Opposites Attract

Chapter 2

-Meanwhile, at the Miyagi-do dojo-

“Like Miguel told all of you last night, two dojo’s are better than one and with Kreese taking Cobra Kai in the direction that he is heading in, we need to become stronger together and we will do that by combining both of our techniques when we train together. That also means putting any bad blood between you and anyone else in the room behind you and leaving it in the past. If LaRusso and I can do that, then you guys can too.” Johnny told the Miyagi-dos, Eagle Fangs, and newly ex Cobra Kai student, Hawk, who were all sitting on the dojo floor.

The students seemed to agree silently as they thought about it, but then Chris spoke up.

“Yeah, okay, I’m cool with that, but what about Hawk?” Chris asked, motioning towards Hawk with his head. “I mean, I know I was a Cobra Kai once, but after all that he’s done, especially to everyone in this room, can we really trust him? I mean, he did break Demetri’s arm.” Chris said, giving Hawk a glare.

“Now Chris-" Daniel began but was cut off by Hawk.

“No, he’s right…” Hawk said. “I know some of you, well most of you, don’t want me here.” Hawk began but was cut off by Chris again.

“You got that right…” Chris scoffed, but Hawk continued and stood up as he moved towards the front where Daniel and Johnny were standing. No longer the tough guy act that Hawk always put on was there. Instead, a very nervous Eli stood before them. His palms were beginning to sweat and his heart raced. This was going to be one the hardest things he had ever done, but he knew it had to be done in order for everyone to move forward. He took a deep breath to try to calm his nerves before he spoke.

“I need to apologize. To all of you.” Hawk began, looking nervously at everyone in the dojo. “I did so many wrongs and I caused a lot of hurt. And I know saying sorry isn’t enough.” Hawk said as he caught some of the Miyagi-dos and Eagle Fangs rolling their eyes but he continued with his apology. “Even though Kreese had gotten in my head and had a big influence on me, it’s not an excuse for what I did. I’m the only one responsible for my actions. I became something that I hated-a bully and an asshole.” Hawk then took a big breath. This next one was going to be hard. But he figured he might as well say it now when he was already apologizing for his actions. “Sensei LaRusso,” Hawk began, now shifting his gaze to Daniel, “I was the one to trash Miyagi-do…and steal the Medal of Honor…I’m so sorry, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove to you that I don’t want to be that person I was in Cobra Kai. I want to change…but if you don’t want me part of your dojo, I understand.” Hawk finished as he was now looking down. He felt a huge weight lifted off his chest but he was also terrified of what Daniel’s decision would be. He was pretty sure everyone could see his heart beating through his chest.

“How about an apology to Demetri? After all the shit you pulled on him?” Chris added as Hawk stopped looking down and looked over at Chris. Chris was a nice guy but after joining karate he learned to stand up for himself and others and after the past year, he wasn’t the biggest fan of Hawk after all that he did. He didn’t want his friends get to get hurt again.

“He's already apologized to me.” Demetri told Chris before Hawk could say anything. After the attack last night, Hawk had given Demetri a more sincere apology. He even told him he was the one who trashed the dojo and stole the Medal of Honor. “Besides, it wasn’t like I was innocent in the whole thing either.” Demetri added, remembering the time he announced to everyone at Moon’s party about Hawk wetting the bed.

“Yeah, but you said something embarrassing, he broke your arm. There’s a big difference there.” Mitch chimed in.

“Hey, wasn’t you there when he broke Demetri’s arm? You just might have well as broke it too cuz you didn’t stop him. From what I heard, you were encouraging him to do it.” Miguel told Mitch, getting annoyed with all the fingers being pointed towards Hawk when almost everyone in the room had done something wrong this past year. Not a single one of them were innocent. Mitch looked down, suddenly feeling guilty.

“Quiet!” Johnny yelled to the students. “If you wanna keep whining about the past like a bunch of pussies, fine, we can play that game but it’s not going to get you anywhere.” Johnny finally said, breaking up the argument that was happening.

“He’s right.” Daniel began, silently wincing at Johnny's choice of words to their students, but knew Johnny was 100% right. “We can’t keep bringing up the past. It’s not going to solve anything. We have all done something we are not proud of and for Hawk to stand up in front of everyone and apologize and admit he was the one to trash the dojo, well, that takes a lot of courage. And for me, that is a step in the right direction. We want you to stay, Hawk.” Daniel said, giving Hawk a nod. This surprised everyone, even Hawk. He really thought that he would get kicked out.

“But-" Nate began but was cut off by Johnny.

“Sensei LaRusso said Hawk is staying. So you either respect what Sensei LaRusso said or you will give me fifty pushups on the knuckles.” Johnny said to Nate. “That goes to any of you not respecting what Sensei LaRusso says.” Johnny added, looking at the rest of the students.

Daniel smiled and gave Johnny a nod. “Besides, I’m sure we can find something around here for Hawk to fix, like the fence needing a fresh coat of paint or the cars needing waxed.” Daniel said, looking at Hawk with a small smile. This made all of the  Miyago-dos smile a little. Oh, this kid had no idea what he was in store for, they thought.

“Hawk, you’ll need to stay after.” Johnny told Hawk before he nodded, motioning for him to take a seat. Hawk nodded as he walked over and took a seat by Demetri.

“Now, for some other news. The All Valley Tournament has a new rule due to the fight that took place the beginning of the school year. To quote, “Anyone participating in the All Valley Tournament shall not take part in physical violence on school grounds. If they do, they will automatically be disqualified from the tournament.” Daniel told the students.

“Great, so we can basically expect Cobra Kai to start a bunch of shit at school and we can’t do anything unless we want to get disqualified?” Demetri asked, clearly annoyed.

“Pretty much...” Sam answered, equally annoyed.

“That’s bullshit!” Bert yelled.
Johnny and Daniel exchanged a look. This was not going well. Their students were getting more annoyed and flustered by the minute and it was only their first day.