CHAPTER 106
"Are you sure you want to be here? And not at home… resting?" Tory asked as her and Robby walked into the Miyagi-Do dojo that evening. It was 6 pm, definitely not the normal meeting time for a training session. That was because today they weren't training. Of course they weren't. It hadn't even been 24 hours since the brawl at the canyon, so all of them were still recovering, both physically and mentally. This was merely just a meeting to catch their senseis up on everything that had happened in the whirlwind of a night.
For Robby, it was very much a physical recovery that he had spent the past 24 hours going through. He needed to get over the physical toll that his body had taken, as it had been screaming and aching in pain ever since the fight. Even after a whole day and night's recovery, his bones and muscles still screamed at him in pain, so it was a surprise to Tory that he had wanted to come to the dojo that afternoon for the Miyagi-Do meeting. After all, he could still hardly walk without being supported, his limbs heavily beaten down during the altercation with the powerful Cobra.
"I'm sure." Robby replied, gritting his teeth as a flash of pain ran through his legs as he walked with Tory into the dojo.
However, the pain in his legs was no more painful than the stinging, bitter sensation Robby was feeling inside. More sore than his injuries from the fight was his mind after losing to the Cobra. Robby had lost fights before, that was no secret. He had even lost to Marcos before. But this time, for some reason, it felt different. He felt like he had not only let himself down, but the entire dojo that he had been fighting for. Sure Marcos was a great fighter, but that didn't make it any easier for Robby to accept the loss. Marcos had fought fairly, Robby couldn't deny him that. He had fought fairly and yet Robby had still come up short, a tough blow to swallow for the Miyagi-Do. He had failed.
The couple walked into the dojo together, Tory supporting Robby as he limped through the side gate. It was no surprise that everyone was already there in the dojo by now, the senseis staring at them worriedly as they joined the rest of the students. For a while, nobody spoke. Not a single one of them uttered a word. By now, the senseis had heard snippets about what had happened immediately after Robby and Marcos' fight, but they were yet to get the full story, so were nervously awaiting for their students to explain.
"So… how are you all feeling today?" Daniel asked them. It was a genuine question, but was only greeted by mere nods and grunts of acknowledgment. Nobody else had spoken yet, and after a while, one of the senseis had enough.
"You know what? Enough with this bullshit. What the hell were you guys thinking?!" Johnny snapped. The students all looked at him, confused.
"Wait… what? Us?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"Marcos and Robby. That's it. That's the deal we agreed with them. Nobody else around." Johnny stated.
"Sorry if we weren't about to sit around and let your son get killed, sensei." Tory snapped. Johnny narrowed his eyes at her.
"The second Robby's life was at risk, the second anyone's life became at risk, was when you all decided to show up with him and escalate things into a brawl." Johnny responded.
"All of Cobra Kai were there too. All us being there would've done was make it a 10 on 1 for Robby." Sam stated.
"In which case Robby could've just left. He had no obligation to fight." Johnny pointed out. "All you showing up did was turn a 1 on 1 fight into a brawl, a brawl that could've easily got you morons shot."
"Woah, woah, woah, what?!" Daniel exclaimed, his jaw slack with shock at this comment from his co-sensei, who had heard more about the fight from Robby that morning. "Look, can we just start from the beginning? What happened immediately after you all arrived?"
"Robby and Marcos fought. All of us and the Cobra Kais stood around and watched." Miguel replied.
"But you didn't fight yourselves at that point?" Daniel asked.
"Right." Robby clarified, speaking up for the first time. "It was only when Tory decided to punch Marcos in the back of the head that things became a brawl."
It was Tory's turn to scowl at her boyfriend.
"Really? You're going to blame me?!" Tory snapped. Robby sighed.
"All I know is that everything was fine until you blindsided him. What did you expect to happen after that point?"
"What did you want me to do?! He had finished beating the crap out of you, pulled you up and then raised a hand to continue beating you up." Tory remarked. Robby shook his head.
"He raised his hand for us to shake hands. You didn't need to hit him." Robby murmured.
"Right. Well forgive me for not trusting the integrity of the guy who literally fired a gun 5 minutes later!" Tory shot back.
"In fairness, he only did that because you and Sam were kicking the crap out of his girlfriend and looked like you were about to kill her." Miguel commented.
Before they knew it, two sides had broken out within the dojo as they argued with one another. Robby and Miguel found themselves arguing with Sam and Tory, with the rest of Miyagi-Do almost split evenly between the two camps.
"He shot a gun! I don't know how you can possibly be defending him!" Sam exclaimed.
"Sam, he shot a gun because you and Tory were trying to kill his girlfriend!" Hawk remarked. "If Miguel was in that situation, don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same if you could."
"We weren't trying to kill her. We were fighting her, no different to any of you during the brawl!" Tory snapped.
"I mean… let's not lie about it. You definitely weren't fighting her like we were doing. We hadn't won our fights yet. You had definitely beaten Sarah, and yet you continued to beat her up." Miguel commented.
"Look, I don't know what Sam or Tory did. Quite frankly, I was kind of preoccupied with you know, fighting to the death with one of the Cobras! But that doesn't change the fact that Marcos could have shot one of us last night!" Demetri added.
"By shooting up at the sky?" Robby asked. "He was just trying to protect Sarah. He wasn't trying to shoot anyone. If he was… well, I was lying right there beside him so I would probably be the first person dead."
