❛ I play to win. ❜

     Senior year was beginning.

It felt a bit surreal to Ayane, who had not even considered the idea of going to college. She had no clue what she even wanted to go to college for. It was a discussion that she and Miguel had briefly had, and he was also unsure of what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go to school.

It had been a week since Ayane was discharged from the hospital, the LaRussos gladly welcoming her back. They had offered to pay for her to see a therapist, to which Ayane agreed. If it was not going to be rehab, it should have been this.

She was very reluctant to see everyone at school, anxious in knowing that some of them knew what had happened to her. Ayane did not want to face that reality.

Daniel and Amanda had given Ayane the option to be homeschooled for her senior year, or to even just obtain her GED if she wanted. But Ayane felt that it would probably be better for her to go back to school, instead of being alone all the time.

She and Sam carpooled to school together, Ayane getting out of the car and drawing in a deep breath.

"You good?" Sam asked, looking over at the girl.

Ayane gave her a curt nod and a brief smile. "Yeah."

They walked to the front doors together, entering West Valley High. As soon as Ayane entered, she saw Miguel standing there, waiting for her.

His face brightened when he saw Ayane, immediately abandoning Eli and Demetri to go talk to her.

"Hey," he greeted with a wide smile. "How– um, how are you?"

"I-I'm good. Yeah. Good," Ayane nodded rather awkwardly.

Ayane and Miguel had not talked much since she left the hospital, or at least not as much as they used to. Miguel was trying to respect her space and give her some time for herself, no matter how hard it was for him. He knew this was what she needed.

Miguel rubbed the back of his neck as he stood in front of Ayane. Sam, Eli and Demetri all watched the encounter, cringing a bit at the awkwardness.

"Um, what's your schedule?" Ayane finally broke the silence. "I have AP Environmental Science first period."

Miguel started to nod, smiling. "Yeah, me too. We tried to plan our schedules to be similar, remember?"

Ayane did remember, just then. She had not imagined it would end up like this, but now she had almost all of her classes with her ex-boyfriend.

"Right," Ayane dropped her head, laughing a little. "Well, I guess we can walk together."

Miguel liked that suggestion, following alongside Ayane to their first class.

Eli spoke once they walked away, to Sam and Demetri. "Do you think they'll get back together?"

Sam looked as if it were obvious. "They broke up and still can't stay away from each other. What do you think?"

Eli and Demetri shrugged at her fair point.

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After school, it was time for karate practice.

Ayane and Sam were the first ones at Miyagi-Do, the two girls warming up together while waiting for everyone to arrive.

"So are you feeling okay about doing the Sekai Taikai?" Sam asked Ayane, trying to tread lightly with the question.

Ayane threw a jab punch, giving Sam an affirmative nod. "Yeah, of course. I used to dream of competing in it when I was a kid, but I did taekwondo instead of karate so I couldn't."

Sam laughed a little. "This must be a big deal for you, then."

Taking a breather, Ayane walked over to the deck and took a seat, taking a sip of water.

"I mean, yeah. After this... I'm kinda retiring from karate."

Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You're quitting karate after the Sekai Taikai?"

Ayane nodded at once, twisting her fingers in her lap. "Yeah. It's what's best for me."

Sam was honestly kind of saddened to hear this, but she agreed with Ayane. After everything she had gone through, she needed to find peace.

The others began to arrive just then, Miguel and Robby entering the dojo together. Ayane was unsure of where their relationship stood, because of everything involving her. She did not think Miguel had confronted Robby about anything, especially considering Ayane and Miguel were broken up. It kind of wasn't his place to confront him anymore.

The two boys both smiled upon seeing Ayane, approaching her and Sam.

"Hey guys," Miguel greeted them both. "Any idea who's teaching today's lesson?"

"The senseis are all discussing in there right now," Ayane nodded toward the Miyagi-Do house. "I'm thinking it's gonna be Sensei Chozen."

Everyone groaned a little at that, as Chozen's lessons were usually the most intense. And that was saying a lot, because they also had Johnny Lawrence as a sensei.

