The rest of the night was a lot of fun. Sam was at the dojo with Mr. Larusso and Sensei Toguchi while we were all eating pizza, then Eli went with dad on his own later in the night. I don’t know what happened there, I didn’t actually ask, I wanted to give Eli and my dad a chance to connect with each other.
“Do you guys know the gender yet?!” I shouted, running out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn
“It’s too early for that Harley” Carmen chuckled, being as she’d driven us all home from the Larusso’s
“What are you guys gonna name it?” Miguel asked
“We haven’t really talked about that either”
“You should name it Baby” I smiled
“Oh real smart Harls” Robby rolled his eyes, I swung a hook kick at him while still holding the popcorn, which he leaned out of the way of narrowly “Dude!”
“After Frances Houseman idiot” I shot back as I sat down, making Robby rolls his eyes “It needs to be a girl, we’re outnumbered right now. What about Jeanie? Like in Ferris Bueller?”
“What about Pete, if it’s a boy” Miguel chimed in “You love Top Gun”
“Dad can’t stand Maverick though” I chuckled
“Could do Goose” Robby chimed in
“Oh- and Baby was a bad suggestion?!” I shouted in Robby’s ear
Robby took a swing back at me, and I blocked it. We both starred at each other for a couple seconds, then I quickly stuck the popcorn in Miguel’s lap and we both got up and started to fight with Robby. We took a chick at me but I grabbed his leg, the next thing we knew we were rolling around on the floor.
“Whoever wins has the better name!” I shouted
“Deal!”
“Dios mio” Carmen laughed “What is this baby getting into?”
“It’s gonna be one badass kid, that’s what” Miguel grinned, standing up and setting the bowl of popcorn down “Alright you guys enough- hey!” Miguel shouted as I accidentally kicked him in the face “Okay”
Miguel jumped on the both of us, now all three of us were wrestling each other around while Carmen just sat in the car chair laughing. We were all shouting our preferred baby names and tackling one another all over the livingroom floor. I don’t know how we had enough to even be able to do that, but somehow we did. The door opened, and dad and Eli both walked in, taking in the confusing sight in front of them.
“What the hell’s going on?” Dad asked
“Fighting over baby names” Carmen took in a deep breath to stop herself from laughing, as we finally decided a draw and all law on the floor together
“Wait, baby?!” Eli shouted, his eyes widening as he looked down at me “Harley……”
“Dad and Carmen genius” I snickered, along with Robby and Miguel “We’re good”
“Oh thank god” Eli let out a breath, leaning against the wall “I think I just had a heart attack”
“You and me both kid” dad nodded, walking further into the apartment “You better not be having a kid anytime soon”
“I’d assure you we won’t be, but at this point I feel like giving you a definitive 'don’t worry' will jinx it” I smiled, taking Eli’s offered hand to help me up “We were just gonna watch Young Guns, wanna stay?”
“Absolutely” Eli smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist as we both collapsed down onto the couch
“Oh sweet! Let me in” Dad smiled, running back over with a can of Coors and lifting up Carmen so she was sitting on his lap
Miguel and Robby were forced to sit on the floor, because Eli and I were taking up the whole couch, which they only whined about through the beginning credits. Eli and I ended up falling asleep on the couch, which we only realized when we woke up together there the next morning. We had a blanket over us, it was one of the soft ones that didn’t smell like cigarettes or beer, I wasn’t sure who’d put it over us, but I had a sneaking suspicion it was Robby.
~~
Everyone was in suspense the next day, we could all feel it in ourselves, but at the same time, when we all got to the Cobra Kai dojo, we were just talking normally and having a good time. Sam and Eli were both totally focused, I could see Sam was on edge, I tried to help her out, but she was like Daniel, she needed to be in the zone. The Cobras walked in, Kenny was staring Eli down, Eli simply scoffed at that.
“I can't tell whether I wanna tell you to kick the snot out of that brat or go easy on him" I sighed
"Why would I go easy on him?" Eli asked me with a raised eyebrow
"Cause he's just a kid, who just wants to be cool" I explained "He doesn't understand what it's doing to him…… you do" I didn't mean to make Eli feel bad, and I don't think he took it way, because he nodded in understanding "Te amo mi dulce niño" I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pressing a kiss to his lips
"I love you more princess" Eli smiled, resting his forehead against mine
“Keene!” Kenny suddenly shouted, making me groan
I started pulling away from Eli to head over to Robby, but Robby simply held a hand out towards me, and walked over to Kenny. I sighed, wrapping my arm around Eli as the both of us walked back towards everyone else.
