❛ I never know what I'm doing, actually. ❜

     Eli and Demetri headed home after they got back from the college, leaving Miguel with Ayane in the parking lot of West Valley.

Ayane had agreed to give Miguel a ride home, but they were currently just standing around in the parking lot and talking.

"I meant to ask you earlier, but... are you okay?" Miguel asked as he leaned against Ayane's car, his eyes soft. "I-I mean, after getting harassed by that frat guy."

She laughed a little, nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I could've handled it on my own, you know."

Miguel gave a sheepish smile, raising his shoulders. "I was just looking out for you. I can't help it, sorry."

"It's okay," Ayane returned his smile, placing her hands in her jacket pockets. "I would've done the same for you."

He chuckled, Ayane finally walking around her car and getting in the driver's seat. Miguel followed suit, buckling up while she started the car.

"How do you think you're gonna do on the Calculus test next week?" Ayane asked as she drove out of the parking lot, flipping on the radio.

Miguel waved a hand nonchalantly. "It's just the beginner stuff, so it should be easy. What about you?"

Ayane contorted her face, glancing over at Miguel.

"Um... as long as you sit close enough for me to see your paper, I'll do just fine."

Miguel burst into laughter. "Ayane, this is not the mentality of someone who wants to get into Stanford."

She rolled her eyes lightheartedly, replying, "Fake it till you make it, Diaz."

He grinned at her, shaking his head a little. Ayane arrived at Reseda Heights a couple minutes later, pulling into the parking lot and putting her car in park.

"How are you feeling about the Sekai Taikai so far?" Ayane questioned, turning to face Miguel.

Pausing as he gathered his things, Miguel thought for a moment.

"I think that with the way we're being trained, we have a good shot. We're definitely gonna be the underdogs, but... people love a good underdog story."

Ayane chewed her inner lip thoughtfully, tilting her head. "You know, the Sekai Taikai tournament was my dream as a kid."

"Really?"

She gave a nod. "Mhm. I could never do it, though, because I did taekwondo instead of karate. Granted, I made it to the taekwondo version of the Sekai Taikai, but..."

Ayane was plagued with memories of her younger self, losing a final match against another girl in a junior taekwondo championship. That was the first time Ayane had ever lost, and Ennis made her regret it deeply.

"But what?" Miguel snapped her back to reality with his question.

She shook her head. "Uh, nothing. I-I didn't win that tournament. It was my first ever loss."

Miguel raised his eyebrows, surprised to hear this.

"I didn't know you had actually ever lost in a tournament. Well– except against me, but you kinda threw that match."

Ayane gave him a knowing smile, feigning innocence.

"I had my reasons," she defended, reaching over to playfully shove his face.

Miguel caught her by the wrist, meeting Ayane's eyes. He gave her a pointed look, narrowing his eyes back at her.

"You should've won. You could be a two time All-Valley champ," he spoke rather quietly, Miguel's eyes traveling to Ayane's lips as if it were involuntary.

Ayane felt his eyes wandering, swallowing thickly. Miguel inched closer to her, Ayane's brain scrambling to find a response to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she finally responded, holding eye contact with Miguel. "You won it fair and square."

He rolled his eyes, still holding on to Ayane's wrist. Miguel was fighting every bone in his body to just kiss her.

"You knew what you were doing," Miguel's voice was a bit gruff, his gaze lowering at Ayane.

The tension between the two could have been cut with a knife, Ayane realizing Miguel still had hold of her arm. She pulled her lips in, smirking a little.

"I never know what I'm doing, actually."

Miguel gave a soft laugh, his smile fading after a moment as he lessened the space between him and Ayane. She was not doing anything to prevent this, so Miguel thought, Fuck it.

He brought his lips to Ayane's, locking her into a deep kiss as he cupped one side of her face. Ayane melted into the kiss, taking a second to process what was happening.

She suddenly pulled away, removing her wrist from Miguel's hold. Ayane ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes.

"Miguel, we shouldn't. I-I can't, right now. I'm sorry. It– it's not good for me right now."

Miguel's face fell, drawing in a deep breath. He had been afraid of that reaction, already anticipating it. The boy sat back, sighing.

"You're right, I-I'm sorry. I just– I couldn't help myself," he apologized, Ayane finally looking back over at him.

She felt worse than he did, hating to see the dejected look on Miguel's face. Ayane hated that she was the one who made him look that way.

"I, uh, I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?" Ayane unlocked her car doors, signaling for Miguel to leave now.

He gathered his things at once, nodding with reluctance as he got out of the car.

"Yeah, see you at school."

