always you || eli moskowitz

19

Today is the day we've been training for, it is the day of the All Valley Tournament. One problem, Dad isn't here yet. I came here with Miguel, but now I'm thinking I probably should've made Dad given me a ride.

"Yo, Miguel, calm down man. Save some for the tournament." Hawk says to Miguel who has been punching the air for five minutes. Miguel just stared at him and went back to punching.

"Hey, don't even bother. He's been super aggro ever since the breakup." Aisha says to him.

"Where's Sensei? The tournament's gonna start soon." Hawk says, mainly to me.

"I don't know, I left early to leave with Miguel, I just assumed he was still sleeping." I say with a shrug, but I am getting increasingly more worried.

"It's probably fine, he'll be here." Aisha says, and I nod.

"I don't know about that." Bert says, making us turn to him.

"What are you talking about?" I ask him.

"I saw him last night at the mini-mall. I was buying, a carton of milk, when I heard him in the parking lot yelling." Bert says.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Aisha asks him.

"I don't know, I guess I'm used to seeing him drunk, it didn't seem like that big of a deal." Bert says.

"Well, we're here, and he's not. So it's officially a big deal." Hawk says. "What is something happened to him?"

"Like what?" Bert asks.

"I don't know like, he drove his car off a cliff, or bought a gun and blew his brains out." Hawk says, and I have a feeling he forgot I'm standing here.

"Sorry." He says quietly when he realizes I'm staring up at him with my eyebrows pulled together and my eyes wide.

"No, Sensei would never kill himself. That's too pussy a move." Aisha says.

"Whatever, I mean, we're here. We're gonna have to do it without him." Hawk says.

"Do what without me?" I hear my dad's voice say, and I turn and see him walking up to us, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Sensei." Aisha says, sounding relieved.

"We didn't think you were gonna show up." Hawk says to him.

"I may not always win, but I never back out of a fight." He says, looking at me.

"All right." Miguel says, walking up. "Let's sign up."

"Not yet." Dad says, looking at all of us. "There's one more lesson I have to teach you."

We go into the building and walk over to the side, and we all stand in a circle with my dad in the middle. I'm standing in between Hawk and Aisha.

"You've all learned to strike first, to be aggressive, not be losers. I taught you to strike hard, put every ounce of your power behind everything you do. But I haven't taught you the third rule of Cobra Kai. No Mercy. The older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair. You wake up one morning feeling great, then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls, takes a big steaming shit in your mouth. You get an F on a test, you get suspended. You fall in love with a girl, and some other dude comes and steals her away. Car gets set on fire. Just when you think things are getting good, everything falls apart. That's how it goes. Life shows no mercy, so neither do we. We do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. We do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. We do whatever it takes to win! Remember who you are. You're badass! You don't give a shit! You kick ass! You're Cobra Kai." He conclude his speech.

"Cobra Kai!" Miguel tells extremely loudly.

"Yeah!" Everyone, including me, yells back.

"All right guys. Let's get down there and kick the shot out of everybody!" Dad yells.

"Yeah!" We yell back. Miguel starts to take out his gi, but Dad stops him.

"No, you're not wearing those."

~~~

"From Reseda, returning to the tournament, we have-" We cut off the announcer as we jog out of the locker room, chanting 'Cobra Kai'. We have on gi's that are black with yellow edges.

"Now that's what I call an entrance, and a badass name for a dojo." The announcer yells

"And finally, fighting unaffiliated from North Hills, we have Mr, Robby Keene." The announcer says and I look at my Dad confused as Robby runs out and passes us. I look at Hawk who is looking down at me, worried for how I'm feeling. I give him a small smile before looking back at Robby. Robby notices me for the first time and we make eye contact, and he looks confused too. But, he also looks a little happy to see me.

"All right folks, get ready. It's karate time."