Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Karate Kid and I make no money from the stories I write.
The next morning Daniel rushed into class two minutes late to the glares of Mr. Forester standing behind his desk. The day felt hectic already; he'd awakened late enough that he'd missed his morning workout with Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi must have thought he'd needed the sleep because he hadn't attempted to wake Daniel as he normally would have and he'd already left to go fishing by the time Daniel woke. The only greeting Daniel woke to was a hand written note wishing him a good day in class and a reminder to stay focused during class.
Easier said than done, Daniel thought to himself now as he took one of the few remaining seats in the back of the class. He threw an apologetic look to the teacher, not wanting to get started on Mr. Forester's bad side. It never failed that beginning the day in a hurry set the tone to the day and it was rarely a good tone.
Daniel was too harried to make note of who all sat near him until he realized he'd forgotten a pencil. Looking around for a moment to guess who might be the friendliest candidate around him to borrow from, he finally tapped the shoulder of the young man in front of him. It was the same boy his own age who had seated himself on Daniel's left the day before.
The brown haired young man turned in his seat with an annoyed glare that surprised Daniel. He hadn't seemed that unfriendly the day before, but then Daniel hadn't spent any time getting to know his fellow students.
"Uh...sorry to bother you," Daniel whispered, "do you have an extra pencil I can borrow?"
"No," they boy said curtly and briskly turned back to face forward.
Somewhat stunned at the unfriendly treatment Daniel just said "Well...okay then".
A moment later a pencil jumped into his field of vision and Daniel gratefully took it from the smiling girl next to him. "Thanks," he said.
"No problem," she said, turning he gaze back to Mr. Forester at the front of the room as he explained some concept with wild gestures.
"Daniel," he said. "My name. Daniel." Smooth, man, smooth, he berated himself as a blush crept from his neck and up to his ears, warming his face.
A quick glance at him and she whispered "Jenna."
He smiled but did not continue the conversation; Mr. Forester had taken notice and Daniel did not want to be called out for disrupting the class. Jenna. He liked that name. He wondered if Jenna would be interested in getting to know him a little better. If not, he'd have to try to interest her.
"So, Jenna", Daniel said an hour and a half later as he and everyone else were filing out of class. "You understanding any of this stuff yet?"
Jenna laughed, a small tinkle that make Daniel's hear skip a beat in joy. "Sure, it's pretty basic right now. Don't you?"
"I'd understand it better if we talked about it together," he said with his best Bogart expression. Hopefully it didn't look too silly. "Maybe...over coffee later?" he suggested hopefully.
"I have to work later," she said, and not as regretfully as Daniel would have liked. She reached out and patted his shoulder firmly. "It's only the second day though, keep trying. You'll get it." And with a wink she moved on while Daniel stared after her, wondering if she meant he'd get the class material, or a date with her.
He knew which one he wanted most. Maybe college wouldn't be so bad after all.
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"Morning, Mr. Miyagi," Daniel said as he bowed a greeting to his friend, then yawned.
"Daniel-San, good morning. You are ready for training?"
"Of course. I'm sorry I didn't get up early enough yesterday. Why didn't you wake me?"
"Daniel-San tired after long day with new classes. Needed sleep. Miyagi understand."
Daniel nodded, glad that Mr. Miyagi wasn't upset. "Thanks," he said. "I'm ready when you are."
"First breakfast," Mr. Miyagi said as he slid a bowl of oatmeal in front of Daniel. "Then train."
Daniel considered protesting but he knew by now to take his cues from Mr. Miyagi's tones and expressions and he would waste more time arguing than it took for him to just eat breakfast and very likely he'd still end up eating it. He felt an urgency to get in as much training as he could before class to make up for having missed the morning before so he ate quickly, barely tasting the cereal. He didn't love oatmeal all that much anyway.
"Daniel-San eager today," Mr. Miyagi observed.
"I'm always eager," Daniel pointed out.
"Hai," Mr. Miyagi agreed. "Daniel-San extra eager today."
The two knew each other as well as any two people could and Daniel knew the gentle observation was Mr. Miyagi's way of opening the door for Daniel to talk if he wanted or needed to without seeming to push.
Daniel shrugged indifferently as he followed Mr. Miyagi's murmured command to take a stance. "Maybe I just need the clarity today," he said before Mr. Miyagi directed a few punches his way that were blocked easily. Either he planned for it to be an easy morning, or Mr. Miyagi was starting slow. Daniel didn't mind either way.
Two more punches and a kick that got a bit harder to block came his way before Mr. Miyagi answered. "School okay yesterday?"
"Sure," Daniel answered as he ventured an offense against Mr. Miyagi that was blocked almost before it was made. "School was fine. Today's only the third day. Not a lot of time for it to be good or bad."
