Counterpoint and Equilibrium

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/14838074.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M, Gen
Fandom: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Relationship: Johnny Lawrence/Original Character(s)
Character: Johnny Lawrence, Daniel LaRusso, Miguel Diaz, Robby Keene, Aisha
Robinson, Original Female Character(s), Samantha LaRusso, Original
Male Character(s), Original Child Character(s), Amanda LaRusso, Eli
"Hawk" Moskowitz, Demetri (Cobra Kai)
Additional Tags: Romance, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut
Stats: Published: 2018-06-03 Updated: 2020-07-19 Chapters: 43/? Words:
232136

Counterpoint and Equilibrium

by TheLadyDisdain

Summary

The All Valley tournament is over, Cobra Kai has won, but for some reason nobody really
feels like a winner. Summer has arrived early to the San Fernando Valley, bringing new
kids to the dojo... and maybe a second chance for Johnny.

AU set right after Season 1 of Cobra Kai (canon compliant until that point, but not with
Season 2). This is a Johnny Lawrence/OC story, and my first one in this fandom.

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

 Heatwave

CHAPTER 1. HEATWAVE

A temperature of 90 degrees in the San Fernando Valley was not unusual.

That temperature before noon in the early days of June, however, was unexpected, and it had
thrown everybody out of pace.

Johnny Lawrence sat in his office, looking outside the door towards the empty dojo. Empty since
the day of the tournament, as if Kreese’s apparition had left behind some curse. Johnny grabbed
the cold bottle of beer on his desk and pressed it against his forehead, but the burning headache
stayed in place. He was tired of pushing away intrusive images of his conversation with his former
Sensei, tired of trying to decide if his suggestion of working together had been an offer of peace...
or a threat.

I have business out of town, a few weeks. Then I’ll be back, and you better have an answer ready.

He had given the kids two weeks of vacation. A reward for winning, he’d said... but deep down he
dreaded the moment they would come back. Back to Cobra Kai, and his methods, back to the
teachings he had taken a step too far.

A tiny silhouette cast a shadow in the morning light, followed by two larger shadows.

“Sensei? Are you there?”

He emptied the bottle of beer, threw it in the trash, and stepped out of the office. Little Bert was
there, accompanied by Miguel and Aisha.

“You’re early.” Johnny smiled. Bert reminded him of what he once had been. Small, weak... but
determined. “Welcome back. I suppose you’ve spent the last two weeks playing videogames with
your lazy asses planted on the couch, and forgetting everything you knew about karate.”

Aisha adjusted her glasses over her nose. “I’ve been swimming in the sea, three miles every day”,
she said proudly. “And Bert has been practicing his punching”, she added, pointing at the kid’s
slightly reddened knuckles.

“I’ll be ready next year, Sensei”, the boy stated, with a very serious face.

“Well done. And you, Diaz?”

Miguel stared at him with sad eyes and looked away. “Nothing”, he muttered, walking with slow
steps towards the locker room.

“He’s still pining for Sam”, said Aisha, rolling her eyes. “Every day I’ve been telling him to come
with us to the beach, or to the movies, to celebrate his victory... but he’s been in a mood.”

“He’ll snap out of it. Now, you two, go get changed and start warming up before the others arrive.”

After the kids left, Johnny stood in the middle of the tatami, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

Of course Miguel was in a mood. Aisha was friends again with the LaRusso girl, which meant she
knew who Robby really was. And if Aisha knew, then Miguel had found out too. Probably seen it
as a betrayal, and now he would have to win the boy’s trust again. Somehow.

He strutted back to his office, grabbed two aspirin from the first aid kit and swallowed them dry.

It was going to be a long summer.

A few blocks away from the Cobra Kai dojo, the scorching heat was proving to be a blessing for
certain people, especially the ones fortunate enough to have a way of staying cool.

The view into the courtyard of the apartment complex was perfect like a postcard: two little girls
swimming and splashing in the pool, and an old lady in a flowery dress watching them,
comfortably seated under a big parasol. The peaceful scene, however, had an unusual background
noise: the rhythmic pounding of a hammer came from the open door of one of the apartments on
the upper floor, followed by a few grunts and, every couple of minutes, an occasional curse.

The old lady turned towards the place where the noise came from.

“Are you sure you don’t need help, dear?”

The hammering stopped, and a woman appeared at the door. Still with the hammer in her hand, she
went downstairs.

“Thank you, Mrs. Wright”, she said, letting herself fall in a chair by the pool, “but I’ve just
finished.”

“With everything? My God!”

“Four chairs, two bookcases, a desk for Rani’s room and a bathroom cabinet.” The younger woman
reclined back in her chair, trying to soothe her exhausted muscles. She was wearing an old Nirvana
t-shirt, faded and full of holes, and a pair of equally old shorts. Both her clothes and her person
were covered in dust and sweat.
“I hate moving. After I finish unpacking, I swear I’m going to stay in Reseda for the rest of my
days”, she sighed. “I also hate IKEA, their furniture, and above all I hate their damned instructions
leaflets. What on Earth possessed me to assemble all those things by myself?”

“Dear Kate, these are the moments in life when a man comes in handy”, answered Mrs. Wright
with a wink.

Kate laughed. “Well, I don’t have one of those at hand right now, so I’m glad I can manage alone.”

Sheltering her eyes from the blinding sun, she looked at the two girls in the pool. They were
swimming slowly towards the edge, tired of playing. The taller of the two girls stayed in the water,
her mane of yellow curls floating like a halo around her. The other one, a thin kid with tawny
brown skin and a braid of black hair, ran towards the sitting area with a big grin on her face.

“Mom, this place is great! I’m so happy that we have a swimming pool!” She planted a big kiss on
Kate’s cheek, ran towards the pool again and jumped in, laughing as she made a huge splash all
around her.

“Careful with those jumps, Rani!”

“Oh, let her play, she’s having a great time”, said Mrs. Wright. “You didn’t have a pool in San
Francisco?”

“No, our apartment there only had a balcony and a small garden. At least here she’ll have a proper
space to play outside... and I’m so glad she’s made a friend already. Your granddaughter is a lovely
kid.”

The older woman took a sip of her lemonade and looked at the pool with fondness. “Well, Millie is
going to be in the same grade as your daughter when school starts, so it’s natural that they become
friends. Is Rani going to apply for the swimming team? Millie really loves it there.”

“Oh, I wish”, answered Kate. “But ever since she started getting karate lessons two years ago, she
won’t even hear about taking any other sports. I’m glad of it, really. A girl needs to know how to
defend herself... And that reminds me, I have to get online, research the dojos in the Valley, and
decide on one of them. We moved here three days ago and Rani has asked me about it fifty times
already.”

“Isn’t she a bit young for such a violent sport?”

“Karate is less violent than it looks. Besides, she’s almost eight, and she just got her orange belt. I
couldn’t keep her from training even if I tried.”

With those words Kate got up, grabbed the hammer she had dropped on the ground and started
going up the stairs. “Thanks again for looking after Rani, Mrs. Wright. I’m going to take a shower
and then I’ll make lunch for all of us. It’s the least I can do.”

“Don’t sweat it, honey. I really don’t mind watching two instead of one.”

The elderly woman poured herself another glass of lemonade and contemplated the view. There
wasn’t a cloud in sight. Across the courtyard, the two tall palm trees displayed their distinctive
silhouettes against the blue sky.
In another part of the city, Daniel LaRusso sat on the hardwood floor of his brand new dojo. He
had closed the blinds so he could concentrate in the light of the candle in front of him, but no
amount of meditation seemed to be helping.

Build it and they will come, he thought, like in Field of Dreams. Of course, the building had
already been there for years, and he had taken care of keeping it in pretty good shape. All he’d
needed to morph Mr. Miyagi’s former house into a full-on dojo was a few thousand dollars and a
couple of weeks’ work of a contractor and his crew.

And there it was, the new home of Miyagi-Do: freshly painted, polished, and furnished. And also
very, very empty.

Robby had visited the place a few times after the night of the tournament, but his shoulder wasn’t
fully healed yet and he couldn’t train. Sam had told him she wanted to try karate again, but she had
also been sadder and quieter and stayed in her room most of the time... probably because of that
damned Cobra Kai boy. He had even tried Anthony again, only to be rudely rebuffed, but that
hadn’t been exactly a surprise.

The truth was, he needed more students, and he wasn’t really sure of the best way to get them.

He had considered and discarded the idea of setting up a webpage. Mr. Miyagi would have said
that advertising like that was undignified. Or course, he could always ask the tournament
committee for help; he was sure they would send some students his way, but sadly they were
closed for the summer.

There was another idea forming in his mind, and he didn’t like it.

Aisha. Now that she was friends with Sam again, how hard could it be to persuade her to leave
Cobra Kai, and maybe bring one or two more people with her? Was that the way he wanted to
start, stealing students from another dojo? On the other hand, recruiting Aisha was also a way of
saving her from Johnny Lawrence and his band of juvenile delinquents. He could talk to her
parents, tell them how concerned he was about the companies their daughter was keeping, ask
them to make her move to Miyagi-Do...

Daniel opened his eyes, blew out the candle and lay down on the floor.

No matter how many times he repeated it in his head, he didn’t really believe that all the new
Cobra Kai kids were as bad as the old ones. At least not that tiny kid with the glasses, he seemed
completely harmless. Besides, if Aisha had found new friends at the dojo, she was probably too
loyal to abandon them.

He had done everything in his power to prevent Cobra Kai from coming back to life, and it hadn’t
been enough. Daniel knew he would always fight against everything Cobra Kai represented, but he
also knew that stealing Johnny’s students was not the way to go.

He needed to find his own way.

“How long have you been living here, Mrs. Wright?”

Kate left the jar of iced coffee on the table and sat beside their neighbor. They had already finished
their lunch; both her daughter and Mrs. Wright’s granddaughter had eaten like little wolves,
dreadfully hungry after all the swimming, and they were now on the couch watching a Paw Patrol
episode.

“I’ve lived in Reseda all my life, dearie. In this apartment... well, almost forty years.”

“Wow, that’s a long time”, said the younger woman with a smile. “You must be really fond of this
place... and I don’t blame you, it’s fantastic.”

“Oh, it hasn’t always been like this. Back when I moved here the apartments were old and tired,
the swimming pool was empty and full of green slime, and every week one of the washing
machines in the laundry room would break down and leak water all over the basement. No, the
only pretty thing about this place back then was the name: South Seas.”

Kate served two more glasses of iced coffee and offered one to Mrs. Wright. “I’m glad I didn’t get
to see them that way or I never would have moved here. When did they fix everything?”

“At one point things got so bad that the owners were going to demolish it, but they gave it a few
more years. Then in 1994 there was that earthquake in the Valley... you must have seen it in the
news.”

“Only in passing, I think”, answered Kate. “To be completely honest, 1994 was my senior year in
high school, so I wasn’t really interested in serious things. And I still lived in Seattle with my
parents, of course. An earthquake in California must have seemed like something happening in
another planet.”

“It was quite big, many people lost their homes”, continued the older woman. “The owner of South
Seas also owned a warehouse that collapsed a few blocks away from here. He got a lot of money
from the insurance, and he decided to sell the warehouse lot and use the money to fix the apartment
complex. A man’s tragedy is another man’s luck, I guess.”

Before Kate could think of a good answer, a loud ‘ping’ came from her laptop on a nearby table,
and her daughter stopped paying attention to the TV.

“Mom, you’ve got mail!” she said with a delighted squeal. “Maybe one of the dojos has answered
you!”

“That was fast... let me see.”

She got the laptop and sat at the table again, this time surrounded by the two excitable little girls.

“Who is it, Mom?”

“We’ve got answers from two of them so far. Not bad, considering I only wrote to four dojos right
before lunch.” Kate adjusted the screen so everybody could read, and tucked a stray strand of
brown hair into her already messy ponytail. “Okay, so... we have an email from a Mrs. Perkins at
Topanga Karate; she says the dojo is always open to teach young martial arts enthusiasts, and they
would be delighted to have you. Look, she even sends some pictures.”

Rani’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Oh, Mom, they wear a blue gi! I love it!”

“Oooh, blue is my favorite color!” Added her friend Millie, who didn’t really like karate but
wanted to support her new friend. “You have to go there, Rani, and I’ll go see you fight and cheer
for you at all the tournaments!”

“Speaking of tournaments”, continued Kate, “the other email is from the dojo that won the All
Valley this year. A lovely message from a Miss... Aisha Robinson, who says they really, really,
really need more girls at the dojo, and that we should pay them a visit whenever we want. There
are no pictures on this one, but their logo is a very fierce snake. And it’s really close, I could walk
you there every day.”

Rani observed the screen, intrigued. “I like snakes.”

“I know you do, honey”, laughed Kate. “But maybe we shouldn’t decide just on that. I’ll tell you
what: let’s look for some videos on YouTube so we can see the two dojos in action.”

She opened another tab on her browser and started searching. After a few seconds she clicked on
the first result of a very long list of videos labeled 'All Valley Karate Tournament'.

“Stone ver... vers...” Rani read, struggling a little with the unfamiliar word. “Stone versus Diaz.”

Both women and both girls stared at the screen for a few minutes, entranced. Mrs. Wright flinched
a couple of times. When the video ended, Kate closed the tab and looked at her daughter.

“That was an impressive fight. And from the look on your face, missy, I think I can guess which
dojo was your favorite.”

“Did you just see what that boy did? Mom, I want to learn that. I have to go there.”

“It’s a different style of karate than the one you did back in San Francisco. Are you sure you don’t
want to try Topanga first?”

The girl’s eyebrows furrowed, forming a tiny scrunch over her nose. “I’m sure, Mom. That’s my
dojo. Cobra Kai.”

“Very well, decision made... unless I see something I don’t like. I’ll take you there tomorrow after
work, and we’ll see what this Cobra Kai place has to offer.”
 Rattlesnake
Chapter Summary

Kate gets acquainted with his new job and reunites with an old friend. Cobra Kai has a
new candidate in sight.

Chapter Notes

I'm really excited about posting this chapter, because it's when Johnny and my OFC
meet. Let's see if the spark between them is hot enough to justify the creation of this
fic. The first part of the chapter is more character introduction and background info
(sorry, my characters tend to talk a lot and I need Kate to interact with people), but in
the second scene we go back to the dojo that we love.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 2. RATTLESNAKE

The Encino Corporate Center in Ventura Boulevard was a new state-of-the-art building,
constructed and planned to attract all the cutting-edge companies in the Valley.

Half of the 4th floor of the Center had been recently occupied by Powell and Morgan, the law firm.
The two main partners had recently moved the company there in the hopes of expanding it and
hiring some new associates to help with the flourishing business.

One of those new acquisitions had just been shown to her office. Sitting behind her desk she
inspected the furniture, her computer, the neatly lined law books on the shelves... everything was
bigger, better and shinier than her old office in San Francisco. There was already a pile of new
cases on her desk, and she was about to call her secretary when the phone rang, making her snap
out of her daydreaming.

“Hello.”

“Mr. McMichaels to see you, Miss Williams.”

“Thank you, Sally, let him in. And please, call me Kate. We’re going to work together, and ‘Miss
Williams’ sounds like the name of an old spinster from a Dickens novel.”

“Yes, Miss Wi... I mean, Kate. Thank you.”

Kate repressed a somewhat bitter smile. Her secretary, like everything else in her office, was also
brand new, fresh out of college. She couldn’t help feeling old for a moment, until the door opened
and a tall Black man beamed at her with his arms open.

“Kate Williams! I never thought I’d see the day when we would work together again.”

“Kevin!” She got up and hugged him. “You look amazing; it feels like I saw you yesterday for the
last time, instead of two years ago.”

“And you look like a million bucks, darling”, he said. “Well, how do you like your new office,
Junior Partner Williams?”

“This is not an office, Senior Partner McMichaels, it’s a palace. Seriously, I was expecting a dinky
desk and a filing cabinet next to the toilets... and I even have a view over the boulevard!”

“You won’t have a lot of time to look out of the window”, remarked Kevin, unbuttoning the jacket
of his expensive Italian suit before sitting at the opposite side of Kate’s desk. “Our esteemed
bosses Mr. Powell and Mrs. Morgan want to meet you in the lion’s den in twenty minutes. I
promised them a brilliant lawyer, and if you don’t deliver they will eat me alive.”

“Don’t worry, Kev, I’m dying to get to work... I wouldn't call myself brilliant, but I'll do my best.
How have you been? Sorry for not calling you as soon as I arrived, you know moving is always a
nightmare.”

“Don’t mention it. I hope your new place is as nice as it promised, the pictures you sent didn’t look
too bad… but tell me, why Reseda? I know money’s not an issue, you could have found something
better. And closer to work.”

“I don’t need to live in a huge fancy house in Encino”, she answered. “It would be a waste of space
for just two people.”

“There are apartments here too, you know. Or in Lake Balboa, where your brother lives.”

Kate stopped leafing through the documents on the desk and stared at her friend. “Luxury
apartments, in walled up communities where nobody knows their neighbors. Eighty per cent of the
population of Encino is white, Kev… and my daughter is not. I’m sure you of all people
understand why I’d rather raise her in a more diverse neighborhood.”

“Of course I understand. I’ve gotten used to wearing a suit even when I’m not at work, that way I
don’t freak out all my white neighbors”, answered the man, raising an eyebrow. “But I enjoy the
luxury of living here, so I can’t really complain. Hey, speaking of little Rani… why don’t you pick
her up after work and come to dinner with me and Oliver? You can tell me everything I’ve missed
these past two years.”

“Oliver?” asked Kate, intrigued. “What happened to that boyfriend you had last time I saw you...
the actor? Giovanni?”

Kevin covered his eyes with his hand. “Oh, that thing with Giovanni ended in a lot of drama. It’s a
long story, I’ll tell you one day over a big glass of wine... but not now, there are some sordid details
that I’d rather not discuss in the office.”

“Fine, let’s forget about the actor. I’ll be really happy to meet Oliver. What does he do?”

“He’s a personal shopper.”

“Ah, that explains the smartness of your suit”, said Kate with a coy smile. “At last, someone has
been able to teach you how to dress!”

“Don’t be messy, Katey. You’re wearing a pantsuit, it’s not like you’re a fashion icon.”

Kate made a face at her friend. “Pants are comfortable, they look professional, and that’s how I
want to be at work. Not everybody has to look like a model, especially at our age.”
“Ah, yes, the ripe old age or forty-two. A few more years and we’ll go straight into the nursing
home.”

“Cut it, Kev, I already feel old enough with that overgrown teenager of a secretary sitting outside”,
she sighed. “Anyway, I can’t make plans this afternoon. I’m taking Rani to her new karate lessons,
and I already wrote to the dojo saying we’d be there around five.”

“How’s the little munchkin? I’d love to see her soon, she must have grown so much!”

“Oh, she’s a great kid. Clever and hyperactive like always.” Kate showed him the photo frame on
her desk, that contained a picture of her and her daughter. “I feel like a bad mom saying this, but...
I’ll be glad when school starts again and she can set into a routine. She can be a handful
sometimes.”

“All kids are, I guess. But I’ve always thought adopting Rani is the best thing you’ve done in your
life.”

This time Kate’s smile was wider than ever. “The absolute best.”

Training at Cobra Kai was going well, despite the heat.

Johnny had installed a couple of ceiling fans, but there was no air conditioning. That would have
been a concession to weakness, and he didn’t want the kids to turn weak after all he had worked
with them for months and months.

The fourteen Cobras were in pairs, sparring. Bert was throwing some fierce punches at Aisha, who
seemed to have gained a lot of agility from all the swimming; further away, Miguel and Hawk were
exchanging and blocking kicks, faster and faster. Even Virgin had stopped flinching every time a
punch came his way; the weakling kid was on his way to become a fighter.

He had already talked to Aisha about the downside of being a sore loser. The girl had pouted and
protested, of course, but in the end she had taken it like a man... or, rather, like a woman. But
Johnny still hadn’t been able to get into Hawk’s head that his actions at the tournament had been
dishonorable; the kid had too many years of resentment on his back, too many chips on his
shoulder, and every time Johnny brought up the subject he reacted badly.

On the other hand, he hadn’t even tried to talk to Miguel yet. Losing Robby to Daniel was bad
enough, he didn’t want to push this one away. Soon the boy would meet another chick and forget
all about that damned LaRusso girl, and then things would get back to normal.

Whatever the fuck normal was.

He looked at the clock on the wall. Aisha had come to him earlier, parroting about a new girl
interested in the dojo and an email she had exchanged with her mother. He wasn’t opposed to
having more girls there, especially if they were like Aisha... he just hoped he wouldn’t have to deal
with a spoiled brat who whined and complained all day. Well, Aisha had said the girl would be at
Cobra Kai at five, and it was almost time.

A discreet cough called his attention, and he looked at the door. At first he only saw the woman,
checked her out quickly from head to toe like he usually did: brown hair, pretty eyes, blood red
nails. Nice, he liked red nails. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the grey pantsuit she was
wearing. Why couldn’t women dress like women?
He almost didn’t notice the little girl until she let go of her mother’s hand and gazed at the sparring
Cobras with a fascinated smile on her face. A tiny slip of a girl, small and scrawny. Not exactly
what he was expecting, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and the dojo needed the money.

“Welcome to Cobra Kai. I’m Sensei Lawrence.”

“Kate Williams”, said the woman, offering him a handshake. “And this is Rani.”

He looked down at the little girl, very serious.

“So this is the girl who wants to join Cobra Kai... Why do you think you’re worth it?”

“Because this is the best dojo and I want to train with the best.” Rani jutted her chin up without
losing her smile. “I am an orange belt in Shudokan Karate.”

By that point all the other kids had stopped what they were doing to look at the newcomer with
curiosity.

“Five minutes’ break”, announced Johnny. “Don’t go anywhere, this won’t take long.”

He turned back to Rani, purposely ignoring the mother.

“Shudokan is fine, but it’s not that we do here. And as you can see, everybody in this dojo is bigger
and older than you... How old are you, anyway?”

“I’ll be eight next week. And if you don’t believe I know how to fight, I can show you.”

Cocky kid. Johnny couldn’t help smiling.

“Very well. Bert! Come here, Miss Rani is going to demonstrate all she knows.”

Bert stepped on the middle of the tatami, while all the others sat down on the floor. The blond kid
was several inches taller than Rani.

“Face each other. Bow... fight!”

Johnny was expecting a quick match, of course. Just not that quick. It barely lasted ten seconds
before Bert was laying on the black and red mat, face down.

A collective gasp escaped from the throats of the other Cobras.

Johnny saw a lot of things in those ten seconds. The girl knew her kata, that was a fact. She was
fast, graceful like a tiny ballet dancer... and she had also been smart enough to use her smaller size
as leverage and kick the boy out of balance. Not bad at all. He also saw the triumphant smile on
the faces of both mother and child. The kid wasn’t the only one who felt cocky for winning.

“Get up, Bert.” He scanned the room quickly in search of another contender. “Miss Robinson, your
turn.”

Aisha stepped up, and the grin on Rani’s face turned into serious concern. Johnny was suddenly
aware of a rustling sound coming from the tatami, a sound he had been hearing for a while without
paying attention to it.

“Quiet, everyone. What’s that noise?”

Rani lifted her left hand, letting him see the string of wooden beads wrapped in several loops
around her wrist. It was so long that it reached half the way up her forearm.

“My Japa Mala. It’s from India, like me. I always wear it when I fight.”

Johnny nodded, remembering a lecture Miguel had given him one day about why it was best to
leave other people’s cultural artifacts alone, no matter how silly they looked.

“Makes you sound like a rattlesnake.” He looked at Aisha, who had assumed a fighting stance but
seemed a bit doubtful. “Come on, ladies, or we’ll be here until tomorrow. Fight!”

This time it lasted a bit longer. The smaller girl started on defense, more kata. Clever move against
a big opponent. Aisha was simply better and stronger; Rani took a couple of hits, dodged a few
more, and ended up hitting the mat, of course... but not before one of her tiny fists landed squarely
on Aisha’s ribs.

“That was amazing!” she exclaimed while Aisha helped her up.

“Are you hurt?” asked the older girl.

Rani shook her head. “Nah, I’m fine.” She looked at Johnny, expectant, and there was a long pause
before he spoke.

“I won’t teach you kata here”, he said. “I can’t promise you won’t get hurt. And I will ask you to
give your all, every class. Every day. Can you do that, kid?”

She pressed her lips in a thin line before answering and looked at her mother, who nodded in
silence.

“Yes, Sensei.”

“In that case, welcome to Cobra Kai... Rattler .”

Back in Johnny’s office, Kate filled in the application forms in her quick handwriting. She also
wrote a check.

“Here’s the down payment for the trimester and the parental permission. I think that’s everything.”

Johnny examined the form carefully. “Your husband will have to sign it too.”

“I’m a sole parent”, she answered in a firm voice, as if challenging him to ask further questions. He
didn’t, and he seemed strangely distracted for a moment.

“So, can Rani start right away, or do I bring her tomorrow?” Kate asked, breaking the
uncomfortable silence.

“Sure, we still have almost an hour of class left. You can leave Rattler here and come for her at
six.”

The woman winced. “Are you really going to call her that?”

“She’s small, noisy and smart, like a rattlesnake. Problem?” he asked, defiant.

“None. I was just wondering if you have one of those little nicknames for absolutely everyone.”
 “Yes.”

“And what would mine be?”

“Pretty eyes”, he said quickly. Too quickly.

Kate nodded, took two steps towards the door and then turned back on her heels.

“No. That’s not the real one. Goodbye, Mr. Lawrence.”

Without waiting for his reaction she headed out, her heels clicking rhythmically on the floor of the
dojo. Johnny saw her say goodbye to her daughter and walk out the exit door.

He laughed to himself, muttering the answer nobody would hear.

“See you later, Miss Perky Ass.”

Chapter End Notes

I'm going away for the weekend, so chapter three won't arrive until later next week.
I'm taking my notebook with me in case inspiration hits.
 Proposition
Chapter Summary

Johnny gets an offer of help from an unexpected source. Sam and Aisha have a long
delayed conversation about friendship.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 3. PROPOSITION

Lawyers joke # 318:

- What are lawyers good for?
- They make used car salesmen look good.

Like many former law students all across America, Kate Williams lived on coffee.

Well, not exclusively, of course; and in the almost two decades that had passed since graduating
from Notre Dame she had tried to keep her addiction in check. But the truth was, she just wasn’t
able to function without at least four cups a day. She had tried all the alternatives: decaf, and green
tea, and all kinds of herbal substitutes, but she always ended surrendering and going back to her
beloved caffeine.

After leaving Rani in class she had thought of doing a couple of errands; but as soon as she left the
dojo the smell of freshly made espresso filled her nose, and she knew trying to leave was useless.

There were several other businesses on the strip mall: a pawn shop, a hair salon, a laundromat, a
shabby mini-mart... and, a bit further away, the promised land: one small café with a cheerful pink
sign that advertised ‘The best coffee and cupcakes in the Valley’. With firm steps she made a
beeline for the nearest table.

It didn’t take too many people to fill up the café. There was a couple of teenagers hiding in a
corner, holding hands (and other things) in front of a shared milkshake; next to the window three
middle-aged ladies in flowery dresses sipped tea and ate cake while gossiping and laughing non-
stop.

“Hi! Welcome to Café de France!”

The intonation of the voice sounded much closer to Texas than France. It belonged to a woman
with grey hair and a friendly face, wearing a pink apron with so many ruffles and frills that it could
almost stand on its own. She also wore a name tag, equally pink, that stated her name: Gladys.

“Today’s special are the vanilla bean cupcakes with mocha buttercream. Would you like to try
one?”

“Yes, please. And coffee, black... No, make the coffee a double. I need an extra dose today.”

“Long day at the office, eh, honey?” asked Gladys with sympathy. “I don’t know how us working
girls managed to get anything done before coffee was invented.”

Kate smiled. “First day at a new job, and my bosses have kept me on my toes all day. But I’ve
revived a little just with the smell of your coffee. If it tastes half as good, I’m going to be a
regular.”

The waitress went behind the bar and got busy with the espresso machine.

“I’ve never seen you around here. Do you live in the neighborhood?”

“I just moved here. And my daughter goes to karate next door, so I’ll have a very good excuse for
coming here almost every day. Oh, thank you, Gladys.”

A delicious looking cupcake and a cup of steaming coffee were delicately set on Kate’s table.

“You’re welcome to wait for your girl here anytime you want, dear... Well, at least while I’m able
to keep this place open.”

Kate took a sip of her coffee and let out a happy sigh.“Mmmm, this is really wonderful... But why
are you closing? This place is lovely, there should be a line of people on the street waiting to get
the best coffee in the Valley.”

“It’s not like I want to close, dearie... but since the owner of the mall doubled everybody’s rent a
few months ago, I can barely make ends meet. I’ve been holding up so far, but last week I had to let
my only employee go, and who knows if next month I won’t have to take the café somewhere
else.”

A light went off in Kate’s mind. A professional light, red and concentrated like a laser.

“Doubled? How’s that even possible? I thought this whole part of Reseda was rent controlled... at
least for independently owned businesses. Just this morning I was reading about a similar case that
happened a couple of blocks from here.”

Gladys looked at Kate as if she had started speaking Martian. “I don’t know jack about those
things, honey. I just figured that if I worked hard enough I’d be able to keep the café open, but...
We’ve already lost Mrs. Atkins the florist, and even Mr. Schwartz next door is thinking of closing
the pawn shop and retiring. The only one who seems to be doing fine is Mr. Lawrence with his
karate; and I’m thankful for that, the kids come here sometimes too.”

The teenage couple in the corner had finished their milkshake and made a pause in their makeout
session; the boy called Gladys and ordered more sugary fuel for their young love.

Kate frowned, rattling her nails on the table. She got a notebook, a pen and her cell phone from the
depths of her purse, and searched for a number on the City Hall webpage. With the phone pinned
between her shoulder and her ear, she started scribbling furiously while she waited for someone to
pick up.

Her double cup of espresso stayed beside her, forgotten, getting colder and colder as the minutes
passed.

At exactly two minutes to six, Kate was back outside the glass walls of the dojo, looking in. All the
kids were standing in orderly lines, throwing punches into the air in perfect unison, with Rani
among them. The ceiling fans did very little to mitigate the heat; earlier that day Rani’s hair had
been neatly pulled back in a braid, but now there were several wispy black strands sticking to her
face and neck.

The girl looked happier than she had ever been in her short life.

Kate saw Sensei Lawrence bark an order, and the kids disbanded towards their changing rooms.
Only then she went in again and walked towards the man in the black gi.

“Mr. Lawrence, do you have a minute?”

“Hello again. Sure, we can talk in the office.”

She followed him to the narrow room, and sat on the chair he was offering her.

“Having second thoughts already? I can give you your cheque back, but it would be a shame.
Rattler has potential.”

She shook her head and smiled. “No, it has nothing to do with Rani… I’ve been observing her from
outside and I can see she’s having a great time. Mr. Lawrence, do you know Gladys, the lady who
owns the Café de France next door?”

“Yeah, of course. Coffee’s great there.”

“It’s fantastic. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” She took a deep breath before
getting right to the point. “Gladys has told me that several months ago the owner of the strip mall
doubled your rent… everybody’s rent. There’s a law in California called the Affordable Housing
Act; it only got approved last year, and the existence of that law means that what your landlord did
is illegal and can be reversed.”

“Reversed? How?”

She grabbed her notebook and opened it on the desk, trying to explain things as clearly as possible.
“Well, you would have to sue him first. Not you individually, it would be more effective if all the
businesses in the mall were organized in a tenants association… which Gladys tells me you don’t
have at the moment. But apart from that it all seems very straightforward. I spoke with the City’s
Housing Authority fifteen minutes ago, they confirmed that this is a controlled rent area and that
the strip mall was built before 1995, so it falls under the range of the Act. I wonder why nobody
told you this earlier.”

“I don’t usually hang out with lawyers”, Johnny quipped.

“You mean you don’t like them.”

“Right.”

“Nobody likes lawyers. It’s a natural instinct... You know what they say, lawyers are only good for
making used car salesmen look good.”

The joke was ancient, but Johnny couldn’t help letting out a bitter laugh. Used car salesmen,
indeed. The woman had no way of knowing she had hit a nerve, and he still wasn’t sure of her
intentions.

“To be honest, it sounds too good to be true.”

“Look, Mr. Lawrence–”

“Sensei”, he interrupted.

“Sorry?”

“While we’re at Cobra Kai, it’s Sensei Lawrence. Or just Johnny, whatever. Just not Mr.
Lawrence.”

“Okay”, she agreed with caution, not knowing which one of the two options would feel more
natural. Her professional training didn’t really agree with any of them. “Okay, in that case... please
call me Kate.”

“Fine. Listen... Kate: I don’t know shit about housing acts, or tenants associations. All I know is
that the every time I’ve ran into a lawyer before it has ended badly. And every time someone offers
me help out of the blue it ends up being a trick.”

He stared hard at the woman across the small desk, and she held his gaze for a few seconds. Then
she smiled and leaned back on her chair.

“I apologize if I’m being overwhelming… it makes me mad when a landlord tries to take
advantage like that. But the real reason, of course, is that I don’t want to lose Gladys and her great
coffee. So yes, deep down my motivations are completely selfish.”

Johnny smiled, and this time it did reach his eyes. Trusting strangers was not in his nature, but the
offer seemed genuine enough.

“So… I’m not saying I want to do this. But if I wanted to do this, what’s the next step?”

Kate got a business card out of her purse and slid it over the desk towards him. “The next step is
you going home and thinking about it for a few days. And after that, if you want to go ahead, you
can use your own lawyer, one you don’t dislike too much… or give me a call and we’ll start
planning a lawsuit. We can agree on a percentage if we win… If we lose, it will cost you
absolutely nothing.”

“You don’t want me to decide now? That doesn’t sound like any lawyer I know.”

“I’m giving you time to think. I’m giving you time to say no.”

“What if I say yes?”

She was taping her nails on the desk again, a thoughtless motion that came to her when she was
nervous or excited.

Another rattler; noisy like her kid, thought Johnny.

“You can come to my office and we’ll go over all the details”, she explained. “Bring a copy of your
lease, and the notice your landlord sent you when he raised the rent… I’ll need to know everything
that you think is useful, everything that can help you win this. I know it’s hard to trust me because
you have no idea who I am, but I’ll need the absolute truth. And in return I promise to do
everything in my power to help all the businesses in this mall get their original rent back.”

“Help me win this.”

“Of course. I’m only here to give you advice and deal with the judge. If the raise gets reversed,
you’re the one who wins.”
Outside Johnny’s office, the kids had started to emerge from the locker rooms and they strolled
towards the exit in small groups. Rani still hadn’t left Aisha’s side; they were both looking at
something on the older girl’s phone, and laughing.

Kate got up when she heard her daughter’s voice. “Well, I’ll see you on Monday… Sensei
Lawrence. And don’t worry, I won’t mention the rent thing again unless you bring it up. If you
ever do.”

She got out of the office and joined the two girls on their way out. They were the last ones to leave,
and the dojo was once more empty and quiet. Johnny made a quick round through the place like he
did every day after class, picking up things that the children lost or forgot: socks, water bottles,
notes scribbled in wrinkled bits of paper. Another thing he didn’t understand of millenial kids: they
were incredibly careless with their things.

“I think you should let her try, Sensei.”

Miguel’s head of black hair appeared through the locker room door, followed by the rest of him.
Johnny managed (just in time) to look angry instead of startled.

“Why the hell are you still here, Diaz?”

“Sorry, Sensei. I didn’t mean to overhear… I dropped my keys behind a bench, and I’ve been
trying to fish them out”, said the boy, showing Johnny the keychain he had just recovered.
“Anyway, I heard what Rani’s mom said… and it made sense, sort of; at least the parts I could
understand. Maybe it could be worth a try if it’s going to cost you nothing.”

“Of course it’s going to cost me. Just not money.”

“What do you mean?”

“I talked to the Topanga sensei the day of the tournament. Do you know who makes all the
decisions over there? A fucking parent-teacher association! Moms and dads running the dojo and
complaining every time a child goes home with a bruised eye or a bloody nose. If I let that woman
fix the rent thing she’ll think I owe her and she’ll start poking her nose in my business. Well, fuck
me if I let that happen in my dojo. The last thing I need is that hot lawyer coming here with her airs
and graces, doing charity to feel important.”

Miguel tried very hard to suppress a smile. “So… you think she’s hot?”

“Get out, Diaz.”

“I mean, she’s kinda pretty for a mom–”

“Out!”

Miguel was a clever kid who knew when to let things go. He grabbed his backpack and ran for the
exit.

Johnny watched the boy get on his bike and locked the door. He went to his office, grabbed a beer
from the mini fridge, changed his mind and put it in again before sitting with his head in his hands.
He’d be damned if he gave that woman any kind of power over Cobra Kai, but, on the other
hand… Fixing the rent would get him money for a new dummy. Or a couple more lockers for the
girls’ changing room. And the Spinshot machine had started launching balls in unexpected
directions, it would have to be repaired soon.
He also tried to think of the last time he’d had a conversation that wasn’t about karate. Or just any
meaningful conversation with an adult. Well, apart from Miguel’s family. Or LaRusso. Or…
Kreese.

Johnny shook his head to erase the memory of Kreese’s visit, searching for something else to
replace it. His mind responded dutifully with a succession of very clear images of brown hair, red
nails and black lashes. He hadn’t noticed before that her lashes were pitch black. Or how the
intense heat had made her white shirt half transparent. Or the way she smelled, like coffee and…
some flower or other. He grabbed Kate’s business card from the desk and ran a finger over the
elegant navy lettering on the glossy cardboard.

Katharine B. Williams
Attorney at Law

He found himself wondering what the B stood for.

Later that day, on a different part of the city, Sam parked her BMW across the street from Aisha’s
house and waited for ten minutes before deciding to get out. She hadn’t told the other girl she was
coming. Or anyone else, for that matter; not even Robby, who was her (injured) shoulder of choice
to cry on lately. Nobody would really understand it.

Things had ended on a good note for the two girls on the day of the tournament… but that had been
before the Cobra Kai triumph, before her dad became even more riled up against the rival dojo, and
since then they had only exchanged a couple of polite texts. Samantha didn’t really know if her
friendship with Aisha would ever be the same again; things between them were too fragile, they
had grown too far apart in just one year.

“Well, time to find out.”

Gathering all her courage, she crossed the street and pressed her finger to the doorbell several
times. She was expecting Aisha’s mom to open the door, or even the Robinsons’ maid. She tried in
vain to remember her name. Katrina, maybe...?

The memory exercise was useless in the end, because it was Aisha who opened the door and
greeted her with a surprised smile.

“Sam? Hey.”

“Hey… may I come in? I know I didn’t tell you I was coming by, I just wanted to see if you
wanted to hang out… I can leave if it’s not a good moment.”

“Sure, let’s go to the back garden. My parents have been at the country club all day; they wanted
me to go with them but it was too hot for the pool, so I stayed to catch up on some reading.” Aisha
held a folded magazine in her hand. Black Belt. “Not the most exciting thing to do on a Friday
night, but I like having the house for myself. Come in.”

There was a new air of determination in the bigger girl’s face, something Sam hadn’t seen before
in her formerly shy friend. She grabbed a six-pack of Coke Zero from the refrigerator and
practically pushed Sam towards the lounging chairs in the veranda.

“So… what were you reading?” asked Sam, trying to break the ice.

Aisha handed her the magazine. Several pages were dog-eared, and bits of text here and there were
underlined.

“Sensei Lawrence gave it to me. There’s a very good article about traditional versus modern karate
styles, and another one about a badass lady called Cynthia Rothrock who’s a master in several
martial arts.”

“Cool.” Sam’s gaze stayed fixed on the glossy pictures, until the silence became too uncomfortable
to bear.

“Sam, you’re not here to talk about karate magazines, right? What do you want?”

“I want my friend back”, she said, still with her eyes down. “I want to turn back time, erase
everything that happened last year and just be friends again. Every day there’s a hundred things I
want to tell you, silly things that I end up writing in my stupid online diary and then deleting them
because I can’t share them with anybody else.”

When she lifted her head to look at Aisha, there was a hint of tears in the eyes of both girls.

“Last year happened, Sam. It had many good and many awful things in it... but it definitely
happened.”

“I told you at the tournament, but I’ll say it again: I’m sorry. About everything. Just tell me what
will it take for you to forgive me, and if I have to climb up to the roof of our high school and shout
to everybody that you’re my best friend in the world, I’ll do it”, she finished, holding her head up
high.

Aisha stood up in front of Sam. “Forget about climbing roofs and just give me a hug, you idiot.
I’ve missed you too.”

The girls hugged, and laughed, and then hugged some more. This time the tears remained uncried.

“So, is your dad cool with you being friends with a Cobra again?” asked Aisha, sipping her Diet
Coke once they had resumed their position on the comfy chairs.

“Well… I still need to talk to him about that. He’s cool with you and me being friends, of course.
He’s always been. But not really about the rest of them.”

“Yeah, but that nitpicking is never going to work. You can’t ask me to stop seeing my other
friends, and if you hang out with me they’re going to appear at some point. What about Moon? She
was your friend last year too, and now she’s one of us because she and Hawk are practically joined
at the hip… You can’t have one without the other. And we have a new girl at the dojo, she’s only
eight. Will you have to get permission from your dad before talking to her too? Who knows, she
may be a deadly assassin in disguise”, Aisha joked.

“Of course not! God, eight years old… that’s how old I was when I quit karate. I bet she’s having a
great time with you guys. I hope my dad can get a few more girls for Miyagi-Do, it will be fun
training with more people.”

“She’s a true Cobra. A really tiny one.” Aisha braced herself before addressing the elephant in the
room. “What are you going to do about Miguel? Have you talked to him?”

Samantha’s face fell.

“He texted me once, last week. Said he was sorry... but I haven’t answered him yet.”
“You not answering him that time last month was one of the things that caused the mess.”

The mess. So the incident at the beach party even had a name of its own.

“I…” stammered Samantha.

Aisha let out an exasperated groan. “Look, Sam, I think you should tell Miguel that you don’t want
to see him ever again. Put him out of his misery! Break his heart a little bit more that you already
did, but don’t leave him hanging. Frankly, I’m getting so tired of hearing him pine for you all day,
one day after another. I would bang his head against a wall if I thought it would help, but boys are
so bullheaded I’m sure it wouldn't have any effect.”

“He’s been doing that? Pining?”

“Not in front of the others, or course.” Aisha looked at her friend, very serious. “Miguel is one of
my best friends now, Sam. We were Sensei Lawrence’s first two students, when nobody gave a
damn about Cobra Kai or about any of us… He’s worked harder than anybody else in our dojo, and
he’s a great boy. I only like him as a friend, don’t start getting ideas. I just want you to see for
yourself that deep down he hasn’t changed.”

Sam covered her eyes with her hands and let out a wistful sigh. “I liked Miguel the way he was
before.”

“When Kyler was beating him up every other week, and you didn’t even know he existed? Yeah,
that Miguel is not coming back”, confirmed Aisha. “The real Miguel is something between the
pussy crybaby he was last year and the killing machine your dad thinks he is. And he’s a good
guy.”

“I saw the killing machine at the tournament. He was scary.”

“Of course, silly! He was in combat mode, it’s a tournament! What’s going to happen next year if
you and I have to fight against each other, Sam? Are we going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya on
the mat?”

Samantha laughed so hard she almost fell off her chair. “That would leave everybody shocked! My
dad would freak out so much.”

“And Sensei Lawrence would have a stroke, and the tournament would be cancelled. But that
won’t be for almost another year, and meanwhile we have to go on with our lives, right? What are
you going to do?”

There was a long pause before Sam finally agreed with herself on a decision.

“Fine, I’ll talk to Miguel. But not to break his heart. I’d like a chance to be friends again. I’m not
sure it will work after what happened at the… you know, the mess. But I’ll talk to him.”

Aisha nodded, but she didn’t seem convinced. “Just one more thing: If you’re going to rub your
relationship with Keene in Miguel’s face, maybe it’s better if you just delete his number and forget
all about him.”

This time Sam seemed genuinely surprised. “But… Robby and I, we’re not together. I just like him
as a friend. He’s been hanging around my house a lot because he trains with my dad, but...”

“Does Keene think the same? I don’t have a lot of personal experience with guys, but being a
wallflower leaves you a lot of free time for observing other people. I saw the way he looked at you
 at the beach, and at the tournament... I recognize the sad puppy eyes when I see them. Besides,
he’s Sensei Lawrence’s son. Sensei dated like a hundred girls when he was in high school, or at
least that’s what he tells us, so I bet he knew lots of tricks to attract girls. If genetics work… and
they’re science, they have to work... if Keene is anything like his dad, you shouldn’t trust him.”

“Ew, I don’t want to imagine old people dating.”

“That was a like million years ago, so… yeah.” Aisha seemed lost in thought for a moment. “There
was a lady today at the dojo, the new girl’s mom. She’s pretty, and Sensei Lawrence kept staring
at her when she left. Maybe he still has a trick or two up his sleeve now… Anyway, I would watch
Keene if I was you.”

“I promise I’m going to make it very clear to Robby that we’re just friends”, answered Sam. “Hey,
why don’t we order some pizza or something? It’s almost dinner time, and I don’t want to go home
yet.”

Aisha grabbed her phone and opened the Grubhub app. “Do you want sushi? I know you love it,
and we need something special to celebrate our friendship.”

“Sounds fantastic. Especially the friendship part”, added Sam with a big smile.

Aisha fumbled with her phone a bit longer. “Done! One big tray of celebratory sushi on its way,
with lots of rainbow rolls because they’re your favorite. And mine.”

They reclined on the chairs again, enjoying the unexpected cool breeze. The setting sun blazed
down on the well tended grass, and a solitary bee flew a complicated dance around the two girls
before disappearing towards the sky.

“Aisha?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you think dating and… and boys’ stuff gets easier when you’re an adult?”

“Yeah. It has to. I’m absolutely sure.”

Chapter End Notes

This fic is supposed to be centered in Johnny and Kate, and I'm really happy to see
how their storyline works, but it's also great to imagine scenarios about the younger
generation. The conversation between Aisha and Sam was a lot of fun to write.

Legal mini-rant: The Affordable Housing Act is an actual citizens initiative that would
repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act in California and make homes more
affordable for lots of people affected by the skyrocketing rents. The real Act hasn’t
been approved yet (you can look it up online), and even if it gets approved in the
future it will only affect homes, not businesses. I had to make a couple of tweaks so it
would be useful for my story, and I pinky promise not to drag the legal things across a
thousand chapters. End of mini-rant.
 Scheme
Chapter Summary

Miguel deals with an uncomfortable truth. Robby starts training at the new and
improved Miyagi-Do. Johnny makes a decision.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 4 - SCHEME

‘Hey Mig. Didn’t see you at the beach on Saturday. Or yesterday in the park. You ok?’

‘Yeah, fine. I didn’t feel like going out this weekend. What’s up?’

Sprawled on the bed, Miguel stared at the screen of his phone and blinked several times. Aisha was
usually the fastest texter in the world, but this time it was taking her ages.

‘I spoke to Sam on Friday. Maybe it’s a good moment to apologize again.’

‘What’s the point? She hates me.’

‘Just text her and grovel a little. Good moment, trust me and stop asking questions.’

‘Cobras don’t grovel.’

‘Cobras don’t get second chances either. Not saying you’ll get one for sure, but you should try.
She doesn’t hate you too much now. But hey, it’s up to you.’

‘Thanks. You’re a friend.’

‘Remember. GROVEL.’

‘Fine. See you later at the dojo.’

It wasn’t a long message in the end, but it took him more than half an hour to write it. He moved
from the bed to his desk and from there to the floor several times, typing and deleting and deleting
and typing. After six or seven false starts he managed to type something that sounded more or less
like the words in his head.

‘Hi Sam. I don’t know if you’ll even read this or if you’ve blocked me. I just wanted to say that I’m
sorry. About the mess at the beach, and about what I said at the tournament.’

He hit ‘send’, and gathered his courage for the second part.

‘Can I see you and apologize in person? Can we talk? Please, I can’t even think of not seeing you
all Summer. Please.’

After adding the second (and almost desperate) please he hit ‘send’ again, and turned off his phone
with the firm intent of not turning it on again for several hours. He didn’t want to spend the
afternoon checking his messages every minute, wondering if she had read it. Or if she would even
answer. Throwing the phone into the bottom of his backpack he grabbed his training gi, put on his
sneakers and ran for the door.

His grandmother was in the kitchen, doing the dishes from lunch.

“Adónde vas corriendo?”

“To the dojo, Yaya. I need to train.”

“Ay, mijo, you train too much. You already won the trophy, remember?”

He smiled and hugged the old woman. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back for dinner. Bye, Yaya!”

“Adiós, mi amor.”

It was early, way too early for class, but Miguel needed to do something other than laying in bed
listening to sappy eighties rock ballads, like he’d done all weekend. Pedaling furiously, he made it
to Cobra Kai in three minutes instead of the usual five.

He had planned to spend some time at the café while he waited for everybody to arrive, but the
dojo was surprisingly open. From the entrance he saw Sensei Lawrence in the office, his desk
covered in a mountain of important looking (and very disorganized) papers. Miguel sneaked in,
walking in complete silence; an idea was forming in his mind, and he hoped it wasn’t a bad
moment to interrupt…. whatever he was interrupting. He also hoped to find his Sensei in a good
mood, and that was quite a long shot.

“What are you doing here so early?” Johnny huffed. “When I was your age we knew what to do
with our Summer days. Is the beach closed or what?”

“It’s too hot for the beach”, answered Miguel with a grimace. “I thought I could practise some
punching with the dummy until the others are here.”

“Fine. I’ll train with you when I’ve finished putting this stupid lease papers in order.”

Miguel stayed there for a long moment. He felt like his legs had turned to stone… but he had
already faced one of his fears that day, why not two?

Strike first.

“Did you start training me only because Keene said no?”

Johnny froze. He left the papers on the desk and looked at the boy. Miguel stood proud, self-
righteous and angry, just like he had taught him. An image flashed in Johnny’s mind, a blurred
picture of that same boy a year earlier, the awkward shy kid who seemed entirely different from
the person in front of him.

He stood up, grabbed two beers from the mini fridge and offered one to Miguel.

The boy shook his head. “The last time I drank I ended up doing something stupid.”

He hadn’t stopped staring daggers at Johnny, challenging him. Daring him to deny him an answer.

Johnny left one bottle of Coors back in place, grabbed a can of soda and threw it into Miguel’s
hands. Then he walked out of the office and sat on one corner of the mat. The ceiling fans were on,
and it was marginally cooler there than in the stuffy office.
He waited until Miguel sat next to him, opened the beer bottle and drank almost half of it. His
throat remained dry.

“I started training you because you needed to be trained. Because you needed to become what you
are now.” He had spoken with his eyes closed. When he finally looked at Miguel, the boy seemed
slightly less angry, but still confused as hell.

“I only found out that LaRusso was teaching karate to Robby the day before the tournament.
Before that, he never showed interest in martial arts. When I started teaching you I had never
trained anybody else. Before that… I hadn’t set foot in a dojo in thirty-four years.”

Miguel’s expression darkened. “Since your tournament.”

“Yeah.”

“You quit because you lost?” he asked, indignant, with a hint of contempt seeping from his voice
like poison.

Johnny started laughing. It wasn’t a merry laugh. He finished his beer before gathering the
strength to look at his student again.

“I quit because the night of the tournament my Sensei tried to kill me for losing.”

“I... I didn’t know that”, was the almost inaudible answer.

“Of course you didn’t. I couldn’t tell that to a bunch of children. But you’re not a child anymore...
right, Diaz? You come to me demanding an explanation, and you deserve to get one.”

The Coors bottle made a loud ‘clink’ when he left it on the floor.

“I didn’t know Robby was going to enter the tournament, I saw him there on the same moment
everybody else did. I didn’t know he had been working at LaRusso’s dealership for months.”
Johnny's voice sounded hoarse and jaded, and it almost broke with his next sentence. “I didn’t
know that... that Daniel LaRusso was driving my son away from me. Not that we were very close
before, anyway.”

A dark red blush appeared on Miguel’s cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Sensei.”

“Sorry doesn’t fix shit. But it’s not your fault, Diaz.”

“You could have told me at the tournament. You know, before the finals.”

“And what would you have done differently? Would you have thrown the match and let Robby
win?”

The boy hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“Yeah”, muttered Johnny. “And that’s why I didn’t fucking tell you. It wouldn’t have been fair, to
any of you.”

“But I hurt him! You told me not to fight dirty and I ignored it.”

“No, Hawk hurt him. You only took advantage of an injury. People do that all the time in sports
competitions, even the professionals do it.”
Miguel sighed, took a long drink from his soda, and let his head fall between his shoulders.

“Hawk doesn’t know who Keene really is. Sam told Aisha, and Aisha told only me. She asked me
not to say anything to the others until… until I talked to you.”

“Good. Keep it that way.”

“But, Sensei...”

Johnny picked up his empty bottle and stood up, putting an end to the conversation. He strolled
towards his office, changed his mind and turned around before reaching the door. Once more he
looked at Miguel, who remained in the same position. Strangely enough, from where he stood, the
kid looked like a little boy again; exactly like a year before.

“I’m proud of you. You know that, right, Diaz?”

The boy raised his head. He felt like he was about to cry, and to force back the tears he bit his lip
hard until he almost tasted blood.

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Good. Now stop slacking, get off your lazy ass and start hitting that dummy.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Remember to do everything Aunt Lola tells you, and to help her look after your cousins, sweetie.
I’ll pick you up and take you to the dojo after work, okay? I love you. Yes, Kevin is here. He says
he loves you too, very much. Bye, sweetie.”

Kate laughed at the enthusiastic answer and hung up the phone. Sitting opposite her, her friend
Kevin leafed through a thick portfolio, while keeping an ear on the mother-daughter conversation.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Kev. My sister-in-law is being an absolute angel babysitting Rani, I
was just checking that everything is all right.” She looked at the stack of papers in her partner’s
hands. “So, did you have a chance to look at the case?”

“Oh, I did a bit more than look, and I’m happy to tell you that I have good news... and even better
news on your little Victory Boulevard strip mall.”

“I’m listening.”

“I took it to the Board of Directors first thing this morning. The Affordable Housing Act has given
us a sizeable amount of business so far, and this is a textbook example of something we can win
before the judge even gets to the argument section. Besides, the mall owner Mr. Zarkarian is an old
acquaintance of this firm. Rent abuse seems to be his favorite sport, last year we won several cases
against him.”

Kate took a sip of her coffee with an impish smile. “Brilliant! Was that the good news or the better
ones?”

“The best part comes now, and you’re going to love it: the Board thinks this is practically a case of
public interest. You know, helping new businesses in an economically depressed part of the city,
and all that. They want to take the case pro bono.”
“Oh, no. No, I’m not sure that’s a good idea”, answered Kate, looking suddenly worried.
“Lawrence is a proud man. He’ll never want our help if he sees it as charity. We still need him to
form the tenants association, and I think I’ve got him about ninety per cent convinced… but he’s
not going to accept a handout.”

Kevin played with the tip of his flowery tie. “Well... if you’re absolutely sure, I’ll talk to our
bosses again and tell them to take it out of the pro bono list. But seriously, what kind of man would
reject free help? Especially if it’s in the interest of the community?”

Kate sighed and finished her coffee without enthusiasm. She considered the possibilities in silence
for a moment.

“Wait until I talk to him again and see if he’s with us or not. If he says yes, there will be time to go
over the money details. I’ll tell him it’s an easy case to win, and… fingers crossed that he doesn’t
get offended.”

“Easy? Kate, it’s the proverbial piece of cake.” Kevin searched through the documents until he
found the list of tenants that his friend had compiled during the weekend. “Just look at this. Why
didn’t you start by telling me there’s an old florist lady at the strip mall? This will melt the heart of
the hardest judge! The whole Board was practically salivating thinking of the good publicity this
case can bring, that’s why they agreed to take it for free.”

“There was an old florist lady; she had to leave last month because she couldn’t afford the rent.”

“That’s even better. Let’s get her on the stand and ask for punitive damages.” A radiant smile
appeared in Kevin’s handsome Black face, a smile that Kate knew very well. It always reminded
her of a cat about to pounce on a poor unfortunate mouse; when it came to the Law, Kevin
McMichaels was nothing but ruthless.

“I’m not doing this for the publicity, Kev, I just want to help that man. You should have seen those
kids’ faces… you should have seen Rani’s face while she was training the other day. That girl
Aisha told me that Lawrence opened the dojo less than a year ago, starting from nothing, with only
one student; and he’s doing wonders with it.”

“Speaking of your heroic and proud Mr. Lawrence… What’s he like? We usually wait until the
clients come to us in need of our services, but it sounds like you’re having to use your powers of
persuasion with this one.”

“Well, it varies from moment to moment. He doesn’t like lawyers, he left that crystal clear the
other day.”

“Nobody likes lawyers, Katey. Remember that thing I always say about lawyers and car
salesmen?” Kevin laughed, as proud of the awful joke as if he had invented it himself.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I told Lawrence. He needs our help, but I’m having a hard time getting
him to open up... let’s just say he’s not the trustful type.”

“Would he trust you more if you wore a short skirt for your next interview, instead of those pants
that make you look like Diane Keaton in Annie Hall?” asked her friend, raising an eyebrow.

“How dare you”, she quipped. “There’s also an old saying that lawyers are essentially hookers, but
I’m not in the business of getting clients by putting my assets on display, thankyouverymuch.
Especially not... not him.”

Kevin examined his friend’s face closely and narrowed his eyes. “It was just a joke... and you
usually laugh with my jokes, but this time you doth protest too much, lady. I’m starting to think
you like that man.”

“I don’t like him... I can’t like him, he’s a prospective client. We have an Ethics Code here, it’s
plastered in black and white all over the corporate website.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just thinking you could kill two birds with one stone and get some action. Before
I moved here we used to tell each other everything about boyfriends and stuff... and you haven’t
mentioned one in ages, Katey. How long have you been on dry dock?”

Kate squirmed in her chair, uncomfortable with the question… or maybe with the answer.

“There has been nothing to write home about for… well, a while. I’m focused on being a mom, so
I don’t have a lot of time for dates. And of course the last couple of men I dated ran for the hills as
soon as I mentioned Rani’s existence. Besides, I don’t think Johnny–”

“Ah, he’s Johnny now”, retorted his friend with another one of his wicked smiles. “Good to see
you’re on a first name basis already. And, just so you know, nobody really pays any attention to
the Ethics Code. At least not to the part about… let’s call them client affairs.”

“Kevin McMichaels, you are a horrible, horrible friend.”

“The worst. And you love me for that.”

Meanwhile, at Miyagi-Do, the new air conditioning system was working like a dream. A soft cool
breeze crossed the room every few seconds, making the two people in the dojo forget all about the
scorching heat outside. It was so hot in the garden that some plants were already withering, despite
Daniel’s constant efforts to keep the greenery in shape.

Daniel picked the doctor’s notice from Robby’s hand and read it in silence several times. It was
full of complicated medical terms and general health recommendations, but the basics were quite
clear. He folded up the piece of paper and gave it back to the boy.

“So, can I start training again?”

“Look, I know the doctor says your shoulder is healed, but… you’re more than your injury, Robby.
The important thing here is, how do you feel?”

“The shoulder’s not bothering me anymore”, was the evasive answer.

“That wasn’t the question.”

“Look, Mr. LaRusso… I’m fine. But I need to train or I’ll go nuts cooped up at home. My Mom
is… she just broke up with a dude, and she’s not in the best mood. I want to give her some space.”

Daniel raised his hands in silent defeat. “Okay. Go get changed, we’ll start with some light kata
practice. I don’t want you pushing yourself too hard for a few days, understood?”

The boy nodded and dragged his feet towards the other room. Daniel sighed, rubbing his temples.
Dealing with Robby’s anger issues had been a challenge at first, but he preferred that a hundred
times to the downcast, defeated teenager he’d been since the tournament.

The door of the dojo opened with a swooshing sound, giving way to another teenager who looked
only marginally happier than Robby.

“Hi Dad”, muttered Samantha, with her eyes fixed on her smartphone. The girl was already in her
gi, but her mind seemed a thousand miles away.

Daniel rolled his eyes. Two Debbie Downers out of two. It was the brightest Summer day in the
Valley, but the atmosphere in the dojo resembled a funeral home. He put a comforting hand on his
daughter’s shoulder, trying very hard not to take a peek at the screen of her phone.

“Trouble with Aisha, honey? I thought you two had patched things up... Look, why don’t you
invite her to train here one of these days? Just the two of you, a little mano a mano between friends.
I promise I won’t try to recruit her... I won’t even show up if you think she’ll feel uncomfortable.”

Sam looked at Daniel and gave him a sympathetic smile. As clueless as her dad was, at least he
tried really hard when he wanted to.

“Thanks, Dad. I don’t think Aisha is ready for that yet, but I’ll talk to her. And yes, we’re fine
now…You know, I was thinking of asking her to come for dinner tonight.”

“Fantastic! I have a new salmon tataki recipe I’ve been wanting to try. You’re going to love it.”

Sam’s eyebrows knotted up. “But there’s one topic of conversation that’s absolutely banned while
Aisha is here. I’m inviting her to dinner... not to a lecture about her dojo, or her Sensei. Please.”

Daniel put a hand over his heart. “I swear I won’t even go near that topic; you can give me and
your mother a list of preapproved things to talk about during dinner. I’m even ready to do the
utmost sacrifice and discuss Justin Bieber with you guys.”

“No, Dad, I know you’ll behave… and we don’t like Justin Bieber anymore, so you have one less
thing to worry about.” She left her purse on a bench and took off her shoes. “Is it only us again? I
thought Robby was going to the doctor this morning.”

“He’s here. His shoulder is healed”, Daniel answered, still not completely convinced.

As if responding to the mention of his name, the boy showed up. “Hey, Sam.”

Sam observed him carefully. The kicked puppy eyes were definitely there.

“Hi, Robby. I’m glad you’re feeling better, it was so boring training by myself.” She turned to
Daniel, who had already assumed his usual position in front of the class. “Are we doing kata
today?”

“Exactly. Nothing too demanding, just follow me. And, Robby… if you feel any discomfort I want
you to stop immediately, do you hear me? Take all the time you need.”

“Yes, Mr. LaRusso.”

Daniel started going through the kata in silence, using the exercise to clear his mind from all the
stress and the worries of his day-to-day life. The truth was, he needed the training… and the peace
it gave him, as much as Robby and Sam did. Maybe even more.

He corrected Robby’s moves once or twice, but for a good part of an hour nobody spoke. Daniel’s
eyes were fixed on the farthest wall, right at the point where he had just put up a new picture with
some inspirational words he hoped would encourage his students. All his students, even his future
ones.
Kata is the soul of Karate. Without Kata, training is not Karate at all.

When the clock on the wall struck three, Daniel gave his two students a proud smile.

“Good job. Let’s take a break… fifteen minutes. I have to call Mom, she said she would manage
alone at the dealership today but I’m already feeling guilty. We’re extremely short-staffed without
you around, Robby. Amanda will be happy to see you back.”

Robby nodded, smiled and sat down on the tatami. He checked his shoulder with caution, but there
was no pain, nothing apart from a bit of tension due to the lack of exercise. Grabbing his backpack,
he checked his phone, but the only thing on the screen was a missed call notice; the same he had
seen that morning.

Dad.

He never texted, of course, and he only tried calling once a day. Practically every other day.
Dodging his calls hadn’t been exactly intentional, but Robby never found himself in the right state
of mind to call him back.

With a heavy sigh, he left his phone in his bag again and turned to Sam, who also happened to be
glued to her smartphone. She typed a couple of words, deleted them, typed again, deleted
everything and put the phone back in her purse with an impatient huff.

“Everything alright, Sam?”

“Yes, I’m only answering a text… trying to answer a text. Do you ever have one of those days
when everything you type just sounds weird?”

“Yeah, of course. You know, you could try talking instead.”

“No, not for this.” She looked at the boy, making a long pause before speaking again. “Are you my
friend, Robby?”

“Sorry, what?” The question was plain and direct. Too plain.

“You heard me. Are we friends?”

This time the answer was a hopeful smile. And the puppy eyes again.

“Of course! Sam, if there’s something you need me to do, just tell me what it is and I’ll–”

“No”, she interrupted him. “No, forget I asked. Look, I’ve invited Aisha to dinner tonight. I know
she’s a Cobra Kai and it may not be the best idea to put you two in the same room, but… she’s my
best friend, and we’ve just kind of revived our dying friendship after a very shitty year. I’m just
telling you so you can leave if it makes you uncomfortable, but I’d really appreciate it if you stayed
and met her properly. Your choice.”

Robby’s smile was replaced by a worried look. “Do you think she’ll be okay with that?”

“I just want to have two of my friends in the same place for once, without anyone fighting, without
feeling like I’m walking on a tightrope! I’m tired of having to choose between friends as if every
day was some kind of competition.” She lowered her voice to a weary whisper. “Because that’s
what I really need at this point, Robby, real friends. Nothing less... and especially nothing more.”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Count me in for tonight.”
“Good.”

The fifteen minutes had flown, and Daniel was already making his way into the dojo again.

“Ready for the second round, everyone?”

Samantha stood up and assumed a fighting stance, and Robby did the same a second later. Daniel
looked at his students with pride; maybe there were only two of them so far, but he wouldn’t
change them for anybody else.

Johnny saw her outside, standing on the sidewalk with her back turned towards the glass door of
Cobra Kai. A completely still silhouette in a fitted green dress that reached just above her knee; no
silly pants this time. He couldn’t see much of her legs... but it was nice to finally know she had
legs.

Rattler had gone into the dojo alone, running like always. The girl was completely unable to stand
still, except when all the kids fell in line and she stood in the middle of them, upright like a little
soldier. She ran by him with a quick ‘hi, Sensei’, and Johnny didn’t even have a chance to ask if
Kate was with her.

But there she was, right at his door. With her preppy airs and her tight green dress and her legs.

She checked her watch once and started to walk away, and Johnny stepped out to follow her.

“Scared to go inside, Kate?”

“It’s a nest full of cobras, any sane person would be scared”, she answered, turning towards him.
“But I said I’d give you time and space to think, remember? I'm just keeping my word.”

“Yeah, I’ve had enough time. The longer I wait, the more money I lose every month. Let’s do it.”

Her right eyebrow arched in mild surprise. “Okay, then... we have a case. I talked to one of my
associates this morning, and he thinks it will be easy to win. You can come to my office one of
these days and we’ll start planning everything; this is going to be my first civil case in Los
Angeles, and I don’t want to leave it to chance.”

Johnny hesitated. A lawyer’s office wasn’t exactly his favorite place to be.

“Exactly how easy are we talking about? I don’t want any surprises.”

She grinned, with the air of sufficiency of the girl who knew all the answers in class.

“What I didn’t tell you the other day, because I didn’t know it myself, was that some of my
colleagues are very familiar with Armand Zarkarian. Last year my firm won a couple of cases
against him for illegal eviction, and he’s got another pending case for a poorly maintained
apartment building in North Hills. Turns out your landlord is a real piece of work.”

“Bastard”, Johnny grunted. “But this wasn’t his idea.”

“What do you mean?”

“Somebody tricked him to do it, to force me to close Cobra Kai.” He made a long pause, as if
deciding if it was worth telling her. “I don’t have any proof, but the man behind the whole rent
 thing was Daniel LaRusso.”

Kate narrowed her eyes and tried to think. “I’ve heard that name before. No, wait. I’ve… I’ve seen
that name before. Who’s Daniel LaRusso?”

“Look over there.”

Her eyes followed the motion of Johnny’s arm, towards the row of advertisement signs on the
other side of the road.

“The man with his leg sticking out of that billboard conspired with Zarkarian to ruin your
business?”

“Right.”

A half-smile danced on Kate’s lips for a second. She looked at Johnny again, saw the fire in his
eyes and decided it wasn’t a joke.

“I have the feeling that this is going to be a long story.”

“You have no idea how long.”

It was hot on the street, even hotter than the previous week. Kate felt suddenly flustered, maybe
because they were standing in the sun… or maybe it was something else, something she couldn’t
put her finger on. She brushed her hand across the back of her neck, took a deep breath and made a
decision.

“Can you be at my office tomorrow at nine? The address is in the card I gave you.”

“I’ll be there. Thank you, Kate.”

Johnny offered her a firm handshake; a handshake that lasted a second more than necessary and
made her feel like that time in high school when a hot senior boy had called her ‘darling’. She took
a step back, retreating towards her car without taking her eyes off the man in the black gi.

“Goodbye… Johnny. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He heard the slight quivering in her voice and went back into the dojo, smiling to himself.

It had been a very long time since the last time he’d made a woman shiver.

Chapter End Notes

Wow, that was long! Sorry, but I had to include many things in this chapter and I
didn't feel like cutting any of the scenes. I especially had a blast writing that
conversation between Miguel and Johnny. It was hard to get them talking, at first, but
Miggy is my precious cinnamon roll and I needed to give him a proper scene.
Thank you all for the love and the reviews, especially the LawRusso shippers who are
giving a chance to something that's not entirely their cup of tea. This fandom is the
best.
 Eloquence
Chapter Summary

Kate gets a visit at the office and learns a couple of uncomfortable truths. Miguel goes
to the café for a milkshake and some humble pie.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 5 - ELOQUENCE

Eloquence: 1. discourse marked by force and persuasiveness. Also, the art or power of using such
discourse.
2. also, collective noun: an eloquence of lawyers.

The phone on Kate’s desk rang only once before she hurried to get it. It was exactly ten minutes to
nine; she had been checking the time once and again. Not that she was anxious or anything like
that... she just liked to be prepared when she faced a new case. At least, that’s what she had been
telling herself since she’d arrived at the office at eight.

She picked up the phone and cleared her throat.

“Hello, Sally.”

“Good morning, Kate. There’s a Mr... Lawrence here to see you”, sounded the slightly patronizing
voice of her secretary. “You have him scheduled for nine, shall I tell him to wait?”

“Send him in, please. Oh, and bring us some coffee.”

She smoothed out the front of her dress and waited until the door opened and Johnny came in.

“Good morning”, Kate greeted him with a friendly smile.

It suddenly dawned on her that it was the first time she saw him in street clothes instead of his
black gi. He wore jeans and a dark red Henley, nothing outrageous… but in the suited-up
atmosphere of the Powell and Morgan offices, any man in casual clothes stuck out like a sore
thumb.

He took a look around him and whistled. “Nice cave you have here.”

“The perks of being in a new building with lots of room to spare. You should see my boss’s office,
it’s like a football field. But please, sit down. I’ve asked Sally to bring us some coffee, so we can
start going over your case.”

He left his briefcase on the floor and took a seat. “A bit snooty, your secretary. I think she doesn’t
like me.”

“Oh, she’s new, don’t worry. Anybody who’s not wearing Armani is not human to her.”
As if responding to a silent call, the aforementioned secretary appeared, carrying a tray with coffee
and a plate of cookies. She left it on a side table without even looking at Johnny.

“Will there be anything else, Miss Williams?”

“No, thank you, Sally. Please hold my calls for a couple of hours.”

“Thanks, doll”, Johnny clipped. Sally’s lips pursed in an arrogant pout, and Kate had to cover her
mouth with her hand to avoid laughing.

“That was mean”, she said when the secretary left. “Now she’s going to hate you forever, poor girl.
So… did you bring a copy of your lease documents?”

Johnny opened the briefcase and took out an assortment of papers. Kate spread them out on the
desk and started leafing through several of them at the same time.

“Okay, the rental agreement looks fine… Blueprint of the premises, good. Conditions, pretty
standard… Ah, here’s the part we don’t like. Notice of rent increase and modifications of the lease
conditions. Let me see...” She frowned and kept reading in silence while Johnny fretted in his
chair, hoping for good news but expecting bad ones.

She finally lifted her eyes off the lease papers, and Johnny raised an eyebrow.

“Well?”

“Well, indeed! This rent increase goes straight against half a dozen sections of the Affordable
Housing Act; there’s absolutely nothing in here that is legal, we could drive to court tomorrow and
win this without even getting out of the car.” She got up, reached for the coffee tray and brought it
to her desk. “It won’t be that fast, of course. Last year the state of California created a special court
branch for cases like this, so if we’re lucky we can have this solved in one or two months. If not,
well… six months could be a good estimate. Fingers crossed.”

Johnny nodded, still not completely sure. “Is there anything I can do to speed things up?”

“Oh, you’ve done more than enough already. All the other businesses in the tenants association
have already agreed to give me power of attorney to represent them. How did you get all of them to
say yes on the first try? Some people don’t want anything to do with lawyers, even if it’s for their
own good.”

“I talked to Gladys first”, answered Johnny with a crooked smile. “She made sure all the others
signed in, don’t ask me how. I think she offered them free cupcakes for a year or something like
that.”

“Oh, that woman is a force of nature.” She put aside the papers and reached for her cup of coffee,
adding lots of sugar but no milk. Johnny did the same, but with milk and no sugar.

“Now is when this meeting becomes potentially boring for you”, continued Kate. “I’m going to
explain the whole process in detail, so you’re well informed of all the steps we’re going to take.
You’ve probably seen many criminal cases on television; civil cases are a little bit different and not
that exciting. But first… yesterday you were telling me something about that LaRusso guy, the one
who sells cars? I’ve noticed there’s publicity of his dealership pretty much everywhere, but I don’t
see the point where his business and yours collide.”

Johnny left his coffee on the desk and tensed up.

“You don’t see it because it’s not business, Kate. This is personal. It has been personal for thirty-
four years.”

She put her elbows on the desk and looked him right in the eye.

“I’m listening.”

There were only two types of milkshakes that Miguel Diaz ever ordered at the Café the France.
And Gladys, the devoted owner, could guess which one the boy would want just by looking at his
face. On a good day, it was strawberry yogurt. On a bad day, when the kid was moody and
downcast, he always fell into the sweet embrace of dark chocolate and cherries.

There had been a lot of chocolate and cherries milkshakes in Miguel’s life for the last few weeks.
And, as soon as the woman saw him cross the door of the café, she started making him one of
those. With extra cherries.

The boy sat at his usual table, alone and practically glued to his phone. That was normal. No, the
unusual bit was him looking at the door every thirty seconds. Gladys greeted him with a smile and
placed the milkshake on the table, and Miguel reached for it like a dying cowboy gripping his last
shot of whiskey.

“Thanks, Gladys”, he muttered, with his nose buried in the screen again.

“Are you expecting company today, sweetheart?” she asked in a kind voice.

The boy lifted his black eyes towards her with a pitiful stare. “I’m not sure.”

The woman gave him another compassionate smile and returned to the little kitchen at the back of
the café. She didn’t hear the door open again, nor did she see the pretty brunette girl who came in
and sat in front of Miguel with a stern look on her face.

“Well, here I am”, said the girl. “You better make it quick, I have lunch with my mom in less than
an hour.”

“Hi, Sam.”

The boy’s voice sounded so dejected that Sam’s heart skipped a beat, and she hated herself for that.
He cleared his throat a couple of times before trying to speak again.

“I… I don’t know how to start. I guess the first thing I should say is that I’m sorry. Again.”

“Yeah, you already said it in your message. And at the tournament, before becoming some kind of
Terminator. I’m going to need more than that.” She willed her voice not to shake with a heroic
effort.

“Sam, I know I fucked up. Excuse the language, but there’s no other word. What we had was…
something really special, and I fucked up because I was jealous, because I thought you were
ashamed of me.”

“Ashamed of you? God, Miguel, what could possibly make me be ashamed of–?”

“Hello, sweetheart, and welcome to the Café de France!” chirped Gladys’s voice all of a sudden,
excited at the sight of her favorite sad boy finally sharing his time with a girl. “My name’s Gladys.
Would you like some Italian coffee, or maybe a milkshake?”

Sam stared at the woman with furtive curiosity. She looked like the waitress from Grease, if you
squinted, only with more pink frills adorning her apron.

“I’ll have a cappuccino, please. Thank you.”

“Of course, dear.”

When she was sure the waitress couldn’t hear her, she turned to Miguel again.

“Ashamed. Really?” her voice sounded extremely irritated and shrill, and she put her hands in her
lap to hide the fact that they had started shaking. “When did I ever give you a reason, any reason,
to think that?”

“I read all the cues the wrong way. I didn’t want to mistrust you, but… you lied to your parents
about me, right? Said I was just your lab partner.” He still sounded apologetic, but his pride moved
him to defend his actions. “I told you my Mom and my Yaya wanted to meet you, but you never
accepted the invitation. Then I went to your house one night and… I saw Keene having dinner with
you.”

Sam let out an exasperated huff. “What you think you saw and what you really saw are two
different things. I didn’t invite Robby to dinner, my Dad did. A family dinner. What was I
supposed to do, be rude to everybody and eat alone in my room because of what my jealous
boyfriend would think?”

“No, of course not. I…”, he answered between gritted teeth.

“And can you please explain the ashamed part?” she interrupted. “Because that’s something I
really can’t get my head around. Ashamed of what?”

“Of where I live. Of how poor I am. Ashamed of…” he saw one of Sam’s pale hands resting on the
table, and he planted his own tawny hand beside it. “Of this, Sam. Don’t you see it?”

She moved her hand a fraction of an inch, towards his, so that their fingers were barely touching.

“I see it perfectly clear, but I never thought it would be an obstacle between us.” Her voice
softened, as if the barely there skin contact had awoken something in her. “You really feel I’m so
superficial?”

“No, of course not”, he said, shaking his head. “But your parents don’t think the same. You said
your dad was right about Cobra Kai, you believed all the bad things he said about me and my
Sensei. You thought my dojo was like the source of all evil or something. I want to prove to you
that’s not true.”

“I know what I saw at the tournament, Miguel. You were so… so angry and ruthless. You scared
me. And I know you were not like that before, can’t you see how your Sensei has changed you?”

“I changed because I needed to change”, he insisted, without much conviction. “Maybe I shouldn’t
have been so hard on Keene at the tournament. I swear I didn’t realize he was so badly injured until
the third point. But… but if I had been injured instead, he could have taken advantage of that and
nobody would have thought less of him, right?”

“Didn’t your Sensei tell Eli to injure Robby at the semifinals?”

“Of course not!” he said, indignant. “Look, Sam… Hawk is out of control. He’s been acting up for
weeks, even before the tournament. But Sensei Lawrence would never tell him to fight without
honor. Never. What Hawk did to Keene was disgraceful.”

Sam sipped her cappuccino and stared at Miguel, trying to read his intentions.

“Are you okay with being nice to Robby now that you won? Is that it? Some kind of… sick sense
of superiority?”

Miguel bit her lip, doubtful. “If it means so much to you, I’ll apologize to Keene. I’ll even try to
become friends with him… I don’t like him, and I think I’ll never like him. But for you, I’ll do it.
Even if it kills me inside.”

He looked directly in the girl’s eyes, hoping his overly dramatic words sounded as sincere as he felt
them, and Sam's defenses began to crumble under that look.

“Miguel, I don’t believe Cobra Kai is the source of all evil. My Dad’s issues are not my own. I still
don’t like that you train there, but... if I’m cool with Aisha being a Cobra, and with Moon dating
Eli, I should be fair and be cool with you too.” She took a deep breath and continued. “I won’t
force you to be friends with Robby, or with anyone else. He’s my friend, and now we train together
at my Dad’s dojo... and that’s all there is between Robby and me. I can’t make you trust me or
believe me, but I’d really appreciate it if you did.”

“I trust you”, he whispered. “I won’t doubt you again, Sam. I just want to go back to what we had
before.”

“You understand it will take time for me trust you again, right? Last year I trusted too many
people, and I got hurt too many times.” The boy still hadn’t moved his hand from the tabletop, and
she brushed her fingertips against his. “It would be so easy for me to go back to before… but I
can’t. I’ve decided not to date anyone for the rest of the Summer. These months are for myself, my
training and my friends. I need to keep my head clear, and that means I can’t give you what you
want.”

Her voice was firm and confident, and Miguel knew this time no amount of asking or begging
would make her change her mind.

“I can live with that. We’ll hang out with Aisha and the others, like we did last year. I swear I won’t
ask you to be more than a friend this time, Sam. I won’t disrespect you like that unless you tell me
you want something more.”

“Good. I’d really like this Summer to be free of drama, I already have enough with my Dad and
your Sensei being at war. We don’t have to follow them to the battlefield. Oh, I wish we’d had this
talk weeks ago.... But what’s past is past, and now we have two whole months ahead of us until
school starts again, right? I really want these months to be good.”

A shy smile appeared on Miguel’s lips, at last.

“Thank you, Sam. Thank you for hearing me out and give me a chance to explain myself.”

Suddenly, the annoying sound of an alarm came from the girl’s phone.

“My God, look at the time! My Mom is going to kill me if I’m not there in time for lunch.” She
stood up and opened her purse, but Miguel made a sign for her to stop.

“Coffee’s on me, Sam. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you around, right?”

“Right. And, Sam…”

“Yes?”

“Please tell your parents about me this time, tell them what happened. I’m sick of
misunderstandings too.”

“I will. As soon as I can see a good moment to tell them, I promise I will. Goodbye, Miguel, see
you soon.”

The boy saw her leave the café and get into her car. He sat down again with a smile dancing on his
lips, feeling lighter and more optimistic than he had felt in weeks. He went to take a sip of his
drink, but he realised his glass was completely empty.

“Gladys?”

“I’m here, sweetheart. Another milkshake?”

“Yes, please… and make it strawberry yogurt.”

“You painted what on his billboard?”

Kate had already explained all the details of the lawsuit; that took her about an hour. Then the topic
shifted to Johnny’s story, and it took longer because it was a long and messy one. After a hesitant
start, he’d shared a disorganized tale of his feud with Daniel LaRusso: the beginnings with Ali, the
fight at the beach, the shower thing, the All Valley tournament… and then the time jump of thirty-
four years, the story of how he had met Miguel, confronted the boy’s bullies and reopened Cobra
Kai.

Johnny was careful not to mention Robby. Or Kreese’s visit. He was trying to be thorough, but he
also imagined there was a limited number of things Kate would be able to endure without freaking
out. Women always freaked out when they heard things they didn’t like.

Kate, on the other hand, listened intently at everything Johnny said… and at the same time tried to
solve the puzzle of what he wasn’t saying. She didn’t think he was lying, but her experience told
her that no client told the whole truth, at least not so soon. The first interview worked more or less
like a first date: the clients always thought that if they put out too soon their lawyer would take
advantage of them.

When he started with the story of the billboard graffiti his tone changed, and he flashed a devilish
smile at her.

“It was an accident.”

“An accident? What, you tripped and fell on a can of spray paint?” she snapped, trying very hard
not to laugh.

“Look, I’d had a bit to drink that night. And I’m sorry, but...”

“You’re not sorry at all. You’re proud of what you did.” This time she had to make a pause,
because she had started laughing against her will. “It was a childish thing! And it’s probably the
reason why that man manipulated Zarkarian to raise your rent. You poked a bear, Johnny, and you
got mauled by it.”

“LaRusso’s no bear. A weasel, maybe.”

“The animal is irrelevant. But he seems vindictive enough to use all his power and his influence to
harm you... and when we get the raise reversed there’s a chance that he’ll be pissed off, so you
need to be careful.” She stopped to take some notes on her laptop and tried to look serious again,
without much success. “When’s the last time you saw him? Did he make any kind of threat?”

“At the tournament, last month. No threats, at least nothing specific.” His face became somber as
he spoke, like haunted by an invisible demon.

Kate was puzzled by Johnny’s reaction; Cobra Kai had won the tournament, what could be so bad
about it? She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but before she had time to speak the door
of her office opened with so much force that it almost hit the wall.

“Katey, darling, you won’t believe what Virginia from Finance told me this morning!”

It was Kevin, of course, barging into the room like the bull in the proverbial china shop. Kate
froze, surprised, and Johnny jumped to his feet and looked at the stranger with mistrust.

“And what did we say about knocking, Kev?” Kate said, in the same tone she used to reprimand
Rani when she misbehaved. She rolled her eyes and stared at her friend, irritated. “Really, you
never learn.”

The impeccably suited man stopped in his tracks and looked around him.

“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you had a client in here.”

The two men appraised each other carefully. For some reason, it reminded Kate of a scene in a
wildlife documentary about lions she had seen once. At last, Kevin made the first move, holding
out a hand.

“Kevin McMichaels. Kate’s business partner... and, nevertheless, friend.”

“Who never bothered to learn how to knock”, she added, still a bit annoyed at the interruption.
“Kevin, this is Johnny Lawrence. He’s the president of the tenants association at the Victory
Boulevard strip mall.”

Johnny shook Kevin’s hand and accompanied the gesture with a dry head tilt. From Kate’s point of
view, it looked like the kind of handshake that could break bones.

“Ah, yes, the strip mall rent case”, answered the lawyer, without losing his smile. “I’m glad we’ve
met; I’ll be giving Kate a hand with that one if she needs it. I’ve worked in a couple of lawsuits
against Zarkarian before, and his legal team is not exactly full of geniuses; this case should be a
walk in the park, right, Katey?”

“Right. We just went over all the paperwork and everything seems in order, so… thank you for the
visit, Kev. I’ll see you later, after I’ve got a first draft of the complaint.”

She tried to go back to the papers on the desk, but Kevin seemed reluctant to go away.

“Are you sure you don’t need help? Hey, what are you doing for lunch? We can have a burger at
The Stand and go over the complaint together.”
Kate let out a loud, impatient sigh. “No, thanks. I’ll just have a sandwich in the break room here, I
have too much work. Thank you, Kevin.”

In the long years of his friendship with Kate, Kevin had become a good interpreter of his friend’s
verbal cues. Two consecutive thank yous in two consecutive sentences could easily be translated to
‘get your ass out of here now, or else’.

“Well, you know where to find me”, he concluded, flashing his perennial smile at her. “Nice to
meet you, Mr. Lawrence.”

He turned around and left, closing the door behind him without a noise. Kate sat down again and
adjusted the screen on her laptop, as a silent cue to get back to business. Johnny sat back at the
desk too, but his fists were clenched so hard that he seemed about to punch something. Or
someone.

“I’m sorry for the interruption… He’s always like that, we’ve been friends for so long that he
forgets all about manners sometimes.”

“Yeah, that’s none of my business”, was the sharp and almost spiteful answer.

Kate could feel the animosity radiating off Johnny like a wave. There was a strange look in his
eyes again, a shadow of resentment and silent threat. It couldn’t be just because of the
interruption... but what other reason could he have for not liking Kevin? After so many years
working with men in grey suits who always smiled politely and spoke on the same leveled tone, it
surprised her to find someone like the man in front of her; someone who wore all his emotions on
his sleeve and didn’t give a damn if they could be read or not.

She hadn’t planned on telling him any stories about her life, but she knew she had to defuse the
tension somehow. Because, if Johnny got up and left, he would be too proud to come back.

“You know, there’s this really funny story about how Kevin and I met”, she started, in the most
gentle and casual tone she could manage.

“Funny how?” Johnny’s frown remained in place, and Kate went straight to the point.

“It was during my first month of college, at Notre Dame. My roommate had gone home for the
weekend, and I was alone in my dorm room, in bed, listening to some music. It was almost
midnight, and I had dozed off a little... when suddenly someone knocks on my door. Before I can
react, the door opens… with a bang, like it opened a moment ago, and I see this tall Black guy,
wearing only a teeny tiny towel that barely covered anything at all.”

She paused to take a sip of her coffee. Johnny remained very still, tense like a violin string.

“And then what?” he asked, bracing himself for what he expected to be a lewd story that he
probably didn’t want to hear.

“I screamed. Obviously. He screamed even higher, and then I realized he was just as surprised and
scared as me. To make things worse, the towel slipped off, Kevin kept screaming, I started
laughing... It’s a miracle we didn’t wake up the whole dorm. I don’t know where did I get the
reflexes, but I threw him one of the pillows on my bed so he could cover himself... it hit him right
in the face. And I just couldn’t stop laughing because the poor guy looked so lost and so
embarrassed!”

At last, Johnny cracked a little smile.

“Wait, he got the wrong room?”

“Oh, no, worse than that. He got the wrong floor . You see, ours was a mixed dorm: boys on the
even floors, girls on the odd ones. Turns out Mr. Towel was on his way to a booty call with the boy
in the room right above mine... he took a wrong turn on the stairs and lost count of the floors.”

That finally got Johnny laughing, visibly relieved. “What an idiot.”

“Exactly what I told him after he spent ten minutes apologizing. Then he went on his merry way,
to do... whatever he planned to do with the guy upstairs. The next morning, Kevin knocked again...
this time fully dressed, and he brought me a frappuccino and a flower. And the next evening, he
came to my room to introduce me to his boyfriend, with a bottle of wine in one hand and a box of
pot brownies in the other. By then my roomate had come back and the four of us spent the night
watching old movies, gossiping and laughing like idiots.”

Kate propped her chin on her hand, reminiscing with a smile.

“And that’s the story of how I met my best friend. We were inseparable during the four years of
college, went to Law School together, worked together... I really don’t know what I’d do without
him, and all that because the poor guy was so horny one Friday night that he couldn’t figure out the
floor where his boyfriend lived. Isn’t life weird?”

“Yeah, weird.” He bit his lip and looked at Kate with a nagging question in his blue eyes. “So...
you and him never...?”

“Oh, no! Not even by accident. The closest he’s ever been to hooking up with a girl was the
infamous Night of the Towel... and all he got from me that night was a pillow thrown to his face.”

Johnny leaned back on his chair, visibly relaxed. Whatever it had been the cause of the tension, the
crisis had been averted, and Kate felt it was time to go back to the subject of the meeting.

“So… you were telling me about Mr. LaRusso and the tournament last month. I’m guessing you
two had some kind of altercation?”

“You could call it that.” He looked at the woman in front of him, made a pause, and then made a
decision. “I already told you he has one student, the one who fought with Miguel in the finals.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve seen videos of that fight. Rani is completely obsessed with the tournament. She’s
watched all the videos a dozen times, I’ve had to limit her time on YouTube before she memorizes
every single move of every single combat. That boy in the finals… his name was Keene, right? Is
he LaRusso’s student?”

“Robby, Robby Keene.” Another pause, and Johnny’s words came out slowly, as if they were
painful to pronounce. “He’s my son.”

Many things passed through Kate’s mind in one second. The first was surprise. The second was a
slight embarrassment, as if she had eavesdropped and learned a secret that she wasn’t supposed to
know. The third one was the nagging feeling that she had foolishly stepped into a feud of thirty-
four years, and now that she had heard certain things there was no way of escaping from it.

She also found herself out of words... a condition that could be fatal in a lawyer.

“His mother and I haven’t been together since he was a baby, and he’s sixteen now”, Johnny
continued. “I don’t know what got into him, but a few months ago Robby got a job at LaRusso’s
dealership and started training with him.”
Kate took a deep breath. “Do you think… you think that man did it on purpose? To drive your son
away from you?”

“No, LaRusso had no idea, he only found out the day before the tournament. I think Robby started
working with him just to get back at me… and the rest was just one of those situations where shit
starts piling up and hits the fan.” Johnny shook his head and looked at his watch. “You probably
won’t care about all this stuff, it has nothing to do with… with the rent thing. And I’ve already
wasted too much of your morning.”

Kate pressed her lips together in a thin line. She felt unexpectedly furious. Furious at herself for
pushing Johnny to confess things he wasn’t comfortable with, at fate for making up all those
coincidences and messing with the life of a good man. Furious at that blasted car salesman for…
well, the list of things he’d done was getting longer and longer every minute. She picked up the
phone on her desk and pressed a button.

“Sally, I need you to reschedule my 11:30 meeting with Antony from Accounting, and keep
holding my calls until lunchtime, please. And call the deli, tell them to bring coffee and sandwiches
for two in half an hour. No, of course I can’t reschedule this. Antony will have to wait. Thank
you.”

She practically slammed the phone on the hook.

“Why did they give me a secretary who thinks she’s my damned babysitter?”

The not-quite-curse word was the strongest bit of profanity Johnny had ever heard from Kate’s
lips, and he couldn’t help smiling. “I told you she was snooty.”

“I’m really sorry about that”, she continued, in a more relaxed tone. “Look, Johnny, I don’t want
you to think that anything you have to tell me is a waste of time. If you consider it relevant, then it
is relevant, no matter if it’s completely related to the case or not... because this is something more
than a case to you, right? This was never about just the rent.”

He nodded in silence, and she continued, carefully choosing her words.

“I wish I could help you fix things with your son, but that’s not my area of expertise. I still have a
few years left before I have to deal with a teenager of my own. And I certainly can’t fix the… the
trainwreck that man LaRusso keeps leaving behind him. All I can do is listen, and assure you that
anything you say in this office will be kept strictly between us. And I can also be happy for you if
we win the case… no, not if. When we win the case, because we’re going to win it. So, now the
rest of my morning has been completely cleared. If there’s anything at all that you think I should
know... I’m all ears.”

It took Kate a while longer to reach the deep bottom of Johnny’s conflict with Daniel LaRusso.
And with Robby. It was painful for him to talk about his son, that was clear. And sometimes he
looked at her in a puzzling way, as if he wondered why he was confiding in a stranger. Then there
was that awful business with Johnny’s car, and LaRusso’s cousin and his friends setting it on fire.
Kate’s hands itched with the urge of calling one of his colleagues in the Criminal Law department
and make them lock up that guy Louie for a few years... but after a brief argument she ended up
promising to respect Johnny’s wishes and keep the matter under wraps.

It was lunchtime when the meeting ended, and she felt the beginnings of a headache drumming at
her temples.

“Well, you’ve certainly given me a thorough view of the situation”, she said, standing up and
turning off her laptop. “I’ll see you in a few days, when the complaint is ready to be filed. Until
then, don’t worry about anything. Life goes on.”

Johnny opened the door for her and followed her to the spacious foyer of the law firm.

“You’re not taking Rattler to Cobra Kai today?” he asked, worried that he had finally succeeded in
scaring her away.

“I’d love to, but I’m swamped with work”, she explained. “My sister-in-law is taking care of Rani
in the mornings until school starts, she and my brother live in Lake Balboa. He’ll drive her to class
this afternoon, I don’t want her to miss training just because I have to stay in the office all day.”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll see you around then. Thanks, Kate. For everything.”

Kate shook hands with him, flashed him a bright smile and went back in to the office, leaving him
in front of the row of elevators.

Johnny watched her walk away, wondering… Well, just wondering. She had stopped to speak to
one of the girls on the reception desk, and he took a long look at her from a safe distance. Thank
God she was wearing a dress and not those pants from the day he’d met her. Nobody in their sane
mind would hide a pair of legs like those from sight. And she was a clever little thing, too, clever
enough to explain the all the legal things to him without sounding pretentious.

He pushed the elevator button, closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed.

Johnny had never believed in fate. He believed in life throwing him curveballs and hitting him in
the face with them, because that’s what had been happening for longer that he could remember.
And now some twist of destiny had made this woman cross paths with him… This woman with her
perfect job, her perfect office, her perfect homo best friend and her perfect Indian daughter who
fought like a little devil. And her eyes, her perfect brown eyes that didn’t look at him with pity, or
disgust, or suspicion, or any of those other things he was so used to seeing in the eyes of women. It
was almost as if life had finally decided to give him some leverage.

Even if it was too good to be true, at least he could enjoy her talk and her company for a while.
Pity that he couldn’t enjoy... something else, he thought, taking another stealthy look at the
feminine figure under the fitted dress. But that would be crossing a line; besides, he was quite sure
she only fucked snobby idiots in suits. They all liked to fuck snobby idiots in suits, for some
reason.

Still, he kept staring at her from afar, until the elevator doors opened in front of him. There was no
harm in looking, right? She was hot, it would be a damn shame not to look.

Back in the office, Kate made a brief stop at the coffee machine. She had already lost count on
how many cups she’d had, and it was barely lunchtime.

She threw an irritated glare at Kevin, who had followed her sheepishly to the break room.

“Don’t be cross with me, Kate. I already apologized, you can stop giving me the cold shoulder. It’s
not like I ruined your meeting or anything, and it was an accident!”

“Accident my ass. You did that on purpose, bursting into my office with that lame excuse, just
because you were curious about him.” She shook an accusatory finger at her friend, but he just
laughed it out.

“Damn right I was curious! When the judge rules in his favour, your Mr. Lawrence is going to be a
local hero, I just wanted to meet him.” He made a pause and turned to look closely at Kate. “You
know, judging from your description I thought he was going to look like an ugly middle-aged army
sergeant, the kind of man who bellows at his troops all day.”

“And…?”

“And I admit I was completely wrong. He doesn’t look like a sergeant.”

“That will teach you to make assumptions.”

“He looks like the kind of man who makes the headboard bang against the wall so hard that the
paint cracks and the neighbors complain.”

Kate missed a step and had to lean on her friend’s arm. “What? Jesus, Kevin!”

“Come on, girl, don’t tell me the idea hasn’t crossed your mind.”

“There are many ideas that cross my mind every day, Kev. I can assure you that was not one of
them.”

“Really? You seemed very anxious to get me out of the way when I went to see you.”

“When you interrupted my meeting without even knocking, you mean. Kevin, you saw how hostile
he was when he saw you, of course I wanted you out of my office.” She looked out of the window
and sighed. “There was a very uncomfortable couple of minutes after you left. He doesn’t like you
very much. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was… but no, that’s completely absurd. And
yesterday, when I went to the dojo, we had a sort of… Oh, I don’t know how to call it.”

“Wow, wait there. You had a moment ?”

“Not even a moment, more like a millisecond. But it may have been just me. Or it may have been
the heat, we were in the sun.”

“Right. Blame the heatwave if it makes you feel better, girl, but–”

“He’s my client now, Kev”, she interrupted. “There can’t be and there won’t be anything else.”

Kevin stared at her friend, smirking. “My darling Katey, if you had seen the way your client was
looking at you before he went into that elevator, you would need a shower right now. A hot and
suspiciously long shower. But hey, how you conduct your business is... none of my business.”

“Brilliant! Keep telling yourself that. And the next time you feel curious about Johnny… or about
any of my other clients, you better knock first or I’ll tell Sally to ban you from my office. She’s like
a pitbull when it comes to guarding the door, I’m surprised she hasn't bitten anybody’s ankle yet”,
she joked. “Look, I’m not really angry with you. It’s just that… this case comes with a lot of
baggage, and I’m going to need some time to process everything. Preferably alone.”

With as much dignity as she could muster she turned around on her heels, went inside her office
and closed the door.
Later, much later that day, Robby got home from training at Miyagi-Do. It was almost midnight,
and he dropped his backpack on the couch with a tired sigh.

He went to the refrigerator to see if there was something to eat. A note taped to the door caught his
eye, and the boy recognized Shannon’s spidery handwriting; he didn’t even have to read it, he had
seen all the possible variations of that note along the years. I’m going to spend the night with a
friend, there’s mac and cheese in the fridge, we’ll do something together this week, I love you,
you’re my munchkin, see you tomorrow, and all that stuff. And a little pink heart, she always drew a
little pink heart at the end.

Robby grabbed the note and crumpled it in his hand. The surge of anger invaded him before he
could control it, and he threw the paper ball across the room.

He forced himself to breathe deep, to take his mind to a place of green forests and open skies; a
place where people cared about each other instead of drawing fucking little hearts on scraps of
paper. He closed the fridge door, went to his room and let himself fall flat on the bed. He wasn’t
hungry anymore.

After a couple of minutes of breathing exercises Robby felt calm enough to open his eyes again.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked his messages. There it was, the ever present
missed call notice. The reminder that someone was thinking of him, even if it was just for a few
seconds every other day.

Without giving himself time to regret it, he dialed the number and waited for the answer.

“Hi, Dad.”
Chapter End Notes

Another long chapter, these people really talk too much. I had fun writing Miguel
again, the poor boy is 99% drama queen and 1% lost puppy. And I finally can give
you a clue of what Kate, Rani and Kevin look like. The face claim for Kate is Amy
Acker, and Kevin has the face of the dashing Taye Diggs.

Thanks for the kudos and the reviews. I love my Cobras!

 Parenting
Chapter Summary

One father talks to his daughter, one father talks to his son, and the air is cleared a
little. Johnny learns two secrets about Kate: one funny, the other painful.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 6 - PARENTING

It was a strangely quiet Tuesday at the LaRusso Auto dealership. The wealthy population of
Encino was too busy planning their holidays, relaxing at the country club, or simply at home
hiding behind a curtain of freshly refrigerated air. Very few of them bothered to shop for a new car
in the middle of June.

Samantha parked her car outside and walked across the scorching pavement. Once in the
dealership, she went straight for her mother’s office. Daniel was also there, going over some
personnel files. And Robby was nowhere to be seen on the shop floor... which, for the purposes of
the conversation she wanted to have with her parents, was a relief.

“Sam, sweetheart!” Amanda greeted her. “I’m glad you haven’t forgotten about our lunch date this
week. Last Tuesday you almost didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry I was late last week, Mom… I know our mother-daughter lunch is important for you. I
went out for coffee that day, and I guess I lost track of time.”

“Went out for coffee?”, repeated Daniel with a surprised smile. “That sounds very mature and
sophisticated. Any day now you’ll tell me you’re going out for brunch and mimosas with the girls,
and then I’ll know I’m finally an old man.”

“No mimosas until you’re twenty-one, no matter what your father says”, reminded Amanda with a
wink. “So, where’s this place where coffee is so good that it makes you be late for your weekly
lunch with your mother?”

“It’s a lovely little place called Café de France; the waitress is like someone out of an old movie,
with a pink apron and a huge perm... and she makes the best cappuccino in the world.”

“So, things are great again with Aisha and Moon, right?” asked Daniel. “Is anybody planning a
special vacation? Your Mom was talking about going to Santa Catalina Island next month, it’s been
ages since we went on a family trip together–”

“Actually, I haven’t seen Moon for a while. I didn’t have coffee with them the other day, Dad,
that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. To both of you, so I’m glad I caught you together.”

Daniel lifted an eyebrow. “I see. So… any new boy I should worry about?” he asked, in what he
hoped was a lighthearted tone.

Sam took a long, deep breath, and forced herself to speak in a clear and calm voice.
“No, Dad. I was with Miguel.”

Amanda lifted her eyes off the paperwork and looked at her husband, who seemed on the verge of
a sudden breakdown. He got up from his seat and started pacing up and down the office without
saying a word for several seconds.

When he finally spoke, his voice sounded unusually shrill.

“Samantha, I… we… we talked about this!”

Sam observed her father’s face. He looked more hurt than angry, but the incensed LaRusso anger
was definitely there.

“No, Dad. You talked about this. I haven’t had a chance to say my piece yet… And I’d like to talk
about it with you now; or during lunch if you want to come with Mom and me. But I really think it
should be today, I’ve been looking for a chance to talk to you all week, and it can’t wait any
longer.” Her eyes flashed with the same righteous fury that Daniel displayed sometimes.

Like father, like daughter, thought Amanda. And both of them equally bullheaded.

She took it upon herself to play referee, like she had done countless times before.

“I think it will be better if we all sit down and talk about this peacefully, before any of you says
anything you can regret. Or before I have to reach for the defibrillator, honey”, she said to Daniel,
“because you look like you’re going to have a heart attack any second now.”

She drew up a chair for Sam, went to the water fountain and filled up three glasses. Then she sat
down, presiding the table, and gave a meaningful stare at her husband, who had resumed the
nervous pacing.

Sam sat close to her mother and looked at her for encouragement. This was going to be harder than
she expected.

“Mom, Dad… First of all, just so we're clear: I’m not dating Miguel again, okay?”

She swore she had seen her father flinch when he heard the boy’s name.

“The truth is, I don't want to date anybody for a while. But last week he texted me to apologize,
and he seemed sincere. And... Dad, I really can’t talk to you if you’re walking up and down the
office and looking at me like I’ve committed a crime. I need you to sit down and listen, and if
when I’m finished you still want to be angry with me, I’ll understand. Please...?”

Daniel stopped and nodded, still too unsettled to speak. He finally decided to sit at the desk, and he
grasped his glass of water with both hands.

“Thank you, Dad.”

Sam took a long look at her parents. Amanda was smiling, but Daniel's frown told her that it would
take a lot of convincing to make him change his mind, even a little. She looked directly at her
father and started in a firm tone.

“I admit that last year I made several mistakes in a row. Dating Kyler was one of them; keeping
Miguel a secret from you was another.”

“At least we agree on Kyler”, said Daniel, with a disapproving frown.

Amanda put a warning hand on top of his. “Honey, please let her speak.”

“Dad… The reason I didn’t say anything about Miguel was because you were freaking out so much
about the whole Cobra Kai thing. I figured it would be the best, and I was wrong because he... he
thought I was ashamed of him. And the worst part is, I was a little ashamed. Not because he was
poor and Latino and lived in Reseda, but because of where he was training. You were so sure that
all the Cobras were monsters, that after you said it a few times I started to believe you.”

Her tone was pointed, almost accusing, and Daniel felt a tiny pang of guilt in the middle of his
irritation.

“Samantha, I only wanted the best for–”

“I know”, she interrupted him. “And I should have had this talk with you the first time I went on a
date with Miguel, instead of hoping things would sort themselves out, because that's when this...
this whole mess started.”

Her voice almost broke, and she had to stop talking and collect herself before going on. Amanda
placed a comforting hand on her daughter's arm, and the girl continued.

“I met Miguel at school last year. His family had just moved from Riverside. I didn't pay much
attention to him at first, because... that was when I was hanging out with Yasmine, and her friends,
and... Kyler. The first time I really talked to Miguel was when Yasmine gave me the cold shoulder,
and he was the only one who volunteered to be my lab partner... but I'm telling everything in the
wrong order. Sorry”, she said, shaking her head.

“Start again. And take all the time you need, sweetie”, encouraged Amanda. Daniel was still very
serious, and unusually quiet.

Samantha took a deep breath again, looked at Daniel, and resumed talking in the most calm and
collected tone she could find.

“Miguel’s family came to America, from Ecuador, right before he was born. He lives with his mom
and his grandma in a tiny apartment in Reseda, close to where you lived when you moved to the
Valley. He doesn’t have a dad. His mom is a nursing assistant, she works at a hospital… I don’t
know how many hours a day, but he says she always comes home very tired and awfully late.”

“Sounds like a normal boy so far”, interjected Amanda. “Go on, sweetheart.”

Sam continued; she had calmed enough, but her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

“At the end of last Summer, right before school started, Miguel had a clash with Kyler and his
friends at the mini-mart. They were trying to buy alcohol, and he blew their cover; that was the
first time they beat him up… the time his Sensei stepped in to defend him.”

I heard you beat up a bunch of teenagers in that parking lot out there.

Daniel felt his hair stand on end. Narrowing his eyes, he closed his hand in a fist and tried to
concentrate on Sam’s words and not on the remembered confrontation in his head.

“There were other times. The last one was in the boys’ locker room the night of the Halloween
dance. Kyler said something… awful about me, something I won’t repeat in front of you; Miguel
heard them and called them out.” She took a breath that sounded like a deep sigh and stared into
her father’s eyes. “They beat him with Lacrosse sticks, Dad, and they left him unconscious in the
locker room. They almost sent him to the hospital.”
Daniel’s face turned deathly pale... Pale like a skeleton. A group of boys ganging up against one at
a costume party was a situation he remembered too vividly. Amanda knew, of course, but he had
never told Sam about it; she had no way of knowing the harrowing memories that threatened to
return every year, every Halloween. No matter how many years had passed, every time a trick-or-
treating child appeared on his door dressed like a skeleton he had to pass the candy bowl to
Amanda and hide in the kitchen until his breathing returned to normal. And to make things worse,
he had been there this time... at the school, only a few yards away from the place where that boy
was inheriting his own personal nightmare; unable to hear the noise, the screams... the cries of
pain.

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on his palm, forcing himself to keep listening to his
daughter’s voice.

“Miguel had found someone who could teach him karate, and after he recovered he started training
harder and harder. Then I broke up with Kyler, and I found out he and his friends were spreading
awful lies about me at school. Miguel confronted them again, and… and this happened.”

She help up her phone in front of her startled parents so they could see the video of Miguel fighting
his bullies in the high school cafeteria. It barely lasted a minute, and none of them spoke until the
fight ended. It was a chaotic and noisy fight, several against one again... but this time the outcome
was different than in Halloween, and in the end every kid in the cafeteria cheered on the lanky
Latin boy.

“That's a really creative use of a food tray", observed Amanda.

“Let me see that again.”

Sam gave Daniel the phone and set the video on auto repeat. She knew he was going to analyze
every punch, every kick, like he always did when he witnessed a match.

“Miguel only learned karate because he needed a way to fight back when everybody was against
him”, she continued. “He took things a bit too far in the end because it’s the… the Cobra Kai way.
Yes, he was a jerk that day on the beach, and I still don’t trust him like I did before… but deep
down he’s not a bad boy. I really wish you could see that, Dad.”

“Well”, interrupted Amanda, “I happen to know a boy who went through a similar experience
when he came to the Valley for the first time. Ring a bell, honey?”

Daniel kept looking at the YouTube video that played on a continuous loop. “Now that you
mention it, this does bring back certain memories”, he said in an almost inaudible voice.

Amanda squeezed her husband's hand with affect. “Can we admit that maybe that Miguel boy is
not absolutely evil… and Robby not absolutely good?”

Daniel lifted his eyes from Sam’s phone. “Excuse me? Why are you bringing up Robby now?”

“Because it’s about time you have a serious conversation with him, too”, said his wife. “A
conversation that you’ve been putting off because he’s been injured. You already know he lied
about his age on his resumé, that’s not important, but... last week while he was on sick leave he
came to me and confessed a few other things from his past, things he’s kept hidden from you so
far. Things he never told you because he was afraid you’d be angry with him. I asked him to wait,
because it was too early after the tournament, and I was sure you would overreact… I thought it
would be better to let the situation cool off a little.”
“Things from his past... What things ? How can a sixteen year old have a past? And why is
everybody keeping secrets from me?”

“And that’s what I meant by overreacting! Please don’t get all defensive with me, babe; it’s better
if you talk to Robby. You know, man to man. He trusts you, I know he won’t lie to you this time.”

At last, the combined intervention of his wife and daughter seemed to have an effect on Daniel.

“Well, I can’t fight against the two of you. I surrender.” He loosened the knot of his tie, and looked
at Sam with half a smile. “Sam, I admit I may have judged that boy too harshly, but there are still
things I don’t like about him. A lot of things.”

“About him or about his dojo?” Sam asked.

“There’s no difference. God knows I’m not a fan of Cobra Kai. But since you’ve handled this in a
very mature way, and you say that boy is only a friend… Well, I’ve always considered myself a
reasonable man, and I trust you with your choice of friends. For now.”

Samantha jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around Daniel in a giant hug.

“Thanks, Dad! That’s everything I needed. You know there’s nothing I hate more than being a
disappointment to you.”

“I may be disappointed in some of your decisions, sweetheart... but never in you.” At last, Daniel
cracked a genuine grin. “You know, I think I’m going to accompany you two to lunch. Just to
make sure you and your mother don’t join forces and spend the afternoon talking rubbish about
me.”

“As if we ever did that!” answered Amanda with a laugh.

“Isn’t that the whole purpose of that mother-daughter lunch you’ve suddenly invented this year?”

“Lies”, laughed Amanda. “All we usually talk about is clothes and TV personalities. And if we get
some family gossip in the middle of that, don’t worry… you’ll never find out.”

Seeing that the situation had returned to the normal banter between her parents, Sam got up,
recovered her phone and headed towards the door.

“Look, I know you’re both really busy now, so I’m going to call Moon while you finish with your
work. She texted me that she wants to borrow a dress for a date and I’m not sure which one she
meant… Anyway, don’t worry about me, I’ll wait for you on reception. See you in a moment.”

Daniel saw her leave, surprised. Ten minutes before he had been expecting tears, dramatic scenes,
maybe a scream match… anything but a calm and collected little woman calling him on his bias
and getting him to change his mind about things. Only a little, but it was a change.

“When did our daughter suddenly become a responsible adult? Yesterday after dinner?” he asked
Amanda, who seemed to be having way too much fun with the situation.

“Heartbreak makes people grow up, my love. I think Sam is getting there, slowly. She made many
good points today, and I’m proud of her. I like that she can consider a problem from several angles
and make a reasonable decision.”

“She must have gotten that from you”, he pouted.

“Of course she did get it from me, you stubborn man.” Amanda took a peek out of the glass walls
of her office. Seeing that none their employees were looking their way, she put her arms around her
husband’s neck and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

From the other side of the store, Sam held her phone to her ear and saw her parents kissing. Letting
out a sigh of relief, she let herself fall on one of the reception chairs and waited for Moon to answer
her call.

“Hi, Sensei!”

The little girl passed by him like a blur in the direction of the locker room. Like every afternoon,
Rattler was early. Only Miguel showed that dedication to karate practice, and not even every day;
the rest of the kids got to Cobra Kai right on time, or even a couple of minutes late.

Johnny didn’t bother looking at the door. Every day, for more than a week, Rattler had gone into
the dojo alone. Outside, instead of Kate, there were the people who Johnny assumed to be the girl’s
uncle and aunt: a tall man with dark hair and a reasonable likeness to his sister, or a Latina woman
in an SUV with two toddlers in it. They never went inside Cobra Kai, so Johnny hadn’t had a
chance to talk to them. Not that he would know what to talk to them about, in the first place.

With an exasperated huff, he went back inside his office, hoping to pass the time with a beer until
the rest of the kids arrived. He went to the mini fridge, opened the door… and then he saw that
Rattler hadn't arrived on her own that day. Someone had returned.

She’s been in the sun, he thought as he approached her. She’s got a tan. Damn my luck.

Just what he needed to crush the... ideas he’d started having almost every night. That face and
those legs with a golden tan. And why didn’t she just go into his office and say hello? Why did she
stand like that in the middle of the mat, like a statue?

“Hey”, he said when he was finally beside her. “I was starting to think I’d never see you again.”

“We went to my brother’s for the weekend. His swimming pool is bigger than ours, and Rani
wanted to spend time with her cousins. And the office has been insane these days, I couldn’t even
pick her up after your class.”

“To what do I owe the honor, if you’re so busy?” He tried, and failed, not to sound irritated. He
was mad at her schedule, not at her.

“I just wanted to tell you in person that I sent the complaint to Zarkarian, and his lawyers have
answered. Not exactly a nice answer, so we’ll probably end up in court soon.”

She looked at the wall while she talked, staring at the Cobra Kai motto printed in big black letters.
Her eyes were fixed on the bottom line.

No Mercy.

“Has this motto always been the same?”

Johnny tried to remember a time when those words hadn’t been present in Cobra Kai. There just
wasn’t one. “The same since I’ve known it, and it’s been decades. I don’t see any problem with it”,
he added, a bit on the defensive.
Of course he knew exactly what was wrong with it; but he’d rather cut off his right arm than
admitting it out loud.

“You don’t have to make excuses, Johnny”, she said in a calm voice. “I’m not trying to tell you
how you should teach, that’s entirely up to you. I’ve never been a violent person, but it’s inevitable
to get hurt when you do martial arts. I played roller derby in high school, and my legs looked like a
map of bruises and scratches after every practice… but I was perfectly happy with it. Besides, no
matter what this wall says, I know you’d never allow Rani to get seriously hurt.”

“How are you so sure?”

“She tells me everything that happens during training. Who spars with whom, who wins every
combat, how many tries does it take each kid to break a board... Every day over dinner I hear every
one of your words, repeated. By the way, and I don’t mean this as a criticism... but Rani has
learned some very colorful phrases lately, that I’ve asked her not to repeat. I understand this is a
very... male environment and that all the other children are older than her, but maybe you could
rethink your choice of curse words a little.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll try. But why do you interrogate your poor kid like that?” asked Johnny, genuinely
surprised.

She was looking at him again, instead of the wall, and for some reason she looked sad. No, not
sad... hurt. Good God, women were just a pile of emotions that made no sense; why was she like
that all of a sudden?

“Did I ever told you that Rani took ballet for a year when we lived in San Francisco?”

“You didn’t, but I could have guessed by some of her moves. But what does it have to do with–?”

“The first year was great, she had a wonderful time”, she interrupted him. “I mean, she was only
six years old, of course I didn’t expect her to end up in the Royal Ballet. But then, on her second
year at the dance school, a new teacher arrived, and Rani changed. She didn’t want to go to class,
she acted up at school, she was rude to me… she even started having nightmares. I almost made
myself sick with worry for weeks and weeks, until I could find out what was wrong.”

“Go on”, encouraged Johnny.

“Turns out her new teacher took ballet very seriously. Or, at least, her idea of what ballet should
be.” She made a pause and took a deep breath, her voice trembling with rage and disgust. “Every
day, for the space of two months, Rani had to listen to her teacher telling her, in front of the whole
class, that she was too brown and too ugly to be a ballerina.”

She kept her eyes fixed on the wall, with a stare so hard and cold that even Johnny felt it. He also
felt a wave of anger coursing through him, but he didn’t say anything. Nothing he could say would
be enough to undo the words some idiotic woman had said to a little kid.

When Kate looked at him again, her whole body was shaking with rage.

“Rani was so scared and so ashamed that she didn’t say anything at home, and it took me too long
to realize what was happening. Two whole months! There are very few ways one can be a good
parent, Johnny... and lots of ways one can make a mess of things. I was careless, I trusted that the
other adults in my daughter’s life wanted the best for her exactly like I did, and I was so wrong.
And the result could have been terrible for her.” She closed her right hand in a fist, a fist so tight
that Johnny could practically feel her nails digging into the flesh of her palm. “So yes, I’m going to
ask Rani to tell me absolutely everything, until she gets to the phase of rebellious teen and stops
sharing things with me.”

“I hope you went to the school and gave that whore a run for her money”, he spat. It wasn’t the
most brilliant answer to the situation, but it was the first thing he could think of.

“Oh, she won’t be teaching in any Conservatory or any other official school for many years, I made
sure of that”, Kate said, bitterly. “But the damage was done, it took months for Rani to return to
normal again. That’s when I decided that she needed an activity where nobody would care about
the way she looked, something that would let her have enough confidence to defend herself. That’s
when I started taking her to karate lessons.”

She was now pacing up and down the room, her heels making that loud clicking noise that had
become almost familiar for Johnny.

“I’ve never seen you angry before”, he observed.

“I don’t have a lot of chances to get angry in my normal life, Johnny. Work is work, you can’t lose
your temper in front of a judge. And in the office... well, if a woman flips out in front of a male
colleague they all label her a bitch. You’re a man, you know what it’s like... When was the last
time you called some woman a bitch because she gave you a piece of her mind?”

“I don’t remember”, he answered, choosing to ignore the poisoned dart. “But if you ever feel like
blowing some steam and punching something... There's a dummy over there.”

“I may take you on that offer someday. Let go of some tension and just throw punches until I can’t
feel my arms anymore.”

She lowered her eyes to look at her hands, and Johnny followed her gaze out of instinct. Small,
delicate hands, with short red nails. Johnny just couldn’t imagine those hands punching a
dummy… or punching anybody, ever. Then a light went out in his head and he remembered one
little fact from earlier in the conversation.

“Wait a minute... you played roller derby in high school? And you say you don’t like violence? I
saw a few matches back in the day, those roller chicks were crazy!”

“We wore protective padding! And we were all girls, it’s different.”

“Girls can be more vicious than boys in a fight. Just look at Aisha… and Rattler. But hey, it’s nice
to know there’s a hidden wild side to you.”

“Well, we all have parts of our past that we’d like to keep hidden”, she admitted with a coy smile.
“Let’s just say that I let out a lot of my teenage frustrations on the track. I wasn’t exactly a queen
bee in high school, and at least in roller derby there were some popular girls who didn’t mind
having me around... as long as I could block.”

“That sounds really cool”, he said, still trying to get into his mind the idea of Kate as a fierce roller
girl. “And… I know Rattler tells you everything, but I want you to know that all the kids are equal
in Cobra Kai. I don’t tolerate that kind of nonsense in my dojo.”

She finally seemed to relax a little, and she even smiled at him.

“I know. You’re an equal opportunities Sensei. That’s why Rani is having such a great time here.”

Right in that moment Miguel and Aisha came through the door, with Virgin behind them. It was
almost time for class, and Kate checked her watch.

“Well, I have to go. My brother will pick up Rani after class, so I probably won’t see you again in a
few days. Thank you... for listening to my maternal neuroses.”

“I won’t charge you for the therapy session.”

That finally got a laugh out of her, and she walked towards the exit, with Johnny following. He
held the door open for her, and seized the opportunity to ask one final question.

“Kate?”

“Yes?”

“You haven’t told me your derby name.”

She seemed amused and embarrassed at the same time. “Oh, no. Nice try, but... no. I’m not telling
you that, not even under torture. Goodbye, Johnny.”

She was gone before he could decide if the answer was a challenge or not, and he waited until she
was too far away to hear his next words.

“We’ll see about that, roller girl.”

Danger on Wheels.

Little Miss Pain. Wacky Williams. Krazy Kate.

Johnny shook his head and chuckled to himself. None of those were right. None of those suited her.

The thought of someone as poised and civilized as Kate strapping on some skates and rolling at all
speed on a crowded track was so surprising to Johnny that it had been on his mind all afternoon.
That, and the fucking derby name she wouldn’t reveal. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get the
idea out of his head until he’d found out.

Not that he had anything else to do in that particular moment. He was sitting under the cold and
sterile lights of a Taco Bell in Roscoe Boulevard, waiting.

Waiting for Robby.

The boy was ten minutes late, and if he managed to be only ten minutes late it would be a new
punctuality record for him. But Johnny had driven from Reseda to North Hills right after class, and
he had been sitting there for almost an hour.

He didn’t know exactly what he was going to tell his son when he arrived, but at least they would
be talking, and that was a start.

He had ordered a couple of tacos and a Coke. Not beer, for once. At least not in front of Robby, he
thought. Now that he considered it calmly, maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to drink in front of
Miguel, either. The world had changed so much that a man couldn’t give a teenage kid a drink to
ease his pass into adulthood anymore. No wonder they all turned out like pussies.

He was lost in his inner ramblings about alcohol, misspent youth and generational change when
Robby arrived.
“Hi, Dad. Sorry I’m late.”

That was the first thing he noticed was different. Robby apologizing for being late? Was this his
son or some kind of changeling? The boy also looked older, and sadder, and he even gave him half
a smile when he sat at the table.

“No, thanks for coming, Robby, I… I needed to see you. How’s the shoulder?”

Instinctively, the boy’s hand flew to the injured area, as if he was checking if the splitting pain was
still there.

“Fine. I went to the doctor last week, he said I could go back to training. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

There was no point in delaying the inevitable, so Johny braced himself and just said it. “Look,
Hawk was an idiot at the tournament. And I’m the one who trained that idiot, so I’m responsible
for what he did to you. And I’m sorry.”

It was probably the longest sentence he had said to Robby in months; the boy stared at Johnny,
surprised.

“Dad, I don’t blame you for–”

“Well, you should. ‘No Mercy’ doesn’t mean fighting dirty, and I should have made the message
clear to Hawk. And to the others.”

He didn’t mention Miguel by name, although the boy’s turn to the dark had been on Johnny’s mind
for a while. But it wasn’t worth it, reminding Robby of the one who had kicked his ass on the mat
and snatched the trophy from him.

“Well, I agree with you on one thing, Dad: he’s an idiot. I probably shouldn’t have made fun of his
stupid hair, though… I’m not proud of that.”

“You should have seen him before he did that to his hair, he was a complete wuss. At least he’s got
a girlfriend now, I hope she’s able to fuck some sense into him.” He took a sip from his drink and
looked at Robby again, as if assessing all the changes, the ones he could see and the invisible ones.
“You showed some balls appearing at the tournament like that, without a dojo or a Sensei. I don’t
know if I would have been able to do that.”

A proud smile appeared on Robby’s face for a second. “I felt I had to do it, even if I was on my
own. I owed it to myself. I don’t know if that makes sense. And... I wasn’t alone in the final
match.”

“Right.”

The elephant in the room started running in circles around the table, and Johnny went straight for
it. “You’re training with him again.”

It wasn’t a question. There was no need for questions.

“Yes. He has a new dojo, at his old Sensei’s house. It’s only Sam and me so far, but Mr. LaRusso
says he’ll try to bring some more people after the Summer.”

“I remember his old Sensei. Tiny dude, but he fought like a whole army.”

“Yeah, there are pictures of him at the dojo, he seemed like a cool guy. Look, Dad, about Mr.
LaRusso…”

“I don’t want to hear about him.”

“Well, you’re going to hear this”, said Robby with a determined frown. “I started working for him
just to piss you off, and that was a dick move. But he is a great guy, Dad.”

“Especially compared to me, right?” Johnny asked with a bitter grimace.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Robby hid his face in his hands. “God, Dad, why is it always so difficult with you? Why does
everything have to be a fight, or… or a competition? I’m training with Mr. LaRusso, yes, and I
honestly think it’s a good thing. The only good thing that has happened to me in… I don’t know
how long. Can’t you just be happy for me and let me live my life?”

“Your life? Cool, go live your precious new life in Encino!” said Johnny between gritted teeth.
“And how much of that life does LaRusso know, eh? Does he know about your adventures with
your two little loser friends last year? How about you dropping out of school, and doing Molly?
Have you told mister pillar of the community that exactly one year ago you had one foot in juvie
and the other one on a banana peel?”

“No, I haven’t said anything to him! Not yet. I told Mrs. LaRusso a few things the other day, and
I’m trying to find a good moment to talk to him... But I guess you’re going to tell him first, right?
You just can’t wait to ruin everything good in my life!”

Now both of them were mirroring each other’s stance, bent forward with their hands on the table,
staring at each other in an angry stalemate. There was a hint of furious tears in Robby’s eyes. After
a few seconds Johnny recoiled a little, as if the boy had delivered punches instead of words. He
sighed and looked away.

“It’s not my secret to tell, Robby. And I’m not out to make life harder for you, no matter what you
think of me.”

The boy seemed to calm down a little. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Look… LaRusso may be a snobby jerk, but if training with him is good for you, then you should
keep doing it. I just wish you had come to me first.”

I did, thought Robby. I tried. But your fucking star student was there in my place.

“Yeah, it’s too late to change things now”, he answered. “But thanks for the offer. I saw the way
your guys fought at the tournament… it’s amazing what you did with that bunch of nerds in less
than a year.”

“I’m not sure how I did it. But yeah, it kind of worked. And I want to bring more kids to the dojo,
too... We already have another girl.”

“Really? Is she as badass as Robinson?”

“Badass and tiny. She’s eight.”

Robby looked at his father as if he was insane. “Eight? Jesus, Dad! How do you let her train with
all those older boys? She’s going to get hurt!”

Johnny flashed a proud smile at him. “You wouldn’t say that if you saw the kick to the shin she
gave Hawk today. I think he’s going to be lame for a week.”

“Why didn’t you start with that? If that girl is making Skunk Hair feel any kind of pain, I like her
already.”

Johnny smiled; he took mental note of the new nickname and made the decision of using it on
Hawk as soon as he could. He was glad the conversation had taken a lighter tone, especially
because of what he wanted to tell Robby next.

“Hey, I’m glad things are going great for you at work, but… you’re going back to school next
year, right? You’re too young to drop off.”

Robby’s face went serious again. “Listen, Dad, about school… it’s not really my thing. If I went
back I would have to repeat a grade, and that sucks. Everybody in my class will think I’m an idiot.”

“Not if you go to summer school and work hard until September. You’re not an idiot… and the
LaRusso girl is smart, I’m sure she could help you.” Johnny forced himself to speak in a calm tone;
he didn’t want to rile up Robby again. “What are your other options? Keep selling cars for the rest
of your life while all the kids with a college degree get better jobs than you? There has to be
something else you can do.”

“Selling cars is a good job, as good as any other. And it’s something I can finally do well.” Robby
bit his lip, debating if he should say what was on his mind. There was still a remnant of cruelty in
him, of his old resentment towards Johnny, and before he realized he had already blurted out the
words: “Besides, you’re one to talk! Mom says you dropped out of college because you were too
fucking lazy and you partied all day for a year until your grades were so bad you had to leave. Who
are you to give me lessons in education?”

Johnny closed his eyes. A shadow passed over his face; a painful shadow of memories that he
didn’t want to recall, not even after so many years.

“Of course she would say that”, he whispered.

Robby stared at his father in silence, feeling a little guilty because he had expected a very different
reaction. He didn’t mind the usual shouting and scolding, he knew how to respond to that. But
Johnny seemed suddenly paralyzed by grief, and the boy couldn't imagine why. At last his Dad
spoke again, in a voice so quiet that Robby had to make an effort to understand his words.

“I dropped out of college at the start of my sophomore year, when your grandmother got ill. She
died around Christmas, and I was too upset to go back.” He finally opened his eyes again and
looked at Robby with a hurtful expression. “Your mother knows that perfectly well. Maybe you
can ask her why she told you that other story instead.”

“God, I… I’m sorry, Dad.”

Robby found himself with nothing else to say. ‘Sorry’ didn’t seem enough, but it was the only
thing he could think of. He also found himself trying to remember his grandmother’s face, the face
he had only seen in a couple of old pictures. She had looked very pretty in those... and also
incredibly sad.

“If you don’t want to go back to high school… I understand that. But at least you could keep
studying at home and get your GED”, continued Johnny. “Have something that looks good on
record, in case you change your mind in a few years. Life won’t give you a lot of second chances,
Robby. It happened to me, and I don’t want it to happen to you.”

Robby ran his hand through his hair and sighed. The longest talk he’d had with his Dad in years
was turning out to be the most painful too, and despite all the times they had fought in the past it
hurt him to see him so defeated. He extended a hand and placed it on Johnny’s sleeve, hoping to
reassure him with the contact.

“You had a second chance last year, Dad... with Cobra Kai. And I think you’re doing quite well.”

“Yes. But the time I lost in between is never coming back.”

“Fine... I’ll think about the GED thing”, the boy relented. “And I’ll ask Sam for help. Mom will
have a fit when I tell her I’m not going back to school, of course, but… Maybe she won’t care too
much now that I have a job.”

“How’s your mother?” Johnny asked, grasping at the opportunity to change the topic to a less
painful one.

“Do you really want to know, or are you just asking to make conversation?”

Of course the boy was suspicious. Johnny couldn’t remember the last time he had asked him about
Shannon. It was a topic he’d rather avoid.

“I just want to know if things are good for you at home. If I spend the rest of my life without
hearing about her again I will be perfectly happy, but she’s your mother and I have to ask.”

“Well, she’s fine but don’t see her much these days... I have a lot to do between work and training.
And she’s got a new dude. Another one.”

“Another poor idiot.”

They looked at each other and exchanged a knowing smile. Robby checked the time on his phone.

“Hey, I’m going to grab us something to eat, it’s getting late. What do you want?”

Johnny fished a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and gave it to the boy. “Another Coke and some
loaded nachos. Get all the food you want, okay? You’ve been injured, and you’re doing a lot of
exercise again, you need to eat properly.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pay, Dad? I know your dojo has money problems…”

A cold light flashed in Johnny’s eyes.

“I’m still enough of a man to pay for my own food. And for yours. As for the dojo… there are
going to be changes there soon, on the money thing.”

“That’s… that’s really cool. What changes?”

“I can’t tell you yet. But there’s someone who has promised to help, and if she keeps her
promise… Nah, I’ll tell you when it’s done, if everything goes well. I don’t want to jinx it.”

Johnny watched his son walk towards the counter. He wanted to talk to him about Cobra Kai,
about the lawsuit. About Kate.

Don’t, he thought. You’ll fuck things up in the end, and Robby will think you’re a loser. Again.
 Standing in front of the counter, Robby ordered his food and smiled at the pretty cashier, a redhead
with a cute freckled face. When the girl turned around to get his order, he observed Johnny from
afar.

He had mentioned someone who was going to help him. A woman? The idea of Johnny accepting
a woman’s help was completely alien to the boy; as alien as his Dad asking about Shannon without
slipping a couple of well-aimed insults in the middle of the sentence. What was going on at Cobra
Kai? And who could be that woman that his Dad wanted to keep a secret from him?

He shook his head and willed himself back to reality; it was probably another one of his father’s far
fetched ideas, and if he wasn’t telling any details it probably wasn’t anything important.

He winked at the girl with the red hair, picked up the food tray, and returned to the table.

Chapter End Notes

Here we are again, with another long chapter because when my characters start talking
there's no shutting them up.
I'm incorporating here a bit of headcanon that I invented in a tumblr post: that Johnny's
mom got terminally ill and died during his sophomore year of college, and he fell into
a depression and wasn't able to go back to school. Of course we don't know exactly
when and how Laura died, but I figured it made sense with the timeline, and with her
asking Sid to look after Johnny if the boy was just nineteen at the time.
 Pride
Chapter Summary

Daniel makes a decision and asks for help to get some new students. And Johnny gets
some new students without asking.

Chapter Notes

This chapter comes with a little surprise: there will be no Kate in it. Just as a test, to see
if the story can hold its ground for a while without my main original character. She’ll
be back in chapter 8, of course, because we all know where this is going (it says
Johnny/OC on the tags, after all). I’m also giving you two new supporting characters.
They won’t have big parts, but I hope you like them.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 7. PRIDE

“This is all your fault, LaRusso!”

Daniel held his phone a couple of inches away from his ear and sighed. On the other end of the
line, the heavily accented voice of Armand Zarkarian grated on his eardrums like a drill.

“Well, I disagree. And if you’d only let me explain why…”

“Explain? I just fired one of my lawyers for giving me too many stupid explanations, I don’t need
more of those from you!”

“Armand, if you don’t calm down and start speaking in a normal tone, I’m going to hang up.”

“I only raised the rent of the mall because you made me believe that you were interested in buying
property in Reseda! And now those fancy-ass lawyers of Powell and Morgan not only want a rent
reversal, they’re also asking for punitive damages! This is going to cost me a shitton of money!”

“I never told you how to manage your business, my friend. Besides, with all the extra money
you’ve made from doubling the rent all these months, you can–”

He barely got two sentences in before the other man interrupted him again.

“Tenants Associations should be prohibited! What kind of a free country is this, that a man can’t
put the price he wants on his property, eh?”

Daniel frowned. He was standing in the patio of Miyagi-Do, in the cool shadow of the trees; the
ill-timed call had interrupted him in the middle of a training session, right when he was about to tell
his two students some news.

Well... two and a half students now, he thought. Sam had brought someone to the dojo: a pale,
priggish kid called Demetri, who went to high school with her and apparently had had a bad
experience at Cobra Kai a while before. The boy was only half convinced, because he also had
friends… over there, but with a bit of luck Daniel thought he could make something good out of
him. But first, he had to end that damned phone call and make Zarkarian understand that he wasn’t
responsible for his legal woes.

“Armand, keep shouting at me like that and I swear I’ll hang up and block your number”, he stated
in a firm voice. That made the other man stop talking, at least for a few seconds. Long enough for
Daniel to try and put an end to the conversation.

“Look, man, I’m really sorry that you have been sued. But, as I’ve tried to explain to you several
times in the last ten minutes, you raised the rent of the strip mall on your own accord, even if you
insist that something I said gave you the idea. I don’t win or lose anything in that business,
remember? And I certainly never told you to infringe the Affordable Housing Act, so please don’t
try to drag me into this. That being said, if you’re not happy with your current legal team, I can
always call the firm I work with and make a recommendation; I’m sure they will be very happy to
have you as a client.”

He listened to the other man’s answer with a smirk. He was glad he hadn’t put him on speaker,
because Armand Zarkarian had some very precise and very colorful ideas about where Daniel
could stick his recommendation, and he wasn’t shy to share those ideas at the top of his voice.

After the call ended he sat down on a bench, trying to make sense of the convoluted tale that his
former friend had practically shouted in his ear.

It had been months since his carefully crafted mind games had led Zarkarian to double the rent on
Cobra Kai. And also on several other innocent businesses, like Amanda had reminded him bitterly
several times. In retrospective, Daniel wasn’t proud of his little stunt, but he had figured that there
was nothing he could do to reverse it without blowing his cover and admitting his guilt. And now,
out of the blue, one of the most reputable law firms in Los Angeles had dropped a monumental
lawsuit on the mall owner... a law firm hired by a recently created Tenants Association. Of course,
he knew perfectly well who was really behind the lawsuit, because the string of cosmic
coincidences had been on a roll for almost a year… and of course it wasn’t going to stop now.

But he couldn’t imagine his childhood enemy casually strolling into Powell and Morgan and hiring
a ‘fancy-ass lawyer’, like Zarkarian had called them.

Who was giving Johnny Lawrence legal advice? What lawyer could be so immoral, or so clueless,
to associate with such a man? And why now, after so many months? Some things just didn’t have
any logical explanation.

With another sigh, he stood up and entered the building to meet his waiting students.

Inside, Sam and Robby were tirelessly busy with their kata, moving in unison with quick and fluid
movements. On one corner of the room, Sam’s classmate observed the duo with his mouth half
open, like hypnotized.

We need more fascinated faces like that one , thought Daniel. More boys and girls who can
appreciate the beauty of kata and karate.

“So, Demetri, what do you think?”

“Wow! I mean… wow. You know, Mr. L, I was at the tournament last month, and I liked what I
saw, but this kata stuff is like… like a whole different sport.”
“Not a sport, my boy. It’s an art. And if you stay at Miyagi-Do I promise you’ll learn a lot about
karate… but you’ll learn even more about yourself.”

“Ah, yes. Like the Bard said: To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day,
thou canst not then be false to any man ”, recited Demetri, who unfortunately for his social life was
one of those people convinced that there is a perfect Shakespeare quote for every occasion.

“Precisely”, answered Daniel with a forced smile. Okay, the boy had zero athletic abilities and was
a bit on the pedantic side, but he was sure that some training and healthy exercise would furnish
him with more experience about real life and less encyclopedic knowledge.

“Well, I’m sorry about the interruption, kids. But I have some good news to make up for it”, he
said, sounding sincerely pleased.

“What is it, Mr. LaRusso?” asked Robby with an eager smile.

The boy had looked happier and less sulky for a few days, and Daniel wondered why. He had been
trying to encourage him gently, to make him feel comfortable enough to start that pending
conversation about… whatever horrible things he had done before coming to work for him. But
there was always somebody else present: Anoush or the other salesmen at the dealership, and Sam
at the dojo. He hadn’t been able to get Robby alone for ten minutes to ask him about his past
without trying to sound too nosy.

He gave the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“This morning I got a call from one of my friends at the All Valley Athletic Committee. There’s a
Japanese-American family that has just moved to Encino, and they have contacted them because
they’re looking for a good place where their children can train. Sue didn’t give me a lot of details,
their last name is Yoshida... or maybe Yashida, she wasn’t sure. They have a boy who’s just turned
seventeen, and a girl of fifteen; and I’m going to do everything in my power to make them come
and train at Miyagi-Do.”

Sam’s face lightened up immediately. “Dad, that’s fantastic news!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Sam. Apparently, from what Sue told me, the boy is ninety per
cent convinced of coming here, but the girl is researching other dojos too. They have trained
together for years, and now they want a bit of independence from one another. But I promise at
least one of them will end with us, or my name is not Daniel LaRusso.”

Robby hadn’t said a word after the announcement. In fact, he looked a little downcast, and Daniel
looked at him, concerned.

“Hey, is there anything wrong, Robby?”

“It’s nothing, Mr. LaRusso, just…” the boy hesitated. “You said they’re Japanese, right? I’m sure
they’ve been doing karate for many years. And they’ll be better than any if us if they have so much
experience… I was just thinking that I’ll probably be the worst one in class now.”

Daniel stepped in front of the boy and grabbed him gently by the shoulders.

“There is no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ in this dojo, Robby. I’m trying, to the best of my ability, to impart
the wisdom that a very good man shared with me when I was your age, and that can’t be measured
in trophies or belts of different colors. You’re my student for life, remember? And if those kids end
up training here, I’m sure they will learn as much from you as you can learn from them.”
The boy nodded, looking slightly relieved.

