❛ It doesn't concern you. ❜

     Together, Ayane and Vincent took on Sensei Kim.

They were fighting rather well side by side, weaving around each other to defend the other from being hit by Kim.

Ayane was able to take hold on Sensei Kim from behind while she was occupied with Vincent, performing a takedown by flipping her backwards over Ayane. The girl dropped to her knees, holding up a fist.

At once, Sensei Kim began to smile.

"Congratulations, Miss Cain," Silver spoke up, the girl raising her head to him. "You've shown us what being a real leader looks like."

Ayane looked over at Vincent, who smiled at her. She rose to her feet at once, simply bowing as she stepped off the mat.

After their lesson, Ayane went to the locker room to change clothes again. Unsurprisingly, Tory followed.

"Hey," Tory grabbed her shoulder, Ayane whipping around quickly.

"Hey," she replied, taking her shoulder away from Tory's hand. "What's up?"

Tory frowned, shaking her head a little. "Why are you back here, Ayane? I thought you were done with Cobra Kai. You– you should be done with Cobra Kai."

Ayane glanced to the side, licking her lips. "Look, Tory, I appreciate your concern, but it goes way deeper than you think."

She grabbed her stuff, going forward to leave the locker room when Tory stepped in front of her.

"Then tell me," Tory demanded, Ayane glaring at her.

"It doesn't concern you–"

"You being in this dojo concerns me," Tory cut off, crossing her arms. "I wanna know what brought you back here. I mean– what about Miguel? What does he think about all this?"

Ayane's face changed at the mention of Miguel, Tory noticing. The girl sighed, realizing that she might as well just tell Tory.

"I have a brother. His name is Jae, or as most people call him, Kwon. And when I was four years old, I thought he died from a brain tumor. As it turns out, my parents had been lying to me so that I wouldn't know that they had sent Kwon to be trained by a dojo in South Korea. Tang Soo Do."

Tory knit her brows, absorbing this information. "Wait– the dojo that Sensei Kim is from?"

Ayane nodded, continuing, "Yep. Needless to say, Silver told me that if I came back to Cobra Kai, he'd let me see my brother again. And at first, I said no. But..." She looked down, exhaling, "I changed my mind."

Tory stood there, kind of shocked by this. She was more so shocked that Ayane had chosen to share all of this with her, because one year prior that would have never happened.

"As for me and Miguel, I, uh– we're kinda taking a break right now."

Ayane seemed to not want to talk about that, so Tory dismissed it. She kind of admired that Ayane was willing to go to these lengths for her family, because it was something she herself would do.

"That sucks to hear," Tory remarked, uncrossing her arms. "You'll get through this, though. You're tough as hell."

Ayane smiled, laughing softly. "Thanks. Um, I guess I'm gonna head out now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Tory nodded, stepping out of the way so Ayane could go.

As she reached her car, someone called her name.

"Ayane!" She looked over, seeing Vincent running up to her. The girl halted, giving him a small smile.

"Hey, Vince," she greeted. "What's up?"

He panted a little, having sprinted across the parking lot to get to her. "I, uh– I just wanted to say that I enjoyed fighting with you today. You really do make a good leader."

Ayane smiled again. "Thanks. You make a good listener."

Vincent laughed. "Yeah, I've been trying to get better. So, listen... I wanted to say again that I'm sorry. I know that your boyfriend doesn't like me, and I get it. I-I do have a hard time with my temper. But, I am sorry. Really."

She grimaced at the term 'boyfriend', breathing in slowly as she looked up at Vincent.

"It's fine, Vince. And he, uh, he's not really my boyfriend, right now. So."

Vincent's eyebrows quirked up at this, stumbling over his words.

"Oh– I-I'm sorry, I didn't know–"

"It's okay," she waved him off. "Most people don't. It was pretty recent."

It must've been, to have just seen them together at the waterpark, Vincent thought. Internally, he was jumping for joy. Ayane was single now. He thought he might have been dreaming.

"Well I'm sorry to hear, still," Vincent replied, offering consolation. "If you wanna talk about it, I'm here."

Ayane glanced up at him, not saying anything for a moment. "I should– I should get going now."

He nodded quickly. "Y-Yeah, of course. Didn't mean to hold you up. I'll see you tomorrow?"

She gave a tiny smile and a curt nod, unlocking her car door.

"See you tomorrow."

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Miguel had not slept at all the night before.

All he could do was toss and turn, wondering where he went wrong. Why had Ayane not talked to him? Why did she just leave?

He had a million questions, his mind and body both restless. Carmen and Rosa and Johnny all knew of the situation, Robby too. They were just as shocked as Miguel.

Ayane still had stuff at the apartment, Miguel hoping and praying that she would return for it. But it was getting a bit late in the day, and she had still not shown up.

None of his texts or calls had been answered by her, but Miguel had a sneaking suspicion that he knew where she was staying. It could have only been one of two places, one of them seeming way more likely.

Either it was her parents' home, or the LaRusso's.

He sat on the sidewalk outside his apartment as it grew dark, bouncing his knee uncontrollably. Miguel was debating whether or not he should go and seek her out, to try and get an explanation from her.

The longer he sat there, the more his chest ached. He just wanted Ayane back, and he didn't care what he had to do.

Miguel looked over at Johnny's apartment, thinking for a moment. Then, he got up and walked over, knocking on the door.

At once, the person he had been looking for answered.

"Miguel?" Robby questioned, tilting his head. "What are you doing here?"

Miguel ran a hand through his hair, huffing. "Listen, I wanted to see if I could ask you a huge favor."

Robby nodded at once. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

The Diaz boy rubbed his hands over his face, trying to formulate his words.

