[A/N] Really, this is just the second part of the first chapter, but I wanted to make sure all of you lovely people who followed this story get a chance to see it. Many thanks to all of you.

Chapter Two: Prior Engagements

Ranma

Ranma sat despondently in his chair as he watched cold water wash over his body for the fifth time in as many minutes. "Kasumi, can you change me back for good this time?"

The older girl nodded and poured the last of the lukewarm water over Ranma's head. He sighed as he returned to his normal form. I hate this! Why did Pops have to take to that stupid training ground in the first place? That Baka can't ever read Chinese! If he got into any other trouble while I was asleep…

He shuddered and forced himself not to think about it as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Nothing he had ever experienced could have prepared him for the first change. The irreversible feeling of losing himself… It was as if he had suddenly been wearing a glove that was several sizes too small, with holes at all of the fingertips so the cold could still get in. He was a man! He wasn't supposed to turn into some weak girl whenever he hit water! He hated it, and he never wanted to change again. "Where did everyone else go?" he questioned the oldest Tendo.

Kasumi frowned thoughtfully. "Well, after you sent Father and Genma flying halfway across Nerima, Nabiki and Akane decided that it would probably be safer to get out of your way. We had decided beforehand that I would be the one to tell you about the curse anyway, so…"

"Damn, this whole coma is so unfair. I'm probably totally rusty, too. What else did you talk about while I was asleep?" he growled, getting to his feet with a frown.

She stood up and put the empty teakettle down on the stove before turning to the sink to do the dishes. "Well, our chiropractor Dr. Tofu came around a lot to monitor your condition, so we discussed with him about that sort of thing. We also talked about, well, the arrangement our parents made, and-"

"I ain't doing no arrangement!" he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. "What sorta good for nothing parent tries to marry his kid off in a coma?"

"Calm down, Ranma. Please don't overexert yourself after being in a coma for so long," she said soothingly.

His rage deflated like a popped balloon, although his anger still boiled under the surface. "I s'pose you're right. Do you have somewhere that I could work out?"

"But-"

"Kasumi, please." Ranma walked up to her and rested his hands on the counter next to the sink. She had her eyes focused on the task at hand, not looking up at him. "I appreciate the concern, really, but I just need to be alone right now."

Kasumi sighed and nodded as she lathered a saucepan. Smiling weakly, she said, "Well, the dojo is out back if you really think that you need to use it. We don't call this place the Tendo Dojo for nothing."

Ranma couldn't quite bring himself to smile back. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

In the dojo, the unadorned wall was lined with all matter of tools and dummies for training. Ranma ignored them as he settled down on the floor to meditate for a few minutes, trying to calm his raging thoughts. He took deep breaths in an effort to steady himself, trying to imagine himself sitting alone in the middle of the woods.

Sure, he had been in worse situations in his life. A certain experience involving a dark pit filled with demonic felines immediately came to much. That being said, he couldn't help but to marvel at the hopelessness of his current situation. He was going to turn into a girl when he touched cold water. Forever.

Feeling his stony countenance begin to slip, he tried to cast around for a possible solution. Didn't the curses on TV always have a cure? Surely there had to be a way to stay a man among men forever. There had to be a way, for his sake.

Satisfied that he had something to hold onto, Ranma got to his feet and slipped into one of the most complex katas he knew, driving himself to release his rage into the art. He kicked, punched, and flipped his way around the plain wooden floor, imagining that every blow was aimed straight at his father's head. Filled with a grim satisfaction, he let his fears wash away into his concentration, fickle as the ebbing tide.

Akane

"Ranma?"

Akane had been surprised when Kasumi had told her that Ranma was in the dojo, to say the least. Does that idiot know what he's doing? He's been in a coma for a month! He can't just get back up and do martial arts after that!

Now that she could see him in action, though, her breath seemed to be stuck in her throat. His moves were more graceful that hers for sure, although they carried an angered edge that scared her slightly. Her awe was quickly overtaken by her jealousy, and she glowered at him as he spun around into a midair kick. No! This isn't how it's supposed to happen. I'm the best martial artist in the house! He's just a weak coma patient with head trauma and a ridiculous curse. How do they expect me to marry someone who's better than me at martial arts?

She could practically hear her father whispering about joining the schools as she stepped onto the dojo floor.

"Ranma!"

The dark-haired boy froze mid-swing and dropped to the ground. "Oh, hi, erm… Akake?"

"It's Akane," she replied icily, consciously forcing her fists to unclench. See? I knew Nabiki had no idea what she was talking about! I don't even need to search for reasons to dislike him because he's handing them to me on a silver platter. This engagement is already dead, as far as I'm concerned. "You can stop flaunting around now."

