The sun beat down on Cristina as she jogged through the neighborhood, sweat trickling down her forehead. She was warm, unbelievably warm, and most likely on the verge of passing out. When her lungs began to hurt and the world around her swayed, she stopped to rest. With her head between her knees, hands resting on her thighs, she caught her breath and prepared herself for the rest of her run.

Johnny had been extra hard on Cristina since she started. It would take time and a lot of extra work for her to catch up and get to Miguel's level. It encouraged her to give it her all knowing that Johnny believed she could do it. She hadn't had an adult presence in her life that actually believed in her before. It was refreshing to know he saw enough talent in her to think her capable of catching up.

With shaky hands, she unscrewed the lid of her water bottle and took a big swing from it. The water slid down easily, dampening the dryness in her throat. Determination shone through her eyes as she pushed some stray hairs that had escaped from her ponytail out of her eyes and then set off again.

ʚїɞ

In the dojo, Miguel and Cristina were sparing with each other. They wore smiles on their faces as they circled each other, arms raised in front of their faces in case one of them attacked. Cristina grinned and sent a punch aimed at his face that Miguel just barely blocked with his hand, eyes widening in surprise.

"What, are you trying to give me a nosebleed again?" he asked playfully, making Cristina snort.

"I told you, that was an accident! How was I supposed to know you're fragile?"

Miguel dropped to the floor and swept her legs out from under her. Cristina hit the ground with an audible "oof" as all air left her lungs from the impact.

"I'm not fragile," Miguel argued and offered his hand to help Cristina up.

She grinned and grabbed his hand. "I don't know about that." his eyes widened when she tugged on his hand, making him fall on his stomach right next to her on the floor.

Johnny, who was watching them to observe how far along they'd come, wasn't amused with their so-called fight. Especially since it didn't involve any actual hitting. Sure, leg sweeps were effective, but they didn't do any actual damage.

He moved on with the training, introducing their next assignment. Learning how to get out of a headlock.

Miguel was first up. He appeared nervous when Johnny trapped his head with his arm, yelling the question "What does a cobra do?" in his ear repeatedly. When Miguel began tapping on his arm in fear he might die, Johnny simply stated that there was no tapping in Karate. Cristina intervened when Miguel's skin began turning blue.

Neither Miguel nor Johnny knew of Cristina's past. They expected her to be inexperienced when it came to fighting. But Cristina had done everything in her might to get in trouble when she was younger, and getting into fights was the easiest way to get detention. She couldn't even count on both hands how many times she'd been sitting in a classroom after school with either a black eye or a bloody nose.

So when Johnny wrapped his arms around her head, she knew exactly what to do. It had been the bigger kids' favorite move when fighting those who were younger and smaller. Cristina relaxed all of her muscles and jabbed her elbow into Johnny's ribs. Her Sensei, who obviously wasn't expecting it, doubled over and Cristina could then easily grab his arm, twirl, and bend it at an odd angle behind his back.

"What the hell? Where did you learn that?" Johnny groaned after Cristina had let him go.

She shrugged and brushed her clothes off, her chest heaving with excitement. "Middle school," Cristina said as though it had been obvious and then sent them both a small smile before heading to the bathroom to refill her empty water bottle.

Johnny stared after her with an incredulous expression on his face.

ʚїɞ

The skatepark was Cristina's go-to place when she needed a moment of peace. She found it calming to watch those around her skate around and practice their tricks. And the sounds soothed the buzzing in her veins. Cristina knew a bunch of people who would go insane listening to the constant clattering of wheels hitting the ground. But to her, it was palliative.

Her diary was in her lap this time too, but she sketched the stickers on people's skateboards instead of the sky. Her doodles wouldn't be turned into paintings, but it was something to keep her hands occupied.

Just as she'd hoped, Robby was there too. She spotted him instantly on the opposite side of the park, taking out his obvious frustration on one of the ramps. His brows were furrowed, his jaw was clenched and his hands balled into fists at his side.

Before she could change her mind about it, Cristina approached him, hoping to be a welcome distraction from whatever it was that bothered him.

"Hey, Robby." she greeted him with a pleasant smile on her face, one hand held across her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun and the other holding her diary to her chest.

