warnings: mentions of grief and death!
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"YOU crashed into a what?" Miguel glanced down at his girlfriend in shock.

"I didn't crash. I just mildly tapped a pole with my cousin's car," she explained as they walked along the beach.

"You owe me 100 bucks for that paint job," Drew called out from behind the couple, his shirt was off and he was loving the attention.

She yelled at him, "No I don't. It's $30 for spray that would've done the same thing."

"Shut up," he shoved her as he walked past.

She groaned, "You shut up."

The couple watched with a glare as Drew dapped up the mo-hawked teen by the volleyball nets.

"Yo Hawk," he greeted.

Hawk grinned, "Wassup man."

Stopping for a moment, Miguel adjusted the towel on his vest-covered shoulder and turned to Cameron.

"How does he like him and not me?" He scoffed, watching Drew smile at Lily and Moon.

The latter cheesed from where she stood.

"Because you two just like having dick-measuring contests." Cameron replied, tucking her glasses into her bag and replacing them with her prescription sunglasses, "And don't worry. My mom loves you and thinks you're very respectful. She randomly said that to me. So you're in luck."

"Wanna come over later to eat?" He offered.

"Can't, might need to mediate Lily and Moon," he motioned to two girls who awkwardly played with the volleyball.

Demetri wasn't far from them, attempting to talk to some girls who mistook him for a Cobra Kai student.

"They still don't like each other?"

"Moon thinks they're friends. Lily is holding a grudge."

"And you're not," Miguel pointed out.

"Trying to let some things go I guess." She focused her attention on improving her skills. "Since she's making the effort." She tugged on his hand, slightly beaming up at him, making him chuckle, "Come on babe. Wanna watch me play volleyball? I'm more coordinated than you think."

"Yeah, I can't wait to..." he trailed off. As they approached, she peeled off her vest, leaving her in a black bikini top and shorts. "... see everything."

"Miguel," she snapped in his face, taking him out of whatever trance she pulled him into with her glowing skin. "You done?" He dumbly nodded, prompting her to skip away, "Hey girls."

Hawk chuckled at the interaction as Miguel trudged through the sand.

"Man. We have the hottest babes in the Valley."

Although he agreed, Miguel lowered his voice, "Don't let your new friend hear you say that shit."

"Drew? Nah man he's harmless. Even joked about paying me to be his bodyguard," Hawk motioned to the star football player who a few girls were approaching. "He's been here for 5 seconds."

"A total stud. Or whatever the girls say," Demetri gesticulated after placing a Cobra Kai towel across his back. "What a man."

Ignoring him, Miguel turned to Hawk slightly agitated, "There's something you should know. Not about Drew. About Sensei."

"Is this about his rap sheet? My parents read it online," Hawk stated, whilst Miguel shook his head, "I think it makes him more badass."

"It's about him and Robby Keene."

"Mig, watch me!" Cameron shouted, waving the volleyball in the air, getting his attention.

But it got more than just his.

Demetri gulped, watching where she and the girls played, "You should definitely watch her, Miguel."

"Shut up Demetri."

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"SO, I did a deep dive online, and you were right. Sensei is definitely Keene's father." Hawk informs, stretching opposite Miguel on the Dojo mat.

Sighing, Miguel bowed his head in annoyance, "I just don't understand why he wouldn't tell us."

"I don't know," Hawk responded, as they mirrored each other's movements. "But it explains why he's giving us shit for kicking Keene's ass at the tournament."

"Roni said the same thing."

"She's right. Show no mercy, unless it's his son. Then we gotta be pussies."

Cameron paced over to them with Aisha.

"You guys, have you seen the commercial?" Aisha held out her phone. "Sam's dad started his own dojo and he disses Cobra Kai."

Miguel snatched the phone out of her hands.

Cameron murmured, "Totally problematic if you ask me."

"Because at Miyagi-Do, it's not about the money. It's about the karate." Daniel LaRusso declared.

"Little bitch," Hawk muttered, shaking his head.

"Wait, why are we paying for karate if this other guy's giving it away for free?" They heard a student say as others watched the commercial.

Cameron exchanged a look with Aisha as her phone was handed back to her.

Sensei emerged from his office, clearly pissed as Kreesed trailed behind him, arms folded like usual.

Spotting Aisha's phone, Sensei had started to spill his ideas.

Minutes. It took minutes for him to set up what he had envisioned and his class stood and watched Aisha record him.