“Please kick his ass” Anthony sighed, so had been previously talking with Robby and was probably the reason for the boys outburst
“We’ll see what happens” I smiled, scruffing up his hair “Either way, you’ve always got us to protect you”
“And someday soon, you’ll be able to protect yourself too” Eli affirmed, which gave Anthony confidence “Wassup man”
“Hey dude” Miguel smiled, walking over with Sam “You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be” Eli nodded “What about you?”
“Same” Sam nodded “Ready as I’ll ever be”
We all noticed Kenny walk away from Robby, giving Eli a snide look. Eli started walking towards him, but he still had his arm around me so I went with him. I like to think I’m his good luck charm.
“Don’t worry, I’ll shut him up” Eli assured
“Don’t go too hard on him” Robby pleaded “You remember what it’s like to be in Cobra Kai, it’s not Kenny talking, it’s Silver”
“He’ll learn” I assured, rubbing Robby’s shoulder gently “We all had to….” I looked over at Tory, who was looking right at Robby “They’ll all learn, and we’ll get em on our side, all of them”
Robby was taken back, I was taken back by myself. I don’t know when I started caring about Tory, because she’d fucked up my life to high heaven, but…. So had everyone in this room- except Miguel, now that I think about it, I don’t think Miguel’s ever done me wrong. Either way, we all made up, and Tory’s had a lot of shit to deal with, so I don’t see why the both of us can’t make up too.
“Time to beguin!” The head board member announced after talking to all the Sensei’s. I watched Robby and Eli do a hand shake, which made me smile way more then it should’ve “Eli Moskowitz, and Kenny Payne, please take the mat”
“Go get em baby” I smiled, pulling Eli in for a kiss, a couple of the boys from our dojo started to whoop and cheer, including Miguel and Robby
Eli pulled away with a confident grin, and stepped onto the mat. Everyone was giving me a look, I just looked away from them because I knew I was fucking blushing. The ref started the matches, and I swear I’ve seen him before, but whatever. As soon as the ref said fight, Kenny jumped straight at Eli, sending a kick straight to his chest, which Eli dodged. He was swinging all over the place, I wasn’t even sure what his strategy was, but the little guy was so fast that even if he was telegraphing, you didn’t see it. Eli was fast though, and he blocked incredibly, but he was holding back, it was so obvious. Kenny scored the first point, I looked over at Robby, who looked completely in debate over himself.
They set themselves up again, this time I saw a fire in Eli’s eyes, he could get that point back and still go easy. Again Kenny struck first, but Eli dodged him right away, and got in his own kick, blocking everything with ease, which pissed Kenny off. Eli did an amazing spin kick, that just sent him flying through the air, and he got Kenny in the chest.
“Yes! Wooo!” I cheered
“Out of bounds! No point!” the ref called it
“What?!”
“What are you serious?!” Eli shouted
“Come on ref that’s horeshit! He made contact in bounds!” I shouted
“No point! Back on the line!” The ref exclaimed
“Jeez, you’re really starting to sound like dad Harls” Robby mumbled
“Yeah well I’m pissed off” I muttered
“It’s okay Harls, Hawk’s got this” Miguel assured, I nodded my head and continued watching the match
The ref started again, Kenny took a kick, and tried to do what Hawk did, but didn’t get nearly as high or as strong of a kick. Eli fought back, Sending Kenny across the mat, but he was still pulling his punches for the kid, and I couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Eli took a side kick, and instead of blocking or dodging Kenny grabbed his leg and elbowed it in, fuck- that’s just like what Piper did to me last year.
“Illegal strike!” The ref called out “That’s a warning, turn and kneel”
“Eli!” I instantly jumped forwards, but Eli held a hand up and got up, and started hobbling over “Oh fuck”
“Warning? He should be disqualified!” Mr. Larusso exclaimed
“Are you okay?” I held onto Eli, letting him lean on me
“No it’s fine, he ju- he just caught me off guard” Eli gritted his teeth in pain
“That ref’s a fucking idiot” I grunted “Are you sure? I mean- fuck the same thing happened to me Eli-”
“I’m okay Harley” Eli assured, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my forehead to calm me down “And no more Eli, it’s time to uncage the Hawk” Eli nodded, slicking up his mohawk and walking back onto the mats
I took in a deep breath, leaning back against Miguel as Robby held my hand. I was shaking I was so terrified for him, this ref was playing dirty, no doubt he was some kind of shady, and so was Payne, that was a horrible shot, he should’ve been disqualified.
