─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

everyone in the dojo was doing their own warmups. gioia had been chatting to miguel about herself while kresse told war stories to other students.

"are you sure there's nothing else i can do to help?" miguel asked.

gioia shook her head, "you have already helped me pack my suitcase, that's more that enough."

"yeah, i'm just going to miss you." miguel shrugged as he stretched.

"it is only two weeks, miggy." gioia reminded him, "and my psychotherapist said it would be good for me to get the fresh air."

gioia was going to stay at her aunt's house, in the countryside, for nine days. dr fisher thought it would benefit her mental health to get away from los angeles for a while.

"she's right." miguel nodded, "promise me, when you come back you won't be a farmer."

gioia laughed loudly, "that's never going to happen. trust me, i'll be the exact same person when i get back."

"good."

"they were outgunned, we were outmanned." kresse's voice got louder, ending their conversation, "i tell you, rwanda was no joke."

"don't you mean somalia?" miguel corrected him.

aisha and hawk shared a look as kresse slowly turned to face miguel.

"mogadishu is in somalia, rwanda's a whole different country." the teen boy continued.

"of course, somalia." kresse chuckled, "i've spent so much time in the sandbox, it all kind of bleeds together, you know?"

"yeah right." miguel whispered to gioia once kresse had turned his backs to them again.

"listen up!" johnny entered the main room, "i see we've got some new recruits. everybody, fall in."

the students, new and old, followed the sensei's instructions and got into the expected rows.

"in neat rows and lines. sushi, upfront." johnny ordered.

"yes, sensei." she nodded before she moved past a few people to stand beside him and kreese.

"time to see what you're made of." johnny mumbled as he walked around the students, "straighten up, ginger twins."

johnny set his eyes on an older looking man who had a blue bandana tied around his head, "sorry, parents can't stay for class." johnny told him, "it's an insurance thing."

"i'm not a dad. i... i am here to kick some ass, sir!" the man yelled. gioia had recognised him as raymond, the man that worked at the local hardware store.

"do i know you from somewhere?" johnny quizzed.

"oh, yeah, they, uh... i sold you the mirror." raymond admitted, "we kind of bonded, talked about rock bands."

"look, you're a little old. this is a class for teenagers."

"well, i can take 'em." raymond reassured him, "i'm not afraid of kids, sir."

hawk turned his face from raymond and johnny to gioia. she looked back at him and the two gave each other a look of disbelief.

"and my mum, she doesn't charge me rent, so i got a lot of cash to burn." raymond concluded.

"yeah." johnny's face lit up at the mention of money, "we'll consider this a trial run."

"i thought my last group of recruits was pathetic. miss barbra, what do you think?" the blond man spoke to her.

gioia glanced around the room, "i think everyone here is capable of becoming a black belt."

johnny scoffed, "don't listen to that. she's never said a negative thing in her life."

"actually-" she started.

"quiet!" he yelled, making her flinch. johnny then began to speak to the class again, "but if you do what i tell you to do, you'll at least have a chance of becoming a fighter. but to do that, what happens?"

"you have to fight." gioia finished for him.

"you gotta fight, exactly." the lawrence man repeated, "so, which one of you has the balls to take on the champ?"

the class stayed silent.

"uh..." raymond was about to speak up.

"i'll take him on." a voice volunteered.

everyone turned their heads around to see who spoke. a girl with dark brown roots and blonde tips stood at the back of the class, a mean look on her face.

"oh, you will, huh?" johnny tested.

"i saw your little demo at valley fest." the blonde girl said, "you guys can put on a show, but can you actually fight?"

"that sounds like a challenge." johnny voiced as he made his way to her.

"i like a challenge." she shot back.

"mr diaz, show little miss hotshot here, what cobra kai is all about." johnny ordered.

miguel bowed to his sensei, and everyone began making room for the two's battle.

"ten bucks on miguel." hawk bet.

"look, are you sure that you wanna do..." miguel started.

he was cut off when she charged forward and kicked him in the ribs, letting out a grunt as she did. the students gasped and miguel began to chuckle.

gioia grinned at the boy with spiky hair, "you're on."

"all right." the diaz boy grinned, "game on."

the blonde girl ran at him once again, but miguel swiftly used his arms to block her. as they fought, gioia noticed how the girl would make all the first attacks and miguel would always obstruct them.

"close the gap." miguel advised.

she didn't hesitate to lung forward and attempt to kick him. miguel seized her leg mid-air and used his own to pull her down to the ground. gioia winced at the harsh impact the girl had on the ground. however, she seemed unbothered as she rolled back to her feet.

"you're telegraphing." miguel explained as he prevented all her moves, "don't let me see it coming."

from the ground, the girl tackled miguel and quickly sat up to her knees, "did you see that coming?" she teased.

miguel used his legs to push her back down, "maybe. my name's miguel." he introduced as he stood up, his arm out for her to take.

"my cash, please?" hawk smirked.

"not happeneing, that was a rookie move." gioia whispered to the boy, gesturing to miguel.

"tory." she took his hand and used it to roll him over onto his back, "with a y."

just like the rest of the class, gioia cheered for the blonde girl. she glanced over to hawk and cleared her throat.

"whatever." he rolled his eyes as he made his way over to his bag.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"ugh!" aisha groaned aloud, her eyes on her phone.

her and gioia had just come from the latter's house and decided to stop by the convenience store to buy some snacks.

"let me guess, dick pic?" tory nichols, from the class, suggested.

aisha looked up in surprise that she was talking to them, "no."

"thank goodness not." gioia shook her head.

"my mum wants us to go to the beach club with her." aisha said, aimed at gioia but answering tory's questions.

"oh, my God, that sounds so miserable." tory mocked.

"no. it's just... this girl sam's probably gonna be there, and she and i are not on good terms." aisha admitted.

"no, sam is definitely going to be there at the beach." gioia corrected her.

"whatever. i'm aisha, by the way." the girl introduced herself.

"i'm gioia." the italian girl gave her a warm smile.

"tory."

"hey, that's a cool bracelet." aisha complimented.

gioia glanced at tory's arm, looking at the white bracelet with blue spikes.

"oh, this? it's not just for show." tory held up her wrist, "some creepy guy at the mall tried to grab me once, but i managed to block him and give him a gift he won't ever forget."

"wow."

"that's so powerful." gioia gushed.

"you seem like you already know how to kick ass pretty well." aisha pointed out, "what do you need cobra kai for?"

"i've had a couple kickboxing lessons, but i've always wanted to smash boards blindfolded." tory smiled.

"oh..." aisha's cheeks heated up from embarrassment, "you saw that."

"mmm-hmm." tory nodded.

"the secret is poking little holes in the blindfolds." aisha joked.

"cool."

"yeah."

tory began to walk off and gioia nudged aisha in the arm, talking to her without words.

"hey. you wouldn't wanna go to the beach with us, would you?" aisha invited, "it's gb's last day here for awhile, it might be fun."

"i guess i could suffer through a day at the beach." tory agreed. gioia squeaked with excitement and put her arms around the two girls, pulling them to the counter.

⎯ ❃ janine speaks!

hi guys! so sorry for the prolonged update ahhh, hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless xx