"Have you talked to him any?" Demetri asked as him and Fleur walked side by side into school.

"No, me and Miguel brought him home but he didn't want us to stay." Fleur gave a small shrug, a minor frown across her lips. "And Sam texted and said he isn't on the soccer field like he usually is."

"He's definitely skipping today." Demetri nodded his head. "He use to skip school sometimes to not have to deal with people."

"Poor baby." Fleur frowned. "We should go see him after school, I can put you on the back of the skateboard."

"Yeah, I have an idea." Demetri pointed at his head with a knowing grin. "Can you read my mind?"

Fleur gave a thinking look before she gasped. "Demetri, how dare you think that! I would never."

He gave her a crazy look. "Was that you reading my thoughts?"

"Yes, rather terrifying place to be." Fleur nodded, yawning as her eyes gave a minor water. "Jesus."

"Up late?" he asked her.

"Sorta." Fleur said back, the pair stopping by her locker together. "So, what do you think ab-"

"I see the purple is still doing good." A new voice rung. Fleur looked over, seeing Kody walking down the hall, turning on his heels to walk backwards, nodding her way. "Can't believe you were worried about it."

Fleur blinked with a smile. "Had a pretty good toner, such a shame I don't know the name of it."

"Top secret, Fleur." he turned on his heels, walking away.

"Who is that?" Demetri looked in shock. "He is gorgeous."

"That's Kody, he helped do my hair." Fleur said, glancing at Demetri. "Is he gorgeous, isn't he?"

"He was totally flirting with you too." Demetri confirmed as he leaned against the lockers, looking at Fleur. "Is he your new boyfriend?"

"What? No!" Fleur laughed in disbelief, pulling her physics book from the back and shoving her lunch in the top shelf. "We've only talked once."

"Well, I just figured you'd get a lover one of these days." Demetri shrugged. "You know, with everyone being kinda into you now."

"Have pretty high standards." she shrugged in return, walking with Demetri as the announcements began. "Kody isn't too bad though."

Demetri looked over in an alarming manor. "I bet he is too bad."

"You just called him gorgeous." she gave a crazy look, taking a seat in their shared desk.

"Yeah, most gorgeous people are mean." Demetri pointed out. "I mean, do I have to start listing names?"

"Yeah, Yasmine is pretty mean, isn't she?" Fleur agreed, flipping her book open.

"I-" Demetri began before he was shhed, the announcements ringing above them.

"After months, we've finally gotten the nominees for junior prom king and queen!" the cheerful voice of the girl in the announcements rung. "For our kings this year, we have Kyler Park, Caleb Barbabas, and Demetri Alexopoulos!"

Fleur dropped her pen, looking over at the shocked pale boy, turning his head to her with a crazy look. Fleur wacked his arm. "Meat, dude! Dude, you're gonna be prom king!"

"I mean, I just did the campaign because I lost a bet to Miguel." Demetri spoke in disbelief with a sudden laugh. "Didn't think anyone was actually gonna care."

"Yeah, they all love you after the school fight." Fleur wacked his arm.

"And for our queens this year, the voting as added up to our nominations being Moon NoLastName, Fleur Khori, and Alexa Mendoza."

"Oh my god." Demetri wacked her arms quickly. "Fleur, you were nominated."

"I didn't even campaign." she whispered with wide eyes, flushing in the face. "Is it a joke?"

"I told you people like you." He gave a knowing look with a cheeky grin. "Can you believe we got nominated? I mean, we might not get king and queen, but we were still nominated."

"Which is, like, absolutely insane." Fleur breathed out in a laugh.

"Where the hell have you been?" Demetri tossed his hands up in disbelief.

Eli looked over in shock when he heard the feet jogging down the stairs. Being home alone, with the doors locked, he did not expect anyone. Especially not Fleur and Demetri. "How did you get in here?"

"Fleur picked the lock." Demetri said back with a sigh. "You should think consider increasing security, since, you know, the karate war. But that's not important now."

"We brought you some food." Fleur held up the take out of Chinese food. "Some noodlesies for my scanoodlie."

