A/N: Chapters 20, 21 and 22 all happen within a few days of each other. Jason and Miguel are deputy Senseis for the duration of their suspension. Also, Hawk "flipping the script" is one of my favourite moments in the series, so I hope I do it justice.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Karate Kid movies, Cobra Kai or anything else that I might reference.
Flipping The Script
Miguel had woken up the same time that he normally woke up on a weekday.
He knew that Mom would get suspicious if he slept in.
So, he didn't.
Yaya did a good job of covering for him at breakfast whenever Mom asked him about school.
Mom went to work after breakfast, leaving Miguel and Yaya in the apartment.
"I think that went well." Yaya remarks.
Miguel isn't so sure. "But what if Mom finds out I got suspended?"
"I'll talk to her. She is my daughter, after all. I'm sure she'd understand. Especially if I told her the whole story." Yaya answers.
Miguel nods. "The whole story would sound better. I was defending Sam. And, I'm not sure what would have happened if I hadn't intervened. Maybe Sam would have fought them by herself?"
"But it's a good thing that you did intervene." Yaya responds.
Miguel agrees. "Yeah."
"There's something I've been meaning to give you since yesterday." Yaya changes the subject.
Miguel looks slightly surprised. "Oh. Okay."
"I'll just go and get it." Yaya walks to her room.
Miguel waits as Yaya looks for what she wanted to give him.
Yaya leaves her room holding a small box.
Miguel looks at the box. "So, what's in the box?"
"I'm getting to that." Yaya answers.
Miguel apologises. "Sorry."
"This box contains your abuelo's watch. He gave it to me before his death and told me to pass it on when the time came. And now I'm giving it to you. Because you've more than earned it." Yaya hands the box to Miguel.
Miguel opens the box and takes out the watch. "Thanks! I'll be sure to keep it safe."
"You can put it on if you want." Yaya suggests.
Miguel puts on the watch. "It fits. And it's not too tight. But I'm probably not going to wear it all that much."
"I don't mind. I hope you don't mind being alone for a few hours?" Yaya changes the subject.
Miguel nods. "I don't mind."
"Good. Some of my friends will be at the apartment. Feel free to have lunch with your friend Jason if you want." Yaya says.
Miguel smiles. "Great. That is, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all." Yaya responds.
Miguel nods. "Okay. I'll just go give Jason a call, then."
He walks to his room while responding to texts from Claire, Aisha, Leonard, Demetri, Eli and Sam.
The Gi that Sensei had given him is still in his room.
Miguel had put it on almost as soon as he had gotten home yesterday.
And it fit him perfectly.
He calls Jason and waits for him to respond.
"Hey, Miguel!" Jason exclaims.
Miguel smiles. "Hey, Jason. So, how has the first day of being suspended gone? Or, being suspended again, in your case?"
"It's gone fine. I texted everybody after I had breakfast. I spent the last hour or so training and had a shower after that, so you got me at a good time. You want to have lunch?" Jason replies.
Miguel nods. "Lunch sounds pretty good. I'm thinking that sushi would be a pretty good choice."
"Awesome. Have you told your mom that you got suspended yet?" Jason asks.
Miguel shakes his head. "Not yet. I probably should, though."
"Yeah. So, what do you being deputy Sensei is going to be like?" Jason changes the subject.
Miguel lets out a breath. "I'm not sure. We're probably going to be helping out with all the new students. At least, I think that's what we'd be doing."
"I guess. And, it's only for the two weeks we're suspended." Jason says.
Miguel nods. "I think all the new students would have settled in by the time our suspension is over."
"Sensei does take some getting used to." Jason adds.
Miguel agrees. "I wasn't sure what to think of Sensei at first. I think my opinion of him has changed."
"Same here. See you later." Jason hangs up.
Miguel puts his phone back in his pocket.
He grabs his wallet before taking a look at the Gi that Sensei had given him.
Miguel leaves his room and walks back to the living room.
