"You gotta understand that Mogadishu in the '90s was a hellhole." Kreese explained to me and a few other students in the dojo. "Warlords controlled whole swaths of the city. My team and I were charged with cleaning the place up." He continued.
Eli was looking at him in awe, while I just had my arms crossed over my chest, with a plain face and slightly furrowed eyebrows. "How many warlords did you kill?" Eli asked, fascinated. "Do you keep track of every ant you stomp out?" Kreese cockily smirked.
I rolled my eyes and Miguel scoffed, while Aisha and Eli let out small gasps. "Badass." Eli eventually added. "Tell us another one!" Aisha said with excitement in her voice. Kreese chuckled and started to tell another story.
"There's this one time I was on duty. The enemy found our location and surprise attacked us." He started. "But they were outgunned. And we were out manned. I tell you... Rwanda was no joke." Kreese sighed.
"Don't you mean don't you mean Somalia?" Miguel intervened. "Mogadishu is in Somalia, Rwanda's a whole different country." Miguel corrected. Kreese turned to look at Miguel for a moment, before turning back to face the other kids.
"Of course, Somalia." Kreese chuckled. "I've spent so much time in the sandbox, it all kind of bleeds together, you know?" He added. Eli and Aisha nodded their heads, while I let out a small, "mhm.." while squinting my eyes slightly, with my arms still crossed. Kreese quickly looked me up and down, before Sensei came yelling.
"Listen up!" Sensei yelled, walking to the front of the class. "I see we've got some new recruits. Everybody fall in!" Said Sensei. "In neat rows and lines." Sensei added as we all made our way to our spots. "Time to see what you're made of."
And with that, Sensei started to walk in between all the students. It was almost like the first time we got new students, after the fight in the cafeteria. That's when Eli showed up for the first time.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by Sensei snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Daydreaming, Miss y/l/n? Do you need to do push-ups?" He yelled. "No sensei!" I yelled back. Then Sensei continued to walk.
He weaved between the students, letting out smart remarks here and there to some of the students. One of the new students was a full grown adult, which immediately caught sensei's eye. He went up and talked to him for a moment, before grabbing the money out of the guy's hand and walking back up to the front.
"I thought my last group of recruits was pathetic. But if you do what I tell you to do, you'll at least have a chance of becoming a fighter." Sensei yelled. "But to do that, you gotta fight." He stated. "So, which one of you has the balls to take on the champ?" Sensei asked.
The kids didn't make a sound. Instead, they looked at each other with uneasy looks. The guy in blue was about to volunteer, before he was interrupted by someone from the back of the class. "I'll take him on." They said.
Everyone turned around to see a new girl who had just volunteered. Her hair was wavy, with the roots a dark brown, that faded into blonde. She was wearing a white tank top under a tan, cropped, long sleeved shirt.
"Oh you will, huh?" Sensei smirked. She nodded. "I saw your little demo at Valley Fest. You guys can put on a show. But can you actually fight?" She asked. "That sounds like a challenge." Sensei said.
"I like a challenge."
"Mr Diaz! Show Little Miss Hotshot here what Cobra Kai is all about." Sensei called, making everyone move off the mats.
"Look, are you sure that you wanna do—" Miguel started softly, but the girl quickly lunged forward and sent a front kick to his chest, sending him back a couple steps. My eyebrows raised and my mouth opened slightly at the scene.
"Alright." Miguel chuckled. "Game on." Miguel added, becoming serious. Then, the two went at it. Punches and kicks were being thrown non stop. Miguel did a trick that landed the girl on her back . But, she rolled and quickly stood back up, continuing the fight.
Then Miguel kicked her again after a moment, making her fall a bit. "Don't let me see it coming." Miguel said to the girl, out of breath. Then she hopped up and tackled Miguel to the ground. "Did you see that coming?" She asked, looking down on him.
Then Miguel wrapped his legs around hers and made her fall to the ground again. "Maybe." He said as he stood up. "My name is Miguel." He said, holding out his hand for her. "Tory." She replied, taking his hand, kneeling, and flipping him over her back and pinning him on the ground, still with a grip on his arm.
"With a Y..."
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It was the end of the class, and Eli and I were taking a drink of water. "So, do you think Miguel will finally get over Sam?" I asked, tilting my head over to Miguel and Tory who were talking and smiling on the other side of the dojo. "Let's hope so." He smiled and nudged me.
Then Tory waved to Miguel and left the dojo. "Hey, I'll be right back. I'll meet you outside?" I said, taking a few steps. "Sure, see you in a minute." He smiled as he grabbed our bags and walked outside.
I walked up to Miguel. "Hey, Miguel. Can I talk to you real quick?" I asked. "Of course, y/n. What's up?" He responded with a smile. "It's about Kreese. He just.. gives me to creeps." I said. Then Miguel's facial expressions went serious. "Yeah, I've noticed that he's a little off too." He agreed.
"I was thinking.. should I talk to Sensei about it? Or should I leave it alone and stop worrying..?" I asked. "You should definitely talk to Sensei. If he roughs you up for it, just let me know and I'll help."
"Alright. I'll see you in a minute. Eli's waiting outside." I chuckled. He nodded and left the dojo. I walked to the back room, where Sensei was. He was painting letters on the wall in the room, which had recently been cleaned out by the landlord.
