CHAPTER 169
The Miyagi-Dos played a couple of hours of soccer, relishing in the beautiful day and enjoying each other's company, before going to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. By now, the cafeteria was mostly empty as there were only 2 dojos left in the entire vast facility, so the 10 students decided to all sit together.
As they ate a delectable meal that had been prepared for them, the 6 Miyagi-Do and 4 Cobra Kai students exchanged anecdotes and entertaining stories of one another, the group getting to know each other in a way that they simply hadn't been able to up until this point due to the rivalry. They learned all about Robby and Shawn's time in juvie together. They learned about Marcos' life in Brazil. They learned about everything that had happened in the Valley before the likes of Kenny, Shawn, Marcos and Sarah had gotten involved, as those 4 Cobra Kai students represented the newer Cobra Kai students, while the likes of Miguel, Hawk and Tory were all the old guard. It was only as their rivalry was quashed did they realize just how much they all had in common. And now that they realized that, they knew that even with the grand final ahead of them, it was going to be nearly impossible to go back to being the same rivals and enemies that they had been before this point.
After lunch, the two sides were forced to go their separate ways for a while for the events of the afternoon, and so they departed from each other's company with hugs, handshakes and all round smiles, something previously unheard of between the two dojos. The reason the two groups had to split up was because they had some very important people that they needed to greet: their families. The flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo had arrived about an hour ago, so after a little while, the Miyagi-Dos saw a convoy of vehicles pull into the compound containing many of their loved ones, who had made the trip out to support them and their team.
Flights for family and friends of the finalists had been all expenses paid by the organization - another perk of the magnitude of the tournament - so absolutely everybody was there! Amanda, Anthony, Louie and Vanessa had all flown out to support Daniel. Jimmy and Bobby had made the trip to support Johnny. Shannon Keene had made it from her job abroad to support her son. Even though Miguel wasn't in the final himself, Carmen also made the journey to support Johnny and Robby, while yaya remained at home looking after baby Laura, who wasn't old enough to really be traveling just yet.
It was a simply massive turn out for the Miyagi-Dos, but unfortunately Cobra Kai weren't able to replicate the same numbers. Both Sarah's mom and dad had made it to support Marcos and Sarah, but there was nobody else. Marcos didn't have any family that he desired to be there, at least none who were alive anyways. He had absolutely nobody to invite, nobody that was in his corner. Sarah's parents knew that too, the couple treating him with the same kindness and love as they showed their own daughter. He was basically their surrogate son by now, so despite not having any biological family, Marcos knew that he had two more people in his corner to support him, a huge morale boost.
After spending the entire afternoon with their families, catching up with them after not seeing them for at least a week now, it was soon time to return to their responsibilities before the final the next day. It was time for their final press conference of the tournament, where they would say their final words to the media before the big final. Their families and friends were even allowed into the press conference room to watch them, so the room was packed to the brim when the 6 competing finalists eventually entered that evening. Senseis, families, friends, as well as all of the press officials and journalists who were covering the event, all of them sat shoulder to shoulder in the audience as the fighters sat on the familiar stage.
"Good evening." The press conference mediator declared, taking a few moments to silence the buzz of noise and excited activity that was echoing around the room. "Thank you so much for coming to the pre-final press conference, whether you're watching live from around the world on TV, or you're sitting in this room tonight here in Tokyo. A big thank you to all of the finalists for attending. I know you're probably very busy with your preparations for the final, so thank you for coming anyway. We don't want to waste too much of your time, so we'll dive right into it. First questions will be asked to the Cobra Kai students, and after that, Miyagi-Do will be asked their questions. Interviewer 1, please begin…"
"Thank you." The first interviewer stood up and introduced himself. "My question is for Mr. Oliveira."
"Go ahead." Marcos nodded at him. The man beamed widely at him, as if honored to have the opportunity to interview Marcos.
"My name is Jose da Silva. I'm Brazilian myself, and I work for the O Dia newspaper in Brazil. I'm writing an article about the Taikai in the sports section." The man told him. "I've been doing this exact job for the past 12 years now and each year, I am only given a few lines of space to be able to write about this tournament. However, this year, for the first time ever, I have been granted a whole page of writing space, and that is because of the incredible performance you have put on while representing our country. After 2 decades of not a single Brazilian even in the finals, you have finally broken that streak and have brought joy and celebration back home to Brazil, no matter what the result is tomorrow. So I say a huge thank you to you for that."
