❝ i haven't been this happy in weeks. ❞

"MIGUEL, THAT'S CRAZY."

Ayane looked at him in disbelief, frowning.

"Y-You can't forfeit just because I might not compete. Why would you want to do that?"

Miguel sighed, staring down at their intertwined hands.

After a moment, he replied, "I feel so guilty, Ayane. I- I'm the reason you got hurt. It's just not fair to you."

Ayane closed her eyes momentarily.

"Miguel. Look at me."

He did, meeting her eyes. She smiled softly.

"I don't care what happens to me. You are staying your ass in that tournament."

Miguel was taken aback by her sudden harsh tone. Ayane smiled again after a moment, pushing his face playfully with the tips of her fingers.

"You need to get some sleep. You look like you're about to collapse right here."

He smiled, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, you're right." Miguel leaned over and kissed Ayane lightly.

Pulling away, he whispered, "I'll talk to you as soon as I can."

Ayane grinned. "You do that."

Miguel stood, leaving the hospital room at once. Ayane reached over to the table beside her, feeling for her phone.

Then, Miguel suddenly reappeared. "I have your phone," he said, handing it to her. "Sorry, I almost forgot I had it. Bye."

Ayane watched him leave for a second time, laughing to herself. She was surprised to see her phone filled with a lot of 'get well soon' notifications, from a lot of people she had never even talked to.

Carmen and Liana came back in a few minutes later.

"Where did Miggy go?" Carmen asked, looking around.

"Oh, I told him he needed to get some sleep."

Carmen smiled softly, coming around to the other side of the bed.

"You're right about that. He stayed here all night. Can you believe it?"

Ayane raised her eyebrows a little. Sure, it was something that Miguel would do. But just thinking that he did it for her made Ayane feel funny.

Ennis walked into the room. "Do you think you can try to sit up?" He asked, standing beside the bed in case Ayane needed assistance.

"Um," she put her hands down to her sides, hesitating for a moment. At once, Ayane slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. She felt stiff, and then realized she had a back brace on.

Ayane huffed, already knowing she was going to hate that.

"Can you move your legs okay?" Ennis asked.

She pulled her left leg up slowly, wincing a little as she felt a small pain in her back.

"It's okay, you can put it back down."

Frustrated, Ayane put her leg back down and said, "So, how long will I have to be in this brace?"

Ennis gave her a look. Surprisingly, he smiled a little. He admired his daughter's determination.

"We're looking at a little over a month, if all goes well."

Ayane could have hit something. The All Valley was in two months.

She did not reply, only nodding. It strained her a little bit to do even that.

A few hours later, Ayane had an unexpected visitor.

There was a knock on the door, and she looked over as much as she could without wincing.

"Hi, Mr. LaRusso," she smiled a little, setting her phone down.

"Hey, kiddo. I got the bad news this morning. Unfortunately, I couldn't get out of work until now. How you doing?"

Ayane pursed her lips. "I... I don't know. I feel fine, other than when I try to move." She laughed a little, glancing down.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. LaRusso. There's still hope for me to be able to compete-"

"Ayane. Look, that is the least of my worries right now. Okay? I want you to get better before worrying about this tournament."

She breathed in deeply, finally nodding after a moment.

"Okay. I just- I really wanted to compete."

Daniel held his hands out with a shrug. "Who knows... maybe you still can? How long are you looking to be in that brace?"

"A month," she replied dismally, flipping her phone around in her hands. "That would only give me a month to get back to training."

Mr. LaRusso chuckled. "Hey. Seriously, don't worry about this tournament. No one is forcing you to do it. Alright?"

Ayane smiled, looking up at Mr. LaRusso.

"Alright."

. . . .

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS were excruciating for Ayane.

The first week she was confined to the living room, as Ayane could not climb the stairs.

On the second week, she was able to start walking without crutches. Ennis had told her that that alone was a miracle.

And on the third week, Ayane attempted the stairs. However, that failed when she nearly fell and broke her neck.

Miguel visited her every day, as soon as he got done with karate. He kept her updated with everything going on at school, and everything he was learning at the dojo.

Ayane, meanwhile, was dying to just get out of the house.

One afternoon, Miguel came into the house and straight to the living room, as he had been doing the past few weeks. He didn't even have to knock anymore.

"Hey," he said, entering the living room.

Ayane was laying on the couch, watching some shitty Korean drama.

"Hi," she mumbled, sitting up at once.

"So, how would you like to go for a drive?"

Ayane frowned, shaking her head in confusion. "Miguel, you don't have a car."

He smiled deviously. "I don't. But... Sensei does."

She tilted her head. "What-"

"Come on. I already told Mrs. Cain I was taking you."

Ayane stood up, shifting uncomfortably with her back brace still on.

Miguel took both of her hands, pulling her to the door.

"Hold on, I need shoes!"

He stopped, grabbing her shoes from beside the couch and putting them down at Ayane's feet.

When she slipped them on, he grabbed her hand once more and pulled Ayane outside.

There, Johnny was waiting in his car.

Ayane smiled, shaking her head.

"Come on kid. I'm letting you pick the music just this once."

The next week, Ayane was due for a doctor's appointment to see about getting her brace off.

She and Liana walked into the hospital, Ayane visibly nervous. If she didn't get her brace off, she figured she might just punch someone.

Ennis could not make it to this appointment, so Ayane had a different doctor.

"Well," the man said, prodding her back slightly, "your x-rays look amazing. The only concern I have is around your neck... does it feel a bit funny when I touch it?"

He applied gentle pressure to the nape of Ayane's neck, giving her a weird tingling feeling down her back.

"No," she lied, "it feels fine."

