TEENAGE KICKS

CHAPTER SIX: ROCKIN' AND ROLLIN' AND WHATNOT

GOING AS SANDY from Grease was probably one of the most generic costume ideas Rory could come up with after the hit musical had come out 6 years ago. No one would've guessed that musicals were her guilty pleasure, and no one definitely would've seen the girl coming in Sandy's cheer uniform to the Halloween dance.

Rory wanted to go in Sandy's end of the movie outfit with the leather bodysuit, but her mom's mouth gaped open when she came out of the changing rooms at the Halloween store down the road. They ended up purchasing the "less flashy" costume, much to her dismay.

Spotting Cindy from across the room talking to Susan, Rory skipped (yes, skipped) her way over to the laughing teens, making sure to shove two kids that were making out to the side (and laughing when they shot her glares).

"Pretty sure Janet has mono" Rory snickered, pointing back at the couple who had started to swap spit again "poor Mikey"

Susan shuddered noticeably and pushed her iconic shades back onto her head "Yeah, heard she got it from the science teacher...fucking creep"

"I don't blame her, I'd do the same thing if Mr. Hottie gave me the chance" Cindy wiggled her eyebrows at the two, making them slap her arm at the same time "Hey!"

Ignoring the girl, Rory sized up both teenagers with a smirk "Wendy Torrance and Princess Leia, nice"

"Sandy?"

"Tell me about it, stud" Rory pretended to pull a cigarette out of her mouth before laughing along with the others "But seriously, I wanted to go as badass Sandy, but I got stuck with nice girl, I give a fuck what everyone thinks of me, Sandy."

"Hey, baby" Cindy gasped when two arms wrapped around her waist and the boy smothered kisses down her neck. Susan and Rory looked at each other awkwardly before moving past the lovey-dovey couple over to the punch table.

Rory chuckled to break the tension and looked back at Cindy "way to make a girl feel single, huh?"

"Yeah, just when I thought I had escaped the wrath of people smothering their love in my face at home with my parents, I had to witness...that" Susan gagged and turned to get herself a cup of fruit punch (which may or may not have been spiked, thanks to Johnny).

"How do you think I feel with being around-" Rory trailed off, looking over the confused brunette's shoulder to where a large shower curtain was cutting through the crowd. I know, that sentence didn't make much sense to Rory either, but somehow she knew just who it was.

Getting ready to go over to the boy, Rory stopped once seeing that Ali dressed up as an angel (of course) had already stopped in front and stepped through the red polka-dot curtains. Susan, slightly curious, followed her eyes to where the 2 disappeared behind it.

"Oh, I see" she nodded knowingly "I knew that you had a thing for karate kid"

Rory snapped her eyes back to the smirking girl, quickly shaking her head rapidly "Oh, no no no no, not you too. Cindy thinks that I have this undying love for the kid, but that is far from it." she coughed awkwardly "besides, I'm pretty sure that he has a full-blown crush on blondie over there"

"Who? Ali?" Rory nodded "she's definitely not his type, have you not noticed the longing stares he gives you during Pre-calc?"

"Yeah right, I sit behind Ali...he's probably just staring at her"

"Nope, he's def-shit!" Rory laughed hysterically when someone dressed in a chicken costume cracked an egg on her head "dammit Peterson, you're so dead on Monday!"

Rory grabbed her wrist and started to lead her away from the chicken before Susan could go attack mode, choosing to enter the high school bathroom "come on, let's get that egg out of your hair.

Susan nodded silently, still pissed off over the yolk dripping down her forehead. Surprisingly, it wasn't really hard to get most of it out, though the last of the clear egg whites was a little stubborn, but Susan waved her off "you go back to enjoying the dance, I can handle this"

After being persuaded to leave the girl alone, the Lawrence sibling trudged out of the bathroom where she was nearly knocked over by a shower curtain followed by her own brother knocking into her. Obviously, Daniel hadn't stayed out of trouble.

Rory stuck her foot out making Johnny trip over it and giving more time for Daniel to run out of the school. Sending a quick glare that definitely meant "we'll talk about this later," Johnny ran off once again after the Larusso boy.

Groaning softly, Rory muttered a "you owe me" to herself and ran out after her brother and his friends, dropping her red pompoms on the ground by Susan.

"Miss Lawrence" Rory sighed before coming to a stop and turning around, her history teacher standing with an unamused look on her face "had a taste of the punch, I assume that that was your doing?"

Rory rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over one another "we both know that wasn't me, so can we cut to the chase...I have somewhere else to be. Hey, that rhymed!"

The teacher swiftly turned around, finally allowing for the girl to turn and sprint off out the school doors. It didn't take long before she was hopping over the fence to where she could see Daniel being kicked in the face by Johnny.

Swiftly sneaking up on the yelling boys, Rory kicked the back of one of the goons. The boy let out a yelp before her foot came into contact with his face, successfully leaving him rolling in pain on the ground.

Mr. Miyagi jumped down from the fence that separated them from the apartment block, pushing Daniel out of the way before Johnny could kick him. The blonde made contact with the fence, looking confusedly back at the old man "Get him!"

