CHAPTER 40

"Hey, thanks for bringing me here." Kenny told Miguel as the Cobra Kais made their way down the hill.

"Yeah, no problem." Miguel murmured, having spotted all of the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle-Fangs from the top of the hill. They were all there: Sam, Hawk, Demetri, Robby, Tory, and he was dreading having to face the former 3 names for the first time as a Cobra Kai.

"Hey, Miguel… how'd you pull the Ferrari?" Stingray asked as him and Kenny walked over to the other Cobras - Kyler, Stingray, Piper among others.

"Oh, uh… Sensei let me borrow it." Miguel replied.

"What?! Sensei lets you borrow a Ferrari?! He never let me borrow a Ferrari!" Stingray grumbled. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Win a tournament, then go talk to him about it." Miguel responded quietly, all of his attention still fixated on the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle-Fangs below, who still hadn't moved an inch. They could clearly see the fact that new people had arrived, but he wasn't sure if they had spotted him in particular yet. That changed though when the group made it down to the bottom of the hill, and he stood face to face with his old friends and foes for the first time wearing a Cobra Kai jacket again.

"Miguel…" Demetri stammered. "You're in Cobra Kai?"

Miguel nodded. He honestly had no clue what to say. Understandably, they were in shock. While he had seen Hawk, Demetri and of course Robby since he'd been back, he hadn't even seen Tory or Sam yet since he arrived from Mexico a few weeks ago, so they had double the shock of seeing him there.

"Yeah… yeah, I am." Miguel murmured. "But look…"

"HOW COULD YOU JOIN THEM AFTER EVERYTHING THEY'VE DONE?!"

Before Miguel could tell them, assure them that him in Cobra Kai meant no harm for any of them, the yelling started. It came all from one side: the Miyagi-Dos. Robby was silently seething in fury; Tory wasn't paying attention to Miguel, and was instead staring at someone behind Miguel with a confused look on her face; and that meant that it was just Miguel's 2 former best friends and girlfriend verbally attacking him. He wasn't surprised to be honest. They were not only the three he used to be closest to, but they had also never been in his situation. Sam never in a million years had to worry about where her college tuition payments were coming from. Or whether she'd be able to have a good future if she wanted one.

"Guys, listen…"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

He wanted to explain to them that, but he couldn't get a word in, as the yelling continued. It was an absolute racquet, their words piercing through Miguel's skull. The other Cobra Kais had dissipated within the party by this point, as Miguel had told them too. We're not getting into fights tonight, he had told them. Don't start anything, forget about karate, just enjoy yourselves, he had said. It was similar to the way Robby had led Cobra Kai, as he hadn't been interested in the whole feud either, but it was a complete contrast to Tory's leadership before him. That being said though, as they all remembered the beatdown Miguel had laid on them this morning, and the fact that he was indeed their leader, they respected his instructions, splitting up and finding their other friends within the many teenagers at the party, leaving Miguel to take the yelling alone.

"Guys, please listen to me. I…"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

The screaming and shouting was incessant, and Miguel was getting more and more pissed off that he wasn't even being given the chance to defend himself. He kept trying to get a word in, but he just couldn't. And they said no mercy was a Cobra Kai thing? Well Sam, Hawk and Demetri sure as hell weren't showing any. They weren't even giving him a chance to explain himself, despite how much he wanted to tell them that he didn't mean any harm to them. Eventually, after nearly a whole minute of standing before the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle-Fangs and hearing the formers screaming ruthlessly at him, he lost it.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Miguel bellowed, seriously ticked off now. Thankfully, his sudden outburst managed to shut everyone up. He took a few deep, heaving breaths, relieved to finally have the opportunity to talk. "Look, you guys are going to have to trust me when I say that right now, Cobra Kai is the best place for me."

Audible scoffs rang through the group.

"Well, of course you think that if you want revenge on Robby." Demetri reasoned. "But if you truly want to move on, you should join Miyagi-Do."

Miguel shook his head.

"Look, this isn't about Robby. This isn't about Sam. This is about me and what I need." Miguel responded.

