EVERYONE WATCHED IN DEAD SILENCE AS MIGUEL AND SELINE SPARRED.

"You telegraph all your moves," Miguel commented, sending out a kick Seline barely managed to dodge.

It was frustrating, not being good at all this. Though try as she might, Seline was nowhere near Miguel's level. Every move felt terribly unnatural to her body, the stance, her grip–Everything.

Trying to recall some of the demo moves, Seline feigned a right hook before using her left leg to do a front kick–It was the first hit she had managed over Miguel.

"That was good." Miguel affirmed, dodging her next couple of admittedly predictable jabs.

"I know it was," Seline muttered, in no mood for his praises. It wasn't his approval she was looking for.

Kreese watched their fight closely, Seline hadn't decided if he thought she was a lost cause or not. Breathing out, she forced herself to refocus or at the very least make this match not so one-sided.

Seline took a step back, keeping her guard up. Miguel was stronger by all accounts, which pissed her off, but Seline could sense the tiniest bit of fatigue beginning to build up in him.

With stamina on her side, Seline sped up her moves, punching and kicking at the quickest speed she could manage. Miguel's eyebrows furrowed at the change, unable to land anything on her.

She was crazy flexible, that much was obvious, but more than that Seline was highly observant.

Kreese smiled at that realization. Seline had started off slow just to learn the way Miguel moved–And now she understood perfectly.

"Keep that up Grey!" Johnny supported,the acknowledgment went straight to Seline's head.

Through his frustration, Miguel was starting to understand Seline as well—Her moves seemed languid on the surface, but that was when she was the most focused. She reminded him of a cat.

Miguel grabbed Seline's arm, jabbing her in the stomach with his elbow making her lose her balance. He followed her to the ground, pinning her there in triumph.

Seline huffed out in annoyance, her eyes boring into Miguel's with stark unamusement.

"Much better than last time." Johnny said to Kreese, who nodded in agreement.

"She has a good memory." Kreese added.

Seline, still on the floor of the mat, attempted to wiggle herself free, to no avail.

"Next time make sure you actually follow through before getting distracted." Miguel said, unable to keep the smugness from his tone. Knocking Seline down a few large pegs was his new favorite hobby.

"Get off me fatass!" Seline shrieked, jerking her body in a squirmish manner that forced Miguel to stand up. She declined his held-out hand, instead opting to brush herself off and stomp back over to Tory.

"That was good, Diaz." Johnny said. His eyes fell to a very irritated Seline, noticing her stance.

"Grey, what the hell is that?" Johnny asked, gesturing to her feet.

Seline looked down, she had unknowingly been standing in the fifth position–Ballet had drilled it into her like second nature, and it was hard to shake. The way she held her arms and body was hard to undo as well.

"Sorry, Sensei." Seline corrected herself immediately in embarrassment.

"Nichols and Hawk, you two are next." Johnny spoke returning to the front of the room.

Tory and Hawk took their places on the mat and Seline couldn't help but watch Tory in half jealousy but also analysis.

Tory was everything Seline was not–Strong and confident in every move she made,a real sense of purpose in each hit. Her natural athletic ability was amazing and Seline couldn't help but reminisce about her ballet days.

All of her forms were perfect–She had been the very picture of a future prima ballerina. Seline would float through her fellow dancer's envy with ease. There was nothing more gratifying than the audience applauding her in awe.

But Seline had ruined that...at least that's what her dad had thought. It was the constant song he burned into her head. Then there was the incident in the family that broke Seline down even further.

She longed to get back to that prime air of untouchability and if getting beat up and humiliated in the dojo was the only way, then so be it.

After class was over, Seline stayed behind, something she did often as of late. As students filed out the door, Tory lingered to speak to her.

"You've been getting really good really fast," Tory said, making Seline roll her eyes. She grabbed her favorite bo staff–A dark brown one with a weight she had come to be familiar with.

"Not fast enough." Seline retorted. "That fucking dork bamboozled me."

Tory smiled in amusement. "It looked like a natural position for you from where I was standing."

Seline blinked for a moment before smirking, twirling the staff around.

"I prefer staying on top, thank you." Seline said. Tory rolled her eyes before leaving.

Seline skipped over to Johnny's office, swinging the door open like someone's annoying child.

Her vibe was killed by the presence of Miguel Diaz standing there with him.

"What the hell, Sensei, I thought you said it would just be me and you."

"I figured he could show you some moves while I work." Johnny said, typing on his computer at a snail's pace. "Got some shit to figure out right now."

Miguel stood to the side awkwardly, as if trying to stay out of Seline's line of fire. He could see the growing frustration on her face, her mind no doubt filling with a bevy of insults to throw his way.

"Fine." Seline huffed. "Let's go, dork."

They went back to the mats and Seline faced Miguel, still holding onto her staff. Her blank stare made Miguel slightly nervous but nowhere near enough to make him back down.

"Show me what you have so far and we can go from there, I guess," Miguel said, crossing his arms.

