❝ great, more nerds. ❞

"I-" AYANE STOOD THERE, at a loss for words.

"I-I can't do that," she finally said, shaking her head. As much as Ayane wanted to, she couldn't.

Amanda smiled knowingly. "Ayane, honey, you are absolutely a joy to have around. You already feel like you're a part of this family. I mean, it's your choice. But just know that we are not going to turn you away. Okay?"

Ayane pulled her lips in, nodding after a moment. Amanda smiled once more, then walked away.

The girl stood in the doorway, biting her thumbnail again. She had to call Miguel and inform him of everything that had just happened.

And, she had to make a decision.

This was no simple decision, either. Of course, the answer was obvious. The LaRusso's were completely willing to take her in, but Ayane didn't want to feel like a burden.

Though now she had a father in jail and a mother who didn't want her, and Ayane didn't have many other options.

She inhaled a deep breath, then turned to walk in the house. Just as she was about to, however, Ayane was surprised to find Robby walking up to her.

"Hey," he said with a confused frown. "What happened here? I saw police leaving the place."

Ayane swallowed, puffing her cheeks. "Um- my dad was arrested."

Robby's eyes widened. "Holy shit. What- is everything okay?" He noted Ayane's lack of emotion, and also the bruise on her cheek.

She shrugged. "I don't know if anything is exactly 'okay' in this situation, but... yeah. I just- I don't feel like talking about it."

Robby nodded in understanding. "Yeah, sure. I get it. Well- is it okay if I come in?"

"Sure," Ayane moved out of the way to let him in, following Robby inside.

They both walked into the living room where there was broken glass from a picture scattered on the ground. Daniel was trying to straighten up.

"Oh," Daniel looked up, finding the two of them. "Robby, today might not be the best day for a lesson. There's... a lot going on right now."

Robby frowned, but nodded. "Okay. Can I come back tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that's good," Mr. LaRusso said with a curt smile.

The Keene boy nodded once more, glancing over to Ayane. "Hey, if you need someone to talk to- I'm here."

Ayane nodded, forcing herself to smile. She barely had the energy to do that.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later."

Robby left the LaRusso's at once, leaving Ayane in the living room with Daniel.

"Oh- I can clean that up if you want," she said, gesturing to the broken glass.

"No, no," he replied, "it's fine. Um- why don't you just try to sit down and relax for a bit?"

Ayane picked at her thumbnail, staring at the ground for a moment.

Daniel straightened up, sighing as he dusted off his hands. "Ayane, everything is going to be okay. I will make sure you are taken care of, alright? Me and Amanda both. You are completely welcome here, I just want you to know that."

Ayane finally looked up, biting down on her tongue.

"Thank you," she managed to stammer out, "this... it means a lot. I-I'm sorry-"

"Don't you apologize," Daniel quickly cut off, his voice growing strangely stern. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. And besides, you are... already something like family to us."

Ayane had a weird feeling in her chest. Family. That was not a word to be thrown around lightly.

"Um-" She finally said after a moment, realizing she had been standing there speechless, "thank you. Again. I-I think I'm gonna go a walk and- think things over."

Daniel nodded understandingly. "Take all the time you need."

Ayane turned and hurried out of the house, breaking out into a stride once she got out of the driveway. She had so many overwhelming thoughts and questions in her head.

At once, Ayane pulled out her phone and dialed Miguel's number. She paced on the corner of the sidewalk, watching a few kids across the street on their bikes.

"Hey," Miguel picked up from the other line, "how are you?"

Ayane drew in a breath. "I'm good- sort of. Um- can we meet up somewhere? The- the park, maybe?"

"Sure," Miguel instantly replied, "I'm on my way."

Ten minutes later Ayane arrived at the park to find him waiting around at the playground, pacing rather nervously.

"Hi," she approached him, smiling thinly.

Miguel turned, appearing more at ease once he saw Ayane. "Hey," he smiled, then quickly frowned. "What happened to your cheek?"

Ayane brushed her cheek with the tips of her fingers, squinting in the sun.

