❛ if you ask another question, i'm gonna punch you in the face. ❜
VINCENT HAYES HAD A CRUSH.
And today, he planned to make a move.
But as he walked up to Ayane's locker, he noticed someone standing beside her. Miguel.
In mid-sentence, Miguel stopped talking, noticing Vincent behind Ayane.
She frowned, turning.
"Vincent, what's up?"
He cleared his throat, trying to ignore Miguel's death stare.
"Uh... hey, Ayane."
She furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
"...Hi Vincent."
Miguel rolled his eyes impatiently. "So, did you study for the History test? I might need to cheat off of you."
Ayane sucked her teeth. "Damn, I was gonna tell you the same thing."
"I-I have some notes if you guys want to use them," Vincent chimed in awkwardly.
Miguel glared. "No thanks."
Vincent was starting to get a little heated, now. He did not understand Miguel's dislike towards him and he was suddenly ignoring everything his therapist had told him.
"Hey man, do you have some kind of problem with me? I didn't do anything to you."
Ayane started to panic, looking between Miguel and Vincent fearfully.
Miguel stepped toward Vincent.
"Why are you hanging around Ayane like some lost puppy anyway? Don't you have any other friends?"
"Miguel–"
"No, why are you hanging around her? She told me you're her ex, obviously she doesn't like you anymore. Leave her alone–"
Miguel reached out and shoved Vincent with no warning, and Vincent quickly retaliated by beginning to throw a punch. But Ayane got between them before things got worse. She grabbed Vincent's fist which nearly made contact with Miguel's face, using all her strength to push him into the lockers.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Both of you!"
Miguel stood there, his hands twitching and seething with rage.
Ayane finally let go of Vincent, stepping away. She ignored the stares of the other students, putting her backpack over her shoulder.
"See you guys in class."
She walked away and Miguel and Vincent standing there, feeling like idiots.
Miguel sighed, looking over at Vincent with a shake of his head. He got his stuff and walked away as well.
"Ayane!"
Moon hurried over to the girl, a confused look on her face.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
Ayane shook her head, closing her eyes briefly. "Nothing. I just... I made a huge mistake."
Hawk, Demetri and Yasmine came walking up behind her, Hawk saying, "She almost let her Cobra Kai buddy fight Miguel. I knew you were turning into a traitor."
She glared up at Hawk, noticing his mohawk was a vivid shade of purple now. Ayane rolled her eyes.
"Nice hair, did you dye it with Kool-Aid?"
"Guys," Moon looked between Hawk and Ayane. "Let's not start anymore arguments, okay?"
Ayane nodded, still staring down Hawk.
"You're right, Moon. From here on out, I won't argue. I'll just start kicking people's asses."
She smiled curtly, then turned and walked off.
"And I thought she was scary before Cobra Kai," Demetri muttered.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
MIGUEL FOUND AYANE AS SOON AS HE could, the apology already planned in his head.
"Ayane!" He ran over to her in the hall, grabbing her arm.
She stopped, reluctantly looking up at him.
"What is it, Miguel?"
He grimaced. "Um... I just– I wanted to apologize. I-I guess I've been an unnecessary asshole to... Vincent. And I'm sorry."
Ayane knew he was being genuine, exhaling slowly.
"All is forgiven," she waved her hand, walking alongside Miguel. "I just– I wanted Vincent to join Cobra Kai so I could have a friend there, you know? But I should've known it would have the same effect on him as it has everyone else."
"The jackass effect?" Miguel replied with a small laugh.
Ayane laughed as well. "Yeah. That. I guess you have to be a very strong-willed person to keep yourself from being manipulated by Kreese. Or Silver, I guess."
"Speaking of," Miguel looked over at her, "who even is that guy? He and Kreese showed up to the dojo yesterday and Mr. LaRusso looked like he shit himself."
Ayane raised her shoulders. "He knows Kreese, and he knows my dad. Put two and two together and... yeah. But I will say, he doesn't seem nearly as insane. I mean– he actually gave me good advice the other day."
That worried Miguel for a moment. Ayane sounded like she was actually trusting this man.
"What kind of advice?"
"I think he said... 'If you want to be a champion, you need to dig out your fear and face it. Otherwise it's going to hold you back forever.' Or something like that."
Miguel made a face. Damn, that was good advice.
