[FanFic][Ranma][Divergence][Rev] Reflections Vol 1 Part 01
Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections : Vol. 01 - Stuck in the Middle
With You A. V. Morgan <avmorgan27@comcast.net>
Repost Note: Fixed formatting errors.
Diverging continuation of the Two Ranmas story (V35 P1-4).
Revision. Mature Content Warning. Disclaimer and Notes at the
end of Part One. Original Version can be found at FanFiction.Net
in the R rated category:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1029261/1/
Part One: Three Ranmas!?
The promise of spring hung in the air over Tokyo's Nerima Ward.
It was a warm day for late winter, spiced by the scent of rain.
The shower had lasted just long enough to soak anyone caught out
in the open to the bone. Or, in Ranma Saotome's case, just long
enough for him to become her. Trudging home from the train
station, she stopped to adjust her clothes, ignoring the
incredulous stares of those who were witnessing the
transformation for their first time. But one of her startled
witnesses was impossible to ignore, staring at her with wide,
sapphire blue eyes from only a hand span away. As she met his
shocked gaze, Ranma closed her eyes, her pose of defiant
indifference crumbling as she reached for it. The face she was
trying to block out was too familiar. She saw it in the mirror
whenever she was a he. Unfortunately, the last mirror he had
looked into had been cursed, giving birth to this living
reflection.
"You can stop staring now," she grated ominously, still aware of
the weight of his gaze.
"Y-you� you turned in-into HER," the unnatural twin gasped.
Ranma did not need to open her eyes to tell he was pointing
between her and her other reflection, the duplicate of her
female side that had been created a week earlier.
"Pretty neat, isn't it?" the original, female duplicate piped
up, pulling Ranma into an "aren't my twin and I cute?" pose.
"Do you have to do that?" Ranma complained, cringing. Her mind
flashed back to her first visit to Mirror Mansion.
On a weekend training trip, Genma and Ranma had stumbled across
the mysterious manor while seeking shelter from a violent storm.
Genma was hardly in the door before he zoomed in on table
bearing a basket full of fruit. Stems and peels were flying
before the old man who let them in could complete a warning
about the shrouded mirror. Before she knew what was going on,
Ranma had slipped on a banana peel, crashed into the mirror and
tore down its protective seal, scrambling desperately to stay on
her feet. Somewhere between flailing to keep her balance and
phrasing an acidic accusation to throw at Genma, Ranma's brain
registered the old man's warning against tampering with the seal
of the cursed mirror. A ghost obsessed with finding true love--
or at least a lover--would possess the reflection of anyone who
looked into the mirror. Ranma had not needed the explanation,
however. The warning was little more than a narration of what
was happening as she confronted her self in the mirror that
first time.
For one week, the girl created by the cursed mirror had chased
after Ranma and made life around the Tendo home twice as chaotic
as Ranma, alone, ever could. The first few days had been the
worst, before the copy realized that Ranma was not willing to be
her lover and she "surrendered" to her fate. But that had been a
ruse. She had used the remainder of the week to plot out her
conquest of Ranma. When Ranma and Akane brought her back to the
mansion to seal her away in the mirror, Copy--as they had been
calling her--captured Ranma in the trap mirror that the old man
of the mansion had given to Ranma in order to capture her. But
when she tried to escape with him into the mirror Akane had
interfered, tripping her with the fruit basket and releasing
Ranma from the trap mirror. But as he emerged, Ranma landed on a
piece of fruit, skidded out of control, and crashed into the
new, warded curtain covering the cursed mirror.
Ranma could still feel the sick sense of inevitability that he
felt as the curtain was torn away in the collision and he
glanced, once again, into the cursed mirror. That feeling had
grown worse as the new reflection became instantly obsessed with
the old reflection. Ranma tried to console herself with the
thought that the copies would be less trouble as a couple than
they would be as individuals.
It only took a second for the girl twin to prove her wrong.
After studying her new love interest's reaction to Ranma's
transformation, she rubbed her cheek against Ranma's, purring,
"I'd share her with you if you shared him with me."
"Erk!" Akane, walking a few paces ahead, jerked around in
outrage and glared at the girl twin. The duplicate simply
grinned and cupped one of Ranma's breasts provocatively, eyes
fixed on the male reflection. Ranma's pigtail shot straight up
in the air, as did the boy twin's--his eyes widening and mouth
going slack.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Ranma snapped, opening
her eyes to glare at her clone. "Leggo of that!?"
"Wha- why� how� did he turn into you?" the male clone demanded
in alarmed confusion, his eyes glazing.
"We don't have time for this," Akane grumbled in annoyance,
eyebrow twitching ominously.
"I didn't turn into her!" Ranma barked in an offended tone,
suddenly standing in front of the boy duplicate, two or three
paces away from the girl duplicate. "Like I toldja earlier,
she's the copy of my girl side!" Ranma declared, staring up at
her new nemesis critically. Then she turned back to the girl
copy, rubbing at a bruised breast. "And what the heck were you
thinkin'!?" Glaring at her twin, Ranma fought against the
spinning, falling sensation that gripped her at the memory of
her "sharing" comment.
Ranma and Akane had gone to several lengths to keep the two
clones separated during their return to Nerima. From the moment
they had laid eyes on each other, the clones had been
obsessively attracted to each other. Neither of them seemed to
have possessed a clue what to do with a lover, once found. The
"throw yourself at someone and kiss them" tactic the girl twin
had used the week before was almost comical when doubled. It
took them a while to stop lunging at each other and banging
heads. By the time they were on the train bound for Nerima, the
pair had impulsively progressed to hugging and kissing. Whenever
the image of the two making out in their seat on the train
popped into her head, shocking chills shot through her body.
When the girl had been chasing after him, a part of Ranma had
been flattered, but the very notion of the new male copy
pursuing Ranma with the same kind of intent made her shudder.
"I was only trying to think of your happiness!" the girl twin
protested sincerely. "I mean, a boy like a girl like you needs a
girl like me and a boy like him. How else can you fit in? But,
now that you mention it�" the girl twin put a finger to her chin
and turned to study the boy twin thoughtfully. She snapped her
fingers and smiled at Ranma. "I get it now! He's too much of a
man for you! Just like I was too much of a woman for you! This
finally explains your feelings for that macho pervert-girl!"
"Hey!" Ranma and Akane shouted in unison, fuming.
"So, she is� a boy?" the boy twin asked the girl twin, pointing
at Ranma in confusion
"When he isn't a girl," the girl twin confirmed with a cheerful
nod.
