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𝚂𝟸|𝙴𝟸| 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙸𝚗 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔
Tessa LaRusso had been excited for her first day of training. She knew it would be different from training with Cobra Kai but to be honest, she needed a change. Plus, the training would help get her mind off of Miguel.
She exited her car with a smile on her face as she put her bag over her shoulders. As she walked past the cars, her phone started to buzz so she quickly grabbed her phone in both hands, accepting the call from Aisha. "Hey, about time you called me. I was getting worried. Did you miss me?" Tessa spoke with a smile as she continued to walk.
"A lot." A voice mumbled that was defiantly not Aisha's. Tessa quickly realized who the voice was as her smile dropped, her pace becoming slower. "Please don't hang up. Aisha doesn't know I'm using her phone." Miguel pleaded with the girl as he stood at the entrance of the Cobra Kai with a gloomy face.
"What do you want? Because it seems like every single time we have talked since the party, we've fought. And I really want to have a good day." Tessa spoke through a sigh, gripping her bag closer to her body.
"I know I screwed up. I shouldn't have done what I did at the party, and I shouldn't have left you at the tournament. I made a mistake. I just want things to go back to the way they were." Miguel said as stopped for a moment, looking behind him as the door opened.
"Don't you think that's what I want too? Because I would do anything to have what we had back again. But it's not that easy." Tessa walked into the inside dojo.
"Look, I'll do anything. I—" Miguel stopped and took a deep breath. "I can't stop thinking about you."
"Look, Miguel, I—" Tessa started, stopping once she saw Robby staring up at her, stopping his movement from punching the punching bag. "I really can't talk right now. Can you just tell Aisha to call me back?" Tessa moved her phone away from her ear, quickly hanging up the phone call as Robby went back to punching. She set her bag down before looking over at Robby. "I thought it was Aisha." She spoke as she pointed at her phone before throwing it on her bag.
Robby looked over at her. "You can talk to whoever you want. I didn't know you and Aisha were good again though." He spoke honestly to her as she walked up to him.
"Yeah, she apologized for the way she acted at the tournament when I saw her last." She smiled at him, trying to forget the conversation she just had with the other boy.
"Hey guys." Daniel called out as he stood on one of the decks. "All right. Perfect attendance on day one." He spoke, getting off the deck as he made his way over to the teens.
"Sooo, what's are first lesson?" Tessa asked curiously.
"You'll see." He started before looking at Robby. "Follow me." He started to walk away. "Come on." He signaled Tessa, who followed shortly after with Robby behind.
The three stood out in the front as Daniel laid a sack on the floor, taking a knife and cutting it open. Sand started to spill out as Daniel took the bag, spreading the sand in a circle while the teens watched curiously. "Since when did Miyagi-do turn into looking like a satanic cult?" Tessa joked as she looked at the sand circle, putting her hands down as she was, before having them crossed in front of her chest.
"Uh, never." Daniel laughed as he stood back up, putting the knife in his pocket. "It's been a long time since this dojo's had more than one student. And you figure with two people you have twice the defense, right?" Daniel questioned, causing the two teens to shrug as they nodded their head. "Wrong. One of the cornerstones of Miyagi-Do Karate is always moving in a circle." Daniel spoke, motioning his hands in a circle. "And with the wheel technique, you'll see that two people can be as strong as 20. Now are you ready?"
"Yes Mr. LaRusso." Robby nodded his head.
"This is going to be so much fun. Let's do this." Tessa excitingly spoke.
"All right. Get in the circle." Daniel pointed to the circle he previously made with sand. The two teens walked up into the circle, standing across from each other. "Face me. Bow." Both Tessa and Robby bowed towards Daniel. "Face each other. Bow." Both looked at one another in the eye before bowing.
They both started to do a routine they previously learned before at the exact same time. Daniel watched with a close eye, doing what they were doing as well. "Nice." Daniel complemented as they started to get to the punching part of the routine, still being in sync. "Now show me the wheel." Daniel told, the two teens had one hand by their face and the other hand straight above there chest. They started to do the wheel, but Robby was faster than Tessa, causing them not to be in sync anymore. "No. No, no, no. You both have to be perfectly in sync. Or this technique doesn't work."
"'Technique'? This feels more like a dance." Robby spoke as the two stopped the routine, standing next to each other.
"Yeah. And at what point do we do the hokey pokey and turn ourselves around?" Tessa sarcastically asked, feeling like this was useless.
