TEENAGE KICKS

CHAPTER TWELVE: SIDE COMPETITION

EVEN WITH WHAT HAD occurred yesterday fresh on both of the teenager's minds, Rory still managed to show up for Daniel. Though much to her dismay, the first person she saw that was familiar was Ali.

Groaning softly, she crossed her arms after facing the blonde "what do you want Ali?"

"Oh, uh. Daniel forgot his black belt" Rory furrowed her eyebrows, black belt? Since when did the boy have any belt "Mr. Miyagi gave it to me to give to him, but I think he'd much rather see you before the competition"

That made Rory choke up, why was she being so nice to her? "Um, thanks I guess. Is he in the locker rooms?"

Ali nodded and pointed in the direction she had come from, holding up a 5 to show her that she had limited time left. Rory left in a hurry, pushing past a few important looking people to get the belt clutched in her hands to its rightful owner (unless it was stolen, then yikes).

"Hey, hey, save it for the ring. come on!" she heard a man yell in one of the locker spaces causing her to speed up and pass by her brother's friends "ey, there are no girls allowed in here"

Rory rolled her eyes and quirked her head to the side "eh, no habla ingles"

"Huh, whatever. I've got places to be"

The man scattered off past her leaving the grinning girl to enter the open room where Daniel was sitting "Nice to see that you've already gotten yourself into trouble"

Daniel's head shot up and he rushed to stand up "Aurora, you're here. I mean, of course, you're here, I didn't expect you to not be here or anything"

"Hey LaRusso" the boy hummed in reply "shut up"

"Got it"

The girl chuckled lightly and stepped closer to him before unfolding the black belt to hand it to him "I was told to give this to you, your designated black belt sir"

He had the same reaction as I had, muttering black belt under his breath in confusion and hurried to tie it around his waist. "thanks"

Almost immediately the belt slipped down a bit, looking a little as compared to how it was supposed to fit around your hips. Rory stepped forward and gestured to the belt at his feet, the boy nodding in embarrassment as she leaned down to pick it up.

"Did you not learn how to tie a proper knot in elementary?" she took a poke at his sheepish secret, tying the black belt tighter and looking back up at Daniel.

"Uh, I didn't really pay attention in school much"

"I can see that" They both laughed, one more nervous than the other. Rory didn't know if it was from the competition or her proximity. Going with the former, she leaned up to give him a soft peck on his cheek leaving the boy beet red. "for good luck"

"I'm gonna need a lot more good luck than that" Daniel whispered under his breath. Gazing awe-stricken at the smiling brunette who didn't seem to see the effect she had on him. He couldn't help but be a tiny bit saddened at how she hadn't wanted to kiss him the night before.

"What was that?"

"Nothing"

★ ☆

"The winner of the first match in the open division is Lucas Snyder"

Rory couldn't give a single fuck for who the hell Lucas Snyder was, he could've been a middle-aged cripple or a boy who had gotten murdered in the middle of the night. All she could focus on was tugging along Daniel, who was trying to keep up with her, by his hand.

"Mr. Miyagi" Rory yelled out to the awaiting man that stood by a pacing Ali Mills, both turning at the sound of her voice.

"hey, Daniel-san, hurry up. come." he leaned out to look at the room "tournament is starting"

Daniel pointed to the black belt she had previously tied around his waist "where did we get this by the way?"

"Uh, Buddha provide" he waved him off, the 2 girls pulling Daniel along when they heard his name get called on the loudspeakers.

Rory's head seemed to be spinning with all the people walking around, making the room a little complicated "where the fuck is ring 3?"

"Over there!" Mr. Miyagi pointed to a mat further into the room on the other side, but alas, another voice stopped them.

"Hold it!" he stopped the 4, narrowing in on the 2 girls who seemed to be out of place "Only teachers and students on the competition floor. I'm sorry"

"Oh well-"

Daniel went to go say something but was cut off by a hysterical Rory "bagel hormigas salchicha cáncer hormonas mujer maravilla tortilla almohada peluche cartel desaparecido perro gancho cortina!" the girl cried out making the mans eyes widen and nod hesitantly before walking off.

"What did you say to him?" Danny curiously asked the girl who was calming herself down after spewing out all the Spanish words she could think of.

"I don't know, but it got him to go away didn't it?"

Before anyone could say anything else, Mr. Miyagi started pushing the trio forward towards the mat. Daniel turned to him curiously "what are the rules here?"

"don't know" Mr. Miyagi answered "first time you, first time me"

Daniels's eyes widened to the size of saucers "well, I figured you knew about this stuff! I figured you went to these before. Oh great, I'm dead, I'm dead. You told me you fought a lot"

"Ah, for life, not for points"

Rory, who was scanning the crowd for people she knew spun around to face him "I've been to these before" but her words got trampled on by the sound of everyone talking over each other in the building.

They made their way onto the red multiple side-agon to where they assumed Daniel had to go "is that ring 3?"

Mr. Miyagi shrugged at Daniel "don't know"

"Why's he kneeling like that, maybe he's got arthritis?" Rory tended to ask dumb questions when nervous, and oh boy was she nervous, mostly because she was worried Daniel would be snapped in two if he went up against her brother.

"do you got anything you can tell me!" Daniel blew up slightly, letting the nerves get to him and letting them out in angry and sarcastic remarks.

The old man nodded "Hai. No get hit"

Rory rolled her eyes and narrowed them in on Mr. Miyagi "Oh, that was a real lifesaver, now Danny here is untouchable!"

The boy walked onto the mat to stand on a line across for the arthritis boy, awkwardly shaking his legs which made Rory want to throw herself off a cliff. They both turned to bow at the man who stood off to the side before shifting to face one another again.

