CHAPTER 2

Miguel's perspective for this chapter

"QUIET!" Johnny shouted the next morning, as the new Lionheart dojo stood on the deck of a boat that Johnny had rented out on the lake, with Daniel's money of course. It was their first day of training, and Daniel and Johnny had decided to alternate days of each of them teaching the class. Today was Johnny's day, tomorrow was Daniel's, etc. The group immediately shut up when Johnny's commanding bark sliced through the air, and Johnny pulled out a pile of zipties. Miguel chuckled. He knew exactly what Johnny was going to make the group do.

"So, Miyagi-Do may have balance and that crap, but it also makes a bunch of weak-ass bitches."

"Watch it, Johnny." Daniel warned.

"Dad, to be fair, didn't you say that when you were in Cobra Kai, you felt physically stronger than you ever did in Miyagi-Do?" Sam pointed out. Johnny turned to Daniel and raised an eyebrow.

"You were in Cobra Kai?" Johnny asked, laughing. "How did that work out?"

"Ok, just get on with the drill." Daniel snapped, as Johnny laughed at him.

"Anyways!" Johnny shouted, snapping back to seriousness. "Cobra Kai, when taught properly, builds strength! Determination! It takes the pussiness out of you. Because you don't want to be a pussy! You want to have balls!"

"Does he always talk like this?" Sam whispered to Miguel, slightly offensive by Johnny's genderising language. Miguel chuckled.

"No, this is relatively tame. Normally, it's a lot worse." He replied. Sam face-palmed and they turned their attention back to Johnny.

"It teaches you how when the world wants to sink you, to keep your head out of the water. And today, you're going to be doing that literally! I'm going to tie these zip ties around your hands and legs, and each of you are going to strap on a 20 pound weight belt."

Miguel raised an eyebrow. That was new. Normally, whenever Sensei Lawrence would tie both arms and legs up, he wouldn't incorporate the weight belt.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Chris asked. Johnny smirked.

"Well, better I show you then tell you. Mr. Diaz! You've done this drill before. Why don't you demonstrate? Show them how it's done?" Johnny said. Assuming that Johnny wouldn't let him do the drill, Miguel's head shot up in surprise.

"Wait what?" Miguel stammered. "I thought I wasn't training."

"Ha! Even you need training, Diaz, if you want to win the All Valley." Johnny said, grinning faintly at him. Miguel smiled widely. Finally! He was allowed to start training again! However, his smile quickly faded as he realized what his sensei was asking him to do. Last time he had done this drill, it was in a relatively shallow pool, so even though Miguel ended up passing out, Johnny could easily pull him out of the water and help him out. However, now, they were in the middle of the lake so if he had a weight belt attached to his waist, he was sinking further than Johnny could control. In addition, the last time Miguel did this was right before the All-Valley, so it was when he was at his strongest.

"Come on, Diaz! We don't have all day!" Johnny said. Miguel nodded and walked towards him and immediately, Johnny started tying the zip ties around his students limbs.

"Sensei, is this a good idea?" Miguel asked as Johnny tightened the cuffs around Miguel's hands.

"You need this drill more than anyone, Diaz! You need to strengthen your leg muscles ASAP." Johnny said.

"I know, but isn't this a bit too much too soon?" Miguel asked. "I mean, I just regained movement in my legs…"

"Hey, you were the one who begged me to let you train!" Johnny pointed out. Miguel sighed as Johnny tightened the cuffs around Miguel's legs.

"Fair point." Miguel murmured. "But if I die, it's on you."

"Wait, die? What the hell are you going to do, Johnny?!" Daniel snapped. Johnny ignored him and kept his attention to Miguel.

"Relax, drama queen! You're not going to die. Probably" Johnny said. Miguel glared at him and Johnny chuckled. He leaned in and murmured the next part quietly in Miguel's ear as he attached the weight belt to his student. "I brought you to that All-Valley final last year. So help me God I'm going to do it again."

Miguel nodded, determined, at his sensei. After he had been completely tied up, Johnny helped Miguel stand up on the edge of the boat.

