❛ One last chance to try and kick my ass. ❜

     Hearing those words from Miguel made Ayane feel like she had just been hit by a truck.

The Sekai Taikai was going to continue? The tournament that ended with her very own brother's death?

Ayane's mouth fell agape as she comprehended this, still in disbelief. She did not know what to say.

"They– they're continuing it? Are you kidding me?"

Miguel chewed his inner lip as Ayane's voice rose in anger, unsure of how to respond.

"Sensei said that all of the participating senseis chose to continue," Miguel replied, seeing Ayane's face crumble.

She looked down, shaking her head after a moment. That meant that her own senseis had voted to bring back the Sekai Taikai; even Daniel.

Ayane got off of her bed just then and began pulling her shoes on. Miguel watched her as she aggressively grabbed her car keys, storming out of the room.

Miguel quickly shot up and followed after, round the corner to see Ayane heading down the stairs and for the front door.

"Ayane, wait!" he called after her, catching up to her as fast as he could.

She was already getting in her car, so Miguel ran over to the passenger side and opened the door, climbing in.

"Ayane, where are you going?"

Starting the engine, Ayane buckled her seatbelt and barely gave Miguel time to close the door before she put the car in reverse, leaving the LaRussos' house.

She did not respond to Miguel, keeping the same pissed off look on her face as she drove. Miguel did not know what to do, nor did he know where Ayane was going.

Soon enough, she pulled into LaRusso Auto, pulling into a parking spot and hopping out of the car without missing a beat. Ayane slammed the car door, Miguel scrambling out from the other side while Ayane headed for the door.

Miguel could not stop her fast enough– Ayane walked inside and her eyes landed on Johnny first, storming up to him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Johnny turned as he spoke with a customer, seeing Ayane standing there glaring up at him. Miguel came up behind her with a nervous and apologetic look on his face, Johnny glancing between the two.

"What are you talking about, kid?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," Ayane spat, her voice shaking with anger. "You and Daniel just agreed to continue the Sekai Taikai? Didn't even bother to ask how I felt or any of the other students felt?"

Ayane had grabbed the attention of everyone in the dealership now, including Daniel and Amanda. They were both walking over to her as she berated Johnny, Daniel trying to intervene.

"Ayane, why don't we go discuss this somewhere else–"

"And I never would've thought that you would agree to this," Ayane interrupted Daniel, turning on him now. "You're okay with continuing this? After watching him die?"

Her voice cracked, and they all realized that Ayane was about to cry. Miguel slowly approached her from behind, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Ayane, let's get you home–"

She pushed Miguel's hands off of her, sidestepping him and looking at Johnny, Daniel and Amanda with tears in her eyes.

Though she didn't say anything else, Ayane shook her head before turning and walking out of the dealership.

The three adults looked at Miguel just then, who wrung his hands with a sigh.

"I knew she wouldn't take this well," Daniel muttered, closing his eyes briefly. He felt guilty now, for allowing himself to be so stupid as to agree to continuing the tournament.

Miguel ran a hand through his hair. "I-I can try to talk to her. She might just get pissed off at me, but... it can't hurt to try."

"I don't think you should try to persuade her to finish the tournament," Johnny replied, shaking his head. "If she doesn't want to, then she doesn't have to. We can have Sam as our captain."

Miguel frowned, looking up at Johnny with some disappointment on his face.

"Even coming from you, Sensei, that's kinda messed up."

He then turned and left as well, going out to Ayane's car where she was sitting and waiting for him. Getting inside, he closed the door and looked over at her as she stared at her hands in her lap.

"Hey. You okay?"

Ayane gave a small shrug, raising her head at once and looking over at him.

"I don't know. I feel kind of... selfish, in a way. For expecting other people to not be able to move on. But no one else there had a connection to Jae, so I can't really blame them for moving on."

Ayane picked at her fingernails, Miguel drawing his lips in thoughtfully.

"No one expects you to move on so soon, Ayane," he replied at once. "Kwon was your family. You knew him better than anyone else there."

She drew in a breath, placing her hands on the steering wheel to ground herself. It was something she had been learning from her therapist.

