"Oof!"
Johnny braced himself as an earphone jack hit the board of wood he was holding. Then a flurry of attacks pierced the wood, but Johnny managed to hold his ground. He was surprised when Jiro had asked him to help her train for the Sports Festival, but there was no way he could just say no. There was no denying that they have bonded since the USJ incident, and their shared love of music only added to that. While Johnny was pretty anti-social, he was intensely loyal to people he considered friends, and since they had nearly died together, Jiro definitely qualified for that category.
They were on Dagobah beach, where Izuku had trained with All Might, although Jiro didn't know that. She was working up a sweat, huffing as she sat down to take a breather. "I've never worked this hard in all my life, how do you do it?" Jiro managed to get out through her panting.
Johnny walked over to her and offered her a bottle of water, which Jiro gratefully accepted. "You got to find the necessary motivation, something that will inspire you to keep going." Johnny responded. Johnny walked over and summoned Tusk, his stand giving a thoughtful "Chumi ~min!" as Johnny readied a bullet, taking fire at a soda can sitting on top of a pile of trash. He fired, and the bullet shredded the can like it was made of paper. "I wasn't born with good aim, I had to practice. I practiced almost every day, because I was motivated to fight for the people I care about." Johnny said, turning to his purple-haired friend. "What are you fighting for, Jiro?" Jiro looked down and began tapping her jacks together, clearly deep in thought. "I guess I want to prove that I can be something, y'know? That I can do more than just sit around twiddling with these things."
Johnny walked over and sat down next to her. "You're awfully sensitive when it comes to yourself, why is that?" He inquired. Jiro looked at him, her eyes showing a bit of hesitation, but then they relaxed, and she spoke. "When I was in Middle School, before I got into UA, the other girls in my class would make fun of me and my ears. I don't know why, I don't remember doing anything to them, but they always laughed at me behind my back. The worst part is...I could hear them because of my quirk. I heard every single awful thing they said about me, a-and I started to believe them." Johnny thought back to his mother, and he could feel her pain, he knew exactly how it felt to be unwanted.
"Don't listen to them, whatever they said about you, it's definitely not true. I've seen you in action, hell, I fought you. Your quirk is amazing, I mean...do you know how many villains you took out during the USJ? Do you know how close you got to beating me in combat training? I panicked! Those girls...they were delusional. No, fuck it, they were colossal dumbasses."
Jiro looked at Johnny, touched by his words. "Th-thank you Johnny. I really needed that." Johnny smiled at her, not one of his half smiles that he normally does, but a real, genuine smile. "Hey,what are friends for?" Jiro returned the smile. It felt...good, opening up to Johnny. She hadn't even told her parents about it. And she could tell that he really appreciated it. Johnny seemed to be deep in thought, when suddenly he spoke. "I...didn't have my sister in my life for thirteen years." Jiro's eyes widened as she took in what he just said. "Thirteen...years?" Jiro asked in disbelief. Johnny solemnly nodded. "Did...did it have something to do with...?"
"My mom? Yes."
"Oh..."
The two teens say there in silence for a while, lost in their thoughts, before Johnny spoke up. "Well, we should probably get back to it." Jiro nodded and took another swig from her water bottle, before getting up. Johnny examined the board of wood. Jiro's earphone jacks made it look like Swiss cheese. Johnny shook his head. "We're going to need something else."
Johnny rummaged around the trash heap, before he pulled out a trash bag with Mineta's face on it, hand-drawn. Jiro burst out laughing.
"How long was that there?" Jiro asked , still trying to hold back her laughter.
"A while, you wanna hit it? "
Jiro cracked her knuckles, a big smile creeping it's way into her face. "Oh you know I do!"
*Later*
The two stared at Mineta's deflated face with blank expressions. The satisfaction was over, and now they were just staring at it. "I never thought a deflated Mineta would be so disappointing." Johnny remarked. Jiro nodded. "Sadly, it's not the real thing, so it just doesn't have the same amount of stress relief."
Jiro grabbed one of her earphone jacks and started rubbing it. "Man, I've been working with these for too long, starting to get sore." Johnny glanced at her thoughtfully, before reaching into his bag and pulling out a bag of ice. "Lucky I came prepared." Jiro laughed. "You're always prepared!"
Johnny smirked. "If only that were true Jiro, if only that were true."
*Jotaro*
Jotaro Kujo was standing on the walkway above the beach, observing his son interact with Jiro. Bright young woman...she'd be a great help, Johnny needed to come out of his shell. "You're a good father, you know that?"
Jotaro briefly glanced behind him to see Toshinori Yagi walking up to him, a knowing grin on his skeletal face. "Maybe now, but for most of his life I wasn't there." The number one hero frowned, he knew Jotaro hadn't been present in his son's life, but it was clear that the young man didn't have any hard feelings. Why was Jotaro doubting himself? "Your son doesn't resent you, in fact he looks up to you."
"But what if I fail him, Toshi?" All Might scratched his head. "I honestly don't think that you can, Jotaro. He admires you, not unlike how young Midoryia admires me. You're his hero, and I don't think that will ever change." Jotaro surveyed the scene taking place in front of him. Johnny appeared to be encouraging Jiro, and she appeared to be listening to him intently. Jotaro felt a smile slowly creep it's way onto his face. Perhaps he was worrying about nothing.
*Johnny*
"I honestly don't know what it is you see in me, JoJo." Jiro stated while icing her ears. "I see a hero." Johnny answered simply. Jiro shook her head. "You say my quirk is amazing, but it's nothing compared to someone like Bakugo. I just don't get why you see potential in me, that's all." Johnny sighed. "Yare yare...you still don't get it. Allow me to make an analogy, if Bakugo was a kitchen knife, you would be a Swiss army knife. He's really only good for one thing, while you can do a whole lot of shit. Sometimes, being efficient is better than being flashy, y'know?"
"Yeah, I think I do. It's weird...ever since we started being friends, I've started to look at myself in a different light. No one had ever encouraged me the way that you do before, well except my parents, but it's their job to do that. I'm...starting to think I might be able to do this." Jiro responded.
Then a lightbulb went off on Johnny's head. "Hey, I have an idea! Those girls used to bully you because of your ears, so you felt bad about them, right?" Jiro nodded. "Well, don't think of them as ears, think of them as if they are whips. A whip is a strong, sturdy weapon that could be used for all sorts of things! Herding cattle, self-defense, grabbing onto things...they're whips, you're Indiana Jones!"
Jiro snorted. "You really are a dork, making pop-culture references on me."
"Oi, do you want my help or not?"
"I never said that was a bad thing, it was a good idea! Whips...yeah I'll think about that."
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