Strike first,

Strike hard

No mercy

The writing on the wall certainly was a statement, and for a short moment, Sky stared at it, unable to turn her eyes away. She felt a weight on her chest, it was hard to draw in a breath, and some part of her wanted to walk out immediately, to flee that writing on the wall, the promise it held, but–

I'm so tired of being scared all the time. I just want it to fucking end.

If she was going to be a Phoenix instead of a coward, she really needed to start working on her issues - and this place was as good as any to do that.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one who had come to Cobra Kai in search of courage.

There were about a dozen kids at the dojo, even though she had seen many walking out of the doors when she had stepped out of the car in the parking lot, and they looked like a bunch of losers and nerds. It seemed to be true, then - that now everyone wanted to join Cobra Kai since the video of Miguel kicking Kyler's ass in the school had gone viral.

With a sigh, Sky threw her bag to the floor and kicked off her shoes as she briefly wondered about the injustice of that all - that when a guy fought in the school, he became a badass hero, but when a girl fought in the school, she became a crazy slut and got suspended.

It wasn't Miguel's fault, though - Sky's respect for Miguel had skyrocketed since seeing the said video - so she gave him a nod as a greeting, and then raised her hand to give a small wave to Aisha. They were the only people she knew here besides Eli—

Her heart thumped at the sight of him.

Not Eli. Hawk.

For here he truly was the Hawk.

He was wearing sportswear - a loose tank top that revealed the shape of his lean upper body, and a pair of gray joggers, his feet were bare and his mohawk stood sharp and angry on top of his head. He looked dangerous, wild, untamed, and Sky felt nervous as if she didn't know who he was at all.

And yet, his throat bobbed at the sight of her, his lips curved into a small smile.

"You came," he said with his husky voice. "I didn't think—"

But he was interrupted by a man, who had to be Sensei Lawrence - an old, but tough-looking guy, with messy blond hair and the face of someone who enjoys the company of a beer can way too much.

"So, Ginger," the man said. "You're a friend of Hawk's, right? You here to learn Karate?"

"Obviously." Sky replied, tilting up her chin, to meet the stare of his ice-blue eyes. "And don't call me Ginger. My name is Sky."

"And you should be addressing me as Sensei. Is that understood, Ginger?"

Sky almost rolled her eyes but managed not to. Respect for older dudes with attitude wasn't her strongest trait.

"Understood, Sensei."

He made a snort and rubbed his hands together, which made Sky somewhat nervous. He wasn't gonna hit her, was he? That would not be cool. She shifted on her feet, nervous. It didn't help a bit that all the kids in the dojo were now gathered around them, and were looking at her and Sensei Lawrence with interest - Hawk included.

Sky briefly glanced at him, and their eyes met. His beautiful, big, blue eyes were still the same they had been before the mohawk, before this new attitude of his, before all of this, and suddenly Sky was thinking about the message he had sent her, the one asking if she wanted to meet after Karate–

She hadn't answered that message. That moment in the empty classroom was still burning in her veins, the last words she had shouted at him from the door echoing in her ears. Later! she had said, and he was probably expecting for her to finish what she had started as soon as they'd get out of here–

And it wasn't that she didn't want it. She did want it. But at the same time - things were moving so fast, they were spinning out of her control. And the last time she had let that happen with a guy–

– well, things had gone straight to Hell.

Sky pushed that thought away and returned to the moment. Sensei Lawrence was standing in front of her, and clearly, he had just asked her a question.

Sky cleared her throat. "Sorry, what - sensei?"

"You got a last name, Ginger?" he repeated, somewhat annoyed.

"O'Brian."

"Alright, it's your pick - it's either Ginger or Miss O'Brian."

"I'll go with Miss O'Brian, then." Sky said, deciding this wasn't a battle she wanted to get into. "So, what's the deal, Sensei? How do I get started?"

Sensei Lawrence squinted his eyes as he took a look at Sky, and standing there in front of his observant gaze, Sky couldn't help wondering what he saw when he looked at her. A short, redheaded teen in gym clothes, sure - but what else? Did he see that she was an athlete, a fighter? That she had walked through fire to get here? That she still woke up screaming every night in the middle of a nightmare, tears running down her face?

"Let's start by seeing what you're made of." He said after a short thought. "Hawk?"

"Sensei?" Hawk replied, crossing his hands behind his back.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Step onto the mat. Let's find out if your friend is Cobra Kai material."

Hawk swallowed, his sharp Adam's Apple dipped down and back up. His big, blue eyes glanced from Sensei Lawrence to Sky and back as he hesitated and suddenly he looked like Eli again, so darn cute and a bit awkward. Sky felt the fast ticking of her pulse in her throat, but she stepped onto the mat - it was smooth and cool under her bare soles, such a familiar feeling and suddenly her nervousness vanished.

She hadn't even realized how much she had missed feeling a mat under her feet, how much she had missed breathing in the scent of sweat and iron.

Her eyes met Hawk's, and she flashed him a quick smile. "Ready?"

Still hesitant, Hawk walked closer, his bare feet, their long toes pale against the red and black of the mat. "Are you sure—"

"Don't worry," Sky said. "This isn't my first time fighting a boy."