"That sounds... sort of legit."
He pulled out his phone just then as it buzzed, frowning at the notification.
"Oh shit," he muttered, placing a hand to his forehead. Ayane stopped, turning to him to see what was the matter.
"Miguel?"
He showed his phone to her, allowing Ayane to read it.
"Did Johnny get drunk and go on a Twitter rant?"
"Yeah," Miguel said with exasperation, Ayane handing his phone back.
"And he's gonna fight Mr. LaRusso?"
"It seems that way."
Ayane suddenly snorted with laughter. "Oh my God, there's no way I'm gonna miss this."
Miguel inhaled deeply, looking around. "We need to find Sam and see if she knows anything about it."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Ayane replied. "I mean– how many times have they fought each other before?"
Shaking his head, Miguel responded, "Yeah, but– things are just getting worse. They don't agree on anything, and it's just all falling back on the students."
"Well, when you put it like that..."
Ayane pursed her lips, glancing around as she thought.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," she repeated. "Just let them duke it out until they give it up and see how stupid they're being. Anyway, I'm gonna go look for Vincent."
Miguel glanced up. "For what?"
Ayane shrugged a little.
"To put his ass in check, I guess. Maybe he'll apologize, who knows."
She stepped toward Miguel as if she were about to kiss him, but then she stopped herself.
"I forgot I can't kiss you in public," she halfway whispered. "Should I slap you instead?"
Miguel smirked. "That'd be kinda hot."
"Weirdo," Ayane shook her head with a quick grin, walking away.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE LAST PERIOD
of the day that Ayane finally saw Vincent.
He sat down in the desk beside her, looking up quickly and then looking back down.
Ayane tapped her pencil on her desk, turning her head to him at once.
"Hey you," she said, tossing her pencil at him.
Vincent jumped as the pencil hit him, looking over at Ayane. She smiled for a second.
"Are you still upset?" she asked.
Vincent leaned back in the desk, staring at the ground.
"No. I just feel kinda bad now."
Ayane laughed dryly. "You guys were both acting like assholes, but it's all over now. End of story."
Vincent waited before nodding, then met her eyes.
"Do you still have feelings for him?"
Ayane's heart skipped a beat. She hesitated, not sure how to answer.
"Mr. Hayes," the teacher said from up front, "don't earn yourself another detention."
Vincent rolled his eyes, turning to face the front. Ayane let out her breath which she did not realize she had been holding in.
After class, Vincent walked out of the school with Ayane.
"So, some of the kids from the dojo were gonna hang out tonight. You down?"
She saw Miguel just then, standing there waiting for her.
"I'd love to, but I can't," she replied, looking up at him. "I've gotta study for this Chem exam."
"Oh. Well that's alright. Grades come first."
"You sound like my mother," Ayane replied, laughing with Vincent.
She walked over to Miguel after Vincent was gone, noting the glum look on his face.
"What's wrong?"
Miguel fiddled with his backpack straps.
"I think you should stop hanging out with Vincent."
She had a sudden flashback, remembering the night of the rollerskating rink fiasco. Robby had told her the same thing about Miguel.
Ayane halfway scoffed. "Miguel, come on. I know you don't like him, and I understand why. But I actually think he's a good guy. You know, the two of you would probably get along really well."
"That's exactly why I don't like him," Miguel replied as if it were obvious. "He's like me, and I don't want you to–"
Ayane narrowed her eyes. "You don't want me to what?"
Miguel looked down.
"I don't want you to end up having feelings for him," he said quietly.
She frowned, shaking her head slowly. Miguel did not sound angry, but more so unnerved.
"Miguel..." Ayane placed her hands on her hips. "No. Alright, you know what? Be ready at seven."
He looked up at her with confusion. "What– where are we going?"
"Don't worry about it. Just be ready, you got it?"
The strictness in her voice made Miguel scared to say no so he just nodded.
Ayane turned and walked to her car.
At close to seven o'clock, Ayane changed clothes and walked downstairs to find her father.
"Hey," she walked into his office, "I'm about to go hang out with some Cobra Kai students. Is that cool?"
Ennis glanced up, then waved his hand dismissively. Ayane took that as a yes.
She was finding it hard to believe how easy it was getting to lie right through her teeth. Maybe she should stop lying so much.
