As the Sun Rises

Chapter 1: Amiss

The sun rises like every morning in Nerima.

Nothing's different from any other day.

Anytime now, his old pop would wake him up either by kicking him or pouring water on him.

Anytime now.....

Ranma woke up feeling extremely exhausted and weak. He could hardly lift up his arm to wipe the sweat rolling down his forehead. In fact, he couldn't even sit up.

He tried so anyways. As a result, his whole body shook in spasms of pain and thusly so he screamed in pain. Every single bone and muscle in his body shook with tenderness and pain. He dropped back onto his futon, eyes tightly shut in a futile attempt to ease his pain. He willed his muscles to relax and reframed himself from making sudden movements. Slowly, the pain eased a bit but still very noticeable and if he even attempted to move a finger, it would hurt like hell again.

He had never felt like this before. His muscles felt like jelly and wouldn't respond well to his commands. And what perplexed him even more was that he could not remember how he got to be like this. The last thing he remembered was eating free ramen at a stand near the lake...

...in Tokyo.

His eyes shot open. Surely enough, he was laying in the storage room that was converted into his and his father's bedroom back in the Tendo's house in Nerima. How did he get back here? And where were Akane, his pop, and everyone else?

He felt so tired and overwhelmed. His eyes lowered, letting the fatigue push him into slumber. The last thing he heard before blacking out again was footsteps running and the shogi door sliding open.

"Ranma"

Such a sweet voice.....

"Ranma"

He missed hearing it......

"Ranma"

He refused to open his eyes. She was here with him and he refused to open his eyes and leave her. He refused to!

"Ranma... Please wake up."

Akane...

Kami, he missed her so much.........

"Ranma!!"

That last call was not her.

Slowly, Ranma open his eyes. His body still aches but not like the last time he woke. It was now a slow dull pain, much like when he finished a fierce workout. He no longer felt weak and exhausted and he could move again without upsetting his body.

Instead of Akane, Kasumi and his father were the ones that he first saw. Behind them, Akane's father and Nabiki stood, both looking relieved and sad at the same time. The same expression encrypted on Kasumi's and his dad's faces. There was a tense gloomy feeling in the air that he couldn't quite put a hand on it.

'Where's Akane?'

"What's going on?" He was surprised to find that his rasp voice came out just above a whisper. "Where's Akane?"

"Good, you're awake," answered Kasumi, her expression now took on a cheerful mask, as she took the wet cloth off his forehead "Akane is—"

"She's fine," interrupted Nabiki who was now standing at his feet, face etched in the same expressionless feature. "She's in her room right now..." He didn't like that pause. "...resting."

"How are you feeling boy?" asked his worried father sitting to his left, which is by itself unusual enough. "Do you remember anything?"

"No...." was his hesitant reply as he watched everyone's face carefully. 'Why couldn't I remember what happened?'

For the first time, as he look into everyone's eyes, from his pop's dark brown ones to Nabiki's cold blue ones, all held the same thing; some sadness, gloom......... a lost of hope.

What the hell could have happen?!?!

He couldn't help but feel something was amiss. Something happened that he couldn't remember.

Something happened to him.

Something happened to Akane.

Updated: Sept 15, 2004