Chapter Text
“Hey, kid, c’ mere!”
Miguel put away his phone and diligently ran over to his Sensei. “Yes, Sensei, what is it?” He wondered as he watched the man dig around in the back of the trunk of his car. Johnny didn’t answer but pulled out a coil of chains and slammed the trunk closed. “Are those for the class?” He asked quizzically.
Johnny looked at him with a squint and then shook his head. “No, they’re for me.” He said as if Miguel had just said something really stupid. “C’mon.” He jerked his head for Miguel to follow him as he made his way back to his apartment.
“Okay…” Miguel frowned, already more confused than his usual interactions with his Sensei. “What do you mean they’re for you?” The teenager waited until Sensei Lawrence was at his apartment door to ask this.
“I’ll explain it to you in a sec, kid.” Johnny replied, fiddling with his key. “What I’m about to say to you may sound like I’ve fucking lost it but it’s all legit. I swear it.”
“Uh…” That was all Miguel had to say at the time.
“Look you can’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you either, got it, Diaz?” Now his Sensei sounded serious as he hesitated to unlock the door to look at Miguel. “It’s got to be our little secret or else I might just kick your ass.” Even though the last part was more of a joke, there was a definite threat concealed in there.
“I understand, Sensei.” Miguel nodded even though he didn’t understand a thing. “It’ll be our secret.”
The older man looked him up and down. “Good, I trust you, Diaz.” He finally pushed the door open and walked inside the apartment and Miguel followed, closing the door behind him.
Johnny stopped short right before the kitchen and turned to face Miguel. “These chains-” He held them out for Miguel to see. “Are for me because I’m a werewolf.”
Miguel let out a laugh. “Good one, Sensei.” He grinned but his Sensei didn’t return it.
“It’s true. I am. And I can prove it.” Johnny said seriously.
Miguel stared at him. ‘This had to be a prank, right?’ He thought or else Johnny was seriously messed up. He wanted to believe the man since he was his Sensei and all but it was so ridiculous. “How?” He questioned.
“Follow me.” Johnny said and motioned for Miguel to follow him into his bedroom.
Miguel wasn’t sure what to expect but then he let out “Holy shit!” as he saw the mess that was Sensei Lawrence’s bedroom. The walls had deep scratches on them as if some kind of animal had been trapped there and the floor was even torn up. Not to mention the posts of the bed looked chewed and attached to the wall was a hook that had a chain secured to it. Johnny leaned down and unhooked the chain there which looked worn down and attached his new chain to it. Miguel hadn’t noticed before that the end of the chain had a big metal collar hooked to it with a heavy-duty padlock keeping it closed.
“Are you keeping some animal chained up in here?” Miguel was horrified.
The older man traced the scratches with his fingers. “Nope, just me.”
“Sensei, I want to believe you but this is seriously weird.” He pointed out.
“Have I ever lied to you?” Johnny asked.
“Well…” Miguel paused.
“Don’t answer that.” His Sensei cut him off. “Just know if I was going to prank you, I’d think up a better story than this one. Even if you think I’m on drugs or something, just hear me out and then make your judgment.”
“Yes, Sensei.” He answered firmly. “How- how long have you been a werewolf?”
“I was bitten some years ago before Robby was born.” Johnny shrugged. “I didn’t pass it down to him, I think it only works with a bite. I was on a bender, late at night when this big dog attacked me. Well, I thought it was a dog at first but it was a wolf. The bite hurt like a bitch and I passed out but by the time I came to, the bite was already healing. I just shrugged it off until the full moon came and I woke up naked in the park. Turns out I changed without realizing it and ran around doing fuck all. I’m not sure if I hurt anyone when I was getting the feel of the change but sometimes I woke up with blood in my mouth.” He paused to look at Miguel to see if he was freaking him out (he was a little). “Anyway, eventually I got control over it which was hard seeing as I didn’t have anyone else I knew that was a werewolf to guide me. I could’ve had a werewolf Sensei.” He chuckled to himself. “It’s weird the way it works. Sometimes the full moon hits me and I’m just out of my head. I run around all night and then wake up in the morning wondering where I’ve been. Other times I’m in perfect control and I shift easily so I remember it all and I get to choose what I do. Most times I can ever make myself shift when there’s no moon at all. It’s complicated but I think each time has to do with how I’m feeling leading up the moon. It’s about how much control I feel I have in my life which either results in me trying to piece together where I was last night and what I did or me choosing my fate or some shit.” He shrugged. “Are you getting that?”
Miguel blinked rapidly, trying his best to absorb the information coming at him. “Yeah, I think so.” He said unsurely. “What does all of this have to do with me, Sensei?”
Johnny paused as if thinking about how to answer. “I’ve been chaining myself up lately when the full moon comes. You could probably tell by the scratches. I don’t normally do that even if I risk the chance of not being aware of myself in the shift. I used to do it when I thought I was out of control so I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I’ve started doing it again though.”
“Why?” Miguel wondered.
“Ever since LaRusso came back into my life, I could tell I was losing control again. And especially since he’s been playing father to my damn son…” Johnny said bitterly. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, not even him, so I decided to chain myself up. I just know if I shifted I would go find him. Even on my wolf brain, I know where he lives. What if I bit him or worse?” The words hung heavy in the air before he began again. “Before the moon comes out, I hook this collar around my neck, padlock it, and put the key out of reach, but not so out of reach that I can’t unlock myself in the morning. I can’t unlock the collar with my paws so it works. Even if it seems like I have all my bases covered, this is where you come in.” He looked at Miguel and finally rose to his feet.
