The Mighty Chopstick ! By Kyokukou Disclaimer : I don't own the characters from Ranma 1/2 only the characters that I write myself . So please don't sue me ! But if you try to use my characters .....there will be ...unpleasant consequences if I find out . Do not repost or reprint this without my permission , however if you do ASK there is a good chance I will let you . " They don't make things like they used to ." -Common wisdom Chapter 11 Damn earring " No ." Ranma shook his head resolutely . " Hey !" Nabiki thrust her face nose to nose with his own . " Akane's out of commission due to that toxin , so you have to do it !" " Can't , it's a girl only thing ." Ranma shrugged . " Oh ?" Nabiki deftly produced a glass of water from apparently nowhere and splashed him . " Why can't you ?" " You'd be better for the job anyway ." Ranma continued , quite perturbed at being female now . " Nope , they can't afford me ." Nabiki smirked . " Do it for free then ." Ranma snorted . Nabiki gave her a look as if she had suggested genocide for fun . " I give . I give ." Ranma hung her head miserably . " I'll pay you ." " Huh ?" " How much ?" Ranma continued . " Too much ." She smiled . " Six hundred thousand yen ?" Ranma offered glumly . " Nani ?!" " Six hundred fifty thousand yen ?" Ranma continued , walking out of the living room . " Maté !" She jumped to her feet and followed . " You don't have that kind of money !" " Seven hundred thousand , and that's my final offer ." Ranma turned and waited for her response . " I'll take it if you can cough up half now and half later ." She said , starting to hope that this wasn't a bluff . " Just a sec ." Ranma motioned for her to stay put . She watched as the red head made her way to her room , entered , and exited a short while later with a fist full of bills of rather large denominations . " Here , full payment now ." Ranma handed her the bills . " But I'll be watching the match so no running off to the bank yet . I expect half of this back if you lose ." " Deal !" She practically had to clap a hand over her mouth to contain the flow of drool at the massive sum she held . " Good ." Ranma nodded before starting for the kitchen and hot water . " Ranma ?" She called once she could tear her attention away from the wad of cash in her hands . " Hai ?" " Why do you have this kind of money ?" " I don't , seven hundred thousand was all the cash I had ." Ranma smirked suddenly . " So that's 'bout all you can hit me up for ." With that said Ranma disappeared into the kitchen . " Still doesn't explain how he got it in the first place ..." She mumbled to herself as she walked to her room . * * * " OHHH that ungrateful wretch of mine has money alright !" He growled and nodded . " Lots of it ! Enough to BUY a restaurant , a buffet at a doughnut shop , but will he let me have just enough for DECENTLY SIZED meals ? OOOOH NO ! That Damn boy-uh-man keeps me on practically starvation rations when we're on the road !" " That still doesn't explain where he got it , now does it ?" Nabiki folded her arms impatiently . " Oh , well that's simple ." He gave her a you-should-know-this look . " He spent years in the past , now what he brought back is worth a lot of money and there is the fact that he also is an antique expert on the Kamakura period , especially arms and armor ." " What ?" Nabiki blinked . " He got us a ticket out of Hong Kong after running the antique dealer circuit only twice . I'm guessing the money he paid you was what he had left over ." " So there's no more ?" " Until he decides to make some more ." He nodded . " At an antique mall or something ?" " Yes , just give him a day or two..." He trailed off , Nabiki had made an audible pop with the speed of her exit towards Ranma's room . " Ohhhh Ranma !" He heard a super sweet I-need-a-favor voice call from his door . The voice belonged to Nabiki , who's ki and cardiovascular rates were well in the excited category . All this combined to make one assumption . No good was going to come of this . " Hai ?" He peeked over his shoulder . Nabiki was leaning against the doorframe in a sweet ain't-I-so-sexy-you'd-do-anything-for-me pose . " Ranma , I know you haven't decided which one of us to marry . But you have been living with us for some time now . So I thought it wouldn't be too forward of me to suggest a date between us ? I've been dying to go to the antique mall for ages !" " Why ?" He made a show of picking up a bookmark and placing it between the pages of his latest read . " Ohhh , I guess it's my love for history mixed with my love for valuable objects ." A few facts clicked together in his head . But before he could start to become annoyed at Nabiki's greedy plan , a plan of his own started to form . He smiled the same smile he had used during diplomacy with warlords . " What about your match ?" He began . " Shouldn't you train ?" " Beat her once already ." Nabiki smiled broader . " Besides , I'm in the mood for a night out ." " I know just the perfect place , it's open late tonight and everything ." * * * " What is this place called again ?" Nabiki asked him as she glanced about at the squalor of the alleyway . " I didn't know that there were places this filthy in Tokyo ." " Not many ." He answered , walking on to the door that only half hung on it's hinges . " Why are we here ?" She