❝ maybe i am batshit crazy. ❞
THE NEXT MORNING, Ayane slept late.
She woke up at close to ten, her head pounding with a headache. She was unsure why she had a headache, so Ayane just pinned it on stress.
The girl got up and got a shower, and then after she got out, considered texting Miguel.
Lately, he was the only person she wanted to see. Ayane ignored that, however, because she was determined that she was not going to fall for this boy.
Ayane was a little sore from last night's events, but luckily she did not have any bruises that might have given away her getting into a fight. Ennis would have her running miles until midnight.
And as far as she knew, no one had mentioned the fight. She warned Kyler and his friends what would happen if they snitched.
Ayane checked her phone, surprised to see she had a lot of notifications. She felt her stomach drop as she checked it, seeing message after message from Demetri.
Her eyes widened as she read them, clapping her hand to her mouth.
There was a photo, one of her and Aisha. It was of them standing at the table at the Halloween dance, and made them look like they were doing more than talking. There was a hashtag: #lesbianlovers.
Ayane quickly knew who did it. It was Yasmine.
She quickly texted Demetri back, telling him not to worry.
She had it handled.
. . . .
THE NEXT DAY, Ayane was not prepared for what she would face at school.
She had never had anything like this happen to her before, and Ayane felt more insecure than she had ever been.
"No wonder she's rejected every guy here," someone said as she passed by.
People laughed as she walked through the hall, yet Ayane never dropped her head. If people wanted to call her a lesbian, hell, she might as well take it with pride.
Demetri and Eli were standing at Eli's locker when she walked up to them.
"Where's Miguel?" she asked, quickly frowning.
"He got beat up pretty bad, remember? He won't be here today. But I think that's the least of your problems," Demetri said, gesturing around.
Ayane laughed shortly. "Being called a lesbian is a problem? That's a compliment. And besides, I've got it handled."
Demetri shrugged. "Whatever you say. Have you talked to Aisha?"
"No," Ayane shook her head, "although I should probably see if she's okay."
Aisha was standing at her locker when Ayane finally found her. However, just as she walked up, Sam also walked over.
"Oh-" Sam paused, looking at Ayane. "I'm sorry, I'll let you guys talk-"
"It's okay, I won't be long," Ayane said, looking at Aisha.
"Are you okay?" she asked, tilting her head.
Aisha shrugged dismally. "The whole school thinks I'm gay. But, there could be worse things they think I am."
Ayane smiled. "Right on. I say, screw them. It seems to me like jealousy in its finest form."
Sam frowned, feeling guilty. She had tried to get Yasmine to take the picture down, but the girl was ruthless.
"Anyway, I'll see you guys at lunch," Ayane nodded, turning and walking to her class.
In second period, gym, Kyler came in on crutches.
Ayane glanced up as she was tying her shoelaces, then did a double take. She rolled her eyes at the audacity of him.
Kyler sat on the bleachers, looking up as Ayane walked by. She did not glance in his direction. He and his friends went quiet as she came by.
And at last, the lunch period came. Ayane had been waiting for this most of all, and not just for food.
She had an announcement to make.
Ayane set her tray down at the table, Demetri and Eli giving her a strange look as she walked away without even sitting down.
Instead, Ayane walked toward the Valley girls' table, where Yasmine was sitting.
"Hey, Yasmine!" she called, loud enough that everyone in the cafeteria could hear her.
It grew quiet.
"You forgot to mention when you posted that picture how jealous you were. Why would you leave out the part about how desperate you were to hook up with me?"
There were gasps across the room, and Yasmine looked horrified.
"It's okay, Yasmine. You can tell everyone how obsessed with me you are. Or, I guess I just did it for you. Hm."
Sam was looking at Ayane with wide-eyed disbelief. She had never expected this from her.
Ayane turned and walked back over to her table, sitting down as if nothing had ever happened.
Demetri and Eli stared. Well, everyone stared.
Yasmine got up, storming out of the cafeteria. Ayane waved, smirking as Yasmine huffed angrily.
"You're batshit crazy," Demetri remarked, shaking his head.
Ayane shrugged, holding her hands up. "Maybe I am batshit crazy. But let's be honest; who isn't at this point?"
They all continued eating their lunch, when Ayane's phone buzzed. She pulled it out, seeing that she had a text from Miguel.
Her face lit up, then she realized she was smiling like a dummy and stopped.
Miguel had seen the news. He was asking if she was okay.
Ayane sighed, telling him that she was. It was nothing she couldn't handle. Ayane wanted to ask him about karate, and what his mom said about it. But she didn't, and instead asked him how he was doing.
Miguel told her he was more angry than anything, angry with Kyler and his friends.
That reminded Ayane that she had not told him about the fight. Looking up, Ayane found Kyler a few tables away. She pulled up her phone camera and snapped a picture of him with his crutches, sending it to Miguel.
He, in return, sent back a lot of questions.
Ayane laughed, thinking for a moment.
She sent another text, awaiting a reply. Miguel finally replied, and Ayane put her phone away and went to class.
. . . .
AYANE WALKED ALL THE WAY from school to the apartments at Reseda.
She told herself it was not that far, but it took her a good twenty minutes to get there. But it would have been a waste of an Uber, otherwise.
Drawing in a breath, Ayane knocked on the door at apartment number two.
