atelophobia 🖤 lawrusso

- 11 -

Johnny woke up very late. The tournament wasn't until that evening, but waking up at noon left him hardly enough time to prepare physically, let alone mentally. He rolled out of bed and took a shower to wake himself up, throwing on a sweatshirt and sweatpants. His black bandanna went around his head for the first time in at least a month. He grabbed his Walkman but didn't turn it on yet, instead running into the kitchen where his mother stood.

"Hey, Mom." He pulled out a breakfast bar and scarfed it down, grabbing a bottle of water on his way by the fridge and stopping to kiss her on the cheek. "I'm going out for a run, okay? I'll probably be out late tonight."

"Alright, honey, be safe. Your phone was ringing this morning, I'm surprised it didn't wake you. I didn't want to invade your privacy, so I stayed out." She tapped his cheek gently, sorting through the mail as she spoke. "Tell Daniel to stop by some time if you see him. I feel like he hasn't been around to pick you up in forever. We should invite him and his parents to dinner one of these days."

"Yeah, okay, Mom. Whatever you say. I'll tell him you asked about him. Seeya." Johnny exited the house, putting on the headphones connected to his Walkman and pressing play.

"Don't look back, a new day is breakin'. It's been too long since I felt this way!" Johnny hummed the tune as he began his run, starting with a jog.

"I don't mind where I get taken. The road is callin', today's the day!" The music played in his ears and his head bobbed slightly as he ran. The music was relaxing to him, and he evened out his breathing to lessen the chances of overexertion. Part of him wished he could listen to music while he fought in the tournament, but the idea of someone jumping around up there with a Walkman on his belt just made Johnny laugh. He smiled a real smile and was hit with a spurt of energy that hadn't been there before. He sped up.

The air was still a little crisp. It never snowed in the Valley, so winter was basically just extended autumn, and then it went back to being scalding hot over the course of a single week and didn't change back for another six months. He could feel the familiar tickle of the ends of his black headband brushing the back of his neck. The sensation was comforting. He went for a lap around a few blocks, following the route he had planned out with Jessica. She had been gone for almost a week now, and it was weird not seeing her whenever Johnny went to work on the shop.

Miyagi had stayed true to his word. He and Daniel were training every day, but this time Johnny was much less worried about what was being put in his boyfriend's head. Sure, it was upsetting that he was spending even more time training now, but sometimes at the beginning Johnny had almost felt like he wanted him to go longer every day. He wanted Daniel completely stripped of everything he had learned at Cobra Kai. There was only one thing that could be helpful in situations, and it was the 'Strike First' part of the rules. It was only useful if applied correctly, though, and Johnny was trying to develop it in a way that it could be respected. He had recently gotten his hopes up on not giving up completely on working in a dojo when he was older.

His feet hit the pavement rhythmically, almost perfectly in sync with the song that was playing in his ears.

"It's a bright horizon, and I'm awakin' now. Oh, I see myself in a brand new way! The sun is shinin', the clouds are breakin', 'cause I can't lose now there's no game to play." It came out as more of a quiet sigh of the melody rather than full out singing, but it put him at ease. He turned the corner and entered the park in the center of town, slowing to a stop.

He paced for a few minutes, taking slow sips of his water. There were a few teenagers, no doubt skipping school, as well as a few disapproving adults. Johnny sat on the ground near a tree and started stretching out his muscles. He straightened his knees and reached forwards, grabbing his toes through his shoes and holding it though it made his muscles burn as they started to loosen up. He winced.