Drabbles and Oneshots [MomoJirou]

10 Different Perspectives - Part 2

Mezou Shoji | XX20 | Cracking Walls

Shoji was a perceptive person and that was expected with his quirk. He'd notice things that'd go overlooked by others. That's why when he ended up working together with Jirou and noticed her attitude he could tell something was different. Usually, during battles she wasn't so quiet. It was almost deafening to the point a pin could drop. There wasn't even a sense of familiarity as they worked side by side despite doing that very thing so many times before in the past. He felt like he wasn't really working together with Jirou.

They were on the roof waiting for the villains to exit the building, working as support for a big scheme by an up and coming villain gang. Shoji noticed how almost lifeless Jirou seemed. When Shoji asked Jirou if she was okay she'd simply nod before resuming her position. Her ear jack plugged into the ground waiting for any movement.

She seemed so out of it. As if she was forcing her attention to divert somewhere else, and that alone wasn't working. The emotions she'd try to bury slipping through the cracks. There was a slight movement heard and that was enough for Jirou. She was one step away from jumping off their hideout spot and running out towards the villain.

"Wait," Shoji alerted, a hand rested on her shoulder as he stopped her. "Don't go yet, we didn't receive the signal."

She blinked once then twice, before she shook her head as if she was trying to get rid of a consistent thought. "Oh, right, sorry." She apologized, the guilty look on her face evident.

Shoji could only hesitate with his words as
he took his hand off of her. He wasn't sure on their boundaries, let alone whether or not they were actually close enough to talk about this.
"You're not usually like this. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Jirou looked away, her eyes hazy as she seemed almost distant. "I'll be back to normal at some point, don't worry about it."

Suddenly the sound of the TV outside an electronic store caught their attention. A familiar hero name being heard over the sound of the wind. "Hero Creati seems to be cornered by three villains after she was separated from fellow hero Welder."

Jirou's reaction time towards the name itself was instantaneous, as she turned towards the news so quickly it caught Shoji off guard. "You can do it, Momo," she whispered, her eyes not once leaving the TV. "Please."

There was a long stretch of silence as the two simply waited for the signal, Shoji occasionally glancing towards the TV with Jirou not once turning away. "Was she hurt last time?" He hesitantly asked, since it has been a while since he and Jirou last talked.

Jirou turned towards Shoji, briefly caught off guard. "Huh?"

He shrugged, adjusting his mask as he spoke. He felt awkward, not used to comforting her. "You seemed pretty worried, that's all."

"Last time, she-," Jirou visibly shifted. She willed past emotions that once ruled over her to ease. "She got pretty hurt last time. Before that we had a stupid fight, and it's just hard to be normal again." She said, evidently glossing over many details. Yet, that doesn't change the way her eyes glanced over to the TV, the way her hand would shake as she grasped onto the smooth part of the building's edge.