It had been three months after the All – Valley Tournament, and two months after Ali had broken Daniel's heart. He assumed it was coming, though. Between the constant meddling of Ali's parents and the huge gap between the two teen's families' incomes, Daniel knew that it couldn't have lasted. They were just two very different people from very different worlds. However, Daniel would be lying if he said he was depressed about the break up and at least he and Alli had kept their friendship strong. She wasn't completely out of his life and the relationship between the two young teens had always worked better as friends, anyways.

"This is the third day this week that he hasn't shown up to school," Daniel began as he discussed Johnny's absenteeism with Ali while they talked in the hallway before heading off to their separate classes. "He's been missing at least two to three days of school every week for months now."

"Geeze, Daniel. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've got it pretty bad for Johnny. Maybe you love him more than you loved me." She finished with a fake pout.

"What?!" The boy asked and dropped some of his school books he had been carrying as a response of shock to Ali's cheeky remark. "Okay, let's get one thing clear: I, Daniel LaRusso, do NOT like the asshole that is Johnny Lawrence. At all. I just think it's weird that for the past six months he's missed at least two to three days a week. All I mean is that if he keeps this up, he's gonna be expelled, and I'd be extremely happy about that."

Alli rolled her eyes with a smile and helped her ex - boyfriend pick up his dropped books. "Daniel, I want to ask you something and please don't hate me, but…"

"Yeah, w-what is it?" Daniel asked with his brow furrowed. "I won't get mad or nothin'. Promise."

Ali looked a little more relieved at his answer. "Well, I think I know why you didn't want to have sex with me, and it's okay if you just didn't want to and I'm okay with us being friends even if you're –''

The bell rang and the girl heaved a sigh, almost thankful that her confession had been interrupted. "Have to go, Daniel! If I'm late again I get a Saturday detention." She ran towards her group of girlfriends after her weak excuse and left Daniel to pick up the rest of his books alone.

A patch of blond hair walked by Daniel as he had finished picking up the remains of his dropped items. Before Daniel could pick himself off the ground, the infamous pretty boy pushed him back down with his face in one of his text books.

"What gives, Johnny!?" Daniel called out after him.

"None of your business, LaRusso." Was all he replied before taking off to his own respective class.

"Yeah? Well you're making it my business!" With a shake of his head, Daniel finally left the hallway, clearly late to his next lesson.

After a rather dull day of school, Daniel prepared to meet with Ali before she was to take the bus home. Of course, his mood worsened when he discovered that the girl had seemed to be in a deep discussion with Johnny. The two were smiling and looked to be talking about something pleasant, so Daniel naturally assumed the worst.

She waved over to Daniel and ran over to him when she noticed him, Johnny shook his head and rejoined his own usual friends.

"I thought you hated blondie over there. Or are you two getting back together or something?" He commented, rather defeated.

This behavior used to annoy Ali in the past when she had been dating Daniel, but the girl pulled Daniel's ear close to her and whispered: "Johnny's gay, you idiot! Remember I told you to work on not jumping to conclusions about everything while we were dating? It looks like that's something you still need to work on." With a stern look, she left Daniel alone and made her way to the bus.

'Johnny's not gay.' Daniel thought to himself while he retrieved his bike from the school bike rack. 'She's crazy is what she is.' As he remained deep in thought, a harsh hand grabbed Daniel by the shoulder and turned him around to face the intruder.

"Why did Ali leave upset?" Johnny asked with a closed fist near Daniel's face.

"Look, Johnny; I didn't do anything and it was just a misunderstanding. Now get out of my face unless you want another crane kick to yours."

With his ego now bruised, Johnny harshly dropped Daniel to the ground and nudged the boy's ribs with his foot. It wasn't enough force to leave a mark, but it was enough to send a message. Thankfully, Johnny's friends encouraged him to head home with them before things had the opportunity to get uglier.