"Funny you should say that." Tory snapped. "Because from where I was standing, if we hadn't stepped in, you probably would be dead anyways!"
"GUYS, ENOUGH!" Daniel's abnormally bellowing tone immediately shut them all up. The sensei didn't raise his voice often, but when he did, it was definitely enough to quell all of the arguing. "I am ashamed of all of you! Every single one of you!"
"But sensei…" Hawk began, but Daniel raised a hand to stop him.
"Just stop! I don't even want to hear it!" Daniel snapped. "Right now, you should all feel embarrassed to call yourselves Miyagi-Do. You did this dojo great shame last night."
Daniel first turned to Robby, addressing him.
"Robby, what you did last night, while it might have seemed noble, it was incredibly stupid. I know that you were trying to stand up for the dojo, and I know that you're old enough to make your own decisions, but Tory's right… you could've been killed last night. In so many ways. Especially given that the initial plan was for you to go alone right into the belly of the beast."
"See." Tory muttered quietly to Robby, who glared at her. Daniel shook his head, before turning to the rest of the group.
"However…" Daniel continued. "Something all of you conveniently forgot last night is that some of Miyagi-Do core values are honesty and loyalty. You all completely betrayed that by going to the canyon last night."
"Isn't Miyagi-Do also about defending the people you care about? Standing up for them? Because that's exactly what we did. Or… some of us anyways." Hawk stated. Daniel nodded.
"Normally, it would be. But you all made a promise. You made a promise to Robby that you wouldn't go to the canyon. You made a promise to Cobra Kai. And you all broke it."
"So did they." Sam was quick to point out.
"I know. And that's their problem to sort out. But we're supposed to be better than them." Daniel responded. "Which brings me onto my next thing."
Daniel turned directly towards Sam and Tory as he said the next thing. Who would've thought 6 months ago that Sam and Tory not only would be in the same dojo, but would be speaking up for each other and defending each other from the rest of the dojo. As Daniel looked at them, he sighed.
"Look, I wasn't there last night. Everything I know about what happened is what you've all recounted." Daniel replied. "But if what everyone's saying happened is what actually happened, I'm really disappointed in both of you."
"What?! Us?! We…" Tory began, but Daniel cut her off.
"I'm going to go ahead and assume that the reason for the start of the brawl with Cobra Kai was a complete misunderstanding. I'm going to assume that you misinterpreted a gesture from Marcos and wanted to protect Robby. I can't say that I would've done any differently in that situation." Daniel said. "But the part that I do condemn both of you for is your actions during the brawl itself."
"But dad…" Sam tried to interject, unsuccessfully.
"Answer me this… did you or did you not both have Sarah down and out in your fight with her at any point?" Daniel asked.
"We did." Tory admitted. "But…"
"And so does that mean that at least one of you could have left her alone and instead found another one of your teammates to help with their respective fights? Or even Robby, who from what I hear, was lying on the ground, completely in harm's way, for the entirety of the brawl?"
"We probably could have." Sam murmured, her face dark red by now. Daniel sighed and nodded.
"That's what I thought. But instead you decided to stay fighting with Sarah, one of you even pinning the girl's arms behind her back so she couldn't fight back. Do I have that right?"
This time, there was no response from either girl, although their facial expressions said it all.
"We're supposed to be better than them." Daniel told them. "Not stoop to their level. This is not the place for showing no mercy. It's the place for finishing the fight strong but then showing forgiveness and moving on. Mistakes happen, I understand that. And if that's the case, I think both of you owe an apology to everyone here later, and we can move on. But if you're truly not interested in abiding by our philosophy and instead going by Cobra Kai's… well then you might as well leave and go train there, as their facilities are a heck of a lot nicer than ours."
Daniel took a deep breath before continuing.
"But you know what? All of this that I've said to all of you… it's not even the part that I'm most ashamed of." Daniel remarked. "We're supposed to not just be a team. We're supposed to be a family. A cohesive unit. One that genuinely cares for one another, not just as teammates but as people too. It's honestly shocking, the way that all of you have spent the past 10 minutes arguing with one another. Last night was a rough night for all of you. Some of you took physical injuries. Some of you took mental ones. I can't imagine how traumatizing it must have been, being back in another brawl with Cobra Kai, this time with a firearm even involved. And yet, rather than checking in with one another, rather than standing together, all of you have turned on each other."
Daniel's tone struck deep in the heart of all of the Miyagi-Dos. They knew, beyond doubt, that he was right. They had all screwed up last night. Every single one of them. Although Cobra Kai certainly held some level of responsibility for what had happened at the canyon, Miyagi-Do all held the other 50% of the blame.
"Tell me… have any of you, since you've walked into the dojo this evening, checked in with someone, asked someone else how they were feeling today?" Daniel asked, already knowing the answer. The silence in response was deafening. "Exactly. You're all so hell-bent on fighting against Cobra Kai that you've forgotten the most important thing about this place: caring about each other."
"Daniel-san is right." Chozen spoke up, the first person other than Daniel speaking for the first time in a while, and the asian sensei commanded authority immediately. "And Miyagi-Do cannot be presented to the world if these are the lessons you are going to be demonstrating. It wouldn't be fair on Nariyoshi, or any of the other Miyagi-Do senseis whose legacies have come before. So until you can show us that you are able to uphold our lessons, none of us are going to Japan for the Taikai."