❝ don't touch what you can't have. ❞

"DANIEL LARUSSO DOES KARATE," Ayane said with confusion, "I do taekwondo."

Ennis stared at her shortly, irritated. "Obviously. But you didn't expect to be doing just taekwondo your whole life, did you?"

He walked back around his desk, sitting down.

Ayane stood. "So, what- I'm just going to learn karate now? And stop taekwondo?"

She never particularly cared about martial arts in the first place, but Ayane liked to hit things. And this was a free pass for her to do so.

Ennis did not look up. "You'll still practice your daily taekwondo regimen, every day before school. After school, you'll go to the LaRusso's to begin your karate lessons."

He paused, then added, "That reminds me. Daniel has a daughter your age, maybe a little older. Her name is Samantha. He told me that she doesn't do karate like she used to, and he wants her to start back up again. I told him that maybe you could help with that. You can help with that, right?"

Ayane did not answer right away, still trying to process everything.

"Um-" she finally replied, "y-yeah. Of course. But- when exactly am I starting school?"

Ennis breathed heavily through his nose, making it clear he wanted to be left alone.

"Tomorrow. Which means you need to eat dinner, wash up, and get ready for bed."

Ayane did not respond; she could recognize the look on her father's face and so left it at that. She touched her face as she was leaving, remembering the incident in the car. Liana was in the kitchen, preparing a meager meal with what little pantry food they had.

Though she was hungry, Ayane did not dare go in there with her mother. Instead, she went upstairs to learn how to navigate the shower.

Before it was even ten o'clock, Ayane was in bed. And she was very, very restless. She tossed more times than a pitching machine, her head filled with thoughts of going to public school for the very first time.

She was torn between excitement and nervousness; what if she made a complete fool of herself? Ayane didn't find it likely, as she was a rather poised and composed person. But something about the thought of all of those other teenagers judging her- well, it terrified her.

Eventually, Ayane drifted off into a light, harmonic sleep.

Tomorrow would be tougher than any karate competition she had to face.

Because tomorrow, Ayane was going to high school.

. . . .

HIGH SCHOOL WAS A WORLD like no other.

As soon as Ayane walked in, she was thrown off by the number of kids.

Liana had gone as far as the front door with her, and then Ayane was on her own.

She held her bag to her chest, looking around wildly and having no idea where to go.

"Hey," someone tapped her shoulder, Ayane turning on her heel.

She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the boy from the dojo. "Oh, hi."

He chewed his lip. "Do you- do you need help?"

Ayane smiled a little, tilting her head.

The boy nodded, smiling back. "I'll help you. I'm Miguel, by the way."

He offered a hand, and Ayane shook it at once.

"Ayane."

Miguel released her head, remarking, "Ayane? That's a cool name. Sounds like it's from a video game."

She halfway laughed.

"Well, it's actually Japanese. Even though I'm Korean, my dad wanted me to have a 'non-Korean' name." Ayane drew in a breath. "I'm sorry, am I over sharing?"

Miguel held his hand out, shaking it side to side.

"It's fine. So, do you need to get to the office?"

"Is that where I can get my- uh, schedule?"

Miguel gestured, walking along. Ayane followed, feeling the stares of kids in the hallway who did not recognize her. She felt uncomfortable, like a mouse being watched by snakes.

"So where did you come from?" Miguel asked, glancing over at her.

Ayane hesitated, afraid she would yet again say too much. "Chicago. The Valley is, uh, it's different."

Miguel stopped, as they were now at the office. He face Ayane, nodding in understanding.

"I get it. I'm kind of new, too. I beat you by a few weeks."

"Oh. You didn't also happen to move because your parents want you to learn karate, did you?"

Miguel glanced down, smiling softly. "Not quite. And it's just, just parent."

Ayane felt a twist of guilt in her stomach.

"Oh. I am so sorry, I really am. Man, I suck at making friends-"

"It's okay," Miguel reassured, frowning a little. "You must've been homeschooled."

Ayane raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Is it that obvious?" she laughed, biting her lip.

Miguel made a face. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay. So, do you know karate?"

He leaned against the doorway, quickly shaking his head. "No, not yet. I'm learning."

Ayane tilted her head up, narrowing her eyes. "Yeah, well you have a real asshole of a sensei. No offense. Well, maybe a little. You're seriously gonna learn from him?"

Miguel slowly raised his shoulders. "He knows what he's talking about, even if he is an asshole. Why, are you interested in joining?"

"Oh, no, I've already got karate lessons booked elsewhere. Even though my strong suit is taekwondo."

He turned his head, intrigued. "Taekwondo? Isn't that like- a Chinese thing-"

"Korean. Kung fu is Chinese."

"Oh."

Ayane giggled at him. He was unbelievably cute. It gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. She had never experienced this before.

"Shit, I need to get my schedule. Um- I guess I'll see you around?"

Miguel shoved his hands in his pockets, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah. Oh and- if you're not busy, I could use an extra hand at the dojo. Cleaning it and fixing it up."

"You're the only one?" Ayane frowned.

"For now. It's only a matter of time, I think."

