CHAPTER ELEVEN
en passant

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the first ever run-in diane had with cobra kai was last summer at valley fest when they infiltrated the miyagi-do performance and stole the karate thunder from them. though at the time, diane had only trained for two weeks at miyagi-do, she still remained disappointed. they interrupted right before she could wheel in a cart with a tray of ice daniel was supposed to break as the final blow.

they weren't doing anything but showing off their new dojo. nothing was wrong with that!

it was like cobra kai was off its hinges afterwards, sparking a mall fight and a small incident at the roller rink. and who could forget the infamous school fight? from diane's point of view, cobra kai was pretty much petty violence.

and now she was standing in the cobra kai dojo, in a cobra kai gi, practicing miyagi-do techniques.

a couple days ago when robby introduced the idea of training with cobra kai, diane wasn't too certain. somehow he was head of the class, teaching warm-ups already.

then, kreese came out and did some hook-punch lesson and an hour of repeated cardio exercises. it was tiring, boring, and only seemed to push the 'no mercy' agenda except it was no mercy on the students.

diane was clearly falling behind, as anybody would've expected. her two month trial in eagle fang wasn't serving her much, and with her rumbling stomach, energy needed to be conserved not used.

once practice officially ended, diane dashed back to the cobra kai storage room. she sat against the forest green bricked back wall, the plastic water bottle in her hand basically empty. she still tried to get the little droplets that stuck to the sides to puddle up at the top— or bottom because she was shaking it upside-down.

"miss keene."

she knew exactly whose voice it belonged to.

"gonna give me a pep talk like you did to robby?" she didn't even look at him as she spoke. "well, i actually know how chess works and kings don't have much power than being what rules a win or not."

"kings, pawns, queens, they're all part of one game," kreese spoke in a slow manner, his deep voice having that rasp in it. "the tournament is the game. if your brother is the king, what are you?" he asked.

she didn't initially reply, but his words struck her. she shook her head murmuring, "i'm just another piece in your game. a pawn."

"you seem to recognize that. so why are you here?"

hesitation shot up her spine. she tried to hide it, but there was a growing feeling of fear crawling under her skin. this man was scary, the horror stories told by two past senseis replayed in her head as he stood menacingly in front of her.

her jaw clenched, not being able to come up with an answer. he shook his own head.

"you can follow your brother around, but he won't always be there for you to hide behind," kreese said. "i offer you a spot in this dojo not for you to wither in mister keene's shadow, but for you to fight."

she scoffed, raising her eyebrows in a sarcastic way. "wow, i'm so thankful," she grumbled under her breath. her eyes glided to look up at him, "and i'm not hiding behind anyone."

kreese's eyebrows seemed to flicker up and down, but the dark lighting kept it a mystery. "then prove it."

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"who's shawn payne?" diane asked, looking over at robby. she skipped ahead of him on the sidewalk, her toes dancing around the cracks of the pavement.

"he was one of the guys at juvie. beat my ass a couple times," he replied. his grasp on the backpack he held tightened as he pulled it up to re-read the details. kenny payne. ostego street.

she raised her eyebrows, "oh, so that's why you had that mark on your face."

"yeah," he said in a lighthearted tone. "he didn't know karate but i'm sure he could beat any cobra kai's ass."

diane sighed. "i'm not even good at karate... i don't know why i'm sticking around in cobra kai."

robby's eyebrows furrowed. "hey, technically nobody landed a hit on you when we were against the whole dojo. it was me who got us both down."

"because you were defending me like crazy. they were all going for me except for tory. you got most of them down and you haven't even trained since the summer."

"don't beat yourself up. you've been doing this for just as long as most of those guys."

"you saw the damage from that christmas fight. i can't defend myself and i'm no good at offense. my kicks today were horrible."

he shook his head as they turned the corner. "diane you got assaulted at that house fight. honestly, i don't know what kreese was thinking sending them to sam's house."

"y'know, he came and talked to me yesterday," she started to chuckle, "telling me he gave me a spot in cobra kai like i should be grateful."

robby didn't say anything to that.

"he saw that i sucked and still told me that 'i offer you a spot' bullshit," she said. "...i'm probably going to leave soon. you know what everybody said about him."

"you're a good fighter diane. i think that's what kreese meant. you've got potential." robby cleared his throat before his next sentence, "he sees it, i see it, you need to see it."

she bit down on her lip. "thanks, robby."

"yeah. you bring your phone?" he asked.

"no. it's been dead for a while now, there's also a huge crack in the middle— it's been long gone." diane shrugged. "why?"

