CHAPTER ONE, I Miss You, I'm Sorry.

California is not less hot or sticky after two days. No matter how hard Kitay tries, it's not home. Americans are painfully individualistic, your neighbors are really just strangers who happen to connect a lawn with you.

She trots down the street with a hand upon her forehead. Early morning sun creeps over the horizon to heat her skin. She wiped the beads of sweat irritably each time. Her dad had to get to his job at the law firm at dawn, so walking was the next best thing. The bus is too overstimulating. The bubblegum in her mouth serves to soothe the guilt in the pit of her stomach, but when she feels it the gum rests between the gap where she shed her last baby tooth, ironically, the day she turned the page on Mr. Han.

She thinks back to him, to Dre. To home, and if she closes her eyes she can find the pieces of it stuck inside her eyelids. And then she hears the upbeat sound of the barbershop in the corner, the faint odor of Mexican street food invades her senses and her tongue turns into mush as she imagines how savoring the food would feel. When she opened her eyes she felt a burning gaze poking at her sides like a thorn.

"Hm, do I have something on my face?" Kitay wondered, pulling out the handheld mirror from her bag and examining her soft features, her father always said she was a spitting image of her mother.

Kitay doesn't know anything about the woman. She's hushed whisper in the night and hushed sneak outs in the morning. A secret locked in Pandora's box. Kitay does not ask, for her father always found a way to pour out the topic and let it slip like water under the bridge.

When she arrived at school, the liveliness of it all made her sick. At the very least, she no longer had to wear the uniform made of the ghastly orange shirt, red tie, and much too (in her opinion) horrid, straight, blue skirt every other dayjejurlElemel we l wee i. American schools were a bit more lenient when it came to student freedoms, which the Xu girl could appreciate. She still hasn't gotten used to saying her given name first though, the first day she introduced herself to a blonde snob as 'Xu Kitay' with her accent rolling off her tongue.

Safe to say, that girl had not wound up as an acquaintance.

Kitay had enjoyed decorating her locker. An amalgamation of colors was revealed upon opening. Colorful, small, magnetic metal shelves rested on the door of it, stuffed to the brim with writing utensils. A mini calendar with bent edges was at the very top with important dates amplified, such as 'math test'. What felt like a million textbooks were in neat stacks in the top shelf of the main part. She hung pictures of her and her father up as a motivational mantra.

And then there was that picture. Kitay had won the Open Kung Fu Tournament, the crystalline trophy fit well in her hand as if she was a puzzle and that had been the last piece. The picture was tattered from how much she moved it around, for a period it was folded up in her wallet as a reminder to keep moving. It was a selfie, her in the middle beaming with her pearly whites, Mr. Han smiled proudly to her left and Dre stuck his tongue out for the image to her right. The memory sits proud on her back burner and her gaze glosses over with fondness when she stares too long.

"I miss you both. So much." She mused, lifting her hand to trace over the parts of the image. The pit of guilt opening back up at her stomach.

Kung-Fu was always her dad's mold of what he wanted her to be. She may have outgrown it and left the remnants of it next to the bones of her girlhood, but Mr. Han and Dre were more than mentors to her, they were tangled in her heartstrings and they tugged until the thin band snapped and made her sick. The sour taste of her actions sat on her tongue. She didn't feel this guilty about leaving Jiayi, because Jiayi was just a mentor, and nothing more. Wise woman who had given her knowledge, but she treated her little cattle who had to follow her, and there was no connection on an emotional level.

She grabbed her books and closed the door with force she was unaware she possessed. Treading her way to Biology, which she failed to snag a partner in.

Kids whispered dishonest words to each other in the classroom. She supposed America was like home in that way, rumors are prominent anywhere.

Kitay looked up when she felt a presence hovering above her. A girl with porcelain skin, freckles littered across her face like stars in the night sky and a vibrant tuft of ginger hair. She was quite beautiful, Kitay must admit.

The girl fiddled with the hem of her hoodie sleeves, "Can I sit here? If that's okay with you, of course. If not I can just leave, I don't want to make you uncomfortable—" She rambled with her eyes widening.

Truthfully, Parker had noticed her on the way to school. Her dad has her on a mission to find 'Cobra Kai' material, whatever that meant and she figured Kitay looked like a worthy candidate. But, it wouldn't hurt to get to know the girl first, besides, she seemed like she could use a friend.

Kitay put her hand on the girl's arm reassuringly with a smile, "It is perfectly fine with me. Sit."

"My name's Parker by the way. Weird name for a girl, I know." She chuckled sweetly, setting her stuff down and taking a place beside Kitay, "I like your nails."

Kitay glanced down at her hands, her fingernails messily painted by her dad, "Oh thanks, my dad does them when he's bored." She smiled fondly remembering how he'd ended up with his hands covered in polish and gel. "He's really.."

"Trying to do 'girly' stuff you like?" Parker offered with a quirked brow.

"Yeah, that's... pretty on the nose, actually." Kitay's eyes then widened in realization, "Oh, I'm Xu- Kitay. Kitay Xu."

"Sorry, American name order still messes me up." She apologized meekly, beginning to copy down the notes the teacher displayed on the board.

Parker nodded in approval, "Kitay. That's sick, like a warrior name." Kitay scrunched up her face in confusion, unsure of wether 'sick' was a positive thing or not.

