Even Fire Is Defeated By The Rain [Suegiku AU]

your name is my name too

(A/N: the lowercase letters are intentional)

All day, lugging equipment. The hose, heavy with innumerable gallons of kerosene, the ladder to reach the tops of attics (just in case any texts had been shoved into the tight nooks and crannies), the flamethrower. Not to mention the weight of the fireproof uniform all firemen wear to protect themselves from the flames they spread.

It's easy. Turn the dial, turn in a slow circle and spread the flammable liquid everywhere. Then let gravity drop the lit match. But Suehiro Tetchou is never more at ease than when he's going home.

'Going? What about while at home, surely that's more relaxing?' You must ask.

Yes, home is quiet. Too quiet. Eerily silent, so much so that his ears ring.

"Why don't you just get a wife, or better yet, give in and buy a parlour wall if you're so lonely? You only have to pay the cost of your own living, it can't hurt your wallet that much." the man he'd describe as his best friend, Jouno Saigiku asked him when he brought up the strange feeling the silence created in him.

Yet nothing compares to the mind-calming motion of walking, especially when done alone, near midnight. When he walks his mind goes blank, a fresh snowbank, no longer tainted by the hot glow of fire and flame. In this empty white space, he hears it. The rustle of a child's footsteps. A sound he hasn't heard in a long time.

He stops and turns his head. The sidewalk is empty. There's a tapping from behind him. He spins quickly, holding his lighter out like a sword in front of him.

A blond boy wearing a worn shirt and faded overalls stands before him, smiling. His gaze seems to follow the fire. His eyes seem like small fires themselves.

'No, that isn't right,' Tetchou thinks, but can't remember for the life of him where he's seen that kind of glow before.

The boy holds leaves, still with stems as if picked straight from a tree, in his hand. They sway in the gentle night breeze.

Tetchou is absolutely sure he's never seen him before. He would've noticed, surely.

The boy's smile seems to grow as Tetchou takes in the details of him.

"What are you doing out this late? You're not from around here, are you?" Tetchou asks him. He swears he can see smudges of long dried-in dirt on the knees of the boy's overalls.

The boy just keeps smiling. He's not intimidated in the slightest, ignoring the question and extending his hand. "Hi! I'm Miyazawa Kenji. How do you do?"

The name stirs something in Tetchou, even more so than the formal greeting. A memory soaked in heat, but not from flame, from sun. A sun-soaked memory, and it's gone before he can fully grasp it. It leaves Tetchou more disappointed than he's felt in a long while.

'What a silly thing.' he thinks, shaking his head. "Like the author?" Tetchou asks sceptically. He must have seen the name among other contraband in a few of the houses he's burnt. 'Yes, that has to be it.'

A little disappointed at the long pause, the boy drops his hand. The bright smile returns to his face quickly. "Yup! What's your name?"

He should say Yuujirou. That's what everyone he knows calls him. Saying his given name hardly makes any sense. But for some reason, it feels like the right thing to do.

'Well, I'll probably never see this kid again.'

After a second's hesitation, he shrugs and answers."Suehiro Tetchou."

"Ooh! So you're named after an author too! We're like twins!"

Tetchou flinches back at the old-fashioned word. "I am?"