"Okay, guys, trust me. You both master this, no one's gonna mess with you." Daniel tried to lift up there spirts.
"Yeah, because they're going to be confused, wondering why we're dancing when we're supposed to be fighting." Tessa spoke not understanding the point.
"Come on. You have to have a better attitude about this, Tessa. Let's try again." The two walked back to their spots, starting right before they would need to do the wheel instead of doing all the other stuff.
"Aits." Daniel yelled out, sounding a lot calmer than Tessa was used to, seeing as when Johnny would say it, it was a shout. They both started to do the technique however Robby was still faster than Tessa as the two continued to mess up. "And down, Tessa, left arm up." Daniel spoke, trying to explain to his daughter. "No, no, together. At the same time." He continued to speak, getting frustrated.
"How are we supposed to when we can't see each other?" Robby asked, stopping the routine.
"You need to sense what your partner is doing, even if you can't see them." Daniel spoke, causing Tessa to raise her eyebrows in question.
"And how are we supposed to do that? The force?" She questioned as Daniel sighed before getting a message on his phone. He took his phone out of his pocket looking at it before sighing again.
"Shoot, I gotta go help Amanda with something. Just, just feel it, all right? I'll be back as soon as I can." Daniel walked away as Tessa and Robby got back into position, starting up the routine again.
After an hour of trying to work on the routine with Robby, they decided a break would be nice. Tessa walked to the back of the dojo grabbing her phone, realizing the time. She cursed to herself as she grabbed her bag that had her uniform for work. She looked over at Robby as he walked over towards her.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I have work like, really soon. Do you think it would be okay if I go?" She asked, becoming guiltily that she would have to leave Robby on his own.
"Yeah, go. I'm glad you got a job, it's always good to have an income coming in." He spoke, causing Tessa to smile.
"See you later Robby." She hollered before running out to her car, starting her engine as she made her way to the Chinese restaurant.
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As the next day approached, Tessa got to the dojo early so she could work on the wheel technique more, seeing as she left early the day before. She heard footsteps behind her as she quickly turned around, stopping her training as she looked at Robby, who had a scowl on his face.
"Hey, um, do you know if the first turn is clockwise or counterclockwise?" Tessa asked as Robby stopped, staring at her before responding.
"I don't remember. What's the point even? How's a stupid dance gonna save us in a fight?" Robby said, angerly flaring his arms before walking away, leaving a very confused teen.
"Okayyy." She dragged out.
The two students walked out into the back dojo, watching Daniel take a bonsai tree from the board, putting it on the grass before lifting himself out of the water and onto the grass.
"Dad? What are you doing?" Tessa curiously asked, walking towards her father, Robby following quickly behind.
"Mr. Miyagi built this a few years before he died." Daniel said, starting to explain while slowly walking towards the two. "He said it was a monument of balance. But today, it's not gonna balance bonsais. It's gonna help you two with the wheel technique. Hop in." He finished, getting an eyebrow raised from Tessa.
"Your joking, right?" Tessa questioned, creating silence between the three before she sighed. "There's no way you actually want us to get in there." She spoke, pointing at the water with a disgusted face.
"Come on, get in." Daniel said, causing Tessa to look at Robby as he looked down at her shrugging.
"Could've told us to bring our swimsuits." Robby spoke.
"Come on. A little water never hurt anyone." Daniel said as the kids finally gave in, Robby taking off his shoes while Tessa took off her shoes as well as her sweatshirt, leaving her in a black sports bra. Robby stepped in first, lowering his body slowly into the water as Tessa waited behind him. "All right. Nice and easy." Daniel spoke as he encouraged them.
"Oh, it's cold." Robby shuddered as he let both legs fall in.
"Come on. It's not that bad." Daniel encouraged as Tessa slowly put her body into the water. "Get on each side." He continued, walking around the pond.
"Oh my god, dad! What did I just step on?" Tessa quickly questioned, stopping in her tracks as she felt something on her foot.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Daniel tried to reassure the girl.
"That doesn't really help." She mumbled as she continued to walk to the balance board. The teens both got to their side as Robby put pressure down causing Tessa's side to go up. She quickly removed her hands from the board.
"If we can't do this on the ground, how are we supposed to do it on this?" Robby questioned in disbelief, his hands still on the board, holding it down.
"On the ground, it's hard to sense when your partner is moving. On that deck, trust me, you're gonna feel it right away." Daniel spoke as Tessa listened intently. "Come on. Get up there." Tessa lifted up one leg, trying to climb on it as Robby did the same.
