A/N: This is going to be the last of the "Winter Break" chapters because I'm going to be skipping ahead to the All Valley Committee meeting.
Disclaimer: I don't own Cobra Kai or anything from third parties that I might reference.
Into The Woods
Jason woke up hungover but happy.
He slowly got out of bed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower.
After his shower is over, roughly thirty minutes or so later, he grabs a towel and dries himself.
Jason puts on boxer shorts, a blue t-shirt and navy sweatpants along with black socks.
He grabs his wallet, phone and keys before walking downstairs.
It was probably too late to have breakfast, so Jason sat down in front in the TV.
At least until he heard the doorbell ringing.
He runs to the door and opens it.
Only to find Mr LaRusso standing in front of him.
It was kind of strange seeing Mr LaRusso in casual clothes because Jason just assumed that people like Mr LaRusso just slept in suits.
"Hey, Jason. Happy New Year. What happened to your face? Did you get in a fight or something?" Mr LaRusso, or Daniel, gives Jason a quizzical look.
Jason nods. "You should see the other guy."
"I kind of knew that you'd say that. Don't worry, I'm not trying to get you to leave Cobra Kai. I just thought that it would be a good idea to get to know you a little bit better given your relationship with Sam's best friend. Or, rather, one of her best friends." Mr LaRusso says.
Jason understands. "Okay. I don't have to help you get rid of a body or anything like that, right?"
"No. You want to go for a drive?" Mr LaRusso asks.
Jason thinks about it. "Sure. Where to?"
"Somewhere I haven't been in a long time. Don't worry, I got you food so you're not going to starve." Mr LaRusso replies.
Mr LaRusso walks over to his car and gets in the driver's seat.
Jason closes the door behind him and walks over to Mr LaRusso's car and notices that there's a takeout bag from a fast-food restaurant on the passenger's seat.
He lifts the bag up and sits down on the passenger's seat of Mr LaRusso's car.
Jason opens the bag and pulls out a bacon cheeseburger.
He unwraps it before taking a bite out of it. "So, you don't mind if I eat in the car, right?"
"Sure. Just don't make too much of a mess." Mr LaRusso replies.
Jason pauses to chew his food before answering. "I won't."
He finishes the bacon cheeseburger and finds fries in the bag.
Jason pours salt on the fries and grabs a napkin so he can wipe his hands.
He puts fries into his mouth.
"Sam kind of told me about your situation..." Mr LaRusso starts.
Jason stops eating for about a minute and nods. "That sounds about right."
"I don't want to pry, but what happened to your parents?" Mr LaRusso asks.
Jason shrugs. "Well, my dad's in prison and my mom abandoned me when I was 8. So, there's not really much to tell on that front."
"But you turned out okay. Relatively speaking." Mr LaRusso points out.
Jason doesn't talk for a while until the fries are gone.
He takes a soda out of the fast-food bag and drinks it.
Jason finishes his soda. "Would you mind pulling over so I can throw this stuff out?"
"Sure." Mr LaRusso replies.
He pulls the car over and Jason gets out.
Jason finds the trash and puts the fast-food bag into it before getting back into the car.
Mr LaRusso starts the car again and drives off.
They talk as he drives.
….
Mr LaRusso carries on driving until he stops the car at the edge of a forest.
"When I was a kid, Mr Miyagi took me to this beautiful lake to train. Unfortunately, the drought has turned it into more of a puddle. So, we're coming here instead." Mr LaRusso gets out of the car.
Jason gets out of the car and looks around. "I think this might be my first time being out in nature. Anyway, what exactly did Mr Miyagi teach you?"
"Miyagi-Do Karate. It comes from Okinawa, actually." Mr LaRusso answers.
Jason nods. "Have you ever been to Okinawa?"
"I have. But that's a story for another day." Mr LaRusso answers.
They walk into the forest until Mr LaRusso comes to a complete stop.
Jason looks a little confused. "Why'd we stop?"
"Just close your eyes and clear your mind of any distractions. Tell me what you hear." Mr LaRusso instructs.
Jason closes his eyes. "I can hear the wind blowing through the trees. And I can hear birds. Along with some other stuff."
"Exactly. There are no distractions. It's just you and nature. Along with everything that's around you." Mr LaRusso looks around the forest.
Jason opens his eyes. "So, what exactly is Miyagi-Do about?"
"It's not really "about" anything. But if it was, it would be about inner peace and staying focused. Come on." Mr LaRusso walks on ahead.
Jason follows him. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"You'll see. Just be patient." Mr LaRusso replies.
They keep walking until they come to a fallen tree.
Mr LaRusso stops walking.
Jason comes to a stop as well. "Any reason why we've stopped here?"
"It's fairly quiet." Mr LaRusso answers.
Jason nods. "Okay."