2 boys went to go grab him, but he punched both of them in the stomach and pushed their heads back so they stumbled and fell. Some random boy went to go grasp at Rory's waist making her snap out of her gaze on the maintenance guy and grab his arm to twist it behind his back and throw him forward.

The boy went to get back up, so Rory sent one last harsh kick at his baby maker causing him to writhe in pain on the floor along with the other boy Mr. Miyagi had taken down.

One last yelp was heard from behind as Rory turned around to see the man defeating her brother. Now that brought a smile to her face, but it dropped when she heard a groan come from the LaRusso boy by the fence.

"Is he dead?" Mr. Miyagi kneeled down beside him and noticed the slight movement of his eyes beneath his lids, shaking his head back at the concerned brunette.

"Daniel-san will be okay" that made her breathe out a sigh of relief "come, help get inside"

Rory rushed to unlock the gate, pushing it open wide enough for the man to carry Daniel in over his shoulder and to his green door. As soon as he was laid down on a makeshift bed, Mr. Miyagi started preparing some kind of medicine for the boy's injuries on his face.

"Here, cloth" he handed the folded towel over to Rory who, with shaky hands, took it and kneeled down beside the still unconscious Daniel "lightly dab on face"

She brought the cloth to the bowl before leaning over to take a look at his face "why does it smell weird?" When she got no reply, Rory shrugged and started dabbing at the boy's face lightly. Obviously, either the smell or the feeling woke Daniel, because he groaned and went to take the towel from her hands. "Stop it, Danny"

In a slight daze, he looked from Mr. Miyagi to an annoyed Rory "it stinks, man. What is this?"

"Smell bad. Heal good" Rory rolled her eyes at how he only answered the boy.

Daniel looked to where the man was pouring more of the liquid into the bowl before shifting to look around the room "hey, where did spiderman go?"

"Wow, they really did a number on you...you're being a tad delusional"

He shook his head, but recoiled when the brunette glared down at him after he made her hand slip from the towel on his forehead "No, there was this guy that bailed me out and his sidekick, where did they go?"

"Sidekick" Rory scoffed "I ain't no sidekick...I'm batman"

"It was you two?" Daniel's eyebrows raised to his hairline, shifting the towel on his forehead once again. Rory, slightly fed up, pressed down harder on the towel making him wince. "no way"

"Why no way?" Mr. Miyagi cut in with a mischievous smirk.

"Because...because-"

"Because, uh, because old man?" "Because I'm a girl?" The two spoke at the same time causing Daniel's eyes to widen.

"No, no, no, I think girls can do anything, they're great, spectacular, I love...girls?" Daniel nervously sputtered, Rory laughing at his red face.

She shifted again to put the towel in the bowl and bring it to his face again "Relax Danny, I was only joking. Have my tea, you need it way more than I do"

Rory helped the boy sit up in the cot, sitting down where his legs used to bed so she could hand him the tea. Mr. Miyagi showed him how to hold the handleless cup before bringing it to his lips.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Daniel asked the karate expert, bringing the cup down to hold it with both hands.

The old man shrugged softly, fighting off a smile "Tell you what?"

"That you knew karate"

"You never ask"

Daniel frowned, turning to offer his cup to the distracted girl beside him that seemed to be worn out from the night. She perked up and carefully took the cup with a grateful smile.

He turned back to the awaiting Mr. Miyagi "where'd you learn it from?"

"father" he nodded, still looking straight forward and not at the boy to his left.

The younger boy frowned, remembering the talk they had when he taught him to shape a bonsai tree "I thought he was a fisherman"

Mr. Miyagi placed his cup back down on the small coffee table "In Okinawa, all Miyagi know two thing: fish and karate. Karate come from China, 16th century. Called te. hand. much later, Miyagi ancestor call karate. Empty hand."

"I thought that it came from Buddhist temples and stuff like that"

Rory laughed/coughed into her hand at the boy's cluelessness "I think you watch too much tv"

He nodded, kissing his teeth as he looked to the girl beside him "you sound just like my mother when you say that"

"bet she's a wonderful person. Mama LaRusso is now my favorite LaRusso"

"Does that mean that I used to be your Favorite LaRusso?"

"I never said that"

"You implied it though"

Rory laughed, picking up the soaked towel again to press it to his cheek "shut up"

"Hey, Mr. Miyagi. Have you ever taught anyone?" Daniel winced slightly when the girl applied too much force making her utter a quiet sorry.

"No" he quipped, not really interested in the reason behind the silly question.

The boy tilted his head to the right to make the Lawrence girl's job easier "would you?"

"Depend"

"On what?" he questioned, moving his hand to lay on top of Rory's innocently, though it made the girl blush much to his knowledge.

"Reason" Mr. Miyagi replied, obviously knowing what the boy was hinting at.

Daniel paused to think before leaning forward slightly "How's revenge?"

Mr. Miyagi stopped drinking out of his cup just as Rory slipped her hand out from underneath Daniels and let it fall back onto her lap "Daniel-san, you look revenge that way, start by digging two grave"

He shrugged and leaned his elbow on his knee, still keeping the towel to his face, but missing the hand that was underneath it before (attention-seeking whore-jokes, jokes) "well, at least I have company, right?"

