TWENTY THREE.
( can't stop thinking of you. )

Trying to settle back into normalcy was probably one of the hardest things Emmy would ever have to do. 

Since the school opened back up after the big fight, all she could think about was how none of this should've happened. They all should've been sat at the same lunch table, snickering about the most random things and going to Cobra Kai together after school.

But now Miguel was in a coma in the hospital, Aisha moved away, Tory was nowhere to be found or heard, and Emmy and Hawk were left to pick up the pieces.

The two had exchanged a number of deep talks, talking about memories with their group and how they wished things were different. They shed tears until they were too tired and passed out on the living room couch. 

Mr. and Mrs. Moskowitz tried their best to make sure that the two teens were okay. Catering to their every need and providing whatever support they could. And they could both see how affected Hawk and Emmy were. 

However, when around them, Hawk chose to deal with it internally, while Emmy burst out crying ever five minutes. Almost everything reminded her of Miguel. Even looking at Hawk reminded her of Miguel. 

But Hawk was patient with her. He knew better than anyone that if Miguel died, Emmy would lose a part of herself that only Miguel could fill. He did his best to hold her and make sure that she didn't completely break. He just wanted her to be okay in the end. 

Emmy stayed true to her words to Robby and never spoke a word of their last interaction. After watching him run away, she grew worried if that was the last time she would hear from him, but a small letter in the mail confirmed it wasn't. 

She didn't know where he was now, but all he said in the letter was that he was safe and was slowly getting by. Emmy couldn't believe the amount of relief she felt when she saw his initials on the small piece of paper. 

Emmy sighed as she walked back to Hawk, Mitch, and Bert, arms crossed over her chest. 

"What was that about?" Hawk asked. 

"Just another teacher saying I could talk to them if I need anything," she rolled her eyes. "Can't they just realize I don't wanna to talk about it anymore?"

"I'm sorry, Emmy," Bert frowned. 

She smiled down at him, ruffling his head of blonde hair. "Thanks, bud."

"Let's skip the moping," Hawk draped his arm around her shoulder. "Day on, round two. Let's get it, guys."

"Ooh! Freshman. babes, eleven o'clock," Mitch commented, patting Hawk on the chest. 

Emmy rolled her eyes, pushing him arm off of her as the girl began to past by. "Guys, do not ⎯ "

"Hey, ladies," Hawk started. "I know freshman year can be kinda scary. If anybody gives you any trouble, just come to me. I'm the guy ⎯ "

"Who wets the bed and got kicked into that trophy case?" the girl wearing blue cut in. 

Emmy's jaw dropped, and she had to contain her laughter. 

Hawk's face dropped, and the three girls walked away giggling, but before greeting Demetri. And Emmy had to admit, Demetri definitely got a glow up over the summer. 

The four of them walked over to the Miyagi-Do students. "You famous now, 'Met."

Emmy immediately frowned as the nickname flowed out of Chris's mouth. She was the only person who had ever called him that.

The three turned, only to see their four former friends. 

"Got something to say?" Mitch questioned Chris. 

"Yeah," Chris raised up a textbook. "Check out my new Lit book. A lot of hard-hitting shit in here."

"All this security isn't enough to protect your scrawny ass," Hawk coldly said to Demetri. 

"I don't need security," Demetri said cooly. 

Emmy rolled her eyes, stepping forward, causing the three in front of her to step back. She looked at them oddly, before turning to her own friends. "They're not worth it. Come on."

Hawk took a step forward as Demetri glared at him from behind her, but she roughly shoved him back, shoving her finger in his face. "Hey! What did I just say? Let's go."

Bert and Mitch were the first to storm off, but Hawk gave Demetri a death glare before following after them. 

Demetri gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Em."

"Don't talk to me," she scoffed, roughly hitting his shoulder with hers as she walked away also.

✸

"Life isn't always fair. Sometimes the world can be cruel. And that's why you have to learn to be cruel yourselves. Weakness is unacceptable. The fight at the school was an embarrassment. You lost soldiers and you lost the battle."

Emmy and Hawk shared a glance. 

"But you will not lose again. Diaz was one of our own. What they did to him, they did to all of us. And it will not go unanswered. We will show no mercy. We will show no weakness. We will strike back and we will strike hard! Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"I can't hear you!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Good!" Kreese looked at Emmy. "LaRusso. My office."

The rest of the students dispersed and began to stretch while Emmy followed Kreese. "Haven't had one of these in a while."

Kreese lowly chuckled. "So I assume you know what this is about?"

"You're sending me on another spy mission?" she asked. "Because if it is then, I'm sorry but, I'm gonna have to decline."

"Luckily, it's not that then," he hummed, grabbing a fresh cigar. "Are you aware of Ms. Nichols's residence?"

"Tory's place?" Emmy straightened up her back. "Yeah. I've stayed over a few times."

Kreese smirked, lighting the cigar. "Perfect."

✸

"He wants you to what?" 

Emmy huffed. "He wants me to go convince Tory to join Cobra Kai again."

"But, didn't she tell you that she wasn't gonna come back?" Hawk furrowed his eyebrows. 

