CHAPTER 113

Another week passed, with more of the same. They were no longer helping out with the Cobra Kai training, so it was full steam ahead for the Miyagi-Dos. Training was the only thing on their minds. Even school had taken a bit of a backseat as they entered the final few months of their high school experience, the months where typically the seniors took a step back from schoolwork and focused on celebrating graduation. There was no celebration for the Miyagi-Dos though, as they were hard at work. Every day except a certain day in mid February…

Valentine's Day. Even the mere thought of it sounded frivolous. In a time when they were trapped in the midst of an all-consuming war with Cobra Kai, bearing down on the final stretch before the Taikai, Valentine's Day shouldn't have been the top priority on any of their minds. But it was. Because even for the loyal soldiers that the Miyagi-Do students were, they also needed to blow off some steam every once in a while, and February 14th was the perfect time to do that. Afternoon/evening training had been canceled at the dojo, so the Miyagi-Dos - at least those who were in relationships - made plans to celebrate with their significant other.

"Are you ready to go?" Tory called from inside the bathroom as she finished applying her makeup that evening. As Robby sat on her bed in her room, he twiddled his thumbs nervously. Him and Tory hadn't had a night out together, just to themselves, in what felt like forever. Between school and training, they hadn't really connected in a long while, so Robby was definitely looking forward to getting to spend the evening with her.

"Yeah." Robby responded through the closed bathroom door. Neither of them had much money, there was no secret about that. They weren't Encino born and raised, with enough money to afford a traditional Valentine's Day night. But they didn't care. For one, they had scrimped and saved enough together to be able to afford a nice dinner, and they had come up with a cheap, fun night afterwards. It wasn't anything either were too fussed about, one of the great things about their relationship was that there was not the pressure of being in different socio-economic classes to complicate things between them.

A few moments later, the bathroom door opened and Tory stepped out. For a few seconds, as Robby laid eyes on the blonde, he was speechless. It was no secret that the girl was gorgeous on any given day, but today… today, she was another league of drop-dead stunning. She looked like an angel, dressed in a red sundress and a white cardigan, her faint amount of makeup enhancing her already beautiful features. While Tory used to present herself very differently a year or so ago, with dyed hair and a lot more intense makeup, she found herself looking more and more… authentically her. She wasn't filled with unresolved rage like she used to be, not expressing that on her face and body, but instead wore her hair in its natural blonde and wore only minimal makeup.

In Robby's eyes, it made her look even more stunning, if that was even possible. It took him a few moments to pick his jaw off the ground and regain the ability to speak.

"Wow…" Robby stammered. "You… you look… wow…"

Robby couldn't find the words to finish the sentence, couldn't put into words just how amazing she looked. Tory noticed his speechlessness and raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Tory asked, chuckling at his gawking reaction.

"Good. Definitely good." Robby finally managed to speak again. "You look incredible."

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." She replied, staring hungrily at him up and down, eager to take in the handsomeness of her equally attractive boyfriend. All of a sudden, Robby leaned in and pulled her into a long kiss, one that Tory deepened enthusiastically and they only broke apart for air.

"Sorry. Couldn't help it." Robby murmured. Tory laughed.

"If that's what you're going to do, feel free to do so anytime." She responded. "So… you ready?"

"Oh yeah. Can't wait." Robby replied, and the two walked out of the apartment together, hand in hand…

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"So… how have you been doing? I feel like it's been ages since we've spent time together outside of training." Robby commented, as they walked down the street towards the restaurant they'd be going to that night.

"Pretty good. Yeah, it's been a while, huh?" She replied. "Between school, the crazy work schedule at Larusso Auto. Then there's Chozen, who insists on having us train for every other waking moment of the day."

Tory's voice trailed off as she saw Robby raising an eyebrow, not interrupting her but she knew immediately what he was implying, and she nodded.

"Right. Sorry. No karate talk." She remembered. Robby shrugged.

"We don't have to do it if you don't want to." Robby said. "I just figured it would be good for us to focus on something else for a change tonight. Take a bit of a break from all that."

"I completely agree." Tory replied. "You're right. Forget Karate tonight. I'm sure we can find something else to talk about."

And they did. They talked without even a moment of silence for the whole way to the restaurant, catching up on everything that they'd missed out in each other's lives due to their hectic, chaotic training schedule. Though more often than not they were paired up together in training with Chozen, it was shocking how little they knew about each other's lives, at least in the recent past.

They made it to the restaurant a short while later, a familiar Mexican restaurant that over a year ago, seated none other than Robby's own father, as well as a variety of other prominent figures in their lives. Robby had been the one to make the reservation, so he had gone to his father for recommendations and this was the best thing Johnny had come up with. They had been to Golf-n-Stuff ad nauseam, the cheapest guaranteed good time the couple had relied on in the past, and so this was the best alternative that Johnny had come up with. Unfortunately though, as Robby and Tory would soon find out, a certain other teenager in the Valley had asked his mother for the same advice, and his mother had given precisely the same location…

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"Oh."