"Whoa!" Tessa yelled out as she almost lost her balance.
"There you go. Easy, easy, just relax." Daniel spoke as the two were able to get all fours on the board, the two started to rise slowly as Tessa almost slipped. "All right. Find your balance." The teens were able to rise more. "Find your balance, Tessa. Your all right." Daniel said, trying to help her as the two fully raised their hands from their sides. "Okay? There you go." Both looked at their feet as they wobbled, trying to stay balanced. "Look at Robby. Sense each other." The two made eye contact for a split second as the board didn't move. "There you go. Okay, take your starting positions."
They got into their starting positions, however they continued to wobble. Both raised their hands, putting their hands into a tringle while they occasionally rocked their bodies backwards. They slowly took it down, Tessa chopping her hand down to the side as Robby quickly followed, the board shaking more.
"There you go. Good. There you go." Daniel encouraged. They started to do more things with their hands when Robby went to fast as Tessa stumbled.
"Whoa!" She yelled out once more, holding her hand out to her side. They continued the routine, starting to kick, Robby going too fast and him being closer to the end, he ended up falling onto the board, rolling into the water. Tessa quickly followed as she lost balance and fell to the side, right into the water.
Tessa emerged from the water, whipping her face off after Robby had done the same when he came up. Robby looked over at Tessa as she covered her face, accidently staring down at the girl's chest, seeing as she was only wearing her black bra, and from the water it highlighted more of the area. She took her hands away, looking at Robby as she followed his gaze, looking back up at him with an amused smirk, raising her eyebrows at him before snapping her fingers, getting his attention. He looked at her as she held her smirk as he widened his eyes, realizing what he just did before looking away from her.
"All right. Not a bad start, okay? You're just finding your footing." Daniel said to the teens, not noticing them having a silent conversation with their eyes.
"I don't feel like we're finding anything." Robby mumbled as he looked off, trying to get the taste out of his mouth.
"Uh, dad, when was the last time this thing was cleaned?" Tessa asked in disgust.
"Come on, guys. Get back up. That was great. Come on." Daniel spoke as Tessa took a deep breath before heading over to her side to get back up. "All right, now remember, use all of your senses. Feel where your partner is." Both teenagers stood back up on the board, trying to balance themselves out.
They started the routine, looking each other in the eye, and when they started to do the punches, the board did not move as they were both perfectly balanced.
"You ready?" Robby asked, referring to the kicking.
"Let's do this. One." Tessa started.
"Two." He spoke, keeping his body still.
"Three." They both spoke as they began to do the kicks. Robby was a little bit behind, almost falling over but he was able to balance as he looked behind him towards Tessa.
"Hey, hey, hey. Slow down." He spoke out.
"Yeah. I felt that." She stopped the movement as she looked behind herself.
"Thanks." They both continued the routine as they faced each other, bringing their arms out, Daniel doing the same from where he stood. They were able to get farther than they were before, but Tessa stepped too close to the edge causing her to fall, Robby shortly after.
"Okay, all right. Come on, get back up." Daniel spoke while they wiped there face off, getting back onto the board to try again. "Don't be discouraged. You're getting better each time."
Daniel watched in amazement as his students were able to get back on the board, doing the routine again, getting farther than they did the last time. He watched as they finished the routine, and all they had to do was bow to him. "There you go." He proudly spoke.
Tessa and Robby both bowed to Daniel as they finished up there routine before they looked at each other, bringing their hands in the middle, giving the other one a fist bump. "There you go. All right!" Daniel spoke, proud of his students.
Tessa ran into one of the rooms in the dojo as Robby was crouched down, grabbing his bag. "Hey, it took me forever to dry off, but... today was awesome." She spoke as she made it to Robby, smiling at him.
"Yeah." Robby spoke with a chuckle. "I think we finally got it."
"Yeah." She turned her head slightly before she remembered what happened earlier, turning back around, holding up one finger with a smug smirk tugging at her lips. "Also, you want to explain why exactly you were looking at my boobs.?" She bluntly questioned, crossing her arms above her chest.
"Uh..." Robby started, immediately getting flustered. "I, uh, wasn't." He stuttered out.
"Sure." She dragged out with a smile. "Hey, uh, do you need a ride? There's room in the car." She spoke out.