inquired , taking great pains to avoid coming in contact with anything . " Here , is where you find things below the eyes of others ." " Don't you mean beneath the notice of others ?" " I meant below the eyes of others ." He chuckled and stepped through the gap the broken door left . " What's that supposed to mean ?" Nabiki called after him . If the alley streets behind them collected dirt , crud , and corruption , then this room hoarded it greedily . He chose where he stepped based on depth of trash . " We're supposed to find antiques and such HERE ?!!!" Ah , so that's where Nabiki's breaking point was . " Antiques and better ." He answered . " Just wait and see ." At the back of the room was a door that actually looked in good working order despite innumerable stains and gouges . He knocked , and took a long step back and off to the side . The door opened the tiniest of cracks , without the knob turning . " Ranma ?" Came an old female's voice from the black strip of darkness . " With a friend ." He informed the voice . " Oh ?" Interest crackled in the old woman's voice . " What'er ya looking for this time ?" " I don't really know , yet ." He shrugged . " If you need something appraised I'd be glad to ." The voice silently considered this . Nabiki only gave him a curious look . " I just got an amulet that I can't figure out . Get it to work and we'll talk store credit ." The crack widened with each word until the strip of darkness was wide enough for someone to slip in if they sucked their stomach in . " You're always so nice to me ." He snorted with a smile . He slipped through the crack , motioning for Nabiki to follow him . On the other side of the blackness was a sharp contrast , with a contradiction . Through the door was a very well lit and large room . Which had an unobstructed and apparently unfiltered view through the door . " What !?" Nabiki yelped when she stepped through . " It's light in here ! But the doorway..." " Magic filter ." Said a young girl of perhaps fifteen years of age . She took her small hands out of a box and the door shut quickly . " People are much less likely to barge in a pitch black room with an ominous voice coming from it ." Nabiki stared at the girl for a moment before shrugging . " Makes sense ." He had to stifle a chuckle as the girl blinked a few times in surprise at Nabiki's quick acceptance . " Nice set up ." Nabiki commented as she looked about . The walls were lined with counters full of unusual and downright bizarre items . The computer station sitting by the empty cauldron seemed obscenely out of place . " I take it you sell magical things ?" Nabiki inquired . " Magic , old , rare , and paralegal . But , usually all three ." The girl nodded . " Call me Rei ." " I'm Nabiki ." She looked from him to the short girl . " How long have you two known each other ?" " Not too long ." He quickly pointed out before the girl could speak . " Since Hong Kong ," The girl flipped her hip length black braid over one shoulder . " Ranma-kun here helped me relocate after he saved me half a dozen times ." " You'll never let me forget that will ya ?" He snorted with a frown . " You'll never let Me pay you back ." " Give me store credit then !" " HA ! My life times six is a LOT more than this junk !" The girl gestured to indicate the huge room's contents . " 'Sides , that's apples and oranges or somethin' like that . Can't repay a life with money ." " It'd be a lot simpler ." " Will you two shut up ?" Nabiki asked sweetly . " This sounds like an old argument that doesn't need me here to listen ." " She's got a point ." He said hopefully . " Fine ." The girl flipped her long braid to the other shoulder and strode over to one of the long and cluttered tables scattered about the room . " I need your help with this sucker ." They followed the petite figure to the table . She rummaged about to hold up a necklace . " Hmm , I'd guess that's a pearl of shininess ." He said solemnly after she held it up to his face . " What ?" She lowered it to her eyes . " Damn , where'd I put it ?" She mumbled to herself , tossing the cheap pearl necklace off onto a far table . He turned to Nabiki . " I'm a minor authority on ancient relics and stuff like that . So I identify what her sources can't or I tell her how to use what she identifies but can't get to work ." " Do you do this often ?" Nabiki asked , peering at a clear ball filled with some sort of spinning disk of glittering dust . " Hardly ." The Rei commented from her search of the table . " I've got some of the best research files and libraries in this hemisphere ." " 'Bout every week or so ." " Oh , shut up Ranma ." The girl tossed a rusting dagger over her shoulder at Ranma , who didn't even bother too look behind him as he casually sidestepped the weapon . " I'm trying to impress a customer ." " Thought of any magical items you want to own ?" Ranma gave her a smile . " Huh ?" " A present ." He clarified . " I'll buy you something ." Even the middle Tendo sister seemed stunned slightly at the prospect of owning an actual magical item . " What kind does she have here ?" Nabiki began , her rational mind reasserting itself . " Nothing too powerful , I'm getting it on what little credit she'll find it in her heart to begrudge me ." " That's not really helpful , Ranma ." She placed her