"You know he hates when you call him your scanoodlie." Demetri look over in disbelief as she fell onto the couch. "How are you so calm! Yell at him with me!"

"What's so important?" Eli looked his way from under his hoodie.

"Didn't you hear? The All Valley has separate gender divisions!" Demetri paced in a panic. "I mean, do I look like Miyagi-Do's best hope at defeating Robby Keene!"

"Yeah!" Fleur cheered, making him shake his head her way, nodding to Eli. "I mean, no, noooo. Miyagi-Do needs some rock hard abs and a hawk tattoo."

"I mean, Mr.LaRusso said that anyone can be the hero, but i'm not Batman." Demetri paced around as the pair sat on the couch. "I'm more like Alfred. You're Batman and Fleur is Dr.Leslie Thompkins."

They looked at him oddly as he sighed with a nod. "Oh, right, I forgot, you're not a DC guy and Fleur was in isolation too long to learn about anyone aside Andrew Garfield."

"Thank you for that, Meat." Fleur nodded with a tight lipped smile. "Almost as if I forgot."

"Sorry, Fleur, I will make it up to you." he gave her a point before throwing his hands toward Eli. "Forget Batman, you're the Hawk."

Eli sighed, pulling his hood and hat off to reveal short cut hair. "Yeah, not anymore."

"What? I love it!" Fleur tossed her arms up, throwing her left around his shoulder and moved in close. "Want me to chop off all my hair too?"

Eli sighed. "No."

"Hey, at least it looks better then the last time I saw it." Demetri pointed out.

"Everyone at school knows what happened." he gave a sad look in his direction. "It's embarrassing."

"Okay, and no one's gonna say shit because I will cut their tongues out and let you pin them to your locker for safe keeping." Fleur cut in, tightening her arm around his shoulders. "Problem fixed, say thank you, Fleur."

"Who cares what they think? Besides, it'll grow back!" Demetri cut in quickly.

"It doesn't matter." Eli huffed in annoyance. "I ruined my reputation, I talked a big game, just proved I was an asshole. To Moon, to Miguel, to Fleur, especially at the party, and especially you. I got what I deserved."

"Hey, I forgave you, remember?" Demetri gave a knowing look his way.

"Yeah, and that party was stupid. I threw a drink on you, you totally had the right to kinda try to come after me." Fleur pointed out as he looked over at her. "And then you totally avenged yourself when you helped me get a fake ID, which saved my life, get a tattoo, bought one of my snow cones, drove me on your motorcycle, then I kicked your ass, and you still hugged me at Sams house! Then you got me pizza and opened my eyes!"

"See. And we don't care if you have a Mohawk, or a mullet, or pigtails, Miyagi-Do needs you." Demetri sighed as he looked his way in a begging manor.

"I'm not going back to Miyagi-Do." Eli shook his head with a minor frown.

"That's just great. You and Fleur are both choosing Eagle Fang over your best friend." Demetri looked at the both of them in disbelief.

"I haven't even chosen Eagle Fang yet!" Fleur yelled his way.

"I'm not going back to Eagle Fang either!" Eli cut in, looking back down. "I-I'm done with karate, man. I quit."

Fleur sat up with a crazy look his way, looking to Demetri. "Get in here!"

"You can't quite." Demetri flopped on his other side as Eli went back to his game.

"I already told you, I made up my mind." he waved him off.

"Well, your mind is wrong." Fleur gave a knowing look. "Probably fried by this, whatever this small tv, is called."

"Fleur, it's a tablet." Demetri looked in disbelief.

"Oh, sorry, for not knowing, Demetri. Not like I got out of the basement much to watch new electronics bloom." she looked past Eli to give him a annoyed look. "Why do you think I still have a damn flip phone?"

"Ugh, because you're an old lady." he shot back from his other side. He then looked to Eli again. "Hey, you're the one that got me into karate, remember? I mean, I was perfectly happy playing Dungeon Lord after school, but you put me in a situation where I had to join a dojo. And you know what? It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I mean, I would have never met Fleur if I didn't join Miyagi Do."