"Everyone's still gonna be expecting me to compete, aren't they?" Ayane asked in a quiet voice, turning her head to Miguel.

He raised a shoulder as he tilted his head. "Probably, yeah. But that doesn't mean you're obligated to."

Ayane chewed her inner lip, thinking. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, Miguel unable to tell what was going through her head.

"Do you think I should finish the tournament?"

Miguel seemed slightly taken aback, not knowing what to say.

"I-I want you to do whatever you think is best for you, Ayane. This tournament doesn't define you. Karate doesn't define you."

Ayane knew these things were true, but part of her was beginning to see things differently now.

"Jae was really passionate about karate," she replied, images of the boy playing in her mind that were actually happy for once. "I think he loved it more than anything."

She looked at Miguel once again. "Maybe this could be how I carry out his legacy."

Miguel returned her look, still hesitant but offering a small smile.

"Only if that's what you really want to do. But you should only do this if it's what you want."

Ayane inhaled slowly, then let the breath out as she bit her lip while thinking.

"I think that I want to finish the fight. For Jae."

She and Miguel exchanged a look, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "Really? Are you sure?"

Ayane nodded, seeming more sure about this than she had been about anything in quite some time.

"I'm sure. And besides," she added, a small smile forming on her face, "I really want to kick Zara Malik's ass."

Miguel began to grin.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Later that night, Ayane informed Daniel and Amanda that she wanted to talk to them.

She had them sit down in the living room, along with Chozen also being there. Ayane stood in front of them as they waited to see what she was going to say.

"So, first off, I wanted to apologize for my little... blow up from earlier. I shouldn't have done that, and definitely not at the dealership. So I am sorry about that."

"Ayane, it's okay," Daniel replied reassuringly. "There's been way worse to happen there, believe me."

Ayane gave a timid smile, twisting her fingers. "Still, I'm sorry. But, uh, anyway... I also wanted to tell you guys something else. I wish Johnny was also here, but it's fine. Miguel can tell him. But... I think that I am gonna finish the Sekai Taikai."

Daniel, Amanda and Chozen all raised their brows with surprise at this, not knowing how to reply.

"Ayane... are you sure about this?" Daniel questioned, frowning slightly. "You really don't have to, I don't want you to feel pressured–"

"I want to," Ayane nodded, smoothing her jeans out with her hands. "Believe me, I've done a lot of thinking about this, even before the decision to continue the Sekai Taikai was made. I've made it this far, and I don't want to give up now. I-I also think that I could carry out Jae's legacy this way, maybe. If we beat the Iron Dragons, then I know I'll have made him proud."

The three adults exchanged looks with each other, then back to Ayane.

"So," Ayane continued, looking down at Daniel. "If you want to continue being my sensei... I'd like to be your student, one last time."

Daniel began to smile, standing up at once.

"Alright, then. We've got work to do."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

With the consistent therapy sessions, extra studying with Miguel, and training as a Miyagi-Do student once more, Ayane felt like she was slowly becoming herself again.

She was keeping herself occupied as to not let her thoughts get to her, which was exactly what her therapist told her she should be doing.

Before she knew it another month had gone by, one month closer to the Sekai Taikai quarterfinals. Ayane's current opponents were Tory and Zara, and the first one she was going up against was Tory.

The two girls had not talked since Barcelona, so Ayane figured that today, she would change that.

Pulling into Tory's apartment complex, Ayane parked her car and went up to Tory's front door. She knocked without hesitation, awaiting an answer.

The door finally opened, Tory standing there with a look of confusion.

"Ayane? What are you doing here?"

Ayane smiled. "Hi. It's been awhile since we've talked."

Tory furrowed her eyebrows, still confused as to why Ayane was here.

"Yeah... so what are you here for?"

Ayane continued to smile. "Robby is training with Miguel, Eli and Demetri. So... I figured we could train together too. One of us has to kick Zara's ass."

Tory still did not smile, giving a small shake of her head.

"Yeah, well it's gonna have to be you. I'm not fighting."

Ayane immediately frowned, Tory turning and walking away. At once, Ayane followed her inside and shut the door behind her.

"Really? Tory Nichols, not fighting?"

