"So, you're serious?" Olivia asked one more time as she turned off her car in the small parking lot of Miyagi-Do.
"As a heart attack," responded Demitri as he unbuckled himself. "Are you sure you don't want to join?"
Olivia just shook her head, "Nah, I'm fine. But I'll stay and watch. Like a proud mom!"
"Careful, that just makes the incest worst," the lanky teen teased his friend as they walked towards the building.
The brunette wrinkled her nose in disgust, "you're never letting that go, are you?"
With a snort, Demitri shoved an arm around his friends closer.
"I can't blame you for wanting to kiss a masterpiece, little hobbit." He quickly dodged the shove to his side with a laugh. "So, where do we enter?"
"I guess through the gate," shrugged Olivia. The two walked into the gate, and three pairs of eyes fell on the pair. The smaller teen stood back as her friend rambled about entering and inquired about the koi pond.
"Yeah. I'm here to learn Karate."
"Why are you here?"
"I'm here to learn Karate, sir!"
"No, why are you here!?"
"T-to protect my friend, sir!"
Daniel LaRusso looked as if he sold thirty cars in his lot in one hour before looking at Olivia with hopeful eyes.
"Oh, oh no," Olivia waved her arms in denial. "I'm just a support system and a ride, just a mom friend on duty." Olivia took a seat on the deck and showed her book, "see? Just gonna sit here and wait for my child to get done with his Karate lessons."
Demetri only rolled his eyes but otherwise said nothing as Daniel, and the other two looked at him with smiles.
...
"I'm never gonna have any other friends besides Demetri and Olivia. I'm never going to have a girlfriend. I'm always just going to be that kid with the weird lip!"
The newly-made redhead wrapped his arms around his girlfriend as he tossed the memory aside.
He wasn't a loser anymore.
He was Hawk, and he had plenty of friends like Miguel and Aisha and the other Cobras.
He was Hawk, and he had a girlfriend who was sexy as hell.
He was Hawk, and he was a badass.
So why did it hurt so God damn much seeing photos of Demetri and Olivia online?
...
Olivia sat against the house on the deck, flipping to the next page on vulnerabilities. She had Cyber Team again tonight. Tomorrow she started her first day of work.
Occasionally Olivia would hear Demetri complain about the teaching methods that Daniel LaRusso used and chuckled.
"I've had to pee since we started."
Olivia chuckled more as she flipped to the next page, enjoying the frustration of Mr. LaRusso and the annoying fly known as Demetri.
'Maybe this will be good for us.'
...
Hawk looked at the phone as fury blossomed through his chest as he saw who wrote the one star.
"What's the other asshole say?"
'Karate should never be used unless it's necessary. While this school has done some great things with giving kids confidence, exercise, and discipline, the dojo has also completely missed the point of Karate. I give these two stars because the current head sensei is a great man, but the assistant sensei seems to be intent on bullying kids.'
Yanking the phone out of the curly hair kid's grip, Hawk furiously clicked on the second profile, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was.
'Oh, they're fucking dead meat.'
...
"I'm literally being threatened by my best friend," commented Demitri quietly. With a slight glance towards his ride, he continued, "and I'm afraid of not being able to protect the people closest to me."
"I-I just want to show that I can fight back."
Olivia frowned as she overheard Demetri's monolog about why he was there when he didn't want to be. This had ended up becoming a pattern for her: bring Demetri to the dojo, read one of her books, do a few stretches and maybe some exercises, talk to Robby and Sam, take Demi home... and then go to work.
It was all a routine and it was comfortable.
To hear that her brother wasn't afraid of not being able to protect himself...or protect her made the brunette's heart clench.
...
Olivia had the day off, and so she enjoyed a lovely day at the mall with Demitri and her new friends. The black-haired boy had wanted a different kind of food from the food court than what Robby and Sam got, so the two friends arrived at the table a little later than Robby and Sam.
"I've never actually seen Dirty Dancing," Olivia piped up as she sat down with her friends. The three looked at her in disbelief, and just as Sam was about to comment, she was interrupted.
"Wait a minute!" Demetri exclaimed as he made eye contact with Olivia. "Today's Wednesday, isn't it?!"
"Yeah, why?" asked Olivia, confused, as she ate a fry.
With an eye roll, he got up out of his chair quickly, "the new issue of Dungeon Lord came out today!?" Getting up frantically, he looked back at his best friend, "are you coming?"
Nodding her head, Olivia got up as well, but less clumsily.
"Okay, uh, uh uh, do you two want anything from the comic book store?" Demetri asked as he pointed at the other two teens.
The two just chuckled and said no.