"Well I know it ain't gonna be my grave that you're digging, I'm planning to live until I'm at least 40"

"why specifically 40?"

"So I can live through my 30, flirty, and thriving years obviously. Besides, fighting isn't always the answer to everything, I learned that the hard way"

Daniel rolled his eyes at her sarcastic reply "no offense Aurora, but I don't think you understand my problem"

"Oh, I understand perfectly fine, right Mr. Miyagi?" Rory turned to face the old man who nodded in reply.

"Aurora-san is right, your friend all karate student, eh?" he gestured with his hand, towards the boy.

"Friend?" he questioned before a lightbulb went off "oh yeah, those guys"

Mr. Miyagi nodded and picked his cup up again "problem, attitude"

"No, problem is that I'm getting my ass kicked every other day. That's the problem"

"And whose fault is that" Rory remarked under her breath, thankful that no one had heard it. But by the roll of Daniel's eyes, she knew she wasn't as quiet as she could've been "What? All of you boys have such bad attitude and ego problems...and y'all say that girls are emotional"

Mr. Miyagi sighed and set his cup on his lap to look to the 2 teenagers "karate for defense only"

"That's not what these guys are taught" Rory couldn't help but agree with LaRusso, thinking back to when she was taught by Sensei, all they were taught was strike first and show no mercy.

"I can see" Mr. Miyagi echoed her thoughts "no such thing bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do"

Daniel sunk down in his seat more, saddened by the news "oh great. That solves everything for me. I'll just go down to the school and straighten it out with the teacher. No problem"

"Now use head for something other than target" the old man smiled before reaching over for the tea pot to pour more into his cup, offering some to Rory who graciously nodded.

The boy perked up where he sat to smile nervously at Mr. Miyagi "I was only kidding about that"

"Why kidding?"

He laughed lightly under his breath like it was the stupidest thing he has ever heard (although Rory would have to second that, it was a crazy idea) "because I'll get killed if I show up there"

"And I'll get killed if Johnny sees me show up there with him, so you're on your own"

Mr. Miyagi shrugged, continuing to stare forward "get killed anyway"

Ignoring the girl beside him, Daniel leaned forward with a charming smile "would you go with me?"

That made the man chuckle shortly and shake his head "no, can't"

"Why? You said it was a good idea, right?"

"For you, good idea" he looked to the boy "for me, good idea no get involved"

Daniel gestured to where he sat and to the room "but you already are involved. I mean, you're-"

"Very sorry"

"What?"

Mr. Miyagi went silent as Rory and Daniel shared a confused look, both looking back to see the man staring at the table, obviously done with the conversation. That made Daniel throw the towel on the table and stand up "Well, thanks for nothin' then. Thanks for nothing. Like I didn't have enough problems already. Now I gotta carry your weight too. Don't do me anymore favors, pal"

Rory watched this all happen silently, looking over her shoulder to where Daniel had stormed off to the front door "Come on, don't be like that Danny"

"Daniel-san?"

"What" he snapped, trying to unlock the door before turning back around to the, now standing, man.

He walked forward before coming to a stop right next to the still seated Rory "Okay, I go. We go"

"Hey woah woah woah, slow your roll grandpa. Don't drag me into this"

Once again, Daniel ignored the arguing girl to walk up to the man "Well, excellent. Excellent. Mr. Miyaji-and Rory?-this is great"

"Miyagi"

Daniel, noticing his mistake in pronouncing the man's name nodded enthusiastically "Miyagi. Miyagi. Hey, what kind of belt do you have?"

"Canvas. You like?" Rory felt a smile grace her face at the lost look on the boy's face, watching the man show the belt he had on that was holding his pants up "J.C. Penny. $3.98"

He shook his head, quickly sneaking a look at the grinning girl which made his own lips tug up at the corners "Oh, I didn't mean a belt like that. I meant-"

"In Okinawa" Mr. Miyagi interrupted "belt means no need rope to hold up pants" loud laughter came out of the man who usually didn't show any emotion, making the other two stare in bewilderment.

Daniel, now smiling, pressed the towel onto his cheek again "That's-that's-that's-that's funny"

"Daniel-san"

"What?"

"Karate here" Rory could swear that she heard some type of dramatic music play as the man stared forward with a straight face again. That man pointed at his forehead before pointing at his chest "karate here" lastly he gestured to his belt "karate never here...you understand?"

Daniel nodded, thinking over his words "I think so"

"Good night Daniel-san" Rory let out a small cough causing both their eyes to flicker over to the girl "and goodnight Aurora-san"

"Goodnight, Mr. Miyagi" the two chorused, bowing to the man and making their way over to the front door.

Daniel turned back around as Rory unlocked the door and stood out into the car park that was now dark "Tomorrow morning?"

"Ten o'clock"

The boy muttered it again to himself as if it was would him remember the time "Oh, yeah. Thanks for helping me out with my...friends out there."

Daniel walked outside, hoping to say goodnight to the girl that plagued his dreams only to scan his eyes over an empty parking lot. Sighing in disappointment, the boy slowly walked back to his apartment, still in extreme pain.