˚☽˚
"𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧"
𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫/𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬:
Minor mentions of gore/ minor violence (lunch fight scene)/ hinting of abuse (as usual)/ bullying (Johnny lawrence lmao)
𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭.
Pink mist. That's what they call you when you explode. It's accurate- you're not really you anymore at that point. Instead of a living walking body, you're just liquid. It's beautiful, yet so gruesome at the same time.
Wren doesn't know if that's true or not- he heard it on tv once, but if it is, he thinks that's how he'd like to die.
How many times can he stab a pencil into his thigh before he hits a major blood vessel and bleeds out? He hopes not very long. He's considering doing it.
"Wren." The counselor's fingers snap in front of his face- her eyes wide and judging. "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah. The.. Uh.." He swallows and stares at the 'no bullying' poster plastered on the wall. "...Permit... Thing"
"This needs to be taken more seriously, Kreese. You've missed over a month of school in total."
"I've been sick" Even he can hear the bullshit in his words. Blatt sighs and sifts through some of the papers on her desk.
"No doctors notes, excused notes from parents, not even a forged signature. It's as if you don't care. You're a straight - A student, Wren, we wouldn't want that to go to waste would we?"
"If I'm a straight - A student why do my absences matter? I'm obviously learning and putting in the effort."
"School is, how do I say this... A safe place-" He scoffs, "If you aren't attending, it leads us- the school board- to believe there's something more going on at home."
"Maybe I just have a terrible immune system- or, or maybe I have to take mental health days. You have my chart, you can see everything I've gone to the doctor for! I don't see the problem if I'm just missing a few days."
"A few days has turned into a full month, Wren."
"Counselor Blatt, as much as I enjoy a nice conversation, this right here is what's wasting my precious class time." Her stare hardens and she clicks her teeth.
"From now on I want you here two times a week: Mondays and Fridays, 9:45. If you don't show, I call home. Go to class." He straightens in his chair.
"What? You can't just-"
"-I can just. Get to class, Mr. Kreese." He scoffs and throws his chair back, creating a screeching nails-on-chalkboard noise.
He makes sure to slam the counselor's door on his way out.
He's deep into a conversation with Aisha when everything goes down. Samantha Larusso sets her tray on the table they're sitting at. Wren manages a tight-lipped smile at her- although she pointedly avoids meeting his eyes.
"Oh, don't even think about it." Wren turns to look at Aisha, her jaw clenched as she stares at her ex-best friend. Sam sighs as she looks at Aisha, almost pleading.
"C'mon, I need a place to sit." She slides her eyes to Wren for the first time, silently begging. He sighs.
"Aisha-"
"No, Wren. She can sit with Kyler," she turns her attention back to Sam. "I hear he doesn't mind that you suck." Wren clicks his teeth, throwing Sam an apologetic expression- which clearly doesn't help.
Her face hardens as she walks around the table, brushing Wren's arm on the way past. He tries not to listen in on the conversation she has with her ex, but it's hard- they're right behind him.
There's something about a movie- he's cocky and condescending as he speaks to her- like a mother speaking to a child. His friends make mean comments- laughing at their own voices.
Everyone is watching them now- pulling out their phones and whispering to their lunch table.
"Hey guys! You know that billboard with the big ass dick on it?" Kyler's hand gestures to match his voice, "I guess Sam takes after her dad!" He turns to Sam with a smug grin on his face- one that Wren has seen before.
The cafeteria is laughing whereas Sam seems more pissed than ever, he watches the subtle change in posture, how she slides her hands to rest up in front of her, and how her feet stick into position on the multicolored floor.
She seems ready to stick one up for herself, but someone beats her to it.
"Hey Kyler!" He just never gives up, does he? Miguel drops his tray on the table and stalks into Wren's line of sight. As for Wren himself, well, he straightens up to step in if anything gets too violent. "Why don't you shut up and stop being such an asshole?"
Murmurs break out all over the cafeteria, smiles on kids' faces.
"Want another beat-down, 'Rhea?" Kyler shoves Miguel back, almost smacking Wren in the face. His goons follow him like servants follow a king. Wren shoots himself up on instinct, as to not get himself in the middle, but he doesn't miss the way Kyler's eyes shift to his.
But when Aisha pulls Wren back, the boy immediately looks away- not acknowledging Wren's existence.
"I'm ready for your lame ass karate this time." He shoves Miguel again- pushing him into the spot where Wren was just sitting.
