Zeroed In (Sinon X Reader)

"Remember. Make every shot count."

On the top of a tall skyscraper, there were two snipers scouting the buildings below. You were kneeling by the edge, aiming through a rifle scope. Beside you was the most powerful sniper in Gun Gale Online, Sinon. She was spotting potential targets for you.

"See anything?"

"No, not yet." She looked over at you. "Are your crosshairs aligned? The wind's starting to pick up."

"It is? Hang on."

You lifted up your head from the scope, to see the windage knob on your Axis II XP rifle. Sinon patted your head, then pushed it down back to the scope.

"Don't look at the knob. You know the distance between each click?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then go by the clicks."

"Okay, okay."

You turned the knob away from yourself, adjusting the crosshairs to the left. Sinon looked back through her range finder, looking right, then left. She paused at one point, and whispered to you.

"Found one. Look to your left."

You turned your rifle and your body to the left. Far below, on the first floor in one of the high-rises, there was a mid-level player scavenging for weapons.

"What's the distance?"

"400 yards."

In your scope were many markings denoting different distances. You raised the rifle until the small speck in the distance was aligned with the 400 mark. A few zoom adjustments, and the scavenger came into a clear view. There was a strong sway in your aim, but you tried to point the crosshair at the player's chest.

"Remember what we practiced. Deep breaths."

You inhaled through your nose.

"In through your nose, out through your mouth."

You exhaled.

"Three times."

You inhaled again, then exhaled again.

"One more."

You deeply inhaled, then emptied your lung. Your aim stabilized, but was not completely still. In the moment of silence following, you lightly pulled on the trigger. From out the barrel came an explosion, propelling a bullet at high speeds toward your target. The sudden kick, and loud bang shocked you, while you stumbled backward. Sinon still observed the player, who had not been hit. A small cloud of dust popped up to the right of them, on the box they were searching. They became spooked, looked behind them, and started running away from the box, well out of sight. You walked back to the edge, next to Sinon, excited to hear her judgement.

"How was that?"

She put down her range finder and sighed. "Off by a little. I think you might have overcompensated with the windage."

A wave of disappointment swept over you. "Oh... not again."

Sinon crawled over to you and placed a hand on your shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You'll get better at it. I'll help you practice whenever you need me."

"Okay, thanks. But do you think you could see if I'm doing anything else wrong?"

"Sure. Go ahead and aim at the box they were searching."

You followed her instruction, resetting the zoom on your scope, and pointing your rifle back at the box. The hole from the first shot was still there.

"You got it? Okay, let me check your heartbeat before you empty your lung."

Sinon crawled behind you, and wrapped her arms around you, going beneath your arms, and ultimately placing both of her hands on your chest. She tilted her head forward, where her forehead connected with the back of your hair.

"It's a little too quick. Just rest a bit first."

You tried to relax your body, but having Sinon's arms wrapped around you made it difficult. A light blush appeared on your cheeks, where it couldn't be seen.

"Do you need me to let go?" She giggled.

"Yes... please."
She removed her arms from around you, allowing your heartbeat to return to normal. Sinon observed your movements, as you aimed toward the box.

"You're breathing correctly?"

"It isn't deep yet."

"That explains the shaking. Whenever you're ready, empty your lung, but don't shoot."

After a small pause, you took three deep breaths, following the same pattern as before, and held your state after the third exhale. While your shaking did decrease significantly, it was still enough to disrupt your aim. Sinon took note of this.

"Looks like your hands aren't completely stable. Hmm, do you mind if I lent a hand?"

You took a small breath. "If it helps me snipe, anything will do."

"Hang on."

She crawled beside you, and reached her right arm toward your back. Without moving the rifle, you turned to Sinon, and saw her extended arm. You nodded, as if in agreement to something you didn't know. She wrapped her right arm around your neck, and grabbed your wrist, resting on the grip. With her left arm, she grabbed your other wrist, holding onto the front of the rifle. Another blush appeared on your face, as well as Sinon's. The both of you shared a short smile, before you returned your attention to your scope. After affixing your eyes through the scope, you took three more deep breaths, and emptied your lung one last time. With Sinon holding onto your arms, your aim was more stable. Silence for a moment, then a loud bang from your rifle. The kick was much more manageable, and didn't throw you backward. Sinon dashed to her range finder, and checked the box target. There was a bullet hole in the middle of the X shape.

"Did you aim for the center of the box?"

"Yeah, did I do it this time?"

She put down her range finder, returning a wide grin. "Yes! You did it!"

You put down your rifle, with unmistakable joy. Before you could say a word, Sinon briskly walked to you and hugged you, catching you off guard.

"See? All it took was a little practice."

You laughed, and hugged her. "Well, at this rate, I'll be making waves in the community."

"Hold on there. If you wanna do that, you're going to have to enter in a tournament or two."

"You think I could win one?"

"No. But we'll never know unless I see you try. The Bullet of Bullets is this weekend. I'm expecting to see you there."

"Got it."

The two of you began walking toward the stairs at the edge of the skyscraper, both content at seeing someone learn a new skill.