After a moment, Miguel answered the door.
"Yikes," she immediately said, taking in the bruised up Miguel.
"That bad, huh?" Miguel laughed, rubbing his eye.
Ayane grinned. "Nah. I did much worse to Kyler."
Miguel frowned. "Wait- what? You- you did that to Kyler?"
She chewed her lip. "You wanna take a walk?"
He shrugged, walking outside and pulling the door shut.
"I might have slightly beat up Kyler and his friends," she informed at once, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Miguel laughed with surprise. "No way. Ayane, you are the most badass person I have ever met."
"I'm touched. Although I'm also apparently a lesbian, so..."
They both were sent into a fit of laughter.
"And how did you get back at Yasmine?"
Ayane furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Miguel gave her a deadpan look. "Come on. I know you better than you think. You wouldn't just let her get away with it."
Ayane smiled, glancing at the ground before looking back up. "I may or may not have told everyone Yasmine was also a lesbian."
"Jesus Christ- she's going to despise you until the day she dies, you know."
"She can suck my dick," Ayane replied, shaking her head.
A moment passed.
"Have you talked to Johnny?" she finally asked.
Miguel nodded solemnly. "He said- he said that he's shutting the dojo down," he said weakly.
"What?" Ayane stopped walking, standing there in shock. "He can't do that!"
Miguel shrugged. "He told me he is."
"No," Ayane shook her head furiously. "That's not right. That isn't fair to you. I-I'll teach you myself if I have to."
The boy smiled, wrinkling up his nose.
"You're cute."
Ayane blinked, unsure if she heard him correctly.
Miguel's heart skipped a beat when he realized what he just said.
"Shit," he murmured, slapping a hand to his forehead.
"I-I think I should go now," Ayane stammered, taking a few steps back.
Miguel looked up. "No- Ayane, wait!"
She turned, halfway to the gates. "I'll see you- see you at school."
Miguel sighed, dropping his hands. He could not believe how quickly he had been rejected.
After two nights ago, when they danced, Miguel could have sworn that she liked him too.
But, maybe not.
Miguel went back to his apartment, frustrated. He wanted to hit something, and he couldn't even go do karate. He couldn't text Ayane, because- well.
So Miguel went an apartment over, knocking on Johnny Lawrence's door.
The door opened after a moment, Johnny rolling his eyes and starting to close it.
"Wait!" Miguel put a hand on the door. "I'm not here about karate. It's about something else."
Johnny finished off his Coors Banquet, tossing it to the floor.
"What is it, kid?" he finally asked.
Miguel drew in a breath.
"I'm having- I'm having girl trouble."
Meanwhile, Ayane arrived at the LaRusso's. Daniel was already there, surprisingly enough.
"Ayane, you're early," he said as she walked in.
She shrugged. "I didn't have anything to do today."
Mr. LaRusso nodded. "Alright, well, let me go get changed and then we'll get outside."
Ayane sighed, hoping that she would not be painting more fences or waxing more cars today.
He came back down a few minutes later, and they went to the backyard.
"I have a new job for you," he announced, turning to her.
Ayane nodded after a moment, masking her frustration. "Okay."
Daniel pointed to the wooden platform they were standing on. "I need you to sand this down. It shouldn't take too long."
He handed her strips of sandpaper, then knelt down and with the sandpaper in his hand, began making arch motions.
"This is how you should do it. Got it?"
Daniel stood, and Ayane nodded.
"Got it," she puffed, dropping to her knees and beginning to sand.
After about twenty minutes, someone came into the yard. Ayane looked up, seeing that it was Sam. She glanced back down, and Sam quickly turned her attention away from Ayane.
She was beginning to not like the Cain girl.
"Dad," Sam walked over to Daniel, who was chaining up a punching bag to a wooden post.
"Oh hey, sweetheart," he said, almost excitedly. Samantha had not been speaking to him because of the events at the Halloween dance, involving her and Kyler.
But all she said was, "I'm going to a movie with Kyler tomorrow. Just- letting you know."
"O-Okay," Daniel replied, but Sam was already walking away.
She suddenly stopped as she was about to pass Ayane, turning to her.
Ayane inhaled through her nose, looking up expectantly.
"Yes?"
Sam stuttered. "Oh- I was just- I was wondering if... what you said about Yasmine, was that true? I mean- I'm not judging, but-"
"Tell me, Sam," Ayane stood, taking a step closer to the girl, "was what she said about me and Aisha true?"
Sam did not reply, only swallowing and shaking her head.
"There's your answer then. But if Yasmine wants to play dirty, then that's fine with me. Because I will never lose."
With that, Sam turned and walked away.
Ayane smirked, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Mr. LaRusso? I'm done," she called, placing her hands on her hips.
Daniel walked over, brushing his hands off on his shirt and examining the platform.
"Nice work," he complimented with a nod, eventually looking up at Ayane with an almost proud smile.
"I think you're ready."
Ayane quirked an eyebrow, glancing at him sideways.
"Ready for what, exactly?"
Daniel tilted his head upward, gesturing around.
"You're ready to be the first official member of Miyagi-Do."
NOTES!
is ayane slowly becoming problematic?? maybe. was that rejection with miguel brutal? absolutely. stay tuned, xx
ps. there may or may not be a kiss coming...