Cobra Kai Oneshots

Flinching

Flinching. It was something Robby had started doing after Tory got out of Cobra Kai. Even when lightly training her hand he couldn't help but grimace or flinch every time Tory was in pain. He never showed such weakness when they trained at Cobra Kai together; he would completely stop his fights with Kenny if he thought he hurt the smaller boy but he never dared doubt Tory's strength or resolve.

"You've got to stop doing that. She's less scared of getting hurt than you are of her getting hurt." Johnny finally gave up and said sternly but quietly to Robby as they watched Sam and Tory spar in the Miyagi-Do backyard.
"Exactly. She doesn't care. One of us has too."
"Listen, I'm watching them. I'm not going to let anything happen. No matter how extreme me or Chozen's lessons are they aren't going to be anything like what she went through at Cobra Kai."

Robby's didn't think he could feel more pain for her than that dreadful day of the captain's matches, he could feel Tory's pain radiating off of her and his heart broke for her. It was as if all the pain that she had held back from previous fights, everything she had been through as the sole provider of her family and her broken hand and traumatised mind had finally surfaced - all the pain he expected to see from her before was now on full display.

Now as he watched her compete in that black gi again and knowing where her mind was at Robby's couldn't help but feel scared for Tory. When the captain of the Iron Dragons threw her to the ground in the first round, Robby nearly jumped he got such a fright.

As each round progressed he swore he could feel the pain of each hit Tory received and from the way he flinched each time it happened others could swear he felt the blows.

When they had to fight each other, Robby held back, not holding anything against Tory for going to Cobra Kai, he knew her motivations for winning and he wasn't going to deny her that. Hell, he was supposed to be helping, the two of them competing was supposed to better their chances of winning the money to better all their lives. However, they both gasped in surprise when Tory landed a kick on Robby.

Tory had always been better at hiding how she felt in situations (at least until something bubbled over too much and she exploded) and if she watched Robby take one more hit she swore that was going to happen. He had been off his game this whole tournament and she knew she was partially, if not 100%, the reason why. Tory had managed to contain herself when Robby had failed to block obvious moves in the earlier rounds but as the 6'3" Russian, Axel, knocked Robby around like a rag doll, Tory was losing her composure. Flinching like she had seen him do so many times out of her peripheral vision when she was hit. At one particularly brutal punch to the face that made Robby's head turn 90º and spit out a large mouthful of blood, Tory couldn't hold back the gasp she let out covering her mouth with her shaking hands. She didn't dare turn her head at the sound of Kim's disgusted grunt sure she was already shaking her head at the girl.

The referee finally called time at 5-0 to Axel. Tory could have cried in relief that it was over. She watched Johnny and Miguel meet Robby halfway letting him lean on them as subtly as he could while still in full view of the competitors.

"Nichols, are you okay?" She heard Kreese ask from far away. Tory snapped out of her trance and found her sensei right next to her, not far away at all. "Yes, Sensei, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" He asked looking down. Tory followed his gaze to find her hands shaking. Clasping them she replied "Yes, I'm fine."

Later that night, Tory needed a drink looking at the mini bar and room service prices she scoffed and headed to the vending machine on the floor. As Tory rounded the corner to the small refreshments room, she heard the rumbling of the ice machine. As soon as she walked in she recognised the back of the person filling carrier bags of ice.

"R-Robby."
The sound of her voice was a shock to his system and he spun around as quickly as possible regretting it a second later as he winced in pain. Tory was in shock too, she hadn't even known they were on the same floor. Before she could think about her actions she closed the distance between them circling her arms gently around Robby's shoulders. She now understood his need to hold her from the night they took Cobra Kai down. Robby flinched in pain at first but soon the heat of Tory's body comforted him more than the multiple hot or ice baths he had already taken that night.

Eventually, Tory pulled back to get a good look at his face which Robby tried to turn away but Tory cupped his good cheek and placed the lightest kiss possible on the cut Axel had caused on Robby's other cheek making Robby flinch slightly again but this time it wasn't from pain.

/ /

A/n: I need them to be terrified for each other in this tournament 🥺