THE DAY of the All Valley had finally arrived, which meant whichever dojo lost would have to shut down forever. The Eagle Fang's were dressed in a red gi, the Miyagi-Do's in white, and Cobra Kai's in black. Isabella couldn't stop herself from staring at the Cobra Kai students— she'd zone out and accidentally realise she was glaring at one of them, which was a bad habit of hers.

She hadn't been taking her medication for four days now, which made her most likely to win a fight. If she'd been on her medication right now, she'd probably be too tired to fight. Isabella just had to get through the day: the bright lights, the crowd, the students, the shouting, the pressure, the uncomfortable uniform, the...

"Hey," Sensei Lawrence repeated, "Hey, Belle."

Isabella snapped out of her stare, looking at her Sensei in confusion, "What?"

"You alright, kid?" Johnny questioned curiously, guiding her towards the other students who were warming up.

"Yeah," Isabella replied, though she wasn't paying attention. Her attention was on winning; she had to win. This was the only chance that she had to prove herself to everyone. Isabella hadn't slept for days, as she planned out in her mind every single way in which the All Valley could end... and it ended with her winning.

"Are you nervous?" The new girl, Devon Lee, asked her curiously, as she warmed up.

"No," again, Isabella wasn't listening. She tuned everyone out— she had to win, or else everything would be for nothing.

Isabella's first match was against Piper Elswith from Cobra Kai— they had never fought each other before, but Isabella promised herself that she would win. She had to win. Winning was everything that...

"You've got this, Belle." Miguel encouraged, "We're all in your corner. You've—" But Isabella was already walking onto the karate mat.

In her mind, there was no crowd anymore... just her and Piper. She had to win. She adjusted the gi on her skin, ignoring the uncomfortable material, as she tightened the ponytail on her head. She faced the referee and bowed, before facing Piper and bowing. Isabella glared at her opponent; her eyes darkening as she prepared herself.

"Ready... and fight!"

Piper attempted to strike first, but Isabella had already pre-striked; she kicked Piper with a grunt of concentration, her eyes fixed on the girl as she attempted to punch her. Isabella blocked every punch, before kicking her in the shoulder, then kicking her for a second time around the face.

"Point! Diaz."

She was too busy concentrating to win to hear the crowd cheering, as she held up fists in front of her face. Isabella ran at Piper, punching and kicking over and over again, not giving her any chance to offend.

"Point! Diaz."

She waited for Piper to prepare herself, as she nervously looked back at Cobra Kai. Isabella waited, glaring at her, before she spun and kicked Piper in the face. The girl fell to the floor, before Isabella stood over her and stamped on her stomach.

"Point! Diaz."

Isabella was about to throw another punch, but the referee had taken her arm and raised it in pride. "Winner!"

But she wasn't a winner yet. It wasn't the finals yet; she still had to beat Sam and Tory. She still had to win. Isabella had to be enough.

The girl bowed before exiting the mat, before she was hugged by her fellow Eagle Fang students. She didn't react to their cheers, which Miguel and Johnny noticed extremely quickly, as they shared a glance with each other.

"Hey," Miguel's voice was blurred out by the noises around her. He touched her arm, "Hey, Belle." She looked at him. Miguel worried, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," was her autopilot response.

She blocked out Miguel and Johnny's conversation, because it was probably about her. Isabella caught a glimpse of Miguel jogging towards their mother in the crowd, though she didn't have time to think or react.

"Next, we have Isabella Diaz, from Eagle Fang, and Samantha LaRusso, from Miyagi-Do Karate!"

Sam LaRusso was her friend. But, today wasn't about friends; she would refuse to leave the karate mat is she didn't win. She had to win.

"Listen, kid," Johnny reassured, "You don't have to do this if you're not feeling 100%. I'm not gonna be angry at you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," Isabella didn't hear a word he said.

"On your marks. Face me, bow. Face each other, bow."

It was like her brain was on autopilot; Isabella didn't have to think, her body just did it for her, while her mind raced with thoughts. Win. Win. Win. Win.

Isabella won the first two points; she didn't recall what she did, but her body did it for her. Sam rushed to her Sensei, so Isabella was forced to do the same.

Johnny asked, "Belle, are you sure you're alright?"

Her body didn't respond for her this time, leaving them in complete silence.

Miguel added, worriedly, "Ma knows you're not taking your medication."

It's almost like the world had turned back on again: the bright lights, the crowd cheering, the other students fighting, everyone's voices. Isabella blinked hardly, a frown appearing on her face, as she looked at her brother.

She could hear Miguel's voice now, "I saw you throw one down the sink this morning. I didn't say anything because I knew that you might've needed the extra energy, but you're acting so jumpy."

"What the fuck?" Isabella panted, as she looked into the audience to see her mother and grandma looking very worried and disappointed. She frowned, "Why would you tell them?"

