𝟷𝟷. 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑔𝑢𝑦

Jules walked next to Miguel as he talked, yesterday had been wild. She had met the son of their Sensei and her mother had tried dragging her off to go see a stupid grave. It hadn't been all bad, she had met a new friend and hopefully maybe she could keep this one without karate.

"That's so cool that Sensei gave me his Gi. He was talking about getting you one." Miguel said and Jules nodded. "I'm excited."

They continued to the mall and as they reached the parking lot, Jules stopped in her tracks. Where usually it was desolate, it was now brimming with life. A crowd stood around the dojo.

"Woah." Miguel said as he saw it and Jules nodded. "Woah is right. There's so many kids there."

"Let's go, Jules." Miguel said and grabbed her hand

They hurried forward and one by one the crowd started noticing them. They stared at whispered to each other, about how cool they were and how they wanted to be like them. It really was going Jules's way. Miguel and Jules walked up to the door and stood there waiting, their eyes scanned the crowd and watched. It was crazy and almost seemed unreal. A couple minutes passed and Johnny's red car pulled up, the man got out of his car but looked confusedly at the crowd.

Miguel and Jules stood there waiting for him, and their Sensei walked up to them. His eyes flickered from group to group.

"Looks like we're in business." Johnny said to his two students and then walked up to the door

He unlocked it and opened up the door, Miguel and Jules walked in first followed by the groups of new students. Miguel, Jules, and Aisha got dressed and stood out on the mat practicing. Jules looked at the full dojo and laughed.

"This is crazy, just yesterday it was us three...literally." Jules said as she practiced her punches

Johnny walked out of his office. "Ok. Today we begin..."

Kids still talked and no one besides Aisha, Jules and Miguel listened. Johnny let out a sigh and looked around. "Quiet!" He yelled and gained everyone's attention

"Face front." They all fell in line and watched Johnny diligently. He walked through the crowd and around the kids. "Nice shirt."

"Thanks!" Demetri said happily

"I'm joking. It sucks." Johnny continued to another kid. "Word of advice. If you got shit for teeth, don't smile."

Miguel let out a sigh and Jules gulped as she heard her mentor continue to make fun of kids. She knew that he used to be a bully but didn't he grow out of that?

"When I look around this dojo, I don't see Cobra Kai material!" Johnny called out. "I see losers, I see nerds. I see a fat kid with a funny hat with his tits popping out."

Miguel was looking back but Jules hit his arm and shook her head. "Don't it will only make it worse."

He nodded, "yeah you're right I just feel bad."

"but in my short time as a Sensei, I've also seen some miracles." As Johnny said that he looked over at his three students. Miguel and Jules smiled back at him. "So maybe there's some hope for you yet. But first, I need to see where you're at. So everybody, fall in!"

They all looked confused and whispered to each other. Johnny sighed, it was going to be a long day.

"That means line up."

The kids let out a collective 'ohh' and started moving. Aisha, Miguel, and Jules moved to stand in a row and the kids followed them. They began to line up behind the three teens over on the one side of the room. Johnny let out another sigh and pinched his nose.

"No, not....not like up in a line. Lines! Get in lines" Johnny called

Demetri asked, "you mean like rows?"

Jules watched as her Sensei covered his face with his hands. It took some time to get things figured out, but after a bit of time and explanation, the whole dojo was full of kids. Now it was time to train.

"Fighting positions! Jab punch." Johnny began class but shook his head. "Nope, wait till I say go. Hiyah!"

They began their practice, while Johnny walked around and helped those who needed it. Some comments were better than others, Jules wanted to look back so badly but forced herself to stay focused. As Johnny rounded to the front, his eyes landed on someone.

"Hey, Lip!" He called and the two teens in front looked at each other

They knew who he was calling to. It was Eli and Jules wasn't sure how this was going to go.

"Yeah, you. The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think I'm talking to?"

"Excuse me, uh, Mr. Lawrence." Demetri called out and Aisha corrected him. "Sensei Lawrence."

"Okay. You really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance." Demetri explained but Jules shook her head. It wasn't going to end well

"Oh, is that so? So, I'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?"

"Well yeah."

"Maybe that's what they teach you in school, but in the real world, you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do."

Jules and Miguel looked between the two. Jules felt bad for Eli, it wasn't his fault he was born this way but Johnny did have a point. Just like Aisha first joined, the real world is mean and people aren't as nice.

"You hear that, Lip? If you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?" Johnny's attention turned to Eli who gulped and looked away

Demetri continued to respond, "by calling the police."

"Dude. Knock it off." Miguel called to his friend, both him and Jules shook their head as Jules added. "Demetri just don't."

Demetri's voice became louder as he expressed his feelings. "He does realize the Nazis lost the war, right? Why should I be scared of him? Because he's got a snake on his wall? It's not like he's a teacher who can give us a bad grade. We're paying him, he works for us. It's not like he can actually hurt us."

Jules scoffed at that, remembering the tennis balls or the slithering lessons. Demetri had no idea what he was talking about, and by Johnny's face Jules saw that he was doubting himself. By the end of Demetri's speech that doubt in Johnny's face was gone and the man walked up to the boy, pushing those out of his way.

