Hot For Sensei

Chapter Seventy-Eight

The next week had come and gone, and the day of the tournament had arrived.

Though Ivy had expected Miguel to be mopey because of what happened, he surprised her instead by being filled with a determined rage. He didn't say anything to Johnny about the incident, and it didn't seem like Johnny remembered anything from that night, but there was still a tenseness in the air between them that couldn't be broken.

Miguel put all of his anger into training with Ivy as the rest of the Eagles struggled to catch up to tournament level standards. Miyagi-Do was scrambling to do the same, so Ivy really only saw Eli at school, with the exception of the one time he slept over. This gave her plenty of time to train with and keep an eye on Miguel, and although she was thankful that he had found a way to work out his anger, she was getting exhausted.

Despite the constant anger, there was an underlying sadness in his demeaner, and though he never spoke of it, Ivy knew exactly what was going on. The spat with Sam on prom night had broken him, and she felt like they had broken up then, though he never confirmed. Still, she could tell that it was hurting him, regardless of the outcome. Robby had bested Miguel again when it came to Johnny and Sam, and he wasn't even trying. She knew that Miguel was training so hard to get back at Robby just as much as Johnny, and she hoped he would succeed in the tournament to get some closure.

The morning of the tournament, Ivy and Miguel were getting ready in her apartment. She had cooked up a protein packed breakfast for them, and they ate with small talk before they packed up their karate bags and dressed in their new Gi's. Johnny had special ordered them, a blood red fabric with the eagle logo splayed out over the back. Ivy felt a little weird in the color, as she had always thought that the black and yellow of Cobra Kai was more flattering, but she had to get over it. Those days were long behind her now.

Just as she finished tying up her hair, there was a knock on her door. She looked to Miguel curiously, not expecting anyone, and he shrugged before motioning for her to go answer it. She mirrored his shrug, making her way to the door cautiously.

Eli was standing before her, dressed in the bright whites of Miyagi-Do and smirking playfully at her.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on your way to the arena?" she asked.

"I have to hand it to Johnny, you look really good in red." He winked, making her blush.

"I wish I could say the same about you in white." She teased through a smirk of her own.

"Yeah, yeah." He stuck his tongue out, "So, how's Miguel?"

"Angry, but it's a silent kind of angry now, so it's kind of scary." She admitted, "I'm hoping he can release it all at the tournament and leave it there."

"He will. The same thing happened last year, remember? And he won." Eli nodded confidently.

"You're right, that's so weird..." Ivy looked away briefly, "But that does make me feel a little better."

"Good." Eli gave her a small smile before it slowly disappeared, "Look, I wanted to talk to you about the tournament before we have to separate."

"What's wrong?" he smile quickly faded.

"Nothing, everything's fine." He said gently, clasping his hands around hers and pulling her closer, "I just want you to know that whatever happens today, I'll still be madly in love with you, and it's still just you and me, always."

"Eli...are you really worried about that?" she sucked in a breath.

"Who knows what's going to happen today, especially since Cobra Kai is notorious for their cheating and tricks." He sighed, "But I do know one thing. Things are going to get pretty tense and heated because of the pressure we're under and being on separate teams doesn't help that. I don't want you to forget that I love you."