"Let's hope we don't die, then," Miguel muttered, sighing.

Robby looked over at Ayane, giving the girl a small frown. He had been really worried about her since hearing about what happened, and Robby had tried to reach out but not gotten a response from Ayane. He didn't want to push the boundaries, though.

"Ayane," he suddenly blurted, her and the other two looking over at him. "Uh– do you... do you wanna warm up with me?"

Ayane pointed to Sam with her thumb, replying, "Um, I just warmed up with Sam, sorry. Maybe you and Miguel could warm up together."

The boys both seemed apprehensive at that suggestion, and Ayane could tell. But she was trying to enforce their healed relationship, and not let all of the progress go down the drain.

Robby glanced over to Miguel, then finally gave in. "Yeah, sure."

Ayane and Sam watched the two boys walk away, Sam catching on to the obvious tension between them.

"What's up with Miguel and Robby now? I thought they had repaired their relationship."

Ayane rubbed her temple, making a face. She didn't know how to say that it was because of her.

"Uh... Miguel thought Robby had a thing for me. And– I think he might, too."

The Cain girl had chosen not to address this, and ignore the obvious pining looks Robby had been giving her recently. She figured that maybe if she ignored it, it'd go away.

Sam laughed a little, shaking her head as she stood up from the deck. "This is why I stopped dating boys."

Ayane raised her eyebrows a little as Sam walked away, going to greet Tory who was entering the dojo.

To Ayane's left, she turned and saw Eli and Demetri up to something. They were setting up a stand with a poster on it, the poster being covered with a white sheet to hide it.

Ayane hopped off of the deck to her feet, walking over to them.

"The hell are you guys doing?" she questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

They both turned to Ayane, giving her awkward looks. The boys knew about her overdose, obviously, and were unsure of how to treat the girl.

"It's, uh, something that Eli and I came up with for the dojo," Demetri replied. "A name suggestion, and a new logo."

Ayane raised her chin, intrigued. "New name, huh? You know, I kinda thought Miyagi-Fang would be a cool name."

The boys exchanged a look, amazed that Ayane somehow guessed their name suggestion.

"Great minds think alike," Eli told her, clapping a hand on her shoulder as he walked past her. He and Demetri went toward the house, likely going to get the senseis.

Ayane turned away from them, watching Miguel and Robby from a distance as they warmed up together. It seemed less awkward between them now, Ayane hoping it would stay that way.

But something told her it wouldn't.

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      Miyagi-Fang was a no go for the new dojo name, much to Eli and Demetri's disappointment.

The three senseis were seeming to all have a hard time agreeing that day, as Ayane and the others caught on. She hoped it would not be like this for the entirety of their training for the Sekai Taikai.

After their lesson ended, Sam and Tory approached Ayane.

"Hey," Sam grabbed her attention. "Tory and I were planning on going to Golf-N-Stuff tonight, do you wanna come? We invited some of the others, too."

Ayane pushed her hair back out of her face, thinking for a moment. She supposed it couldn't hurt to get out and do something fun. Better than sitting around in her room doing homework, anyway.

"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna go shower and then I'll get ready."

As it turned out, the 'others' that decided to tag along to Golf-N-Stuff were Miguel and Robby. Ayane sat in the backseat of Sam's car, wedged between the two boys while Sam and Tory sat up front.

After the most painfully awkward car ride of her life, they arrived at Golf-N-Stuff. Ayane and Miguel had many memories here, and they could tell that the other was thinking about it.

Sam and Tory led the way, taking the group to the arcade games. Miguel and Robby walked along either side of Ayane, who was trying to think of something to break the tension.

"I love Revolution Dance Dance," Sam said as she saw the game, Tory laughing with her as the two hopped on the machine.

Ayane rubbed the back of her neck, looking between Miguel and Robby.

"Uh... do you guys wanna play basketball?" she suggested, offering a small smile. "Or... I don't know, there's skee ball too."

