[sciences or languages?]
* * *
SAKURA ALMOST ALWAYS ATE ALONE. sometimes it was comforting. sitting on her rooftop after a long day, just her and her instant ramyeon. however, most times it was lonely beyond measure, which is why sakura felt herself light up as miguel invited her over to dinner at his place that night.
"yeah, and yaya mentioned making empanada de viento as well which i have a feeling you'd like. but i, uh, understand if you're like, busy and stuff. your schedule is seriously hectic. but it would only be for an hour or so, and i know you've been too busy lately to eat a decent meal so i thought it would be a good idea, but yeah it's totally fine if you can't make it, i know that y-" sakura interrupted miguel's rambling.
"relax, mig, i'd love to. dance finishes at 7:30 today, anyway" she spoke. sakura was currently sat at her vanity, taking off the face mask she'd put on 10 minutes earlier. it was half past six in the morning, and sakura didn't know what miguel could possibly be doing awake so early on a monday. it probably had something to do with cobra kai training. johnny lawrence was something else. miguel's voice blasting in her airpods brought her back to reality.
"oh. well, that's okay, you can uh, definitely come over when you're free, then," he spoke dejectedly.
"miguel," sakura stared at her bemused expression in the mirror. "i said i'd love to come,"
"OH, oh that's great, that's- yeah that's great, my mom will love to hear that, she's been wanting to meet you. 8 then?"
"yeah, 8, just text me your address," she was now trying to decide whether to wear her hair up or down.
"look, mig, i've got to get going soon, i have piano in half an hour. but before i do go can i quickly switch to video? i need your opinion on something,"
miguel nodded. then he realized that she couldn't see him. "yeah, of course,"
"okay, well," the sato girl balanced her phone against one of her trnaslucent, half empty perfume bottles.
"see i was wondering does it look better half-up," she held her hazel hair in a make-do half ponytail, "or down?"
miguel hummed. "i actually think it would look best in a ponytail. see 'cause you're wearing a high neck, it looks better and your hair won't get in your face during piano. and it won't bother you during practice either, but i do recommend putting it in a bun for dance so that it doesn't slap you or anyone else in the face,"
sakura raised her eyebrows. "you really know your stuff, huh, diaz?"
miguel nodded assuringly. "i very much do, sato."
sakura grabbed a black hair band out of the many which were always residing on her wrists.
"why are you up so early, though?" she asked the boy as she raked a hand through her hair.
miguel shrugged. "sensei's having practice somewhere else today. corner of fulton and raymer. said we'd be off the team if we didn't show. i also distinctly remember him muttering something about cement. i don't know, i feel like he's trying to impress his old sensei or something,"
"cement?" sakura shook her head. "don't tell me that wacko is gonna make you guys mix cement or some sort,"
"hey!" miguel stifled a laugh. "he's not a wacko, he's just...different and like, creative. he's crazy but he's not that crazy that he'd make us mix cement,"
"don't worry migs, i meant wacko in the best way possible." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "secretly you know, your sensei is my spirit animal." miguel chuckled at that. he wishes johnny and sakura met more often, he knew they'd get along well.
"anyways, don't do anything you don't want to do. and don't do anything that could hurt you, okay? tell me how practice goes, alright?"
"yes mom," the diaz boy teased.
"drive safely and have a great day. i'll text you my address later. bye sakura!"
sakura smiled softly. "bye, miguel."
* * *
"mr miyagi built this a few years before he died. he said it was a monument to balance," mr. larusso gestured to the beautiful structure.
"but today it's not gonna balance bonsais. it's gonna help you three learn the wheel technique. hop in!"
oh dear God help me.
i bit back my tongue as i reminded myself sakura, this is nothing compared to your old karate training, don't complain.
i'm glad i always keep a change of clothing in my bag for dance because my poor,poor shorts and crop top were about to go through the most.
sam and robby were complaining as i took off my jordans and matching white socks, placing them neatly to the side. next, i took off the hairbands on my wrist and used one to put my hair up into a bun.
sam scoffed at her dad. "you seriously want us to get in there?!"
