PYROMANIA (Endeavor X Male Reader)

Chapter 17 - OLD

Misaki stood before you. His stance guarded. His hands tightly curled into fists. You weren't used to your opponent being nervous to fight you. Zack had always responded with zeal, returning whatever blows you exchanged tenfold. Now, looking at this young man, you felt dissapointed.

You had no right to, you reminded yourself. Of course a villain and a borderline civilian would respond to danger differently. And that's what you undoubtedly were. Danger.

"Listen dude, you can pick what quirk I use. I'll use a maximum of two but I think I should improve my proficiency with each individually."

The man gave a shaky exhale,  before staring at the ground in thought. "Only the talons," he decided. You nodded.

"Kou." You whispered. The boy begrudgingly touched your shoulder and you ruffled his hair, receiving a small smile.

You disliked this quirk on its own. Relied too much on your legs and too little on your torso.

Mr. Nakamura whistled to signal the start of the match and Misaki's back muscles immediately extended. He used them like really blunt tentacles, that would hit the ground with a loud 'thwack' whenever you dodged.

It was rather impressive but his reaction speed was slow. When you rushed into his personal space, you crouched and he only managed to hit your back with the fleshy weapons. Your ribs creaked under the assault but you ignored it and sweeped his legs from underneath him. He couldn't react fast enough to retreat backwards and fell on his side. You promptly gripped his throat with one talon, swatting away any tentacles with the other. After ten seconds of energetic struggling on the man's part, the professor declared you the winner.

You stepped back and helped him up.

"Shit man. You did a number on my back. Probably going to bruise."

Misaki rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Yeah and if you'd used a defensive quirk you wouldn't even have felt it. Excluding the quirks, your battle sense is insane. What did you do before enrolling here?"

"I studied and then I became a tutor," you said. It wasn't a lie. Just a half truth. "How about you?"

"Chartered accountant," He grumbled.

Your eyes widened. "Seriously? You can use your quirk really well so I figured it was something else."

He grimaced. "I feel like I'm missing something with my quirk, though. Not to mention my reflexes are shit."

You shrugged. "They are but it just means you have to work on them. Honestly, I think you're too stiff. You have a quirk that allows you to literally manipulate your muscles and tendons. You could be flexible as fuck if you wanted to. That would improve your reaction time. All you'd need to do is study how certain muscles behave doing certain motions. Which contract and which extend and how hyper extension may make that movement more fluid. Like quickly moving backwards for example."

His eyes widened and he turned to you. "You think that could work?"

"Definitely," you wanted to continue but Mr. Nakamura called you forward once more.

"You're up against Aoi. He's at a vantage point with a paintball gun. If you get hit, then it's a loss by default. You may choose which quirk to use."

The professor's adaptability to your quirk was refreshing. Since this morning he'd started subtly changing the way he taught you to allow you to grow further.

"Are you able to contact him?" You asked the professor. He nodded.

"Tell him there are junctions in my exoskeleton. He just has to find them. Tanaka."

Mr Nakamura sighed. "I suppose being hit with a tranquilizers won't penetrate that armor?" He asked, tapping the hard black tissue on your chest.

"No."

"I figured. You heard him, Aoi. Find his weakness."

Nakamura whistled. The match was on.

You stalked around the training ground, trying to find spots where he could be hiding. Trees, behind rocks, heck even the university building behind you.

Your world was black and white, making it harder to spot him. A paintball hit you in the neck. Close. But not enough.

You'd seen it in the corner of your eye, northwest. You turned in the general direction. Another blotch of pink paint appeared on your hip. Once again close but not close enough. A few inches down and you'd theoretically be unconscious.

You searched the area, your increased field of view making up for the lack of colour. A flash. No, a glint. Sun hitting steel. Aha. You stared straight at the shrubbery. The muzzle of the rifle peaking through a bush. You rushed towards him and a flurry of paintballs were shot your way. You dodged some of them now, those that would likely hit your joints. You were fast in this form and the near seven hundred meter stretch was shortened to twenty in seconds .

You leaped through the air, landing behind the sniper who was laying down on his stomach. You kicked the side of his leg playfully. "You're dead."

He groaned, dropping his gun. Then turned to you, giving another exasperated groan when he noticed the blotches of paint that were dangerously close to your joints.

"You did really well," you said, helping him up. "Your intuition was good. If you'd been two hundred meters closer, you'd have hit my joints easily. You're going to have to decide your distance from the opponent depending on the opponent themselves and then whether or not you're alone or supporting."

He nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, Sir."

"Fuck sake I know I'm old but don't remind me," you wailed dramatically. The young man chuckled.

~~~

"We're all going drinking this evening.  You joining?" Haga asked.

You shook your head. "I'd love to but Shouto is getting his exam results back today and I'm dragging him out to celebrate."

You could tell she'd used her quirk, because she was making eye contact with you and her gaze softened.

"Your...son?" She asked, slightly surprised.

"Oh no. No. He's a kid I babysit. He's a genius though and doesn't get enough recognition for it so I'm spoiling him today," you declared.

She smiled knowingly. "Well then, we'll see you tomorrow, (Y/N)."

"See you guys. Call me if the designated driver gets too drunk," you said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Yeah yeah whatever, Dad," Aoi teased. You pouted.

'If I'm a dad then you're a brat,' you thought spitefully.