❝ alright, professor x, no need to get your panties in a twist. ❞

SCHOOL WAS VERY BORING without Miguel, Ayane realized.

She at least got to see him afterwards, but Ayane was beginning to dread school in the mornings.

Miyagi-Do kids seemed to somewhat shun her, after she announced her break from karate. And she definitely was not going to turn to the Cobra Kais.

Right now, it seemed her only friend was Moon.

"Ayane!" Moon bounced up to the girl at her locker, beaming. "I'm so excited we get to be partners for Chemistry!"

Ayane nodded and smiled back, shutting her locker. "Yeah, me too. Are you sure you didn't do this on purpose?"

Moon glanced down sheepishly. "Maybe. But only because I think you're so cool!"

Once more, Ayane smiled. The two walked down the hall together as they talked.

"How is Miguel?" Moon asked, knowing that he was Ayane's favorite subject.

"Improving, slowly but surely," Ayane replied. "He's come a long way."

Moon nodded enthusiastically. "That's so great! You guys are so cute."

They walked into the cafeteria and Moon went up to a table with a familiar blonde already there, sitting down.

Ayane paused, staring at the back of the blonde's head. It had been months since she had seen Yasmine.

Slowly, she walked around to the other side of Moon and sat beside her.

Yasmine looked up, her eyes widening for a moment. She cleared her throat, looking down at her phone and typing something.

A moment later, Moon's phone buzzed. Ayane narrowed her eyes, catching on easily enough. Moon looked between Ayane and Yasmine, pursing her lips.

"Guys, come on. We can all get along, right? What happened in the past can stay in the past."

Ayane glanced over at Moon, almost rolling her eyes. There was no chance in hell she would ever be friends with a bitch like Yasmine.

"Maybe if Yasmine can ever apologize for being fucking racist," Ayane said as passively as she could, looking over at the blonde.

Yasmine scoffed, wanting to retort, but she said nothing. It usually didn't end well for her when she did.

Right as she was about to get up and walk away, Demetri came walking in with a huge project in his arms.

"Who's ready to rock this earth science project?" He sat the big thing on the table, sitting down and looking over at Yasmine.

Ayane raised an eyebrow, surprised that Demetri would even sit at the same table as her.

"I'm ready to go back to a world where we don't talk on a regular basis," Yasmine snapped back, looking down on Demetri with disgust.

Ayane rolled her eyes, pulling out her phone so she wouldn't have to listen to their arguing.

A few moments later, however, a soccer ball came flying into Demetri's project and startled everyone.

Ayane put her phone away and looked up, not taking long to find the culprit. Hawk smirked, walking over to them.

"Aww, sorry man," Hawk said, catching his ball. "Looks like my ball just got away from me."

For a moment, Ayane almost said something. But she didn't want to get involved with this stupid shit anymore, so she stayed quiet and watched.

Demetri glared at Hawk. "That took me three weeks to build."

Hawk shrugged. "And it took my ball three seconds to destroy."

He turned and walked back over to his friends. Ayane shook her head, exchanging a look with Moon who looked equally annoyed.

Sam came over to their table just then, about to sit down when she caught on to whatever was going on with Demetri and Hawk.

Ayane turned in her seat as Sam went over and stood by Demetri defensively.

"You better back off, or you won't be lucky."

Ayane put her hand over her forehead, sighing. This stupid rivalry was never going to end.

"Is that so, princess?" Hawk replied. "I don't know about that, considering you guys don't even have your best student anymore. Not that she's that good, anyway."

He looked past them and directly at Ayane, who rolled her eyes at him. Still, she didn't say anything.

"How could you let him say that to you?" Moon said with a trembling voice, breaking away from Hawk and looking over at Ayane.

Ayane shrugged, turning back around in her seat. "He's just trying to start something. I don't wanna get involved with that stupid shit anymore."

Moon nodded understandingly. "Good idea. I'm proud of you."

Ayane was surprised by those words, smiling at the girl.

"So when are we going to get started on our project?" Ayane asked.

"Hmm... well, you can come by my house today if you want and we can get started now! I don't like to procrastinate so I say the sooner the better."

After a moment, Ayane nodded. "Alright. Should we go right after school?"

