CHAPTER 17

As Robby and Miguel stepped inside the school, and were immediately greeted by the buzz of hundreds of students. It was a noise Miguel was very familiar with, having been in school for all but the few months he was in recovery for. But Robby, not so much. He hadn't been in school for the last year and a half, having dropped out midway through his sophomore year, and then not having done any kind of schooling in his junior year due to him being expelled and imprisoned. It was honestly a miracle that he wasn't held back and asked to repeat sophomore or junior year again - something about the education system in juvie allowing him to gain the necessary minimum credits to carry on with his grade. That meant that thankfully, Robby, Miguel, Hawk, Tory, Sam, Demetri and all of the others were all in the same grade, their final year of high school before those curtains closed for good and they were on their own, out in the real world.

Robby still needed to sign some final registration forms to confirm his re-entry into the school, so he and Miguel split up, Miguel looking for his locker and Robby heading to the principal's office. There, Robby had to sign a couple of forms, and then was subjected to a seemingly endlessly long talk from the school's principal and counsellor about not starting fights. Already, Robby was put in a bad mood, as he had to listen to these two clueless adults effectively dump 100% blame for the school fight on him and Tory, and they made it abundantly clear that if something like that even looked like it was on the verge of happening again, they would make sure he was permanently expelled. It took all of Robby's patience to bite his tongue and nod blankly at them, mindlessly agreeing with all of the conditions and promises they made him say. Eventually though, it reaped its rewards. Robby signed the final form, and he was officially a West Valley High student again…

After he left the Principal's office, Robby stepped back out into the corridor, back into the beating heart of the school, where all of the students hurried up and down the corridor to get to their respective lockers or homerooms, or looking for their friends. And immediately, as Robby felt a lot of eyes fall on him, and the temperature of the room turned freezing. He had expected a cold reception, as he knew a lot of people still harbored hatred for what he had done to Miguel, but he hadn't expected something like this. As soon as he walked in the vicinity of any of the teenagers, their conversations instantly fell silent, and they all turned to scowl daggers at him as he walked past, other than the few courageous enough to mutter audibly at him.

"Ignore them." A voice came from behind Robby, slipping their hand into his and squeezing it reassuringly. He turned to see Tory walking beside him. "They were like that with me on my first day. Eventually, they'll get bored and turn their attention elsewhere."

Robby nodded gratefully at her, and the two walked hand in hand to their first class, which was their homeroom and attendance. Homeroom was one of few classes all of the Miyagi-Dos had together, and they were all glad they at least got to spend a couple of minutes regrouping after what had happened over the weekend. After leaving the Cobra Kai dojo yesterday, everyone had gone their separate ways, maybe seeing their friends who were also part of the dojo, but not all of them training as a group together. They wanted to all hear each other's reactions to the fact that they were once again trapped in the Karate war for another year, but as Robby and Tory made it to their homeroom and walked inside, they came to an unpleasant realization. Along with their friends in Miyagi-Do, there was somebody else in the room that Robby recognized. Recognized well. Someone that less than 24 hours ago, Robby had found himself face to face with, and about to commence battle with. His nose engrossed in a book, Robby didn't think that the boy had seen him yet, but by the looks on the faces of Miyagi-Do, they definitely had…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"What the hell is he doing here?" Tory hissed quietly to the Miyagi-Dos and she and Robby walked over to them. Judging by how agitated and frustrated the rest of Miyagi-Do seemed, it had definitely taken them by surprise too, and they were definitely less than thrilled about sitting less than a few meters away from someone whose main mission was to make their next year a living hell, and force Miyagi-Do to shut down once and for all.

"We don't know. We just found him here. He was here when we arrived." Sam responded.

"I mean… he's not exactly a stray dog we found at the side of the road. I think it's pretty obvious why he's here." Demetri remarked. "He's here to learn. To learn, not to fight. So maybe that means we won't have to fight?"

"With Cobra Kai, you can never be too sure though." Sam shot back, her eyes darting from Demetri (who she was talking to), to Tory and then back, Tory's face flushing dark.

"Anyways, so what do we do?" Tory questioned.

