❝ you are so cheesy, diaz. ❞

MIGUEL PRACTICALLY RAN the whole way home.

Ayane had to get to the LaRusso's, so they talked for a little while longer before she left.

As soon as he reached the apartments, he went knocking on Johnny's door so hard he could have beat it down.

"What the hell-" Johnny opened the door, and Miguel rushed in.

"I DID IT!" He exclaimed, jumping excitedly.

Johnny shook his head in confusion. "You did what, kid?"

Miguel could not stand still. "I kissed her. I kissed Ayane."

Johnny broke out into a grin. "And she kissed you back?"

Miguel nodded vigorously, embracing Johnny excitedly. "But- no thanks to you," he added, pulling away.

The man frowned. "What? What do you mean?"

Rolling his eyes, Miguel replied, "I took your advice and it completely repelled her. She was mad at me all day and the only reason we made up was because I apologized."

Johnny gave him a look. "Yeah, well, that girl is different. She's weird."

Miguel quickly took offense to that. "Ayane isn't weird. She's... amazing."

"You're falling too fast," Johnny snapped his fingers at Miguel, "you gotta get your head in the game. When are you taking her out on a date?"

Miguel paused, furrowing his eyebrows as he thought.

"I haven't thought about that."

"Okay, where then? It's gotta be better than the movies."

Miguel leaned against the counted, touching his chin.

Johnny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have not thought this through."

"I'm sorry! I've never done this before," Miguel huffed, pacing the room.

Johnny leaned against the wall. "Alright, calm down. We can figure something out. What does she like?"

Miguel pulled his lips in. "Um... taekwondo?"

"You've gotta be kidding me," Johnny said with exasperation, "we're working with nothing here!"

Miguel buried his face in his hands, thinking hard.

"I don't know! Um... oh! We can go see the new Spiderman! She's never seen a superhero movie before."

Johnny shook his head. "I told you, the movies are no good. How are you gonna make your move?"

Miguel frowned, shaking his head slightly. "Move? What move? I don't have a move."

The older man groaned, going to the fridge and getting another beer.

"Don't you plan on kissing her? Or- more?"

Miguel's eyes widened a little. "Oh- I don't know. I haven't thought about it-"

"Christ, kid. Look, just take her to the movies. It'll all work out unless you manage to screw it up somehow."

The boy nodded, breathing deeply. "Should I ask her to go tonight? Is that too soon?"

Johnny sat down on his couch, propping his feet up.

"It's never too soon as long as you play it cool. Now, go."

Miguel nodded, leaving Johnny's apartment and going to his own. He pulled out his phone as soon as he got to his room, barely saying hello to his yaya.

He sent a text to Ayane, wanting to know when she was free.

. . . .

DURING AYANE'S TRAINING, her phone kept buzzing.

Mr. LaRusso stopped what he was doing, gesturing over to her bag at once.

"Do you need to get that?" he asked.

Ayane paused, glancing over at her phone that kept buzzing. She had not even noticed it.

She walked over and picked it up, seeing that it was Miguel who had been blowing up her phone. Ayane rolled her eyes but smiled, seeing what it was he wanted.

"You have a boyfriend?" Mr. LaRusso asked with a knowing look.

Ayane looked up, hesitating. Was Miguel her boyfriend?

"Um- I don't know."

Daniel chuckled. "You don't know. Hm. What does he want?"

Ayane scrolled through her messages, laughing at Miguel's attempts to talk to her.

"He- he wants to go see a movie," she explained.

Daniel placed his hands on his hips. "Wait- right now?"

Ayane laughed. "Whenever I'm free. So I'll have to reschedule." She dropped her phone on her bag, stepping back onto the mat.

Mr. LaRusso smiled softly. "You can go, Ayane."

She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wait- really? Are you sure?"

He held his hands out. "Yeah, it'll be alright. I won't mention it to your parents. You've worked really hard these past few days. I'm proud of you."

Ayane reeled at those last words.

He was proud of her.

