❝ i was never here. ❞

"WHERE'S AYANE?" Mr. LaRusso asked, back at Miyagi-Do.

Robby and Sam exchanged looks, shrugging.

"I texted her over an hour ago but she didn't reply," Robby said. "I haven't seen her all morning."

Daniel placed his hands on his hips, wondering if he should be worried.

"We should give her some more time," Sam suggested, "maybe she just isn't feeling well and she's up in her room, still."

Mr. LaRusso pursed his lips. "Why don't you go check?"

Sam nodded curtly, jogging off and following the path to her house. She walked inside and went upstairs, stopping at the door to Ayane's room. It was cracked, so Sam slowly pushed it open.

"Ayane?" she said in a soft voice, finally peering inside. Ayane was not there.

Sighing, Sam left and went back to the dojo.

"She's not there," Sam reported with a frown, pulling out her phone. She sent a text to Ayane, awaiting a response.

"Can't we just go on without her?" Demetri asked, wiping sweat from his forehead. It was excruciatingly hot today.

Daniel drew in a breath. "I guess we'll have to. Alright everyone, today you're going to get to experience something called Shochu-Geiko."

"Like the car insurance?" Chris asked, frowning.

"No," Daniel shook his head. Before he could explain further, Ayane came running through the gates.

She stopped as she got to Mr. LaRusso, placing her hands on her knees and catching her breath.

"I'm here," Ayane panted. "I'm here."

Daniel looked over at her with a frown on his face.

"Ayane, where have you been? We were starting to get worried about you."

She breathed for a moment longer, then straightened up and began to explain.

However, one of the ex-Cobra Kais spoke up, saying, "Hey, she was with Cobra Kai!"

He was looking down at his phone, then showed his phone to someone else. It began circulating through the group, and Ayane's heart dropped.

"Aisha put this on her story," the kid explained, showing a picture of Ayane with her at Coyote Creek.

Ayane's eyes widened and her mouth suddenly felt very dry. Mr. LaRusso turned to her at once, shaking his head in confusion.

"Ayane- care to explain?"

She licked her lips, stuttering. "I- um- well, so I went-"

"What are you trying to say?" Robby cut off, giving her an irritable look.

Ayane rubbed her arm, inhaling sharply. "I-I went to observe them," she lied, nodding curtly. "To see what they're being taught."

Daniel gave her a suspicious look, and Ayane could not tell if he was buying it or not.

"Basically, they're teaching exactly what you expect from Cobra Kai. Show no mercy, don't follow the rules. I'm afraid that- their new sensei is making them more dangerous."

Ayane added the last part truthfully, as those were her exact thoughts on Kreese. She still didn't trust him, even if Miguel did.

Finally, Daniel replied, "I'll talk with you about this later. Now, back to what I was saying."

Ayane filed in with the other students, feeling somewhat nervous. She could not tell if they believed her or not. Especially, Robby and Sam.

Mr. LaRusso explained Shochu-Geiko, which basically was just describing the hottest days of the year. Ayane could definitely feel it.

Then, Daniel got all of them in a circle, putting one student in the middle.

No surprise, he put Ayane in first.

"If I call your number, you go forward to attack," Daniel said. "Got it?"

They all nodded, whilst Ayane turned in a slow circle around all of them.

"Five!"

Ayane turned as she heard someone's feet move from behind her, turning to see Sam coming forward. Ayane blocked her round kick and then her back kick, pushing Sam back with force.

"Good," Mr. LaRusso said as Sam returned to her spot. "Three!"

Next, Chris came at her with surprising speed, but Ayane managed to put up her defense. She blocked Chris' strike and brought her leg around to his shin.

Ayane was pouring with sweat now. She paused, turning to Daniel. "Mr. LaRusso, this heat is unbearable."

Daniel gave her a look, then said, "Robby, you're in the middle."

Ayane sighed, taking Robby's place as he took hers.

"One!"

That was her number, she realized, getting caught off guard for a moment. Ayane went forward with a side kick but Robby deflected it in time, taking her by surprise.

Everyone in the group was surprised by this, actually. It was almost impossible to block Ayane's kicks.

Robby smirked at her, and she knew that he would not be letting this go anytime soon.

"You lucked out," she said, stepping back to her spot.

"If you say so," Robby replied, smiling to himself.

"Four!"

