Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's Monday and Johnny is balancing on a toilet seat in the second-floor boys’ room.

One foot on each side of the bowl, he's alternating between sucking on a quickly dwindling joint, holding the smoke in his lungs for a couple seconds and blowing it out of the tiny window underneath the ceiling.

"Hey! Don't hog the weed." Jimmy complains wedged between the side of the stall and Dutch who's currently got his back turned to Johnny while sorting through his messenger bag.

Tommy is stationed outside the door on look-out duty and Bobby is too serious about his whole ex-degenerate thing to join the fun these days.

"Just a second." Johnny mumbles and takes another drag.

He closes his eyes, feels the burning of the smoke in his lungs and the humming of the building high underneath his skin and the back of his skull, tries to savor the way lightness spreads through his head.

But Johnny’s moment of peace doesn't last. It is interrupted by a squeaking sound that's so nasty, he almost drops the joint into the toilet bowl with surprise.

"Watch out!" Jimmy scolds and shoves Johnny off the toilet, wrestling the joint from his limb fingers as he climbs up to take his place.

Johnny’s buzzed brain takes a couple of seconds to make out the source of the noise but then he sees Dutch scrawling something on the stall door with a fat black marker.

"What are you doing, man?" he demands, annoyed.

"Just wait!" Dutch giggles the giggle of the truly stoned "It's gonna be awesome."

Johnny leans back against the stall and does what he's told, too lazy to argue or do much of anything else anyway, until Dutch puts down his last squeaking letter and steps back.

DANIEL LARUSSO SUCKS fat COCK!! the graffiti reads, with the "fat" kinda squeezed between "sucks" and "cock" like an afterthought.

Johnny stares at the statement for a long moment, then he and Jimmy say "What?" at the same time.

"Daniel LaRusso sucks fat cock." Dutch repeats and underlines his writing for good measure.

"I can read." Johnny says flatly and increasingly confused "But why?"

Dutch blinks first at Johnny and then at Jimmy who uses the opportunity to take another deep pull from the joint.

"It's funny because he looks like he does." Dutch finally offers like he's trying to explain a very simple thing to two very simple boys.

"I don't get it." Jimmy says.

Durch shakes his head at him and then gives Johnny an expectant look.

And the thing is Johnny kinda vaguely gets it, like… in a way maybe, but he's had too much weed to understand what that even means so he waves his hand at Dutch and says "Explain?"

"It's…." Dutch frowns and shakes his head again "He's got those lips, you know."

"Lips." Johnny repeats dumbly.

"Yeah!" Dutch growls, face darkening the way it always does when he talks himself into a fit of rage only this time there's something like desperation in it too "He's got those pink, pouty, cock-sucking lips."

There's a beat of silence in which a shockingly clear vision of Daniel’s lips appears in front of Johnny's inner eyes and hovers there, taunting him with the way they are gently parted like two petals of a rose.

Alright yeah, they sure do look soft and pretty and inviting, they sure do look like a dick would fit between them nicely. Johnny swallows at the thought.

"I don't know." Jimmy says then, and the image in Johnny's head scatters, leaving an insistent feeling of warmth in the pit of his stomach "I don't really look at other dudes' mouths I guess?"

"A mouth is a mouth!" Dutch bristles, balling his fists. "And a cocksucking mouth like LaRusso's is wasted on a guy who doesn't suck cock."

"Okay?" Jimmy shrugs "If you say so."

"If you say so." Dutch parrots his words, upper lip curled into a snarl, voice mocking, and then rants on "Yeah I fucking say so! Don't pretend you don't see it! Don't you… do you never wonder what those lips would look like stretched around your dick? Don't you just wanna grab his stupid hair sometimes and get him on his knees and shove it down his throat until he gags and chokes and drools?"

This time Jimmy is the one who almost lets the joint fall into the toilet as his eyes widen and his jaw visibly drops.

"Wow." Johnny breathes, feels how the lingering warmth in his stomach travels down and tightens into something hot growing under his navel.

He doesn't know what else to say, only knows that Dutch's words kinda slapped him in the face and knocked something loose in him that he didn't realize was there before.

Because the image of Daniel’s lips is back with a vengeance and impossibly more vibrant than before. Johnny tries not to imagine their silky texture brushing the crown of his cock and a pink little tongue teasing the underside of it as he feeds it into Daniel’s mouth and fails.

The heat spreads, rises to his collar and makes his dick twitch with interest where it’s trapped down the leg of his pants. Johnny doesn't dare to move or breathe when he feels it. He just watches Dutch glaring at the two of them with some sort of angry defiance.

Jimmy too is silent for a moment but then he puts the joint down on top of the toilet tank and shifts uncomfortably.

"I don't know Dutch isn't that kinda…uh… " he starts tentatively.

