Ranma 1/2: The Insanity Continues

Volume 2 - Reflections and Changes 

Chapter 1 - Honey Moon Blues

By: Lord Archive.

Authors note: 

This series deals with a married Ranma and Akane, so there are some 
sexual references and innuendoes in the story. 

Legal babble: Ranma 1/2 and all characters (except the delivery-men) are 
copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, ect... and is used without 
consent. I am only borrowing them. I will return them... eventually.

< > represents a character's thoughts.

-----------------

Intro: Hello! Saotome Akane here. Yes, you heard right, Saotome- I 
finally married that baka, one month after the bombed wedding. It 
happened after I had a long private talk with Ranma, found out about 
Ryoga's curse, and got pregnant. You would think that this would end at 
least some part of the insanity of the past year and a half, but it 
didn't.

---------------------------------------------------

She had lost him. Without him, she was nothing, cared for nothing, had 
nothing. Eleven years of her life, her childhood, her womanhood, all 
wasted chasing a man she could never have. And he had just married 
someone else. What was worse, she couldn't exact her vengeance upon him 
because she still loved him. 

Kuonji Ukyou sat on the floor of the restaurant she had built for her 
love, cursing him and the memories her restaurant brought up. After ten 
o'clock, she got off the floor and grabbed some pens and paper. 
Motioning to Konatsu, who had been watching her from the shadows the 
entire time, she handed the writing equipment to him.

She stated with a sob, "Write down any ideas you have to remodel this 
place."

"Huh?"

She did not reply as she walked over to the counter, pulled out her 
whoop-ass spatula and decimated the counter.

Konatsu shouted, "Ukyou-sama, Stop! What are you doing?!"

"My old life is over," she said, not looking up from the debris for a 
moment. Then she turned to him, looking at him with tears in her eyes. 
"So I'm preparing to make a new one."

"What are you planning to do?" Konatsu said in a worried voice.

"I'm going to gut Ucchan's and open Ukyou's in it's place. And when I 
see Ranma and Akane again I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do."

"They didn't mean to hurt you. They are your friends. Please don't push 
them away."

He did not get a reply as Ukyou resumed her destructive outpouring 
against her restaurant.

---------------------------------------------------

Kuno slowly marched into his room, crestfallen. The loves of his life 
just married each other. Well, one of his loves, the other was a lie. He 
glared at a poster of the girl he once called his pig-tailed goddess.

He raised his bokken to the poster and shouted, "You vile cur. You have 
deceived me, the Blue Thunder, with your heinous magic. For that alone I 
have the right to seek vengeance, but you have also captured the heart 
of the beauteous Tendo Akane. For that the swift punishment of heaven is 
not enough. You deserve the slow agonizing revenge of hell!"

He shredded all the pictures of onna-Ranma off his walls, and then his 
eyes befell the pictures of Akane.

"You are now lost to me for all time. You the fairest of woman, lost to 
the evil Saotome. I shall honor your wish and not interfere, but I shall 
have my revenge on Ranma, somehow. Now I must commit the ultimate 
sacrifice and lay low my love for you."

He took down all the pictures of Akane. As he removed the final poster, 
he noticed a picture that had been placed over two years ago, before his 
obsession with Akane.

"Maybe it is you who is truly the love of my life. A girl of cunning and 
intellect that reviles no other, but your spirit does not match what a 
noble warrior such as I should have as a wife and love. After all this 
time, there is still something that beckons me to you though. I shall 
sleep on this thought."

He walked over to his bed and fell dead asleep.

The only picture remaining on his wall was tattered and faded with age. 
It was almost indistinguishable, however, the image of a fifteen year 
old girl with short brown hair could still be seen.

---------------------------------------------------

Overnight the unusually warm weather passed and gave way to the cold 
chilling rains of winter. Ranma and Akane didn't care, they weren't 
going anywhere while on their honeymoon. Most of their friends and 
rivals, however, felt the weather suited their mood perfectly.

