𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬𝗧𝗪𝖮 -
Loophole
Cobra Kai had trashed Myagi-Do horribly.
It was evident by the obliterated dojo that while Rory was gone, the rivalry between the two dojos had evolved. What started out as a mere feud between two boys had grown into something much more than anyone could have anticipated. Now she understood why her presence at the dojo two days ago caused such a ruckus.
There was fighting happening on both sides almost every other day at random places. Apparently, yesterday while Sam and Robby were at the mall, Hawk and a bunch of other Cobra Kai attacked Demetrius for reasons related to a Yelp review of all things.
It was all ridiculous.
Her side had been chosen before she even understood what was happening. But nonetheless, she easily fell back into old habits and old places. Today she was at the Myagi-do with Robby, Sam, and Demetrius, helping Larusso fix what was left of the spot. They filled her in on what she missed in the last month or so much to her dismay. "Yeah, your little boyfriend and all his Cobra Kai friends stole our set time at Valley Fest." Robby half-joked.
Rory made a face, "He's not my boyfriend." She said rather bitterly, "He's not anything." Robby raised his brows at the confession. "What? Trouble in Paradise?"
She shrugged, "He has a girlfriend now named Tory, kinda funny isn't it?" His face turned into one of sympathy, "Man I'm sorry Ror, I had no idea—"
"It's fine." She reassured quickly, "I don't know what I was thinking. Kinda was stupid to think we could just pick up where we left off."
"What ha—"
"A little help?" Demetrius sassed the two who were picking up the broken plants. Rory and Robby shared a look and went over to the other duo. The four struggled to lift the heavy rock as it continued not to budge. Rory's eyes scowled at the pair who had stopped lifting to engage in chatter. "Less yapping more lifting," Sam and Robby looked away from each other instantly and began lifting the rock again but to no avail, it stayed in the same position. Weird.
"Are you guys even lifting?" Demetri said. "Because I feel like I'm doing nothing." He panted out of breath and held his knees.
"Forget it, all right?" Robby sighed tiredly, "It's too heavy. We're gonna need a forklift."
"Try a crane." Rory scoffed.
"How'd they even knock it over?"
"It's a lot easier to knock something down than it is to lift it up." Daniel chimed in, "Don't worry, we'll get it back up."
"Uh, excuse me?" A random boy said, unannounced, "Is this Miyagi-do karate?"
Everyone shared a knowing look with each other, while Rory just stood there confused. "Did I miss something?"
Who were these guys?
"Come back for another beating?" Robby roared, marching over to the group of boys.
"Robby—"
"This is one of the guys who were beating on Demetei," Robby said indifferently, motioning to the guy who stood in front of the other two. "Probably helped trash the dojo.l
He looked down shamefully, "we didn't have anything to do with that." He apologized, "But I am sorry about what happened at the mall. We just wanna learn Miyagi-do karate."
Daniel looked swayed by the confession—but everyone else not so much.
"I'd be careful about this Mr. L, letting Cobra Kai's into Miyagi-do. It's like letting the wildings behind the wall."
Rory narrowed her eyes at him, crossing her arms, "what the hell are you talking about?"
"You've never seen Game of Thrones?" He looked almost appealed when she shook her head, "You uncultured swine—" Demetri gaped. "Let me guess you probably spend all your time watching garbage like the Kardashians all day, don't you?"
"In case you didn't know, this—this right here is the reason why you got your ass kicked at the mall." She flicked her hair turning back to the boys in front of her, "And for your information, I watch Rachel Ray when I'm at home."
There was a beat of silence before Daniel spoke up again, "Didn't the wildings help Jon Snow win the battle of the Bastards?" The older man retorted.
Demetrius cursed to himself quietly, "Should've picked another analogy."
"We are happy to have you," Daniel said, shaking all their hands, "Nice to meet you—"
Rory noticed all the tense stares going around the circle. "Well, this is certainly gonna go swell."
They had been reaching the two-hour Mark and everyone was growing more and more irritable and sluggish. The heat mixed with Demetrius's constant yapping, was not a good mix—for anyone. He randomly clung to her at one point and started talking about anything and everything. At first, it was funny but it soon grew aggravating when he started talking about the chains of action in Star Wars—or was it Star Trek? Rory who was nice and kind-hearted as she was, even snapped at him a couple of times. She of course apologized each time but he just wouldn't stop.
Rory chose to take a break from her newfound friend and decided to venture for Sam instead. The two needed to have a long-awaited conversation about a certain someone, and where they stood in their friendship—because quite frankly, things have been awkward. Rory knew that she knew, but she didn't really know what she knew. "Hey." Cromwell greeted, wiping the bead of sweat off of her forehead with her arm.
