In a few weeks, the sparring deck was built and the two dojos were getting along. Eagle Fang was stretching in the back. Miguel was telling them about having dinners with Sam's parents and how it turned into a disaster when futures were brought up. "Dude, you spilled a glass of wine, so what?" Hawk didn't see the big deal.
"I don't know man, you should've heard the way Mr. LaRusso was talking about Sam's future. I can't even afford a car, let alone college. What if they don't think I'm good enough for her?" He wanted their approval.
"Girls aren't throwing themselves at guys their fathers approve of." Lee threw food for the kois.
"Sam does. Are we forgetting the last time?" Last time, Sam put up a wall when she was worried about her dad's approval.
"He likes you. He knows you're respectful, hardworking, and nice. You get good grades and have a clean track record. You are the perfect boy next door." She didn't see what a parent could disapprove of. "You not being wealthy isn't something he can hold against you. He didn't come from a well-off family."
"I suppose. I just don't know…" He looks down at his feet.
"Dude, you're El Serpiente. You're an All-Valley Champion. Just show Mr. LaRusso what you're made of. You're going to crush whatever he throws at us today." Hawk's compliments seem to make him feel better. Lee was insulted. She put out facts while Hawk fluffed his ego.
"Yeah, compared to Sensei Lawrence training, today is going to be a vacation." Mitch was ready to sit and breathe.
"Who's going on vacation?" Daniel came out.
"Hopefully me." Lee hummed.
"Did you stretch? You remember last time, I'm not letting you sit out for a cramp again." He had a feeling that she faked that cramp to get out of practice.
"Yes… so what are we doing today?" She asks.
"Come here." He waved for them to follow him. "I know you all have been taught to strike first. But, what do you do when your opponent is faster than you?" He led them to the Koi pond.
"Are those real Koi?" Mitch looks down.
"No, I was throwing food to fake fishes?" Lee rolled her eyes.
"Today's lesson is simple, catch a fish. Since I know you Eagle Fangs like a bit of competition, we're going to make it interesting. So, the first to succeed will have the honor of leading class all week?" He smiled. They look at each other unimpressed. "And you can pick out what flavor of Gatorade I buy next."
"Aw, hell yeah! Hope you all like Glacial Freeze." Mitch nodded in excitement.
"I'll just buy my own." Lee shrugs.
"I know a few people who produce anime. I could get the new My Hero Academia season to you a month early." He had been waiting to lay out that treat.
"What? Like seriously?" She stares at him in awe.
"You have to catch a fish first." He nods to the pond.
"If any of you catch a fish before me, I'm going to tell Johnny that you gave me a concussion." She threatens.
"Yeah, no mind games or dirty tricks," Daniel warns.
"Fine, I won't." She winks at them.
"I saw that." He sighs.
"Okay, where are the rods?" Miguel was ready to prove himself.
"Back in my garage…. But, your bare hands are all you're going to use and need." He lay his hands out. "On your mark… get set. Go." The boys went around the pond. They reach their hands out to try and grab a fish whenever one passes by them.
Lee took off her shoes and socks. She went to the edge of the pond to push herself in. "What are you doing?" Hawks.
"It's hot." The water went up to her neck.
Some time passed and there were many failed attempts. Miguel reaches too far and ends up falling in, making the guys laugh. "You're looking a little wet behind the ears, let's get you a towel." Daniel helped him out.
Lee sat as still as she could. She was waiting for the fishes to get comfortable with her being there. They eventually did, swimming by her slowly. One decided to rest by her, and that was when she reached out to grab it before it could swim away. "I got it." She held it close to her chest.
"Holy shit, how did you do that?" Mitch stared in amazement.
"I wait for it to come to me." She let the fish go, so it could swim away.
"Good job, Lee. Patience in life and a fight will give you a bigger impact. When you go in blindly swinging with no game plan, you are allowing your opponent to get the upper hand on you." Daniel walks around the pond as he gives his speech.
"So, how will I be getting the new season?" She raises her hands to the guys. Eli grabs her hands to pull her out.
"I'll get it to you, don't you worry…. I also got something else for you." Daniel pulled out a headband from his pocket. "Mr. Miyago once told me that this represents perseverance, courage, and strength." He put it on her. "It always does a pretty good job at keeping the sweat out of your eyes." She raises her hair off her neck to help him.
"How do I look?" She asked when it was tied on.
"Stunning as always." Bert gave her a thumbs up.
Eagle Fang was walking out of the backyard. "I was so close to catching one. I touch scales." Mitch brags.
"I know this Chinese restaurant with a big ass fish tank. We can go there and practice." Hawk told them.
