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❝they say we are what we are, but we don't have to be, i'm bad behaviour but i do it in the best way, i'll be the watcher (watcher) of the eternal flame, i'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams.❞ — fall out boy
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in which julian ito learns that being remembered for split knuckles and hard strikes comes at a hefty price.
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STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE HARD, NO MERCY. Those are the words that Julian Ito has burned on the back of his eyelids, the mantra held between his grit teeth whenever the world decides to be merciless towards him, the principle that leaves him and his opponents bloodied and bruised after a brawl of his own making. It's a lesson only a rare few can learn and apply — and Julian, with his troubled past that has led to tons of pent-up rage, is one of this lesson's quickest learners.
At barely three months old, Julian and his older siblings Ethan and Sakura, aged four, were abandoned by their parents for whatever reason. Fast forward six months and the three children are placed under the care of Josephine Cohen and her husband Nolan.
Josephine and Nolan are all Julian has ever known, growing up in a modest home in The Valley alongside Lennon Matthews, a boy who Julian befriends rather quickly. The two had been thick as thieves from before either of them could walk, navigating the confusions of adolescence side-by-side, facing the troubles of high school as one — yet the two were polar opposites, Julian facing these adversities head-on while Lennon could not stand confrontation. Terrible at, well, being terrible, Lennon is labelled as a pushover, susceptible to ridicule and torment by the school bullies. And Julian has a reputation for becoming a real ass when anyone he's close to is messed with.
That was until Cobra Kai, a recently re-established karate dojo that held the attention of the entire Valley like a moth to a flame. Naturally, Julian signs up, captivated by the dojo's somewhat infamous motto of striking first and hard and being merciless.
Admittedly, he liked the idea. The world has shown him no mercy, so why should he show mercy?
Had he learned that motto earlier, maybe he would have gotten out of all those sticky situations when he had to stand up against those asses making his academic career a living hell. Maybe he could have learned to play the same ruthless game the world has always played with him by the same dirty rules.