He grunted, barely even acknowledging her presence. Cristina didn't blame him. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that he wasn't angry or frustrated as she'd previously thought. His eyes, those that had been crinkling with amusement and mischief the last time they spoke, were filled with hurt and disappointment.

Cristina didn't like it.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice containing nothing but genuine concern.

It was enough to make Robby stop skating around aimlessly and actually face her. He sighed and pressed his foot against the back of his skateboard, tilting it far enough upward that he could grab it in his hand.

He sat down on one of the ramps, fiddling with his fingers in his lap as he rested the skateboard next to him. Hesitantly, Cristina sat next to him, a respectable distance between them so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

There was vulnerability in his eyes when he looked at her. "Why do parents have to be so shitty all of the time?"

Despite understanding that the question was rhetorical, Cristina replied.

"I don't know."

She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes observing those who moved around them. It was a question she'd asked herself countless times before, one that never really seemed to have a clear answer.

For some reason, Cristina decided that Robby was worth opening up to. She hadn't told Miguel, Demetri, or Eli the full story behind her childhood, hell, not even Declan and Theodore knew it all. But she felt compelled to tell it to Robby. Maybe it was because she thought he might feel better knowing he wasn't the only one with horrible parents. Or maybe it was because that vulnerability in his eyes made her think he might care. Cristina truly didn't know.

"I never knew my father. He took off the moment he learned about my existence and never looked back." Cristina said, capturing Robby's attention. "And my mother doesn't love me. I did everything I could to get her attention - I even fractured a rib. But she never cared. And then she shipped me off here when I was twelve because she couldn't be bothered to look after me anymore. I was too troublesome, she said."

It felt weird, telling someone she'd only met a couple of times before about her mother. It was a topic she never really talked about and avoided like the plague. But her chest felt lighter the more she talked, and so she couldn't help but continue. Even when the tears began trickling down her cheeks.

"And it's not that she couldn't love me because she didn't know how to. She was a good mother - a great one even - to my older sister, Miriam. She just couldn't love me, for some reason." Cristina's voice cracked, and so she had to clear her throat before continuing. "It always made me wonder if maybe, there was something wrong with me, something that made me unlovable."

She didn't know when, but Robby had grabbed her hand and held it tightly in his own. He squeezed it and rubbed comforting circles with his thumb, his eyes holding the sympathetic look of someone who understood what it was like.

Cristina didn't expect Robby to spill his life story when she was done. That wasn't the point in telling him. She just wanted him to understand that he wasn't alone and that there were people out there who had gone through similar stuff as him.

"It gets better," Cristina told him truthfully. Sure, she still couldn't bring herself to believe it when people said they loved her, and trusting an adult was scarier than anything else. But she was still better than before. "I don't know when, but somewhere down the line, it does get better."

Nothing else was said between them. They just sat there, staring at nothing in particular, and enjoying the presence of someone who understood.

ʚїɞ

Karate seemed to take up most of Cristina's time nowadays. Her paintings were left unfinished in her room, taking up almost all of her floor space, and her dairy didn't fill up as quickly as it had used to. She only ever took it out when she was heading to the skatepark to, hopefully, see Robby.

It felt freeing not to stay cramped up in her room all of the time and paint and paint and paint until she physically couldn't anymore and collapsed onto her bed, utterly exhausted without changing clothes.

Theodore noticed a change in her behavior, too. She was much more talkative than before and didn't close up every time he offered to do something for her. She smiled with her whole face and not just the corners of her lips, and made sure to spend at least one night a week at either Eli's or Demetri's house to make sure she was spending time with someone other than Miguel and Johnny.

To Cristina's joy, Aisha had come to try out for karate. It took convincing for Johnny to agree and Miguel once again had to take him out of the room and into the office to talk some sense into him when he began spewing the sexist bullshit about no women in cobra kai for a second time. Cristina later learned that the only reason he agreed was because Miguel told him her dad was rich beyond belief.

Now, much like Cristina, Aisha was forced to go up against Miguel, something she too was hesitant about. Johnny asked his male student to give her his all, and all three teenagers were horrified. Especially since it was Aisha's first day.