...
"Hey, Everest. I'm gonna go check to see if they have any Old Who DVDs in the back, alright?" asked Olivia as she headed away from the comic book section. All she got was a dismissing wave of the arm, and she returned it with a roll of her eyes.
While looking at the DVDs, Olivia thought heavily about whether or not she should start back at Karate. Things were changing, becoming more serious than she could have ever imagined. Her friend was injured with Karate.
'Maybe it's time to stop letting the past rule over me...' She grabbed a random Doctor Who DVD that she already had. 'I need to stop allowing change to be in control...'
Olivia's head swiveled as she heard a crash near where she left her friend and frowned. He wasn't usually this clumsy in the comic book store...
...
"I said, take it down," bit Hawk as he stared at his shocked friend. Ex friend.
"Hey, Demi, I was looking at this DVD, and I couldn't remember if I already had it," Olivia walked over, head down as she continued looking over the DVD case. "What do you thin-"
Looking up, Olivia stopped her question and analyzed the situation in front of her. Taking a glance up, she saw the red hair and snorted.
"Red hulk phase?"
Hawk sneered and took a step towards the girl, who took a step back and put her hands up in fear.
"Take down your stupid review."
Olivia rolled her eyes, even though her stomach was in knots.
"A-absolutely not! I have followers who depend on my authentic reviews." The brunette was shaking slightly at the intense look on her old friend's face.
Demetri quickly stepped between the two, "Do you think I'm - we're afraid of you?" He started passionately. "I know who you really are... Eli."
Olivia calmly put the DVD on the counter next to her. She took a step closer to her friend, grabbing his arm. Hawk's eyes shifted down towards the contact before looking to the side.
"So why don't you. Rocksteady and Bebop, just leave us alone, okay?" the lanky teen pleaded, in hopes that the spiky-teen would just leave them alone. Demetri didn't want his sister in the fire, and he could feel her shaking.
Olivia looked behind her and tugged on Demitri's arm. The black-haired teen turned his head and whipped back towards the angsty teenager.
"Great, so this is what it comes to."
"Gang assault," the young girl spat angrily towards Hawk as he refused to look her in the eye. "Look me in the eye before you decide to beat me up, Eli. At least Kyler would give me that respect when he did it."
Hawk's fist clenched at his side as he turned his glare onto Olivia, looking her dead in the eye.
"Take it down," he switched his stern gaze onto Demetri, "or we take you down."
Demetri's heart broke, and Olivia could practically feel it.
"Y-you'd actually hurt me? Hurt Olivia?"
Olivia's heart skipped a beat as her old friend looked away silently. He would; she knew he would come from the beginning. Demitri was now learning just how deadly serious Eli was.
Or, well, Hawk.
"Fine," yelled Demetri as he threw his hands up. "Well, guess what, you're not the only one who knows Karate." The lanky teen gave awkward dance before ending on a stance; Olivia only winced as she could taste the cringe. "I just joined Miyagi-Do." The scarred female had no idea where the taunt came from, but before she could interrupt, Hawk had begun his attack.
"Fine, let's see what you got."
'That would have been so hot if he wasn't about to beat the shit out of us...'
Once Demetri was shoved to the ground, Olivia felt Hawk grab hold of her ponytail.
'The one fucking day I choose to wear a ponytail...'
Olivia grabbed onto the angsty teen's wrist and used his forward momentum to pull Hawk back. She shoved him, and in his surprise, he let go. Olivia pushed Hawk onto the ground and checked one of the guys out of her way as she grabbed onto Demetri and pulled her friend up.
"Run, idiot! Use those gangly legs for something!"
"Use those ballet skills and run!"
The two nerds ran like bats out of hell out of the store. Pushing himself off the ground angrily, Hawk shoved away from the attempts at help.
"Fucking get them!"
...
"Of course they left," spat Demetri as he grabbed Olivia and pulled her away, noticing Hawk closing in. Demetri kept attempting to shove Olivia behind him, but it was no use. They were surrounded. The brunette put a reassuring hand on her brother's shoulder and gave him a weak smile.
The smile and shoulder touch only fueled Hawk further as he stalked forward.
"It didn't have to be this way. You both could have been Cobra Kai if you weren't such pussies."
"At least I'm not an asshole," cracked Demitri just before he and Olivia were grabbed from behind. They struggled against their captors.
"You're dead meat." Olivia's eyes narrowed, and she placed her hands over the wrists of whoever was holding her.
'Over my dead fucking body!'
