Finally More Than Friends
Part I: The Duel

Ukyou stood behind the counter of her restaurant.  She let out a soft 
sigh, and looked out the window at the beautiful sunrise.  In an hour, 
she would be heading off to school, where she would have to see Ranma 
and Akane together again.  The picture of the two of them together 
entered her head, and tears entered into her eyes.  She couldn╞t 
understand why Ranma would like Akane more than her:  she was prettier, 
could cook better, was a better martial artist in her own estimation and 
didn╞t lose her temper at Ranma so easily.  She heard a knock at the 
door and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she opened it.  She 
was never more surprised in her life.  "Father?"
"Yes, Ukyou, it╞s me.  I heard that you were in the area and came to 
see how your engagement to that Saotome boy went."
Ukyou lowered her head and looked at the floor.  "Actually, it is not 
going all that well.  You seeα"
	
"Come on Ranma, we╞re gonna be late!"
"Yeah, I know."
From out of nowhere, an amazon with purple hair came flying through the 
air and tackled Ranma off the fence.  "Shampoo, what do you think you╞re 
doing, you╞re gonna make me late for school!"
"Ranma, you no go to school.  Take Shampoo, out to date!"
"You╞ve got to be kidding!  If I don╞t get to school on time, I╞m gonna 
have to deal with Miss Hinako again!", replied Ranma as he loosened 
himself from Shampoo╞s grip and ran off to school.
"Ranma, no go!  Take Shampoo out to date!"  Shampoo quickly scampered 
after the young man.
	
"I see.  You╞ve been chasing after Ranma all this time, even with a 
legitimate engagement, and he still won╞t marry you.  Looks like I╞m 
going to have to do something  about this situation."
"You╞re not going to do anything that will hurt Ranchan, will you?"
"No, just come to the Tendo dojo today after school, and you╞ll see."
Ukyou╞s father left the restaurant leaving her with a puzzled look on 
her face.  "I wonder what he is going to do?"
	
Ranma and Akane were walking home from school, Ranma as usual on the 
fence, and Akane on the ground.  "Honestly Ranma, when are you going to 
settle this fiancee thing?"
"Akane, what do you expect me to say, µUkyou, Shampoo, take a hike?╞, 
it╞s not that easy.  I don╞t want to hurt anybody, but I know somebody 
will be."
"It╞s your fault for leading them on like that."
"What do you mean my fault?  It was Pop╞s fault, if it was anybody╞s!"
"Whatever you say, Ranma.", Akane replied, full of sarcasm.
Ranma would have replied with one of his µstupid tomboy╞ responses, but 
he didn╞t need to have his head beaten on.  It had been a few days since 
Akane had hit him, and his head felt a lot better.
The couple walked into the Tendo residence to find everyone seated in 
the living room, with a couple of guests.  "Ukyou?  Mr. Kuounji?  What 
are you doing here?"
Mr. Kuounji rose to his feet.  "It has come to my attention that you, 
Akane Tendo, are the main reason that Ranma and my daughter are not 
married.  Therefore I have come here to challenge Soun Tendo to a duel, 
to determine to whom, young Ranma will be wed, as he made the 
engagement.  If I win, Ranma will marry Ukyou.  If Soun wins, Ranma may 
choose one of the three Tendo girls for his bride."
"What?!  Dad, you╞re not seriously going to accept, are you?"
"For the sake of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, I must."
"What do you mean for the sake of the school?"
"Accepting challenges is an integral part of what the school is about.  
To refuse this challenge would be a disgrace."
Ranma just stood with his mouth open.  "Good, then it is settled.  The 
match will take place 3 days from today, in the Tendo dojo.  You may do 
as you wish before the match, but as a duel of honor, I do not want any 
interference from any outsiders before or during the match.  Are we 
clear on the matter?"
"We are clear."
"Well then, my daughter and I will depart and we shall see you in 3 
days."
Ranma pulled Ukyou aside before she left.  "Ucchan, when did your dad 
get here, and whose idea was it to set up this crazy match?"
"He arrived today.  I had no idea he was going to do something like 
this.  Honestly Ranma, it wasn╞t my idea; he just told me to come here 
after school."  *If this will help me get Ranma honey, then I will have 
no problem with this match.  I just hope dad can beat Mr. Tendo.*
"Well, seeya Ucchan, I got a lot on my mind now."
Ranma quickly leapt out of the Tendo living room and headed for the 
roof.  Once he got there, he found someone already there; Akane.  "Yo, 
Akane.  What did you come up here for?"
"Ranma, what will you do if Mr. Kuounji wins the match?  Will you 
actually marry Ukyou?"
"I guess I would have to.  I mean it is a deal made between the honor 
of two men.  I was surprised your dad accepted the challenge.  I knew 
that he would accept stupid challenges, but I never seen him accept one 
that actually involved him doing something.  I wonder if he would 
actually give me up if he loses."
"I know that he has great dreams for you and the dojo.  But I also know 
that he is a man of honor.  If he loses, I╞m sure that he will give you 
up to the Kuounji╞s.  Remember the time that he accepted that challenge 
for that dumb ramen delivery race for me?"
"Oh yeah, but all that ramen was worth it."
Ranma and Akane shared a good laugh.  *Dad had better win this match.  
What would I do without the jerk around.*
*Akane╞s kinda cute when she╞s laughing.  It would be a shame to have 
to start over with a new family.*
	