She had never heard that before, certainly not from her own father.

"T-Thank you Mr. LaRusso. Thank you so much."

He nodded with a warm smile.

"Get out of here."

Ayane gathered her things and checked her phone as she left. She texted Miguel back, agreeing to meet him at the theater.

She was a bit sweaty and gross from her training, but Ayane figured Miguel would not mind.

After waiting for a few minutes, he came in and rushed over to her.

"Hi, sorry I'm late. My mom drove me."

Ayane nodded in understanding, smiling uncontrollably just because she got to see him.

"It's fine. So- are you going to tell me what movie we're seeing?"

He had told her earlier that it was going to be a surprise, but Ayane did not like suspense.

Miguel smiled slyly.

"Not yet. Let's get some popcorn."

He would not even let her see the tickets, and Ayane was at a complete loss. She kept asking and teasing him just to annoy Miguel.

"Okay, now you have to close your eyes," he said after they got their popcorn.

"What? Why-"

Miguel handed her the bucket of popcorn, taking her hand and covering her eyes with his other hand.

"Miguel!" She huffed, "What the hell!"

"Shh," he pulled her along, "come on."

Ayane secretly hoped it was not a horror movie. She, of all people, absolutely hated them. But Ayane had never admitted that to anyone.

"Okay," he took his hand from over her eyes, but still held her hand as they found seats. Miguel pulled her up to the very top.

"This movie better be worth it," she looked over at him and said as she sat down.

Miguel nodded with a grin. "Don't worry, it will be."

The lights began to dim after the previews ended, and Ayane adjusted herself in her seat. She was very aware of Miguel beside her, but she was glad that it was him.

Ayane was glad that she was comfortable with Miguel.

When she saw the title of the movie, she immediately looked at Miguel with a wide, stupid grin on her face.

It was Spiderman. And that meant this was the first superhero movie she got to see.

"I hate you," she said, throwing a piece of popcorn at him and eating a handful.

Miguel nodded, returning her smile.

"I hate you, too."

. . . .

AFTER THE MOVIE WAS OVER, Ayane and Miguel walked out to find another familiar face at the theater.

"Wait, so there's a Spiderwoman- Sam?"

Ayane saw her, walking out of another movie. She looked upset.

"Oh, hey guys," she barely smiled, glancing around.

"Are you okay?" Ayane asked slowly, frowning.

Sam shrugged her off, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. So you guys saw Spiderman?"

Ayane and Miguel nodded at once.

"Um, yeah. It was really good," Ayane remarked, nodding vigorously.

"That's great," Sam replied, looking like she wanted to be in a million different places. As she looked between Ayane and Miguel, her eyes suddenly went wide.

"Oh! Are you guys- are you on a date? I am so sorry, I don't want to interrupt-"

Ayane laughed, quickly replying, "It's fine, Sam. We're leaving, anyway. See you at school?"

Sam nodded, watching the two walk away happily. And there she was, having just broken up with Kyler.

"This was fun," Ayane said as they walked outside, sliding her hand into Miguel's.

He gave her another sly look. "Who said it was over?"

Ayane furrowed her eyebrows, confused.

"Come on. My mom won't be here for another hour."

She had no choice but to follow him, as Miguel had an iron grip on her hand. Ayane had absolutely no idea where they were going, but Miguel acted like he knew what he was doing.

They went behind a strip of buildings that led to another, less crowded street. He ran down the sidewalk, Ayane barely able to keep up.

By the time he stopped, she was out of breath.

"We're almost there," he said, and Ayane looked up to see he was climbing a ladder to some very unstable tower.

She took a few breaths, closed her eyes for a moment, then climbed up after him. Ayane was completely lost and hoped Miguel was not planning to try and murder her or something.

At last, she reached the top, Miguel helping her up.

"What is this place?" she shook her head, asking. They were on a broad, circular platform.

"I have to show you something."

Taking her hand once more, Miguel pulled her to the opposite end of the platform. He gestured with his arms.

