Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Some Life... ❯ The coach keeps to his word ( Chapter 2 )

Kori glanced around the field, wondering whether Coach Ohm forgot about their sparring session. She'd told her mom that she'd enrolled in intramural softball, and that their first practice was this morning. As bad as she felt about it, it was better than telling her mom that she was leaving early to spar with her gym teacher. "Good Morning!" She whipped around to see the coach behind her, starting on his stretches. Coach Ohm was pretty young for a schoolteacher. Maybe mid- to late-twenties. He was tall and well proportioned, with a defined face and short black hair. "Sorry I'm a little late, I just had to make sure we weren't going to get caught. Before we get started, I'd like to clear up something from yesterday. I'm not usually that hard on people, but you didn't seem like you were paying attention, and like any good teacher, I always pick on students who don't pay attention."

"Yeah, I guess I got a little carried away, too. I don't know what got into me. I usually control myself…"

"It's ok, I understand. You felt challenged. And if you're anything like me, you can't turn down a challenge."

Kori smirked. "Yeah, I don't know why, but I always get a rush at the prospect of a good fight." She started doing some warm-up punches and kicks as the coach stretched out.

Ohm still couldn't believe the speed of her moves. Arms and legs became a blur as they lashed out at an inhuman pace. He wouldn't let it faze him, though, and crouched down into a fighting stance. "Ready?"

She set her stance as a gleam of pure joy lit her eyes. "YEAH!" Even though she'd have to slow her moves considerably to get a good match, she was still excited. "Let's go!" She launched herself at the coach. A flurry of blows ensued, most of them blocked by either opponent. A stray punch managed to penetrate Kori's defense, and she was surprised at the force of the blow as it knocked her back a good 5 yards. Maybe he's tougher than I thought he was… She jumped back into the fray, and for the next twenty minutes they went toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow. They had both managed to get a good kick to the ribs in on each other when they both fell back for a moment to catch some air.

"So," the Coach started to pant out, "ready for me to teach you something new?" He grabbed a bottle of water and downed a few gulps before offering it to her. She held up her hand, declining it.

"Yeah, sure." She regarded him quizzically. "So, what, exactly, is it that you can teach me that I don't already know?" She pulled her arm around her front, stretching out a sore shoulder.

The Coach's eyes lit up for a brief second, and he turned to the side of the field that was lined with trees. "This is something that was taught to me by my first martial arts master. It's very difficult, but for some reason, I think you'll pick up on it very quickly. It's a method of controlling your inner energy, or "chi", and using it as you would your fist or foot, to lash out at your opponent without even touching them, but, as you'll see, it's much more powerful than a physical blow."

"WOW! I've heard of that, but I've never seen it done! You can really do that?! Show me how!" Her words almost meshed together in her excitement. She had never expected her coach to know such an advanced method in martial arts. Her respect for the man was bumped up a few notches as she watched him regard the trees.

Coach Ohm crouched into a fighting position and began to concentrate on his energy. Soon, a small glowing ball appeared in his hands, which were positioned at his side. The ball began to grow, and he tensed, shouting out "Kamehameha!" while he thrust his arms forward. The ball turned into a stream of glowing energy as it plowed through the trunk of a tree on the other side of the field. Kori watched it all with stunned amazement and rapt attention. The coach straightened and looked over at Kori with a smug smile.

"That was awesome!" She was beyond being insulted by his smugness. She had to learn how to do this. She crouched, mimicking the coach's former position, and began trying to concentrate her energy. Coach Ohm watched in amusement to see what she would do. Her whole body was tense, she was trying so hard to form the tiny ball of chi between her hands.

"Just relax. Feel that tenseness and energy in your muscles?" She nodded in reply. "Imagine it slipping down into your stomach, and push it out between your hands."

Kori began to calm herself, channeling the energy away from her tense muscles and joints. She could feel everything draining down to her stomach. She imagined the ball of chi being formed, and then felt a slight warmth emanating from between her hands. She grinned in joy at her accomplishment. "Uhhh… what do I do with it now," she asked.

"Remember the word I shouted?" She nodded. "That is half of what gives the attack its power… Not the word that you shout, but just that you're shouting, it helps release the rest of the chi and push the attack out away from you. Now what you should do is brace yourself slightly, cause if you're too relaxed, firing this blast will knock you off your feet." She hardened her stance a little while still remaining focused on the ball of energy she'd formed. "Ok, great. Now, shout out `Kamehameha' push it away from you, and envision where you want it to go. Controlling a chi blast is done almost completely in the mind."

