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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"the last straw"
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(all in)

"I'M TELLING YOU, Jules, Miyagi-Do might be scheme." 

Jules glanced at Demetri, raising an eyebrow as the boy sat upside down on her couch. She poked his arm, "what kind of scheme?" 

 "A child labor scheme," the boy sat up, his dark hair messy and his body language tired as he leaned his head back on the couch, Jules trying in vain to juggle the TV remote with two energy bars. "I went over to learn karate, and so far the only thing I've done is paint fences and wax cars." 

 "Maybe you should come back to Cobra Kai, then." She said, before cursing as she dropped the remote and the batteries fell out. She threw the energy bars onto the coffee table, facing Demetri and raising an eyebrow. "If Johnny tries to mess with you again, I'll hit him with a chair." 

 "It's not him I'm worried about," the boy scoffed. He gestured vaguely to his face, where a bandaid was plastered across his nose. "More about the scary old guy... and Eli, he's kind of scary lately." 

 "Wait, Kreese did that to you?" Jules sat up straighter, her interest piqued. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

 "I thought you knew," Demetri shrugged innocently. "I mean, how else would I have gotten a face-related injury?" 

"I don't know, maybe you accidentally cut yourself from reading a comic book too close to your face." 

"Come on," Demetri shot her a pointed look. "You know I have twenty-twenty vision."

 Jules adjusted herself so she could fold her legs under her body, leaning back onto a pillow. "Wait, why are you worried about Eli? Did he say something to you?" She shook her head slightly as Demetri shrugged. "You can tell me that, Dem, you know I'll stick up for you. Besides," she shrugged. "He's all bite. He's still the same kid we knew." 

 "I dunno about that," Demetri reached over to read the nutritional label on one of the bars, scrunching up his nose, "hey, what's 'maize'?" 

 "It's like corn or some shit." 

 "Then why is it in this energy bar?" 

 "Stop trying to change the subject!" Jules snapped, making Demetri sigh as he faced her, the two sitting on opposite ends of the couch. 

 "Fine... he said that if I did anything stupid, I would regret it." He reached into his pocket, withdrawing his phone, "so obviously I did something stupid."

 Jules leaned forward to read the screen, scrunching up her nose when she realized that it was a Yelp review of her dojo... and it wasn't very kind. Demetri shifted under her glare, "what?" 

 "I agree with the cockroach and creepy old man thing, but that's my dojo too, you know." 

 "I had to do something!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "and I just know when Eli finds out, he's gonna try to kick my ass!" 

 "Fine, here's the deal:" Jules folded her hands in front of her. "I'll tell Eli to leave you alone, if you don't purposely aggravate him. And you have to actually try at Miyagi-Do, because I don't like his new attitude at all, and I'm not sure if he's still scared of me or not." 

"If he isn't then we know the hair dye caused him brain damage." 

 "Who has brain damage?" Shira asked, making her debut from her bedroom, her hair wet from her shower as she glanced at the kids. 

 Jules shrugged, "a lot of people." 

 "Well, obviously, but who specifically?" The woman asked, walking over to the kitchen and smelling a pot of coffee that Jules had made that morning. "Do I have to call the police in advance?" 

 "No, just Eli." Demetri shrugged, "he's been a real..." he paused, searching for the right word, so Jules piped in to help him out. 

 "Dick." 

 "-Lately." 

Shira hummed, pulling her wet hair into a messy bun on top of her head. She paused, her eyebrows furrowing as she processed their words. "Wait, Eli? Do you guys know another Eli that I haven't heard of?" 

"Unfortunately, no." She sighed deeply as Demetri picked at a loose thread on his jeans. 

 "Yeah, I thought that him getting self confidence would mean that he doesn't let people shit -" he held up a hand in Shira's direction, "pardon my language, walk all over him."

Jules reached out, patting Demetri's shoulder once. "Don't worry." She glanced over at her mother, who rose an eyebrow as she took a sip from her mug. 

 "I'll take care of it." 

 ***

"YOU NEED TO BACK off of Demetri." 

The dim lighting in the restaurant was enough to give Jules a good chance to jump-scare Hawk, and she had to supress a grin when it worked. The boy (who had died his hair red when she wasn't paying attention) shot her a look. "'Sup, Monroe?" 

"Fuck off." She deadpanned, crossing her arms and glaring at the boy. "You need to leave Demetri alone." 

 The boy rose to his feet and crossed his arms, although he didn't feel a whole lot taller than the girl who was glowering at him, but Jules could tell that he was just trying to act tough in front of his new little 'minions'.

