❝ we're here to learn karate. ❞

―

NATHALIE WAS AVOIDING JOINING KARATE.

She was making every excuse that she possibly could to not join Cobra Kai. At first, she got out of it because she was sick and had spent an entire week and a half of November coughing in her bed and dealing with the worst fever imaginable. Marisol had told Sebastian that he wasn't allowed to go without Nathalie and had to wait until she was better. And then Flora got sick not too long after Nathalie did.

Then Sebastian got sick, battling with the illness for all of Thanksgiving break and because the two boys were attached at the hip, Oliver got sick. It was a never ending cycle.

By the time December rolled around, Sebastian and Oliver had about considered giving up. Nathalie kept purposely getting herself into detention just so had to stay after school and couldn't accompany her brother to Cobra Kai.

During the week of Christmas break, Nathalie had begun to start running out of excuses. There were only so many times that she could pretend to be sick, and the rest of her family was starting to catch up to her scheme.

"You can't keep avoiding it," Sebastian told her as they sat down at the table.

"Who said I was avoiding it?" Nathalie asked.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? All you've been doing for weeks now is avoiding it."

"He's right, Nattie," Flora agreed. "When we were all sick was one thing, but then all the times you had detention or pretended that you had to something to do?"

Nathalie groaned. "Okay. Fine. I'm avoiding it. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes, actually," Sebastian nodded his head. "And whether you like it or not, you're coming with us this afternoon. Oli and I looked into it. There's a session today."

Nathalie sighed and lowered her head on the table. She groaned dramatically.

Flora placed her hand on Nathalie's back and started patting. "Oh, you poor baby. I promise you'll be just fine."

Sebastian and Oliver laughed, causing Nathalie to look up quickly. She gave them a death stare. Immediately, their laughter stopped. Nathalie continued to stare at them, causing them both to slowly stand up from the table and then run into Sebastian's room.

Flora giggled. "That glare gets them every time."

"And it's hilarious every single time," Nathalie smiled, and then started to laugh alongside Flora.

────────────

"Please don't make me go in there," Nathalie pleaded as she stood outside of the Cobra Kai dojo.

"Come on, Nattie," Flora grabbed ahold of her hand.

Nathalie whined and tried to resist as Sebastian opened the door. The bell above the door jingled as Flora dragged Nathalie through the door by the hand. Their brothers followed in after them, blocking Nathalie from being able to make a run for it.

Flora let go of her hand. Nathalie glanced around the dojo, her eyebrows furrowing at the motto on the wall. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy. Nathalie scoffed.

Sebastian and Oliver were chatting behind the two girls, their excitement shining through. Miguel and Johnny stopped training and looked at them as they walked through the door.

"Can I help you?"

"We're here to learn karate," Sebastian as the first of the four to speak.

"This is a karate dojo, not a daycare," Johnny glanced between Sebastian and Oliver before looking at Nathalie and Flora. "And yoga's not until five."

Nathalie scoffed. "Are you kidding me? You're the idiot that handed my brother a flyer for your stupid dojo in the first place."

"Wait a minute..." Johnny stepped closer to her. "You're that feisty, tiny neighbor."

"Oh, so you do remember," Nathalie snapped back, having to look up at him. "So, are you going to continue to be an idiot or are you going to let us join?"

"There are no—"

The bell behind them jingled, causing the group to turn their heads round the door. Aisha slowly walked through the dojo.

"No yoga till five. No matter how bad you need it," Johnny called out.

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

"As I was just saying to them," Johnny motioned to Nathalie and Flora . "I appreciate you coming in, but there are no girls in Cobra Kai."

Nathalie let out a quick laugh. "Wow. I knew you were a jerk, but a misogynist?"

"Actually, that doesn't surprise me at all," Flora crossed her arms, backing Nathalie up.

"Look, I don't know what misognosit means, but girls can't be in Cobra Kai for the same reason there aren't women in the Army," Johnny replied. "Doesn't make sense."

Miguel sighed from beside him. "Uh, Sensei, I need to show you something in the office."