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     Practice was becoming more and more tumultuous.

Ayane avoided Miguel as much as possible, which was easy enough since she had been paired with Tory for warmups.

Johnny walked over to the two of them, seeing the two girls finish their kata routine.

"Alright, you got the kata down. Let's see you use it," Johnny instructed, Ayane and Tory turning to each other with visible apprehension. "Fighting positions."

It was clear that Ayane and Tory did not want to fight each other, after all the progress they had made. Johnny did not seem to care, however.

The girls bowed at each other, assuming their fighting stances. Some of the other kids were watching, Miguel included. He was admittedly a bit distracted today too, after what happened last night. He was not on his A game.

"Ready?" Johnny called out. "Fight!"

Ayane and Tory both bounced on their feet, shuffling back and forth but neither of them actually making a move.

Finally, Tory came forward with a weak attempt at a grab, Ayane stepping back and throwing a halfhearted kick at the Nichols girl.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Johnny shook his head. "You're supposed to be the two most aggressive fighters we got. Give me twenty-five reverse punches."

Ayane and Tory both dropped their fists, turning to face Johnny and throwing punches in unison. To her right, Ayane saw Miguel standing beside Robby and Sam, watching her.

He quickly glanced away, Ayane trying her best to focus.

Once they were done with their exercise, Ayane turned to Tory. She inhaled sharply, twisting her fingers.

"You, uh... you like Miyagi-Do so far?" Ayane asked.

Tory set down her water bottle, straightening back up with a small shrug. "It's alright, yeah. I get to be with Sam, and my friends, so."

Ayane nodded, chewing her lip. Had it been anyone but Tory, Ayane could have fought them with no problem. But now that they had formed a friendship, neither of them wanted to screw it up.

"You're picking it up really quickly," Ayane remarked after an awkward silence. "Miyagi-Do, I mean. Your kata routine is good."

"Thanks," Tory smiled a little. "Sam's taught me a lot, one on one."

Before Ayane could reply, Johnny approached the two girls once again.

"Ayannie, Nichols! Be at Lee's place tonight, seven p.m. sharp. Pack a bag, we're having a slumber party."

Ayane and Tory both contorted their faces, wondering what the hell Johnny was talking about.

"A slumber party?" Ayane repeated.

Johnny looked as if it were obvious. "Yeah. We need team bonding for all the girls in Miyagi-Do. LaRusso's coming, too."

Sam glanced over from where she and Devon were sparring, raising an eyebrow.

Ayane exchanged a look with Tory, both girls sighing a little.

There was no telling what Johnny was planning.

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Arriving at Devon's house with Tory and Sam, Ayane speculated with them about what Johnny's ploy was.

"I have no idea, but I am wearing waterproof shoes in case Johnny throws us into a creek, or quicksand," Sam remarked, ringing the doorbell.

It only took a split second for Devon to open the door, excitement on her face.

"You made it! We're in the basement."

She moved to the side, allowing them in. Devon led the three girls down to her basement, Ayane raising her eyebrows as she saw pink balloons and a banner decorating the place.

Johnny stood there, throwing out his hands. "Welcome to Miyagi-Do After Dark," he greeted, all of them making faces.

"Johnny, I wouldn't call it that," Ayane cringed a bit, the other girls agreeing.

"Miyagi-Do Nights?"

"No," Sam shook her head vigorously.

"Dark Nights?" Johnny suggested, running out of ideas.

Devon came around the corner just then, holding a caboodle of nail polish as she beamed.

"I've never had a slumber party before," she said, hopefulness on her face. "I didn't know what color nail polish you guys like, so I just got them all."

Johnny turned back to the girls. "I figured since you guys are all friends now, we can have a girls' night."

Tory knit her brows. "With you?"

"Hell yeah," Johnny nodded. "I'm a girl dad now."

Ayane recalled Miguel mentioning that to her, that his new sibling was going to be a girl.

"I brought cookies and tampons and everything," Johnny continued. "Alright, come on inside. Grab a sleeping bag. The Mr. T one's mine."

With a deep sigh, Ayane walked forward and set her bag down on the floor.

Only moments later, she felt something hit her in the back, whipping around to see a pillow at her feet that Johnny had clearly thrown at her. He pointed at Tory, indicating that she did it.

"Alright, let's have a pillow fight," Johnny said, pressing play on a boombox beside him.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun began playing, Ayane visibly not enthused about this. She picked up the pillow, sighing.

Sam and Tory were having a blast with each other, while Ayane... not so much. Johnny resorted to another tactic, pulling out a Ouija board.

