little bird // r.keene

xlii. playing dirty.

Wren was silent. She wanted to shout, say something. Something to let him know, let all of them know they could trust her. That she was their friend but nothing came out. Not even tears. Because sometimes the sadness you feel choking you, can run so deep you can't even cry.

"Who was she Wren, if we're a team and you trust us? Why won't you tell us?" He taunted, leaning down to get in her face.
"Fuck you, that's why." She said flatly, unmoving, unwavering from his drilling stare.

"I bet Robby knows, doesn't he?" Hawk snapped, taking a step closer to Miguel.
"What is your obsession with him? He's my friend!" She defended and Aisha couldn't even look her in the eye.

"What do you see in that guy?" Hawk asked again, more forceful this time, more bitter.

"Everything you don't."

"That's what I thought." Miguel uttered, bumping his shoulder into hers as he stalked out onto the mat, his fiery temper hotter than ever. Wren swallowed deeply but her throat was dry and felt like sandpaper.

Aisha leaned in and stood beside her. Not saying a word. She could see beyond the bruise on her cheek, behind her eyes, looking down at her that her mind was trailing off as her sight began to blur.

December 3rd would always haunt Wren, no matter how frequently or how hard she tried to push it away; the thoughts, the feelings, the sight of that house and that road, everything. It was all still so alive after all this time and it was killing her inside.

"They didn't mean it." Aisha whispered as she tried to place her arm around her and she managed to, only for a heartbeat before Wren blinked and let two tears spill down her face.

"The scary part is, I think they did." Was all she managed before she walked away and stood on another side of the mat.

The fight continued much to Wren's dismay and she noticed how Robby kept one arm tucked into his side, he took long deep breaths as Daniel clapped him on.

"And fight!"

"Hai!" Miguel yelled before kicking Robby, which he deflected easily, he seemed stronger, much steadier than before despite his injured arm. Miguel yelled again which echoed through the hall, he lunged forwards but Robby sidestepped, causing Miguel to stumble forward out of bounds.

"Stop! Out of bounds!" The ref yelled, "Out of bounds!" He clarified, guiding Miguel back to his side of the mat. "No point. Out of bounds."

"Alright, let's go Robby. Stay focused." Wren heard Daniel from the sidelines.
"Ready? And fight!" Miguel full on shoved Robby, kicking his shoulder, Wren couldn't help but hold her breath as Robby rolled away from Miguel's advances. But to her shock, Robby pushed himself up on one hand and kicked Miguel with both legs sending him stumbling backwards. The crowd erupted in applause.

"Yes, Keene!" She yelled, unable to control her awe.
"How about that? A two-legged kick." The voice through the microphone exclaimed.
"Come on!" Aisha yelled.

Wren watched as Robby walked over to where Miguel kneeled on the mat, her eyes softened as he held out a hand for Miguel to take, to help him up.
"Hey." Robby said gently, catching his attention but instead of taking his hand to help himself up, Miguel gripped onto it and twisted Robby's wrist and Wren's heart sunk to her feet.

"Robby!" She yelled as he fell to the mat, "Stop this!" Daniel watched her and walked up towards his student, outraged by Miguel's behaviour. Johnny was behind Wren and she turned to see him gazing out at his son. "Sensei, Miguel is not proving anything!" She told him as the crowd began to boo Cobra Kai.

"I know." Was all he said before walking across the mat to meet Miguel.

"I found his weakness, Sensei. It's his shoulder." Miguel told him calmly.
"Look, I know we wanna win, this is only the semi finals, but it's gotta be the right way." He paused, "We don't have to fight dirty."

"Dirty?" Miguel asked, his brows furrowed at his sensei's advice. "There's nothing dirty about winning, sensei. You taught me that. Don't worry I got this. No mercy." And Miguel turned away before Johnny could get another word in.

Miguel attacked first once more, punching again and again. Robby was quick, just not quick enough because when his foot was in mid air, Miguel caught it and kicked Robby's bad shoulder before spinning and kicking him in the chest, sending him to the ground.

"And with that fight, we have our two finalists, both from Cobra Kai! Wren Evans and Miguel Diaz!" The announcer yelled and the crowd cheered, Wren jogged over the mat to where Robby was sat, still sprawled from that last kick and clutching his elbow.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You did well. Common, let's get you back to The Bookshelf." She told him, helping him up but Robby shook her off.
"Wait, what are you talking about? You're in the final, Wren. You can win this thing." Robby told her as Daniel rushed over.

"Are you okay?" He asked, placing his hands on his hips and looking down at Robby's arm.
"I'm fine Mr LaRusso." Robby told him.

"Come on, Robby, you did great, let's get you out of here and get that looked at." Mr LaRusso offered but Robby shook his head.
"No, I want to watch Wren fight." He turned back to her, "Please, you can win this thing. I don't want to have to tell Mr James you didn't fight on my behalf." Wren couldn't help but let out a small contained laugh at that.

"Yeah, Mr James has always been the competitive type, even when playing dominoes." Wren agreed.