❝ sounds complicated. ❞

―

THE DEMO AT VALLEY FEST WAS A HIT.

Tons of new recruits had flocked to Cobra Kai, wanting to join the team. Achara sat next to Miguel on the mat, stretching her legs before practice. She was only half-listening to what Kreese was saying, but there was something about him that seemed off. There were certain things that he was saying that didn't quite add up. She exchanged a look with Miguel. There wasn't something about him that she didn't fully trust.

Miguel stood, challenging what he was saying. There was definitely something odd about him and judging from the expression on Decha's face, he thought so too.

Achara stood up when she heard Sensei Lawrence's voice from behind her.

"Listen up!" he shouted. "I see we've got some new recruits. "Everybody, fall in. In neat rows and lines."

Achara stood next to Miguel with Decha on her other side.

"Time to see what you're made of."

He made his way through the rows, observing the new recruits, poking the occasional insult at them. The twins turned their heads as Sensei talked to an older guy. At first, along with Sensei, they thought he was a parent, but he was actually there to take lessons.

"I thought my last group of recruits was pathetic," Sensei spoke, standing back at the front. "But if you do what I tell you to do, you'll at least have a chance of becoming a fighter. But to do that, you gotta fight. So, which one of you has the balls to take on the champ?"

The twins looked around, wondering who was going to volunteer. Nobody came forward. The older guy that Sensei had been talking to just moments before started to raise his hand, but a voice cut him off.

"I'll take him on."

Achara and Decha turned their heads in the direction of the voice to see a girl standing in the back of the dojo. She stood up straight, holding herself with confidence. Achara smiled. It'd be nice to have another girl around and a girl that held her head up high.

"Oh, you will, huh?" Sensei asked her.

"I saw your little demo at Valley Fest," she spoke. "You guys can put on a show. Can you actually fight?"

Achara found herself intrigued. She exchanged glances with Decha, seeing that he too was impressed with the go-getter attitude that the girl carried.

Sensei walked up to her. "That sounds like a challenge."

She looked him directly in the eyes, her confidence never faltering. "I like a challenge."

"Mr. Diaz," Sensei said, stepping away. "Show Little Miss Hotshot here what Cobra Kai is all about."

The rest of the students dispersed off the mat, allowing Miguel and the girl to have full range of the mat.

"Look, are you sure that you wanna do—"

Miguel's question was cut short when she kicked his chest with zero hesitation. Miguel grunted as he faltered backwards. Several gasps were emitted from various students.

Miguel chuckled. "All right. Game on."

He assumed fighting position. The girl went all in, no hesitance whatsoever as she threw jabs and punches Miguel's way. Miguel was dodging every single one, not letting her land a shot. She wasn't willing to go down without a fight. She tried to kick him again, but Miguel grabbed her leg and pulled her to the ground. She got right back up, flipping onto her feet as she continued to fight Miguel. She was telegraphing every move, giving it away before she could execute it.

Miguel kicked her knees, causing her to fall.

"Don't let me see it coming," Miguel told her.

Not even a second later, she tackled him to the mat. "Did you see that coming?"

Miguel grabbed her leg between his own, yanking her down. Miguel was under the assumption that he had beaten her as he helped her up. She grabbed his hand and twisted her body around his arm, flipping him over her back. Miguel groaned as he hit the mat.

As she pinned Miguel's head down with her hand, Achara couldn't help but grin. She felt bad that she had just watched her boyfriend get his ass kicked, but at the same time she couldn't help but admire the new girl.

────────────

After practice was over, Achara walked over to the mini-mart with Aisha and Decha. The three of them were planning on meeting their parents at the country club. But first, they needed a drink.

They walked in, the small bell ringing above their heads. Aisha groaned as she looked down at her phone.

Before either of the twins could as her what was wrong, Achara noticed the girl from earlier walking in their direction.

"Let me guess, dick pic?" she asked Aisha.

Aisha shook her head and sighed. "No. My mom wants me to go to the beach club with her."

"Oh my God, that sounds so miserable," the girl replied with feigned pity.

"No. It's just...this girl Sam's probably going to be there, and she and I are not on good terms," Aisha explained. "And her and Achara have this whole drama going on with Miguel..."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Miguel? The All Valley champ?"

Achara nodded. "He's my boyfriend. Sam has a crush on him and won't accept that she lost. It's a whole thing and she kind of stole our best friend." Achara pointed to herself and Decha.

"Miguel's your boyfriend?" the girl asked.

Achara couldn't determine what the expression on her face meant. But Decha knew. He knew right away. It was clear to him from the very beginning.

"I'm Achara, by the way," Achara introduced herself.

Decha gave her an upward nod. "Decha."

"I'm Aisha," Aisha told her.

"Tory," the girl replied, then pointed a finger back and forth between Achara and Decha. "Twins?"

They both nodded.

"Cool," Tory said with a smile.

"Hey, that's a cool bracelet," Aisha complimented her.

Achara glanced at Tory's wrist, seeing a white bracelet with black silver coming out of it.

