 ( chapter fifteen )
SEEING RED.

Sydney twiddled her thumbs lightly as she sat in the tattoo parlor with Eli as he got his tattoo fixed. He'd basically had to bribe her to even go with him, promising the girl that when they met up with the team for dinner after class that he'd pay for her. He wasn't really complaining, paying for her almost felt like a date and Eli wouldn't be mad about that.

"There you go, brother." Rico spoke, signaling to Syd that the job was done. Eli sat up, nodding to the man. "Thanks, Rico." Rico nodded. "See you soon, man."

Eli stood and walked over to Syd, turning around to show her the change. She liked it. He'd changed the color of his mohawk to red, so now the hawk on his back had made the change too. "It looks good."

"Yeah?" The boy questioned, stepping closer to Syd after turning back around. She felt her face go hot, suddenly affected by just how close they were. She didn't understand what was going on with her, but she wanted to figure it out quick. "Maybe one of these days I'll get something for you."

Syd smiled lightly, watching as Eli's eyes moved up and down her face. "Why would you do that?" He shrugged, feeling the confidence of the new color already working. "Why wouldn't I?"

Syd chuckled lightly, taking a small step back as she moved her hair behind her ears. "We should get going. We don't want to be late for class." Eli just smiled, nodding. "Okay." He turned his head. "Hey, asshole twins. Grab my bag. We're out."

Mitch and Chris nodded, racing to grab his stuff as they followed the two out of the parlor. For once Syd wasn't driving, Eli now having a license and his own car to prove it. So, they all got into the car with Syd in the passenger seat as he drove the four off to Cobra Kai.

When they made it inside, Syd changed into her gi and moved to sit by Tory, Eli sitting on her other side as they noticed everyone else already in said circle. It seemed the Sensei's were sparring, and Syd excitedly watched.

"You're a little rusty, Sensei." Sensei Lawrence spoke, catching Sensei Kreese's leg. They went back to exchanging punches, Sensei Kreese getting Sensei Lawrence in a headlock. "Okay, pay attention. He's got my neck, I've got his elbow. If I try to break out..." Sensei Lawrence started. "I dig in and I put him to sleep." Sensei Kreese finished, tightening his grip.

"If I go for his ribs..." Sensei Lawrence continued, demonstrating the move. "He completely exposes his chest." Sensei Kreese finished, showing how he could bring his knee into Sensei Lawrence's chest. "Two difficult choices. What do you do?" Sensei Lawrence asked the class.

No one replied, being answer enough before Sensei Lawrence kicked back, hitting Sensei Kreeses feet and sending them both to the ground. "You damn the consequences and you power forward." Sensei Lawrence answered for everyone. "You may get hurt, but nobody wins by doing nothing." Sensei Kreese added. "You make a choice. You make a move. You go... all in." Sensei Lawrence finished.

"Okay, now everyone partner up and slowly go through your options together move by move and work to find out what move you make when your back is against the wall." Sensei Lawrence directed, walking out with Sensei Kreese right behind him.

"Partner?" Eli asked, holding out his hand to help Syd up. She nodded, smiling as she took his hand and pulled herself up. "You're just a glutton for punishment." Syd smiled, eyeing the boy in front of her as they both bowed. "You never know, I may have a secret weapon I'll pull out."

Syd just laughed. "Okay, tough guy. Come at me." Eli did as told, moving to swing at the girl as she ducked, the two pausing their movements as Syd wrapped her arms around his torso. "Okay... the next move." Eli thought, throwing himself onto the ground and throwing Syd over him at the same time. "Jesus." The girl frowned, rolling back up again before kicking at the boy.

He grabbed her leg and they paused again, this time allowing Syd to think of what she could do. She closed the distance, bending her leg into his chest before dropping, doing a backwards roll and flipping the boy onto his back before landing on his chest. "Your move." Syd spoke, looking down.

Eli just smiled up at her, wishing he didn't have to change their positioning at all. He grabbed her waist, throwing the girl to his side before rolling the other way, both standing up at the same time. "Maybe you've lost your spark, McKinley. You'd think this would be over by now."

