“So you got pushed around. So what? Get over it. You were in a karate dojo that’s the whole point” I saw Hawk talking on the phone outside as I left the dojo
“Oh, how’s he doing?” I asked, walking over, seeing Demetri with his busted nose on the screen
“It was aggravated assault Eli. I looked it up. That’s a year in prison and ten thousand dollar fine” Demetri explained
“Stop being such a bitch Demetri” Hawk grumbled “You know what happen to snitches”
“They get immunity”
“Snitches get stitches” Hawk reiterated
“I have stitches!” Demetri exclaimed “I’ve got several stitches!”
“Don’t do anything stupid. You’ll regret it” Hawk promised as he hung up the phone
“What happened?” a voice came behind me, making me jump “Whoa, it’s just me” Miguel came into my view
“I knew that” I smiled it off.
“That pussy Demetri couldn’t handle training with Mr. Kreese” Hawk scoffed “He’s not Cobra Kai material”
“No… but he’s still your best friend man” I sighed “And yeah, I admit he’s a smart ass who runs his mouth, but he’s our friend”
“He’s a nerd” Hawk rolled his eyes walking away
“So were we once” I called after him.
Hawk kept going off, not looking back at me, but I saw him falter.
“Hey what’s been going on with you?” Miguel asked me
“Me? Nothing” I scoffed
“You’ve been… acting weird. Seems like everything bothers you, and you’re like, the most unbothered person I know- when you’re not red of course. And that stunt you pulled today-”
“I’m fine El” I cut him off “It was a spur of the moment thing” I shrugged “And I’m fine now”
“It was careless is what it was” Miguel sighed, coming closer to me “Just… be careful” he gave me a soft smile before going back inside.
As soon as I realized I was alone I jumped in my car, locking the doors and driving off. The idea of being home alone in the apartment suddenly got me really put off, so I just went on a really really long drive.
~~
I ended up at the beach. I thought about it, it was the last place anyone I know would go at a time like this. It was usually empty anway. Maybe I could think without being… paranoid. I brought a soccer ball with me in case I needed to get my mind off anything. As it turned out I know myself better than I thought, and I ended up juggling it around, as you do. A gust of wind blew sand in my eyes, and I accidentally kicked the ball away.
“Hey kid you- Harley?”
I rubbed the sand out of my eyes, looking up through the sun to see.
“Mr. Larusso?”
“Yeah- what are you doing here?” Mr. Larusso asked
“Just uh… Needed to clear my head I guess” I shrugged
“Ah” He nodded, walking past me without any other word
I spun around, watching him walk. Something about it didn’t feel right.
“Hey” I said softly, while still catching his attention. He stopped and I walked over to him “Speaking of… clearing my head… I’m sorry about the Valley fair” I sighed “It was a petty, spur of the moment thing. I shouldn’t have let the guys go along with over a stupid commercial”
“Oh- yeah that… it’s alright- wait, what about the commercial?” Mr. Larusso questioned
“I- You made a jab at Cobra Kai… Snake in the grass” I reminded
“Oh, that’s right” Mr. Larusso nodded “It’s uh… it’s the apology that counts huh, right kid?”
“Yeah” I nodded, cracking my neck “Mr. Larusso… Why can’t you just let there be two dojo’s in the Valley?”
“Ah kid it’s not… It’s not that- Cobra Kai, it doesn’t stand for anything good. It didn’t then, and-”
“Yeah it didn’t then. But it’s changed” I stopped him
“... trust me Harley, no it hasn’t” Mr. Larusso shook his head
“Well yeah cause you’ve only seen the crappy shit… It’s kinda ironic actually” I sighed “You… you didn’t see my dad giving Hawk and Miguel a hard time after they took cheap shots… You don’t see us backing each other up when someone gets knocked down… You don’t see Kreese pulling the same manipulative tricks on my dad, that he used to”
“Hey now listen kid. I know you think you know about Kreese but-”
“My dad was his star pupil. Yeah, I know” I nodded “He raised him from nothing. Ya know what he did? He took a vulnerable kid, and picked at his worst fears, to mold the perfect little minion. And that’s what you don’t see” I ranted “...... I’m sorry Sir- I didn’t mean to rant”
Mr. Larusso shook his head. It had been a while since I’d talked to him like this. I was glad we were still able to talk respectfully to each other. If only he and my dad could learn that
“It’s alright Harley” he assured “You uh, you wanna go see your brother? I’m meeting him at the lifeguard house”
I smiled softly, shaking my head fondly.
“That would be really nice”
~~
Mr. Larusso and I made our way over to the lifeguard house. I expected to just run into Robby, but instead we found him in a choke hold of some big guy. It’s never a dull moment is it. They were the two idiots at Robby’s apartment.
“Maybe. We need to leave him with something to remember us by” the long haired one held up a switch blade.
Mr. Larusso jumped over the side of the railing, nabbing the switchblade like it was butter in his hands. Both guys looked at him confused. There were three, big and tall had Robby.
“Let him go” Mr. Larusso tried
“Don’t listen to him” the darker boy ordered
“No” I jumped down, a lot less gracefully than Mr. Larusso. More… heh, rough “No definitely listen to him”
“Alright grandpa” the darker boy scoffed “Let’s see what you and tinkerbelle got”
He swung at Mr. Larusso, but… well he is a world famous karate champion, you spell it out. I got to work fighting the long haired one. It was pretty easy, one slam up against a post and flip into the sand. The big guy was slightly more of a challenge. He threw Robby to the ground, Mr. Larusso and I stood beside each other ready to fight.
“Mr. Larusso do me a favor?”
“What kid?”
The guy swung at us. Mr. Larusso grabbed his hand, and I kicked him in the gut, Mr. Larusso getting in a nice hard punch. While he was hunched over, I jumped up onto his head like leapfrog, using my momentum to swing my legs around and clock him, but I ended up on my back hard. That’s gonna hurt in the morning. With one last kick Mr. Larusso sent him to the ground, none of them could get up.
“Don’t tell my dad” I groaned
“Harley what were you thinking?” Robby ran over to me, kneeling beside me
“Your dad teach you that?” Mr. Larusso asked, helping me up.
My back killed a lot more than I thought it would
“No, I made that up myself. Guess I overlooked the technicalities” I groaned, trying to stand by myself
“It was a careless move” Mr. Larusso tsked “You could’ve ended up paralized”
“But not dead” I smirked tiredly
“Stupid freak” Robby shook his head, gently pulling me into a hug.
“Idiot” I mumbled into his chest.
“..... Missed you” Robby mumbled, not letting me go
“I missed you too” I nodded “I’m sorry-”
“No” Robby stopped me “No sorry’s just…..”
I stayed quiet, holding onto my brother. He held onto me. Eventually Mr. Larusso left us together. We stayed there for… god knows how long. It was late when we finally decided to let go of each other. I didn’t want to, but I knew I had to. Plus my back was really killing from that fall. My whole body felt like it was starting to deteriorate. Part of me knew I was being an idiot with myself. The other half of me didn’t care.
~~
I thought it was a nightmare. I thought I was losing my shit. Maybe if I pinched myself hard enough I’d wake up. I didn’t. I just made my arms bleed.
“Sensei Kreese. You wanna take this one?”
“Certainly sensei Lawrence”
-'|'-'|'-'|'-