"Hello everybody, this is your pilot speaking. Your flight from Okinawa, Japan to Los Angeles, California is two hours away from reaching your final destination. I want to thank you all for choosing to fly with us today."

There was a ding above where Kai was sitting as the seatbelt light flashed, indicating that passengers were now able to leave their seat if they needed to. Kai sat by the window and next to him was Takeshi with Sensei Yazuko sitting at the very end of their row. The three of them had decided not to splash out and purchase first class tickets but rather save their money and fly normal economy so that they had a reasonable amount of money to spend once they were in California.

"Are you excited?" Kai asked Takeshi, who was eagerly flipping through all the TV shows that were available to them on the flight.

"Yeah! I am." Takeshi said, turning to look at Kai. "How tough do you reckon everyone there will be? Do you think we'll be able to win?"

"Well considering that Japan was where it all originated and how we can beat almost everyone our age in Okinawa, I'd say our chances of winning are pretty high."

"Do not get cocky Kai-San." Sensei Yazuko warned the boy, who looked shocked that the man could understand English.

"You know English Sensei?" Kai asked, bewildered.

Sensei Yazuko nodded. "I pick up a few things here and there from the tourists and from you two."

The older man turned away and resumed watching his show in Japanese.

Once the flight had landed, all three of them greeted the warm Californian air and walked through the airport, collecting their luggage and making their way to the exit of the airport.

Kai smirked as he took his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and covered his eyes. It felt nostalgic to come back to where he was born. He only spent his first year here before embarking on all the business trips his parents went on.

"I'll get us a taxi." Kai told the other two, who seemed very new and out of their element.

Kai walked up to the nearest free taxi and told the driver where they wanted to go. They were going to check-in at the hotel that Kai had booked for them, which was conveniently a hotel owned by his parents.

They had already pre-registered before arriving for the All Valley so they were prepared for the tournament which was tomorrow. After the taxi driver had dropped them off at the hotel, they walked in and checked in. Sensei Yazuko was going to have his own room whilst Takeshi and Kai were going to share a room.

"It's under Kai Hilton." Kai told the receptionist, who glanced at the boy.

"There's no room booked under your name sir." the receptionist told the boy.

Kai was shocked, he was sure he booked the rooms. But then again, his skills with technology were kind of appalling, he was a teenager that didn't have his own phone nor did he know how to properly function a laptop.

"Malachai!" a voice boomed from behind him.

Kai turned around and was met with the sight of his parents, his father wearing a sophisticated suit and his mother wearing an elegant dress.

"Mother, father." Kai said politely. He still had love for them even under all that resentment he had for them for working and even though it was his choice to stay in Okinawa, he resented them slightly for not trying harder to accommodate his needs but in their defence, they did send money and keep in touch with him every once in a while.

His mother came up to him and hugged him. "We saw in our records that you booked a room here, nonsense Malachai! You, Takeshi and Mr Yazuko can stay with us."

"We don't want to intrude Mrs Hilton." Takeshi said politely but Rebecca Hilton waved him off and began taking all three of them back home to the Hilton household.

After a reunion dinner, both Takeshi and Kai retired to their rooms and after a light-hearted conversation, both boys tried their best to fall asleep, excited for the events the next day was going to bring.

The following morning, after a morning run, Takeshi and Kai were preparing themselves for the All Valley. They were to arrive there in the morning and register. Kai wasn't sure whether his parents would make an effort to come, but it didn't matter. Sensei Yazuko was going to accompany Kai and Takeshi and be their coach.

They made their way to the changing rooms to chance into their Gis, however on his way there Kai almost crashed into a girl. She had brown hair and blue eyes and was stunningly pretty in Kai's eyes.

"My bad," Kai said respectfully, bowing his head as a sign of apology towards the girl, "are you ok?"

"I'm fine," the girl chuckled, smiling at the taller boy, "are you competing today?"

Kai nodded. "Competing from Tiger Claw Dojo," the girl looked confused so he added, "we're not from around here."

The girl was about to ask him a question but Takeshi interrupted. "Kai! Let's go, we need to get changed!"

"I'm coming Takeshi!" Kai replied in Japanese before giving the girl an apologetic look. "I'll see you around maybe?"

She nodded and Kai rushed off to join Takeshi to change.

"Welcome everyone," the announcer said, "to the fiftieth annual All Valley under eighteen karate Championships!"

Kai and Takeshi listened eagerly from the back, waiting for their moment to enter the arena. The adrenaline was buzzing inside of them, this tournament seemed like a big deal.

"Daniel LaRusso won it in the past." Takeshi informed Kai and the other boy nodded. They had heard of Daniel LaRusso from their Sensei, the LaRusso was trained by Mr Miyagi, a well-known Sensei who originated from Okinawa.

"Let's start by welcoming all the Dojos competing today!" the annoncer said, drawing a round of applause and cheers from the crowd. Kai knew that the Tiger Claw Dojo would be an unknown Dojo since they weren't local and if it wasn't for the fact that his parents had a large influence and were sponsors, they might not of even been allowed to compete.

