Nearly 3 years after his humiliating defeat at the USA martial arts tournament, Sean Matsuda finds himself at a crossroads in his life. Nobody takes him seriously as a fighter, but his other life options aren't all that stellar, either; and Sean's growing resentment of his so-called "teacher", Ken Masters, isn't helping things. Embittered and angry, Sean is driven to prove all his naysayers wrong, and finally prove to Ken he's worthy of the Shotokan style. Unbeknownst to him, beating Ken is gonna be the very least of his problems... Also on Fanfiction (dot) net and Archive on Our Own.