She tensed, preparing to release the attack on the trees. "Kame… hame… HA!!!" She yelled out and pushed the blast away, the force and stream of light from the attack nearly blinding her for a second. She blinked to rid her eyes of the spots, and then looked up to assess the damage. A small tree was toddling on its trunk, which had been nearly blasted through. After a few seconds, the small bit of the base of its trunk that had been holding it up collapsed, and the tree toppled over. "Gosh… Did I do that?"

Ohm was very impressed with the rate at which this new pupil learned. And he wasn't about to tell her that the attack she'd learned in just minutes had taken him close to six years to master. "That was incredible," he complemented. "You even subconsciously put your own spin on the move! Now you just need to learn to control it. That shouldn't be too hard, though, with practice… You've got excellent control over your chi already."

She smiled genuinely. This was turning out to be a really great day. She just wished she could show her mom without blowing her cover. Then she remembered that this deal was so she and the coach could teach each other new techniques. Quickly, she tried to think of something that she could do that he probably couldn't. Blinking a few times, she came up with a great idea. "Ok, you've showed me something, now it's my turn. Can you do this?" She smirked and floated about a foot off the ground. It was the coach's turn to be stunned.

Sure, he'd heard that some select few were able to levitate by using chi control, but he'd never seen it, nor did he expect her to be able to do it. She did a lazy flip then landed lightly in front of him. "How?" It was all he could manage to get out.

"Uh…" She placed a hand behind her head. "I don't really know… I guess it's a way of channeling your energy, kind of like your chi attack… I've never really had to think about flying, cause I learned how to do it when I was so young."

"Well, block everything else from your mind and try to think about flying. You might discover how it is you do it that way." She nodded, closing her eyes. After a few long seconds, she began to rise slowly into the air. She stayed there a little while, then descended back to the ground. She opened her eyes and looked down.

"Okay," she looked up at him. "I think it's very similar to your chi attack, but instead of pushing your chi out of your body, you just push it to whatever part of your body is holding you up. Like when you fly straight up, channel it to your feet, and when you're flying on your stomach, channel it there, and some to your feet to propel you." She hoped the explanation was good enough.

The coach nodded and tried to relax, just like his advice to her in the beginning stages of the Kamehameha. He slowly pushed his chi down past his stomach. He was so used to channeling it there that it almost seemed uncooperative… If energy could be uncooperative… Finally, he felt it go down to his feet, and, very slowly, he rose from the ground. "Awesome," Kori exclaimed. "I've never watched anyone else fly, so this is really cool to me! Now try floating on your stomach…" The coach tried channeling more chi up to his stomach and leaned forward, trusting it to catch him… Which it almost didn't do. His nose was nearly on the ground, but he'd caught himself.

"Whew…" He tried concentrating more on the chi centered in his stomach. He began to rise until he was about five feet off the ground. He smiled genuinely at his progress, but he was starting to feel a little taxed from having to control his chi so much. He leaned back, and pushed his chi down to his feet again to soften his almost fall back to the ground. When he touched down, he was surprised to note that his legs wouldn't hold him. Kori rushed to hold him up before he could fall into a heap on the ground.

"Oh yeah… I do kinda remember when I was little, I couldn't fly for too long, or I'd get really tired. I think it's something you have to build up endurance for," she stated, placing his arm around her shoulder and walking him over to the bench by the side of the field.

He sat down, fighting off the urge to just lie down there and go to sleep. "Yeah," he agreed, "this is definitely something that needs to be done in steps."

Kori sat down on the back of the bench, placing her feet on the seat. She grinned, feeling happier than she had in a long time. "But we both made great progress today," she stated. "I mean, that chi attack is awesome, and being able to fly can put a whole new spin on sparring." She was so excited to have someone to spar with again. She honestly hadn't gotten a good workout like this since she'd been about twelve years old. Her mother was a great martial artist, but she'd surpassed her around the age of thirteen when her inhuman speed and power began developing itself full force. Since then, she and her mother had hardly sparred at all. Only on occasions where they both needed an outlet, but she couldn't really get much out of it. She was getting stronger and faster every day, and her mother was beginning to age. But she doesn't have to be stronger or faster than me for me to be scared of her… She chuckled at the thought.