"I-I was wanting to see if you could talk to Ayane. On my behalf. She– she won't answer any of my texts or calls, so this is all I know to do. Please."

Robby thought briefly, then nodded again. "Yeah, sure, I can try. I'll call her–"

"Well, actually," Miguel interjected, "I was wondering if you could go see her in person. A-And I could come with."

Checking the time on his phone, Robby contemplated it momentarily. He could see how desperate Miguel was, so he finally caved.

"Alright. Let me get my shoes on."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

There was a doorbell ring at the LaRusso residence, the family all exchanging befuddled looks.

"Were any of you expecting anyone?" Amanda asked as they sat in the living room with a movie on, everyone else shaking their heads.

At once she got up, going to the door and opening it. Ayane, who sat on the floor between Sam and Anthony, craned her neck to see if she could see who it was.

Amanda returned a moment later, looking down at Ayane.

"Ayane, um, someone's here to see you."

The girl frowned, climbing to her feet at once. "Uh... who?"

She stepped around Chozen on the floor, walking behind the couch where Amanda stood.

"It's Robby," she halfway whispered, Ayane leaning back and peering down the entryway to see the Keene boy standing there.

She made a face, wondering what he could have possibly wanted.

Ayane walked forward, greeting Robby at the doorway.

"Uh, hi," Ayane slowly said, Robby smiling at her.

"Hey, Ayane," he returned. "Mind if I come in? Or– if you'd rather, we could go outside. I was wanting to see if we could talk for a minute."

Ayane chewed her inner lip, thinking for a moment. She supposed it couldn't hurt.

The girl stepped outside a moment later, shutting the front door behind her. She and Robby stood on the front porch of the LaRusso house, Ayane folding her arms.

"So... what brings you by?" she finally broke the silence.

Robby shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to think of where to start.

"I'm worried about you, Ayane," he finally broke, the girl now refusing to meet his eyes.

"I-I know, I'm sorry," she said, knowing that she had also been ignoring Robby's texts of concern right alongside Miguel's. "I've just been having a hard time lately."

Robby nodded with understanding, walking over to the steps and taking a seat. Ayane followed suit at once, sitting down beside him.

"You know you can talk to me, right? I'm your friend, aren't I?" he nudged her with his elbow, Ayane rolling her eyes.

"Yes, you are," she replied, "but I'm not very good at expressing how I feel. Never have been, really."

Robby rested his arms over his knees, turning his head to her. "Well, I think I can kinda guess. You're overwhelmed. You're frustrated. You're mentally exhausted."

Ayane met his eyes, wondering how Robby had been able to gauge that so well. She broke eye contact, staring down at her fingernails.

"I guess that's kinda spot on. Dick."

Robby laughed softly. "I understand your reasoning behind all this, I do. I just want you to know that there are people who care about you, Ayane. A lot. I... I care about you."

She looked over at him once more, seeing that he was being completely serious. Ayane swallowed a familar lump in her throat, moving her mouth to the side.

"Thanks, Robby," she replied, letting out a breath. "I'm grateful to have you in my life."

His heart did a strange flutter as she said that, Ayane looking away from him. Robby ignored the feeling, blinking to snap himself out of it.

He was supposed to bring up Miguel, to tell her how much he, of all people, cared about her. But Robby decided against it, leaving it as it was.

"Is– is Miguel okay?" she asked at once, timid.

Robby hesitated to answer. "Honestly? No. He's worried sick about you. All he wants is for you to reach out and say something. Anything."

Ayane stared at the ground, unwavering. The words hit her like a ton of bricks, though, almost causing her façade to crumble.

After a moment, she stood up, Robby doing the same.

"I-I think I'm gonna head back inside now," she said, gesturing to the door. "We're having family movie night."

Robby laughed a little, nodding. "I won't hold you up. Just– think about everything I said, yeah?"

Ayane nodded, meeting his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, then Ayane went forward and hugged Robby tightly. Though surprised, his arms went around her waist to hug her back.

From Johnny's van, Miguel watched in the driver's seat. He frowned a little as they hugged, trying to ignore his undeniable jealousy. It was so easy for him to get jealous.

At once, Robby began walking back to the vehicle, getting in the passenger seat.

"So?" Miguel asked as soon as he got in, putting the van in drive, "What did she say?"

Robby was apprehensive, still thinking about the fluttering feeling he had gotten from hugging Ayane. He tried to ignore it, just like he has been for months now, but Robby knew that he had begun to develop feelings for Ayane.

"Um... I don't think she's ready to talk," Robby told him, Miguel's face falling. "I... I think she might be wanting to move on, man."

Miguel looked over briefly with a pained expression. "Wh-what? Did she– did she say that?"

Robby knew that he was lying, but he followed through with it. "I mean, it was kind of implied. She didn't seem to have much interest in talking to you."

Miguel looked as if he wanted to cry, Robby feeling a twinge of guilt. He felt selfish, but Robby was also developing some intense feelings for Ayane. He actually had a chance now, too.

"So... do you think it's over between us?" Miguel asked, his voice shaking.

Robby looked over, giving a small shrug.

"I think only time will tell."

Notes.
robby is a bitch for that fr, pulling a tory tryna sabotage their relationship

goddd i LIVE for the drama if you guys can't tell, these mfs starting to swoop in like some damn hawks now that ayane is on the market (although she's not really on the market in my opinion)

it's sooo funny because she definitely only considers robby and vincent friends, so if either of them make a move she's gonna be like bitch wtf

predictions for the end of season 5? only three more episodes left, and the next one introduces the sekai taikai ;)