Instead of responding, Seline fell into her stance and began her forms. Miguel watched her closely, how her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She moved with the grace of a dancer and it was almost mesmerizing to watch.

Pretty, even.

"Well?" Seline asked when she was done. "I'm sure you're just itching to comment."

Miguel blinked for a moment, snapping out of his daze. Seline's brown eyes glared at him expectantly but Miguel found that he had nothing bad to say about the demo.

"Looks to me like you've found your thing." Miguel admitted. "You're really good with that staff."

Seline was caught off guard by his honesty. He had a funny way of doing that as of late—Stopping her train of thought with just a few words.

It was annoying.

"Yeah, no need to cream your pants over it." Seline waved him off, continuing with her moves.

"Sensei was considering putting in your demo in the next All Valley Championship." Miguel mentioned, hoping it would soften her a little.

Seline tried her best to fight the eager smile that was appearing. At least her talent was finally getting recognized.

"He'd be stupid not to." Seline decided instead. "I could go directly up against LaRusso."

Miguel frowned at the mention of Sam. "Is that like your sole motivation?"

Seline hummed with a curious smile on her face. "Should be yours too, Robby is moving right into your spot it looks like."

"That's not true." Miguel snapped, though his tone was less than sure. "We're just...complicated right now."

Seline halted her movements for a second, giving her full attention to Miguel. She thought about saying something snarky to irritate him further, but his brown eyes were filled with a vulnerability that made her hesitate for a moment.

"Complicated?" Seline scoffed, looking at Miguel pointedly. "Another term for when you don't know what the fuck is going on."

"Yeah,well." Miguel trailed off before looking at Seline again, almost unable to help himself.

"Not all of us float through life like you do."

Seline smirked as her phone buzzed in her pocket. A text from Tory appeared on her phone.

hair dye: We're all meeting up to get food,you should come and bring diaz too

                        sel sel: why would i want to do that

hair dye: Seline.

sel sel: ok damn omw

Seline shoved her phone back into the pocket of her jeans, looking back up at Miguel.

"Get changed, we're meeting up with the rest of the team." Seline said bluntly, packing her duffle bag.

"What?" Miguel said, confused at her switch-up. He had become increasingly concerned that Seline might've been bipolar or something.

"Hurry the fuck up or I'm gonna leave your ass." Seline grabbed her keys, going towards the door

Miguel stood for a moment before beelining towards the bathroom knowing he likely had three minutes or less.

By the time Miguel ran out to Seline's car, she had just barely turned the car on as he slid into the passenger's seat, flinging his bag to the back.

"Consider yourself lucky," Seline said, putting her car in drive. "And don't fucking touch anything."

Miguel sat still, trying his best not to worsen Seline's obvious bad mood.

"You're bossy." Miguel muttered, more to himself than to her.

"And you're a loser." Seline was quick to reply.

It was quiet in the car the rest of the way, Seline forced herself to keep her gaze on the road. It was as if she had suddenly become hyper-aware of his presence. Miguel was looking down at his phone, frowning slightly.

"What?" Seline said, pulling into the parking lot. "Reddit not loading or something?"

Miguel glared at her, shaking his head. He took his bag out of the car and went inside. Seline watched him walk for a moment.

SELINE AND MOON STALKED YASMINE'S INSTAGRAM.

Yasmine had ditched them for Paris as soon as school was out for the summer, having the time of her life.

Seline hated Paris. She hated Europe as a whole.

"Oh my god." Moon gasped. "Yaz has the same bikini as me."

Seline leaned in further in analysis; The black and white print did look familiar, she could admit.

"She's such a copycat." Seline said, rolling her eyes. "She still has my Chanel blazer she borrowed."

"She'll probably say it's her's." Moon giggled.

Although Seline was a bit salty, she missed Yasmine more than she cared to say. Moon was great, but who was she supposed to be evil and judgemental with?

"Tell her she can stay in France." Aisha muttered.

"If it was up to her, I'm sure she'd love that." Seline said, before turning her attention to Tory who was busy licking the ice cream from her spoon.

"I could've saved you some of my brownie." Tory said, gesturing to her very empty plate that told a different story.

"Too much sugar for me." Seline wrinkled her nose. Another ballet habit that stuck with her was the strict diet she'd been placed on. In the back of her mind though, it would have to change eventually considering all the intense karate would start to bulk her up.

Tory rolled her eyes, but a little smile was on her face. Seline's eyes drifted to Tory's hair for a second.

'She'd be such a good blonde.' Seline absently thought.

"Get a load of Diaz over there." Tory nodded over to Miguel, who was sitting alone. Seline's eyes drifted to him. He looked so horribly focused on whatever was on his computer screen.

Without much thought, Seline balled up a napkin and chucked it straight at his face. Miguel looked up for a second, seeing Seline staring him down with vague curiosity.

"What are you even doing over there?" Tory asked.

