❛ You are one of a kind, Miguel Diaz. ❜

        After being awoken from her nap and getting to meet baby Laura, Ayane returned home with the LaRussos.

She actually had to be the one to drive them, because Daniel, Amanda and Chozen had all been to a wine tasting and clearly tasted all the wine they could find.

Ayane did not mind, though, and it was actually kind of funny seeing them this way.

She went upstairs to turn in for the night, as it was pretty late, but when Ayane got into bed she could only toss and turn.

Her stomach was in knots as she struggled to fall asleep, unable to get her mind off of the Sekai Taikai. Ayane was typically never nervous until the day of her tournaments, but this was all that consumed her mind. This was bigger than any competition she had ever done.

And more importantly, it was Ayane's only chance at getting into Stanford.

She had gotten an email from them earlier that day, and she had been deferred. Her grades were not as good as they should have been, though she had other achievements that helped her.

Still, Ayane knew what this could mean for her and Miguel. And Ayane hated to think that she would lose her chance if she didn't win this tournament.

And Ayane certainly didn't want to tell Miguel about it. She felt like he would be absolutely crushed, and Ayane had not even figured out what else she would do if not go to Stanford.

The longer she laid there, staring up at the ceiling, the more frustrated she grew. Just once, she wanted to have something in her life figured out. She wanted to have some kind of assurance that things were going to be okay, even if it was the smallest ounce of hope.

Ayane began to realize that she was spiraling with her thoughts, which her therapist told her would happen. And when it did, her therapist said to give a loved one a call. It always helped.

Staring at the ceiling a moment longer, Ayane rolled over and checked the time on her phone. Almost two o'clock in the morning. She unlocked her phone, debating if she should call Miguel or not. He wouldn't mind, of course, but Ayane did not want to bother him.

Sitting up in bed, Ayane ran a hand through her hair. Finally, she hit Miguel's contact, bringing her phone to her ear and listening to it ring.

She waited, almost giving up when she finally heard an answer.

"Hello?" Miguel spoke in a groggy voice. "Ayane? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ayane quickly replied, "sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you."

Miguel seemed relieved by that. "It's okay. Uh, why did you call?"

Ayane hesitated, bringing her knees up to her chest as she picked at the scabs on her legs.

"I was having a hard time sleeping. My, uh, my therapist told me that if I ever started to having racing thoughts and felt anxious that I should give a loved one a call. So... you were the first person I thought of."

Miguel gave a soft chuckle, smiling on the other end. He was more awake now, and not panicked like he had been before. "I'm glad you thought of me."

There was silence between them, both smiling on their ends of the phone. Finally, Miguel continued, "So, did you wanna just talk, or...?"

"If you do, then yeah," Ayane replied.

Miguel paused for a moment, thinking. "What if... I have a better idea?"

Ayane arched a brow, narrowing her eyes. "Meaning what, exactly?"

"What if..." he said again, "I picked you up in twenty? Think you could get out of the house without getting in trouble?"

She made a face of confusion, but went along with it nonetheless. "Uh, I think so? Are you kidnapping me?"

"Not if it's voluntary," Miguel wittily replied. "I'll be there soon. Throw on some clothes. Or not, your PJ's are cute too."

Ayane laughed a little, shaking her head. "Alright, sure. See you soon."

Miguel hung up the phone, Ayane throwing on some sweatpants, socks, and sandals. She grabbed a hoodie and threw her hair into a clip, quietly slipping out of bedroom and down the stairs. She had discovered that if she ever got up at this hour for something, Anthony was usually still awake. That kid would sleep all day if he could.

Ayane walked through the kitchen and out to the breezeway, exiting the LaRusso house from the back. She waited outside on the front steps for Miguel to arrive.

He was there before twenty minutes had gone by, showing up in Johnny's van. Ayane smiled to herself, approaching the vehicle and hopping in the passenger side.

Miguel smiled as she got in. "No cute PJ's?"

Ayane rolled her eyes playfully, buckling her seatbelt while Miguel pulled out of the driveway.

"So where am I being kidnapped to?" she asked, genuinely unsure of where Miguel could have been taking her.

"I'd be a bad kidnapper if I told you," Miguel replied without missing a beat, a song from his phone playing through the speakers.

Ayane only replied with a chuckle, shaking her head.

"Do you know Kings of Leon?" Miguel asked at once, turning up the song slightly.

She tilted her head. "A couple songs, I think. Pretty sure you showed them to me, though."

Miguel smiled as he looked out at the road ahead. "This one's called True Love Way. Makes me think of you."

Ayane listened as the song played, Miguel drumming his fingers along the steering wheel. He eventually pulled into an empty parking lot, Ayane raising an eyebrow as Miguel stopped the car.

