𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘜𝘉𝘓𝘌. Eli Moskowitz

six

"SENSEI, what are we doing here in the middle of the night?" Miguel asked. Violet gave Johnny an inquisitive look; Earlier that day, he'd told the two of them to meet him at the school at midnight. He never told them what they were going to be doing, though.

"Are we even supposed to be in here?" Violet worried. She didn't want to get in trouble for trespassing or something.

Johnny waved her off, "Yeah, don't worry, my buddy's the night janitor."

"Right . . ." she muttered. She was pretty sure Johnny didn't have any "buddies."

"Alright, give me your hands."

Violet complied, and Johnny pulled out a rope and began tying her hands together. Violet and Miguel shared a look.

"Uh, Sensei?" Miguel asked as Johnny tied his hands together. "What are you doing?"

"When you're in a fight, your first instinct is to use your hands, right? You gotta unlearn that, and think with your legs."

"How do we think with our legs?"

"Well, you just, uh . . ." and the next thing either of them knew, they were being pushed into the deep end of the pool.

Violet knew that the worst thing she could do was panic, but she wasn't prepared, and her natural instinct was to use her hands, which were tied up.

So, she panicked.

The girl kicked her legs frantically, but she wasn't moving any further upwards, and the small amount of air she'd managed to suck in was running out.

Johnny pulled her and Miguel back up by their hair.

"I'm drowning," Miguel gasped as Violet sucked in a deep breath of air.

"Drowning is for pussies, alright?" Johnny said loudly. "Don't be a pussy. Use your legs!" and with that, he released them back into the water.

"Shit," he said when he realized they still weren't making any progress. "Probably should've asked them if they knew how to swim."

Again, he pulled them out of the water.

"No more, please. I'll die," Violet sputtered.

"Cobra Kai never dies," Johnny said. "Say it!"

"Cobra Kai never dies," the two choked out.

"Say it like your life depends on it. C'mon!"

"Cobra Kai never dies!"

"Now, I'm not gonna help you this time, alright?" Violet's eyes widened. "Alright, you have all the power in your legs you need. Use it to kick your way up. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei."

Once again, they were let back into the water. Johnny watched on with bated breath, muttering, "Come on, come on."

With a gasp, Violet, then Miguel, burst through the surface of the water.

"Yes, that's it! Keep kicking!" Johnny cheered.

They continued treading water for the next ten minutes, until a man spotted them and yelled out, "Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, shit. We gotta go, we gotta go," Johnny muttered, hurriedly helping Miguel and Violet out of the pool.

"You're not allowed in here!"

"I thought you knew this guy!" Miguel panted.

"Of course not, I lied."