As ever walked away and entered the office, Nathalie and Flora turned to look at their brothers.

"We're leaving," Nathalie told them. "Get in the car."

"What? We can't!" Sebastian protested. "Okay, so he's misogynistic. It's Johnny. Are you really surprised by it?"

Nathalie shook her head. "No. I just refuse to join a dojo where I won't be valued simply because I'm a girl."

"Doesn't that just make you want to show him that he underestimated you?" Oliver asked her. "People take one look at you and think that you're just some tiny little girl who can't defend herself."

Sebastian nodded. "Exactly. Prove him wrong."

Nathalie sighed, biting the side of her cheek. She hated that they knew her so well. Even worse, she hated that she was actually considering listening to them. Nathalie
turned to look at Flora, a look on her face as if she were asking for her input.

"As much as I hate to agree with them, they're right," Flora replied. "And we all know that there's nothing you hate more than being underestimated. Maybe Eli..."

Nathalie rolled her eyes and turned back around just in time to see Miguel and Johnny walking out of the office.

"Okay, take off your shoes. Hop on the mat."

Aisha started to take off her shoes, eager that Johnny had changed his mind. Nathalie started to unlace her boots, staring at Johnny the entire time. She stepped on the mat and stood up as straight as she could.

Flora gulped as she stood next to Nathalie, realizing that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to convince Nathalie to stay. Sebastian and Oliver stood to the left of Flora, unable to control their excitement.

"Okay, after further review, I've decided to allow female students," Johnny announced. "But if you wanna in Cobra Kai, you can't act like girl."

"What do you mean?" Aisha asked.

"And how do girls act?" Nathalie questioned.

"Don't give me that," Johnny responded. "You know, all emotional, loud, complain-y. Never letting you finish a sentence."

"Well, I know a few guys who act just—"

"Quiet!" Johnny yelled in Aisha's face.

Nathalie stared at him wide-eyed before blinking several times in a row. Sebastian and Oliver flinched in unison. Flora jumped back and gave him a confused stare before she exchanged a look with Nathalie.

"My student tells me you've been harassed at school,"
Johnny continued talking to Aisha.

"Yeah," Aisha answered. "Mostly online. Um, I get mean texts and e-mails sent to me. Makes me not wanna go."

"And who sends you these messages?" Johnny asked as he paced back and forth.

"Well, they're mostly anonymous," Aisha told him. "These kids create fake accounts, and they tell me things like I'm ugly and that I should kill myself."

"Oh my god," Johnny exclaimed, stopping in front of Aisha. "What a bunch of pussies!"

Aisha tilted her head to the side and looked at him in confusion. Sebastian and Oliver turned their heads to look at each other, impressed smirks on their faces.

"Back in my day, if you wanted to tease someone, you did it to their face," Johnny continued. "There was honor, respect. These geeks hiding behind their computers, what a bunch of spineless losers."

Nathalie hated the fact that she was finding herself agreeing with what he was saying. She always thought that there was absolutely no way that she would ever agree with anything that came from Johnny Lawrence's mouth, yet here she was.

"You're not afraid of these losers, are you?" Johnny asked Aisha.

"No," Aisha shook her head, staring at the ground.

"Are you gonna take shit from these losers?" Johnny asked.

"No," Aisha replied, more confidence in her voice.

"Good, because when I'm done with you, you're gonna be sending a message back," Johnny responded. "Only it's not gonna be with your keyboard. It's gonna be with your fists."

Johnny turned away from Aisha and directed his attention towards Nathalie. "And what about you, Runt?"

Nathalie laughed. "You're going to have to come up with a better nickname than that if you wanna get under my skin. I've heard it all. Runt, Shortstack, Little Red Riding Hood, and anything involving the words tiny, teeny, or small. I've heard it all."

Johnny nodded his head, looking away from her and stepping closer to Flora. He glanced at her, his eyebrows furrowing together at her outfit—a green "Save the Trees!" t-shirt paired with a denim skirt adorned with flower patches, and rainbow striped socks.