"No! Fuck you, don't you dare call me a fag!" Dutch's face twists into a mask of rage like he's just been waiting for this and has been ready to snap since the moment he realized his joke didn't land "He deserves it! He fucking deserves to get his mouth fucked for what he did! That smug little bitch!"

There's a second where it looks like Dutch is about to tackle Jimmy off the toilet when he takes a threatening step forward, his face crimson with anger and his whole body tense and vibrating like a bowstring.

But then he throws himself around and against the stall wall with a howl and kicks it so hard the entire segment shakes.

"Dutch, calm down!" Johnny tries to reach out and touch the other boy's shoulder but his friend slaps his hand away and then drives his fist against the wall for good measure.

"I wanna cum on his face." Dutch groans, sounding pained, his shoulders shaking.

Johnny's face feels hot, his jeans are too tight suddenly. It's like Dutchs despair is contagious, and it takes all of Johnny's self-restraint not to press the heel of his hand against his filling dick to find some much-needed relief.

He wonders if Dutch feels like that every time he looks at LaRusso and if so, what that would say about himself.

The moment stretches on, awkward silence building between the three boys.

Through the haze in his brain Johnny starts thinking they should've just laughed it up when they had the chance. They should've just went 'haha that'll show LaRusso' or something.But things have been different since the tournament, the world is not the same, they are not the same and neither is Daniel and Dutch's words scratch off the deceitful layer of normalcy to reveal something underneath Johnny never thought he'd have to face.

Johnny has no idea what it is about LaRusso that makes everything he knows fall apart slowly as soon as the boy touches it and a wave of helplessness and sympathy for Dutch surges through him. But before he can act on it, before he can say something, he is saved, at least for the time being, by the slam of the bathroom door opening and then closing when Tommy storms in.

"The hell is with that noise? You assholes wanna get caught?!" he hisses as he squeezes into the stall with them, shouldering Johnny out of the way.

"It's fine. Dutch is just having a reaction to the weed." Jimmy says quickly and waves it off, passing what is left of the joint to Tommy.

It doesn't escape Johnny that he looks pretty glad about Tommy's intervention and if he's honest about it, he can relate. On all levels.

Johnny clears his throat.

"Yeah. We're not buying from that guy again, right buddy?" he says, turning towards Dutch and slapping him on the back while trying to adjust himself discreetly with the other hand.

Dutch just nods, tendons in his jaw jumping as he grits his teeth. Johnny thinks maybe the corners of his eyes are a little wet. He can almost taste his shame, an acidic tang somewhere in the back of his throat, but he can’t touch it. He can’t do that to Dutch, Johnny knows.

"Whatever." Tommy grumbles "Just don't drag me down with you, you idiots."

He takes the joint and switches places with Jimmy.

Johnny gladly takes the chance to book it out of the stall before the others can notice that he's sporting a half-chub in his Calvins. Tomorrow, he can pretend like none of this ever happened.

"I have to get something from my locker." he shouts over his shoulder on his way out, hoping his face isn't red enough to give him away. "See you guys in class."

Johnny makes it to his locker just in time for the bell telling him recess is over and hastily grabs his largest binder for strategic placement. He kinda prides himself on his manly assets in the downstairs department because girls like it and guys envy him but that also means that he's definitely too big to hide what's going on behind the zipper of his jeans right now. He silently curses Dutch for his out-of-hand imagination when he heads down the hallway to his next class.

One boring lesson is enough to get Johnny's rampant libido back under control but the mental image of Daniel on his knees in front of him, lips firmly closed around his length, sucking him down and looking up at him with dark, watery eyes, haunts Johnny for the rest of the day.

Chapter Text

Tuesday, Johnny is trying to take a piss when Daniel LaRusso jumps him.

One moment he's thinking of waterfalls, trying to block out the absolute lack of privacy that the row of urinals suffers, and the next there's a skinny, angry Italian hovering behind him like a miniature thundercloud.

"Did you do it?" Daniel demands, his voice too loud, echoing off the naked tiles.

The two other kids in the boys' room have enough common sense to scurry out the door when they hear him, leaving the two of them alone. It seems Johnny is not the only one with a reputation for getting into fights now.

Johnny ignores the question and focuses on the task he came here for. If LaRusso wants a piece of him he's gonna have to wait until he’s done. He says nothing, only casts a quick, dismissive look over his shoulder.

Daniel's standing there like he's ready to throw fists, his entire face scrunched up in a scowl. It would be almost comical, his tendency to confront Johnny on the loo, if it wasn’t so annoying.

"Hey, I asked you something!" Daniel's frown deepens as he points an accusing finger at the stall closest to the end of the wall. “Did you write that thing in there?”

The graffiti, of course. Daniel didn’t have to point it out like that for Johnny to know what he means. The entire school is whispering about it. Daniel LaRusso sucks fat cock is a giant success, mostly because people love gossip and Daniel doesn’t have many friends. As a matter of fact, he doesn't have any friends except for the girl he's dating.