"Oh, well I was going to go shopping with Yas, but- you can come too if you want-"

"I'll stop you right there," Ayane replied, holding up a hand. "How about four thirty?"

Moon shrugged. "Sounds good."

Next period was Phys. Ed, Ayane's least favorite class because she was forced to be near both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. And she didn't like running laps either.

Today, they were playing soccer. Ayane changed into her P.E. clothes, sitting down on the bench to tie up her shoes.

Sam suddenly appeared beside her, sitting down. "I know you're probably still mad at me right now, but I need your help."

Ayane looked up, narrowing her eyes. "If it involves anything related to Cobra Kai, then no."

Sam huffed. "Ayane, please. Counselor Blatt isn't out here, we can't get in trouble!"

Ayane stood up, looking down at Sam with impatience.

"It's not about the counselor! I've told you more times than I can count, I don't want to be involved."

Before Sam could reply, Ayane jogged onto the soccer field.

The game started, and even though Ayane was on the same team as the Miyagi-Do kids she tried to ignore them.

The ball was passed to her and Ayane shuffled her feet to kick it into the goal when Hawk suddenly kicked it away from her.

Ayane looked up, habitually rolling her eyes.

"Oops," he said with a snarky grin, running off.

She shook her head, watching as Demetri suddenly tripped Hawk. The coach blew the whistle as a warning.

Ayane continued with the game, scoring a few points here and there. Someone suddenly grabbed her arm as she was about to go for another goal, pushing her to the ground.

She felt anger swell in her, glaring up and finding it was one of the Cobra Kais.

He ran off with the ball as she stood up, looking over at the coach and wondering why she had not blown the whistle.

Ayane made a fist, running after him. Instead of kicking the ball from between his legs like she was supposed to, Ayane brought her leg up to his groin.

The kid groaned, falling to the ground and holding his crotch. She smiled a little, looking down at him with a mocking pouty face.

"Aw, poor baby."

She kicked the ball away from him, turning around as she saw Hawk coming toward her. Ayane contemplated for a moment, waiting for him to come closer before she kicked the ball perfectly into his face.

Hawk put his hands over his nose, the other Cobra Kais running over to check on him.

Demetri and Sam came over to her, seeing what had just happened.

"What happened to not wanting to be involved?" Sam asked, although she didn't sound mad.

Ayane shrugged her off. "He pissed me off. This doesn't change anything."

Hawk came up from behind Ayane, not bothering to hide it as he shoved her hard.

Ayane whipped around, clenching her jaw.

The coach blew the whistle again, waving her hands.

"Alright, that's it! Everyone to the principal's office, now!"

. . . .

HAWK WALKED OUT OF the principal's office after a few minutes, an innocent look on his face.

"You three and Eli are free to go," Counselor Blatt said, nodding toward the Cobra Kais.

Ayane scoffed. "What an ass kisser," she muttered, leaning back on the lockers.

"What was that?" Counselor Blatt said, looking at her.

Ayane pushed off of the lockers, facing the woman and the Cobra Kais.

"I said Eli is an ass kisser," she repeated, smiling curtly.

Counselor Blatt stared with wide eyes. "Miss Cain, we do not tolerate this kind of language here! You need to apologize to Mr. Moskowitz right now."

Ayane looked over at Hawk, who had the evilest smile on his face.

"I'd rather choke on a dick."

"Miss Cain!"

The Cobra Kais began walking away, Hawk making sure Ayane could see the smug look on his face.

The Miyagi-Do kids were let go with Saturday detention, whilst Ayane had to sit in the office as Counselor Blatt called her mother. Not Amanda, Liana.

"Ayane, Mrs. Cain said she would like to speak with you," Counselor Blatt said.

Ayane stood up, shuffling over and taking the phone from her.

"Yeah?"

"Counselor... whatever her name is told me what you said. Is it true you said that?"

Ayane crossed one arm under the other. "Yeah."

"Why did you say it?"

"Stupid Cobra Kais," Ayane said, sighing.

Liana paused. "I see. Well, next time make sure you say it outside of school."

Ayane slowly smiled, shocked by her mother. "Sure thing," she replied. "Good talk."

Ayane handed the phone back to Counselor Blatt, then left the office. She had to go to Saturday detention too, three of them.

