atelophobia 🖤 lawrusso

- 09 -

Johnny was pissed, to say the least, and he was out for blood. He could feel his cobra instincts creeping up on him just out of sight, and although it made him uncomfortable, part of him just wanted to embrace it and go looking for those punks who had trashed the shop. Daniel was mad too, but he was taking it differently, and although it was hypocritical for him to be angry about it, Johnny wasn't happy. Some guy who claimed to work with Cobra Kai offered him a few lessons and he had been taking them for a week, claiming that they were helping more than Mr. Miyagi ever did.

Johnny knew that was bullshit. Daniel didn't want to hang out at night anymore, claimed he was tired from the day's training, but Johnny could see the scabs forming on his knuckles when he could convince him to go out in the morning. He couldn't help but feel like Daniel was acting out of fear, and he could see the boy spiraling downwards even as he seemed to think he was climbing up.

Johnny had started spending more time with Jessica while Daniel busied himself. She was actually fun to hang out with once Johnny got past the fact that she was a girl and Daniel was a boy and they were friends. That was it, friends, he reminded himself. However, when it came to Johnny and Daniel, he was proud to say that they were more than friends.

It hadn't felt like it lately. It felt more like Daniel was Johnny's boyfriend and Cobra Kai was Daniel's. It was ridiculous to be jealous of a dojo, but it wasn't necessarily jealousy so much as frustration and maybe a bit of longing. Daniel had just been busy, too busy for anything else. And whenever he was at Miyagi's place, he always had something to be reading that was just more important.

There was one week left until the tournament. Johnny was getting anxious. Daniel had signed the paper after he went behind both Johnny and Mr. Miyagi's backs to get the thousand dollar bonsai tree and been dangled off the edge of a cliff, which was just another tic mark to Johnny's list of reasons to hate Mike Barnes. He had told Daniel he didn't think it was a good idea, and Jessica had shared that she didn't like it either, and Johnny had spent most of their time together upset that she had gone along with it anyway without telling him.

Johnny was scared, too. He didn't want Daniel to get hurt. The only reason Mike hadn't touched him the other night was because he had been kept busy.

There was a small voice in the back of Johnny's head that was telling him something that he didn't exactly disagree with.

'You enter the tournament. You had Barnes beat until you got distracted. The only reason he got you was because of the back headlock, and that's not allowed in the tournament. You beat him, then in the final fight it's just like sparring with Daniel, and he doesn't have to get killed.'

So Johnny had started training by himself. Sometimes Jessica would help him, and they would go for runs together. He made her promise not to tell Daniel, because he knew the other boy would flip his shit if he found out any time before the tournament, and he brought in the application by himself. He made sure his dojo was 'unaffiliated' so he wasn't with Cobra Kai or Miyagi, just by himself.

It was the day that Jessica was leaving with her boyfriend. Daniel had gotten tickets to some weird night club for the three of them as a going away present. Yet he still made time to train that day. Johnny made him promise to get out early over the phone, however, and he was just getting off his bike when Daniel came running out of the house towards him. A smile blossomed on his face as he got close and Johnny nearly toppled over when for the first time in what felt like months Daniel leaned up into his arms, legs automatically locking around his waist.

"Hey, Wise-guy," Johnny teased, and Daniel pressed their foreheads together. For a minute, everything felt alright.

"I feel like I haven't really seen you in forever," Daniel murmured, turning his head so Johnny could place a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I've just been so busy. But another week and it won't matter anymore, Johnny. We can spend all the time in the world together, you and me." The certainty in his voice both concerned and reassured Johnny, but he told himself not to look too far into it. This afternoon was his afternoon with Daniel, and this evening was their evening with Jessica. He could worry about other problems another time.