"Do you mind?" Johnny says and nods at his hand that's still holding his cock. "Or did you come for a show?"

Daniel gasps and flushes a bright red when his eyes are drawn to Johnny's dick. It's a little like watching a train wreck and Johnny can't help the smirk forming on his face when he sees all the tension draining out of LaRusso's body at once and his eyes going big as he stumbles back a couple of steps, stuttering out a hushed sorry.

But he doesn't leave. That’s the problem with LaRusso, he can never just leave well enough alone; he always has to poke and prod and get into Johnny’s face. It’s almost like he wants to get his ass kicked.

The thought kinda sours his amusement with irritation and Johnny flushes his smirk down the drain, shakes off, buttons up and turns around.

"You seem a little obsessed with me, LaRusso." he jerks his chin at Daniel and puts a hand on his hip, towering over the shorter boy easily "What makes you think I did that?"

"Who else would it be?" Daniel snaps, the blush still fresh and vivid tinting his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

Part of Johnny thinks it's funny, that he's never seen LaRusso this flustered before and that Dutch would be insanely pleased if he knew his scribble on the stall wall got such a rise out of him. But another part, one that's more hidden and a little more twisted, thinks it's cute and that he doesn't want to share this view with anyone but especially not Dutch.

“Say something!” LaRusso presses, visibly exasperated by Johnny's silence and sticks his lower lip out in a pout.

His mouth is even pinker than in Johnny's memory. Maybe it's the blush that does it. Johnny knows he shouldn't go there, that it's dangerous terrain, but he can't help but wonder.

"Alright." he shrugs finally, acting all nonchalant. "You caught me. What you gonna do about it, LaRusso? Next All Valley is eleven months away and don't think I'll fall for the same trick twice."

Something complicated happens in Daniel's face, he seems torn between a row of complex emotions, his big brown eyes flickering between Johnny’s, looking for some answer he doesn’t have the right to demand, but at the end of it, he simply deflates. He looks a little disappointed, even.

"Why did you write that?" Daniel sighs, crossing his thin arms in front of his chest and touching his elbows. “I thought we had a truce."

A truce. The word alone makes bile rise in Johnny’s throat and looking at LaRusso standing there claiming it while hugging himself like a petulant child has his knuckles itching for blood.

Daniel is so skinny and frail-looking, too delicate, too pretty for a boy. It adds insult to injury that a kid like him just rolled up one fine day and took everything Johnny had, his girlfriend, his title, he even took Cobra Kai from him. None of this would've happened if the little punk had just stayed in New Jersey.

And now he wants that too. A truce, and the Cobras to respect it, when he's prancing around school with Ali on his arm and Johnny's trophy in his room. And for what? Honor? Mercy? For the guy who took him down with an illegal kick?

The anger in Johnny’s veins builds with every second ticking by until it’s bright-hot and blinding and Johnny bursts with it.

"Because you look like it!" he snarls finally, venom dripping from his tongue.

The words are a strike that lands harder than Johnny’s fist ever could. Daniel reels under them, takes another step back, too shell-shocked to remember that he knows karate now. There’s not even a hint of self-defense, just a spooked deer at Johnny’s mercy.

And it triggers some kind of hunting reflex in Johnny, the way Daniel still looks like easy prey with his wounded eyes and his slender neck and parted lips. So Johnny follows, closing the distance between them, and grabs his chin, pushes that pout back with his thumb.

The soft flesh gives under the pressure and Johnny's finger slips deeper into Daniel's mouth, scraping the top of the lower row of his teeth before it settles on Daniel's silky, wet tongue.

The sensation is sensual, intimate, the implication depraved in a way that sets Johnny’s skin on fire and burns away all rational thought. All Johnny can think of, all he knows at that moment is that he didn't wash his hands so Daniel must taste him, the salt of his skin and the musk of his sex.

It gets Johnny hard so fast he goes dizzy from it. He presses forward into Daniel's space, all instinct and morbid attraction.

Daniel makes a gurgling sound and his jaw starts working, his teeth digging into the underside of Johnny's thumb. But Johnny is stronger, holds his mouth open, presses the pad of his finger deeper against Daniel's tongue and walks him backwards into the open stall until his back hits the tiled wall behind the toilet.

And for the first time since the tournament Johnny remembers that in the real world where there are no rules and no referees, he can still kick Daniel's ass seven ways to Sunday. For the first time Johnny feels normal again. It's frightening and exhilarating at the same time.

"You stared at my cock like you want to suck it." he sneers into LaRusso's face as he crowds him harder against the wall, cages him in with his body. “That what you came here for? That's why you wanted to know so bad?”

