"So he's back?"

Sensei Yazuko nodded, looking at both Kai and Takeshi. He had heard from Daniel LaRusso that Terry Silver was back and he was backing Iron Dragons.

"We must not get distracted by him and his games," their Sensei urged, "he will try turn all the dojos against each other, especially Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. We need to stay on our path."

Kai and Takeshi exchanged looks with each other before nodding to their Sensei. They weren't going to let Silver stop them.

Sam was in her hotel room when she got a text from Kai asking if she wanted to meet up a bit later for food. Their Senseis had just told them all what had happened with Silver and the mood was low. Johnny, Miguel and Kenny had all walked into a room filled with dejected people - Silver was out for their blood.

"If Miguel's back why's Kenny here?" Demetri asked Sam.

She didn't get a chance to answer as Hawk did. "He's taking Devon's spot."

"What, so he just forgave her all of a sudden? After what she did?" Demetri asked. "I don't buy it."

He turned to Sam. "Sam, as our only captain without a soft spot for Kenny, I feel obligated to inform you that we may have a potential traitor in our midst."

Sam looked over to Devon and Kenny who were talking. "We shouldn't be jumping to conclusions."

Demetri responded. "I'm not saying it's happened yet. All I'm saying is we know that Silver's gonna cheat. The only question is, how?"

"Let's just drop it for now." Sam said firmly to Demetri before looking at her phone. "I've got to go, I'm meeting up with Kai."

She left the room and as she did, she bumped into Milo. "Oh hey Milo, what are you doing?"

The shy boy adjusted his glasses. "I couldn't find Devon, I assumed there was a team meeting."

Sam pointed to where Devon was inside the hotel room. "She's just in there, we're done speaking now."

Milo glanced over and saw Devon and Kenny sat quite close together and he couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach. If Kenny liked Devon, there was no chance. They weren't officially together yet, they had kissed a couple times but it was nothing official.

"Oh...ok." Milo said hesitantly.

Sam noticed his gaze on Devon and Kenny. "Don't worry, she's just apologising for what she did. He took it quite well, said he was flattered."

"I'm glad he's forgiven her."

"Anyways, I have to go find someone. See you around Milo."

With a quick smile, Sam headed off to Kai's floor where he was waiting for her.

"Hey, ready to grab something quick to eat?" he asked, giving her a quick hug and a kiss when he saw her.

It was weird, they didn't have a label between them apart from 'complicated' but he knew there was something. They would just have to wait until the entire tournament was over before they could have a proper conversation about it.

They made their way to the hotel's canteen and grabbed a drink and a small plate of food. On Kai's plate was a bagel and some fruit whereas Sam opted for a yoghurt bowl.

Kai leaned back in his chair, sipping his water. "You ready for this? The last group event is gonna be chaos."

Sam smiled. "Ready as I'll ever be. What about you? Think Tiger Claw's got this?"

Kai smirked. "We haven't come this far to lose now. Sensei has been drilling us nonstop. In fact I think Takeshi and the others are on a run right now."

"You're slacking as captain." Sam said with a light laugh.

Kai chuckled. "I'd rather be here with you right now. Just wanted to see how you're holding up after...well after Silver's reappearance. I still can't believe that guy has the nerve to show his face here."

She sighed. "It's caused some problems that's for sure."

"Like what?"

"Well," she started, lowering her voice, "Demetri's been going on about Kenny. He thinks Kenny might betray us now that Silver's back in the picture. I mean, it's hard not to think about it - after everything Silver's done."

"Yeah he doesn't like to play by the rules." Kai mused.

"It's not just him. The Iron Dragons are scary. Axel, Zara...they're like machines. And their Sensei? He's...I don't know. He gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, Axel's a beast," Kai admitted, "but machines can break. We've seen what it's taken for Axel to become the fighter he is. It's not the right way to train. And people like Silver? They overreach. They think they're untouchable until someone knocks them off their pedestal. We've done it once, we can do it again.

