chapter one, one rule: no real feelings

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Ever since Isobel Vera was little, she was always known as a fighter. Legend has it, she kicked the doctor in the face the moment she was born. There was never a moment in her life where she gave up or didn't have something to keep fighting for. She never let anything bring her down.

     Some say it's because she's locked her heart up and won't let anyone actually see more than the bitch everyone assumes she is. Her older sister thinks it's because after what happened to their parents, Izzy constantly needs to prove herself to anyone and everyone. Prove what? Kayla Vera wasn't too sure, but if there was someone that knew Izzy best, it was her big sister.

That was how she ended up in Cobra Kai. She was angry, fuming, and John Kreese found her. He took her under his wing, he told her that she was going to be the winner. She just had to prove herself — and she did. Izzy fought, and fell, and got right back up, and won. Again, and again, and again.

Whenever someone heard 'Cobra Kai', they thought of Isobel Vera. A venomous girl with too much bottling up emotions consuming her.

She had only been in the dojo for a few weeks, but that just proves how passionate and strong Izzy is. She climbed to the top faster than anyone else and no one was going to knock her off of her throne. Not Robby Keene, not Samantha LaRusso, not Miguel Diaz. No one.

Izzy remembered clearly the moment Kreese told her the words 'Cobra Kai is going to need a winner at the All Valley', and she remembers clearly the moment she walked into Cobra Kai and saw Robby Keene standing there. She wasn't stupid enough to realize Kreese took a liking to Robby, but Izzy felt stupid enough that she thought Kreese wanted her to be the winner.

So, Izzy felt like she had plenty of valid reasons to be mad at the world and everyone in it it right now, or at least try and act like she was. It was hard to act mad when you're sitting in your room and the smell of marijuana and Fleetwood Mac music were seeping through her closed door.

Izzy sat there, on her bed, staring at the wall. Nina was on her way to pick the girl up, Izzy wanting nothing more than to go and get ice cream somewhere. Nina could never say no to her best friend, especially after spending all of last night listening to Izzy rant over the phone how angry she was with Robby Keene joining Cobra Kai.

Once her phone went off, receiving the text that said Nina was outside, Izzy got off of her bed and left her room. The apartment was foggy as Izzy walked into the living room, seeing her sister sitting on the couch holding a bong while 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac flowed through the air.

Through squinted eyes and a bright smile, Kayla looked over at her sister. "Oh my god, you're out of your room! I never would have thought this day was going to come." Kayla joked, reaching forward to set the bong on the table.

If you asked Izzy, Kayla was the best big sister in the entire world. Despite the nine year age gap between them, they were best friends. When Izzy was fourteen, she was the one to answer the door at two in the morning to police telling her her father was found dead. Not even two weeks later, her mother left. She thought running off to some paradise where she partied all night was better than taking care of her daughter.

Izzy has lived with Kayla ever since and Kayla took care of her little sister no matter what. To Izzy, her sister was a better mother than their actual one ever was. It was safe to say they were close and took care of each other as much as they could.

Izzy stifled out a laugh. "I'm going to get ice cream with Nina before Cobra Kai practice. Do you want me to bring you back something?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

A huff came from her sister as Kayla leaned back onto the couch. "Superman ice cream does sound pretty good right now." Kayla hummed, the high smile never leaving her face.

"Ew," Izzy didn't hide the disgusted expression that came across her face, "Superman? I'd rather die than be caught buying that." She spoke as Izzy began to walk towards the front door.

"What are you talking about?" Kayla gasped, followed by a laugh. "Superman ice cream is good." She defended, but Izzy just shook her head, smiling a little bit herself.

"Kayla, this is the weed talking. I'm getting you your actual favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip, and your high ass is going to enjoy it." Izzy explained to her older sister who just lazily shrugged her shoulders, giving up on the playful fight between the two.

"Fine," Kayla dragged out the word with a deep breath, "Have fun, okay?" She told her little sister, a hopeful look on her face.

