❛ Are you sure this is a good idea? ❜

"Ayane, of course you can work at the dealership. Amanda had mentioned something to me about you wanting to work there last summer."

She smiled, twisting her fingers. "Really? Thank you so much, Mr. LaRusso. I really appreciate it."

Daniel gave a nod, returning her smile. "Of course, kiddo. I'll give you a call soon, alright? I gotta go talk to Johnny."

Ayane nodded, watching Daniel walk into Johnny's apartment. She smiled, proud that she had at least one good thing to look forward to now.

Just then, the door to the Diaz apartment opened, Ayane turning to see Miguel walk out. He saw her standing there, sighing with relief.

"I thought you had left," he said, approaching her.

Ayane crossed her arms, her face becoming stony as she muttered, "I don't exactly have anywhere else to go, so."

Miguel sighed deeply, dropping his head. "I'm sorry, Ayane. I didn't mean to snap at you. I-I know that you're just trying to help. Will you forgive me?"

She looked up, pursing her lips. Ayane finally nodded. "I forgive you, Mig. Better not let it happen again, though."

He laughed softly, meeting her eyes. Miguel offered a hand, Ayane taking it after a moment as Miguel pulled her in.

Placing his hands around her waist, Miguel leaned down to kiss her.

"Does that make up for it?" he asked as he pulled away.

Ayane raised her eyebrows up at him, taken aback by his boldness. It came out every now and then, Ayane being reminded of how Miguel could be a little cocky sometimes.

"You should bring that big head of yours down a couple notches," she poked him in the chest playfully, stepping away from Miguel and heading for the apartment.

Miguel smiled to himself, following her inside.

"Mr. LaRusso just came by to see Johnny," Ayane informed him, flopping down on the couch. "And... he gave me a job."

Raising his eyebrows, Miguel grinned. "Really? That's awesome. Wait– why did he come to talk to Sensei? The dojo is closed, now."

Ayane shrugged, scrolling on her phone as she laid on the couch. "Don't know. It seemed kinda urgent, though."

As of late, Ayane had become very unbothered with the karate war. Going to Mexico with Miguel had done her some good, taking her mind away from that part of her life. Returning back to the Valley kind of sucked, as she knew she would almost immediately be roped back into it. Or at least, they would try.

Miguel wanted nothing more than to do karate again, especially with Ayane. But he respected that she did not currently feel the same, and he couldn't hold blame to her for that. She was burnt out from it.

He leaned against the couch, thinking for a moment. Miguel wondered if he should go over there and see what was going on, but he finally decided against it.

The boy paced the apartment, having too much pent up energy now that he did not have karate. He was so, very bored.

Ayane finally took notice of Miguel's pacing, laying her phone on her chest.

"ADHD, much?" she questioned, Miguel stopping his pacing and looking down at her.

"Do you wanna go on a walk? Or go the gym, or– I don't know, something? I am bored out of my mind."

Ayane smiled lightly, chewing her lip before sitting up. "Yeah, we can go on a walk."

Standing up and putting her phone in her pocket, Ayane and Miguel suddenly heard what sounded like an airhorn, blaring outside.

They exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing. It had to be Johnny.

The two of them walked outside, seeing Johnny standing there and still blaring the airhorn. Robby came out of Johnny's apartment, shooting a look at Miguel.

Another resident opened his door, confused.

"The hell is going on out here?"

"Mind your business, dirtbag. Beat it," Johnny quickly replied, the man simply stepping back inside.

Miguel and Robby both approached Johnny, Ayane hanging back curiously.

"You two, stay put," Johnny pointed at the two boys, the both of them beginning to protest.

"QUIET!" he cut them off, Ayane jumping a little.

She frowned, wondering what the hell Johnny was doing now.

"You wanna hang on to your grudge? Fine. At least be men about it. Put your fists where your mouths are."

Ayane stepped forward, not sure if this was a good idea.

"You want us to do what?" Robby asked, shaking his head.

"Fight it out," Johnny replied, looking between the two of them. "No points, no mats... just keep fighting until you get it all out of your systems."

They both looked at him with shocked silence, not responding.

"Or I can have Cain whoop both of your asses, whichever you wanna do."

Ayane held up her hands, shaking her head. "What?"

Johnny ignored her. "Here's a time and a place. Unless that was all just talk."

"Not for me," Miguel was quick to reply, turning to Robby.

Robby shrugged nonchalantly. "Or me."

Johnny nodded, stepping away from them. "Alright. Let's get on with it."

Miguel and Robby did not hesitate to face each other, seemingly thrilled about having a reason to fight one another. Ayane walked over to Johnny, crossing her arms.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Johnny shrugged. "You got a better one?"

Ayane drew in a deep breath, turning to see Miguel and Robby throwing punches at each other.

"Come on, is that all you got?" Johnny instigated. "I thought you guys were sworn enemies!"

They went back and forth a moment longer, Miguel turning on his heel and sending a kick to Robby's face. Ayane's mouth fell open a little, but Johnny did not say a word.

Allowing them to continue, Robby advanced on Miguel and swept his leg, knocking him on the concrete. Ayane's heart skipped a beat nervously, being reminded of her own injury.

"Johnny–"

"Let them go," Johnny interrupted, watching the two boys fight.

Ayane turned her head with a frown, seeing Miguel kick Robby into a corner. Robby was barely hindered, charging Miguel with a kick and jumping from the wall, landing a kick to Miguel's face.

Miguel touched his nose for a moment, Robby kicking him twice until he kicked him so hard that the stairwell door crashed open.