The doctor stepped back, looking to Liana. "I think she's ready. But, you're still going to have a lot of restrictions on your physical activity. Maybe with physical therapy for the next little while, you should be good as new in a few months-"

"How many months is a few?" She quickly asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

The doctor sighed. "Anywhere between three and five months."

That was not good enough for Ayane. She left the appointment, frustrated. But, at the very least, she had gotten that stupid brace off.

Miguel was waiting on her at the Cain residence, surprised to see the big grin on Ayane's face. She walked up to him as fast as she could, hugging Miguel tightly.

"I am officially in the recovery process," she said brightly, hanging her arms around his neck as she pulled back.

"Really?" He settled his arms around her waist. "You made fast progress."

Ayane nodded, though not too hard. "Yep. I start physical therapy tomorrow."

Miguel paused. "...What about karate?"

Her smile faltered a little. "Um, well... I don't know for sure, but I'm hopeful. It kinda sucks that I can't use my legs like I want to, but I can still punch."

At that, she pushed her fist into his stomach with a grin, her lips meeting his.

"I haven't seen you this happy in weeks," he said, raising his eyebrows.

Ayane shrugged, releasing herself from his arms. "I haven't been this happy in weeks."

Miguel shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, following her along to the house. He noticed that Ayane still struggled a little with the outside stairs.

"Don't push yourself too much," he said, helping her up.

Ayane turned her head sharply to him, and Miguel let her go at once.

"I'm sorry, Miss Independent."

She rolled her eyes, making it up the steps at once.

"So, there's gonna be a party at the Canyon. Do you wanna come?"

Ayane gave him a look. "Miguel. Since when are you the party type?"

"I'm not," he admitted after a moment. "But Yasmine has been talking shit about Aisha and so we're gonna go down there and throw a better party than hers."

Ayane narrowed her eyes. "We? Who is 'we'?"

Miguel shrugged. "Me, Aisha, Hawk, Demetri... you?"

She looked around, seeing if Liana was anywhere near.

"Okay," Ayane agreed. "But I can't get into any fights. Not yet."

Miguel laughed, looking down at her. "Hopefully... there will be no ass kickings tonight."

Miguel hung around the house until Aisha came and picked them up. Her car was full of Cobra Kai kids.

"Is this a dojo party or something?" Ayane asked, sliding into the back with Miguel.

He sighed, shrugging. "More or less."

Dozens of kids were showing up by the minute as soon as they got there, most of them headed straight for the alcohol.

Ayane stood next to Miguel, not exactly knowing what to do. The last party she went to ended with all of the kids getting kicked out and Ayane nearly drop kicking Yasmine into the pool.

"I think you need a drink," Aisha said, walking up to Ayane with a red plastic cup. She offered it to Ayane, who hesitated.

Miguel narrowed his eyes, watching her. He didn't care if she drank, but Miguel also didn't want Ayane to do anything she'd regret.

Ayane took the cup from Aisha and drank it without hesitation. It didn't taste good, but Ayane drank the whole thing. She deserved a night of fun after being confined to her house for nearly a month.

"You might wanna slow down," Miguel suggested, raising an eyebrow.

She licked her lips, looking up at him. "Relax. It was just one drink."

One drink, however, turned to many more drinks. Come nightfall, Ayane was drunk for the first time in her life.

"Miguel!" she said, running up to him. "I just discovered beer pong, and holy shit am I good at it!"

He grinned at her, though he was a little nervous. Ayane couldn't go home like this.

"Is that so? I'm glad you like it. Quick question- how many drinks have you had?"

Ayane made a serious face, counting on her fingers.

"Hard to tell. Does vodka and tequila mixed together count as one or two drinks?"

Miguel sighed, shaking his head. Ayane grabbed another bottle, popping the cap off. Snapping her fingers, she shot the bottle cap.

"I learned that trick from- who did I learn it from? I don't know, but it's cool, right?"

Ayane drank the bottle of beer as quickly as she could. Miguel scratched the back of his head, wondering if he should stop her.

"Ayane, you need to slow down," he said, reaching out for the bottle.

Though inebriated, Ayane was still sharp. She switched the bottle to her other hand, holding it away from Miguel.

"Maybe you need to lighten up," she slurred, tilting her head down.

Miguel glanced up, frustrated. "You do realize you have to go home tonight, right? What are your parents going to say?"

She began to laugh, replying, "Fuck my parents! They're the biggest assholes I've ever met!"

Ayane took a few steps back, taking another swig.

"And you know what?" She added, "They definitely love you more than me. I mean, they treat you like the son they never had!"

Some people turned their heads, wondering what she was going on about.

"Ayane, you're being too loud-"

"Oh am I, Mig?" She whisper-shouted, "Is this better?"

Miguel rolled his eyes, walking over to her. "Okay, that's enough. Give me the bottle."

Ayane gave him a long, hard look. "No."

"Ayane, give it."

She smiled slowly, drinking more. "Nuh uh."

He looked down at the ground for a moment, drawing in a breath. Miguel would have to do this the hard way.

Miguel grabbed her left arm as gently as he could, snatching the bottle from her hand.

Ayane looked at him, stunned.

"Okay, that was cute. Now give it back."

He shook his head, tossing the bottle away. "No. It's time for you to go home."

Ayane laughed dryly. "I can't go home! You said it yourself, what will my parents say?"

She pushed her hair out of her face.

"You know, if it was you who got drunk they probably wouldn't even care. They fucking love you. I mean, I love you too, but-"

Miguel's heart skipped a beat. "What- what did you just say?"

Ayane paused, her eyes suddenly going wide.

"Oh shit."

NOTES!
not this chapter being a whole mess- also I LIVE FOR DRUNK AYANE PLS SHE'S SO FUNNY