Hear My Heart

4x08

Tory arrived on the dot for karate class having come straight from work.
"Hey." Robby immediately went over to see her when she arrived.
"Hey." Tory replied sounding happy to see him.
"You're, uh... You're gonna go?" Robby enquired having overheard Kyler bragging about his plans for prom.
"To prom?" Tory checked having missed the previous conversation. Robby nodded. "Yeah, right. Let the rich kids have their stupid party." Robby smirked at her response. "Besides can you picture me in a ballroom dress." Robby smiled repressing a chuckle as he tried to picture it and agreed that it wasn't very Tory-like. He was about to respond but was interrupted by Sensei Kreese.

"All right, class. Fall in." They all quickly took their spots on the mat. "Today's lesson is about balance. Not the way Miyagi-Do teaches it. You're going to learn how to get inside the heads of your opponents and throw them off balance. Pair up."

Being the top two students Robby and Tory paired up as always.
"Aits." Kreese called telling the students to begin their drills.

"You know, you know you should go." Robby said as he deflected Tory's punches, thinking about Sensei Kreese's lesson "Crashing you-know-who's big night would a hell of a way of getting your opponents off balance."
"Not as much as if you showed up." Tory argued.
Robby chuckled "I'm not a student anymore. They won't let me in." He reminded her as he took his turn throwing the jabs.
"Maybe they would... If you went with me." Tory suggested. Suddenly, Robby personally understood the lesson of knocking your opponent off balance as he stumbled over the drill they were doing. "Did you just ask me to prom?"
"Strictly a tactical move." Tory said reminding him of his own suggestion but also noting how it had taken Robby a second to restart the drill.
"Well, it's such short notice. We'd have to get a ride. Still need a tux." He listed in between punches.
"I think it's a great idea." Silver spoke up from behind Robby having overheard their discussion whilst walking around the students "And if you're going, you're going in style." He said to them before continuing walking. Robby shrugged knowing Silver wasn't just offering.

The concentrated class was soon interrupted by the loud entrance of Stringray. They all stopped their drills before Kreese told them to get back to work but as Kreese got louder everyone watched him cruelly reject Stingray.

/ /

Robby had not long moved back in with his mom and things were going as well as they ever had been between the two of them. However, the arrival of Silver had just thrown a spanner in the works.

"I've already been to see Nichols. Figured I'd go there first. Girls take longer to get ready." He laughed while Shannon humped.

After giving Robby a suit and flowers for corsages and lapels, Silver said "One more thing. Come on, it's outside. I couldn't bring it in with me." He chuckled. Shannon followed along behind them suspiciously.

Robby's mouth dropped open in shock like a child on Christmas. "Sensei, you can't be serious?"
"I said you'd be going in style, didn't I? You and Tory are gonna go first class all the way. Why don't you take it for a spin? Make sure it still works? It's been sitting in my driveway for the past few months. I had it towed here." He suggested handing Robby the keys.
"Awesome!"

"Mrs Keene-"
"Ms." The blonde corrected.
"My apologies. Ms Keene, I realise this must come as a surprise to you."
"It's just a bit much."
"Nonsense! Robby is our champion he deserves to be treated as such. It's important that he's taken care of, especially in the run up to the tournament." Silver explained handing Shannon a wad of hundred dollar bills.
"I can't accept that!"
"Oh but you must!" Silver insisted forcing it into Shannon's hand. "And if there's anything else I can do for Robby, or you, just to help out please let me know. I could find you a new place to live, perhaps one that's closer to the dojo, or one that has its own gym, just to help Robby become the best fighter he can be. How is that new job of yours? Robby mentioned it one day. A receptionist at a yoga place was it? You know, I have my own waste disposal company as well. It's a lot more lucrative than you would think."