"With just a two-point difference, the winner of this first tournament is... Seaford High School!"
When the winner was announced, most people celebrated. This form of fighting was too unfair because it depended on the results of two people. Devon, who felt like she lost, sighed with a slight anger in her gaze because she believed she could do better.
But at that moment, a pair of hands landed on Devon's shoulders, and when she turned around, she saw Dash smiling at her. "You've been amazing in that fight. Do you want to go grab something to eat?"
Devon knew that Dash least wanted to talk about all her losses in karate, so she accepted without unnecessary words in the process.
"I need to change first," Devon said as she grabbed one of her bags and walked towards the bathrooms.
Dash accompanied Devon as she said goodbye to the others. Much earlier, they had agreed to meet in the parking area a few hours after the event concluded.
Some needed to have some fun for a while, and in a way, everything would end a few hours later, so they took advantage of the fact that it was still early to enjoy themselves.
When the main event had finished, it was time for awards to be given to the standout fighters during the competition and those who had made the most impression.
Devon had won the award for the undefeated female fighter, but after leaving with Dash, she didn't appear anywhere.
Many were saddened by their losses, but seeing the indifference with which Dash and Devon left, they were confused.
Chozen stood in front of the students and asked, "Are you confused about why they're not as sad as you are?"
"Maybe they're just hiding their sadness."
"That makes more sense; everyone eventually gets sad after losing a competition."
Chozen heard the words of some students and said, "You are completely wrong."
"Then..."
"While you are lamenting losing a competition, the real winners are thinking about improving so as not to lose once more. Those who want to get better should think about improving, evolving, and what they did wrong to do better next time," Chozen said, giving everyone a very important lesson to be true winners.
Everyone fell silent, the disappointed smiles disappeared from their faces, and they understood the differences between them and the true winners.
No one had thought about what went wrong in the fights; very few thought about doing better during their training to improve next time. Most of them only thought they were bad at martial arts.
"If you want to keep competing, you must know that all of you can keep losing, but as long as you never give up, you will never be truly defeated," Chozen said, giving everyone a very important lesson that he himself experienced in life.
As long as they are alive, they will never be defeated; the battle is lost when one dies. At that moment, everyone will have the right to rest, and it is when they can truly take the peaceful path.
But now is not the time to rest; if they want to continue in this world of martial arts, they have to be prepared to lose and, even better, to improve.
Every defeat is a lesson; everyone now knew that they could improve.
"Have you understood?" Chozen asked, looking at his students, regardless of whether they belonged to Sakura Bushido or not.
On the other side, Johnny looked at his students and shouted, "Attention! All of you will receive training worse than hell itself; you will have to overcome it and continuously improve."
"Yes, sensei!"
Daniel, by his side, frowned and pointed, "It doesn't matter; what's important is that everyone has worked hard to improve, and they have shown it in this event."
While each sensei shared their thoughts with their students, Dash and Devon stood in front of a place that sold the best ice cream.
As a good boyfriend who had looked for the best advice hundreds of times to relieve anger or frustration, Dash knew there was no better place than an ice cream shop that sold the best ice cream.
After ordering the special thirty-flavor combo, Dash sat in front of Devon and said, "Take amazing photos for you to upload to the internet; all of them are great, and you shine incredibly."
Devon wasn't interested in photos and asked, "Are you going to train with me more intensively?"
"You know this defeat wasn't your fault; things just happened that way, so you shouldn't be too hard on yourself," Dash said, trying to make Devon understand that it wasn't her fault.
But he knew it was futile because somehow she would demand more from herself to keep improving.