❛ Everyone get your asses to the locker room. ❜

"Robby, what the fuck?"

Ayane pushed the boy away from her, looking absolutely horrified. Had he really just kissed her?

Robby looked equally as horrified, realizing what he had just done. His mind was completely muddled, and he did not think he would remember this tomorrow.

"I..." He started to apologize, but then Robby changed his mind. What better time to get things off his chest than when completely drunk?

He met Ayane's eyes, the girl still in shock over what just happened.

"Ayane... I love you."

She stood there in complete silence, unmoving. Ayane shook her head, grabbing Robby by the arm.

"Alright, we're not doing this, it's time for bed–"

"Wait," Robby wrestled out of her grip, Ayane facing him with a huff. He pushed his hair out of his face, barely comprehending anything he was saying.

"Ayane, you know you're my best friend. And I-I didn't realize it until a couple months ago, but... I think I'm in love with you. Or– I have some kind of feelings for you. More than just a crush."

The girl could only stand there in shocked silence, having no idea how to respond. Ayane brought a hand over her mouth, then rubbing the spot above her brow.

"Robby... you're way too drunk for this," she finally replied. "We should have this conversation when you're sober."

He seemed frustrated with that answer, but Ayane was ending their talk there. She swiped the keycard to his hotel room, dragging Robby inside.

Eli and Demetri were in their beds, Ayane flicking the light on.

They both groaned, stirring from sleep as she did.

"Sorry," she said, making Robby sit down on Demetri's bed.

She looked between the two boys with her hands on her hips. "Robby's really drunk. Can you guys take care of him?"

Demetri groaned, flopping back down onto the pillow, but Eli got out of his bed with a nod.

"I'll take care of him."

"Thank you," Ayane replied, looking down at Robby who seemed barely conscious at this point.

She sighed, leaving the room at once.

Ayane stopped outside of the door, running both her hands through her hair. She could hardly process everything that had happened in just one night. It was an absolute mind fuck.

Just then, her phone began vibrating. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, seeing Miguel's contact.

Ayane quickly answered. "Hello?"

"Hi," Miguel said on the other end. "I was calling to give you an update. My mom is okay, she just had a bit of a scare."

"What about the baby?" Ayane asked.

"The baby's fine too," Miguel informed her. "And some more good news... Sensei and I are coming back to Barcelona."

Ayane raised her eyebrows. "Wait– really? You think you'll make it in time before the next event?"

"Yeah, we should. We're leaving as soon as possible, now that we know my mom's okay. It looks like I'll get to finish competing, after all."

Ayane smiled, starting down the hallway to the elevator.

"That's amazing. The best possible outcome of this whole situation."

"Yeah, it is." Miguel paused briefly, unsure of how to continue. "So... what have you been up to? What time is it in Barcelona?"

Ayane checked the time on her phone, bringing it back up to her ear. "It's almost midnight. I... have had a very eventful night out. All the Miyagi-Do kids went to this tapas bar, and some other dojos were there."

She inhaled, wondering if she should include the other parts about her night. She figured that could wait until Miguel got back.

"Sensei LaRusso let you guys do that?" he replied.

"Um... Sensei Chozen did."

Miguel laughed a little on the other end. "That checks out."

Another pause. The awkward tension between them wasn't as bad as it had been before, but there was still a tiny bit there.

"Listen," Miguel broke the silence, "I want to apologize for earlier. I-I was being harsh and I–"

"No, I should apologize before you," Ayane interjected, stepping out of the elevator on the floor to her room. "I've been a dick to you, Miguel. And I know you only have good intentions, and I'm sorry. I've been really harsh. We– we should probably have this conversation when you get back, instead of over the phone."

Miguel hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest."

Ayane smiled lightly, stopping in front of her room door.

"I get it. We both fucked up, but... we'll talk about it later. I, for one, am exhausted."

Miguel chuckled softly on the line. "I won't hold you up, then. Our karate queen has to get her beauty sleep."

Ayane rolled her eyes, but grinned nonetheless. "Uh huh. Well, I'm about to head into my room, so. Goodnight, Miguel."

Miguel felt a twinge of warmth at words, smiling like an idiot.

