Chapter Text
-Yesterday, Cobra Kai Dojo-
Tiger walks back into the dojo, full of pride. He finally did it. He finally conquered his fears and faced them head on. No, he did more than that. He showed no fear and most importantly no mercy. Having shed any concepts of mercy, a concept his enemies will not share. Tiger walks into the double doors, catching everyone's attention. He still had some bruises during his fight with Diego, so naturally everyone was concerned about him. Aisha especially looked the most worried.
"Jeri-Tiger what happened?" Aisha asks, noticing the hideous bruise on his eye. Hawk rushes over to Tiger.
"Bro, you alright? What the hell happened to you?" Hawk exclaimed, almost a hint of anger in his voice upon seeing of Tiger's bruises. It wasn't serious though. Just very noticeable.
A small devious smirk appears on Tiger's lips. "You remember those assholes I told you about?" Hawk and the gang nodded their heads, if they beat up Tiger again then they would be happy to avenge him by finding them and beat the shit out of them for him. Despite only getting to know him, he's still Cobra Kai, and Cobra Kai is their family, it's like Sensei Kreese once said, "Cobra Kai is not a hobby. It's not a club. It's your brothers and sisters. If the enemy attacks one of you, they attack all of you."
"I just followed Sensei Kreese's and Hawk's advice. I confronted my enemies and I beat the shit out of them!" Tiger proudly stated. "I doubt those assholes are gonna be messing with me or anyone else ever again." Tiger proudly stated. Kreese walks up to Tiger, impressed by his show of strength.
"Well, done Mr. Tiger. Perhaps you're not such a weakling after all." Kreese stated, in a somewhat cold manner. Tiger nodded, although he still didn't like the way Sensei Kreese was giving him the cold shoulder treatment, at this point he grew accustomed to it. His father often talked to him in the same, cold manner but it didn't bother him, until he started telling him how useless and pathetic, he was, and he would be crying like a pansy-ass baby, after his father kicks his ass. The old Jericho may have been a pussy; but not Tiger. Not anymore. Tiger vowed to never feel weak ever again.
Hawk gives Tiger a light bro-tap on his shoulder. "Congrats, Tiger. It's not everyday Sensei Kreese is impressed, and he's not so easily impressed." Tiger shrugs.
"So, I've noticed." Tiger mused.
"If you think that was impressive, you'll like this." Tiger takes his shirt off, revealing a large tiger head tattoo on his back.
"Holy shit." Hawk exclaimed, impressed by how badass his tattoo looked. Obviously, it couldn't compare to his badass tattoo, but it was impressive, nonetheless. Hawk was glad he didn't copy him and got a hawk tattoo.
"That is badass, man!" Mitch giddily said, in awe of Tiger's tattoo.
"Right! It took nearly 14 hours, and the needles were fucking painful, but it was worth it!" Tiger explained, flexing his back tattoo while making grunting noises. Aisha stood in awe of Tiger's back tattoo.
"Wait, is your mom okay with that?" Aisha asks.
"Oh, she has no idea. Probably going to wear t-shirt until college maybe longer. So, please don't tell her. She will kill me if she finds out. Like dig a hole and bury me in it." Tiger said, explaining his worry to his friends. The faux-hawk and the orange dye was one thing, but a tattoo is another. She will probably have a heart attack if she ever finds out.
Mitch chuckles, "What? Scared of your mom?"
Tiger shakes his head, "No. I'm not scared of my mom." He scoffed, but Mitch and the gang weren't buying it. Knowing his mom, she's probably passed out drunk on the couch again as we speak, but so far, she has been sober enough to take some notice of her son.
-Early Morning, LaRusso Houshold-
Daniel continues to worry about Robby Keene. Ever since the school fight, he hasn't seen him since. He has looked for almost every place, every corner, even his old apartment, but he wasn't there. It was almost as if Robby had disappeared off of the face of the earth. Considering what happened he didn't blame him. Sitting at the breakfast table Daniel texted Robby a dozen times, no response. Anthony was just at the table eating his favorite cereal, reses's peanut butter puffs with a tablet he's playing on, next to him. Sara and Sam were getting dressed and ready for school. Just as Amanda was preparing her pot of coffee, for her and Daniel, she senses his grief and tries to comfort him.
"You know Robby probably ditches his phone. That's why he's not texting you back." Amanda said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
Daniel sighs, "I know. I just wish there was more I could do." He trailed off. "I can't stand it. I gotta find him. I just...shouldn't have been so harsh to him. You know I was so mad at him about everything, I lost control, and he took the brunt of it. Maybe if that didn't happen-" He trailed off again. Ever since the school fight Daniel had a lot of time to reflect on his actions prior to...that fight. And he feels that if he hadn't been so harsh with Robby and had he'd taught him properly none of this would have happened.
