[lonewolf]

This was the third time. Mark didn't get it.

Sure, he had a small collection of firearms, one or two that weren't exactly legal within Japan. Sure, he was an expert marksman with just a revolver. Sure, he was a stickler for gun safety. But why were hero students of all things wanting to learn how to shoot guns? Didn't they come here to learn how to use their quirks? How to jump good? Truth, justice and the American way all that other stuff? Don't these fools know that a gun is one of the best ways to ruin someone's day?

He let out a sigh as he finished setting up his makeshift range, with targets going out to three meters, ten meters, and fifteen meters. His folding table had a series of protection equipment, a few different calibers of bullets, and a revolver lying on the table. He himself would have a pair of aviators on, The Carry in one hand as he sighted in at the farthest target. Each pull of the trigger a splat of paint would hit it, leaving a large mess on the left side of the target. Once empty he'd hit the magazine release, flip the gun upside down, and begin to reload with a single hand. It was not the most efficient way to reload, but if his other arm was incapacitated this would be the only way he could reload.

This all was in preparation for the new training session with Yoko. Who had a little bit of an attitude problem. At the very least, Mark could sass off and not get in trouble.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

After much waiting she finally found herself in possession of two weapons that would help her close the gap and catch up to her peers. Her armored umbrella and her gunbrella. The only issue was she may have the weapons, but she had no training wielding them. Some students were incredibly skilled with specific combat styles, whether it was weapons, martial arts, marksmanship etc. But her? What was she good at? Get mad and grow muscles? Was that really all she could do? There was a glaring fault in her quirk, one that she had felt all too deeply when she had sparred against Jun.

Her lack of range.

Sure, she was cooking up a supermove that would let her zap people from far away, but how often could she rely on it? She only had a couple of shots at best before it took her out of a fight, and besides aiming lightning isn't exactly an easy task. No, the gunbrella, this weapon was going to help give her a ranged option. Thankfully there was already a weapons and shooting expert at UAU who was more than willing to set up a training session for her.

''Yo, sensei.'' She greeted Lone Wolf casually, eyeing the makeshift range ahead. ''You can teach me how to aim a weapon, right? I need it for a piece of gear and for my supermove.'' She kept her hands in her pockets and generally looked disinterested and grumpy, but Yoko wasn't exactly someone who was good at making first impressions.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark reloaded his gun, namely by hitting the mag release with his thumb, letting the spent magazine hit the table, flipping the gun upside down while using two fingers to grab another magazine, flip it into the air and land it in the gun, tap it against the table and sending the slide forward. "I can," he says, bringing it up and letting loose on a target downrange. "But considering you've never held a gun before in your life, I ain't about to put a pea shooter in your hand and let you loose. We're going over safety first."

With his own practice over, he ejected the last magazine and set the gun down. "Considering you want this, what are the four basic rules to gun safety?" They were pretty easy to learn, but there were a lot of ignorant people who didn't know anything about guns or how to properly use them. He had to establish this first before anything important could be taught.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

She rolled her eyes. Great. Safety. She had hoped they could get right to it, that this could be a practical class about shooting. She already knew she was going to be terrible so she needed all the practice she could get. But no, instead it was turning into a class about proper safety, procedures, how to handle a weapon, he was probably going to assign her homework by the end too, ew. ''Fine.'' Maybe she could get to shooting if she nailed these four rules right away... But what were they?

She thought about it for a moment before responding. ''Don't point it at anyone unless you have to use it, only use it as a last resort, and hit the safety switch or whatever when you aren't using it.'' She shrugged. ''I wasn't told to learn about these rules beforehand.'' In truth, she totally could have been, but last weekend had been terrible, getting yelled at all day at work, waking up the next day with a terrible headache and her quirk acting up ever since she had started practicing her supermove. Lone Wolf Sensei here would have to excuse her if she wasn't exactly feeling amazing or cooperative today. ''So, what are the four rules, did I get any of that right?'' It felt a bit farfetched, but she did read a lot of books and watch a lot of film, foreign film too, so maybe just maybe some of the guns featured in foreign films translated to some vague notion of basic gun knowledge, although she was coping hard.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

This was the attitude he was afraid of. He had heard that, despite appearances, Yoko was astute and could even perform a few things that could surprise anyone. She was no prodigy, but she did have potential. It was part of the reason why he was as annoyed as he was at her. "Most gun related deaths and injuries are from people that don't know what the fuck they're doing," he says, moving his aviators down to look at her over his glasses. "I will not have any students on my range that don't take this seriously. Since we both agreed to have a session today, consider this your only warning." Lone Wolf was normally laid back and possibly the biggest smartass on campus, but considering his shift in tone and demeanor it was clear he took this very seriously.

