Give a proper farewell

The young man with faded teal hair wandered through the pitch-dark forest. He crossed the darkness with hesitant steps, looking around for any sign of life. When the shadows became too thick for him to see, he pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight.

Natsuo had received a phone call in the middle of the night while staring up at the ceiling deep in thought.

He had been hopeful that it was the hospital, letting him know that his partner had woken up after being in a coma for over two months, but it wasn't - it was a panicked call from his boyfriend's acquaintance, pleading with him to come to the forest, far away from the city as quickly as possible.

Shoji had given him coordinates, and Natsuo had taken a cab, but the yakuza urged him to get out when they reached the forest's edge. He had no idea what to look for, but he knew something crucial was waiting for him - and more likely, something very bad.

The young man wearing a black jacket walked deeper into the woods. The trees were tall and ancient with moss-covered trunks, shading him from the moonlight. The ground was moist and slippery from the recent rain, so his sneakers were smeared with mud.

Then, he heard a loud crack, followed by rustling leaves.

"Put that a-away!" a male voice hissed at him.

Natsuo jumped back and spun around, accidentally dropping his phone as a result. A black-haired man stepped out of the bush, his eyes puffy and red as if he had cried all night.

"What is it, Shoji? Why am I here?" he sighed as he picked up his smartphone and turned off the flashlight.

"I'm g-glad you made it here safely," Shoji said as he wiped his eyes. His suit was wrinkled and his shirt was untucked, making it obvious that he had been through a long day.

Natsuo had an ominous feeling as he looked at him. His instincts told that he had guessed true - something terrible had happened when he saw how scared and desperate he appeared to be.

"I'm sorry for bothering you... I didn't know... who else to call and... y-you have to h-help me..."

Natsuo noticed an older car awkwardly parked further away. It looked like it had been driven recklessly when its front end was almost in the ditch.

"It wasn't my fa-fault, I swear... I swear I tried..."

Natsuo headed to the car, his steps slow and measured. He cautiously opened the creaky back seat door and peered inside, seeing something wrapped in white linen.

His breath hitched as he realized it was a human body, frigid and still. When he removed the clothing, he saw a lifeless figure with a woman's face - her eyes were shut and her lips were parted as if she was sleeping peacefully.

Natsuo stared blankly at her, recognizing his friend's familiar features. Shoji's furious cries echoed through the eerie and dark forest as he collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I couldn't do a-anything, I'm s-sorry, you have to believe me, I'm so - "

Natsuo rushed back and slapped the yakuza on the face without even thinking about it - his blue eyes had a wild, wide look as he stared at him. The man fell silent and stopped howling.

"What the fuck happened?" the teal-haired one asked gritting his teeth.

Shoji painfully slowly explained how one of their leaders had come looking for Jiro, who was supposed to kill a well-known criminal. This felon had a cruel fetish for strangling his partners, usually prostitutes from yakuza-owned brothels.

"Takuya thought... perhaps they just set him up to fail so they could punish him... they had decided to kill... brother Takuya since he couldn't do his task... I never revealed what happened to him exactly or w-where he is now, I s-swear..."

"But she has nothing to do with that!"

"I know... she was ordered to kill the criminal instead of Takuya... but she... she wasn't able to..."

It was as if someone inside Natsuo had put the pieces together - she had been sacrificed to save the yakuza's resources and died protecting her friend.

He returned to the car, retrieved the petite body from its resting place, and placed it on the ground. Her head drooped lifelessly to the side, exposing dark bruises on her neck. She was cold to the touch, her skin pale and her lips purple.

Tears dropped from the young man's blue eyes as he stared at his friend's motionless face. Natsuo choked back a sob as he gently brushed away a strand of black hair from her forehead.

"A-Ayumi..."

His voice was a weak whisper, almost unnoticeable in the silence. He carefully picked her up in his arms, cradling her body against his chest, desperately trying to wake her by repeating her name.

(Later that night)

The darkest hours passed as a new morning dawned, bringing much-needed light to the dense forest. The two men had been rooted in the same spot when the sky lightened with the first rays of the sun.

Natsuo had curled up on the wet and muddy ground, silently embracing Ayumi's limp body. Shoji had been watching him, not daring to move or speak when the other's shoulders trembled as he held her.

"Brother Takuya... taught me to keep my mind clear and focused. H-he used to say that a calm mind is the only thing that can save us in the worst of moments," Shoji suddenly said, breaking the haunting emptiness.

Natsuo listened to him, without moving away from his friend's corpse.

"So, that is what I'm going to do now. We need to... get rid of her body."

The blue eyes blazed with anger as he looked up at the black-haired yakuza, tightening his grip on the woman's frame. His tears had been flowing endlessly, his cheeks wetter than ever before.

"We are not throwing her away like a piece of thrash," he said hoarsely.

"O-of couse not... my grandparents have a cremation service where I helped out as well. The two of them should be out of town right now. We can use their facilities... to give her a proper farewell."

Shoji's voice sounded robotic, empty, and suddenly without emotion. He stood almost heroically as he looked down at the teal-haired one in front of him.

"They live only an hour away. Maybe their neighbors won't notice us if we leave now."

Natsuo's mind was heavy with grief and despair, but in the back of his mind, he realized they had to do something.

"We can't turn to the police... I would get e-executed if I confessed... the criminal, the Baron, only got more excited... when a girl fought back... he didn't realize it was a murder attempt. My yakuza still has him as a client, since he didn't kill their own girls in the brothel, s-so... they let him live for now."

Natsuo studied her face again, the lips that weren't smiling or the eyes that weren't twinkling like they used to. He couldn't even imagine her voice or how she sounded when she laughed anymore.

All the memories they had shared came pouring back into his mind - the first time they had met, the countless moments they had had, the times when she teased him about his shortcomings.

She had been aware of the storm inside his head before anyone else, hidden feelings and insecurities tucked away. She had shown him, even when his true self was exposed, that he was worthy of friendship when he thought otherwise. She had been his strength during the last months, keeping him motivated and moving forward.

Natsuo wished he could do something, anything, to bring her back to life and tell her how much he cared for her, but it was already too late. He nodded reluctantly, his expression broken, as if a chunk of his heart had been ripped.