"Hey, hey, hey," Amanda said as she rubs her husband's back. "It's not your fault. Look let's just try to think positively. Runaways usually come back."
"Or they get caught doing something illegal to stay afloat. Or they're found dead." Anthony sarcastically remarked, earning a weird look from his parents. "What? It's true look it up."
Amanda ignored Anthony's morbid comment and concentrated on helping Daniel. "Maybe you should try reaching out to Johnny again?"
He shook his head. "Six messages isn't enough? He obviously doesn't want to talk to me." Daniel sighs, not knowing that Johnny threw his phone away after the school fight in a drunken filled rage and depression, feeling guilty over Miguel's state. "You know if we're gonna find Robby, we're gonna have to find him ourselves." As confident as Daniel sounded, Amanda was somewhat unconvinced that he could find him all by himself. Sure, aside from Johnny, he knew Robby better than anyone, but still there was only so much one person can do. It would probably take days, weeks or even months to find a fugitive during his one-man hunt. Plus, Amanda was more worried about if he does find him, then what? The cops would still be on his tail and if they find him, he would possibly be arrested for harboring a fugitive from the law.
Just then Sam and Sara walks into the kitchen. Daniel's face lit up as soon as he saw his two beautiful daughters. "Hey, good morning sweethearts."
"Hey," Sam cheerfully responds. Sara silently acknowledges her parents.
Daniel asks how their doing as he gives both of them a soft kiss on their foreheads.
"Baby you sleep, okay?" Amanda asks, concerned over Sam not getting enough sleep, after the fight. Not that she can blame her after all the shit she's been through.
"Yeah, better." Sam says, lying through her teeth. Sara could tell that's bullshit but didn't say anything. Ever since the school fight Sam hasn't been sleeping well. Haunted by nightmares of the fight, Miguel getting kicked off of the balcony, Tory threatening to slice her face off and worst of all the constant reminders of her scars, courtesy of Tory Fucking Nichols. Oh, how Sara wanted her to pay, but she doubts Sam, or her parents would approve of her going after Tory. Besides she didn't even know where she lives, so finding her was goanna be like a needle in a haystack.
"You know if I got suspended for starting a karate war, something tells me you guys wouldn't be this nice to me." Anthony said sarcastically, Sara rolls her eyes in annoyance. Like Anthony will ever get into a karate fight. Nah, he would rather play video games than fight.
"Just eat your coco puffs." Amanda responded.
"They're Reses's peanut butter puffs." Anthony shot back. Sara rolled her eyes again, giving Anthony a middle finger without her parents noticing. Anthony shook his head and gave her the middle finger back.
"So, first day back, you gals ready?" He asks, enthusiastically, despite with all the shit that's currently happening.
"Yeah, definitely," Sam replied confidently. But secretly she wasn't ready to go back at all. Fully aware of her family name, especially hers are being dragged through the mud. She's aware of how infamous their names are now. Ever since the school fight many people blame the LaRusso's and especially hers for "starting the fight", some have even blamed Sam for "tramping around with that other girl's boyfriend." But the truth is it was Tory who started that fight over something as petty as a kiss.
"Well, I'm not. I was just enjoying my exile from school. No class, no overcrowded hallways, no homework and especially no Cobra Kai assholes." Sara joked, trying to lighten the mood with her usual sarcastic wit.
"Language!" Amanda retorted.
"Sorry." She said innocently.
Sam giggled while Daniel rolls his eyes. Even when things are shitty Sara's always maintained her witty sense of humor. Guess she gets it from her mother.
-Later, West Valley High School-
Well, this is it. Jericho's first time in West Valley High School. He hasn't been in an American school before, let alone any American school before, so this was new territory for him. He initially found the prospect of going to an American high school, nerve wracking but with his new friends going with him all that anxiety went away for a while. He knew moving to a new school would cause some drama, especially among his peers. He does have some knowledge of how he will be treated. Some kids might even try to bully him, humiliate him, even beat him up for even the smallest of sights, but with him and his new band of Cobra's, nobody would dare touch them. No one would dare to even think of messing with him. Now that he knows karate. If they did, he would do to them what he did to that pussy Diego, show them no mercy. Just like life showed him no mercy. For once in his life, he didn't go to school with a black eye, claiming it was an "accident", an accident named "dad". But now he didn't have to worry about lying to the teachers about his scars and bruises he gets from his violent alcoholic dad. Tiger has been dreaming of this day, a day where he no longer has to deal with his dad. And that dream came true. It was like waking up from a seemingly unending nightmare. There was one thing Tiger didn't count on though: the new security guards. Since the infamous fight, there was a round-the-clock security in this place. It was almost like a school shooting happened there recently. Fortunately, there were never any school shootings in West Valley High at all, just an all-out karate brawl that went out of control. Tiger was still confused on why karate was being cast at the villain when the Miyagi-Do's were the real villains. They started the fight, and they're paying the price for it. After all, if it wasn't for Miyagi-Do, there wouldn't have been a fight in the first place.