hands on her hips and resumed browsing . " Otama is the sorceress , not me ." " Found it !" Rei proudly proclaimed . " Make sure fir-" He turned lazily about , but froze at the sight of what dangled on a thin silk cord from Rei's small hand . " What ?" Rei suddenly grew very worried at his adverse reaction . " Let me see that , please ." He said softly , holding a hand out . Looking exceedingly worried the girl dropped the amulet into his waiting hand . He stared down at what rested in his palm . Half of a thin disk , a crystalline hemisphere that he never expected to see again . But it was unmistakable . Frozen inside the thin half disk was half of a faint symbol , misty lines contrasting with clear purity . When he last saw this crystal medallion it had been whole , and hanging about the neck of one of the most powerful men he had ever fought beside . This once belonged to his friend of old , Kyoujaku Masaru , known as the Dragon Eyes . " Where did you get this ?" He asked , shifting his cupped palm to let the light through the medallion at different angles . The crystal remained flawless as it always had been , the surface itself was nearly frictionless . " It fell into my hands when a relative of mine died , actually ." Rei admitted in a softer voice than she had been using . " I'm not planning on ever selling it , family heirloom and all , I just wanna know what it can do ." " Rei ," He looked up from the medallion to stare into her green eyes . He should have placed those green eyes long before . Perhaps it was because hers never had that luminescent quality that Masaru's had . " does the name Kyoujaku Masaru mean anything to you ?" " Yeah , actually ." Rei looked away from him and stared off into some memory . " What does it mean ?" He pressed . " He was a distant cousin of mine , little younger than me . He disappeared a while back last I heard . Good kid , real promising martial artist . I think his mother , my Aunt , named him after some old hero my family's descended from ." Finished with her speech Rei turned her head back and gave him a very expectant look . " This amulet once belonged to Kyoujaku Masaru , that ancient hero you're related to ." He began . " This is part of what made him so feared . But , this is only half of the medallion . Where is the other half ?" " Dunno . But what does that thing do ?" He took a moment to recall how Masaru had explained it to him . " You know how fast you learn a skill at the beginning ? You can double your ability in such a short time , but the more your learn the more effort it takes to get even better , right ?" His audience nodded . " This prevents that learning curve from curving too much I guess . You eventually reach a point where it takes the same amount of effort to get a certain level of improvement . Instead of ever increasing amounts of effort for ever decreasing amounts of improvement . It's the warrior's dream , limitless improvement . Kyoujaku Masaru used it and became better after surviving each battle . Soon everyone knew that if he was good enough to survive you the first time , when the second rolled around he would be too good for you to even touch him ." He rubbed the silk cord that the medallion half hung from before handing it back to Rei . " Never let anyone except your children have this ." Rei stared at the thing in her hands for a long moment before looking back up . " I hate to ruin tha moment but , ya never said how I could use it ?" " I didn't did I ?" He turned around . " Maybe because I have absolutely no idea how it works ." " What ?!" Rei was suddenly centimeters behind him . " All that talk just to tell me it's useless !" " Don't get me wrong !" He assured her over his shoulder as he tried to walk over behind Nabiki , who was watching their antics with interest . " It still works and is very powerful , but IT chooses it's owner . It works itself !" " Just great ." Rei deflated . " So how do I know if it ever chooses me ?" " You'll know ." He said , hoping he sounded confident . Masaru never went into how he actually acquired the thing , just that it had chosen him . " Is it a family line thing ?" Rei asked as she started to head over to the computer work station with the medallion dangling from her hand . " Not that I know of ." " Fine ...fine ...I'll give ya forty thousand store credit for tha info ." Rei called after placing the medallion in a drawer and typing something quickly on the keyboard . " Fifty ." He said casually . " Forty nine ." Rei countered . " Forty five ." " Fine ... I'm not in the mood to argue ." " You're always in the mood to argue ." " Shut up ." " Picked anything out yet , Nabiki ?" He smiled at the middle Tendo daughter , who was dividing her time between trying to find something she recognized and watching Rei and him . " How can I pick something out if I have no idea what anything does ?" " Alright , Rei ?" " What ?" " You're a girl of similar tastes to Nabiki , what would you think she'd like to get ?" Rei looked up at the ceiling for a second and thought . Then a errant thought happened to strike her and she bounced out of the chair and headed for a table . From the pile there she fished a parcel out and began to untie the string that held it closed . " This is something I'm sure any girl'd love ." She began before reaching into the parcel