It was a normal day for Firey, it had been a week since he had been allowed sleep in Leafy's bed and he still loved seeing her when he woke up.
Leafy had left for work and had taken Grove to school and as usual, he was alone in the apartment.
At around noon, he got a call on the phone that he kept hidden, only certain people knew that number and whenever it rang it was never something good.
He sighed in frustration as he answered the call and his day was made slightly worse when he heard the Directors voice.
"What's going on, Four?"
For a moment, there was silence on the other end until he heard Four take a shakey breath.
"It isn't good Firey,"
Immediately, Firey knew they were serious, their voice lacked the usual shrill, demanding tone it usually had and they weren't barking orders at him.
"Four, what is going on?" he asked, slightly worried.
Once more, he heard his Director take a breath, seemingly trying to compose themself.
"X has been... he was... they somehow tracked them," Four began to lose any kind of composure they had.
"Four, what happened, where is X?" Firey asked cautiously.
"They're dead, I found them this morning, their blood was still warm," Four said with no emotion.
"What... no," Firey began to remember the sweet smile the yellow haired person always wore, their happy, cheerful attitude despite everything around them.
X was the head of his Firey's department, X was the person who convinced Four to let Firey keep his job, X saw something in him and believed in him when no one else did.
And now they were dead...
Firey felt tears run down his face but he made no sound.
"The funeral will be sometime next week, I'll send you the address after I hang up, please go if you can," Four sighed.
"Of course, thank you for telling me," Firey said.
Four hung up and Firey stood there, staring at nothing, frozen in place, not even wiping his tears.
His phone buzzed and it was a text from Four, with a link to the directions to where X's funeral would take place.
Opening the link, Firey realised he wouldn't need directions, he knew the route well.
The funeral and burial was happening in his home town.
After a bit of research and talking to other members of the agency , Firey learned that X was actually from his home town, they even attended the same high school Firey went to, in the time they had worked together, Firey was completely unaware of this.
Firey sat down on the sofa, processing everything that had happened and will happen. He sat there for a long time.
When Leafy came home, Firey told her he was going to visit their home town.
Firey had been worried about telling her because she also grew up there, they grew up together, on the same street and Leafy was a sentimental person so there was a chance she would want to visit her childhood home.
To his surprise, she had no wish to go with him, her parents weren't there because they were travelling and she had nothing else left to do there.
Firey was slightly relieved but hid it well, he hid everything well, he didn't tell Leafy anything about X or the funeral.
He had to act like someone very important to him hadn't just died, he had to keep playing with Grove and spending time with Leafy like everything was normal.
...
A week later he was on a train. En route to his town, with a black suit in a small suitcase, watching the fields speed by.
The agency had arranged accommodation for the people in attendance, if they wanted to use it and Firey accepted the offer so he would have a place to get changed when he got there.
...
The sky was cloudy but it wasn't raining, the chill that blew in the air made up for that though.
Firey stood amongst a decently sized crowd, listening to the preist say a few final words then allowed people X was close to, to give eulogies.
Four didn't read their own eulogy, they got a random agent to read them out as they stood beside the open grave.
It was a grim experience to say the least, everyone who was there looked equally sad, X had been an important person for each of them.
Everyone they interacted with thought thought they were a sweet, ray of sunshine, a refreshing change from the constant negativity they were used to.
X treated everyone kindly, saw the good in things and always did their best to aid whenever they could, they always meant well.
Something had been taken from everyone there, a part of them that would be gone forever.
Firey stared at the sunflower covered coffin as it was lowered slowly into the ground, the only sounds that were heard was the quiet sobs of unknown people and Firey felt a feeling of disconnection from the world around him.
He was there but he didn't feel like he was, nothing felt real as he watched the coffin hit the earth and the first bit of soil landed on it.
He simply stood there, not crying, not seething in anger, he was just there, unable to express anything.
He must have spaced out because the next thing he knew, there was a hand on their shoulder trying to get his attention.
He looked to his right to see Blocky standing there with a forced smile on his face.
"You doing alright, man?" he asked.
"I don't know," Firey shrugged.
"Understandable, this whole thing gets more fucked up by the day," Blocky glowered.
"This is exactly what happened when Woody died,"
Firey hadn't expected that and he somehow felt worse than he already did.
"I wouldn't know, Woody died the day I was captured," Firey snapped.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that but what I'm trying to say is that I'm sick of all of this," Blocky sighed.
"This is why I quit, I can't deal with this shit Firey, people are dying for no reason and all we can do is dress ourselves up and attend their funeral,"
Firey slumped slightly as thoughts and memories he had tried so hard to bury came back to him.
"I've got to go, I'm not staying for the afterparty. Look out for yourself, Firey," Blocky said as he walked away.
Firey stood near the grave, watching the grave diggers do their job when he saw a navy haired person standing just a bit away from him.
Firey walked up to Four and stood beside him without saying a word, unsure of what to say.
They stood side by side until the grave was fully filled, Four turned away from Firey, hiding their face from him.
Firey knew not to say anything, Four would do anything than openly cry in front of someone so Firey also directed his gaze elsewhere.
"This will end soon, Firey,"
Firey looked at Four as they still didn't face Firey but kept their eyes fixed on the grave.
"They'll all be dead, I'm going to ensure that," Four said in a deep voice that scared Firey.
This was a side of Four Firey had never seen before and it was creepy.
Four was usually strangely energetic and bubbly in an intimidating way. They always had a glint in their eyes and a smile on their face, even when they discussed really dark subjects.