"I don't think this is right, Sensei." Miguel voiced his concern, only to be met by confusion.

"Don't think what is right?" Johnny asked, only to raise his eyebrows when Miguel pointed out that Aisha was a girl. "I thought you said women were equal to men."

Cristina had to admit that Johnny had him there. If Johnny were to treat women and men equally as Miguel - and Cristina for that matter - wished, there was no going easy on someone because of their gender or skill. Cristina guessed Johnny hadn't been so gentle with Miguel either.

But it seemed neither of them had anything to worry about as the moment the fight began and Miguel kicked Aisha to the ground, she retaliated by tackling him, and then putting all of her weight into kneeing him in the ribs. Miguel was left wheezing on the floor while Cristina excitedly hugged Aisha.

"The girl's a natural cobra," Johnny said with a satisfied smile on his lips.

There was yelling to be heard from the store next to the dojo and upon hearing it, Johnny left to check it out. "Ms. Kang, you're in charge!" he called over his shoulder before the door closed.

Aisha frowned, looking at Miguel. "Is he okay?"

"Probably." Cristina replied with a shrug.

ʚїɞ

Rumors about Sam going down on Kyler in the movie theatre had spread through the school, leaving her a ridiculed outcast amongst her peers. Everywhere she turned, people were whispering and laughing about her, and not one of her friends seemed to believe them to be untrue.

She was utterly and completely alone, and Cristina couldn't help but feel bad for her.

The moment she set foot in the cafeteria, Yasmine moved her bag to occupy the seat that had previously been hers, openly displaying their fallout for everyone to see. And so Sam was left to find another place to sit but seemed to be able to show her some decent human kindness and extend her an invite.

Cristina wanted so badly to tell her to sit with them. But after having been declined permission to sit with Aisha at her table, Sam was fed up with the situation. She stormed up to the table Kyler and his goons were seated by to confront him.

They were too far away for Cristina to be able to hear what they said, but she knew, judging by the look on Sam's face, that it couldn't be going too well. All chattering in the cafeteria ceased when Sam reached out and whacked Kyler's lunch tray off the table, making it along with all the food on it, clatter to the floor.

And that was all it took for Kyler to do what he did best. Make his fights public.

"Hey, guys!" he yelled, capturing the attention of his peers. "You know that billboard with a big-ass dick on it? I guess Sam takes after her dad."

While the others in the cafeteria laughed, Cristina and Declan wore matching looks of disgust as they glared at the back of Kyler's head. And it seemed Miguel was just as fed up with the boy. He sat his tray down on the table and then approached the scene.

"Hey, Kyler!" he yelled out, catching the attention of a smirking Kyler and a glaring Sam. "Why don't you shut the hell up and stop being such an asshole?"

Cristina held her breath watching the scene, barely even noticing when Demetri and Eli arrived at the table as well.

"Want another beatdown, 'Rhea?" Kyler questioned as he and his goons began circling him. He shoved him backward and Aisha shot out of her chair to avoid being caught up in the fight. "I'm ready for your lame-ass karate this time."

And when Kyler shoved him again, Miguel snapped.

"It's not lame-ass karate," he said and easily blocked Kyler's incoming punch. "It's Cobra Kai." and then his fist connected with Kyler's nose and all hell broke loose.

Cristina realized quickly that sitting at one of the tables was not a good idea, and dragged her friends to the side instead. They got enveloped by the crowd that moved around the room to avoid being struck but still had a clear view of the ongoing fight.

Kyler's nose was bleeding as he slammed Miguel down on a table, and then lifted him to throw him across another. A fatal mistake was putting Miguel in a headlock to subdue him and gain control of the fight. All Miguel had to do was jab him in the ribs, twist his arm, and then kick him to the floor.

"No mercy!" Aisha yelled out, wrapped up in the excitement of the fight.

When Brucks attempted to land a sneak attack on Miguel, he easily went low and swept his feet out from under him. Two other guys approached but they were no match for him. All it took was a knee to the crotch and a foot to the stomach and they were down on the floor groaning in pain.