"Oh shit." Jules said as she looked away, both her and Miguel knew what was coming

A ring around the two started to form and Jules looked away. She didn't want to see her friend get beaten up. Her eyes turned to the mirror and she watched out of the side of her eye.

"Are you done?" Johnny's voice was monotoned

"What?" Demetri laughed out

"Hit me." Johnny told him. "Go ahead, hit me. Strike me right here."

Jules saw out of the corner of her eyes Demetri pulling his hands up, and trying to hit Johnny. The man pushed the boy's hand out of the way easily.

Johnny hissed at Demetri. "Harder."

Demetri sigh and brought his hands up again and tried again but Johnny slapped his hand away. "Is that all you got, princess?"

Demetri pulled his arm back and wound up for a big punch but Johnny grabbed his arm and flipped him over. Demetri hit the floor, everyone gasped and Jules hissed out. Jules looked back as Johnny pointed at the rest of the kids.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you."

Practice continued on, Demetri left soon after. The next day at school things were awkward between the friends, Jules joined the two boys as they talked.

"Yeah but you can't quit." Miguel exclaimed

Demetri snapped back. "I got yelled at, got my ass kicked, and then gave him my money. You know who lives like that? Hookers."

Jules chimed in, "yeah, but he's not that bad of a guy. You just gotta give him a chance. You don't know him like we do Demetri."

The boy scoffed as he looked at Jules. "That...that's hooker talk. Besides, I don't need to learn karate when I have you two."

They stopped as they looked over, coming down the stairs was Kyler. Right above his eye was a bruise and he had a bandaid on his cheek, the boy looked down at his hands and turned the other way. Somehow Jules felt a pride that she hadn't had before.

"See? No one's gonna mess with you two." Demetri told his friends

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It had been a while since Victoria and Jules sat in a car together, or even the same room. Victoria was out late usually because of work or Daniel and Jules was tired after her lesson that she went straight up to bed. Jules sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window, as Victoria hummed along to the song that was playing.

"I heard from Nicole that you're tutoring a kid." Victoria said happily and Jules looked over at her mom. "Hmm? Oh yeah."

"That's nice of you, well if you ever need a place to study at, bring them over." Victoria added and Jules nodded

Her eyebrows furrowed as the car turned into a parking lot. "Mom why are we at LaRusso Auto?"

Victoria sighed, "I just needed to talk to Daniel and it would be good for you to say hi to Sam, if she's here."

The girl rolled her eyes, Miguel wasn't the only one who helped her out that day but still she hadn't heard a thank you. Sam hated Jules and Jules hated Sam back, it was mutual between them. Jules unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, Victoria told the girl that she would be inside and not to get into trouble.

Jules stood by the car as she looked at the building. She slowly started walking around the property, bored and just wanting to go home.

"Jules?" The girl heard her name and as she turned around, she saw the boy that she had met a couple days ago. She smiled and replied. "Hey tough guy. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Neither was I." Robby replied as he smiled

Jules crossed her arms. "So what are you doing here?"

Robby clicked his tongue. "Just getting back at my father, how about you?"

Jules shrugged, "my mom dragged me out here. I was bored until I saw you."

"Are you trying to flirt with me, Jules." Robby asked. "Is Jules short for anything? Julie, Juliet?"

"Julie but no one calls me that, Robert." She answered and Robby just laughed. "You should be careful, you might be barking up the wrong tree."

"Oh yeah tough guy?" Jules asked back as she cocked her eyebrows but their attention was pulled as Daniel walked out of the building

Jules smiled as the older man started walking toward them. He smiled at the girl as he joined the two out in the front.

"Hey Julie. Your mother's inside talking to Amanda." Daniel said towards the girl. Jules nodded. "Hi Mr. LaRusso, is Sam here?"

The man clicked his tongue. "Sadly not, she's at home. She has a lot of homework." Daniel paused as he looked over at Robby. "I see you've met one of my Employees. Robby this Julie, Julie this is Robby."

"Nice to meet you Julie." Robby said as he extended his hand out, acting as if he had never seen her before

"You too Robby." Julie said as she shook his hand

Daniel clapped his hands, and motioned back to the building. "Why don't you come inside Julie. We have popcorn and water if you want."

"Thank you Mr. LaRusso, I'll come in in a little bit."

"Please Julie, call me Daniel and you're welcomed here." He said before walking back into the car dealership

Jules and Robby laughed for a bit as they continued walking and talking. She had never felt this close to anyone except Miguel.

"So Sam, is she your friend?" Robby asked and Jules shook her head. "Oh God no, I hate her guts. I asked because if I saw her here I don't think I'd be able to not punch her."

"What'd she do to gain this reaction from Ms. Karate?" Robby asked and Jules rolled her eyes. "She's a bitch, I tried to help her and I didn't get even a thank you. I guess she still hates me."

"Wow and why would she hate you?" Robby joked

Jules turned and playfully hit his arm before looking through the window, she saw her mom standing next to Daniel and Amanda.

"Well I have to go. I'll see you later tough guy." Jules said and walked past him. Robby sighed as he watched her go. It was exactly like last time.