Demetri stumbled towards Robby awkwardly, giving a weak attempt to hit him. Robby blocked it like it was nothing, in return hitting Demetri.

"Ow," Demetri grumbled.

"Alright," Mr. LaRusso said, "Demetri's turn. Demetri, get in there."

Slumping his shoulders, Demetri shuffled to the middle and put his arms up.

"Three!"

Chris rushed Demetri and punched him in the stomach, causing Demetri to double over.

"Sorry, 'Met," Chris said as he stepped back, "gotta block that."

Ayane smiled a little in amusement. She was glad that they were toughening Demetri up.

Right as Demetri straightened up, Daniel called, "Six!"

Behind Demetri, a kid swept Demetri's leg and sent him falling to the ground.

"I hate this!" Demetri groaned, writhing on the ground.

Ayane looked over at Daniel, who appeared a bit frustrated. She wiped sweat from her face, exhaling.

"Can we please take a break?" Sam asked. "This heat is brutal."

Daniel pursed his lips as he walked over to them, placing his hands on his hips. Ayane could practically see the gears in his mind turning.

"You guys wanna cool off?"

Everyone nodded at his obvious question.

"Alright. I think I can accommodate that."

. . . .

THE LAST PLACE AYANE was expecting to end up was a meat locker.

"So, you couldn't take the heat of Shochu-Geiko?" Mr. LaRusso said. "Perhaps you'll find Kangeiko more to your liking."

Honestly, Ayane didn't mind it. She felt more alert in the cold. Or maybe it was her Chicago roots in her.

"This isn't about the heat or the cold," Daniel explained. "This is about adapting to the environment around you."

Ayane shifted her weight, crossing her arms. She was ready to just fight and get this over with.

For a moment, Ayane thought, This wouldn't be so difficult at Cobra Kai. The thought scared her, though. That she would be preferring Cobra Kai over Miyagi-Do.

"Alright, circle up. Ayane, in the middle."

Ayane shook the thought away, going to stand in the middle of the students. She could see her breath, but the cold was not affecting her.

"Let's see..." Mr. LaRusso thought, pacing.

"Two!"

Ayane heard someone move behind her, knowing that it was Robby. She turned her head and let him run into her, taking Robby's arm and going underneath it. Ayane pinned his arm behind him and pushed Robby forward, letting him go.

"Nice," Daniel complimented.

When Sam was in the middle and Robby came at her, Ayane noticed a tension between them that she had not noticed before. She realized, at once, that it was the same kind of tension she and Miguel had had once upon a time.

Ayane smiled to herself.

Demetri was back in the middle again, and he didn't look too happy about it.

He did manage, however, to get a hit in with Chris. Ayane applauded him.

"It's about time," she said with a grin, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use my extortion method on you again."

Demetri gave her a look. "Has that 'method' ever worked before?"

Ayane scoffed. "Yes, actually. With Miguel."

He rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I'm on the same level as Miguel? No."

"When he first started out, yeah. You've just gotta stick with it, 'Met."

Demetri pursed his lips. "Easy for you to say. You practically came out of the womb kicking ass."

No, I was forced into it, she thought with a sigh.

Ayane's rolled her eyes with a smile, walking away from him. His words brought her back to Kreese, to Ennis.

As long as Ayane knew about Kreese's history with Ennis, she would not trust him. It angered her that Kreese was trying to act like the good guy in the situation, but Ayane could see through him.

She just wanted everyone else to be able to, too.

Mr. LaRusso dismissed them all not too long after, rushing out of the meat locker. Ayane frowned, wondering what the deal was.

"Is something going on?" she asked Sam as they left, frowning.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know." She seemed a bit distant with Ayane, to which Ayane assumed was because she had been seen with Cobra Kai.

Ayane knew it was some kind of trap, Kreese trying to get her down there. She felt so stupid for not having seen it beforehand.

When she got back to the LaRusso's, Ayane got a text from Miguel.

dumbass 🥰
Ayane, I think we
should break up.

She frowned as she read it, shaking her head in confusion. The text was something that was definitely out of the blue.

Ayane didn't believe it at first, so she sent back a sarcastic response.

smartass 💕
lol... okay

But not even a minute later, she got a response.

dumbass 🥰
No, I'm serious. I just
don't know if I can handle us
being in two different dojos.

Ayane raised an eyebrow, getting a weird tightening feeling in her chest. Miguel was seriously trying to break up with her over text message?

