CHAPTER 141

The next morning, the Miyagi-Dos rose with the sun, ready for the first full day in Japan, the only full day they had until the actual fighting started. They had all slept like babies the night before, exhaustion defeating any hint of jetlag that was threatening to creep up on them. They slept right the way through the night and woke up early the next morning.

It was officially day 2 of the Taikai: Preparation Day as it was called. There was absolutely nothing planned, so they had the day completely to themselves. The senseis hadn't set up too rigid of a schedule for them either. They wanted the students to spend most of the day resting and doing whatever they wanted. There was only so much you could learn at this point in time, this close to the start of the competition. However, the adults had come up with one rule: no leaving the facility. At least while the senseis were getting in some last minute preparation to ready themselves for their own fights the next day, they didn't want their students wandering the streets of a foreign city alone, especially with the added media attention that was now on them. They promised the students that there would be other opportunities to explore Tokyo all together, but for now they wanted their students to remain in Hogwarts.

This meant that the students had little to do but lie around at the facility that morning, chilling in their dorm's living room and feeling off-the-walls with restlessness.

"This is stupid." Tory eventually spoke up, saying the words that all of them were thinking. "We've flown all the way to Japan just to sit in a room and do nothing."

"The senseis said they'd be done in a few hours. We can't really do anything until then." Miguel stated. Tory shrugged.

"Sure we can. We all have wallets. We all have phones. Let's go explore Tokyo." Tory tried to convince them.

"Uh… they told us explicitly not to do that." Demetri reminded her, but Tory shook her head.

"I really don't care. I don't know about you, but I'm probably never going to get this opportunity again. I'm probably not going to leave the States again, at least not for years. I'm not going to waste it. Who else wants to come?"

"I'll come." Robby was the first to respond. He too knew just how unlikely he was to find himself in a situation like this again in the near future, so he hated the fact that they were just sitting around and wasting the time away.

"I'm in too." Sam added. "It might be good to get our minds off Karate and just go around the city for a bit."

"Miguel? Hawk? Demetri?" Tory asked.

"I don't know about this. I'm not as comfortable with this whole rule breaking thing as you guys are. I mean, do you realize just how much could go wrong?" Demetri remarked. "If anything happens to us, it could mean our entire tournament is over. We could get hurt."

"Here…" Tory said, before a loud SLAP rang around the room as she made contact with his face, not hard enough to leave a mark but hard enough to really sting.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Demetri exclaimed.

"I'm showing you that you can get hurt in the room too. So you might as well come with us." Tory commented.

"Well when you put it like that, how can I say no?" Demetri remarked sarcastically, clutching his face as he reluctantly agreed to join them.

"Hawk? Miguel?" Robby asked.

"Well if the ship has completely sailed on doing any training today… screw it, might as well have some fun. I'm coming." Miguel decided.

"Me too." Hawk joined his friends. A wide smile spread across all of the Miyagi-Dos' faces as they all finally got on board with the plan. They were going to go explore one of the most unique, one of the most incredible cities in the entire world!

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And the students had an absolute blast. How couldn't you, when you were walking the streets of Tokyo, side by side with your best friends in the world? It was a hell of a lot of fun for all of them, as they went to a variety of different places nearby, places that ranged from shops to cafes to supermarkets to outlet stores, and so much more. There was definitely something for everyone, and all of it was totally unique to anything they had seen in L.A before.

The teenagers found themselves in a mall, where it was to their utmost surprise that a few people actually recognized them. Maybe it was the few electronic advertising billboards that they had already been added to. Maybe it was their brutal press conference that had gone somewhat viral on social media. All of it meant that as they walked through the mall, they found a few people wanting autographs, wanting selfies, or simply wanting to wish them good luck in the tournament. Miyagi-Do were still pretty unknown on the world stage, so it was only really the most die-hard fans of the tournament who recognized them.

After a while of walking through the mall, the teenagers headed to the food court for a bite to eat. It was midday, and it was in the midst of summer break, so the mall and food court were pretty packed. It meant that there were hundreds of people that the Miyagi-Dos had to weave their way through, some of whom recognized them, delaying them even further. Selfie after selfie, autograph after autograph, by the time the 6 teenagers finally managed to sit down, they knew something for sure…

"Our lives are never going to be the same again, are they?" Miguel remarked as his eyes flickered around the food court and saw many people staring at them from a distance, knowing exactly who they were.

"Doesn't look like it." Hawk replied.

"It puts it in perspective, huh? The number of people watching this thing." Sam commented. "If this many people in a random mall in Tokyo know who we are, think about how many people worldwide are watching."

