─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
sensei silver quickly announced a ten-minute break, ushering the girl up to his office. she sat down on the seat, throwing her legs up onto the table as she relaxed. silver took note of her abnormal behaviour immediately.
"what are you doing here, barbusca?" he asked, his arms crossed.
the girl had already pre-planned this answer. "losing the all valley was a huge punch in the stomach, or in the ribs." she joked. that was not part of the script and silver didn't look amused. "you were right, okay? losing sucks— i want to be a winner... and i have nothing else to do all summer since cobra kai is the only dojo around."
"that's right."
"shouldn't you be glad, that i'm even considering coming back? after everything you did to me?" gioia challenged.
"so i should apologise for what? helping you become better?" silver asked. "you wouldn't have made it that far into the tournament if it wasn't for me."
gioia wanted to disagree, but she bit her tongue. "i know, which is why i want to be back. your way, cobra kai? it's the only way i can follow if i want to be my best."
"do you know how may times you could've been champion, barbusca?" silver asked her. "not once, but twice. and you know why you lost? because-"
"because my emotional ties are too strong, i know." gioia cut him off. "but i don't have to worry about that. i haven't spoken to any of them for a week."
"even moskowitz?" silver asked her.
gioia didn't even want to ask him how he knew about that. "yeah, that's over now." she glanced down sadly, picking at her nails.
"you know how i feel about wasted potential." silver sighed, pulling the drawer by his desk open. "the only reason i'm letting you join is because i believe you have what it takes to make it all the way through to the next steps."
the blonde girl leaned forward in interest. "next steps? what next steps?" she asked. "you've already won the all valley-"
"the all valley was not the endgame!" he snapped. the man quickly cleared his throat before pulling out a packaged black gi. "same size as last time, let me know if there's any problems."
she hesitated before taking the uniform from his hands.
"i'll sign you up at reception, but under one condition." silver spoke.
"which is?"
"you have to do everything you're instructed to do." silver explained. "is that reasonable?"
"very." gioia nodded, standing to her feet.
"make your way back down when you've changed." silver instructed, "you'll be training with master kim."
"great." gioia nodded, turning around. once she was looking away from him, she let out an weary sigh.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"so is this how every lesson is going to be?" mickey pouted as she made her way to the okinawan board, missing her pet egg.
mickey had been selected to attend the miyagi-do/eagle fang lessons. only temporarily, to fill in her best friend's spot that they had recently lost. johnny knew mickey wouldn't be able to replace gioia's skill set but he knew that eagle fang was in no place to have fewer students.
robby laughed. "must be a pretty weird introduction to karate for you, right?"
"definitely." the girl nodded.
"how'd he catch you?" robby questioned.
"erm..." the girl nervously scratched the back of her head. "look, he jumped out of a corner... and i got scared and the egg just slipped, okay?!"
the boy let out a loud laugh, making her sigh. "now that's amazing—"
mickey's attention was stolen by someone else. "well, well, well." she softly chuckled, watching eli make his way over to the rest of the losers.
"don't." eli shook his head.
"how'd he take you out?" robby tried to converse with him.
"shut up." eli seethed, making mickey wince. "don't talk to me."
"dude, if this is about the mohawk, i'm sorry." robby said. "but if anybody knows how cobra kai can turn you into an asshole, it's you."
"oh, so i'm an asshole?" eli challenged.
"yeah, well, let's see." robby thought for a second. "uh, you attacked me and sam at the mall. y-you broke demetri's arm. y-you trashed this entire dojo—"
"guys! enough! enough! all right?" demetri snapped. "you're both ex-assholes now. great. can we focus on the issue at hand? there is a madman out there using weapons on us."
"who's even left?" chris questioned.
mickey peeked down at everyone that was standing on the board. "uh, correct me if i'm wrong, it's my first day—"
"can't keep rinsing that by the way." demetri muttered.
"shut up, meat!" mickey groaned. "before i was rudely interrupted... i was gonna say i think it's just sam and miguel left."
"you're right."
"hey... if it's any consolidation, your girlfriend tried to beat my ass for it." robby told eli.
"wait, what?" mickey asked, now intrigued.
"yeah." robby nodded. "her first session at cobra kai, she came in and completely kncoked me down. then even after the match was over and the senseis left, she tackled me to the ground for what i did to you and called me an asshole. tory had to get her off of me."
"no way." chris snickered.
eli too chuckled at his story, glad his girl had his back, even when he wasn't around. "she never mentioned that. but i'm glad she taught you a lesson."
"yeah." robby nodded. "i'm glad too."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"wyatt?" gioia frowned, moving over to the boy from the waterpark, who was drinking a green smoothie. she had now changed into the black gi and thrown her hair into a low bun. "what are you doing here?"
"waiting for them to play gangnam style." he replied, snickering to himself. but gioia's face remained static. wyatt cleared his throat. "you haven't seen— it's like adam sandler..."
gioia shook her head.
"all right." he sighed. "forget it... you look nice, really cool. different from when i last saw you."
"it's a long story." gioia started.
"sweet." wyatt nodded. "you've always got long stories, you're very interesting."
"thanks."
"maybe we could hang out after practice?" wyatt questioned.
but gioia was barely listening to him, her eyes inspecting every inch of the facility. "yeah... sure. i, uh didn't strike you for a karate guy?"
wyatt shrugged. "i'm not too good at it, only joined because everyone else seemed to. the truth is, i'm a sheep."