(AKA Chris and Mitch, who were in her English class, the latter who always did his work with a marker that smelled like strawberries, which is why she calls him Strawberry Shortcake). 

"Yeah?" The boy challenged, lowering his voice and narrowing his voice. "Or else what? You saw what he said about Cobra Kai, we can't let him off without a consequence." 

"Okay Matt Murdock," Jules rolled her eyes, her tone full of sarcasm. "I wasn't aware you were a lawyer now."

 "Stop trying to win me over with Daredevil references!" The boy shouted, although his voice was still a whisper to make sure that nobody heard. He rose his voice again to it's now-usual cocky tone, crossing his arms. "Besides, why are you standing up for that pussy anyway? You're supposed to be loyal to your dojo." 

 "Nuh uh, bird brain, you're supposed to be loyal to your friends."

Hawk narrowed his eyes, pointing at her harshly. "Don't get in my way, or you'll regret it." 

 The girl's eyes flew open. "Are you seriously threatening me right now?" She demanded, her tone hardening with her anger. Hawk's eyes flew open, a fragment of Eli shining through as he suddenly looked like he regretted his entire life decisions. 

 "No! I was-" 

 "That sounded like a threat to me," she jabbed a finger into his chest. "And you know what happens to people who threaten me? I light their cars on fire." She gave the boy a quick once over, "or, in your case, I light all of your clothes on fire." 

 "Jules!" Miguel's voice called, and she glanced over to see the boy sitting a table with Aisha and Tory. The blonde herself curled her lip slightly when she caught sight of Jules, which made her happier than it should have. She gave Hawk one last warning look, before turning around and sauntering over to her boyfriend. 

 "Hey," she grinned, sliding into the seat next to him and leaning into his side when he wrapped an arm around her waist. She shot Tory a smile, "hey, how're your eyes?" 

 The girl grinned sarcastically back, "how's your friend?" 

"Great! Thanks for asking-" 

"Let's not fight here!" Aisha piped up, shooting the girl's a look to get them to shut up, "We're a team, remember?" She turned to shoot Jules a look, "Jules, apologize for kicking a cup of vodka into Tory's face, and Tory-" she turned to the blonde before Jules could say anything. "-Apologize to Jules for antagonizing her. She wasn't joking when she said that she lights people's belongings on fire when they piss her off."

 The brunette pursed her lips, "you heard that?" 

 "Yeah, babe, you have a loud voice." Miguel sighed, grinning at his girlfriend when she punched his shoulder. 

 Aisha shot both of the girl's a pointed look, but neither of them said anything, continuing to stare each other down from across the table. Jules didn't want to have a karate-nemesis in her own dojo, but she didn't like Tory one bit. Maybe it was because of her attitude, or maybe because a part of Jules didn't want to admit just how similar they were.

 But she hurt her friend. Even if Sam did deserve it, Jules couldn't see past that. 

 "Fine," Aisha shook her head, "be like that. But I'm not sharing my fries with either of you." 

 "So, why were you talking about lighting Hawk's clothes on fire?" Miguel asked, taking the fork away from Jules' hand and setting it to the side. "I'm disarming you." 

 "He's being a dick to Demetri," she sighed, shaking her head. "He actually joined Miyagi-Do because he's worried that-" 

 "Hold up." Aisha held her hand up, shooting Jules an incredulous look. "Demetri joined Miyagi-Do? The same Demetri who once knocked himself out by picking up a ten pound weight too aggressively?"

Jules nodded soundly, "that's the one."

Tory rested her chin on her palm, "who's that?" 

 "My friend." Jules responded, shooting her a look as if she was challenging her to say something about it. 

The blonde obviously didn't catch the look, snorting and taking a sip of her water. "Figures."

"You know what, Nichols-"

"If this turns into a brawl, I will not be held responsible!" Aisha exclaimed, rising from her seat. "Tory, you wanna go see a movie or something?" 

 "Yeah." The blonde didn't take her eyes off of Jules until she was on her feet, shooting her one last steely look, before turning to walk off. 

 Jules sighed deeply, as if she needed another person who hated her.

 Cobra Kai just got interesting. 

 ***

"NO, YOU DUMB BITCH, you can't read the seventeenth issue before the sixteenth or nothing will make sense!" Jules chastised, smacking Demetri's chest with a comic book and rolling her eyes. "Jeez, what would you do without me?" 

 "Probably be a lot happier." The boy shot back.  He turned to observe the comic books in his hands as Jules leaned her back against the wall, sighing deeply. The florescent lighting was doing pretty much nothing to wake her up, and she felt just as drowsy as she did that morning. She wandered away from her friend to browse through the comic book store she was in, although the girl knew for certain she wouldn't be buying anything. She didn't have any money to begin with, and she preferred to not read unless it was absolutely neccessary. 