Meanwhile, Coach Ohm was on the brink of just going to sleep right then and there. Kori looked down at him, then placed a hand on his shoulder. Her mother was prone to terrible headaches, and since she'd been small, she'd had a way of comforting her mother's pain. She thought that maybe it would work if you were worn out, too. She calmed herself, and concentrated on the hand on the coach's shoulder. It was then that she realized what she'd been doing for her mother all this time was actually her giving out some of her chi to help deal with the pain. The coach seemed to wake up and she removed her hand.

"What did you just do? I feel great…"

"Uh, I'm not very sure, but I think I just gave you some of my chi… I do that for my mom whenever she's got a headache, but it's one of those subconscious things. I never really thought about it."

"Wow. You certainly are full of surprises, aren't you?" He chuckled a little and looked at her. He didn't have any siblings, but he figured that this was what having a little sister was like. "Well," he started, "we have about half an hour left, and we could still fit in some more hand-to-hand… That is, if you're up for it, of course.."

"Hey, I'm not the one that was almost passing out a minute ago," she chided. She jumped up off the bench and crouched down. "Let's go!"

He smiled at her enthusiasm and resumed his fighting stance. For the next thirty minutes, they went nearly all out on each other, only holding back enough so as to not cause any serious injuries. Sure, they were a little scratched and bruised when it was all over, but the adrenaline rush they both had was enough to not feel any of the pain. As they were walking back towards the school, Ohm clapped her on the back and said, "Thank you. This is probably the most fun I've had in years."

She smiled up at him. I guess this is what it's like to have a big brother… "Same here," she agreed wholeheartedly. "I guess I'd better go get cleaned up before classes start. I wouldn't want to show up to Ancient Civilizations like this." She looked down at herself. There was dirt and small abrasions pretty much anywhere there had been skin showing. One sleeve of her shirt was in tatters, and the left knee of her wind pants was shredded to match, along with deeper cuts to go along with the rips in the clothing. She brushed her soaking wet hair from her forehead and looked over at the coach. He was equally disheveled.

"Yeah, me too. I would hate for my first period class to see me like this. What would the football team say if they knew their coach had gotten beat up by a `little girl'?" He smiled to let her know he was just playing. She mock-slugged him on the arm anyways. "Ok, well, I'll see you in gym. And I'll remember to keep up my end of the bargain."

She looked at him questioningly and then remembered that this had all started from the deal he had made her yesterday. She smiled as she started off towards the school building. "Thanks a lot! And hey, are we going to do this every morning?"

The coach thought seriously about it before replying. "Well, I think we should start off slow and go every other day. Then maybe next week we could up it to every day. I don't want either of us to get too worn out. Sound good?"

"Yeah, actually, I was going to suggest the same thing. Well, I gotta go. I don't want to be late." She ran off to take a shower and dress in the extra set of clothes she'd brought. None of her wounds were serious enough to merit going to the doctor, but she'd have to clean them out and dress them before class. Wow, that was great… Who knew I would learn so much before school even started today? Her thoughts trailed off happily as she cleaned up and got ready for class.

Melissa had watched the whole thing in a shocked state of near-disbelief. She'd heard Kori and the coach's conversation the day before in gym class, but hadn't let on that she knew what was going on. So she'd come early, out of curiosity, and hid in the bushes close to the school that had a very good view of the practice field. She watched as Kori and Coach Ohm sparred, their blows flew so fast she could barely see. The weirdest thing was how much they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. How could just fighting make someone so happy? Then she'd stared on as the coach had made some kind of weird ball and threw it at the trees, blowing one up… Then as Kori mimicked his movements, throwing a blast that knocked over one of the smaller trees. She was very glad she hadn't chosen to hide in those trees… I probably would've been killed by that blast…

