Mr. LaRusso set him up a table and chair under the shaded tree and presented him with a pair of clippers, along with a few potted bonsai plants. Eli glanced at Sensei Lawrence, almost like he expected his teacher to rescue him from this lesson. Sensei Lawrence hadn't seemed particularly impressed by Mr. LaRusso's suggestion.

"Are you sure about this?" Sensei asked his co-teacher. "I was thinking he should stick with the others while we—"

"Johnny." Mr. LaRusso raised his eyebrows, giving him a beleaguered stare. "Trust me."

Sensei Lawrence opened his mouth like he was about to raise an objection. Eli hoped he would because he didn't want to spend that day gardening. But instead, Sensei nodded. "Do what Mr. LaRusso tells you," he said, leaving Eli at the table with his bonsais to go over and supervise the sparring session. Judging by his expression, Mr. LaRusso looked surprised by his easy cooperation.

Eli's shoulders slumped. Sensei Lawrence had pawned him off on Mr. LaRusso. He felt tricked. "What if I mess them up?" he asked with a dismissive hope that that would convince the instructor of Miyagi-Do to drop the whole plan.

"You'll do fine," promised Mr. LaRusso.

Eli's eyes dropped to the brace on his leg, where he had it elevated on a box that had been provided for him. He changed his tactic. "Did Sam tell you?" he asked, a curtness coming over his tone. "I'm the one who wrecked your dojo last summer. And I stole Mr. Miyagi's medal."

He looked up again to watch Mr. LaRusso's expression. He wasn't surprised by the hard lines around the man's mouth, the way it was so obvious he was holding something in while he continued to stare at him. That was what he wanted. Good, he thought. Kick him out. End the farce already.

Mr. LaRusso sighed. "Yeah, Sam told me."

"And you still trust me to touch your little trees?" asked Eli, narrowing his eyes. "Just go ahead and write me off. Kick me out of the dojo. I won't blame you."

"Sounds like that's what you want me to do," replied Mr. LaRusso, reading him like an open book. "But I've already made that mistake once, with another student. Look, I won't stand here and tell you I wasn't upset to hear the news, but Sam also told me you apologized. And we already got the medal back and the dojo cleaned up long ago. So how about we focus on the now? Because right now, I need you to trim the bonsais. We know you can destroy things. Let's see if you can help them grow. So make careful cuts, not too big."

Giving him a couple of pats on the shoulder, Mr. LaRusso flashed him a small smile and walked away to join Sensei Lawrence where he stood with the rest of the students as they started getting ready.

Eli shifted uncomfortably in his seat. So, Sam had told her father he apologized for it? For as furious as she'd been after he confessed to the misdeeds, he assumed she would take the first opportunity to get her dad to boot him out of the dojo for good. She'd never liked his presence there and he'd given her a golden opportunity to be rid of him forever.

He glanced over at the group, at Sam, who was busy talking to Chris. She caught him looking and turned her eyes away. Was it fair to still assume the worst in her? She'd been so upset when she found him behind the 7-Eleven after the Cobras had taken off. She'd been the one to call her dad for help.

Eli was pulled from those thoughts when he saw someone walking up to him. His breath caught in the back of his throat. "Miguel…."

"Hey!" Miguel greeted him, a relieved grin on his face, crouching down to get at eye-level with him next to his seat. He pulled him into a quick bro-hug, the best they could manage while he was sitting down. "It's great to see you here!"

"Same," said Eli. It was so good to see Miguel again, to see his familiar warm features, his understanding brown eyes, his cheesy grin. Why had he holed himself in his room for so long? Eli wanted to throw himself off his chair, take Miguel's face in his hands, and kiss him. He couldn't, however. The brace made it impossible to throw himself off of anything. And Sensei Lawrence was present, tempering his enthusiasm with the knowledge that Sensei still didn't know. Because of him, Sensei didn't know.

"Cool hat," Miguel remarked, gesturing to the cap on his head.

Eli let out a breathy chuckle, adjusting it self-consciously. Glancing over Miguel's shoulder, he could see all the other guys looking his way now, too. What must have they been thinking when they saw him enter the dojo without his signature mohawk? And what were they staring at now? "Sensei said I should plug some merch for a while," he tried joking, although his energy wasn't up for it, making it land flat to his own ears.

