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"𝐒𝐎 tell us about this Johnny Lawrence." Kara said as she, her sister, Lori, and Stella sat in the student canteen at UCLA and ate their lunch

"The one who helped you and your brother out at the mini-mart right?" Lori asked as she ate her turkey club

"Yeah, but there's nothing to tell, other than he's our neighbor, kind of grouchy at times, he's agreed to train August in karate." Stella said as she sipped her strawberry lemonade.

"So he's a karate teacher?" Kara said as she took a sip of her cherry limeade

"Sensei." Stella corrected. "He was a karate champion back in the day. Anyway, where are y'all wanting to do your clinicals?"

"Probably the pediatrics unit." Kara said as she dipped her fries in ketchup. "What about you two?"

"Maybe the ICU." Lori said as she swirled her straw in her blueberry lemonade. "What about you Stella?"

"Like Kara, the pediatrics unit." Stella said. "But it all depends on where the professors place us."

"Speaking of, we better get to class, or else they'll have our asses." Kara said as the girls stood up and took their trays to the trash bin.

──────

August walked into the cafeteria with his lunch tray in his hand. The biggest challenge, was trying to find a place to sit. The Walker teen looked around at the various tables, some seating the cheesy high school cliques you see in teen movies. The jocks, preppy girls, nerds, and everything in between. His eyes landed on a table with two boys, both of whom had their heads held low.

"Is it cool if I sit here?" August asked meekly

"Sorry, table's blowing up right now. I can put you guys on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest." One of the boys said sarcastically.

"Okay." August said, as he hung his head low, and went to walk away, but the boy stopped him

"I'm kidding, sit." the boy said

August pulled up a chair, and sat down next to the shy boy. "I'm August Walker."

"I'm Demetri. This is Eli." The boy introduced, nodding to his friend. Eli shyly smiled at August before keeping his head hung low. "He's a man of few words." Demetri stated with a shrug.

As the group of boys started eating their food, a pretty brunette, and a pretty blonde girl walked by catching August's attention. Demetri followed his gaze, and scoffed.

"Dude, don't torture yourself. Those are the rich girls." Demetri said

"Do you ever talk to them, or..." August said as he continued to stare, mainly at Sam

"Oh, yeah! All the time. We hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs. Eli here is homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right bro? Talk to them? You realize what table you're sitting at, right? You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college." Demteri said, nodding his head, before anyone could respond, Eli spoke

"Oh, shit, Yasmine's looking at us. Probably making fun of me." Eli said, covering his lip.

"Oh, I don't think she's making fun of you. Just because they're hot, doesn't mean they're mean." August reassured. He most definitely had his late mother's kindness.

"Oh, my God, you guys. You see that guy over there who looks like he went down on a lawnmower? He's literally wearing the ugliest sweater I've ever seen." Yasmine said, and Moon snickered

"That is so wrong." Sam chuckled

"Speaking of wrong, check out Fug-lisha. She looks like she ate a picnic table." Yasmine said and she and Moon laughed 

"I don't care if Yasmine is the meanest girl at school. I'd kill the two of you just for her to spit in my face." Demteri said, looking over at the blonde.

"If you don't make a move, you'll never have a shot with her." August said as he opened his milk carton

"True, but I'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection. I'm at peace with my depression. The last thing I need to be is suicidal." Demetri said, waving off August's point.

August looked at the table, before pushing himself out of his chair, which caused his new friends to turn towards him.

"What are you doing?" Demetri questioned

"Striking first." August said as he walked over towards the girl's table

"Oh, shit. Hope we don't get hit with the shrapnel." Demetri said

As August slowly got closer to the table, Sam looked over and smiled at him. As he got to the table, two boys sat down at the table, two boys he recognized immediately. They were two of the boys who jumped him and Stella at the strip-mall. Kyler sat down next to Sam and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

August turned away and walked back to Demetri and Eli's table, then sat down. "So, how did it go?" Demetri asked sarcastically

──────

Stella sat through a lecture the professor was giving for her Human Growth and Development class, a class she had with Lori and Kara. The brunette jotted down notes as Lori and Kara tapped their pens on their notebooks.

After an hour and a half, the lecture was over, and the students were excused and scheduled to meet back on Friday. Grabbing their book bags and notebooks, Stella, Lori, and Kara stood up and walked out of the classroom and down the hall.

"Well, that was the longest lecture ever." Kara said as she grabbed her keys from her book bag

"The longest hour and a half of my life." Lori said as she grabbed her keys from her purse. "Who wants to go get drinks? On me."