“Please, Dad, you need to convince that girl to come here”, insisted Samantha. “I mean, training
with Robby is great, but…”

“But you miss having a bit of companionship, in and out of class. Am I right?”

“Yes. The only girl I know who likes to talk about karate is Aisha, and she doesn’t have a lot of
free time to chat because she’s always… you know. Over there.”

Daniel frowned. Had he transferred his own personal trauma to his daughter so subtly that she even
avoided saying the name of Cobra Kai out loud? Or was Sam not saying it because she thought it
would be painful for him?

“Sam, I know you would be happier with one or two more girls here, and I’m glad you’ve
reconnected with Aisha. But let’s be realistic: it’s going to be difficult getting girls into Miyagi-Do.
Every other dojo in the Valley has the same problem: society is always telling little girls that they
aren’t cut for martial arts, and unfortunately most of them end up believing that lie. But don’t
worry, I’ll keep working on it. It’s just… most girls don’t happen to pass in front of a karate dojo
one day and say ‘let’s just go in and give it a try’.”

“Let’s just go in, Sophie! Give it a try.”

The two teenage girls stood near the entrance of the Reseda mall mini mart, with their eyes fixed
on the Cobra Kai sign next door.

The one who had just spoken was the tallest of the two, a Black girl with a determined expression
on her face; she was staring at the sign of the snake as if it was a billboard of the promised land.
Beside her, her companion ran a trembling hand through her blonde pixie cut hair; she fidgeted
with her headband, looked at the sky, then at the dojo door again, and finally lowered her eyes to
the ground.

“I don’t know, Grace. I’m not strong enough to open a jar of pickles, what business do I have in a
karate dojo?”

Grace held the smaller girl’s hand in hers for a moment without saying anything. When she felt
that Sophie had calmed down a little, she insisted.

“You said it would be nice for us to do something together, right? We've been thinking about this
for weeks.”

“Yes, I guess we did, but...”, hesitated Sophie.

“And we know you can’t join me at the West Valley High Athletics team anymore, because of
what happened last month when I had the brilliant idea of coming out to my teammates”, continued
Grace with a disappointed frown.

This time it was Sophie’s turn to reassure the other girl. “Coach Abernathy was a total bitch
throwing you out of the team like that.”

Despite the bitterness of her previous words, the Black girl smiled. Cursing always sounded so
alien in Sophie’s sweet voice, it felt like Tinker Bell had suddenly gotten some language lessons
from a pirate.
“Technically, I wasn’t even thrown out. I was ‘politely asked to leave’, because Coach Asshole
couldn’t stand the thought of her little flowers sharing a changing room with a lesbian… even
though I’ve been on that team for two years, since I started high school, and I have two State
records under my belt.” She shook her head with a sad grimace. “But that doesn’t matter anymore.
Listen, we know some of those kids already. Last year I was in a Physics seminar with Aisha
Robinson, and she’s really cool. I had lunch with Aisha and her friends a couple of times, including
that boy who won the All Valley championship. His name is Miguel and he seemed nice, too…
Well, nice enough for a boy.”

Sophie still didn’t seem convinced. “And what will we tell them about… us? If we start hanging
out here every day, they’re going to notice.”

“Except we won’t give them time to ‘notice’ anything, because we’re going to walk into that dojo
like this”, answered Grace, grabbing the other girl’s hand and interlacing her fingers with hers. “If
anyone asks, we’ll tell them the truth: that we’re girlfriends. It’s that simple. And if they don’t
want us because of that… well, at least we’ll know from the first moment instead of living in fear
of being found out. So, let’s make a decision together: do we go in or not?”

“How are you always so brave?”

“I’m a fighter, baby”, Grace laughed.

A sweet smile lightened up Sophie’s face. “Yes, you are. And I can tell that you want this so
much… So yes, let’s go in there and learn some karate together.”

“Are you sure? If this is going to be too hard on you, I can always go to the school board when
classes start again, try to get reinstated on the team…”

“No! You’re not going to humiliate yourself trying to get back into a team where they don’t want
you, Grace.” Sophie stood on her tiptoes and kissed her girlfriend’s cheek. “Let’s do this.”

Johnny had seen them loitering outside, and of course he had assumed they were waiting for one
boy or other. After all, that’s what Moon did every time the class lasted a bit more than expected:
first she sat for a while at the café, and then she waited outside, with her nose glued to the glass
door, until Hawk came out. For a second or two, he had even entertained the hopeful idea that
Miguel had forgotten about the LaRusso kid already and had found some solace in the arms of a
different girl.

But no, those two had actually stepped into Cobra Kai. And not only that, they wanted to sign up.
Both of them, even the blonde chit of a girl who looked like someone out of a fairy tale. She didn’t
speak much, that one, and the Black girl had done most of the talking so far.

“So, Miss Lincoln, you’re telling me you used to be at the Athletics team in high school. What
sports?”

“Triathlon. That's swimming, cycling and running. I broke two under-18 State records last year.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I was made to leave”, she answered in a defiant tone, “because Coach Abernathy had a personal
problem with my lifestyle.”

“Why, were you doing drugs?” he asked, suspicious. “We don’t fuck with those things in Cobra
Kai, and I have ways of finding out.”

“Absolutely not. No drugs, no alcohol. I told you, it was an entirely personal matter.”

So the girl wanted to be mysterious. Fine.

“I don’t care about your personal problems, miss Lincoln. Nor about your former coach. I care
about how serious you and your friend are about joining Cobra Kai, and–”

“Girlfriend”, she interrupted him.

“Excuse me?”

“Sophie is my girlfriend , not my friend.” The girl enunciated every syllable of every word loud
and clear, as if she was making a speech.

So that’s what the ‘personal problem’ had been. Some imbecile of a coach had let a perfectly good
member of the team go, just because she was making out with another girl in her free time. It
sounded like a waste of talent to him.

A wave of whispers traveled around the dojo. Aisha was looking at the two girls with a reassuring
smile; all the boys’ faces showed different degrees of surprise or confusion. Only Rattler seemed
unbothered by the reveal; she was standing next to her idol Aisha, like she always did when the
class stopped, and listening to every word with a very intense expression on her little face. Johnny
wondered if the kid’s Mom had ever told her that girls could date other girls… and he also
wondered in how much trouble would he get with Kate if this wasn’t exactly the way she wanted
Rattler to find out.

“Everybody quiet!” Johnny’s voice resonated like the crack of a whip. He faced the group of boys,
with his arms crossed. “If any of you wants to keep gossiping like an old lady, you can go to
Gladys next door. If you choose to stay, I don’t want to hear a word unless I ask you a question. Is
that clear, gentlemen?”

“Yes, Sensei”, they muttered.

Seeing that he had everybody’s attention again, Johnny turned towards the other girl. The fairy.

“And what about you? Does the girlfriend have a voice?”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Grace tense up, with her fists closed; Aisha gave the girl a
warning look, but Johnny ignored it and kept staring at the other one until she answered in a tiny
voice.

“Yes, Mr… I mean, yes, Sensei Lawrence.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sophie Nagurski.”

“Nagurski, like the football player?”

“He… he was my great-grandfather. I never got to meet him.”

For a second, Johnny thought about his old collection of NFL trading cards. He wondered what the
legendary Bronko Nagurski (who, if he remembered correctly, was six foot two and big like a
mountain) would have thought of having a great-grandchild so tiny that a breeze could blow her
away. And who smooched another girl in her free time.

“Have you played any sports, do you have any athletic experience?”

“No, Sensei.”

Johnny considered her answers for a moment, and made her wait until the girl looked appropriately
impatient. “And tell me, Miss Nagurski with the famous great-grandfather… Are you here to learn
the Way of the Fist, or just to stand there and look pretty? Because, if it’s the second, you can go
pay a visit to Gladys, too.”

The girl looked puzzled, of course, so Johnny continued.

“Gladys is the lady who owns the café next door; the café where the girlfriends of my Cobras wait
for them until my class is finished. There’s a girl called Moon in there right now, sipping a low-
calorie milkshake and waiting for Hawk. So… what’s it gonna be, Sophie Nagurski? Learning
karate with your girl, or wasting your time in front of a milkshake until she finishes with her
training every afternoon?”

The fairy jutted her chin up and smiled.

“Grace and I are in this together. If she stays, I’m staying too.”

Johnny squared his shoulders and stared hard at the two girls. So it was two for the price of one, or
none at all; and he couldn’t ignore Aisha, standing in front of him with an almost pleading look on
her face. The girl felt lonely among so much testosterone; he couldn’t blame her for that. After all,
if it didn’t work and the girls left after one or two days, he had nothing to lose... And at least they
would be hanging out with each other between classes, instead of distracting the boys.

“Very well. You already know Aisha, and that means you know how things are done in Cobra Kai.
There will be no kid gloves for any of you, understood? Miss Lincoln, you’re an athlete, so I will
be expecting you to be at the top of your game from day one; and you, Miss Nagurski…”

“Yes, Sensei.”

Well, at least the girl had learned how to address him properly on the first try. One point for her.

“Take off that headband while you’re here. No headbands, hairpins, earrings or bracelets, no silly
knicknacks that can get caught on your clothes and cause an injury. Both of you, shoes off and step
on that mat. Get to the back of the class and keep your eyes open, I don’t like repeating orders.” He
then turned towards the rest of the kids. “Now listen to me, you animals! I hope I don’t have to tell
you twice to treat these two with the respect you would give to any other Cobra, do you hear me?”

“Yes, Sensei!” the class answered, all at once.

Johnny didn’t add any further explanation, but he was sure the message was clear. From the corner
of his eye he saw Grace throw a defying look to the boys and curl her lips in a little smile.

That’s right , he thought. One has to be tough on the inside to walk in here and do what you just
did, little lady, so let those boys know you have more balls than them.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. All his life he had been brought up to
believe that women attracted trouble, and that meant he was fighting all his instincts by letting
more girls into Cobra Kai. Aisha had been a worthy exception, Rattler was too little to be
problematic… and now he had those two. It was already a trend, not an exception. But hey,
students were students. He had accepted all those nerds and losers from the start, and sure as hell
he wasn’t going to start being picky now.

LaRusso could afford to be picky; LaRusso with all his money, his fancy house, his uppity wife,
and his spoiled princess of a daughter. He could keep tempting Robby with his kata and his
fucking new dojo, but in the end all that money wouldn’t make a difference. There was force in
numbers, and he knew he had a bunch of good kids in Cobra Kai.

Johnny only wished he could see the expression in his old enemy’s face when he found out that
there were more girls in Cobra Kai than students in LaRusso’s dojo.

About a week later, a foul-tempered Sensei Lawrence observed his quiver, organized like always in
neat lines on the mat. The main reason for his bad mood was that the group looked a bit
diminished: four boys had gone on vacation with their parents, and they wouldn’t be back until late
August.

Johnny understood that the kids had families, of course; but he also wished Fall would arrive soon,
because the routine of having school in the mornings made the kids concentrate better, with less
shenanigans like excursions and family trips to distract them. The group also seemed quieter than
usual, especially because it was missing one particular rattling sound that had become so familiar
to him… and that was the other reason why he felt so irritable.

A short and hurried call from Kate a few days before had informed him that she and Rani were on
their way to Seattle, because Kate’s father had taken a fall in the shower and was nursing a broken
ankle. Kate’s mother, who in turn was nursing Mr. Williams, had blown the horn of the matriarch
and summoned her two children from sunny California to the Northern lands, to give some moral
support to the head of the family. The result of all that was a Rattler-less dojo, no visits or calls
from Kate, at least for a whole week... and an ill humored Johnny. His only consolation was that at
least the new girls were doing more or less fine. One better than the other, he thought, comparing
Grace’s athletic stance to Sophie’s thinner frame and timid movements. But he had to admit that at
least the smaller girl had guts, and she never flinched or complained; in fact, her permanent smile
was the first thing all the other kids associated with her.

Johnny was starting to think that girls and karate did go together. Sometimes. At least the four girls
at Cobra Kai had more cojones than most of the boys he knew. Maybe he had been wrong about
that at first; maybe his dojo needed to reflect the world outside and the women in it. Women who
were stubborn enough to do a man’s job, despite being smaller and weaker; women who used their
minds and their wit as a weapon, like LaRusso’s wife, or... like Kate.

He kicked himself mentally for allowing his thoughts to circle around her again. It wasn’t enough
that some nights, after the third or fourth beer in the loneliness of his apartment, his mind started
projecting images of Kate. Images that appeared out of nothing against his will, images that
belonged in an R-rated movie (especially one recurrent fantasy that involved her at her office
desk… no, bent over her office desk). Now he was starting to have those same thoughts by day,
and with no alcohol to take the blame.

And that’s when she’s not even here. Fuck.

“Fine, enough warming up! You’ve earned the right to do some sparring”, he barked, snapping out
of his daze. “Pair up and try not to bore me too much with your sissy kicks.”

There was a rustle and a sound of hushed whispers within the lines, while the kids gravitated
towards one another.

“Okay, stop where you are, all of you”, interrupted Johnny. “Virgin, trade partners with Aisha. And
you, Diaz… you can’t spar with Hawk every time, choose someone else.”

He walked among them, stopping in front of the two new girls, who naturally were facing each
other.

“Pride and Joy, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The nicknames were so fitting that everybody in the dojo had adopted them in a second. And, what
was more, the girls also seemed to love them... which kind of defeated the purpose of a nickname
in the first place. But hey, who was he to judge?

Grace had been the first one to get hers. Calling her Pride had been so obvious that no one of the
other kids bothered to use her real name anymore… and even Sophie called her that sometimes.
After all, she was the one who wore the rainbow flag t-shirt, the rainbow sneakers, the rainbow
flag patch on her backpack, and the striped pink flag sewn on her jacket. Johnny had no idea why
there were two different flags, but damned if he was going to ask. Someday he’d tell Miguel to
search the pink flag on that Google thing and find out what it meant.

As for Joy… well, after naming Pride, it had been an inevitable follow-up. The girl was unable to
stop smiling, not even when she got hit or took a fall. And she took a lot of falls, the poor kid,
because she still had the clumsiness of a beginner and the strength of a kitten. That was why, every
time he told the kids to pair up, her girlfriend grabbed Sophie by the hand and didn’t let anybody
else spar with her.

Well, time to put an end to that nonsense, thought Johnny. He stood beside the couple with a stern
look.

“What do you think will happen if you always spar with your girl, Pride?”

“Nothing”, answered the girl, looking a bit puzzled.

“Exactly. Nothing! She will throw her weak-ass punches at you, and you’ll make it look like
they’re doing some damage. Then you’ll give her your faintest kick, like you did yesterday,
because you don’t want it to hurt, and at the end of the class she’ll go home knowing nothing
about karate”, he stated. “So, from now on the two of you won’t spar with each other again, not
until I say so. Pride, go over there with Hawk; let’s see what happens when you try to kick the shit
out of a real opponent who is strong enough to do the same to you. Diaz, come here and show Joy
how it’s done. She’ll be sparring with you every day until she can land at least one punch on your
face, no matter how long it takes.”

Sophie opened her blue eyes so wide that she looked like a little baby doe, but she didn’t protest.
Miguel, on the other hand, still didn’t like fighting girls, and he was confident enough in his
position as class champion to challenge some of Johnny’s orders.

“Sensei, it would be better if she starts with someone else. With Tim, or–”

Johnny bid him silence with a wave of his arm. He stood in front of Sophie and held one hand up,
with his palm facing the girl.

“Punch my hand as hard as you can, Miss Nagurski.”

The girl obeyed.

“Again”, he ordered. “Three more times.”

Right, left, right. Three punches, and only the last one made Johnny’s hand move half an inch
backwards.

He turned towards Miguel again, and grabbed the boy gently but firmly by the back of the neck.

“Do you remember how hard you punched that dummy on your first day here, Diaz?”

“No, Sensei”, answered the boy.

“Well, I do. And your punches were weaker than hers. Do you think Joy has the balls to learn all
the things you’ve learned during this past year?”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Then start helping her by doing exactly as I say. And you, Joy–”

“Yes, Sensei!” exclaimed the girl, standing to attention, with her eyes fixed on some imaginary
horizon.

“At ease, for God’s sake, before you sprain something”, he sighed. “Look... Diaz is a fucking
gentleman so he won’t hit you hard. But this is karate, not a knitting class, and sometimes it has to
hurt. Got it?”

“Yes, Sensei”, she answered, her smile wider than ever.

“Good. Now, remember: throw your weight behind your punches, and keep your feet firm on the
ground.” He gave the girl a reassuring nod and resumed his original position in front of the class.
“Everyone ready, face each other! Bow, and… fight!”

The phone in his pocket started to vibrate, and he rushed to his office to get the call while the kids
engaged in their punches and kicks.

The reason for rushing was that he had recognized the number on the screen. He had committed it
to memory the first time he’d gotten a call from the Powell and Morgan office.

“Kate?”

“No, pal, sorry. It’s Kevin McMichaels.”

Johnny repressed a disappointed groan. He was sort of cool with Kevin now that he knew he
played for the other team, but he had been expecting a different voice on the other side of the line.
“Hey, Kevin. Any news?”

“News of Kate? Not yet, she’s still in Seattle”, answered the other man, trying to sound
encouraging. “I’m sure you wish it was her on the phone and not me, but she won’t be back for a
few days. I know her Mom, and I can assure you that when Marianne Williams gets in Mother Hen
mode it’s really hard for her children to get away from her. I’m under orders from Kate to fake a
work emergency and help her come back if she’s not here on Monday. What can you do... it’s
family, and sometimes it’s a bit dysfunctional. You know what it’s like.”

“Yeah, sure”, muttered Johnny, who had his own (but slightly different) experience with
dysfunctional families.

“So, while she’s away at that godforsaken city with the worst climate in the world, the duty of
keeping you informed falls on me, and I’ll try to be the best substitute I can: I had another meeting
with Zarkarian’s lawyers yesterday.”

“Good. And...?”

“I told those idiots, for the third time in two weeks, that their best chance of avoiding being
humiliated in front of a judge was to lower the rent and arrange some compensation for you and the
other tenants. But no, apparently their client has ordered them to reject any kind of settlement. So,
of course, I started getting ready for a trial. And... today I got some news from the Court.”

“What news?”

“We have a trial date. And it’s sooner than we expected.”

Chapter End Notes

The first pic you see up there was gifted to me by the lovely TheEmpressAR, who
surprised me with it the other day. Thank you so much, my dear Empi, it's perfect!
The other one is mine, so you can see what Pride/Grace and Joy/Sophie look like. I
once said on Tumblr (and I wasn't the only one) that Cobra Kai needed more girls, so
here they are. They are supporting characters, so they will probably be around a few
teenage cast scenes only. But it felt right to write them, and once they appeared in my
mind I just had to include them somehow.

Bronko Nagurski was a real wrestler and NFL player in the thirties and forties (but
Sophie is entirely fictional, of course). And yes, he was a really big guy, look him up if
you don't believe me.
 Ethics
Chapter Summary

Robby comes clean to his Sensei about his past. Kate gets some news at work that
could affect Johnny in an unexpected way.

Chapter Notes

Here we go again! Kate is finally back, and with her a few paragraphs of legal drama. I
apologize in advance; I swear this is not a crossover with The Good Fight, it was
necessary for the plot (you’ll see why right at the end of the chapter). Also, I’ve
realized how much I like writing Daniel; he’s got a very particular vision of the world,
and it’s fun to try and put myself in his mentality.

CHAPTER 8. ETHICS

Daniel placed the two matcha cups on the table and shifted his weight on the pillow under his legs.
His bad knee hadn’t given him trouble for a while; but it felt stiff when he sat in certain positions,
and the old habit of checking if it hurt was always with him.

Sitting in front of him across the low table, Robby stifled a sob, rubbing his tear-stained cheek with
the back of his hand; Daniel felt his heart break a little.

The boy had already been tired before they started talking, it was pretty late and he’d had a very
intense day. First work at the dealership, then training at Miyagi-Do, and dinner at the LaRussos to
finish. He had invited the kid with the excuse of having him try one of his recipes, but the truth is
Robby had been too eager to accept.

No matter how exhausted he looked, it was clear that Robby didn’t feel like going home, and he
had been like that for several days in a row.

That was why Daniel had suggested a little tea ceremony at his home dojo after dinner. Not the
whole ritual, that would have taken hours; just some matcha tea and friendly conversation, man to
man. He had hoped the boy would finally trust him enough to acknowledge his past… What he
hadn’t realized was that maybe he had bitten more than he could chew with Robby Keene. The kid
turned out to have a long list of misdeeds in his career, and they weren’t exactly childish pranks. In
fact, he had been very lucky not to be arrested. Daniel was kind of expecting everything he said
about the vandalism and the bad companies he kept; also, the fact that he had skipped class for
months was nothing extraordinary, considering that the boy had been working for him at the time.

His confession of the thefts and the drugs, however, had been a painful surprise. Daniel suspected
that his expression of alarmed disappointment was the final straw that had made Robby start
crying. He teared up in complete silence, without sobbing or shaking, and with his gaze fixed on
the wall of the dojo. Daniel recognized the signs, of course: this was a boy who was used to crying
alone in his room, making no noise so he wouldn’t bother anybody.
“Mr. LaRusso, if you want me to leave now, I… I’ll understand.”

“What? Heavens, no!” answered Daniel, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. “Robby, please,
let’s not go through this again. Do you think I’m so heartless, after you’ve finally come clean and
told me the truth? I already made that mistake once, the night before the tournament; I’m not going
to repeat it.”

“But… but the things I’ve done–”

“Are part of the past. You have progressed way beyond those things. All I need is your promise
that they won’t happen again.”

“I swear. I won’t let you down, never.”

At least the boy was loyal. And even if it had taken him a while to tell the truth, well… Daniel
trusted that it was the whole truth. He took a deep breath and refilled the tea cups.

“Okay, drink up. Green tea is good for the mind, or at least that’s what Mr. Miyagi said… many
years before it was fashionable. Now it looks like everybody’s drinking it.”

“Did your Sensei make this tea for you?” Robby took a small sip of his cup. The bright green drink
was unsweetened, and he couldn’t help making a face.

“Actually… he gave me sake once”, admitted Daniel with a guilty smile. “But I’m not going to do
that, we’re not in the the eighties anymore. I’ll exchange the tea for a glass of red wine once you’re
twenty-one, but until then it’s matcha or nothing.”

“I don’t know if I’ll still be here when I’m twenty-one. I mean, by then you will have more
students, and…”

“Let me stop you there”, interrupted Daniel, turning serious again. “Robby, we talked about this
the other day at the dojo. I never stopped being Mr. Miyagi’s student, even after I was a grown
man. And I will always be your teacher, this thing is for life. You’re not going to get rid of me that
easily… especially now that I know all your shameful secrets.”

He winked at Robby when he said that, and that finally got a smile out of the boy. There was a
pause while Robby tried to put his thoughts in order, until he finally spoke.

“I already told you it won’t happen again, Mr. LaRusso, and I mean it. My Dad said something the
other day about… about life not giving people a lot of second chances, and I don’t want to blow up
mine. I’m serious.”

Daniel rested his chin on his palm. He suspected the conversation would take them to Johnny
eventually, so he just braced himself and asked what he wanted to know.

“Does your father know about all this stuff you’ve told me?”

“He knows… well, only a part of it”, said Robby, with his gaze fixed on his cup of matcha. “He
knows about the school, and… about Molly. He also saw me with Trey and Cruz once, I think he
realized they were crooks. I’m not sure about the rest.”

“Has he ever tried to talk about this with you?”

Robby nodded.
“After the last time I skipped school, the principal called my Dad and he came to the apartment.
Mom wasn’t there. He tried to talk to me, but I told him I was done with school; I called him a
loser, told him to leave, and that was the last time we talked… until the tournament.” Robby
fidgeted with a strand of his hair, as if deciding if what he was going to say next was the right
thing. “I know he went to see my Mom after that, and told her that I could move with him, but… I
guess I didn’t believe him. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t seen…”

“Hadn’t seen what?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” Robby shook his head. He was still bitter about that scrawny Latin
punk hugging his Dad in the parking lot, being his fucking favorite student, acting like he had a
right to be there in his place. But he couldn’t tell that to Mr. LaRusso, he wouldn’t understand. He
had no way of knowing how it felt to be replaced. The boy felt the familiar wave of anger coursing
through him... a wave that was getting easier to control every time, but it still threatened to sweep
him away. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then another. With the third one, Miguel’s
threatening image shrinked and returned to its hiding place on the back of his mind, and with it the
toxic thoughts that repeated once and again how his father had chosen a replacement son instead of
him.

When he opened his eyes again, Daniel was smiling.

“You know, you’re learning to control that anger really well. I wish I’d had that kind of balance
when I was your age.”

Robby narrowed his eyes and looked at Daniel with curiosity. “What were you like, when you
were my age? Did you get angry a lot?”

“I was… oh, God, I was a hothead”, Daniel laughed. “Always looking for trouble, and most of the
time I found it. Yes, I remember being so angry all the time… angry at my Mom, at the school, at
the people in it, at your Dad... at the whole world, because when you’re sixteen there are moments
when you think the world is against you. But all it takes is someone older and wiser to tell you that
it’s not. That it gets better, all you need is time to find your balance.”

The clock on the wall chimed softly several times, and Daniel looked at his watch in disbelief.

“Speaking of time... look at that. In exactly thirty seconds Amanda is going to appear through that
door and ask if we need anything. Although what she’ll really mean to say is that we should finish
our tea and close the dojo for the night.”

He started picking up the teapot and the cups. It took forty seconds for Amanda to arrive instead of
the predicted thirty, and she even knocked.

“Is there anything you need, boys?” she asked when Daniel opened the door. “I don’t mean to
interrupt, but… Robby, if you want to spend the night, I’ll get the guest room ready. It’s getting
late.”

“Really?” asked the boy, surprised. “I mean… no, thank you, Mrs. LaRusso. I don’t want to leave
my Mom alone, so if you’ll excuse me, I'm going to take a Lyft.”

“No, you’re not”, said Daniel. “It’s my fault that you’re here at this hour, so the least I can do is
take you home. Besides, it’s about time that I meet your Mom, don’t you think?”

He wasn’t expecting the look in Robby’s face. Something between shame and petrified horror, with
a tinge of panic that made the boy’s voice shake.
“No. No, please, Mr. LaRusso… I don’t think it’s a good idea that you meet her. Not yet.”

“Robby, you know your parents don’t define you, right? But if you’re having trouble at home,
maybe there’s a way I can help. Just let me talk to her.”

The boy sighed. “Look, Mr. LaRusso... I already told you that I saw my Dad a few days ago,
right?”

“Yes. But you haven’t told me how it went. I don’t mean to pry, but–”

“It’s fine. It went… kind of okay, I guess. Better than I expected. I think it was the longest talk
we’ve had since I was a kid.”

Daniel smiled and looked at Amanda, who was doing exactly the same. Of course Robby didn’t
see himself as a kid anymore.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“The thing is… The day I talked to him I found out that my Mom lied to me about something. Not
a super important thing, but I’m sure her only reason for lying was making my Dad look bad. And
now I’m thinking… God, I don’t know how to say this without it sounding horrible. It does sound
horrible in my mind.”

“You’re wondering if it was just that one time, or if there are other things she hasn't told you the
truth about”, finished Daniel, with his eyebrows knotted together in a frown. “Maybe she did it to
protect you, Robby. I’m not saying it’s okay to lie to your children, but sometimes a parent... well,
you’ll have kids of your own one day and then you’ll understand how it is. There are moments
when the truth can do more damage than a small white lie. ”

The boy hesitated. It didn’t feel right to spell all the painful details to someone who wasn’t family,
even if it was his Sensei and Mrs. LaRusso. But it was a day for telling the truth, and he felt he had
a moral obligation to do it.

“When my Dad was nineteen, his Mom… my grandmother Laura fell ill. The doctors said she had
leukaemia, and back in the day cancer treatments were… they were not…”

Robby’s voice broke, but Daniel kept listening respectfully. Sometimes it was too easy to forget
that Johnny Lawrence was a human being; and, as a human being, he must have had a mother.
Everybody did. But hearing the story about how he had lost her was painful, of course. He thought
of his own mother and how much she had supported him during those years; Daniel just couldn't
imagine his teens and early twenties without Lucille.

“Go on”, he whispered.

“She only had a few months to live when they found out. My Dad quit college to be with her while
she was sick, and after she died he was too depressed to go back to school.” He lifted his gaze from
the floor and looked at Daniel, with a flash of rage behind his eyes. “But all my life my Mom told
me he had been expelled from Stanford for… you know, drinking, and partying, and skipping
class. What reason did she have to say that? What did she gain with that lie?”

“Wait a second... Johnny went to Stanford?” Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise. He just couldn’t
imagine his old enemy at one of the best colleges in the country, not even for one year. One thing
was sure, the man was full of surprises; and Daniel found himself wondering if the mental image
he had created of Johnny so many years before had been completely accurate.
“And now, how do I know she’s not lying about other things too?”, continued the boy with an
anguished sigh. “I love my Mom, of course, but… I don’t know who to trust anymore. I don’t want
you to meet her until I’ve had a conversation with her about some things, and I’d rather wait until I
find the right moment. Please.” There were tears in Robby’s eyes again. He didn’t know exactly
who he was crying for… maybe for his Dad, or for Shannon and the shattered image he had of her
now. Maybe even a tear or two for the delicate looking blonde woman in those old photographs.

Daniel nodded; it would be cruel to pressure the boy further. After all, there would be time to meet
his mother properly. He made the mental decision to invite her and Robby to one of the LaRusso
family barbecues. Surely Ms. Keene would be grateful for a day out, especially when she worked
so hard to raise Robby alone that she even got confused and lied to her son sometimes.

He suddenly realized he’d never gotten around to ask Robby about Shannon’s job, but the boy was
already on his way out.

Daniel put the tea utensils on a tray, handed it to Amanda in silence and switched off the lights of
the dojo with a sigh. No wonder Robby didn’t want him to meet his mother; the poor woman
probably hated all men after having to suffer living with Johnny.

Johnny Lawrence didn’t hate people. Well… not in general.

The subjects of his hate were particular people, and not many of them. LaRusso was very high on
the list, of course. And Sid, also on top. The LaRusso kids, maybe… One for breaking Miguel’s
heart, and the other for being an obnoxious brat. Shannon had graced the list once or twice through
the years, but in her case it was more contempt than real hatred. No, the group of people Johnny
truly hated was very exclusive.

And now Kate’s secretary had just passed the exam for joining that group. With flying colors.

For fuck’s sake, he had tried to be nice to the girl… Shirley? No, Sally. But all he got from her after
he greeted her was an upturned nose and a lot of negativity. First, she pretended to have lost his
appointment with Kate, even though he showed him the message on his phone. Then, she tried to
make him wait outside in the lobby, instead of offering him a seat in Kate’s office. And now she
had kept him waiting for twenty minutes, and he was sure the girl hadn’t even told Kate he was
there.

A meeting with another client. Sure, he knew lawyers had several cases going on at the same time.
But he couldn’t help feeling like a fish out of water in that office, with its abstract paintings on the
wall and its silly modern furniture.

The damned girl hadn’t even offered him coffee.

Johnny tried to distract himself pacing around the room and looking out of the window, until his
gaze fell on a couple of framed pictures on Kate’s desk. There was one of Rattler in a karate gi...
that one made him smile. It wasn’t the Cobra Kai gi, the crest was different; probably her old dojo
in San Francisco. He felt a little offended, but after all he had only given Rani her new gi a couple
of days before. There would be time to take another picture.

The other frame was bigger, a family photo, and he recognized the people in it: Kate and Rani were
sitting in a garden, and beside them was the man he’d seen driving Rattler to the dojo a few times;
the brother. Next to him was a short Latina woman with a dark-haired toddler on her lap, and
another boy of four or five years standing next to her. They all looked happy, and Johnny felt a
pang of envy.

He was about to step out and ask the secretary from Hell how long was she going to keep him
waiting, when the door opened with a familiar bang.

“Johnny, am I glad to see you! I can call you Johnny, right, pal?” asked Kevin, with a megawatt
smile only a tad brighter than his flashy tie.

This time Johnny tried not to crush the other man’s hand when he shook it. He was starting to
genuinely like Kevin.

“Sure, great. Ah… I have a meeting with Kate today. Is she–?

“She’ll be here in a minute”, answered the other man, taking a seat on the chair opposite Johnny.
“Sorry to keep you waiting; I’m working on a police brutality case and we just had a last minute
meeting with my client, we’re a little pressed for time. I asked Kate to come with me because she’s
going to be second chair tomorrow in court.”

“Yeah, okay.” Johnny waited a couple of seconds, but the explanation he needed didn’t arrive. “I
don’t know what that is.”

“Oh, right, sorry again. Some days I forget that not everybody around me works on this field.
Second chair means a lawyer who helps the lead attorney in court. I’m in charge of that police
brutality case; but Kate will be at the trial too, she’ll present the opening statement, and maybe
examine one or two witnesses. She’s also there to give me a hand if there’s any point of the law she
knows better than me.”

“So… she gives you the passes and you score, right?”

“Exactly!” laughed Kevin. “Sports analogy is on point. And I’ll do the same for her two weeks
from now, at the Reseda strip mall trial. You’re her client in that one, it’s her case... so she’ll call
the shots and I’ll be second chair. Quid pro quo .”

Johnny remembered enough Latin from high school to know what that one meant.

“Anyway, this meeting is just to go over the paperwork and rehearse a few of the questions the
judge and the defendant’s lawyers may ask you”, continued Kevin. “Keep in mind that this is a
civil case, not a criminal one; we only have to present a certain amount of evidence against the
other party, and prove that Zarkarian’s actions have damaged you and the rest of the business
owners in the mall. Besides, this is a special court, so the trial will take place before a judge, not a
jury; that's good for us, because the Affordable Housing Act is not an easy read, and juries tend to
get confused with the technicalities. You just have to answer our questions, and the other party’s
questions, then we present our evidence, and everything will go well.”

“Fine”, said Johnny in a doubtful tone. The initial discomfort when he knew Kate wanted him to
give testimony had morphed into cautious acceptance, but he still didn’t like it too much.

Kevin noticed him going quiet, and tried to reassure him.

“Boy, I’ve dumped a lot of legal babble on you in just one minute. Is there anything else you want
to ask me? I’m here to solve all your doubts, okay?”

“No. Well… yes, but it doesn’t have to do with the case.”

Kevin smiled. “If it’s any kind of gossip, you’ve come to the right place.”
“It’s just…” Johnny hesitated. “Do you know if Kate is planning to go back to San Francisco?”

“What? No, that’s absurd. Who told you such a thing?”

“I heard that she had a guy there, and I thought maybe she was thinking of going back… I don’t
want to lose my lawyer, that’s all.”

Like most good lawyers, Kevin was naturally suspicious. It didn’t take him more than a second to
see what was happening, and he tried very hard to suppress a smile.

Very clever, Mr. Lawrence. Nobody told you she had a boyfriend in San Francisco, right? Nobody
here could possibly know that, because it’s not true. You’re just poking the best friend for
information… Well, if that’s what you want, here it goes.

“Oh, no way. Kate has lived almost like a nun since she adopted Rani” he said, in the most
convincing tone he could find. “I mean, I know she dated one or two guys a couple of times while
she lived in San Fran, but… nothing serious.”

Johnny didn’t answer, but Kevin saw he was deep in thought, so he took his chance to deliver the
final blow.

“I’ve been telling her over and over that she can’t become a recluse just because she’s a Mom,
but… You know what she’s like, practically married to her work. I’m not an expert on women,
but... I think she needs a guy who’s not afraid of having a relationship with a woman just because
she has a kid; and there aren’t many men like that.”

There’s your challenge, Johnny boy. And if that doesn’t get you hooked... I don’t know what will.
You’ll thank me later, both of you.

Right on time, before Johnny had a chance to keep asking questions, the doorknob turned, and
there was Kate.

“Hello, gentlemen. Were you having fun without me?” She greeted the two men with a smile.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Johnny. One of the name partners wanted a report on one of my other
cases, and you can’t make Mr. Powell wait… after all, this is his firm.”

Johnny stood up to say hi, and he almost went for… What? A hug? He liked to think that he and
Kate were past the point of politely shaking hands, but that just left him in some uncharted territory
of smiles and head inclinations. Not enough, not after more than a week without seeing her. He
needed more than that, he needed… God, to touch her face, to run his fingers through her hair just
once, to see how soft it was.

Fortunately for his peace of mind, Kevin took charge of the conversation.

“Is that a new dress, Katey? I’ve been meaning to ask you all morning, it looks stunning on you but
it’s not your usual color.”

“Yes”, she answered, smoothing the fabric with her hand. “A gift from my mother, she insisted that
we went shopping the other day. She thinks that if I dress like a traffic light I will magically attract
her perfect son-in-law.”

“Oh, I see your Mom hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Let’s just say I’m glad to be back here, where my life is not a constant disappointment to anyone.”
During this exchange, Johnny took a chance to notice the dress. It was red. Very red. A short
sleeved thing, not too tight, not too revealing… just bright enough to pique Johnny’s imagination.
And it wasn’t just that. There were many hot women in Los Angeles, that wasn’t the problem. But
seeing Kate and Kevin together had made Johnny realize he had no one to share things with.
Ordinary, everyday things. The banter between her and her friend, the easy conversation, the
warmth; he wanted that. Well... that, among other things. Things hidden under a deceitfully modest
red dress.

Kate was speaking again, and Johnny blinked to will himself back into reality.

“Sorry. You were saying something.”

“Nothing important. Just that exactly one month ago was the day I took Rani to Cobra Kai for the
first time. It’s been a very intense month, but… I’m glad I chose your dojo, I think we made a good
decision.”

“Yeah, I agree”, said Johnny with a smile. “Rattler has potential, I told you then. You should be
proud of her.”

“I am terribly proud. In fact, I’m going to take her to Baskin-Robbins for some ice cream today
after training, to celebrate our first month here. Kev, do you want to come with us?”

“Oh, I’d love to, girl… but I’m going to work late today, I have some things to revise for
tomorrow’s trial.” Kevin looked at Johnny and tilted his head. “But hey, if you’re looking for
someone to share an ice cream with, I’m sure Johnny can accompany you two after class.”

It was worth a try, Kevin thought. An innocent third party suggesting an innocent outing. Not a
date, of course; especially not with Rani there to act as a tiny chaperone. But maybe it could work.

What Kevin never knew was that it would have worked, perfectly well. As soon as he said the
words, Johnny was already opening his mouth to agree to the ice cream plan.

It was a pity he didn’t have time.

An insistent knocking at the door interrupted them, followed by the irruption of a stout middle-
aged woman. She had the anxious face of a person who’s about to deliver bad news.

“Oh my God, you guys… Haven’t you heard?”

“Virginia, we’re with a client”, said Kate, clearly annoyed at the interruption. “And we’ve been in a
meeting with another client all morning, so… whatever it is, we have no idea. What’s wrong?”

The woman took a step closer to the table, acknowledged Johnny with a polite smile, and adopted a
conspiratory tone.

“It’s Sebastian… Sebastian Feldt. The whole office is talking about it. He’s about to be fired!”

The two colleagues looked at each other, astonished. Kate was the first to react.

“What? But… that’s crazy. They can’t fire Sebastian, he’s the best divorce lawyer we’ve got.”

“And he’s a partner”, added Kevin.

“A junior partner”, clarified Virginia, adjusting her thick glasses over her nose. “They’re accusing
him of violating the partnership agreement.”
“That’s a very serious accusation”, said Kate with a frown. “What did he do? I don’t know
Sebastian that well, but I can’t picture him doing anything illegal.”

“Unacceptable behavior”, continued the other woman in a hushed voice. “Don’t ask me how I
know, but he was working on a big divorce case. This morning, the soon-to-be ex-husband found
Sebastian in his bed with his super attractive client, the soon-to-be ex-wife. Imagine the scene! The
husband stormed in here an hour ago, completely furious; he’s threatening to sue the firm and
cause a scandal. The name partners want to get rid of Sebastian immediately.”

Both Kate and Kevin covered their eyes with the palm of their hands at the same time. Johnny
hadn't said a word; he thought it best to let the office gossip finish her story, and see if she could
leave them alone.

Kate stood up and started pacing up and down the room. “I can’t believe it. If this gets out it could
cost the firm a dozen clients! That’s the most irresponsible, unethical, careless thing I’ve heard
in–”

“At the client’s home? In broad daylight? Come on, Feldt is an idiot, at least they could have gone
to a hotel or something!” interrupted Kevin.

Kate glared at her friend, irritated. “Kevin, sometimes you react to things like a heterosexual man
would. I don’t like it, and it doesn’t suit you.”

“Sorry, Katey, I’m just saying…”

“The place where he got caught is not the problem”, she stated in a clipped tone, planting her hands
on her desk and leaning over to stare closely at her friend. “Even the fact that he got caught is not
the problem.”

“I know, I know. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with his client it in the first place. God, what a
mess.”

“Anyway, guys”, finished Virginia with an apologetic smile. “I just came to tell you that they want
to see all the partners in the conference room in an hour. You’re going to have to vote Sebastian
out.”

The woman left as quickly as she had arrived, to continue with her round through the partners’
offices. Kate stared again at Kevin and rolled her eyes.

“So much for that Ethics Code that you said was never enforced”, she said, very serious.

“It hasn’t been enforced in the two years I’ve been working here. They’re making an example out
of Feldt because he was stupid and they caught him red-handed, that’s all. I guess it’s true that
divorce lawyers bring out the worst in people. ”

Kate resumed her place at the table and looked at Johnny, who had remained seated in silence.

“Johnny, I… I really wish you hadn’t heard that. I guess this doesn’t improve your opinion about
lawyers, right?”

“Hey, there are bad apples everywhere”, he snickered. “Look, if you need me to leave while you
take care of this thing...”

“Absolutely not. We have almost an hour left before the partners’ meeting, that’s enough time to
finish planning for the trial. Kevin, did you make those copies of the list of witnesses I gave
you…?”

Johnny kept listening to Kate, listening to her going on about statements, contracts, witnesses and
declarations. But he only had half a mind on it.

The other half was thinking that his chances with Kate had suddenly gone to shit.

He wasn’t going to get her fired, he would never forgive himself. It wasn’t fair to mess with her life
just because he liked her more than any other woman he’d met in years. And if getting involved
with Kate was going to cause her trouble with her bosses and that damned Ethics Code, then…

Johnny closed his fists under the desk to hide his frustration. A few minutes before there had been
a happy image forming in his mind. A picture of Kate, Rattler, and him, sitting at a table in front of
three huge cups of ice cream. Now the image faded slowly like an old postcard, lost its colors, and
finally disappeared.

While Kate was his lawyer, there was absolutely nothing he could do.
 Networking
Chapter Summary

Sunday lazy Sunday, a day at the beach for the Cobra Kai kids. Kate finally meets
Kevin’s boyfriend, and Johnny makes a sartorial decision.

Chapter Notes

I’m updating early this week, to compensate for the short hiatus that will happen in
August. I’m super excited to start writing the next chapter, because I will finally leave
the trial and all the legal stuff behind. There’s also a new collage picture; I thought a
fabulous character like Kevin deserved a fabulous boyfriend, so the face claim for
Oliver is the gorgeous Antoni Porowski. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 9. NETWORKING

“Robby, are you sure you don’t want to come? Aisha said that all three of us were invited. Even
Demetri is coming, and he hates being in the sun.”

Robby looked at Samantha, shook his head and finished tying the belt on his gi.

“I need a day alone with my thoughts, Sam. That’s why I asked your Dad to let me use the home
dojo today, so I could do some meditation on my own.”

“But it’s Sunday! What’s the point of working and training all week, if we can’t have some fun on
our days off?”

“Yeah, some fun . Going to the beach with a bunch of people who can’t stand me. I’d be lucky if I
got back in one piece.”

“No way, we’ll be there to defend you”, said Demetri. “I know enough embarrassing secrets about
Eli to blackmail him once a day for the rest of his life; he will leave you alone.”

“Thanks, but… Hawk is not the one who worries me.”

Samantha let out an impatient huff. “Robby, if this is about Miguel, I told you I already talked to
him, and he promised to behave. You met Aisha here at dinner a few weeks ago, and she was
perfectly cool with you. And I don’t know the rest of them, but they can’t all be bad… right?”

“Promised to behave… right. And you believed him? What’s it worth, the promise of a Cobra?”

“Come on, dude! Eli told me they have two new girls there. I need you to be my wingman!” said
Demetri, who knew about Grace and Sophie’s existence... but hadn’t been informed about their
sentimental situation.

“Sorry, guys. Maybe some other time. Say hi to Aisha for me, okay?”

“Fine”, conceded Sam, grabbing her car keys from her purse. “But you’re off the hook only for
today; next time you’re coming with us. Come on, Demetri. We don’t want to be late.”

Robby watched them get into the car and returned to the solitude of the dojo with a sigh. He had
been tempted to go, of course. Since he had left high school and let go of his old friends, his circle
consisted only of Sam… and, lately, Demetri. He was a stuck-up dork, exactly the kind of boy
Robby would have mocked and teased to death a year before. But deep down he was a good guy.

As for the Cobras, meeting Aisha had been a nice surprise. Instead of the ferocious amazon he’d
seen at the tournament, she was incredibly sweet and shy in person… at least while Sam was
present.

Sam. That was another one of the reasons he had decided not to go to the beach meetup. He had
followed her rule, the ‘just friends’ thing, and he was doing everything in his power to rationalize
his attraction to her and not act on it. Sure, she was cool and smart and hot as hell, but he knew she
didn’t like him that way. Robby had had a bunch of girlfriends in high school, and he knew
perfectly well when a girl was fawning over him; they did that thing with their lashes, and touched
their hair too many times, and smiled without realizing they were smiling. Sam did none of those
things when she was with him… she only thought of that damned Cobra dweeb, no matter how
much she tried to deny it.

That got him thinking about his own feelings, too. Would he still like Sam the same way if she was
one of the girls in North Hills High, and not his Sensei’s daughter? How much of her attractive was
her , and how much was the way of life he envied and desired so much? Did he really like her for
herself… or for her family?

He picked a candle holder and a box of matches from a drawer, sat cross-legged on the floor, lit the
candle and tried to concentrate his turmoil of thoughts on the dancing flame.

Achieving balance was proving to be way harder than he’d thought.

Meanwhile, the Cobra boys and girls had already arrived to the beach. The noisy bunch got off the
bus and took positions close to the water. It wasn’t the whole dojo, only a few of the older kids:
Miguel, Aisha, Hawk (with Moon, of course, because they were still joined at the hip), Ryan,
Frank… and Grace and Sophie, of course. In fact, the whole idea of spending a day on the beach
had been Aisha’s way of welcoming the two girls into the group officially.
They had a cooler with food, most of it made by Miguel’s grandmother, and another one with juice
and soda. Hawk had mentioned that he wanted to use his fake ID to buy beer, but he had been
immediately silenced by a death glare from Miguel.

They had just decided on what music to play, when two figures got out of a car and walked towards
the group. Aisha greeted them with her best smile.

“Sam! I’m so glad you’re here!” she said, hugging her friend. “Hey, Demetri.”

“Hey, you”, answered the boy. “Look, not that I’m scared of your gang or anything, but… there are
several people I don’t know over there, and I’m not good socializing with people I don’t know.
Maybe Sam and I should stay away.”

“Nah, they’re just kids from the dojo”, said Aisha, noticing a few curious looks from the Cobras.
“Hey, guys, pay attention, these are my friends Sam and Demetri! Sam, the four people you guys
don’t know are Frank here, Ryan over there… and these are Grace and Sophie. They’re new.”

All the kids smiled and waved as their names were being called. Sam waved back, and then turned
towards Aisha.

“Hey, you told me there was only one girl in Cobra Kai apart from you... a little girl. How come
there’s two more all of a sudden?”

“Oh, they appeared a couple of weeks ago. Grace is very good, she was an athlete before getting
into karate, and she’s got a hang on the moves already. Sophie is more of a weakling, but nobody
cares because she’s lovely and super fun to be around.”

Sam looked at the two girls with ill dissimulated suspicion. They were sitting on their towels right
beside Miguel, who had acknowledged Sam’s presence only with a distracted ‘hi’. The girls were
already in her bikinis, and Sam couldn’t help a pang of envy when she saw Grace’s athletic body;
she wasn’t the only one to notice her, though.

“Oh my stars, she’s like Beyonce’s other little sister”, muttered Demetri, completely starstruck.

“Yeah, but you should stop gawking at her now”, answered Aisha with a laugh. “If she catches you
looking she’s gonna kick your ass.”

“That… that suddenly doesn’t sound like a bad idea. She’ll need to get close to me to kick my ass,
right?”

“Oh, do shut up. Come, put your towels here next to mine, guys.”

One of the kids, Frank, opened the bigger cooler and started distributing cans of soda, until Miguel
elbowed Hawk in the ribs.

“Hey, Hawk, where’s the ice?”

“What ice?” asked Hawk, who was extremely busy playing with the fringe of Moon’s short beach
dress.

“The one you were supposed to buy before getting here, dumbo! I messaged you last night to
remind you, now the drinks are going to get warm.”

“Oops”, was Hawk’s only answer before he resumed the close inspection of his girlfriend’s
clothes.
Miguel rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Fine, I’ll go get some. Dude, I swear that blue dye you use for your hair is frying your brain
cells.” He surveyed the group in search for help; for a second or two he thought of asking Sam to
go to the shop with him, but something stopped him right on time.

He had a better idea. Also, a slightly meaner one.

“Hey, Sophie!” he called. “We’re out of ice, I’m going to the mini mart on the promenade to get
some. Wanna help me?”

“Yeah, sure! Let me get my sandals on, the sand is burning”, answered the girl with a sweet smile.
That was one of the reasons everybody liked her, she was always eager to help.

Out of the corner of his eye Miguel observed Sam’s reaction. Or, rather, her non-reaction, because
she suddenly looked serious and quiet like a statue. He turned to Sophie again.

“Piggyback ride to the promenade? You won’t need your sandals if your feet don’t touch the
ground…”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” she laughed. “Ready?”

She took aim and jumped on the boy’s back, hanging onto his neck. Miguel started running across
the beach, laughing and throwing sand in all directions.

Sam observed the scene from afar. She had been sincerely happy for Aisha when she heard there
were girls in Cobra Kai… she just hadn’t imagined them as Tinker Bell and Mini-Beyonce. She put
her sunglasses on to try and hide her irritation, grabbed a soda and closed the lid of the cooler
making way more noise than necessary.

It took Miguel and Sophie less than ten minutes to come back with two huge bags of ice. Miguel
was carrying both of them; he had taken off his shirt, and his wiry muscles tensed under his dark
skin. Sam realized she was staring, but she just couldn’t look away. Miguel had never been the
cocky type… why was he putting on a show for that girl? She pressed the cool soda can against her
cheek to calm the burning sensation, and concentrated on talking to Moon and Aisha. She didn’t
want to keep looking at him.

There was someone else in the group observing Miguel; and not just him, also Samantha and her
subtle vigilance maneuvers. When the ice had been distributed among the coolers, Grace grabbed
the boy’s arm and took him aside, out of ear’s reach.

“Diaz, are you using my girlfriend to make that Samantha girl jealous?”

“What? No! I asked Sophie to come with me, but I could have asked… anybody else. You, for
instance.”

“Okay. So you were also thinking about using me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous.”

“It’s not my fault that she chooses to feel that way! Just because I’m innocently talking to another
girl–”

“Innocently, sure. Did you tell her that Sophie and I are a couple? I bet she doesn't know.”

Finally Miguel had the decency to look a bit embarrassed. “Ah… she didn’t ask.”
At this point, Grace couldn’t help a burst of laughter. “Man, you straight people are weird! Why
don’t you just go over there and talk to her? Tell her how you feel, instead of playing silly games
from the distance!”

“Yeah, as if it was so easy! Look, Sam and I have history. She already knows how I feel, but… she
doesn’t want to date anybody for the whole Summer. I’m just giving her something to think about
until school starts.”

The girl punched his arm; she did it playfully, but it still hurt. “You’re a dog, Diaz. Fine, I won’t
tell your beloved Samantha that Sophie is not interested in you at all. But you owe me one, stud.”

“I’m forever in your debt, my lady.”

“I’m glad you say that. On the next day of practice you’ll teach me that side kick that sent Ryan
flying across the mat the other day. Do that and we’re even. And the pantomime is just for today,
do you hear me? Next time we see that girl I’m going to kiss Sophie in front of her so she knows
we’re together.”

Miguel bowed to Grace in a mockery of a curtsey, and returned to the place where the group was.
He picked up a couple of sandwiches and offered one to Aisha, who was sitting alone because Sam
and Moon had just gone to the water.

“Sandwich? Avocado chicken, my Yaya made them and they’re great.”

“Thanks”, said the girl, unwrapping it carefully. “I saw what you did there, by the way. Bit of a
dick move if you ask me... You’re lucky that Grace found it funny, or she would have given you a
bloody nose.”

“Nah, Grace knows I would never hit on Sophie, we’re cool. And why do you care anyway?”
Miguel took a bite of his sandwich. It had a lot of mustard, and he ended up licking the sauce off
his fingers.

“I care because you and Sam are both my friends, and those little games of making her jealous can
only lead to more problems. I can’t believe you haven’t learned anything since last year. Ew, do
you have to be so messy when you eat?”

“Sorry”, he answered, trying not to speak with his mouth full. “Look, if Keene was here Sam
would be doing the same thing with him to make me mad. It’s just a bit of payback… and, anyway,
it’s not like I’m sworn to being celibate until she finally decides on one of us.”

He looked at Aisha, expecting another scolding comment from her, but the girl just kept staring at
him.

“What? What did I say now?”

Aisha left her sandwich on her lap and cleared her throat. “Boy, you’re not gonna like this one
bit… but I’ve got to tell you something.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I met Keene a couple of weeks ago.”

Miguel stopped chewing, and his eyes widened in disbelief. “What?”

“And he’s… kind of okay, I guess.”

“What?”

“Oh, stop repeating that like a parrot!” she said, giving the boy a light slap on the back of the head.
“Sam invited me to dinner at her parents’, and Keene was there. He didn't talk much, I think he
was a bit scared of me.”

“Well, he should be scared.”

“Let me finish or you’ll get another one! Anyway, I thought Keene would be all cocky and stuff,
but he’s a nice guy. You better get used to the idea that you’ll have to talk to him someday, and not
with your fists.”

“Yeah... I don’t see that happening.”

“There’s still a lot of Summer ahead of us. What if we come to the beach again and he decides to
join us? Or if he comes to the dojo one day to see Sensei Lawrence? And hey, what if you get back
with Sam? You’ll have to meet her parents at some point, and Robby hangs out at her house a lot.”

“Oh, he’s Robby now?”, asked Miguel with a disgusted pout. “Since when are you so chummy
with him?”

“Don’t be daft! Do you think Sensei Lawrence would be happy with you hating his son?”

“No... I guess not”, he answered, lowering his head. “But I didn’t know who he was, not until you
told me after the tournament. The damage is done. I can’t just go to LaRusso’s dojo one day, say hi
and ask Keene to hang out, can I? He hates my guts, too.”

“One step at a time. Just focus on not wanting to kill him too much.”

“I don’t want to kill him! I don’t want anything bad to happen to him... I just want him to disappear
from my life. And from Sam’s life.”

“Well, tough luck. Get it into your thick head, that’s not gonna happen. Robby is Sensei’s son, so
he’s a part of his life. And that makes him part of our lives, too, like it or not.”

Miguel hid his face in his hands and groaned.

“This is great. Just great. The way things are going, any day Sensei Lawrence will make peace
with Sam’s Dad, he’ll go teach over there and leave us.”

“And people say girls are dramatic!” sighed Aisha. “Is that what scares you so much? That Sensei
Lawrence will leave Cobra Kai? That he will leave you ?”

“I’m not scared”, the boy said with a tiny voice.

“Bullshit”, she spat.

Miguel went silent and sulky again, and Aisha threw him a compassionate look. “You know Sensei
would never do that, Mig. You were his first student, and you’ll always be his favorite student…
no matter how much of a jerk you become when Sam is present.”

“Hey! Nice way to talk to a friend!”

“Good friends are the ones who call you out on your shit when you fuck up! And now come, stop
moping and let’s go with the others.”
She got up and walked towards the rest of the group. All the kids, including Sam and Demetri, had
formed a circle with their towels, and they were playing cards and laughing.

“Hey, Aisha!” called Miguel.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for the pep talk.” The boy raised his can of Coke towards her in an improvised toast.
“Here’s to good friends.”

At the same time the Cobra Kai kids were cautiously expanding their circle of friends on the beach,
Kate had also met someone new.

She and Kevin were sitting at the dining room table of her apartment, enjoying some iced coffee
after lunch. A few feet away, on the carpet, Rani and a handsome young man were engaged in a
frenzied game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Rani had let out her competitive side in full force, and
she was cheering and laughing so loud that it made any attempt of conversation impossible.

“Rani, sweetheart, use your inside voice”, Kate reminded her with a smile. “You can’t scream at
poor Oliver like that, he’s our guest!”

“He cheated!” answered the little girl, operating the levers on the board with uncanny speed.

“Did not!” protested Oliver, completely hunched over his green mechanical hippopotamus.

“Did too!”

“Oliver, darling, I can’t believe you have the emotional maturity of an eight-year-old girl”,
interrupted Kevin. “Can’t you let Rani win in peace?”

“Either you two find a more pacific way to play, or I’m taking the game away”, said Kate, trying to
make herself heard among the ruckus.

Right in that moment, Rani’s pink hippo managed to catch the last ball on the board, and she
punched the air and let out a happy victory yell. Oliver had no other choice than to raise his hands
and admit defeat.

“Wanna play again?” asked Rani, who had won eight games out of ten.

“I think that’s enough for today”, said Kate. “Rani, why don’t you go to your room and get that
sketchbook you were showing me yesterday? I’m sure Oliver and Kevin will love to see your
drawings.”

The girl nodded and ran to her bedroom, while the young man beside her got up from the floor with
a graceful leap and sat at the table beside the other two adults.

“Wow, I didn’t know this game was so exhausting! I won’t be needing my aerobics class
tomorrow, I think I just lost two pounds”, he said, pouring himself a tall glass of iced coffee.

Kevin looked at him fondly. “Well, the purpose of today’s lunch was that my boyfriend, my best
friend and my almost-niece got to know each other, and judging by that game I think it’s been a
success. Although a very noisy one.”
“Of course! Kate, your daughter is amazing”, said Oliver with a happy smile. "She's a firecracker."

“I agree”, she answered. “And I’m really glad to finally meet you too, Oliver. You know, Kevin
has been singing your praises since I moved to the Valley last month.”

“Aw, thanks, boo!” exclaimed Oliver, resting his head on Kevin’s shoulder. “And what about you,
Kate? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Well, I haven’t had a lot of time for–”

“Not yet, but ask her again in a couple of weeks and you may get a different answer”, interrupted
Kevin with a knowing smile.

Kate stared at her friend and sighed.

“Drop it, Kevin. Please.”

Seeing that his innocent question had changed the atmosphere in the room, Oliver made an effort
to change the topic.

“So... Kevin told me things are a bit tense at your office this week.”

“Tense is one way to put it. Everybody’s walking on eggshells because of what happened with
Feldt the other day… And the name partners are watching us like hawks. Especially Mrs. Morgan;
she already behaved like a boarding school matron, but now she’s gone full-on prison matron.”

“Give it a few days and it will pass”, said Kevin the eternal optimist.

The sound of running feet coming down the corridor announced Rani’s return, carrying a large
sketchbook under her arm. She sat at the table and opened it on the first page, adorned with a
colorful drawing.

“Oh, that’s very pretty! Did you make all these?” asked Oliver.

“Yes, I draw almost every day”, answered the girl, turning the pages one by one. “Look, this is the
first one I made when we moved; it’s our apartment building, with the two palm trees in front, and
the sign that says South Seas . The letters are wonky but Mom said it doesn’t matter because it’s
artistic. This other one is my friend Millie, she doesn’t live here but her granny does, next door, and
she comes to visit her almost every day. She has really pretty blond hair. And this is the swimming
pool, I drew Mom and me swimming in it.”

“Those are really good, munchkin”, encouraged Kevin. “And what are you going to draw next?”

Rani kept flipping pages until she got to the blank ones, and pointed to the white surface.

“Here is where I’m going to draw the things I’ll do at the urban camp tomorrow.”

Both Kevin and Oliver looked at Kate for an explanation.

“The County of Los Angeles is organizing urban camps for children all Summer”, she clarified. “A
bus comes and picks them up in the morning, and they organize all kinds of outdoor activities until
lunchtime. Rani has been staying with her aunt and uncle every morning while I’m at work... And I
don’t want to impose on them for too long, so I thought the camp would be a good way to keep her
entertained until school starts. They’re going to do a lot of fun things, right, sweetie? They will go
to museums, and parks, and… I think I read something about a visit to a candy factory.”
“Yes! And the best part is that my friend Millie will come too”, said Rani, her smile becoming
even wider. “And after lunch I still get to go to Cobra Kai every day.”

“If you do karate the same way you play Hungry Hippos, you must be a really tough fighter!” said
Oliver, impressed.

“Not as tough as my friend Aisha, she’s the strongest girl in my class”, answered Rani, very
serious. “Miguel is really strong too, he always wins when we’re sparring. But nobody is as tough
as Sensei Lawrence, he’s the best! When Sensei was in high school, that was a lot of years ago
before I was born, he won the All Valley Championship two years in a row. He trains every day,
even on Saturdays and Sundays when we’re not at the dojo. Mom, I’m going to get my tablet and
show Oliver the videos from the championship!”

She closed the sketchbook and disappeared from sight again, running like always.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “What was that thing Joan Jett and the Blackhearts sang… Everybody
needs a hero, right?”

Kate shifted in her seat, slightly uncomfortable. “And that’s another reason why I want Rani to go
to that camp. The only boy in Cobra Kai close to her age range is Bert, and he’s a sweet child... but
she needs to be with other kids her age. All that hero worship is only healthy up to a point.”

“It won’t hurt Rani to have a male role model to look up to.”

“She’s supposed to have my brother Hugh for that.” Kate looked at her friend intently. “Do you
honestly think Johnny Lawrence is a perfect role model for her?”

“Wasn’t it Voltaire who said that Perfect is the enemy of good ?”

“Voltaire never had children, Kev. And I have all the faith in the world in Johnny... when it comes
to his abilities as a karate teacher. As for the rest, I don’t know him enough to have an opinion.”
With those words, she stood up and started taking the dirty dishes to the sink.

At this point in the conversation, Oliver seemed completely lost. He exchanged a glance with
Kevin, who answered with an ‘I’ll tell you later’ gesture before following his friend to the kitchen.

“Give it time, Katey. It may be worth knowing him better.”

“I’m his lawyer, remember? I can’t think of that now, not until after the trial. And the appeal, if
there is one… and that could take months. Besides, fraternizing with clients is not exactly a
popular pastime in our firm these days, no matter how much you try to push me into it.”

“Ah, I thought you hadn’t caught wind of my wicked schemes”, said Kevin, twirling an imaginary
moustache.

Kate closed the door of the dishwasher and threw a playful jab at her friend.

“I can always see you coming a mile away. And, since we’re in the business of quoting popular
philosophers, let me tell you something Donna said in the Mamma Mia movie, something that I
repeat to myself every day: I’m free, I’m single... and it’s great!”

Johnny turned on the air conditioning in his living room and returned to the couch. He picked up
the portfolio next to him and opened it on the place where a post-it note was acting as an
improvised bookmark.

Kate and Kevin had given him some notes to study: the questions they would be asking him at the
trial, and also some things they thought Zarkarian’s lawyers could ask. He and the florist lady from
the strip mall were going to be the only two witnesses. Kate had insisted that the contract and the
paperwork were more important than his declaration, so there was no way he could fuck things up.
All he had to do was show up, wear a suit, look respectable and be nice to the judge, who
apparently was going to be some cranky old lady.

Johnny let out a long sigh. He had been trying to concentrate on the trial stuff all day, with
depressing results.

The words were not the problem. Studying had been easy for him, back in his high school days. He
even did quite well during his first and only year at Stanford, right before his life went straight to
Hell. No, the real problem was that he couldn’t focus on the fucking papers without thinking of the
woman who had written them. The series of images ran through his mind like one of those silent
movies from the 1920s: Kate arriving at the dojo for the first time; Kate in her office, sitting at that
absurd desk that was too big for her; Kate at the door of Cobra Kai, opening her arms and smiling
at Rattler while the kid ran to her after class.

But then the movie became distorted, there came other images that weren’t real, but drilled into
Johnny’s mind anyway. Kate leaving her fancy office building with a cardboard box in her hands,
looking at him with hatred and disgust; Johnny standing in front of the Cobra Kai kids, like
always... but not exactly like always because there was an empty space right there in the front row,
where Rattler used to be.

Pounding his fist on the table, Johnny stood up and went to the fridge. It was almost dinner time,
and he had managed to avoid drinking all day. He grabbed a beer and a bowl of leftover potato
salad and returned to the couch; but before he could get back to reading the file, another thought
came to him. He rushed to his bedroom and opened the closet door. At least there were more
clothes on the hangers than on the floor, he had tried to keep his place in order lately. His only suit
was there, the one he had worn a few months before to the All Valley committee meeting, and
Johnny examined the worn and wrinkled fabric with a frown.

He had cared about those things once, back in the days when going to the country club with his
mother and Sid had been a weekly thing. The preppiest boy with the best clothes, the one who
spent all his allowance on trying to look his best, that had been him… an eternity ago.

Johnny held his ugly green tie in his hand, and he couldn't help thinking of Kate’s friend. Kevin
with his multicolored ties that looked like an acid trip, his matching waistcoats, and his suits that
were probably custom made. That man had to be the best dressed lawyer in Los Angeles… and
Johnny was going to look like a bum sitting next to him at the trial, in a second-hand jacket that
had seen a couple decades of better days.

That’s when the idea came to him. Well, to be precise, two ideas, and one was the gateway to the
other. He pulled the suit from its hanger, and with it the tie and the yellow shirt; he made a bundle
with all three things, went to the kitchen and threw everything into a plastic bag before sitting on
the couch again with a self-satisfied smile.

At least he had a plan now. A plan that could backfire on him spectacularly, but Johnny knew it
was a risk he had to take.

Strike hard.
He picked up his phone, searched among the papers until he found a business card, and dialed the
number on it.

“Kevin, it’s Johnny Lawrence”, he said to the voice on the other side of the line. “Sorry, man, I
know it’s Sunday, but… yeah, I’m here with the legal papers and all that stuff, but I’m not calling
about that. Listen, there’s something I’ve got to do next week after the trial, and… I need your
help.”
 Justice
Chapter Summary

The trial on the Cobra Kai rent takes place. But a chance encounter at a restaurant
threatens to spoil Johnny's day.

Chapter Notes

This chapter and the two that will come after it happen on the same day, and they’re
all part of the same super long scene. While I was writing it, I realized all the
characters were talking too much, and it was going to end up being too long, so I split
the original chapter 10 in two. The result of all that is good for my readers, I hope:
there will be one update today and another one tomorrow, as soon as I finish doing
some edits. I also want to have chapter 12 ready for next Thursday, right before my
vacation (fingers crossed!).

A million thanks to TheEmpressAR who convinced me make it two chapters and not
dump 6000 words at the same time on my poor readers!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 10. JUSTICE

‘All rise for the Honorable Judge Muller!’

‘Plaintiff's counsel may present her case.’

‘The matter is all contained within the transcript…’

‘A motion to dismiss has no basis here, gentlemen.’

‘… and the Affordable Housing Act is very explicit on that point…’

‘You may may call your first witness, Miss Williams.’

‘First we call Mr. John Lawrence…’

‘The defendant’s counsel is mischaracterizing the witness’ testimony.’

‘… the defendant rests, Your Honor. We have no further questions.’

‘Your Honor, we call Mrs. Abigail Atkins as our last witness.’

‘Objection sustained. The defendant will avoid the use of that metaphor.’

‘Speak into the microphone, please.’

‘... and I had to close the flower shop…’

‘You may cross-examine, counsel...’

‘Objection. The witness is narrating...’

‘Mr. Zarkarian, if you address the plaintiff’s attorney on those terms again I will declare you in
contempt of court.’

‘May we have a short recess?’

‘… therefore, in my closing argument, I will remind Her Honor…’

‘Furthermore, this court awards punitive damages in the amount of…’

‘This is my ruling and judgment in respect of the defendant's' application. Have a good day,
everybody.’

Bang.

The sound of the judge’s gavel echoed in Johnny’s ears for several seconds after he left the
courtroom. He never thought he would like that sound so much.

Beside him, his two lawyers hugged, congratulating each other on the win. Kevin gave him a
friendly pat on the back, but Johnny still couldn’t bring himself to hug Kate. He didn’t trust his
self-control if he did that.

They all exited the building together, avoiding the incensed looks of Johnny’s landlord, who was
pacing up and down the courthouse corridor berating his team of lawyers at the top of his voice.
Johnny didn’t even look at him. Despite Kate’s reassurance, he hadn’t been sure of winning the
lawsuit until the judge pronounced her ruling, and he was still too surprised to gloat about it.

He checked his watch while they went down the stairs of the courthouse. The trial had started at
ten, and it was barely past noon… All his money problems miraculously solved in little more than
two hours. Everything had been so fast, he even felt a bit dizzy.

“Congratulations, madam counselor!” exclaimed Kevin as soon as they were on the street. “Now, I
believe a victory like this one deserves a celebration… right, Johnny?”

He nodded and looked at Kate, who seemed equally happy but less enthusiastic about celebrating.

“I don’t know, Kev. It’s too early for Martinis. We should go back to the office, I have a meeting at
three thirty.”

“That’s almost three hours away, come on. Let’s go have lunch; you still have to eat, right?
There’s a great restaurant next to our office building, and the firm has a permanent reservation. Not
waiting for a table is a luxury even you can’t refuse”, he finished with a wink.

“Well, I guess I can spare an hour for lunch… What about you, Johnny? Do you need to leave right
now?”

“Nah, I don’t have to open the dojo until four today”, he answered, loosening the knot on his tie.
“And, the truth is, I’m starving.”

“Perfect! Let me call an Uber and we’ll go straight there”, said Kevin.
While they waited for the car to arrive, Kate observed Johnny surreptitiously. She had been the one
who advised him to appear in court in a suit, but somehow he had managed to look so different
from his usual self that he almost didn’t seem like the same man. The man who spent half his time
in jeans and a t-shirt, and the other half in a karate gi.

The blue suit was unmistakably new and incredibly stylish, and Kate wondered if Kevin (and his
personal shopper boyfriend) had had anything to do with it. But it was impossible… right? Johnny
would never ask for Kevin’s help out of the blue.

The only thing that hadn’t changed was Johnny’s stance. He stood on the sidewalk with his feet
apart, his hands in his pockets, and that crooked smile… Kate realized she was staring, and
pretended to look at the road. She was starting to feel flushed, like that day she had spoken to
Johnny at the door of Cobra Kai, and this time she knew she couldn’t blame the heat.

A short Uber ride later, they arrived at their destination. Scratch Bar & Kitchen was one of the
hottest places to eat in Encino, a spacious and modern restaurant decorated in a rustic style.

The host recognized Kevin immediately, because many of his fellow partners celebrated their
victories there, and they were led to a spacious table that overlooked a patio full of plants and trees.
The host went to pull Kate’s chair out for her, but Johnny stopped him with a determined look and
did it himself. Maybe he hadn’t been to a fancy place like that in a long time, but all those years of
country club dinners and expensive restaurants were hard to forget. It had been one of the few good
things to come from Sid’s money.

They had just started looking at their menus, when Kevin’s phone let out a series of annoying
beeps. He stared at the screen, frowning, and left his menu on the table.

“Guys, I’m going to take this outside. It’s a client, and judging by his texts he may be in deep
trouble. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Kate nodded and smiled at Johnny, who was sitting right next to her.

“Do you like the place?”

“Yeah, it’s nice. Not exactly my usual joint, but… I don’t care much as long as the food’s good.”

“I’ve heard it’s fantastic.” she looked around her, admiring the soft colors and picturesque art
pieces that decorated the walls. “And I just realized it’s been months since the last time I went to a
restaurant that wasn’t full of people with children. I think I’ve tasted the kid’s menu of every chain
restaurant in California… It’s a nice change to be in a more adult space for once.”

Before Johnny could answer, Kevin appeared again, with a worried look on his face.

“Oh, this day was going too peachy to be true, guys. I have to run back to the office… I’m so sorry
to miss lunch, but you’ll have to manage without me.”

“We haven’t even ordered, Kev. Are you sure you don’t need me to go with you? Maybe I can
help…”

“Don’t you dare tear your lovely bottom off that chair, missy! This is your celebration lunch,
you’ve earned it. Johnny, promise me you won’t let her leave until she’s had lunch. And dessert.”

Johnny nodded. “Understood.”

Kevin picked up his briefcase, waved them goodbye with a flourish and headed towards the door,
where a number of people without a reservation had already started to line up for a table.

“Won’t Mr. McMichaels accompany us today?” asked the waiter, who had just arrived with the
wine menu.

“He’s had a call from work”, answered Johnny, taking the menu that the young man was offering
him and studying it for a moment. “We’ll have the Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. If that’s okay with
you, of course”, he said, looking at Kate.

“It’s… it’s perfect”, she answered, raising an eyebrow in surprise. She waited until the waiter had
left and then continued. “I thought you were more of a beer man.”

“Pinot Noir was my mother’s favorite. I think it’s the only wine I like.”

There was a note of sadness in his voice when he mentioned his mother. Kate supposed the woman
had passed away, maybe recently, but she didn’t want to make him talk about it and spoil his
lunch. Instead, she decided quickly what she wanted to eat, closed her menu and distracted herself
watching the people around her, while Johnny looked at the list of dishes.

Kate’s seat was facing the entrance of the restaurant, and she saw that the line of waiting customers
was getting longer. And more impatient, she thought, noticing an elegantly dressed woman who
was arguing with the host in a polite but very firm tone. She couldn’t hear all the words, but it was
something about a reservation for the wrong date, and a missed email, and… The woman turned to
speak to the suited-up man beside her, and Kate’s eyes widened in recognition.

She had seen that man’s face before. On a billboard.

Almost instinctively, her hand shot out and landed on Johnny’s sleeve; he looked at her, intrigued.

“Anything wrong?”

Kate braced herself mentally for whatever was going to happen next, took a deep breath and stared
into his eyes.

“Johnny… do you believe in fate?”

“Not really.”

She rolled her eyes. Of course he didn’t believe in anything so abstract.

“Fine. Let me try again: do you believe in making shit happen?”

“That’s more up my alley”, answered Johnny, amused by Kate’s unusual language. “What’s
wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Not exactly, but… look over there, right by the door.”

Johnny’s face fell, and his eyes became two blue icicles.

“Shit. Of all the restaurants in the Valley.”

“It looks like they don’t have a reservation”, observed Kate. “That woman was just arguing with
the host a second ago.”

“That’s his wife.”

“With all those people before them, they’ll have to wait at least an hour to be seated.”

“Serves him right”, muttered Johnny under his breath.

Kate didn’t say anything; she looked at Johnny, then at the couple by the door, and then at Johnny
again, and she had an air of steely determination around her. Johnny had seen her exactly like that a
couple of hours before, in court.

“I think you should invite them to join us.”

Johnny blinked a couple of times. The individual words had meaning, but the sentence they formed
was suddenly hard to understand.

“What?”

“This is a table for four! Why not ask them to have lunch with us?”

Johnny looked at the woman at his side as if she had suddenly gone insane.

“You want me to invite LaRusso to our table? What for?”

“To bury the hatchet! Or at least throw some soil over it. Look, if you’re nice to him it will make
you look good in front of your son. You have the chance to be the better man, for once. I bet he’ll
be too polite to say no… and too hungry, the food here is delicious.”

Johnny sighed, reminding himself not to pout. The prospects of an intimate lunch with Kate were
becoming less intimate every second; and of course it was once more LaRusso’s fault... Once again
it looked like that fucking man was on Earth with the sole purpose of making his life difficult.

“Why are you so interested in having lunch with him?”

“Well... to begin with, I’m curious. After all the horror stories you’ve told me about that man, I
want to meet him and see if they’re true. And remember that if it wasn’t for him and his little mind
games with your landlord, you and me wouldn’t be sitting here now. But if it’s going to be too
uncomfortable for you, there’s no need...”

She didn’t finish the sentence, because Johnny was already standing up and walking towards the
entrance of the restaurant.

Daniel’s day had started on a really good note.

The sales numbers for the second trimester were in, and they were much better than expected. His
accountant had actually told him that, if things kept going so well, he would be able to retire in five
years. Not that he wanted to… everybody knew he enjoyed his job too much. But lately, the idea
of letting someone else handle the dealerships for a while and concentrate on Miyagi-Do had been
tempting him.

In any case, it was a cause for celebration. He had emailed Amanda’s favorite restaurant first thing
in the morning to make a reservation… a reservation that, due to some silly confusion and a poorly
redacted message, had been registered for the wrong date. He stood feeling useless while Amanda
tried to reason with the host, but there was just no way to fix it, every table at Scratch was
occupied. They would have to wait at the bar for… however long it took, or find another place for
lunch, and he hated disappointing Amanda like that.
He let out a frustrated sigh and whipped out his phone, to text Robby and tell the boy that he and
Amanda would be late to work that afternoon. After all, he’d been expecting a nice, quiet lunch
with his wife, and he wasn’t going to let some absurd mistake ruin his day.

Then, the sound of someone clearing his throat behind him made him freeze in his place.

Daniel knew that voice, of course. He’d had nightmares with that voice in high school. For a
moment he closed his eyes and wished the hallucination away… because it had to be just that,
right? There was no way it could be real.

He finally managed to turn around, and of course there he was. His nemesis, no longer looking like
a semi-homeless person like he usually did. His nightmare, in a smart suit he could swear was
Armani. His bête noire , looking happy and confident like the Johnny Lawrence he had seen all
those years ago at the country club.

Exactly the version of Johnny Lawrence that made his teenage anxiety come back and his hair
stand on end.

Now Amanda had seen Johnny too, and she greeted him with her usual cheerful smile. Always one
for public relations, Amanda. Daniel’s ears had started ringing, and he didn’t come back to reality
until he realized Johnny was speaking to him.

“…we have a table for four over there. You’re welcome to join us for lunch.”

Daniel blinked, dumbfounded, while his brain started shooting questions. What was Johnny doing
at a swank restaurant in Encino? Why the suit? Who was this ‘us’ he kept referring to? Why had
his perfect day suddenly turned into a nightmare?

He was vaguely aware of Johnny pointing to a table next to the patio, a table with a pretty woman
in a burgundy dress sitting at it. After a couple of seconds he got his voice back, or at least most of
it.

“Actually, we were just about to leave…”, he started.

“No, we’re not!” interrupted Amanda. “Come on, you’ve been wanting to have lunch here for
weeks… Thank you, Johnny, we’d love to join you and your friend.”

Daniel felt Amanda grabbing his arm and leading him to the table. Another lost battle.

The woman in burgundy stood up. She looked nice, and Daniel couldn’t help wondering if she was
the architect of Johnny’s apparent transformation.

“This is Kate Williams, my lawyer. Kate, these are Daniel and Amanda LaRusso.”

“Hi! It’s really nice to meet you”, she said with a warm smile, shaking hands with both of them.

Johnny pulled out her chair again when they sat down. They sat so Kate was facing Amanda, and
he was facing Daniel, who had finally recovered his wits.

“So... what did you do to need a lawyer this time, Johnny? Got into another fight on the streets?”

Johnny’s lips tensed in a tight line, but Kate saw the effect Daniel’s words were having and
intervened to defuse the situation.

“Actually, the Tenants Association of the Victory Boulevard Strip Mall, of which Johnny is
president, sued their landlord last month for breaching the Affordable Housing Act. We had the
trial this morning, and… well, we’re here at Scratch having lunch and drinking wine, so you can
guess how well it went.”

“Congratulations, Johnny”, said Daniel in a bitter tone. “Another win under your belt.”

Johnny smirked, and then turned towards Kate.

“You were the one who argued the case. The win is yours, Kate.”

“Yes, but you were the one who charmed the judge”, added Kate, causing a smug smile to appear
on Johnny’s face. “I’ve never seen the Honorable Paula Muller be so nice to a witness before. That
woman has been terrorizing attorneys for the last forty years!”

“Okay, I give you that one. But you almost got Zarkarian removed from the courtroom with your
little annoying questions that made him lose his cool. That was on purpose, right?”

“It was Kevin’s idea”, said Kate with a wicked glint in her eye. “I only wanted to rile him up a little
and make him nervous... but when he called me a bitch in front of the judge I knew there was no
way we could lose.”

“He did what?” interjected Daniel. He knew Armand’s manners were uncouth, but insulting a
woman was just too much, even for him.

“Oh, I can be extremely irritating when I put my mind to it”, said Kate in her sweetest voice. “I
learned it at Law School.”

Right in that moment, the waiter appeared holding four flute glasses and a wine cooler that he left
on the table.

“Mr. Lawrence, we just got a call from Mr. McMichaels. He asks you and Miss Williams to accept
this bottle of Prosecco as an apology for his absence. Are you ready to order, or shall I come back
later?”

“Just a minute, thank you”, Kate said to the obsequious young man. “Well, that’s a nice surprise.
What’s a celebration without some bubbles?”

“Exactly what I always say!” answered Amanda. “A glass of really cold Prosecco can do miracles.
So… Kate, you just mentioned Law School, and that reminded me that I almost became a lawyer
myself. But in the last moment I chickened out and went for Business Management instead.”

“Oh, no! What made you change your mind? I’m sure you would have made a great lawyer.”

“My Dad, mostly. He always said lawyers are like rats, and he didn’t want his daughter to become
one.”

“I get it, really”, said Kate with a laugh. “Both my parents are college professors; they always
expected me to be an academic too, and I’ll never forget the terror in their faces when I told them I
had applied to Law School. Actually, rat is a compliment compared to some of the things people
have called me and my colleagues over the years.”

“I may be guilty of some of those”, Daniel intervened. “Let’s just say that I’ve met some shady
lawyers a couple of times. Anyway, you wouldn’t believe the things they say of people in the
automobile business. Hearing someone calling us rats would be like music to my ears.”
 “Well… I, in turn, have met some shady car salesmen a couple of times, and I’ve probably called
them worse things in my head. So… in the rodent front, I think we’re even”, finished Kate.

She observed the three people around her with caution. Amanda was probably one of the nicest
people she had ever met, and she knew they had clicked immediately. As for Daniel, well… the
fact that he had started the conversation attacking Johnny with his little joke about getting in a
street fight wasn’t very nice. But at least Johnny didn’t look upset, not too much.

Maybe having lunch with the LaRussos could end up being a good idea.

Chapter End Notes

If you're guessing there will be some drama at the restaurant in the next chapter, you're
guessing right. Daniel is a man who can do many things, but keeping his mouth shut is
not one of them...
 Showdown
Chapter Summary

Old habits die hard. Things get a little hostile between Johnny and Daniel during
lunch.

Chapter Notes

Here it is, as promised, the conclusion of the scene at the restaurant. Enjoy the
showdown.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 11. SHOWDOWN

Kate had been more or less right. Lunch with Johnny’s high school enemy and his wife had been a
really good idea...

At least for the first twenty minutes.

The appetizers arrived shortly after they ordered them, followed by some delicious main courses,
and food proved to be a welcome distraction. Johnny and Daniel let the women carry the weight of
the conversation, a good thing because Kate and Amanda found out that they had a lot of things in
common.

They both had played team sports in high school (roller derby for Kate, volleyball for Amanda),
and when the conversation turned to their college years they discovered with surprise that they had
both attended Notre Dame, although they had never met because Kate was a couple of years older.

“I can’t believe it, we were on that campus at the same time! Did you live in a sorority?” asked
Amanda, who had enjoyed every minute of college life, from the first day until the moment she
graduated.

“No, in one of the dorms. I never got the sorority thing, it felt too elitist. Besides, my dorm was
mixed, and living with boys was kind of fun. ”

Amanda took a sip of her wine. “ I know sororities look silly from the outside, but I loved Kappa
Delta so much… there was a real sense of community. Hey, do you go to the alumni reunions? I
went to one five years ago, but the flight is too long to do it every year.”

“Believe it or not, I’m always busy when they happen… and anyway all my college friends except
for one live too far away to meet, even once a year.” Kate rested her chin on her hand and smiled,
remembering her teenage years. “I went to a grand total of one high school reunion a few years ago.
But high school wasn’t exactly my golden age, so it was… just okay. Not a lot of fun to be had.”

She didn’t realize that the two men sitting at the table had jerked to attention when they heard the
magic words ‘high school’.

“Oh, you’re right, I went to a couple of those and I hated them”, agreed Amanda. “Having to
socialize with all the former mean girls in my class… Now they want to talk to me, when I’m not
forty pounds overweight anymore.”

“You should have seen me in high school. Brackets on my teeth, shaped like a surfboard, too shy to
talk to a boy until my senior year… I was a complete disaster”, added Kate with a laugh. “But
you’re right about the mean girls. They always turn into nice people twenty years too late. The
Queen Bee in my class was a mean little person called Christine, and she actually had the nerve to
pretend we were BFFs at that reunion.”

“Really?” asked Amanda, who couldn’t resist a bit of gossip. “And what did you do?”

“I arrived at the gym, I was saying hi to my actual high school friends, and suddenly there she was.
With her bleached hair, her stiletto nails, and her airs of superiority. She started fussing over me,
telling me how wonderful I looked, gushing about my hair, and my dress… So I looked her right in
the eye and said: ‘Christine, you never liked me’.”

“Oh, my God! You actually went and told her that?” asked Amanda with a chuckle.

“Those exact words. In the tone I always use for talking to the lawyers of the other party in a trial. I
guess she was expecting me to act as if nothing had happened… or to make a scene, but I didn’t
want to give her that satisfaction just because she was a messy bitch looking for drama.” She
refilled Amanda’s glass of wine, and then her own. “Excuse the language, but there's no other way
to describe that woman.”

“Oh, dear! How did she react?”

“She just stood there, blabbering about how it wasn’t true, and she had always thought I was so
sweet, and… I let her go on for a moment. Then I stopped her, said ‘I never liked you either’,
turned around and walked away from her”, finished Kate with a pleased smile.

“I can’t believe you had the… the balls to say that to her face!”

“I just wasn’t there for the theatricals. Sorry, but if I’m going to fly eight hundred miles from
California to Seattle for a school reunion I want to see my friends, not reminisce with the person
who was awful to me twenty years ago. It’s just not healthy to go over those old grudges.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve always said! Not healthy at all”, said Amanda, staring at her husband
with intent.

Both men appeared to be a little embarrassed; but Daniel recovered first, and he saw his chance to
do some damage.

“Well, I guess we’re lucky that West Valley High doesn’t organize reunions… right, Johnny?”

There was something dangerous in his voice, some hint of malevolence, and Johnny realized too
late that Daniel knew a lot of secrets about him. Too many secrets. And he had no way of keeping
him from spilling all those secrets right there, in front of Kate.

“Who knows, maybe you and your Cobra Kai friends would have some fun at the reunion,
reminiscing about that day when you rode after me on your dirt bikes and pushed me down a cliff.”
He smiled at Johnny while he spoke, enjoying the forlorn look on the other man’s face.
“Baby, that cliff gets higher every time you tell the tale”, intervened Amanda, trying to avoid an
uncomfortable situation. “And I swear the first few times I heard it, the ‘cliff’ was just a slope.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right… just a boys’ prank”, admitted Daniel, still not ready to let the matter
go. “At least it wasn’t as bad as the beating you guys gave me at Halloween, remember?”

Johnny's cheeks became splotched with red, but he refused to go down without a fight.

“Several people got a beating that Halloween, including me and my friends”, he said in a low
voice. “Your Sensei had something to do with it. And that was only after you started some shit with
your stupid shower trick.”

He didn’t dare looking at Kate. He had told her a version of all the events of his senior year, of
course... But LaRusso’s side of the story was out in the open now, and if Kate chose to believe his
enemy’s tale there was no way he could stop it.

Both Kate and Amanda reached for their glasses of wine at the same time and exchanged an
alarmed glance, hoping to come up with a distraction and keep things from escalating further. And,
because fate does have a hand in these things sometimes, the distraction arrived… even if it wasn’t
welcomed by everybody.

“Hey, boss! I had no idea you were here!”

They all turned to look at the man who had approached the table, but only Daniel seemed
genuinely happy to see him.

“Anoush! Wow, is everybody having lunch at Scratch today, or what? No wonder there was a
line.”

“I was having a drink at the bar with that doctor who came by the dealership yesterday. I just sold
him two high-end Mercedes, one for him and another one for his wife”, said the newcomer with a
self-satisfied smile.

“Good job! I knew those trimester sales numbers were improving for a reason. You’re running for
employee of the month, right?” asked Daniel with a laugh.

“Well, now that Louie’s gone it won’t be hard to… Oh, hello! What have we here?”

Anoush beamed at Kate, who responded only with a polite smile. He had no way of knowing that
he’d just used a sentence she found condescendent and ridiculous.

“Anoush, this is Kate Williams”, said Amanda, thankful for the interruption. “Kate, as you may
have guessed, this is one of our sales representatives... Anoush Malikian.”

The man didn’t lose a second before getting into siege mode.

“Your admirer, your friend, your faithful servant. Tell me, Kate… What car do you drive?”

She hesitated. “I don’t see how that’s relevant, but… I have a Toyota Yaris.”

“No!” Anoush’s face became a show of despair. “Impossible. An incredibly beautiful woman like
you driving that ugly little thing? It’s cramping your style! Tell you what: come by the dealership
tomorrow, and I promise I’ll get you the car of your dreams.”

He picked a business card from his pocket and offered it to Kate, who left it on the table beside her
napkin.

“I don’t usually dream of cars. And... you know what, I’m really busy this week”, she said, hoping
to put an end to her interactions with the car salesman. “But if I need a new car in the future,
maybe–”

“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow!” insisted Anoush. “Give me a call next week, we can discuss car
models over dinner. Or breakfast.”

By this point even Daniel was feeling a bit awkward, and Anoush suddenly made it worse. He took
one step closer to the table and put a hand on Kate’s shoulder; she stared at his hand as if it was
some disgusting insect that had landed there, but the man didn’t seem to notice.

An almost imperceptible movement startled Kate. Johnny’s chair had moved half an inch
backwards, and out of the corner of her eye she saw that he looked about to jump from his seat.
Without thinking, her hand moved towards him in what she hoped was a calming contact; she
grazed his knee with her fingertips, under the table. Just for a second, but it did the trick; Johnny
took a deep breath and grabbed his glass of wine, but he still didn’t take his eyes off the other man.

“Well, this has been fun!” said Amanda, who hadn’t felt that kind of second-hand embarrassment
in years. “Anoush, who’s manning the office while you’re here? I think you should go back. Now
.”

At last that got the man to take his hand off Kate’s shoulder, and she relaxed a little.

“Don’t worry, I left the kid in charge”, he answered. “And you’re right, I should be getting back
now. If I leave that boy alone in the shop for too long, he’ll end up getting my job!”

He said goodbye to everybody and left, feeling quite on top of the world.

Of course Daniel had noticed Johnny getting more and more tense, and after Anoush had left he
had the lousy idea of poking his enemy a bit more.

“Kate, I’m sure Johnny hasn’t told you about him, but that boy Anoush mentioned is actually–”

“I know who he is, thanks. Anybody wants dessert?” she asked in a firm tone. They had been
jumping from one unpleasant topic to another; she was getting annoyed. Besides, bringing up
Robby was a hit below the belt, and Kate was determined to avoid it. Fortunately for all the people
present, Daniel got the hint and started talking about something else.

“So... Kate, is your firm here in Encino? I never got to ask where you work”, he said, allowing
Johnny a short respite.

“Powell and Morgan. Our office is right around the corner, at the new Corporate Center they
opened last year.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard of them. Very prestigious firm… I’m fortunate enough not to need a lawyer
too often, but maybe I’ll take my business to Powell in the future.”

“Thank you for your consideration”, she said in her best professional tone. “I’m sure any of my
fellow partners would be happy to take care of your affairs.”

“One of your partners? And why not you?” he asked.

“Well…” Kate made a pause, trying to come up with the right words. “You see, there might be a
slight conflict of interest there, Daniel. I’m sure you can see why.”

“What…” he laughed. “Why should there be a conflict? I haven't worked with your firm before.”

“Because I know it was you who tricked Armand Zarkarian into raising the rent of the strip mall”,
she answered in her sweetest voice, the voice she always used to deliver a blow. “Amanda... do you
want to share a portion of cheesecake? It looks delicious, but I’m sure it’s too many calories for
one person.”

Daniel bit his lip, dumbstruck. He suddenly remembered why he didn’t like lawyers… and the
smirk that had appeared on Johnny’s face wasn’t helping. At all.

Dessert was a peaceful event, mostly because Amanda was now watching Daniel like a hawk and
curbing any incendiary comments that may come from him. With her leading the conversation
again, they talked about the unusually hot weather, and hybrid cars, and the LaRussos plans for
their upcoming family vacation. Any topic was safe as long as nobody talked about karate. Or
about old wounds threatening to reopen.

At last, after dessert, Kate took a look at her watch.

“Oh, look at the time. I’m afraid we have to leave; I’ve got a meeting at three thirty, and it’s getting
late.”

She stood up before Johnny did, trying to position herself between him and Daniel to avoid any last
minute shenanigans. They shook hands politely with the LaRussos, thanked the host, and left the
restaurant before the situation turned unpleasant again.

After Kate and Johnny left, Amanda finally had the chance to stare daggers at her husband.

“You must be really proud of yourself today. I've never felt so embarrassed in my life.”

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true”, he answered, distracted, while he was trying to get the
waiter’s attention.

“Sometimes the truth can be really hurtful, honey. It’s not what you say, it’s the way you say it.
Would it kill you to be nice to that man, for once in your life? Everything was going so well until
you started being nasty!”

“Kate has a right to know what kind of client she’s got.”

“Speaking of which, I got a vibe that those two are something more than attorney and client”, she
observed. “Don’t you think they’re... you know? Together?”

“What?” Daniel let out a little laugh. “Come on, Amanda. You didn’t have that much wine with
lunch... That woman is way out of Johnny’s league.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. He cleans up nicely.”

“You have to be kidding me”, said Daniel, with his eyes wide open. “That is a joke, right? He may
be wearing a suit today, but inside that suit he’s still the same old Johnny.”

“He looked really good in that suit, and I’m just telling you what I saw”, she stated, wondering how
could her husband not notice all the little signs. “They were a bit too comfortable and too familiar
with each other to be just business acquaintances. I may be wrong, but–”
“I’m not listening to any of that”, he said, with a tone that meant he wanted to put an end to the
argument. “You want to play matchmaker with Johnny Lawrence, of all people? Look, Kate
seemed like a nice, intelligent, professional woman… What would she see in a man like him?
Besides, she’s going to give Anoush a call next week; and in my opinion they would make a nice
couple. At least Anoush has a respectable job and a good attitude.”

He sounded so sure of himself, so completely delusional, that Amanda couldn’t help laughing out
loud.

“What’s so funny now?”

“Babe, you know I love you…” she said, holding Daniel’s hand. “But sometimes you’re as blind as
a bat.”

“Why? What do you mean?”

“First of all, Anoush is a sexist pig”, she said, serious again. “He’s always been a sexist pig, and
he’s not going to change anytime soon; I wouldn't let any friend of mine date him even if he was
the last single man in America. Second of all, Kate left his card on the table and never picked it up
again. There it is, see? Tucked under that napkin... and it wasn’t an accident. Third and final:
during the whole time Anoush was shamelessly flirting with Kate, Johnny was looking at him as if
he wanted to strangle him with his own tie. And, frankly, I don’t blame him because that little
scene was really uncomfortable to watch.”

“Yeah, I saw that… and it doesn’t surprise me”, said Daniel with a grimace. “Johnny thinks every
woman who’s in the room with him is his personal property, he’s been doing that since high
school. But that doesn’t mean anything!”

“Anoush is not going to get that call next week, my love. Besides”, added Amanda with a knowing
smile, “When they left, I saw Johnny put a hand on Kate’s back when he held the door open for
her. Didn’t you notice?”

“Again, many men do that. My uncle Louie, may he rest in peace, did that back in the day. It’s not
very polite, but we know Johnny’s manners are a relic from another century.”

“Maybe. But during lunch, when Anoush touched her shoulder, she flinched and gave him a death
glare. Fifteen minutes later, Johnny touches her waist, lingers there while they exit the restaurant...
and she doesn’t even blink. That’s what I meant when I said they’re too familiar with each other.”

“My dear, I think you’re reading too much into things.”

“I’m the one with the feminine intuition here, remember? You know I’m not a betting person... but
if I had to place money on it, I’d say those two are a thing.”

The waiter finally appeared, after Daniel had signaled to him across the room several times, and he
reached for his wallet.

“May we have the check, please?”

“That won’t be necessary, sir. Mr. Lawrence has already taken care of it.”

“Of course he has”, Daniel snickered, refilling his glass of Prosecco one last time with the few
drops left in the bottle.

Despite what he’d told Amanda, he didn’t feel exactly proud of how he had let out his mean side
 again. Johnny just had a way of getting on his nerves... and no matter how much he tried to control
it, it was still stronger than him.

Meanwhile, on the street, Johnny was trying to keep up with Kate’s pace. Her heels clicked on the
sidewalk with the speed of a metronome, and that was the only sound she’d made since they had
left the restaurant. He hated the idea of walking all the way to her office without clearing the air, so
after a few yards of getting the silent treatment he reached towards her.

“Kate, wait.”

She stopped and turned around to look at him; her face was completely unreadable.

“Yes?”

“Come on… You haven’t said two words since we left the restaurant. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Johnny frowned. Maybe he was a little rusty, maybe he wasn’t the man about town he’d been in in
his youth, but he knew how women talked. He suspected what that suddenly hostile ‘nothing’
meant... and it couldn’t be anything good.

Chapter End Notes

Sorry to leave you hanging like that, darlings! I usually divide my chapters into shorter
scenes, but this sequence needed to be told like this. Dont' worry, the next chapter will
pick up exactly where this one has left off.
I took a little artistic license with Amanda here: there are no sororities or fraternities in
Notre Dame, but I thought it fitted Amanda to be in one, so excuse the inaccuracy.
Scratch Bar & Kitchen is a real restaurant in Encino; they only offer dinner service,
not lunch, but you can check their website and see how delicious the food looks.
The ‘You never liked me’ / ‘I never liked you either’ exchange between Kate and the
mean girl from her high school is my little homage to Stephen Sondheim. It’s a
fragment of dialogue that happens in the musical Follies, between two former
showgirls who meet again at a reunion after many years.
 Redressing
Chapter Summary

Johnny finds himself once more in Kate's office, does something unexpected, and ends
up laughing at the irony of fate.

Chapter Notes

Here's the final part of the three chapter arc I've written this week. I hope it's a
satisfactory point to stop, because I'm going on vacation for a couple of weeks. I
promise I'll take my notebook with me and do some writing, but I won't be able to post
a new chapter for a while.

I just realized I've posted 12 chapters in exactly two months... and this is the faster I've
written in all my life. The Cobra Kai creators can be proud of having done something
really inspiring. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 12. REDRESSING

Johnny loosened his tie, took it off and put it in his pocket without bothering to fold it. He felt like
the piece of silky fabric was strangling him, and he had enough trouble breathing already.

He and Kate had almost arrived to her office building, and she kept giving him the silent treatment.
They finally crossed the gate of the Encino Corporate center, and Johnny made one last attempt
before Kate went into the garden area.

“Kate, talk to me.”

She turned around and stared at Johnny with her arms crossed.

“Fine. If that’s what you want, let’s talk.” She took a deep breath and started. “Look, I can’t judge
you for the things you did more than thirty years ago. Teenagers don’t have the empathy of an
adult, and it’s too easy to give in to peer pressure and be a jerk in high school. But that doesn’t
mean I approve of things like… like throwing someone off a cliff.”

“You’re angry with me.”

“Do I look angry to you?”

She didn’t; only her right eyebrow was arched alarmingly high, and her voice sounded too formal
and clipped.

“No. You look… upset. But I’d rather you–”

“What? Scream at you and call you names? I don’t have that luxury, Johnny, remember that I work
for you. Besides, you know screaming like a banshee it’s not my style”, she said, in a tone that
sounded more sad than enraged. “But I can’t help…”

“What?” he asked, still visibly worried.

“I can’t help trying to guess what you would have thought of me if we had been in high school at
the same time. You would have had a field day making fun of the awkward girl with the glasses,
the braces and the frizzy hair.”

“Kate... I’m not that person anymore.”

His voice sounded so sorrowful, so sincere, that Kate felt her resolve starting to melt into
something else.

“I know”, she sighed. “And here I am, first saying I won’t judge you... and then doing exactly that.
No, today is not the day for useless guessing exercises, I’m too tired for that. The person I’m really
angry with is myself, for thinking that a group of adults could sit around a table and act like… you
know, adults. I should have known better.”

“You had no idea that would happen. It’s not your fault.”

She closed her eyes and twisted a strand of her hair between her fingers. “Let’s just go inside and
finish with the paperwork, shall we?”

Johnny held the door for her in silence. There was a knot in the back of his throat again, a nagging
feeling that something had been broken and couldn’t be fixed.

The elevator ride was uncomfortable, but mercifully short. They crossed the floor, that buzzed with
the activity of a dozen associates and paralegals, and went into Kate’s office. Her secretary, who
had been texting her boyfriend and wasn’t expecting her boss to return before her afternoon
meeting, was so startled that she almost fell off her chair.

“Oh! Good afternoon, Kate. You have the meeting with the senior partners in twenty minutes, I
just called Mrs. Morgan’s secretary to make sure it's still on.”

“Thank you, Sally. Please remind me again when there’s five minutes left.”

Once inside her office, Kate went straight to the brand new Nespresso machine that had been
installed there a few days before, and started pressing buttons.

“Milk and no sugar for you, right?” she asked without looking at Johnny.

“Yes.”

“Please, sit. I won’t be a minute.”

Johnny sat on one of the armchairs by the door, instead of the slightly uncomfortable office chairs
that were next to her desk. Kate handed him his cup of coffee and remained standing in front of
him.

“Now that the trial is over, there’s a few documents I need you to sign. It’s just a formality, and–”

“You think I’m a jerk, right?” he interrupted her.

She sighed and sat down on the other armchair, so close to him that their knees were almost
touching.
“No, Johnny, I don’t think you’re a jerk. People make mistakes when they’re young, and I think
those mistakes should not condition your whole life.” She took a sip of her black coffee. It was
unsweetened, and she closed her eyes when she swallowed it. “Look, I get it. That man was your
ex-girlfriend’s rebound boyfriend, and you hated him for it. You did some awful things to him back
then, and he’s done other awful things to you now. Maybe it’s time for you two to stop running in
circles and let things go, but… I can only advise you on legal matters, and this is personal. Besides,
why is this so important to you? Why does my good or bad opinion affect you so much?”

“Because everyone who hears the story ends up taking LaRusso’s side.”

Especially everyone that matters, he thought. Ali, Robby… you.

“Johnny, I’m not on anybody’s side”, she said kindly. “This is not a war. If it was, I would be on
your side, because that’s where I’ve been for the last month and a half. And yes, from what you
told me I was expecting LaRusso to be a demon with horns on his head, and he’s not exactly like
that. But he’s not my favorite person either! Especially after I saw him throwing all those little
barbs at you during the whole lunch.”

“You noticed.”

“Of course I noticed. It doesn’t take a genius to see he was trying to make you look bad in front of
me... What I don’t quite understand is why.”

“He’s just out to get me now. He enjoys having the upper hand.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game with that man, Johnny. You attack, he reacts, you retreat. And
then it starts again, the other way around. I don't mind that you were a jerk in high school, but I
hate being lied to, okay? You had no obligation to tell me the story of how he became your enemy,
but I felt like an idiot knowing just half of it. At least his move with the rent backfired... I don’t
think he’ll try anything like that again.”

“Right.”

“And don’t worry about a possible appeal. I don’t think your landlord will be that pigheaded, but if
he appeals we’ll be ready.”

This was the moment Johnny had been waiting for. He stood up and left his empty cup of coffee on
the low table beside the coffee machine. Then he straightened his back, took a long breath and
willed himself to speak in a stern voice.

“I wanted to talk to you about that. The appeal thing.”

Kate smiled to herself. Of course he was worried; he had so little confidence in the Law that he still
couldn’t believe he’d won the case.

“Don’t even think about it now. To begin with, it’s very improbable; and, besides–”

“If Zarkarian appeals, I want Kevin to argue my case”, he interrupted her.

Johnny saw Kate’s smile fade, and her cheeks paled under her skilfully applied blush.

“I don’t understand. Is this because of what happened at the restaurant? I already said I wasn’t
angry with you”, she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

“No. Yes… in part. I spoke to Kevin this morning before the trial, and I think it’s best if I work
with him in the future. You’re busy with your other cases anyway.”

There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence while neither of them spoke or moved. Then
Kate stood up slowly, like an automaton. She pressed her lips together and ordered herself not to
say anything, at least until she had calmed a little. She crossed the space from the armchair to her
desk with slow and calculated steps, opened a drawer and took out a file; then she brushed an
imaginary speck of dust from the front of her dress and sat down. She could feel the blood pulsing
in her ears, but she commanded all her self control and tried to focus.

When she looked at Johnny again, he seemed embarrassed. Kate opened the file, took out a few
documents and handled them to him.

“If that’s what you really want, fine; there’s nothing else to say”, she stated, hoping that her voice
didn’t sound too hurt. “I’ll send your case file to Kevin’s secretary today. I need you to sign these
documents first, and write your whole name below the signature. There’s three copies.”

Johnny grabbed a pen from the desk and signed the papers without reading them.

“That’s just a generic disclaimer, it means that you have decided to hire a different lawyer on your
own free will, and I'm not responsible for your case anymore. I imagine Kevin will contact you
soon so you can give him a new power of attorney... But that’s none of my business now, so you
better talk to him directly. Or to his secretary, her name is Patricia and she’s a lovely woman.” She
recovered the documents, signed one of them and tossed it back to Johnny. “There you go, that
copy is for you. Congratulations; as of this moment, I’ve stopped being your lawyer, I’m just the
mother of one of your students.”

She had her gaze fixed on some far away point while she spoke, and Johnny moved a little to the
side so he would be in her visual field again.

“Kate, I’m sorry about this. I just need…”

She raised her hands in a quiet gesture of surrender.

“Please don’t. You don’t owe me any kind of explanation… and we’re not subject to attorney-
client privilege anymore, so you shouldn’t tell me anything important or confidential. Save it for
your new legal advisor.”

She rose from her seat and stood in front of him, not too close.

“Well, it has been a pleasure working with you”, she said in a tone that wouldn’t have been out of
place at a funeral. “I guess I’ll see you at the dojo one of these days, unless you decide that
mothers are not welcome there. Goodbye, Johnny… and good luck.”

Kate extended her arm, offering him a rigid handshake. Johnny shook her hand in silence for a
second… but, instead of letting go, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

It was a sudden movement, as swift and unexpected as he would move in combat, and Kate was
caught off guard. She put a hand on the lapel of his jacket to steady herself, and then removed it as
if his touch was burning her. Johnny was still holding her right wrist, and they stood so close that
she had to tilt her head backwards to look at him.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a shaky voice.

Johnny looked into Kate’s questioning eyes. He noticed that her breath had become agitated… he
could have sworn she was trembling.
“I’m giving you time to think. I’m giving you time to say no.”

Time. It took her exactly two seconds to go through several stages of… of something. First
confusion, then surprise, then outrage… at the end of all that she narrowed her eyes, giving him a
defiant look.

“What if I say yes?”

Johnny didn’t answer. Well, he did... but not with words. As slowly as he could, he ghosted his
fingers over Kate’s arm, her shoulder, the side of her neck… until he placed one finger under her
chin and brought his lips to hers. He felt her body relax against him immediately, and a pair of
feminine hands grabbed his shoulders while he kissed her. He didn’t want to let go, didn’t want the
moment to end after things had almost been completely ruined at lunch.

When he broke the kiss and opened his eyes, Kate smiled at him for a fraction of a second… until
she frowned, and the magic moment ended, just like he had feared.

“You’re impossible!” she said, trying to push him away from her... and failing, because Johnny had
circled her waist with his hands and had no intention of releasing her. “Oh, you’re the worst.”

“You’re not really angry with me, Kate.”

“I should be! Now is the moment when I should go berserk on you, screaming and calling you
names. How could you scare me like that? I thought… I thought you hated me all of a sudden, for
no reason! I just… Heavens, why?”

“Because I didn’t want you to lose your job for me. Because I needed to stop being your client so
your stupid Ethics Code didn’t keep me from doing this”, he said, claiming her lips again in
another kiss, longer and more heated than the first. “Because I’ve wanted to do this since the first
day you walked into Cobra Kai.”

Kate just stared at him, dumbfounded. She felt her heartbeat go out of control again, this time with
good reason… and the realization was stronger than her very reasonable anger.

“I should call security right now and have you removed from my office, Mr. Lawrence”, she
whispered, putting her arms around his neck.

“What’s keeping you?” he asked, smiling against her lips.

“If I do that I’ll have to file a security complaint, and it’s a lot of tiresome paperwork. I’d rather
deal with you myself.”

She finally succeeded in squirming out of his arms and took a small step back. It was hard to think
when he was so close.

“So… I’m guessing everything you’ve said since we arrived from lunch has been part of some
hideous scheme to get me exactly where you wanted.”

“Not everything. Can I have a chance to explain myself?”

“Fine, but please answer me a couple of questions first: Kevin got you that suit, right? I don't doubt
your good taste, but I know his style… and that’s exactly it.”

“His boyfriend did, I went to his shop the other day. Nice guy, only a bit… you know, flamboyant.
He squeals like a girl, and he tried to sell me a pink tie. But apart from that he’s nice.”
“Okay… you are hereby charged with the crime of conspiring with Kevin and Oliver behind my
back. That’s almost treason, but I can live with it. Anything else?”

“Kevin didn’t really get a call at the restaurant. I asked him to fake one and leave us alone.”

Kate’s mouth opened in surprise. She really hadn’t expected her friend to betray her like that.

“So that’s why he sent the bottle of Prosecco to our table… Oh, my God, I’m going to kill him!
Johnny, don’t you realize that there was no need for all this… this theatre? That all you had to do
was talk to me like a reasonable adult, and we would have solved it? I would have passed the case
to a different lawyer, talked to Personnel and informed them of the situation, asked the Ethics
Board for permission to…”

“No. I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.” His eyes flashed with a cold blue light again,
and Kate realized once again that this was not a man who did things by the book.

“Please, Johnny. Enough with the games.”

He took a step towards her. “I’m here now, talking to you. No more games.”

“Okay”, she conceded. “But you have a lot of apologizing to do, mister; you're not off the hook
yet.”

“I know something I can do to get off the hook.”

He got dangerously close to her again, so close that she took another step back, until the back of her
legs found the edge of the desk. He stopped barely an inch apart from her; they weren’t touching,
not yet, but she could feel the heat that radiated from his body.

“When can I take you to dinner?” he asked with a devilish grin.

“Aren’t you sure of yourself? You’re asking when , not if . Are you taking for granted that I…?”

“I know you’re not a tease, Kate”, he said, suddenly serious. “You wouldn’t have let me kiss you if
you wanted nothing with me. Now, let’s talk dinner… how about tonight?”

“Impossible. I can’t until Friday… and I need to find a babysitter first.”

“No problem. I’ll tell one of the Cobra Kai girls to babysit.”

“You can’t do that! Giving orders in class is one thing, but ordering them around when they’re not
in the dojo is not fair. And why just the girls? Can’t boys babysit?”

“Would you trust any of those savages with Rattler? I caught Hawk the other day teaching her a rap
song; I’d tell you the lyrics, but you’re not gonna like them.”

“That’s rich, coming from the man who won’t stop swearing in front of the kids”, she said, trying
(and failing) to sound serious. “Anyway, I think Kevin should be the babysitter this time. After all,
this is his fault, he owes me one. Unless I kill him first.”

“Don’t kill him. Or at least wait until Saturday, then you won’t need him anymore”, said Johnny,
inching his way once more into Kate’s personal space. She was now trapped between him and her
desk, very close to a man who looked at her with something that could only be described as…
hunger.

This time the kiss arrived without warning, and Kate was glad that she at least had a firm surface
behind to support her, or she wouldn’t have been able to stand. Johnny’s hands went to her waist,
and from there to her hips, practically pinning her in place.

She couldn’t help letting out a small moan, and that encouraged him even more. He ran his tongue
along her lower lip once, twice, and then he took her lip between his teeth. Another moan, this time
louder, and he shifted his attention to Kate’s neck, kissing his way down her throat until she felt the
slight sting of a bite. Her breath hitched, and she grabbed him by the hair and pulled; not too hard,
just enough to make him stop for a moment.

“So you’re a biter”, she whispered, still not letting go of his hair. “Why doesn’t it surprise me?”

“Because you’re a very clever girl”, he answered with his best crooked smile before kissing her
neck again.

“If that leaves a mark, I’m going to kill you.”

“You’re planning to kill a lot of people today”, he laughed. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Well, you only know the business side of me so far.”

“And now I look forward to knowing the... pleasure side.”

He captured her lips again, with so much force that she was practically laying on her desk now.
One of Johnny’s hands moved to her knee and started inching up, maddeningly slowly, until he
reached the edge of her dress…

And then the phone rang.

“Jesus Christ!” muttered Johnny, detaching himself from Kate and taking a deep breath to calm
himself, while Kate almost threw the phone to the floor when she scrambled to get it.

“Sally, hi! Yes, the meeting! In five minutes. Thank you so much for reminding me. I'm almost
done here.”

After hanging up, she stood with the receiver in her hand, looked at Johnny, and they both burst out
laughing.

“Okay… this has gone past any reasonable limits of what should happen in an office, Ethics Code
or no Ethics Code”, she said, trying to rearrange the things on her desk.

“Saved by the bell”, added Johnny, still with a naughty look in his eyes. “Do you really have to
go?”

“I’m afraid I have to. But don't worry... I’ll see you on Friday.”

She accompanied him to the exit, hoping that none of her coworkers noticed her hurriedly
rearranged hair, or the intense blush on her cheeks. While they waited for the elevator, Johnny
stood beside her and started tracing circles with one finger on the back of her hand.

“Stop that. There’s people working here…. And they love to gossip, especially the paralegals.”

“You could accompany me to the car, kiss me goodbye on my way out”, he whispered, leaning
close to her ear.

There was a promise in his words. A wicked promise, and she was absolutely tempted to cross the
short distance between them and kiss Johnny in front of the whole office... just to see how
everybody, including him, would react. But she had too much good sense to actually do it.

“Don't you think you've had enough kissing for one afternoon? Besides, there are cameras in the
elevators”, she warned. “Every year, the security guys give a Christmas party here in the office,
and they play a montage of some very interesting videos. Videos of people who didn’t realize there
were cameras in the elevators. Apparently they’re the highlight of the party, but I don’t want to end
on one of them.”

“Like I said… clever girl.”

The elevator arrived at last with a loud ‘ping’; Johnny stepped inside and held the doors open with
one hand.

“I’ll pick you up at eight… but I just realized I don’t know where you live.”

“Of course. 19223 Saticoy Street, apartment 20. The building is called South Seas. I’ll text you the
address so you won’t have to write it down… what’s wrong?” she said, noticing that Johnny was
making a weird face.

“Nothing. Just… I knew someone who lived there once. Goodbye, Kate. See you on Friday.”

Johnny got into the elevator. He was thinking about the day, just a couple of months before, when
he had gone with Daniel to visit his old apartment building. It had been a good day… Up until the
moment when Robby’s truth had come to light, when all hope of reconciliation with his old enemy
had vanished. But Kate hadn’t been living there yet; in that moment the place had been just a
memory of Johnny's teenage years. A bad memory for LaRusso, that maybe could become a good
one for him now. And, of course, another confirmation that LaRusso’s shadow was longer than
he’d thought. He just couldn't get rid of him.

He pressed the down button and laughed to himself while the doors slid to a close.

Fate, that fate he claimed not to believe in, could be a son of a bitch sometimes. But he had to admit
that the goddamn bastard played its cards really well.
 Tactics
Chapter Summary

Johnny realizes there's one little detail about his date with Kate that he hadn't
contemplated. Meanwhile, Daniel has lots of plans to promote karate in the Valley.

Chapter Notes

Look who’s back after three long weeks! I’ve missed writing so much during my
vacation... Yes, I needed some R & R, but my fingers were itching to type this chapter
and keep the story moving… I want to get to the ‘good stuff’ and make the rating go
up as soon as possible (wink wink, nudge nudge and all that).
This is a sort of filler chapter, and it's also Kate-less. I’m giving my girl some time
alone to recover from all the smooching, and to get ready for her big date. Also, I
needed to introduce a couple more karate students (I promise they will be the last
ones!), and this seemed a good moment to do it.
Thanks for your patience, I hope you like this update!

CHAPTER 13. TACTICS

If someone with a bit of real estate knowledge had been asked to describe the house recently bought
by the Yashida family in Encino Hills, there would only be one suitable word: architectural .

From the outside, it looked like a series of white cubes, tastefully arranged on a wide extension of
green lawn. It had lots of open spaces, huge windows, soaring ceilings, glass walls everywhere,
and even an infinity pool. The two doctors Yashida (both husband and wife were surgeons) shared
a taste for modern arts, and in the short weeks since they had moved to the Valley, the walls of the
house had been decorated with so many abstract paintings and extravagant art pieces that the place
felt like a small branch of the MOMA.

Lounging by the pool in the morning sun, completely oblivious to all the expensive architecture
around them, the Yashida siblings, one boy and one girl, were in the middle of a conversation that
had almost devolved into an argument.

“How can you be so irrational, Keiko?”

“Why do I need to be rational about this ? It’s just an after school activity, it’s not like I’m
choosing a college! I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that for a couple of years, because if you
make all this fuss about a karate dojo…”

“Well, karate is a serious thing; we should choose our dojo very carefully”, said the boy. He was
tall and lean, with a stern face. The kind of boy everybody labels as the serious and responsible
one, especially when he’s got a little sister who cares very little about following the rules.

“Come on, Shiro”, huffed the girl, absentmindedly picking bits of grass and throwing them into the
pool. “We’re not going to make a living out of martial arts. You’ve already decided to follow the
family tradition and become a doctor; and I’m going to make Mom and Dad suffer for a couple of
years by telling them I want to study Fine Arts… but I know in my heart that medicine will be my
thing in the end, too. I don’t want karate to be something terribly serious. You know, I wasn’t even
sure I wanted to keep doing karate... but if I quit now Mom will have a fit. I just want something
fun to do after school, and a way to make some new friends in a new city.”

“That’s what I want too!” answered Shiro. “We will make some friends and have some fun… but I
don’t see why you don’t want to come to the dojo I’ve chosen.”

“Because I also need some independence! Don’t feel offended, but… I’m always the follower,
always the one who has to do all the things you’ve done before. Practically all my friends back in
Cleveland were the little brothers and sisters of your friends. I want to be my own person for a
while, not just Shiro Yashida’s shadow!”

The boy opened his mouth to answer, but he took a deep breath first. Arguing with Keiko usually
took nowhere, she responded better to diplomacy. “I can see why you want to make some decisions
by yourself, but… If you weren’t going through a rebellious counter-cultural phase, you’d see that
Miyagi-Do is the best dojo for both of us.”

“Oh, please, I’m not on a counter-cultural phase… And Miyagi-Do sounds exactly the same as our
old dojo in Cleveland. I just want to try something new!”

“Keiko, you’ve been rejecting anything that sounds Japanese for months, do you think I haven’t
noticed? Look, I went through something similar when I was fourteen... It will pass.”

“I’m fifteen”, she reminded him, playing with her long ponytail. “And this is not a phase. Our
family has lived in America for more than sixty years, Shiro. Why does everything we do have to
be Japanese? I’m sure you couldn’t even find Kyoto in a map! Besides, what kind of person is
going to teach you at Miyagi-Do? ‘LaRusso’ doesn’t sound exactly like an Asian name, right?”

“No”, admitted the boy. “But Mr. LaRusso told me on the phone this morning that his old Sensei,
the man who founded the dojo in the eighties, was an Okinawan. At least the roots of the dojo are
in the right place.”

“Look, Shiro, I understand that you’ve fallen in love with that place… but I don’t feel like training
there. It just feels like another old, traditional, boring dojo where we’ll waste the best years of our
lives doing hours and hours of endless kata.”

“The best years of our lives? When did you become so dramatic?” Shiro laughed. “Okay, fine. If
the idea of joining Miyagi-Do doesn't appeal to you… there’s also Topanga, have you looked into
that one?”

“Meh, too many acrobatics and silly jumps. Not for me.”

“And what about All-Star Karate? Mom talked to their Sensei yesterday, it looks like a good place
too and they have several Asian students.”

“Yeah, All-Star looks fine, but… Who will drive me all the way to Granada Hills every day? You
will be at your own karate class and I don’t have my license yet. If I go to Cobra Kai I can take the
bus to Reseda, it’s not far from home.”

Shiro was about to surrender. He had argued with his sister millions of times since she was old
enough to talk, and he knew how stubborn she could be. At least this time Keiko had agreed to a
reasonable conversation, and he knew that deep down she was right to want a bit more freedom
now that she was old enough to make her own decisions.

“I just think Cobra Kai’s style looks a bit too aggressive for my taste. But if that’s what you want…
I’ll talk to Mom and Dad about it when they come back from work today. After all, you’re not
making a decision for life. Let’s do one thing: you go to Cobra Kai for a few months, until
Christmas, and if by then you don’t like it you’ll come to Miyagi-Do with me. Deal?”

Keiko's face lighted up with a bright smile, and she high-fived her brother with enthusiasm.

“Deal!”

Exactly one day and seven hours before his date with Kate, Johnny Lawrence felt like the happiest
man in the world.

For once, his tendency to daydream had turned out to be something positive: he had already
decided on a restaurant, and now his imagination was pleasantly occupied with what might happen
during, and especially after, the aforementioned date.

They would go for a drink after dinner, of course; and from there to Kate’s… Johnny shook his
head in silence. No, not to her place, because her kid and the babysitter would be there. That meant
there was only one option left, only one place where the night could end if things went the way he
planned. Johnny looked around him and appraised the state of his apartment.

At exactly one day, six hours and fifty-five minutes to his date, Johnny Lawrence went into panic
mode.

Of course he knew the way his dingy apartment looked, he saw it every day. But it had been ages
since he’d had anyone over, except for a few visits from Miguel to discuss karate stuff, and that day
Sid had appeared unannounced. He didn’t give two shits about Sid’s opinion, of course, and
Miguel was a boy. Boys didn’t care if they saw dirty dishes in the sink and an empty beer can on
the table. Or five.

But Kate would care, that's what women always did. She would see the cracked paint on the walls,
the kitchen that begged for a good scrub, the carpet that had started its life being an ugly custard
shade, and now had so many stains and faded spots that nobody could guess what color it was
anymore. And, if the night went really well and they took things to the bedroom…

Johnny broke into a cold sweat.

But he only lasted a few seconds in that mindset. He was, above everything, a man of action, so he
decided to do the best he could with his limited time.

One hour later, there were three bags of trash in a neat line by the door, waiting to be thrown out.
He even had separated the glass bottles, like Miguel kept telling him with his silly lectures about
recycling. The kitchen was almost as spotless as it had been the day it was installed, and the
bedroom had been neatly organized. Johnny had even planned a trip to Target the next morning, to
buy some new sheets.

He now stood in the middle of his living room, contemplating the situation of the carpet. He’d had
the idea of putting a smaller carpet on top to cover the worst stains (that was also on his Target
shopping list), but the fact remained that the poor thing hadn’t been cleaned in ten years, not even
once. With a determined frown Johnny grabbed the trash bags, carried them to the bins outside, and
knocked a quick rap on the Diaz’s door, hoping that Carmen or Rosa would answer. He didn’t feel
like giving any explanations to the boy… he already felt that his students were suspicious of him
and Kate, anyway. There were too many sideways glances, hushed whispers and silly smiles every
time Kate went to Cobra Kai to pick up Rani and spent more than a minute talking to him.

Fortunately, the door opened to reveal Rosa and her kind face.

“Buenas tardes, Mr. Lawrence!” she said with a smile.

“Hi, Mrs. Diaz. Hey, I was wondering… Do you have a vacuum cleaner I can borrow? And...
maybe a couple other things.”

To Rosa Diaz, cleanliness was indeed next to godliness, and she was a very religious woman. Even
back in Ecuador, when life was hard and money was scarce, her favorite saying had been ‘No one’s
too poor to buy soap’. She even had resorted to making her own soap several times in her youth.
Johnny hadn’t even finished explaining what he needed, and she was out the door with a mop in
one hand and a vacuum cleaner, almost bigger than her, in the other. Johnny had tried to protest
and carry the cleaning utensils for her, to no avail.

Once in Johnny’s apartment, Rosa’s sharp eyes surveyed the place like a drill instructor inspecting
the recruits’ barracks.

“I already cleaned the kitchen”, he said in a hesitant tone. There was something in Miguel’s
grandmother that he found oddly intimidating.

Rosa went to the kitchen area and ran her finger twice along the cheap formica countertop.

“Hmm. Not bad”, she admitted. “But if you want to impress your señorita, this place needs work.”

Johnny shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I only have one hour to do this before I open
Cobra Kai today. But it’s fine, it’s not like the apartment has to be spotless–”

An incensed glance from Rosa reminded him that ‘spotless’ was the only acceptable state for any
house, including his. She didn’t even have to say it.

“Then you better work fast. I am going to see what I can do with this carpet”, she said in a stern
voice. “You grab that mop and bucket, and that sponge, and start cleaning the bathroom until you
can see your reflection on the tiles. Vamos, a trabajar!”

The only possible response was to do what she said, so Johnny headed to the small bathroom and
started scrubbing. From the other room came the whooshing sound of the vacuum cleaner, and
over it he could hear Rosa singing, at the top of her voice:

Sarina nació en Cayapas,

ahora vive en Borbón.
Enseñándole a la gente
su baile y su rico son.
Ella es Sarina, la dueña del baile…

Johnny couldn’t help smiling. He had always hated asking for help, even when he was young, even
in his lowest moments. And now this little old lady was in his living room, bravely fighting ten
years of dustballs out of the goodness of her heart, to help him look good for his date with a
woman she had never met.

Well, at least now he knew where Miguel got his resolve. Those Diaz women were tough.
He went back to scrubbing the tiles as fast as he could. He didn’t even realize he had started to hum
the melody of Rosa’s song, a song of which he didn’t understand one word.

Later that evening, Amanda LaRusso was busy in the kitchen, fighting her own desperate battle
against a huge chicken. The bird’s ultimate destiny was to be marinated, tied up, basted, and
roasted... but Amanda was still on square one. She still hadn’t been able to figure out the
proportions of the marinade from the handwritten recipe Lucille had sent her.

“I swear she’s given me the wrong directions on purpose”, she muttered to herself. “Well, I’m not
going to be defeated by poultry, not today!”

She adjusted the ties of her apron, drank a glass of chilled water and went back to reading the
recipe. Right in that moment Daniel arrived home; he strode into the kitchen with his phone to his
ear.

“Thank you so much, Sue. That is fantastic news! Yes, I’ll tell Amanda, we can start looking for a
suitable date right away… August the 4th? Sounds wonderful; or maybe the 11th. Not too late, it
would have to be before school starts. Perfect, we’ll be in touch. Goodbye!”

He put his cell phone away and beamed at Amanda.

“Hey, babe! You’re early, how did things go today at the dojo?”

“Hello, my love”, he said, kissing her. “Perfect! Everything went so smoothly that I let the kids go
one hour earlier. Is that the chicken you’re going to roast tomorrow?”

“If I can beat it into submission, it will be”, she sighed. “Your mother’s instructions are written in
some obscure language from the dawn of time; that’s slowing things a little.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage”, he encouraged her, taking off his jacket and folding it carefully over the
back of a chair. “I was just talking to Sue, from the All Valley Athletic Committee, and I have very
good news. So good that they deserved a bottle of your favorite Merlot.”

“Yes, you have that glint in your eye… the one that always appears when you’re planning
something.” Amanda made a decision regarding the chicken, and put the bird and the half-prepared
marinade in the refrigerator before giving Daniel her undivided attention. “Tell me everything, oh,
genius.”

Daniel went to the pantry, grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine, and set everything on the
counter in front of Amanda.

“The first bit of good news is that, starting tomorrow, a very talented seventeen-year-old boy called
Shiro Yashida is going to become my fourth student”, he said, sounding prouder than ever.

“Your first Japanese student!”, observed Amanda. “I see that Miyagi-Do is filling up, little by
little. Congratulations.”

“Japanese-American, third generation. It’s an honor that he’s chosen my dojo… and this proves my
theory that if you have a good foundation, the students will arrive. Slow but steady!”, said Daniel
taking a sip of his wine.

“Not that I want to rain on your parade, but… weren’t you also expecting that boy’s sister?”
“I was; but she has decided to join a different dojo.”

“Let me guess… Krunch? No, wait… it has to be All-Star. They always have a lot of Asian
students.”

“Oh, no. That would be easy and too straightforward. Guess again.”

She didn’t have to read Daniel’s mind, because his suddenly sour face was speaking volumes.
Amanda raised an eyebrow and laughed.

“Oh, my God, she’s going to Cobra Kai? That’s too funny!”

“I’m glad at least one of us finds it funny... because I sure don’t”, said Daniel with an exaggerated
pout.

“Babe, I have two words for you: cosmic conspiracy. The stars are aligned against you! It’s the
only reason that explains why you and Johnny Lawrence have been running in circles around each
other for almost a year. And now you get one sibling each, like an ersatz custody agreement?
Forgive me, but that’s hilarious!”

“Not for long, don’t worry. As soon as I tell Doctor Yashida one or two things about Cobra Kai’s
methods…”

“No”, interrupted Amanda, who had stopped laughing.

“No, what?”

“I don’t want you playing dirty, Daniel. No more tricks, no more trying to get Cobra Kai banned
from things, no more malicious gossip. I won’t let you become that person again, especially now
that you’ve found yourself and you’re happy with what you do. If the Yashida girl wants to join
Cobra Kai it’s her decision, not yours. And it’s not your job to save her from anything, she has her
parents and an older brother for that.”

“Fine”, he surrendered. “I’m only going to do one thing: train Shiro to the best of my ability, and if
that makes his sister want to join us in the future… the doors of Miyagi-Do are always open.
You’re right, it’s not fair to steal students from other people. Not even from Johnny.”

Amanda beamed at Daniel and raised her glass. “A toast. To my wonderful husband, the
reasonable man. And the Sensei of a successful and respected dojo.”

Daniel did the same. “Thank you, my love. You know, I have a very good feeling about this. Sue
and I have been discussing several other ideas, and I think this year is going to be a very good one
for karate in the Valley.”

“Oh? I’m dying to know all your evil plans.”

“They’re not just my plans. Several members of the Committee have made suggestions, and we’re
going to have a meeting next week to discuss all the details. To begin with, they’re talking of
organizing another tournament, one for kids under fourteen.”

“I think that’s a great idea”, agreed Amanda. “It’s not fair for the small kids to fight against sixteen
and seventeen year-olds. Remember that tiny Cobra Kai boy, the blond one with the glasses? He
was so brave, I just wanted to step on the mat and give him a hug when he lost!”

“Please don’t go around hugging Cobra Kai students, Amanda… we have a reputation to uphold”,
observed Daniel with a smirk. “But you’re right, it’s because of boys like him that we need a
separate tournament for the younger children. The main event will still take place in May, and
we’re thinking somewhere around December for the new one. Back in my day, the championship
used to be in December anyway.”

“Splendid! I’m sure lots of people will attend. Especially now that you have several students who
will be competing.”

Daniel flashed her a proud smile. “Well, none of my current students fit in the under-fourteen
category… but that’s another thing that will change really soon, with a bit of luck.”

Amanda leaned on the kitchen counter and helped herself to another glass of wine. “So many good
news in one day! What else are you planning?”

“Do you remember those urban camps for children that the County of Los Angeles organizes every
Summer?”

“I remember that you tried to enroll Anthony last Summer, he threw a Playstation control at your
head… and if your reflexes weren't so good you would have needed stitches.”

“Yeah, I was lucky to dodge that one… but what I wanted to say was that I know someone who
knows someone who is involved with the organization of those Summer camps. And I can get
them to organize a few visits to Miyagi-Do. If I can teach those little kids one or two things about
karate, if I can get them interested… maybe that will be a good way of getting some new students.”

Amanda observed her husband’s face carefully. “You miss teaching Sam when she was little,
right? I think you would do a great job with those younger kids.”

“Of course I miss it. You know I’m really happy with all my current students, but… Sam knows
me too well, she always anticipates what I’m going to say next. Robby has street smarts so it’s
really hard to surprise him. And Demetri, God bless him, is a know-it-all. I miss having some
younger minds to teach, some open minds without preconceived ideas.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage to get some new kids soon, babe.”

“And that leads me to my last bit of news for the day, and maybe the most important: all the
Committee members agree with me that, if we want karate to flourish again in the Valley, it’s not
fair that every dojo works in isolation between one tournament and the next. So… we’re going to
organize an activity for all the dojos of the San Fernando Valley. One day out, a sort of excursion
where the kids can get to know students from other dojos and have some fun together in the open
air. We’re thinking of doing it at the Lake Balboa Park: there’s a large play area there, barbecue
pits, a picnic area… and the lake, of course, for swimming and rowing. It will be really great for
the kids and their families”, he ended with a contented smile.

“That sounds really fun and exciting!” said Amanda, pleasantly surprised. “Just answer me a
couple of small questions.”

“What do you want to know?”

“When you say all the dojos… do you really mean all of them? You’re not going to use your
influence to get any of them excluded?” she asked, a little suspicious.

“I swear to God”, he said, raising his right hand. “Everybody will be invited… in writing, so there
are no confusions.”
“Please tell me you won't do anything to make Cobra Kai look bad in front of the other dojos.
Maybe Johnny Lawrence deserves that, but those children don’t.”

“Cross my heart”, answered Daniel, sounding a bit offended. “I’ve learned my lesson. And… who
knows; with a bit of luck, Johnny will make Cobra Kai look bad without any help from me. Just
wait.”

“I hope he doesn’t, even if it’s just for those kids’ sake”, said Amanda with a frown. “They’re only
children, Daniel. Robby told Samantha they even have an eight-year-old girl now. And, from what
Sam has told us, many of those children had a hard time at school last year… the last thing they
need is to become outcasts in the karate community.”

Daniel huffed. “You saw with your own eyes what some of those children did at the tournament,
Amanda. Still, I know Sam has friends there, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt. I
promise I’ll be a saint on the day of the excursion.”

“I’m really glad to hear that. Who knows, maybe Johnny has changed now that he's got a
girlfriend...”

“An alleged girlfriend. You’re letting your romantic side get the best of you, but I still can’t believe
Johnny managed to trick that woman into going out with him, no matter how much you insist. ”

“Of course you can’t, you pigheaded man”, laughed Amanda. “You know what? I bet you twenty
dollars that he takes her to the Lake Balboa excursion as his plus one. Deal?”

“Deal. Oh, that’s going to be the easiest twenty bucks I’ll win in my whole life”, said Daniel with a
self-sufficient grin.

“We’ll see”, answered Amanda.

Daniel finished his glass of wine and got up, with a pensive expression on his face.

“What was that thing you said before… that Johnny and I were running in circles around each
other? Is that what you think is happening?”

“It’s perfectly clear to me, honey. That man and you are borderline obsessed with each other… If
he didn’t have a girlfriend, I would even be a little jealous. Especially now that he’s wearing smart
suits and he’s got that je ne sais quoi … that sort of Robert Redford vibe.”

Daniel looked at his wife with narrowed eyes. “Robert Redford? Are you serious? Maybe I should
be the jealous one here.”

“Of course not! I haven’t put up with you for twenty years to be looking at other men now”, she
joked. “And, even if I was looking at other men... he’s dating Kate, and I could never do that to a
fellow coed. We Notre Dame girls have to stick together.”

“Allegedly dating her”, reminded Daniel with a smirk. “And remember, if he isn’t... you will owe
me twenty dollars.”

“Of course, my love… allegedly .”

 Chrysanthemum
Chapter Summary

Kate is nervous about her upcoming date with Johnny. Meanwhile, Keiko and Shiro
meet the other kids in their new dojos, and learn a thing or two about the rivalry
between them.

Chapter Notes

Here we are again with another chapter! I wanted to feature the Cobra and Miyagi kids
on this one, because the next few chapters will focus more on Kate and Johnny. If
you're curious about what Shiro and Keiko look like, there's a moodboard at the end.
Enjoy!

CHAPTER 14. CHRYSANTHEMUM

Robby had never seen Samantha stare at anybody like that.

Her big blue eyes followed the movement without blinking, taking in all the nuances, all the little
details in the newcomer’s fighting style. It was almost like watching a dance: on one side, her Dad,
with the clean Miyagi technique that Sam knew so well. Opposite him, moving almost beyond the
limits of human speed, was Shiro. Every strike looked so elegant, every kick so effortless, that
sometimes it seemed as if the boy was levitating a couple of inches above the mat.

Robby noticed it too, of course. It was like that supernatural shit in Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon ( wrong martial art… that wasn’t karate , his mind told him instinctively). Suddenly all the
things he had learned from Mr. LaRusso in the previous months seemed like nothing; like the
clumsy mockery of a little child who watches a karate movie and starts throwing kicks in his
pajamas in the middle of the living room. He suddenly remembered that he had done that with his
Dad once… and the return of the repressed memory startled him. How old was he then... four,
five? The memory was in black and white, and so far away that the only thing he could see clearly
was Johnny’s proud smile. Robby shook his head and turned his attention back to the sparring.
And to Sam, who in turn was observing Shiro.

The new boy was… well, he was pretty. It shouldn’t be a word anybody used to describe a boy, but
he had a delicate face despite being so tall. Girls loved that; he had seen several of his classmates at
North Hills High lose their silly little minds over those bishounen boys in Asian films and K-Pop
bands. Robby felt like he should be jealous; he knew he should be… but he just couldn’t summon
that feeling. The only jealousy he felt was professional, the one related to the fact that this Shiro
Yashida guy had the potential to be Mr. LaRusso’s new star student.

If Sam was attracted to the new boy… well, he didn’t give a damn, really. And that made him feel
sad.

It was the final confirmation that all the attraction he had felt for her was strictly related to the fact
that she was Mr. LaRusso’s daughter. And also because she had two loving parents, a big house, a
new car, a brilliant future ahead... All the things Robby would never have.

At least if Sam fell for the new guy she would finally forget about that jerk Diaz. That petty
thought was the smallest consolation in the world, but the boy clung to it like a lifesaver.

The sparring on the tatami came to a halt. The two fighters bowed to each other, and Daniel burst
into a cheerful laughter.

“Well, that was incredible! You know, Shiro… Some of your moves reminded me of the way Mr.
Miyagi fought. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to teach you anything… in
fact, I feel like I should get a dozen more students and ask you to co-teach with me”, he said,
feeling a bit short of breath. The boy had really taken him by surprise a couple of times, and even
with his long years of experience he’d had trouble keeping Shiro’s pace.

“Please don’t belittle yourself like that, Sensei LaRusso”, said Shiro in his calm and measured
tone. “Every master has something to teach, and I look forward to learning from you, everything I
can. And to make some new friends, of course. That is enough.”

His three classmates grinned when they heard his words. The boy just had a way to ingratiate
himself with everybody.

“Boy, you’re gonna crush it at the tournament next year!” said Demetri, still in complete awe.

Shiro looked down at the mat, then at Daniel, and again at Demetri.

“I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you there, my friend. I will be eighteen next March, so the
under-17 tournament won’t be an option for me. I’m not sure I would have participated anyway… I
do karate for my own personal fulfillment, but I’m not very interested in competing. You’ll have to
go to my sister Keiko for that, she’s the competitive one.”

