Chapter Text
Johnny couldn’t stop thinking about it.
About the idea of Gyro failing.
It didn’t make sense. Gyro was the most confident person Johnny had ever met. Annoyingly so. The kind of person who acted like the world bent around him.
But now Johnny saw the cracks.
Small things.
Gyro hesitating before a throw.
Taking longer to line up a shot.
Laughing just a little too loudly when things went wrong.
Johnny noticed all of it.
And it made something in him restless.
That afternoon, they rode in silence longer than usual.
Finally, Johnny spoke. “You’re scared.”
Gyro snorted. “Bold claim.”
“You are,” Johnny insisted. “About the execution.”
Gyro didn’t deny it.
Instead, he said, “Fear isn’t the problem.”
“Then what is?”
Gyro glanced at him. “You ever have something you’re supposed to be? Something everyone expects?”
Johnny’s expression hardened slightly. “Yeah.”
“And no matter what you do, it feels like you’re just… missing it?” Gyro continued. “Like there’s some part of it you can’t reach?”
Johnny thought of his legs. Of the way the world used to feel.
“…Yeah,” he said quietly.
Gyro nodded. “That’s the problem.”
Johnny studied him carefully.
For the first time, Gyro didn’t look like someone chasing victory.
He looked like someone running out of time.
Johnny exhaled slowly. “Then we fix it.”
Gyro blinked. “We?”
“Yeah. We,” Johnny said. “You’re helping me walk again. I’m helping you not mess up your one shot.”
Gyro stared at him for a second.
Then he laughed. A real one this time.
“You make it sound simple.”
“It is,” Johnny said. “You just don’t like admitting you need help.”
Gyro grinned. “Careful. I might start charging you for this wisdom.”
Johnny smirked. “Put it on my tab.”
For the first time in a while, Gyro’s shoulders relaxed.
Not completely.
But enough.
And Johnny decided, right then, he wasn’t going to let Gyro carry this alone.
Not anymore.