XXI.                                             Heartbreak Weather

      Odessa was not taking the break up well. Blocking Eli and taking down their pictures in her room did nothing but hurt her more. She felt completely betrayed. But what else was new? This always happened to her. She loved a boy, he told her that he loved her, and then he left her with nothing. What made her think Eli was going to be an exception?

Eli knew he made a mistake. He underestimated how much people loved Odessa. Oliver, Hailey, Grayson, and even Miguel, they were all angry at him. He acted like he didn't care but he cared a lot. He broke her heart when he promised that he wouldn't. And he hated himself for it.

The class sat down on the mats and watched Hawk and Miguel spar in the middle. Odessa looked miserable. Her arms wrapped around her knees and her chin rested on top of them. Miguel punched Eli in the stomach. "Nice work,  Diaz."  Said Johnny. Before they could start again, Mr. Larusso came storming into the dojo. "The hell do you think your doing?"

"Like you don't know." Daniel snapped out of anger.

Everyone stood up from the mat. "Take your shoes off.  You're disrespecting my dojo!" Johnny shouted.

"You're seriously going to talk to me about disrespecting dojos after what you just did to mine?" Daniel questioned and walked on the mat.

Odessa glanced at Hailey, looking confused.

Johnny was equally as confused. "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do anything to your dojo."

"Just like you didn't slug one of my employees, huh?  You know, part of me actually felt bad for at one point,  but you make it so easy to remember who the bad guy is in all of this," Daniel sneered. "You call yourself a Sensei? You don't even know what a Sensei is. A Sensei mentors. A Sensei elevates. He doesn't teach distraction and disrespect!" His voice gradually grew louder and he became emotional.

"I already said I don't know you're talking, Larusso. And you don't know what you're talking about either." Johnny said darkly and he glared at the man.

Daniel stared back, trying to hide the hurt that he felt in his heart. "You, I know you don't. . . You don't earn the medal of honor by stealing it!"

Odessa felt her heart break when his voice cracked

"Let me tell you something about your Sensei," he continued and looked at all of the students. "He might teach you how to fight but he doesn't know a thing about what it takes to truly win at life. If you want to help yourselves before it's too late, the doors of Miyagi-Do are wide open."

"You think you can come in here and poach my students?" Johnny questioned out of anger.

"I'm not going to lie, that was a great advertisement."  Oliver whispered to his friends.

"Shut up!" Whispered Hailey.

"What are you going to do about it?" Daniel threatened. "You know i'm not going to strike first."

The tension in the room grew as the Cobra Kai students watched intensely,  wondering what their Sensei was about to do. "I'm gonna be a bigger man,"  Johnny responded. His answer surprised them all.

"Yeah,  we'll see about that." Said Daniel and he gave him one final glare before leaving the dojo.

There was a silence. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Chris walked off the mat with his backpack. "Where do you think you're going?" Said Johnny.

"What the hell,  Chris?" Mitch scoffed.

Chris paused. His eyes found Oliver for a brief second. "I never liked it here."  He left the dojo.

One by one, more students started to leave the dojo.  Odessa's eyes widened when she saw Oliver reach for his backpack and throw it over his shoulder. "Oliver,  what are you doing?" She said and got everybody's attention.

He looked at her then glared at Eli. "I'm not going to apart of something with the person who tried beating my ass and hurt my best friend."

She felt anxiety when all eyes turned to her and Eli. The boy looked down at his feet, feeling and looking guilty.

"Oliver, you can't just leave." Grayson objected and he felt hurt.

Oliver paused when he reached the door. He turned around and saw the sad looks on his friends faces. Then, he looked at Johnny. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I still like you. I just don't like it here anymore." He left the dojo without another word.

Odessa's hand covered her mouth and she glanced Hailey. The girl shook her head and closed her eyes. They were in complete shock.

Johnny looked defeated. Half his team was gone along with one of his best students. Odessa didn't know what to think. She loved Cobra Kai. She loved Johnny and she loved her friends. But it was changing. It was becoming darker and more cruel. Her ex boyfriend was turning into the people that once made his life miserable and her best friend just left. She didn't know what to do.

Oliver felt extremely guilty for leaving his team behind. He sat in his Jeep and stared at the Larusso home. He needed to get out. He would wind up seriously hurting someone if not. He wanted to bash Hawk's head in but he owed it to Odessa to keep his distance. Cobra Kai was changing for the worst and he didn't want any part of it. But he left his friends and that part hurt him more than anything else.

When he walked into the backyard, he saw Mr. Larusso cleaning up the trashed dojo. Robby, Sam, and Demetri were desperately trying to lift a very heavy rock. "Forget it, all right? It's too heavy. We're gonna need a forklift." Said Robby with a heavy sigh.

"Maybe I can help?"

They all turned to see Oliver standing there. Demetri's eyes went wide. "Oliver?" He spoke like he couldn't believe it.

He smiled slightly. "Hey, Metri."

Daniel stood up from the ground. "Can I help you?"

Oliver stepped forward. "I'm Oliver Benson. I'm a friend of Odessa's. I thought about what you said at the dojo and you're right. I'd like join your dojo." He explained himself, feeling nervous.

