#spark 12

“You might have to make a move,” Konro mumbles in passing, causing his friend to freeze, “or one of the guys might try their luck.”

Benimaru scoffs as nonchalantly as he knows to.

“Hey, waka!” one of the guys hollers, “you just gonna stand there?”

No one but Benimaru notices the eye-roll from the guest, but they do hear the biting comment. “I thought he was all talk and no bite.”

“Ooh!” Out of nowhere, the twins have appeared and begin to egg on the guys as they tease both [Y/N] and  their involuntary leader in the hopes of a match.

...   Reader   ...

There is only one rule: make the other give up. Squaring off in front of Benimaru, you hope that he won’t use any of his pyrochinetic abilities, though, because he’s going to be plenty of a challenge even without. Knowing firsthand how quickly he can move (and judging by the rather perfect arms), it’s fair to expect that he knows how to fight.

You can feel his gaze take in every tiny movement you make, causing a bubbly or fluttery feeling to tickle your stomach. No distractions. Shutting out the cheers and cautionary commentary, you begin to circle the man.

There have been bigger guys. Men without any notion of friendliness and fair play who found it convenient to prey on solitary girls. Most of them were sluggish, prone to going down hard and staying down.

Benimaru? You doubt he’ll fall for something simple but as long as you can boost his ego there’s a chance he’ll underestimate you. As usual. Your first, obvious, swipe proves the theory as he sidesteps with a sigh. He even allows you close enough to land a few clumsy punches to his arms before retreating once more.

“You too chicken to fight a girl?” Your words are honoured with cheers from the present members of Company Seven but the best payout is the tick in Benimaru’s jaw as he bites back whatever snarky answer he has come up with.

Reaching further, he dives into the match without hesitation and you barely manage to dodge the fist coming at your face.

Sidestepping and blocking the blows, you bite back the pain in your arms as you wait for the opportune moment. Slide to the left. Swipe with your right wrist. Pushing his punch upwards with your left and there! There it is: the opening you’ve been waiting for! You step close and feel your knuckles dig in and up under his ribs before the abs tense and force your hand back. Smiling at the wheezing gasp, you roll out of the way before popping back onto your feet, defensive stance at the ready.

“One zero to [Y/N],” the twins announce happily.

...   Benimaru   ...

Perhaps he is supposed to go easy on her, seeing as she’s a woman, but even if she’s not volunteered for duty as part of the fire force, he expects [Y/N] to live up to nearly the same requirements as any man on the team. Or maybe that’s wrong? Running a hand through his hair, Benimaru reconsiders for a moment before pushing away the contradicting notions. Whichever is the right or wrong thing, he’s sure Konro will let him know the moment he crosses an invisible line, and either way: it felt good to win after that first sucker punch.

“Hey, waka,” one of the guys pokes his head into the room that constitutes an office, “someone’s here to see ya.”

Nodding, Benimaru doesn’t bother looking up from the budget spread out over the desk until he hears a polite cough.

“Captain Benimaru Shinmon,” the words flow like sticky syrup from underneath the mask, “it’s been a while.”

Creep. “My name’s Shinmon Benimaru.” The announcement is followed by an (on one side) awkward silence – very few understand and respect the old ways anymore. “What brings you here?”

Stepping forward as if invited, the long-legged man perches himself on a chair with a flourish. “I am Giovanni, captain of Company Three, and -”

“I know.”

Startled by the boredom in Benimaru’s voice, it takes a moment for Giovanni to recover. “Well...yes. Yes, then...then you must know that I am an avid scientist!” The statement doesn’t have the desired effect, it seems. “One captain to the other, we ought to share knowledge that could be vital for the fight against spontaneous human combustion, wouldn’t you agree? And as such, it’s only logical to work together in gathering information and finding new recruits suitable for the cause.”

[Y/N]. “If we had anything worth sharing, we’d make sure to do so through the correct channels.” The glasses and the mask makes it impossible to establish proper eye contact, but somewhere in there – in the darkness – a pair of beady eyes are probably watering as Benimaru stares the outsider down. “Now, unless you have anything...I’m busy.”

The butt of the cane cracks onto the floor sharply. “I refuse to leave before I get an answer.”

“To what now?”

“There are rumours of a girl, an unregistered pyrochinetic.”

Of course there are. “So?” Benimaru scoffs indignantly, “unless there’s any solid evidence...?”