-----------------------------

Ryoga stood at the door of the Unryu farmhouse, watching Akari feed her 
pigs. He was lost in thought. He lamented the lost of Akane, and hoped 
he was not losing Akari. He made a mistake at the wedding. A mistake he 
doubted she would truly forgive him for. Akari returned from her morning 
chores and looked at Ryoga with concern.

Akari asked, "Ryoga are you okay?"

Ryoga looked at her with sorrow filled eyes, "I'm fine."

Akari shook her head, "Ryoga, I realize it's hard to let go of someone 
you love. But you should know first loves never work out."

"Who was your first love?"

Akari sighed, "I guess if I tell you, it'll help you get over Akane. 
Well, he was this guy at school and when he laughed he sounded like a 
pig...." 

---------------------------------------------------

"Here you go Mu Mu-chan," said Kasumi as she placed some food and water 
near Mousse.

Mousse quacked his thanks. He was thankful Kasumi allowed him to be her 
temporary pet, so as not to inconvenience the Saotomes and the Tendos. 
He sat in the kitchen and watched Nodoka and Kasumi get into a pleasant 
argument over who should cook. 

He really didn't mind being Kasumi's pet, as it was better than being 
Cologne's pet. Even if he had to be Cologne's pet, he would be happy. 
Shampoo was free of Saotome and he now has the chance to win Shampoo 
through combat. 

He wanted to go to Shampoo and declare his love to her, but he knew that 
would cause him no end of pain from either Shampoo or Cologne, possibly 
both. He just sat there and took comfort knowing that soon he will be 
able to prove his love.

He was distracted from his thoughts by Nabiki asking, "So what are you 
doing here, Mousse?"

"Quack, quack."

"Oh, he's been thrown out of his home until he can defeat Shampoo," 
answered Kasumi.

"Decided to play the P-Chan act, huh?" Nabiki asked.

Mousse nodded. "Quack."

Nodoka, realizing this was the same guy Shampoo threw into the koi pond 
at the wedding reception, asked, "Why is he staying a duck?"

"He insisted because he doesn't want to inconvenience us," answered 
Kasumi.

Nodoka shook her head, "My son certainly has some interesting friends."

---------------------------------------------------

She did not understand how she had lost him. She was cuter than Akane, 
she was a better fighter than Akane, she was a better cook than Akane... 
in fact, she was better than Akane at everything else she could think 
of, as well. She lay on the bed, bemoaning her loss.

Shampoo had loved Ranma with all of her heart, but after he got Akane 
pre... pre... pregnant, he had to marry her. Shampoo had never managed 
to get anything more than a hug or a kiss from Ranma. Who was she 
kidding? All of the times he hugged her were drug induced, and she 
forced all of the other hugs and kisses upon him. She had never gotten 
anything from him.

Shampoo rolled over, revealing the tears in her eyes. All she wanted to 
do was to be able to wake up and find this was all just a nightmare, but 
she knew in her heart that it wasn't. Ranma was lost to her...

---------------------------------------------------

Cologne worked the Neko-hantan alone as Shampoo was still in bed. 
Cologne would have to get her downstairs soon to help with the lunch 
rush. 

Cologne wanted to help Shampoo get over the loss quickly, but she had 
long since raised a child or dealt with these matters. She had spent the 
last year guiding Shampoo as a warrior and had rarely given what could 
be considered motherly advice. What she told Akane after being freed 
from the imprisonment gem was something she had said to many young 
mothers before and probably will say it again in the future, and were 
not exactly her own words. 

Cologne used her last chance to get Ranma as a protector and possible 
addition to the amazon tribe by making Akane an Amazon, and it worked. 
The only man who has a chance to defeat her had pledged to help the 
Amazons in times of trouble and there by gained a powerful protector. 
Ranma still remained an enigma to her as he was only seventeen yet he 
was among the strongest warriors on the planet.  she mused. She pushed the thought aside to be pursued 
again in the future. 

