The Border of Asakusa (Benimaru x Reader)

New Master

The town was quiet in the faint light of dawn as Mara made her way to the station. "Mara. Welcome." Gaku's voice was calm in the cool morning. He sat in the center of the courtyard, mediating as Beni often did, with two fingers up and two fingers down, and the sun wheel glowing behind him. Mara kneeled, then bowed. As mediation was not her forte, she hoped this wasn't going to be the first exercise. Beni was seated casually on the wood deck, sipping a cup of tea you made before you ducked out. After a minute of silence that was peaceful for the masters and painful for Mara, Gaku spoke. "Our first lesson will be on 2nd Generation Pyrokinesis."

"Um. Sir. Respectfully, I'm a 3rd Gen-"

"Beni." Gaku interrupted as he rose to his feet, his old bones cracking in the otherwise silent space. With his palm outstretch to his side, Beni conjured a fireball at least 3 feet wide, then launched it at Gaku. From a deep lunge, Gaku emitted his own flame, then deflected the ball back to Beni, who extinguished it one handed, still seated. Mara's mouth dropped. "So am I." Gaku said smoothly from a neutral stance.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought 3rd Gen's couldn't manipulate any flames but their own?" She asked, her speech almost frantic.

"That's what they tell you, yes. However, if you mix your own flames in, you should be able to control fire from any source. Now, to be clear, Captain Shinmon doesn't need to do that, he actually has 2nd Gen abilities. But. You'll be able to mimic them."

"Why wouldn't they teach us this at the academy?"

"A few reasons. First, they don't want more Beni's, as they seem to be struggling immensely with just 1." Beni crossed his arms with an amused smirk as Gaku continued. "Second, it's extremely challenging to do. But, I believe you've already spent years refining the skill and control required for a technique like this."

"Sir?"

"You control and store your combustion for incredible durations and distances. That focus and discipline will serve you well here." Gaku returned to a lunge. "We'll start with 'catch', but by the end of the day, I think you'll be able to fly, just like Beni can."

Mara looked to the captain in disbelief, but Beni smiled softly at her. "You got this, Mar."

"Mara. I'm reading Gaku's book. The Holy Sol temple ain't shit."

Mara showed the text to Gaku during their lunch break, who chuckled. "Benimaru, I'm impressed. I didn't think you knew anything about tantric sex."

"...about what?" Beni looked up from his noodles confused.

Gaku dropped his head. "You- didn't know that was what you were doing?"

"Now that you mention it, I feel like I've heard that somewhere before..."

"Jesus Christ." Gaku had learned that profanity from you. He shook his head on his way back out to the courtyard. "Mara. Grab a matoi." She cleared her throat after her suppressed laugh and nodded.

"Can you actually still fly Gaku?" Beni taunted from behind. Gaku lit his matoi, and hovered a few feet above the ground. Beni clicked his tongue and raised an eyebrow "I wish I could have seen you in your prime, old man. You might have been a challenge." Mara stood between the two. Beni tapped her on the shoulder with the long wooden stick. "It's all about controlling the speed and intensity of the burn. Enough to project you, not too much to burn your materials out too quickly. Should be a piece of cake for you."

Her master could see the pressure of Beni's assumptions on his new pupil's face. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "By that he means it should take you the rest of the day. Don't get discouraged if you blow up a few matoi, we have plenty" Gaku's gentle teaching style was not what Mara expected. It was... nice.