Johnny wiped his forehead, feeling the perspiration soak through the black piece of fabric that was tied around his head, dampening it. His chest heaved up and down in a vigorous motion as he caught his breath after slamming his opponent to the mat with a swift kick to the gut, watching the boy hit the mat as he clutched his stomach in pain and groaned. He felt Kreese's eyes on him, turning to see a devil-like smirk upon his face.
"That's how it should be done! You show your opponent no mercy. One moment of weakness and you're no longer a Cobra, but instead, a rat that's about to be swallowed whole." Kreese stated, analyzing everyone in the room as if he was trying to see which person would break first. Kreese felt the nervous energy in the room and it fueled him to weed out the boys that would fall short of his commands, knowing that to be a Cobra Kai you must not show any weakness or back down from any fight because life was a battle, or at least that's what Kreese poisoned their minds with.
The approval from Kreese sent a warm flood of relief through Johnny's chest. The last thing he ever wanted to do was falter and fall short, letting his sensei down. Kreese partnered up the boys, ordering them to do the motions he taught them earlier in the week. Johnny zoned in on his opponent, striking him in the face. His opponent fell backward and wiped the blood that dribbled from his nose. While his opponent was on the floor, Johnny glanced up and locked eyes with Daniel. The room began to spin as his knees weakened. Why on earth did the dark-haired boy have to show up at his home turf? Any concentration Johnny had left was gone as he gawked at the boy standing a few feet away from him. Before Johnny had time to think, a fist connected with his jaw, sending him spiraling backward on the mat. He groaned as embarrassment washed over him, cursing Daniel for being a nuisance and distracting him. Johnny felt Kreese's cold fingers on the back of his neck as he pulled him up off the floor with an aggravated expression planted firmly on Kreese's face.
"What the hell was that, Lawrence? I just lectured you all on not showing signs of weakness and you go and pull shit like that? You never take your attention off your opponent!" Kreese hissed as his eyes flashed in anger.
The blood from Johnny's face drained as he weakly said, "Sorry, Sensei. I uh, I well." His voice trailed off as his eyes landed back on Daniel's, losing his train of thought once again. God damn it, he was such a distraction. Kreese scoffed in disgust at Johnny's lack of attentiveness, but soon noticed the cause of distraction.
Kreese turned his attention on the older man who was accompanied by a timid boy and snarled, "What the hell are you interrupting my class for? Clearly, you can see we're in session, or do you need bifocals, old man?"
Mr. Myagi cleared his throat, crossing his arms, glancing at Daniel before returning his attention to Kreese and said, "Come tell your students to leave boy alone."
Kreese looked at the scrawny boy that was standing behind Mr. Myagi and let out a crude laugh while saying, "The boy couldn't do it himself? Does your grandpa do all the talking for you, hmm?" Kreese looked at Daniel with a cold expression, causing him to shudder in fear.
Mr. Myagi took a step forward and spoke up saying, "We make deal with you."
"What kind of deal?" Kreese gruffly said.
Mr. Myagi saw the All Valley tournament poster hanging on the wall and quickly said, "If boys leave my boy alone for two months so that I can train him for the All Valley tournament then they fight it out at the tournament, deal?"
"You're a pushy bastard, but I like that, I like that!" Kreese turned his attention to his students and said, "Do you hear that? You leave the boy alone for two months and if I hear that you so much as touched a hair on his head I'll make sure you regret it."
The students murmured begrudgingly in agreement. Kreese shook Mr. Myagi's hand and stated, "If you don't show up at the All Valley tournament then it's open season on your boy, do you understand?"
Mr. Myagi nodded while Daniel tried to wrap his head around what just had happened. Did he really just throw him in the ringer like that? Any hope he had left slowly trickled away. How the hell was he going to learn enough karate to beat all of the assholes in Cobra Kai at that stupid tournament. Anger and stress blossomed throughout Daniel's body as he pictured himself getting beaten to a pulp in front of hundreds of people and possibly even losing a few teeth. He glanced at Johnny, chewing on his lip, feeling the warmth shoot through his body as Johnny's vibrant blue eyes landed back on him. He could barely formulate words around the blond-haired boy and now he was supposed to fight him in a tournament.