"It's not lame ass Karate-" Kyler throws a punch at Miguel, but this time he deflects it, grabbing the other's forearm to hold him still. He throws a punch of his own- hitting Kyler square in the face. "It's Cobra Kai."
Kyler's face morphs from cockiness to something like embarrassment, and then anger. He grabs Miguel and lifts him then slams him back down onto the table. Wren inches back towards Eli and Demetri- who are standing near the back of the cafeteria- pulling Aisha back with him
The four of them watch as Miguel gets thrown around and tossed onto yet another table, and proceeds to be put into a headlock. Miguel, though, he's learned (from Lawrence, Wren's not sure how) and he elbows his opponent before twisting his arm in a sickening crack- and then proceeding to punch the shit out of him.
"No Mercy!" Aisha yells to him, and Wren flicks his head back to her. She shrugs and smiles- and then it dawns on him. The reason Aisha has been hanging out with them more, sitting at their lunch table, going out after school with them, is because she's been training with Miguel and Johnny.
He's pulled out of his thoughts, literally, by Eli grabbing his arm and tugging him- almost to his chest- to avoid being hit by Miguel, who has now acquired a lunch tray for a weapon.
In under a minute Miguel has taken out four of them- all four of them, kneeling on a round table in a hero-like stance and panting at the floor. The whole room is cheering and clapping for him as the bullies groan on the dirty floor.
He's dumbstruck as he's pulled out of the cafeteria by the counselor who can never seem to mind her own business.
"Holy shit,"
"Yeah."
At the end of the day, Wren ends up at the Cobra Kai dojo.
Miguel needed a ride home and didn't want to call his mom, nor can his grandmother drive. So in comes Wren.
He told Wren to make a detour, and led him to where he is now. Miguel had gone in a few minutes ago, saying he'd be back out soon. He's resisting the urge to smoke, instead he taps his fingers against his thigh rhythmically.
"You can go home, bud." Wren snaps his head towards the opening door, face to face with the dojo's sensei.
"Excuse me?"
"I'll drive Miguel home, I'm not very comfortable with you driving him."
"Can I ask why?"
"Y'know, you aren't a very responsible boy." They stare each other down, Wren is tempted to make a comment on his habits. In the end, he shrugs the comment off and waves to Miguel, who watches the interaction with rapt attention.
The boy waves back and watches as Wren turns the corner to walk to his car. He doesn't leave immediately, though, he leans against his car and watches as Johnny opens his trunk. He pulls what Wren recognizes to be a Gi out, and hands it to Miguel.
He sighs and unlocks his car, catching a glimpse of himself in the side mirror. What he also sees is a boy standing behind him, staring at Miguel and Johnny.
He turns, and their eyes lock on each other. Wren glances at the scene unfolding before looking back to the boy, a questioning look on his face. All he gets in return is a sad smile and a sinking feeling in his gut when he watches the blonde walk away, his posture filled with disappointment.
He thinks about it on the way home, cigarette placed between his lips, music filling the empty space in the car.
He thinks about the stranger's eyes, how they matched those of Johnny's perfectly, the way his face sank when he saw the man with Miguel, the way his blonde hair fell in front of his face the way he'd seen the sensei's do before.
He hums the tune of the song as he taps his fingers onto his thigh to the beat. The wind tousles his hair from the open window, although the loud noise in his ear makes him anxious, he can't smoke in the car without the window open.
Wren grins as the next song comes on, some random Beach Weather™ one, the upbeat vibe pulling him out of his thoughts, for now. But later, when he's laying in bed, smoking another, his mind will wander to the boy again.
He'll fall asleep thinking about it.
The next day, he unwillingly shows up at the front door of the Cobra Kai Dojo. Along with about 30 other kids. He death stares Miguel, who smiles back at him.
"I cannot believe I let you guys drag me into this."
"I don't want to be here any more than you do, trust me." At least him and Demetri agree on one thing, and that's the absolute hatred for karate.
"But this is what friends do" Miguel is cheerful as he wraps his arm around Demetri, and barely manages to grab Wren too. Wren can't hold back a smile when he sees how proud Miguel looks.
But it does falter a little when he sees how proud Johnny looks too.
"Looks like we're in business." His smirk pains Wren, yet he steps aside to let the group of children into the dojo.
The second he steps into the dojo, he remembers why he gave up on karate. The air chills him to the core, the bitter chill that lurks in all dojos is stronger in here, and as the motion sensor fluorescent lights finally do snap on, he tenses.
𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎
"Are you ready, bud?" Wren's grandfather has a hand plastered on his small shoulder, their smiles match perfectly, shining in the bright sun. They were standing in front of a dojo that John had driven four hours for.