Up on his feet once again, Brucks chased after Miguel as he ran through the cafeteria and rolled over a table. Grabbing the first thing he could find to defend himself, he picked up a lunch tray and held it before him as though it were a weapon. He then kicked a chair in the direction of one of them, and he tumbled over it with a yelp.

Wielding his lunch tray, Miguel began smacking away each punch and slapping them across the face with the plastic instead. He got two of them down before a third launched himself from out of nowhere. But he missed and tumbled into the crowd where Cristina stood instead. Without hesitation, she brought her first forward and sent him to the floor with a bloody nose. After making sure he wasn't getting up anytime soon, she sent two enthusiastic thumbs up to Miguel.

Kyler was ready to go at Miguel again, something that would prove to be a mistake as he had just taken out three of his friends alone. He ran at Miguel, who climbed onto a table at the last second to avoid being caught. A kick to the stomach to stop him in his tracks and then Miguel was smacking him across the head, sending him tumbling to the floor.

The students around them erupted into cheers and applause when Miguel stood as the victor in the fight. And Cristina smiled when she noticed the look he and Sam shared.

ʚїɞ

To Cristina, it didn't matter that she had ended up in detention for punching one of Kyler's goons in the face. She was just happy they wouldn't be terrorizing her or her friends again anytime soon. When she had exited the principal's office with Miguel, she had seen the looks of slight fear on the faces.

Declan had been too lazy to wait for her and had driven home without her, leaving a text for her to call when she needed a ride home. But she didn't feel like bothering him to come and get her. And besides, she could use the fresh air.

Her nose was buried in her phone as she walked, texting back and forth with Miguel about the fight. He had just told Johnny everything about the fight and excitedly told her about the gi he'd received. Cristina wished she could be there, but she was on strict orders to go home immediately after school since she was grounded for the day for getting into a fight.

Theodore was of course happy that Cristina helped stand up to a bunch of bullies, especially after hearing what kind of nasty rumor they were spreading around about Sam. But he still found it necessary to give her some kind of punishment just to show her that going back to her old middle school ways was not encouraged.

Too caught up in her text conversation with Miguel, Cristina almost walked straight into Robby who was skating by with a solemn expression on his face. She stopped in her tracks, her heart taking a frightened leap in his chest, and gasped. Robby stopped on his board to make sure she was alright, and she frowned upon noticing it was him.

"Robby?" she asked, a smile beginning to form on her lips. At least until she noticed the look on his face. This time there was more than just hurt swimming around in his eyes. There was the raw feeling of betrayal too. "Is everything alright?" she was hesitant to ask, not wanting to overstep any boundaries they had yet to set between them

He shook his head and replied curtly. "I saw my dad with another kid."

Cristina was immediately heartbroken for him, knowing better than anyone what it was like to watch your parent, who you wanted more than anything to pay attention to you, turn around and be involved in another child's life instead. In Cristina's case, that child was her sister. But in Robby's, it was a total stranger.

"Oh, Robby, I am so sorry." she didn't know what she could do to make him feel better, and so she did what he had done at the skatepark. She grabbed his hand.

But it seemed that Robby mistook her sympathy and attempts to comfort him for pity. He pulled his hand away and took a step back. Cristina began chewing anxiously at her bottom lip when she spotted the cold look on his face.

"I don't need your pity, Cristina." he spat angrily.

Startled by the loud volume of his voice, Cristina subconsciously stepped back, her heart accelerating in terror. She was never good at dealing with yelling. It made her anxious and panicked, but most of all scared. Cristina could vividly remember all the times her mother screamed and yelled at her. How the windows seemed to shake and the ground appeared to be vibrating.

Tears clouded her vision as she looked at him. "I'm not pitting you, Robby." she insisted, her voice thick with sadness.

Robby didn't meet her eyes as he kicked off on his skateboard. "Just leave me alone."

»»-———𝓑𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽———-««

A/N

Robby and Cristina having a fallout after not even knowing each other for a month :/ 
I love how she shared her backstory with him because it felt right and he tells her to leave him alone indefinitely.

I'm going to be updating daily for a few days, by the way, as I've pre-written a lot.

-Jazz <3