"I am NOT a GIRL!" Ranma shouted, looming up on both of them.
"You are TOTALLY a GIRL!" the girl twin retorted, cupping
Ranma's breasts again for emphasis. The sight of one redheaded
girl fondling the other once again shorted out certain synapses
in the confused and agitated mind of the male copy. Boy or girl,
Ranma was indistinguishable from the object of his affections.
Since SHE was a girl, then by direct association, so was Ranma.
That concluded, his brain suspended all coherent thought and
proceeded to simply enjoy the view.
"That's it! People are staring at us! Let's go," Akane
announced, grabbing the confused boy by the arm and dragging him
away from Ranma. Still arguing, Ranma grabbed her girl twin by
the hand and followed.
When they reached the canal, Ranma and her duplicates all hopped
up to walk on the fence by reflex. Akane took a deep breath,
pacing the boy twin as she continued along the sidewalk alone.
Concentrating on tuning out the sound of Ranma arguing with her
look-alike, Akane stared straight ahead and tried to pretend her
life had never become this insane. When only a few puddles and
damp spots in the shade remained, and everything else--including
the teens' clothes and hair--had dried in the sun, Akane sighed
and glanced up to the side. The boy walking nonchalantly along
the top of the fence--unchanged by the freak down pour--was not
Ranma, but all of the little things she had grown accustomed to,
the little things that were unique to Ranma, like the way he
moved, his careless grace and confidence, called out to her.
"This is really starting to creep me out," Akane muttered.
Looking up to the side again Akane repeated her initial
complaint. "Why did he have to be male?"
"What are you starin' at?" the boy twin asked, catching her
glaring up at him.
"Baka," she turned her head and kept on walking.
"Kawaiikune!" he muttered, turning to look at the red-headed
girls walking hand in hand along the fence top after him. "What
is that chunky, tom-boy's problem?" he asked in confused
annoyance.
Ranma-chan looked at her twin, then back at the boy, and
suppressed a shudder. "This is creeping me out too," she
muttered under her breath. Bending her head sternly, she pushed
the boy on, "Keep moving. I need to get you to the dojo and out
of sight before either of you get me into any more trouble!"
The boy allowed Ranma-chan to push him along the fence toward
their destination. He showed no discomfort or concern at
backpedaling down the fence pole in front of Ranma. He was still
somewhat disturbed that the boy who had let him out of the
mirror had turned into a perfect twin of the girl he had loved
at first sight. The resemblance was so great that he needed this
sort of cue to determine which girl was which. Taking her free
hand, as a means to keep track, he returned to the question that
was bothering him. "So. You gonna tell me why you turned into a
girl? Why you look like her?"
"Aw, man! I told you I'd explain it all if you came with me to
the dojo."
"You said that before you� changed."
Ranma-chan grit her teeth. "Whatever. Get this straight first. I
don't look like HER. SHE looks like me! I was in this form the
first time I looked in the mirror, and I was a guy when I looked
in it back there!" she growled, referring to Mirror Mansion.
"Both of you are copies of me," she asserted for the hundredth
time.
The boy tensed in alarm, "You don't mean�!? Aw, man! I'm not
going to turn out to be a freak like you, am I?" He twisted away
in horror.
Ranma-chan cringed and her face darkened with anger as Akane's
voice trailed back to them, "If you're so disgusted, WHY ARE YOU
STILL HOLDING HIS HAND!!?" Akane kicked the fence so hard it
wavered under their feet and spilled all three of them into the
canal opposite the sidewalk. Ranma-chan plummeted toward the
water in resignation. The girl twin betrayed only the slightest
surprise, while the boy twin went into a full-blown panic. The
three plunged into the water and surfaced, spluttering in shock
at the cold, shouting in unison, "What didja do that for!?" The
boy was patting himself on the chest in terror until Akane
leaned over and stuck out her tongue.
"Baka! Didn't you notice that the rain had no effect on you?"
Before the boy could answer, he was launched over the fence by a
sleeper uppercut from Ranma. She had moved in an instant rage,
wounded once more by the simple fact that the boy was immune to
her curse. Before she had stopped shaking in silent fury, the
girl twin grabbed her by the collar.
"Hey! Go hit on pervert-girl!" the girl shouted launching Ranma
over the fence with a vicious uppercut. Akane stood frozen for
an instant, her eye twitching madly again, as Ranma crashed down
in the middle of the street. The girl twin had started calling
Akane "pervert- girl" during her amorous pursuit of Ranma, and
clearly did not intend to stop.
While Akane silently debated between maiming and murder, the
girl twin leapt over the fence, went to her counterpart's side
and cradled his head in her lap. "Hey! Are you okay?"
Akane lurched forward to pound the girl into the pavement, as
Ranma popped to her feet and rushed forward to tackle the girl,
moving neatly into position to intercept Akane's elbow drop.
Ranma was slammed down into her duplicates with enough force to
knock the air out of all of them.
As they lay there stunned, Akane grabbed the boy clone by the
pig-tail and dragged him off towards the Tendo Dojo. Despite the
fact that the boy twin was proving to be just as annoying as
Ranma, Akane had agreed to keep the couple separated until they
were all safe at the dojo. By the time Ranma and her twin had
recovered, Akane was dragging him around a corner. The girls
stood up muttering a litany of unflattering things about Akane
and limped the last two blocks to the dojo.
-----
Akane heard the two redheads rushing to catch up to her as she
passed through the gates of the dojo. Tuning out their loud
cries for her to wait for them, she stalked up to the house.
"Tadaima!" Akane announced her return, dragging "Ranma-kun" into
the genkan.
Kasumi turned from watering a little bonsai tree, which sat on a
narrow table in the hall across from the entrance, and took in
the boy's disheveled, unconscious state. One hand came up
quickly to cover her mouth. "Oh my," she murmured softly, before
composing herself. "Okeirinasai, Akane-chan, Ranma-kun," she
smiled. Before she could ask about Ranma's condition, Soun and
Genma burst into the tiny entry, loudly demanding a report.
"Oi! Akane-kun!�"
"It's about time, Boy!�"
"�Did you get rid of that menace?" they chorused.
Taking in "Ranma's" state, Genma hauled the boy twin to his
feet, shaking him, "This is no time to be napping, Boy! Tell me
you've done your duty as a martial artist and sent the evil back
to where it came from!"