Just as Olivia was about to break the hold, Sam and Robby came to the rescue. They kicked away their captors, and Robby grabbed hold of Olivia.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, looking over her. The brunette only nodded, her heartbeat skyrocketing. Olivia looked shakily for her bag, only to notice it was gone.
Olivia made an inhaler motion with her hands to Robby, and he nodded in understanding before pushing her behind him as he faced the gang with Sam.
"Looking for this?" sneered Hawk as he held up the inhaler. He stuck it in his pocket viciously. "Too fucking bad, pussy." He looked at his opponents and curled his lip.
"Five against four?" Hawk took a glance at his old friends and snickered. "Or should I say two and a half? Looks like you've got some dead weight in your future."
With narrowed eyes, Demetri grabbed onto his friend as Olivia started wheezing deeper. With a chuckle, Chris grabbed onto Robby, and the fight began.
Demetri and Olivia stayed close in the circle, watching the fight before them.
Somehow, one of the guys broke through the defense and grabbed hold of her neck in a forward chokehold. Olivia used the uncontrolled forward momentum and gravity to pull the teen back without thinking. When she quickly turned, the kid flew back into the table.
Demetri looked at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. With a quick look towards her friend, she didn't have long before Hawk grabbed onto her wrist angrily. The brunette twisted her arm around and slid to the left. Once he was on the side of her, Olivia raised her leg and kicked him in the shin. She finished by shoving the redhead away who was quickly thrown back into the original defense.
"What the fuck?!" Cried out Demetri as he witnessed the Karate. Olivia winced and knew she'd have to explain later.
"Watch out!" Robby pulled Olivia out of the way of a punch, and Sam used a folded Demitri to deliver a kick. As the fight escalated, Olivia's wheezing kept getting worse, and Robby furiously fought to end the battle. Pulling the girl out of the way once more, the Dora-haircut teen held onto her as Hawk tried to land a punch.
Protecting the brunette, Robby got an elbow to the head. Still, he could shove Olivia to Sam, who grabbed onto the young girl. After being pressed into Sam, Olivia went limp on the floor and held her throat panicking. Her vision was tunneling.
Immediately, Demetri went into calm-down mode, trying to keep the young girl awake. Back when it was three of them and the girl forgot her inhaler, he would be the one to distract her while Eli ran to grab the medicine.
"Hey, hey, hey, sit up straight, no lying down." Demetri used himself as a chair back. "Your lungs can't breathe when they're crunched up, you know this, hobbit." Tears started to well up in his eyes. "H-hey, breathe Liv, breathe. In and out. You can do it." All Olivia could do was a wheeze.
The loss of air made her panic more, which made her asthma worse, which made her panic which-.
It wouldn't end.
Robby finished off Hawk and ran over to the fallen kid. Grabbing the inhaler, he rushed over to his friends and pushed the plastic tube into Demetri's hand. Demetri shoved the mouthpiece into Olivia's mouth.
"I'm going to squeeze on three, and you are going to breathe in, understand?"
Without any confirmation, Demetri counted to three and squeezed the medicine. Thankfully, Olivia could control her breathing to receive the treatment and immediately started to feel better. Relaxing in the boy's grip, the other three teens sighed in relief.
Demetri gripped the brunette in a firm hug from behind before helping her up.
"We, uh, save your food," commented Sam as she gave a small smile and showed the two their food.
Olivia chuckled breathlessly, "t-thanks."
...
Olivia and Demetri sat silently at the round table. Olivia wasn't sure how to breach the topic, and neither did Demetri.
His friend knew Karate. There was no other way she could have done all that without training.
So why was she always so adamant about running away from it?
Just as Olivia was about to open her mouth, Daniel LaRusso walked in the room, "I heard you two ran the 100-yard dash in ten seconds."
The two nerds just looked away, with a small snort, "some people learn faster than others.."
Looking at the brunette, Demitri replied to the adult, "Let's face the facts." Olivia listened quietly to the conversation and smiled as the sensei trained his student.
'Good.'
...
"You beat up Demitri and took Olivia's inhaler over a yelp review?!" demanded Moon. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"They joined Miyagi-Do."
"So what!? They're your friends?!"
"They're fucking nerds," Barked Hawk with rage. "And they'll always be nerds!"
Moon held back her tears, "she could have died, Hawk!"
Hawk was silent at that, glancing down for a moment. Why did he both care and not care?
Why did his heart clinch at the image of her on the floor, wheezing in pain?
Yet, why was he so fucking enraged at thought of her and Demitri sitting like that?!
What the fuck was wrong with him!?
...
A/N: Alright so lots of drama, Demitri now knows that Olivia isn't as defenseless as she seems...Hawk and Moon are broken up and...
no one is safe.