"Wait, Johnny, balancing on the edge of a boat? This is a Miyagi-Do drill." Daniel said, impressed. Miguel and Johnny looked at each other, and Johnny chuckled.

"Not quite, Larusso." Johnny said, before pushing Miguel off the edge of the boat and into the water. Everyone's eyes widened and they rushed to the edge of the boat. Miguel had sunk beneath the surface already, and the only sign of him was the thin stream of bubbles floating to the top of the water.

"WHAT THE HELL, JOHNNY?!" Daniel shouted. "YOU'RE GONNA KILL HIM!"

"He's fine." Johnny muttered, quietly. He hoped to God Miguel would be okay. Truth is Johnny knew how far to push Miguel last year, as he was around about as strong as Miguel when he first joined Cobra Kai himself. However, after the school fight and the injury, Johnny had no idea what was too much or too little.

"Pull him out!" Daniel exclaimed, preparing to jump into the water and try and drag Miguel out before he fell too deep.

"Stop." Johnny growled. "He's not gonna die. He's my student."

"I don't give a shit that he's your student!" Daniel spat, shoving Johnny's hand off of him. "He's gonna die! I'm getting him out of there!"

Daniel once again started towards the edge of the boat but before he could get there, Johnny dragged him back and the two squared up to each other.

"You wanna fight?!" Daniel shouted, preparing for a fight. Johnny smirked and raised his hands.

"Bring it on." He growled. However, just as Johnny was about to swing at Daniel, Sam and Hawk stepped in between them, and Sam held her dad back and Hawk held Johnny back.

"GUYS, STOP!" Sam shouted, looking extremely nervously at the water behind the boat. The thin stream of bubbles that indicated Miguel's breathing was steadily getting narrower as more time went on. It had been nearly 30 seconds by now, and there was no telling how deep underwater Miguel was. "We need to get Miguel out of there!"

Johnny walked over to Daniel, and he glared down at him.

"You want to make an alliance? You trust me, especially when it comes to that kid." Johny growled, before walking back to the edge of the boat. Daniel and Sam looked at each other, anxious. Although Johnny clearly had faith in Miguel, Daniel and Sam were skeptical.

"20 more seconds. 20 more seconds and we're going down there." Daniel snapped. Johnny scowled at him and looked down at the water.

"Come on, kid. You got this." Johnny murmured quietly. Meanwhile, Miguel was still thrashing and struggling underwater. He could feel himself sinking deeper and deeper, but he was powerless to stop. His legs weren't strong enough.

NO!

Miguel closed his eyes and the All-Valley fight came back to his head. He imagined every punch and every kick he threw in the whole tournament, and every punch/kick, Miguel kicked his legs in a dolphin motion. He imagined the fight against Robby, the fight against Xander, the fight when he used the crane kick. Kick! Kick! Kick! So many kicks in the tournament meant so many kicks underwater. Soon, he was steadily moving upwards again, and before long, just as black spots danced upon his eyes, he broke the surface of the water, gasping and spluttering. Johnny immediately dragged him back onto the boat to safety, and he untied the cuffs and belt. He then smirked triumphantly at Daniel, before turning to Miguel.

"You good, kid?" He asked. Miguel, who was still panting for breath, nodded.

"Yup. That was easy. What's next…"

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Over the course of the coming weeks, the friction between the Miyagi-Dos and the Eagle-Fangs lessened considerably. They all trained together, and the Eagle-Fangs had all immediately warmed to Daniel's methods of teaching. Well, almost all of them. Daniel could tell that Miguel was skeptical of Miyagi-Do's methods, and didn't trust him very much. He didn't say it out loud - Miguel was a very polite and courteous person out loud - Daniel could sense his mistrust easily. Every time Daniel asked them to do a drill or exercise, Miguel always looked at Johnny for confirmation, before complying. Miguel's hesitation when it came to Daniel's side of training, also splashed onto one person: Hawk. Hawk and Miguel were practically brothers with the amount of time they spent together, so when Miguel was hesitant, Hawk was also hesitant. When one of them finally warmed up to Daniel, they would probably convince the other to do the same. It was just a matter of time.