"Diaz, get over here!" came Sensei Lawrence's command. "Everyone, line up!"

Miguel sighed, almost like he'd forgotten where he was, that it wasn't just the two of them there in the backyard. "We can talk more, after practice?" he asked, giving Eli's shoulder a squeeze.

Eli nodded. "Yeah."

Standing up straight, Miguel turned around to make his way back to the group. Glancing back once to notice Hawk watching him, he gave him another reassuring smile. Hawk looked like he was trying to return it, but the expression that showed up was a muted version of what only might charitably be called a smile.

Miguel understood. Hawk wasn't the type of guy who wanted to sit around while everyone else was practicing. He imagined he himself must have been wearing the same expression frequently when he'd been stuck in bed or his wheelchair and could only watch in jealousy the videos Hawk and the other guys posted on their Instagrams of them busy at their lessons. Trimming bonsais wasn't going to be a fulfilling substitute, no matter what the Miyagi-Dos said, but it was still better for Hawk that he was here now, around his friends.

"Alright, everyone, in case you haven't been counting, we only have a month left until the All-Valley," explained Sensei Lawrence. "So, let's make these last few weeks count."

"Do you think we'll have to worry about Cobra Kai between now and the Tournament?" asked Sam, eyeing Miguel once as he stepped up between her and Demetri.

"The only factor working in our favor right now is that Kreese and Silver likely won't want to be risking their own students' safety between now and the All-Valley," explained Mr. LaRusso. "Sounds like some of them took quite a beating during their last fight."

Mitch elbowed Chris. "Told you Hawk wiped the floor with them."

Sensei Lawrence collaborated, "Yeah, I'm hearing Nichols is nursing some cracked ribs, and Rickenberger's got a broken nose. Not that Kreese cares. When I went to go call out his ass for sending his kids to jump Hawk, he didn't seem all that worried about his other students. He's put all his bets on Robby to win." A stoic tension came over his face at admitting that last part.

Miguel shifted on his feet, biting down on his bottom lip. Sensei Lawrence was leaving a few things left unsaid. That Tory might as well have been collateral damage to Sensei Kreese and Mr. Silver. That while they'd only encouraged her quest for revenge to send a message to what happened to traitors, their real mission was to knock Hawk out of the All-Valley Tournament.

Because what they really wanted to see was Robby go up against him, the previous year's champion. They wanted to see Sensei's son beat his star student. That was what all of this was leading to: Robby versus Miguel. They'd risk Tory getting hurt with only a month to recover and put Hawk out of commission to guarantee that match came to fruition.

"You can't win a Tournament with just one student though, can you?" asked Nate.

Sam reminded him, "Robby almost won the All-Valley last year. He made it all the way to the finals fighting unaffiliated until Dad had him join Miyagi-Do during the last round. And my Dad won both of his All-Valleys as Mr. Miyagi's only student. So, yes, it's entirely possible. Sometimes one student makes all the difference."

Mr. LaRusso continued, "I'd still be cautious, all of you. In the meantime, continue to keep together, be safe, and be aware."

"But as for today's lesson," said Sensei Lawrence, stepping forward, "you guys are gonna be the Senseis for once. We wanna see how much you've learned these past few months, so we know we haven't been wasting all our time. Two of you will get in the circle and fight. The rest of you, find their flaws and correct them."

"Sometimes learning from others' mistakes will assist you in spotting and correcting your own," added Mr. LaRusso, to clear up the point of their exercise. "This will also judge you on your reflexes, how fast you can react when you're in the middle of a fight."

Sensei Lawrence nodded. "So, pay attention. I better be hearing from more than just Miss LaRusso when one of you screws up. Let's start with Mitch and Demetri. You two, get in the circle."

"Me?" asked Demetri, pointing to himself while his eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Since when did you start calling me that?" He narrowed his eyes at Miguel with an aggrieved glare when he elbowed him for asking that question.

Sensei Lawrence continued staring at him like he expected him to shut up and get started. "What? I told you one day I'd learn your names."

Judging by the look on Demetri's face, Miguel figured his friend wasn't particularly impressed by Sensei Lawrence reaching what he probably assumed to be bare minimum standards.