The two fell in a seren silence filled with comfortability. The only sounds being of their pencils gliding across paper and the teachers monotone voice which was bound to send someone snoozing soon. Kitay could see Parker's gaze drift to the other end of the room every now and then, going towards a pretty girl with brown waves of hair and piercing bright eyes.

"Is she your, um." Kitay searched for the right word, "Friend?" She questioned quietly.

Parker kept her eyes locked onto the girl, "Yeah, something like that. Well, she used to be."

Kitay opted to not prod further. She offered a supportive pat on Parker's back. Kitay knows how losing a friend, or family, cuts deep into you and makes you feel like you've been gutted and left void.

The night glow encased the Valley in a starry haze. The Xu's sat in a dingy diner satiating their hunger with food that was likely to have their insides reeling out the following day. Taio had insisted that they needed quality time as father and daughter, though Kit wasn't sure if munching on greased-out American meals was the way to go, she guiltily found pleasure indulging it. Chocolate milkshakes were a fine delicacy in her opinion, the silky texture passing through her effortlessly and in a haze of deliciousness. She scarfed down her fries like a starved animal.

Taio stared at his daughter concerningly, "School going good?" He questions.

"Great. Can I get more of this?" Kitay slid her empty glass toward her dad's hands, "Pretty please?" She clasped her hands together and made her best puppy face.

"Fine, but you have to talk to me."

Her father returned as fast as he made his vow with a filled milkshake glass. Sliding it over to Kitay who took a very... intense sip of it.

Kitay sighs defeatedly, "You want the truth? I'm bored." The girl groaned, throwing her head back, "I mean everyone is so weird, I mean, have you really never met anyone with an accent? God forbid a Chinese girl has a little flair in her speech, how horrid!"

The girl stuffed two fries simultaneously into her mouth, "I miss martials arts, I really, like, really, want to punch someone. But not in the 'discipline and peace' kind of way that they taught me, more like, in a 'you guys need to be humbled' kind of way."

Taio is left at a loss for words, "I'm sure you'll.. find something soon?" He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Wow father, thank you, that was a very wise response."

The bell perched above the diner door rang. For a moment, Kitay froze in a daze, the noise being remnant of when Mr. Han and Dre had made her do the infamous 'bell kick'. A fond memory she tried to wash out with milk-chocolatey goodness. A familiar head of red caught her attention in her peripheral. The hushed whispers between her and a blonde man with undertones of snark filled the air.

"Relax, 'm not gonna fight anyone." Kitay mused with an innocent smile.

Not yet, at least.

Her father nodded satisfied, "Good, Han would be proud."

Kitay stiffened at the mention of the man. Hearing the name of her second sensei, Jiayi, never stung this much. Kit recognizes that it's all her fault, she bailed because Kung-fu was childish, she outgrew.

These days, she questions if her judgement had been wrong that day. And she doesn't like to think back to how both him and Dre probably resent her beyond belief. She had left them without saying a word, physically anyways, written prose was the best she could depart with.

She pursed her lips in a tight lipped smile, taking another sip of her milkshake, "Right, he would be."

The rest of their dinner was pretty hushed— occasionally broken by the banter of the other father-daughter duo across the aisle. Taio had hit a sore spot, so Kitay would just plead silence. The pit of guilt was opened on both ends but for differing motives. Finishing the last of her food, Kitay cleaned up after herself, that was another thing she hated about people in America, their uncleanliness and inability to pick up after themselves.

As the Xu's climbed into the car, Taio emitted a sigh from his lips. Reaching over, he clutched his daughter's hand.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up." His apology made her smile softly and nod in understanding.

She clutched his hand back, "Pa, it's okay, i'm over it."

They both knew she was lying. But the wound will heal in time. She'll be okay.

Her eyes lit up in remembrance, "I forgot to say, but I think I made a friend at school today."

"Oh? Tell me all about this friend."

Kitay spent the remainder of the ride rambling about the nice girl with the bright eyes and vibrant hair.

"And she said my name was sick. I'm not sure what that means, but she said it was like a warrior so I think that means it's cool?" The girl droned on, walking up the driveway to their new home.

She leaned on the doorway as her dad opened the door, "You know, at first I kinda wish we moved to like, Korea, I know some people there from tournaments, like that nice boy from the continentals, Jae-Sung? I think."

Her father chuckled, "Well, Americans are messy people, they need good lawyers."

"True, but now I met Parker, so thanks to California criminals for that call, I guess." She rolled her eyes playfully at her father who laughed.

As they entered the house, Kitay felt somewhat content. California was nowhere near as special as Beijing, but she's okay with that, for now. Even with individualistic neighbors, or assholes who can't comprehend the concept of an accent.

gia's corner !
CHAPTER ONE AYEEE!!!
okay so um this is like, pressure bc first chapters are always hard and this one was kinda rocky so I hope yall enjoy kitay being haunted by mr. han and dre :p the whole premise is that like while she evolves as a fighter she never forgets him or his teachings because he was also like family to her as well as dre. ALSO PARKER AND SAM ANGST im so excited to write their book coming to a wattpad near u! also lmk what yall think is up with kit's mom anyways that's all for now bye i love yall.

( peep the brief kwon mention that will make s6 more painful 😛)