“Your sister, the Cobra”, Robby snapped. “She’ll be right at home there, those guys are only
interested in winning at any cost.”

“Why don’t we take a break and show Shiro the zen garden, and the rest of the dojo? I’m
exhausted just of watching you guys fight.” interrupted Sam, uncomfortable with the direction the
conversation was taking. “Dad, what if we all go for ice cream together after training? We should
celebrate that Miyagi-Do has a new student.”

“That’s a fantastic idea”, acknowledged Daniel. “I know how much you guys have worked this
week, and it’s already Friday. Let’s show Shiro the rest of the dojo, practise kata for… let’s say
one more hour, and then we’ll all go to Dairy Queen; my treat. What do you say, Shiro?”

“Sounds perfect, Sensei”, he agreed. “I have to pick up my sister at six, but until then I’d love to
stay and chat. I want to know more about all of you.”

Daniel nodded and led the way. He wasn’t sure he liked being addressed as Sensei ; back in the
day, Mr. Miyagi had wanted nothing to do with the honorific, and now… now it was what
Johnny’s students called him, so it felt like a Cobra Kai thing. Would it offend Shiro if Daniel
asked him to call him something else? Was it right to let Johnny keep the appellative all for
himself...?

He would have to think calmly about it. Perhaps some other time.

The five of them went out to see Daniel’s pride, the Zen garden. He had spent an inordinate
amount of time selecting the right plants, the right stones... There was even a pond with several
brightly colored koi in it, imported from Japan years before, and transplanted from the other pond
at the LaRusso’s house when he decided to open Miyagi-Do. A couple of them had been a gift
from Mr. Miyagi himself, and Daniel felt terribly proud of his shoal of colorful and unusual pets.

Shiro was observing the fish when he noticed Sam standing beside him.

“So… this will be your senior year, right, Shiro? Are you going to West Valley High?”

“Of course. It’s going to be an interesting year… I need to study hard if I want to enter the pre-MD
program at UCLA. Or maybe USC, I haven’t decided.”

“Wow, medicine! It’s cool that you already know what you’re going to major in. I still have no
clue.”

“It’s kind of a family tradition”, he shrugged. “And I’ve always liked the idea, so in my case
there’s no conflict between my parents’ wishes and my own.”

“Are you going to keep doing karate once you go to college?”

“Yes, unless my studies prevent it. Both UCLA and USC are a thirty minute drive from here, so I
suppose I could keep training, although not every day. If Sensei LaRusso doesn’t mind, of course”,
said Shiro, crouching on the grass to admire a particularly beautiful yellow and black koi.

“If he doesn’t mind? He will do everything in his power to keep you here… I haven’t seen my Dad
this excited in months, not since he started training Robby.” She followed the boy’s gaze towards
the pond. “That yellow one is called Pikachu. Not very original, but he was one of the first koi we
got and I was super proud that Mr. Miyagi let me name him.”

“I think it’s cute. And funny”, he said with a gentle smile.

“You must think we’re a bunch of nerds who can’t even do karate and spend all day playing with
the koi.”

“That’s not true! From what I’ve seen, I think both you and Robby are very good. It’s extraordinary
that Robby has become so proficient in less than a year. He’s got a lot of natural talent… I had to
train for a long time before reaching that level.”

“Yeah, karate runs in Robby’s family too… his Dad is the Cobra Kai sensei.”

“And he doesn’t train there?” Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow. “How odd.”

“Yeah, well… you know how it is”, Sam muttered in a hesitant tone. She didn’t want to dump a
load of drama on the new boy on his first day. “Not all families get along well. And the Cobra Kai
karate is different from the one we do here. Hey, look… my Dad and the others are going back
inside. Let’s go practise some kata.”

Shiro nodded politely and followed Sam, Daniel and the other kids back to the building in silence.
He’d noticed Robby’s earlier remark about the Cobra Kai students, of course, but he had chosen to
be cautious and not say anything. And now Samantha was giving him vague answers too. If that
other dojo was really so rough and competitive… well, that would be right up Keiko’s alley; she
had been the tough one all her life, the one who always liked facing new challenges.

Even so, he wondered how his sister was doing on her first day at the cobra’s nest.
“So, where’s Johnny taking you tonight? Anywhere fancy?”

Kevin took a bite of his burger. He had dropped by Kate’s office and asked her to lunch at their
usual place in Ventura Boulevard, and of course he had also started asking all kinds of questions
about her upcoming date. Questions that Kate didn’t know how to answer… or didn’t want to.

“I have no idea. When we talked on the phone last night, he got all mysterious and said he
wouldn’t tell me the name of the restaurant. I think ‘fancy’ is not exactly his style, but… Johnny
has been full of surprises lately.”

“Don’t I know it! You should have seen your face the other day when he appeared in that suit
Oliver chose for him”, said her friend with a self-satisfied smile. He was very proud of his
boyfriend’s impeccable taste.

“I still haven’t forgiven you for tricking me, by the way”, Kate said, pointing her fork at him.
“Don’t expect me to tell you anything after the date; you deserve a punishment for what you did.”

“Awww, come on! We’ve given each other reports on our dates since college! It’s our tradition.”

“All traditions come to an end at some point. And we haven’t been in college for a long time,
Kevin.”

“Right”, he conceded. “But I can’t help asking questions, I’m so excited for you! What are you
going to wear?”

“There’s that blue dress that I bought last month and that I haven’t worn yet. You were with me
when I got it at Bloomingdale’s, remember? Sleeveless, with a v-neck.”

“That one’s pretty, but… not enough cleavage. The girls deserve to be on display!”

“Kevin! If it was for you, I’d go to dinner in my underwear.”

“That would save you some time… I have a feeling that Johnny is going to end up seeing it
anyway”, he joked.

Kate sighed.

“You’re very sure that the date is going to end a certain way. What if we have dinner, he takes me
home and that’s it?”

“Ha! If that man doesn’t try to get under your skirt, I’m a Trappist monk. You’re an attractive
woman, Katey… and things already got pretty heated the other day in your office. Is there any
reason you wouldn’t want to do the horizontal tango with King Karate? I’m sure he’s got some
really good moves, if you know what I mean…”

Kate took a sip of her lemonade and waited a few seconds before answering.

“I’m not sure I want to rush into things. What if Rani is not ready to see me in a relationship? She’s
at a very impressionable age.”

“All children are at a very impressionable age. You’re going out with a man, it’s not a crime. Many
single moms do it. Besides, Rani worships him! I mean, of all the men you could choose… if you
want your daughter to be okay with the situation, Johnny is your best choice.”
“Maybe you’re right”, she admitted. “And, if it doesn’t work out, at least I’ll go out for dinner on a
Friday night; I can’t remember the last time I did that.”

“Dinner... and sexytimes after.”

“You have no way of knowing that”, Kate laughed.

“The only thing I don’t know is where the sexytimes will take place. Your apartment, his
apartment… The back seat of his car? The world is full of possibilities.”

He had included the last option with the sole goal of scandalizing his friend, and of course he
succeeded.

“I’m not doing things in a car, Kev! That’s for teenagers who have nowhere to go, or for broke
college students who can’t afford a motel room.”

Kevin finished the last fries on his plate and put his cutlery aside. “Speaking of affording things, I
have a very serious piece of advice for you.”

Kate lifted his eyes from her poké bowl. “Serious? Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

Kevin put his hands together and lifted his eyes to the heavens in a mockery of a praying stance.

“Dear Helen Mirren, goddess of feminism, please forgive me for the advice I’m about to give my
friend: Kate, don’t try to pay for dinner.”

“Is that your super important recommendation? Don’t worry... when I’m on a first date I always
split the–”

“No, don’t suggest splitting the bill either. Just keep your hands away from your purse and let the
man pay like it’s 1984.”

“But…”

“No buts! You’ll hurt his pride, I think you know him well enough to know that. Besides, the
person who asks for the date is the one who should pay; it’s the rule, and I don’t make the rules of
sexual politics.”

“Come on, letting the man pay is something out of the fifties! Besides, if I let him pay for
everything he’ll think he has a right to–”

“Now who’s talking like we’re in the fifties? You sound like my grandmother, Katey.”

Realizing the absurdity of what she had just said, Kate laughed. “Maybe I’ve been alone for too
long. I’ve even forgotten the basics of how to go on a date.”

“You’ve definitely been alone for longer than is healthy. And don’t worry, dating is like riding a
bike: you never forget how to do it, it’s a lot of fun… and you may wake up a bit sore the next
morning”, Kevin finished, revealing his white teeth in a wide grin.

“We’ll see about the last part”, answered Kate with an involuntary smile. “But I really want this to
go well. I still don’t understand why I like him so much… we have absolutely nothing in
common.”

“The ‘opposites attract’ thing may be old, but some old sayings end up being true. He’s good with
Rani, and I think that’s one of the things that makes you like him. She told me the other day that
Johnny is his favorite of all the teachers she’s ever had. Ever .”

“She’s only eight, Kevin. ‘Ever’ doesn’t have the same meaning for a child.”

“Speaking of the little munchkin: what time do you want me to pick her up this afternoon? Oliver
is even more excited about her sleeping over than I am… the guest room has been ready for days,
he’s got a pile of Disney movies for her to watch, and there’s a tent made of sheets in our living
room, with Christmas lights and pillows inside, in case the princess wants a castle.”

“She’s going to want to watch Brave over and over, it’s her favorite. And karate videos on
YouTube, of course.”

“Brave is on top of the pile.”

“Wonderful. Can you come around six thirty? Rani has karate until six, I have to pick her up… and
that will give me just enough time to get ready, freak out a little, and be calm again when Johnny
arrives at eight.”

“That’s one of the things I love about you; even your freak-out time is planned”, said Kevin with a
smirk.

“If you and Oliver ever decide to have kids, you’ll understand why I’m so organized… it’s either
that or descending into complete chaos.” She made a sign for the waitress to bring them the bill.
“Let’s go back to the office. I have a lot to do this afternoon and I need to get out early.”

“I hope you got plenty of sleep yesterday… I don’t think you’ll be getting any tonight”, said her
friend with a wicked smirk.

Kate rolled her eyes and laughed. “I don’t know where I’d be without your sage advice.”

“Tonight, you’d be at home eating ice cream and watching Netflix alone. In a tracksuit.”

“I don’t wear tracksuits. And that’s not a very nice thing to say.”

“I’m your best friend! It’s my duty to tell you the truth. And to push you into the arms of
handsomely rugged karate teachers.”

Kate opened her mouth to answer, but the waitress arrived right in that moment, saving Kevin from
a witty remark. She gave him a pointed glance, handed the waitress her credit card, and checked
the time on her phone.

It was seven hours before the date… and she already felt as nervous as a silly teenager.

Crack .

The board broke with a loud splintering noise, and the girl who had delivered the kick landed again
on the mat in a fighting stance.

Miguel tilted his head, curious, and the other Cobra Kai students also stared at Keiko in silence.
Breaking boards on the first day was something none of them had done… but of course none of
them had arrived at the dojo with so much experience.

The girl didn’t even bother to gloat; she just smiled and turned towards the man in black beside
her.

“Again, Sensei?”

Johnny shook his head, trying his best to hide a smirk. What was with girls and karate lately? Girls
didn’t do martial arts back in his day, and it had seemed the way things should be. After all, they
were the weaker sex, right? He tried to imagine what Bobby, Dutch and the others would have
thought if a girl had strolled into Cobra Kai and started breaking boards as if they were made of
paper.

Jimmy would have had a stroke, probably. The poor twit hadn’t even touched a girl’s bra until
senior year.

Returning his attention to the present day, he lifted his hand to indicate that the board holder had
sustained enough punishment.

“Nah, that’s more than enough. How long have you been doing this, Miss Yashida?”

“Only five years.”

Only. Interesting choice of words, he thought.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. When it comes to technique, you’re probably better than all
my students; in the strength department, some of the boys are superior to you, of course, but that’s
purely based on size. If there was a competition today, Diaz could beat you... and probably Hawk
too, out of brute force. Aisha and Pride would have a hard time keeping up with you. Little Rattler
over there could sprain your ankle before being defeated, she has a mean kick and she’s not afraid
to use it. The rest wouldn’t even score half a point.” He strode among the kids, hoping that his
words would spark a reaction and motivate some of the weakest boys. “If you decide to stay, that’s
who you’re going to spar against. I'll teach you old school karate, not that New Age martial arts
shit that you’ve probably been learning until now. We train hard, and I don’t allow weaklings or
crybabies in here. What do you think of that?”

The girl looked at the other Cobras and beamed at them. “I’ve seen the videos of the All Valley
tournament. I know what I can expect of this dojo... I know this is where I want to be.”

“Welcome to Cobra Kai, then.” Johnny smiled and looked at the clock on the wall. “We’re going
to finish early today. Class dismissed.”

“But, Sensei, it’s not even…” Miguel started.

“Shut it, Diaz. It’s Friday, for fuck’s sake!” he barked. “Go party at the beach, or go to bed and
watch that Netflix stuff or whatever. If you’re so desperate for training I’ll give you some extra
tasks on Monday. Now, everybody get out of here and go have fun. That’s an order.”

He walked into his office, still with a smile on his face, and the boys and girls ran to their changing
rooms.

Five minutes later, Johnny remained in the office with the door closed; several of the kids were
sitting on the floor, tying their shoes and picking up their stuff before leaving.

Grace and Sophie, always ready to support other girls, had taken Keiko under their wing. The three
of them stood by the door chatting with Aisha and Miguel, and waiting for Hawk who was still in
the locker room. Keeping his blue mohawk styled wasn’t easy, and he was always the last one to
be ready.
“Why would Sensei Lawrence cut the training short today?” wondered Miguel. “It’s not even five-
fifty... He never does that.”

Aisha looked at the closed door of Johnny’s office to make sure he wasn’t listening. “Maybe he’s
got a date and he wants to leave early. Didn’t you realize how much he smiled today?”

“A date? Do you think it’s with…?” Miguel pointed at Rani, who was just running out the door,
and at Kate who was waiting for her outside. They hugged, got into Kate’s car and disappeared
from sight.

“Who else? She’s the only woman we’ve seen him with”, added Sophie. “You’re Sensei’s
neighbor, right? You’d notice if he was seeing anybody.”

Miguel shook his head. “He never takes women to his apartment, not that I’ve seen. Although…
his place is kind of a dump, if I was him I wouldn’t take anybody there either.”

“He had like a thousand girlfriends in high school... He’s got to be dating someone ”, said Aisha.
Then she put her hands around her mouth and bellowed. “Hawk, we’re leaving! Are you going to
spend the night in the changing room?”

Hawk finally appeared, still shirtless but with his mohawk in perfect order. “Hakuna your tatas,
people, the Hawk is here! What are you buzzing about?”

“We think Sensei’s got a date tonight.”

“I like Rani’s Mom for him. She’s hot.”

That earned him two elbows to the ribs, one from Grace and the other one from Aisha.

“Ouch! What? All the guys are probably thinking the same thing!”

“Yeah, but at least they have the decency of not saying it, you doofus!”

Keiko followed the conversation with curiosity. Nobody talked that freely about the teachers at her
old dojo, and she was fascinated. She stared at the huge bird of prey tattooed on Hawk’s back.

“That’s a cool bird. I have a chrysanthemum on my hip”, she said.

“Bullshit”, answered Hawk. “Didn’t you say you’re fifteen? It’s illegal for minors to get tattoos in
California, how did you manage to get it?”

“I got it in Ohio, smartass”, she retorted. “How did you get yours?”

“I have a fake ID”, he said proudly. “Can I see your chrysanthemum now?”

“Nope.”

“Suit yourself.”

He put on his t-shirt and walked outside, where Moon was waiting for him.

“Don’t mind him, Keiko”, warned Miguel. “He’s been acting up since he got disqualified at the
tournament.”

“It’s okay. He just wants to look tough in front of the new girl, poor thing”, she laughed.
They group grabbed their things and strolled outside.

“Does your brother do karate too?” asked Miguel, trying to make Keiko feel at ease after her
headbutting with Hawk.

“Yeah, but he trains at a different dojo… it’s called Miyagi-Do. It was his first day today, too, I
hope he did well.”

Keiko didn’t expect the sudden silence around her... or the worried looks the other kids exchanged,
or the long faces of Miguel and Aisha.

“Did I say something wrong?” she asked.

Aisha cleared her throat before speaking. “Er… This dojo and Miyagi-Do are not exactly friendly
with each other. I mean, yeah, my best friend Sam trains there, but…”

“And our friend Demetri”, said Miguel.

“And Sensei Lawrence’s son”, added Grace.

“Okay, I don’t get it”, Keiko said, dumbfounded. “If you all have friends and family over there...
why the bad blood?”

“Look, it’s complicated”, explained Miguel. “Basically, Sensei Lawrence and the Miyagi-Do
sensei have been enemies since high school. Since LaRusso stole Sensei Lawrence’s girlfriend,
among other things.”

Keiko raised an eyebrow. “Oh, no! Did he leave her laying around unsupervised?” she asked in her
sweetest voice.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just find it funny that you think a person can be stolen. ”

The other three girls looked at each other, nodding, and then at Miguel, who was suddenly feeling
a bit outnumbered.

“Okay, fine, maybe stolen is not the right word”, he rectified. “But the thing is, the Miyagi sensei
hates our dojo. Even before Cobra Kai opened he came here to threaten Sensei Lawrence, I saw it.
And he tried to get us banned from the tournament.”

Suddenly Sophie looked at her watch and yelped.

“Girls, if we want to catch the next bus, we need to run! Hey, Keiko, the three of us are going to
Aisha’s pool, do you want to join us?” she asked.

“No, sorry. I have to wait for my brother to pick me up; we’re going to San Diego with our parents
this weekend. Maybe some other day.”

“Aww, bummer! See you on Monday, then. Bring your swimming stuff and we’ll go to the pool
after class”, said Aisha.

The three girls ran towards the bus stop. All the other kids had left too, so Keiko and Miguel sat on
the ground in front of the mini-mart.

“Why don’t you go to the pool with them?” she asked Miguel.
“I promised my Mom I would have dinner at home today. She’s a nurse, and this is her first free
night in two weeks.”

“Yeah, I know a bit about that stuff”, Keiko answered with a sigh. “My parents are doctors, and
sometimes I don’t see both of them in the same room for days. Working at a hospital is hard.”

They both sat in silence, tired after class and happy to have found a bit of common ground. Keiko
was the first to speak again, because something was nagging at her brain… and she was never shy
to ask what she wanted to know.

“Hey, can I ask you something? It may be an inconvenient question.”

“I love those. Shoot.”

“Grace mentioned that Sensei Lawrence had a son… and that he trained at Miyagi-Do. Am I the
only one who finds that weird? Do you know him?”

Miguel frowned. He didn’t especially enjoy talking about certain people. “Yeah. And if you’ve
seen the All Valley tournament online, you also know who he is: the one I beat in the finals.”

“Robby Keene? That cute guy is Sensei’s son?”

“Ew, you think Keene is cute? He’s a jerk.”

“Well, he’s got some nice moves”, she observed. “At least on YouTube. Maybe he won’t be like
that in person. But of course I don’t expect you to think the same… you mentioned a girlfriend, so
I guess you’re not into boys, right?”

“No, I’m not into boys. But even if I was, Keene wouldn’t be exactly my first choice”, said Miguel
making a disgusted face.

“Why do you hate him?” asked Keiko, now more curious than before. “He lost to you on the
tournament... So he has at least one reason to hate you , but not the other way around.”

“He stole my girlf…” the boy stopped and corrected himself right on time. “He made my girlfriend
break up with me. Happy now?”

“Well, no. That blows. But you should be blaming her, in any case, not him. Are they together
now?”

“I don’t think so… but you’re right, it blows.” Miguel let his head fall between his shoulders; he
felt pathetic, acting all mopey in front of someone he had just met, but he couldn’t help it.

“Yeah. Sorry for asking, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad… I just wanted to make some sense
out of this Cobra Kai soap opera that you have here.”

The boy let out a somewhat bitter laugh. “I guess things have been pretty dramatic here from the
start. I hope we didn’t scare you with all our problems.”

“Scare me? Come on! I love a good drama, this place is fantastic! And I like that you guys do some
real karate… my old dojo in Cleveland was a drag”, she said with a frown. “Girls could only spar
with girls, and boys with boys. And our Sensei treated girls as if we were porcelain dolls… It was
called Blackbelt Academy, but we called it Boring Academy. If my parents had allowed it, I would
have quit.”
“Cobra Kai is everything but boring. I think you’re going to fit right in with us, here and at school;
pity that you won’t come to class with me, Aisha and Hawk.”

“Yeah, I’ll be a sophomore this year. But it’s fine, I’ll be in the same grade as Grace and Sophie…
sorry, Pride and Joy. I still haven’t got the knack of the nicknames. And Caleb is also my age, I
think. A high school full of Cobras!”

“Yeah, only Tim and Bert are still in junior high”, said Miguel, making a mental roll call of all the
Cobra Kai students. “And Rattler in elementary, of course. She’s the true Cobra... standing alone in
the face of danger.”

“Danger? In elementary school?” Keiko’s tingling laugh resonated again.

“Well, not for Rattler. She can kick her way out of anything.”

A few yards away from them, a car honked; Keiko waved at the driver and grabbed her backpack.
“Finally, there’s my brother! I wonder what took him so long... Hey, thanks for waiting with me,
Miguel. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“See you”, said the boy, waving back at her and unchaining his bike from the rack.

On his way home he thought of Keiko. More accurately, he mused over some of Keiko’s words.

I just find it funny that you think a person can be stolen.

It was a way of seeing it, of course; a way he hadn’t considered before. But the other girls had
nodded at Keiko as if she was absolutely right. And if Keiko was right… then maybe he shouldn’t
be mad at Keene anymore. Or should he? After all, the guy had also weaseled his way into Sam’s
family, he had made them think he was a perfect fucking angel. On the other hand, Miguel was
sure they would always despise him for the simple fact of being a Cobra… and of course Sam’s
father had all that awful history with Sensei Lawrence. Even if Sam decided to go back with him
one day, her parents would make that impossible.

The sane thing to do would be to forget about her and start dating other girls. Like Keiko, for
instance. She was pretty, and fun, and great at karate… then why wasn’t he attracted to her at all?
He wished he could forget about Samantha, stop thinking of her every day… and especially every
night. He wished he didn’t have all those wet dreams, dreams of things that had never happened
between him and Sam. Or between him and any other girl, for that matter.

Realizing that it wasn’t very smart to be having erotic thoughts while riding a bike, Miguel blinked
and centered his mind on the road. At least Keiko was right about one thing: there was more drama
in Cobra Kai than in those telenovelas his Yaya watched after dinner.

Why was everything so complicated when it came to girls?

 Espresso
Chapter Summary

Johnny and Kate have their long-expected date. And some fun afterwards.

Chapter Notes

Here we are again, with a chapter that I've been expecting to write for a long time. It
was quite hard (no pun intended), because it has been ages since the last time I wrote a
sex scene. Warning; the rating for the story has gone up (obviously), but I've tried to
keep it a tad away from being full-out porn.

You tell me if I've succeeded. Happy reading!

CHAPTER 15. ESPRESSO

“And that’s how I got Cobra Kai reinstated, just in time to sign up for the tournament.”

Kate focused her attention on the man sitting in front of her. He was wearing his blue suit again,
this time without a tie... she had even done a double take when he had arrived to pick her up.
Johnny looked content, relaxed, proud of himself. It was amazing how he could look like an
entirely different person with a simple change of clothes. And of scenery, of course: he had brought
her to a cute little restaurant that resembled a 1950s diner, with a black and white checkered floor
and red pleather chairs. It wasn’t what she had expected at all, and at the same time it felt like the
right place.

The conversation had flowed effortlessly since their arrival; Johnny had been filling the blanks in
the story of how he had met Miguel, clashed with his old high school enemy, and reopened the old
Cobra Kai dojo. She already knew many of those things: most of that information had come out
while they were getting ready for the rent trial. But some of the most trivial facts, which happened
to be the most personal ones, had been left out.

“I think you’re doing a fantastic job with those children. Yes, they overstepped the boundaries a
little at the tournament… but I’m sure you can work on that with them, make them see that
sometimes playing fair is more important than winning.”

“Sometimes.” Johnny let out a sigh. “I’m trying to get it into their thick heads… It’s harder than I
thought, especially with some of the older boys. Miguel hasn’t been himself for months, he’s been
a moody mess since he broke up with LaRusso’s daughter. But he was quite chummy with the new
Japanese girl today... I’m going to make them spar together until there’s a spark. Or a flame, or
whatever makes kids tick these days.”

“You can’t play matchmaker with teenagers”, said Kate, amused that Johnny was shipping his
students with one another. “You can try, but in the end they like who they like.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that. Hawk is a bigger problem; he’s been acting up, talking back to me…
He reminds me of one of my high school friends, a Cobra Kai. He reminds me of him so much that
it’s almost scary.”

He observed Kate closely, hoping that all the talk about Cobra Kai and the kids wasn’t boring her.
Going on a date was one of those things he hadn’t practised in a long time... unless he counted
meeting women in bars as dates, but those situations were different. A drink or three, an exchange
of trashy pick-up lines, and wham, bam, thank you ma’am. No, that wasn’t the way he wanted
things to go this time. He would have to recall what the Johnny Lawrence of his youth would have
done.

For starters, the old Johnny wouldn’t have monopolized the conversation. He would have asked
things about the girl, thrown some compliments around, told her she looked pretty.

“Enough karate talk, I don’t want to bore you with stories about my twenty kids”, he joked. “Tell
me about yours. I know Rattler was born in India and that you adopted her, but… that’s all.”

Kate had just finished her appetizer. She lifted her eyes from her plate and smiled. She always felt
overly proud when someone asked about Rani.

“You already know more about her than you think. You must have realized by now how smart she
is… and how headstrong. She’s incapable of standing still, she runs everywhere… her kindergarten
teacher suggested that I should have her tested for ADHD, but it turns out she’s just full of energy.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. Three days ago it was super hot at the dojo because one of the
ceiling fans broke. Almost all of the kids were panting and begging for mercy after ten minutes of
class… And Rattler was bouncing on her feet as if nothing happened. She never gets tired”, said
Johnny with a smirk. “Do you have her since she was a baby?”

“Almost. I made the decision of adopting about seven years ago”, answered Kate. “It was a long
process, with lots of paperwork, I won’t bore you with the details. After a year or so the adoption
was approved and I went to Bangalore to meet Rani and pick her up. She was the tiniest two-year-
old I had ever seen! My parents were disappointed that I wasn’t assigned a newborn baby, but I
didn’t really care. Then when I held her for the first time she laughed... and she stole my heart. I’m
not going to lie and tell you it was easy raising her, especially during the first year… but she’s my
whole world.” She looked at Johnny with caution, trying to see if she was boring him. “I have to
warn you, you’ve just made the mistake of asking a mother about her daughter. I could talk for
hours… so please stop me when you think it’s too much.”

Right in that moment the waitress arrived with the entrées, and Johnny waited until the girl had left.
He had ordered his usual favorite, ribeye steak and fries, and he was surprised to see that Kate had
chosen an old fashioned classic: chicken and waffles.

“I thought women always worried about calories.” The words were out of his mouth before he
could stop them. “Sorry, that was… that was stupid.”

Kate just raised an eyebrow and laughed it out.

“No, it’s fine… life may be too short for counting calories, but I try to eat healthy during the week
so I can enjoy myself when I eat out. So you weren’t far away from the truth, many women do
worry about calories. And others don’t.”

“Seems I have a lot to learn about modern women”, he conceded, relieved that his careless
comment hadn’t earned him a lecture.
“Modern women?” she asked, taking a small bite of her chicken. “I’m just a person, that’s all…
I’ve never thought of myself as particularly modern .”

“But you are. You’ve got a fancy job, you have your life all sorted out, you’re independent. I mean,
you’re not like…” Johnny interrupted himself. He wasn’t entirely sure how to say what he thought
without coming out as rude.

“It’s okay, I know what you mean. I’m not a wife with a house in the suburbs, a dog, a husband,
and 2.5 children”, Kate finished for him. She saw Johnny was trying not to make any offensive
comments, but at the same time she couldn’t help finding it funny. “Did you know that women can
vote now?”

“Really? Since when?” he asked, feigning surprise.

“Nineteen twenty. Practically yesterday... you may have not heard.”

“Well, I agree with the working thing, but voting… that’s taking things a bit too far”, he joked.

“Oh! That just gave me an idea… I’m going to be a suffragette for Halloween this year.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “No, come on… that’s lame. I’m sure I can think of a cooler costume for
us.”

Kate realized he had said us ; did that mean he was thinking of them as a couple? A couple that
could last until November? She blushed slightly, but she didn’t say anything.

Johnny noticed her silence and kept asking questions before the pause got awkward.

“What do you usually do for Halloween?”

“When we lived in San Francisco I always went trick-or-treating with Rani, and with other moms
and children, but… It’s been ages since the last time I dressed up. I was going to do it last year, I
even got a friend to lend me a flapper costume, but in the end I was too self conscious. I should
have done it, it was a pretty boring night.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t half as bad as my last Halloween”, said Johnny in a downcast voice. “I failed to
help Miguel when some jerks kicked his ass at the school dance. The poor kid ended up all
battered and bruised… his Mom didn’t take it too well, I almost lost my only student.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But things got better after that day, right?”

“Yeah, they did. And at least the boy wore a cool skeleton costume, one that used to be mine. Me
and my friends got our asses kicked wearing those costumes too, maybe I should have realized it
would bring him bad luck.”

Kate remembered when Johnny had come clean about the incident with the Japanese Sensei… on
the day of the trial, after Daniel LaRusso mentioned it during lunch and almost ruined everybody’s
mood. She tried to change the topic before Johnny became upset.

“Do you keep contact with your high school friends? You must have been a tight bunch if you were
together all day at school and at karate practice.”

Johnny closed his eyes and smiled, and for a moment he seemed miles away from there.

“We were inseparable, the five of us. Bobby and I even went to college together, until…” he
interrupted himself abruptly and fidgeted with his fork. He still hadn’t talked to Kate about Laura’s
death, about how he had dropped out of Stanford. Another thing he couldn’t tell her yet in case she
freaked out… in case she didn’t want to go out with a loser with only a high school diploma.

“Anyway”, he continued, “Bobby is the only one I keep contact with. He lives South of Los
Angeles, I had dinner with him and his wife last year. Jimmy lives in the area too, he calls
sometimes… but I haven’t seen him since his wedding. Tommy joined the Army and moved
around a bit, I lost track of him after a while. And Dutch… God, I have no idea what happened to
Dutch. Fell off the face of the Earth years ago. He was always the wild one, it wouldn’t surprise
me if he was exploring the Amazonian jungle or something like that.”

“It’s hard to keep in touch with people after so long”, noticed Kate. “I barely talk to any of my high
school friends anymore… I exchange messages at Christmas with a few of them, but that’s all.”

“Right. Nobody ever tells you how much life changes after high school.”

They ate in silence for a few moments, enjoying the food and exchanging the occasional glance
across the table. When it was time for dessert, both of them agreed on sharing the blueberry
cheesecake.

“More calories”, she observed, digging her spoon into the luxurious slice of cake covered in
berries. “This will cost me at least two hours at the gym.”

“Now that I know you don’t care about calories, I’ll take you out for cake more often.”

“Challenge accepted. Let’s make it chocolate next time.”

“With whipped cream?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

“Oh, God, yes...” she whispered.

Johnny licked his lips and fixed his eyes on the half-eaten dessert. It wasn’t his intention, but he
was starting to feel jealous of a slice of cake.

“What do you want to do next?” he asked, a little impatient. “Let’s go have a drink somewhere. I
mean, if you want.”

“That sounds nice, but… don’t you have to drive?”

Kate tried to make it sound like she wasn’t scolding Johnny for thinking of driving after drinks.
He’d only had one beer with dinner, but she knew he had a history of drinking a bit too much.
Another thing to add to the list of topics one shouldn’t touch on a first date, another thing that
could get awkward if she brought it out.

Johnny nodded, struggling to think of an alternative. He definitely didn’t want the date to end so
early; but he also didn’t know if a suggestion of going to his apartment would be too forward for
Kate. Fortunately for him, she made a suggestion of her own.

“We could go to my place and have coffee”, she said in a soft voice, trying not to blush or sound
like a nervous girl.

“Sounds great”, answered Johnny, secretly grateful that she had taken the lead.

He called the waitress and asked for the check, feeling a bit confused. Of course, he knew what it
meant when a woman invited him to her place after dinner… or, at least, he used to know. Was that
one of those things that had changed within the last decades? Did an invitation for coffee after
hours suddenly mean just coffee?

The girl arrived with the check at once, and Kate hid her hands under the table, fighting the
impulse to reach for her purse while Kevin’s words echoed in her mind.

Just let the man pay like it’s 1984.

It kept being 1984 while Johnny paid, held her chair when she got up, and held the door of his car
open for her. Even when he turned on the radio and it blared ‘Head over Heels’ by the Go-Go’s.
Kate smiled and reclined on her seat in silence, enjoying the brief moment of time travel.

“I like your car. I’m not an expert on cars or anything... but it’s nice.”

“You should have seen my old Firebird. It was a real trooper”, said Johnny. “If I still had that car
I’d drop the top and drive us to the beach to watch the stars.”

Despite his protests about the loss of the Firebird, the truth was that he liked his new car. And he
loved driving, especially driving with a pretty woman beside him. Johnny noticed that Kate’s dress
had slid up her thighs a little, giving him a view of just enough leg to put him on edge.

He had been the perfect gentleman at dinner, he had been a gentleman for too fucking long.
Hoping he wasn’t overstepping any modern first date boundaries, Johnny leaned over the distance
between him and Kate and kissed her. It caught her by surprise, her breath hitched for a second...
but then she leaned into the kiss and put her hand on the back of his neck. She had no way of
knowing that it was one of Johnny’s weak spots... and he reacted on pure impulse, letting go of the
gearshift and putting a hand on her knee, a searching hand that made her gasp and squirm in her
seat.

A car honked behind them; the light was green again, so Johnny turned his attention back to
driving. At this point he was practically on auto pilot, and he drove swiftly through the streets of
Reseda. He knew where her building was, of course... he had known for decades, and this was his
neighborhood now too. It was another trick of destiny that Kate had moved all the way from San
Francisco and landed only a ten minute walk away from him.

“You can park over there”, said Kate when they turned the corner next to South Seas. She sounded
a little out of breath, and Johnny couldn’t suppress a proud smile.

He tried to focus on the road, the parking spot, anything but the temptation next to him. The last
thing he wanted was to jump on her in the parking lot and scare her away… He followed her
upstairs and kept his distance while Kate opened the door and stepped inside.

The apartment was bigger than he expected. Not over-the-top grand like the mansions in Encino
where he used to do most of his handiwork, but it definitely wasn’t what he supposed to see in the
place where the Jersey twerp used to live. There was an impression of fresh paint and new
furniture, and he also recognized some signs of a luxury interior: immaculate white walls, dark
hardwood floors, stone countertops, even a fancy induction cooktop. Elegant and simple, with no
frills or extravagant knicknacks; the apartment matched the style of its resident.

He felt relieved that they hadn’t gone to his place. Despite the thorough cleaning and Rosa’s help,
it still felt like a dump compared to number 20 of South Seas.

“This is nice”, he said, standing in the middle of the living room.

“Thanks. It’s not a palace, but I’m happy with it. My next door neighbor says the building was
quite awful before they renovated it in the nineties. You know, after the earthquake. But please, sit.
I’m going to make coffee, it won’t take a minute.”

Johnny took off his jacket and left it on a chair before sitting on the couch. From there he had a
clear view of the kitchen area, where a shiny Nespresso machine —of course Kate couldn’t live
without one of those things at home— occupied the place of honor on the countertop. She filled up
the water deposit and got two cups from the cabinet behind her.

“How do you want it?”

I want you closer , he thought.

“Espresso. Please.”

There was something else Johnny noticed in the apartment… something that was missing.

“Where’s Rattler? At your brother’s?”

“No, she’s sleeping over at Kevin’s”, Kate answered over the whirring noise of the coffee maker.
“He texted me an hour ago; apparently she and Oliver were having the time of their lives watching
Disney movies and eating too much popcorn.”

She approached the living room, left the coffee tray on the low table in front of Johnny and sat
beside him. Not too close, not too far… another sign he didn’t know how to interpret; now that he
knew they were alone he was dying to kiss her again, and they were running out of polite
conversation topics.

Kate sat back on the couch and sipped her coffee.

“The other day you mentioned you knew someone who used to live in South Seas”, she said,
remembering what Johnny had said in her office. “Anyone I know?”

“No one important”, answered Johnny. He didn’t want LaRusso intruding on his date, not even in
spirit. “But you’re right about the renovation thing, this building was a slum in the eighties. I
remember the pool was empty and covered in green slime.”

“That’s what Mrs. Wright says. You didn’t live around here back then, right?”

“No, I… we lived in Encino Hills.”

“Nice neighborhood.”

Johnny took a drink of his espresso. It was very strong and sweet, like a shot of pure caffeine. He
noticed Kate had already finished hers… How could one tiny woman drink so much coffee?

“Doesn’t this stuff keep you awake all night?”

There was a sudden silence on Kate’s part. She looked at Johnny, at her empty cup, and at him
again. Then she left the cup on the table and took a slow breath before speaking.

“I was hoping you would keep me awake.”

So simple, so straightforward. All Johnny needed was a clear sign… and he got it.

The next few seconds felt like an eternity, like he was moving under water. He scooted next to
Kate and placed a hand on her cheek; tracing her skin with his thumb, he brought his lips to hers.
She tasted like coffee, of course, and sugar; but sweeter than all that was the way she leaned into
his kiss.

Johnny felt the blood thrumming in his ears. He wasn’t going to rush things; the last thing he
wanted (and the last thing he imagined she wanted) was a disappointing quickie on the couch. But
the three days since that first kiss at her office had been worse than torture. He needed her,
urgently, and this time there would be no interruptions.

The kiss broke, and Kate slid her hand around the back of his neck. When he approached her again
she met him halfway, letting out one of her little moans… a sound that went straight to his groin.
He nipped on her lower lip slowly, teasing his way into her mouth while he pulled her closer
against him.

She splayed her hands across his chest; Johnny was sure she could feel his heart thumping, even
more when she undid one button of his shirt. And then the next. Her fingers fumbled with the
white fabric, as if she was scared to go lower… He still didn’t know if she was shy in bed, or what
she liked. Or how far she’d actually want to go, even if the ‘keeping her awake’ thing was an
almost certain green light. All he knew was that she was driving him mad with want, with just a
simple touch of fingertips on his collarbone. All he could think of was how much he needed to
touch her, to taste her… He wanted nothing more than to devour her whole, but he couldn’t afford
to be harsh or careless with someone like her. Not with Kate.

Taking a deep breath to cool the scorching fire inside of him, he ran his hands up her arms until he
reached the straps of her blue dress. He slid them down slowly, one after the other, and the bra
straps along with them. Every inch of bare flesh that appeared before his eyes was like new land
begging to be explored.

Reclined on the couch, the subject of Johnny’s exploration kicked off her pumps and struggled to
keep her eyes open. Her first instinct had been to close them, but she also needed to see him, to feel
his burning gaze on her. His touch on her skin was rough, exciting. He was a man who worked
with his hands, after all… and he knew perfectly well how to use them. Kate felt Johnny’s mouth
on her shoulder... kissing, biting, sending chills down her spine.

He bites , she remembered. I’m going to wake up tomorrow covered in hickies, like a cheerleader
after a frat party.

The silly comparison made her laugh, and Johnny stopped to look at her.

“Having fun?”

“Oh, lots”, she whispered, tilting her head to give him a peck on the lips.

“Let’s find out how much more I can make you laugh.”

Kate was suddenly aware of Johnny’s hand on her thigh, inching up little by little, and she let her
head fall back with a breathy sigh.

Johnny hissed at the sight of her neck, exposed and inviting in front of him… Tempting him, and
he had never been good at resisting temptation. His lips traced a line from her ear to the point
where her neck met her shoulder; her skin felt so soft under his mouth, so delicate… with some
hint of flowery scent where she had probably applied perfume earlier. When he finally swirled his
tongue on the hollow of her throat, he felt her whimper.

“Looks like I found your weak spot”, he teased.

Kate pushed him away a couple of inches, until they were face to face again. “Keep searching…
I’ve got more than one”, she purred, looking at him with her sultry brown eyes, inviting him to see
what else he could do to make her shiver under his touch.

No, that wasn’t an invitation; it was a challenge. Just what he needed to awake the snake inside of
him, to bring forth the beast… but not there, not on a couch. The situation deserved better.

With a superhuman effort he removed his hand from between Kate’s legs and sat up.

“Bedroom?” he muttered, too worked up for a complete sentence.

Kate nodded and placed a hand on his cheek. A small, soft hand, with those red nails he wanted to
feel raking down his back so badly. With a swift move he grabbed her wrist and planted a kiss on
her palm.

She got up and tiptoed down the corridor, barefoot, with Johnny following her. She didn’t turn on
the lights when they reached her room, but the city lights glowing through the window were
enough. Not that he cared about what her bedroom looked like… as long as there was a bed. Or an
old mat, or even the floor. Johnny was blind to absolutely everything except the woman in front of
him.

Kate stopped before reaching the bed and stood close to him. Johnny could heard the maddening
sound of a zipper being undone, and her dress fell and pooled by her feet.

Now he wished the lights were on, now he couldn't get enough of the sight of her. He put one hand
on the curve of her waist; he knew that curve was going to become an obsession… and, as
obsessions went, he was going to welcome this one.

One last longing gaze and he traveled down, once more exploring the soft skin of her throat with
his ravenous mouth. At last he lowered his mouth to one of her breasts, still covered in black lace,
and gave it a playful bite; that earned him a hair pull, a delicious pang of pain that made him hiss
and arch his back like the proverbial snake. Soon Kate’s hands were grasping his shirt again, trying
to undo the remaining buttons. Too many clothes, too many obstacles between his body and hers.
The shirt fell to the floor next to Kate’s dress. Johnny reached down to undo his belt… but she got
there first, unbuttoning belt and pants with one hand and stroking him with the other. A light touch,
still with too much fabric in between, but he wasn’t expecting it and it almost sent him over the
edge.

He needed to regain control or he would be gone in seconds. Grabbing her waist again he turned
her around, pushing her down on the bed. She didn’t offer any resistance, letting her head fall on
the pillow with a silent sigh.

Standing at the foot of the bed, Johnny stopped to look at her one last time before joining her. Oh,
she was a sight... half naked, ready and waiting. Waiting for him, wanting him.

As soon as he got on the bed he slid one hand under her back and undid her bra. She tried to cover
her breasts, out of instinct, but he stopped her, holding her wrists to keep her arms open.

“Don’t do that, Kate. You’re perfect.”

“Johnny, nobody’s perf–”

He placed a finger on her lips to stop her.

“You don’t have to be the voice of reason all the time. Close your eyes.”
“But…”

“Shhh... Close them.”

He could feel that she was skittish, probably still unsure if she could trust him. And he didn’t want
to look awkward or desperate… but this was something he’d been dying to do for weeks, and now
it was kind of urgent. He drew a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses down her breasts and her
stomach; each one of them elicited a small moan from Kate. When he reached the edge of her
panties he took his time sliding them down, uncovering the last bit of her that had remained hidden.

Lying on the bed, with her eyes tightly closed, Kate was attacked by a hundred sensations, one after
another. When she felt Johnny taking off her panties she grasped the sheet with one nervous hand.
She was choosing to trust him, to let him do whatever he wanted with her… and from the looks of
it he knew perfectly well what he wanted. As he planted a kiss on the inside of her thigh she held
her breath, waiting, and then…

Oh. Oh, God.

She felt his mouth on her center and let out a moan so loud that it was almost a scream. It had been
so long, and he was so good… licking up slowly, without haste, as if he was savoring her… and the
fact that she couldn’t see him made the sensations more intense. She lowered a hand and raked her
fingers through his hair; not to guide him, there was no need for that. But Kate needed to feel him
more, to let him know what he was doing to her.

When her patience ran out she disobeyed Johnny’s order and opened her eyes… and the sight of
him between her thighs was almost too much. In the penumbra of the room she saw a pair of
impossibly blue eyes above a wolfish grin, the grin of a man who wouldn’t stop until he had ruined
her for anybody else. She felt her climax approaching like a wave of fire, and her brain almost lost
the ability to form words.

“Please… please!” she keened.

Johnny never broke eye contact, he was enjoying her reactions too much… not even when her
orgasm hit her and he had to grab her hips and pin her to the bed to keep her from thrashing. That
sight was just too beautiful to miss.

“Oh, you’re evil”, said Kate when her agitated breathing had calmed down a little. “You’re a
wicked, wicked man.”

“I thought you already knew that”, he whispered.

“You’ve just killed me.”

“Oh, no”, he said, resting his cheek on her stomach for a moment before crawling up the bed again.
“No, I need you alive for what comes next.”

What came next was Kate sitting up and reaching below Johnny’s waist; she didn’t hesitate this
time, and soon Johnny’s boxers joined the pile of discarded clothes on the floor. He wanted to keep
his eyes open, he wanted to watch… but as soon as she started touching him he couldn’t see
anything. She stroked him slowly at first, gripping harder and working her hand faster in response
to his muttered curses. Soon her hot little mouth was kissing his chest, then his neck, then moving
close to his ear… until Johnny felt teeth grazing his earlobe, and his hips jerked forward in an
involuntary motion.

He grabbed her by the back of the neck. “Stop”, he grunted.

“I thought you liked biting.”

“Stop or I’m going to… Damn it, Kate. Now.” He took a deep breath and kissed her while she
moved her hands to his shoulders. “Do you have a…?”

“Yes, right here… wait a second.”

Kate moved away from him to open the drawer of her nightstand; to Johnny the loss of her warmth
felt like a burst of physical pain. He snatched the condom from her hand, opened it and put it on as
fast as he could. Damn, he was anxious and fumbling like a fucking teenager, and it was all her
fault. But soon she was close to him again, with her hands in his hair — he loved that, and she was
proving to be a very fast learner —, and there was no more anxiety, no more worry, just heart-
wrenching want because the long wait was over.

He guided Kate until she was lying on the bed once more, under him; with one long thrust of his
hips he hit home and he was completely sheathed in her warm, wet heat. She put her arms around
his neck and sighed, tilting her hips forward to let him know she wanted him to move.

And move he did, setting a steady pace, enjoying every bit of sensation, listening to Kate’s breath
come out in short, staccato moans.

The pace increased; one of Johnny’s hands grabbed the headboard for support, and at one point he
started thrusting so hard that the bed slammed against the wall a couple of times; Kate looked at
him, alarmed, and dug her nails on his shoulders to warn him.

“Johnny, I’ve got neighbors!”

“Good. Let’s make them learn my name”, he growled.

He was already reaching his bursting point, encouraged by the woman beneath him. Now her nails
were digging on his back, engraving a line of tiny half-moons on his skin, like battle scars. Without
slowing down he slid a hand between her bodies, searching for the source of her pleasure, and
almost immediately he felt her tightening around him. She threw her head back and whimpered,
holding onto him, circling his hips with her thighs in a desperate embrace.

The way her orgasm made her clench and pulse around him accelerated his own climax, and he
soon felt a coiling tip within his gut, a red hot fire that burned around them as he finally found his
release with a loud groan. Trying not to crush her under his weight he came to a halt, resting his
forehead in the curve of her shoulder until his last few thrusts stopped.

And then silence, lips touching, fingers interlocking with only the sound of their panting breathing
as background.

Johnny rolled off Kate, still with his eyes fixed on hers. Around him, the room was spinning.

“Everything good?” he asked, brushing his lips on her forehead.

“Perfect”, came the almost inaudible answer. Kate still hadn’t moved, she just lay there completely
spent.

“Be right back.”

Some little part of Kate’s fuzzy mind registered the light of the ensuite bathroom being turned on.
A minute later, when Johnny came out of the bathroom, she was just awake enough to welcome
him beneath the sheets with a drowsy gesture. She felt too tired to move or to speak; and when he
slid into the bed and put his arms around her she fell asleep in seconds.

In the apartment next door, Kate's neighbor Mrs. Wright had taken off her hearing aids before
going to bed, like she did every night.

The good woman, oblivious to everything, had been snoring happily for more than an hour.
 Afterimage
Chapter Summary

Johnny and Kate make plans for a second date. Daniel takes his students to train in
Nature, and shares his plans with them.

Chapter Notes

Not a lot of exciting things on this chapter (I used up all the excitement on the
previous one), but I hope you'll like it.

CHAPTER 16. AFTERIMAGE

Johnny Lawrence woke up with a smile on his lips and a handful of woman in his arms.

He placed a hand on the curve of Kate’s waist, feeling the quiet motion of her breathing under his
palm. Now that he could see her more clearly in the morning light, that’s what she was, a handful.
Tiny waist, small tits. A far call from the tall buxom blondes he could have sworn were his type:
Shannon, Ali... a dozen more. Their faces and names seemed too distant to matter, anyway. And he
wanted this one to matter, he wanted this to become something more than dinner and fucking, and
an awkward goodbye the next morning.

He’d have to think of a way of not screwing things up.

Lost in thought, it took him a few seconds to realize that Kate had opened her eyes and was looking
at him from under her lashes.

“Good morning.” Her voice sounded deliciously husky and sleepy, and Johnny found himself
smiling at her like an idiot.

“Morning. You’re a light sleeper”, he noticed.

“It comes with the Mom job description. Before I got Rani, it took an earthquake to wake me up.”
She stirred in his arms and planted a small kiss on his lips. “Did you sleep well?”

“Great.”

“You don’t snore.”

“You sound disappointed. If it bothers you so much, I can learn”, he said with a smirk.

“Nah, I can live with it.” She rearranged the sheet that had slid down her body, but when she tried
to get up Johnny’s arm tightened around her waist.

“Let me go… We can’t stay in bed all day, as tempting as it sounds.”

“I know”, he said. “But now that I’ve got you exactly where I want… there’s something I need to
know.”

Before Kate could react, he flipped her onto her back and grabbed her wrists, pinning her hands to
the pillow above her head.

“Hey! What are you doing?” she asked, laughing.

Above her, Johnny tried to put on a serious face, but Kate could see he was trying really hard not to
laugh.

“Now, you’re going to tell me your roller derby name.”

“Oh, again with that?” she said, rolling her eyes. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about it.”

“Tough luck. And this time I’m not letting you go until you tell me. You’re at my mercy now,
roller girl.”

“I remind you that this is my bed, not a karate mat.”

“That’s why I’m giving you a warning first.” He lowered his head and moved his mouth to her
neck, to the area he knew was her weak spot. “I have ways of making you sing, little bird.”

“Hmmm… all right, it’s not classified information. But let go of my hands first”, she said, wiggling
her fingers. “It’s going to be a long explanation.”

Johnny released her hands, but at the same time he repositioned himself so that she was practically
caged in his arms.

“I’m listening.”

“Okay, here it goes: I don’t know if I’ve told you before, but my mother’s side of the family is
French.”

“Canadian?”

“No, cajun. My great-grandparents moved from New Orleans to Seattle in the Depression. Don’t
fall asleep yet, I promise there’s a good reason I’m telling you all this.”

“Go on.”

“Anyway… one of the few traditions my family keeps is that everybody gets a French middle
name. Including my brother and me, even if the most French thing about us is our love for freshly
baked croissants.”

“Katharine B. Williams”, Johnny muttered, remembering her business card. “I always wondered
what the B stood for.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “The B is for Belle. Don't start laughing or I’ll kick you out of
bed!”

He managed not to laugh, but he couldn’t help an amused smile.

“When I was in high school I hated my middle name with the fire of a thousand suns”, Kate
continued. “So, imagine how I felt when I got accepted in the roller derby team and the captain
decided to call me… Belle the Beast.”
This time Johnny couldn’t help it. He rolled off Kate, laughing to his heart’s content.

“What kind of sports captain took a look at you and saw a beast? Was she blind?”

“Hey, all roller girls have names like that! And, for your information, I once made a girl twice my
size cry during a match.”

“Oh, I bet you were really fierce.”

“Don’t make me regret telling you”, she said, putting her arms around his neck. “By the way, if
you have any other potentially embarrassing questions… now is your chance, before I run away.”

She was expecting Johnny to crack another joke, or to ask some silly question about her high
school days. Instead, he sat up and stared at her, suddenly serious.

“There’s something else I never got to ask you. But… It’s going to sound rude. I mean, it’s one of
those things you shouldn’t ask a woman.”

“Okay… this woman is giving you permission to ask her anything.”

“It’s just… I don’t know how old you are.”

Kate blinked a couple of times. That was definitely not the question she was expecting. “Oh. Is it
important?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know.”

She observed that Johnny’s shoulders had tensed up, and she wondered what exactly was he
worried about.

“Well, I am at an advantage here, because your birth date was in the lawsuit file. I didn’t mean to
peek, but I had to read the whole thing. And it’s not fair that I know yours and you don’t know
mine, so… I was born on the 31st of May, 1976. I’m a Gemini. I’m forty-two years old.”

Johnny let out a long breath, and Kate saw him unclench a little. Whatever number he had been
fearing, at least the answer had left him satisfied. She sat up and wrapped her arms around him,
hoping to put the age matter to rest, but he still wasn’t done. He placed a hand on her cheek and
examined her face for a few moments.

“You don’t look forty-two.”

“Thank you; you don’t look your age either. Is nine years too much of a difference to you, Johnny?
Because I honestly don’t care.”

“No. It’s… all right, I guess. I didn’t want you to think I’m too old for you.”

“That’s nonsense. We’re both adults… I’m not sure if we’re responsible adults, but that has
nothing to do with age. Besides, nine years is perfectly normal; it’s not like we’re Richard Gere
and Alejandra Silva.”

“Who?”

“Nevermind”, she said with a smile. He kept being completely oblivious to certain cultural
references, and Kate couldn’t help finding it charming. “Anyway, we should get out of bed and hit
the shower, it’s getting late.”
“Mmmm… a shower sounds great”, he hummed against her skin. “Together?”

“Not if you want breakfast, or we’ll be here all morning”, she said.

“Killjoy.”

“Sorry. I have to go to Kevin’s and pick up Rani, and then I promised my brother I’d have lunch
with him and his family. It’s my younger nephew’s second birthday and I really shouldn’t miss it.”

“No, of course.”

“I’m free again tonight… Rani is going to stay the night with her cousins, we can get takeaway and
watch a movie.”

“That sounds better. My place?” he offered, still a little anxious about the state of his apartment.

“Do you own a DVD player?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I may be older than you, but I’m not that ancient… I bought one of those last month”, he
confessed. “Miguel lent me a movie and I had nowhere to watch it.”

“It’s a date, then”, she said, getting out of bed and walking towards the bathroom.

Johnny stretched out on the bed. He wanted to follow her but he knew what would happen if he
did… so he commanded all his self-control and waited a few minutes before strolling into the
bathroom. He just needed to see her silhouette behind the translucent shower door, to know that she
wasn’t too far away.

The sound of the water stopped; Kate peeked out from behind the screen and pretended to be
shocked.

“Somebody call the police... there’s a naked man in my bathroom.”

“Do you need help throwing him out, ma’am?” he smirked.

“Oh, no! I just need him to give me my towel. I’m getting cold.”

He grabbed the towel from the rack and wrapped it around her. He also copped a feel, of course;
restraint was one thing, and letting a chance pass was another.

“You smell good.”

“Mmmm… thank you. I’m going to get started on breakfast while you shower, okay?” said Kate,
planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

Without giving him time to answer she went back to the bedroom and threw some clothes on. Then
she checked her phone, forgotten in the depths of her purse since the night before. There was a text
from Kevin, like she expected, and she was relieved to see it was only ten minutes old.

‘Good morning, sunshine! Just checking on you.’

‘Morning, Kev. Everything okay with Rani?’

‘Wonderful. She slept like a log and now she’s devouring a mountain of french toast with
strawberries on top. Oh, she says hi.’
‘You spoil her too much. I’m glad she behaved well, I’ll go get her in an hour or so.’

‘How was the date, girl? Do you need a new bed? Can you walk?’

‘Classy as fuck, Kevin. I’m not having this conversation over text.’

‘I’ll call you.’

‘Don’t! He’s still here.’

‘Ah, the joys of a brand new romance... My regards to the stud. We’ll talk later, I want the details!
XO’

She put the phone back, went to the kitchen and started prepping the food. A while later, Johnny
came out of the bathroom, attracted by the smell that came from the frying pan, and wearing
nothing but a towel around his hips.

“Hi! I forgot to ask you what you like for breakfast… so I’m making bacon and eggs. Oh, and
pancakes.”

“How did you manage to make all that so fast?” he asked, watching the frenzied activity in front of
him.

“I could lie and tell you I’m a fabulous cook, but the truth is I always make pancakes in advance
and keep them in the freezer. It’s one of Rani’s favorite foods. And the rest… well, it’s just coffee,
orange juice, and scrambled eggs. That’s hard to screw up.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure”, he said, remembering the awfully dry and insipid eggs he had been served
at the LaRussos’ house. “God, that smells great and I’m starving.”

Kate arranged the food on the plates and put them on the table, and Johnny followed her with the
coffee cups. He took another look at her before sitting down. She was wearing only panties and a
long t-shirt; combined with her still wet hair, it made her look very different from her usual dolled-
up self.

“Who’s the chick on your t-shirt?” he asked.

“Alanis.”

“Is that the one who screams a lot and and hates men?”

Kate put her fork down and laughed.

“She was quite vocal in the nineties, yes… and she’s always been a feminist, but I don’t think she
hates men, at least not anymore. Jagged Little Pill was the soundtrack of my college years, I’ve had
this shirt for ages.”

“We should do a music exchange one of these days” he suggested. “I bet we can find some bands
we both like.”

She narrowed her eyes and concentrated. “Let me see… music from the 80s… Oh, do you like
AC/DC? I listened to them a lot growing up, my brother Hugh has been a big fan since he was little
and he always played music at full volume.”

Johnny beamed at her. “AC/DC are cool. See? You already found something we have in common.
Wow, these eggs are great.”
“Thanks. But don’t expect too much wonderful food from me, I already told you I’m just a average
cook.” She took a bite from her pancake and watched him eat; it had been a while since she’d had a
man in a towel having breakfast at her table.

And then he caught her staring, of course.

“See something you like?” he asked, winking at her.

“If I didn’t like what I see, I would have kicked you out before breakfast”, she said in a petulant
tone.

“That’s fair.”

“Speaking of fairness: you’ve been asking questions all morning, mister, so it’s my turn now.”

“Shoot.”

“I told you my middle name, under extreme persuasion, so now you have to tell me yours.”

“I guess you have to know at some point” he said, making a face. “Promise you won’t laugh.”

“Johnny, really... Why would I laugh at a name? Especially when you were a gentleman before and
didn't make too much fun of mine.”

“Because it’s… Never mind, here it goes”, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as if he was
used to getting a bad rap when he said it. “Fitzgerald.”

“What, like the president?”

“Yeah. My mother was a huge fan of President Kennedy. She was in high school when he was
killed, and… I think she was a bit in love with him back then.”

“That’s perfectly normal. Millions of women and girls were in love with him.” She stared at his
face closely and brushed her fingers over his cheek. “John Fitzgerald Lawrence. It suits you.”

“Great. Now, since you don’t like yours either, let’s make a pact to never mention our middle
names again.”

“Deal.”

After breakfast, Johnny retrieved his scattered clothes and got dressed while Kate loaded the
dishwasher.

“So… I guess I’ll be taking off then”, he said, picking up his jacket from the chair where he had
left it the night before. “Are we still on for tonight?”

“Of course! Takeaway and a movie, right?” She bit her lip, trying to think of something that both of
them would like. “I have the feeling that you like Tarantino movies. Have you seen Kill Bill?”

Johnny’s blank expression told her he hadn’t, and Kate’s face lit up.

“Perfect! You’re going to love this one.”

“What’s it about?” he asked, and Kate saw her chance to have a little fun.

“Well... the protagonist is a bride.”

Of course, at the mention of the word ‘bride’, Johnny rolled his eyes. “Are we going to watch a
chick flick?”

She put her arms around his neck and gave him a cheeky smile.

“Stop complaining! I promise it’s not a chick flick. Apart from the bride there’s also snakes, and
snakes are your spirit animal, so I’m sure you’ll like it. And I’m not telling you anything else... it’s
best if you watch it unspoiled.”

“Fine”, he gave in. “If the title is not a lie, at least one person will be killed, so it won’t be too
boring.”

“Believe me, it’s anything but boring. I’ll bring the food… do you like Chinese?”

“Yeah. Especially the egg rolls.”

“Perfect! Chinese for two, with extra egg rolls.” She walked him to the door and stood on her
tiptoes while he kissed her goodbye. “Until tonight, Mr. President.”

“See you later… Beast.”

Later that day, on a different part of the Valley, Daniel parked his SUV in the shadow of a large
tree. He turned off the engine while his four students got out of the car and looked around them,
delighted.

“Wow, Mr. L, this place is awesome!” exclaimed Demetri. “If it wasn’t for my allergies, I could
plant a tent and live here all year.”

The boy sneezed twice, as if his allergies had gotten offended by his comment.

“Bless you”, said Daniel after locking the car. “Welcome to the Lake Balboa Park, everybody. This
is where the meeting of the dojos will take place; it’s still three weeks away, but I thought a day of
training in nature would do us good... so why not do it here and get to know the park a little?”

“It’s perfect, Dad”, observed Samantha. The park was indeed an idyllic environment, with its vast
extensions of trees and grass, natural rock formations, and of course the beautiful blue lake.

“Where are we going to train, Sensei?” asked Shiro, always looking at the practical side of things.
“We won’t want to bother anyone.”

It was a clear sunny afternoon, so of course there was quite a few people in the park: mostly
families with small kids, and also some young couples and groups of friends.

“There’s a small grass field over there, close to the pier. In the shadow, so it won’t be too hot.
We’ll train there today... but I don’t want you to think of this as a heavy work day, Shiro”, Daniel
reminded the boy. “I wouldn’t have asked you all to sacrifice your Saturday afternoon just to do the
exact same things we do every day at the dojo. Today is for meditation, mindfulness, and light
exercise. And kata, of course... I don’t need to remind any of you that kata–”

“Kata is the foundation of karate”, said four voices in perfect unison, interrupting him.

“I knew repeating it a thousand times a day wouldn’t be in vain!” said Daniel while the teenagers
laughed. “Come on, let’s find a place where we can leave our backpacks and the food.”
They soon reached the grass field, and piled all their stuff under a tree.

“Let’s all sit in a circle one moment”, said Daniel. “There’s a bit of news I want to share with you
before we start.”

The kids sat on the grass and looked at him, expectant.

“You know I’ve been wanting to bring some more students to Miyagi-Do”, he started. “Shiro here
has been a great addition... and, Demetri, you’re progressing really well considering you didn’t
know anything about karate a month ago.”

Shiro bowed his head respectfully, and Demetri flashed a proud smile.

“The next step will be to engage some younger students, and we’ll have the perfect opportunity to
do that in a few days. Two weeks from now, a group of twelve small kids is going to pay us a visit,
courtesy of the City of Los Angeles urban camps; it will be on a Friday morning, so I’m afraid
we’ll have to do a bit of an effort and rise early that day. But I really hope those children will be
interested in what we do.”

“Mr. LaRusso... I have to work”, said Robby in a sad voice. “I won’t be able to...”

“Don't say one more word. Luckily for you, your boss is a really cool guy”, joked Daniel. “I’ve
already told Amanda that neither of us will go to the dealership that morning. Anoush will take
care of the sales, and the rest of the staff will manage the repairs and the inventory. The world is
not going to end if we skip work for one day, Robby.”

“Thank you, Mr. LaRusso”, said the boy, visibly relieved. “But, if you end up signing up a lot of
little kids, how will you manage with work?”

“The dealerships are doing really well this year. The truth is, I’m not irreplaceable in my own
business anymore... and in part it’s thanks to you. Working too hard made me lose my balance and
neglect my family once, and I won’t let that happen again.”

“But, Sensei... twelve children? Won’t that be too much for you?” asked Shiro.

“Oh, no! I expect only two or three of them at the most will be motivated enough to sign up. And
that’s fine! I don’t want a crowded dojo, I want to give all of you the attention you deserve.”
Daniel surveyed his students’ faces with a stern look. “But let’s face the facts, we need to think of
the next generation. Shiro, you’ve just turned seventeen. The rest of you are sixteen. At some point
you’ll all leave for college, and I will have a very empty dojo... unless we get some younger kids to
train. Besides, it’s best to start when you’re young, right, Sam?

“I don’t even know if I’m going to college”, whispered Robby, a bit ashamed. “And even if I end
up going, it won’t be next year, nor the following one.”

“We’ll talk about that when the time comes. For now, just keep focusing on your work, your
training and your GED. There’s no rush.”

“I’ve already started studying for my GED every night”, he announced. He felt kind of proud of his
decision, even if it had been his father’s suggestion what gave him the idea.

“You’re doing great, Robby”, Sam encouraged him. “With all the study materials we downloaded
last week, you’re making a lot of progress. Dad, did you know he’s really good at mathematical
reasoning?”
“I’m also a complete disaster in Science”, the boy groaned.

“Hey, I could help with that if you want... Science is kind of my jam”, offered Demitri.

“Really? Thanks, man!”

Robby looked around at his karate classmates. Despite his constant feelings of inadequacy, he felt
comfortable with them. It was like he had finally found his place.

“Do you know anything else about those children, Dad?” asked Samantha. “Maybe some of them
will know karate already.”

“I don’t think so. Not all kids have the luxury of a home dojo like you did, Sam”, answered Daniel.
“And karate is not as popular in the Valley as it was when I was your age. All I know is that
they’re boys and girls, between seven and ten years old. The perfect age to start doing karate... so
we’re going to present our best face to our little visitors, and hope they like us enough to stay at
Miyagi-Do. And now, let’s get up and start warming up, we have a lot to do.”

The four teenagers stood up and formed a square in front of him, in their usual positions: Sam and
Robby in the front, with Shiro and Demetri behind them. Daniel looked at his students proudly and
took a deep breath. All his ideas were working so well, it was almost like a miracle. In the months
after Mr. Miyagi’s death he had liked to imagine his old mentor looking after him and his family
from Heaven. Then… then the feeling got lost over the years, but now it had come back, stronger
than before. He was reconnecting with Nature, training new students, finding his balance again.
Amanda was happy. Robby was any Sensei’s dream student. Anthony had been persuaded to get
out of the house and do some bike riding instead of playing videogames all day. Even Sam seemed
to be forgetting about the Cobra kid... Daniel hoped in secret that his daughter would take an
interest in Shiro, but the events of the previous year had taught him not to interfere with Sam’s love
life; he didn’t want to make her mad at him again, didn’t want to be one of those overbearing
fathers.

For a moment, he had the distinct sensation that Mr. Miyagi was looking at him from wherever he
was. And Daniel was sure, he was absolutely positive, that among the twelve little boys and girls
that were going to visit Miyagi-Do there would be at least one with the potential to become the
next karate prodigy of the San Fernando Valley.

He raised his gaze to the sky, smiling, bowed his head in an imperceptible motion, and started with
the opening movements of the kata.
 Sleepover
Chapter Summary

Samantha finally meets the new Cobra Kai girl. Kate goes to Johhny's apartment for
dinner, a movie... and a few confessions.

Chapter Notes

Here we go again with another super long chapter! I have to apologize in advance for
the lack of smut; a serious conversation gets in the way. I don't like frustrating my
readers like that, but there was an important reveal that needed to be in this chapter.
Enjoy!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 17. SLEEPOVER

Sam parked her car outside Aisha’s house, grabbed her overnight bag from the trunk and ran
towards the gate. She was horribly late; training at Lake Balboa had gone so well that Daniel, and
the rest of the Miyagi-Do kids, had lost track of time completely. Still panting, she pushed the bell
with urgency, cursing under her breath. It wasn’t because of Aisha, or Moon, they would be cool
with her being late, but… the other Cobra girls would be there too. Those girls were competition
(maybe in more ways than one... she thought, remembering the day at the beach), and she didn’t
want to show any weakness in front of them. She was even starting to question if accepting Aisha’s
invitation for a sleepover had been a good idea.

In the end Sam had decided to go. She was sincerely curious about Shiro’s sister, and she also
missed hanging out with girls. It was hard for her to admit it, but some days, after lounging alone
by the pool all morning and training with the Miyagi-Do boys all afternoon... she even missed
Yasmine. Yes, Yasmine had been cruel, vapid, and mean... but at least she was always ready for
some silly chat about fashion and celebrities. It wasn’t fun comparing nail polish shades when Sam
was the only person in the dojo wearing nail polish (although, to Robby’s credit, he had let her
paint his nails black once, like a trashy nineties rockstar).

When Aisha opened the door, there was a lot of noise coming from the house. Sam heard laughter,
a ringtone, and also the sound of a movie in the background.

“Sam, I’m so glad you’re here! I was starting to think you had bailed out on us.”

“Sorry. We went to Lake Balboa to train, and it took longer than I thought.”

“On a Saturday? Wow, your Dad is making you all work hard.”

“He doesn’t make us”, said Samantha, a little offended. “It was completely voluntary, we all
wanted to go.”
Aisha looked at her friend and sighed.

“We should make a pact: no talk about karate tonight. Or about the dojos, or the tournament, or
any of those things. What do you say?”

“I’m not sure… I don’t like that there are banned topics between us. We’re still best friends, right?”

“Yes, but if we start talking about Cobra Kai … things will come out. Things about your Dad and
Sensei Lawrence. Oh, and Moon will get horribly bored, because she still can’t tell a round kick
from a front punch”, she finished with a laugh.

“It’s a pact, then. We still can talk about clothes, movies, music… and boys.”

“Oh, boys. I’m starting to think they’re more trouble than they’re worth.”

Aisha led her friend to the living room, where other four girls were sitting on an assortment of
poufs and pillows sprawled over the plush carpet.

“Girls, you remember Sam, right? Sam, you already know Grace and Sophie.”

The two girls smiled and waved. “Hi, Sam!” they said at the same time.

“And you know me”, interrupted Moon with a mouth full of sweet popcorn.

“Of course she knows you, silly! And that is Keiko, our new acquisition.”

Sam observed the new girl with curiosity. She was prettier and taller than she had imagined, and
she couldn’t help feeling a bit intimidated. Shiro had told a few stories about his little sister’s
prowess with karate, and also about her brash personality.

“Hi, Keiko, nice to meet you”, she said, politely. “What are you guys watching?”

“Back to the Future. Aisha had the idea of making it an 80’s theme night. After this one we can
choose between… let’s see… The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Labyrinth, or St Elmo’s Fire”,
said the other girl, showing her a pile of DVD cases on the table.

“I want Pretty in Pink”, said Moon. “I’ve never seen that one.”

“You’ve never seen any of them, sweetie”, admonished Keiko. “You’re completely ignorant of
anything that happened in this universe before you were born.”

“Oh, I love St Elmo’s Fire!” Sam said with enthusiasm. “It’s my Dad’s favorite movie of all time.”

“It’s decided then, we’ll watch that one. Oh, no, we’re out of sweet popcorn again! Too many
people with a sweet tooth in here. I’m going to make some more.”

Keiko grabbed the empty popcorn bowl and disappeared towards the kitchen, and Sam left her bag
on the couch in silence. She still hadn’t decided if she liked the new girl or not, but she was
definitely going to make an effort, if only for Shiro’s sake.

After a quick trip to Aisha’s room to change into her pajamas, she returned to the living room with
her sleeping bag under her arm. Grace and Sophie had already laid their sleeping bags next to each
other. They were wearing matching pajamas, which Sam found a little odd... And they were also
feeding each other sticky bits of cinnamon roll, which was definitely more than a bit unusual.

“Hey, Aisha… can I ask you something?” she whispered. “It’s about Grace and Sophie.”
Aisha looked at the lovey-dovey pair, and then at Sam. “Oh, that! I forgot you didn’t know… The
answer is yes; they’re girlfriends.”

“But… but… since when?”

“I think they had their six-month-versary last week.”

“But the day we all went to the beach, they… I mean, Sophie and Miguel were all…” Samantha
stammered, trying to make sense of the situation.

“Yeah, that was Mig being a little shit and trying to mess with your head. And succeeding, I see.
For the record, I told him not to do it.”

Sam’s face went red as a beet.

“I’m going to kill him!” she huffed. “The next time I see him I’m going to kick his ass into next
week! Trying to make me jealous with that silly, stupid, idiotic trick…”

“Calm down, Sam, please. Yes, it was silly, but… you chose to be bothered by it, even when it was
you who broke up with him. And, by the way, now you know how he felt last Spring when he saw
you with Robby at the party”, she said, pointing at Sam with a half-eaten bread stick.

“It’s completely different! That was an accident, he did it on purpose.”

Aisha just shrugged. “I promised myself I’d be neutral in this. You’re both my friends, and I’m not
losing any of you by taking sides.”

Huffing again, Sam let herself fall on a pillow between Aisha and Keiko. The Asian girl seemed
completely immersed in the movie.

“You’re missing the best scene, the lightning is about to hit Doc Brown! This part is so funny…
Hey, do you want some pizza? It’s pepperoni”, she said, pushing a plate towards Sam.

“Yeah. Thanks”, she answered, still a bit miffed. She couldn’t stay angry for too long, though, and
soon she was laughing, gossiping and sharing junk food with the other girls.

After the movie ended, they had a short break; Aisha went to the kitchen to get ice cream and make
more lemonade; Grace and Sophie went with her to help. Moon was out on the patio, exchanging
goodnight messages and kissy emojis with Hawk, so Sam found herself alone with Keiko.

She also found that the new Cobra girl was staring at her, as if she wanted to say something.

“Is everything okay?” Sam asked.

“Can I ask you a question? It’s probably going to sound weird, but I don’t like beating around the
bush. And you’re totally free not to answer, of course.”

“Ah… yeah, ask anything you want.”

“What do you make of this weird feud between our dojos? Am I the only one who finds it stupid
and pointless?”

Sam frowned, always ready to defend the LaRusso honor. “It’s not weird. It started for a reason…
and I agreed with Aisha that we wouldn’t talk about it today.”

“That’s the other thing I don’t get! Everybody is all hush-hush about it like it’s some horrible
secret”, said Keiko, too curious to let the matter go. “I just wanted to hear a sincere opinion from…
the other side, so to speak.”

“Okay, here’s your sincere opinion. Maybe nobody has told you yet, but your Sensei and his
friends beat up my Dad several times.”

“That was, like, in the Middle Ages”, Keiko answered, raising an eyebrow. “And in any case it’s
their problem, not ours. We don’t live in a Shakespeare play, people don’t inherit grudges from
their parents anymore.”

“Well, the things that happened at the tournament were just two months ago. What do you think of
that?”

“I think Hawk acted like an idiot, and they were right to disqualify him”, said the other girl, with an
eye on the patio door in case Moon came back and heard her talking trash about her boyfriend. “As
for Miguel targeting Keene’s shoulder… girl, that happens in every sport, especially professional
ones. Last year at a tournament in Cleveland I made the mistake of telling one of my friends in the
changing room that my back was hurting. Someone must have overheard, because the tournament
started… and guess what part of my anatomy all my opponents hit, once and again? If you have a
weakness and people find out, of course they’re going to target it.”

“Well, that’s not the way we do things at Miyagi-Do”, Sam said, coldly.

Keiko smiled, shrugged and repositioned herself on the pillows. “I’m not saying our way is
the only way. Look, it’s perfectly normal for you to defend your boyfriend, but–”

“Robby is not my boyfriend.”

“Really? Wow, there are contradicting stories about that too”, said Keiko in a low voice. “I keep
hearing things about him: some people say he’s this perfect cute angel, and others swear he’s a
jerk.”

“He’s not a jerk.”

“So you think he’s cute, then.”

“No! Well, I mean… not that way. Robby and I are just friends, that’s all”, said Sam, jutting her
chin up.

“It’s okay”, said Keiko matter-of-factly. “Forget I asked. It’s not like we’re all going to hang out
together a lot… I guess I’ll meet him on the next tournament and see for myself what he’s like.”

Sam opened her mouth to answer, but right in that moment the other three girls came back from the
kitchen carrying several tubs of ice cream and a lemon pie.

“Dessert is served!” announced Grace, distributing spoons and plates among the others. “Where’s
Moon? Still texting Hawk? Gosh, I wonder what they have to talk about... they saw each other two
hours ago.”

“Get the movie ready, I’ll go get her”, said Aisha before going out with a determined expression.

Meanwhile, Sophie had found the DVD remote, and the screen showed the opening credits of St
Elmo’s Fire. Sam reclined on her pillows, attacking her slice of lemon pie with appetite and
enjoying the familiar music. Despite her earlier mistrust, she was starting to enjoy the company of
the Cobra girls. They were easygoing and fun, and they seemed to genuinely like her too. She still
wasn’t sure about Keiko... but that was because some of her insistent questions had hit a little too
close to home.

People don’t inherit grudges from their parents anymore.

Against her will, Sam was starting to think that the hostility between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do
was, in the great order of things, utterly and completely stupid.

At around the same time Samantha arrived at the Robinson’s house in Encino for takeaway and a
movie, Kate was heading to Johnny’s apartment, with a similar plan in mind. She saw Johnny’s car
outside, with an empty space beside it, and parked hers there. Then she grabbed the two bags of
Chinese food the she had left on the passenger seat. Probably too much food, she thought, but she
wasn’t used to calculating for a man’s appetite, so it was better if there was enough for leftovers.

Maybe I should have cooked something instead , she wondered. Was home-made food too much
for a second date? But then again, they hadn’t exactly played by the book on the first date…

Kate shook her head and rang the bell to Johnny’s apartment. It was too late to change her mind
about the food now. Johnny opened the door, looking like his usual self in faded jeans and an old
Def Leppard t-shirt. He beamed at her and went in for a kiss, but before their lips could meet the
sound of another door opening made him jerk backwards.

“Buenas tardes!”

The cheerful voice belonged to a tiny Latina lady, about the same age of Kate’s mother. She
appeared peeking behind the door of the apartment next to Johnny’s, and he seemed a little
embarrassed to see her.

“Hi, Mrs. Diaz. Kate, this is Rosa Diaz… Miguel’s grandmother.”

“Mucho gusto, señora Diaz”, she said, shaking the lady’s hand.

“Oh, no! None of that, call me Rosa”, answered the woman. “Dónde aprendió español?”

“La esposa de mi hermano es cubana”, said Kate slowly, making sure to get the words right. “She
speaks Spanish to my nephews all the time, I’ve learned a few things… but not much.”

“Nonsense, that was really good”, said Rosa. “Dear me, I was going out and I forgot why… Forget
my own head one of these days. Well, if it’s important I’ll remember it later. Goodbye!”

With those words she went back into her own apartment, and Johnny rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“She couldn’t even invent a good excuse… Sorry about that.”

“Are you kidding? I bet she’s one of those people who doesn’t give a damn about what anybody
thinks. She’s fantastic!”

“I guess you’re right. She gave me a hand cleaning my place the other day, so… yeah, she’s cool.
And I don’t know why we’re still standing in the doorway… come in.”

He led Kate inside... and locked the door, in case Mrs. Diaz suddenly decided she had run out of
salt in the middle of the evening and appeared again to ruin the mood.

Kate looked around. She had seen her share of cheaply built apartments during her first years after
college, and this was a perfect example. But at least it was immaculately clean, despite the Spartan
decoration.

“It’s not exactly a palace. Sorry”, Johnny said, aware that Kate was surveying the place.

“Oh, no! It’s very nice… I like the rug.”

“Ah… thanks. It’s new.”

Johnny let out a relieved sigh. The multicolored rug was the result of his recent trip to Target,
along with a throw blanket for the couch, a vase with fake flowers and a couple other knicknacks.
At least the place looked decent enough now.

Kate walked into the small kitchen area and left the food on the countertop.

“I got a little bit of everything... and lots of egg rolls for you”, she said, taking a multitude of little
boxes out of the bags.

“Great. And I’ve got you that wine you like”, Johnny said, getting a bottle of chilled white wine
from the fridge.

“Wonderful! We have everything we need.”

“Oh, no. We’re missing something.”

“Really? What did I forget?” asked Kate, worried again that she wasn’t doing this right.

“You didn’t forget anything… but I was about to do this when we were interrupted.” Johnny slid
an arm around Kate’s waist and kissed her, trapping her body against the counter.

“I’m glad you’re here”, he said when the kiss broke. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me again
tonight.”

“Why?”

“I think I put out to soon”, he said with a fake pout. “I shouldn’t have let you seduce one on the
first date.”

“Oh, well… if you think your honor has been compromised, let’s crank it down a notch”, answered
Kate, trying not to laugh. “We’ll stay on first base for a few dates, how does that sound?”

“Like a fucking nightmare”, said Johnny, finally breaking into a smirk and holding her close to
him. “I’ve done nothing but think of you all day, roller girl.”

He captured her lips again, and this time it was Kate who pushed him away after a few seconds.

“The food will get cold”, she whispered against his lips. “Aren’t you hungry?”

He didn’t have time to answer; a rumbling sound from his stomach did it for him.

“I think that’s a yes”, he laughed. “Okay, let’s watch your movie. I want to see if that Tarantino
guy is the genius that you promised.”

Kate took the Kill Bill DVD case out of her purse.

“The film has two parts, Volume 1 and Volume 2”, she announced. “We don’t have to watch them
both tonight if you don’t feel like it… although I hope you’ll want to see it all because it’s really
good.”

She gave the case to Johnny, who started a short battle against the DVD player (of course, he had
never bothered to read the instructions) while Kate opened the wine and brought the food to the
low table in the living room. Soon they were comfortably seated on the couch, with a box of spring
rolls between them.

“Ready?” she asked.

Johnny draped his arm along Kate’s shoulders.

“Hit it.”

Meanwhile, in the apartment next door, an overexcited Miguel grabbed his phone and started
texting with his usual uncanny speed.

‘Aisha. DUDE.’

‘Excuse your mouth. In any case, it’s Dudette.’

‘We have confirmation. IT’S HAPPENING.’

‘Mig, I’m in the middle of a girls' night sleepover. Not the moment to be cryptic.’

‘My Yaya just saw Rattler’s Mom go into Sensei’s apartment with two bags of Chinese food.’

‘Da fuq. Really?’

‘Yeah! Tell the others!’

‘I can’t now! Sam is here. I promised her no talking about Cobra Kai stuff tonight, we’re keeping it
neutral.’

’Ok. I’ll text the guys.’

‘It says a lot about your social life that your biggest Saturday night event is gossiping about Sensei
Lawrence.’

‘Remind me not to tell you anything ever again.’

‘As if you could resist it! And they say girls are chatty... I should invite you to our next sleepover.’

‘Ouch. See you Monday at the dojo.’

‘Bye, Mig.’

A couple of hours later, the end credits of Kill Bill played on Johnny’s tv. Neither of them had
moved from the couch, and the only difference was that there was considerably less food on the
table, and also less space between them.

“Well, what’s your verdict?” asked Kate, grabbing the remote to stop the DVD.
“That was so fucking badass”, he laughed. “We need to watch the other part, I want to know what
happens next. By the way, Cottonmouth is a really cool nickname. And Copperhead.”

“Oh, no! Johnny, you can’t call the Cobra girls by the names of the Viper Squad.”

“Why not? Keiko doesn’t have a nickname yet.”

“Because it’s horribly inappropriate! Just don’t. Please. But I’m really glad you liked it… I knew
I’d get you hooked.”

“Oh, you got me hooked alright”, he said, suddenly serious, giving Kate a look that made her
blush.

“I… I should put the rest of the food in the fridge. I didn’t bring any dessert, sorry.”

“We’ll think of something”, he whispered, sliding a hand up Kate’s t-shirt and bringing her closer.
He pressed his lips to hers deliberately slowly, waiting for the moment when her breath would
hitch in her throat. Then he continued leaving a trail of kisses down the side of her neck, a like of
fleeting touches on her skin.

When he was about to reach her shoulder, Kate felt him stop. He remained there for a moment, and
Kate heard him take a deep breath and exhale very slowly. Then he finally moved, and she saw
two piercing blue eyes staring at her.

“Is there anything wrong?”

“No”, he said hurriedly. “It’s just…”

There was another short pause, and she just knew. It was weird how she could interpret his silences
after so short a time.

“You want to ask me something, right? You have that look again…” she said, placing a soothing
hand on his shoulder. “And you’re worried I won’t like the question.”

“I just want to know more about you”, he whispered. “But if it’s too soon, or too much…”

“Well, the worst thing that can happen is that I may not have an answer for you. Or that I will have
one, but you won’t like it… Come on, shoot.”

Another deep breath, another pleading stare.

“Were you with anyone… you know, back in San Francisco?”

“Oh.” She looked at him, suddenly serious. “Is this the moment when we tell each other our dating
history?”

“If you want”, said Johnny, trying to make it sound as if it didn’t matter too much.

He wanted it. Kate could see all the nagging questions in his eyes, as clear as if he’d asked them
out loud. She wondered how much he would want to know… and how stuck in the eighties he
would be in sexual matters. Surely he didn't expect her to be an almost virgin at her age, right?

“This used to be a very short conversation when I was in college; now, it's going to take a while.
Not because it’s a three digit number or anything!”, she clarified, noticing Johnny’s alarmed look.
“It’s just that sometimes things are… complicated.”
“Yeah. I get it. Look, I don't want to interrogate you, okay? I just…”

“It's fine, Johnny. I don't mind talking about things.”

She poured herself another glass of wine, and reclined on the couch next to him.

“I’m guessing you only want to know about the serious ones, the ones who mattered, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, in that case… there’s only one. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing… you can form
your own opinion about it.”

Johnny nodded and laced his fingers with hers.

“His name was Simon”, she started. “We met at a common friend’s party when I had just passed
my bar exam, and we started dating shortly after. He was a lawyer, too… a brilliant one. They
made him a partner at his firm after just one year. He was one of those bright young things that
everybody says will go far in life: the kind of man that ends up running for governor, or
congressman.”

Johnny nodded again, biting his lip to avoid interrupting her. He was starting to regret his question,
because that Simon guy sounded too good to be true.

“I won’t get into too many details, but… we were together for eight years, and lived together for
the last five.”

“Did you get married?” Johnny couldn’t help asking.

“No.”

The curt answer surprised him, and he waited for Kate to speak again.

“Like I said... after eight years, everybody expected us to marry, of course. And we were already
making wedding plans and everything… we were even trying to get pregnant. But after a year of
trying nothing happened, so I went to the doctor to see if there was anything wrong.”

She put her empty glass on the table and pushed it towards Johnny, who refilled it without saying a
word.

“Nobody ever expects the bad news”, she continued, in a voice that was little more than a whisper.
“Nobody expects to hear that yes, we’re afraid there is a problem , and yes, it’s your fault, Miss
Williams, we are so very sorry. Nobody wants to hear that there’s no solution to this particular
problem.”

There was another long and uncomfortable silence. Johnny squeezed Kate’s hand; this wasn’t the
story he was expecting, and now he had absolutely no idea what to say.

“Unfortunately for me, Simon’s idea of going far in life involved a certain plan, and that plan
involved having children. And he was completely against the idea of adopting, or using a
surrogate, so… things kind of went downhill from there.”

“He dumped you?” asked Johnny, clenching his fist.

“So fast that he almost gave me whiplash”, answered Kate with a bitter laugh. “Shortly after that I
moved to another law firm, I couldn't bear to see him at the office. I forbid myself to get depressed,
I hid in my work. Then, a year or so after the breakup, after doing a lot of thinking, I decided that
there was more than one way of becoming a mother, and I started with the adoption process… the
process that ended with me getting Rani. The rest, you already know.”

She let out a long sigh and looked at Johnny, waiting to see his reaction. His fist was still clenched,
and his eyes had hardened.

“What happened to the jerk?” he asked, and Kate couldn’t help smiling.

“The jerk married his secretary six months after our breakup. We lawyers love to gossip, so it
wasn’t hard to get news about him, whether I wanted to hear them or not. They had four children in
five years, which I guess is what he always wanted.”

“I’m surprised nobody gave him a good beating for leaving you like that”, Johnny growled. He had
feared Kate would cry, but her eyes remained stubbornly dry.

“Breaking up with someone is not a crime. And he got his comeuppance in the end, I guess.”

“How?”

“Simon’s wife had quit working after having her third child, so of course he got a new secretary…
and he managed to get her pregnant, too. In fact, he had such good aim that both his wife and his
secretary gave birth on the same week. Eventually his wife found out, of course... And now Mr.
Fertile is divorced and paying alimony for five kids. His father-in-law was the owner of a local
newspaper, and he made sure the scandal got out and hurt him bad. Let's just say he won’t be
running for congressman anytime soon.”

“Served him right.”

“The traumatic part ends here.” Kate stretched on the couch and stared closely at Johnny. “I went
out with a couple of guys after Simon, but none of them lasted more than a few dates, because I
already had Rani and it was complicated. I guess you’re regretting asking so many questions now.”

“No way. I said it before, I want to know everything about you. I don’t have to like every answer,
but I’m glad you told me.”

Kate raised a hand to touch his face, and raked her fingers through his hair.

“Thank you for listening”, she said, giving him a peck on the lips. “But you know what comes after
one of your nosy questions, right? Quid pro quo... I showed you mine, now you have to show me
yours.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. You already know about Robby, but I never told you about the kid’s mother.
And the whole story with his mother is… well, it’s a mess.”

Another glass of wine for her, another bottle of Coors for him, and the mess untangled itself
slowly, sentence after sentence, with a few awkward pauses and a lot of curse words. By the end of
the monologue (Kate had managed to avoid interrupting him, not even once), Johnny felt so
exhausted that he had to rest his head on her shoulder.

“What do you think of me now?” he muttered.

“I think that you’ve made some mistakes… and also that you’ve had a lot of bad luck”, she said.
“But I didn’t hear anything that made me want to jump up and run out that door, if that’s what
worries you.”
 He squeezed her hand again. “You’re amazing.”

“Nah, that’s just what I’ve tricked you into believing”, she said with a snicker. “Deep down I’m
perfectly ordinary.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, okay, we’re not going to argue about how awesome I am”, she laughed. “Do you want to
see the other part of the movie now? It’s not too late.”

“Sure. You’re staying the night, aren’t you?”

“Only if you promise me a repeat of yesterday’s show”, she purred.

“No way. Yesterday we were only warming up”, said Johnny with a wicked grin. “Tonight you’re
in my territory, and I’m gonna show you what’s good.”

He had his hands up Kate’s shirt again; rough fingers against soft, warm skin.

Kate put her arms around him and laughed.

“I can’t wait.”

Chapter End Notes

I left the story of Johnny and Shannon intentionally vague here. The Cobra Kai writers
are keeping it from us, so until they tell us I think it's best to leave it that way.
Mr. Hurwitz, if you're reading this, two things: 1. We need to know what really
happened between those Shannon and Johnny; and 2. I have no idea why you're
reading CK fanfiction, but feel free to use any of my OCs on the series ;)
 Kin
Chapter Summary

Robby finds himself in an unexpected situation, and Daniel offers his help. Johnny
gets two letters, one with better news than the other.

Chapter Notes

Do I even need to tell you that this is a long chapter? As if you didn't know me...

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 18. KIN

Tuesday, July 24th

Daniel turned the page on the calendar absentmindedly and kept reviewing income projections on
his laptop. He had a calendar on his phone, of course, and another one on his computer, but… there
was something realer, more solid, in the physical act of turning a new page every morning. It made
him feel as if he was the one making time pass, and not the other way around.

It had been a very good morning so far. He still was feeling the high he’d experimented when he
took his four students to train at the lake. Four students already… with the promise of several more
really soon. He started humming a popular song under his breath.

In the office next to his, separated only by a glass wall, Amanda looked at her husband and smiled.
She loved seeing him in a good mood; an entirely different man from the cranky, malcontent
Daniel of the year before. Then she looked through the other glass wall, the one that led to the
shop floor… and she found herself staring at a much less happy face. Robby was talking to
someone on the phone; she couldn’t hear anything from where she was, but judging from his
expression, and the way his hands moved, it was clear the conversation was more of an argument.

The boy hanged up the phone and turned around before Amanda could look away… and she knew
he had caught her in the act, so she stood up and walked out of her office.

“Robby, is everything all right? If you’re not feeling well, you can take your lunch break early
today.”

“It’s nothing, Mrs. LaRusso”, he answered, looking a little embarrassed. “I was just talking to my
Mom, and she–”

“Something wrong, Robby?” asked another voice behind him. It was Daniel, who naturally had
seen the kid too and was wondering what could have upset him so much.

Robby let out a sarcastic laugh.

“So this is why I was so bad at poker in high school”, he said. “I guess everybody can read my face
like an open book.”

“What were you doing playing poker in high school?” asked Daniel, but Amanda lifted a hand to
bid him silence.

“That’s not important now, honey. Robby, if there’s anything we can help you with, you only have
to ask.”

She motioned for the boy to go into her office; he obeyed and sat at her desk, feeling a bit
uncomfortable.

“My Mom has this new boyfriend”, he started in a hesitant voice. “He doesn’t look like too much
of a jerk, for once… I mean, he seems nice”, he corrected himself.

Daniel nodded and smiled. He knew how the boy felt, of course. Lucille had had a boyfriend in
New Jersey, before they moved to the Valley; he had been a very nice and decent man… but of
course teenage Daniel had hated his guts anyway.

“So, turns out that this guy has some money”, continued Robby. “He’s got a ranch in Texas, with
horses and everything, and he’s invited my Mom to spend two weeks there.”

“Did he invite you too?” asked Amanda, cautiously.

“Yeah. But I told my Mom that I’m not going to cross the country to stay at that dude’s house
doing nothing for two weeks while they’re all lovey-dovey with each other. I have work and
training to do, I’m staying here.”

Daniel practically jumped from his chair.

“Alone? For two weeks?”

Robby shrugged. “It’s not the first time she goes away for the weekend… I can fend for myself.
But today she got all spiky because ‘we need to make a good impression on Harvey’… I don’t give
a damn about Harvey and his two hundred acres of ranch. I have work to do here.”

At this point, Daniel looked absolutely horrified.

“Robby… whether or not you go to Texas is between your mother and you”, he said, very serious.
“But staying on your own for weeks is out of the question. I want you to stay home with us until
she returns.”

Amanda raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t say anything. Robby lifted his eyes towards Daniel.
They were so wide open that he reminded Amanda of a puppy, even more than usual.

“Really? But… Mr. LaRusso, you don’t have to…”

“Robby, you’re a minor, for goodness sake!” interrupted Daniel. “I would never leave Sam alone
at home, not even for one night, and I’m not going to leave you. You’re coming home with us and
that’s final, we have a perfectly good guest room that’s been gathering dust for a while. Just let me
call your mother and tell her–”

“Please, don’t! I will deal with her, I promise.”

“Again, this is a serious matter. Definitely something I need to talk through with an adult. Please,
Robby… I have to speak to your mother.”
Robby raked a hand through his hair. He opened his mouth to protest again, but deep down the boy
knew he would end up doing what Daniel asked.

“Fine”, he muttered, grabbing a post-it note from Amanda’s desk and scribbling something on it.
“Here’s her number.”

“Thank you. I know you consider yourself an adult already... but this is for your own good.”

Daniel dialed the number and started pacing up and down the office, like he always did when he
was on the phone.

“Hello? Am I talking to Ms. Keene? So sorry to bother you… This is Daniel LaRusso, I am your
son’s boss…”

Amanda heard a woman’s voice on the other side of the like, but she couldn’t make out the words.

“So nice to talk to you too”, Daniel continued. “No, no trouble at all! I can’t tell you how happy we
are that Robby is working with us… a model employee, if I ever saw one…”

He kept walking around the room, this time at a slower pace.

“Anyway, the real reason I’m calling you today… eh… yes, I’m in my office. Thank you, you have
a very nice voice too, Ms. Keene. As I was saying… Oh, of course, Shannon . Please, call me
Daniel.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Amanda mouthing something at him.

“Put her on speaker, honey!” she whispered.

Daniel shook his head. Suddenly, he stopped pacing, with a puzzled expression on his face. Then,
without another word, he walked into his own office and closed the door.

“Aww, shucks, I wanted to say hi”, observed Amanda. “Anyway, I’m sure he’s taking care of
everything. Robby, why don’t you take a little break? We’ll speak again when Daniel has finished
talking to your Mom, okay?”

“Thank you Mrs. LaRusso”, said the boy, throwing a worried glance at Daniel through the glass
wall. He was still on the phone, facing the window, so the only thing Robby could see of him was
his back.

After the boy left, Amanda went back to work for a few minutes, until Daniel appeared through the
door again, still holding his phone and with a very, very long face.

“Oh, baby… Let me guess. Robby’s Mom wasn’t happy with the idea?”

“She was delighted”, answered Daniel in a downcast tone.

“Well, what did she say? And why do you look like you’ve been sucking on a lemon?”

“Ah… she’s okay with Robby staying with us, but…”

“Yes? Any problems?”

“No. But I’m quite sure that woman had been drinking.”

“That’s unlikely, Daniel. It’s barely past noon.”

“I’m telling you, her voice was… well, for lack of a better word, it was slurry. And I also had the
impression that she was trying to flirt with me.” He sat behind his desk and rested his chin on his
hand. “Am I going mad, Amanda? Is this one of those midlife crisis where I suddenly think every
woman is crazy for me and I become a dirty old man?”

Amanda laughed and went to sit beside her husband.

“I don’t think midlife crises manifest like that, honey. I’m sure she was just trying to be nice!”

“Maybe… but, if she’s always like that, I’m starting to suspect that Johnny is not the source of all
of Robby’s behavioral problems.”

“Is my husband admitting that his mortal enemy is not a hundred per cent wrong about something?
Heavens! Let me get my phone, I need to record that statement.”

“Please don’t laugh, my love. This is serious. I’m surprised Robby didn’t turn out even worse with
parents like those. And the worst part is, all this time I’ve been thinking…”

“Thinking what?”

“Nothing. I just have a tendency to think that all single mothers are like mine was.”

Amanda flashed him an understanding smile. “Your mother dedicated her whole life to you. She’s
a force of Nature, Daniel… I doubt there are more than a dozen like her in the whole planet.”

Daniel let out a deep sigh. As if on cue, Robby appeared in the office again. The boy looked
seriously concerned… and, now he had talked to his mother, Daniel began to suspect why.

“Everything okay, Mr. LaRusso?”

“Yes, Robby”, answered Daniel with a forced smile. “Your Mom agrees that the best thing for you
is to stay with us while she’s away. It’s all settled, you can move in tomorrow if you want.”

Robby’s relieved smile lightened up the room.

“However”, continued Daniel, “there’s someone else who needs to be informed if you’re going to
be away from home for a couple of weeks.”

The sunny smile disappeared.

“Of course. My Dad.”

“He has a right to know. Imagine if he went to your mother’s house one day and found it empty…
it’s not fair. And it’s a call I won’t enjoy making, but someone has to do it”, Daniel said, whipping
up his phone again.

Before he could dial Johnny’s number, Robby stopped him putting a hand on his arm.

“Wait, Mr. LaRusso. I’ll talk to him. Not on the phone, he… like you said, he has a right to know,
and it’s better if I tell him in person. I haven’t seen him for weeks, but I texted him the other day
and promised I’d drop by his place. Now I have a good excuse to do it.”

“Are you sure? If he’s going to give you a hard time…”

“Nah, he doesn’t do that anymore, we’re more or less cool. But it’s not fair he doesn’t know where
I am. And if anybody has to tell him, it should be me.”
Daniel and Amanda looked at each other, and at least Amanda spoke.

“That’s a very mature thing to say, Robby.”

“Thanks”, said the boy with a melancholic smile. “Well, I think my break has lasted too much
already… I’m going to work on that inventory, it needs to be finished this afternoon.”

After Robby left, Amanda kept staring at the door. Daniel, in turn, observed his wife.

“I know what you’re thinking, babe”, he said. “That boy is sad.”

“Too sad”, she answered. “I think he needs a girlfriend… Pity that he won’t be going back to
school. Where is he going to meet girls now?”

A light went off in Daniel’s head, and his blood started thumping in his ears. Inviting Robby to
stay with them had been one of his usually impulsive decisions... and he really hadn’t thought it
through.

The reality of the situation was that Robby and Samantha were going to live under the same roof
for weeks. His beautiful, trusting, beloved daughter was going to share a house –and a bathroom,
among other things– with a hardworking, eager, sad-eyed boy who loved karate as much as her. A
boy who also happened to be in dire need of a girlfriend.

Daniel hid his face in his hands and groaned. Like every time he made a reckless decision, he had
realized the consequences... only a minute too late.

Johnny had never considered himself a calm, cool guy. He knew he wore his emotions on his
sleeve, and he couldn’t understand how some people walked through life with a permanent poker
face, not letting anyone see what they were thinking. It had its downside, of course, being like that.
Like in that precise moment of a bright and sunny Tuesday afternoon, for instance: he had just
opened the dojo, some of the kids had arrived already… but Johnny’s humor wasn’t exactly bright.
Or sunny.

He hadn’t seen Kate since Sunday morning, and he missed her. He had expected a visit on
Monday, but instead it had been her brother who brought little Rattler to class. Johnny had thought
of introducing himself, but he had been too self-conscious.

What if she hasn’t told him about me? Hey, dude, you must be Hugh. Your sister mentioned you the
other day… right before she and I did the dirty on my couch.

No, it was definitely not the right way to meet Kate’s family. And missing her so much wasn’t
right either… It had always been like that with him. He felt too much, too soon. He couldn’t keep it
under wraps, and it made him angry to be in such a vulnerable position. It made him feel weak, and
he’d always hated that.

The laughter of a little girl, followed by the familiar sound of running feet coming through the
door, made him snap out of his upsetting thoughts.

“Hi, Sensei! Hi, everybody!”

He barely had time to see Rattler before she disappeared into the girls’ changing room. Always
running. That finally made him smile, and his grin widened when he realized Kate was at the door.
Johnny had to clench his fist to remind himself not to run to her and hold her, he couldn’t do that…
at least not in front of his students. Diaz was there already, and Aisha, and some of the others… all
of them suspiciously silent since they had seen Kate. In the end it was her who walked inside, with
her heels clicking and her hips swaying in her blue dress.

“Hi! How was the training yesterday? I wanted to come, but I was swamped at the office again.”

She stood two feet away from him, a safe distance that wouldn’t have been so safe if they had been
alone.

“Great. I mean… fine”, answered Johnny, fidgeting with the loose ends of his headband.

Suddenly he stopped stammering and squared his shoulders. This was his dojo, and in front of him
was (he hoped) his woman. And he refused to behave like a teenager just because things were still
a secret between them.

Man up, Lawrence.

“Diaz!” he barked. “Get your ass off that bench and start warming up your classmates until
everybody arrives. We’re doing kicks today; tomorrow you’ll be in a world of pain if you don’t
stretch those legs properly first.”

The boy, who had been whispering something in Keiko’s ear, stood to attention.

“Yes, Sensei!”

That was the behavior Johnny expected from his star student. He turned to Kate again, this time
with a confident smile on his lips.

“Come to the office, I have to talk to you about something.”

Kate nodded and walked into the small room. Johnny followed her, leaving the door of the office
ajar. That door was always kept open, and he didn’t want the kids to think anything was different.
He sat at his usual place behind his desk, with Kate occupying the chair in front of him. All very
professional, very detached. A Sensei casually having a chat with his student’s Mom.

“This sucks”, he said at last. “I haven’t seen you in two days and I can’t even kiss you now.”

“I’m sorry... I know it’s not exactly what you wanted.”

Kate slid her hand over the desk, until her fingers touched Johnny’s bare arm. Her touch made him
seem less sulky, and he grasped her hand throwing a furtive look through the window.

“Going out with me is going to mean some serious time management, Johnny”, continued Kate. “I
won’t be free every night. Not even every weekend. You’re lucky that Rani has a very active social
life… next week she has a sleepover with her friend Millie, so I’ll be able to see you on Saturday
night. We’ll just have to improvise, day by day.”

“I know, and it’s fine” he said, still a bit upset. “You have to put Rattler first.”

“I’m going to tell her about us one of these days, see how she reacts. But no displays of affection in
front of her yet, okay? Or in front of the other Cobra kids… although I think the girls know, I saw
them whispering in each other’s ears when I came in.”

“Of course they know, Miguel is as chatty as a girl, I’m sure he’s told everybody. And those girls
are too clever for their own good”, he said, keeping an eye on the assortment of youngsters outside
the office. “Can I at least kiss you here, where the kids can’t see us?”

“Here?” she asked in a surprised whisper. “What about that huge window that connects your office
to the dojo?”

“There’s a blind spot if we close the door and stand behind it.”

That made Kate smile. “You have everything perfectly planned, don’t you?”

“I also have a gift for you. Come here.”

He stood up and pointed to the other side of the room, where a small filter coffee maker stood on a
table next to the fridge.

“You got that for me?”

“Now you have a good excuse for coming here every time you bring Rattler to class. It’s not a
fancy machine like the one in your apartment, but it makes decent coffee.” He poured two mugs
(with the yellow and red Cobra Kai snake on them, Kate observed) and passed one of them to her,
along with the sugar bowl. “There’s no beer in the fridge anymore, so I need something to drink
instead. Diaz told me he got in trouble at a party for being drunk, and I don’t want the others
getting ideas. Kids today can’t hold their drink like we could at her age.”

Kate took a sip of her coffee and hummed her appreciation.

“Mmmm, this is so good. And yes, I think the ‘no beer in front of the kids’ thing is a good idea.”

She didn’t push the matter further; she was glad Johnny was drinking less than when she’d met
him for the first time... but she didn’t want to be one of those annoying girlfriends.

There was something else in the office she hadn’t noticed before, a set of pictures on the wall. Old
pictures in black and white, carefully arranged in thin black frames.

“Are these your friends? My God, you all look so young!”

“That’s me with the original Cobra Kai. I thought they deserved a place at the dojo.”

Kate stopped before a picture that showed the five boys in their competition attire, smiling and
posing together.

“That’s a cute bunch of boys”, she observed. “Which is which?”

“Jimmy is the one on the right. The next one is Bobby, my best friend. And then Dutch and
Tommy. And me, of course.”

“You all look very fierce in black. I had never seen a black karate gi before coming here.”

“Our Sensei had them made for us that way. Back then almost everybody else wore white at
tournaments, he wanted us to be different.”

“And you kept the tradition alive when you revived the dojo. I like that.”

She raised a hand to touch the corner of another picture. One depicting a teenage Johnny, in white
gi pants and shirtless, executing a well aimed kick with the help of one of his friends.
“Oh, wow. You were seriously pretty in high school.”

“What, you don’t think I’m pretty now?” he asked with his trademark crooked grin.

“Now you’re… something else.”

“The word you’re looking for is hot as Hell.”

“More like arrogant as Hell”, she laughed. “I’m glad we didn’t go to high school together... you
wouldn’t have given me the time of day.”

“I’m glad you didn’t know me back then. I was a bit of a jerk in high school.”

“A bit”, she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, let’s leave it at that. But the pictures are not what I wanted to show you.” He opened a
drawer of his desk, grabbed an envelope, and took out the letter that was inside. “This is from the
All Valley Committee people. It arrived yesterday.”

Kate leaned against the desk and read the letter carefully.

“This is very good news, isn’t it?” she asked. “A meeting of all the dojos at the Lake Balboa park,
where the kids can meet and make some new friends. It sounds like a great idea. Have you given
them an answer yet?”

“I’m not sure Cobra Kai will go. I have to think about it.”

Kate frowned. “Well, if you’re asking for my opinion... I definitely think you should go. The letter
says parents are welcome too; we can recruit a few of them, prepare some food... it could be fun.
Cobra Kai is a new dojo, those kids have only seen their competitors on the mat; I think this is a
perfect chance for them to meet other children who share an interest with them.”

Johnny rubbed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

“My gut tells me that this is another one of LaRusso’s tricks. I bet it was his idea, that’s why I
don’t want to go. He has to be plotting something.”

“Come on… What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Every time I ask myself that question, the worst happens.”

For a moment he seemed miles away from there, and Kate knew he wasn’t exaggerating.

“Damn that window!” she said, stomping her foot on the floor. “Now I want to hug you and I
can’t.”

“I told you, let’s get behind the door.”

Kate threw a careful glance outside, where Miguel and the other children were warming up. No one
seemed to be looking at the office, so she stood with her back to the door, pushed it closed, and
extended her arms towards Johnny. She didn’t have to wait long before he put his hands around her
waist and kissed her. Softly at first, just a little peck on her lips… and then deeper, his body
coming dangerously close to hers and pushing her against the door.

Johnny moaned into Kate’s mouth. Her hands were on his head now, massaging his scalp, and the
caress was making him feel things below the belt. Almost as an involuntary reflex, one of his hands
went to Kate’s thigh, and she gasped.

“Watch those hands, mister… you’re being all sexy in that black gi, and I’m not made of stone”,
she said, brushing her hand over his chest.

“Good”, he whispered against her lips.

Her eyes traveled downward, stopping at the front of his black pants.

“Be careful, Johnny. That gi will do nothing to hide the evidence if you’re... happy to see me.”

That made him laugh, and he stepped back an inch.

“I’m always happy to see you… and if I didn’t have a class to teach right now I’d show you how
much. But I’ll behave if you promise to visit again tomorrow.”

“You have coffee in the dojo now”, she joked. “You couldn’t keep me away even if you tried.”

“I knew my lure would trap you.”

An alarm came off on Johnny’s phone, and he pressed a button to stop it.

“Three minutes until the class starts, and there’s something else I want you to see.”

He searched again among the papers on his desk, and picked up another letter. An elegant cream
colored envelope this time, with a crest on it that Kate didn’t recognize.

“What is it? Don’t tell me your landlord is giving you a hard time again, I’ll tell Kevin to lawyer up
and kick his ass.”

“Nah, this is from West Valley High”, answered Johnny. “They’re organizing a class reunion next
month.”

“Interesting. Is that good news or bad?”

“Mostly good”, he said, running his fingers over the paper. “I mean, LaRusso will be there
flaunting his loads of money and his wonderful life, of course… but I hope to see a few old friends
too. And I’m glad it’s happening now that I’m no longer a hopeless loser.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that”, said Kate in a stern voice, leaving her coffee mug on the desk.
“Anybody who calls you a loser will have words with your lawyer, who happens to be me.”

“I thought Kevin was my lawyer now”, Johnny laughed. “Anyway, I was thinking… I thought
maybe…”

“I sense a question coming”, said Kate, trying to make things easier for him. “Come on, ask away.”

“Will you come with me? I mean, I know how much you hate school reunions…”

“That’s not entirely true. I hate my own school reunions… but I have nothing against other
people’s.”

“Will you, then?”

“Are you sure you want me there, Johnny?”

“You wanted to know what the other Cobras were like... Now you can find out.”

“I hope it’s not the same day as the excursion. Too much excitement for one Saturday.”

“No, this is the following week. What do you say?”

“The truth is, I’m really curious to meet the original Cobras”, she said, throwing another look at the
pictures on the wall. “Do you know if they’re going to attend?”

“Bobby called me yesterday. He and Jimmy are going, with their missus. I’m not sure about the
other two... but at least there will be some of us there to represent the old gang.”

There was something in his eyes when he talked about his old friends, something that made time
go backwards and reminded Kate of the pretty and carefree boy in the framed pictures.

“In that case, it’s a definite yes. It will be an honor to go and meet your friends.”

He flashed her a wide smile.

“Great. I don’t want to appear at that reunion without my girl. Everybody will think I’ve invented
you... Like that nerd in my high school class who couldn’t get laid and said he had a girlfriend who
lived in Canada.”

Kate laughed and raised an eyebrow. “ Your girl? I didn’t know you were calling me that now.”

“You don’t like it”, he said, pouting.

“No, of course I like it! It’s just… nobody has called me that in a long time. In fact, I think nobody
has ever called me that, period.”

“What did your ex call you then? Babe? Sweetheart? Princess?”

“Princess? Ew, no! He just called me Kate.”

“What a jerk.”

Kate covered her mouth with her hand. She didn’t want the kids to hear her laughing out loud.

“Okay, mister, I really have to go now. Aisha is going to take Rani home today after class… since
her parents got her that car, the poor girl has become everybody’s driver.” She searched for
Johnny’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze, careful not to be seen. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“What, no kiss goodbye from my girl?”

She pointed towards the class in silence.

“Shit. First thing tomorrow I’m going to Home Depot to get some bricks and mortar and close that
hole in the wall.”

“Johnny, no! You can’t close the window or do anything to the walls, it says so in your lease. And
besides, if the children are gossipping now, imagine what they will say if they find the window
gone. Come on, walk me out.”

They came out of the office to find the dojo already full of kids, all stretching and warming up
under Miguel’s guidance. As they passed by the group a short giggle, followed by a shushing
sound, came from the area where the girls stood.
Johnny didn’t even bother to say anything. It was clear that Miguel had been a blabbermouth and
told the whole dojo, and he knew that once a rumor started there was no stopping it.

“Well”, he said when they got to the door. “Until tomorrow, Miss Williams.”

“See you tomorrow, Sensei Lawrence”, said Kate with a wink.

He watched her get into her car, and turned around just in time to see that the kids had already
fallen in line. All the little punks had cheeky smiles on their faces… all of them except Rattler, of
course, the only one of them who was completely in the dark.

“Y’all look very happy today. Are you ready for some kicks?” he bellowed.

“Yes, Sensei!” they answered at the same time, like a well trained choir.

Johnny remembered a similar group, many years before, when he had been the apparent leader in a
dojo full of boisterous boys. The dojo had been somewhere else, and the kids were different back
then… None of those ex-losers and nerds would have been allowed into the old Cobra Kai.
Especially not the girls. But, despite the time and the distance, the essence of the group remained
the same.

One thing was radically different, though. It was him, standing in Kreese’s place. Doubting himself
every day, trying to avoid Kreese’s mistakes, dreading the moment when the man would appear
again… if he ever did.

Luck had been on Johnny's side lately: with the rent thing, with Kate… even with Robby, who
called him or texted at least once a week since the day of their last meeting at Taco Bell. It was
possible things would stay that way. Maybe from then on he would have a normal life with a job he
liked, a girlfriend, a son who talked to him every now and then, and even the promise of seeing
some of his old friends soon.

If luck kept being on his side, maybe Kreese would never come back.

He blinked a few times to shake away the memory, straightened his back, and went back to
teaching his class.
Chapter End Notes

Credit for the 'Shannon hitting on Daniel' idea belongs to Jules1980, who started a
discussion on tumblr about the matter. I chose to leave Shannon's end of the
conversation unheard, so you can decide for yourself if she was flirting... or just a bit
tipsy.

I'm going to London next weekend, and that will interfere with my writing schedule,
so chapter 19 will arrive a later than usual. Sorry in advance, I'll try to write fast!
 Confidence
Chapter Summary

Daniel has another one of his ideas, Sam is trusted with a secret, and Amanda wishes
she hadn't quit smoking.

Chapter Notes

This whole chapter is centered on the Miyagi-Do people, the old generation and the
new. Johnny and Kate will come back in the next one.

CHAPTER 19. CONFIDENCE

Samantha finished tying up her shoes, put her sweat-stained gi in her backpack, and looked at her
disheveled hair in the mirror of the changing room.

It was horribly messy, like every day after training, even when she always tied it up in a ponytail
before class. The session had been intense that afternoon, and she was looking forward to going to
the Lakers game with her Dad. Amanda had to take Anthony to a dentist appointment, so Daniel
had had the idea of making the game a father-daughter event. Even with their renewed bonding
around karate, Daniel hadn’t forgotten how he and Sam had drifted apart the previous year... and
Sam appreciated that he was making an extra effort to share his limited time with her. He was
spreading himself very thin between work and the dojo.

Sam had asked her Dad if Robby could go with them; but the boy was moving into the LaRusso
house the following day, and he had gone home early to pack his things. Sam thought it would
have been fun to have Robby around. Even when she had a more or less civil relationship with the
Cobra Kai girls, she felt like the odd one around when she hung out with them… As if the fact that
they belonged to rival dojos was an invisible wall. Robby was a Miyagi-Do, and that slight
difference in mentality meant that she felt closer to him. Almost like family.

She grabbed her purse and went to the main room of the dojo. Robby and Demetri had left already,
and Shiro was at the door checking his phone. Then Daniel came out of the office. He was wearing
his suit.. and that was odd, because he usually changed into more comfortable clothes before going
home. But even more unusual was his concerned face.

“Dad, is everything okay?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, sweetie”, he answered. “Remember Alex, the new IT guy at the
dealership?”

She recalled a mental image of a nerdy looking man with wire glasses.

“Of course! The one with the Einstein t-shirt.”

“He just called me to warn me of a malware security breach in our systems; he’s working to fix it
right now. It may be nothing… I hope it’s nothing, because our entire customer database may have
been compromised. And that’s serious.”

Daniel had barely stopped talking when his phone beeped several times with the text notification
tone. He read the text, made a pause, and then shook his head.

“That was Alex again”, he sighed. “Not good news, I’m afraid. Sam, sweetheart… I have to go
back to the dealership and give him a hand. Not that I know a lot about malware and computer
viruses… but I want to be there to support him, and to think of a plan B if those data have really
been stolen. I’m so sorry about the game…”

“It’s okay, Dad, I’ll go home and make dinner for Mom and Anthony when they get back from the
dentist. We can go to the game another day.”

Suddenly Daniel’s face lightened up, as if he’d just had a brilliant idea.

“Wait a second! You don’t have to miss the game and ruin your evening… Shiro, would you like
to go to a Lakers game?”

The boy raised his gaze from his phone.

“That sounds interesting, Sensei. My grandfather was a fan of the Cavaliers, I went with him to
some games in Cleveland when I was little. But it’s been years… and I thought you and Sam were
going together.”

“We were, but there’s been an emergency at work. You don’t mind, do you, Sam…? Again, I’m
terribly sorry.”

Sam shrugged and smiled. She was feeling a bit disappointed, but at the same time she didn’t want
his Dad to feel guilty.

“Dad, I already said it was okay! It’s a pity that Demetri has left already, we could have brought
him with us… But I’m sure Shiro and I will have fun at the game anyway.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise”, said Daniel. “We’ll go wherever you want next time, even to
that horrible kawaii café that you like so much.”

“Why do you hate the Neko Monster Café?” laughed Samantha. “It’s a really cute place! And it’s
Japanese, you should like it.”

“I just can’t stand those Harajuku style places. Mr. Miyagi would have had an aneurysm with all
the loud colors and the awful music”, he shuddered.

“I won’t make you go there, Dad, don’t worry.” She turned to the boy beside her. “Do we take
your car or mine, Shiro?”

“Mine, if you want. I’ll take you home after the game… if that’s all right with you, Sensei.”

Daniel winced. He still wasn’t used to Shiro calling him that; and, on the other hand, he still hadn’t
had the heart to tell his student. He didn’t have this problem with any of the others: Robby, formal
as ever, always called him Mr. LaRusso. Demetri had opted for the semi-formal (and semi-lazy)
‘Mr. L.’; and Sam, obviously, called him Dad.

“Of course, I trust you’re a responsible driver. Leave your car here, Sam, you can take an Uber to
the dojo tomorrow.”

“Perfect!” The girl hugged Daniel and grabbed her things. “Let’s go, Shiro, we don’t want to be
late. See you at home, Dad!”

Daniel waved the pair goodbye. As soon as they had left, he took off his suit jacket, swinging it
over his shoulder. He felt kind of optimistic… and, like every time he put one of his plans in
motion, also a little guilty. He hated disappointing people, and especially Sam; but it was for a
good cause, and she was going to have fun anyway.

He checked his phone one last time before turning off the lights of the dojo and locking the door.
On the screen was the last message from the IT guy, with a time marker that indicated it had been
sent ten minutes before.

‘Crisis averted, boss. The malware has been neutralized, there hasn’t been any loss of data. I’m
going to restart the servers one last time and lock up. See you tomorrow.’

A few hours later, Sam and Shiro were at one of the restaurants in the Staples Center, laughing and
talking in front of a giant basket of BBQ chicken wings.

“I can’t believe your sister did that!” laughed Sam; Shiro had just told ger her a story of his sister’s
mischief when they were little kids. “I met her the other day at Aisha’s house. She looked very
peaceful.”

“Peaceful? Keiko? You must have met the wrong person”, answered the boy. “She’s always been
the wild one… One day, when she was in fourth grade, she almost set fire to the Science lab… but
no, that’s one of the stories I'm not allowed to tell. Sorry.”

Sam gave Shiro an understanding smile. She also had a sibling with behavioral issues of his own.

“It’s fantastic that you and her are so close. I wish I could be like that with Anthony; I love him
very much, but he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

“Keiko and I are only a year and a half apart”, said the boy. “That helps. And, as you may have
noticed, I’m not the most extroverted person in the world… I’ve got just a handful of friends. And I
can honestly say my sister is the best one.”

Sam got hold of another sticky chicken wing and observed the boy. It was true that he wasn’t very
talkative… unless they were talking about karate, then he could go on for hours. But he usually
kept to himself.

“It must have been hard for you to leave your friends behind. Do you miss them a lot? Honestly, I
don’t know what I’d do if my parents suddenly decided to move to the other side of the country.”

“Well, I understand my parents’ decision, of course. They both got great job offers from Encino
Medical; and we made the decision together, as a family. But yes, I miss the friends I left there…
especially one of them.”

Samantha smiled. “I figured it had to be something like that. You were dating someone in
Cleveland, right?”

“Yes. We broke up before I moved here… it wasn’t logical to keep a long distance relationship,
especially when we would have separated next year anyway, to go to college. We had been
together for just six months, but… well, it still hurts.”

Sam patted his hand with an understanding look.

“Of course. I’ve never dated anybody for six months… not even for three months. To me that
would feel like a lifetime.”

“It did feel like that, like we had known each other forever. It was my first serious relationship.”

“I’m so sorry that you had to break up... What was her name?”

Shiro looked at Samantha and blinked twice. He took a sip of his soda in silence, and then flashed
her a sad smile.

“Andrew.”

Sam covered her mouth with her hand. For a moment Shiro feared he had freaked her out, until he
saw the girl’s shoulders shaking… with laughter.

“Oh, my God”, came the muffled sound of Sam’s voice. “This is wonderful! I’m not laughing at
you, Shiro, I swear. But I just realized something, and it’s a bit funny.”

“Okay…”, said Shiro, a bit unsure about her reaction. “What is it that you just realized?”

“I think my Dad was trying to set me up with you. I think he exaggerated that text from the IT guy.
Oh, how have I been so blind?” she exclaimed, wiping a tear of laughter off her cheek. “Poor Dad,
he’s going to be so disappointed!”

At last Shiro understood the reason behind Sam’s merriment, and he relaxed a little.

“What I still don’t get is why you’re not angry at your father. Isn’t he intruding in your private
life?”

“I can’t be angry because my love life has been my Dad’s personal nightmare for the last year. He
just can’t help being nosy and trying to protect me from all the bad boys in the world… or the ones
he thinks are bad boys. I just assume that from time to time he’s going to pull some stunt, like he
did today.”

“I’m really glad you think that. When your father asked me to come with you to the game, I was
afraid you would be interested in me… and I didn’t know how to let you down without you being
hurt.” The boy looked serious, even more serious than usual. “I need you to do me a big favor and
keep this under wraps, Sam; I haven’t come out to my parents yet. They’re not going to take it
well… they have a certain life plan for me, a plan that involves a wife and children in the future,
and I know telling them now would make things at my house unbearable for me, and
uncomfortable for my sister. I’m going to tell them next year, when I leave for college… but, for
now, only my ex-boyfriend and my closest friend in Cleveland know. And Keiko, of course. I can’t
hide anything from her.”

Shiro fixed his gaze on his plate again. Sam thought that was the longest speech she’d ever heard
from him in the few weeks since his arrival to Miyagi-Do.

“I won’t tell a soul, I promise”, she said, putting a hand over her heart. “Thank you for trusting me,
Shiro… I guess we all have our secrets when it comes to relationships. I also kept a little secret of
my own last year.”
“Is this about your Cobra Kai boy ex-boyfriend?” he asked. “Robby told me about it the other
day… but he didn’t exactly paint a pretty picture of him.”

“Well, Robby is not exactly impartial. He and Miguel hate each other to the death, and the
tournament last May only made things worse.” She twisted a lock of her hair between her fingers.
“You’ve trusted me, and it’s only fair that I trust you too now: I’ve been thinking of giving Miguel
another chance. Aisha told me I should either do that or say a final goodbye to him, and… that’s
when I realized, I can’t say goodbye. I know Mom and Dad will never accept him... and keeping it
a secret is going to be hard. There are four million people in Los Angeles, but when it comes to
gossip the Valley is like a village: Eventually my parents will find out, and my Dad will a nervous
breakdown. He already was on the verge on it last year.”

Shiro nodded, and gave a quick squeeze to his friend’s hand.

“I know what you mean. As someone who is currently living a big lie, I don’t recommend that you
do the same, Sam. It will take a toll on your peace of mind. Your parents look like reasonable
people, and I’m sure they love you. Better pass a danger once than live always in fear.”

“Is that a Japanese proverb?”

“No, I just made it up”, laughed the boy. “And I’m not sure I’m qualified to give advice when I’m
the one hiding the truth about myself… even if it’s only temporary.”

“You have your reasons”, said Samantha. “As for me… the meeting of the dojos at Lake Balboa is
two weeks from now. I’ll make up my mind and talk to Miguel then… and face my parents, if we
get back together. It will be an ugly talk, but this time I’ll be ready.”

“You have all my support, Sam. Seriously; if you need me, I will defend you as if you were my
own sister.”

“That’s really sweet. I appreciate it a lot.”

A moment later, the server appeared with the check, and the two teenagers got out of the restaurant.
It was a little late, but there was still a lot of people around the restaurants and shops; as they
walked towards the exit, Sam put a hand on Shiro’s arm.

“Thanks again for listening, Shiro, and for trusting me with your secret. Last year I was lousy at
choosing my friends, and I’m glad to be getting better in that aspect.”

“I am the one who should be thanking you. You and Sensei LaRusso have been so welcoming… I
feel really at home when I’m in the dojo; and it’s been a very long time since the last time I felt like
that.”

Sam gave her friend a radiant smile, followed by an affectionate hug. Shiro hugged her back, and
then offered her his arm as they searched for the spot where he had parked his car.

“Well, that was an interesting little scene”, said a voice once Sam and Shiro had disappeared from
sight.

The owner of the voice (who also happened to be the owner of a bright blue mohawk) stood
outside a taco shop, right next door to the restaurant where the other two had just eaten. Next to
him, his girlfriend looked confused and a bit concerned.

“I think we should have said hi... That was Keiko’s brother, she showed me a picture of him the
other day. I forgot his name... something with an S, I think.”
The boy stared at the parking lot and frowned.

“Moon, doll... your problem is that you’re too kind to people. That pair of goody-two-shoes were
too busy with each other to notice us.”

“But I don’t understand! I was with Sam at Aisha’s house last Saturday, and she never mentioned
that boy!”

Hawk turned towards the girl and ran his fingers through her long hair.

“Not everybody out there is like you, Moon. Girls like her don’t care about breaking hearts. First
Miguel, then Keene… and now that poor idiot. I bet next week it will be another one. But hey, at
least someone will see her for what she really is now.”

He whipped up his phone and searched for the picture he had just taken of Sam and Shiro, right
when they were hugging each other. Then, despite Moon’s feeble protests, he typed a quick
message, just nine words, attached the image to it, and hit the ‘send’ button.

‘Surprise, surprise. Look who has a new special friend.’

At the LaRussos’ house, Amanda pressed ‘play’ on her favorite Spotify playlist and reclined on the
couch with a glass of wine in her hand. The soothing notes of a cool jazz melody surrounded her,
and she let out a happy sigh. The dentist appointment with Anthony had gone well; the boy had
absolutely perfect teeth (maybe due to the way he constantly exercised them), and Amanda was
glad he wouldn’t have to endure the fuss of wearing brackets.

She left her glass of wine on the table and closed her eyes. The music was starting to make her doze
off, and she had time for a nap before Daniel and Samantha came back from the game…

Daniel saw his wife asleep on the couch and smiled. Amanda had been extra busy at the dealership
since he had fired Louie, and him spending so much time at the dojo didn’t help. She really was a
saint. He took his shoes off, carefully, and tiptoed into the living room; then he sat next to her,
trying not to make any noise… But Amanda was a light sleeper; she started stirring and opened her
eyes.

“Hello, Sleeping Beauty”, he said, kissing her on the lips.

“Hello, Prince Charming”, she answered in a groggy voice. Then she checked her watch and
gasped. “I’ve only been asleep for ten minutes! The Prince Charming is early… shouldn’t you be
watching the Lakers with Sam?”

Daniel reached for Amanda’s glass of wine and took a sip.

“She went to the game with Shiro.”

“That’s an interesting development”, observed Amanda, raising an eyebrow. “How exactly did that
happen?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment… just let me go to the kitchen and get a glass of that Chianti”, he said,
standing up and taking off his tie.

“And refill mine, I hope… you’re the one who’s just finished it.”
“Sure! I’ll be right back.”

He was back in less than a minute, bringing a tray with the two glasses, the bottle of wine, and a
bowl of pretzel bites.

“I haven’t seen Anthony. Is he in his room?”

“No, he’s at a sleepover with his friend Calvin. School starts in less than a month, and I think it’s
good that the kids are enjoying what’s left of the Summer”, answered Amanda, reaching for a
pretzel bite. “But you were about to tell me why you’ve sacrificed your precious father-daughter
evening with Sam, and sent her off to watch the game with a boy.”

“I hope you’re not worried about Shiro. He’s a very responsible boy, I trust him completely.”

“You’ve been wrong before, you know… but no, I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about
the ideas in your head, babe. Please, go on.”

Amanda could have sworn she’d seen Daniel blush.

“Well, the thing is… there was an IT emergency at the dealership, something to do with malware.
Alex called me while we were at the dojo.”

“That explains why you couldn’t go to the Lakers game… but not why you’re here and not at the
office, fixing the problem”, said Amanda with an inquisitive look. She was kind of enjoying the
questioning, especially because she knew Daniel was hiding something… he was definitely
blushing now, and he looked guilty like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Ah… well… turns out…” he stopped to clear his throat and gather his wits. “The emergency
turned out to be nothing in the end, but… but by then I had already invited Shiro to the game, and I
didn’t want to disappoint the poor boy. That’s what happened.”

“Hmmm”, Amanda nodded, looking completely unconvinced.

“I swear it was exactly like that”, insisted Daniel.

“You know what they say, honey… Qui s’excuse, s’accuse. I know what you’re trying to do. And I
know you have good intentions, but you need to stop.”

“There was a real emergency! That malware alert was serious, all our clients' data could have been
endangered. And I didn’t want the tickets to go to waste.”

“How would you have felt when you were sixteen, if your mother had started making suggestions
about possible girls you should date?”

“She did, actually! All the time.”

“Look, I know you’re still mad at that Cobra Kai boy... but if Sam and him are friends again
there’s very little you can do. Pushing her towards Shiro won’t work if she’s not attracted to him.”

“That’s not what I was doing. They’ve gone to see a game... as friends. That’s all.”

Amanda stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“You know what’s the worst part? Not only I know what you’re doing, I even know why you’re
doing it. You think that if Sam doesn’t get another boyfriend soon she will turn to Robby,
especially now he’s going to stay with us. And you love Robby… but Sam dating him would mean
that you and Johnny would be sort of family. And just thinking of that sends your blood pressure
off the charts.”

Daniel’s face spoke volumes, but he stubbornly refused to answer.

“So, by your twisted logic, that leaves Shiro as the only perfect possible boyfriend”, continued
Amanda. “If this was an European medieval kingdom, and you were the king, you would be able to
make those decisions for your daughter, but that’s not the case. And besides… honey, I’m not
saying this because I think you’re obsessed, or anything... But there’s a small part of me that thinks
you would give five years of your life for a Japanese son-in-law.”

Touché.

Daniel sank in his seat and reached for the bottle of wine, with an expression of such despair that
Amanda felt sorry for him.

“Now, babe, don’t sulk… What’s done is done, let’s just have a quiet evening and listen to some
jazz together. We have the house for ourselves until Sam comes back… unless she elopes to Vegas
with Shiro, of course”, she finished with a mischievous grin.

“That’s not funny.”

“Daniel, I’m not worried about her. In the end it’s her heart the one who will make her decisions…
and, I hope, her brain. But you and me have nothing to say about her love life.”

The bottle of wine was now empty, and Amanda took it back to the kitchen. When she came back,
there was a cream colored envelope in her hand.

“What’s that?” asked Daniel.

“A letter from West Valley High. I thought it would be that letter of recommendation for Sam that
Counselor Blatt promised to send us... but this is only addressed to you, so I didn’t open it.”

She sat next to Daniel as he opened the letter and read it. Then he left it on the table and sighed.

“Bad news, honey?”

“No, not bad... just weird. After thirty-four years of not celebrating a reunion, suddenly my high
school class is having one next month.”

“Oh! That’s… that’s very curious timing.” Amanda's smile disappeared from her face, and she put
a hand on Daniel’s arm. “Look, you’re under no obligation to go. I know West Valley High is not
exactly the place of your happiest memories.”

Daniel turned to look at his wife and forced himself to smile.

“I have both very good and horribly bad memories of that year. It all went to extremes.” He
examined the letter again, wondering if this was another of the cosmic jokes the Universe was
playing at him lately. “But I won’t allow Johnny Lawrence and his old gang of Cobras to scare me
from going to my own high school reunion. I have no wish to see any of them... but if I don’t go
Johnny will take the chance to call me chicken in front of everybody, and flaunt the victory of his
little thug at the tournament. We are going.”

“You don’t have to decide right away.”

Daniel folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. “It’s decided. I’ll email the reunion people
tomorrow, telling them they can count on me. And on you, if you don’t mind coming.”

“How could I miss it? I’ll be happy to meet some of your former classmates.”

Despite her cheerful words, there was a note of concern in Amanda’s voice, a note she hoped
Daniel hadn’t heard. Suddenly, she got up from the couch and turned off the music.

“I think I had too much wine on an empty stomach… I can sense a headache coming. I’m going to
the garden for a minute, to see if the fresh air makes it go away.”

“But you only had one…” started Daniel, just in time to see his wife cross the garden doors.
“Nevermind.”

He rested his forehead on his palm and tried not to worry. The last time he had set foot on his
former high school had been the year before, at the Halloween party… a party with a very
unpleasant flashback in the shape of a skeleton; he still wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it. And
now, there was a possibility that the original people inside the original skeleton suits would be
back. He reminded himself that he was a successful man, with a wonderful family and a flourishing
business, and that he had nothing to fear from the old Cobra Kai members… But somewhere inside
Daniel the fifty year old man still lived Daniel the teenager, the one who had been repeatedly
terrorized by Johnny and his friends, by Kreese, by Mike Barnes…

Remembering Barnes made Daniel shudder, but then he shook his head and took a deep breath.
The past was dead and buried, he wasn’t that boy anymore. Besides, he had Amanda’s support…
he could endure anything with her by his side, and she seemed genuinely happy to go to the
reunion with him.

He reached for Amanda’s phone on the table, unlocked it, and turned the music on again.

Meanwhile, Amanda stood next to the pool; there was a cool evening breeze, but she was enjoying
neither that nor the view of the city lights in the distance.

She rubbed her hands one against the other. Her fingers itched for a cigarette, something odd
considering she had quit smoking eighteen years before, shortly after meeting Daniel.

How many couples in the world trusted each other so completely that they had permission to
unlock each other’s cell phones? She heard cool jazz coming through the open window, a sign that
Daniel had her phone. A perfectly normal thing to do, right? Normal and ordinary… like that day, a
couple of weeks before, when her battery had died and she had grabbed Daniel’s phone to check
the weather forecast while he was in the shower. But, as she unlocked it, the first thing she saw
was not the weather app. It was Facebook.

To be more precise, a Facebook profile, with the picture of a beautiful blonde woman in it.

Amanda hadn’t meant to peek. Being jealous was not in her nature, not even in those occasions
when a female customer came to the dealership and was ‘accidentally’ too friendly with her
husband. She knew Daniel’s kind and easygoing nature made him very attractive… and she also
had her share of admirers, men who thought that any woman working in a car shop was a silly
bimbo looking for fun. She didn’t even pay attention to them, and in turn she knew Daniel was
nothing but faithful.

But this one was different. This was somebody who should have been forgotten long ago... like an
old wound that was closed and suddenly one day starts hurting again. Amanda had dropped
Daniel’s phone on the bed, as if it burned her fingers, and when he came out of the shower she
retreated to the kitchen to make coffee. Out of sight, out of mind. That had always been her attitude
towards Dr. Mills-Schwarber. Oh, she knew Ali had been important in Daniel’s life... But she had
been out of the picture for so long that she was only a distant memory to him. The one that got
away.

And now there was a situation where she could come back from… Denver? Was that it? Amanda
had been tempted to do a little Facebook search of her own, but she knew that kind of things always
ended up being toxic.

What if Ali came back to the reunion? What if Daniel hadn’t exactly forgotten about her, like
Amanda had believed for many years?

“What happens if the one that got away strikes back?”, she whispered to herself.

“Amanda? Babe, where are you?”

She turned around to see Daniel’s silhouette in the doorway, bathed in the yellow light that came
from inside the house. He couldn’t see her in the dark... and she just stood there, frozen, until his
worried expression made her react.

“I’m here”, she whispered.

“We really need to fix those lights, I can barely see anything out there!” He walked to her and put
an arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay? You’re going to freeze without a sweater.”

Amanda finally gathered her wits and smiled.

“Yes, fine. Let’s go inside, I just needed some air.”

“What do you want for dinner?”, asked Daniel once they got in the house again. “Oh, I know! I’ll
make you bucatini all’amatriciana, like the first night you had dinner at my apartment.
Remember?”

“Of course!” said Amanda. “I was so impressed to have found a man that could cook… That same
night I texted my mother and told her I had met the boy I was going to marry.”

“That was a good premonition”, he said, kissing Amanda’s forehead. “Stay here and rest, I’ll come
get you when dinner is ready.”

She nodded and returned to the couch. The letter from West Valley High was still on the coffee
table, with Daniel’s phone on top of it. Amanda extended a hand, grabbed the phone and the letter,
and put both things under an old magazine.

Out of sight, out of mind…

Or maybe not.
 Retrospect
Chapter Summary

Robby visits his father and gives him the bad news. Kate learns something about
Johnny's past.

Chapter Notes

One more week, one more chapter. It's been almost five months since I started writing
this story, and we're past the middle point already. I can't believe I've kept up with the
schedule for so long!
I missed writing Kate and Johnny so much... it's always a lot of fun focusing on them. I
really hope you all like the chapter.

CHAPTER 20. RETROSPECT

Robby rang the doorbell of Johnny’s apartment and stood there, shifting nervously from one foot to
the other and trying not to make noise. He knew that Diaz twerp lived on the same neighborhood
as his Dad, maybe even in the same building, and the last thing he wanted that day was another
fight. Not that the idiot didn’t deserve it... but Robby needed a cool head for the conversation he
was about to have. Fortunately for him, the apartment complex looked deserted. It was almost
dinner time on a hot and stuffy Friday, and everything seemed to move in slow motion in the
heated air.

There was an awkward moment (another one to add to the long list) when Johnny opened the door.
Robby didn’t know if his Dad expected a hug or not, and judging by the look on his face Johnny
had the same dilemma. In the end they solved it with a quick half-hug, each one putting one arm
around the other. Not the best way to start the visit… but it wasn’t the worst either, considering
their history.

“Hi, Dad. How’s everything?”

“Fine… yeah, good. Come in.”