"Oh, this?" Tory asked, lifting her arm. "It's not just for show. Some creepy guy at the mall tried to grab me once, but I managed to block him and give him a gift he won't ever forget."

Achara chuckled as she nodded her head in approval. She had known Tory for less than ten seconds and she already thought she was one of the most badass people she had ever met. Decha wasn't showing it on his face, but he was thinking the exact same thing.

"You seem like you already know how to kick ass pretty well," Aisha said to her. "What do you need Cobra Kai for?"

"I've had a couple kickboxing lessons," Tory answered. "But I've always wanted to smash boards blindfolded."

Aisha smiled. "Oh, you saw that. The secret is poking little holes in the blindfolds."

Tory chuckled. "Mmm. Cool."

Tory turned her attention to Achara. "And those spins you did? It was like I was back in elementary school watching a production of Swan Lake but mixed with an MMA fight. You've got to teach me."

Achara grinned and giggled at her. "Sure."

Tory smiled and then started to walk away. Achara and Aisha exchanged a look. No words were needed to know that they were both thinking the exact same thing.

"Hey," Aisha said, causing Tory to turn back around. "You wouldn't want to go to the beach with us, would you?"

Tory thought for a moment and then nodded. "Guess I could suffer through a day at the beach."

Aisha and the twins picked out their drinks and then walked up to the counter with Tory to pay. As they left the mini-mart, they went their separate ways to go home and change into their bathing suits before going to the beach club.

────────────

Achara and Decha met up with Aisha in front of the beach club. They waited for Tory to arrive, and when she did they walked into the beach club.

"Okay, this is not the beach," Tory said as they stood on the balcony, looking down at the pool. "Where are the homeless dudes on roller blades and the guys shoving shitty hip-hop demos in your face?"

"Don't worry. They'll come after they pass out the hors d'oeuvres," Aisha joked.

Achara looked down at the pool. She felt her jaw clench tightly when she noticed Sam and Robby lounging on two of the pool chairs. Sam looked up, making eye contact with her. Achara grabbed the railing of the balcony, causing her knuckles to turn white. Decha placed his hand on top of hers.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

Achara shook her head and nodded down to Sam. Decha's gaze fell downwards, and he sighed when he saw her. It seemed like Sam and Robby were getting closer. He thought that it was a good thing that Sam was moving on from Miguel and he told Achara just that. Granted neither one of them liked the fact that it was their former best friend who had turned against them that she was moving on with. But there was nothing they could do about it.

"Come on," Aisha said. "Let's go."

They walked down the stairs to the poolside and set their bags down on one of the nearby tables that was empty. Achara and Decha noticed their parents sitting a few tables away. Daniel LaRusso sat across from them, no doubt trying to convince them that Miyagi-Do would be a better fit.

Achara didn't think that they had anything to worry about though. Their mother just sipped her drink, looking like she would rather be anywhere else. Their father just stared off into space. She doubted that he'd be able to convince them.

"I'm gonna go get food," Aisha announced. "You guys want to come with?"

Tory shook her head. "Nah, I'm not hungry right now."

"Bring me back something good?" Achara asked.

"Decha?"

Decha looked up from his phone. "Hmm?"

"Do you want anything from the buffet table?" Aisha asked.

Decha shook his head, immediately looking back down at his phone. Aisha walked away in the direction of the buffet table.

"Who are you texting?" Achara asked, leaning forward to look at her brother's phone.

"Hawk," Decha answered. "And Demetri."

"Both of them? At the same time? Wait, when did you get Demetri's number? I thought he blocked you," Achara asked quickly and all at once.

"Yeah," Decha replied. "Demetri gave it to me at Valley Fest."

"Everything okay?" Tory asked him.

"You look kinda stressed," Achara added.

Decha sighed. "I'm hearing two completely different sides of a story right now and I'm trying to go back and forth, but it's getting confusing."

"What's going on?" Achara asked.

"Demetri came into Cobra Kai earlier to rejoin, but Kreese punched him in the face," Decha told her.

"What? Is he okay?" Achara asked.

"He's fine. Just a couple of stitches on his nose," Decha said. "Anyway, now I've got Demetri texting me about how he's going to leave a bad Yelp review for Cobra Kai and Hawk texting me about how much of a pussy Demetri is."

Achara sighed. "So let me guess, you're stuck trying to play mediator?"

Decha nodded. He groaned and set his phone on the table. It just kept vibrating.

"Hawk—is he that guy with the bright blue mohawk?" Tory asked.

"That'd be him," Achara confirmed.

"And who's Demetri?" Tory asked Decha. "Your boyfriend?"

Achara scoffed. "He wishes."

"Who is he then?" Tory asked. "A crush?"

"Sort of," Decha replied. "Yes," Achara said at the same time.

"Demetri is the boy Decha likes and is trying to pursue, but he won't give him a chance," Achara explained. "Hawk is Demetri's best friend who has a crush on Decha."

Tory whistled. "Sounds complicated."

