I've noticed I've attracted some readers but no votes/comments as of yet...but that's alright, no pressure to do anything. But also don't be shy, I don't bite (unless you're into it?? wait, no--)

I saw a thing on tumblr, it was a video where they were interviewing Ralph Macchio and Billy Zabka about stuff-and-things. And Billy said something like "right, Ralph?" and he went "yes, sensei" but like the way he did it was funny, he was biting his lip and all the notes were talking about Macchio's "method acting". I don't ship any actors because they're real people and that's weird but I did think that video on tumblr was pretty funny

Warnings: sexual tension but no actual smut, mention of "getting off" but it's a joke and non-graphic

Feel free to read this as satire lmao

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Johnny knew something was going to go wrong when he joined the Miyagi dojo. Mr. Miyagi could hold a grudge against him and exhaust him through training exercises, Kreese-style. Daniel could be a little shit about it both in-and-out of the dojo, making his life miserable. Miyagi could have him wax a car.

Well, two of those things happened.

Mr. Miyagi was not exactly incredibly kind to Johnny, though he was all for giving a once-foe a second chance to prove himself. Johnny had come to the dojo in February, the spring of 1985 and just two months after the All-Valley tournament. He'd ditched Cobra Kai, though he was still itching to do karate and didn't know where else to go. He could have gone to another dojo in the Valley, though Daniel's method of karate had intrigued Johnny to say the least, and he figured dealing with Daniel alone would be better than dealing with a whole new dojo packed with students.

Daniel and Johnny had ignored each other at school, though Daniel had no problem openly complaining to Miyagi about not letting Johnny in. Miyagi managed to silence Daniel with a look (a miraculous feat, Johnny thought. No amount of verbal or physical threatening could ever make him shut up last semester), and just like that, Johnny was in. He didn't even have to pay for his lessons, he just had to help clean and work around the dojo.

The chores put him off at first, especially sanding the floors and waxing the cars as the California air was starting to heat up again. Daniel had prowled about like a cat that got the cream when Miyagi wasn't around, especially when Johnny gave him a death-glare as he waxed Daniel's own car. Johnny was tempted to leave; Daniel had explained that this was how it worked, but what if it was a joke between him and the old man? Even so...one particularly sweltering day, Daniel had actually brought him out a cup of lemonade. Johnny was tempted to ask if he'd done anything to it, but that wasn't up Daniel's goody-good alley. When he drank the lemonade, it was actually good despite the obvious cheapness of Minute Maid.

There was a point in which Johnny and Daniel were considered equal as far as karate training went (though they never really would be; Johnny had years of intense Cobra Kai training under his belt, but Daniel would always have more training with Miyagi as he started earlier). Mr. Miyagi sensed that they could now practice sparring together without getting too worked up and wailing on each other, so they were allowed to do so outside of lessons.

That was where Johnny's problem began.

He'd always had a problem with Larusso, from his big faux-innocent puppy-dog eyes the girls seemed to fawn over to his ceaseless smart mouth. Things were better now that they were training together, though they still had their arguments. Sometimes they would have their arguments while training.

"I still don't understand why you don't want to tell people we're training together," Daniel huffed one day when they were battling it out in the dojo. He deflected Johnny's punch, effectively kneeing him in the side while his block was off-center. "Honestly, it's not like..." he breathed heavily. "...a love affair, or anything..."

"Shut up, Larusso." Johnny pushed Daniel's knee back, pulling back to kick him in the chest, though Daniel deflected that as well. Damn, Johnny still had all that offensive Cobra Kai nature while Daniel had all that defensive Miyagi training. "The Cobras--my friends--they'd still give me shit. I could've gone to another place...but I wanted to figure out the ways of the guy that beat me, alright? It's not 'cause we're pals or anything."

Daniel goes in for a punch, though he misses Johnny's chest and hits his shoulder. Even with Larusso's scrawny arms, his punches hurt like hell. "Well, maybe you should tell them anyway. Their shit-talking would be short lived--" he dodged a kick. "--and then they could train here, too. Mr. Miyagi's been looking for some help to clean out the old garden--"

And then Daniel's babbling again, and Johnny uses this annoyance to his advantage, backing him against the wall with every new hit. He eventually pins Larusso to the wall, a hand around his throat, which was definitely not a move any sensei of his past taught him. He then sees something in Larusso's eyes akin to fear, and it fills Johnny with hot guilt and dread as he settles for pinning Daniel's chest with his forearm. Daniel, realizing Johnny's small inclination to mercy, let out a soft breath of relief. His brown eyes--doe-eyes, fucking girl's eyes--were locked on Johnny's ice blue ones.

"I'm not saying anything yet." Johnny insisted, and the "yet" was a new, small mercy in itself. "And that's final..."

