By Zephyria 
As Dane turned to him with a frown, DeAndre asked with a surprised expression.
“What are you doing? You’re going to make Miller work? Are you serious?”
DeAndre looked back and forth between Grayson and Dane with an unbelievable expression. Dane replied to him in his usual, tiresome tone.
“He needs to do something instead of just standing around. I taught him how to spray water, so he can do it.”
“Taught him? You? Miller?”
DeAndre asked again, surprised. Dane answered without hesitation.
“Yeah.”
Goodness, what is going on? The guy who always says he’s ‘annoyed’ even taught Miller himself? Really? Seeing his wide eyes, Dane added as if it were obvious.
“The sooner the job is done, the sooner we can go rest, you idiot.”
“Ah.”
That was a plausible answer. He always looked bored and annoyed whenever they went on a Deployment. Dane Striker was the laziest man he knew, who just wanted to loaf around. He was practically a bum.
…Still, it didn’t make sense that he would go out of his way to do something so bothersome just to get off work early.
As DeAndre’s attitude softened, Dane gestured with his chin, as if annoyed, and ordered.
“You do your job, and don’t waste time loitering around.”
“…Okay.”
He didn’t want to, but he had nothing more to say. Dane took his eyes off his retreating back and glanced at Grayson. Grayson wore his signature smile as if nothing had happened. Dane said curtly.
“How many times do I have to tell you to get rid of that face?”
It wasn’t the time to grab him and talk about this and that. The sounds of fire and the shouts of his colleagues were mixed up loudly. Dane quickly told Grayson what to do and then put on his equipment. He was getting ready to enter. Grayson moved to hold the hose and spray water as he was told. Once he was in position, Dane immediately turned on the water. A strong stream of water poured over the flames, creating a hazy rainbow.
“Good job, keep doing that.”
Dane lightly tapped Grayson on the shoulder and then finished preparing to go inside with Ezra.
“Are there any people inside?”
Wilkins nodded at Ezra’s question.
“Everyone has evacuated. You guys go in first and…”
Dane, who was standing with Ezra listening to him, suddenly noticed a man. Wilkins followed his gaze and said, “Ah.”
“That’s the homeowner. He came home from work and reported the fire.”
“He lives alone, it seems.”
Wilkins nodded at Ezra’s words.
“He’s divorced. His wife left.”
The man was standing there blankly, staring at the burning house. His wife left, and now he’s about to lose all his property, so it’s no wonder he’s out of his mind. Dane even felt like he understood him to some extent. Maybe it was because of the sense of camaraderie from losing a house in a fire.
Leaving them to focus on Wilkins’ words again, DeAndre joined the busy colleagues. As soon as he arrived, one of them asked as if they had been waiting.
“What’s going on?”
It was about Grayson. DeAndre glanced in the direction he had come from and said.
“I don’t know, Dane must have taught him roughly. I guess he thought it would help if he did something…”
“It would help, but will that bastard do it right?”
Another guy spoke up, dissatisfied. Soon, words poured out from here and there.
“Who would trust Miller? They trust Dane.”
“It’s a relief if he doesn’t cause an accident.”
“Anyway, let’s check in from time to time. Everyone’s busy, but…”
“Right, we need to go and fix it right away if we think something’s wrong.”
The firefighters high-fived each other and hurriedly began to move to carry out their assigned tasks. And Dane and Ezra went into the fire.
The inside of the house was already mostly reduced to ashes. The space was soaked by the water pouring over the burning structures and collapsed, leaving almost no space left. Stepping over the debris, Dane looked around and examined the interior of the house, passing the collapsed walls and furniture. As he had already heard, there was no sign of anyone. As he swung the hose of the fire extinguisher on his shoulder here and there to put out the remaining embers, he continued to hear the sounds of burning and collapsing.
“It looks like it’s almost over.”
Ezra said, coming out of another room.
“Was the report late? It’s burned down so completely…”
He found it after work, so it couldn’t be helped, but there were still questions. If no one was home, how did the fire start?
“It looks like the fire started here.”
Ezra said as he entered a space that was particularly blackened and charred. It was a child’s playroom, and the already burned dolls and children’s beds were barely recognizable. He was still putting out the visible fire and looking around inside.
“…?”
Dane, who had turned toward the bed, stopped. He felt something strange. Under the bed, there was something that shouldn’t be there…
“Dane?”
Ezra shouted in surprise at the sight of Dane immediately bending down. Soon after, Ezra saw what Dane had found under the bed and gasped in horror. There was a dead child, blackened, under there.
Dane, who had taken the child out in a hurry, froze in shock for a moment. The remaining flesh was covered in bruises and bloodstains. There was no healthy skin to be found.
“W-What is all this?”
Ezra also muttered in a trembling voice. It was clear to anyone that the injuries were by no means caused by the fire. Dane didn’t waste any more time and hurriedly ran outside with the child in his arms.
Those bastards think I’m an idiot.
Grayson suppressed his rising irritation and focused on spraying water. The other guys had been glancing at him constantly since earlier. He knew what that gaze meant. They were watching him anxiously, worried that Grayson might make a mistake. Grayson was just dumbfounded by that fact.
All I have to do is spray water, what’s so difficult about that?
Besides, he was quite focused right now. He wanted Dane to think he was useful when he came back. If possible, he’d like a kiss too…
It was when he was slightly raising the corners of his mouth. Suddenly, he heard a commotion. He soon found out the reason. Dane ran out in a hurry. With a young child in his arms.
“Oxygen, give me oxygen!”
“Dane, this way! Lay him down here, quickly!”
“Prepare CPR, quickly…!”
The paramedics ran around urgently, but the commotion didn’t last long. They urgently massaged his heart and supplied oxygen, but it was already too late. Everyone knew that. A heavy silence fell. Ezra put his hand on Dane’s shoulder, who was just staring blankly.
“It was already too late when we first saw him, you knew that.”
Dane looked back at him blankly and then turned his gaze back to the child. He drooped his shoulders powerlessly and belatedly took off his helmet and covered his face with one hand. The child’s face, visible between his fingers, was blackened and charred in places. There was no life in his limp body. How terrified he must have been in that hot fire. How much he must have suffered and desperately waited for help. How much, how much.
Then, anger surged within him. Dane immediately turned his head and looked in the direction where the man who was said to be the owner was standing. He was still there. Even though this commotion had occurred, he was just standing there blankly, blinking his eyes as if it were someone else’s business.
“Dane, Dane?”
“Hey, where are you going?”
People shouted in surprise as he suddenly started walking as if running. Grayson also stopped spraying water and followed Dane’s gaze. And the next moment.
With a loud thud, Dane punched the man.
“Was it you?”
Leaving the surprised firefighters behind, Dane shouted at the man who had fallen to the ground.
“You killed him, you son of a bitch!”