"Out of four possible points, you only get a half point. The first one being never point a gun at anything you don't intend to destroy." He held up his thumb to accent this, followed up by his index finger. "Second point, unless you verify for yourself, every gun is loaded. Every gun. That includes whatever you come across in your daddy's attic or whatever gun store you visit. Which leads me to my next point." A new finger joins the party. "Until you're ready to shoot, you keep your booger hook off that trigger. Always." He set his hand down, pushing his aviators up. "Lastly, you always want to know what is behind your target. Contrary to popular belief, the human body barely provides any kind of resistance for bullets. Depending on the caliber and speed, most will pass right through a target."

He crossed his arms, taking in a deep breath. "As for the safety you might find on most firearms, you never want to rely on that. If anything, I'd advise against it 'cause it might cause more problems than what its worth. Now, I want you to explain the reasoning behind the four basic rules. You don't have to overthink them, they're common sense rules for a reason."

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

Ugh, great a lecture first thing in the lesson.

She had heard that Lone Wolf's gauntlets were infamously hardcore so she had hoped he would be chill and not a stickler for the rules, but here he was preaching about gun safety. ''What warning?'' She frowned, ''I'm taking this seriously otherwise I wouldn't be here!'' She raised her voice a little bit, but she couldn't help it when he was getting on her nerves. Most gun deaths are from people not knowing what they're doing. Yeah duh, that's why she was going to train and get really good and not be one of those people. However, rather than fight him on it she simply stuck her hands in her pockets and endured it. He was her only hope at learning all this stuff so she just had to suck it up.

''Half a point's better than no points.'' She muttered, a little offended and disappointed in herself that she did that poorly. No one had told her she would be quizzed, or if they did she wasn't listening at the time. ''You got it, teach.'' Despite being a sour little lady Yoko was actually a lot more cooperative than she was in most of her other hero related classes. She knew that Lone Wolf didn't have much patience when it came to her brash attitude and she did actually want to succeed, for once. Those damn nerds like Jun and Michael had gone and inspired her to improve. She froze up a bit at his next question. Giving it a few seconds before she replied.

''The rules were made to minimize the loss of life?'' Was the only response she could land on after reciting the rules back to herself in her head.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark was glad his aviators were tinted, because he rolled his eyes. "The rules were made to prevent people from looking down the barrel of their own guns and giving themselves a lobotomy with a full metal jacket. Most gun accidents happen 'cause people disregard one or more of the basic rules. Even if the school were payin' me to teach this I'd drill these concepts into your head."

He uncrossed his arms, indicating the revolver. "I'll show you how to use that peashooter there. Be careful with it, thing's older than the two of us put together. Spare parts are hard to find, too." He didn't like starting a lesson like this or even continuing if she didn't quite get the safety concepts. But hopefully this would be the only time she'd come to him for this kind of help.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

''Got it. Don't want any accidents to happen.'' Hmpf. Was he expecting her to know all this? It's not like she grew up surrounded by guns and could be expected to be an expert already. Whatever, even if Lone Wolf was demanding, at least he wasn't a complete shithead. She looked at the revolver when he pointed it out, making a note of being extra careful not to accidentally set her quirk off. Not that it ever really happened, it was so rare that she could be in a shouting match with someone and still retain control. Even so, the last thing she needed to do was piss off her only hope of learning how to shoot a gun legally.

''Okay then...'' She walked closer, looking at the gun first before she even considered taking her hands out of her pockets, handling it with as much care as possible like she was a surgeon holding a scalpel. Once she picked it up, she made sure to keep her finger far away from the trigger and point it at the ground before she turned to Lone Wolf. ''Extra careful, right? I can do that. So... How does the peashooter work?'' Yoko was gonna show that she could be a diligent student when she wanted to, patiently waiting for his instructions and playing it as safe and careful as she possibly could. She wasn't just wanting to learn to shoot a weapon for fun. She needed to expand her arsenal, and a ranged weapon like a gun would help cover for a glaring weakness in her quirk.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Now that Mark had provided the gravity of the situation, it was time to get to the brass tacks. Something that, regardless of how he felt, he had to carry through. He picks up a box of ammunition, setting it in front of her. "This is the caliber it takes. .22 is a small bullet, but good for starters. There should be a latch on the side to let you break it open. Load up, and I'll run you through how to shoot."

Mark indicated that the rear sight lifted up, the whole top of the gun rotating on a pivot that allowed the user to load the pistol. Nine cartridges could be held by the cylinder, and once ready Mark drew his own gun, setting himself up in a left-handed position as to better show Yoko what to do. "Alright, you want to be in a state of tense, but relaxed. You don't want to be too relaxed, 'cause then the recoil will rip the gun from your hands or bounce back and hit you in the face. 22 doesn't kick too bad, so you don't have to worry a whole lot about the recoil today. Likewise, you don't want to be too tense 'cause it'll mess up your shots. High volume is nice, but accuracy is even better. An inch could mean life or death."