They were both breathing hard from what little sparring commenced, the two hardly breaking a sweat. Daniel then did something simple, the steps of which were insignificant to someone not staring intensely at Larusso in the way Johnny was; Daniel licked his lips, then softly bit his bottom one, the beginnings of a grin quirking the corners of his lips.

"Yes, Sensei."

And that did something entirely new to Johnny, holy shit.

Johnny's stomach dropped like he was on a roller coaster, a hot blush heating his cheeks and ears. He let out a shaky breath, and, just because he lacked a brain-to-mouth filter: "That's Sensei Lawrence to you." He let go of Daniel, pulling away and shrugging as if it were a joke, though his tone suggested otherwise. It was low, authoritative, like the way he'd talk to a hot babe in the back of his car. He absolutely did not like this--being called Sensei--and he did not like it when Daniel called him that, biting his lip like he were a flirtatious girl.

He was overthinking this, undoubtedly.

Johnny could see Daniel raise an eyebrow, cocky and amused as always. "Yes, Sensei Lawrence." he replied, with a small laugh and a roll of his eyes, so Johnny could clearly see Daniel was joking. It wasn't the first time one of Daniel's jokes riled him up, though the way it riled him up was entirely new.

------

It became a new thing, Daniel calling Johnny variations of "Sensei" or "Sensei Lawrence". It was like a secret between them, though; Daniel never called him that in front of their real Sensei, Mr. Miyagi. And it seemed to only be a treat when Johnny won their sparring matches. When he had Daniel pinned to the wall (or, better yet, the floor), he could hear the utter of it on his lips. "You won this time, Sensei," he'd say breathlessly, or: "I'll try harder next time, Sensei Lawrence."

Sometimes, on the 50/50 chance Daniel beat him, he'd call Johnny Sensei anyway, as a treat. "You still did well, Sensei." he'd say, doe-eyed and grinning, and Johnny was very strangely glad to be pinned and losing to Larusso.

But his curiosity, despite his long showers and strict dismissal afterwards, had grown rapidly. So that's what he was doing here, at Ali's, sitting on her puffy pink comforter and watching as she cut certain things out of a magazine for something she called a "moodboard".

It had taken a lot to get here with Ali, many apologies and being there when she was at her worst, but now they were something like friends. Johnny honestly thought that being friends with Ali was better than being with her, anyway. He'd probably still get with her if the option were available, though now, he felt less pressure around her, not to mention they split the dinner bills down the middle these days. Additionally, things were easier now that she and Daniel had broken up, something about Daniel focusing on school and Ali not focusing on boys. They were friendly, though not really speaking at the moment; Ali seemed to need some time, and Daniel seemed to want to wait to come around.

"So...you said your problem was...something private? Like...sexual? Look, I know we're friends, Johnny, but I don't want to hear what you're doing with some other girl--"

"I'm not doing anything, alright?" Johnny shot back defensively, huffing and falling back on Ali's covers in defeat. He hated taking that tone with her--if he had a nickel for every time he'd been an asshole to her, he wouldn't need any of Sid's money--but discussing this was difficult enough. "It's just...we've done, like, intimate stuff together, you know?"

"Oh, sure." Ali replied, biting her lip as she looked over a particularly grand picture of Paris. Johnny still didn't understand quite what she was doing. "I'd recommend you to a friend. Well," she gave Johnny a pointed look. "Some stuff more than others."

"Okay," Johnny nodded. "Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. My point is...during the stuff we did together, you always called me by my name. Just Johnny, nothing special."

Ali nodded, looking increasingly skeptical. "Yes...?"

"You didn't call me, like..." Johnny felt his face heat up, across his cheeks and down his neck and up to his ears. "You didn't call me, like, Sensei or anything."

Ali's face flushed as well, taking on amusement, disgust, disbelief, and something almost akin to anguish at the same time. "Disgusting. Continue."

"It's just," Johnny sighed, figuring he'd just toss the entire vague-language out the window now that Ali was already disgusted. "You know how I'm training with Miyagi now, right? Well, when Daniel and I spar, and I win, he'll jokingly call me Sensei--and I'm not into him calling me that, it's just...I wonder what it'd be like if a babe called me that."

"Right," Ali started to laugh, covering her mouth to fruitlessly hide it. "You're totally not into Daniel calling you that, hm?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Johnny demanded. "No, I'm not into Daniel! He might look like a girl, but that doesn't mean he is one. I mean, come on, call me Sensei, I need to test it out."

Ali looked incredulous as she scoffed. "I'm not turning you on while you're sitting on my bed, that's gross!"

"Well, for one thing, I'm not gonna do anything if I am into it." Johnny replied. "And, also, if you think it's just because of Daniel, then you've got a point to prove, right?"

