─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"okay. this is it. this is where most of the girls' teams practice." miguel announced. he had led their sensei to the sports field, where every girl on her gym period was. "sure you'll be able to convince them?"
"please. when i went to this school, the only thing i was better at than karate, and i was pretty good at karate, was talking to chicks." the man boasted. "watch and learn, diaz. watch and learn."
"just wanted to remind you, i-incase you forgot." gioia quickly dragged him back over by the sleeve of his shirt. "last time you were here, you were a teenager, you fit in. now, you're a middle aged man. you-you don't fit in."
"get the hell off of me." johnny shrugged her off, making miguel laugh.
"right." gioia smiled, turning over to miguel. "miggy, what i've been trying to tell you-"
"hey gioia, hey miguel!" mickey made her way over to the two. "what are you guys doing here? i thought you had a study period."
"we do." miguel nodded. "but our sensei is here, trying to recruit students. there's been a change to the tournament and we need more girls."
mickey glanced over to see the girls on the track team speeding away from a forty-something-year-old man. she chuckled and looked back to her friends. "looks like he's scaring them off."
"i warned him." gioia shrugged.
"hey, mickey." miguel turned to face the girl. they weren't that close of friends, only speaking from time to time because of their mutual connection, gioia. "would you wanna join?"
"your karate team?" mickey questioned. she wasn't sure, she didn't like brutality, especially not after the school fight, and she didn't understand the hype about hitting each other. but miguel and gioia were her friends and they clearly needed help.
"yeah." gioia perked up at the suggestion.
"i don't know..." mickey trailed off.
"just think about it, okay?"
she nodded at him, "i will."
johnny stepped over to the three in defeat, all the flyers still in his hand and a defeated look on his face. he gazed at mickey, about to open his mouth and ask her.
"we already asked her."
"i'm considering it." mickey told him.
"you're either in or you're out." johnny told her, intimidating her.
"just be glad she didn't say no." gioia sighed. "like the rest of the girls you've been pestering."
"all right. we need a new approach." johnny huffed. he grabbed the backpack he had left on the floor and pulled out baby oil.
the three of them glanced at him with puzzlement. mickey wondered why he would bring that to recruit women into his karate team. she was a little afraid.
"miguel, take off your shirt." johnny ordered.
"what?!"
"that's my cue." mickey shook her head. "i'll see you guys later?"
"just do it!" johnny reassured the boy.
"yeah." gioia grasped and squeezed mickey's hand. "i need to catch up with you."
"bye, mickey." miguel muffled out, his head trapped in his shirt.
"bye m." johnny muttered, making her give him a weird look.
the girl jogged away, back over to her cheerleading squad. moon gave her a big smile and waved her over to stand beside her. mickey blushed, making her way next to her.
"trust me, the chicks are gonna love this." johnny grinned.
miguel now had his shirt off, leaving him with just his grey vest. johnny had been squeezing the baby oil into gioia's hands, and she was rubbing it all over miguel's top half.
"hey, too much!" miguel pointed out as johnny squeezed the next batch into gioia's palm.
"you gotta get it into every groove." johnny taught him, "it's about molding highlights to emphasize curvature."
once miguel had been greased up, the sides of his shirt even soaking up some of the oil, johnny began to tell him how to display himself.
"where's your beach ball?" the man asked.
"here's the beach ball." miguel spoke sadly, flexing his muscles. when he did this, gioia jokingly began to fan herself, pretending she was flustered by him. miguel noticed and glared at her. "you think this is funny?"
"yeah, kinda funny."
"come on, these girl looks like she could use some karate." johnny pointed over to two friends on the soccer team. he dragged gioia over to them. "try eagle fang karate, the most bitchin' dojo in the... valley." the girls glanced at each other and ran off before he could finish his sentence.
johnny groaned, hauling the young blonde to his next victim. this girl was also on the soccer team, standing alone behind the goal.
"the best part is we have a whole stable of hot young dudes, like my man miguel over here." he gestured to the boy a few feet away flexing his arms. "you like what you see? he's not even in the top five. we got babes and everything," he put his shoulders around the blonde girl. "whatever floats your boat."
"i'm asexual." the girl said.
"all right, he's a sexual too." johnny continued, making gioia cringe. "check him out. total stud. so what do you say you ready to become an eagle?"
her soccer coach's whistle blew out, so she jogged over to her team, not even giving the man a reply.