Fleur snapped her head his way when he said it.

"I got stronger, I gained confidence, got the girl of my dreams." Demetri listed on, Fleurs soft look from before flattened. "Even if she ends up leaving me for some hot Aussie dude she meets there."

"Yeah, she will, because she isn't the girl of your dreams, dude." Eli pointed out.

"Maybe you're right, but not the point. Hell, i'm actually excited about the All Valley tournament. I never thought i'd say that." Demetri carried on. "But it's not gonna be as exciting if you're not there. And i'm talking to you too, little missy."

"Me?" Fleur looked in disbelief. "I will be there."

"If you joined Eagle Fang, it won't be the same." Demetri sighed as he looked at her. "I met you at Miyagi Do, we painted fences together, we did the Lion King off the rock there, we learned the best we could have ever learned together and you're just gonna throw it away?"

"You don't understand, Demetri. And why would you? You have two amazing moms who love you, who actually care about you. And a long line of family members. I don't have that." Fleur pointed to herself with a shake of her head. "Johnny is the only family I have that isn't either in jail for literally kidnapping me and locking me in a basement, the reason I was kidnapped in the first place, or with Cobra Kai that attacked my friend. What am I suppose to do?"

"You're suppose to fight with who you feel safest with, where you belong. Johnny will be your family either way." Demetri gave her a knowing look.

Eli's game music brought them back, Fleur glared at Demetri. "He's the bigger fish we need to be frying right now. Get over here and scoot in close to us."

Demetri moved in close, tossing an arm around Eli, across Fleurs arm that was already around him. "Okay, you're gonna make me do this."

Fleur pulled as odd look as Demetri threw himself back on the couch, digging into his pocket. Fleurs eyes widened. "Woah, woah, woah! I was just joking early when I said we could help Eli feel better b-"

She stopped when he pulled out his phone.

"What were you gonna say?" Eli looked at her with frowned eyebrows.

Fleurs mouth dropped. "By....singing you Moves Like Jagger."

"Excuse me." Demetri threw Eli's tablet to the side, shoving his phone in his face.

"I thought you said you deleted these." Eli spoke as the familiar thumbnail showed.

"Oh, I say a lot of things. Like when I told Fleur I support her decision in getting more tattoos." Demetri nodded, making the lavender-blonde look in disbelief his way. "Which tends to be a polarizing attribute of mine."

Hitting play, the trio watched as the dance music played, Demetri showing up, typing over a keyboard with red sunglasses and a pink helmet on, the green screen in the background looking like a large moon and hills of snowy mountains. Eli showed up soon after in a construction works uniform, a pair of goggles on his face and his own keyboard. Fleur was holding back her intense laugh for this moment they were trying to share. "Demetri and Eli, binary brother. One or a zero, we'll be your hero."

Fleur looked at the both of them with her mouth hung open, the cat eyes that turned to lasers sending her over the edge. Eli sighed. "Dude, why are you showing me these? And, infront of Fleur?"

"I'm totally on board with, what that was. I wanna be in the sequel. Or, like, features on the next track." Fleur nodded her head. "I wanna download that onto my MP3."

"Fleur, we have talked about this, there are music apps now." Demetri gave her a crazy look before looking at Eli. "And, because this is who you are."

"A loser?" Eli asked.

"My best friend." Demetri corrected him. "I know you think that Mohawk defined who you are, but it didn't. Not to me. Eli, Hawk, hell, fake your identity like Fleur and call yourself Cornelius for all I care."

"Still, unnecessary to point it out." Fleur nodded with a tight lipped smile.

"None of that changed the fact that you're my Binary Brother. Whether you're number one, or a zero." Demetri nodded, the pair shared a sentiment moment.

Fleur knew she shouldn't, she knew it was not the time. But simply could not help herself. "We'll be a hero."

The duo both started to laugh hard alongside her.

•

kylie speaks

the way she has squeezed
herself in right into their
little best friend duo makes
me so happy, and she fits
right in.