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࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ ✩◿𝓝𝓟◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE—
he takes after me.

"Bryce, you wanna come here a second?" Daniel looked into his house. After they trained for the competition and showed off their hardest skill to the judges, they resulted back to the house for some good old fashioned pizza. Bryce had just recreated a memory when be smacked Demetri across the face with a slice of pizza, and Anthony couldn't stop laughing. "Jesus."

"Coming." he dropped the pizza and hurried over, heading outside where Sam and Chozen waited. "Aw, are you training out here?"

"Listen, I need to talk to the both of you." Daniels words made them both fill up with anxiety, thinking the worst as they shared a look. "At the competition, I really need you to be in Sams corner."

He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, nodding. "Yeah, of course. When am I not?"

"No, I mean you need to stay in her corner." Daniel was looking for a way not to necessarily shame him for his short temper, but work around it as well. "Cobra Kai isn't gonna fight fair, we know that. And it's probably gonna really piss you off, because it will me the worst. But, we need to show these judges that we don't fight dirty. That starts with you not wanting to throw someone into A Thousand Wishes."

Bryce sighed. "But it's difficult."

"I know it's difficult." Daniel nodded. Sam tried not to laugh at Bryce's pout. "But, you've gotta the closest to Miyagi-Do. You were never Cobra Kai. Just...save it for a better occasion?"

"Okay, but every time I look at Kyler, I literally wanna kick his ass." Bryce ranted off. "And I usually do."

"He does kinda." Sam had to agree.

"Okay, but tomorrow you don't." Daniel nodded as Bryce sighed, but nodded. The LaRusso man leaned in a little closer as he dropped his voice to a whisper. "Any other day of the week? You let him taste his own medicine."

Bryce grinned, raising his fist for Daniel to bump it before he headed in with Chozen. "I'll get you something to eat. To recharge."

Bryce gave Sam a spin when Daniel walked inside. "You excited?"

"I don't know." she admitted. "After the All Valley...."

"Don't let that stay in your head." his index finger touched her forehead. "You're the best fighter i've ever known."

Sam grinned. "I think you are too. I don't know why the boys didn't let you for the boys round."

"I am good." Bryce rose an eyebrow. "Just not...competition worthy good."

"Like street smarts." she laughed as he did the same.

"Exactly like street smarts." he pulled her into a hug as Daniel came back with pizza, pausing to watch the boy he worried about the most be the greatest comfort his daughter has ever known. He had to tell himself he wasn't Jody. He just had to.

Bryce found that by standing with Daniel was one of the few ways he didn't ruin this entire thing for all of them by trying to kill Kyler infront of everyone. He rubbed the top of Sams head with a side wink.

"Thank you, Sensei Silver for offering to host these matches in your dojo on such short notice." one of the judges looked toward Cobra Kais side.

"Offering or demanding?" Daniel scoffed.

"Remember our talk." Bryce warned him. "If you loose it, i'm absolutely gonna loose it."

Johnny took the time to yank on his ear and try his hardest to piss him off.

"Well we do have actual tournament regulation mats here, so it really was the only option." Silver said back with nothing but passive aggression.

"We'll begin with the boys fight." the judge confirmed. "We have invited a local referee to ensure impartiality. First to three points wins. Time to begin."

Eli looked over at his brother with a breath, Bryce nodded his head with a small smile. Letting him know it was going to be okay.

"Eli Moskowitz and Kenny Payne, please take the mat." the judge encouraged the pair of boys as they both did so, bowing to the ref while their sides cheered for them.

"Fight!"

Kenny yelled as he immediately kicked to Eli, fast in his feet as he swung around and tried to hit him. Eli blocked him a few times before Kenny's feet smashed into his side. "Point! 1-0, Payne."

"Try not to worry." Robby took the opertunity to finally talk to Bryce. "Your brother is a really good fighter."

Bryce shrugged. "He takes after me:"

The boys took their positions again. "Ready? Fight!"

Kenny kicked to him again, but Eli kicked him in return. They each blocked each other but were at the same pace this time. Eli kicked off the ground and kicked Kenny in the face.

"Yes!" Johnny and Bryce cheered on sync.

"Out of bounds." the ref shook his head. "No point."

"What? What, are you serious?" Eli asked him in complete disbelief.

"Come on, ref. That's horseshit. He made contact in bounds!" Johnny defends his student.

"No point. Back on the line." the ref went on, making the boys back up again.

"Loser!" Bryce yelled at the ref, Daniel gave him a look. "What? I didn't push anyone into A Thousand Wishes."

"Fight!"

Kenny kicked at Eli, getting both blocked before he swung to him. Eli blocked every one, swinging his legs around as Kenny's elbow came down and hit him in the back of the leg. He cried out and hit the mat. Bryce's body had a reaction, Daniel luckily right next to him.

"Illegal strike. That's a warning." the ref told Kenny.

"Warning? He should be disqualified." Daniel spoke in disbelief.

"It's fine, he just caught me off guard." he shook his head as he stood before the senseis.

"Are you sure, Eli?" Daniel made sure.

He hesitated. "No more Eli. It's time to uncage the Hawk."