She decided to see if she had a potion that could dull the love Shampoo 
felt for Ranma, and wished she had realized the need to use it on Akane 
before it was too late.

---------------------------------------------------

Ranma slowly woke with a smile on his face. He frowned a little when he 
realized that Akane wasn't there.  he thought. He heard a 
noise approach the door and was suddenly filled with dread, thinking, 
 

The door opened to reveal Akane holding a tray with two bowls, two 
glasses, two spoons, container of milk, container of orange juice, and a 
box of cereal. Akane saw the frightened look on Ranma's face and was a 
little angry.

Ranma relaxed at the sight of cereal and smiled, "Good morning."

There was a short battle in Akane's head to either be angry at Ranma or 
to forget about it. She forgot about it.

"Actually it's afternoon now," she blushed. "You can thank your Mom for 
suggesting cereal for breakfast. She thought it best for me to keep 
things simple, at least during the honeymoon."

He nodded in agreement, thinking, 

---------------------------------------------------

Under the trees, in the cracks and crevices, and along the rooftops of 
Furinkan High School were hundreds of male figures. Some were wearing 
all black in mourning, some were plotting and planning, and some were 
designing highly explosive land mines. All, however, shared one common 
feature, they were all crying over the loss of Akane. 

Hiroshi and Daisuke were among the few who were happy. Sure Akane was no 
longer available, if she ever was. The wedding freed Ukyou and Shampoo 
to enter the dating circuit.

"So which one do you want to go after the Amazon or the chef?" asked 
Daisuke.

"I prefer the chef. The Amazon seems too...well...she's easily swayed by 
mood swings and is extremely violent," replied Hiroshi.

"But that would also describe Akane, and you know what kind of following 
she had. Besides Shampoo is a much better looker."

"Looks are good, but not everything."

"True, but it is a large part of the consideration."

Hiroshi leaned toward Daisuke and asked, "Are you foolish enough to 
challenge her to a fight?"

Daisuke grinned, "Challenge her to fight, no. Set a trap to defeat her, 
yes."

Hiroshi shook his head, "Are you stupid? If you defeat her like that she 
might decide to kill you. If she doesn't you'll have to marry her and 
move to China. Leaving everything behind."

Daisuke leaned back, "It might just be worth it."

"You are stupid."

---------------------------------------------------

Nabiki picked at her lunch. She was trying to figure out what money 
making schemes to start considering her main source wasn't going to 
generate as much money as it used to. Her last scheme was to open a 
betting pool on how long it would be before Akane got pregnant. This 
didn't fool many of the students as several bets were placed that she 
already got pregnant. Three people won so far out of the forty-two who 
placed bets. Most of them thought she's been pregnant for more than a 
week.

She looked over her mental list of people who made her money,  She absent-mindedly wrote down 
some of her ideas.

Nabiki looked up and said to one of her cohorts, "I want to set up a 
betting pool based on Mousse's attempts to win Shampoo. Bets should be 
taken on date of first battle, winner of said battle, if Shampoo is 
defeated and/or married before Mousse can defeat her, and if Shampoo 
accepts Mousse if he wins."

---------------------------------------------------

Two of Akane's friends sat eating lunch, thinking about yesterday.

"That was an interesting wedding," Sayuri said.

"Certainly was," agreed Yuka.

"It seems that nothing is normal for them."

"They lead an interesting life. Just be thankful we get to watch from 
the sidelines."

"Wouldn't want to get involved in some of that craziness."

Yuka nodded, "It would prove rather bad for our health."

They giggled a little. Sayuri started to pick at her food and said, "It 
seems odd that Akane got married."

"How so? She was engaged to him for a year and a half and they love each 
other."

"Yes, but before then she screamed daily, 'I despise men!' And she's the 
first to get married and to someone who's, 'a man amongst men.'"