Daniel starts struggling, angry sounds of protest raging in his throat as he tries to push Johnny off but he’s trapped and defenseless. Johnny catches both of his wrists with his free hand easily and locks them against his chest. Then he tilts LaRusso’s face up, forces him to look into his eyes and stills when he meets a depth there he cannot fathom.

Daniel has the darkest eyes Johnny has ever seen. It’s like an abyss is opening up in front of him and swallows all his sanity.

"I'd let you." Johnny confesses into it, grip on Daniel's chin loosening, thumb slipping out of his mouth leaving a glistening trail of spit across Daniel's lower lip and chin as it travels down. "I want you to."

Daniel is panting, lips still parted like an invitation and blush deepening but holding Johnny's gaze brazen and terrified, never backing down.

Johnny leans in, caught up in the maelstrom of Daniel’s eyes.

"I want you." he says into the deep red darkness of Daniel's mouth and then closes his lips over it to chase his own taste there.

To Johnny’s disappointment, Daniel doesn't taste like much except for, well, mouth and maybe some residue soda-pop sweetness in his spit. But Johnny’s tongue is met with warmth and yielding softness as he kisses LaRusso deeply.

There’s a moment, where things just feel right and perfect and the storm of rage underneath Johnny’s skin calms. There’s a moment where Daniel tilts his head and rises to his toes to return the kiss with greedy force. But LaRusso wouldn’t be LaRusso if he didn’t put up a fight and Johnny gets a painful reminder when Daniel sinks his teeth into his lower lip and pushes him off.

That up close there’s not enough leverage to get more than an arm’s length between them but that’s more than plenty of space for LaRusso to draw in a furious breath and wipe his mouth, his eyes flickering and burning.

“I hate you!” Daniel froths “I hate you so much!”

Johnny touches his throbbing lip, his fingers come away wet but not red. Daniel didn’t break skin but Johnny is still kind of impressed. He lets out a cackling laugh.

“The feeling is mutual, LaRusso.”

“Yeah? You think you can intimidate me? Or humiliate me like this? After everything?” Daniel says, voice quiet, calm, as he steps closer, just another dance move in their eternal back and forth “You think your dick scares me?”

Johnny has never been afraid of Daniel and he isn’t now but this seething intensity makes his heart beat faster and his body tingle with excitement. Simply beating Daniel up has never felt as satisfying, this right here is a lot more fun.

“You’re sexy when you’re angry.” Johnny mocks “But if you’re that brave why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?”

“Fuck you.” Daniel says.

Johnny opens his mouth for a comeback, but his snarky remark dies on his tongue as Daniel’s hands shoot forward to grab the waistband of his pants and thumb open the top button.

For a second, Johnny freezes when LaRusso rips open his fly and tugs the fabric down to expose the very obvious tent in his underwear. But then he realizes Daniel is really going for it and blindly grapples for the stall door to slam it shut and locks them in.

“You’re so hard.” Daniel smirks down at Johnny’s erection “This stuff get you goin’? You think about me blowing you a lot?”

“Maybe.” Johnny admits, his blood rushing in his ears “You gonna do it or you gonna pussy out?”

“I told you I’m not scared of your dick.” Daniel scoffs and peels back the elastic of Johnny’s briefs.

Johnny’s cock springs free, hard and ready and already leaking at the tip. For the third time in a few minutes Daniel’s eyes widen, but he catches himself quickly and sinks to his knees with a defiant frown.

Johnny is half ready to bust a nut right there, right then, just from having Daniel in front of him like this and his wildest fantasies within short reach. He gets it now, Dutch wanting to cum on his face, thinks there’s probably nothing more satisfying than painting Daniel’s features with jizz.

Except maybe there is, because LaRusso picks that moment to wrap a hand around Johnny’s dick and leans in. Johnny is straight up staring now, absolutely mesmerized by the way Daniel wets his lips and his throat works as he swallows nervously.

Holding his breath Johnny watches LaRusso zero in on his cock and open his mouth. Carefully, Daniel closes his lips around the head of his dick and suckles softly, the tip of his little tongue shyly feeling its way underneath, testing the waters. It’s so fucking sweet that it’s almost obscene, like a take from some schoolgirl porn. Johnny’s dick pulses and he has to stop himself from grabbing a fistful of Daniel’s hair to shove him down.

He doesn’t have to anyway because Daniel seems to have developed a taste for it and unlocks his jaw to shove Johnny’s cock deeper. Heat and saliva envelop him and Johnny lets out a groan as he bumps against the roof of his mouth and leaves a trail of precum there.

But Daniel is too greedy, his throat constricts around Johnny as he takes too much at once. He gags and then has to pull off when goes into a coughing fit from choking on his own spit.

“Easy, LaRusso.” Johnny smirks pleasure singing in his veins from knowing he’s too big even for Daniel’s big mouth.

“Shut up. I know what I’m doing.” Daniel wheezes and rubs at the tears that have formed in the corner of his eyes with the heel of his hand.

