CHAPTER 92
"Alright, great work everybody! That's all for today." Daniel informed his students as they finished yet another exhausting training session at Miyagi-Do that afternoon. The fact that school was underway did nothing to lighten the practices, so it was up to the students to keep up the pace and it was pedal to the metal for all of them. None of them, not even those who weren't competing in the Taikai, hesitated for even a second, as they were constantly motivated by the obvious improvements they were making. They were all looking much physically stronger than they'd ever been. Along with their bodies, their minds had been trained too, so they were all extremely emotionally stable and wouldn't crumble in times of great pressure or anger. And finally, after being trained in 4 different styles by their 4 different senseis, their tactical awareness of the sport had skyrocketed.
With all of the massive improvements they were making, morale at Miyagi-Do was higher than ever. It was almost like they weren't really training for the Taikai anymore, but because all of them genuinely loved the sport, and genuinely loved the company they were around. Practices were filled with fun rather than pressure, and this led to shockingly even more progress made.
"Good job, everyone." Daniel said as the group all fell in life after class was over. "That wasn't an easy training session but you handled it all brilliantly. Same time, same please tomorrow. You're all dismissed."
Everyone began to go their separate ways after training, but a certain two students towards the front of the group were suddenly called back.
"Hey, Robby, Miguel, stay back for a second!" Johnny called them, before turning to Daniel and the two of them sharing a surreptitious nod before turning to their two students, their respective proteges.
Robby and Miguel glanced at each other, confused. They had no idea what this was about, they had no idea what their senseis needed to talk them about that the rest of the dojo couldn't hear, but they still remained behind after all of the other students had left. Once everyone was gone, Daniel and Johnny turned to their two students and stood opposite them in the backyard of the dojo.
"Well, first off, how are you guys feeling after today's class?" Daniel asked.
"Sore. Sensei Barnes hits hard." Miguel remarked quietly. He had a point. Trying to fight their senseis on a normal day was hard enough, but doing so with both hands tied behind their backs like today's training entailed wasn't the easiest feat.
"What's going on, Mr. Larusso? Why are we here?" Robby asked, interrupting the small talk. Daniel nodded.
"Right, um… we have some extra homework for the two of you, Johnny and I. A little bit of extra work. Not really Karate related." Daniel told them.
"What is it?" Robby said.
"It's just 1 question that we want to hear the both of you answer by the end of the week: where do you see yourselves in 10 years?"
"Pardon?" Miguel asked.
"10 years from now, where do you hope to be?" Daniel repeated. "Do you see yourselves in the Valley? Do you see yourselves elsewhere? Do you see yourselves working? Do you see yourselves traveling? When you look to the future, what does that picture look like?"
"Um… okay?" Robby murmured. "Why are we doing this?"
"Look, we're gonna be honest and cut the bullshit here. We're doing this because you two are the only students who are graduating this year and still don't know what they're doing next." Johnny said.
That was true. Sam was going to Columbia. Demetri and Eli to MIT. Tory was staying in the Valley and working with Larusso Auto. It was just Miguel and Robby who were yet to confirm their future plans, so it made sense for their senseis to be worried about them. All the potential they had and yet they were dangerously close to throwing it all away.
"Even if you don't know what you want to do next year right now, that's fine." Daniel said. "We're asking where you want to ideally be 10 years from now, because we can then work backwards from there and explore what your potential options are for next year."
"Can you guys do that?" Johnny asked. Miguel and Robby nodded, understanding what the senseis were asking of them, even if they weren't sure what they were going to say just yet.
"Feel free to talk to us if you want help. You can talk to each other too. To your other friends." Daniel suggested. "We'll reconvene this time next week to talk about what you guys have come up with. Does that sound good?"
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"Alright… one caesar salad and a chicken burger." The waitress announced, placing the first plate in front of Robby and the other in front of Miguel. It was late that night and the pair of teenagers were sitting in a mostly empty diner, having a long discussion about Daniel and Johnny's assignment for them. They figured that of everyone, they should probably talk to each other. Nobody else in their lives would really understand what they were going through, and they'd all probably push them in the direction they themselves had chosen to go into, whether that be Sam and the others recommending college or Tory recommending the dealership. Both knew for a fact that they weren't doing either of those things.
"Really? A salad?" Miguel remarked, trying not to chuckle. Robby raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Robby asked.
"Come on, you can't possibly want to eat that!" Miguel laughed. Robby shrugged and nodded.
"I don't. But diet and fitness is probably the only advantage I have over Marcos right now. It's a much easier gap to close than 8 more years of fighting experience anyways." Robby replied. Miguel nodded thoughtfully, silently commending Robby for this. It was a testament to how far they had come in their relationship: Miguel was not at all jealous or upset about this. He knew that he and Robby trained in different ways, and different methods were effective for both of them, so the most they could do was just support each other.