Mr. Miyagi nodded and pushed out with a side hand that touched the side of Daniel's neck indicating what could have been a debilitating hit had it been for real. Mr. Miyagi tsk-ed and gave a smarting tap to Daniel's elbow to remind him to keep defenses up in front of his face. Daniel complied sheepishly, aware that it was a rookie move he should have overcome at least two years ago.
"Daniel-San meet friend?" Mr. Miyagi asked. He tapped his chest indicating he wanted Daniel to aim a few kicks in that direction.
"Friend?" Daniel repeated, slightly winded by the repeated kicks that Mr. Miyagi continually batted away. He knew it was more to build stamina and keep up leg strength than that Mr. Miyagi expected him to land a hit. "No, no friends. I'm not there for friends, Mr. Miyagi. Besides, it's only been a couple days."
Mr. Miyagi nodded, then made a 'come on' motion with his hand, Daniel's cue to pick it up and kick faster. There would be no more talking, Daniel knew, as they concentrated on his training. He would need all his breath and all his concentration for the workout Mr. Miyagi was putting him through.
Friends, he thought with an inward snort. He never had been one much for friends, not since he'd left New Jersey at the age of fifteen. Since he'd moved to California, with the exception of the occasional girlfriend, Mr. Miyagi had been his only real friend. He didn't mind; he liked it that way, in fact. He'd learned a lot from Mr. Miyagi and not just in terms of karate. Mr. Miyagi filled many roles, and Daniel couldn't imagine letting anyone else into his life the way he had the older Okinawan man. He'd never hold anyone in the same regard.
Who needed more than one real friend anyway?
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Daniel was late to class again, but this time it was not entirely his own fault.
He was singing along with the radio in his car when he pulled in and found a parking spot. He opened the door and grabbed his books, whistling jovially. Today felt like a good day, and he could already see Jenna in the distance heading for the building. Daniel broke into a jog with the intention of catching up to her when his attention was grabbed by the sounds that anyone with experience with bullies would recognize right away. Zeroing in on the sounds of a fight, Daniel couldn't see at first who the fighters were; there was a ring of spectators around them, some of them jeering and calling out slurs or encouragement. He elbowed his way to the front of the small crowd just in time to have someone pushed into him hard enough for them both to stumble back a couple of steps. He caught the guy with both hands to prevent him from falling and met the bruised eyes of the young man who had been so unfriendly in class the day before. It was only a moment before the guy was pulled from Daniel's grip and yanked back into the circle and Daniel realized this was no fight. This was a five on one beat down, something Daniel had had extensive experience with himself, and his pencil-begrudging classmate was the victim.
Daniel sighed but he didn't think. Just as one of the bullies pulled back to deliver a punch and the victim unsteadily tried to take on a sloppy karate stance, Daniel jumped forward to intercept. In the moments he'd seen of the fight none of the bullies had any karate skills to speak of, using instead various methods of boxing backed by plenty of braun. The garden variety bullies of intimidation, strength and backup but no real skills.
His observation proved to be correct and Daniel easily caught the bully's wrist while disabling another with a backward kick when the man tried to move forward to help his friend. Fortunately the proof that Daniel could put up a real fight took the wind out of the sails of the remaining three and rather than make the stupid choice, they instead helped their fallen friend to his feet. Daniel stared at the man who's wrist he held, so very tempted to deliver just one good punch to the jaw or elbow to the gut. Instead, hearing Mr. Miyagi in his head and in light of the fact that the more muscled man had frozen when Daniel grabbed his wrist, Daniel instead gave the man a good push and flung his wrist away as he released it. The larger man quickly followed his friends with a couple of backward glances.
Daniel let out a breath. That had gone easier than he'd expected and much better than he'd hoped. He wasn't sure if this was one he should crow about to Mr. Miyagi or not. On the one hand, he'd disabled the fight and kept five people from beating on one victim without having to deliver more than one kick. On the other hand, he'd jumped into the fray without a single thought, something Mr. Miyagi constantly chided him for. Daniel decided maybe he could tell of his victory without having to admit how he'd gotten involved. He was positive Mr. Miyagi would be proud that he'd resisted a more heavy handed approach once he realized the five bullies were not going to take things further.
He turned around and scrutinized the boy who'd been on the receiving end. "You okay?" he asked.
The guy just glared at him. So much for him being grateful that Daniel had saved him a worse beating. "Daniel," he tried again, holding his hand out politely for a shake.
"I know who you are," the guy spat out, looking down at Daniel's hand in disgust. He wiped blood from a cut above his eye. "Don't do me any favors, huh?" With that, the guy spun on his heel, wobbled a bit as he lost his balance, and stalked toward the parking lot.
Guess I can't add him to my list of friends made in college, Daniel thought with a shake of his head as he headed toward the building and to class.