─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
at the next session, the karate dojo was filled with people who had seen miguel and gioia's fight video and wanted to learn the 'way of the fist'.
miguel and gioia were stood closest to the office door, sparring. for her final attack, gioia swung her leg around, hitting miguel square in the face with foot.
he groaned and stumbled back, knowing it would come but not being fast enough to obstruct it.
aisha laughed, "she's definitely been waiting to do that."
"i have." gioia nodded while patting miguel's injured face.
"what is up with you and kicking people?" the diaz boy asked her while rubbing his face, "can't remember the last time you punched someone."
she frowned, he was right. "i am not sure. kicking is much easier and more fun."
"and you're great at it." aisha told her while pointing at her feet, "they move like lightning."
"i guess you're right." gioia chuckled as aisha and miguel got into fighting stances.
she allowed them to fight and wandered around the room, smiling when she saw eli and demetri standing together.
"greetings."
"hey, gioia." eli smiled.
"hi." demetri grumbled, clearly in a mood, "why did i let you talk me into this? this goes against everything i stand for. it's like extra gym class for no reason."
"let's just give it a chance." eli pleaded, "you saw the fight. gioia and miguel kicked ass."
"thank you." gioia grinned, "but it was all miguel."
"okay. today, we begin..." johnny trailed off as no one was listening to him, "quiet!"
his outcry caught everyone's attention and immediately silenced them.
"face front." he ordered, "seafood." johnny pointed to the empty spot next to aisha.
gioia crimsoned at her embarrassing nickname but jogged over to the girl nevertheless. johnny began maneuvering around the room, taking a good look at everyone.
"nice shirt." he complimented demetri's green pi shirt.
"thanks." the boy grinned.
"i'm joking. it sucks."
gioia cringed at the man's harshness as demetri's smile dropped.
"word of advice." he stopped in front of a beaming teen boy with long brown hair, "if you got shit for teeth, don't smile."
"what?" miguel mouthed to the blonde girl in disbelief, she shrugged.
"God, makes me feel like a virgin just looking at you," he said to a younger boy as he moved past, "when i look around this dojo, i don't see cobra kai material. i see losers, i see nerds. i see a fat kid with a funny hat and his tits popping out."
gioia gawked at the blond man, "sensei-"
johnny turned to her, aisha and miguel, "but in my short time as a sensei, i've also seen some miracles."
the three gave him a curt nod with a small smile.
"so, maybe there's some hope for you yet." he finished, "but first, i need to see where you're at. so everyone, fall in!"
they all began whispering, confused at his orders.
"that means line up." he clarified.
"oh."
"oh, okay."
the group began strolling over and lining up behind the trio.
"no, not-not line up in a line." johnny spoke, "l-lines! get in lines."
"you mean like... rows?" demetri asked him.
johnny face planted, "ugh."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"fighting positions! jab punch!" johnny yelled, "nope, wait till i say go."
hiya!
hiya!
hiya!
johnny adjusted a younger boy's stance, "come on, you want to stand straight. plant your feet in there."
hiya!
"are you sure you're right-handed?"
hiya!
hiya!
"come on, tits, you can do better than that." johnny spoke to one of the recruits, "you got weight; use it. ready? hiya!"
hiya!
hiya!
"hey, lip." johnny announced, catching miguel and gioia's attention.
eli looked up at the middle-aged man, timidly.
"yeah, you." johnny confirmed, "the one with the freaky lip. who do you think i'm talking to?"
"excuse me, mr lawrence." demetri stepped up.
"sensei lawrence." aisha promptly corrected him.
he chuckled, "okay. you really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance."
"oh, is that so?" johnny challenged, "so, i'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?"
"well, yeah." demetri nodded.
"i guess." gioia agreed with him.
"yeah, maybe that's what they teach you in school, but in the real world you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do." johnny told the two, "right? you hear that, lip? if you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?"
"by calling the police?" demetri suggested.
"dude." miguel hissed, "knock it off."
"what?" demetri asked, "he does realize the nazis lost the war, right?"
"huh?"
"why should i be scared of him?" demetri quizzed, "because he's got a snake on his wall? it's not like he's a teacher who can give us a bad grade. we're paying him. he works for us-"
"oh my goodness." gioia squeezed her eyes shut.
"it's not like he can actually hurt us." demetri finalised.
johnny began strolling over to demetri, students moving out of their way.
"oh, shit." miguel cussed under his breath.
"you done?"
"what?"