Miguel folded his arms crossly, shooting Robby a look. "Nah, I'll just hang out here."

Robby did not reply right away, trying to think of a way to do something with just him and Ayane.

"I'll do basketball with you," Robby offered, Ayane raising her eyebrows a little.

"O-Okay," she gave a little nod, giving Miguel a brief look as he watched the two of them walk away.

He stood there, feeling like the odd one out as he watched Sam and Tory dance together, and Ayane and Robby shooting basketball beside each other. This was exactly what he and Ayane used to do.

Miguel stood there sourly, Ayane and Robby returning at once whilst Sam and Tory got off the dance machine.

"I found out one thing Ayane is not good at, and that is basketball," Robby announced, Ayane rolling her eyes.

"Well she's gotta have some kind of flaw," Sam remarked with a grin.

Ayane smiled and waved them off, glancing over at Miguel again. He did not seem to be enjoying himself very much.

The others caught on, Tory finally speaking up. "We could all do something as a group," she suggested.

Ayane thought for a second, her face lighting up. "Ooh! Laser tag?"

Miguel looked down at her, almost cracking a smile just then. "So you can go all Rambo on us?" he retorted, recalling the last time he and Ayane played laser tag together.

She shrugged, nudging Miguel playfully with her elbow. "Hey, I play to win."

He laughed her off, finally seeming to lighten up now that Ayane was actually acknowledging him. It seemed that that was all it took to brighten his mood.

"Well first, I wanna go get ice cream," Tory cut in, grabbing Sam's hand and leading them all to the cafe area.

Ayane began to follow with a smile, looking back to see that Robby was not following with. She stopped, hesitating for a moment before approaching him. He was looking at someone, Ayane turning her head in that direction to see who.

It was Kenny.

She stood beside Robby, placing her hands in her jacket pockets.

"You gonna go talk to him?" Ayane asked, Robby not realizing she was standing there.

He turned his head to her, then gave her a small shrug. "I don't know. Do you think it's even worth it?"

Ayane looked as if the answer were obvious. "Are you kidding? Kenny adores you, Robby. He might act all tough and shit but I promise, he could use your advice."

Robby met her eyes, beginning to nod at once.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll catch up with you guys in a minute."

He walked over to Kenny just then, Ayane watching a moment longer before turning and heading to the cafe.

Miguel stood in the line waiting for ice cream, Ayane walking up behind him.

"Let me guess... cookies and cream, waffle cone, sprinkles on top?"

Miguel turned, seeing Ayane standing there. He grinned softly.

"Are you gonna make fun of the sprinkles this time?" he replied, getting his ice cream cone which was exactly how Ayane had described it.

She gave a shrug, following him to the table which Tory and Sam sat at.

Miguel instinctively pulled out a chair for Ayane, who paused before taking a seat. The Diaz boy internally cringed at himself, sitting down beside Ayane.

"So, have you guys thought about college?" Sam questioned once they sat down.

Ayane hesitated, raising her shoulders a little. "Um, I've thought about Stanford, maybe UC Berkeley. They both have super low acceptance rates though, so."

Miguel brought his face away from his ice cream cone. "I-I was thinking about Stanford, too. I'm not sure what I'd major in, though."

Glancing over at him, Ayane suddenly wondering if she and Miguel were going to end up in the same place for college. It was not something she had given much thought too, until realizing that she was a senior and had to start thinking about such things.

Ayane would have liked to go to the same university as Miguel, but she did not quite know what the odds of that were.

Miguel looked over at Ayane, studying her. He could never tell what she was thinking anymore, and that saddened him a little.

He just hoped she was thinking of applying to the same schools as him.

Notes.
ayane and miguel at stanford?? maybe it'll happen!

this chapter was kinda soft and cutesy and part 1 of season 6 is sort of about ayane getting back on her feet (to become the prime boss bitch baddie)

i think when it comes time for the dojo to choose team captains, tory and sam will automatically vote ayane with no questions asked

what do you think ayane would major in?