TWELVE.
( cause I like her. )

"So, you might be wondering what a team does after they win the championship. The answer? Victory nachos. It was supposed to be a round of drinks, but the waitress was not feeling Hawk's fake ID."

Hawk looked up in a panic. "Hey, don't talk about that. My parents follow you."

Aisha winced, giving him an apologetic look before turning back to her phone. "Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Moskowitz."

"Love you both!" Emmy added in, taking a sip of her raspberry ice tea. 

"Anyways, until next time, no mercy, bitches," Aisha ended her video and uploaded it to her story before taking a seat next to Demetri. 

"I gotta say," Demetri scooped up a nacho from the plate. "It's nice to be at a victory party."

"Yeah, except," Hawk grabbed the nacho from his. "You had nothing to do with the victory." He stuffed it into his mouth before moving to pat Emmy on the back. "It was all our girl here."

She grinned at him. "It was great, wasn't it?"

"Great? It was spectacular," Moon giggled. "You are totally the new Valley celebrity."

"Then, let's consider it a belated party for the coding competition we won at computer camp. Remember? Demetri and Eli. Binary Brothers," Demetri began moving his arms in a robot motion before gesturing to Emmy. "And of course. Our honorary brother."

Emmy pouted. "I thought I was the aunt."

Demetri rolled his eyes. "Em, you'd be the mom before you're the aunt."

Hawk looked at the other two girls who were laughing along, feeling his embarrassment creep in and leaned in closer to Demetri. "Hey. Cool it with the nerd shit, huh?"

Emmy looked at him oddly, catching the look on Demetri's face. She then nudged him lightly, letting out a chuckle. "Chill. It's all just fun."

Hawk pursed his lips, leaning back in his seat. 

"Hey, where's Miguel?" Moon spoke up. "Those wings are getting cold."

"He's off huffing and puffing about Sam over there," Emmy turned to where the boy sat alone. "I think they're done for good."

"That's good news for you though, right?" Hawk wondered. 

She whipped her head over to him, catching the looks of the other people on the table. "Dude!"

"Oh my god. You have a thing for Miguel?" Moon squealed, grabbing the girl's hand. "That's so cute."

"And it's never gonna happen," Emmy huffed, pulling her hands away. "He's now my sister's ex-boyfriend. And I don't think I can take being hated by my family even more."

"So what? You're just gonna admire him from a far?" Aisha chuckled, grabbing a nacho. 

"No," Emmy turned back to where Miguel sat, and gestured for Moon to move out of the booth. "I'm gonna admire him from up close. Excuse me."

She grabbed her drink from the table, taking a sip from the straw as she made her way over to the lonely teen boy looking sadly at his phone. "Hey!"

"El Serpiente, there you are," Emmy turned around to see the that Hawk and Aisha had followed after her. 

"This is no way to celebrate that Cobra Kai won," Emmy said, placing her arm on his shoulder while the other two took the seats on either side of him. He turned to her with a frown. "What?"

He handed her his phone. She looked at him confused, looking down at the screen. Her face then dropped. "Oh shit."

"What?" Aisha leaned over to look as well. "Oh."

"Uh, what?" Hawk raised his hand to show that he was still there.

Emmy sucked in a breath, giving Miguel his phone back. "He's been blocked."

"So, what happens when you get blocked? You counterpunch. Except maybe don't actually hit her this time," Hawk laughed, catching the warning looks from the two girls. "What, too soon?"

Emmy sighed, reaching around and slapped the back of his head. He immediately hissed, glaring at her. "Time and place. Look, all this moron is saying is don't give up. Sam holds onto grudges longer than the average person but just give her some time. She'll come around."

Hawk looked at her oddly. He found it weird that Emmy was clearly crushing hard on Miguel but was always willing to give excuses as to why he and Sam would stay together. He guessed it had something to do with sisters. 

"It's no use. I blew any shot I had with her," Miguel stated, folding his arms in front of him. 

"Dude, you're in the big three," Hawk commented. "You can get any chick in the Valley you want. You're like Drake. Enjoy it."

Hawk walked away, and Emmy scrunched her face. "The big three? Is that what we're called? They couldn't have come up with something more interesting?"

✸

"All right. So I get my license next week. My mom's gonna give me her Sentra. I think I'll put a blue racing stripe down the middle, hood to tail."

Emmy snorted, dropping her backpack into Miguel's hands. "Subtle. What happens if you decide to dye your hair a different color? You're really gonna change the racing stripe on your car too?"

"Of course," Hawk chuckled. "Gotta stay on brand. And you promised you would dye yours whenever I dyed mine. Scouts honor, remember?"

