Dedicated to AbbyWatson4 and Robby2Keene

"Okay, today will be a better day," thought Miguel as he pulled a black denim jacket over his plain red t-shirt.

He and his girlfriend, Sam, were going to meet in a few hours for a picnic at the park, which was most certainly going to be a nice change of pace from the last few weeks. Life had basically been a constant rollercoaster, from his trip to Mexico to losing the tournament, not to mention the obvious elephant in the room known as Johnny's newly mended relationship with Robby. Not that all the things that had happened were bad, just that it was very stressful, to say the least. Regardless, nothing sounded better than spending some alone time with Sam.

Plus, maybe we can discuss a plan for stopping Cobra Kai while we're at it.

"What are you, a teenage girl or something? Hurry up, Diaz!" shouted Johnny from across the apartment.

"Coming!" Miguel shouted back.

He carefully stuffed the last few items that laid strewn across his twin bed into his backpack before hastily exiting his bedroom.

His eyes were immediately met with a surprising sight as he entered the kitchen. Johnny (the person who literally preferred to eat beef jerky for breakfast) was standing over the stove, stirring freshly cracked eggs in a pan.

"What's going on?" asked Miguel, cautiously.

Usually, Johnny only cooked when Carmen was around so he could impress her (Woah, that still sounds so weird to say), but she wasn't coming back from the hospital for another three hours.

Did he do something THAT bad?

"Nothing's wrong, I just promised Carmen I'd make sure you ate," answered Johnny, shrugging.

Although his words were nice, Miguel felt a sinking sensation in his gut that told him there was more to his spontaneous kind gesture.

Miguel grabbed a clean white and blue-striped plate from the upper kitchen cabinet and brought it over to Johnny. He generously piled his plate high with scrambled eggs, microwaved sausages, and a flat doughy circle that he assumed was supposed to be a pancake.

"So, where are you taking LaRusso?" asked Johnny as he dropped down into his seat.

"To a picnic in the park," replied Miguel, smiling uncomfortably as he grabbed his full plate and joined Johnny at the table.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he already regretted saying them.

I kinda set myself up for that insult.

"Sounds nice," responded Johnny, distractedly.

Miguel almost choked on his warm eggs in surprise.

"Did you just say that my date sounds nice?" confirmed Miguel in disbelief.

In all the time that he'd known his Sensei, not once had he ever said something was "nice."

Miguel followed Johnny's gaze out the window which was fixed on none other than Robby. He was pacing back and forth while holding a battered cell phone to his ear, a look of anxiety covering his bruised face.

So he was just doing this for me out of guilt?

He hated himself for feeling jealousy towards Robby, even after they'd some-what made up in Mexico. It was the very thing he'd been trying with all his might to avoid without success.

If I'm not still angry about what happened at the school brawl, then why can't I just let this go?

"So, are you going to start Eagle Fang back up?" asked Miguel suddenly, jumping at any opportunity for a change in conversation.

"Hell, yeah," answered Johnny, snapping his attention back to the room.

"Great! And maybe we could offer for the Miyagi-Dos to train at our dojo? Just until they can fix theirs?"

I know it's a long stretch but it's worth trying, right?

"Yeah, we'll see," responded Johnny vaguely before stuffing a sausage into his mouth.

Miguel smiled hopefully before digging into his own plate.

After they had finished eating, Miguel offered to clean up the kitchen so that Johnny could get some rest.

Well, if he took the time to cook for me, even if it was out of guilt, it's still the nice thing to do.

Just as he was drying the last dish, there was a soft knocking at the door.

"One moment," called Miguel quietly as he once again threw on his jacket before pulling open the door.

"Hey, son. We didn't quite get to finish that talk of ours," stated a familiar voice.

Dad?

Miguel's body seemed to freeze the second his dad came into view. He wanted so badly to demand how he had the nerve to go to his home after what he'd pulled in Mexico, but his voice had become suddenly muted.

"What are you doing here?" was about the only words he could muster.

"Look, I know we might've gotten off on the wrong foot back in Mexico-"

Miguel made sure to close their apartment door in order to avoid Johnny's interference.
The wrong foot? He told me I meant nothing to him and literally punched me in the face.

Miguel just stared at the ground, speechless. Mike picked up on his son's anger and merely stuffed his hands into his pockets, sighing.

"That wouldn't have happened if Sensei daddy hadn't gotten in the middle," argued Mike through gritted teeth.

Did he seriously come here to try and hurt Sensei? No, he's smarter than that.

"Don't disrespect Sensei Lawrence," stated Miguel, readying his fists in an offensive position in case his father got any ideas.

Facing his dad was hard enough, fighting him seemed almost unthinkable, but there was no way he was going to let anyone disrespect Johnny, not even his own father.

"Give it a rest! I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back," scoffed Mike, agitatedly.

Miguel shifted his feet uncomfortably.

I might not be able to beat him in a fight, but I won't stop me from trying.

"What did you come here for then?"

Nothing could be heard except the birds' muted chirping and passing cars as silence filled the cold air between them. Miguel didn't know if he even wanted an answer.

No, I have to find out or else I'll never be able to move on.

"I came here to talk to my son," answered Mike plainly.

His words were just as Johnny's had been earlier that day, falsely generous.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this right now," apologized Miguel quickly before pushing past him.

"I'm just going to keep coming back until you talk to me," warned Mike as he followed Miguel to Johnny's car.

"Look, you made your choice, now please just respect mine," finished Miguel before slamming the car door closed.

He couldn't believe that he'd resorted to avoiding his own father.

Does that make me no better than Robby?