Ayane smiled. "Maybe, if I have time. I've got a pretty strict schedule to stick to, unfortunately."

"Strict schedule? You're a teenager."

Ayane sighed. She was not ready to talk about this part.

"It's complicated. I really have to go now. Bye, Miguel."

He watched her go, staring hard.

"New girl?"

Miguel turned, seeing his only two friends coming up behind him. Eli and Demetri.

"New girl. Her name's Ayane."

"Oh, like the video game! Dead or Alive!" Demetri remarked, giving a nod of approval.

"She hot?" he continued.

Miguel's eyes widened a little. "Um- I don't know, I-"

"Don't play stupid, you can tell if someone's hot or not by looking at them."

Just then, Ayane walked out of the office, seeing Miguel still standing there.

"Oh, you're still here. Okay. Well, I guess this is a good thing. Wanna show me Mr. Lopez's class?"

. . . .

IT WAS NOT UNTIL LUNCHTIME THAT Ayane met Samantha LaRusso.

The girl was having a hard enough time trying to find a place to sit, when the dark-haired, blue eyed girl came bouncing up to her.

"Hi, I'm Sam! And you are...?"

"Ayane. Ayane Cain."

"Cain? I feel like my dad mentioned a Cain..."

Ayane looked down at the girl. She was taller than her by three or four inches.

"Anyway," Sam continued, "do you wanna come sit with us? It's just my friends Yasmine and Moon."

She gestured over to her table, Ayane looking over to see a blonde and brunette staring over at her, looking at her like she was some kind of prey.

Ayane turned to the right, seeing Miguel, Eli and Demetri at another table. Miguel was looking back at her, half of a smile on his face.

She was a sucker for that smile.

"I'm gonna pass, thanks. See you around."

Sam watched, visibly hurt, as Ayane walked over to Miguel's table and sat down.

"Are you stupid?" Demetri asked.

Ayane turned her head sharply, taken aback. "Excuse me-"

"You had a perfect, free pass to sit with the popular kids and you blew them off? To sit here?"

Ayane raised an eyebrow, shrugging. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Her tone was challenging, underlying with a threat. Demetri did not seem to catch onto that.

"I guess not, I'm just... confused? I mean, we're bums-"

"Will you shut up?" Eli said, shaking his head.

Ayane had noticed his lip, but more importantly, how he seemed to spend every waking moment trying to hide it. She watched him rest his hand on his face, his eyes darting around the room nervously.

She wondered if people bullied him for it. Ayane had been taught scientifically, not socially. His cleft lip was nothing but a medical thing, to her. It was nothing abnormal, it happened all the time. It was science.

"So, Miguel tells me you know taekwondo," Demetri stated, "that's cool. But do you just do it- like- for fun?"

Ayane pursed her lips, setting her water on the table. "I won the US Open Taekwondo Championship when I was ten."

Demetri swallowed. "Shit." He glanced down, not looking back up.

"If you're so good at taekwondo, then why do you want to learn karate?" Miguel asked.

"I don't," she replied, "my father wants me to."

Miguel frowned. "Why don't you just tell him that you don't want to, then?"

Ayane scoffed, smiling cynically. "Why you don't you go to tell him?"

He sighed, getting the sense that her father was a sensitive subject.

"Well, I'm not going to discourage you from it. Sensei needs more students, and for me personally, I want to see how good you can fight."

Ayane laughed a little, shaking her head.

"I'll come by when I can. Maybe I should give you time to prepare, first. You know, so you don't embarrass yourself."

Miguel smirked, quickly retorting, "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is. But like I said, all in due time."

Ayane finished her lunch, getting the sense that she was being watched. The girl sat up straight, whipping around sharply at once.

Sam and her friends quickly looked away, pretending to be on their phones.

With a sigh, Ayane put her Tupperware container in her bag and looked at the three boys, saying, "I hear that sushi in the Valley is really good. Is that true?"

Before anyone could respond, a group of boys came walking up to their table, snickering.

The Asian one was the ringleader, that was apparent, but just as he was about to say something to Eli, Ayane caught his eye.

"Well, well, well... who do we have here?"

He walked around the table, pulling a chair out beside Ayane.

She barely glanced at him, refusing to pay him any attention.

"Do you speak? Helloooo?"

Miguel moved in his chair, ready to say something.

But Ayane had it handled.

"I don't speak to people who aren't worthy of my time. Have a nice day."

She stood, but the boy stood as well, grabbing her wrist.

"Hey, come on, I was just trying to introduce myself-"

Ayane pulled his arm, turning it backwards and bending his elbow to his spine. There was a crack, some 'oohs', and then silence.

"Don't touch what you can't have. Ssibal-saekki."

Eli leaned over to Demetri, whispering, "What does that mean?"

Demetri shrugged, watching in awe.

Ayane finally let the boy go, pushing him into his friends.

"I'm Ayane. I won't be seeing you around."

With that, she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the cafeteria.

West Valley High School had no idea what hit them.

NOTES!
chapter two!! a small dose of ayane being a badass and beatin up kyler's bitch ass... well not completely beating him up. not yet 😌