"Hey." Sam smiled, her voice soft, her perfect white teeth peeking through.
"Can we talk?"
"Yeah, of course."
She lowered the potted plant she was planting and dusted off her hands as she stood. "But before you start, I wanna apologize," Rory raised her brows in surprise, "I haven't been a very good friend to you lately—at all really and you're always there for me, and I wasn't for you." She paused, nervously playing with the tips of her fingers,
"If anyone should be apologizing, it's me."
"Apologize for what?" Now it was Sam's turn to be confused, "you have nothing to be sorry for—"
"I kissed Miguel the night before I left." Rory blurted impulsively.
She paused and thought for a moment, making the brown girl nervous, "Oh." was all she said. "Well, er, to be honest, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."
"What—"
Sam scratched the side of her head, wrinkling her nose, "I knew you guys had a thing for each other —well, in the beginning I didn't know or else I wouldn't have gone out with him, but I caught on eventually."
"I never meant to come in between you guys, I backed off after I found out that you liked him." Rory rushed out, "Hurt like hell but I did—"
"I would've never gone for him if I had known you liked him Ror," Sam said sincerely, "I mean, I did like him and was sad at first but then I realized he's never looked at me the way he looks at you."
Rory chewed on her bottom lip at the information given, her heart swelling in her chest — but instantly turned sour as she thought about her current predicament. "What's wrong?"
"He has a new girlfriend I guess."
"What the hell? What do you mean he has a girlfriend? What sense does that make? Didn't you say that you guys kissed before you left?" Molten bitterness flowed through her, "Who is she?"
She shrugged, "Some chick named Tory."
Her attitude immediately switched at the name. "You're joking right?" Sam said pointedly, her temper sparking.
She shook her head no, "do you know her or something?"
"I know of her." Sam bit the inside of her cheek rather harshly, "quite the bitch if you ask me." She shrugged picking back up the plant.
"I got real cunty vibes from her," Rory mumbled, "and not in a good way." They both shared a laugh before Sam embraced her in a long hug, "I really missed you while you were away Rory."
"I missed you too Sammy." She squeezed her much shorter torso, "Are you sure you're not upset about Miguel and I?" Her eyes cast down shamefully as they let go of each other.
"Nah." She shrugged carelessly, waving her off. "I think after Kyler, I just liked the idea of someone liking me and taking me seriously." Rory helped her pack dirt into the pot while listening intensely, "Besides, I think I might like someone else." She glanced over at Robby who was talking to Daniel.
"Oo" Rory wiggled her brows suggestively, "When did that happen—"
Chris had shoved Demetri to the ground, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. "Oh shit."
"Demetri!" Sam yelled out in concern, leaving her Original place and running over to him. "Are you okay?"
"Whoa! What are you doing?" Daniel said, coming out of the hut to see what all the commotion was about, "'We're on the same team now."
"Once a Cobra Kai always a Cobra Kai," Robby said knowingly, scowling at Chris.
"That's not true." Daniel retorted, "I know it's not true cause—cause I used to be a cobra Kai."
After that sentence, he gathered all his students into the hut to have a serious conversation. Out of all the things she thought he would've said, —him being in Cobra Kai was the most shocking. "So you're telling me, Daniel Larusso—the poster child of Peace, Love, and happiness was in Cobra Kai?" Rory half joked which made him crack a small smile.
"Cobra Kai sells power —strength. And when I joined, I was, well, I was weak." He started, staring shamefully at the ground. "It was 1985. I had just won my first All Valley and Mr. Miyagi didn't want me to compete anymore. He never really liked the idea of fighting for trophies in the first place..." He continued his long soliloquy, "...I learned to strike first, strike hard, and show no mercy. And it turned me into an angry, violent kid."
Rory leaned against the wall and kept her gaze on her shoes. His words felt all too familiar. "It changed me."
"You never told me about any of this," Sam said softly from her seat on the stool.
Daniel almost looked at a loss for words, "It's not something I'm proud of Sam." He said dejectedly. "But my point is, anyone can be seduced by Cobra Kai, even me. And I'll admit, Cobra Kai makes you feel stronger and tougher, but it'll also get you into trouble because that's what happened to me."
"I'm just lucky Mr. Miyagi was willing to take me back." The older man concluded, looking at the wall where the missing medal had once been. "So remember, it doesn't matter who anyone was before they stepped into this dojo. All that matters is that right now, today, we are all Miyagi-do."
