Fire follows Akihiko Sanada. His life is destined to go up in flames. This is what he believes. Fire makes him suffer and there is no escaping it. It always burns.

He doesn't remember the first time it happened. He's only heard whispers among social workers which turned into playground myths before developing into bedtime stories told by cruel, mocking children. They said a fire had killed his parents, and that's how he and Miki wound up in the orphanage. They'd still been young at the time. Akihiko doesn't remember it. It remains a whisper, a myth, a bedtime story.

Then there was the orphanage itself. He remembers the sky filled with glorious orange and the air laced with burning. Miki was afraid of fire, he recalls. Perhaps he should feel guilty. But it's been so long now… Gotta be at least 20 years… He shakes his head. He doesn't know Miki anymore. He should feel guilty. But he doesn't.

He wanted to protect her. That's why he'd started boxing in the first place. Then it had turned out he had a natural flair for it. For once he thought things might actually be looking up for him. He sailed through competitions with ease. He was going to become a household name, they said, it was just a matter of time.

And that's when the fire struck again. He'd been training late in the boxing hall one night. Everyone else was long gone, it was just him and the punch bags. The eerie silence should've tipped him off, he supposes. But it didn't, and it was too late to do anything about it. He hadn't been able to get out in time, and he'd inhaled enough smoke by the time they got to him to permanently damage his lungs. That was the end of his boxing career and all of his supposed friends had vanished from his life practically overnight. Words were cheap, Akihiko learned, so he turned to drink as he watched his world collapse.

He barely remembers life for a long time after that. One thing he does remember is meeting Shinjiro Aragaki again. The boys had been friends in the orphanage, but Shinji had followed had taken a bad path while Akihiko was the golden boy. He scoffed at that. Things had evened out, hadn't they? Shinjiro empathised with Akihiko. He understood what he was going through. So they wasted away together until one day Shinjiro had too much, put a gun in mouth and pulled the trigger.

Akihiko was alone after that until Mitsuru found him. It was destiny, he'd say, but Mitsuru didn't like that word. She preferred to call it serendipity. Either way, Akihiko knew he was blessed. She saw him one day in an underground parking lot. She was there on business, with her crisp white shirt and heels that click-clacked against the asphalt and a sleek, black, state-of-the-art mercedes, while he was dressed in tattered rags, merely seeking out some shelter and, if he was lucky and security didn't see him, somewhere to sleep for the night. Mitsuru still claimed to this day that she didn't know what had made her do it exactly. It was just something about how their eyes met, the flash of recognition that caused her to stop in her tracks and drop her car keys. Before she knew it, she'd offered him a hot meal and a place to stay for the night.

Akihiko had felt awkward in the huge mansion. The way his footsteps echoed through the vast space made him uneasy. The luxury en suite in the room Mitsuru had put him up in for the night was far bigger than any bathroom he'd ever seen before. He'd taken a shower before dinner and it was so long since he'd felt hot water on his skin that it burned a little at first. When he emerged, his skin was clean for the first time he could remember in a long time. A navy, expensive-looking suit had been laid out on the bed for him. It felt uncomfortable when he put it on, like he was pretending to be something he wasn't.

"You look well," Mitsuru had commented "It suits you"

He thanked her the next day for her hospitality and kindness. She asked him to stay another night. He refused. So she kissed him. They made their way to her room and collapsed onto her bed before he accepted the offer. She told him to shut up and kiss her. He did so hungrily, and the night faded into a dizzy memory of passion and lust.

And so Akihiko Sanada was saved.