Robby noticed a few changes in the apartment since the last time he had been there. Nothing
extraordinary, just a few things… a new rug, a cabinet with his grandparents’ pictures on display, a
suspicious absence of clutter. But he hadn’t visited his Dad in more than two years, so he didn’t
really pay much attention to the changes in the decoration.

One more thing seemed a bit out of place: the oven was on, and Robby caught a whiff of melted
cheese in the air.

“Are you actually cooking?”

“Just mac and cheese. You can stay for dinner if you want.”
Johnny’s voice sounded hopeful, and Robby felt a little bad for having to disappoint him.

“I can’t today… I’m going to the movies with my friends. But hey, that smells great... I can come
to dinner another day if you make mac and cheese again. Maybe next week?”

He didn’t say that his ‘friends’ were actually Sam, Shiro and Demetri. Talking about Miyagi-Do in
front of his Dad was not going to help with things. Especially not when he was about to give him
bad news.

Johnny nodded. He hadn’t really expected Robby to stay. It was enough that he had called out of
the blue and asked if he could drop by his place. The kid looked serious, almost worried. This
wasn’t a social visit... there was something on his mind, probably something important. He
checked his watch; Kate said she would be there at eight, and it was past seven thirty. If Robby
stayed long enough it would be introduction time, for both his son and his girlfriend. That could be
a problem… or maybe not. Kate was cool with kids, and Robby seemed to be less contrary than
usual lately. Maybe it would be a good idea that they met.

He went to the fridge and grabbed two cans of soda, offering one to Robby.

“Thanks”, said the boy, dropping on the couch. “Christ, I’m so tired.”

“Is LaRusso overworking you at the car shop? Remind him that you’re still a minor, I’m sure
there’s laws for that”, Johnny said, frowning.

“Chill, please”, groaned Robby. “I sell cars, Dad, it’s not a sweatshop. But it’s Friday, I’ve been
working all week, and… last night I was up studying until two. Before you say anything, yes, that
was a new experience for me. But I’m fine.”

“So, you’re serious with the GED thing, eh?” asked Johnny.

“Dead serious.”

“Great.”

He wanted to tell Robby that he was proud of him; proud that his suggestion had made the boy
keep studying… but none of them was used to that kind of talk, at least not with each other, so he
tried a different approach.

“Your mother must be proud of seeing you study so much. And surprised.”

Robby rubbed his neck and shifted in his seat, nervous.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Dad. It has to do with Mom… but I need you to
promise me one thing first.”

Johnny shrugged. He wasn’t too interested in anything regarding Shannon. “Yeah, fine. What is
it?”

“That you’ll listen without freaking out until I’ve finished talking.”

“Can I freak out after that?”

“Sure, knock yourself out”, said the boy with a half-smile.

“I’ll do my best. Now, spill: what has she done this time?”
Robby leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees; he looked at Johnny, sighed, and started
his tale.

“Mom has been going out with a guy for a couple of months. He’s... he’s okay, I guess. Name’s
Harvey.”

Johnny chuckled. “Harvey? Really?”

“Come on, you promised”, warned Robby. “Anyway, last week he came to the apartment and told
Mom he wanted to spend more time with her, so—”

Johnny’s hand gripped the armrest of the couch.

“Is that dude living with you?” he asked between gritted teeth. “If she’s using my money to
maintain that jerk, I swear I’ll go there and—”

“Dad, stop!” Robby shouted. He covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath before
returning to a normal volume. “Fuck, why are you always looking to start a fight? Please… just
listen.”

He gave Johnny a hard stare and continued.

“No, he hasn’t moved in with us. This one has money, okay? He’s got a ranch in Texas… it
actually exists, I looked it up on Google Earth.”

Johnny nodded in silence. He didn’t want to interrupt again, so he just reminded himself to ask
Kate about that Google Earth stuff.

“Anyway, what I came here to tell you is that Mom has gone to Texas with Harvey for two weeks,
and I’m staying at the LaRussos’ house while she’s away. I already moved in yesterday, so it’s a
done deal, okay? Mr. LaRusso invited me, he called Mom, she agreed it was the best solution…
and that’s all, now you can flip out if you want.”

Robby had said the last few sentences at all speed, almost without breathing; he wanted to get over
with the inevitable fight as soon as possible. He shut his eyes and waited, but all he could hear was
silence.

When he opened his eyes again he felt terrible. Johnny had remained seated, without moving, just
staring at him. His face was a mask of pain and disappointment. When he finally spoke, his voice
sounded almost broken.

“You could have stayed with me.”

Robby felt tears welling in his eyes. “Dad, I… you know Mom would never have allowed it.”

“Yeah, no shit. She prefers that you spend two weeks living with strangers than with me.”

“They’re not strangers, Dad. He’s my boss, and...”

“Has he even met your mother?”

“Ah… not in person”, said Robby, a little ashamed.

Johnny looked at his son. The boy was on the verge of tears, and after not seeing him for more
than a month the last thing he wanted was another fight. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that Shannon had
been irresponsible one more time and left him alone. And, like Robby said… it was a done deal.
Once more, he found himself in a situation where there was absolutely nothing he could do.

“Fine”, he said, trying not to sound as miserable as he was feeling. “At least you’re not on your
own.”

“I could have managed by myself”, retorted Robby.

“Remind me again how old you are.”

Robby sighed and decided not to fight. His father had reacted too well to the news… he wasn’t
happy, that was clear, but at least it looked like this time there would be no screaming match.

Johnny’s cell phone chimed several times with the sound of an incoming text, and Robby felt
grateful for the distraction. Also a little shocked: he knew his Dad wasn’t good with with
technology. To Johnny, phones were just for making calls… and that’s why it surprised Robby to
see him stare at the screen and smile. Then he typed something, painfully slowly, on the tiny keys
of his flip phone.

That wasn’t right. He always refused to text unless it was a life or death situation...

A light went off in Robby’s head. He suspected what that smile meant, but he had never seen it on
his father’s face before.

“Dad… do you have a girlfriend?” he asked, secretly happy for the chance to change the topic.

Johnny lifted his eyes from his phone… and then looked away, as if he didn’t want Robby to read
his expression.

“Your mother is not the only one allowed to meet other people”, he said, standing up and making
his way into the kitchen. He crouched in front of the oven and stared at the half-baked tray of mac
and cheese.

Robby smiled. It wasn’t like his Dad to answer with evasives, or to avoid talking about things. The
clean apartment suddenly made sense. And the cooking. Was he actually trying to impress this
woman, whoever she was? He remembered something Amanda had said during dinner the day
before, something about his Dad and a lawyer she and Mr. LaRusso had met a few weeks before...
and he decided to fish for information a bit more.

“The apartment looks great, Dad.”

“Thanks.” Johnny remained in the kitchen; he was keeping his distance, Robby thought, a tactic he
knew quite well because it was the same thing he did when his mother wanted to interrogate him
about something.

“Mr. LaRusso told me about the trial, and how your lawyer fixed the rent thing”, Robby continued.
“I’m glad things are going better for you and your dojo.”

“Even if we’re the enemy?”

“Cut it out, Dad. Cobra Kai may be the enemy... but you’re not.”

Johnny sighed. “Okay. But yeah, things have been great since the rent went back to normal. I was
lucky to find a really good lawyer.”

There was that smile again… the same Robby had seen on his father’s face when he’d answered
the text, and the boy definitely put two and two together.

“And when am I going to meet your girlf… I mean, your lawyer?” he asked with a knowing smile.

Johnny finally realized that Robby’s questions had a purpose. He let out a little laugh and returned
to the living room area.

“She’s coming to dinner, so you could meet her in ten minutes if you wanted, smartass”, he
answered, fully aware at last that he’d been found out. “But since you prefer going out with your
buddies to dinner with your old man… you’ll see her two weeks from now, I guess, at the Lake
Balboa thing.”

“I’m sure she’s great, Dad”, said the boy. He wasn’t entirely convinced, in fact he felt slightly
suspicious about any woman crazy enough to date the walking disaster that was his father… but, if
Robby’s short but intense experience with girls had taught him something, was that they were a
hundred per cent unpredictable. And, if that crazy lawyer lady was making his Dad less grumpy
and more reasonable, he would be the last one to complain.

At last, Robby checked the time on his phone and groaned. “Oh, shit. Dad, I really have to go, or
I’ll be late.”

Johnny’s answer came several seconds later. He was mincing his words, trying not to say anything
that would upset the boy and drive him away for weeks again.

“Fine. Have fun at the movies… and, if you were serious about next week, just call me and tell me
when.”

The boy got up. “I will. Thanks, Dad.”

“Now, get out of here. I hope those friends you mentioned are not the two idiots I saw you with
that day at your mother’s place.”

“Nah, I’m done with Trey and Cruz. They’re assholes.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow and stared at his son.

“Don’t tell LaRusso I said this, but working for him is making you smarter.”

The farewell hug was less awkward this time; Robby closed the door behind him and hurried
towards the bus stop.

He didn’t see that the door of the apartment next to Johnny’s was ajar; and of course he didn’t
notice a pair of inquisitive black eyes following his steps until he got out of sight.

“What are you doing, mijo?”

Miguel gasped, and pushed the door closed.

“Nothing, Yaya. I thought I heard a noise outside.”

Rosa looked at her grandson and put her hands on her hips.

“Are you sure you weren’t looking at the girls who just moved in to number four? Your Yaya was
not born yesterday, Miggy.”

The boy smiled and nodded. That was a much better excuse than the lame one he’d just made up.
“Okay… yes, I was. Don’t tell Mom!”

“It’s normal that you’re looking at girls, mi amor”, said Rosa with a knowing smile. “But those
three are in college… too old for you. Wait a few days until school starts, and you will have lots of
girls your age to look at. Now that you are a karate champion, all the pretty girls in your class will
want you to ask them out. Ya lo verás.”

“Right”, he said, faking a smile. Being a karate champion had done squat for his love life... and the
fact that he was at home, alone, on a Friday night, didn’t give him much hope for the future.

He went to his room and fell on the bed, feeling profoundly depressed. One of the things he feared
the most had already happened a few days before. Thanks to Hawk’s surveillance tactics, he knew
that Sam was already with another guy; and not just a random idiot like Kyler, she was with
Keiko’s brother. A boy who, according to Keiko, was rich, tall, handsome, fun… And a beast at
karate, of course, who also trained at Miyagi-Do with Sam. To sum up, the quintessential perfect
guy. Miguel couldn’t compete with him, that was a fact.

Now another one of his fears, that Sensei Lawrence reconciled with his jerk of a son, was
apparently happening too. Avoiding Keene when he came to visit his father was only the smallest
of his problems… What if he changed dojos and joined Cobra Kai? Things would get more than
tense; but Sensei Lawrence would never ask Miguel to leave… or would he? After all, Keene was
his flesh and blood, and Miguel was absolutely nobody.

He put on his headphones and selected a random playlist on Spotify; the familiar notes of an old
Queen song blasted in his ears.

We are the Champions.

How ironic. Miguel had started with nothing… and he had wanted nothing in the beginning,
nothing but to get rid of Kyler and his gang. Then, in a few months, he’d gained friends, success, a
girlfriend, and even a sort of father figure. And now, one by one, the things he had achieved were
being taken from him. He’d paid his dues, learned from his mistakes, fought his way to victory…
but he still didn’t feel like a winner. At all.

Miguel planted his face in the pillow and let out a silent scream of frustration. Maybe he was
technically a champion, but he felt like the biggest loser in the Universe.

Kate squeezed Johnny’s hand, sighed, and lowered her eyes to her almost empty plate of mac and
cheese.

He had just finished telling her about Robby’s visit, and how he was going to stay with the
LaRussos. Kate found it hard to believe that a mother could be so careless… and that Daniel
LaRusso could be so irresponsible, driving the boy further away from his father. Sometimes the
man seemed to be all good intentions and flashy salesman smiles… and then he did something
devious like that, something that looked like part of a master plan designed to make Johnny
unhappy.

But she couldn’t waste time being angry; there was nothing she could do to help, except try to
cheer up Johnny a little… and wish that Robby’s mother returned soon from her trip.

“I’m sure she’ll be back before you think. A ranch in Texas sounds like a horribly boring vacation
plan… at least to me”, she said, trying to put some humor into the situation. “From what you’ve
told me, she’s not exactly a natural born farmer.”

“I doubt she’s ever seen a real cow in all her life”, said Johnny, finally with a little smile on his
face. “She’ll probably arrive to the farm, smell the manure, and get on the first flight back to
California.”

Kate got up to take the plates to the sink; then she approached the still sitting Johnny and hugged
him from the back.

“Let’s go sit on the couch, I brought chocolate ice cream for dessert.”

Johnny moved to the couch with lazy steps and let himself fall on it, while Kate got the ice cream
tub and two spoons (Johnny didn’t have any ice cream bowls, a mistake that she decided to correct
as soon as possible). As she was putting everything on the coffee table, she caught sight of
something on the other side of the room. Something that wasn’t there before.

On the cabinet where the picture of Johnny’s mother used to stand, there was also another one
now, in an identical frame. A black and white picture of a young soldier. The photograph was old
and battered, but the resemblance was definitely there: the same light eyes, the same cheeky little
smirk on his face... he couldn’t have been more than twenty, at least that’s what he looked like. A
boy too young to be in a war, a boy whose smile was belied by the handwritten motto on his
helmet.

War is Hell.

She touched the edge of the frame delicately.

“Is this…?”

“Private Robert W. Lawrence”, answered Johnny. “My father. They took that picture of him in
Vietnam, a few weeks before he was killed in action. I had it in a drawer… but the other day I saw
it and I thought they should be together.”

He had never talked about his father before, only about Sid (in extremely derogatory terms); but
the details of the life and death of his birth father had been a secret until then. Kate observed the
two pictures again… they surely had been a gorgeous young couple. She remembered she’d never
seen any pictures of his mother as an old woman, not even as a mature one.

She died very young, too, thought Kate. Another stroke of bad luck, and he’s had quite a few along
the way.

She looked at the pictures one more time and then joined Johnny on the couch.

“Did you…?” she hesitated. “Did he get to meet you?”

“Yes”, he said with a sad smile. “When I was six months old he got some leave and came to
Sacramento; my Mom was from there. He spent one month at home; then he went back to
Vietnam, and… well, you know.”

“I’m sorry”, she said, caressing his cheek.

“It’s okay… I don’t really remember him. Only the things my mother told me.”

It was clear that Johnny didn’t want to talk about it; and Kate wasn’t going to press the issue, not
when he was still upset from Robby’s visit. She opened the ice cream tub and offered it to him.
“Thanks.” He started eating without taking his eyes off her, as if he was struggling to say
something. Then he finally spoke.

“I told Robby about you today.”

“Oh? How did he take the news?” she asked, cautious. Going out with someone who had a teenage
son was a new experience for her.

“Really well. He wants to meet you… if you had arrived ten minutes earlier you would have met
him, but he was in a hurry”, he said in a tired voice. “I’m surprised he didn’t drop the news on me
on the phone. He usually doesn’t give a shit about seeing me.”

“Well, if Robby keeps his promise of visiting you more often, maybe you can change that. You've
got a chance to spend some time with him, show him what you’re really like. You haven’t been a
part of his life for too long… but that can change.”

“Always the eternal optimist”, observed Johnny.

He held one of her hands in his, turning it over as if he was going to read her palm. It looked small
and delicate when he held it, with those red nails that he had liked so much since the first day.

“I wish you’d moved to the Valley before. I wish I had met you sooner”, he said all of a sudden.

Kate blinked; the comment caught her completely unawares. She didn’t usually mourn for lost
time… but she could see where this was coming from, in a way.

“Sooner, like… last year?”

“Like five years ago.”

“Oh, Johnny… It wouldn’t have worked. Five years ago I had just adopted Rani, and it took a lot of
adjustment, for her and for me. I had zero social life for many months, I wouldn’t have had time to
get to know you properly.”

“Fine... ten years ago, then.”

“Ah… I was living with Simon. Sorry.”

“Shit, I had forgotten about that jerk. Fifteen years?”

“I had just started dating Simon. I was all starry-eyed back then and I wouldn’t have noticed you…
and weren’t you with your ex by then? Robby must have been a baby.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I was trying to make things work with Shannon”, he sighed. “Let’s try a bigger
jump. Where were you twenty years ago?”

“Senior year of college. I was kind of a bookworm that semester, I needed good grades to apply for
Law School.”

Johnny opened his mouth to speak again, but Kate put a finger on his lips to stop him.

“Don’t say anything else! The next jump is twenty-five years, I was in high school. Illegal, and I
was a complete disaster back then. Believe me, you don’t want to know what I looked like at
seventeen.”

Noticing he was downcast and silent again, she scooted closer to him and kissed him. He leaned
into the kiss, putting his hands around her.

“Johnny, even if you had a magical time machine… I’ve always believed there’s no time like the
present”, said Kate. “We met now because it was the right moment for us to meet. That’s all.”

“Every time you’re with me it’s like a weight is lifted from my back… Everything is so easy with
you.”

“Are you calling me an easy woman, Mr. Lawrence?” she asked, winking at him.

“Easy, my ass”, he said with a grin. “I had to beg to make you have dinner with me. You’re
ruthless, roller girl.”

“That’s funny. I remember you conspiring with my friend to get me alone, and cornering me up in
my office... but I don’t recall any begging”, she laughed.

“And you think that was easy? I was scared shitless that day, I thought you were going to throw me
out… I even had to wear that stupid suit to make you notice me.”

“I had already noticed you before. But the suit definitely helped.”

At this point the ice cream tub was empty and forgotten. Johnny grabbed Kate’s waist and moved
her to his lap, enjoying the warmth of her skin beneath her thin shirt.

“The suit’s still in my closet… I can go change, if it’s going to help turning you on”, he whispered
in her ear while he nuzzled the side of her neck.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. This is not a situation that can be solved adding more clothes… more
like the other way around.”

“What, like this?” asked Johnny, taking off his t-shirt.

Kate took a deep breath and willed her heart to stop racing so fast. She still wasn’t used to him
being so bold… but she definitely enjoyed it.

“Exactly like that.”

She ran her hands over his chest while he kissed her again and closed her eyes, feeling his hard
muscles under her palms. Something else was getting hard, too… something she noticed pressing
against her leg.

“I may be an easy woman… but I still prefer to be seduced in a bed, Johnny”, she whispered
against his lips. “I don’t want to end up falling off your couch.”

“As if I would let you fall”, he answered, tightening his arms around her like a vice grip. “But
yeah, the bed will be better for what I have in mind for you.”

They stumbled towards the bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothes behind them. As soon as
they got there Johnny pulled back the duvet and pushed Kate on the bed. She remained there,
propped up on her elbows, watching him take off the rest of his clothes as fast as he could.

“You really need to learn the difference between a karate mat and a bed”, she said in a breathy
sigh. “Where are your manners?”

Now completely naked, he hovered over her.

“Haven’t you heard? Cobras have no manners.”

The light wasn’t on, but she still could see his blue eyes in the dark, shining with anticipation as he
yanked off her jeans and her panties in one swift move. Then he was on her, his hands pawing at
her skin, his mouth searching for hers like a starving man. Kate moaned, burying one hand in his
hair and holding onto his shoulders with the other. His skin was so hot, hot like a furnace; she felt
the muscles on his back ripple and tense as he made his way down from her mouth to her neck, her
breasts… and then up again.

Kate felt the room spinning around her. It was only one week after their first date… just a week
and he already read her body like an open book, knew exactly what buttons to press. And it was
also true the other way around; Johnny was always so eager, almost to the point of being harsh,
and by now Kate already knew what to do to make him mad with want. One little whisper in his
ear, a fingernail raking down his back… and she got him panting like a caged beast, covering her
body in kisses that became bites every now and then.

He stopped for a second to regain his breath, and Kate saw her chance: hoping to take him by
surprise, she grabbed Johnny’s wrists and flipped on top of him, securing her legs around his waist.

“Hey! Is that a roller derby move?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

“Oh, no… I learned this one much later”, she answered, leaning to kiss him one more time.

“You could use that on a mat if you wanted.”

“Not for the kind of fight we’re having now.”

She slid a hand between their bodies and found him hard; when she started touching him his hips
buckled.

“Fuck, yes”, he hissed.

He let his head fall on the pillow, groaning, enjoying every second, until the tension became too
much; then he sat up, grabbing Kate by the back of the heck. There was a wanton smile on her lips;
the little minx knew exactly what she was doing to him.

“Ride me”, he growled.

It could have been a plea, or an order. It didn’t really matter, because a moment later he was inside
her, and she was moving her hips in a seemingly lazy rhythm, all without taking her eyes off him.

Johnny put his hands on her waist; he was almost hypnotized by the woman on top of him. She
looked glorious with her dark hair falling down her back, her body moving to the beat of a song
only she could hear, her lips repeating his name like a mantra. He needed to be closer, deeper still
in her welcoming heat. With an effort he grasped her hips, bringing his mouth to her breasts, her
neck… He was in charge of the pace now: faster, deeper, until her moans became breathy cries.
She dug her nails into his shoulders, and the sharp sensation drove him close to the edge.

Johnny had lost all track of time; it could have been ten minutes on that bed, or ten years; to him,
an eternity of being inside her wouldn’t be enough. He kept grinding his hips against her until her
body shivered; the rising pleasure started with her and then surged through him, his release hitting
him like a giant wave. Then he felt Kate’s forehead resting on his shoulder, and heard a soft
laughter.

“Wow”, she whispered, breathless.

“Yeah.”

Johnny caressed her hair and planted a kiss on her temple; he held her close for a long moment, not
letting her go until he felt goosebumps rising on her skin.

“Get under the sheets, you’re getting cold”, he commanded. Jumping out of bed he grabbed the
first thing he saw in his closet... one of his Cobra Kai t-shirts, and offered it to Kate. She put it on
quickly, got into the bed and waited for Johnny to join her.

“Congratulations. You’re officially a Cobra now”, he joked, running a fingertip over the red and
yellow snake and holding Kate close to his chest.

“Oh, that’s better”, she said. “You’re so warm…”

“You mean hot?” he snickered.

She smiled and snuggled against him. “That, too. And modest.”

Kate didn’t speak much after that; she practically fell into a coma every time after sex, and Johnny
was getting used to it. He took a deep breath, remembering what she’d said during their
conversation.

We met now because it was the right moment for us to meet.

“Yes, it was”, he muttered under his breath.

“Hmmm?”

“Nothing. Sleep, you must be tired.”

The only answer this time was Kate’s regular breathing; comatose again. Johnny smiled, kissed her
forehead, tucked her head under his chin, and closed his eyes.
 Intuition
Chapter Summary

Kate has dinner with her best friend, who surprises her with good news. In Cobra Kai,
the girls form a think tank and try to solve Miguel's problems... whether he wants it or
not.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 21. INTUITION

“Hello, munchkin!”

“Hi, uncle Kevin!”

Rani hugged the tall Black man as if she hadn’t seen him in a very long time, longer than her eight
years of age. Beside her, Kate beamed at her friend and handed him a bottle.

“You said white wine, so I brought Chablis. I hope Oliver will like it.”

“Wonderful! Chablis is one of his favorites”, said Kevin, kissing Kate’s cheek. “It will go perfectly
with the shrimp tacos he’s making. He’s been in the kitchen for more than an hour… when that
man is in chef mode there’s no stopping him.”

The two adults and the little girl went into the entrance hall of the house. It wasn’t exactly the
biggest in Encino, but it was elegant and luminous. Kevin had decorated it himself, and he was
really proud of his work.

“Come in, ladies. I’ve set the dinner table on the patio, it’s a very warm night. What do you think?”

“Sounds perfect”, answered Kate. “Rani, do you want to go to the kitchen and say hi to Oliver?”

The little girl ran towards the kitchen, reappearing a few moments later with Oliver in tow. He was
wearing a long chef apron, and in his hands was a tray with three cocktails and a glass of juice.

“Who wants an Aperol Spritz? Every adult in the room, I hope… And, for the little lady, we have
this lovely pomegranate juice. Do you like it?”

“I love it! Thank you, Oliver”, said Rani, grabbing the glass that the young man was offering her.
“Mom, Oliver says dinner is almost ready. He made tacos, and guacamole!”

“It’s going to be delicious, I’m sure”, said Kate. “Hi, Oliver. I didn’t know you cooked… you’re a
man of many talents.”

“How do you think I made the gorgeous Mr. McMichaels fall for me?”, said Oliver with a wink.
“One day I made him butter poached lobster for dinner and he fell right at my feet… but hey, let’s
not stand here. The table is already set; you two, go sit outside and chat while Rani and I go get the
food, okay? And you, little miss, you said you wanted to be my assistant cook, so... let’s go.”
Soon, the four of them were sitting outside, enjoying a delicious al fresco dinner. After all the food
(and most of the wine) had been consumed, Rani went to play on one corner of the patio, where
Kevin had installed a basketball goal. The hoop was too high for her to score, but she kept trying
tirelessly.

Seeing that the little girl was finally out of ear’s range, Kevin saw his chance to discuss some
grown-up topics with Kate.

“So, how are things going with King Karate?” he asked, refilling her glass of wine. “You haven’t
told me anything… and I’m choosing to interpret your silence as a good thing. You’re always quiet
when all is well.”

Kate took a spoonful of the mango sorbet Oliver had made for dessert.

“It’s going really great, Kev. So well that I’m a little afraid.”

“Come on, Katey… don’t be such a pessimist”, Kevin laughed.

“I don’t want to be! But sometimes my mind goes to that place and I can’t help it. Johnny is the
first man who has been there for me… really there, in a long time. What happens if he suddenly
decides that a relationship with me is too hard? How long until he starts resenting Rani because I
pay too much attention to her?”

“I’m sure he knows how important your daughter is to you. Why would he resent her?”

“I don’t know”, said Kate with a sigh. “After Simon left, and especially after I got Rani, I kind of
made peace with the idea that I’d probably remain single forever. I never thought I would have
another chance, never thought I would want someone to be there, with me, all the time. Now I see
the possibility of it… and it scares me.”

“It’s a relationship, girl. It has its scary parts, but that’s how it has to be.”

“The day I adopted Rani I promised myself that she would always be my priority”, she insisted,
looking at the little girl who played a few yards away, oblivious to the conversation. “I swore I
wouldn’t be one of those women who make their kid live with an awful stepfather just because
they are blinded by love. I don’t want to betray that promise.”

Kevin’s face turned very serious. He held his friend’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I’ve been your best friend for almost twenty-five years, Kate. I know that’s never going to
happen. Live a little, you’re worrying too much!”

“If you’ve learned anything about me in all those years, you also know worrying too much is my
specialty.”

“Johnny is lucky to have you; and he’s perfectly aware of it.” Kevin took a deep breath, trying his
best to reassure his friend. “He’s not Simon, darling… this one is not going to leave you.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

“What was Simon like?” asked Oliver, who had been silent until then because he didn’t know
much about that part of Kate’s life.

“I thought he was Mr. Perfect, but—”

“But he turned out to be Mr. Completely Wrong, and as you can see he did a number on Kate’s
self-esteem when it comes to men”, interrupted Kevin. “Please, let’s not talk about that poor
excuse for a human being… this is supposed to be a fun evening.”

“I agree”, said his boyfriend. “More sorbet, Kate?”

“Oh, I can’t! You’ve made enough for an army, Oliver… everything was delicious. Now every
time I come to Kevin’s home I’ll be expecting more of that.”

The two men looked at each other and smiled.

“Well, in that case we have some very good news for you”, Kevin said. “In the future, Oliver will
be cooking at this house every day.”

“Every day? You mean…?”

“We’ve been living together since last week”, beamed Oliver, unable to contain his excitement.
“I’ve already moved all my things from my old apartment… and, now that you know, it’s officially
official.”

“Oh, my God.” Kate laughed. “That’s wonderful news! Congratulations!”

She got up and hugged both of them, just when Rani reappeared with the basketball under her arm.

“Mom, why is everybody hugging?” she asked, intrigued.

Kevin crouched beside the little girl. “We’re all very happy because Oliver has moved here,
munchkin. This is his house now, too.”

Rani’s face lightened up, and she immediately went to grab Oliver’s hand.

“That means you’re my uncle now, right?” she asked.

The young man looked at Kevin, dumbfounded; then at Kate, and finally at Rani again.

“Yes, poppet”, he said in a shaky voice. “If you want, I’ll be your uncle.”

“Great!” Rani jumped at the news, hugging Oliver with all her strength. He hugged her back and
blinked several times, unable to contain the tears.

“Rani, why don’t you go with uncle Oliver and throw some hoops while your Mom and I clear the
table?” suggested Kevin.

“Okay!” The kid picked up the ball that she had left on the floor and ran towards the basketball
goal, followed by a still emotional Oliver.

“I wish everybody was as open minded as your kid, Katey”, he said while he picked up the dirty
dishes. “Didn’t you notice Oliver was about to cry? Practically none of his family members speak
to him since he came out, except for his Mom and his grandmother. Having Rani decide to call him
‘uncle’ all by herself must have been a shock.”

“It’s a cruel world. I’m doing my best to raise her right”, said Kate in a soft voice. “But look at you,
finally a serious grown-up man with a fancy house and a live-in boyfriend! I always knew you
would find the one sooner than me.”

“Keep being defeatist and I won’t let you be my maid of honor”, said Kevin with a flashy grin.
“Wait, what? Maid of honor? Is there going to be a wedding?”

“Shush! I don’t want Oliver to hear”, Kevin whispered. “Come, help me take all this inside, we can
talk there.”

They took the dishes to the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher; Kate sat at the table while Kevin
made coffee.

“Here you go, darling. Espresso with two sugars.”

“Thanks. And now, come here and explain the wedding thing, please”, said Kate.

Kevin went to sit beside her; he poured himself a cup of coffee and added a lot of cream to it. When
he finally spoke, it was in a shouting whisper, like a spy in a movie.

“First of all, it’s still a secret, okay? I know it’s early, we’ve only been together for eight months;
but I love Oliver, I’m not getting any younger… And, let’s face it, there’s a chance that the
Supreme Court will abolish gay marriage again any day, so we better do it while we can.”

Kate let out a laugh. “That’s not going to happen! And remember: just because you can, it doesn’t
mean you should .”

“I know what I’m doing, my friend. Like you said, he is The One. With a capital O.”

“In that case I’m really happy for you, Kev. When are you going to ask him?”

“In a couple of weeks, when Oliver is completely settled; I don’t want to overwhelm him. I’ll take
him to his favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner, wait until dessert… and then pop the question.
On one knee and all that.”

Kate looked at her friend and smiled. “That’s really sweet.”

“Oh, speaking of restaurants”, Kevin remembered suddenly. “Oliver wants to know if you and
Johnny would want to come out to dinner with us.”

“What, like a double date?” asked Kate.

“Yes! It can be fun, and we’d really love to get to know him better… that is, if you think things are
serious enough between you two.”

Kate took a sip of her coffee and rested her chin on her palm.

“It’s awfully early, but I do think we’re getting serious”, she said with a tentative smile. “He’s been
to my place, I’ve been to his, we’re comfortable with each other, he wants me to meet his son... He
even asked me to go with him to his high school reunion next month.”

Kevin smiled and punched the air.

“You’re going to be his plus one at a social event? Good for you, girl! Oh, that can be really fun.
You’ll get to know some of his old friends, that’s always good. And he’ll feel like a winner…
because, let’s admit it, those reunions are all about status, and you’re a real catch, Katie.”

He looked at Kate expecting her to laugh, or at least to respond with a witty comment, but she
remained quiet, and with her gaze lost in the distance.

“Earth to Kate. My powers of deduction tell me that you’re worrying too much again… What is
it?”

“Nothing”, she said with a wave of her hand. “Just another one of those times I overthink
everything.”

“Come on, girl. Spill.”

“It’s about Johnny’s reunion. His ex-girlfriend may be there”, she said, frowning.

“His kid’s mother? So what? I thought you said they hated each other’s guts. There may be an
unpleasant moment, but she’s the past and you’re the present.”

“No, not that one... His girlfriend from high school. The one who left him for Daniel LaRusso.”

“Girl, that was a million years ago! Why are you worrying about that?”

“She’s the one that got away, Kevin. He began acting like a jerk at school after she broke up with
him, and I think he never really got over her. I can compete with real women in the real world... but
not with someone whose memory has been distilled into a perfect ideal.”

“I doubt it will be that dramatic. Come on, he hasn’t seen her in… what? Thirty years?”

“Thirty-four.”

“You’re worried about a decades-old ghost. And ghosts are generally harmless.”

They heard cheerful voices coming from outside; Rani and Oliver returned to the house, laughing.

“Did you have a good time, sweetie?” asked Kate, brushing a sweaty strand of hair from her
daughter’s brow.

“It was a lot of fun, Mom!” she said with a wide grin. “Oliver won, but it’s fine because I’m too
short to play basketball. My thing is karate.”

“Of course it is. Now, why don’t you go wash your hands? Then you can choose a board game and
we’ll all play together.”

Rani nodded and ran towards the bathroom.

“Did I just hear something about ghosts?” asked Oliver, sitting beside his boyfriend. “Are you two
telling scary tales?”

“No, just silly tales”, Kevin clarified. “Kate is going with Johnny to his high school reunion, and
she’s afraid that his ex-girlfriend will be there... the ex-girlfriend he hasn’t seen in thirty-four
years.”

Kate elbowed her friend, a bit irritated. “Well, if you say it like that, of course it sounds silly.”

“Thirty-four years?” Oliver exclaimed. “Gosh, I was a baby back then.”

“You’re still a baby now, my love. The other day you cried when you got your finger caught in the
window.”

“Oh, the shade!” he said with a fake whining sound.

“But I love you the way you are”, added Kevin with a chuckle. “Oh, and before that we were
talking about the double date. Kate thinks Johnny will want to come.”

“Perfect!” said Oliver with enthusiasm. “We can go to that lovely Thai place in the Boulevard, or
to the new food market… No, let’s do it here instead, and I’ll cook. It’s going to be so much fun!”

“Sounds wonderful. You know, Kate, the first time I saw Johnny I thought he looked like one of
those super conservative, homophobic guys”, observed Kevin. “I’m glad I was wrong.”

“Well, to be fair, he did hate you at first sight… but that was just because he thought you and me
were together.”

“He was jealous? That’s kind of cute”, said Oliver.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘cute’... but it hasn’t happened again, so it’s okay”, answered Kate. “He is
conservative, at least in some things; and very set in his ways… but what I like about him is that
he’s open to change. And he’s got a couple of lesbian students in Cobra Kai, so definitely not
homophobic.”

“Wow, look at Mr. Progressive!” Kevin raised his cup of coffee in an improvised toast. “Here’s to
Sensei Lawrence and his unexpected but very welcome support of LGBT youth in sports.”

“It’s no joke, especially with those two girls. One of them was expelled from the Athletics team at
school when she came out.”

“It was bad enough when we were their age… you’d expect the world would have changed by
now”, said Kevin, making a face.

“I know… I said it before and I’ll repeat it a thousand times, the world is a cruel place”, observed
Kate. “I’m glad Johnny doesn’t care about those things; as long as his students are interested in
karate, he will accept absolutely everybody. That’s why he’s got a little army of perfectly loyal
kids. Including Rani, of course... she worships him more every day.”

Kevin took the coffee pot and served another round for the three of them.

“Let her worship, Katey. Who knows, maybe someday she will end up calling him Dad.”

Kate raised her eyebrows, scandalized. “How can you joke about something so serious?”

Kevin looked at his friend intently. “It’s not a joke. I had a hunch about you two since the first
day.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but in that moment Rani appeared in the kitchen again, with an
oblong box in her hands.

“Mom, Uncle Kevin, can we play Dragonwood?”

“Of course, munchkin! Bring the game here, I’ll set the cards and everything.”

Kevin cleared the coffee utensils and started setting up the board for the game. He noticed Kate
was looking at her daughter with a serious expression.

“Now you’re worried about what I just said”, he whispered in his friend’s ear. “I didn’t mean to
scare you, and I’m sorry if I did.”

“It’s alright, Kevin. I just want the best for her… and if having no father at all is better than having
a lousy stepfather, that’s how things will stay, no matter what.”
Kevin sighed.

“Very well. I didn’t want to come to this extreme, but… I bet you a hundred bucks that, less than a
year after my wedding, I’ll be crying at yours.”

“That’s going to be the easiest hundred dollars I’ll win in my life”, said Kate with a snicker. “A
year? Kevin, honey, you’re insane.”

“That’s how much trust I have in you two. Now, get your head in the board game or Rani will win
like she did last time. Deal, Miss Williams?”

Kate went to side beside Rani and winked at her friend.

“Deal, Mr. McMichaels. For better of worse.”

Miguel parked his bike outside the dojo, checking the time on his phone. It was early, way too
early. Not even Sensei Lawrence had arrived yet, but fortunately a few weeks before he had given
the boy a copy of the keys. The other kids were probably killing some time before class at the
mini-mart, or at Gladys’s café, but Miguel didn’t feel like talking to anybody.

Once inside Cobra Kai he went to the locker room, took off his shoes and sat on a bench. It was the
first day of August, and he wondered how Summer had gone by so fast. In fact, the whole year had
passed in a flash: it felt like mere days since he’d met his Sensei, since he had started training.
Sure, there had been a lot of changes in his life since then; the scuffle at the cafeteria, the arrival of
new boys (and girls) to the dojo, the tournament, his fight with Sam…

Sam. He let out a frustrated groan thinking of her, and especially thinking of her brand new
boyfriend. Miguel had been patient, like she wanted; she had told him she’d wait until school
started again before making a decision… but those had been just empty words. Words without
value, and now his last thread of hope had vanished.

He also had the feeling that he was losing his closest friends. Demetri hanged out more with the
Miyagi-Do guys than with him; it was hard to blame him, but it still hurt that he had chosen a
different dojo. And Hawk… they saw less and less of him every day. When he wasn’t busy with
Moon, he disappeared for the whole day saying he’d gone to the beach for a run, or to train alone.
Miguel wondered where the old Eli Moskowitz had gone, because he really missed him sometimes.
Sure, there was always Aisha, who now Miguel considered his best and most loyal friend; and the
new girls, who were cool and fun to be around. But he missed the times when it had been just
Demetri, Eli and him. They may have been social outcasts, but at least they were always there for
each other.

The sound of voices outside the room made him jump out of his thoughts. He changed into his
training gi and went to meet Hawk, who had just arrived.

“Hey, man. How are you holding up?”

“Meh. Fine”, was the not very enthusiastic answer.

“Oh, come on!” Hawk said with a disgusted face. “Get over that girl already! It’s been a week since
Moon and I saw her with that idiot. Look, I’ll ask Moon to get you a friend, okay? If I can go out
with the hottest chick in West Valley High, I’m sure you can get any other girl you want.”

“That’s the problem, Eli. I don’t want any other.”

“Dude, really? Don’t be a snore!”

He brushed Hawk off and thought about going to sit with the girls. At least they wouldn’t chide
him about Sam… but Keiko was also there, and Miguel knew that if he started talking to her the
conversation would inevitably shift towards her brother. And just thinking of the infuriatingly
perfect Shiro Yashida made his stomach turn.

With no one else to talk to, he went back into the changing room and locked himself in one of the
stalls. He had ten minutes before the class started, and if he couldn’t share that time with anyone at
least he could be alone and in peace.

Outside, Miguel’s maneuvers had been closely observed by the four girls. Grace made a sign for
the others to go into the girls' locker room.

“Did you see Diaz out there looking like a lost puppy? What the hell is happening to him?”

“I think he’s depressed”, intervened Sophie.

“No shit, Sherlock”, said Aisha. “He’s been like that for a week, and every time I try to talk to him
he shuts me out. I don’t know what else to try.”

“I think it had something to do with Hawk”, observed Keiko while she arranged her hair in a
ponytail. “I saw them talking the other day, and Miguel’s face fell as if someone had died.”

“I have a theory”, said Grace, while she rearranged the stuff inside her locker. “And I think I know
a way to get his spirits up. Keiko, you’re single, right? No long distance relationship with a boy in
Ohio, or anything?”

The Japanese girl blinked, confused.

“Yeah, I’m single, but… Oh, no. I know what you’re thinking, Grace, and the answer is ‘No
way’.”

“Come on, Miguel needs a girlfriend!” insisted the other girl. “School won’t start for another three
weeks, and even when it starts we can’t know if there will be any new girls or not. Sophie and I are
not exactly single... and not exactly straight; and Aisha only thinks of him as a slightly annoying
brother. So… that leaves you. You’re smart, and pretty, and he likes you.”

“As a friend. Only as a friend.”

“That could change, if you play your cards right....”

“Stop looking at me like that!” said Keiko, alarmed. “The only thing I feel when I think of Miguel
is the urge to watch videos of kittens on Instagram.”

“He’s kind of cute. I mean... for a boy.”

“Yeah, but not my type. Too soft. Besides, he’s still hung up on Samantha LaRusso… what girl in
her right mind would want a boy who’s in love with someone else?”

“We need to cheer him up, it’s our duty as his friends! And if setting him up with someone is not
the solution, what else can we do?”

“Play videogames with him? Throw him a wild party? Buy him porn? Buy him booze?” Keiko
recited all the options she could think of, trying to find the right one.
“Nah, he doesn’t do booze anymore”, said Aisha. “He got drunk for the first time in his life last
May, and he screwed up big time with Sam.”

Keiko rolled her eyes. “Typical.”

“And we’re not buying him porn. It’s degrading and dehumanizing to women… besides, he can
find it online for free”, Grace added, matter-of-factly.

“I only threw that one in as a joke!” laughed Keiko. “I’ll try anything that doesn’t involve setting
me up with him.”

“What about the Lake Balboa thing?” intervened Sophie, who had been silent until then. “It’s less
than two weeks away, right? Maybe he’ll meet a girl there.”

Aisha shook her head.

“You weren’t there when the tournament happened, Soph. The ratio of girls to boys in any dojo in
the Valley is a total disgrace. There’s a dozen boys for each one of us… and Miguel may look
tough and shit, but deep down he’s a big softie. He won’t stand a chance among all the
competition.”

“Unless we help him”, stated Grace in a firm voice.

“Help him hook up with a girl? How?”

“Hey, I think Grace is right”, said Keiko, who was starting to see the advantages of Grace’s plan.
“Miguel is the reigning champion, it will be easy to make him popular at the meetup. We can be
super friendly with every girl we meet, and then tell them how cool he is, and how he’s been
nursing a broken heart all Summer… you know, all that sappy stuff. I bet he’ll have a dozen phone
numbers by the end of the day.”

“We don’t even know if we’re going to that meeting or not”, said Aisha, who kept playing devil’s
advocate. “Sensei said he’s not sure it will be good for Cobra Kai, he hasn’t decided yet.”

“Of course we’re going! Sensei only said that to make us train super hard and work for it.”

“So, we have a plan. Operation Matchmaker is under way”, said Grace, slamming the door of her
locker and grinning at the others. “And I know it’s going to be a success.”

Thirty minutes into the class, Johnny stood on the edge of the mat, watching the kids while they
sparred. Every now and then he gave an order, or corrected a student’s technique. But for the most
part he was just observing them, taking mental note of their progress.

Right in front of him, Kev was desperately trying to block Aisha’s punches. Johnny knew the girl
went to swim in the ocean almost every day, and the constant fight against the waves had made her
stronger and leaner. A true Cobra. She could even hope to reach the finals on her next tournament,
if she kept getting better.

A little to the left, Rattler and Virgin were quite evenly matched. The girl was smaller, of course,
but she knew how to use her size as an advantage, dodging instead of blocking, slithering out of the
boy’s way and throwing kicks towards him with uncanny speed.

“Man up, Virgin! You’re letting an eight-year-old sweep the floor with you!” Johnny barked.
“Rattler, keep your guard up, and don’t stop moving those legs!”

When the students couldn’t see him, he smiled. He knew Kate was horribly proud of her girl… and
seeing the little one do so well in class made him feel proud, too. The kid had the marks of a future
champion, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to make her win the All Valley tournament some
day. Preferably when she had grown a bit taller than her current four feet, or the trophy would be
bigger than her.

A series of pained grunts and groans attracted his attention to the furthest end of the room. Hawk
had just thrown a high kick aimed at Keiko’s head. She dodged it by the skin of her teeth, and
retaliated with a blow to the boy’s ribcage, but he managed to block it and counterattack, making
her lose her balance and fall. Keiko hit the mat and jumped to her feet again, making a sound that
was almost a growl.

Johnny frowned. He knew the girl was technically superior to Hawk, and almost as strong as him.
In fact, he had made Hawk spar with her because he had been late to training twice in the past
week, and Johnny knew Keiko would make the boy eat some humble pie. But the little shit was
actually stepping up to her level, pulling out some moves he didn’t know he had.

“Well, watching all those karate videos on his phone had to be good for something”, he muttered to
himself. Unlike Aisha, who devoured number after number of Black Belt magazine, or Miguel,
who liked to train alone for hours, Hawk had been trying to absorb his advanced karate knowledge
via YouTube. And, apparently, he was succeeding.

He also had the advantage of being completely ruthless. Most of the other boys held back a little
with they were fighting girls... Even Johnny did that when he was teaching them. It was instinctive,
a remnant of the ‘no hitting girls’ mantra that was ingrained in the brain of every kid when Johnny
had been a little boy. It was something you simply didn’t do.

But Hawk didn’t care about that. The person in front of him, boy or girl, young or old, was The
Enemy; and he treated every fight as if it was a tournament. For a second, Johnny was reminded of
his old friend Dutch. He had been the ruthless one back in the day, the one who had to be
physically dragged away from his opponents almost in every fight. But not even Dutch would have
attacked a girl with the vicious blows that Hawk was directing towards Keiko. If the girl’s defence
hadn’t been so good, it would have been a massacre.

The rest of the boys and girls were also busy in one-to-one combats, with varying degrees of
success. Johnny let out a sigh; many were still sloppy and amateurish, but at least they were getting
better every day. All of them, including the one he could have sworn would quit after the first
week…

Whack.

“Ouch!”

The familiar sound of a body hitting the mat came from behind Johnny’s back. He rolled his eyes
and turned around, expecting to see Sophie on the floor once again. He had made the girl spar with
Miguel for weeks, hoping to toughen her up a little, to awaken the snake inside her; but he was
starting to lose hope. Some people were just not made for fighting.

That’s why he got such a shock when he saw Miguel on the floor, groaning and raising a hand to
his jaw... exactly to the point where the girl had just kicked him with all her strength.

“What the f...?” Johnny stopped himself just in time. He was getting really good at not swearing in
front of Rattler, most of the time. “Joy! Did you do that?”

“I think so… I mean, yes, Sensei!” she said, with her doe eyes wide open.

Around them, everybody else had stopped, astonished. Grace beamed at her girlfriend, who stood
frozen in place, trying to assimilate the idea that she’d almost knocked out the best Cobra Kai
student.

Ignoring the boy on the mat, Johnny stood in front of Sophie and gave her a congratulatory nod.

“Well done, Joy. We’ll still make a fighter out of you… and you’ve earned the right to spar with
your girl for the rest of the week. But don’t rest on your laurels, remember that you’re only as good
as your last match. Understood?”

Sophie nodded and went to stand beside Grace, who gave her hand a quick squeeze.

“Diaz! Can you stand, or should I call your mommy to pick you from the floor?”

The boy jumped upright, with his hand still rubbing his face on the point where the girl had hit
him. It was starting to turn red.

“I can stand, Sensei.”

“Good.” He gave him a pat on the shoulder; it had to be humbling that a chit of a girl had been able
to hit him so hard. “Remember that you can’t win every time, don’t underrate your opponent again.
Now, go fight with Caleb.”

Miguel bit his lip and lowered his head. He had allowed himself just one second of confusion, but
it had been enough for Sophie to find an opening. He shook his head, cursing the array of
sentimental woes that had made him divert his attention from the training.

With slow steps he crossed the mat and stood in front of his new opponent, grinding his teeth. As
soon as Johnny gave them the signal, he landed a perfect kick on Caleb’s ribs. He had already lost
enough time moping about a girl who didn’t want him; now karate was the only thing he had left,
the only thing worth losing sleep for.

He wasn’t going to get distracted again.

No Mercy.
Chapter End Notes

Sorry for the late update, I've been nursing a cold that turned my brain into mush for
several days.
The next chapter will take place entirely at Miyagi-Do, where Daniel and his students
will receive the visit of the kids from the Los Angeles urban camp (including Rani, of
course). I'm really looking forward to writing that one... Stay tuned!
 Kismet
Chapter Summary

A flock of children pay a visit to Miyagi-Do. Daniel makes a few wrong

assumptions… and then some more, because why not.

Chapter Notes

This chapter takes place completely in Daniel's territory. I have to admit that, while
Johnny is still my favorite Cobra Kai character, it's really fascinating to try and get
into Daniel's head. You'll tell me if I did it right or not... Enjoy!

I almost forgot to add: apologies for all the things I got wrong in the fight scene,
including targeting an illegal area. It had to be that way for the scene to work.

CHAPTER 22. KISMET

Daniel checked his reflection in the mirror, sighed, and untied his gi for the third time that
morning.

“Darn. I must have ironed it wrong again”, he muttered.

The LaRussos had a housekeeper that came to their house three times a week, but Daniel never let
anyone take care of his karate gear, not even Amanda. It was too intimate, too personal… so
personal that he took it like an affront when his collar refused to stay perfectly straight and
symmetrical.

At last, he managed to make it look exactly like he wanted, tied his headband, and checked the
clock on the wall. Ten minutes until the children from the urban camps arrived, and everything
seemed to be in order.

He stepped out of his office and went to see if his students were ready. What he saw made him
extremely proud: Sam, Shiro and Demetri were already standing in line, wearing their
immaculately white gis. Robby hadn’t arrived yet; the boy had insisted on going to LaRusso Auto
early and working for a couple of hours before joining them at the dojo. Since the day he had
moved to Daniel’s house, it was as if he was trying to prove himself beyond his limits.

A quick rap at the door startled Daniel, making him think that his visitors had arrived early… but it
was Amanda, cell phone in hand, with Robby beside her.

“You all look great! Stand together, I’m going to take a picture.”

“Hello, darling”, he said, kissing her cheek. “What a surprise, I thought you were going to stay at
the dealership today.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for the world”, she said, snapping several pictures of Daniel and his
students. “You know how much I love little kids… besides, Robby needed a lift.”

While the boy greeted his friends and disappeared towards the changing room, Amanda leaned in
to whisper in Daniel’s ear.

“He was at the dealership at seven this morning. Did you tell him to do that?”

“Of course not!” he answered in the same hushed-up tone. “I told him he didn’t have to work
today… He’s spreading himself too thin between work, training and his GED; I should give him a
week of paid vacation, or he’ll have a heart attack one of these days.”

A rumbling noise outside put an end to the conversation. Daniel and his wife headed out, where the
group of small children and their teacher were getting off a school bus.

“Welcome to Miyagi-Do Karate!” he said with his best smile. “My name is Daniel LaRusso, and
this is Amanda. Are you ready to have a great time?”

The children cheered and clapped, expectant, and the grey-haired woman who was in charge of
them shook hands with Daniel.

“Good morning, Mr. LaRusso; I’m Mrs. Clarke, we talked on the phone the other day. I can’t tell
you how happy I am that you’ve let us organize this visit on such short notice.”

“It’s our pleasure. The original plan was taking them to All Star Karate, right?” asked Daniel.

“Exactly”, replied Mrs. Clarke in a tired voice. “But the person in charge of the urban camps didn’t
take into account that the teachers of that dojo are on vacation until September… if you hadn’t
offered us your help, the kids and I would have to spend another day at the Natural Science
Museum. And, between you and me… there’s a limit to the number of dinosaurs I can see without
wanting to ask for an early retirement.”

They all laughed at the teacher’s joke (if it was really a joke), and Amanda ushered the kids inside.
It was a noisy bunch, a dozen boys and girls, all around eight or nine years old.

The first part of the visit was introducing them to Daniel’s students. All the little girls flocked
towards Samantha, while the boys stood near Shiro and Demetri. Then they went for a quick tour
of the building: the two training rooms, the patio, the gym… The children were ecstatic, observing
everything with wide eyes.

“We’ll show you the garden and the koi pond later”, said Daniel once the group had returned
inside. “Now, please sit on the tatami while I tell you a couple of things about karate.”

He started, of course, by showing them the portrait of Mr. Miyagi and telling them a short story of
his old mentor’s life: how he had fought in World War 2, settled in the Valley, met Daniel and
become his teacher. He kept an eye the group of children, hoping he wasn’t boring them too much
with his lecture… They were sitting in a semicircle, listening intently and taking in all his words.
So far, so good.

“And now, something a bit more fun: Shiro is going to tell you about kata, which is the foundation
of the karate I teach here, while Sam and Demetri do a practical demonstration. Come on, Shiro.”

Daniel retreated to the back of the room and let his older student explain the basics of kata while
the other two put his words to practice with coordinated movements. It had been Sam’s idea, to
mix the theory with some visual examples, and the kids were fascinated by it. They were so quiet
and well behaved that he could even hear the tatami rustling softly under Sam and Demetri’s bare
feet.

A moment later, Robby came out of the changing room and joined Daniel.

“Sorry, Mr. LaRusso”, he whispered, careful not to interrupt the class. “My Mom just called from
Texas while I was changing… she asked me to say hi.”

“It’s okay, Robby. The others are doing a great job with the demonstration, and you’ve arrived just
in time to step in for the next part. Don’t worry.”

About fifteen minutes later (Daniel had asked Shiro to keep the presentation short), the lesson on
kata ended, followed by a round of applause from the kids and Mrs. Clarke. The teacher seemed
really happy to spend her morning watching something other than dinosaurs.

“Thank you for your attention”, said Shiro, giving the children his deepest and most formal bow.
“Sensei LaRusso, will you take charge again?”

“Of course. Is everybody having fun?” asked Daniel.

A loud chorus of ‘yes’ greeted him.

“Wonderful! Now it’s time for you to meet another one of my students. Robby, come here.”

The boy stepped into the semicircle of kids, blushing slightly. He wasn’t used to being the center
of attention, and he also wasn’t sure how to interact with small kids. His shy wave met with a wall
of mildly interested smiles coming from all the children… Well, from almost all of them. Daniel
noticed that one of the young visitors, a tiny South Asian girl with huge black eyes, gasped the
moment she saw Robby, as if she was in the presence of a rock star.

“Hey, you’re Robby Keene!”

The boy crouched in front of her, trying to remember if he knew this particular child.

“Ah… yes, that’s me. Hi. Have we met?”

“No, but I saw you in the videos of the tournament. You’re very good!” was the enthusiastic
answer.

“Looks like you’ve got a fan, Robby”, said Daniel with a proud smile. “What’s your name? Do you
like karate?”

“I’m Rani. I do karate since I was six years old... I’m eight now.”

“Splendid! We have a secret martial arts student in the group… But why didn’t you say anything
while Shiro was explaining the kata?”

“My Mom says it’s rude to interrupt, Sensei LaRusso.”

Daniel nodded. He still felt uncomfortable every time someone (usually Shiro) addressed him as
‘Sensei’, and it sounded even weirder coming from a little girl. But she was clearly very polite and
respectful, and he started wondering what it would take for the kid to leave her current dojo,
wherever that was, and join Miyagi-Do.

“Well, well. As Miss Rani here says, this young man is Robby Keene, the first student of this dojo.
He was a finalist in this year’s edition of the All Valley karate championship; you can see his
trophy over there.”
The children turned around to admire the golden award, displayed along several others in a glass
case. One little boy raised his hand.

“Are all the other trophies yours, Mr. LaRusso?”

Daniel gave the kids a proud smile.

“That’s right. The two bigger ones are from my own All Valley victories. Would you like to see
them up close?”

He led the kids to the back of the room and opened the glass case, letting the boys and girls hold
the shiny trophies while he told them about the tournament. At one point, he searched for the
South Asian girl: she was at the back of the group, silent again, and she seemed more interested in
observing his other students than in admiring the trophies.

“So, Rani… wouldn’t you like to win one of these someday?” he asked, fearing that he was losing
her attention.

The little girl’s eyes lightened up. “Yes, Sensei. I’m going to win more than one.”

Daniel and the Miyagi-Do students looked at each other, intrigued.

“More than one?” asked Robby. “You know it’s really hard just to reach the semifinals, right? I
had to train very hard and defeat lots of people to win my trophy.”

Rani crossed her arms and jutted her chin up.

“I know it’s hard… but I have a plan. I’m going to be the first three-time All Valley champion.”

There was a sudden silence in the room, and all heads turned towards her.

“What?” said Daniel, when the surprise allowed him to speak.

“Nobody has won the tournament three times before, so that’s what I’m going to do. I need to win
when I’m fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, so I have… I have seven years”, she said, counting on her
fingers to make sure she got it right. “Yes, seven years to train hard and to become better than
everybody else before my first win. My Mom is going to be super proud of me.”

“And your Dad too, I’m sure.”

“I don’t have a Dad”, said Rani calmly. “It’s just Mom and me.”

Daniel’s expression became unreadable. It should be funny to see a girl so small and so determined
to win a tournament full of older kids, but little Rani was too serious for that. Kids raised by a
single mother had to be tough… or become tough to survive, like Robby. Or like himself. He was
starting to get an idea: the passion and the drive were clearly there, the only thing left was to test
the talent.

“I think it’s time we all take a little break. Kids, I’m sure you’ll love to see the Zen garden and the
koi pond, right? Demetri is our expert on koi, he looks after them and feeds them every day… I
suspect they already like him more than me.”

All the children stared at the tall, lanky boy.

“Actually, Japanese koi are very intelligent fish”, Demetri started, happy that they had finally
reached his area of expertise. “The koi is a symbol of personal strength and perseverance through
difficult situations, demonstrated by its ability to swim against currents… And they also love to be
petted, of course. Come with me, little minions; let’s pay my fishy friends a visit.”

He headed outside, followed by the bunch of children, while Daniel addressed their teacher.

“Mrs. Clarke, do you mind staying here with Rani for a minute? I’d like to see for myself how
much karate she knows. Don’t worry about the others, they’re in good hands. Demetri may be six
foot tall… but he’s a little kid at heart, too.”

The good Mrs. Clarke, flattered that Daniel thought that one of her kids was special, agreed
immediately.

“Rani, sweetheart, come here”, she called. “Stay with us, please. You can go see the fish later, but
first Mr. LaRusso would like to ask you a few questions.”

Daniel crouched before the little girl with a kind smile.

“So… Rani, if you’ve been doing karate for two years, you must have learned a lot. Sam here
started training with me when she was four, and by the time she reached your age she was almost
invincible.”

Rani looked at the older girl in awe. “I’m not as good as some of the others in my dojo, but I train
very hard. Yesterday I won a fight with one of the girls, she’s fifteen... but she just started a month
ago, so it wasn’t a fair combat.”

The fact that she talked about sparring with a 15-year-old without batting a lash impressed Daniel.
Around him, his three remaining students (and Amanda, who had been observing the class very
carefully) also stared at the seemingly fearless kid with curiosity.

“Well, actions speak louder than words, so… Would you like to show us what you can do, Rani?”
he asked. “You can do kumite with Sam if you want. Or with Demetri, when he comes back from
the koi pond... although you can’t be too hard on him, because he just started practicing a few
weeks ago.”

The girl nodded and paced up and down before Daniel’s students, like a miniature drill sergeant;
she finally stopped in front of Robby.

“You want to spar with me? Why?” asked the boy with an amused smile.

Rani held his gaze. “I told you, you’re very good. I know you’re going to win, but I want to see
how long I can hold against you.”

“All right, kiddo”, he said. “If Mr. LaRusso agrees, I will spar with you.”

“Thank you”, she said, grinning. “But don’t do that two-legged kick you used at the tournament. I
already asked my Sensei to teach me how to block it.”

Robby pressed his lips together to avoid laughing. He didn’t want to make fun of the child, but she
was taking herself too seriously with that kind of warning.

“I promise I won’t… although now I’m really curious to see if you really could block it.”

Rani sat on a bench and started untying her shoes, while Daniel grabbed Robby’s arm and took
him apart.
“Please, be careful, Robby.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. LaRusso, I won’t let her get hurt. I’m just going to block her attacks, let her land
one or two punches so she doesn’t go home feeling bad with herself, and then make her lose her
balance so she falls on the mat… but not too hard.”

Daniel looked at Rani suspiciously. “Fine; but I didn’t mean it just for her sake. I remember Sam
when she was that age: one day I told her to hit me as hard as she could, to test her strength… and
she kicked my bad knee so hard that I thought it was broken. Little girls have a natural instinct to
hit where it hurts.”

“Is that why you sent all the other kids outside?”

“In part, yes. It’s not right that she gets humiliated in front of her friends. When they get back, I’ll
tell them that she did a great job, and that she almost won”, Daniel said in a conspiratory tone.
“She’ll go back a hero… and, with a bit of luck, she’ll also tell her mother that Miyagi-Do is a
better place for her than wherever she’s training now. I think she must be from Krunch… there
were a lot of little kids cheering on them from the bleachers at the All Valley. And they have
always had an excess of confidence that never really translates on the mat; they’ve never won a
tournament.”

He gave Robby a pat on the shoulder and went to sit with Amanda, Sam and Mrs. Clarke. Shiro
was already on the tatami, having claimed the role of referee.

The two contenders faced one another and bowed. Rani had rolled up her sleeves, and Daniel saw
she was wearing a bracelet made of several rows of wooden beads, that rattled when she moved.

“Well, you know how this goes”, stated Shiro in his kind and gentle voice. “The first one to reach
three points wins.”

“Right”, said Rani.

“And two-legged kicks are strictly forbidden”, added the boy, winking at her.

When the improvised referee said ‘fight’, Robby hesitated for a moment, not sure of how to start
the combat. He made a mental list of places where he could hit that wouldn’t hurt too much… he
would never forgive himself if he made a little girl cry.

That second of waiting proved to be one second too long, of course. Shiro’s voice still echoed in his
ears when a small blur launched herself onto the fight, attempting a strike that Robby blocked out
of pure instinct.

From his vantage point on the bench, Daniel was hyper aware of both fighters’ movements. He
wished he had slow-motion vision (if that superpower really existed) so he could take in every
punch, every kick. He knew that both Robby and the little girl were testing each other; the boy had
superior strength, but his opponent seemed to be oddly familiar with the Miyagi style; she surely
had memorized every one of Robby’s moves on those YouTube videos.

No one had been able to land a punch yet. Rani’s smile had disappeared from her little brown face,
replaced by an expression of concentrated fierceness; this wasn’t a mockery of a combat for her, it
was the real deal. Her smaller size put her at a disadvantage, of course, and Daniel wondered how
was she ever going to…

“Ooof!”
Amanda covered her mouth with her hand; beside her, Sam gasped, and even Shiro seemed
surprised as he extended his hand to award the first point... to Rani, who had punched Robby right
in the solar plexus, making all the air escape from his lungs. Nobody was more surprised than
Robby, who regained his breath with a wheezing sound and readied himself to launch a
counterstrike. The girl wasn’t a match for him, of course, and his kick made her land on the mat a
second later.

Daniel made a covert sign to Shiro, ready to stop the combat if the little girl cried… but she just
jumped to her feet again and assumed a fighting stance, with her little fists raised in front of her.

It was clear that Robby was going to try the same move again, to make Rani fall as gently as he
could. However, this time she balanced herself on one hand before hitting the floor and launched a
low kick, hitting Robby’s ankle so hard that Sam winced again.

“Point!” Shiro exclaimed, completely caught up in his role as referee. “Two to one.”

Kneeling on the mat, Robby gritted his teeth, paying no heed to the stinging pain on his ankle. It
hadn’t been the strongest of kicks, but the girl had hit him right in the joint.

Little girls have a natural instinct to hit where it hurts.

He took a breath and decided two things: one, that the kid had done well enough to go home
feeling proud of herself; and two, that he wasn’t going to give her the chance to win a third point.
He realized, almost too late, that he’d been holding back because his opponent was too small and
cute.

Well, cuteness be damned.

The rest of the fight lasted only a few more seconds. An open handed strike to Rani’s shoulder
gave him his second point, and the third and final arrived in the shape of a well-aimed kick that
made her fall flat on her bottom.

When Shiro announced the end of the match, Robby was almost scared of looking at the girl…
until he heard her laughing. The little pest was sitting on the mat and laughing her head off, as if
she hadn’t just been kicked to the floor!

He kneeled beside her and helped her up.

“Kiddo, are you okay?”

“That was so much fun! My Sensei never lets me spar with the older boys, he says I’m not ready
yet.”

“Really?” he laughed. “Next time you go to class, tell him he should let you spar with anybody you
want, you can hold your ground like the best of us. Has anybody ever told you that you have a
mean kick?”

“My Sensei says that all the time.”

“And that you move super fast?”

“Yes! He says I’m hard to hit because I’m a small target... But I have to learn how to block well
because I won’t be this small forever.”

Robby laughed. “Awesome! I’m starting to think that you definitely will win the tournament when
you’re fifteen, Rani.”

“It’s Rattler.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m Rani at home, but they call me Rattler at the dojo. Sensei says it’s because I’m small and
noisy like a rattlesnake.”

A light finally went off in Robby’s head, and he looked at Daniel, alarmed. An identical frown
appeared on Daniel and Samantha’s foreheads; they exchanged a glance in silence, and Sam leaned
in to whisper in her father’s ear.

“Aisha told me they had a young girl at the dojo… But it can’t be her, she’s so tiny!”

“Tiny and deadly, it seems.” There was a sudden greenish tinge in Daniel’s face, and he
approached the girl with silent steps.

“Rani… I mean, Rattler… You haven’t told us the name of your dojo.”

The girl turned towards him, black eyes wide open.

“Cobra Kai”, she stated, with an angelic smile on her face. She didn’t notice Sam’s horrified
expression, nor the way Robby covered his eyes with his hands. She didn’t even realize that Daniel
had almost stopped breathing.

In the end, it was Amanda who reacted first.

“If you’re in Cobra Kai you must know Aisha… she’s a very good friend of Sam.”

“Yes, Aisha is great! I want to be like her when I grow up.” Rani nodded at Samantha, as if
acknowledging that being friends with a Cobra girl was a mark of status.

Amanda kept asking her questions about the dojo and her friends while she kept an eye on Daniel,
whose color was slowly returning to his cheeks. He blinked several times, trying to assimilate the
fact that this little girl was being ruthlessly trained by Johnny Lawrence. What she could become in
the hands of the wrong teacher, nobody knew… and his blood boiled when he thought of it.

“Rani, do you like Cobra Kai?” he asked when he finally gathered his wits again.

“I like it a lot”, was the enthusiastic response. “I’m learning many things, I have many friends…
and Sensei Lawrence is the best. He won the All Valley twice, like you!”

There it was. The brainwashing had already started.

“But don’t you think your teacher is a little harsh on his students?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rani blinked.

“No. He’s teaching us to be stronger, and faster, and…” her voice faded out, and Daniel noticed she
was looking at one of the framed pictures that adorned the wall of the dojo. A picture of his old
apartment building, taken by Lucille on their first day in Reseda, so many years before. He kept it
as a reminder of his origins, a memento of his family’s times of hardship.

“Do you like that picture?”

“I like it, but it’s wrong”, was the enigmatic answer.

“But… it’s a picture, not a painting. How can it be wrong?” asked Daniel, crouching beside the
little girl.

“There are three palm trees there, but in reality there’s only two.”

“You’re very clever… and completely right. That picture is very very old, there used to be three
palm trees in front of the South Seas building a long time ago… but they cut one of them down.
How do you know that, Rani?”

“Because that’s where I live with my Mom.”

Daniel took a slow breath. He looked at the picture, and then at Rani again. That was one
coincidence too many. He didn’t exactly believe in signs, but in that moment he could hear the
Universe screaming at him; the actual words of the message, however, were not so clear.

Once more, Amanda came to her husband’s rescue.

“And where does your Mom work, sweetie?”

“In an office. She has a laptop and writes papers all the time.”

A secretary, thought Daniel. Or an office clerk. In any case, the poor woman is too swamped with
work to realize that her daughter has been recruited into the dark side.

“Is your Mom happy with your dojo, Rani?” he asked, determined to get to the bottom of the
situation. “She must get scared when she goes to pick you up after practice and she sees all the
boys there hitting each other so hard.”

“No, it’s okay”, answered the girl with a shrug. “She comes to pick me up every day, and she
always talks to my friends and to Sensei Lawrence.”

“Right. And what does your Sensei think of that? Doesn’t he get angry?” he insisted, imagining
Johnny’s annoyance with having a mother constantly intruding in his classes.

Rani made a sign for Amanda and Daniel to come closer, and lowered her voice to a whisper.

“He never gets angry with her. It’s a secret, you can’t tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what, sweetie?” asked Amanda, frowning.

“Sensei Lawrence likes my Mom.”

“What?” exclaimed Daniel.

“I heard Aisha and Keiko talking about it the other day… they stopped when they noticed I was
listening. Everybody thinks I’m too little to notice those things”, she continued, very serious. “But I
think it’s true, because Mom asked Sensei Lawrence to stop saying bad words in class, and he did.
And the other day he came home and fixed the bathroom window that didn’t close well. That’s
what you do when you like someone, you help them with things.”

There was something so solid in her childlike logic that Amanda couldn’t help smiling.

“And what do you think of that, sweetheart?”

“I think it’s great”, Rani answered after thinking about it for a moment. “Mom has never liked
anybody before.”

Before Daniel could think of an appropriate answer, the group of children, led by Demetri, came
back from the Zen garden.

“I will let you know that these very clever youngsters are now experts in the care and feeding of
Japanese koi”, he announced. “Also, some of the koi have been given new names… but I had
absolutely nothing to do with that.”

The children laughed. It had only taken them a minute to realize that Demetri was a big softie.

The rest of the visit passed in a breeze, with a few more sparring demonstrations, some more kata,
and a very busy Daniel answering all kinds of curious questions. When it was time for the group to
leave, he accompanied them to the exit.

“It has been a pleasure having you here”, he said with a happy smile. “I hope we didn’t bore you
too much.”

“Oh, nonsense, Mr. LaRusso!” answered Mrs. Clarke. “This was a lovely visit; the most interesting
of all we’ve done so far.”

“And you, kids”, he continued, “don’t forget to tell your parents to bring you to Miyagi-Do if you
ever want to give karate a try. We’ll be waiting for you.”

The Miyagi-Do students were also saying their goodbyes; before going into the school bus, Rani
stopped in front of Robby.

“I’m sorry I kicked you so hard”, she said, very serious. “I wanted you to see that I’m good, too.”

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt anymore”, he laughed, kneeling to speak to the girl face to face. “I’m
glad I’ll be too old for the tournament when you get there, kiddo, because you’re going to kick
some serious butt in a few years.”

His words were rewarded by a wide grin.

“Can I give you a hug?” Rani asked.

Robby nodded, and hugged her back. This was another thing he wasn’t used to.

The little girl turned then towards Daniel. “Thank you, Sensei LaRusso. This was a lot of fun.”

“Thank you , Rani, for visiting us. And I’d like you to tell your Mom that, if she ever wants to
come to Miyagi-Do and pay us a visit, both of you will be very welcome.”

The little girl was the last one to board the camp bus; a moment later, the kids waved goodbye at
Daniel, Amanda and the students, until the bus disappeared down the road.

Daniel let out a deep sigh. He didn’t look so happy anymore.

“Robby, I don’t want you to go back to the dealership today; you’ve had a rough morning, take the
afternoon off. And the same goes for the rest of you… get changed and go have some lunch. My
treat.”
“Is everything okay, Dad?” asked Samantha.

“It’s fine, Sam”, he answered with a tired smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I have things to do, and
you’ve all earned a rest. I’ll give you my credit card so you can invite the others to lunch.”

With those words he went back inside and headed for his office, followed by Amanda.

Outside, the four Miyagi students sat on the steps of the house, in the shade.

“That was a weird change of humor”, observed Shiro.

“Weird... and good”, Demetri replied. “Free lunch! Where are we going?”

“I’m not hungry”, said Robby, a bit downcast.

“You’re not hungry after the morning we’ve had? What’s wrong with you?”

“Wrong? Oh, nothing! I’d just like to know why every time there’s a Cobra Kai delivering blows, I
get the worst part. Even when it’s a pint-sized one”, Robby groaned, only half joking.

“You have to admit that her technique was interesting”, said Shiro. “I’ll have to keep an eye on my
sister if everybody in that dojo fights with so much energy.”

“Come on, man, she can’t have hit you that hard!” said Demetri, regretting that he hadn’t been
there to witness the match.

“Hey! You weren’t on that mat, dude. For a second or two after she punched me, I had no idea if I
would breathe again… if she had hit me in the nuts, I’d never have kids.”

The others snickered, but Robby still looked a bit depressed. Sam went to sit beside him, trying to
cheer him up.

“Look on the bright side, Robby. All the children had a great time… and you have a fan! Rani was
super happy to spar with you. I wish I was so chipper every time I lose a match!”

“Do you think my Dad is going to congratulate me for kicking his smaller student into the mat?”
Robby quipped. “Shit, now that things were starting to go better with him…”

“She punched you in the stomach first! I think you’re pretty much even.”

“Yeah, I doubt he’s going to see it that way.”

“Can we discuss this in front of a slice of pizza, please?” Demetri grumbled. “I’m starting to feel a
little weak…”

Shiro stood up and held the door open. “I agree. Come on, let’s get changed and enjoy our free
afternoon, we’ve earned it.”

The four teenagers returned to the building. Robby went in last, dragging his feet. He still wasn’t
sure meeting that kid had been a good thing.

“Daniel?”
“Hmmm?”

“Daniel, honey... do you realize you’re putting your shirt on inside out?”

He stopped trying to find the buttons, took the garment off and put it on again, this time the right
way.

“Inside out… Isn’t that a sign of bad luck?”

“No, babe”, said Amanda in a patient tone. “It’s a sign that you’re miles away from here. Will you
please stop worrying about that little girl?”

Still fumbling with the buttons, he let himself fall on a chair.

“Eight years old, Amanda. She’s eight. How am I going to be able to sleep knowing that she’s
being trained to become a killing machine?”

Amanda perched herself on the corner of Daniel’s desk, with her arms crossed.

“I didn’t want to come to this, but… I think you’re projecting your childhood self into Rani. She
may be fatherless, and live in your old building… but she’s not you. Besides, she has a mother to
make those decisions for her; and, if her mother thinks Cobra Kai is the best place for her to train,
there’s nothing we can do.”

“A mother who Johnny has charmed into believing he’s a good man.”

“Charmed?”, repeated Amanda. “All I heard was that he was being nice to her, being a good
neighbor, fixing her window... There was no dark magic involved.”

Daniel stood up and finished tucking his shirt into his pants. Then he grabbed his tie from the coat
rack. “I have to talk to Johnny. I’m going to ask him to let the girl go, and send her to Miyagi-Do.”

Amanda was starting to feel concerned. It had been a while since the last time she’d seen Daniel so
fixated on something.

“This is not a hostage situation, my love. And, after what happened the last time you and Johnny
saw each other, I doubt he’s going to listen to you. Wouldn’t it be easier if you talked to Rani’s
mother instead?”

“We don’t know her last name… There are almost forty apartments at South Seas, I can’t just go
there and start asking if there’s a South Asian single mother in the building. The neighbors will
think I’m a creep!”, said Daniel with a frown. “Besides, I’m sure Johnny has told that woman all
kinds of lies about me and Miyagi-Do.”

“Again, babe, you’re overthinking things. The girl didn’t have any prejudices against this dojo…
for all we know, her mom has no idea who you are.”

“And that’s why I need to talk to Johnny, and not her!” Daniel insisted. “Besides, it’s not decent
that he’s dating his lawyer and at the same time fooling around with Rani’s mother. What example
is he giving those kids? Typical Johnny… but I’ll try to talk some sense into him.”

“You’re mixing the personal and the professional, babe. Maybe Johnny and Kate broke up and he’s
with Rani’s mother now; or maybe they didn’t break up but they’re not exclusive. You have no
way of knowing... and I don’t think you should be involving yourself up in other people’s private
lives.” She stopped to gather her thoughts, in a last attempt to make Daniel see reason. “Please,
don’t make any hasty decisions about this… I don’t want you to bring that little child into your
crusade against Cobra Kai, and that’s exactly what you’re planning to do.”

Daniel stepped close to his wife and held her hands in his. “Amanda, I promise I’ll go see Johnny
tomorrow with a giant white flag in my hands. Now I’m going to go home, put my thoughts in
order and plan exactly what I’m going to say to him... I don’t want to start a fight this time. The
only thing I want is to get that little girl and her mother away from his influence.”

Amanda looked at her husband with worried eyes.

“Not everybody needs your help, Daniel”, she said, fixing the knot of his tie and grabbing his
shoulders to make him look at her. “Not everybody needs to be rescued.”

He nodded, leaning into her embrace; but his gaze was still lost in the distance.

“We’ll see about that.”

 Clash
Chapter Summary

Kate spends the day with her brother and her sister-in-law. Later, at Johnny's place, a
difference of opinion explodes into a heated argument.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 23. CLASH

“Come on, uncle Hugh, jump!”

“Jump, Dad!”

The dark-haired man stood on the edge of the swimming pool, making an exaggerated mockery of
an Olympic diver’s movements. To the delight of his young audience, he made several funny faces
before jumping; then he pretended to lose his balance, changed position in mid-air, and landed on
the water face first with a loud noise.

The two children sitting by the pool laughed and clapped. Rani was the one who had encouraged
her uncle to jump, and also the one who received most of the second hand splashing. Beside her,
her cousin Joel, a boy a few years younger than her, was also having the time of his life.

Inside the pool, Hugh Williams still wasn’t done with the show. He returned to the surface, did a
couple of awkward moves imitating a synchronized swimmer, pretended to be attacked by a shark,
and finally got out of the water, spattering a shower of drops all around him. Then, while his niece
and his son somersaulted into the pool, he grabbed a towel and went to sit near the other part of his
audience.

“So, what do the lady judges think of my performance?” he asked, kissing his wife’s cheek.

“I think you were absolutely majestic, mi amor. But don’t splash water around us like that, you’re
going to wake up Jamie”, answered the woman, pointing to the toddler, with a striking resemblance
to his Dad, who slept in her arms.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Lola, darling”, he said, looking at the sleeping boy with proud eyes.
“Jaime is a Williams from head to toe: if he takes a nap after lunch, nothing will wake him up. And
what’s my sister’s opinion? Tens across the board?”

“Your sister thinks you chose the wrong career.”

Sitting next to Lola and her younger son, Kate took a sip of her lemonade and grinned at her
brother.

“If instead of an engineer you had become a circus clown, you’d be world famous by now”, she
continued. “Are you sure you don’t want to change jobs?”

“I doubt the people at Lockheed will allow that. There’s more than enough clowns working for
them already… especially in Human Resources. Sometimes I suspect they breed them in a lab.”

Both Kate and Lola laughed at the joke, always keeping an eye on the two kids who were playing
in the pool.

“So, is Rani having fun at the urban camp?” Lola asked. “I miss having her home in the mornings.”

Kate smiled fondly at her sister-in-law. The young woman had a really strong maternal instinct,
and she was always happy to babysit her niece.

“Thank you for saying that... but I was starting to feel bad, leaving her with you every day for the
whole Summer. Besides, don’t you have enough with your two little ones?” laughed Kate. “Joel
has energy for several boys… and little Jamie here may look peaceful when he’s asleep, but when
he’s awake he can be as overactive as Hugh when he was his age.”

“Oh, I know they’re a handful”, answered Lola. “But I had so much fun looking after Rani… I
think I miss having a little girl of my own.”

“The next one will be a girl. I have a hunch”, said her husband with a wink.

“The next one?” asked Kate, surprised. “Are you…?”

“Oh, no! Not yet, at least. Hugh and I agreed to wait a little after I had Jamie. But… maybe next
year you’ll be an aunt again. We always knew we wanted a big family.”

“I’m sure you’ll have it. And meanwhile, you can babysit Rani every time you want. Although…
school starts three weeks from now; and between that, her friends, and her karate lessons, I’m not
sure she’ll have any time left. My daughter has the social life of a Kardashian.”

“Speaking of karate”, interceded Hugh. “How are things with the dashing Mr. Lawrence?”

Kate reclined in her seat and closed her eyes behind her sunglasses.

“Quite well, so far.”

“I love seeing you so enthusiastic”, her brother snickered. “When’s the wedding?”

“Oh, stop!” said Kate with a laugh. “You know I don’t want to rush into things, especially for
Rani’s sake.”

“I drove her to her karate class several times last month, when you had to work late, remember?”
asked Hugh. “Rani’s happy face every time we arrived to Cobra Kai was only surpassed by your
boyfriend’s disappointed stare when he saw me instead of you. Seriously, he looked like a kicked
puppy.”

“Shhh, don’t call him my boyf… don’t call him that . Rani will hear you, and I haven’t told her
yet.”

“Katey, your daughter is a very clever eight-year-old. She’s old enough to understand what having
a boyfriend means, and she’s clearly fond of that man. She probably suspects something already, so
what are you waiting for?”

“It’s not just her who worries me…” said Kate in a wary tone. “If I tell Rani, I’ll also have to tell
Mom and Dad. And you know perfectly well that Dad won’t mind, but Mom is going to be
horribly disappointed.”
Her brother let out a loud sigh.

“Yes, well. It’s just bad luck that the man who she thought was the perfect son-in-law turned out to
be a monumental jerk. She still hasn’t recovered from your break-up with Simon.”

“Hugh, it’s been nine years since then! Nine whole years... and when she found out Simon was
getting divorced the first thing she did was send me a text suggesting that I give him a call. How
can I reason with her after that? How can any man in the world measure up to an ideal that only
exists in her head?”

“Just tell her that you’re with someone and that you’re happy; she’ll have to accept that you and
the jerk are never going to happen again.”

“I’m sure she’s still ashamed of me for not being able to have kids. She’s never said it out loud, but
sometimes I swear I can see it in her eyes.”

“Nonsense”, interrupted Lola in a firm voice. “You’re a great mother of an amazing child, even if
you didn’t give birth to her. Rani is as yours as Joel and Jamie are ours.”

“And at least you didn’t have to endure the nineteen hours Lola spent in the hospital when she had
Joel. I love that kid, but… boy, did he have a big head”, joked Hugh, squeezing his wife’s hand.
“Going back to the topic at hand: Mom is going to hate your boyfriend anyway, so it’s useless to
postpone it. Just call her and get it over with.”

“It warms my heart to hear such encouraging words from my dear brother”, said Kate with a
somewhat bitter laugh. “The sad part is, you’re absolutely right.”

“Score! My sister is admitting that I’m right about something!” said Hugh, requesting a high five
from his wife. “I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

“Oh, don’t say that”, said Lola with a kind smile. “Don’t listen to him, Kate. I’m sure your mother
will like Johnny once she gets to know him.”

Kate took off her sunglasses and sat up, suddenly serious.

“And I’m sure she won’t. Let’s put it like this: I can list all the ways our parents are going to hate
him… and it’s going to be a very long list.”

“Go ahead, sis”, said her brother, refilling everybody’s lemonade glasses. “This should be fun. You
still haven’t had the decency of introducing him to us, so I’m curious about the guy.”

“Okay, here we go: first, he comes from money, but has no money himself. Only a rich and
grumpy stepfather who will probably leave him nothing at all when he dies.”

“That’s not that terrible, is it? We don’t come from money either, and we’ve both done well in
life.”

“I guess not. Second, he went to Stanford.”

“Brilliant! One point for Mr. Lawrence.”

“But he dropped out his sophomore year.”

Hugh made a face. “Yeah, that’s not exactly the thing a couple of retired college professors want to
hear from their daughter. I take the point away.”
“He’s got a teenage son from a previous relationship”, Kate continued. “I haven’t met him yet, but
from what I hear he was a real piece of work until last year. I guess this one could be a neutral
point, because now the boy has got a job and he’s changing his ways.”

“Oh, I have another good thing for the list: he’s a business owner”, intervened Lola, always
wanting to see the bright side of everything. “With a respectable job… he’s a teacher, of sorts.
Right?”

“I doubt our parents will consider martial arts a form of legitimate teaching”, answered Kate with a
frown.

“Anything else that can tip the balance on his favor?” asked her sister-in-law.

“He’s got many good qualities, at least in my eyes, but nothing that will impress them. Oh, and... to
make things worse, he’s nine years older than me.”

“That might have been a problem when you were eighteen, but… seriously, at our age, that sort of
thing matters less and less. Any other skeletons in his closet?” asked her brother.

“Funny that you mention skeletons… but no, apart from him being a bit of a jerk in high school, I
think that’s all.”

“Please tell he me hasn’t been to prison”, said Hugh in a conspiratory tone.

“Of course not!” said Kate, scandalized. “I mean… he would have told me, right?”

“Pity, that would be the icing on the cake.”

“Come on, Hugh! Don’t make fun of this. Johnny’s an honest man, who pulled himself out of a bad
place last year and is now thriving and doing what he loves for a living. And helping kids. Why is
that suddenly a bad thing?”

“It’s not. I’m just warning you to brace yourself for the inevitable lecture from Mom and Dad when
they meet him, sis”, he said, trying to make light of the situation. “All those years moving in
academic circles have turned them into a pair of education snobs. Remember how hard they were
on me when I started going out with Lola? The flack they gave me because she ‘only’ has a
community college degree in Fine Arts? The way Mom went on about how illustrating children’s
books should be a hobby and not a serious job? That’s nothing compared with what they’ll say to
you this time.”

“Well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Our parents hate coming to California… and Seattle is
a thousand miles away, so they probably won’t meet him for several months. I’ll be ready for the
inevitable family drama at Christmas, if we make it that far.”

“I think you will”, said Lola. “You have that spark in your eyes, you know…”

Hugh got up from his seat and grabbed the empty jar of lemonade. “Ugh. This conversation is
getting too sappy for my taste, so I’m going to the kitchen to refill this. Meanwhile, you and Lola
can gossip about your dear Johnny, and tell each other all those things you don’t want to discuss in
front of your little brother.”

Kate stuck her tongue at him. “Idiot. Don’t spike the lemonade, remember that you have to drive
me home later!”

“Oh, right, I forgot your car was in the auto shop. What was it? The air conditioning?”
“Completely busted. It was like driving inside a sauna… I hope they can fix it soon.”

“You didn’t take it to LaRusso Auto, right?” Hugh joked. Even if he hadn’t met Johnny yet, Kate
had told him the basics about his story with Daniel.

“Heavens, no! I’d never hear the end of it if Johnny found out, and I don’t want to risk running into
that man, no matter how much I like Amanda. No, I went to Cole’s. Nice place, and they gave me
a bubble tea while I filled in the paperwork.”

“Ew. Gross.”

Kate made a face at Hugh again.

“Not as gross as those white mocha frappuccinos that you like so much. It’s a shame that my
brother is unable to appreciate real coffee.”

He shrugged, laughed and went into the house. In the pool, Rani and Jamie kept swimming and
splashing around. Kate observed her daughter for a long moment, mentally drawing the outline of
the conversation she couldn’t postpone for much longer… and also dreading the other
conversation, a much less pleasant one, that she was due to have with her mother in Seattle.

“Kate? Are you okay?” asked Lola, noticing her sudden silence. “You know Hugh is always
joking, please don’t let him upset you. Your parents are reasonable people… if they ended up
liking me, they will like your Johnny too.”

“They like you because you’re a angel, Lola, dear”, she answered with affection. “I wish I could
say the same about Johnny.”

“I’m sure you’d get bored if he was like that”, answered her sister-in-law with a bashful smile.
“There’s a reason why women have always liked bad boys, right?”

Kate couldn’t help blushing a little.

“I guess bad boys can have good hearts. At least this one does.”

A few hours later, Kate stood outside Johnny’s door and rang the bell for the second time. She
frowned, wondering what could be keeping him… he never made her wait, especially when they
had a date.

He finally opened the door; his hair was wet and tousled, giving away the reason for the delay.

“Oh, you were in the shower… Am I too early?” she asked, giving him a peck on the lips. “I left
Rani with my brother and my sister-in-law, and then Hugh had to give me a ride because my car’s
in the shop.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I went to the dojo to make some repairs, and I didn’t notice the time.”

He picked his wet towel from the floor, where he had dropped it earlier, and disappeared towards
the bathroom. Kate leaned on the counter, feeling a bit awkward. Usually Johnny was all over her
when she came to his apartment... but this time he seemed sulky, almost distant.

When he reappeared, she did her best to sound cheerful.

“Look, I know we said we’d go out to dinner, but… if you don’t feel like it, we can order
takeaway. What do you want?”

“Pizza. Or Mexican… whatever”, was the evasive answer.

That was another red light. Johnny was usually the picky one when it came to takeaway.

“Johnny… is there anything wrong? You seem a little off.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Rattler was going to LaRusso’s dojo yesterday?”

Kate took a breath and let it out slowly. She owed him an explanation of sorts... but if it was just
that what was making him sulk, then there wasn’t much to worry about.

“I didn’t tell you because they weren’t supposed to go there. There was a visit to All Star Karate on
the schedule… but the teachers there had some kind of problem, I’m not sure what, and the
organization changed dojos in the last moment. I didn’t even know until she came back home.”

“Right.”

Kate felt Johnny’s icy blue gaze on her. She could tell he wasn’t convinced by her words… and
that bothered her.

“I’m not keeping things from you, Johnny”, she said in a stern voice. “And I honestly didn’t think
this was going to be a problem.”

“Right”, he repeated, between gritted teeth. “LaRusso trying to steal my students is not a problem.
Don’t you see what he’s trying to do? Being Mr. Nice in front of your kid so she’ll ask you to send
her there?”

“Really, I don’t think...”

“He’s going to do something at the Lake Balboa meetup”, he interrupted her. “Pull one of his dirty
tricks to make me look like an idiot and make my students leave Cobra Kai.”

Kate crossed her arms, and tried very hard not to roll her eyes.

“You’re exaggerating, Johnny. You’re making a mountain out of nothing.”

“Yeah, well. It never hurts to be prepared”, he said, clenching his right hand into a fist. “I’m not
falling for his tricks again. We’re not going to that fucking meetup.”

“What?” She stared at him, mouth agape. “You can’t do that! It’s just a week away, and the kids
have been looking forward to it! I even convinced Mrs. Diaz and Bert’s parents to come and give
us a hand… and you already told the All Valley people that Cobra Kai would attend. It’s really
unfair to cancel like that.”

Johnny leaned on the wall, with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

“Tough luck. My dojo, my rules.”

Kate let out an exasperated sigh.

“That’s very well while you’re in class. But you can’t rule like a dictator…that’s what your old
Sensei did, and look how it turned out. Besides, I’m Rani’s mother. Don’t you think I should have
a saying in this? That I should be the one to decide if she goes to Lake Balboa or not?”
Johnny narrowed his eyes and took two steps towards Kate.

“I knew you would end up sticking your nose in Cobra Kai matters.”

“This is more important than Cobra Kai, Johnny” she said, trying to placate him. “It concerns you .
You, as a person, and as a Sensei with a reputation to uphold... And not going to that meetup will
put your reputation in Daniel LaRusso’s hands. He’s going to be repeating all your high school
exploits to everyone who wants to listen, and that includes the people in charge of all the other
dojos in the Valley. Robby will be there too! You need to control the narrative, and the only way
of doing that is by being present.”

“That’s what this is about! You’re obsessed with control, Kate. Control over your kid, your work,
your life… until there’s absolutely nothing out of place, not one inch. Do you want to control me,
too? Is that it?”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that. When have I told you what to do with your life, or with your
business?”

“How about right now?”

“Oh, for the love of God.” She ran a hand through her hair, trying to find the right words.
Everything seemed very confusing all of a sudden. “You’re the one who gives orders all the time. I
was just making suggestions.”

For a moment, it looked like Johnny was about to see reason. His eyes softened, and his scowl
disappeared… but then he shook his head, and the angry words returned.

“All I’m hearing is smooth lawyer talk. I’m not a fucking judge, Kate; you can’t fool me with
that.”

That was the final straw for her, now she was starting to get angry too. She crossed the room and
perched herself on the armrest of the couch, staring daggers at Johnny.

“You’re right, you’re not a judge. In fact, you seem pretty devoid of judgment right now.”

“More fancy words, miss Ivy League School?” he snickered.

“I’m not Ivy League…” she stopped herself, realizing that the conversation was getting away from
the point. “I’ve never shoved my education in your face, Johnny. Please have the courtesy of doing
the same.”

There was an uncomfortable pause before Kate spoke again.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. Forgive me for saying this, but you’re being completely
irrational.”

“Nobody asked you to talk to me”, he answered in a resentful whisper. “Nobody asked you to… to
waltz into my dojo and start messing with my business and with my life.”

“That’s the second time in a row that you accuse me of the same thing. Why? What exactly have I
done?”

“What have you done? You tell me how to speak to my students, how to dress, how to behave…
I’m not your puppet, Kate. If you wanted a mindless jerk in a suit, all you had to do was ask
LaRusso to introduce you to that sleazy guy from his shop.”
“Can we have one conversation, just one, where that man’s name doesn’t come up in the worst
possible moment?” she huffed.

“I’m not the one who got a personal invitation to visit his stupid dojo. I bet he’ll give you a nice
glass of Prosecco while you take the grand tour of his fancy-ass place.”

“He said that to Rani because he didn’t know who I was!” said Kate, determined to get her point
across and put an end to the argument. “She never told him she was my daughter. To him, she’s
just another random child who loves karate! And I’m the one who makes the decisions for her, not
you… if I wanted to visit that dojo, you can be sure that I would have scheduled it by now. In
fact… you know what? Maybe I should call that man and ask him for a guided tour. At least he
won’t throw silly accusations at me.”

She was being hurtful on purpose, using Johnny’s hatred of his rival to rile him up… but after
dodging several attacks she was tired of being the reasonable one. It worked, of course: Johnny
flinched, as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“You’re playing right into LaRusso’s hands!” he exclaimed. “God, I can’t believe you’re so
naive.”

“And I can’t believe you’re so paranoid. The world is not out to get you, Johnny!”

“And what do you know about the world? You ever had to borrow money from someone you hate
to pay your bills? Or wondered where your next paycheck would come from? Have you ever found
yourself completely alone and without friends in that precious little world that you like so much?”

Kate covered her eyes with her hands and stood still for a long moment. So long that Johnny bit her
lip, wondering if he had gone too far. When she looked at him again, her eyes were dry, but she
seemed about to start screaming, or crying, or… God knew what.

In the end, she did none of those things.

“Now you’re saying cruel things just for the sake of it… and you’re hurting yourself more than me.
I think I should go.”

Johnny took a hesitant step towards her… but then he clenched his fists and looked away.

“Door’s open.”

The words were barely audible, but Kate recoiled as if he had screamed them at her. She could feel
tears pricking behind her eyes; it would be so easy to let them fall, to bring on the waterworks and
make Johnny feel sorry for her… of course he was the kind of man who couldn’t stand seeing a
woman cry. But she was really angry now. She didn’t want to yield, to give him the satisfaction of
being the strong dude who fixes everything by hugging the girl and drying her tears.

She retrieved her purse and took a step towards the door.

“We’ll see things more clearly tomorrow”, she said in whas she hoped was a calm voice. “I’ll call
you.”

Johnny bit his lip again and threw Kate a regretful stare.

“Okay”, he whispered.

Kate got out and closed the door behind her without a noise. She really felt like slamming it, but
she knew how Johnny would react to that. No, the only logical thing to do was to wait until the
waters had calmed, until Hurricane Lawrence had some time to reflect and stop being
unreasonable.

If he ever did.

“Fuck!”

The curse emerged from her lips with such force that it surprised her. She had never cursed much,
even less after becoming a Mom… but in that moment she could have spat her whole repertory of
swearwords. Maybe Johnny and his manners were rubbing on her more than she thought.

After the expletive she felt strangely better. She even thought of going back inside and trying to fix
things… But deep down she knew the argument would end up circling around the same topics.

The air around her felt hot and sticky; the storm was getting close. Kate raised her eyes to the sky
and saw a wall of black clouds threatening to pour down on the neighborhood. She blinked several
times, because the tears were also threatening to come back.

“Just the day I don’t have my car”, she complained to no one in particular. “Wonderful.”

With a sigh, she started walking towards her place in the impending rain, hoping it wouldn’t start
pouring until she got home. Almost without thinking she reached for her purse, got her phone, and
dialed Kevin’s number.

Inside, Johnny stood in the middle of the living room for a long while, staring at the closed door.
Wishing that it would open again and she would come back; but of course he didn’t say that out
loud. He almost didn’t dare thinking about it... because there was a nasty little voice in the darkest
depths of his brain, a voice that told him Kate was not going to call. Or come back. Ever.

He went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of Coors and returned to the living room with heavy steps.
On autopilot, he slumped on the couch and opened the bottle. The beer was cold and bitter like the
thoughts in his mind.

He took a long drink, leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

“Fuck.”
Chapter End Notes

I had mentioned Kate's brother and his family before, but I didn't have a good chance
to introduce them in the story properly until now. I even have a family picture for you:
Lola and Joel in the top row, and little Jamie and Hugh below.
 Streetwalker
Chapter Summary

Kate takes some drastic measures to make up with Johnny. At the same time, Daniel is
heading towards Reseda for a conversation he'd rather avoid.

Chapter Notes

Finally, the resolution of last chapter’s fight! Please don’t try to fix a disagreement
with your significant other like this in real life... some things just work better in fiction.
After thousands of words and 24 chapters I’ve realized that I love writing Daniel; I
know this story is mostly about Johnny (even when I’m trying not to neglect any of
the characters), and he will always be my favorite golden boy, but the truth is I never
expected to have so much fun with Daniel’s scenes. Also, a few weeks ago someone in
a review called Cobra Kai “misunderstanding land.” Well... this chapter has the
misunderstanding to end them all. Coming from dear old Daniel, of course. Brace
yourselves.
Contents warning: smut, of the quick and dirty variety.

CHAPTER 24. STREETWALKER

Sitting in his living room with a glass of red wine in his hand, Kevin McMichaels frowned and
stared at his cell phone. He was home alone, so when Kate called him out of the blue he’d put her
on speaker… and then he had spent the next fifteen minutes listening to a very confusing and quite
emotional tale of her fight with Johnny.

“...and then I said I didn’t want to argue anymore, and I came home”, said his friend’s voice in the
distance. “Oh, I shouldn’t have left like that… I fucked up, Kev.”

“Okay, Katie, listen. I don’t think you fucked up so bad. Yes, it was a heated argument, but from
what I hear none of you said anything unforgivable to each other. This can be fixed.”

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, followed by a tearful sigh.

“I don’t see how, really… I can’t even start thinking of a solution.”

Kevin looked at his car keys on the table. For a moment, he considered the possibility of driving to
South Seas to comfort his friend in person… but deep down he knew it wouldn’t do much good.

“Dry those tears, Kate, sweetheart”, he said in his deep and reassuring voice. “Look, you know
how much I appreciate Johnny… but maybe this wasn’t meant to be. I mean, you’ve only been
together for…”

“No”, Kate’s voice interrupted him, and this time there was no sign of tears. “I’m not throwing this
relationship away over a silly fight… if you can call two weeks a relationship. Anyway, whatever
this is, I don’t want it to end before it’s started, Kev. It will break his heart.”

“I think it’s very telling that you’re worrying more about his heart than yours, darling Kate”,
answered Kevin in a concerned tone. “Okay, don’t panic, we’ll think of something. First: what do
you think he's doing right now?”

“Johnny? I don’t know... probably getting drunk.”

“You won’t be able to have a rational conversation with him in that state. Which leaves only one
alternative: go over there, but not to talk.”

“So... what do I do? Appear at his place unannounced and get all cuddly with him?” There was a
sliver of hope in Kate’s voice, and that made her friend smile.

“No, darling. You go to his place and make his dick an offer that his brain can’t reject.”

“Wait, what?”

“Shut up and listen. Do you own some sexy lingerie?”

“No… wait, yes! The girls at the San Francisco office thought lingerie would be a good parting
gift, for some reason. It’s pretty, but I’ve never worn it. But why are you asking–”

“I’ll get to it. Define ‘pretty’, s’il vous plait .”

“Well, it’s black with gold lace”, she said, hesitant. “Bra, panties and garter belt… practically
transparent, it doesn't leave much to the imagination.”

“Perfect!” Kevin jumped off his seat and started pacing up and down the room.

“Perfect for what?”

“For the booty call you’re going to make, girl.”

Silence on Kate’s end, once more; Kevin wondered if he had scared her and she’d hung up on
him… but a few seconds later she spoke again.

“Kevin, is a booty call your answer to absolutely everything?” she asked, sounding mildly
offended. “We’re not in college anymore, you know.”

He laughed to himself quietly before answering.

“What you and King Karate need right now is to release some tension. You’ve each made your
point clear, and you can’t reach an agreement with words, so… maybe a good session of the
horizontal tango will remind that man of the important things in life.”

“Let’s say I do what you suggest”, said Kate’s doubtful voice. “And let’s imagine it works.”

“It will work”, insisted Kevin.

“And then what? We wake up tomorrow and have the same fight again? Sex can’t fix everything.”

“It can’t, but it’s a great way of making Johnny see what he would be missing if he didn’t have
you. Apart from your quick wit and your excellent conversation, of course”, he said with a grin.
“Tomorrow he’ll wake up and realize that you were right: keeping those kids from going to the
excursion is an awful idea and a very bad PR move. He’s just too proud to admit it now.”
He sensed Kate was mostly convinced, but her voice still sounded a bit concerned.

“It’s not fair, manipulating him like this. I’m going to Hell.”

“Awesome! If what the Church says about gay people it’s true, I’ll see you there. It’s going to be a
hell of a party… pun intended”, said Kevin with a laugh. “You have nothing to lose, Katie. And, if
I’m completely wrong and you two break up tomorrow… at least you’ll end it with a bang.”

“Have I ever told you that you’re a horrible friend?”

“The best horrible friend you can have, yes.”

Suddenly Kevin was aware of a noise in the background. For a moment he looked outside to see if
there was thunder, but then he realized it came from his phone. Like the sound of drawers opening
and closing.

“Are you still with me, girl?”

“I’m trying to remember where did I put that damned lingerie set”, said the voice among the
rumbling noises.

“In that case, I’m going to wish you good luck and hang up. Oliver is about to get home.”

“Thanks for the advice, Kev. Even if it turns to be bad advice in the end, I know you’re trying your
best.”

“I love you! Call me tomorrow… if you’re still alive.”

Kevin hung up without giving Kate time to change her mind. Hearing the rustling of a key in the
front door, he refilled his glass of wine, poured another one for Oliver, and went to greet his
boyfriend with a wide smile on his face.

It was no secret to anybody who knew him that Daniel LaRusso hated the rain.

To be more precise, he hated going out in the rain. He had nothing against being at work, or at
home, watching the water droplets slide down the windows; no, that was almost poetic, especially
on a quiet Winter evening. But being on the street in the heavy rain like he was now, in the middle
of a huge Summer thunderstorm, was not his favorite experience. It reminded him of that other
storm in Okinawa, on the night when Mr. Miyagi had saved his friend (and enemy) Sato from a
certain death. Those moments were hard to relive, especially since his old mentor had passed away.

He blinked a few times to exorcise the bad memories and concentrated on the road ahead of him.

He knew his way around Reseda, of course. He and Amanda had started their life together in his
old neighborhood, only moving to Encino Hills when she got pregnant with Sam. Daniel had taken
on a huge mortgage for their house, hoping on the success of his car dealership, but he had been
adamant that his daughter wouldn’t be born in that part of the city. Not that he had anything against
the place, but… Wasn’t that the purpose of life, to give your children better chances that the ones
you’d had at their age?

Now, many years afterwards and despite all his efforts, Fate kept sending him signals that pointed
back to the place he tried so hard to forget. First, that damned Cobra Kai dojo was in Reseda now;
second, Johnny was a resident of the neighborhood. Third, and maybe the most important, there
were a little girl and her mother living at South Seas who needed his help.

And that was the reason he was driving through the streets that he knew so well on a stormy
Saturday evening. He had looked up Johnny’s address in the clients database, surprised to see it
was only a few blocks away from Daniel’s old building. If it was true that life put everybody in
their right place, then… wow, life was suddenly acting in very strange ways and making a lot of
important things happen right in the middle of Reseda.

He finally arrived to the address he had put in the GPS of his car. Daniel saw the entrance of an
apartment complex, even more battered up than South Seas in the eighties. He stopped the car and
sighed, still with both hands on the wheel, thinking how he had moved up from there to Encino
while at the same time Johnny Lawrence was taking the exact opposite path.

“Crazy”, he muttered, feeling sincerely sorry for his old nemesis.

He parked on the street, at a prudent distant from the gate. He didn’t want to alarm Johnny driving
up to his door… besides, Sam had told him that her ex-boyfriend also lived there, and Daniel didn’t
feel like running into the current All Valley champion. No matter how much he wanted to give that
little punk an earful, that would have to wait.

His conversation with Johnny was more important.

He rubbed his eyes and gathered his wits, trying to decide on the best way to start. He had gone
over several scenarios in his mind, but he was determined not to antagonize Johnny. He would
simply state that it would be the best for Rani to train in a less aggressive environment… no
reasonable person would find any fault in that. And, if he couldn’t get Johnny to agree, Daniel was
even ready to suggest a temporary transfer; only a couple of weeks at first, to see how she adapted
to a different dojo. He was sure that Johnny would secretly be glad of getting rid of a little girl who
didn’t exactly match the style of Cobra Kai. In exchange for the transfer, Daniel would put in a
good word with Robby: the kid seemed almost friendly towards his father recently... and with
Daniel’s help it would be easier for both of them to work on a reconciliation.

“Everybody wins”, he thought to himself.

He also had decided not to lecture Johnny about the situation with Rani’s mother. Amanda was
right, he didn’t have all the details; and, as immature as it was to be dating two women at the same
time, it was hardly a crime... In fact, it was far from being the worst thing Johnny had ever done.

Now with a definite plan in mind, he grabbed his umbrella and got out of the car. The sun had set
already, and in any case the clouds were so dark and thick that it felt like the middle of the night.
Daniel had just crossed the gate when the lights of another car flashed behind him. He wasn’t
really in the mood to speak to any of Johnny’s neighbors, so he closed the umbrella and hid behind
a pillar, feeling a bit silly.

When he peeked out he saw that the other car was a taxi. One of the back doors opened, and from
the vehicle emerged two feet clad in stiletto heels, followed by a pair of stocking covered legs.
Above the legs, a hot pink trench coat, an impossibly bright touch of color in the grey and murky
night.

The rain was getting in Daniel’s eyes now, and he could barely see anything, especially when the
cab left and the courtyard got dark again. The pink-clad woman, carrying an umbrella, passed by
without seeing him; all he could distinguish from the back was her silhouette, walking with a sound
of clicking heels towards a door marked with the number two.
Johnny’s door.

Her knock was sharp, urgent, the loud rap of a visitor with no time to lose who didn’t appreciate
being kept waiting in the rain.

After a few moments the door opened, and Daniel glimpsed Johnny’s figure in the backlight. He
had something in his hand... a beer bottle, maybe, but it was hard to tell. His face remained in the
dark, so there was no way to see his expression. Johnny tilted his head to look at the woman from
head to toe, ushered her in and closed the door.

Still in his hiding place, Daniel let out a sigh and covered his eyes with his hand. Then he opened
his umbrella again, a useless exercise since he was already soaked, and headed for his car.

The talk he had planned so carefully was moot now. He had seen enough.

Johnny’s brain took a few seconds to register the fact that Kate had come back, unexpectedly and
against all odds, less than half an hour after leaving. When he saw her shivering in the doorway
(why did she shiver? It wasn’t even that cold outside), he clenched his fist and commanded all his
restraint, because what he really wanted to do was hold her and never let go. And apologize like a
silly little boy until she forgave him.

There was something weird about her, he noticed. Different coat, different shoes… and she looked
nervous. Skittish. She just stood there, without saying anything, waiting for him to react, until he
took a step back and let her in.

“Hi, Johnny.”

Her voice sounded weird too, agitated, like she was forcing herself to speak calmly and barely
managed to do it. She walked up to the living room area, left her purse on a chair and turned
around to face him.

Like it always happened when he’d had a couple of beers, his mouth took command of the situation
before his brain could react.

“To what do I owe the honor?” he said in a harsh whisper.

Kate bit her lip and stared at him. Johnny had turned off all the lights except for a small lamp, and
the apartment felt dark and gloomy.

“I didn’t want to leave things like that”, she started, hesitant. “Come here, please… there’s
something I need you to see.”

A light went off in his mind. The wrong light.

“Are you going to dump me?” he asked with a grimace. “Is that it? You want to get rid of me so
badly that you can’t even wait until after the storm?”

Kate took a deep breath.

“Johnny… I’m not here to break up with you. Please, sit. Just for a minute.”

“Fine”, he growled, letting himself fall on the couch, still with the bottle of Coors in his hand. “I’m
listening.”
“I don’t want you to listen. We’ve talked enough today, and a thousand words are not going to
make us have the same opinion.”

“Then what?” he was starting to feel anxious. He wanted to be in control of the situation, not sitting
like an idiot waiting for her to do… whatever the fuck she was going to do.

What she did was take off her trench coat. Slowly, with shaky hands. One button, another, and
finally the third one.

This time Johnny was the one who took a deep breath. He put the beer bottle on the floor without
taking his eyes off Kate; the truth was, he wouldn’t have been able to take his eyes off her even if
he’d gone blind. He also grasped the armrest of the couch to keep himself from jumping from it.

Two feet away from him stood Kate… and, at the same time, not Kate.

Because… Kate Williams always wore pretty underthings, of the sensible kind. Classy. Sometimes
with flowers on them. Not that slutty lace lingerie, so transparent that he didn’t have to imagine a
single inch of her. The worst part was the garter belt, of course. Johnny had always been sure that
garter belts were things with no practical purpose, flimsy weapons specifically designed to fry a
man’s brain. Something that belonged in dirty magazines and porn movies… not on the body of a
real woman, like the one standing in front of him, because that would be just too much.

His throat had suddenly become so dry that he had to swallow before speaking.

“What’s this, Kate? What game are you playing?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“I don’t play games, least of all with you. I’m just making a suggestion… of something I think we
both need right now.”

For a fraction of a second, his brain (still in the process of being fried) suggested to him that he
could be dreaming. That was it, he had fallen asleep after having two beers on an empty stomach…

Johnny blinked. No, that couldn’t be it. His dreams were never so detailed. They didn’t smell like
expensive perfume, didn’t breathe, didn’t have a pulse that he could almost hear; dreams didn’t
look at him as if he was the center of their world.

This was no dream. This was a real woman… his woman, and that possessive thought made a
wave of lust rush through his body.

She inched her way towards him. Slowly, taking her time in those absurdly high heels.

Johnny reached up, surprised that his hands were so steady while his mind was being turned into
mush. He ran his fingertips over Kate’s bare stomach, going down, stopping right at the edge of her
lacy panties.

He smiled. Dreams didn’t shiver when he touched them.

Kate bit her lip when she saw him grinning, and once more he had to keep himself from yanking
her down, from biting that mouth himself until she screamed his name and cried for mercy…

Then, in one fluid movement she knelt on the carpet, right between his splayed legs, and slid her
hands up his thighs.

Johnny’s heart jumped to his throat, and he found himself unable to speak. Kate had never been so
forward before, and he had never asked her to do certain things, because... times changed,
apparently, and she was a lady, and in these times that he didn’t fully understand maybe it was
horrible manners to ask a lady to go down on…

He felt, more than heard, her hand lowering the zipper of his jeans, and his train of thought
stopped.

Well, not just stopped. Completely derailed.

Next he felt her hot mouth on him and struggled to keep his eyes open. He was grasping the
armrest again, in a desperate attempt to keep still; when that proved impossible, he inched a hand
towards her, carefully —you never distracted a woman while she was doing that , for fuck’s sake
— and swept her hair to one side, away from her face.

That made it worse, somehow. Or better. Because now he could see her half-lidded eyes fixed on
him, and anticipate the rhythm of her up-and-down motions... and think that, if he ever had to die,
he wanted Death to take him in a moment like that.

A low humming sound escaped from Kate’s throat, followed by a feral growl from her lover. With
his last shred of rational thought, he grasped her shoulder to make her stop.

“Come here”, he grunted. “Up here, Kate.”

Johnny hooked an arm around Kate’s waist and brought her close so she was straddling him. Now
he could smell her perfume, feel the warmth of her skin and the softness of the lace.

He ran his thumb over her lips, those lips that had just done such wicked things to him. He wanted
more, wanted all of her. The scant inches of lace that covered her body suddenly seemed offensive;
nothing had the right to cover what he desperately wanted to see, least of all some silly scraps of
gold and black fabric.

He went for the bra first, fumbling with the hooks, throwing the damn thing across the room as if it
burned his hands.

Only then he kissed her, attacking her mouth in an almost blind fury. He ran his lips over her jaw,
his tongue over the side of her throat, making her sigh and moan in response.

God, he loved that sound. He needed more of it.

He reached the soft flesh of her breast and bit on it, hard, until he heard a sharp gasp from the
woman in his arms. That was going to leave a mark… but he’d be damned if he cared about marks.
At the same time his questing hand traveled south, beyond the edge of her lace panties.

Wet. So wet and so hot that, when she wailed and squirmed in response to his touch, his hips jolted
up out of pure instinct.

That was all the foreplay he could endure without exploding. He stood up, still with her arm
around her, so she had no choice than to hold to his shoulders to avoid falling from those silly high
heels. Trying to keep her balance she kissed him slowly, raking her fingers through his hair.

“Bedroom?” she managed to say between kisses.

That would have been a good idea, but Johnny’s feral brain had a better one.

“No”, he muttered in her ear. “Here.”

Remembering the scene the following day, Johnny didn’t quite recall how he had taken off his
pants and t-shirt, nor how they both had found themselves in the kitchen, with Kate trapped
between him and the cabinets. That part of his memory was kind of fuzzy. What he did remember
was Kate’s sultry smile when he practically yanked off her panties with a sound of ripping lace.
And how she shivered under his hands when he touched her again, finally without any clothes to
keep him from taking in all of her.

Only her garter belt and her stockings remained in place, which in a way was even worse than if
she had been wearing nothing.

He used his last amount of restraint to speak once more.

“I need you, babe. Now.”

Her answer was that maddening smile again, and two words whispered in his ear: “Do it.”

Johnny never thought two simple words could have the power to drive him crazy. Without wasting
any more time he turned her around, nudged her legs apart, and hit home.

She leaned on the kitchen countertop, holding onto it, tilting her head to one side to look at him.
That was sexier than any slutty lingerie, the way she never took her eyes off him.

It felt wicked. It felt deliciously dirty, to have her like this... bent over the countertop, keening,
meeting every one of his thrusts with equal force. Trying to keep her footing on those stiletto
heels… although Johnny had her grasped by the hips in a vice grip; there was no way he was
letting her lose her balance.

No way he was letting go of her until the dance had finished.

Johnny knew she was already close; he felt it by the way her breath hitched when he slammed into
her, by how her hands gripped the edge of the furniture. He planted several wet kisses on her
shoulder, the side of her neck… on every inch of soft skin within his reach.

Kate’s climax was sudden, loud, almost violent; so much that Johnny found himself wishing that
his neighbours had gone out, or he was going to face some weird looks the next morning. But it
didn’t matter, of course. Nothing mattered except the woman in his arms, and the wave of pleasure
he was riding. And, as waves came, this one was a fucking tsunami.

A last moment of tension, a few more deep thrusts... and he came inside her with a growl, closing
his eyes shut because he was starting to see stars.

A soft laugh from Kate brought him back to reality.

“Wow”, she panted. When Johnny retreated from inside her she stumbled, apparently unable to
stand on her own, and he put his arms firmly around her.

“Take off your shoes, you’ll fall to your death in those things”, he said.

Without waiting for her to do it he scooped her up and took her back to the couch, where she
finally kicked off her heels.

“You okay?” he asked, covering her with the throw blanket. She always felt cold after sex.

She nodded and reached for his hand in silence. Johnny sat on the couch and brought her upon his
lap, and for a long moment nobody said anything.
“Look, about before… I’m sorry, babe. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.” His voice was
low but clear; he kept touching her, drawing little circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

“For what is’t worth, I’m sorry too”, answered Kate. “I have no right to interfere with your life. Or
with your business.”

“Bullshit; you have every right. All the things you said were true… of course I want the kids to go
to the lake and have fun, I’m not an idiot”, he said in a slightly downcast tone. “I wasn’t thinking of
the consequences of not going, for me and for Cobra Kai. But hey, if you want to make up like this
every time we disagree about something… I’m game.”

“Don’t count on it, tiger. This is a one time thing… for starters, I don’t have any pretty lingerie left.
This was my only set, and it’s in tatters.”

“I’ll buy you the whole Victoria’s Secret catalog.”

That made Kate laugh again, and she scooted closer to him. The blanket was barely big enough for
both of them, but Johnny’s body heat was like having her own personal furnace.

Johnny was starting to contemplate the idea of moving to the bedroom to be more comfortable,
when a less pleasing sound from Kate startled him.

“Oh, no”, she complained.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Look at what you’ve done!”

Johnny looked at where she was pointing. Indeed, there was a reddish mark above her right breast,
a very noticeable love bite.

“Sorry, baby… I got carried away.” He looked contrite enough, but there was a note of pride in his
voice.

“You’re not going to get out of this by calling me baby”, she said, landing a mock punch on his
arm. “What am I supposed to do now, wear a turtleneck for a week until it goes away? No amount
of makeup is going to cover this.”

“It’s not that bad… is it? Nobody will see it if you’re dressed.”

“Look at the calendar, Johnny. It’s the middle of Summer, and I’d love to take a swim in my own
pool without having to worry about the neighbors realizing that I had a very good time tonight.”

“Fine. If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you give me a hickey too.”

“Oh, I should! Right where all your students can see it, so they make fun of you in class.”

“Good. At least they’ll know what happens when one gets laid.”

She shook her head, sighed, and finally laughed. “Caveman.”

“Minx.”

“Okay, enough with the name calling… I don’t want to keep staring at that bite”, she said. “May I
borrow your Cobra Kai t-shirt again?”
“You don’t need to borrow it, Kate. It’s yours. I’m only keeping it here for you.”

He jumped off the couch, rushed to the bedroom and came back with the t-shirt. It was absurdly
big for her, reaching down to the middle of her thighs when she put it on.

“It looks better on you than on me”, he stated with a grin. “Hey, I wanted to ask you… Do you
have anything to do tomorrow morning?”

“No, nothing. Hugh and Lola are going to take the children to the zoo, including Rani. Why?”

“Great. Then we’re going to the dojo, I want to show you how to throw a proper punch.”

He heard a quiet groan from Kate, and then a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You, darling. You’re funny, thinking that I’ll be in shape for any kind of exercise tomorrow. Are
you going to train me for our next fight?” she asked. “I’m much better with words than with my
fists, anyway.”

“No, I just don’t like the idea that my girl is out there not knowing how to defend herself. As for
the other thing… we’re not gonna fight ever again.”

“That’s not very realistic, Johnny. All couples fight.”

“Fine. But let’s not fight like that. We both said some shitty things.”

“Agreed. In case you haven’t noticed, I hate arguing.”

“You’re a lawyer, babe”, he pointed out. “You make a living out of arguing.”

“Yes, in front of a judge! That’s a pantomime, it doesn’t matter… it’s not real. I don’t like fighting
in real life.”

Johnny opened his mouth to answer, but a rumbling sound coming from his midsection ruined the
moment.

“Fuck, sorry”, he said. “I think we should call the pizza place now... I’m starving.”

“Good idea. My own stomach is seconds away from doing that same noise. Or maybe louder.”

Johnny retrieved his boxers from the floor, put them on and went to the other room in search of his
phone. He was back a minute later.

“Done. I ordered one with extra mushrooms... though I still don’t understand how you can like that
stuff.”

“Awww, thanks! You didn’t have to.”

He sat on the couch again and nuzzled her neck.

“It’s the second part of my apology, getting you the pizza toppings you like.”

“I didn’t know it came in parts”, she said, surprised. “Is there going to be a third one?”

“Sure. The third one is that I promise to behave like a fucking saint on the day of the excursion. I’ll
talk to the other senseis, to the parents… whatever you want. I’ll even be nice to–”

Kate interrupted him by putting a finger on his lips.

“Don’t. If I hear that man’s name again tonight, I swear to God I’ll get up and leave, even in the
middle of the storm.”

Johnny let out a hearty laugh.

“That t-shirt is having an effect on you. You’re already speaking like a true Cobra”, he said,
caressing her hair.

Kate leaned against his chest and sighed. “I knew you’d end up being a bad influence on me,
Johnny Lawrence.”

He flashed her a naughty smile, and for a moment he seemed younger, as if a heavy weight had
been lifted off him.

“Hey, they didn’t call me Ace Degenerate in high school for nothing.”

“Oh?” she said, looking at him. “What did you ever do to deserve that name?”

“I’m not telling you… that was in another life. Like you said once, what matters is that we’re
together now. Even if we’re never going to agree on some things.”

“Like pizza toppings?”

“Yeah. Exactly.” He kissed the tip of her nose, held her tighter, and closed his eyes for a moment.
Definitely not a dream, he thought.

Dreams had never been so good.

Back in the LaRusso residence, Amanda, her children, and Robby were all gathered in the living
room, enjoying some family time. Daniel had taken off right after dinner, and only Amanda knew
where he was. Since the weather was so awful, she had suggested a game of Monopoly to pass the
evening: Sam had groaned a little because she wasn’t a fan of board games, but Robby had seemed
so enthusiastic that in the end she agreed to play.

After half an hour of playing, the game was being dominated, almost unfairly, by Anthony. The
boy, once Amanda convinced him to turn off his video game, was proving to have a surprisingly
good eye for strategy and real estate speculation, and all the other players already owed him a lot
of money.

The boy was about to buy his fifth hotel when the front door opened, and a very serious (and
extremely wet) Daniel appeared.

“Hi, Mr. LaRusso!”

“Hi, Dad!”

The chorus of young voices did very little to cheer him up. He closed the door and remained
standing on the threshold.

“What’s wrong, baby?” asked Amanda. “Come in, you can still join the game… if you don’t mind
your son the tycoon relieving you of all your money in ten minutes.”

She knew something was indeed wrong when Daniel didn’t even try to smile.

“I’m going straight to the kitchen… my clothes are all wet, and I don’t want to ruin the carpet”, he
said in a tired voice.

“But, honey…”

“Amanda, I need to talk to you right now, please. Kids, sorry to take her away from the game, but
this is important. I promise she’ll be back in five minutes.”

Anthony shrugged and turned on his PlayStation. Sam and Robby looked at each other, confused,
and Amanda made a beeline towards the kitchen. Once there, she helped Daniel out of his soaked
coat and gave him a towel. Then she pressed a button on the coffee maker.

“Before you say anything, I’m going to make you a pint-sized latte. You look like you could use
one.”

“Thanks, my love”, he said in the same weary tone as before. “Although what I really need right
now is a very hot shower.”

“I can arrange that, too”, she said, looking at her husband with affection. “But first tell me what
happened with Johnny. That was a very short visit, I wasn’t expecting you for another hour at
least.”

“What happened was… nothing. Exactly nothing.”

While this exchange took place, an unexpected witness had taken position behind the kitchen door.
Robby had made a quick excuse to Sam, slipped off his shoes, and followed Daniel and Amanda.
He knew Mr. LaRusso had gone to speak with his Dad about that little girl; in fact, he’d almost
asked him not to go. He had some first-hand experience on how stubborn his father could be… and
he suspected Johnny wasn’t going to give up on any of his students, especially at his enemy’s
suggestion. What he couldn’t imagine was how the conversation could have gone so terribly
wrong, because Mr. LaRusso looked defeated, exhausted… and, above all, deathly pale.

With an ease provided by many years of eavesdropping at home, he put his ear to the door and
kept listening.

“What do you mean, nothing?” Amanda asked. “Daniel, please tell me you didn’t get in a physical
fight with that man. Remember that he’s Robby father, and…”

“I didn’t even have a chance to knock on his door”, Daniel spat. “He was too busy.”

“Daniel, darling, either you speak plainly or this conversation is going to take all night”, she said,
crossing her arms.

He leaned on the marble countertop, willing his hands to stop shaking, and looked at Amanda right
in the eye.

“Here it goes, as plainly as I can put it, and I apologize in advance for the language: Johnny had a
hooker delivered to his apartment tonight.”

“Wh… what?” Amanda covered her mouth with her hand, dumbstruck.
“Apparently it’s not enough for him to be fooling around with two women at the same time. He
needed an extra dose of... entertainment”, he said between gritted teeth.

“Shhhh! For goodness sake, Daniel, the kids will hear you! And how did you know she was a… a
hooker, anyway?”

“Who else gets off a cab on a night like this wearing a hot pink trench coat with nothing
underneath? I didn’t mean to peek, honey, I swear… but I saw enough to notice there was no sign
of a skirt.”

“Oh, no”, whispered Amanda, dismayed. “Poor Kate. And poor Rani’s Mom, too… Really, I don’t
know Johnny that well, but I never thought him capable of that.”

“Me neither. Life gives you surprises, I guess… I feel like an idiot for giving Johnny another
chance”, said Daniel in a bitter tone.

The coffee maker beeped. Amanda served two steaming lattes in silence, and offered one to Daniel.

“So… what happens now?” she asked. “Are you going to try talking to him again? Do you think
he’ll listen to you?”

Daniel took a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, he’ll listen to me alright. Next Saturday he will hear me, when I call him out in front of the
All Valley Committee, and tell them the reason why Johnny is completely unfit for teaching
children.”

His breathing was agitated, and his voice shivered with barely contained rage. The famous
LaRusso temper had taken hold of him again.

Amanda had had eighteen years to learn the warning signs of the aforementioned temper. She put
her hands on Daniel’s tense shoulders and gave him a light massage.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I know how much you wanted to fix things with him this time.”

He didn’t answer, his glassy gaze lost in the distance. Amanda gave him a kiss on the cheek and
made him look at her.

“Why don’t you go have that shower and then join us for some board games? You’ll feel better
once you’re warm and dry.”

“I doubt it”, he pouted. Then he caressed Amanda’s cheek with his still cold hand. “You’re the best
woman in the whole world. Do you know that?”

She returned the gesture with a kind smile. “And you’re my wonderful man who always carries the
weight of the world on his shoulders. But I love you for that… and sometimes even in spite of
that.”

Daniel embraced his wife in silence. For once in his life, he had run out of words.

Behind the door, Robby felt hot tears running down his cheeks. He was burning with
embarrassment... and at the same time swallowing his rage, trying not to make a sound.

He remembered little Rani, with her permanent smile and her swift kicks, talking about his Dad as
if he was some kind of hero. And letting slip that there was something between him and her
mother.

Robby had met too many of Shannon’s boyfriends over the years, but on his father’s side none of
the women he’d been with had lasted long enough for the boy to get to know them. After Rani’s
visit to Miyagi-Do, he had been idiot enough to hope. To think that if his Dad had a girlfriend,
maybe it meant that he was changing his ways, even a little. Idiot enough to imagine a perfect little
future where his deadbeat Dad was… for lack of another word, normal. Serious. Respectable. But
no, this was even worse than before. This was the kind of thing one hears and wishes he could
forget.

With his shoes still in his hand he rushed towards his room, locked the door and fell flat on the
bed, sobbing and cursing. He didn’t care that he was supposed to go back to the board game. He
didn’t even care if Sam or anybody else could hear him.

It didn’t matter anymore.

 Lakeside
Chapter Summary

All the dojos arrive at the Lake Balboa park for a fun day out. Daniel warns his
students not to get into trouble, and he also realizes he's made a tiny mistake.

Chapter Notes

Here we are again after the Christmas hiatus! Sorry it took so long, I had a few things
to organise for the next few chapters.
This is the beginning of the Lake Balboa excursion; I'm afraid this part is not too
exciting, but don't worry because the excursion is going to last four chapters. There are
lots of things that need to happen in just one day... I hope you like them all!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 25. LAKESIDE

Johnny arrived at Cobra Kai at nine a.m. sharp, and he was glad to see that most of his students
were already there.

According to the organizers, all the dojos had to be at the Lake Balboa Park before ten, and he
didn’t want Cobra Kai to be late… or too early. Maybe they were the newest dojo in the Valley
(well, except for LaRusso and his puny karate beach bar), but they had a reputation to maintain.

He stopped the car and opened the back door for Rosa Diaz to get out. Miguel’s grandmother had
volunteered to be one of the adults in the party, along with Kate... and, surprisingly, Bert’s parents.
Like a good Latin grandma, she had also volunteered a huge amount of food, and that was
something to look forward to.

“Thank you, mijo”, said Rosa, who looked absolutely thrilled to be there. “Miggy, did you
remember to put ice in the coolers? And my Orangina?”

“Yes, Yaya”, answered the boy dutifully, as he got out of the car. “Everything is in the trunk.”

The sound of another engine approaching put a smile on Johnny’s lips: Kate and Rani had arrived.
He noticed Kate was wearing tight jeans and a light pink shirt… pink was an unusual color for her.
She was also wearing her pink trench coat, one that was forever associated to very nice thoughts in
Johnny’s mind, and he couldn’t help an appreciative smirk

Around them, the kids greeted each other, remembered things they had forgotten at home, and
made all kinds of plans for the day in a very loud voice. Almost all of them wore Cobra Kai t-
shirts... but not the typical black ones. Kate had sent a box to the dojo the day before, containing
two dozen t-shirts with a slightly different design; Johnny wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but
he couldn’t deny that they looked good. And at least they had the snake on them.
“Hey”, he said, approaching Kate.

Even when he knew their relationship was hardly a secret to most of his students, they were still
keeping it under wraps for Rani’s sake. And, after the huge fight they’d had the week before,
Johnny didn’t want to press the issue… but it was going to be hard keeping his hands off Kate all
day, he thought.

“Good morning”, she answered with a cheerful smile. “So, the big day has arrived… are we
missing anybody?”

“Only Bert and his folks.”

“Oh, yes! I talked to his Mom on the phone yesterday, she said they would be a little late.” Kate
gave Johnny’s hand a quick squeeze when nobody was looking. “I know you’re worried about
what can happen at the lake… but I have a good feeling about today. Look how excited all the kids
are.”

“Yeah”, he agreed, reluctantly. “Still, we should keep an eye out in case LaRusso tries something
to make our dojo look bad, and… what the Hell is that?”

Another vehicle, a vintage Volkswagen van, appeared down the boulevard and stopped outside the
strip mall. Several pairs of eyes turned towards it, for a very good reason: it was painted a bright
shade of green, with flowers and rainbows everywhere, and even a unicorn on one side. It wouldn’t
have looked out of place at Woodstock.

The doors of the van opened, and from it descended a young woman in a flowy caftan and a blond
man with long hair and a beard. Behind them, looking mightily embarrassed, was none other than
Bert.

“Good morning, everybody!” said the woman before going straight towards Kate and enveloping
her in a hug. “Kate, it’s so wonderful to meet you in person at last! I’m Harmony, and this is
Skylar. Sorry we’re late, we had to stop at the organic market to get a box of fruit for dessert. You
know, I had a dream last night that this day was going to be wonderful… and my dreams are never
wrong, I don’t want to brag but I’m a bit of a psychic.”

Without giving her time to answer, Harmony turned towards Johnny and went for another awkward
hug; Kate had to cover her mouth with her hand to avoid laughing.

“We’re so happy to see you, Sensei Johnny! Well, of course Skylar and I had seen you already, we
were at the tournament cheering for our Bertie… if you knew how much he admires you, you
would faint!”

Beside his mother, Bert turned red as a beet and ran towards his friends. Johnny muttered a
greeting while Harmony introduced her husband, who was also very fond of giving hugs. Then
they went to speak to Rosa, and Kate could finally laugh at Johnny’s bewildered face.

“Well, that was a surprise”, she said. “Who would have imagined that Bert was a flower child?”

“How the fuck are those people real?” wondered Johnny. “Is that van a time machine? They look
like they live in 1968.”

“Well, New Wave hippies have existed in California for a very long time. And they seem to be
really nice...”

“Yeah, if you ignore the hugs. Come on, that dude is even carrying a guitar”, he grumbled. “It
beats me how a kid like Bert could come from those parents.”

“I don’t see why not, Bert is a really sweet boy.” Kate looked at her watch. “Well, now that all the
children are here I think we should get going.”

“Right. Just a minute.” Johnny stood on the sidewalk and whistled to call his students’ attention.
“Ears open, everybody! Today is a day for having fun, this is not a tournament. Don’t mess with
the other kids too much… and don’t get into fights, especially no karate matches. It sucks, but
those are the committee’s orders. Now, get your asses in the cars and let’s go!”

Some of the older kids groaned, starting with Hawk, but they knew better than to contradict their
Sensei. Then, it took a while to organize the carpooling... because of course everybody wanted to
ride in the Mystery Machine, like Johnny called it. In the end, Johnny took Miguel, Hawk, Moon
and Rosa with him. The older Cobra girls all decided to go in Kate’s car; and Rani went with Bert,
his parents and all the other children in Skylar’s van. They were quite crammed up, but Harmony
had them rehearsing camp songs even before the engine started.

While Kate checked the rear mirror to see if the girls were wearing their safety belts, she wondered
something.

“Keiko, isn’t your brother also going to the lake today? You could have gone with him and save
yourself the detour.”

“Yes, but he’s going with his dojo… and his new friends”, said Keiko, scrunching her nose. “I
mean, Sam and Demetri are all right, but it would still be weird; and I haven’t met Keene yet, but
he’s not the biggest Cobra Kai fan; I’d better not share a car with him.”

Kate raised an eyebrow.

“Just remember what your Sensei said a moment ago: no silly fights, okay? If anybody from
Miyagi-Do or from any other dojo gives you a hard time, come to me and I’ll talk to them.
Understood?”

Keiko sighed, while the other three girls exchanged glances and nodded.

“The Miyagi kids won’t do anything”, added Aisha. “I talked to Sam yesterday, they don’t want
any trouble today.”

“I hope you’re right”, retorted the Asian girl. “I’m not going to start a fight… but I can finish it if I
have to.”

“And I’m still dreadful at karate, so… I’m personally loving that ‘no fighting’ rule”, observed
Sophie.

“That’s the spirit!” said Kate with a laugh. “The All Valley people have prepared lots of activities:
there will be games, sports, a barbecue… there’s even boats at the lake, so you won’t even have
time to think about karate. Are we ready, ladies?”

A loud chorus of enthusiastic voices answered her question; Kate turned on the ignition and
followed the other two cars that were already on the way.

Daniel maneuvered his car between the white lines of the parking lot, checking that it was
correctly aligned with them. So many years of organizing cars at LaRusso Auto had given him
almost magical parking abilities… and also a slight obsession for placing each vehicle perfectly
within the lines.

Riding shotgun next to him, Demetri was quiet; he’d spent most of the night rewatching old
seasons of Game of Thrones, and he was falling asleep. In the back seat, Sam and Shiro were
singing along to a J-Pop song.

Daniel took a glance at Sam and smiled. It looked like Shiro and her were making some progress…
but he wasn’t going to meddle, not again; the last thing he wanted was another Kyler situation.
Then he looked out of the window at the car next to his, and his smile faded. Robby had chosen to
ride with Amanda and Anthony, instead of going with his Miyagi-Do classmates; he had been
moody and cranky all week, and Daniel couldn’t understand why. He also could have sworn that
the boy was avoiding him.

Once in the park, they took their things to the picnic area and claimed possession of one of the
large picnic tables. There were many of them scattered on the grass, under the shade of the trees.
Daniel looked around nervously, keeping an eye out for the inevitable crowd of black clad boys
and girls that would appear in any moment. There were already a few groups of kids and adults in
the area, but Cobra Kai hadn’t arrived yet. A good thing, because he wanted to address his students
first.

“Gather round, guys”, he said. “There’s something I need to tell you before everybody gets here.”

The four teenagers stood obediently in front of him.

“As you know, this is the first time the new Miyagi-Do Karate is going to appear in public… apart
from the tournament last May, of course”, he started, giving a nod in Robby’s direction. “That day
was a very good presentation card, and it’s vital that we keep making a good impression today.”

Samantha, who was used to Daniel’s grand speeches, rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Dad, relax, it’s only an excursion! It won’t count for our college applications”, she joked. “We’re
just going to spend the day with our friends, and maybe make some new ones.”

“And what about our enemies?” asked Robby in an almost inaudible whisper.

“Exactly”, continued Daniel. “Cobra Kai is going to be here. And they may try to get you four into
trouble, so I don’t want you to engage with them in any way.”

“So… if that little Cobra Kai girl challenges me to a game of tag, do I have to say that my Dad
doesn’t let me play with her?”

This time it was Daniel’s turn to roll his eyes. “You know perfectly well I wasn’t talking about that
girl.”

Sam frowned and hit the ground with her foot. She had been expecting to talk to Miguel at some
point of the day. The truth was, she really missed him… but it was going to be hard sneaking out of
Daniel’s vigilant gaze. Stubbornly, she made another attempt.

“Maybe we can use this day to start again with Cobra Kai? The All Valley people said that today is
not about karate, it’s about having fun all together.”

Amanda, who had been listening to her husband’s words, gave Daniel a meaningful nod, but he
didn’t relent.
“Sorry, but I disagree. I want to avoid all confrontations today… and the best way to do that is to
make sure that you don’t speak to any of the Cobra Kai more than necessary. Don’t do anything to
provoke them; if they speak to you, be polite and try to end the conversation as soon as possible.
There are plenty of young people here, from other dojos, that you can befriend without the need to
look for a fight that we know is waiting to happen.”

“But, Dad…”

“I’ve made my point clear, Sam. Please, don’t make me repeat it.”

“Yes, Sensei ”, answered Samantha, clearly bummed by the improvised new rule. Beside her, Shiro
looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. Amanda, on the other hand,
crossed her arms and huffed; she would have a conversation about about it with Daniel later, but
not in front of the kids.

Robby just kept staring at the tips of his sneakers in complete silence. He wasn’t really interested
in socializing, or in having fun. He knew that Daniel planned to tell the Committee everything
about his Dad and that… that prostitute he’d hired. There was a nagging feeling in his stomach, a
feeling of dread that made him want to grab his things and run to North Hills, to Shannon’s empty
apartment, where nobody could see how ashamed he was.

Right in that moment, a brightly colored van appeared through the park gates, and everybody
turned around to look at it. A few seconds later, the doors opened, and from the van emerged a
small army of Cobra kids…

An army in yellow.

They looked nothing like the intimidating line of fighters that had arrived to the tournament
chanting the name of their dojo… in the light of day, in those yellow t-shirts, the infamous Cobra
Kai looked just like children. And they were a noisy bunch, laughing and running while they
unloaded the van. Suddenly, Daniel tensed up: Johnny had arrived too, and of course his
tournament champion and that thug with the mohawk were with him.

Amanda gave her husband a nudge and a wink.

“I like the yellow t-shirts. It’s a happy color.”

“They still have that snake on them”, he observed.

Meanwhile, Robby had moved stealthily behind a tree. His hands were shaking, and no amount of
slow breathing could help him control it. He didn’t want his Dad to see him, didn’t want to witness
the scene that would surely take place when the All Valley people got there. Almost without
thinking he grabbed his phone and started looking into bus routes for North Hills. If he was able to
get his skateboard from the trunk of Amanda’s car and leave, nobody would notice until he was too
far away to come back.

He had already started to walk towards the car, when…

“Robby, hi!”

The boy closed his eyes and sighed. That was one voice he didn’t mind hearing, but now his plan
to sneak away unnoticed was useless.

“Hey, kiddo”, he said, smiling gently at Rani, who was running towards him; she ran straight into a
hug, and Robby felt his heart break a little. His Dad was this girl’s hero… how devastated would
she be when his lifestyle was exposed, when Cobra Kai was left without a Sensei and forced to
close its doors? He looked at Daniel and Amanda, who seemed to be in the middle of an argument
he was too far away to hear.

Rani tugged on Robby’s sleeve to get his attention, and the boy snapped out of his somber
thoughts.