“If I wasn’t so scared right now, I’d probably think that was hot” I sighed
Miguel and Robby both chuckled in my ear, I couldn’t find it in me to join them. I really was scared for him. Who knew what this kid could do next? They set up again, Eli was thrown off his rhythm, but he was focused. I really hope he stops pulling his punches now, he doesn’t have to, I’ll give it to Kenny, he’s good. I could see Silver grinning like the psychotic asshole that he was, what was he so happy about? Kenny only had one point, Eli could easily come back from that. The ref started the match, Eli took a swing first this time, but is a split second Kenny jabbed his fist forwards, and nailed Eli right in the chest. I cringed again, that was awful, Eli even fell to the ground after that. Only he wasn’t just down, he was- he was really down. As the room went silent I could hear Eli gasping for breath, he wasn’t getting up.
“Point! 2-0 Payne!”
“Hawk!” Miguel was the first to shout, because I was speechless
“Eli!” This time I went straight for him, kneeling down beside him, dad fallowing in suite while Eli gasped for breath “Eli, love talk to me, what’s going on?”
“I can-” Eli gasped “Can’t…. Can’t breath” he quivered
“Dad do you have my inhaler” I quickly rushed out
“Yeah yeah” dad nodded, quickly fumbling in his pockets and handing it to me
“Can you continue?” the ref asked, I was gonna kill him
I ignored the ref and quickly placed the inhaler against Eli’s lips and pressed down to give him the assisted breath. I felt like I was going to deflate and die, I had to stop myself from crying I was so scared for him. Never once would I wish this feeling on anyone, the loss of breath, feeling like your head’s gonna explode, like you might not breath again. I wouldn’t even wish that on Tory. Eli tried to get up, to push through, but his breath was shaky and he fell back down with a groan.
“Where’s the medic!” Dad shouted
“It’s okay Eli, It’s okay baby, you’re gonna be okay” I was shaking so much more now, even when the medic came over I couldn’t even think straight
“That’s a forfeit. Winner, Payne!” the ref exclaimed not a second after the medic showed up, what is this piece of shit on?!
Of course all the Cobras were cheering and clapping. That’s gotta be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, instantly a forfeit, Miguel, Robby and I have all gotten injured and been given a break to see if we can continue, are the Taikai bitches that stupid?
“Can you breath?” the medic asked after examining Eli’s chest, Eli nodded “I think he’s okay, just got the wind knocked out of him”
I could tell Eli was pissed off at himself. I didn’t care if he won or lost I just wanted him to be okay. Eli’s hands started shaking next, he was staring to have an autism attack. He reached out for something, instantly he grabbed a hold of my hand, and squeezed it tightly.
“Looks like you got a new name” Kenny suddenly turned back to us “Faux-Hawk”
Now, any other smart person would’ve let it go in the interest of the dojo. Any sane person would’ve stayed with their boyfriend, or at least thought about what they were doing before it happened. However, I am neither smart, nor sane, so I did what any good, extremely protective karate girlfriend would’ve done. I jumped up to my feet, and I charged right up to Kenny, getting right in his face. He smirked up at me, like he was the damn king of the world. Dad called my name, I looked back and saw him helping Eli to his feet. I nodded and went to walk back, but I pretty much just did a pivot, because I swung back around and sucker punched Kenny right in the nose.
“What kind of sportsmanship is that!” Silver called out, looking between me and the Sekai Taikai members
None of them said anything. I turned towards the board members, gave them a dramatic curtsey, and walked off the mats towards my boyfriend. I instantly rushed to his side, sitting down on the stairs beside him, and I was going to wrap my arms around him, but he didn’t look like he was in the mood to be touched.
“That was pretty awesome” Eli wheezed
“Well, can’t let that twerp insult my baby bird can I?” I smirked
“Hey, that’s your nickname” Dad poked my shoulder
“We can share” I rolled my eyes “Are you okay? Can we get him some water?”
“Yeah, right” Dad nodded, going to find some water
We knew the girl’s fight was going on, and of course we wanted to support Sam, but I needed to make sure Eli was okay before anything else. Eventually Eli wanted to watch, so we hobbled back to the match, to see everything. Sam was- fighting Devon? What the heck?
“Where the hell’s Tory?” I asked
“I dunno” Robby mumbled
We watched Sam’s fight intensely, Eli leaned on my shoulder and sipped his water as we did. Devon was good, she sure was determined, just like Kenny, but Sam wasn’t gonna be pulling any punches. They were going back and forth on each other, Devon was good, she was fast, but Sam was faster, and she blocked-
“Point! Lee!” the ref shouted
“What?” Eli and I chorused
“There was no contact!” Mr. Larusso shouted
“He did the same thing before, Sam got a hit below the shoulder but he didn’t count it” Miguel explained
Sam quickly called a time and we rushed over to all of us. This si ridiculous, first Kenny and now this? This is completely rigged against us, this ref in absolutely insane, I bet he was fucking hired by Silver.