Since Moon would not be available until four thirty, Ayane decided to head over to Reseda and see Miguel now that he was home. She had a lot to fill him in on.

She walked up to the apartment and knocked before opening the door.

"Hello Diaz family- what the hell."

Ayane paused, craning her neck as she saw some weird hippie dude pulling Miguel's leg.

Miguel turned his head, looking over at her. "Oh, hey. I didn't know you were coming by today."

She pursed her lips, glancing up at the hippie guy as she approached Miguel.

"I was going to surprise you. Who are you?"

The guy looked up, and Carmen began to explain, "This is Brayden, he's a physical therapist."

Ayane looked down at Miguel, and he could see that she was trying not to laugh. He rolled his eyes.

Just then, Johnny came barging in, saying something about a rented mule.

"What the hell is this?"

Carmen sighed, shaking her head. "It's physical therapy," she said, "from a professional who knows what he's doing."

Ayane and Johnny exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing: this was bullshit.

"Now if you're feeling any pain, hermano," Brayden said, "let me know."

Ayane contorted her face, shaking her head dismissively.

"Still- no feeling whatsoever," Miguel sighed, glancing over at Ayane. She frowned, holding his hand for a moment before letting it go.

"No worries," Brayden said calmly, "have positive thoughts, remember? You're doing great."

"At what- letting you lift his leg?" Johnny said.

Ayane and Miguel both cracked up while Carmen replied, "Johnny, Brayden is a specialist in his field. He knows what he's doing."

Johnny was not buying this, however, clearly not a fan of Brayden's 'method'.

"Inhale joy and love."

Ayane lost it, bursting out with laughter. Miguel turned his head to her, watching as she excused herself by walking outside.

She figured it would be best to just wait out there until Miguel got done, because Ayane could not be in that room without saying something.

Johnny came outside not too long after her, exchanging a curt look with Ayane.

"I can't believe they've got him doing that bullshit. No one ever learned to walk again by inhaling peace, love and happiness."

Ayane nodded in agreement, crossing her arms. "So what is your method gonna be?"

Johnny stared off for a moment, thinking. "I've got a few ideas."

He walked away, leaving Ayane to only imagine what he could have in mind. She waited around a bit longer until Miguel finally got done.

Brayden walked outside and Miguel followed after him in a wheelchair. Ayane stood up, waiting for the weird guy to leave before she walked up to Miguel.

"Need a push?"

He glanced up at her, rolling his eyes. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not ready for your wheelchair jokes just yet."

Ayane walked alongside him, scoffing. "I haven't even thought of any yet!"

She paused, holding up a finger. "Wait- I got one. You wanna hear it?"

"No."

Miguel pushed his wheelchair along. Ayane rolled her eyes.

"Alright, Professor X, no need to get your panties in a twist."

He looked over at her, trying to appear not amused even though he found it a little funny.

"You look like you want to laugh," Ayane continued, tilting her head.

Miguel was about to reply when something dropped down in front of him. They both looked up, seeing Johnny on the landing above them with a raunchy magazine attached to a fishing rod.

"What is this?" Miguel said, raising an eyebrow.

"This is a collection of the tastiest babes of 1988," Johnny replied, earning an eye roll from Ayane.

She shot a look up at him. "I'm right here."

Johnny ignored her. "You're not gonna get to see 'em unless you grab it."

Ayane rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

Miguel looked over at her, smiling a little before he attempted to reach up and grab the magazine.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that!" Johnny said, pulling the magazine higher.

"You know I can just find these pictures on my phone, right?" Miguel said.

"Literally right here," Ayane cut in, looking between the two.

Miguel reached up again, Johnny taunting him.

"Weak! Is that all you got, Diaz? I thought you were the All Valley champ."

He furrowed his eyebrows, pursing his lips. Ayane watched rather curiously as he focused hard, pushing himself up out of the wheelchair as Johnny pulled the magazine up higher.

Then, he tilted too far and fell out of the wheelchair and onto the hard concrete.

Ayane sighed, shaking her head as she walked over to help him back up.

Johnny came down to check on him. Ayane looked over at him with an annoyed look on her face.

"I think you need a new method."

NOTES!
ayane, miguel & johnny are an iconic trio you can't tell me otherwise

also can we talk about liana's slowly but surely character development 😩