The three days passed by in varying degrees for the people involved.  
For Soun, the three days passed by involving practicing in the dojo with 
Genma, putting their countless go games on hold.  The Kuounjis also 
spent the three days practicing for the match.  Ranma and Akane 
continued like nothing had happened, except that they didn╞t fight for 
the three days.  Both were very anxious about the outcome of the match.  
They both knew that Soun╞s skill was decent, but if Mr. Kuounji was 
anything like Ukyou, they knew that he would have his hands full.  Of 
all the people involved, Akane was the most worried.  If her father 
lost, she was sure that her relationship with Ranma would drastically 
change.  He would end up marrying Ukyou, and if their relationship 
continued the way it does, Ranma may not be as forgiving as he had been.  
Akane knew that Ranma forgave her for all the things that she did to 
him, but her mind was telling her that it was the fiancee thing and that 
he only did the things he did out of honor and pride.  Akane sat very 
tense in the dojo beside Ranma, who was looking just as tense.  Kasumi 
and Nabiki were there along with Genma and Nodoka.  For some reason, 
Ranma couldn╞t bring himself to look at his mother.  It was just as 
well, Nodoka had a look of disappointment on her face.  *Oh Ranma, why 
couldn╞t you have been a man and settled this earlier?  I hope that you 
will at least honor the outcome of this match.*
Nobody said a word.  They just waited.  Finally, a knock on the door 
and Kasumi answered it.  It was no surprise to anyone that it was Ukyou 
and her father.  They were dressed alike, both in their okanomiyaki 
uniforms and both had identical battle spatulas on their backs.  "So 
Soun, I see that you are prepared for the match."
"Looks like you are as well."
"Yes, I am.  I╞m sure you know the rules of the match, defeat only by 
submission or knock out."
"Yes, I know."
"Then there╞s no point in wasting time in talking.  Let╞s begin."
Everyone moved to the sides of the dojo and watched, no one more 
intently than Ranma.  The two men faced off and Mr. Kuounji brought out 
his spatula.  The two men charged at each other and unleashed a flurry 
of blows.  Ranma watched all this with fascination; he had never seen 
Mr. Tendo fight all out even against Happosai.  However, Ranma noted 
that Soun was definitely out of shape.  He constantly left openings and 
was somewhat slow to react to Mr. Kuouji╞s blows.
Akane watched in tense silence.  She could see that her father was 
losing and was becoming very tired.  She noted that his right arm was 
lacking in strength and that he was gasping for breath.  If this 
continues, she knew that her father would lose.  She also knew that her 
interference would count as an automatic forfeit so she stood still, but 
she could feel her legs becoming rubber.
Meanwhile, Ukyou╞s father had Soun pinned against the wall, and was 
pressing his advantage with a flurry of blows.  Soun was doing the best 
to block the flurry of attacks, but he eventually left a wide opening 
and was hit squarely in the head with Mr. Kuounji╞s battle spatula.  The 
blow was harder than he expected, and Soun fell to his knees.  Soon, he 
had the sharp edge of a battle spatula at his throat.  "Do you yield?"
Soun knew that he had lost.  "Yes, I α yield."  The words came out of 
his mouth, but he couldn╞t believe he said them.  He just knelt on the 
ground with his head bowed in defeat.
"Dad, NO!"  Akane ran over to her father.  "I can╞t believe that you 
gave up!"
"I╞m sorry Akane, but there was no hope for me"
"Then it's settled.  Ranma will marry my daughter and his engagement to 
Akane Tendo is void."
The words echoed over and over in Ranma╞s ears, *αhis engagement to 
Akane Tendo is void*