[Episode 77084] [Episode 77084]But he'd have to be careful too. He still wasn't sure what kind of pepper that had been and for all he knew, It might be stronger than even he could handle. Oh well. It's not like he had his father's weakness for food. As long as he was on his guard, she shouldn't be able to hurt him.
Ranma then shifted his thoughts to Yumi. Exactly how dangerous was this girl? Did she hold some kind of grudge against him and his father or was it just that she was siding with Akane and had little patience for Genma? What had really happened between her and Nabiki in the hall? Too many questions and not enough answers. He would just have to go ask her himself... and hope that he wasn't making a big mistake. For all he knew, she might attack him on sight.
Ranma went to find Yumi.
***
Meanwhile, Yumi was thinking about Ranma. It was scary to think that he was what she would probably have become- A sexist idiot. Yumi had decided to reverse as much damage she could. After all, why should Ranma have to suffer at Akane's hands when Genma was the one at fault, at least for the sexism. Yumi couldn't help that Akane would probably still beat him senseless for being an idiot and a boy. It was just then that she stopped short of turning the corner. Ranma was coming this way.
***
Ranma was a bit surprised to see Yumi just waiting when he turned the corner, but he decided to act normally (with his usual lack of tact). Maybe he could find out a few things. "Oh. What do you want?" asked Ranma.
"I want you to tell me what your intentions are towards Akane." replied Yumi. It wasn't a request.
Ranma decided to set things straight. He said, "That's easy. Avoid her until our parents give up this stupid idea of theirs. I never asked for no fiancée. Especially not a violent maniac with no looks who's always trying to kill me."
"Akane may be quick to anger but you had to have played at least some part." said Yumi. She thought that he was being a little harsh but it was good to see that Akane was taking pretty good care of the situation. Still, Ranma may be an idiot but she kind of felt sorry for him. What with Genma for a father and Akane for an unwilling fiancée.
"That's an understatement." said Ranma, "She'd attack me for asking what time it was."
"Look." said Yumi, "We both agree that you should stay away from Akane, so why don't I try to help you to get along when you can't avoid each other."
Ranma was still a little suspicious. "You can try but it's not like I'm gonna suck up to her or nothin'" he said.
"I'll tell you what I know about the last two days and you fill in the details. OK?" said Yumi. Ranma nodded. "You arrived yesterday and Akane ended up being engaged to you." began Yumi.
"Yeah. Spoiled a nice sunny day too." replied Ranma.
"How exactly did you get stuck with Akane?" asked Yumi.
"Nabiki was too smart for our fathers, Kasumi didn't want a younger husband, and they both agreed that it would be nice for Akane to have a husband who could survive when she lost her temper." explained Ranma.
That made sense but it was still a weak argument. On the other hand, that had never stopped the Genma she remembered and Soun could be pretty dumb when he was determined to get something done.
"OK, some time after that you refused to spar with Akane," continued Yumi.
"No I didn't." said Ranma looking surprised, "She challenged me, I beat her, and then I told her that I wouldn't spar with her again because she might get hurt."
Yumi was a little surprised but it sounded plausible. What with her daily fight with half of the boys in the school, Akane had been getting a little overconfident. She had probably intended to show him that he was weak and get the engagement canceled. It wasn't as if Yumi had asked her what else had happened.
"That sounds kind of sexist don't you think?" asked Yumi. She wanted to make him to admit it if she could. The thought that Akane may have misunderstood his intentions hadn't even crossed her mind.
"How?" asked Ranma, "I've almost lost to girls several times. I just didn't want to risk hurting her. She was so intent on trying to hit me that she almost hurt herself several times."
"But you wouldn't extend that courtesy to other guys." pressed Yumi.
"It just wouldn't have been honorable." replied Ranma, "Besides, it was embarrassing enough having to pin her to the floor." When he saw Yumi looking at him as she would a suspicious character, he added, "Part way through the match, she started getting serious and I don't think she would have stopped until I was in the hospital."
Yumi decided that Ranma was probably telling the truth. She knew how scary Akane could look when she was angry. She also knew how angry Akane could get. The only thing that surprised her was that Akane hadn't used that look on her father when the engagement fell on her.
"She really is strong" continued Ranma, "but she has no control. Her father really should concentrate more on it."
"I'm her sensei." said Yumi coldly, "Her father is no more use than a training dummy. Especially when she gets angry."
Ranma felt uneasy. He hadn't expected this development.
"And her accuracy isn't usually that bad." continued Yumi, "She just has that problem when she's angry."
Ranma wasn't sure how to reply without further aggravating Yumi. He still didn't know that Yumi and Nabiki had just been sparring. He didn't exactly enjoy being attacked by Akane so he wanted Yumi's advice more than he was willing to admit. After a couple of seconds, Yumi decided to get things back on track.
"What happened after that?" asked Yumi.
Ranma replied, "I decided to go take a bath. After that, we had dinner. I felt like teasing Akane so I called her flat-chested. I don't need someone else to tell me that it was stupid. The table she hit me with did a pretty good job."
Yumi grimaced at the though of being Ranma at a time like that. Akane couldn't stand teasing from anybody let alone an unwanted fiancée.