He notices Yaya sitting on the sofa.
There's a knock on the door, so he goes to open it.
A few of Yaya's friends were standing outside.
Yaya had found new friends pretty quickly after they moved to Reseda from Riverside.
Miguel watches as they walk past him.
Yaya rises to her feet and greets her friends, leaving Miguel to walk out of the apartment.
He closes the door behind him and looks around.
Sensei's Pontiac Firebird was parked outside his apartment.
Which probably meant that he was either still asleep or having a beer.
But he didn't check.
Mainly because he was used to Sensei by now.
About forty-five minutes pass before Miguel can see Jason's Dodge Viper come to a full stop outside of his apartment.
Miguel watches as Jason gets out of the driver's side.
"You ready to go?" Jason asks.
Miguel nods. "Yeah. Let's go."
"Cool." Jason gets back in the car.
Miguel walks to the parked car and gets in the passenger's seat.
Jason turns on the radio before they drive off.
But he keeps it at a relatively low volume.
….
Jason parks the Dodge Viper in the parking lot of the restaurant.
He gets out of the car and closes the door followed closely by Miguel.
They walk into the restaurant where they're greeted by a waiter.
"Hello, sirs. I'll show you to your table." The waiter says.
Jason and Miguel follow the waiter to a table and sit down.
The waiter hands them menus before walking away.
"This place looks pretty nice." Miguel looks around.
Jason agrees. "Yeah. We're Sensei's assistants for the next two weeks, and I kind of wanted to celebrate it a little. Plus, we each got a tournament Gi from Sensei. Which is pretty huge."
"Yeah. It kind of shows the faith that Sensei has in us. If that's the right word, I mean." Miguel says.
Jason thinks about it. "Maybe. But it's not like we're the only students Sensei has."
"Well, yeah. Claire, Aisha and Leonard have all improved since they started training. But we've probably improved the most. Or, at least I have." Miguel remarks.
Jason agrees. "You went from almost getting Pepto Bismol poured over you to kicking some major ass in the space of a few months."
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you…" Miguel starts.
Jason has a quizzical expression on his face. "Which is?"
"I'm having dinner at Sam's house on Friday and I was wondering if I should bring a bottle of wine or something." Miguel replies.
Jason thinks about it. "That's a pretty good idea, actually."
"Thanks. So, should we order something?" Miguel asks.
Jason nods. "Yeah. Just let me see what's on the menu."
"Cool. I haven't really had a chance to look at the menu either." Miguel says.
They look through the menu and decide what they're going to order by the time a waiter or waitress walks over to their table.
There's enough time for them to have lunch and for Jason to drop Miguel back at his apartment.
So, there's no need for them to rush.
….
Miguel changed into the Gi that he'd gotten from Sensei and put his normal clothes in his backpack before putting on his socks and shoes and riding his bike to the dojo.
He got off his bike and found somewhere to lock it.
Miguel walked up to the dojo and could see Jason's Dodge Viper parked outside it as well as Claire's Volkswagen Beetle.
He could also see a crowd of people gathered outside the dojo.
Jason, Claire, Aisha and Leonard were standing outside the door of the dojo and there were people standing around them. Demetri and Eli were standing in the crowd.
Miguel could see that Jason was wearing the Gi that Sensei had given him yesterday and was carrying a black sports bag.
They talk until Sensei's Pontiac Firebird parks in an empty space next to Claire's Volkswagen Beetle.
Sensei gets out of his car and looks at the crowd of teenagers with an awestruck expression on his face.
Everyone watches as Sensei walks up to the door of the dojo and unlocks it.
Sensei opens the door and walks through the doorway before letting it close.
Jason opens the door and walks into the dojo followed by Miguel.
Claire, Aisha and Leonard walk in after them.
The new students, Demetri and Eli included, follow them.
Miguel and Jason walk into Sensei's office.
"Diaz, Kreese. You ready to help teach the new students?" Sensei asks.