Later that night, Daniel phoned Ali to apologize for his behavior, yet again. "Hey Ali, look – I'm sorry I said the things I did to you today and I was out of line, I was just shocked to see you talking to Johnny again, was all…"

There was a small silence on the other end of the line, but Ali sighed and nodded. "It's okay, Daniel. Johnny and I have been through for a while and he's moved on, and so have I, so there's no need to worry about that. But I know you, and you just had my best interest at hear so I'm sorry I got mad at you, too." She finished with a smile.

"That's great! Glad to hear we're friends again. I also don't want to be on bad terms with Johnny anymore, so I'll try to keep my behavior in check when I'm around him, too." He fell backwards onto his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Things didn't go so well with him today, though."

"What happened?" Ali asked, concerned.

"I guess I just let my anger get the best of me. Johnny wasn't in such a good mood today and I retaliated and told him to back the hell away from me if he didn't want trouble. But I'll just try to stay out of his way more now if you guys are friends again."

Ali wasn't mad. In fact, she started laughing.

"Hey, what's the big idea? I'm openin' up to you here and you laugh at me." Daniel said with a mock sigh.

"Try talking to Johnny tomorrow." She replied. "He might be in a better mood, then."

Before Daniel could ask what she meant by that, Ali had hung up. "Well, at least she isn't mad at me or anything."

Daniel decided to pay Mr. Miyagi a visit the next morning before going to school. His mother had offered him breakfast, but Daniel declined but reassured her that he would have something to eat once he had gone to school. There was just something important that he had to take care of and it would ease his nerves if he had gotten it out of the way now.

"Got a minute, Miyagi? I got a little bit of a dilemma."

"Hai. What is it, Daniel San?"

"Well, you remember Johnny. Johnny Lawrence?"

Mr. Miyagi raised his eyebrows and gave himself a minute to respond. "Hai. Blonde pretty boy from tournament."

Daniel looked like he would vomit right there. "Pretty? I don't remember calling Johnny pretty."

The man shrugged. "Hmm. Suit yourself. You had problem, Daniel San?"

The boy shook his head in confusion with Mr. Miyagi's acquired sense of humor. Perhaps he had been a bad influence on his sensei in some areas.

"R-right… Well, the thing is that Ali told me that she wants me and Johnny to get along and to give each other a second chance. She's on good terms with him again and she thinks it would be better for all of us to burry the hatchet so to speak. But what do you think, would it be a good idea to give Johnny another chance? Or is all that stuff about forgiveness and redemption just for the movies and I'd make myself look like an idiot for trying?"

Mr. Miyagi nodded his head and closed his eyes. "Must follow heart. Brain knows what is logical, but heart always has best interest for you. What do you think about blonde boy? Does Daniel think boy deserve forgiveness? Go to him if you do. Miyagi can only tell you what he thinks." He finished with a smile.

Daniel returned the fond smile. "You know, that's the most sense you've made in a long time, Mr. Miyagi. Thanks… I think I will see him tomorrow and try to reason with him. And if he doesn't want anything to do with me – well, at least I can try for Ali's sake."

Mr. Miyagi rested a hand on his student's shoulder. "There are no bad students. Only teacher make students bad people. Daniel can open boy's eyes and give him new hope."

Daniel arrived at school with higher spirits the next day. Although, the boy wasn't prepared to find Ali chatting with Johnny right before class, and it appeared both teens had been waiting for him as they stopped talking when they both had spotted him. He sauntered up to the duo and waved awkwardly. Ali smiled and waved back, Johnny appeared to be just as awkward, shuffling his feet with his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I'll leave you two boys alone then to work out your… tension." Ali stated with a sly smile and ran off. Both boys had protested, but she had already run off into the building, leaving the boys utterly alone with one another. More awkward silence lingered between them.

Daniel was the first to speak. He thought he would be direct but polite as possible in order to end this awkward hell that lasted forever. "Hey, Johnny. I know we haven't talked to each other at all in months, but I just want you to know that I don't have a problem with you anymore – and neither does Ali, apparently. And I don't mind being civil with you if you don't mind being civil with me. What do you say? Should we call our drama ancient history?"