Yuka giggled, "Maybe she wanted to marry his girl half."

Sayuri laughed, "I doubt it."

---------------------------------------------------

 Nodoka thought as she walked 
to the restaurant section of the market. She stopped as she noticed 
Ukyou and Konatsu taking a broken table to the trash.

"Hello," Nodoka greeted cheerfully.

Ukyou and Konatsu replied, "Hello."

"Ukyou, I thought you would be at school now."

"I don't feel up to going to school right now."

"What seems to be the matter?" Nodoka asked.

"Everything is wrong," Ukyou replied angrily.

"Why don't we talk about it? It would make you feel better."

"It couldn't hurt anymore than I feel now."

Ukyou led Nodoka into what used to be Ucchan's. Konatsu continued to 
clean up what was left of the place. Nodoka was shocked at the damage.

"What happened here?"

"I ripped the place apart," Ukyou said, unemotionally.

"Whatever for?"

"I built this place out of my love for Ranma. I built it here so I could 
be near him. And if he had chosen me, I could have supported him. This 
place was a symbol of my love for him, and he rejected that love. This 
is what's left of that love." Ukyou finished as she waved her hand 
across the decimated room.

"Ukyou dear, Ranma didn't reject your love. He still cares for you. It's 
just that there is someone more important to him. He wants to stay 
friends with you..."

Ukyou angrily interrupted, "That's all I ever was! Just a friend! He 
never gave me chance to be more than friends. I wanted us to be married. 
Why didn't he choose me? I love him more than Akane ever could."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Even Ranma admitted I love him more than she does! He means everything 
to me and he left me behind. Again!"

"Why does he mean everything to you?"

Ukyou looked a Nodoka for a moment. "Because he's the first person to 
see the real me."

"Did he really see the real you, or the you you wanted to be for him?"

"What he saw was the real me."

"From what Ranma told me about you, the Ukyou he knew would never have 
attacked him at the wedding attempt nor destroyed her own restaurant. 
Yet you've done both. You've been hiding behind masks your entire life, 
first as a guy and then as Ranma's cute, friendly fiancee. I suspect 
neither of them are the real you."

"Who am I then?" Ukyou asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. But, you've been given the opportunity to find out. You 
might even realize that you never really loved Ranma in the first place, 
but was in love with the idea of being in love with him."

Ukyou replied angrily, "But I love him, not some idea of love."

"When you thought of your future with Ranma, was it always perfect."

"Of course."

"You realize if I asked Ranma or Akane that, they would say otherwise."

"Huh?"

"They realize their life will have problems, especially with the 
insanity my son seems to bring with him. They'll fight to make things 
better, because of their love for each other. They know a perfect ideal 
life is impossible for them."

"I could've made his life perfect."

"Are you willing to put up with the life my son leads? Not knowing if 
the animal that entered your home is really an animal or not. Having 
demons crash into your living room. Going a week without something 
magical or supernatural happening would be a rare event. Knowing that 
one of his adventures will be the death of him, you, or someone you care 
about. Have you ever thought of these things would be part of your 
perfect life?"

Ukyou stared at Nodoka. She had never thought about his future in that 
context. It was always of him being a loving husband with him helping 
her or her helping him in their chosen professions. For some reason she 
felt the insanity would end with his marriage.

Ukyou, uncertain how to answer, asked, "Did you ask Akane this?"

"Yes, after the wedding attempt, when I realized just how much craziness 
my son's life has. Akane told me that her time in China proved to her 
how much she loves Ranma, and his love for her. Did you know they both 
almost died trying to save each other?"

"But I'd die for him too!"

"Would you also put up with being kidnapped and used for bait?"

"I'd never get kidnapped."

"Really. Do you think you could fight off dozens of attackers that are 
dan all level martial artists? What if they fly? Use magic?"

"I don't know." Ukyou looked at floor. 