"But I like the blue," she commented, running her fingers through the small section that was dyed blue. "What color you thinking next?"

"I was thinking maybe red? You know, something bold."

"Red? I like it," Miguel nodded along. "Is the mohawk staying?"

"It better be," Emmy cut in with a scoff. "It took me hours to teach you how to style it properly."

"Don't worry, Em," Hawk draped his arm over her shoulder. "The mohawk is here to stay. Plus, the name's catchy."

She snorted again, shoving him away from her. She then saw other teens in front of her, standing in front of the dojo doors. "New recruits?"

"Looks like it," Miguel answered. 

"Fresh fish," Hawk added, hitting him on the chest. 

One of the new boys saw the three heading towards them, and tapped his friend. "It's the champs."

"Hi, boys," Emmy gave them a polite smile. "Would you mind getting the door?"

"Of course," one of them said, moving out of the way while the other opened the door. "You're win was amazing."

"Thank you," she told him. "Maybe that'll be you guys one day."

The two boys looked at each other like they had just won the lottery. 

"So, you guys wanna be Cobra Kais, huh?" Hawk and Miguel stood behind Emmy. And without warning, he leaped forward, raising his fist towards the one who held the door. "You got a long road ahead of you."

Miguel and Hawk walked in first, and Emmy rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. "Ignore him. He was just like you when he first joined. You'll do great."

She flashed them another smile, smirking to herself as she heard multiple whispers behind her as she walked in. 

"You're a douche," she chuckled as she reached Hawk and Miguel. Her face slowly dropped as she looked around the dojo. "What the hell happened here?"

Aisha walked up to them and shrugged her shoulders. "Looks like sensei threw a party."

"Must have been pretty sick if fire got involved," Hawk glanced over at the burnt wall. 

"Something feels off," Emmy commented, kicking off her shoes. 

"Quiet!"

She sighed, not jumping in the slightest. "There it is."

Johnny walked out of his office. "The dojo's closed to new students today."

"We just wanted to sign up after we saw the tournament," one of them told him. 

Emmy looked on nervously, not liking Johnny's body language. 

"Do I need to say it again? Get out!"

"Yes, sir...Sensei. Come on, let's go."

"Let's go, move it. Come back tomorrow. And bring your checkbooks. Everyone, fall in."

Emmy glanced at her friends, shrugging her shoulders at their looks. She, Miguel, and Hawk had no time to change as they stood next to each other in their spots. 

"Must've been a rager, Sensei," Hawk smirked. 

"Yeah, were you celebrating all weekend?" Miguel added. 

"Celebrating what?" Emmy tensed up at the tone of his voice. "My students are a bunch of pussies."

Emmy felt a little scared, feeling her heart start to beat faster. 

"Diaz, Hawk, LaRusso, up front."

Her eyebrows knitted together. He never called her LaRusso. 

The trio exchanged glances with each other as they stepped forward. "Hawk. Did you attack your opponent when his back was turned?"

Hawk hesitated a bit, making his words sound like a question. "Yes, Sensei."

"Diaz, LaRusso. Did you purposefully attack your opponent's injury?"

"Yes, Sensei," the two answered, though Miguel sounded more confident about it. 

Johnny stood in front of the three of them, giving them a hard look. "You think that makes you badass? What's the matter, too tough a question? Maybe you need some help. Miss Robinson!"

"Yes, Sensei."

"Too cobras in the jungle. One kills the strongest lion, the other kills a crippled monkey. Which cobra do you wanna be?"

"The one that kills the lion, Sensei."

"And why is that?"

"Because it killed a stronger animal."

"Correct! Cobra Kai is about being badass. And the baddest badass is the one who beats his opponent when he's at his strongest. Not when his back is turned. Not when he's injured! Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"That means no more cheating. No more fighting dirty. From here on out, those are pussy moves, and you don't wanna be pussies, do you?"

"No, Sensei."

"Good. It's why I had you wear your white belts. We're starting over. Diaz, Hawk, LaRusso, 50 push-ups on your knuckles. Miss Robinson, warm them up."

The two boys dropped down onto the mat, but Emmy refused, eyes narrowing at the blonde man as he walked back into is office. 

She scoffed, walking over. "This asshole."

Hawk looked up, pausing his pushups. "Emmy!"

She ignored him, storming in his office and slamming the door shut behind her. 

Johnny looked shocked. "Emmy ⎯ "

"Sit the hell down," she cut him off coldly.

"LaRusso ⎯ "

"Sit!"

