I stood next to Mr Miyagi as we stood on our side of the mat, chewing my lip. The fight began, except Daniel still didn't understand. The second the opponent charged him, Daniel backed up and out of bounds, into Mr Miyagi and I.
"Daniel, you can't keep backing up or you'll lose a point." I said after he backed up for the second time. "Just attack. Remember what Mr Miyagi taught you." Daniel nodded, before re-entering the arena.
I watched again as the match started, but Daniel didn't back up this time. Instead, he blocked his opponent's attack and struck him in the chest. "Point!" The ref called, making me clap excited.
I took a deep breath, my heart pounding in excitement. The match started again, but this time Daniel's opponent struck receiving the point. I still clapped, cheering Daniel on. "You got this Daniel!" I called, clapping.
The match restarted, and Daniel scored the point, receiving cheers. The match restarted again, and Daniel scored the point, winning the match. "Yes!" I yelled, smiling brightly. Daniel walked off the mat, and I hugged him tightly.
"See, I told you that you'd get past the first match." Daniel smiled.
"Yeah, but I have about a dozen more to get through." I shrugged.
"Well, we'll have to see." Mr Miyagi put his hand on my shoulder.
"Let's go. Next match." I smiled at Mr Miyagi as we headed to the next arena. I gave Daniel a smile as he walked onto the next mat. It was gonna be a long day.
~ ~
"Hey, did I miss much?" I turned to face Daniel's mom, shaking my head.
"No, he's just started for the semi finals, so we're just starting." Lucielle gave me a hug.
"I'm so happy that Daniel has someone like you in his corner." I smiled gratefully at her before looking at the match, sitting next to her as I tapped my foot anxiously.
"Are you okay?" Lucielle asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I just have a weird feeling." I shrugged, still tapping my foot. Lucielle shrugged, but she watched Daniel like I was. I watched his form focusing on him when someone caught my eye.
Kreese was looking at Daniel, his expression amused, making my skin curl. His eyes shifted to me. I glared at him, but his expression was more amused than anything. He laughed before looking back at Daniel.
I was so focused on Kreese that the cheers around me almost didn't register until I felt someone shake me. "Daniel made it into the semi-finals!" I smiled quickly, cheering happily. Although I felt something bad in the pit of my stomach, I pushed it away.
~ ~
Daniel was currently competing against Butch in the semi-finals match, my anxiety flying through the roof. The two bowed at the referee before Daniel bowed at Butch. Butch didn't bow back, he just settled into his fighting stace. I held onto Lucielle's wrist, ignoring the pain in mine as she gripped it back.
The two of them fought a little, but Butch backed up, making me furrow my eyebrows confused. I saw his run a bit before jumping up, and striking Daniel in the knee, pressing it back in a way it's not supposed to bend.
I gasped quickly standing up and trying to run to Daniel as he cried out in pain on the floor, Butch besides him being held back by the refs. Lucielle stopped me as Mr Miyagi ran to Daniel, holding me back. The doctor ran over as I shook in Lucille's arms, tears springing into my eyes.
"It's alright, it's alright, they've got him." Even Lucielle sounded upset and worried, as we followed the doctor and Mr Miyagi with Daniel into the locker room.
~