"When I woke up," Ranma continued, "I noticed that one of the cups of tea from the table had spilled on me. I'm glad that it was only warm but it felt sticky so I decided to take a bath. I guess I was still a little dazed from the hit because I didn't notice Akane's clothes before I walked in. She still thinks I'm a pervert."
Yumi hadn't heard of this either and she didn't know who to sympathize with. Ranma said he hadn't noticed but he had still walked in on Akane.
Without waiting for comment, Ranma continued. "The next morning, I found out that my old fool man had registered me at the school. I argued with Akane all the way there."
At this, Yumi thought of all the insults that must have been used by both sides. It was beginning to look like they both saw each other the same way. An annoyance to be eliminated as soon as possible.
"When we got to school, I saw Akane beat up a whole bunch of guys on the way in." said Ranma, "Does she have something against guys in general?"
"Not exactly." replied Yumi, "My older brother told the entire student body that anybody who wanted to date Akane would have to beat her first. They try the same thing every morning and yet for all his bluster, he can't beat her either. She may be stronger because of it but the downside is that she's wary of guys in general."
It took Ranma a moment for this to sink in. What kind of idiots would repeatedly try to best a girl that they liked in combat, when she would probably have grown to hate them in the process? It seemed kind of pointless. "What's your older brother's name?" he asked.
"Tatewaki Kuno." replied Yumi.
At this Ranma was a little surprised. ["I ran over that guy. Calls himself the Blue Blunder of Furinkan High or somethin,'" he exclaimed.] Yumi couldn't help but chuckle at this. Finally a nickname that actually fit him.
"My Sympathies. Having to live in the same house as that idiot." Ranma said.
But Yumi's only reply was to ask how long Tatewaki was unconscious. Ranma replied that Tatewaki had been unconscious all day with the word "Idiot" glaring on his forehead. That made Yumi grin and leave Ranma even more surprised by thanking him on behalf of herself and Akane.
"What did he do to you?" asked Ranma.
"He's been trying to date both Akane and I ever since he remembered that I am adopted." replied Yumi.
"In that case," said Ranma, "I'll have to make sure that he lives up to his new title of idiot."
"He already does very well." chuckled Yumi.
"He could always use a little help." insisted Ranma with a bit of a smile. "Anyway," said Ranma " Akane got to class on time but your brother made me late so I had to stand in the hall. To make matters worse, It rained at lunch so I had to go home." at Yumi's quizzical expression, he explained, "Nobody likes to get rained on but I can't stand it. By the time I got here and changed my clothes, I was so late that I would have only been sent to the hall again anyway so I stayed here for the rest of the day."
All this time, Yumi had been thinking about Ranma. He didn't seem to be any threat to Akane. Rather, it seemed that, if anything, it was the exact opposite with Akane using Ranma as a tool to vent her anger about the engagement. There was the chance that Ranma was lying but she didn't think that he was the type. He felt more like the honest, if not a little socially inept, type.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this," said Yumi, "but you should apologize to Akane."
"Why?" Asked Ranma. He had no intention of apologizing when he hadn't done anything. Well... he didn't think he had.
"Whether or not you did anything wrong, Akane is of the opinion that you did." Explained Yumi, "She thinks that you are a sexist and a jerk." Yumi had decided that she needed one last test before she was willing to believe him.
This startled Ranma. He knew he sometimes screwed up but how could Akane have reached such a conclusion?
"You're already at a disadvantage since Akane already has trouble trusting boys." continued Yumi.
"Knowing my luck, it looks like I'm going to have to get used to being hit." said Ranma in a rather tired voice.
"Not necessarily." replied Yumi, "I'll talk to Akane. She's usually pretty reasonable. But," she continued, " you will still have to apologize. Akane has trouble admitting when she is in error."
"I almost forgot to ask you." said Ranma quickly, "What was going on between you and Nabiki when I walked in? It really unnerved me to see you two fighting and make up so suddenly." At this, Yumi chuckled which further added to Ranma's confusion.
"We didn't mean what we said." explained Yumi, "Even though we got a bit out of character, we were just sparring." She waited to let this sink in. To Ranma is was quite a surprise. The thought that they weren't really fighting hadn't even occurred to him.
Yumi decided to give Ranma a little useful advice. "When dealing with Nabiki, it's a good idea to check her motivation. She isn't malicious but she doesn't pass up an opportunity." to which Ranma replied, "I know. at the end of class, she wanted to charge me for copies of her notes. It didn't work though. It's not like I wanted them anyway."
"You remind me of your father the last time I saw him." said Yumi, "A good martial artist but no real interest in anything else. Of course I didn't realize that it was because he was an idiot until later." This really startled Ranma.
"You knew my father before today?" he asked.
"We crossed paths when I was little." she explained, "He refused to train me because I was a girl."
"Yep. That sounds like something pop would do." thought Ranma.
At that moment, they both heard Genma shout for Ranma and he said, "I'd better go see what the old fool wants." and before Yumi could reply, he added, "Thanks. Other than Akane, you're the just about the only girl I've talked to and it was nice to have a conversation without getting hit."
Yumi hadn't expected to hear this but, considering how the Genma she remembered tended to prefer extremely stupid and dangerous training in the middle of nowhere, it didn't really surprise her all that much. So as Ranma went to see what the old fool Genma wanted, Yumi went looking for Akane.
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