A genuine smile tugged at the corner of Izzy's lips, but then she nodded her head. "I will. You have fun too, okay?" Izzy repeated what her sister had said.

Kayla laughed, "Always." She said happily just as Izzy opened the front door and left the apartment.

The car ride to the ice cream shop consisted of nothing but Nina rambling about random topics and Izzy zoning out in the window. There was one thing Nina said that snapped her out of it — "So, how's it going with the All Valley training?" The question made Izzy look over at her friend.

Izzy looked at Nina for a moment, then a sigh left through her lips, shrugging her shoulders. "Sensei Kreese just favors Robby more. I know it, Kyler knows it, Ethan knows it. Even Tory knows. It just sucks." Izzy explained, turning to look out of the window beside her once again.

A scoff came from Nina, "Well, Sensei Kreese needs to get his shit together. It's definitely weird that you were Kreese's 'winner' and then all of a sudden Robby walks in and is leading class already." Nina shook her head, like the situation didn't sit right with her.

"I just want to show him that I'm enough to win all of those trophies and more." Izzy muttered, leaning her head back against the seat.

"It could be worse." Nina then said and Izzy looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "It could be Miguel instead of Robby." The girl shrugged, trying to hold back a laugh when she saw Izzy's eyes roll at his name.

"I don't even want to think about him right now." The Vera girl whispered in disgust just as Nina turned the steering wheel to pull into the ice cream shop.

     It wasn't long before the two girls sat in a booth inside of the ice cream shop, eating the ice cream they had got. It was quiet between the two for the first minute or two, but then a 'mm!' sound came from Nina. Izzy glanced up at her, a look on Nina's face like a lightbulb went off.

      "What?" Izzy asked.

      "What if," Nina swallowed the ice cream she had in her mouth. "What if you do something to prove you're better than Robby?" Nina suggested, raising her eyebrows.

     Izzy sat up at the idea, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why do I have to prove it if it's already obvious?" She asked, shaking her head in confusion.

     "Iz, I assure you the entire Valley knows how much of a karate badass you are, but.. do some sort of strategic move. I don't know." Nina huffed, leaning back in the booth and pondering more on the topic.

     Izzy stared at her, waiting for her to continue. It took a few seconds before a laugh came from Nina. "Oh, I just came up with the best idea." She said through her laughter, looking at Izzy.

     The other girls eyes rolled. "Can you just tell me?" She asked in a fed-up manner.

     That was when Nina repositioned herself to where she was leaning in so that Izzy could hear her whisper. "Fake date Miguel." Nina said in a hushed tone.

     Izzy just stared at her with a blank look. Did she just hear her right? "I'm sorry, did you just say.. fake date Miguel? Like, Eagle Fang Miguel?" Izzy interrogated the girl.

     Nina motioned for her to be quiet, but nodded. "Exactly. He's Eagle Fang, you're Cobra Kai. You're both going to be fighting at the tournament. You don't think everyone and their moms will come see you two fight if you're a couple from rival dojos?" Nina spoke like it should've been obvious to Izzy, but Izzy sat there not knowing how to process the information.

     "Oh, wow." Izzy sighed, "You're serious about this." She said as a response.

Nina continued to look proud of herself with a nod. "Once your Sensei sees how many people you bring in and are there for you, he'll regret ever choosing Robby over you." Nina scoffed, the situation now annoying her, because she knew how much karate and being the best meant to Izzy.

She also knows how easily attached Izzy gets to some things, because even though Izzy does so much, there's still some voids in her left to be filled from both of her parents leaving. Karate seems to be the only thing that can fill the voids.

"So, I should fake date Miguel to trick people into coming to the tournament?" Izzy repeated out loud.

She didn't expect a response from Nina, but Nina spoke. "Yes! Isn't it an amazing idea?" Nina smiled at her best friend.

"I think you should do it."

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     The topic was all Izzy could think about for the next few hours. Even at Cobra Kai practice, it was all that she could think about, but majority of the practice that day was some eighth grader trying to join the dojo.

