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“You know, I never forgot.”
The words rang out across the early morning sea, the waves quietly splashing up against the cool sand. They rose up, inch by inch, closer and closer to that precious sea line always falling just a few inches short. They pulled all the loose sand back into the ocean, ready to use them to try yet another attempt. As the waves pulled themselves back into their habitat, the words spoke out to the sea once more.
“I never forgot the laughs or the hugs, the kisses and the smiles, the goodbyes and the hellos. I never forgot the smell of your perfume or the faintest hint of smoke on your jacket. I never forgot the late-night stares or the early morning cuddles. I never forgot your eyes and your lips never forgot the touch of your hands. Most importantly, I never forgot…you.”
The waves made their approach, creeping up towards that oh so precious sea line. The muffled washing noise of sand being shoved over the sand as the sea’s slight foaminess began to bubble itself into the spectrum of noise. Just as quickly as the vastness of the ocean made itself known, it made itself unknown. The same washing noise was played in reverse, almost as if it was a vinyl disc on a turntable at the hands of a DJ. The sand bounced over sand, the foam dissipating out of the land of the living and into the depths of the sea.
The noise of the ocean was ever so scarcely replaced with the peaceful drumming of an Inline 6, the bass note almost always on queue with the guttural thump of the exhaust. The pink hue from the headlights of the car that housed the engine basked over the open ocean, basking it in
an almost nightclub-like color. The doors were left open, letting the stilled wind of the A/C flow out of the car, just another high note to the idling noise of the RB28.
From each side of the car, the silhouettes of 2 men stepped out, the moonlight mixing with the pink hue of the headlights, sending light bouncing across the hood over the two men. They were both young, mid 20’s at the oldest. They both wore jackets, one in joggers and the other in sweat pants. One had long hair, tied up in a man bun, while the other had a sort of messy side part. The man with the messy side part had a pair of sunglasses on, while the one in the man bun had glasses. Quietly, they both walked across the sand, their feet crunching up each and every grain beneath them.
They came to a stop at the precious sea line, taking a seat just as the sea made yet another failed advancement to its goal. The man in the sunglasses took out a box of cigarettes, handing one to the man with the regular glasses, lighting both cigarettes. They breathed in the toxins, letting them flow outwards in front of the duo. They stared out into the sea for a few minutes, before the man in the sunglasses spoke to the other.
“I never forgot about you, Furuya.” He said it with a sense of solemnity as if something horrible had happened. The man with the man bun, who was apparently Furuya, looked to the man with the middle part. “Maybe you should’ve Sonoda. Look where remembering brought us.” Furuya spoke with a sense of anger, with a drive of value behind his words.
“Why would I choose to forget you?”
“Because I’m no good for you.”
“You’ll always be good for me, Furuya.”
“No, Sonoda. I’ve never been, or will be good for you.”
Sonoda took a moment, puffing smoke out of his lungs. He placed a hand on his stomach, clenching a part of it as he adjusted his legs to be in front of him. He raised his free hand, looking at the time on his watch. “In a few minutes, it’ll be the morning of a new century,” Sonoda said to Furuya, smiling at him. Furuya’s cold expression was unshifted, the smile not warm enough to break a hole in his ice barrier defense of emotion.
“I remember, the last time I was here. It was me and you.” Sonoda began to speak, beginning what was very obviously going to be a story. “We drove up here in your dad’s car, got away from your sister's birthday party. We found ourselves holding hands, laughing at the thought of trying something new, and worse, getting caught. But try we did. You pulled me in and gave me that kiss. For 4 years, we’d drive away from wherever we found ourselves and would do that exact same thing. When you got your first girlfriend, we did it. When I got mine, we did it. If I was one to speak, I’d say that we really had something going on. We were more than just best friends. We were lovers.” Sonoda said, looking at Furuya as he finished his little paragraph of words. Furuya spoke up to respond. “We were. We’ve grown up now, Sonoda. We were having fun back then, but times are different now. We’ve become men, I have a wife. It’s been 10 damn years since then, Sonoda.” Furuya responded with fury, balling his fists up as he pondered on Sonoda’s words.
Sonoda sighed, puffing out some more smoke as he began to speak again. “I’ve become a cop, and you a crook. I should’ve arrested you by now. But there’s this nagging in the back of my mind this sense of hope that maybe, just maybe, Furuya can be saved. Just maybe, I can bring back those feelings we had so long ago and show you there’s still hope.”
“You speak of hope, Sonoda, but in reality, you have no hope. You’re lonely and sad, on the verge of ending it all. You aren’t here to save me, you brought me out here to save you.”
