The glorious weather continued, and the next morning saw the class
outside on the oval. Physical Education class was a favourite for
the male fraction, and when the boys were not tackling each other
for the soccer ball, they were surreptitiously watching the girls
practising high jump. Already several goals and an own-goal had been
scored due to the lack of attention being paid to the game.
  Ranma's mind, being relatively unobsessed with sex, was altogether
elsewhere. In fact, it was stuck on Kohane, though not in the same
fashion as some of his class-mates. Part of him was settled and
even actually happy that he was learning under someone who he could
relate to, rather than his father or the lech. Ranma liked the idea
of having a teacher who no-one could defeat. Yet a small portion of
his mind was uncertain. Did she have a hidden agenda? Ranma chast-
ised himself for letting the doubt enter his thoughts. Kohane is a
good person... he mused.
  He watched. Ukyou was running up to the bar. There always seemed
to be faint disappointment in the air when the boys watched Ukyou.
She still wore the short, black gym shorts, but the bulge of her bust
was almost indiscernible. She flopped over the bar to land and bounce
off the mat. Her martial arts ability enabled her to leap over much
taller obstacles, yet both she and Akane were not the kind to demon-
strate. It was mainly this attribute of Ukyou's which prevented any
interested party from questioning her chest-retaining habit.
  Kohane's turn, and the boy with control of the ball discarded it.
It came to Ranma without much effort on his part and he deftly
avoided a couple of distracted tackles t shoot a lazy goal. When he
turned back to the 'spectacle', Kohane was just landing on her feet.
It took no effort for her to be flamboyant. She had even asked that
the bar be raised another foot. The jump itself was executed mag-
nificently. As Kohane made her way back to the group of girls, she
sweeped the males with her eyes, and an unashamed grin on her face.
  Then Ranma suddenly noticed a stranger standing beside the fence
down at the other end of the field. He was an unobtrusive youth
dressed in martial arts attire. He did not move, but Ranma was
certain that he was watching Kohane.
  Ranma's first reaction, strangely, was the urge to protect his
teacher. If the ball had flown at his head any later, he would have
acted upon this compulsion. Instead, Ranma headed the ball to his
team-mate Hiroshi near the goal square. He didn't watch to see if
his friend would score, pivoting to observe the stranger again.
  He was gone. There was a guy there... he thought, puzzled.
Confusion at what he just experienced set in. Did I imagine it? Why
did I react like that? The soccer game continued around him.
  "Hey Saotome!" Hiroshi shouted when he noticed he was doing
nothing.
  Ranma was knocked out of his reverie. He looked around, then began
trotting over to where the fight for the ball was. But glancing over
at Kohane, he met her eyes looking back at him. He knew what she
would say to him: 'Don't worry about it.'
  He didn't, and decided to go and win the game.


And so the week progressed. The training after school became quite
rigorous, physically and spiritually. Much of what the immortal
taught revolved around specific states of mental focus, ultimately
attained during combat. "All of this is second nature to me. You
must solidly temper your minds if you are to begin to approach my
level." Ryouga, despite frequently and literally losing himself,
never missed any of her lessons.
  Kohane demonstrated the art of spiritual weapon amplification,
though her students were far from understanding _that_ power. She
remarked that she had never known anyone who did. Ryouga matched
her with his umbrella. Kohane was careful to control the cutting
capability of her glowing katana. Ranma found a bo staff, then up-
graded to a nine foot-long Six-and-a-half-point pole. The larger,
more powerful weapon which Ranma still handled effortlessly drew
more effort from the immortal girl. Even Ukyou visited at one stage,
and she put up quite a fight with her almighty spatula. Kohane
enjoyed the matches. They showed her another aspect of her students'
prowess and capabilities.
  The day that Ranma, Akane and Ryouga were taught the ultimate use
of the kiai was testing. Kohane showed it to them by completely
freezing their bodies in place with a single echoing shout. "Now
that I have your attention," she joked, "I'll tell you that the
spirit shout's force doesn't come from your lungs, but from _here_."