"could've at least told us to bring our swimsuits..." robby mumbled.
i put one foot in slowly and lowered myself into the pond, trying not to focus on what i was stepping in. i could feel a lot of rocks and koi swimming by my feet. oh well, the ocean is worse. besides, i decided that because my grandfather built this, i would be respectful and hopefully in return, my hair wouldn't get wet with whatever we're about to do.
mr larusso frowned. "come on, a little water never hurt anyone. see, sakura's getting in, and she's alive? right?"
i turned around and shot them a thumbs up. "it'll just be for like, 5 minutes guys,"
mr larusso kept on encouraging us, or mostly sam and robby as they were totally overreacting about the pond. we got up onto the deck but it kept on wobbling, making me hold my breath for the inevitable moment when we all lose balance and fall into the murky water.
"dad..woah!" sam teetered on the edge.
"find your balance, you're all right. you guys are doing great,"
i felt so happy hearing all that reassurance. it was weird though, because my old sensei used to just scream at us. he was a middle aged japanese man with a lot of pent up anger and his favorite line was "OI! CRY A RIVER, BUILD A BRIDGE AND GET OVER IT!". just imagine like, a japanese version of johnny. just not broke and not an alcoholic. honestly miss that dude.
focusing back now on the deck, we balanced until we were stable enough to practice our movements in sync. it was going well, and i barely broke a sweat, that is until robby stepped a moment too soon. my godfather was right, you could feel someone's every move on this compared to the ground. which was exactly why, anticipating the fall, i straightened up and tried to distance myself as far away from my two peers as possible. this is why i stood on this side of the pond- it's the most shallow and i wasn't likely to be splashed by robby or sam. okay, it sounds like i care more about my blowout than the exercise we were doing but can you blame me? i braced myself.
aaaaand...victory! my hair was still dry, and i smirked at sam and robby who glared at me.
"how didn't your hair get wet," sam whined.
i shrugged innocently. "don't worry sammy, i'll straighten yours for you later if you ask nicely,"
sam smirked. "i'm holding you to that, kura,"
"and you, robby?" i asked the boy. i mean, his hair was long enough, LOL.
"do you also want a salon blowout? i give great haircuts too," this was too fun.
robby kicked my leg from under the water. "leave my hair alone or i'll drag you down here with me and ruin yours,"
mr larusso interrupted our bickering.
"alright you three, come on, get back up. feel each other, use all your senses. pay attention to each and every movement. you guys are getting better and better each time,"
after around an two hours more of trying to protect my hair, practice ended. i hurriedly went into the bathroom to dry off using sam's towel and with the speed of lightning i changed into my other clothing which included a white cargo pants and a loose black top.
it was nearly 3, and dance today was for 4 and a half hours. that seems like a long time but in retrospect when compared with the routines we were practicing...that wasn't long at all.
fast forward through a very tiresome four hours of repeating movements, and we began to pack up. our instructor, clara, called myself and 3 other girls aside.
"okay, so, we need to submit an original choreo for entry to the regionals. any song, around 3 and a half minutes. but if you agree, you girls will be the ones doing everything. do you four think you'll be up to it?"
we all looked at each other. lowkey i knew none of us wanted to, but we begrudgingly obliged. more hours of practice, i guess. woo-hoo.
"wait, alicia," i called out when the practice room was mostly empty.
"yeah?" she looked up at me with her chocolate brown eyes while zipping up her blue tog bag.
"can you help me with the body roll and this part?" i asked, demonstrating the one move i was struggling with.
"ah, you see, you need to be less sharp. like look, it's better to be more fluid than on point. that'll make it look more natural,"
alicia is one of the most beautiful girls ive seen. she has this shiny curly hair to die for, and everything she wears always compliments her caramel skin. shes so sweet, reminding me slightly of moon, someone id met the other day. she's 3 years older than me, making her 19, and is an extreme social butterfly, knowing everyone and anyone. this also made her an amazing person to gossip with.
"i think you should go now, though. yknow coz you're all sweaty, and as gorgeous as you are, you wouldn't like to show up to your boyfriends house looking like this," she gestured to my disheveled appearance with a teasing smile.
"oh shit, i nearly forgot,"
forgetting to even correct her about calling miguel my boyfriend, i grabbed my bag, running to the door.
