CHAPTER 59

Pain. That's all Marcos felt anymore. From the moment he woke up, to the moment he fell asleep. Even sleep didn't provide him with a refuge anymore, as every time he closed his eyes, he was dragged into vivid, agonising nightmares. It had been 3 days since that first day that his father had laid a hand on him, and yet it felt like 30 days had passed. Things had become a living hell for him. He simply didn't feel safe anymore. Everytime he would walk into his house, it would feel like he was stepping into a battlefield, an active minefield. The physical abuse was now happening on a regular basis. It was like his father had found himself a way to vent and let out all of his anger and frustration at the world, and it just so happened that it was unto his son. Marcos couldn't escape a room in the house without being physically and/or verbally assaulted, even now that he barely spent any time at home anymore.

And the worst part was… Marcos didn't even feel safe outside the house anymore. It was an utterly peculiar feeling. Even though he knew his father wasn't about to jump him in public, Marcos found himself weary whenever he turned a corner. He was constantly on edge, constantly feeling like an imminent threat was coming, and this permanent feeling guarded - along with the beatdowns he was now receiving both at the dojo and at home - had left him completely exhausted. He couldn't concentrate, he was constantly distracted. It was almost like he wasn't living anymore. Even when he was far away from his dad, his mind couldn't escape the constant fear of what was to come, so his body functioned on autopilot as he constantly zoned out of conversations.

This was the case once more on December 26th, as Marcos sat on the edge of Sarah's bed, listening to her talk about something. He had no idea what she was talking about, as not for the first time, his brain was distracted with the thoughts about his father. It was only when he noticed Sarah looking at him expectantly, like she was waiting for him to answer a question, that he forced himself to snap out of his daze and pull himself back from the present.

"I'm sorry, what?" Marcos asked. Sarah sighed, her eyes widening a little with worry. This had become a bit of a pattern the past few days, and Sarah incorrectly assumed that it was about his mom's death anniversary that had just passed. Little did she know how much worse it really was. She sat on the edge of the bed opposite him, concern evident on her face.

"Marcos, are you okay?" Sarah asked him. Marcos knew immediately what she was asking, and he was forced to gather himself enough to answer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He instantly replied, his emotional poker face giving nothing away about his turbulent home life.

"Because you seem pretty out of it." Sarah remarked. "At the dojo you seem distracted. Whenever anyone is talking to you, you don't really seem like you're listening."

"Sorry. I'm just really tired. It's been a lot, with the dojo, with school, with Miyagi-Do these past few months." Marcos murmured, trying with all of his might to sell the lie. What else was he supposed to say? My dad is beating me and terrorizing the shit out of me? There was no way he was saying that to her right now.

Unfortunately though, it didn't look like Sarah was buying his story. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew him well enough to see that it wasn't just standard tiredness after a tough school term. But if there was one thing she also knew about him, it was that he could be stubborn as nails, especially when it came to sensitive personal things about himself. She knew that asking more follow-up questions would only make him close up even more, and it wouldn't do an iota of good.

"Marcos, are you sure?" She asked for the final time, genuinely concerned, and Marcos' eyes narrowed. He felt frustration bubbling up inside him about this line of questioning, and he vehemently nodded.

"I'm fine! Sarah! Okay?! I'm fine!" He snapped harshly. He wanted this questioning to end as soon as possible, and this seemed the easiest way to do it. Sarah glared at him and sighed.

"Alright. I get it. I'll stop. No need to be a dick though." Sarah responded. Marcos nodded, still looking down.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, an apology that Sarah of course accepted. She wasn't so much offended by what he said as she was additionally concerned about him. Marcos never yelled. Never raised his voice. Especially with her. The fact that he was willing to do so only made her more worried about him. However, she understood that this wasn't really the time to ask, so she decided to change the subject.

"So I was asking you before whether or not you feel like going to the party tonight. If you're not up to it, we definitely don't have to go."

"No, no. I want to." Marcos responded quickly. Too quickly. Truth be told, he was just desperately eager to spend as much time away from his house as possible, without raising the suspicions of his girlfriend as to why. And a party seemed the perfect way to do so. "Whose party is it?"

"Do you know that girl in our Chemistry class, Moon?" Sarah said. Marcos furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully.

"Moon… Moon…" He muttered, trying to remember who the hell Sarah was referring to, before a little while later, he remembered. "Oh… Moon. The wacky, hippie chick, right?"