"No way are you doing that. I love that place." She wasn't going to be banned from one of her favorite places.
"Well, then we can go and eat. Are you coming?" Hawk looks at Miguel.
"Uh, Nah, my mom's picking me up." He shook his head.
"Alright, stay dry my friend." Hawk slapped his back, laughing. They got to Hawk's car that his mom gave him when she bought a new one.
"I call shotgun." Mitch opens the passenger door.
"Dude…" He nods his head for him to sit in the back. "Oh right, for you Lee." He held it open for her.
"You can sit there if you want." She offers.
"No, the back is better. I can hang with the guys." He went into the back with Bert and Dirk. They weren't happy with the bigger guy making them squeeze together.
"Are you ready to go to the Golden House?" Hawk smiled.
"Yeah." She got in, not sure how to feel about being set up. He had been showing great efforts in being a better person. She felt like she was hanging out with Eli. Hawk was just a nickname and not a persona. She couldn't help but be hesitant to jump back in. She gave him an ultimatum but the way he acted after was beyond immature. She felt like they were in a good place at getting their friendship back on track. She didn't want to ruin anything by rushing it, but it was clear that Eli felt ready to do so.
He got into the driver's seat and headed to the restaurant. "You think Miguel will be okay?" Bert asked.
"He did seem a little down," Dirk noted.
"He'll be fine once he impresses LaRusso." Eli didn't think it would take much to get his friend out of his funk.
"I think he's overreacting. He stresses out too much when he is in a relationship." Lee didn't think it should be that stressful. He was constantly worried about losing her.
"Why cause it a high school relationship? Those can be meaningful. Some people stay with their high school sweetheart forever." Eli knew he was projecting. He didn't get why she was holding up a wall with him. He felt like they were getting along better than ever. For the first time, he was able to have an open conversation with her. He wasn't overthinking what he should say like when he was trying to keep up a bad boy image or was too shy to get any words out.
"My parents are high school sweethearts," Dirk spoke up.
"It has nothing to do with that. Miguel doesn't know what Sam wants to do with her life. He knows what her dad wants her to do. And, if she doesn't have a problem with him going to a community college then what does it matter what her parents think? If a guy puts more care into my dad's opinion than mine. I would tell him to date my dad." She was starting to get annoyed with the cycle of Miguel overthinking instead of talking to his girlfriend.
"It's a guy thing, you want to impress the dad." Mitch thought it was the proper thing to do.
"We are at an age where our parents can forbid us from seeing someone." Bert reminded her that it wasn't that simple to date someone your parents didn't like.
They pulled up to the Golden House. Mitch, Bert, and Dirk went to look at the large tank. Hawk and Lee grabbed a table. "Does your dad hate me?" He pulled out her chair before taking the seat next to her.
"No, he didn't want me to be with Cobra Kai anymore." She denies.
"He was glaring from the door this morning when I picked you up." He was surprised to see the stare from Mr. Cole. He was normally welcoming.
"He wants me to be cautious. He was there to pick me off the hospital floor when I was crying after the breakup. He doesn't want to see me hurt like that again." Her dad warned her that Eli would not be happy with just a friendship. While he still thought they could be good for each other, that could only happen if Eli got his shit together.
"You were on the floor crying?" He could feel tears building in his eyes as he imagined it.
"It's in the past." She shrugged.
"Can we move on from it if we don't talk about it?" He wanted to have the conversation.
"Not right now. We are with our friends." She nods to the guys that were joining them at the table.
"Let's get the sweet and sour pork." Mitch was starving after practice.
"I want fried rice." Dirk nods.
"We should get coconut shrimp." Bert rubs his stomach.
"Everyone can pick a dish for the table." Lee went into mom mode making them cheer.
Hawk pulled up to her house after dropping off the guys. "I want to make things right."
"You have already." She thought that he had proved himself. It would take time for her to be sure that he could be consistent.
"I had a heart-to-heart with Demetri and Miguel. I never had a real one with you. You deserve to be the first on that list." He had tried but she would say that it was all wiped under the rug. It wasn't, she kept him at an arm's length.
"I get that you wanted to quote on quote be the man. You felt like you could only be that with Cobra Kai. What I don't get is why stay when you don't like any of them." She wanted to understand.
"It felt like an all-or-nothing thing. I couldn't go back to being shy Eli who got bullied. Being Hawk protects me from all the bad things. I was holding on tight to that armor." He knew nothing would make sense because when he thought back on it, there was no logical reason. "Kreese, he has a way of making you feel invincible to everyone else but vulnerable to him. He has a way of twisting your mind to think all your power lies with him and Cobra Kai. If you lose either then you're nothing."
"What made you snap out of it?" She wonders what made that fight at Sam's house different.
