Time After Time 🌹 Daniel LaRusso [1]

Chapter 13: All Valley Karate Championship

Today is the big day. When Daniel wakes up, he immediately showers and gets dressed to go see Rosalía. He's really anxious therefore feels in need of her comfort. He spends the whole morning at her place until he decides to go home to let his girlfriend get ready. 'Girlfriend.' He loves that he can call her that now. He officially asked her to be his girlfriend last night when he walked her to her doorstep. He just hopes to make her proud tonight.

Rosalía finishes applying her crimson red lipstick and checks herself in the mirror. She grins, satisfied with her appearance, and scurries to put her shoes on and find her purse. Once she has everything, she rushes out of her room and to the front door. Right when she's about three feet away from the door, her mom stops her. "Ya te vas? [You're leaving already?]" she questions. The girl turns around to see her parents sitting on the couch. "Yeah," she replies. Her dad turns his attention back to the tv while her mom stands up to hug her. "Cuídate mucho, okay [take good care of yourself, okay]," she sweetly speaks.

Rosalía eyes her suspiciously. "Are you okay, mom?" she asks. The woman smiles and strokes her hair. "Si, es que necesito hablar contigo pero puede esperar [Yes, I just need to talk to you but it can wait]," she responds. Rosalía doesn't like how calm she sounds; she has a feeling it's something bad. "Okay... bye," she says, kissing her mom's cheek before spinning around and exiting the apartment. That was weird.

———(🌹)———

Mr. Miyagi, Rosalía, and Daniel stand at the sign-up table as they sign in. "What belt are you?" the man asks. "Belt? I- I-" Daniel stammers, not knowing how to answer that. Luckily, Mr. Miyagi quickly steps in. "Why matter?" he asks. "It's open division. It's only for brown belt or above," the man explains. "Oh, yeah, boy black belt," Miyagi swiftly responds. Ha, liar, Rosalía thinks. "Okay," the man utters as he writes it down. "You better hustle, they're starting. Down the hall, to your left," he tells Daniel, pointing in the direction of where he's supposed to go. The boy clasps his bag and turns to Rosalía.

"Okay, I'll see you inside," she says, pecking his cheek. "Okay," he replies as he hurries off. The girl begins to walk away but Mr. Miyagi holds her back. "Uh, excuse me, Mr. Referee," he speaks as he moves her hand toward the duffle bag on the chair. "This is not Miyaji. MiyaGI," he voices, sneaking a black belt to Rosalía. She hides it in her jacket and dashes away.

Meanwhile, Daniel is in the locker room, trying to figure out how his gi works. "Well, well, well, look who we have here, fellas: our little friend, Danielle... hello, Danielle," Dutch announces as he walks in with the rest of the Cobras behind him. "What's the matter? Mommy not here to dress you?" he taunts. Daniel ignores him, which ticks him off. "Hey, I'm talking to you, punk," he exclaims as he shoves the boy. Daniel briskly recovers, ready to defend himself.

"Come on! Come on, make a move!" Dutch yells, ready to fight. Suddenly, one of the referees shows up and yells at him to get out. "You know, points or no points... you're dead meat," Dutch threatens. "I said out!" the referee shouts again. Dutch finally backs away, repeating "dead meat" before walking out. He and Tommy tauntingly laugh as they leave. "Let it go, I think he's gonna cry," Tommy mocks. Daniel lets his guard down and sits on the bench behind him once they're gone. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He stands up and starts shoving his belongings into his bag when he feels something poke his finger. What the hell? He reaches into his bag and discovers that the item that poked him is a sticky note. He straightens the crumpled up note and reads it:

Good luck, dummy! Don't forget about me when you're famous -your cheering section ;)

His whole mood brightens after reading the note. "Oh, you beautiful person," he thinks aloud. Just this short and simple note is enough to boost Daniel's confidence and give him the strength to go out there. He takes another deep breath and walks out of the locker room.