"Yeah, that's her." Sarah laughed. Even though they had been in class for almost 3 months now, Marcos contributed to class at a bare minimum, and he didn't even bother to get to know his classmates, so it made sense that the only way he knew Moon was as the 'hippie chick'. "She's having a party at her place tonight. She invited a whole bunch of people and she invited all of us. Figured it would be a good way to try and relieve some of the animosity between our sides."

"Huh? What animosity?" Marcos asked, before realization dawned on him. "Oh… this is Moon, Hawk's girlfriend, isn't it? All of the Miyagi-Dos are going to be there."

"Probably." Sarah replied. "Like I said, we don't have to go. Honestly, the last thing I feel like doing tonight is fighting a brawl at someone's house, so if you feel like you're not going to be able to be around them without a fight, by all means let's do something else please."

"No, it's fine. This is good." Marcos replied. A party would get him out of the house for almost the entire night. It would provide him with a distraction from the horrors that were going on within his small apartment. It was perfect…

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"And to the victor go the spoils." Daniel announced as he walked into his living room that evening, a 6 pack of Coors in his hands, handing it to Johnny, who was sitting in the armchair opposite him.

Smirking widely, Johnny accepted his prize for winning the Fight Night at the dojo earlier that afternoon. Robby, Tory and Demetri had all won their fights, allowing Johnny a decisive 3-2 win overall, and he wasn't going to let Daniel Larusso forget it in a hurry. Uncapping the first of the beers, he made a big show of taking a sip and groaning in satisfaction, to which Daniel rolled his eyes.

"I gotta say, Johnny. Those strategy calls were spot-on all day. Demetri using Eagle-Fang to beat Eli, Tory using Miyagi-Do to defeat Sam… credit where credit is due, that was really smart."

"What can I say? I earned my beers, didn't I?" Johnny remarked. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, well don't drink too much. Remember, we're all still going out later." Daniel reminded him. That was true. Given that all of the teenagers would be at Moon's party that night, the adults decided to take advantage of the night without responsibilities and all go out together. They trusted the kids to take care of themselves that night, and more than that, they were thoroughly due from a night without having to worry about anything.

It wasn't just Johnny and Daniel either. They had managed to get everyone, everyone, to go out to a up-and-coming nightclub. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the doorbell begun to ring and everyone started to shuffle in together, ready to leave from the Larusso house to a nightclub in town.

Amanda and Carmen were the first to arrive, having spent the evening having dinner together with all of the rest of their families consumed with the Fight Night festivities. Carmen was in her 6th month of pregnancy by this point, not quite yet in her final trimester, so she was still able and eager to have a fun night with everyone else.

Bobby and Jimmy arrived next together. They had remained in close contact with everyone else after Coyote Creek, more invested than ever in the students' progress preparing for the Taikai, and their senseis' progress too. They knew better than anyone the power that Cobra Kai possessed: the power to brainwash and manipulate teenagers into becoming aggressive, bloodthirsty monsters. They couldn't bear to see Cobra Kai run rampant without opposition, as would be the case if they won the Taikai.

The next person to arrive was none other than Mike Barnes himself. Karate's Bad Boy. He was another person in a very similar situation than Bobby and Jimmy. He knew how dangerous some of these figureheads in Cobra Kai were, and he knew the corruption and damage they had the potential to cause if unmatched. However, the difference between him and them was that Mike Barnes had very little else going on in his life. Jimmy was a family man, and Bobby spent much of his free time at church. Barnes on the other hand, had nothing else going on. He managed to get his furniture store off the ground with the money he had managed to get for hocking Silver's painting, but he was still without a wife, so he was now at a bit of a lull during his spare time. He had time for other things, and he knew just what he wanted to do. He needed to ask Daniel and Johnny first though, and he figured tonight would be a great time to do so.

Chozen arrived next, his presence a complete shock to all of them. He had left for Okinawa around a week ago, so they figured he was still there, but it turned out that he had just landed in L.A that afternoon. He had spent the afternoon/evening finding a small apartment to rent for the next 6 months before the tournament, allowing him to move out of the Larusso place and give them some extra privacy. The next two to arrive were Daniel's cousin and his most successful car's salesman. Anoush and Vanessa, miraculously still an item after all this time, had opted to join them when they had received the invitation.

The final person to arrive, fashionably late, was Louie Larusso, a move that nobody didn't expect. It was alright though, he was forgiven, as he had come with a rented limousine for them to ride in. That was it. They were all there. It was time to party!