Johnny wasn't angry, but looked rather down. "Thanks, but things are a bit more complicated for me than just burying the old shit between us. Nothing is ancient history for Kreese, anyways." Johnny walked away after that cryptic message, now leaving Daniel by his lonesome in the schoolyard. Things seemed to be even more complicated between the boys now, as the blond had the face of a tormented boy who needed help. Of course, Daniel couldn't leave things at that. He was Daniel LaRusso who always had to make things more complicated than they were before, but in the end; everyone was far better off with his meddling. He couldn't just leave well alone, could he? After school, he made the decision to secretly follow Johnny to the Cobra Kai dojo.

It took nearly forever for the clock to reach 3:30pm, or so it was in Daniel LaRusso's opinion. However, he understood that he couldn't make it so obvious that he was following Johnny Lawrence, otherwise his entire operation would just blow. He knew that Johnny would be heading off to the dojo as soon as the school bell rang, so he would need to wait a little while longer. Preferably a half an hour extra just to be safe.

So, he moved slowly. He pretended to look for a text book to bring home that he didn't really need when a teacher asked him why he had been loitering around, and he took a washroom break when he really didn't need to go. He did just about anything to buy himself some time. He figured that by 4 o'clock Johnny would be long gone, and now was the perfect time to finally leave school grounds.

"Hi, Danny!" A loud, cheerful voice greeted.

"Wow! Jesus, Ali. You nearly scared me half to death. So, why are you waiting around here, didn't you miss your bus?"

The girl shrugged. "Yeah, but I figured I'd just spend some time with you and that you'd take me home instead this evening. I've got nothing better to do and I don't want you to get murdered. I know about the little operation you've been planning. I always know when you're about to mess with Johnny or when Johnny's about to mess with you. It's just a little instinct I have that I've developed over the time I've known you."

Daniel chuckled good – naturedly. "Ah, I see. So, I'm the option you have when you've got nothing better to do, eh? I get it, I get it." He joked. "Well, I guess it's a good thing you're here in case things go horribly wrong."

"Daniel, things always go horribly wrong. It would be boring if they didn't." After their small exchange, the two made a brisk walk to the dojo which thankfully wasn't too far off.

Class must have just begun as the usual Cobra Kai chanting took place. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sensei. No fear, no pain, no defeat exists in this dojo, etc. etc. Their usual warm – up and hand – to – hand combat took place before the actual lesson began. Only one problem, Johnny was no where to be found. The duo didn't make it obvious they had been staring in the window, and each of them stood by the opposite side of the door as to try to stay out of plain view.

"Mr. Lawrence!" Sensei Kreese called. Not nearly one second had passed before he had ordered Johnny's appearance the first time. He lost his patience and screamed for the teen again. "Mr. Lawrence! What the hell is taking you so long?"

A figure of a blonde boy appeared from the back room wearing dirtied clothes – not his usual Karate Gi and carried a bucket full of water with a mop in one hand, and a broom and dust bin in the other. If this hadn't been humiliating enough, the boy had been wearing what looked like an apron tied around his waist along with a white bonnet hat.

"Sweep the floor while the others engage in combat." Kreese ordered. Johnny bowed and continued to work on the floor that he was ordered to.

Johnny's friends obviously did not approve of the way their sensei had been treating him, but they were afraid of getting chocked and beaten by the deranged man, as well. They felt powerless as all they really could do was protect Johnny from a distance. The few friends would threaten anyone who dared to laugh at the boy.

It was Tommy who was the first to be brave enough to speak to Kreese. "Permission to get a drink, sensei?" He asked with a bow.

Kreese bowed back without a word, he had been keeping an extra close eye on anyone who had been close with Johnny, lately.

