❛ All I've ever known is fighting. ❜

     Something terrible had happened.

Miguel called Sam frantically, not getting an answer from her. He had to get to Ayane.

He grabbed his mom's car keys, running out of the apartment with no explanation to Carmen, Rosa or Johnny. Miguel got in the car with shaking hands, pulling out of Reseda and racing to Encino.

In only minutes he was at the LaRusso's, barely stopping the car before he jumped out and ran to the front door. Miguel did not bother to knock, bursting through and running up the stairs. He remembered where Ayane's bedroom was, running into the room.

His heart nearly stopped.

Ayane was sprawled on her bed, her body limp with her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Miguel rushed forward, leaning over her and shaking her.

"Ayane," his hands trembled, tears welling in his eyes at the sight of her unconscious body. She was not moving as he shook her, Miguel grabbing her wrist to feel for her pulse. He saw an empty pill bottle beside the girl on the bed, knowing what had happened just then.

"Ayane, wake up," he choked out. "Wake up!"

Just then, Sam appeared in the doorway, having heard Miguel's frantic voice.

"Miguel?" she stepped inside, seeing Ayane's current state. Her eyes widened with horror.

"Call an ambulance!" he yelled at her, his sobs filling the room as he hovered over Ayane.

Sam pulled her phone from her pocket, dialing 911.

Miguel barely felt a pulse in Ayane's wrist, seeing her very shallow and ragged breaths. She jerked suddenly, and her body began to seize. Miguel could only watch in absolute horror, feeling like he was experiencing a waking nightmare.

"Ayane, please," he begged, his tears hitting the girl's face. He turned her on her side as she continued to seize, Sam on the phone with a 911 call.

The rest was a bit of a blur for Miguel. The medics came, rushing Ayane off to the hospital. Miguel could only sob as Sam made phone calls, the LaRusso girl crying as well.

Somehow, Miguel felt like this was all his fault.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     For the first time in almost a full day, Ayane opened her eyes.

As she came to, eyes fluttering open, she heard the sounds of a hospital. Monitors beeping, people's hushed voices, familiar voices at that.

Ayane fully came to, realizing that she was laying a hospital bed. To her right, sitting forward with his clasped hands to his chin, was Miguel.

He looked up as Ayane moved a little, his eyes widening. Miguel blinked a few times, standing up and rushing to Ayane's side. He sat on the bed, giving an exasperated laugh.

"Ayane, holy shit," he said as the girl began to recall everything that had happened all at once.

It all came flooding back to her, Ayane choking up a little. She brought her eyes to Miguel's, tears welling in them.

"Miguel, oh my God. I–"

"You don't have to say anything," he said, leaning in and embracing her tightly. He was crying yet again, but these were tears of relief.

Ayane was crying too, bringing her arms up around Miguel's neck. She cried harder, burying her face into his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Miguel," she sobbed, Miguel pulling back and pushing Ayane's hair out of her face.

"Hey, it's okay. You're here now, that's all that matters."

He pulled her in to hug her again, wiping the tears from his eyes. They finally managed to pull away from each other, meeting the other's eyes. They both began to smile.

Someone entered the room just then, Ayane looking behind Miguel. Her smile faded, seeing her parents standing there.

Ayane's face hardened, looking between Ennis and Liana. But Liana suddenly surprised her by coming forward, leaning down and hugging Ayane tightly.

The girl blinked a few times, in shock. She had no idea how to respond, bringing up her hands at once and patting her mother on the back.

"Ayane, I'm so glad you're okay," Liana sniffled, pulling away with tears in her eyes.

Ayane stared at her, conflicted. She wanted to believe Liana was being genuine, but it was so hard for her to.

Miguel still sat on the side of the bed, glaring over at Ennis. The man paid him no mind, only standing there with his hands clasped in front of him.

"How did you guys know I was here?" Ayane questioned after a moment of silence.

"The hospital called us," Ennis informed her, passive. "We're still listed as your emergency contacts."

Ayane chewed her inner lip, looking over at Miguel. "Could you give us just a second?" she asked him.

Miguel frowned, replying quietly, "Are you sure?" He did not want to leave Ayane alone with Liana and Ennis.

She nodded curtly, meeting his eyes. Miguel stood up at once, exiting the room.

Ayane looked back to Ennis and Liana. It had been weeks since she had seen them, and even longer since she had talked to her father. The girl had not been missing them, though.

"So why are you here?" Ayane asked, looking between them.

Ennis remained as casual as ever, not moving from where he stood. "The doctor is strongly advising that you be admitted to a rehabilitation center. Your mother and I have discussed and decided that this would probably be the best thing for you, so, we're willing to pay for it."

Ayane set her jaw, narrowing her eyes a little. She did not want to go to rehab. Ayane felt like she would get nothing out of that.

"And what if I don't want to go to rehab?" she questioned, holding Ennis' gaze.

He drew in a breath, still stoic as ever. "Well, then you do not have to. But, at the very least, you should be seeing a therapist. We know you stopped going to the last one after the court-mandated sessions were over."

Ayane swallowed, glancing down. Ennis was right about that. She knew she needed to see someone, because the harmful thoughts she had been having for weeks led to an even more harmful action.

"Is that all you came to say?" Ayane looked up, a stony expression on her face.

Ennis blinked, rather taken aback by this. He hesitated, and Ayane could see it.

"I'm sorry, Ayane," he finally said, leaving it at that.

The girl eyed him for a long time, realizing she had never heard those words from Ennis' mouth before. She never thought she would hear it, either.

Ayane ignored the lump in her throat, swallowing it down.

"Good," she replied, clenching her jaw. "Now, I don't ever want to see you again for the rest of my life. Got it?"

