Chapter Text
It had been hard to get Chozen out of the cocktail party. He was completely plastered with Long Island ice teas. But between Johnny and Daniel they managed it.
Barely.
And as soon as he was out of the room he didn’t want to be with them anymore. Wanted them to go away. But they got him to the room and Johnny left to go hunt down some ice for the water and maybe he said some crackers or something to soak up the liquor.
Daniel had been revving up his indignation. How this had been a chance for them and it had blown up. How he’d been telling Johnny not to make a fool of them and to behave and how he hadn’t expected this behavior of Chozen when Chozen doubled over coughing.
It was the worst sounding cough Daniel had ever heard.
Chozen tried pushing him away but Daniel stood his ground, eventually noticing that there was something in Chozen’s hand.
He’d coughed something up.
At first he feared it was blood.
Then he noticed the familiar shape of the orchid.
“Chozen?” Daniel asked, concern spiking through him.
“I’m fine,” Chozen said waving him off.
“What is that?”
“It’s nothing, just old thing.”
“Old thing? What old thing?”
“Very rare. Not contagious.”
“Chozen if you’re sick I need to know before the tournament starts, before the kids—”
Chozen sighed, coughed a little more and stuck out his tongue, peeling another orchid out of his mouth.
“Hanahaki. It’s flower disease,” Chozen said. “Mostly gone now. More popular when my parents were young. Both my parents had it.”
“Chozen…didn’t your parents die?”
“Hai. It’s how I ended up living with Uncle Sato. Mom got it first, was in love with my father and so he felt compelled to be with her so she’d live because they’d had a one night stand and she’d got pregnant. But then around when she was due he started having symptoms because he was in love with someone else. So after I was born he left to go see if he could survive, but he was turned down...and they both died.”
“What? Chozen, slow down, that doesn’t make sense. They died of broken hearts?”
“Hanahaki attacks internal organs. It can be kept at bay due to hormones. If you happily in love they don’t bloom. If you unhappy in love they attack, squeezing the organs until you start coughing up blood. I spent most of my life not getting close to people so I can avoid falling in love.”
“And then you tried to get Kumiko to return your feelings and this happened. Chozen, maybe we can talk to her.”
“No, no use. Kumiko was a last ditch effort to try and trick my body into something attainable.”
“What do you mean? What’s unattainable?” Daniel said staring at Chozen whose face was a little pink, as he ripped at the petals of the flower.
“Me?” Daniel asked, voice going an octave up, surprised but also a little pleased.
Chozen’s head shot up and he frowned. “No. Not you. If I’d loved you I would’ve gotten hanahaki as a teenager and died on the island long ago after you left. No, I’m…I seem to be in love with…Johnny.”
Daniel sat back on the bed with a frown. Shell shocked. There were more flowers than he expected, then he’d originally noticed. Orchids covering the floor around Chozen’s feet.
“Our Johnny? You mean the tall blonde guy with blue eyes who main lines Coors beers and makes a mess of everything and—”
“Daniel it’s past the point of no return. I started feeling sick shortly after I met him.”
“Well I think a lot of people feel that way.”
Chozen gave him a look and Daniel sighed.
“You’ve been sick this whole time?”
“They’d taken root and now they’ve grown.”
“Isn’t there a cure? We’re in Europe can’t we just take you to the doctor?”
“Probably not. By the time you start coughing up flowers it means they’re wrapped pretty tightly around one’s heart and lungs.”
“So the only solution is if Johnny loves you back?” Daniel asked feeling his stomach drop.
Johnny Lawrence, pinnacle of masculinity, who made fun of fucking Blue Moon’s because they had fruit in them, despite the fact they were a much better beer than the damn Coors he drank. Johnny Lawrence who acted first and thought later. Who talked about all the babes he used to get. And only about babes.
“It’s no good,” Chozen said softly. “He’s got a kid on the way.”
Daniel blinked then turned to Chozen. “Oh. That’s one piece of good news I guess. The baby had been a false alarm. They’re not together anymore. They’re still a family, but like a platonic one.”
Chozen turned to him so slowly.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
He got up, wobbly from all of the booze.
“Chozen, hang on, this is Johnny we’re talking about. He’s not not the most open minded. He’s…he’s a caveman. He once asked me why I hadn’t taught Mr. Miyagi English. Like he’s not a good choice, this isn’t going to go well, he’s the most frustrating man’s man out there.”
“He will be this man’s,” Chozen said.
“That’s not what I meant,” Daniel said.
“Are you going to stand here complaining about it or will you help me?” Chozen asked. “Hmm karate cousin? I help with Silver and Cobra Kai, maybe now we even for childhood. But maybe now you help me with romance?”
Daniel stared at him, then sighed. “Fine, what do I have to do?”
Chozen grinned and Daniel followed him, out of the room and outside the hotel as Chozen took in Barceloneta, trying to come up with a plan to use that city to win Johnny's heart.