"Winner!" the judge pulled Jack's arm above his head when it was clear his opponent wasn't going to get up and continue the fight.

"YES!" a collective cheer rang out from the Wasabi Warriors and they all rushed Jack with smiles and shouts of joy.

"The undefeated champ remains undefeated!" Rudy gloated at the other senseis before turning back to his students. "Awesome job, guys! This might have been our best tournament yet!"

"Speak for yourself." Milton huffed. "I lost in five seconds."

"Actually it was more like three." Jerry corrected with a smile.

"Not helpful." Kim smacked Jerry upside the head.

"Don't worry, Milton." Jack gave him a firm pat on the back. "You'll get 'em next time."

"Maybe." Milton shrugged.

"You will." Milton's dad suddenly appeared from behind and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "I'm proud of you, son."

One by one the kids' parents came up to congratulate them on their victories. Jack and Rudy just chatted on the edge of the mat for a couple of minutes while the dojo emptied out.

When everyone but his friends and their families had gone, Jack took the opportunity. "I'm gonna go change, see you tomorrow for practice!" he gave Rudy a wave and ducked into the empty changeroom. When he was finished changing he heard Jerry and Milton entering.

"Jack!" Jerry half shouted as he went for his gym bag. "We're going to get froyo, you in?"

"Yeah, of course." Jack slung his bag over his shoulder with a smile. "I'll meet you guys there?"

"See you soon!" Milton called over his shoulder.

As he left the changeroom, Jack heard Kim's mom's voice from across the mat. "Oh, Jack! Congratulations on your win!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Crawford." Jack headed over to the family of three. "You did great too, Kim."

"Thanks, Jack." She smiled and turned back to her parents.

"You should both be very proud of yourselves." Mr. Crawford practically beamed. "You represented your team wonderfully."

"Thank you, sir." Jack nodded. "Hey, Kim. The guys and I are going to get celebratory froyo, you in?"

"Uh…" Kim glanced at her parents who gave a nod of approval. "Yeah, I'm just gonna go change."

"Cool, I'll meet you over there." Jack nodded in the direction of the frozen yogurt shop as Kim scurried into the girls' change room. "Thanks for coming to cheer us on, Mr. and Mrs. Crawford!" Jack waved and darted off before he could get trapped in a conversation with them.

Jack speed-walked towards his friends' favourite yogurt shop and parked himself at a nearby table to wait for the rest of his crew. He pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his mom saying he'd won and was hanging out with his friends for a bit before heading home.

Congratulations sweetie! Try not to be too late was what he got in return.

A few seconds later, Jack's friends pulled up their seats and chatted idly while snacking on frozen yogurt. Jack laughed along and made jokes the way he always did until the conversation took a turn.

"Oh, Jack, my dad was really impressed with your win." Jerry tried not to spit his dessert everywhere while delivering the message. "He said he could barely keep up with you, you were going so fast."

"Oh, tell him I said thanks." Jack smiled and gathered a spoonful of mostly sprinkles.

"Hey, Jack, why don't your parents ever come to our tournaments?" Milton wondered and Jack nearly choked on his spoon.

"Come to think of it, have we ever met your parents?" Kim added on, unable to recall ever seeing Jack with his family.

"Uh, well, they don't really like karate." Jack managed once he had remembered how to swallow. "It freaks them out when I get hit. And when I hit other people. And when other people hit other people. It's just not for them."

"Well, my parents were scared at first too," Kim offered, "but once they saw me win and realized I was capable, it stopped bothering them so much."

"Wait, didn't your grandfather teach you?" what a fortunate time for Jerry to have a good memory. "So didn't your parents watch you grow up doing karate?"

"Yeah, but they still don't like it." Jack tried his best to keep a level tone. "They saw me lose to Kai and haven't come to a tournament since."

"That makes sense." Milton agreed. "Witnessing your previously undefeated child being beaten into the ground by his own cousin could be incredibly traumatic and induce a PTSD like state in your parents which causes them to associate your tournaments with that mental image, like Jerry with his Saltines."

"Don't. Even. Bring it up." Jerry snapped.

"Yeah, what Milton said." Jack rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Anyways, I gotta run. See you guys tomorrow!"

Before anybody could object, Jack had grabbed his bag, clipped on his helmet, hopped on his skateboard, and sped out of sight. Truth be told, he didn't really want to go home. In fact, he would much rather stay and chill with his friends. But their sudden questioning had caused a cold fist to grip Jack's heart. He just needed to go.

Jack knew that this interaction would happen at some point. He was surprised it had taken nearly three years for his friends to ask about his family. But that didn't make the conversation any easier. Or less nerve-wracking.

Time flew, and suddenly, Jack was in his driveway, staring at the perfectly average looking house before him. He took a deep breath before picking up his board, clipping his helmet to his gym bag, and heading up the driveway to the side door. His mom's car wasn't in the driveway, but Gareth's was. He paused for a second at the door, but told himself it was better to get it over with than stand outside staring at a brick wall.

Jack stepped into the house as quietly as possible, slipped his shoes into the closet, and hung his hoodie up before creeping up the stairs. He could hear the TV in the living room, meaning Gareth was back there. Jack let out a tiny groan. His bedroom was upstairs. The staircase was in the living room. He considered he might be able to sneak by without being noticed, but he never had before, so why would he be able to now? So he just took a breath, straightened his shoulders, and headed for the staircase. He made it to the bottom step before a voice made him freeze.

"Where do you think you're going?"


So I was clearing up my laptop and stumbled upon an archive of old stories from high school! Most of them are terrible, but I felt like this one had potential. And considering I just started rewatching Kickin' It, I couldn't not post it! So I cleaned it up and made it into something a bit more tolerable and here it is! I don't know if the Kickin' It fandom still exists, but if you do, sound off and leave me a comment! This was the best show from my middle/high school years, and it got me through a lot, so I'd love to find some people who remember this disastrous masterpiece!

I think I had this set somewhere in season three, before Jack and Kim became official, in case anybody is curious about the timeline!