"Miguel, this isn't you…" Sam murmured, causing Miguel to turn towards her for the first time, raising an eyebrow.

"No, actually, this is me. For the first time in God knows how long, I'm putting myself and my needs above you guys' needs."

"Miguel, you fucking idiot! You realise that you're being brainwashed by them to do their bidding, right?" Hawk snapped. Miguel scowled at him and sighed.

"Look, I give up. You want to believe as a goddamn 17 year old, I'm so so dumb that I'm being brainwashed and used by someone? Fine. I guess I can't stop you. But if you do think that, then just all of you… just stay the hell out of my way, okay, and we won't have any problems."

"Oooooh. 5 seconds in and the threats have already started. Well done!" Sam sarcastically clapped for him. Of everyone, she had taken this sudden bombshell the hardest. Not only was she the least likely to be able to understand Miguel's position, but she had also been the closest person to him of the 5. In the past 6 months, the two had seen vulnerable sides of one another that they didn't trust anyone else enough to show. They had gone through hell together, and to think that after all of that, Miguel would just turn on his heel and leave, to the dojo that had caused so much terror and hardship to both of them too?! She just… she couldn't believe it. She was rocked to her very core.

Miguel sighed and turned to her.

"Look, that's not what I mean, Sam, and you know it." He murmured, tiredly. "All I'm saying is you guys don't come at us, we won't come at you, and we can all have a fun evening."

With that, Miguel turned on his heel and walked away, leaving all 5 of them in shock, their rivalry temporarily forgotten as they remained rooted to the spot…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Contrary to Miguel, Kenny was having an amazing night. Miguel had offered to bring him to the party with him, in the Ferrari no less, and Kenny was getting to experience his first high school party ever. It was so cool! There was exactly one face that he recognised from school, and Kenny automatically gravitated towards her, a large smile on his face.

"Hey, Lia." He said, tapping on her shoulder. She spun around to face him, and an equally wide beam graced her lips as she saw her friend.

"Kenny!" She exclaimed, hugging him warmly. "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, my dojo's here." Kenny explained. "What about you?"

"My sister was invited and she brought me." Lia replied. "Oh, it's so great to see you! I didn't get a chance to see you after the tournament."

"Oh, no way, you came?!" Kenny said, surprised. Lia nodded.

"Yeah, you were amazing!" She declared. "I mean, getting to the quarter finals and scoring a point against the guy who very nearly won the whole thing… that's incredible! I never realised you were so good at karate."

"Thanks." Kenny murmured, trying desperately to keep the blush from his face. He had a massive crush on Lia - she had been pretty much the only person in middle school to be nice to him in the 6 months he was there. Not to mention that she was really pretty too.

Problem was, Kenny was having trouble gathering the nerve to ask her out. Why in the world would she want to go out with someone like him? But listening to her compliment created a warm, bubbly feeling inside Kenny that made him unable to resist.

"Hey, do you want to go out with me sometime?" He blurted out, before clasping a hand over his mouth in shock at what he had just said. He couldn't believe he had just blurted that out like that. For a second, he had been no longer in control of his own mouth, and his heart had gotten in the way of his brain.

"Go out with you? Like on a date?" Lia asked.

When Kenny responded with just the slightest of nods, the next few seconds felt like an eternity as he tried to make out her reaction. But for all his might, he couldn't. Not until Lia's face broke out in a massive smile.

"I'd love to!" She replied, causing Kenny to let out the loudest sigh of relief he had ever let out in his life. "How about Friday evening?"

Kenny couldn't hide his glee as he enthusiastically nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, that'd be great! Awesome!" He exclaimed in delight, to which Lia giggled.

"Yeah, well just text me when and where, okay?" She said, before walking away. Once her back was to him and she was out of sight, Kenny couldn't help but do a little dance. She had said yes! She had agreed to go out with him! He was about to go out with the girl he had had a major crush on for nearly 6 months now!