Mr LaRusso spends the next hour or so showing, or teaching, Jason how to do Kata.
It was relaxing, and was very different from Cobra Kai.
"I'm guessing you know how to throw a punch, right?" Mr LaRusso asks.
Jason smiles. "Of course."
"Go for it." Mr LaRusso stands in front of Jason.
Jason throws a punch and stops short of hitting Mr LaRusso. "Like that?"
"Try again. Maybe you should focus your energy into your fist." Mr LaRusso answers.
Jason closes his eyes and focuses.
He throws a punch.
This time, the punch connects.
Mr LaRusso stumbles back and almost falls over a rock before steadying himself.
Jason opens his eyes. "Did I hurt you? Sorry about that."
"It's okay. You've got a pretty good right hook." Mr LaRusso walks towards him.
Jason nods. "Thanks."
Mr LaRusso stands slightly further away from Jason and watches as he throws more punches.
Jason stops throwing punches. "So, what do you want me to do now?"
"Well, you could practice your kicks on the fallen tree without falling." Mr LaRusso says.
Jason climbs up onto the tree. "That doesn't sound too hard."
"It's harder than you think." Mr LaRusso looks up at Jason.
Jason is able to do a front kick and a roundhouse kick, but he ends up falling onto a pile of leaves when he attempts to do a hook kick.
He picks himself up and dusts himself off. "I think you're right. I can do a front kick and a roundhouse kick just fine, but a hook kick just makes me overbalance."
"You'll figure it out. Don't worry about it." Mr LaRusso encourages Jason as he climbs back onto the tree.
Jason falls over a few more times but manages to do a hook kick on the fifth or sixth attempt.
He climbs down from the fallen tree and finds Mr LaRusso trying to get reception on his phone.
Jason taps him on the shoulder. "I managed to do a hook kick without falling over."
"I knew you could do it." Mr LaRusso has a big smile on his face.
Jason nods. "Thanks. Are we going to be hanging out here all day? Because I've got a date with Aisha later and I don't want to be late for it."
"You won't be. Don't worry about Aisha's parents. They'll come around eventually." Mr LaRusso says.
Jason thinks about it. "I think Aisha's mom can see that I'm trustworthy or whatever. Her dad might be slightly harder to convince."
"Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it. I've known Isaiah Robinson for a long time. If he doesn't trust you, he'll probably let you know. All you can be is yourself." Mr LaRusso advises.
Jason grins. "Thanks."
"Maybe it's time for us to head back to the car, then. Hopefully it's not going to take us too long to get to the edge of these woods." Mr LaRusso starts walking.
Jason follows him.
They walk back to Mr LaRusso's car and Mr LaRusso unlocks the car and gets in the driver's seat.
Jason gets in the passenger's seat.
Mr LaRusso starts the car and they drive off.
The drive is fairly silent until Jason speaks up. "Thanks for taking me to the woods. I've never really had much of a chance to experience nature and I'm glad I did."
"You're welcome. You made me realise something." Mr LaRusso says.
Jason looks confused. "What's that?"
"You made me realise how much I miss karate. And teaching." Mr LaRusso answers.
Jason looks over at him. "So, did you ever have students?"
"I didn't really have any students apart from Sam. But that was a long time ago." Mr LaRusso replies.
Jason kind of understands. "Oh. Well, I'm sure you'd be good at teaching people. Sensei's pretty new to the whole being a mentor thing, but he's good at it."
"I'm sure he is. I just…. I can't really see myself approving of him or his methods. If that makes sense." Mr LaRusso says.
Jason thinks about it. "I'm sure you have your reasons. But he's never steered me wrong."
"Fair enough." Mr LaRusso replies.
Mr LaRusso turns on the radio for the rest of the drive to Jason's house.
They talk about different subjects ranging from cars to music.
At least until Mr LaRusso pulls up across from Jason's house.
Jason gets out of the car and says goodbye to Mr LaRusso before unlocking the front door of his house and stepping inside it.
….
Jason closes the door behind him.
He walks upstairs and walk into his room.
Jason takes his wallet, phone and keys out of the pockets of his sweatpants.
He takes out an Amon Amarth t-shirt, jeans and a studded belt along with the red leather jacket that Sensei had gotten him.
Jason walks into the bathroom and gets undressed before stepping into the shower.
He turns on the shower and lets the water cascade over him.
Jason grabs a bottle of shampoo and squirts some of it into his palm.
He rubs his hands together before running his hands through his hair and putting his head under the shower head.
Jason repeats the process about two or three more times before turning the shower off and stepping out of it.
He grabs a towel and dries himself before grabbing a pair of boxer shorts and putting them on.
Jason walks out of the bathroom and gets dressed.
He puts on the Amon Amarth t-shirt, jeans, the studded belt and his red leather jacket before grabbing his wallet, phone and keys.
