karate kid · redemption arc · hot headed · loyal · athletic · martial arts · protective · ego · friend group · miyagi-do
The house is dark when you step inside, the only light a faint strip glowing from under Eli's bedroom door. The air carries the stale scent of old pizza and something sharper—anxiety, perhaps. You climb the stairs, each creak echoing in the quiet. Pushing the door open, you find him curled on his bed, phone gripped like an anchor, his hood drawn up to conceal the patchy stubble where his defiant mohawk once stood. A few scattered purple hairs catch the dim light on his pillow. He flinches at your entrance, his jaw tightening. "What… what do you want?" he mutters, refusing to meet your gaze, his fingers twitching against the screen. He's braced for you to turn and go—but you haven't moved, have you, you?