"It uh, looks good." I said, grabbing Sensei's attention. He turned around to face me, after taking a sip of his drink. "I used a level this time." He responded. "What's up?" He asked, walking over to me. "I don't know quite how to explain it, but there's something off about Mr. Kreese." I said.
Sensei didn't respond. Instead, he just looked to the ground. "Sensei, I know you guys are old friends, but some of his stories don't add up." I continued. Johnny looked back up at me. "Look, John Kreese and I go way back. All right? He and I... it's complicated." He explained. I gave a small, understanding nod.
"The guy's got his issues, but everyone deserves a second chance." He stated. "Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense." I said softly, and looking down to my feet. "Listen, y/n, theres nothing to worry about. I'm on top of it."
I looked back up at him and sighed. "Ok. Thanks, Sensei." I said. "No problem, kid. Thanks for coming to talk to me about it." He added. I gave him a small bow, before turning around and walking back out.
I opened the dojo door, to see Eli putting his phone in his pocket, while he was taking to Miguel. "That pussy couldn't handle training with Mr. Kreese." I heard Eli say from afar. I walked up to their conversation. "Who are you talking about?" I asked.
Eli looked a little panicked for a moment, before his face turned cool again. "Oh, uh, no one. It's nothing. Ready to go?" He asked, handing me my backpack. "Yeah." I said dully. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miguel." I said, giving him a small smile. "See you." He said, before turning to walk home.
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It was the next day, and I was at school. I was rummaging through my locker to find something. I found what I was looking for and stuffed it in my bag. Then I closed my locker and turned around.
I looked through the crowd of kids passing by, when I saw someone tall, with dark, wavy hair, and a blue flannel on. That could only be one person... Demitri.
I maneuvered through the crowd of people to catch up with him. "Hey! Demitri! Wait up!" I said, still pushing through people. I finally caught up to him, and he turned to look at me. I let out a small gasp and put my hand up to my mouth, although not fully covering it.
"Oh my god, what happened?" I asked, referring to the stitches and bandages that were covering his face. His jaw dropped slightly and he looked at me with an irritated face. "You mean you really don't know...?" He asked. "No, I-I don't..." I said, confused.
"Typical." He scoffed. Demitri turned and continued to walk to his next class. My eyebrows furrowed as I stood there for a moment, watching him walk away. Then not a moment later, I felt an arm wrap around my waist.
"Hey, you alright Princess?"
It was Eli. I took a moment to find the right words, before I spoke up. "Yeah, I'm fine, but.. Do you know what happened to Demitri?" I asked, looking up at Eli. He looked in Demitri's direction for a moment, before looking back down at me. "Uh, no. Knowing him, he probably got a little too into those lame ass video games he plays." He chuckled.
I let out a small, fake laugh, still concerned for Demitri. "Yeah. You're probably right." I said, still unsure. "Ready to go to math?" He asked, changing the subject. "God no. I hate math! It's too hard for me!" I said. "Oh come on. You're amazing, y/n. You're super smart. And I bet you'll do fine in there." He said, as we neared our next class. "Thanks Eli." I smiled.
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☞︎ HAWK'S POV ☜︎
"The back thrust kick works like this." Sensei said.
We were back in the dojo. Everyone was lined up and in position, watching Sensei introduce a new kick.
"You step, pivot... throw a side kick." Sensei demonstrated. "What about if your opponent attacks you from behind?" I asked, straightening my posture. "Excellent question, Hawk." Sensei said, to which I replied with a small nod.
It was quiet for a moment, before Sensei directed his gaze to Mr. Kreese; who we now call, Sensei Kreese.
I'm glad to have Sensei Kreese around. He's super badass, and seems to know what he's doing. Y/n though, thinks the opposite. She doesn't like him very much, I can tell. But I think she's being a little too paranoid.
"Certainly, Sensei Lawrence." Kreese responded. "You sure about this, Sensei?" I heard Miguel ask quietly from beside me. "There's nothing to worry about." Sensei Lawrence whispered back.
"The key to this move is making your enemy think you are retreating. But just as they let their guard down... That's when you strike the hardest." Kreese explained. "Aits!" He yelled, showing us the kick. A small smirk found its way onto my face.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Make sure to practice the kick at home, or else you're never gonna get it right." Sensei Lawrence stated, releasing everyone. We all bowed and went towards our things.
Miguel, y/n and I all put our things together, so we met up on the side. Y/n still had an uneasy face on. Miguel noticed, and spoke up. "You ok, y/n?" Miguel asked. Y/n thought for a moment.
"I am, but Demitri isn't. Do you happen to know what happened to him?" She asked, standing in between Miguel and I, her back facing towards me. Miguel opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but looked over her and up at me.
I clenched my jaw and slowly shook my head. 'Don't.' I mouthed, so y/n wouldn't know. Miguel closed his mouth and looked back down at y/n. "I'm not sure. I bet he's alright though." He reassured. She nodded.
"I'll meet you guys outside. I'm gonna go talk to the new girl." She said, before grabbing her backpack and walking outside, to where Tory was. Miguel and I looked back at each other.
"She can't know." I said. Miguel just sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "You can't keep lying to her. She's gonna find out, and she's not gonna be happy about it." He said, making me think for a moment. "What she doesn't know, won't hurt her. I'm protecting her. I'm doing this for her." I said.
"She's strong, you know. She doesn't need protecting." Miguel said, before turning and walking out of the dojo.
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A/N: YOU GUYS IM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, I-