She had accompanied Demetri on his excersion to the mall, alongside Sam and Robby (who Jules still doesn't know very well) mainly as a bodyguard in case Hawk decides to try and confront the boy. 

She was troubled by his transformation, that was for sure. And if he actually tried to hurt Demetri? She wouldn't forgive him as easily as before. Which was why when she heard her friend call out her name, she could feel her chest clench tight - along with her fists. 

 And when she stepped out from behind the bookshelf, Hawk looked like a deer in headlights. 

 She glanced behind her, catching sight of two boys she recognized from Cobra Kai, the other two flanking the red-haired boy, who gave a barely noticable wince as she looked him over. 

 "Well isn't this a pretty picture?" She crossed her arms, her tone nonchalant as she individually glared at all of the boys. "You brought a gang to harass Demetri in a comic book store. This is getting embarassing for you, Eli." 

 "Hey, what is she doing here?" Mitch demanded, looking as if his cocky-ness declined by about fifty percent. Jules pursed her lips. 

 "Obviously I'm indulging in the wonderful lifestyle of superhero comic books." She picked a random one off of the shelf, holding it above her head. "And if you bitches don't get lost by the count of five, I'll hurt all of using only this book and my bare hands."

Hawk took a step forward, glowering at Demetri as a sneer penetrated his face. "Seriously? You brought Jules to protect you? You really are a pussy." 

 "And you're a whiney little bitch boy," she was quick to defend, putting a hand on Demetri's arm. "So don't mind us, but we're gonna go get cheap lattes. Buh-bye now!" 

She brushed past the boy, but before they were able to make a swift exit, Hawk lashed forward, swinging his leg out and hitting Demetri's ankles, sending the boy sprawling to the ground with a pained grunt. Jules could feel her nerves set on edge as she whipped around, darting her fist out towards Hawk, who just barely bat it to the side. She took advantage of his sloppy block, spinning around to kick him directly into a row of comic books. 

 "Come on!" Demetri shouted, grabbing onto Jules' arm. Before she could say anything, he had pulled her away and broke out into a dead sprint down the hall. Jules cursed, dodging around a couple trying to take a selfie and hurried to follow him. 

 A part of her was amused at how fast Demetri could run if he was being chased, the other part was slightly annoyed, since her boots were really not made for running. She was able to catch up with him, but not before vaulting over a sunglasses kiosk and almost giving an old lady a heart attack. 

 Demetri had stopped when he was right in the center of the food court, where they had left Sam and Robby previously. Jules put a hand on her stomach, trying to catch her breath as the boy looked around in distress. "Shit! Where'd they go?" 

 "They're probably making out somewhere," Jules drawled, pulling off he jacket and cracking her knuckles. "I'll take care of this, don't worry about it."  

 "It didn't have to be this way!" The familiar voice of Hawk crowed as he sauntered into the food court, his buddies coming in at all angles, until they had the two fully surrounded. Demetri's face was turning red, but Jules didn't seem all that phased as she shot the boy a judgmental look. "You could have joined Cobra Kai if you weren't such a pussy."

"Hey, Eli." Jules twirled a piece of hair around her shoulder. "You know what I find really adorable about you? How you have to hire five poorly trained dickwads to back you up, when for all you knew you would be fighting Demetri." 

 The boy looked offended, "hey!" 

 "Dem, you know I love you, but please hush." 

Hawk stalked forward until they were face to face. "Yeah? Well wait until Sensei hears about the shit you've been pulling. You think that just because you were one of the first at Cobra Kai you can get away with fighting your dojo to protect some pussy who deserves it?" 

 Jules pulled a face, "I get the feeling you're talking about Kreese. And as far as I can tell, he would appreciate my loyalty. He probably wouldn't appreciate you being a little wimpy manyak, though."

Hawk lashed his fist out to hit her, but she caught it easily, pulling his arm forward until it was pressed against her shoulder at an odd angle. It was the same move Miguel pulled on Kyler oh-so-long ago, and she was glad that she would get to use it on Hawk. She gave him a rueful smile. "And Eli?"  

 He grunted as she tightened her grip, her dark eyes glinting with malice. 

 "I hate the hair." 

 She punched him harshly in the nose, making him stagger back, and immediately felt herself get grabbed from behind. It was one of the nameless Cobra Kai dorks that Hawk enlisted, and she easy held onto his forearm, pulling it forward and ducking under, kicking his back and making him crash into a table. She whirled around, narrowing her eyes at the boys surrounding her; all of whom suddenly seemed a lot less confident. 

