An Isosceles Love Triangle

Nitohen sankaku kankei (二等辺三角関係) is the 368th chapter of the manga. It is also the second chapter of the Cursed Mirror Arc.

Mirror Ranma becomes infatuated with Ranma when she discovers he is actually a guy.

Copy Trouble
Soun wakes up to a bright sunny morning. His stretches are interrupted when he sees Mirror Ranma, wearing nothing but an apron while holding an omurice and a bottle of snake wine. Shocked Nabiki correctly identifies her outfit as the nude apron. Ranma comes in and hits her on the head for behaving so oddly in the morning. Soun, now in tears, asks him why he is like this, which he denies adamantly. But Nabiki insists that since his mirror duplicate came from him, she thinks and acts like him. Even Kasumi is concerned about Ranma's behavior.

Mirror Ranma hears all this and is saddened that Ranma thinks so little of her and runs away. Ranma goes after her, worried that someone might see her wearing nothing but an apron. After passing by a few people in the chase they get close to Akane on her daily morning jog. Akane hides behind telephone pole and Mirror Ranma stops to tell Ranma that there must be someone else in his life for him to not fall for her. She then accuses Ranma of loving Akane, whom she calls fat. Ranma denies this, then is hit on the head by Akane who heard the whole thing.

Ranma decides to take his mirror counterpart to school with him to keep an eye on her. However, the instant he turns away she attacks Akane with a mallet. In school, his classmates are astonished to see female Ranma that doesn't transform with hot water. The girls wonder if she really does love Ranma, to which Ranma replies that it is indeed the case, as he is the best guy in the world. His delusions are quickly shattered when Mirror Ranma willingly goes with other boys for some ramen. She asks if he's jealous to which Ranma replies that he cannot love his copy no matter how beautiful she may be. Watching this display, Akane calls Ranma a narcissist.

Ryoga walks down a road feeling gloomy, still shocked that he had been kissed by Ranma without being aware of his mirror copy. He looks up to see Mirror Ranma chasing after guys, and while he turns his head in anger the real Ranma transforms into a girl thanks to Old Washer Woman. By the time Ranma gets up, Mirror Ranma has disappeared again. Suddenly a familiar voice calls out to her, and Ranma turns to see furious Ryoga.

Old Man's Gift
Akane arrives home to see Mirror Ranma looking sad. She tells Akane that she is jealous that Ranma likes her. Akane blushes and denies this, but the copy then utters that she wishes she was fat as well so Ranma is attracted to her. Ranma comes back, covered in bruises and barely walking with an aid of a stick. He pours hot water on himself while cursing Ryoga. When he gets to the hallway he sees Mirror Ranma sprinting in his direction. Akane then tosses a cabinet along with a phone and a kettle, knocking them both out and into the koi pond. Akane then holds a large stone above her head as her finishing attack while Ranma tries to defend herself with the lid of the kettle. Before Akane can toss the stone she is interrupted by an old man wearing a suit.

Ranma comes out of the pond dragging the mirror copy and recognizes him from the Mirror Mansion. The old man in turn recognizes her and gives her a special compact mirror. He tells them that if you open the top and look inside, you will get sucked in. As he says this, Genma opens the top and looks inside, and the compact swallows him whole. To release whomever was trapped, he tells Ranma to simply tap on the compact while held facing down. He then advises them to keep Mirror Ranma inside the compact until the mirror's seal is ready and leaves.

Before Ranma transforms back, she gets a small mallet and hits the copy to wake her up. As she opens her eyes Ranma holds the compact in front of her, and the compact sucks her in immediately. Ranma then turns the compact to say good bye, looking at the mirror in the process. Ranma gets sucked in as well leaving the compact on the ground. Inside the compact, Ranma realizes what she has done when she is suddenly stomped on the head by the copy. Somewhere along the way, Mirror Ranma got ahold of the hot water kettle and a pillow. She then uses the water to turn Ranma back and embraces him, since they are now alone without distractions.

Meanwhile, Akane and Genma quietly stare at the compact. Akane carefully picks up the compact and keeps it face down. She then lightly taps it to release the two Ranmas. When they come out, Ranma is on top of his copy, still embracing each other. Akane thinks that Ranma actually likes his copy and they start arguing. While they argue, the copy steals the compact and hides on the roof, with the intention of using the compact to keep her and Ranma together forever.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Soun Tendo
 * Mirror Ranma
 * Kasumi Tendo
 * Nabiki Tendo
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Akane Tendo
 * Hiroshi and Daisuke
 * Yuka and Sayuri
 * Ryoga Hibiki (human)
 * Old Washer Woman
 * Ranma Saotome (female)
 * Genma Saotome (panda)