Wednesday 5th January

Lucia woke up with such achy muscles she didn't know how she was going to manage the day... Karate really was no joke. Luckily a nice hot shower and some stretches made her feel new again. Even though it had taken a toll on her body, she felt great after the physical extortion; it was a nice kind of pain. She couldn't wait to see what tonight's training session was going to bring.

Lucia had walked downstairs to find her parents at the dining table already having breakfast.

"Morning sweetheart. We didn't get to talk last night, how was your first day at the new school?" her mother asked.

"It was quite good actually; I think I'm fitting in okay this time." Lucia answered cheerfully.

Her mother was always pushing her to try her best to fit in and to hear that her first day was good made a smile bloom on her face. "You see, I knew it. This is the school for you. Have you made any friends yet?" She asked, uncertainly, not wanting to go too far.

Lucia smiled in understanding of her mum's passion, "Yeah I talked with some girls and they're really nice. There're these two boys as well, Robby and Hawk, I think we're going to get along really well."

"Hawk? Who names their child Hawk?" Her dad had apparently been listening to their conversation.

"It's just a nickname," Lucia said protectively, her dad had a bad habit of hating any boys she got close to; it was obvious he didn't like Hawk just by his tone and facial expression.

Lucia sighed, wondering how her parents would take the following news. "Oh, and I've actually joined a karate dojo." She just said it all at once, hoping her parents wouldn't be mad.

"A karate what?" Her dad didn't seem impressed.

"Karate? You're a girl, Lucia." Her mum wasn't happy either. Just great.

"A dojo is where we train, and it's not just for boys." Lucia was starting to get protective about the karate. Who would've known that, someone who had no idea what a 'dojo' or a 'sensei' was this time the day before, would be protecting it against their parents?

Her dad just shrugged and put away his coffee before leaving the room, probably to get ready for work.

"Will you get hurt?" her mum asked, looking unsure.

"Of course, mum, it's a fighting sport. It's not as bad as it sounds though, I'll get to learn how to properly protect myself against anyone if I ever need it."

"Okay, that is a good thing, I guess. Just try to not get too hurt okay, sweetie?" she approached her and gave a her a kiss on the head. "Oh, and we have a business meeting across town. We probably won't be home till tomorrow evening, if that's okay?"

Lucia could tell her mum wasn't asking for permission, more like forgiveness for her absence. Her parents were always going to business meetings, and moving here didn't mean anything different; some things just never change. "No problem. Goodluck, I guess?"

Her mum once again smiled at her and they said their goodbyes, leaving Lucia alone in the kitchen.

13:00 Ish at school.

Lucia was late to the cafeteria as her English teacher wanted a little chat after class to get her up to date; it was pretty much common sense and just wasted her time, but oh well.

She walked in just to see what looked like the whole school in a circle around some people, cheering them on and filming; it was clearly a fight. Lucia could see a red mohawk poking out, exposing who was there. Was Hawk in a fight?

Weaving her way through the students, she eventually reached the middle and saw both Hawk and Robby attacking some other boys. At the other side of the circle was Tory and some girl fighting as well. Then it dawned on her, this was a karate off. A very nasty karate off as she could see smears of blood on the floor.

Lucia was lost in thought when Tory was slammed on the ground right in front of her, some brown-haired girl clearly wanted to inflict as much pain on her as she could.

"Help me, newbie." Tory managed to say whilst being held to the ground. Realising Tory meant her, Lucia used her new kicking technique and sent the attacker flying to the other side of the circle.

Tory got up, nodding at Lucia in a silent thank you. "I still don't like you, now help me back them off." She said, going straight for the girl again.

Lucia was unsure about starting a fight but that thought escaped her as some lanky boy started to show off his crappy karate on her. She dodged some kicks and hits, completely evading him before he was grabbed by Hawk from the behind. "Don't worry, I've got him." he winked at Lucia and dragged him away.

Okay then...Who's next?

Her question was answered when the same girl that was attacking Tory, jumped on her back and grabbed her neck to drag her down onto the floor in a headlock. Lucia could barely breathe; she knew there would definitely be bruises on her neck later.

Lucia was about to black out before she realised, she had to do something, so she elbowed the girl and that made her double over behind her. The girl was good, she had to admit, but she wouldn't let some bully win, so she struck first and hit her square in the jaw. That seemed to give the girl extra motivation and she hit Lucia back with such force across the face, she thought she'd pass out. However, Lucia was stronger than that and in no time had she forced her onto the ground, and like Sensei said, showed no mercy. It was quite a nasty sight.

The whole group finished their individual fights at around the same time, all in relatively good condition. The same couldn't be said for their opponents though.

"We need to get outta here before we get told off." Hawk said and started jogging towards the exit.

"It would be worse than getting told off." Robby muttered under his breath and went after Hawk like the rest of the group, including Lucia.

Later...

"Why was there even a fight?" Lucia asked, looking at her phone for her reflection, seeing a battered brow and red marks on her neck. Fabulous.

"The people we fought are our main rivalry. They do Miyagi Do, which is basically yoga with some karate." Hawk laughed, with the rest of the group joining in.

"The rivalry goes back to the 80s with our Sensei's, but it's our fight now. They think their karate is better than ours and keep picking fights, so naturally we fight back." Robby explained.

"And we always win." Hawk added, smirking.

"Who was that girl that I fought?" Lucia asked. She had to get the name of that brat that had managed to slit her eyebrow. The small wound was pretty much closed up now, but it would definitely leave a mark. A battle scar of sorts.

"Thats Samantha Larusso, spoiled daughter of Miyagi Do's Sensei." Tory spoke up for the first time since the fight.

"She must be the best one there then; if she the daughter?"

"I wish she weren't; her karate gets on my nerves." Tory grumbled.

