Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Cries ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Lunchtime came as usual, but Ranma could still not shake the feeling that something was wrong. As usual, though, Ranma was too preoccupied to notice as there was presently a battle going on between Shampoo and Ukyo over who would get their food eaten first, Ukyo or Shampoo. While they were arguing, Akane sat down beside Ranma and handed him his bento lunch.
"Here, I brought you your lunch. Made it for you last night." She smiled, not noticing the grimace on Ranma's face as he opened it, looking at the food within, and trying to figure out a way to get out of eating her usual dose of poison. But as she was looking on expectantly, he decided to put on a brave face and try it out. He immediately went pale as Akane asked, "Is it alright? I slaved over the stove for an hour..." 'I won't tell him that Kasumi made me do it, then watched me like a hawk... Don't see why the stupid baka is worth all this trouble...' She noticed that he was still stiff and clenched her fist in preparation. As she was about to leave another Ranma-shaped hole in the ground, he spoke up, "Akane, is this your curry?"
"If you don't like it, baka, then say so!" She turned away, preparing to pound him into a thin paste, only to hear something she never thought she would hear.
"Akane, it's actually not half bad. Maybe a little too spicy, but at least I can eat it..." 'She seems to be getting better. Maybe she‘ll get this cooking down before...'
"R-Really, Ranma? You're not just saying that to get out of a beating, are you?" She said as she hefted her still clenched fist and glared at him. At this point he continued to eat, oblivious to Ukyo and Shampoo staring at him, both with the same thought. 'Ranma's eating AKANE'S cooking? And enjoying it? Must be something wrong with him...' Ranma got up and walked back into the building.
"Come on, Akane, we're gonna be late for afternoon classes." Akane had to scramble to make it back in time for class, only to find out that her and Ranma both ended up with bucket duty in the hall for nearly running over Ms. Hinako. The day dragged on as usual, with Ranma falling asleep in class again, and Akane again taking notes and cursing Ranma for making them stand in the hallway. Finally the last bell rang, and Ranma walked out the door and started to head home with Akane.
'Maybe this is a good time to ask her what I've wanted to ask her all week,' Ranma thought as the walked. "Um... Akane... I got something to ask you. Um..." 'Damn, I'm no good at this so here goes.'
"Hey, Akane, wanna go get something to eat? I'll buy..."
'Is stupid asking me out on a date?' Akane thought. "Really, Ranma? You want to go out on a date with me?"
"No, I want to go out with some other uncute tomboy. Besides, it's just for some food. Not like it's that bigga deal..."
Akane held back her anger with a monumental effort by remembering that the baka had just asked her out, and she had something that she wanted to say to him anyway. "Ok," she said. "Where do you want to go?" Ranma was flustered for a moment then got the bright idea of saying, "I got it! Let’s go grab some burgers and eat them in the park. It's been a while since we did that."

They walked together to the park after picking up their burgers, Ranma carrying the food and Akane with the drinks. They stopped at a familiar tree and sat down.
"Remember the last time we were here?" Akane asked.
"Yeah, you were talking about Dr. Tofu..." he said as he grabbed a burger and started eating. Akane did the same, and took a drink from her soda.
"Remember what he used to do with Betty? Think he still does that?"
"Nah, he ain’t around, remember? He left the area... "
A paper wrapper bounced off of Ranma's head and Akane said, "I knew that, baka, I was just wondering. I mean he's been gone for so long... I wonder if he misses Kasumi..." At this point, they both reached into the bag to grab a burger, but instead ended up grabbing each other's hands. They both froze.
"Hey!" they both said at the same time. Ranma pulled his hand away first, leaving Akane's hand in the bag and a flush on both of their cheeks.
"Sorry, you go ahead, Akane."
'Is the moron actually blushing?' Akane thought.
A few moments later, the flush disappears as a voice shouts out, "Ranma, I'll kill you for taking Shampoo from me!" Ranma pushed Akane out of the way as a large amount of chains tore through the bag of burgers and the space where both Akane and Ranma had been sitting moments ago.
"Ranma since you took away the one that I love, I'm gonna take away the one you love,” he said as he managed to send several chains around Akane and starting to run off with her.
"Leave her alone, Mousse, I'm the one you want," he said as Mousse sent Akane into a tree and into unconsciousness. Ranma was starting to run towards Akane to free her from the chains, when Mousse pulled a dozen water balloons from his sleeves.
"Do you know what these are, Ranma? These contain some of the last unmixed water from Jusenkyo," he said as he started lobbing the water balloons at them. Without thinking, Ranma jumped in the way of the balloons, trying to destroy them without getting any on Akane. He destroyed the first volley of balloons with a few small ki blasts and went on the attack, knocking Mousse into low earth orbit with an uppercut. As he turned back to Akane to help her out of the chains, a single water balloon fell from far above, missing its intended target, but hitting Ranma instead.
Ranma was wracked with pain from the two curses fighting within his body for dominance. He let out a scream of pain that was enough to wake Akane from unconsciousness. She looked up to find Ranma in the throes of agony as his body contorted unnaturally in pain for a few seconds, then took on his female form, with a few differences. The most notable differences being some kind of leathery mass flowing from between her shoulder blades and the change in her hair color, which was now a deep brown with a thick red stripe down the center and seemed longer. She also had quite a few scratches along her arms and legs. As she continued squirming, Akane noticed that Ranma-chan was still unconscious. 'Great! Now I have to carry the stupid baka,' she thought with a sneer as she picked Ranma-chan up in her arms, noticing that she seemed somehow lighter...

News clip run on the radio“Police are still concerned over the recent rash of senseless deaths that have brought fear to the Tokyo area for the last several weeks and have now instituted a 9pm curfew for the safety of all…