"Damn, he's coming out of the dojo!" Daniel called to Ali as a warning. "Quick, let's just pretend we're just walking by!" Daniel said as he came up with a cheesy tune to whistle as he led Ali back to the sidewalk. However, their cover had been blown.

"Enjoying the show, are you?" Tommy asked with his arms to his side, balled up in a fist. The teen looked more than prepared for a fight. "I won't let you torment Johnny, if that's what you two are here for."

"Wow, man! We're not here to do that at all!" Daniel defended. "We just wanted to see what –''

"I came to pick Johnny up after class." Ali cut in, possibly saving Daniel's life. "Daniel's just here to tag along. He promised not to start any trouble, though."

Tommy nodded, lowering his defenses. "Nice to see you again, Ali." He greeted with a smile. "The rest of the boys miss you, too."

"I miss you too, Tommy. We should all go out sometime in better circumstances." She finished with a laugh.

The three of them could hear the sound of something breaking inside of the dojo and unintelligible shouts from sensei Kreese.

Both Daniel and Ali invited themselves into the dojo despite the warnings from Tommy. "Are you insane!? He'll put you both in a body bag!"

However, neither of the two teens cared as they both followed sensei Kreese's voice coming from his office in the back – where Johnny was also being kept.

Tommy tried to hold Daniel back in order to try and prevent the duo from getting murdered by the insane man, but everyone knew that whatever was happening behind that door was not something good.

Ali and Tommy's first instincts were to rush over to Johnny, who was now lying beaten and bruised on the floor. His face covered in blood from a fractured nose and a bruised eye that would clearly leave a black bruise within the next day.

"Go get the first aid kit, I know how to use one!" She instructed Tommy. To Ali's horror, she also realized that Johnny's pants had also been removed, and he had also been bleeding from his behind. All of this happened in just a matter of minutes; when she and Daniel had been making pleasant chitchat with Tommy and unknowingly putting Johnny's situation second. She felt incredibly guilty for everything at the moment, but all she could do now was hold the boy in her arms and tell him that he would be okay, all the while shouting at Tommy to return quickly.

"Drop him! Leave him where he belongs!" John Kreese ordered Ali.

The girl refused and held onto him tighter, shielding them both from the madman raging towards them.

Of course, Daniel wasn't going to let anything happen to either of those kids. He stepped forward and unafraid with his fists ready to punch and legs ready to kick. Mr. Miyagi had always taught him that Karate was for self defense only, but he'd be damned if he allowed his classmates and friends to die at the hands of this lunatic.

A few of the other Cobras came to Kreese's aid, however, Bobby and Jimmy arrived to Johnny's aid. Bobby had decided he would be the one to protect Johnny and Ali, and Jimmy stood by Daniel's side, ready to fight with him.

"So, this is what it's come to, Jimmy?" John Kreese asked as he attempted to fuck with Jimmy's mind in order to make him lose his concentration.

Jimmy didn't say a word. He stood silently by Daniel with his fists duked, glaring the man down.

Tommy finally came back with the first aid kit, the kit seemed to have opened in a result of the boy falling as he attempted to rush into the room. Some of the bandages have been tangled or misplaced. "I'm sorry, Ali. I hope I didn't fuck it up…"

"It's fine, Tommy. I can still work with this. Use this one to help me wrap his arm into place. It might have been dislocated and I don't want him moving it." Ali brushed the boy's messy locks out of his face as he tried to move in distress. Tommy used a rug to cover Johnny's exposed body to save some of the remaining dignity Johnny had left after the rape.

"I already called the police." Tommy warned. "Run like a coward, like you always do. They'll be here in five minutes."

The remaining students of Cobra Kai fled from the dojo and headed home, or to wherever else they belonged. Now the only people that remained were those important to the situation. Johnny with Ali, Bobby and Tommy, Daniel with Jimmy as well as the deranged sensei Kreese, the man who refused to budge.

