─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"w-w-wait. okay, so sensei targaryen paid off the ref at the all valley and framed kreese for a crime he didn't commit?" demetri recapped. "never let me miss a house party again."
he, miguel, sam, mickey, eli and bert were gathered together at miyagi-do dojo, discussing their next plans after what was revealed at the party.
"i mean i for one am glad you didn't attend." mickey raised her hand.
"oh put a sock in it, mikayla."
"we need to tell the senseis." miguel suggested.
"what are they gonna do? we saw what happened to my dad when he confronted silver. i don't want him getting hurt again." sam frowned.
"besides if this ref and stingray are on silver's payroll, they'll never admit anything." demetri remarked.
"i'm not so sure about that." bert spoke up. mickey didn't think the boy ever spoke, he was that quiet. "i know he's in cobra kai and i'm in eagle fang, but stingray's still my friend. he wouldn't lie to me. at least i hope he wouldn't."
"wait it was because of you we had after prom at his house?" mickey questioned.
the boy's cheeks pinkened. "yeah."
"do you think you can you get him to talk?" eli questioned.
the younger boy nodded in reply, "find out where he lives." sam ordered him.
"let's go." eli demanded, the four of them walked away but sam and miguel stayed back to talk.
"you okay?" mickey questioned her friend, the two of them a little behind the rest.
"i feel so shitty." the boy sighed. "i couldn't sleep all last night."
"did you try to call her?" mickey inquired.
"three times. then i texted her and you know she's big on communication so she surprisingly replied." eli pulled out his phone to show the girl.
-
eli ♡
gioia please pick up
i'm so sorry
i'm such an idiot
i didn't mean it at all
gia 🌻
hi please stop calling me
give me some time.
we can talk in person soon.
eli ♡
okay goodnight
i love you so much
gia 🌻
i love u too
-
"that's a lot better than i expected it to be." mickey told him, truthfully as he passed the phone back to him. "she's better than me because i would have not replied to you."
"i know, i know i'm an asshole—"
"who used one of her biggest mistakes against her during her atonement phase." mickey cut him off.
"yeah." he sighed, scratching the back of his head in regret. "i know it's not an excuse but i've been having a really hard time lately, and hearing about wyatt just sent me over the edge."
"hey, i get it." mickey told him. "jealousy is a normal emotion, everyone has it. but if it becomes so bad that you turn on your girlfriend, that's when it gets... not so normal."
"yeah."
"and if you ever need to talk to anyone, know that i'm always here to listen." she finished.
"yeah, i know." eli nodded, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "you're the best."
"no she's not!"
"shut up, demetri!"
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
while they waited for bert to find out where his older friend lived, robby keene decided to take a trip to his old dojo. he had waltzed in while they were in the middle of warm ups, making them all halt in surprise.
"mr keene." silver grinned at his unexpected presence. "to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"i came here to apologise." robby started. he glanced at the members. "i let you down. turned my back on you. i didn't understand at the time, but i realise i was wrong. i shouldn't have just left... i should have taken you all with me."
gioia's jaw slacked, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to suppress her laughter at her friend's complete switch of tone.
"everything you're taught here is bullshit." robby seethed. "there is pain in this dojo and it's built upon fear, because this man is not your sensei, he is your enemy. but it's not too late. you're not past the point of no return. and i promise, there's still another way."
silver gave him a slow applause. "bold move, mr keene. bold move. we've heard you out. now it's my turn to speak." he turned to his students. "joon-bee stance!" he ordered them and they followed. "right leg back, kia!"
"kia!"
"forward strike, side kick, kia!"
"kia, kai!"
"there's a difference between being heard and being listened to." silver said to the boy. "they heard you. but they listen to me."
gioia nearly gagged at his arrogant words. she knew this lesson would be her last. with the argument she had with eli yesterday and eagle fang already making it into the sekai taikai, she didn't feel a need to stay any longer.
"now if you don't mind, we've got some training to do. if mr keene or any of his friends step foot in this dojo again, what will you show them?" silver questioned.
"no mercy, sir!"
robby's eyes flickered between gioia and tory before he left, and sensei kim was watching his gaze the whole time.