"En garde" he held his hand between the two "fight!"

The other boy took the first chance to kick Daniel in the stomach causing him to stumble back and out of the square. Mr. Miyagi caught him and helped the boy back up to the line again.

"No point. En Garde. Hai!"

Again, the boy went to punch him which made Daniel back away to avoid it and ultimately stepping out of the figurative ring. Mr. Miyagi turned the boy to face him "Daniel-san, remember your defense. Points come. Concentrate. Focus power. Remember balance. make good fight"

Daniel nodded distractedly, probably having heard it but too nervous to give a direct answer "warning for running out of the ring. Once more will cost you a point. En Garde" The boy looked behind him once more at the trio, earning 2 thumbs up from Ali, a nod from Mr. Miyagi, and a huge wide smile from Rory that she reserved for only him to see. "ready? Guard. Hai!"

The brunette side-stepped the other boy, kicking him in the stomach and causing him to flip onto the ground. Loud cheering erupted for the boy, the loudest being the claps and whistles coming from a jumping Rory.

"Come back on your line. That's one point, round kick. Hai!"

Blondie went to go for another kick, leaving his back exposed enough for Daniel to bring his hand down and make the boy fall to the mat once again.

"All right, Daniel!" Rory cheered, her screams mixing in with the crowds "woo-hoo!"

The next few fighters clustered together into one montage, nothing sticking out to her except for the reminder of how ruthless the Cobra Kai's were. So when she saw Mr. Miyagi patching up Daniel's bruising side, it finally sunk in that he had actually made it to the first semifinal without dying. That might sound a little dramatic, but what else should you think when a whole dojo is out for your blood.

"May I have your attention please?" the announcer's voice called over the speakers, his frame standing in the middle of the now deserted mats "this is the first semifinal match of the afternoon. Defending champion, John Lawrence of the Cobra Kai, two-time winner of the all valley under 18 golden trophy. He'll be facing Danny Duval of the Locust Valley karate club. Three points wins. Will the contestants please come to the ring? Good luck, gentlemen"

Johnny played it rough, but you could also see the cogs turning in his head as he watched the other kid trying to bring him to the mat. 1...2...3. Her brother had won, so that meant if Daniel were to defeat the next person, he would be up against the blonde.

Fiddling with her fingers, Rory nervously chewed on her bottom lip which had been a habit her mother had tried to get her to stop doing. The announcer stepped back up on the mat with his microphone "the next semifinal will determine who will face the defending champion. Will Daniel LaRusso of the Miatchi-do karate..." cheering erupted, Rory subtly intertwining her fingers with the boys to give it a reassuring squeeze before dropping her hand back down. "...And Bobby Brown of the Cobra Kai"

The two boys stood up and walked onto the mats, both seeming slightly off edge (and she had never seen Bobby not look forward to a fight).

"Do what you gotta do, Bobby!"

Rory's eyes scanned over the other students on the opposing side, coming into contact with a grinning Johnny who was already looking at her. That made her tilt her head in confusion, like as if he knew something she didn't.

"Face. Bow" the referee spoke "let's watch the control, gentlemen"

As soon as they were allowed to attack, Bobby jumped back and forth on his feet before taking a leap into the air and kicking down on Daniels left leg. Rory yelped and went to rush forward towards the boy along with Mr. Miyagi, leaving behind a worried Ali.

"Daniel I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" Bobby pleaded in Daniel's face who lay squirming in pain on the floor. The Cobra Kai student had obviously known what he was doing, so seeing him plead for the boys forgiveness instead of boast about hurting him made her eyes open in realization.

"My leg! My leg hurts, Mr. Miyagi!" daniel yelled making the man rush to try and pick him up. Rory stood back to give them space, turning around to make a stare daggers at where Johnny stood next to a straight faced Kreese.

"Bobby Brown of the Cobra Kai has been disqualified for extensive and deliberate contact!" 2 medical professionals came and picked him up, bringing him off the mat and out of the room "Daniel LaRusso has 15 minutes to return to the ring. If LaRusso is unable to return, John Lawrence automatically will be awarded first place by default."

Mr. Miyagi, Ali, and Miss LaRusso rushed out after Daniel, leaving behind a furious Rory. She pointed to Johnny and then herself and motioned to outside, leaving the boy no option but to follow her.

"I can't believe you guys are so sick that you would hurt someone else just to get what you want!" Rory blew up at him, letting her hands fly around in wild gestures of anger "you really messed up this time John"

Johnny rubbed his face tiredly and looked down at his sister "I didn't know that Bobby was going to do that"

"Then what was with the smirk you gave me? Cause it sure seemed like you knew something was going to happen"

"I saw Kreese talking to Bobby and thought that he wanted the boy to disqualify himself so he would have to go up against me or something alright, I'm sorry about your boy toy"

Rory glared daggers at him. Thinking that maybe if she stared at him long enough, he would catch on fire. Johnny really hadn't expected what was going to happen, but that didn't mean the girl was going to just calm down, she had to release her anger on someone.

Laughing forcefully, she shook her head disappointedly "I'm so glad I quit that wretched dojo, you're all just sick excuses for what men are supposed to be"

"Well, I'm going to win anywa-"

"You don't get it, do you" Rory snapped "if Daniel doesn't get back in there, you're not actually winning, you're just not losing. Yes, you win by default. But only at the cost of someone else getting injured"

Rory breathed out through her nose and returned back to the busy room where she spotted Daniel's mom and Ali sitting back down on the benches. The girl made a b-line for the 2, coming to a stop in front of them.

"Danny?" she whispered hopefully, earning a sad shake of her head from Ali and a reassuring smile from the mom.

What were they going to do now?