Johnny is pretty sure he doesn’t, that if anything this is Daniel’s first time getting this up close and personal with another guy’s cock. Like, he’s not great at it but that almost makes it hotter, LaRusso’s innocence paired with his absolute determination to suck him off.

Daniel’s little bird-bone fingers twitch around him as he goes in for another try, mouth wider than before and tongue sticking out to welcome Johnny’s cock. He takes maybe half of it but makes a frustrated little sound around Johnny’s hard flesh when his throat protests the intrusion again.

Johnny can’t take it, knows he’s gonna come on the spot if he has to watch one more second of Daniel gorging himself on his dick like that. But he wants to savor this, wants to indulge in the moment.

“LaRusso…” he says, his voice sounding embarrassingly wrecked.

Daniel stops and looks up at him still latched onto his cock. Johnny reaches out to cup his chin, fingers a little shaky, which makes the touch a lot more gentle than intended. But Daniel’s lashes flutter and his doe eyes soften and that makes him even prettier than in any fantasy. So when Johnny guides his head into a better angle he does it with more tenderness and reverence than he’s ever shown any girl.

Johnny holds him like that, almost like lovers do, and slowly starts fucking Daniel’s mouth. It’s better like that. Easier for the both of them and Daniel takes to it like a natural, falls into a slow tantalizing rhythm with him as he relaxes at Johnny’s feet.

There’s silence between them, as the moment melts around them, the enclosed space of the stall only filled with their labored breathing and the small wet sounds of Daniel’s mouth on Johnny’s dick.

Johnny bites his lip, finds the pain of the bruise Daniel has left there with his teeth before, when he feels the tell-tale tingle in his balls and the tightening in his groin as his climax approaches. He has half a mind to warn Daniel but then changes it because he too is greedy, he too wants everything from LaRusso.

And so Johnny gives himself over to sweet pleasure. Surrendering just this once, he throws his head back and draws in a ragged breath as his cock throbs one last time and he comes all over Daniel’s tongue, endorphins sparkling behind his eyes.

Below him, LaRusso makes a startled noise and pulls back so abruptly, some of Johnny’s cum slips down his lips and spills over the front of his shirt. With a disgusted face Daniel spits what’s left into the toilet bowl.

“You jerk!” he complains, wiping cum and drool off his chin.“That tasted gross!”

Johnny tugs his softening cock back into his underwear and sags back against the wall of the stall, laughing softly, bones feeling like jelly.

“That wasn’t too bad, LaRusso.” he leers, but there’s no real bite to it when he slaps a hand atop of Dutch’s graffiti on the door next to him and continues “Guess what this says is true after all.”

Daniel narrows his eyes.

“Stop bragging.” he says, lips splitting into a grin “It’s not that fat.”

Chapter Text

Wednesday is pizza day at the cafeteria and if Johnny has mastered an art besides the Way of the Fist then it's acquiring enough slices and navigating them back to his table before the cheese turns solid.

The key here is strategy and making sure you're there when they bring out a fresh batch.

Thankfully, this is where being two-times All Valley champion literally puts him on top of the food chain because Johnny hasn’t seen the back of a queue or had to fight for the Cobra’s favorite table in years. And there are no audible complaints or any sign of resistance today either when he grabs a freshman by the collar, pulls him out of the way, and takes his spot at the top of the line.

At least that's what he thinks, while he loads up his plate with steaming hot pizza, until he hears a whispering and then a giggling behind him.

He turns his head to frown at the girls on his right but they just blush and giggle some more. Johnny figures they're probably into him and decides to pay it no mind but then two people further down Brad Mertens from the hockey team says "You sure you don't wanna eat something else, Johnny?" and the whole line erupts into laughter.

It feels like shock, anger and confusion have been mixed into a giant humiliation cocktail that is now dunked over Johnny’s head like a bucket of ice water. For the fraction of a second, he just stands there like a goddamn idiot, tongs still in hand and cheese dripping on his tray, trying to make sense of the situation.

Today is pizza day, why would Johnny eat anything other than pizza? And why the hell does everyone suddenly think Brad is funny? Johnny is pretty sure the guy has brain damage, he's never heard him say more than two sentences in one go.

But Johnny isn’t some nerd-ass loser who overthinks stuff, not when his trusted companion fury rears its head and lights him up like a bonfire. Nobody, absolutely nobody, laughs at Johnny Lawrence unless they have a death wish.

Johnny drops the tongs and bares his teeth, squares his shoulder and straightens his back to show off his full height.

"Do we have a problem, Mertens?" he snarls, letting his knuckles crack in an obvious thread. “You wanna take this outside?”

"No, no! I just heard you had peaches on the menu." Brad says, holding up both hands, and the crowd around them laughs some more.

Johnny’s confusion and rage only grow, he takes a step forward, fully prepared to serve Mertens a plate of homemade ass-kicking for lunch, when a hand lands on his shoulder.