"Goodnight, Ayane."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     The next morning, Ayane woke up to some terrible news.

Someway, somehow, Terry Silver was back. And he was in Barcelona.

Everyone was gathered in the senseis' hotel room, Daniel informing them of what had happened. It seemed that Silver's reappearance came as a surprise to the Cobra Kai senseis as well, Ennis included.

The door burst open just then. Johnny, Miguel and Kenny walked through, Johnny saying, "We're back, bitches! Eager to kick ass. Who's ready to win this thing?"

Everyone gave Johnny an unenthusiastic look.

"What crawled up everyone's butts?"

Ayane sighed. She looked over at Miguel, noticing his eyes on her. He gave her a small smile, the girl returning it.

Sitting beside her was Robby, who was very clearly hungover and out of it. Ayane had yet to bring up last night, nor did she really want to. Part of her was hoping he did not remember a single thing so she could just pretend it never happened.

The three senseis stepped out just then, leaving the kids in the room. Ayane got up, approaching Miguel and Kenny.

"Hey, guys," she greeted. "You two ready to kick some ass?"

Kenny raised a shoulder dejectedly. "I'm not, now. Since Miguel's back there's no need for me. I basically just wasted a trip to Barcelona."

Ayane frowned, not sure what to say. Then, from behind her, Demetri stood up.

"Uh, actually, Kenny," he said, drawing everyone's attention. "I've been thinking about it and... I think you should have my spot. To be honest with you guys, I think my heart's in a different place than the Sekai Taikai. So, if you want, the spot is yours."

Ayane raised her eyebrows, looking back to Kenny. Slowly, he started to smile.

"Really?"

Demetri nodded. "I realized that I don't need to be caused any more bodily harm before I go off to–"

"Alright, we get it," Ayane said lightheartedly, starting to laugh. Demetri glanced down, but he laughed a little too.

She turned her head to Kenny, giving him a pat against the arm.

"You up for it, Payne?"

Kenny looked back at her, giving her a firm nod. "I've been ready."

She grinned as Kenny walked past her, looking over to Miguel just then. He had a dumb smile on his face already.

"Welcome back," Ayane said, lowering her voice and leaning her head in. "I gotta say, I'm very relieved that you're here. I was worried for the sake of the team."

Miguel laughed softly, glancing down. "Thanks. I'm glad we get to fight together again."

She met his eyes with a quipped smile.

"Me too."

They shared a prolonged moment, Ayane finally clearing her throat and breaking away. She looked back to the others, her eyes landing on Robby. He had a hand over his face, elbow resting on his knee.

Miguel noticed, furrowing his eyebrows. "Is Robby okay?" he quietly asked.

Ayane pulled her lips in, looking over at Miguel.

"I have a lot to catch you up on."

He quirked a brow, wondering what that meant. Ayane checked the time on her phone, seeing that it was getting closer to time to begin the next event.

"It'll have to wait until after the next event, unfortunately."

She made her way to the middle of the room. "Alright, everyone, time to get dressed. The next event starts in a little over an hour."

Ayane looked down at Robby, finally walking over to him.

"You gonna be able to do this?" she asked, standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

Robby raised his head to her, his face slightly pale. According to Eli and Demetri, he had been puking all morning.

"Y-Yeah," Robby replied, nodding. "I'm fine."

Ayane eyed him. She sighed a little, pushing the thoughts of last night away once more.

"Get dressed. Drink some water."

She walked away at that, leaving to go to her own room and get ready.

The hour passed by quickly, and before she knew it she was back in the arena with her teammates.

On one side of her was Robby, and the other side was Miguel. She had a lot of energy, and she felt more than prepared for this round.

She and Miguel shared a handshake before the speaker began to talk, a dumb joke that they had between them.

Ayane did not notice, but Axel had been watching her the entire time.

"Top eight dojos," Gunther spoke from the stage, "welcome to our final group event. Over the course of the tournament, you have each proven yourselves worthy of your place atop the leaderboard."

Ayane scanned the room, her eyes suddenly landing on Ennis. She noticed that he was looking at her, a frown forming on her face. Ayane quickly looked away.

"...after today, only the best of the best will gain entry into our tournament of champions. Now here are the rules for this round. Each team will faces three opponents, determined by random draw, in an all-dojo tag team competition!"