After checking with security, the security guards searched him, scanning his backpack for any hidden potential weapons he could be carrying, they finally let him pass. Tiger is free to greet his two friends, Hawk and Mitch. Standing next to his friends as they wait for their mutual friend to show up, Bert. After the guards finished searching his backpack, he was free to pass, he walks towards the three Cobra's.
"Hey guys." Bert gleefully greeted the three Cobra's.
"There's the man." Hawk said happily as he gave Bert a friendly handshake. Mitch gave him a friendly tap on his shoulder. Tiger gives Bert they're signature fist bump.
"This is the year. Day 1, round 2. Let's get it boys." Hawk stated, determined for this year to work in their favor without a hitch. While Tiger was ignorant to some of the events that happened at West Valley, outside of the infamous karate brawl, since he was still new to the Valley and the school, he shared Hawk's sentiment. Wanting to make his first year in West Valley High School a good one. Even with all of the shit he's been through.
"Ooh freshman babes, eleven o'clock." Mitch said, as three cute girls, led by a beautiful brunette walking near them.
A devious smirk appears on Hawk's lips, "Hey ladies." He said, getting the three-gals attention. "I know freshman year can be kinda scary, so if anybody gives you any trouble, just come to me. I'm the guy-." But Hawk's next words were quickly interrupted.
"Who wets the bed and got kicked into the trophy case." The brunette interrupted; Hawk's cocky smirk quickly disappears at her snide comment. "Yeah, we know." She responded snidely, the three girls walk away, unimpressed by Hawk's attempted smooth flirting. If she wasn't a girl, Hawk would normally kick her ass for saying shit to him like that, but she is a girl and lucky for her, if she was a guy then Hawk would show him no mercy.
"Oh shit." Mitch chuckled, but he quickly stops when Hawk intimidates him into silence. While Tiger chuckled a little bit, he remained stoic and thought she was a little bitchy for brushing off Hawk's generous offer. Granted he felt he could've done slightly better but still that girl was rude.
"Hey, Demetri." The brunette said in a flirty manner, passing a tall, scrawny white kid with black hair, walking next to a large black kid wearing a strange black and purple shirt with an alien on it.
"Someone knows who I am. A human female." Demetri responded giddily, truly flabbergasted that a cute girl was taking notice of him. Him of all people. A nerd no less. No girl had ever taken notice of him in his life. It wouldn't be the first time someone took notice of him. Earlier some of the male students have been giving him high fives and complimenting him, which is something Demetri wasn't used to since most kids in West Valley High would either ignore him or tease him for his nerdy interests, or even downright bully him. Ever since he kicked Hawk into the trophy case his popularity was steadily rising. He could get used to this. It was kinda nice for people to actually take him seriously for once.
"You're famous now 'meat." Chris replied, giving Demetri a friendly tap on the shoulder. Ever since he kicked Hawk into the trophy case, he has since been getting a lot of attention. More attention than he was normally used to. Some of the kids didn't even bother to bully him anymore. And it was great, for him anyway.
The three Cobra's soon faced their respective rivals, Hawk faced Demetri, Mitch faced Chris, Bert faced Nate. Tiger stood right behind them, facing the Miyagi-Do's, glaring at all three of them. While their main focus was on their rivals, Demetri briefly glanced at Tiger while Tiger stood there with a stoic look on his face, then he returned his focus to Hawk, unfazed by his former best-friend-turned-rival.
"Got something to say?" Mitch mockingly asks, while making a waving hand gesture to his face, a form of challenge.
"Yeah, check out my new Lit book. Lots of hard-hitting shit right here, if you know what I mean?" Chris replied, Mitch's cocky smirk faded once he saw the book, having a flashback of the school fight where Chris hits him and knocks him out with that stupid book. Mitch glares at Chris in annoyance, bitter of his defeat at the hands of this traitor.
"All the security isn't enough to protect your scrawny ass." Hawk snarled. Tiger glares at the scrawny teen, sizing him up, to see what he was up against. Tiger doubts this "nerd" would be much of a threat to him, Hawk or any of his friends. In fact, aside from the big guy the Miyagi-Do students looks pathetic compared to them.
Demetri remained unfazed, no longer intimidated by his former best-friend-turned-tormentor. "I don't need security." He replied, taking a few inches closer to Hawk. Hawk has flashbacks of his humiliating defeat at the hands of the nerd. The nerd who kicked him into the trophy case. Tiger saw the fight on YouTube, this only makes him angry at this scrawny nerd. He didn't like him at all. Bragging about his ill-conceived victory then rubbing it in his face. If Hawk hadn't got cocky and underestimated the nerd, then he would've won. Tiger glares at the scrawny kid, his hands balled into fists. Oh, how he wanted to punch this kid in his stupid face.