"It was like you said. I didn't like any of the guys. It click at that moment that all the people I enjoy hanging out with are my enemy for no reason other than to keep up a stupid act that I didn't even like playing anymore." He was tired of pretending. He was tired of having to prove himself to people that he hated.
"I'm happy that you snapped out of it. I missed Eli." She likes that he looks soft now. He didn't look pissed off all the time.
"I missed you too. I'm sorry for not letting you date me. I was trying to be the guy I thought you deserve but I wasn't listening to what you wanted. I was such a douchebag to you. I know I don't deserve a second chance to be more than a friend." He was dumb to think that he got everything because of a mohawk and a bad attitude.
"The bad boy act did charm me." She admits. "I would like to date Eli. No act or pretense."
"Yeah? So, if I asked you to be my girlfriend you would say yes." He was hoping for one.
"No… but I would say yes to a date." She opened the door to the car. "Pick me up on Saturday at noon. And I don't want to go to Golf and Stuff."
"Yes ma'am." He salutes her before she closes the door.
The guys were trying to catch a Koi again. Daniel said the Gatorade deal was still on the table. A few were inside trying Lee's method while most were still trying to stay outside. Mitch missed again. "Damn it. How do they make it look so easy on Hillbilly Handfishin?"
"Agh! Shit this is impossible." Hawk cursed after another fail.
"Patience, you'll figure it out." Daniel thought they would have got it after watching Lee.
"I have an idea." Miguel steps into the pond. "Come on, get in." He ordered the others. They hesitated but got in. "Follow my lead. Walk in a circle."
"It's working, they're going under the board." Hawk watches in amazement.
Miguel reaches out and grabs one. Squeezed tight as he held it in the air. "We have a winner, good job Miguel."
"He won second place. He's the first-place loser." Lee didn't see why he was being rewarded. "He wouldn't have been able to do it without the others' help. So doesn't that make them all winners?"
"Thanks, Lee." Miguel dropped the fish.
"I'm just pointing out facts." She defends herself.
"I see how you and Demetri are friends." Daniel was seeing their similarities more.
"I don't know if you mean that was a compliment or not." She tilts her head.
"I'm not sure either." He shrugs. "In any case, I do think you all did learn the lesson." He pulled out headbands to hand to the guys. He stopped in front of Miguel to help him put it on.
Johnny came in with Miyagi-do. "What the hell is going on?" He looks at Miguel, then at all of them with the headbands on.
Lee snatched hers off. "Hi Sensei. How was your day?"
"Well, until now." He mutters under his breath. He watches Miyagi-do congratulate them on getting their headbands.
"Don't worry, Sensei, your favorite is not straying. He only wants to impress LaRusso for Sam." She watched his face harden when he stared at Miguel eating up Daniel's praises.
"What are you talking about? You're my favorite." He pats her head.
Lee opens the door expecting Hawk. His hands were full of take-out bags. She looks to see that they were from all her favorite places. "I got Sushi, crispy gau gee, animal fries, and Ben and Jerry's."
"Come in." She let him in.
"I was thinking that we could make a fort like when we were younger. We can pig out and watch any anime you want too." He describes her perfect evening.
They made a fort in the living room using blankets, bed sheets, and couch cushions. She put on Sk8 the Infinity. "Let me guess, you ship these two." He watches Joe and Cherry interact.
"Naturally." She smiled.
"This guy is annoying." He commented on Shadow.
"He actually kind of got a Hawk thing going on. His skater persona is violent, but he's a sweet florist in the daytime." She gave him a bit of a spoiler.
"My hair is better." She looks up at the Mohawk that was pushing up a blanket. It probably looked funny from the outside.
"Do you ever think of changing the color?" She asked.
"I don't know what color you think I should do. Don't say silver." He warns.
"Ummmm… maybe purple." She thought of her favorite color as a toddler. She didn't think she had one now. But, her closet showed a preference for black and red.
"I'll think about it." He put his arm around her waist.
"So, would you watch the whole thing with me?" She asks after the first episode.
"Sure, I got to see if the snowboarder takes over the place." He gave her an ice cream carton.
"We should go paintballing with everyone." She thought of another thing we could do.
"That's a group outing, not a date." His hand tightened on the spoon. He didn't want to get friend-zoned.
"Not every hang-out has to be a date. We can try ax throwing together. I have been seeing it on every reality show." She thought it seemed like a fun time. "I'm not sure I'll be able to throw it far enough but I want to try and get my Ivar on."
"I'll do better because I'll be imitating Bjorn." He flexes.
"Have you been keeping up?" She wonders.
"Oh yeah…" They went on to talk about Vikings.