"You don't have to ask me twice." Kara said as she, Stella, and Lori walked out the door. "Stell, you wanna join?"

"Thanks, but I think I'm gonna head on home. I'm kind of tired this afternoon." Stella said as the three ladies reached their cars

"Alright well, if you change your mind, we'll be at Paradise." Lori said as she unlocked the door to her car and got inside.

"Alright. See you girls tomorrow." Stella smiled as she placed her book bag in the passenger seat then got in.

The brunette put her keys in the ignition, then started her car, as Lorrie Morgan's Out of Your Shoes began to play. She forgot to turn it back to 80's on 8 after dropping August off, as he was the one who wanted to listen to prime country, but Stella actually loved Lorrie Morgan and had a few of her CD's

Meanwhile, at the dojo in Reseda, Johnny was showing August how to practice with a dummy. "You can't strike first if you don't know how to strike. The cobra strike is composed of two parts: the lunge, which requires the use of the whole body, and the bite which is everything that happens after you make contact." Johnny said.

"You don't stop here where knuckles hits the bone. You punch through the bone like the guy you really wanna hit is standing behind this asshole." Johnny said as he reared his hand back and punched the dummy, demonstrating what he meant. "You strike here, you bloody his nose." he pointed to the dummy's nose, "Strike here, you break his teeth." he pointed towards the dummy's mouth. "Strike here, you severely damage his trachea." he pointed to the dummy's throat.

"Obviously that's only for extreme situations," Johnny said. "All right line up. Focus. I want you to practice."

August stood in front of the dummy as Johnny's phone began to ring. "Keep practicing. Punch through the dummy." Johnny said

August formed a fist and lightly punched the dummy while Johnny answered his phone. "Hello?" Johnny said as he answered the phone

"Is this Mr. Lawrence?" A woman's voice said over the phone.

"Yes." Johnny said

"This is Carla Jenkins, the vice principal at North Hills High. I have you listed as an emergency contact for Robby Keene." Carla said

"Uh, yeah, I'm his father, but you're supposed to call his mom." Johnny said

"I already called her. She's not picking up." Carla said

"Right. Big surprise. All right, what'd he do this time?" Johnny asked

"We found him with Molly." Carla said

"Who...who's Molly? Is that some chick he's hooking up with?" Johnny asked

"It's an illegal drug Mr. Lawrence." Carla said

"All right, put my kid on the phone." Johnny said

"What do you want?" Robby asked bitterly

"Robby, what the hell? You're doing drugs? You wanna flush your life down the toilet?" Johnny asked

Robby snickered, then bitterly said, "Like you're one to talk. Don't try to play dad now. You're a pathetic loser."

"Um...I think maybe I should keep trying his mother." Carla said

"Yeah, good luck with that." Johnny said, then hung up the phone.

Johnny turned to find August stiff as a board, trying to punch the dummy just like he showed him, and Johnny walked up to him.

"All right. No, no, no. You're doing it all wrong. What do you want those kids at school to keep dumping shit on your head? You want all the girls to think you're a wang-less dork? 'Cause, you can stop your training now, walk outside and let the whole world know you're a loser." Johnny said harshly.

"Or you could plant your feet, look your enemy in the eyes and punch him in the face." Johnny shouted.

August fixed his form and placed his feet correctly as he stared into the dummy's eyes. "Picture your enemy." Johnny said.

August looked at the dummy and pictured Kyler. "You have a picture in your mind?" Johnny asked.

August nodded. "What are you gonna do?" Johnny asked. August reared his fist back and punched the dummy hard. "Again!" Johnny instructed. Another hit. "Are you a loser?" Johnny asked. "No, sensei!" August shouted. Another hit. The hits started escalating quicker and harder as did August's yelling.

──────

Stella parked her car in front of the strip mall as Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart blared through the speakers. Turning off the ignition, she grabbed her keys, as well as her water bottle, and placed her phone in her back pocket. After locking her jeep, she walked into the dojo.

"Hey sis." August said as he continued punching the dummy.

"Hey little brother." Stella smiled. "Sorry I'm late. One of the professors were long winded. By the way, Kara and Lori said hi."

Hearing the beautiful brunette, Johnny walked out of the office and smiled fondly at her. "Hey Stella." he said

"Hey." Stella smiled. "Hopefully you're not working him too hard. By the way, sorry I'm late. One of the professors were long winded, but I'm here."