Hawk continues to glare at Demetri. It almost looked like there was gonna be another brawl happening on his first day of school. While the old Jericho would pussy out and avoid any potential fights; Tiger would happily engage in one to fight for his Cobra Kai friends.
"Everything alright here?" Somebody said, an unfamiliar voice came up to them. Unfamiliar to Tiger but not to the rest of the guys. They seemingly knew who this woman was. She appeared to be a teacher or whatever.
"Oh, we're all buddies here." Demetri said, standing between Hawk and Mitch, wrapping his arms around both their shoulders. "Isn't that right fellas?"
Confused at first, but Hawk played along. "Yeah." He replied, trying to make it look convincing. Tiger nodded his head; he knew how to play it smart.
"Don't you all have somewhere to be?" The lady said in a firm, stern voice.
"Yes, Councilor Blatt." Nate responded, submissively. Wow, even though Tiger was new to West Valley, Councilor Blatt sounded like a real bitch. Tiger immediately took a disliking to her. He's dealt with teachers like that since Ecuador. They were real bitches. Still though, it was probably a blessing in disguise, Tiger thought. Even though he has gained a tougher exterior, he wasn't stupid. If another fight were to break out, then the school would have legitimate reasons to expel them. But should a fight happen with no one else around and no security cameras, well accidents do happen. But for now, Tiger had to think of finding his first period class. He and his mom took a tour here recently and the school's staff were kind enough to let Tiger familiarize himself with the place. And thankfully Hawk and Tiger shared the same first period, so he didn't have to worry about getting lost in a big school like this.
"Sup front wedgie?" Nate said to Yasmine, Chris haughty laughs as they walk by the two girls. Yasmine ignored them and gave Moon an annoyed look.
"What happened to this place? I go to Paris for one summer and the losers are running this school?" Yasmine ranted. Before karate, the "losers" in this school wouldn't even dare to talk to her like that. Not when she and Kyler ran this school. Half of the kids knew their place. Now, things have changed and not for the better.
"I'd be a little nicer if I were you. Half the kids in school knows karate now." Moon warned, but Yasmine remained unconcerned.
"Does that make Aisha queen bitch?" She snidely remarked, still bitter of that little "incident," at the canyon. Even though she was still cool with Aisha despite everything that had happened, she didn't like Yasmine calling her such names.
"Actually, Aisha's parents have restricted her from getting into another fight, if she does then they might move to another city." Moon responded.
"Let's hope she gets into another karate fight then." She laughs. Moon gives her a concerned look.
"I hope not. Her and Sam have been friends since they were little. I couldn't imagine losing a friend cause of some karate war." Moon replied honestly. Despite her and Yasmine being friends again, she still cared about Aisha a lot. She's worried though about what her reaction would be of them being friends again considering their history. Yasmine remained unconcerned, still bitter about the front wedgie incident and Sam "betraying" her to those karate losers. The only reason why she accepted Moon back was because they've known each other for a long time, and she was still rich so that's one reason why she likes her.
Plus, ever since the front wedgie incident, she doesn't have a lot of friends left.
Meanwhile, Sam and Sara had just entered the school, the two brunettes were getting some unwanted attention from their fellow classmates. Since the school fight, their names have become poison in the Valley. Some of them despised them for their role in the fight. Some have even spread hurtful rumors of Sam being a slut for cheating on Robby and kissing Miguel. It wasn't the first time some idiots spread false rumors of her being a slut. But this was different. Last time it was just some attention-grabbing idiot trying to slut shame her out of spite. This time the rumors were backed up by facts. Sam was drunk and kissed Miguel. So, this time Sam couldn't deny anything.
"There they are." One girl scoffed to her friends. The girls gossiped and whispered to each other. While another group rolled their eyes and started whispering to each other too. No doubt they were gossiping about the same shit, saying shit about them to their dumb friends.
"Ignore those bitches." Sara whispered to Sam. "They have nothing else to do but say shit. If you like I can tell them to back off." She responded, starting to walk over to the gossiping bitches. But Sam quickly grabs her arm, pulling her back.
"No, don't." Sam said, Sara furrowed her brows in confusion. "You'll only make it worse. We already got suspended once; we don't need to get suspended again."
Sara sighs heavily, she reluctantly agreed. "Okay, but if anyone gives you any trouble, I'll kick their asses! Suspension or no suspension."
Sam chuckled. Sara always had a bit of a temper, she never liked anyone she cares about getting shit on, least of all those Cobra Kai assholes. If she wasn't her sister, she would be the perfect candidate for Cobra Kai. Luckily, she is, and she hates Cobra Kai with a passion, perhaps just as much as she and their dad does. Ever since Cobra Kai came into town, things haven't been the same for her or her family.
