sweep the heart | cobra kai

mercy

The morning of the All Valley Tournament, Hallie and Robby drove to Einstein's bagels as well as the next door coffee shop. They sat in the car in the parking lot to chat, something they hadn't done in a while. It was nice.

"So," Hallie said in between bites of her bagel sandwich, "you're coming to the All Valley, right?"

Robby nodded. "I'll definitely be there."

"Yay," she smiled. "You can cheer me on."

He paused. "Honestly..."

"What?"

"I was thinking about... competing. Since I don't have a Sensei anymore, I don't know if it's allowed. But I might try," Robby shrugged.

"Really?" Hallie thought for a moment. "That's... super cool, Rob. I hope they let you."

He grinned.

Hallie gasped. "What if we have to fight each other?"

Her brother considered this, laughing. "Then I'll kick your ass."

"You bitch," she frowned jokingly. "Remember who always won in fights when we were little. Because it wasn't you."

Robby lightly shoved her aside.

-

A few hours later, Hallie gathered with her fellow Cobras to wait for the tournament. She and Miguel were on pretty good terms, even though he was still upset about his breakup with Sam.

Miguel practiced punching as they waited outside the tournament building.

"Yo, Miguel, calm down, man," said Hawk. "Save some for the tournament."

Miguel ignored him.

Aisha nudged Hawk. "Hey, don't even bother. He's been super aggro ever since the breakup."

Hawk sighed. "Where's Sensei? The tournament's gonna start soon."

"He'll be here," Hallie said.

"I don't know about that," said Bert.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I saw him last night at the mini mall. I was buying... a carton of milk... when I heard him in the parking lot, yelling."

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Aisha exclaimed. "Hallie, what's going on with him?"

Hallie paused. "He's fine. He's probably just stressed about the tournament."

She didn't tell them about everything that had happened with Daniel and Robby. But how would her dad react when he saw them at the tournament?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," said Bert. "I guess I'm just so used to seeing him drunk, it didn't seem like that big a deal."

"Well, we're here and he's not. So it's officially a big deal," Hawk glared. "What if something happened to him?"

"Like what?"

Hawk shrugged. "I don't know. Like, he drove his car off a cliff, or... bought a gun and blew his brains out."

"Hawk," Hallie frowned.

"No, Sensei would never kill himself. That's too pussy a move," Aisha said.

"Whatever," said Hawk. "I mean, we're here. We're gonna have to do it without him."

"Do what without me?" A voice called.

They turned to see Hallie's dad walking up to them.

"Sensei," Aisha greeted.