Kohane pointed to a spot a couple of inches bellow Akane's waist-
line, underneath where her navel would be. The short girl flushed
slightly. "If you want to have _this_ kind of effect, let your
spirit produce the noise, and your body merely convey it." She
released them somehow, and they proceeded to learn one of the finer
yet less tricky aspects of Tamashiitou.
  "KYA!!" Ryouga briefly shouted. Ranma stood, mesmerised, then
evaded the attack, saying he was just kidding. It was his turn. Then
Akane's. Gradually they started to have the desired effect. Kohane
was happy with the progress.
  Along the way the word 'fiancee' was blurted out, to the surprise
of Kohane. She tried not to treat the two any differently after
learning of the engagement. Also, she found mentioning it useful
when she desired a destructive response from Ryouga. Consequently,
Kohane found out that Ukyou held an equally solid arrangement, as
well as another girl who worked at different restaurant. Kohane
developed a new, different admiration for Ranma. She grinned at him
a lot more.
  She finally met Nabiki at the week's end when the enterprising
young Tendou returned for some needed financial documentation.
Kohane herself informed her of the recent events, and the two spent
several hours getting aquatinted. However, Nabiki left again after
dinner to continue her work, the nature of which she never actually
disclosed. It was this day, too, that Kohane taught a pivotal
lesson.
  They stood at one side of the garden, looking at four bottles
spaced widely on the wall at the other. Kohane had their attention.
"There are several ways to knock bottles off a fence from a
distance. You can throw rocks, or even a Lion's Roar Shot if you
keep missing. But I'll show you the levels of refined out-of-range
Tamashiitou punching that can be used. First --"
  With a shout of "Dei!" she punched straight, from her side. The
first bottle cracked and fell instantly onto the grass. Then she
reared her fist back again and hurled another punch, but spread her
fingers, pointing forwards. A thin, coherent beam of white chi shot
out as she yelled "YAKUSHA!", flinging the second target away to
clatter onto the road.
  The three watched intently as she performed the third strike: a
punch which launched a small, bright blue streak of energy at the
bottle. It was noticeably slower than the previous moves. As it flew
from her fist, Kohane cried, "SUISEI KEN!"
  She finished off the target practice with an effortless but
dazzling Lion's Roar-like explosion. The teacher faced her students.
  "The first two, my Spirit Fist and Leap-shoot... Nah. You might
learn the second one if you practised for your whole life.
Obviously, that last one is within your bounds. But I will teach you
the Comet Fist now. Even you can learn it, Akane. It all relies on
an essential delusion."
  This was that the opponent was out of reach in the situation, and
Akane, Ranma and Ryouga were to feel reluctant or basically too
'lazy' (or concentrate on some other excuse) to reach him. Ryouga
caught on quickly, and Kohane had to restrain him from trying to
pummel Ranma from afar. After lots of coaxing and meditative
preparation, Akane began to knock holes through the rice paper, then
splinters from the posts. But Ranma really struggled on this one. He
was used to closing distance and quickly attacking, and could not
convince himself otherwise.
  "I know your adaptability, Ranma-chan. It's up to you to fool
yourself for this exercise," said Kohane.
  Ryouga laughed and punched him from the other end of the yard.
Ranma zoomed over to him and knocked the guy's head into the ground.


Kohane found Ranma in the dojo later that night, frustrated, trying
to hit a bottle from ten metres away. He did not notice as she
leaned in the doorway, smirking. Having relaxed his stance and gath-
ered his thoughts, Ranma punched again.
  Kohane yelled "Kiaaa!" at that moment. Ranma was suddenly put
into an imbalanced distracted state, and it was exactly this that
Kohane planned. An aura ignited around his arm and shot forward in
a bright yellow streak. The chi impacted into the wall, having
widely missed the target, and left a splintered hole. Ranma's face
turned to Kohane then snapped back to see the damage he had done.
Again he looked at the girl, elation crossing his face. But then it
died. He stood normally and said, "You did that."