"Now I'm getting a little concerned that you actually might be kidnapping me."

Miguel halfway rolled his eyes. "Just come on."

Ayane followed him out of the van, shutting the door. She immediately looked up at what was in front of her, a knowing smile creeping on her face.

Miguel reached out for her hand, saying, "Alright. Let's get to climbing."

She shook her head once again, her hand falling into his as she let Miguel guide her to the abandoned watchtower. It was their spot, the one they had gone to on their first date, nearly three years ago.

Once they reached the top, both having to catch their breath from the rather dangerous climb, they took in the sight of the Valley.

Ayane let out a breath, leaning against the railing as she looked out over the city lights.

"Just as pretty as I remember it," Ayane remarked, the wind rustling her hair lightly.

Miguel leaned beside her, looking over as the dim light casted a warm glow across her face.

"Still not the prettiest thing I see," he said in response, Ayane turning her head to him.

She laughed after a moment, not forgetting the first time Miguel had said that to her. Ayane reached over and gave him a playful shove.

"Still cheesy," she replied, Miguel catching her arm and giving a casual shrug.

"And yet it worked on you."

Ayane had no argument there, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. She took a seat at once, legs dangling over the side of the watchtower. Miguel sat down beside her after a moment, listening to the ever present traffic down below.

"So why'd you bring me here?" Ayane finally cracked.

Miguel raised his shoulders, leaning forward and resting his arms against the lower part of the railing.

"You told me this was one of the few places you'd ever felt total peace, so."

Ayane's face warmed, surprised that Miguel would remember that. He could see her surprise, reaching over and nudging her with his elbow.

"What, did you think I'd forget?" he teased.

She met his eyes, simply gazing at him with some awe.

"You're one of a kind, Miguel Diaz."

His face lit up at that, dropping his head and breaking into a grin as he tried to play it off.

"Nah. I... am simply a man in love."

Ayane raised her eyebrows at this response, tilting her head thoughtfully. She was beaming from ear to ear, clearly showing that Miguel's words did have an effect on her, after all.

Her smile began to fade, however, when Ayane was painfully reminded once again of what had been at the back of her mind. She needed to tell Miguel about Stanford.

Miguel noticed the change in her expressions, his own frown beginning to form.

"What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

Ayane drew in a breath, knowing that she was not going to keep something like this from Miguel. No more secrets, especially not between the two of them.

She pulled her lips in, running a hand through her messy hair.

"I, uh– I got deferred. By Stanford."

Her eyes traveled up to Miguel's at once, seeing the saddened look on his face. It damn near crushed her, Ayane grimacing a little.

"It's okay," Miguel finally said. "Like you said before, there's still other options."

"Yeah, but I know that you really wanna go to Stanford," Ayane replied, her shoulders dropping dismally.

Miguel furrowed his eyebrows. "Ayane, I don't care where I go as long as I get to be with you. Honestly. And besides, I haven't heard back from them either, so. We could both be deferred– shit, I could even be rejected. Who knows."

Ayane gave him a sharp look, reaching out and smacking his shoulder. "Don't say that."

"Ayane, look," Miguel pulled his legs into a crisscross position, turning to face her completely. "We don't have to have everything figured out right now. You don't have to go to the same school as me, even if that would really suck. You've got time to figure things out, alright? You'll be fine."

She looked into his eyes, chewing her inner lip. Miguel was damn good at motivational speeches.

The girl let out a deep exhale at once, giving a small nod. "Yeah, you're right. I know. I just– I really want to have some kind of certainty in my life, you know? I wanna have something that I know I won't lose."

There were layers to that statement, and Miguel knew it. Ayane was not just talking about school or even karate tournaments, but also her family.

"Hey," he reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You're not ever gonna lose me."

Miguel met her eyes, giving Ayane the reassurance she had been looking for. Ayane felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders just then, finding it a little bit easier to breathe.

She smiled softly, Miguel continuing, "And, another thing that I know you won't lose... is the Sekai Taikai."

Ayane made a face, clearly the tiniest bit skeptical.

"Listen," Miguel said firmly, his eyes not leaving hers. "Zara Malik is nothing but a show pony, especially compared to you. People know that you're the real deal, and they've seen what you can do."

She continued to chew her inner bottom lip, giving a small sigh.

"I know. But it– it's not about that."

Ayane realized at once that Miguel did not know about her history with Zara, and what had happened nine years ago at her first national taekwondo championship.

Miguel frowned, not following. "What do you mean?"

She placed a hand over her head briefly, letting out a huff.

