Miguel was spending all his time training with Johnny. Lee was having to find creative ways to use the space to make money like getting it sublet by different businesses and having people use the backroom for storage.
Lee looked at the clock when she heard the shop bell jingle. "It's hot yoga time." She gathered her things and walked out.
"Hello Presley," Trina, her dad's latest ex, waved. She lay out her yoga mat.
"Hi," She waved back, walking over to Miguel and Johnny.
"Presley, like Elvis Presley." Johnny snickers.
"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that." Miguel nods.
"My grandma was a big fan, but she didn't get to name my dad that because my grandpa thought it was ridiculous so my dad named me it." She explained. "And my dad knew it would make great for a commercial."
"Oh my god, you're the little girl from the Tom Cole commercials." Johnny laughed. He didn't know why he didn't recognize it early. She had the same face, cute chubby cheeks and all.
"Commercials?" Miguel asked.
"It's nothing." Lee shook her head. Those commercials would haunt her for the rest of her life.
"It ain't nothing, she used to sing Elvis songs that had lyrics change to tell people to buy a car. You were horrible, so off-tone. You were lucky you were a cute kid or you wouldn't have sold any cars." Johnny hadn't laughed this hard in a while.
"On Saturday, from 12 to 4 this place will be used as a craft fair," Lee told him knowing it would wipe the smile off his face.
"What?" Johnny narrows his eyes at her for setting this up without asking him first.
"It's a good way to get cash. We can fit like a dozen vendors in here, adding it all up, it's more than hot yoga." She nods to the women doing the downward dog pose.
"Good job, Miss Moneypenny." He patted her head before walking into the office. Miguel and Lee told him bye before they walked out of the Dojo. They got into her car, so she drove him home.
"We do need more students." Miguel sighs at having his practice being cut short.
"Too bad, we aren't more popular than people would actually care to see the videos we post." Lee sighed. It didn't matter how badass Miguel looked in the video, if people didn't care about him, he was just another random person on Instagram.
"Maybe you can make out with Moon and she'll help promote the videos." He teased.
"Or you could make out with Yasmine or Sam." She scoffed.
"I couldn't make out with Yasmine that would break Demetri's heart." He put his hand on his chest in fake offense.
"Then make out with Sam." She threw a teasing smile. Even though she didn't care for Sam it was adorable the way his face lit up when he thought about her. She swore he was a puppy that somehow became a human.
"Trust me, I'm working on it." He wiggled his eyebrows making her laugh. She pulled up to the apartment complex. "I'm going to do a deep dive on the internet tonight and find these commercials." He got out of the car with her yelling at him that he was better not.
She pulled out and got back on the road. "Siri, call Eli."
"Calling Eli." Siri echos.
"Hey Lee, you're on speaker. It's me and Demetri." Eli let her know.
"Hey guys, I just finished Cobra Kai. Who house are you guys at?" She asked.
"Oh, you have time for us now that you're done with your snake karate." Demetri's tone was laced with passive-aggressiveness.
"What's your problem?" She narrowed her eyes at the road.
"I just never thought you would be the girl that ditches her friends for her boyfriend." He shrugged.
"Okay, first of all, Miguel and I aren't dating. Second, I'm not ditching you. We invite you guys to come every day. Third, go fuck yourself." She pushes the button on the steering wheel to hang up.
Lee was videotaping Miguel throwing punches at mitts. Johnny was giving another pep talk that she would have to put music over. It would be too violent for parents to hear. No one wants their kid to learn how to inflict pain. The shop door jangled, Lee looked over confused, yoga didn't start until five. "No yoga till five. No matter how bad you need it."
"Hey, Aisha." Lee smiled when she recognized the girl.
She waved to Lee before speaking to Johnny. "Um, I'm actually here for karate. I saw your website. It said that there was supposed to be a session today." She walks more into the dojo.
"I appreciate you coming in, but there are no girls in Cobra Kai." Johnny was trying to be polite since she was female.
"Why not?" Aisha and Lee asked at the same time.
"Same reason there aren't women in the Army. Doesn't make sense." He told her.
"You are just a human time capsule of the 80s." Lee shook her head. Did he even look around at his new surroundings? You see women in military uniforms all the time.
"Um, Sensei, I need to show you something in the office." Miguel and Johnny walk into the office after bowing to them.
"Don't worry, Sensei got a soft spot for Miguel, he will be able to talk him into teaching you." Lee followed them.
"Don't give me this sexist bullshit. Women just aren't meant to fight. They have tiny hollow bones." Johnny sat down on the desk.
"Tell that to Amanda Nunes." Lee scoffs.
"Who?" Johnny asked.
"MMA champ in two weight class." She put two fingers up.
"That's different, they're fighting other women and I'm using that term loosely because I've seen some of them. That girl would have to fight boys, there's no point in training her. She'll never win an All-Valley." He shook his head.