It's unreasonable, to drive that far just to see a dojo, but Wren's special like that, he knows it. He wanted to see a dojo, so guess who went out of their way to make it a road trip.
As for the boy himself, he was just happy to be out of that suffocating trailer. His mom wouldn't get out of bed that day, even after his father had bent down into her face and yelled at her. He nods excitedly and stares up at John with a glint in his eyes.
John hasn't seen that look very often, he's always so happy when he does. Emotion fills his body as he walks his grandson into the dojo, and he knows he's made the right choice when he sees the way Wren's eyes light up with joy as he looks at all of the equipment.
At the sound of the bell a young man walks out of the backroom, but stops when he sees John. Wren knows that look, a look that a six year old shouldn't recognize. But he does, he's seen his father wear it perfectly.
"We aren't open right now." His voice is sharp as he looks at John, then to Wren, then to John again.
"Oh come on, not even for an old friend?" He throws his hand up in mock surprise, and Wren tenses.
The man immediately looks at him, and he keeps that smile up, looking at the decoration.
"Who's this?"
"My grandson."
"Jackson had a son?"
"Yeah, you could say that. I was wondering if he could have a look around. I mean, we drove so far. There's barely any dojos in Chicago." The man's eyes bore through Wren, and Wren just stares right back.
"Yeah sure." And that's his queue to be a kid for once, he bounds off to roam around, studying the photos on the wall.
And later, when it's dark and he's punching a dummy, he pretends not to hear the two in the office yelling and screaming.
And he forgives his grandfather for the bruise that his strong grip leaves when he hauls Wren out of the dojo, face stern and knuckles bloody.
𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲
A hand grabs his elbow and he startles. He blinks back tears and looks around the dojo, watching all of the teens file in.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice matches the light touch on his arm. He looks down to see a concerned Eli staring right back up at him. He deflates, and smiles.
"Yeah, I'm good." He doesn't believe it, or maybe he does, it's hard to tell with the boy. All Wren knows is that Eli's touch is warm and his eyes are gentle and he doesn't want to move. Except Eli does, and he nods a small affirmative as he pulls his hand back and follows Demetri to the center of the mat.
Wren watches him walk away, not moving from his place in front of the door. Miguel's looking at him funny, and in turn so is Aisha. He smiles, and they smile back, before resuming their warmups.
They're the only two in Gis, out of the thirty-something kids. The others are absorbed in conversation, watching Miguel on the screen and laughing about it.
"Quiet!" Wren startles, along with every other kid in the room. They turn to look at the source of the noise. Johnny stands at the front, looking aggravated, clad in his own Gi and a black headband. "Face front."
He orders the group, everyone follows tentatively. The man stalks around the room, eyeing every teen. He says something to Demetri that Wren can't pick up, but the brunette slumps over in defeat.
He walks in Wren's direction, and this time he does hear the insult Johnny throws at the boy in front of him, making fun of his teeth. Wren straightens in his spot, fully prepared for a comment on his eye, but Johnny just glances at him for a second before turning in the next direction.
He tosses a few more offenses to other kids, each time skipping over Wren's 6'2 form like he's not there.
"When I look around this dojo I don't see Cobra Kai material, I see losers, I see nerds." Everyone looks around, wary. Eli turns around and makes eye contact with Wren, his blue eyes displaying his confusion.
"I see a fat kid with a funny hat with his tits hanging out."
"What?" Wren murmurs to himself. Whatever this man was taught about Karate, about respect in the dojo, it didn't come from his grandfather.
"But in my short time as a sensei, I've also seen some miracles." He glances at Miguel and Aisha, now at the front of the dojo again.
"God, that's so backhanded." He whispers, and the boy next to him makes an agreeing noise.
"So, maybe there's some hope for you yet." He shifts, looks at Wren, and looks away. "First, I need to see where you're at. So everyone, fall in!"
Wren's the only one that moves. He watches as everyone stands still, and makes his way to the front to stand next to Aisha. He clears his throat and stares at the floor.
"That means line up." A collective 'Oh" goes through the crowd. And then Wren watches as they stand in a line behind Miguel.
"Oh my god."
"Hey, Lip! Yeah, you with the freaky lip. Who else would I be talking to?"
"Jesus Christ."
"Uhm, excuse me, Mr. Lawrence?" Demetri calls out, his voice shaking
"Sensei Lawrence." Aisha corrects him, harshly, infact.
"Okay.." He chuckles through his words, "You really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance." Wren rolls his eyes- it's not that Demetri is wrong, it's just funny that he thinks this is going to work.