Demetri was surprised to say the least. He knew Oliver wasn't the type to leave his friends behind. He also knew he couldn't stand to be around Hawk after what happened at the mall. "Yes, of course! I've seen your fights. You're pretty good." Said Mr. Larusso and they shook hands.

Before Oliver could speak again, Chris and the other students that left Cobra Kai showed up as well. "Excuse me. Is this Miyagi-Do?" Chris announced.

"Yes, it is." Daniel answered cheerfully.

"Come back for another beating?" Robby threatened and stormed their way.

"Robby. Robby." Daniel quickly said and stopped him.

"This is one of the guys that was beating on Demetri. Probably helped trash the dojo."

"We didn't have anything to do with that," Chris denied. His attention turned to Oliver and then at Demetri and Sam. "But I am sorry about what happened at the mall. And what happened to your other friend. We just want to learn Miyagi-Do karate."

"I'd be careful about this, Mr.  L, letting the Cobra Kai's in Miyagi-Do." Demetri butted in.

Oliver raised his brows and motioned to himself.

"With the exception of Oliver, of course. It's like letting the wildings behind the wall."

Chris looked down in guilt. "Didn't the wilding help Jon Snow with the Battle of the Bastards?"  Daniel asked with a slight smirk.

Oliver gasped. "You're a Thronie? I'm definitely joining now!" He said with excitement.

The Sensei smiled and turned back to Chris and other other kids. "We're happy to have you." He announced and held his arms out. He held a hand out to Chris. "Nice to meet you."

Robby glanced at Oliver as they looked at Demetri,  who's face had fallen drastically. He knew he was still feeling the after effects of what happened at the mall and having the former Cobra Kai's join in the dojo wasn't on his list of good things.  Oliver walked up to him and threw his arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry, Metri. I'm here." He told him.

Odessa could've guessed that they were going to be punished. Nobody gets off easy. Especially when nobody was willing to confess to trashing the Miyagi dojo. She used to be a cheerleader. She was used to harsh conditioning but what Kreese was making them to was torturous. The battling robes made her arms feel like they could fall off. "Keep going. I have all day,"  said Kreese

"I might not." Odessa admitted as she felt bile rise in her throat.

Hailey groaned. "Oh god, please don't make her throw up. I'll throw up after her."

"Yeah, they do that. It's not pretty." Said Grayson with a heavy grunt.

"He's not gonna let up. We gotta figure out who did it." Miguel groaned.

"I bet it was shit breath." Tory scolded while looking at Mitch.

"Hey,  screw you." He snapped. "I bet it was Oliver. Seeing as he pussied out and left."

Grayson dropped his ropes in anger. What did you say?" He spat.

Hailey grabbed a hold of his arms and held him in place.

"You wanna do this right now?" Mitch challenged.

Miguel stood in between them and used his hands to push them away from each other. "Stop."  Kreese ordered and they all turned to him. "Would you really like to know who did it? It was Hawk."

Odessa immediately looked at him. The boy's eyes widened. "Fucking knew it." Hailey scoffed

"And it was Diaz," Kreese continued and everyone was confused. "And Robinson. And it was Nichols, and Beaumont, and Cooper, and Hamilton." He stared naming them all off. "When one of you makes a move, you all make a move. You live and you die with the consequences and the spoils. Because you are all Cobra Kai. Main dojo. Five minutes. You are about to begin your real training."

Hailey narrowed her eyes. "Sorry,  I love you guys, but I do not take your responsibility for your dumbass actions."

Before anyone could say anything, Odessa quickly grabbed her shoulders and navigated her to the front dojo.  "Okay, no more talking."

They all gathered in the main dojo. Kreese ordered them to circle around the mat on their knees. He then ordered Tory and Mitch to the mat to fight. Odessa and Miguel stood on their feet to referee. "Combat. Aits!"

The two started circling and Mitch went in for a kick. Tory dodged it. They began throwing punches at each other and he threw another kick at the girl, making her throw one back and hit him in the stomach.

Miguel stepped forward and waved a red flag.  "Point!"

"Hit him again." Kreese instructed. Odessa's eyes widened slightly at his words.  Tory looked at him in and at Mitch in surprise. "Do you have a problem with that? A fight isn't over until your enemy is finished. You show your enemy no mercy."

Mitch whimpered from the ground and Tory went to hit again, but Odessa stopped them. "Wait!" She shouted. All eyes fell on her. "This isn't what sensei has been teaching us." She said to Kreese.

He looked at her with a blank but intimidating look.  "Excuse me?"

She shrunk back at his words. Miguel spoke up. "There's no honor in being merciless."

Kreese looked between them in silence. "Sensei Lawrence is right, of course. In a tournament, the fighting stops when you land a point. But in the real world, it's not about scoring points. It's about being a winner or a loser. And there are no losers in this dojo." He educated them. He was now standing very close to Miguel. Odessa could see her friend gulp from intimidation. She began to wonder if she made the wrong decision by not leaving with Oliver.