She paced the kitchen, shaking her head once more. This was extremely unlike Miguel. There was something else going on.

smartass 💕
okay, ur being weird...

did ur yaya let you smoke weed?

dumbass 🥰
No. Ayane, I'm serious.
I just can't deal with being
in a relationship with someone
who's on a completely different
side than me. I think we need to
take a break.

Ayane still felt like something was completely wrong here. Miguel wouldn't do that, and she knew it. Ayane went to his contact and hit the dial button, holding the phone up to her ear.

She waited, but it eventually went to voicemail. Ayane put her phone on the counter, leaning against it.

Ayane did not respond to the text. She was not even sure if it was Miguel she was talking to. It sure didn't feel like it.

Not knowing what else to do, Ayane went to the backyard and began hitting the punching bag. Mr. LaRusso would have recommended she do kata, instead, but he was not here at the moment.

So, Ayane would handle things her way. By punching things.

Ayane finally wore herself out after punching and kicking so hard her knuckles turned purple and her feet were throbbing.

Drawing in a breath, Ayane walked up to the dojo and opened the door.

Her eyes went wide as she saw Sam and Robby in front of her, locked into a kiss.

"Ayane-" Robby held his chest, startled.

Slowly, she smiled. Ayane looked between them, then laughed.

"I was never here," she said, laughing again to herself and walking out of the dojo.

Ayane went back up to her room and showered, still thinking about the strange texts from Miguel.

She was not necessarily mad or upset, Ayane was just confused as hell.

Getting changed into her pajamas, Ayane went and read the messages again. She noticed firstly how the sentences were capitalized, which was something Miguel didn't do. That was her first suspicion.

Her second suspicion was the fact that he had not answered her phone call. Miguel would always answer, no matter what. Even if it was to argue, he would answer.

Ayane dismissed it at once, finally putting her phone up to go sleep. But she laid awake, staring up at the ceiling blankly for what felt like hours. She rolled over and checked the time. It was almost two in the morning.

With a huff, Ayane got out of bed and walked downstairs to get something to drink.

As she rummaged through the fridge, Ayane grabbed a bottle of water and shut the door, nearly screaming as she did.

"Woah!" Daniel said, startled himself.

Ayane let out a sigh or relief, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. LaRusso. I was just coming to get something to drink."

Daniel dismissed it with a wave of his head. "It's fine. Can't sleep?"

Ayane slowly shook her head as Mr. LaRusso opened the fridge.

"No. I've just got a lot on my mind."

Daniel nodded in understanding, turning away from the fridge with a carton of orange juice in his hand.

"Yeah, me too." He paused, pouring a glass of orange juice. Then, he continued, "So, you wanna tell me what you were doing with Cobra Kai?"

Ayane hesitated, looking down at the bottle of water in her hands. She had to tell him the truth at some point.

"I was invited," she finally answered, looking back up. "By Kreese."

Daniel frowned, immensely confused. "And... you still went?"

Ayane pursed her lips, nodding rather shamefully.

"Yeah. I-I went because it was Miguel who asked me, but- it was all Kreese's idea. Apparently, he has this plan to put me and Miguel on the same side, and show that if a Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do student can work together, then there shouldn't be this big rivalry."

Daniel nearly burst into laughter.

"Yeah- that sounds like bullshit. Everything that comes from Kreese's mouth is bullshit."

Ayane nodded in agreement. "I agree. Which is why it frustrates me that everyone at Cobra Kai thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread."

She paused. "Kreese... Kreese was friends with my dad."

Daniel looked shocked by this for a moment, and then, not so much.

"John Kreese and Ennis Cain. Huh. I can't say I'm surprised."

Ayane laughed a little, shaking her head. "Yeah, no. Apparently, Kreese was the guy who put karate into my dad's head. He's sort of the reason behind everything, honestly."

Daniel gave her a pitying look. He knew what it was like to have a life manipulated by Kreese. He had seen it, with the Cobra Kais back in his day.

"Ayane- do you want to be a part of Cobra Kai?"

She quickly shook her head with a wild look. "No, no. Of course not. Why-"

"It's okay, I was just asking. Kreese has a way of doing that, is all. Getting into kids' heads and convincing them to do regrettable things."

Regrettable things.

Could that really have been Miguel breaking up with her after all?

NOTES!
do y'all think it was really miguel, or someone else?? 😈