Seeing Four without that glint, without that smile just felt wrong, the idea of X being dead, felt wrong.
Four placed a rose down on X's grave, whispering under their breath as they blinked back tears that Firey pretended not to see.
And with that, Four left and Firey was the only one left in the graveyard.
He walked through the rows and rows of headstones, he could hear birds chirping as the wind blew through the trees.
The clouds on the horizon were becoming a jarring shade of grey and black, the promise of a storm.
Despite this, Firey continued slowly, his footsteps along the path were the only human made sound he heard.
He felt like he was walking in a dream, his surroundings felt far away and he struggled to walk in a straight line.
He knew where he was going though, he hadn't been in a while but it usually brought him a bit of comfort.
It wasn't a happy place,he had been here many times but it was never easy, his chest felt tight and breathing was hard, like it was stuck in his throat and he shook ever so slightly.
This place was probably a major turning point in his life, it scared him,
He took a right-turn, walking through other graves making sure not to step on them, even slightly and a minute later he was there.
He stood in front of two graves, his fists clenched tightly.
He took a shaky breath before he greeted them, composing himself.
"Hey mom, hey dad,"
He kneeled down, his emotions getting the better of him as he began to cry.
"Please help me,"
The silence that surrounded him was deadly, the cold air biting into him cashing him to shiver.
"Everything is bad, it's all a mess and it's my fault, I've told you all of this before but things are just worse now," he sniffed.
"People are being hurt, someone I cared about is dead and I just want to know what I should do,"
"It's all a horrible, blood-stained mess that I could have avoided if I had been smarter, I dragged myself into all of this," Firey's hand dug into the dirt, grabbing it as he had nothing else to hold.
"I've done horrible things, I've helped people do horrible things and I want it to stop but I don't know what I'm doing anymore," he sobbed.
"I want to go back to Leafy,"
He stopped for a moment, wiping his eyes as it dawned on him that he had told his parents so much but he hadn't mentioned Leafy
"You guys remember Leafy right?" he sniffle as he wiped his eyes.
"I married her a few years ago, I know we were young but I think we can still be happy with each other,"
Firey smiled as he remembered how his mother always said Leafy was a lovely little girl and how his father used to tease him about her.
"You'd love her even more now, she's amazing, perfect even," he sighed. "And way too good for me,"
"I really love her, she's always so kind and happy, she's letting me live with her even after all this time,"
"She has a kid, he isn't mine, unfortunately but he's the best little guy ever. He looks like her and he's just as kind," he smiled at the thought of them both.
"His name is Grove and he reminds me that the world isn't all horrible and sick, he's just a small ray of sunshine," he laughed slightly.
"They're both taking care of me and I hope I can do the same for them,"
"I love them,"
Firey's heart felt heavy as he remembered saying those words in this exact spot over a decade ago.
He was eleven years old, standing in front of a sight that no child should have to see.
He was crying, his grandmother had stepped away from he for a moment to talk to some friends of his parents, his grandparents were going to be his new legal guardians.
He was alone until he felt someone tap his shoulder.
It was Leafy, his best friend held out her hand for him to hold, with a sympathetic smile.
He took it, for once being mature and not complaining about cooties or "icky girls".
He cried while he spoke to her and she stayed holding his hand and listening.
"It's not fair, Leafy. Why did they have to die? They're my mom and dad and they aren't here anymore,"
"It's... it's not fair," he sobbed, fully breaking.
Leafy pulled him in and hugged him, he returned the gesture, hugging her tightly, burying his face on her shoulder.
"I love them, Leafy, I want them back,"
"I know you're sad Firey but I'll be here for you," she comforted.
"We're best friends after all,"
Looking back, that was the first time Firey ever remembered hugging her.
Leafy was there for him after his parents died, she would check on him everyday and offer to hang out, without her he probably wouldn't have done any kind of socialising from the age of eleven to sixteen.
They had grown up side by side, with each other through the good and the bad and then a few years later, through better and worse, sickness and health.
As a soft smile played at his lips, he wiped his eyes and placed down two roses he had bought from a small flower stall at the gates of the cemetery.
"Thanks for listening guys, I don't visit often but I miss you,"
He left the grave but before he left the cemetery he made one last visit to X, admiring the flowers and ornaments that had been placed at his final resting space.
It was a dangerous act with most members of the agency being in one place, if anyone that wanted them all dead knew about it, it was a prime place to plant a bomb.
But none of them cared, they knew the danger but X had done too much for all of them to just have a handful of people bid him farewell. Everyone there wanted to give him a proper send-off, a small of thanking him for his kindness and work.
Firey stared at the rose Four had placed there and multiple feelings struck him at once, grief, remorse, regret, anger and urgency
This all needed to stop, it needed to end.
"X, I know you didn't like all this, even though you never admitted it but believe me when I say that I'm going to finish what you started to make sure that no one else gets hurt,"
"That's a promise I make to you, not as my boss but as someone who believed in me, someone who gave me a chance, someone who I like to call, a friend,"
Firey walked away, leaving the grave behind him just as the storm approached.
...
He chose not to stay at the hotel, his train would get in late but he wanted to go home, this town didn't feel like home anymore.
In truth, no where felt like home anymore.
================================
Badda bing badda boom.
Hope you liked this chapter, I had fun finishing it after publishing the last one, heheheh
As a matter of fact, this chapter was supposed to be the next chapter and I had half of it written but then I was like why not make it a little sadder and have X be one of the few genuinely kind people in Firey's life then kill him?
Anyways.
XOXO
LeafCake