❝ he wants us to do what now? ❞

―

DECHA STOOD WITH HAWK, AISHA, AND BERT.

Two of the new recruits from the day before stood in front of them. While they were waiting for practice to start, they were trying to come up with nicknames for them. Decha stared at them, trying to think of something.

"What do you think?" Hawk asked. "Shithead One and Shithead Two?"

"I don't know," Decha crossed his arms. "I was thinking they were giving Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dummer vibes."

The other three laughed.

"I was thinking more Mary-Kate and Asshat," Aisha added.

Decha laughed along with Hawk and Bert.

"Well, I'm Chris—"

"Did I say you could speak?" Hawk interjected.

Miguel and Achara walked up to them. Achara just shook her head and laughed.

"Guys, look, they're just messing with you," Miguel told them.

"Thanks, man," Chris replied.

"Besides..." Miguel added, "Everyone knows your names are Assface and Douchebag."

They all laughed except for the new guys.

"No, seriously though," Achara said with a smile. "We're just messing with you. It's good to see some new faces around here."

"Thanks."

"No, problem," Achara responded. "I'm Achara, by the way."

"I'm Chris and this is Mitch."

Achara nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Chris and Mitch began to looked back and forth between Achara and Decha. They just stood there, waiting for the two boys to put two and two together.

"Are you two...." Chris trailed off.

"Twins?" Achara and Decha asked at the same time. "We sure are."

Aisha, Hawk, Miguel and Bert laughed to themselves as they continued to speak in unison.

"Why do you ask?"

"Woah...do you have like twin telepathy or something?" Chris asked.

"Do you feel each other's pain?" Mitch questioned.

Achara laughed. "No. We don't have telepathy or feel each other's pain. We do however, get this gut feeling when something is happening to the other. I think it's more twin empathy than telepathy."

"Besides, there's not enough conclusive evidence that supports the theory that twins have telepathy. It's all just anecdotal. But it has been proven that twins can share an emotional and physical connection," Decha explained.

All eyes turned to him. They all looked deeply confused. Decha glanced around at them. "What?"

"Who are you and what have you done with my twin brother?" Achara asked, half-joking and half-serious. "That's the smartest thing I think I've ever heard you say."

"So...you do have twin superpowers or not?" Mitch asked.

"No," Achara and Decha replied in unison. "We do not have superpowers."

Chris and Mitch exchanged a look with each other.

"If you two start asking me to play come play with you, I'm out," Chris said.

Mitch lightly hit Chris on the arm. "Not all twins are the twins from The Shining, dipshit."

Decha laughed. "You'd be surprised how many times we've heard that one before."

The bell to the door jingled. Their heads turned, facing the door as an older man walked in. Achara thought that he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't figure out why or where she had seen him before.

"Who's that?" Hawk questioned.

"I don't know," Miguel responded.

The man walked through the dojo, making his way to the office. Miguel stepped in front of him. Achara followed, standing next to Miguel.

"Uh, can I help you, sir?" Miguel asked.

The man first looked at Miguel. "No," he replied as he turned his head and glanced at Achara. He looked between them. "But maybe I can help you."

Achara stared at him intently, racking her brain to try and remember why he looked so familiar.

"Hey," Sensei walked out of his office.

"Uh, Sensei..."

Achara crossed her arms as she observed the way Sensei and the man talked. It seemed as though the two were pretty well acquainted.

"Fall in!" Sensei instructed.

The class stopped their conversations and obeyed him, waiting for the next task. Sensei stood in front of them and cleared his throat. "Class, we have a visitor. This is Mr. Kreese."

A lightbulb went off above Achara's head. That's why he looked so familiar. He was John Kreese. He was Sensei's former karate instructor. Achara had seen pictures of him when she did a deep dive on the internet to try and find out information about Cobra Kai.

"He's just an observer," Sensei continued. "Pretend like he's not even here. Mr. Diaz, warm them up."

Miguel stepped up and then turned to face his classmates. He bowed, receiving bows back.