Nodoka put her hand on Ukyou's shoulder. "Ukyou, Dear. I think you've 
been living in a dream. A dream that ended with an outcome you didn't 
want. It's time you looked at things for what they really are, and not 
what you want them to be."

Nodoka's words struck at Ukyou. Everything she thought she knew about 
her life had just been shredded apart. What did she know? She knew how 
to make the best okonomiyaki, but right now it seemed she didn't really 
know anything else.

Ukyou gave Nodoka a confused look, saying, "I'll think about what you 
said. I need to get back to fixing this place."

"If you need to talk, call me," Nodoka said as she pulled a peace of 
paper and pen out of her purse and wrote down the number to the Saotome 
home. "If I'm not there, I'll be at the dojo."

Ukyou nodded and said, "Thanks."

---------------------------------------------------

Ryoga and Akari sat quietly in her kitchen eating lunch.

"Akari?" Ryoga began, "You're not completely over your old boy friend, 
are you?"

Akari shook her head, "I guess not. I thought I was, but talking about 
him brought back some memories. I guess there will always be a place in 
my heart for him, as Akane has in yours."

Ryoga nodded, "It gets easier, right?"

"You mean easier to not think about them."

"I guess."

"It does get easier, and the pain of missing them also decreases over 
time."

"I'm lucky, I found someone before I lost Akane," he smiled weakly.

"It's too bad about Ukyou and Shampoo, though, from what I understand 
they don't have anyone else."

Ryoga nodded in agreement, "Especially Ukyou, besides Ranma, her only 
friends are Akane and Konatsu. And, well, you can guess what she thinks 
of Ranma and Akane now."

"Maybe we should visit Nerima soon, and help."

"That would be great," he smiled. While he was beginning to like staying 
at the Unryu farmhouse, he still disliked being near a pig farm.

----------------------------------------------------

After that little incident with Ukyou, Nodoka began to worry about 
another person hurt by this marriage. Because of that she decided to 
drop by the Neko-Hanten and check up on Shampoo. Besides, she was 
hungry- she hadn't had lunch yet.

"Nihao," Shampoo greeted sadly.

"Hello," Nodoka returned.

Shampoo lead Nodoka to a seat. "What does mother-in... Ranma's mother 
want?" 

After a second of looking at the menu, "I guess I'll have Pork Ramen. 
Oh, Shampoo, when you have some time I'd like to talk to you."

"Shampoo no want to talk now."

Cologne appeared next to Shampoo and interrupted, "Shampoo would be 
happy to talk with you after the lunch rush is over."

"But..." Shampoo said before Cologne gave her a stern look. "Okay, 
Shampoo talk with Ranma's mother later."

Cologne went back to the kitchen, thinking, 

Shampoo walked over to her various customers. She talked to them in a 
somber voice. And, much to the dismay of the male clientele, she didn't 
bounce around like she normally did.

Shampoo had devoted her attention to the customers, until Nodoka was the 
only one left. She sighed and walked over to her. "Shampoo free to talk 
now."

"How are you feeling?"

Shampoo began to study the floor, saying, "Not good. Shampoo trying to 
understand why ai... Ranma chose violent girl over Shampoo."

Nodoka replied with a smile, "The simplest of reasons, love."

"But why Ranma love violent girl?"

"I couldn't begin to even try to know all the reasons."

Shampoo shook her head, "Shampoo is better than Akane in everything, 
Ranma should love Shampoo."

"Dear, if being better meant anything, I would never had fallen in love 
with Genma. Even after all his failings and mistakes, I still love him."

Shampoo blinked. "How love man who isn't even good panda?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"Don't know?"

Nodoka shook her head, "No, I don't."

"One should love someone who's perfect, like Ranma," Shampoo protested.

Nodoka laughed, "No one is perfect. To truly love someone you need to 
recognize their failings, and accept or even prefer them."

"Ranma not perfect?"

"If Ranma was perfect, would he have kept his relationships unresolved 
as long as did, lied to me about his curse, or insult someone he loves?"

