The Crane Kick

Best Friend And Dad's Enemy

I had stayed with Miguel for a few days, though I felt guilty and like I was burdening my friend.

"Are you sure I can stay again? Maybe I should just go home." I fretted, standing up, heading to Miguel's bedroom door to leave.

"Athena Suzanne if you walk out that door I will full on tackle you." He threatened. "Besides, we're going to Cobra Kai today."

I mumbled a sarcastic yay under my breath, but flopped down on his bed. I wasn't looking forward to going to Cobra Kai, especially after he told me that Johnny Lawrence was running it. All though, every time I imagined Dad's face if he saw me training with his sworn enemy, it brought a joyful smile to my face. Then I wondered what was wrong with me, but then I remembered what.

"Come on," Miguel sighed. "up you get."

I groaned dramatically, but got up nonetheless. I slipped my shoes on, and we said goodbye to his mom, before heading to the dojo.

I played with my hands the whole time until we got there, and when we did, I took a deep breath in, putting on a fake face of confidence.

I did that quite often, showing false confidence. I barely had an real confidence, and it was quite easy for me to put on a show of it.

"Sensei!" Miguel yelled. "I've got a new student!"

I held my breath as Johnny Lawrence walked out, looking tired and old.

I lifted my head up a bit, wanting to give off the illusion I was confident.

"Another girl, seriously?" He asked, his voice one of annoyance.

I rolled my eyes, and he turned towards me and said, "What's your name?"

"I'm Athena." I introduced.

"Do you have a last name, Athena?"

I swallowed dryly, but never dropped my act. "LaRusso. Athena LaRusso."

Johnny's face dropped, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"LaRusso? As in Daniel LaRusso?"

I couldn't stop myself as I snapped, "No, as in Danielle."

Johnny's face flickered into a smile, but it quickly dropped again. "No. I don't want any LaRusso's in this dojo."

I clenched my jaw, and Miguel furrowed his brows. "Sensei, come on! At least give her a chance!"

Johnny rolled his eyes, sticking with his original answer.

"Sensei, she's not like her Dad!" Miguel said. "She's staying with me right now because her Dad's an asshole."

I smacked Miguel on the arm for telling Johnny Lawrence my business. Though it seemed that Miguel's answer was beginning to change his mind.

"Before I accept any LaRusso's into this dojo, I want to see what you've got."

Miguel's face turned into one of worry, making me mentally roll my eyes. I never told my friends that I learned karate with my Dad and...him. So Miguel was in for a real treat.

"But, Sensei—"

"What? Don't tell me your afraid to hit her."

"Sensei, she's a girl!"

My head snapped over to glare at Miguel, my anger slowly creeping in. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You think that I can't fight like you because I'm a girl?"

Johnny looked like he was enjoying Miguel's situation.

"No! I-I mean, you just don't know how to properly defend yourself." Miguel said, stuttering over his words.

"Who said that?" I demanded.

Miguel stuttered our a response, but ended up giving up and walking to the mat.

We stood in front of each other, though Miguel looked nervous.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Miguel asked. "Because we don't have to if you don't—"

I cut him off by kicking him in the side, knocking him over.

"You just going to stand there and talk, or are you going to fight me?"

Miguel stood up, looking shocked. He quickly got into position, and I followed suite. Miguel threw a punch, which a dodged, and a few more followed, which I deflected easily.

I spun around, using my foot to bring Miguel down. Losing my footing, I fell down as well.

Shit. I thought. That's one error.

I helped Miguel up, and we got back into position.

I made the first move this time, throwing another kick, but Miguel caught my leg, yanking me forward, and knocked my feet out from under me.

I grunted, cursing under my breath, ignoring Miguel's hand to help me up. My anger was slowly getting the best of me, no matter how hard I tried to keep it down.

Getting back into position, I sent kicks and punches, which were blocked. Miguel kicked at me, but I caught it. He tried to punch me, but I blocked, and I grunted as I flipped him backwards onto his back.

"That's three points." I panted, watching Miguel groan in pain. "I win."

I looked at Johnny to see him staring at me with furrowed brows. "What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"Where did you learn to fight like that, because I know for a fact that your Dad did not teach you that stuff."

I shrugged, refusing to answer who taught me those moves. I didn't want to see him, let alone say his name ever again.

"No one." I lied. "I just do it."

Johnny nodded, though he could see the false confidence cracking in my eyes.

I straightened up, helping Miguel stand, blanking my face and my eyes, making my face a void of emotion