“Did you see the big van with the flowers? Bert’s Mom painted it. She also plays the guitar, and
she’s promised to teach me a lot of songs today.”

“That’s really great”, he answered, trying to look happy. He was really fond of the little karate
enthusiast, but… the way things were going, he probably would never see her again.

Johnny stared at the park gates without blinking, as if he wanted to melt the iron bars with his eyes.
Kate and the girls hadn’t arrived, and he was starting to get nervous.

What if they’d had an accident? Getting lost was not an option because Kate had one of those
navigator thingies in her phone… and the traffic had been good that morning. He checked his
watch again and mentally kicked himself. No matter how slow time passed in his mind, in the real
world Kate was barely five minutes late, and he was freaking out like a fucking schoolboy waiting
for his crush to get out of class.

What really frustrated him was that he had to behave as if there was nothing between them. This
was a public place; too many people, including his students… and Rattler, of course, the main
reason for them to keep the secret. He wondered if the little girl suspected anything; she was a
clever kid, she must have noticed. Or maybe not… Johnny’s only experience raising a child had
been with Robby (although most of the actual raising had happened with he wasn’t there), and the
boy always knew when Shannon had a new boyfriend. But, on the other hand, Shannon had never
been known for her discretion.

Johnny wondered if he could find a moment to talk to Kate about it. They had been together for
three weeks already, what was wrong with letting people know? Lost in thought, he turned towards
the gates again, and he finally saw what he was looking for. Kate’s silver Toyota crossed the
entrance, and parked next to the hippie van.

“Sorry we’re late”, she said, approaching Johnny with an apologetic smile. “There was an accident
on Reseda Boulevard, and we had to take a detour.”

“It’s okay”, answered Johnny, visibly relieved. “The All Valley people haven’t arrived yet, and the
party doesn’t start until those dudes say so, apparently.”

He surveyed the area, taking notice of the other people that were arriving. Most boys and girls
were proudly displaying their dojo’s colors in their clothes: he saw many Topanga blue shirts,
some Krunch people with their red logo… The All-Star boys even had baseball caps and jackets
with the name of their dojo on them. Show-offs.

For a moment, Johnny felt nostalgic. He had been like that once, going with his friends to the
beach, or to Golf N’ Stuff; all of them wearing the Cobra Kai patches on their jackets like badges of
honor.

He made a mental note of giving Bobby Brown a call before they saw each other at the school
reunion. He wanted to tell him about Kate… It would be the first time in years he would have some
good news to tell his old friend, and he couldn’t lose that opportunity.

There was another side to the coin of Johnny’s glorious high school days, and he was standing on
the other side of the clearing. Of course LaRusso had been the first to arrive, flaunting his handful
of students and his holier-than-thou attitude in front of the crowd. Johnny intended to have a chat
with his son before the ended, but that was going to be hard… he didn’t feel like talking to Robby
in front of him .

Out of the corner of his eye he finally saw Robby, a few yards away from the rest of the Miyagi-
Do clan. The boy was facing away from his group, crouching forward to talk to…

Johnny took a deep breath and grabbed Kate’s arm to get her attention.

Amanda noticed it first, of course. She had been paying special attention to Robby all week, and
she’d realized that the boy was upset. That’s why she couldn’t help a relieved smile when she saw
him talking to Rani: it was impossible to be sad when that sunny little girl was present.

She grabbed Daniel’s arm and advanced towards her.

“Rani! Do you remember me, sweetie?”

“Yes! Hi, Mrs. LaRusso”, answered the girl. “And hi, Sensei LaRusso.”

Daniel gave her an uncomfortable smile. He was starting to consider the idea of ordering a ‘Don’t
Call Me Sensei’ t-shirt.

“Hello, Rani. I’m glad to see you… is your Mom here today?”

The little girl tilted her head to the side. “Yes; she came in our car with Aisha and several other
girls… but I wanted to come in the big van with Bert’s parents because they’re very funny.”

Daniel nodded and looked across the clearing with inquisitive eyes, while Robby and Rani kept
chatting about all the games they were planning to play later.

“That’s weird”, he whispered to Amanda. “There are Aisha and the other girls… but I don’t see any
South Asian women in the Cobra Kai group. Or anywhere else, for that matter.”

“Well, there’s a very good way to find out without having to play James Bond”, she answered.
“Rani, sweetheart, I’d like to say hi to your Mom. Can you tell me where she is?”

“Sure! She’s over there, talking to Sensei Lawrence.”

Rani pointed towards the place where most of the Cobra Kai had congregated… and for a few
seconds there was no sound around her: both Daniel and Amanda were too surprised to speak. In
fact, for many days after the lake excursion, Daniel could remember feeling so astonished that his
brain stopped working. He had directed his attention to the place Rani was pointing at; and yes,
indeed, there was someone standing next to Johnny, someone he already knew.

Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle (all three of them) fell into place.

It was the woman from the restaurant… the lawyer. And not only that, there was a hot pink trench
coat hanging from her arm. A trench coat that he remembered perfectly well.

“That… that is…”

“Your Mom’s name is Kate, right, honey?” asked Amanda, reacting fast to cover for Daniel’s
temporary paralysis.

“Yes; Katharine Williams. And I’m Rani Noelle Williams”, answered the little girl.

“Noelle! That’s a really pretty name… right, Daniel?”, said Amanda, elbowing her husband in the
ribs to make him react. She also had to command most of her self-control to avoid laughing too
much at him. The poor man had made a mountain of what was really a very simple thing… and she
knew Daniel well enough to know he was going to beat himself up over that mistake for quite a
while.

“Kate, I think you should see what’s happening over there.”

Kate looked at where Johnny was pointing, and saw her daughter in an animated conversation with
Robby... and also with Daniel and Amanda. The girl stood right in the middle of the Miyagi-Do
group, looking completely at ease, and Kate tried not to panic.

“Oh, no. I told her to stay with Rosa until I arrived! What is she doing over there?”

“It doesn’t surprise me”, said Johnny. “LaRusso already started his recruitment campaign when
Rattler visited his dojo last week, and now he’s just buttering her up a bit more. Shit, first he takes
Robby from me… and now he wants your kid too?”

Noticing that Johnny was getting too worked up, Kate tried to defuse the situation.

“It’s fine, I’m sure she just went over there to talk to Robby. And that’s a good thing, right? They
got along really well when she visited his dojo. I’ll go get her.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

“Johnny, I’m not usually one to pull rank… but I’m her mother, it’s going to be weird if you go and
I stay here”, she insisted. “Besides, we can’t spend the whole day here in the park and not say a
word to those people. Remember what we said about being civil, at least we should say hi. A bit of
public relations won’t hurt Cobra Kai, right?”

“Fine. We’ll go together”, Johnny said as he grabbed her hand. He did it on purpose, of course, to
see if she complained… if she was embarrassed to be seen with him in front of all those people.

“I see today it’s a day for making statements”, observed Kate. She looked at their joined hands
with surprise, but she didn’t let go.

“You want public relations, let’s have public relations”, he said with a cheeky grin. “Come on, let's
get your kid back.”

“Amanda, please, stop laughing!” Daniel urged his wife in a desperate whisper.

“The lawyer, the mother and the call girl turn out to be one and the same? You’re the only one here
who doesn’t find it funny, babe.”

“I almost made the worst faux-pas of my life over a case of mistaken identity. It’s anything but
funny!”
“Oh, it’s like one of those jokes! A mother, a lawyer and a floozy walk into a bar… and they order
only one drink”, she laughed again. “Aren’t you glad now that you didn’t call Johnny out in public
as soon as he arrived?”

“Please, oh, please... don’t mention that again.”

Robby observed Daniel and Amanda bickering in shouting whispers beside him, but he didn’t
really pay attention to them after the first few seconds. It was enough to know that his Dad wasn’t
the hopeless loser he had thought only a few days before… at least not that much of a loser to pay
for sex; and to know that the mysterious girlfriend and the devoted mom of the girl in front of him
were the same woman. A woman who looked like a perfectly normal and nice person... who, for
some mysterious reason, had decided to date his Dad.

He saw Kate walk towards the Miyagi group. She was holding Johnny’s hand, and there was a tiny
wrinkle of worry on her forehead.

Kate went straight towards her daughter, and stood before her with her arms crossed.

“Rani, I told you not to get away from Mrs. Diaz, remember? If you’re old enough to go in the big
van with the other kids and not with me, you also have to be responsible enough to do what I tell
you. This is a big park, there’s a lot of people here… you could get lost.”

The little girl lowered her head.

“I’m sorry, Mom”, she said, contrite, “I just wanted to see my friend Robby. I won’t get away
again.”

“It’s okay this time. But if you do it again I’ll have to ground you, understood? Always stay with
the Cobra Kai group unless I or Sensei Lawrence give you permission."·

“Yes, Mom.”

“It wasn’t her fault”, Robby intevened. “I should have realized she was alone and taken her back to
her friends.”

Kate turned to the boy and smiled.

“It’s very sweet of you to try and take the blame; but you’re not responsible for her, and she knows
she should have waited for me.”

Rani looked at the boy and nodded, admitting that her mother was right, and Kate decided that it
was time for some introductions.

“So… you must be Robby. Hi.”

“And you must be Kate”, said the boy, flashing her a wide smile. “Rani says that you’re the best
Mom in the world.”

“That’s very high praise to live up to”, she laughed. “And Rani, in turn, is a very good daughter…
except when she thinks she’s eighteen instead of eight and she feels the need to be independent,
like today.”

Robby turned to Johnny next, and there was a short but uncomfortable silence before he spoke.
“Hey, Dad. I’m glad to see you.”

“Hi, Robby”, he answered with an awkward smile. There weren’t many people in the world who
admitted being glad to see Johnny; his son had never been one of them before. He was deciding if
he should try hugging the boy or not, when a startled voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Sensei Lawrence is your Dad?”

It was Rani, of course, staring at Robby with her mouth agape as if he had suddenly transformed
into a superhero.

“That is so cool!” she exclaimed. “But why didn’t you tell me? Why doesn’t anybody tell me
anything ?”

Kate couldn’t help laughing, and that was the moment Amanda chose to approach her.

“It’s so great to see you again!” she said, looking genuinely happy. “The other day I thought of
calling your for lunch, since you work so close to the dealership… but I don’t have your number,
and I felt silly calling your office.”

“Oh, nonsense”, answered Kate, leaning in to kiss Amanda’s cheek. “We absolutely need to have
lunch together. Especially now that you’ve met this little earthquake that I call my daughter.”

Rani beamed, clearly proud of the epithet.

While this friendly greeting took place, Daniel appeared behind Amanda. He’d heard the whole
exchange, of course; and while he thought Rani was a brilliant kid, and he had nothing bad to say
about Kate… there was someone else on the scene whose presence irked him to no end.

“Johnny”, he said, in a tone that tried to be neutral but came out snarky.

The other man acknowledged him with a curt nod.

“LaRusso”, he answered, holding Daniel’s gaze. “I was surprised to get an invitation to your little
outing.”

“I wasn’t the one who sent them… it was the Sports Committee’s idea. Believe me, I’m as happy
to see you as you are to see me”, he said with a smirk.

Amanda roller her eyes and stomped her foot, exactly like Samantha had done a few minutes
before.

“I believe the ‘no fighting today rule’ also applies to senseis, right?” she threw a hard look at the
two men, sho stood opposite each other without moving. “You better think about the example you
want to give your respective students… but that’s up to both of you, of course. No one else.”

Seeing that trying to intervene was a lost cause, Amanda turned to Kate and Rani again.

“So, Rani… there are a lot of activities planned for today; have you thought of what you want to
do?”

“Yes! Robby is going to teach me how to skate.”

“I’ll be careful, Kate, I promise”, said the boy before Kate could react.

“And I want to swim in the lake, too!” continued Rani.

“Remember that you’re only allowed to swim if I’m with you, okay?” reminded Kate. “If you
pretend to fall into the water like you did last week at Uncle Kevin’s pool, there will be no
skateboarding lessons. Do you hear that, Miss Rani?”

The girl smiled and nodded, at the same time that the sound of voices in the clearing raised its
volume.

The reason for it was that an elegant black car had just crossed the park gate and, disregarding the
parking space, advanced almost to the line of trees. The All Valley Committee had arrived, and all
the kids cheered when they saw them. Noticing that Kate and Johnny were distracted by the
commotion, Amanda pulled her husband aside.

“Honey, let me see your wallet.”

“My wallet?” he asked, dumbfounded. “What for? Did you leave your purse at home?”

Amanda gave Daniel her sweetest smile.

“Ah, I see you’ve forgotten about that little bet we made a few weeks ago… the one where I told
you Jonny would bring Kate as his date today.”

Daniel finally remembered what she was talking about, and he made a face.

“Really, Amanda? Now?”

“Now is as good a moment as any other”, she answered, extending her hand. “Pay up, my love.”

With a heavy sigh, he slid a twenty into Amanda’s hand, pouting. The worst part wasn’t the
money, of course.. it was the smug expression of triumph on her face. That really hurt.

Daniel stood with his hands in his pockets while Amanda resumed her conversation with Kate. He
suspected that he was going to have to tolerate Johnny’s presence for the rest of the excursion…
and how could he not, if his girlfriend and her little girl were both so fond of Amanda and Robby?

Letting out a pitiful sigh, he gazed at the lake, wishing that he could just grab a boat, row into the
distance and get lost for the rest of the excursion.

It was going to be a very long day.

Chapter End Notes

So... what do you think of Harmony and Skylar? They're that kind of parents who
make embarrassing their kids into a science... poor Bert.
 Blunder
Chapter Summary

When teenagers meet, sparks fly... sometimes the good kind of sparks, others not so
much. Meanwhile, Daniel misreads a situation once more, and finds himself saying
the wrong thing.

Chapter Notes

Sorry for the delay, dear readers! I had to reorganize the scenes for this arc, and now
it's going to span five chapters instead of four. I'm not 100% happy with it because
now some of the chapter breaks happen in weird places, but it was the only way to
keep the chapters readable (and by that I mean shorter than 6000 words). I'm already
working on chapter 27, so the next update will arrive soon.

CHAPTER 26. BLUNDER

“...and it’s an honor for us to welcome all of you to this outing, that we hope will be the first of
many in the years to come…”

There was a sizeable crowd congregated around the All Valley Committee members (all five,
including Daniel). A crowd that had been listening to one of them for more than ten minutes,
rambling non-stop about sports, and companionship, and fair play, and giving young people their
space, and… several other tedious topics, one after another.

A couple of mothers sighed; many kids had started rolling their eyes, and a few of the older
teenagers were already trying to sneak away from the circle.

“Ugh, it’s like that pansy’s speech at the tournament all over again”, complained Johnny in a
whisper that only Kate could hear.

She gave him an encouraging smile right at the moment when the only woman in the Committee
managed to nudge her colleague away and take center stage.

“Thank you so much for your words, George!” she said, in a tone that implied that the children
were not the only ones getting bored. But, before joining the others, the man still had something
else to say.

“Oh, I almost forgot! Daniel, what was that very important thing you had to tell us today?” he said,
passing him the megaphone.

Daniel blushed to the roots of his hair. He had asked George to have a word in private with the rest
of the Committee, something the man had forgotten or misunderstood. Now he had to speak in
front of a dozen Senseis and a hundred other people... and, since it had been proved that Johnny’s
reputation was spotless (or, at least, reasonably clean), he now found himself with nothing to say.
“Ah… yes, thank you. Er… well, the thing is…” after a few seconds he finally got an inspiration,
and he promptly followed it. “It’s about that idea we’ve been considering, the under-14
tournament. I know I’ve always opposed it in the past, but… well, I’ve given it some thought and
I’ve decided to agree with the rest of you. I also think the first edition should take place next
December, in the spot where the old tournament used to be.”

There was a wave of pleased whispers along the crowd. Mostly from the younger kids, who had
zero chances to win the regular competition and now saw an opportunity to show their talent.
Several moms in the group looked very pleased too: a woman in a blue t-shirt who was standing
next to Kate cheered so loud that she almost had to cover her ears.

“I knew all that convincing hadn’t been in vain! Now that it’s unanimous, we can officially start
organizing the under-14 tournament”, agreed George, giving Daniel a friendly pat on the back.
“With that out of the way, Sue will now inform you of all the fun things we have planned for
today.”

The aforementioned Sue, grateful to have a chance to speak at last, smiled nervously at the crowd.

“Good morning, everybody”, she started. “Before I start listing all the activities, allow me to say
that we’re all very pleased that so many of you had come to share this day.”

The kids (and most of the adults) around Sue looked at her in silence, fearing a repeat of George’s
long and boring speech.

“I don’t want the day to start without an official ‘welcome back’ to the two dojos that returned to
the competition last May, after more than thirty years of absence.”

Some polite clapping was the response, accompanied with a cheer from the Cobra Kai students.

“One more thing: you all know that the purpose of the All Valley Committee, and the Los Angeles
Sports Council, is to make the Valley a a place where young people of every age, race and
orientation can enjoy sports together. That’s why today I want to give a special commendation to
two-time All Valley champion Johnny Lawrence, from Cobra Kai, for the great strides he’s taken
towards the integration of LGBTQ youth in his dojo.”

The clapping became louder this time, and a very surprised Johnny felt his cheeks reddening
against his will. Beside him, Grace and Sophie looked at each other and held hands, positively
beaming. Grace, of course, was wearing her jacket covered in rainbow patches over her Cobra Kai
t-shirt. Apparently the news of a lesbian couple in their dojo had spread faster than anyone had
imagined.

A bit further away, Samantha pouted and leaned to whisper in Shiro’s ear.

“That’s not fair! We also have ‘LGBTQ youth’ at Miyagi-Do.”

The boy smiled and shrugged. “Yes, but in my case it’s a secret, Sam. Those girls are openly out,
and that’s really brave of them.”

When the applause subsided and Sue started listing the times and places of the different games and
activities, Johnny took Kate aside.

“I know what the L and the G mean, and I’m more or less sure about the B… but what the fuck are
those other letters?” he whispered to her.

“I’ll tell you later. If anyone mentions it to you, just nod and smile.”
“By the way… how do those people suddenly know that I won the All Valley twice? No one gave
a shit about that last May.”

Kate winked at him, looking completely innocent.

“Well, Aisha told me how your past triumphs had been overlooked at the tournament, so… I gave
Sue a call the other day and had a little chat with her. Lovely woman.”

“You’re an evil genius”, Johnny chuckled.

“Oh, that’s nothing! She was super nice to me as soon as I mentioned that my daughter went to
Cobra Kai. I think you got yourself a fan, mister.”

“Well, tough luck, Committee Lady Sue. No matter how nice you are… I’m already taken.”

After the speeches ended, everybody spread around the park. By pure chance (or maybe not), the
Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do groups had ended up stationed next to each other… to Rani’s delight, of
course. This time she did ask Kate for permission before running to see her friend again, followed
by her mother and Johnny… who had come to terms with the fact that, if he wanted to see Robby,
enduring the sight of LaRusso’s face was the price he had to pay.

Meanwhile, Keiko gazed across the clearing and patted Miguel on the shoulder.

“I should go and say hi to my brother. Poor Shiro, he must be cursing the day he joined that sneeze
of a dojo… Come with me, Mig, your girl is also there.”

“Sam hasn’t been my girl for months”, he said, dumbfounded. Why was Keiko teasing him like
that? Didn’t she know that Sam had been fooling around with her brother? “Besides, her Dad hates
my guts, I’m not going anywhere near him.”

“Oh, come on, don’t chicken out like that”, she insisted. “Her Dad won’t do anything to your guts
in front of so many people. Bert, you joining us?”

“Sure! Anything to get away from my parents”, said the younger boy, pointing to the circle of
children and adults congregated around Skylar and his guitar. “They’re going to start singing
Kumbaya any second. I feel it.”

The kids laughed as they approached the Miyagi group. Sam smiled at Miguel, looking like she
was about to say something… but she didn’t, and in the end it was Shiro who greeted the
newcomers.

“Hey, here’s my favorite sister!” he said, hugging her.

“I’m your only sister, you doofus”, she quipped.

“I think you already know all my classmates… no, sorry, almost all of them”, Shiro corrected
himself, making a gesture towards Robby. “Keiko, this is Robby Keene. Robby, my sister Keiko.”

The boy stared at her, then at her Cobra Kai t-shirt, and finally he held her gaze again.

“You must be the girl who was so contrary that she refused to join Miyagi-Do just to spite her
brother”, he said, half joking.

“And you must be the prodigy white boy who rode into the tournament like a masked knight and
got to the finals surprising everyone.”

Robby flashed her a quick smile, and one of his green eyes twinkled in a quick wink. “So, you’ve
heard of me… Would you like to know how I did it?”

“Not really”, she answered in a dismissive tone. “I’d just like to know if it was beginner’s luck.”

Robby’s smile faded. “You think you’re better than me at karate because you’re Japanese?”

“The reason I think I’m better than you is because I am better than you. Being Japanese is just an
added coolness factor. But you sound like you’re eager to prove yourself… prodigy.” She spat the
word in a calm and icy tone, like an insult.

Robby took a step towards her, trying very hard not to clench his fists and assume a fighting
position. “I can show you anywhere, any time.”

“No sparring today, Miss Yashida. Remember the rules”, reminded Johnny. He and the other adults
had approached the two teenagers as soon as they heard the raised voices. It was in everybody’s
interest to avoid a confrontation, and Johnny knew his son had a quick temper… inherited from
him, although probably Shannon had had some part in it too.

“Yes, Sensei”, she said in a firm tone. “Sorry, masked knight, let’s leave it for another day.”

“No problem”, the boy hissed. “I can wait until the next tournament to kick your ass, there’s no
hurry.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that.”

“Fine!”

“Good!”

“Okay, that is enough”, interrupted Daniel in a stern voice. “Robby, remember what I told you this
morning about interacting with the Cobra Kai students. Stop teasing each other this instant… in
fact, stop talking to each other altogether, understood?”

Robby bit his lip, struggling between his desire to follow the rules and his natural inclination to
seek out a fight. Then he lowered his head and nodded. Opposite him, Keiko looked like she was
about to try and say the last word, but a sharp look from her brother silenced her too.

In the end, the uncomfortable absence of sound was broken by a little voice.

“Robby’s not allowed to speak with me?”

Rani sounded more surprised than upset, and Daniel could barely stifle a curse word. He had
completely forgotten there was a child present… a child that could potentially start crying and
make him look like a heartless monster. He crouched in front of the little girl, thinking fast of a
way to fix what he’d just said, but Kate was faster than him.

“Rani… do you remember what I told you the other day about those grown-up things that are hard
to understand sometimes?” she said, inserting herself between her daughter and Daniel.

The girl knotted her brow and nodded.

“Well, this is one of those things. Nobody is forbidding you to do anything, okay? You can talk to
anybody you want. The only super important rule for today is that you can’t go exploring around
the park without an adult.”

“But Sensei LaRusso is angry. Did I do anything wrong?”

“Sensei LaRusso is having a bad day”, Kate said, throwing Daniel a look that could have frozen
molten lava. “And when grown-ups have bad days, they say things they don’t mean. Now… I need
you and Bert to go to Mrs. Diaz and tell her to give you a box of the brownies I baked yesterday.
Can you do that for me, please? Get the box and bring it here.”

“Yes, Mom”, Rani answered, still looking suspicious.

“Yes, Miss Kate”, added Bert, grabbing Rani’s hand and heading towards the place where Rosa
was organizing the food (and making sure that Johnny’s students didn’t eat it all).

Kate watched the kids leave without even looking at Daniel; she had the ability to ignore people in
a very obvious way. Then she turned to Johnny, who had observed the full exchange without
saying a word.

“Johnny… Why are some of the kids calling me Miss Kate all of a sudden?”

“Because I told them to.”

“It makes me sound like a schoolteacher!”

“It was either that or Miss Williams. They have to show you some respect.”

That, at last, made her crack a smile. “You can be so Victorian sometimes.”

“Thank you.”

“Not a compliment, Mr. Lawrence.”

In a moment, Bert and Rani were back, bringing a box with them.

“A token of peace, if you wish”, said Kate, giving it to Amanda. “My famous salted caramel
brownies.”

Amanda’s face brightened.

“Don’t worry, they’re not poisoned”, Kate joked.

“Oh, I don’t care if they are”, said Amanda. “You had me at ‘salted caramel’. How many of these
did you make, exactly? I think I’m going to defect to Cobra Kai for one day…”

“Four batches. Hurry up, if I know Johnny’s students, they will all be gone before lunchtime… but
don’t worry, I’ll give you the recipe.”

“You clearly haven’t seen me in a kitchen. The last time I used my oven I made the fire alarm go
off”, said Amanda, taking a bite of one of the chocolate squares. “Oh, my God! These are so
good… I’m definitely going to sneak over and steal the rest of them.”

“I wouldn’t”, laughed Kate. “Miguel’s grandmother is watching over the food like a hawk. Mrs.
Rosa may be tiny, but nothing gets past her!”

At the mention of Miguel’s name, Sam decided to try a discrete approach to him. During the whole
exchange between Robby and Keiko, the boy had been half-hiding behind a tree; she couldn’t
blame him, knowing how both Robby and her Dad felt about him.

“Hey”, she said in a low voice.

“Hi”, answered Miguel, looking a bit distracted.

“I was thinking… maybe later when the games start we could… I don’t know, have a chat. If
that’s okay with you?”

“You’re with your family, Sam. I don’t want to cause you any more trouble. Besides, we’ll have
our hands full making sure those two don’t kill each other today”, he whispered looking at Keiko
and Robby, who had stopped arguing only to enter a contest of death stares.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Just when your Sensei and my Dad were signing a truce, and the idiots
start… Hey, who are those?”

She pointed at the four people walking towards them: two boys, a girl, and a bald middle-aged
man with a friendly face. All the kids wore t-shirts with the Krunch Karate logo on them.

“Hi! You’re Miguel Diaz, right?” asked the taller boy, who appeared to be the leader of the
delegation.

“Ah… yes. Hi”, he answered cautiously. Despite all the cheering when he’d won the tournament,
he still wasn’t sure how the people from the other dojos felt about him. Or, to be more precise,
about Cobra Kai.

The boy shook his hand eagerly. “My name is Brian, these are Maria and DeShawn... and our
Sensei, Mr. Hastings. From Krunch, as you may have noticed.”

“Nice to meet you”, answered Miguel, still a bit wary. “These are Keiko, Bert… and the tiny one
over there is Rattler.”

The rest of the group introduced themselves to the Krunch visitors.

“Hi, everybody”, said Brian, waving politely. “So, Miguel… the Topanga guys just had the idea of
organizing teams for a softball game. We’re a small dojo, and we were wondering if you and some
of your Cobra Kai friends would want to team up with us. If you’re half as fierce on the field as on
the mat, this can be a lot of fun!”

“We’re huge fans of yours, by the way”, cooed the girl, Maria, making her lashes flutter. She had
smooth black hair down to her waist, hair that waved in the morning breeze… and the t-shirt with
the name of her dojo on it was unexpectedly tight. Miguel couldn’t help staring at her like an idiot.

Samantha also found herself staring. Staring at the stupid Krunch girl with her stupid padded bra
and her even more stupid red nails. Who the Hell painted her nails red for a day in the park?

“Thanks! That... that sounds great”, said Miguel, overwhelmed by all the praise. “I mean, I have to
talk to the others first, but I’m sure they’ll say yes. That’s what we’re here for, right? Meeting new
people.”

Beside him, Keiko and Bert nodded with enthusiasm.

“Splendid!” said the Krunch boy. “We’ll see you all by the pier in half an hour. It’s so great to
finally meet you, man”, he said, going for another friendly handshake.
“Well, looks like we’re going to make a lot of friends today”, Keiko singsonged while the Krunch
kids and their teacher walked away. “Especially you, stud.”

Miguel bit her lip and willed himself not to blush. “Yeah… Let’s go tell Aisha and the others.
Rattler, do you want to come with us?”

“Yes, but I don’t know how to play softball”, said Rani, with a little wrinkle of concern forming on
her forehead.

“Don’t worry, we’ll teach you”, said Keiko.

“Sensei, can I go with them?” asked the girl.

“We’re not at the dojo, Rattler”, answered Johnny in the softest tone he could muster. “Ask your
mother.”

Rani looked at Kate with pleading eyes, and Keiko grabbed the little girl’s hand. “Let her come,
Kate; please… I promise I won’t let her out of my sight.”

“Fine. Like you said, it’s a day for making friends in other dojos”, she said in a pointed tone.
“Rani, you have to do everything Keiko tells you, okay? And don’t wander away from her and
Miguel, not for one second.”

One of Rani’s braids had come undone, like they always did because the little girl fidgeted with her
hair all the time, and Kate leaned down to fix it.

She noticed Daniel staring fixedly at her, and she quickly checked her clothes for a stain. But no,
her shirt was clean; the only thing out of place was a tiny red mark on her chest, a reminder of that
night at Johnny’s apartment a week before… But it was barely visible, anyway. When she looked
again, Daniel had turned around, and she decided it had been a coincidence.

Kate tied the yellow ribbon around the end of her daughter’s braid and stood up.

“Here you go. Try not to unbraid it again, okay? Or your hair will get all tangled, and then it’s
complaints galore when I brush it at home.”

“Yes, Mom. Pinky promise.”

Kate smiled and nodded. As the kids left, she and Johnny noticed the Krunch sensei walking back
towards them.

“Hey, Lawrence! Damn, I almost forgot. We need some people to man the barbecues, are you
game?” he asked.

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Can you help us unload the coal from my car? We’ll get the fires started, that’s all for now.”

Johnny looked at Kate to make sure she didn’t mind, but she smiled at him and gave him a playful
push.

“Go have fun playing with fire. I promised Harmony I’d join her Kundalini yoga class at noon, and
I don’t think you want to come with me.”

“Yeah, not my thing.” He then looked at Daniel, not sure of how to say it… he wanted to sound
nice, but not too nice. “So, LaRusso… Robby says you know your way around a barbecue.
Interested?”

Daniel took a deep breath. He glanced at Kate, and Amanda… and then at Johnny again.

“Maybe later.”

“Suit yourself.”

Johnny gave Kate a half-smile and left with Hastings. He wasn’t entirely comfortable being away
from her, but… the day had barely started, they would have time to be together.

At least, as ‘together’ as they could, considering that public displays of affection were still banned
between them. That was something else they needed to discuss…

If he managed to get his girlfriend alone for five minutes.

After Johnny disappeared from sight, Kate realized she was alone in what could be considered
hostile territory. Well, maybe not ‘hostile’... but not completely friendly, either. The Miyagi-Do
students had taken their leave, joining a group of boys and girls that were going to try the boats on
the lake, so she was left with Daniel, Amanda… and Johnny’s son, who had chosen to stay saying
that he didn’t like boats.

Amanda was nice, as always, but Kate still didn’t know what to make of her husband... And she
had absolutely no idea how to talk to Robby. Teenagers were an undiscovered country for her,
especially this moody teenager who wasn’t very fond of his own father and seemed to hate
anybody who had anything to do with Cobra Kai. On the other hand, Rani liked him; and he looked
like a good boy, apart from his quick temper, but Kate had decided not to force an awkward
conversation until she knew more about him.

She was about to think of a polite excuse and leave, when Daniel took a step towards her.

“Kate, are you… are you alright?” he inquired in a worried tone.

She frowned. It was a weird question to ask, especially because she had been all smiles since she
had arrived… but it was probably just a conversation starter.

“Perfectly fine”, she said, shrugging. “Why do you ask?”

“Look, we barely know each other, but I want you to know that… that you have our support, and
our help… I mean, if you need any help. Amanda and I are here for you.”

Kate looked at Daniel and blinked. Twice. If this was the man’s idea of a casual conversation with
an almost stranger, no wonder Johnny didn’t like him too much.

“Sorry, but… I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about”, she said, throwing a sideways
glance at Amanda and Robby to see if they could give her a clue. But no, both of them looked
equally lost.

The man in front of her let out a sigh.

“Kate, you don’t have to pretend everything is fine. You are among friends here, and…” he
stopped, struggling to find the right words. “What I really want to say is that I understand you
trying to protect him.”
Another string of words that made no sense, and Kate’s patience was growing thin. What exactly
was she protecting Johnny from, and what did it have to do with needing help?

“Daniel, whatever it is you think Johnny has done this time… I don’t have time to stand here and
play riddles. So, either you say it upfront, or I’m going to go now. Okay?”

She was about to turn around and leave when Daniel spoke again; slowly, as if the words were
painful to pronounce.

“You have a… I mean… there is a…”

“In complete sentences. Please.”

Daniel put his hands in his pockets, took them out again, fidgeted with the cuff of his shirt, and
finally…

“You have a bruise.”

Kate felt her cheeks burn and the air escape from her lungs. She almost started laughing; it was so
absurd, and at the same time so typical of this man to think the worst of his childhood enemy, that
he was even insinuating that Johnny could…

Instinctively, she raised a hand to her chest, where the tiny purple spot peeked above the neckline
of her shirt.

“No”, was her answer. It was all her brain could think of, a giant ‘no’ written in capital letters.

Daniel gave her a nervous smile. Beside him, Amanda looked extremely confused. Robby, on the
other hand, still hadn’t reacted; he stared fixedly at Kate, as if he was trying to read her mind.

“Look, I saw it when you leaned down to fix Rani’s hair”, insisted Daniel. “I didn’t want to see
it… of course, nobody wants… I mean, I wasn’t looking. But I saw it.”

“You’re wrong”, she stated in a firm voice. “And you’re going to have to take my word for it,
because I’m not in the mood for giving explanations.”

For a moment it looked like Daniel was about to let the matter rest, but then he shook his head.

“No, Kate. I understand that maybe I’m not the right person to offer you help, but you should at
least consider…”

“You are so spectacularly wrong that you have no idea how much”, she interrupted him. “But I
don’t want to discuss this here, not in front of Robby, so… please, let’s change the topic now. Or
talk about it somewhere else, if it’s absolutely necessary.”

Robby arched an eyebrow. This attitude was new to him; usually the adults in his life didn’t refrain
from discussing unpleasant things for his benefit.

“Robby has a right to know.”

Kate rubbed her eyes and counted to five before answering. It was either that or start screaming,
and she didn’t like raising her voice.

“Okay”, she said, throwing her hands in the air. “You win, Daniel. You want an explanation? Here
it comes.”
Daniel frowned. He had expected denial (and he got it), tears (no sign of them so far)... and at least
some kind of thanks, or an emotional response for his offer of help. But this stubborn reaction was
incomprehensible.

Kate, on her part, willed herself to speak calmly, without losing her cool. It wasn’t worth getting
angry with this man for a silly misunderstanding… no matter how misguided.

“I told you to let it go, twice, and you didn’t. And, since you insist on discussing my private life in
a public park, and in front of a teenager, I’ll let you know that what you saw is not a bruise.”

“Then what…?”

“It’s a bite mark.”

A heavy silence fell on the whole scene, broken after a few seconds by a strangled sound coming
from where Robby was standing. Kate looked at the boy and saw that he was trying to stifle a
nervous laugh. She didn’t envy him; teenagers usually liked to pretend that their parents (or
everybody’s parents) didn’t have a sex life at all.

She also felt sorry for Amanda, who had covered her eyes with her hand, probably wanting to be
anywhere else.

Then she turned towards Daniel again; the man was staring at the ground, and he had gone deathly
pale… so pale that he even looked greenish.

“Do you really think I would put my daughter in danger by dating a violent man? That I would
expose her to… to whatever you thought was happening? God, you must think I’m a dreadful
mother.”

“I’m sorry”, he blurted. “I thought…”

Kate waved a hand to make him stop apologizing.

“I know what you are”, she said with a sad smile. “You’re one of those people who just can’t leave
things alone until everything is like they want it to be. You think every wrong can be righted… by
you.”

You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you, little twerp?

Not everybody needs your help, Daniel. Not everybody needs to be rescued.

Johnny’s words, many years before. Amanda’s words, not so long ago. Now they resonated in
Daniel’s mind once and again, like a curse. He opened his mouth to speak, to make the words in
nis head go away, but Kate was faster.

“That’s why you do things like raising the rent on fifteen people just to get rid of one of them.
You’re so focused on doing the right thing that you forget about the consequences.”

“I was trying to help”, he said in a tired voice.

“I know. That’s why I’m still here talking to you instead of storming out in a furious rage.” She
looked away, at the barbecue area in the distance, where Johnny and a couple more men were busy
getting things ready. “You know, maybe you should follow your own rule and not speak to me
again; I’m enough of a Cobra Kai to be considered a subversive element. By the way, are you
aware that with that stupid rule of yours you’ve also forbidden Shiro from talking to his own sister?
And your daughter from hanging out with Aisha and the other girls?”

“Yes… I mean, no, I… I didn’t realize that until after I’d said it.”

“Of course”, she sighed. “Well, I guess that’s all then. Unless you have any other accusation you
want to throw at the wall, to see if it sticks. Goodbye.”

Without leaving him or Amanda time to answer, she turned on her heels and left.

“You know, you just lost an ally there”, said Amanda, with her arms crossed.

“An ally? What are you talking about?”

“Sam was chatting with Aisha last night, and she told me a couple of very interesting things.
Apparently yesterday Johnny gave the Cobra Kai kids a pep talk telling them to behave today, or
else; that happened five minutes after Kate went to his office to have a private conversation with
him. And those yellow, non-threatening t-shirts instead of the scary black ones? She had them
made. Aisha even says that Johnny tries not to swear in front of Rani… Guess who is responsible
for that, too. And you just alienated her. Great job!”

Amanda gave Daniel a little pat on the back, and started walking away too.

“Come on, Amanda… where are you going?”

“To the lake. I promised Anthony I’d go watch him row a boat… and this is the first time in weeks
he’s shown any interest in doing something that looks like exercise, so I’m going to take some
pictures for posterity”, she said coldly, whipping out her phone. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

Neither of them realized that Robby had sneaked away while they talked. Conjugal disputes were
kind of triggering for the boy, and he had endured more than enough drama for one day.

After checking that nobody had seen him leave, he headed towards a nearby copse, following
Kate’s steps; when he finally saw her, he hesitated before making his presence known... His Dad’s
girlfriend looked more sad than angry, but Robby kept his distance anyway. He couldn’t really
blame her if she told him to get lost. But he had to try.

“Hey, Kate!” he called. “Wait, please!”

 Matchmaking
Chapter Summary

Robby has a chat with his Dad’s girlfriend. The Cobra Kai girls put their heads
together and start their own conspiracy.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 27. MATCHMAKING

“Hey, Kate! Wait, please.”

Kate turned around and stared at Robby. The boy’s eyes were green instead of blue, but she would
recognize that apologetic look anywhere.

Damn the Lawrence men and their puppy eyes.

Still distraught by her previous conversation with Daniel, she realized she had no clue about what
Robby thought of her. The kid’s mother had been an important part of Johnny’s life once; he had
every right to resent Kate. For all he knew, she was just a random woman who had appeared in his
Dad’s life without warning… it would be logical for him to feel threatened.

Well, time to find out.

“Hi, Robby”, she said, trying to smile despite her nerves. “Did your Sensei send you to apologize
for him? I appreciate it, but you really don’t have to.”

The boy jutted his chin up.

“Mr. LaRusso may be my boss, but that doesn’t mean I’m his errand boy”, he said, prideful. “He
doesn’t know I followed you here; I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay”, she said, even more puzzled now. “I’m all ears.”

The boy looked at Kate, then at the ground, and finally at her again.

“You’re not like I expected”, he blurted out.

“Ah. Is that a good or a bad thing?”

The question made him smile. “Good, I think. I mean… When my Dad said he had a girlfriend I
thought you’d be… oh, shit, I don’t know how to say it and not make it sound rude.”

“I can stand rude, as long as it’s sincere”, she assured him. “Give it to me.”

“I thought you’d be a trashy woman he’d met at a bar.”

He had told Kate the absolute truth: that what he had expected was, in a way, a carbon copy of
Shannon. Robby closed his eyes, expecting an offended reaction from Kate… but instead, he heard
a soft laugh.

“Well, I’ve never been sure about the definition of ‘trashy’, so you never know. If you asked some
of the Encino Hills moms who are here today, I’m sure a few of them would think I’m trash, just
for living in the wrong neighborhood. The second part is wrong, though: we met at the dojo, two
months ago. I took Rani there to see if there was room for her in Cobra Kai… that’s how it
started.”

At the mention of the little girl’s name, Robby’s face lightened up.

“I bet my Dad was really impressed with Rani. The day she visited Miyagi-Do, she caused a
revolution.”

“Well, I don’t want her to take karate too seriously”, observed Kate. “To her, it’s just a game… and
that’s how it should be for now. Rani is still too young for tournaments and rivalries; she’s just
doing something she loves and having fun with it.”

“While the rest of us are at war.”

Robby was looking down again, with his hands in his pockets. Kate felt sorry for him… but she
couldn’t just hug him and say ‘there, there’. Things were too complicated, more than they should
be. She was a virtual stranger. And the conflict wasn’t just about karate.

She put a tentative hand on Robby’s shoulder, relieved that he didn’t flinch or take a step back.

“I wish I could help with that, but it’s not my place. The only thing I can do is try not to make
things worse… and I almost did a moment ago; I got your father accused of something he didn’t
do.”

The boy frowned, but before he could say anything Kate continued.

“Look, I’m not going to pretend he is a perfect man”, she stated in a serious tone. “I know he’s
disappointed you many times, Robby… and maybe that’s something that can never be fixed. But I
also know he’s not a monster. And he’s really trying to do things right this time, even if it doesn’t
work out. If there’s one thing I’m sure about your father, is that his heart is in the right place.”

Kate sighed, wondering if it was a good idea to talk so freely about Johnny with his practically
estranged son… but her gut was telling her it was worth a try.

Robby, on the other hand, had never heard anyone talking about his Dad in such a positive light.
He also wasn’t sure what this pretty, nice, normal lady had seen in Johnny… but hey, people
always said love was blind.

“I know he’s trying. It’s just that things are too fucked up… Sorry, I didn’t want to use that word. I
mean…”

“Swearing doesn’t scare me either, Robby”, she said. “Unless it’s in front of Rani; I’d be thankful
if you could tone it down when you teach her to skate today… if you still feel like it, of course. If
not, I can tell her something came up, don’t worry. It’s not fair that you're burdened with an eight-
year-old all afternoon instead of having fun with your friends.”

“No, of course I want to do it!” Robby replied eagerly. “I gave Rani my word. And it’s not the first
time I teach someone, don’t worry.”

“You’ll be breaking your Sensei’s rules. I don’t want you to get in trouble for conniving with the
enemy.” Her tone was pointed, again, and her gaze hardened as she spoke.

Robby sighed and gave her a sad smile.

“Look, Kate... Mr. LaRusso is a good person.”

“I know he is. But he also behaved like a jerk today, and I’m not in the mood for listening to jerks.”
She took a deep breath. “I thought all this was a good idea. I honestly believed that if we could
bring the kids here, to a different environment, away from the dojos and the competition… I could
even get those two talking. Silly me, always wanting to fix things; it was stupid.”

“No, I don’t think it was. I see people from every dojo in the Valley mixing up everywhere,
everybody is making new friends.”

Everybody but me, he thought.

“What’s the use, if that man is going to be spreading lies about your father as soon as I turn my
back on him?”

Seeing a chance to address the uncomfortable scene he’d witnessed before, Robby just went for it.

“I didn’t believe what Mr. LaRusso said about… about my Dad hitting you. It’s impossible.”

“How are you so sure?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “That man is your Sensei, don’t you trust
him?”

“Yes. But I also trust what I know, and what I see. When Mr. LaRusso said you had a bruise you
didn’t get afraid… you got angry. You’re not scared of my Dad, I can see that. Besides, he’s never
hit me or my Mom, and that kind of thing doesn’t start happening out of the blue. He may be an
idiot, but he’s not that kind of bastard.” He took a step closer, scrutinizing Kate’s face. “You really
care about my Dad.”

It wasn’t a question. In fact, it was a slightly impertinent non-question, but she answered it anyway.

“Yes, Robby, I care about him. And it hurts me to hear certain things. Anyway, it’s all been cleared
up now… But don’t tell your father anything about it, please, or he’s going to freak out and fight
with your Sensei again. I’ve had enough drama for today, and it’s not even noon.” She looked
down and adjusted her shirt, to make sure it was covering the purple mark. “And all of that just
for… this. If there’s another gathering next year I hope it’s in the middle of Winter so I can wear a
scarf.”

Robby nodded. Then he chuckled under his breath, as if he had just remembered something funny.

“What is it?” asked Kate, intrigued.

“Nothing. It’s just… I had a girlfriend last year, a girl from North Hills High. Before I quit school
and started doing karate.”

“Okay. And…?”

“She called me ‘Nibbler’”, he admitted with a smug smile.

Kate pressed her lips together trying not to laugh. It didn’t seem right.

“Well, now you know where you got that from... you can blame genetics. And you better go back
to the LaRussos now, Robby. I’m not technically a Cobra Kai, except by association, but I don’t
want you to get fired for speaking to me.”

“Mr. LaRusso is not like that. He doesn’t control my life, I can speak to anyone I want.”

The rebellious spark in the boy’s eyes gave Kate an idea, and she decided to try her luck.

“Anyone? Including your father?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Then maybe you can do me a small favor and go talk to him”, she said, secretly happy of the way
the conversation had redirected itself. “Even if it’s just for five minutes, even if it’s about the
weather… He thinks about you, Robby, all the time. And I know it’s painful for him to see how far
apart you’ve grown. He really misses you.”

She fidgeted with a strand of her hair, wondering if she’d said the right words.

“Shucks. I promised myself I wouldn’t meddle, and I’m doing exactly that. Sorry, Robby… It’s
very arrogant of me to presume to know your father better than you do.”

“No, it’s okay. I mean… in a way, maybe you do know him better”, said the boy, hesitant. “I know
he’s changed… or trying to change, at least. The last two times we saw each other we didn’t end up
fighting. That’s something, right?”

He had picked up a fallen leaf and started tearing bits of it apart. After a few seconds, he seemed to
reach a decision.

“I’ll talk to him after lunch, okay? Maybe… maybe if Rani wants I can keep teaching her how to
skate on the weekends, if that’s okay with you. And if you’re there at the skate park, and my Dad
is there too… We can keep talking, as long as it’s not about karate. Or about certain people.”

Kate let out a relieved sigh. “That’s a brilliant idea. Thank you, Robby.”

“No, Kate... thank you .”

“For what?” she shrugged. “I’ve done nothing more than making your father come here and getting
him accused of things.”

“For caring about my Dad. He needs that.”

Robby took a little step forward, as if he was going for a hug… but he changed his mind and froze
in mid-movement. The boy was getting too used to the LaRusso household, where they all hugged
each other several times a day. He had decided he liked Kate… and he didn’t want to spoil things
by weirding her out, so he just gave her a farewell smile and walked away. With a heavy sigh, Kate
returned to the picnic area where the Cobra Kai had left their stuff. Harmony and Rosa were sitting
in the shade, chatting with two karate moms from All-Star Karate, while Rani and a few other
children played tag on the grass; Kate sat next to them, deep in thought.

Despite not being an expert in teenage psychology, she had learned many things about Johnny’s
son from their short conversation. The boy had his loyalties torn in two, a bad situation when one
was in the middle of a war… a war that had started before he was born, and had no end in sight so
far.

As if Robby’s sadness had been contagious, she suddenly felt like crying.
While Robby was having his heart-to-heart with Kate, another secret meeting was taking place
behind the tennis courts. Aisha and Grace sat on the grass, waiting, with an eye on the group of
boys and girls that had congregated by the pier. They didn’t have to wait long before Keiko ran
towards them, followed by Sophie.

“It’s about time!” Aisha scolded them. “We said we’d regroup here at eleven, and it’s eleven
fifteen. Hey, wasn’t Rattler with you before?”

“Yes, but we left her with Mrs. Diaz. We need to discuss some things that don’t concern an eight-
year-old”, answered Sophie, almost out of breath because of the running. “Tell them, Keiko.”

“It’s about our little matchmaking operation”, said the Asian girl in a conspiratory tone. “By the
way… where’s Moon? She said she would be here too, and I haven’t seen her since we arrived.”

“She and Hawk said they were going for a walk, like an hour ago”, answered Aisha with a frown.
“I don’t know what’s happening to Hawk lately… it’s like we don’t exist to him anymore.
Yesterday at the dojo I heard him say that this excursion was a waste of time.”

“Anyway… we’ll have to make do without her, this is important”, said Keiko, sitting on the ground
beside her friends.

Grace started the meeting by taking a piece of paper out of her pocket.

“Well, the first bit of good news is that I already got two phone numbers for our broken-hearted
champion: one is a girl from All-Star, and the other one the sister of a Topanga guy. Am I good, or
am I good?”

“You’re the best!” laughed Sophie, eager to praise her girlfriend. “Was it hard to get them?”

“Nah, not much. It helps when the boy we’re trying to promote is the current All Valley champion;
Aisha has been singing Miguel’s virtues to everybody who listened… She’s spread the rumor that
he’s practically a saint, on the verge of depression since he broke up with Sam LaRusso… and
apparently straight girls love that”, Grace said, scrunching her nose.

“Well, he does have a broken heart”, interrupted Aisha. “I mean, it’s great that we’re doing this for
him, but I think he’s not completely over Sam yet. I saw them looking at each other before, and he
had his signature heart eyes… I almost fell into a diabetic coma.”

“That’s exactly why we’re doing it!” said Keiko, sounding very excited. “What better way to get
over her than meeting someone new? And you don’t know the best part yet… tell them, Joy!”

“We have a candidate”, whispered Sophie, “and she’s perfect .”

“What, already?”

“We met her when I went to say hi to my brother, and the Krunch people came to talk to us”, Keiko
started. “By the way, Aisha: your little friend Robby Keene is a world-class jerk.”

“Oh, come on! Can’t you give him a chance and be nice? He’s Sensei’s son!”

“Nice? To that wannabe skater boy? Ugh, I’m glad I didn’t meet him earlier… But that’s not
important now. As I was saying, it was clear that girl liked Miguel, so I sent Joy over to the Krunch
group to investigate.”
“Keiko says people talk to me because I have a friendly face”, said the blond girl, smiling
demurely, “so I went there and got some information.”

“Okay”, said Grace, interested. “What do we know about Miss Krunch, then?”

Sophie stood up, put her hands behind her back, and recited the facts as if she was in class: “Maria
Salazar, sixteen years old. Lives in Encino Hills. Her family is Mexican, but they’ve been here for
decades. Her Dad is an architect… He works with Frank Gehry, they designed the Walt Disney
Concert Hall together. On the superficial side, they’re filthy rich. Like, totally loaded.”

“Look at that, my girl is like a real detective! What else?” asked Grace.

“She’s one of the most popular girls in Our Lady of the Valley.”

“Catholic school? Wow, fancy. Where is that?” asked Aisha.

“Canoga Park.”

“And now for the fundamental point: Boyfriend situation?”

“Three in the last year, none right now”, said Sophie triumphantly. “Or maybe four… my
informant wasn’t sure if one of them was a boyfriend or a casual hookup. But, before anybody says
anything, remember we’re not here to slut-shame that girl”, she said, raising her index finger as a
warning.

“Preach!”, added Grace while Aisha nodded. “The only thing that matters is that she’s single and
interested. Anything else?”

“She usually goes for the popular guys: athletes, rich kids, straight-A students.”

“And she likes Miguel? He’s not exactly a quarterback…”

“He’s not a loser anymore either”, interceded Aisha, always ready to defend her friend.

“Right! The tournament win made people curious about him”, observed Keiko. “From what I saw
when the Krunch people came to invite us to the game, I suspect she wants to trap Miguel before
school starts and he becomes super popular. Besides, her dojo has never won anything, every year
they get defeated on the first rounds. Being friends with Cobra Kai is good politics for them.”

“So... this Maria Salazar may look like a silly girl, but there’s actually a functioning brain under the
hair and the eyelashes. Interesting”, said Aisha, who was starting to warm up to the idea of setting
Miguel up with someone who wasn’t Samantha.

“Exactly”, Keiko agreed. “Even better, she joined the dojo right before the tournament, so she’s
been doing karate only for three months. Long enough to have things in common with Mig… but at
the same time she’s still a newbie, they won’t see each other as competition.”

“Great job, ladies!” said Grace, leaning playfully on Sophie’s shoulder. “So… what’s the next
step? Push them both into the lake and see who rescues who?”

The four girls laughed out loud, imagining the scene.

“That’s the best part, we don’t have to do anything!” said Sophie with a grin. “The softball match
is at noon, and we’re on the same team as Krunch. We’ll just give Miguel a small nudge in the
right direction… and wait to see if the magic happens.”
“Judging by the way she was looking at him before… it will.”

They laughed again, while Aisha stood out and recited: “If we can do this, Cupid is no longer an
archer; his glory shall be ours, for we are the only love gods… I mean, goddesses.”

The other girls clapped with enthusiasm.

“Wow, did you just make that up?” asked Sophie.

“No, it’s Shakespeare, silly! Hey, when do Grace and I get to meet this girl and give our
approval?”

“She was sunbathing at the pier a moment ago, Striped red and white bikini, you can’t miss her”,
Keiko said, pointing towards the lake. “Why don’t you go and say introduce yourselves? And… if
you end up talking about Miguel and how great he is, even better.”

Grace stood up and made a face. “Let’s keep it subtle, girls… if we try too hard, she’ll think Diaz
is an idiot who can’t get a girl without our help.”

“You’re right. But you still can talk to her and find out what she likes: movies, food, music… see if
they have something in common besides karate.”

Aisha and Grace gave their friends a mockery of a military salute, and disappeared towards the
lake.

A bit further away, Sam had been observing the group of Cobra girls from afar. She’d been trying
to find Moon, to no avail, and she felt like having some female companionship. However, seeing
that Aisha was leaving made her hesitate before getting close to the other two: she had nothing
against Sophie, of course… but she still wasn’t comfortable around Keiko, especially after she had
just butted heads with Robby. That had been an awkward moment, and Sam didn’t want to start an
argument and give her Dad more excuses for thinking that the Cobra Kai kids were a gang of
thugs.

She was still deciding where she should approach the two girls or not, when she overheard a few
sentences of their conversation.

“So, you think Miguel and that Krunch girl will…?” Sophie started, in a hesitant tone.

“Absolutely”, answered Keiko. “I bet you a giant milkshake that he asks her to the school’s
homecoming dance next month. She clearly likes him, and he’s been alone for too long. Besides,
Aisha told me that Sam LaRusso was Miggy’s first and only girlfriend. He’s a great guy, it’s a
shame he’s been out of the dating circuit for so long!”

The blond girl laughed.

“And what about you, Keiko? Where do you stand in the dating circuit? Ryan was trying to flirt
with you the other day at the dojo, and you looked at him as if he was dumb.”

“Oh, please!” Keiko rolled her eyes. “Ryan is a child. I need someone with more…”

“Gumption? Maturity? Wit?”

“I was going to say ‘balls’, but you could call it that, too. All the Cobra Kai boys are cinnamon
rolls in disguise… not my type.”
“We can find you someone. We’re in a park full of boys! And, if you want to go on a double date
with Miguel and Maria, that Krunch boy Brian is kind of cute… and he almost got to the quarter
finals of the tournament this year. Is that ballsy enough for you?”

“Almost got to the quarter finals?” Keiko snickered. “Oh, wow, I have to promise him my eternal
love right now!”

The girls giggled again. And Sam, concerned about what she’d just heard about Miguel, decided
that she’d had heard enough. She quietly slipped away, unnoticed by anyone.

“Hey, babe… did you miss me?”

“Oh, horribly”, said Kate, winking at Johnny. “The longest forty minutes of my whole life.”

He had just returned after helping the Krunch sensei unload the coal and start the fires. There was a
small black smudge on his cheek; when Kate ran her thumb over it Johnny stared at her, surprised.

“What, in public? How daring of you, Miss Kate.”

Her answer was to stand up and point towards a nearby bench. “Come, I need to tell you something
in private.”

Johnny frowned.

“Is this a ‘we need to talk’ thing? What did I do now?”

He sounded serious. And worried, until Kate shook her head and smiled brightly at him.

“Nothing! We do need to talk, but I promise it’s good news.”

Once she was sure there was a sizeable distance between them and Rosa’s inquisitive ears, Kate
reached for Johnny’s hand.

“I haven’t had a moment to tell you this before, so… here it goes. I had a very long conversation
with Rani yesterday. About us. I told her that we like each other very much, and that we’re dating,
and…”

“Is she okay with it?” asked Johnny, impatiently.

“More than okay. You already were her idol before, and now I think she likes you more than me.
She’s over the moon.”

The corners of Johnny’s blue eyes wrinkled when he grinned. “That’s a relief.”

“Absolutely. It also means that… well, since we were keeping things under wraps for Rani’s sake,
and we don’t need to do that anymore, that means we can…”

She didn’t have time to finish the sentence before Johnny circled her waist with his hands and
pressed his lips to hers. He kept kissing her, deeper, almost to the point of leaving her out of breath,
until they heard a couple of loud cheers behind them.

“Way to go, Sensei!”

“Yay, finally!”
“Oh, about time already…”

Kate opened her eyes and saw a few Cobra Kai students walking towards them, all of them with
cheeky smiles on their faces.

“Watch that mouth, Diaz”, growled Johnny, trying to sound serious. “Or I’ll make you do so many
push-ups on Monday that your arms will fall off.”

“Sorry, Sensei”, said the boy, still smiling. “We just wanted to tell you that the softball match is
about to start. Those Krunch guys may be bad at karate, but they seem really cool.”

“Some of them cooler than others…”, interrupted Grace, giving Miguel a jab on the ribs. “Like
your friend Maria.”

The boy blushed furiously. “Oh, come on, not now!”

Johnny put his arm around Kate’s shoulders and grinned. It was hard to be mad at his students
when he felt on top of the world.

“Okay, I’ll go watch your little game. But only if you promise to destroy the other team
completely, understood?”

“Yes, Sensei!” the boys and girls answered in unison.

“I’m afraid I can’t go, guys”, said Kate. “I promised Bert’s Mom I would join her Kundalini yoga
class, and it also starts in ten minutes.”

Johnny made a face. “Ugh, yoga? Can’t you take a rain check?”

“Sorry”, she answered, interlacing her fingers with his. “Amanda is coming too, and I don’t want to
leave her alone.”

“Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, but… fine”, he said, after the Cobra Kai kids had left. “I’ll see you
at lunch; after the game I have to keep manning with the barbecues. Those Committee guys can’t
even light a fire without help.”

“I see… they need a real man over there, right?” she joked.

“Right.”

“Don’t worry, I have lots of things to do until you’re back. And, if the chicken wings are not
perfectly roasted, I’ll know who to blame.”

Now that they didn’t have an audience anymore, Johnny grabbed Kate and kissed her again. He
caressed her hair slowly, without haste, enjoying the new freedom of being seen together in public.
He wasn’t exactly an exhibitionist, but there was something deeply satisfying in letting everybody
know that she was his girl.

He was about to go beyond the lines of propriety and start kissing her neck, when a discreet cough
stopped him.

“Er… hi.” It was Amanda, arriving right on time. “Sorry to interrupt, but…”

“Yes, of course!” said Kate, a little embarrassed. “Harmony’s class. Don’t worry, I haven’t
forgotten.”
“Great”, said the other woman with a wide smile.

“I better get going and leave you ladies with your… yoga stuff”, said Johnny, slightly bothered by
the interruption. “By the way, Mrs. L… I never thanked you for that breakfast. It was really nice of
you.”

Amanda smiled and nodded.

“Thank you for not killing my husband that day. It would have been a disaster, I look absolutely
dreadful in black. And call me Amanda, please… You’ve tried my food, we’re well past the ‘last
names only’ stage.”

Johnny nodded, gave Kate a peck on the lips, and took his leave.

“One day you have to tell me everything about that breakfast episode”, said Kate, matter-of-factly,
while they walked to the grass patch where the yoga class was about to start. “I’ve heard Johnny’s
side, of course… but I suspect there’s more to it.”

Amanda rolled her eyes and sighed.

“I’m just glad I interrupted him and Daniel before they came to blows. It would have been weird,
explaining to my neighbors why there were two grown men in my patio, fighting to the death…
over something that happened when I was in elementary school.”

“May the long time Sun shine upon you,

All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.
Sat Nam…”

“Sat Nam…”

The woman sitting in the center of the circle repeated the closing mantra several times, followed by
a chorus of mostly female voices. The only man in the yoga class was Bert’s father; all the other
participants were an assortment of karate moms.

After Harmony performed a final sun salutation, the session ended. Amanda and Kate, sitting on
opposite sides of the circle, smiled at each other.

The Kundalini yoga class had taken place in a tranquil corner of the park, far away from the buzz
of the games and sports. After Bert’s parents had left, the two women grabbed their things and
started making their way to the central area.

“So, how did you like the class?” asked Kate.

“I loved it! Harmony is a certified yoga teacher, right? I need to find out where, I hadn’t felt this
centered and relaxed in months.”

“I think her studio is in Wilbur Avenue; I’ll ask her at lunch.”

“Thanks. By the way, now that we have found our inner peace, maybe we can sit for a moment and
share a couple of these”, said Amanda, opening the small cooler bag she was carrying; there were
several small bottles in it, of different colors.
“Wine coolers? Oh, you’re a genius!”

“Well, drama has been following Daniel since last year, so I figured I would need one of these
today… I just didn’t imagine it would be before lunch. And I better make it two, to forget all the
silly things my dear husband said this morning. Let me see… we have strawberry daiquiri, cherry
lime, pineapple, peach… oh, and sangria, of course.”

Kate sat on a nearby bench and grabbed a red colored one. “Nobody can say you didn’t come
prepared! I confess I blackmailed Johnny into being one of the designated drivers today. He
promised he wouldn’t touch alcohol, and I saw him with a can of Mountain Dew before… so I
think he’s behaving.”

Amanda narrowed her eyes and stared at Kate. “You have more influence on him than I had
imagined.”

“It was easy, we agreed on an exchange: next Saturday at his high school reunion I will drive, and
he can drink all he wants. After all, it’s his party.”

“Ah, yes, the school reunion.” Amanda gazed at the distance, pretending not to be concerned about
what could happen the following weekend. “Aren’t you worried that Johnny will see… you know
who?”

“A little. But she’s married, right? I’m hoping thirty-four years are long enough.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Kate raised her eyebrows, surprised. “Oh, come on. You and Daniel have been married for… how
long? Twenty years? An old girlfriend may be a threat to me, but not to you.”

“Eighteen. And some old girlfriends cast longer shadows than others”, Amanda sighed. “But
enough about the ghosts of the past, we were talking about you! Looks like things are going well
with you and Johnny.”

Kate took a sip of her sangria and smiled. “We even had our first fight a few days ago… and
survived. I don’t want to be too optimistic, but…”

“Oh, come on! As soon as I saw you two at the restaurant I knew you’d make a perfect couple.”

“Perfect? No, thank God… My ex-boyfriend Simon and I got the ‘perfect couple’ moniker for
years, and it ended up badly. I know this is as imperfect as it can be, and I’m fine with it.” She
tilted her head up, staring at the clouds above. “Johnny will never get me flowers, or breakfast in
bed. He’ll probably forget our anniversary every year, if we get that far. And I’m perfectly okay
with all that, because I know he’s a good man. I don’t need the flowers, nor the expensive gifts, nor
the romantic gestures, because I…”

“Because you love him.”

There was a long and awkward silence, and Amanda feared she had said too much.

“We haven’t talked about that yet. It’s been barely a month”, Kate muttered, blushing.

“That’s not something you talk about, it’s just something you say when you feel it. If he’s the one,
sometimes it takes less than a month. I mean… I was sure Daniel was the man of my life only three
days after meeting him”, said Amanda, closing her eyes and remembering the earlier days of her
relationship with her husband.
She noticed Kate hadn’t exactly denied being in love. Nor admitted it. And it wasn’t fair to keep
pressing the issue, so she let it go.

They had finished their drinks; both of them reached for another bottle. It was past noon, on one of
the hottest days of the year, and the park baked lazily in the sun. Here and there, groups of people
sat on the grass, chatting, playing cards, or just lying there. Others chose to lounge by the lake,
with their feet in the water to stay cool. A few young couples had found refuge beneath the shadow
of the trees… or even in the bushes: apparently the festive atmosphere had encouraged some
unexpected friendships between boys and girls from different dojos, and they were doing their best
to become acquainted with their new friends.

Further away, a smoke column marked the place where a line of barbecue pits was in full swing. If
yoga was populated mostly by women, barbecues were the realm of men.

“I guess some things never change”, observed Amanda, pointing a finger at the group of karate
teachers. Daniel and Johnny were standing as far away from the other as they could, each of them
pretending to be busy with the grilling… and throwing furtive glances at the other every now and
then. “Are they even aware of how stupid hey look?”

Kate stared at them for a moment, and then turned towards their friend.

“Amanda... can I ask you an inconvenient question that you’re at liberty not to answer?”

“I love inconvenient questions! Shoot.”

“Did those two ever hook up in high school?”

There was a sudden sputtering noise as Amanda started coughing, covering her mouth with her
hand. She managed just in the brink of time to prevent the wine cooler from coming out of her
nose.

“Kate! What the hell?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking out loud!” she said, handing the other woman a tissue. “You have to
admit there’s a lot of tension between them.”

“But… but… why? How?” coughed Amanda again, too bewildered to think.

“It happened to my friend Kevin once! He was in the football team in high school, and on his
senior year there was this linebacker who went out of his way to bully him every single day. It
turned out the linebacker was… let’s call it sexually confused, and begging for attention. One day
after practice they started fighting in the locker room, ended up fucking it out, and they were cool
for the rest of the year. In fact, they were together until they left for college.”

“That’s both a really cute story and totally fucked up”, observed Amanda, wiping the spilled drink
off her jeans.

“I was just wondering if something like that could have happened with…” she pointed at Johnny
and Daniel in the distance. “But no, the tension still exists, so it’s clearly not the same case. And,
even if it was… it’s too late, they’re stuck with us now. They will never leave us, we’re too
fabulous.”

“Hear, hear”, Amanda sneered, raising her wine cooler bottle in a mockery of a toast. Kate raised
hers too before taking a long drink.
 “And now... let’s finish drinking these, go have lunch, and forget I ever asked you that question.”

“Question? What question? Dear Kate, I have no idea what you’re talking about. What are we
doing after lunch?”

Kate threw her head back and laughed. “That’s the spirit! After lunch… they have a café at the
sports complex over there, we can try the coffee there and hope it’s half decent. And then… hey,
didn’t you play volleyball in high school? There’s a volleyball court next to the golf course, maybe
you can organize a match with some of the kids.”

“Oh, that sounds great!” said Amanda enthusiastically. “It’s been ages since the last time I played,
but it can be fun. Did you see if the net was there? Outdoor courts are usually awful.”

Kate took a moment to think.

“Now that you mention it, I don’t remember seeing a net. But there’s a big tool shed close to the
sports area, they must keep all the equipment in there.”

“Awesome! Let’s go tell Sue and reserve the court.” Amanda stood up and took the empty wine
cooler bottles to the recycle bin. “Then we can drop by the barbecue pits, tell Daniel and Johnny
that we have a foolproof plan to merge the two dojos, and watch while they have a heart attack.”

“Don’t be mean!” Kate laughed as they walked towards the central area of the park. “There’s still a
lot of day left, we’ll be lucky if we make it to the evening with zero fights. Sorry if it sounds
defeatist, but... everything is going too well so far.”

Chapter End Notes

Sorry to the LawRusso shippers for that little bit of teasing! You know I love you.
 Dalliance
Chapter Summary

Amanda organizes her volleyball match, and the search for a piece of missing
equipment leads to a surprise. Meanwhile, Miguel contemplates a new relationship
with caution... while other people take a not so delicate approach.

Chapter Notes

I'm not very confident in my writing ability this week, I'm not sure why. Sometimes I
read other people's stuff and think that mine is mediocre... I guess it's just one of those
days. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Things are progressing slower than I thought,
and the characters keep talking too much, so I'm going to split the last part of the
excursion in two (chapters 29 and 30). There are some things you can't hurry.
This part deals with some of the teen characters, with a small appearance by Kate and
Amanda. The next two parts will feature Daniel and Johnny more, because I need to
get those two talking... and something that will happen on this chapter gives me the
perfect excuse. Have fun reading!

CHAPTER 28. DALLIANCE

The clock on the wall of the sports center building struck three.

It was right after lunch, and the park had fallen into a content and lazy silence. Everybody had
congregated to watch the softball match a couple of hours before, and it had turned out to be a
surprisingly peaceful event. The combined ‘Cobra Krunch’ team, as the kids had christened it, had
won for a very narrow margin, and all the players had been good sports about it; it seemed there
were no hard feelings when things didn’t revolve around karate. Some of the boys had even
exchanged t-shirts with their opponents, so if anyone had joined the excursion late they would have
had a hard time knowing which kids belonged on each dojo.

Then came the eagerly awaited lunch. With the kids’ appetites fueled by the delicious smell
coming from the barbecue pits, it was no wonder that up to the last morsel of food had disappeared
so quickly. The kids and their parents had gravitated towards their own groups when the food was
served… With some exceptions, of course: the Krunch delegation had camped right next to Cobra
Kai, attracted by the newfound camaraderie between their students, and by the promise of Kate’s
salted caramel brownies.

A bit further away, Daniel and Amanda chatted with some moms who had joined them for coffee.
The buzzing of the bees and the hum of the conversations were the only sounds in the air.

At a prudent distance from everybody else, a solitary figure stood in silence among the trees.

Robby had been feeling out of sorts all day. He had arrived to the park expecting something awful
to happen, and the anticipation had kept him antsy and irritable all week. Now, it was as if
everything was too good to be true: his Dad and Mr. LaRusso hadn’t argued yet, his Dad’s
girlfriend was nice, the Cobra Kai kids weren’t giving him a hard time… even Skunk Hair had had
the decency of disappearing from sight.

Only the argument with Shiro’s sister was circling around his mind once and again. And, when
confronted with an invasive thought he couldn’t fight, Robby turned to his training for help. He
took several deep breaths, closed his eyes, and started a slow kata routine.

After a few minutes, he felt better. More calm, at least. His breathing slowed to a steady rhythm
while his body found comfort in the familiar motions. He was about to finish the exercise and go
back to the LaRussos, when…

Crack.

It wasn’t a loud noise, just the snap of a twig under someone’s foot, but it sent a shiver down
Robby’s spine. Without thinking, he jumped into a fighting stance and opened his eyes… to find in
front of him the last person he expected to see.

Keiko raised her hands in a mock surrender gesture.

“Peace”, she said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Were you spying on me?” he grunted, still with his fists up.

“Spying? Why, is kata a top secret discipline now? I did those exact moves when I trained at my
old dojo in Cleveland… you’re not that special.”

“Whatever”, he said, dropping his arms to his sides. “Go play with your little Cobra Kai friends
and leave me alone.”

Keiko shrugged and started to walk away… but then she stopped in her tracks and turned around,
staring at Robby with her arms crossed.

“I don’t understand you.”

“What?” asked the boy.

“Your Sensei is here, and your friends from Miyagi-Do. You could make friends with a dozen
people from other dojos if you wanted. My brother speaks wonders of you, and I know how hard it
is to earn his good opinion… Rattler also thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, for
some reason. Hell, even your father is here today, wanting to make amends!”

“Leave my father out of this! You have no idea of–”

“And what do you choose to do?” she interrupted him. “Hide behind a tree and sulk! Seriously, I
don’t get it. What’s wrong with you?”

“Nobody asked you to ‘get it’”, he answered between gritted teeth. “I’m fine.”

Keiko sighed and took a step towards the boy.

“Do you want to know where my parents are today?” she asked in a softer tone. “They’re at a
medical conference in the Bahamas. Last weekend, it was a convention in Boston. Three weeks
from now, they’re going to another conference... in Switzerland. When I told them about this
meetup my Mom gave me her credit card so I could buy my friends ice cream or something… but
you can be sure that neither of them would bother to come here and take a real interest in what
Shiro and I are doing.”

“Poor rich girl”, Robby spat. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Cry you a river?”

Keiko let out a bitter laugh.

“I’m just saying you don’t have the monopoly on family problems and that stuff. At least your Dad
is here today. By the way, he was looking for you ten minutes ago, he even went to ask Mrs.
LaRusso where you could be.”

“You don’t know shit about my Dad. You think he’s cool because he’s your teacher and…” he
rolled his eyes. “Forget it, it’s not worth talking about this with you. Just stay out of it.”

Keiko frowned; when she set her mind on something, it was hard for her to let go.

“Being a jerk to everybody is not going to fix things. I know it won’t work… I tried it two years
ago, when we moved to Ohio in the middle of the school year and I didn’t have any friends. The
only thing you’ll get out of it is a Spotify list full of depressing songs. And maybe some
heartburn.”

Robby stared at the girl from head to toe, trying to decide if she was serious or not.

Then he laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You almost had me there for a moment. Did Diaz and his friend with the stupid hair send you
here to play a little prank? See if you can make me open up about my feelings to make fun of me?”

This time it was Keiko’s turn to roll her eyes.

“You’re the most absurd human being I’ve ever met”, she said, holding the boy’s green gaze
without blinking. “If I wanted to mess with you I didn’t need to tell you my problems... The only
thing I have to do to make you squirm is mention the All Valley Tournament.”

Robby jutted his chin up and moved closer to Keiko, who was leaning against the trunk of a big
tree.

“I should have won that tournament!” he said, indignant. “I’m the moral winner anyway.”

“Congratulations! You’re all kinds of special. Sorry, boo... but there’s a trophy in my dojo that says
otherwise.”

“Only because your little friends played dirty. And even if I lost, I got to the finals on my own and
lost for only one point. Do you still think that’s beginner’s luck, rich girl?”

Keiko brushed a strand of hair off her forehead. She could feel her earlier anger fading… she
hadn’t been present at the tournament, of course, so at first she had been convinced that Robby was
just bitter about losing; but there was something behind the bitterness, some deep hurt she hadn’t
noticed before.

“I suppose you haven’t been to many tournaments.”

“What if I haven’t?” asked Robby, in a suspicious but less hostile tone.

“If you’re salty about Hawk, then you’re right: he cheated and they were right to disqualify him.
But Miguel only did what everybody does at a competition. Last year I had to withdraw from a
tournament in Cleveland, would you like to know why?”

“You’re going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?” Robby huffed.

“Clever boy. During a recess I made the mistake of saying out loud that my lower back hurt,
because of… you know, girl pains. I was in the changing room, in front of several girls from other
dojos. Suddenly, after the tournament started again, every one of my opponents was targeting the
same area. Guess where.”

“It shouldn’t be like that”, Robby muttered, biting his lip.

“It is like that in every sport. Martial arts aren’t different just because everything is very
ceremonial and we fight barefoot and dressed like idiots. In the end, everybody fights to win.”

“That’s not what Mr. LaRusso says.”

Keiko tucked another strand of hair behind her ear. She always played with her hair when she was
in the middle of an argument.

“Then why did your Mr. LaRusso go back to the All Valley after his first win? Didn’t he have
enough? What was his reason the second time?”

“How do you know about...?”

“Your Sensei is not the only one who knows the karate history of the San Fernando Valley. It’s
fascinating, by the way. And everybody knows Daniel LaRusso is a two time champion, that's no
secret.”

Robby shook his head. “If you heard the story from my Dad, you only know one side of it.”

“For your information, I heard it from Shiro. And I could say the same of you, masked knight... I
bet your Sensei only told you the other half. And you took his words like gospel, of course.”

“That's bullshit.”

“Oh, come on! You train with your Sensei as his only student; you work for him, you move into
his house… it’s never going to be enough, you know.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“I mean that you’re desperately trying to get your Sensei’s attention. That’s what this is all about,
isn’t it? Making him notice you and be your new Dad”, Keiko said, as if she was seeing the truth
for the first time. “And now that Shiro has arrived, now that there are more students, now that your
precious Samantha is doing karate again… you come here and sulk, feeling sorry for yourself
instead of facing the facts: that you’re not the teacher’s pet anymore.”

Robby looked quickly left and right. There was no one in sight; most of the boys and girls and their
families were still at the picnic tables, or lounging by the lake. He placed a hand on the tree trunk,
next to Keiko’s face. The girl didn’t move, she just narrowed her eyes and held his gaze.

“Take that back. Now.”

“It stings, right? Being overlooked? It stings so much that you stay here, talking to me, even if you
can’t stand me, because I’m the only person currently paying attention to you.”

“And why do you care? What’s your reason for being here?”

“Maybe I want to care”, she said, tilting her head to one side. “Or maybe I don’t… but to you it’s
all the same because you've convinced yourself that everybody at Cobra Kai is a horrible monster,
just because your Sensei says so. You think that if you fight his little war for him you’ll end up
being the teacher’s pet again.”

“I said don’t call me that”, Robby growled, stepping closer to her. “And wipe that smile off your
face.”

Keiko’s grin widened. As slowly as she could she started inching forward, until they were so close
that she could feel the warmth of Robby’s breath brushing against her cheek.

“Make me.”

“So, I’ll pick you up at your dojo around… seven?”

“Better make it seven thirty; Sensei Lawrence is making me do some extra training with the
Spinshot machine.”

“That’s a good sign, right? I mean, you’re his best student… it’s normal that he pays extra attention
to you.”

Miguel nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the patch of grass where he and Maria were sitting. He
knew he wasn’t good at flirting, despite all the advice he’d received from Hawk in the previous
weeks (advice that, with good sense, he had never put into practice). He was a bit embarrassed by
the girl’s attentions, mostly because he felt he had done nothing to deserve them. Maria had started
talking to him during lunch, and now she sat beside him, with her long hair brushing his arm,
listening to his every word as if he was the most interesting guy in the world.

He expected to wake up any moment.

“I don’t know if I’m the best or not. It’s just… Sensei made an effort to train me last year, when I
was hopeless; I owe him a lot, and I don’t want to let him down.”

Maria smiled. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“But you don’t have to… I mean, I don’t want you to wait at the door, it’s bad enough that you
have to pick me up because I don’t drive. There’s a little café next door to Cobra Kai, you can wait
for me there if you want. The owner is a lady called Gladys, if you tell her you’re with me I’m sure
she’ll give you a free milkshake.”

“Well, I want to see the dojo where the magic happens, of course… But that café sounds like a
good idea. I love milkshakes! I wish there was a place like that next to Krunch… All we have close
to the dojo are a gym, a hardware store, and a Footlocker store”, she said with a frustrated pout.
“Sometimes I think the only reason our Sensei has students is because it’s the only alternative to
dying of boredom.”

Miguel laughed. For all her ‘mean girl’ appearance, his new friend was unexpectedly nice. She’d
been very enthusiastic about his idea of watching Ant-Man and the Wasp; that had been a nice
surprise (his backup plan had been the Mamma Mia sequel, and he was relieved when he didn't
need it). The date had been set for next Tuesday, and Miguel had managed not to hyperventilate
when she had touched his hair and called him sweet. Now they were sitting at a prudent distance
from the picnic tables, talking about silly nothings, well aware that several of their friends were
watching the situation from afar.

At last, Maria checked the time on her phone and let out a squeal.

“Oh, no, I have to go!” she said, standing up. “I promised my friend Crystal that we’d go for a
swim after lunch. I’d invite you, but… it’s girls only, sorry.”

“It’s okay, really”, muttered Miguel, not knowing how he would have reacted in close proximity to
a wet, bikini-clad Maria. “I’ll see you before you leave, right?”

“Oh, of course”, she whispered, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “See you later, champion.”

Miguel nodded in silence, and watched the girl sway her hips as she left.

“You know, Mig, your eyes will fall off if you keep staring at her like that.”

Miguel winced and jumped to his feet. It was Aisha, of course, with a caramel brownie in her hand
and a knowing smile on her lips.

“Geez, Aisha! You could have warned me!”

“You wouldn’t have heard a word, Mr. Champion”, she laughed. “Hey, I managed to snatch the
last two brownies from the table. Do you want one?”

“Cool, thanks”, he said, picking one of the chocolate squares. “God, these are so good… I hope
Kate never leaves Sensei Lawrence if she’s going to keep making these.”

“They seem quite steady to me, don’t worry. And… speaking of going steady: are you really going
out with that girl from Krunch?”

“Maria. Her name is Maria.”

Aisha rolled her eyes. “And suddenly that name will never be the same to you?”

“What?” Miguel blinked, completely oblivious to the West Side Story reference.

“Forget it. So… is this happening for real? I thought you wanted to talk to Sam before asking
anybody else out.”

“Yes, we’re going to the movies on Tuesday.” The boy bit his lip nervously and raked a hand
through his hair. “Look, Aisha, I know Sam is your best friend… but you saw how she was today
with Keiko’s brother, they've been inseparable all morning. And Hawk saw them together at the
Lakers game the other day. It’s no use waiting for her any longer.”

“Dude... don’t make the same mistake you made with Sam and Keene back in May”, said Aisha in
a calm tone. “You have no idea if Shiro and her are together, or if they’re just friends.”

“You know what? I don’t care if they’re together or not, I’m over her. She’s moved on, and it’s
about time I do the same”, he said, frowning.

“I wish you could hear all the bullshit that’s spewing out of your mouth. You’re not over Sam!”
Aisha exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “Not unless you magically got over her this morning, because
yesterday I caught you staring at the wall of the dojo and sighing like an idiot.”
“I’m with Maria now, okay? I’ve made a decision, and it’s final.”

“Oh, spare me the drama! You’re taking her to see a movie, not to Vegas to get married. By the
way, don’t make her watch one of those action films you like so much, or she’ll leave you on the
spot.”

“We’re going to see Ant-Man and the Wasp. She said it was okay.”

“Better make it a rom-com for your second date, if you get that far. Where are you taking her
afterwards?”

“There’s a diner on Sherman Way that looks like the one in Grease… You know, like those they
had in the fifties. Sensei Lawrence told me he took Kate there for their first date. I thought it would
be a good idea”, answered the boy, who didn’t really have a long list of ideas for places where one
could take a girl.

“That’s smart! I’m glad you’re not taking dating tips from Hawk anymore.”

Miguel smiled, remembering how nervous he had been before his first date with Sam. This time it
was a little different, the nerves were still there but the butterflies on his stomach weren’t bothering
him so much. That had to be a good sign.

“Thanks. Hey, speaking of tips… what do you think of the planetarium for a second date?”

“Isn’t that where you were going to take Sam? You’re recycling!”

“I never took her there, did I?” Miguel defended himself. “It’s not like Sam has a right to complain
if I go with Maria to see the stars.”

Aisha patted her friend on the back. “I think that’s a good choice for a second date. Just don’t try to
use the darkness in the planetarium to get too close to Maria’s silky panties.”

“Wh… what? I’m not going to do that!” Miguel coughed loudly, almost choking on the last bite of
his brownie, and stared at Aisha with his mouth open. He wasn’t used to that kind of language from
his formerly demure friend.

“I’m just kidding!” she said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, she’s a good Catholic girl… she’s not
gonna let you anywhere near her panties. And now I take my leave… Sam’s mom is organizing a
match and I promised Pride and Joy I’d be there. Bye, Mig!”

Leaving the flustered boy alone with his Maria-related thoughts, Aisha went to look for the Cobra
Kai girls. She still wasn’t a hundred per cent sure about Miguel and the Krunch girl, but… it had
been a while since she’d had seen him so excited about someone, so she decided to let it go. After
all, if things didn’t work out and his first date with Maria ended up being his only date… at least he
would learn something. Chalk it all up to experience, like that song in the Legally Blonde musical.

Seeing her Cobra Kai friends in the distance, she ran towards the sports area, where a small crowd
was starting to congregate for the afternoon activities.

“Well, this is the shabbiest volleyball court I’ve seen in my whole life.”

Amanda stood in the middle of the aforementioned court with her hands on her hips. All around
her, Kate and a group of kids had been awaiting her verdict, hoping that the place was good enough
to play in it.

“Now that you mention it, the boundary lines are a little blurred…” observed Kate.

“The lines are so blurred they’re almost imaginary. Besides that, the antennas are rusty and bent,
the net is missing… At least the floor is leveled, but that’s the only good thing I can say.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. L., the most fundamental thing is present. We are in possession of a ball”,
announced Demitri, who despite being awful at sports was willing to give volleyball a chance...
especially because most of the people interested in playing were girls. Practically every girl from
every dojo in the Valley was there, and the few that were missing were on their way, recruited by
Samantha and Shiro.

“The boy is right”, said Kate. “Look, I know you take this sport very seriously, but we can have
fun even with a rundown court. As to the missing net… I just talked to one of the gardeners, he
gave me permission to look in the old tool shed. He says it has to be there.”

“At last, some good news! Did he give you the keys to the shed?”

“I won’t need them, apparently the lock has been broken for weeks.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “If that’s how the County of Los Angeles looks after its parks, it’s a
miracle they’re still up and running!”

There was a sound of footsteps behind them. Several more girls and a couple of boys arrived
running, led by Shiro and Sam.

“Hi, everybody!” said the boy brightly. “I think we’ve got more than enough people to form the
two teams now, Mrs. LaRusso.”

“Thank you, Shiro, good job”, she said, looking at the group of cheerful teenagers that had just
been convinced to join the game.

“By the way… have you seen my sister, Miss Kate? She said she wouldn’t play but she wanted to
see the match. And now I can’t find her anywhere.”

“No, sorry. And don’t call me Miss Kate, please… I feel like a spinster in a Dickens novel every
time I hear it. Girls, wasn’t Keiko with you at lunch?” she asked, looking at Grace and Sophie.

“Yes, but we haven’t seen her since then”, answered Grace. “I thought she was with you, Aisha.”

“No, I was talking to Miguel after lunch, up to ten minutes ago… maybe she went swimming?”

“On her own? That’s not like Keiko.”

“I have an idea”, Kate interceded. “I’m going to get the volleyball net from the shed, and I’ll drop
by the pier on my way back and tell Keiko that the game is about to start… if she’s there. Girls,
you can go back to the picnic area and ask Mrs. Rosa if she’s seen her.”

“Sure!”, Sophie said.

“That net will be heavy. Maybe I should go get it, Miss… I mean, Kate”, offered Shiro, eager to
help.

“I can manage; thank you, Shiro. You stay here and help Amanda organize the teams… I’ll be
back in no time, don’t worry.”
“Fingers crossed that nobody has stolen it”, muttered Amanda, still irked about the state of the
sports courts.

“I bet you a sangria wine cooler that it will be there, and in one piece”, Kate joked. “Rani,
sweetheart, stay here with Mrs. LaRusso, will you?”

“Yes, Mom”, nodded the girl, enthusiastic about learning a new game. “And then, after we play
volleyball, Robby will teach me how to skate, right?”

“I swear I don’t know where you get all that energy”, said Kate, surprised. “Yes, you’ve made poor
Robby promise to teach you, so that’s what we’ll do. Now, be good and do everything Mrs.
LaRusso tells you until I get back.”

The tool shed was on top of a slope, and Kate was almost gasping for air when she got there. She
stopped to catch her breath outside the building.

The gardener wasn’t joking when he called it old… it must have been here for decades , she
thought, observing the broken windows, covered in a thick layer of dust, and the thatched roof that
was begging for repairs.

Hoping the man had been right about the broken lock, Kate tried the hatch. It turned without a
noise, and she stepped inside, trying to get her eyes used to the darkness. She looked for a light
switch, but there wasn't one.

The interior of the shed was big, messy, and as derelict as the outside. It was also full of things that
had absolutely no business being there: Kate saw a seven-branched candle holder, some moth-
eaten stuffed animals piled up in a corner (a fox, an eagle, and something that looked like an owl),
and a full-length mirror that gave her a little scare when she saw her own reflection moving in the
dark. There were also a couple of tool boxes, several spades, a scythe, a wheelbarrow… but no sign
of any sports equipment. Finally, she noticed a door on the opposite wall, with a red sign that said
‘storage’.

Jackpot. It has to be in there.

Trying not to tread on anything she crossed the room, reached for the handle… and stopped. There
was a faint noise coming from behind the door, and she hoped it wouldn’t be anything bigger than
a rat or a mouse. She really wasn’t looking forward to an encounter with a badger, or a stray dog
that may have wandered inside.

Hoping that the sudden movement would scare any critters in the storage room, she grabbed the
handle, pushed the door open with all her strength…

… and turned around, covering her eyes with her hands.

“Oh, my God.”

On one corner of the room, reclined over a pile of dusty mats and frayed military blankets, was
Keiko. And beside her, looking like he had the fright of his life, sat none other than Robby.
Shirtless, flustered, and visibly frustrated by the interruption.

The two teenagers looked at each other, confused.

“You didn’t lock the door?”

“I tried! The lock didn’t work!”

“You could have said something!”

“I was busy… and somebody was impatient, remember?”

Still with her back turned to the unexpected couple, Kate took a deep breath.

“I’m going to turn around now. Is everybody decent?”

“One second!”, said Robby, scrambling for his t-shirt and putting it on at all speed, while Keiko
looked for her discarded shoes.

Kate looked at the two teenagers, biting her lip. She realized she had no idea of what to say next…
On one hand, Keiko was a Cobra Kai, and that gave her a modicum of authority over the girl, but
not much. On the other hand, Robby was… her boyfriend’s practically estranged son, who had a
history of not giving a damn about that the adults in his life told him.

In the end, her motherly instincts kicked in.

“Keiko... come here a moment, will you?” she asked, willing her voice to sound calm and
collected.

The girl, who had managed to find only one of her missing shoes, stood up and hopped towards
Kate on one leg. Kate put a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” she whispered quietly.

“Perfectly fine. Why?” answered Keiko, arching an eyebrow.

“What I really meant to ask is… are you here because you wanted to come here?”

Keiko nodded, frowning.

“If you’re asking if Robby tricked me into this, or something like that... the answer is no”, she
answered in a careful whisper. “I’m old enough to–”

“You’re fifteen”, interrupted Kate, not letting her finish. “There’s a number of things you’re not old
enough to do. But if you came here on your own free will, that’s fine. I’m not your mother and this
is not a lecture… I’m just checking that you’re all right.”

Keiko limped back towards the pile of mats and sat on it again, gingerly. Meanwhile, Robby stared
at Kate with a defiant look in his eyes. Bracing herself for the boy’s reaction, Kate stood in front of
the couple, with her arms crossed.

“Okay, next question: Are you two out of your mind?”

Nobody answered.

“Keiko, your brother has been looking for you everywhere. What if he had come here instead of
me?”

“What of it?” said Robby, shrugging.

“Robby, do you have a death wish?”

More crickets chirping. Seeing that the questioning was getting her nowhere, Kate thought of a
different strategy.

“Look, I understand you two wanting to… know each other better. But does it have to be here ? I
mean... those blankets haven’t seen the inside of a washing machine for years. And I’m quite sure
I’ve seen a dead rat under that table.

“Ugh, gross!” Keiko exclaimed, trying to stand as far away as possible from the table.

Kate rubbed her eyes and continued.

“Exactly, gross. If you two were eighteen I would lend you my car keys so you could have a clean
place to make out. But... you’re not, so the only thing I’m going to do is suggest that you have a
little talk, go on a date if you really like each other, and next time consider going to a movie
theatre. Or to the Café de France, there’s a quiet table at the back that Gladys calls ‘the smooching
corner’.”

That made Keiko laugh. Even Robby smirked for a moment, before getting defensive again.

“No offense, Kate, but… why are you here? Apart from ruining the mood.”

Cocky little shit… like his father. I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Actually, I came looking for that volleyball net”, she said, pointing at the nest of green netting on
a shelf, right behind Robby’s head. “Amanda’s match is about to start, so if you hand it to me I’ll
be out of your hair in a minute.”

The boy grabbed the tangled net and gave it to Kate.

“Thank you”, she said softly. “Well, I’m leaving before I step on a rusty nail or something. See you
later, Robby. You know, Rani is really looking forward to her skating lesson.”

“Ah… okay. Great. Can you take her to the skate park at six… please?” he asked, feeling a little
embarrassed at last.

“Of course. Thanks again.”

As Kate disappeared through the door, Keiko found her other shoe and put it on, careful not to
touch anything around her. Robby observed her with a frown.

“What, you had your fun and now you’re leaving too?”

“No, genius”, she answered. “But I do want to get out of here. I’m not happy in the company of
rats, even if they’re dead. No, especially if they’re dead. And you’re coming with me.” She
grabbed Robby’s hand and led him outside. Kate was nowhere to be seen, they were completely
alone again.

“Has anybody ever told you how bossy you are?” asked the boy.

“Hundreds of times. What, you hadn’t noticed?”

He laughed and sat on a nearby bench.

“God, what a mess! I mean, Kate kinda had a point… if it had been Shiro looking for you I’d be
dead now.”
“She also had another good point: where do we go from here?” asked Keiko, sitting beside him.
“Was this just a thing that happened today, or do we want to take it further and see where it’s
going?”

There was a long silence. Robby observed Keiko’s face closely, and then sighed.

“Well, I like you. You’re a pain in the ass, but–”

“Thanks.”

“And you’re always interrupting me when I speak”, he snickered. “What do you want to do?”

Keiko closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

“As I see it, we have two options: one, get all dramatic, say out loud ‘this was doomed from the
start’, ‘we have disgraced our dojos’ and ‘this can’t happen again’, and leave it there. Or two,
follow Kate’s advice and go out, see what happens. You like me, I like you… we could do worse,
right?”

“Right. Won’t you get in trouble with your little Cobra friends if they see you with me?”

“Nah. It’s more likely that you get in trouble with your Sensei, teacher’s pet. Or… with my
brother.”

“Fuck! I keep forgetting about Shiro. That’s it… I’m dead.”

“Don’t panic, I’ll talk to him tonight. He’s your friend; and he’s never been one of those crazy
overprotective older brothers, anyway. I think he’ll be cool with this.”

“Cool. Fine. So… do you want to do something tomorrow? We can catch a movie or whatever. By
the way… don’t ever call me the teacher’s pet again, okay?”

“Tomorrow is good, my parents are still away so I don’t have a curfew. And don’t worry, I have
lots of other things I can call you… pookie”, she snickered, sticking her tongue out.

“Come on! That’s even worse.”

Keiko put her arms around the boy’s neck and kissed him, smiling.

“And now we should get going, before my brother or someone else decides to look for any of us.
Are you going to watch the volleyball match?”

“I should, yes. I told Mrs. LaRusso that I’d be there… and then I forgot.”

“Great. Then go, and I’ll see you again before everybody leaves, right?”

“Yeah… Come to the skating park later?”

“Are you trying to impress me with your moves, skater boy?”

“I thought I had already impressed you with my moves”, he said with a wink.

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself”, she answered. “I’m going to find Aisha. She wanted to go rowing on
the lake.”

“Don’t tell her about us!” said the boy, alarmed.

“Stop freaking out! I’m very good at keeping secrets. Besides, Kate is probably going to tell Sensei
Lawrence, anyway… so I don’t think this particular secret is going to last very long.”

“Oh, shit”, Robby complained, hiding his face in his hands. Then he saw the absurdity of the
situation, and started laughing. “We’re crazy, right?”

“Possibly.”

“For the record, I still think you’re an annoying rich girl.”

“And I still think you’re a sulky emo kid. But, like I said before… we could do worse.”

She stood in front of Robby and ran her fingers through the boy’s hair.

“I like your eyes”, she observed. “Forgot to tell you that before.”

“Thanks, doll.”

Keiko wrinkled her nose. “Are we competing for the worst pet name ever? I think that one wins.”

Robby grinned. “I like the way your nose scrunches when you’re angry… I was trying to make you
do that again.”

“Very clever, skater boy. Now let go of my hand, we have to leave.”

Robby gave her a quick peck on the lips and started walking towards the sports courts. It had taken
a while… but his day was finally looking up.
 Ceasefire
Chapter Summary

Amanda and Kate conspire together to reveal a secret, Keiko tries to prevent a fight,
and Johnny and Daniel have a long-awaited conversation.

Chapter Notes

This chapter took longer than I expected, and it was entirely Daniel and Johnny's fault.
They hadn't talked to each other since chapter 11, and they refused to talk to each other
for a week... until two days ago, when they finally started giving me something to
work with. I'm still not 100% happy with that last scene, but I honestly did my best.

The Lake Balboa excursion is almost coming to an end: the next chapter will be the
end of this little arc, I hope to tie a few loose ends, and then we'll be back to normal
life in the Valley. Thank you for putting up with me and my crazy ideas!

CHAPTER 29. CEASEFIRE

Miguel observed the volleyball court from afar, shielding his eyes from the strong afternoon sun.

The match had just ended; the audience cheered and clapped as the players exchanged handshakes
and congratulated each other. He hadn’t exactly paid a lot of attention to the game… the truth was,
seeing Sam with her new boyfriend made him a bit uncomfortable. There she was, hugging Shiro in
the middle of the court… even in front of her mother.

He lowered his head and kicked a pebble off the ground. Sam and him had been broken up for
months, but still… that preferential treatment to Keiko’s brother didn’t feel right. He hadn’t even
been given the chance to meet her parents once.

“Hey, Mig!”

Keiko, who had spotted Miguel alone and away from the crowd, ran towards him with a
suspiciously wide smile on her face.

“Hi”, he answered softly.

“Why didn’t you sit with me to watch the game? It was so much fun!”

“I thought you were going to the lake with Aisha.”

“Yes, but then she decided that she wanted to play.”

“Who won? Us or them?”

“Oh, there was no ‘us’ or ‘them’ this time… we were all mixed up. Mrs. LaRusso’s team won, of
course… she played volleyball in college, it may have been a million years ago but she’s still great
at it. Sophie was on her team, but Grace and Aisha were on the other one. Nobody was too worried
about keeping score anyway.”

“Cool”, said Miguel, throwing one last furtive gaze at the disbanding players. He was about to
suggest going back to the picnic area and asking his Yaya if there was any food left, when
something else caught his attention.

“Hey, what’s with the hickey?” he asked, pointing at a faint purplish mark on Keiko’s neck. “You
didn’t have that this morning… looks like someone has been having fun.”

“We were supposed to make new friends today, right?” she laughed. “Well, I have some news for
you.”

“Let me guess: was it our friend Brian from Krunch?” asked Miguel with a knowing smile. “I
caught him looking at you this morning.”

“Nope. More like... our friend Robby from Miyagi-Do.”

Miguel took a step back and looked at his friend as if she had just sprouted horns.

“What? Keiko, are you out of your mind? Please tell me that you just teased him, stole his clothes
and ran away.”

“Of course not! What’s that, the plot of a Hangover movie? We started talking and… well, things
happened.”

“Ew, don’t tell me any details.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you anything specific, dumbass! You may be like one of the girls when it
comes to gossiping, but this is private.”

“Thank God”, he huffed. “But really, of all the guys from all the dojos in the Valley…?”

Keiko rolled her eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but… I felt there was something
interesting about Keene when we met this morning.”

“When you two almost got to blows in front of everybody? Yeah, that makes all the sense in the
world.”

“Oh, don’t be daft! Anyway… I’m too curious for my own good, that’s always been one of my
faults”, she said, pensive. “That’s the difference between you and me, Mig. You try to repress what
you feel, and I… well, nevermind.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not repressing anything. And when did you become a shrink,
Doctor Yashida?”

The girl stared at him in silence for a moment.

“Well, earlier today the girls and I pushed you in Maria’s direction, and you just went with it.”

“Of course! I mean, Maria is fun, hot, popular… and I think she really likes me”, he said with a
shrug. “I wasn’t being a pushover, I like her too. We’ll be fine.”

“That’s not a lot of emotion, fine ”, observed the girl.

“Not everything needs to be super dramatic.”

Keiko laughed. “That’s rich, coming from Cobra Kai’s resident drama queen… I just thought
today you’d try again with Sam LaRusso, that’s all.”

Miguel bit his lip, wondering once again how Keiko could be so oblivious to the situation with
Sam and Shiro. And, since there was nobody else around, he thought it would be a good moment to
clarify the situation.

“Sam is dating your brother”, he whispered quietly, as if it was a shameful secret.

Keiko rolled her eyes and lowered her voice too. “You have to be shitting me… Shiro?”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Only one. And I’m one hundred per cent sure Sam is not his type.”

“Why, what does his type look like?”

Keiko pressed her lips shut in a thin line. She would have loved to draw the boy out of his mistake,
but… that was a secret she couldn’t reveal, not even to a close friend. Not even if keeping Shiro’s
secret safe cost Miguel a misunderstanding with his ex-girlfriend.

Funny that Miguel asks about my brother’s type... The boyfriend Shiro had in Cleveland looked a
bit like him.

“I really can’t tell you. You’re going to have to trust me on this one, Mig. I know those two are not
a thing… just don’t ask me why.”

“Sorry, but that’s not enough. And now it doesn’t matter anyway, I already gave my word to
Maria.”

“Your word? Oh, congratulations on your engagement, Mr. Darcy!”

“What?”

“Nothing”, she laughed. “You know, it’s actually funny when you think of it. That Committee lady
said this morning that we should make an effort to get together with new people… and what’s
happening is exactly that. Or a version of it. We should go and congratulate her for giving us the
idea.”

“Congratulate who?” asked a voice behind her.

Miguel turned around and frowned. A few yards away, looking definitely cross, stood his bitter
rival… and Keiko’s new hookup.

“The All Valley people”, answered Keiko, trying in a not too subtle way to stand between the two
boys. “For getting us talking to each other.”

“Some people are doing more than just talking”, Miguel observed.

“And how is that any of your business?” asked Robby, with his eyes fixed on the Cobra boy.

“At least this time you’re not inserting yourself in the middle or a couple, Keene. That’s a huge
improvement for you, dude.”
“Yeah?” asked Robby, his fists starting to clench against his will. “Does that Krunch girl know
how adorable you become when you’re jealous… dude? You better tell her to start working on her
defence moves.”

“Why don’t you go and tell her? She’ll probably listen to you… you’ve made everybody believe
you’re a fucking saint!”

“Okay, enough of the pissing contest, you two!” said Keiko, raising her voice a bit more than she
intended, and putting a hand on Robby’s arm. “Robby, we agreed that us being in different dojos
wouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Right”, said the boy, trying to keep his cool while still staring daggers at Miguel.

“And Mig, if you don’t stop this nonsense right now I swear the next time we spar together you
won’t even know what hit you. And I’m not speaking in metaphors.”

“Fine”, he said in a sheepish tone, taking a step back. “Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your hair… I’m
going to the lake to see Maria.”

“Awesome. One would think the largest park in the Valley would be big enough for you two to
exist in it at the same time”, said Keiko, grabbing Robby’s hand.

Miguel started walking away. A moment later he turned around, mostly to check if the other boy
was following him, and caught the couple in the middle of an improvised (and very eager) makeout
session.

“I did not need to see that, Spike!” he shouted, grinning. He didn’t want any more trouble with
Robby, but the chance to tease Keiko a little was too good to waste.

“Spike?” Robby asked, staring at Keiko.

“A new nickname Mig and Hawk are trying on me. Don’t worry, it’s never gonna happen.”

“Well, I can see where it comes from…”

“Hey! Cut it, prodigy. I said I didn’t like it”, she replied, giving him a poke on the ribs.

“Well, I don’t like that you’re friends with Skunk Hair.”

“I never said Hawk was my friend. He’s just a guy who happens to be in the same dojo as me. But
even if we were friends… you and I have been together for five minutes, Keene. Are you trying to
control me already?”

“Chill out, Spike; I only said I didn’t like the jerk. I’m not trying to control shit… you’re too whiny
for that.”

“That’s not what you said when we were in the shed.”

Robby rolled his eyes. “You always need to have the last word, don’t you?”

“See?” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I knew you were clever… we just met and you
already know me better than most people.”

“I’m starting to regret it”, Robby joked. “By the way… maybe we should go talk to your brother,
together. If news keep spreading, he’ll find out before the day is over, and I don’t want him to get
angry with you. Or with me. It’s better if we go and explain ourselves calmly.”
“Wow”, Keiko whispered, observing his face closely. “You really are a knight in shining armor…
and, for once, you’re absolutely right. Come, let’s go give Shiro the happy news.”

Meanwhile, Daniel was trying very hard not to worry. And failing.

It wasn’t because anything bad had happened; everything that could have gone right at the
excursion had, indeed, gone right. And he was grateful for that, once he shook off the feeling of
impending doom that always accompanied him when Cobra Kai was involved. But… what was
really bothering him was Amanda’s choice of friendships.

He knew she’d never been comfortable hanging out with the hardcore karate moms, the ones who
only lived to obsess over the next tournament. Since the LaRussos had never had a horse in the All
Valley race, so to speak, Amanda’s competitive side was kind of dormant. She was always polite to
the parents, nice to the Committee people… but she could have been watching the Thanksgiving
Day parade instead of a tournament. She never took karate too seriously, but Daniel didn’t mind
because karate was his thing.

Now he observed his wife from afar. She was sitting on a bench, eating a popsicle and talking to
Kate. Talking… and laughing, as if they had suddenly become best friends, and Daniel started to
fear the consequences of said friendship. His mind started showing him images of awkward
dinners, uncomfortable barbecues at the LaRusso residence… and, if worse came to worst, double
dates. All events where he would have to endure Johnny’s presence and manners (or lack thereof),
just because Amanda had decided that, of all the karate moms in the Valley, Kate was the one she
liked best.

Just the thought of it made Daniel’s stomach do a little turn. What could they possibly be talking
about?

“So… you think we should tell them?” asked Kate in a low voice. “I don’t like spreading gossip,
but at the same time I think at least a few responsible adults should know.”

Amanda took a little bite of her popsicle (that was starting to give her tongue an orange tinge) and
nodded.

“You know, if there’s anything I realized last year is that secrets have a tendency to come to light
in the worst possible moment. Like when Daniel and Johnny went to our home dojo and found
Robby there.”

“That was some awful timing… poor boy.”

“It was a mess for everybody; I thought Daniel was going to have a stroke”, said Amanda,
remembering how distressed her husband had been the night before the tournament. “So… yes, I
think the best solution would be to tell them before the day is over. Or before any of them bumps
into the kids and freaks out.”

Kate bit her lip, still not completely sure.

“I’m worried about Johnny’s reaction, honestly. Earlier today I asked Robby to talk to him, and he
promised he would… Now I hope Johnny doesn’t use that conversation to scold him. They’ve been
making some progress, but another fight right now could set them apart again.”
“That’s why I think it will be better if they learn about Robby and Keiko from us, in a more
controlled environment.”

“You mean with us playing referee.”

“They won’t dare to act up if we’re present”, said Amanda with a wink.

Kate let out a little laugh. “Sometimes it feels as if the children are the adults… and vice versa.”

“Sometimes it’s exactly like that”, said Amanda, taking the popsicle wrapper to the nearest bin.
“So, are we ready? Daniel is over there, I’ll make sure he doesn’t run away while you go fetch
your boy.”

“What, right now?”

“No time like the present!”

With those words, Amanda waved to Daniel and started walking towards him. Kate saw her talking
to her husband with a cheerful face… like preparing him for the bit of bad news that was coming.
She also saw Johnny sitting at one of the picnic tables, flanked by Miguel’s grandmother on one
side and Bert’s parents on the other.

“Hi! Is everybody having fun?” she asked, going to sit beside him.

“Oh, yeah”, answered Johnny. “Skylar and Harmony were just telling me everything about their
idea to combine karate with yoga, and create a whole new martial art.”

Kate raised an eyebrow and looked at Johnny’s mildly panicked face. Spread over the table in front
of Bert’s parents were several pieces of paper with drawings of yoga poses, scribbled mantras…
and even a round thing that looked like the design for a new logo.

“I think I arrived in the right moment to rescue you”, she whispered in his ear.

“Hell, yeah. Take me away from this fucking nightmare… please”, he answered in the same
hushed tone.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Kate took him by the arm.

“Harmony, do you mind if I steal him for a moment? We won’t be long, I promise.”

Without waiting for an answer she walked away, taking Johnny with her.

“Where are you taking me, babe?” he asked, relieved.

“There’s something Amanda and I need to tell you… It won’t be the most pleasant surprise in the
world, but it’s important. And in any case it will be preferably to Harmony’s plans for the new and
improved Cobra Kai yoga studio.”

“Amanda? LaRusso’s wife?” he asked, a bit startled. “Wait a second, what are you two…?”

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Amanda walking towards them, with Daniel in tow.
She had the same conspiratory air around her as Kate, and Johnny wondered what the two women
could have been planning. Daniel, on the other hand, looked quite pissed off… And that made
Johnny feel a little better.

“Well, look who’s here!” said Amanda, feigning surprise. “Just the two people I wanted to see!”
Daniel stared at Johnny, and then back at his wife, in complete confusion.

“Amanda, if this is your idea of a joke…”

“Actually, this is rather serious”, she answered. “Sorry to make you two share the same space,
boys, but there’s something important you need to know.”

Then it was Johnny’s turn to look at Kate with a question in his eyes.

“Are you going to make us wear a get-along shirt or something? Babe… it’s not gonna work. I’ve
done my best to avoid this asshole all day, but…”

“Watch that language, Johnny”, Daniel interrupted. “There are ladies present, in case you haven’t
noticed.”

“Ladies swear too, you know. They’re people, LaRusso, not blushing flowers.”

“Peace, please!” Kate intervened. “If you two were your students’ age I would totally make you
wear that get-along shirt… but right now I’d settle for you listening to us for a minute. Okay?”

The two men nodded, holding each other’s gaze.

“Good”, stated Amanda. “Daniel, you said from the start that the goal of this meetup was that the
kids from different dojos could get to know one another, right?”

“Yes, of course”, he said, wondering why Amanda was bringing that up. “That’s why the All
Valley Committee organized all this. Broadening the kids’ horizons, encouraging new
friendships… You know the speech, you heard George ramble about it for thirty minutes this
morning.”

Kate waited until Amanda nodded at her, and continued where the other woman had left off.

“Right. The only problem is, there’s at least one case where the… friendship has gone beyond what
everybody expected. I’m afraid we have a Romeo and Juliet situation.”

Johnny stared at Kate, puzzled, but Daniel was quicker to put two and two together.

“Oh, great. It’s Samantha again, right?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “I knew she would be back with
that little punk any day… Damn, I knew coming here today was a bad idea!”

“Have some respect, LaRusso. His name is Miguel, not ‘that punk’”, interrupted Johnny.

Kate put a hand on Johnny’s arm. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, please. Anyway, it’s not
them… It’s Robby and Keiko.”

“What?”

“I went to the storage shed to get the volleyball net before the match… and I found them there,
making out.”

Johnny muttered a curse under his breath. “Shit. Of all the girls he could have messed up with, and
he goes for a Cobra Kai. This isn’t going to end well.”

“That’s not for us to decide”, said Amanda. “They’re both old enough to–”

“Bullshit!” Johnny spat.

“Old enough? That’s a joke!” Daniel groaned, almost at the same time.

Amanda stopped talking and crossed her arms, glaring at the two men for interrupting her.

“Thank you for your constructive criticism, boys! Look, whatever you tell your respective students
during the class is none of my business… But I don’t think intruding in their private lives is a part
of your job description as karate teachers”, she continued. “I guess you were right, Kate… I should
have expected this reaction.”

Kate stepped closer to Johnny. Out of the two men, he looked the most shocked… with good
reason. It was an uncomfortable situation that affected both his student and his son.

“Johnny, we’re not telling you this to create even more conflict between Robby and you. Or
between Daniel and you…”

“As if there wasn’t enough already”, he interrupted her.

“I know”, she continued, in a soft voice. “But you can’t keep young people from dating if that’s
what they want. If Robby and Keiko really like each other, it’s fine! On the other hand, if they’re
doing this just because they think it’s fun to… to dance with the enemy, so to speak, and to provoke
a reaction in any of you, the smartest thing is to let them be. Don’t give it any importance, don’t
even mention that they’re together. Ignore the drama and they’ll stop acting up.”

“If you forbid them to see each other, it will have the opposite effect”, Amanda agreed. “I only met
Shiro’s sister today, but from what her brother tells me she can be very single-minded.”

“Stubborn as a mule”, Johnny said. “Once that girl sets her mind on something, there’s no stopping
her.”

“And we all know Robby is also very headstrong, and very good at keeping secrets. I say we let
the relationship run its course, without making a mountain out of it.”

“That makes a certain amount of sense”, said Daniel, still hesitant.

“Yeah, it could work”, Johnny added, reaching for Kate’s hand. “How are you so clever, roller
girl?”

“Well, Rani is only eight”, she answered. “It’s easy to keep a cool head about this when I don’t
have any teenagers of my own. And I wouldn’t worry too much about the little punk, Daniel… I
saw him a moment ago having a little tête-à-tête with a girl from Krunch Karate. They seemed very
friendly.”

“Way to go, Diaz”, Johnny whispered, smirking.

Daniel threw him a sideways glance, but he didn’t say anything. He had lost enough arguments in
one day, and he knew when to admit defeat… even in front of Johnny.

“Good. Now that everything’s out in the open, I’m going to check on Anthony… our son has been
making friends and playing sports, can you believe it?” said Amanda, giving her husband a wink.

Daniel managed to flash a smile that didn’t look too forced.

“And I have to see Harmony, she’s making a list of people for the new yoga group she’s starting
next week, and I don’t want to be left out”, added Kate, checking her watch, and keeping an eye on
her boyfriend in case he had any last minute objections. “Johnny, can you pick up Rani from the
playground and take her to the skate park? It’s almost time for her lesson with Robby… I’ll be
there in ten minutes, I promise.”

“Sure, babe. I’ll take care of Rattler.”

She gave Johnny a quick kiss, waved goodbye to Amanda, who was also walking away in the
opposite direction, and left the two men alone.

Miguel and Maria

Sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
First comes love
Then comes marriage
Then comes baby
In a…

Samantha covered her ears with her hands and moaned, trying to ignore the singing children. The
Krunch dojo had a surprisingly high amount of little boys and girls, mostly because their Sensei’s
wife was an elementary school teacher and she knew how to do recruitment. Between one game
and the next, several of those children had found out that their most popular girl was fooling around
with the All Valley champion… And, apparently, they felt like the happy occasion deserved a
song.

As she walked away from the irritating sound, Sam saw her mother in the distance, alone. She had
the sudden urge to run towards Amanda, give her a hug and cry a little; but the rational side of her
mind reminded her that she had zero reasons to be moody. Girl meets boy, girl dates boy, boy acts
like a jerk, girl leaves boy… the logical conclusion being that girl has no right to feel any kind of
ownership over boy.

That was the way things worked. In theory.

Amanda, on her part, was a very perceptive woman. It would have been hard to stay married to
Daniel for eighteen years without developing a sensitivity to the trademark LaRusso mood
swings… and she was starting to see one in Sam, even from afar.

“Everything okay, sweetie?” she asked, putting a hand around her daughter’s shoulders. “You must
be exhausted after that match… I’m starting to think I should have enrolled you in a volleyball
program when you were little, instead of letting your Dad train you. You did a really great job on
the court!”

Samantha smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Thanks, Mom. I’m not too tired… although I’ll be happy when we get home, I’m starting to feel a
headache. But don’t worry, I won’t bolt out again like I did at the tournament.”

Amanda observed her daughter’s face closely. “I’ve seen that face before. Is it because of that
Cobra Kai boy, again?”

“No!” Sam answered quickly. “Well… maybe. I don’t know.”

“What happened, honey? I thought you were the one who broke up with him… and that you two
had agreed on being just friends.”
“Yes, but I just saw him with another girl, and… I’m just being stupid. Don’t mind me, Mom.”

Amanda crossed her arms and sighed.

“Don’t let your father hear this, but if you were a couple of years older I’d give you a wine cooler
right now. Since you’re not, this will have to do”, she said, offering her a popsicle. “I hope it helps,
we’re all out of brownies.”

“Thanks”, muttered Sam, picking up the frozen snack. “Hey, where’s Dad? And where’s Anthony?
I haven’t seen them all afternoon.”

“Anthony is at the cafeteria in the sports center, with a couple of All Star boys; there’s an old
pinball machine there, they’ve been playing for hours. And your Dad… He had something to
discuss with somebody. I’ll tell you at home.”

“Okay”, Sam agreed. She sat beside Amanda, rested her head on her mother’s shoulder, like she
had done hundreds of times when she was a little girl, and closed her eyes.

The silence between the two men was tense. Almost angry.

Now that Kate and Amanda had left, the matter was formally solved… but for some reason Daniel
and Johnny stayed in the clearing, glaring daggers at each other. As if none of them wanted to be
the first to turn his back.

After several seconds of this staring contest, Johnny started to shuffle away. “Well, it was nice to
chat, LaRusso… but I have better things to do than look at your sour face. Peace out.”

He hadn’t taken even one step away, when Daniel’s voice grated in his ears.

“Great, run away like you always do, Johnny. This mess with the kids is all your fault”, he said
between gritted teeth.

“Yeah, sure”, Johnny quipped, turning towards Daniel. “And what else is my fault, that global
warming shit? You’re the one who sells cars, that one’s on you.”

“Very funny. For your information, my sales of electric and hybrid cars have skyrocketed this year.
I’m even thinking of getting a Tesla for myself… and I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“Because you want to brag about the Tesla?” Johnny asked with a half-smile.

“I’m not bragging, okay? It’s better for the environment.”

“Right. So now global warming is the poor people’s fault for not being able to afford fancy cars.”

Daniel paced up and down the grass for a few seconds.

“Why do you always do that, Johnny? Twist everything I say, everything I do? Why is so important
to you that I’m suddenly the bad guy in every situation?”

“I just want you to get out of my way”, Johnny said, rolling his eyes. “But every time I turn my
back I see you, meddling with my students. Or with my dojo, or with my son. Fuck, you even tried
to get Kate and Rattler away from me! You think I wouldn’t find out about Rattler’s visit to your
little karate joint? It almost made Kate break up with me… you can be proud of that one.”
“That was obviously not my intention”, Daniel answered, blushing a little. “I didn’t know Kate was
Rani’s mother until this morning… and please stop using that absurd nickname on the girl. She’s a
human being, not a snake.”

“She likes it. That girl belongs in Cobra Kai.”

“You’re brainwashing her.”

“Not for you to decide, LaRusso. She has a mother for that.”

Daniel huffed. As much as he’d had loved to keep insisting on the Rani thing, he knew the little
girl would never want to change dojos now… and Kate would never allow it, in any case.

“And what are you going to do with the Keiko Yashida situation?”

“What do you want me to do? You heard the ladies… saying anything to her or to Robby will
make it worse. And if you don’t believe me, I’d love to see you try.”

Daniel’s hands clenched into fists; he had to make an effort to breathe deep and think.

“Really, of all the girls from all the dojos in the Valley…” he muttered, almost to himself, before
facing Johnny again. “Today was supposed to be a day for… oh, you heard the speech too, games
and harmless fun. I was the one who had the idea for this blasted excursion! I gave my students one
very simple instruction for the day… and they’ve ignored it, thanks to your little Cobras.”

“Is that the hill you want to die on? Two kids who are supposed to be enemies making out in a dark
corner, and not obeying your stupid rule?”

“How do I know this wasn’t your doing, Johnny? That you didn’t ask Shiro’s sister to come on to
Robby and distract him?”

“Cut the bullshit, man, you’re bad-mouthing a fifteen year-old girl!” said Johnny, making a
disgusted face. “And Robby’s not a saint, no matter how highly you think of him. He’s a chip off
the old block, of course the babes want to get in his pants.”

“Classy as always”, snickered Daniel. “Anyway, if that girl knew what’s good for her she should
have come to Miyagi-Do, like her brother.”

“She wouldn’t like your pansy training style. That girl’s a Cobra, she’s too tough for that.”

“That ‘pansy’ style was good enough to defeat you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, well, times change”, Johnny said, not wanting to talk about his tournament defeat. “There
are a couple of kids in my Cobra Kai who could have kicked both our asses in 1984. And a couple
of yours, too… I’ve seen the way Robby fights. Most of it is genetics, of course, but I have to admit
he’s learned some cool moves.”

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, if the girls say we should let Robby and Keiko alone, that’s what we’re gonna do. I trust
Kate’s advice… she’s a smart cookie, and not just because she’s a lawyer.”

Daniel snickered under his breath. Johnny Lawrence yielding so fast to a woman’s opinion was
nothing short of unexpected.

“How did you and Kate… how did that happen, anyway?” he asked, letting his natural curiosity get
the better of him. “I mean… I don’t see you two having a lot of things in common. Apart from Rani
and her karate lessons, of course.”

“If you mean Kate is out of my league, I could say the same of your wife, so watch your mouth.”

“Calm down, I never meant she’s out of your league! I just… I just think she doesn’t look like your
type, that’s all.”

Johnny frowned, thinking for a moment that the ‘type’ thing was supposed to be about Ali. It
wasn’t a topic he wanted to discuss; not there, and absolutely not with Daniel. He suddenly
realized, with no little surprise, that he hadn’t thought about Ali in months, since the Facebook
thing that day at the bar… Now that he thought about it, it felt kind of disrespectful towards Kate,
to keep musing about the one who got away. He was about to ask Daniel why he was redirecting
the conversation towards their high school ex-girlfriend, but something in the other man’s eyes
made Johnny see the light and smirk.

“Oh, of course! You’ve met Shannon.”

Daniel bit his lip, reviving the embarrassment of his conversation with Robby’s mother. “Only in
passing… I mean, only on the phone. Lovely woman.”

“I wouldn’t use that word, but suit yourself. Did she try to flirt with you...?” asked Johnny with a
sideways smile. “Don’t tell me, of course she did; she loves going after rich fucks like you. Do
your wife a favor and stay away from Shannon, dude. She’s bad news.”

“Now you’re being catty just for the sake of it. I only called her to talk about Robby.”

Daniel realized the conversation was going to take a sour turn when he saw the way Johnny’s face
darkened. It hadn’t been his intention to mention Robby’s living situation, and now he was
regretting bringing it up.

“I bet you turned all your sleazy salesman charm on her”, said Johnny in a strained voice. “I bet by
the end of the talk she thought sending Robby to live with you was her idea.”

Daniel realized he was fidgeting, and put his hands in his pockets. He could deal with an
irrationally angry Johnny Lawrence without batting a lash, but he hadn’t really stopped to consider
that the other man could feel really hurt about the situation with his son.

“Come on… it’s the best for him”, he whispered, trying to sound more sure of himself than he
really was. “And it’s only for a few weeks…”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re making every day count. How many times have you told him your version of
what happened on our senior year?” Johnny spat. “How many more lies are you going to feed him
while he’s living the Encino life and getting used to being a rich kid? Let’s be honest, if Shannon
didn’t exist you would have adopted Robby already… You’d do anything to get my son away from
me.”

“Robby came to me!” Daniel replied, almost in a pleading tone. “He applied for a job at the
dealership of his own accord; I had no idea who he was until the night before the tournament…
you already know that.”

“Yeah, you keep repeating that, and I’m supposed to believe everything that comes out of your
mouth. You’re very good at claiming ignorance, LaRusso, but there will come a day when it won’t
work anymore.”
Daniel kept his gaze fixed on the ground. If Johnny didn’t believe him, there was nothing he could
do about it… but being branded as a liar still hurt his pride.

“Looks like your students are having fun today”, he said. It was a clumsy attempt to change the
topic and make Johnny feel at ease, but he hoped it would work. “They’ve taken up with children
from all the other dojos. You must be proud of them.”

Johnny looked away, at a clearing among the trees where a large group of kids were sitting in a
circle, playing a card game. It was too easy to spot the Cobra Kai with their bright yellow t-shirts.

“Don’t bother with compliments, I know you think they’re a band of thugs. But they’re good kids,
no matter what you say. A bit nerdy… but that’s okay, looks like all kids are nerdy these days.”

“I never said they were a band of anything . Can’t you learn how to take a little praise, for
goodness’ sake?”

“Fine. You did a good job with the recruiting, too… without stealing students from other dojos.
Pity that you couldn’t get any more girls, right? Looks like all the badass ladies in the Valley want
to be in Cobra Kai”, Johnny said, pointing at the circle of teenagers. Grace and Sophie were among
them, along with Aisha and Keiko… but the rest of the group was made almost entirely of boys.

“I don’t care about my students’ gender. Karate has no gender”, said Daniel, trying not to sound
irritated about Miyagi-Do’s virtual lack of girls (well, except for Sam, but she had no choice).
“Really, I have absolutely no idea how a dinosaur like you–”

“Aren’t we getting clever with the names, LaRusso…”

“A dinosaur like you has tricked those girls into joining Cobra Kai.”

“Tricks? Like the one you played on me, trying to steal Rattler for your dojo?”

“Again with that? We’ve discussed this already… I had no way of knowing she was your
girlfriend’s daughter, alright? It may have been a mistake, but it was an honest mistake.”

Johnny smiled, with his gaze lost in the distance, and Daniel had to admit that he seemed genuinely
fond of the child.

“Did she tell you her plan to become the first triple championship winner?” he asked, with a wide
grin on his lips.

Daniel huffed again. “The only girl who has ever gotten the All Valley trophy was Angela
Karlsson five years ago, and she was a phenomenon… she won several international
championships after that. Winning the tournament is hard enough, Johnny, and for a girl it’s almost
impossible. Why are you putting those ideas in the poor child’s head? Now Rani is going to train
for years… for nothing, and then get disappointed when she doesn’t win the title once.”

“For nothing, my ass. That girl is going to win the All Valley as soon as she’s tall enough to land a
kick on her opponent’s head… I’m not sure when that’s going to be, she’s a really small kid. And I
didn’t give her the idea, she called herself a future champion the day she walked into Cobra Kai.
With a mindset like that, she can’t lose.”

“Yeah… keep dreaming, Johnny.”

“Wanna bet?”
“Bet? On a tournament that won’t happen for… what, seven years?” Daniel shook his head.
“You’ll be lucky if Cobra Kai still exists by then. You can’t trick those kids forever.”

“Again with that word. You’re the one with the tricks here, LaRusso. Go talk to any of my Cobras,
ask them how things are at my dojo. See the two girlfriends over there, Pride and Joy? All of last
year they were ignored, or laughed at, or bullied at school. But the door of Cobra Kai was open for
them.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow, surprised at the words coming from Johnny’s mouth. “When did you
become so… so woke?”

Johnny smiled. Catching Daniel off guard was always a nice confidence boost.

“If you’re throwing that word at me thinking I don’t know what it means, you’re wrong.”

It was true. A couple of weeks before, Grace and Sophie had spent a good half an hour after class
instructing Johnny in the basic aspects of woke culture. It had been a bit of a shock to him: there
were a couple of things he didn’t like, and a few more he didn’t understand, so that same evening
he’d gone to see Kate and asked all kinds of questions. Kate, of course, had answered every asinine
doubt with a very straight face… although there had been a few raised eyebrows when he’d asked
about trans-exclusive rational feminists, or whatever the hell they were called.

“Yeah, you’re Mr. Progressive now, I heard Sue’s speech about ‘LGBTQ youth’ this morning”,
said Daniel. “The Committee may have swallowed your lies, but I know you’d do anything to get
more students, even fooling those girls into thinking you’re a tolerant person.”

“One of those girls was bullied out of her sports team for being with another girl. And the other
was so shy when she arrived that she couldn’t even look at people in the eye. I’m not fooling
anybody... I’m just treating them like any other kid in my class. They’re all Cobras to me, I don’t
care who they’re smooching when the class is over.”

“Very enlightened”, Daniel snickered. “If it wasn’t for what I saw at the tournament, I’d start to
believe Cobra Kai has really changed.”

“Kids get all psyched up at tournaments, it’s the adrenaline. I already gave Miguel and Hawk a
lecture on that”, Johnny said, reluctantly admitting that his students had been in the wrong.
“Remember Bobby Brown? He was the most strait-laced guy I’ve ever known, always doing the
right thing… and our Sensei talked him into wrecking your knee. Took him less than a minute.”

Daniel rubbed his bad leg absentmindedly. He’d been left with a permanent reminder of that
fight… he felt it every time the weather changed.

“Bobby came over to apologize, you know. The first day of school after Christmas break. How
weird, I remember it as if it was yesterday… He couldn’t stop crying, I’ve never seen anyone look
so sad”, Daniel recalled, with his eyes closed. “Do you know what became of him?”

“He’s a soccer coach now. And he married Barbara.”

“Really? Ali’s friend? Wow, I thought nobody actually married their high school sweethearts.
Anyway… I’d never rejoice in anybody’s death, Johnny, but I’m glad Kreese is not around to do
that kind of things anymore.”

A heavy silence fell over the scene. Johnny lowered his eyes; he also looked deathly pale, and
Daniel wondered why was he having that reaction, when Kreese had probably been dead for years.
Could he finally be feeling remorse about letting his old teacher manipulate him, and the other
Cobra boys?

“Look, I have to go”, Johnny said abruptly, pointing to the playground. “To pick up Rattler.”

“Yes, I heard. Hey, good luck with Robby”, Daniel added, remembering that Johnny had an
impending conversation with his son. “I haven’t been telling him anything about you, okay? He’s a
great boy; I’m not trying to manipulate him, no matter what you think.”

“Yeah, fine. Goodbye, LaRusso… See you around, I guess.”

Daniel frowned. Both the topic switch and Johnny’s exit seemed too sudden, as if he’d wanted to
avoid talking about his old teacher, but Daniel couldn’t really blame him for that. He knew
perfectly well how easy it was to reopen old wounds… he still refused to talk about his own
Kreese-related traumas with anyone. Not even Amanda knew what had happened with Kreese,
Barnes and Silver in 1985; it was the only secret he’d never shared with her.

With a deep sigh he looked around him, listening to the sound of distant voices all around the park.
The afternoon was half gone… and he had to admit that the day, save for some small mishaps, had
been a success. He was about to go back to Amanda and Sam, when he had the distinct feeling that
someone was observing him, like a pair of eyes burning into the back of his head.

He turned around and saw Kate, leaning against a bench with two plastic cups in her hands. It
wasn’t easy for Daniel to read her expression; lawyers were professional liars, after all… a bit like
car salesmen. He wondered how long she’d been there.

“Eh… hi. If you’re looking for Johnny, he just went to the skate park”, he muttered, making a
vague gesture in the direction where Johnny had left.

“I know. I want to give him and Robby some time to talk before I join them”, she said, sitting on
the bench and offering him one of the coffee cups. “Frappuccino? I got it for Harmony, but she
forgot to tell me she only drinks vegetable milk. It would be a shame if it went to waste… and I
can’t have both of these or I’ll jump to hypersonic speed.”

Daniel sat on the bench and accepted the spare cup.

“Thanks. As a matter of fact, I kinda have to talk to you.”

“Well, isn’t that a surprise, Daniel… I’m all ears.”

 Sundown
Chapter Summary

The day of the excursion comes to an end. Daniel and Kate learn a bit more about each
other, while Johnny has a little talk with his son.

Chapter Notes

Here we are, finally at the end of this huge six-chapter arc (it was going to be four
chapters in the beginning, but you know me and my river of words). This one is not
very exciting, just people talking to people...
I'm planning a few surprises for the last part of the story, but we're not there yet. The
next huge event will be Johnny's school reunion in chapter 32. Who is excited to see
the old Cobra boys?

CHAPTER 30. SUNDOWN

“So… what did you want to tell me, Daniel?”

They had been sitting in silence for a while, and Kate felt that somebody should start talking. On
one hand, she didn’t especially enjoy the awkwardness of the situation… and, on the other, she
wanted to join Johnny and Rani at the skate park.

Daniel sipped his coffee and cleared his throat a couple of times.

“Look, I… I’m sorry about this morning, again. It wasn’t fair to accuse Johnny like that without
having all the facts. It’s no excuse, but I blame the lack of caffeine: I had decaf for breakfast by
mistake.”

“Oh, decaf is the source of every evil”, laughed Kate, before turning serious again. “I guess you
can’t help thinking the worst of Johnny all the time.”

“Force of habit. I had nightmares with him and his buddies in high school… that kind of thing
doesn’t go away easily.”

Kate sighed. She knew Johnny hadn’t been a saint in high school… to put it mildly. But she still
didn’t like it when someone said it out loud, even if it was the truth.

“You know what’s funny...?” she said, with a sad smile. “Johnny and I are together because of you
. If you hadn’t pulled that stunt with his rent, he wouldn’t have hired me as his lawyer, and… I
guess what I’m trying to say is that we’re even.”

“Thank you.”

“But you’re still not my favorite person.”

“I understand that.”

“Just out of curiosity… why are you so high strung all the time? Why this fixation on being
everybody’s savior?”

Her words reminded Daniel, for the second time that day, of something Amanda had said once: Not
everybody needs your help. Not everybody needs to be rescued.

“You think Cobra Kai is just another dojo, Kate, but… you have no idea what it was like back
then, nor the kind of man that was at the helm. John Kreese was a downright psychopath, there’s
no other way to describe him.”

“But that’s the point… he was . That man is not around anymore, Daniel. And, for what I’ve
heard, Johnny is nothing like him.”

“Johnny is turning those boys… and even worse, those girls… into ruthless soldiers. That’s exactly
the kind of thing Kreese did with him and his friends. You heard how Johnny’s little Cobras
behaved at the tournament.”

“Yes. And I don’t approve of it, of course. Johnny had a talk with Miguel and Eli after the
tournament, Daniel; a serious talk. Maybe they got carried away, but they’re not bad boys. And
Aisha tells me that both of them spent several months last year being harassed by a group of boys
at school. That sort of thing can make people react badly.”

“Yeah, don’t I know it.”

Daniel bit his lip and stared into the depths of his coffee cup. He remembered exactly the kind of
things a bullied boy could do if he listened to the wrong people. Maybe Kreese was dead, and
Terry Silver hadn’t set foot in California for decades, but their memory was too painful to
disappear.

Lost in thought, he suddenly realized Kate’s lips were moving.

“Sorry… sorry, I was distracted. You were saying…?”

“Robby”, she said in a soft voice. “Do you really think it’s healthy for him to train in a dojo that
aims to put his father out of business?”

“Nobody forced him to train with me. And I stand by my principles, Kate: Cobra Kai may have
been a blessing for some of those kids, but… as a concept, it should not exist. Sorry to be so blunt.”

“I just hope there won’t be any more legal shenanigans this year. You’re a Committee member, a
tournament sponsor… and now, on top of that, a dojo owner. The All Valley tournament receives
public money every year, things should be kept absolutely transparent… I’d hate to have to bring
the matter to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commision”, she said in a casual tone.

“Johnny is lucky that you’re a lawyer”, Daniel smirked, making mental note of the veiled warning.
“The answer is no, of course. I’ve learned my lesson… I only want to take Cobra Kai out in good
sportsmanship, there will be no… no shenanigans of any kind.”

“Thank you. I’m still worried about Robby, though. I know I just met him today, but I can see he’s
got Johnny’s temper… and a lot of resentment towards him. That’s not a good combination.”

Daniel let out a deep sigh. Why did lawyers always have to be so… so subtle in their threats?
“I’m not feeding that resentment, if that’s what you’re implying.”

Kate made a strategic pause. Just a few seconds of silence, destined to make Daniel uneasy.

“Whatever you say. But… the thing is, the boy is completely dependent on you now. At work,
when he trains… he’s even living at your house. You can see how that looks from where I stand.”

“Robby’s mother will be back next week. Or maybe two weeks from now, she is a bit…” he
interrupted himself; none of the adjectives that came to his mind sounded remotely polite.

“Unreliable?” offered Kate.

“Yes! Thank you.” He propped himself forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why didn’t you
meet Johnny a year ago? Your presence could have saved me a lot of headaches.”

Kate laughed at the sheer absurdity of the question.

“From what I’ve heard of Johnny’s life before I met him… I don’t think we would have liked each
other very much a year ago. And, even if we did, I don’t dictate his actions. His life had already
changed when he met me; Johnny dug himself out of a very deep hole, and he did that completely
on his own. I can’t claim any merit.”

“Right.”

“Besides, a year ago I lived in San Francisco. I hadn’t moved to Reseda yet.”

“To South Seas. That’s where you and Rani live, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Did Johnny tell you that I used to live there when I first came to the Valley, thirty-five years
ago?”

“He did”, said Kate, nodding. “It’s a weird coincidence, but nothing unheard of… it was the third
apartment I saw, and the first one I liked. There’s nothing extraordinary to it.”

“Still, I don’t fully understand it”, said Daniel, narrowing his eyes. “Why Reseda, of all places? I
know it’s nicer now than it was in the eighties, but… honestly, you could do much better than
that.”

Kate arched an eyebrow. “You’re supposed to be a self-made man. Why the snobbism? Forgive me
for saying this, but it looks like you’re overcompensating for your modest childhood.”

“I’m not going to apologize for having a nice house and a good car. I just want the people I love to
be happy. And safe. I’ve always wanted to give my family the best things in life, and now I’m
finally able to do it.”

“The best things in life are free, Daniel. Look over there”, she said, pointing at a group of boys and
girls who were playing dodgeball. Running, catching the ball, falling to the ground every now and
then… And laughing, sometimes laughing so hard that they had to stop running and catch their
breath. “You can’t buy that.”

“You want your daughter to have a good life and a good education, right?” he retorted. “Those
things cost money.”

“Let me tell you a little story: a few months ago, when we moved here, I sold my apartment in San
Francisco, for more than twice of what it cost me back in the day. I’m sure you’re aware of how
the housing market in San Francisco has skyrocketed in the last years… Mine was in the Civic
Center area; just do the math.”

“An apartment in Civic Center? That’s… wow. That has to be some serious money.”

“It is. I could buy a small house in Encino with that, or a luxury condo. I could send Rani to a
private school… I could even buy her a pony. But instead I put the money in a fund for her college,
because those things are not what I want for her… I don’t think she would be happier living like
that. Besides, we’re already settled in Reseda. It’s close to my job, to Rani’s school, and we already
have good neighbors and good friends there”, she shrugged.

“And Johnny. Is he the reason you want to keep living there?”

Kate tilted her head to the side.

“Now you’re implying he’s not good enough for me.”

“Well, you’re a cultured and intelligent woman; you could be with… I mean… come on, Johnny
didn’t even finish college!”

“There’s the snob again”, she said with a frown. “Where did you go to college, Daniel? I’ve never
heard you mention it.”

“Eh… I didn’t. But that was different, I used the money for setting up a business.”

“Good for you! See? College is great… but some things are more important than getting a formal
education, and I don’t think less of Johnny for not having one. One day it’s going to be the subject
of a very interesting conversation with my parents: they look down on anybody without at least a
Master’s degree. But, for now… it doesn’t worry me.”

“Sorry if I sounded snarky about the college thing. I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay, Daniel. Really.”

“You know… I think I’m a little jealous that South Seas is so nice now. You even have a
functioning pool, I would have killed for one when my mother and I moved here. That place was a
dump.”

“I would invite you and Amanda to the pool, but I don’t think Johnny would take it well. Better
leave it for another occasion.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to poke that bear. Maybe we can all go to the country club one day instead…
Johnny went there a lot in the eighties, he knows the place.”

“I don’t go to country clubs”, said Kate, frowning. “They’re outdated and elitist remains of another
era.”

Daniel arched his eyebrows and whistled.

“Wow. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? It’s nothing like that… just a place where people can
go meet their friends. There are several pools, gardens, a great children’s area… You can bring
Rani, I’m sure she’ll have fun.”

“Bring Rani? So all the rich white kids can look down on her? I don’t think so.”
Daniel lowered his head, wondering what could have Kate have such strong opinions about a place
that was (to him, at least) perfectly innocent. At last, he had an idea.

“I’m thinking you’re also a bit of a snob, Kate. A reverse snob. You’re probably making six
figures, but you choose to live in the more run-down neighborhood in the Valley, you drive a cheap
car…”

“I object to you calling my Toyota cheap. That little machine is very reliable.”

“I’m just saying it looks like you’re pretending to be working class, to… blend with your
surroundings. What I don’t know is why.”

“And I don’t make six figures”, she kept protesting. “Well.. not unless I get a really good bonus at
the end of this year. And I’ll have to work my ass off for it.”

“I never said you didn’t work hard.”

“I also had to work during college… my parents are academics, and teaching doesn’t pay much.
Yes, I may be a reverse snob, I admit it. There are worse things a person can be. But you don’t
have the monopoly of trying to build a better life for yourself, Daniel. We’re all doing that… each
one of us in our own way. Including Johnny.”