"Aren't you desperate for new students?" Miguel cut off their fight, which he had to do often whenever Johnny said something too ignorant for Lee to ignore. Sometimes Miguel thinks Johnny does it just to get a rise out of her.
"Yes, but this isn't a knitting class. This is a dojo." Johnny pointed out.
"Look, the kids at school call her names, make fun of her." Miguel tried to come at this from a different angle.
"That's what happens when you eat a box of twinkies every day." He had every little sympathy for people.
"That's unfair because I'm overweight too, but since I'm proportionally different it is considered sexy while girls like Aisha are considered unattractive." Lee had thick thighs and love handles but since her stomach didn't hang over her jeans it was considered acceptable.
"Life isn't fair, just be happy you won the genetic lottery like me." He points to himself.
"Look, her dad is Isaiah Robinson." Miguel butted into their argument again. "Hall of Fame lineman for the Chargers." He explained when he saw their confused faces asking why they should care who her dad was.
"So, you're saying it's genetic? Her love for Twinkies comes from her dad?" He nods like he saw where Miguel was going.
"No, I'm saying her family is loaded and she's a paying customer. But you don't need the money, right?" He tilts his head like he didn't know they were only keeping their heads just above water.
"Alright." He nods and walks out. "Okay, take off your shoes. Hop on the mat." Lee gave her the thumbs up from behind Johnny's back. She did what she was told. "Okay, after further review. I've decided to allow female students. But, if you wanna be a Cobra Kai, you can't act like a girl."
"What do you mean? How do girls act?" Aisha asked.
"Don't give me that. I get enough of that bullshit from MoneyPenny. I don't need all the emotional, loud, complain-y." He put his hand up when he saw Lee open her mouth. "Never let me finish a sentence." She shut it and glared at him.
"Well, I know a few guys who act just..." Aisha was getting tired of the chauvinist attitude.
"Quiet!" He yells, making the three teens jump. Lee put her hand over her heart, she would never get used to that. "My student tells me you've been harassed at school."
"Yeah. Mostly online. I get mean texts and emails sent to me. Makes me not wanna go." She told him.
"And who sends you these messages?" Johnny asks.
"Well, they're mostly anonymous. These kids create fake accounts, and they tell me things like I'm ugly and that I should kill myself." Aisha kept her eyes on the floor. Lee leaned against Miguel and he rubs her back in comfort.
"Oh my god…." Right, when you thought Johnny was feeling sorrow for someone else it turned to anger. "What a bunch of pussies? Back in my day, if you wanted to tease someone you did it to their face. There was honor, respect. These geeks hiding behind their computers, what a bunch of spineless losers. You're not afraid of these losers, are you?"
"No?" Aisha said it was a question. She never thought about it before. She supposed she wasn't scared of them, none of them ever approached her.
"You gonna take shit from these losers?" Johnny stared at her face.
"No." She was with more determination.
"Good, because when I'm done with you you're gonna be sending a message back. Only it's not gonna be with your keyboard. It's gonna be with your first." He put his fist up. "MoneyPenny gets the paperwork done." He nods to Lee. She cheered as she pulled Aisha into the office to get the form and contract for her to give to her parents that said Cobra Kai wasn't responsible for any emotional or physical damage that happened while training or in competition. After that was all squared away, she had her first lesson.
"Face each other. Bow." Johnny was about to have his two students spar. Lee was taping as usual. "Mr. Daiz, show her everything you've learned."
"Wait, wait, I don't think this is right, Sensei." Miguel didn't want to hurt her.
"Yeah, Sensei. Miguel would kick the crap out of her." Lee agreed, scaring Aisha.
"Didn't you two say women are equal to men?" He asked.
"Women are equal but..." Johnny cut him off before Miguel could say that she had no training.
"Then show her women are equal and give her everything you got," Johnny ordered.
"Wait. I just wanna remind everyone this is my first day." Aisha spoke up.
"Your enemies don't care what day it is. They prey on weakness. If you wanna beat them, you gotta conquer your fears and jump face-first into the fire. Are you ready, Mrs. Robinson?" He nodded to her after that rough pep talk.
"I guess." She said, unsure.
"Mr. Diaz?" He turned to Miguel. He didn't give him time to answer. "Fight!" He yelled, but neither of them moved. "Don't just stand there. Fight!"
"I'm sorry." Miguel got into a stance and kicked her in the chest knocking her down. "Oh my god, Aisha, are you okay? I'm so sorry." He went to help her up. Lee put her phone down, not feeling like this should be filmed. "Come on." Miguel reached his hand out. Aisha yelled and tackled him down to drop a knee on him.
"Holy shit!" Lee regretted her decision to stop filming.
"My ribs." Miguel wheezed on the ground.
"Girls a natural Cobra." Johnny nods in approval. After hearing some yelling from outside, he told them. "Alright, students and Moneypenny wait here. Diaz, you're in charge." He walked outside.