Just as Sam was about to go to her class upstairs, her breath suddenly became erratic. Flashbacks of the fight and Miguel's fall swarmed into her mind. She suddenly grips the railing harder.
"Sam?" Sara said, but no answer. This wasn't looking good. Not good at all. Something was wrong but Sam won't tell her.
Just then she felt someone's arm on her shoulder, and she quickly snaps out of her trance.
"Woah. Easy there Captain Marvel. Same team remember?" Demetri responded.
"I-I have to go." Sam frantically ran out the school doors.
"Sam, wait! Where are you going? Sam!" Sara shouted but Sam ignores her, she keeps walking towards the doorway. She was out of earshot.
Sara looks on as she watchers her sister. She was worried for her. Something was going on, but Sam refused to tell her anything, so she had no clue on what to do or how to help Sam. At this point there was nothing she can do. Maybe it was because of those girls, or the security that freaked her out or maybe it was being in school again.
"What was that about?" Sara asked facing Demetri. Demetri shrugged.
"I have no idea." Demetri responded honestly. In truth, even though they hung out a few times, he still was completely ignorant as to what was troubling Sam. He thought it was the school fight or the fact that Miguel was in the hospital. "She's your sister, do you have any idea what's going on with her?"
"No, she hasn't told me anything. Every time I'd ask what's wrong, she either dodges the question with "I'm fine, Sara, don't worry" or she just doesn't say anything at all."
Demetri shrugs, "Well, whatever is happening with her, she'll tell us when she's ready but for now let's just be patient and wait until she's ready to tell us." Sara nods, although the idea of waiting didn't sit well with her considering the fact that she hated the idea of doing nothing while her sister is suffering in silence and can't do anything about it. But Demetri was right, she'll tell her when she wants to tell her.
As Sara goes to her locker, she soon spots a familiar face; Jericho. She hasn't seen him since...since the incident at Don Corazon's Mexican restaurant. She never forgot what he did.
"Hey," She happily greeted, allowing Tiger to meet her gaze.
"Oh, hey Sara. What's up?" Tiger replied, happy to see this cute brunette again. Besides Hawk, Mitch, Bert, and the rest of the Cobra Kai's it was nice to see a familiar face in this unfamiliar school.
Sara's eyes widened as soon as she sees Jericho's new orange dyed faux-hawk haircut. A little bit surprised at his new haircut. Granted, it looked good on him but she kinda grew accustomed to his old jet-black slick hairstyle he had when they first met at the restaurant. She thought it was kind of cute. She thought it brought those chocolate brown eyes of his.
"Jericho?" Sara gasped. "What happened to your hair? Did you join a punk band or something?" She sarcastically remarked, Tiger playfully rolled his eyes.
"Oh this? I just decided to change it. It's just that-" He trailed off mid-sentence. "I was so tired of being bullied that I decided to give myself a badass haircut so that I wouldn't be bullied anymore. And so far, it's working."
Sara nodded, but she frowned, while she supported his new hairstyle, at the same time she felt bad for him. It wouldn't be the first time an insecure, shy, nerdy teen decided to change his hairstyle so that he wouldn't get bullied anymore. Sara's eyebrows furrowed as she notices the bruises on Jericho's face.
"What?" Tiger asks, noticing Sara staring at him or more specifically his bruised eye.
Sara places a gentle hand on Tiger's face, "What happened to your eye. It's all black and swollen. Who did this?" Sara accidentally touches his bruised eye, causing Tiger to seethe with some slight discomfort at the contact.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry I-I d-didn't mean to-" Sara stuttered. Tiger shook his head.
"No, no it's alright. I'm tougher than I look." Tiger gently grabs Sara's hand; he scratches the back of his head. "You remember those assholes from the restaurant?" Sara nodded her head. "Well, after I threatened to tell the manager on them, they beat the shit out of me, over and over again. Before they could do any lasting damage two cop cars appeared and took me to the hospital. Then a couple of days later they cornered me outside of my apartment and they...beat the shit out of me...again."
Sara shook her head in disgust. She had no idea what he's been going through. If she knew what was going on she would have visited him at the hospital and comforted him. Or better yet she would've confronted those assholes and beat the shit out of them for what they did to him. If there's one thing she hated the most; it was bullies. Or even invite him to her house to have her dad teach him karate. Sara knows of her dad's history of getting bullied so he would be open to helping a kid who's being relentlessly bullied.
"Oh my god Jericho. I-I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that. If I had known I would've-" She trailed off, before Tiger interrupts her.
"Hey, hey, it's not your fault. It's those assholes. They wouldn't leave well enough alone. But I managed to give them a few bruises myself." Tiger joked as he playfully did a punching motion. Sara chuckles.