Syd chuckled, rolling her eyes. "It takes longer when you get to think about your move for as long as you want." Eli swung at her again, Syd once again ducking before spinning around and trying to connect her foot to his chest. But instead of connecting, Eli grabbed her foot, spinning the girl around before she landed on the ground. "Asshole." Syd groaned, going to stand back up before finding herself pinned to the ground when Eli basically laid on top of her. "Wanna say that again?"

Syd felt her mind go blank, forgetting the goal of winning as the two were so close. She looked at his face and watched as he smirked, rolling off of her and then slamming his leg down on her stomach. He'd won.

Syd shook her head, bringing herself back to focus as she stood. "Well, would you look at that. I guess pigs really can fly." Eli chuckled, standing up as well. "I don't know what happened there, you could have gotten me." Syd just laughed lightly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Got distracted."

Later that night Syd found herself seated next to Moon as the two scrolled through Yasmine's Instagram. She was away in France for the summer and it seemed her and Moon were still in contact. "Oh, my god. Yasmine has the same bikini as me." Moon laughed.

"Tell her she can stay in France." Aisha frowned, rolling her eyes. Syd looked up with a small laugh and she watched Tory pull ice out of her drink, throwing it at Miguel. He looked up, sighing. "Hey." Tory just smiled. "Oops. Must've slipped out of my hand."

Syd zoned out of their conversation, going back to stalking with Moon before she caught a glimpse of Eli walking by from the corner of her eye. She felt her stomach flip, frowning to herself as she quickly ignored both the feeling and him while he went over to where Chris and Mitch were sitting.

"Look. She still has your shoes." Moon noticed, pointing to the shoes in one of Yasmine's photos. Syd scoffed, immediately forgetting about the boy across the room and grabbing the phone. "She told me someone stole them. That bitch." Moon laughed, taking her phone back. "In a way, someone did."

Syd rolled her eyes, smiling as the two continued. Suddenly Syd felt someone at her side, looking to see Eli basically seething. "Hey, what's wrong?" He just looked around, frown not leaving his face. "I need you to come look at something."

"Okay." Syd nodded, following him over to Chris and Mitch's table as Eli snatched Mitch's phone out of his hand and handed it to Syd. It was pulled up to a very angry yelp review from someone called DMan2002 and Syds confusion only grew. "Who is this?"

Eli scoffed. "Demetri." Syd turned to him, shocked. "Why?" She handed Mitch his phone as her attention fully turned to Eli. "I guess he couldn't handle Sensei Kreese's teaching method. That kid needs to be taught a lesson."

"Hey." Syd spoke, pulling the angry boy off away from everyone else. "Hey. It's okay." Syd tried, placing a hand on his arm. "No it's not. He's threatening Sensei's business. What if people see that and don't come to Cobra Kai anymore? He couldn't handle a simple punch and now he's gonna delete that review." Eli snapped back.

Syd frowned, shaking her head. "I don't think this is a good idea. I mean— he's your best friend you don't want to give that up over a stupid review." Eli just looked away from her, clenching his jaw. "I'm not friends with pussies who try and get popular by pretending to be apart of something before shitting all over it when they can't handle it. He needs to delete that review and I'm gonna make sure he does it."

Syd dropped her hand, sighing. "Okay, look. I'm not your mom, I'm not gonna try and tell you what to do. Now, I don't think this is a good idea but if you want to get that review taken down, just go talk to him. I'm sure if you guys talk then everything can be worked out."

Eli nodded. "Yeah. I'll meet up with him tomorrow and have a good chat." Syd grabbed Eli's hand, pulling him behind her. "Okay. Come on, you still have to buy me dessert."

———————

Syd was sat in her living room on the couch with a bowl of popcorn at her hip. Besides practice she'd been at home all day and was taking the time to catch up on the hours of tv she'd missed. Oliver was sleeping at a friend's so she'd be home alone all night.

She began mindlessly scrolling, finding that nothing looked good when she heard a knock on the door. Syd looked up slowly, only hearing another quicker knock. "Coming!" She yelled, silently cursing to herself. "Why in the world would you yell to the person when you have no idea who's at the door."