"i don't get it." johnny groaned as miguel stepped over to them. "i thought girls today were supposed to be tough. why can't we find anyone for our team?"
"maybe not everyone needs karate. especially girls who are already on sports teams." miguel explained, putting his shirt and jacket back on.
"yeah... and your approach sucks." gioia spoke, truthfully. "if i was them, i'd reject you too."
"hey, miguel. hey gioia." moon made her way over to them.
"hey, moon, what's up?"
"apparently some perv was creeping on the track team so we're gonna practice inside." moon explained, making gioia give johnny a teasing look. "what are you guys doing here?"
"oh, mickey didn't tell you?" miguel asked. moon shook her head. "we're recruiting or our new dojo."
"eagle fang karate."
"yeah. you know, you should join, actually."
"really? okay. yeah, that sounds like fun." moon smiled. she thought for a second. "wait. do-do i have to hit anyone?"
"hell yeah, you do."
"oh, no, then i'm-i'm out. i can't do the whole physical aggression thing." moon shook her head. "you should ask my ex."
"hawk?" miguel asked, finding it a bit weird of her to call him that in front of his girlfriend. "yeah-"
gioia looked down at the mention of his name, now remembering how he still hadn't replied to her calls or texts.
"no." she shook her head. "my other ex. she's the best athlete in school and she's not afraid to get into a fight."
"piper."
"mhm." moon nodded.
"sounds like the badass babe we've been looking for." johnny grinned.
"yeah, you might want to take a different approach with her." moon suggested. "want some pointers?"
"absolutely." miguel nodded.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"sensei okay, remember what moon told you?"
"yes, i will be awake." johnny nodded, making his way to the gymnast.
"uh, no. no, no, no. be woke."
"hey, piper. i wanted to introduce you. this is-" miguel started.
"sensei john lawrence of eagle fang karate." johnny interrupted.
"your name is john?" gioia stiffed back a laugh.
"let me tell you why my dojo is perfect for a modern young woman like yourself. we live in a world where you gotta be an alpha to survive. you're either a killer or you're dead meat. you gotta be a man. but at eagle fang we confront that phrase and make it empowering for all. we teach anyone who identifies as female to embrace their queenly strength and tear down the neo-masculine hierarchy to confront internalized sexism."
gioia's jaw dropped at his choice of words. he had taken moon's 'how to be a feminist' lesson to heart.
"sounds inclusive." piper smiled. "what about non-binary and gender fluid?"
"yes, fluids are crucial." johnny nodded. "if you don't hydrate, it affects performance." he spoke, seriously. piper laughed.
"and he's funny."
"well, actually, i have been meaning to join a dojo. i don't wanna be the last person who doesn't know karate." piper told them.
"then today is your lucky day."
piper accepted the flyer from his hand. "okay, cool. i'll be there."
"all right." johnny grinned as he and miguel stepped back. gioia lingered for a second, wanting to ask piper a question.
"hey." she spoke up.
"hey, gioia." piper nodded. "you have anything to add about the karate campaign?"
gioia shook her head with a smile. "i was just wondering if there were any openings on the gymnastics team?"
piper pipped up, interested in her question. "you wanna join?"
"yeah." gioia nodded. "i think gymnastics and karate go hand in hand. it could help with my speed and my flexibility. i'm trying to max out all my skills for the tournament."
"of course!" piper nodded. "i'll talk to coach and see what he can do. meet me here tomorrow morning."
"thanks piper. i really appreciate it." gioia spoke, giving her a warm smile.
"hey, piper. come check this out." a girl on her team shouted from further away.
"no problem. see you then." piper said, turning around and walking over to her friends.
"what was that about?" miguel asked.
"i'm thinking of joining the gymnastics team." gioia shrugged.
"you? gymnastics?" johnny questioned.
"don't underestimate her." miguel stepped in. "you've seen how high she can kick."
"thanks, miggy."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"first of all, you're twenty minutes late." johnny spoke to the girl as she walked into the warehouse, her phone in her hand.
"right, sorry. but i see i'm not th-the only one that's late." gioia pointed out. "and i assume you want to know why she's late?" miguel stepped over and she showed him piper's recent instagram story. "oh no." he winced.