     But, Izzy finally made her decision. Was she going to fake date Miguel? Sure. The hard part was getting him to fake date her. So, that left Izzy with only one thing to do.

     Just as the sun was beginning to set, Izzy found her way to the Miyagi-Do dojo where she also found out Johnny taught his Eagle Fang students. She was going to try and get answers out of Sam, but realizing Miguel would be there already made it easier.

     Izzy awkwardly stood to the side as the students were let out from class, but someone was quick to pick up on her presence.

     "Can I help you?" Daniel LaRusso spoke, the majority of the kids had left the lot outside of the Miyagi-Do dojo.

Izzy opened her mouth to speak, but then her eyes landed on Miguel who was staring at her. "What do you think you're doing here?" Miguel suddenly asked, earning a confused look from Daniel.

"I come in peace," Izzy laughed and held her hands up in defense, "I need to talk to you." Izzy simply said, her eyes on Miguel who just stared back at her.

Daniel let out a sigh. "I was just about to take Miguel home —"

The girl quickly cut him off. "I can do that." Izzy nodded, looking over at Daniel, and smiled.

     The LaRusso turned to Miguel who seemed weary himself, but with how nice Izzy seemed to be right now, Miguel couldn't tell if it was a trick or something serious. Either way, Miguel shrugged at Mr. LaRusso. "It's cool. See you tomorrow." Miguel smiled at the man, then it faded when his eyes shifted to Izzy.

Izzy smiled at Daniel LaRusso who watched Miguel walk over to Izzy, the two of them staying silent until they both got into Izzy's car. Miguel then glanced at Izzy who felt his eyes on her so she looked over as well.

"Can you explain to me what you're doing at Miyagi-Do?" Miguel questioned her, a serious look on his face.

"I have an idea," Izzy started with, noticing Miguel nod at her, "An idea that you might not be down for, but a great idea nonetheless." She explained.

An annoyed sigh came from Miguel. "What is it? And are you seriously giving me a ride home?" He interrogated, but Izzy rolled her eyes at the amount of questions coming from him.

"No, I lied. I'm actually going to drop you off on the side of the road so you can walk your way back home." Izzy told him bitterly.

Miguel let out a sarcastic laugh, "Typical Isobel." He smiled, but Izzy could tell it was fake, so she just stared at him with the resting bitch face she tended to have.

"It's Izzy." She corrected the boy.

He didn't seem to care all that much, though. "So, what's this idea?" Miguel looked at the girl in the driver's seat.

"We should.. fake date." Izzy spoke cautiously, but her confidence didn't falter.

Miguel raised his eyebrows like he didn't hear her. "Fake.. date?"

Her head nodded, "That's what I said." Izzy told him in a bitter tone.

"Why would I want to do that? And with you?" Miguel was trying to push her buttons, and with how short-tempered Izzy was, it was working.

She managed to control it for now, curling her hands into fists and forcing a smile onto her face to hide the anger. "Because, if we fake date, then the entire state of California will come to the tournament to see us fight. Our Sensei's will be proud of us for how many people we bring." Izzy explained to him, watching the boy nod as she went on.

"Okay, I see your vision, but I'm going to need more convincing." Miguel shrugged.

     Izzy just stared at him, like he was completely unbelievable.

     She let out a sigh then leaned towards him, "Fine. It'll help you get over your little ex-girlfriend Sam LaRusso, who is still in love with Robby, by the way." Izzy told him, noticing the look in his eyes shift from curious to serious.

     He leaned towards Izzy to fire back at her. "Are you sure you aren't doing it for another reason? Say, I don't know, to make Ethan think you aren't obsessed with him?" Miguel tilted his head to the side as he awaited an answer.

     Izzy scoffed, sitting back in her seat as she rolled her eyes at Miguel. "You're insufferable. I was never obsessed with him." She told him as a correction, but Miguel didn't believe it.

     "You're just as insufferable. Besides, Sam isn't in love with Robby anymore." Miguel muttered, shifting in his seat to look forward.