 "Who's up next, boys?" 

 A lanky blond ran towards her, but she was faster, sprinting directly at him and jumping up, twisting in mid-air and landing a tornado kick directly to his jaw. She could feel Mitch (AKA Strawberry Shortcake, a nickname she will never forget) come up behind her, and she dodged his hit, whirling around and hitting him with her forearm. 

 She dropped to the ground, swiping the legs out from under another boy, spinning around to kick his jaw as he fell, sending him careening into Hawk, making both of them fall into a table with a loud crash. 

 She exhaled, her heart pumping so aggressively that she thought she would drop dead, reaching up to brush her hair out of her face, her forehead beading with sweat. She turned toward Demetri, seeing him standing next to Sam and Robby, all of whom were staring at her with dumbfounded expression on their faces. 

 She carefully stepped over the groaning form of one of the nameless boys, brushing off her pants and grabbing the cup from Robby's hand, taking a sip of it, before placing it down on the table and walking off with her head held high. 

 ***

YEAH, KREESE DIDN'T APPRECIATE IT. 

In fact, he was absolutely fuming as he stared at Jules the next day. The girl had sauntered into Cobra Kai as she always did, quickly bee-lining for her boyfriend, where she explained the situation, proceeding to glare at Mitch when he looked at her the wrong way. 

 Kreese knew all about what happened. Hawk wasn't exactly pleased after his girlfriend broke up with him, having to admit that he and his friends were all beaten by a singular girl, who was inches shorter than all of them. Now, as he observed her face - not a scratch staining her tanned skin - his lip curled. 

 "In all of my years at Cobra Kai, I have never seen anything as pathetic as this!" He shouted, hitting his hand against the desk. Jules didn't even flinch, instead just raising an eyebrow at the older man. "Not only are you defending the enemy, you are willing to harm your own peers in order to do it!" 

She raised a hand, "in my defense, I wouldn't have had to kick their asses if they had just left us alone in the first place." 

 Kreese glared at her, placing both of his hands on the desk and leaning forward towards the girl in the chair. "This needs to stop. I don't know what Sensei Lawrence has been teaching you, but in Cobra Kai, you are loyal to your dojo, and only your dojo." 

 "Sorry, I wasn't aware that we were some weird cult now," she rolled her eyes, standing up and crossing her arms defensively across her stomach, gesturing sharply towards the door, where she was almost certain Miguel was trying to listen in. "Hawk and his squad of dumbasses attacked my friend because of a fucking Yelp review! Which he wouldn't have posted if you hadn't assaulted him when he came to ask about Cobra Kai!" She was angry now, her face turning red and her eyes flashing dangerously. 

 Kreese marched over, his movements fast paced, as if he was trying to intimidate her. "You have talent, Monroe, but for the love of god, I swear that I will have you removed from Cobra Kai if this continues." 

 "Oh, I'm super scared." She mock-pouted, widening her eyes. "I'll make sure to tell Sensei."

 Before she could say anything else, a sharp stinging rang through her cheek as Kreese reared his hand back and slapped her harsly across the face. The pain brought tears into her eyes, but the shock was more prominent as she brought a hand to her face, her head tilted to the side. 

 A shot of fear echoed deep in her stomach, curling into a knot and making the tears in her eyes threaten to fall. Her head turned cloudy, but was brought back to reality when she took a stumbling step backwards, her hand grabbing onto the door knob. 

 Without a word, she turned and ran out. 

 All eyes were on her in an instant, and the scene was almost too confusing for her to comprehend. Daniel LaRusso was on the mat, his hands clenched and his arms shaking, but his expression softened when he spotted the expression on the girl's face. "Jules?" 

 "Monroe, what the hell happened?" Johnny demanded, and only then did Jules realize that a single tear had traced down her cheek, which she furiously wiped away. She shook her head, clenching her teeth and forcing her voice into a steady tone. 

 "Nothing, I'm fine." 

 And since she didn't want to keep the facade up, she turned and stalked directly towards the back door, shoving it open with her shoulder and leaning her head up to the sun. 

 And then the tears poured. 

A/N:

aw, trauma.

y'all i am really excited for season 4 so we can see jules and tory being hot friends fsaksjiwe but unfortunately that takes character development... *sigh*

ALSO JULES BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF A BUNCH OF DUDES??? yes please, i want her to marry me like right now. she just casually steps over them like *heart eyes*

i could simp for her all day, but that's a whole other conversation.

i hope you liked this chapter, next one will be sad but crucial </3 thank you for reading and i love you all!

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TRANSLATIONS
manyak; bastard
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