight.  As it was, Soun and
Genma had to sit in chairs in Kasumi's room the entire night.        
     Kasumi had fallen into what the doctors could only call a coma.
Some guessed at severe trauma due to stress... others figured it to be
more physical in nature.  Who was right and who was not would be
discovered once the myriad tests had returned from the labs.  Some of
them would take days due to the sheer volume of patients, though they
were put on the top of the list due to the unsure nature of her injury.
Dr. Tofu had near ripped the hair from his scalp trying to finagle them
higher and higher until even his substantial push in the medical field
was exhausted completely.     
     The people of the house were on auto-pilot.  Not a sign was to be
found of a person who had slept comfortably.  They took their turns in
the bath as best they could, girls in first, then the guys.  Akane and
Nabiki avoided each other's gaze entirely, while Ranma and Ryouga were
acutely pacifistic.        
     In a unanimous, unspoken vote breakfast was never made.  Once
everyone was cleaned and prepared, they all sat around the dining
table... and for a brief moment, things seemed almost passable as
normal.        
     That lasted all of two seconds.  "Akane," Nabiki began, after the
short silence, "are you going to call, or am I?"        
     Akane lifted her gaze from the table top, and sort of focused on
her sister.  "I think you should, Nabiki... I'm not sure I could..." she
paused, and her eyes found the spot where her hands here idly
intertwining in her lap.  "...stay in one piece."        
     The older girl nodded understandingly and stood up.  She made her
way out into the hallway and picked up the phone.  The dial tone sounded
unnaturally loud in her ear, and she quickly typed in the number to
remove it.        While her conversation with the hospital was taking
place, those left in the dining room were silent; each individual was
fighting his or her own personal war with themselves.  Time stretched
out, making seconds seem like minutes, minutes like hours....      
     Then, finally, Nabiki returned.  She could feel all the eyes of the
room on her, though she would meet none of them with her own.  "Kasumi's
been moved from critical condition as she's remained stable through the
night... however, she hasn't shown any signs of waking up yet."        
     "Did any of the tests come back?" Ranma asked, mirroring what
everyone else wanted to say.        
      Nabiki sighed, drawing in a deep breath.  "Yes, her blood sample
showed an abnormally high white cell count... which usually means
there's something wrong biologically... yet, the adranaline is almost
nill, so they aren't too worried about a clot of some sort being the
cause."        
     "Is that all?" Akane queried, her voice shaking slightly.  She had
been worried there was some sort of blockage to Kasumi's brain, and was
glad that had been disspelled... however, it still left them not knowing
at all what the actual cause was.        
     "Damnit!" Ryouga spat, glaring over the table at Ranma.  He wished
so badly that he could knock some snot out of his rival and make it all
go away.  For some reason, this always seemed to work in the past.
However, this time, actions could barely whisper, and he felt more
useless than when the captain of the Valdez had asked him to take the
helm while he made himself another drink.        
     Ranma stared back passively, as if he could care less if his friend
jumped over the table and removed his throat.  His thoughts were
subdued, though occasionally something eccentric and seemingly
unconnected would rise to the surface.  At one point he felt like
screaming... another he felt like comforting Akane.  They were all noble
causes, and no one would have probably blamed him for doing any of the
above.  Unfortunately, his motivation had bottomed out long before the
day had even begun, and showed no signs of rekindling.

END FOR NOW

There are a number of reasons this is as short as it is... if you really
want to know them, just ask.  Comments are greatly appreciated, and I
shall try to hasten my writing as much as possible to make up for the
brevity of the part.  
Thanks for reading,
PMasters

"Never underestimate the Akogi hat!" - Caravan Kidd
"I don't believe this... Sailor Moon gets the handsome and mysterious
Tuxedo Mask, but I get a frickin' CAMEL?!" - Magical Drama Queen Roxy
(ie. the one good thing to come from Gen13)
"I'm only holding back the rain.  So many raindrops, so many pains.  I
want to find my train someday.  As seasons go past the station." - Tokyo
Babylon OVA 1
/ E-mail: PhilMasters@webtv.net /
"...has anyone ever used something alive for a coat of arms?" - The
Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (Mishima Yukio, 1965) / 
"You see, what you call a cat, we use as armor." - Rune (El-Hazard,
1994)