All conversation instantly drew to a halt between the couple as they saw the two people standing over them. Although these weren't enemies, not anymore anyways, all four people were equally displeased to see each other. What were the odds that in the entire city of Los Angeles, one of the largest hubs in the country, Robby, Tory, Sam and Miguel would all end up in the same restaurant? To be honest, that wasn't so unlikely, as both couples ran in exactly the same circle.

Little did the other couple know that their counterpart had made the exact same agreement: no Karate. None, whatsoever. Although Karate was probably the highlight of all of their lives, even they needed a break at one point, which is why they weren't particularly thrilled to see each other there, especially given that the couples had been seated at tables right next to each other.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tory asked them, shocked to see Miguel and Sam there.

"My mom recommended this place." Miguel replied. "What about you?"

"My dad did." Robby told them. Internally, all four of them groaned, not thrilled by the prospect of what was to come.

In all honesty, things were still pretty awkward between the four of them, even if they weren't down-right cold or tense anymore. The foursome hadn't spent any time just the four of them, always possessing ice-breakers in the shape of the other students, but that didn't seem to be an option tonight. It was going to be seriously awkward. Of course it was. The likelihood of that not being the case, after everything that had come between them in the past year or so, was absolutely certain…

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Drip. Drip. Drip. Things had faded to such a silence between the four of them that the sound of a sink in the distance had become deafening. The four of them were sitting mere meters apart, at tables beside one another, but not conjoining them. They weren't quite… there yet with their counterparts for that. All this meant though was that both of them could hear exactly what the other couple was saying, which wasn't much at all.

This lasted for about a few minutes, all four of them fidgeting nervously in their seats as they stared at the people beside them. Eventually though, Tory glanced at her phone before looking back up at everyone.

"I'm sorry. I've got to go call home. Make sure everything's going okay with my mom." Tory said, before standing up and walking away. Robby stood up too.

"I'm… I'm gonna go… help." Robby lied, fooling absolutely nobody as he followed closely behind his girlfriend. It didn't take a genius to know that there was no call, and Tory was simply trying to escape from the awkwardness for a few seconds, something Robby didn't blame her for one bit.

They stepped outside the restaurant, standing back in the cool evening air, before turning to one another again.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I had no idea they'd be here." Robby apologized. Tory shook her head.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault." She responded. "If anything, I'm sorry. I haven't exactly been… social since they walked in."

"We can go somewhere else if you want." Robby suggested, sympathetically. "I know a couple of nice places that are open till late."

Tory sighed, glanced down at her hands for a few moments, not meeting Robby's gaze. When she did, Robby saw just how troubled the expression on her face was. She was close to tears, holding herself together by a mere thread.

"I'm so sorry, Robby. You shouldn't have to be put through my shit." Tory whispered. Robby placed a hand on hers, a sympathetic look on his face.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm not exactly thrilled to see them either." Robby responded. Tory shook her head.

"It's not just that." She said. "I want to just be okay with seeing them, seeing them act all romantic together. I really, really do. But I'm not. And that's not fair to you."

"You still have feelings for Miguel?" Robby asked, surprised that he was even saying these words. Tory immediately shook her head furiously.

"No, no, no. Nothing like that." She stated. "Please believe me when I say this… outside my family, there is nobody in this world who I've cared about, who I've loved, as much as you. Like it's not even a close comparison to anyone."

Robby blushed as he looked down, taken aback by the incredibly sweet words from his normally more tight-lipped girlfriend.

"It's not that I still have feelings for him. It's not even that I still hate her. It's just… every time I see them together, I remember what they did. I remember all of that hatred. All of that pain. Even if I don't feel it on a daily basis anymore, seeing them together like that… it's kind of hard to not let the feelings come bubbling back. Not have that fury bubbling inside me, trying to break through, trying to turn me into someone I don't want to be anymore."

"Tory, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Robby eventually whispered as he processed everything that Tory had told him. "Look, we really don't have to stay. Maybe we should just find somewhere else."

"No. I want to stay." Tory immediately replied, surprising him with her response. "I'm going to get over these feelings tonight, even if it kills me. What better to help do that than facing them all night?"

"Are you sure?" Robby asked. "I mean, I wouldn't judge you at all if you…"

"I'm sure." Tory stated, determinedly. Nodding at each other, Tory and Robby walked back into the restaurant together, ready to face whatever the night had in store. However, they were immediately surprised by the fact that as they made it back over to their table, Sam and Miguel were starting to stand up, grabbing their jackets, seeming like they were about to leave.

"I'm really sorry if we bothered you guys. I swear, we had no idea you'd be here." Miguel told them. "We'll just find somewhere else. It's no trouble."

"Please. Stay." Tory spoke up, gesturing to the table that they had previously been sitting in.

"You… want us to stay?" Sam asked, taken aback. Tory nodded.

"None of us are idiots. It's clearly still really awkward between all of us." Tory remarked. "Why don't we change that? Please sit down."

After a silent conversation through eye contact and body language between Miguel and Sam, the couple eventually nodded and sat back down at the table. Tory smiled at them, relieved, as they did, nodding her head.

"Thank you." She replied. "So… do you guys maybe want to bring the tables together?"