Faded

8. The boy with mint-colored hair | ミントボーイ

Hideo:

I had planned everything a long time ago. Ever since I found out that I was hopeless. I severed all remaining connections, got rid of everything unnecessary, made a plan, and started implementing it. I showed you this place long ago when we went together on a trip to the volcano. You liked it. And I began to fulfill my wish.

Izumi:

The boy with mint-colored hair.

He went missing in the Aokigahara area, just as the cherry blossoms began to bloom. I wasn't very familiar with him, but every time I went to the small coffee shop, he made me a good cup of coffee. Not the kind you get everywhere - from a coffee machine with foam, caramel design, and syrup. No, it was just a simple instant coffee that he poured cold milk into. Very basic, but I liked it.

The pale boy with mint-colored hair and black eyes. They were huge because he wore special lenses that made his eyes look bigger. I know this because I asked him about them. I actually wanted to buy lenses like that myself, but in a different color. Blue or green. Maybe gray.

The boy with mint-colored hair was stylish and polite. When I sat in the coffee shop, he would compliment me. He was friendly, amiable.

I liked the music he played during his shifts. It seemed to be songs by Nicole Dollanganger. I mention this because even though the deceased boy with mint-colored hair (whose name I didn't know) introduced me to this music, these songs are associated with you in my mind. At first glance, they sound like lullabies. Sweet, almost fairy-tale-like voice, and gentle accompaniment of harp or acoustic guitar. The melodies are very light, but when you listen closely, you hear what they're really about. It's all about pain. Like a poisonous candy in a beautiful wrapper. Just like you.

When flyers with a photograph of the missing boy with mint-colored hair appeared in the province, I started taking the forest seriously. Maybe he really went there to end his life. But what if he just got lost? Aokigahara Jukai is a national park with tourist routes. He might have gone for a walk.

My friend told me that the forest is very strange. The trees are twisted like something out of a horror story, with no specific direction.

When his family and friends decided to search for him on their own, they gathered a group of volunteers. The police just shrugged, saying that he couldn't be found in the forest anymore, it was pointless.

"If a person goes into that forest, it means they don't want to be found."

The person who said that wasn't in my position. May they burn in hell for their words.

I wanted to help the people searching for the boy with mint-colored hair. I could have gone with the group of volunteers, but you convinced me to do otherwise.

"I often go to the forest. In reality, it's not that difficult to get lost if you're familiar with the tourist routes. We can go separately from the group," you said.

I had no reason not to trust you, as you indeed often spent time there. Collecting leaves, pieces of trees for your figures, taking photographs, playing the flute. It didn't seem strange to me.

"What's the difference between going with the group or separately? We'll still be following the same trails," I replied.

"No. I know a few others. The entrance for tourists in that direction is blocked off, but I've gone there several times. It'll be much more effective than walking the same routes every time."

You convinced me.