"Johnny, we have to intervene," Ayane started toward them, but he held out an arm to stop her.

"Hey, the stairwell's out of bounds!" Johnny called, seeing them backing up the stairs.

He watched as Miguel threw Robby to the ground of the balcony, deciding that this might have been enough.

"Alright, that's it, fight's over!" Johnny said, being ignored by the two boys.

Miguel punched Robby in the face, hard, Robby climbing to his feet and pushing Miguel back. Ayane finally broke, taking off up the stairs as Miguel held Robby against the railing, throwing punch after punch.

Miguel was about to send Robby over the railing if he didn't stop.

Ayane made it up the steps. "Miguel!"

He stepped away from Robby, seeming to snap out of it as he heard Ayane call his name.

Miguel stood there, dropping his fists at once. Robby eyed him, finally speaking.

"Why'd you hold back?" he asked.

Miguel panted heavily. "I didn't get into karate to hurt people. I did it to be badass, and find balance."

Robby nodded a little. "Yeah, I understand that."

"Last time we fought like this, uh, how come you didn't hold back?" Miguel then questioned.

Robby had a guilty look across his face. "I just wanted to finish the fight. I mean– not like that, I just– I... I had tunnel vision and I got so angry that I just... I mean, I barely knew where we were. I'd take it back in a second if I could. I mean, I was the cause of the worst moment in your life. And if it's any consolation, it was the worst moment of my life, too."

Miguel looked over at Ayane for a moment, who smiled at him. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing, honestly.

"Yeah, I'll take it," Miguel replied to Robby, the two smiling at each other a little.

"So?" Johnny asked from behind Ayane, "Is it over? You guys good?"

They exchanged a look, both nodding.

"Thank God, 'cause if you still hated each other when the baby gets here–"

Johnny halted, the three teenagers all giving him wild looks of confusion.

Miguel tilted his head. "...The baby? Wait, what? Like– you and my mom?"

Johnny sighed a little. "Yeah, we, uh, having a baby. We were supposed to tell you together, so make sure you act surprised."

"Holy shit!" Miguel exclaimed with excitement on his face.

"Yeah like that," Johnny replied.

Ayane's mouth was wide open in shock, laughing a little. Miguel was getting a little sibling.

Both boys embraced Johnny, Ayane standing there with a smile.

It was about damn time that something brought them together.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     Later that evening, Johnny was insistent on having Olive Garden takeout for dinner.

Ayane sat between Miguel and Robby, taking a breadstick and Alfredo sauce.

"It's so weird not having to be the mediator between you guys now," she remarked, stuffing her face with a breadstick.

Miguel and Robby shared a look, both with awkward smiles on their faces. It was true that Ayane always seemed to end up breaking apart their fights.

Carmen walked in just then, the three going a bit silent.

"Hi mom," Miguel greeted, Ayane and Robby both greeting her as well.

"I hope it's cool I'm having dinner here," Robby said with a small smile.

"It's very cool," she patted his shoulder. "You're welcome anytime here, Robby."

She gave Ayane a similar pat on the shoulder and then kissed Miguel's head. "Hola, mi amor."

"Hola," Miguel said back, turning his head to watch his mom. He was still in shock by the news of her being pregnant.

"These guys are getting along now?" she asked Johnny in surprise, "How did you manage that? And please don't tell me the bruises on their face mean you beat them into submission?"

"No, of course not," Johnny replied. "They beat each other into submission."

Miguel and Robby both nodded as they ate their food.

"Don't worry, it was all supervised. It was actually LaRusso's idea."

Ayane glanced up, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you and Daniel were working together again," Carmen remarked with some surprise.

"We weren't," responded Johny. "But I think we might need to."

Ayane frowned a little, wondering what that meant. Something was clearly going on that had to do with karate.

She wondered if that meant it involved Terry Silver.

That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Miguel woke up to the sound of screaming.

He shot up, seeing Ayane sitting up in bed with her hands on her chest.

"Ayane," he placed a hand on her shoulder, his face filled with concern.

"Ayane," he repeated, the girl breathing heavily. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She slowly calmed her breathing, realizing now that it was just a dream. Ayane hoped she had not waken up the others.

"Um... I-I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep, I'm fine."

Miguel shot her a look, sitting up further and placing his arms around her. Ayane leaned into him, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Ayane, I don't think you're fine," he said at once. "Most people don't wake up from dreams like that."

He took one of her hands into his own, tracing circles with his thumb. Ayane had been having weird dreams as of late, and research told her that it was her antidepressant giving her these vivid nightmares.

"I had a dream about my dad," she finally told him at once, her voice shaky. "A-And Jae."

Miguel frowned deeply, rubbing her back soothingly.

"I was living back at home, except Jae was living there too. My dad was training the both of us, but we were struggling to get a move right. And my dad, he, uh– he started to beat Jae. And forced me to watch."

Ayane swallowed, forcing down the lump in her throat. She wanted to get it off her chest, feeling like she needed to share it in order to not dwell on it.

"Then," she continued, "he started to beat me."

She sniffled, rubbing her eyes.

"Just like he used to."

Notes.
ennis cain when i catch you.. when i catch you ennis cain

karate is about to make a comeback!! danny boy and johnny-o are gonna bring miyagi-do/eagle fang back to lifeee (wonder if ayane will join 😏)

anyway.. the end of this season is gonna leave you guys in shock i think. sorry (i'm not at all sorry for the things i have planned)

predictions for act five?