-
"Damn," Carmen mumbled from beside Adele, who was lying on her bed. "What is it, Carmen?" The old lady breathed a little, startled as she struggled to sit up "Am I showing signs of any arrhythmias??"
"No, no, no," Carmen said hurriedly, easing Adele back on the bed, "I just forgot to bring the blood pressure machine. I left it at home."
"Girl I ought to throttle you." Adele threatened, "You nearly scared me into another damn heart attack. You trying to kill me?"
Carmen laughed, biting the inside of her cheek, "No, ma'am."
"Just have Rory go get it, your house ain't but five paces away," Adele said.
"I don't want to bother her, she might be busy—"
"Oh, hush." Adele gave a dismissive wave of her hand, "That girl ain't doing nothing but watching Rachel Ray. I told her that she needs to get out more—I said it's not normal for a sixteen-year-old to be in the house on a Friday night watching a damn cooking show." She chuckled, smiling to herself, "Let me tell you when I was sixteen—"
That was precisely how she found herself standing in the Diaz residence. Carmen had said her work bag with the blood pressure machine was on the kitchen table, but it wasn't there. She grunted looking through all the drawers and cabinets big enough to contain the bag.
Her heart quite literally dropped to her ass when she heard keys jingling and the opening sounds of the door.
"Rory?"
The girl froze in her place, hoping that if she stood still enough he wouldn't see her. "You know I can see you, right?"
Damn
She uttered profanities to herself quietly. Sighing, she finally stood up. "Hey," Rory said simply, brushing her hair out of her place and acting like her position wasn't weird at all.
"Hey." He breathed as he brushed his palms together, "er, I hope you don't mind me asking this— but why are you looking through my cabinets at nine o'clock at night?"
"Erm, Carmen's helping my grandma out, and asked if I could come here to get her medical bag." Rory scratched her head and laughed awkwardly, "But I can't seem to find it."
There was a beat of silence in which they stared at one another. "Uh." Miguel shook his head trying to focus on what she was saying, rather than how he was feeling at the moment, "Is everything okay with your grandma?" Miguel set down his karate bag and moved swiftly around the girl.
Rory nodded curtly, "she had a heart attack a few days ago. Carmen offered to help us out."
"I'm so sorry, I had no idea—" He went to the closet storage that was nearby and brought out a black medical satchel and held it out for her.
"You don't have to apologize. I asked Carmen not to tell you—or anyone." Rory uttered, taking the bag from his hands. "Plus we really don't talk anymore, so you couldn't have known." The words tasted so sour coming out of her mouth. She had to hold back from throwing up.
He looked down pitifully as there was another beat of silence. "Sometimes she leaves it in the closet after a late shift at the hospital," Miguel said aimlessly pointing at the closet door, making an effort to break the awkward quietness.
"Thanks."
"about what happened at the dojo the other day—"
"I don't think we should do this right now, Miguel."
"But—" He made an effort to move closer.
"I should probably get back before—"
"Why are you being so cold, and shutting me out?" Miguel said in a clipped voice.
"I don't have anything to say." Rory was starting to grow annoyed, "Actually, you know what— let me rephrase that—I don't care enough to say anything to you."
"I don't get it, I really don't. You're the one who cut things off with me, remember that?"
"Because I thought—I thought that you'd wait for me!" There was a burning in her lungs as she desperately tried to draw in enough air to sustain functionality. "My mistake for thinking we could just pick up where we left off," She scoffed, her eyes beginning to water slightly.
"It's complicated." Miguel groaned, rubbing his face in his hands, "Tory and I aren't—"
"Aren't what? Together? Spare me the bullshit" Rory said, "Robby already filled me in." She rolled her eyes.
Miguel was beginning to get angry, especially at the sound of Robby's name. "What the hell does Robby know." He cried out, "As far as I'm concerned he's nothing but a—"
"A what!? He's a what!?"
"So what, you're defending him now?" Miguel spat, "Is he your boyfriend or something?"
"No! he's my friend, asshole. Unlike you." Rory roared, biting the inside of her cheek rather harshly, "God, they were right about you and Cobra Kai. I mean, stealing medals, lying—I don't even know who you are anymore."
Miguel's face hardened as he watched her with emotionless eyes for the first time ever, "Maybe you never did."
The girl was shocked, to say the least, by his straightforward answer. Usually, he'd argue back some more or even look at her with those big brown pleading eyes, but he never did. She didn't mean what she said in the slightest. She just wanted to get under his skin as he did her, but Maybe Cobra Kai did change him.
"Clearly."