"Alright, let's talk to some ghosts," he said as he took a seat at the table.

Ayane was already sitting at the table, the other girls joining her. She made a face of confusion, looking up at Johnny.

"Talk to ghosts? What? I don't know what this is," she gestured to the Ouija board on the table.

Everyone looked surprised at this.

"It's a game where you communicate with spirits," Devon explained. "No one really believes in it, but it's fun to try."

Ayane tilted her head, not feeling like she was having very much fun. Nonetheless she put her hands on the planchette like everyone else.

Devon went first with the questions, asking, "Will Mitch ever win the All-Valley?"

"Who the hell's Mitch?" Johnny contorted his face.

"Penis Breath," Devon replied, Johnny immediately sliding the planchette to the word 'No' on the board.

"Nope."

Next, Johnny asked a question. "Does Tory want Ayane to fall down a flight of stairs, breaking every single bone in her little body?"

"What?" Tory furrowed her eyebrows, Ayane doing the same.

"Let's see what it says," Johnny moved the planchette forcefully to 'Yes', Ayane rolling her eyes immediately.

She got up from the table, walking over to the couch and plopping down on it.

Devon approached her a moment later, holding her caboodle of nail polish.

"Do you want a manicure?" Devon asked, a wide smile on her face.

Ayane's face softened after a moment, huffing as she brought her legs up into a crisscross position.

"Do you have baby blue?"

Devon sat down on the couch, looking through her nail polishes until she found the right color. Ayane held out her hand to Devon, glancing over at Johnny.

"Alright, are you gonna tell me what the hell Johnny is up to?" Ayane asked in a quiet voice.

Devon paused as she began to paint Ayane's nails, avoiding eye contact with the girl.

"He's just trying to get you and Tory to get your edge back, you know? So you'll be able to fight each other like you used to."

Ayane blinked a couple times. "We were trying to kill each other when we used to fight. I don't think that was exactly healthy."

Devon pursed her lips, only shrugging.

Once she was done with Ayane's nails, Sam and Tory joined them on the couch. Johnny apparently had a movie for them, putting a DVD on to play.

While they all sat there watching Bloodsport, but not really watching it, Tory showed Ayane a meme on her phone. Ayane laughed, then saw Miguel's contact pop up on Tory's phone.

She frowned, looking up at Tory.

"Miguel's calling you."

Tory looked at her phone screen, equally as confused as Ayane. Sam noticed too, irritation flickering across her face.

"I-I have no idea why," Tory shook her head, hitting decline. "Butt dial, maybe."

Ayane did not take long to figure out what was going on, looking behind her at Johnny and Devon standing by the bar counter.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then got up and walked over to him.

"Johnny, where's Miguel's phone?"

He had his hands behind his back, clearly hiding something. Johnny shrugged.

"Nothing. Just my hands."

Ayane crossed her arms. "Are you stupid? Why would Miguel call Tory? You know that her and Sam are together, right?"

Johnny raised his eyebrows, eyes widening a little. "What, like– they're lesbians?"

Ayane brought a hand over her face, inhaling slowly.

"They're dating, Johnny, yes."

Tory and Sam approached the others just then, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What's your deal, anyway?" Ayane asked. "It seems like you're trying to make me and Tory hate each other again."

Johnny defended, "No, no, not hate. Maybe just a really strong dislike, you know? To help you guys get your edge back. You're both badasses, but you kinda haven't been acting like it lately."

Ayane scoffed, shaking her head. "I'm leaving. Goodnight."

She went and gathered her things, Sam and Tory doing the same. Ayane pushed past Johnny, leaving the basement and walking to the front door.

As much as she hated it, Ayane had to admit that Johnny was a little bit right. She was not being as aggressive as she usually was, holding back from her typical style of fighting.

Tory and Sam followed her outside, Ayane waiting at Sam's car. They all got in, Sam starting up the car.

"What did Johnny possibly think he was gonna accomplish?" Sam questioned with a laugh.

Ayane stayed quiet, whilst Tory also laughed.

"I don't know. I don't think he realizes that me and Ayane hating each other while being on the same team would be much worse for everyone."

Ayane tapped her foot in the backseat of the car, Tory looking back at her as Ayane did not say anything.

Maybe she did need to get her edge back.

Notes.
i am playing with y'all's emotions my bad

the whole slumber party thing was so funny LMAO, one of my favorite johnny scenes to date

ayane may or may not start becoming a bit more aggressive again, her and miguel are not gonna be holding back at the sekai taikai for sure

speaking of ayane and miguel... what did you guys think of their 'accidental' kiss? tehehe