Work Text:
Try to be best
‘Cause you're only a man
And a man's gotta learn to take it
Try to believe
Though the going gets rough
That you gotta hang tough to make it
Like a freight train barreling at him, Daniel was completely unaware of the force that Johnny possessed. He practically chased Daniel around the room, but Daniel was rabbit quick, blocking punches and kicks.
"Don't go easy..."
"I'm not...what do you think this is?"
Daniel punched him right in the solar plexus earning the first point. He hopped back around the room.
"You're dead..." Slight hint of laughter to his voice.
"Yeah...well your mom wears army boots..." Daniel said forcing his grin away.
"What the hell kinda come back is that?" Johnny said throwing a punch that was blocked and attempted to kick him in the face.
Daniel went low and locked his legs around Johnny's and brought him to the ground hard. He whacked his back earning another point. He looked at saw that Johnny's nose had begun to bleed.
"Oh Shit!!" Before he could go and see if he was alright the referee made him return to his corner and kneel.
"Time out...go to your Sensei."
He approached Kreese to the sounds of more booing and laughter. He had never experienced humiliation in front of a large crowd...usually they were on his side. It was Kreese's fault. He stood in front of him and stared him in the eye. Tommy and Dutch were yelling at the crowds...they were giving them hell, even throwing Styrofoam cups at their heads. Kreese studied him quietly for a moment. He went to wipe a thin trail of blood away from Johnny's nose.
"Leave it."
"Sweep the leg..." He kept his arms folded and stood toe to toe with Johnny. Johnny looked back at him the last threads of respect shredded on the floor in front of him.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"No...Sensei...." He turned and slowly walked away. "But you can go to hell."
He returned to the mat. "That's two points, LaRusso...Lawrence nothing."
Daniel quickly assessed that Johnny was fine. He looked even more threatening with blood coming out of his nose. Johnny wiped it away and took his stance. He immediately came at Daniel and felled him on his injured leg. Daniel lay motionless for a minute while Johnny went to his side and knelt down. The crowd continued to boo and it only infuriated him more. Tommy was losing his shit.
"That's one point Lawrence...two points LaRusso!"
He turned back to face Daniel who was up but barely.
"Ready to play?"
Johnny chased Daniel all over the mat punching and kicking. He needed two more points and he could claim his trophy and go home. The day had taken its toll on him emotionally. He had a lot of decisions to make. He finally realized how superficial everything was. How he had been following after something that he thought was right...what he thought was the center of who he was to turn out to be false...a joke. The more he thought about it the angrier he became. If it wasn't for this little twerp that had come into his life and disrupted it, turned it upside down and stripped him of everything he was only to try and rewrite the pages his own way...he would probably be living in blissful unawareness. Top student, Top Cobra, Ace with the ladies and all the friends he wanted.
He scored another hit to the sounds of boos and shouts of encouragement for Daniel to be strong.
"That's right...get all your sympathy out here now."
"Johnny...don't let this get to you ok? Stay with me!" Daniel hobbled back to position keeping his eyes on Johnny and breathing heavily. He had that look. He was too much for Daniel. He shook his head and prepared for another spar.
"Kick to the side...One point Lawrence...2 to 2!"
Johnny came at him again. Anticipating Daniel's moves and counter punching with his own. Daniel tried to keep blocking and evading the majority of kicks and blows and punches coming at him from all angles.
"Johnny...look at me! Don't lose yourself!!" Daniel screamed in passing as he rolled away from another series of kicks.
The crowd was angry. Johnny couldn't hear anything over the angry shouts and he swore he could hear Ali cheering Daniel on the loudest. Ali...another failure in his life. Was anything real to him anymore? Was there nothing else that mattered in this universe except the bane of his existence bounding around in front of him. "EI-AHH" A punch to the face.
"Whoever wins this point will be our new champion..." The announcement rang throughout the building.
Johnny turned to face Daniel. Flashes of everything they had done together...everything they had meant to each other over the last six months...good times and bad flashed in front of Johnny. He was the only thing that had been real through it all. There was no fake with Daniel. He was even here going through with this ridiculousness because of him. He had never given him anything in return but heartache and grief. "I'm not worth it...LaRusso." He said in utter disgust as he grabbed Daniel's leg and yanked it forward. He brought his elbow down at the back of his knee, cursing himself as he watched his best friend fall hard to the mat. The crowd went insane.
Miyagi silently whispered for Daniel to get up.
Tommy nearly peed himself with ecstasy. "GET HIM A BODY BAG....YEAHHH!!!"
