"This is a mess" Halley was cooking dinner for her and Demetri that had came to hang out
"What is?" He asked from his place at the kitchen counter, he was focused on not cutting one of his fingers off while chopping something Halley had handed him
"Everything" she frowned as she moved around the kitchen "Mixing the dojos is a mess, Sam is a mess, I am a mess and this food is a mess" she finally stopped and stared at the way her friend was chopping the tomato
"You know I have no idea how to cook, I don't even know why you let me do this" he raised his hands that were soaked in the tomato's juices
"Just..Just let me" She replaced him and he went to wash his hands
"Why do you think everything is a mess?" he asked
"I don't think so, I know so" she nodded sure and looked at her best friend while still cutting the tomato "My uncle looks like he wants to kill Johnny 99% of the time he's talking, Sam is feeling pressured and stressed, and I haven't felt like myself" she frowned "And I don't know why I'm being so negative, I wasn't like this, I don't like being like this"
"Then don't be" he shrugged and Halley looked at him incredulously "No, hear me out" he raised one of his fingers in the air "You can't really do anything about the dojo's or Sam's feelings, you can do something about yours though" the brunette frowned analyzing what he said
"Actually...that's a pretty good advice, th- Shit!" Halley looked back down at the cutting board to see her finger bleeding
"Oh, god" Demetri panicked
"It's fine, nothing that hasn't happened before" she rushed to the sink to wash her hand, she was used to things like that, it wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last
"That's why you don't look away from a knife when you're cutting stuff"
"It's fine"
"You could have cut your finger off"
"But I didn't" Halley rolled her eyes at her friend's hysterics "See, now who's the negative one?"
"I've always been the negative one" Demetri said matter of a factly
♢♢♢
"Ready, bow!" All of the students listened to Johnny
"Sensei Lawrence and I have the same goal of preparing you for the tournament" Daniel started
"But we have different ways of getting you there" Johnny continued
"We realized teaching you opposing viewpoints at the same time can be a little confusing"
"So we discussed it and came up with a solution. We're gonna divide and conquer" Halley frowned, she did thought it was gonna be difficulties to mix styles, but she didn't thought it was impossible, the real problem was the still rough feelings the two sensei's still held for each other "Eagle Fang trains out front"
"And I'll be back here with the Miyagi-do's"
"I thought we were stronger working together" Miguel spoke up
"We're still working together" Daniel assured
"Just separately" Johnny nodded "On opposite ends of the dojo. All right, Eagles, follow me!" Johnny and his students walked away
"Miyagi-dos come over here" Daniel called
"So much for working together" Halley mumbled lightly to Sam who also looked defeated
♢♢♢
"We all have anger inside" Daniel spoke "But I want you to let it go. Don't let your emotions control you. You have to be the one in control, right?" they all nodded "Now, everyone close your eyes and relax" meditation was one of Halley's favorite things, and she felt like lately everyone needed a couple dozen sessions
"Stop whining like a little bitch, get up" Jonny's voice was heard over the silence
"Stay focused" Daniel said and Halley could hear his voice already on edge"Eyes closed. Breath in. Breath out"
"Don't be a pussy. Punch him in the face'' Chris couldn't contain his laugh, and Halley didn't know if to be amused or annoyed by the other sensei
"Try not to be distracted" now it was Daniel that was trying to control his emotions "Stay focused"
"You punched him in the balls? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Wait right here" And Daniel had enough.
Through the hole in the door Demetri and Halley could see the students from Eagle Fang, one in particular that looked like breathing was hurting. The two Miyagi-dos looked at each other and Demetri pointed his head at him and the brunette sighed knowing what he meant. They both stood up at the same time and walked away behind the red haired boy. When they catch up with him they caught him looking at a painting in the wall
"You know, that's the sparing deck where Mr. Miyagi's great grandfather taught Karate on the Okinawan waterfront" Demetri informed and Hawk lightly touched the frame of the painting
"Yo, be careful with that" Chris walked in the room
"Why, you think I'm gonna break it?"Hawk raised his eyebrows
"You already broke a door" It was clear that Chris was looking for a fight "And you stole Mr. Miyagi's medal"
"And you beat the shit out of me" Nathaniel stood beside Chris. Demetri and Halley couldn't really say anything about that, because it was all true, Demetri had forgiven Hawk immediately after the fight, and Halley didn't know if it was admirable or stupid, she still just couldn't forget everything he did, she believed he had changed and that he wanted to be better but she needed actions, she needed him to redeem himself
"Hey, look, I'm really sorry about all that"
"Go back with your little Eagle gang. You're not wanted here" Chris said and Hawk looked defeated and looked at Demetri and Halley for help but they couldn't really say anything, Chris and Nathaniel had all the right in the world to not like him, he had done horrible things that neither Halley or Demetri could defend so they just looked away. Hawk took the loss and walked away with his head down
Halley felt a pang in her heart, she couldn't help but still care about him, as much as she wanted to say she didn't give a crap about him, years of friendship were hard to forget, that didn't mean she liked him as a person, the last few months she found herself even repulsed by the person she once used to love, but deep inside of her Hawk was once Eli, and she knew that under all that mask and tough attitude the insecure scared boy was still there, he was the one she was worried about
"I don't know where I fit in here" Hawk told Daniel as he was supposed to be the more reasonable adult with them
"What did you expect?" Daniel snapped at him "You've burned bridges with pretty much everyone here" Hawk simply looked down and walked away. Daniel sighed when he realized how he had talked to the teen and tried calling for him to no avail because he didn't stop. Halley frowned as she came out to the front.
"What the hell did you do?" Johnny asked aggressively
"What did I do? I'm not the one who's been kicking his ass all day"
"We are training for the All-Valley, not some yoga competition"
"Don't disrespect my dojo in front of your students"
"Don't tell me how to run my class. I'll do whatever I want"Johnny walked away and Daniel followed him, both of them still fighting.
"They're like children" Halley sighed and walked away shaking her head
⚘
Hello, hello
I've always felt so bad for Hawk here, I mean, he kinda deserved it tbh, but I still feel terrible because it was clear he regretted everything he did. And even if I hate to see him sad I still feel he was forgiven too quickly, especially by Demetri, Hawk literally broke his arm and then suddenly it was all okay...I don't think so. Demetri is better than me because with my level of pettiness I would've at least not talk to him for a while after he switched sides