"Hawk does not have a crush on me," Decha denied.

"Please, you'd have to have an IQ of zero to not see how in love with you he is," Achara said. "He's so painfully obvious about it."

Decha rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Hey, are you still hanging out with Demetri later?" Achara asked, getting his attention again.

Decha nodded. "Yeah, he's coming over."

"To our house?" Achara asked, eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah?" Decha replied, not sure why she was so shocked.

"You've never invited anyone over," Achara clarified. "I'm just surprised. Oh, you must really like him then, huh?"

Decha rolled his eyes at her again as he picked his phone back up. His thumbs began moving wildly across the keyboard as he continued to text both Hawk and Demetri.

"I'm going to go the bathroom," Tory said.

"Do you need help finding it?" Achara asked. "This place is like a maze."

Tory shook her head. "I think I can manage."

Tory smiled at her and then stood up from her seat. Achara watched her walk away. She turned to find Aisha, noticing that she was still talking to Sam. The two of them began walking towards the table. Achara rolled her eyes and Aisha and Sam took a seat.

"Hey, Achara," Sam smiled. "Look, I'm sorry about everything that went down and being all over Miguel. Could we maybe put it all behind us? Start over?"

Achara just stared at her. Sam had to be out of her damn mind if she thought Achara would be willing to just put it all behind and start over. There wasn't a chance in hell that Achara was going to just forgive and forget.

Achara didn't have the chance to respond before Tory came waltzing back to the table.

"Hey! Look what I got," Tory said, pulling a bottle of vodka from her bag.

"Where did you get that?" Aisha asked.

"I swiped it from the bar," Tory responded, receiving panicked looks from Aisha and Sam. "Oh, relax. All the adults are getting wasted. No one's gonna notice if we have a little fun."

"You should put that back," Sam said. "You'll get into big trouble."

Tory chuckled as she turned her head to face her. "And you are?"

"Oh. Sam, this is Tory," Aisha introduced them. "Tory, Sam."

"Oh, the Sam," Tory said, then scoffed. "Come on, like anyone's gonna miss one bottle of vodka? I could swipe half the silverware in this place before anyone would notice."

"You shouldn't steal anything," Sam replied.

"What are you, a nun?" Tory asked.

Achara snorted. Sam turned her head and gave her a disappointed look. Achara didn't care in the slightest. Why should she care what Sam thought?

"Come on, are we gonna drink or not?" Tory asked. "Achara? Decha?"

Achara stood up from her seat. "I'm down."

With a sigh, Decha locked his phone. "I could use the distraction."

"That's what I'm talking about," Tory said.

Aisha turned to look at Sam and bit her bottom lip, debating whether or not she should. She focused her attention back on Tory and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, one drink," Aisha said.

Tory smiled at her. "That's my girl."

She wrapped her arm around Aisha and Achara's shoulders. The three girls walked off, Decha trailing behind them as they tried to find a secluded spot to drink the vodka.

"Hey!"

The four of them turned to see Sam stomping up to them. Her attention was on Tory. "My mom's missing her wallet."

"Sucks for her," Tory replied with a chuckle.

Achara and Aisha chuckled along with her. Decha tried to hold in his laugh.

"You wouldn't know anything about that?" Sam accused Tory.

"Wait, what are you saying?" Aisha asked.

Achara crossed her arms on his chest. "Little Miss Perfect here is trying to accuse Tory of stealing her mom's wallet."

"Just give me the wallet and I won't tell security," Sam ignored her.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Tory asked.

"Sam, she didn't steal your mom's wallet," Aisha defended her.

"Right, and she didn't steal a bottle of vodka, and you wouldn't steal half the silverware in here," Sam shot back at Tory.

Tory stepped closer to her. "Listen, I didn't rob your mom, bitch."

Sam just stared at her, not letting it go. She was adamant that Tory was the one who stole the wallet.

"You know what? Let's get out of here," Tory said.

Tory turned and the four of them started to walk away. Sam suddenly reached out and grabbed Tory's bag. Tory was pulled backwards. Decha reached out to grab Tory's hand so that she wouldn't fall.

Achara grasped Sam's wrist and shoved her back, causing her to stumble into the dessert table. Tory and Aisha gasped. Sam was covered with various desserts. Gasps and confused shouting could be heard from the guests around them.

Achara turned to Tory. "Let's go."

The two of them walked away. Decha looked back and forth between the two girls who were leaving and Sam.

"Real nice friends you've made," Sam said to Aisha.

"You shouldn't have accused her of something like that though," Aisha replied, walking away.

Decha turned on his heels and followed them. He had a date—or rather a not date with Demetri to get ready for.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

TORRRRRRRY IS HERE!!

also i'm 100% going to try and dedicate an entire chapter to decha and demetri's date that's not a date. it's what they deserve. the chapter might be kinda short though...

and question - who are you shipping more? decha and demetri or decha and hawk?

alternative chapter: achara being amazed by tory's mere existence for an entire chapter straight.