She quickly looked through the peephole to see a red mohawk and frowned, opening the door to reveal Eli standing before her with a black eye. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"LaRusso and Keene attacked us at the mall." Eli replied, walking in as Syd held the door open for him. "Why would they do that?" She questioned, shutting the door and pulling him into the kitchen. "Sit." Eli did as told, sitting at the kitchen island as Syd grabbed ice from the freezer. "Who knows. I was just there with some of the guys trying to talk to Demetri about the yelp review when they attacked us. Keene kicked me in the eye."

"I can see that. Well... maybe they thought you were attacking Demetri." Syd theorized, not knowing why Sam would ever attack someone without reason. "We were just trying to talk to him. I didn't know that was a crime in their eyes."

Syd sighed, wrapping the ice pack with a towel and moving behind the boy, spinning his chair around so he was facing her as she placed the ice on his eye. "You'd make a hot nurse." Eli smirked, watching as Syd let out a laugh. "Gee thanks. I think the closest I could come to being a nurse is during Halloween."

"I'll look forward to it." Eli winked, using his good eye. Syd rolled her eyes, smiling lightly. "Sure, sure. Look, I feel like you're leaving some things out about what happened. I don't know if it's cause you think I'll freak out or what, but I can't be on your side if you're not gonna tell me what happened."

Eli sighed. "Okay, I'll admit... Demetri tried to say he knew karate so I kinda kicked him down. I wasn't planning on going forward with it but he was threatening me. He took off and we all kinda chased him, just trying to get him to take the review down. That's when Sam and Robby came in and it turned into an actual fight before Keene kicked my eye."

Syd nodded. "Okay." Eli looked at her confused. "Okay? No "that's not okay" or "he's your best friend?" Syd laughed lightly. "I don't think either of us would be shocked to know you two aren't exactly friends anymore. And besides, it's like the Sensei's said, you make a choice and go all in. You all made your choices and this is where we are now. Me being pissed doesn't change it. Now, I'm not too happy about details being withheld, but I can manage."

"You're probably the coolest girl I know." Eli spoke, almost like it came out before he even had time to process he had said it. Syd smiled, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him. "I'm glad you figured it out. Now, hold your eye while I grab something to keep any cuts from getting infected."

Eli laughed as the girl walked off to a cabinet. "Like I said, nurse." Syd didn't even turn around. "Not my calling. Now, shh I'm looking for something."

She walked back over and pulled Eli's hand down, scanning his eye and placing some of the ointment on any parts that were open wounds and not just bruising. "You'll obviously have a black eye for a bit, but I think Sensei will find it badass."

"Yeah? What do you think?" Eli replied, scanning Syds face. She shrugged, taking a step back to look. "I think you pull it off. Though, it's not something I think you should sport often." Eli chuckled. "Aye, aye, Captain. Whatever you say."

"Oh yeah. I was at Cobra Kai after the fight, just letting off steam and had a good conversation with Sensei Kreese." Eli explained. "Oh yeah?" Syd replied, grabbing the ice again and holding it to the boys eye. "Yeah. He definitely put things in perspective. I think I would have come here a lot more pissed than I was if I didn't talk to him."

Syd nodded. "Why did you come here? I mean— sorry. I just mean, I'm sure you have ice at home... why'd you need it from here?" Eli shrugged. "You're a lot nicer about my face being messed up than my mom would be. And while I was already kinda considering it, Sensei Kreese actually told me he thought you'd be a good help."

"Huh. Weird." Syd replied. "Well, you're always welcome. My brother wanted me to tell you he thought your hair was cool after the last time you were here." Eli smiled. "Yeah? Maybe I could do it for him some time." Syd shook her head. "You are not putting hair dye in his hair."

"I meant gel." Eli laughed. "That I'm willing to allow." Syd replied, smiling. " Okay, well, if that's all you needed I'm gonna get back to looking for a movie to watch." Syd spoke, handing Eli the ice pack. "Yeah, where's the rest of your family?"

"Oliver's at a friend's and my dad's on a business trip." Syd replied. "What about your mom?" Syd just moved away from him, going into the fridge. "She's not around anymore." Eli hopped off his seat. "Oh, shit. My bad." Syd shrugged. "You didn't know you're fine."