Ranma frowned, then crossed one foot over the other as he locked his hands behind his head. "What's with you? All I said was hi. Besides, I think you owe me an apology." His frown melded into a cocky grin, and he settled down into a meditative pose on the floor. For the second time in as many minutes, Akane's mouth dropped open as she stared at him. He tilted his head sideways confusedly. "What's wrong? Is anyone there?"

"I owe YOU an apology?" she spat out. "What should I apologize to you for? Besides, I think I think that it's the other way around."

Ranma hummed softly as he stretched to one side. "Why am I apologizing? I ain't done nothing wrong. Hell, I've been in a coma for a month! Here I was, thinking that we could be friends..."

Akane lost it. "Oh yeah, Mr. High and Almighty? How can you care so little? While you've been asleep for a month, I've been stewing over the stupid engagement our parents forced us into! You could at least act in a way that would make me hate you less."

"Hold on." Ranma got to his feet and stared at her intently. "You're saying that this forced engagement is to an arrogant uncute tomboy like you. Why would I want to marry someone like you even if I wasn't forced into it?"

"WHY YOU!" she screeched and launched herself at the unprepared boy, sending him flying backward into the wall. "You can go screw yourself, for all I care."

She stormed out of the dojo, through the kitchen, and into the furoba. Stripping off her clothes, she grabbed her rubber duck and practically threw herself into the warm water.

It took her a few moments for what she had just done to sink in. She squeezed her eyes tight and pressed her forehead against the cool side of the bathtub. "God, I'm an idiot."

She had been practicing that conversation over and over in her head for a month.

Thirty whole days!

I was going to try to make this work, wasn't I? Why does he have to make this so hard? I was going to be nice to him, and then he goes and acts like a perfect egotistical jerk! I hate him… don't I?

She sighed, realizing that trying to have that conversation with a newly awakened and cursed boy informed of his engagement probably hadn't been the best idea. Way to go, Akane. He even told you that he wanted to be friends. You should have listened to Kasumi.

She sank deeper into the warm water with a defeated sigh. At least he's not like the other boys. At least he has the decency to be honest about who I really am.

Ranma

Ranma sagged as Akane stormed out of the dojo. Well, that went poorly.

He hadn't really meant to insult her like that. Well, maybe he had, just a little bit. She walked just like he did, and she didn't exactly seem like any of the girls he had seen that one time his all-boys school had visited their sister school last year. Certainly, she was nothing like Kasumi. Didn't that make someone a tomboy?

He blamed the smelly old panda for not knowing the answer to that question.

Really, though, what did I do to make her hate me that much? I've been sleeping, damn it! I wouldn't have said none of that if she hadn't been so… angry with me.

"Stupid engagement…" he muttered as he exited the dojo into what would quickly become his least favorite place in the Tendo household – the garden. To angry to focus on where he was going, he ended up falling into a very cold bath of water instead.

A koi looked on in mild interest as the strange boy fell in and instantly turned into a girl. It had seen stranger things in its lifetime.

Ranma spluttered as she burst out of the pond and landed in a soggy puddle at Nabiki's feet. The middle sister raised her eyebrow as she got to her feet with disgruntlement. "I don't suppose you're planning on telling me why you suddenly veered towards the ponds and fell in, are you."

He turned to look back at the garden with wide eyes. "I think that there's something wrong with your garden, Nabiki."

"I couldn't help but to overhear earlier that you asked Kasumi what we talked about while you were asleep," she whispered slyly, ignoring him. "I could tell you."

"Really?"

"It'll cost you."

Ranma frowned and looked down at her hands. "Sorry, but I don't have any money. Pops and I are broke."

Nabiki frowned as she pulled a massive checking book out of her back pocket. "Well, then. I suppose I'll have to start a tab for you. You can pay me later. What do you want to know?"

Ranma shook his head. "This is going to end poorly for me, isn't it?"

"Yup!" Nabiki said cheerfully as she scribbled something down. "That answer was 50 yen. Next!"

Ranma eyed her warily as she stepped around her. "You're going to charge me every time I answer a question?"

"Absolutely! That's another fifty, so you better remember it."

She gulped before turning to walk away. "I'm going to get out of this stupid body. The furoba's this way, right?

Nabiki frowned. "Well, it would be a bad idea to go in there right now. Akane's still cooling off from the shouting match you two had, so I suggest that you avoid her. Give it an hour or so."

One long bath and transformation later, Ranma was settling down into the bed he had slept in for the past month once again. He sighed, all of the craziness happening in his life spinning in his mind.

Well, at least it can't get any worse than this.

Can it?

[A/N] Akane spent a little too much time thinking about the engagement. Good think Ranma knows just how to rile her up.

Signing out, Allie

[Edit 2/11/18] Grammar, removed a dropped recurring gag