"Zara and I... we go way back, unfortunately."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     The feeling of pure anxiety had not gone away, and today was the beginning of the Sekai Taikai.

Ayane was already annoyed from seeing Zara's stupid face on the TV earlier that morning, but she was trying to ignore it.

She would deal with her on the mat.

Ayane arrived at a very familiar spot, the place she had earned her last title almost a year ago. This was no All Valley tournament, though.

This was much bigger.

She was greeted inside by the Diaz-Lawrence family, entering alongside the LaRussos. Miguel gave her an instant smile upon seeing her face, Ayane returning it with underlying nervousness.

The girl was rather quiet with everyone before she went to the locker room to change, trying some quick meditation before it was time to get out there. Unfortunately, none of her therapist's tactics seemed to helping very much.

Ayane found herself going through the motions as she got out there, standing beside Robby while Gunther Braun gave the introduction.

Daniel, Johnny and Chozen stood behind them, the two students both exchanging a nervous glance.

"Of the world's sixteen best dojos, it's all come down to our final three," Gunther announced. "The Iron Dragons."

Cheers erupted around the room, taking Ayane by surprise. She had not been expecting this much support for a dojo that wasn't from the Valley. Maybe she had been underestimating their popularity, after all.

Still, Ayane refused to even acknowledge them– especially Zara. All it would take was one smug look and she would be sprinting across the mat to punch her in the face.

"Miyagi-Do Karate," Gunther continued, equal cheers continuing around the room.

Ayane looked over at the section where all of her friends and what she felt she could call family, seeing that their cheers were the loudest. And for the first time, Ayane felt her nervousness begin to ease a little.

"...and Cobra Kai!"

This time, Ayane did look over. Tory was standing alone, no sensei, no other students... just her. Ayane felt a pang in her chest, inhaling slowly. She did not want to have to fight Tory again.

Bringing her hands together, Ayane clapped as well. Her mind went to Jae as she looked at Tory, noting his absence where he had once been standing beside her.

"The rules are simple," Gunther explained. "Each dojo will retain the points they've earned in their Barcelona competitions. Our unfinished boys' semifinal will reset to zero-zero, and the remaining girls' semifinal will be taking place tomorrow."

That meant no fight for Ayane today. She could live with that. The last thing she wanted to do was go up against Tory, but she really wanted to get her hands on Zara. And there was only one way to get to her.

Ayane had not noticed, but there had been one person in particular watching her the entire time. Axel. When she finally allowed herself to glance over at the Iron Dragons, her eyes immediately locked with his.

Axel looked away as quick as ever, Ayane frowning slightly while Gunther continued explaining the rules.

She ignored it, turning her head to Robby just then. He seemed fairly focused, so Ayane did not feel so worried.

However, though she would not say it aloud, she really wished she had Miguel beside her.

"Now," Gunther continued. "Will everyone please stand and join me in a moment of silence for our fallen competitor, Kwon Jae-sung, who was the brother of one of our semifinalists, Ayane Cain."

Ayane's heart dropped immediately, feeling everyone's eyes on her all of a sudden. She froze completely, Gunther turning to face her.

"Miss Cain, we are deeply sorry for your loss, and we know that you will honor your brother's legacy."

He looked away from her at that, a lump forming in Ayane's throat. Everyone had dropped their heads now, so Ayane did the same. The room was silent for what felt like an excruciatingly long time, though Ayane could not hear anything besides the blood rushing in her ears.

Gunther finally broke the silence. "Thank you. For our first match, or should I say, first rematch... Axel Kovačević versus Robby Keene."

Ayane's shoulders tensed, recalling the moments that followed Robby and Axel's match in Barcelona. She was trying not to let herself be shaken by it.

She joined with Daniel, Johnny and Chozen as they gathered in front of Robby to give him his pep talk. Ayane kept her arms folded behind her as the senseis spoke, waiting for her turn.

Robby finally looked over to her, Ayane looking at their senseis as if asking them to step away. They caught on after a moment, doing as she said.

Turning back to Robby, Ayane gave him a sharp look.

"Alright, Keene. This is your moment. Axel is a big motherfucker, but you're smarter."

Robby gave a small smile, then a nod.

"I know what you're capable of," Ayane said firmly, meeting his eyes.

"So go kick his fucking ass."

Notes.
unfortunately for robby, he will NOT be kicking axel's ass

thought i was gonna include more of the sekai taikai in this chapter buttt i think i'll leave y'all with this for the night, i thought this was a good way to end the chapter and it builds up more anticipation 😼

seriously teared up writing the scene at the watchtower, i'm gonna miss ayane and miguel SO much but honestly i've finally come to terms with finishing their story 🥲

so... where do you think ayane and miguel will go?