"Yup," she breathed out. 

Emmy was told by Kreese to not tell anyone of his plans for her, but Emmy didn't extend that rule to Hawk. 

"So, how are you gonna convince her to come back?"

She sat up from her laying down positon. "No idea. I just hope she doesn't get mad at me."

"Class," Kreese emerged from his office with his hands behind his back.

Hawk grabbed onto Emmy's hand and helped her up, the two looking at their sensei in curiosity. "You worked hard today. So before you're dismissed, I have a little treat for ya. I wanna introduce you to a friend of mine."

Kreese brought his hands out in front of them, revealing a mouse in his grip. Emmy immediately yelped, going behind Hawk. "What the hell?"

"Cool. What's its name?" Bert asked.

"I don't know. What should it be?" Emmy looked at Kreese with an odd expression. Why was he acting so weirdly?

"Hawk Junior," Hawk suggested. 

Emmy snorted, slapping his shoulder. "At least try to act like you're not a narcissist."

"Bert, what do you think?" Kreesea asked. 

"Um..." the boy thought for a moment. "Clarence?"

"Clarence. Good."

"Really?" Emmy scrunched her face. 

"Here, take him," Kreese handed Bert the mouse. 

Bert held the small animal in his hand, eyes admiring it. "He's so cute, guys."

They all chuckled, and Kreese looked off to the side. "You know, it's almost lunchtime."

"Ooh, can I feed him?" Bert excitedly asked. 

"No," Kreese firmly said, walking toward a box shaped object with a black cloth covering it. "But you can feed him."

He pulled the cloth up, and revealed a snake in a glass box. Emmy gave a quiet scream. "Sensei, are you nuts? Where are you getting all of these animals?"

"What does he like to eat?" Bert nervously wondered. 

"He likes to eat... Clarence."

Emmy's eyes widened, turning to Hawk. "What the fuck did he just say?"

"It's ok. Come on," Kreese encouraged Bert. "Come on."

The young boy slowly walked up the box that held the snake, eyes trembling with fear with each step he took. Kreese opened the small opening at the top, and Bert gulped as he stared down at the larger animal. He stood there for a few seconds, budging closer and closer before her took a small step back. "I can't."

Kreese smirked, grabbing the mouse from his hands. "It's ok. I understand. Clarence is your friend. It's okay to object. Who else objects?"

Emmy went to raise her hand, but Hawk quickly slapped it down, eyes screaming at her. She looked at him confused before hearing, "You're off the team. Get out!"

Her jaw dropped, watching multiple people slowly began to walk towards the door, including Bert. "Sensei, what the hell?"

✸

"Sensei? A moment?" Emmy peeked her head into Kreese's office, catching him licking yet another cigar. "How many times do I have to tell you that those are so bad for you?"

He chuckled. "Come in."

Emmy turned to Hawk, grabbing his wrist and pulled him into the room with her. 

"Are you two sad to see your little friends go?"

"Uh..." Emmy kneed the back of Hawk's thigh. "No, Sensei." The teen boy paused, swallowing thickly.

"Go on. You can speak freely, son," Kreese said. 

Emmy rolled her eyes. "Stop intimidating him. You don't call him in all the time." She left Hawk's side, stepping behind Kreese to fix the crooked pictures behind him. "I have cleaned this office and fixed these pictures so many times. Can you just leave it be?"

"Is this the right time to make cuts?" Hawk finally asked. "We're already down students after the school fight."

"This is addition by subtraction," Kreese explained. "A true cobra feels no sympathy for its meals. Do you have a problem with that?"

Emmy paused, turning back to watch the conversation. 

"No, Sensei," Hawk quickly reassured. "I just don't understand the plan. With Miyagi-Do shutting down, we might be able to get new recruits."

"Or," Emmy came back to her best friend's side. "Miyagi-Do could open back up and every single person we just let go joins them."

Kreese's eyes narrowed at her. 

"I'm just saying," she raised her hand up in defense. "Anything could happen. And I believe that we would work better in numbers."

"First, we're going to need to strengthen our core," Kreese spoke. "With Diaz out, we're gonna need a new strong candidate to stand alongside LaRusso. Someone with no fear... And no mercy."

Emmy couldn't help but smile, poking Hawk's side. "And that person...is you."

✸

Emmy stood nervously behind Kreese as he knocked on Tory's apartment door. She didn't know how things were going to go down, and worried if this would officially end their friendship since they hadn't spoken since the day of the fight. 

She suddenly, heard the door open, and she straightened. "How'd you find me?"

"I could say I did recon in 'Nam, special forces training, 18 months of covert ops, but I just knew who to ask," Kreese stepped to the side, revealing a sheepish looking Emmy. 

Tory's eyes widened. "Emmy?"

"Hey," the girl awkwardly waved. 

"Tory, who is it?" they all heard from inside the apartment. 

Emmy's heart dropped. "Oh, my God." She turned to Kreese. "I don't think this is a good idea anymore. "

"Have some faith," he muttered, slipping his hands into his pockets.