One night, Daniel had allowed Johnny and Miguel to use the Miyagi-Do dojo after training, so Johnny and Miguel were doing some boxing training, as Daniel watched from inside the house. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around to see his beautiful wife, Amanda.

"Hey, honey." Daniel smiled as he kissed his wife.

"Hey, I heard you were working late here tonight so I brought you this." Amanda said, handing him a cup of coffee. Daniel took it gratefully, and Amanda looked out the window that Daniel was looking out of, and saw Miguel and Johnny goofing around with over-sized boxing gloves and swinging at each other.

"You gotta admit, those two do make a good team." Amanda said, pointing at the two. Daniel nodded and sighed.

"Yeah. I just wish Miguel trusted me as much as he trusts Johnny." Daniel said. Amanda looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked. So Daniel told her what he had noticed, and at the end, Amanda chuckled.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I think you need to remember something. Miguel isn't just another student for Johnny. They are practically father and son. Miguel was his first student, and from what I heard, helped him turn his whole life around. He's obviously going to be loyal to Johnny, no matter which way the man turns. But the same is true on the other side. It's not like Sam is 100% on board with Johnny's teachings."

"True." Daniel nodded.

But he knew that he needed Miguel and Hawk to be on-board with his teachings if they wanted to win the All-Valley. Daniel, Johnny, and pretty much every student knew that if one of them won, it would be Sam, Hawk, and if he was healthy, Miguel. Having none of the three completely on-board with both sides of the dojo was dangerous.

"I guess it will just take time." Daniel said. Amanda nodded.

"Yeah, but I mean, you could always speed it up." Amanda remarked. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Show him some of that Miyagi magic. He's been pitted against you by Johnny for so long. The only Miyagi-Do student he has ever faced in a fight has been Robby, and you know how that ended. Show him that Miyagi-Do isn't about that. Show him what Miyagi-Do is really all about…"

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"Mr. Larusso, what are we doing here?" Miguel asked. Daniel had asked to meet him at the lake extremely early the next morning, and they had gone out into the lake on a small wooden boat.

"Fishing." Daniel replied, taking out two rods. Miguel raised an eyebrow as Daniel handed one to him.

"Fishing?" He asked.

"Yup. The trick to fishing out here is to get the line into the deep water, away from the boat. It's all in the cast." Daniel said, casting his rod perfectly. "You try it. Get your shoulders back, bend your elbows, let it fly."

Miguel then casted the rod really nicely out into the lake.

"Good. Good. That was pretty good." Daniel said, impressed.

"Now what?" Miguel asked.

"Now we wait." Daniel said, relaxing in the boat. Miguel chuckled.

"You know, I gotta say. This is very different to the last time we were out here." Miguel said, thinking about Johnny's training from a week before. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, that training was… unique." Daniel stated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Miguel replied.

"Why did you choose to stick with Johnny's karate for so long? There are plenty of karate dojos in the Valley. Why didn't you switch to one of them after being forced to do Johnny's insane drills?"

Miguel shrugged.

"Hey, if the drills work, they work." Miguel replied. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. What's the real answer?" Daniel asked. Miguel sighed.

"I mean, when I first moved here, I was getting bullied. Kyler and those guys were whaling on me one night when Johnny, the hostile neighbor I had just met that morning, fought them all off."

"He fought off four guys for someone he had never met?" Daniel asked, slightly impressed by Johnny. Miguel laughed.

"Well, kinda. He watched me get beat up for a good minute, and he only got involved when I got thrown against his car." Miguel said. Daniel laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds more like Johnny." Daniel agreed. "But after he put you through all of those insane drills like the one he did last week, did you ever consider quitting?"

Miguel shook his head.

"Well, first off, the water drill last week is actually pretty tame by Sensei Lawrence's standard. He's put me through much worse." Miguel said. "But I would never quit. The drills only make me stronger. And besides, I know and I trust that Sensei Lawrence knows exactly how far to push me to get maximum benefits. So so what if I pass out once or twice? Or dislocate my shoulder or knee? Or get lit on fire? Or bit by a snake? I'm not going to die."

"You got bit by a snake?!" Daniel exclaimed. Miguel shrugged.

