You walked into school the next day, hoping things would be normal between you and the Cobras. They had tried so hard to stop Johnny, to hold him back from chasing you down. Try as they might, they failed in the pursuit.
But you had assumed it was okay, right? The odds worked out in your favor at the end of it all. Johnny had redeemed himself somewhat.
But even after all of that, you still couldn't stop thinking about your uncle.
Why after all these years did he suddenly want to meet you? Why had he been keeping tabs on your family, knowing you and your mother would eventually move to Reseda? None of it sat right with you.
You walked into first period, your thoughts swirling. Ali and the boys were already in there, perking up at the sight of you.
"Hey!" Tommy smiled, "you're here!"
You returned the smile as you sat down, "of course I'm here, why wouldn't I be?"
Bobby, Jimmy, and Tommy all exchanged glances. Clearing his throat, Bobby looked at you.
"Johnny's not here today."
"Okay," you shrugged, "what does that have to do with me?"
"Well..." Jimmy chimed in, "he told us he was skipping school with you today."
"He what?"
The boys looked at each other, their eyes reading something along the lines of fear. Bobby's expression shifted to a mixture of shock and sorrow. "Don't tell me he-"
Jimmy nodded slowly.
Bobby gasped, "He didn't."
"He did." Tommy shook his head.
Your intrigue rose as Ali sat up in her seat, worry painted on her features. "Guys, what's going on?"
When the boys didn't respond, Ali's face fell in understanding. You didn't appreciate being left out of the loop, but you assumed it was a sensitive topic that shouldn't be spoken aloud.
•••
You had hoped that maybe in P.E., Dutch would slip. You hovered around the cobras, hoping to find out any information on Johnny's whereabouts.
When you found yourself gravitating toward the group for the fifth time in the span of two minutes, you froze. Why did you care where Johnny was? Surely it was only because your name was involved. Why would he say he was skipping school with you?
Why would he lie about such a thing?
Arriving at History, you had hoped Daniel would be there to discuss your project. When you saw his seat was empty, your heart dropped to your toes.
Daniel too?
After the period ended, you saw him rushing down the hallway passed you, his head held low. Calling out to him, he barely turned around.
"What's up?"
Your eyebrows snapped together in confusion. What was he hiding?
"Why weren't you in history class?"
"I uh- I got to school pretty late."
He began walking again, leaving you to jog after him. "Daniel wait!" You yelled, "we still have our history project to finish!"
"Come over to my apartment after school! We can talk about it then!" He yelled over the crowd.
•••
When school drew to a close, you laced up your skates and put on your Walkman, playing Go Your Own Way, by Fleetwood Mac.
You skated slowly to Daniel's apartment, letting your thoughts take over themselves. You tried to drown them out with the music, but there was something so unsettling about the way the Cobras and Ali reacted to Johnny's absence.
Before you even knew it, you had arrived at Daniel's, putting on your shoes before bouncing up the stairs. It only took two knocks for Lucille to open the door with a bright smile.
"Hello there! Come on in, Daniel is in his room."
"Thank your Mrs. La- Lucille."
Lucille shook a finger in your face and joked. "You almost called me Mrs. LaRusso!"
"It won't happen again." You laughed.
"It better not!" She shouted with laughter as you headed down the hall.
You knocked on Daniel's door, hearing a soft reply on the other side to come in. Opening the door slowly, you saw Daniel sitting on his bed with a magazine hiding his face.
"Hey, Daniel."
"Hey."
His grip on the magazine tightened, causing you to scrunch up your face in concern.
"Daniel?"
"Yeah?"
"Whatcha reading?"
"Oh it's nothing, really just-"
Before he could finish, you pulled the magazine from his hands. You saw panic flash in his features as you crossed your arms across your chest. Sitting before you was a boy that was clearly hiding something. Your evidence continued to pile up when your eyes landed on the sunglasses shielding his fearful stare.
"What's with the glasses, LaRusso?"
"I have a migraine."
"You have a lying problem."
You didn't appreciate all of these secrets. First, it was everyone knowing something about Johnny that you didn't, and then it was this? You simply had enough.
Reaching across the bed, you went straight for Daniel's glasses. Your conspiracy was confirmed when he pulled back, refusing to let you take them off.
"Daniel," you hissed, "take them off."
"Or what?"
"Or I will."
He sighed and gave into defeat. Tongue in cheek, he slowly pulled the glasses off of his face, revealing a large black eye.
Your soul practically left your body. "Daniel!"
"Alright, alright don't get nasty now." He said bitterly.
"What happened?" You scolded.
He waved his hands around, his eyebrows snapping together. "I fell off my bike, it's no big deal."
"Daniel, you already lied to me once, I wouldn't suggest trying that again."
His Jersey accent came through thick. "Alright fine! You wanna know what happened? Johnny happened."
Your blood stopped cold in your veins. "What?"
"After he started racing after you last night, I tried to stop him. I chased him down and stalled him for a bit, but he clocked me right in the eye."
Your mind raked over every detail from the night before. In the midst of your confusion, you didn't even question Doc and Marty. Just like when you first met them, Doc's speeches about Daniel and Johnny having some sort of rivalry remained unknown. You even recalled him touching basis on it amid all the chaos.