Ayane got in her car and went to Reseda to pick up Miguel. She had not been able to stop thinking about his small rant earlier. She had no idea Miguel felt insecure about their relationship, and that was not going to fly by her.
Miguel opened the car door, already bursting with what he needed to say.
"Sensei and Mr. LaRusso fought and you were right. It was the funniest thing ever."
Ayane started to grin. "Please tell me you got it on video."
Miguel held up his phone. "Just sent it to you."
Ayane pulled out of Reseda and drove along the road, leaving Miguel to wonder where they were going.
"Am I– am I allowed to ask where we're going?"
"We'll be there in like two seconds. Be patient."
About ten minutes later, Ayane pulled into the Reseda strip mall. Miguel was even more confused now.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and looked over. "Alright. Come on."
Miguel slowly unbuckled and got out, following her lead. She walked up to the doors of Cobra Kai, pulling out a key.
"Why are we at Cobra Kai? And how the hell did you get a key?"
"Stop asking so many questions," she opened the door, allowing Miguel to walk in.
"No one's here, right?"
Ayane nodded. "They all went out to do something. I don't know. But anyway."
She stopped, pulling off her shoes.
"Get on the mat."
Miguel hesitated, having absolutely no idea where she was going with this. But nonetheless he complied, taking off his shoes.
"Should I be scared? Am I gonna get ambushed?"
"If you ask another question, I'm gonna punch you in the face."
He sighed, stepping onto the mat at once.
Ayane folded her arms behind her.
"Do you remember the first time we met?"
Miguel nodded. "Yeah. It was... here."
She nodded back. "Correct. Now, do you remember the first karate move I ever taught you?"
He strained his memory for a moment, licking his lips.
"It was a jab punch, right?"
Ayane smiled. "Right again. You wanna know something?"
Miguel tilted his head.
"I used to want to be in Cobra Kai so bad. Just because of you, and Johnny, and all my friends. And then I finally got what I wanted... but it was too late."
She dropped her head. "Basically what I'm saying is– I don't share any of those memories with Vincent. I just met him. Sure, he seems nice, but he means nothing to me like you do."
A smile began to spread on Miguel's face. He had no idea what he did to deserve a girl like Ayane. And he had no idea how he had managed to keep her around.
"I hope one day we can put all of this behind us," Miguel replied. "This– stupid karate rivalry. And me and you can start our own life together. Maybe we could start our own dojo."
Ayane laughed lightly. "Our own dojo, huh? You know, that wouldn't be so bad."
Miguel realized at once they were still standing there in the middle of the dojo.
"So was there a reason you made me take off my shoes and get on the mat other than to reminisce?" he questioned.
"Oh yeah." Ayane got into her fighting stance. "We're gonna see how much Miyagi-Do you've learned, Diaz."
Miguel raised his eyebrows, smirking and raising his fists. "Oh? Alright. Try me."
She went forward with a fast strike, and Miguel blocked it using a familiar Miyagi-Do technique. Ayane quirked an eyebrow.
"Hm."
Ayane used a series of strikes and kicks to see if Miguel could block them, and it was not to her surprise that he did.
"You trying to tire me out?" he asked, panting a bit with a wide smile.
She shrugged. "I'm gonna get you on the ground. That's my goal, anyway."
"Is that so?" Miguel bantered.
He suddenly went forward and grabbed her leg, pulling it forward and flipping Ayane onto the ground. Miguel dropped down over her.
"Winner, Diaz."
Ayane looked up at him with a shake of her head. "I let you do that."
"Sure you did."
He climbed to his feet, offering a hand but then withdrawing it.
"I've learned from that. Never mind."
Ayane scoffed, helping herself up.
They left the dojo, walking back to Ayane's car.
"You still didn't tell me where you got the key," Miguel mentioned, opening the car door.
"My dad, duh," she replied.
They both got in the car, looking at each other.
Ayane tapped her fingers, then said, "Wanna get in the backseat?"
"Yeah."
notes.
contemplating writing smut
y'all go check out the graphics page, i worked hard asf on them graphics and i'm super proud of the way they turned out
ayane may go seeking some advice from a certain johnny lawrence or daniel larusso soon, we'll see which one she goes to
if not miguel, who would you want to see ayane with?
(this is for research purposes only ☺️)