"Fighting positions!"

They all followed his command, getting into their fighting positions.

"Front kick!"

"Forward strike!"

"Side jab!" They all dabbed and laughed. Even Decha did it, despite how lame he thought it was.

"What the hell was that?" Sensei Lawrence asked, causing their laughter to slowly cease.

"We were just messing around," Miguel told him. "We have eleven and a half months until the next All Valley."

"Yeah, besides, we already know how to kick ass," Hawk chipped in.

A few students chuckled in agreement.

"Oh, yeah, really, huh?" Sensei Lawrence spoke as he as he slowly stepped towards Hawk. "So, you know everything. There's nothing left to learn, huh?"

Aisha started to giggle. The rest of the class turned their heads to look at her, wondering why she had started to laugh.

Sensei walked over to her. "What's so funny, Ms. Robinson?"

"I'm sorry, Sensei," Aisha shook her head. "You just wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"It's a snake-do," Aisha said, followed by a chuckle.

A few of the others giggled along with her.

"What's a snake-do?" Sensei asked.

Everyone in the class except for Achara and Decha started to hiss like snakes, moving their arm like a slithering snake. Achara lowered her head, trying to stifle a laugh. Decha covered his mouth with his hand, but failing to keep the laugh from coming out. It was so stupid, but hilarious at the same time.

"Quiet!"

They all jumped, stopping their hissing and laughter immediately.

"5:00 am tomorrow morning," Sensei said. "Corner of Fulton and Raymer. You don't show, and you're off the team. Class dismissed."

Achara and Decha looked at each other. Class was dismissed already? It hadn't even gotten the chance to start. They walked off the mat, going to grab their bags.

"Yo, Decha!" Hawk called out.

Decha turned his head. "What's up?"

"I just got this new video game," Hawk told him. "It's multiplayer. You wanna come over and play with me?"

Decha didn't know what to say. "Uh..."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Hawk replied quickly. "I just thought I'd ask..."

"Oh, uh, no it's cool," Decha responded. "It sounds fun. Let me go home and shower first and I'll ask Achara if she can drive me to your house."

Hawk nodded. "Sounds good. See you soon?"

"Yeah," Decha replied.

────────────

Decha and Hawk were in the middle of a game, both their hands tightly gripping their controllers and fingers violently smashing buttons.

"Hey, so, question," Hawk spoke, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Shoot," Decha answered.

"Why don't you drive?" Hawk asked. "Achara has her license. Why don't you have yours?"

"It got suspended," Decha responded truthfully. "I got a DUI. Not my proudest moment."

"Really?" Hawk asked in shock. "Can you get it back?"

Decha nodded. "Yeah. It just got suspended for a year last summer. Just another month or two before I can get it back."

"Bet you'll be glad to not have to sit passenger in Achara's mom van," Hawk laughed.

Decha laughed with him. "You have no idea. I can't wait to have my own car again."

"Again?" Hawk asked. "You had one before?"

Decha nodded.

"Where is it now?" Hawk asked.

"My parents sold it," Decha told him. "Got a pretty penny for it too."

"That sucks," Hawk replied.

Decha nodded. "Yeah. But it is what it is."

"I get my license next week," Hawk said, pausing the game. "So, until you get yours back—if you ever need a ride, just hit me up."

Decha turned to him. "Seriously?"

Hawk nodded. "Yeah."

Decha smiled. "Okay."

"Cool," Hawk smiled back.

"Cool," Decha repeated.

Hawk unpaused the game and the two boys were back to being silent as they continued to play.

────────────

Decha hadn't even woken up yet when Achara came pounding on his bedroom door. Decha groaned and rolled over in his bed. It was way too early to be getting up in the middle of summer.

"I'm up," Decha said to his sister as he opened the door, annoyed and still half asleep.

"Great," Achara responded. "You have five minutes to meet me in the car or I'm leaving your ass."

