Some minor rewrites to intro the flashback better,and adjust the 
ending... 


(Previously:  Ranma fell into the Spring of Drowned *Little* Girl.  
Kasumi and Nabiki have not pushed the engagement onto Akane, so Ranma 
theoretically still has a choice between the sisters.)

				NO FAIR!
			   by Scott K. Jamison
			  (Takahashi disclaimer)
			      Chapter Four   

	Ranma was greatly relieved to see one of his favorite Chinese 
outfits neatly folded and obviously freshly laundered by his futon when 
he woke up.  Kasumi had even mended the tiny tear in the armpit!  She 
certainly was thoughtful, and would make a wonderful wife for someone 
someday.  Ranma just wasn't sure he wanted that someone to be him, and he 
certainly didn't want it to be now.
	He washed with hot water and dressed quickly.  His morning 
sparring session with his father went well, though he had to give ground 
frequently to avoid being dunked into the koi pond.  Genma refused to 
spar with Ranma when he was in child form; the boy couldn't figure out if 
it was due to embarrassment or guilt.  So he had to stay dry to get the 
full benefit of these fights.
	A hasty breakfast and food fight later, he and Akane were off to 
school again.  Strange that Nabiki had left so early.  Ranma wondered 
what she did in the mornings.
	"Say, Akane," he began as he ran along the fence.  "How 'bout you 
let me handle Kunou today?  I still owe him some lumps."
	"If he challenges you, fine.  But you leave *my* fights to me, 
understand?" 
	"Roger that."  Secretly, he planned to subtly "discourage" those 
boys from attacking Akane any more.  It just wasn't right for boys to 
attack girls, as he'd learned from experience...
		*		*		* 
	"Please honored customers, to be coming this way."
	It had just finished raining, and Ranma hadn't quite managed to 
get under Ryouga's umbrella fast enough.  So he was riding on his 
father's shoulders, small hands digging into the fur.  Ryouga was 
managing to keep up with them, despite having to carry two packs. 
	"This is Joketsuzoku, known for strong women warriors." 
	Ranma snorted.  Women warriors indeed.  Girls were to be 
protected by boys; everyone knew that.  His eyes widened as he saw the 
reality.  Two women were doing battle on a suspended log.  It didn't look 
like either would actually be a match for him, but they were pretty good, 
for girls.
	One, larger, flattened the other.  There was a short breather, 
then a purple-haired girl stepped up.  Now *she* was good.  She 
demolished the larger woman without even breathing hard.
	Ranma's father gave a grunt, and pointed at a table nearby.  It 
was covered in food.  Ranma's hunger immediately overrode his interest in 
the contest.  "Food!  Yay!"  He and his father dashed over to the 
"buffet" and began chowing down.  
	"Oh no, honored customers!  What you do?" screamed their guide.
	"Mrgh?" asked Ranma around a mouthful of melon.
	The purple-haired girl from the contest had come up, and was 
shouting at them in Chinese.  She looked very angry.
	"She say, food prize for winner of tournament each year this 
time.  She winner, so you steal her food, she say."
	Ranma wiped his mouth on an oversized sleeve.  "So if I challenge 
her and win the food, then there's no problem, right?"
	The guide started translating this, then faltered in the middle 
when the girl started giggling.
	"What?!"
	"Uh, Ranma, you don't exactly look like a threat right now," said 
Ryouga.  "And I don't see any hot water...  Tell you what, I'll challenge 
her for the food.  Just remember, this is all *your* fault."
	"Yeah, right, whatever.  You sure you can handle her?"
	"Heh.  How hard could it be?  She's a girl."
	The guide explained the switch of challengers.  The girl looked 
Ryouga over carefully, then agreed.
	The fanged boy had quickly eaten his words when the girl (her 
name sounded like "Shampoo", near as Ranma could make it out) nearly 
knocked him off the log with her first blow.  She was apparently almost 
as strong as Ryouga, and her bonbori skill was keeping him from using his 
umbrella to the best advantage.
	The fight lasted several minutes, mostly because Ryouga was still 
holding back, before he managed to use one of his bandanas to hook her 
wrist and throw her off balance.
	Genma growfed his approval, and Ranma threw Ryouga a ham that had 
so far managed to stay uneaten.  The fanged boy gave them a victory 
gesture, then turned to congratulate his opponent on a match well fought.
	Ryouga was obviously surprised when Shampoo gave him a passionate 
kiss.  "What th--"  She rattled something off in Chinese.
	"She say...she say...honored customer now husband."
			*		*		*
	Yep, fighting girls got you nothing but trouble.  Ranma's mind 
was snapped out of its reverie by a tapping noise from his schoolbag.  So 
he actually looked at it for the first time that day.  The tapping was 
coming from a little charm attached to the zipper handle; an excessively 
cute little frog.  
	"Kasumi."  She must have put it on there as a surprise for him.  
It really looked more like something a girl would have on her bag, but 
there was no time to take it off now.  Besides, Kasumi would probably be 
disappointed if he made the charm disappear.
	They were almost to the school, so Ranma thrust other concerns 
aside and started concentrating on the battle ahead.
			*		*		*
	Kasumi nibbled a carrot while studying the book on pressure 
points she'd borrowed from Toufuu-sensei.  Pretty basic stuff, really, 
but since she'd had to end her pre-med studies rather early to 
concentrate on running the household, she had to keep refreshing herself 