"Non-venomous snake." He replied. "Long story. Anyways, I trust Sensei Lawrence with my life, and he's always come through for me. He taught me how to walk again after I got paralysed, by his own son no less. He is my best friend in the world. But he's more than that. He's like a father to me."

"But isn't his personality, and I mean this with no disrespect intended, a bad influence?"

Miguel shook his head, furiously.

"No. He's not a bad influence. Despite what people say, and despite what he may seem like on the outside, he's a good person."

Daniel nodded, interested in getting to know Miguel even further. Hopefully, if he learned more about Miguel, Miguel would gain more trust in him.

"Yeah, and when I was at my worst point as a person last year, and I was Kreese's star student, Sensei called me out on it. He learned from his own experiences with Cobra Kai and taught me to show mercy."

"You were Kreese's star student?" Daniel asked, surprised. "No offense but compared to people like Tory, you don't seem like it."

Miguel laughed.

"None taken at all." He replied. "Yeah, I was all-in with Kreese's No Mercy scheme. I had just broken up with Sam. I had gone through the exact thing, if I'm not mistaken, that you and Sensei Lawrence went through in High School with Ali.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, confused.

"Well, Sam and I were in kind of a rough patch in our relationship. I then saw her repeatedly flirting with Robby, holding hands with him, all of that. I blew my top. Overreacted. Tried to settle things with fists rather than words. Although, unlike Sensei Lawrence, I won the All-Valley but I didn't exactly win…"

"Fairly?" Daniel smirked. "Yeah, I know."

"No, I wouldn't say that." Miguel shook his head, choosing his next words extremely wisely. "I won the fight fairly. I didn't break any rules. I didn't injure Robby, Hawk did. And targeting that injury was just intelligent fighting. I won fairly, but I didn't win honorably. I still felt angry about the whole thing, and Kreese took advantage of that. He sunk his teeth into me and drilled that No-Mercy crap into me. If Sensei Lawrence hadn't managed to pull me out in time, I honestly would probably be at Kreese's right hand in the dojo right now, preparing for our next assault on you guys. I owe Sensei Lawrence for that. He taught me the right way of Karate. He never gave up on me. There might be other senseis in the Valley who are just as competent as Sensei Lawrence, but none of them would care about me as much as he does."

Daniel was surprised. He had only ever seen the petty, aggressive side to Johnny, but Miguel had just described a very different side of him. A fatherly, caring side. Before either of them could speak again, there was a sharp tug on Miguel's fishing rod.

"Looks like you caught something." Daniel remarked. "Reel it in."

A minute later, Miguel had reeled in a tiny fish, no bigger than the size of two fingers.

"Wow, that was… anticlimactic." Miguel remarked. Daniel laughed.

"Yeah, that's fishing in a nutshell." Daniel replied. "Now, let's get back to shore…"

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"So, are we heading back now?" Miguel asked as he helped Daniel pack up the car. Daniel shook his head.

"No, not quite yet." Daniel said, and then he reached into the car for something and came out with it moments later. "Here, catch!" He said, tossing Miguel a bo staff. Miguel caught it and raised an eyebrow.

"What's this for?" Miguel asked.

"I thought we could do some training together. The Miyagi-Do way." Daniel said. "Now, show me 'Cast the Rod'."

Huh?" Miguel asked, but before he could ask a follow-up question, Daniel lunged at him with a staff. Miguel instinctually reacted, using the same motion he used to cast the fishing rod to block Daniel's swing, before stepping back with his jaw practically on the ground in shock.

"What the…" Miguel stammered in shock. "What was that?"

"That, Miguel, is Miyagi-Do." Daniel replied. "The art of defense."

The two spent the rest of the afternoon sparring with the bo-staffs and Daniel could tell that by the end, Miguel was starting to warm up to him as a sensei. Daniel also got to know Miguel a lot better as a person. He realised how far away his original opinions of Miguel and Johnny were. Miguel was not Cobra Kai's number 1 asshole. Far from it. And Johnny… although they had their issues in the past, maybe Johnny wasn't that person anymore. Maybe they could actually find a way to be two effective co-senseis. Teammates. And together, if they finally became a powerful unit, the sky's the limit…