"There's a lot of talk going around the Valley about free karate." He paused and stood in front of the Cobra Kai mantra. "But everyone knows that in life, you get what you pay for. You wanna really kick the competition?" He sent a kick toward the student who held a bonsai tree, "hai." The soil plummeted. Aisha shuffled around, doing her best to focus on her Sensei, "Then you need to get your ass over to Cobra Kai. Screw that lame meditation bullshit. What you need is bone-crunching, face-smashing, good ol' American karate." He drove punches into a dummy, yelling as he elbowed it, smushing its face. "Enough about self-defence." He turned to look into the Camera, "Learn self-offense! Don't be a pussy. Join Cobra Kai, and let me teach you the way of the fist."

"And cut," Aisha pressed stop and glanced down at her phone.

"All right, did we get it?"

"I think so."

"All right, great. Just make sure the Cobra Kai snake comes in at the end, all right?" Sensei began walking back, "I want it to really pop. Make it chrome. And throw 'Thunderstruck' under it."

"I'm pretty sure the rights for that song will cost too much."

"No, I already own it. Cassette's in the car." He ignored their bewildered faces as another Idea came to mind, "Oh. And put one of those hash browns at the end. You know, like, 'Hash brown, Team Cobra Kai' or something. And then send it to the Internet!"

"What..." Cameron whined when Miguel moved away from her.

Her head was comfortably resting on his shoulder.

He said apologetically, "I'll be back." He nudged Hawk who followed him to the back of the Dojo.

Aisha strolled over to her, "Come on CJ, help me edit."

"You think it's gonna be taken down because of copyright?"

"Yeah," Aisha breathed out.

"Alright let's search for an edited version on SoundCloud and pray whoever finds it is too high to notice we're using it."

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"PORK isn't supposed to be pink when we eat it," Cameron grimaced, holding up the sausage from the DIY barbeque Hawk put together.

Some of their teammates were there as the sun bled into the horizon. Aisha was practising her kicks. Lily was helping out her grandma, and Demetri was at home. Miguel had texted that he was out with Sensei. Hawk was left to continue to distract his friend. And what a random idea it was. A BBQ in the park.

Hawk shook his head, despite his face contorting in disgust, "It's not pink."

"There's still blood coming out of it," she flung it out his face, making her laugh when the grease stuck to his cheek. "Now before you retaliate... remember I get a pass," she spoke through her laughter as he narrowed his eyes.

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, wiping his face.

"Thank you though. For this," she gestured around. She really should've been on a run, but this was more fun. "You didn't have to."

"You're Miguel's girlfriend. My girlfriend's best friend. And you're my friend." He responded, a smirk tugged at his lips as he did. "Couldn't let you mope."

"Nah, that's Miguel's job." They both laughed at that. "And you're right. We're friends."

They continued to try and cook some more meat Mitch brought with his mom's credit card — Hawk's suggestion (command), but the grill was trash.

"Hey, kids!" Their attention was drawn to a security guard who caught the sight of the fire. "You cannot do that here." They cursed, rushing to put it out and grabbed their things. "Come here!" He breathed out as he started to run to them. But they were all sprinting in different directions. "Fucking kids."

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"HEY, Mrs James." Miguel wasn't expecting to see her, not in her dressing gown either when she answered the door.

But he wasn't surprised.

"Alexis," she corrected him as she leaned against the doorway.

She drowned in the shirt and sweatpants she wore. It was the day of Valley Fest and she was hardly in the mood to leave the house; too much attention.

"Alexis hey. I'm here to pick up Roni," Miguel reiterated as he saw a figure near the woman.

"You don't have a car do you, Diaz?" Drew taunted, coming into view.

"Isn't your car totalled?" Miguel sassed.

"Drew, go to work," Alexis advised before he could retort. She knew he had a scowl on his face when he stalked back to his room to collect his things. "Excuse my nephew. He's an ass to those he likes the most."

"Ah gee." Miguel's sarcasm almost drew a smile from the woman, who leaned closer to him.

"But I just have to say. You and your friends are really helpful and supportive. Especially with my daughter."

Comforted by the compliment, he waved her off, "Yeah, she's my girlfriend. I want to look out for her. I mean keep on looking out for her."

"Good. She needs it," Alexis's gaze averted when she mumbled.

"And what about you? My mom has been wanting to come over but you keep turning her down."