The Cobra Kai gang hung out after the fight, knowing that appearing in school was just going to cause more trouble. Lucia really hoped her parents weren't going to find out; it's only the second day and she was getting into fights...At least she was on the winning side.

17:00 Cobra Kai Dojo

As the group walked in, the rest of the students' and Kreese's attention went straight to them; staring at their battered faces.

Lucia made eye contact with Sensei Kreese and he narrowed his eyes at her, but he didn't say anything about their condition.

The class went on as normal. They did some formal training followed by some group practise and for the grand finale, a few tournament-like fights. Lucia's first taste to the formality of the points and rules.

She managed to win 2 out of 3 fights, losing to the boy who came in with her, Jacob. He had scathed her up pretty bad, her previous injuries from the fight becoming more potent and her eyebrow started bleeding again.

"Class dismissed," Kreese bellowed at his students after the last fight.

"But Sensei, we've still got some time left," Hawk argued.

Kreese looked over to Hawk, staring him down before addressing the whole class. "Some of you walked in with some beat up faces and I'm not going ask what happened. However, you need to get your act together before the tournament. I need you in perfect condition to be able to train. You will all go home early and rest, if you don't put in 200% in tomorrow's lesson, I won't be happy. Do you all understand?"

"Yes Sensei." The class chanted in unison.

"I can't hear you..." Kreese uttered.

"YES SENSEI."

"Now class dismissed."

Lucia started gathering her things when Kreese had called out her name.

"Lucia, can I see you in my office?" He asked.

"Of course, Sensei." She followed him in as the rest of the class dispersed.

"Sit down." He ordered as he gestured towards the chair facing his desk. He went over to the cabinets adorning his wall and pulled out what looked like a med kit. Was he going to play doctor with her? How odd.

He pulled a chair up to hers and sat down so that one of her legs were in between his, Making Lucia shift slightly so it wouldn't be so intimate; but Kreese just got closer. She's only known him for two days and they seemed to have a habit of getting really close, the thought made Lucia blush. Oh God, what was happening to her? Surely she wasn't developing a crush on her Sensei...

Kreese broke her out of her reverie as he started speaking. "Your eyebrow has been slowly weeping blood; it is unhealthy to keep a wound open," Kreese explained as he assessed the damage on her face, pressing the side of her brow. "Does that hurt?"

"A bit," Lucia tried to nod but his hand kept her face firmly in place.

"Don't move." He said as he reached over for the med kit and plucked something out of it. He opened a wrapper and took out what looked like a wipe and paper strips, cleaning the area and placing them gently on her brow. "A doctor would recommend you get stitches, but I think you'll be good with these paper ones."

"Thank you." Lucia said. She hadn't expected this when she walked into his office. She was so sure he would tell her off and punish her with knuckle ups or something, but it seemed like he didn't hate her... Yet.

Kreese nodded at her appreciation as he admired his work on her face. "The paper stitches will need changing every morning, can you do that?" Seeing her nod, he spoke again "Good... I don't usually patch up my students but since you are new and right now 1 of my 2 most valuable students, I made an exception. But this won't be a regular thing, understood?" He was looking at her so sternly it was unnerving her to the core.

"Yes Sensei." Lucia whispered, looking down at her lap in shame. The sudden movement made her Gi shift and exposing more of her collarbone.

Kreese glanced down and saw what looked a fresh bruise forming on her collarbone. He sighed and looked back up to her. "I know I said I don't pry into what my students do, but who did this to you?"

Lucia was unsure if she should answer him but he had a look on his face that told her she had to spill the tea. "Samantha Larusso." She said flatly. No more, no less.

"Ah, I see." He moved his chair so they weren't so close together, leaning back and crossing his arms. "Do you know much about her?" She shook her head no, so he continued. "You will be fighting her in the tournament."

Oh. She supposed that was common sense because Samantha was the daughter of the other Sensei but she hadn't really given it much thought. She beat her though. Sure, she was already worn out by Tory, but Lucia had only done one day of karate so by the time the tournament approaches she will have improved...Samantha will probably improve as well though. Kreese wouldn't be happy if she lost; she could tell that winning this was his top priority right now. Especially because he said she was one of his two most valuable students.

She had apparently dozed off again as Kreese's voice penetrated her thoughts. "Everything okay, Lucia?"

"Yeah..." She sighed.

His eyebrow rose in question.

"I mean... Yes Sensei." Lucia corrected herself.

"Good," he stood up from his chair and started putting everything away. "You're free to go."

"Sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you give me extra lessons?" He was looking at her with an odd expression on his face; he looked proud but there was also something else in his eyes she couldn't really place her finger upon.

His face slowly broke into a smile though, "Of course, I'm glad you've asked."

"When can we start?" Lucia asked excitedly.

Kreese chuckled at her. "I'm glad you have a keen desire to train. However, like I said earlier, you need to go home and rest. We can start your first extra lesson on Saturday after the usual time." He had looked over his calendar and crossed something out.

Lucia saw his concentration whilst scribbling on the calendar. "I can do another time if you're busy?" She supplied.

"No, no. You're far more important than what's on here."

Lucia left the dojo with a ton of mixed feelings and a patched-up face. It was probably good her parents had a meeting so they wouldn't see what their daughter was doing in her spare time. Was karate going to become her thing now? A whole dojo was counting on her for the girl's section. And what about Tory? She was there before her and she's really good, just because Lucia took her down once didn't mean she was automatically better. Tory clearly didn't like her but she couldn't outwardly hate her as they are on the same team; Lucia could tell the next few lessons would be tense between them.

Another thing was nagging Lucia. Kreese. She didn't know what it was but there was some weird tension in the air. It was probably just her and her silly crush...Was it a crush? She couldn't tell for sure but judging by the warmth she felt, there was definitely something there.