This oneshot was inspired by a commenter in my last piece. I loved the idea of Daniel defending Johnny from Kreese after the tournament! Thank you @kubalova_a for your suggestion! Happy Valentine's Day! 💖💘
The sidewalk was so wet from the rain Daniel could see his own reflection. He smiled eagerly, needing no assistance with his trophy. Each step he took in the parking lot inflicted a twinge in his leg but, stubborn as it seemed, the pain was nothing to dwell on. He made it. He showed those Cobras.
Daniel put the weight of his hand on Miyagi's olive-toned truck, unhinging the door and setting his beloved prize on the passenger seat.
"Second place is no place, you're off the team."
Daniel shuddered, his lips dropping to a flat frown. He traced back the voice to where it came from—right ahead. The distant shouting of a distinct, bright red jacket and... Kreese? In all their fighting, Daniel had never seen that man so stimulated outside of a competition.
"That sucks, I did my best!" Johnny upheld, his chin flying forward at Kreese in defense.
"What did you say?" Kreese challenged.
"I did my best!" There was more aggression in Johnny's voice; a rising anger that was persistent.
"You lost, you're a loser!"
"No, you're the loser!" Johnny's voice boiled with resentment.
Daniel flashed a scowl at Kreese, watching as he tore Johnny's trophy cup into pieces, tossing it far off onto the pavement. Johnny could hear the shattering. Kreese was beating him down, and it felt like ancient times since anyone had gone that far to break him.
"Now who's the loser?!" Kreese raged.
Daniel then remembered what Mr. Miyagi had explained to him weeks before the tournament during their first break one day. Something random, but something that made sense at the moment.
"Daniel-san, you ever own snake?"
"Have I ever owned a snake? You mean like, as a pet?"
"Hai."
"No, that would be a nightmare." Daniel shook his head, his natural smile slowly dying and his voice building with slight hesitance. "Oh..." he chuckled nervously. "Mr. Miyagi, you don't have a pet snake, do you?"
"No, never have snake. Not meant for being pet." Miyagi said. "You want, as birthday gift next year?"
Daniel gave a shocked laugh. "Woah, no way! No. I can't handle that. That snake will get a good bite the first chance it gets."
Miyagi chuckled with amusement. "Too violent, too scared of human."
Daniel took his laugh as a good sign and began to smile it off. "Why do you ask, Mr. Miyagi?"
"Daniel-san, you good, kind student." the Japanese man continued, "Know what snake do to good, kind man?"
"No. What does it do?"
"Wounded snake worse. But important lesson must learn."
"A wounded snake?" Daniel tilted his head.
"Snake cold. Man see it and take it home to give warmth. Snake saved by heat, but sees wife, children."
Daniel blinked. "Shit. What happens?"
"Instinct make it attack, make wife and children cry. Man hear, kill snake, save wife and children."
"Wow..." Daniel said under his breath. "He kills it?"
Miyagi nodded. "Man say, 'Kindness no change wounded snake. You pity scoundrel, scoundrel bite you.'"
"It bites you in the ass, huh?" Daniel raised a brow.
"Not just ass. For whole life." Mr. Miyagi smiled dismally.
Daniel laughed a bit, still trying to respect the story. "You have to kill the snake? That's kinda..." he pulled a disgusted face.
"Man cut snake into pieces." the elder gestured a knife moving with his hand. "Like sushi, eh?"
"Eugh, Mr. Miyagi!" Daniel groaned.
The old man chuckled tenderly. "Daniel-san," he said, patting the teen's head. "You good, kind student."
"Thanks, Mr. Miyagi."
Daniel snapped back to the present, taking a slow, deep breath. He felt the moment. He knew how to control his anger, the inner warrior yearning to fight and resist the snake's evil grip.
"You're really sick, man!" Johnny clenched his thumbs outside of his fist, ready to put up another brawl. He concealed pain in his eyes, but it gave out darkly in seconds. Like a predator on its prey, Kreese's hands shoved Johnny and forced him into a tight hold, his arms locked around the boy's neck.
