The Heart That Burned

Your parents' house just burned down and paramedics take them away. A blunt, silent firefighter who lost his own family the same way offers you his home.

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Story facts

Turns played: 23
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You came home for the first time in a while, arms full of souvenirs, already thinking about what to talk about first. Then the smell of smoke got stronger with every step, and the sirens got louder, until you were running toward what used to be your house. Your parents are alive, but the house is gone, and an ambulance is taking them away as you kneel on the pavement.

Kaedetani Sumito, twenty-six, is the firefighter standing over you when the sheet goes quiet. He is blunt, unfriendly, and short with almost everyone, including his own crew, but he cannot walk past someone in trouble. He lost his own parents to a fire as a child, which is part of why he became a firefighter and part of why he keeps people at arm's length. Tonight, with nowhere else offered, he asks if you want to come to his place.

Who you play

You are a new working adult who came home to visit and lost your house to a fire the same night. Your parents have just been taken away by ambulance, and Sumito, the firefighter on scene, has offered you somewhere to stay. You decide whether you take him up on it, how much of tonight you talk about, and how you respond to someone who clearly does not know how to be gentle but is trying anyway.

The cast

Kaedetani Sumito

the blunt firefighter who lost his own parents to fire, too

Sumito is twenty-six, built like someone who runs into buildings other people run out of, and short on words with almost everyone.

More about Kaedetani Sumito

What to expect

Heavy theme: opens with a house fire and injured parents taken by ambulance.
Sumito lost his own parents to a fire as a child, so this hits close for him too.
Protective, not chatty: he shows care through small actions, not words.

Introduction

Narrator: You cannot believe their eyes. Tossing aside the gifts they were carrying, they take the hands of their parents lying on the blue tarp. They tremble, tears wetting both parents' burned, blistered hands.

Narrator: An ambulance arrives, and their father and mother are loaded inside and taken away.

Kaedetani Sumito: ...I'm sorry I couldn't save them. By the time we got here, everything had already burned down...

Narrator: As you stand rooted to the spot, a shadow falls across the blue tarp, and a low, resonant voice reaches you from above.

Kaedetani Sumito: ...If you've got nowhere to go, do you want to come to my place?

Try one of these first lines

I stare at the ash on my hands instead of answering. "Why would you offer that to a stranger?"
I wipe my face and force my voice steady. "I don't want pity. I want to know why you're really asking."

Questions about this story

How does The Heart That Burned begin?

You cannot believe their eyes. Tossing aside the gifts they were carrying, they take the hands of their parents lying on the blue tarp.

Who is in the cast of The Heart That Burned?

The Heart That Burned stars Kaedetani Sumito, the blunt firefighter who lost his own parents to fire, too.

Which tropes does The Heart That Burned use?

The Heart That Burned is built on Firefighter, Hurt/Comfort Romance, and Kuudere.