With a sigh, Decha watched as she walked away. He didn't even bother to change his clothes. He just put on his deodorant and walked downstairs. He slipped on his worn-out and faded Converse that sat on the shoe rack, lacing them up before he walked out the door.

As he got in the car, he let out a big yawn.

"You've got a major case of bedhead going on," Achara pointed out.

Decha just nodded and yawned again, not awake enough to engage in conversation.

When they arrived at the corner of Fulton and Raymer, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. The last time Sensei had called an early morning practice, they ended up in a junkyard walking on a flat beam across piles of metal and broken glass.

Sensei and Mr. Kreese stood next to several bags of cement and wheelbarrows.

"What are they expecting us to do?" Decha asked. "Make cement?"

That was exactly what they were expecting them to do. Hands covered with gloves and gripping cement mixing equipment tools, they stood in the hot sun making cement.

"Don't add too much water," Sensei Lawrence said. "You wanna make it nice and thick."

"Sensei, why are we mixing cement?" Miguel asked.

"No questions," he replied. "Keep stirring!"

Decha rolled his eyes and sat down. He wiped sweat firm his forehead with the back of his arm.

"Did I say you could rest?" Sensei asked him. "Get your ass back to work, Boyband."

Decha let out a long, exasperated sigh as he stood up and continued to make cement.

"Why does he call you Boyband?" Hawk asked.

Decha shrugged. "I guess it's cause he thinks I look like I should be in some boy band. I don't know."

"Like New Kids on the Block?" Bert asked. "My mom listens to them. She says that she had posters of them all over her wall. I think the one she used to say she was going to marry is gay..."

Decha and Hawk both froze, confused expressions on their faces as they stared at him.

Before they could say anything, the sound of a horn honking could be heard in the distance. Every single student stopped what they were doing as they looked up to see a large cement truck pulling in.

"Alai wa?" Decha and Achara blurted out at the same time.

"Stop what you're doing!" Sensei Lawrence shouted. "Fall in!"

They took off their gloves and dropped the tools they were holding as they walked to stand in front of their sensei, cement truck parked behind him.

"You think winning the All Valley gives you the right to goof off?" he asked. "Well, I got news for you. Winning one championship don't mean squat. A true champion never stops training. You gotta keep moving forward or else you could get stuck exactly where you are. It's like the cement in this truck."

Achara looked at the truck. She nodded her head along. Now the cement making and the truck made sense.

He pointed to the truck. "That drum doesn't start turning, the cement inside will harden and get stuck. Is that what you want to happen to you?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Good," he said with a nod. "Then climb up, get inside, and make it spin."

Achara turned to Decha. Both of their eyes went wide.

"He wants us to do what now?" Decha whispered to her.

"Sensei, we're sorry for messing around," Aisha spoke up.

"We learned our lesson," Hawk added.

Sensei wasn't taking any back talk from anyone. He walked to the back of the truck and aggressively pulled the ladder down. "Get in!"

"Sensei, this seems kind of dangerous," Miguel tried to reason with him. "I mean, the fumes alone—"

"Quiet!" Mr. Kreese interrupted him.

Their heads snapped to look at him.

"This man led you to the mountaintop, and you question him?" Mr. Kreese scolded them. "Look at you. Look at all of you. I can't believe this pathetic pack of pussies competed in the All Valley, and let alone won. It's an absolute miracle. And who's responsible for that miracle? Johnny Lawrence. The best student in the history of Cobra Kai. My student."

"You were Sensei's sensei?" Hawk asked him.

Achara smiled to herself, proud that she had figured it out long before anyone else had.

"You best believe it, kid," Kreese replied. "And I tell you I've never trained a tougher student in my whole life. So, if you know what's good for you, you better listen to every goddamn word he says."

Silence fell on the students as they looked around at each other, wondering who was going to volunteer to go in the cement truck.

Miguel stepped forward. "I'll do it, Sensei."

As he walked up to the ladder, Achara followed behind her. Decha just stared at her in shock. Was she crazy? Hawk stepped forward, walking behind Achara. The new guys—Chris and Mitch followed. It's official, Decha thought to himself, they've all lost their minds.