Kenny walked over to one of the ice coolers and grabbed a beer, ready to try the beverage for the first time ever. Because that was just what tonight was about: trying new things, meeting new people, potentially starting a new relationship. Just as his hands closed around the bottle, he heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Be careful. You know, that stuff's stronger than you think."

Kenny smiled as he recognised the voice, and turned to find himself face to face with his former teacher, Robby Keene. Robby was wearing an Eagle-Fang t-shirt - a million miles away from the Cobra Kai merch he used to don alongside Kenny - but that didn't change the fact that Kenny had missed his mentor so much.

"Hey, Robby." Kenny grinned at him. "How are you doing?!"

"Not too bad. Not too bad at all." He responded. "What about you?"

"Amazing! You know that girl I had a crush on for ages? Well I just asked her out and guess what… she said yes!"

Robby smiled at the boy and chuckled, the anger he was previously feeling towards Miguel temporarily subsiding slightly as he spoke to his old mentee.

"Congrats, man. That's awesome." He replied. "How's everything else going?"

Kenny nodded.

"Pretty great. Cobra Kai's doing really well. Kinda wish you were still there though." Kenny admitted, to which Robby smiled faintly.

"Well, that's kinda why I came over to talk to you." Robby said. "Kenny, I want you to come join Tory and I at Eagle-Fang karate. Trust me, it's just as badass as Cobra Kai, we'll get to train together again, and it'll help you grow as a person much more than Cobra Kai ever will.."

Kenny's smile faded slightly as he sighed.

"Oh, um… uh… I'm sorry but I think I'm sticking with Cobra Kai." He responded. Robby nodded, expecting this answer.

"Look, Kenny, there's something you need to know about Cobra Kai." Robby said. "I know it makes you feel stronger. Faster. A better fighter. More confident. But if you let it control you, like you did with Anthony Larusso in the locker room after the tournament, it'll send your life down a spiral of anger, misery, hatred. Just all round bad shit. You join Eagle-Fang, and you'll feel just as confident, just as badass, but you won't become an asshole. The sensei's my dad and I guarantee, he won't let you go astray."

Kenny stared at his former teacher, torn between blind loyalty to him and his heart, which was telling him to stay in Cobra Kai. Eventually, after a few moments of thought, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry but I think I'm going to stay with Cobra Kai for now." Kenny murmured. Robby's eyes widened.

"W-w-what?" He stammered.

"Look, I hear what you're saying about me losing control in the locker room. I agree I did. I let the angry I had towards Larusso get to my head."

"Yeah, and Eagle-Fang can help you learn to control that." Robby stated. Kenny shrugged.

"Maybe. But so can Cobra Kai." Kenny replied. "Look, I was talking to Miguel and I…"

"Look, everything Miguel told you is a lie to keep you in Cobra Kai, you get that right?" Robby snapped, an edge emerging in his voice.

"I was talking to Miguel and I realised that our situations are very similar." Kenny continued, ignoring Robby's outburst. "Both of us were bullied pretty heavily, until we learned to join Cobra Kai to defend ourselves. We managed to train hard enough to get strong enough to defend ourselves, but ended up losing ourselves in the process. But given that Miguel managed to clean things up for himself, maybe he can help guide me to do the same."

"Clean things up for himself? The guy's an absolute asshole!" Robby exclaimed. Kenny narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Look, I'm not getting involved in you guys' rivalry." Kenny said bluntly. "All I'm saying is that Cobra Kai's been really good to me. It's given me the confidence to be myself. It's given me the confidence to feel safe outside my house. It's given me the confidence to ask out my crush. I owe it for that. And sure there might be bumps in the road, but I know that with Miguel and the others there to guide me, I won't lose my way again."

With that, Kenny turned and walked away, leaving Robby silently fuming in anger. Not at Kenny, but at Miguel. The amount of animosity he had towards the teenager was already nearly hitting the maximum, but the fact that in barely a day, he had managed to convince Kenny, the boy Robby had spent so long getting to trust him, to side with him… Robby knew that there was only a slim chance he and Miguel got through the evening without exchanging blows…