A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and for your kind words! I really do appreciate the support this story has received, and I can't believe that something that started with little planning has turned into this 28 chapter (and counting) story.
Also, I'm sorry for the toxic masculinity in this chapter. Disclaimer: the views of Johnny Lawrence do not reflect the views of the author.
"Come on, that's all you got? You were lifting double that weight last week," Johnny berated.
In the middle of an alley outside of the apartment complex they shared, Johnny had been training Miguel to get him up to speed with the rest of the Miyagi-Do group. He was worlds better than when they started training, but there were still some contact drills that Miguel sat out of to be safe — mostly on Johnny's command.
Miguel huffed and laid back with his arms sprawled out across the mat he was doing weighted sit ups on. "I'm sorry Sensei," he turned his head to face Johnny who was standing above him. "I just...have a lot on my mind today," he sighed.
"That's why you workout, it's the way a man deals with his emotions, now come on, 5 more," Johnny demanded.
Rolling his eyes back into a glare, Miguel reluctantly finished out the rest of the set and plopped back down on the mat, clutching his sore abdomen with a grimace.
"Alright, alright take a break, Princess. Then we're going to go work on blocking," Johnny offered Miguel a hand and pulled him up to standing.
"Thanks," Miguel breathed and made his way to take a drink from his water bottle.
Johnny eyed the boy carefully. There was something off with him today for sure. He lacked the focus in his eyes that he normally had for training, but Johnny wasn't sure why.
"How's your mom?" He tried.
"She's fine," Miguel answered, staring off into space. "She's actually been asking about you a lot lately," he looked up.
Johnny felt his cheeks get hotter. He cleared his throat, "Oh yeah? What — um what has she been asking about?"
Pausing, Miguel eyed him with a glint of amusement. "Nothing really. Just wondering how training is going and whether you're being an asshole or not," he said casually.
"Yeah, and what do you tell her?"
"The truth," Miguel shrugged. "That you push me to do these ridiculously hard exercises that I'm not ready for yet, you pelt me with weighted balls if I mess them up, you constantly call me these demeaning names like 'Princess' or—" Miguel rambled to Johnny's expense.
"— that's what you tell her?" He groaned, picking up an exercise ball and getting ready to chuck it in Miguel's direction.
"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Miguel held his hands up laughing at his Sensei. "No, but actually, she wanted me to thank you for getting me to walk again. Even though she was hesitant at first to let you train me, I think she's seen how important it is now," he said more seriously.
Johnny felt a warmth in his chest. "Good. I'm glad that she's on board now. And hey, you're doing all the hard stuff. You deserve all the credit. If it wasn't for your determination then you wouldn't be where you are right now," he said proudly.
"Thanks Sensei," Miguel smiled. The distant haze fell over Miguel's face again as he stared out into the vast apartment complex.
Johnny nudged him with his shoulder. "What's the matter with you today? You're not as focused as you usually are."
Miguel shook his head slightly, "I told you, I have a lot on my mind."
"Yeah, like what?" He implored.
Miguel released the biggest exasperated sigh of his life. "Yesterday after practice Sam told me that her and Robby are dating now, so any chance of officially getting back together with her is now gone because she chose Robby. And she said she still wants to be friends and hang out, but I just don't see how that's possible. Robby was already trying to intimidate me just from asking her if she needed help with her homework," Miguel rolled his eyes. "I can't imagine it would blow over well if we hung out and did non-school stuff together. Also I just...I don't know if I can be friends with someone I still have feelings for," he sighed.
Great, now my son is dating a LaRusso, Johnny thought, running his hands over his face. He thought he noticed the two of them looking at each other with hearts in their eyes from across the dojo, but he tried not to read too much into it. He didn't want to consider what that might mean for his and Daniel's relationship in the future if their two kids continued to date. "So what if you still have feelings for her. You'll get over it. Find another girl to date, that usually helps," Johnny offered.
Miguel's shoulders slumped, "No, I don't want to date someone else. It was different with Sam. I didn't date her just because I wanted to date a girl — I really liked her. We could talk to each other about anything and we had a lot of fun together."
"Did you braid each other's hair and let her paint your nails too?" Johnny snorted. Miguel glared up at him. "I'm sorry. But look, if it's talking to her and hanging out that you'd miss, then it's not like any of that has to stop just because you aren't dating. If I hadn't been so focused on getting Alli to take me back when I was your age, then I might've actually been able to stay friends with her after all these years. We wouldn't have had to say goodbye. It actually, probably would've been nice," Johnny said with a haze of nostalgia in his eyes.
Miguel stayed quiet for a moment, letting Johnny's words take over his thoughts. "But how do you turn off liking someone like that?" He asked suddenly.
"You find someone you like more," Johnny shrugged. "There's other girls at school, right? There's gotta be at least one other hot babe that you like to talk to."
Letting his brain scan over various girls he's ever felt some attraction to, Miguel's stomach did a flip when Tory popped into his head. He blew out a sigh through his lips, shaking his head. "I guess...after Sam and I broke up last year, my feelings changed pretty quickly when I met Tory," he reasoned. "But she's so sucked in with Kreese right now. I can't imagine trying to get back together with her," he sighed.
"Yeah, not to mention she's kind of insane," Johnny laughed to himself, earning another disappointed stare from Miguel.
"She's not insane, she just doesn't think she has anyone on her side. She needs help, is what she needs, but I don't know how to help her," Miguel slid down the side of the tin shed they were leaning against. His arms fell limply on his knees and he let his head fall back against the side of the shed.
