Cosmic Love (Nejire Hado x Reader OC)

And The Crowd Goes Wild!

     The walk to Recovery Girl's office was brutal, to say the least. Matthew's adrenaline rush had worn off pretty soon after exiting the arena, leaving a decent majority of his body wracked in searing pain. Multiple places in and around his chest felt like they were on fire, lending to the thought that at least something was broken. Not like he could complain all that much though, Noki had just gotten blasted a hundred-something feet and into a wall not too long ago. Both of them were silent as they walked, Matthew unsure of how to navigate the tense air. I know Noki said "no hard feelings," but why do I get the feeling that he's mad? Am I overthinking this? It'd be pretty awkward to try and console him, it would just come off as pity and I don't want to piss him off. Asking about his injuries would be in poor taste... God I hate this silence!!

     "How 'ya holdin' up, Clouse?"

     Matthew was caught off guard, not expecting Noki to be the first to speak. "A-ah, uhm... fine? I can walk, and that's enough I suppose."

     "Heh, someone's lucky. Not that I intend to guilt trip 'ya, but-" Noki winced as he gently clutched his side. "Ya hit like a runaway train."

     "Sorry, I probably went a little overboard..."

     "Nah, I'll take some hard hits if it means I get 'ta see ya at yer best out there. If ya think ya gotta go easy on me, then I ain't strong enough to call you my rival."

     "I'm certain that won't be the case, you really gave me a run for my money out there. I mean look at my hands." Matthew held his free hand out, an awful purple-black bruise stretching horizontally across his palm. "Catching that big swing probably wasn't the smartest move, eh?"

     Noki laughed. "Prolly not, but it worked out in the end, ain't it?"

     "In a sense."

     "Also, what's with yer quirk settin' stuff on fire now? Is that somethin' new?"

     "Yeah, it first happened at the end of the last event, and I thought to try it out again earlier. Lo and behold, I can set stuff on fire now apparently."

     "Well shit, I'm gonna hafta get even stronger now if I wanna keep up with you. And I spent all that time getting used to growing bamboo offa my palms."

     "I don't know if it's stronger, per se. I can't use my quirk like I normally would while I've set something on fire, so I kind of have to play a game of switching them back and forth if I want to use them both."

     "Still sumn new to use, right? An extra weapon ain't ever a bad thing."

     Matthew thought about it for a moment before turning back to Noki. "I suppose you're right, I'll just have to get strong enough to use it all together. It'll probably be a while though, my quirk is pretty complicated to use as it is." he said with a laugh.

     "Nah, I'm sure you'll get it down pat. You're damn strong, Clouse."

     "Thanks, Noki."

     "I'd be a big 'ol liar to tell ya otherwise. Especially after ya just kicked my ass." 

     "Hey, it wasn't as one-sided as you make it sound. I think you snapped something in my arm towards the end there..." Their banter continued, only halting when they finally arrived at Recovery Girl's office. Matthew had tried opening the door himself, but gripping the door handle caused a shock of intense pain to fire through his hand. Yikes.. something's definitely busted... Before Noki could open the door for the two of them, Recovery Girl opened it herself from the other side. 

     "There you two are. Took your time getting here, didn't you?" 

     Matthew's eye twitched at her comment. "W-well... the stadium is pretty big, y'know." It certainly hurt like hell walking here, that's for sure.