Whipping around, ready to take on whoever dared to interrupt him now, Johnny meets Bobby’s calm eyes and stills.

"Leave it alone, Johnny. They're not worth it." his friend says, shaking his head, that hand on his shoulder a warm anchor in the sea of chaos that is Johnny’s mind.

Letting out a harsh breath, Johnny feels his rage settle into a milder, less explosive form of annoyance. He un-clenches his jaw and nods. Bobby is right, Brad isn’t worth his attention and especially not wasting a perfectly hot serving of pizza.

He turns around again to give Mertens a scowl.

“Today is your lucky day, hockey boy. Don't forget it.” he says, and then shovels all the pizza on his tray he can fit, making sure there’s just enough left for the girls behind him, so that when Brad gets his turn he won’t be laughing anymore.

Lunch that day costs Johnny 10$ but it’s worth every cent.

Besides, as soon as they sit down with the other Cobras the pizza pile quickly gets reduced by 5 pairs of hungry hands and over stuffing his face with cheesy goodness and shooting the shit with his friends Johnny almost forgets about the incident just now.

For a few minutes, the world is okay and everything is normal.

Of course, these are the type of moments that tend to come right before things go sideways.

Johnny is in the middle of peeling some pepperoni off his pizza, idly listening to Tommy talk about the upcoming Rambo movie, when Bobby casually and completely out of the blue asks “So are you guys messing with Daniel LaRusso again?”

There’s a beat of guilty silence and then all of them deny it at once.

“Not me.” Johnny lies, “Noooo way!” Tommy croons, “We haven’t done anything!” Dutch claims and Jimmy, whose cheeks are close to bursting with pizza, just shakes his head emphatically.

"Oh, can it! I know Dutch wrote the graffiti, I'd recognize those chicken scratches anywhere!" Bobby groans and rolls his eyes "I'm asking if you started beating him up again."

There’s another round of noisy denial and vows of absolute innocence that have Bobby shaking his head in disappointment.

“I can’t believe you guys.” he sighs, defeated.

"What makes you think we beat him up?" Johnny pops the pepperoni in his mouth and takes another bite of pizza, trying to fake nonchalance when Bobby levels him with a good, hard look.

"Well, he came to Biology yesterday looking like someone had punched him in the mouth and Ali said he acted weird for the rest of the day.” Bobby explains, raising a brow at Johnny “And I just feel it in my gut that you had something to do with it."

The pizza bite lodges itself in Johnny’s throat and he’s almost relieved of having to reply to anything ever again when he chokes around it. His coughing fit says more than words anyway.

"Oh God!" Bobby sighs "Really, Johnny!? We made a promise to leave him alone."

"I didn't, I swear I didn't hit him." Johnny wheezes.

"You swear? You swear you didn't do anything to LaRusso?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die, man."

It’s not even a lie, Johnny tells himself, because when it comes down to it he technically wasn’t doing anything to Daniel as much as he was doing things with him.

Things that kept him awake last night. Things that played in an endless loop in his head this morning when he rubbed one out under the shower. And then another one after breakfast. Things that would make Johnny’s face burn right now if he wasn’t beet red already from almost choking to death on his pizza.

God, that mouth… Johnny’s thoughts start derailing but Bobby chooses this moment to deal another blow.

"Then how do you explain that thing in the second-floor bathroom?" Bobby asks, crossing his arms.

“What thing?” Johnny’s heart skips a beat thinking that Bobby is really onto him, that he knows about his little blowjob adventure with Daniel, that he’s been caught red-handed.

Sweat begins to form on his forehead but then Tommy interrupts them by saying "Oh you mean Johnny eats…", only to promptly shut his mouth again when Jimmy kicks him in the shin under the table.

"Johnny eats what?" Johnny asks, realizing he’s the only one at school, not in on some joke at his expense.

"Oh shit." Dutch says, dropping a half-eaten slice of pizza "He hasn't seen it yet."

“Hasn’t seen what?!” Johnny demands with growing dread, jumping off the bench.

“Johnny, calm down.” Bobby tries, reaching out to pull him back into his seat.

But Johnny isn’t listening, he tears himself loose and is already on his way to the second-floor boy’s room.

The cafeteria crowd parts for him like the Red Sea, murmuring and quick glances following him as he makes his way through the building and up the stairs.

Knowing exactly where to find the missing piece of today’s puzzle, Johnny finally bulldozers past a few lower-classmen coming through the bathroom door.

Of course, Johnny’s suspicion proves correct. In the same stall as yesterday, his third-favorite weed-smoking spot, in even bigger letters, right above Daniel LaRusso sucks fat dick, there’s a new graffiti.

JOHNNY LAWRENCE EATS ASS!!!, it says, with the crude artistic rendering of what Johnny suspects is an anus, but honestly looks more like a sun with a lot of wonky rays, next to it.