***
"What the hell was that?" Daniel sullenly said, looking at Mr. Myagi in disgust. "You were supposed to help me."
"I did. I made sure they don't beat on you for two months, didn't I?" Mr. Myagi said, staring at the younger boy who still had a sullen expression on his face.
"Oh, gee, thanks. It was real nice of you to do that for me." Daniel sarcastically said, shaking his head. "Do you realize what you just did? If I don't win that tournament, which I won't, then my life will be even more of a living hell. Have you ever had someone compete in the All Valley tournament?"
"No, never. Shouldn't be too hard." Mr. Myagi said with ease.
"Oh, that's just great." Daniel huffed while rolling his eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be on my side and help me solve my problems, not create more. Who's side are you even on?"
"On yours." Mr. Myagi simply said before speaking again and saying, "You listen to me and I'll train you."
Daniel looked at him skeptically and hesitantly said, "Do you even know what you're doing?"
"Trust, Daniel-San. We both learn together, understand?"
Daniel sighed, swiping a loose strand of hair out of his eyes, and nodded while saying, "Okay, I trust you, Mr. Myagi."
Mr. Myagi patted the boy on the back and smiled gently and said, "Good, good."
Silence soon fell over them like a fresh blanket of snow and they listened to the rhythm of their shoes hit against the pavement, noticing a blond blob come into view and Daniel tensed up, feeling as if his heart would beat right out of his chest and onto the pavement. Mr. Myagi waved goodbye to Daniel and turned the other way, leaving him by himself with Johnny and he cursed him out silently, knowing he left on purpose. Daniel tried to pick up his speed but felt Johnny's hand on his shoulder and the touch sent hot sparks throughout his entire body and he almost gasped, whirling around and landing smack dab into Johnny.
"Jesus Christ, I ain't going to hurt you." Johnny rigidly said, but soon relaxed. "We need to start working on that project. I know how excited you are for it." Johnny smirked sarcastically, pushing Daniel roughly, but quickly apologized as he nearly pushed him over.
"After that little stunt you pulled? Do you really think we're still working together on it? I don't fucking think so." Daniel bitterly spat out, glaring at him.
"I thought it was pretty funny," Johnny said, letting out a boyish giggle, which was enough to make Daniel melt right there on the spot. "Look, I'm sorry about that, okay? I can't afford to not pass that class, so will you please grow a pair of proper balls and help with the project?"
"I bet I have bigger balls than you!" Daniel scoffed in annoyance and then turned bright red, realizing what he just said.
Johnny raised his eyebrows and quizzically said, "Shall we compare sizes, LaRusso? Would that be right up your alley? I know how much you love a good competition." A teasing smirk soon fell over Johnny's lips as Daniel stood there with his mouth hanging open as if he was trying to catch flies with it.
"I uh, oh shut up! You're a pain in the ass." Daniel grumbled out and reluctantly sighed while saying, "Fine, we can put our differences aside for this silly project. Where do you want to meet tomorrow?"
Johnny chewed on his lip, knowing he couldn't possibly bring Daniel to his house in fear of Sid being around. "Hmm, why don't we just meet at your house?"
Daniel nodded in agreement, taking out a pen and a slip of paper, writing his address and number on it. "Here you go. I put my number on there just in case something comes up."
"Wow, you sure move fast, LaRusso! Giving me your digits and everything, huh? What's your favorite kind of flowers? Shall I bring you a bouquet tomorrow?" Johnny teased as he took the piece of paper from Daniel, accidentally brushing his fingers against his, feeling the same old electricity shoot through him.
"Ha, ha, you're so funny." Daniel dryly said before saying, "I like orchids, preferably blue." His eyes shimmered teasingly before he became serious again. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be late."
Johnny nodded as they parted ways, admiring the slip of paper that was in his hands. He stood in awe as he traced his fingers over Daniel's loopy cursive writing. His handwriting was pristine and crisp, nothing like Johnny's penmanship, which was chicken scratch. He replayed the events in his mind and smiled softly to himself. He almost thought he should pick up blue orchards for tomorrow as a continuation with their inside joke, but decided that would weird him out. Maybe this project wouldn't be so bad after all, only if Johnny can keep it together when he's around LaRusso.