choices //

chapter nine

Daniel ran and ran. He had so much going on in his head. There was no break in between to think, it was just the faces of everyone - Kreese, Silver, Mike, Ali, Mr Miyagi, Jessica - and their voices. Daniel ended up in the street. He stopped in his tracks when he saw he was right in the busy street. There was nowhere to go. Daniel turned around, and saw headlights coming straight at him. Everything went back.

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     He awoke in a hospital bed. Ali was in the chair next to the bed. She saw Daniel moving, and she quickly went over to the hospital bed, grabbing Daniel's hand. "Daniel, hey, you're in the hospital. You're okay."
Daniel pushed himself up to sit, but he winced and laid back down, in too much pain to really move at the moment. He had bandages around his ribs, and some on his arms. "Where's Mr Miyagi?" Daniel murmured, looking around the room quickly. He looked scared.
Ali had never seen him like that before. "He's.. I don't know, Daniel, I'm sure he'll be here soon. He always is, yeah? What's wrong?"
Daniel nodded a little, laying his head back down on the pillow. "Nothing." He whispered. He couldn't help it, those voices were in his head again. The fear was back.
It was overwhelming. Daniel grabbed a small trash can that was next to his bed, lowered his head, and threw up.
Ali climbed in the bed and rubbed Daniel's back to calm him down. "You're scaring me. Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing, Ali, I'm fine." And he threw up again. Doctors came in, seeing Daniel like that. They turned their attention toward Ali.
"Maybe you should leave, dear. We'll invite you back up after we've helped him out." The woman nurse said.
Ali nodded a little and reluctantly got up, walking out of the room.
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Jessica walked in to the hospital, seeing Ali sitting in the waiting room. She walked over to Ali, "did you get to see Daniel? How's he doing? A lot happened last night." Jessica explained.
Ali stood up, "I saw him. He's pretty beat up, but he's fine. He's just super overwhelmed. He threw up, and it was just- he was acting weird. He's scared." Ali nodded.
Jessica frowned, "I don't know what to do. What can we do for him?"
Ali shrugged, "we have to just let him get better. Kreese and all those guys are insane. Kreese was never that crazy. Not to the point of where he truly wanted Daniel and Miyagi dead."

Up in the hospital room, Daniel was reading, hoping it would calm his mind, which it did. He had taken some pills for nausea, since some of the nausea came from the car accident. He was in the middle of reading when he heard the door knob turn, but the door didn't open. Daniel looked up from the book and over at the door, watching the knob carefully. It started to turn more. Daniel slowly put the book down, setting it down on the drawer next to the bed. The door opened, and Mike walked in.
Daniel cursed and backed up in the bed a little, only for Mike to put his hands up.
"Hey, LaRusso, relax, man. You probably think it was the guys and I that put you in this place. You're wrong."
Daniel didn't move, "why should I trust you? All you guys have ever done is lie."
Mike shrugged, "you have a point. I'm not saying you need to trust us. We don't need your trust. I'm here to propose something. Of course, you'll have a little while to prepare, since you were dumb enough to end up in here."
Daniel scoffed, "you're ridiculous, come on, man. What do you want from me?"
Mike nodded, "who's truly the best, LaRusso? Miyagi and you, or Kreese, Silver, and I?"
"That was proven at the tournament. I beat you."
Mike laughed, "I still stay that was unfair. Why? Because it was a tournament. It had rules. Some things we weren't allowed to do."
Daniel looked confused, "what are you saying?"
Mike glared, "I'm saying, we are proposing a chance to truly get rid of us, forever. We will meet somewhere, and fight. To the death."
Daniel's eyes went wide. "Death? You're crazy, man. No way."
"You sound a little scared, LaRusso. Why? You expecting to lose?"
"No, I have nothing to prove to you. That's why." Daniel said, raising his voice.
Mike rolled his eyes, "are you missing what I'm saying?! It's your chance to get rid of us. Only if you do prove yourself. Isn't there so much anger and hatred you want to take out on us?"
Mike was pushing it, Daniel knew that. This was all to get Daniel angry. And it worked.
"Fine. I'll fight you." Daniel muttered.
Mike smiled, "good. Thank you for your time. We'll leave a message of when and where. May the best win." Mike walked out, slamming the door behind him.

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     Daniel was asleep in the hospital bed when Mr Miyagi walked inside the room. Miyagi walked over to the bed, nudging Daniel. "Daniel-San. Wake up."
Daniel blinked his eyes open, looking over at Mr Miyagi. "Oh, hey, Mr Miyagi," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"I heard what happened." Miyagi nodded. "Why you go to dojo?"
Daniel shrugged, "I needed to settle it. It didn't work. Mr Miyagi, they're making a joke out of us. You're not joke. Everything you've taught me, it's not a joke. It's meant something to me, you know that. I've done everything you told me." Daniel paused. "Okay, that's not entirely true, but you know what I mean."
Miyagi smiled, "Daniel-San, I know. Miyagi always proud. You a great student."
Daniel sighed, "Mike came here. He's challenging me to a fight to the death. I said yes.. I knew there was really no way to avoid it, anyway." Daniel explained.
Mr Miyagi's smile fell. "Daniel-San. Why you agree?"
Daniel pushed himself to sit up, "he'd kill me if I didn't. We both know that." Daniel nodded.
Miyagi sighed, "I know, Daniel-San. There only one thing to do now."
Daniel tilted his head a little, "what's that?"
Mr Miyagi smiled, "train you."
Daniel suddenly smiled, excitedly, throwing his arms around Mr Miyagi. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Miyagi let Daniel hug him, going to hug him back. "Anything for you, Daniel-San." He nodded.

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Daniel and Mr Miyagi were in the backyard. Daniel had gotten out of the hospital about a day after Miyagi's visit. They already started the training. A bunch of different self defense moves, seeming quite affective. Every time Miyagi offered a break, Daniel denied. He knew how serious it was that they work hard. There was no other choice. Finally, after a couple of hours, Daniel resulted to taking a break. He sat down on the grass and drank some water, Miyagi next to him.

There was a sudden knock at the gate. Daniel and Miyagi looked at each other, and then Miyagi got up, walking to the door. He opened it up and pulled a piece of paper off of the door.
Daniel stood up slowly, "what is it?"
Miyagi held it face front to show Daniel.

Four days. Down the block, the parking lot. 8 pm. - M.B