"Actually, I have another plan for you, Demetri," intervened Mr. LaRusso, gesturing for his student. "Chris, why don't you spar with Mitch for now?"

Chris shrugged, flashing Mitch an excited grin, looking like he was ready to give his friend a solid fight. "Sounds good to me."

While the circle spread out, Chris and Mitch stepping into the middle and loosening their muscles, Miguel turned beside him to Sam and said, "Hey, Sam, real quick, I wanted to say, about what happened last week? Y'know, trying to plan an attack on Cobra Kai? You were right, I wasn't thinking straight."

Sam had a hard time holding his gaze, even as she nodded. "It's okay. It's not like I've never been caught up in anger and made a bad choice."

Miguel picked up on her vague hint to what was undoubtedly still eating away at her. She'd continued acting distant around the group, coming across as ill-at-ease and remote. "I don't think Hawk's upset about you breaking the pact," he told her.

"Are you upset at me?" asked Sam.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Miguel assured her, "Not anymore, no. I mean, I'm the one who suggested Hawk should try and make peace between you guys in the first place."

Sam's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "You did?"

"Well, he was trying to make things up with all of you here at Miyagi-Do, and I told him he could do more to help things between you and him," explained Miguel. "I know you guys will probably never be friends, but I care about you both and just wanted him to put in as much effort with you as he has been with the others."

Tugging her braid over her shoulder to pick at it, Sam shook her head and said, "Even if you're the one who suggested he apologize to me, I'm still the one who broke the promise. I mean, I'm the one who suggested the pact in the first place. But things feel so weird right now. Like, I'm still mad at him for taking Mr. Miyagi's medal, and I don't know if I can forgive him for that. But I wish I hadn't left him alone just because I was angry, and I wish I hadn't said some of the stuff I did."

"You could go tell him that," suggested Miguel.

Retying the hair-tie at the end of her braid, Sam pressed her lips together, looking like she was thinking hard about that advice.

While the others started practice, Eli picked up the clippers and trimmed the bonsais, making little cuts here and there at the overgrowth as he was told to do. But he couldn't shake the feeling of the others' eyes on him. And it wasn't the stares of awe that he'd come to appreciate. It felt more like the gawking he'd received when he'd hid in oversized sweaters and tried hiding his face behind his hands in the cafeteria, hoping he would blend into the background and nobody would notice him.

What was Mitch thinking when he saw him now without his cool hair, hiding his head in a black baseball cap? What about Bert? Or the Miyagi-Dos? Was Miguel pitying him?

Eli was so wrapped up in his self-consciousness, he cut off too big a chunk from the bonsai he was working on. Now the top of it was wrecked. Mr. LaRusso was wrong, he wouldn't do fine with this. So Eli tossed his clippers on the table with an irritated sigh and crossed his arms over his chest in defeat.

"Oof, gotta be more careful," said a voice from someone coming to stand next to him. He didn't have to look up to recognize it as Demetri's. "You can't take back a cut, y'know, you should keep that in mind before committing to it."

"What are you doing?" asked Eli, glancing at the pair of clippers in Demetri's hand.

"Mr. L told me to prune some bonsais with you," remarked Demetri, setting the chair in his other arm down to sit next to him, "Usually we do this as a whole team. Don't worry if you trim too much on your first try. My first attempt was a complete disaster. But Mr. L assured us, even if you can't take back a cut, a bad cut always grows back. Or something like that."

It didn't take much brainpower to figure out what point Demetri was making, and hearing it from him aggravated Eli as much as it had hearing the same thing from Sensei Lawrence, even if what they were saying was true. After all, it was only hair to them. "I hate this," he admitted. "I want to be out there fighting."

"Physical activity is overrated," Demetri quipped, pulling one of the bonsai plants closer to him. Eyeing the cap Eli was wearing, he noted, "So, I guess you're going to be changing your sense of style with that backwards hat until the mohawk grows back? A little too 'bro,' for my taste, but not bad."

"I figured you'd be glad to see the mohawk gone," admitted Eli.

Demetri's mouth hung agape, pausing where he'd been ready to clip some of the bonsai. "Why would you think that?" he asked, sounding somewhere between offended and hurt by the remark.