Johnny stared at Kreese a look of hatred on his face. He wanted as far away from the man as possible. But with what he had just done...he was no better than his Sensei...they were the same. He swallowed hard. He had heard the devil whisper in his ear...and he made his message clear. He turned to face Daniel. He was afraid to look him in the eye. He was unworthy. He was heartbroken. He saw Daniel standing on one foot. His arms poised in the air.
"FINISH HIM!!"
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People. Everywhere. Pushing. Shoving. Crowding. Johnny was pushed toward the far edge of the ring. He stood and watched as everyone threw themselves at LaRusso. Ali was the first to rush on stage and tackle him. He could barely stand. Johnny shook his head. He allowed people to push past him as he held his hand to his bloody nose. Kreese and the other Cobras were at the same place where he had left them. Kreese was yelling in their faces, accusing them. He took a step toward his Cobra Kais. This was where he belonged after all.
Over the noise of the crowd he thought he heard his name. He paused. There it was again. Louder. An unmistakable voice.
He turned around. He started looking over people's heads. "Daniel?"
"Johnny...where are you?"
Johnny began pushing people out of his way. He couldn't see him. He couldn't find Daniel. The crowd began parting up ahead of him and suddenly, there he was. All boyish innocence and big brown eyes that he finally allowed himself to be trapped in. Concern marred Daniel's features as he looked over Johnny's face. He showed him more care than he deserved. They took one more step toward each other.
"Daniel...I..."
"Shut up and get over here...I don't know if I can take another step."
Johnny smiled and brushed a tear from his eye. He came in close to Daniel and rested his forehead against the his own. They both closed their eyes. Tears trailing down Johnny's cheek. They synced up their breathing, not touching each other except their foreheads.
"You're alright, LaRusso..."
"That's high praise coming from you." Daniel laughed lightly, reached out and fingered Johnny's black belt. He opened his eyes to stare at their feet.
"I don't know how much more I can go on with this."
"Then tell me Johnny...once and for all what do you want? Like I told you before, I know what I want. "
Johnny balled both of his fists beside him, the last of his resistance failing him. He opened his eyes to see Daniel looking at him. He hesitantly nodded. Making Johnny confront him. He crooked a finger under his chin. "You can't run away from me anymore. I won't let you."
Johnny felt the last of his barriers drop and he picked up Daniel in a big bear hug around his chest and swung him around.
Daniel laughed and playfully punched his shoulders. "Put me down, you goof!" Johnny set him down but kept him close. He swallowed hard. "Kiss me."
Daniel cut his eyes to the side. The crowds were still milling and he could see Miyagi talking to Ali and his mom at the corner of the room.
"Uh...Houston...we may have a problem in that department." Daniel said poking Johnny in the ribs and jerking his eyes toward the room.
"Don't care about that anymore."
That absolutely floored Daniel. He swallowed and nodded as Johnny's lips covered his own. Such sweet blissful serenity overtook them, like coming home after a long journey. The world around them fell silent and dark...everything around them muffled out of their existence. Only two people mattered at that moment.
Johnny started working his way down to Daniel's neck. He kissed his jawline and Daniel became woozy with need. He could barely hold on to Johnny's shoulders as he drove ribbons of pleasure into the flesh of his neck. A throat cleared beside them and someone tapped Johnny on the shoulder.
"OH...shit..." Johnny said and looked around. The whole room was looking dead at them. He had turn five shades of deep red and looked back at Daniel. Daniel looked around the room sheepishly.
"Back away slowly..." He told Johnny out of the corner of his mouth. He bowed to the room and picked up his trophy. Johnny bowed and eased his way off of the mat and made his way to the locker room. He grabbed Daniel's hand as they went out of the double doors and helped him limp carefully to the locker room.
"What just happened?"
"I dunno...but I think they probably have something to talk about over dinner now."
"Well this is definitely one for the record books."
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Daniel leaned his head against the hot steaming shower water. Johnny had told him he would meet him later after everything settled down and they would talk. Mr. Miyagi was on the outside of the showers waiting patiently with a towel.
"Something you want to tell Miyagi?" He asked innocently.
"Nah...I think I'll wait until I can explain it better. Hey...how did my mom take it? I'm probably not allowed back in the house for a week."
"Mom and Ali-chan went back home. Mom said she would talk later. Ali upset. No can blame."
Daniel hopped out being ginger with his leg and grabbed his towel. He quickly dressed and grabbed his bag and trophy.
