fault - eli moskowitz

thirty-seven

the next morning i took my time getting to the dojo so i was a little late, still upset. i dropped my bag onto the floor and i saw hawk look over to me, he was talking with miguel. he smirked at me and nodded, i nodded back as a way of saying hello before i headed onto the mats. 

sensei came out of his office, "everybody, fall in." he said and we all got into the lines. as i was walking over to my spot i saw tory and miguel giving eachother looks and smiling. sensei walked to the front, "today, we'll be learning one of the most important lessons." he told us. i wondered where kreese was since he was always here, "where's sensei kreese?" hawk asked, reading my mind. "yeah. shouldn't we wait for the sensei emeritrus before we get going?" stingray asked sensei.  the man looked at stingray sternly, "or not." stingray said. "mr.kreese will no longer be joining us." sensei told everyone. i looked over to hawk who looked over to me, he looked confused and i just slightly shrugged. "seriously?" someone said. "i made a promise when i became your sensei. to always look out for your best interests." sensei said. "despite how hard this might be for all of us, he didn't have our best interests at heart." the man told us. 

sensei started walking, "john kreese may have founded cobra kai, but he no longer represents what the dojo stands for." he said. "his cobra kai was old and outdated." sensei said before he paused. "he refused to move forward. what happens when we do that, mr.diaz?" the man asked miguel. "you get stuck like cement." miguel said and i thought back to the cement truck. "exactly." sensei told miguel. "to be a great fighter you gotta learn to adapt." sensei said, turning back to face all of us. "this creed on the wall- follow it to the letter, it'll make you strong. it'll make you formidable. it will also make you an asshole." sensei told everyone as we all looked at the black letters on the wall that read, strike first, strike hard, no mercy. 

"cause that's just black paint on a white wall." sensei continued. "but life's not black and white." i was starting to get annoyed with this lecture to be honest. "more often than not, it's gray." sensei said. "and it's in those gray areas where johnny lawrence's cobra kai- sometimes shows mercy." the man told everyone. "doesn't mean you can't be a badass. it's still a requirement." sensei said. "but you have to learn to think, not just with your gut- or you fists- but to really use this.." sensei said as he tapped on his head. the man turned around, "which leads to today's lesson." he said as he picked up a wooden board and broke it with his head. "headbutting." he told us as he hold the now broken in half, peace of wood. hawk looked over to me and smirked and i looked down, honestly blushing, i don't know what's wrong with me.