"hit me." johnny instructed, "go ahead, hit me. strike me right here."
demetri hesitated before curling his fist and going for a punch. quickly, johnny smacked his arm to the side.
"harder." johnny demanded. demetri repeated his actions, but johnny had done it again, "is that all you got, princess?"
feeling pissed off by the ridiculing, demetri used all his strength to throw a punch at the man. johnny caught his arms and flipped him over onto his back.
"hiya!"
demetri groaned in distress while everyone else gasped.
"let that be a lesson to all of you." johnny pointed to them all.
gioia sighed before sauntering over and helping the injured boy up. she escorted him to the backroom to get an ice pack, not before giving johnny a nasty expression.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
the next day, demetri, miguel and gioia were walking down the hallway. the blonde girl had her hoodie up, covering her face while the two boys walked on both sides of her.
"yeah, but you can't quit," miguel said.
demetri had been telling them how he was quitting karate after he had been embarrassed by the sensei.
"i got yelled at, got my ass kicked, and then gave him my money." demetri reminded him, "you know who lives like that? hookers."
"please, enough with the complaining." gioia hummed, "if it makes you feel better, sensei had me falling on my bottom on various occasions."
the dark-haired boy chortled, "that doesn't make me rethink my decision. but i did make me laugh, thanks."
"yeah, but he's not that bad of a guy." miguel pointed out, "you gotta give him a chance."
"or two." gioia chimed.
"you-you don't know him like we do." miguel nudged the blonde girl, lightly.
he scoffed, "ah, that's hooker talk. besides, i don't need to learn karate when i have you two."
the three stopped to see kyler coming down the stairs. when he saw them, he began backing up and walked away in shame.
"see?" demetri voiced, "no one's gonna mess with either of you."
gioia frowned, "i don't think i like being feared."
"don't worry, no one is scared of you gb." demetri reassured her, "they're scared of 'seafood'." he mocked her nickname.
gioia pushed him to the side, "that is not funny."
"that is not funny." he taunted her with a high-pitched, strongly accented voice.
"be careful, demetri." miguel laughed at the two, "she will kick you."
"i am not kicking anyone." she rolled her eyes? "but i could..." she trailed off.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
after school, gioia found herself invading the moskowitz's house once again. she was currently laying on top of eli's covers, hugging sir knight. eli himself was sitting on the other side of the bed and the two were watching: 'harry potter and the philosopher's stone'.
as the credits rolled, gioia grinned, "that was wonderful."
"well, there are seven more movies for you to watch," eli told her.
"for us to watch." she corrected him, "i have so many questions."
the boy smiled, "i'm sure they'll be answered when you see the others."
"cannot wait." gioia grinned as she glanced over to the potato and wires on his desk, "tomorrow?"
"that's what we said yesterday." eli raised his eyebrow.
"i mean it this time."
"you also said that yesterday."
she shook her head, "i am very serious this time." the blonde put out her pale hand, "let us pinkie promise it."
eli gave her a look of confusion but he glanced up and saw her face of excitement. the brunette nodded and connected his pinkie with hers.
"how are you finding karate?" gioia questioned her friend as she leaned back onto his bed.
eli scratched the back of his head and sighed, "i don't know... i'm not very good at it."
"oh, that is fine. practice is perfect. when i started-"
"practice makes perfect," he mumbled.
"what was that?"
"the phrase is 'practice makes perfect'." he explained while finally facing her.
she nodded, "right. sorry, my english is getting slowly better."
eli nodded in agreement, "it is."
"thank you." gioia grinned, "so, when i started karate, i missed nearly every punch at johnny. i am pretty sure i had butt bruises for the number of times he would flip me."
eli laughed, "sorry."
"it is fine." gioia shrugged, "if there is no pain, there is no gain."
eli gave her a look, "why so many quotes? not like it's a bad thing but..." he trailed off.
"i saw this quote in the dojo and it said: 'love is here to namaste'."
"that's smart."
"that is what i said." gioia beamed, "so, i surfed the internet and i found a bunch of quotes and puns."
"did you find any good ones?" eli questioned.
"okay, you are going to love this one... why can't harry potter tell the difference between his potions pot and his best friend?"
"i'm not sure. why?"
"they're both cauldron." gioia grinned before exploding out roaring.
eli's mouth slightly twitched at the joke. when he saw how much gioia was laughing at her own quip, he couldn't help but join in.
⎯ ❃ neens speaks!
gioia is the biggest softie and i love her sm??
and that ron joke made me laugh a lot xo