the fire that rages within

sumiko-thelostchild:

Sumiko chuckled at his reaction. It was rare she found someone with such skill so modest. 

“How do I begin…” she murmured, smiling sheepishly. “I have this… Aaa… fear for anything to do with fire…” Her ears flushed in the embarrassment of actually admitting it in front of someone else.  

She cleared her throat, continuing. “And I hope that you can help me conquer it.” 

                                 “A-ah, is that so?“ The light feeling in his chest starts to sink into his stomach and it churns into nervousness, because he knows how that feels like. Pressing his thumb on his palm, he begins to tell her. "W-well, to conquer your fear of fire…w-would be a bit difficult…it’s not something that could be done overnight. H-However, I c-can…I can probably ease your image of it…" 

He removes a few lengths of his bandages from around his hands, revealing red blotches and scars, a result of trying to tame the element. "People think of fire as something… destructive. Uncontrollable. I used to think that too…b-but, sooner I realized that there is more than just the antagonistic nature of it—” He stands few feet back away from her, lifting his hand and forming a tiger seal. Slowly, he whistles a sharp sound, which suddenly produces a small, but brilliant blue-colored flame. 

                                 “—it’s actually, really beautiful.” He lets the fire sit on his fingers for a few seconds before flicking it away. “And it can be tamed, with patience and a lot of bandages. But later, you’ll realize that fire isn’t in itself to harm us; bad people just use it as a means to do so.”