"What are you, one of those hippie tree huggers?" Johnny asked.

Flora shook her head. "I mean, I am all about protecting the environment and preserving the natural state of the planet."

Johnny nodded his head. "Yeah, okay, Green Bean."

Flora's eyebrows knitted together. She pouted at the ground as Johnny moved on to Sebastian and Oliver. He glanced back and forth between them. Nathalie could see the gears turning in his head as she tried to think of an insult or remark to say about them.

Sebastian, being the ever-so confident teenage boy that he is, decided to introduce himself first.

"Sebastian Torres, Sensei," Sebastian spoke. "This is my friend Oliver."

"Oliver Brooks sir—I mean Sensei," Oliver said nervously.

Johnny continued to glance between them. He shook his head, turning on his heels and walking away from them.

"Robinson," Johnny said, causing Nathalie to roll her eyes. "On the mat. Let's see what you can do."

Aisha stepped onto the mat.

"Diaz," Johnny turned to Miguel and motioned to the mat.

Miguel stepped in front of Aisha. They both looked at Johnny as they waited to be told what to do.

"Face me," Johnny instructed. "Bow. Face each other. Bow."

They bowed at each other before immediately looking at Johnny once again.

"Mr. Diaz, show her everything you've learned," Johnny said.

"Wait, wait," Miguel protested. "I don't think this is right, Sensei."

"You don't think what's right?" Sensei asked.

Miguel motioned at Aisha. "She's a girl. I'm not gonna..."

"And?" Johnny questioned. "I thought you said women were equal to men."

"I did say that," Miguel admitted. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that she—"

"Alright then show her that women are equal, and give her everything you've got," Johnny interrupted him.

"Wait," Aisha added. "I just wanna remind everyone this is my first day."

"Your enemies don't care what day it is," Johnny replied. "They prey on weakness. If you wanna beat them, you gotta conquer your fears and jump face first into the fire. Are you ready, Ms. Robinson?"

"I guess," Aisha responded.

"Mr. Diaz?"

"Uh..." Miguel trailed off.

"Fight!"

Nathalie, Flora, Sebastian, and Oliver looked back and forth between them as they waited for one of them to
make a move.

"Don't just stand there," Johnny shouted. "Fight!"

Miguel got into a fighting position. Aisha looked around, unsure about what she was supposed to do. Miguel mumbled a quick apology before he lifted his leg and kicked Aisha in the stomach. She fell back into the mat,

"Oh my god!" Miguel reached his hand out to help her up. "Aisha, are you okay? I'm—I'm sorry. Come on."

Aisha stood up, charging at Miguel before pushing him to the ground. When his back hit the mat, Aisha let out a yell and slammed her knees into Miguel's side, hitting his ribcage.

"My ribs..." Miguel wheezed, clutching his side.

"Girl's a natural Cobra," Johnny complimented Aisha and then turned to Nathalie. "Runt, your turn. On the mat. Diaz, get your ass back up."

Nathalie stepped onto the mat. She uncrossed her arms and stared at Miguel as he struggled to get up from the mat. Once he stood across from her, Johnny instructed them to bow.

Miguel got into a fighting position. Nathalie copied his stance, staring directly at him as she waited for Johnny to announce that they could begin.

"Fight!"

Miguel tried to land a kick just like he had with Aisha, but Nathalie quickly dodged it. She squatted down, circling around Miguel. He turned his body around, trying to follow her with his eyes. As she stood up, Miguel tried to send a punch flying her way. Nathalie squatted once more, extending her leg out to the side, and swinging it against Miguel's ankles.

She kicked his feet out from under him, causing him to fall to the mat once more.

Nathalie smiled as she stood up straight, pleased with herself. All those karate videos that Sebastian and Oliver watched actually came in handy.

Maybe karate wouldn't be so bad after all.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

no nathalie/hawk interaction this chapter. but trust, there will be in the next.

also yes, splitting the episode in 2 so that the cafeteria fight will be next chapter.

the way nathalie is going to be punching the wall when eli joins cobra kai. get ready for the angst.