Akane cleared her throat as the boy mumbled in semi-conscious
confusion. "About that�" she began.
At that moment, Ranma swept open the entry screen and leaned in
with her clone, "Akane! Wait! What are we going to tell�?"
Everyone's eyes snapped to the two redheaded girls in surprise,
as Akane hung her head in embarrassment. Ranma recoiled in
dismay.
"Well, this is hardly a surprise," Nabiki commented, appearing
in the hall behind Soun and Genma. With a mischievous grin, she
cleared her throat and said loudly, "Will the REAL Ranma Saotome
please stand up?"
Ranma immediately began sweating and waving her hands, "Wait,
wait. I can explain everything! It's not my fault!"
"And we have a winner!" Nabiki smirked and watched as Soun and
Genma loomed over the panicking girl.
"RanMAAAA! What is the meaning of this?" wailed Soun angrily.
"Foolish Boy! How could you fail in such a simple task?"
Akane grabbed the girl twin and pushed her forward, clearing her
throat, "Actually, um� This is mostly her fault."
"Hey!" the buxom redhead complained instantly, ignoring the
fuming fathers to turn on Akane. "You were the one who threw the
fruit basket!"
"You! You were the one who brought that damned compact along and
tried to steal Ranma with it!"
"What? You mean you actually want him?"
"N� No!" Akane blushed and growled, "That doesn't have anything
to do with it! You can't just kidnap people like that!"
"Oh, what wonderful news, Saotome-kun! My little girl rescued
your son from an evil demon!"
"Who are you callin' a demon!?" the mirror girl snarled at Soun.
As Soun lurched back in fright, he knocked the pitcher of water
out of Kasumi's hand. It sailed unnoticed overhead, seeking a
suitable target, before coming down on Genma. "Oh! She's so
SCARY!" Soun whimpered, cowering in the corner.
"Oh my!" Kasumi finally interjected. "Maybe we should all sit
down and discuss this over tea?"
There was a short pause, then a round of shrugs as everyone
silently agreed to her suggestion.
Ranma and Akane marched the clones through the living room, and
out onto the patio. Ranma picked up a hot teakettle from the
table as she passed, and stepped out onto the grass to quickly
explain the curse to the duplicates.
"Alright, pay attention. I'm not gonna explain this twice," she
began, explaining how her father took her to Jusenkyo and
knocked her, at the time him, into the Nyanniichuan. Using half
the water in the kettle, he restored himself to normal, and as
expected, the boy twin instantly produced cold water to test the
curse. Ranma fumed, but recalled how others had reacted to the
same story. Ukyo had spent hours pouring hot and cold water over
her, out of sheer amusement. Ranma, using the last of the hot
water, warned the couple that the curse was the only problem in
his life they were spared from. He then took a moment to try to
convince them that it was in their own best interest to avoid
contact with anyone outside the dojo. Not that he believed he
could truly keep the two from bring new chaos to his life, but
it was worth a try.
After wringing out his shirt and airing it for a few moments to
dry, he joined the others at the table, where Akane had finished
explaining what had happened at Mirror Mansion. It was a quick
explanation, since everyone already knew about the cursed
mirror, the spirit of the noblewoman that stole the image of
whoever looked into it to fulfill her dream of finding true
love, and the little trap mirror they had received from the old
man of the mansion. Nor was it surprising that the girl twin had
made one last attempt to abduct Ranma and take him with her back
into the mirror. When Akane finished explaining how the boy twin
had been freed from the mirror, Nabiki turned to collect a
handful of yen from her father and Genma. She then took a third
of the pile of cash and handed it over to Kasumi. Akane did not
even bother to ask what the bets had been. She just shook her
head and explained that she and Ranma had seen no other option
but to bring the couple home until repairs to the mirror's seal
could once again be completed.
"Another week!?" Soun moaned, as Kasumi poured tea next to
Akane.
Ranma glanced over his shoulder and saw the couple mooning over
each other. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself that they were
just reflections, and what they did had nothing to do with him.
He could only hope that their mutual absorption would prevent a
repeat of girl's rampage.
"You are so cute!" the boy declared, taking the girl's hands in
his.
"You are more handsome!" she protested modestly, her eyes
twinkling.
"The perfect couple!" Ranma quipped, oblivious to the fact that
it sounded like he was bragging.
"You are so right, Ranma!" Kasumi smiled, delighted by the sight
of at least one happy couple in the house.
"They're so alike too�" Nabiki deadpanned.
Akane just sat there with her eyes narrowing, pretending to
complete indifference to the situation. Genma wore the same
expression, safe in the retreat of his panda form at the end of
the table.
"I guess this is sort of like a honeymoon for them," Kasumi put
in thoughtfully, after a moment. Tea sprayed forth from Akane
and Genma. Ranma jerked as if he'd just been hit by lightening,
his eye twitching madly. Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"Ka- Ka- Kasumi!" Soun stammered, looking shocked.
Genma whipped around to look at the mirror twins, closing in for
a kiss, and jumped up frantically waving a sign, [Stop them! We
can't let them mate!]
Ranma and Akane flinched away as lurid images of boy-type Ranma
molesting girl-type Ranma danced through the minds of everyone
but Kasumi.
Akane whipped around on her knees, shouting, "YOU PERVERTS!" A
roundhouse punch accompanied the cry, catching Ranma on the chin
and blasting him out the open door into the mirror twins,
spilling them all out into the yard.
Ranma, after skipping all the way into the koi pond, splashed to
her feet shouting, "I'm not LIKE that!"
"What didja do THAT for?" the other two demanded in unison.
Soun, who had never bothered to mentally distinguish Ranma from
his clones, came out onto the balcony and protested, "Ranma! How
could you cheat on my daughter this way!?" Shifting an accusing
finger from the boy to the girl, he commanded. "I forbid you to
sleep with Ranma under my roof!"
Everyone stared at Soun for a second. Kasumi, who had not
bothered to read Genma's wildly flailing sign until the panda
froze holding it right in front of her nose, gasped as the
synapse marked "clue" connected to the synapse marked "ecchi" in
an instant of unrepressed thought.
"Oh my!" Kasumi blinked. "You don't think they'd do THAT, do
you?"
Several present found themselves smacking their faces against
the table in an attempt to dislodge the mental images being
conjured up.
Ranma sprang to her feet again, growling at Soun, "I don't even
know what you're TALKIN' ABOUT! How can I NOT sleep with
myself!?"
