A young black belt has had a scarred past. She's been traumatized out of karate by her old sensei and even pushed out of her home. Moving to California with her aunt was not easy, but a unlikely character gets her back into karate and on the way, sh...
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"EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE."
• TW! none •
◦✿◦⸺CASPIA'S HEAD WAS RESTING on Miguel's shoulder as the two were sat in the chairs in the tattoo parlor. Eli was getting a new tattoo of a flower on his arm and Demetri was standing right near him. Miguel and Caspia had already had their tearful reunion yesterday when Miguel had gotten home, but now they were just hanging out. Miguel had noticed that Caspia was nodding off, so he nudged her a little to get her to wake up. "Hey, Cassy."
Caspia's head shot up slightly and she rubbed her eyes. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Why are you so tired though?" Miguel asked, concerned for his best friend. "I haven't been sleeping a lot."
"'Cause of July?" Miguel asked with a whisper. He knew that whoever her employer was and him were the only two who knew about her Aunt July, so he didn't want to let Eli or Demetri know. Caspia only nodded and looked down at her hands that were playing with the end of her shirt.
"How come you didn't go with Sam to brunch?" Miguel asked, having known that Caspia was asked to go to brunch with Yasmine, Moon and Sam. Caspia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I just didn't feel like having an eventful day. I was just gonna sit at home by myself until work or something, but I can't really say no to Eli."
"You know, you're allowed to take a day off." Miguel attempted to comfort, but of course, he had no idea that Caspia was working for her father. And he had no idea that Terry had specifically said that if Caspia doesn't do as she's told, Terry won't help pay for July's treatment. "No, I'm not."
Miguel looked over at the girl with clear concern. Ever since he had gotten back, he's noticed that Caspia was different, and not exactly in a good way. Her energy had disappeared, she seemed sad constantly and Caspia was stressed all the time. Miguel's gaze was changed when Eli had called his name. "Hey, Miguel. You good?"
"Yeah, uh, tired from the trip is all." Miguel reassured as he got to his feet and went over to Eli and Demetri, Eli who had just finished getting his tattoo done.
"Yeah, you spend how many hours in a car with Robby?" Hawk asked, feeling bad for Miguel as Caspia too had gotten to her feet and walked over to the group, standing next to Eli. "I've never seen you around him without a John Wick style fight."
"For sensei's sake, I'm trying to not let it get to that. Even if he deserves it." Miguel commented, forgetting that Caspia was actually decent with him again. "Watch it."
"Right, forgot you were friends with him again." Miguel spoke a little bitterly, not loving his best friend being friendly with the guy who put him in the hospital. Caspia, however, scolded him for the tone of voice. "Everyone deserves a second chance, Miguel."
That logic of Caspia's had actually been applied to someone she never thought would get a second chance. Tory was changing, or at least trying to, but Caspia's big heart was allowing Tory to have someone there for her while she tried to figure out how she wants to act.
Suddenly, Miguel's phone had gone off and the boys immediately got hopeful. "Is it Sam? Did she text back?"
"Yeah. Says she wants to talk tonight." Caspia, Eli and Demetri immediately shared a look of concern. They all knew that that couldn't be anything good. "What did she say exactly?"
"We should talk tonight." Miguel quoted, still not catching on that that was very clearly not a good thing. Demetri broke the news to him. "If it says 'we should talk'? Oh, brother, you're in deep."
"She's right." Miguel argued. "We should talk. Last time we spoke, we had a fight."
"Yeah, but Miguel, the last time I told Eli we 'had to talk', I broke up with him." Caspia pointed out and Eli added on, further proving her point. "She's right. It's code."
"It is?" Miguel asked, now extremely worried, which Eli felt bad about. "Well, maybe not. Maybe Sam does just wanna talk? I mean, ever since the whole Cobra Kai thing, Cass has been pretty big on communication."
"I have, but whenever I need to talk to you, I don't say 'we need to talk'. I say 'can you come over' or 'do you wanna hang out'. Anything that doesn't make it sound like I want to break up with you. Look, all we need to do is play this cool, right?" Caspia suggested. Demetri had gotten Miguel's phone and went to send a text, trying to be subtle about it. "How's, 'can't wait to see you tonight. how are you'?"
"Desperate." Caspia said as she took Miguel's phone from Demetri. She sent a text that actually worked since she knew what she was doing, unlike the other three. "Okay, I said, 'we should. meet at the dojo?' That way, whatever she wants to talk about, it seems like you're on the same page."
"You're a genius." Miguel complimented as Caspia handed him his phone back. Caspia only shrugged her shoulders, already knowing that. Almost instantly, Sam had texted back, but all she said was, 'sure'.
"I don't love her response, but I don't know how else she would reply." Caspia pointed out. Demetri, thankfully, had a backup plan. "You just need to turn this around and I think I have an idea of how."
Demetri had taken the three of them to this nice, expensive jewelry shop. It wasn't too shocking to Caspia that this was what his solution was to this issue. When they walked in, Demetri revealed something a little sad about his relationship, but then again, not too shocking. "I got Yasmine a charm bracelet here, plus a charm for every fight we have. She can barely lift her arm now."
"That's not a good thing." Caspia pointed out, but Demetri just waved her off. "Okay, explain to me why I have to buy expensive jewelry."
"You don't." Caspia muttered, knowing that however Sam was feeling probably wasn't going to be changed by a necklace or a bracelet. "Don't listen to Cass. My friend, this is a five-alarm fire. If anything, we're not reading enough into it, okay?"
"Can I help you find anything?" The worker came up to the group. "Um, yes. I'm looking for something special for my girlfriend."
"That's so sweet! Is it a birthday, anniversary?" The worker asked, assuming that this was a normal, sweet gesture, but Demetri proved her wrong. "He left the country without telling her during the biggest karate fight of her life."
"That's a new one." The worker commented, clearly judging them. She cleared her throat before continuing. "How about a nice pair of earrings?"
"How much is that?" Miguel suddenly asked, already having seen something perfect. A small octopus charm on a necklace. While Miguel tried to work out what the cost was, Eli had lowered his voice to talk to Caspia. "Maybe I can buy you something nice?"
"You don't have to. I don't want you to spend this much money on me." Caspia kindly denied. "You're worth it though."
"No, just spend your money on something more important. Being around you is enough for me." Caspia complimented. Eli could very clearly tell that there was something wrong. He knew that Caspia wasn't really materialistic or anything, but she was still acting off. "Hey, are you okay?"
Caspia only nodded her head, but Eli still knew something was wrong, so he put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. Obviously that hadn't solved all of her problems, but it made Caspia feel a little better. Eli had that effect on her and Caspia loved him for it.