"Going all in," Miguel muttered back. Seline raised a brow before walking over to his table, seating herself in the opposite chair.

"Watching porn in public is pretty ballsy." Seline hummed out, folding her arms on the table.

"What!" Miguel's eyes widened. "Why would you even think that?"

"Show me." Seline demanded,turning his computer so she could see better.

"No." Miguel said again but with panic in his voice.

"I'll tell everyone it was porn if you don't." Seline threatened bluntly.

Miguel sighed before reluctantly moving his computer screen to her.

"I could use a girl's opinion on this actually." Miguel confessed. "Though you wouldn't be the ideal one."

"Rude." Seline whined. "My opinion is like the most valuable."

Miguel rolled his eyes but he was unable to stop the tiny smile forming at Seline's attitude.

"You have to promise not to laugh," Miguel said earnestly.

Seline drummed her fingers onto the table impatiently.

"The best you'll get from me is brutal honesty," Seline said.

Miguel sighed again, closing his eyes and hoping this wasn't a mistake, then pressed play.

Miguel's picture appeared in a heart and Seline did her best to keep her snark to a minimum–That all went away when Sam's face popped up next to him.

Seline scoffed, watching a random octopus slide in to repair the broken heart.

"Sam and I have this thing for octopuses, octopi," Miguel explained as if Seline cared. "It's kind of our relationship mascot."

Seline was unable to mask the vicious judgemental expression she was sure was on her face. This had to be the number one most corniest thing she'd ever seen in her life.

"So what do you think?" Miguel looked at Seline.

Seline was quiet for a moment, staring at the computer screen.

"I think." Seline began.

Miguel held his breath.

"I think that you are a bigger dork than I originally took you for." Seline deadpanned.

Miguel knew that Seline was just getting started.

"It's ugly and stupid and I think you should toss that brick of a laptop in the trash." Seline said.

"Is it really that bad?" Miguel asked, causing Seline to look at him in exasperation.

"That video is dripping with desperation." Seline said.

"But I am desperate." Miguel said.

Seline looked at the laptop one more time before slamming it closed.

"Let's be real here." Seline began, scooting her chair closer. "All of this is pointless."

"What do you mean?" Miguel asked.

"What effort has she made to fix things on her part?" Seline said. "Looks to me like she's making you do all the work."

"This whole thing is my fault." Miguel said. Seline felt as though this was almost too easy.

"Maybe at first." Seline agreed. "But now she's over at her house cozying up with Robby all day and night." Miguel's jaw tightened at the thought and Seline pushed further.

"Sam wouldn't do that." Miguel denied but there was a trace of uncertainty that Seline preyed upon.

"Well you were a dickhead and Mr. Misunderstood is giving her all the comfort she needs right now." Seline smirked.

Miguel sat back, considering her words—They were harsh and he didn't miss how Seline's eyes were sparkling at his misery. But, she wasn't exactly lying. Sam had blocked him on everything, and the few times he'd seen her she was cold.

And here was Seline, the queen bee with questionable motives for joining Cobra Kai offering him her thoughts.

Just for a split second, Miguel thought that she couldn't be all bad. Somewhere under all of that armor had to be the real her. Whoever that person was.

He intended to find out.

"So what do I do?" Miguel asked finally. Seline looked more than satisfied at his realization.

"Fall back, focus on other stuff," Seline said. "If she misses you like you miss her, she'll come back."

"And if she doesn't?" Miguel said. Seline blinked.

"Fuck if I know Diaz!" Seline huffed. "I'm not a relationship guru."

Miguel chucked at her impulse. He tried his best to remember that this was the girl Sam hated with her entire being–A girl who probably wouldn't be speaking to him in other circumstances.

Seline's phone buzzed, cutting into Miguel's thoughts.

"Hello, mother." Seline answered, her voice teasing.

"Hello, daughter." Diana matched her. "Where are you right now?"

"Karate stuff." Seline said vaguely, too lazy to elaborate.

Her mom hummed. "I need you to be on your way home, we're having company for dinner."

"Do I have to be there?" Seline whined. "It's your company, not mine."

"Seline." Diana said simply. She knew better than to interrupt her mom again.

"I invited my co-worker Carmen Diaz, you should know her son, you guys are in the same dojo I think?" Diana explained.

Seline felt her blood run cold. It was just her fucking luck that her mom and Miguel's mom knew each other.

"Yeah, I know him." Seline muttered, staring at a very confused Miguel.

"Is he with you now?" Diana asked, and Seline felt like slamming her head against the table.

"Yup." Seline said with zero enthusiasm.

"That's perfect actually!" She could hear her mother practically beaming. "He can just ride with you then."

"Perfect," Seline responded sarcastically, ending the call with a click.

"What was that?" Miguel asked. Seline managed a strained smile, despite her eye twitching.

"The sound of my night plans ruined."

                                     ——

A/N:Sel and Miggy getting along? Slowly but surely. Also me watching everyone ready to write for season 6 part 3 meanwhile I just started 🤪