Kreese raised his hands in mock surrender, but still wore his notorious smirk nevertheless. "Fine, I'll go. I promise you'll never have to see me again. For all you'll know, I'll be dead. I won't interfere with your lives anymore. Johnny, I just want you to know I've always loved you and I always will. You were my son, my prodigy, and my everything."

"Father's don't rape their sons." Daniel retorted while Johnny shamefully reverted his eyes from the older man. He's regretted not facing him himself for the rest of his life.

No one noticed Kreese leaving as they tended to Johnny's wounds instead. And, as promised, Daniel LaRusso had believed John Kreese to be dead for nearly a year until their next destined encounter.

Despite Johnny's pleas and protests, he had been taken to the emergency room and questioned by authorities about the incident, but refused to press charges on his former sensei despite Ali and Daniel's encouragements. At the end of it all, Tommy and the gang insinuated that they leave Johnny alone to his own decisions, and the best thing to do for him was to simply be there and listen.

That had been the official day of Cobra Kai's death. The dojo soon to go out of business and Mr. Kreese's first day into isolation from the rest of the world. Even the mad sensei's loyal students were no more, and had branched out into different dojos since that faithful evening. Johnny, however, had been recovering well during the next few weeks, and with new unlikely allies for support.

Johnny had taken up training with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi nearly a month later. Of course, he also had to endure sanding the floor, washing the cars and painting the fence along with the house. Even though these chores were done by Daniel just months earlier, it was officially the initiation that every new student had to endure. Daniel wouldn't lie that it amused him a little to see Johnny struggle a little with all the chores that he once had to perform day and night, but the blonde almost seemed at peace left alone to do his work. The other teen sometimes took pity on Johnny and helped him out a little, and they served as good bonding exercises as well.

"I think you should keep him." Daniel said with a smile to Mr. Miyagi one evening before dinner. "He doesn't give you nearly as much problems as I did."

The teacher returned the smile to his student. "Is Daniel San using boy for chores?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, nothin' like that at all…" The other replied. "I just think he's better at it than I was, so he might be useful when you need to get your spring cleaning done. That way you don't have to worry about me doing a half assed job!"

"Right, right." Mr. Miyagi responded while shaking his head, clearly not falling for Daniel's smooth talk. "Go get boy. Time to eat."

"Hey, Johnny!" Daniel called out as he approached the other teen who was now nearing the end washing and waxing the cars. Just a couple more to go and his work was one for the day. "Come get some dinner!"

"Okay! I'm… kind of filthy though." Johnny said with a slight blush.

Not that Johnny looked half bad getting dirty from a few chores. Some strands of hair had escaped from his usually tight head band as well as a few drops of sweat, his black wife beater shirt had a few patches of dust on it and to top it all off, his biceps were gleaming with water after washing cars all day. The blush covering his cheeks made a perfect pose for a month on a calendar. Not that Daniel was thinking about that, though.

"It's okay, we all are." Daniel smiled. "Let's eat and I'll help you get the last ones later."

Both Daniel and Johnny said goodbye to Mr. Miyagi shortly after 9 o'clock.

The blonde started his motorcycle and shot a sly, but playful smile at Daniel's way as the other teen picked up his bicycle that Mr. Miyagi had fixed earlier this year. "Oh, real nice. Mr. Showoff."

"You want a ride or what?" Johnny asked.

Daniel caved and put his bike back in the safe corner where he had previously kept it. "Alright, alright. I'm sure it will be okay with Mr. Miyagi if I just picked this up tomorrow. I have a car, you know, I just felt like getting some exercise. Cardio is good once in a while, you know." He finished in a motherly sort of tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Just grab onto my waist and try not to scream, Danielle. My friends call my reckless, but I never crash into anything."

Daniel awkwardly wrapped his arms around Johnny's waist and allowed his friend to take the lead just this time. "Fine, but I'm driving the next time."