"because i don't want to walk around in circles. encino houses all look the same."

"they do," she agreed.

in two more blocks and they reached kenny's house. it was an average middle class house with an orange door and a christmas wreath still hung up. robby knocked three times with diane behind him and in seconds the door was opened by the man himself.

"how'd you know where i live?" kenny asked, staring at the siblings in confusion. without saying anything, robby lifted the strap of the backpack to show the address.

kenny took the bag, "thanks." he set it to the side.

"so, how's shawn?" robby asked. "he still getting out this summer?"

"they gave him an extra month because he spit in a guard's face," kenny said. he seemed to be avoiding eye contact.

"okay. yeah, that sounds like him," robby chuckled. "hope it was the guard in the computer lab."

his joke didn't faze kenny at all. instead he replied with "it's my fault."

"what do you mean?"

"shawn had some bad friends at school. i caught one of them stealing from my parents," he started to explain. "the guy came at me, but shawn got between us. beat him pretty bad. he was just defending me. with him gone, i've got no one. that's why i was hoping you coul—"

"look," robby interrupted. "i can't be your tutor. i have to focus on the all valley."

a beep came from kenny's pocket and he pulled his phone out. his face went from sad frown to even more sad frown.

"what?" robby asked.

kenny shook his head. "it's nothing."

robby stuck his hand out. "give it, c'mon." kenny reluctantly handed the phone to him.

diane peered over robby's shoulder, seeing a video of kenny opening his locker only for milk to pour out and laughter erupt in the background. then the words "got milked?" popped up as kenny stared into the camera.

she pressed her lips together, looking at robby then kenny. robby sighed, "i can show you a couple moves."

with that, finally, kenny's sad puppy eyes softened.

kenny lead the two to the backyard. there was a blue trampoline and a small patch of plants. diane sat at the patio, watching.

robby was always a good teacher. he taught her practically everything she knew from skateboarding to patience. robby spent about a half hour teaching kenny basics of karate. and the keenes went on their way back to the cobra kai dojo after they finished.

the sun was starting to set, and they'd arrive back at the dojo when the sky was purple and the sun would just be passing the horizon. it was a beautiful sight, and she braced herself for just three more cold nights.

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when the cobra kai bell jingled at the door during practice, diane knew what was coming. kenny walked in with more confidence than yesterday. "i want another shot," he said, standing tall at the front of the dojo.

"i'm sorry i don't have the time to teach weaklings," kreese said in reply, looking like he was holding in a laugh.

"give him another chance, sensei," robby said. "maybe he'll surprise you."

kreese's narrow eyes stared at robby, then kenny. "all right, on the mat. mister park, make this quick."

diane gave an anxious look at robby. there was no way kenny was going to beat kyler. kenny was so much tinier, weaker than him and kyler was ruthless. she watched him slip his shoes off and get into position parallel from kyler.

she counted three seconds in her head before kreese started the match with an "ais!"

kyler went running up to the smaller boy, scaring him to cower backwards, losing all of the height he had. boasting laughter erupted from his mouth. "look at him, running to mommy." he started to wave, "bye you little bitch!" his laughing continued, more of the cobra dudes joining in.

kenny stood still, an expression full of embarrassment and... anger? in less than a second, he swiftly punched kyler right in the face.

"what the hell? he hit me when i wasn't looking!" he protested to kreese. "that's some bullshit."

"you're right," kreese exclaimed. "he didn't line up. so that won't count as a point."

"sorry, i didn't know the rules—" kenny stuttered.

"that was your one chance," kreese said.

kenny sighed heavily before turning away. "okay," he murmured, walking back to his shoes.

"where are you going mister payne?" kreese spoke suddenly. his question stopped kenny in his tracks. the sensei glanced over to his top student, robby, then looked back to kenny once more. "take your spot."

kenny's frown immediately disappeared as he took steps to stand next to diane, a proud smile replacing it. the rest of the cobra kai training went as usual, kenny starting to get a feel of the dojo's practices.

when it was over, diane leaned against the wall near the wall with the words 'strike first, strike hard, no mercy' painted in black on it. she didn't ever talk to anyone in cobra kai, other than robby— which she noticed tory was really warming up to him, most of the cobras were douchebags anyway.

"when do you think i'll get one of those?" kenny asked. she had noticed he was trying to gain the courage to talk to her.

"what, a gi?" she asked. he nodded. "do you wanna try and find one in the back?"

