• • •
By the time I caught up with the boys Daniel was on the ground and Dutch lifted him and held him in place. Tommy was cheering Johnny on as Dutch yelled "No mercy!"
Bobby was screaming at Johnny, telling him to stop but he refused to listen. "Johnny! Stop!" I yelled as I ran up to him. "He deserves it!" He yelled as he pointed at him. "He can't even stand! Johnny stop! Please!" I pleaded, tears forming in my eyes.
He lifted his arm and punched Daniel, I didn't have time to react as Johnny's elbow rebounded from the punch and hit me straight in the eye. Next thing I knew my vision turned black.
🥋
I groaned as I opened my eyes. My eye was aching and I had a pounding headache. "Ah, Ophelia-san." I heard a voice say. I slowly peeled my eyes open and looked to see Daniel sitting on the bed with a bandaid on his eyebrow, a large bruise on his cheek, and a gash that he held a cloth too.
"Daniel! Are you okay?" I asked but I stood up too quickly, almost falling but Mr. Miyagi caught me and helped me back to the chair. "I'm okay." He responded as he took a drink of the tea Mr. Miyagi had given him. "What happened?" I asked as I pressed an ice pack to my eye.
"Mr. Miyagi saved us. He fought the Cobra Kais!" Daniel said. I placed my head into my palms as I recalled what had happened, the anger in Johnny's eyes as he kicked and punched Daniel.
"You sad." Mr. Miyagi said. "No." I lied. "You are. You wear the same costume, why?" He asked as he handed me a cup of tea. "They're my friends. Were my friends." I corrected myself as I blinked back tears. Mr. Miyagi looked at me in understanding as he re-soaked the cloth Daniel had been using before putting it back on his cheek.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Daniel asked. "Tell what?" Mr. Miyagi asked confused. "That you knew karate," I responded. "Never ask." He responded simply.
"Where'd you learn?" I asked, clearly he had to be good if he took down all six of them. "From father." He replied. "I thought he was a fisherman?" Daniel replied. "All Miyagi know two things. Fish and karate. Karate comes from Okinawa. Matter of fact, Miyagi ancestors bring from China in sixteenth century, call 'Te' Hand. Later, fancy pants uncle call karate, empty hand." Mr. Miyagi explained.
"I thought it came from like, Buddhist temples and stuff," Daniel said. "Watch too much TV." He replied. "That's what our mom says," I added.
"You ever teach anyone?" Daniel asked. "No." He replied. "Would you?" I asked. "Depends." He replied. "On what?" Daniel asked. "Reason." He replied. "How's revenge?" Daniel asked. "Look revenge that way Daniel-san, start by digging two graves," Miyagi replied.
"At least I would have company." Daniel joked and I couldn't help but quietly laugh. "Fighting always last answer to problems," Miyagi said as he replaced my ice pack with a new colder one.
"No offense Mr. Miyagi, but I don't think you understand the problem," Daniel said. "Understand perfect. Friends karate students, yes?" He asked. "Yeah." Daniel replied. "problem attitude." Miyagi replied.
"Problem is, I'm getting my ass kicked every other day," Daniel replied angrily. "C'mon Daniel. This is only the second time they've fought with you, and you started it this time." I snapped. I would be lying if I said I wasn't mad at him right now. If he would've just left the situation alone none of this would've happened, I would still be at the dance with Johnny.
But they shouldn't have responded like that, almost beating him to death. "Because boys use wrong. Karate used for defense." Miyagi said after taking in my statement.
"That's not what these jerks are taught," Daniel said angrily. "Can see. No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do." Miyagi replied and I was glad he understood that they weren't all bad.
"Oh great. That solves everything. I just have to go down to their school and straighten it out with their teacher." He said sarcastically. "Now use head for something beside target," Miyagi said, agreeing with his idea.
"I was only kidding," Daniel replied. "Why?" Miyagi asked. "Cause I'll get killed if I show up there!" Daniel said. "Get killed anyway," Miyagi said and Daniel and I both knew that was true.
"Would you both come with me?" He asked. "Yes," I replied as Miyagi said No.
"You said it was a good idea?" Daniel said confused. "For you. Not for me. Rule number one, no get involved." He replied. "But you're already involved!" Daniel said angrily.
"So sorry," Miyagi replied and Daniel stood with a scoff, dropping the cloth onto the table and heading towards the door. "Well, thanks for nothing. Like I didn't have enough trouble, now I have to carry your weight too." He said.
"Daniel-san," Miyagi said right as Daniel opened the door. "Okay, I go." He reluctantly agreed. "Mr. Miyagi, what belt do you have?" Daniel asked. "Canvas. You like?" He asked as he showed his belt. "Yeah, it's nice," Daniel said confused. "$3.98 at JC Penny." He said before laughing.
"In Okinawa, belt mean 'don't need rope hold up pants' Karate here." He said as he tapped his head, "here," He then tapped his heart, "not here." He finished as he motioned to his belt. "Understand?" He asked the two of us.
"I think so," Daniel said as I nodded. "Goodnight Daniel-san, Ophelia-san." He said with a bow and we both returned it before making our way to the apartment. Thankfully mom was already asleep so I wouldn't have to deal with her now.
I grabbed a pair of PJs, pretending I didn't notice Johnny's clothes, and took a shower to wash off the face paint. I groaned as my eye ached, it was dark purple and slightly swollen.