Daniel felt his blood boil at the sight. No mercy. Daniel felt the rage behind those words. He never knew the powerful fist two words made. It was as if some things were made only to destroy, only to be made into weapons.
On impulse, Daniel crossed his way over, accompanied by a vigorous force in his leg that let him run. He was running. It was a gift. "Hey, let go of him."
"Beat it, LaRusso. No one's gonna defend you when you're next." Kreese threatened.
Daniel didn't have time to process those words, but maybe they were just used to inflict fear. Like weapons. But no. Daniel wasn't alone. He was perfectly capable of getting Johnny out of trouble. Suddenly, on another impulse, Daniel forced a punch on Kreese that made him drop his guard and release Johnny.
Johnny gasped for air on the rainy sidewalk, bending over for a second. He struggled to get himself back, coping with the new pace of air in his lungs. His icy blue orbs lowered to his sensei, trying to breathe out some form of apology in muddled words.
The brunet looked at Johnny with careful sincerity, not the kind of feeling either of them really explored. "You okay?" he exhaled a good rush of emotion.
"LaRusso..." Johnny exhaled lightly. "Why'd you..." he looked to Daniel, shaking his head slightly in disbelief, then panted softly. "Where'd you even come from?"
Daniel smiled softly. "Jersey."
Johnny gave a breathy laugh.
"So the man in the story was married?"
Mr. Miyagi nodded once. "Hai. Man had love, compassion."
Daniel hummed gingerly, falling into a smile. "That's nice."
"You love Ali?" the wise man probed.
"No, I don't think she loves me." Daniel shook his head. "We're just too different. Two different worlds. I'm down here in Reseda, she's up there in the hills where she belongs, and it doesn't work."
"Up, down, no different. Think different feeling."
"Different... feeling? What do you mean different feeling, Mr. Miyagi?" Daniel searched.
"You feel different. Ali like to chase. But you have gift, sensitive, deep feeling."
Daniel thought for a moment. "Deep feeling?" he laughed a bit. "What does this have to do with the story?"
"One day, feel deep emotion." Miyagi said, "Find love, set them free. Know when love come back, you belong. When no come back, set love on better path."
Daniel sat stunned. "Huh, that's pretty cool. What does that look like?"
"Share one crazy world. Then you know, Daniel-san."
"One crazy world." Daniel murmured, breaking into a smile.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Johnny grabbed Daniel's arm, pulling him onto the sidewalk away from Kreese's unconscious body.
Daniel quickly recovered the idea that they were two bodies not meant to fight forever. Johnny delivered the reminder. Daniel gently clenched his fist to test if he felt anything broken. "No, all good."
Johnny watched Daniel's eyes as they glimmered downward. "Good." he sighed. "Don't want your mom thinking I beat you up like a sore jackass."
Daniel gave a breathless chuckle. "You're not a sore jackass."
"You're stubborn, LaRusso." Johnny smiled faintly, playfully hitting Daniel's shoulder. "But if I'm not a jackass, I guess you're not that stubborn."
"Yeah, sure." Daniel said. "Sorry about your trophy. Kreese... what's his damage?"
Johnny smiled a bit wider. "Hey, don't worry about it. He played a dirty game and lost. But we had a good match. That's what the two of us needed, right?"
"Yeah." Daniel chuckled lightly, soon feeling his wound give out and a sharp pain shoot up his leg. He repressed a wince, "Shoot." he bit his lip harshly.
Johnny's eyes fell to Daniel's leg, regressing to the memory of Kreese making him "punish" Daniel. It wasn't very pretty to think about, nor was it easy to digest when he figured that the two of them would finally make peace.
"It wasn't you." Daniel murmured. "I know better than to think that you wanted to..." he groaned, forcing his leg into a limp.