"Ranma-kun! Think about what you're saying!" Nabiki warned with
a shake of her finger, but Akane had already reacted.
"Ranma no HENTAI! Don't you have ANY restraint or morals!!?"
Akane advanced on her fiance, mallet-sama in hand, amidst a
pillar of blue flames.
Ranma backed up slowly, hands out in warding gestures. "W- wait!
Are you insane? Do you ever hear what I am saying?"
"You said you wanted to sleep with yourself!" Akane growled.
"PERVERT!"
Ranma hung her head, while Akane closed the distance menacingly.
On an instinctive level, the redhead estimated the power and
intent of the other girl's rage. By that analysis, Akane had
truly snapped. If she ran, Akane would charge and probably kill
her. If she stood her ground, Akane would charge and probably
kill her. If she wanted to live, it might be a good idea to
defend herself this time. But even in deadly peril, such as her
keenly honed instincts assured her she was in, she didn't want
to raise a hand against Akane. At the same time, she was sure
she had not said nor done anything to deserve her fiancee's
anger. Almost to herself, she muttered, "Damn it, Akane, there
ain't nothin' wrong with a guy sleepin' by himself. It ain't
like I've got any other option�"
Akane, having closed to attack range, had already swung her
mallet high. As those words penetrated, her hands suddenly let
go on the downswing, and the mallet flew off over the compound
wall and out of sight. Akane stood there, meeting Ranma's eyes,
for several long breaths. "Did� did you say� b- by yourself?"
Ranma scowled, "What didja think I was sayin'?"
"You don't want sleep with one of THEM?" The raven haired girl's
hand snapped up to point accusingly at the now cringing couple.
"Do you think I am some kind of pervert!?" Ranma roared in
outraged disbelief.
"Geez, Ranma-kun! Get a clue!" Nabiki shook her head.
Akane and Ranma remained squared off, both of them blushing in
confused fury. Ranma's clones stared at the two of them with
wide eyes. Off in the distance, a large object could be heard
crashing to Earth with a skull ringing clunk, followed shortly
by a distant bellow, "Raaaaanmaaaaaa! This is All YOUR FAULT!!!"
Kasumi broke into the silence to muse aloud, "Having three
Ranma's in the house could get confusing. Maybe we should come
up with some different names so there are no misunderstandings."
"Now there's an idea," Nabiki smirked.
"What's wrong with calling them Copy?" Ranma asked, scowling
with indifference. She found the notion of giving them names
very disturbing, as if naming them might encourage them to stick
around. That certainly seemed true of cats, in her mortified
experience.
"Oh, sure. Then we can just confuse them with each other instead
of you. Give it up, Ranma. You know they're going to be mistaken
for you anyway," Nabiki pointed out sarcastically. "We might as
well take advantage of that. Fortunately, they don't change
sexes and you've got an alias for your girl side. That gives us
a way to distinguish them from each other and from you. We could
go for merely descriptive and call them Copy-no-Ranma and Copy-
no-Ranko."
"Oh, yes. If Auntie Nodoka were to show up, it would be a lot
easier for us if Copy-chan was used to being called Ranko. Why,
Copy- no-Ranko is practically the same thing!" Kasumi gushed
with growing excitement.
Ranma shuddered. "Oh man! If Mom shows up now, I'm sooo dead!"
"I don't know. It's a little too long, Sis," Akane shook her
head, ignoring Ranma's panic attack. "We kinda know they're both
copies. Why not just drop the 'Copy' part and use No-Ranma and
No- Ranko?"
"Maybe just shorten 'Copy' to 'Ko' and make it, Kono-Ranma and
Kono-Ranko!" Kasumi proposed.
"Okay," Akane agreed, nodding, "and those can be shortened to,
Konoma and Konoko!"
"Maybe Noma and Noko?" Soun jumped in, getting caught up in the
game Nabiki had started.
"I don't think you can reduce it any further than that," Nabiki
rolled her eyes.
"No way! That's like giving them real names!" Ranma protested.
"What do you want us to do, Ranma? Go on confusing them with
you?" Nabiki retorted. "Then how about Ranma-no-ni and Ranko-no-
ni, for Ranma and Ranko number two?" she proposed. "That would
make it really easy to drop the extra parts if Auntie Nodoka
does pay us another surprise visit."
Suddenly, the copies were sitting next to Ranma, the boy
sandwiched between the identical girls. "I think we should call
him--" the girl twin began.
"Gyaaah! No! Don't let them name themselves!" Ranma shouted,
leaping to her feet and speed-gagging the duplicates. Memories
of Pantyhose Taro trying to conjure up the perfect name for
himself had surged forth the instant the clones took a direct
interest in the discussion. Ranma did not want to know what sort
of ridiculous suggestions his doppelgangers were capable of.
Giving Nabiki a desperate, determined look, she finally
relented, "Alright, we can do that last one."
"Ranma-no-ni and Ranko-no-ni?" Nabiki clarified helpfully.
Ranma nodded energetically.
"I don't know, it IS quite a mouthful�" Nabiki nodded in Akane's
directions.
"So we can use Ranma and Ranko for short, and the rest if we
need to be specific!" Ranma insisted, less concerned about the
twins using her names than about either of them getting a real
name of their own.
"Hmmm� We could DO that, but," Nabiki shrugged, giving the
copies a studied glance.
"But what?" Ranma gritted her teeth, wondering what new twist
Nabiki was about to spring on her.
"Oh, it's nothing, Ranma-kun," Nabiki assured the cursed
martial-artist. "I should have known better than to try and
simplify things."
"Uh, okay," Ranma proceeded to scratch her head, wondering what
part of Nabiki's suggestions had been simple. After a moment,
she just threw up her hands and declared, "Whatever. It's
settled, then. We can keep them straight now, and we don't have
to give them cute nicknames." Turning to the copies, she
reminded everyone pointedly, "They're only gonna be here for a
week, after all."
With that, Ranma marched out of the room headed for the nearest
source of hot water.
-----
As afternoon settled toward evening, Ranma and Akane completed
their homework in something of an armed truce. Ranma kept
glaring at Akane, silently bitter over the fact that she had
never responded to his last question, nor apologized for the
misunderstanding. Akane kept glaring at Ranma suspiciously,
waiting for him to prove what a pervert he really was. The two
mirror clones had given up on trying to sneak off for some
privacy, because Soun and Genma had shadowed them at every turn,
harassing them into sullen complacency in front of the
television. Nabiki was also keeping close tabs on the mirror
twins. By eaves dropping, she had discovered that they had come
up with their own solution to the name issue. They did it by
dropping out the initial consonant and pronouncing their
borrowed names as Anma and Anko.