"I just need time. I return to work in the morning."

It was too soon in his eyes, but he decided not to comment.

Cameron had walked out of the Bungalow with Drew. The cousins bickered until they weren't they went their separate ways.

"Ready?" Miguel asked, she strolled over to him.

"Ready."

"Hey," he pulled her by her belt loops back, before she could get ahead, getting read on her pensive face. "You excited?"

"Ready to show these bitches how to fight."

Miguel grinned.

Their excitement was sealed with a kiss.

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NIGHT fell on Valley Fest. The awe-filled and intrigued expressions in the crowd, when Miyagi-do's performed, was hijacked.

The music, the sound, the lights changed it all — Kreese's demand of course.

Cobra Kai crashed the entire thing.

"Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!" The students chanted, jogging into the festival in pairs, to the sound of rock music. The crowd immediately were captivated by them and followed them to a stage where the Cobra Kai logo splattered across. "Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!"

As their intense demonstration began, the boys jabbed and kicked through the air, yelling with the crowd.

Hawk and Miguel fought their teammates sending them to the ground as their friends cheered.

Lily screamed the loudest beside a stunned Moon.

Blindfolded, Aisha tore through wooden plants with her feet and fists.

Then, Hawk pulled up Demetri from the crowd, thrusting a plank to his chest, before his friend held it away from his face. With a leg up, Hawk jumped up, then spun through the air, thrusting out his foot as the plank snapped in half before he landed.

"Go, baby!" Lily screamed.

Cameron showcased her flip kick and then punched her way through a wooden plank, annoying a certain LaRusso who suggested doing the same thing to her father. She bowed to the audience as they cheered. Lapping up their entertaining show.

Cobra Kai shirts were shortly thrown into the crowd.

And for the final act, their Sensei reached the stage.

"Cobras. Light it up," he instructed.

Gasoline and a lighter flamed a block of bricks.

Through the fire, Johnny's misty face was all the crowd could see. They went wild when he punched through them.

"Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!" the students joined their sensei on stage as they stood proudly, embracing the attention. "Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!"

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"KID. You're here late. Was close to locking up," Johnny was confused as to why Cameron was outside the Dojo at night time.

Cameron was sitting on the brick wall, in her running gear just staring ahead.

She tiredly replied, "Swinging by on my run I guess."

"I would ask if you're okay. But that's not what you wanna hear. Wanna beer?" He gestured to the mini-mart.

"Can't drink and run."

She recalled the last time she drank. It was days before her dad's tragic passing. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to that exact moment or not. It wasn't happy. She and Miguel argued. And her dad clearly wasn't doing as well as she hoped.

"Let me tell you something," Johnny sat down next to her, slapping his legs as he did. "I didn't grow up here."

"You didn't?" Cameron was shocked.

"No. My mom married my step-dad Sid and we moved to Beverly Hills."

She raised a brow, "So you were a 90210 kid."

"I was never in that show." he continued with his story, dismissing her bewildered expression. "Sid wasn't a good man. I was the target of all his aggression. I learned to deal with it my own way. Karate."

"Cobra Kai," she said in realisation.

"Cobra Kai." he repeated, "Sid hated it. Said I would fail but I advanced under Kreese. He took me under his wing. I thrived. I think it was out of spite, of anyone and everyone who ever thought they were better than me." she nodded along as he spoke, "But that lead me down a dark path. Losing out of girlfriends to nerds. Losing out championships to cheaters. Losing out on raising my kid. And now look at me."

She shook her head, "You're not a bad guy."

"No. Maybe. But I made terrible mistakes."

"Like my dad," she whispered as a pit formed in her stomach.

"No. From what I heard your dad was supportive until the end." he said, turning to see how downcast expression, "But like most people, he snapped. You won't do that though. You won't snap like that."

Her voice was full of emotion, "Why won't I?"

"You have people and things that are keeping you alive. Keeping you here." he said sternly, "Your dad did too. I know that. But your fight is stronger."

Sniffling, Cameron choked back a sob, "He's dead Sensei."

"I know Cameron." He reached out and gently patted her shoulder, "But you're not."

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a/n:

cameron's moods are still half and half for obvious reasons. she's still navigating how she wants to be. i would say it gets clearer for her in the next chapters though.

johnny only calls cameron her name when shit gets serious. he's the same with others but it's just both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

thoughts on this chapter?