"all right. back to it."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
the six had driven over to stingray's house, in eli's 5 seater meaning bert was squeezed on the floor by their feet and mickey sat comfortably in the passenger's seat. the older teens were instructed to hide in the corner as bert tried to talk some sense into him. the boy knocked on door and they all waited.
when it finally opened, stingray was elated. "bert! what's up, dude? wanna play some d&d?" he asked as his friends walked out. "these, uh oh, there they are. these noobs were entering the light and exiting night—"
they had all walked into his view, making him take a step back in fear.
"miyagi-fangs?" the man gasped. "oh, this is a trap. oh, you admiral ackbar-ed me. et tu, bert-tay?"
"oh knock it off." eli rolled his eyes. "we know kreese never hurt you."
"according to my testimony in a court of law, he did." stingray quickly spoke. "so... read the transcript."
he backed up and tried to shut the door, but sam intercepted it. "you lied to the court, and you lied to my dad. but you're not going to lie to us." she entered his house, the others followed suit.
"you're just gonna let her— okay now you're all walking in." stingray groaned.
they gathered around his table,
pressuring him with questions that were either evaded or completely ignored. to say the least, mickey was growing increasingly frustrated with the man.
"okay, okay. all right." demetri sighed. "let's try this one more time, okay? what happened that night? who hurt you?"
"hey, bert, how does it feel?" stingray faced his friend.
"look. look at me. look at me." demetri begged.
"hey." mickey tapped on the table in front of the man. "don't look at him? look at demetri."
he ignored her. "to stab a grown man in the back between his shoulders blades and stare at the blood as it trickles down his back?"
"God, enough!" eli exclaimed, releasing his pent up frustration. "no more games."
"hey." mickey softly spoke, placing her arm on his shoulder. "it's okay."
"yeah." stingray nodded in agreement, "he does need to chill. you guys all do."
"no! i am not on your side." mickey shook her head.
"my dad went through a lot of pain because of you and silver." sam reminded him. "now a lot of other people will too if you just sit back and do nothing."
"but if i tell you what really happened, you know, he-he'll find out. i cant." stingray said, sadly. "it's not that easy, you guys."
the man paused.
"actually, there um, wait. okay, so i've been working on this new d&d campaign—"
"i don't think we have time for this." miguel announced.
"wait a minute." eli cut him off. "what happens in the campaign, stingray?"
he let out a heavy exhale. "okay, so, once upon a time, there was a dwarven monk, and he was a member of the most badass guild in all the land. uh, he was banished for a time. you know, typical pc crap. but, um, once he paid his penance, he returned. only by then, the guild was under new leadership. and the monk was denied reentry into the guild. and quite unceremoniously, might i add."
"right."
"so what did the monk do? the monk, he made a pact with a silver-haired king who would usurp the leader." he brought in s. new figure. "and it was early one morning, before any of the warriors had arrived, that the king struck the monk down. again , and again, and again."
mickey frowned. yes he was annoying, but he was a victim of terry silver and he had every right to be afraid.
"it was then that they framed the leader for the assault, and the leader was put in chains, and the silver-haired king took over the guild."
"and you were— the dwarven monk was let back into the guild?" demetri asked.
"yeah." eli scoffed, glancing round the house. "with benefits."
"aye. with benefits, yeah."
"okay." miguel nodded in acknowledgement. "so why can't he just tell everyone what really happened?"
sam stood up. "because he doesn't wanna lose his benefits."
"no! no. i would... the—the monk would give it all back if he could, but the-the silver-haired king, you know, he... he almost killed the monk. he could have killed him. and why? to get power. so yeah, the monk fears what that king would do to keep that power."
"power-hungry bastard." mickey muttered underneath her breath.
"exactly. i think the monk just— the monk just wanted reentry into the guild because he thought that he could be like a like a proud and noble warrior. just like you hawk, samantha, all you guys. but he's neither proud nor noble. definitely not a warrior. he just sits around playing with them all day. the monk's just scared. i just can't. i'm sorry." he concluded.
"that's great." sam nodded. "thanks for nothing."
"hey, i hope things get better for you." mickey told him.
"thank you..." he stopped himself, not actually knowing who she was.
"mickey mouse." demetri mumbled, earning a slap on the back of his head.
"that makes you goofy." mickey insulted him. she then paused for a second. "hey, that makes moon, minnie. that's cute, minnie—moon."