"bye, 'licia!"
* * *
sakura sprayed perfume on herself for the 10th time that hour. she'd sped home, had a 5 minute shower, and immediately called her best friend for outfit advice. the girl didn't know why she felt so nervous - it was just dinner, right?
"Kkura, stop spraying so much perfume, i can smell it through the bloody screen! anyways, haruto's calling me and i want to go by the lockers before class. enjoy your dinner," akira cut the call. she was actually at school because of the time difference, and sakura was very grateful that her friend would sacrifice some of her lunch time to help her pick out an outfit.
slipping on her high white and pink air jordan's which matched her pink top, sakura made sure that her blue jeans didn't have any creases on them before she grabbed her keys and locked the front door. the house was eerily quite, as it always was, and sakura was extremely grateful to have been invited over to miguel's for the night. the sato girl entered her car and began playing an alicia keys cd which she had stolen from her friend, seung-min, back in korea. teenage love affair started playing and the girl excitedly drove off.
meanwhile, the diaz household was a mess. between miguel trying to get the smell of yaya's weed out of the apartment, carmen frantically setting the dinner table and yaya swearing in spanish, there wasn't one moment of peace.
miguel stood in front of his mirror, practicing how he'd greet sakura.
"hey! how was your day?'' no, his voice sounded too high.
miguel cleared his throat, pretending to lean against the doorway. "hey." too cold.
"good afternoon," too formal.
"why, hello there," no, too weird.
"hi-" his fifth attempt was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.
"hi!" carmen greeted sakura warmly, pulling her into a hug. "you must be sakura?"
"yes i am. and you're mrs diaz? you're extremely beautiful," sakura complimented, meaning every bit of the statement. carmen was a stunning woman, sakura knew where the looks on miguel's part came from.
"sakura!" miguel greeted the girl enthusiastically, hugging her tightly. sakura hugged back just as tight, before miguel pulled away.
"this might sound weird, but you smell amazing, like damn," the pale girl grinned. that was a compliment she loved hearing, especially seeing as she spent so much time to deciding perfume combinations to wear.
"thank you,"
sakura eyed miguel as he pulled a chair open for her. he was wearing a simple sweatpants and a black cobra kai t-shirt. still, the sight of him made sakura's heart flutter in a way that she didn't like to think about.
"this is yaya. yaya, sakura," miguel motioned to the woman who walked into toward dining table. sakura gave the woman a small wave. from what she'd heard from miguel, yaya was an absolute icon.
"ah! so this is the girl he's always on about," yaya spoke in spanish.
"all good things, i hope," sakura replied while she sat down as miguel gasped in shock.
"you speak spanish?!"
"she's perfect," yaya raises an eyebrow suggestively at carmen.
" no, i actually don't. i tried learning it for 2 weeks but i gave up. i actually only recognized, like, two words in what yaya said, so i just assumed the rest," the girl spoke truthfully.
"shes still perfect," yaya whispered to carmen, who had begun plating up.
miguel shook his head amusedly. "i could hear. your pronunciation was... well, at least you tried,"
"oh come on. i'd like to see you try speak a word of like, korean or japanese or something, mig. we both know how that would end up," sakura rolled her eyes.
miguel thought about it, wanting to prove her wrong. "well, uh... on-onion-haseo?" he spoke, questioning his pronunciation. sakura burst out laughing, hitting the her thigh with her hand.
"it's annyeonghaseyo, but, well, atleast you tried," she spoke satisfactorily.
"you wound me, kura," miguel dramatically placed a hand on his heart.
yaya grinned at the how the two acted around each other. she hadn't seen her grandson act like himself around anyone for a while. it was refreshing.
"so, sakura," carmen spoke, "you speak korean?"
sakura nodded, thanking carmen as she placed something that smelled heavenly on sakura's plate.
"yes, i lived in korea for quite a while, actually,"
"i see, i see. are you korean?"
"well like, a quarter, you could say. my dad's mom was korean, and my mom was fully japanese. which is part of why i can also speak japanese,"
"also, mrs diaz, yaya, this food is amazing. i haven't eaten a homely meal like this in like... it's just delicious."