Ranma spared a glance from his homework to check on the
doppelgangers. They were sitting close together, speaking in
hushed voices, paying more attention to each other than the show
on television. He resisted the urge to go over and hear what
they were discussing so intently. The conspiratorial whispering
made fine beads of sweat pop out over his brow. Since there were
no cats around, he decided a lethal dose of curiosity was not
needed at the moment, and forced himself to ignore the couple.
His mind strayed off on a tangent, though, as he wondered how to
harness the "curiosity killed the cat" technique. Naturally,
this proved more important to him than his homework.
Time passed, marked by the sound of chimes dancing in the
breeze.
"Time to eat, everyone," Kasumi announced a short time later,
from the door to the kitchen.
Akane and Ranma jumped up to clear the table and put their
schoolwork away. It was left to them to help set the table, as
Nabiki continued to lounge in front of the television, spying on
the clones, and Genma and Soun remained glued to their game of
Shogi. Neither of them dared turn to acknowledge Kasumi with a
look, or the other would swiftly rearrange the board.
Inevitably, the smell of food lured Genma's attention and Soun
cheered his victory. The fathers joined the rest at the table
and praised the bounty loudly.
"Itedakimasu!" everyone chorused, and dug into the food. A quick
four way battle ensued between Genma and the "triplets" with the
older man struggling to defend his meal on three fronts.
As dinner came to a close, conversation turned to sleeping
arrangements. Soun's declaration still stood, though it was
Kasumi who restated it as, "It just would not be proper for our
new guests to share accommodations." The clones looked on,
glares sharpening with every word. Ranma and the others could
not help but try to keep them separated. The idea of the two of
them getting together, intimately, was too creepy for them to
stand. They were in silent agreement. No one particularly cared
about them fawning over each other, but� the thought of where
that might escalate to brought on all sorts of twitching and
shuddering.
"It would be best if Ranko-no-ni slept with you tonight, Akane-
chan. Ranma-no-ni can sleep with Ranma-kun and Saotome-ojisan,"
Kasumi suggested.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to put those boys together,
Oneechan? I mean, one little splash of water and�" Nabiki held
up her hands and shrugged. It need not be said that chaos would
ensue.
"Erk!" Ranma choked. "I'd rather spend another week sleeping in
a tree!"
"Hah! Like I'd do anything with a pervert like you!" Anma denied
fervently.
"Hey! That's MY line!" Akane fumed.
"No one is going to come between me and MY Ranma!" Anko
declared, standing. "Put that silly panda outside for the night,
let Akane sleep with HER Ranma, and that leaves a futon for me
and MINE!"
The mere idea that this was a way to get Ranma and Akane
together was enough to get Soun and Genma to their feet, pushing
the clones together, "That's right! What a perfect solution!"
Ranma cut in, mockingly, "Oh? You mean you're volunteering to
sleep outside then, Old Man?"
"Er� No, boy. Tendo-kun will surely let me sleep on the floor in
his room. Right Tendo-kun?"
"Ah, ha ha! Right Saotome-kun!" Soun strained to agree, sweat
suddenly beading his brow.
"But, Father� Surely these two should be married, or at least
engaged first?" Kasumi asked wide-eyed.
Genma looked over and opened his mouth, "As their effective
father, I�"
Ranma pounded his father out the open door. "Are you insane!?
Don't EVEN go there!" Ranma stood in the opening, huffing, as
his father landed in the koi pond. To himself, he muttered, "I
can't believe he'd even THINK of granting permission for
somethin' like that!" He had barely begun to vent his outrage
when a human missile hurtled into the yard, ricocheting off the
crown of Ranma's head and into the house.
The sound of Ranma's body being slammed to the floor was
punctuated by a familiar cry of victory. "Whatta haul! Whatta
haul!!!"
Genma sank meekly back into the koi pond at the sight of his
dreaded master dropping in to dinner.
Ranma lay twitching, sprawled across the porch threshold.
Looking up, he found himself taking special note of the fact
that the sky above the Tendo home was a deep, velvety blue. He
found it quite mesmerizing.
Happosai dumped a bulging bag of lingerie on the floor and
quickly reached for a bowl full of food. While the diminutive
old man was rapidly stuffing his face, Anko leaned over in
curiosity and pulled out a few pieces of lingerie. Her eyes
widened with delight as she recognized the opportunity before
her. Snatching up the bag, she sprinted upstairs crying,
"Kyaaaaa! I have to try these on!"
Happosai sat there in open-mouthed disbelief. His little mind
whirled in apoplectic confusion for several moments while tears
of joy and anger mingled and spilled from his eyes. Finally,
what he had just seen and heard clicked fully into place. He
sprung to his feet, "Sweeto! Ranma-chan! I am coming!"
Ranma stopped twitching and blinked, as his rattled brain
suddenly rebooted. Sitting up, he slapped his fist into his
palm. "Happosai!" he growled, automatically seeking out the
miniature master of panty pilfering. He quickly spotted the old
man chasing Anko out of the room. Blinking again, he scanned the
room, noticing that Soun and his daughters sat frozen, final
bites of their evening meal halfway to their open mouths.
Another blink, and it struck Ranma that Anko had liberated a
wealth of stolen, sexy lingerie from Happosai. A final blink,
and the most important data finally filtered through to Ranma's
consciousness: Happosai had not even given Ranma a second look!
"What luck!" Ranma declared and picked up his bowl to resume
eating, delighted to be spared molestation for once.
"Ranma-chan! Let me help you into those silky darlings!"
Happosai's voice echoed down the hall.
As Happosai chased the girl up the stairs, Nabiki and Akane
snapped out of their shock and rose quickly to their feet. One
with an eager look of anticipation and her camera in hand, the
other with a vengeful look of determination and a shinai in her
fist.
"Are you just gonna sit there and eat while that wicked old man
molests your twin!?" Akane shouted, dragging Ranma to his feet,
propelling him along to aid in stopping Happosai, and the girl.
"It's not my problem! Why don't you drag him�" Ranma trailed
off, finally noticing that his male twin was absent from the
table. Looking up, they spotted him following Anko and Happosai
eagerly, ready to cast his vote for the best ensemble. "That
pervert!" he growled, finally taking interest in the chase.
"Hey! That's my line!"