Johnny gave Daniel just enough time to get comfortable and sped off within seconds, nearly giving Daniel a heart attack. The bikes loud motor roared to life and Johnny cheered at the top of his lungs as the machine picked up a rather quick speed, a little too much for Daniel's liking at first, but he's never seen Johnny feel so free within the short time that he had known him.

The teen riding the back of the bike believed that his new friend was originally dropping him off at his apartment, but unbeknownst to him, Johnny had other plans.

"Hey, I thought we were going home, what gives?" Daniel asked as the bike headed further away from his place.

"Quit complaining, LaRusso! The night's still young and so are we. You need to get out and get a life more often!" He shouted over the blowing wind.

The two relaxed on the beach for at least a half – hour until Johnny finally spoke first. "I love coming here at night time. If I'm lucky, I'm the only one here and I can just think to myself for a while. Sometimes I stay here all night."

"Doesn't it get lonely sometimes?" Daniel thought fore longingly. "You're the last person I'd suspect to be an introvert." He smiled.

Johnny laughed. "Guess you didn't know me as well as you thought, hu? And I was a little wrong about you, too… but only on some things. I was right about everything else."

Daniel playfully tossed some sand into his friend's hair. "Anyways, is it okay if I ask about – I mean, have you been okay lately?"

"You mean Kreese, right?" Johnny asked, dodging all bull shit just like he always had. One of the positives about Johnny was that there was never a need to tip toe around him, you could always simply say what you meant. "Yeah, I'm doing better. I'm not as angry as I was before and I'm glad I didn't have to completely give up karate."

"Why did you go back to Kreese after the tournament?" Daniel asked.

"Because karate was the only thing that gave me confidence in my life, and Kreese was someone that I could never stop going back to. He was more than a sensei to me; he was like a father to me when my step – father at home could care less about me every day. Kreese was a tough son of a bitch and even my friends said he was borderline abusive to me, but in Kreese's argument, I was his star pupil or whatever shit he tried to feed me at the time. No matter how much he hurt me, he told me it was to better myself because he claimed he saw himself in me. I know he's sick now, but part of me would still care if he died tomorrow. Part of me knows that I can never fully be rid of Kreese. Or Cobra Kai. They're both things that will always be a part of me, whether I like it or not. You can't just rip things away from you that made you the person you are. I know it's not the answer you wanted to hear, though."

Daniel couldn't believe what he had just heard. He remembered the night of the tournament when Johnny's so - called father – figure had slammed him against a car in the parking lot and nearly choked him to death. Not to mention just a few weeks ago when he and Ali saved Johnny from almost being raped to death.

Despite all of this, Daniel remember a promise he made to himself to just be there for Johnny. Sometimes, listening wholeheartedly without correcting a person's feelings is something people rarely experience in their lifetimes. It's something else that Mr. Miyagi had told him one day before some afternoon training.

Instead, Daniel smiled and simply said "Here, you got sand all over your face." He reached over gently to brush the particles away, but the boy beside him flinched. "I'm sorry, I didn't – ''

Johnny sighed. "No, it's okay. You wouldn't have known."

Daniel searched Johnny's face for any sign of invitation. "Is it alright if I still help you with that?"

The blonde looked like a dear caught in headlights, but gulped slightly and nodded nevertheless.

Daniel chuckled softly as he was finally able to reach the harsh sand that covered Johnny's face. "See? Just nice touches, nothin' bad."

A couple more months had passed since then, and Johnny had been overcoming even more obstacles with himself and his training since the day of the tournament – including his last encounter with sensei Kreese.

"Do you have to go to Japan?" Johnny asked Daniel, his eyes downcast.

"You're looking at me like that on purpose, ain't you?" Daniel laughed. "Yes, I just need to go on a little adventure with Mr. Miyagi but I promise I'll come back. You and Ali take care of each other while I'm gone, okay? You've helped me with a very important chapter in my life, Johnny Lawrence."

"You've helped me, too." Johnny replied sadly. "But don't leave us for too long." He said with a sad smile.

"I'll come back to all of you. I promise."

END.