The Cut That Always Bleeds | Cobra Kai

Chapter 7

Isabelle quickly collected all the waivers from the students. Today, Johny decided to have the lesson at an abandoned junkyard. Isabelle agreed to the condition that every student sign a waiver, removing the dojo's liability in case anyone gets hurt. He chugged a can of beer before starting today's training.

"You've trained hard. You've gotten stronger, tougher, faster. You've done your best," Johnny yelled, standing on one of the abandoned cars. "You're ready for this tournament, am I right?"

"Yes, sensei"

"Wrong!" Johny yells as he throws his empty beer can at his students' feet. "Your best ain't shit. If you wanna win the All Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament, you gotta give me better than your best. Which is why, from now on, you're gonna get my worst. Do you understand?"

Isabelle finished collecting every student's signature and went to stand beside Johny as he continued to yell, "Are you losers?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you nerds?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you sure?"

"No, Sensei!"

Johny grabs his head with his hands, disappointed in his student's mindless answer. Isabelle giggled, earning a glare from Johny.

"Sorry," she murmured sheepishly, hiding her giggles behind her hand and turning away from Johny.

Johny jumped off the car, starting the lesson. Keeping his word, he pushed all his students to the limit. The training started with them jogging through the holes in tires on the ground. Which ended quickly when Aisha tripped, causing everyone to fall on top of each other. Then Johny instructed them to imagine the objects around them as their enemies, prompting the students to destroy the cars around them. Next was a balancing exercise where they had to walk across a wooden plank littered with broken glass without falling into the rusted scrap metal underneath. In the last exercise, Johny wanted Isabelle to join in. Shrugging, she grabbed a piece of beef jerky that he was handing out.

"If you wanna win. You gotta be hungry. You guys hungry?" Johny exclaimed, smirking evilly at Isabelle. "Good. Cause so are they."

"Oh, shit!" Isabelle exclaimed, eyes widening as Johny blew a dog whistle. She instantly ran towards Miguel and Hawk. She grabbed their shirts, dragging them behind her as she sprinted towards the highest car she could see.

Miguel bent toward the ground, cupping his hands together. "Here, I'll push you up."

Isabelle stepped into his hands as he pushed her up. Once on the car's roof, she reached down to help drag Miguel up. The trio heard the aggressive barking of the dogs approaching quickly. Isabelle and Miguel reached down to help Hawk, successfully hauling his torso onto the roof of the car. However, his lower body wasn't as lucky as one of the dogs jumped up and took a bite of his ass. Hawk let out a piercing scream, causing Johny to cringe as Isabelle and Miguel finally pulled him all the way up.

Eli curled up into Isabelle's lap as she stroked his hair.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but we should take you to urgent care because you definitely need a rabies shot," Isabelle murmured softly, continuing to comfort Eli.

Eli buried his head into her stomach, "fine."

Miguel laughed at the heartwarming display. No matter how tough Hawk gets, he would always be Eli with Isabelle.

~

Later that day, Miguel and Isabelle were at the dojo after taking Eli to urgent care. Miguel repeatedly punched a dummy while Isabelle stretched on the floor. Johny walked out of the office and headed towards the duo.