Sam nodded, but her thoughts circled back to Kenny. "Still, what if Demetri's right about Kenny? What if Silver's already gotten to him? We can't afford to have someone switch sides or sabotage us now. Tory was enough..."

Kai leaned forward, his voice steady and calm. "Sam, listen. Don't make any judgments yet. Kenny's been through a lot, just like the rest of us. He's trying to figure out his place. Give him the benefit of the doubt."

She tilted her head. "You really think he's not a risk?"

Kai shrugged. "I think he's a smart kid, a good kid. He was just influenced by the wrong people. And I think you'll know what to do if something feels off. You're a good leader, Sam. You'll make the right choices for your team."

Sam looked at him. "I don't know if I'm as good as you think I am."

Kai smiled. "You are. You've already proven it by getting this far. Your team looks up to you - even when you don't see it."

Sam softened, her shoulders relaxing. "Thanks."

"Anytime," he said with a grin, leaning back in his chair, "now, stop overthinking. Eat. You'll need your strength for whatever madness the organisers have planned next."

Later that day, after Kai and Sam had parted ways to get ready, everyone gathered back in the arena for the final group event. The energy was electric as the top eight dojos lined up, standing tall as Braun's voice boomed around the room.

It was an all-dojo fight but only one from each dojo would be on the mat. It would be up to the fighters to tag their teammates in, with no breaks and the first to three points winning.

Kai adjusted the sleeves of his gi, his sharp eyes scanning the competitors. Across the mat, his gaze locked onto Axel. Axel stood tall and emotionless, his focus not on Kai but on Sam. That subtle, lingering look sent a surge of irritation through Kai's chest. He couldn't take a hint.

The Iron Dragons were up first, their cold efficiency on full display. Yet again, they only needed their captains with only Axel and Zara fighting. It was an easy 3-0 win for their dojo with Silver smirking from the side-lines.

Kai frowned, watching Axel closely as the captain glanced back toward Sam. The irritation bubbled again, but Kai shook his head. Focus, he reminded himself. Focus. He had a job to do.

Cobra Kai followed with their match, their style as brutal and relentless as ever. Tory stepped into the ring first but lacked her usual focus. She hesitated just long enough for her opponent to capitalise, landing a well-timed kick that cost Cobra Kai their first point.

Elijah, already simmering with frustration, screamed at her from the side. "Fucking tag me in!" he bellowed. Tory reluctantly obeyed, her shoulders slumping as she stepped out.

Elijah stormed onto the mat, his aggression fuelling his movements. He fought like a storm unleashed, a whirlwind of kicks and punches that left his opponent reeling. He tagged in Kwon, who used his agility to outmanoeuvre his challenger and bring the score to 2-1.

But Elijah wasn't done. He ordered Kwon to tag him back in and unleashed a devastating flurry of strikes, finishing with a brutal kick that left his opponent, who was already crumpled on the ground. His opponent was struggling to breath, a trace of blood spluttering from his mouth as Elijah roared in victory.

Now it was Tiger Claw's turn. The team huddled up, listening intently to Sensei Yazuko's strategy.

"Remember," Yazuko said, "we win together. Use each other's strengths. Play to the weaknesses of your opponents. Communication is key."

The fighters nodded, Rae was chosen to start, her defensive skills useful to gauge what sort of fighter they were up against. She parried and evaded, tiring him out before tagging Emiko.

Emiko darted in and with her speed and ability to stay light on her feet, she wrong-footed her opponent and landed an easy strike to score the first point. She then tagged in Masahiko who, with his flawless technique and unyielding defence, turned the bout into a gruelling test of endurance. After wearing his opponent down, he tagged in Aramis who delivered the final touch with a flashy roundhouse kick.

He looked out onto the crowd, a smirk on his face before he tagged in Kai who was itching to fight. Kai prepared to close it out, moving with confidence against his opponent but just as he gained the upper hand, he caught Axel watching from the sidelines, his eyes flicking to Sam.

