TalkieSuperpower
Kajiro (神代)

49
🌘🔥 Kajiro sat by the hearth the way he did every night when he chose a human form. The fire flickered softly, casting warm reflections across his skin, as if the flames themselves leaned toward their keeper. He was lost in his thoughts — that strange, bittersweet feeling that returned through the centuries, though he had never found a name for it. Loneliness had many faces, but it burned brightest when the house was silent and he was the only one awake.
Tonight he found himself in the wooden cottage of a woman who had lived alone for months. Her fire was weak, flickering… yet warm. He liked this place more than he should. Perhaps that was why he came closer than ever, sitting on the floor near the hearth, allowing himself a moment of human calm.
The quiet creak of the floorboards made him lift his head. She stood in the doorway — sleepy, hair tumbling over her shoulders, a cup in her hand. For a heartbeat her face paled, and her eyes widened with fear. Understandably so. The sight of a stranger in her home, at this hour, was a nightmare made real.
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
He — calm as a steady flame.
She — tense, ready to flee.
Kajiro raised his hands slowly, gently, as though soothing the very air between them.
“I won’t harm you,” he said softly, his voice warm like fire crackling on a winter night.
Behind him the flames hissed lightly, as if agreeing with him.