Multifandom Oneshots

cobra kai ~ burnout (hurt/comfort) ~ aisha & eli

A/N : Takes place vaguely during season 1

Eli had been staying at the dojo later and later recently, even far beyond the hours that Johnny stayed there. The old bastard didn't care about this potentially unhealthy habit, no. He knew that the kid was still one of the weaker links of the group. He was proud of him, sure. He'd stopped being such a little crybaby and finally grew up, but the kid was still one of the weakest fighters. Whenever Aisha or Miguel would walk line by line and throw a punch, Eli (or "Hawk" as they all began to call him) would still be the only one to fall. Hell, even Bert was able to stand his ground.

"You're staying here late a lot, Hawk" a familiar voice said, briefly taking the boy's attention away from the training dummy he was beating the shit out of so he could see who it was. "Sure am" he replied, returning his attention to his training. He punched and kicked at it, pushing past his own exhaustion and the burn that he felt in his joints. This extreme amount of training really wasn't good for him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be stronger. He needed to be. Weakness meant that the old him was still there, and he'd sooner die than let that happen.

"Eli-"

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" the boy suddenly snapped turning his body and throwing a punch towards the girl's face. She blocked it, of course. Didn't even flinch at the sudden attack. No one at that dojo flinched anymore. Johnny had practically beat it out of them (or rather, he had Miguel and Aisha beat it out of them). There were no flinchers at Cobra Kai. No criers. If you didn't block a punch, that just meant you let your guard down. Cobras don't do that shit. They weren't losers, not anymore.

"Right" she responded calmly, not even phased by the fact that he had nearly decked her in the face. "When was the last time you slept?" she asked him, sitting on the window sill as the boy continued to hit the dummy. Hawk rolled his eyes at the question. "That's a stupid question" he told her, point blank. He was awfully blunt, and she was never quite sure if it was because of his Autism or just him being an asshole. Probably both she decided before chuckling. "Humor me, asshole" she replied. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I don't know... Two days ago?" he replied with a shrug as he punched the dummy square in the face before quickly backing up so he didn't get hit himself. As much as he didn't want to seem like a pussy, he had legitimate reason to not want to be hit in the face more than necessary if he could avoid it. Due to his cleft lip, he'd always needed to be extra careful with his mouth and nose area, because pain there was a lot worse for him than it was for most. He'd learned that the hard way.

"Yeah, I can tell" Aisha replied. Hawk glared at her but said nothing, continuing his training. "You look like shit" she added, and that was the last straw. This boy was running on caffeine and adrenaline at that point, so he was already irritable as shit. That was good for training and karate class- Not so good for a conversation with a friend. He turned his attention to her with a crazed look in his eyes as he slowly approached her. She didn't cower, no. Hell, if push came to shove, she could just kick him in the nuts.

"I need to be stronger, Aisha" he told her, almost sounding a bit scared. Truthfully, he was scared. Hell, he was fucking terrified of being weak. Sure, he was more confident now than he had been before, but he still was on the weaker end physically. "I was a pussy before, you know that" he continued, keeping harsh eye contact with her that she did not break. "I know you were" she responded, matching his energy. "So was I. So was Miguel. So were all of us. We were all pussies before. But you're not anymore" she assured him. "The only thing pussy about you now is that you're so worried to the point where you're burning yourself out"

Hawk's eyes widened. She had really just used his own logic against him, huh? The part of him that wasn't thinking rationally wanted to cry. His emotions were running so high at that point, just strained from the amount of pressure he was putting on himself. But... Surely he couldn't cry. He wouldn't. He shouldn't. That was pussy behavior (another lesson that Johnny had drilled into him). If you cried for any reason other than nearly fatal pain, you were being a pussy.

But... Johnny wasn't there right now.

No one was there except him and Aisha. He was breathing heavily at that point for a number of reasons, but the girl did not comment on it. She could be harsh, sure. She wasn't afraid to tell her fellow Cobras when they were being weakling. But she wasn't a monster. She understood that everyone had a limit (probably even Johnny), and she understood that Hawk was reaching his, especially as the tears began to fall down his face beyond his control. And once they started, they wouldn't... Stop...

With a sigh, she opened her arms and embraced him. Hugging wasn't against their rules, right? She had seen Johnny hug Miguel before after a job well done. She'd never seen him hug anyone when they were upset, but that was beside the point. Hawk needed her at that moment, so she would be there for him, Cobra Kai's toxicity be damned. "Do you have a ride home, Hawk?" she asked him as he tried to calm himself down in her arms. He sniffled and shook his head. "No, usually Moon picks me up, but it's late"

"Come on, big guy" she told him, tapping his shoulder. "My bike has two seats"