"Oh, is that so? So, I'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?" Johnny quips back, the sarcasm in his tone making Wren cringe.
"Well.. Yeah" Demetri replies, cluelessly. Eli looks around, his gaze landing on Wren- who had been moved from the front due to his height. He bites his lip and shakes his head- hoping that Eli gets what he's trying to say.
Apparently, he doesn't- not when he looks at Johhny, offended, when the blonde addresses him.
"Right, you hear that Lip? If you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle and elbow to the teeth?" He watches as Eli slumps into himself. All eyes are on him, it makes Wren tense up.
"By calling the police?" Demetri scoffs as Miguel reprimands him. "What? He does realize the Nazis lost the war, right? Why should I be scared of him? Because he's got a snake on his wall?"
"God, Demetri."
"What, Wren? It's not like he's a teacher that can give us a bad grade-"
"No, but he's a sensei who has permission to kick your ass" Demetri rolls his eyes,
"We're paying him. It's not like he can actually hurt us."
"You obviously don't know what you signed up for"
"Wren, it's okay. You done?" He turns his attention back to the brunette, stalking closer. Wren, along with everyone around him, backs up.
"What?" Demetri looks around the room, all of the confidence in his voice gone.
"Hit me." Wren and Miguel look at each other. If Johnny learned anything from Wren's grandfather, it's how to be a cocky bastard. Demetri stands still. "Go ahead, hit me. Strike me right here." He points to his face
The room watches as Demetri slides to stand in position, one foot behind the other, hands in front of his face, body slightly faced sideways. He throws a weak punch, Johnny deflects.
"Harder." Demetri wipes his hands on his pants and puts more force behind his next punch- though his stance is still loose. "Is that all you got, princess?"
The next punch Demetri throws, gets the wind knocked out of him when Johnny grabs his arm and twists it, forcing his body to somersault- in the air. He lies, panting on the floor and staring at the Sensei in shock when the man bends down and yells.
"Let that be a lesson to all of you. We're done for today, go home punks." He stomps out and leaves Demetri on the mat. Everything is still for a second, Demetri stares at the ceiling, Eli creeps towards Wren. Miguel is the first to move, he walks up to the boy on the floor and pitifully holds a hand out and hoists him up.
Murmurs break out across the room and everyone is broken out of the trance. People head for their bags while Aisha and Miguel head to the locker room to change. That leaves Wren, Eli, and Demetri standing in the middle of the room, staring at each other.
He can tell something is off as soon as he opens his car door. His apartment is on the second floor and he can see all of the lights on before he walks in. The plants out front have been freshly watered and the welcome mat is looking a little less crooked than when he had left that morning.
The door is already unlocked. Wren takes a deep breath and pushes it open, not surprised at what he sees, but oh so devastated. His mom is up and walking, which she shouldn't be- it usually takes her a few days to fully wake.
His dad is home, along with a few of his friends. They're sitting at the shitty dining table with cards and poker chips in front of them, nursing beer bottles. They don't even look up when he walks in, his father clenches his jaw but doesn't say a word.
Wren walks past them without a word and drops his bag on the floor in his room before turning around and creeping into the kitchen. His father doesn't like him outside his room when his friends are around, he's too much of an embarrassment.
Klaus, one of the men, sees him- and they make eye contact. Just for a second. The man drags his eyes up and down his body, before taking a mouthful of his beer and placing a card down on the table. He stares at Wren as the boy makes his way into the kitchen.
His mother is bustling around the kitchen, the smell of some sort of meat wafting around the room. She spares a glance and a smile at him before stretching on her toes and grabbing something from the high shelf.
"Hi mom. What-what are you doing?"
"I'm making dinner for your father and his coworkers. Honey can you stay out of the kitchen?"
"Coworkers?"
"Yes, his job at the factory is working out- hun don't you have homework?" He sighs.
"Yeah, love you."
"I love you too baby, I'll save you some food."
"Yeah, thanks." He walks past his dad, and Klaus, not caring about the string of profanities his father shouts after him. He slams himself into the freshly made twin bed- but not before making sure his door is locked because the way that Klaus was looking at him set him on edge.
He falls into deep sleep, not even having changed out of his training clothes. In the morning, when he walks out into the living room to shower, he almost trips over a plate of food that had been set in front of his door.
He also almost trips when a hand reaches out and grabs his leg from the couch- and he makes eye contact with Klaus. Safe to say, he double checks the lock on the bathroom door when he goes in there to take a shower.