Hot For Sensei

Chapter Seventy-Nine

At the word fight, Ivy lashed out at Sam with a barrage of punches, which Sam easily blocked with her Miyagi-Do training, but Ivy was counting on that. With Sam distracted by the punches, Ivy waited for an opening, then sunk to the floor to sweep out Sam's legs. Before Sam had time to react and block, Ivy soared over her and socked her in the chest, and Sam let out a groan.

"Point, Eagle Fang!" the ref shouted and separated them.

"Really, LaRusso?" Ivy rolled her eyes, "That's all you got?"

Sam stood frigidly to face her, an annoyance in her eyes that barely counted as anger. Ivy got back into position, disappointed in how easy this was going to be.

The ref shouted fight, and Ivy hesitated to give Sam a chance, but she didn't move. Not one to wait around, Ivy dove in with more punches, only for Sam to predictably defend again. Ivy went in harder with the punches to try and break through her defense, but then Sam surprised her by grabbing her arm to spin her around for an opening before landing a point to her gut with a punch.

"Point, Miyagi-Do!" the ref stepped in.

"Wow." Ivy clicked her tongue to taunt her, "It's almost like you want it."

Real anger was starting to radiate from Sam, causing Ivy to chuckle. Good, at least this fight might get interesting now.

The ref's words barely got through, and Sam lunged first to try and surprise Ivy. She did catch her off guard, but not enough, and Ivy moved quickly, Sam's fist only grazing her shoulder. Frustrated, Sam let out a shout, and they locked in a battle of punches and kicks. Eventually, Ivy found an opening, but unfortunately Sam had too, and she reacted faster, landing a kick to Ivy's side. Ivy cursed a growl under her breath.

"Point, Miyagi-Do!"

Sam's lips peeled into a smug smirk as she backed away to reset, and Ivy clenched her fists as her blood boiled, not ready to be taken out so easily.

Ivy took a step back as Sam shot forward, blocking her punch before tangling their arms together for a grapple. Sam grunted to try and get away, but Ivy was stronger, and she brought them both down to the mats hard before pinning Sam with her legs. With a swift roll, she flipped Sam onto her back and sunk her fist into her stomach with a furious growl.

"Point, Eagle Fang!" the ref howled, "Next point wins!"

"Come on, princess." Ivy sneered, the adrenaline and anger from the fight burning through her veins.

Both girls lunged in to lock into a stale mate for the match point. Fists and legs collided like gilded swords in an ancient battle, but no blows that counted were made. Both of them were starting to tire, the weight of their fury and determination sapping their strength as they chipped away at each other. Despite her anger and will to fight, a small voice in her heart began to speak to Ivy. No matter how much she wanted to win, or how much she wanted to give the glory to Johnny, the fight with Tory was not hers, and deep down she knew that Sam needed the victory to fix more in her life than Ivy did. Still, it was hard to let go, even though she knew she needed to, the voice of her heart growing louder. She toyed with Sam a little longer for her own pride, then when she was satisfied, she gave Sam the smallest of openings. Without hesitation, Sam caught it, and her fist sailed into Ivy's chest near her scar, causing her to flinch more than she would have liked to.

"Point, Miyagi-Do!" the ref rushed in to separate them, holding Sam's arm in the air, "Winner, Samantha LaRusso!"

The crowd cheered at her victory, stinging Ivy's pride because she knew she could have won, but when the ref let go of Sam, Ivy stepped over to her to hold out her hand.