Time After Time 🌹 Daniel LaRusso [1]

Chapter 30: This Man Is so Attractive

Rosalía silently walks to the front door, careful to not make a sound. She doesn't want her mother to wake up and talk to her. She hears her bedroom door open so she opens the front door at lightning speed and leaps out, quickly shutting it behind her and scurrying to the front gate of the building. That was close, she thinks. It's not that she doesn't enjoy talking to her mom but she doesn't want to lie to her about where she's going. She's supposed to go to class in about an hour but she's spending her morning with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi instead.

The familiar pick-up truck pulls up to the building and Rosalía walks through the gate, heading to the truck. She hops in and says "hey" before pecking her boyfriend's lips. He returns the greeting and the girl glances at the older man. "Good morning, Mr. Miyagi," she greets him. "Good morning, Rosalía-san. Sleep good?" he returns. The girl smiles warmly at him and responds, "yup. Let's go!" She points at the windshield, urging him to start driving.

*Time skip*

Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are bent down on the ground putting a tree into a sack. "Ah, Daniel-san. Very good. This make special bonsai," the older man claims. "You really see a bonsai in here, huh?" Daniel questions. "Hai," Miyagi replies as he unties a string from the sack. "Where?" the boy questions again. Mr. Miyagi simply answers, "inside." Daniel is still baffled, leading him to ask, "inside? Hello, any bonsai in here?" He laughs at his own joke and Rosalía shakes her head.

"I am definitely the funny one in this relationship," she comments. Daniel glances up at her and scoffs. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Are you just gonna stand there watching us the whole time or do you plan on helping?" he retorts. The girl scans the tree for a second before shrugging and responding, "seems like you guys got it." She casually looks above them and stares out at the ocean. Daniel playfully rolls his eyes and chuckles. "Daniel-san, not inside-inside. Inside you. Same place your karate come from," Miyagi pipes up, picking up their previous conversation. "But my karate comes from you," the boy counters.

"Ah. Only root karate come from Miyagi, mm? Just like bonsai choose own way grow because the root strong. You choose own way. Do karate same reason," the older man explains, looking between both teens. "Yeah, but I do it your way," Daniel states. Mr. Miyagi agrees but mentions, "but one day, you do own way. You do everything own way." He gazes at Rosalía when he says the last part. He's aware of her struggle concerning her future. He knows that her mother is pressuring her to have it all figured out already, so he just wants to make sure she knows to live her own way.

The girl nods while the two men finish their task and stand up. Mr. Miyagi picks up the tree and walks off, the couple following close behind. As they walk to the truck to put the tree away, Rosalía ponders on Mr. Miyagi's words: "you do everything own way." She knows what he meant but she doesn't know what her way is yet. Ugh, this would be so much easier to figure out if my mom wasn't on my ass about it, she thinks. They load the tree onto the bed of the truck before they stroll away. "You okay?" Daniel asks the girl, pulling her from her thoughts. She glances at him surprised and responds, "yeah, I'm okay, just thinking." Daniel nods and interlaces his fingers with hers as they walk side-by-side.

"Hey, remember what you said before about bonsai being free to grow as they choose," Daniel suddenly pipes up. Mr. Miyagi hums in response from beside Rosalía. "All bonsai aren't free to choose. I mean, we tell them how to grow by using clippers and then the wire," Daniel continues. "Hai. But Daniel-san, our bonsai not true bonsai. True bonsai grow wild. Very rare," Mr. Miyagi answers. "Have you ever seen any?" the girl curiously asks.

"Hai. Okinawa."

"I'm guessing there's none here," she notes. The man slightly shakes his head. "I only know of one," he replies. "What did it do, immigrate?" Daniel jokes, making the other two chuckle. "Hai, with Miyagi. Only thing Miyagi bring from Okinawa," Mr. Miyagi replies. "Well, where is the tree now?" the boy questions. Mr. Miyagi turns to the side and replies, "there. Devil's Cauldron." The teens turn their heads as well, only seeing rock. "Did you put it there so no one would find it?" the girl inquires. "Hai. No can see bonsai from here. Good place. Very safe. Nobody bother," the older man responds.