"It's Los Angeles."

Ayane drew in her breath, taking in the sight. It was beautiful. The city sparkled in the night sky, and it was like nothing she had ever seen before.

"Wow..." Was all she could say, smiling. She turned to Miguel, expecting him to be looking out at it but he was looking at her.

"Call me corny, but- it's not even the prettiest thing I see."

Ayane was unable to hold in her laughter, shoving Miguel.

"You are so cheesy, Diaz."

"Can you do better?" he challenged, tilting his head.

Ayane smirked. "I don't wanna try. And embarrass myself like you-"

"Hey!" He protested, "That was a good line."

She shrugged. "It was okay."

They both went quiet, the space between them filled with tension. It was the craziest tension Ayane had ever felt, like she was just being drawn to him.

Then Miguel suddenly said, "Hey, you wanna see this new move I learned from Sensei? Well, before he decided to shut down the dojo."

Ayane held her hands on her hips. "Sure. Let's see it."

"Okay, come over here to the middle so no one gets thrown off," he said, backing up to the middle of the platform.

Ayane followed, standing close to him.

"Alright, so I would just take your arm like this," he grabbed her arm and pulled it over his shoulder. "And then I would just-" Miguel grabbed Ayane by the waist and kicked her leg from under her, turning her onto the ground.

Miguel hovered over Ayane, a small smile on his face. She laid on the ground, taken by surprise. His arms pinned hers, and Ayane was stuck.

"Normally you're supposed to punch the person at this point but I figured you wouldn't appreciate that," Miguel said.

Ayane laughed. "I can get out of this."

"Oh really? Go ahead and try it-"

She wrapped her legs around his abdomen and pushed herself up, flipping on top of Miguel.

He looked up at her, stunned.

"I can never win with you, can I?" he shook his head, giving a sideways smile.

Ayane shrugged, tilting her head.

"I'd consider this a win."

Before he could reply, Ayane leaned down and kissed him. Miguel responded quickly, his hands traveling down to her waist, and pulling Ayane closer to him. She was ninety-five percent sure that Miguel had his tongue in her mouth but she was quite sure that she didn't care.

Miguel hooked his arms under hers and flipped Ayane back over, taking a moment to breathe. But before she could pull him back down, his phone began vibrating.

He sighed, ignoring it and kissing Ayane again. His phone kept buzzing, however. Ayane pulled away.

"Maybe you should check that," she suggested, smiling.

Miguel snatched his phone out of his pocket, seeing that it was his mom calling.

"Now, of all times?" he groaned, standing up and helping Ayane up.

"Hey mom," he said, his tone clearly annoyed. "Yeah, the movie's over. Okay. Okay, mom. I love you, too."

Miguel hung up, turning to Ayane. "We still have about twenty minutes-"

She rolled her eyes, laughing softly. "Come on, chico. I have to be getting home soon."

They went back the way they came, which Ayane now realized was not as far as she thought it was.

"This was fun," she said with a happy sigh, "we should do it again."

"Particularly that last part," she added, Miguel scrunching his nose with a smile.

They sat down on a bench outside of the theater and waited, Miguel toying with Ayane's fingers.

"I never knew you would be so... perfect," he said, meeting her eyes.

Ayane quirked an eyebrow. "Me? Perfect? I don't believe you but I'm flattered."

He shook his head, exhaling through his nose.

"For the record, I think you're pretty great too," she replied, pausing. "And you're kind of my first..."

"Boyfriend?" he finished, raising an eyebrow.

Ayane hesitated, then finally nodded. She could get used to that word.

"Yeah. Boyfriend."

NOTES!
daniel & johnny 🤝 being ayane and miguel's dads

also i just realized i'm barely halfway through season one- imma have to speed things uP

and i added a little bit of ✨spice✨ in this chapter even though for most of my stories it's way spicier than that,, but i'll see if i want to take that route with this story!! them being this confident and it's only season one miguel says a lot about what's to come, i think. mwah <3