"Well, I don't know how else to tell you this other than to just outright say it: my dad was arrested and my mom basically turned custody of me over to the LaRusso's."

Miguel stood there with his mouth slightly agape, blinking a few times.

"Huh?"

Ayane rubbed her eyes. "Yeah... yeah."

Miguel stood there for a moment longer, trying to wrap his head around what Ayane had just told him.

"So- why exactly did your dad get arrested?"

"'Cause he hit me," Ayane explained, "hence the bruised face. But I gotta admit- I'm actually pretty glad it happened, otherwise things might be very different right now."

Miguel nodded slowly, sighing. "Ayane, I don't know how you can keep your shit together. I- you are the strongest person I know."

She smiled briefly, glancing at the ground and laughing sardonically.

"I guess it's because deep down... I've wanted that to happen for so long. It may make me sound evil or something but- you just don't know how happy I am that bastard is in jail."

Miguel tilted Ayane's chin up to see her face and make sure it was okay, then pulled her into a hug. "I'm happy, too. You're safe, now. Even- even though the LaRusso's aren't exactly my favorite people, I know they'll take care of you."

Ayane broke into a smile, pulling away from Miguel after a moment.

"Yeah- yeah, they will. But I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's summer, and I've barely done anything fun."

Miguel wrinkled his nose, thinking for a moment. "I'm sure I can think of something. But, I also have a lot of stuff that I've been dying to tell you."

Ayane nodded at once, walking alongside Miguel as they went through the park.

"Spill."

"Okay, first I'll start off with Robby Keene. I think- I think- that he's Sensei's son."

Ayane looked up, raising her eyebrows. "Okay... care to elaborate on this theory?"

Miguel inhaled. "Well. Yesterday I went by his apartment and I found a picture of Robby when he was young on Sensei's refrigerator."

"That's pretty solid evidence," Ayane replied, furrowing her eyebrows. She suddenly remembered the day of the tournament, and how Daniel dodged her questions about Robby. And then, Robby showed up to fight unaffiliated, which Ayane had yet to question.

Could Daniel have found out Robby was Johnny's son?

"Yeah," Miguel continued, "which I think could be why he was so pissed at me for what happened at the tournament in my match with Robby."

Ayane chewed her lip, frowning. "Are you gonna ask him about it?"

He shrugged. "I guess I have to. I can't just not ask, you know?"

She nodded. "Yeah. So what else did you have to tell me?"

Miguel smiled briefly. "Right. There's this old guy that showed up at the dojo yesterday, some guy that Sensei knows. His name is Kreese or something. Anyway, I don't like him. Something doesn't add up."

"What, do you think he's a pedo or something?"

"No!" Miguel quickly replied, laughing at Ayane's bluntness. "No. I just think he's a little... senile."

Ayane shrugged. "If he knows Johnny Lawrence then yeah, he probably is. What's he doing here?"

"I don't know," Miguel responded, shaking his head. "I keep getting the sense that he... he wants to run the dojo. And I don't think he's quite stable enough to do that."

"I mean, is Johnny even stable enough to do it?" Ayane replied.

Miguel rolled his eyes, nudging Ayane in her side. "You love to talk shit about Cobra Kai, don't you? I bet that's all you and Mr. LaRusso do."

Ayane shot him a defensive look, smiling narrowly.

"I'm simply observing, okay? Maybe if you Cobra Kais didn't act so high and mighty you wouldn't get shit-talked, hm?"

Miguel shook his head, looking away with a smile.

"Okay, well at least we actually fight. You guys look like you're doing ballet-"

"Hey!" Ayane scoffed, "You seem to be forgetting that I could kick your ass, Hawk's ass, Aisha's ass and every other Cobra Kai's ass."

Miguel looked back at her with a slender smile. "Sure you could. You know, I'd actually love to test this theory. Why don't you come to the dojo with me today?"

Ayane raised an eyebrow, giving him a knowing look. "Miguel, your sensei doesn't like me, remember? He kicked me out a few months ago."

"He won't mind," Miguel assured, "because you're coming with me."