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

She looked at the box of ammunition as he set it down in front of her. She was done giving him attitude since he had already shown he wasn't having any of it and she didn't exactly know a ton of gun experts who could help her learn so she couldn't afford to piss him off too much. She looked for the latch as instructed, both feeling her way to and looking for it. ''Got it.'' She loaded the gun slowly as he guided her, her hands were steady, she just clearly hadn't handled a gun before and so didn't have any kind of routine down.

''Recoil is that powerful?'' She asked him, before looking back down at the gun again. This one wasn't even that big, what a relief it didn't have powerful recoil. Although, that did mean she would need to get used to recoil when it came to handling her Gunbrella. Tense but relaxed, huh... That sounded like a pain in the neck. ''Hmm.. Got any tips for that? I know how to be tense, I know how to be relaxed.'' She made sure to keep the barrel of her gun pointed down as she took a deep breath and tried to tense up a bit, but not too much. ''How do I know if I'm too tense? Is it one of those things where I just have to try until I get it right?'' She thought handling guns would be a little easier than this. Maybe because Lone Wolf always made it seem so casual and easy.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

"Depends on the gun," he says, shrugging. "Something like a 44 magnum can easily do that. Depending on what you use, at most I'll have you on nine mil." He set his own gun down, looking over at her. How did he explain a concept like that? Consider...consider your muscles like bowstrings, and your bones like a bow. When you draw a bow back, no matter how strong you are you're going to struggle keeping that bow steady. You can achieve high accuracy with it, but you're still introducing high tension into the system." It didn't a lot of sense out loud. He might be a teacher, but he sucked at this.

"If you tense up too much, you're introducing those same shakes into your body. A gun is a precision instrument, a tool. An extension of your body. You can't be accurate or consistent if you're shaking due to tension. You know you're too tense if you shake while aiming, if you pull your shots, or struggle to maintain a sight picture." To him shooting was as easy as breathing to him...but what if the student in question was nervous? Oh shit, don't tell him she was getting nervous. He could not handle that, not at all.

"You want to keep a level of tension in your hands and arms. Easiest way I know to do that is to keep a firm grip on the gun. Not limp wristing it or having a death grip, but firm. Think of it as...controlling the recoil. The moment you pull the trigger the gun's first instinct is to move backwards. Because of the mechanics of your arm and the physics of levers, it will also want to go up. But you don't want that, you want a good sight picture." He set a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze; a little rough, but to demonstrate a point. "Your arms are connected to your shoulders. Even if you have a rifle in hand, you want to keep these relaxed. Tension here both affects your arms, which are doing the work, and your breathing. Taking a deep breath helps your body reset and relax, and being in a more relaxed state helps with accuracy and consistency." He wanted to add in, Shoot with your mind, not your hand. but that might go over her head.

Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

''I see.'' She didn't fully get it but she just nodded her head in agreement. She would probably learn the intricate differences between guns as she went anyways. Lone Wolf was teaching her the basics and she wasn't expecting to become an expert based off of one gun safety lesson. ''So it's a balancing act.'' She looked down at her own hands, imagining what she would feel like taking aim with her own gun and how she shouldn't tense up too much in the heat of the moment, because knowing herself she knew she was going to tense up and the trick would be dialing it back to find that sweet spot.

She continued to listen to his instructions, going through the process of gripping the gun in her mind too. She looked at his hand briefly as he put it on her shoulder. ''Deep breaths...'' She took a couple of deep breaths, as if she was actively observing and monitoring how her body was feeling while going through the steps. Then something clicked for her and she couldn't help but blurt it out. ''Just like in anger management class.''

''With practice, I assume that gets easier to manage when you've got a villain trying to attack you too.'' She looked up at him, feeling more relaxed than she usually was. Maybe she spent a lot of time tensing her body in her day to day life too? ''Since that'd get pretty tense too. Being attacked all while you have to aim and fire your weapon.'' She didn't want to say it directly, but she was fishing for stories. He was a pro and had probably seen and been through a lot.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark didn't want to question the anger management comment. Each person had their own personal demons, and if there was one thing he had learned it was that UAU was full of trauma ridden, narcissistic, and troubled young adults. His job was to make sure they were cautious in their actions and to never assume they were completely safe. You know, like an asshole.

Her other comments, though. They were legitimate questions. "If there's one thing I gotta urge, it's drilling. 'Practice how you play', something that a lotta football coaches like to tell their players. There's many different methods to adopt and account for, but lets not get ahead of ourselves." He took a step back, indicating one of the closer targets. "Snap the thing shut, and bring the gun up. I'll show you how to aim, and adjust your position for a good firing base."

Once she did so he'd move to her side, making minor adjustments so she had a good firing position. He'd show her the back slot and front post that made up the sights, explaining how to line those up and take aim at a target. Once he felt like she had a handle on things he'd step back to let her fire off a few rounds.

Yanai Yoko