little bird // r.keene

xiii. following the leader .

Johnny spent all of their training session filming a commercial in an attempt to compete with Daniel LaRusso's but Wren just couldn't concentrate. Hawk and Miguel was sat on the mats when she had gone over that morning talking about Robby.

"So I did a deep dive online, and you were right. Sensei is definitely Keene's father." Hawk was saying when Wren sat beside him, stretching her leg forward to warm up. She watched as Miguel sighed and felt a twist in her stomach, she felt as if she should tell them she knew but then they would ask how she knew.

Robby told me.

And that would start shit up again and Hawk, Miguel and Wren were finally on good terms again. She didn't want to mess that up, believe it or not, Wren missed them more than they knew.

"I just didn't understand why he wouldn't tell us." Miguel told them and Wren licked her lips.
'Think about it, name one time you've seen them together, acting like father and son." She paused, the boys remained silent. "Exactly, they probably don't get along and it's most likely a sensitive subject for sensei. Just leave it alone guys, it's none of our business." Wren said firmly, knowing how Johnny would react if they stormed into the office asking his about his son.

"It is our business if he's the one giving us shit for beating his son at a karate tournament. Remember the first day back when he made me and Miguel do press-up in front of everyone? It was because we kicked his son's ass, that's not fair." He paused, cocking his head, "Show no mercy, unless it's his son. Then we've gotta be pussies."

Wren watched as Miguel and Hawk walked into a back room of the dojo, Wren followed, but remained in the doorway, her head peeking round when Sensei Kreese walked into her line of view.

"Miss Evans, good work today." Kreese said to her, his arms folded.
"Thank you sensei." She told him, even though she had been just as good as everyone else in drills and the rest of the session had been about the commercial.

"Johnny told me you know about his son." Kreese told her quietly and Wren suddenly felt like she could relax, a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"I didn't know what to tell the others. Robby's my friend and they hate him. I didn't get a chance to give Sensei Lawrence a heads up; they figured it out." Wren confessed, swallowing hard as she peaked in to see Johnny talking to Hawk and Miguel, though she couldn't make out what they were saying.

"They don't know you know?" Kreese asked her and Wren just shook her head gently.
"No, Sensei."

"I see," Kreese seemed to dwell on this. He knew from the first moment he met Wren she was a strong fighter, a fierce competitor, bold on the mat but quiet in class. Some of the other kids were afraid of her because of her title but others confided in her. She had one of those faces you could trust and maybe this was something Kreese could use in the future, if only he could get her to trust him.

"You're good at keeping secrets." Wren wasn't sure how to reply to that so she just nodded again weakly. She turned her head a little and listened to what Johnny was saying.

"It's also none of your damn business. Do you understand?" Johnny told them firmly, his voice early calm.
"Yes, Sensei." Miguel replied, he sounded defeated.

"I could have prevented that." Wren told Kreese in a whisper, "Saved both sides from the confrontation."
"That's not entirely true, Evans, sometimes conflict has to happen. Even if you had told Hawk and Diaz you knew, they would still have gone to Sensei Lawrence asking him why he didn't tell them. This would still happen and they would be mad at you. It's all about self preservation." Wren soaked in his words and saw Hawk and Miguel leave the room, without a second thought, Wren went to find Johnny.

He was still standing just as Miguel and Hakw had left him.
"Sensei, I'm sorry they found out. I promise I didn't tell them." She told him and Johnny just cleared his throat.

"I know it wasn't you kid, damn me for putting up pictures of my kid I guess. Don't worry, they know now, nothing more to it." Johnny told her and Wren decided to leave him be.

"See you tomorrow, Sensei." She said and nodded at him, he gave her a curt nod back and Wren left the room. Before running right into Hawk.

"You knew?" He asked, Miguel was standing to his right, both gazing down at her.
"Yeah, yeah I did. I told you it was none of your business." She told them coldly, walking past them, the dojo was mostly empty now but still, the last thing she wanted was a fight.

"And you didn't think to tell us before we went and asked him. You pretended to be surprised Wren!" Miguel yelled at her and Wren clenched her firsts.

"I didn't react at all actually, you would have noticed if you hadn't been so caught up in anyone but yourselves. What Sensei chooses to tell us or not is up to him, you need to respect that!" She shouted back, taking a step closer.

"When are the secrets going to stop with you? You always have something to hide." Hawk said venomously.

"We all have secrets, Hawk, I chose to keep mine. We've been through this before. I knew if I told you I knew, you would ask me how I found out and we would go over how I'm friends with Robby and all three of us know how you both hate him." She ranted, "You know what?" Wren sighed, her voice low, dropping suddenly, "Nevermind, doesn't matter anymore, you both know now so screw it." Shaking her head, Wren grabbed her bag and walked past the pair of them without another word.

Hawk and Miguel kept their distance from Wren as she walked down the street, making sure to walk at a pretty fast pace in order to catch up when she turned another corner.
"This is a bad idea." Miguel uttered, "She's pissed at us, let's just leave it and talk to her tomorrow." He told Hawk but he kept walking, his eyes fixed on Wren from a distance.

"Wren isn't the one who's supposed to be pissed here. She's the one who threw us under the bus Miguel. Common, let's just see where she goes and I promise she won't see us." Hawk tried to argue but Miguel wasn't buying it.
"Common, you know she didn't throw us under the bus, she told us to keep our nose out and she was right. Did you see the look on sensei's face? Whatever went down between him and Robby, it must have been pretty bad. She told us not to and we're the ones who didn't listen." Miguel was

"Yeah but she still could have told us she knew. We're on the same team, we're supposed to tell each other these things." Hawk defended, keeping his pace steady.
"Based on everything that's happened... Between all three of us, I can see why she kept it from us." Hawk didn't reply to that because deep down, he knew Miguel was right. It had been a while since he felt like he could tell Wren anything intimate. Hawk knew things had been off with them since the bonfire. Ever since she became friends with Robby Keene.

The two boys continued to follow her until they saw her walking into the juvenile detention facility.

"What do you think that's all about?" Hawk thought out loud, more to himself but Miguel knew or he had a feeling about why she was here.
"Remember the day we met and she kissed you, we invited her to hang out but she said she was visiting a 'friend'?" Miguel asked him but Hawk didn't need reminding. He could remember the day he met Wren like the back of his hand.

"I'd like to but I'm going to visit an old friend, maybe some other time?"

She had told them and of course, Hawk had wanted to know who that friend was ever since. But now he knew the circumstances... He understood why she didn't tell them. They both did.