Chapter Text
It's pouring, sheets of wind and rain whipping the trees and collapsing houses the way it had Sato's.
Johnny sees Kumiko and her aunt come back in with a lady and her kids, but “Where's LaRusso?" Johnny demands. Miyagi and Sato are coming in as well, they're visible through the rain, but "Kumiko, where is he?”
"I don't know, Daniel-san was helping Sensei Miyagi-”
“Daniel-san still out there,” Miyagi gasps a little, jerking his head, helping Sato inside as Chozen runs up.
"Uncle! I thought you were dead! I thought you were dead,"
“Go help," Sato says, and Johnny sees fear in Chozen's eyes. "Help him!” He indicates, and wind blows away the rain enough that for a second Johnny sees
"Damn it, LaRusso" and he pushes between the guys, all three of them, without thinking. Never mind waiting for Chozen to respond. Johnny feels a pat on the shoulder from Miyagi before he's out and his feet are pounding through the storm. He yells "What the hell are you doing?” Witnessing Daniel being reckless and noting it's not just a pattern, this guy's really a moron that gets by by the skin of his teeth. "You really have a death wish, don't'cha, LaRusso??"
At the same time, Daniel does shit like this and Johnny is halfway admiring and in awe, and the rest of the way exasperated and pissed off.
Daniel sputters "what? What's your problem, Johnny -I just - I see stuff and I wanna HELP, there's a little girl up there!" He points.
"What, help by getting yourself killed?! How's that help anybody, huh?"
"What is your PROBLEM, man?! I'm fine!"
"Yeah, right, out here looking like a drowning deer or some shit, y' little punk, it's exhausting trying to catch up with you!"
"Why d'ya even want to, huh?"
"How the fuck else is anybody gonna keep you safe-"
"W- Mr. Miyagi's-"
"What, you think your sensei's gonna save you every time?? You ran out here by yourself!"
"I don't hafta- I can take care 'a myself!"
"Oh yeah? Since when??" Johnny bellows.
Daniel huffs. "We don't have time for this" he spits out and with that rushes to help the girl.
Johnny's thinking 'you're so sTUpid, fucking get out of the way' and he charges after Daniel so he can get to the girl himself.
Daniel, clothes plastered to his body and hair to his face with water, yells out deeply "Johnny?? What th' hell are you doin'? Get outta here!”
“No way, man- you better get your ass-”
With a chopping motion Daniel interrupts "There's a little girl, she's right up there and she needs help!" Johnny hears a scream and jerking his head up he sees her. Hanging on for dear life to a wooden pole. Well hell. He bites his lip and shoots out both arms, shoving Daniel, earning a frustrated "Hey!" before he's snatching at the wood of the pole, feeling the wind drive his body against it and using that to start hauling himself up.
The wood is slick and also still manages to stab into his palms and fingers somehow. Johnny bets he gets hands full of splinters from doin' this, but LaRusso yelling "It's not th' time for this. JOHNNY!" From the soupy mud on the ground provides him with a sense of grim satisfaction.
At least down there the twerp is relatively safe. Safer than he'd be trying to climb up here, the skinny little shit.
The little girl is still screaming as well as crying as hissing sparks from broken power lines blaze, attached somehow to the bell she had been ringing when she climbed up earlier. "Just ‘s crazy as LaRusso,” Johnny mutters, and then "Hey, I'm Johnny - I gotcha, I'm gonna get you down, alright sweetheart?" Biting his lower lip and yanking his jacket off his shoulders, holding it by the sleeve, Johnny slings the soaked heavy leather into the power line to knock it down and hopefully stop it from sparking.
Stinging sensation hits him now with a feeling not unlike the way that gravel feels when it's kicked up off the roadside from the tires of his motorcycle. His shirt feels heavy and stone-cold as he climbs alongside and opens one arm for the girl, feeling for her as he knows it's gonna be colder than hell for her to hang onto him.
She doesn't care though, only wraps herself around his side, arms around his neck like some baby bear -or whatever animal screeches for its mother or for help the whole time it's being carried. Johnny doesn't blame her, though, not at all.
It's damned hard to see, but LaRusso is right there beside the ladder pole as Johnny gets down to the last rung above the ground. He feels the guy's hand reaching to wrap around, hears him say "I gotcha," and then "we both have you, alright?" maybe both to the girl -probably both meant for her, but Johnny's heart thuds at the thought of it being HIM LaRusso is saying that to. But what the hell? LaRusso puts his arm around the girl and walks with Johnny, wind and rain still going like crazy, pushing them down.
They stumble together back to the shelter, Johnny feeling in spite of the frigid weather, the warmth of Daniel's hand on his back.