Reasons for Absence

Jack looked at Dash, who was sitting among the crowd, and approached him. He wanted to know why Dash hadn't participated in the event. "Weren't you interested in fighting?"

Upon hearing that question, Dash looked up and was slightly surprised. "Did you want to lose in public if I participated?"

"Do you think you can beat me?" Jack asked, slightly impressed by Dash's obviously sarcastic response.

Dash nodded, totally confident. "I would defeat you without much difficulty."

"We would have found out today if you had participated in the event." Jack sat down next to Dash, looking ahead.

At this point, the time to leave had come, so Dash was just waiting for Devon to return. But when Jack expressed curiosity about why he hadn't participated, there were indeed reasons beyond the injuries that still lingered in his body.

"When I started getting into martial arts, it was because I wanted to surpass everyone, but my main inspiration is to know how far I would go and what my peak would be," Dash said, recalling his purpose from many years ago.

"Something very special..." Jack didn't understand where this inspiration from Dash had come from, so he asked, "Why did you want to know the answer to those goals?"

"As a child, I had a weak body. I thought I would always be like that, so something inside me began to become aware of my desires, and when I erupted, I decided to train relentlessly but in moderation. So far, I haven't been defeated, but I got most of the awards I could be awarded."

Dash paused and pointed, "But now I've slowed down, and if you wonder why I didn't participate, although I don't like admitting it, it's because someone sent gang members to beat me up."

"Was it dangerous?" Jack had also fought with gang members but wasn't injured, so he wanted to know how badly Dash had fared.

Dash smiled slightly and said, "The beating I got was surprising, and although I eventually beat them all, I ended up with several stab wounds and numerous bruises from blows."

When Dash said this, he slightly raised the sleeve of his T-shirt and showed Jack the scars that hadn't fully healed, causing Jack to look confused about his absence from this tournament.

"Although I would like to know if there's someone who can defeat me, I don't want to throw away all these years of training and, much less, disrespect my opponents," Dash said, thinking about everything that had happened to get to where he was.

"I bear no grudges against you or anyone in this school. It was a misunderstanding that led to our anger, so I hope at least you don't hold it against me."

Jack nodded, understanding Dash a little more, and said, "I hope to see you at the national Dojo tournament; you'll have to be there if you want to qualify for the Olympics."

"The Olympics? That's one of the trophies I'm missing. Do you also want to participate in the Olympics?" Dash asked, looking at Jack, who was kinder than he appeared.

"No, my desire is to be myself without the need for prizes, but I do want to fight you to try to beat you," Jack said, looking at Dash.

"Then you'll have to work hard." Dash said, and at that moment, Devon, who was buying a lot of food for the journey, arrived and saw Jack, with whom Dash was talking.

"Have you bought everything?"

Devon nodded and said, "I never thought you would talk normally; a misunderstanding usually doesn't get resolved so calmly."

Having known how Cobra Kai resolves their misunderstandings, she believed that Jack would be like the others, so she didn't expect much from him all this time. But seeing that he seemed to be chatting with Dash, she knew she was wrong.

"We've settled our differences," Jack said as he stood up.

Dash also stood up and said, "So, if you want it to be a fair fight, you better train well."

"I will." Jack then left without saying another word.

Devon briefly looked at Dash and asked, "Didn't you say you don't like talking about karate outside of training or competitions?"

"Well, let's say this was a somewhat special occasion." Dash said as he helped Devon with the food bags, and they both returned to the meeting point.

After today, many would change their minds about martial arts, and others would take it more seriously. This was always the case, but it was better to accept the differences sooner rather than later.