“Johnny only reopened Cobra Kai out of spite.”

“Oh, yes, spite can be a very powerful motivator. Just ask Robby, I’m sure he could give you a
lesson on that... Didn’t he start working for you to hurt his father?”

Daniel lowered his head. As much as he wished that Robby's motives had been pure and unselfish,
Kate was right on that one.

“Yes. But what really matters is the goal, not the starting point. Robby has changed.”

“Of course. The Lawrence boys have the ability to change… both of them”, said Kate with a little
smile.

“We’re never going to reach an agreement on this, I'm afraid”, Daniel said, finishing his coffee.
“Nevertheless, I think that… in the future, every time I have a problem with Cobra Kai I’ll talk to
you instead of Johnny. At least you listen .”

“Well, I never applied to the post of Cobra Kai’s PR manager”, Kate laughed. “But I’ll take the
job. Anything to avoid an open fight between you two... for Robby’s sake, at least.”

“For Robby's sake, of course. Thank you, Kate.”

“And now, I really should be going. I have to watch my daughter get on a skateboard for the first
time in her life, and my nerves are killing me. See you around, Daniel.”

Daniel took the empty coffee cups to the nearest bin, and waved goodbye to Kate while she walked
away.

He suddenly felt very tired.

“That’s it, kiddo! Keep your head high! No, don’t look at your feet… better now. Keep going!”
Johnny observed the scene, trying to keep a straight face. He was sitting on a bench by the skate
park, watching Rani’s first ever skating lesson. She wasn’t a natural on the board like she was at
karate, but she was doing well so far. Robby had insisted that she put on his elbow and knee pads,
which looked absurdly big on her, and the effect was somewhat funny.

But most of the time he looked at Robby. The truth was, he barely recognized his reckless, angry,
rebel son in this young man who was patiently teaching a lesson to a little girl. He was all smiles
and words of encouragement with her, and Johnny was happy to witness this unexpected side of
him.

It felt strange, seeing them together. The son who didn’t care for him and the girl who worshipped
him, and who maybe one day would become family too…

Johnny shook his head. Fantasizing about the future usually ended badly for him, and he didn’t
want to fall down that rabbit hole again. No matter how much he cared about Kate, the hard truth
was that they had been together for three weeks. That was it, three measly weeks since their first
date. It felt like much longer, of course, and nobody could deny that what he and Kate had was
good. But he couldn’t help thinking he was going to wreck it, somehow. By saying something
inappropriate, or doing the wrong thing, or…

Or keeping a secret from Kate for too long.

He snapped out of his thoughts with a bitter smile, and kept observing Robby.

“Now, I want you to go in a straight line all the way to that wall over there. Then do a turn, and
come back here. Keep it slow, kiddo, it’s not a race. Do it several times until you get the turns
right, okay?”

“Okay, Robby”, answered the girl, setting the skateboard in motion.

In an unexpected move, Robby went to sit beside his father.

“Hey”, he whispered, with his eyes fixed on Rani’s progress.

“Hey”, answered Johnny, relieved that Robby wasn’t looking at him. It was easier this way.
“How’s she doing?”

“Good so far. She has good balance and great reflexes... and she’s having fun. Rani is a great kid,
Dad.”

“I know.”

“You’re not being too hard on her at the dojo, right? It would be awful if she got hurt.”

“Yeah, no shit. Kate would have my balls on a plate if I let Rattler get hurt. The kid’s going to want
to participate in the under-14 tournament next December… and I don’t know how to tell her she’s
not ready to fight a bunch of boys who will be twice her size.”

“She’ll be fine. Rani doesn’t get upset when she loses, I saw that. Also, she has a mean kick… I’m
sure she’ll do some damage before losing.”

“Did she hit you hard?”

“It still hurts when I think of it”, said Robby, putting a hand to the area right below his sternum.
“That girl is ruthless.”
“I had nothing to do with it, she was already ruthless when she arrived.”

Robby chuckled. “She must take after her Mom. I mean, Kate is super nice… but when she saw
me with Keiko in the shed, she got super serious and for a moment I was scared of her. But she’s
cool.”

“I know what you mean”, said Johnny with a fond smile. “I’ve seen her in court, and it's like she
becomes a different person… a scary version of the nice lady everybody sees.”

Robby stared at his Dad.

“So… how did you trick her into going out with you?” he asked with a wink.

Johnny didn’t react for a couple of seconds. It had been several years since his son had felt
comfortable enough to take a friendly jab at him.

“What, you think your old man has lost his mojo?” he asked, laughing.

“Nobody uses that word anymore, Dad!”

“All I’m saying is, the Lawrence men have always been good at getting babes. And I could ask you
the same question: how did you trick one of my students into going into that shed with you to… to
do whatever you did in there until you get caught?”

“Hey, nothing happened”, Robby quipped, trying to look innocent. “And it was Keiko’s idea to...”

“Oh, no. The less I know about that, the better”, said Johnny, raising his hands to stop the boy
from talking. “Just remember to treat that girl right or she’ll kick your ass.”

“Maybe I should stay away from karate girls and start dating ballerinas”, Robby joked. “At least
I’ll be safe from damage if we argue.”

“Nah, I dated a ballerina once. They have freakishly strong thighs”, said Johnny with a lewd grin.

“Ew, Dad!”

“It was before I met your mother, okay? By the way… she still in Texas?”

“Yes, she’s loving it over there”, Robby sighed, relieved that the topic had steered away from
Johnny and his past conquests. “She sent me a picture where she’s riding a horse and herding
cows.”

“Holy shit. Cows?”

“I know! At first I thought it was photoshopped.”

“Well… who’d had thought she’d end up being a country girl.”

Robby nodded in silence, still with an eye on Rani and her wobbly attempts at skateboarding.
Having a civil conversation with Johnny was still a novelty to him, and he didn’t want to spoil the
moment by saying the wrong thing.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure standing a few feet away from them. It was Kate,
looking mildly worried when she saw how fast Rani was going.

“Hi, Kate”, greeted the boy, standing up. “So, what do you think?”
“Hi, Robby… well, I’m terrified on the inside, but it looks like Rani is having fun. Thank you for
teaching her.”

“Don’t mention it. The kid is a fast learner... not that I’ve ever taught anyone so young to skate
before, but I think she’s doing really well.”

Right in that moment, Rani slipped from the board while taking a turn, and landed on her bottom.
Kate gasped and took a step towards the girl, but Robby reacted faster.

“I'll go, Kate! It’s just a fall, she needs to learn those too. And she’s wearing my knee pads, see?
She’ll be fine.”

Kate sat beside Johnny with a sigh, while Robby ran to the little girl and started giving her tips on
what to do when she felt she was going to take a fall.

“I shouldn't be worried, it’s silly”, she said, putting a hand on Johnny’s knee. “I wasn’t much older
than her when I started playing roller derby in junior high, and we got scratches and bruises every
day… but I can’t help it. Mothers are crazy like that.”

“You're not crazy. Come here”, said Johnny, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad
you’re not at Cobra Kai while I teach, you’d dump me for letting Rani train so hard.”

“Don’t joke about that, of course I wouldn’t! You’re a good teacher, Johnny. All the children in
your dojo know that.”

She leaned on his shoulder, without keeping her eyes off Robby and her daughter. Around them,
the shadows were getting longer, and the sun was about to disappear behind a group of tall trees.

“You know what I’ve just realized?” she asked Johnny. “I’ve been living in the Valley for two
months, and I still haven't seen the sun set in the ocean yet. People say it’s a wonderful view.”

“One day I’m gonna take you and Rani to Sunset Beach. It’s the best place in Southern California
to watch that.”

“Judging by the name, I imagine the evenings there will be spectacular. And you know how much
Rani loves swimming… it may take the two of us to keep her away from the water.”

“I learned how to swim on that beach. With my mother.”

Kate reached for Johnny’s hand. Every time he talked about his mother it was a sad memory, and
she was glad that he at least had some good things to remember her by.

“I’d love to go there with you, Johnny. How about next week?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

“It’s a deal, then. It will be a nice quiet day after all the excitement today.”

“Talking about excitement… what do you make of that thing with Robby and Keiko?” asked
Johnny in a worried tone.

Kate shrugged. “I’m thinking our opinion doesn’t really matter… Especially mine. Robby is a very
single-minded boy, nothing you and I can say is going to make him change his mind.”

Johnny stared at the distance, where a group of boys and girls were starting to pack their things and
say their goodbyes.
“There must be at least a dozen girls here today”, he groaned. “Why did he have to choose Keiko?”

“That’s cute.”

“What?”

“You, thinking Robby was the one who chose her . I noticed Keiko’s face when they met… she
looked like she was going to eat him alive. That was a girl with a purpose, if I ever saw one.”

“Bullshit! They hated each other, we almost had to break up a fight.”

“That’s not what I saw”, she said, amused at Johnny’s lack of sight when it came to the female
psyche. “Times change, Johnny. Girls don’t sit in a corner anymore, waiting for a boy to arrive.”

“Maybe times have changed too fast. Things were much simpler before”, he said, almost pouting.

“Yes, for boys”, Kate retorted, giving Johnny a mock punch. “But if a girl liked a boy, all she
could do was bat her lashes and pray that he would notice her. At least now it’s socially acceptable
for a girl to speak up. Or… to take action, even if I think things are happening a bit too fast
between those two.”

“Too fast? They made out for two minutes and then Robby asked Keiko out. What’s fast about
that? Look, Robby may have done a few silly things last year, but when he was fourteen I gave him
the talk about how to treat a woman. He won’t do anything stupid.”

Kate blinked a few times and pressed her lips together. She really didn’t want to know the details
of the ‘Lawrence Talk’ about women… a talk that she suspected had stayed the same for at least a
century.

“Look, I’m not trying to be Keiko’s mother. And I’m sure Robby is a fantastic boy… I just think
that getting to second base in a dinky shed with a boy she’s just met is not the best idea.”

“What the fuck? Second base?” asked Johnny, suddenly scandalized.

“You know that ‘hand up my shirt’ move that you like so much? Well… it’s hereditary. The boy’s
a Lawrence, through and through.”

“Oh, shit. You said before that they were just making out!”

“I said that because I didn’t want to scare Daniel and Amanda! They were kissing, yes… but
clothes were starting to come off. Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t arrive ten minutes later.”

“How the hell...? They’re kids, for fuck’s sake!”

“What, didn’t you do things with girls when you were Robby’s age?”

Johnny blushed, remembering exactly what kind of things he’d done with girls… or, to be more
precise, with one girl… at the age of sixteen. Suddenly, second base didn’t seem so outrageous
after all.

“Things were different back then. I’m going to talk to Robby and–”

Kate put a hand on his arm. “No, Johnny, you’ll only make him mad at you. What are you going to
do, forbid the Cobra Kai kids from dating outside the dojo?”

“I don’t want things getting out of hand.”

“The only person Robby would listen to right now is Daniel”, she said. She hated to bring that
name into the conversation, but deep down Johnny had to know she was right. “And even if he told
him to get away from Keiko… well, I don’t think Robby would do it. And Keiko will definitely
not do what she’s told, you know how headstrong she is. You run a karate dojo, Johnny, not a
military boot camp; the kids are allowed to have their own lives outside of it.”

Johnny let out a long sigh. “I know. But all this is making stuff more complicated between
LaRusso and us. At least Diaz has met that girl from Krunch… and we have no beef with them.
Shit, this excursion is like a fucking episode of the Love Boat!”

Kate laughed at the old-fashioned reference. “I don’t think the All Valley Committee considered
the consequences of putting sixty hormonal teenagers together for a whole day. It’s good for public
relations, but I predict a few broken hearts in the near future. I wonder how many of the couples
formed today will survive until school starts… but that’s a part of life, I guess.”

At the other end of the skate park, Rani was taking off her knee pads. The skating lesson had come
to an end… and the day was ending, too.

“We should start getting ready to leave”, Kate told Johnny after checking her watch. “It's past
seven, the park closes at seven thirty… and getting all those overexcited kids into the cars is going
to be like herding kittens.” She waved to Robby and Rani, who were already walking towards her.

“So... what do you think of your little skating champion, Kate?” asked Robby with a big smile on
his face.

“Hey, I’m not little”, Rani protested, stomping her foot.

“Yes, you are, kiddo! It doesn’t matter, because you did a great job today… But now I think it’s
time to go home.”

“Did you have fun with Robby, sweetheart?” Kate asked, brushing Rani’s sweaty hair off her
forehead.

“It was great! Can I skate with him again soon?”

Kate threw a questioning glance at Robby. The boy smiled and nodded.

“We can go to the Reseda skate park one day… but you’ll have to wait until Robby has some free
time to come with us, because during the week he has to work.”

Rani stared at her new friend, confused. Work was something grown-ups did, not boys… not even
older boys like Robby.

“Where do you work?” she asked.

“At an auto shop, selling cars”, said the boy. He didn’t mention the place by name; the afternoon
had gone too well to spoil it by bringing up Mr. LaRusso in front of his Dad.

“Good. When I’m sixteen and I learn how to drive, I'll go there and buy a car from you”, said Rani,
very serious. “A blue one.”

Robby crouched in front of her, grinning.

“When you're sixteen, I’ll sell you the coolest blue car in the whole shop. Now, can I get a hug?”
The girl hugged him, said goodbye, and started running towards the picnic area.

“Oh, there she goes, always running… Rani, wait for me!”, said Kate. “Robby, thank you so much
for today. You’ve made a little girl very happy. I hope I’ll see you again soon.”

“It’s okay, Kate. I think I had even more fun than her.”

After a quick hug, Kate sped up after her daughter, and Robby watched them leave with a
melancholic smile.

“I didn’t know little kids were like that”, he told Johnny. “I thought they were all obnoxious little
brats.”

“Many of them are”, observed Johnny. “But that one is special. So, about you coming to Reseda
one day...”

“I think I could do next Sunday”, said the boy. “I’ll text you.”

“Cool. I’ll ask Kate to make dinner so you won’t have to suffer my cooking.”

“Thanks, Dad. Er… I should go too, I’m sure they’re waiting for me.”

Johnny nodded and gave his son a pat on the back. He was still uncomfortable when it came to
saying goodbye to Robby. After the boy left, he took a deep breath and started walking in the same
direction Kate had gone.

Herding kittens would have been an easier job than getting the San Fernando Valley karate students
to leave the park. Everywhere you looked there had been moody teenagers saying tearful goodbyes
to their new friends, sneaking behind a tree to give one last kiss to their new crushes, or looking
around for some very important thing they had misplaced.

In the end, they had been persuaded to leave, but not before Sue from the All Valley Committee
had promised another meeting the following Spring. The announcement was met with a chorus of
very loud cheering from the kids, and with tired smiles from all the adults.

About half an hour later, Kate parked her car in front of the South Seas gate, looked in the rear
mirror, and smiled. On the back seat, Rani had just fallen asleep.

“Rani, sweetheart… we’re home.”

The little girl rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“I had a lot of fun today, Mom”, she said while they got out of the car and up the stairs to their
apartment. “But I’m very tired now.”

“Of course you’re tired! All those games and sports are almost too much for one day. Are you
hungry?”

“No, Robby gave me one of his cheese sandwiches before. I just want to go to bed”, Rani sais, her
words almost slurry from the exhaustion.

“Very good. Go put on your pajamas while I make some hot cocoa, okay? Then we can both go to
sleep.”
She had just put the milk in the microwave, when she heard a familiar rap on the door. Johnny
entered, carrying a pink backpack in one hand.

“Found it”, he said, kissing Kate’s cheek. “It was in my car, no idea how it got there.”

“Oh, good! It’s just Rani’s spare clothes, but it would be a shame if her favorite backpack got
lost… thank you for bringing it. Did you take the kids home?”

“All of them”, he said with a tired grimace. “It was almost like driving a school bus… but I’m glad
I had an excuse to come here and give my girl a proper goodnight kiss.”

Johnny put his arms around Kate and lingered there, smelling her hair while she rested her head on
his chest with a sigh. Suddenly, the sound of an opening door made him flinch; he had forgotten
that their relationship wasn’t a secret to Rani anymore.

“Hi Sensei!” said the girl. “Hey, you found my backpack!”

“Be more careful with where you leave it next time, okay? You never leave your things lying
around at the dojo. It should be the same at home.”

“Yes, Sensei”, she nodded, stifling another yawn.

“Rani, time to drink your cocoa and go to sleep, please; it’s getting late”, Kate said, handing her
daughter a steaming mug. Then she served two more and offered one to Johnny.

“Thanks”, he said, sitting on the couch and taking a sip of the hot, sweet drink.

He saw Kate disappear with Rani down the corridor, and a moment later he heard her voice,
speaking on soft and measured tones. Probably reading the little one a story, he thought. Normal
people did that. Parents read stories to their kids, like Laura had done when he’d been too young to
read, or even to understand the story. That had been before Sid came into the picture... before
Johnny’s world had turned into an ugly place.

“Penny for your thoughts, mister.”

Johnny opened his eyes to find Kate in front of him. She grabbed the spare cup of cocoa and sat
beside Johnny on the couch.

“You wouldn’t like my thoughts”, he deflected. “And they’re not even worth a penny. Is Rattler
asleep?”

“Out like a candle. I didn’t even have time to read a whole page… and that's a good thing, or I
would have fallen asleep before her.”

“I should leave and let you rest. It’s been a long day for everybody.”

“No, stay a minute, please”, Kate whispered. “We didn’t have time to be alone today.”

He reached for her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers.

“Hey, that thing with Robby and the skating lessons… that was your idea, right?”

“Actually, that one came from Rani”, she answered. “All I did was ask Robby to talk to you for a
few minutes. How did that go, by the way?”

“Better than I expected. And he’s coming to Reseda next weekend… You’re a genius, babe.”
“I have my moments”, she said, stifling a yawn.

Johnny left his empty cup on the table and stood up.

“That’s my cue to leave. Thank you for the cocoa… and for today. I can’t believe I was such an
idiot that I didn’t want Cobra Kai to go to the park.”

“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t as terrible as you feared. And Cobra Kai made a great impression on
everybody… before we left, Sue told me that the Committee was really happy with how everything
turned out today; you are responsible for a big part of that.”

“I told you I’d behave”, he said with a childish grin.

Kate accompanied him to the door and put her arms around his neck.

“Johnny… I’d love to ask you to stay, but…” she said in a hesitant tone.

He put a finger to Kate’s lips. “But if I stay the night Rattler is going to start asking questions.”

“Yes. Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s fine, Kate… your kid comes first”, he said with a sad smile. “You just
told her about us, and I don’t want to freak her out. There will be other nights.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. She’s going to stay at Kevin’s next Saturday, when we go to
your school reunion… so that night we’ll have the whole apartment to ourselves.”

“Mmm… sounds tempting.”

“That’s the idea. I want to have all the fun I never had at my senior prom, so you better get ready.”

“Oh, I’ll give you fun , roller girl. You can be sure of it.”

Johnny’s hands slid from Kate's waist to her hips, and he kissed her before she could say anything
else. She leaned into the kiss, grabbing Johnny's shoulders and pressing her body against him.
There were no interruptions this time… but Johnny knew that, if he let things escalate, he wouldn’t
have the willpower to stop. With a heavy sigh he detached himself from her.

“Goodnight, genius.”

“Goodnight, Johnny”, she said, pressing one last kiss to his lips before closing the door.

On the way to his car, Johnny started whistling a tune. If the day at the park was how normal
people lived, he definitely wanted that. It was weird, he never thought he’d find himself wishing
for a boring suburban life where people went to the park on weekends, made barbecues, and played
sports with their kids. Maybe three weeks was too soon to start making plans… especially because
he didn't want to scare Kate away. But he had a clear idea of what he wanted now. He could both
live in the present and wish for a future.

And, above all… he could wish that the past would stay away forever.
 Sandcastles
Chapter Summary

Johnny and Kate go to Sunset Beach with some extra company. Robby has a brilliant
idea for his first date with Keiko... but Los Angeles is smaller than it looks, and he
runs into an interesting scene.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 31. SANDCASTLES

In the early 1940s, a physician from Florida named Benjamin Green invented the first effective
sunblock, to protect the GIs in the South Pacific from sunburn during WWII. It was called ‘Red
Vet Pet’ because it was a red toned petroleum jelly. He later improved on this formula, and the
new scented cream became known as Coppertone. In 1944, Coppertone suntan cream was the first
commercially mass-produced sunscreen in the United States.

Johnny Lawrence didn’t know any of that. And, if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared. Back in
the eighties, when Coppertone was America’s brand of choice, he only wore sunscreen when Ali
told him to, and she had to put it on him (that was the only nice thing about the stuff). Even the
classic jasmine scent of the lotion felt cloying and girly to him. Besides, he’d always thought that
the beach was for swimming, surfing, playing games… and, if the occasion arose, make out with a
hot babe. Not for laying there in the sun doing nothing, like a piece of meat on a barbecue.

Oh, how things change.

Fast forward to the present day, he was sitting on a towel in Sunset Beach, shielding his eyes from
the light and trying not to move while Kate rubbed sunblock on his back. No matter how many
times he told her that it was probably too late for him to avoid sun damage, she still insisted.

“Sun damage accumulates, Johnny”, she said. “Everybody is careless when they’re young; you
should have seen me in the nineties, toasting by the pool covered in SPF 4 tanning oil… but you
know better than that now. Besides, if the children see you without sunscreen they won’t want to
put it on either.”

The children. Plural, because Kate’s brother and his family were also there. Rattler had told her
uncle on the phone a couple of days before, and they had kind of invited themselves. Meeting
Hugh and Lola had been an awkward moment for Johnny… but it turned out that Hugh was a cool
guy. He worked designing aeroplanes, which in Johnny’s eyes was kinda badass; and he liked Iron
Eagle, so at least they had some conversation topics at hand to pass the day.

Kate finished applying the lotion to Johnny’s shoulders, and closed the bottle with a flourish.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

He shook his head and smiled.

“Nah, it’s fine. But now you’re gonna tell me I can’t go into the water yet.”
“I’m going to tell you the same thing I said to Rani and Joel: just wait thirty minutes and then you
can swim all you want”, she said, pointing to the little girl and her cousin, who were busy building
a castle. Beside them, helping them carry sand and water, was none other than Oliver: once the
afternoon at the beach had become a sort of family gathering, Kevin and Oliver had volunteered to
go as moral support, thinking that Johnny could be overwhelmed by the thought of spending the
day with the Williamses. Of course, Oliver was only useful at entertaining the kids, because his
favorite topics were fashion, cuisine, and a certain TV show about drag queens… and none of those
fell under Johnny’s area of expertise. But at least Kevin and Johnny were friends, and Kevin could
talk sports like the best of them.

“So… Johnny, Kate told us that you’re going to your high school reunion this weekend”, said Lola,
who was trying to keep her younger son under the shadow of the umbrella; it was almost Jaime’s
nap time, and he was fussing a little. “I can never go to mine because I went to school in Miami…
too far away. You must be really excited to see your old friends!”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen some of them in ages. Jimmy since his wedding… that’s more than twenty
years ago. And I’ve lost count of the last time I’ve seen Dutch. It’s going to be fun.”

“Don’t forget to take pictures”, continued Kate’s brother. “The last time my sister went to a party
they were still playing the Macarena, so we’re going to need actual proof that she has a social life
again.”

“Hugh, stop!” said Kate, throwing a handful of sand at him. “That’s a filthy lie and you know it. I
went to a party in San Francisco four months ago, with the people from my office.”

“It was your going away party! It would have been weird if the person going away didn’t show up.
Besides, what fun is to be had at a party full of lawyers?”

Now it was Kevin’s turn to throw sand and look offended.

“Watch that mouth, Hugh… you’re outnumbered by lawyers today. And, in any case, it will
always be better than a party full of aeronautical engineers”, he laughed. “And now, little
munchkins, who wants to come for a swim?”

Immediately, Rani and Joel jumped to their feet with a hopeful look in their eyes.

“Mom, can I swim now?” asked the little girl.

“Yes, but don’t wander away from Uncle Kevin, do you hear me? Remember that the sea is not a
pool, the currents can take you away from the shore if you’re not careful.”

The girl nodded, grabbed her cousin’s hand and started running towards the sea, followed by
Oliver and Kevin.

“Joel, ten cuidado y no te alejes de tu prima!” Lola exclaimed.

“Sí, Mamá!” said the little boy as his feet splashed in the water.

Johnny looked at Lola and frowned.

“What did you say to the kid? The only word I caught was ‘careful’.”

“Oh, I just reminded him to take care and stay close to his cousin”, she answered, keeping an eye
on little Jaime, who had finally fallen asleep. “You know, Kate speaks some Spanish… she can
teach you.”
“I’m useless at languages”, he said in a self-deprecating tone. “Once, when I was in high school,
our French teacher threw a book at my head, because I couldn’t pronounce anything right; not one
single word. It was the only class I almost failed.”

“That’s hard to believe”, said Kate with a laugh. “How can you live in Southern California and
speak absolutely zero Spanish? You’re surrounded by it!”

“Hey, they didn’t teach Spanish at school in my time, only French. But you can give me a few
lessons, if you want…”

“I’ll think about it. Maybe if I team up with Miguel's grandmother we’ll be able to get some basic
words in your vocabulary.”

“I warn you, I have a very thick head.”

“That had to be an advantage when your teacher hit you with that book.”

“I blocked it”, Johnny said with a smug smile. “I may not be good at languages, but karate is my
thing, remember?”

Everybody laughed, and then Hugh went to sit beside Johnny.

“Hey, man, I wanted to ask you… How old does Joel have to be to start at karate? Do you have a
class for little kids?”

“Hugh, you can’t be serious!”, said his wife. “He’s not even five years old.”

“Of course I am! Five is the perfect age to be starting at sports. It will be good for his development,
and we won’t have to worry because we know his teacher… sorry, his sensei.”

“Eh… I don’t have a kiddies class yet; I’ve had a few parents asking about that lately”, Johnny
answered. “Once school starts at the end of the month I’ll try to start a beginner’s class… but I’m
not sure if I’ll be able to teach your boy. I’ve never taught small kids, only teenagers. Except for
Rattler, of course, but she’s badass enough to train with the older kids.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine; I’ve seen you talk to Rani, you’re better with children than you think”, said
Hugh, shaking Johnny’s hand. “It’s a deal.”

Lola and Kate exchanged a concerned glance.

“Hugh, mi amor… if Joel starts doing karate, you are explaining it to your mother. And letting her
know that it was your idea and not mine”, said Lola.

“Of course I will. In fact, I’ll tell them in person next month.”

Kate, who was busy getting some watermelon slices from the cooler, stared questioningly at her
brother.

“Are you guys going to Seattle in September? Doesn’t Joel have school?”

“Actually… no. I spoke to Mom yesterday, they’re coming here. It’s not one hundred per cent sure
yet, but they’re planning to spend a few weeks in Los Angeles.”

Kate handed Johnny a slice of watermelon and took a small bite of hers. Her smile had practically
disappeared from her face.
“But… Weeks? Here? Mom and Dad hate California!”

“Yes, but they finally figured out that neither of us is moving back to Washington anytime soon,
and that with their children’s work schedule it’s impossible to get the whole family together in
Seattle, except at Christmas time. Lola and I didn’t even make it to Thanksgiving last year,
remember? Because I had that deadline on the Hurricane Hunter project”, Hugh explained.

Kate’s frown deepened, and Johnny wondered what could be wrong.

“Please tell me they’re staying at your house.”

“Or at yours, sister dear. What’s the difference?”

“Your place is bigger than mine… and your neighborhood is nicer. They’ll be more comfortable
there than in Reseda.”

“Don’t you have a perfectly good guest room at your apartment?”

“Yes, but I haven’t had the time to decorate it yet, it’s just a bed and a chair”, she stated. “Look,
they can stay with me the next time they come down here… in five or six years.”

Hugh let out a hearty laugh.

“Confess that you left the room like that on purpose so they can’t stay at your place and criticize
every aspect of your life.”

“I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing”, said Kate with a conspiratory smile. “But you know you’re
Mom’s favorite, Hugh, and she’s the one calling the shots. I don’t buy that they’re coming to Los
Angeles just to enjoy the weather and the traffic jams, there has to be something more.”

Her brother made a pause, and then looked at Kate sheepishly.

“Well… Mom was very interested when I told her about Johnny the other day.”

Kate coughed, half choking on a piece of watermelon, and Johnny had to pat her on the back
several times until she came by.

“You did what?” she croaked.

“She asked me a direct question… I can’t lie to Mom!”

“Don’t you remember your high school years, brother dear? You used to keep things from her all
the time… And always I covered for you. Why can’t you keep doing it?”

“Katey, calm down”, he said, putting a hand on his sister’s arm. “I only told her that you were
seeing someone, no details.”

“Oh, wonderful”, she groaned. “Now I’m going to have to call her and be subjected to the third
degree.”

“You’ll be fine!” intervened Lola. “And you’re right about the space, your parents should stay with
us. I work from home, so it will be easier for everyone.”

“Lola, you’re an angel. Can you be my sister instead of Hugh?” Kate pleaded, pointing at her
brother. “I don’t like him very much right now.”
“Well then, maybe I’ll become Johnny’s brother instead of yours”, Hugh quipped. “We even like
the same movies.”

“If you’re talking about Top Gun and Iron Eagle, I had a hunch you two would have similar tastes.
And I’m glad Johnny has someone to watch them with… again. And again.”

“Hey, I only made you watch Iron Eagle twice”, said Johnny, defending himself. “And the second
time was revenge for that dumb English Christmas movie you told me I had to see.”

Kate shook her head, laughing, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“You poor man. It must be so hard, being the only person on the planet who doesn’t like Love
Actually.”

A couple of hours later, the afternoon was coming to an end. Even the children were tired of
swimming, and Oliver was teaching them how to make friendship bracelets. Johnny, seeing an
opportunity, suggested that he and Kate take a stroll along the shore; it wasn’t the same as being
completely alone, but it was nice to have a moment for themselves, enjoying the cool breeze with
the water splashing at their feet.

“So… what do you say, babe? Is that the best sunset you’ve ever seen, or what?”

“You were right about this beach”, she answered, reaching for his hand. “It’s amazing. You said
you came here with your mother all the time, right?”

Johnny let out a sigh… but he was smiling.

“My best memories of her are from here. It was different back then… the beach bar didn’t exist,
nor the houses over there. My mother drove an old Chevy that made all sorts of weird noises, as if
it was going to fall apart in the middle of the road… but I loved those trips to the beach.”

“I’m glad you have those good memories of her”, she said softly. “Oh, and I just had an idea about
that little kids class that you were planning.”

“Kate, I still don’t know if that’ll happen. What do I know about teaching preschoolers?”

“Hear me out, please. What if you made Aisha or Keiko… or both of them, your assistants for that
group? Aisha is the sweetest and more patient of all your students; and the other day at the lake I
heard Keiko say that she has a lot of young cousins, so she’s used to being around children. I’m
sure they will appreciate the responsibility… you will only have to take care of the technical
aspects of the class, and they’ll deal with the tears, the temper tantrums and all those things. How
does that sound?”

“Interesting. I’ll think of it.”

“That’s all I ask”, she said with a smile. “Hey, maybe we should go back… it will be getting dark
soon.”

“Wait until the sun sets in the ocean, that was the part I wanted you to see”, said Johnny, taking off
his sunglasses and putting them on Kate. “We’ll come here alone next time… and I’ll show you
what people do on the beach at night.”

“That doesn’t sound very practical”, she said, while her cheeks turned a shade of pink. “Doesn’t
sand get… well, everywhere?”

“Yeah. Everywhere . That’s why you have to go for a swim after”, Johnny answered with a wink,
while Kate lowered her eyes. He knew she wasn’t a prude, but he still got a certain satisfaction
from making her blush. “You’ve never gone swimming in the moonlight?”

“Swimming at night in Seattle is an extreme sport: the water is chilly all year round. That’s one of
the reasons I went South, I hate the cold.”

“Good. I don’t know what I’d do if you hadn’t moved here”, he whispered close to her ear.

Kate’s blush intensified. It wasn’t like Johnny to be so open about his feelings… while at the same
time not really saying what he felt. She didn’t want to force a situation, or to scare him away
talking about things that would make him uncomfortable. But she hadn’t really considered that
maybe Johnny would be the one to raise the issue first.

She leaned on him while he embraced her from behind, both of them facing the vanishing sun. It
was an impressive spectacle, with the golden rays setting the sky on fire and reflecting rivers of
gold all over the water.

However, Johnny wasn’t really looking at the sunset. He kept his eyes closed, focusing on the
woman in his arms, on her soft skin and the coconut scent of her hair. He also wondered if he
should keep talking about… feelings, and stuff. He had only said ‘the three words’ to two girls in
his whole life, and both relationships had ended badly; he wasn’t going to make that mistake again,
jinxing everything by speaking too soon; not unless he knew they were both on the same page. But
the words were there, on his mind, teasing him. Daring him to say them.

He wondered what Laura would have thought about Kate. She probably would have told him to
confess what he felt… like she’d done when he went to her for advice about Ali, at the start of his
sophomore year. It had gone well that time: they had only been dating for two weeks when he’d
blurted out his feelings (almost dying of embarrassment in the process); fortunately for him, Ali
had thought it was adorable.

But he wasn’t fifteen anymore. And his mother couldn’t help him now.

After watching the sun sink in the horizon, they made their way back to the group. The tide was
going up, and the waves were starting to lap at Rani’s castle.

“For the last time, Mom… I only talked to her for ten minutes. I don’t know!”

Robby tried to keep one eye on the road and the other one on the car’s GPS, while maintaining a
conversation with his mother. That last part was actually the hardest.

“Yes, she’s a real lawyer. No, I don’t know how old… Yes, brunette. Yes, she’s pretty. Not prettier
than you, she’s just… different. No, I didn’t take a picture! What did you want me to say? Hey
Kate, my Mom wants to know what you look like so she can read you for filth? ”

On the other end of the line, Shannon’s stream of words went on.

“Of course Mr. LaRusso is treating me well, don’t worry. Look, Mom… can I call you tomorrow?
I’m driving. Yes, I love you too. Have fun in Texas. Bye.”

After pressing the ‘end call’ button, Robby let out a loud groan. He was on his way to a date with
Keiko, navigating through the meandering streets of Encino… and of course that had to be the
moment Shannon chose to call and interrogate him about his Dad’s new girlfriend. He hoped Kate
would never find out about some of the adjectives his Mom had just used.

He finally got to the right street and parked in front of the Yashidas’ extravagant mansion. It didn’t
even look like a house, more like a collection of artistically piled up shoeboxes, and Robby
couldn’t even start to imagine how much it would cost to buy a place like that one. He suddenly
felt insecure: It had been one thing to meet Keiko at the park, where everyone was on equal
ground. But now he’d seen her neighborhood, dating an Encino Hills girl was starting to sound like
a not so good idea. He imagined meeting her parents and his stomach turned; then, he pictured the
reverse scenario, Keiko meeting Shannon… and he got so nauseous that he had to get out of the car
to breathe.

The sensible thing would be to break up with her… Or rile her up so she broke up with him; he’d
done that a couple of times with other girls. But this time he didn’t want to… he was in it too deep.

Robby covered his face with his hands and moaned. It was silly, it was exactly like the first time
he’d fallen for a girl at the age of fourteen. Or course he had liked Sam a few months before, Sam
was… well, everything he could never have and everything he could never be. Samantha was like
the moon, distant and beautiful, perfect and unattainable. And then Keiko appeared, and Sam’s
image in his mind was obscured… like the moon when the sun comes out.

What was the name of that goddess…? Robby frowned, trying to remember the words of his
Religious Studies teacher at North Hills High. He had chosen that particular class because it was
easy to pass, but of course he had paid zero attention to it.

A quick Google search gave him the answer: Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and the universe. It
seemed like a fitting comparison with Keiko, all happy and sunny (and bossy, too, although he
couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing); she didn’t give a fuck about appearances and
stuff… even when he was from a rival dojo, and not Asian, and poor as a rat.

After looking at the time on his phone once more, and checking that his shirt didn’t look wrinkled,
he climbed the front steps of the Yashidas’ house and rang the bell. Keiko must have been waiting
for him, because she opened the door in a second. She was wearing a yellow sundress, a nice
change from the jeans and Cobra Kai t-shirt of the day they’d met… he didn’t care much about
clothes and stuff, but it was nice to think she had dolled up to see him . The butterflies in his
stomach -and in other places- fluttered harder, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. This
wasn’t some trailer trash girl from North Hills, and he didn’t want to screw things up. At least, not
so soon… There would be enough time for that when he met her parents.

He didn’t even have time to say hi before Keiko threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Robby stiffened up. “Keiko… your parents?”

“They’re not here”, she answered. “Medical convention, remember? They’ll be out of town all
week. And Shiro is watching old Japanese movies in the media room, so don’t worry about him
either. Where are we going?”

“You guys have a media room? Like… like a movie theater at home?”

“It was in the house when we moved in”, she shrugged. “But going to the movies is more fun than
watching them here.”

“I’m glad you said that, because we’re going to the Electric Dusk drive-in. To see Ghostbusters.”
“The old one? No way! I’ve been wanting to watch it for ages”, she said, taking Robby’s hand and
closing the door as they went out.

“Yeah, sometimes I’ve got good ideas”, Robby said, relieved that Keiko liked his choice of film.

“Nice car”, observed Keiko, looking at the sleek Audi convertible. “Where did you steal it?”

“Very funny, Spike”, he retorted. “It’s from the dealership, Mr. LaRusso let me borrow it for
today. I can’t get one scratch on it, or I’m toast.”

The drive to Electric Dusk took about half an hour, during which Robby and Keiko went over their
tastes in music, food, movies, and books… any topic but karate, which both of them tried to avoid;
Robby was surprised to discover that he was more literature adept than Keiko, and even more
surprised to learn that she shared his deep hatred for white chocolate. It was a relief to him that,
despite their differences, at least they had a few things in common.

Once they got to their parking spot, Keiko stayed in the car while Robby went to the concession
stand to get some food. The movie wouldn’t start for another twenty minutes or so, and the place
was still half empty. He bought sodas and a couple of burgers, and then made his way back to the
car… but halfway there he bumped into something unexpected.

Or, rather, someone.

Behind a line of cars, in one of the empty drive-in spaces, there was a group of boys and girls
sharing a pack of beers. Robby knew the type well: all the boys wore Chinos slacks and Tommy
Hilfiger polo shirts, and the girls spoke in affected Valley Girl voices, giggling way louder than
any normal pair of ears could stand. He had seen plenty of those rich kids in his former hunting
grounds, when Trey and Cruz had taken him under their wing; privileged people always felt safe
behind their money, so of course they were an easy source of expensive watches and cell phones.

But there was an anomaly in the middle of the group, someone Robby wasn’t expecting to see
again so soon. None other than Miguel Diaz, with a beer in one hand and that Krunch girl hanging
from his other arm. And looking like a fish out of water.

“So… Miguel, we’ve been discussing something all day and we need another opinion”, said the
tallest of the preppy boys, one who wore a pink shirt and way too much hairspray. “I think we
should all go to Vail next Winter, but Poppy and the girls say they’d rather go to Aspen.”

“Oh, come on, Collins!” whined the blonde next to him, that Robby assumed to be ‘Poppy’.
“Everybody knows Vail is completely out ! It was fine in, like, the nineties. Daddy says everybody
who’s somebody skis in Aspen.”

“Everybody who’s somebody skis in Switzerland”, interrupted another girl, speaking with so much
vocal fry that Robby had trouble understanding her words. “But my parents won’t let me go there
until I graduate. They practically have me on house arrest this year!”

“Aspen is totally cool, Tom Cruise has a house there”, said Poppy.

“Ew, you like old dudes now?”

“My Mom is the one who likes him, silly!”

“Your Mom is so fake that Barbie’s jealous, girl.”

“Anyway”, continued Collins, interrupting the bickering. “If we all talk to our parents and organize
it well, we could make a cool ski trip for New Year’s. But the question remains: Aspen or Vail?
Miguel, did you go skiing last year?”

Several pairs of eyes looked at the Latin boy waiting for an answer… and Robby hid behind a car,
trying not to laugh. There was no way he’d leave now, he needed to see how the scene ended.

Miguel’s face went red as a beet, and he stammered trying to think of something intelligent to say.

“Ah… well, it depends on what each person likes, of course… and then there’s the weather…”

“Collins, you know perfectly well that Miggy spent the whole last year concentrating in his karate
so he could win the tournament”, interrupted the Krunch girl, sliding her arm around Miguel’s
waist. “He didn’t have time for ski trips! Although he and I were talking about it the other day, and
we both agree with Poppy: Aspen is the place to be. End of discussion.”

“Oh, right, you’re into martial arts!” squealed the blond-haired Poppy. “My Mom and Dad were at
the All Valley last May, and they say you were ah-mah-zing!”

He barely had time to mumble an embarrassed ‘thank you’, before another of the boys spoke to
him.

“So, where do you go to school? Maria didn’t tell us.”

That was an easier question; Miguel tilted his chin up and looked at the boy in the eye, wondering
if Maria’s friends would like the answer.

“West Valley High.”

“No way, man, me too!” was the unexpected reaction. “I’m transferring from Woodland Hills for
senior year. It’s the best private school around here, a one way ticket to Harvard. But there was that
scandal with a teacher last semester, and my parents don’t want me to go there anymore, so… I
guess I’ll mingle with the uncultured masses this year. I was freaking out because school starts in
two weeks, but at least I’ll have a friend there now, that’s cool.”

“Ah… yeah, totally cool”, muttered Miguel, relieved. “Hey, the movie is about to start, so… Maria
and I are going to get some popcorn. See you guys later, okay?”

He grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and walked towards the popcorn stand, trying to make it look like
he wasn’t running away from more possibly uncomfortable questions about things he knew
nothing about.

After they’d left, Robby emerged from his hiding place with a crooked smile on his face. He didn’t
envy Miguel; the poor idiot hadn’t realized that it would take more than bragging about karate to
fit in with the Encino Hills elite, with their conversations about lacrosse, skiing, and vacations in
foreign places. Robby felt relieved that Keiko’s friends were the Cobra Kai students, and not a
flock of scatterbrained Valley kids. He knew how to manage the Cobra Kai (mostly by staying
away from them, but that was another story).

Laughing to himself once more he went back to the car, sat beside Keiko, and waited for the movie
to start.

He almost felt sorry for the Diaz twerp. Not quite, but… yeah. Almost.
Chapter End Notes

Sorry if this chapter was a bit too mushy, we all know that sometimes the Lawrence
boys feel things too deeply.

Next chapter will be Johnny's high school reunion, so... get ready to see the OG Cobra
boys!
 Yesteryear
Chapter Summary

Johnny and Kate go to his high school reunion at West Valley High, where she meets
the original Cobra boys... But there's one particular person she doesn't want to meet.

Chapter Notes

Reunion time! I know some of you have been expecting this for a while, so I hope the
backstory I've created for the Cobra boys is not too disappointing. I had already
decided about their past before Season 2 came out, so their lives are different from
what we saw in the series... although there are one or two interesting coincidences.
Many thanks to The Empress for helping me with the backstory of the original Cobras,
and to DreamBeyondTheFantasy for suggesting a new face claim for Barbara;
unfortunately I couldn't find any current pictures of Dana Andersen, so I had to recast
the part with Helen Slater.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CHAPTER 32. YESTERYEAR

WELCOME BACK, CLASS OF 1985!!!!

Johnny raised his eyes to the enthusiastic banner, exclamation points included, that hung over the
door of the high school gym. It was bright and garish, matching the multicolor balloons and the
rest of the decorations… but that was what people expected at school reunions, right? They hired a
drunk clown to decorate the place, put on some nostalgic music and called it a day.

The music wasn’t actually that bad; Johnny crossed the threshold to the sound of “Johnny B.
Goode” (the Marty McFly version), and he couldn’t help feeling like the DJ was welcoming him in
person. Beside him, Kate looked around the unfamiliar place with curiosity.

“I didn’t know your school was so big”, she observed. “Everything looks amazing… and you’re
the most handsome man in the room, Mister Class of 1985.”

Johnny checked himself in one of the gym mirrors and smirked. He was wearing what he
considered his good luck suit, the same one he’d worn to the Zarkarian trial, and to his first date
with Kate. She, on her part, had a new dress on… or, at least, one that Johnny hadn’t seen before,
of the ‘sexy but classy’ variety. The made a gorgeous couple, and Johnny looked around trying to
see if everybody else looked as good as them.
That was the only depressing thing about reunions: some of the nicest kids in town of the eighties
had taken a turn for the worse in 2018. Johnny saw a lot of bald heads, wrinkled faces, ill-fitting
clothes, and other signs that time hadn’t been too kind to some people.

He also kept an eye out for LaRusso. Despite the truce they had signed at Lake Balboa, the old
mistrust still lived on… and, if his old enemy was going to badmouth him in front of the whole
party, he wanted to be ready.

“Looking for someone?” asked Kate, suspicious.

“Yeah… your friend Amanda and her twerp of a husband. Good thing the school is big, I don’t
want to see him tonight.”

“Well, I was looking forward to having a chat with Amanda, but… don’t worry, I won’t make you
socialize with them. It’s your party, and my goal for the night is that you have fun.”

“You’re amazing”, he said, giving her a quick kiss and trying not to mess up her lipstick. “Hey,
look who’s over there!”

“Are those your friends?”

“Yeah, the OG Cobras”, he said with a bright smile. “I can’t believe they’re all here… Or maybe
not all of them, I can’t see Dutch. Come, I want you to meet them.”

On the other side of the room, there was one of the old Cobra boys who was especially happy to be
there. He hadn’t been the most popular boy in high school, nor the brightest, not even the best at
karate. He was content to trail behind the others and be almost invisible during those four years.
Now he had a wonderful wife, two children, a brilliant career… and he had kept his looks more
than other people. That was earning him some appreciative glances from his former lady
classmates (although he was sure most of them didn’t even recognize him), and also some pointed
remarks from his old friends.

“Hey, Jimmy… why was Paula Prescott smiling and winking at you just now?” asked Tommy,
already with a beer in his hand.

“Maybe because I look better than you?”

“Yeah, right… you’re lucky the lights are low and she can’t see your ugly face.”

“You are lucky that the lights aren’t stronger, or the reflection on your bald head would make
everybody go blind”, Jimmy remarked with a laugh. Then he looked lovingly at his wife and kept
reading the room; always the quiet one, always the observer… that’s why he was the first of the
gang to see his old friend.

“Hey, guys… Johnny’s here”, he said, making all the others turn towards the entrance. “With a
woman.”

“Yeah, he called me last week”, said Bobby, trying to spot him in the crowd. “Said he was
bringing his girlfriend, but he wouldn’t tell me anything about her.”

Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Fingers crossed that she’s not like the last one we met. The one he brought to Barb’s birthday
party five years ago, remember?”

“The exotic dancer?” said Barbara with a grimace. “Oh, how I wish I could forget her.”

“Well, she ended up cheating on Johnny and stealing from him before she dumped him, so I hope
he’s learned his lesson”, Bobby added in a worried tone.

“I don’t think this one is like that… at least, not at first sight”, Jimmy observed. “Oh, they’ve seen
us. She looks very… normal?”

“Honey, I can’t believe you’re badmouthing your friend like that”, said Jimmy’s wife with a
conciliatory smile. “I haven’t seen Johnny in more than twenty years, but he was a very nice boy
back then. And I don’t know anything about his new girlfriend… but I can tell you that dress didn’t
come from the sales rack of some mall.”

“Dawn, dear, you’re onto something”, said Barbara, with her inquisitive eyes fixed on Kate. “What
do you think, Versace?”

“Or Furstenberg. Either way, it’s expensive.”

The three Cobra Kai boys looked at each other, wondering how the conversation had derailed to a
game of ‘guess the designer’. But, before they could ask what did it matter if the dress was from
Versace or from that other guy, Johnny and Kate finally approached the group.

“Hey, guys… did you miss me, or what?”

The answer came in the shape of a group hug… followed by a general exchange of pats on the back
and affectionate insults, of course.

Barbara gave Kate a kind smile.

“Don’t mind the boys, they’re traveling back in time to the eighties for a moment. I’m Barbara
Brown… and this is Dawn, Jimmy’s wife. How are you?”

“Kate Williams, nice to meet you both”, Kate answered, feeling a bit shy. “You went here too,
right, Barbara? Johnny mentioned you a few times.”

“Oh, yes! I had to sit next to these four idiots… five if you count Dutch… for several years of high
school. It’s a miracle that I survived”, she laughed. “Johnny, please, stop ignoring your poor
girlfriend and let the boys meet her.”

Johnny stepped next to Kate and put his arm around her waist.

“So… guys, this is Kate. Kate, this is Bobby, my best friend from high school… and that one
gawking at the ladies on the dance floor is Tommy. Hey, dude! Ground control to Major Tom!”

“I knew you’d make that stupid joke sooner or later, Johnny”, said the other man. “Sorry, I thought
I had seen Susan over there, but it wasn’t her. Tommy Katz at your service, Kate… and yes, before
you ask, I am really a Major Tom. Air Force.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you”, said Kate, shaking his hand. “I feel like I know all of you already;
Johnny has told me so many things… and there’s a picture of the five of you at the dojo, you
haven’t changed that much since then.”

“That’s a very kind lie… I wish I hadn’t changed that much in the hair department”, said Tommy
with a wink. “And I’m sure my buddy Bobby thinks the same.”

“I happen to find bald men really attractive, Tommy… leave my husband alone”, said Barbara in a
mock threatening tone.

“Whatever you say, Barb… But I know you only said yes when he asked you out on senior year
because you liked his hair.”

“It was the eighties”, Barbara said. “All of you had prettier hair than any girl.”

“Is there really a picture of us at Cobra Kai?” Jimmy asked Kate. “What does it look like?”

“Yes, Johnny has it in his office. It must be at a tournament, because you guys are all in black”,
Kate answered. “Judging by the picture, I’m guessing you must be Jimmy, right?”

“Jimmy Vanderbilt. And I think you’ve met my wife Dawn.”

Kate shook his hand and blinked a couple of times, surprised by the unexpected surname.

“You’re a Vanderbilt? Like Anderson Cooper?”

“Well… when he visits, we call him Cousin Andy.”

“Of course! Sorry, I was a little starstruck for a moment.”

“It’s okay, in my family we’re used to Anderson getting all the attention”, said Jimmy with a bright
smile.

“I thought the natural territory of the Vanderbilts was New York.”

“It was, but my parents moved to the Valley when I was a baby, because of my father’s job… and
once you get to California, it’s not that easy to leave. I’m sure you know that.”

“Where are you from, Kate?” asked Dawn, curious like all the others about Johnny’s girlfriend.

“Seattle, originally. Then I lived in San Francisco for several years… and I moved to the Valley a
few months ago, for a job opportunity.”

“Really? I’m from San Francisco”, said Dawn with a fond smile. “It’s a wonderful city, sometimes
I miss it so much… especially the theatres. So, what is it you do?”

“I’m a lawyer. With Powell and Morgan, maybe you’ve heard of the firm.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“I have. This is good, a fellow lawyer in the room!”

“Jimmy is a Deputy Defense Attorney of the Los Angeles County”, Dawn explained. “Maybe
you’ve seen each other in court.”

“I doubt it… I’m mostly in Civil Law. But you must have met one or two of my colleagues from
Criminal, Jimmy.”

“Sure I did! Just last week I lost a case against a Powell and Morgan guy. Your colleagues are
ruthless, dear Kate.”
“We strive for excellence. But… wait a minute, I’m just remembering something”, she realized.
“DDA Vanderbilt, of course! Aren’t you running for District Attorney in 2020? There are some
rumors about that.”

Jimmy actually blushed a little.

“I can’t confirm anything yet… I haven’t even started campaigning. But maybe you’ll keep
hearing those rumors, stay tuned.”

“See? I told you you’d like my friends, babe, you’re already talking legal stuff with them”, Johnny
intervened. “Here, I got you a glass of punch. Better drink it now before someone spikes it.”

“Good idea, I’m the designated driver tonight. Do young people still spike the punch at school
parties? I thought that was a thing of the past.”

“Well, this party is a thing of the past. Here at West Valley it was usually Dutch the one who
brought a flask of bourbon and made things interesting”, said Bobby.

“Or Susan”, added Barbara. “She could drink all of you boys under the table! I remember one time,
there was a party at Ali’s house and someone had the idea of a drinking game…”

An alarmed look from Bobby made his wife interrupt herself, and she pretended to take a sip of her
punch. Ali had been a taboo subject for years in Johnny’s presence, and none of his friends wanted
to ruin the mood.

“Nevermind, it wasn’t a very good story”, she said, trying to think of another topic. “So… how did
you and Johnny meet, Kate?”

“We met at Cobra Kai, my daughter is one of Johnny’s students.”

A few eyebrows went up, but Bobby was the first to react.

“About time someone thought of allowing girls into Cobra Kai! Well done, Johnny.”

“Good thing they weren’t around back then… I have one or two in my class who could have
kicked all our asses back in the eighties.”

“Don’t I know it… two of our three daughters are soccer players, and the other is a high school
sports coach”, answered Bobby with a proud smile. “It’s not a boys’ world out there anymore.”

“That’s really impressive”, said Kate. “Your family must be very dedicated to sports.”

“Well, they got it from me. After I quit karate in high school I decided to concentrate on other
things: I played soccer for a few years, first at college and then professionally; when I got too old
for playing I started coaching, and… here I am.”

“Bobby has been the coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy for the last fourteen years”, said Barbara,
looking at her husband with a smile on her lips.

“Isn’t that where David Beckham played?”

“Guess who brought him to the team”, Barbara added in a proud tone. “But enough about us, and
about hot English guys; you were telling us about your daughter. Is she here at West Valley
High?”

“Actually… Rani is still at West Valley Elementary. She’s only eight.”

Barbara’s smile was replaced by a slight concern. Jimmy and Tommy looked at each other.

“Johnny… you have an eight year old at Cobra Kai? Not even I started that young, and I was there
the longest of all of us”, said Bobby with a frown. “Kreese wouldn’t admit any boy under ten.”

“It’s fine, guys… My Cobra Kai is not like the one you knew, okay?” Johnny said, a bit offended.
“Kate, show them that video you took of Rattler the other day in class.”

Kate obliged, and soon the original Cobra boys were treated to a view of Rani sparring with Virgin.
The boy had improved a lot since the previous year, but he still received quite a few punches and
kicks before he hit the mat.

“Erm… wow. Your little munchkin is fierce”, said Bobby.

“Rattler may be the smallest student in the dojo, but sparring against older kids keeps her on her
toes”, said Johnny in a proud tone. “In a few years she’ll be ready for tournaments; she’s going to
be unstoppable.”

“It’s still a bit early for that, thank God”, said Kate, putting her phone back in her purse.

“There’s the under-14 tournament next December.”

“Which she has zero chance of winning… Johnny, I don’t want her to get her hopes up and be
disappointed.”

“I’m not saying she’s gonna win. But she’ll kick some serious ass before she gets eliminated,
babe… I’ll take care of that.”

“Okay, I trust your judgment when it comes to karate. I only want Rani to have fun doing
something she loves. She can think of winning trophies when she’s older.”

“Same thing I want for her. Have fun, kick ass, and make her Sensei look good in front of her
Mom”, he said with a cheeky smile.

“You can already thank her for that. If I wasn’t sure that Rani had such a high opinion of you, I
would never have accepted when you asked me out.”

“Good. I’ll buy her a bike for her next birthday. A pink one with a basket, and handlebar streamers,
and all those things girls like.”

“Please, don’t! She’s going to end up liking you more than me”, Kate laughed.

While this exchange took place, Jimmy observed his old friend in silence. Both Bobby and Tommy
were also looking at the ex-degenerate with a certain degree of surprise.

“Who’s this guy who looks so much like our Johnny?” Tommy whispered, careful that Johnny and
Kate didn’t hear. “He sounds like a different person… except for the swearing, that hasn’t
changed. What happened?”

“No idea”, added Bobby. “But, if that is her doing, I could drive them to Vegas tomorrow and
make them get married at gunpoint. I’ve never seen Johnny so… I don’t know how to put it.”

“Happy”, Jimmy interrupted. “And proud, too.”

“Guys, stop talking as if he’s a reformed serial killer!” said Barbara in the same hushed tone.
“People change, they grow up… sometimes thirty years too late, yes, but the world is full of late
bloomers.”

“Speaking of late bloomers… or just the opposite, look who’s over there!”

They all turned towards the door, where a stocky man dressed all in black had just arrived.

“Hey, is that Dutch?” Johnny asked. “I thought he had disappeared from the face of Earth!”

“Yeah, that’s him alright”, Bobby answered. “I didn’t tell you anything because I wasn’t sure he
would be able to come… and I’m glad he did. Hey, Dutch, we’re here!”

The man walked towards them, stopped a couple of yards away from the old Cobra boys, crossed
his arms, and smirked.

“If someone had told me thirty-four years ago that y’all would become so ugly in your old age, I
would have hit your faces harder when we were training”, he said, clearly pleased with himself for
his little joke.

“Come here and give us a hug, you fucker”, said Tommy, opening his arms.

“Get off me, Tommy… ladies first, remember? Barbara, you look like a million bucks. If you had
chosen me in high school, instead of this idiot here…” he said squeezing Bobby’s shoulder, “I
would be a different man today.”

“You would be a dead man, Dutch, because I would have assassinated you”, she said, laughing.
“I’ve never met a boy as insane as you were back then. But it’s good to see you alive and well.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Barb”, he said, turning to Jimmy’s wife. “Mrs. Dawn Vanderbilt, as
lovely as ever! The only reason I won’t hit on you tonight is because your husband is a DDA… I’ll
need him on my side if I ever end up in front of a judge again.”

“I don’t think that will happen… but I’m flattered anyway”, said Dawn, giving him a hug. “Always
a pleasure to see you, old friend.”

He then turned to Kate, who had been observing him in silence: the fifth boy from the old picture,
the one with the impossible dye job and the crazed eyes. It was hard for her not to feel a little
intimidated.

“Hello, lady”, he said with a wide grin. “You must have walked into the wrong reunion… you’re
way too pretty to be with any of the losers in this room.”

Before she could answer, Johnny took the initiative.

“This is Kate. My girlfriend”, he practically growled, and Kate heard the tone shift in Johnny’s
voice. “Babe, I’m sure you’ve guessed that this piece of work here is my old pal Dutch.”

“Your girlfriend? No way! How did you trick her into going out with you, man?”

“Shut up, Dutch.”

“Really nice to meet you”, she said timidly, shaking the man’s hand. “Dutch… That’s a curious
name. Or is it a nickname?”

“Lovely lady, if I started using my real name after all this time none of this morons would
recognize me… Better call me Dutch.”
“Minister Dutch”, Tommy quipped. “You’re still a man of the cloth, right? Or have you had
another career change since the last time we saw you?”

“Actually, I’m a reverend now… so watch your mouth, Tommy boy. I’m still on the straight and
narrow, praying for all your sins.”

Kate couldn’t help a look of surprise, mirrored by Johnny. It was clear that he didn’t know about
his friend being a man of God, and she wondered how long it had been since he and Dutch had
seen each other.

“A reverend?” Johnny asked. “Come on, dude, are you trying to play me? You haven’t set foot in a
church in your whole life.”

“That was true for a long time, yes”, said the other man, his insolent smile replaced by a more
serious look. “It’s been many years since you saw me last, Johnny… and there’s a lot about me that
you don’t know.”

In the brief silence that followed, a waiter approached the group with a tray full of drinks. Johnny
grabbed a beer, of course, while Bobby distributed wine, beer and punch among the others.

“You must have a really interesting life”, intervened Kate. “Is your church here in the Valley?”

“No, it’s a bit North of San Francisco… and it’s not really a church. But I better tell the story from
the start so you and Johnny don’t get lost”, said Dutch, lowering his eyes to his glass of wine for a
moment. “The last time your boyfriend and I saw each other was when I graduated from college.
Remember my graduation party, Johnny? It was wild. Then I got an MBA, moved to New York,
then to Houston… back in those days finance was the best place to work if you were young and
ambitious. I moved from one company to the next taking all the chances I could, and I started
making some serious money… yeah, the nineties were good for me. So good that I don’t
remember half of them: too much working by day and partying by night.”

“I see”, said Kate, who had heard some similar stories from former college classmates. “So… one
day you decided your life was empty and you turned it around?”

“Hell, no!” he said with a bitter laugh. “I was a complete jerk, I thought my life was perfect. I
bought a huge house and a sports car, got married to a model… I could have been a billionaire right
now, if it hadn’t been for one small detail.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, pausing to take a drink of his wine.

“You look like a clever girl, Kate… I’m sure you remember the Enron scandal.”

“Or course! Everybody knows about it.”

“Wait, what’s the Enron scandal?” asked Johnny.

Kate looked at him fondly.

“Sorry, Johnny, sometimes I forget not everybody around me is a lawyer”, she said, reaching for
his hand. “Enron was a company involved in a huge case of stock market fraud in 2001. Long story
short, they manipulated their financial reports for years and ended up bankrupt… Thousands of
shareholders lost their savings in the operation, and sixteen Enron executives pleaded guilty of
several charges of fraud and conspiracy. That’s just the basics of the scandal… it was a very
complex case.”
“Very good”, Dutch nodded. “You’ve done your homework, Kate.”

“I had just passed the bar exam and started working at a law firm in San Francisco when the trials
took place. Me and my colleagues followed the sessions as if it was the football league… I must
have read thousands of pages of transcripts.”

The man’s face turned dead serious.

“Then you must have read my name in them a few times. I was one of those sixteen executives
who pleaded guilty of fraud… they sent me to prison, but only for three years. I got off lightly
compared to some of the others.”

Kate and Johnny stared at him, dumbfounded. The others also listened in silence… they already
knew Dutch’s story, but in any case it wasn’t easy to hear their friend’s misfortunes again.

“Being locked up is no fun, even if it’s minimum security. There were a couple of times during
those three years when I thought my life was really over. When they let me out, I had lost
everything: my house, my friends, my job… even my wife. I don’t blame her, I was a shitty
husband and she did the right thing divorcing me. The only person I could count on was a pastor,
the prison chaplain; he had seen something in me, I guess. Something more than just a crazy boy
who was too smart with numbers for his own good.”

Dutch looked around him for a moment and then continued.

“That’s when I finally had the balls to turn things around. I had nowhere to go and zero interest in
going back to my old life, so I stayed with my friend the pastor for a while. Until one day I realized
that there were many other people who needed the same kind of guidance I’d been given; and
maybe the Big Boss up there was giving me a sign that I could help them. Fast forward a few
years, I won’t bore you with the details… but now I’m a chaplain at San Quentin State Prison. My
congregation is entirely made of lost lambs, and I do my damn best to help them as much as I can.”

Kate sighed and looked at Johnny; she wasn’t entirely sure what to say. Beside her, Johnny took a
step towards his friend and gave him a hug.

“I’m sorry, old boy. I had no idea.”

“It’s all been for the best, Johnny; if I had continued with my old life I’d probably be dead now.
Can you believe it? I used to hate being preached to… and now I’m the one doing the preaching”,
he said with a proud smile. “And what about you, dude? Bobby says you’ve reopened Cobra Kai,
and that you took in a scrawny Latin boy and made a champion of him in six months.”

“More like eight months, but… yeah, I kinda did.”

“Cool! You have to tell me all about it.”

“We want to hear that story too”, Tommy intervened. “But first, let’s all raise our glasses to
Reverend Dutch.”

The five men toasted and laughed, just when an upbeat song started blasting through the speakers.

“Ladies, do you hear that?”, asked Dawn with an excited smile. “I don’t know about you two, but
when my girl Whitney is singing, I have to hit the dance floor. Come on!”

She took Barbara and Kate by the arms and led them to the middle of the gym, to the sound of
Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know. While the girls danced, Johnny started telling his friends an
abridged version of the events of the previous year, giving them all sorts of details about the dojo
and the tournament. Jimmy took out his phone and started searching for videos of the All Valley,
and they all felt nostalgic and happy to see a new generation of Cobras kicking ass…

At least, until they got to the video of the final fight between Miguel and Robby.

“That’s enough, guys”, said Johnny abruptly, pressing the pause button on the screen. “This is a
reunion, not a tournament review… if you want to see my kids in action, you’ll have to come to the
dojo one day, or to the next All Valley.”

He turned around and made a beeline for the bar, followed closely by Bobby.

“Hey, man, sorry about that. I haven’t told the others that Daniel was Robby’s Sensei… they have
no idea what that final match really meant to you.”

“It’s all right, I just don’t want to see it again. It hurt like a motherfucker seeing Miguel and Robby
fight in the finals, but that was just my bad luck”, said Johnny in a downcast voice. “Anyway, that
was months ago. Things are better with Robby now… not much better, but it’s a start. At least he
talks to me.”

“And… how are things with Daniel?”

“What of him? LaRusso’s got a dojo now, and a handful of students. Let him have fun with his kata
and his Okinawan stuff, I don’t care.”

“He’s still training Robby, right? And you told me the kid is living with him.”

“Only until Shannon gets back from Texas. I’m trying to get my son back, Bobby… it may be too
late, but I’m trying. And I don’t want to force his hand.”

“I’m glad to hear that”, said the other man. “I just want you to stay calm in case Daniel appears
here tonight.”

“He’ll be here. Kate is friends with his wife… they talked about it the other day.”

“Good. When they arrive, just play it cool, okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. We were at Lake Balboa last weekend and I managed to be in LaRusso’s
presence all day without wanting to plant a fist in his face. Tonight will be easy compared to that.”

“That’s the spirit.”

While Bobby did his best to placate his best friend, the other three looked at them from afar, a little
concerned.

“Why did he take off like that? Johnny’s boy won the tournament, didn’t he?”

“Didn't you see that video's title? His student won, Dutch… but his final match was against a
Robby Keene.”

“So?”

“Johnny’s ex, the mother of his kid, is called Shannon Keene... and I’m sure you just connected the
dots.”

Dutch shook his head.

“Shit. That’s some rotten luck… His student fighting against his son in the finals? How did that
happen?”

“I don’t know, and I’m not going to ask. Not tonight”, said Jimmy in a concerned tone. “We better
talk about something else for the rest of the party: laugh about the stupid things we did in high
school, compliment him about his new girlfriend…”

“Yeah, speaking of her”, Tommy intervened. “Opinions? Quickly, before the girls come back.”

“I think we’re all going to agree on this one”, answered Jimmy. “She’s nice, pretty, classy… and
she looks smarter than all the women Johnny’s ever dated.”

“Yeah. Combined.”

“I just hope Johnny has gotten over Ali, once and for all. And that she doesn’t appear tonight out of
the blue to make things awkward.”

“Hear, hear.”

Meanwhile, on the dance floor, Whitney had given way to Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar, and the
three women were having a great time dancing.

“I know you and Dawn are a few years younger than me, so some of these songs won’t sound so
familiar”, said Barbara. “But tonight I feel like I’m sixteen years old again, and I couldn’t be
happier.”

“Good for you!” Kate agreed. “Where did you and Jimmy meet, Dawn?”

“In college. I was a freshman, and Jimmy was starting his senior year. Our friends used to joke
about us, saying that we made a completely mismatched couple… the law student and the music
student. It shouldn’t have worked, but it was kind of love at first sight.”

“You’re a musician?”

“She’s a pianist”, Barbara answered. “You should come to one of her recitals, she’s fantastic. Last
Christmas she gave a concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion…”

“That Barbara’s company had just redecorated, so it was like playing at home”, finished Dawn.

“And now that we’ve covered the topic of our jobs and our tastes in 80s music, let me confess that
Dawn and I were really curious about meeting you”, said Barbara with a smile. “I hope you don’t
mind some impertinent questions, Kate.”

“Let me guess… I’m not like you expected? It’s not the first time I’ve heard that in the last few
days”, said Kate, a bit on the defensive.

“That kind of covers it, yes”, said Bobby’s wife. “You’re an unexpectedly nice surprise. Forgive
me for being so blunt, but the last few times I saw Johnny his life was… to put it nicely, almost in
the gutter.”

“He came back from all that on his own before meeting me, that’s not my doing. Johnny didn’t
need my help to reopen Cobra Kai, and that’s the most important thing in his life now. He’s rebuilt
it out of nothing, and… if he lost it, I don’t know what would happen.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s the only thing he’s got”, said Barbara with a smile. “He looks happier than I’ve
seen him in years, and I’m sure you’ve had a big part in that.”

Kate blushed, but didn’t say anything. She looked at the bar, where the rest of Johnny’s friends had
just joined Johnny and Bobby. They old boys were talking, probably reminiscing and reminding
each other of some funny story from high school times. The party was getting crowded, with the
room full of nostalgic people doing their best to reconnect with their friends, gossip about their
enemies, boast about their jobs, their children… one woman had even started to show pictures of
her newborn grandchild, which was both a good and a bad sign because it suddenly reminded
everybody else of how old they were.

Finally, Kate saw a familiar face in the crowd.

“There’s Amanda! I should go say hi; Daniel is not going to come near this side of the gym as long
as Johnny’s here.”

Barbara stared at the LaRussos, and then back at Kate.

“You’re friends with Daniel LaRusso’s wife? How did that happen? Johnny hates his guts.”

“We met at a restaurant by chance one day, right before Johnny and I started going out together…
Amanda and I found out that we went to the same college, and that got us talking. She’s really
nice.”

“Thirty years later, I still don’t know what any woman sees in him”, Barbara retorted, throwing a
sideways look at Daniel. “At least he’s got better taste in clothes now! You should have seen him
in high school, he was a case for the fashion police. Anyway… doesn’t she look awfully young for
him?”

“She’s... forty, I think? A couple of years younger than me.”

“That’s bordering on cradle robbing, if you ask me.”

“Look, Amanda is an amazing woman”, said Kate, defending her friend. “And we’re both doing
our best to keep the hostilities between Johnny and Daniel at an acceptable level.”

“In that case, I’m glad you two are keeping the peace; back in senior year, it was Defcon 1 around
here. And speaking of friends… This time I’m quite sure I’ve seen Susan over there, next to the DJ
booth… She’s blind as a bat without her glasses, I’m sure she hasn’t seen us. Kate, do you mind if
Dawn and I go talk to her while you socialize with Daniel over here? I was kind of bitchy with him
a few times in high school, so I guess he won’t be very interested in talking to me.”

“That’s fine. Let’s meet here again in… fifteen minutes?”

“Perfect.”

Kate crossed the floor, dodging a few not-so-graceful dancers, and greeted the LaRussos with a
smile.

“Hi! I thought you two had bailed out. How are you?”

“Horribly late, I know”, said Amanda. “We had a minor emergency with a broken dishwasher, the
repairman took hours to arrive… you should have seen the mess that was our kitchen earlier today.
But we’re here, at last!”
“I’m really happy to see you. I had no idea the party would be so big.”

“Well, I’ve only been at West Valley for a couple of parent-teacher conferences… the high school
looks different with all these decorations. So… how’s Johnny?”

“He’s right over–”

“There”, interrupted Daniel, his piercing eyes fixed on the Cobra Kai ex-students. “With all his
Cobra entourage.”

Amanda put a hand on Daniel’s arm.

“And they’re minding their own business so far; please, honey, it wouldn’t be nice to make a
scene. We said we’d have fun tonight, it’s been ages since you took me dancing!”

“You’re right, I guess”, he said with a grimace. “Sorry about that. Kate, I’m really glad to see you,
it’s just… not all my memories of this place are of the happy kind.”

“I understand.”

“Come on, baby”, said Amanda, grabbing Daniel’s hand. “Let’s get you a bit tipsy before dancing,
that will drive the bad memories away.”

“Good idea”, said Daniel, taking a deep breath and trying to relax. “I mean the dancing, not the
alcohol… someone has to drive us home after the party.”

“We can always call an Uber”, she said, winking at him.

“Fine. I’m going to get us a glass of wine… I’ll be right back.”

As soon as her husband walked away, Amanda leaned in to whisper in Kate’s ear.

“Is she here yet?”

“I don’t think so… Barbara Brown was her best friend, and she hasn’t said anything”, Kate
answered in the same conspiratory tone. “Anyway, I don’t even know what that woman looks
like.”

“Blonde. Tall. Blue eyes. Cheerleader smile. Probably wearing a t-shirt that says I taught your
boyfriend that thing you like ”, Amanda said, narrowing her eyes.

“I should thank her, then, instead of being worried!” said Kate, laughing so hard that she almost
teared up. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and she won’t come. On the other hand… I wish I knew how
Johnny is going to react to her, just to be sure.”

“So you want her to be here and not here at the same time?”

“That’s exactly what I want”, said Kate with a serious face. “Schrödinger’s Ali.”

“Johnny, stop staring at Daniel. It’s not funny anymore.”

“I’m not staring. I’m watching him.”

“You said you’d be cool!”

“I am cool, Bobby!” Johnny said, trying not to make his surveillance too obvious. “That guy gets
on my nerves, that’s all. The last time LaRusso and I were here last year, my student almost got
beaten to death.”

“Yes, you told us that story. But–”

“And the time before that, I got hosed down. Then all of us got a beating, remember?”

“I think you’re leaving out a few details in that story”, said Jimmy with a sigh. “Come on, Johnny,
just ignore the man… We’re all having a good time, right? Look, Kate is over there, she just
finished talking to Daniel’s wife.”

“Dude, go dance with her”, Tommy intervened. “If one of our recently divorced classmates sees
your girl alone and tries to make a pass at her, you’re going to go berserk on his ass. And I don’t
feel like wiping blood off my shoes tonight.”

“That’s the best idea you’ve had all night”, Johnny admitted, patting Tommy’s back and leaving
his beer on the counter. “Speaking of blood… if I hear any of you laughing at the way I dance,
we’re going to have more than words.”

“Don’t worry, dude”, said Dutch with a sideways smile. “I doubt you’ve become a worst dancer
than Tommy ‘two left feet’ Katz. I bet his senior prom date still has sore feet.”

“Hey, Dutch, watch that mouth!”

Johnny grinned at his bickering friends, straightened out his tie, and hurried to Kate’s side.

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” he said, sliding his hands around her waist and
pulling her close. “You’re too classy for this joint, babe.”

“I was hoping that some handsome man would ask me to dance”, she whispered close to his ear.
“Looks like I’m going to get my wish.”

“Keep talking to me in that sexy kitten voice and you’ll get more than that”, Johnny answered,
brushing his lips over her neck. “Come, they’re playing our song.”

She tilted her head to the side, listening intently. Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi had just started playing,
and the heartfelt rock ballad was attracting a lot of couples to the dance floor.

“That’s interesting… I didn’t know we had a song.”

“It’s the one that makes me think of you.”

Kate took a deep breath and looked at him. The lights were appropriately low, and Johnny’s blue
eyes flashed in the darkness as they started dancing together. She still couldn’t figure him out, not
completely… he’d almost reverted to the mindset of a teenage boy when the arrived to the party,
and at the same time he did things like thinking of ‘their’ song out of the blue.

With a contented sigh she leaned against him, her forehead on his shoulder, swaying slowly to the
music until the last notes of the song echoed throughout the room. She looked up then, and saw
that Johnny hadn’t taken his eyes off her the whole time.

Without giving him time to say anything, Kate put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Mmm… What did I do to deserve that?” he asked.

 “You’re impossible. And I’m just happy to be here”, she said with an enigmatic smile.

That earned Kate another kiss, one that lasted longer than propriety allowed. She leaned into her
boyfriend’s embrace again, running her hands over the front of his shirt… until the sound of a loud
laughter not far away distracted her.

She looked over Johnny’s shoulder looking for the where the sound had originated, right next to
the entrance door. Barbara was there, along with Dawn and another woman with black hair that she
supposed was the famous Susan. They were all squealing like schoolgirls, hugging and greeting a
tall blonde woman who had just arrived to the party accompanied by an attractive man.

Kate’s hands clenched involuntarily. She searched for Amanda in the crowd, and when she finally
located her friend her fears were confirmed: Daniel’s wife stood alone, with a glass of wine in her
hand and a deep frown on her face, giving the newcomer her hardest stare.

‘Schrödinger’s Ali’ had finally come out of the box... and this cat was very much alive.

Chapter End Notes

More reunion (and a bit more drama) in the next chapter, because the Cobra boys talk
too much (especially Dutch), and I couldn't fit everything into this one. Stay tuned!
 Phantasm
Chapter Summary

Second part of Johnny's school reunion. Kate tries not to be upset by Ali's sudden
appearance, and she learns of another one of Johnny's past misdeeds.

Chapter Notes

From now on, updates will arrive when they arrive. The author has decided that her
mental wellbeing is worth more than keeping an exhausting schedule. Any comment
asking for updates will be deleted.

CHAPTER 33. PHANTASM.

One boy. One girl. One shower costume.

Recipe for a fun party… or for a disastrous one, depending on how the boy in the fake shower
played his cards.

The flashback lasted only a second, and Daniel allowed himself a nostalgic smile and a furtive
glance towards his former girlfriend before going back to reality. Right next to him, Amanda was
unusually quiet; after twenty years as a couple (eighteen of them as husband and wife), he was used
to reading her moods, and in that moment he could clearly sense her discomfort. And he wasn’t
going to spoil her night by reminiscing too much… Daniel had always been pragmatic about his
past relationships; and even if Ali had been important to him once, she now belonged in a neat little
compartment on the back of his mind, along with many other memories of his high school years.

Besides, there was another part of his past that refused to stay buried… and he needed to
acknowledge it, even if it was just to distract Amanda and make her feel at ease again.

“Hey, let’s go say hi to Johnny and Kate”, he said, in the most casual tone he could muster.

Amanda stared at him, suspicious.

“What did these people put in the punch, Daniel? Are you okay?”

“Well, you’re probably going to make me talk to them at some point of the night”, he sighed. “So
why not now? He doesn’t seem drunk yet, and he’s with his girlfriend… so at least we know he’ll
behave like a human being.”

“That’s very reasonable”, she said with a smile. “All right, let’s go talk to them before you change
your mind.”

As they crossed the room, Daniel noticed that Kate also looked quite tense; she and Johnny were
talking in a quiet corner, but every now and then she threw a quick look towards the dance floor.
Ali and her husband were dancing, oblivious to the fact that several people had their eyes on them.
“Hi, Johnny”, he said when he found himself face to face with his old enemy. “Having fun?”

“LaRusso”, answered the other man with a half smile. “No shower costume this time?”

“Don’t tell me that costume brings you good memories.”

“I liked it. It did a great job hiding your face.”

“Very funny”, said Daniel with a grimace. “Don’t worry, you won’t be getting hosed down this
time.”

“I’m glad to hear that”, Kate intervened. “If you get water on Johnny’s suit, I will be the one
chasing you down this time, Daniel.”

“Duly noted”, he answered, and this time his smile was genuine.

“Come on, boys, loosen up a little!” said Amanda. “This is a night to celebrate! When was the last
time you two were together at a party?”

Nobody answered. Of course, Amanda had no way of knowing the effect her innocent question
would have, and she seemed surprised when both men turned serious again.

“The country club”, said Johnny under his breath.

“Yeah. Although I wasn’t exactly invited… and it wasn’t what I would call a fun night”, continued
Daniel with a somber face.

Kate looked at the two men and frowned.

“Johnny… maybe we can all find a different conversation topic.”

“Yeah, I’m sure mister Goody-Two-Shoes here is going to tell you all the things I did wrong that
night.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.

“No. I’m not going to rat you out this time, Johnny… If you want to tell Kate what happened at the
country club, go ahead. If not, that’s your decision.”

The almost forgotten memory came back to Johnny in a painful flash. He tried to swallow the knot
in his throat, while Kate gave him a questioning stare.

“Johnny? Is everything okay?”

“No.”

He pressed his lips together, frantically searching for a way to tell Kate without making it sound
horrible… but there simply wasn’t one.

“Look, it’s fine”, said Daniel, regretting the moment he’d tried making small talk with Johnny.
“Amanda and I are going to hit the dance floor. It was… nice to see you both again.”

He grabbed Amanda’s hand and walked away, while a confused Kate watched the scene. She had
no idea why the mood had changed so abruptly, or why Johnny looked like he had committed a
capital crime.
“Johnny… may I ask what horrible thing happened at the country club that day?”

“I was… I had an idea to try and get Ali back”, he started. “I went to the club that night with my
mother and Sid. Ali and her parents were there too; then LaRusso sneaked in through the kitchen
door while I was dancing with Ali, and…”

“And?”

Johnny covered his eyes with his hand.

“I thought it would be a good idea to make that little twerp jealous”, he said in an almost inaudible
tone.

“Johnny…”

“I kissed her. She landed a right hook to my face. Then LaRusso saw the scene from the kitchen,
spilled hot spaghetti sauce all over himself, and… it was all a clusterfuck.”

Kate’s eyes went wide.

“You kissed a girl by force.”

It was a statement, not a question. The hard and ugly truth in Kate’s soft voice, that for some
reason made it sound even worse than what he remembered.

“I was seventeen. I was a jerk.”

“Yes, those two things usually go hand in hand.” Kate didn’t even make an effort to filter out the
disappointment in her voice. She looked across the room at the tall blonde woman, the reason why
Johnny had acted like… like those other men she had always discounted as awful human beings.

“Kate, babe… it was the first time I ever did anything like that. And the last. You know I’d
never… Shit, I don’t know what to say! I have no excuse.”

She kept looking at the dance floor, where the queen of the blonde Amazons and her handsome
husband were swaying to the tune of a Lionel Richie ballad.

“I need some air.”

“Kate, I’m sorry, I…”

“I’m not angry, Johnny”, she said, putting a hand on his arm. “Weeks ago I promised myself I
wouldn’t get angry about the things you did in high school, or I’d never be able to let go of the
past… your past. I just need a moment to breathe. Please, let’s get out.”

“Okay.”

He reached for Kate’s hand, relieved that she didn’t flinch away, and led her outside through a side
door that led to the basketball courts. It was a beautiful night, clear and warm, and they stood in
silence for a moment.

Dying to know what was going through Kate’s mind, Johnny turned towards her… but she spoke
first.

“Johnny, I know you did some stupid things in high school. I know you have a past; everybody our
age has a past. But what worries me so much is that your past is here tonight, in a way. I know it’s
silly, but when I saw that woman I felt… I don’t know. Small. Insignificant”, she stammered,
pacing up and down. “I have the impression that if she wanted you back, I would lose you. And it’s
making me freak out, so when I heard that story about the country club I…”

Kate stopped, trying to put her thoughts in order, and Johnny took that chance to walk up to her and
hold her. She stilled in his arms, with her eyes fixed on the ground.

“Kate. Look at me.”

She took a deep breath and did what he asked.

“Kate, babe… If Ali had wanted me back a year ago, maybe I would have said yes”, he said in a
stern voice. “First I would have asked if she was right in the head, because a year ago I was a
fucking mess. But I’m not tied to the past anymore. I don’t care what Ali wants. I don’t care what
anybody wants because I only want you .”

She finally moved, sliding her hands around Johnny’s neck.

“I know. It’s stupid that I feel so threatened by her, but… it was a burst of teenage insecurity. I just
couldn’t help it.”

“Do you want to leave? We can end the night somewhere else.”

“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed, taking a step back. “What kind of terrible person would I be if I
made you leave your high school reunion, just because I feel bad about something that happened
decades ago? No, we’re staying.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Just… can you show me around first, or something? I’m not ready to go back to the gym
yet.”

Johnny’s face lightened up.

“Great! I’ll show you my old classroom, I bet it still looks the same. When I was a kid I thought
schools in the year 2000 would be like the one in the Jetsons… but no, it’s still old desks and chairs
and a blackboard.”

“Yes, I used to think that too. All right, I’m ready for my night tour of West Valley High.”

“So… can I get a kiss first?” Johnny’s voice sounded cautious, almost pleading.

“Johnny, you don’t have to ask every time! Just… trust your instinct. We’re alone, it’s a beautiful
night, and I’m not scared of your ex-girlfriend anymore. Well, not too much. I think the occasion
deserves a kiss.”

“I’m glad to hear that”, he said, closing his lips on hers.

The only reason why Kate had suggested taking a look around West Valley High was that she
didn’t want to go back and confront Johnny’s ex-girlfriend. She wasn’t expecting much from their
little clandestine adventure, but after a couple of stops she noticed that Johnny was excited like a
little kid.

At least, until they got to an empty classroom on the second floor.

“This was my classroom in senior year”, he said, and the tone of his voice shifted. “Not much to
see here… I don’t have many happy memories of my last few months in this place.”

Kate reached for his hand.

“But that’s why we’re here, right? To make new ones. Come on, let’s go somewhere else.”

There was something exhilarating about sneaking along the darkened corridors without getting
caught. Johnny was clearly feeling it too, because after they took a turn he nudged Kate towards a
side door.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Trust me. Get in there.”

‘There’ turned out to be a big locker room, and Kate looked around her with curiosity.

“Nice place”, she observed. “The girls’ locker room in my high school was so old and cramped that
we always ended up changing in the restroom. So… did you bring me here to reminisce about
something in particular?”

Johnny closed the door and turned the lock.

“I brought you here because this is the only place where we can be alone”, he said, walking slowly
towards her until she was practically cornered up.

“Johnny… you're getting frisky? Here ?”

“You wanted to know what I was like in 1985…”

“I wasn’t here in 1985.”

“But you are now”, he whispered, leaning to kiss Kate’s neck. It caught her by surprise, and she let
out a little moan.

“Mmmm… fine, but first tell me the truth: How many girls did you bring here when you were in
high school?”

“A grand total of none”, he said in a serious tone, sliding a hand up her leg. “I think Dutch did… or
at least he bragged about it back in the day. But I only came here to change after soccer matches,
nothing more.”

“With your reputation? Unbelievable.”

“I wasn’t in the mood in senior year. But I am now… And what about you, roller girl? Any
naughty things happened after one of your matches? Any fans following you to the locker room to
help you celebrate a victory?”

“You know perfectly well that I got my first kiss at my senior prom”, she said, holding on to
Johnny’s shoulders, because he kept kissing her neck and it was giving her goosebumps. “Johnny,
we can’t… what if we get caught?”

“Door’s locked.”

“Someone could hear us.”

“With the music blasting at all volume? Nah.” He stopped what he was doing to look into Kate’s
eyes. “Do you want to leave?”

Kate shook her head. Then she slid Johnny’s jacket off his shoulders and threw it on the bench.

“I want you to show me if your reputation as the school’s heartthrob was based on real facts”, she
whispered. “And then take me back to the party and dance with me again.”

The reunion took place on a Saturday, so of course the janitor was not on duty. The security guy,
who was making a quick round just in case, thought he’d heard some noises coming from the
boys’ locker room… but he was almost at the end of his shift, and he thought the noise probably
came from the water pipes.

He was spectacularly wrong, of course.

Johnny hadn’t wasted much more time on foreplay. He had made eye contact with Kate again,
pinning her against the lockers with an almost desperate kiss. He only undressed her from the waist
down, trying to mess with her dress as little as possible; after all, they had a party to go back to.

On the other hand, a quickie didn’t mean that things had to be sloppy, so he made sure Kate was
ready before he looked her leg under his arm and got inside her. Slowly at first, moaning her name
when she grabbed his hair and pulled… It was no secret that he loved that, and she was exploiting
that weakness to her advantage. And then harder, faster, enjoying the urgency in her voice when
she whispered in his ear how good it felt.

Johnny had only had a couple of beers that night… but when they reached their climax, seconds
apart, he felt a little dizzy. It was almost too much, too good. He rested his forehead on Kate’s
shoulder for a moment, breathing heavily, until she caressed his cheek to make him look at her.

“You know… before meeting you, the only places I’d had sex in were beds, and the occasional
car”, she said, breathless. “You’re expanding my horizons a lot.”

“We haven’t done it in the dojo yet”, he answered, with a glint in his eye. “I can give you an after
class special whenever you want.”

“Oh, no”, she said, trying to regain her footing with Johnny’s help. “That’s your workplace. Work
and pleasure shouldn’t mix.”

“So your office is out of bounds too?”

“There are still cameras everywhere, so yes”, she answered, giving him one last kiss. “But if you
want to wear your karate gi to bed, I won’t kick you out.”

He gave her a wolfish grin.

“I knew you liked it. I saw you batting your lashes at me the day we met.”

“Until that day, I thought karate attire was the least sexy outfit in the world. Then you appeared in
that sleeveless black gi, and… well, I began to change my mind. But don’t flatter yourself so much,
mister, you were looking at me too. Tell me, was I the first mother of a student to enter your sacred
dojo?”

“The first… and the hottest.”

They both laughed, resting in each other’s embrace, not wanting the moment to end. One of the
straps in Kate’s dress had slid down; Johnny planted a kiss on her shoulder and put it back in place.

“Let’s go back to the party, babe… I owe you a dance.”

Back at the gym, Amanda was feeling restless. She knew her husband had noticed her distress, of
course. And he knew that she knew that he had… well, the bottom line was that Daniel had been
trying to distract her from his ex-girlfriend’s presence, to no avail. They had danced together
(keeping a safe distance from the Blast from the Past and her husband); they had enjoyed a glass of
wine; Daniel had even asked the DJ to play a couple of Amanda’s favorite songs… but she still felt
a little antsy, especially after Kate and Johnny disappeared. They had been gone for twenty
minutes, and Amanda was starting to worry about her friend.

At last, she saw them reappear, holding hands and smiling. Kate whispered something in Johnny’s
ear, and he responded by giving her a playful kiss.

Well, at least someone was having fun at the party.

Amanda had the impression that she was radiating negative vibes, because all of a sudden Kate
turned around and frowned. Then she said something to Johnny (something Amanda was too far
away to hear), and sent him back with the other Cobra veterans.

“Hey, is everything all right?” asked Kate, approaching her friend. “I’ve seen happier faces at my
great-aunt Josephine’s funeral; but she was a horrible person, so I guess it doesn’t count. Where’s
your husband?”

“Daniel? He went to get us another glass of wine. He thinks if I have enough to drink I’ll be able to
relax… but I’m not sure I can.”

“Look, there’s no reason to be alarmed. So what if that woman is here, and what if she looks like a
Hollywood star? If Ali was recently divorced and started fawning over Daniel and Johnny I would
understand you being worried; but she’s here with her very attractive husband, and she hasn’t even
looked in the boys’ direction so far. We’ll be fine.”

Amanda looked at her friend, suspicious.

“You were as worried as me a while ago, maybe more. What happened to make you change your
mind?”

“Johnny and I had a conversation. He doesn’t care about her anymore… I already knew that, of
course, but I was too busy freaking out about the ghosts from his past. I don’t have to compete with
his memories of Ali… because that’s all they are, echoes of the past.”

“That sounds very sensible”, nodded Amanda. “Everybody’s being so sensible tonight, I wish I
could catch some of that.”

“We also had… well, more than words in a locker room”, continued Kate, blushing a little. “Just a
reminder of what he would miss if he left me. And vice versa, of course.”

“You did what ?” Amanda squealed, trying to keep her voice down. “So that’s why you two were
all smiles a moment ago!”

Kate’s blush deepened.

“He’s happy, I’m happy… He has a pocket full of my underwear, and I’m a bit cold.”

“You’re commando? Okay… who are you, and what have you done with my classy friend Kate?”

“It was a spur of the moment thing!”, she whispered. “By the way, this school has the cleanest
locker room I’ve seen in my life. Absolutely spotless.”

“I can’t believe my ears”, said Amanda, laughing so hard that she had to wipe a tear. “You’re my
idol.”

“Good, because I was about to suggest that you take a page from my book and do the same.”

“What the…? Oh, no, I couldn’t!”

“Just take your husband outside for a minute and… I don’t know, make out under the bleachers or
something. It will keep your mind off things, and it will also remind Daniel that he’s much happier
with you that he would ever have been with Miss Thing.”

“So… under the bleachers?” Amanda repeated, tilting her head to the side. “I’ll look like a
desperate cheerleader.”

“Cheerleaders are not desperate, they’re fabulous! At least that’s what people say”, laughed Kate.
“I was never one of them.”

“I was”, admitted Amanda. “Until I quit to join the volleyball team.”

“Great! You can recall your evil cheerleader wiles and put them into practice again. And
remember: Stand before your god, bow before your king, and kneel before your man . Recipe for a
happy life, according to a certain witch.”

“Please tell me that’s not an ancient Wiccan proverb”, said Amanda, lifting an eyebrow.

“No, it’s a quote from a book. But hey, if it works…”

This time it was Amanda who laughed and blushed, just when Daniel approached the two women
with a glass of wine in each hand.

“Ah… hi again, Kate. Having a good time?”

“Oh, wonderful… but Amanda is feeling a little dizzy with the heat and the loud music; maybe you
should take her outside”, she said, walking away before any of the LaRussos had time to answer.
Then she saw them leave the gym, and smiled to herself before rejoining Johnny and his friends.

“Hello, gentlemen. What did I miss?” she asked, approaching the group.

“Not much… Barbara and Dawn are still over there, reminiscing with Susan. And these old boys
are talking non-stop about their kids”, said Johnny, putting an arm around Kate’s waist. “Come see
the pictures.”

“I’d love to”, said Kate. “You’ve already seen Rani, so I’m curious to see what your children look
like… I imagine they’re all grown up.”

“My twins have been taller than me since ninth grade, the little shits”, said Tommy, showing her a
pic on his phone. “Meet Oscar and Victor… they just turned twenty-five.”

“Wow, they look a lot like you… like two identical copies of you.”
“They’re great boys, both of them. Oscar is getting married next month, so maybe by this time next
year I’ll be a grandfather… I wish his mother was still with us to see it”, he continued in a more
serious tone.

“Oh, I’m sorry”, Kate replied.

“It’s all right”, he said, swiping across the screen to show her a picture of a middle-aged woman
with red hair and a sweet smile. “That’s my Martha… passed away five years ago. She was an
angel.”

“A real Southern lady”, added Jimmy, giving his old friend a pat on the back. “She did a great job
raising those boys; both of you did.”

“And how are your kids, Jimmy?” asked Bobby. “It’s been a couple of years since Barb and I saw
them last.”

“You wouldn’t recognize them, especially little Gwen. She leaves for Stanford in a couple of
weeks, this will be our first year as empty nesters. Luckily for us, her brother goes to the same
college, so at least she’ll have Michael to look after her. Damn it, I think Dawn has my phone in her
purse… I’ll show you some pictures later.”

“I’m sure you’re very proud of them”, observed Kate. “Stanford is a hard school to get into.”

“We’re over the moon”, he said, beaming. “I’m sure Dawn is already telling the whole party that
we have two future world famous musicians in the family.”

“What, both of them?” asked Johnny. “Dude, you’re outnumbered in your own house!”

“Michael and Gwen are the artistic type, so it wasn’t a surprise that they both want to major in
music.”

“Yeah, great. I wish Robby was more like your kids, Jimmy.”

The other Cobras exchanged a concerned look, and Bobby was the first to speak.

“You said Robby was doing fine, right?”

“I guess. He’s working… and studying to get his GED, but I still don’t like that he quit school. I
should have pestered him more with that last year.”

Kate, a little upset by Johnny’s downcast tone, squeezed his arm in a quiet gesture of affection.

“Robby is a very clever boy”, she said softly. “He had some trouble last year, but I’m sure he’ll get
his GED in no time. After that… there are many good colleges in California. And there’s no hurry,
he’s still sixteen.”

“Studying at home is nothing to be ashamed of, Johnny”, added Bobby. “Barb and I homeschooled
our youngest one since she was thirteen. School is not for everybody.”

“Right”, Johnny said, with a half smile. “At least Kate’s kid is a proper genius… I asked Rattler
about school once, and it turns out the little one is a straight-A student. I’m sure she’s the first kid
to have those grades in all the history of Cobra Kai.”

“Rani has always been smart with numbers,” answered Kate, not wanting to brag too much. “And
she has a very good memory… but she’s still in third grade, it’s too early to call her a genius. I hope
her grades don’t suffer this year with the change of school: she starts next week and I’m more
nervous than her.”

“Rattler will be fine”, Johnny reassured her. “Maybe she’ll bring some of her new friends to Cobra
Kai; in a couple of years all my best students will graduate and I’ll be left with Bert, Virgin and…
yeah, I better start recruiting some new talent.”

“Johnny, you started with only one boy a year ago, and you made him win the tournament”,
answered Kate. “Don’t be greedy, there are other dojos in the Valley and they need students too.”

“Yeah, someone has to get the participation trophies at the next All Valley”, Johnny said with a
sideways smile.

“Hey, there’s no shame in that!” Jimmy intervened. “I got a few of those back in our time; you guys
never net me snag any of the good trophies… especially you and Bobby. Kate, I don’t know if
you’ve heard, but Johnny was a beast on the mat.”

“Oh, yes, he’s told me a few things about that”, she said with a smile. “We’ve reached an
agreement: I don’t complain when he reminisces about all the tournaments he won in the
eighties… and, in return, he listens to my roller derby stories from high school. Quid pro quo.”

The Cobra boys exchanged a surprised look.

“You were a roller girl?” asked Tommy.

“Why does everybody sound so shocked when I say that?” she laughed.

“You look too peaceful”, Bobby continued. “I went out with a roller girl a few times in my junior
year… Mayhem Martin. The boys and I went to one of her matches, and it scared the shit out of
us… those girls were brutal!”

“Kate, you just didn’t strike us as the kind of person who would elbow another girl off the track”,
Tommy added.

“I never elbowed anyone off the track, not once!” Kate answered, feigning an offended tone.
“Blocking with the elbow is a penalty… I always used my shoulders.”

“That’s my girl, always playing by the rules”, said Johnny, visibly proud. “But didn’t you tell me
once that you kicked a girl and cracked her ribs?”

“She fell in front of me in the middle of the track! I couldn’t help running into her… braking on
roller skates is not easy.”

“Yeah, I wonder if that’s what really happened”, Johnny insisted, biting his lip. “I’m sure that
innocent face of yours got you out of trouble on a match more than once.”

“Look who’s talking! I’ve seen pictures of you in high school, Johnny… the only thing missing to
make you look like a Renaissance angel was a pair of wings. Don’t tell me you never used that to
your advantage.”

“Of course he did!” intervened Jimmy. “Sometimes I think none of us would have passed Algebra
2 if Johnny hadn’t spent the whole semester making eyes at Miss Teague.”

Kate arched an eyebrow, trying not to burst into laughter.

“Really, Mr. Lawrence! Flirting with a teacher… I think I’m going to find Barbara and Dawn while
you boys keep remembering your high school exploits. If I stay here I’ll probably end up hearing
too much.”

“Don’t go too far away. And it’s Sensei Lawrence”, Johnny teased, giving Kate a wink.

“This is the real world, not your dojo… Sensei ”, she quipped.

“Don’t use that tone with me, Miss Williams”, he said without losing his smirk.

“Then don’t bark orders at me as if I was one of your students, Mr. Lawrence”, retorted Kate with a
smile. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek and left, walking deliberately slowly.

“Oh, my God”, sighed Tommy.

“What?”

“Looks like you finally found your perfect woman. She’s got you by the balls, that one.”

Dutch started laughing under his breath, while Johnny shot him a murderous glare.

“Remember, Johnny... There’s an ordained minister in the room in case you need one.”

“Shut up, Dutch.”

“Whatever you say, man… I’m just offering you my services. For free, of course.”

“Minister or no minister, you two make a good couple anyway”, Bobby said, interrupting to avoid
a scuffle between Johnny and Dutch, like he had done so many times before. “And everything is
going well with you, right? I mean… Kate looked a little upset before, when you were talking to
Daniel and his wife.”

“Yeah, nothing happened”, said Johnny with a wave of his hand. “She needed to clear her head, so
I gave her a tour of the place. We’re fine.”

“Hey, did you show her the trophies display?” Tommy asked, excited like a little kid. “I bet they
still have the one we won with the soccer team!”

“Nah, we didn’t get that far.”

“Is the old study room still on the second floor? I lost count of how many hours of detention I
spent in there”, huffed Dutch.

“Er… I don’t know. It must be.”

“Johnny… you were gone for almost half an hour. Where exactly did you take her?” asked Jimmy,
whose prosecutor instinct was making him suspicious.

“The basketball courts, the locker room, and… hey, why are you interrogating me, dude?” Johnny
said in a defensive tone. “You’re not the D.A. yet.”

“Peace, man! I was just asking.”

“No wonder you ended up being a lawyer, you always asked too many damned questions”,
continued Johnny, trying to make it sound like a joke. “I’m going to get another beer, all this talk is
making me thirsty.”
With those words, he strutted towards the bar, leaving his confused friends behind.

“What was that about?” asked Tommy. “It was a perfectly normal question.”

“Well, knowing Johnny like I do, I’d say… No, it’s silly”, Bobby said, shaking his head. “But
maybe…”

“Bobby, try to finish that sentence before next year’s reunion”, Tommy pleaded.

“I think Johnny just scored in that locker room”, said Bobby with a deadpan expression.

A few seconds of silence followed, and then Jimmy raised his glass.

“To Johnny Lawrence”, he said in a solemn tone, “who just gave us all a lesson in how to do
school reunions the right way. Now I remember why he was my idol back in the eighties.”

“To Johnny”, repeated the others.

“You know, I did that once with Patty McDonald”, said Dutch in a nostalgic tone.

“No way! You’re making that up.”

“At the homecoming dance, senior year. She arrived with her boyfriend… and left with me.”

“Right, she was dating that guy from the debate club! I remember they had a huge screaming
match the week after the dance, right in the middle of the hallway.”

Dutch flashed a proud smile, while his friends rolled their eyes.

“Dude, you’re a dog.”

“Not anymore… but those were good times, man. And there’s no shame in reminiscing. I mean,
you two are married now, and Johnny is a lost case too, but maybe Tommy and I should go out one
night, see if we still got it”, he joked.

Tommy gave his friend a pat on the back.

“Sorry, old pal… too late, you’re going to have to do that alone. I’m seeing someone.”

“Hey, that’s great news!” said Jimmy.

“Yeah, well… last year my sons said I should go out more. I had some doubts at first… out of
respect for them, and for their mother’s memory. But then I met this woman… she’s great, and the
boys love her; Oscar even told me to invite her to his wedding.”

“That sounds too good to be true… Did you meet her on one of those dating apps?” asked Dutch
with a laugh. “I bet she’s not even real.”

“No, lunkhead, we met at church”, Tommy answered, throwing a mock punch towards his friend.
“Her name is Diane, she’s a widow too, we’re going steady… and I’m not telling you anything
else.”

“Is she hot?” Dutch insisted.

“You’re never going to meet her! I lost two girls to you while we were in high school… I’m not
making the same mistake again.”
Before Dutch could keep pestering Tommy about the woman he was seeing, Barbara and Dawn
came back.

“Sorry to leave you alone, boys… Susan had a lot of fun things to tell. Living abroad is an endless
source of anecdotes”, said Barbara, reaching for her husband’s hand. “What did we miss, honey?”

The boys exchanged a glance, silently debating if they should spill the beans about Johnny’s
supposed activities.

“Oh, nothing. Tommy was just telling us that he’s about to get hitched again”, answered Bobby.
“And Dutch has been offering his services as a marriage officiant to everybody within reach.”

While this exchange took place, Kate stood on the side of the room, observing the dancing couples.
She had wanted to leave Johnny and his friends alone for a while, give him some space to crack
some crass jokes and reminisce about the hundreds of girls he had dated in high school. After all, it
was his reunion. She had thought of joining Barbara and Dawn, of course… but the possibility of
Ali inserting herself into the conversation was too dangerous, so in the end she headed for the
ladies’ room to check the state of her makeup.

Distracted by the music and lost in her thoughts, she opened the restroom door… and stopped dead
in her tracks, because the woman she had been trying to avoid all night was standing in front of the
mirror. And she was as perfectly tall, blonde, beautiful and unnerving up close as she had been
from a safe distance.

“Oh! Hi”, she said, trying not to sound too bewildered. “Sorry, you startled me.”

“Hi! Isn’t the party wonderful?” asked Ali.

“It’s not my reunion, I’m just a plus one, but… yes, it’s great. Your classmates have good taste in
music.”

“Eighties music is the best, right?” The woman flashed a supermodel smile, and extended a
friendly hand. “I’m Ali.”

“Kate.”

The handshake lasted for just a second, during which Kate wished she could become invisible. Or
teleport to somewhere else. Or just read minds.

“I love your dress, Kate. Is it Diane Von Furstenberg?”

Kate blinked. A conversation about fashion was the last thing she’d expected to hear from
Johnny’s former girlfriend… in fact, she’d been bracing herself for a laundry list of his past
misdeeds. Some snide comment or other, too, maybe even an impertinent question. Anything but a
friendly and harmless attempt at praise. But Ali wasn’t showing any signs of having recognized
her… which was a relief.

“Ah… yes, it is. And if we’re playing ‘guess the designer’, yours must be Ralph Lauren. Very
elegant.”

“Thank you! I’m trying to impress the ex-mean girls in my class. I was a bit of a tomboy in high
school. My mother bought me cute dresses every now and then, but I was always more comfortable
in jeans, or shorts.”
“And what’s the verdict on those ex-mean girls?” asked Kate, who had suffered her share of
dismissive looks from the popular girls back in her time.

“I just saw Kelly Reese and her former minions: she’s put on fifty pounds, and the others look like
they belong to the class of 1975 instead of 1985, so… well, I don’t want to be mean. But deep
down my fifteen-year-old self is very happy”, said Ali with a satisfied grin.

“Something like that happened at my own high school reunion, in Seattle”, Kate admitted. “In the
end I found out I didn’t really care about getting back to the mean girls… It’s best to live in the
present.”

“Seattle? That’s quite far away.”

“The climate in the North didn’t suit me. Los Angeles treats me better.”

There was a short silence while another party guest exited one of the stalls, washed her hands and
turned on the hand dryer. The whooshing noise made conversation impossible, and Kate started to
relax. Now she was almost sure Ali hadn’t recognized her as Johnny’s date; maybe she hadn’t even
realized Johnny was there… Maybe she was worrying over absolutely nothing.

At last, the other lady left. Kate pretended to check her hair in the mirror, while her not-exactly-
former-rival retouched her lipstick.

“Well, it’s been a fantastic party”, said the blonde woman. “But I should get going.”

“Oh… so soon?”

“My husband and I have to be on a plane back to Denver early tomorrow, Greg has a meeting at the
hospital that he can’t miss. And our children are old enough to look after themselves, but… we left
the dogs with his parents, and they can be a handful.”

“His parents, or the dogs?”

“I’m not sure which ones are worse”, Ali laughed.

“Well, then… I hope you have a good flight.”

“Thank you! Have fun.”

Ali walked towards the door; but before exiting the restroom she turned around. Kate was still
facing the mirror, and she made eye contact with the other woman’s reflection.

“Are you happy, Kate?” Ali asked in a soft whisper.

There it was, the acknowledgement. Ali didn’t even sound worried; there was just the right amount
of friendly curiosity in her voice, but Kate’s heart skipped a beat all the same.

And you thought she hadn’t recognized you. Brace yourself, girl, now is when the ugly stuff comes
out.

Kate closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again, and turned around.

“Happier than I’ve ever been”, she stated. It was the absolute truth, of course… but would the
other woman believe it? She had unconsciously moved into her standard power stance: feet apart,
chin up, slightly puffed-up chest. The same things she did in court when she stood in front of a
judge. But being judged in real life was a little bit different.
“I’m really glad to hear that.”

Something in Ali’s tone made Kate release the breath she’d been holding. All she could see in the
woman’s face was a genuinely kind smile.

“Thanks. It was nice meeting you”, she said softly.

“Nice to meet you too, Kate… I hope we’ll see each other again someday.”

Another supermodel smile, and Ali was finally gone. Kate opened the tap, letting the cool water
fall on her hands, and let out a long sigh.

Her knees waited until the door had closed to start shaking.

What Kate didn’t know was that Dr. Mills-Schwarber had been really curious to see her. What Kate
hadn’t noticed was the slight frown on the other woman’s face, or her relieved smile when she
exited the ladies’ room. Ali searched for her husband in the crowd; he was checking his watch,
probably calculating how many hours of sleep they could get before catching their flight at seven
in the morning.

Ali looked at him fondly; then she turned on her heels and looked for the other person she wanted
to see, who just happened to be at the bar getting a beer.

With determined steps she walked towards the bar, and tapped the man on the shoulder. He turned
around, probably expecting someone else… no, definitely expecting someone else, because he
almost recoiled when he saw her.

“Hi, Ali”, he said, in a surprised tone that he tried very hard to conceal.

“Hi, Johnny. I just wanted to give you a hug before I leave. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, I… you look really nice. Don’t you want to come and say hi to the old boys?”

She looked in the direction of the other Cobras, and waved at them.

“No, it’s fine. I already had a chat with Susan and Barbara… and it’s getting late. But I’m glad to
see you’re well. By the way, I just met Kate a moment ago, so now I’m completely sure you’re in
good hands.”

There was a quick flash of panic in Johnny’s eyes, and he made a mental note to look for Kate as
soon as possible.

“Yeah, I… she’s fantastic”, he said, blushing slightly.

“I’ll call you the next time Greg and I come to California… maybe we can get dinner together, the
four of us.”

“I’d like that”, Johnny said, and he realized he really meant it.

Gathering all his courage, he looked into Alli’s blue eyes. There was no anger this time, no furious
tears like when she had broken up with him the Summer before senior year. No, this time it felt
right to say it.

“Goodbye, Ali.”
“Goodbye, Johnny.”

She gave him a quick hug and walked away. Johnny watched her leave, feeling more at peace than
he had in years. Forgetting his beer on a nearby table, he walked towards the dj’s booth and tried to
make himself heard above all the noise.

He’d just thought of another song that reminded him of Kate.

Amanda LaRusso couldn’t stop smiling.

She was aware that her cheeks were flushed and her hair was probably a mess… but she just didn’t
care about any of those things. Daniel had gone to say hi to some old colleagues, virtually
kidnapped by a man called Freddy who apparently knew all his karate titles by heart; Amanda was
kind of happy for the diversion… in fact, she was so blissfully distracted that she almost didn’t see
Kate passing right next to her.

“Hi again.”

“Kate! Oh, I’m glad to see you! I wanted to thank you for…” Amanda interrupted herself, noticing
that her friend had an absent look in her eyes. “Are you all right? You look like you've seen a
ghost.”

“Yes. The ghost is leaving.”

“What?”

“Nevermind. I just… I feel like I’ve been given some kind of blessing. One that I didn’t exactly ask
for. But it doesn’t matter”, she said, shaking her head. “I believe you were about to thank me for
something? What did I do?”

“I followed your advice and took Daniel under the bleachers”, said Amanda, blushing. “He won’t
be thinking of other women anytime soon.”

Kate raised an eyebrow, looking at her friend from head to toe.

“Oh, that must have been really fun… you have grass stains on your knees.”

“What? Oh, my God!”

Amanda yelped, checking her clothes (and herself) for the nonexistent stain.

“There’s nothing on my knees! Or anywhere else.”

“No, but I made you look”, said Kate, pressing her lips together to avoid laughing.

“You know, Kate… I think your boyfriend’s totally tasteless sense of humor is starting to rub off
on you.”

“Sorry, it was too good to let it pass. You should have seen the face you just made, Amanda.
Anyway, I need to go back to Johnny… tasteless or not, this is his party. Hey, why don’t we have
lunch next week? It’s a shame that my office and your dealership are so close and we never see
each other.”

“You’re absolutely right. How about Tuesday? We can try that new Italian place on the
Boulevard.”

“Tuesday is perfect. I’ll call you.”

“Splendid. And thanks again for the advice… tonight I felt like a cheerleader again.”

A few hours later, Kate climbed the stairs of South Seas with her pumps in her hand, and with her
boyfriend trailing behind her. Once inside, she led the way towards the bedroom and left her shoes
on the floor… But, instead of joining her, Johnny stood at the bedroom door, leaning on the door
frame.

“Do I have to invite you in, like a vampire?” she asked.

“You’re very beautiful.”

Kate retraced her steps and put her arms around him.

“And you’re a bit drunk.”

“Tomorrow morning I’ll be sober… but you’ll still be beautiful”, he whispered in her ear. “Was the
party good for you?”

“Wonderful. I’m glad I could meet all your old friends.”

“They really liked you. We’re having dinner with Bobby and Barb next week… and Jimmy said
something about his wife and a piano concert. I hope we don’t have to go to that one”, he groaned.

“Sorry to disappoint you, I already promised Dawn we’ll be there. Don’t worry, you can make her
come to the Under-14 tournament in December as revenge… she’s not a huge fan of martial arts.”

Johnny let out a contented sigh and started nuzzling Kate’s neck, while his hand searched for the
zipper on her dress.

“It wouldn’t have been the same with you”, he whispered. when he didn’t hear an answer from
Kate, he took a step back and stared at her suddenly serious face. “Everything okay, babe?”

“Tonight, at the party, someone asked me if I was happy.”

“And what did you say?”

“The truth. That I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

Johnny didn’t say anything else. He just closed the bedroom door and turned off the lights.
 Bonding
Chapter Summary

Shiro is a little worried about his sister. Robby pays an unexpected visit to his Dad,
while Hawk wanders into murky waters.

Chapter Notes

I'm back after a Summer fanfiction hiatus (reading and writing). I hope to go back to
normal updating schedule soon.

Trigger warning: use of homophobic slang.

CHAPTER 34. BONDING

“Shiro! Where are you?”

The boy took off his headphones and listened to the sound of someone running up the stairs. He
smiled to himself; Keiko had always been unable to move around the house in silence.

He opened his bedroom door to find his sister outside, with her phone in her hand.

“Good morning, sis.”

“Hey, the girls and I are going to Topanga Beach today”, she said, barging into the room. “Aisha
says Demetri and Sam are coming too, so I thought maybe you’d like to come with us… I know
you don’t like being in the sun, but it can be fun.”

“You also thought it would be convenient to have your brother drive you there”, he said, raising an
eyebrow.

“Aisha’s car is full, and I hate taking the bus… but that’s not why I’m asking you, Shiro. You and
Sam are good friends, right? I’m sure she’ll like to see you.”

The boy pointed at his desk. There was a pile of textbooks on it.

“I don’t know, Keiko. School starts in a week, I was going to stay home today and—”

“Are you seriously thinking of studying before school starts?” she asked, indignant. “Come on,
nobody does that!”

“Fine, fine! I’ll go with you”, he said, dropping the book he had just picked up.

“Great! By the way… I suspect Sam’s got a little crush on you, brother dear. Maybe you should
tell her that your only interest in her is platonic… you know, break it to her gently.”
Shiro stood up and looked at his sister, smiling.

“Sam knows.”

“Oh? Since when?”

“A few weeks ago, the night we went to the Lakers game.”

Keiko whistled. “Wow! I mean… good for you. It’s not fair that you can’t be yourself with your
friends.”

“Remember what we talked about”, he said with a slight frown. “Nobody else can know until I
leave for college… not even our other friends. And especially not Mom and Dad.”

“Of course! You’ll come out in your own time”, said Keiko, giving him a quick hug. “But it sucks
that you still have to wait a whole year.”

“I’ll be fine”, Shiro said, shaking his head. “By the way, is Robby coming to the beach too?”

“Not today, he has to work at the dealership”, she answered.

“Pity, I wanted to have a little talk with him.”

Keiko looked at her brother suspiciously.

“Don’t you dare scaring him away, Shiro! Robby is your friend too… and you’re my brother, not
my parent, so I don’t see the point of that ‘little talk’.

“Now that you bring it up… when are Mom and Dad going to meet your boyfriend?”

“I was thinking next week, when they come back from New York”, answered the girl. “And you
better help me a little, they’re not going to like him very much unless you sing his praises out loud.
You know they’re going to give me flack because he’s not Japanese.”

“I’m afraid we’re both bound to disappoint our parents with our love life”, Shiro said, serious. “It’s
silly of them to expect us to marry Japanese-American people, this is the 21st century… But I’m
still not one hundred per cent sure Robby is the right person for you, Asian or not.”

“You can’t be serious. He’s a Miyagi-Do, like you! That’s like wearing a t-shirt that says I’m a
goody-two-shoes , in huge red letters.”

“I’m a little worried, Keiko… You’re barely old enough to date, and he’s almost seventeen!”

“Little more than a year of age difference. That’s nothing.”

“Look, I’m not saying Robby’s a bad guy, but… you know sometimes boys talk about things very
openly.”

“I know what locker room talk is. Girls do it too, you know.”

“Of course. But Robby has shared stories about some of his… past conquests with Demetri and
myself. And I don’t feel comfortable imagining you in some of the situations he’s described with
other girls.”

“Then turn your imagination off, brother dear. I’m not going to do anything stupid, I think you
know me well enough for that. Remember that if Robby tries doing something I don’t like, I can
knock him down… but I don’t think he will.”

“Didn’t things get heated, the other day at the park?”

“Nothing happened, okay? Nothing that you can’t see in any PG-13 movie. Look, can we stop
talking about this? Sorry, Shiro, but I’m not comfortable discussing these things with you… If you
suddenly got a boyfriend you can be sure I won’t start asking nosy questions about what you do in
bed with him.”

“I would not be getting in bed with anyone I’ve just met, you can be sure of that.” Shiro said, while
an intense blush covered his cheeks.

“Whatever you say, Nii-san.”

“Ah, I’m glad to see you still remember at least one Japanese word”, he said with a wide smile.
“Don’t worry, sis… I know you like Robby a lot, and I won’t do anything to make things weird
between you. But you have to admit that your relationship got a rocky start.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Would you be happier if he had politely asked me to the
homecoming dance? He doesn’t go to high school anymore, so that’s kind of impossible.”

“Another thing Mom and Dad are not going to love about him.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me”, she sighed. “I’m going to need all your help when I tell them, Shiro… so
if you have any other objections you better say them out loud now. I want to be ready.”

“They’re not objections, Keiko, I’m just… Look, I trust you. You put up an act and say you’re a
rebel, but deep down you have a good head on your shoulders. I’m asking you to be careful, that’s
all.”

“I’ll be a saint, with a golden halo and everything. Or is that angels?”, she laughed. “And now I’m
going to make us some sandwiches while you get ready. Avocado and turkey for you, right? With
a bit of sriracha on top?”

The boy gave his sister a wide smile.

“You do know me better than anyone.”

Later, much later that day, Hawk paced up and down the deserted children’s playground at Encino
Park. It was dinner time for the little kids, so of course there was no one around; he looked at the
time on his phone and kept walking around the place with his eyes fixed on the street, trying to
shake off the unpleasant sensation. A cold sweat was creeping up his back, something very much
like fear that refused to be rationalized… It wasn’t even dark, why should he be scared of a stupid
empty playground?

It’s not the place that scares you, a tiny voice warned inside his head. It’s the company.

He blinked twice, wishing the intrusive thoughts away, just when the sound of a car approached. A
nondescript black Chevy, with the license plate so covered in mud that it was impossible to make
out the numbers. There were two men inside, but he only recognized one of them; the other one, a
skinny dude with pierced eyebrows and a tattoo of a bloody knife on his neck, looked at Hawk
from head to toe.
“Are you the sparrow?” asked the tattooed man without moving from his seat.

“It’s Hawk.”

“Don’t tease the kid, he’s all right. What’s cracking, Hawk?” said the other man, who looked
marginally younger and nicer than his colleague.

“Hey, Rico. Who’s your friend?” the boy asked, trying his best to sound tough… and at the same
time harmless enough to avoid provoking the two men.

“This is Dax.”

“Dax? What, like Jadzia?”

Eli’s mouth formed the words before Hawk could filter them, and he instantly regretted it.

“Who the fuck is Jadzia?”

“Ah… nobody. A guy I knew once”, he stammered. Of course these two wouldn’t know anything
about Star Trek and that nerdy stuff. He shouldn’t be thinking about any nerdy stuff at all, but his
stupid brain couldn’t help making the reference. “Nevermind.”

“Cool”, answered Rico, opening the car door but not getting out. “Enough of the small talk, do you
have it?”

The boy pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Rico.

“Everything’s in there. Names, ages, hobbies and stuff. I put the boys on the front and the girls on
the back”, he explained. He also had arranged the names in alphabetical order, but he didn’t
mention it; for some reason he didn’t think thugs would appreciate good organizational skills.

The man looked through the list, while the scary looking Dax scoffed at the five names written on
the back.

“You have girls in there?”

“Doesn’t matter, the boss is not interested in the girls”, Rico said, and Hawk could hear the
derogatory tone in the word girls . “He only wants the best: that means you, the champion, and a
few others who have enough balls to do real karate. Not chicks, and especially not the dykes.”

Hawk bit his tongue. It left a bad taste in his mouth to hear someone call Grace and Sophie that…
but he put his hands in his pockets and remained silent. This was not the moment to argue about
offensive slurs, especially not with two dudes who looked straight out of a ‘gangs of L.A.’
documentary.

“Is that all?” he asked, his feet itching to run away from there.

“For now. Here’s your stuff”, Rico answered, handing Hawk a pile of DVDs.

The boy examined the titles quickly: Complete Shotokan Karate , Mastering Krav Maga , Ultimate
Martial Arts … a few of them looked pirated or homemade, with the titles (all related to fighting)
written in mismatched letters. He put the boxes in his backpack quickly, as if it was illegal
merchandise instead of harmless DVDs.

“And a little gift for your girlfriend”, added the man, throwing a small bag of weed into Hawk’s
hands. “I can get you stronger shit if you want.”
“Nah, I’m good”, answered the boy, trying not to think too much about the kind of ‘strong shit’
men like Rico could be dealing. “Thanks.”

He had already started to walk away, when the sharp sound of the car honk startled him.

“One last thing”, Rico said, matter-of-factly. “Lawrence’s girlfriend. Her daughter is in the dojo
too, right?”

“Rattler?” asked Hawk with a frown. “Yeah, she’s the last name on the list, but you just said you
weren’t interested in…”

“Is there a father somewhere?” Rico interrupted.

“No. She… she’s adopted. Why?”

The man didn’t even bother answering; he just made a dismissive hand motion while his friend
restarted the car.

Hawk stood frozen in place, trying to process the unexpected question, until the two men got out of
sight. Then he started walking away, and a few yards later the walk turned into a run. When he got
to his own car, parked at a safe distance, he was breathless… but not even the lack of air could
make him forget the sinking feeling in this stomach.

He threw the backpack in the passenger seat, fired up the engine, and disappeared down the road.

Robby got off the bus in Ventura Boulevard and hopped on his skateboard, shielding his eyes from
the sun.

It was late in the afternoon and still scorching hot. The streets of Reseda were almost deserted:
everybody who owned a pool was in it, and the rest of the neighborhood was probably spending
their Sunday sitting right next to the air conditioning or under the ceiling fan.

Robby yawned, a consequence of him struggling with boredom all day. He’d spent the morning at
the dealership, alone with a couple of mechanics, doing inventory of spare parts. It was one of the
most tedious tasks ever created, but he had powered through it without complaining. After work,
he found out Mr. and Mrs. LaRusso were at the country club, and Sam at the beach, so he had the
whole house for himself.

He hated having the house for himself.

During Robby’s childhood, he had been home alone too many times, when Shannon was out for
work (or for… well, not work ). It wasn’t hard to feel lonely in the huge LaRusso residence, so
he’d thought of of paying his Dad a surprise visit.

While he skated down the Boulevard, however, he almost had the impulse to turn around. He
hadn’t even called first, so maybe he was crossing the Valley for nothing… and, even if his Dad
was home, the day was probably going to end with both of them arguing. But he had made a
promise to visit more often, and he intended to keep it. Besides, a few nights before he’d caught a
bit of a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. LaRusso (despite all the recent changes in his life,
eavesdropping was still a habit for him); Mrs. LaRusso had said that Johnny was probably sore
about the fact that the boy was staying with them; Shannon had been in Texas for almost a month,
and nobody knew when she would come back. Mr. LaRusso had agreed with her, saying that
maybe they needed to find some excuse to bring Robby and Johnny together.
It was as if the world had collectively decided that his Dad wasn’t an asshole after all, so Robby
was a little more inclined to give him another chance. At least one.

He finally turned round the corner next to his Dad’s apartment building, and what he saw there
made him frown. Someone had put a patio table and a few battered chairs in the courtyard, under a
striped umbrella, as if they were trying to summon a nonexistent swimming pool. And sitting at the
table, immersed in a game of Battleship, was none other than Robby’s worst enemy.

The cheating jerk. The fucking reigning champion.

Robby sighed. As much as his instincts were telling him to put a fist in Diaz’s face, that was
against his Miyagi-Do training… however, it didn’t keep him from wondering what the other boy
was doing outside his Dad’s apartment.

The immediate answer was easy: babysitting. Miguel’s Battleship opponent was none other than
Rani, which meant that Kate was probably inside. Robby smiled to himself: he liked Kate, he was
really fond of Rani… and having them there was a good way to diffuse the tension with his Dad; if
the Lake Balboa excursion was any indicator, there would be no chance for conflict with Kate and
her kid there.

The only problem was, he had to go through his personal nemesis first. But at least one thing was
clear now: he wasn’t turning back, at least not because of Diaz. It only took him a couple of
seconds to come up with a good entrance line, so he hopped back on his skateboard and rolled into
the courtyard.

“Hey, look, it’s the Latin Mary Poppins! Let me guess… all the good babysitters in Reseda were
busy today.”

The other boy jumped up, obviously surprised, but not before a delighted squeal could be heard.

“Robby!” exclaimed the little girl, running towards him. “Are you coming to have dinner with us?”

The boy answered with a hug and a non-committal smile. He didn’t want to make any promises
until he knew if ‘us’ included a certain All Valley champion or not.

“I’m glad to see you, kiddo”, he said, ignoring Miguel’s incensed stare. “Is your Mom inside?”

“Yes, Mom and Sensei are making dinner.”

“Cool. Why don’t you go tell them I’m here? I don’t want to interrupt them while they’re busy
cooking.”

It was a lame excuse, but of course the girl didn’t question it, and she ran into the apartment
leaving the door open.

“Why are you here, Keene?”

Robby turned around to face a visibly irritated Miguel and grinned. It was clear that the two boys
got on each other’s nerves, but today he had the upper hand: Diaz wasn’t going to try anything in
front of so many witnesses, and Robby knew the element of surprise played in his favor.

“Congratulations! You just won a prize: stupidest question I’ve heard all week”, he said in an
insolent tone. “I don’t need your permission to visit my Dad.”

“Fine! Then get your ass inside and leave me alone.”

“What are you doing here anyway? No, don’t tell me… sucking up to my Dad, like always. Did he
promise that you would inherit his dojo if you babysat Rani?”

“For your information, I live next door… jerk.”

“Ah, that explains everything”, said Robby with a haughty grin. “He went to take out the trash one
day and found you in the garbage, right?”

Miguel clenched his fists and took a step forward.

“You’re lucky that Rattler is here or I’d make you eat those words, Keene”, he whispered under his
breath, trying not to be heard from the people inside.

“Yeah, you are lucky that you can hide behind a little girl.”

Miguel looked in the direction of Johnny’s apartment. Of all the moments and places to pick a
fight, this was probably the worst, with Sensei, Kate and little Rattler within earshot… so he took a
calming breath and turned towards Robby once again.

“Fine. I had to leave anyway… I’ve got a date. With a girl who has no idea who you are, so you
won’t be able to take this one away from me.”

“You mean that girl from the park hasn’t dumped you yet? Enjoy it while it lasts, dude.”

Choosing not to respond, Miguel peeked into the open door.

“Kate, Sensei! I’m leaving, okay?”

“Have fun, Miguel!” came a female voice from inside. “Thank you for watching Rani.”

Then his Sensei’s voice followed, almost immediately.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Diaz! And… yeah, don’t do what I would do either. You know
what I mean.”

Miguel’s cheeks went crimson, and he almost let out a nervous laughter before realizing that
Robby was staring at him. Stopping himself just in time, he gave the other boy a curt nod before
going into the apartment on the other side of the courtyard.

Robby saw him leave and shook his head, laughing. It was kind of funny that the ruthless All
Valley champion was a blushing virgin who wore Rick and Morty t-shirts and played Battleship
with an eight-year-old girl. He wondered if all the other Cobra Kai were like that in secret…
Maybe even his Dad had been like that once. It was an interesting thought, but he had no time to
dwell on it, so he picked up his board and went inside.

The scene he saw made him feel a pang of jealousy: Kate was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables
and putting them in a pot. Beside her, stirring the pot, was his Dad; Robby had never seen his Dad
make anything more complicated than a sandwich before, and this woman was making him cook.
Of his own free will, judging by the smile on his face. Meanwhile, Rani was sitting at the table,
busy with a coloring book.

The three of them looked like a family. And that hurt way more than Robby thought it would,
because he felt like an intruder.

He left the skateboard on the floor, and the noise made Kate and his Dad look up.
“Robby, hi!” said Kate, wiping her hands on a tea towel before giving him a quick hug. “Are you
staying for dinner? I hope you like curry chicken.”

“Ah… I like curry fries”, he said, confused. He didn’t have a lot of experience with exotic food.

“This is a little different. It’s a chicken and vegetable stew, with curry sauce, served with rice and
Naan bread”, she explained, pointing towards a basket full of pieces of flat bread. “Don’t worry, if
you don’t like it I’ll make you something else. Are you allergic to anything?”

Robby shook his head.

“Of course he isn’t!” answered Johnny before the boy could say anything. “Allergies are for
weaklings.”

“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it”, Kate laughed before going back to cooking.

“Hey, Robby”, said Johnny, mussing up his hair as if he was a little kid. “Thanks for coming… it’s
a nice surprise. How’s everything?”

“Hi, Dad. Everything’s great. You know, working and studying… like always.”

“Any news of your mother?”

“She should be back in a couple of days”, he said, shrugging. It was technically the truth, although
Shannon was terrible at keeping deadlines. Robby wanted to see her, but on the other hand he was
getting used to living with the LaRussos, and he knew he was going to miss them once he went
back home. But Johnny seemed relieved when he told him that his stay in Encino Hills was coming
to an end, so at least that way he would avoid a bigger conflict between him and Mr. LaRusso.

“I’m glad to hear that”, Johnny said. “Make sure that Texas farmer is treating her right, okay? Just
because the dude’s got money…”

“I know, Dad”, Robby interrupted. “Look, I’ve met the guy and he’s okay. Don’t worry.”

His Dad nodded, and the boy knew he was probably thinking of Grandmother Laura. Robby had
never met her… but in the course of his sixteen years of age he’d heard the story of her unhappy
marriage with Sid several times.

“So… how are things with Keiko?” Johnny asked, trying to change the topic.

“Fine”, he said, looking mildly embarrassed. “I mean, great.”

“That girl is fierce, you better behave or she’ll kick your ass.”

“Oh, I know. The other day we had a fight and broke up… and then we made up that same night.
It’s anything but boring.”

Another moment of silence, and this time Robby had no idea what was causing it. Breaking up with
a girl at his age was kind of normal, right? Especially in his situation, with both him and Keiko
having a strong temper, and belonging to rival dojos.

Johnny looked down and sighed. It seemed that, no matter how hard one tried to keep a kid from
making the same mistakes as the older generation, history had a wicked way of repeating itself. His
mind went back to the Spring of 1984. He and Ali had argued and broken up three… no, four
times. And he’d always managed to say he was sorry, and win her back. Always… until the one
time he didn’t.

“Careful with those breakups, son. You keep thinking you can fix things after a fight, until one day
she leaves… and it’s for good.”

Robby frowned, still confused… but Johnny’s tone was too serious, so he just nodded and repeated
once more that everything was fine with him and his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Kate was adding something to the pot, and a delicious smell spread across the room.
She saw Robby taking a furtive glance towards the kitchen, and handed him a small jar.

“That’s curry paste”, she explained while he took a whiff. “A bit strong, I’m only using a spoonful
or it could be too spicy.”

“What’s in it?” he asked. It smelled richer than curry fries, with a touch of smokiness.

“Turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, paprika… the list of ingredients is endless. There are
hundreds of varieties of curry only in India: then you have Thai curry, Japanese… it’s impossible to
know them all. I got this one from an Indian supermarket in Sherman Oaks.”

“Do you like curry, kiddo?” the boy asked Rani, who had stopped paying attention to her coloring
book.

“Yes!” she nodded with enthusiasm. “My favorite food are tacos, but curry is my second favorite. I
like chicken Korma like the one Mom’s making today… and I want to try Vindaloo, but Mom
won’t let me.”

“I won’t let you because you don’t have an iron-clad stomach, Rani,” answered Kate, keeping an
eye on the simmering stew. “It’s too spicy for you… it’s almost too spicy for anyone. You’ll try it
when you’re a bit older.”

The little girl shrugged and went back to her book, while Johnny opened one kitchen cabinet after
another, rummaging into them.

“Ah… Kate, all my plates are mismatched”, he said in an apologetic tone that Robby hadn’t heard
from him before.

“I’m sure they’re fine”, answered Kate. “Rani, sweetie… did you leave the Battleship game
outside?”

“Oops! Yes, Mom”, she said, jumping up and running towards the door while Johnny cleared up
the table. “I’ll go get it!”

Without being asked, Robby opened the cutlery drawer and helped Johnny set the table, while Rani
came back with the board game and put it away in the spare room. Setting the table had been
Anthony’s job at the LaRusso household until Robby’s arrival… then it had been assigned to him,
so he was familiar with the task. Once all the plates and glasses were in place, the boy looked
around him; Kate seemed busy in the kitchen, chopping herbs and tasting the rice, and Rani was
nowhere to be seen.

“Dad?” he started in a low voice.

“Yeah? Don’t tell me, I put the knives on the wrong side”, said Johnny, scratching his head.

Robby sighed. “The knives are fine. Dad… it’s probably not my place to say this, but I’m going to
say it anyway.”

Johnny crossed his arms and stared at his son, intrigued.

“Okay. Shoot.”

“Don’t screw this up, Dad.”

“What?”

Robby swallowed, trying to dislodge the knot in his throat.

“Don’t do something stupid and lose Kate like you lost Mom… because if you do you’ll break
Rani’s heart. And I know how she feels, because I’ve been exactly where she is now… I remember
being eight or nine years old, watching Mom go out with men and hoping that she would find the
perfect one, that he would be a Dad to me and we’d have the normal life all the other kids had.
Don’t give Rani that hope and then take it away. Please.”

He’d said it without pauses, almost without breathing; Johnny was clearly not expecting anything
like that, and it took him a couple of seconds to react.

Robby saw a hint of an angry flash in his father’s eyes, and for a second he regretted what he’d just
said. His Dad hated being told what to do… that was one of the Lawrence traits he’d inherited,
along with his natural ability for martial arts. But then he saw Johnny take a breath and clench his
fist for a moment. When he unclenched it, the anger had disappeared.

“Robby…”

“Forget it. I should mind my own business”, said the boy, taking a step back.

“No, wait. You’re right. Look at you, giving advice about chicks to your old man… I guess you’re
all grown up now”, Johnny whispered, observing his son’s face closely. “I’ve fucked things up
before… more than once. But I’m being careful now, okay? I’m not going to do anything stupid. I
promise.”

Robby nodded, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything because in that moment Rani came
back into the living room.

“Hey, Sensei, your plates are all different” she said, admiring the dinner table. “How fun! Mom,
can we buy plates of different colors too?”

Kate looked at the table, then at Rani, and smiled.

“I predict that our next trip to Ikea is going to be really interesting.”

“So, Robby… how’s that GED coming? It’s been a while since I graduated, but when I was in
college I tutored several high school students. If you need a hand, you only have to ask.”

Kate had focused on keeping the conversation running smoothly during dinner; that meant karate
was, of course, a banned topic. Rani had mentioned it once or twice, but the other three people in
the room always tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. The little girl saw the
situation between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do as nothing more than a friendly rivalry, and Kate
wanted her to keep believing that. Everybody wanted her to keep believing that, and Rani’s
presence had already thwarted several arguments between members of the two dojos, as if she was
an unexpected peace talisman.

Robby smiled and dug into his second serving of the peach cobbler Kate had made for dessert.

“I hadn’t studied this hard in my life”, he said, accepting also another scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“When I was at North Hills I always made fun of the nerds who had their nose in a book all day,
and now I’m becoming one of them.”

“Hey, the Lawrence men aren’t nerds”, Johnny intervened with a hearty laugh. “I had more than
decent grades in high school without touching a book. It’s natural intelligence.”

“Rani, don’t listen to that!” said Kate, pretending to cover her daughter’s ears. “It’s not possible for
most mortals to go through high school and not touch a book, no matter what your Sensei says.
Johnny, please… I come from a family of academics; that kind of talk is almost blasphemous.”

“Your Mom is right, Rattler”, Johnny admitted. “You keep studying hard, okay? That way you can
go to college and be whatever you want. And use words like ‘blasphemous’ when you grow up.”

“I want to be an architect”, announced the little girl with the unflappable conviction of her eight
years. “I’m going to draw and build pretty houses so all my friends can live in them. And then I’ll
build a new Cobra Kai dojo, with another floor on top, and a patio with trees in it.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow, surprised that Rani’s plan for the future included a now dojo.

“I’d like to see that.”

“I made a drawing, I have it at home but it’s not finished yet”, continued the girl. “You can see it
when it’s finished. Don’t worry, Sensei, it’s going to be great.”

“So… Kate , you said you came from a family of academics”, said Robby, following the unwritten
rule of no talking about karate or about the dojos. “How’s that?”

“My parents are college professors, both of them”, Kate explained. “They’re mostly retired now,
but every now and then they still give a lecture or publish an article.”

“My Granddad is a Philo… Philosophy teacher”, said Rani, struggling a little with the complicated
word. “I tried to read one of his books once but I didn’t understand it. He says he’ll give me my
first Philosophy book on my 12th birthday.”

“That’s really cool”, Robby answered, suspecting that he would have understood even less of her
grandfather’s book.

“And Nana Marianne is a historian. She teaches about things that happened many years ago. I like
History a lot.”

“I like it too, it’s fun”, said the boy.

“I don’t see my grandparents much, because they live in Seattle and that’s very far away”, Rani
continued. “Do your grandparents live here, Robby?”

“Ah… yes, but I only have one”, said the boy in a hesitating tone. He assumed that an eight-year-
old would be familiar with the concept of death, but he didn’t want to bring up Laura and ruin the
mood. As for Shannon’s parents… she never mentioned them, and the boy never asked. Out of
sight, out of mind.
“My grandfather Sid is very old and grumpy”, he continued, focusing on giving a satisfactory
answer to the kid. “He lives in Encino Hills, in a huge mansion with three floors and two swimming
pools. It’s so big that I got lost in it once when I was six.”

“Wow, two swimming pools!” the girl exclaimed. “Can I go see the mansion? Architects need to
see a lot of houses to get ideas.”

Robby hesitated for a moment.

“I… I could ask him, I guess. He likes being alone, but the other day I asked him if he’d like to
meet Keiko and he said…”

The boy stopped mid-sentence, with his mouth open, at the same time that Johnny’s head snapped
up. His blue eyes were full of questions that Robby didn’t feel like answering.

“What did your grandpa say?” Rani insisted, oblivious to the sudden tension.

“I don’t remember”, Robby answered quickly, now in a state of almost panic.

Fortunately for him, Kate had heard enough about Sid Weinberg to know it wouldn’t be fun for
anyone to keep talking about the old man.

“You know what we should do, Rani?"she said, thinking on her feet. “One day we can drive to
Encino Hills and see all the big mansions. You can take your sketchbook and make drawings of
your favorites. Would you like that?”

“That would be great, Mom!” the little girl nodded. “I’m going to need a new sketchbook, the one I
have now is almost full.”

Relieved to have been able to change the topic, Kate squeezed Johnny’s hand under the table.
Keeping the peace between the Lawrence boys was proving to be a little more difficult than she
had imagined.

When everybody had finished eating, Rani volunteered to tidy up and do the dishes… with Kate’s
help, of course. While mother and daughter were busy in the kitchen, Johnny made a sign to his
son to get outside with him, and they headed towards the courtyard. Robby, clearly uncomfortable
with the talk he was about to have, stood facing away from his father, with his gaze lost in the
distance.