  Kohane bowed her head and sighed. "I had to distract you, make you
feel that, well, it was more important to see who was here, and
decide not to go over _there_." She jerked her head at the intact
bottle, then entered the dojo proper. Ranma's eyes stayed on her,
taking on a studious cast as she faced him.
  "Why are you doing this?" Ranma suddenly asked.
  Kohane understood the question, seeming utterly bemused, and even
laughed a little. "Do you know why you were put on this Earth,
Ranma-chan?"
  "Um..." Ranma looked down, then, "Never really thought about it."
  "No. You're only sixteen," Kohane stared at him seriously. His
body tensed reflexively. "I, however, am nine-hundred and twenty.
I've had plenty of time to ponder that. Recently I've become in-
clined to think that _I_ am here to do what I'm best at."
  "My strength is in the martial arts," muttered Ranma. A thought
entered his head. He immediately pushed it into the back of his
mind, though not before he confidently decided to act on it.
  Some of the daunted look left Kohane. "Yeah, me too. But I really
have no room left for improvement. _I_ am the best it gets."
  Ranma said honestly, "Guess I should aspire to you, then. But you
haven't--"
  Kohane waved her hand. "I _have_ answered you - in a way. What can
you do when you know it all, but start teaching it to others?"
  "What exactly do you mean?" Ranma inched forward slightly.
  "This place is more famous than you think, Ranma-chan. Even in
China, some people know of you. Because of this, I have learned of
your victories." She smiled knowingly. "You didn't think an immortal
would appear in Nerima by accident, did you?"
  Ranma continued his sporadic, small-paced advance, even backing-up
at some points. "Oh, I don't know. There's been some pretty weird
stuff going down this year."
  "Dammit! Why aren't you impressed?"
  "Because," Ranma watched the girl's small feet cautiously, "after
a year of it, it takes something _normal_ to surprise us."
  Kohane sighed again.
  "By the way," spoke Ranma, looking up, "Akane and me have noticed
that, well, we can think kinda quicker with you around. Hell, I've
avoided getting completely pummelled for nearly a week now."
  "Mmm. For a while I wondered why some people acted so intelligent,
then went off and did stupid things. It's just me, I guess." Kohane
smiled. "I help you think."
  "Ahh..." Ranma said. He decided four metres was close enough. She
probably knows that I've been closing in for the past few minutes,
but I need to try anyway, he thought. Unseen, Ranma relaxed, the
entire co-ordination of his body under control, his stance optimised
for the move, and his breathing steady and deep. Abruptly, he
prepared, co-ordinated and executed his attack, focusing all he had
learned about chi control into his phenomenal speed. For an instant,
the 'wind' howled past his ears, and he had his eyes shut against
the sudden pressure. Then it was over.
  As always, Kohane had sensed the attack. Her centuries of training
picked up the acceleration of Ranma's body, but it still was not
enough. Before she even registered that she needed to act, a clenched
fist was in front of her face, and skin brushed her small nose. She
pulled back, though not before realising that it was stationary.
Then the air behind Ranma snapped loudly back together.
  The swift air currents swirled around the dojo, blowing the hair
and the clothing of both martial artists. Ranma retracted his
shivering arm, sweat glistening on his face from the enormous
effort of the feat. Kohane, a few metres away now, blinked.
  "I- I've never seen anyone else move so fast..."
  Ranma walked over to lean on the wall, panting heavily.
  "But why didn't you complete it?"
  The boy looked up. Kohane was relaxed, seeming amazed but also
concerned. "Superhuman immortal or not, you're a girl, and I didn't
need to hit you anyway."
  Kohane walked to him and he saw respect in her eyes. She took
Ranma's wrist in one hand, folding up his fist with her other. She
gently bapped her cheek with it. "I wouldn't do the same for you. No
wonder you keep losing."
  "I go all-out against you! What do you call _that_?" said Ranma,
withdrawing his hand defensively. He referred to his demonstration of
a minute ago.
  "Then all this I've heard about you defeating these great Chinese
warriors and princes is all just made up?"