The next thing she knew, Kori was… floating? She shook her head. Then the coach had, rather shakily, copied her. They were teaching each other… After that incident, they seemed to calm down and just talk for a while. She was too far away to hear. She didn't like this spying, and would've left a while ago if it hadn't been for all the bizarre stuff that seemed to be happening. Then, after resting, they got up like nothing weird had ever happened, and started to just spar again. This is so confusing. I mean, I knew she was really strong. She had to be to pull a move like that one in the gym yesterday. But this is just too much. I wonder why she's hiding it? It's not like I would think she's a freak or anything… But then she realized that she was kind of a minority. Other people would be afraid of something like that. Not that she wasn't kind of afraid, but it was more awesome-intriguing-than scary. She wanted to do those kinds of things too… A lot of other people wouldn't understand, though. They'd mark her as a freak. Persecute her. Melissa did know something about that. Until a few years ago, her purple hair had always marked her as a scapegoat. But with the rise of unnatural hair colors, things like that had become accepted in the school society. But having super strength and being able to fly and obliterate stuff without touching it isn't exactly as easy to accept as purple hair… I guess it is better for her if she keeps it a secret. I don't think I should pressure her into telling me, but I really want to see if I can do those things, too. And the only way to do that is to ask her to show me… Which would let her know that I spied on her… DAMMIT, why do things have to be so complicated?! Melissa ceased her internal struggle and decided to just wait a while, and see if Kori would let her in on her secret in her own time. There's no reason to abolish this… Kori seems like such a great person, and I'd rather have her as a friend than have her angry at me. She grabbed her backpack and stretched out as she walked to the school building. Looking at the clock, she realized that there was still some time to go get some breakfast, and no matter how bad the food was, she was hungry enough to eat it… She shoved her hands in her pockets and trudged to the cafeteria.

In Ancient Civilizations, Kori had a tough time concealing how good of a mood she was in. For some reason, her new friend, Melissa, seemed kind of down. She was so bubbly yesterday… I don't get it. I wonder if something bad happened to her… Kori took advantage of the five-minute lull at the end of class before the bell rang. "Hey, Melissa, are you ok? What's the matter?"

"Huh," Melissa asked as she was pulled out of her silent contemplation. She had been doodling idly on her notebook while in a deep debate with herself over whether to tell Kori she'd seen the sparring session between her and Coach Ohm. "Oh. Everything's ok, I guess. I'm just not feeling like myself today." Melissa rested her chin on her hand and looked over at Kori. "So how about you? You seem pretty chipper. Anything unusually good happen?" Melissa nudged her elbow and gave an overly exaggerated wink.

Kori chuckled a little. "Well… You've gotta promise not to tell anyone about this, ok?" She couldn't keep it to herself, and since Melissa seemed pretty trustworthy, she figured it'd be ok to tell her.

I guess I won't have to feel so bad about spying… "Yeah, sure, I promise. What happened? Some guy ask you out?"

As if… "Yeah, right." Kori gave her the most incredulous look she could muster. "Well, remember what happened in gym yesterday?"

Melissa smiled. "You mean, do I remember you throwing the coach on his ass? Yeah, I remember."

"The coach asked me to be his sparring partner. We had a session this morning, and it was really great. We're teaching each other some of our moves." Kori decided to leave it at that. Yeah, all I need to do is freak her out… It's really cool, Melissa: the coach is teaching me how to blow stuff up with chi and I'm teaching him how to fly. It's a blast…

"Wow, you're really into this martial arts stuff, aren't you?"

Kori nodded solemnly. "Yeah, my mom started teaching me when I was little. She was pretty serious about it. For the past few years, though, I've pretty much been teaching myself. It helps me feel at peace, you know?"

"Yeah, I feel the same way about electronics. My dad started me out on it when I was about 5. I asked for my own radio, and he gave me a `Build Your Own Radio' kit. Ever since then, I've been fascinated with electronics, and I'm never more peaceful than when I'm tinkering." Melissa was glad to find a way to relate. "Umm… Do you think maybe you could teach me martial arts? I know we're learning some basics in gym class, but I want to know more."

Kori considered it for a few seconds. "Well… Ok, but only if you promise to help me with my Physics homework. I watched you solving problems yesterday, so I know you're good. That's the only subject that's really gonna give me problems." Kori smiled a little. "So, do we have a deal?" Kori offered her pinky.

Melissa grinned and linked pinkies with her. "Deal," she said as the bell rang. As they were collecting their things to move on to the next class, she added, "Besides, I watched you in Physics yesterday, too. You're going to need more help than you know." She chuckled a little.

"That hurts… That really hurts," Kori smiled. They proceeded out the door to their next class.