"am i allowed?"

she shrugged. "i don't see why not. kreese let you in, so."

"okay," he said. diane could see the excitement flicker in his eyes. she headed towards the small hallway of the dojo that led to the storage room, kenny following.

there were tall plastic shelving units that lined one of the walls, it had storage tubs and clear tote boxes that held miscellaneous dojo items like old punching bags and other kickboxing essentials. diane crouched down and pulled one of the tubs out.

"what size are you?" she asked as she took the lid off of it.

"um, small?" he replied.

she dug through the piles of white clothing, trying to find one with correct measurements for kenny.

"so, do i get a white belt?" he asked, watching her from the side.

"i'd hope so..." she said mindlessly. she pulled a gi top out from the bottom. "try this on. i'll grab you pants."

he took the clothing piece and wrapped it on top of his shirt and sweater like a robe. "it fits," he said gleefully. diane gave him matching white pants and a belt to tie around his waist.

"great," she said, stuffing the big tub back into it's place.

"what're in the other boxes?" kenny asked, taking off the gi top and starting to fold it.

"this one," she pointed to a black bin, "is for wearing at the tournament. they have patches that get customized with your name on them."

"cool."

"and this." diane's hand was on another box. "is a bunch of red shirts with a cobra kai snake on it."

kenny's eyebrows raised, "wow. do you think i could also have one?"

"no."

"oh."

she chuckled. "i'm messing with you. i don't really care, i mean, nobody ever wears this stuff. it's kinda tacky but if you like tacky you can take one."

"will sensei kreese get mad?"

"he won't notice. most of this inventory isn't even from him." she slipped the lid off of that tote box and grabbed the first shirt. luckily this bin was sorted by size, so small was on top. she threw it to kenny.

"thanks!" he cheered. "another one for the collection."

"collection?"

"i have a lot of shirts with stuff i like. i'm wearing a dungeon lord shirt right now." he pulled at his blue shirt, showing off it's design.

"dungeon lord?" she asked, her eyebrows raising.

"you play?" he asked, his eyes widening.

"oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "this dude i used to know. he played it... read all the comics." she chuckled again, "he was a total dork."

kenny nodded, and diane sensed that he wasn't happy with her reply. "but, you're not a— you're not a dork." she sighed, "at least, i don't think so. it's not a bad thing to be a dork, unless you're— never mind. sorry."

"yeah, yeah. thanks for the stuff." with the clothes he held, he walked out of the storage room. diane took a deep breath and shut the open tub of red cobra kai shirts.

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mr.alpine wore a grin after defeating one of his fellow staff members in an intense chess match. he was surrounded by the debate club, celebrating their hard work and dedication for their fall debate tournament. the students enjoyed board games while chowing down on pizza and cupcakes.

as kids lingered around the table, he checked his watch, then studied the room. most of the club was there, only a couple stragglers that didn't attend much were absent from the gathering.

he noticed one person in particular that wasn't buzzing with energy like the rest.

devon stared at the door. she had been for a while now, since she'd arrived. she stood with her arms crossed, leaning against a desk with a firm expression on her face. the teacher took it upon himself to see what was up.

"not hungry?" he asked, walking up to her.

she shook her head. "i'm waiting."

he cleared his throat before replying with his first thought. "diane?"

"mhm." she bobbed her head slightly, and her jaw had noticeably unclenched at the mention of her name.

"is she coming?" he asked.

she sucked in a deep breath of hesitation. the air released from her nose slowly as she replied. "i don't know."

"well, the party'll be waiting for you." mr.alpine said with a smile and nod, "enjoy yourself." he then turned around, grabbing a cup of juice off the desk and strolling away.

devon bit on her lip, then pulled her phone out. she sighed as she found her contact and dialed her number. after putting it up to her ear and waiting a minute, the call was forwarded to voicemail.

she expected it.

"hey diane," devon started. "i know you don't check your phone but i also know you haven't come to school in a week. anyway, you're probably sitting in the library confused why nobody's there if you're here. we're up in, um, room 2011. it's the celebration i told you about."

"you should really be coming to school more... i hope you like the cd."

she glanced around the room, wondering whether to hold her tongue or not. she could say these words to anyone easily, but when thinking about diane, it seemed to have way much more meaning. "i miss you."

she ended the recording and it was sent in seconds. she took one more deep breath, her fingers placing her phone back into her pant pocket. enjoy yourself. devon made her way over to the pizza box and grabbed a slice for herself.

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a/n
sooo how are we feeling with the kenny and diane friendship?!?!!