After a moment, Shampoo answered, "Shampoo don't think so."

"Akane recognizes these faults, and even sees some that aren't even 
there, and yet she loves him. Ranma also sees her faults and accepts 
them too."

Shampoo shook her head, "Thought Shampoo knew what love was. Now not so 
sure."

"Love is something that is unexplainable. If you can explain it, it's 
not love."

"Maybe should talk with Mousse, about this. Mousse can list why love 
Shampoo."

"Then maybe he doesn't really love you, he just thinks he does."

"Like Shampoo thought love Ranma," Shampoo said somberly.

"While you may not have really loved him, it doesn't mean you don't have 
strong feelings for him that resemble love. You'll still miss him and 
yearn for him, but it's not true love."

"Not true love," Shampoo repeated as she turned away and walked off, 
lost in thought.

"Thank you. You've helped a lot," Cologne said as she arrived at the 
table.

"It's the least I could do, considering my son is the cause of her pain. 
If she needs someone to talk to, I'll being willing to do it." Nodoka 
handed Cologne a peace of paper.

"She just might take you up on that offer."

---------------------------------------------------

Ranma was awake in bed with Akane sleeping on him. He gently stroked her 
hair.

"You may be uncute, but now you're my uncute wife," he whispered.

Akane was not as asleep as she appeared. She opened her eyes, letting a 
hidden tear fall. "Ranma," she sniffed. "Why do you still call me that? 
Do I really look that bad to you?"

He sighed. "Akane... I'm not insulting you by calling you uncute. And 
I'm not talking about how you look, either. You're a very beautiful 
woman, but you aren't cute." Akane didn't quite look so sad, but now she 
looked very confused. Ranma sighed. "You aren't some giggling school 
girl, you aren't some bubbly flirt, you don't act very... how do I put 
this... you aren't TOO feminine. You're cute enough, especially when you 
smile... but you're not what people generally consider cute. You don't 
fit the 'ideal' model, you're don't have Kasumi's innocence. You aren't 
a ditz like... say... someone like Azusa or Shampoo. You aren't 
subservient or child-like... you're too mature for me to consider you 
cute all of the time. I don't think I could have fallen in love with you 
like I did if you weren't..."

She snuggled closer to him. "Well, I guess I might not have fallen I 
love with someone who wasn't a bit of a pervert."

"Who is calling who a pervert? You're the one that seduced me."

---------------------------------------------------

Ukyou lay in bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling and thinking 

She rolled to her side, still thinking. 

She rolled over.  Ukyou sighed. 

Ukyou rolled onto her back. 

She rolled to her side, still thinking, 

---------------------------------------------------

 Nabiki thought as she sloshed 
into class. She really didn't like the longer amount of time it took to 
get to school from Nodoka's home. Seeing Kuno's bright cheery face this 
morning didn't help matters. 

She sat down at her desk and opened her school bag. When she went to 
place a couple books into the desk, she felt something was in there. 
Something she did not remember putting there. She bent over to take a 
peek inside. Her eyes widen at what she saw. It took her a couple 
seconds to regain composure. She didn't remove it. Rather, she proceeded 
to empty her book-bag into her desk to keep anyone from seeing it. Once 
done, she noticed that Kuno's smile was much bigger and that he was 
failing rather badly at looking inconspicuous.

---------------------------------------------------

After school, in the auditorium of Furinkan High School, a large number 
of guys were in a meeting.

"Now that Akane has married Ranma, we must disband the Tendo Akane Fan 
Club. But, we can form a new club and set our goals on another girl," 
the guy at the podium announced. He pressed a button on the podium and a 
picture was displayed on the screen behind him. "This girl, Shampoo, is 
an Amazon. Unlike Akane, defeating her in battle will not get you a date 
with her, but married to her!"

"Why Shampoo? I think we should go after Ukyou," one of the guys 
retorted.

