you're the best around - (daniel larusso x oc)

ch.8

--playing Carry on my Wayward Son by Kansas--

[Daniel rides his bike under the cover of darkness, on his way to Reseda. He goes up a hill, nearing the end of his ride, as he can see the back of the apartment complex. He starts to hear familiar motorbikes behind him and can see many lights from his peripheral vision] "Fuck." [He tries to speed up, but fails, and is caught in the middle of the group. The Cobra Kais laugh and snicker at Daniel's terrified expression]

"Hey, Daniel, trying to find a shortcut back to Newark?" [Bobby laughs and the others join in, Daniel knows what they would do next. The hill was rocky and would injure Daniel badly if he'd fallen, he tries his best to get out]

"Hey, what're you doin'? Stop it!" [Daniel pleads as they close in on him, he can no longer find a way out. Johnny evilily smirks]

"I heard you want to learn karate." [Johnny says, turning to Daniel as he starts pushing him off the hill, Daniel's eyes widen as he edges off the hill.] "Well here's your first lesson: how to take a fall!" [They laugh as they do one final push and drive off. Daniel falls down the hill and lets go of his bike mid-air, he rolls down the steep and rocky hill. He finally stops tumbly down the steep incline and rests. His forehead bleeds, he lays there momentarily before continuing his way and walking his bike to Reseda. Daniel is covered in dirt and his own blood/bruises, somewhat limping to his apartment complex. He tosses his bike into the garbage behind the South Seas complex, yelling and cussing at it]

"I hate this frigging bike! Stupid bike!" [he kicks the dumpsters and angrily paces beside it, wondering what he can do now with a hopeless feeling circling around him]

"Daniel-" [Lucille Larusso begins, surprised to see her son so distressed as she rushes over to him, she had just arrived from work] "-what's wrong?"

"Nothing, 'Ma!" [He lies angrily, holds his head in his hands and wiping and hiding the tears, dirt, and blood on face]

"Then why'd you throw your bike away?"

"Because I felt like it, 'Ma!" [He sarcastically retorts as he tries to walk away from his mother's grasp, but she quickly catches up]

"Why won't you tell me the truth?" [She asked, making her son finally stop in his tracks to 'tell the truth']

"Because you don't want to hear the truth, you just wanna hear how great it is here! And maybe it's great for you- but it sucks for me!" [Daniel yells and kicks the wall behind him, the wall to Mr. Miyagi's office] "I hate this place! I hate it!" [Daniel hits the wall twice more, he then leans against it with his hair in his hands] "I just wanna go home! Why can't we just go back home?" [Daniel's tone drops from aggression to desperation and sadness, his mother sighs and puts her hand on his face]

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." [Lucilles asks softly as she has stopped him briefly. She wipes Daniel's face with a napkin from her purse as he thinks about what he has to do to stop the bullying. He then remembers what Johnny had said to him right before pushing him off the hill ".. heard you want to learn karate!.."]

"I need to learn how to defend myself better- I have to fight back." [Daniel thought as he fumed back up] "I gotta take karate, that's it!" [He yells]

"You took karate!"

"No-no, not at the Y," [He shook his head fast] "a good school!"

"Fighting doesn't solve anything."