"You always made fun of it," Eli pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Demetri explained, "I told you before, I was just giving you a hard time."

Eli asked him, "You ever think maybe I wasn't looking for a hard time?"

"Well, you shouldn't have been dishing it if you couldn't take it," snapped Demetri. But his expression softened after that retort. "But, listen, just because you acted like a massive douchebag after you started huffing hairspray, that doesn't mean I like what Kreese's Serpent Squad did. I mean, if you'd cut off your mohawk yourself, that would've been one thing."

"I never would've cut it off," asserted Eli adamantly. "Don't you get it? For the first time in my life, I had control over what people saw when they stared at me. When they looked at me, I knew they were noticing the hair, not my lip. Now all anyone's gonna notice is my freaky face again. I might as well just go back to the way I was."

"Is that such a bad thing?" asked Demetri. He must have noted the scowl that came over Eli's face since he quickly added, "I mean, I liked how you used to be."

Eli asked, "What, when I used to be a loser?"

Demetri furrowed his brows. "Is that what you really thought of yourself?"

"Come on, you knew our lives sucked," said Eli.

"No, school sucked," Demetri corrected, trimming the bonsai in front of him. "Everyone around us sucked. I mean, yeah, we weren't exactly living the high and glamorous lifestyle of the popular crowd, but I never thought you were a loser. But considering how you started targeting me once you became the Hawk, I'm guessing you thought I was an even bigger loser. Among other colorful epithets."

Eli went quiet for a few minutes, picking at the table with his fingernail, merely watching in silence while Demetri pruned his bonsai plant. His friend was better at it than he was. There were many things Demetri was better at than he was. "I wasn't lying that night when I said I didn't hate you," he said. "I know it's probably hard to believe."

"Well, a little, yeah," agreed Demetri, a smirk curling around the corner of his mouth. "But I believe you."

"When I went back to Cobra Kai after you quit, Sensei Lawrence gave me the advice to flip the script," explained Eli. "That's where the Hawk came from. And, dude, it was like a switch had flipped. I mean, you saw it yourself. Seeing people stare at my hair instead of my lip? Complimenting me instead of laughing? Learning how to finally fight back instead of running away? It felt so good. Cobra Kai changed my life. But then, I don't know, I started getting angry at things."

Demetri nodded. "Yeah. Namely me."

"Yeah," agreed Eli. "I mean, after last year's All-Valley, we had all these new people joining Cobra Kai, and I was worried what they'd think if they knew what I used to be like. So I figured if I made them afraid of me, then they'd never laugh at me, even if they found out the truth about how pathetic I used to be. And meanwhile, you just got to go on like normal. You didn't have to give up the nerd shit, even when you joined Miyagi-Do."

"And I guess you couldn't conceive of being both a nerd and a badass?" asked Demetri. "Let me guess, more of Sensei Lawrence's brilliant advice?"

Eli rolled his shoulder. "It might've been more than that. You kept talking shit about Cobra Kai, and it started to feel like you were attacking me. And, I dunno, I think when I saw you going on about Dungeon Lord and Doctor Who, it reminded me of things I wanted to forget about myself."

Demetri paused in the tending of his plant and met Eli's eyes for a moment. "What about now?" he asked. "Do you still want to forget about all those things? Because I've been enjoying having you around more. But, if you really do hate those things…."

"No," muttered Eli. "I've been enjoying having you around more, too. I liked playing skeeball with you at Golf N' Stuff, and I liked watching bad movies at your place. But I also liked being Hawk. I mean, not the asshole parts but, y'know, the other stuff."

Letting out a dry, sardonic chuckle, Demetri said, "Well, up until you switched to Eagle Fang, the asshole parts were the only parts I saw. And I think you've made things way too complicated for yourself."

"Yeah, probably," Eli conceded.

"I mean, for me, I always thought it was pretty simple," explained Demetri. "There was you, Eli, and then Hawk was your Mirror-Universe doppelgänger. And when you joined our dojo, I thought it meant I was finally getting the old Eli back, but you were still Hawk. So then I thought maybe I was dealing with a Mirror!Georgiou scenario. But I guess things weren't that simple after all."

Pinching his brows together, Eli asked "Who?"

Demetri rolled his eyes again. "You still haven't got caught up on modern Star Trek, have you?"