"Right. So… about what senseis said today." Miguel began. "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
Robby looked down at his plate for a moment, taking a deep breath. He was about to reveal something that he hadn't told another living soul yet, something deeply personal that he wasn't sure if he was actually ready to tell people about yet.
"Yeah, I, uh… I have actually." Robby replied, and Miguel raised an eyebrow questioningly. Gathering his courage, Robby then reached into his backpack beside him, pulling out a short leaflet and sliding it across the table to Miguel. As Miguel read the title, his jaw dropped.
UNITED STATES ARMY
Miguel didn't read the rest of the leaflet. He didn't need to. The title was enough to leave him speechless in shock as he stared at Robby, incredulously. Robby waited for a few moments, nervously, for a reaction, but when that didn't come, he decided to speak up and explain himself further.
"Do you remember that recruiter who came to talk to our school right before the Christmas break? I spoke to him for a few hours that afternoon. He told me all about what enlisting would entail; all the post-enlistment benefits like paying for college and health insurance; and he told me how I could still enlist even with my juvenile record."
"That's great. But Robby… it's the Army. It's incredibly dangerous. Are you sure about this?" Miguel asked, unsure. Robby nodded.
"I am." He responded, surprisingly firm about his decision. After all, it had been just over a month since he had started discussing the possibility of doing this, and in the past month, he had only become more confident with the decision. "I'm not at all qualified for college, as I've been out of school for a year and a half. I also don't want to do some dead-end trade job, or spend the next few years and money that I don't have on community college that in the grand scheme of things, will do nothing to help me?"
"What if you get hurt though?" Miguel asked, extremely concerned. Robby shrugged.
"We've been fighting in this feud against Cobra Kai for around 2 years now. I could've gotten hurt at any moment then too."
"Sure, but it's not really the same." Miguel argued. Robby nodded.
"I know. But the point is that I'm not afraid. If I get hurt, I get hurt. Simple as that. Nothing I can do about that. But provided I'm doing something I care about, fighting for the people I love, it doesn't really scare me much."
There was a long silence that overtook them as Miguel looked Robby dead in the eye, trying to gauge how serious he really was about this. He could tell Robby wasn't joking around. He meant every word of this. It had been a decision that Robby had thought long and hard about, one that he had spent many sleepless nights pondering. It wasn't a half-assed, impulsive decision like some might've made. Robby truly wanted to do this, every day only firming that fact even more.
"Have you told Tory yet?" Miguel asked. Robby winced and shook his head, apprehensive about the conversation that he knew wasn't going to be fun at all.
"Not yet. She's the next person I'm going to tell. So please keep this between us beforehand. The last thing I need is her kicking in my door and murdering me in my sleep." Robby remarked. Miguel raised an eyebrow.
"Think she might do that either way, whether you tell her now or later." Miguel jokingly replied. "What happens now anyways? Do they just take you away immediately after graduation and not let you return for months?"
"Basically actually yeah. Talking to my recruiter, we agreed to probably have me leave at around August-September sometime. Basic training lasts a little over 2 months, and after a very short break, I almost immediately go into more training for the field I'm specializing in. After that, another really short break and then I'd get deployed. So yeah, leaving after graduation and probably not back for a while."
Miguel nodded.
"Well, as horrible as that sounds in my opinion, if it's what you want to do, go for it. I'm happy for you, man. I'm glad you found your calling." Miguel said.
"Thanks." Robby murmured quietly in reply. "What about you? What are you thinking for next year? You wanna come and enlist with me?"
Miguel scoffed and laughed quietly.
"There's not enough money in the world." He responded. Robby chuckled as Miguel vehemently shook his head.
"Right. So what then? You going to continue to push the college route? I know you didn't have much luck with scholarships, but there are other methods too, right? Student loans and all that?"
Miguel sighed.
"I looked into them. They're going to be insanely expensive. I'll be in debt until my grandchildren have children. I really don't want to have to do that."
"So what's the plan then? Are you still set on college?"
"To be honest…" Miguel murmured. "The more I think about it, the less I believe it's the best option for me."
Robby looked at Miguel, taken aback and a little surprised to hear this from the boy who had been working so hard for a scholarship for months.
"Really? If not college, what do you want to do then?"
"I want to help people." Miguel told him. "I want to help as many people as I can, as quickly as you can. But it's like you said yourself: I'm not about to spend the next few years and money that I don't have on community college that in the grand scheme of things, will do nothing to help me achieve that goal."
"What job are you thinking then?"
"I don't know, man." Miguel murmured, sighing and looking down. "I really don't know."