Jason puts on a pair of black socks and walks downstairs.
He sits down on the sofa and takes out his phone to call Aisha.
"Hey, Jason!" Aisha exclaims.
Jason sits back in the sofa. "Hey, Aisha. How was New Year's?"
"It was good. Even though I spent it with parents. I saw some of the photos you and the guys put up of your night. And, I guess you were having fun." Aisha replies.
Jason nods. "It was a pretty fun night. So, what do you want to do for our date?"
"We could go rollerblading or something." Aisha says.
Jason thinks about it. "That sounds like a good idea. Would you believe me if I told you that I know of a few roller rinks?"
"Really? I didn't think you were the kind of guy who went rollerblading." Aisha remarks.
Jason laughs. "Well, there's a lot about me you don't know. But it doesn't matter."
"There's one thing I've kind of been meaning to ask…." Aisha starts.
Jason is curious. "What's that?"
"Well, my parents don't really know you the way I do. And they certainly wouldn't know you the way that everyone else does." Aisha says.
Jason figures it out. "Oh. So, you want me to have dinner with you and your parents?"
"I knew you'd figure it out eventually." Aisha teases.
Jason smiles. "I'm not that slow, am I?"
"I guess not." Aisha says.
Jason sits forward slightly. "I'll have dinner with you and your parents. And, I'm assuming that I won't have to bring anything apart from myself?"
"You could get them a bottle of wine or something." Aisha suggests.
Jason agrees. "That sounds like a good idea. Thanks."
"Don't mention it. I'll see you later." Aisha hangs up.
Jason hangs up as well.
He turns on the TV and watches TV for a bit before leaving to go and pick up Aisha.
Jason gets in the Dodge Viper and starts it after locking the door to his house behind him.
He turns on the radio and turns it up as he drives off.
….
Jason parked outside of Aisha's house.
He gets out of the Dodge Viper and walks up to the door of Aisha's house.
Jason knocks on the door and waits for someone to open it.
"Hey!" Aisha opens the door and steps outside before closing it.
Jason looks at her. "So, your parents aren't going to see you off?"
"I think they trust you. Or, my mom does, at least." Aisha replies.
Jason frowns slightly. "What about your dad?"
"He's still kind of on the fence about you, unfortunately." Aisha answers.
Jason thinks about it. "So, what do I do to earn his trust?"
"I don't know. Just keep being yourself, I guess." Aisha says.
Jason nods. "That'll probably work. Plus, I'll be having dinner with you and your parents at some point. And that'll give them time to get to know me better."
"Yeah. Are we going to keep standing around? Or…" Aisha begins.
Jason smiles. "We'd better get going. Silly me."
They walk to the Dodge Viper.
Jason unlocks it and Aisha gets into the passenger seat before Jason gets into the driver's seat.
He doesn't turn on the radio, and they just talk as he drives off.
….
Jason parks outside of the roller rink.
Aisha gets out of the car first.
Jason opens the door and gets out before locking the car.
They walk into the roller rink.
Jason pays for their roller skates and they take off their shoes before putting their skates on and walking over to where the roller rink part of the building is.
"Would you mind if I held your hand? For balance?" Aisha asks.
Jason nods. "Sure."
They hold hands as they start skating around.
It takes a couple of times going around before Aisha is confident enough to let go of Jason's hand.
They notice that there are other people skating around them.
"I think I've gotten the hang of it!" Aisha sounds excited.
Jason catches up with her. "Awesome. I knew you could do it."
They skate around a few more times before taking a break.
Jason notices a girl with dirty blonde hair who had been looking over at him and Aisha.
The girl eventually heads over to them.
"Hey, Jason! So, it is you. And is she your girlfriend?" The girl says.
Jason looks over at Aisha before looking back at the girl. "Aisha, this is Tory. She's a friend of a friend. Well… She's kind of more of an acquaintance, really."
"So, how long have you two been going out for?" Tory asks.
Jason is quick to respond. "About two weeks."
"It's been about two weeks." Aisha speaks up.
Jason nods. "I think you're right. Although, it could be exactly two weeks."
"Give or take a few days. I don't think we're at the stage where we can keep track of how long it's been." Aisha interjects.
Jason agrees. "Yeah. We're just taking it day by day, you know?"
"Well, I'd better get back to work. It was nice catching up with you, and your girlfriend." Tory walks off.
Jason stands up. "So, you want to go round a few more times?"
"Sure." Aisha stands up as well.
They skate back over to the part of the roller rink where people are skating.
After going around a few more times, they return the skates and get their shoes before leaving.
They walk back to where Jason parked the Dodge Viper.
Jason looks over at Aisha. "Do you want to get something to eat before I drive you home?"
"That would be great." Aisha replies.
Jason unlocks the car and they get in.
He turns on the radio and turns the radio up before driving off into the night.