"let's wrap this up."
"hey, i think it's cute." bert reassured her.
"thanks, bird." she smiled at him.
"it's bert." he corrected her.
"that's sweet, you're bird and he's hawk." mickey gushed.
"his name is bert."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
they were now all jogging around the map, cooling down from their intense session.
"come on, let's go, let's go." silver encouraged them. "all right. that's enough. attention. bow. dismissed." he told the group. "except you, nichols and barbusca. i need you two to stay a little longer."
they glanced at eachother before following him into the back room. there they were greeted with all the other senseis. instead of the usual two mannequins that were normally in the room, there were two figures that seemed to be made of stone. gioia began to blink really fast, her heart pounding.
"what is this?" tory was the first to speak.
"this is your enemy." sensei kim told them. "destroy it."
tory glanced over to gioia, who was visibly panicking. she stepped forward to one of the stone figures and ran her fingers against it. "it's solid stone. we'll break our hands?"
"it will heal in time for the tournament." sensei kim reassured then.
tory scoffed. "this is crazy. i'm going home." she took one of gioia's hands and led her to the exit. but the senseis stepped closer together, preventing them from leaving.
"you will go home when the lesson is over." sensei kim told them.
"is—is this because i lost against larusso?" gioia questioned. "because i am so—i am so sorry."
"don't waste your breath apologising." sensei kim shook her head. "while this may be punishment for nichols' defiance, this is merely a display of loyalty for you."
"but i quit the dojo and—and i left all my friends. i broke up with my boyfriend!" gioia cried out. that last part was the hardest to say because of their argument last night.
"and if all of that is true, you should have no problem with this exercise."
"no problem? no problem?! i have a big problem—" she was cut off.
"you say you want to be stronger, you want to be better." silver finally spoke up. "this is how you grow stronger. and you've already agreed to do as your told, so go on."
"you have to do everything you're instructed to do." silver explained. "is that reasonable?"
"very." gioia nodded, standing to her feet.
gioia felt nauseous. she stepped over to the figure, tears welling in her eyes. tory yelled out, striking the stone.
"not hard enough." sensei kim told her. "to break it, you must use all your power." she turned to gioia, "you may begin."
the girl took a deep breath, drawing her left fist back before throwing it into the figure. the agonising pain that soared through her knuckles completely juxtaposed the minimal damage she did to the stone. but still, gioia shouted out in pain.
"harder!" sensei kim yelled at her, "are you even trying?" she questioned over tory's cries.
as she focused on tory, sensei silver made his way over to gioia. "if you cannot do this, i'm sorry but you cannot do anything. you will never become anything in life if you're consumed by your fears. and fear does not exist in this dojo."
gioia knew the man was only trying to anger her, the same way sensei kim was doing to tory. and it was working. what she didn't know is how exactly they planned to do get them to break through it.
"well then why don't you try to fucking break it?!" gioia screamed after another attempt.
he ignored her. "pain does not exist in this dojo."
she struck it again, and it seemed like the pain was only getting worse.
"just as master kim said before, your hand breaks? it'll heal. you've always preferred using your feet anyway." silver reminded her. "so what's holding you back? if it's not your emotional ties, it must be something mental, something physical?"
gioia looked up at him, watching as he stood in front of the stone figure. "what?" she asked, her eyes bloodshot red. the girl had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed tory completed the exercise.
"it's the diet issues, isn't it?"
something clicked in gioia, that emotional switch that he had taught her to control just flickered off. she didn't hesitate, but she should've. her right fist went flying into what she thought would be silver's face, but the man swiftly moved to the side. the thick stone completely shattered, and so did gioia's mental state from this moment on.
her scream was brutal. the tears flowed from her eyes as her hand throbbed. gioia fell back into the mat, holding her bleeding knuckles in her other hand. she sobbed, tory similarly suffering beside her.
"that must have been a hard decision." silver spoke. "but you two made the right choice. let's hope you keep making them. lesson over."
they all exited the room, leaving the two girls there sobbing. tory crawled over to her friend, pulling her into her arms as they cried. from now on, no one would be able to understand them as they understood each other.
⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
this is so sad i'm so sorry
next chapters might be a lil long too because i really want to finish on chapter 70 it just looks more nice to me