"You know what," Johnny said, "I don't know why you came all the way over here just to hook the bastard and save my ass, but I'm making it up to you." he swung an arm around Daniel's waist from behind and began to hold him up.
"Johnny..." Daniel grunted, holding onto the blond for support. "Why are you..." he was cut off by making another wince as the sharp pain resurfaced.
Johnny looked to Daniel, voice mellow. "It's gonna hurt, okay? So take it slow." he said, helping the male take a step forward with his good leg, followed by a limp with his other.
Daniel fought back the urge to stand on both legs as he continued with Johnny. "Gotta admit, this would actually be a lot harder if it was you who passed out and not Kreese."
The blond eyed Daniel warmly. "No shit, Sherlock." he broke into a contagious smile, causing the brunet to laugh a little. When he laughed in Johnny's arm, his chest got this swelling feeling. It left him thinking that this nearly made them forget about their personal walls.
The two of them made it to Miyagi's truck where Johnny helped Daniel settle inside with ease. "You don't feel anything broken, do you?"
"I told you, I'm fine. I'll be fine." Daniel beamed softly, giving a soft laugh.
"It all happened so fast, man. I think you need to chill." Johnny laid his arms over Daniel's rolled down window.
Daniel let out a small laugh. "Sometimes I can't sit still, you know. Neither can you."
The blond's eyes wandered over Daniel's flushed face by total accident because he hadn't realized he was staring. Johnny drifted into some stupid idea of how Daniel's blushing lips would feel against his, or the sweetness of their hands touching. He felt so pathetic standing there with hardly anything to say, but it didn't look like Daniel cared too much for the quiet mood.
"You're nice company, Johnny." Daniel admitted.
Johnny had a playful smile and he gave a humming chuckle. "So are you, Danielle. Let's go get shitfaced sometime." he said, toying with Daniel's headband.
"Except for when you're an ass." Daniel scoffed at what sounded like a teasing offer, swatting Johnny's hand away from his head.
"Aw." Johnny went on. "But I'm a sweet ass. Seriously, when can we go?" his lips stayed shut as his eyes oozed with contentment.
"Oh, I thought you were just messing with me." Daniel gave a shy laugh when he caught Johnny's eyes, his warm smile plastered as he brushed back his dark locks. "You wanna go out?"
"Look, you don't have to. You can say this is weird but I'm willing to... you know, start anew. I have regrets, and we got off on the wrong foot since day one. But, I have a really good feeling about you... is that so wrong to say?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, Johnny. But what the hell?"
Johnny gave a much softer smile this time, holding Daniel's cheek and closing in. Daniel leaned in just as close, intrigued with the touch. "That fight at the beach was my best mistake." Johnny muttered.
"Oh, yeah?" Daniel gave a small chuckle in his throat. "Because you won that night?"
"I felt like crap after what I said to Ali. But I kept asking people who you were when school started. You were everywhere. It seemed like a fight to everyone else, but you and I were living in one world this whole time." Johnny said.
Unbelievable. What was happening? Was this some crazy dream? Daniel laid his hands on the blond's shoulders, the feel of passionate red leather at his fingertips. "I'd be an idiot if..." he trailed off.
"Hm?" Johnny wondered.
Daniel smiled faintly. "I know what you mean. Sometimes you need another person in that world with you."
The blond grinned, leaving a little peck on Daniel's lips. "Small world, huh?"
Just the simple contact of their lips left Daniel with a fire in the pit of his stomach, inexplicable and completing. Johnny took another peck, and Daniel leaned closer.
He brought their lips together again, holding Daniel's chin and smiling with awe when they parted. Daniel could feel Johnny's smile, so he gave one too. "When can I see you?"
"Soon, LaRusso." Johnny responded, kissing Daniel's hand. "You get home safe, okay?"
Daniel gave a soft nod, bidding Johnny farewell. "Good night."
"Night, Daniel." the blond walked away slowly.