Tory glanced over at Ayane from the kitchen, halfway rolling her eyes.

"I'm surprised you are fighting, after what happened. I thought you'd be against it," Tory said, putting away some groceries as she spoke.

Ayane leaned against the counter, giving a small shrug. "I think it's what Jae would want. And I think that more than anything, he'd want his fellow Cobra Kai captain to finish what he started."

Tory set a cereal box atop the refrigerator, turning to Ayane with a timid look.

Ayane studied her expression, tilting her head. "One last chance to try and kick my ass. And Zara's."

Slowly, but surely, Tory began to smile. She looked up at Ayane, rolling her eyes yet again.

"Alright, I'll go get changed."

Ayane returned her smile.

Once Tory was changed, Ayane drove the two of them to a familiar place.

Tory got out of the car, looking up at the gymnasium where the All-Valley tournament was held every year.

"How are we getting in here?" she asked, following Ayane to the door.

Ayane looked over with a smile before the gymnasium door opened, revealing Sam standing there.

"I get LaRusso privileges," Ayane replied, looking between Tory and Sam.

The two girls seemed a bit hesitant around each other, but this had been Sam's idea. It seemed that this was her attempt at getting Tory back.

Ayane watched them stare at each other a little longer, then stepped forward.

"Let me know when you guys are done giving each other gay stares," Ayane said, entering the gymnasium.

Sam and Tory followed behind her moments later, Ayane setting her stuff down on the bleachers as she looked out at the mat in front of her.

"I'm gonna be you guys' referee for the day," Sam said as she approached Ayane, kicking her shoes off. "And your temporary sensei."

Ayane was pulling her shoes off as well, looking over at Tory with a playful smirk.

Tory finally replied to Sam, "That's a little biased, isn't it? A Miyagi-Do referee for a Miyagi-Do student?"

"I think she'd be more biased to you," Ayane remarked with a knowing smile, walking away from the two and hopping onto the mat.

Both girls seemed to blush a little at that. Tory got on the mat after a moment, stretching her arms and legs whilst Ayane did the same.

Ayane rolled her shoulders, shaking out any tension. "You ready for this?"

Tory smirked, adjusting her stance. "Always. Let's see if you've still got what it takes."

The second Sam clapped her hands to start the match, they sprang into action. Tory led with a sharp front kick, aiming for Ayane's midsection. Ayane sidestepped smoothly, countering with a quick roundhouse, which Tory blocked just in time.

Their movements were fluid, neither holding back too much, but both controlled enough to avoid serious injury. Tory pressed forward with a series of rapid punches, testing Ayane's defense. Ayane parried and ducked, her footwork sharp. Seeing an opening, she spun into a back kick, forcing Tory to retreat.

Tory grinned. "Not bad."

She lunged in, faking a high kick before sweeping low. Ayane barely avoided being taken down, hopping back just in time.

"Nice try," Ayane said, smirking.

The match continued, both fighters exchanging blows with precision and skill. Tory's aggression met Ayane's calculated counters, their styles clashing in a fast-paced dance of offense and defense. At one point, Tory nearly landed a spinning heel kick, but Ayane ducked, catching her arm and flipping her onto the mat.

Tory groaned but laughed as she pushed herself up. "Okay, I'll give you that one."

Ayane offered a hand. "You almost had me with that sweep."

Tory accepted the help, shaking her head. "Next time, I will."

They tapped fists, breathing hard but grinning. Both girls looked to Sam, awaiting any commentary she might have had.

"What do you think?" Ayane asked, still catching her breath with her hands on her hips.

Sam smiled slowly, looking between the two girls.

"I think that no matter what, Zara Malik doesn't stand a chance."

Notes.
ayane, tory and sam, my goated trio 🙏

i feel like ayane's decision to continue the sekai taikai is fairly reasonable, not only for jae but because she is NOT letting zara beat her by not competing

rewatching the episodes and oh my god, sam and tory are GAY. my gaydar was ringing and dinging and singing in their training scene together like

anyway, i'm trying to make sure ayane has interactions with everyone before the fic concludes 🥲 so who do you want to see her interact with next?