Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty-Five

The next day, as soon as Shiro arrived at the company, Nakamoto approached him with a strange smile. "Good morning, handsome! How was your day yesterday?" Nakamoto didn't know what happened to Zhirou, he just teased his friends happily.Nakamoto looked around and confirmed that Director Murakami hadn't arrived at the office yet, so he talked about yesterday's topic with confidence. "The car runs well, right? It's all due to my careful maintenance." "Well, it's great." Shiro smiled kindly and nodded at Nakamoto. "What's the matter? You don't have much energy... I see, you went for a drive yesterday, and then went to the hotel? Thank you for your hard work."

As expected of Zhongmoto, he knows how to communicate with men and women.Although what Nakamoto said was right, Zhirou didn't have the extra energy to brag with him. "However, it's too much to play until the second day without energy." Nakamoto smiled and patted Shiro on the shoulder, and Shiro intuitively realized that Nakamoto wasn't joking with him. This morning, it wasn't the alarm clock that woke Zhirou up, but the piercing doorbell.The sharp bells rang non-stop, and the brain, which still had alcohol remaining, was aching from the noise.Waking up in such a rough way, Shirou's mood was extremely bad.

Zhirou hastily went downstairs and opened the door, and a bald, middle-aged man was standing in front of the door.Shirou had the impression that this person seemed to live nearby. "Sorry to bother you, but does the car parked outside belong to your family?" "Yes, it's mine." Shirou's mind was still in chaos. After that, Shirou couldn't sleep no matter what, so he had to get himself drunk with whiskey and water.When he finally lost his mind, it was already daylight. Speaking of which, just a second before falling asleep, Zhirou seemed to feel a cat wandering on the balcony. Was it Joachim who came home late?or—

"You're annoying the neighbors when you park like that, and I can't even get out of my car." Last night, Zhirou was only thinking about escaping home as soon as possible, so he threw the car at the door and left it. "I'm, I'm so sorry...I'll move the car right away." "Hurry up, I'm going to be late for work." The man urged angrily, he seemed very dissatisfied with Zhirou's trance-like appearance. Zhirou went back to the house to get the car keys, endured the discomfort of a hangover and went out to move the car.The car in front of me was slouching across the middle of the road, beautifully blocking traffic.Zhirou nodded and bowed to apologize to the middle-aged man, while picking up the remote control to open the lock.

Shirou suddenly stopped moving. The pearly white car door in front of him was covered with countless scratches that seemed to be left by iron brushes rubbing back and forth. Not only that, the hood, roof, and trunk were all ugly scars as far as he could see.In less than a second, Shiro realized that these were all scratches left by cat's claws. The car I just got was just like this... It would be a lie to say that I am not angry. If I want to repair these scratches, I will have to pay a considerable amount of repair fees.Not only that, Zhirou couldn't help but feel hairy when he thought that every scratch was engraved with hatred from the cat group.While I was shivering under the quilt, I really didn't know what kind of judgment the cats gathered here made.

The honking of the car horn suddenly sounded, startling Zhirou. It turned out that the middle-aged man had been waiting in the car for a long time but did not see any movement from Zhirou. "Sir, if you want to be in a daze, please stop in moderation, okay?" The man's roar finally brought Zhirou back to his senses, and he hurriedly got into the car and started the engine. Zhirou raised his hand to hold the steering wheel, and the disgusting memory of last night was instantly revived, and the feeling of crushing the kitten spread throughout his body with the vibration of the engine.

No, I don't want to touch this car again. Shiro groaned in his heart. Judging from the final result, Zhirou must also thank the middle-aged man for his "gentle" wake-up service. Thanks to him, Zhirou was able to arrive at the company on time. "You have to take good care of it, after all, that guy used to be my favorite car." Nakamoto, who didn't know it at all, was in a good mood, and Zhirou nodded to his friend with a smile. At this time, Director Murakami walked into the office, Shiro and Nakamoto immediately ended the chat tacitly, and said good morning to the director with a deliberately amplified volume.Director Murakami still looked sickly, he only glanced at the two of them out of the corner of his eye, and nodded slightly.

Shiro has never been more grateful for the life of an office worker than he is today. Take the overcrowded tram as usual, come to the same company as usual, and do tedious and repetitive work as usual.For better or for worse, within this unchanging pattern, there is a completely different emotion flowing in the heart. Time can heal many things, and Zhirou has gradually recovered his sense of normalcy, and is gradually able to face the fact that he accidentally crushed the little prince to death. That is also impossible. If we really want to pursue it, I'm afraid it's the kitten's fault. At this point, no one can do anything.At least, he did not park indiscriminately. He had obtained the permission of the owner of the open space in advance, and he had the right to park there.Besides, this accident was not his unilateral responsibility. The prince knew that there was a huge object approaching, but he did not dodge at all... Yes, not only himself, but the kitten must also be responsible for this tragedy.