Aisha and Lee helped him get up. "I don't see why you're in charge," Lee complained.
"Because you didn't know how to do the warm-ups." He rolled his eyes.
"Ah, some much disrespect. I'm going to update the website." She scoffed and went back into the humble office.
"Oh look Lee, they got the brownies you like." Eli nods to them.
"Oh, thanks I almost miss them." She grabbed the plate of goodness from the school cafeteria counter.
"Maybe if you stopped telling the story of me wheezing on the ground you wouldn't have." Miguel grabs a yahoo.
"Why would I hold back a story that everyone enjoys?" Lee walks over to the register to pay for her lunch. After her friends did the same, they walked out to the sitting area to see Kyler and Sam glaring at each other.
"Hey guys, you know that billboard with a big ass dick on it? I guess Sam takes after her dad." Kyler yelled, getting everyone in the room but four to laugh.
"Not exactly like her dad, because she only had a small dick in her mouth," Lee yelled, getting the crowd to turn on him.
"You want to find out about my dick, freak lover." He went to walk over to her.
"Hey, Kyler." Miguel put his tray down and met him halfway. "Why don't you shut the hell up and stop being such an asshole?"
"Want another beat down, Rhea?" Kyler's friends were quick to gather around him in case he needed backup.
"I got to film this." Lee put her tray down to get her phone out. "Everyone should film this. I need angles." She yelled out.
"I'm ready for your lame-ass karate this time." He shoved Miguel back into a table making Aisha and her friends get up from it.
"It's not lame-ass karate." Miguel grabbed Kyler's arm when he went to throw a punch. "It's Cobra Kai." He punched him in the face. Kyler tackled him onto a table and threw him onto another before he got him into a headlock.
"Slither Miguel, Slither," Lee screamed. Miguel did that, by elbowing him, twisting his arm back, and kicking him in the back sending Kyler to the ground.
"No Mercy!" Aisha screamed.
"Behind you." Lee advice when she saw Brucks running at Miguel. He bent down to avoid the bigger boy punch and sweep his feet. From there it was spinning kicks and punches for the rest of Kyler's goons. He ran to slide across a table and grab a lunch tray with them chasing after him. He kicked a chair out to trip one before smacking Brucks in the face with the tray. After laying the goons out of the ground. Kyler got up to charge at him. Miguel jumps on Bruck's back to get on a table to kick Kyler in the face and smack him with the tray. Lee zoomed in on Sam staring at Miguel in amazement. Her friend would love that.
"Hey! Get down from here right now." The counselor came in to yell at Miguel not even seeming concerned with the beaten-up teens on the floor. The crowd booed her for pulling him away.
"Cobra Kai's teaching right there, people. You can find us at the strip mall. You can find an application on our website and follow us on all social media." Lee screamed out.
"All four of them?" Johnny almost didn't believe them.
"Yeah." Miguel nods.
"Even, that big dumb one." He asked.
"Yeah, watch." Lee played the video for him. Miguel watched the video not even recognizing himself.
"This is amazing." He looked up from the phone when the fight was over, so he didn't see Sam.
"It all happened so fast. Everything just came together. I was blocking, I anticipated. I slithered." He listed off with his fingers.
"Huh, your mom is gonna kill both of us." Johnny looked down at his desk.
"Well, she would if she knew. When my school called, my Yaya answered. Never seen her so proud. She won't talk." He smiled.
"Alright, let me get this straight. You took all the lessons I taught you and you used them to straight-up beat the shit out of those punks?" Johnny stood up and walked over to Miguel.
"Oh yeah," Miguel and Lee were surprised by his disapproving tone.
"Follow me." He walked out. They follow him out to his car. He opened up the trunk to show a Cobra Kai gi. "I wore this when I was training for my first tournament back in 81. I want you to have it."
"Are you sure?" Miguel asked.
Johnny handed it to him. "Hell yeah. You earned it." They did a bro handshake and hug that made Lee's heart melt. "That's it. It's the best thing I got."
"Thank you so much, Sensei." Miguel gave him a proper hug.
Lee snapped a picture of it. "Okay, paparazzi. Stop it." Johnny reached out to ruffle her hair. They were unaware of the eyes watching them in jealousy.
"I can't believe all the people." Lee smiled at Miguel as she looked around at all the students waiting outside the dojo with them.
"I know this is amazing." Miguel nods.
"With all the excitement yesterday, I forgot to show you something." She pulled out her phone to forward the video to the end. She showed Sam staring up at him. "I would say you're Spiderman to her Mary Jane and she ready kisses you upside down." She playful nudged him.
"So, you think I should ask her out?" He asked.
"Hell yeah." She nods. "Oh, he's here." She cheered when the Firebird pulled up.
Johnny came out and looked around in amazement. "Look like we're in business." He opened the door to the dojo to let them in.