Tory then quickly stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. "I'm not going back to the dojo."

Emmy figured that would be her answered, crossing her arms over her chest. But she knew that Kreese was one stubborn motherfucker. 

"Why's that?" he asked. 

"Community service hours, probation, trying to get my GED..." she began to list. "taking care of my little brother and my mom. And I have to pay rent on time this month. Life is kinda kicking my ass right now."

"You can always kick back."

"That's what got me into this," Tory briefly glanced at Emmy. "You know, Miguel...It's... It's my fault what happened to him."

Emmy looked down at the floor with a huff. Kreese turned to her. "From my understanding, the fault is with Ms. LaRusso. Or at least, that is what has been told to me."

"It's not," Tory quickly said, taking his attention away from her friend. "I just gotta stay out of trouble. Can't go to juvie."

"Your mother..." Kreese commented. "She's sick?"

Emmy looked at him from the corner of her eye. What was this tone he was speaking with? Was it real or fake?

Tory didn't respond, and he got his answer. "Mine was too."

Emmy felt her eyes widened, and she started to wonder if she should even be there right now. 

"Once. We lived in a place less charming than this. If you can believe it."

"Trust me, this place isn't charming," Tory stated before looking over Emmy's shoulder. The girl furrowed her eyebrows, turning around and saw an older man. She got a sick feeling, and her eyes narrowed at him. "So, did she get better?"

"No," Kreese shook his head. "She didn't. It was a different kind of sickness. I didn't understand at the time."

"Look," Tory spoke softly. "If I could get back into the dojo, I would. But I don't have money for rent, let alone karate."

"What if your dues were on me? Those other students, they weren't born fighters like you and LaRusso."

Tory's eyebrows lightly furrowed and looked to Emmy. "He paying your dues too?"

"No. Hawk's mom is," Emmy corrected. "He's just saying that Cobra Kai needs more of us."

"Thanks," Tory sighed. "I have to get ready for work. I need every hour I can get. Or else..." 

Tory kept on looking behind the two in front of her, and Emmy got a weird feeling in her stomach. There was something about that guy behind them. 

"Or else what?" Kreese questioned. 

The girl hesitated before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it." And then she walked off. 

Emmy huffed, turning around. Kreese followed, eyes landing on the man who was still trying to fix the pipe. "Problem?"

She clenched her jaw. "Big problem."

✸

"Excuse me?" Emmy stalked into the laundry room, catching the backside of that same man. 

He dusted his hands after scooping coins into a bag. "I'm not here. If you need to clean your dirties, come back tomorrow."

"We'd like to speak with you about Tory Nichols," Kreese spoke up, taking a step forward. 

Emmy clenched her fist as the man laughed and turned to look over his shoulder. "Let me guess, she owes you some money? Get in line."

She went to lunge at him, but Kreese pulled her back, putting his arm out in front of her. "No, We're just a neutral party looking out for her well-being."

"Look, old man," he turned around, looking at Emmy. "Or little girl, I don't know you. If you care about her well-being, you can pay her rent. Or she can do something else to get in my good graces."

All Emmy needed was a glance from Kreese, and she grabbed the man's shoulders, twisting him around and kicked him into a washing machine. He grunted, and she shoved his face into the hard surface, restraining him by pulling his arm up. She couldn't help but smirk down at him, catching his scared eyes. 

Kreese took out his cigar cutter from his pocket, putting the man's finger in between the blades.

"Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" the man whimpered, and Emmy shoved his face even harder. 

"Shut up," she said through clenched teeth. 

"I'm sorry!" he immediately said. "What, are you her grandpa and cousin or something?"

"Or something," Kreese calmly answered. 

"Please, you don't wanna do this," the man pleaded. 

"No, I think we do," Emmy gave a mocking pout. "Somebody's gotta teach you to keep your hands to yourself. Or when to shut the fuck up about your tenants."

She then turned to Kreese and nodded, and he began to slowly close the blades in on his finger. "Ok, ok, ok! I'll do what you want! Come on, man!"

"Good. We're gonna make a little arrangement," Kreese stated. "Ms. LaRusso."

She smiled at him, before leaning down to whisper into the man's ear. "You are going to listen to us, or else he will slice that finger off and I shove you into a washing machine and turn it on."

✸

"We are only as strong as our weakest links. When we remove these links, this is what's left. We are one unit. With one united purpose."

The bell by the front door rang, and Emmy glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw Tory, and the two girls smiled at each other. 

"Nichols," Kreese greeted. "Welcome back."

"Thanks," she said. "That issue I was having...got worked out."

"That right?" he gave her a knowing look. "Fall in. We've got work to do."

She nodded, stepping next to Emmy. The latter immediately stepped towards her, bringing her into a hug. 

"Thank you," Toru whispered into her ear.

"Anytime," Emmy chuckled, patting her back. 

They smiled at each other again, before facing the front, arms at their sides. Hawk looked over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows at his best friend. She just shrugged, and gave an innocent smile. 

Just a miracle, she mouthed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

and if i said that emmy and tory should just ride off into the sunset