"what?"
they all gathered around to see piper's story. "nothing but the best for the best. can't wait to kick ass with cobra kai."
"she joined cobra kai?" johnny exclaimed, his anger rising.
"uh, looks like they made designer gear for all the new students. they got a bunch of new recruits." miguel pointed out.
"yeah, great. that was a big waste of time. i even learned feminism." johnny scoffed.
"i think that was very beneficial for you-" gioia started.
miguel spoke up. "we can't give up. if we want first place, we need a good chance in the girls' division."
"we already have a great chance in the girl's division." johnny explained. "i just don't understand why we're wasting so much time trying to find more girls when we have a perfectly able one right here! i mean larusso is the only girl on her team and you don't see her complaining."
"you don't understand." gioia shook her head. "if i'm the only girl on the team, you'll have high expectations of me, you'll want me to win every match and i know i can do that. but what-what if it comes to the semi-finals and i slip up. that's us out of the girl's division and our chances of winning are decreased. and-and i know you, as much as you say you're not angry, you'll be disappointed. you've put so much effort and time into making me the best, but what if i'm not the best?"
johnny frowned, he didn't realise that's how the girl had been feeling. gioia had a lot on her plate, she was struggling in english class, she was on the verge of picking up her old, horrible eating habits, and her boyfriend was pretending like she didn't exist. the added pressure of winning the all valley was overwhelming.
"gb, you're the best one out of all of us!" mitch exclaimed.
bert nodded. "you could take us all five verses one and you'd still win."
"i mean, she'd struggle a little if it came down down me." miguel joked, making her smile.
"all right, sushi. i'm sorry." johnny sighed. "we can try again but at this point we have no chance at finding a champion."
"gio and i weren't champions when you met us. okay? you made us one, and saw something in us that no one else did. maybe you just have to see that in someone else. we just have to think outside of the box."
"alright! everybody start thinking outside the box!" johnny ordered. "whatever that means."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"just the young woman i was looking for." terrance silvers stepped over to the girl. once training was over, she took a trip to the mini-mart to buy groceries for the house, only to be confronted by the new sensei of cobra kai.
"vietnam vet turned businessman. had a few ups and downs, but still turned out pretty rich."
demetri's description of him floated around in her head as she tried to think why he would be talking to her.
"not much dirt, other than some toxic waste scandal in borneo back in the 80s."
she looked at him with feigned confusion. "do i know you?"
"i know you know me." terry chuckled. "and i know you. i've watched the videos of you at the last all valley tournament and can i just say, you are an extraordinary fighter."
gioia's eyes narrowed into slits. she wanted to make this interaction as quick as possible before she became even more weirded out. "okay. thanks." she nodded, gathering the items into her shopping basket.
"you could've won, you know? you could've been the all valley champion, not miguel diaz." he taunted her.
her attention was immediately grabbed by her best friend's name. "miguel deserved the win."
"but you-"
"i got distracted. i was poorly and injured. my loss was my fault." gioia grumbled. "i can't change the past."
terry was surprised. he didn't know she was ill during the tournament, she looked quite pale in the videos but he didn't put two and two together. "you were distracted, i noticed. someone in the crowd. dare i say your father?"
gioia's teeth clenched in irritation. "please, don't." how did he know all these things?
"you could be the best." terry shrugged. "you're strong and you're fast. but you're also too weak, you're too emotional. just seeing your father's face in the crowd was enough for you to throw your whole match."
"you don't know anything about me." gioia shook her head. "you don't know my life."
"you're right. you're right." terry nodded. "but i know enough. and i bet that you want to make everyone proud of you. but how can you do that when you're throwing all your potential away?"
that has struck a nerve. the only thing gioia wanted was for people to be proud of her: her parents, miguel's family, her senseis, her friends, her boyfriend.
"you know that you are wasting your talent at eagle fang." terry continued. "come to our dojo tomorrow. i can introduce you and maybe you can do a little sparing. i can teach you to let go of the powerless part of yourself."
gioia hesitated before shaking her head. "i-i'm good thanks."
"think about it."
"i said i'm good." she finalised, pushing past him and making her way over to the till.
terry smirked, knowing he had so easily wormed his way into her head and planted a seed of doubt in her mind.
⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
...
i was supposed to post this last night before i sleep like i usually do but mid-editing i fell asleep so here's a long chapter morning gift