"It's all right. I was kind of hoping you could help me on some of this paperwork." Johnny said

"Sure." Stella smiled as she followed the blonde into the office. "You seem stressed out."

"You would be too, if the moron of a landlord
didn't explain jack shit." Johnny said

"Alright Lawrence, first of all just calm down and take a deep breath, and you'll be fine. Second of all, my aunt Kellie has a buisness degree, so I can help you." Stella said as she looked over some papers. "So this is your lease, you will need to keep it in a file and in a cabinet somewhere. This is something that will be renewed at the beginning of every year. Do you have a folder?" she asked and Johnny gave her one

Stella placed the folder in a file and wrote Dojo Lease on the file and gave it to Johnny to file, and he placed it in the filing cabinet.

"What about these other bills?" Johnny asked as Stella sipped her lemon water

"Well, this is the utility bill. It's not due for another two weeks." Stella said as she grabbed a sticky note and wrote due in two weeks.

"Thanks princess." Johnny smiled as he sat on the edge of the desk and she had to fight the urge not to blush

"No problem." Stella smiled

──────

"Hey sensei, is there any particular way you want me to wash these windows?" August asked as he washed the windows and Stella organized files in Johnny's cabinet

"No, I don't give a shit. Whatever's easiest." Johnny said as he filled out a paper on his desk. "You know what, just go clean the toilet, and we'll call it a night. And do that one on your hands and knees." he added with a laugh

"That's cruel and unusual punishment, Johnny." Stella laughed as she sipped her beer.

"How do you guys do things down in Oklahoma then?" Johnny asked as he leaned back in his chair

Stella rolled her eyes as she took a swig of her beer. "We're from Texas, not Oklahoma, and we most certainly do not clean toilets on our hands and knees."

The pair laughed, then before anything else could be said, the dojo bell rang as they saw someone walk into the dojo. "Thought the dojo was closed?" the beautiful brunette said

"Forgot to lock up." Johnny said as he got up from the comfort of his chair, then into the main dojo. "Welcome to Cobra Kai."

"Some things never change." Daniel spat, glaring at Johnny, as he moved forward slowly 

In the office, Stella observed from the window. She may not know what the history was between the two, but she knew there was history there.

"Yeah? What are you talking about?" Johnny asked

"I heard you beat up a bunch of teenagers in that parking lot," Daniel said, jerking his thumb to the parking lot.

"Oh, that. No. I didn't beat up any teenagers. I kicked the shit out of a bunch of assholes who deserved it." Johnny remarked with a smug grin.

"Wow. Johnny Lawrence calling someone else an asshole. That's rich man." Daniel scoffed

"What's that supposed to mean?" Johnny asked as he glared at Daniel angrily

"Nothing. Look, I'm not here to rehash the past. Just stay away from daughter's friends." Daniel said.

"Your daughter's friends? Yeah, that makes sense. Nice company she keeps." Johnny said

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Daniel said

"It means those friends of her's were wailing on a girl and a kid half their size. Maybe you don't know your daughter as well as you think you do. Get your house in order, LaRusso." Johnny said

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Daniel questioned angrily as he stepped forward. The two men were standing no more than 10 feet apart, their fists clenched as they glared at each other.

"Bathroom's clean!" August's voice rang catching their attention, and he came out of the bathroom and removed his headphone, looking between the two men confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sensei..." August started before Daniel cut him off.

"Sensei? Really? Oh my God, kid. I don't know what he's told you, but you shouldn't believe a word this guy says or you're gonna end up exactly like him." Daniel said, then looked at Johnny before speaking again. "You and I... this ... we aren't done." he said before turning on his heel and walking away.

"I'm right here man." Johnny challenged putting his arms to the side.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, Sensei. Should I do 20 push-ups on my knuckles?" August asked

"Right. Like you could." Johnny chuckled

"Alright, who the hell was that guy?" Stella asked as she walked out of Johnny's office and stood beside her brother

"Daniel LaRusso. A real pain in my ass since high school." Johnny said

"Well, it's obvious there's a lot of history between you two." Stella laughed. "So is my brother free to go?"

"Yeah, he can call it a night." Johnny said. "I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Night sensei." August said as he walked out of the dojo

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Stella said as she stood in front of him

"Oh yeah. One thing you'll learn about me, I'm a fighter, and a survivor." Johnny said

"Alright, well, see you tomorrow, Lawrence." Stella smiled radiantly as she turned on her heels and walked out of the dojo.

"Night, Stella." Johnny said as he fondly smiled at the brunette and watched her walk out the door