Bryce rose an eyebrow toward Sam as she gave the same look back.

"Fight!"

Hawk went to block his punch but Kenny hit him right in the chest, making every single person in that dojo cringed, feeling his pain. "Point. 2-0. Payne."

"Hawk!" Miguel yelled in fear as he laid on the ground, whispering and gasping for air.Bryce didn't think too deep into it, his little brother got a minor injury. It wasn't until he wasn't getting up that panic flooded his entire body, the world silencing all around him.

"Eli." he fell next to him, holding his head and putting the other on his shoulder. "Hey. What happened? What's wrong?"

"I can't...can't- can't breath." he managed to get out, clutching his heart.

"Can you continue?" the ref looked down at him.

"Fuck off, can we get a medic!" Bryce yelled at him in disbelief, as if that was most important. Bryce pulled his little brother, who genuinely wasn't that much smaller then he had been, right into his arms and held him like he was still a tiny kid that got bullied for a stupid scar on his lip.

"That's a forfeit." the ref confirmed, lifting Kenny's arm. "Winner, Payne."

"Can you breath?" the medic felt on Eli, letting him slowly start to come back to breathing normally. "I think he's okay. Just got the wind knocked out of him."

"Looks like you got a new name!" Kenny mocked toward Eli. "Faux-Hawk."

Cobra Kai all laughed. It was either comfort his brother, or find a way to wipe those smiles off their face. He chose Eli.

"You make me look like a baby." Eli said as Bryce continued to hold him. "You know i'm barley younger then you?"

Bryce rubbed the side of his head. "Stop talking, let your breath come back."

"We begin our girls fight." the ref spoke, getting all of their attention. "Samantha LaRusso and Tory Nichols, please take the mat."

Sam looked to Bryce, he used his free hand to blow her a dramatic air kiss before she walked to the mat with a smile, but Tory was nowhere in sight. Cobra Kai fell into a panic like state, looking for her in every possible place.

The judge looked to Cobra Kai. "Tory Nichols?"

Tory was not here.

Sensei Silver approached the judges, informing them of something while the new sensei sent Devon on the mat. Bryce sighed. "This is a bad idea."

"I agree with you for once." Johnny nodded as he gave Eli the water.

"Face me. Bow. Face each other. Bow." the ref nodded to the girls. "Ready? Fight!"

Devon swung first, her fist headed toward Sam as the LaRusso girl backed away, blocking her hits and kicks. She kicked, Devon blocked it before Sam spun around and kicked her in the ribs.

"No point. That's shoulder. No point." the ref spoke.

"Lying sake." Bryce rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"Keep fighting!"

Sam grunted as she kicked hard toward Devon, blocking each kick before Devon kicked Sam in the arm. "Point. 1-0, Lee."

"There was no contact!" Daniel tossed his hands up.

"No contact at all!" Bryce agreed from behind him. "Get your head out of your ass, ref!"

Sam called a times and ran to her side of the mat, running to her Dad.

"She's panicking." Bryce could tell from a distance. "I'll be right back."

He left Eli with Johnny and headed over. "Hey."

"They're not fighting fair." she ranted, out of breath. "I don't know what to do."

"We knew they wouldn't." Bryce shook his head, giving her a look. "Just, breath. Take a second to come back. You're in a regular fight, don't let the judges distract you. And don't let anyone here put pressure on you to win. You know you're a better fighter then her, you just can't get in your head."

She followed his instructions with a deep breath before hurrying back into the mat, Devon doing the same as they stood before each other.

"Fight!"

Sam blocked each of Devon's punches, ducking down to spin on the floor and knock her feet out from under her, punching her in the chest. They all cheered as she was granted the point, the ref clearly wasn't able to cheat them out of that.

"Fight!"

Devon tried to kick fast, too fast as Sam dodged her and was able to kick her in the chest. Bryce smiled. "Woo!"

"Fight!"

Devon and Sam got close for this one, both doing very well as they blocked each other. Sam dropped to the ground and rolled over her shoulder, kicking at her as the two stood up again. Sam caught her leg, shoving it away before blocking every single punch she threw her way. Bryce's eyebrow shot up as Sam jumped up, kicking her one final time.

The ref looked to Silver with an exhale. "Point. Winner, LaRusso!"

"Yeah!" Bryce cheered for Sam, hurrying to meet her half way as her feet came off the ground and she was swung around. "What'd I tell you? I'm so proud!"

Sam smiled as she cupped his face and planted a kiss to his lips.

Within a couple minutes, the judges stood. Bryce stood behind Sam, arms locked around her shoulders. "We have reached an agreement.  As expected, we were impressed with the skills, precision and discipline of the new Sekai Taikai qualifier....Cobra Kai."

Their team all frowned and hung their heads low. Bryce could feel Sams body sink, he kissed her on the top of the head. The judges looked their way. "As for our other dojo, we admired your unusual mix of styles and underdog spirit...and we think you could be quite an addition to the competition. Therefore, we've decided that your dojo has also qualified."

A party was the absolute only proper way to celebrate.

•

kylie speaks

i feel like i need to ship
every reader A Thousand
Wishes for their birthday
in honor of Bryce