Sonoda, smiling as he spoke, answered with just 3 words. “Yes, I am.” Furuya nodded as he stood up, followed by Sonoda. They both tossed their cigarettes into the ocean, staring at one another.
“This is the end of our tale, Furuya. One of us will lay on this beach till the sun rises, and the other drives off.”
Furuya nodded as he raised his fists in a fighting stance, to which Sonoda did the same. The moonlight bounced off the ocean, the pink glow of the headlights from the car covering the two as they stood in front of one another. The lulled washing noise of the wave mixed with the drum of the car, flowing through the air with the breeze. Added to the mix was the sound of a punch, followed by another, and another.
The two men were fighting, putting their all into each and every hit. They both found themselves grappling and boxing, small amounts of blood splashing across the cool sand. Furuya kicked Sonoda back, prompting Sonoda to stand up and speak up once more. “Why do we have to fight Furuya?! Can’t you see that I want to help you!” Sonoda shouted at Furuya, to which Furuya responded. “If you wanted to help me, you would’ve helped me YEARS ago Sonoda! You would’ve helped me deal with the fallout from YOUR failure! You would’ve helped me deal with all the shit that came after YOU decided to go and shout it out!” Furuya was becoming more and more hurt as he spoke, his final sentence coming out in a sort of sad shout of desperation. “You would’ve helped me tell everyone we loved eachother.”
Sonoda stayed quiet, reaching into his pocket and sliding a knife into the sleeve of his jacket. He shouted in anger, rushing at Furuya and whipping the blade out to stab his stomach. Furuya was quick enough to grab Sonoda’s wrist in time, turning the blade and driving it into the chest of the still moving Sonoda.
It ended abruptly. The waves crashed alongside the rocks as the clock hit midnight, the blade piercing Sonoda’s chest with Furuya holding it in. Sonoda’s legs began to give out from under him, Furuya holding him up best he could. “Didn’t think it would…end this way,” Sonoda said through coughs of blood. Furuya sat the beaten man down, holding him up beside him.
Sonoda looked off into the sea, speaking up once more. “I’ve always loved you, Furuya. I only left because I loved you too much to see you hurt because of me. I thought that by leaving, you’d be happier. But, I was wrong. My mistake.” Sonoda paused, spitting up some blood. “My mistake caused you to fall down a rabbit hole of bad choices. Caused you to end up on a wanted poster with an entire precinct chasing after you.” Sonoda gave out a weak laugh, to which Furuya covered his mouth.
“Save your breath, Sonoda. I need to get you out of here, to a hospital.” Sonoda shook his head, removing the hand on his mouth. “Remember what I said earlier? Only one of us leaves.” Furuya was going to speak up once more, only for Sonoda to look at him with eyes of relief. Sonoda leaned his head forwards, placing his lips on Furuya’s.
They held the kiss for what felt like an eternity until Furuya felt the air leaving Sonoda’s lips and the life draining from his skin. Sonoda leaned away from the kiss, giving his old lover one final smile before turning back to face the ocean. He tasted in the salt in the air he grew up in, the faint smell of the sea, the quiet sound of the car, and the waves finally breaking that barrier and crossing that precious shoreline. Furuya sat beside the passing Sonoda, sitting beside him as tears began to flow down his eyes. He heard the solemn thump of a body on the sand, Sonoda having fallen over on his side as he breathed his final breaths. The tears streamed down Furuya’s eyes as he sat there with his first true love on the floor beside him, blood trickling out of his soaked clothes and onto the sand below.
Furuya stood up, stepping towards the car with the opened doors. He looked at his old lover, hoping that maybe he’d stand back up. He knew he was already gone. “I never forgot either,” Furuya said quietly, entering the R34 and closing the doors. With a flick of his arm, he released the hand brake and shifted into first, driving away from the damage that had been done.
The early morning sea washed upon that line it had wanted to cross, hitting the body that lay before it on the coastline. With no lights to dance on it but the moons, the serenity of the night had returned to the small coastline. The distant drone of an exhaust note was heard peeling away, leaving nothing but the lull of wash to fill the air. The calming noise of the sea pulling sand into its depths, and pushing them back. It was almost poetic as if the ocean knew what had happened. As if it knew that no matter how hard a person tried, everything pulled away would be pushed back with greater force.
It had heard the words of two lovers, regardless of their gender, and offered them a place to find their peace with one another. And the ocean knew better than most that sometimes, peace must be obtained through death.
With a smile on his face, Sonoda’s soul was passed along. He had found his peace, and as a teary-eyed Furuya streaked along in a pink R34, he realized. He had found his as well.