Miguel and Jason both nod. "Yeah. We were wondering if we could leave our stuff in your office."
"Sure." Sensei says.
Miguel puts his backpack behind the desk in Sensei's office before Jason puts his sports bag behind the desk.
He looks at Sensei. "Thanks for letting us keep our stuff here."
"Don't worry about it. I'm not sure how I'm going to teach all the nerds who joined, but I'll manage somehow. With your help." Sensei replies.
Miguel and Jason look at each other before looking at Sensei again. "We're happy to help. And, I think they're pretty happy to be here. They just want to learn how to defend themselves. Like we did."
"Yeah. We're not going to let you down, Sensei." Jason adds.
Sensei smiles slightly. "Good."
Miguel and Jason leave Sensei's office.
Sensei comes out of his office a few minutes later.
"Okay today we begin…" Sensei starts.
Claire, Aisha and Leonard are the only ones paying attention.
Sensei gets the attention of everyone else in the room. "QUIET!"
Everybody in the class shuts up and pays attention to him.
"Face front!" Sensei yells.
Miguel and Jason watch as Sensei walks around the room observing the new Cobra Kai students.
Sensei walks up to Demetri. "Nice t-shirt."
"Thanks?" Demetri looks a little confused.
Sensei shakes his head. "I'm kidding. It sucks."
Miguel and Jason watch as Sensei walks over to a chubby teenager with neck length hair and glasses who smiles awkwardly at him.
"Word of advice, kid. Don't smile if you've got shit for teeth." Sensei remarks.
The chubby teenager stops smiling.
Sensei walks up to a small looking teenager. "I feel like a virgin just looking at you."
The small looking teenager flinches.
.
Miguel and Jason watch as Sensei walks around the room.
"When I look around this dojo, I don't see Cobra Kai material. I see losers. I see nerds. I see a fat kid with a funny hat whose tits are popping out." Sensei looks around.
Sensei continues. "But I have seen some miracles in my short time as a Sensei."
"Miracles like Mr Diaz, Mr Kreese, Ms Brown, Ms Robinson and even Mr Cole." Sensei finishes his speech.
Sensei walks to where Miguel and Jason are standing.
He looks around the room again. "I need to see where you're at. So, fall in!"
Claire, Aisha and Leonard know what he means.
Everybody else looks confused.
"That means line up!" Sensei shouts.
The students get into two long lines.
Sensei shakes his head. "That wasn't what I meant. Get in lines!"
"Wait. You mean rows?" Demetri asks.
Sensei rolls his eyes. "It doesn't matter. Just line up."
They finally get into rows behind Claire, Aisha and Leonard.
"Let's see if any of you can throw a punch. Diaz and Kreese can demonstrate." Sensei says.
Miguel and Jason both nod. "Yes, Sensei!"
They take a couple of steps forward and watch as the lines of people move back slightly.
Miguel gets into a fighting stance and throws a punch before following it up with another punch.
Jason gets into a fighting stance and throws a punch.
He then throws another punch and almost does a kick before realising that some of the new Cobra Kai students have probably never thrown a punch, let alone kicked anything.
Claire, Aisha and Leonard throw a punch as well.
Sensei looks proud of them. Even if he doesn't say it.
Unfortunately, most of the new students don't even know how to throw a punch.
The warmup goes about as well as it can go before Sensei looks over in Eli's direction.
"Hey! Lip!" Sensei shouts.
Eli looks at Sensei with a panicked expression.
Sensei continues. "Yeah, you. The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think I'm talking to?"
Jason and Miguel exchange a worried glance but don't say anything.
"Excuse me, Mr Lawrence?" Demetri asks.
Claire and Aisha are quick to correct him while Leonard stays silent. "Sensei Lawrence!"
"My mistake." Demetri puts his hands up.
He follows it up almost immediately. "It's rude to make fun of someone's personal appearance."