"Ah, of course. His favorite student," Ayane teased, grinning.

Miguel rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Meet me at the dojo at one o'clock."

Ayane nodded curtly. "Sure. Do I get to wear my own gi or will that get me kicked out?"

"Just show up in normal clothes, dork."

"Dork? You're one to talk, you comic book nerd."

Miguel waved her off. "I think you've got me confused for Demetri."

Ayane grinned, leaning forward to kiss Miguel.

"I'll see you later, dork."

. . . .

THE LARUSSO'S WERE DOING everything they could to help Ayane get settled.

"This is the guest bedroom, but since you're going to be with us for awhile you can make it look however you want," Amanda said, smoothing out the comforter.

Ayane nodded, though it was strained. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was just too much of a burden to be there.

"And I talked to your moth- Liana- and she agreed to let us go and get your things. But we don't have to go right now if you don't want to."

"Okay," Ayane replied, glancing down. She didn't want to go back to that house so soon, and she had enough clothes to get her by for the rest of the week.

Amanda approached Ayane with a delicate smile.

"I want you to know that you didn't do anything wrong, Ayane. The situation you were in was horrible and I'm just glad we could get you out of it."

Ayane swallowed, forcing a smile on her face. "Right. Yeah. I-I'm glad to be out of it, too. And I'm glad to be here. I'll forever be grateful to the whole family."

"We're more than happy to have you, honey."

At ten minutes before one, Ayane left the LaRusso's to get to the Cobra Kai dojo. She had not been to Reseda Boulevard in a few months, as the only important place on the strip to her was the dojo.

Miguel was waiting on her as she arrived, standing outside with a handful of other kids.

"Great, more nerds," Ayane said loudly as she approached him, earning some looks from the other kids.

He shook his head, throwing an arm around her. Hawk walked up to them, along with Aisha.

"What are you doing here?" Hawk asked in a not so friendly tone.

Ayane gave him a look. "Passing out free candy," she replied sarcastically, slowly smiling.

Hawk glared. "No offense, but you're still our rival. I don't think Sensei Lawrence will welcome you here."

"What's he gonna do, ban me?" Ayane retorted. "Yeah, he already tried that. Seriously dude, chill. I'm just here to do some friendly sparring."

Johnny arrived a few minutes later, unlocking the doors to the dojo. He noticed Ayane as she was walking inside with Miguel.

"Wait a minute- why are you here?" He quickly stopped her.

Ayane looked up at Johnny with a smirk on her face. "Maybe I wanna join Cobra Kai."

The thought of that made her gag, but she did not show it.

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Sure you do. Look, if you're gonna be in here, you can't distract my students." He said that as he shot a look at Miguel, who made an innocent face.

Ayane laughed. "Yeah, sure."

As the students were stretching and warming up, an old man entered the dojo. Ayane got the feeling that she knew who he was, remembering what Miguel had said.

But that wasn't the only place she knew him from.

Ayane stared at the man, trying to think of where she knew him from. It was like he was barely there, in the back of her mind. But she had met him before, and she was sure of that.

The man stopped as he saw her, giving Ayane a strange look. He walked over to her.

"You... are the Cain girl. Yes?"

Ayane slowly nodded. "Yeah... how do you know who I am?"

The man chuckled, smiling. "I paid attention to you during the tournament. You'd be a natural Cobra Kai, you know."

Ayane furrowed her eyebrows, folding her hands behind her back. "Thanks, but I'm doing just fine where I am now."

"Are you?" He replied. "Then why are you here?"

With that, the old man walked away. Ayane still watched him, getting an unshakable feeling that she knew him.

Miguel walked up to her, saying, "That's Kreese. What'd he say to you?"

Ayane finally tore away from the man, looking over at Miguel with a small shake of her head. "Nothing. He was just complimenting me in the tournament."

Miguel nodded curtly, licking his lips. He could tell Ayane was bothered about something.

"Well," she said with a smirk, "you ready for the ass whooping of a lifetime?"

NOTES!
could it be possible that kreese... was once friends with ennis?? who knows...