"Uh." He started, gulping glad she had dropped the subject before. "No." He said shaking his head. "Uh, look... I'm sorry about earlier." Robby spoke in a soft tone. "I'm just... dealing with some stuff at home. My mom took off. I guess she missed some bills. But I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure." She tried to place a smile but all she could feel was guilt for the boy in front of her.
"Cool." Robby laughed before smiling down at the girl and walking away. Tessa watched as he walked away before sighing. She quickly walked over to the room she knew her dad was in, knocking on the door and opening in.
"Hey, dad?" She asked as she walked into the room, causing Daniel to turn towards her.
"Yeah?" The man asked.
"Do you have a second. I need to talk to you." She questioned, leaning her arm on the door.
"Sure, what's up?"
"Uh, how much do you know about Robby's home life?"
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Tessa and Daniel walked up to Robby's apartment door as Tessa quickly knocked. She took a step behind her father as Robby opened the door slightly, due to the fact he kept the lock chain on.
"Hey Robby." Daniel spoke to the boy.
"Hey." Robby responded as he shut the door, removing the chain from the door before opening it fully. He looked behind his sensei to see the brunette girl. "Tess?" He confusingly asked.
"Hi Robby." She spoke with a weak smile.
"Mr. LaRusso, Tess. What are you guys doing here?" Robby asked.
"Well, I could lie and say we were in the neighborhood. Is your mom home?" He questioned, causing Robby to look down. "Hey, listen. It's all right." He said, putting a hand on Robby's shoulder. Robby looked up at Daniel as he tried to smile.
Tessa sat across from Robby as they ate pasta with Sam next to the girl.
"This is like, really good." Robby spoke as he shoved more food in his mouth as the eldest daughter laughed.
"I know right. It's our grandma's recipe." She smiled.
"How was training?" Sam asked as she took a sip of her water.
"It was good. I didn't think I would end up going for a swim though." Tessa joked, causing Robby to smile at her.
"You know, I've been thinking about training with you guys. You think I could join?" Sam asked as Tessa quickly looked to her.
"Oh my god, yes. You need to. No offense to this one, but it would be so much fun with another girl there." Tessa said as she put her arm on Sam.
"Hey! What's so wrong with me?" Robby questioned, taking fake offense.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" She asked, sitting back in her chair, raising her eyebrows.
"Uh, no not really." Robby spoke, chuckling as Tessa smiled at him. The two stared at each other, Sam looking at them, getting uncomfortable from the obvious chemistry the two had. She didn't understand how her sister got every guy, even the ones she didn't want. First Miguel and now Robby. She even had Eli and a lot of the guys at the school had once held a crush for the girl.
"Okayyy." Sam muttered, clearing her throat before getting up as she sat her bowl in the sink.
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Johnny sat in his office, filling out paperwork while he listened to Kreese talk about the day.
"Takes guts as a sensei to put your students through that." Kreese spoke as he sat on the table that had the whiteboard.
"I know what I'm doing." Johnny muttered, not looking up at Kreese.
"Didn't say you didn't." Johnny looked over at him for a moment.
"Thanks for giving it an extra kick in the pants today. They needed it." He spoke before filling out the rest of the paperwork.
"Anything I can do to help." Kreese spoke. "So, I didn't see that girl that was at the dojo the other night. Who was she? Is she a student?" Kreese asked, the girl looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't place it. Johnny sighed, thinking if he should tell his former sensei who the girl was.
"She used to be a student of mine. Diaz is a good fighter, but she knew how to fight, and she was damn good at it." Johnny looked back at Kreese.
"Seemed like it." Kreese chuckled. "I could see the fire in her. It just radiated off of her, you know? Even if she wasn't angry then, you could still sense the fire. Reminded me of an old pal." There was a moment of silence before Kreese spoke up again. "What's her name?"
"Tessa, Tessa LaRusso." Johnny said, staring Kreese in the eye as the man's expression changed before it fell into a smirk.
"LaRusso?" Kreese questioned as he laughed. "She sure has a lot of aggression for a LaRusso." He said as Johnny laughed. "Who's her mom?"
"Jessica. I don't know her last name. Tessa told me about her, she said her mom met Daniel in '85. She also told me that she wasn't around anymore though." Johnny spoke as he sighed, feeling sorry for the girl, knowing how it felt like without a mother seeing as his mother died a little while before Robby was born.
"Well, that explains where she got her anger from." Kreese spoke. He couldn't believe the two had a kid.
"You knew Jessica?" Johnny asked confusingly.
"Oh, I know a lot about that girl."
𝙰/𝙽 𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎....