❛ everybody deserves to be humbled every once in a while. ❜

ROBBY WAS UNSURE OF IF AYANE actually trusted him or not.

He did not say he could blame her, as Robby was not completely sold on her either.

But Ayane showed him up, as she always did, and she was steadily earning the respect of all of the Cobra Kai students.

Almost all of them, anyway.

"Ayane."

She paused where she stood in the middle of the dojo, turning to Robby with her face contorted.

"What?"

Robby pursed his lips. "Can we talk for a second?"

Ayane glanced over at the other Cobra Kai students, tapping her foot. Reluctantly, she followed Robby into the back room.

"What is it?" she asked, folding her arms.

Robby faced her, glancing down at the ground. "Are you and Miguel done for?"

She swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling dry. No one could know about her and Miguel. No one.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, dropping her head. "Why? You wanna rub it in my face?"

Robby scoffed, rolling his eyes. "No. I'm... sorry."

Ayane looked up, raising an eyebrow. Of course he was sorry, he always apologized to her. But never the person he should have apologized to most.

"But I think that now, you need to take whatever hurt and anger you have from that breakup and put it into your fighting. Because the All Valley is a couple months away and I know, better than anyone, who's got the biggest shot at winning this thing."

She wanted to roll her eyes at the 'breakup' part, considering there never was one, but Robby had spoken a little truth.

Ayane did have hurt and anger. And it was all pent up inside of her, and it only grew every day when she woke up in the house occupied by a monster.

Of course, she was supposed to have medication now. But medicine could only do so much, and only true therapy came in the form that Ayane knew best: beating the shit out of someone or something.

"What about you?" she asked in turn, meeting his eyes. "Don't you wanna win?"

Robby shrugged. "Sure I do. But... I know that with you being on our team, we're gonna be fucking unstoppable."

He smiled a bit, hitting Ayane's arm lightly.

Ayane managed to smile back, hesitating for a moment.

"Oh, and– I think we need to start teaching the others Miyagi-Do. I mean– you trained with him longer and so you know everything there is to know. Think you can help me out?"

Ayane felt a lump form in her throat. No, she absolutely did not want to teach Miyagi-Do to a bunch of puffed up airhead teenagers who didn't give a shit about its real meaning.

"Sure," Ayane responded with a firm nod. "Let's get to it."

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     "THE MORE YOU LEARN MIYAGI-DO, THE tougher you are to defeat."

Ayane heeded Robby's words, which were unfortunately true. Miyagi-Do's defense could be nearly impossible to break through.

And Cobra Kai were the last ones that needed to learn it.

"Except for one tiny flaw," Kreese chimed in. "Their entire style is reactive. Which means all their moves are counter moves."

"That's what you think," Ayane muttered, glancing around as Kreese turned his head to her. Ennis watched from the corner of the room, narrowing his eyes at her.

Kreese did not say anything to her, only dismissing it.

"That means that we are in control," he continued. "And we can use that to set traps."

Ayane walked around the mat, picking an opponent. She stopped in front of Tory, assuming her fighting stance.

"Show me paint the fence."

Tory did not give a protest and did as she said, raising her arm as Ayane came with an upward strike. Then, she crouched and struck her leg out to sweep through Tory's shin, sending the girl to the ground.

"What the fuck was that, Cain?" Tory jumped to her feet, stepping so close to Ayane their noses could have touched.

Ayane did not flinch in the slightest. She started to smile.

"That was me teaching you Miyagi-Do."

She stepped back, a smirk on her face.

"Miss Cain, it's been brought to my attention that you've brought in a new recruit," Kreese said, nodding toward Vincent.

He looked up, pointing to himself. "M-Me?"

Kreese nodded. "I have yet to see what you're made of, Mr. Hayes. Center of the mat."

Vincent gulped, his hands becoming a shaking and clammy mess. His legs felt numb but he propelled himself forward.

"Cain, you're up."

She sighed, turning away from Kreese to face Vincent. There was no use in protesting.

"Tell me, Miss Cain, what's our number one rule in Cobra Kai?" Kreese questioned, pacing.

Ayane brought her fists up, facing a rather horrified looking Vincent. She told herself to ignore the pity, it wasn't going to hurt him to get a little roughed up.

"No mercy."

She went forward with a kick that Vincent had no chance of blocking, turning to make it a double kick to the chest and shoulder. Vincent was knocked on the ground.

Ayane started to go and help him up, but Kreese said, "Let him help himself up."

Vincent's eyes which had been full of fear were fading to a darker color now, more so with frustration. He clambered to his feet, putting his fists up.

"Use your strength, Vincent," Ayane instructed. "Strike first–"

He came running at her, pummeling Ayane into the ground without warning. Vincent raised his fist and brought it across her jaw, leaving everyone shocked. Ayane included.

Standing up, he looked to Kreese while Ayane laid on the ground in a bit of a daze.

Kreese sneered. "Nicely done, Hayes."

Vincent looked down at Ayane, reaching out a hand. She frowned, but finally took it and let him pull her up. Her jaw was already bruising.

Ayane did not say much afterward, much to the satisfaction of Tory. And she had not even been the one to do it.

After practice was over, Ayane walked over to Vincent who was gathering his things.

"Hey," she said, getting his attention.

Vincent straightened up. "Oh, hey. Um– I-I am so sorry if I hurt you, I just did what I thought you wanted me to do. I... I really am sorry."

Ayane narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and then suddenly laughed. Vincent frowned with confusion.

"Don't apologize, Hayes. You should've hit me a little harder. You know... everybody deserves to be humbled every once in a while."

Vincent pursed his lips, then laughed with her. "Yeah, I guess you're right. How... did your therapy session go?"

Ayane held her breath without realizing it.

"Uh..."

Vincent dismissed it a second later. "Sorry, again. It's not really my business."

Ayane released her breath.

"It's okay. So... are you coming back tomorrow?"

Vincent slung his backpack strap over his shoulder. "For sure. I'm gonna go home and practice some more. See you, Ayane."

She watched him leave, frowning briefly. Ayane was beginning to wonder if she could fully trust Vincent.

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    "PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAN COME."

Ayane sighed on the other end of the phone, falling back onto her bed.

"I don't know, Mig, I'm still under pretty strict house arrest. I just– I wish there was someone I could use an excuse to leave."

Miguel sat down on his bed as well, exhaling slowly in deep thought.

"Uh... what about Tory? Or– Robby."

Ayane frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Just– tell your dad that you're going to hang out with one of them. Maybe you should use Robby since you've been in less public fights with him."

Ayane pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course she wanted to see Miguel more than anything, but there was practically no way she could.

Her watch beeped, and she realized it was time for her to take her medicine.

"I'll give it a try," she responded at once, staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay," Miguel replied. "I love you."

Ayane chewed her lip. "I love you too. Bye."

She reached to her night stand for the bottle of pills, rolling the bottle in her hand for a moment. She had been taking them for two days now, and had not yet felt a difference.

Nonetheless, Ayane popped off the cap and took a pill out, placing it in her mouth and swallowing it with a glass of water.

Then, she got out of bed and walked downstairs to search for her father.

But she was rather surprised to see he was not home.

"Mom?" Ayane walked into the study where her mother sat.

"Yes?" Liana glanced up.

"Where's dad?"

Liana flipped a page in her magazine. "He's out with your sensei. He said he'll be back in a bit."

Ayane crossed her arms. "How long is a bit?"

She simply shrugged.

Annoyed, Ayane rolled her eyes and walked out. She went to the garage, grabbing her car keys. If Ennis was not around, well... screw it.

She'd face the repercussions when she got back, but Ayane was going to see her boyfriend.

Ayane started up her car and pulled out of the garage, grabbing her phone to call Miguel.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm on the way. You ready?"

Miguel paused. "...Yeah. Did your dad agree to let you leave?"

"No. Apparently he's out doing God knows what with Kreese. Anyway, I'll be in Reseda in five."

"Say no more, m'lady."

Ayane broke a smile, hanging up. In the time since she had gotten her car leading up to now, Ayane had taken it upon herself to go get her driver's license. As of right now, it was her only source of freedom.

