❝ did you know that my sensei kicked your sensei's ass? ❞

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS Halloween dance I keep hearing about?" Ayane asked as she sat down at the lunch table.

Two days had passed since Ayane went to the dojo with Miguel, and she could not stop thinking about it.

"It's a dance... where we wear Halloween costumes," Demetri replied, rolling his hands.

Ayane could have reached across the table and slapped him.

"No shit," she rolled her eyes, "when is it?"

"Tomorrow," Miguel informed, consuming a spoonful of chocolate pudding.

Ayane tapped her foot, wondering if there was any way in hell her parents would let her go.

She had to admit, it sounded fun. And Ayane had never celebrated Halloween before.

"Well, what are you guys gonna go as? Wait, let me guess."

She pointed at Demetri. "Something from an obscure comic book?"

Demetri mocked her, unable to think of a comeback.

"I-I wanted to go as Deadpool, but I don't know," Miguel informed, shrugging.

Ayane frowned a little. "Deadpool? What's that?"

Miguel, Demetri and Eli all gave her a look.

She glanced between all three of them. "What?" she snapped.

"We have got to teach you some culture," Miguel sighed, shaking his head. "Deadpool is only the coolest antihero ever."

"No, that's Catwoman," Demetri replied.

And for the next few minutes, Miguel and Demetri argued over superheroes until the guidance counselor came into the cafeteria to make an announcement.

She said something about a kid with a facial deformity being bullied, as if she couldn't have made it more obvious.

Ayane glanced over at Eli, seeing him staring at the table. She wanted to drop kick every single prick laughing at him.

And then the counselor mentioned the dance, and something about how the costumes should be appropriate and culturally sensitive.

Ayane leaned over to Miguel. "Is wearing Día di los Muertos makeup considered cultural appropriation?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why would you ask me, huh?"

Ayane laughed through her nose, shoving his arm.

"For the record, I don't really know. I'm not Mexican, I'm Ecuadorean."

"Oh... oops."

Miguel grinned at her, Ayane looking away to hide the blush on her face. Damn, she hated how this boy made her go weak in the knees.

"How's karate coming along?" Demetri asked, gesturing to both Miguel and Ayane.

"Fine," she shrugged, although she was not really sure. Her hands were still sore from staining the fence. She had done the other fence last night, and that was what her entire time at the LaRusso's consisted of.

"It's great," Miguel gushed, "Sensei Lawrence is so badass."

Ayane frowned, chewing her inner lip. She wished Miguel would not treat that man like a godsend.

"Hey Miguel," she turned her head to him, "did you know that my sensei kicked your sensei's ass?"

He paused. "What?"

"Well, I already knew that Daniel LaRusso won the All Valley Tournament back in eighty-four. But, as it turns out, he won against a certain 'Johnny Lawrence'."

Miguel leaned back in his seat, tilting his head. "Are you sure about that?"

"Positive. I looked it up. Wanna see?"

Ayane pulled out her phone, but Miguel declined.

"It's okay. I'll take your word for it."

She shrugged, putting her phone away and smirking at the perplexed look on Miguel's face.

"Sensei is looking for more students," Miguel announced after a moment. "Do you guys wanna do karate?"

Demetri quickly shook his head. "Yeah... no. I'm much better off spending my afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face."

Ayane tilted her head, slowly smiling.

"If you're too pussy to do it just say that, Demetri," she challenged.

Miguel and Eli looked between them, amused.

"That is a very misogynistic term, actually-"

"Pussy," she repeated in a singsong voice, standing up. The lunch period was over.

Demetri tried to act unaffected by Ayane's words, but in reality it got to him. A part of him wanted to prove himself.

As school ended, Miguel found Ayane outside once more.

"Hey, you coming to the dojo?" he ran up and asked.

Ayane looked down at her phone, as if that would have made a difference. It had been a week since Liana picked her up from school. She was basically relying on anyone she could at this point.

But Ayane really did not want to go back into that dojo. There was something she really hated about Johnny Lawrence.

"Please?" Miguel pleaded after her silence, grabbing her hand.

Ayane froze up at his touch, until Miguel looked down and realized, pulling his hand away.

She huffed. "Okay. Let's go."

The two took the same path they had two days before, talking as they went.

"So tell me about this superhero you like so much. Deadpool, was it?"

Miguel smiled softly. "Antihero. Deadpool isn't necessarily good or bad. He's just... neutral."

Ayane nodded slowly. "Okay... what can he do?"

"Well- it's complicated. He's like- a total badass fighter and he can kick some serious butt. But also, he can't die."

"Can't die? That must suck."

Miguel frowned. "How so? You wouldn't want immortality if you were offered it?"

Ayane quickly shook her head. "Of course not. I mean, think about it. Would you really want to live forever? That's a long ass time, chico."

"I guess you have a point. I mean, even Deadpool got tired of living."

Ayane held her hands out. "There you go."

She paused, watching cars go up and down Reseda Boulevard.

"What other superheroes are there?" she asked, looking back over at Miguel.

He drew in a breath. "Geez... where to begin. Well, you know Iron Man, right? And Captain America?"

Ayane slowly shook her head. "...No."

"Are you serious right now? Jesus!"

"What?" she laughed, shrugging. "My parents never let me watch that stuff. My dad always said it was unrealistic and therefore irrelevant."

Miguel's smile faded, and he considered asking about her parents. It seemed to be the topic she avoided most.

"Your parents seem really strict," he chanced, "you know, from what you've told me."

Ayane hesitated, her mouth open as she looked for something to say.

Then, she realized they were at the dojo. She had never been happier to see the place in her life.

"Oh, we're here," she quickly muttered, opening the door and walking in.