"Well before you and Robby arrived, we had an idea." Miguel spoke up, the first time he had spoken since they had walked in. "We're going to confront him. All of us. A united front. We're going to be honest with him, tell him exactly what Cobra Kai is capable of, exactly what they've done before. We're going to convince him to quit. What do you think?"

Tory glanced at Robby, knowing exactly what he was about to say. It was the same thing she thought of the plan. However, what Robby replied with was definitely not what Tory expected.

"Yeah, fine. Let's do it." He replied. Tory's face filled with confusion as she stared at her boyfriend incredulously.

"Wait… seriously?" Tory stammered.

As Robby nodded, Tory grabbed him by the side of his sweatshirt and began to pull him out of the classroom.

"Forgot something in my locker." Tory muttered, to the belief of no one, as she dragged Robby roughly out of the classroom and faced him in the corridor. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" Robby asked, though his eyes completely betrayed him and exposed how he was really feeling.

"Come on. I know you can't think what they've planned is a good idea." Tory remarked. Robby shrugged.

"It's like my dad said to Miguel and I this morning. Take the first step and talk to him."

"And so you're just going to roll over and go with this absolutely horrible plan?!" Tory snapped.

"It's not that bad." Robby tried to reason, but they both knew he was lying. Tory shook her head vehemently.

"Yes! It is! You and I both know that trying to convince someone to leave Cobra Kai is a lost cause. You couldn't even convince me to leave, and you and I were dating! You couldn't even convince K…" Tory's voice trailed off for a moment as she was about to say his name, but the despondent look on Robby's face at the thought made the words catch in her throat. "The only way to get someone out of Cobra Kai is to let them figure it out themself, and all that confronting them does is push them further into Cobra Kai! So why are you agreeing with this ridiculous plan?!"

At that moment, Tory and Robby's conversation was interrupted as someone else walked over to them. Or rather, someone else walked through them. The pair were standing in the doorway of the classroom and so another random student in their class was trying to get past them and get into the classroom. Though the couple both moved aside to give him space to walk in, he still managed to catch Robby with his shoulder, HARD, slamming the boy back against the wall in what could only be described as a completely intentional shove. Instinctively, Robby's hands curled into fists, but just as quickly as they had, they unfurled and fell by his sides. That's when Tory realized…

"How long are you going to continue to beat yourself up about what happened?" Tory asked. Robby furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What?" Robby said.

"It was an accident. Miguel forgave you. Move on. What does it matter what these people think?" She commented. Robby knew she had gotten it, but he continued to attempt to deny it.

"I don't know what you mean, Tory. I know Miguel forgave me for the fight." Robby argued. Tory nodded.

"Yeah. He did. So why are you still beating yourself up over it?"

"I'm not." Robby replied, thoroughly unconvincingly.

"Really? So then why are you insisting on trying to play wingman to Miguel, even though what his idea was is thoroughly stupid?" Tory responded, before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Robby, we stand no chance of winning the Taikai, NO CHANCE, if our entire team doesn't play to their strengths. We can't just have you sitting back in Miguel's shadow and afraid to take charge. We need you to lead."

Robby stared at her for a few moments, and saw the fiery look in her eyes, the fierce loyalty that Robby loved so much about her, and for a moment he silently asked God how on Earth he had been so lucky to have met someone so amazing. He then nodded.

"What do I say though? They seem pretty intent on this plan, and I don't exactly have an alternative to give them."

"Confront them head-on about it." Tory instructed. "Tell them how it's going to be."

"And you couldn't do this, why?" Robby asked. Tory shrugged.

"I'm hardly the best example of someone who got out of Cobra Kai before it's too late. But you are. They listen to you. They respect you. You're forgiving. You're better at creating peace than any of the others. Play to your strengths and I'm sure you'll come up with a better idea than their awful one."

Robby nodded. He did have an idea. Something that Johnny had mentioned in the car, but Miguel had seemingly overlooked.

"Thank you." Robby murmured, before leaning in and kissing her.

"Anytime." Tory replied, and the two then turned around and walked back inside. However, as they did, their hearts dropped. Miguel, Sam, Hawk and Demetri were all on their feet, and they were all standing over Marcos, confronting him. They were too late…