"mhm." gioia hummed.
"but i heard that you're great!" wyatt continued, the boy seemed to never know when to stop talking to her. he couldn't help himself, she was beautiful. "runner up in the most recent all valley? that's sick, dude!"
"yeah, thank you so much." gioia nodded. "i'm gonna go iver to the girls."
"cool." wyatt nodded, "see you tonight?"
gioia gave him a look, unsure of what he was referring to. "yeah sure?" as she turned around, the boy quickly pumped his fist in the air in triumph and grinned.
"what are you doing here?" tory moved in front of the girl, obstructing her from taking a seat.
"training?" gioia challenged.
"you know you shouldn't be here." tory shook her head. "you can't be here."
before gioia replied, she could feel silver's eyes on her and tory, as if he wanted to see something happen. "well, we aren't friends anymore, nichols. your words don't mean jackshit to me."
tory was taken aback. from her change in appearance and behaviour compared to the last time she saw her, tory felt that the girl was up to something. and the feeling was confirmed when gioia swiftly winked at her, before taking a seat on the mat with the other female students.
"final round and barbusca." sensei kim da-eun spoke out, circling the mat. the girl's head shot up in surprise. "i want you in." gioia quickly stood to her feet and bowed. "with anyone of your choice."
"nichols." gioia spoke instantly. tory looked at sensei kim for validation, wondering if she was allowed another chance. the lady nodded and so she stood.
"fighting stances."
"ais!"
"your call, sunshine." tory spoke.
"you rise, i fall." gioia quickly spoke.
tory jumped up into a front kick while gioia crouched down to swipe the woman's feet. sensei kim grabbed tory's leg and pushed it away, while merely stumbling at gioia's attempt to bring her off the ground. sensei kim forced her foot backwards, sending gioia down. the students two readjusted themselves, ready to attack again.
"switch!" the barbusca girl ordered.
gioia lunged forward, throwing a few punches that were quickly blocked. she managed to land a double kick in the woman's shoulder and then cheek, while tory struck her knees. sensei kim dropped down, rolling away before tory could land a final kick onto her chest.
once sensei kim got up, gioia charged at her, but was quickly flipped onto the mat. she let out a groan at the impact, sitting up to see tory sparring with the lady. the sound of tory being knocked in the cheek made gioia push forward and successfully swipe sensei kim off her feet. the woman landed on her back and the two girls quickly thrust their foot down onto her stomach.
"point!" gioia exclaimed.
"facinating technique." the woman hummed, pushing both their feet off of her body and standing up. "the element of surprise—striking your enemies from every side."
the two blonde girls high-fived one another, before bowing to the sensei and making their way over to their seats.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"what happened to your face?" eli questioned the second she sat down.
the girl had gone home and taken a shower after the lesson. that's when she noticed a fresh bruise forming on her face. gioia had been called for another meeting,
this time daniel, miguel and eli were present and her mother wasn't.
"that sensei kim has a mean kick." gioia shrugged. "how is everyone? i missed you all. how was mickey?"
"missed you too."
"mickey was better than expected." miguel shrugged.
"really?" johnny raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"wait, who's sensei kim?" samantha asked from the opposite end of the table.
"she's one of the new senseis that silver hired, and she is lethal." gioia sighed.
"sensei from topanga karate." chosen spoke to johnny.
"hm. she called me daniel larusso." johnny cringed at the memory.
"daniel, i'm really glad you're back." gioia gave him a warm smile. "so... does that mean i can quit?"
"do you really think that's the best idea?" daniel asked softly. "i mean, then silver will know something is up."
"did you find anything out?" eli asked her.
"well, silver did say something weird when we were in his office talking about reenrolling me." gioia hummed. "said that the all valley wasn't the endgame?"
"so kreese was right." johnny huffed.
"right about what?" amanda asked, her eyes shifting between him and her husband.
"the sekai taikai." daniel said. "it's an international karate tournament, that silver wants cobra kai to participate in."
all eyes moved over to gioia, who groaned out loud. "well... fuck." she sighed.
"hey, hey." eli stood up from his chair. he helped her to her feet and brought her over to a different part of the house, while everyone continued their conversation. "don't stress. you're doing better than anyone else would if they were in your shoes."
"really?" the girl asked.
"yeah, really." he nodded.
"so you're not mad i'm with cobra kai?" gioia questioned.
"i mean, i'm kinda bummed out since i see you less than usual." eli shrugged. "but if we look on the bright side it could be romantic? we're on like... opposite sides of the war."
"like romeo and juliet." she beamed.
"yeah, except we both live." the boy chuckled, now gently stroking her unruly hair. "this looks so great, by the way. this style went away too quickly last time."
"i'm really sorry we couldn't twin with the green." gioia smiled, refering to the colour the boy was planning to do next.
"no worries." eli shook his head. "we'll match next time. the pink really suits you, babe."
"thank you! you know wyatt said—"
eli's head tilted to the side. "wyatt? who's wyatt?"
gioia didn't even take any notice of his shift in behaviour. "oh, he's that guy from the waterpark, he's weirdly in cobra kai now."
"ah, right." the boy nodded, slowly retracting his hand. "cool, cool."
⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
feels like it's been ages since i wrote gb and eli together??? so now i have to cause problems and strains in their relationship. anyways i've missed them so much!!
wait why is this season nearly done???