Wonderful chapter

Good chapter of course. Good story

Wow, that was really heart wrenching and morose. I had already put together some of the pieces, but seeing the whole thing I can see how it all fits together. I gather that Ranma was 16 when he got in the car accident and Genma and Nodoka were killed. That would match up with when Ranko was drowned at Jusenkyo, but somehow I had assumed that Ranma was a younger child.

In my headcanon, Ukyo in the other world ends up in a nightmare variation of "Afternoon of an Ukyo", where she ends up taking Ranma's place, being forced to take on Ranma's name and the Saotome school. Maybe she gets lucky and the springs simply don't work there. Or maybe Natsume manages to interfere, and set it up so that Akane ends up helping Ukyo escape from the Saotomes.

The bigger potential for this series is that this world apparently doesn't have Ranma-level magic, but magic is now being slowly introduced into this world. And ki as well, although ki is supposed to exist even in our world, so it is more the interaction between ki and magic that makes it capable of superhuman feats. That could lead to a sequel series, similar in concept to Sarge4's "In Dreams". That's a possibility for the future though.

This chapter ends before Ukyo and Akane can deal with the fallout, though. Ukyo seems to be taking it harder than Akane, but then, Akane would be more concerned about Ranko and her isolation and loneliness, while Ukyo would naturally consider the ramifications to her relationship with Ranma. And it makes sense for the more down to earth Ukyo to question Ranko's story and wonder if Ranma is taking advantage of them, as I suggested previously.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next chapter and how things shake out.

Good work

All right, the reveal begins. So Nabiki is in on the secret, as well as Doctor Tofu, which makes sense, and Kasumi, which makes sense because of Tofu. And the other Natsume followed the demon to this universe, but there was also a Natsume already here? She isn't on the list, so apparently she isn't in on it.

So Ranko is definitely from another universe, while Ranma is this universe's Ranma. It makes me wonder if Ranma must spend time in Ranko's world while Ranko is here. It seems more like they are both trapped in the "Pool of Mirrors" during the week of time, though. Certainly I would expect if either of them had a significant other in the other universe they wouldn't have gotten involved here. Then again, if Ranko's world sounds like what it's going to turn out to be, they probably wouldn't have any friends there even if they had to spend time there.

The other possibility is that the other world came to an end, either because of the demon attack, or because it was the only way Ranma/Ranko could survive. And here I was thinking that the accident that caused Ranko to cross over happened after Ranma got cursed. But I don't think Ranko was ever cursed, was she? She was born female, and now has to live half a life with Ranma.

I am definitely looking forward to how you untangle this knot of questions. :D

I liked your some of fic but this is disgusting.

Nice three chapters

All right, we are starting to see a clearer picture. So the Natsume that Ranko thanked for her current situation is not this Natsume, eh? Seems like Ranko definitely lived another life, with a different Ukyo and Natsume. And she apparently knew Ukyo long enough to realize what she was a girl, although that could just be an assumption on my part. It makes me wonder if there was an Akane in that other world, and if Ranko ever got to meet her.

The more tantalizing clue was last chapter though. Was Ranko drowned? By Genma? Or someone else with large hands? Is this related to Jusenkyo - was Ranko drowned in the Spring of Drowned Girl, allowing her to "cross over" - or is something other than Jusenkyo involved? Again, Ranko is not terrified of warm water because it will reveal her curse, she's clearly locked. She is just traumatized by being held under some body of water.

(Side note - I wonder if Akane was terrified of drowning in this universe. She seems to have learned to swim, so if she ever was afraid of water she doesn't seem to be so now)

So it's possible that neither universe may closely follow the canon. In one, Ranma never goes on the training trip, and in the other, he is "drowned" before he can make it to meet Akane. Perhaps he was not actually drowned, but locked in girl form, and it was whatever injured Ranma and Ranko that united them into one person. Or the aftermath of that attack.

I look forward to learning more. :D

This is cool

Good five chapters

Well, I lost track of this story, which is why I haven't reviewed, but now I have caught up. And I must say, your paragraph breaks seem much better than I remembered. Maybe you reposted the first chapter? At any rate, I think my initial criticism no longer applies. (Well, your paragraphs can get a little run-on, but as I can be verbose myself, I understand :D)

At any rate, it seems like I have caught up just before the big reveal, and you have definitely created an intriguing and suspenseful AU. Just what is the situation that the canon Ranma's two sides find themselves in here? It seems that Clockright's speculations are on the nose, but there are other possibilities. The story's title, in fact, would suggest a situation similar to the Mirror Clones, where perhaps Ranma and Ranko have to switch places in a mirror.