to retrieve the item . Rei proudly held up a small , solitary , earring . Instead of a small diamond stud or a ring , it was a tiny jade sphere . " When ya have this on that ear can't hear any lies . Only the truth ." Nabiki took the offered ring and hesitantly tried it on her right ear . " Alright ," She turned to Ranma . " Lie to me ." He smiled just at the oddity of the phrase . " I'm going to turn you into a hairy Oni ." " That's weird ." Nabiki shook her head and rubbed her right ear . " It's like I went deaf in that ear for a second ." " Very useful , but it's only good for hearing , written things won't be detected ." Rei warned her . " So what ?" Nabiki's eyes were wide as her mind raced with the possibilities of being a lie detector . " Hey ... what if I read the lie ?" " Still won't be detected ." Rei shook her head . " And , there is one limitation ." " I knew it !" Nabiki groaned . " Ya can't lie with it on ." Rei admitted hesitantly . " At all , not even on paper or nothing . Then there is the fact that for every hour or minute or whatever you have it on it has to 'rest' two after you take it off before it'll work again ." " That's two limitations ." He pointed out . Which earned him a quick glare from Rei . Nabiki considered the new information for a moment . " Let me get this straight . If I wore this for four hours and took it off I would have to leave it off for eight hours before it would work again ?" " Yup ." " And I can't lie when I have it on ?" " Ya got it ." " That's fair ." Nabiki slapped her hands over her mouth in surprise . With careful movements she took the earring out . " I was just trying to say that that sucked . It wasn't a lie !" " Apparently the majority of your own mind thinks it was ." He chimed in . The middle Tendo looked at the earring in her hand , considering the possibilities and limitations . It looked like a hard struggle was being waged in her mind . Then she suddenly looked up . " How long did I have it on ?" " Only a little while ." Rei shrugged . The trio stared at the earring in Nabiki's hands for a few moments . " Has it recharged or whatever ?" " I guess so ." Nabiki put the earring on with a I-can't-believe-I'm-doing-this expression . " It's worth it ." Nabiki said , and smiled at the result she heard in both her ears . * * * " I guess that was a nice night out ." She said to herself as she and Ranma walked home . After Rei's shop they had went out to eat at a fast food place . Nothing as fancy as she had hoped , but it's not every day you received such a useful magical earring for free . " Glad you enjoyed it ." Ranma shrugged . He was still bitter about the four times he had turned into a she and probably those chopstick ninjas that had ambushed them for no apparent reason . Kuno Kodachi showing up to try to kidnap him had been a drag as well . The unstable girl had ruined half of Ranma's remaining burgers and spilt his quadruple order of jumbo fries . The hungry martial artist had most definitely been annoyed . The last she saw Kuno Kodachi was still sailing through the Tokyo sky . " Wanna play truth or dare ?" She suggested , fingering her earring . " Kinda pointless ," He cast a violet iris towards the jade orb . " but I suppose so ." The hue shift from storm cloud to plum wine did not escape her notice . " Great ." She looked up at the sky as she thought of all the unanswered questions that were swimming in her mind . " Alright , out of my sisters and me , who's in the lead ?" " Dare ." Ranma responded without hesitation . " What ?" " Truth or Dare ." Ranma smiled . She thought she could catch a glint of gray in those dark irises . " Dare ." " Fine , show me some fighting technique that no one knows about any more ." Ranma slowed his pace for a moment before easily falling back into step beside her . " This is something long lost to the modern age ." Ranma told her solemnly , looking into her eyes with a eerie stillness in his own . " Try to touch me ." He suggested . She reached out to touch his arm . Only for reality to suddenly hiccup . It was as if her hand kept aiming just a few centimeters too far to the right... Like a dizzy person lurches too the side when trying to stand straight . She knew he was there , but it seemed like she was aiming wrong . As if she were in one of those checkerboard rooms that makes you look a meter taller on one side than the other , her mind kept telling her one thing and her senses another , and neither added up . " What in..." She gave up her futile efforts before she could embarrass herself too much . " As long as I can see your eyes I can do this ." Ranma broke eye contact and looked ahead with a thoughtful expression . " I got one . What were you planning on doing with me tonight ?" " Um...dare ." She averted her gaze from any part of Ranma . In the beginning her motivations had been pecuniary , but she had actually had fun tonight . No need to spoil it with the truth , right ? " Alright...run nude for the next two blocks ." Ranma chuckled at her indignant squeak . " I really want to know your intentions ." " Fine , truth ..." She made no attempt to hide her shagging shoulders , a little guilt could work wonders . " I wanted to see how you made money ." " And ?" " And use you to make some for myself . Any more info counts as asking another question ." She finished , damn earring . Ranma's face darkened , his eyes did so in a much more literal way . " Your turn ." He said in a neutral tone . " Your Dad mentioned Hong Kong earlier and that Rei girl did too . Why were you two over there ?" Perhaps sticking to safer subjects would work best for damage control . " We were just stopping by on our way to Thailand when two things happened . Oyaji spent all our money on a bet and there was a serial killer the police couldn't bring down ." Ranma continued his oration , staring straight ahead as she gaped at him . " Oyaji got a job at some nightclub as a bouncer and I -" For a moment she was deaf in one ear . "-of him ." For a moment morbid curiosity and the desire to placate Ranma warred within her . If she pressed for the truth it would most certainly have a negative impact . But if she let it slide it would eat at her . Her addiction battled her conscience . Addiction conquered . " What was that again ?" She indicated the earring . Reluctance was something she expected to see on his face , but the ache along with it was not . " I hunted the killer down and sent him to the police in five pieces . One for each victim ." He stated coldly , his eyes staring straight ahead . " I made sure he knew what I was going to do to him before I killed him ." She stopped walking and stared at him . Her eyes flitting down to the hands that must have held the sword . " What ?" Ranma asked needlessly after he had stopped . He turned to look at her , the hard expression his face was set in made him look much older . " You knew I used to be samurai , you knew I used my sword before ." His eyes narrowed accusingly at her . " Does it really scare you that I would kill a monster ?" Yes it did scare her . Being confronted with the fact that the man she was standing next to had killed scared her profoundly . " Yes it does , but I'm more surprised than anything ." She heard herself say in place of the lie she had fabricated . Damn earring . " Before ... it was an academic knowledge , it didn't seem real ." Ranma faced forward again . " It is real . But don't worry I don't kill anyone unless it's necessary . Otherwise I would have taken care of those damn annoying chopstick ninjas ." A chopstick hissed through the air to imbed itself into the telephone pole they were passing . Ranma casually looked at the vibrating stick with a expression of disgust . " Midori-san is spinning in her grave right now ." He mumbled , shaking his head at the still waggling stick . She whirled to find that at least eighteen men and women in full ninja regalia had surrounded them in the time it took Ranma to comment . A glance over her shoulder told her that Ranma was still examining the stick . " We shall defend the honor of our defeated brothers ." A figure hissed through his mask . Another , much more feminine , figure stepped forward and rapped the former speaker hard on the back of his head . " Our defeated siblings you baka !" " We're modern Shinobi ." Another , taller , figure explained , seeing her confusion . " We are the new , fearsome Shinobi clan of the Chopsticks !" She fought the urge to laugh . " I am Tendo Nabiki of the Tendo school of Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu !" She proclaimed , falling into a stance . Once introductions were over the duel would begin . She took in her opponent's positions while everyone else turned their attention on Ranma . " Midori-san would never use a chopstick like this ! A hairpin MAYBE , just maybe , but a chopstick is for entirely different techniques ." Ranma continued to examine the chopstick , which he had now pulled from the lamppost . He did not seem to be aware that everyone was waiting on him . " Ack !" He exclaimed after hefting the stick as much as you could heft a chop stick . " The weight is horrible ! It's balanced all wrong for long distance !" No , not aware at all . " Um , Ranma ?" She prompted . "-No craftsmanship anymore . Can't find anything at all made after the Edo era that's of any quality at all !" The tall ninja coughed politely . " Tendo-san , could you -you know- stand in , we need to hurry this along . Appointments , assassinations , you know ." " Er..." She thought a moment before nodding . " He's Saotome Ranma of the Saotome school of Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu ." " Thanks a bunch ." The tall one somehow looked relieved even through a mask . " ATTACK !" Everyone seemed to spring at her instantly . For complete kooks they were fast ! She leapt high as she could and took stock of her situation . Eighteen against two , not good odds if their speed was any indication of the rest of their fighting skill . The others weren't even a fraction of these ninja's in speed . She glanced at Ranma as her momentum ran out and she began her decent . "-they tried to SHARPEN it ! How stupid can you possibly get ?!" Eighteen against one . Worse odds . At the last moment she twisted to alter her landing to the right shoulder- blade of a waiting ninja . The man crumpled under her impact , but the others barely skipped a beat . ( Suspense , ya gotta hate me for it ) (Wanna bitch about it ? E-mail all complaints , criticisms , gripes , et cetera to Idonotcare@rotmail.com and all praises , compliments and pats on the back to Ghaleon_WG@hotmail.com )