Chapter 1: Diaz

It had been nearly a week since the tournament – which they won, by the fucking way... not that it really even felt like it – because Sensei Johnny was still moping around over god knows what attempting to drown himself in his office with six-packs of lukewarm Coors light. Miguel didn't realize when sensei even made the switch. He was the one who always said light drinks were for pussies.

They won in spectacular fashion, like one of those cool underdog sports movies and his sensei's reaction had been… cold at best, which confused the hell out of Miguel. He taught them to win and they did, and his lack of enthusiasm about it was just frustrating as shit. And strange, even by sensei's definition of strange.

It didn't help that stuff was weird at home as well. His Yaya was totally over the moon about his win (something about him finally becoming a man that isn't such a doormat) and his mom had been happy and proud – at first at least, or that was how it seemed on the surface. Miguel could always tell when his mom had something that she needed to get off her chest. She kept acting all strange about him and saying pointed stuff that he couldn't really understand. But whatever she really wanted to say she kept pent up – which happened like never, so whatever it was was obviously something huge.

It wasn't until that evening that she finally out and said it while she was bent over the sink washing the dishes and Miguel had come into the kitchen to get a drink. "You were really quite violent with that kid at the tournament the other day. I almost didn't recognize you for a minute there, mijo."

And finally everything seemed to click into place.

"I won didn't I? Strike first, strike hard; no mercy. That's the Cobra Kai way!" he said. His mom didn't respond to what he said and when he looked up at the silence he found her eyes shining with what seemed like sadness as they continued staring him down. "Whatever," he said. He didn't want to get into it, least of all with his mom and least of all right then. Sensei Johnny was being moody, his mom was being weird and neither of them were reacting to his win the way he expected them to which was kind of pissing him off. So he shoved the orange juice back in the fridge and with a mumbled, "I'm going out," he grabbed his jacket and left without another word.

Moon and Hawk were sucking face against the wall outside the convenience store they were at, making really gross sucking sounds that were getting super annoying and attracting too much unwanted looks of disapproval from the old people passing by.

When Miguel left the house to get away from that uncomfortable talk his mom was about to make, he did it not with the intention of becoming the third wheel to Eli of all goddamn people making out with one of the hottest girls in school when they were supposed to be hanging out helping him lick his wounds. Thank god for Aisha.

"Nut?" offered Aisha, offering an opened bag of peanuts to him when he walked over and took a seat beside her on the sidewalk.

"Nah," he said, waving off the offer. "Thanks. I think I have enough nuts in my life as is."

"Problem at home?" she asked.

"At home yeah… and at the dojo… and at school… and with sensei and my mom and Sam and just – just when I thought things were finally going right in my life," he groaned exasperatedly and buried his face in his knees, the very picture of wretched.

He wished badass Miguel from the tournament, the one who kicked ass and got the crowd all pumped up and shit would have stuck around. He was tired of being loser Miguel who didn't get the girl, made his mom all sad and caused whatever depressive mood his sensei was currently stuck in. He thought he'd finally crawled out of that particular hole.

"Life sucks!" he bellowed suddenly, startling Aisha beside him into dropping the bag of nuts in her hand. She managed to snatch it up out of the air and continued picking at it like nothing happened.

"It does," she said unhelpfully and completely unconcerned.

Miguel sighed and let his arms drop to the side, resting his forehead on his knees once again.

He didn't know how long he stayed in that position, probably looking as pathetic as he felt, ironic for someone who just won the All Valley Championship; beating out people with much more experience than him. It was pretty rad for someone who just a year ago would walk around with greens stuck in his braces for hours without realizing it.

"Oh shit, you're not going to believe this, Diaz." It was Hawk who made him finally look up. Aisha was busy staring at an indistinct spot across the street and the fact that he'd actually managed to peel himself away from Moon's lips to notice whatever it was that caught his eye, it must have been something really important. "Check it out, man," he said what Miguel caught his eye, following in the direction he was indicating with a jutted chin

And up until that point, Miguel didn't think his night could get any worse. But evidently someone upstairs named Murphy decided that he hadn't had enough shit flung at him already.

Because down the street, illuminated under the streetlight, strutting without a care in the world and headed towards the convenience store they were convened in front of was none other than Daniel LaRusso's super special protégé student, Keene.

Just the sight of him made Miguel's blood boil and all of his other problems all of a sudden seemed almost unimportant.

"Come on, Miguel," said Aisha, sounding almost concerned. "Let's not get into this now. It isn't worth it. Besides, you already won, right?"

Miguel could hear Aisha speaking but none of what she was saying actually registered. He sensed Hawk stepping up behind him, flinging an arm across his shoulder as he leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Round two, man?" He said. Miguel could almost hear the sound of the smirk on his face. "Remember what sensei taught us: strike first, strike hard. No mercy."

"Don't listen to him, Miguel," said Aisha, ever the peacemaker. "Just let it go."

Miguel was literally standing there with both an angel and the devil whispering into his ear and he didn't know which advice to take. Instead he asked himself: what would Sensei Johnny do?

The answer presented itself before the little sensei in his head could even verbalize an answer, when Keene got close enough to notice Miguel staring at him like he'd kicked his dog. Miguel didn't own a dog in any case, he was terribly allergic to fur, but he imagined he would have that exact look if he had a dog and someone decided to kick it.

"Hey, Keene, out so late by yourself? Where's your precious sensei LaRusso?" he asked. Beside him he could hear Hawk cheering and Aisha sighing exasperatedly.

Keene was about ten feet away before he slowed down to a stop, rolling his eyes and sighing tiredly when Miguel finished his spiel. He thought he sounded pretty damn cool himself.

"Look, I'm not looking for trouble," he said, raising both arms in front of him. His shoulder must be feeling better since he was without the sling, Miguel thought, not that it mattered anyway.

