Fighting Against Yourself : A Cobra Kai Story

Chapter 5 - CounterBalance

The sun slowly rose over the valley as most people slept in their beds. Not Y/N, though. He was currently running down a main road, his pace steady until he reached a tall structure.

"Miguel!" Y/N shouted, spotting a head pop over the top of the structure.

"Hey, Y/N! Come on up," Miguel shouted back. Y/N scrambled up the tower, and once he reached the top, Miguel gave him a hand.

They spent the morning up there, doing push-ups and practicing karate moves. When afternoon rolled around, they headed to the gym, where Sensei had them complete push-ups again. Then, he had them compete against each other to break a chokehold. Neither of them succeeded. Next, they faced a pitching machine firing baseballs at them. Y/N struggled; he wasn't agile enough to block them with his hands. These lessons continued throughout the week.

Both Y/N and Miguel slowly but surely improved. Y/N learned to use his whole body to block the baseballs, while Miguel was the first to break out of a headlock. At the end of the week, Sensei had Y/N and Miguel face off. They were both excited, having not fought each other yet.

As the fight began, Y/N rushed in, but his kick got dodged. Quick to recover, Y/N spun to face Miguel, determined not to lose this fight, which would prove who the star student was. When Y/N spun around, he saw Miguel thrust an arm forward. Y/N dodged before going for a kick to the stomach, but Miguel evaded it. Y/N managed to get Miguel into a headlock, tensions rising as Sensei watched on nervously. Miguel's first escape attempt failed, but he landed a kick to Y/N's ankle, causing him to shout in pain, providing Miguel with just enough time to get out and land a kick on Y/N's stomach.

Miguel started celebrating, but suddenly, a baseball went flying at his head, hitting him behind the ear. He jumped to the ground, clutching his ear.

"What? What the hell? That wasn't fair!" Miguel complained from the ground.

"You want a fair fight? Dream on. You can't always think your enemies are gonna play by the rules. What if that baseball was your enemy's friend coming at you from behind? You have to be prepared for everything. Let me look," Sensei said. Miguel moved his hand from his ear, revealing a nasty bruise.

"No, it's fine, it's fine. Don't—just don't be a baby," Sensei lied. A group of women then entered the dojo as Sensei informed Y/N and Miguel that he had needed to sublet the dojo for a few hours until they get more students. As such their session for the afternoon finished.

The next day, Y/N and Miguel were using the pads, with Miguel as the one attacking while Sensei watched from the side. The doorbell rang, and Y/N turned to see Aisha standing there.

"What the hell? No yoga till 5:00. No matter how bad you need it," Sensei told her.

"I-I'm actually here for karate. I saw your website. It said that there was supposed to be a session today," Aisha timidly replied.

"I appreciate you coming in, but there are no girls in Cobra Kai," Sensei dismissed the idea.

"Why not?" Aisha questioned.

"Same reason there aren't women in the Army. Doesn't make sense," Sensei replied.

"Sensei, I need to show you something in the office," Miguel told him, and they went into the office as Y/N stood outside.

"So, Hey..." Y/N said, trying to start a conversation.

"Hey," Aisha replied.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with all that in school. Guess we were both screwed over by Sam," Y/N attempted a joke, but he only got a slight smile in return.

"Okay, take off your shoes. Hop on the mat. Okay, after further review, I've decided to allow female students. But if you want to be in Cobra Kai, you can't act like a girl," Sensei replied, walking out of his office.