The two started at each other for a moment, before he sighed in defeat and flopped onto his office chair. "What do you want, Pinky?"

"Oh, so it's Pinky now?" she crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. When he didn't say anything, she gave a stale chuckle. "Okay, I'm gonna say my piece and I'm gonna leave for the day because this is absolute bs. And not to throw Hawk under the bus, but he was the one who hurt Robby. Miguel and I just got the leftovers. I mean, what did you want us to do? Not fight him? Leave the fight and let him automatically win? What were we supposed to do? Robby chose to keep fighting, okay? We didn't drag him by the leg, he made the choice to keep going. And weren't gonna just throw the fight. And yes, we focused on his weak spot. And to me, that wasn't a pussy move, but a smart one. So, thank you for that."

Emmy took a second to breathe, and stared harshly at him. "And I've have been letting this consume me for the past few days. I know you aren't happy that I won."

Johnny stood up, "That's bullshit!"

"Is it? Because I know you're happy that Cobra Kai won, but I also know that you're not happy that I was the one who won it for Cobra Kai."

The man looked as if he wanted to say something, but he just looked defeated. Like he couldn't find the words. 

Emmy observed him for a minute, before feeling something shift in her brain. "Or are you not happy that I beat Robby to win?"

His face hardened. "Emmy."

"Sensei," she said back, standing tall. "Is there something I should know?"

Johnny clenched his jaw, feeling his hand curl up at his side. "Why don't you go for the day? Maybe cool off with a cold shower."

She just shrugged, already out the door. "Sounds good to me."

✸

"Fucking dickhead," Emmy grumbled to herself as she looked through the different bags of chips. 

She had an idea on why Johnny was so hesitant to feel happy for her win, but she had no way of confirming it as there was no way he would down right admit it. 

The door then dinged, signaling that someone had answered. She subconsciously glanced over before turning back to the chips, before she did a double take. 

In walked the exact answer she needed. 

"Robby!" she exclaimed without thinking, rushing towards him. 

He looked confused to see her, before feeling a firm grip on wrist and was soon being dragged out of the convenience store. "Emmy? What the hell? What are you doing?"

"I have something important to ask you," she said, finally letting him go when she walked them to the side of the building. 

"Okay?" Robby was even more confused. He didn't think they were close enough to have another one on one conversation. 

"Who's your dad?"

There was silence, and Robby's confused smile dropped. "What?"

Emmy sighed. "Look, I know that this is a very personal question to ask, and it is for my own selfish reasons, but I really can't stop thinking about this and want an answer. So, let me rephrase it. Is my sensei your dad?"

Robby scoffed. "Are you being serious?"

"If he is, I won't tell," she reassured him, but he looked unconvinced. "I'm serious! Take it as another thank you for the tournament."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Emmy rolled her eyes. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You found me crying. You helped make me feel better. And I didn't really know it then but I really needed to hear that from someone. Plus, it isn't my business to share. I just needed confirmation."

"How do you know that it's actually true?" he tried. 

"Is he?" she deadpanned. 

"Yeah," he sighed. "He's my dad."

Emmy smiled. "See? Not so hard."

"Wait," Robby started. "Aren't you supposed to be training right now? Why are you out here?"

"About that," she nervously chuckled. "Your dad got mad at my friends and I for what we did and he called us out on it so I might've called him out on some stuff too and he sent me home."

Robby began to laugh. "Seriously? You talked back to your sensei?"

"Who was being extremely unreasonable," Emmy defended herself. "And it got me out of having to do 50 push-ups on my knuckles."

She then walked past him and walked back into the convenience store, Robby hurrying after her. "Wait, my dad made you guys do 50 push-ups on your knuckles? Is that even possible?"

"That is the glory of Cobra Kai," Emmy giggled, heading to the back where the drinks were. "After, like, the first two weeks, we're all practically superheros."

Robby leaned his arm against the shelf, looking at her with intrigue. "And which one are you?"

She grabbed an energy drink with a pretty blue can and turned to him with a smile. "Which one do you think I am?"

He hummed, tilting his head while squinting his eyes at her. "I think you'd make a solid Wonder Woman. She's pretty."

Emmy snorted, walking towards the cashier. "So smooth."

"I thought so too," he laughed, staying where he was as he watched her pay. "You're kinda cool. You know that?"

"So I've been told," she said, grabbing her change and quickly thanked the cashier. 

Robby gave a laugh of surprise, making her laugh harder as she opened the store door. "Kidding. You're kinda cool too, Robby."

Emmy then left the store, leaving the Keene boy with a lasting smile on his face.

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

emmy is literally just who i wish to be