Achara climbed the ladder and stared into the cement truck. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She climbed in, almost slipping, but Miguel grabbed her hand and prevented her from falling.

Achara cringed at the feeling of the cement underneath her feet. She could feel it starting to seep into her shoes. She watched as Hawk, Chris, and Mitch climbed into the truck. Achara moved her feet around in the cement, not wanting them to get stuck.

"Don't just stand there! You wanna get stuck?" Sensei Lawrence spoke to them from the opening. "Move!"

Achara began to walk, slipping and sliding, but keeping her balance. She placed her hands on the side of the drum, touching the partially wet cement. The four boys followed suit and together, they began to push as hard as they could to make the truck spin.

"Push harder!" Achara yelled. "Don't just stand there!"

"We're trying!" Chris yelled back.

"Try harder!" Achara said, groaning as she continued to push.

She could feel her feet starting to slip, so she readjusted and started to push again.

"Push!" Miguel said.

Achara could feel the pressure underneath her hands and feet as the drum slowly started to spin.

As the truck continued to move, they were starting to slip and fall down. Achara managed to stay upright, planting her feet as best as she could.

"Keep pushing! Come on. Let's go!"

"We're doing it! We're doing it!" Hawk said excitedly.

"Push faster!" Achara shouted. "Come on, we've got this!"

The pushed harder, making the drum turn even faster. The harder they pushed, the quicker it started to move. Achara could hear the others outside cheering them on.

When their turn was over, the next group went in and spun the drum spin.

As Decha's turn approached, he looked inside of the drum.

"Come on, Boyband!" Sensei Lawrence yelled. "Don't tell me you're afraid."

Decha inhaled a breath as he carefully stepped inside of the truck. The smell of cement instantly filled his nostrils. He could be at home right now, laying in his bed and sleeping peacefully. But instead, he was standing in the drum of a cement truck trying to make it spin.

Decha looked at the group that was supposed to make it spin with him. Aisha—she was strong, Decha had no doubts that she would work hard. Bert—okay. He was small and weak, that wasn't hard to tell, maybe not the best person to be trying to do this with. One of the new recruits—Nate? Decha had yet to see him fight, but he was about as small as Bert was. The last person was a boy who had been in Cobra Kai as long as Decha himself, but Decha had no idea what his name was.

They started to push. Bert slipped almost instantly, but Decha helped him back up. They started to push again, and suddenly, they were getting somewhere. It was starting to move. Decha smiled.

"Keep going!" he encouraged his teammates.

They pushed and pushed, and the drum spun faster and faster. Decha couldn't believe that they had actually done it. Maybe miracles do happen after all.

When the truck stopped spinning, they stepped out. Sensei had them all line up and started spraying them
down with a hose.

"You should all be proud of yourselves," he said to them. "I know I'm proud. Your parents would be proud, too, if you told them what we did here today, which we won't. You pushed forward like champions. Never stopping. Never being satisfied. Never giving up. And if you keep pushing and keep moving forward, you're gonna go to places you've never even dreamed of."

On the drive home, Decha thought about what Sensei Lawrence said about what it means to be a true champion. Never stopping. Never being satisfied. Never giving up.

He wasn't going to give up on Demetri.

— EMILIA'S NOTES  + TRANSLATIONS

its still weird to me that i'm updating frequently and writing chapters literally every single night. i'm not sure what to think lol

also if you guys want to, you can follow my tiktok cobracadewp to see all of the tiktok edits i make for this fic!!

alternative chapter title: (sung to santa claus is coming to town) sensei's sensei is coming to town.

TRANSLATIONS:
- alai wa
alai wa means what the fuck? alai being what and wa being the fuck. it can also mean what the heck? but more commonly it's the first one.

it be used in casual conversation between friends but shouldn't be used around people you are not close with.

please please PLEASE DO NOT mix up alai wa with alai na!!!! na is added for politeness, wa is the opposite.