The distraction was enough. A spinning kick connected with Kai's face, splitting his lip and sending him stumbling.

"Shit!" Kai roared, trying to balance himself.

"Kai, tag!" Takeshi's voice cut through the haze.

Kai regrouped and tagged Takeshi in, who matched the opponent's strength and held his ground. After a series of exchanges, Takeshi signalled for Kai to re-enter. Determined to redeem himself, Kai returned to the ring with laser focus. A perfectly timed counterstrike landed cleanly, securing the final point.

"Tiger Claw wins!" the announcer declared, and the crowd erupted.

As the team celebrated, Kai's gaze drifted to Axel. The Iron Dragon captain was still watching, his expression unreadable. Kai wiped the blood from his lip, he wasn't one to be petty but Axel had irritated him - more so now that he was the reason Kai got distracted and almost cost his team a point.

Kai looked over and locked eyes with Sam, knowing that Axel was glaring at the back of his head, and blew her a kiss. He could see her smile and blush before he turned away, giving Axel a quick smirk before regrouping with his team.

"What happened Kai-san?" Sensei Yazuko asked.

"I'm sorry Sensei, it was a momentarily lapse of concentration. It won't happen again."

Kai was ashamed and felt the eyes of his teammates on him. It wasn't like their captain to be distracted like this.

His attention was quickly diverted to Miyagi-Do's match-up against the Spanish dojo. He noticed a bit of tension between Hawk and Demetri and Demetri's reluctance to tag Hawk in lost Miyagi-Do their first point.

Then Sam came into the fight and Kai was impressed, she had improved so much from the first time he met her and it was all coming together now. She secured a point for Miyagi-Do, with Kai clapping and cheering.

He noticed Sam shout to Hawk. "Tag in Kenny!"

However, he also noticed Demetri signalling to Hawk that it wasn't a good idea. Kai shook his head when Hawk tagged in Robby, who was totally unprepared. Robby was unable to tag in Miguel and due to this, they had lost the match.

"Miyagi-Do's loss puts them on the verge of elimination after the first round."

Kai groaned to himself, they had still yet to learn how to work as a team. Right now, Miyagi-Do was just a group of individual fighters. Even after the match had ended, he noticed commotion between the fighters - he expected it was something to do about the lack of trust Kenny had.

There was little time for him to comfort Sam as the second round of matches began. Cobra Kai were up against Tiger Strike and Kai could see from the side that Tory was clearly distracted.

"Yoon, tag Nichols." Kreese ordered.

After some hesitation, Yoon brought Tory into the fight and Kai was right, something was off. She wasn't on her game, and because of that it led to a Cobra Kai loss.

"What's up with her?" Takeshi asked Kai.

"Something's off...I'd take a guess and say it's something to do with Robby."

"Apparently he slept with Zara...that's what people have been saying." Rae said.

"Didn't realise you were one for gossip."

Rae shrugged. "It's entertaining."

"Another loss and Cobra Kai are out."

For Tiger Dragons, their second match went smoother than the first. Kai was focused and let no distractions seep into his fight, with the same tactic and team chemistry they had it was another 3-0 win that put them top of the leaderboard. It didn't last long though as Iron Dragons produced another flawless victory that reclaimed their top spot.

The stakes were high for Miyagi Do, another loss and they would be packing their bags back home. Kai watched, nerves inside him, hoping that it would be a better performance than the first match they had.

There was an obvious difference, Robby was more focused which changed the dynamic for Miyagi-Do completely. At one point, Kai noticed Robby at crossroads debating whether to tag in Kenny or Hawk. In the end, Robby tagged in Kenny which proved to be the correct decision as the younger boy scored two consecutive points to win and keep their hopes alive.

Kai smiled as he clapped for Sam and her team. They would just have to win their final match to ensure survival.

It just so happened that it would be against Cobra Kai.