Marcos smiled at him and nodded. He didn't exactly know what else to do with the immense praise that was being placed upon his shoulders. He wasn't really used to all of the compliments, so he was pretty awkward as he accepted them. Thankfully, the interviewer spared him the embarrassment of a bumbling, stammering response by continuing to speak.
"My question to you is regarding this impact that you've had on the Taikai in such a short time. You've been breaking records all over the place. Not only are you the first Brazilian finalist in almost 2 decades, but you're also the first Taikai competitor in history to achieve 1 million Instagram followers. This includes people who have been competing in the tournament for multiple years, whereas this is your first. How does that feel?"
"Oh, uh… thank you first of all. I didn't actually know that I had that many people following me." Marcos admitted. "To be honest, I'm still learning how to use social media myself. I had never used Instagram before the Taikai. My girlfriend is still teaching me how to use it, so she's done most of the posting on that account on my behalf. But just to know that there are 1 million people in my corner supporting me definitely means a whole lot. I know I've said this before, but I want to make it to the UFC one day, so hopefully this attention that I've gained from the Taikai is enough to open a few doors that can get me on that path in one way or another."
"I think you have a lot more than just 1 million people supporting you, Mr. Oliveira." The interviewer said. "You're the only non-American in this entire final, so there are people around the world who are rooting for you for one reason or another. Including sponsors. Which brings me to my other question. Tomorrow night, after the tournament is over, sponsors are officially able to approach you to talk about paid partnerships. I don't know whether you were already aware of this, but they aren't allowed to do so while you're still actively competing as it can cause distractions. However, tomorrow night, whether you win or come 2nd in your division, given how much of a name you've made for yourself in this tournament, I'm sure that sponsors from Nissan, Adidas, Gatorade, Under Armor, Yamaha, Venum, Toyota, Sony and Burger King are dying to meet with you to discuss a brand deal. Is there any one of them in particular that you are looking at?"
"Don't answer that." A quiet whisper came from beside Marcos, and he turned ever so slightly to see that it was Daniel who had murmured to him, quiet enough for nobody but Marcos to hear him. "Answering will only get you less money from that particular sponsor, or you'll end up getting less offers all round."
"I don't have a big preference just yet. There's a lot of really cool brands. I'm not really thinking about any of that right now. The main focus is on the fight tomorrow night. Whatever happens afterwards, I'll think about afterwards." Marcos responded, for nodding gratefully at Daniel, who was sitting beside him.
Now that Marcos had been asked a few questions, focus turned to Sarah as the next interviewer stood up to ask their questions.
"Ms. Gledhill, I think everyone at this point is well aware of the bet between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. Given that Miyagi-Do have already claimed the Senseis' division, and both your and Mr. Oliveira's opponents are Miyagi-Do students themselves, does that make you guys the underdogs heading into tomorrow's events?"
"Honestly… I'm sure Marcos will probably agree with me too when I say this, but no, that's not our feeling, because neither of us really care too much about the bet at this point." Sarah admitted. "We want to win for our dojo, but we're not feeling any extra pressure because of the bet. I'm sure that Valley isn't going to go up in flames, no matter who wins the overall bet. Of course, I'd rather it be us who wins, but I'm not going to let the thought of it compromise my fight. I'm just going to give it everything I have, and then see how it goes."
"I guess you've kind of already answered my second question through that answer, but I was going to ask: given that your fight is the second fight of the evening, after the senseis' fight, if you lose, your dojo cannot mathematically win the bet any more. Does that put any added pressure on you to perform?"
"Like I said, not really." Sarah replied. "Our sensei has even agreed that tomorrow, we're not fighting simply to bring down Miyagi-Do. In fact, our dojo just spent the whole morning and afternoon hanging out with them for the first time, and they actually seem like really great people. Tomorrow night, Marcos and I are going to fight for ourselves. We're going to fight for each other. So even if I lose my fight and the bet ends up being settled before the third fight, that doesn't take anything away from Marcos and Robby's fight. I'm going to be supporting Marcos all the same, because even winning 1 division of the World Championship is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for any dojo."
"Thank you, Ms. Gledhill. Best of luck tomorrow."
With that, the questions addressed to the two remaining Cobra Kai students were over. Now it was time for the questions for the 4 Miyagi-Dos…