“I blocked that! And I swear I just got her below the shoulder!”
"Hey, they're fighting really dirty, I'll step in if you need me to. I don't mind taking the hit or the fall, but we can't have you getting hurt" I stated instantly
"Are you kidding me? You get hurt one more time the nurse at the hospital is gonna say 'back so soon?' " Sam panted
“Alright look, not every point is gonna go our way” Mr. Larusso sighed
“Those calls put me down a point, I should be up one!” Sam was completely skitted out “If I lose the match because of it-”
“Sam, you’re the better fighter” Miguel chimed in “Everyone knows it, the ref might not be doing you any favors, but you’ve got us in your corner, all of us”
I smiled and gave Sam a look, but it wasn’t the time, ot it was. When is it ever the right time honestly?
“Referee is moron” Chozen added on “Must not leave room for error”
“He’s right, you make every point undeniable” Mr. Larusso nodded
Sam nodded, and headed back out onto the mat. She had a new fire in her eyes, if the ref was going to be a dick, Sam would have to fight smart. She was indeed the better fighter, and everyone did know it. She walked onto that mat like she owned it, and she did. They started up again, Devin swung first, and kept on kicking, which gave Sam the advantage to kick her leg out from under her and send her to the ground, punching her in the stomach. Yes! I could see the ref look over at Silver, what a scumbag.
“Point! Larusso, 1-1”
They set up again, this time Devon was shaken a bit. Come on Sam you got this, they spun around one another, Sam got an amazing knee right to Devon’s gut, right in front of the ref and the judges. Fuck yes! We’re still in, Sam’s up by one now. At this point the match was already won. Sam was back in her element, she was everyone on her side and she was absolutely on fire. The final kick sent Devon staggering back, after getting nailed right in the chest, there’s no deny that, but the ref…..
“Point! Winner, Larusso!” The ref proclaimed
I watched the joy and excitement and the absolute relief was over Sam’s eyes as the ref held her hand in the air. She’d finally won another match, and I was proud of her. We were all losing our minds for her. Sam instantly went and hugged her dad, then we all went in a hugged her, we could not be more proud of our girl. However, we still had to see who got into the Sekai Taikai, it was up to the board members now. I went to crack my neck, but there were suddenly a multitude of hands on it, stopping me
“Find a different coping mechanism before your head falls off” Eli chuckled, making me roll my eyes, so I just took a deep breath instead
“We’ve reached an agreement” the head board member announced “As expected, we were very impressed, with the skills, precision, discipline, and hearts of the new Sekai Taikai qualifier” I swear he was looking right at me when he said that “Cobra Kai” oh fuck. None of us even knew what to say, we’d lost…. Again we’d lost and now the whole world- “As for our other dojo…. We admired your unusual mix of styles and underdog spirit” oh grief “And we think you could be a unique addition to the competition” hang on what? “Therefore we’ve decided, that your dojo, has also qualified”
Okay, we all lost our shit in point zero seconds. So that guy scared the shit out of us for nothing! Oh the asshole! We all started bouncing around each other, cheering and yelling, the way we always do, and the same way we always would. I can’t even imagine the relief that washed over me once I realized. We’d made it in the Sekai Taikai! We were gonna get to show the entire world what Eagle-Do could do! You can’t get rid of us bitches! We were all hugging each other- seriously, Chozen hugged dad, but can you blame us? This has got to be one of the best feelings in the world
“For now, congratulations everyone, and welcome to the Sekai Taikai”
We all bowed happily, all grouped together happily. I had my arms wrapped tightly around Eli, who was completely clung to me. Miguel and Robby were both wrapped up in each other, grinning like idiots, but I imagine we all looked that way.
“Maybe one day we’ll both win” Eli smiled down at Sam, who giggled and nodded
“Good job girlie” I smiled over at her
“Hey, we’ve all earned this!” Mr. Larusso announced “Each and everyone one of you brought your A game”
“Could not be more proud” Sensei Toguchi added
“Now with this tournament in our future, we’ve got a lot of work to do, but tonight…. Tonight, go celebrate!”
We all cheered and clapped dour hands. I pulled away from Eli cause I saw dad walking over to robby and Miguel.
“Hey listen, I told your mom I’d take her and Rosa out to dinner and a late night movie, So you guys are on your own if you wanna host that celebration” Dad offered
The three of us all smiled, looking at one another “Alright!” I cheered
-'|'-'|'-'|'-
Wow that was a long one! Mostly a filler chapter coming your way!