As far as I know, Ukyou and Akane are actually pretty  good friends, so
I doubt if that Ukyou would purposely try to hurt Akane. 
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

OK, I've largely lurked until now, but I feel I have to intervene now.

I've seen this notion that Ukyou and Akane are friends several times, and
I can't help but wonder where this comes from.  Can someone point out
the evidence for this?  As far as I can see, the only thing the two have in
common is Ranma, they never do anything together unless Ranma's
there, and when they are together, they never seem too warm to each
other to me.  While they may not exhibit the same level of animosity that
other characters possess, I hardly think one can conclude from this that
they are somehow friends.

Oh, and I guess I ought to warn you that I'm a 'manga nazi'.  That is, I
normally regard the anime as the equivalent of fanfic for canonization. 
However, in this case, if there is stronger evidence in the anime than in
the manga, I'd like to hear it so I can figure out where this idea came
from...

Thanks
Tom