Miguel's POV
The day after the fight with Kyler...
The next morning I was sitting on the little ledge of cement outside my apartment door on my phone. I heard a car pull up and I stood quickly, sliding my phone into my pocket as I walked. It was the red car of my blond neighbour and I walked up to the car just as the man opened the door and stepped out. He was wearing the same clothes as the night before and he looked like he hadn't slept much.
"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you," I said as he closed his car door.
"Well alright, you said it," The man said grumpily looking me in the eyes before stepping around me sighing.
"So, last night was that, like, Tae Kwon Do or jujitsu or MMA or something?" I asked following him.
"It's karate," He said not turning around, "Old-School Karate."
"Do you think you could teach me?" I asked hopefully.
"What? No," He said glancing back at me before turning around to get his mail.
"Come on. When school starts, those guys are gonna make my life miserable," I said standing behind him.
"It's not my problem," He said simply.
"Look, if I just knew a little bit of what you knew, then I would be--" I started trying to convince him.
"Forget it," He said cutting me off, "I don't do karate anymore, all right? Besides, I need to find a job," His voice raised and I could tell he was getting upset.
"Well, you could open your own karate school," I said thinking.
"It's called a dojo," He corrected.
"You could open your own dojo."
"Look, I'm not getting into this with you. Alright, I'm not even sure I'm allowed to be around kids right now," His voice raised a little more, "All right, you want my advice? Stop being so annoying. Maybe you'll stop getting your ass kicked," He said. He quickly walked away leaving me standing there slightly upset.
"Ok," I mumbled.
*Time skip* The next day I was putting bottles in the recycling bin I turned around to go back to my apartment but my blond neighbour was standing only a few inches away from me.
"Are you sure you're ready?" He asked not giving me a chance to say anything, "'Cause once you go down this path there's no turning back."
"You're gonna be my karate teacher?" I asked surprised, remembering our conversation earlier.
"No. I'm gonna be your sensei," He said. I smirked and nodded.
"I'm gonna teach you the style of karate that was taught to me, a method of fighting your pussy generation desperately needs. I'm not just gonna teach you how to conquer your fears. I'm gonna teach you how to awaken the snake within you. And once you do that, you'll be the one who's feared. You'll build strength. You'll learn discipline. And when the time is right, you'll strike back."
A couple of days later...
I was standing in the new dojo with my hands behind my back. My neighbour (who is named Johnny) was standing across from me dressed in an all-black suit thing.
"So, am I gonna get the karate pyjamas too?" I said breaking the silence.
"Quiet!" Johnny barked. I stood up straighter and gulped, "The student only speaks when spoken to. Is that understood?" He continued.
"Yes," I said nodding. Johnny stared at me like he was expecting something else so I quickly added, "Yes sir?"
"Always address me as Sensei. Is that understood?"
"Oh. Yes sensei," I said.
"These aren't pyjamas. This is a gi. And you'll get one when you've earned it," He said replying to my earlier question. I nodded.
"Alright ready to begin your training?"
"Yeah, Sensei," I said standing up straightened. He flipped me onto the mat before I could add anything else.
"What the- oh my god!" I groaned in pain.
"Lesson one. Strike first. Never wait for the enemy to attack," Johnny said harshly as I slowly started to pick myself up off the mat.
"You could have gave me, like, a warning," I wheezed.
"Quite!" Johnny yelled, "We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak," Johnny continued as he started circling me. I pulled out my inhaler and shook it quickly before taking a deep breath into it.
"Here, in the street, in competition, a man confronts you, he is the enemy," Johnny continued as I took more deep breaths into my inhaler. "An enemy deserves no mercy. What is the problem Mr. Diaz?"
"There's no problem sensei," I croaked out, "You... you punched me and I have asthma so..." Johnny ripped my inhaler out of my hand and threw it against the wall causing it to break.
"Not anymore. We do not allow weakness in this dojo. So, you can leave your asthma and your peanut allergies and all that other made-up bullshit outside. Understood?" Johnny lectured.
"Yes, but those are real medical problems. I was..." I started but Johnny gave me a look so I closed my mouth, "Yes sensei, understood," I said looking down.
"Cobra Kai isn't just about karate. It's about a way of life. Take that first lesson," Johnny said pointing to the wall where the words "Strike first, Strike Hard, No Mercy" were painted in black letters.
"Striking first is the initial step towards victory. Ok? Like when you're at a party and you see a hot babe. You don't wait for some other guy to talk to her first, do you?"
"... Uh I mean, I've never been to a party before so..."
"Big surprise. All right, look. Striking first is about being aggressive, all right? If you're not aggressive, you're being a pussy, and you don't want to be a pussy you want to have balls." Johnny said with determination.
"Don't you think you're doing a lot of genderizing?" I asked.
"What?" Johnny asked scrunching his face up, obviously confused.
"Oh, sorry. Don't you think you're doing a lot of genderizing sensei?" I said correcting myself quickly. Johnny shook his head.
"No. What the hell are you talking about?" He questioned.
"Oh, uh, my guidance counselor says that certain words perpetuate the sexist world view that can trigger--" I stared explaining but Sensei cut me off.
"Quiet!" He bellowed, "From now on, you won't listen to your guidance counselor. You're gonna listen to me. Is that understood?" He asked.
"Yes sensei," I said nodding quickly.
"Good. Now stop yapping like a little girl and give me 50 push-ups on your knuckles!" Sensei said.
"Uh, ok, yeah, ok," I replied as I lowered myself to the floor. I got on my knuckles and lowered myself down beginning the first push up. I tried to pull myself up but I was having trouble and I started groaning in effort. Sensei rolled his eyes.
"Alright, just do some crunches. Don't you have gym class or something?" He questioned as the bell on the door jingled.
"Howdy there, Mr. uh... Lawrence?" A man said as he walked into the dojo.
"Oh, it's Sensei," I said correcting him.
"Miguel shut up," Sensei said, looking at me before walking over to the man. "What brings you in? Looking to lose that gut and learn how to kick some ass?" He asked, gently slapping the man's stomach as he said the last part.
"No," The man said looking down at his stomach and back at Johnny. He was carrying a black and dark green satchel and he was wearing a blue shirt. Black rectangular glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, and to give Sensei credit he was short and a little plump.
"I'm from the city health department," He said reaching into his bag and pulling out a packet of papers. "This is a list of requirements needed to open an exercise studio," He said handing Sensei the papers.
"This isn't an exercise studio. This is a dojo," Johnny corrected as I continued my crunches.
"Yeah, same deal," The man said as he started walking around the room examining everything. "Wow, this place needs a lot of work," He said looking at a wire that was sticking out of the ceiling.
"You're not open for business, are you? You. Are you a customer here?" He asked turning to me as I sat up from a crunch.
"Oh no, that's just an illegal I picked up this morning. He's helping me set up," Johnny said quickly answering for me.
"I don't need to know about all that. My job is just to make sure this place is up to code. You don't want a scabies outbreak like that hot yoga place over on Tujunga."
"Wait, wait. I have to do all this crap before I even open?" Johnny asked flipping through the pages.
"No, you need to do all that to get the certificate that is required to get the insurance you need to open. But you knew all that when you signed the lease, right?"
Sensei looked down at the papers and then at me. "Right, yeah," He said.
I sighed. "So much for opening the dojo," I thought.
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Author's Note
Hi! I needed to add Cobra Kai into the story and to do that I had to focus on writing about it. I promise Hazel will be in the next chapter and it will pick up when Hazel finds out Miguel is her neighbour. I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Maybe consider giving it a vote?