  "Okay, you got me." Ranma leaned his back to the wall. "Musabetsu
Kakutou involves a lot of improvisation. I need specific circum-
stances to pull off the more... large-scale styles."
  "Then we'll have to set something up." Kohane walked over to the
door, Ranma began to follow.
  "Kohane-san, did you want to go to this party that the council are
holding in the gym tomorrow night?"
  She turned back to him, happiness in her eyes. "Yeah, if you and
Akane-san and Ryouga-kun are."
  "We'll all go together then."
  "Cool."
  Ranma followed her through the garden towards the house. Before
he reached the veranda his pace slowed and he remained alone outside
as Kohane walked through the door. Wow, he thought. Ranma smiled, 
not so much with confidence as in amusement at himself. I wonder
why I did that... and how I managed to succeed. This training must
be working better than I hoped. "Well, I hope it can continue," he
said under his breath.


The night was dark, despite the full moon. Thick large clouds scooted
swiftly, silently in the sky, revealing the bright circle for only
brief seconds at a time. This was the only sign of a windy night.
  On one of the taller buildings in Nerima, figures were visible in
the brief moonlight. The foremost was a twentyish-looking man wearing
dark colours, with long hair in dredlocks. His narrow eyes glinted
evilly in the shadow of his brow. Those behind him, four or five male
teenagers in dark kung fu apparel, seemed to be waiting for an action
from him.
  The man gazed at a certain lit house in the distance, then turned
to follow an unseen moving target. "The immortal _is_ here. I want
you to announce my presence by beginning the fight."
  One of the minions grunted and dashed away over the rooftops.
  Smirking, the guy growled, "Tamashii Kohane... It's time for you
to die."
  Echoing, villainous laughter followed.

The Beginning of the End.
-------------------------

"Bloody hell..." muttered Ryouga. He walked around the corner or the
low wall, certain that he had found his way back to the dojo. How-
ever, nothing looked familiar. He cursed with a heavier expletive.
  Ryouga needed to be at the dojo. So far, the week he had spent
learning under Kohane had helped him gain new confidence in his own
abilities and his level of Ranma's rival. He reminded himself to
challenge that bastard when he reached the dojo.
  The moon came out for half a second, a moment where Ryouga saw
clearly a person stanced before him. He stopped short. In the
following darkness Ryouga called, "What do you want?"
  "To give you a message."
  Nothing really suspicious in his voice, Ryouga mused, and started
to ask for an explanation. The next thing he knew, the guy had a
spear thrust thrown at his head. He parried, and the fight was on.
  Ryouga was quickly put on the defensive as, though not exception-
ally fast, his opponent's strikes carried a lot of damaging force,
even when blocked. When Ryouga bent over to evade a wide swipe, a
quick snap kick sent him flying. His solar plexus hurt terribly as
he thumped onto a tiled roof, and he barely raised himself as the
guy jumped up and continued the battle.
  Ryouga decided to wait for an opening as he evaded with effort. He
took two quick punches in the face, and held onto his control to
summon a roaring kiai from his soul. His opponent suddenly frozen,
Ryouga hurled his upper body backwards to deliver a powerful double
flip kick, and landed a safe distance away.
  The guy staggered briefly, then looked at Ryouga, smirking. "You
need to do _way_ better than that," he chided.
  Ryouga assumed a solid stance and drew his right fist back, con-
centration etched on his face. Bright energy swirled swiftly to form
an aura around the hand, suddenly became intense, and streaked
forward as he punched.
  "SUISEI KEN!"
  The opponent pivoted to the side, the punch flew by. "Man, _way_
to slow! Why'd you bother?" he taunted.
  Ryouga resisted the urge to move close, and instead began throwing
flurries of Comet Fists. They were indeed too slow against this
enemy, and not one hit home.
  "You have an immortal master, and this is the best you can do?"
  To have such an impressive technique so quickly rendered useless
was not encouraging for Ryouga. He got depressed.
  A bright glare momentarily illuminated the cloud cover of Nerima.