While Zhirou was busy with the work at hand, he tried hard to enlighten himself.This method seemed to be working, and the guilt in his heart had gradually passed over time. No, there is still some difference between this and lapse.Strictly speaking, Zhirou locked the guilt in his heart like a spider web into an unbreakable iron box, and sank it into the deep sea of ​​memory. Until the sun went down, Zhirou thought his life had returned to the original track.He worked a little overtime for a while, and then went home smoothly, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. But it's just a kitten dead, and it's still a stray cat without an owner, so it's not a big deal.

This is a line of defense that Zhirou built for his weak heart. He can only use such thoughts to wrap himself up and protect himself.At this time, Zhirou would never have imagined in his dreams that it was this kind of himself who single-handedly caused the following appalling terrorist incident. It was the night three days after the death of the prince. It has been raining non-stop since early morning. The new printing machine launched by the company with all its strength was found to have serious defects. Zhiro was busy visiting customers all day long and repairing the machine for them.

It was past eleven o'clock, and Shirou finally finished his work and went home.Exhausted, he took off his uniform and started listening to messages on the phone. Zhirou's home phone receives several messages every day, most of which are from Reiko.If there is an emergency, Reiko will of course directly call the cell phone, and she will leave a message on the phone to say some trivial things from time to time, maybe because she doesn't want Zhirou to feel lonely after returning home. "Xiao Zhi, welcome home. It's raining all day today, isn't that enough? Hang up if it's convenient, I'll be awake before twelve o'clock. See you later." There is still some time before twelve o'clock, Shiro intends to take a shower before talking to Reiko on the phone.At this time, another message came from the phone. "Hi, I'm the landlord Hashimoto." She is the daughter of the late old lady.Shirou stopped loosening his tie and listened to the message with full attention.The other party seemed not used to leaving messages on the phone, and was a little panicked when speaking. "It's like this... Please don't park your car on the road. The neighbors nearby have already made suggestions. Please park your car in the previously designated parking space." Shiro couldn't help but smacked his lips. I really did something wrong, but I didn't expect that someone would make a special trip to complain. It was probably the middle-aged man who called the landlord carefully that day to complain. Nerve, still have to move the car away. Until now, Shiro's car is still parked in front of the apartment.Although he has moved the car to the side of the road to give way to traffic, it is still an eyesore to others. It seems that I have to drive the car into the open space after all, I really don't want to get close to that place... Just touching that car will make Zhirou feel deep fear, and it is even more difficult for him to get close to the scene where he ran over and killed the little prince Hundreds of people don't want to.But if it goes on like this, someone should complain, so I have no choice but to bite the bullet. Shiro put on loose home clothes, instead of going to the balcony, he lit a cigarette under the ventilation fan in the kitchen.After smoking deliberately and slowly, Shiro gritted his teeth and walked into the rain curtain. The lights from the houses hit the wet car like a glowing mollusk.The paw prints extending to the roof of the car are like vicious incantations, engraved with the cat's anger.Shiro looked at the dense scratches on the car, and didn't want to touch it at all. After confirming that there was nothing unusual around him, Shiro quickly opened the car door and got into the driver's seat.Due to the continuous beating of the autumn rain, the temperature in the car was a bit cooler. Shiro started the engine, and drove the car towards the clearing as carefully as if driving a deep-sea submarine. Just before entering the clearing, a cat appeared in the place illuminated by the headlights. Zhirou stepped on the brake immediately, and the cat gave him a cold look, then trotted and disappeared in the direction leading to the residential area.After the cat had completely disappeared from view, the car moved again. Finally, Shiro came to the scene where he ran over and killed the little prince. Zhirou looked at the parking space he had opened up by himself, and this time he chose to let the front of the car enter first.The line of sight is not good now, if you reverse the car rashly, there may be some accidents. Zhirou carefully controlled the strength on the accelerator, and let the car move forward slowly. After a while, the tire was blocked by some obstacle.This is the cause of Prince's death - the height difference between the parking space and the grassland. Shiro didn't force himself, just stopped the car.While turning off the engine and taking out the key, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it's finally over. As soon as Shiro leaned out halfway from