They raced up the stairs, following the "perverts" into the
spare bedroom. Happosai was proudly laying out lingerie as Anma
gaped at the sight of Anko shedding her clothing with total
abandon. Leaping into the room, Akane pounded the "pervert"
male-clone, while Ranma tackled Anko to keep her from stripping
out of her underwear.
"When are you going to stop being a problem!?" Ranma demanded.
"Hey! Watch the hands, mister!" Anko bonked him on the head.
"Don't get so excited! I'm pretty damn familiar with�" the words
"female anatomy" were cut off in a gasp as Happosai lobbed an
ice cold water balloon in Ranma's face. "Gyaaah! Cold!"
While Ranma adjusted her clothes to suit her altered anatomy,
Happosai handed her a second pile of lingerie.
"I knew there were two of you running around!" Happosai had
blundered into the middle of Anko's campaign to capture Ranma
the week before, but had yet to learn how or why the kami had
blessed him with multiple Ranmas. As far as he was concerned,
there could never be too many of his favorite student! Always
quick to exploit said favorite, he added, "There's no need to
fight over them, Ranma-chan! There's plenty for you to model
too!"
Akane turned, spotted Ranma with the heap of lingerie in her
arms, and pounded her into the floor boards. Anko stared at this
with wide eyes for a moment. Akane did not even spare her a
glance, raving at Ranma, "This will teach you, you shameless,
perverted hussy!"
Ranma reared up, bits of tattered lingerie hanging off of her
battered form, "You sexless, macho, tomboy! How many times do I
hafta tell ya, I AM NOT *LIKE* THAT!" Practically hardwired to
return insults in kind, Ranma could not have said anything else
even to save her own life. Akane puffed up, balling her fists
and hammered the disheveled red-head straight back into the
wall.
"You're just as bad as HE is!" Akane shouted.
"Who do you think you're talking to!?" Ranma roared back.
Anko blinked, shrugged indifferently, and gleefully finished
stripping down to slip into something slinky while Ranma yelled
at Akane. "Kyaaa! This is SO sexy!" She twirled around and then
froze in shock as something small and bony pressed itself into
her bosom. "AAAhhhh! Getitoff, gettitoff!"
As Anko's distress reached ear-splitting decibels, Anma snapped
awake and lurched to his feet. He twisted and lunged in to
attack, his leg blinking through space like a strobe light. An
angry, black blur danced around the lightening series of kicks,
then bounced into focus near Anma's shoulder. Without
hesitating, the boy dropped to his chest and whipped through a
windmill kick, hands planted on the floor boards.
The kick launched Happosai at a wall, but the agile, old master
rebounded, laughing madly as he pulled a second water balloon
out of his gi. "Not too shabby, son!" Happosai crowed, dousing
the boy with water. "Three of them! Oh happy day!" Rocketing in
on sheer momentum, arms spread to grope the succulent bosom this
excellent technique would summon, he crashed into the boy's
hard, flat chest. "No! What is this!?"
In the moment of distraction, the boy perked up, and squeezed
Happosai tight in a bear hug. He locked the old man in place,
his gnarled old face pressed to the damp shirt to keep him from
ogling his girlfriend. "Gotcha, old man! No way you're gonna
peek on MY girlfriend now!"
Ranma caught this out of the corner of her eye, her gaze
hardened in response to Anma's declaration. While muttering
about the "girlfriend" comment, she appraised the situation.
Happosai leeched energy from his female victims when he molested
them. Happosai clearly had not understood that her clones did
not share her curse, and had choked on the masculine energy he'd
leeched from Anma.
While the boy kept Happosai distracted, Ranma darted past Akane,
snatching a blanket to cover the girl up. Akane had finally
noticed the other red-head and used that instant to lunge
forward with her shinai. Anko sensed Akane's attack and dodged,
unwittingly allowing Akane to get in Ranma's way. Ranma had
whipped the blanket out to snare Anko, and did not notice as it
wrapped itself around Akane. Anko, catching on to Ranma's
interference, dropped into a leg sweep, tripping the bundled
Akane into Ranma, who took the brunt of the impact, as both of
them tumbled to the floor.
"Ha! You two couldn't work together to save your own lives!"
"Dammit!" Ranma swore as the girl bounced out of reach.
Beginning to get annoyed, she growled menacingly, "Ranko!"
"Don't mind me!" Anko pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her
tongue, as Ranma wrestled with the writhing mass of Akane in the
blanket. While the two of them struggled to untangle themselves,
Anko quickly changed through a series of outfits. This provoked
Anma and Happosai to renew the fury of their struggle. Anma
still held Happosai in a tight embrace, twisting and writhing to
block Happi's view as the old man strained to get his face
around for a good look. The old goat writhed even harder as Anko
cheered, "Oh! This is so nice! And this too!"
"Let me see! Let me see! Ranma! You are going to pay for this!"
"Stop wiggling around you old toad!"
"Oooo! Look at this!"
Nabiki, who had taken station at the door after Ranma and Akane
raced in, kept the shutter on her camera clicking with glee.
"You go, girl! Smile!" and Anko dutifully posed for the camera.
"Marvelous, now, turn to the side. What can I say, Anko, you are
a natural!"
Happosai finally squirted out of the boy's grasp and the two
began bouncing around the room. Anma launched himself after him
without hesitation.
"Nabiki!" Akane sputtered, halfway free of the blanket, "Don't
encourage her like that!"
In spite of the struggling tomboy, Ranma was making progress
freeing her fiancee from the blanket, albeit becoming more
entangled herself in the process.
Happi fumed, realizing that he was being forced to divert his
attention from Anko's display in order to dodge ahead of Anma's
attacks.
"Akane, please relax for a minute," Ranma-chan begged, trying
desperately to keep her favorite blanket from being shredded by
the other girl's struggles.
Akane did pause, not so much to heed Ranma's request, but to
reflect on the observation that Anko somehow managed to complete
each wardrobe change in the instants where the old man and the
boy kept each other distracted from her. Considering where Anko
came from, Akane found it hard to credit her with possessing any
instinct or intention to preserve her modesty. Certainly not
when the outfits seemed more sinful and shameless than abject
nudity. Still, in the time it took Ranma to untangle them from
the blanket, Anko never once stood naked before male eyes.
Relieved to have unraveled Akane from her blanket without having
it destroyed, Ranma quickly folded it and tucked it safely away
in the closet before returning her attention to her unwanted
twin.
