Chapter Text
Daniel took his bike for a short ride after moving into his new apartment complex.
He was pissed that he hadn’t gotten a choice in anything. That he was just another piece of luggage that his mother loaded into the car to take with her across the country when he spotted someone on the beach he was biking past.
He’d been invited to the beach, just that was tomorrow and he wasn’t really in the mood for meeting people yet.
But standing on the beach was a guy his age, the sunlight sparkling off the water and his back was turned towards Daniel.
Daniel would’ve thought, from how still the guy was standing that he was taking a piss, but it seemed instead as Daniel inched his bike forward, head turned, curious, that the guy was fishing.
Now if Ma had moved them to some one carriage town in the middle of nowhere he might’ve expected to find the local teens fishing for fun.
But LA?
Sure it wasn’t Newark or New York, but still Hollywood was around somewhere, movie stars and glitz and glam and film and TV. And yet here this guy was fishing.
Just a little bit further and he’d get a better glimpse.
His heart pounded in his ears.
So loud he couldn’t think of anything.
He caught a glimpse of blonde hair under the ridiculous sun hat the guy was wearing, and he was shirtless, toned, his flannel wrapped around his waist almost like a skirt as he stood in ridiculously short shorts and flip flops.
Daniel crashed his bike.
He went ass over his handlebars, landing in the sand with a loud curse.
The guy who’d been fishing turned, shoved his pole into the sand and ran over reaching to help him up, moving over the sand like it was as easy as walking on cement.
And he was truly blonde.
Had Daniel ever seen a blonde in his life?
Real life?
Not just in TV shows and movies?
He was pretty sure he hadn’t.
The guy even had blue eyes.
And it was worse up close, the way his heart was racing, the way he felt hot.
The guy reached out.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, it was just, stupid,” Daniel said waving off the hand held out to him, scrambling up, embarrassment flooding through him that he’d made such an awful first impression. “Why are you fishing?”
It came off harsher than he meant as he desperately tried to right his bike, the guy helping him heave it back onto the sidewalk.
“Uh a friend taught me so sometimes…I dunno, I just like it.”
He acted like he was embarrassed, face a light pink and Daniel nodded, a curt snap of his head before he got on his bike and peddled away as fast as he could.
He was such a fucking idiot.
He hated this place so much.
He kept biking, not really paying attention to where he was going.
He had tons of time to kill.
He just wanted to be as far away from his own embarrassing mishap as possible.
He stopped for a moment, to breathe, to take a break, his heart racing when he noticed a sign for karate.
He’d taken karate back in Newark and had really enjoyed it and hoped he’d find a place in the area.
It felt like destiny.
He parked his bike and poked his head in through the door. There was a class in session, boys in gi’s standing in neat rows shouting and moving in sync.
The teacher was walking around in a black gi barking orders.
He spotted Daniel, gave him a curious look then nodded his head towards an open seat.
Daniel walked in, taking the seat.
He watched them move, practice, and Daniel recognized just a few moves from his YMCA classes but little else.
It was mostly new.
Which was so much more exciting.
Curious eyes studied him but he didn’t let it bother him. The teacher dismissed the students and they filed off to go change and he waited till they left before turning and walking across the mats to Daniel.
“Are you interested in karate?”
“Yes sir,” Daniel said.
“This isn’t some easy class. This is for champions. We’ve won many tournaments over the last few years. Different students won those trophies. I create winners, is that what you are? Can you put in the hard work? Follow orders? I don’t train wimps.”
“Yes sir,” Daniel said.
He’d heard the students say it, over and over and it seemed the right way to go because the man smiled.
“Where are you from?”
“Newark New Jersey.”
“And what brings you to the Valley?”
“My ma and I just moved here.”
“It’s just you and your mother?”
Daniel would probably never admit he noticed, but the man’s face seemed to soften for a moment, like he was restudying Daniel.
“Yes sir. We moved to an apartment complex in Reseda.”
“Your name?”
“Daniel LaRusso.”
The man nodded walking over to one of the trophy cases and pulling out a folder, grabbing a sheet of paper and handing it to Daniel.
“If you would like to be a cobra Daniel, just be here at the next class on that schedule. I offer a sliding scale for classes. You will call me, if you choose to return, sensei Kreese.”
Daniel nodded, bowing his head the way he’d seen the students do, the way he’d done with his teacher in Newark and then left with his form and his bike.
He felt a little bit better about being in LA.