Ali hesitated; she did always love to prove Johnny wrong, since the moment they met. Then she sighed, rolling her eyes and putting a hand on his knee. Her green eyes--smaller than Daniel's, but still pretty--met Johnny's. "How about you pin me down on the mat and teach me a lesson, Sensei Lawrence?" she purred, and, outside of breaking character immediately afterwards through a mess of giggles, she nailed the role.

Admittedly, Johnny actually was kind of into it. He was over Ali romantically, but she was still a hot babe using a sexual tone. However, the interest it sparked was a cigarette lighter compared to the massive bout of flames Daniel had caused inside him. He thought about Daniel's voice, his smile and smugness, how he'd much rather pin Daniel to the mat (or the other way around). He ran a hand over his face, his thoughts running wild as Ali's laughter died down.

"Hey, you alright, Johnny? I was just joking about the Daniel thing, honest--"

Johnny got up abruptly and started towards the door. "I gotta do some thinking." he said bluntly.

"If I seriously got you all hot and bothered, don't come back here for a little while, alright?" Ali laughed again, though she sounded a little uneasy. "Go think on that whole Daniel thing."

"No, no, I'm about to get off on a Playboy." Johnny said, something of a reassuring joke. Funnily enough, that's something he might have done a couple weeks ago, but now...now...

"There's the pig I know and love," Ali grinned at him, as that was one of their jokes, Ali harping on Johnny for his love of the scantily clad goddesses of glossy magazine pages.

Johnny smiled back at her, an unsteady air in the room, and he left before the tension turned sour and suffocating.

------

It didn't help that Daniel, once Johnny got past wanting to punch his lights out, was really easy to get along with. They liked a lot of the same movies and, even though reading wasn't really Johnny's thing, Daniel actually managed to get him hooked on some badass books that somehow hadn't made millions on the big screen. They'd talk karate strategy, arguing over what snacks and drinks to get after their lessons, though they'd secretly take turns picking.

It was Miyagi's idea, getting them to hang out more, to strengthen their bond within the dojo or something like that. Soon enough, he didn't have to ask. They still gave each other shit, it was just within their nature, but it was also why Johnny liked Daniel. No girl had ever really stood up to him and fired back...besides Ali, anyway.

The tension still itched at Johnny, however, and Daniel seemed to have some mind-reading ability to tell. Johnny suspected Miyagi had taught him something extra, as they both seemed to read people to an almost frightening level.

Daniel seemed to be reading him now, as he'd pinned the distracted Johnny to the dojo wall. "What's the matter, Sensei Lawrence? Daydreaming?"

Johnny grit his teeth, moving his arms fruitlessly to break free from Larusso's grip. "Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked, and with that, he broke their unspeakable rule. He didn't want Daniel to stop, though he did want to know the motivation.

"Honestly?" Daniel asked, releasing Johnny's arms. "At first, I was just joking around. But then..." he leaned in close, whispering in Johnny's ear as his hand slid to hold Johnny's now slack wrist. "I started to get the feeling you liked it. You do like it when I call you that, don't you, Sensei?" He teased, and Johnny could practically hear his smug grin.

Johnny let out an unsteady breath, his hands instinctively moving to Daniel's hips before turning them both around and pinning the shorter boy to the wall.

"What if I did, Sensei Larusso?" Johnny's voice was low again, wanting, and Daniel's smug smile wavered slightly as he flushed pink.

The tension in the room increased tenfold, and before they could stand around, pointlessly looking into each other's eyes anymore, Daniel made a move. He pulled Johnny close by his shirt, Johnny's fingers sliding under Daniel's own shirt as he rubbed the warm skin of his hips.

Then, Daniel's lips were on Johnny's, the blonde feeling for a stretched moment as if underwater. His senses dulled, the world a simple buzz around him as all he focused on was the feeling of Daniel kissing him...and him, kissing back.

A commotion of the door rattling open separated them abruptly, though even Mr. Miyagi coming in almost wouldn't deter Johnny. Almost.

"You two, train hard?" Miyagi asked, and the pair did indeed instinctively pull away from each other, looks of guilt upon their faces.

Miyagi shook his head. "Never proper balance, but less bruises this way." He said simply, giving Johnny the creeps as he seemed to read them again. By his side, however, Daniel let out a relieved laugh. Johnny smiled at that, and the two lined up for their new lesson.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did this span on for longer than it had to?

I don't know what the fandom is like on this side of things, all I know is that tumblr is...absolutely disgusting per usual, all that talk about how Daniel's a DILF and deserves to get railed (I mean they have a point but they don't gotta say it lmao—)

Now that I have this fic finished I realize I could have made it CK era easily, but like I said I like writing KK era. I do have a CK era fic in the works, but it's more platonic/bromance lawrusso

Lmk if you guys have any requests or just something to say. Until next time,

~mw