"It is?" Sensei almost sounds amused by the idea.
Sensei scratches his head. "So, I should just ignore his lip completely and not mention it?"
"Well, yeah." Demetri answers.
Sensei shakes his head. "They might teach you that in school, but you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do in the real world. You hear that, Lip? If you can't take it when someone makes fun of you, then how are you going to handle getting a punch in the face or an elbow to the teeth?"
"By calling the police? Like a normal person?" Demetri asks.
Jason rolls his eyes.
Miguel looks a little annoyed.
Claire, Aisha and Leonard all look at Demetri with different expressions on their faces.
Demetri continues. "He does realise that the Nazis lost the war, right? Why should I be scared of him? Because he has a snake on his wall? It's not like he can give us a pass or a fail. Because we're paying him. And he works for us. So, it's not like he can actually hurt us."
"Are you finished?" Sensei asks.
Demetri looks confused. "What?"
"Hit me." Sensei orders.
Demetri throws a half-hearted punch and Sensei smacks it down.
Sensei shakes his head. "Harder!"
Demetri throws another punch.
He punched Sensei in the stomach, but Sensei was still upright.
"Is that all you got?" Sensei asks.
Demetri finally throws a punch with some force behind it.
Sensei blocks the punch and flips Demetri over with one arm.
Demetri lands on his back.
Sensei punches the mat where Demetri is laying on.
Everybody watches as Sensei stands up.
Sensei looks around the room. "Let that be a lesson to all of you. Don't question me or my methods."
A silence descends around the room.
"I didn't say stop! Get back to it!" Sensei exclaims.
Jason and Miguel go around the room helping people with their warmups.
Claire, Aisha and Leonard carry on with their warmups in relative silence.
The rest of the class goes by without any further incident.
Sensei walks back to his office when everyone leaves except for Jason and Miguel.
Jason and Miguel get offered a beer by Sensei and they take it.
Miguel takes a sip of his beer. "That went well."
"You two did a good job of being my assistants. But today is only just the start. You've got two more weeks of being my assistants to look forward to." Sensei drinks his beer.
Jason takes a sip of his beer. "It can't be that difficult. Compared to today, I mean."
"Don't get overconfident. They've got a long way to go before they're on your level. Some of them can't even throw a punch, let alone a kick." Sensei drinks his beer.
Miguel takes another sip of his beer. "But they'll get there. I don't think I'd even gotten into a fight before I started training."
"You, Kreese, Brown, Robinson and Cole all had something I could work with." Sensei retorts.
Sensei finishes his beer and reaches in the mini fridge near his desk for another beer.
Jason and Miguel both finish their beers and put the empty bottles on Sensei's desks.
Miguel takes his backpack. "I think the new students might surprise you."
"We'll see." Sensei says.
Jason takes his sports bag. "Yeah. See you tomorrow, Sensei."
They leave Sensei's office and get changed in the dojo before they leave, making sure to bring their stuff with them.
"You want to get a soda or something?" Miguel asks.
Jason agrees with the suggestion. "Sure."
"Let's go." Miguel says.
They walk into the bodega and take two Cokes from the fridge.
Jason and Miguel both place the cans of soda on the countertop before Jason pays for them.
They take their sodas and walk out of the bodega back towards the dojo.
Jason opens his soda and takes a drink. "Today was pretty different. But I think it went well."
"Yeah. I was starting to forget how tough Sensei was. Then again, it had been a while since he had been teaching complete beginners. But I didn't expect him to flip Demetri over." Miguel opens his soda and takes a drink as well.
Jason quickly takes another sip of his soda and stifles a laugh. "That was actually kind of funny."
"Do you think that the people who joined today are going to stick with it?" Miguel asks.
Jason shrugs. "I don't know. Some of them will. I think Eli might stick with it. Even if Sensei was calling him "Lip" and stuff."
They both drink their sodas in relative silence.