At that Hawk smiled too, and Sky felt that smile in every part of her body, her pulse quickened, her cheeks heated.

"Right," he said. "I forgot, you kicked Kyler's ass—"

"Let's see if I can kick yours too," she grinned. "Hawk."

"Enough!" Sensei Lawrence raised his voice. "This isn't the fucking debate club. Get onto it!"

"Sorry, Sensei," Hawk said, and bowed at Sky. She did the same, then straightened her back, bent her knees, and took the starting position of capoeira. Their eyes met, and as always before a match, Sky felt how the time slowed down, her senses came sharper. She heard her own rapid heartbeat in her ears, saw how Hawk drew in a deep breath—

"Fight!" Sensei Lawrence exclaimed, and Hawk sprinted forward.

He was fast, and Sky was out of practice. She barely managed to duck and evade the first punches that were aimed at her face. Sky almost panicked, even her basic ginga felt off, the movement restricted by her stiff shoulder and weak arm.

Damn, he's good—!

I thought he only stared like last week—

But even if she was injured, Sky had been doing martial arts since she was a toddler. Instincts took over, and she let them, stopped overthinking her shoulder, and just followed the flow, anticipating Hawk's moves and avoiding the fast punches and kicks that he aimed at her.

He is fierce but inexperienced.

More feeling than technique.

Hawk's concentration was in his own moves, not hers, and Sky was light on her feet. She was small and agile, even now, even if she couldn't do flips or cartwheels, and she stayed in constant motion, circling around the mat. The only sounds in the dojo were Hawk's fast breaths, the slaps of their soles hitting the mat, but in her ears, Sky could hear the music, the familiar rhythm of the berimbau, and it brought a smile to her lips.

Hawk was getting impatient, she could see it, his strikes lacked concentration and she avoided them easily. Seemingly she was in defense, but really she was just waiting for an opening—

There!

She kicked him in the middle of his chest, landing a nice blow that almost took him down - but just almost.

"A point!" Miguel announced, and something flashed in Hawk's blue eyes - Sky wasn't sure if it was anger or admiration. His chest was heaving, he swallowed but said nothing, so neither did she. She flashed him a quick smile and kept her chin up, as they got back to the starting positions and waited for Sensei Lawrence's signal to continue.

He had barely gotten the "Fight!" off his lips when Hawk attacked again, this time even fiercer and now Sky had serious trouble in keeping her defense.

He's so much taller than me—

It's almost like fighting Kat!

But hadn't she kicked Kat's ass many times? Not as many as Kat had kicked her ass, but still—

Sky was getting out of breath, her ginga was getting slower. The months after the injury had taken their toll on her, and she was out of shape, out of practice. Her thighs were already burning, sweat dripping on her forehead and she knew that if she didn't end this soon, she wouldn't be able to evade Hawk's attacks much longer. She ducked as he aimed a high kick towards her face and his leg swung over her head—

He's overconfident. Those kicks are risky moves, he might easily lose balance.

Almost instantly he tried the same kick again, swinging his right leg high up in the air. But Sky went low and threw him off balance with a sweep aimed at his left ankle.

Hawk fell to the mat, his back hitting it with a loud 'thump', his eyes widening with a sudden shock.

"Got you—!" Sky smirked.

But he was already back on his feet with one, impossibly fast jump, and his fist was in the air. Seeing everything in slow motion, Sky swirled, tried to spin around but he was faster and the punch that was meant for her sternum, hit her in the shoulder.

The pain shot through her body like a burning arrow.

Sky screamed, she barely realized that she was swept off her legs, and she was falling. Her fingers gripped at something, but she lost her balance and her back met with the mat with force, forcing the air out of her lungs.

Hawk, caught in the motion, landed on top of her - her fingers were still gripping his shirt.

"Shit, Sky!" He tried to get up, but their legs were tangled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

But she didn't even hear him. She tasted blood, her breath came in sharp gasps.

And just like that, she is back in that day, the worst day of her life, the day she has spent months running away from.

She isn't in this dojo anymore, she is lying on the cold, tiled floor of the hallway of her old school, and the pain in her shoulder is tearing her apart. There is blood on the white floor tiles, and she feels it pouring out of her, feels the fucking pouring out of her, sees the blood on her clothes through the fog of tears and her blurring vision.

Kat, she can only think about Kat.

Everything is secondary to that thought. Through the sickening pain Sky rolls to her right side, tries to take a look—

Someone is screaming, she doesn't know who, but the scream goes on and on and on and it feels like it goes through her skin and bones. People are running but next to her she sees a pair of legs that just stand there like frozen. Matt's legs, his Adidas sneakers that have splatters of blood on white leather. Sky feels like throwing up, she tastes the bile in the back of her throat.

And then she sees Kat.

She tries to crawl to her but her arm isn't working and suddenly there is so little strength left in her, her body is so very weak and weirdly numb, the blood that is still gushing out of her is taking her strength. Her head is spinning, she feels like falling.

Oh God no, Please, no—!

Kat's lying there, so still and silent, crumpled on the floor, in a growing pool of blood. Fighting the current that is pulling her into darkness, Sky fixates her gaze on Kat's face, on the narrow stream of blood that's dripping down her chin.

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