"thank you! you're welcome over for dinner any time," carmen smiled. this girl was too sweet. she loved her.
"what hobbies does she have?" yaya asked miguel in spanish.
sakura, unable to try guess what yaya meant due to how good the food tasted, looked to miguel for a translation.
"she asked what hobbies you have,"
"ooh, i do gymnastics, dance, piano and occasionally chess. in my free time though, i love painting with watercolor and sketching with charcoal. i also like reading a lot. oh and i do karate," sakura explained.
"she's even more perfect," yaya told carmen.
they were interrupted by the door opening. sakura looked up to see johnny lawrence stepping in the room, making awkward eye contact with her.
"i forgot to tell you but sensei sometimes joins us for dinner so i hope that's okay," miguel rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"oh, that's completely fine!" sakura loved being around the man. he was hilarious.
"miggy mentioned you move a lot because of your dads work?" carmen inquired, as she plated food for johnny.
sakura internally thought about what would happen if she mentioned what her fathers real work is. debating against it, she answered, "yes, i do. my father works as the ceo of S.S. Sato enterprises,"
johnny choked on his food as he cleared his throat. "wait- like- the oil and the mining-"
miguel was just surprised that his sensei actually knew what she was talking about.
sakura awkwardly looked down. she didn't like flaunting their wealth. besides, it's not like she had access to most of it in any case. she'd get money from her father whenever he felt like it. the rest of the time she was using her own money which she'd earned from competitions.
"yes that one,"
"holy shit..." johnny muttered as he stared at miguel wide eyed.
seeing that sakura had become uncomfortable, yaya asked her what school she'd be going to.
"i really want to go to west valley, it's where my mother went back in the day. i'm not sure if i will though, it depends on where my father enrolls me,"
"your mom went to west valley?" johnny asked, intrigued as the younger girl nodded. "what's her name?"
" yuki. yuki miyagi."
johnny choked on his food. carmen patted his back as johhny spluttered out, "your mom is yuki !?"
she shared a confused look with miguel. she knew that he knew of her.
"yes? d'you know her?"
a reminiscent look overtook johnny's face. "know her? if that asshole didn't come here from japan, i'm pretty sure i would've been your father."
miguel and sakura looked to each other again.
"you dated my mum?!"
* * *
dinner was outstanding. we spent the rest of the night enjoying ms diaz's food while listening to johnny's many stories about my mother. "she was the most badass, but like in a disgustingly sweet way,"
he was shattered to hear that she died. they didn't actually date (thank goodness) but young johnny had a crush on her for ages. he was about to ask her to be his girlfriend when my father came to town. the rest is clearly history, seeing as i exist.
johnny also spent a large chunk of the time he spent with us trying to convince me to join cobra kai. when i called him "mr lawrence," he replied with : "oh no, mr lawrence was my dad. call me johnny or future sensei,"
after hearing all those stories and bribes, miguel told me what they'd done at practice earlier. i was appalled and lectured johnny for a full 17 minutes and 26 seconds. (miguel counted). my lecture included lines such as, "dust from concrete carries high volumes of silica, which is toxic! if you inhale enough of this, you get silicosis, which is a dangerous lung disease, which is incurable! breathing in too much of this dust can also cause bronchitis, lung cancer, pneumonia and asthma, which might i remind you, miguel already has! come on man, just plan safe practices for your students. it doesn't make you a freaking pussy!" i honestly just care about miguel so much.
i was now sitting on the curb outside with miguel. we were looking at the glittering stars. it was a warm night, and the breeze blew gently in our faces.
"they're pretty, aren't they?" i asked.
"yeah," miguel answered. but when i looked to him, he was staring at me, not the stars. "the prettiest."
the silence was comforting. miguel was comforting.
"you know," he spoke casually, "you should teach me korean or japanese. it can be like, our secret language. we can gossip about everyone in front of them!"
i nodded enthusiastically, loving the idea.
"i definitely will. but korean 'cause it's easier than japanese. and only if you promise to teach me spanish,"
"deal."
it was quiet now again. miguel looked troubled, like he was internally debating something. i decided not to ask.
"miguel?"
"mhm?"