She pulled into Reseda Heights and Miguel stood outside waiting, hopping in the passenger's side.

"You wanna drive?" she asked, but he shook his head.

"You've got this. Here, I'll put the location on the GPS."

Ayane did not recognize wherever it was they were going, but she decided not to question any of Miguel's intentions.

"So, I kinda recruited someone to Cobra Kai," she confessed, glancing over at Miguel.

"Really? Uh... why?"

Ayane sighed. "I guess I just wanted to have someone else there that doesn't completely hate me. A friend, if you will."

Miguel started to smile. "Ayane? Making friends? What alternate universe am I living in?"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes.

"So who is it?" he continued.

Ayane tapped her finger on the steering wheel, hesitating.

"His name is Vincent Hayes. You know him?"

Miguel's smile started to fade, but he shook his head. He may have tended to get easily jealous, especially when Ayane said 'he.'

"No. Is he... is he nice?"

Ayane nodded casually. "Yeah. As far as I can tell."

Miguel looked over at her, fully frowning.

"Where'd you meet him?"

Ayane opened her mouth but did not reply, pulling into an empty parking lot beside a walking trail.

"What are we doing here?" she changed the subject, shutting off the engine.

Miguel almost pressed the matter of where she met Vincent further, but decided against it.

"Well," he unzipped his backpack, "I do like to try and be a romantic. So..." Miguel pulled out two Tupperware containers, a blanket, and canned sodas.

"I brought enchiladas and Sprite so we can have a picnic and look at the stars."

Ayane's heart could have melted. She smiled softly, reaching over for the blanket.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

Miguel shrugged. "Be the most badass, amazing, beautiful girl ever?"

Ayane chuckled, getting out of the car.

Once they were finished their food on the blanket in the grass, Ayane and Miguel laid on their backs to look up at the sky.

Her conscience had been weighing heavy, as Ayane had yet to tell Miguel about her going to therapy. It was something she wanted to avoid for as long as possible, but the longer she held off the guiltier she felt for it.

"Alright, small confession time," she said, keeping her eyes focused upwards.

Miguel turned his head to her apprehensively.

"Confession?"

Ayane breathed in deeply.

"I... I started going to therapy. Just started a few days ago. But um... yeah. I thought you should know."

Miguel's face was full of concern, naturally. He was quiet for awhile, taking it all in.

"That's– that's good. Right?"

"I think so," she replied. "...I hope so."

She was quiet for a moment, then added, "Anyway, that's where I met Vincent. He's in therapy too."

"For what?" Miguel did not hesitate to ask, though Ayane only held up her hands.

"No idea. It's kinda rude to ask, I guess."

Miguel nodded in understanding, staring at Ayane's features in the moonlight when all of a sudden he sat up, peering over her.

"What?" she asked warily.

"What happened to your jaw?" he asked, lightly tracing the dark blue bruise on the right side of her face. "Was it Ennis again? I swear to God, I'll–"

"No," Ayane cut him off before Miguel got a chance to jump to conclusions. "No, I promise. It was just– you know– Cobra Kai training."

She left out the part about Vincent.

Miguel's brow creased gloweringly, shaking his head.

"I think you need to take a break from karate like you said you were gonna do. I mean, can't you tell Ennis that you don't want–"

He stopped, looking down. "Never mind. I didn't even hear myself."

Ayane drummed her fingers on the ground for a moment, then sat up as well and grabbed Miguel's face.

"You know what you can do?"

Miguel met her eyes, searching them. He shook his head dumbly.

"You can make out with me in my car. Because we are all alone right now."

She leaned in slowly to kiss Miguel, who settled into the kiss while his hands found their way around her hips and up her back.

"Just a warning though," he pulled away for a second.

"These enchiladas are not agreeing with me."

notes.
holy wow 3 chapters in less than 24 hours i must be on cocaine

since the season started off pretty slow, i apologize if the chapters seem like that as well but luckily, the last half of the season quickly speeds up so we'll be getting there soon

kinda living for the sneaking around trope ngl...

so... do we think maybe miguel and vincent will face off in the tournament? 🌝