"Hey, my dad owned a dojo. Maybe you could stop by at our place so that we could teach you some karate moves." Sara said, even though her dad no longer taught karate anymore due to the school fight and with what happened with Robby, she would be more than happy to teach him some moves to defend himself. Plus, if Mr. and Mrs. LaRusso heard Jericho's story maybe this would change her mother's opinion on her new anti-karate stance and let her dad reopen Miyagi-Do.
Tiger raises an eyebrow, "Wait you do karate?"
Sara smiles, "Hell yeah. Not to brag but let's just say I was the top of my class, next to my sister. My fists and feat were deadly weapons." Sara bragged, Tiger laughs, impressed by her, he'd always admired a badass woman. "Well at least I used to before my dad was forced to shut down for the...incident."
"Oh, I'm sorry. That sucks, cause karate is badass and people casting karate as the villain is bullshit!" Tiger exclaims. In truth, Tiger did have a point. Karate being casted as the villain for one incident is incredibly ridiculous. Before karate, kids in West Valley High were relentlessly bullied to no end. Then karate became the most popular thing in the Valley and kids were finally able to stand up for themselves. Those kids felt unique.
"Right! And yeah, maybe you could stop by our dojo, and we can teach you how to defend yourself." Sara generously offered. Now, if they could rally some of the Miyagi-Do students they could finally fight back against Cobra Kai's bullying. Sara doesn't care if her mom doesn't approve of karate anymore. In her eyes as long as Cobra Kai was dominating the valley, no one was safe.
Tiger smiles at her, grateful for her generous offer but has to decline her offer, "Thank you Sara, I appreciate the offer but I'm already part of a dojo. I've been taking lessons they're recently." Tiger humbly says.
A small smile appeared on the side of her lip, "Really? That's great Jericho! I'm so happy for you! What's it called?"
"It's called-"
*Dinging* Dinging* *Dinging*
The first period bell rings, interrupting Tiger's sentence. And Tiger couldn't afford missing first period on his first day of school. His mom would be pissed if he missed a class on his first day of school. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise since Cobra Kai was being villainized for what happened.
"Sorry Sara, I can't be late for my first period. Can we talk later?" Tiger smiled as he grabs his stuff from his locker and puts it in his backpack.
"No, no, it's fine. We can talk later." Sara smiles, waving to Jericho as he walks away, Tiger turns his head back slightly and waves back to her. While Sara was happy for him taking karate lessons at whatever dojo he was in. Still though, she was a little sad and disappointed that he couldn't be in the same dojo with her. Nonetheless, she decides to support him all the way. Tiger watches intently as Sara walks away, smiling like an idiot.
Just before Tiger walks into class he spots Hawk standing next to one of the lockers, leaning against them. Hawk cockily smirks at Tiger with his arms crossed.
"I see your making friends with the locals, huh?" Hawk sarcastically responded, earning a dry laugh from Tiger, as he looked down to his feet and smiled. Hawk's face grimaced as he got a long, good look at his "friend". His jaw dropped as soon as he got a good look at his new friend. He recognizes her tall figure, the way she moved her body, the blueish nail polish, her brownish hair. It was none other than Sara Fucking LaRusso. Second daughter of that prick Daniel LaRusso and twin sister to that slut Sam LaRusso, the girlfriend to that prick who hurt Miguel.
"Wait, your friends with that girl?" Hawk asks as he pointed at Sara, who kept walking. "You're friends with Sara?" Hawk's face darkens, due to her history, Hawk hated Sara with a passion, just as much as he hated Demetri, Sam and the rest of those Miyagi-Do's. He blamed her for what happened to Miguel. While her sister did start it by harassing Tory and kissing Miguel, Sara was just another bitch to him. Worse she was a LaRusso.
"Yeah? Why? What's the problem?" Tiger asks, confusion written all over his face. He was still relatively new to West Valley and didn't know everyone. Still relatively ignorant of Cobra Kai's feud with the Miyagi-Do's. Outside of what Hawk and Sensei Kreese told him.
Hawk sighs, "You do know who that is, right?" Tiger still looks at Hawk dumbfounded and shrugs his shoulders; he had no clue who he was talking about.
"That's Sara LaRusso. Miyagi-Do's top bitch, second daughter to Daniel LaRusso, and Sam's twin sister." Hawk scowled, venom dripped from his mouth as soon as he completed his sentence and disdain for the LaRusso family. Tiger was in shock. He couldn't believe it. He thought Hawk was either lying or got the wrong Sara. But Hawk has never lied to him.
"What?!" Tiger yelled, shocked at this revelation. His face contorted, thinking he could be wrong. What if this isn't the same Sara? Maybe he could've had the wrong Sara. I mean, there were a couple of Sara's in the Valley, right? Tiger thought. "Are you sure Hawk? I mean, are you sure you got the right Sara? There are hundreds of Sara's in the world, are you sure this is the same Sara?" Tiger asks, in denial to the fact that he's acquainted to a Miyagi-Do student and worst of all a LaRusso.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Hawk said gruffly. "She's Miyagi-Do's top student and was one of the Miyagi-Do's that started the fight that got your brother, my best friend, injured!" Hawk yelled, bitterness and anger in his voice.