For a long, excruciating moment, blood rushing in his ears and heart jackhammering in his chest, Johnny stares at it. Then, his brain rage-quits on him and he blacks out.

Next thing he knows he's out in the hall, his entire body vibrating with anger but also purpose, razor-sharp and crystal-clear. He’s gonna find LaRusso, gonna hunt him down, gonna catch him alive.

Oh yes, Johnny is coming for him.

It only takes a few minutes of scouring the premises until Johnny finally spots Daniel, bobbing down the corridor leading past the gym and towards the science lab, that bouncy step and fluffy hair unmistakable even in a sea of students.

Johnny licks his lips, feels a spike of adrenaline in his blood and follows, no stalks, no prowls after him.

This is how Johnny can tell LaRusso is not really a fighter, at least not yet. He lacks the instincts to sense danger is coming that are cultivated by years of training. Completely unaware that Johnny is on his heels and ready to strike, Daniel is chatting away happily with a heavyset boy Johnny vaguely remembers trying out for the soccer team.

So Daniel does have friends. The realization catches Johnny by surprise and as he watches Daniel’s easy smiles and laughter at the other boy’s quips, something ugly and bitter starts churning in his stomach alongside his hunger for vengeance.

He hates it. Johnny hates seeing Daniel like this and he hates feeling like this for seeing him like this and he’s going to do something about it.

His opportunity comes when the two separate and Daniel takes a right into another corridor.

As soon as he's around the corner Johnny makes a dash forward. He gets an arm around LaRusso's waist and with a clean sweep under his feet knocks him off balance, catches him, spins him around and pushes him through the fire exit coming up on the left, before Daniel can even think about getting one of his Miyagi-do blocks up.

“The hell, man?!” LaRusso shouts, thrashing in Johnny’s hold “Get offa me!”

No way. Johnny thinks, gritting his teeth, and drags Daniel across the landing of the fire escape towards the edge, trying to trap him against the railing there. He damn near succeeds too but LaRusso is a flexible little thing and he squirms and twists in his arms until he finally finds an opening and jams an elbow straight into Johnny’s ribs.

The air rushes out of Johnny with a loud ‘oof’ and his grip on LaRusso loosens, giving him enough room to escape.

As light on his feet as ever, Daniel dances away a few steps and out of Johnny’s reach, then he spreads his arms.

“What’s wrong with you, huh? What are you jumping me for?” he wants to know, his dark eyes sparkling with anger “You made me drop my books you big brute!”

“What’s wrong with me?” Johnny gasps, holding his side because those skinny elbows are fucking sharp “What’s wrong with you? You think the crap you wrote on that stall is funny?"

A cocky grin spreads across Daniel's face.

“Yeah, I think it's pretty funny you're finally getting a taste of your own medicine, actually.” he chuckles and puts one hand on his hip. "Doesn't feel so great when you're on the other side, does it?"

It sure as hell doesn’t but after yesterday Johnny kinda thought they were… Actually, he has no idea what he thought they were but one thing is for sure, he didn’t anticipate this. He’s both mad at himself and mad at LaRusso for being such an obnoxious little shit.

"It’s funny you should say that." Johnny sneers at him, weaponizing the strange bloom of hurt in his chest, "You didn't seem to mind it that much yesterday."

Daniel visibly bristles at Johnny’s words, both their tempers flaring so easily, stringing each other up, higher and higher.

"Yeah? Well if you didn't find me to live up to what it says about you on that stall door, unlike some of us, you better not run your mouth."

Johnny is speechless for a moment as it occurs to him that Daniel counts what happened yesterday as a win for himself, when clearly Johnny came out on top of their little spat.

"Do you think I'm not gonna kick your ass when you pull shit like this just because of some dumb promise? Just because you sucked my dick once?" he hisses.

"You started this! And if you break the truce that makes you a coward AND a liar." Daniel snaps back just as sharply. “Don’t pick on me if you can’t handle the consequences.”

The most annoying part of this is that LaRusso is right. And normally Johnny would just punch him until it feels like he's wrong but that's the dilemma, he can't without proving him right again. The little punk is going to give him a headache.

Johnny steps forward, nostrils flaring and fists clenching but with nowhere to take his anger.

"So this is some game of chicken we're playing here?” he asks “Is this your idea of a dare LaRusso?”

Daniel barely even flinches, instead, he too takes a step in Johnny’s direction, bringing them close again.

“I don’t know Lawrence, does it feel like a dare to you because you’re too pussy for it?” he gloats, something sly and sharp glinting in the depth of his eyes.

Johnny scoffs out a laugh in sheer disbelief. He’s almost impressed, even, to have his own words flung back at him this way. The crane kick seems to be not the only dirty trick Daniel has up his sleeve. But if he thinks Johnny hasn’t played the intimidation game longer and better, he’s wrong. This is exactly Johnny’s league.

“Fine. I’ll play.” he moves closer towards LaRusso again, shrinking the distance between them down to a few inches “But you gotta tell me one thing.”

“And what’s that?” Daniel asks, tipping his chin up in defiance, always so keen on rising to any bait thrown at him.

Johnny takes a couple of seconds to simply enjoy the pleasure of smirking down on LaRusso menacingly, because he can and because from up here Daniel looks eager and hungry and like he needs the friction just as much as Johnny does.

Then, when he feels like the tension between them has reached a level where it’s almost tangible, Johnny strikes.

“You gotta tell me exactly what you think that’s gonna do for you.” he says.

Johnny waits for the shock reaction, the burst of spite, that cocky New Jersey attitude, but it never comes. Instead, a blush blossoms on LaRusso’s cheeks and then spreads across his whole face and down his neck.

Oh. Johnny’s breath catches in his throat. He’s thought about it.

The realization sends Johnny’s brain spiraling hard and fast because if Daniel has imagined it then Johnny can’t help but imagine it either. LaRusso's little asshole. LaRusso on his hands and knees, thighs spread in a way that Johnny can see the small pucker between his buttcheeks. Larusso, offering himself up for a taste.

And that’s kinda gross but also kinda hot and it makes Johnny feel all sorts of ways that are not helpful at all right now because going by the way Daniel goes impossibly redder and bites his lip Johnny just knows the other boy can tell exactly what he’s thinking.

And maybe that should be a cue to back out before it's too late and they both stagger too deeply into this mess, but Johnny isn't a quitter. There's no fear in him when he allows his gaze to be drawn to Daniel's mouth once more, thinking about how sweet and good it was and how he wants that again. Will want it every time he sets eyes on those lips.

How Daniel wants him too. How thrilling it feels to be wanted by LaRusso.

Strike first. Johnny reminds himself and reaches out to cup Daniel's chin.

Daniel’s lashes flutter at the touch, curving dark and long against the rosy apples of his cheeks. They're so pretty but for some reason, Johnny thinks of Venus flytraps.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asks when LaRusso stays quiet and just keeps looking at Johnny with those dangerous eyes.

“No.” Daniel says and gives him a coy little smile. “See, I just don't know how to explain that it’s more about what you can do for me, Johnny.”

There are so many things Johnny can imagine doing for LaRusso, so many ways to entangle himself further, to draw the net around the two of them closer.

“You really think I’m gonna fall for this.” he breathes.

A small hand lands on Johnny's chest, delicate fingers pressed against his heart, trapping it beneath them.

“I think," Daniel says, swaying forward, into him, "you came straight to me because you have something to prove.”

“Is that so?” Johnny's free hand finds LaRusso's waist and pulls him closer, tighter.

“Uh-huh.” Daniel nods, tilting his head back and baring his throat.

Johnny swallows thickly, mouth watering at the blatant invitation. Resisting LaRusso has never felt more pointless.

He bends his head just as Daniel's lips fall apart to welcome his kiss, but before their lips can meet the door behind them flies open and Dutch barges through it.

All three of them freeze instantly and for a second time today Johnny feels like he's being doused in ice water.

For a moment that seems to last both a heartbeat and an infinity, the world is suspended in the most intense awkwardness Johnny has ever experienced.

Out of all of them, Dutch is the first to recover, narrowing his eyes, shifting looks between Johnny and Daniel who are still locked in an almost-kiss.

"What the hell is going on?!" he demands, voice vibrating at a frequency of rage Johnny's well acquainted with.

"Nothing." Johnny says and lets his hands fall away from LaRusso.

"Nothing." Daniel says and steps out of Johnny's arms.

And just like that the spell is broken.

Dutch's face very clearly says that he doesn't buy one bit of what Johnny and Daniel are selling but if he has any suspicion of what was about to happen between them, he doesn't act on it.

Instead, Johnny watches him wrestle down his emotions and then proceed to pick up Daniel's books that are scattered across the ground with a stoic face.

Without any further comment, he trusts them at LaRusso and then turns to Johnny who wonders if the body snatchers have gotten to his friend at some point between lunch and now.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." Dutch says "Class is starting. Let’s go."

Johnny shares a perplexed look with LaRusso who's clutching his books, half-petrified with surprise.

But there's nothing he can do without giving the two of them away, except to follow Dutch, who walks through the door and back into the hallway.

Part of Johnny thinks that maybe he's been saved from making a grave mistake and yet, something makes him hesitate on the threshold and look back over his shoulder.

He catches Daniel watching him, feels a strange tugging in his chest like a current that is trying to drag him out into the open sea.

"This isn't over, LaRusso." he says but it's not quite a threat.

"You know it." Daniel smiles.

And even though that isn’t quite a promise either, Johnny’s heart flutters.