"Sensei was giving nicknames to a lot of the new students. Even if it was a little bit unnecessary." Miguel finishes his soda.
Jason finishes his soda and throws away the can. "It's just his way. That's all."
"Would you mind driving me to Sam's house on Friday? I'd ask my mom, but she's working and I'm not sure if Sam's going to pick me up." Miguel changes the subject.
Jason frowns slightly. "Sorry. I'll be having dinner at Claire's house on Friday and I'll probably be watching a movie with her, too."
"Oh. Well. I'll ask Sam to pick me up. Do you think I should bring them a gift or something?" Miguel is surprisingly understanding about it.
Jason thinks about it. "You could bring a fancy bottle of wine. Or scotch. Or any high-end alcohol, really."
"Thanks." Miguel replies.
Jason smiles. "No problem."
"I should probably go. I'll see you tomorrow." Miguel says.
Jason nods. "Yeah. I better get going, too."
He watches as Miguel walks over to where he left his bike and unlocks it before cycling away.
Jason walks over to his Dodge Viper and unlocks it.
He puts the sports bag he brought with him in the back seat.
Jason gets in the driver's seat and starts the car.
He turns on the radio before driving off.
Being one of Sensei's assistants was an experience.
And it was only the first day.
….
A few of the people who had showed up at the dojo yesterday didn't show up.
Jason and Miguel are Sensei's assistants again.
"We've got some absences today, Sensei." Miguel states matter-of-factly.
Sensei looks in Eli's direction. "Even Lip is tougher than those guys. He's not the kind of person to just walk away when things get tough."
"Could you please not call me that?" Eli almost whispers.
Sensei looks a little confused. "Can you speak up? I couldn't quite catch that."
"Could you please not call me that?" Eli asks again.
Jason looks like he's about to say something before Miguel speaks up.
Miguel looks at Sensei. "Should Jason and I start the warm ups?"
"Hold on. I think Lip has something that he wants to get off his chest." Sensei replies.
Sensei focuses his attention back to Eli. "Feel free to speak up, Lip. Unless your tongue is messed up, too. Or are you one of those challenged kids?"
Jason notices Claire, Aisha and Leonard watching what's going on along with the new students who hadn't quit after yesterday.
"Well, my doctor says that I could be on the spectrum." Eli answers.
Sensei looks confused for a second. "I have no clue what that is, but get off it pronto. Look, if you don't want me to call you "Lip," then don't have a freaky lip. Can you get surgery for that?"
"I was born with a cleft lip. This is just the scar from the surgery." Eli explains.
Sensei is almost surprised. "Really? So, it was worse before that? Or did the doctor screw up? You should probably sue the doctor who did that."
Jason and Miguel exchange concerned glances.
"Can you please change the topic?" Eli practically begs.
Sensei makes a face. "It's a bit hard to do that when it's right in front of me. If you want to be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, then you have to flip the script."
"And how do I do that?" Eli asks.
Sensei shrugs. "You could always get a tattoo. Or you could gouge one of your eyes out. We'll call you "Patch" instead. No, wait, don't do that. You'll still look like a freak."
Miguel looks shocked.
Jason doesn't quite know how to react.
Eli looks like he's about to cry and storms out of the dojo.
"Seriously? Another quitter?" Sensei looks bemused.
Jason looks in the direction where Eli had gone. "Let me talk to him."
"If you think you can convince him to stay, then do it." Sensei replies.
Jason walks out of the dojo through the storage area in the back of it.
He sees Eli come to a complete stop near a dumpster.
Jason walks up to Eli. "Are you okay?"
"What do you want?" Eli asks.
It looks like he had been crying.
Jason scratched his head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Sensei might be tough, but he made Miguel and I tough. Well, tougher than we were already, I mean."
"But that's different. You never had anyone call you names or make fun of you. And I don't need your sympathy." Eli retorts.
Jason rolls his eyes. "That's not why I'm here."
"You were going to ask me if I wanted to come back?" Eli asks.