"Too bad," he said. "Cause trouble's my middle name, and you just found him."

The moment the words left his lips he knew he'd messed up his own cool monologue scene. Beside him he could hear Aisha scoffing and her derisive, "Dude, that was beyond lame. How are we even friends?"

He couldn't even find it in him to fault her for that one.

"I'm leaving, okay?" said Keene without addressing the utterly lame retort he'd given and if Miguel didn't hate his guts so much, he'd be super appreciative of the guy not rubbing it in.

For a split second right then, he couldn't even recall why he hated the guy in the first place.

But then his mind went to thoughts of Sam and it rekindled the fire underneath him once again.

"Running like a little mouse, coward?" yelled Hawk at his receding back.

Keene evidently took a much better course on witty comebacks because he said, "Well I can't wait around all night for you to go fix that lame ass haircut," which Miguel hated to admit, was a pretty awesome response.

It stirred up Hawk the wrong way unfortunately and Miguel found himself getting between Hawk and Keene instead of being the one leading the charge.

"Don't be such a pussy, Diaz," said Hawk, shoving him hard, forcing him to take a step back. "And you," he continued, looking up at Keene who'd stopped to watch the proceedings interestedly, "We still have unfinished business."

It was Moon who fortunately swooped in to save the day and the pun was definitely intended; grabbing Hawk by the hand and pulling him back to finish their exploration of each other's facial cavity by the side of the store. Miguel forced himself to look away disgustedly.

He found Keene staring at him intently when he turned around. "What?"

It took him a moment to think up whatever lie he was about to spin, at least, that's what Miguel's brain told him what's up. "Look man, I know you don't like me, and I'm really… just… unbothered by any of you. But whatever you think went on with me and Sam… you're wrong – and pretty stupid for messing up that badly with her."

Miguel wondered why he stopped Hawk from beating the guy to a pulp at that moment but he reined back his anger. "What did you say?"

Keene seemed to realize his words because he raised a hand as a show of peace. "I mean, Sam was just being a friend, and nothing more. What happened at the beach party – she was talking about you the whole way there. Her mom took her phone and I helped her get out by pretending that I sprained her ankle so her mom would get her to drive me home. That's why she came to find you there and you did… whatever it was you did there."

Miguel found himself speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land. It was not a good look in general, and it probably looked even worse on him. "What?"

"Yeah, man. You had a great thing going with her and you messed it up by being… well, by being a dumb guy."

"But I saw you guys, at her house having dinner that night? She wouldn't even think of introducing me to her family but with you…" the last part came out almost as a whine which he wasn't proud of.

Keene's brows narrowed, like he was trying to remember the dinner Miguel had mentioned. When it finally came to him, his eye roll was very obvious and very exasperated. "Christ, you really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"Don't call me an idiot!" he said, taking a menacing step forward but was held back by Aisha's hand on his shoulder.

"Well then stop acting like one," he said, causing Miguel to grumble. "I wasn't there with Sam. I was there because her dad was teaching me karate and he invited me to dinner. Nothing more."

As much as Miguel hated Keene calling him an idiot it was slowly and surely dawning on him that he really was a stupid idiot.

"Oh," he said dumbly.

"Yeah, oh-exactly," said Keene, and even though Miguel's hate for him had simmered down by a lot, it still didn't stop him feeling like he wanted to punch the guy right in his annoyingly pretty face.

"Have you come back to your senses yet, Miguel?" asked Aisha, "Cause I miss the dorky, nice Miguel who I joined the Cobra Kais with, not this… skinny, Latino terminator wannabe Miguel who's really kind of a dick if I have to be honest. Sam deserves better than that."

Miguel deserved all the name calling he was getting – and more. He really did feel like a fool, and a tool. He didn't regret anything he'd achieved at the tournament, it was all because of his sensei that he managed to even achieve all that and he was forever grateful. But he couldn't stop thinking that maybe he could have handled everything better.

His mom's unspoken words the last couple of days suddenly made a hell of a lot more sense right then.

"Sorry," he muttered to no one in particular.

Keene just exhaled, understanding that the indistinct apology was directed at him without Miguel saying it outright. "It's fine. Will you all please leave me alone now?"

Miguel tried to stop the sheepish look from creeping up onto his face – he still had a reputation to uphold – but resistance proved futile. "Sorry about your shoulder too."

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done."

Keene really was the better man of the two of them. Miguel realized that old Miguel would never have had a problem admitting that, but for karate champion Miguel, the taste of it was still a bit bitter on his tongue. He was still going to have to work on that.

All of a sudden Keene's eyes caught sight of something coming up from the side street and his posture immediately changed. The easy air that had come about him immediately dissipated. His brows narrowed and his shoulders became tense.

"Get out of here, guys," he said to Miguel and Aisha.

Miguel followed his line of sight and saw a group of guys whose faces he couldn't make out coming out of the side street, headed towards where they were standing almost in the middle of the empty road.

"Everything okay?" asked Aisha when her eyes too followed where Miguel and Keene's were looking.

"Yeah," said Keene in a clipped tone. "Just go home, this doesn't concern you guys."

From afar Miguel could hear one of the guys saying the name Robby in a teasing, sing-song voice. He felt Aisha's grip tighten on his shoulder, gently pulling him back from where they were standing. Keene had turned away from them, facing the direction the group were coming from, his hands balled into a tight fist and his eyes narrowed.

"Come on, Miguel. You heard what he said," said Aisha.

Miguel let himself be dragged back without taking his eyes away from Keene and glancing over at the menacing group closing in on him.

Keene wasn't his friend. He didn't even like the guy all that much – or at all. But looking at his back becoming smaller the further away he got, Miguel couldn't help the odd clenching feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he knew something bad was about to happen.

Tbc.