Seeing that the boy was not going to be the first to speak, Johnny cleared his throat and started.

“So, you’ve been talking to Sid. And not telling me about it.”

He kept his voice low on purpose, but he couldn’t help showing a note of bitterness in it.

Robby covered his eyes with his hand and sighed.

“I went to see him last week.”

“Why? What did the old fart want from you?” Johnny growled.

“I’ve been visiting him every now and then, okay? Stop freaking out.”

Johnny started pacing up and down the patio in an attempt to calm himself.
“I’m not freaking out… I’m not angry with you, Robby. You’ve been making your own decisions
for a while and I can’t stop you from doing that. I just want to know how did that happen.”

“Sid called me a few months ago, the day after the tournament, to congratulate me… said he had
seen my picture on a local paper. He felt alone and wanted to talk, so I went to see him.”

“It’s his fault that he’s alone! Of course now that I don’t want his handouts anymore he goes after
you… Did he offer you money?”

“Yes, but I didn’t take it.”

“Good. Tell him we don’t need his charity.”

“Maybe you hate him, Dad… but he’s always been nice to me. I’m the closest thing he’s got to a
grandson, and he’s an old man now”, said Robby in a compassionate tone. “For what it’s worth,
every time he tries badmouthing you I stop him.”

“How considerate”, Johnny spat.

He sat on one of the garden chairs and lowered his head.

“Dad… the last couple of times I talked to Sid, he asked how you were doing”, the boy continued,
going to sit next to his father. “He’ll never admit it, but I think he’s proud that your dojo won the
tournament, and that you’re doing well.”

“That would be a first”, was the dejected answer.

“For fuck’s sake, Dad!” said Robby, rolling his eyes. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that
someone could be happy for you, that maybe he’s changed? Sid asked about Kate, too… he
seemed very interested in her.”

Johnny stood up again, alarmed.

“What did you tell him about her? What exactly did he ask?”

“Chill out, okay? Normal things… like where did she come from, and where she works. He said it
was good that she’s a lawyer because she’d keep you out of trouble.”

At last, Johnny’s face showed a tentative smile.

“She does keep me out of trouble… but that has shit to do with her job.” He took a deep breath and
put a hand on Robby’s shoulder. “I just want you to be yourself, okay? Don’t let that old jerk
control your life like he did mine. And now, let’s go back inside… we left the girls alone.”

Johnny’s phone rang just when he was about to cross the threshold, and Robby joined Kate and
Rani in the kitchen while he took the call. Less than a minute later, Johnny reappeared. His face
was pale, and he whispered something in Kate’s ear.

“Rani, sweetheart”, she said, “can you go to Miguel’s apartment and ask Mrs. Rosa if she would
like some peach cobbler? There are a lot of leftovers, we’ll take her some before we leave.”

The girl nodded and rushed outside, and Robby heard her knocking insistently on a nearby door.

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Robby asked, suspicious. “Why did Kate send Rani away?”

“Robby, the call I just got... it was bad news.”

The boy nodded, urging Johnny to go on.

“It was a doctor Verdon, from Encino Medical Hospital.” He hesitated for a moment, looked at
Robby and continued. “Sid has had a stroke. A massive one.”

“What? But… I saw him three days ago, and he was fine! What did the hospital say?”

“I’m sorry, Robby. The doctor said he’s in a coma… and they don’t expect him to wake up.”
 Eulogy
Chapter Summary

A dramatic event brings unexpected news, especially to Johnny and Robby, and makes
Kate think about the future.

Chapter Notes

It feels like I've got my writing mojo back, after a few months of feeling uneasy about
my abilities. The story is about to enter its final arc, and I always feel sad when the
ending is near (and, by 'near', I mean there's a dozen chapters left). This chapter was
kind of fun to write, and I hope it will be interesting to read, too.
Since I'm not American, and I'm not a lawyer, it's perfectly possible that I've gotten a
few things wrong, so I apologize in advance.
Special thanks to my Quiver ladies for all the suggestions they gave me for the
conversation between Shannon and Kate.

CHAPTER 35. EULOGY.

Kate smoothed the front of her jacket, more to calm herself than to get rid of any wrinkles. The suit
she was wearing wasn’t exactly her favorite, but the occasion required something formal. And
preferably black. Beside her, Johnny reached for her hand, and they walked together into the
funeral home.

They were early for the service, more than half an hour before the scheduled time… but Johnny
was in a weird mood that had also spread to Kate. No matter how bad the relationship with his
stepfather had been, losing Sid was like leaving behind another piece of his past.

The funeral home employee, a nice and efficient woman, let them to the room where the memorial
service was going to take place. After offering them a cup of coffee (that Kate accepted), the lady
kept greeting the guests with professional detachment. Only a handful of mourners had arrived, and
Kate wasn’t familiar with any of them. She finished her coffee and turned towards Johnny.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine”, he said in a somber tone. “Thanks for coming, babe… you didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense, of course I had to”, she answered, reaching up to straighten his tie. “I couldn’t leave
you alone in a moment like this.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed it in silence.

“By the way”, Kate continued. “Forgive me for asking, but… Shouldn’t there be a rabbi here? I
thought your stepfather was Jewish.”
“Yeah, in theory. But I never saw him set foot in a synagogue; the only God he believed in was
money.”

Fortunately, the next people to arrive were Bobby and Barbara Brown, and that finally got half a
smile out of Johnny.

“Sorry for your loss, old pal”, said Bobby, enveloping his friend in a bear hug. “I know you and
Sid never got along well, but…”

“Yeah”, Johnny shrugged. “He wasn’t all that bad, I guess. At least he made an effort to reconnect
with Robby lately… maybe he realized he was going to die alone.”

“If you two are free this evening, we could have dinner together”, Barbara intervened. “It will take
your mind off things.”

“That sounds great, Babs”, answered Johnny. “But don’t make me go anywhere fancy… I’ve had
this suit on for an hour and I already want to get out of it.”

“I have an idea”, said Bobby. “Let’s go to the Daglas Drive-In in Canoga Park; we went there all
the time in high school, remember?”

“What, the old burger joint? It’s still there?”

“We took the girls there last month”, Bobby nodded. “The food is as greasy and delicious as it was
thirty years ago, I could feel my arteries clogging just by smelling the curly fries. What do you say,
Kate? Do you feel curious about Johnny’s old favorite place?”

“Sounds like a great plan.”

As if on cue, Johnny looked at the door; his expression soured again, and it didn’t take a genius to
imagine why. Robby was there, looking uncomfortable in a black suit that was too big for him; he
had inherited from his Dad the tendency to struggle with his tie. Beside the boy stood a blond
woman, in a black dress that looked more appropriate for a night out than a funeral. And behind
them, the pair of guests that had made Johnny curse under his breath… none other than Daniel and
Amanda LaRusso.

“What the f… what’s he doing here?”

”Maybe Robby invited them; or maybe they wanted to come for moral support”, said Kate, trying
to keep her voice calm. “That man is Robby’s sensei, and Robby has been living under his roof for
weeks… there’s no harm in him coming here and paying his respects.”

“Yeah, I guess”, Johnny sighed. “The last thing I want today is to pick up a fight. I hope that twerp
behaves.”

Kate arched an eyebrow and let the insult slide, right in the moment when Jimmy and his wife
Dawn arrived. Seeing that Johnny was being comforted by his old friends, she crossed the room
towards Amanda, who was talking to one of the funeral home employees.

“Kate, hi!” she said, giving her a quick hug. “We sent some flowers yesterday, I was just making
sure they had arrived. How’s Johnny? And how are you?”

“He’s… more sulky than sad, I think. He never had the best of relationships with his stepfather, so
there are a lot of mixed feelings; you know he’s the strong and silent type, so it’s hard to know
how much this is really affecting him. As for me… well, I hate funerals, but I guess that’s normal.”
“I hate them too”, said Amanda with a sympathetic smile. “The last one we went to was Mr.
Miyagi’s… nine years ago. Daniel was so overwhelmed with grief that he almost got sick.”

“What was Mr. Miyagi like?” asked Kate, curious. “All I’ve heard of him is that he was some sort
of mysterious karate guru.”

“A deceitfully tiny old man”, said Amanda with a smile. “When things started getting serious
between Daniel and me, I was more scared of meeting him than Daniel’s Mom. He loved all of us
so much… it was devastating when he passed.”

“I guess he was one of those teachers that stay with you all your life, right…? Your husband was
lucky to have someone like that looking after him.”

“We were all lucky”, Amanda whispered, blinking back a tear. “I’ve been thinking or Mr. Miyagi a
lot this past year… wishing he was still here. One time, a few months ago, I caught myself praying
to him, as if he was a saint or something. Isn’t it silly?”

“That’s a beautiful way to remember him”, Kate said, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“Now I should go back to Johnny… and gather some courage to meet Robby’s Mom. Something
tells me it’s going to be really interesting.”

“I met Shannon the other day, she’s very nice.”

“Of course she’s nice… to you. But you’re the woman who welcomed her son into your home…
and I’m the new girlfriend. She has zero reasons to like me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true, Kate. Come on… who wouldn’t like you?”

“Stop sulking, honeybear! Who knows, maybe you’ll walk out of here today richer than the
LaRussos. Even richer than that swanky girlfriend of yours that you don’t want me to meet.”

Robby tried to look cheerful for his mother, but he only managed a fake smile.

“Mom, you’ve been back in town for just three days… What did you want me to do, bring Keiko to
the funeral? It’s not the greatest idea for a date; you’ll meet her soon, I promise.”

“I know, sweetie”, she said, tucking a rebel strand of Robby’s hair behind his ear. “It’s just that I
worry about you. I don’t want you to think that just because that girl has money you have to do
everything she says. And speaking of girlfriends, where is Miss Prissy Pants? Is she going to arrive
late, like the Queen of England?”

The boy rolled his eyes and stifled a sigh. It wasn’t the first time that day he did either of those
things.

“Kate is over there, Mom. And please, stop calling her that, she’s going to hear you!”

Shannon observed Kate from afar and wrinkled her nose.

“That’s her? In the black suit? Oh, you have to be kidding me.”

“I had dinner with her and Dad four days ago… of course it’s her.”

“So she’s older than me, uglier than me, and with smaller tits. Poor Johnny, what a downgrade.”
“Mom… please!” said Robby, trying not to roll his eyes again. “Kate is a very nice woman. Can’t
you wait until after you’ve met her to decide if you like her or not?”

“I’m only looking out for you, honeybear”, she pouted, wiping an imaginary smudge off the boy’s
cheek. “Evil stepmothers never look evil until after the wedding… although I don’t think your Dad
will end up marrying that one, so don’t get too fond of her.”

“Mom”, Robby warned in a deadpan voice, and this time it seemed to work.

“Fine, fine… let’s go say hi to Posh Spice. I may be from the wrong side of the tracks, but nobody
can say I don’t have manners.”

Shannon walked up to Johnny and Kate with determined steps, followed by a resigned Robby.

“Well, look what the cat brought in!” she said with a smile. “Johnny, so sorry for your loss… but
you weren’t talking to Sid lately, were you?”

“Not since I stopped accepting his handouts”, he answered dryly. “Hi, Shannon. Did you have fun
in Texas with your farmer?”

“Ranch owner. I’ll show you the pictures after, if you want.”

“No thanks, I’ll live.” He turned towards Robby and gave the boy a hug. “I’m sorry, son. I didn’t
get along with the old man, but I know he liked you.”

“Thanks, Dad. Yeah, he had his moments.”

“And you must be Kate”, Shannon continued, sporting her widest smile. “I was dying to meet you!
Robby talks wonders about you so often, I was also starting to get a little jealous.”

“Nice to meet you too, Shannon”, Kate said, shaking the other woman’s hand and ignoring the
visible tension in Johnny’s jaw. “I probably don’t deserve half of the good things Robby said about
me, but thank you.”

“So, how did you two meet? No, don’t tell me… Johnny couldn’t afford a lawyer and you were
assigned to him, right?” she said, amused with her own joke.

“Not exactly”, Kate answered while her smile froze. She didn’t want to start an argument in such
an occasion.

“Robby tells me you have a little girl, right? Is she here?” asked Shannon in the same lighthearted
tone.

“Yes, her name is Rani. I left her with my brother and my sister-in-law… a funeral is no place for
an eight year old.”

“Oh, of course. Children can be so exhausting sometimes! I’m so glad I had Robby young, I can’t
imagine having a little one again at my age… much less at your age.”

“Thank you”, Kate whispered, leaning closer to Johnny to keep him from reacting to Shannon’s
barbs. “So, were you and Mr. Weinberg close?”

“Oh, Sid was so good to us when Robby was a baby! People say he was a mean old man–”

“People say that because it’s exactly what he was”, Johnny interrupted.
“Well, I have nothing bad to say of him”, Shannon finished.

“Come on, he was as nasty to you as he was to me”, Johnny observed. “You’re only talking nice
now because you’re expecting to get the Encino Hills house.”

Shannon’s pout morphed into a frown.

“Well, he had no close relatives left; it wouldn’t be so strange if the house went to me… I mean to
Robby.”

“Yeah, right”, Johnny chuckled. “Keep dreaming, Shan.”

“I will, thankyouverymuch. If anyone here deserves a share of Sid’s money, after all we’ve gone
through, it’s Robby and me”, Shannon stated, with her head held high. “I’m going to see to the
LaRussos, after all they’re here as my guests. Again, nice to meet you Kate… Oh, I forgot to tell
you I love that suit; my boyfriend’s Mom wore one exactly like that to church last Sunday.”

Kate pressed her lips together and reached for Johnny’s hand. Fortunately, in that moment a man
about Johnny’s age approached the group and cut through the tension. His bushy grey beard and
tweed jacket gave him the look of an old scholar.

“Hey, Johnny”, he greeted. “Remember me? I’m Mark Goldman.”

“Mark! Yeah, it’s been decades… you’re Sid’s nephew from Portland, right?”

“Third cousin twice removed, actually”, the man clarified. “I hadn’t seen Uncle Sid in twenty-five
years… since he got angry at my parents and stopped talking to them. But I wanted to be here and
say goodbye, at least.”

Several more people had arrived. It wasn’t exactly a multitude, because the deceased had little
family and even fewer friends. Johnny noticed another distant cousin, or maybe niece, whose face
looked familiar, and a group of old men who had worked with Sid at Lorimar back in the day.

At last, the service started. It was short and formal, without any sentimentalism or religious tones.
Both Johnny and Robby had declined to speak, and after a few words from the funeral home
director the eulogy was delivered by an executive from Warner Bros. The man was probably
acquainted with Sid, but as the speech progressed everybody in the room heard more about Mr.
Weinberg’s professional career than about his character or his personal life.

“How sad”, Kate whispered to Dawn, who was sitting beside her.

“I was thinking the same thing”, said Jimmy’s wife. “To live all those years, make all that
money… and the only person willing to speak at his wake is a corporate man who probably had his
speech written by an intern.”

After the service ended, and before they made their way to the cemetery, an elderly man with an
old-fashioned moustache approached Johnny. He was thin and wiry, and for some reason he
reminded Kate of an old doctor in a Western film.

“Mr. Lawrence”, he said, shaking Johnny’s hand before handing him a business card. “Please
allow me to introduce myself… My name is Ezekiel Schwartz. I am… I was Mr. Weinberg’s
attorney, and also the executor of his will. I am deeply sorry for your loss, and… oh, yes. The
reading of the will is going to take place right after the burial, if you care to attend.”

“A reading?” Kate intervened. “California law only states that the will be filed with the Superior
Court… there’s no legal requirement to have a reading.”

“Ah, I see I am in the presence of a colleague in the legal profession”, observed the man with a
pleased smile, bowing slightly. “As the lady says, it’s not required; but it was Mr. Weinberg’s wish
that his last will and testament would be read in public, and that all his close acquaintances would
be invited. Now, if you will excuse me…”

Another stiff bow, and the pompous little man took his leave. Kate saw him talking to Shannon and
Robby, to Sid’s nephew, and to several other people. She opened her purse and reached for her
phone.

“I’m going to text Kevin and ask him if he can be present at the reading”, she told Johnny. “After
all, he’s your lawyer.”

“I wouldn’t bother”, he answered. “Sid probably did this to have the last laugh, I’m sure he didn’t
leave me anything.”

“In any case, it won’t do any harm to have Kevin drop by. And if your stepfather has made some
legacy in Robby’s favor, he can also give him some advice.”

“Good idea.”

The Eden Memorial Park cemetery was only a short ride away from the funeral home. Kate
shielded her eyes from the sun as she got out of Johnny’s car; she was used to attending burials in
Seattle, where the constant rain and the chilly wind gave a proper somber atmosphere to those
occasions. A burial under a blazing sun didn’t feel exactly right to her.

They walked in silence and waited for the others to arrive. Shannon was busy talking to one of the
Warner Bros. men, and Robby seized the opportunity to give his father a quick hug.

“You okay, Dad?”

“Yeah, fine. I’m sorry about the old jerk… especially now that you and him were getting along”,
Johnny said, observing his son’s sad eyes. “Hey, maybe you’ll still get something out of this. I bet
Sid left you one of his cars, or even the house.”

“Mom wants it”, Robby shrugged. “But if I’ve learned one thing living with the LaRussos is that
I’m not cut out to be an Encino kid, so I really hope we don’t get the house.”

Meanwhile, Kate was taking a little stroll, to give Johnny and his son some privacy; she didn’t
want to intrude in that conversation. Once Robby left she rejoined Johnny, this time with a
question.

“Is your mother buried here too? I don’t see a grave with her name.”

“No. She’s in Sacramento, with my father”, said Johnny with a bitter smile. “It was practically the
only thing she stated in her will; Sid tried to contest it, of course, but I put my foot down. It was the
last favor she asked of me… the last good thing I could do for her.”

“It was very brave of you to defend your mother’s wishes.”

“Yeah, he never forgave me for that. Anyway, I… I go to Sacramento every year on the
anniversary of her death. It’s in December, maybe this year you can come with me.”
“Of course”, she said, squeezing Johnny’s hand. “We’ll take her some flowers.”

The burial itself was mercifully short, mostly thanks to the absence of any religious elements.
Nobody cried, and the movie executives retreated in unison as soon as the gravestone was in place.

“Hey, Johnny”, said Jimmy, approaching him while they walked towards the parking lot. “You’re
still in for tonight at the Daglas Drive-In, right?”

“Of course, man. Pity that Tommy and Dutch can’t be here, we could have another badass Cobra
reunion.”

“I thought Dutch would come”, observed Bobby. “Sending people to the afterlife is part of his job
description, right?”

“He called me this morning”, Johnny explained. “He needed to be at a parole hearing or something
like that. And Tommy sent a text yesterday… he had to work too. But I’m glad you guys are here.”

The three men shared a hug before they went their separate ways.

“See you tonight, Johnny… bring an appetite!”

The group of people that met at the offices of Schwartz, Schwartz and Cohen, Attorneys at Law,
was significantly smaller than the number of mourners at the funeral home. Johnny recognized
Rhonda, Sid’s caretaker; there were two other women with him, probably the cook and the
housekeeper, and a stocky man who he identified as the gardener. Keeping a big mansion in Encino
Hills was a team effort. On the family side, the ever cheerful cousin Mark as there, of course,
accompanied by a couple in their forties; probably more cousins many times removed, Johnny
thought, but he couldn’t tell which one of them was the cousin and which the consort.

Just as they were being ushered to a conference room, Robby and Shannon arrived, still with
Daniel and Amanda in tow.

“Again here for moral support?” Johnny snickered. “If LaRusso paid his own son the same
attention he does to mine, he’d still make something good out of that couch potato of a kid.”

“Just ignore them”, said Kate. “They’re probably here to give Robby some advice… the reading is
open to the public, and in any case these things tend to be extremely boring. I’m guessing your
stepfather was not a discreet man if he was willing to organize this pantomime just to read a will.”

There were plenty of actors in the pantomime: the three partners of the firm, who seemed to
specialize in handling the wealth of the rich and famous residents of the Valley, offered everyone a
warm welcome. Just as the younger Mr. Schwartz (who looked like a clone of his father with a
smaller moustache) was about to speak, one more person arrived.

“Sorry about the time! Traffic was impossible today”, said the man. “Ah, you must be Mr.
Schwartz… Kevin McMichaels, we spoke on the phone a moment ago. I’m Mr. Lawrence’s
attorney.”

“Oh, of course”, answered the lawyer, who seemed to have inherited the pompous manners from
his father. “Please to take a seat. Mr. McMichaels. It’s always a pleasure to receive an estimated
colleague in our midst.”

Kevin suppressed a smile, winked at Kate, and went to introduce himself to the other two partners.
Meanwhile, Shannon approached Johnny, with her eyes set on the newcomer.

“You have better taste in lawyers than in girlfriends, Johnny”, she whispered, giving Kevin and his
dapper three piece suit an appreciative glance.

“And you’re barking up the wrong tree, Shan.”

She gasped and looked at Kevin, then at Johnny, and back at Kevin again.

“Really? What a pity.”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend in a farm somewhere?”

“It’s a ranch. And nobody can blame me for looking, right?”

Johnny sighed. “I guess not. But if you want a lawyer, you’ll have to get your own.”

Shannon opened her mouth to answer, but in that moment Sid’s lawyers beckoned everyone to sit
down. The two junior partners retired from the room, leaving only the older Mr. Schwartz and a
secretary in charge of the organization.

Fifteen minutes went by. Kate almost spaced out while the monotone voice of the elderly attorney
went through all the formalities of the event. She had attended dozens of readings since her Law
School days, and they were never as interesting as the Agatha Christie movies made them look.

It had certainly started in a very boring and mundane way. Johnny’s stepfather had left an annual
pension to his long-suffering nurse and his housekeeper, many legacies (some of them amounting
to thousands of dollars) to a long series of charities, and several smaller bequests to his other
employees. All his classic cars were donated to a museum, and the most exciting moment so far
had been the legacy of Sid’s golf clubs to one of his former Lorimar colleagues.

And then, without warning, the interesting part started.

“To Mr. Mark Goldman”, the lawyer recited, “the amount of ten thousand dollars… provided that
he shaves his beard at the moment of receiving his legacy.”

Everybody snapped to attention, and the beneficiary of the unusual bequest let out a hearty laugh.

“I was wondering when we were going to see Uncle Sid’s oddities, and here they are!” said the
man. “Trying to order people around from beyond the grave… that’s priceless.”

The old lawyer, not very pleased that the solemnity of the occasion had been disrupted, adjusted his
spectacles on top of his nose.

“Mr. Goldman, you do not have to decide right away if you accept the legacy, of course.”

“Oh, I’ll accept it. Uncle Sid always hated my beard, but it will grow again. And my wife will
easily forgive me if I go back to Portland with ten grand. We’ll even toast to the memory of the old
man.”

Mr. Schwartz let out a discreet cough and continued reading.

“To Mr. and Mrs. Arden, dear nephew and niece of Mr. Weinberg, a month long trip to Hawaii
with all expenses paid.”

Strangely, the couple in question didn’t bat a lash, and they even looked disgusted at the idea. Kate
had no idea why, until the ever-cheerful cousin Mark shed some light on the situation.

“The Ardens are about to get divorced”, he said to Johnny and Kate in a hushed tone. “They’ve
been separated for months, and now Sid sends them on vacation to a tropical paradise. This is
priceless.”

He didn’t have time to explain things further, because Schwartz started talking again.

“To Mr. Robby Keene, step-grandson of Mr. Weinberg…”

Several people turned towards the old man, expectant, while he unfolded a piece of paper and
adjusted his glasses again.

“Mr. Weinberg has established a trust for your college education, with a limit of three hundred
thousand dollars. However…”

He made a pause and gave a sharp look to Shannon, who had let out a high-pitched squeal.

“However, there are a few conditions to this bequest: Mr. Keene, you will need to enroll in one of
the colleges contained on the list enclosed, attend for four academic years, consecutive or not, and
get a degree before you turn twenty-five. In that moment, any amount that remains in the trust will
rightfully belong to you.”

He then produced another piece of paper and handed it to Robby, who read it in silence.

“What happens if I don’t get accepted into any of these places? Or if I flunk out after a year?”

“In that case the trust, or what remains of it, will go to a series of charities that Mr. Weinberg has
specified. Of course, all the expenses made against the trust will have to be approved by me, as the
executor of Mr. Weinberg’s will, to ensure that they will go towards your education and not to
other purposes.”

Robby studied the list again. He handed it to Kate, almost without thinking… and then realized his
mother was pursing her lips. The boy stifled a sigh; of all the adults in the room that he was
familiar with, only Kate and Amanda had a college degree, so it felt natural to ask one of them; but
of course that innocent gesture had offended Shannon.

“What do you make of this, Kate?” He asked, trying to ignore his mother’s miffed expression.

She read the list carefully and gave it back to Robby.

“Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford… Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that your grandfather
wanted to make sure you didn’t stray far from home: all twelve of these colleges are in California,
most of them in the Los Angeles area.”

“Damn, there goes my lifelong dream of going to Harvard”, Robby joked in a humorless voice.

“Who wants Harvard when you can go to Stanford, or CalTech?” Kate observed. “That’s a well-
thought list of schools with brilliant ratings; you’d be fine in any of them.”

“Yeah, that’s the other part of the problem… Getting accepted into one of those with my grades.
CalTech, really?”

“There’s no hurry, Robby. You’ll cross that river when you get to it”, Daniel intervened.

“Hey, if I managed to get into Stanford, you can do it too”, Johnny said, not wanting Daniel to
have the last word. “The important thing is that Sid left you enough dough for a good education.”

“No, Dad… the important thing is that he’s telling me what to do with my life.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

Trying to make sense of the situation, Kate turned towards Kevin.

“You haven’t said anything yet, so I’m guessing you agree with me in that this is actually a good
thing.”

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime”, her friend stated. “Kid, I’m only your Dad’s lawyer and you
have no reason to listen to me, but… most teenagers in America would kill for a trust fund like
yours that can send them to a good college without having to pay student loans until they’re forty.
Three hundred grand is more than enough to cover a degree, tuition, books, a dorm room… you
can even hire your own group of minions with that kind of money.”

“Yeah, thanks”, said the boy, not very enthusiastic.

“After the reading is over, I will give you and your mother the details of the trust in writing, Mr.
Keene”, continued Schwartz. “Since you are still of high school age, you will have plenty of time
to make a decision and take into consideration any, or all, the educational institutions that Mr.
Weinberg has approved. I agree with my estimated colleague that you are indeed a very lucky
young man.”

Robby nodded and put the list in his pocket, while the lawyer moved on to the next bequest.

“To Miss Shannon Marigold Keene, the–“

“I knew it!” she interrupted him. “Oh, I knew Sid would be good with us… didn’t I tell you,
Robby?”

“Mom, let Mr. Schwartz do his job”, he said, blushing a little when he saw his Mom’s bright smile
and twinkling eyes.

“To Miss Shannon Keene, Mr. Weinberg has bequeathed the contents of the package enclosed.”

“What?”

The bespectacled secretary, who hadn’t said a word or moved at all during the first part of the
reading, went to a nearby cupboard and placed a heavy cardboard box in front of a very surprised
Shannon.

“Hey, maybe it’s a model of the house”, Johnny joked.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Johnny, please… don’t be mean”, whispered Kate. “Just because it’s not a house, it doesn’t mean
it’s not something valuable.”

Shannon tore the cardboard box open. Inside, wrapped in brown paper, was a large mirror with a
thick silver frame. Johnny covered his mouth to avoid laughing, and Kate kicked him discreetly
under the table.

“How do you interpret that?” she whispered to Kevin.

“I’d say it’s a very creative way of calling someone vain and self-absorbed”, he answered in the
same quiet voice. “It’s also mightily ugly… but it looks like a real antique, so she may get a couple
thousand if she sells it. Definitely better than nothing.”

Robby’s mother didn’t seem to agree with Kevin’s optimism. She put the mirror back in the box,
left it on the floor, and crossed her arms with a deep frown on her face.

“Do you want to keep us here all day?” she said to Sid’s lawyer. “Just keep reading and get on with
the circus act!”

The old man raised an eyebrow, adjusted his spectacles for the hundredth time that day, and turned
a new page on the will. He wasn’t used to this kind of excitement, and Kate felt a little sorry for
him. The next bequest on the list was probably another one of the deceased man’s eccentric ideas,
because Mr. Schwartz cleared his throat twice before reading it.

“Get it over with, man”, Johnny encouraged. “I’m the only one left, and I’m sure Sid hasn’t left me
anything… I don’t want anything from him anyway, so whatever it says there you can save your
breath.”

“I am afraid it’s a bit more complicated than that, Mr. Lawrence. As you can see, there is one part
of Mr. Weinberg’s estate that has not been mentioned in the will yet.”

“Yeah, the Encino Hills house. I don’t want it.”

Kate put her hand on Johnny’s, and he finally let the man speak.

“Ah… Mr. Weinberg’s legacy on your favor consists of two parts. The first one is a lifetime
membership to the Encino Oaks Country Club.”

Johnny let out a laugh.

“You know, Schwartz… I’m going to accept that. If only to visit the club every now and then and
let those rich fucks see that all their money is not enough to keep me out.”

“I am myself a member of Encino Oaks, Mr. Lawrence, and I will be pleased to see you if we ever
meet there”, said the ever polite man. “Now, for your second bequest, Mr. Weinberg has left you
the amount of fifty thousand dollars.”

“You can take the cash out of the bank and bury it with him. I’ll sign whatever I have to sign, but I
won’t touch that money”, said Johnny before anyone else could speak.

“I’m sorry to say it’s not that simple, Mr. Lawrence. Your late stepfather also stipulated that the
Encino Hills house will be donated to the Leukemia Research Foundation…”

“About time the old man did something decent.”

“… but only if you accept the fifty thousand in its entirety. Should you refuse, the house will be
donated instead to Mr. Weinberg former company… Warner Bros. International Inc.”

Johnny covered his eyes with his hand.

“Wait a minute... What does one thing have to do with the other? Kevin, can he do that? Is that
legal?”

Kevin, who was sitting close to the old attorney, took a look at the text with a stern face.
“I’m sorry to say this is perfectly legal. Conditional legacies like this are unkind and unnecessary…
but not unlawful. According to the will, if you reject the money the Leukemia Foundation doesn’t
get the house. Simple as that.”

“And if I accept it, Sid wins”, Johnny said, darkly. “The last time we spoke I told him I would
never want his money again, that’s why he did this.”

A heavy silence fell over the room. Not even Shannon had a snarky remark, and Kevin waited a
few seconds before speaking again.

“Mr. Schwartz, my client will make a decision on the matter in a few days, and I’ll send you a
communication informing you of that decision”, he stated in a businesslike tone. “Now, if the
reading is finished…”

“I assure you, Mr. McMichaels, that no one in this room is older than me, more tired than me, or
more willing to go home”, said the old man in a weary tone. “Far from me to speak ill of the dead,
but… I have been practicing Law for almost fifty years, and I have never had a more difficult client
than the late Mr. Weinberg. However, there is still one bequest left, and I give you my word that
it’s the last one.”

“If he’s left me his collection of Eddie Fisher records, I swear I’ll set it on fire”, Johnny growled.

Mr. Schwartz stood up, with some difficulty, and opened the mysterious cupboard again. From
inside he drew another box; this one was white, decorated with a gold ribbon, and it seemed lighter
than the one Shannon had inherited. It also appeared to be something quite precious, because the
old man handled it with extreme care. Then he walked down the side of the conference table… and
deposited the box in front of Kate.

Johnny almost jumped from his seat.

“Look, if this is your idea of a joke…”

“I am entirely too old for jokes, Mr. Lawrence. I was entreated by Mr. Weinberg to deliver this last
bequest to Miss Katharine B. Williams, and that is exactly what I’m doing.”

While the man returned to his seat, Kate brushed her fingers over the lid of the box.

“Excuse me Mr. Schwartz… When was the will redacted?” she asked the lawyer. “A couple of
weeks ago Mr. Weinberg didn’t even know I existed.”

“Mr. Weinberg added the final stipulations to his will last week. It was all perfectly documented,
Miss Williams; you’re welcome to peruse the document, of course, and examine the witnesses’
signatures.”

“I think this is my fault”, Robby intervened, looking at Kate sheepishly across the table. “I didn’t
give it much importance when Sid started asking questions… he seemed really curious about you,
and I figured it wouldn’t do any harm. I just thought it was a good thing that he suddenly got an
interest in Dad’s life.”

“Now you know why… but don’t blame yourself, Robby, you were only being nice to him and
making conversation. Anyway, this is not making any noise, so I guess it’s not a bomb”, she joked,
trying to make light of the situation. “I better open it and solve the mystery.”

When she untied the ribbon and lifted the lid, all she saw was white. A carefully folded bundle of
pale fabric, with a small envelope on top that Kate put aside. Then she unfolded the bundle,
holding the soft fabric in her hands.

“Son of a bitch.”

Johnny’s curse and his pained expression made she see the light at last, and she laid the gown on
the table. It was indeed a wedding gown, in the simple and flowy style of the 1970s, and Kate’s
face went as pale as the pleated chiffon.

“Is this…?”

“Yeah. I was with my mother when she bought it… She said she didn’t want anybody else to see it
before the wedding. I remember the women at the bridal shop fussing over me and giving me
candy.” Johnny’s smile was almost happy as he recalled the memory, and Kate bit her lip to avoid
tearing up.

“There’s something else in there.”

The observation came from Shannon, whose sharp eyes had noticed the little box at the bottom of
the package. Kate was half-expecting what she found inside, but she had to suppress a gasp when
she opened it.

It was a ring, of course, with an oval of diamonds surrounding a blood red ruby as big as a pea.
Definitely vintage, and not exactly elegant… the kind of engagement ring a man with too much
money and not enough taste would buy.

Trying not to look at Johnny, Kate left the ring in the jewellery box again and opened the envelope
to find a handwritten note inside.

“That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing
new under the sun ”, she read in a clear voice. “This is from the Bible, isn’t it?”

“Ecclesiastes 1:9”, said Kevin swiftly. “My Grandma and I read the Bible together when I was
little. I remember that quote.”

“But what does it mean?” asked Amanda, who had been silent during almost all of the reading.

“It’s not just a quote… it’s a warning”, said Johnny, staring at the ominous piece of paper. “Or a
dare. Follow my mother’s footsteps and be as unhappy as she was, that’s what it means.”

His shaking voice almost made Kate shiver. Deliberately slowly, she grabbed the note and ripped
it into strips, then into small pieces. Finally, she walked towards the nearest bin and threw the
pieces in it before returning to her seat.

“And that’s what I think of Mr. Weinberg’s unsolicited advice”, she said, reaching for Johnny’s
hand. “I don’t need to tell you this, because you already know it, but… you’re not your stepfather.
And now, Mr. Schwartz, maybe this can be a good time to adjourn the meeting.”

It was a mercy to the old man, who looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. He delivered
some final instructions to his secretary, promised to contact the beneficiaries about the execution
of the will, and wished a good day to everybody before dismissing them.

Johnny didn’t say another word while Kate put the gown back in its box and replaced the ribbon;
he kept quiet all the way to the elevator. The LaRussos were already there, and Johnny sighed,
resigned to share the narrow space with them after doing his best to ignore Daniel all morning.
“Look, Johnny…”

“Shut it, LaRusso. I’m not in the mood”, he warned.

“I just want to say… I’m sorry. But at least Robby got something good out of it, right? He’s
definitely on his way to a good college.”

“To one of the colleges approved by Mr. Weinberg, and only those”, reminded Kate. “All his
legacies have conditions. All his gifts are poisoned.”

“Maybe he didn’t do it out of malice”, Amanda intervened, always hopeful.

“Of course he did! I bet he’s looking up and laughing right now”, said Kate between gritted teeth.

“Up?” asked Daniel, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you seriously think he’s in Heaven after what he’s done today? That’s very optimistic of you.”

“Come on, guys”, Daniel insisted. “The man left you fifty grand, Johnny; you can buy a bigger
dojo with that, or donate it to charity… or give it to Robby when he’s older. Money is money,
right? I’m sure your stepfather only wanted to–“

“My stepfather was a son of a bitch who hated my guts”, Johnny interrupted, “and now I’ll spend
the rest of my life knowing that the last thing he did was blackmailing me into accepting his
money. Are you happy now, LaRusso?”

Daniel let out a long sigh.

“From a professional point of view, no. You know I won’t be happy until Cobra Kai closes its
doors for good. Personally… Of course I’m sorry. Sounds like he was a complete bastard.”

Johnny raised his eyebrows, surprised. His old enemy always made a point to watch his language,
at least in public.

“Yeah, thanks for that. And thanks for looking after Robby… I see Shannon is back in town now,
so he’ll be out of your hair.”

“It’s been a treat having Robby with us for a while”, said Amanda in a conciliatory tone. “And, no
matter what happened between you and him before… that boy is really fond of you, Johnny.”

Mercifully, the elevator ride came to an end, so Johnny and Kate headed towards the car. Kate put
the box on the back seat and let out a long sigh.

“Johnny… do you mind if I leave the gown and the ring at your apartment? If I keep them at home
I know Rani is going to find the dress and play dress up with it; little girls and gowns attract each
other like magnets, and it would be a pity if it got spoiled.”

There were a couple of seconds of silence before he answered.

“Okay, but you don’t need excuses to ask me that”, he said with a weary smile. “I’ll keep them,
even if they belong to you now.”

“They’re rightfully yours… I don’t feel right keeping them. Especially that awful ring.”

“I bet Shannon would have been happy to get the ring. Show her something garish and expensive,
and she’s like a magpie. So… what did you think of her?”
“Well, she’s nice.”

“Nice? You’re a lousy liar, roller girl… Anyway, with a bit of luck she’ll move to Texas soon, so
we won’t be seeing much of her.”

“No, don’t say that. Shannon is not my favorite person, but she’s the mother of your son; and that’s
always going to be a link between you and her.”

And the one thing I won’t be able to do for you.

Kate kept the second part of that thought to herself. There was no point in wallowing in her misery;
she never had felt less of a woman for not being able to get pregnant, and it was too late to think of
it now… but still, it felt like Shannon was the winner in that department.

She shook her head to drive away the sad thoughts.

“I think I need a long hot shower after that reading… and I have to call my brother and ask how
Rani is behaving. She’s so excited about starting school next week that nobody can calm her down
these days.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed”, Johnny said with a grin. “The other day at the dojo I had to threaten to
change her nickname to Little Miss Chatty if she didn’t keep quiet. So… I’ll leave you at home and
pick you up at seven, okay? You still wanna go to the burger joint with Bobby and Jimmy and the
girls?”

“Oh, absolutely. After the morning we’ve had, screw healthy eating: I want the biggest, greasiest
burger they have over there. And lots of fries.”

“That’s my girl.”

Johnny kissed Kate on the lips and lingered close to her for a moment. Then he turned the key in
the ignition, switched on the radio, and accelerated down Encino Boulevard to the sound of an old
Guns N’ Roses song.
 Snakebite
Chapter Summary

Sam and Aisha have a conversation about matters of the heart. Johnny gets the visit he
had been dreading for months, and tries to find a way to tell Kate.

Chapter Notes

Warning: use of a homophobic slur.

This is the beginning of the final arc of this story, which means updates should come
more regularly now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to all of you
who are still with me after 36 chapters!

CHAPTER 36. SNAKEBITE

Johnny Lawrence had never been a morning person.

Even as a little child, his mother always had to wake him up every morning and nudge him gently
out of bed, with his blond hair sticking out in all directions and his mouth curled in an outraged
pout. Flash forward to his high school years, an alarm clock had replaced Laura’s soft voice,
because he thought it was undignified for a boy of fourteen to be woken up by Mommy. But he
still got up grumbling and went through the first hour of the day like a zombie, yawning his way
into the shower and ignoring the whole world until well after breakfast.

In his adulthood, neither the mounting years nor the growing amounts of alcohol in his system had
made mornings more attractive. However, since the rebirth of Cobra Kai it became a little easier
for him to wake up, knowing that he was working on something he loved… and that classes didn’t
start until the afternoon.

On this particular day, he turned off the alarm on his smartphone (Kate had finally persuaded him
to get rid of his ancient alarm clock) and jumped out of bed with a half smile on his lips. The only
low point of his morning was that he’d woken up alone: it was hard for Kate to juggle work, taking
care of Rani, and having time for dates… especially during the week. Things were easier on
weekends, because the little girl’s busy social life was full of sleepovers, play dates, and lots of
time spent with her godfathers, or with her uncle and aunt. Johnny was starting to think that, by the
end of the year, he could suggest a more permanent arrangement… but it was soon, too soon for
that. Maybe around Christmas, if everything went well, he would bring it up.

Meanwhile, all he had to do was let things run its course, and basically not fuck anything up.

With his mind full of plans for the future, he drove to the martial arts shop in Reseda Boulevard to
pick up some new equipment. He’d been tidying up the back room of the dojo, originally a storage
room, as he was anticipating the arrival of more students once school started. It was going to be a
challenge, especially the little kiddies class… if teenagers had gone soft in modern times, Johnny
didn’t even want to imagine the ordeal of teaching a group of bratty primary school boys and girls.
But he had already enlisted Aisha as an assistant teacher, so she would deal with most of the crying
and the temper tantrums. With a bit of luck, there would be one or two kids like Rattler… and the
next generation of Cobras would be in the works.

After a few hours of hard work, the back room looked almost presentable. The walls were painted,
the new mats (that he’d got on sale) covered most of the floor, and he had moved some of the
trophies to a newly installed shelf. The best ones were still on display in the main room, of course:
his two All Valley victories, recently joined by the one Miguel had won. They were the best
publicity for Cobra Kai, and the first thing people noticed when they came through the door.

The only trophy he kept at home, hidden inside a cupboard, was the second-place one Kreese had
brought with him the night of the All Valley. Even if it had been mended almost perfectly, in
Johnny’s mind it remained broken, and it put a knot in his stomach every time he saw it.

With a grunt, he finished hanging the new punching bag and willed the negative thoughts away.
He felt a pang of hunger, and checking the time he realized he had almost missed lunch. But he
wanted to surprise his students with the new training room, so he decided to keep working a little
longer. He wasn’t exactly expecting a full dojo that day. It was the last week of the school
holidays; most kids had suddenly realised that the long Summer was coming to an end, and they
wanted to make the most of it… which meant skipping karate class and wasting time in other
things.

The result of that was a number of recent desertions. Keiko Yashida was in Ohio, visiting relatives.
But she didn’t worry Johnny too much: the girl was head and shoulders ahead of most of the class,
and nothing would be lost if she was away for a week. Pride and Joy had gone hiking upstate (with
Grace’s parents, who had practically adopted their daughter’s girlfriend). Hawk had been a wild
card lately, being late for class or even missing it entirely some days; Johnny was a little worried
about this tendency to defy the rules, and he decided to have a serious talk with the mohawked boy
on the first possible occasion. A couple of other kids were in camp somewhere, and even little Bert
had been dragged against his will to a yoga retreat organized by his peacenik mother.

But, despite all the absences, he didn’t want to close the dojo.

The kids that remained needed the training anyway, and Johnny was already starting to plan ahead
and thinking of their next tournament. There was life after the All Valley for a dojo that played its
cards well, and he had already signed up Cobra Kai for a couple of minor competitions across the
Los Angeles county. He also needed to start considering the under-14 All Valley: Rattler, Bert, and
Tim were looking forward to it, and even if they had little chance of winning (Rattler was too
young, and the others not good enough), he was hoping that at least one of them got to the
semifinals.

Johnny had almost finished putting up a few more shelves, when he heard the door of the dojo
open. Making a mental note of putting some oil on the creaky hinges, he looked at the clock on the
wall and smirked. He knew who it was, of course: his overly dedicated star student was the only
one who usually dropped by the dojo hours before class was supposed to start. Johnny had hoped
that after Miguel hooked up with that Krunch girl he would pay less attention to karate and more to
other physical activities; but apparently the boy was being a perfect gentleman with her… and
taking out his sexual frustration on the dojo’s punching dummy.

Shaking his head, he raised his voice so that he could be heard from the other room.

“Diaz, for the last time: no extra training unless we’re close to a tournament, and the one in
Pasadena won’t be until October!”

There was no answer, no noise except the sound of the door closing again, so Johnny rambled on.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend, for fuck’s sake? Go make out with her! Or do something else… I did
better things than make out when I was your age, I hope I don’t have to spell it out for you. There’s
no shame in being a late bloomer, but do yourself a favor and try to get laid at least once before
your senior prom, you hear me? You’re a Cobra Kai, we still have a reputation to uphold.”

Silence again, and Johnny wondered why the usually talkative boy was so quiet. Maybe Miguel
had argued with his girlfriend, and he was in search of some advice? Johnny hoped that wasn’t the
case, because he wasn’t exactly an expert in the touchy-feely stuff… and he didn’t have much
advice to give besides ‘treat your girl right’, ‘use protection’, and ‘never forget her birthday’.

Only after the absence of sound lasted for a few more seconds Johnny started relying on his other
senses. He couldn’t hear anything, but there was something else… something in the air that made
his fists clench even before his mind had registered anything.

The room around him suddenly smelled like cigar smoke, and he had very good reasons for feeling
nauseous every time he noticed the burning scent.

Dropping the screwdriver on the floor, Johnny hurried to the entrance of the dojo.

“Well, hello, my boy”, said a voice he hoped to never hear again.

“What do you want this time, Kreese?”

“You owe me an answer, kid. I promised I’d come back when the time was right, didn’t I? I’ve
been keeping an eye on you; you’re making progress with the dojo, but I can’t say I agree with all
of it. Bringing girls into Cobra Kai is okay, chicks are tougher now… But the dykes? You need to
draw the line somewhere, Johnny.”

“And you need to mind your own fucking business.”

The older man smirked, took a long puff of his cigar, and walked straight into Johnny’s office.

“Come here. We have a couple of things to talk about.”

Johnny took a deep breath, looked at the door again, and followed his old Sensei into the office.

“Sam, sweetheart, isn’t that your friend Yasmine over there? You should go talk to her… come on,
it’s a splendid day and it’s not fair that you’re not having fun.”

Samantha looked at the blond girl in the distance and sighed.

“Yas and I are not that close anymore, Mom.”

“Oh, don’t tell me”, said Amanda, trying to sound cheerful. “Some drama over a boy, right? I lost a
couple of friendships in high school over that… some day you’ll learn that no boy in the world is
worth arguing with a good friend.”

Sam took another sip of her Shirley Temple and rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. Coming to
the beach club with her parents had been Daniel’s idea, because he wanted to do a bit of public
relations and try to bring some more kids into the dojo by singing the virtues of Miyagi-Do to their
parents. Sam had managed to avoid the club all Summer because that was where Yasmine, Kyler
and their gang hung out, but in the end she’d run out of excuses.

She had even called Shiro to ask if he could go to his pool, but the boy had gone to Cleveland for a
week, to see his grandparents. Moon was at a yoga retreat with her mother. And Aisha… the last
couple of times Sam had tried joining her and the Cobra girls she had felt like a weird third wheel,
so that was no use either.

It was a sign of desperation that she was actually considering talking to Yasmine; but fortunately
for her she was saved in the last second.

“Amanda, darling!” exclaimed a cheerful voice coming from the edge of the pool. “And Daniel,
too, what a surprise! I thought you two didn’t like the beach club anymore.”

The voice belonged to Aisha’s mom, and Amanda greeted her with her usual enthusiasm.

“Sandra! Oh, I know, it’s been ages. I’ve been swamped with work at the dealership lately, and
Daniel is so busy with his new dojo… you know, one thing leads to another; one day you blink and
the Summer is gone.”

“Absolutely”, said the other woman. “Speaking of dojos, it feels like the whole Valley is talking
about karate again, like when we were kids! I have to say it’s been a blessing for Aisha… one of
these days Isaiah and I are going to drop by her dojo and thank that Mr. Lawrence properly, he’s
doing wonders for our girl’s confidence.”

Daniel’s smile froze when he heard Sandra Robinson gushing about Johnny, and Amanda
maneuvered subtly to change the topic.

“Is Isaiah with you, Sandra? We can have lunch all together.”

“Oh, that’s a fantastic idea! My gorgeous man is at the bar, catching up with an old friend from the
NFL… and Aisha is around here somewhere. Sammy, darling, why don’t you go talk to her? I
asked her if she wanted to bring a couple of her Cobra Kai friends to the beach, but they were all
busy today.”

Seeing that Aisha’s mother was as clueless as Amanda when it came to the changing nature of
teenage friendships, Sam got up from her seat and started looking for her semi-estranged best
friend. She found her by the edge of the pool, lounging in the sun.

“Hey, Sam!” said Aisha when she spotted the other girl. “I had no idea you were here… what a
Summer we’re having! I can’t believe school starts next week already.”

“Yes, it went by fast, didn’t it? At least it hasn’t been too hot lately, although the weather channel
says there may be a storm tomorrow.”

Aisha paused for a second or two, and then pointed at the empty lounge chair beside her.

“Sit, please. And let’s try to find something to talk about that’s not the weather, we sound like a
pair of old ladies.”

“I think I’m out of ideas”, said Sam, letting herself fall on the chair without much enthusiasm.
“Talking about school is too depressing, I don’t feel like going back yet… and every time you and
discuss karate we end up arguing about our dojos.”

“We don’t have to agree on absolutely everything, Sam. We’re not eight years old anymore.”
“I know. It’s just… a couple of months ago we talked about this, and we decided we wouldn’t let
this silly karate rivalry get to our heads. But the last few times I’ve called you, or Moon, you’re
always busy with your Cobra Kai friends.”

“Come on, it’s not like that!” Aisha protested. “Well, in Moon’s case it is like that, because Hawk
is her boyfriend… and she’s so blind with love that she’s forgotten the ‘sisters before misters’
code. But me and the other Cobra Kai girls just hang out after class most days. You’re welcome to
join us anytime you want.”

“I have the feeling that your friends look down on me.”

Another pause. A waiter came by with a tray full of soft drinks and snacks, and the girls grabbed a
lemonade and a couple of appetizers.

“Is this because of Keiko?” asked Aisha, suddenly inspired. “You don’t like her, right?”

“I’m completely indifferent to her”, she said in the most neutral tone she could manage.

“Bullshit, Sam.”

“Fine, I don’t like her!” Sam finally admitted. “It’s not a crime… I don’t like the airs she puts on,
talking of all the karate trophies she won in Cleveland. Who cares about a few third rate
tournaments in some remote part of the Midwest?”

“Sam… you’re my oldest friend, and I love you”, said Aisha, with a mini quiche in her hand. “So,
in honor of the long years of our friendship, I’m going to call bullshit on you for the second time in
a row: the only reason you don’t like Keiko is because she’s with Keene. Now, look at me in the
eye and tell me I’m wrong.”

Sam looked at her friend in the eye… and let out a frustrated huff.

“Do you like Robby Keene?” Aisha asked, with a worried look on her face. “Is that it?”

“No!” said Sam in a firm tone. “I did like him, a little… I mean, before Demetri and Shiro joined
Miyagi-Do we spent a lot of time training together.”

“I see. And…?”

“I think Robby had feelings for me. Or at least that’s the impression I got. Then, when he moved
into my house, I was almost sure that…”

“That something was going to happen, right?” Aisha sat straight on her lounge chair and stared at
her friend, very serious. “Sam, if something had happened between you and Keene… would it have
been because you really liked him? Or just because he was cute, available, and conveniently there
all the time?”

“I don’t know”, Sam answered, looking a bit deflated. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore
because Robby is with Miss Thing now; Miguel is with that girl he met at Lake Balboa… and I’ve
spent the last two Saturday nights at home, folding laundry with my mother. I’m pathetic!”

Aisha raised an eyebrow.

“Wait a second… why are you bringing up Miguel now? Is this just about you losing the breakup,
or is there something else?”
“Losing? I don’t understand.”

“That’s ancient lore, Sam, I don’t make the rules. After a breakup happens, the first person to date
someone else wins; in your case, that was clearly a point for Diaz”, said Aisha, sipping her
lemonade. “But if you’re not pressed about that, it means you’re still thinking of Miguel. You
know it’s been months since you dumped him, right?”

“Four months and one week.”

“Aha! You’re counting the days”, said Aisha with a knowing smile. “This is not just about you
feeling lonely… you miss him! So much that you were ready to hook up with another boy just to
help you forget.”

A tear appeared in Sam’s eye, and she put on her sunglasses again to hide it.

“Oh, Sam…” Aisha continued, in a softer tone. “Do you realize how fucked up things would have
been if you had started dating Keene? He’s Sensei Lawrence’s son, your Dad would have freaked
out to death! Look, I’m not an expert in relationships, but even I know that’s not the right way to
get over someone.”

“Then what is the way, Aisha? I’m tired of feeling miserable over a boy who belongs to a dojo that
represents everything my dad hates. A boy who tried to hit Robby when he was drunk, and then
behaved like a total jerk at the tournament, and…”

Sam sighed in frustration, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

“You know Miguel is one of my best friends, right?” asked Aisha, while Sam nodded. “Good.
Because not long ago he asked me for advice about you. I told him what I thought was best for
him, and now I’m going to do the same for you, so… brace for impact, girl.”

“Fine”, grumbled Sam. “I’m all ears.”

“The million dollar question is: Do you think there can be any scenario in which you forgive
Miguel for what happened at the beach party? If the answer is no, then… you should move on;
forget about him once and for all, and not care about who he’s dating. School is about to start,
there will be lots of boys interested in you this year.”

“You can’t be sure of that.”

“Says the popular girl with blue eyes and a size four”, Aisha snickered. “You only have to bat your
lashes and the boys will fall at your feet, Sam… But you didn’t answer my question. Could you
ever forgive Miguel for what he did?”

Sam reflected on her answer for a moment.

“Everything was so messed up that day… I think I’ve already forgiven him.”

The obsequious waiter came back, and Aisha dismissed him with a smile and a wave of her hand.

“I wish I had some fantastic and magical advice to give you. But the only thing I can say is that
your timing is terrible! First, Mig was sulking and pining for you, and you wouldn’t give him the
time of day; now that he’s finally moved on, you realize you miss him and want him back. It’s like
a perpetual episode of Days of our Lives with you two… But Miguel is with Maria now, Sam. The
only decent thing you can do is wait for an opening, and try again if he ever breaks up with her.”
Samantha nodded and gave her friend a smile that looked more like a grimace. Aisha reached for
her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

“Come on, Sam, cheer up! Being single sucks sometimes, but it’s not the end of the world… I’m an
expert on that, I’ve been alone for sixteen years. Although it looks like my luck is changing.”

“Oh?” said Sam, perking up. “Is it anyone I know?”

“Remember those Krunch boys and girls who teamed up with us the day of the lake excursion?”

Aisha whipped up her phone and showed Sam a picture of a group of Cobra Kai and Krunch kids,
posing together after the softball match. She pointed to a tall Black boy with a cute smile.

“His name is DeShawn. Me and the girls ran into him and his friends the other day at the beach, we
exchanged numbers, and… we’re going on a date next Saturday.”

“That’s fantastic! He looks really nice. Hey, what are you going to wear? Do you need me to go
shopping with you?”

Aisha’s face lightened up.

“That would be great! I have absolutely no idea what to wear. And I need to think of a list of
conversation topics… you know, apart from karate. I don’t want to bore him to death.”

“You won’t need a list, I’m sure”, said Sam with newfound optimism, “but we can make one
anyway. Oh, Aisha… thanks for trusting me with this. There were many moments during the
Summer when it felt like we were drifting apart, and I hated it.”

“Yeah, I felt it too. But now we’re back to normal… except this time I’m the one with a hot date. It
feels so weird! Hey, maybe I can ask DeShawn if he’s got a friend for you; we could make it a
double date.”

The mirth in Sam’s eyes faded a little.

“I’m not sure that’s what I want right now… but thanks.”

“Come on, Sam, cheer up! Who knows, with a bit of luck Miguel and Maria will break up soon.
And we’ll have to think of a way to tell your Dad that you guys are back together… poor Miggy,
he’s going to need bodyguards. Or an ambulance.”

Sam started laughing… and then she stopped, alarmed.

“Oh, please, please, don’t tell Miguel any of this!”

“Who do you take me for, girl? Sisters before misters, remember?” Aisha said, patting her friend’s
arm. “Your secret is safe with me, I won’t breath a word to anyone.”

When the waiter came back a third time with more canapés, he saw the two girls giggling and
talking animatedly. With a smile, he turned around and continued with his job without bothering
them.

‘Hey, Sis! Karate class is off today, your man Lawrence seemed a little worse for wear. I brought
Rani home, she’s playing with Joel and Jaime. Let her stay the night, ok? The boys are going to
miss her a lot when school starts.’
Kate read her brother’s message again, and her slight frown morphed into a smile.

‘You do spoil her rotten, Hugh. Okay, she can sleep there tonight. I’ll call you at dinner.’

She put her phone back in her purse and hurried towards the exit of her office building. She wasn’t
terribly worried about Johnny’s health; he had probably caught one of those awful colds that
always struck when one didn’t expect them. But her experience told her that most men became big
whiny babies when they were sick, and Johnny could probably use some extra cuddles.

Half an hour later she was in Reseda, knocking on her boyfriend’s door with a bag full of groceries
in her arms, and trying to remember her mother’s recipe for chicken soup. But, when Johnny
opened the door, he didn’t look sick. He didn’t look exactly healthy either… his eyes were rimmed
with red, his gaze was lost in the distance, and there was a stain on his shirt that smelled like beer.

The source of the smell was on the counter: two bottles of Coors Banquet, one of them empty. The
second one hadn’t been opened yet, and Kate felt relieved. Whatever was on Johnny’s mind, him
stopping after just one beer was a moderately good sign.

“Johnny, what’s wrong? Hugh told me class had been cancelled because you weren’t feeling well,
and… why are you drinking alone? Is everything all right?”

He looked at the two beer bottles, and then back at Kate.

“Kate, babe, I was… I was going to drop by your place later. But now you’re here, so… yeah, I
better tell you.”

With hesitant steps he went to the living room and let himself fall on the couch, rubbing his eyes
with his hands. He looked like he was going to have a stroke, so Kate left the groceries in the
kitchen and hurried towards him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“Johnny… whatever has happened, it must have a solution, but I need you to talk to me. Is anyone
in trouble? Is it Robby?”

Johnny raised his head.

“Robby… nah, he’s fine, he texted me this morning.” He rested his blond head in his hands for a
moment. “I went to Cobra Kai early today… wanted to check on the new equipment and stuff…
we need it to train for the regional tournament in Pasadena.”

Seeing that her boyfriend was starting to ramble, Kate brushed his cheek with her fingertips to
make him look at her.

“Johnny, please, focus. Did something happen at the dojo?”

“John Kreese is back.”

He pronounced the words slowly, in a raspy voice, as if they were hurting his throat, and he saw
Kate’s shoulders tense when she heard the name.

“Okay”, she said, trying to sound calm. “Judging by your reaction, I imagine it wasn’t a social
visit.”

“He wants to come back to Cobra Kai… he said we’d make a good team.” Johnny also tried to
keep his nerves under control, but he couldn’t help noticing the alarmed expression in Kate’s eyes.
“He’s asking for a second chance, Kate… he’s got no family, no friends. Cobra Kai was his whole
life, and it’s been rough for him since he lost it.”

Kate sighed and rested her head on the back of the couch. She had heard many of Johnny’s stories
about his old Sensei… but listening to old tales was one thing, and witnessing Kreese’s influence
over his former student was a very different one. Even his voice sounded different, as if he didn’t
really believe the words he was saying.

“Johnny… this isn’t right”, she whispered, shaking her head. “I’m all for second chances, but that’s
the same man who tried to kill you.”

“He didn’t mean it. He was just trying to teach me a lesson.”

“A grown man trying to choke a seventeen-year-old boy is not a joke, Johnny. I have no idea how
you can even think of trusting him after what he did to you. And, while we’re at it… wasn’t he
dead?”

“That was a false rumor. He was out of the country for years, I’m not sure where.”

Johnny held Kate’s hand and pressed his forehead to hers.

“I know you’re worried, babe, but… I need to do this. Kreese is an old man now; he can’t do any
harm, to me or to the kids at the dojo. He doesn’t even want to teach! Just to be there as an
observer, to see how the new Cobra Kai works.”

“I’ll tell you how it works”, said Kate in a determined voice. “It works by not being a carbon copy
of the old one. It works because you’re teaching those children respect instead of fear. What right
does that man have to appear out of the blue, after all these years?”

“That’s another thing… he may have legal rights over the Cobra Kai name. You’re better at that
stuff than me, but he said something about a trademark when I saw him the night of the
tournament, and…”

“What?”

Johnny felt Kate flinch in his arms, at the same time he it dawned on him exactly how much he had
fucked up. She jumped to her feet in front of him, looking every inch as horrified, angry and
disappointed as he was feeling inside.

“You… you knew that man was alive? Since the day of the tournament?”

It hurt too much to answer, so he didn’t. Kate started pacing up and down the living room, her
voice shaking more and more every time she spoke.

“I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me. All these months you knew he could come back, and
you didn’t think of telling me?” she asked, blinking back a tear. “Johnny, that man is dangerous!”

“What do you want me to do, Kate? Tell Kreese that he’s not allowed in the dojo he helped build
forty years ago? That I’ve stolen his dream and kept it for myself?”

Johnny got up from the couch too, but he didn’t go near Kate. Realizing that he was starting to raise
his voice, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

“He’s living at a veterans shelter… he’s almost homeless. I saw him after the tournament, yes, but
I didn’t think he’d turn up again. I though he was just an old man reminiscing about the glory of
the old Cobra Kai, and that he’d go back to wherever he was hiding.”
Kate approached him again with slow steps, but Johnny didn’t move until she put a hand on his
arm.

“I understand that you feel indebted to him. But the truth is, you don’t owe him anything”, she said
in a soft voice. “This is about being responsible, Johnny… you have a duty of care to your
students, you need to make sure they don’t go through what you and the other Cobra boys endured
when that man was in charge. Look, we had a fight once when I tried to give you advice about the
dojo… but it won’t happen again. I don’t want a repeat of that argument, even if I don’t agree with
you letting that man into your life again. If you want to allow Kreese to come back and see how
you run the place, that’s your decision.”

Johnny slid an arm around Kate’s waist and smiled, relieved.

“Thanks, babe. You’ll see that there’s nothing to worry about, I’m going to–”

“But I won’t have my daughter learn what that man has to teach.”

Johnny froze, mid-way into a kiss.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m not going to allow Rani to be in the same room as him. Simple as that.”

“Are you really going to pull Rattler out of Cobra Kai? Over this?” he asked, letting out an outraged
huff. “I didn’t ask Kreese to come back.”

“I’m not saying you did; but he is back. You’ve made your decision, and I have to respect it. What
I don’t have to do is watch how that man turns my daughter into an insecure killing machine like
he did with you.”

During all his teenage years, Johnny had endured his share of hard stares from his opponents on
the karate mat. None of those had been colder and harsher than the one he was seeing now in
Kate’s eyes.

He lowered his head, frustrated.

“Look, there’s… there’s something else. Kreese said not to tell anyone, but… I’ve kept enough
things from you already.”

“That’s the most sensible thing you’ve said since I arrived”, she said in a testy voice. “What is it?
Is he a fugitive from justice or something? It wouldn’t surprise me much.”

“He’s dying, Kate.”

Seeing that the only reaction from his girlfriend was a mild expression of surprise and a
questioning stare, he continued.

“Kreese showed me some papers from a hospital in Reno. I don’t know shit about medical stuff,
but… I can understand the word terminal .”

“That sounds very convenient. He’s really pulling all the stops, isn’t he? The nostalgia, the veterans
shelter, the trademark… which, by the way, must have expired decades ago… and now he plays
the pity card.”

“Come on, Kate… you’re being cruel. It’s not like you to not have compassion of an old man.”
“I thought the third commandment of your dojo was no mercy .”

With those words Kate retreated to the kitchen, leaning on the counter in a position that Johnny
would have found sexy if it wasn’t for the cold anger in his girlfriend’s eyes. She reached for the
bottle of Coors, opened it, took a sip and made a face before handing it to Johnny.

“I thought you hated beer.”

“I hate it. But I felt like I needed a drink right now… clearly, I was wrong.”

Johnny’s body was also aching for the beer in his hand. He drank a quarter of the bottle and left it
on the counter again.

“Kate, I don’t want you to be mad at me. But everybody deserves a second chance, right? I got
mine with Cobra Kai… and with you. Kreese doesn’t have the power to hurt me anymore; he just
wants to spends his last months in the place that made him happy once.”

Kate let out a long sigh and grabbed the beer bottle again.

“Ew. It’s not even cold”, she said, frowning. “Look, Johnny, maybe it’s my lawyer cynicism, but
something doesn’t make sense here. The sob story is too perfect, too convincing. You keep saying
that man is harmless, but… didn’t you tell me that he got his dojo banned from the tournament?
What did he do that was so terrible to make the All Valley people forbid Cobra Kai from
competing forever?”

“That was after my friends and I left. I have no idea”, Johnny said, a bit relieved about the change
of topic. “Probably something like what he did to Bobby or to me in 1984… telling a kid to use an
illegal move.”

“Eli used an illegal move on your son and he was disqualified. A whole dojo doesn’t get banned
for life for just that.”

“The Committee people said something about another guy called Silver, but I’ve never heard of
him.”

“Well, someone must know. And if what Kreese did back then was really that bad… you should
know it too before you allow him in the dojo again.”

Johnny raised his hands in a gesture of defeat.

“Fine. I’m going to ask George; he’s a stuck-up jerk but I don’t mind talking to him if I have to.
Tomorrow morning I’ll give him a call and…”

“No”, interrupted Kate, with a stubborn look in her eyes. “Not George. There’s someone else who
knows what happened to get Cobra Kai banned… someone who, as a matter of fact, also has a right
to know that your old Sensei is alive and kicking.”

A light went off in Johnny’s brain, and he let out a loud groan.

“Babe, please… I already had to see LaRusso’s nitwit face at the funeral. And now you want me to
call him?”

Kate took a step towards Johnny. Her voice was soothing, but her face looked dead serious.

“I want you to call him, yes, and tell him to expect a visit from you tomorrow after work. These
things can’t be discussed on the phone… and it’s about time that you and him had an adult
conversation about one or two things.”

Johnny lowered his head like a chastised kid.

“Will you come with me?” he asked in a downcast tone.

Kate’s expression softened a little, and she caressed Johnny’s cheek.

“I just want you to get to the bottom of this, Johnny… and if knowing what that man Kreese did
back in the eighties can help us understand what he may want now, it’s important that you get all
the help you can… even if it’s from Daniel LaRusso.”

“You’re still going to keep Rattler from going to Cobra Kai?”

“Only until I know she will be safe. I’m sorry, Johnny… I know you’re fond of Rani and you love
having her in class, but I can’t allow her to be in danger.”

She peeked into Johnny’s eyes and realized the man looked exhausted: even the lines on his face
seemed longer and deeper. With a sigh, she pulled him into a hug, and Johnny embraced her a bit
tighter than usual.

“I’m sorry, babe.”

“I know.”

“So, how mad at me are you right now?” he asked, observing her face after a few moments.

“I… I don’t know how to put it into words. I’m too shocked and confused to be angry.”

A tear ran down Kate’s pale cheek, and Johnny wiped it with his thumb.

“I guess you won’t want to have dinner with me.”

She opened her eyes and shook her head.

“I’m not going to storm out of here in a fit of rage, Johnny. It wouldn’t do any good. But it hurts
that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth.”

With slow movements, she took off her shoes and sat on the couch again.

“As for dinner… Rani is staying at my brother’s tonight, and I guess I’ll have to eat at some point.
But I don’t feel like cooking, or going out. Can we get takeaway?”

“Sure!” said Johnny with a grin, hoping that food would improve Kate’s mood. “What do you
want?”

“Sushi.”

Johnny wrinkled his nose, but he took out his phone anyway. Kate’s curt answer was a not-so-
subtle way of punishing him, because Johnny hated even the sight of uncooked fish.

“I’ll call that Asian place on the Boulevard. Chicken noodles for me, and those awful raw fish bites
for you”, he said, trying to make her smile.

“Order the assorted nigiri tray for me. And, while we wait for the food, don’t forget that you have
another call to make”, she reminded him.

Johnny sat beside Kate, and ran his fingers through her hair.

“I’ll talk to that twerp every day for the rest of my life if you want me to, babe… but I hate seeing
you like this.”

“I’ll feel better when we know the whole truth about that man.”

Johnny planted a soft kiss on Kate’s forehead and dialed the number of the Asian restaurant. There
was a dreadful feeling in his stomach all of a sudden; and it had nothing to do with the idea of
eating sushi.
 Doghouse
Chapter Summary

Daniel unveils a secret from his past and tries to play shrink. Johnny makes a long-
awaited confession.

Chapter Notes

Warning: long chapter, as usual.

I'm a little bit behind schedule, but I still hope I'll be able to finish this story right
before Season 3 starts. Wish me luck!

CHAPTER 37. DOGHOUSE

Johnny stopped the car in front of the big house on Escalon Drive, turned off the ignition, and
sighed.

Next to him, Kate said nothing.

She had said a whole lotta nothing since he had closed the dojo after class, picked her up from the
office, and taken Rani to Hugh’s house. Johnny knew he deserved the silent treatment, of course,
for keeping the truth about Kreese’s return from her… but it still hurt to see her lips pressed in a
pouty line, without a single word for him. Nor a kiss, nor even the familiar brush of her fingertips
on the back of his hand like she used to do while he was driving. Johnny was a tactile person, and
having to sit so close to Kate without being able to touch her was something very much like
torture. He’d rather have her scream at him, bang doors, throw things; he’d gone through that kind
of fights before, with Shannon and with others, and he knew how to navigate those situations…
with a bit of luck, they usually ended with the contenders making up (and making out). But a
suddenly cold and sulky Kate was something he had no idea how to sort out.

At least he was making an effort to fix things, even if it meant having an awkward conversation
with Daniel LaRusso about the past. It was simple, in theory: man up, tell the truth about Kreese,
endure LaRusso’s snide comments (he was sure there would be more than one of those), and
apologize to Kate again. But something was telling him it wouldn’t be that simple… some nagging
thoughts about second chances and broken trust.

Johnny sighed again and put those thoughts aside: he was a man of action, and he had a problem to
solve. Seeing that Kate was already out of the car he opened his door, crossed the front garden, and
rang the bell without hesitation.

The LaRussos were expecting them. Less that two seconds after Johnny’s finger left the doorbell
button, Amanda opened the door with a friendly smile on her face.

“Johnny, Kate! I’m glad to see you. Please, come in.”

LaRusso was nowhere to be seen, and for a moment Johnny hoped he’d be busy at the dealership
and the talk would be postponed… But the sound of steps coming from the next room soon
destroyed that hope.

“Johnny”, was the dry greeting, that he answered with an equally curt nod. “Hi, Kate… glad to see
you .”

“Hello, Daniel”, she answered, making an effort to smile. “Nice house.”

“Thanks.”

Seeing that the pleasantries were giving way to an uncomfortable silence, Amanda led the party to
the living room and asked everybody to sit down. There was an overabundance of couches and
ottomans in the room, and Johnny took a seat right in front of his old nemesis.

“So, Johnny… you said on the phone it was important”, started Daniel in a suspicious tone. “Is this
about Robby?”

“Robby?” asked Johnny, whose thoughts were miles away from his son.

“Yeah. Now that he’s got a trust fund for college, you’re gonna tell me you don’t want him
working for me anymore. And that’s not fair, because…”

“It’s not that”, interrupted Kate, and Daniel suddenly noticed how upset she looked.

Johnny hid his face in his hands for a moment, stood up, and started pacing up and down the
room.

“Look, man, I don’t know how to tell you this…”

“Yeah, I can see that”, said Daniel in a mocking tone. “Still better with your fists than with words,
right?”

Johnny stopped dead in his tracks and clenched his fists, swallowing a curse word.

“John Kreese is alive.”

“What?”

Daniel jumped to his feet so fast that the room around him took a spin.

“He… he wants to come back to Cobra Kai”, continued Johnny, observing how Daniel’s face grew
paler by the second. “I said no, of course, but he insisted that he needs a second chance. He said
he’s been keeping an eye on the dojo since the tournament, and…”

“What?” Daniel repeated, in a squeaky voice that would have been funny if he didn’t look so
furious. “Are you telling me that maniac has been around for months, and you kept it a secret?”

“Yeah, because it was none of your fucking busi–”

Whack.

The fist that connected with Johnny’s cheek moved so fast that he didn’t have time to block it. He
stumbled back while Kate and Amanda jumped between the two men to break the impending fight,
like a pair of referees.
“Daniel, what are you doing?” cried Amanda, horrified at the thought of her husband hitting a
guest in her house.

Kate didn’t bother with long speeches. She stood in front of Johnny, put a hand on his chest, and
said only one word.

“Please.”

“Okay, you two, calm down”, Amanda continued, trying to keep her voice at a civilized volume,
while Kate nudged her boyfriend back to the couch. “I’m going to the kitchen to get some ice, and
if you start fighting again, I swear to God…”

The wrath in her eyes was enough to make the two men recoil and sit in silence until she came back
with a couple of ice cubes wrapped in a napkin. She handed them to Kate and stood in the middle
of the living room with her arms crossed.

“Now, Daniel, can you explain to me what just happened?”

“Yeah, what’s your problem, LaRusso?” asked Johnny, while Kate pressed the ice against his
cheekbone. It was red already, and it would probably result in a shiner the following day. “I get
that you’re not Kreese’s biggest fan, but that’s no reason to crap your pants just because he’s
alive.”

“I wasn’t crapping my… I have my reasons, okay?” answered the other man, still visibly agitated.
He started fidgeting with his hands, rubbing his fingers over his reddened knuckles. Then he
narrowed his eyes and stared at Johnny. “You knew it all along, right? That he wasn’t dead.”

“I didn’t know shit! I hadn’t seen him since… since that night in the parking lot of the Arena”, said
Johnny in a subdued tone. “Someone told me he’d died, I don’t remember who or when. And the
dojo was closed anyway.”

Daniel drew a shaky breath and rested his head in his hands.

“I wish Kreese had disappeared from my life the night of the ’84 All Valley, too… But the truth is,
he didn’t. And that’s an episode of my past that I don’t enjoy remembering.”

He didn’t sound angry anymore, but there was a bitterness in his tone that surprised the others,
Amanda included.

“Daniel… can you tell us about it, please?” Kate asked, exchanging a worried look with Amanda.

He stood up, nodding, and squeezed his wife’s hand for a moment.

“I need to get something from the attic, honey… I’ll be right back.”

Amanda went to the kitchen to get some water while Daniel disappeared upstairs, leaving Johnny
and Kate alone in the living room.

“Do you have any idea what he’s talking about? she asked, not knowing what to make of Daniel’s
sudden mood change.

“Damned if I know. It has to be something about the 1985 tournament, that’s when Kreese was
banned… But something so bad for LaRusso to get his panties in a twist like that? Maybe it’s just
him being paranoid”, said Johnny, holding the ice close to his cheek again.
Soon, Amanda came back with a pitcher of water and four glasses, and there was an awkward
silence only broken by a muffled rustling sound coming from the upper floor.

“So… where did you leave Rani?” she asked, trying to make small talk until her husband came
back from whatever he was doing in the attic.

“With my brother; I figured this meeting wouldn’t be the kind of thing a little girl should hear. And
where are your children?”

“Oh, Anthony is at computer camp, he’s been there all week. And Sam has gone shopping with
Moon… you know how hard it is to start junior year and find out you have nothing new to wear.”

“Yes, I remember”, said Kate with an involuntary smile. “I’m so glad I’m not sixteen anymore!”

Before the reminiscing could continue, Daniel reappeared. He was carrying a duffel bag, and his
face appeared to be as grey as the coarse fabric. Without saying a word he held out the bag towards
Johnny, who untied the drawstring and took a peek inside.

“Is that what you wanted to show me, your old gi?” scoffed the other man. “I saw it at the All
Valley, I bet that tree on the back looks as stupid now as it did back in 1984.”

“Open it.”

Ever since he had reinstated Cobra Kai a year before, Johnny was way more used to giving orders
than to receiving them; but something in Daniel’s voice made him comply.

“Okay, but I don’t know what’s so horrible about a…”

Then he saw it.

The ink had faded a little over the years. Instead of the pitch black of the figure in his students’
training gis, this one was more of a greyish charcoal. But the design was unmistakable: there was
no way Johnny wouldn’t recognize the snake he’d worn on his back for more than five years.

His first reaction, unsurprisingly, was a rush of anger.

“Where did you get this?” he asked between gritted teeth. “Did you steal it from the Cobra Kai
dojo? Is that why you’re scared shitless that Kreese will come after you?”

Daniel’s reaction was surprising, and Johnny didn’t know what to make of it:

He laughed. It wasn’t a happy laughter, in fact there was something creepy and unsettling about
it… and Johnny had to bite his tongue to avoid shouting ‘shut up!’. Then he snatched the garment
from Johnny’s hands, stared at it as if it was a bomb about to go off, and then dropped the real
bomb.

“This belonged to me, Johnny. I was a Cobra Kai.”

What followed the reveal was a long and shocking tale of everything that had happened to Daniel
after he’d graduated and disappeared from Johnny’s life. First he glossed over his trip to Okinawa
with more than a little haste; he knew it would only annoy Amanda to hear all the details involving
Kumiko, and the Japanese girl was integral to the story. Then he made a pause, reached for a glass
of water, and started narrating the events of the following months.
Daniel could be a very methodical man when his temper didn’t get in the way. The nervousness
showed in his moving hands, but his voice remained steady as he progressed through the essential
parts of the story: his return from Japan, his plans for the future, the opening of the bonsai shop…
there was only the slightest shift in his tone when he spoke about the appearance of Mike Barnes,
of how Mr. Miyagi had refused to train him for the 1985 tournament. And, finally, of the very
convenient arrival of Terry Silver into his life.

“Silver!” Johnny exclaimed. “That’s the other guy the Committee people mentioned… What did
he do?”

Sitting beside him, Kate put a warning hand on his sleeve.

“Let him finish, please.”

Johnny looked at her and nodded, and then turned back to Daniel. “Go on.”

And Daniel went on. On to the web of lies concocted by Silver and Kreese: one faking his good
will, the other faking his death, waging their psychological warfare against Mr. Miyagi and Daniel.

When Daniel got to the part about Terry Silver’s training methods, Kate saw the blood drain from
Johnny’s face when he looked at the discarded Cobra Kai gi that lay on the carpet.

Daniel kept talking and staring at his own hands. Staring, and remembering. He had forgotten
about the pain, for the most part… but the memory of the noise was equally upsetting. The chilling
sound of flesh and bone hitting cold metal once and again, hard enough to bruise the skin and draw
blood.

Johnny didn’t know for how long LaRusso had been talking, but it felt like long and torturous
hours. Outside, it was getting dark… as dark as the twisted tale he was hearing for the first time. At
last Daniel got to the final part, the All Valley tournament… and his voice faded to a whisper so
low that Johnny could barely make out the words.

And then, silence. A silence that no one dared to break, until Johnny spoke.

“Man, that’s… that’s fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Daniel lifted his gaze and looked straight into his old enemy’s eyes.

“Don’t lie to me, Johnny… is it true you didn’t know any of this?”

“Hell, no”, he said, shaking his head. “I swear it on… I swear it on my son, okay? I was at Stanford
that year, and all my friends had quit Cobra Kai too. I didn’t even know you had won the All
Valley again until I came home for Christmas… nobody told me Kreese was playing dirty like
that.”

“Johnny, that was beyond dirty”, Kate intervened, her voice filled with outrage. “It was cruel. That
man organized a vendetta against a kid only because of his wounded pride… nobody in their right
mind does that.”

Before Daniel could say anything else, Amanda stood up and grabbed the empty water pitcher.
There was a tear in her eye… and also an expression on her face that Daniel had never seen before.

“Mandy, let me take that back to the kitchen–”

“I don’t need your help”, she said in a hoarse voice before walking out the door.
It didn’t take a genius to notice that something was wrong with Daniel’s wife. Kate and Johnny
exchanged a look, and she brushed her fingers over his bruised cheek.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” she said before following her friend into the kitchen. Once there, it took
her a moment to locate Amanda until she heard a noise coming from the pantry. Then she saw her
emerge with a bottle of wine in her hand.

Riesling , she noticed.

“The glasses are up there.”

Something in Amanda’s voice sounded like the wine was a matter of life and death; Kate waited
until she had poured two glasses to start talking.

“Amanda, are you all right? I know it must be painful for you to hear that story again, and–”

“That’s the problem, Kate. I’m not hearing it again … I just heard it for the first time.”

“Oh.”

Kate leaned on the counter with her mouth agape. She didn’t know Daniel that well, but he and
Amanda looked like the kind of couple who never kept anything from each other. Seeing that
Amanda had swallowed her wine in one gulp, Kate grabbed the bottle from her friend’s shaky
hands and refilled her glass.

“What was that about?” asked Johnny, surprised by Amanda’s reaction.

“I… I never told Amanda that story about Mike Barnes and Silver”, said Daniel in a downcast
tone. “It’s not a time in my life I like to recall, and… I figured there was no use telling her when the
matter had been literally buried years before we met.”

“Oh, fuck. You’re in deeper shit than me this time, man”, answered Johnny with a half-smile.

“Don’t look so smug; Kate didn’t seem too happy with you either.”

“Yeah”, said the other man, looking grim again. “We both fucked things up this time. Still, you
fucked up worse than me… how long have you been with your wife?”

“Eighteen years! I’ve been married to that man for eighteen fucking years”, Amanda spat, startling
Kate with the curse word. “And he’s been lying to me all this time?”

“Come on… Daniel was not the only one keeping things from people.”

“Let me tell you a little story, Kate: Before Anthony was born, when we were brainstorming
names, I suggested that we could call him Michael, after my paternal grandfather. Daniel stared at
me as if I was crazy, left the room, and returned ten minutes later asking me to choose another
name. No, not asking… begging me. And I did, although he never gave me a reason! Johnny may
have been keeping secrets from you, Kate… but what Daniel has been hiding was too huge, too
painful.”

“Maybe that was his reason. Maybe it hurt him too much to…”
“To share things with his wife? With his ‘partner for life’, as he calls me sometimes? It’s a hell of a
partnership!”

“Daniel didn’t tell anybody else all these years, right? Maybe he was too traumatized to share it.”

“He shared it with that pretty redhead girl… the girl he swears wasn’t his girlfriend, but who
knows if he’s telling the truth about that, too”, Amanda sighed.

Kate put an arm around her friend’s shoulders, trying to help her calm down.

“I think what we both need right now is some fresh air, while those two silly men finish
exchanging stories about their high school years”, she suggested. “Can we go outside for a
minute?”

“Yes, good idea”, Amanda agreed, without letting go of her glass. “Don’t forget the bottle.”

She led the way to the patio followed by Kate, and sat on one of the lounge chairs by the
swimming pool.

“This is where Daniel and Johnny almost came to blows last May”, she remembered. “After Louie
and his biker friends set your boyfriend’s car on fire.”

“Yes, Johnny told me about that. I hope it didn’t cause Daniel too much trouble with his family.”

“Trouble?” Amanda laughed. “The LaRussos in New Jersey haven’t talked about anything else for
months! There’s the Daniel side and the Louie side, according to my mother-in-law… it’s like
World War II again, only this time without Mussolini.”

“I’m sorry about that”, said Kate. “But I confess that my first instinct when I found out was to call
the DA’s office and have Daniel’s cousin and those bikers prosecuted… they could have set fire to
the whole neighborhood.”

“That’s what I said to Lucille last week when she called me to talk about Thanksgiving dinner”,
Amanda said with an exasperated huff. “Louie won’t set foot in this house again if I can help it.
But he’s Daniel’s blood, and you have no idea how Italian moms get when it comes to family… If
she gets her way, I may have to take the kids and spend Thanksgiving in Maine with my parents;
anything but being under the same roof as Louie again. I can give Daniel many passes, but that’s
where I draw the line.”

“And spend the holiday apart from your husband?”

“We haven’t made a decision yet”, said Amanda, shaking her head. “But we’ve been arguing about
it, on and off, for a couple of weeks… Maybe that’s why Daniel’s secret past is affecting me so
much. We’re not ourselves lately, and we barely have time to sit and talk because he spends all his
free time at the new and improved Miyagi-Do.”

“Well, I know how that feels, too… up to a point. Cobra Kai is Johnny’s job, his hobby and his
passion, all rolled into one”, said Kate with a smile, refilling both glasses of wine and reclining on
her chair. “But I wouldn’t dream of taking that away from him, it’s what made him turn his life
around.”

There was a brief pause before Amanda spoke again, the cadence of her speech suggesting that the
wine was already having an effect on her.

“Sometimes, when Daniel comes home after spending the evening at the dojo, it’s like… I don’t
know, I’ve never seen him this happy since before Mr. Miyagi died. I can’t imagine a time when
he and his teacher were at odds… I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Daniel to join
Cobra Kai.”

“Well… he was tricked into it, right? It’s not like he volunteered.”

“But what if I’m completely wrong about my husband, Kate? What if Daniel is not the man I
thought he was?”

Kate raised an eyebrow. Amanda was taking the conversation to a dangerous territory; maybe it
was just the Riesling speaking… or maybe not, and she didn’t want to find out.

“You can’t be serious about that, Amanda. Daniel was seventeen when he and his Sensei had their
disagreement. People are entitled to do stupid things at seventeen… look at Johnny, for instance.
He wasn’t exactly the kindest boy in high school, but he’s changed.”

“The point is not what Daniel did then, I know he was tricked into it”, Amanda said, trying to pour
herself more wine and finding the bottle disappointingly empty. “What I don’t like is his silence…
it’s a question of trust.”

Amanda braced herself, expecting another well-intentioned comment from Kate, but her friend’s
attention seemed to have drifted away. She was staring into the distance, holding her glass without
drinking it.

“Kate? Are you okay?”

“Funny that you mention trust”, she answered, still looking away. “I thought Johnny and I had a
good thing going, but if he didn’t trust me enough to tell he that his old Sensei was back… maybe I
should be the one to reconsider the future of our relationship.”

“No, don’t say that!” exclaimed Amanda, alarmed. “Come on, you know Johnny loves you.”

Kate went to stand at the edge of the pool. When she turned to look at Amanda, her face was
somber.

“Sorry, Amanda… but that’s your opinion, not a fact. And, at this point in my life, maybe I need
more than that.”

Meanwhile, in the living room, Johnny and Daniel had fallen into an uneasy silence. Johnny’s
throat was dry; he drank a glass of water, although what his body really screamed for was a cold
beer… no, what he really wanted was to go outside and find out what Kate was saying to
LaRusso’s wife. Find out if she was as angry with him as Amanda was, presumably, with her
husband.

“What are you thinking?” Daniel asked, finding the lack of conversation too heavy on his agitated
mind.

Johnny rubbed his eyes with his hand.

“Kate”, was the laconic answer.

“Come on, she’ll be fine. You’ll both be fine. If she knows about your past and hasn’t run for the
hills yet, I don’t think Kreese’s return will scare her away”, he said, trying (and failing) not to
sound too sarcastic. “She’s probably out there recommending Amanda a good divorce lawyer and
telling her what a stellar boyfriend you are in comparison.”

He expected another disparaging comment from Johnny, or at least a joke about how incredible it
was that Amanda had put up with him for so many years. But the only sound that came from
Johnny’s mouth was a heavy sigh.

“Nah”, he said, with his eyes closed. “This time she’s going to dump me.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Johnny… Don’t be stupid! If she was going to leave you, she would have
done it already.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Come on, man! Kate may be angry with you now, with good reason. But she’s here, supporting
you even after you kept the truth from her. Talk to her, Johnny, say you’re sorry. God knows I have
my own atonement to do with Amanda… we’ve gone through rough patches before; it will take
time, but I know she will forgive me… if we can sort out the Thanksgiving fiasco.”

“The what?” asked Johnny, genuinely lost.

“Ah… my mother wants me to invite Louie to Thanksgiving this year. Amanda has threatened to
go away to her parents’ if I do, and my mother and a huge part of the LaRusso family won’t move
from New Jersey if I don’t. So… I’m stuck.”

“And you’re think that’s a problem? Dude, tell your mother that your cousin Louie is fucking
mental. Tell her what he did to my car!”

“Oh, she knows”, said Daniel with a humorless smile. “She’s not exactly your number one fan,
Johnny. And family means a lot to her.”

“So what? You’re not allowed to be at odds with anyone in your family?” he asked, shaking his
head. “Man, you Italians are like a tribe.”

“Hey, watch it! I haven’t insulted your family yet.”

“The only family I have left is Robby.”

This time it was Daniel’s turn to sigh. He observed Johnny while he stood up, took a stroll around
the room, and finally went to the window, with his eyes fixed on the two women by the pool. The
expression in Johnny’s face reminded Daniel of a lost puppy, but he didn’t have the heart to mock
his old rival about it.

He suddenly realized that the possibility of Johnny and Kate breaking up was real, and he surprised
himself by immediately thinking of a plan to keep them together.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted to help Johnny Lawrence fix his sentimental situation.
After all, Kate would probably be better off without him (and Daniel hadn’t lost hope of setting her
up with Anoush, despite Amanda’s protests that it would never happen). But the idea of Johnny
without Kate was more upsetting: if the breakup with Ali all those years before was any clue, Kate
leaving Johnny could make him go full berserk… and Daniel had enough problems with Kreese’s
return already.

No, the best course of action was to make sure those two stayed together for the time being, even if
it meant playing matchmaker to his high school bully.
He followed Johnny to the window, hoping he wasn’t about to make the situation worse. Amanda
was the expert in Human Resources, the most adept of dealing with people. Daniel, with all his
experience as a salesman, didn’t have the talent or the empathy to play shrink… but he was ready
to give it a try.

“So, what are you going to do to fix things with Kate?” he asked in a cautious tone.

“What do you care?” was the answer. Harsh, but not really unexpected, so Daniel soldiered on.

“Come on, Johnny… I’m just trying to help.”

“Yeah, right. And why would you want to help me?”

Because she’s the only person who can control you, you fucking cave troll.

Daniel bit his tongue to hide his thoughts, and Johnny took advantage of the silence.

“For all I know you’re trying to make her break up with me so you can push her into the arms of
that smarmy guy who works for you”, he continued.

Daniel blushed. Out of pure chance, he and Johnny had almost had the same idea… but he was
determined to make himself heard.

“Look… Kate is Amanda’s dear friend, okay? I want to see her happy. And if you make her happy,
for whatever reason, I want to help you patch things up with her. Simple as that.”

That earned him a suspicious stare and a sarcastic half-smile.

“Who died and named you the official expert on women, LaRusso?”

“Well… for starters, I’ve been married to a woman for eighteen years, Johnny. What are your
credentials?”

Touché . Johnny closed his eyes, probably musing on all his past relationships. Then he shook his
head and laughed.

“Fuck me, I can’t believe I’m about to take advice from you”, he sneered. “It better be good, you
hear?”

It wasn’t much but at least it was an opening, so Daniel gave it his best shot.

“First I need to ask you a few questions, okay?”

“Shoot, doctor Freud”, Johnny agreed, still giving him suspicious looks.

“I need you to tell me five things about Kate. Five special things that set her apart from the rest.”

“Eh… She hates cold weather”, he answered quickly.

“Come on, man!” Daniel said, rolling his eyes. “You can do better.”

“Her favorite singer is a chick called Alanis.”

“I can’t say I share that opinion… Miss Morissette screams too much for my taste.”

“Thank you! I’ve been trying to tell her that.”

“Give me something else, Johnny. Something personal… something you really like about her.”

“She always puts on perfume before going to bed”, he whispered, without being able to suppress a
smile.

“Good, we’re getting closer”, muttered Daniel, slightly embarrassed. “Let’s try number four… and
please leave out any intimate details, I’m not remotely ready to hear those.”

“She loves her daughter more than anything else in the world.”

“And what do you think of that?”

“What do you want me to think, LaRusso? Rattler is a great kid, and Kate is the best mother she
could have. Those two are a family.”

“Okay. Now, for the final one… don’t stick to everyday things, tell me something unique about
Kate. Something you can’t say of anybody else.”

There was a long pause while Johnny stared out of the window. Amanda and Kate had stopped
pacing up and down the patio and they were standing outside, talking quietly to each other.

“I can’t imagine my life without her.”

Daniel pressed his lips together and looked at his feet, feeling a bit embarrassed. Extracting a
confession out of Johnny had been a good idea in theory, but this was a side of his high school
enemy that he wasn’t used to seeing. He strolled back to the couch and let himself fall on it. There
was a throw blanket on the armrest, and for a moment he wished he could take off his shoes,
burrow in the blanket, and forget the events of the past hour.

But that wasn’t possible, of course, and Johnny kept looking at him and waiting for advice. His
advice.

“Look”, Daniel started, holding the other man’s blue gaze. “What all those things are telling me is
that you really care about Kate. And that you’re afraid of doing or saying something that could
scare her away. Am I right so far?”

Johnny nodded.

“If my memory doesn’t fail me, one of the Cobra Kai mantras is ‘fear does not exist’”, he
continued. “You should apply that philosophy to yourself: go talk to her, tell her how much she
means to you. With words, with a karate demonstration, or with a marathon of 80s movies… but
you have to tell her.”

“It’s not that easy, LaRusso.”

“I wasn’t born knowing how to talk to women. It takes many trials and more than a few errors.”

“Yeah. And if I say the wrong thing, then…”

Johnny stopped talking and looked outside again, where Amanda and Kate stood by the edge of the
swimming pool. Johnny could barely see Kate’s face in the dark, but she didn’t look too happy.

“She slept at my place the other day, and I… I dreamt she disappeared in the middle of the night”,
he blurted out of nowhere, surprising Daniel. “I woke up screaming and gave her a fright.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, Johnny. Dreams don’t work like that.”
“I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”

Daniel sighed.

“Maybe because I’m the only one listening… but you’re right, you should be telling her . Just go
outside and tell Kate how you feel.”

“What, now?”

“No, Johnny… next week”, Daniel said, rolling his eyes. “Yes, now! Get your ass out there and
have an adult conversation with her. Prove that your ‘strike hard’ thing can be useful for something
other than karate, and tell her exactly how you feel before she thinks you don’t care and runs
away.”

Daniel had jumped up from the couch to face Johnny again, and when his diatribe ended he opened
the French doors that led to the patio, letting in a gust of cool breeze.

“Okay, that’s enough chitchat… get out.”

“What?”

“The free therapy session is over. Go talk to her.”

It was Amanda who heard the door open. She turned around and saw Johnny standing on the
threshold, looking determined, and pointed him out to Kate.

“I think someone wants to have a word with you… and Daniel owes me a long explanation, too, so
I’m going back inside.”

“You’re only leaving because we’re out of wine. Coward”, Kate joked, making a face and pointing
towards the empty bottle on the ground. “And I’m not sure I want to talk to Johnny right now.”

Amanda smiled and gave her a friendly pat on the back.

“Take all the time you need. You have my permission to push him into the pool if it makes you feel
better. Good luck!”

With those words she walked back towards the house, leaving Johnny and Kate alone. He
approached her slowly, with his hands in his pockets.

“So… she really didn’t know anything about all the drama with LaRusso back in ’85?” he asked,
hoping to break the ice.

“No”, answered Kate in a low voice. “It seems keeping secrets from women is a very popular sport
in the Valley.”

Johnny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Kate’s words hurt, but they also gave him the
opening he needed. He tried to put her arms around her, but she took a step back; that also hurt.

“You can’t fix this with a hug, Johnny”, she whispered, and this time her voice was more sad than
angry. “You’re in the doghouse; if I don’t have your trust, then you can keep your hands to
yourself.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Kreese before, babe… it won’t happen again.”
She looked straight into those pleading blue eyes she had never been able to resist.

“Have I ever shown any prejudice to you, Johnny? Have I ever held your past against you?”

Johnny ran his fingers through his hair, a sign that he was nervous, and pressed his lips together.
He knew what the answer was… but he wasn’t sure how it helped his case.

“Never.”

“Then… why? Why do you have this compulsive need to keep me in the dark, to shield me from
everything?”

He counted one heartbeat, then two more. And then he just let it out.

“Because I love you, damn it!”

Some people say time stops whenever one says ‘the three words’. Johnny had never believed that
theory, but now… now it was as if the Universe had made a pause. He was suddenly aware of all
the background noises in the patio: a cricket in the grass, the breeze among the trees, the water
running in the swimming pool…

…and the air that escaped from Kate’s lungs in a long exhalation. He closed his eyes again,
thinking he had definitely screwed things up this time, and he kept thinking it until he felt a pair of
arms sliding around his neck.

“Johnny, look at me. Please.”

There were tears in Kate’s eyes, but she was smiling.

“Don’t cry, babe… I’m an idiot.”

She raised her hand and put a finger to his lips, the most delicate of touches.

“I love you, Johnny”, she whispered. “You may be right about the ‘idiot’ part, but we can talk
about that another day.”

Johnny smiled too, despite himself. He felt he was going to explode if he didn’t kiss her… so he
did. It lasted only a second; then Kate rested her head on his chest, and Johnny held her so tight that
he feared she’d be unable to breathe.

“Can I kiss you again, or am I still in the doghouse?” he asked, hoping to be granted a full pardon.

“Jury’s out.”

He reached for her hand and planted a kiss on her palm.

“That’s fair. I’ll sleep on the couch for as long as you want… but don’t cry, babe. I hate seeing you
cry.”

Kate wiped out her tears with her free hand.

“Just promise you’ll never keep things from me again. If there are problems in the future, we’ll
face them together, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear”, he nodded.

That earned another brush of her lips on his; then Kate checked her watch and gasped.

“We have to get back inside… we haven’t decided what we’re going to do to prevent that man
Kreese from doing harm again, and it’s getting late.”

“Yeah. But we’re not staying for dinner, I don’t want to get too cozy in LaRusso’s house.”

Kate’s sudden laughter was like music to his ears.

“Johnny… you just told me that you love me, for the first time, in your worst enemy’s back yard.
That’s a level or two above cozy .”

Amanda didn’t ask any questions when the others came back into the living room. Kate’s eyes
were red, but she was smiling; it looked like things had been sorted out. As for Daniel, he raised an
eyebrow in Johnny’s direction, and the nod he got as an answer told him his impromptu therapy
session had been a success.

Five minutes later, the four of them were sitting at the dining room table, trying to devise a course
of action.

“I still think we’re panicking too much over an old man”, Amanda started. “Yes, Kreese did some
wicked things thirty years ago, but he’s probably harmless now. How old is he, seventy? Eighty?”

“Would you let your son Anthony take karate lessons from that ‘harmless old man’, Amanda?”
asked Kate.

“Anthony hates all kinds of exercise. If he wanted to take martial arts from the Devil, I wouldn’t
exactly say no… At least not right away.”

“That’s all very well, Amanda, but it doesn’t give us any ideas”, said Daniel, frustrated. “This is
not the Old West… we can’t call the sheriff and ask him to run Kreese out of town. And I really,
really wish I could do that.”

“Yeah, we can’t just sit on our asses and do nothing”, Johnny agreed. He looked at Kate, who
looked like she was about to say something. “Any ideas, babe? What do we do now?”

“What you always say people should do: strike first”, she said. “Kevin and I can look into the legal
side of things… first, make sure the original trademark is really expired, that way nobody can
claim previous ownership of the Cobra Kai name; and second, find out what became of Mr. Silver,
just in case he’s the one pulling the strings. Meanwhile, maybe it’s wise to keep your enemies
close… Johnny, tell Kreese he can’t go back into teaching yet, but you’ll let him visit the dojo and
observe a few classes. Make it look like you’re giving in, little by little.”

“That sounds clever.”

“But be careful, please. You need to keep your students away from that man… If they start
listening to him, you can lose them.”

“My kids are not stupid, okay? I won’t let Kreese get into their heads.”

“Some of them are quite young, Johnny, and more vulnerable”, added Daniel, seeing a weak point
in the plan. “What about that little boy with the glasses…? Darn, I always forget his name, is it
Bart? And what about Kate’s daughter?”
“Rani is going to be away from the dojo for a while”, was the surprising answer. “School starts in a
few days, there will be enough activities to keep her busy while we sort this situation out.”

Daniel and Amanda exchanged a look; it sounded like Rani’s absence had already been decided
before, but the matter was too delicate to ask questions.

“Babe… What are you going to tell Rattler when she asks why you’re pulling her out of class?”
asked Johnny, upset about the idea of losing his youngest student, even if it was only temporary.

“I’ll think of something, don’t worry”, said Kate in a firm voice before turning towards Daniel.
“And you should also keep an eye on your students. The easiest way for that man to hurt any of
you… or both of you, would be to go after Robby. You have to make sure that boy has no reason
for leaving Miyagi-Do.”

“Robby is a good kid, he won’t do that”, said Daniel in a dismissive tone.

“A good kid who makes impulsive decisions like showing up to a tournament without telling
anybody, working for his father’s enemy out of spite, and fighting with Keiko and making out with
her in the same day”, Kate listed, trying to make him see the boy’s weak points. “He’s your star
student, Daniel, and I have a hunch that you are Kreese’s real target. What can happen if you and
Robby have a disagreement, like you and your old Sensei did back in the day? Kreese can take
advantage of that.”

“Well, if you put it like that… I guess you’re right. Maybe.”

“You two need to present a united front”, she continued, looking from Johnny to Daniel. “This war
needs to end.”

“I don’t know about ending”, Daniel grumbled. “But I guess we can call a truce for now.”

At the other end of the table, Johnny nodded. “I’m game if you are.”

“Finally, some common sense in this house!” said Amanda, shaking her head at the two men. “You
know… sometimes I wish I could bang your heads against each other, to see if I can knock some
sense into them.”

“Amen”, Kate agreed.

Daniel chose to ignore Amanda’s comment. He had started apologising to her while Johnny and
Kate performed their little love scene out on the patio, but he still had a lot of groveling to do
before Amanda could forgive him. He made a mental note to definitely uninvite Louie to
Thanksgiving dinner. That would make Amanda happy… even if it cost him a scolding from
Lucille and a split in the LaRusso extended family.

His mind was busy calculating the outrage of his New Jersey relatives, when he realized Amanda
was calling his name.

“Daniel? Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, honey”, was the automatic answer.

“I was asking you about the All Valley Committee”, Amanda resumed. “School is about to start
again, all the dojos will be organizing new activities, there’s the under-14 tournament in
December… Maybe you should warn them that Kreese is back.”
Daniel pressed his fingers to his pulsing temples.

“I don’t know, Amanda… none of those guys were around in the eighties. Even if they could do
something, it’s all water under the bridge for them.”

They all agreed, but Kate still had something else to add.

“Speaking of the All Valley Committee, Daniel… That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you
about: I think you should resign from it.”

“What?” Daniel answered, raising his voice without realizing. “Look, I’ve been a member of that
board for years. They need me there! And it’s my duty to protect people from…”

“From Cobra Kai? From Johnny?”

“I didn’t mean that.”

Kate let out a sigh. “I just think that if you lay low, maybe Kreese won’t consider you a threat. And
it’s a conflict of interest anyway: you’re a Committee member, a sponsor of the All Valley… and
now a dojo owner. If that man does some kind of public declaration against you, or if he looks for
allies in other dojos, the ethics of the situation are going to look murky.”

“I’ll think about it”, he grumbled. “But, in my opinion, that’s taking things too far. And, speaking
of ethics… I’m not the one sleeping with my client.”

Kate managed to avoid rolling her eyes just in time.

“I knew that would come up at some point. For your information, I quit being Johnny’s lawyer
before anything happened between us; he’s Kevin McMichael’s client now. You can check the
dates, I even made him sign a disclaimer.”

“Wow… a disclaimer?” asked Daniel, surprised. “Okay, those are some bulletproof ethics. You’re
a better lawyer than I gave you credit for.”

“You have absolutely no idea of the kind of lawyer I am, Daniel… but thanks”, she snapped.

“Okay… I think we’ve sorted things out for now”, Amanda intervened, trying to calm the waters.
“Hey, are you two staying for dinner?”

Kate looked at Johnny, and the dismayed look on his face gave her the answer.

“Thank you, Amanda… maybe another day. We’re all tired and worried, and it’s getting late.”

Daniel tried to stifle a relieved sigh while they all stood up. He’d had enough interaction with
Johnny Lawrence to last another thirty-four years. Then he saw Johnny go to the living room to get
his jacket, and took a chance to speak to Kate in a hurried whisper.

“So… since Rani isn’t going to attend Cobra Kai while Kreese is around, I was thinking maybe you
could bring her to Miya–”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Daniel. Please.”

“Okay, okay… forget I mentioned it.”

It was almost completely dark when Johnny parked the car again, this time in front of South Seas.
He followed Kate upstairs with heavy steps; while she went to the restroom, he strolled into the
kitchen, opened the fridge and smiled.

There was a can of Coors Banquet on the top shelf. Only one, because Kate didn’t like him getting
drunk… but at the same time she never forgot to put one there. Always noticing the little details
that made Johnny’s life more comfortable.

He reached for the can, changed his mind, and closed the fridge door again.

“Are you trying to guess what’s for dinner?” asked Kate’s voice behind him. “There’s turkey pot
pie that I made ahead, it just needs to go in the oven for half an hour.”

“Cool.”

She sat on the couch and took off her shoes. Johnny crouched in front of her, noticing how
exhausted she looked.

“Hey, I can leave if you want.”

“Leave?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“You’re tired, it was a long day, and… if you don’t feel like making dinner I can get a pizza slice
on my way home.”

“It has been a very, very long day”, she admitted, closing her eyes for a moment. “And I’ve heard
some things I’d rather not know.”

“Yeah, same”, Johnny agreed. “That story with LaRusso and Silver was really fucked up. I still
don’t like the guy, but I have to admit he’s got balls.”

“That makes two of us. Daniel is not my favorite person either… but you need his help with this,
Johnny, and I think he finally realized he needs yours, too. Who knows, maybe Kreese coming
back will help him get rid of his old demons.”

“If I had known what Kreese did in 1985, I would have kicked his ass out of the Valley when he
came back the night of the tournament”, Johnny muttered. “Anyway, what’s done is done… I’ll
see you tomorrow, babe.”

He tried to stand up, but he suddenly found Kate’s arms around his neck, and her face just an inch
apart from his.

“John Fitzgerald Lawrence, don’t you dare leaving me alone tonight.”

“I… did you just use my full name?” he said, not knowing if he should laugh or be worried.

“Yes. That’s how serious I am”, was her answer. “If what you said to me today in Amanda and
Daniel’s patio was true, I need to hear it again.”

“Before dinner, or after?” he teased.

“How about both?”

In one swift move, Johnny sat on the couch and scooped Kate onto his lap.

“I love you, roller girl”, he said with a low growl. “And tonight you’re gonna hear it until your ears
are ringing.”
 Impasse
Chapter Summary

Kate and Kevin try to anticipate a situation, and Johnny wonders if the good old times
were really that good. Later, Robby and Keiko sneak into Miyagi-Do at night.

Chapter Notes

I'm definitely behind schedule, but I keep doing my best. Thank you to all my lovely
readers for putting up with this super long story!

CHAPTER 38. IMPASSE

Kevin McMichaels parked his elegant sports car in front of South Seas and yawned. It was almost
eleven, but he’d had a romantic date with his boyfriend the night before… a date that had kept
them up until four in the morning.

“I must be getting old”, he muttered to himself as he got out of the car.

The gate was open, so he crossed it and headed for the swimming pool. Two little girls (one
blonde, the other black-haired) were playing in the water and splashing around. Beside the pool,
sitting under a big umbrella, was Kevin’s friend Kate. She had put two patio tables together, and
the whole surface was covered in papers and books. She also had her laptop in front of her, with a
dozen browser tabs open.

“Hey, girl! Sorry I didn’t come earlier, I just got your text an hour ago.”

“Kevin!” she exclaimed, getting up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for coming. Rani,
look who’s here!”

The dark head emerged from the deepest end of the water.

“Hi, Uncle Kevin!” exclaimed the child, waving at him before diving in again.

“Hi, munchkin!”

Rani swam closer to the edge of the pool, followed by the other girl.

“Uncle Kevin, this is my best friend Millie”, she said, pointing to the smiling blond girl beside her.
“Her grandma lives next door to us.”

“Good morning, Miss Millie”, he said, taking off an imaginary hat. “Are you one of those fierce
Cobra Kai too?”

The little girl shook her head, her blond curls splashing water in all directions.
“No, but I’m going to be. When school starts next week I’m going to tell my Mom and Dad to take
me to Cobra Kai, and I’m going to do karate with Rani.”

“Splendid idea!” he remarked. “Well, little mermaids, keep swimming and have fun!”

Once the girls went back into the water, Kevin grabbed a chair and sat beside Kate, with his own
laptop on his knees.

“I can’t believe you’re working on a Saturday, Katey”, he started. “And that you’re making me
work, too.”

“Thank you, Kev”, said Kate with a sigh. “Sorry to make you come here; my neighbor Mrs. Wright
is running some errands and I said I’d look after Millie for a few hours. Besides, this is not exactly
work, just some research. I’m not up to date in trademark law, you know. Rani starts school on
Monday, and I don’t want her going to the dojo while that man Kreese is around… But I also don’t
want to keep her away from her Cobra Kai friends for too long, so the sooner we can put this matter
to rest, the better.”

Listening intently, Kevin took some papers out of a folder and made a brief pause before speaking
again.

“So, are you serious about not letting Rani go to karate class?” he asked. “What did you tell her?”

“Johnny took the bullet for me this time. He told her that they’re going to do some very boring
exercises for a few days, and that only the older kids can do them”, she said in a doubtful tone. “I
hate lying to her, Kev… and I didn’t think Rani would believe it, but thankfully she did. That gives
us a couple of weeks at the most, we can’t keep the truth from her forever.”

“Is that man Kreese really threatening Johnny over the Cobra Kai trademark?”

“Not in so many words; I think he mentioned it more like a moral obligation of Johnny towards
him… but I don’t trust him, of course, I want to be ready if he sues. You read the email I sent you
earlier, right?”

“First thing I did after waking up an hour ago. Okay, here’s my initial diagnosis: I’m not an expert
myself, but I think that Mr. Kreese is on the losing team this time. The Cobra Kai trademark has
expired: it’s not just ‘mostly dead’, I’m talking one hundred per cent kaput. The man hasn’t
renewed the registration in more than ten years, and the law is very clear on that.”

“More than thirty years, you mean”, added Kate. “It’s insane, he has no case at all.”

“I agree, it sounds completely nuts. Even if he applies for trademark restoration, chances are he’ll
never get it without a very good reason.”

Another silence, and there was a shuffling of papers before Kevin spoke again.

“That doesn’t mean he can’t be a pain in the rear end, of course”, he continued. “Ah, here’s the
precedent I was looking for! Mr. Kreese’s only chance… and it’s a slim one… is that a trademark
restoration process can take many months to figure out. He could ask the judge to keep Johnny
from using the Cobra Kai name until the matter is solved.”

“And that’s precisely what I want to avoid.”

“Then here’s what we’re going to do: first thing on Monday we’ll sit down with our colleague
Elliot White; he’s the firm’s expert in trademark law and he’ll be able to give us some directions.
If Kreese sues, we’ll ask the judge for a provisional ruling so Johnny can keep using the cool snake
logo while the case is pending. Okay?”

“All right”, said Kate in a lighter tone. “Thank you, Kev. I knew I could count on you.”

“Don’t even mention it, girl. And now, tell me”, he said, lowering his voice to a whisper, “any
romantic plans for your Saturday night? Oliver is volunteering to babysit, he’s dying to have the
little munchkin staying at home again… Our collection of Disney movies is almost complete
now.”

“Tell Oliver he’s an angel”, she replied with a smile. “Johnny and I are having dinner with his
friends from high school tonight… but I don’t need a babysitter, Mrs. Wright will look after Rani.
Her granddaughter is staying with her all week, so the girls are having a little sleepover.”

“Nice plan. When you say ‘friends’… do you mean the whole Cobra gang again? That sounds like
fun.”

“No, just Bobby and Barbara Brown. You know, the Los Angeles Galaxy coach.”

“Yeah, you told me about him. Will you get me an autograph for my collection?” he joked.

“Absolutely not”, answered Kate with a laugh. “I’m trying to distract Johnny a little from the
Kreese thing; he’s been upset since that blasted man came back.”

For the third time that morning Kevin made a pause and stared at Kate… and this time it lasted so
long that she thought her friend had spaced out.

“Kev? Are you here?”

“Present and accounted for”, he answered. “Look, Katey, this may be none of my business, but I
was wondering… Two days ago, if my memory doesn’t fail me, you were angry with your
boyfriend for not telling you about his not-dead-yet Sensei. Today, out of the blue you’re cool with
him again. What happened yesterday that you’re not telling me?”

Kate closed her eyes for a moment and groaned.

“You know, it’s not fair of you to know me so well”, she complained, half joking. “If you
absolutely must know, Johnny and I went to Encino Hills yesterday evening and had a very
interesting conversation with the LaRussos. A few ugly truths came out: it turns out Daniel was a
bit of a hothead back in the eighties, and he had his own traumatic experience with Kreese. It’s too
long to tell you now… and I don’t want Rani to hear that story, I’ll give you the details on
Monday.”

“Fine. But that doesn’t explain why King Karate and you are on such good terms again, so much
that you’re going to a fancy dinner with him and his old friends.”

“Johnny and I talked. He apologized. And–”

“And? Don’t make me interrogate you, I haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“Let’s just say he got… sentimental”, she whispered.

“Wait a minute”, said Kevin in a high-pitched voice “Don’t tell me he… did he say it? The L
word?”
“Ah… yes”, she admitted with a smile.

“And you said it back? Oh, if it wasn’t so early in the morning I’d go get some champagne to
celebrate!”

“Shhhh! Please, can we change the topic while the girls are here? I did say it back, of course… this
isn’t just some fling, Kev; you knew things were getting serious between Johnny and me.”

Kevin patted his friend’s hand with a radiant smile.

“I’m really glad to hear that. You know, I hadn’t seen you so happy with a man since…”

He interrupted himself, and Kate let out a sigh.

“Since Simon”, she finished the sentence in a low whisper.

“Screw Simon! You’re a different woman now… and Johnny has nothing in common with your
stuck-up ex-boyfriend. By the way, you two owe Oliver and me a double date, don’t think I’ve
forgotten. As soon as that Kreese guy is out of the way, we’re taking you two to Benihana on
Ventura Boulevard for some sushi and steak.”

“Wonderful. I love sushi and Johnny is always on board for a good steak, so Benihana sounds
perfect”, said Kate, sounding a bit more relaxed. “Hey, did I hear you say you hadn’t had
breakfast? I can go upstairs and make you something if you watch Rani and Millie for five
minutes.”

“Just coffee, thank you”, he answered, while Kate got up and headed for her apartment. “Don’t
worry about the little dolphins, I’ll keep an eye on them!”

Two seconds after Kevin said that, both little girls somersaulted into the pool, splashing water in all
directions, while he laughed to his heart’s content.

Later that day, Bobby Brown exited his wine cellar with a bottle in each hand. He took them to the
kitchen, where his wife Barbara was washing her hands, and gave her a quick kiss.

“Did you find the Pinot Noir?” she asked.

“Johnny’s favorite”, he said, nodding. “And I just finished setting the table on the veranda. Do you
need help with the food?”

“No, thank you, everything is ready. Appetizers, salad, roast and dessert”, said Barbara with a
proud smile. “By the way, your daughter Brenda dropped by a moment ago and tried to snatch
some canapés; I told her she can have the leftovers when our guests leave.”

“My daughter Brenda?” Bobby asked, laughing. “I thought she belonged to both of us… you were
the one who told her she could move to the apartment over the garage, remember? It’s not my fault
she’s always here, stealing our food.”

Barbara finished untying her apron and put her arms around Bobby’s neck.

“You know I couldn’t live with the idea of our three girls moving away from us”, she answered. “It
all happened at the same time: Bonnie moving out with her boyfriend, Betty to France with that
soccer team… I had to keep one of them close, at least.”
“Of course, honey”, said Bobby in a tender voice. “By the way, Johnny just called, they will be
here in thirty minutes.”

“Perfect. Let’s go outside and have a glass of wine while we wait. I’ve earned it, with all the
cooking I’ve done”, she laughed. “I want Johnny and Kate to have a good time tonight. I really
hope she’s the one… for his sake. He’s too old for being alone, and for jumping from one woman
to the next. That man deserves some stability.”

“Agreed”, Bobby replied. “I think Johnny is on the right track this time; every time he calls now,
ninety per cent of the conversation is him singing Kate’s praises.”

“Finally! It’s taken him a while to come to his senses.”

“The truth is, I hadn’t heard Johnny sound so happy since… 1983, I think?” said Bobby, his blue
eyes getting misty as he remembered. “I’m having flashbacks of his time with Ali.”

“That’s bad”, said Barbara, frowning.

“Not the last few months with Ali; the year before that. When things were good.”

“Oh, that’s different… Yes, the Summer of ’83 was great. It was when you and I started fooling
around”, Barbara said with a mischievous smile. “Remember Labor Day Weekend, when we snuck
out of the bonfire party and ended up in that beach hut?”

“How could I forget?” he answered, with a cheeky smile of his own. “I learned a thing or two about
the facts of life in that hut… I also ended up with sand in places where sand shouldn’t be.”

“Wait, is that why you never let the girls go to bonfire parties in Santa Monica Beach when they
were younger? You were never a strict father unless there was a beach in sight; then you suddenly
became Captain Von Trapp.”

“Do as I say, not as I do”, said Bobby with a grimace. “Anyway, I’m glad our daughters are adults
now. Bonnie and Brenda were always sensible… but it was a relief when Betty finally turned
eighteen and I could stop worrying about her sneaking out with boys.”

“Oh, honey! Betty was sneaking out with boys way before that age”, said his wife with an
understanding smile. “I had a talk or two with her about the birds and the bees when she was a
sophomore. Our youngest has always been a very clever girl… and the combination of a clever girl
plus a silly boy can be dangerous.”

“Hey, that combo worked fine for us, right?”

“More than fine. And I hope it works equally well for Johnny and Kate.”

Kate looked at the elegant lines of the Browns’ house and smiled.

“What a beautiful place”, she said to Johnny as he parked near the front door.

“Wait until we get inside. It looks like the pages of a magazine… Barb is great at decorating and
all that stuff.” He walked up to the door and stopped before ringing the bell. “The last time I was
here was at Thanksgiving, three… no, four years ago. Shit, I should have visited more often, I
almost lost contact with Bobby forever.”
“That’s the best thing about old friends”, said Kate with a reassuring squeeze of his hand. “Time
may pass, but you can always start again where you left off.”

Johnny finally rang, and Bobby welcomed them inside.

“Hey, man!” the former Cobra boy greeted his friend with a bear hug. “Feels like ages since the
last time you were here. Hi, Kate, nice to see you again.”

“You too”, she responded. “Barbara, I brought something for dessert… I hope you like key lime
pie.”

“Oh, wonderful! I love it.” Barbara passed her arm around Kate’s shoulders and led their guests
inside. “Bobby, why don’t you take Johnny to the veranda and offer him a drink while I show Kate
around? Come, let’s put the pie in the fridge.”

The tour of the house took a good ten minutes, because the Encino Hills property was quite large
and decorated with very good taste. The last part of the visit was the back garden, where an almost
Olympic-sized pool reflected the setting sun.

“There you are!” said Barbara to the two men who stood near the dinner table, each with a glass of
wine in his hand. “Already reminiscing about the good old high school days, boys?”

She expected a burst of laughter at her comment, but both Johnny and Bobby looked unusually
serious.

“Johnny was starting to tell me about… you know, the stuff with Kreese”, said Bobby in a grave
tone.

Barbara pressed her lips together in a thin line. Earlier that day, on the phone, Johnny had
mentioned Kreese’s sudden comeback, but not in detail. It was no secret how much she loathed her
husband’s former Sensei, and in any case it wasn’t the kind of conversation topic she wanted at
dinner.

“Well, in that case I command you to talk about something else until we’ve finished eating. I don’t
want our guests to leave with an upset stomach… We can talk about serious things after dessert.”

They did talk about all kinds of things, serious and not, as the meal went on: Johnny’s students,
Kate’s work, Bobby’s work, the boys’ exploits during their high school years, the aforementioned
good old times… A list was made of things that were better back in the eighties (lots of them,
according to Johnny); and another list, way shorter, of the things that had miraculously improved in
the last thirty years.

After dessert came coffee; with it came the full story of Kreese’s return from the dead and the
surprising tale of how Daniel LaRusso had been, once in his life, a Cobra Kai.

“Wow. If anybody else had told me, I wouldn’t have believed it”, said Bobby, his forgotten cup of
coffee getting cold in front of him. “What a shame you and I were away at Stanford when that
happened… we could have warned Daniel and prevented a mess.”

“Nah, I don’t think LaRusso would have listened to me; he didn’t listen to anyone back in 1985”,
Johnny said, shaking his head. “And you weren’t his favorite person either after you wrecked his
knee.”
Bobby let out a sigh, and Barbara put a comforting hand on her husband’s arm.

“At least that made you snap out of Kreese’s crutches, honey”, she whispered. “I can’t believe that
horrible man is back… Johnny, have you told your students what he did to you?”

Johnny thought it over for a moment, looking a bit embarrassed.

“I don’t want to tell them. With a bit of luck, Kreese will see how I handle things now at Cobra
Kai, take the hint and leave. Kids today are different, Barb… they won’t swear allegiance to
Kreese like we did; they’re too busy with their phones and their videogames, and that shitty noise
they call music.”

“I agree on the shitty noise”, laughed Bobby. “But I think you should at least tell the older kids to
be careful and not listen to Kreese. You know he’ll go after the best of them: that kid who won the
tournament will be his first target. What was his name, Miguel Diego?”

“No, Diaz. I’ll have a word with him… but don’t worry, he’s not that stupid.”

“Neither were we, and look what happened. What about Robby?”

“What about him?”

“I don’t think Robby’s in danger”, Kate intervened. “He belongs to a different dojo, there’s no way
that man can get to him.”

“On the contrary”, Bobby continued. “Johnny, you said that Robby was living with his mother
again, right? And that he’s homeschooled? School starts in two days, your son is going to find
himself lonely and bored while all his friends are in class.”

“And his girlfriend”, Kate pointed out.

“Awww, little Robby’s got a girlfriend?” asked Barbara. “It feels like yesterday when we saw him
for the first time; he was the cutest baby.”

“Chip off the old block”, said Johnny with a cheeky grin. “Look, Robby is a clever kid… and he
doesn’t trust people that easily. Even if Kreese found a way to talk to him, he’s too loyal to
LaRusso and his Miyagi-Do mystic stuff.”

There was a bitter tone in Johnny’s voice as he said those words, and Bobby almost wished he
hadn’t mentioned the boy.

“Anyway, I just think you should keep an eye on Diaz and Robby”, he insisted. “They’re both too
talented for their own good; not many kids can reach the finals of the All Valley with so little
training. And of course Robby is clever… you named him after me.”

“I named him after my Dad, you doofus!” said Johnny with a laugh.

“That’s what you keep saying, but I’ve never believed it.”

Seeing that the serious part of the conversation was over, Barbara decided to take charge and
change the topic.

“It’s getting chilly out here”, she said, standing up. “Bobby, honey, why don’t you and Johnny go
to the living room while I put these things in the dishwasher? I found my copy of our high school
yearbook in the attic the other day… we can show Kate the pictures and have a laugh.”
“Sounds good to me”, answered Bobby.

“Come on, Barb, I looked like a dork in my yearbook photo!” Johnny complained. “Can’t we talk
about something else?”

Barbara pretended to think for a few seconds.

“Okay. I can tell Kate about that night you and the boys went skinny dipping in the ocean, and
Susan and I stole all your clothes while you were in the water”, she said with a sassy smile.

Johnny went red as a beet and hid his face in his hands.

“Barbara, I absolutely need to hear that one!” said Kate, standing up too and starting to pick up
plates and glasses. “Did you give them their clothes back, or…?”

The two women disappeared inside the house, and Bobby gave Johnny a pat on the back.

“Congratulations on opening Pandora’s box. Now Kate is going to hear all your embarrassing
stories… but that was going to happen sooner or later, so better get it out of the way.”

“They’re not just my stories”, Johnny grumbled. “I’m not the one who never got his trunks back
and had to drive home wearing Susan’s swimming shorts.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me”, Bobby answered. “She made me swear I would burn them as soon as I
got home. Anyway… look, I think I worried too much about Robby before. He’s a clever boy, like
you said. Exactly like you.”

“That’s what worries me sometimes, man”, answered Johnny. “That he will turn out exactly like
me.”

“Robby?”

“Yeah?”

“Won’t your Sensei mind that you took one of his cars?”

The boy looked at Keiko, who was sitting beside him in the expensive looking Mercedes-Benz,
and smiled.

“Mr. LaRusso is okay with it. I can take any car from the second-hand lot whenever I want.
Especially if it’s for a date: he told me that before Mr. Miyagi gave him his yellow 1947 Ford, his
Mom used to drive him on dates. He also said he didn’t wish that humiliation on anybody.”

“Ugh, he’s right. I wouldn’t want my parents near my dates either.”

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean I don’t want them near you! I meant in general.”

“Okay… I guess.”

The boy parked the car, opened the trunk and picked up a heavy basket covered with a red
gingham cloth. Then he opened the fence of the Miyagi-Do dojo; the property looked deserted and
peaceful in the light of the full moon.
“After you”, he said smoothly, ushering his girlfriend inside. Keiko took in her surroundings with
amazement: the house, the pond, the zen garden… it was an almost perfect recreation of a Japanese
house.

“Oh, wow”, she exclaimed as Robby led her down the gravel path. “You know, I didn’t have the
highest opinion of your Sensei… but he’s really cool letting you use the dojo for a picnic under the
stars.”

Robby cleared his throat but didn’t answer, and Keiko started smelling a rat. She turned around to
face him, with her hands on her hips.

“You do have permission to be here, right?”

More silence, and the expression in Keiko’s face went from suspicious to annoyed.

“Robby… are we sneaking in here without permission? I don’t want to be arrested for trespassing,
especially not on a rival dojo.” Then another thought came to her, and she took a step closer to the
boy. “You’re not one of those guys who have a kink for getting caught, are you? First in the shed at
Lake Balboa and now here… but if the police catch us here they’re not going to be as
understanding as Kate was.”

“I don’t have a thing for getting caught!” he protested, grabbing Keiko’s hand. “Everything will be
fine… just keep your voice down until we’re on the back. Nobody will see us there.”

“Okay”, said Keiko in a hesitant tone. “But if the alarm sounds I’m going to jump that fence, call
an Uber, and leave you here alone.”

“That’s not going to happen! I know the alarm code.”

“Clever boy. I’m not going to ask how you got it.”

“I didn’t steal it or anything, Sam gave it to me”, he confessed, opening the door of the house and
making sure he pressed the right numbers on the alarm keyboard.

“Little Miss Perfect?” Keiko raised an eyebrow. “What came onto her?”

Robby tried not to roll his eyes. Every kid in both dojos knew that there was no lost love between
Sam and Keiko. For whatever reason, the two girls had started on the wrong foot.

“Don’t be mean to Sam, please… she’s been helping me a lot with my studies.”

“I’m not mean, I can’t help it if she hates me!”

“Anyway”, said Robby, leaving the basket on the floor and turning on the lights, “Sam came here
a few nights ago to train with Aisha: she didn’t think Mr. LaRusso would approve of having a
Cobra Kai at the dojo, so they told their parents they were going to a sleepover at Moon’s house,
and sneaked in here.”

“Oh, of course she’d go behind her Dad’s back… color me impressed”, said Keiko. “So, that
makes me the second Cobra Kai to be here ever. Suddenly I feel a lot less special.”

Robby laughed, leading the girl through several tatami-floored rooms until they reached the back
garden. That was where most of the training equipment had been set. It was also the place he had
chosen for the picnic: the view of the Valley was beautiful under the moonlight, and sitting on the
grass would be way nicer than just going to a burger joint.
He’d never thought of himself as a romantic… and Keiko was even more pragmatic, but he felt like
doing something different for their two week anniversary. Or week-a-versary. Or whatever it was
that one celebrated after fourteen days with a girl (which was a first for him).

They sat on a blanket, under the biggest tree in the garden, and Keiko opened a bottle of orange
juice while Robby took the food out of the basket. With a sigh, he noticed that Shannon had cut the
sandwiches into perfect heart shapes.

“Thanks, Mom”, he muttered under his breath. After Sid’s funeral, there had been no more talk of
Keiko meeting his mother; he had been waiting for a good moment… an elusive good moment that
seemed very far away.

He took out the potato salad and the cheese platter, leaving the sandwiches in the basket. The
hearts would work much better as a second course… or maybe even as dessert. Whenever the night
was dark and Keiko wouldn’t be able to see them clearly.

The picnic went really well. So well that they ate all the food, including the absurdly shaped
sandwiches. Robby put on some music, they looked at the stars for a while… the usual. He even
used the old ‘you’ve got a breadcrumb here’ trick to initiate a kiss that put an end to the stargazing.

It was nice, kissing a girl ( his girl, he thought with pride) in a beautiful setting, without any of the
participants being drunk, or high, or desperate for human contact. A few days before he had made a
mental list of all the girls he’d been with… and the sad truth was, most of them had been party
hookups. Including two on the same weekend whose names, to his eternal shame, wasn’t able to
remember; and another one who had only made out with Robby to get back on her boyfriend for
cheating on her.

It was different with Keiko, and not just because she was a rich, high class girl. She didn’t behave
like a spoiled kid at all… at least, not like the spoiled kids he was used to seeing on TV and at his
former hunting grounds. She didn’t put in airs and graces, she was cool with him having a not-so-
stellar past, and she didn’t give a fuck about them being in different dojos and living completely
different lives.

Suddenly, a very unladylike move by Keiko, who slid onto his lap while they kissed, made Robby
span to attention.

“Everything okay?” he asked, opening his eyes for a moment.

“Perfect”, she nodded, tilting her head to nuzzle his neck.

Two thoughts sprang in Robby’s mind at the same time: one, that he had no idea how much
experience Keiko had with boys or how far she’d want to get, despite her self-assured attitude. And
two, that he was probably thinking too much when what he should do was enjoy the moment.

With a sudden spin he rolled them both onto the grass, hovering over the smiling girl, and his
fingers inched under her t-shirt in what was (although he didn’t know it) a trademark Lawrence
move. And then…

“Ow! Wait!”

The intrusive thoughts rushed back as he sprang back up to a sitting position. Damn, he hadn’t
even had time to touch anything!
“What happened? Too fast?” he asked, trying to think what he’d done wrong. “Do you want me to
take you home?”

Keiko sat up too, with a grimace on her face; then she looked at the patch of grass where she’d
been laying a moment before, picked up something and showed it to Robby. It was a piece of
gravel from the path, a small and particularly pointy stone that had strayed from its intended place.

“This was digging into my back.”

Robby started breathing again, relieved.

“Shit. Looks like being interrupted is our thing”, he said, laughing, as he reached for the offending
object. “Give me that stone, I’m going to kick it over the fence.”

“I’ll help you”, she laughed too. “See? This would never have happened in Cobra Kai… there’s
only mats and the floor over there.”

“Sounds like a good place for our next picnic.”

They reclined on the soft grass again; the heat of the moment had passed, and Robby just closed
his eyes and relaxed while Keiko played with his hair.

“Speaking of Cobra Kai… something strange happened yesterday at the dojo”, said the girl.

“Oh?”

“Does it bother you? That I talk about my dojo and stuff?” Keiko asked, propping herself up on her
elbows. “If it’s weird, I can go impale myself on the pebbles of the Zen garden.”

“It’s fine, I like hearing about the things you do”, he answered with a smile. “What happened
yesterday?”

“Someone came to visit during class, and Sensei Lawrence looked very nervous… I’ve never seen
him like that before.”

“Go on.”

“Sensei said the man was from the old Cobra Kai dojo.”

“What did he look like?” asked Robby, trying to remember. “"Bald? Blue eyes? Maybe it was
Uncle Bobby… he’s not my real uncle, but he’s cool. I went on a few playdates with his daughters
when I was little; he and my Dad were best friends in high school.”

Keiko shook her head.

“No, he was older than your Dad… And not very talkative. He must have been his old Sensei, it’s
the only thing that makes sense.”

Robby frowned.

“I’ve never heard my Dad speak of his teacher. Mr. LaRusso can’t go ten minutes without
mentioning Mr. Miyagi, but Dad never said a thing. He talked about the dojo, and his friends, and
the tournaments… but nothing else.”

“Sensei Lawrence didn’t look happy to see the old man, but he let him stay and watch the class”,
Keiko continued. “And then there was that thing with Rattler…”
“Rani? What happened to her?” Robby asked, a little alarmed.

“She wasn’t there. After the class ended and the man left, Aisha asked Sensei Lawrence if Rattler
was sick or something because she never misses a day of training; he practically barked at her and
said he didn’t know if Rattler was coming back. Not when , he said if . He was like… on edge all
afternoon.”

“Yeah, welcome to the magical world of my Dad’s moods”, Robby said, frowning even deeper.
“It’s always a fucking party with him. So, did you catch the old guy’s name?”

“No. He barely said two words in the whole afternoon. Do you think it’s important?”

Robby mused about it for a second.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. I know my Dad left the old Cobra Kai in senior year because he had some
trouble with his teacher… and if the man was a jerk back in the day that’s why Dad wasn’t so
thrilled with the visit. I bet you won’t see him again.”

“Yeah, you’re right, forget I mentioned it”, she said, scooting closer to the boy. “And now, I
promise not to talk about Cobra Kai for the rest of the night… This is a date, not a karate meeting.
We need to make the most of it, it’s also my last weekend of freedom before I go back to school
and get lost in the classes, the homework, and my Mom’s silly idea that going out is not allowed on
school nights.”

“Oh, come on… it won’t be so bad”, Robby said, kissing the tip of her nose. “We can text. And
FaceTime. If everything else fails, I can even write little notes and give them to Shiro so he
delivers them to you… but I’d rather not get to that extreme.”

It wasn’t the most original of jokes, but it made Keiko laugh.

“Oh, now I demand one of those secret love notes every week!” she whispered, putting her arms
around the boy. “I’m going to miss you… I wish you could come to West Valley with me.”

“Nah, I’ve fallen out of the system now. I’m not even sure what grade they would put me in if I
went back to school… I’d rather study at home. In a couple of years I’ll go to college and be
normal again.”

“Hey, you’re already normal! But I’m glad you have plans, I’ve never heard you interested in
going to college before”, she observed, brushing a strand or Robby’s hair off his forehead.

“I never thought about it, until Sid left me all that money. It would be silly not to get a degree and
let it go to waste, right?”

“A degree… or even a doctorate”, said Keiko in a teasing tone. “A few years from now you could
be Professor Robby Lawrence, Ph. D. You’ll have to wear a swanky suit, and glasses.”

“Okay… but it’s Keene.”

“Oh, shoot!” she yelped, covering her mouth with her hand. “Sorry! For a second I forgot you went
by your Mom’s last name.”

“It’s all right”, Robby shrugged.

“By the way, don’t forget to thank your Mom for the food; it was really good, even those corny
heart sandwiches that you didn’t want me to see. Hey, maybe I could go and thank her in person
now that she’s back in town.”

“You really want to meet her?” he asked, blushing a little.

“Yeah, of course! I mean, if you think it’s the right moment.”

“And what about your parents?”

Keiko took a deep breath and looked into the boy’s green eyes.

“I was leaving this for last in case you freaked out and it spoiled the date. But, since it’s almost
time to go home, here it goes… I told my parents about you yesterday.”

“What?” he exclaimed in a shrill voice. “What did you tell them about me?”

“Cool down, Professor Keene! I told them you’re a friend of Shiro, a great boy, very good at
karate…”

“What about the ‘dropped out of high school’ thing?”

“Homeschooled. Sounds better that way, and they don’t need to know the reason.”

This time it was Robby’s turn to look in his girlfriend’s eyes. “You always have an answer to every
question, don’t you?” he said, very serious.

“The word you’re looking for is resourceful . And yes, I like being prepared and anticipating what
comes next. It helps in karate… and in life.”

Robby reached for the picnic basket, now almost empty. He grabbed the last can of Dr. Pepper,
opened it, and offeret it to Keiko after taking a swig.

“Did you conveniently forget to tell them I’m not Asian? Are they going to find out when they see
me, like in that Ashton Kutcher movie?”

“Of course not, silly!” she laughed. “You mean the Sidney Poitier movie, right? An old one, with a
white girl who brings home her Black boyfriend?”

“No, the other way around… and it wasn’t that old, my mom got the DVD a few years ago.”

“Oh. It must be a remake of the one I saw”, she said, confused. “Anyway, I didn’t forget. My
parents know you’re white, and they’re not exactly thrilled; but it’s my life, not theirs. I could do
worse than you, right?”

“Exactly what everyone wants to hear… ‘I could do worse’. I’m so flattered.”

“Awww, come on… don’t get mad at me now, I have to be back home at eleven. If we spend the
last ten minutes of our moonlit dinner fighting, we’ll spoil all the fun we’ve had.”

Robby sprang to his feet, struck by an inspiration, and held out a hand to help Keiko get up.

“What if instead of fighting it’s sparring?”

“What?”

“Look around you. We’re at a dojo, and if I remember correctly you said once that you wanted to
see if I was as good as my reputation. Come on, just ten minutes.”
Keiko observed her surroundings, shrugged, and started taking off her shoes.

“All right. Let’s see if you’re as great a fighter as you always say, Keene. And don’t think of trying
that flashy two-legged kick with me; everyone and their mother knows how to dodge that one
now.”

“You’ve seen the videos of the All Valley, that kick did its job”, answered the boy, a little miffed
that Keiko was making fun of Daniel’s secret move. “I have nothing left to prove.”

“The tournament was last May, and it’s almost September now”, she teased. “How do I know you
didn’t get rusty during the Summer?”

“Let’s find out”, he simply stated, kicking off his own shoes.

“You know, it’s going to be funny when my parents see me arrive home tonight. Flushed, tired,
with my clothes full of dirt… Do you think they’ll believe me when I tell them we’ve been
practising karate?”

“Don’t worry… If you get too dirty, I’ll throw you into the pond before we leave”, he teased back.
“And if you want to bail out, be my guest… but I can’t promise I won’t tell anyone.”

Keiko tied up her hair in a loose ponytail, showed her teeth in a smile that was almost a snarl, and
got into a fighting stance.

“Oh, yeah? Let’s see which one of us ends in that pond tonight… Bring it, Keene.”
 Homecoming
Chapter Summary

The first day of school is finally here. And it's a very busy day for Miguel, with old
friends, old enemies, old loves... and some 'girl trouble' that leads to a very serious talk
with Sensei Lawrence.

Chapter Notes

This Miguel-centric chapter follows Miggy during the events of a whole day. And it
ends exactly where the last episode of Cobra Kai Season 2 ended: right after the first
day of school. Of course, my alternate version of S2 is very different from the canon
one… and it took me 39 chapters to get to this point, instead of ten episodes. But that’s
what’s so great about fanfiction: you’re not constricted by time, or space, or a limited
budget. The only limit is one’s imagination.
Thank you for sticking with me during this super long journey, and for having
patience with the lack of updates lately. Enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER 39. HOMECOMING

It was a Monday, 7:45 a.m., and West Valley High was busy as a beehive.

Hundreds of sleepy teenagers swarmed towards the building on cars, school buses, bikes, and even
electric scooters. Many of them hadn’t seen their friends in weeks, or months; everywhere you
looked there were groups of boys and girls hugging, showing each other pictures of their holidays,
and exchanging stories about the Summer.

Miguel got off the school bus in silence and looked around him. Of all his friends, only Demetri
had come on the bus… and he had spent the whole ride gushing about the new Doctor Who
season, that Miguel hadn’t watched yet.