Jason nods. "Well. Yeah. I didn't think it was going to be difficult to convince you."
"Because you've always had it so easy, right? You showed up out of nowhere and everybody likes you. You live in a big house by yourself, drive a nice car and have a girlfriend. You obviously don't know what it's like to suffer or have people pick on you." Eli says.
Jason shakes his head. "You're wrong."
"How am I wrong?" Eli challenges.
Jason sighs. "My dad got charged with aggravated burglary and convicted along with some other stuff. My mom freaks out and abandons me after that. I got bounced around group homes for five years until they gave up on me. And I went to juvie after that. So, no, my life hasn't been easy. But I'm not going to feel sorry for myself."
"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one with the scar on your lip." Eli answers.
Jason leans against a wall. "You're more than just a scar on your lip. And you don't have to let it define you. Flip the script."
"I get it." Eli understands.
Jason smiles. "Good. So, are you going to come back?"
"I'll come back. Just not today." Eli replies.
Jason understands. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
He watches as Eli walks away.
Jason walks back to the dojo.
He probably hadn't missed very much.
Class continued as normal.
Miguel and Jason walked into Sensei's office when class ended.
Afterwards, Jason and Miguel talked about his dinner with Sam and her family before they left the dojo.
….
Today was Thursday.
Jason and Miguel both noticed that almost half the students who showed up at the dojo on Tuesday had quit by today. Eli wasn't at school according to Claire, Aisha and Leonard.
"We have three more absences, Sensei." Miguel announces.
Claire frowns. "But we can continue without them."
"What a bunch of pussies!" Aisha exclaims.
Leonard agrees with Aisha. "Yeah!"
"I think I should shoulder some of the responsibility for that. I have been hard on all of you since you joined Cobra Kai. I have called you unflattering names. I have humiliated you. And I think that I might have hit some of you. But I'm not going to apologise for it. Cobra Kai is about strength. If you're not strong on the inside, then you can't be strong on the outside. You're all weak. I know that because I was like you, once." Sensei starts.
Sensei continues. "I used to have no friends. I used to be the weird kid."
He points at a small kid named Bert.
"Well, not that weird. I still hooked up with babes and all, but…. I wasn't always the badass Sensei that I am today. I had to shed my loser skin to find my true power like a cobra or any other snake, really. And you guys will too. With my help." Sensei sounds completely sincere.
Jason and Miguel both nod.
The new students look happier than they did over the last few days.
Suddenly, the shop bell rings and a teenager walks in.
He had a blue mohawk, but he also had a scar on his lip.
"Eli?! What happened?" Miguel looks shocked.
Eli just smiles. "I'm flipping the script."
"Were you the kid with the lip? Nice cut, bro." Sensei looks impressed.
Sensei looks around at the students in the dojo. "You all see that? It doesn't matter what you were before you stepped in here. All that matters is that you become badass!"
"Hawk! Fall in!" Sensei exclaims.
Eli, now Hawk, takes off his shoes and stands on the mat.
Sensei looks at Hawk. "Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?"
"No, Sensei!" Hawk answers.
Sensei looks at Aisha. "Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?"
"No, Sensei!" Aisha exclaims.
Sensei walks up to Miguel. "Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?"
"No, Sensei!" Miguel shouts.
Sensei smiles. "Are you ready to learn the way of the fist?"
"Yes, Sensei!" Everyone answers at the same time.
The rest of the class goes by pretty smoothly.
Everybody is in a great mood and motivated to train.
Sensei isn't quite sure that the new students are ready to spar just yet, so Claire and Aisha spar before Jason and Miguel spar. Just to show the new students how sparring works.
Class ends and everybody leaves the dojo except for Sensei.
Jason drives back to his house after saying goodbye to everybody and that he'd see them tomorrow.
Things were finally going smoothly after two days of people quitting Cobra Kai.
They had separated the strong students from the weak ones.
And things could only improve from there.