People began to clap, Miguel nudging Ayane with his elbow.

"Do you know why that Axel guy keeps looking over here? He's been giving me a death stare."

Ayane turned her head to where Miguel was looking, seeing Axel's eyes on her. He quickly looked away as he saw that she noticed him.

The girl looked over at Miguel, only shrugging. She would tell him later.

"Two fighters inside the ring, one from each dojo at a time. The other ten fighters remain outside, waiting to be tagged in by their teammate."

Ayane's eyes traveled to the Iron Dragons again, but this time she was staring down Zara.

She couldn't wait to get her hands on her.

The Iron Dragons went up against Tiger Strike first. Ayane watched intently, calculating Zara's fighting style. She wanted to see what she was going to be up against.

Then, Cobra Kai took on Tempête de Vipères. Kwon and Tory's speed were both unmatched, the two of them carrying their match. The last point was landed by Jae, giving Cobra Kai a win.

Ayane was tempted to roll her eyes, but held back.

Up next, it was time for Miyagi-Do to go against Furia de Pantera. Ayane recognized the captain, Maria, from the platform event that she had competed against her in.

Everyone lined in a circle around the mat, the team unanimously deciding to send in Kenny first. He deserved some action.

Furia de Pantera's first fighter was their male captain, Diego.

The referee called fight, and Diego immediately went to Kenny with a kick, the two going back and forth quickly.

Kenny seemed to be struggling after a moment, especially going up against a captain. From behind him, Eli said, "Kenny, tag me in!"

The Payne boy ignored him, ducking under Diego's leg and rolling out of the ring, smacking Robby's hand.

Robby went in against Diego, defending his strikes and putting a kick forward. He seemed to be doing better than yesterday, but he still was not doing the best he could have been.

With a hard kick to the chest, Diego knocked Robby backwards.

"Point!" the referee called out, Ayane huffing.

Robby turned and tagged her hand, Ayane stepping into the ring.

Diego went back and tagged Maria, the girl charging Ayane with raised fists.

Ayane dodged her punch, throwing strikes that Maria deflected. Suddenly, Maria lunged forward, aiming a spinning back kick at Ayane's torso.

It was fast– too fast for most to react. But Ayane was already moving. With a barely perceptible shift, Ayane stepped to the side and delivered a precise strike to Maria's ribcage, knocking the wind out of her. Maria stumbled back, her chest heaving as she tried to regain her footing.

"Point! One to one," the referee announced, Ayane smiling as she turned and decided who to tag in.

The answer was obvious, to her. But, before she could tag Miguel's hand, her arm was kicked away by her opponent.

Ayane turned on her heel, kicking the guy back and reaching out to tag in the first person she saw. Her hand tapped Eli's, who hopped into the circle.

Falling into place beside Robby, Ayane reached over and grabbed him by the folds of his gi, forcing Robby to look at her.

"Listen, Keene. You better get your damn head in this. Focus. Fight."

She let go of him forcefully, turning back to the match in front of her. Robby smoothed out his gi with his mouth agape, swallowing after a moment.

The Furia de Pantera opponent scored a point on Eli, the boy scrambling back and tagging in Kenny once again. Ayane frowned, wondering why the hell he had not tagged Sam or Miguel instead.

Kenny went back in, Ayane watching him take on a different opponent. It was a girl, and she and Kenny seemed pretty evenly matched, but she managed to get the best of him. Sweeping Kenny onto his feet, the girl landed a strike to his chest.

"Point! Furia de Pantera wins!"

Ayane's shoulder fell, the girl closing her eyes momentarily.

"Team Pantera with an impressive victory," the official announced. "Miyagi-Do's loss puts them on the verge of elimination after their first match."

Ayane did not move from her spot for a moment, then walked over to her teammates. She looked furious.

"Hey. Everyone get your asses to the locker room. Now."

Notes.
robby is just feeling silly i guess

ayane and miguel are gonna have some BIG moments in the next couple chapters, i can't wait i missed them so bad (but it was all for the plot)

ayane is mothering too hard rn, quite literally because she is carrying the whole team

how do you think ayane and robby's relationship will evolve now?