SUNSHINE | 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝘇

|All-Valley pt. 2|

We were waiting for our names to be called by the announcer. "Excited?" Aisha asked me. "Very" I nodded with a smile. "From Reseda, returning to the tournament, we have..." The announcer was saying. Dad nodded, indicating it was time to go and we started chanting. 

"Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!" We repeated, marching onto the mat. We took a stand beside the other dojos. Some of the audience were cheering for us, including Miguel's mom and grandma. Mom wanted to come but unfortunately she had work. 

"Now that's what I call an entrance!" The announcer exclaimed, "And a badass name for a dojo. Let's hear it for Cobra Kai!"

"Whoo! Go, Hawk!" Moon yelled out. I glanced across at Sam who smiled lightly. 

"And finally, fighting unaffiliated from North Hills, we have Mr. Robby Keene" The announcer called. Robby marched onto the mat and my eyes widened. I looked up at dad but he looked as surprised as I did. 

"All right, folks. Get ready. It's karate time" The announcer shouted. When the referee came out, we all stepped off the mat for the first fight. 

Miguel was fighting first. Hawk pat him on the back. "Good luck" I told him and he gave a small, expressionless nod.  

"All right, gentlemen, you know the rules. Three points wins. Step on the mat" The referee said. Miguel went to step on the mat when Dad stopped him to whisper something in his ear. 

"Face me. Bow" The referee said once the two kids were on the mat. "Face each other. Bow. Ready? And fight!"

Miguel kicked his opponent in the face. He used the same kick Daniel LaRusso had used to beat Dad when they were kids. "Point! That's one point Diaz" The referee shouted. The team and I cheered for Miguel. I looked over to see Sam looking less happy.

As the tournament went on, Cobra Kai did well. I was watching out to see how Robby was doing too. He was winning a lot of his fights. Sam told me he'd been practising with her father. 

Hawk, Aisha and I all won our first fights getting Cobra Kai closer to the final. Bert, the smallest kid on the team, fought too. His opponent was considerably bigger than him and unfortunately he didn't win. After his fight we had reached the quarterfinals. 

Miguel was fighting again. His opponent was doing tons of flips but Miguel managed to kick him to the ground. "Yes!" I cheered, punching the air. Miguel looked over and smiled.

"Winner!" The referee yelled. "Over on Mat Two, Miguel Diaz makes the semis" The announcer announced. 

When I wasn't fighting I was usually watching Robby. The latest fight he won got him into the semi-finals with Miguel.

My next fight was with some kid from Topanga dojo. She was huge. Like three times my size. I did not know it was possible to have so many muscles. She immediately went for offence when the fight started. 

I found myself being defensive instead of offensive like dad was screaming at me to be. I went to kick but she counterattacked. It's safe to say I didn't win the fight. I landed on my back. The girl was nice though, she helped me up. "Good fight" She said fairly. "You too" I replied.

I was bummed. I really wanted to get far for Cobra Kai. I knew how much it meant to my dad and I didn't like disappointing him. 

"You did good, Gracie" Dad patted my shoulder when I got off the mat. "You were great" Miguel said, surprising me a little. "Thanks" I smiled, feeling much happier then I should have from the compliment. 

Once he turned away, I looked over to Aisha who was grinning at me. "You're happy" She commented. I felt a million times better about losing the fight. Sure, Miguel had just said something polite but it was progress.