     A laugh left Izzy's lips. "Is that what she tells you?" Izzy cocked her, staring at Miguel who didn't respond to her. She sighed, looking forward out of the windshield as well.

     "Look, you don't have to do it, I just want to make my Sensei proud of me. I want to prove that I'm enough." Izzy opened up to the boy, noticing his head turn to look at her out of the corner of her eye.

     Miguel stayed quiet, not sure of what to say. A few seconds passed of him keeping quiet and then Izzy turned to look at him.

     "Are we doing this or not?" She asked him.

     He looked at her then let out a breath. "I barely know anything about you —"

     "My favorite color is red, my birthday is October twenty-ninth, my favorite movie is 'She's The Man', I have a fear of thunderstorms, and I'm going to UCLA." Izzy rambled on as she cut him off.

Miguel was quiet for a moment before he let out a laugh, "You're scared of thunderstorms?" He said it jokingly, but Izzy didn't laugh.

The fear originated when she was caught in between a fight with her mother and older sister while a thunderstorm was occurring. Who knew the sound of flying alcohol bottles mixed with the thunder could cause nightmares for years? Izzy didn't know, but she knows Miguel isn't aware that there was more to the fear, so she tried to remain calm.

"Yeah. Is that funny?" Izzy asked coldly, like she was waiting for him to push her to that point so she could strike first.

Miguel tried to hide the smile on his lips as he opened his mouth to speak, shaking his head. "No. It's — it's nothing. So, UCLA?" Miguel changed the subject, watching Izzy nod her head in confirmation.

"Yeah, I mean it's not set in stone or anything, but.." Izzy trailed off, zoning out for a second as a realization came to her head. "Can we agree on one thing?" She asked, looking at Miguel.

"What?" Miguel asked, a sigh of annoyance coming from him.

"No real feelings. No.. no PDA, unless provoked —"

"Unless provoked?"

"And this only goes on in school, okay? Or if there's a party or something, just.. no one-on-one things. Alright?" Izzy raised her eyebrows as she looked at Miguel.

"Alright. Cool. I was actually going to suggest the same thing. No real feelings." Miguel nodded and a look of relief came across Izzy's face.

She leaned back in her seat, letting out a sigh. "Good. Say you promise." Izzy looked over at him to see him look at her as well.

     "Promise what?"

     "Promise that this isn't going to turn into anything serious." Izzy spoke like the thought of actually dating Miguel was horrible, "I promise. See, I went first. It's easy." Her shoulders shrugged as she spoke.

     Miguel scoffed, grinning at how dramatic she seemed to be right now. "Fine," he looked at her, "I promise."

     The girl smiled reassuringly "Good, because.. ew." She sighed, beginning to reverse the car. Miguel furrowed his eyebrows at her, "So, is your house close by or something?" She asked the boy, pulling out of the area of Miyagi-Do where the car was.

"Uh, no, in Reseda." Miguel awkwardly said, the words coming out in a mumble.

"Oh, cool. It's on the way then." Izzy nodded.

Miguel looked confused. "You live over there?"

She just nodded her head as she drove, "With my older sister. I've.. always lived over there." Izzy admitted to him, laughing awkwardly.

"I always thought you were some Encino kid with —"

"Well, you thought wrong." Izzy shrugged, pushing her finger on the button to play the radio, distracting herself with the music instead of the awkward conversation between the two.

     "Okay." Miguel muttered as the loud music filled the air, turning to keep his gaze on the scenery outside of his window.

     He doesn't know what the hell he had just gotten himself into and Miguel wasn't sure if this was going to work out the way they thought it would, because there were so many things that could go wrong.

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authors note.
help i hate this but i wasn't quite sure how to start the book so i apologize if it's boring or bad </3 however i'm super excited for this fic so i hope you guys enjoy it!!

i better not see a single soul ship robby and izzy because they're going to be a sibling duo. ethan (another oc who is in cobra kai) is thrown in there for drama but miguel and izzy are the main focus

so yeah robby and izzy = bestie vibes only