Disclaimer - I still do not own Ranma 1/2.

Thank you for reading my first story.

Chapter 16 – The duel

It looked like the entire student body as well as her oldest sister, her father and uncle Genma had shown up to watch the fight. Akane faced Kodachi, who was cackling on the other side of the field.

"All you need to do is give up on Ranma darling and I will not hurt you."

"Let's just get this over with." Akane moved into her stance and waited for her opponent to make the first move. As predicted she started with her ribbon. Akane dodge the first few attacks, steadily making small advances. When she thought she could get the ribbon away she blocked the attack and pulled hard against the ribbon.

Kodachi was expecting another dodge so when the ribbon flew out of her hand she was quite surprised. "Ho Ho Ho Ho… I have more than just that ribbon you know. Don't think you have an advantage now."

Akane had taken advantage of the borrowed chi and pull the ribbon with enough force to bring it back to herself and caught the baton portion. Now she had something to hit Kodachi back with even at a range. "I don't need this to defeat you." She had managed to make sure the ribbon mostly hit her gi sleeve and not her skin so that the sharp edges didn't cut her.

"You should give up now before I ruin what limited feminine features you possess." Kodachi flipped gracefully toward Akane bringing out her hoop at the last second.

Akane sent the ribbon flying out and was able to send the hoop off course but lost the tool in the process, she was back to working on advancing and getting close enough for a solid hit.

"Oh you think you are clever, it is no matter."

One of Kodachi's teammates threw a mallet to her and with a wild gleam in her eye she charged. This Akane could easily deal with. She had long been trained to disarm sword and club attacks by her father who favored such weapons. Akane shifted very fast to the left and was momentarily disoriented. Woah, I see what Ranma meant.

Ranma saw it happen too, she had moved faster than she needed to. He cringed as the mallet came around towards her head. He watched Akane adjust and jump backwards, missing getting hit by only centimeters. Once she was clear of the mallet he could breathe again; it was taking all of his will power not to enter the field. The familiar sensations of his fast beating heart and dry mouth were back but he was keeping himself together. She can do this.

This time when her opponent charged again she purposefully moved faster and kicked up into the weapon sending it flying away from the field. It landed behind a group of students who had to dive away from the incoming object which imbedded itself into the ground.

"Aren't you tired of chasing a man who isn't interested in you?"

"Ranma darling and I are destined to be together. He is my knight in shining armor and I, his beautiful princess."

Akane rolled her eyes and started advancing on Kodachi. She watched her and was able to see clearly when the girl went for her next item. The ball came out, Kodachi threw it at Akane's face then jumped and flipped away from the center of the field. Akane knew it was probably explosive. She tried to flip back but realized she wasn't getting away from it. Instead when she was right side up again put her hands up like a setter in volleyball and bent her elbows as the ball contacted her hands and then sent it flying back in the direction Kodachi had ran.

A heart attack wasn't a painful enough way to describe how Ranma felt when he saw her hands go up. When she improvised and sent the ball back he was floored. That was exactly the kind of thing that the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts was based on, using absolutely anything as a martial arts technique. He grinned broadly and was able to relax just a little. Glancing at Kodachi he could tell she was starting to look worried.

The ball exploded, sending Kodachi flying backwards several meters. Akane hadn't stopped after the ball exploded she attacked the girl through the dust that had been sent up into the air. Giving her an element of surprise. She used her fists to keep the gymnast on the defensive. Kodachi manage to pull out her clubs to parry the attacks, Akane didn't have something to throw at her wrists so she used her legs and swung her right leg up and around in a roundhouse kick. She took a few hits herself while doing that but she didn't lose her balance at all. She took advantage of her opponent's shock and spun using her other leg to topple her. Kodachi hit the ground hard got up glaring at Akane.

"Are you done yet or do you want some more punishment?"

"Foul child. I am not done yet."

Kodachi threw a few tiny balls at the ground that produced a cloud when they hit. Akane held her breathe and jump as far back as she could. She couldn't see where Kodachi was standing. She scanned constantly for her. As the cloud was blow toward the south end of the field, Akane saw several students collapse and appeared to be asleep. From behind her she was hit hard by a rod; falling forward she barely managed to catch herself with her hands.

From the sidelines Ranma was being restrained by his friends, including Ukyo, who was probably the one most able to keep him in place. "You aren't supposed to go out there." His throat was tight and his heart was beating wildly. He watched Akane struggle to stand.

"GET UP TOMBOY AND GET BACK IN THAT FIGHT."

Akane felt her battle aura burn hotter, "IDIOT, I AM NOT DONE YET," she sensed something flying at her. She shoved back and avoided being hit by a thrown club. Kodachi had manage to get to where her clubs had dropped while she was down. Akane faced her and picked up the club that had missed her head. Several more clubs were heading her direction, she didn't bother dodging them instead she swung her club and tried to redirect them back at their owner. They were a little different than the rocks but once she got used to how the first couple flew, she was able to hit them right at Kodachi. One after another found their mark, Kodachi was running out of clubs and backing away from the very fierce Akane. Once she was close enough she discarded the club and moved fast around Kodachi, throwing punch after punch. Finally she nailed her with an incredibly strong kick and sent her flying out of the school yard. She stood there and watched the wicked girl sail away wondering where she might land. I hope she lands in something really messy.

Cheers erupted from all the students. She could hear her father and Genma yelling loudly. Her eyes found Ranma's in the crowd, she watched him stand up and walk to her. He was grinning at her and she grinned back. When he got to her a hush fell over the crowd.

He looked down at her, "I have an idea. How much do you trust me?"

She thought carefully and knew sometimes Ranma's ideas didn't always work out but in the end he always got what he wanted. "I trust you enough for whatever hair-brained scheme you are thinking about."

He took her face in his hands and she stared wide-eyed at him as he brought his lips to hers. He was kissing her… in front of everyone. What the hell kind of idea is this? The students all started cheering again louder than before.

They could both sense their fathers running towards them. He pulled apart from her but kept his face near hers. "7 or 9?"

"What?" It only took her a second to understand, "9 I like 9."

They separated and waited until their fathers were close enough before moving in synchrony against the two men. Neither of the overbearing patriarchs knew what hit them. As they lay on the ground Ranma stood over them with Akane.

"WE WILL GET MARRIED, IF … I… ASK HER."

"AND IF… I… SAY YES."

"UNTIL THEN STAY OUT OF IT."

AN: The title of the sequel is going to be The Warrior's Scroll. I will attempt to address the all important questions of "What constitutes hot water?"... "When is Ranma's birthday?"... "Is Nabiki cold-hearted or can she warm?"... oh yeah and there is this pesky over arc about a scroll of a perfect warrior (name of this thing is subject to change). The first chapter will be up by tomorrow, I have someone reading over it for me.