That sparked rage in Ennis, Ayane seeing his knuckles tighten on either side of him. He stared at her, visible anger on his face, but Liana placed a hand on his arm and snapped him out of it.

"Ennis, let's go," Liana spoke softly, nudging him toward the door. She looked over at Ayane as they headed for the exit, giving the girl an unreadable expression.

Ayane refused to watch them leave, only sitting and staring at her hands in front of her. The last thing she needed was to have them trying to become involved in her life again. It would ruin her mental health even more.

After a moment of silence, there was a knock in the doorway. Looking back up, Ayane saw Miguel come back into the room, a Tupperware container in his hands.

"What's that?" Ayane asked, Miguel bringing it over to her.

He opened the container, smiling down at her. "Yaya sent you enchiladas. She said she didn't want you to have to eat hospital food."

Ayane began to laugh softly, Miguel setting the container to the side. He sat down on her bed again, eyeing the girl like he had something he wanted to say.

She noticed him looking at her, furrowing her eyebrows. Ayane felt so horrible for everything she had done, so much guilt for putting the people she cared about through something like this.

"What caused this to happen, Ayane?" Miguel finally broke. He wanted to know that this hadn't been because of him. Otherwise, it might kill him.

Ayane looked at him with apprehension, hardly able to meet his eyes. She broke away, staring off to the side.

"I... have been living my entire life following what other people tell me to do. First, it was my dad, forcing me into taekwondo lessons. Then it was the competitions, and then I came here. He forced me to do karate with Daniel, solely so I could learn his enemy's fighting style. Then, when I finally freed myself from him, I kept doing karate. The only reason I was still in it was because it was where all the people I cared about were, and it was my way of staying close to them."

Ayane paused, meeting Miguel's eyes. "I– I don't know who I am, Miguel. I don't know what music I like or how I like to dress or what I want to do with my life. All I've ever known is fighting. And– I just got really tired of fighting."

Miguel was tearing up again, looking away as to not show it. Ayane inhaled slowly, intertwining her fingers.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this," Ayane spoke up after the period of silence. "I'm sorry you had to be the one to get that phone call."

Miguel's face softened, giving a small shake of his head. "There could've been a much worse outcome with a much worse phone call," he responded momentarily. "I'm just grateful I got there in time."

Ayane's breath hitched, tilting her head with confusion. "Wait– you– you were the one that found me?"

He nodded at once, Ayane's mouth falling open with some horror.

"Oh my God, Miguel, I'm so sorry–"

"Ayane, don't apologize," he cut her off with some sternness. "I would have rather you called me than anyone else."

She glanced down, feeling emotions about Miguel that she could not exactly describe. Their relationship was in tatters, and this seemed to weirdly reunite them in a way.

"Um," she swallowed, tapping her fingers a little. "Thank you, Miguel. For still being here for me. After everything I've put you through, I don't deserve you. So– thank you for staying by my side."

Miguel began to shake his head. "Ayane, you deserve more than me. I-I haven't been a good boyfriend to you, and I realize that now. I got drunk and I cheated on you, with Tory. And then I made you relive that experience again. I'm a piece of shit, Ayane. You're too good for me."

The girl listened to him as his voice broke a little, Ayane reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, tears falling down his face.

Ayane drew in a breath. "I think we should start over. I think that we should both step back, figure out what we want, and then try again. I-I don't think I need to be in a relationship right now, honestly. With the current state that I'm in, I need to work on myself a lot."

Miguel had seen this coming, but he had come to terms with it. He knew that this was what she needed, no matter how badly he wished he could change that.

"But," Ayane gave him a small, thin smile. "I could really use a best friend."

Miguel looked into her eyes, smiling softly as he chuckled a little. The boy nodded, then held out a hand.

Ayane took it, Miguel clasping it tightly and placing his other hand over hers.

"We can start over," he agreed, shaking Ayane's hand. "I'm Miguel Diaz–"

"You know what I meant, dumbass," Ayane rolled her eyes with a grin, Miguel returning it.

They laughed together, the both of them realizing how much they had missed the other. Ayane began thinking about her other friends, wondering what they were up to.

"Does, uh, does everyone else know about...?"

Miguel nodded after a second. "Uh, yeah. Your friends, my family, and the LaRussos, they all know. Everyone's been asking about you but they wanted to give you your space before seeing if they could visit."

He stood up at once, pulling Ayane's phone out of his pocket and handing it over to her. She looked down at the screen, seeing a flood of messages from all her friends. Ayane gave a pained smile, setting her phone to the side at once.

"Wow," she remarked. "That's a lot."

Miguel nodded, twisting his fingers a little. "The doctor told me that you could be discharged today, by the way. I didn't know if you'd be interested in leaving just yet, but... it's up to you."

Ayane thought for a moment, looking at all of the notifications on her phone screen once again. She bit her lip, thinking hard about something.

"I think... that after the Sekai Taikai, I'm done with karate for good."

Miguel's face contorted with some confusion, giving a small shake of his head.

"What do you mean, after the Sekai Taikai? Are you..."

Ayane gave a curt, confident nod. She wanted to do this for her friends, because after this they were all going their separate ways. One last hoorah, to make all this pain worthwhile.

"I'm still going to compete. And I'm gonna win."

Notes.
the final act has begun!! i'm actually kind of distraught about having to write the last ever season of cobra kai, because that means no more ayane and miguel after this </3

anyway, this chapter was a bit of a rollercoaster but i figured you guys would want to know the aftermath of ayane's OD before we jumped right into the season

prepare yourselves for ayane cain in her prime! i'm talking, she will be an absolute BEAST at the sekai taikai. ayane cain is going to be back better than ever!

what do you guys think about her decision to still compete in the sekai taikai? i mean i think it was obvious, but