His cheeks warming, Eli admitted, "No, not yet." Picking at his fingers again, he asked, "Did…Did you wanna come over to my place Tuesday night, and maybe we can binge some of it?"

"Oh, finally, yes!" said Demetri, a bright grin spreading over his face. "Season Two's finale just aired, so you got a lot to catch up on. But you've become such an edgy guy yourself, I think you're gonna like it a lot. And do you know how long I've been waiting to bounce my opinions off on you about the show?"

"I'm sure you've got a lot of them." The both of them laughed at that.

Demetri's face then sobered a little. "And, listen, if it means anything now, I'm sorry for making fun of your hair," he apologized.

Eli nodded, adjusting his hat again. "Thanks."

"Chris, watch your right side!"

Hearing Sam's remark, Eli's eyes were drawn over to the circle. He couldn't see the fight with everyone crowded around Chris and Mitch. So when Miguel called out, "Mitch, dude, you gotta be faster with your reflexes," he had no clue what spurred the criticism.

He narrowed his eyes. He should've been over there with them. Why waste his time helping plants grow when he ought to have been helping his friends get ready for the All-Valley Tournament that was now just over the horizon? If he wanted them to see him for who he really was when they stared at him, he needed to remind them that the Hawk was still there, even while he waited for the mohawk to grow back.

Grabbing his crutches, Eli slipped his arms through the cuffs, stood up, and told Demetri, "No offense to Mr. LaRusso, but trimming bonsais is boring as hell."

He hobbled over to the circle, coming to stand between Miguel and Nate. When Miguel flashed him a big smile and clapped his shoulder in excitement to see him join the group, he asked him, "How's Mitch holding up?"

"Score's four-to-two, with Chris leading," answered Miguel. "First to five points wins the match."

Miguel stared at Hawk while he watched Chris and Mitch spar. It didn't take long at all to see a familiar excitement come over his face, replacing the previous despondency and self-consciousness Hawk had been wearing while sitting apart from everyone over at the table. And Miguel recognized that happiness in his widening grin. It was the same joy he'd felt that first day Sensei Lawrence had gathered the Eagle Fangs together.

"Mitch, watch for the fake-out!" Hawk called.

Miguel returned his attention to the center of the circle in time to see Mitch let Chris's bluff slide, causing him to lose his footing and miss what would have been a resulting follow-up kick. Chris grunted when Mitch's fist punched him in his gut, scoring the point.

"Point, Mitch!" announced Bert.

Retaking his position, Mitch jutted his chin out at Hawk. "Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks for always looking out for Eagle Fang," Demetri joked while he came over to stand on Hawk's other side, also giving up on the gardening lesson. "That's a real shocker."

"Oh, and like Miyagi-Do isn't looking out for each other," Miguel threw back with a good-natured chuckle.

Across from the circle, standing on the patio drinking from water bottles, Mr. LaRusso opened his mouth like he was about to tell Hawk to go back and give maintaining the bonsais a chance. But Sensei Lawrence backhanded him on the chest when he took a step forward to stop him.

Nate gave the signal for the next round. Miguel watched Chris close the gap between them and come at Mitch with a knife-hand punch, which Mitch ducked to avoid. Noticing Mitch's lag in twisting around to deliver a flying knee, Miguel said, "Counter faster, Mitch!"

His advice proved astute when Chris saw the attack coming and blocked it in time. He pivoted his elbow up towards Mitch's chin, but Mitch managed to pull back to keep it from landing.

"Chris, he's not paying attention to his left side!" Miguel heard Hawk yell beside him.

Chris reacted instantly, spinning his right leg around to nail Mitch's left side before his friend could effectively block him.

Nate announced, "Point and match, Chris!"

Ignoring Chris's whoop of victory, Mitch turned to Hawk, spread out his arms, and asked, "What the hell, man? You can't play both sides."

Hawk just laughed. And Miguel loved to hear it. "Sometimes losing's the only way you're gonna learn from your mistakes."

It was the least Cobra Kai thing Miguel could remember hearing Hawk say. He looked over to Sensei Lawrence to see how he would respond. After gulping down some more water and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Sensei Lawrence simply grinned and announced, "Alright, next fight! Bert and Nate, get in the circle!"