"Look at Shampoo! She is beyond cute. How could you prefer that 
cross-dresser?" another guy shouted.

"She doesn't have a homicidal maniac chasing away her suitors," answered 
yet another guy.

"Hey, what about Kodachi? She's gorgeous," one guy said before being 
thrown out.

"Let's put it to a vote. All in favor of Shampoo raise your hand," 
stated the guy at the podium. He quickly counted the hands. "Now, those 
in favor of Ukyou." After he finished counting, he announced, "23 votes 
for Shampoo and 23 votes for Ukyou. Hey, how can we have 46 votes from 
41 people?"

"Simple, some of us just want to get a girl."

The guy at the podium smacked himself in the head, and then his eyes got 
wide as an idea hit him, "I got it! We'll make two clubs. One club goes 
after Shampoo, and the other Ukyou."

Most of the guys nod in agreement. After hours of bickering and 
nit-picking the two clubs were formalized, the Get Married to Shampoo 
Club or GMSC and the Ucchan Fan Club.

---------------------------------------------------

Nabiki stayed late at school. She always found one thing or another to 
help her make money while there. This afternoon it was the formation of 
the two clubs designed to snare Ranma's ex-fiancees. The GMSC promised 
to be the more profitable of the two.

While making money was her normal reason to stay late at school, 
however, it was far from the only reason today. She didn't want anyone 
to see what someone had put in her desk. It was a couple hours after 
school and most of the sport teams were already on their way home. She 
decided now would be the time to get the item. She removed the books 
from her desk and placed them into her school bag. She then reached in 
and pulled out the item, a bouquet of red roses. She inhaled the aroma 
of the sweet pollen, bringing a smile to her lips. She noticed the card 
attached and read it.

	To one whose beauty outshines the morning star,
	and whose cunning and intellect exceeds others by far.

				with love,
				Your Secret Admirer.

Nabiki couldn't stop laughing, "Secret admirer! Who's he kidding! Ranma 
could figure this one out." She breathed in the fragrance of the roses 
again. "Well, it is kind of sweet," she smiled. She carefully placed the 
roses into a large paper bag that she had brought with her.

She left, thinking, 

---------------------------------------------------

A truck with Nerima Furniture written on its side sat in front of the 
Saotome-Tendo home. Two men stood at the front door and knocked. A 
disheveled looking girl with red hair answered the door.

"What do you want?" a tired yet angry Ranma asked.

The taller of the two men said, "We're hear to deliver a futon couch to 
Saotome Ranma."

Ranma replied, "I'm him."

The delivery men blinked simultaneously. 

"If you would sign here, we can bring it in," the shorter man said. 

He handed Ranma a clipboard and pen. Ranma looked it over for a second 
before signing it.

An equally disheveled girl with short black hair entered the hallway and 
asked, "Ranma, who's at the door?" 

"It's the delivery men with our wedding present from my Mom."

"Oh. Better clean up our room while they get it."

Ranma handed back the clipboard, "You can bring it upstairs."

The two men looked stupefied. They turned around and went to get the bed 
from the truck.

"Wedding present?" the taller man muttered, "Aren't they both girls?"

The shorter man mused, "Changing times I guess."

When they returned, they saw the same short-haired black girl helping a 
guy with wet jet black hair, dressed exactly the same as the redhead, 
move a mattress.

"You can put our futon in that room," Ranma said as he pointed.

They shook their heads in disbelief.  the two thought simultaneously

---------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: 

How many of you doubt this chapter will be the only mention of Akari's 
old boy friend. Well, if did doubt it, shame on you. He'll show up 
sometime around volume 4. He's a Sumo Wrestler with special attacks 
based on his bulk. He's also harder to hurt than Ryoga, but Gosunkugi is 
faster than him.

For those who can't figure out who is Nabiki's secret admire. Tough! I 
won't tell you. I gave you more than enough hints.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/fuji/9061/TIC