"Well... would you like some company?" Eli questioned, nervous as he looked at the back of the girls head. "Sure." She smiled, turning the kitchen light off before sitting on the couch. Eli sat down as well, weirdly far away. Syd sent him a look. "You know you don't have to sit on the opposite end, right? I don't bite."

"Yeah, totally. My bad." Eli replied, moving to sit next to the girl. Syd smiled, throwing half the blanket over the boy before scooting a bit closer, leaning on him as she kicked her feet up and began channel surfing.

She felt the boy tense under her, before looking up at him. "You okay? I can move." He shook his head quickly. "No, no. You're good just... you scan movies pretty quick." Syd smiled, going back to trying to find a movie as she felt an arm wrap around her while Eli got comfortable. "Yeah. I kinda look at it before I get to it so I already know I don't wanna watch it."

She finally stopped at one, smiling as 10 Things I Hate About You appeared on the screen. "Really?" Eli laughed lightly. "Hey. Don't disrespect this movie. Also, my house my choice."

"I'll remember that second one." Eli joked, watching Syd press play and dim the lights before she leaned in closer to the boy. He looked down at her, smiling.

———————

Syd sat bored on the mat as she watched Eli and Miguel spar. This was their second time doing it so far and she just wanted to kick something already. She looked up to watch as Miguel punched Eli in the stomach when he tried to go low. "Nice work, Diaz." Sensei Lawrence spoke. "Bow. Go again."

Syd looked across the circle to Tory, who had the same antsy expression on her face as the boys bowed again. But then the bell at the door rang and Syd was suddenly interested again. She watched as Mr. LaRusso stormed in, excitement turning to confusion as his eyes landed on Sensei Lawrence.

Everyone stood, backing up a bit at the obviously angry man. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sensei Lawrence questioned. "Like you don't know." Mr. LaRusso shot back and Syd just grew more confused. "Take your shoes off the mat. You're disrespecting my dojo." Sensei Lawrence spoke.

"You're seriously gonna talk to me about disrespecting dojos after what you just did to mine?" Mr. LaRusso yelled, getting closer to Sensei Lawrence. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything to your dojo." Sensei Lawrence replied.

"Just like you didn't slug one of my employees, huh?" Mr. LaRusso replied and Sensei Lawrence just shrugged lightly. "You know, part of me actually felt bad for you at one point, but you make it so easy to remember who the bad guy is in all of this." Mr. LaRusso continued. "You call yourself a Sensei? You don't even know what a Sensei is. A Sensei mentors. A Sensei elevates. He doesn't teach destruction and disrespect."

Sensei Lawrence moved closer to Mr. LaRusso. "I already said I don't know what you're talking about, LaRusso. And you don't know what you're talking about either." Mr. LaRusso just shook his head. "Yeah, well, I know you don't... you don't earn the Medal of Honor by stealing it." Syds eyes widened. Sam had shown her that medal before and she knew just how important it was to Mr. LaRusso.

Syd looked around the room, stopping at Eli as she watched his face grow nervous as he looked around. She just turned back to what was happening, figuring she'd go back to him later.

"Let me tell you something about your Sensei. 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 wanna help yourselves before it's too late, the doors of Miyagi-Do are wide open." Mr. LaRusso then made direct eye contact with Syd, immediately letting the girl know what he was offering. She just looked away, watching as Sensei Lawrence stepped toward Mr. LaRusso again. "You think you can come in here and poach my students?"

"And what are you gonna do about it? You know I'm not gonna strike first." Mr. LaRusso spoke, just waiting for Sensei Lawrence to take the bait. But, he didn't. "I'm gonna be a bigger man."

Mr. LaRusso nodded. "Yeah. We'll see about that." He then walked out and Syds gaze turned when she saw Chris grab his bag. "Where do you think you're going?" Sensei Lawrence questioned. "What the hell, Chris?" Mitch frowned.

Chris just looked back at his turned, shrugging. "I never liked it here." He then turn and walked out, half the class leaving with him. Syd just frowned... how did this even happen?

AUTHORS NOTE!
dun dun dun... cliffhanger (not really) AND eli and syd moment? wow look at me go