As Ranma sped over to try and stop Anko from continuing with her
little fashion show, Akane tried in vain to intercept Happosai.
Nabiki continued to click the shutter on her camera. After a
moment, Nabiki noticed that her little sister's attention was
focused more on Anko than the old lecher. "I see you noticed it
too," Nabiki casually addressed Akane.
"Huh? You mean 'Ranko'?"
"Yes. It's an ingenious strategy. She draws their attention to
herself when she's 'presentable.' They renew their struggle and
become distracted. She has a bit of privacy to change and then
she starts the cycle again," Nabiki appraised admiringly. She
saw no need to mention that this strategy had not foiled her
camera. As Anko evaded a hammer strike from Ranma, the Tendo
sisters stared as Anko suddenly called on the Saotome-exclusive
and technically "sealed" art of the Umisen-ken.
Anko vanished, followed almost at once by Ranma's clothes.
"D-d-dammit! Now you're askin' for it!" Ranma-chan growled.
Naturally, Ranma retaliated in kind and stripped the other girl
bare using the same technique. Not about to be undone, Anko
adapted the technique on the fly to dress Ranma in a stunning
bedroom ensemble. Nabiki silently thanked the kami that she had
upgraded her camera, holding the rapid-advance tightly. Anko was
able to dress the pair as quickly as Ranma-chan could strip away
the lingerie. Under such circumstances, Nabiki set a personal
speed record changing out the film in her camera, desperate not
to miss a single frame.
"Ranma, you're just making it worse," Akane growled. Her own
efforts to deal with the old man and the boy were fruitless as
well. Happosai bounded around the room evading Anma, and Akane
was spinning in circles just to keep track of them. It was not
unlike watching Ranma and P-chan fighting. It was time to switch
tactics. "Leave her to me, and get those two out of here!" Akane
snapped in frustration.
For once, there was no argument. Ranma was happy to retreat from
the humiliating onslaught of panties and bras and other
unmentionables. That did not mean she was above taking advantage
of her presently lingerie clad form to lure Happosai from the
room, while Akane put up a screen to hide the other girl from
view. With a flirty "Come and get me!" Ranma drew the attention
of old man and the boy to her.
Looking around and not seeing the other red-head, Happosai and
Anma pursued her out the door and down the stairs.
It took only a moment for Anko to notice her audience had rushed
out of the room. Before she could follow, ostensibly to get
Anma's opinion on her current ensemble, Akane blocked her, "Hold
it right there!"
"Why do you insist on getting in my way!? Huh?"
"Don't get the wrong idea. If you want to be molested by
Happosai, be my guest. Just tell me one thing first," Akane
crossed her arms and looked at her sternly. Anko sighed and
gestured for her to get on with it. "How can even a pervert like
you stand to be wearing underwear stolen from someone else?"
Akane demanded with a shiver and a look of pure disgust.
"S-st-stolen? As in, other people have worn these!?" Anko gaped
as Akane nodded. Anko stripped off the lingerie, kicking
everything into a pile. "Ick! Ew! Gross!" Before Akane could
celebrate her success in stopping Anko, the girl ran out of the
room stark naked and swearing under her breath.
"Where do you think you're going like that!?"
"I gotta take a bath, you idiot! What do you think?"
"You freak! Put some clothes on!"
Anko streaked down the stairs, plowing through Soun and Genma
who had frozen in shock at the sight of her as they were routed
from the living room by the mad dance erupting in Ranma,
Happosai and Anma's wake. Anko vanished into the furo as Akane
paused to check on the fathers. Each bore an angry red footprint
square in the middle of his face. Akane dragged the pair into
the living room as Ranma raced into the kitchen, barely ahead of
Anma and Happosai.
"Darling! Don't run!" Anma beseeched.
"Hotcha! Nowhere to run to!" Happosai cackled.
For an instant, the two unwittingly cornered Ranma. "N-now, hold
on a sec�" Ranma-chan tried to edge into reach of the kettle
that was heating on the stove. The boy, thinking she was edging
over toward him, moved at the same time as Happosai. Ranma
darted for the kettle and crashed into Anma's open arms. He
seized her passionately, and their combined momentum jerked them
out of Happosai's path. Happosai sailed through the space Ranma
had just occupied, and rebounded off the wall above the stove.
He snatched the kettle as he passed, and tossed it into the sink
where it cracked open and spilled the hot water down the drain.
"Good work, Ranma my boy. Now, just hold her still for me�"
"As if I'd let a pervert like you touch my girlfriend!" Anma
jeered. Pushing Ranma behind him, he raised his guard to the old
man.
Happosai laughed, still flying right at him.
As the boy opened up with his amaguriken attack, Happosai handed
him a couple Happodaikarin and launched himself over Anma's head
at Ranma.
Ranma spotted the small, dark blur and reacted instantly,
whipping a large pot off the pot rack.
Anma managed to catch the bombs and spun around, throwing them
at Happosai just as Ranma lunged forward with the pot, scooping
Happosai and the bombs out of the air. Once the pot slammed down
on the floor, Ranma and Anma hopped on top of it to keep the old
man trapped.
A moment later, the Happodaikarin detonated in the confined
space, throwing the pair back away from each other. While
Happosai could have danced around Ranma all night, two of Ranma
proved too much for the old man. Trapped with his own bombs, he
was fortunate to survive the experience merely blasted into
oblivion and charred head to foot.
Without a word, the Ranma and Anma sprung back into action. One
of them was raiding the refrigerator for food and bottled water
as the other raced upstairs to collect all the lingerie,
returning a moment later to wrap it all up in a bundle with
Happi inside. The boy pulled out a small hammer, as Ranma
produced the magical compact mirror she'd received from the man
at Mirror Mansion. Anma bopped the old man on the head, and
Ranma captured his gaze with the small mirror as his eyes
flickered open.
With a whoosh, the wizened old master vanished into exile.
"I knew this thing would come in handy again!" Ranma
congratulated herself.
"At last, that pest is out of our way, Darling!" Anma snatched
Ranma up in a loving embrace.
Ranma looked up in shock, moving into perfect position for the
descending kiss.
Akane appeared just in time to join Ranma in pounding the boy
senseless. "Bakahentai!" they chorused, stomping the poor boy
underfoot.
They managed to get a hold of themselves as they realized his
continuing struggles were actually reflexive twitches of pain.
"That's two down," Akane breathed in relief.