There are a number of intriguing hints. First is the fact that Ranma and Ranko clearly are different people. While they share knowledge, they are missing some things, such as that Ranma and Akane had already met when Ranko called Ukyo, and she didn't seem to know that. Plus, in this chapter Shampoo explicitly tells Akane to "take care of both of them" so she apparently believes that they are different people.

This is important because if Ranma is merely switching back and forth in order to live a double life, it is unfair for him to mislead Akane and Ukyo about his intentions towards the both of them. Ranma does not seem to switch with hot and cold water. I believe we've seen both of them bathing in the story, which means that's not the trigger, unless we're merely not being told about the temperature of the water. More importantly, the canon Ranma would not have been able to avoid triggering his curse by now. So I think we can assume the curse is either locked in such as way as to trigger only once a week, or it has nothing to do with Jusenkyo. (or no longer does)

Now, Ranma could have no control over the change, which means he could be worried that Ukyo would never be willing to be intimate with his female form, and Akane wouldn't be interested in his male form. If that's the case, then he definitely needs to discuss it with the two of them and let them decide if they are willing to "share" Ranma rather than go against their sexual preference. But everyone who is "in the know" about the situation (Shiro, Nabiki, Shampoo) seem to feel that this isn't the case, and Ranko has as much right to her life as Ranma does to his.

And there is the issue of Ranma and Ranko's shared knowledge. As I noted, there seem to be some holes in that knowledge. Ranma and Ranko don't have to talk directly, as Clockright suggested, they could be passing each other notes. Or they might talk only during the exchange. Their split personality could be a result of the Neko-Ken, or the curse might have come with a second personality.

Alternately, Ranko could be an alternate form of Ranma, which somehow merged with him as a result of the accident. Her backstory sounds very much more like canon Ranma, while this Ranma was apparently raised by both of his parents in a very different childhood. She also says specifically that Ukyo isn't Ukyo, she doesn't say that this isn't her childhood friend from before, she says it isn't THAT Ukyo. So we could have some time shenanigans going on.

The involvement of the Amazons brings up the possibility that this situation was engineered, but Cologne. Perhaps Ranma was originally cursed, but after the accident, Cologne used one of the Amazon artifacts to split up the curse and create this "shared life" situation instead. Ranma would then have been one person in the past, but is two people now. The story's title would suggest the Nanban Mirror could be involved, again hinting that time has been messed with. The mention of Natsume is also interesting. Could the second personality be Kurimi? Or did Natsume and Kurimi help out with Cologne's plan somehow?

Either way, I am definitely intrigued, and curious to see where you go from here. I'm hoping some of the mystery is resolved soon, as I suspect the other half of the story will be Akane and Ukyo dealing with the truth and figuring out how they want to deal with it. I want to see some meetings between the two of them. :D One is a physical therapist, after all, and the other a psychological therapist, so they should have a lot to talk about.

I also want to add how much I like your alternate universe. I suspect Ranko's interest in the piano might have been inspired by "Genma's Daughter", or if not, that is an inspired solution to Ranma not being able to be a martial artist any more. And you completely fooled me with the reveal of "Mrs. Watanabe's" identity. :D I like Shiro, too, he reminds me of the relationship between Kuno and Sasuke, only not played for laughs. And the characters all being older than in the canon makes it understandable that they are all more mature and well-spoken. They are still just as neurotic, just in different ways.

Nice!

This story is currently my favorite incomplete story. It is so tender and real. And I love the idea of Akane and Ranko together. But why is it that only one of them is around at a time? Is Clockright’s theory correct? I sincerely hope not, and Ranma and Ranko are separate people. Can’t wait for the next chapter.

A sweetly romantic chapter with just a hint of foreshadowing thrown in for good measure. Nabiki is playing the perfect matchmaker, and knows just how to prompt things along.

Ranko seems way more happy now than in chapter one, and she's not quite as somber or should I say melancholic as she originally was. She has an inner light in her eyes once more.

I think that date did both girls some good, because it helped heal rifts in both of their hearts that they might not have known existed.

Have you thought about a way for Ranko to meet up with Ukyou Kuonji? Are you thinking that Broken Mirrors, and Yin Yang Yakuza could be parallels to one another? Perhaps the only difference being the accident didn't happen in one timeline.

Time could flow differently in one story than the other as well, where the only true constant is Ranma. The story of Ranma in Yin Yang Yakuza is one where she has foresight of certain events, and happenings that may lead to Broken Mirrors.

I guess it could be like Terminator in a sense, but setup in a way that more of the darker emotions are felt later on. Again thank-you for writing this.