First they welcomed All Star karate, and then they welcomed Topanga karate. These two dojos didn't seem to strike Kai or Takeshi as able, or serious fighters. They seemed like they were in it recreationally rather than competitively. Kai and Takeshi, on the other hand, came here to win.

"From Reseda...returning to the tournament, we have-"

The announcer was cut off as a group of teenagers entered the arena, chanting the words 'Cobra Kai'.

"Hey look," Kai grinned to Takeshi, "they named a Dojo after me."

Takeshi playfully hit Kai before both boys returned their glance to the Cobra Kai students entering the arena. Their entrance was dramatic and Kai knew that they were in it to win it.

Both Kai and Takeshi had heard the words Cobra Kai briefly from his Sensei before, but never in much detail.

"Fighting unaffiliated from North Hills," the announcer finally said after the audiences' cheers had died out, "we have Mr Robby Keene."

A boy with long hair jogged out past Kai and Takeshi and entered the studio, he had a serious look on his face.

"And finally, all the way from Okinawa Japan," the announcer said, which drew confused murmurs across the crowd, "we have the Tiger Claw karate!"

Kai and Takeshi both jogged out and greeted the crowd and were cheered on by a few people in the crowd. Kai looked and smiled slightly when he saw that his parents had made an appearance, they probably had to anyways since they were sponsors.

Once Kai and Takeshi were in line with the other competitors, they bowed to the crowd and stood up straight, facing the crowd of spectators. Kai caught the eye of the same girl he had spoken to earlier, the pretty girl. He gave her a respectful nod before focusing his gaze to the back of the room. He and Takeshi were dressed in their competition Gis, rather than the plain white ones they wore in training, their competition Gi was black and it had the logo of a large tiger, roaring at the back of their Gi as well as their sleeves, it was to represent that they were fighting for Tiger Claw Dojo. It also had both their names, in English and in Japanese.

(A/N: Where it says 'Meerkatsu' that's where their names are)

The tournament shortly began and Kai found himself his first opponent.

After bowing, Kai prepared himself and gave his Sensei a final look before the fight began. It was first to three points, which seemed easy enough. The first match, it took Kai barely any effort to win. It was a flawless victory, with his opponent scoring no points. Kai smirked at Takeshi when they both found out they had each won their first match.

It was time for the knockout rounds, Takeshi had a match against Robby Keene. It was two-one Takeshi but Robby seemed to refuse to go down without a fight.

"Daniel LaRusso trained him." Sensei told Kai as they watched from the sidelines. "Meaning that Sensei Miyagi will of had influence on the boy's playing style."

Kai nodded, he was told that Mr Miyagi taught a specific style of karate, where it was more a form of self-defence rather than attack. By thinking logically, Kai shouted words of advice and encouragement to his friend.

"USE YOUR LEGS TAKESHI!" Kai shouted and the other boy listened. After blocking Robby's shot, he started using kicks which put Robby in an uncomfortable and difficult situation. By mixing and matching between leg and arm movements, Takeshi came out as the winner.

"Good fight," Takeshi told Robby whilst bowing, "you weren't that bad."

Robby gave him a small smile before retreating, upset that his time at the All Valley had concluded.

During Kai's quarterfinal match, he beat his opponent easily, which meant he proceeded to the semi-finals. So far, Kai had no difficulty against his opponents, it was easy to anticipate their movements and counter them. His semi-final match was going to be against a member of the Cobra Kai team, Hawk whilst Takeshi took on Miguel Diaz from the same team.

"Bow to you opponent." the referee instructed and both boys complied. Kai's eyes were filled with determination as he met Hawk's also determined gaze.

The fight began and Hawk charged forward. Kai quickly dodged and struct a fist into Hawk's stomach, sending him stumbling back and catching him off balance. Sensing the advantage, Kai rushed forward and let out a series of punches and kicks that Hawk struggled to block, in the end Kai was able to easily sweep the other boy onto the floor of the mat.

"One-zero Hilton." the referee announced.

The fight continued with Kai able to anticipate Hawk's every move, his style was sloppy and Hawk focused more on offence rather than defence leaving him exposed to Kai's counter-attacks. By the time the final point was over, Hawk was sprawled on the floor.

"Well played," Kai told the boy, offering him a hand up, "but you need to work on your defence. Not everything is about attack."

Hawk glared at Kai and refused to take the hand, leaving Kai shocked. The boy turned his back and walked away, raising his hand in celebration towards Sensei Yazuko and Takeshi who had lost to Miguel, it was a disappointing fluke. Any other day Takeshi would've easily beaten Miguel.

Suddenly, as he was walking back, there was an excruciating pain that soared through his body, Kai let out a quiet groan of pain before falling onto the floor.

Hawk had kicked him right on his shoulder.

And it hurt like hell.