"It's happening, Marty! Time is working itself out. Soon enough, the rivalry between LaRusso and Lawrence will be afoot and the timeline will be restored! It will be as if nothing happened to derail it in the first place! Isn't this just magnificent?"
You must have been staring off into space because Daniel called your name, causing you to snap out of it. He waved his hands frantically back and fourth. "Hello! Anybody home?"
"He hit you?" You asked again for extra reassurance.
The sarcasm in Daniel's voice was not pleasant. "No, he hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek."
You didn't even have the energy to reply to Daniel's witty comment. Your mind continued to spin, thinking of every scenario on how it could have unfolded. How could Johnny act so sweet and innocent on the Ferris wheel after he roughed Daniel up like that?
You folded your arms again. "Well did you fight back?"
Daniel blinked, not expecting the response you gave. "Yeah, I fought back."
"Show me how."
"What?"
"I said show me how. Show me how you fought back."
He stood up and got into a lousy fighting stance. He counted under his breath as he tucked his thumb directly under his knuckles and punched forward. You immediately closed your eyes and sighed. "No, no, you're doing it wrong."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Your thumb goes under the fist, I told you this before."
"Under? Like... this?" He demonstrated.
"There ya go!"
He smiled, clearly proud of his accomplishment. He started rapidly punching the air with this new knowledge.
"Alright," you laughed, "don't get too big of a head now, we have a history project to work on."
Daniel scoffed, his shoulders slumping over. "Do we have to? Can't you just teach me more of your karate moves?"
"No. I'm not going to willingly teach you just so you can turn around and try to fight Johnny."
He folded his arms over his chest. "What, you defending him now or something?"
"I'm not defending him, I'm protecting you. Don't start fights you can't finish."
"Well that's why I need you to teach me. So I can finish them."
You rolled your eyes and unzipped your backpack, ignoring his plea. Pulling out your history assignment, you heard Daniel's arms drop to his sides with a loud smack.
"Oh come on," he said gesturing to the project, "you can't be serious."
"Dead serious, LaRusso. Let's get to work."
•••
Hours passed before you finally left Daniel's. He decided to walk you out front since the sun had already set. He had offered to give you a ride, but considering that it was practically a three person job to start and push his car onto the street, you politely declined. The last thing you wanted was to be a hassle to the LaRusso's.
The two of you walked down the stairs and toward the gate. As he trailed behind you, he continued to beg and plead.
"Come on, please! Just show me a few moves that's all! What if I'm put into a situation one day where I have to defend myself, and I have to just sit there like a punching bag because you wouldn't teach me."
You chuckled and rolled your eyes playfully as you laced up your skates. "Bye Daniel."
"Look, you don't even have any more excuses left. Just teach me, will ya?"
You sighed, considering it for a moment.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because even if I wanted to, I'm a little rusty. I haven't really practiced since my father passed seven years ago. It's just a casual skill."
He threw his head back and groaned. "Then you can shake the rust off and we can learn together!"
You pulled out your Walkman and put it on before he could complain anymore. You gestured to the headset playfully, mouthing 'I can't hear you.'
Grinning, you pivoted on your wheel to head out. Not before catching the eye of the maintenance man, however, who was fixing a pipe on a nearby wall.
You decided to be polite, pulling the Walkman headset around your neck. "Good evening, sir!"
"Evening," he called back with a smile, "where headed?"
"Oh, I have to go to work." You answered hesitantly.
"Where work?"
The question struck you by surprise. You looked behind you to see Daniel's reaction, but he was already gone. Turning back to the man, you smiled wearily.
"The record shop by the beach."
"Oh," he nodded his head in understanding, "Georgie's."
You smiled. "Yeah, he was my grandpa... did you know him?"
"Hai. Very nice man."
You paused, half expecting more questions. When they didn't come, you waved goodbye and reached for the Walkman around your neck, preparing to place it back on your head.
"Need new coat of paint."
You stopped, pivoted, and scrunched your eyebrows in confusion toward the maintenance man. "What?"
"Record shop. Need new coat of paint. I help."
Not knowing what else to say, you grinned hesitantly. "Yeah... I guess it could use a few touch ups. Who knows how long its been since my grandpa did it last."
"Nineteen years."
You perked up. "You know how long it's been?"
"Hai." He smiled, "I helped paint the shop with your grandfather. Now I must help you paint."
"Wow," you said in bewilderment, "thank you Mr.-"
"Miyagi." He bowed.
You smiled brightly. "Miyagi."
You reached for your Walkman once again, sure that he was finished. When you saw him pick up his tool box, he looked to you again.
"We start tomorrow."
"Wait, what?" You did a double take.
But before you could question his motives any further, he picked up his tool box and began to whistle as he made his way back toward his office.
•••
When you arrived at the Record Shop, you took a decent look at it. Mr. Miyagi was right, it did need a new paint job. The colorful lettering up above was faded and needed a fresh coat to lure in new customers.
But of those new customers, the last person you expected to see when walking in the door was Johnny Lawrence.