After getting dressed I crawled into bed and finally allowed the tears to fall.
🥋
"Good morning Daniel-san, Ophelia-san." Mr. Miyagi greeted us. "Good morning." We replied. "How feel?" He asked. "Sore," Daniel said and I nodded. "Know how drive?" He asked the two of us. "Uh, yeah," I replied as Daniel nodded.
He handed me the keys as he opened the door. I hesitantly sat in the driver's seat with Daniel in the middle and Mr. Miyagi on the other side.
"Uh, I'm not very good," I said nervously as I started the truck. "Then must practice." He replied. "I don't have a license," I said. "Me either." He replied. "Well, I guess that makes it okay," I mumbled before pulling out of the parking lot and following Mr. Miyagi's directions to the Cobra Kai dojo.
Once parked we made our way inside, I took a deep breath as we stepped into where they were practicing. They were all facing away from us so they hadn't noticed us.
The sensai, Kreese, walked through the rows as they practiced punches. One boy's eyes who I didn't recognize met mine and within a second Kreese had knocked his feet from under him and nearly punched him, stopping at the last second.
"Lose concentration in a fight and you're dead meat." He said. "Do you understand?" He asked. "Yes, sensai!" The boy said. "What?" Kreese said louder. "Yes, sensai!" The boy replied louder. "Get up. Give me 90 push-ups on your knuckles." He said. The boy bowed to him before making his way to the side of the room and beginning.
"Combat," Kreese says and the boys all lined up on the sides of the mat, Johnny and Dutch grabbing a white and red flag each and standing at the corners, none of them had noticed us yet.
"Brown, Robertson," Kreese called and Bobby walked onto the mat along with another boy. "Bow. Bow. Begin." Kreese says and in a flash, both boys are in a fighting position.
It takes only seconds for Bobby to kick the boy in the stomach, him falling over as Johnny raised his red flag. Bobby gets back to where he started and looked to Kreese for approval.
"What're you looking at. Finish him!" He said. Bobby hesitates for a split second before hitting the boy in the neck. Bobby goes back to his beginning position once more, when Kreese nods to him he bows before returning to position, his eyes locking with mine.
His eyes widened as his mouth opened slightly. I gave a small wave and smile, although it was basically a grimace. "Did you just wave at him?" Daniel whispered harshly. "He tried to stop them, Daniel. He really did. He's my best friend." I said and Daniel looked at me suspiciously.
"It true. I heard." Miyagi added and I smiled at him in thanks. "We do not train to be merciful. Mercy is for the weak. Here, on the street, in competition, a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy, what is the problem, Mr. Lawrence." Kreese asked, noticing his stare on us.
"C'mon, let's forget this," Daniel says as their attention turns to us. "Class we have visitors. Line up behind me." He said as he walked up to us, everyone lining up behind him as Johnny stood back to the left of him, looking straight at me, I ignored all of their stares.
"I understand you jumped my students last night." He said to Mr. Miyagi. "Afraid the facts mixed up." He replied. "Are you calling Mr. Lawrence a liar?" He asked.
"Not calling no one nothing." He replied. "What are you here for, old man?" Kreese asked. "Come ask leave boy alone," Miyagi replied.
"What's the matter? He can't take care of his own problems?" Kreese asked. "One to one problem, yes. Five to one problem, too much ask anyone." Miyagi replied.
"That's what's bothering you, the odds? Well, we can fix that. Do you feel like matching, Mr. Lawrence?" He asked. "Yes, sensai!" He responded and I flinched back.
"No more fighting," Miyagi replied. "This is a karate dojo, not a knitting class, you don't just drop a challenge and leave old man. Now you get your boy on the mat or me and you will have a problem." He threatened.
"Too much advantage. Your dojo." Miyagi responded. "Name a place," Kreese replied. "Tournament," Miyagi said, motioning to the poster behind him. Kreese began laughing along with the rest of the class. "He's gonna enter the tournament?" He said. "We both are," I replied.
His gaze snapped to me, noticing the black eye. "How'd you get the black eye?" He asked. My eyes trailed to Johnny quickly before back to him, I didn't reply, but I knew he knew.
"I think we can accommodate you, don't you Mr. Lawrence?" He asked. "Yes, sensai." He replied much calmer this time. "Fall back." He replied and Johnny bowed before returning to his spot.
"One more request," Miyagi said. "Make it fast," Kreese said without turning towards us. "Leave boy alone to train." He said. "What about the girl?" He asked. "No worry about girl," Miyagi said. "Your a pushy little bastard, aren't you? But I like that. I like that." He said before beginning to walk through the rows.
"Nobody here lays a hand on the prima donna until the tournament, do you understand?" He asked. "Yes sensai!" they all replied.
"If you don't show, it's open season on him, on you... and on her." He said as he pointed to each of us. I looked behind him and locked eyes with Tommy, then Dutch, then Jimmy. They all looked remorseful but I didn't care. They almost killed him.
Johnny was the worst of it all, I so desperately wanted to say that I hated him, and honestly a small part of me did, but there was a much larger part of me that... cared for him deeply.
As Kreese turned around and noticed six of his students looking at me, his best six students, he turned back to me, and that was when he realized I didn't need the agreement because I was his six best students weakness.