Miguel sighed, walking in behind her.

"Hey kid, I got some good moves for you to try- oh God, not you again."

Johnny walked out of his office, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"No offense, Ayannie, but you're the last person I wanna see right now."

"Happy to see you, too," she smiled.

Johnny crossed his arms. "What the hell are you doing back here? You're supposed to be doing lessons with LaRusso."

Ayane set down her backpack, kicking off her shoes.

"I have time to kill. It's Friday." She looked at Miguel. "Wanna spar?"

Johnny quickly cut in. "No, no sparring. Not with you, you spider monkey."

Ayane scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Unless..." he tapped his chin in thought, slowly smiling.

"I'll be right back. You two, warm up."

Miguel looked back at Johnny, wondering what he was up to.

"Do you want me to teach you something?" Ayane asked, pulling her left arm over her right and stretching it.

Miguel shrugged, hesitating. "I don't know... will it result in me getting hurt?"

"Of course not. Maybe," she dropped her arm, grabbing Miguel's shoulders and lining him up with her.

"This is called a straight punch. It's very simple," she whispered the last part.

"You want to start with your arm down here," she took his right arm and put it against his hip. The closeness of the two was unsettling, tense.

She cleared her head, continuing, "So, you want to make a fist."

Miguel clenched his hand into a fist, knuckles turning white. He was listening very intently.

"Good. Now, when you make impact, you want it to be with your two big knuckles."

Ayane reached over with two fingers, tapping the knuckles of his middle and ring finger.

"And now, you wanna punch me as hard as you can."

"What?" he quickly looked up at her. "No, I-I can't do that-"

"Don't give me that 'I can't hit you because you're a girl' bullshit. Come on. Just do it."

Miguel sighed, putting his arm back into position.

"Put all your power into your arm, nowhere else. Steady yourself, and punch."

Ayane held her arms out in preparation to block.

Miguel finally clenched his jaw and threw a punch, Ayane easily blocking it.

"Come on, noodle arms! You have to do better than that!"

She did not realize that Johnny had been watching this whole time, from the side room. He was intrigued.

Miguel positioned himself once more, throwing another mediocre punch.

Ayane had his fist in her hand, sighing. She tightened her hand around his, until Miguel winced.

"Ow!"

She let go, pushing him back a little. "Again. Use all the force you have. Use your anger."

"Anger?" he questioned. "I'm not angry-"

Ayane stomped on his foot with her heel.

"Ow!" he complained again, hopping for a moment. "What was that for-"

She interrupted him again, this time slapping him across the face.

Johnny raised his eyebrows, somewhat amused by this.

"Alright." Miguel quickly got into position, clenching his fist hard and throwing it to Ayane's midsection.

The sound of his fist hitting her palm could be heard loud and clear. She smiled, ignoring the sting in her hand.

"That's what I'm talking about."

Miguel smiled sheepishly, though he had a surge of excitement running through him. He liked the rush of hitting something, and he was now beginning to understand why Ayane always said she wanted to hit things.

"You trying to steal my job, kid?" Johnny asked as he walked over to them.

Ayane raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should be better at it-"

"Yeah, yeah. I have something I want you to try."

In his hands, Johnny was holding a thin white rope.

"What's that for?" she asked slowly, furrowing her eyebrows.

Johnny pointed down at her feet. "Feet together."

Ayane did as he said, and Johnny squatted down, beginning to wrap the rope around her ankles.

"I wanna see how good you are without those lethal weapons of yours," he said, tightening the rope in a knot and standing back up.

Ayane bent her knees a little, trying to get comfortable. But she was not going to back away from a challenge.

"Block my strikes," Johnny instructed, standing in front of Ayane.

He began to hit, Ayane not prepared. She held her arms up to block, but lost her balance and fell backwards.

Ayane blew her hair out of her face, resting on her elbows with visible annoyance.

"Again."

Miguel pulled her up, Ayane's smile completely faded now.

Johnny threw a left punch, Ayane having a sudden involuntary movement that blocked it. She frowned, wondering why that move felt so familiar.

Then, it hit her. The paintbrush strokes.

She slowly smiled, smacking away his strikes one by one. Yet, Ayane got carried away once more and tried to turn her body, resulting in her falling.

"Take this damn rope off of me," she snapped, unable to even push herself up.

"Balance," Johnny said, gesturing to Miguel to help her up. "You need to work on your balance."

Ayane rolled her eyes, standing once more. "I doubt I'm going to get into a fight where my legs are tied up, sensei," she spat, pursing her lips.

Johnny shrugged. "You never know. Now, I need to teach you how to punch," he looked at Miguel.

Ayane squatted down and untied the rope from her legs.

Miguel and Johnny walked over to a dummy, Miguel facing it.

She walked over as well, observing. Miguel definitely had something in him, and he had potential.

"You want to punch this dummy so hard that it splits in two," Johnny said. "Well, not actually, it's the only one we have."

Miguel nodded, bouncing on his feet and shaking out his hands.

Ayane knew what he needed, and that was to channel his anger. She thought for a moment, wondering who he was angry with.

Then she briefly remembered Miguel telling her about Kyler, and how he and his friends picked on him at the mini-mart a few weeks ago.

"Pretend that it's Kyler," she smiled, giving a nod of assurance.

Johnny furrowed his eyebrows, wondering who the hell Kyler was.

"If that's a person you hate, then do that," Johnny agreed, crossing his arms.

Miguel began punching, and punching. His hits got more forceful as he continued, pent up rage inside him that he was releasing.

Ayane liked this side of him.

NOTES!
i love them so fucking much help. and i'm so excited to write the halloween dance chapter(s) ack