Ranma nodded silently and picked the boy up, carrying him over
her shoulder. They dragged him to Ranma and Genma's room and
laid him out on the futon. While Akane covered him with a
blanket, Ranma went to her closet, grabbed some things from
inside, and went downstairs for a quick bath.
Anko was sitting at the table, done with her bath, oblivious to
Ranma-chan's passing.
Male and dressed normally, Ranma returned from the bath a short
while later, with a bundle of roses. Sitting across from her, he
held them out silently, while Akane fumed from the door. Before
she could storm in, Ranma held up his hand, holding her off.
Akane puffed up, ready to bellow her usual challenge, as Anko
bent her head to breathe in the scent of the flowers and
suddenly swooned. Akane paused, a glimmering of understanding
passing through her, and raised an eyebrow. The roses must have
been from Kodachi, to knock the girl unconscious like that.
Akane deflated, her thoughts warring between the obvious fact
that Ranma had come on to the girl, and yet in the process put
her out of commission. Unable to conclude that he had done
either the right or wrong thing, she simply helped drag the girl
to her room.
"That's three," Ranma declared, wearily.
"I'm kind of surprised it's over already," Akane sighed, shaking
her head.
The two spent the next few minutes straightening up after the
pandemonium. Kasumi had already cleared the table and cleaned
the kitchen, while her sisters had been upstairs with the
triplets. Kasumi had apparently avoided all the chaos by
stepping out on the upstairs porch for a bit of fresh air. Ranma
sought her out to explain the destruction of one of her pots,
promising to replace it the following afternoon on his way back
from school.
It was a small price to pay for getting rid of Happosai.
-----
Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi, and the associated cast and
concepts are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and those
publishers and distributors to whom she has given official
rights. It is not the intention of this work to infringe upon
those rights. This story may not be purchased or sold without
the express permission of the writer, meaning me, the creator,
meaning Rumiko Takahashi, or those agencies to whom the creator
has given such rights or privileges. The ideas explored are
those of the author, and should not be construed to express the
opinions or intentions of the creator or associated agencies.
Author's Note: I have been an avid fan of Ranma 1/2 manga, anime
and fan fiction for years. I am also a writer and artist. In
spite of these two things, I did not seriously consider creating
any of my own fan fiction until now. Before addressing the story
I chose to write, I want to comment on why I chose to write it.
Over the past few years I have seen other fans take this cast
and explore a wonderful assortment of possibilities. Many
excellent ideas have been developed, and I felt I would have
been walking in someone else's shadow, or stepping on several
people's toes, to explore the ideas inspired by their additions
to Ranma ?. Still, I had those ideas, and they eventually led me
back to the original series where I discovered an excellent
possibility I had not yet seen explored. In the original series,
the conclusion of the "Two Ranmas" storyline was left entirely
to the imagination of the readers. It was a perfect invitation
for a fan fic, and offered me a foundation for many volumes of
ongoing fan fics. Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections begins after
Part 4 of Volume 35, and explores the events which unfolded
during the week when the Tendo Household was stuck with two
amorous copies of Ranma, one male and one female.
Revision Note: This is the first installment of the new, revised
version of Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections retitled Reflections
V.1 - Stuck in the Middle With You. This story has been evolving
from day one. By the time I finished Reflections, I had produced
enough material for three complete volumes and the story was
still evolving in new directions. It had taken on a life of its
own at some point. I could not stop the ideas from spilling out.
Before I knew it, it was no longer the story I had intended to
write. Nor was it the best story I could have written. As I
worked on the fourth volume, intended as a transition from Ranma
Nibunnoichi to Ranko Nibunnoichi, I realized it would become
necessary to go back and revise everything, taking advantage of
things I learned in the process of writing Reflections and the
"bonus" volume, It's All in the Reflexes. Thanks to all of the
reviews I received for both stories, and the special efforts of
Daniel Jess Gibson and Fangorn (Thanks guys!) that process has
begun.
In order to accommodate the growth of the story and the writer,
I needed to update it a bit so that it can continue. Some of the
changes are simply structural. It will be a five volume story,
each volume having fifteen chapters. In the fifth volume you
will find out why the next story is called Ranko Nibunnoichi -
Refractions. Sadly, that does mean there will be noticeable
changes. Some of the changes will be very subtle, while others
will be screamingly obvious. For example, the reflections will
no longer be identified as Copy-chan and Copy-kun. The suffixes
-chan and -kun, by which the copies were previously
distinguished from each other, were not really suitable. In
Ranma's case, the same suffixes have developed into a tongue in
cheek way to emphasize which side of Ranma is being referred to,
but that is not a proper way to distinguish a boy from a girl.
The -chan/-kun suffixes are normally used to indicate a level of
familiarity between two people regardless of their gender. In
addition, the first chapter has been expanded to include a rough
recap of the events in the manga leading up to this story, and
part of what was originally featured in the second chapter.
I am sorry if this upsets some of you. Feel free to stick with
the version you like best. I will keep a copy of the original
version here, if Fanfiction.Net allows it, and on my personal
site. For the most part, I am doing this revision for my own
satisfaction. So far, I have published a rough draft. What I
want to create, what I hope you will also appreciate, is a story
that makes the most out of the ideas invested in it. I hope to
make it a little less confusing as well. Comments and Criticism
are welcome as always. This is still my first fan fic, after
all. My only request is that my readers offer examples or
explanations to ensure that their suggestions will enable me to
improve the story. Comments and Criticism are welcome as always.
This is still my first fan fic, after all. My only request is
that my readers offer examples or explanations to ensure that
their suggestions will enable me to improve the story.
Mature Content: Because Reflections was originally intended to
integrate with the series, before it evolved into an outright
divergence, it faced some obvious limitations, which many fan
fic readers found disappointing. On the surface, the situation
screamed for a lovely lemon flavor. I have a healthy (avid)
interest in sex and sexuality, so it was not a case where I
couldn't or wouldn't go there� it was just that going there
would have upset the status quo tremendously. Now that
Reflections is no longer a "missing chapter" of the original
series, the ideas that support a lemon filling, can be explored.
Part of the story deals with sexual awakening and
experimentation, and some of the plot hinges on sexual events,
and must be included in the R rated version. In some cases, the
fact that sex occurred is the only thing a lemon scene
contributes to the plot, and those scenes will be found only in
the unrated version of the story. Even those scenes have a value
and significance beyond mere fan service, since the way people
act and interact in intimate circumstances is as important as
how they conduct themselves in other circumstances.
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