Tiger reflected on what he said. Thinking he might be telling the truth. She never did tell him her last name. Now he knows why. Her family's name is infamous. Why shouldn't it be? They're the ones who started the fight, Cobra Kai was just fighting back. Just then Hawk pulled out his phone and showed him a Facebook picture of Sara, with her mom, her sister Samantha LaRusso, her brother, and her father Daniel LaRusso.
Tiger's face flushed with anger and betrayal. He recognizes the woman in the picture. He met her once at Don Corazon's Mexican Restaurant. He never forgot her face. And he recognizes the male adult in that photo; Daniel LaRusso, the man who founded Miyagi-Do and the one who trained Robby Fucking Keene. Tiger saw his cringe car commercials and both Hawk and Kreese told him about him. Tiger's nose cringed with anger; he hated the LaRusso family with a strong fiery passion. Hawk then flips to another image; a gif of Sara LaRusso breaking a wooden board with her feet. Tiger's hands balled into fists; he punched the locker wall hard.
"Hey, didn't you hear the first period bell? Class is starting!" A teacher yelled, frustrated at Jericho and Eli for nearly missing class.
"Sorry sir, it's my first day here." Tiger innocently replied.
"Alright since your new here I'll let it slide, today." He said factly, "But next time don't dilly dally." The teacher sternly told Tiger. Tiger and Hawk walks into class, Tiger huffed, while he liked the idea of being in first period with Hawk, he dreaded the amount of classwork their teacher was going to make them do.
-A couple of hours later, last period-
Tiger happily walks out of class, ready to get back to the dojo to train. Just as he was grabbing his stuff from his locker, he feels a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around seeing a familiar face. It was Sara LaRusso, beaming him with her beautiful smile. Tiger smiles back at her, containing his anger, his hatred towards her family. He wanted to play the "long game", until the time was right to strike. Just like real life tigers, he is a patient hunter, waiting for the right moment to sink their teeth into their prey.
"Hey, Sara, what's up?" Tiger cheerfully asks, hiding his newfound aggressive demeanor. While he was still internally angry at even interacting with a fucking LaRusso, he still sticks to the plan of concealing his true nature, until the need to drop his bullshit becomes absolutely necessary. Tiger internally scoffs at himself. He was starting to sound like a supervillain from a comic-book, ones who maintain their facade to lull their enemies into a false sense of security, until the time is right to strike.
"Well," The brunette trailed off a bit, twirling her hair in a playful motion, "I know we barely know each other at all, but I was just wondering if you would like to come to our house for a visit." Tiger quirked an eyebrow, this was sudden and very unexpected. No girl has ever invited him to their house ever, so this was a surprise. "I-I know this is all sudden since, well...but I just thought we should hang out sometime. Maybe my dad could teach you some self-defense moves." The brunette playfully teased as she playfully puts her hands up in a defense position.
Tiger nervously scratches the back of his neck, "Uh, about that." The faux-hawk teen trailed off, while the brunette gives him the cute puppy dog look. "I'm sorry Sara, but I can't, you see I've already got plans. I'm hanging out with a couple of my friends after school's over."
Sara quirked an eyebrow as she smiles, "Oh, it's okay I understand. Glad you're making some friends here. Just out of curiosity who are these friends?"
Tiger looks behind him, seeing his friends walking in the hallways, "Oh, here they are now." Tiger points out to Sara. She smiles at the prospect of meeting Jericho's friends. She got the impression due to just moving to LA, he hasn't made a couple of friends, so she was happy for Jericho finally making some friends.
But as soon as she gets a good look at Jericho's "friends" her smile quickly fades as soon as she saw a certain spikey-red hair teen leading his group of Cobra Kai's, some of whom she's unfortunately encountered before. She recognizes Aisha Robinson and Bert, her former friends. Oh no. They were his new friends? Jericho new friends are those Cobra Kai assholes? Does this mean he's a Cobra Kai? No, he couldn't be. Could he? Sara worriedly thought. Just then a horrible revelation crossed her face. Could Jericho be part of Cobra Kai?
Sara's face darkens and her hands balled into fists, she puts her hand onto Jericho's shoulder, "Those are your new friends? Them?!" Sara exclaims, truly shocked that sweet, kind, innocent Jericho would be friends with those bullies.
Tiger raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, why?" Feigning confusion over why Sara suddenly didn't like his friends. Sara's thoughts were immediately swarmed with worry, if he's joined Cobra Kai then that would be bad. Cobra Kai's already taking over the Valley now that her dad shut down Miyagi-Do, if they were recruiting more students, then it would breed more assholes and that's the last thing they needed. Hell, it's the last thing the Valley needed.