"Yeah..." He sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair. "I really screwed everything up." He couldn't stop the smile playing around his lips.
"Come Daniel-san. Miyagi take home."
"Are you mad at me?"
"No...Daniel-san...Miyagi understand. Found balance..."
Daniel sighed with relief and held on to Miyagi's elbow as they made their way to the parking lot. A few people stopped by to congratulate him, but most had cleared the area by the time Daniel left. They headed for Miyagi's truck and noticed a commotion coming from across the parking lot.
"Hey...I did my best..."
"You're nothing...you lost...you're a loser...and apparently light in the gi!"
Tommy and Dutch had taken off as soon as they saw Johnny kissing Daniel. 'Their heads probably exploded...' Johnny smirked at the random thought. Now he was here facing his Sensei on his own.
"You're the loser..."
"Oh I'm the loser huh...well at least I'm not a fag..." He took Johnny's second place trophy and broke it into pieces.
Daniel saw things escalating from Mr. Miyagi's truck and hopped around the truck to Mr. Miyagi's side. "Mr. Miyagi..."
"Hai...Daniel-san...Miyagi know."
Without warning, Kreese grabbed Johnny and put him into a choke hold. Johnny began to struggle and hit Kreese's arm. He couldn't breathe. "How does second place feel now...fag?"
"Mr. Miyagi..come on we gotta do something." Daniel threw down his trophy and hopped on one foot over to where Johnny was struggling.
"Let him go man!!!" Daniel screamed at Kreese, prepared to throw himself at the bastard.
Johnny was turning red in the face. He was struggling to breathe.
"Well if it isn't the other little fairy...look how brave you are fairy to come and rescue your hunky boy toy." He scoffed still holding Johnny in a vice grip.
"Oi...Let him go."
He gave Miyagi a sly smile in return. Daniel had come around the side and begun pulling on Johnny's arm to get him away from Kreese. Kreese took one look at him and backhanded him to the pavement. Daniel cried out.
"I say...let him go!"
"Beat it, slope or you're next."
Miyagi had had enough. He grabbed Kreese releasing his hold on Johnny and pushed him away. Johnny fell to the ground, gasping for air. Daniel crawled his way over to him and put a hand on his back. "Breathe...breathe...it's ok...I'm here." Johnny clawed at his throat for air.
They both watched as Miyagi sidestepped Kreese's punches and wound up with a set of bloody knuckles. Johnny put his arm around Daniel's shoulder and pulled him close to his side. Daniel put his hand to his chest and calmed the frantic rise and fall of his labored breathing. They both looked on as Miyagi forced Kreese to his knees raising a hand up to strike him.
"Mercy is for the weak...we do not train to be merciful here. A man face you...he is enemy...An enemy deserves NO MERCY!" Both boys flinched as they watched Miyagi haul back and strike stopping just short of Kreese's nose.
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"Did you mean what you said back there on the mat?" Daniel said as he snuggled in deeper to the firm body at his side. He decided he would never grow tired of tracing his hands up and down the rock hard set of abs or follow up with his lips soon after. Weak limbs draped themselves over skinny shoulders and an exhausted smile tugged at the corners of Johnny's mouth.
Miyagi had dropped both boys off at Johnny's home early that evening. Miyagi promised he would explain to Daniel's mother that he would be back later on that night and that he would have a talk with her. He was not looking forward to it, but it was something he had to do.
They had snuck in through Johnny's window. He knew that his family were probably out to another social gathering, but he didn't want to risk it. This was the first time Daniel had been to his home. After touring the living room floor...the stairs...the kitchen....(Daniel really liked the combination of strawberries and whipped cream on tanned skin) ...the walk-in shower in his parent's bedroom, they now found themselves collapsed and tangled up in Johnny's bed sheets.
"You're insatiable...Aren't you sleepy yet?" Johnny said yawning a large open-mouth yawn.
Daniel licked a trail down his stomach tasting leftover strawberry syrup and he purred into the boy's oh so sexy abs.
"Oh I dunno...what round are we on? I'll even let you win this time." He said winking at Johnny.
"In answer to your question...of course I did dumb ass...why do you think I gave it all up?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not giving up on us."
Johnny pulled Daniel tighter to him and put his chin on the top of his head. He breathed in Daniel's scent and drifted off to sleep. He barely registered the sounds of Daniel getting up, pulling on his clothes and slipping out into the night. He slept the best he ever had in a very, very long time.
You're The Best Around
Nothing's gonna ever keep you down