"Return to your marks!"

Isabella was called away, though this time her body didn't move on autopilot.  Her dark expression had faded away, luckily for Sam, but an anxious expression took its place. Isabella prepared herself in her fighting stance, though something was wrong. Her mind was only playing the possibilities of her losing a point.

Sam striked first, kicking and punching, causing Isabella to be on defence, which she wasn't strong at since she had been failing at Miyagi-Do: she couldn't sit in silence and meditate, she couldn't clean cars, she couldn't balance on a wooden circle above a pond, she couldn't catch fish with her bare hands.

Isabella was snapped out of her thoughts, literally, when her body hit the ground, a surge of pain drowned her body, but she was mostly embarrassed. She looked up from the floor, looking at Johnny and Miguel and their sad expressions; Isabella looked at her family in the audience, who looked sympathetically at her.

Was that all they felt for her: disappointment, shame, sadness? She was just the tag-along sister, who followed her big brother everywhere. They thought she didn't belong in karate— she was too different. She wasn't normal enough for anyone.

That surge of anger came back, her eyes darkening again as she stood to her feet.

Sam asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Belle?"

She nodded, planning out ways to make Sam lose. One more point, and she was in the finals.

"And fight!"

Isabella moved first, kicking and punching, blocking every single offence that Sam threw. Sam raised a fist, as Isabella dodged the punch— instead, finding a free route for her own first to collide with Sam's stomach, causing the girl to stumble back in pain and shock.

"Winner! Diaz." The crowd cheered.

Isabella walked off the mat, ignoring the cheers from her teammates. Miguel jogged after her, Johnny following close behind. Isabella ignored their calls until she was in the quiet hallway, finally at peace from the loudness around her. She had to admit, the medication she took worked a lot— Isabella didn't miss the overwhelming world from her normal perspective.

"Belle, I'm sorry." Miguel said, as they finally stopped walking, "Ma isn't angry at you. I didn't want to tell her, but I— we were all worried."

"Can everyone just be fucking quiet," Isabella caught her breath, rubbing her hands down her face in distress. She added, "I don't care. Putting a few pills down the drain isn't a big deal. It didn't hurt anybody, did it?"

"It hurt you," Miguel shot back protectively, "I mean, you're not talking, you're either hyper or angry, you've been in your bedroom all day, and you don't even care that you hurt Sam!"

"I wouldn't care either way." Isabella shot back, "I'm here to win. Everyone else is just collateral damage."

Miguel raised his voice slightly, "She's your friend!"

"Not today she's not." Isabella shrugged, unbothered, but she was losing her patience. She sighed, "Can you just give me some space—"

"Belle," Carmen's voice interrupted, as she rushed down the hallway towards her.

Isabella muttered, as she attempted to walk away, "For fuck sake."

Her mother cupped her cheeks, looking at her sympathetically, though Isabella avoided eye contact. Carmen said softly, "Miggy told me what happened. How are you feeling?"

Her mother was using that slow voice, which reminded her of the voice that somebody would use to speak to an elderly deaf person. Isabella wasn't elderly or deaf, just very fucking angry.

"Mom, stop—" Isabella was cut off when her mother put her hand on her forehead, almost to check if she had a temperature. She wasn't fucking sick. Isabella pulled away, blurting out, "Just fucking stop!"

Her mother froze, before placing two hands out in front of her to try and help her to calm down. She approached her daughter, like she was a wild animal. Carmen spoke in that voice, "Belle, listen to me. You're overwhelmed, okay? Let's go home. Johnny won't mind, right, Johnny?" 

Johnny definitely did mind, but he saw the look on Carmen's face and changed his mind. He smiled slightly, "I won't mind, kid. Do what you gotta do."

"Yeah, and I've got to fight." Isabella retorted, stepping back from her family in front of her, "Why can't you just let me do this?"

"Because you're not in the right mind." Carmen explained gently, "Remember what the Doctor said last year? He said when you were off your medication, you can experience mood swings and an increase in your symptoms."

"I hate to break it to you, Ma, but I really don't care." Isabella said, attempting to walk away, "Miguel seems to care a lot, though, so maybe you can tell him your fun facts."

Carmen said sternly, "Isabella—"

"I've got this," Johnny reassured, before jogging to catch up with Isabella as she walked towards the karate mat. He exclaimed, "Look, kid, I don't know what's going on, but your mom seems worried. And if she's worried, I'm worried... so, you can't do this—"

"If you don't know what's going on, I don't think you should get involved." Isabella shot back, as she took a long breath before stepping onto the mat.

"For the girls final, we have Tory Nichols from Cobra vs Isabella Diaz from Eagle Fang!"

  a/n:
poor isabella is just overstimulated LET HER LIVE