"Jericho, those guys are not your friends. They're bullies! They'll attack anyone who even looks at them the wrong way. All because of their bullshit philosophy of striking first, striking hard, and showing no mercy to anyone. Not even to their friends. These "friends" of yours are not the type of people you should be associating with." She stated as a matter of factly. Normally she wouldn't say such things or judge other people so harshly, but she was worried about the influence his so-called friends would have on him, especially since these friends were the school's biggest bullies since Kyler Fucking Park and his gang of assholes. And unlike those idiots, the Cobra Kai's led by Hawk are way worse than they ever were.
Tiger raises an eyebrow, "Look, Sara I know your trying to look out for me, but these guys are my friends, they've helped me when I was going through shit. And it's not really your place to decide who I choose to hang out with." Tiger coldly stated, Sara's mouth widened in shock at Jericho's harsh tone. He never said anything so coldly to her. This is what she feared. They were becoming a bad influence on him, just like with Hawk.
Tiger looks at her sympathetically, "Look, I'm sorry. I know your just looking out for me. It's just that...well." The faux-hawk teen said trailing off. "Before you and those guys, I was a loser. Back in Ecuador I had no friends. I used to be bullied a lot back then and then I come to the Valley and now after becoming friends with those guys I-I wasn't getting bullied anymore. For the first time in my life, I was getting respect." Tiger stated honestly, or at least his version of being honest. Leaving out some parts like his dad being a gangster and used to use him as a punching bag whenever he felt like it.
In truth Sara did understand what he's going through. Before taking up karate, she used to be bullied by her peers for not having the same "girly" interests as them, most girls would spend time in malls, talking about boys and other stuff while she often hung out with the "unpopular" crowd like Eli and Demetri. Until Yasmine came along and befriended her sister, then those bitches stopped bullying her for being friends with the "queen" of the school. Then it turns out Yasmine was no better and started bullying other people who weren't in the same social class, and it didn't sit right with her.
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so judgmental. It's just that the difference between you and me is that I know some of those guys and I've had a lot of bad experiences with them." She tutted; flashbacks of the school fight washed over her mind. Unlike Sam, Sara wasn't entirely affected by the fight, but it still haunted her, especially the screams of her sister as Tory was about to kill her with a fucking spiked bracelet. Just before Sara could say anything else, her phone pinged. It was her dad.
"Well, gotta go, my dad is waiting for me. Maybe we can hang out some other time." She responded hopefully as she walks away. Tiger smiles.
"I would like that." Tiger said, waving Sara goodbye. Just as Sara had her backed turned, Tiger's friendly smile quickly dissipates, turning into a small scowl. Glaring at the brunette. From the distance Hawk had been watching him and Sara talk, he glares at their new teammate.
Tiger than walks up to the gang, giving them high fives and fist bumps. Hawk gives Tiger the traditional Cobra Kai fist bump before folding his arms and frowning at Tiger.
Hawk then spoke up, "Why are you talking to that LaRusso bitch? She's the enemy." Hawk stated coldly.
"I know that I'm just keeping my enemy's close. Right now, she trusts me. Besides, you said Robby used to live with the LaRusso's last summer, right?" Hawk nodded but wasn't sure where this is going. "And she's been training with Robby during that same time, right? Then that means, she knows Robby better than anybody. She might even know where he is. And if she does, then we can get that son of a bitch before the cops do!" Tiger seethes, desperately wanting revenge on Robby.
Hawk nodded but while Tiger's plan is smart, there were a few holes to that plan. "Look, I want to find Robby just as much as you do, but if Sara or any of those LaRusso's knew where he was then he would be in juvie by now." Tiger nodded, mentally face-palming himself for Hawk to point out such a glaring and obvious flaw to his plan.
"Shit! Why didn't I think of that?" Tiger said, embarrassed.
Hawk looks at him sympathetically, "Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get that son of a bitch soon!" Hawk vengefully declared.
Then Hawk's phone pinged, his eyes lit up as soon as he saw the notification.
"What is it?" Tiger asked.
"I just got a message from the hospital." Hawk said, looking at the group.
"What is it? Is Miguel, okay?" Tiger asks, worried something might've happened to Miguel. What if he was in a coma forever? Or worse what if he just died? The crowd soon inches a little closer to Hawk, anticipating or dreading what he's going to say next.
Hawk's eyes darted back to the Cobra's, "Miguel just woke up." The group of Cobra's took a collective sigh of relief. Tiger and Aisha were especially glad to hear of Miguel's recovery. Ever since Miguel's injury they all feared that he wouldn't wake up, but now they're concerns are now alleviated.
Relief cast over the faux-hawk teen. His brother was finally awake. Now he was going to meet his brother face-to-face for the first time.