"thank you for inviting me today. it was awesome,"
"yeah? thanks for coming. you know," he smiled fondly, "my mom loves you. yaya adores you. hell, even johnny loves you, i'm sure. even though he thinks you're scary like your mom,"
i chuckled.
"but," he continued. "that's not the point. i also really, really like spending time with you. a lot. so i was wondering, if maybe you'd like to go somewhere with me sometime. or like we could do something. i mean you and i. like the two of us-"
i turned to face him, patiently waiting for him to continue.
he took a deep breath, using his hands to gesture his every word.
"what i'm trying to say is, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me?"
i grinned so hard, my cheeks began to hurt. "i'd love to, miggy,"
shit, i thought, i called him miggy. he'd mentioned once to me how he hates being called that nickname by anyone expect his mom. however, his face didn't show any negative emotions and his smile was almost larger than my own.
"okay. cool. great. fantastic. it's a date,"
"how does friday sound?"
immediately my mood dampened. friday was one of my busiest days. which sucks because friday is my favorite day of the week.
"miguel i have-" he interrupted me.
"-dance from 7, piano from 10, karate from 12, gym from 3 and then dance again. i know. but i have an idea, so leave it all up to me. just keep change of nice clothes in the car,"
i furrowed my eyebrows. what could he possibly do to get me out of all that without getting me in trouble. i knew miguel wouldn't tell me, so i just accepted that i'd find out on friday.
"it's a date."
"it's getting late but before you go, lets go to sensei's apartment quickly, i have something i wanna get for you,"
johnnys apartment smelled like beer, and i wasn't even inside. i stood out the door, waiting for miguel. he clearly didn't think i could hear him, but the walls were thin and i laughed fondly as he screamed, "SENSEI?! WHO'S THE MAN?! I'M THE MAN. SHE SAID YES! I'M THE FUCKING MAN!"
"hell yeah!" johnny responded. "damn, she has a great taste if she likes these,"
"yeah, i don't even know half these bands. anyway let me go give them to her 'cause she's waiting outside,"
"diaz! you can't leave a chick you just asked out alone! it's already a miracle she said yes, don't ruin your chances any more,"
poor miguel. johnny ruins and inflates his ego at the same time.
"oh shit, i never knew that, sensei!"
* * *
johnny's old cd's and cassettes is what miguel gave sakura. she was elated to see guns 'n roses, queen, foreigner, white snake, journey, def leppard, bon jovi and tears for fears among some.
it was late at night and the sato girl was extremely tired. however, she couldn't sleep, as usual. instead of uselessly staring at the ceiling, she decided to rearrange her room on a whim. she also made a grocery list and bought some items online.
sakura was now spamming her favorite group chat, which consisted of jae-chan, ji-ah and seung-min. basically her best friends from her time in korea. ending off with sending them many pictures of her from close angles (she knew they'd make stickers out of her), sakura felt her phone vibrate in her hand.
______________________
migs! - 03:34
ik ur probably up 🤨
don't ask why i'm awake so late
yk i need my 10 hours of sleep, but i keep on thinking about you
i wanted to say, GO SLEEP! you need to rest.
goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite
oh, also
i love hearing you say miggy.
04:21
i can't sleep
you know
you're the prettiest girl i've ever seen
gn :)))
04:31
you should totally send me vids of you when ur at the curriculars🤞
those nikes were on point
pink is my fav color when you wear it
okay damn goodnight fr now 😔
ma'am stop sending me reels, you need to rest!!!👹
Sent at 04:59
______________________
sakura screamed into her pillow.
shit, she thought, do i like miguel diaz?
* * *
a/n
^^^^ fit + hair + shoes (in a shade that matches the top thingy)
ik it's basic but we couldn't have our girl wearing dior to a dinner. also i was so lazy to to look for another outfit.
anyways MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO CELEBRATE! enjoy your day and remember to sing "LAST CHRISTMAS I GAVE YOU MY HEART BUT THE VERY NEXT DAY YOU GAVE IT AWAYYYY," and "I DON'T WANT ALOT FOR CHRISTMAS, THERE IS JUST ONE THING I NEED,"
i don't celebrate but oms i love the energy during this season.
also, they're taking the first top gun off netflix i'm going to kill myself