He wished his mom would have been free to take him to school, but she had a double shift at the
hospital that day. He had called Hawk the night before to make plans, but it went straight to
voicemail and the other boy hadn’t called him back. Aisha never took the bus if her mother was
available. Keiko had hitched a ride with her brother, inviting Grace and Sophie too, and all the
other Cobra Kai kids had their own means of transportation that didn’t involve the battered yellow
bus with its uncomfortable seats.

Despite standing in the middle of hundreds of people, Miguel felt quite alone.

The melancholy had attacked him by surprise the night before, when he got home from a date with
Maria. It had been nice, dinner and a movie; their usual plan. Then, after the movie ended, they got
in Maria’s car… and the girl had asked him if he wanted to go to the Top of Topanga Overlook, to
watch the stars for a while before going home.
And he had said no.

His girlfriend’s disappointment had lasted only a second, but that short span of time was enough to
plant the doubt in his mind. Maria dropped him home without mentioning the Overlook again, and
she even pressed her body against him when they kissed goodbye, raking her nails down his back
in a way that should have made his blood boil.

Later, laying on his bed, Miguel thought long and hard about the date. Something wasn’t right.
Normal boys didn’t say no to an offer to visit a well known makeout spot. And his blood was as
red as any other boy’s… but it was very far from boiling. Maybe he didn’t really like girls…? He
had always taken it for granted; but then he remembered when Grace had shared her coming out
story, a few weeks before. Apparently she had started realizing things when a boy kissed her on a
date and she felt nothing.

The poor boy had tossed and turned in bed for more than an hour. No, it wasn’t that. He liked girls,
he always had liked them; and he had never been attracted to any of his male friends, despite being
surrounded by boys in their underwear all the time in the dojo’s changing room.

In a desperate attempt to fall asleep, Miguel had let his mind wander. He had imagined the ride to
the Overlook that never was, and what could have happened in the back seat of Maria’s car. He
tried to imagine the girl’s warm lips, his hands exploring the unexplored, the forbidden glimpse of
soft skin in the darkness.

Suddenly, his eyes darted open and he sat up in bed, panting. Completely absorbed by his fantasy,
he had seen the girl’s face clearly in his mind, as clear as if she was there with him…

… but the face he saw didn’t belong to Maria.

Miguel shook his head to bring his attention back to the present, to the morning of the first day of
school. He finally saw Hawk in the parking lot getting off Moon’s car, and the two boys met right
outside the high school building.

“Hey, man… feels like ages since I’ve seen you”, he started.

“What?” said the spiky-haired boy making a face. “You saw me on Friday at the dojo… did I hit
your head too hard with that kick?”

“I mean outside karate class. Demetri and I went to Golf’n’Stuff with Aisha the other day, I left you
a dozen messages.”

They walked inside, searching for their classroom in the maze of corridors. Miguel saw many
familiar faces, and also a few new ones.

“Golf’n’Stuff is for kids. And Demetri… dude, it’s time we dump him already. He’s making us
look bad.”

“Who, Demetri?” said Miguel with an incredulous laughter. “He’s our friend!”

“He’s a traitor.”

They finally reached the right classroom. It was almost empty, and Miguel chose a desk on his
favorite spot by the window.
“Dude, it’s bad enough that he keeps being a nerd when you and I have moved on”, continued
Hawk. “But now he’s gone and joined the enemy because he didn’t have the balls to come to
Cobra Kai again. And he’s Keene’s BFF, after he made your girl break up with you… that’s not
what I call a friend.”

Miguel rolled his eyes.

“Look, Hawk, about Keene… maybe it’s time to bury the hatchet. It’s been months since the beach
party stuff happened, neither of us is with Sam anymore. He’s been hanging out with Sensei and
Kate a lot… and Rattler likes him, he can’t be that bad.”

“You’re letting an eight-year-old girl tell you who you should be friends with”, was the deadpan
answer. “Pathetic, and it doesn’t change the fact that Keene and his dojo are against us. He’s just
pretending to be cool with us so he can have another chance to fuck you up.”

“He is cool with us, he’s Keiko’s boyfriend now!” Miguel insisted, wondering why he was making
such an effort to defend Robby after all the events of the previous year.

This time it was Hawk’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Whatever, man. Just don’t come crying when Keene and his Miyagi-Dork friends come for
revenge for losing the tournament.”

Miguel didn’t answer. He was looking out of the window, lost in a daydream once more. Out of the
corner of his eye he had seen a familiar figure getting out of an expensive car. It was Sam, of
course, who waved goodbye to her Dad and rushed to greet a group of girls before heading inside.
The boy sighed, secretly wishing that they wouldn’t share a lot of classes this year. Out of sight,
out of mind, that’s how it was supposed to work.

The sound of laughter coming from the open door startled him, and this time he recognized an old
enemy. Kyler and his buddy Brucks were standing in the hallway, talking to a couple of girls.
When Miguel caught his eye, the Asian boy went pale; two seconds later both of them had
disappeared down the corridor, with the chatty girls in tow. There had been a look of alarm in their
faces, maybe even fear, and Miguel couldn’t help feeling a pang of pride.

Seeing Kyler also made him remember something else: it was exactly a year since the day he’d
met Sensei Lawrence, the day his life had taken a U-turn. He had changed a little since then… but
other people’s perception of him had changed a lot.

Miguel felt another one of his daydreams coming, probably a consequence of the lack of sleep. The
other boys and girls in class started taking their seats, while Miguel tried to imagine what would
have become of him if he hadn’t gone to the mini-mart that fateful day. Maybe Kyler and company
would have ignored him, with a bit of luck; maybe Kyler would still be dating Sam. But the biggest
consequence would have been Cobra Kai… or, rather, the lack of it. Because, if Sensei Lawrence
hadn’t come to his rescue, he would never have reopened the dojo, right?

Would Cobra Kai still exist without Miguel, in an alternate universe? Would Eli have found a
different path to his newfound personality change? And what of Miyagi-Do? Would the rival dojo
even exist without the Cobra Kai opposition?

The sound of the school bell made him snap out of his trance. He looked around him, at the class
full of students and at the teacher who was already starting to write on the blackboard. Miguel
didn’t see Sam anywhere, and he felt relieved; he was sure he was going to blush like a beetroot if
she saw her. The worst part was that he hadn’t done anything wrong, of course… it had been just a
moment of weakness, a sleep-addled fantasy that lasted only a moment in the small hours of the
night. Shit, he hadn’t even thought of her on purpose! He was trying to think of his girlfriend.

No, Miguel hadn’t done anything wrong. But he felt guilty all the same.

It was an ordinary morning for Miguel, so normal that it became almost boring. During lunch he
sat with Aisha, Pride and Joy, and a few other Cobra Kai students. All except Hawk, who had co-
opted a table for him and Moon alone, and growled to everyone who tried to sit next to them. On
the other end of the cafeteria he saw Sam, with Demetri and Keiko’s brother. The Miyagi-Do
students also stuck together… all but Keene, who studied at home, and Miguel thanked the
Heavens for not having to see him every day. There were also a couple of freshmen at the Miyagi
table, and Miguel wondered if Sam’s dad had finally been doing some recruiting.

He had a free hour after lunch, so he headed to the library, where he was supposed to meet with
Aisha. The English Lit teacher had given them a long list of books to read during the semester, and
Miguel thought he’d get started. He climbed the stairs to the second floor; but, before he could
reach his destination, a shouting whisper from a nearby classroom startled him.

“Pssst! Miguel!”

It was Sam, of course, the same person he’d been trying to avoid all morning. He looked left and
right to see if there were any witnesses, and followed her into the empty room.

“Hey”, he said, leaning onto a desk and trying to look as cool as he didn’t feel. “What’s up?”

“I didn’t see you in class this morning”, she said, sounding as if he was personally responsible for
it.

“I’m sure we’ll have a few classes together in the afternoon. Or tomorrow”, he shrugged. “How
was your first day?”

“Fine. Yours?”

“Good. Are you taking Spanish again this year?”

“Yeah”, she answered. “But we won’t be in the same group, your Spanish is way more advanced
than mine.”

Miguel didn’t really know what to say to that, so he just nodded in silence… a silence that lasted
several seconds, until he couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Why am I here, Sam? What do you want?”

He looked her in the eye and then looked away. Most girls took care to wear something special on
the first day of school; and Sam, being no exception, was even prettier than he remembered. She
was wearing a maroon shirt that made her eyes look bluer than usual, and she had done something
to her hair too… something that involved a braid, and curls.

Miguel liked curls. He always had. And he was dying to reach out and touch them, so looking
away was the only way to stay calm.

“I… I just wanted to talk to you”, she whispered.

“In an empty classroom?” he asked, frowning. “I’m not your dirty little secret anymore, Sam. If
you want to say hi, you can do it in front of other people.”

“But…”

“Look, I have to go to the library”, Miguel continued. I don’t want your boyfriend to find us here
and send me to the hospital… it would be a really shitty way to start my school year.”

“My boyfriend?” asked Samantha, crossing her arms. “What are you talking about? I don’t have
a–”

“Keiko’s brother”, he interrupted her. “He’s kind of perfect, I don’t know why you’re keeping him
a secret too.”

“Shiro and I are just friends!” she said, sounding a little offended. “Who told you I’m dating him?
It’s not true.”

“Whatever, Sam… it’s none of my business.”

He turned around to leave, but something made him stop and retrace his steps before reaching the
door.

“If you’re not hiding from Shiro, why are we here?” he asked, wanting to get to the bottom of the
matter.

Sam took a deep breath. She started playing with her hair, twisting and untwisting a long curl
around her finger, something Miguel found incredibly distracting.

“My Dad told me something yesterday… something important that I think you should know.”

“Let me guess”, he said, dejected. “He doesn’t want you talking to me or any other Cobra Kai ever
again. That’s old news, Sam.”

“Will you please shut up for one minute and listen?” she implored, in a very serious tone that made
Miguel stand to attention. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear a lecture on the evil ways of Sensei
Lawrence again… but there was a part of him that longed to be near Sam, even if it was to talk
about unpleasant things.

He sat at a desk and shrugged.

“I’m all ears.”

Sam took the empty seat next to him, something he wasn’t expecting, and the scent of her perfume
made him clench his fist under the desk.

“Robby’s dad… your Sensei… he came to my house the other night and talked to my parents. He
said his old Sensei was back in town, the one everybody thought was dead.”

She looked at Miguel to watch his reaction, but he just nodded.

“That man’s name is Kreese”, she continued in an agitated tone. “He was the founder of the old
Cobra Kai, and my Dad says he’s very bad news. He thinks you and the other students may be in
danger.”

Miguel raked his fingers through his hair, sighing. He didn’t feel like discussing Cobra Kai matters
with Sam; that had never ended well before. But if she knew about the mysterious visitor, that was
worth exploring.

“Yeah, that man came to the dojo last Friday”, he explained. “He didn’t say much about himself…
or at all. Not exactly the life of the party.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” she asked.

“Do? Come on… Sensei said that guy was just an observer. He looked harmless. If Sensei
Lawrence thinks it’s fine that he watches a class or two, for old times’ sake, there’s nothing I can
do! I trust Sensei’s judgment.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

Miguel pressed his lips together before speaking again.

“Is this when you ask me again to leave Cobra Kai, Sam? Because I’m not going to betray my
Sensei like that. Never. What do you want me to do, choose a random dojo and move there as if
nothing had happened?”

Sam looked at him with hopeful eyes.

“There can always be a place for you at Miya–”

“Are you crazy?” he interrupted her. “Keene can’t stand me, your dad hates me… Even if I
apologize a thousand times, your dad is always going to see a Cobra Kai. I’ll always be the jerk
who hit you and injured his precious Robby.”

“If it’s any consolation, I told my Dad that you didn’t hit me on purpose.”

“Because I was trying to hit his star student”, said Miguel in a bitter tone. “How’s that any better?”

Sam was running out of convincing arguments. She stood up and started pacing up and down the
empty classroom.

“Miguel, I just don’t want you to get hurt!”

“And here I am, currently not getting hurt!” he answered, standing up too. “Sam, really… if that
Kreese man was so dangerous, Sensei would have told us. And, by the way, not every problem in
the world can be fixed by making everyone join your dojo. I know how much you and your dad
hate Sensei Lawrence… but that would break his heart. It would be wrong.”

Samantha didn’t want to give up so easily. She walked up to where the boy was and stood right in
front of him.

“Maybe my dad is not Cobra Kai’s biggest fan, but he’s not a liar. If he says that man is dangerous,
it’s the truth.”

“Yeah?” Miguel retorted, a little irritated of being constantly reminded of Daniel’s rightfulness.
“And how exactly does your dad know Kreese? How is he so sure that Kreese is bad news, if they
met for five minutes at a tournament in 1984?”

“I… I don’t know”, she admitted, a bit deflated. “I tried to ask him for details, but he said it was a
story I shouldn’t hear.”

“Forgive me, Sam, but that sounds like a very lame excuse. And I won’t betray Sensei Lawrence
without proof.”
Sam released a long breath and looked into the boy’s black eyes.

“We’re both at a dead end, then.”

“Yeah”, he nodded. “Look, I’ll try to ask Sensei Lawrence about that man and what he did that was
so terrible… he’s not the most open person in the world, but I’ll tell you if I find out anything.
Okay?”

“Okay”, she whispered. “And I’ll tell you if my dad gives me any clue about what happened with
him and Kreese in the eighties.”

“Thank you.” A tentative smile appeared on Miguel’s face. “And thanks for the warning,
anyway… I’ve missed talking to you.”

For the second time in ten minutes, he turned around to leave. But Sam’s next words made him
freeze in his place again.

“I’ve missed you too.”

Miguel closed his eyes before turning around. Those were the words he’d been wishing to hear for
so long… and, now that he was actually hearing them, they hurt. He opened his eyes slowly,
telling himself that Sam was just being nice.

“Yeah, I… it’s been a long Summer. We’ve both been busy.”

“I wanted to talk to you at the lake”, Sam blurted out, and Miguel thought he saw her blush a little.

“What?”

“The day of the excursion to Lake Balboa, I looked for you several times. But you were with your
friends, there were so many people everywhere, and my dad…”

“Your dad said not to go near any Cobra Kai. Yeah, I remember, Sam. That’s why I tried to stay
away from you, I didn’t want to get you in trouble. Then, after the volleyball match I saw you
hugging Keiko’s brother, and I thought–”

“You were wrong”, she said in a firm voice.

“We avoided each other all day like a pair of idiots, when we could have talked things through,
and…”

He stopped talking, because the realization of what could have been was suddenly too much. Now
Sam was right there, with her sad blue eyes fixed on him. So close that the tips of her fingers were
almost touching his hand. And the temptation was too strong; the need to hold her, to get back all
he had foolishly lost, to just lean in and kiss her…

Miguel clenched his fists, closed his eyes again, and took a bold step.

A step back.

He collided with the chair that was behind him, and the loud noise killed the magic in a fraction of
a second.

“We can’t”, he said; the only two words his brain could manage.

“We shouldn’t”, was Sam’s flustered answer. “You’re with Maria, it would be wrong… it would
be a disaster.”

She had taken a step back too, fortunately without hitting any furniture, and Miguel thought he saw
a tear in her eye. He pretended to check the time on his phone and kept walking backwards towards
the door.

“Sam, I really have to go. Library.”

“Yeah, of course! And I have… class, I think. In ten minutes.”

“I’ll see you around.”

Once he was at a prudent distance, Miguel started running; he didn’t stop until he reached the
library and the stern librarian gave him a warning look. Still on auto pilot, he headed for the table
(in the furthest corner of the room) where he and his friends always sat, and he let himself fall on a
chair next to a surprised Aisha.

“Mig, dude, I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Did you get lost or what?”

The boy hid his face in his hands before answering.

“I was talking to Sam. I’m fine.”

“Those two things don’t go together”, she observed. “What were you talking about? You look
kinda freaked out.”

“She knew something about the old man who came to the dojo on Friday”, he answered in a
careful whisper, trying to avoid the librarian’s pointed gaze. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Silence, you two!”

The wrath of a high school librarian is not to be taken lightly, especially on the first day of school.
Both Miguel and Aisha lowered their heads, pretending to be completely absorbed in their copy of
The Grapes of Wrath. Miguel’s mind, however, was miles away from the Steinbeck book… he was
thinking of Maria, and how grateful he was that she didn’t go to West Valley High.

Who knows what kind of ugly scene could have happened, if his girlfriend had witnessed his
almost-kiss with Sam?

The rest of the day also passed without incidents. After school, Aisha drove Miguel to Cobra Kai,
and the boy was relieved to see that the mysterious ex-Sensei Kreese was nowhere to be seen.

A couple of other absences were more worrying. It seemed Rattler was still not coming to class,
which was bad news because it gave Sensei Lawrence an excuse to be grumpier than usual. Hawk
wasn’t there either, and Miguel wondered if the boy’s confrontational attitude had earned him
detention already. He still wasn’t answering his texts, so there was no way to be sure.

The dojo was unusually quiet that day. Sensei seemed to be in one of his moods, exactly like
Miguel had anticipated, and all the kids were careful not to speak out of turn. But Miguel was
planning on having a conversation with Sensei Lawrence, even if it wasn’t a good moment… so he
concentrated extra hard during the exercises, and even volunteered to clean the mats after class.

Two hours later, after all the others had left and all the mats were immaculate, Miguel knocked on
the door of Johnny’s office.

“Sensei?”

“Yeah, come in.”

The boy was relieved to see that Sensei Lawrence was in a better mood after class. He had taken
off his headband, but not his gi; and he had a framed picture in his hands, a black and white photo
of several Cobra Kai boys smiling at the camera, probably taken during a tournament. Something
in that old picture was making Sensei smile, too.

Encouraged by this, Miguel decided it was a good time to ask for advice.

“Sensei, can we talk about something? I… I’m having some girl trouble.”

“Aren’t you dating that Krunch girl?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “That’s the opposite of
trouble, Diaz. If you need to beat the other boys off with a stick, I’m sure your friends can help.”

“It’s not that. Yeah, Maria is great, but… it’s also about Sam.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and sat at his desk.

“Well, shit. Of course”, he groaned. “Close the door, Diaz, and take a sit.”

The boy obeyed and sat very straight in front of Johnny.

“The day someone in this dojo has a problem and it doesn’t involve any of the LaRussos, I’m going
to throw a fucking party”, Johnny sneered. “Come on, spill… I’d offer you a beer, but Kate would
have my head, so it’s soda or nothing.”

“Soda is fine. Thanks, Sensei.”

After Johnny went to the mini-fridge and grabbed a Dr. Pepper for Miguel and a can of Coors for
himself, the boy let out a long sigh and started talking.

“So, I have a… a situation, I think. with Maria and Sam.”

“Did one of them catch you red-handed with the other one?” Johnny asked.

“What? No!”

“Good. I’m not going to defend you if you do that, you hear me?”

He wasn’t smiling anymore, so Miguel gave him a solemn nod.

“You know I dated loads of babes when I was your age”, Johnny continued. “But one thing I’ve
never done is cheat on a girl. Cheating is for cowards, and I don’t teach cowards in my dojo.”

“I didn’t cheat on Maria! I’d never…” realizing he was raising his voice, Miguel made a pause and
rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Sorry, Sensei, I didn’t sleep well last night. Look, I’m with
Maria. And it’s fine. I mean, we go on dates, I’ve met her parents, she knows my Mom and my
Yaya… Maria is a great girl. I know she may look like a silly Valley girl but she’s really nice and
she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

“Sounds like you have the perfect girl. So, what’s your problem?”
“It’s… oh, God, I feel awful just thinking about it. I keep thinking of Sam, all the time! I’ve barely
seen her all Summer, but yesterday night I was thinking of the date I just had with Maria and… it’s
like her face changed in my mind, and suddenly it was Sam. I can’t get her out of my head, no
matter how hard I try.”

Johnny nodded in silence, sensing that Miguel wasn’t finished yet.

“Today at school Sam came to talk to me after lunch. She… she said she missed me. And I may be
wrong, but I had the feeling that she didn’t mean she missed me as a friend, that wanted us to get
back together. But I can’t tell her how I feel, because it’s not fair to Maria! And I can’t keep dating
Maria and thinking of Sam at the same time, right?”

He looked at Johnny with his big, soulful eyes, almost expecting his Sensei to laugh at him and call
him a pussy for being so confused over a girl. No, two girls.

But Johnny didn’t laugh. He got up from his chair and started pacing up and down the small office,
with his gaze fixed on Miguel. Then he seemed to make up his mind and sat down again.

“Diaz?”

“Yes, Sensei?”

“Do you remember that day you came to this office and started parroting about the LaRusso girl?
How she was so hot, funny, brainy, and I don’t know how many more things?”

“Ah… yes”, answered the boy with a sad smile.

“Today you come here again, talking about your girlfriend… and the best thing you can tell me
about her is that she has a good head on her shoulders”, he huffed. “Can’t you see what’s wrong
with that?”

“Well, Maria is very nice and very–”

“For fuck’s sake, Diaz!” Johnny exclaimed. “When you praise a woman’s head , you shouldn’t be
talking about her brain cells. Get it?”

Miguel got it. And, of course, he blushed like a lightbulb.

“What I’m trying to say, son, is… I’m sorry, but you’re fucked”, continued Johnny, his bottle of
beer getting warm in his hands. “You’re fucked if you keep dating that Krunch girl, because you
like her but you’re not really into her. And you’re even more fucked if you break up with your
girlfriend and try again with the Italian princess… because her dad is going to kill you.”

Miguel closed his eyes and sighed. Johnny had done nothing but put into words what his
subconscious already knew, but the realization still hit him hard.

“Sensei… there has to be a way to make it work with Sam”, he said in a sad tone. “I was ready to
give her up when I thought she hated me and she was dating someone else; but if there’s a
chance…”

“A chance in Hell”, Johnny said. “Okay. Imagine that you two get together again, LaRusso has a
good day and decides not to kill you, and it’s all sunshine and rainbows. Now imagine yourself ten
years from now… what do you do, apart from following that girl around like a puppy? What’s your
job?”
Miguel’s face lit up; this was a happier topic for him.

“I want to work in advertising, Sensei”, he said with an eager smile.

“What, like those Madison Avenue guys in that series? Kate likes it... Crazy Dudes or something
like that.”

“Mad Men!” said the boy. “Yeah, but publicity is not like that anymore. Now you need more than
writing copy: there are multimedia campaigns, you use influencers to get your message across, you
advertise online…”

“You’re giving me a headache”, Johnny groaned. “So you want to make commercials for a living.”

“I know I can be good at it, Sensei. Last semester I did a project for Economy class, and the teacher
said I had the mind of a publicist.”

“And is that job going to make you a millionaire?”

“What?” asked the boy, frowning.

“You heard me”, he continued in a stern voice. " Will you make enough dough with your
commercials to buy a house in Encino Hills? A fancy car or two? A trip to Hawaii, or to Europe,
every year?”

“Ah… well, I don’t think so”, answered the boy, making some quick mental calculations. “Not
unless I get my own agency or become a partner in one of the big ones, and that can take many
years… but all those things don’t matter, right? They’re just… things.”

“Wrong. Look, kid… in one word, LaRusso is a snob. He doesn’t remember what it feels like to be
poor anymore. And he’s gonna judge you for your house, your car, and your money, because those
things will tell him if you’re good enough for his little princess or not.”

“But Sam doesn’t think like that!” said Miguel, feeling compelled to defend her.

“That girl has never spent a Winter without central heating, or a Summer without air conditioning
and a swimming pool at home. She doesn’t miss the things she’s always had. But ten years from
now, when she expects a new car for her birthday and you give her a silver bracelet and a bouquet
of daisies, she’ll remember what her Dad’s money could buy and yours can’t, and everything will
go to shit. Money has power, Diaz… the power to make people do things they thought they’d
never do.”

Miguel hid his face in his hands. All of a sudden he felt like screaming. Of course his rational mind
told him that Sam wasn’t a vain girl, that she wouldn’t care if he never became rich like her Dad…
But, at the same time, there was a little devil perched on his shoulder, whispering in his ear that
he’d never be good enough. Or rich enough.

“But what about Maria?” he asked, trying to find the logic of the situation. “Her dad is richer than
the LaRussos, right? You don’t think the same thing could happen with me and her in the future?”

“Nah”, answered Johnny, waving a hand. “You’ve met that girl’s folks, right? They bothered to get
to know you, invited you to their house.”

“That’s right”, Miguel admitted. “Her mother even came to my apartment the other day to meet
Mom and Yaya. She stayed for coffee and everything.”
“See? That lady probably has enough money to buy our whole apartment complex; but she got her
ass here, to Reseda, all the way from the Hills, to meet your family and be nice to them. That’s the
difference.”

“So… you think I should forget about Sam? Forever?” Miguel practically whined.

Johnny made a pause and let out a long breath.

“Diaz… I’m not saying all this stuff to screw up your dating life, okay? I know what it feels like to
be hung up on a girl for years, and I don’t want you to go through that. But I also don’t want you to
get the girl you think you want, and be miserable with her because one day she’ll have to choose
between you and her family.”

“Right”, said the boy, looking so dejected that Johnny almost stood up and gave him a hug.

“What I’m saying is, go home and think about it for a few days. Think hard , you’re good at that.
Make a decision and have the balls to stand by it... but, whatever you decide, you’re gonna lose
something in exchange. Get it?”

“Yeah”, answered Miguel, trying to force a smile he didn’t feel. “Thanks, Sensei.”

“It’s okay. I’m not very good with the mushy stuff, so if any of the others needs a lecture on girls
just tell them to ask Kate for advice. She’ll know what to do.”

That finally made Miguel laugh, and Johnny stood up feeling a little better about the poor boy and
the clusterfuck that was his love life.

“Hey, do you need me to take you home?” he offered. “I have to finish putting up a shelf in the
back room first, it won’t take long.”

“No, thank you, Sensei”, said Miguel shaking his head. “I prefer to walk home today, it will help
me clear my head.”

Johnny nodded and gave the boy an affectionate pat on the back on his way out of the office.

“Shit. Poor kid”, he muttered to himself once Miguel was out of sight. “After everything I’ve
taught him… he’ll still end up being a LaRusso.”

It was almost dinner time when Miguel finished getting changed and headed home. He didn’t want
to be late, so he took a shortcut through the small park behind the strip mall. It wasn’t dark yet, but
there were some storm clouds above, and the tall trees and the rusty children’s playground gave an
eerie look to the place.

Miguel wasn’t afraid of storms. But he hated getting wet, and he was wearing only a thin hoodie,
so he put his hands in his pockets and walked faster until he reached the park’s exit on the other
side. And then, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Hawk was standing in front of the park gate, with a strange look in his eyes. A bit further back,
smoking a cigar, was Sensei Lawrence’s old Sensei, the man Sam had called Kreese.

“Hey, Hawk”, Miguel greeted. “Didn’t see you at the dojo today.”

“Mr. Hawk was doing some private training with me today”, said the old man before Miguel’s
friend could answer. “I have decided to get him into shape for the next round of tournaments.”

Miguel blinked slowly.

“And what does Sensei Lawrence think of that?” he asked, in a cautious tone.

“Sensei Lawrence doesn’t think shit”, answered Hawk. “He’s busy playing house with Rattler’s
mom, and trying to be Dad of the Year with that Keene asshole.”

“Dude, Keene is his son. And–”

“See?” interrupted Hawk. “You’re getting soft too! What’s next, you’re gonna become Keene’s
BFF? After he went after your girl and tried to fuck you up at the All Valley? We should all be
getting ready to kick Miyagi-Do’s ass, but instead we’re doing excursions to the park and singing
Kumbaya with those nerds.”

There was a new bitterness in Hawk’s words, a resentment that Miguel had never noticed before.

“So what, you’re leaving Cobra Kai? You’re throwing away all the good things Sensei Lawrence
has done for us just because he doesn’t want to start a war with another dojo?”

“All the things he’s done for you ”, spat the other boy. “Of course you’re sticking with him, you’re
the Sensei’s pet. But if you didn’t have your head so far up his ass you’ll see that this is already a
war. That LaRusso guy wants to destroy Cobra Kai, and Sensei Lawrence doesn’t care enough to
stop him.”

Miguel shook his head. After the long day he’d had, the last thing he needed was a debate on
Sensei’s motivations and the possibility of Sam’s dad being a threat.

“Look, man, I know some things have changed since last Spring. Sensei has changed. But Cobra
Kai is his dojo, and I trust him. If you think I’ve been hoarding Sensei’s attention, I’m sorry, okay?
Come to class tomorrow and we’ll talk to him about it.”

“He may call his dojo Cobra Kai… but that doesn’t mean it belongs to him.” The old man’s voice
came in between puffs of smoke, like small replicas of the grey clouds above their head. “I never
made differences between the boys in my Cobra Kai… and I never lost sight of the enemy, kid.”

“Okay, but…”

“I am only trying to warn you, because I know what Daniel LaRusso is capable of”, Kreese
continued. “He’s trying to put Cobra Kai out of business, like his teacher did with my dojo back in
the eighties… and you know he’s got the money and the drive to do it.”

Money has power. The power to make people do things they thought they’d never do.

Miguel lowered his head in silence, with Johnny’s earlier words echoing in his head. He
remembered the first time he’d seen Sam’s dad, the time he’d gone to the dojo to threaten Sensei
Lawrence. He also remembered him tricking the landlord into raising Sensei’s rent, and coaching
Keene at the tournament out of the blue, and…Could there be a grain of truth in the old man’s
words? What if Sensei Lawrence going soft ended with Sam’s dad using his influence to close
Cobra Kai? What if that was really his plan all along?

“You know I’m right, Mr. Diaz”, persisted Kreese, his voice soft and honeyed among the smoke.
“Your Sensei needs a strong arm to guide him, to save Cobra Kai from being destroyed again like
it once was.”
“By taking over the dojo? Is that what you mean?” asked Miguel, taking a step forward.

“I offered Johnny my help”, said Kreese, putting a hand on Hawk’s shoulder, “and he refused it.
He’s putting you and all the other Cobra Kai boys and girls in danger, son. Those are your brothers
and sisters, and they don’t deserve to lose their dojo just because their Sensei is… confused.”

“We want you to speak to Sensei Lawrence and tell him he should let Sensei Kreese train us all”,
Hawk intervened. “We can make the dojo bigger and stronger, Miguel! Nobody will laugh at us
anymore.”

Miguel looked at his friend, and then at the old man again. It didn’t escape him that Hawk had just
called him Sensei Kreese. He also noticed Hawk’s cold, hard stare.. with maybe a hint of panic
behind it, but of that he wasn’t sure. Neither Hawk nor Kreese had any idea how close Miguel had
been to saying yes, until the sound of steps behind the boy startled him. He turned around, startled,
cursing to himself for not having been more vigilant.

The man who had apparently popped out of nowhere wasn’t exactly a friendly sight: he had some
really scary tattoos (including one of a blood-dripping dagger on his neck), a joint in his hand, and
an expression of perpetual contempt on his face.

“Mr. Diaz, may I present my associate… Mr. Lucien Dax”, said Kreese quickly, before the
stranger had a chance to speak.

“It’s just Dax”, spat the newcomer, proving that his breath was as unattractive as his face.

Miguel took a step back, turning again to stare at Hawk.

“Is he a part of your new training sessions, too?” he asked in an accusatory tone, keeping the man
in his peripheral vision.

“He’s been teaching me to throw knives”, answered the other boy matter-of-factly, making
Miguel’s stomach do a flip.

“Hawk… are you listening to yourself? Nobody who doesn’t work at the circus should be learning
to throw knives!”

“Kid, for fuck’s sake, just say yes to what Mr. Kreese says so we can all go home”, said the
newcomer with a tired shrug.

“Mister Dax”, interrupted Kreese, in a cold voice that contrasted with his earlier tone. “I remember
telling you to wait outside the park gate.”

“But man, it’s going to rain! I hate waiting in the rain.”

Kreese’s face didn’t move, but Miguel saw one of his fists clench.

“Car. Now.”

The growled order worked, and the unappealing Dax started walking away, dragging his feet
behind him. But his brief appearance had already had an effect: Miguel squared his shoulders and
looked Kreese in the eye.

“Whatever you’re asking me to do, the answer is no. Especially if that guy is involved.”

“I am an old man, Mr. Diaz… I can’t do everything by myself anymore”, Kreese answered, making
a final attempt to convince the boy. “Mr. Dax and his… unfortunate manners won’t be a permanent
part of my Cobra Kai, but he’s helping me with some things for now.”

“I’m going home, Hawk”, said Miguel, ignoring Kreese. “And if you have one functioning brain
cell left I hope you come to your senses and do the same.”

“And then what?” the other boy asked, baring his teeth in a grimace. “We let the Miyagi-Dorks
walk all over us, like you did with Samantha LaRusso last year?”

“What?”

“I knew you wouldn’t want to do anything… once a loser, always a loser. You’re scared of fighting
against her dojo because you still hope to get into her panties someday. Come on, tell me I’m
wrong!”

“Leave Sam out of this!” Miguel exclaimed, so loudly that he surprised even himself. “This has
gone too far, Eli… you’re out of line.”

The other boy flinched, as if Miguel had hit him.

“Call me that again and I’ll make you pay for it.”

Miguel considered his options quickly; he also considered the fact that his supposed best friend
was standing between him and the park exit. After the day he’d had Miguel was exhausted, angry,
and his patience had run out: a very bad combination. He tipped his chin up and clenched his fists.

“Let me through.”

The other boy didn’t move.

“I said let me through… Eli.”

A few yards away, standing beside an old SUV parked near the park fence, Lucien Dax was about
to roll up another joint when he heard a grunt, a loud curse, and what seemed like the sound of a
body hitting the ground. He palmed the switchblade in his pocket, but eventually decided not to
intervene. The old man had told him to stay away, and he wasn’t going to lose a paying job by
disobeying orders. Dax had never been very bright, nor very strong, but he had kept himself afloat
(and alive) by being excellent at two things: following orders and brandishing knives.

He had just finished rolling up the joint when the Latin boy in the red hoodie came through the
gate and passed beside him, running as if there were hellhounds after him.

“Pity”, he muttered, searching for a cigarette lighter in his other pocket and raising his eyes to the
sty to see if it had started to rain already. “That kid looked like a clever boy.”
 Covenant
Chapter Summary

Johnny and Daniel get their students together for a nighttime meeting. Daniel muses
about liminal spaces, nostalgic memories, and the fairness of things.

Chapter Notes

Wow, forty chapters already! If anyone had told me two years ago that I was going to
get this far, I wouldn't have believed it. We're close to the end now, only six or seven
chapters left... and I'm a little sad because writing this alternate reality is so much fun!
This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, in preparation for the next one that will be
super long. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 40. COVENANT.

Daniel tiptoed carefully into the dark and spacious storage room of the All Valley Arena, trying not
to knock anything down, and making an effort to remember where the breaker panel was. The
building was a typical example of the not-so-intelligent design of the 1960s, with the main power
switch hidden in a windowless back room… One day, if they found enough sponsors and if the
tournaments kept doing well, they would have to redo the electrical installation of the whole place
from scratch.

Navigating the cluttered room with the only help of his phone flashlight, he finally found what he
was looking for and turned on a couple of switches. The sudden bright light made him blink a few
times while he got used to it; he leaned on a pile of old mats, taller than himself, and took a look
around.

Daniel had always thought there was a weird energy in that kind of place: attics, basements, storage
rooms… even his own home dojo during the years he abandoned karate and let a pile of useless
furniture take over it. Many years before, when Daniel was a little boy, his cousin Louie’s mother
had become an amateur occultist; a strange occupation for a staunch Catholic and very Italian lady
from Parsippany, but she’d had fun with it for a while. Aunt Silvana used to call those rooms
‘liminal spaces’ which sounded like a very mysterious and scary thing to seven-year-old Daniel.
She said they were spaces in between… doors and windows into the unknown, where the rules of
reality got bent.

Fifty-year-old Daniel knew what ‘liminal’ meant, of course. He had never been a superstitious
man; but it was true that the Arena storage room had something that made him feel like an intruder
whenever he stepped inside. He remembered the first time he’d set foot in it as if it was yesterday:
the week after the 1984 All Valley, when Ali’s friend Susan realized she had left her favorite jacket
on her seat after the tournament. Susan had told Ali, Ali had told Daniel… and the boy felt it was
his duty as a gentleman to go and look for it.

To be completely honest, he also wanted to gain Susan’s sympathy, because he got the feeling that
Ali’s friend barely tolerated him. Even after his win, there was always a hint of disdain whenever
she looked at him… unlike her little sister Rachel, who followed him around the school like an
overexcited puppy all the time.

So, that day after class Daniel drove back to the place of his triumph, to see if the lost jacked
appeared. All for the sake of diplomatic relations with the steely-eyed Susan Blatt.

The janitor who worked at the Arena in 1984 was a cheerful black man called Jeremiah, who had
been a basketball player in his youth; Daniel had followed him to the storage room, looked at him
in wonder while the man navigated through the piles of old books, promotional stuff and sports
equipment as if he knew exactly where everything was… and he’d shook his hand, grinning like an
idiot, when Jeremiah opened a drawer, apparently at random, and took out Susan’s beloved jean
jacket.

Daniel remembered the janitor clapping for him from the top of the bleachers the following
December. He also remembered Jeremiah’s retirement party, several years later, when he was
already a member of the All Valley Committee. The old man lived in Reseda, very close to the
LaRussos’ old apartment, and Daniel never forgot to send him and his wife a pair of tickets for the
tournament, every year. It was his way of saying thanks for his help in exploring his least favorite
liminal space.

Coming back from the trip down memory lane, Daniel shook his head and smiled.

“How silly”, he whispered to himself. “All these years and I’m still uncomfortable in storage
rooms… thanks a lot, Aunt Silvana.”

After he finished switching up all the lights in the main arena, he made his way back to the door.
But, before reaching the exit, he tripped on a huge cardboard box. Stifling a curse word, he moved
it out of the way, lifting the lid to see why the incompetent new janitor (who could never, ever
compare to good old Jeremiah) had left it there.

The box was full of rolled-up posters and folded banners, some of them going back to the early
seventies. The side of the box was marked ‘RETIRED’ in big red letters: it contained the pictures
that were too old, too damaged, or too irrelevant to feature on the walls during the tournaments.
Daniel and the other Committee members had told the new janitor to dig it out, to see if any of its
contents could be reused for the upcoming Under-14 tournament in December… and that was the
reason why Daniel’s pants had a dusty smudge close to the knee now. Because of a box full of
pictures of forgotten karate contestants. Still, Daniel couldn’t help a nostalgic smile as he picked
up a poster at random and unrolled it…

“Shit.”

And then he couldn’t help the expletive that escaped between his teeth when he unfolded an
almost life-size picture of the 1982 and 1983 champion. There he was, Johnny Lawrence in all his
adolescent glory, clenching his fists in preparation for the fight and with his eyes fixed on an
invisible enemy,

Daniel took a deep breath. The black and white poster was still in mint condition: no smudges, or
tears, no damaged edges, none of the usual reasons why old pictures got routinely replaced. Not
exactly irrelevant either, being a two-time champion… in fact, one of only two of the kind in the
history of the tournament. And he had to admit that the black gi looked quite stylish: he’d never
say that out loud, of course, but it was the truth. Despite all that, the poster had still ended in the
‘retired’ box, discarded and forgotten among dozens of others… and Daniel knew exactly why.
He knew it because it had been him, to his eternal shame, who had put it there almost twenty years
before. A petty gesture, sure, but back then it had seemed fair. Poetic justice, in a way. Erasing
Johnny from sight the same way the Cobra Kai dojo had been banished into oblivion… until,
against all odds, his old rival had resurged from his ashes.

The situation didn’t look so clear anymore. Boys and girls from the Cobra Kai dojo were friends
with Daniel’s students. Johnny’s son Robby was a Miyagi-Do but his girlfriend was in Cobra
Kai… and her brother, a Miyagi-Do again. It was as if fate had conspired to make Daniel and
Johnny’s life so entangled that his old wish of never crossing paths with his high school enemy
again sounded now like a silly, petty thing.

As petty asn trying to make the picture of a two-time champion disappear by storing it in the wrong
box on purpose.

“Mr. LaRusso?”

Robby’s voice coming from the corridor startled Daniel, and he barely had time to roll up the
poster again and put it back with the others. He checked the time on his phone: his students had
been waiting for him for more than ten minutes, while he was lost in a web of old and tangled
memories.

“How silly”, he repeated. Then he raised his voice to make sure the newcomer could hear him. “In
here, Robby! Storage room, the one to your right!”

He saw the boy’s face appear on the threshold, looking a little worried.

“Is everything okay, Mr. LaRusso? We saw the lights go on, and Sam sent me to see why you
didn’t come back.”

“I’m fine, Robby, it’s nothing”, answered Daniel, patting the dust from his clothes. “I just stumbled
across some old things… mementos of my years in the competition.”

“What, like pictures and banners?” asked Robby, enthusiastic. “I’d like to see them some day… I
mean, you were the biggest karate star in the Valley, right? There must be some interesting stuff
here. Did they make t-shirts with your name on them?”

“Ah… yes. With Miyagi-Do’s tree in the back.”

“It must have felt great, winning the All Valley two times in a row.”

“I wasn’t the only one”, admitted Daniel, frowning. “Not even the first one.”

Robby let out a long sigh.

“Yeah, of course… My Dad also won twice. I almost forgot.”

Daniel’s frown deepened. And the part of himself that felt a little guilty for replacing Johnny in his
son’s life started to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Let’s go back to the main hall”, he said, trying to sound casual while he leaned his hands with a
tissue. “Are they here yet?”

“Not yet.”

Just as Daniel and Robby rejoined Sam, Shiro and Demetri in the Arena’s hall, they arrived.
When he got Johnny’s call that morning, Daniel had told him that he would be bringing his
students, so it seemed perfectly logical for Johnny to do the same. Not all of them were there,
fortunately, or Miyagi-Do would have looked ridiculously outnumbered. As Johnny and the Cobra
Kai kids entered the building in silence, Daniel observed the group: Mr. Cheapshot was present, as
expected, at Johnny’s right; it would have been strange to see Johnny arrive without the current
reigning champion. Aisha was also there, with a serious face; beside her, Shiro’s sister, who had
never been to the Arena before, looked around her with a low whistle and smiled at her brother.
There was also one of the girlfriends: Grace, the Black girl with the rainbow patches on her
clothes; and a tall and lanky boy that Daniel remembered from the All Valley… Kieran? Keith?
No, Kev.

It was weird, he thought, how he’d ended up knowing exactly who the Cobra Kai students were…
well, almost all of them, there were too many to recall all the names. That was a point of
contention for Daniel, although in public he’d always say that quality was more important than
quantity. He was also a little jealous of Cobra Kai’s girls to boys ratio… and of course Johnny had
to boast about it, bringing not one, not two, but three of his girls to the meeting.

After all these years, he’s still a cocky little shit.

“Hi, Johnny”, he greeted, trying to sound friendly. “You said on the phone that it was important, so
I hope you didn’t make us all come here in vain.”

“You think I’d bring my kids to a nighttime excursion to the Arena for nothing?” was the
antagonistic answer. “Of course it’s important.”

My kids , thought Daniel. Interesting choice of words… especially when Johnny’s real son was on
the other side of the conflict.

He motioned to the nearby bleachers, and all the teenagers sat down. Not together, though; a sort of
invisible wall stood between the two groups, and a couple of suspicious looks were exchanged…
especially between Robby and Miguel. Daniel noticed that Sam also looked more than a little
distraught; he also noticed the absence of a distinctive blue mohawk in the Cobra Kai band of
misfits. A strange absence, because the punk kid with the tattoo was also a part of Johnny’s inner
circle of star students.

Only Johnny and Daniel remained standing up. Johnny opened his mouth to speak, but before he
could say anything Daniel still had another question.

“Why here of all places, Johnny?”

“And why not? Do you own this place too?” answered the blond man. “I wanted a neutral place
where we could talk. You wouldn’t receive my students at your swanky Encino Hills mansion…
and my dojo isn’t safe right now.”

Daniel sighed. There was a note of worry in Johnny’s voice, and ‘safe’ was an unusual choice of
words, but he decided to wait for an explanation. He gave the other man a nod and crossed his
arms.

“Do your students know about John Kreese, LaRusso? Do they know who he really is, and that
he’s back in town?”

“Well, I told my daughter, of course… It’s a question of trust. And protection. But the rest still
don’t…”
“Actually, Sensei LaRusso… my sister told me the other day, and I shared the information with the
others”, Shiro confessed. “We all agreed it was too important to keep it a secret.”

“I also told Miguel”, Sam continued, in a defiant tone. “At school. Last Monday.”

“Right”, Daniel said. “Sam, I know you had good intentions, but I would have liked it if you had
consulted me first.”

“Your daughter has more brains than you, LaRusso”, Johnny stated. “Did you also tell them
everything that happened to you in 1985?”

“Jeez, no!” was Daniel’s scandalized answer. “Why do you think my students need to hear that
horror tale? It’s ancient history.”

Johnny took a step forward and spoke right in Daniel’s face.

“Because ancient history is coming back to bite you in the ass, man… because Kreese has just
stolen one of my students, and he’s gonna use him against you.”

A light went off in Daniel’s mind.

“The kid with the mohawk”, he whispered.

“Damn right. Kreese has brainwashed him, the same way that Silver dude did with you. All those
things Kreese said about being nostalgic about the old Cobra Kai? Bullshit! All he wants is
revenge on you… and that’s why I told you we should meet, to make sure you warn all your kids.
To tell you that you shouldn’t let him talk to any of them.”

Johnny’s words were met with a scoff.

“As if I’d let that psychopath anywhere near Miyagi-Do. Or near my students.”

“Good”, Johnny nodded. “Now all I need is a way to get Hawk back into the fold and make him
see he’s an idiot.”

“I’m sure he already knows”, whispered Robby from his seat.

Daniel rubbed his eyes with his hand. He wasn’t in the mood to discuss the shameful events of the
Fall of 1985 with his students… and he was even starting to regret telling Johnny about that
episode of his past.

“Johnny, for goodness sake… just throw that kid out of your dojo!” he exclaimed. “So what if
Kreese has one student now? It won’t last. You said the man is practically homeless, it’s not like
he’s got the money and the space for a new dojo, right? Just stop picking up his calls, or whatever.
Keep him away from the rest of your students, and I’ll do the same with mine. And now, let’s go
home… it’s getting late. I can’t believe I let you talk me into coming here just to tell me that, you
could have done it on the phone in two minutes.”

He turned around to leave, but a voice stopped him.

“Mr. LaRusso… wait a second. Please.”

When he turned around again, Miguel Diaz was standing between him and Johnny. The boy looked
nervous, but there was a fire in his black eyes… something that made Daniel allow him to speak.

“Look…” started the Latin kid, fidgeting with his hands. “What Sensei Lawrence was trying to say
is… that man Kreese is more dangerous than we thought. And I know he’s planning an attack on
you, on your dojo. I saw Hawk the other day, he was talking about a war, and revenge, and…”

The boy shuffled on his feet, struggling to find the right words, and for a second Daniel found it
hard to keep hating him.

“Go on”, he said, stern. “Start at the beginning.”

“I’m not even sure when that was”, said Miguel, doubtful. “All I know is that Hawk has been
training with Kreese in secret for weeks. Dangerous stuff… training with nunchucks, and brass
knuckles. There’s also another man working for Kreese, a shady guy who smells of pot and carries
a knife.”

There was a wave of whispers among the kids when Miguel said ‘knife’, but Johnny silenced them
with a wave of his hand.

“Tell him what Hawk did”, he commanded. The boy nodded, clearing his throat before speaking
again.

“I saw Hawk with Kreese last Monday after class. They were waiting for me in the park behind the
dojo. Look, Eli is… he’s not himself, okay? That man has filled his head with crazy ideas, and now
he won’t listen to me anymore, or to Sensei Lawrence. Then Kreese started talking about how he
was going to get his revenge on you; he tried to talk me into training with him… he said he had a
plan to make sure your dojo was destroyed for good.”

“You’ve been talking to that man?”

Samantha’s voice rose among all the other exclamations; she jumped from her seat to face Miguel,
her cheeks red with anger.

“Sam, I swear…”

“After I tried to warn you? And you expect me to believe that you’re not in league with him too?
Gosh, my dad was right about you all along!”

“I told him to get lost, okay?” the boy said, holding Samantha’s incensed gaze. “I told him I would
never betray Sensei Lawrence.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You better believe your eyes. This is what Hawk did to me when I told him I wanted nothing to do
with him… or with Kreese.”

The boy took off his t-shirt with a wince, and several of the kids around him gasped at the sight of
the black and purple bruise, already half healed, that spread all along the left side of his ribcage.
Miguel looked around and covered himself, suddenly self-conscious and aware that all eyes were
set on him… but the accusation had hurt his pride, and he felt righteously outraged.

“Did you know that Kreese already tried to kill my Sensei once, Sam? Do you really think I would
put put the other Cobras in danger for that man? That I would give him a chance to hurt Joy, or
Bert… or Rattler?”

Sam didn’t answer, she just lowered her head and closed her eyes. A couple of steps away from her,
Daniel had his eyes fixed on Miguel, looking at him as if he was seeing him for the first time. The
boy who had managed to do what neither Johnny nor him had achieved, the boy who had resisted
Kreese’s influence. Under the harsh lights of the sports pavillion he looked younger than he was,
like a child… and the hurt in his eyes made him look even more vulnerable.

After a short silence, Sam took a step towards Miguel, but he tensed up and crossed his arms in
front of him.

“If you really believe those things you said, if you really thought I was working with Kreese… then
we shouldn’t speak to each other again, Sam. Ever.”

The last word was little more than a whisper, but the silence was so deafening that everybody
could hear them. Miguel turned around and stood beside Johnny, with his eyes fixed on some
distant point in the horizon.

“And people say boys are less emotional than girls. Go figure”, said Aisha to her friends in a low
voice.

“In moments like this I’m so glad I don’t like boys”, Grace whispered back. “Poor Miguel… he
can’t help being a drama queen.”

Seeing that the drama queen looked almost on the verge of tears, Johnny came to his aid with a
well-aimed pat on the back that almost made Miguel fall forward.

“You’ve told us enough, Diaz, sit down. Good job.”

Everybody was very quiet for a moment, until Johnny spoke again to an astonished Daniel.

“There’s more. Kreese called me this morning, he said to meet him tomorrow at eight at a diner in
Reseda… he couldn’t recruit Miguel, so I guess now he’s gonna try to convince me.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“What do you think, LaRusso? I wanted to give him a second chance when he came back… but
now he’s hurting my kids, and threatening to steal my dojo.”

“Wait, what?” asked Miguel, who had returned to his seat. “Steal Cobra Kai?”

“Yeah, a stupid thing about the Cobra Kai trademark… don’t worry, Diaz, Kate is working on it.
Look, LaRusso… Kreese has gone too far. I’m not gonna let him hurt any of my kids again.
Tomorrow, I’m going to tell Kreese to leave the Valley, or this time I’ll call the cops on his ass. I
bet that shady guy that goes with him has a rap sheet, I know the type.”

Thanks to all his years of experience as a salesman, Daniel prided himself on knowing how to read
people. Now, the permanently open book that was Johnny Lawrence sounded more eager and
sincere than ever before… so much, that he just nodded, unable to find any fault in his old rival’s
words.

“You’ll tell your students the whole story?” Johnny asked, not sure of how to interpret Daniel’s
silence.

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

“And watch out in case Kreese or that guy with the knife go near your dojo.”

“I’ll keep an eye out. The dojo has a security system anyway.”

“Good. Then we’re done here… come on, guys, let’s get you all home before your mothers start
texting me.”

Daniel grabbed the hand that Johnny was extending almost without thinking.

The ten minutes after the handshake were kind of blurry in his mind: too much information to
process. The kids had said their goodbyes, some of them more enthusiastic than others: Demetri
had had to tap Robby’s shoulder when his goodbye kiss to Keiko started progressing beyond PG,
and Miguel had practically sprinted towards the exit, leaving a sad-eyed Sam staring at the door.

The next thing Daniel knew, he found himself in the storage room again, ready to switch off the
lights after the Cobra Kai gang had left the building… but this time he didn’t stop to think if the
place felt spooky or not. There were more important things to think about, real life things that were
scarier than any esoteric tale about spaces in between. With a sigh, he opened the door of the small
cabinet where the breaker panel, and started turning off switches one by one: top floor, offices,
main hall, restrooms… Suddenly, he halted before turning off the last one.

“It’s not fair”, he muttered, with his fingers on the switch and his gaze lost in the distance.

Careful not to kick anything this time, he searched for the box full of discarded pictures, took out a
rolled-up poster, and moved it to a different box… one marked with big blue letters that read ‘FOR
DISPLAY’.

It wasn’t fair. Nor right. And it hadn’t mattered too much before, but for some reason he didn’t
quite understand it mattered a little more now. He still didn’t like Johnny Lawrence one bit… but
the man was a damned two-time champion. And his picture deserved to be where all the future All
Valley hopefuls could see it.

Kate checked her watch when she heard the knock on the door. It was almost ten, Rani had been in
bed for a while. And she had been on the couch since dinner time, wrapped in a blanket, waiting…
pretending to read a book without being able to progress beyond the first chapter.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw the exhaustion in Johnny’s eyes.

“Hi”, she greeted him. “Did you take your students home?”

“Yeah, I … I just left Pride and Diaz at their places, and Aisha texted me a minute ago to tell me
the Encino kids are home too. All in order.”

He let himself fall on the couch, clinging to Kate’s hand like a lifesaver.

“How did it go?”

Johnny took a deep breath before answering.

“Better than I expected. I guess LaRusso was so shocked when he saw the bruises on Diaz’s ribs
that he agreed to everything I said.”

“That’s almost a miracle”, Kate replied, caressing Johnny’s cheek. “Was Robby there? What did he
say?”

“He was there, yeah, but he barely opened his mouth. I guess he was surprised, like the others.
Anyway… I told LaRusso I’m going to talk to Kreese tomorrow and make clear that he has to leave
town for good.”
That earned him a hug from Kate, who sat on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. From a
closer distance she could see how tired Johnny was: the wrinkles around his eyes looked deeper,
and even his voice sounded weaker than usual.

“Where’s the munchkin?”

“Asleep. It’s way past her bedtime.”

“Good. You’ve done a good job keeping Rattler away from Kreese, it’s best if she doesn’t even
hear his name.” He closed his eyes, burying his fingers in Kate’s hair. “Sometimes I think I’ll
never get rid of him.”

“Don’t say that!” exclaimed Kate, holding Johnny’s free hand. “Tomorrow, when you make your
position clear, I’m sure that awful man will leave us all in peace. You already made the decision to
confront him, and that was the hardest part.”

“Thanks, babe. You’re an angel.”

Kate didn’t have time to respond to the compliment, because a growl coming from Johnny’s
stomach interrupted her. She jumped from the couch and pointed a finger at her boyfriend.

“Johnny… when was the last time you ate?”

“Ah… breakfast.”

“Okay. Don’t get up, I’m going to make you something.”

Ignoring the command, Johnny made an attempt to stand up.

“Kate, babe, you don’t have to…”

“I said stay where you are, mister”, she repeated, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing
him back towards the couch. “It won’t be French cuisine, but I’m not going to let you go home on
an empty stomach. It wont’ take a minute.”

At last, a smile appeared on Johnny’s lips. He put an arm around Kate’s waist, pulling her close,
and crossed the space between them to kiss her.

“You’re hot when you’re bossy, roller girl”, he whispered.

“And you won’t get any dinner unless you let go of me, King Karate… I’ll be right there in the
kitchen while you rest a little, okay?”

“Okay. You’re the best, babe.”

She gave him another kiss before heading to the kitchen.

“I’m proud of you, Johnny. Never forget that.”

 Ordeal
Chapter Summary

Johnny faces a shocking situation. Kate loses her cool, Daniel freaks out, and Rani
puts some of Johnny's teachings into practice.

Chapter Notes

Warning: use of a homophobic slur.

Warning #2: this chapter is too long and not very good. Read at your own risk.

CHAPTER 41. ORDEAL

Rani Williams brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and smiled. Friday was her favorite day of
the week, and this week had been really good so far: she loved her new school, her teacher was a
very nice lady, and she had already made several friends. But the best thing was that she could go
to Cobra Kai again; her Mom had taken her to the dojo on Monday; and everybody, including
Sensei Lawrence, put on their best smile when they saw her appear.

The only strange thing on that first day of being back happened at the end of the class, when Sensei
Lawrence had called Hawk to his office. He had closed the door after them, but the voices that
came from inside didn’t sound happy. After spending the whole Summer in Cobra Kai, Rani had
developed a good ear for swear words, and on that occasion she had heard a lot of them…
including a couple of new ones. In the end, Hawk had left the office with a slam of the door and
another word that must have been very bad, because it made several of her classmates gasp out
loud.

After that, Hawk hadn’t come back to the dojo for the rest of the week, and Rani didn’t like that.
The boy wasn’t exactly his best friend; but he was fun to be around, he had that cool blue hair, and
he was always teaching her new jokes.

Rani brushed her hair off again. It was a hot day, even if it was already September, and most of the
students were sweating and panting when Johnny finally gave them a ten minute break. As soon as
she heard that they had some time off, she ran towards Johnny.

“Sensei, I’m going to the mini-mart!”

“Not on your own, Rattler”, he answered in a stern voice, but with a grin on his face. “Remember
the rules.”

“I’ll go with her, Sensei”, said Grace, who was sitting on the floor next to her girlfriend. “I want to
get a bottle of Gatorade before I melt in this heat.”
“Good idea”, Johnny nodded. “Ten minutes, okay, ladies? No slacking, we have a lot of work
today.”

Rani put on her shoes and ran outside, followed by Grace. She liked going to the mini-mart on
Fridays, because that was the day Nestor’s girlfriend went to help him with the shop… and she had
a little boy, around two years old, who reminded Rani of her cousin Jamie. It was a weekly ritual
for her: go to the shop, say hi to Anita and the baby, and act surprised when Nestor let her grab a
free fun size chocolate bar. Today was no different, and Rani did all those things in the usual order
while Grace went to get her sports drink. The only difference was, there was someone unexpected
standing beside the candy bar shelf.

“Hawk!”

“Hey, Rattler.”

“Hi! Are you coming back to class? Why did you argue with Sensei Lawrence the other day? Are
you angry with him?”

The boy didn’t have time to answer any of Rani’s rapidly fired questions, because Grace came
running, with a big bottle of blue Gatorade in her hand, and stood between him and the little girl.

“What do you want?” she asked, growning.

“Funny that you ask, Pride”, he answered with a curt nod. “I want to talk to you.”

“What? Why?”

“I want to come back, okay? You’re always so responsible and shit… Sensei will listen to you if
you ask him to take me back.”

“He didn’t throw you out, Hawk… you quit, remember?”

“Yeah, but…”

“You kicked a chair in his office. You called him a…” Grace took a quick glance at Rani, who was
looking at both of them with wide eyes. “Look, I don’t want to repeat your words in front of
Rattler. But it was a shitty thing to say, and now you’re doing a 180 and asking me to intercede?
No shade, but… why me and not Miguel or Aisha? And another question: is there a brain under all
that Manic Panic dye?”

“You’re right, Rattler shouldn’t hear this”, he agreed. “Let’s talk outside.”

“But…”

“Only for a minute! Come on, Pride, don’t leave me hanging here.”

“Fine”, said the girl with a resigned sigh. “One minute. But you owe me, white boy… big time.”

She then turned to Rani, who was dying to know all the juicy details of Hawk’s situation but
sensed it wasn’t exactly a good moment to ask.

“Rattler, get the candy bar you want and wait for me at the front desk with Anita and Nestor,
okay?”

“Yes, Pride”, said the little girl with a vigorous nod.

It only took Rani a few seconds to find a Snickers peanut butter bar, her favorite. With it in one
hand and Grace’s sports drink bottle in the other, she was about to make her way back to the front
of the store when a tall figure stood before her.

“Hello, little girl.”

It was an old man. With grey hair like Granddad Richard, but without the beard and the glasses. He
was wearing a nice coat (Rani’s uncle Oliver had spent some time teaching her about clothes
during the Summer); and he had a wide smile like Grandpa Richard, too.

“Hi”, she said, a bit wary of talking to a stranger.

“So this is the famous Rattlesnake”, continued the man. “You’re smaller than I thought… but
that’s not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.”

Grace Lincoln, known to her Cobra Kai friends as ‘Pride’, was no shrinking violet. She had never
been. Raised in Reseda by a single mother, with two younger sisters to care for, she was convinced
that women had to be twice as tough as any man to make their way in the world. That brassy
attitude had earned her some funny looks at school, the disapproval of many adults… and, when
she had the brilliant idea of coming out, being kicked out of the Athletics team.

That was one of the reasons she liked Cobra Kai so much: Sensei Lawrence was a rare breed of
dinosaur, with his 80s t-shirts and his outdated references, but he treated all his students equally.
Rich or poor, black or white, straight or queer; none of that mattered when your feet were on the
mat.

So, when Grace heard the noise behind her, and saw a man dragging Rattler into a grey SUV, her
gut reaction was to let out a wild scream and run straight towards him. She recognized him
instantly, of course: it was the old man who had been a 'guest' of Sensei Lawrence at the dojo a
couple of weeks before... the one who Miguel said was Sensei's old karate teacher. But, familiar or
not, he was carrying the screaming Rattler like a potato sack, so Grace just kept speeding. Not even
when the back doors of the van opened and two more men appeared did she slow down… but,
unfortunately for her, her Cobra Kai training didn’t include any self-defense techniques against
men armed with knives.

“Going somewhere, kid?” asked one of them, an ugly guy with some scary tattoos on his neck.

“Let her go!” Grace screamed, trying to think of a quick way to disarm him.

She was about to try a combo of kicks and hope for the best, when Hawk’s voice behind her
startled her.

“Hey, Dax!” he shouted, running towards the car too. “What are you doing? Sensei Kreese said he
only wanted to talk to Rattler!”

“Kreese’s orders, dude”, shrugged the other man, who looked marginally younger and less
dangerous than the first one.

“You’re in this with them?” asked Grace, suddenly horrified.

“Look, Pride, I just wanted…”

Hawk stopped talking. And moving. And he almost stopped breathing, too, because out of nowhere
his alleged friend Dax put him in an armlock and held a very sharp blade against the boy’s throat.

“No time to talk, parakeet. Get in the car. Rico, take care of the dyke before she warns her friends!”

Then he pushed the surprised Hawk inside and closed the doors, and the car started, letting out a
cloud of black smoke.

Grace’s instincts were screaming at her, screaming to run and stop the car… but there was one
obstacle in her way, in the shape of shady guy number two. The big, quiet one. Rico. Knife or no
knife, the adrenaline made her lunge forward, trying not to lose sight of the shiny weapon in the
guy’s hand. She almost hit him once, twice… he was fast, and her third kick passed barely an inch
away from his head.

“That was cool”, he said, sounding almost impressed. “My turn.”

The girl got on defense and dodged him, but on his second pass the tip of the blade grazed her
forearm. She didn’t even register the pain at first… but seeing the bright red line on the sleeve of
her gi made her angry, and an angry Grace was no joke.

Even weeks after the incident, when everything had gone back to normal, she didn’t quite
remember how she managed to kick the knife off Rico’s hand and send it spiralling across the
empty street. Or how her next couple of furious punches almost knocked the man out. He was a big
guy, at least a head taller than her… but Grace, true to herself, was twice as tough.

Kreese’s henchman hadn’t been hired for his intelligence, but he wasn’t stupid either. Seeing that
he was disarmed and that the fight was going nowhere, he took his chance to turn around and run
towards the SUV, which was barely a few yards away. As if on cue, the back door opened again
and an arm appeared, grabbing the speeding Rico by his clothes and practically dragging him
inside before the car left at all speed.

Grace let out a scream of frustration and clutched her injured arm, that was starting to radiate a
sharp pain throughout her whole body.

The last thing she did before stumbling back into the dojo was trying to memorize the license plate
of the car… but it was so covered in mud that she couldn’t see any numbers before the vehicle
turned around the corner and disappeared.

Johnny Lawrence’s Friday had started in a spectacular way.

In fact, every day had been kind of great since he had told Kreese to go to Hell and leave him and
his dojo alone a week before… but this particular day was being a blast. It was like Rattler’s return
had lit a fire under the other kids’ asses: nobody protested or got distracted, and even the clumsiest
among them were landing kicks and breaking boards as if they had been doing it all their life. On
top of that, he had been able to fix the slingshot machine on the first try, there were five elementary
school children interested in his new beginners class… and he was taking Kate out to dinner that
night.

Johnny wasn’t used to things going so well. He hadn’t been for decades. There was always some
stupid little thing that happened and screwed everything up… and he couldn’t shake the feeling
that, before the day was over, his stellar week would somehow become a complete wreck.

Johnny Lawrence was a man who trusted his instinct. And, unfortunately for him, on this particular
Friday his instinct happened to be one hundred per cent right.
He was checking the time during the last minute of the break, when he heard the scream outside. A
girl’s scream. A quick look around told him that there were only two girls missing from the room,
Pride… and Rattler. Then Pride came running through the door, with a red stain on her arm and a
bewildered expression on her face… and Johnny instantly knew this would be no ordinary shitty
day.

This was going to be the bad day to end them all.

“Fuck!”

Johnny looked at the smartphone in his hand, and for a hot second he had the impulse of throwing
it out of the window… but in the end he just slammed it on the table.

He needed a drink. Badly. His whole body and mind ached for a glass of the stronger shit he could
find, and then another, and maybe the whole bottle too. Anything to drown the dread and anger he
was feeling… but this was no time to drink, so he clenched his fists to make the irrational want go
away.

He took a look around, at the Greek chorus of anxious characters who stood in Kate’s living room.
A crisis cabinet formed in the first place by Kevin, the second person Johnny had contacted after
that horrible call to Kate that he didn’t want to remember. Standing beside him was Jimmy… good
old Jimmy, always ready to help. It had been thanks to him and his contacts as an assistant district
attorney that the statewide AMBER alert had been issued immediately; and he’d also used his
influence to make sure they put a good detective on the case, and not any ordinary LAPD cop.

The detective in question was the other person in the room. Jimmy had assured him that Joe
Miranda was an expert when it came to dealing with kidnappers… and Johnny had believed him
blindly, even when ‘Joe’ arrived and she turned out to be Josephine. The tall and stern woman had
been listening to Johnny’s phone call, that he put on speaker, with a very serious face, even taking
notes. Her expression didn’t change when another cop, this one in a uniform, appeared through the
door. The cop gave her a piece of paper and whispered a few words to her in a low voice before
leaving again, and Johnny hoped the police had made some progress.

“Well, the good news is that you have some very reckless and very brave students”, Joe said, as if
she had read Johnny’s mind. “That girl, Grace Lincoln, not only disarmed one of the attackers, she
also gave us a good description and a knife with plenty of fingerprints on it… she’s just been to the
station with her mother, and we have an ID on the man who hurt her.”

“And?” asked Johnny, sounding as anxious as he felt.

“Esteban Rico”, she read from the report in her hand. “A petty thief and drug dealer; he’s never
been involved in any major crime, so I don’t think he’s the brain of this operation.”

“That phone call Johnny just got doesn’t leave any doubt that Kreese is the brain here”, intervened
Jimmy in a worried tone. “Do we have anything else, Joe? An address, any clue to find that guy?”

“Unfortunately, no. But Mr. Rico has always moved within the North Hills area, so we’re
concentrating our efforts there.”

“I’m going to tell Kate the news”, said Kevin, standing up and heading towards the closed door of
the main bedroom. “It’s not too much, but at least it’s progress.”

“As for that phone call, Mr. Lawrence, I think–”

Detective Miranda stopped talking when she heard the stomping sound of two pairs of feet on the
stairs. The door of the apartment had been left unlocked, and soon the anxious faces of two
teenagers appeared through it.

“Sensei!”

“Diaz? Miss Robinson… what the fuck are you two doing here?”

Miguel lifted the covered dish he was carrying.

“My Yaya sends a casserole… and I needed Aisha to drive me here. Can we help with anything,
Sensei?”

Johnny rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. He wasn’t in the mood to argue.

“Okay, put that in the kitchen; I guess we’ll have to eat at some point. And don’t talk too loud,
Kate is resting.”

He was about to close the door, when another unexpected visitor stood on the threshold.

“Hi, Dad.”

Johnny took a deep breath, clenching his fists to refrain from giving Robby a hug. He didn’t want
to make the boy feel uncomfortable in front of strangers… but the harsh shock of Rani being taken
away from her mother had made him miss his own son even more than usual.

“Hey, Robby”, he said in a low voice. “How did you find out?”

“Keiko just called me”, the boy answered, leaving his skateboard in a corner. “I came to see if I
could help… Did the police find her yet?”

“Not yet.”

Robby nodded. He had never been to South Seas before, and he looked around him with
curiosity… until he realized Aisha and Miguel were in the kitchen. Aisha waved and smiled while
the two boys greeted each other with a silent nod, and Robby went to sit on the armrest of the
couch. He didn’t want any trouble with that Diaz dweeb, not while there were more important
things to worry about. He tried not to make any noise, something that came naturally to a boy used
to being invisible, and took notice of the other people in the apartment: there was a tall woman with
a police badge hanging from her belt, a man around his Dad’s age who looked vaguely familiar…
and two more men, who came out of what he guessed was a bedroom.

“I just told Kate the news and begged to stay in bed a little longer”, said one of them, a Black man
in an expensive suit. “That panic attack she had before wasn’t pretty, and the doctor says she
should…”

He interrupted himself, noticing the recent arrivals.

“Johnny, why is this place full of teenagers all of a sudden?”

“They came to help”, Johnny shrugged.

Kevin raised an eyebrow.

“Okay… kids, my name is Kevin McMichaels, this charming man beside me is my fiance Oliver…
and you’ve just arrived in the middle of a huge crisis, so try not to panic no matter what you hear.
And please don’t make noise, Kate is–”

“Resting”, interrupted Miguel. “We know.”

“Exactly. Good kid. Now… Detective Miranda, you were about to tell us what to do about that call
Johnny just got from Mr. Kreese.”

“I was, yes”, said the woman standing up. “Mr. Lawrence, first let me say you did a great job not
losing your temper during the call.”

“Thanks”, Johnny muttered. “Wasn’t easy.”

“The fact that we’re already in contact with the kidnappers, and that we’ve got and a demand for
ransom less than two hours after the abduction, is a very good sign”, continued the detective. “If
Kreese is willing to give back the girl, and your other student, that gives us extra time to locate him
while we negotiate.”

“Negotiate on what?” Johnny snapped, slapping his hand on the dining room table . “What he
wants is absurd.”

“On the contrary”, intervened Jimmy, who had been observing the scene in silence. “I think it
makes a lot of sense. Go on, Joe.”

“Mr. Kreese said to expect another call in an hour. I’ve sent a few men to North Hills to see if they
can find the whereabouts of Esteban Rico, but that will take some time”, she said, pacing up and
down the living room. “Meanwhile, Mr. Lawrence, you should contact–”

Another interruption, this time in the shape of a sharp knock on the door, made her stop talking.

“For fuck’s sake, this place is starting to look like the Marx Brothers cabin”, said Johnny between
gritted teeth while he strode towards the door. “Diaz, I hope you didn’t tell the whole dojo to come
here.”

Miguel shook his head while Johnny opened the door, and then a deadly silence fell over the room
again.

“LaRusso”, Johnny greeted. “Funny that you appear right now. Did anyone tell you, or did you just
smell the bad news in the air?”

“I called him, Dad”, answered Robby in a calm but defiant tone. “Blame me if you want, but I
thought he had to know.”

Johnny didn’t feel like arguing, especially with Robby, so he just nodded and took a step back,
allowing Daniel and Amanda into the apartment. Daniel recognized Jimmy, of course; but before
he’d had time to say hi, Joe Miranda walked up to him.

“Sir, are you Daniel LaRusso?” she asked without preamble.

“Ah… yes. And you are?”

“Detective Josephine Miranda, LAPD”, she answered with a quick handshake. “Please, sit down,
Mr. LaRusso… there’s just been a development on the case, and I’m afraid it concerns you.”

Daniel grasped the back of a chair, but he didn’t sit down.

“What? Look… detective… I have no idea what you’re talking about”, he said in a high-pitched
voice. “I just came to see if I could be of any help to Kate, but I haven’t seen John Kreese in more
than thirty years. What do you mean, it concerns me?”

The detective crossed her arms and stared at Daniel.

“I’ll be brief before anyone else arrives and I have to start over again: I imagine you already know
that man Kreese has taken Rani Williams and Eli Moskowitz hostage, right?”

“Eli who?”

“Hawk”, answered Miguel and Aisha at the same time.

“Thank you”, Joe said. “We have an ID on one of the kidnappers who accompanies Kreese, and
several units are searching for him as we speak. Ten minutes ago, Mr. Lawrence got a call asking
for ransom… and that’s where you come in.”

Daniel nodded and took off his jacket, folding it over the back of a chair.

“How much?”

The woman pressed her lips together in a gesture that Daniel suspected was bad news.

“I don’t know what you’ve done in the past to piss off that man, Mr. LaRusso, but… he doesn’t
want money.”

Daniel looked at Johnny, then at Amanda, and finally back at the detective.

“Fine, what… what does he want, then? That I give the All Valley trophies back? A Lamborghini
from the dealership? My head on a silver platter?"”

“You are the owner of a karate dojo in Encino, right?”

“I am, yes. But what…?”

“Mr. Kreese says he will release the children”, the detective said in a clear voice, “as soon as your
karate dojo has been completely demolished.”

This time Daniel did sit down: he had no choice, because the room had started spinning around
him. He heard the alarmed whispers of Johnny’s students in the background… he even looked at
the detective, hoping that her words had just been an ill-timed joke, but the woman in front of him
looked dead serious.

He raked a nervous hand through his hair and tried to make sense of what he’d just heard.

“But… but… how? Why?” he blurted out.

“Why do you think, LaRusso? Revenge.”

Johnny’s voice sounded devoid of his usual edge, and his one word answer felt like a death
sentence.

“First he came to me with a sob story to get back into my good graces and he failed”, Johnny
continued. “Then he tried to get my kids on his side, starting with Hawk and Diaz… but Miguel
didn’t fall in the trap. Detective Joe thinks he became desperate and he’s doing this as a last
resource.”
“Johnny… this is absurd. Mr. Miyagi built that house with his own hands!” Daniel remarked.

“And that’s how Kreese knows it’s so important to you.”

Daniel hid his face in his hands, groaning. With his eyes closed he couldn’t see anything at all…
but he did hear the sudden and cold silence in the room. When he opened his eyes again, Kate was
standing before him.

“Daniel”, she said as her only greeting.

She was dressed in grey yoga pants and an equally grey sweater, and the lack of color on her
clothes made her face look washed out, lifeless. She was holding her phone in one hand and a piece
of paper in the other; Daniel noticed that her usually flawless nail polish was badly chipped, as if
she had been chewing on it.

He didn’t want to look her in the eye.

“Daniel”, she repeated, “I’m glad you’re here, you just saved me a phone call. Hi, Amanda.”

Kate let herself fall on a chair, while a worried looking Johnny put a comforting hand on her
shoulder.

“You’re not well, babe… go back to bed. I’ll tell you when the detective has any news, okay?”

Kate reached for Johnny’s hand, without taking her red-rimmed eyes off Daniel.

“You heard what that man wants in exchange for freeing my daughter”, she croaked in a hoarse
voice.

“Erm… yes. The Detective Miranda just said I–”

“Good”, she said abruptly, sliding the folded paper across the table.

“What’s this?”

“Exactly what it looks like… an offer for the house where you have your dojo. I’ve cleared it with
my bank manager, the money can be in your account tomorrow before nine.”

Everybody stared at her, but no one dared to say anything. No one except Johnny.

“Babe, you… you called your bank manager? At this hour?”

“And my accountant. If I put together my savings account and Rani’s college fund, it’s enough to
reach a reasonable market price on your property, Daniel. And the offer is just for the house, of
course: you’ll still keep the land, and you can rebuild the dojo after that man has been arrested.”

The stare on her red-rimmed eyes was cold. Hard. Daniel stared at the note as if it was written in a
foreign language.

“I can’t accept this.”

Kate’s chair made an unpleasant scraping noise as she stood up.

“Think about what you’re denying me, Daniel. That man’s final goal is to harm you… but it’s my
daughter who’s in danger, not yours. If that house is still standing tomorrow at this hour, I’ll never
see Rani again.”
With those words she grabbed the piece of paper, shoved it in Daniel’s hand, strode back to her
bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

It took Johnny less than two seconds to run after Kate. He didn’t bother knocking, and he found her
in bed already; she had burrowed under the duvet, and no sound came from the mound of white
plush fabric.

“Kate. Babe”, he whispered, sitting on the bed and carefully lifting the covers. “Talk to me.”

She looked a fright now, all teary eyes and unruly hair, and Johnny felt a knot forming in his throat
when she started crying.

“I don’t want to talk”, she croaked. “I just want my daughter back.”

“The police will find her”, he said with more conviction than he really felt, as he scooped her in his
arms.

Kate’s sobs calmed down a little, but her breathing was still agitated. Johnny was about to suggest
a nap, but she suddenly grasped the front of his shirt.

“Johnny, I need you to do something for me.”

“Whatever you want, babe.”

“Go out there and throw Daniel LaRusso out of my house.”

“What? Kate, I…”

“I don’t want that man here! I’ve made my offer, and now all that’s left is that he makes a decision.
Tell him to give you his answer and leave.”

“I’m going to tell you something you’ve said to me a few times, babe: you’re being unreasonable.
LaRusso may be a jerk, but he wants to help.”

“Help? You just heard him… that dojo is worth more to him than Rani’s life. Why is he even here?
To remind the world that Cobra Kai is evil, one more time? If he wants to be the hero, now it’s his
chance! All he has to do is extend his hand and take the money… It’s a reasonable price for his
property, I checked with the bank.”

“You’ll be left with nothing, babe…”

“I have my job. And I’ll have ten more years to save for Rani’s college… when I get her back.”

“Sid will pay for her college”, Johnny said, stroking Kate’s hair in the hopes of calming her down.
“With the fifty grand from his will… but don’t worry about that now. Will you try to rest a little?
The doc said you should stay in bed.”

“I will if you promise to throw that man out.”

Johnny didn’t answer. He just planted a kiss on Kate’s forehead and held her in silence until the
tears stopped.

When Johnny returned to the living room, everyone was quiet and somber. The door that led to the
courtyard was open again, and Daniel’s voice could be heard on the stairs. Then he came back
inside and looked around him, sighing.

“What are you staring at, LaRusso?” Johnny asked.

“I lived here, remember?”

“Yeah, I know South Seas was your building. Are you enjoying the nostalgia trip?”

“Not just my building, Johnny… this is the exact same apartment where I lived with my mother in
1984. It looks very different now, of course.”

There were a few seconds of shocked silence before Johnny reacted.

“If you want it back, I’ll give you the number of Kate’s landlord so you can have her rent
doubled.”

Johnny saw Daniel wince, and he almost regretted his words. It was a low blow, and he was
perfectly aware of it, but it came out before he could stop himself. The weird thing was that Daniel
didn’t answer… he just lowered his head and sighed.

“I guess I deserve that.”

“Of course you do.”

“Why don’t we all calm down a little?” interrupted Amanda, trying to prevent an argument.
“There’s a little girl missing, and a mother in that room who is kind of desperate. You two fighting
isn’t going to do any good.”

“I want to help, Johnny… Look, just how good is that Detective Miranda? I know a guy in the
LAPD, if I call him he can…”

Johnny pointed to Jimmy, who was in the kitchen, making a phone call.

“Jimmy knows more people than you. He talked to the LAPD Chief half an hour ago, and he’s
chatting with the Attorney General right now. So… unless you’re chummy with the Governor,
that’s as high as we can go. But if you have another one of your brilliant ideas–”

“I have a demolition crew ready, Johnny.”

“What?”

“One of my clients from the auto shop is the owner of a demolition company, and he owes me a
favor. They will start tearing the dojo down as soon as I give the order… that’s who I was talking a
moment ago.”

Johnny frowned at the unexpected answer.

“So you’ll accept Kate’s offer? Why didn’t you tell her?”

“No”, Daniel said, shaking his head. “I'm not going to let her pay me, this... This is not about
money.”

“You could have said it earlier, dumbass.”

“Okay, you two, time out”, interceded Jimmy, who had just finished his call and was listening to
the conversation. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Daniel. The LAPD have several of their best
people looking for the girl, how about we let them do their work? There will always be time for a
drastic solution… the bulldozers can wait until the morning.”

The two men nodded, and Amanda looked at Jimmy with a grateful smile.

“I’m going to keep Kate company while she rests”, she said, giving Johnny’s arm a friendly pat.
“Daniel, you better call Sam and tell her we won’t be home for dinner. Looks like we’re going to
be here for a while.”

The boy once known as Eli Moskowitz opened his eyes, groaned, and closed them again. He was
lying on the bottom bed of a bunk, and he had been there since Kreese and his men had taken him
and Rattler out of the van. There had been no windows on the back of the car, so he had absolutely
no idea where they were… probably still in the Los Angeles area, because the trip had lasted
around twenty minutes. And, from what little he had seen of the street while they led them into the
house, it didn’t look like they were anywhere near Encino.

He sat on the bed, blinking, trying to calculate the time. It couldn’t have been longer than an hour
since they had arrived, maybe two… but Dax had taken his phone, of course, and without it he felt
lost. And bored. He finally got up and tried to smile at Rattler, who was sitting on the top bunk,
staring daggers at him.

“You okay, kid?”

The little girl crossed her arms and looked away. Hawk had heard her scream during the car ride,
but since their arrival at the house she hadn’t said a word, and her eyes remained stubbornly dry.
To Eli, who had been a world class crybaby before his transformation into Hawk, that lack of tears
was deeply unsettling.

Since Rattler was not in the mood for talking, Hawk stated walking around the room, trying to
think of a way to escape. The bedroom where they had been locked up wasn’t exactly a five star
hotel: apart from the creaky bunk beds, the only furniture was a table with two chairs and an old
cupboard, completely empty except for a dusty blanket. The door behind him was firmly locked,
and another side door led to a small restroom, miraculously not too dirty. The boy finally raised his
eyes to the two horizontal windows close to the ceiling. They were too high to reach, even if he
jumped, and too narrow for him to fit through them. The only light source was a solitary lightbulb
that hung from an old cord in the middle of the room.

Hawl felt frustrated. And angry. And, above all, monumentally stupid for letting Kreese use him
like that. He had wanted to be the star of Kreese’s new and improved Cobra Kai… and instead he’d
ended up as bait. Stupid, useless, worthless… exactly like he had felt all his life. Hot tears pricked
his eyes, but he blinked them away before they fell. There was enough of the new Hawk inside of
him to tell himself that, if an eight-year-old could endure the situation without crying, he could
too.

It was a good thing he didn’t cry, because a moment later he heard the locks on the door rattle and
open. For a brief second he hoped it would be the police, or Sensei Lawrence, or… any responsible
adult. But it was only Rico, carrying a couple of paper bags.

“Hey, little pests, dinner is here”, said the man in an almost friendly tone, without taking his eyes
off Hawk. “Don’t think of trying to be a hero, Mr. Sparrow. Dax is right outside.”

He put the bags on the table and left; the sound of the door closing felt like a punch to Hawk’s gut.
Even before Rico’s footsteps got lost in the distance, Rani had jumped off the bunk and was
examining the contents of the paper bags.

“What is it?” Hawk asked, keeping his distance.

The little girl stuck her tongue out at him and took the food out of the bags: there was a huge
bucket of fried chicken, fries, and two large sodas. Enough for three or four people, and Hawk’s
stomach made an expectant noise at the sight of it. He finally decided that hunger was a scarier
enemy than Rattler, so he grabbed a chair and sat beside her.

“You’re gonna have to talk to me at some point.”

The little girl looked at him and blinked.

“Jerk.”

Hawk would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? Sensei Kreese… I mean, Kreese, said he only wanted to talk to you! I
didn’t know he was going to do this!” He grabbed a piece of chicken and pushed the bucket
towards Rani. “Eat all you can. We don’t know when they’ll feed us again, and we may be here for
days.”

He regretted his words instantly… but Rani’s only reaction was to point at him with a potato fry.

“Sensei Lawrence will find us”, she said with unflappable conviction while she reached out for a
drumstick.

“Yeah”, he said, relieved that his stupid words hadn’t scared her.

“And when he finds us you’re gonna clean mats until Christmas.”

“Right.”

He couldn’t suppress a smile this time. He had no idea of the kind of punishment that would fall on
him as an accessory to the kidnapping of a little girl… but he was sure it would be slightly more
severe than just being on mat cleaning duty.

They ate all the fries, but Hawk saved some soda and a couple pieces of chicken, just in case their
next meal didn’t arrive on time. He saw Rattler wash her hands in the tiny restroom and then go
back to her perch on the top bunk.

He was once again left with nothing to do but walk around the room… and he needed to walk, or
his head would explode. After a couple of mindless strolls he almost hit a chair, so he moved it
close to the wall. Then he did the same with the other one, and finally the table was pushed under
the window too. That left way more space in the room, and he resumed his pacing, lost in his
thoughts, for what felt like hours.

“It’s hot in here. Can we open a window?”

Hawk looked at the little girl, startled by her words. It was really getting hot and stuffy in the
locked room.

“I can’t reach the windows, Rattler, they’re too high. Come down from there; hot air is lighter than
cool air and it accumulates near the ceiling.”

The nerdy science explanation came out of his mouth on autopilot, but for once he didn’t mind that
a bit of the old Eli was resurfacing.

The girl jumped from the bunk bed and raised her eyes to the unreachable windows.

“What if you climb on the table…?”

“I told you, Rattler, they’re too far away”, he interrupted her.

“… and I climb on your shoulders and open it?”

Then he saw it. And he mentally kicked himself for not seeing it earlier. He looked at Rattler as if
she had just invented the wheel.

“Okay”, he said, trying to sound calm. “Come here and put this on.”

He grabbed his hoodie from the foot of the bed and handed it to Rani. The girl, of course, looked at
him as if he was nuts.

“I said I was hot, not cold.”

The boy sighed, crouching in front of Rani so he could meet her gaze.

“Listen, Rattler… this is very important, okay?” he started, trying to imitate Sensei Lawrence’s
firm tone. “I’m going to get on that table, and you’re going to climb on my shoulders like you said.
And then, if we can open that window… you’re going to escape through it.”

A frown appeared on the little girl’s forehead.

“But Sensei and the police are coming to rescue us.”

“Yeah, they are”, he nodded. “But just in case they’re late, you’re going to get ahead.”

The girl stared intently at the projected escape route.

“And how are you going to reach the window after I go?”

Hawk sighed, and for the second time in half an hour he blinked hard to keep the tears away.

“I… I won’t fit through there, Rattler. I’m too big. You’re gonna have to be brave and go alone.”

Rani tilted her head. Hawk’s voice didn’t sound like Hawk all of a sudden, and she wasn’t sure she
liked the change. She didn’t want to leave him behind, even if he had been very stupid. She opened
her mouth to protest, but the boy kept talking.

“Remember that day when Sensei Lawrence taught us to land on our feet without getting hurt?”

She nodded vigorously.

“How do you do it? Repeat it to me.”

“Bend your legs, land on the balls of your feet, tuck into a roll”, she recited as if she was in class.

“Awesome”, Hawk said, braving a smile he didn’t feel. “And, after you land, you have to run
away, you hear me? Run as fast as you can until you’re out of breath, and then look for a place to
hide. Got it?”

“Yes. But I don’t know how to get home alone.”

“You won’t have to”, Hawk continued. “Can you count to one thousand?”

“Of course!” she said proudly.

“Nice. When you find a place to hide, count to one thousand before coming out. If you get lost,
start counting again. And after you’ve done all those things, you need to look for a grownup… a
woman. Go to the first woman you see, tell her you’re lost, and ask her to take you to the police
station. It’s easy, right? Will you remember everything?”

Another nod, but this time less enthusiastic.

“What if I don’t see anybody?” Rani asked in a tiny voice.

Hawk swallowed the knot in his throat and pushed away the scary thoughts.

“Sensei Lawrence will come to get you, remember?” he said, trying to sound convincing. “I’m sure
he’s on his way here right now… but just in case he’s late we need to give him a hand.”

Hawk felt the little girl’s black eyes fixed on him for what seemed like years. Whether she believed
his fibs or not, she would be infinitely better off on the street than locked up with Kreese and his
minions… but first she had to agree to the plan.

Without saying a word, Rani grabbed Hawk’s black hoodie and slid it over her head. It was too big
for her, of course, and only a few inches of her white gi pants were visible under it.

The plan was perfectly simple, in theory. Putting it into practice had one or two obstacles in the
way.

First, the table was flimsier than Hawk would have wanted, so he inspected it carefully to see if it
would hold their weight. Once on top of it, there was nothing to hold on to but the bare wall, and
after Rani had climbed on his shoulders she grasped her ankles as tight as he could while she
maneuvered the rusty window handle. That was obstacle number three; and it took the little girl
several tries to get it open, with a loud creak that Hawk hoped nobody had heard.

When the current of fresh air entered the stuffy room at last, Hawk’s inner voice, which had been
mercifully quiet all day, started nagging him.

What if she falls on her head?

What if she breaks a leg? Do you think a guy like Kreese will risk taking her to the hospital?

Are you really going to send a little girl to the streets alone? At night? In whatever shitty
neighborhood we’re in? Why don’t you hand her to a child trafficker and finish the job?

“Hawk! It’s open!”

The boy opened his eyes and tried to push the intrusive thoughts away.

“Okay. Now do as we rehearsed… hold on to the window frame, get a leg up, and turn around so
you don’t fall on your head.”

He gave her one more push, and Rani pivoted on the frame. Now all Hawk could see was her head
and shoulders; he pressed his lips together and tried to smile.

“Good luck, Rattler. Remember everything I said about hiding and counting… Now, jump!”

Then he listened. He listened to the thump against the ground, panicked during the second or two
of silence that followed… and let out a relieved sigh when he finally heard the sound of little feet
scurrying away, until it got lost in the night.

He wanted to let out a cry of triumph and an anguished sob at the same time; but there was no time
for that. He climbed down the table and carefully put the furniture back in its original place. Then
he arranged the blanket on the top bunk, to make it look like there was a sleeping child under it,
and sat on his bed musing about his bleak future.

In the best of cases, he had until the next morning before the escape was discovered. Worst case
scenario, his ex-friend Rico would come back to check on them any moment now… Kreese’s
henchman wasn’t too brilliant, but even he would notice that the window was open, and he would
start asking questions. Hawk knew there would be a price to pay for helping the girl escape… but
he was ready. At least, as ready as he would ever be.

“Good luck, Rattler”, he repeated in a low voice. “I really hope I did the right thing this time.”
 Counterstrike
Chapter Summary

A development on the case brings together some unlikely allies, and sends Johnny on
a frantic search.

Chapter Notes

I felt a bit sad when I finished this chapter, because there's only three more till the
end... but all things (good and bad) must come to an end. I'll do my best to keep things
interesting until the last possible moment, so... thank you for reading!

CHAPTER 42. COUNTERSTRIKE

“She’s fallen asleep.”

Amanda closed the door of Kate’s bedroom carefully, made her way back to the living room with
her shoes in her hand, and sat on the couch next to an anxious looking Daniel.

“Thank God”, whispered Johnny, who wasn’t a religious man in any way, but was ready to
become one if it helped. “I hope we’ll have some good news for her when she wakes up… Fuck,
I’m tired of this shit.”

Daniel checked his watch. It was nine thirty, less than two hours after he’d arrived at South Seas,
but the minutes were passing too slowly for him too.

“I’m sorry we don’t have better news yet, Mr. Lawrence”, said Detective Miranda, who had been
on her phone following the investigation. “We’ve located two of Esteban Rico’s former hideouts,
but no luck so far. My men have also talked to his ex-girlfriend; apparently he moved out of her
house two months ago, and she said he may live in the area between Sepulveda and Aqueduct
Avenue… that’s our best shot so far, but it’s a big neighborhood.”

Johnny put his head in his hands and groaned. He wasn’t used to waiting and doing nothing. If it
was for him, he’d already be out on the streets looking for Rattler… but, while she was in Kreese’s
hands, that was a risk he couldn’t take. Better let the cops do their job, even if it meant sitting
around and being useless.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Robby, Miguel, and Aisha in the kitchen, sharing the
casserole Mrs. Rosa had sent. The kids had refused to go home, no matter how much everyone had
insisted, so he’d ordered them to at least have some dinner while they waited for news on Rattler
and Hawk. He must have sounded really serious, because nobody protested; not even Robby.

After a few more eternal minutes, a knock on the door made everybody jump from their seats, and
a visibly excited officer (the same who had visited a couple of hours before) whispered a few
hurried sentences in Detective Joe’s ear before running out again.

Anticipating the best… and steeling himself for the worst, Johnny stood before the detective and
tried to stay calm.

“Well?” he asked.

The half smile he got in return gave him hope.

“Well, I’ve got good news… and bad news too, but first things first”, started Joe. “Eli Moskowitz
is at the Mission Community police station; our men found Rico’s house in Sepulveda Boulevard,
thanks to a neighbor who called with a noise complaint, and they were able to rescue the boy.”

“And Rattler… I mean, Rani?”

The detective’s face darkened.

“We haven’t found her yet. The Moskowitz boy said he helped her escape through the window,
about an hour ago; she could be anywhere in a one mile radius… The boy tried to keep Kreese’s
men busy, that’s the noise the neighbors heard.”

Johnny covered his eyes with his hand, realizing that when the detective said ’noise’ she meant the
sound of someone taking a beating.

“How is he?”

“No major injuries”, she answered, without giving details. “His parents are on their way to the
station… they’ve been advised to call a lawyer.”

Johnny nodded and lowered his head. Stupid, stupid Hawk! but he couldn’t really blame him for
falling in Kreese’s trap… He wasn’t the first one.

“What about the girl?” he asked again. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Lawrence. Rico and the other man are still at large. The Moskowitz boy said
Kreese was not in the house when they realized Rani had escaped… and Rico’s vehicle is missing
too. My gut tells me that Mr. Kreese realized his plan was worthless without the girl as a hostage,
and he’s making a run… probably for the Mexican border. But it’s just a theory, and our priority
now is the same as before: find Rani Williams first, and arrest her kidnappers second.”

The detective’s phone started ringing like crazy, but she didn’t pick up.

“Now that we have a location to search, I have to go to North Hills and coordinate the operation”,
she continued. “Do you want me to give Miss Williams the news before I leave?”

“No”, answered Johnny in a low voice. “Let her sleep; if I’m waking her up, it will be to tell her
that you’ve found her daughter.”

Detective Miranda nodded. She picked up her things, said a quick goodbye, and left in a hurry,
promising to call if there was any development.

“Hey, Johnny… I think I’m leaving too”, said Jimmy. “I know a few people in the DA Juvenile
Office. If your student is accused of accessory to kidnapping, he could benefit from a sympathetic
DA… And a good lawyer, if his parents can get one. I’m just anticipating things, but I want to
make a couple of calls before it gets late. You don’t mind, right?”
“No, man. Do what you have to do, I’m glad for all your help”, answered Johnny with a sad smile.
“Hawk has been an idiot… but you and me were idiots once, too.”

“And it was Kreese’s fault, both times.”

“Right.”

As Jimmy left, Johnny remembered the sulky teenagers in the kitchen.

“Okay, you three”, he said, walking up to them. “It’s getting late, and your mothers will kill me if I
don’t send you home. Especially yours”, he said, pointing to Robby. “Miss Robinson, can you take
Diaz and Robby home?”

“Yes, Sensei!”

“Dad, I know my way around North Hills”, Robby protested. “I can…”

“Absolutely not.”

The boy opened his mouth to speak again, but something in Johnny’s eyes made him shut up.

“Fine”, he grunted. “I’ll go home, you don’t have to order me around like a baby.”

“Good.”

Johnny returned to the living room and sat next to Daniel, while Aisha stared at Robby
suspiciously.

“You were really easy to convince”, she stated, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess”, said the boy with a shrug.

“Convince of what?” asked Miguel, who didn’t really get what was happening. “Aisha, can’t we
stay a bit longer? There has to be a way to help Rattler… I don’t want to go home until we know
she’s safe.”

Aisha was silent for a few seconds. Then she picked up the dinner plates and put them in the
dishwasher.

“Yes, there may be a way… but not here”, she said in a firm tone. “Get your things, Mig, we’re
leaving.”

Meanwhile, Johnny approached Daniel and Ananda, who had listened to the detective’s
explanation with worried faces.

“Congratulations, LaRusso”, he said in a deadpan tone. “Looks like your precious Swedish spa and
bathhouse will be safe after all.”

“Don’t call it that”, answered Daniel, standing up. “You know perfectly well it’s a traditional
Japanese–”

“Whatever”, interrupted Johnny. “Look, I’m not throwing you out… even if that’s what Kate asked
me to do… but maybe you guys should go home. Or to your dojo, to check that the paper walls are
still looking pretty.”

Amanda couldn’t help a little smile, but Daniel rolled his eyes. Hard.
“Look, Johnny, there’s a limit to the amount of jokes I’m able to stand, okay?” he said tersely.
“What would you do if your dojo was about to disappear forever?”

“I would tear down Cobra Kai to save that kid. I’d douse it with gasoline and set it on fire with my
own hands.”

“And I guess you expect me to do the same with my dojo… Well, you may get your wish really
soon.”

“I don’t expect anything from you, LaRusso. The cops will find Rattler before your precious dojo is
in danger, don’t worry. And if they don’t… I’ll find her.”

With an impatient grunt he went to the spare bedroom, where he had left his leather jacket, and put
it on. Daniel stood up, suspecting what Johnny was about to do.

“You can’t be serious… Where are you going, Johnny?”

“To North Hills. If Rattler is on the streets, she’s probably lost and scared. Don’t try to stop me,
LaRusso… I’m tired of waiting around like a moron.”

Johnny walked up to Kevin, who was taking a page from Kate’s book and drinking one coffee cup
after another.

“Hey… can you and Oliver stay a while and look after Kate? I don’t want to wake her up until I
can tell her that Rattler is safe.”

Kevin hesitated for a moment, but something in Johnny’s voice made him nod without arguing.

“Are you sure of what you’re doing?”

“Dead sure.”

“In that case, no problem, man. Call me if you… no, call me when you find the munchkin. And
good luck.”

“Thanks.”

“Johnny… aren’t you going too far here?” insisted Daniel, who was getting ready to leave but
didn’t want things getting out of hand. “Leave things to the police. If you stumble upon Kreese’s
men, it can be dangerous.”

“Those bastards better hope I don’t find them, or I’ll be the dangerous one”, Johnny growled. “If it
was your daughter the one lost and alone at night, wouldn’t you do the same?”

Daniel made a short pause before answering.

“Maybe. Probably.”

“Good. Then I better move. Go home, LaRusso, it’s late and you have kids waiting for you. I’ll let
you know if there’s news.”

With those words Johnny opened the door and left, with Daniel and Amanda behind him. Oliver
had gone to Kate’s bedroom to check on her, leaving Kevin as the only adult in the living room.

“Mr. McMichaels, I’m going to take Miguel and Robby home”, Aisha started, slinging her
backpack over her shoulder. “Can we leave you our phone numbers in case the police or Sensei
Lawrence find Rattler?”

“Yeah, of course”, answered Kevin with a kind smile. “Here, take note of my number too, you
never know when you may need a lawyer. Although I hope you don’t.”

He handed Aisha a business card.

“Drive safely, okay? The last thing we need tonight is that something happens to any of you.
Johnny would have a stroke.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

The three teenagers went down the stairs of the South Seas building. No one said a word until they
reached the gate; then Aisha whipped up her phone and started texting at lightning speed.

“What are you doing?” asked Miguel. “This is so not a good moment to chat.”

“I’m telling my parents that you and I are going to stay at Kate’s a little longer”, said the girl,
without taking her eyes off the screen. “I suggest you do the same with your mom.”

“She’s working tonight. But…”

“Your grandma, then. Just in case she’s worried.”

“Wait a second”, Robby intervened. “I don’t need you two messing with my business… I can do
this alone.”

“Like hell you can, unless Mr. LaRusso has given you superpowers”, replied Aisha. “We’ll get
there sooner in my car; or do you plan on crossing the whole Valley on your skateboard?”

“Okay, fine. But it’s my neighborhood, so I’m in charge.”

“We can discuss who’s the boss once we get there. But if you have suggestions as to where to start,
I’m all ears.”

“That detective said the house where they kept Rani was in Sepulveda Boulevard”, said Robby in a
conspiratory tone. “It’s the best place to look, she can’t have gone too far.”

“Will someone explain to me what’s happening?” interrupted Miguel, looking at the other two as if
they were crazy. “This is insane. Are you two seriously thinking of going to…?”

“Yeah, Mig, about time you realized! We’re going to North Hills to look for Rattler.”

“I still think I can look for her alone”, Robby muttered, still not sure about trusting a Cobra Kai,
even if it was Aisha.

“But I’m the one who can drive all of us there in ten minutes. Or less, if we don’t mind a red light
or three.”

“Aisha, I'm not sure about this”, Miguel protested again. “Especially about going to North Hills
with him.”

“If my neighborhood is too tough for you, you can stay here and cry in a corner while I find her”,
answered Robby.

“That’s not what I meant. I’ve met those thugs before, okay? Rescuing Rattler won’t do her any
good if we all get killed.”

“Fuck, are you always this dramatic? I’m tired of listening to you, Diaz.”

“Okay, enough!” said Aisha, raising her voice. “Robby, I’m not leaving Miguel behind; six eyes
are better than four. And, Miguel… we’ll be better off with someone who lives there and knows
the area, you doofus!”

“I guess”, the boy admitted.

“Okay, Robby, time to make up your mind. You want a ride or not?”

“Yeah, of course. But I call shotgun.”

“Shit!”

“Deal with it, Diaz.”

Don’t talk to strangers.

Don’t tell people where you live.

Never accept food or candy from people you don’t know.

If you get lost, look for a policeman.

The rules were clear, and she knew them all. Mom had repeated them to her many times, and her
teachers did too. But none of the rules could help her now: in the dark and empty street there was
nobody to talk to, not even a stranger. And no policemen in sight either: she had heard a siren in the
distance once, but it was too far away and it stopped before she could follow the sound.

After jumping off the window, Rani had followed Hawk’s instructions to the letter: run, hide,
count to one thousand. Counting had been the easiest part; it made her feel a little less scared…
and she hadn’t lost count, not even once. But after she finished, and waited a bit more before
coming out just in case, Rani realized that she would probably have to wait a long time until
someone appeared to rescue her. The area was too empty and quiet, without any cars or people…
and she couldn’t just run to the middle of the street and stand in front of a car. That was against so
many of the rules.

With a sigh, she raised her eyes to the night sky, and checked that the moon was still there. Rani
loved the moon, it was another of the things that made her feel less scared. She had found a very
good hiding place, a dark doorway in a narrow alley, behind a line of big dumpsters: there was
even an empty cardboard box on the sidewalk, and Rani had flattened it to have something to sit
on. She was sure the bad men wouldn’t find her there.

There was only one problem: her left ankle. She had fallen hard on it, but she hadn’t really noticed
the pain until she stopped running. Of course, Sensei Lawrence had taught her and the other Cobra
Kai students how to tell if an arm or a leg was broken; and hers was not, because she could still
walk. But it hurt if she touched her foot, and it hurt if she stood up… which meant no more
running. Rani tried to think of the good things: she had escaped the bad men: she’d had dinner; and
Hawk’s hoodie was big and warm. But she also couldn’t help thinking of Mom, and how scared
she would be that Rani was missing. Thinking of Mom made her a little sad, but she brushed her
tears off with a dirty hand and went back to her list of good things.
Sensei Lawrence was going to find her and take her home. She had never been more sure of
anything in all her life.

“You’re nuts, Keene.”

“And you’re useless! At least I’m having ideas.”

“Yeah, ideas that will get us all killed!”

“Guys, enough!” said Aisha, stopping an argument for the third time in ten minutes. “Or I swear
I’ll turn the car around.”

Both boys shut their mouths, but the hostile looks between them continued.

“Look, Miguel.. no shade, but I think Robby is right this time. There’s only three of us; I have to
wait in the car in case we need to run away quickly. That leaves you two. And you’ll cover more
ground if you separate… it makes all the sense.”

“So… let’s just split up. Yeah. That’s how people in horror movies die, you know!”

“This is real life, Diaz, not a movie.”

“Yeah, real life in your shitty neighborhood full of dangers.”

“It’s not the Bronx, dude! And you’re one to talk… it’s not like you live in Beverly Hills.”

For the umpteenth time that night, Aisha rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I’m tired of playing referee. Stop behaving like little bitches or I’ll kick both of you to the
curb and leave you here. Got it?”

The two boys nodded, while Aisha parked the car in a quiet road.

“Aisha, if you see anything suspicious, or if you’re in danger, go to that gas station on the other
side of the street”, Robby warned. “They’re good guys, they helped my Mom once that she had a
flat tire.”

“Okay”, she answered. “Remember to text me your location every fifteen minutes. And be
careful.”

“Yes, Mom”, joked Miguel, getting out of the car.

Robby hadn’t waited for him; the other boy was already walking down the dark street. With a
heavy sigh, Miguel started strolling in the opposite direction.

He saw the almost full moon glowing above him, past the city lights, and he wondered if Rattler
was close by… maybe even looking at the same moon.

Fifteen minutes later, Robby sent Aisha his location and a thumbs up emoji. He put the phone back
in his pocket, looking around to check that he wasn’t being watched or followed. He knew that part
of North Hills like the palm of his hand… but that didn’t help him look for a little girl who could
be anywhere. And who had been given instructions to hide, according to the detective. He couldn’t
exactly shout her name to the wind and wait for an answer, especially because there were two
shady dudes looking for her. As for the infamous Kreese… who knew if he had really escaped, or
if he was searching for Rani, too. And, if any of those guys found her first, then all hope was lost.

Robby shook his head. Thinking of the worst wasn’t exactly helpful, so he sat on the curb for a
moment and breathed deeply a few times, like Mr. LaRusso had taught him.

Put away the fear and the doubt. Focus. Concentrate on your goal.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and started walking again, letting his instinct guide him. There were no
good or bad places on a search like this, so he just kept going forward, exploring every corner,
silent like a cat. Like a hunter. Putting all his senses into it, not caring if it took him hours to…

“Robby!”

It was little more than a whisper. A tiny voice whose owner he couldn’t see… but it almost made
him yelp with joy. Looking left and right again (being too cautious never hurt anyone) he tracked
the sound to a wall of dumpsters in a nearby alley.

He was almost scared to call back.

“Rani?” he whispered, with his heart thumping like crazy. “Kiddo, are you there?”

A head of black hair emerged from behind a dumpster, followed by the rest of the girl. She was
wearing her white gi pants, not so white anymore, and a black hoodie several sizes too big. She ran
towards Robby, hugging him as if she hadn’t seen him in months.

“I knew somebody would come!” she exclaimed, her dirty little face lighting up with joy. “Is Hawk
okay? Did you find him too?”

“Er… yeah, the police found him”, answered Robby, not wanting to talk about the spiky-haired
Cobra. “He’s safe. But what about you, kiddo? Are you hurt?”

“I think I twisted my ankle”, she said, pointing at her left foot. “I fell on it when I jumped off the
window… and I cut my knee on a piece of glass, but it doesn’t hurt much.”

Robby let out a relieved sigh. A sprained ankle and a glass cut were a much better outcome than
what he had feared.

“Okay. I’m going to call Aisha so she can pick us up… We better get you to a doctor soon. Those
men didn’t hurt you, did they?”

Rani’s nose wrinkled.

“No. The big one called me a brat but he was nice. He brought us fried chicken. The other one
looked angry and smelled funny, but he didn’t talk much.”

“Did Kreese say anything to you? The old man who took you from the mini-mart?”

The girl shook her head.

“No. When they locked us up in the room Hawk banged on the door and said he wanted to talk to
him, but nobody came.”

“Good”, Robby said, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Now, let’s see if Aisha–”
“Robby, watch out!”

The boy couldn’t finish his sentence, or make the call, because his phone was suddenly knocked
off his hand. It hit the ground with a shattering sound, and Robby stifled a curse.

“Fu… shit!”

“If you want to say ‘fuck’, get it out of your system, kid”, said the bigger of the two men who
appeared in front of him. “Hey, are you another one of the karate snakes? What’s with kids and
karate these days?”

“Shut it, Rico, this is not the time to make friends”, interrupted the other man, taking a sharp and
shiny object from his pocket. “Now scram, little boy. We’re taking that girl back.”

“Yeah?” Robby answered, flashing a cocky smile. “Come and get her, jerk.”

He should have waited for them to attack first; that was the Miyagi-Do way. But Mr. LaRusso’s
lessons didn’t include rescuing children from dangerous men with knives, so this time the ‘defence
only’ thing was kinda impractical.

He charged.

“Rani, run! Run and hide, I’ll find you!”

He knew the little girl was quick on her feet; and as she scurried past the two men and into the
darkness, he hoped she’d find some help, or a good place to hide. Because, if she didn’t… he was
going to be so, so screwed.

Meanwhile, less than a block away, Miguel had no idea of the danger Robby was in. He was trying
to walk in silence and hide in the shadows to avoid being seen. Both his sheltered upbringing and
his suspicious nature told him that this search was too dangerous, but he powered through. For
Rattler.

He had checked on Aisha five minutes before, so when his phone started vibrating he feared the
worst.

“Aisha! What’s happening?”

“Mig, something’s wrong! I just got a text from Robby saying ‘Found…’ and nothing else.”

“Did you try calling him?”

“His phone’s dead. Something must have happened to him! What do we do?”

Miguel hesitated only for a fraction of a second.

“Call Sensei Lawrence and give him your location. Send me where Robby was the last time he
checked on you, he can’t be too far away. And call the police too… Detective Miranda said they
had people in the neighborhood.”

“Okay. Are you coming back to the gas station?”

“No time. If Robby’s in trouble, I need to find him!”

He ended the call and started running towards the area where Robby was supposed to be.

I knew splitting up was a bad idea , he thought, looking left and right at every intersection. What if
something happens to that jerk…? What if he gets killed? What am I going to tell Sensei?

Fortunately for Miguel, his paranoid thoughts were interrupted by a small figure who appeared
behind a corner and ran towards him. “Rattler!” he exclaimed, almost bursting into tears with
relief.

“Miguel!” she called back, clinging to his arm. “Robby found me, but then the bad men found him,
and they’re fighting! You have to help him!”

“Where are they?”

“I’ll show you… but I can’t run anymore, my foot hurts”, she said, making a face.

“Climb on my back, I’ll carry you. Quick!”

When Miguel had a purpose, there was no space left in his mind for freaking out, or doubting
himself. He waited until Rani’s arms were secured around his neck and then ran as fast as he could.
The little girl was giving him directions, but after a couple of minutes he didn’t need them
anymore.

The fight noises were finally loud enough for him to hear.

Making a quick decision, he crouched to help Rani climb off his back.

“I’m going to help Robby”, he said, handing the girl his phone. “I need you to hide behind that big
car and call Sensei. Tell him that you are at Gaynor Avenue with Bahama street, and that we need
help. Can you do that?”

Rani nodded.

“Gaynor and Bahama, remember that. And whatever you see or hear while you’re hiding, don’t
come out. Promise me… pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise”, she said, very serious. “Go help Robby, please!”

Miguel took a deep breath and started running, ready to jump into the fight. In moments like that
the nerdy shy boy disappeared completely, and a different side of him took charge; a side that he
was growing more and more comfortable with. It was what his mother called his ‘game face’,
whatever that meant… only this time it was not a game.

When he turned the corner and arrived at the scene, the situation could be better.

Robby was pretty much cornered against a garage door. He had caused some damage before
getting in that situation, because the bigger of the two men in front of him was lying flat on the
ground, with his eyes closed, wheezing and looking almost unconscious. But Miguel soon realized
something was wrong with Robby. A few drops of blood, coming from a cut on his chin, had fallen
on his white t-shirt. But that was a minor injury; the really alarming thing was that he was fighting
with one arm, the left one; that could only mean that his bad shoulder had been wrecked again.

And now the other man, the more dangerous one, had noticed Miguel’s presence.

“Oh, fuck me”, he growled, turning around and taking one step towards the boy. “If it isn’t that
stupid kid again. Why the hell are you snooping around our business?”

Miguel grinned. People who underestimated him were his favorite opponents.

“Hey, look who's here! My smelly friend Lucien!”

“It’s Dax”, the man muttered, not keeping his eyes off Robby, who was doing his best to get back
on his feet.

Miguel saw that too; he was sure he wouldn’t be a match for the guy and his knives, no matter how
much karate he knew… so he needed to buy some time. He knew he was good at stalling,
especially if it involved talking too much, so he tried to think fast and gave the tattooed man a
sideways smile.

“You know, I wonder why you keep saying that ‘just Dax’ thing. Been asking myself that since the
other day.”

“It’s none of your business, kid.”

“Really?” Miguel continued, taking a step to the side. “I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind
it… from school times, maybe? Would you like to share it with the class?”

“I said shut your mouth!”

“That’s a lot of emotion for a name…” Another side step, and this time the man followed him with
his eyes and stopped watching Robby.

“Kid, if you don’t shut up I swear I’m gonna–”

“They called you Lucy in high school, right?”

It was a shot in the dark, but Miguel was right… and he realized just in time. Lucien (formerly
Lucy) Dax lunged forward, knife first, but the boy was ready for him. Ready to block, deflect,
punch and kick until he saw an opening… anything to give Robby time to get back on his feet.

This isn’t a tournament , he reminded himself. Don’t lose sight of the pointy thing in his hand… if
you get hit, you can die.

He focused on the other man’s motions, reacting faster and faster until he learned how Dax moved.
Since getting hit was not an option, he couldn’t get too close, but he had always been a fast learner.
Even in a dark street, in a life and death situation, he remembered Sensei Lawrence’s lessons about
spotting his enemy’s weak points.

Then he saw it, clear as crystal. As if the scene around him took place underwater, with everyone
but him moving slower and slower. He noticed that Dax was resting all his weight on his right
foot, which made sense; and that his stance was too short… which made him unstable. Now with a
clear goal in mind, Miguel stopped stalling and attacked, aiming for the man’s left leg. Once again
he had to remind himself that it wasn’t a practice fight, that there were no fouls, no rules to be
broken; he distracted Dax with a punch to the ribcage, risking a close position… and then he threw
a merciless kick to the Achilles tendon.

A curse escaped from the thug’s lips, and the knife fell from his hand with a clinging sound.
Desperate without his weapon, the tattooed man lunged forward, but his opponent was ready.

That’s only for extreme situations.

Johnny’s words echoed in Miguel’s mind. Well, if this wasn’t extreme, nothing would be. He
steeled himself, he calculated the force of the blow… and landed a perfect punch on Dax’s throat.

The man fell to the ground, and Miguel spared a second to check that he was out of combat. And
also that he was still breathing.

“Ni te muevas, cabrón!” he exclaimed, switching to Spanish without realizing.

Fortunately, Dax was in no condition to answer. Or to move.

“Shit… I hope I didn’t break his hyoid bone”, Miguel added, more to himself than to anyone else.

“His what?” wondered a groggy voice behind him.

“Keene!” Miguel reacted, remembering that his rival was injured. “Don’t move, I’m going to call
for help.”

“Did you… did you just hope you didn’t hurt that guy too much?”

“Well, I don’t want him dead.”

“He was going to kill you ”, Robby quipped. “Is that what my Dad teaches you at Cobra Kai, to
hold back?”

Miguel was about to respond with a cutting remark… but Robby’s eyes suddenly looked
unfocused, and that alarmed him.

“Hey, did you hit your head?”

“Yeah, I… that big guy threw me against the door”, said the boy, slurring his words a little. “Why
do you look all fuzzy?”

“Stop nodding off, Keene! I need you awake!” said Miguel between gritted teeth. He had only
envisioned winning the fight, not the aftermath, and now he felt a wave of panic cursing through
him. What if Robby was badly hurt? What if he had brain damage?

“Shit… Of all the people in the world, it had to be you who found me”, the other boy continued.
“It’s your lucky day, Diaz. This is… ugh… your chance to finish me off.”

“Don’t be daft. Rattler is hurt, I can’t carry you and help her at the same time! I’m not leaving you
here with those two, they can wake up… and they will finish you if they can. Come on, dude, get
up!”

With a grunt, he leaned forward to help the other boy stand up. It wasn’t an easy operation (Miguel
was the taller of the two, but Robby was heavier), but he managed to maneuver him into a standing
position, passing an arm around Robby’s waist to keep him from falling.

“Where are you taking me?” Robby asked, with his eyes closed.

“To see your Dad. Come on, dude, keep walking.”

They turned the corner with some difficulty, and Miguel saw the light at the end of the tunnel. A
blue light, to be more precise, coming from two police cars. He also saw Sensei Lawrence’s red
Challenger, with Sensei on the driver’s seat… and Rani beside him.

Help had arrived, just in time.

The next minutes were a blur in Miguel’s head, even many days later. He remembered Sensei
Lawrence talking in a low voice to Detective Miranda, and several uniformed officers running
towards the alley where Dax and Rico were taking a nap. He vaguely recollected Aisha, hugging
him so tight that he could barely breathe, and saying that she would meet them at the hospital.

He didn’t remember how he got in the car… but he must have done it, because the next thing he
noticed was sitting on the back seat of the Challenger, next to a disoriented Robby. The car flew
down Woodley Avenue, ignoring all the red lights in a mad race.

Then he did remember something, finally.

“Sensei, we’re going to Encino Medical, right? My Mom is working tonight, I can call her! She’ll
make sure they’re ready for us at the ER.”

“Good. First tell her you’re not injured, or she’ll kill me on sight when we arrive.”

“Don’t worry, Sensei. I will.”

“Rattler has a sprained ankle, and she’s gonna need stitches on that knee. Only one or two”, Johnny
said, glancing at the little girl with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “They’ll have to take a
look at Robby’s head, too… Don’t let him fall asleep, Diaz! Talk to him, keep him awake!”

Talking to Robby wasn’t exactly Miguel’s favorite pastime; but the other boy seemed to have
trouble keeping his eyes open, and Miguel didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. While the
car continued its mad dash across the streets, he tried to think of a conversation topic, and he
nudged Robby to get his attention.

“Erm… So, I heard you’re a trust fund kid now, right?”

It worked. Robby opened his eyes and groaned, looking supremely pissed off.

“Really, dude?” he croaked in a weak voice. “Of all the things we could talk about… Okay, who
told you?”

“Keiko let slip something the other day in class. So, is it true? You’re a millionaire or something?”

“Not a millionaire… More like ‘something’.”

“Must be nice having loads of money to do what you want.”

“Nah. Dough is tied up for college. Leave me alone, I want to sleep.”

“No way, Keene, not on my watch”, answered Miguel, trying to think of something. “Sensei, turn
on the radio! Loud!”

Less than ten minutes later, the car screeched to a halt in front of the hospital, with Pharrel
Williams’s ‘Happy’ blasting from the speakers. Miguel's face lightened up when he saw Carmen
right outside the ER entrance, flanked by Rattler’s mom and her friend the lawyer.

“End of the ride, Keene”, he said, grabbing Robby’s good shoulder and shaking him a little.

“Twerp. Shut up. I’m tired.”

“We’re at the hospital, asshole”, whispered Miguel, with a kind smile that belied his words. “Come
on, let’s get you inside… and great job, by the way. You’re a hero.”
 Mending
Chapter Summary

People flock to the hospital to see what happened to the injured boys. And the boys in
question find a moment to talk about one or two things.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

CHAPTER 43. MENDING

Johnny let out a deep sigh and pressed the red symbol on the screen of his phone, ending the call.
Talking to Shannon was never easy, especially if it was to tell her that their son had been injured in
a street fight… But, considering her habit of overreacting, she had taken the news quite well.

“Must be the farmer’s influence”, he muttered to himself, sitting down on a painfully

uncomfortable hospital chair.

He had been confined to a waiting room since the hospital people had taken Robby away for an
emergency MRI. After what felt like hours a doctor had appeared, telling him that everything
seemed to be fine, that the boy just had a minor concussion… but they still needed to do more tests,
an x-ray of his shoulder, and God knew what else.

The plastic chair squeaked when Johnny got up and started pacing up and down the waiting room,
felling very much like a caged lion. It was a quiet night at Encino Medical; the room was
practically empty, and he felt relieved that nobody could see what a nervous wreck he was.

The truth, the shameful truth that he’d never confessed anyone, was that hospitals gave him the
creeps.

Even before Laura’s death, little Johnny had never liked them; there was something unsettling in
the harsh lights, the medicinal smell, the worried faces of both patients and staff… After his
mother’s illness and eventual passing, the dislike because full-on fear and hatred, and from that
moment on he avoided hospitals as much as he could.

That had been the root of his first huge fight with Shannon, sixteen years before: the fact that he
had arrived at the maternity ward several hours after Robby’s birth. Hours he’d spent in the burger
joint across the street, trying to find his courage before it was too late. Johnny wasn’t sure why, but
he never told Shannon his real reason for being so late. Maybe there was one thing worse than
being careless… and that was being a coward.

Johnny’s somber recollections were interrupted when Kate appeared through the door of the
waiting room. Her tired face lit up with a smile when she saw him.

“Oh, you’re here!” she exclaimed, walking into his open arms. “Is everything all right? How is
Robby?”

“Still getting tests and stuff… but the doc says his head will be fine. Where’s Rattler? Why aren’t
you with her?”
“They let me be with Rani while she got stitches, but now they’re going to do an x-ray of her ankle
to check for microfractures. Only the nurses and technicians are allowed in there, but they said it
would only take ten minutes.”

“Nah, her ankle isn’t broken”, whispered Johnny against Kate’s hair, still holding her in a tight
embrace. “I know a broken bone when I see it… she’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say, doctor”, she replied with a soft laugh.

Under the cold hospital lights, Kate looked even smaller and paler than before; Johnny feared she
would faint, so guided her to the nearest chair and sat beside her, with his arm around her
shoulders. Kate didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes; he thought she had fallen asleep, until
she squirmed in her seat and reached for his hand.

“Thank you, Johnny.”

“Hey, you’re awake… Thank you for what?”

“For finding Rani. For bringing me my daughter back.”

“I didn’t do shit… I arrived when everything was over. Robby found her, and Diaz. They put
Kreese’s men out of commission.”

“What, together? Without trying to kill each other?”

“Yeah, I know. Those kids are more clever than I thought.”

“I’m glad the war between them is over. At least for now”, said Kate with a tired smile.

“Yeah, they won’t be fighting over the LaRusso girl anymore. Those fights are stupid.”

Before Kate could think of an answer, a nurse appeared.

“Hi!” she said, cheerful. “Are you the mom of Rani Williams?”

“That’s me”, said Kate, springing to her feet. “Is everything all right with her?”

“We’re finished with her x-rays. The tech says there’s nothing broken; you can come back inside
while the doctor gives her a final check-up, but she seems to be fine. That’s a really brave little girl,
you know… She didn’t complain once.”

“Yeah, we know. That kid is tough”, said Johnny with a proud smile.

“Oh, of course you can come in too if you want, Mr. Williams!”, added the woman in a
sympathetic tone.

“Ah… yeah, thanks. I’m waiting for news on another kid who was injured too, and…”

“It’s okay”, interrupted Kate, without stopping to explain the misunderstanding. “I’ll see you later,
go find out about Robby.”

She kissed Johnny’s cheek and followed the nurse down the corridor, while he resumed his pacing
up and down the room.

He was starting to think that hospitals didn’t look so scary when things turned out well.
At the same time Johnny was starting to overcome his fear of medical facilities, Daniel had just
parked his car (perfectly perpendicular to the white lines, like always) in the hospital’s parking lot.

“Hurry up, Dad, please!” said Sam, sitting next to him. “Aisha said they’re on the second floor,
Ward B. She’s waiting for us there.”

Daniel got out of the car, inspecting the half-empty parking lot as if he expected it to be full of car
thieves.

“Sam, calm down. It’s bad enough that you made me drive you here at this ungodly hour, instead
of waiting until the morning…”

“I could have come by myself.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen”, Daniel remarked in a stern voice. “Look, I know you’re worried about
Robby… but Aisha already said he was fine, right? Only a concussion. And his mother is on the
way here, so you didn’t have to–”

“Dad, my friends have just been in a fight with some very dangerous people!” she interrupted
again. “We’ll just go in there, check on everybody, and get home before midnight. Tomorrow is
Saturday anyway, I can sleep late.”

With those words she crossed the doors of the building and walked with firm steps towards the
elevator. She was being bratty on purpose, to keep Daniel from asking more questions… and from
realizing that she was worried about someone else, not just Robby. It didn’t matter that Aisha had
told her that Miguel was fine, apart from a few bruises; Sam needed to see for herself.

Even if that means having to see Miss Maria and her stupid face , she thought. I bet she even put on
a full face of makeup before coming to the hospital.

The object of Sam’s thoughts was, exactly like Aisha had predicted, on the second floor. After
getting a quick checkup at the ER (and getting scolded by Carmen for getting into a fight without
permission) Miguel had been given a painkiller, an ice pack for his bruises, and a clean bill of
health.

He was currently standing outside Robby’s room. They had brought the other boy from the ER a
few minutes before, with Sensei Lawrence by his side; Miguel felt like an intruder waiting by the
door… but he didn’t want to leave before making sure his ex-mortal enemy was okay. Ironic.

The door was ajar, and he heard a few sentences without even trying to eavesdrop.

“Robby, are you sure it’s okay if I…?”

“Yeah, Dad. The doctor said I’m fine, Mom is on her way here… They only want to keep me
under observation for a day, at least until I get the results of my shoulder x-ray”, said the boy
pointing at his arm that was, once again, on a sling. “Go take Kate and Rani home, they shouldn’t
be taking a cab after what they’ve gone through today.”

“Cool. But call me if you don’t feel well and I’ll be back in a second, okay?”

“I’ll text you a bandaged head emoji”, Robby joked.

“Damn it, this is serious!”

“Dad, for the last time… I’m fine! If both you and Mom stay the night it’s going to be World War
Three in here. She’s going to blame you , to begin with.”

“She’ll be right to blame me”, Johnny answered in a dejected tone. “I mean… I should have
realized that you and the others were going to go looking for Rattler. And if I wasn’t with Kate,
Rattler would have never been in danger and all this shit wouldn’t have happened.”

“Dad… if you and Kate weren’t together, you and I probably wouldn’t be speaking to each other at
all. Stop beating yourself up, this is not your fault.”

“Okay.”

“Please. The last thing I need tonight is to see Mom and you fighting… I hit my head, remember? I
need peace and quiet!”

“Fine”, said Johnny, admitting defeat in a tone that made Robby feel a little sorry for him.

“I’m in good hands, Dad”, he added, trying to smile. “Hey, why don’t you come tomorrow
morning and bring me breakfast? I’m sure the food here is going to be garbage.”

“Yeah, hospital food is shit. I’ll bring you one of those muffins you like from McDonalds… bacon
and egg, right?”

“And cheese. With lots of ketchup.”

“Got it”, Johnny said, giving Robby a careful half-hug while trying not to touch his injured
shoulder. “Goodnight, then. I’m going to take the girls home.”

“Goodnight, Dad. And… Thank you for coming to get us tonight. And for not freaking out.”

“Officially, I have to be angry with you for going to rescue Rattler”, said Johnny with a proud smile
as he walked towards the door. “But it’s what I would have done too, so I can’t scold you for that. I
guess you’re more like me than you realized, son.”

A wide smile appeared on Robby’s face.

“Maybe that’s not a bad thing after all, Dad.”

Johnny walked out the door and was surprised to see Miguel and his mother outside.

“Hey, Carmen… are you here for Robby?”

“Yes, I have the results of his x-rays. I won’t bore you with the details, but his shoulder will be
fine. I was just going to tell him now.”

“Good. Glad to know he’s in good hands”, Johnny added, relieved. “Diaz, why are you still here?
You should be at home, it’s bad enough that you kids got mixed up in all this.”

“My mom’s shift ends in an hour, Sensei”, said the boy while Carmen went into Robby’s room.
“I’m going to wait for her and we’ll go home together. Besides… I need to talk to Robby before I
leave.”

Johnny put a hand on Miguel’s shoulder.

“You know you’re like family to me… right, Diaz?”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Just because you and Robby are rivals in your dojos, it doesn’t mean…”

“I know”, nodded the boy. “Robby and I will be cool, Sensei, I swear. Maybe all we needed to cool
things down was to fight a couple of bad guys together.”

Johnny laughed.

“And people say fighting doesn’t fix things… okay, I trust you not to start shit again. Take it easy
this weekend, okay? I want to see you on Monday at Cobra Kai, and you won’t be able to use those
two or three pathetic bruises as an excuse for not training hard.”

“Of course, Sensei”, answered the boy with a wide smile. “I’ll be there.”

After Johnny left, Miguel opened the door of Robby’s room, careful not to make too much noise.
He saw Carmen beside the bed, showing Robby an x-ray plate of his shoulder, and pointing to
some details in the black and white impression.

“So, the bad news is that you’ll have to wear that sling for a couple of weeks... but, considering
that it’s your second shoulder injury in the last few months, it could have been much worse”, she
explained in a serious voice. “The doctor will see you tomorrow morning and he’ll probably send
you home… but, until then, don’t try to get up. And don’t make any sudden movements, okay?
Until we get all your test results back, the doctor says you need to rest as much as possible.”

“Thank you”, answered the boy with a tired smile. “Can I keep the plate, please? It’s cool seeing
my bones… although for you it’s probably boring to see everybody’s insides.”

“Of course!” answered Carmen with a smile. “Tomorrow, when you’re discharged, you’ll get a
copy of your medical history. And now, I have to leave... and keep looking at other people’s
fascinating insides.”

She turned to Miguel, who was waiting at the door.

“Only ten minutes”, she warned. “Your friend needs rest, doctor’s orders.”

Miguel nodded. When he was finally alone with Robby, he let out a sigh. Now that the danger had
passed, he didn’t want the hostilities to continue... but he had no idea if the other boy would want
the same thing. He noticed that Robby looked really pale; the bruises on his face and the patched
cut on his chin stood out on his white face. He had closed his eyes and reclined on the pillow after
Carmen left, and he looked more at peace with the world than Miguel had ever seen him.

“Hey, Keene”, he said, in what he hoped was a friendly tone.

“Hey”, whispered Robby, opening his eyes. He sounded exhausted… and he was. The bump on his
head throbbed, he felt pins and needles on his shoulder, and his body craved sleep. The last thing
he wanted was another fight; but he tried to keep a stern face in case Diaz was looking for trouble.

“Look, I… I just wanted to tell you that hope you get better soon”, Miguel said with a shy smile.

That wasn’t the greeting Robby expected. Ignoring the pain, he sat up.
“Really? You? Why?”

“I’m not going to win the next tournament on a technicality. You have to be in top shape so I can
kick your ass again fair and square.”

“Yeah? We’ll see about that”, Robby answered in a groggy voice… but now he was smiling too. “I
bet you just want me to get out of here because you’re jealous that I have a cute radio technician
bringing me my x-ray results. Don’t think I didn’t see you smiling at her when she left.”

“Dude! I smiled at her because that was my mom!”, interrupted Miguel, trying (and failing) not to
laugh.

“Your mom? Oh, fuck!” Robby let his head fall on the pillow and closed his eyes again. “You
know what, forget what I just said. She was a very efficient, serious and responsible technician, and
I barely noticed her.”

“Right”, Miguel said, still grinning.

There was another uncomfortable silence, until Robby spoke again.

“So... thanks for saving my ass on that alley. You could have been seriously hurt.”

“Rattler would have never forgiven me if I let you die there. I don’t know why, but that kid is fond
of you.”

“So you just did it for Rani?”

“Yeah. Only reason.”

The two boys smiled openly at each other, as if acknowledging the end of the war between them.
Miguel felt brave enough to pull up a chair and sit next to the bed.

“So… does it hurt?” he asked, waving vaguely in Robby’s direction. He didn’t want to point at the
shoulder, because he still felt a little responsible for it.

“Not much. I’m stuffed with painkillers... I won’t feel a thing until they wear out. How about you?”

“Nothing worse than I could get on a normal training session”, Miguel joked. “Your dad was tough
on me last year, especially the first few lessons.”

Robby pressed his lips together and looked away, and Miguel instantly regretted his words. Peace
treaty or no peace treaty, maybe it was too early to mention Sensei Lawrence in what was evolving
into a surprisingly friendly conversation.

“You showed some really cool moves in that alley”, he said next, hoping to change the topic. “I
guess those two guys never knew what hit them.”

Robby’s face lit up a little.

“Thanks. I would have fought better if my shoulder didn’t get fucked up again.”

“Hey, you can always tell people that you rescued Rattler with one hand behind your back”, Miguel
said with a sideways smile.

“Yeah, and then you had to come and rescue me . Speaking of cool moves… your roundhouse kick
is savage, man.”
“Thanks.”

“Too flashy for my taste, but you destroyed that Dax dude with it.”

Miguel nodded and bit his lip, unsure about what he was going to say next.

“Hey, I was thinking… When you get better, maybe we can go to the park with Aisha and Keiko
and spar one day”, he said in a casual tone. “Just for fun; I’ll teach you some of my moves and you
can show me yours.”

Robby looked up, surprised.

“Really?”

“You can bring Shiro or Demetri if you don’t want to feel outnumbered.”

“Sounds cool”, said the boy. “But I’m not sure about training by ourselves without supervision...
you better come to Miyagi-Do, that way I’ll make sure I’m teaching you the moves right. And we
can do kata.”

Miguel’s face went somber. He stood up and looked out of the window before turning towards
Robby again.

“Nah, forget it”, he said, shaking his head. “Your Sensei hates my guts.”

“He doesn’t”, Robby interrupted. “His beef is with my dad, not with you… and I’m not sure they
still have beef anymore.”

“Sam would chase me away with a stick if I went anywhere near your dojo”, Miguel continued,
ignoring the other boy’s reasoning. “It was a stupid idea, anyway… look, I’d better go and let you
rest.”

He didn’t even have time to take one step towards the door.

“Hey, wait!” Robby exclaimed. “Come back here, we’re not finished... and I don’t want to scream
at you, this is a hospital.”

Miguel turned around, standing in front of Robby’s bed with his arms crossed and a frown on his
face.

“Fine. What do you want?”

“To talk about Sam.”

Miguel reacted with one of his trademark eyerolls.

“No”, he said in a firm tone. “I’m not with her anymore; neither are you, unless you’re thinking of
leaving Keiko for her… and that would be a shitty thing to do, but it’s none of my business until
Keiko kills you and asks me for help to hide the body.”

Robby burst into a wheezing laugh, interrupted by a grimace when he forgot how much it hurt to
move.

“Dude, calm down and stop speaking nonsense! Sam is crazy for you.”

Miguel looked at Robby as if the meds had made his former enemy go insane.
“Wait... what?”

“Sit down, I’m going to give you some free advice. Blame it on the painkillers if you want.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Sam has been dropping hints that she wants to get back with you all Summer, and you keep
avoiding her. You’re not my favorite person, Diaz… but I never took you for an idiot.”

“Stay out of this, dude! Sam’s dad hates me. And she doesn’t want anything real with me
anyway… she just wants me to be her dirty little secret until she finds some other guy her family
approves of.”

“Wow. You really are clueless about girls, aren’t you?”

“Watch that mouth, Keene.”

“She’s been thinking of you all Summer, you dork! And you’re the only one who doesn’t see it!”

Miguel blinked a couple of times. Robby didn’t sound like he was joking or delirious, but he had
been the butt of some jokes about girls before. It wasn’t exactly easy to trust a boy he’d seen as an
enemy for so long.

“Are you fucking with me, Keene?” he asked, making one last attempt to find out the truth. “Is it
the meds? Are they making you see things?”

Robby laughed again.

“The stuff they gave me isn’t that strong; don’t ask how I know. I don’t think they gave me
enough, by the way… my head is starting to hurt again.”

“Sorry about that. I should have found you sooner”, answered Miguel, with a look of genuine
worry in his black eyes.

“Look, Diaz... I’m not going to argue with you anymore”, Robby continued. “If you don’t believe
me, Sam will keep pining for you forever, and you’ll go on to date another silly Valley girl that
you don’t really like… but that’s your choice. Do what you want.”

Miguel nodded, biting his lip again. He was now convinced that Robby wasn’t joking, but he still
had to talk to Sam about it. Someday. Maybe in three or four years.

Suddenly, he heard steps outside, and the door opened with a bang that almost made Robby jump
off the bed.

“Here’s my hero!”

“Keiko!” exclaimed the boy, surprised. “How did you know I was here?”

“What, you’re not happy to see me?”

Robby smiled, extending his good arm towards the girl.

“Come closer, please, before the nurses come and ask who’s making so much noise. Of course I’m
happy to see you, Spike!”

Wincing at the nickname, Keiko approached the bed and gave her boyfriend a quick kiss.
“Word gets around at light speed on the Valley karate grapevine”, she explained. “I think the right
order of events is that Aisha told Sam, she called Demetri, Demetri texted Shiro... and my dear
brother not only told me, he also drove me here.

“I’ll thank Shiro later”, Robby whispered, reaching for Keiko’s hand. “I’m really glad you’re
here.”

Miguel, always the gentleman, stood up and handed Keiko his chair. She sat as close to the bed as
she could.

“So… what happened tonight, exactly?” she asked, looking at both boys. “You and Miguel have a
secret fight club going on? You know, if you wanted to feel manly, you could have just punched a
wall.”

“Don’t talk to him like that... he saved Rattler from Kreese’s men”, said Miguel. “I’m sure he’ll
give you the long explanation later, but that’s basically what happened.”

Keiko kissed Robby again, her fingers ghosting over the steri-strips on his chin.

“After the doctors finish examining your head, you should tell them to fix that hero complex of
yours, pretty boy.”

“I don’t need fixing. I just need two aspirin and some sweet love from my girl.”

“Your girl? Back to the nineteenth century we go! I’m not yours, Keene.”

“That’s not what you said the other night at the Miyagi dojo, Spike.”

“Oh, no… I can’t watch this, so I guess that’s my cue to leave. And I absolutely don’t want to hear
what you two were doing at the Miyagi dojo the other night”, said Miguel with an exaggerated fake
eye roll. “Keiko, do you need a lift when you’re finished with the lovey-dovey stuff? My mom is
taking me home later, and Aisha is also around with her car.”

“Don’t worry, my brother is in the waiting room. He'll drive me back when I’m finished cuddling
the San Fernando Valley new hero.”

“By the way… my mom is on the way here”, Robby warned Keiko. “If you stay, you’ll get to meet
her.”

“That’s even better! I’ll be my most charming self with her. How does that sound?”

“Scary”, Robby answered, raising an eyebrow. “And awesome.”

Seeing that Robby and Keiko were busy gazing into each other’s eyes, Miguel coughed discreetly.

“Well, at this point I think I am what the French call de trop ”, he said, grabbing the ice pack he’d
left on the table.

“You speak French too?” Robby asked. “Jeez, you’re a bigger geek than I thought.”

Miguel shook his head and smiled.

“Keiko, your boyfriend lost his phone in the fight, so I’ll call you tomorrow to ask how he’s doing,
okay?”

“Sure.”
 “Goodnight, Keene.”

“Goodnight, Diaz… and thanks.”

After Miguel left Robby and Keiko alone, he went looking for a vending machine to get some
coffee. The stress of the earlier fight had made his adrenaline go through the roof; now he was
finally coming down from the high, and he didn’t want to fall asleep while he waited for Carmen to
finish her shift. He finally found the machine, took some time to decide what he wanted, and got
the largest latte he could find, with lots of sugar.

And then, he almost dropped it when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Sam!”

Chapter End Notes

 Sorry for the mini-cliffhanger! This chapter and the next were going to be only one,
but it was getting too long so I split it in two. I hope I'll have the next one soon.

End Notes

Reviews give me life, and I appreciate concrit because English is not my first language.
Thank you for reading!

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