the car, he saw a white light flashing in the dense grass ahead.Startled, he stared closely in that direction. Finally, a white cat slowly emerged from the grass—there was no doubt that it was the king.It was the same as when we first met, exuding a calm and calm aura, watching Zhirou silently. Shiro stared at the king, and moved out of the car lightly.At the same time, the king jumped onto an illegally discarded wooden cabinet, kept at a height parallel to Zhirou's line of sight, and quietly observed his every move. The sudden appearance of the king frightened Zhirou, who hurriedly scanned the surroundings, but found no other cats. What is this guy thinking? Shiro once again met the king's direct gaze. When closing the car door, Zhirou deliberately increased the strength of his hand, but the sudden loud noise did not arouse the slightest reaction from the king. It was still sitting on the cabinet as motionless as a mountain. The posture reminded Zhirou that he had seen it at Lizi's house. Egyptian photo album of , including a statue of a cat-shaped deity that is exactly like it. Zhirou and the king, one person and one cat stared at each other for a long time in the misty rain. A month ago, they also met their eyes like this, and then looked at the bright moon in the sky together.The touch of mind-to-heart connection that I felt at that time is now gone. Why is the king here, and what purpose does it serve?Zhirou peeked at the other person's pupils, full of apprehension. Do you want me to apologize to it? Shirou seems to have read such a message from the king's gaze. Let me apologize to it for running over the kitten? At this moment, the white cat let out a small cry, the timing was so appropriate, as if it could read Zhirou's heart. Suddenly, dark emotions surged in Shiro's heart. It's just a cat. Just stupid and useless creatures. Don't make that face on me! Zhirou's heart has been occupied by unreasonable anger, he puts the mistakes he committed behind him, and instead feels ashamed of the fear of the past three days. Don't underestimate humans! The surging anger quickly boiled and sprayed, stimulating and inciting the cruelty in Zhirou's heart. This dirty wild cat! Zhirou quickly picked up the gravel at his feet, and threw it at the king who was sitting leisurely on the wooden cabinet with all his strength. The first stone hit the bottom of the wooden cabinet, and then there was a crackling sound of wood breaking. Upon closer inspection, the king had disappeared.At the same time that Zhirou threw the stone, it flew into the dense grass. Shirou didn't stop there, he continued to throw gravel one after another.Then, from a distance beyond Zhirou's expectation, there was a rustling sound of swaying grass and trees, and the king had already run away deftly. "Stop kidding, you bastard!" Zhirou didn't care that his hands were covered with mud, he still picked up stones again and again, and threw them randomly into the grass. Even if all his attacks failed, it didn't matter, he just wanted to vent his anger.A mere wild cat actually asked humans to apologize to it?He had to let the beast know the consequences of annoying humans. For a while, Zhirou threw stones like this frantically, and his body, which lacks exercise on weekdays, was soon exhausted. Finally, the rage in Zhirou's heart was vented, and he stopped, holding on to the car and panting non-stop. "You deserve it, you stupid cat!" The unhappiness that had been in his heart for the past few days finally disappeared. Zhirou seemed to have realized the strength of being a human being through his actions just now, and his heart was floating like a balloon. "Haha, what a king, what a joke!" It's just a wild cat, how dare it be so arrogant!Shiro sneered at the name "King" scornfully, completely forgetting that he was the one who named the white cat that way. Shiro held up his umbrella and was about to leave the open space—— From nowhere in the thick grass came the low meow of a cat. Zhirou stopped, turned around and searched for movement in the grass, but he couldn't tell where the king's hiding place was at all.But Zhirou no longer has the slightest fear in his heart, even if he is besieged by cats like before, so what?I am a powerful human being, and I have nothing to be afraid of. "You bastard!" Zhirou threw the open umbrella on the spot, bent down to dig up a large rock that was half buried in the soil at his feet, and just lifted the heavy rock to his shoulders, when he suddenly heard the low hum of a motor. what?Are there cicadas in this season? The sound of the motor suddenly became louder, and at the same time, there was a dull pain deep in Zhirou's ear. The discomfort felt like he was pressing the eardrum with his fingers. Shirou couldn't figure out what happened, but he still remembered throwing the stone in his hand in the direction of the king.Although the landing point of the stone was quite different from where Shiro was aiming, the cat's whining stopped the moment the stone hit the ground.Strange to say, the sound of cicadas that came from nowhere also stopped abruptly at the same time. "Don't be so scared and trembling!" Zhirou didn't care whether the other party could understand or not, he left this sentence and strode out of the open space.