on the simple things.  She wondered if Toufuu had any pediatrics books.  
Ranma-chan's "condition" might cause problems if she went to a hospital, 
so Kasumi thought she should handle as many things at home as possible.  
	In fact, she should visit the doctor this afternoon.  He was 
always so entertaining!  "Let's see?  Chocolate chip or peanut butter 
today?"  Toufuu always seemed to enjoy her cookies, once he figured out 
which part of the plate they were.  
	"I wonder if Toufuu-sensei wants children?"
			*		*		*
	Well, the battle *had* been going fairly well.  Akane had mowed 
down her would-be suitors without difficulty.  Ranma could tell she was 
pretty good, but there were some problems with her style that suggested 
that her training had been held back.  He'd dispatched a couple of the 
boys himself by creatively interpreting "self-defense."  After all, if he 
happened to be in the path of an attack, he was justified in dealing with 
it, right?  And it just so happened he'd been in the path of anyone 
attacking Akane from behind.
	Kunou, as predicted, challenged Ranma this time, perhaps because 
he knew he would lose to Akane.  Or perhaps not.  Ranma had been on top 
of things for the first few seconds of the fight.  Right up until those 
photographs came out of Kunou's sleeve.
	Ranma took a look at the photos and froze, allowing Kunou to get 
a pretty nasty blow in, thankfully not to a vital spot.
	The pictures were of Akane, in various "I don't know I'm being 
photographed" poses, in her gi smashing bricks, jogging, lifting weights, 
etc.  She looked awfully cute in some of them.
	"Kleptomaniac!  Unhand those portraits of beauty and return them 
posthaste, lest I skewer you more thoroughly than I had previously 
intended!"  Ranma had to backflip several times to avoid Kunou's repeated 
bokken strikes.  He ended up right next to, and partially under, Akane.
	"Ranma, you should know, Kunou-sempai is a lot more skilled when 
he's facing a male opponent," she cautioned.
	"Really?  There's something you should know too."
	"What?"
	"I see London, I see France--"
	She kicked him back towards Kunou, screaming, "Get back in there 
and DIE, you pervert!"  Ranma grinned.  Quite a temper that girl had.
	"Aye, Ranma Saotome, now you will feel the true fury of the Blue 
Thunder, and learn why I alone am worthy to date the fair Akane 
Tendou--"  
	"I don't know that `fair' is the word I'd use to describe her," 
quipped Ranma, intending to use a better compliment.  Unfortunately, 
Akane's hairtrigger apparently got the better of her, and she threw his 
schoolbag at him.  He dodged that and Kunou's blade, with the result that 
the two inanimate objects met instead, and the bag was sliced open.
	Ranma dived to save his lunch, not noticing the small white 
triangular object also flying out of the divided bag.  The object that 
fluttered in the air for a bit before gently landing on Kunou's head.
	The kendoist paused in his attack, and removed the object.  When 
he saw what it was, his eyes widened.
	"So!  Akane Tendou was correct!  You *are* a pervert!"
	"What the heck are you talking about?!" asked Ranma, who hadn't 
quite seen what Kunou was holding.
	"Who but a pervert would be carrying around *this*?" sneered 
Kunou, holding up the object with both hands for everyone to see.  It was 
a pair of child-size panties, white with little pink hearts on them.  
Ranma's heart sank as he looked into what was left of his bag and 
realized what had happened.  Kasumi had packed a full change of clothing 
in case he got splashed during the day.  She'd probably meant to be 
helpful, but right now he wished he had a hole in the ground he could 
sink into.
	The crowd laughed, and Ranma decided he should at least get 
*some* satisfaction out of this, so he launched himself at Kunou again.  
The bokken-wielder had just enough time to bring his sword to the ready, 
but it did no good, as Ranma's kicks systematically hit vital spots and 
drove Kunou to the ground.
	"I am *not* a pervert," he said, kicking the panties over to 
Akane.  
	"Akane, could you see those get back to their rightful owner?" 
	"B-Oh, sure, Ranma.  And I know you're not *that* kind of 
pervert."
	"So, what kind of pervert is he, do you suppose?" asked a 
brown-haired boy, a little too loudly.
	"The type who cares more about the candy filling than the 
wrapper, maybe," replied his darker-haired companion.
	Ranma shot them an angry glare and they shut up for a while. 
			*		*		*
	"So, what was in those pictures that distracted you so much?" 
asked Akane, when they had a bit more privacy.
	"See for yourself."  Ranma passed them over.
	"Kunou had these?  But how--when--Nabiki!  Ooh, she makes me so 
mad sometimes!"
	"Um, would you mind if I held on to one?  I mean, it's not like 
they're showing any skin or anything."
	"Welll, I guess not.  No, wait, if my sister sold them to 
Kunou-sempai, they *are* his property.  I'll see he gets them back.  Not 
that the baka deserves them."  Akane sighed.  
	"You know, I'm going to have to talk to Nabiki soon myself.  I 
got to spend a whole afternoon with Kasumi, and we're in the same class 
here at school so I'll get to know you some, but it seems like Nabiki has 
been avoiding me.  I still gotta decide which of you gets stuck with me, 
if we're forced to go through with this engagement thing."
	"Well, I suppose you're not the *worst* possible fiancee a girl 
could have..."

More Later!
In the next chapter, Ranma's life is threatened by love!

SKJAM!
corrected web URL: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/5990