"All the more people to watch us if we screw up." Demetri groaned.

"Don't screw up then. Simple." Tory remarked back.

"Easier said than done when we're competing against hundreds of the best karate fighters in the world." Robby murmured.

All 6 of the teenagers were frankly star struck at the sheer amount of attention that this tournament was getting. They still hadn't gotten over just how huge the Sekai Taikai was, having only found out about it a year ago. People here… they treated it like it was the World Cup, every single one of the fans supporting a dojo with a die-hard passion. They had met a few of those people supporting Miyagi-Do, and that had only added to the immense pressure that was already on them to perform. They were fighting for themselves; they were fighting for the bet against Cobra Kai; they were fighting to bring Miyagi-Do to the pinnacle of Karate to prove that it's the right way; and now they were also fighting for all of the fans that were supporting them.

One thing was certain: physical and technical prowess was not going to be enough to win them the Taikai. Only those with the utmost mental strength would make it to the top. Anything less and they'd surely crumble…

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Before long, the Miyagi-Dos returned to the facility, to Hogwarts, only to receive a long berating from their senseis for disobeying their instructions. They had messaged the senseis before they had left to let them know where they had gone, but had conveniently ignored all of the angry messages that had proceeded.

There wasn't too much the adults could say though, as the teenagers had arrived seemingly even more determined to win than that morning. This was because going outside the walls of the facility, seeing all of the fans supporting them… it had helped pour gasoline on the fire that was already burning inside of them. They would win the Taikai, they were sure of it, for all of the people that were supporting them. They had been reminded of the blinding lights that came along with participating in this event, but that had actually been a positive: it meant that they wouldn't be shocked when they began the prelims the next day.

Another reason why Johnny and Daniel couldn't be too mad - even if they were pretty upset - was that both were also preoccupied by their own upcoming fights. It wasn't just the teenagers fighting and the adults coaching 24/7 anymore. With the adults fighting as well, the teenagers had a little bit more freedom, freedom where they found themselves in the company of the same 6 Miyagi-Dos and only strengthened their bond even more. Speaking of, that night, after a final pep-talk with their senseis, the Miyagi-Do students retreated to their common room to spend some time together before eventually embarking on an inevitably restless sleep. With prelims starting in less than 15 hours, how could they possibly find a relaxing enough state to fall asleep?

The senseis also retreated to their common room shortly after. Well, most of them anyways. Only Daniel remained in the gym. He wasn't training too strenuously, but wanted a space to practice his kata one more time before the end of the night. Walking into the gym, Daniel found it mostly empty, all of the competitors having gone to sleep or were no longer training so close to the start of the tournament. There was only one other person there, and that happened to be none other than Cobra Kai's male champion.

Marcos sparred with a punching bag, not practicing specific techniques but instead allowing his fighting style to naturally flow. That was how he knew he would win the tournament. Miyagi-Do knew very well how to beat Cobra Kai. They had done so in 1984, 1985 and several times in the past few years. Miyagi-Do's style was fundamentally able to beat Cobra Kai's, which was why Marcos knew that he couldn't solely fight like Cobra Kai. He needed to fight like him, use all of his training, whether it be from the dojo in the Valley, the fight club in the slums of Rio, or in the backyard of his friend's house when he was a kid. He had so many different techniques and styles under his belt, and he knew that that was the advantage he possessed going up against a Miyagi-Do in this tournament.

Daniel saw the student boxing and kicking the bag as soon as he walked into the gym, and although this boy would probably be one of Miyagi-Do's biggest threats in the threats, despite everything that he had done to Daniel's students in the past year, Daniel just couldn't bring himself to hate him. He couldn't hate any of these kids, kids who were mere pawns of the likes of Kreese and Silver to do their bidding.

"Careful. You don't want to overwork yourself so close to the start of the tournament." Daniel remarked kindly. Recognising the voice, Marcos brought his sparring to a halt before slowly turning around to face Daniel, sweat dripping from his body.

"Mr. Larusso." Marcos nodded at him. As the teenager stood bare-chested, Daniel noticed the coiled cobra tattoo that sat right above his heart.

"Nice tattoo." Daniel commented. Marcos looked down at it and chuckled.

"Thanks. It's nothing compared to Eli's bird, but hey… the tattoo guy tried his best." Marcos responded.

"It actually looks pretty good." Daniel said. "You get it done in the Valley?"

Marcos shook his head.

"Brazil." Marcos replied. "During those months when I was deported. It reminded me of the dojo, of the people. Helped me keep faith that one day I'd return, even when my brain told me I never would."