“Yes, Sensei?” The teenager asked hesitantly.
“I’ve been working these chains hard and ripping up my room.” The older man gestured to the carnage. “I think it would be good for me to have someone to come in and check on me which is where you come in. You get to make sure that I don’t break out and go after LaRusso.”
“M-me?” Miguel stammered. “Bu- but aren’t you going to be dangerous, Sensei? What if you attack me?” It felt weird to start buying into this.
“Don’t worry about it.” Johnny waved him off. “You’re my buddy. I’m sure seeing you would calm me down.”
“But you’re not certain? What about if you break loose? What am I supposed to do then?” Miguel swallowed nervously.
“Worrying is for pussies.” Johnny said dismissively which did nothing to ease Miguel’s nervousness. “I promise that I won’t hurt you. You’re the only one I can trust with this information, so don’t let me down.” He clapped Miguel on the back.
“I’m still not sure I believe you, Sensei.” Miguel admitted this was hard to swallow.
“You will. Come back here later tonight and see for yourself.” He shot Miguel finger guns as he went out and towards the kitchen. Right before he got to the fridge, he spun on his heel and back around to face his student. “But maybe don’t come right when the moon comes up, okay? I’m gonna be naked so it would be really awkward for the both of us if you came in on me like that, got it?” He opened the fridge to grab a beer.
“Got it.” Miguel nodded dumbly.
“What’re you still standing around here for?” Johnny sipped his beer. “Go on, scram. Come back later.” He made a shooshing motion with his hand.
“Oh! Sorry, Sensei.” He smiled awkwardly and left the apartment feeling very bewildered. It would be a few more hours until sundown. He wasn’t sure what laid in store for him.
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It was late. A few hours past sundown when Miguel found himself outside of Sensei Lawrence’s door. The moon was full and bright in the sky. A perfect werewolf moon actually. He felt silly as he put the spare key into the lock. The man had to be pulling his leg about him being a werewolf but he hadn’t seemed drunk, hungover or even on drugs which was funny. “This is silly.” He murmured to himself as his face flushed in embarrassment. He considered turning back but he had told his Sensei that he would be back. With a deep sigh, he turned the key and pushed the door open.
The apartment was dimmer than usual and the door to Johnny’s bedroom was slightly ajar. “Sensei? Sensei Lawrence?” He called out into the gloom but there was no answer. He closed the door behind him and as the door clicked shut, he heard what sounded like the clanking of chains and footsteps. Miguel hesitantly approached the door and pushed it open with a creak.
“Holy shit!” He gasped in shock as two bright blue eyes met his own brown eyes. There was only one light in the room and he nearly fell back as a great big shadow jumped out at him from the gloom. The chain creaked and the beast fell back with a snarl. There was the biggest wolf he had ever seen in his life. Not that he had the chance to see many wolves up close, he didn’t even think there were wolves in California but he had seen some in zoos. This wolf easily dwarfed a normal wolf and was double in size. There was no mistaking it, this great blonde scruffy wolf was Johnny Lawrence. It had his eyes and it seemed his hotheaded temperament as it peeled its lips back in a snarl and tried lunging at him again. The teeth it had were the size of knives and he did not want to be on the receiving end of those chompers.
He reminded himself that “it” was not an it but in fact his Sensei who had entrusted him with this secret. Though he didn’t see how his presence was going to calm the werewolf down at all. “Sensei, it’s me, Miguel. You know me, right?” He attempted but he was met with a growl. “I would let you sniff my hand like you do with a dog or cat but I’m afraid you might bite me right now, Sensei.” Miguel explained nervously and a little apologetically. “It sucks that you have to be chained up but that’s just the way things are.”
The wolf gave a snort that easily could have been out of irritation. It occurred to Miguel that he wasn’t sure how long he was supposed to stay there. Was this supposed to be an all-night watch? Or was he just supposed to get Johnny to calm down? He thought the latter but he wasn’t all that sure.
All he knew was that it was going to be a long night but by the time it was 1 am, the werewolf had stopped pacing and lunging and was now fast asleep. Miguel smiled to himself, knowing that he had succeeded in what his Sensei had wanted.
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“How did it go?” Sensei Lawrence asked as he pulled Miguel into his office at the dojo.
“Pretty well, I think.” Miguel grinned. “You didn’t find my bloody corpse when you got changed back and I’m not a werewolf.”
“Yeah, but how was I?”
“Hm…” Miguel paused. “You weren’t very happy when I first came in. You were lunging and snapping at me. It was kind of scary at first but then you seemed to recognize me and you calmed down. Do you remember any of that?” He studied his Sensei’s face.
Johnny looked to be concentrating. “Sort of…” He shrugged. “Anyways, good work, Diaz! I knew I could count on you.” He held out his fist to bump it against Miguel’s with a smile.
“No problem, Sensei!” Miguel enthused, returning the gesture. “By the way, Sensei, your wolf form is badass!”
“Thanks, kid.” His Sensei laughed. “See you on the next full moon.”
“You can count on me!” The teenager bowed to him before running back out to train.