Johnny's heart ached for the pitiful looking boy below him. As if he hadn't dealt with enough shit already, now he has girl trouble too. If the situation was slightly different, he could give Miguel advice on winning Sam over and taking her back, but how was he supposed to do that when Robby was on the other side of the equation? If Miguel wins then Robby loses, making Johnny the biggest loser in either case. There wasn't anything he could do to fix this.
Gently, Johnny nudged Miguel's leg with his foot getting his attention. "Come on, practice is over for today, we're going to do something to take that mopey look off your face," Johnny teased.
Miguel got up slowly, "Where are we going?"
"You'll see, go get my keys, they should be on the side table in my room and I'll finish putting this stuff away then let your mom know where we're going. Go!" Johnny shooed.
With a reluctant start, Miguel made his way down the parking lot of the complex and marched up to the doorway of Johnny's apartment.
He knew Robby wouldn't be home — thank god, he thought. Though he figured he was out with Sam judging by the way she had been really vague about her plans for today, which didn't make him feel much better.
Miguel slid into Johnny's unlocked apartment with ease, making his way through the house comfortably. It had been a while since Miguel walked through Johnny's house on his own. Once Robby started living here, Miguel tried to avoid having to come inside at all costs.
"On the side table of his bedroom," Miguel thought aloud. He has been pretty confident that Johnny's apartment was a one bedroom place, which was why it surprised him when Robby started living there. He just assumed that Robby must be sleeping on the couch, which didn't sound comfortable but maybe it's a step up from the floor of the dojo at Miyagi-Do.
Taking a turn into the first bedroom around the corner, Miguel quickly found the only side table in the room. He scanned the surface all around, moving the lamp and objects out of place to check beneath. "They aren't here, Sensei," he noted under his breath. Miguel noticed the table had a drawer. He gripped the knob and struggled to pull the stuck door open. When he succeeded, the drawer flung open, spilling contents out on the floor in the surrounding area.
Miguel sighed and dropped his head back with frustration. "Okay," he huffed. He got down to his knees and began to pick up the items and return them to the drawer. When he picked up one object, a small, well-used spiral notebook, his movements slowed with curiosity. He fanned through a few pages, marveling at the way the worn pages still held up.
Feeling out of place for snooping, Miguel went to close the notebook and put it back in its place, but then a page with a seemingly familiar name on it drew back his attention.
Miguel
He gulped. Hesitantly, Miguel opened the page back up, peering at it with intrigue.
"I don't know if you know why I hate you." He read from the page. There was a shiver down his spine, and he felt uncomfortable reading the private thoughts. Is this about me? He wondered. What were the odds that this could be addressing some other person named Miguel? And who was the author?
Miguel kept reading.
I guess I don't even know for sure why you hate me. Before the fight I mean. Obviously you hate me now because of what I did to you. I'm sorry. I know you don't believe me, but I am really, really sorry.
"Robby," he realized. Miguel paused and closed his eyes. He felt the internal struggle of whether he should keep reading or put the notebook down and pretend he never saw it. But his curiosity had peaked. He never heard Robby speak like this before, it was like learning that wall had a whole other side to it.
He kept reading.
I can't make up for what I did to you, and there's no explanation that could justify what happened, but I don't think you even know why I fought you so hard.
It wasn't just for Sam. It was for my dad too. Your Sensei. For 16 years my dad could never be my dad. He gave up on day 1. I spent the first 8 years of my life pretending my dad was some kind of undercover agent or superhero and that was why he could never be around, until I grew up and learned the truth. That my dad was a loser who never wanted anything to do with me. I wasn't good enough even for him.
Miguel paused. He knew exactly the feelings Robby was describing. Growing up without a dad, he tried to make excuses for why he wasn't ever there. In elementary school, he used to tell kids his dad was an astronaut, and then changed his story every time his family moved. He was just lucky to have a mom and grandmother who made him realize that he didn't need a dad to be happy.
My mom tried her best to make it seem like I didn't need him in my life, but she wasn't ready to be a parent either. I was pretty confident it was all my fault. Neither of my parents knew what to do with me, and I felt responsible.
"Oh," Miguel swallowed. An empty hole formed in his chest, feeling the sense of abandonment that was a little too familiar.
Then one day I go to check out my dad's new karate dojo to see if he finally got his shit together, and I see you there with him. Him hugging you, giving you his karate gee. I was replaced. He had the ability to be a dad this whole time, the only problem was that his own son wasn't the one he wanted to be a dad to.
It sucked. You're the son he wanted. And now he chose me over you and I still feel like I'm just the substitute. I feel guilty because deep down I know that he would prefer you. I hate you for that.
So that's why. If you were ever wondering.
Robby
Miguel looked up from the notebook, his forehead creased and his eyes hollow staring at the wall in front of him. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel.
He felt bad. But did he feel bad for Robby or bad from guilt? Was it just bad in the general sense because he snooped and read someone's deepest secrets? Maybe all of the above, he thought.
Sighing out a long breath, Miguel closed the notebook gently and placed it back in the drawer along with the rest of the items. Now knowing that he was in the wrong room, Miguel left the bedroom and found a second room that looked like a storage space turned bedroom. He grabbed Johnny's keys that were sure enough on a side table next to the bed, and made his way out of the apartment to go find Johnny.
A/N: Excited for everyone to see what's in store...