Daniel nodded.

"I heard what you and Sarah said to my students at the banquet last night." Daniel remarked. "That you're rivals but not enemies."

Realization dawned on Marcos' face as he remembered back to 24 hours ago. It felt like a millennium since then.

"Yeah?" Marcos murmured. The longer they talked, the more Daniel heard about him, the more Daniel solidified his opinion that this boy wasn't a bad person at all: he was simply a good kid who had lost his way a few times.

"That was really nice. We all appreciate that." Daniel commented. "I can't imagine Silver and Kreese were too pleased to hear that though."

Marcos shook his head.

"You have Kreese all wrong, you know?" Marcos murmured. "He's someone who's been seriously scarred by the things he's seen, and has made some mistakes. Costly mistakes sure, but they were just mistakes. He did what he thought was right at the time. And he's evolved since then. He's trying hard to move on. No different to many of the kids who have made mistakes. If it's so easy to forgive them, why is it different for him?"

Daniel sighed.

"Look, I know he's your sensei and I completely respect that." Daniel said. "But believe me, it's not so easy to forgive someone who's done all he's done. I know you probably don't want to hear it, but Kreese has had a negative effect, directly or indirectly, on every single member of my dojo, both students and senseis."

"I know." Marcos nodded. "Like I said, he's made mistakes. He's not a saint. None of us are. But believe me. I've seen him almost every day in the past year. I know him better than almost anyone. He's not the same person he used to be. I wouldn't even be standing here without him."

"I know he paid for you to return, but…"

"That was Silver." Marcos corrected him. "And I'll be the first to say that I don't trust a word that comes out of that man's mouth. He's not my sensei. I don't listen to him, and I don't hesitate to insult him because I know that he has nothing but black intentions."

"And yet Kreese allowed him back into the dojo." Daniel remarked. Marcos shook his head.

"He doesn't want him around any more than I do. Trust me. After all, would you want the person who framed you to be standing alongside you? Kreese had no choice."

"How come?" Daniel asked curiously. Marcos took a deep breath.

"Kreese doesn't even know I know this. Silver told me a while ago as a way of putting more pressure on me to perform in the Taikai. Apparently Kreese came to him, asking if Silver could use his money and bring me back. Silver agreed, only on the condition that he'd be allowed back into the dojo. Kreese knew everything I went through and knew how much I needed to come back, so he risked everything to bring me back. That's the kind of person he is. He'd do anything for his students. Whether it be me, or Johnny Lawrence, or Tory… he would put his life on the line for his students in a heartbeat. He found out that my father was… hurting me, and he was by my side in seconds. He risked his well-being to fight my father that night, make sure he couldn't skip town or anything, and made sure that the man got arrested. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn't done that? My father wouldn't have been arrested, and I wouldn't be surprised if he came after me. Kreese may well have saved my life that night."

Daniel couldn't do anything but listen. He had his own views on Kreese, but couldn't help but listen to the views of the teenager opposite him. They were both aware that there was going to be bias in the perspectives of both of them, given the experiences they had both had with the elderly sensei. They weren't speaking to try and change the opinions of the other, as they knew that that would be impossible, at least in a single conversation. They were strictly trying to enlighten the other on their own points of view, providing unique perspectives. Because it was certainly a unique perspective that Marcos possessed: he was the first Cobra Kai that Daniel had spoken to who actually had positive things to say about Kreese. At least, the first Cobra Kai who wasn't frothing at the mouth with bloodlust.

There was a long silence as both of them processed what the other person had to say, before Daniel eventually spoke up again.

"It was honestly lovely speaking with you, Marcos. It's a shame we never got to work together at any point, but I can see why Robby thinks so highly of you." Daniel said. "Truly best of luck tomorrow."

"Thank you." Marcos murmured. "And good luck to you too."

"I know that as of tomorrow, our dojos are actively against each other, but could I ask you for one thing?" Daniel asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Marcos said.

"Don't hurt anyone." Daniel replied. As Marcos raised an eyebrow questioningly, Daniel held up a hand to cut him off. "I'm not asking you to go easy. Nothing like that. You have every right to fight at full speed, at full power. But I also know how Silver works. How Kreese works, or using your words, how Kreese used to work. What they might pressure you into. Please just keep everything above-board. We all want to win, but safety comes first."

Marcos nodded.

"I agree. I swear I won't do anything illegal, and I will do what I can to try and make sure the other students abide by the same rules."

Daniel also nodded back, respect emanating from the pivotal figures in both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. Shortly after, Marcos left to get ready for the next, potentially life-changing day that was to come…