COBRA KAI (Miguel Centric)

CHAPTER ONE

Miguel had never been more worried about this years' midterms. He'd missed quite a bit of school due to the accident during the school fight a few months back. It took him two weeks to wake up and then afterwards, he had to go through a specific type of surgery to have even a slight chance of walking again. At first, Miguel had given up on his hope of regaining use of his legs, after a weeks worth of physical therapy once his surgery was completed.

No luck.

Then, his sensei, Johnny Lawerence, visited him on one of his bad days and made a promise that he'd help him walk again. And that he wouldn't give up, no matter how long it takes. He also made Miguel repeat the Cobra Kai lesson meant just for him: "We do not accept defeat."

With sensei Lawerence by his side, the support from his mother and his friends, and the constant physical therapy with sensei, Miguel was able to regain use of his legs. The entire process and the hard work had officially paid off and Miguel couldn't be happier. It only took three and a half months to accomplish relearning to walk and stand.

Despite the big accomplishment, Miguel was far from being okay. He was having nightmares about that day he was kicked off the second floor and Robby Keene was at the center of them. He could say that he finally understood how Sam felt every time she had an encounter with Tory. Fear. He was terrified of possibly running into Robby and having a repeat of what happened.

Miguel was no longer angry with the boy for what happened, but he couldn't say for sure that Robby would feel the same. When Miguel had tried to show mercy, realizing that he had taken things too far, Robby had fought back and in his rage, he had kicked him over the railing and sent him falling to the first floor. Whenever Miguel replayed those last moments before he went over, he could see the hate in Robby's eyes. Even though Miguel had tried to end the fight, tried to let it go, Robby had been very angry by then and probably did want to hurt him.

Even in spite of that, Miguel still had to go back to school, to make up for the time lost while he was in recovery. Which would explain why Miguel was standing in front of the West Valley High School, dreading his first day. He was told that during the three and a half months he was recovering, Robby had been found and that he did time in juvie, before they agreed to let him out on the exception he does 250 hours of community service and remains on probation until his sentence was completed.

Even though Robby had been expelled for what he did, Miguel was still wary. He looked around, trying to do his best to be discreet, but out of all the kids there he didn't spot the older boy. Letting out a breath of air he didn't realize he was holding, the All-Valley champion hoisted his backpack higher on his shoulders and walked towards the entrance.

As he walked through the doors, he reminisced of the first time he walked into this school when he had moved here. Making his way down the hall, he avoided eye contact with most of the kids who were lingering in the halls. He could hear them gossiping about him, whispering about what happened to him and gawking at how he had returned.

Miguel thought it was funny as most of them didn't even know who he was before the accident. Before he even knew karate really. As he continued his way down the hallway, he caught sight of Sam standing at her locker and they locked eyes. Before he could start making his way over to her, he was startled by Hawk grabbing his shoulder.

"El Serpiente!" The other boy said in greeting, as he and Tory fell into step beside him. "How's it feel to be back?"

Miguel looked away from Sam to give Hawk and answer but then he thought that maybe he should try and distance himself from Cobra Kai for a while. So he decided to keep it short and simple. "Uh, fine I guess."

Tory remained silent as she walked with them to go to their first class. As they reached the stairwell and he grabbed the hand railing, he froze as his mind flashed back to the day he had fallen from the second floor. Miguel sucked in a sharp breath as he remembered the feeling of falling before agonizing pain and darkness. His heart began to race, gripping the railing so tight, his knuckles turned white.

Miguel felt like he was having a panic attack, he was frozen and unable to move. His mind was telling him to run as far away from here as possible. He did not want to be here, he wasn't ready. He'd thought he was, but he couldn't even get up the same stairs he'd fallen onto. As his breathing began to pick up, he remembered vaguely how he used to get asthma attacks. He hasn't needed to use his inhaler for a while but at the rate he was spiraling, he was probably going to need it.

A hand came down on his shoulder and Miguel flinched away from the contact, letting go of the railing and stepping back. Snapping out of the trance he was in, he looked up to find Hawk standing in front of him, an expression of concern on his face.

"Yo Miguel, you okay?"

Miguel blinked rapidly and stumbled over his words as he backed away from the stairwell, his breath coming in short gasps. "I can't do this."

Turning around as fast as he could, Miguel took off down the hall towards the front entrance, ignoring the concerned shouts that followed.

|COBRA KAI|

Miguel found himself sitting alone at some park that was out the way, having wanted to be as far away from the school as possible. He was currently using one of the swings to sit, deep in thought. He should have been ready to go back to school but something about that stairwell brought back too many painful memories of that day. He could have died, hell, he almost did die. He was in a coma for two weeks and then he couldn't walk. He was traumatized. He was uncomfortable with everything that reminded him of that day. He was terrified of facing Robby again, or ever.

Sometimes Miguel wished that he hadn't started karate but then he would remember that karate is what motivated him. It was what helped him to defend himself against his bullies. It was what gave him confidence, what taught him to never give up. And Johnny, he had taught him the most important lesson of all: to show mercy, is not weakness. But the most noble thing to do.

Miguel had been so caught up in his thoughts that he barely took notice of someone coming towards him. It was still pretty early in the day, he didn't know that anyone else would be coming to the park. However when he looked up, his blood went cold as he took in who it was.

"What the hell are you doing here?"